AN: Welcome back to Mind & Soul! The most hectic AU I've ever made, you know the business. Just enjoy!

Chapter 5 - Four is a Crowd


Where… was sh…? Why … it so fuzz...y?

It's hard… h… hard to… th…? Think… hard to think…

Inq…

Wh… am …?

Ch…ing p…

Est… the…

What…? A drea… dream, perhaps…?

A… … No longe… …ted

ry

Let m… ...ow

Ini… please… st… stay… …


"HIYA!"

Her eyes shot open to reveal the foliage above, and a bright pair of orange eyes. She jolted up like a missile, panicking at the sheer volume of such a greeting. Of course, this had the idiotic consequence of slamming her forehead into them. "Gah!"

Perl winced in pain, and frantically rolled away. She heard the other individual let out a squeak of pain, and felt rather guilty for that but… Well, she was the one who yelled at a resting person! It was karma! Except… Perl had gotten hurt as well… and she was still exhausted.

She must have only got ten minutes of resting or so, after that mess, and she was already rolling around in the dirt and prickly grass! How lovely.

Why couldn't she just rest for a moment?

Perl decided to calm herself, taking a deep breath and backing up against a nearby tree. She carefully took off her dirty glasses and nervously glanced at the speaker. It was a… surprisingly colorful girl. A salamander or lizard faunus, if the pink tail was anything to go off of. "Um, h-hi…" She whispered back shakily, pulling out a wipe to clean the lenses.

They just had to get dirty this soon, huh?

"Oh! So, so, so~ sorry!" She quickly apologized. "Uh, I didn't mean to spook ya, y'know? Please don't be mad! I just wanted to make sure you were okay! After all, uh, those Beowulves d-did a real number on you, and you were just… laying there… and when you didn't get up, I thought you might need some help… s-so I put out the fire, and then tried to check if you were okay! That's all… I swear…" The sudden shift from angry berserker, to friendly, to timid was… baffling to Perl.

She had never met someone so… erratic.

"Um, you're… fine…" She assured the peculiar faunus, slowly pushing herself up in a very non-threatening way. She was being especially careful. "I'm j-just sore and… uh, well, low on aura… I'm Perl, by the way."

Stupid mumbling, now I look like an idiot and I'm dealing with this… Her fidgeting was her only real distraction keeping her sane right now.

"Oh! Uh, yeah! Nice to meetcha! I'm Mags! Well, actually my name is Magynti but that's lame! Mags is way better. Uh, where do I start… wait, I did start. Um, I'm the coolest person you'll ever meet!" The now dubbed Mags stomped the ground, now puffing up with a prideful grin. "A fantastic knight of flame! A wondrous hero! A dragon! One that's nonbinary by the way, so use They please, ya can't forget that! Uh what else… oh! We're gonna be the greatest partners ever!" They rambled, beaming with excitement as the world blurred.

Perl let out a yelp as she was swiftly pulled to her feet, dizziness washing over her like a whirlpool. "P-Partners!?" As she leaned against a tree to steady herself, she turned to Mags with a tilted head. What did she mean? Oh yeah…

They had indeed made eye contact earlier, and according to the rules that made them partners. She would have to deal with… Mags for the next four years… the next four long years.

Dust help me… Perl buried herself in the palms of her hand, taking a moment to calm down. Maybe it won't be so bad, it will just take some getting used to. Yeah… that's right.

"Fuck!" A crack snapped outward, causing Perl to yelp, looking up to the source of her anxiety. Mags had sent cracks through a tree with a… powerful rage filled kick. She couldn't help but groan. What now…?

"Um, What's wrong?" She stumbled back a bit, getting ready to run. Mags seemed very unstable after all.

She was just being safe…

"I promised Kuro I'd be his partner!" They stomped again, whining in an almost… infantile manner. "Do you think he'll… b-be mad?" Their lip was actually quivering, was… the thought that upsetting? Just how scary was this Kuro person to upset someone as powerful as Mags?

The thought was… Mags beginning to sniffle was enough to snap Perl away from that idea. She gently took a step forward. "Um, no… uh, It'll be fine… I'm sure he w-won't be mad…" She didn't really believe her own words, but she didn't want Mags to cry.

"R-Really…?" The salamander wiped the budding tears away, as well as the grimm guts that stained their deeply tan skin.

"Yeah… we uh… just have to… f-find him, and then you'll see." Perl's reassuring words were weak, but that didn't seem to matter. Mags leapt up and flashed a grin, and even gave a thumbs up.

"Got it, Boss Lady!" Mags nodded, grabbing her hand and pulling her along. "We can meet up with 'im at the end!"

OhDustthey'retouchingmepleasestopwaitwhere are we going!?" Her mind screamed out, but her panic just made her freeze up as she was dragged along to wherever Mags was taking them both.

It definitely was going to be a very long four years at this rate.

Crap Baskets.


Echo kneeled down to the ground, each sound, each sight, even each smell. He took it in. It was quiet, no sign of any Grimm nearby. Broken branches, clean cuts, and slices marked the scorched trees. It was the scene of a fight, the scents still lingered in the air. With the lack of bodies, it happened at least ten to twenty minutes ago, and Initiation had only been going on for a while now so it definitely was recent.

"Are you, absolutely, positively, certain you are a boy?" His… partner was really starting to annoy him, but he ignored the question. He answered it the last seven times, and he wasn't going to do so again.

Well, technically he did answer, but he did so by flipping Kuro off.

He knew he was feminine in appearance, enough that people made the mistake, but he could only be interrogated about it for so damn long before he grew frustrated. His previous excitement about Kuro had faded, and now he was just doing his best to keep calm.

"Well that's rude." Kuro said dryly, messing with some silly scroll game. He was playing… video games…

When Echo met Kuro, he was fighting off an especially large Ursa Major, a smart one too. When he asked for help… Kuro ignored him, watching with amusement. He was so annoyed by Kuro, he nearly slapped him. However, after it was sorted out, he introduced himself… Echo immediately forgave him.

Kuro Kada, a member of the Kada Clan. He knew exactly what kind of reputation they had. The best of the best, all of them having their own talents of which they thrived in. Kuro didn't look it, but Echo knew appearances could be deceiving better than anyone. So obviously his first thought was that Kuro was some amazing fighter or something similar.

It must have been a test. He told himself. To make sure that I would be a good partner.

It made sense, he was satisfied even. He believed he was partnered with someone who was likely one of the best students in Initiation, and that he was recognized.

Oh how wrong he was! Kuro had shown himself to be cold, arrogant, rude, and utterly lazy. He wasn't some prodigy, he was a loser with a big head who used his family's influence to get into Beacon. Echo couldn't wait to show Kuro his place.

It'd be easy too, to just demonstrate how far behind Kuro was during Initiation. The signs were all around him, it was an easy shot. He just had to aim and fire.

"Some people fought Grimm here, they won. They quickly moved north, to the ruins. Something big followed them, likely slowly and from far behind. Meaning it's an old Grimm, big and smart." Echo signed, gesturing to the tracks and the branches broken above them. "With your… physique and my lack of close combat, it'd be pointless to attempt fighting it. We should go another way."

"Good job Sherlock. You pointed out the obvious. And I'll have you know, I got in on recommendation." Kuro yawned, putting his scroll away. He then cracked his neck, as if trying to act all cool or something. It really ruffled Echo's feathers.

"Oh really? Then if you're such a great strong detective, why don't you tell me what you've discovered?" Echo felt a smirk grow as he awaited Kuro's response.

The toothpick of a boy only gave his surroundings a cursory glance, only making Echo even more smug. "The fight was against either Ursa, Hounds, Kitsas, or Beowulves, based one the claw marks I'd guess Wulves. But I'm not an expert on Grimm. Based on the impacts on those trees, one of the two members is the user of a strong knockback related semblance, very talented in Aura control, or a Dust Caster. Based on how the battle played out though, I'd wager Dust."

Echo blinked in surprise, but Kuro wasn't done. "One of them was struggling, otherwise there wouldn't be as much damage. A weapon was thrown to assist, at that tree. It's too deep to be a missed attack, but not clean enough to be a weapon intended for throwing. An axe. This person had a fire semblance, evident by the burns. They made sure to extinguish the flames afterwards. They finished off the Grimm and helped the other get away. Then, a Big Grimm followed them, but it was also one that was stealthy. Meaning either a King Taijitu, An Elder Arachne, or a Silent Reaper based on region."

Bullshit. Echo stared at Kuro with a scowl, the evidence Kuro pointed out did link it together but… some of it would have been impossible to know. "You're guessing, aren't you?"

"...not at all. It's obvious by the fact that there's Force Dust Residue on the tree, aaaaaand my friend Mags carved their initials on that tree. I know they use an Axe and a Fire Semblance. They always clean up on their own flames. Not everything is that complicated." Kuro stared at Echo like he was an idiot as he began walking down the trail they left.

He sputtered silently, clenching his fists until his knuckles were white. How!? What? He… that can't be right… no way.

Echo did a double take, and indeed there was a set of Initials crudely carved into a tree. He didn't see it through all the scratch marks, but it was there. He tapped the tree, he wiped the sticky sap and powder onto his shorts. The residue was there, but it wasn't even visible…

He could see things that couldn't be seen. He solved things with ridiculous deductions that had to be mostly guessing. And despite looking like a noodle that grew arms and legs, he somehow managed to get into Beacon on a supposed recommendation.

Even being from the Kada Family didn't explain that, even prodigies followed some sense of normalcy. Plus, if Kuro was such a big shot, there would have been news about him coming to Beacon, like there was about Pyrrha Nikos. In fact, nearly everything about the Kada family was given at least a small article…

It just… made no sense. Maybe it was his semblance, observation or clairvoyance semblances weren't unheard of. Though even that didn't explain everything…

The insanity of it all made Echo scowl in frustration as he silently stormed after Kuro, the only sound being the snapping of branches and the howling wind. One question lingered in his mind, one he wasn't sure he wanted to know the answer to…

Just who is Kuro Kada?


The forest was bland and dull. The tweet of birds, the rustling of wind in the leaves, and every other sound formed a song. But Kuro took no pleasure in such a basic tune. Some found nature beautiful, but he saw it through a grey lense.

He needed to find something else, and his partner was the perfect thing. Entertainment.

So essentially, Kuro was messing with Echo. How could he not? Echo… well, he was a Guy that looked like a Girl, and an uptight individual to boot.

To put it simply? He was ripe with material to make jokes about, and easy to annoy.

Perhaps the teasing came so easily because he was annoyed about losing Mags as a partner. Echo seemed half decent. A falcon faunus, and one damn good shot from what he had observed. Smart too. The boy definitely needed to loosen up though, otherwise he'd never make it in this big game of life.

He could only hope Mags found a good partner, and hadn't hooked up with some weak nobody. Smart was good, but useful was ideal. He didn't want to be leading a team of rag tag weaklings. If they were strong but stupid, it didn't matter. After all, he could just create the strategies for them.

"Echo. You seem like a serious, no nonsense person. You don't follow the idea that a semblance is personal, do you?" Kuro asked, further investigating his teammate. Things like semblances would be good to know.

Echo raised a brow and shook his head while they walked. His movements were careful, and he didn't make a sound while moving through the grass. It was mildly impressive, actually. "However, I'm not telling you either way. I'm not giving away information for free."

Kuro was briefly amused, and nodded. "I suppose that's fair. Well, I'd rather not spill mine. So I guess we'll find out in battle, it seems fun enough."

"What? Wouldn't it be both easier and beneficial to just tell me yours, then I tell you mine?" Echo scoffed.

"It would be easier, but easy is hardly the best way. You could do it in a way that pushes you, or even a way that's fun." Kuro shrugged, looking up at the sky. They had been trailing for a long time now, with no sign of Grimm. He could only guess that Mags and their partner were taking care of them all.

Kuro turned back to Echo after that moment of thought. "Although I dislike being inefficient, my semblance is both more fun and more effective if people don't know how it works.'

"...Clairvoyance? Sensory Analysis? Retrocognition?" Echo signed, seemingly playing a guessing game. How fun.

"Nope, nope, and especially nope." Kuro shook his head, smirking briefly.

"Fine then, I give up. I'll wait until you use it." Echo rolled his eyes, instead pushing ahead of Kuro to lead. It was genuinely amusing how he was so easily frustrated.

He could even hear Echo's deep and annoyed sigh. It seemed Kuro's game-logic was frustrating. It made sense. People were often upset about what they could not understand.

"Oh how boring." He rolled his eyes.

Echo ignored him at first. However, after a few moments, he paused to look back. "Is everything about fun to you?" He reluctantly asked.

Kuro paused at that, stopping in his tracks. He fell into a deep and pensive silence. Nothing could be heard but the rare, distant, gunshot and the song of the forest.

He turned to look at Echo, who only seemed to frown more at his silence. Did he come across as someone who only sought out entertainment? Did he seek out other things at all?

He didn't like that he had to ask himself that question.

"No. There's more to life than having fun." He replied. Not with his usual subtle smug tone, but a more sincere response.

"You're a confusing guy, Kuro." Echo sighed deeply, brushing the hair out of his face.

"Maybe, but you're not any better." Kuro scoffed, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the tree. Although he raised a brow as a sound interrupted them, he could hear a cry. Not quite feminine but… off, in the same way Echo was 'off'.

Not that Kuro reacted to it much. It was… coming closer though. That meant there was no reason to give chase.

Echo furrowed his brow, and scowled. "Why are you just standing there? They're clearly close by, let's go." He started to jog, heading in that direction.

Back the way they came? No way, Kuro wasn't backtracking. "No need, they're coming this way." Indeed, the tremble of the ground slowly grew more noticable.

"What? So you'd rather wait and risk that girl getting hurt instead of doing something?" Echo gave a baffled and incredulous stare, almost scowling at Kuro.

While he simply nodded in turn. "That's correct, they'll be here any moment."

Echo scoffed, beginning to turn to walk anyway. Although his eyes widened as he rolled to the side to avoid the largest deathstalker Kuro had ever seen as it burst into the clearing. Even he staggered back in surprise.

"Haaaaaaalp!" A blond boy held on for dear life, clinging to the stinger like a frightened animal. Clearly the source of the screaming, Kuro couldn't help but find the situation comical as the Grimm endlessly chased a target dangling out of it's reach.

And on it chased, futilely trying to reach for the blonde as it trampled through the forest. It was only a matter of moments until any sign of them had disappeared.

The Grimm's focus had entirely been on the boy who was foolish enough to ride a grimm. Idiotic, but amusing, if you asked Kuro.

"Jaaaune! Hold on!" A girl with Scarlet hair and emerald eyes burst in soon later, armor of glimmering gold. She was giving chase, and didn't seem to notice them either. However, one would have to have been raised under a rock to not recognize such a figure.

Pyrrha Nikos. The Invincible girl. She was, presumably, chasing after the one who had been lucky enough to get her as a teammate. The blonde.

She was dead set on it too, because just like the Grimm… she didn't even notice the two of them.

Once they were gone, both Echo and Kuro gave a second of shared silence. "Fuck." He cursed, scrambling back to his feet. Had he really just stared the entire time?

Kuro didn't like Echo, and he knew Echo disliked him. However, right now, they could ignore that. After all, there was a chance to get on Pyrrha Nikos' good side after all.

Help that mess, get a relic, and find Mags. He needed to stop focusing on his partner, and remember the game.


Fragment of Yellow

Jaune was having just about the worst time in Initiation possible. He could say from experience that even with the strength his new aura gave him, it was very hard to hold on when a Deathstalker was trying to fling you around!

The… scales? Armor? Whatever it was, the outside of the Deathstalker was very smooth, and he could feel himself slipping.

It didn't help that he felt like he was gonna puke…

At least some people seemed to have joined in with Pyrrha, hopefully they'd catch up soon. He wanted off of this ride…


"Mhm hm hm~!" The song of the forest felt intune with their humming, as they skipped along after their partner. Even the clanking of their armor plates, and the sound of their footsteps. They became a rhythm that Mags felt deep in their soul.

Perl Aurelius. Incredibly shy, super long hair—like hot damn—reeked of dust and metal, and was super duper smart. All in all? Mags gave Perl a solid Eleven out of Seven. Oh, she was also nice too. That was really important.

So they were rather satisfied with their partner. They just… well they were pretty sure Perl wasn't happy with them. That idea made them nervous… as they really liked the Blonde. However, she seemed nervous and tense around Mags. While they weren't as good as Kuro, they had picked up tips on how to read people and understand emotions.

And Perl seemed scared, and that alone wracked Mags with guilt. They didn't want to be scary. They were supposed to be a knight in shining armor!

So… rather than talking or getting to know Perl, they just trailed along behind her. They didn't show the nervousness externally, but even Megs themself could not help their tail from coiling around their leg.

However, all the tense air between them disappeared as they broke free from the underbrush and entered a clearing. They weren't upon a cliff persay, but a large hill that gave a stunning view of the ruins below.

A rolling field of jade grass… littered with stone rubble and shattered spires. Decrepit buildings and a maze of ruined stone pathways…

A remnant of a civilization long past…

How awesome was that!? Mags could not get over how cool it looked! Their eyes were wide as they scanned it over, their tail… well as embarrassing as it was, even they admitted it began to sway like that of a puppy's.

"Woaah!" They let out a gasp, and… Perl giggled?

At least they could humor her like this. Something like that only made Mags smile even more. It was sweet.

"The Emerald Ruins… th-they're really something else, huh?" She muttered, smiling softly as well. It seemed she enjoyed them too!

"Yeah! Nothing like the ruins I saw in Vacuo as a kid. They were all sandy." They crinkled their face in annoyance. Despite being born in Vacuo, they still hated sand with a fiery passion.

It was just… so annoying. It got everywhere, and just when you think you got all of it off… you'd find even more! It made Mags' blood boil sometimes. Though they didn't mention it. Kuro always said they got angry over the weirdest things…

"Uh, I'd never have guessed…." Perl chuckled softly, although that made Mags tilt their head.

"Uhm… Vacuo is full of sand though? I'd think that much would be an easy guess." Who didn't know that Vacuo was full of sand? Sure, there was the odd jungle or oasis, even a mountainous region, however it was primarily sand.

You'd have to have been born under a rock to not know that much. So why was Perl staring at her like that?

"I was… n-nevermind. Yeah." Perl just shook her head with a soft, nervous chuckle. It only served to confuse Mags even more, but they decided to ignore it. "L-Let's head down there, yeah?"

"Of course! I wonder if we're the first ones here, woah… that'd be so cool!" Mags flashed a giddy grin, as they slid down the hill with ease. They didn't check if Perl followed, after all… well, why wouldn't she be following?

Deeper within the ruins, there was a set of pedestals. Mags was positive that was where the relics were. Their gut said so. And they always trusted their gut.

Though, distantly…

"...a cute little pony?" A warm voice could be heard, only caught by their sharp ears.

"Sure." The other voice was deeper and smoother, and seemed super chill.

People! Well Mags was a bit more bummed they weren't the first, this also meant… actually, they didn't know what it meant. They were excited though, as they hopped up onto the stone wall and skipped along to meet them.

A figure of black and a figure of gold could be seen… they smelt like fish and lilacs. Though… were they forgetting something?

"Maaags! Wait up!" Perl cried out, causing Mags to wince. Yeah… their partner was important… but new people!

"Huh?" The sound of Perl definitely got the attention of Blondie & Blackie, and they quickly spotted Mags from their high position on the stone ruins.

"Oh… uh, 'sup?" Blondie greeted, raising a brow. "Was that… Perl?"

"..." Blackie just sighed. "It sounded like her."

"Oh! You two know the boss lady! Perfect, uh, she'll catch up. She's a slow runner, but it'll be fine." Mags snorted, and leapt to the ground with a heavy thud. "I'm Mags! Well, Magynti. But I prefer Mags, it's cooler, y'know? They too. Uh… what else… oh! Is this where the relic is?"

"Woah… you're energetic, huh." Blonde raised a brow, placing a hand on her hip. Were they too energetic? Mags disagreed, they were only too energetic when angry.

Now? Now they were just the right amount of energetic.

"Maaags…" Perl arrived! Mags knew it'd happen. She seemed frustrated but things would be golden later. Probably. "Why'd you run of—Oh! Uhm, Y-Yang… Blake. Hi!" Her eyes widened when she saw the others.

"'Sup Per—" Blondie, or rather, Yang was cut off by an ear piercing screech. It was loud for someone with sharp hearing like Mags, and… confusing too.

"Oh crap, some girl's in trouble!" Yang swapped tracks, while Mags looked around. "We gotta do something!"

"H-Huh? But that s-sounded…" Perl furrowed her brow as well, turning back to the forest.

While Mags whole-heartedly agreed that helping people should always be a top priority, something wasn't right… what was that smell, and that whipping of air…

"Heeaaads uuuuup!" A shrill girl's voice came from the sky, and Mags looked up to spot a whirl of red and black plummeting towards them.

Oh, it was raining friends now? Cool!


Fragments of the Soulless

The beast remained camouflaged, imperceptible to the eye of man. It was patient and wise, unlike the lesser mutts of it's kind. So it waited to get it's prey. It had found them after many like it had been slain, and it began tracking them.

It hid it's scent, blending in with the forest and moving as quietly as possiblr while following them. It tried to move in several times, but the Vibrant One was always on guard.

The Vibrant One was good prey, it had a strong soul and would be tasty. It just had to catch it.

The other though… the smaller and timid one. It interested the creature less. It's soul was small and fragile, it looked… bland even. Which was odd. In it's many years of experience, gold or silver souls were always Vibrant.

Not that it mattered, it would catch them both and devour them whole. It would strike when the Vibrant one was distracted.


AN: And that's this chapter of Mind & Soul. I wanted to make it a bit longer, but that felt like it'd be stretching it. The next chapter should be pretty action packed though… hopefully that one won't be too long.

Huh, maybe I am rusty after such a long hiatus.

Either way, leave any questions or comments. I actually plan to do a Q&A with the characters if I hit a milestone, so I'll be keeping track of personal questions about the characters as well.

I'll see you all next time!