A Cosmic Journey

A/N: Hello, Hello! It's Monday again! Wow, updating this fic weekly makes Mondays far better for me. Sorry for the semi-late update, had a lot going on over the weekend. But I digress.

Before I forget, I had some messages asking where I got the inspiration for the OC's and weapons' names, along with the chapter titles. For the weapons, I made Ren's the Japanese translation of "Seven Flowers", while Nora's meant "Brave Lightning" in Danish. As for the OC's, Weylin references a crazy smith of lore, who I modeled Weylin off of. And Preto? This chapter gives a tiny hint as to where I got his name. The chapter titles, at least the recent ones, are parts of proverbs.

Chapter 5: The Weakest Link

Chapter Date: 09/23/19

It took Nora and Ren past noon to find the Cleansers. After some very restless sleep, my Aura had done its best to patch me up, leaving me with some residual bruising and a niggling headache. However, I couldn't leave the hospital quite yet in case the cops had further questions. Thankfully, Nora and Ren were under no such compunctions, and spent the morning tirelessly searching for the Cleansers' hideout. Eventually, their efforts were rewarded, and both returned to recover their energy and sit in tense silence.

I'd been on the bed considering my journal notes on canon again. Some deep thinking had shown me it was Sun's natural elusiveness that helped him evade the Cleansers in the original timeline, albeit unintentionally. Meaning that it was sticking with Nora, Ren and I that got him caught, but I pushed the thought aside.

"What's the operation type?" I asked. "Domestic or international?"

"It's difficult to discern from the outside," Ren replied. "They could be shipping Faunus to other regions of Anima, or be shuttling them towards the western coast for overseas transport."

"Tch, identifying the buyers would've been helpful," I lamented. "It's fine, not the important part of the reconnaissance. How big does their crew look?"

"They've got tooonnns of guys," Nora groaned, then looked over at my impatient expression. "Err, meaning a few dozen by our guess."

"A few dozen? Nuts, this is gonna be awful." I rubbed my eyes. "Ok, we can plan accordingly. How do our weapons and gear look?"

"We stopped by Weylin's earlier. Despite his…annoyance at our lack of weapon sketches, he provided some 'unsellable' pieces, so we are well-equipped." Ren shuddered. "Having a conversation with him likely shaved years off my lifespan."

"I don't know, he kinda grows on you," Nora mused, and Ren and I gaped before groaning in realization. 'Of course the insane, super-strong, short girl likes the insane, super-strong, short blacksmith.'

"Alright. I'm prepared on my end, so come the evening we'll be ready." I paused to look at both of them; nervous, and more importantly, young. "Are you both sure about this? If we do this, there's no turning back, and on multiple counts."

'If Sun, Nora and Ren get killed by my mistakes, forget me dying, all of Remnant will suffer for it." The room closed in, and my injuries throbbed from fruitless attempts to breathe. 'I can't fail, I can't fail, I-"

"Hey." Ironically, it was Nora's soothing tone that broke the loop. Gently grasping my hand, she lightly squeezed, the warmth a lifeline away from my thoughts. "We can do this. We will do this, for Sun and every other faunus taken. This plan was made by all three of us, so it's so good that no one'll see us coming."

I gave a trembling smile, then sighed. "Yeah, we'll be fine."

'And the Oscar for Best Actor goes to…'

… … …

"You know what, it's not too late to call the cops, grab Sun and hightail it all the way back to Yozakura. I'm sure Weylin's got a scroll, we can just send-"

"No," Nora hissed quietly, or quietly for her. "We're doing this."

"Guys…" Ren whispered warningly. "I'm in position. Nora, any issues remaining hidden after I left?"

"Nope," Nora popped. "Well, besides wanting to introduce Motlyn to their faces and legs. I'm still hidden though!"

"Great. Kouzai?"

"Just waiting for you two to make your moves."

"Alright. On your signal, Nora." Ren and I both tensed at his words, and waited. After a few seconds, chaos was unleashed.

"I'M HERE TO BREAK SOME LEGS!"

An explosion rocked the warehouse, and from my position on the roof across the street, I saw the guards outside turn in unison.

"How the hell did someone get inside?"

"Who knows, who cares? Get some men and smoke them out, NOW!"

"Warm up the trucks too, we need a fast exit if things go south."

"Okay, so far, so obvious." I muttered, waiting for the inevitable outburst.

"…This truck's grounded!...all the trucks are grounded!"

"HOW? We were standing here the whole time!"

'Any second now…' As if on cue, three knives flew out of the shadows and sparked violently off a guard's aura before a fourth sank into his calf. The man collapsed as if his strings were cut, howling in pain and jerking on the ground.

"Shit! Light this trash up!" another man roared, and a half-a-dozen guards fired towards the shadows while another other half charged in with melee weapons. They only got a few steps before one called out, "Uhh…there's no one here!"

"I am here…," a voice came from the opposite direction, all the men whirling around, "…to deliver…retribution."

Another half-dozen knives flew from another patch of shadows, and two gunners fell with similar wounds in their arms and legs.

"Enough games, fucker!" the man leading this group shouted. "Find him!"

'He is vengeance, he is the night…' I silently laughed, jumping to the other roof. Using Burst, I rushed to the rooftop guard and dispatched him with two dull cracks to the head. As the man fell, I completed the quote, 'He is…LIE REN!'

… … …

"So we agree Nora will be the diversion, Ren will be the infiltration, and I'll bust the faunus out?" Ren nodded while Nora seemed deep in thought.

"That sounds like the wisest course of action," Ren confirmed. "Nora is best-suited for a prolonged battle with those outside and draw attention away from inside to make freeing the faunus easier. Meanwhile, my semblance makes me more unnoticeable, meaning that I can secure the surveillance room to cut off their eyes and ears, leaving you hopefully relatively free to save the captured faunus."

"These are still slim odds though," I hedged. "If we don't-"

"I'VE GOT IT!" Nora shouted, jumping up from her seat. After shushes from workers outside the room, Nora grabbed our heads and forcibly leaned us in.

"What if," she whispered conspiratorially, "we switch mine and Ren's jobs?"

Ren and I blinked, before I asked the obvious. "Doesn't that go against everything we know about your strengths?"

"It does, but it doesn't," Nora stated proudly. "I'm definitely good fighting multiple people with Motlyn and my grenades, but sabotaging the trucks and drawing attention outside is secondary to holding the surveillance room. Someone needs to keep them out of the room as long as possible, and I'm perfect for that! Meanwhile, wrecking the trucks will take quiet skills that I don't have. And since we'll be fighting at night, Ren's semblance will make finding him extra hard!"

Ren and I were shocked speechless for a good minute as the hamster wheels in our heads went into overdrive, broke their axles and rolled right out of our heads.

"That's genius." I whispered. And holy crap it was! 'I'd have never thought about it.'

"Ok, so I would be outside fighting traffickers with guns," Ren's deadpan could not have been flatter if he tried, "while Nora will be…"

… … …

"PREPARE TO HAVE YOUR LEGS BROKEN!"

A mangled shriek resounded inside the building as my toes curled. 'Jesus…I guess she's in the monitor room now. Time to move.'

Finding the roof access, I took the ladder and descended as quietly as I could, not that much stealth was required over the cacophony of shouts, gunfire, and grenades from both inside and outside. Feet landing on a upper-level, I crouched and looked out over the railing in the dark.

The large room was dim, cold and damp. A blend of foul odors wafted from below, as I realized that those captured likely weren't given bathing or bathroom rights. The center of the room held rows of cages, and I didn't need to guess what was inside. Straining my eyes, I scanned the room for the number of traffickers, and then for Sun. An extra-reinforced cage towards the back clued me in.

'About a half-dozen guards. Less than I could expect, but more than I can take at once. Either I sneak around and take them one-by-one, which likely won't be that sneaky, or break Sun out to take them together.' Both were long shots, but I was out of options. The idea of Nora and Ren each holding off over double the men that I was forced my hand. Dropping to the ground, I neared the cages and tensed when I saw eyes looking directly at me.

'Shit, I forgot about faunus senses!' I silently shushed, and miraculously, the faunus held back their excitement or fear. I circled around the rows of cages, repeating my pleas for silence to the other faunus. Fortunately or unfortunately, the captives were all old enough to understand that I did not look like a trafficker, and were either grateful or cowed enough by my appearance to bite back words. Arriving at Sun's cage, I knew I had seconds before a guard looped back. Peering in, I couldn't hold back my strangled gasp and low curse at Sun's appearance.

Dark splotches over the boy's face, bare torso and arms spoke of his resistance and subsequent beating by the traffickers. Soft wheezing, even unconscious, indicated likely multiple broken ribs, and with his bent tail, crooked fingers and swollen eyes, it'd be a miracle if he could put up a fight even if freed.

Clomping footsteps were all too close, and I ducked away. 'If I'm down to one combatant, me, I'll need to take almost all of them out a lot silently.'

"PSST!" Turning, a dog-eared faunus grasped the cage's bars. "Get us out already!"

"Little busy trying to beat six armed thugs!" I hiss-whispered. 'Even if I time my attacks with a grenade explosion, those won't come often enough to make a difference before-"

"Then even the odds!" the faunus hissed back, and the mental lightbulb blinked on.

I had time for maybe a sentence. "When you hear someone get knocked out, make a ruckus. Spread the word." I nearly dove away as another guard rounded the corner, but I had a plan, shaky as it was.

Climbing another ladder, I re-counting the numbers from above. 'Four below, two above.' Tiptoeing to opposite of where I spoke to the Faunus and found Sun, I climbed over the railing and hung on the upper-level's underside and waited. Closer and closer footsteps came, until…without a break in stride, a guard passed over and continued around the loop. Slowly, carefully, I climbed back topside, and tailed him.

'Thank you me, for wearing all black and for being naturally quiet.' I pulled out my temporary weapons, two steel rods provided by Weylin. Holding my breath, seconds passed while waiting for the right moment.

Another explosion vibrated the walls, and I lunged. Swiping sideways with Conqueror, a crack and flash of Aura had the man grunting and tilting into the railing. Bringing Protector down, I sandwiched the man's head between the railing and my weapon, a low hum ringing out as his Aura shattered and he slumped down. Grabbing the guard's body and removing his gun, I heaved him over the railing and dropped him onto one of the tall cages holding multiple faunus.

THUMP

"Hey! What was that?" A guard below asked, before calling out. "Someone up there check that out."

"HEY! Human scum!" a voice shouted from the opposite end of the room. "This roof's about to come down on our heads! Let us out already!"

Other voices joined in, and the air filled with noise as the captives let their negativity seethe.

With under twenty seconds before the other guard made his way around, I returned under the railing a little ways behind his unconscious colleague. As the other guard came stomping over and looked around, he looked over the railing and saw the body. "HEY! THERE'S-"

I swung Protector and Conqueror from opposite directions, simultaneously slamming the man's head before kicking him over the railing, watching as he landed on top of his partner's body with a slightly softer thump.

'Crap, the weapons!' I leapt onto the cage as gunfire rang out, and all fell silent.

"SHUT UP!" a guard roared. "If I hear so much as another peep out of any of you, I'll paint the walls red with animal blood. Always more stock available."

Grabbing the other guard's gun, I quietly looped back to the dog-eared faunus.

"Great plan!" the faunus whispered sarcastically. "What else you-" He stopped and squinted as I shoved a pistol at him, handle-end first of course.

"Take this. I'm going to break your cage and the reinforced one. Shoot any trafficker in your sights." The faunus wordlessly took the pistol and squinted again, before nodding. Concentrating, I used Burst and on the next explosion, I leveraged the cage's lock out of place. Then I sprinted down to Sun's cage. Keeping my ears open, I tried bending the bars with Burst. Unsurprisingly, they refused to budge. Grimly, I Aura-reinforced Protector and Conqueror.

One deep breath. 'Once I do this, they'll come running.'

Two. 'I lost to three yesterday, and now I'm about to fight four.'

Three. 'Bad odds for them.'

Gritting my teeth, I used Burst and slammed both rods into the bars repeatedly.

"The hell is that banging? I just said I'd kill you all! Someone check that out!"

Footsteps echoed around the room, and I hissed as the bars began bending. "Sun! Get up!" He stirred, but I was out of time. Moving to the cage opposite his, I put the other pistol into the hands of a trembling goat faunus.

"If you see another human that isn't me or another teenager, shoot them." Using Burst, I jumped on top of the cage and into the air. Seeing another two guards on the left side, I landed behind them as one turned the corner. Using Burst on all four limbs, I rammed the second guard and sliced both rods onto the man's collarbone. The combined force shattered the guard's Aura, and the man went down as the pain overloaded his senses. I stomped down on the guard's face as the first leveled his gun at me, but took multiple shots in the back as his Aura shattered and bullets carved through him. The gunfire stopping almost immediately, I was thankful for faunus vision saving me from friendly fire.

Turning back, I nearly gagged at the first guard's body, blood oozing out. It wasn't the first corpse I'd seen, but it was the first I'd contributed to, even indirectly. Swallowing bile, I grabbed both bodies and dumped them against the nearest cage. "Look for keys. If they don't have them, grab their guns and be ready to shoot."

Gunfire on the other end of the room drew my attention away. 'Looks like my own guard is busy.' Knowing he couldn't hold them off for long, I jumped atop the cages again and in the direction of the gunfire.

"HEY ASSHOLES!" I shouted, drawing their attention. Acting preemptively, I threw Conqueror to knock a guard's gun aside as I fell upon the other. A crack to the head with Protector temporarily dazed him, and I kicked him away as I rolled forward to pick up Conqueror. Lunging, I buried my knee in the last guard's ribcage, then bought both weapons down on the man's back, finally dropping him. Again pushing the traffickers to another cage, I rounded the corner again and froze.

Outside of Sun's cage was a man dressed in a matching slate-gray tailcoat and pants, with long black boots and gloves complementing his hair and beard. A double-sided saber connected by a thin cylinder hung at his left hip, as his right arm was raised as if appraising the air.

"Children." His voice was shockingly soft for what I guessed was the boss of this group, if the 'Asskicking equals authority' trope held up. "We are under attack by children. That…is upsetting."

With the man's exotic clothing and weapon indicating huntsman-caliber skill, I was screwed eight ways to Sunday. "But…that doesn't mean the plan fails."

Raising my voice, I shouted, "Everyone with a gun, light him up!" Thankfully, the faunus listened, and bullets streaked at the huntsman from multiple directions. Fluid dodging and well-placed blocks with his sword nullified their attempts, but I used Burst on all four limbs and bodily rammed the huntsman in the middle of his dodge. Amused, he skidded back a few yards onto another cage, leaving Sun's cage unattended. Reaching inside and hauling Sun out, the faunus seemed cognizant, looking up and slurring, "Kouzai? What do we do?"

I sighed, mental wheels turning. I pushed Protector and Conqueror into Sun's hands. "We…do nothing. You, are going to help these faunus escape from the building. Find Nora and bail her out of the surveillance room too."

I pushed him in the opposite direction of where I faced, looking at the huntsman. "I…have some ass to kick." Using Burst on all four limbs again, I dashed and threw a punch. The huntsman easily sidestepped and threw me across the row of cages like a pinball, bouncing twice.

"So confident, so sure of yourself." The man seemed confused, as he levelled his sword at me. "So misguided." The periphery showed the Faunus exiting their cages and moving en masse.

'They need more time.' I lamented. Pushing more Aura into my muscles, I flinched as I surpassed the self-imposed limit on Burst, perpetually amplifying my muscles. 'I'll give them every second I've got.'

I rushed the huntsman again, the man smirking as he swung his sword with blinding speed. I swayed out of the way, twisting to throw a hook at his body. As his other arm moved to grab mine, I grinned and latched both arms onto his, pivoting and digging my foot in to toss the huntsman as far as I could. He sailed past several cages, before flipping and grasping the bars, halting his momentum.

"Interesting…perhaps this technique is the root of your unfounded confidence." I blinked, and the huntsman was nearly behind me.

"Let me give you a taste of reality." A full swing sliced into me before I could block, and I flew upwards. I coughed and righted myself, landing on the upper-level just as a bullet slammed into me, and I crashed against the other railing.

'Of course…everything is also a gun.' Other bullets flew past as I ran, but my speed had lowered from continued use of Burst straining my muscles. Pulling out my scroll, I just managed to glimpse the time before a bullet pierced the machinery. My hand blocked the shrapnel, and I cursed as the huntsman landed in front of me.

"How naïve, to believe you could walk in with a half-baked plan and without calling the police. Or fighting me without a weapon." I looked back for an instant, but that was opening enough for the huntsman to close in and nail my liver. I rose off the ground, then meteored back down as the huntsman's sword slammed into my midriff, finally shattering my Aura. I crashed onto a cage's roof, the impact dealing its full force without my Aura to cushion the damage.

'Almost there…' I dragged myself closer to the target. Coming to the two guards I'd knocked out, I crawled over them. A thump alerted me to the huntsman's presence, before I was dragged back and hauled off the ground, held by my throat in the air.

"It's a shame this location is compromised, likely all of Wind Path is, but there are other ventures," the huntsman spoke clinically. "Before I depart however, I do intend to repay you for that setback."

Closing my eyes, I sought the dregs of my Aura but forwent defense, as bright lights shined through the room's windows, gaining the huntsman's attention.

"This is the Wind Path Police! Lay down your arms and surrender, or we will respond accordingly!"

'That's Ren safe…' I grinned, gripping the huntsman's arm with my right hand as he gazed back in confusion and a hint of fear. "That's one thing you're wrong about…"

Channeling the full remainder of my Aura, I stabbed the huntsman's arm with the knife I'd grabbed off the unconscious guard, two Auras flaring. The huntsman's Aura far outstripped mine, but a direct Aura-strengthened and Aura-reinforced blow still drained a chunk off his, along with delivering the pain of being stabbed. With a sharp yelp, the huntsman's fingers spasmed and dropped me. I immediately dashed towards the exit as fast as I could without Aura. '…and that's another.'

BANG

The bullet's forward momentum carried me just shy of the doorway, but I collapsed as blood pooled beneath me, heedless of my left arm against the wound.

'GET…UP…' I coughed and dragged myself forward, limbs unnaturally limp. Then a weight on my neck stopped my progress altogether.

"I aimed for your head," the huntsman wasn't soft anymore, his tone now closer to ground glass. "but the pain interfered. That just means you get one more bullet."

I struggled through blood loss and air deprivation as the weapon's gun barrel pressed hard into my skull. 'Not…done yet…need to see…them safe!' I gurgled a weak roar in defiance.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

CRACK

The weight on my neck ceased as the huntsman flew off to the side and inside one of the cages. Turning my neck, I caught sight of Sun and the dog-eared faunus standing over me, Sun wielding a staff that he'd just whipped the huntsman with. Meanwhile, the other faunus laid cover fire with two high-caliber guns that he obtained from somewhere. The huntsman was grounded while fending off sustained fire using his sword within the cage's confines.

"Hang on, Kouzai." Sun slammed his staff into the ground and closed his eyes, a golden glow enveloping his body. Before my eyes, a golden copy of Sun appeared and strode towards the cage.

'Via Sun…so he's got it already…' The copy grabbed the cage door and slammed it shut as the real Sun hauled me up.

"C'mon, we're leaving now." As Sun and the other faunus sprinted away, I saw the huntsman lunge and stab Sun's copy. As it began dissolving, it held the cage doors shut with one hand and released something in the other. A round, pink object.

My eyes shot open. This seemed familiar… "Faster! We're not far enough!" I hissed.

"Are you kidding me? We're already at the doorw-"

BOOOOMMMM!

The wave of heat, wind, and pink dust billowed outward and washed over us, propelling us through the corridor outside of the room. All three of us landed on our stomachs, though Sun and the other faunus were up almost immediately, grabbing my arms and dragging me along slung over their shoulders.

"Brothers, that little girl does not play around." The other faunus wheezed, and closer inspection revealed similar marks from what Sun had sustained.

"Alright, what's the plan? Kouzai? Other guy?" Sun asked

"I told you, my name's Perry. We were cell neighbors!"

"I spent most of that time getting beaten, if you'll remember," Sun shot back. "Anyways, Kouzai, Nora said on her way out that her and Ren are safe. What should we do?"

"Get out…too many questions…if found…" I forced out, vision getting hazy.

"They'll have a ton of questions for you three too," Perry responded. Sun was about to protest, but there wasn't time.

"Was expected…to be found…Sun, go…" I gritted out. We were nearing an entrance, as the flashing lights and barked orders became clearer. I stood up, no small effort on my part, and slowly dragged my arms off their shoulders. Staggering to a wall, I leaned my right side against it and waved them off, too sluggish to speak.

With a regretful look, Sun and Perry departed, and I turned towards the entrance. Forcing one foot in front of the other, I leaned heavily on the wall to remain upright. After what felt like hours, I shoved my weight against the door and sank to my knees, gazing at the fleet of cars and cops.

"Finally…nap time…"

… … …

I had the craziest dream. I dreamt of being put into the world of Remnant, before canon, in a younger body. I dreamt of befriending a young Nora and Ren, and training alongside them. I dreamt of meeting a bunch of crazy people, including Sun. I dreamt of saving Sun and getting shot.

But that was all my imagination. I was in New York, a college grad going into graduate school. I was nursing a full-body ache after pushing myself too hard in the gym again. I was resting in my soft bed before…my bed wasn't soft. I opened my eyes, groaned, then nearly choked from the sandpaper-dry tongue.

"KOUZ-"

"NORA, no. He's been shot and needs to not have every bone and muscle stressed." A glass appeared by my head, and excruciatingly slowly, I raised myself upright.

The glass was held by Lie Ren, while his other blocked Nora Valkyrie.

"…Kouzai? Are you okay? Why're you crying?"

I couldn't respond; I'd reveal all my secrets if I opened my mouth. After a gruesome ten seconds of furious blinking and man-sniffles, I wrenched my calm face back on as best I could.

"Just a really good dream that turned out to have been a dream," I responded sadly. Ren and Nora nodded, eyes showing they needed no further explanation.

"The police have waited outside as protection, so they likely heard the commotion," Ren warned. "You can tell them the truth, save for anything on Preto. Nora and I already gave them such when asked earlier."

Before he could add anymore, there was a soft knock, and after a few polite seconds, it opened as a hulking uniformed man entered.

"I hope I'm not intruding on a private moment," the man offered apologetically. "As for interrupting your recovery, I will do my best to keep this brief. George Jarrah, Wind Path Chief of Police."

'…Welp, it was a good run. Guess I can cross getting arrested off my bucket list.' I shook the man's proffered hand gingerly, both from various aches and because his bowling ball-sized hands could likely crush mine.

"I'm glad to see the worst hasn't occurred. I heard you gave my officers quite a scare after stumbling outside covered in blood." Jarrah laughed when Nora muttered, "Not just them."

"Now that you've awoken, I ask for your account of the previous two days, beginning with your involvement with this case." The chief's posture and tone were friendly, but his eyes made it clear that I was far too involved in events not to provide my perspective. Swallowing down some water, I began to speak. After around ten minutes, I finished, and leaned back as Jarrah digested everything.

"So distracting the Cleansers by slashing their tires was a feint?" The chief asked.

"Not quite. Disabling their vehicles to prevent escape was crucial to the plan, otherwise the lives of the faunus and others could've been at risk. As for diverting their attention, splitting their forces and remaining out of sight was the only way we could last for ten minutes, around when your officers would arrive," I explained.

"Yes, that was quite an interesting call…"

… … …

"Hello, this is the Wind Path Police…Department…are those gunshots?"

"Yes, I'm right outside a warehouse in the industrial district. There are men with guns and knives shooting everywhere, shouting about 'animals' and 'merchandise'!"

"Sir, please get to a safe location and remain on the line, we have response teams on the way."

"Oh dust, one of my friends is fighting them! I have to help!"

"Sir, WAIT-"

… … …

"Hmm…I see. How did you find their hideout within a day? Wind Path is sizeable, and a search with just two people should not have yielded any timely results."

"It came to me yesterday…" I began.

… … …

"Kouzai, you shouldn't even be out of bed yet, let along walking and rifling through our bags," Ren commented, exasperated by two people's worth of crazy antics.

"Ok first, there's no force on Remnant that would stop me from going to the bathroom myself," I replied. "and seco-scratch that, I found it!"

"Found what? OOH, a card, what's it do? What's it do?" Nora inspected the card.

"This," I smiled, "will let us find the Cleansers. It's one of their access cards."

At their confused looks, I elaborated. "The trafficker who blindsided me got mouthy and pulled one of these out. I noticed afterwards that Sun was looking back and forth between it and me and trying to shout something. Earlier, I realized that he was tracked down because he had two of their cards. I'm guessing they took their wallets back while kidnapping Sun, but didn't bother checking if they were inside. So I went looking, and now, we have an in to wherever they're holed up."

Nora smiled with far too many sharp teeth, while Ren's eyes narrowed. "How so?"

I flipped the card over, showing the small clear edge on the card's outer strip. Pointing the card towards the industrial district, the edge lit up dull red. "It's a locator, likely locked towards the building. This should lead you both to their base."

"IT'S A SUPER SPY TRACKER CARD?! Oh, gimmegimmegimme…"

… … …

"Huh, clever," Jarrah admitted. "Or just stupid of the Cleansers."

"Leaning more towards the second." I affixed a serious look on my face. Well, more serious. "I had one of my own if you're willing; have your officers discovered who their buyers are? The Cleansers were well-outfitted, and given our participation some closure would be good."

"Closure, sure," the chief scoffed. "It'll likely in the papers soon anyways. The suspects gave up the buyers easily. Turns out their biggest customers were dust mining corporations."

"But ironically, the SDC wasn't one of them." Jarrah added, drawing puzzled looks from Nora, Ren and I. "Turns out, with the White Fang's militant rise and focus on the SDC, other companies saw their chance to cut their way to the top. There was the sad sentiment that such atrocities wouldn't be noticed if the victims were faunus. The idea was to work them like slaves to drive labor costs far down and profits up, all for a one-time purchase. The SDC actually decried the concept when accused of such practices; though likely Jacques Schnee saw the idea as unsustainable, which is right, rather than a moral affront, which is wrong. Still, you helped dismantle a trafficking ring, save hundreds of faunus, and take down some ethically bankrupt and soon-to-be actually bankrupt businessmen."

We shared a chuckle, but Jarrah sighed, smile slowly becoming a thin line. "So it's a shame I have to get to this next part."

Drawing up to his full height, Ren, Nora and I exchanged nervous glances. "Your situation is quite complicated. On one hand, you performed a great service for Anima and Remnant as a whole. On the other however, your list of criminal and civil offenses is staggering, including assault and battery, trespassing, destruction of property, obstruction of justice, and others. On a third hand, you three are just teenagers, and barely at that, so the legal ramifications are a headache anyways."

As one, we all sagged under the weight of possible imprisonment, or at least massive fines. Then the chief coughed and straightened up. "Fortunately, I have a solution. Doubtless, your names will likely be known by Remnant over for taking down an inter-kingdom trafficking ring, and at such a young age. However, such accolades must also come an appropriate punishment, as you are unqualified individuals who had no right to act as you did. That said, such events shall only come occur if you three were actually involved."

We looked at him with confusion, then slow realization. 'No…he's not suggesting…'

"If Anima and Remnant are told that the Wind Path authorities caught the traffickers, such actions are within our occupational right. However, this means that your involvement will be unnoticed by the public. Is that a satisfactory arrangement?" Our jaws dropped without preamble.

"We accept your kind offer," I stated, looking at Nora and Ren and knowing that I spoke for them as well. Jarrah nodded, then bowed.

"Again, thank you on behalf of the citizens of Wind Path, Anima, and Remnant as a whole for your courage. Please, enjoy your recovery and the remainder of your time in Wind Path." After the chief exited the room, all three of us sighed in relief.

"Oh gods, I thought we were jail-bound." I wheezed, joined by Ren's nervous smile.

"Jail would have nothing on us! We'd be the toughest gang in prison, and all would fear the Three Huntsmen!" Nora happily espoused. Meanwhile, I sighed in sweet relief. "Alright, with that taken care of, let's just sit back and wait for-"

A knock on the door cut me off. 'Guess the chief had something else.' "Come in!"

The door turned, but instead of Jarrah, a wiry man in pastel yellow and cream entered. "Pardon me. Is this the room for Kouzai…huh, I don't believe we have a last name recorded."

'Yeah, I need to fix that soon.' I cleared my throat. "That would be me. Who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?"

"Oh, how rude of me. Yes, I am Bo Rosoku. Oh, and this must be Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie. This simplifies things immensely." The man reached into his back pocket. "Ah, here we are. I am a recruiter for Sanctum Academy, and these, are offer letters from the headmaster at Sanctum."

Wordlessly, we took the folded papers, and read through them. Then read them again while Nora was still reading hers.

"You want…to recruit us?" I asked, flabbergasted at the turn of events.

"My employer certainly does," Rosoku confirmed. "Although we have received notice that your deeds will go unnoticed by the public, such service still caught the ear of our staff at Sanctum. For your sheer bravery, ingenious plans and prodigious skills, we would be honored to count you as students come the springtime."

Ren and Nora still had their eyes glued to the paper, so I took the reins and replied, "Thank you for the information. I believe we require some time to process this."

"Certainly, you all must still be physically and mentally exhausted. Fear not, I am Wind Path's recruiting representative, so feel free to see me directly or contact me by scroll at any time. Both are provided in the letters. Rest well then." Tipping his hat, he made his exit.

I let out a looong breath and laid down, pillow over my face. "Hohkay, that was a thing. let's just-"

"Knock knock," The door opened, and Preto walked in. "Guess who's here."

"UUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHHH," thankfully the pillow muffled most of the sound, or I'd have nurses swarming.

"…well that was quite rude." Preto remarked. "And I had come in person to deliver vital news."

"If we won the bet, just leave the winnings on my pillow. If we lost, a pillow's already on my face; just finish the job." I was exhausted from the chain of visits, despite having done nothing but lay in bed. Preto chuckled darkly, and strangely enough so did Nora and Ren.

"Very well, if you insist," Preto caved, and there was silence. Then a suffocating weight bore down on my face as I thrashed.

Pushing the pillow off my face, I sat up and gasped. "What the Sam Hill? I thought we-" I stopped and gazed down at my lap, where atop the pillow was a sizeable bulging pouch.

"Congratulations. Pyrrha Nikos won." Preto was visibly curious. "It's one of the only times such a dark horse bet has prevailed against such impossible odds. Well, where the individual betting appears mentally sound. So how did you know?"

'Really, we're doing this now? On the heels of two other bombshells?' I took a deep breath, and let whatever was churning in the bullshit machine come out. "I've seen her fight before, and she looked so superior, so in control that when I heard she'd entered the tournament, I knew she would win."

No word I'd said was a lie, and I channeled that thought to project confidence. Preto nodded. "So secret knowledge, and a gut instinct. Rare and rarer, but not unheard of. And definitely sought after."

I froze. "I'm sorry?" From Preto's position at my bedside, neither Ren nor Nora could see his front, which seemed to be his intent as he pulled up his left sleeve.

"The Miss sends her regards, and thanks you for your initiative in handling the Cleansers." Preto's tone was casual, but my eyes were glued to the spider-and-web tattoo on his forearm.

"I actually suggested covering your action to Jarrah as a personal favor. For my amusement." Preto added. "As for the professional favor, my door and the Miss 'are always open should you require an audience."

Readjusting his suit, he extended his hand, which I faintly took as we shook for whatever reason.

"Pleasure doing business with you." Preto was all teeth now, and he looked like he was holding back a laugh. "See you around."

Waving, Preto strolled out of the room without another word. After the door closed, Ren and Nora turned back to me, but I was already fluffing my pillow.

"Kouzai, what did Preto mean when-"

"Nope," I responded, placing the lien on the nightstand.

"But Kouzai, we should discuss-"

"Nope." I laid down and rolled up my blankets.

"Are you on a broken loop and can only respond with nope?"

"Nope."

"…Do you wanna sleep and catch up again tomorrow then?"

"Eeyup."

… … …

"Dust, it feels good to be out of bed. I'm never getting hospitalized again."

"Considering that your record of fights is only narrowly in favor of not becoming bedridden, I do not have the same confidence."

"Aww, who cares? We're getting WEAPONS! Bomb-Hammer, here I come!" We were nearing Weylin's again. During my recovery time, short as it was thanks to my Aura, Ren, Nora, and I brainstormed ideas for our weapons. Naturally, I had much to suggest, and concepts for bladed pistols and a grenade-launching warhammer came into being. However, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

I had no damn idea what my weapon should be. Thanks to my escrima background, I was comfortable dual-wielding, but that could mean two of the same weapon or two different ones. And the variety was staggering. I was partial to swords for their cutting power and range, but after getting shot without Aura, I was very partial to something that could block bullets, at least until I could dodge or deflect them. As for attachments, better to master one form of combat than to be a novice at four.

"Sup, losers?" a jovial voice called out. Sun lounged outside Weylin's home, healed and leaning against a familiar staff made up of Protector and Conqueror.

"You could've gone in first, you know," I pointed out, only for Sun to laugh and clutch his abs.

"And deal with Weylin the Smith on my own? Fat chance, Perry told me stories before he left." We all chuckled, though my mind was at work. It was a shock to discover Perry was actually a canon character, one with glasses and more than enough reason to hate humans. Now that he was traveling to Vale, I could only pray our rescue was enough to dissuade him from joining the White Fang.

"Well, we're here now, so let's get this show on the ROAD!" Nora shoved the door open, the bang rattling the metal on the walls. And there, scooping great handfuls of rings into a large container, was Weylin.

"About time," Weylin grunted, setting aside the container and wheeling away to make space. As we filed in, he wheeled up and glanced up and down at each of us. A nod for Ren, a smile for Nora, a clap on the shoulder for Sun, and…

"Heard you got your ass kicked," Weylin snorted, and to my chagrin the others joined in.

"Who the frack told you that?" I demanded. The newspapers claimed the police had brought down the ring after all.

"I was visited by little Jarrah while you were recovering," Weylin responded, and we all shared baffled mouthings of 'little?' "He gave as best a stern talking to as someone terrified of me could, said I nearly led you three to your deaths. I told him you'd likely have gone ahead anyways, and would've done something even crazier."

"Guilty," I muttered, before clearing my throat. "We have designs to present-"

"And lien to spend!" Sun exclaimed, holding his own respectable pouch. I glared as he added, "What?"

"I don't recall promising a weapon for you, boy," Weylin growled, rolling up to Sun. "You think you can stroll in here, carrying a stack of lien and one of my 'works', and you think I'll bypass tradition for you?"

Sun very quickly quailed down to Weylin's height, but bit his lip and twisted the staff for a better grip before looking Weylin straight-on. "Yes."

"…Alright then. Step on up!" We all damn near-tripped on flat ground, trying to skewer Weylin with glares alone.

"That's it?!" I shouted. "I nearly went through a pagan blood ritual to get you to agree, and he zips to the front of the line? Literally?"

"Well, yeah," Weylin replied, confused. "If you three vouch for him, then it's fine. Unless he's not fine, in which case I'll refuse him."

'So pissed…anger, nowhere to go…' I felt my blood pressure rise, despite the fact that he was right, before I sighed. "Yeah, yeah."

As Sun walked into the back with Weylin, I looked at the walls of incomplete works, trying to find inspiration. Swords. Shields. Lances. Armors.

"Lazy-bones! You're next!" Sun flew from the back like he'd been punted, improbable as that was, while Ren rolled his eyes and glided past him.

"So, what did you come up with for a weapon?" I asked for the sake of it.

"I was thinking of some shotgun-nunchucks, that can form a staff, like this one here!" Sun held up the staff while Nora was muttering.

"Gun-nunchucks…GUNCHUCKS!" Nora shouted, grasping Sun by the shirt collar and shaking him. "THOSE SOUND AMAZING!"

"Uhh YEAH looking FOR-WARD to TRYING them OUT. Uhh-UHH KouZAI little HELP!"

'A thankless job…' "Yeah, they sound cool, but your mecha-shift weapon sounds waaay better, Nora." Nora immediately stopped, then brought her hand to her chin, dropping Sun in the process.

"Hmm, you're right…" Nora mused over Sun's groans. "I am indeed the queen of awesome weapons, but you can be my loyal monk follower! You should be grateful for such an esteemed position."

"I'm grateful for many things right now, mostly solid ground," Sun groaned, pushing himself to his feet. "Anyways, I also asked Weylin why these steel rods act as weird as they do."

"You mean how they're two separate parts, but are inseparable unless Aura-reinforcing each?" I asked. "Because that took some getting used to."

"Yeah. Weylin told me it was a mistake from the heating process. Since he infuses Gravity Dust to make the metals super-compact, instead of demagnetizing the metal he actually ended up super-magnetizing it."

"So they're bound by gravity and magnetism? Sounds like nothing's getting…through that…" A lightbulb went off in my head.

"Little Miss Bomb-it! You're next!" Weylin called.

"Coming, grandpa!" Nora skipped away as Sun gaped. I just shrugged.

"I'm not your grandpa, whelp! Now let's see what weapon of mass pain you've cooked up." Weylin sounded oddly excited for his not-granddaughter's design, as Ren appeared. He got about three-and-a-half steps before I stuck my hands out.

"Ren! Paper and pen, stat!" I exclaimed. Without blinking, Ren reached behind him and handed me the requisite items as Sun gawked.

"Where were you keeping that? You're wearing skinny pants and your tailcoat has no pockets!" Sun circled Ren while I drew a rough sketch.

"When you have Nora demanding various random items at all times of day, you learn to be efficient in carrying them," Ren offered, though Sun's face conveyed that he'd explained nothing.

I must've been sketching for minutes, but it felt like no time had passed before Weylin shouted, "Crazy-boy! Get in here!"

"How am I considered crazy when Nora and Sun are around?" I half-whined as Nora came out and I walked down the hall, into a dimly lit room devoid of all furniture but a chair in the center. Tables lined the walls, as Weylin sat in his wheelchair next to the regular chair.

"Hop on the seat brat, I haven't got all day," Weylin growled, and I sat, only for Weylin ripped my sketches out of my hands. Shouts of protest were ignored.

"Hmm, rudimentary. Very basic, but…you want that flaw in there?" Weylin asked as I formulated the conceptual description in my head.

"Yessir. I want the weapon to be super-magnetized like those steel rods were. That way, it'll be one weapon even with Aura reinforcement unless you concentrate on separating the two pieces with Aura."

"Wasn't steel…" Weylin muttered, though I assumed he meant the metal was a cruder iron. "You do realize those rods weren't even supposed to be a weapon, right? Just a failed experiment."

"It's not failure if it succeeds in something else, right?" I replied, and a spark of challenge shined in his eyes.

"Hmph, brat." Weylin placed the papers on a table. "Alright, shut those eyes."

Closing them, his voice boomed. "Alright, imagine your weapon. How broad is it?"

"Enough to cover the torso," I answered.

"How long are we talking?"

"Down to my ankles."

"Straight-edge, curved, or convex?"

Back and forth the questions and answers came and went. After a few more minutes, Weylin barked, "Alright, stand up, eyes closed still."

I slid off the chair and waited.

"Alright, open 'em up."

My eyes opened, and immediately fell on Weylin. Or more accurately, the long sheet of paper suspended from his hand draped towards the ground. There, in front of my eyes was the exact weapon I'd imagined.

"Guess I still got it," Weylin chuckled, and I realized my jaw had dropped. "Alright, that's the last of 'em. I've already told the rest, give me two weeks, and be sure when I call for any of 'em that they come. They need to be present during the process to understand the maintenance."

"How'd it go?" Sun asked, slapping me on the back as I returned to the storefront.

"You'll see in two weeks. Or maybe less, depending on when he gets to mine," I replied, disregarding Sun's groans and Nora's whines.

"In any case, we have two weeks our weapons are completed." Ren noted. "What shall we do during that time?"

"I wouldn't say no to new threads," Sun joked. "Travelling across Remnant and getting beaten by bloodthirsty traffickers tends to do a number on them."

"I suppose if we're going to be huntsmen-in-training, we should look the part," I conceded. Before I could add anything else, Nora jumped, flipped, and landed on Ren's shoulders.

"Do you know what this means?"

"Nora, my shoulders…"

"SHOPPING TRIP!"

… … …

"Are we sure about this?"

"Kouzai, you ask that nearly every week, sometimes multiple times a week."

"You've been with Nora for nearly five years. Tell me you don't confirmation of Nora's plans before they happen."

"HEY!"

"…Fair. Cruel, but fair."

"You three are basket-cases, aren't you? And now I'm apparently friends for life."

"Welcome to the club, Sun. Your sanity will inevitably fall."

Sun, Ren, Nora and I sat in Rosoko's office, awaiting his appearance. While waiting, I took the chance to gaze upon the outfits my companions had selected.

Ren's was the closest to canon, and only marginally different from his attire of previous years. An iconic green tailcoat lacking the black lines covered the black thermal shirt underneath. As always, his white pants and black shoes were present.

Nora's clothes were significantly revamped compared to Ren's, having swapped out her white shirt to a white sleeveless thermal top and her black jacket to a black vest cut off at her forearms. Her pink skirt, pink shoes and fingerless gloves remained, albeit in more durable variations.

Sun looked different as well, given that all his clothes were replaced with new ones. Shockingly, however, his jeans were unrolled, and his tattered white shirt was replaced by a fitting white button-up with the buttons actually in use. The shirt's sleeves were tucked into his signature red bracers to complete the look.

As for me, I thought it best not to deviate from the classics, and stuck with the black thermal Henley and dark cargo pants that referenced a certain fictional treasure hunter. I even had reinforced pouches on my belt for my journals, phone, and likely whatever other supplies became necessary.

My focus deviated as Rosoko entered the room. "I apologize for my tardiness; I was queueing up possible paperwork resulting from this meeting. So, I take it your recovery time allowed you all to come to a decision regarding Sanctum Academy?"

This was the turning point, where I either interpreted the information right or potentially royally screwed Nora and Ren's canon path. Glancing over, both nodded with smiles on their faces, and I bit back one of my own. 'Even if it's not the same, I'll work my ass off to get them to Beacon.'

"We have, sir. And I speak for Nora, Ren and myself when I say that after debating Sanctum's generous offer, we determined it was in our best interests to decline. Although your offer is kind, we three seek to forge our own path to becoming Huntsmen, by directly aiding and serving the people of Anima, and hopefully Remnant itself. Although Sanctum's curriculum is beneficial and extensive, ultimately it does not suit our ideals."

For a good half-minute, only the barest of facial expressions hinting at Rosoko's thoughts. Finally, he nodded slowly. "There have always been exemplary individuals who attended Huntsmen academies without attending combat schools. There are even stories about those who forwent attending academies altogether and still passed the license exam. Still, biased as I am, I must caution the difficulty of the path ahead. But you all seem up to the task."

"Yes they do," Sun remarked, slinging his arm around Rosoko. "However, you've still got one candidate throwing his hat in the ring!"

Rosoko smiled, then looked back to Nora, Ren and I. "Are you sure you wouldn't prefer to travel with your companions? Even if I lose a recruit, I would be remiss to tear a boy away from his friends."

"Don't sweat it, we've talked it over and made our peace." Sun smiled and looked back at us, as we nodded back. "I've been on the move for a long while now, so settling down just for a little bit sounds perfect. Besides, we're still in the same kingdom, so visiting each other won't be difficult."

"Buuuut," Sun added, smirking at us, "if I happen to pick up some amazing skills and end up surpassing you three, don't come crying to me now."

"Okay, first, weakest person among the four of us. It won't be very difficult to 'surpass' me," I noted dryly. "And second, we still saved you and your abs."

"Yessir, that's a debt that I'll be paying back, with interest. Hopefully without needing to save your life again, of course." Smooth in words was Sun Wukong.

"Well, I suppose with no further business required with you three, you are free to leave. Sun, if you could stay a moment, we can initiate the paperwork required and make preparations for transport of you and any possessions to Argus in the coming months. And again, my office isn't only open for business purposes."

"We'll keep that in mind. Thank you again," I stated, as Nora, Ren and I left Sun to begin his new start.

… … …

Forging a weapon, as it turns out, was an extremely complex process. Creating a Huntsmen-caliber one? Ridiculously moreso. I was simultaneously unsurprised that Yang's Ember Celica was tame for a mecha-shift weapon, and bamboozled at the idea that Ruby must've had the equivalent of a doctorate in engineering to build Crescent Rose herself. Thankfully, however, Mistral's philosophy on Huntsmen weapons was not the same as other kingdoms, Vale included.

Instead of creating our own weapons from scratch and choosing each piece involved, the trend in Mistral was to be shadow the blacksmith in the creation process, gaining the knowledge required for maintenance, thankfully without the need for me to slice or scald myself in my clumsiness. Even better, thanks to Weylin's newfound magnetism 'technique', my weapon needed no mecha-shift properties. However, this didn't necessarily mean the process was an easy one.

"Dust, I've had more knowledge crammed into my head than the last year's worth of learning," I groaned, stumbling out of the back. Resting on the cleaned countertops and floors of the storefront were my friends, all with their weapons.

'Yeah, it was painful learning how to make gunchucks, but it'll be worth it." Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang were connected together to form the fabled staff, which Sun had slung across his shoulders like he'd done so many times in canon. Only now did I realize that its intricate design and mecha-shift components set it apart from the weapons used by the Vacuo students in canon. 'Another kingdom-specific philosophy, perhaps.'

"Better to learn about our weapons from a master now, than to be caught on the back foot later." Ren's hands held Stormflower, though with a slight modification. After I commented on his superior blade skills, he took it to heart and had Weylin include the ability to detach the collapsible blades, or alternatively utilize them as ballistic knives.

"Besides, it wasn't that hard to understand. Kinda easy, actually," Nora breezed, holding Magnhild above her head like she was calling down lightning. Speaking of which, I was tempted to suggest a modification for an electrical charge to both Magnhild and her, but without her Semblance being discovered yet, that'd be both lethal and suspicious.

A slight scraping noise and the sound of rusty wheels interrupted my thoughts. Then silence.

"Brat, heads up!" A large and sharp projectile rocketed towards my face. Swaying to the side, I recognized the shape and reached out, grasping the handle as I let momentum spin me around before burying the tip into the wooden floor. And there, in my hands, was my weapon.

A gleaming, silver greatsword, double-edged with blade four feet in length and about as wide as my torso. A faint line trailed down the center and passed the long handguard, ending where two black-leather handles laid side-by-side, their cumulative width one that I had to firmly grasp, but not to the point of straining them. Concentrating, I enveloped the blade with Aura, then covered the centerline. With a glint of silver Aura, the blade split into two single-edged longswords. Bringing both up in a neutral escrima stance, I saw Weylin wheel out of the back and leveled an exasperated look for nearly beheading me.

"Eh, your reflexes are good, you were fine," Weylin brushed off. "Anyways, I've already told the rest of 'em, but I used some Mistralian ore in the creation process. It's tougher than regular steel, nearly half as light, and gives off that silvery sheen an' gleam. Some smiths call it Lightsteel, but I use the olden term for it; Mithril."

I choked on air. 'Wait seriously? Mithril exists on Remnant?...actually, that doesn't surprise me nearly as much as it should anymore, considering everything else.'

"So, have you got a name for her yet? Or him, I don't judge," Weylin joked. I held both blades at eye level, noticing the light, silvery metal giving the blades a clear reflection. Then again, they were both reflections of each other.

"Well, I feel like it would be 'them', considering there's two blades," I replied. "Though I do have a name, quite fitting given their properties; Mirror's Edge."

Weylin nodded. "Catchy, but flashy enough to let others know you're still a brat. I suppose that's to be expected. Well, you've got your weapons, and I've got enough lien to last a while. If that's everything, then get going! You've got places to be and I've got places I don't wanna be."

As Sun casually saluted and Ren bowed, I went in for an ill-advised handshake, wincing as I felt the raw strength that could pulp my hand. "We'll let you know if we're ever in the area. Stay sane now." I got an extra-hard squeeze for that comment, and stepped back just in time as Nora nearly tackled Weylin off his wheelchair in a hug.

"See you later, crazy grandpa!" Nora cheerfully exclaimed. Weylin sighed, then tentatively brought his massive arms around to pat Nora's back.

"Take care, whelp. I'm still not your grandfather."

… … …

"Alright, I can see Yozakura up ahead."

"FINALLY! After everything, I wanna go back to my semi-comfortable bed after sleeping rough."

"It is good that we have returned. Our deadline of returning before the flower viewings was approaching."

Nora, Ren and I were re-invigorated by the sight. With Sun's departure to Argus, and our travels back to the village, some familiar faces wouldn't hurt.

"I feel like there's an issue we neglected, however," Ren considered, brow furrowed in thought.

"What's left to settle? We got new weapons, won a buttload of lien, got new clothes, shut down a trafficking ring, made new friends, Kouzai got beat up, made new enemies-"

"No need to point out how fragile I still am compared to both of you," I interrupted dryly. "I don't need Ms. Fujiko on my case anymore than I already do."

Ren stiffened. "OH…oh dear….I just remembered what the remaining issue is…"

"Great, the suspense was killing me," I replied. "Just tell me it's not something that we were supposed-"

"Well…what have we here? Three brave teenagers who fought an international trafficking ring, one of whom was hospitalized TWICE. At least he made sure to call me, so that I didn't find out from the POLICE or HOSPITAL…"

The voice should not have carried as far as it did, nor should terror have gripped our hearts fiercer than when we faced the traffickers.

"Ren, am I the only one seeing those butterflies around her?" I panic-whispered.

"They migrate annually for the flower viewing, but I can see how such a sight is terrifying, considering that I am experiencing it as well." Ren's nonchalant tone contrasted with his nervous stance, ready to deploy Stormflower from his sleeves.

Nora just whimpered.

"My dear wards…" Ms. Fujiko hiss-pered as she approached, the natural phenomenon of blue butterflies floating around her failing to detract from her tranquil fury whatsoever. A newspaper that I suspect headlined recent events was rolled to steel-density. "Welcome home…"

TIME REMAINING UNTIL START OF CANON: 4 YEARS

… … …

… … …

"How are you doing back there, kid?"

"For my first ever bullhead ride, pretty good, sir." Sun leaned back in his seat, staring out the window at the passing scenery below.

So many firsts recently; first bullhead ride, first actual weapon, first time having that much lien, first time spending so much, first time being kidnapped, and despite the previous one, first time being invited anywhere, and to a combat training school of all things. So many of them, for better or worse, were because of his friends Nora, Ren and Kouzai.

He was sad at not accompanying them on their travels, at least for the near future, but they had a home already, and he'd left his for the purpose of gaining the skills necessary to strike out into the world.

"Besides, I'm sure I'll see them again soon," Sun mused, tucking his hands behind his head. "Though maybe I should dial it back on the petty theft and whatnot. I'm at a combat school now, and even if I wasn't, stealing almost got me killed last time. With some lien and smart decisions, I can get a fresh start on the straight-and-narrow. Or relatively."

"Alright, we're coming up on Argus, so make sure you're buckled in," the pilot called as the bullhead began descending. In the distance, Sun could make out a beautiful walled city, set between two mountains against the ocean.

"This is my home now…" Sun remarked in awe.

"I hope you packed heavy, 'cause Argus can get chilly this time of year," the pilot added, and Sun noticed the snow patches on the ground below. As the bullhead landed and the doors began lowering, a gust of brisk air rushed into the ship.

Sun looked down at his one suitcase of breezy, airy clothes. "Oops…"

… … …

A/N: And that's Year 1. Quite a ride, but I've still got plenty up my sleeve for the rest of the arc. I hope my decision to stay out of combat school, along with Nora and Ren, isn't out of left field. Considering what canon has told us about Nora and Ren, and what it hasn't verified concerning interactions with other characters, I believed that this was the most likely result. Plus, it allows a lot more to be explored compared to attendance at Sanctum or another school.

As for my injection of certain other elements, I noticed that there are actual variations in students' weapons across the kingdoms, so I came up with my own little explanation for why. As for something like Mithril, I thought it'd be a fun addition to a world that has Dust, magic, Aura, semblances, Grimm and gods. I don't intend on making the reference a one-off though, so stay tuned. Closing off this part of the arc is the omake.

OMAKE

"Roman, the next time that I agree to help you dismantle a rival crime group, punch me in the face!" I yelled, ducking under a grunt's machete to slice his stomach and deplete his Aura. Twirling around, I slammed the blade's pommel into the grunt's head, and finished him off by stomping on his face.

"Why on Remnant would I do that?" Roman asked, bashing another thug with both ends of Melodic Cudgel, before hooking his legs out from under him and firing a blast of fire dust into his chest at point-blank range. "It's not everyday that I get free labor. Well, technically not free since you're freeloading."

"I'm thirteen, for dust's sake! How can I be freeloading!?" I hurled the downed grunt at another thug, then sliced from shoulder to opposite hip as he recovered.

"Exactly, you're already thirteen; it's time for you to start cutting your teeth on poor souls and making a living." Roman aimed at another grunt and fired, only to receive a soft click. Sighing, he flipped the cane, fired the hook around the man's neck, then socked his teeth out when the grunt was pulled towards him. "And throw me a refill, I'm tearing through rounds."

"You'd think that suit of yours would have the space for ammo," I muttered, throwing Roman an extra clip to slot into Melodic Cudgel. "Fine. If you won't do it, I'll get Neo to punch me instead. You know she won't pass up the opportunity."

Before Roman could retort, a sound of shattering glass came from next to us as Neo reappeared, one hand bunched up in a bloodied and bruised crime boss, and the other holding a scroll out in my face. "I wouldn't pass up the opportunity, but that's implying that I need your permission to punch you in the face. Or that you could stop me."

"Hardy har, hilarious," I snarked while turning to Roman. "There's your crime boss. Let's go; the sooner you get what you need out of him, the sooner he's behind bars and we have less thugs to worry about."

Dashing into the alleyway, I looked for the getaway vehicle, but the backlot was devoid of familiar sights. "Roman, where's the freaking car?" I asked calmly as Roman sped out of the building, Neo on his heels.

"I thought Neo was taking care of it," he replied with a thumb at Neo. Unimpressed, Neo held up the crime boss she literally dragged along by his hair. "Err, I thought you were taking care of it?"

"Again, I'm thirteen!" 'Even if I do know how to drive, not that they know that yet.'

Roman winced. "Okay, fairer point this time. Hmm…how do you fancy your running skills?"

… … …

A/N: Things don't look any better with Roman and Neo, huh? Guess that's to be expected. And these two are just too quirky for anything to go as planned, or for the plan to be anything normal.

-SE

Next Chapter Date: 09/30/19