Seven words, thirty-four letters. Say them to me, and you'll shatter my assumptions like glass.

"You're from Earth, like me, aren't you?"

I stared at her in shock, my eyes were wide and my mouth was slightly agape. I didn't even have to give a verbal response for her to know that I was, but I still responded shakily, "Y-Yes… you… Earth…" I cleared my throat and tried to get a hold on myself. She was still holding onto my shoulders as I responded more evenly, "I am, but my memories aren't perfect. I never thought…"

She finished my sentence, "That I'd meet someone like me. Like you." She pulled me into a hug suddenly, which was yet more contact I wasn't expecting from the girl. I returned the hug before she pulled away, stepping back and smiling awkwardly, "Sorry. I don't usually get this touchy, my semblance means that I need to be very careful with people. At least, if they don't have auras. Even then, though, better safe than sorry."

That was curious, I had a lot of questions to ask her but I knew that there wasn't enough time in the day to ask them all right that second. I took out my scroll, "Here, let's trade contact info, we can meet back here… tomorrow? I don't have anything going on tomorrow. Do you?"

She shook her head, "No, no not at all!" Her excitement bled into her voice and made her smile sheepishly, "Sorry. I don't get excited a lot, but, you know…"

I nodded, "Don't worry about it. I'm excited too, I'm just good at keeping it in check." I smiled, "Let's go back down for now then, yeah? I can text you the details once everyone's left."

I got a substory notification when I finished my sentence.

New Substory!

The Falcon of Remnant

A strange and mysterious girl has appeared and revealed that she, too, was brought to Remnant. What secrets could she be holding? What has her life been like up to this point? Take this chance to find out!

Rewards

New Friend: Peregrine. 50 Lien. Answers to your questions.

Once I read it over, I dismissed the notification.

She was in agreement, so we headed back down. Once we were down and I was sitting back at my chair, we immediately got the expected question, coming from Jeanne, "So what'd you guys talk about?" She seemed excited to know, her tail was wagging behind her.

Peregrine locked up and stammered as she tried to find an answer. She was clearly not someone used to lying, or at least lying to people she cares about. She was, and is, a better person than me. I smiled back at Jeanne and folded my hands together on the table, "Just my necklace. She wanted to get one like it, so I pointed out some places she could go." Then to nip the inevitable follow up question, I added, "I got it from a guy who left town not long after he gave it to me, so I don't know if you can get an exact copy, but I'm sure a jeweler could make one for you."

Peregrine relaxed although I could feel her glancing at me. She didn't try to correct me, though. Jeanne and the others were satisfied with that answer, and so the day returned to normal, with Peregrine joining us until people started to leave. She ended up going back to Beacon along with Jeanne and the others who were staying there, citing that her mentor would want to check on her before the day was over.

Eventually it was just Cinder and I, the shop was closed and the two of us had made our way up to my apartment to relax. Cinder had told me about her plans for helping me teach Shi during this time. She wanted to teach her our fighting style, and she already had an idea for the weapons she would give her. Honestly, I was very happy to see how she was making a genuine effort for the girl, God knows that Shi deserved it. Once we got back up to my apartment, I sat on the couch and deflated from a long day while Cinder was in the kitchen getting a soda.

I turned on another anime, this one about two hunters-in-training who were madly in love with each other but thought that whoever confessed first was giving total power to the other person. I'm sure it was based on some weird Mistrali custom, a custom the show readily mocked. It would have been frustrating were it not so funny, honestly.

Cinder walked back into view carrying two of the sodas in the red cans, my favorite. She handed me one and kept the other for herself as she sat down next to me, "So what did you two talk about?" She asked before taking a sip from her soda.

Now, I could have waited for her to finish sipping before I responded. I could have, but I didn't, instead I cooly responded, "She told me she's from Earth, from my home… realm? Place? She knows my necklace is a relic, I think."

Just as I expected, Cinder did a very high quality spit take, then she looked at me with wide eyes, "Excuse me?!" She quickly set her drink down on the end table she was closest to before she placed a hand on my shoulder, "What'd you tell her?"

I smiled, "Well, I told her I was from Earth too. I'm probably never going to get another chance to meet someone who has a similar experience to me, it's…" I reached for the right word, "I guess it's hard to describe how it feels, but it feels good." How could I have put the feeling into words? The relief, the curiosity, the absolute unfettered elation, it was all there! Someone from my home, my original home… I was more excited than I had ever been before in my life up to that point.

Cinder crossed her arms under her chest and regarded me with a strange look in her eyes, "I would like to be there while you two talk. You've told me everything, it would be better if I'm there so you don't have to tell me everything she said second hand."

I understood that she wanted to be there, the idea of having this girl in my apartment without her around probably made her feel jealous, like she was worried that Peregrine would make a move on me or something. Her fears were unfounded, of course, and I had my own reasons for thinking her being there would be a bad idea, "I dunno Cinder… It's probably going to get deep into her life, old and new. She might not open up about her past if you're around, she doesn't know you like I do, all she knows is… the you that you're not."

I could tell she understood where I was coming from, and yet she tried to push back anyway, "W-Well, I can show her that I'm different!"

I knew I was going to have to just tell her straight up what I was worried about, "You could, and you will! But she seems very… skittish, and you do have kind of a…"

Cinder furrowed her brow, I could tell she was getting ready to get angry. I was getting ready to diffuse it as I spoke, "A temper."

Sure enough, she gained a look of fury on her face at the mere idea that she had a temper. I could have sworn that her eyes turned red, but I was sure that if they were it was some maiden magic at work.

She moved to speak, or more likely, yell. She leaned towards me to do so, what she didn't expect was me placing a hand on her shoulder as I closed the distance between us. I planted my lips on hers and shut my eyes, all of my focus going into giving her as passionate a kiss as I could muster.

Her response was exactly as I had hoped it would be, whatever she was going to say died on her tongue. It didn't take long for her to nip at my lips, and for me to once again relent. If her words were still on her tongue, I couldn't find them. Instead I slipped the hand on her shoulder behind her head and held it there, keeping her close to me. She wrapped her arms around my chest and gripped at the fabric of my sweater with such intensity that I was surprised she didn't tear it.

Eventually she gave up fighting me to take control of the kiss, allowing me to explore her mouth at my leisure. I only pulled back when I needed air, and even then she looked like she wanted more, I wanted more too, but that could wait. Instead, I softly spoke as I gazed into her eyes, "You try to say you're not a good person, but you've done so much to try to understand me, to support me. I'm really proud of the progress you've made."

I could lie to you and say that I had no idea what I was doing when I did what I did next, but it would be just that, a lie. I leaned close to her ear and whispered, "You're such a good girl."

The response was not immediate as I leaned back into my sitting position and tried to catch my breath. Her eyes were as wide as saucers, and her face was burning hot, much like mine. The first thing she did was lean back into her seat on the couch and slide down it slightly, practically sinking into it. She let out a dreamy sigh, the kind I was still, after everything, surprised to hear.

Another lie I could tell you was that I was being this super suave and calculated guy with all of this, in reality while I had an idea of what I was doing, I was going basically entirely by what felt right. For all I knew, Cinder could have thought what I said was weird. So as I sat there and stared at the still playing show on screen, I started to worry if maybe I had said something wrong as she sat there.

Then she stood up, and as I looked at her I noticed how heavy her breathing was, she had this sheen of sweat over her. She stood there for a few seconds before clearing her throat and speaking in a shaky tone, "E-Excuse me." Then she walked away towards the bathroom, where I heard the faucet start to run.

…That made me feel good. There was nothing like saying and doing these things and having it be received positively by the person that you loved. The feeling was several emotions all at once, all of them positive, and all of them left me smiling like an idiot.

Eventually Cinder left back to her apartment, having relented to my request for this meeting to be a two person thing, although she asked for me to text her once we were done, which seemed just fine to me.

So it was that the next day Peregrine texted me if she was clear to come over. It was three in the afternoon and I was already dressed in my usual casual getup, which was just my usual outfit minus the coat and vambraces, so I told her that she could come over and that all she needed to do was ask June if she could see me. On days like this when the cafe was open, on the rare occasions when I had a guest, June was an arbiter of who could go through the door behind the counter to get to the stairs. It was just a result of the rare occasions when I was home during a weekday, which was usually during holidays or breaks.

I took a seat at my dining table with two mugs of hot chocolate, one for me and one for her. Why hot chocolate? Well, it was getting colder by the day, so it felt appropriate, and I just liked the stuff. Oz seemed to think it worked for meetings for him, so why couldn't it work for me?

I heard a knock on my door and so I said, "Come in!" The door opened and Peregrine stepped in. Once again she didn't have her sword, carrying that thing around must have been exhausting. Either that, or she just didn't want to bring it into a coffee shop, which was good form. I personally prided myself on having weapons that I could hide, but I supposed not everyone had that as an option.

Peregrine herself was wearing the same outfit she was before, a dark red cloak, a black vest, a white shirt underneath that, and a pair of black slacks. The black vest had these designs that looked like white vines running up it as well, overall it was a very slick looking outfit.

She shut the door behind her as she greeted me, "Uhm, hey." I smiled and gave her a nod of greeting. She walked over to the table and I gestured to the seat directly across from me with the mug on it, "Oh, thanks. What's in it?"

I sipped from my own mug, "Hot chocolate, the stuff's delicious, don't you agree?" She seemed to, she sat down and sipped on the drink for a moment, "Your outfit reminds me of someone." I gained an amused tone to my voice as I mimicked Oz's voice, "A dusty old crow."

She chuckled and kept her nervous smile, "Is it that easy to tell? Yes, he's… my mentor." That was somehow surprising and not surprising at all, the silent question was there, and she elaborated, "When I was… ten. He found me on the road after my old… 'home' was attacked by Grimm."

I could tell she had no love for whatever this 'home' was, so I nodded, "That makes sense. You told me you were born here. When did you start getting memories of your old life, and… how'd you get here?"

Peregrine sighed shakily, "The first memory came when I was ten, I had no idea what it meant back then. I thought maybe it was just a dream, but they kept coming. Pieces and pieces, I don't remember who my family was, but I remember I had a good life… And then, somehow, I died. The God of Darkness brought me here."

My eyes widened and I nodded for her to continue, as I looked into her eyes I could see she wasn't lying. She rubbed her neck, and I felt the magical pulsing of my Talisman increase. It had been there ever since she walked into the room, but now it was growing stronger.

Peregrine explained, "He told me… that his brother must have thought he was so much better than him because he could bring new souls to Remnant and have them influence the world. This mark…" she removed her hand from her neck, and on the right side near her jugular was a black circle with flames around it and three vertical lines in the shape of claws on it, "Is his brand. The Brand of Spite. It burns when I'm around you, but… I couldn't not talk to you."

That was an understandable sentiment, and yet I couldn't help but feel terrible on her behalf. Just what had she been through? I took a sip from my mug before asking, "What does it… do?"

She frowned, "Well, other than attracting Grimm and sometimes burning, it affects probability. Not always in my favor, but sometimes it alters the odds of things around me happening. Whether or not I'll hit all of my shots, if I'm shooting a gun, whether or not I roll snake eyes when I play dice…" Finally, she added, "I also have…"

In the blink of an eye there was a new figure sitting on the chair to my right, between Peregrine and I. Unlike the Assistant, this person was very clearly a male. He's slim and wears a black suit, his skin complexion is that of a Grimm, pitch black, and his slicked back hair is white. He has curved, segmented horns on his head that arc back and curve upward, his eyes glowed red. To call him the epitome of edgy was an understatement, he looked like an eighth grader's interpretation of a cool character.

In spite of his edgy appearance, he kept his hands folded together politely on the table, "Good day to you." It was as if the Brothers were playing a joke on us, the God of Darkness' chosen soul was the pinnacle of politeness and refinement, to such a point that Weiss would feel like a slob by comparison.

Meanwhile, the Assistant…

Appeared to my left, sitting in the forth chair wearing their usual puffy coat getup as she regarded the two newcomers, "Sup! Hey… you're working with the God of Darkness!" She pointed at the… Butler? Let's call him the Butler. Assistant stood up and placed his hands on his hips, "What are you doing here, other than being edgy?"

The Butler chuckled a refined, posh chuckle, "I am here because the one I am tethered to is here and she wished to introduce me to you and to your tether. Just because I'm not as uncouth as you doesn't mean we can't get along, hmm?"

The Assistant pitched forward slightly, over the table as she glared at the Butler, "Uncouth?! I'm not the one acting like I'm from the ye olden days!" She gave a cocky smirk, "Or are you trying to mimic that one anime? What should I call you then? Seba-"

The Butler cleared his throat aggressively, "Please don't stoop so low. I may be the liaison of the God of Darkness, but I mean no ill intent. I simply manage the probability alteration aspect of the Brand of Spite on behalf of Miss Branwen."

I gave Peregrine a look and she sighed, "He calls me that because Qrow basically raised me. No blood relation, I… think." She didn't sound so sure about that, and I could see the resemblance. She looked like Raven, kind of, or a… Qrow-esque Raven, if that makes sense.

The Assistant stood up straight again and huffed before they sat back down, "Fine, I guess I can tolerate you, for now! Don't press your luck, edgy boy!"

The Butler smirked, "Same to you, Ranma."

The Assistant blustered and stammered, "W-Why you! I- You! Ugh, were it not for this tether I would slaughter you, you…" This was the first time I'd ever seen the Assistant this worked up, she was even blushing! I didn't even think he could blush!

The Butler, meanwhile, seemed to be having fun. He leaned on the table and smirked at her, "Praytell, what am I, my most esteemed colleague?"

Meanwhile the Assistant finally began to speak, "You wannabe! Entitled, pompous a-"

I finally spoke up, as entertaining as this was, I didn't want them fighting too much, and Peregrine clearly didn't either, "Okay okay! Take your foot off the gas, both of you. Let's not argue, alright? We're all friends here."

The Assistant huffed and crossed his arms, "Ugh, I'm gonna kick his ass when I get to the Inbetween! Tell me when this joker is gone!" Then she vanished, puffing into blue smoke before returning to my Talisman.

The Butler, meanwhile, chuckled, "My apologies. I will take my leave now, do enjoy your rendezvous, Miss Peregrine and Mister Neve." Then, in a blink, they vanished, no smoke or anything.

Peregrine furrowed her brow, "The… Inbetween?"

I shook my head, "I have absolutely no idea what they're talking about. I try to not think too hard about it."

We went back to our discussion. Peregrine remembered most vividly the events that were supposed to happen on Remnant, which was apparently a cause for great confusion for her as a child. She, like me, slowly got memories over a long period of time, however she still didn't know everything about her old life.

Things got rough when the topic inevitably wandered to our old families. We had already refilled our mugs once already, and I felt like we were both going to need a lot more of the comforting drink to get through this discussion. I'd have offered some liquor, but I tried not to drink the stuff too much after my first incident with it. Besides, offering that to someone I just met was weird.

Peregrine sighed as she looked down at her mug, cradled between her hands, "My family… There's so much about them I don't remember. I remember… what they sounded like and some of what they looked like, but I can't see their faces…" She sighed, "I… It just feels unfair. I had a good family, and then I was put here and…"

She hunched forward slightly, trying to hide her expression, "Almost nothing has gone right for me… Do you wanna know where I was born?" It was a rhetorical question, she told me anyways, "In a God damned brothel. Don't even know who my dad is. As soon as I could walk without falling over, my 'mom' made me a gopher, running things to the girls. It… just… I learned early that life isn't fair. Compare that to knowing you had a good childhood once already!"

She began to shake, I could tell she was crying. I responded by setting my mug down, getting up, walking over to her, and wrapping my arms around her, even as she shook. She went still for a few seconds and sighed shakily, "I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make this all about me-"

I cut her off with a gentle yet firm, "Don't." I followed up, "Don't apologize. Please. You've been through a lot, it's okay…" If you had asked me the day before that this was how this was going to go, I'd have had trouble believing you, yet now it makes all too much sense.

We were the only two on the planet who shared this experience, in a way it made us kindred spirits, and yet… She had suffered far worse than I, I didn't even have to know everything about her life to know that. My worldview was shattered, hers didn't even have a chance to form. She didn't remember her past until later, and whatever road she'd taken to get here had clearly not been easy.

As she silently let out sadness I was sure that she had been holding onto for years, the best I could offer was my shoulder to cry on. Eventually, she seemed to get control of herself, "Thank you…" She muttered, and I took that as my cue to let her go and stand up. Her hand went to her neck, over her mark, as she lifted her head I could see pain etched into her visage, "Grr… This thing… Sometimes it… compels me. It wants me to do things I don't want to do. I fight it, my… tether helps me, but it gets hard sometimes, and it hurts… It hurts so much." Her voice started breaking up all over again, but she didn't start crying this time.

Instead she stood up, "I… should probably go. My mark is burning too much, and I'm worried if I stay I might lash out, it's… I don't want to do that." She smiled at me, "Sorry, I didn't even really get to ask about your life…"

I shook my head, "We can talk about me later. Just look after yourself first, alright?" I smiled at her, "We're the only two from Earth, in this world. We need to look out for each other. We're basically family."

She managed a smile at that, "Family, huh…? Thank you. I'll remember that."

Peregrine left after that, leaving me to think about everything that had happened that day. I got a quest update once she had closed the door behind her.

The Falcon of Remnant

While some elements of Peregrine's life have been discovered and you can most certainly call her a friend, you were informed of her internal struggle with her mark, the Brand of Spite, and are still missing a lot of information about her. Clearly there is more to discover.

Reward Gained

New Friend: Peregrine

Rewards for Further Completion

50 Lien. Answers to your questions.

Well, I supposed that made sense. There was a lot about Peregrine I didn't know, and her comment about the Brand of Spite certainly worried me. However, there was nothing more I could do about it today.

As I moved to sit down at my couch with what remained of my hot chocolate, I suddenly received another quest notification.

Silver Eyed Warriors!

Among your friends are two silver eyed warriors, and unlocking their power will be key to many trials to come. You should find some way to teach them about their hidden capabilities, the sooner the better!

Rewards

Your comrades unlock the power of their silver eyes.

I sighed and wondered why I hadn't been reminded of that earlier. As if I didn't have enough on my plate… I was going to have to delegate, and there was only one person I knew of that would know about the silver eyes.

I set my mug down, pulled my scroll out of my pocket, and dialed Ozpin's number. He picked up fairly quickly, "Neve, I didn't expect to hear from you again until school started back. Is something wrong?"

That made sense. If it wasn't for the reminder, I wouldn't have talked to him until it was time for the tournament. I responded, "No, nothing's wrong, but… I was reminded of something that's critically important. I should have brought it up a lot earlier, but with so much going on, I lost track."

Oz sounded intrigued, "Oh? What is it?"

I leaned back on the couch, "The silver eyed warriors. Violet and Ruby need to know about their true potential, and soon. The way I see it, if I told them it would be incredibly suspicious, how would I know about something like that? It needs to be you."

His voice turned skeptical, "Mr. Cade- Neve, I'm not sure if this would be the best time. If those powers are revealed to those who can't handle them, the results could be disastrous. Overuse of that power can result in temporary, and later, permanent blindness that renders not just their vision, but also their power, useless."

Well, that was new.

From what I remembered about the original timeline of Remnant, the silver eyes had no real drawbacks other than being two silver targets on any of the warrior's backs. Still… "I understand that, Oz, but you have to understand the value in training them early. If they're told the dangers early and given proper instructions, I believe they'd be responsible with their power. Besides, if you teach them, I will be able to keep an eye on them. If I need to, I can tell them if they're using it too much, but I really don't think that will be necessary."

Oz sighed and relented, "...You raise a fair point. You understand my skepticism, the dangers of an undisciplined warrior are not to be understated. I don't normally teach silver eyed warriors until they're more… mature, but I suppose you would tell them if I didn't, correct?"

I smirked, "Correct. Sorry, Oz, but… you need to trust me."

For what it was worth, he did, "Very well, Neve. I will arrange a meeting with them in the near future and begin their instruction."

That was a relief, "Alright, thank you, Ozpin."

He simply responded, "You're welcome, Neve. Enjoy the rest of your break."

We both hung up and I smiled, at least that was one thing I wouldn't need to do myself…

Well, I hoped not at least.

I texted Cinder that the meeting was finished so she came over and asked me to tell her everything, so I did. Whatever worry she had had melted away at the simple fact that Peregrine was just like me in so many ways, and not at all in many more. I didn't and don't think that Cinder's jealousy was derived from worrying that I would cheat on her, I think she was more worried that someone would try to seduce me.

Fortunately for her, not only was I loyal to her, but I picked the people I hung out with carefully. That's exactly why I didn't hang out with Neopolitan, even if any seduction she tried to pull wasn't something that was exclusive to me, it would still happen, and I didn't want anything to do with it.

When it came time for Cinder and I to begin training Shi, Cinder revealed that she had gotten two maces made for her. They were retractable, if only so that as she got older she could still use them if she wanted to. I knew exactly why Cinder was giving her those maces, and it wasn't until later that she would admit it to herself, and to me.

Her regret for killing Rhodes lived in the back of her mind, rarely at the forefront but always present. She remembered how he patted her head before he died, how terrified she was before and after the fact, everything. She had tried to convince herself that it was for her own self-preservation, that she was a desperate child who had just finished fighting for her life and was suddenly being threatened by her father figure with jail time. From one cage to another.

In that way, I understood why she did it, even if it was a terrible thing to do. She couldn't bring him back from the grave, but she could at least pass on his legacy to someone who she felt was deserving. I couldn't think of anyone better to carry the legacy of a huntsman like Rhodes than a future huntress like Shi.

Eventually the day came where everyone had agreed to go to the beach, it was the warmest day we'd have for the rest of the year, so we were going to have to make it count.

The beach was empty at this time of year, no regular civilian was thinking of going to the beach in the fall, lucky for us though even if it were a bit cold, our auras would keep us warm. Not that they were necessary, not yet.

So all three of our teams descended upon the beach and we staked our claims. Cinder and I decided to just sit on some sunbathing chairs while we watched everyone else figure out what they were going to do. Like Emerald, who simply laid out a towel in the sand and laid down to bask.

Ruby, Jeanne, Violet, and by extension Lunus and Mercury (I can't imagine how much effort it took for Violet to convince him to show up, it was amazing honestly) went into the water and either began swimming or splashing.

Eventually Ruby and Violet got it in their head to have some kind of grand duel, one where they got Lunus and Mercury to have them on their shoulders, like some kind of hunter mech fight. The goal seemed to be to get the other side to fall over, and for a time I enjoyed just watching them go at it.

Cinder, who was sitting on my left, wore a red two piece with golden accents, a matching half-skirt that left her front uncovered, a sun hat with a red ribbon on it, and sunglasses. She was applying some sunscreen to her arms and when she saw me looking at her, she smiled, "Like what you see, Neve?"

I chuckled and looked back to the others, watching as Yang, Blake, Jaune and Pyrrha began to get ready for a volleyball match. Blake looked like she'd much rather be reading, but I had no doubt she'd been dragged into it by Yang. I responded to Cinder, "Of course I do, and yourself?"

Cinder hummed and looked me over. I was wearing a pair of swim trunks and a white T-shirt at the moment. She smirked, "Just lose the shirt." I rolled my eyes and did just that, although perhaps ironically, Cinder now seemed to be trying to not look too much. Maybe she thought it would be creepy, which it wouldn't be, "That's better."

I set my shirt down next to me and watched as I saw Nora building a sand castle, while Ren was acting as her assistant. Of course, this is Nora we're talking about, so she was trying to build one as big as she could.

The only person seemingly not having too much fun was Weiss, who was wearing a white one-piece. She seemed bothered by something as she sat on the sand further back, which was odd. Weiss might have brooded a lot, but she usually hid it well. This time as she watched everyone having fun, she seemed visibly forlorn. I looked at Cinder, "I'm gonna go see what Weiss is brooding about, wanna come?"

Cinder thought for a few moments before she shrugged and started to get up, so the two of us headed over to where Weiss was sitting. She saw us coming, but only spared us a glance before she went back to watching everyone else.

I sat on her left and Cinder sat next to me. I led in with a simple question, "Nice day, huh?" Smalltalk might seem a bit meaningless, but it's important for situations where you're unclear on the other person's mood, or in less serious situations, to fill in dead air and hopefully lead to a new conversation. At least, that's how I've always viewed it.

Weiss responded neutrally, but I could tell she was down about something, "Yes, the weather is nice."

I couldn't just ask her 'hey, what's wrong?' Weiss was not the kind of person who would answer that truthfully. So, I followed up with a less prodding question, "Everyone seems to be having fun." I noticed that she was watching the volleyball match, "More of a spectator than a sportsman?"

Weiss smiled a small ghost of a smile, "Oh, I could put all of them to shame with my skill, I simply… don't feel like it." I noticed that she was staring in particular at Pyrrha and Jaune, before her gaze shifted out towards the water, just in time to see the Ruby-Lunus mech topple the Violet-Mercury mech.

There was a pattern in her wandering gaze. I realized then what it must have been, Weiss Schnee was lonely. Surrounded by friends and yet feeling that way was never a good sign. I looked out to the others, "What's wrong?" I finally asked.

Weiss looked like she was about to refute me, but as she looked and saw not only myself, but Cinder, staring at her, she sighed and looked down, "It's just… today's the anniversary of the day I lost my best friend, and… my first love."

That was surprising, incredibly surprising. Weiss had never been shown to have had friends, or relations, in Atlas prior to coming to Beacon. Even in this reality she had never let on that she had something that significant in the past, "Talking about it might make you feel better."

Weiss remained silent for a few moments before she responded, "Alright, I guess… I've never talked about this, or her, with anyone before." She lifted her head and stared at the sky, "I knew her my whole life, since we were young. She didn't live a great life, her mother had died when she was young and her father was always working. Put the anti-faunus prejudice on top of that and… well, before my father tried to make me act like I was some kind of 'proper Schnee heiress', I didn't really care much about that kind of stuff, so I stood up for her. I befriended her, and I badgered Father to let her father and later her work at our home as landscapers and gardeners."

She gained a wistful smile, "It was wonderful, having her. When I wasn't studying or learning how to be a 'proper lady', I was playing with her, or going with her to her dad's home that he had managed to buy in Atlas after getting the job father offered him."

A small blush dusted her face, "When we were fifteen, well… that's when things started to… mature. Listening to her play her guitar stirred something in my heart, and…" She sighed, "I fell in love with her, and she fell in love with me, although I didn't deserve her…"

Her eyes began to mist over, "Father caught wind of what was going on when we were sixteen, he ordered that I break it off and tell her on no uncertain terms how I felt about faunus - how he felt about faunus. Back then I wanted nothing more than to assure that I could reform the SDC, even at the cost of my own happiness. So I did what he asked."

She looked at me, "Even after that, after all the horrible things I said, she still tried to visit me, even though she thought I hated her, she still loved me. Then, one day, she just… went missing. I was told she died in a car crash." Weiss wiped her eyes and looked down, "Her father moved down to Mantle, he didn't say anything to me or to Father. He just… left. Nothing's been the same since then, I always felt that… maybe if I had just stood up to Father, she might still be alive, we might have even…" She let out a shaky sigh and laughed softly and sadly, "My apologies, I didn't mean to get so emotional."

I found myself sympathizing with her, "In hindsight, you can say you should have done this or that, but you did what you did at the time for reasons you thought were just. Don't blame yourself, blame the person who put you in that situation." I managed a smile as I reached my hand up and patted her back, "What was her name?"

Weiss still sounded torn up, but at least she seemed to be getting control of herself, "Orchid. Orchid Grove."

I nodded, "Well, Weiss. All you can do now is try to live a life Orchid would be proud of. Do you want to meet her on the other side and have her be disappointed?" Her eyes widened and she shook her head vehemently, "Then I say, you should try to celebrate her life and not mourn her passing. Maybe get up and go have some fun with the others? They love you Weiss, we all do, we don't want you to suffer."

Weiss finally managed a genuine smile, even if it was still tinged with sadness, "You've always been too wise for your own good, Neve…" She started to stand, "Very well, I'll try. For Orchid. Thank you for listening." I nodded to her and she made her way to go see about joining the volleyball match, considering that Ruby seemed interested in it as well now, I figured she'd be able to get into a match finally.

Cinder nudged me and when I looked at her, she was smirking, "She's right you know. You have a knack for sounding and acting wiser than you look. What's your secret?"

I shook my head and shrugged sheepishly, "Ah… I'm not trying to be 'wise' or anything. I just say what makes sense, you know? If I was trying to act like some wise old sage, then I'd probably have to dye my hair white…"

Cinder regarded me for a moment before scrunching her nose up and shaking her head, "Please don't do that. It wouldn't look good on you." She reached out and ran a hand through my hair, "I like this fluffy mess the way it is." Then she leaned closer and kissed me on the cheek, "Don't you?"

I blushed and smiled at her, "When you say it like that, I can't rightly disagree with you, can I?" She shook her head and stood up, prompting me to do the same. We both walked back over to our sunbathing chairs to relax while watching everyone else run wild.

When night started to fall, everyone dried off and put on their shirts and other clothes to cover their swimwear before we used a designated spot on the beach to light a bonfire. Even as the night got colder, we stayed warm. I remember how Ruby was struggling to light the massive, carefully structured pile of wood, only for Cinder to use her semblance to ignite it in no time at all. That elicited a laugh out of all of us at poor Ruby's expense.

While we all sat on wooden benches around the fire, most of us, myself included, grabbed a stick and stuck a marshmallow on it. I had taken the liberty to bring drinks and marshmallows for this exact occasion.

Cinder curiously regarded me and everyone else, sitting in a squared circle around the bonfire as we were, and looked at me. She was sitting on my right and asked, "What… is everyone doing?"

I didn't have to respond, Lunus did, he was sitting on my left, "You've never toasted marshmallows before?" She blinked and shook her head, causing him to smile, "Awh, you're missing out! Uhh…" He looked around and found a suitable stick, which he grabbed, "Here, hold this aaanddd…" He fished a marshmallow out of the nearby bag before handing it to her, "Here, put this on the end of the stick and hold it to the fire, don't let it melt though, toasted marshmallows aren't good melted."

I smiled at Lunus for saving me an explanation, while Cinder tried her hand at toasting marshmallows, I asked him, "What about s'mores?"

He smirked, "Hey, I gave her a free lecture already. Telling her about s'mores is your job. Besides…" Ruby, who was sitting next to him, held out a s'more for him with a grin on her face, "I've got one already!"

He was about to take it from her when instead she held it to his mouth and forced him to eat it that way, causing him to grumble about being able to feed himself. That elicited some laughs, but it wasn't like they were the only two doing it. Nora was making Ren feed her, Pyrrha was insisting that Jaune let her do it, even if it was embarrassing to him, that sort of thing. Even Violet was trying to get Mercury to do it, insisting that it was what the protagonists always did in her favorite manga. Mercury, however, was resistant to it, clearly not super used to physical affection, even from his long lost friend.

Of course, Cinder and I had done something like that before on a few occasions. I supposed it was a universal constant with couples, did food just taste better if it belonged to your significant other? The answer was a resounding 'yes'.

I watched as she pulled back a freshly toasted marshmallow, "Hmmm." She regarded it appraisingly before she ate it, her eyes widening as she looked at me, as if I had somehow been hiding the secrets of toasted marshmallows from her for years now. Once she swallowed, she smiled, "That is good. Now, what's this about s'mores?"

I taught her what s'mores were and even helped her make one. She found she loved them even more than just toasted marshmallows on their own, which seemed to be the consensus of everyone in our group. Eventually she started using controlled bursts of her semblance to toast marshmallows quickly, even if in the process of learning how to do so she melted a few of them.

I was confident in saying that that day was another unforgettable experience with my friends.

I should know, I'm the one writing about it, and I certainly remember it as clear as crystal even today.

There wasn't anything of note that happened for the rest of break, Cinder and I continued helping Shi through basic training regiments. She was young, so we couldn't exactly put her on a full huntress-in-training exercise routine, but we could at least give her a taste of what was in store for her. It didn't seem to cause her to waver at all, instead it just made her get further into it. The girl really liked exercise, it seemed, which was great because she was going to need to do a lot of it.

Once it was time to return to Beacon, rather than there being more classes, everything was focused on the Vytal Festival. There was part of the school grounds that were transformed into faregrounds, tents, food stalls, rides, the whole nine yards. It was like a carnival, except all of the rides were triple checked for quality, held up to Atlesian standards, and the main event was watching a bunch of students beat each other up.

Beacon wasn't the only place filled with festivities, during the Vytal Festival the whole city basically became extensions of the celebration. Special events at theaters, special performances by bands, so on and so forth.

To say we were excited was an understatement. I even allowed myself to get excited, I was concerned about the murders, which had abated somewhat, likely due to the efforts of the criminal underworld, or at least the part influenced by Torchwick, starting to look for the culprit as well.

However, nobody had been caught yet, which meant that underlying layer of buzzing tension remained. It was banished somewhat by the festival, people celebrated to forget the threat to their lives. Being at the festival was the safest way to enjoy yourself, nobody was going to try and kill anyone in the crowds, or around armed hunters and hunters-in-training.

At least, nobody had tried yet.

The first day of the festival was also the first day of the tournament. Students got free seats, and they were good seats too, close to the action. Well, as close as one could get from sitting in bleachers that were elevated. First up was actually Cinder's team, Team CMSN (if you thought about the other combination of their letters, then shame on you. Even if, at the time, I thought about it as well, shame on you) vs Team BRNZ.

I remembered what happened to Team BRNZ in the original universe, all but one of them died. I hoped that this time, nobody would have to die, that everyone would live. Yet, I didn't dwell on the dark thoughts for too long, as the fight started not long after the arena changed to the biomes for the fight, a forest on one side and a rocky mountain-like area on the other.

I would go into detail on how this fight went, but I don't think you need it to know how it goes. Team BRNZ didn't stand a chance against Team CMSN, they were wiped out within five minutes. It was unfair, honestly, four amateur huntsmen versus two experienced fighters like Cinder and Neo along with Emerald and Mercury.

Before their sniper could even really get a shot off, Neo had taken her down, and the others were swiftly taken care of by the rest.

I had no idea who was going to be next, for the first day the lineup was completely random, and only the first fight of the next day would be announced beforehand. So, after all the fights were done today, we'd find out who was first up the next day.

Thus, I was a bit surprised to see that my team was the second to participate today.

Professor Port announced, his voice booming over the whole arena, "Our next fight is…" The giant screens that circled the top of the arena began to cycle through teams, like a slot machine. Finally, it landed on…

"Team CALM versus Team NDGO! Both teams, please make your way to locker-rooms one and two respectively. We look forward to another splendid match-up!"

That was when I got a new quest.

New Quest!

The Tournament Arc

The Vytal Festival is in full swing and Team CALM has been given their first match! Can your team claim victory at the tournament, or will you fall to the wayside? Only time will tell!

Rewards

Massively increased notoriety with several groups across the world for a short time, 1000 Lien, Increased opinion with several people, more rewards depending on method of completion.

Penalties for Failure

The sting of defeat.

Well, that made sense. This was a big step forward, after all…

We were all already in our huntsmen gear, so making our way down to the locker room was entirely to get our weapons and check all of our other equipment before the fight.

Well, the others had to get their weapons. Mine were hidden under my coat as always.

While we were heading there, I checked my spells, specifically the two new ones I had. I could use one just fine if I needed to, but the other not so much.

MP Available

40/40

Eagle Eye

Cost

10 MP

Allows you to see things much further away perfectly, up to a maximum of 400 feet away. Vision is adjustable to different distances. Spell lasts for five minutes or until canceled.

Fireball

Cost

20 MP

Send out a powerful blast of fire from the Talisman, which has a range of 400 feet. When it connects with an object, it ignites into a blast 20 feet wide.

Once the four of us made it to the lockers, Jeanne asked while putting on her armor, "Do we know anything about these girls? They look cute, but…"

I chuckled, "Their weapons aren't anything fancy. A crossbow that turns into a sword, throwing knives, a dagger, and a spear. I hear they're all fairly proficient at using dust, so keep an eye out for that. One of them, the red hair, can surf on sand. So if we get a sand biome, keep an eye out for that."

The three of them looked at me in mild surprise and I shrugged, "What? I like to do my research on people we might be competing against."

Violet grinned at me, she was sitting on a bench and giving Suncutter a once over, "That's our leader for you! When aren't you poking around all over the place?"

Lunus concurred, "It's nice to have someone who can plan ahead like that. The best thing I can do is surf and fight. Too bad the waves were too calm that one day…"

I brushed off the praise and shook my head, I wasn't really planning that far ahead when it came to this fight, I just so happened to know how these girls fought from prior knowledge, "Speaking of surfing, Lunus, you're going to deal with the red hair girl, it'll be hard for the rest of us to keep up with her."

Lunus smirked, "Don't have to tell me twice." He took Selene out of a locker and began to check the dust levels inside the buzzsaw, "She'll have a hard time surfing if I can manage to get my semblance off on her."

Working through the rest of our strategy, I looked to Jeanne, "Try to get their leader, the girl with indigo hair. She's got a large sword, you like large swords, don't you?" The last part was said in jest.

Yet Jeanne either didn't pick up on it or was just doing all in. She nodded several times, her tail was wagging as she finished strapping on her armor, "I love large swords! I'll show her that mine's better!"

I smiled as I finished checking my vambraces, "Right. The other two are less obvious, we'll just need to deal with them as they come. Which means Violet and I will be dealing with them, at least at first. Don't expect any of this planning to hold up once the fight starts, things have a habit of changing."

That was when the holo-television that was kept in the locker to keep the teams up to date came on with Professor Port announcing, "We have a wonderful show today! Beacon's own Team CALM versus Shade's Team NDGO, both are certainly already crowd favorites even this early into the tournament!"

Oobleck followed up, "That's right Peter!" On his left, a picture of my team posing for a picture together, just before the match started, on his right, Team NDGO doing the same, "There are more than many stand out teams at Beacon, but Team CALM stands out alongside Team RWBY for their outside activities! Not long into the first semester, Team CALM embarked on an anti-crime crusade that saw the capture of several dozen criminals, since then they have continued to excel in their classes and will undoubtedly put on a great show!"

Oobleck went on to list some things Team NDGO had done, but it was nothing spectacular in my opinion. The little confidence boost we got from Oobleck's praise was a good way to start this endeavor as finally, Port announced, "It is time for the fight to begin! Both teams, please make your way to the center of the arena!"

Everyone shared a smile and I declared, "Showtime." Then together we made our way towards the highly advanced, reinforced metal doors that separated us from the throngs that cheered in anticipation of the bout to come. The doors slid open vertically and the only barrier to the loud sound of the crowds hit us full force, yet we pushed on.

The stage had yet to have its biomes set out, as was customary. I saw Team NDGO approaching from the opposite side, and as we walked all of us drew our weapons but kept them lowered, the other team did the same.

We came to a stop a few feet from each other, and each of us regarded them, inspecting them just as they did us. One of them, Octavia, smirked, "Well, they always said you Beacon trainees were soft. I didn't expect you to look soft."

Lunus grinned perhaps the most wicked grin I'd ever seen from the usually calm man, "Oh, soft are we? Then it'll be even more humiliating when we beat you, I bet you'll never hear the end of it back at Shade." He hefted his buzzsaw to prove a point, holding it at the ready.

My only regret was that I couldn't use Fireball in this fight, I was eager to try it out, but using it here was definitely not a good idea. Nebula regarded us calmly, "One way or the other, this fight will be enjoyable."

Dew added snidely, "I hope your dog doesn't bite too hard."

Jeanne responded to the comment with a grin of her own, her sharp canines on full display, "Oh I bite. I bite hard. I'll try not to leave too big a mark on your neck!"

Dew seemed taken aback by this, and at that Port declared, "It's a good day for a swell battle! Ready…" The ground behind us and in front of us slid apart, in its place rose a desert on NDGO's side and an ocean with a shipwreck on it on our side. We all lowered into our fighting stances, glaring at each other, "Begin!"

Like when I fought Cinder, time seemed to slow down as we began to charge towards each other. The symbol of Vacuo appeared, and over it some text.

Team NDGO

Shade Academy Students

The text disappeared and time sped back up. Jeanne charged at Nebula, and I saw Dew trying to intercept her with her spear. I couldn't have that, so as she thrust out towards my comrade I lunged forward and deflected her spear with one of Daybreak's blades. I taunted her by tutting and saying, "Now, now. I know you're eager to get your neck bitten, but you need to wait your turn!"

Dew actually seemed to get flustered at that as she gripped her spear tighter. Instead of responding to my comment, she began to channel some wind dust into her spear. I prepared to dodge the oncoming typhoon, but then seemingly out of nowhere Aura barreled towards her and punched her square in the cheek, sending her staggering to the right.

I took advantage of the situation, racing towards the staggered girl and leaping into the air before delivering a drop-kick straight to her chest, which was enough to send her onto her back as I pushed off of her and flipped in the air. I landed on my feet again and shot a grin at Aura, who gave me a thumbs up before they vanished, seemingly to go assist Violet.

I looked up at the aura tracker and saw that Violet's had split into two! Just in time, Oobleck explained through the speaker system, "Violet Merino has a very interesting semblance! With it, she may split her aura off from her person! We have accounted for this by tracking her aura levels separately. However, should her aura level fall to and remain at critical levels for too long, she will be eliminated just the same as anyone else!"

Straight ahead of me, I saw that Lunus had already gotten into a surfing contest with Octavia. I had a hard time telling exactly how fast they were going, but Octavia seemed at least moderately alarmed that someone was able to keep up with her. She channeled fire and gravity dust into her kris, and when she thrust it out it created a wave of fire racing towards Lunus. However, he responded to this with some tricks of his own, activating his semblance and seemingly launching into the air over the wave of fire.

While he was in the air, he grabbed ahold of the handle to Selene and made it shoot several flechettes tipped with gravity dust. Many of them missed their mark, but all it took was one connecting with the girl to cause her to trip and fall on her face. Lunus landed on his feet with his weapon in hand and prepared to deal with her as she scrambled to her feet.

My attention was turned back to Dew as she grabbed her spear and channeled wind dust into it while getting back on her feet. I was about to sprint at her to try and stop her, but then I got an idea. By the time she saw the lopsided smile I was giving her, it was already too late.

The tornado kicked up and launched me into the air, and while I spun around at first, eventually it threw me out towards the shipwreck. While I was in the air, I joined Daybreak into its bow and nocked four arrows, two fire dust and two orange dust. I aimed at her, watching me fly backward as she was, and then loosed all four arrows as I landed on the ship's crow's nest.

Though she was much further away, I used the one new spell I could subtly use to my advantage, Eagle Eye. Now I could see perfectly how Dew started to flee from the oncoming arrows, running back towards the desert. The first two to hit the ground created an explosion that just barely caught her while she was running away, while it didn't seem to do much damage to her, it did enough to cause her to stagger.

That stagger cost her whatever momentum she had and allowed the final two arrows to catch up to her. While they didn't strike her, they weren't supposed to. Instead as they both hit the ground next to her, the two types of dust combined and created a large explosion! I placed my hand horizontally flat against my brow, as if I was shading my eyes from the sun as I watched Dew get sent flying off to the left. Even I had to wince as I saw her connect with the wall of the arena and land flat on the ground.

Well, that's what you get for being prejudiced!

Port came on and announced, "Team NDGO is down one member! It's now four on three! The stakes are really ramping up!'

From my perch I could see how everyone was doing without the risk of getting attacked, at least not yet.

Jeanne was having an out-and-out duel with Nebula, one that had taken them to the sands before the water and shipwreck. The two of them clashed repeatedly, with both managing to get in jabs and slashes on the other, but neither giving in just yet. I was thinking of ways I could intervene when suddenly, as Jeanne reached the edge of the water, Nebula tried to thrust her sword out at her.

With practice gained from training, Jeanne sidestepped the other girl and allowed her to overextend herself past her. Then she took Alba Mors and slammed the pommel into the back of the team leader's head, causing her to let out an audible yelp as she staggered forward, tripped, and fell into the water. Jeanne followed this up by reaching into a satchel at her side and producing a vial of ice dust, which she sprinkled on her blade and caused it to begin to emit a cold mist.

She finished the duel off by stepping backwards and swinging her claymore out while the girl was resurfacing, Nebula barely had time to get her head above water before the ice connected with her and the water around her and froze the lake. Nebula's lower body was trapped beneath the ice while her upper body was only barely free.

Oobleck's voice boomed out over the arena this time, "Team NDGO's leader has been taken out! Things are not looking good for the Shade Academy students!"

When it set in on Jeanne that she had won the duel, she hopped up and down and pumped her fist in the air while one-handing her sword, her tail going a million miles a minute while she grinned happily.

I turned my attention elsewhere as I located Violet and Gwen, they were fighting right next to the ship, on the small island it was beached on. Gwen was constantly backpedaling while throwing knives or parrying strikes as Aura pressed forward, using her raw strength and ability to just ignore injuries to her advantage. Meanwhile, Violet was not far behind, directing her chakram to constantly attempt to strike at the girl while firing off dust rounds with her rifle.

I honestly felt kind of bad for Gwen, there was absolutely no worse person she could have ended up fighting than Violet. The volley of rounds constantly whittled away at the girl's aura, and eventually Aura managed to land an uppercut that sent the girl a few feet off the ground. Just in time for Violet to pepper her with several dust rounds that sent her flying off the island, past the water, and crashing down onto the beach. This time, she didn't get up, she just laid there groaning.

Professor Port announced, "Team NDGO is down to its last member!"

I turned my gaze outward towards the desert, which stretched the limits of my vision to its limit. I saw Lunus and Octavia were still fighting, so I opted to get moving. I nocked a gravity dust arrow and stepped onto the wooden railing of the crow's nest. I aimed the arrow down at the nest proper and fired, which sent me flying through the air as I nocked another gravity dust arrow.

The speed and momentum carried me halfway to my destination, and as I descended towards the ground I loosed the already readied gravity arrow I had, which effectively caused me to regain momentum and some air. I couldn't help but grin from the adrenaline of this, it really should be a sport, if it wasn't already.

I landed on the ground at the edge of the desert biome, just in time to see Octavia jump backwards as Lunus tried to saw into her. It seemed they'd been going at it this whole time, and Octavia used the overextension on Lunus' part to slash out with her dust-infused dagger, kicking up dust and using gravity to send him staggering back before he fell on the ground.

His aura was apparently expended, I heard Oobleck announce as much over the speakers, "Team CALM has lost its first member! It's three on one now!"

Octavia was still looking at Lunus while I approached quickly from behind. For the first time during this bout, I used my semblance as I broke apart Daybreak into its constituent swords. Octavia felt the temperature drop, I could tell, yet by the time she whirled around, I was already upon her.

As she raised her dagger to get ready to parry my oncoming strikes, I slashed out at her. Her dagger connected with my swords, and the freezing temperature immediately made the dagger drop to absolute zero. That brief flash of freezing cold was enough to cause the weapon to shatter into a million pieces, causing the girl to gasp in shock as she stared at me.

The temperature returned to normal and it was clear the fight was over. My breath was still visible, so was hers, and I was certain Lunus' was as well. I smiled at her, "Hope you've got a replacement."

Octavia looked ready to throw down with me when her eyes widened, I heard footsteps hurrying to my side, so I assumed she saw Jeanne and Violet ready to join in. Thus, she did the smart thing and simply threw her hands in the air, "I forfeit!"

That was when Oobleck came on over the speakers, "Neve has used his semblance to disarm his opponent, causing her to surrender! The day belongs to Team CALM!"

The crowd roared excitedly as I slipped my weapons behind my back, into their sheaths. Rather than stay and lose gracefully, the girl huffed, turned around, and started back towards her team's locker.

Lunus was still on the ground, laying on his back, so I stepped over and held my hand out to him with a grin on my face, "Hope she didn't mess you up too badly."

He shook his head and took my hand with a smile on his face as I helped him stand up, Selene on the ground next to where he fell. He responded, "Nah, I just got careless. Overextended one too many times."

The four of us, tired from a good fight, waved to the crowd as we headed back to the locker. They responded with more cheers, I spotted Cinder watching with a grin on her face, so I kissed my palm and threw it outward towards her. I was sure that more than a few people might assume I was just tossing one out at the crowd, but Cinder knew who it was directed at.

We all chatted about the fight and praised each other's moves. We were going back to Beacon to get some rest so we didn't need to remove our weapons or anything like we normally would. We'd just watch Teams RWBY and JNPR on our holo-TV.

Once we were back at the fairgrounds, I opted to get some Team CMSN merch that was being sold. Nothing big, just a scroll case with the team's silhouettes on it, Cinder, Mercury, Emerald, and Neo posing as some girl with twin-tails. I also bought a shirt, although I wouldn't be wearing that today obviously.

The four of us enjoyed some noodles before making our way back to the dorms to relax. We watched the remaining fights together, until finally the day was concluded and the first fight of the day was announced. We had to pick two teammates to participate in the duos earlier, although we didn't expect to be seeing who our opponents were going to be so soon.

Port announced, "What a great day of true sportsmanlike competition! Please remember to tune in again tomorrow for the first fight of the day!"

"Neve Cadere and Violet Merino from Team CALM versus Cinder Fall and Mercury Black from Team CMSN!"