Chapter 8: All Good Things

Shinai stared steadfastly at the doors ahead, feeling the unfamiliar motion as he rose higher and higher, slowing to a stop, before the tell-tale 'ding' of his arrival. The elevator slid open, letting out into the grand office of Ozpin, the headmaster leaning forwards over his desk, brown eyes very curious about the samurai's approach. "Mr. Kyani, to what do I owe this pleasure?"

The aforementioned samurai reached him in a few short moments, taking a seat in front of Oz, bowing his head slightly. "Professor Ozpin. I… had some questions, if you wouldn't mind."

"Of course. What did you have in mind?"

Shinai shifted rather uncomfortably in his seat for a few moments, before letting out a sigh. "The shield in Amity, that protects the bystanders from the fights; it blocks everything, correct?"

Ozpin blinked, looking out the window to the hulking airborne colosseum in the distance. "As far as I'm aware, yes, it does."

"Everything. Including semblances?"

"I… I feel as if you have a very specific concern?"

"Does it defend against semblances?" The amateur huntsman repeated.

"Well, yes, and no. If a semblance was physical it could of course block it, like Mr. Zaffre's explosions."

Shinai stiffened. "…But what about the ones that it doesn't block?"

"Your Death Blossom could conceivably pass through the shield, for instance, though you would be disqualified from the tournament, and more than likely ejected from the arena. Things of a less than physical nature are harder to repel."

"…So something along the lines of a semblance that affects the mind could pass through it."

Ozpin leaned further forwards, eyebrows knitting together as his face grew more and more deadly serious. "You're being very specific about this, Mr. Kyani."

"What happened with Yang-"

"Was terrible, and a shame, and most of the people I have consulted agree that it was more than likely a hallucination stemming from post-fight stress… but you disagree."

"There's a girl, from Haven, who I knew as a boy. Her semblance can create illusions… that only affects one person at a time."

Oz was dead silent, face unreadable.

After a moment, Shinai continued. "Even when we were young, these illusions could be incredibly realistic… she could shift reality entirely, make you see things that truly weren't there."

"And… you think she may have used this on Yang, showing her this... illusory attack from Mercury?"

"I'm not sure. But isn't it a possibility?"

Ozpin leaned back, steepling his fingers. "That is… concerning to hear. Do you know of any probable reasons she would do such a thing?"

"No. None that I know of. We lost contact for a very long time. But... she was a selfish person, and I never would have expected her to become a huntress."

"There's… not much we can do at the moment, unfortunately. Emerald, Mercury, and the rest of their team left to head home to Mistral directly after their fight. No one will be able to get in contact with them until they land. Meanwhile the rest of the finals matches will be happening tonight. After them, we can, and will, look into the possibility of it. Until then, Mr. Kyani, I'd recommend simply focusing on your fight tonight. Don't let this get too far into your head. Once the tournament is done, we'll investigate the possibility of interference."

Shinai sighed quietly, but nodded nonetheless, rising to his feet. "…Thank you for your time, Professor."

"Of course. Good luck in your fight tonight, I know that you'll make your school and kingdom proud." Oz said, inclining his head to the student.

With a bow, the samurai turned on his heel and marched back towards the exit, ever-aware of Ozpin's eyes locked onto his back.

Lance drummed his knuckles against the top of his suitcase, lips pursed in deep thought, pace quickening anxiously. He unclenched his free hand, staring at the bronze ring gripped within, rolling it around in his fingers thoughtfully, looking over the ever-familiar inscriptions engraved on its interior and exterior.

"Sorry, Dad," He muttered, taking the leather band wrapped around it, and clipping it around his neck. "But I think I just figured out what you were talking about. You wouldn't be mad if I started wearing it, would ya? I hate to pull myself off, but I think I'm mostly ready for it. Go ahead and smite me if you disagree."

"Knock knock?"

He jolted out of his reverie, turning on his heel towards the door. Oracle stood, leaning against the door frame, hat held in front of her, green eyes inquisitive; and locked firmly onto his necklace. After a moment, she pursed her lips, turning her attention to the case on the bed.

"Got somewhere to be, blondie?" She asked quietly.

The swordsman sighed, swiping his hair backwards, looking down at his suitcase. "Nah. Just getting ready for tomorrow."

She started forwards, cocking her head at him curiously. "Tomorrow's a long ways away, hon."

"Well… yeah. I guess it is."

Oracle plopped down onto his bed next to the messily filled box, leaning to the side to look him in the eyes. "What's wrong."

"I'm… I dunno. I guess I'm just… not ready for it to be over."

"Oh, hon. We'll be back before ya know it."

"Yeah, well…"

Now a frown found its way to her face. "What's wrong?"

Lance continued to tap at his briefcase, a look of uncertainty crossing him as he opened his mouth to speak; then, like a switch was flipped, he leaned back, broad grin gleaming in the light, one hand smoothing out his hair. "Naw, it's nothing. Don't worry about it, O. Just stressed about the captain's fight tonight. Could you imagine if we worked our asses off to get here and he chokes at the end."

Oracle's face burned with disbelieving suspicion for a moment, before similarly schooling it into a smile of her own, hitting his hip as she rose to her feet. "Aw whatever, the captain's got this, and you know it."

"Pyrrha's still in the field, you know."

"Fair enough, but he's Shinai godsdamned Kyani. He's not, y'know, Lance Zaffre."

"Hey! Uncalled for! And way too soon."

"You're as wishy-washy as the day is long."

"Weak chirp."

"I'm a little out of practice."

The two huntsmen shared smiles for a moment, before the gunslinger gestured over her shoulder towards the door. "The rest of us not-finalist jerks are goin' into town for lunch. Wanna come hang?"

He shrugged, grabbing his Scroll from off of his bed as they made their way from the dorm. "You could've just called."

"Needed to make sure you weren't doin' something… inappropriate."

"Don't be weird."

"Just sayin'."

She stopped in front of him, before turning on her heel, looking up into his eyes earnestly. "So… your dad?"

He froze in place, blinking owlishly, eyes slowly trailing downwards to the ring resting against his bare chest. "Oh, you… how long were you standing there?"

"Depends on how long you're comfortable with me saying."

A frown found its way to Lance's face. "Was that- did you just-"

"Don't fry a circuit, Zaffre. You mind if I ask?"

"I mean, you're probably going to anyways, so I guess… I mean… it's kinda a stupid story."

Oracle elbowed him as they continued on their way, winding their way through the halls of the dorm. "I don't expect anythin' less from ya, hon."

"Ha ha. For your information, my Dad gave it to me when I was a kid. It was his dad's before him, and one of my great-grandparents' before that. Family heirloom, you know?"

"Why start wearin' it now?"

"Ah, it's kinda a whole coming of age thing. I keep it around, but, I… figured that I'm worthy to wear it, or, whatever."

She grinned broadly. "You're right, it is a stupid story."

"I just can't talk to you."

"But a cute story. And not a sarcastically cute story, either. You're a good egg, hon."

"Oh, well, thank you. Your appreciation fills my heart."

She looked up at him as he turned blue eyes to the matching autumn sky. "…And… if your dad was here, I think he'd think you were worthy too."

Lance didn't draw his gaze from the sky, face falling thoughtfully. "…Thanks, O."

"Don't mention it. I think you're worthy, if that's any condolence at all."

Finally, he turned to her, a small smirk glinting in the light. "…If I didn't know any better, I'd think that you're starting to like me."

She rolled her eyes and jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow. "Don' push it, blondie."

He winked brightly at her, nudging her back with his shoulder as they stepped off of Beacon's campus into the city of Vale.

Daria groaned. "Dude."

There was no answer.

"Dude."

Nothing.

"Dude!"

Rainier skid to a stop. "You called?"

"If you don't stop tapping your foot, I'm gonna cut it off." She mumbled at him, turning tired dark eyes his way.

"You wouldn't be the first."

"Dude. Just stop. What's got you so riled up?"

The faunus plopped down onto his bed, crossing his legs and giving his leader a raised-eyebrow look. "Other than the finalist fight coming here in just a short few hours?"

The diminutive huntress leaned back in her chair, folding her arms and sending his look right back at him, completely unimpressed. "…Really?"

Rainier continued to stare her down for a long few moments, pale yellow gaze ever so slowly softening.

"C'mon, Rain."

He sighed. "There's so many things to be nervous about. The finals coming up, us all leaving tomorrow morning- so much change is coming and I'm not sure how to confront it. I'm not a nervous person, you know that as well as I do… but… this… I'm terrified, Dearest Daria."

His leader stared back at him silently for a moment, before shaking her head. "…Rain… you know that… there's such a small chance that you'll actually get your Shinai fight, right?"

"I know."

"There's still him, and Pyrrha, and Sun, and Penny, and that other guy; it's such a small chance. What are you gonna do if you can't get the fight?"

"I'm… not sure. I'm truly not. I suppose I'll wait till next year. And the year after that. And the year after that. I can't imagine it not happening eventually. The universe isn't cruel enough for such a thing."

Daria shook her head again. "That's not everything though, is it?"

Rainier's face slowly faded from its earnest look of apprehension to one of… almost childlike nervousness. "I… well… you'll think it foolish."

"Rain, I already think you're a fool."

"Fair enough. But, well…"

"Is it about Weiss? It's about Weiss, isn't it?"

He looked anywhere but directly at her, pursing his lips. "…Perhaps."

"C'mon. Spit it out."

The faunus sighed, leaning forwards, bending towards the ground, hands clasped tightly together. "It's… I… I have… a… gift for her."

"Oh. Okay?"

"Yes, but I can't simply give it to her. With everything happening with Yang, it'd be far too inappropriate."

"…You don't have that much time, though, you know that? I figure you'll both be gone tomorrow. Famous families and all that to return to."

"I… perhaps. But-"

"-But you're scared and being a big baby about it. What happened to Yang sucked, and who knows what's going to happen with that whole situation, but you don't have that much time, dude."

"I- I know that, but… what if she doesn't like it?"

Daria burst out into full-blown laughter, almost crashing into the desk behind her with the force of her whiplash.

"That's a fake laugh."

"Oh, it's real!"

"That's a fake laugh!"

"This is the most real laugh I've ever had!"

"What's so funny then?"

"It's just hilarious to see you being all… nervous about this. Dude, you better go hunt her down this instant before I drag her here myself. If you don't do it, you'll just beat yourself up about it. If she says no, oh well. There are worse things that could happen. For instance; you don't get your Shinai fight, and after your crap against BLDD, you damn well better get your Shinai fight," Her smile dropped on a dime as she leaned towards him, warm brown staring intently into pale gold. "So; now go. Find. Weiss."

Rainier stared at his friend silently, for a long few moments, swallowing hard.

Weiss' pale eyes stared forwards, slowly darkening in irritation as she tapped her foot quickly, staring out at the empty confines of the library, leaning back against one of the many bookshelves.

"He has five minutes…" She muttered to herself, pulling up her Scroll and glaring at the time.

"Ah, so I suppose I should wait?"

The Schnee heiress jolted in shock at the sudden appearance of Rainier, the faunus leaning around a bookshelf with inquisitive yellow eyes, coy smile playing on his face.

She frowned derisively at him, crossing her arms. "Do not scare me like that!"

He held up his hands abatingly as he rounded the corner, coming to a stop next to her and taking a seat, crossing his legs nonchalantly, hands folded in his lap. "I'm sure you're wondering why I called you here."

"Of course I am. Don't you have a fight to be preparing for?"

"I do, but… well, I'm dreadfully running out of time, so I suppose it's now or never. Rather than moments before we leave, of course."

The heiress slowly turned completely towards him, arms crossed over her chest. "Rainier, are... you okay?"

He chuckled. "Of course not! Do I look okay?"

"No. You look like you just watched your dog get waterboarded."

The faunus stared at her before snickering. "You have a brilliant way with words, Miss Schnee."

"I'm serious though. What's going on?"

"I…" He sighed, uncrossing then recrossing his legs anxiously. "Well… Miss Schnee. Weiss. See, I have… well, it's a… I-" He went dead silent, tanned skin darkening in a blush and, wordlessly, he pulled a sealed envelope from his jacket pocket, handing it to her while looking anywhere but at the heiress.

Weiss frowned as she took it, looking it over. "It's… an envelope."

"Yes."

"I… thank you?"

"Oh, just open it before I go into cardiac arrest."

She leaned away from him, looking sufficiently perplexed as she daintily opened the letter, eyebrows furrowing as she tried in vain to read his carefully blank face. "O…kay? You're being bizarre. And I mean more bizarre than usual."

"Just read it." He muttered.

The Atlesian rolled her eyes, pulling the contents of the envelope out and unfolding the several pieces of paper. Her pale eyes narrowed as she worked to decipher the contents- and then widened suddenly. "Rainier! This is- a song?"

"Aha... yes."

"I…" She looked it over. "Did- did you write this?"

"In the last few days, yes."

Her eyes flitted from him back to the sheets, now very interestedly looking it over. "There's a- a vocal section, and a piano section-"

"And an orchestral section on one of the others, alongside a guitar section simply because I couldn't help myself. The orchestral was the hardest part, I'm not very good at it, being more inclined to pop-music instead, but…"

Weiss looked at him in shock for a very long moment, one hand pulled to her mouth, looking back and forth between him and the music. Wordlessly, she leaned forwards, losing herself in reading over the lyrics.

Rainier watched her intently as she did so, eyes looking over her features greedily, a tiny smile crossing his face.

"Rain…" She whispered. "This… this reads like-"

He sighed, turning towards her. "I… thought that you might like a song like this. About being strong and standing on one's own. I thought it was perfect for you."

Now a brilliant red blush found its way to her pale skin. "What?"

"You're… gods, how do I say it without sounding like an idiot… so… strong, and- and you. Strong, and intelligent and viciously witty, and independent and so perfectly you-"

"-Oh my gods-" She whispered.

"-When… I decided to write you something, a thousand boring love songs occurred to me and- none of them seemed fitting. But this? You're not a love song- you're a ballad; powerful, and dramatic, and a tad on the nose, but unabashed."

"Rain-"

"When we first met, I was... simply irritated with you, with just your entire being. But over time, as we attempted to make amends, you became intriguing to me; we were so different in so many ways, and yet so familiar in so many others, like some sort of twisted mirror. You were fascinating to me. And then, as time went on, and our relationship improved, I... began to see you for who you truly were; every sly quip, every well-intentioned biting remark, every terrible pun; with every act of honest-to-gods bravery, and courage, and skill, and every genuine act of care for those around you who loved you, and who you loved; for every badass act, or feat of skill you accomplished, I... I began to fall a bit more, and a bit more for you, a little further, and a little further every day. What- what I am trying to say, Weiss Schnee, is that against all of my better judgment, I think I've fallen madly and utterly in love with you."

Weiss stared at him silently for a despairingly long time- before letting out a slightly choked laugh, turning away from him as she wiped a lone, renegade tear from her eye. "Gods, I hate you."

"Oh."

"You have to make everything so needlessly difficult. You made the dance so much harder than it needed to be. You've made this tournament so much harder than it needs to be. And now-" She chuckled. "Now this. You just have to make everything so difficult, don't you?"

"I try." He muttered dryly.

"I- what even makes you think I'm so special?"

He went silent for a moment, before shaking his head. "...Truthfully, you're strong, in every way you may not believe you are. You're genuinely one of the few people over the course of my life who has challenged me, who has been unafraid to yell me down or tell me off. You're beautiful, undoubtedly, and you're witty, of course, but there's a genuine strength to it that... that I find absolutely enthralling. I could get lost in conversation with you for hours; but it would throw every quip back to me without hesitation... that somehow makes you even more beautiful."

"...The first words you ever said to me were insults to my family. I was furious," She laughed, shaking her head, gaze dropped to the papers in her hand. "I ranted for probably hours. And the very next conversation we had, you just... kept prodding me, and I knew all you wanted was a reaction. So I didn't give you one, not until we agreed on a truce. I don't know... if I ever actually knew what it was, but you came off differently to me. Most boys hear my last name and fall at my feet, but you never did; you didn't care who I was, or what family I'd come from. It didn't matter to Rainier Platina of Vacuo, son of so-and-so... but in your own way... I knew you cared, for some reason... I suppose I was just too stupid to see what that reason was..."

"Well," He said quietly, staring intently at her. "...I suppose that makes two stupid, rich snobs, then."

She chuckled with a sigh, clenching the sheets tightly. "This... I... this... may be the best present... I've ever gotten. If you'd gotten me flowers, or chocolates, or anything else, I'd probably just thrown them away... but you wrote this. For me. That..." Tears began to well in her eyes properly, her words coming more and more choked. "...I think you're one of maybe eight people who- who have ever actually cared about me enough to... to..." She went quiet with a smothered sob, hand flying to her mouth.

Rainier stiffened, eyes wide. "Weiss- are-"

She waved him off, taking several deep, steadying breaths. "...I'm... I'm fine. Just.. I just need a moment..." She reached up to wipe the tears from her cheeks, taking one last breath. Finally, she turned towards him, their faces painfully close. "...I don't know if you've asked me anything yet." She said quietly.

He swallowed hard, hands clenching into fists. "...Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company, one of the largest Dust propellant-"

"Oh shut up," She muttered as she cupped his face in both hands, pulling him towards her in a deep kiss, his eyes wide in surprise. Slowly he relaxed contently, leaning in towards her with a slight smile. After what felt like eternity, the two separated, gasping quietly for air, staring at each other with satisfied expressions, smiles playing on both of their faces. "You're, uh... you're a very good kisser." She managed, face reddening in blush.

His own blush spread darkly across his cheeks, nodding to her with wide eyes, wordlessly lifting an agreeing thumb, swallowing hard. "I... I don't know if I've ever been so star-struck by a kiss before."

"Well... I'm glad to provide. Star-struck, I mean."

Rainier stared for a moment longer before bursting out into quiet laughter, resting his forehead against hers. "You're the most perfect woman I've ever met in my life."

Her smile brightened. "...I don't know if you're as perfect as Jaune, but-"

"You're going to ruin the mood with that? I take it all back, burn those papers, lose my number, we're..." He trailed off, shaking his head.

And with that, the two huntsmen went back to staring forwards- shoulder to shoulder, ever so slightly leaning against each other. Slowly, her head inclined to the side, resting against his shoulder. His head followed suit, lying against her own.

"But do you like the song?" He finally asked, voice cutting through the peaceful silence.

"Well… how about as soon as I can sing again, you can hear it."

He swallowed hard, heart skipping a beat, and the Atlesian and the Vacuoan sat quietly.

"And where exactly is Weiss and Ruby?" Oracle asked pointedly, waving a french fry at Blake.

The faunus shrugged. "I'm not sure. Weiss said that she had to go meet someone and she'd be back. That was… an hour ago. Ruby left on our way here, saying that she needed to go do something. So… I think they flaked on us."

"Alright, fine; Short Stuff," Nash perked up, looking up with wide eyes to the gunslinger. "Where's Daria and Rain?"

He shrugged, tracing circles onto the table of the café, the nine huntsmen currently seated out in the open air. "Oh, I dunno, they were hangin' in the room talkin' about something, I dunno. Gail and I wanted to go get food so we left without 'em." He snatched a handful of tots off of his plate as he spoke, continuing to shrug pointlessly.

"Gods- guys, this," Oracle sighed. "This was s'posed to be our last lunch together. And then everyone just… flaked."

Lance caught her expression, flicking a coin into the air and catching it, shrugging. "Oh, whatever. We'll see them in a few hours. This time's for us, then. We'll see them at the finals, and we'll see them after, and we'll see them tomorrow morning, and then we'll see them in just a few months. It's not the end of the world, O. How 'bout, we'll do a group dinner after the finals tonight. All sixteen of us, which means, Blake, that Yang's not allowed to mope in her room."

The Menagerian gave him a small smile. "I'll be sure to let her know."

"Ruby."

All eyes turned to Nash.

Gail frowned. "…Ruby?"

"Ruby."

"What about Ruby?" Ren asked.

"Ruby!"

"That-"

"HEY, guys, hey." The aforementioned leader of RWBY called out as she marched up to the nine; with someone else in tow.

"Sal-u-tations!" Penny Polendina called out happily, and loudly.

A confused, half-hearted wave of greetings went back at her.

"Guys," Ruby offered nervously. "This- is Penny. Penny, this-"

"Ooh, Oracle, Ulysses, Lance of Team SOUL; Jaune, Nora, Ren of Team JNPR; Gail and Nash of Team DRGN; and Blake. Hello, Blake!"

"Hello." The faunus offered weakly.

"Man, that's creepy." Lance muttered.

Nash, though, shot to his feet, dashing towards her with wide eyes. "Sword lady!"

"Suit boy!"

"You were so cool! How do you do that?!"

"I have strings that attach to my- backpack! My backpack, of course! And I control them… through my backpack!" Penny offered, stumbling over her words halfway through the sentence, neon green eyes crinkling in apology as she looked at Ruby.

"Gah! That's so cool!" Nash cried out, zipping around her. "Can…" He trailed off quietly, looking up at her with bright blue puppy dog eyes. "Can I see?"

"I-"

"I don't think that's a good idea, Nash. Penny." Ruby interrupted, giving her friend a hard look.

"But, Ruby! Look at him! He is so adorable!"

"Penny."

"Very well. I'm sorry, Nash. But you can see them tonight at the Finals!"

Nash's downtrodden look shifted quickly to a giddy smile- then suspicious eyes, rounding back around Penny, pointing at her stiffly (ignoring her as she lifted a finger and poked it against his). "Unless you're fighting Rainier…" He mumbled.

"Oh, of course! You would obviously support your teammate in a battle between he and I! If it's any consolation, though, I would love to fight Rainier, and I think that it would be a stupendous fight!"

The diminutive boy's face melted back into his usual giddy smile. "I love her, Ruby!"

"I love you too!" Penny called back.

The two embraced.

Oracle chuckled, shaking her head as Ruby sat down. "We already got our food, sorry, hon. We weren't going to wait."

"You…" The leader of RWBY swallowed hard, betrayal crossing her face. "You didn't get me anything?" She whispered.

"Can't say that we did."

A low whimper escaped the silver-eyed huntress' mouth, body slowly slumping forwards in misery.

"I'm kiddin'. Blake got ya a sandwich."

The aforementioned faunus smirked and tossed her leader a styrofoam box. Ruby caught it, throwing it open with wide eyes, salivating as she looked at the well-stuffed sandwich. She looked up to her teammate, bowing her head repeatedly. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She repeated as she bowed- promptly before ripping into the sandwich ravenously.

"Hey, Rubes?" Lance asked, getting the dark-haired girl to blink and freeze mid-bite, looking up to him. "What's the deal with the ginger?" He gestured to Penny and Nash- the boy having pulled out a large scroll of schematics of Phalanx, the conversation turning to the mech as they quietly, and fervently, discussed the design.

Nora pointed a spoon threateningly at him, leaning over the table, electric blue eyes narrowed. "You got a problem with gingers, buddy?"

"Just the ones that I don't know." He shrugged.

She pointed viciously at her eyes, then back at him, sourly taking a bite out of Ren's own sandwich. The pink-eyed ninja blinked in surprise, opened his mouth to rebuke her, then sighed, taking a long swig from his drink (a thick, home-brewed, green… smoothie-like thing).

Ruby shook her head. "Penny's great! I just think that, you know, she's my friend, and you're my friends, and we should all be friends, right?!"

Jaune gave her an unimpressed look. "Ruby."

"…Alright. Fine. This does. Not. Leave. This. Table. Understood?!"

Lance nodded over-exaggeratedly. "Y. E. S."

"…We're- me and Penny- are trying to get figure out how to get her to come to Beacon next year. And, you know, I figured that she could join the group."

Oracle tipped her hat backwards. "I feel like you two are makin' it harder than it probably is."

"Ehehe… no. I don't think we are. But that's a story for another day. Anyways-"

"Well," The blonde greatswordsman cut in. "I think Nash is in love."

Ruby swallowed hard. "Oh… you might… want to… stop that."

Ulysses shook his head. "You all make everything so godsdamned difficult."

"You're not wrong, buddy," Jaune sighed. "You're not wrong."

"You're not my buddy." The hulking teen growled back.

"I thought we were passed this!"

"Never."

"We've been working on this! You're almost a real person!"

"I will turn you into an accordion."

"Point taken."

Oracle leaned forwards, pulling on Ruby's cape, talking quietly into her ear. "Something's wrong with Penny?"

The shorter huntress swallowed her bite of food, looking around shiftily. "It's… a long story." She muttered back.

"Before anything gets done, I think you're gonna have to tell us that story."

"…After the tournament's over, then I'll tell you guys. Kay?"

The gunslinger leaned back, nodding in satisfaction. "Deal."

The wind whistled as it rushed through the trees, turned to shades of red and gold in the onset of autumn.

Other than the breeze, though, the clearing was dead silent.

Shinai sat resolutely in the center, Shi En laid out over his lap as he breathed in and out, focusing intently on the world around him. The wind picked up, pulling at his loose clothing.

Like a lightning bolt, the blade shot into his hand, and then into the air, the two halves of a maple leaf fluttering to the grassy floor below. Eyes still closed, he disappeared into a cloud of smoke, reappearing a few meters away, turning on his heel as another halved leaf fell. The samurai whirred about, turning on his heel expertly, gleaming steel blade soaring through the wind as remains of leaves fell around him like confetti.

The wind died down, and the samurai poofed away, before returning to his spot in the center of the field, remnants of his purple smoke drifting off of him.

His breathing levelled out again.

And the clearing was silent.

Until his Scroll buzzed urgently.

Shinai's eyes opened, colored with irritation as he fished it from his pockets, looking down at the screen- before his eyes widened at the name. He pulled it up to his face, waiting patiently.

"…Hello? Shinai?" The starkly familiar voice called out.

"Hatsume."

"You're always so formal."

The samurai sighed, laying down onto the grass, looking up at the brilliant blue sky. "Everything alright?"

Another sigh greeted him. "We've been over this."

"You never call."

"And neither do you! Ever!"

A voice angrily hushed through the scroll, Hatsume whispering an apology immediately after.

"Friggin' Master Shen," She muttered. "So… heard your finals are today."

"…How, exactly?"

"Oh… you know… one of the initiates might… have a little portable TV."

"What? How?"

"I think Grand Master Kizan knows that he has it, but's probably just letting us watch you in the tournie."

"That…" Shinai sighed. "Sounds plausible."

"Yuh-huh. So how's it been? How's the Festival? Do you know who you're fighting? What time will it be? Should I ask Kizan to let everybody watch it?"

The samurai pulled the Scroll from his face, staring at the screen for a moment as she continued to prattle on questions.

Finally, he frowned, pulling it back towards him. "Zoe."

"What?"

"What's going on?"

She was silent for a long few moments. "…Well… we're… not important?"

"Zoe."

"We're planning a celebration for you when you come back tomorrow- gods, I shouldn't have said that- forget I said anything."

Shinai, though, simply stared in slight shock at his Scroll.

"Hello? Shin? You still there?"

"…You're…" He began. "Throwing a celebration for me?"

"What? Of course. I- oh. Oh, Shin. You- we all love you here. You're our guy. Of course we're throwing a party for you. You're all that anyone's talking about here," He said nothing for a long moment. "Hey- you okay?"

He swallowed hard. "I'm… alright. I… may be late tomorrow."

"What, you're not gonna leave first thing in the morning?"

"I don't think so."

"Seriously? You left at the butt-crack of dawn when you left. Why? What's going on?"

Shinai sighed. "I'll… I just don't think that I'm going to make very good time. I… have some things I need to take care of before I leave."

"…You okay, Shin?"

"I… I think I'm going to be fine. Zoe, I… need to go finish preparing for my finals fight."

"Oh- oh, course, yeah. No problem."

"I'll see you tomorrow."

"Course. Um… yeah. Bye, Shin. See you soon. Miss you."

The samurai whispered a quiet goodbye as the line went dead, plunging the clearing back into serene silence, the wind whistling through the trees, leaves whirring by gracefully. He sighed as he sat back up, crossing his legs beneath him.

And ever so slowly centered his breathing, taking his katana back into his hands, painfully aware of the autumn colors blurring around him.

Purple eyes stared forwards at the treeline, hard with determination.

Shi En flew through the air like a silver blur as he spun to his feet, swiping at the small leaves around him.

Rainier stared out at the bright lights of the stadium, standing in the hallway beneath the stands, his hands clenching and unclenching as he focused his breathing. In. And out. In. And out.

In.

And out.

"Welcome back to the biennial 40th Vytal Festival finals!" Port called out.

"Indeed, we are back from last night's horrifying events, but we plan to bring to you the very best of this generation's huntsmen! …Hopefully with less horrifying events!" Oobleck continued.

In.

And out.

A vague awareness of the other final competitors waiting elsewhere for the next fight. Maybe all together. Maybe not. It didn't matter to him.

He just needed to breathe.

In.

And out.

"Well, without further adieu," Port went on. "Onto the next match! Contested by…"

The crowd went quiet in bated breath, eyes locked onto the screen high above, the final six portraits ever-slowing.

In.

The Atlesian.

Pyrrha.

Sun.

Rainier.

Shinai.

Penny.

The Atlesian.

Slower, and slower.

Rainier's eyes widened.

Rainier's portrait came to a stop.

His heart skipped a beat.

…Pyrrha.

Shinai.

Penny.

The Atlesian.

Sun…

Pyrrha.

The other portrait went still.

And out.

"Rainier Platina of Vale versus Shinai Kyani of Vale!" Professor Port called out, deep voice booming with excitement and pride.

The crowd exploded into a giddy roar, the Vale section in particular shooting to their feet as they cheered raucously for the upcoming fight, seething with anticipation.

Breath refused to enter the faunus' lungs, his legs beginning to move on their own accord out of the hallway, into the arena to a new round of cheers… but not just for him though.

On the opposite side of the center platform, rising up the steps in near unison was Shinai himself, pale face unreadable, purple eyes hard as stone.

The two huntsmen continued to march towards each other in measured, equal steps, the noise of the crowd fading to near silence as they met in the center.

The samurai bowed low at a ninety-degree angle respectfully, before rising up, giving his friend a short nod.

Rainier simply returned the gesture shortly, hands gripping into tight, tight fists at his side, working desperately to keep his breathing centered, his own face a mask of steel.

"Good luck." Shinai said, sliding his katana out of its sheathe ever-so slightly with his thumb.

The faunus was silent in response.

"3!"

Vegas grinned manically from his position in the stands, leaning forwards with utmost interest, flashing Emerald a wink dripping in excitement. His eyes locked with Cinder's own, her face a look of satisfaction, before turning back to the arena.

The killer gripped the bars in front of him, breath coming faster and faster in manic anticipation.

"2!"

The four Vale teams looked to each other with beaming grins.

"Ooooh!" Lance called out.

"This gon' be good!" Nora laughed.

Oracle threw a hand up. "Ten lien on the captain!"

"I'll take that bet, you're gonna regret!" Nash shot back, leaping to his feet.

"Daria?" Gail asked quietly, looking to her leader in concern.

Unlike her compatriots, Daria wasn't smiling. Her face had knit into a carefully guarded frown, leaning forwards on the edge of her seat, fist pressed up against her mouth, foot tapping anxiously on the ground.

"You okay, D?" Ruby asked as well, putting a hand onto her friend's shoulder.

The diminutive leader nodded hesitantly.

"You don't look good." Blake said.

"I- I'm fine. It's nothing."

Weiss leaned towards her, face falling in a mix of suspicion and concern. "What's wrong with Rain, Daria?"

"I-"

"1!"

Shi En slid out of its sheathe ever-so more, brilliant steel blade glinting in the bright lights of the arena.

Rainier leaned away from his opponent, yellow orbs locked onto purple.

The two huntsmen released simultaneous breaths.

"Begin!"