Chapter 1: Recognition and Reassurance

Noir stood perfectly still, unmoving, unblinking, and unyielding as he faced down Pyrrha Nikos, who stood 5 meters in front of him with her own weapons drawn and taking her stance for an offensive attack. Noir stood straight, his gun/blade Schwarze Klinge drawn and held out to his side, the slightly curved black blade perfectly parallel with the floor, his back straight as a poker and his expression flat and emotionless.

Sparring matches had been resumed in preparation for the Vytal Festival Tournament, and this was a particular sparring face-off that had been greatly anticipated by Teams RWBY and JNPR, though most of the other students didn't seem to find it nearly as suspense-inducing as they did. For the rest of the school, this was a clearly one-sided fight, as Noir Harceleur was practically unknown to anyone at the academy and a complete nobody to the other 3 academies, and some even thought he was just an ambitious older student trying to downplay the skill of a renowned and far superior fighter. For Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, Yang Xiao Long, Jaune Arc, Lie Ren, and Nora Valkyrie, however, this was the sparring equivalent of the Clash of the Titans. Both first year teams, Pyrrha included, were very well aware of Noir's fighting capabilities, and he was, without doubt, one of the deadliest huntsmen in training at Beacon Academy.

Facing him was an equally renowned individual, Pyrrha Nikos. There wasn't a single student (or teacher) in all of Beacon or in any of the Four Academies for that matter who didn't know of Pyrrha's accomplishments before entering Beacon Academy. Every one of the students, both local and visiting, knew of the legendary Pyrrha Nikos, who had won the Mistral Regional Tournament Championship four years in a row prior to her attendance, and was one of the top students at Beacon Academy. And of course, it didn't hurt that Pyrrha had, mere weeks prior, single-handedly taken all of on team CRDL all by herself, and had single handedly defeated all four of them, quite convincingly.

For nearly all of the students present, this sparring match was undoubtedly in favor of Pyrrha, who faced down Noir with the calm collected demeanor developed over several years, poised for the offensive, prepared for the defensive. However, for Teams RWBY and JNPR, it was very difficult for them to tell who would even have an upper hand in this fight, let alone who would emerge as the victor.

In another part of the stands surrounding the sparring arena, Emerald Sustrai was also watching this match-up with keen interest. She was normally not very interested in the sparring matches, especially not fights between Beacon students. But for this fight in particular, she was leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, her piercing red eyes wide open in anticipation as she looked from one combatant to the other, unable to figure out who was a more skilled combatant between the two of them. She had witnessed the fighting prowess of both students firsthand, and simply put, Emerald was quite convinced this fight would be a stalemate.

The tension between the combatants was high, and yet neither of them moved. Noir remained perfectly still, his trench coat discarded and his wings flattened to his back, his bared pale arms perfectly relaxed even as he held his weapon out to the side, and his blood red eyes were locked with Pyrrha's own emerald green ones, her calm breaths sounding to him as though she was right next to him, and her scent filled his nostrils as every fiber in his body tensed in preparation for a strike. He simply stood there, patiently waiting, his stance indicating neither attack nor defense, and his mind emptied. It was only her and him, facing one another down across the platform they stood on.

Pyrrha was of a similar mindset, clearing her mind of all thoughts and returning Noir's piercing gaze with her own emerald green eyes, her stance quite the opposite of his, being lower to the ground and promoting both offense and defense, her weapon Miló and shield Akoúo out and at the ready in her hands, Miló in the form of a xiphos. She had witnessed Noir in combat before and knew full well whom she was facing. However, at the same time, she was unsure as to whether or not she'd seen everything he was capable of. She didn't know his semblance, for one, and though she knew he wasn't going to give ground, he wasn't going to attempt to gain ground either. She'd seen this on multiple occasions, and wasn't quite certain as to how she was going to get around that. But nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Pyrrha charged first, moving towards Noir quickly and aiming a sword blow at his side, a move she knew was too obvious for her style, but she was improvising from the getgo, and the blow was predictably blocked with ease, Miló's blade meeting Schwarze Klinge's with a small shower of sparks. Almost immediately, Pyrrha followed it through by bringing Akoúo up towards the side of his head, and his eyes twitched only slightly as he leaned backwards only slightly, the shield missing his face by a fraction of an inch, and Noir, at lightning speed spun in a 360, his left foot taking Pyrrha's feet right out from under her. Pyrrha instinctively performed a backwards somersault and stood right back up a mere three feet from where Noir stood. Noir had resumed his original stance as though Pyrrha's offensive hadn't even happened, calm and relaxed as ever, and he hadn't lost or gained even a fraction an inch. Not wasting any time, Pyrrha converted Miló to javelin form and with a staccato crack of its firing mechanism sent it flying straight at Noir as she charged him a second time, and with the same lightning quick movement as before, Noir blocked the weapon, and then caught it right out the air and with a spinning kick sent it right back at her, blocking Akouo as she tossed that at him as well, Pyrrha catching Milo as it came flying at her, and not even breaking pace as she brought Akouo back to her with her polarity, and for a second time, Milo, in sword form, clashed against Schwarze Klinge with a considerably larger shower of sparks than before.

All of this happened in the span of a few seconds, and now the entire auditorium had gone silent, every student watching wide-eyed in anticipation at the intense battle that took place on the platform below. Again and again Pyrrha charged Noir and struck at him, performing combo moves and delivering powerful blows with each charge, but no matter how Pyrrha struck at him, Noir never gave ground, blocking and dodging her attacks and barely even working up a sweat. Even Pyrrha herself was impressed by his prowess, as well as his reserve. He didn't give any ground, and still stood in that same position on the platform as before, and yet he didn't attempt to gain ground either, preferring to let his opponent come to him, and when she backed off, he didn't attempt to pursue her. He simply waited, blocked and avoided, his only offensives so far having been sending Pyrrha's own weapons right back at her, and still he hadn't moved an inch from his spot.

Pyrrha recognized this strategy: he was letting her attack him and not fighting back, slowly but surely wearing her down. She'd seen him do this before, and she had to admit, it was working pretty effectively, as she was now sweating and her breaths were more labored than before. She stood 3 meters from him, catching her breath as the bat faunus simply stood there, having resumed his starting stance and was as calm as ever, a light layer of sweat coating his pale skin. Pyrrha didn't waste much time getting back on the offensive, once again charging Noir with full confidence, not even a little deterred by his evidently flawless defense. She was in for a surprise.

This time, Noir preempted her strike by taking a single step forward and knocking Milo aside and began raining down a series of lighting fast strikes that Pyrrha barely had time to block, forcing her on the defensive as he rained blow after blow on her, not even leaving enough room for her to use her polarity to make him miss. Pyrrha was forced to retreat from Noir's onslaught, unable to find an opening for an offensive move, and this time Noir followed her, knowing he had her on the ropes, and continued to rain blow after blow after blow on Pyrrha at lighting speed. Pyrrha was cornered, and she knew it, and as the never-ending torrent of blows continued, she decided to do what she'd only done once before. As Noir's next blow came at her, she activated her polarity, and instead of waiting until the blow was close she used it to force Schwarze Klinge from Noir's grip and sent it several feet behind her, putting herself between it and the now unarmed Noir. She then wasted no time going back on the offensive and charged, and just as Milo was going to make contact, Noir shocked everyone present. Noir suddenly turned into ashes and in two clouds went right around Pyrrha and reformed three feet behind her, somersaulting as he reformed and grabbing Schwarze Klinge off the ground and bringing it back up to parry Pyrrha's blow. A split second later, a great silence feel on the arena.

Noir was crouched on the ground in front of Pyrrha, the tip of Schwarze Klinge's blade centimeters from her throat. Pyrrha stood over him, her shield arm frozen in mid-block, Milo's tip a quarter-inch from Noir's throat. The fight was a draw.

The auditorium sat in stunned silence for a full 30 seconds before Nora Valkyrie stood and started madly clapping and cheering, and in moments the rest of the auditorium was joining in enthusiastically. Pyrrha, panting slightly, withdrew her weapon and took a few steps back, nodding in respect to Noir. Noir stood, nodding to Pyrrha in mutual respect and sheathing Schwarze Klinge. The lights slowly brightened over them as Glynda Goodwitch approached with her scroll in hand.

"This match is a draw. Well done, to both of you, Mr. Harceleur and Miss Nikos. You both are exceptionally skilled and you will have no problem entering the Vytal tournament," Goodwitch stated, and Noir and Pyrrha both nodded in respect and walked off the platform, joining the other students in the stands. Pyrrha was greeted by Teams RWBY and JNPR with enthusiastic praises, but when they turned to greet Noir he was already gone.

"Hey...where'd the Batman go?" Yang asked in surprise.

Ruby sighed in a resigned manner. She definitely should have seen that one coming. "He disappeared again..."

Pyrrha looked surprised at this. "Again?"

"Yeah, he's been doing that a lot lately," Blake replied, cool as ever but obviously concerned.

Pyrrha quite surprised by this sudden disappearance on Noir's part, especially considering how formal he had been not even minutes ago. "I know he prefers solitude, but this is rather much, even for him."

"He's been spending a lot more time alone since the Grimm attacked Vale," Weiss elaborated, "Royal Bivera told me that he won't even speak to Goodwitch."

"Goodwitch? Why would he wanna talk to her?" Jaune asked

"From what Royal told me, he usually talks to her if something's bothering him, but evidently, he hasn't elaborated whatever's bothering him now to, well, anyone," Weiss replied.

"You don't think he's depressed or something?" Blake asked, concerned.

"No, he said he was just thinking last time I found him alone," Ruby replied, "He said that the Grimm attack bothered him a lot because of the gaping holes in Torchwick's plan."

"We already know there were holes in the plan, why wouldn't he speak to us about it? I mean, aren't we his friends?" Yang inquired.

None of them had an answer.

"Well, whatever his reasons are, I'm sure he knows what he's doing," Pyrrha said optimistically, "Noir's never given any of us a reason to not trust him."

"Yeah, he's a smart guy, I'm sure he's fine!" Jaune agreed.

Blake remained silent and looked away, lost in thought. Noir's actions were starting to sound very uncomfortably familiar to her, and though they didn't say it aloud, the other members of Team RWBY were thinking the same thing. Noir was acting a lot like Blake did earlier that semester.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the stands, Emerald Sustrai was going over the titanic clash she'd just seen over and over again. Noir's performance had very much intrigued her. What she had noticed in particular was Noir's sheer lack of emotion in combat. It seemed to her that had this been a fight to the death, Pyrrha Nikos would be dead now. Not once in the battle had Noir's flat expression even flinched, and the ferocity with which he'd taken to the offensive was shocking from such a docile individual. And he'd only intentionally attacked after Pyrrha had attempted to attack him multiple times, with each attempt ending in a failure to drive Noir back. He was immovable. And then there was what was undoubtedly his semblance. In less than five seconds he had dissolved himself into ashes, traversed 4 feet, and then reformed exactly as he was before, and had been back on the offensive in another second. And he had done all of this without even cracking a smile. Emerald was very intrigued, very intrigued indeed by this dark faunus. She resolved to tell Cinder about him as soon as she could. She would definitely like this Noir Harceleur person.

Back where Teams RWBY and JNPR were still chatting, Blake was resolved to find Noir as soon as she could. She knew if anyone could talk to him, it was her. She had known Noir as long as any one of them had, and she felt a strange connection to the dark faunus, a connection that transcended that of a friend. Blake cared for Noir very deeply, though she never showed it to the degree she felt she ought to. She couldn't figure out exactly what it was that made her feel so much care for him, nor could she really figure out why whatever it was made her feel the way she did. All she knew was that she cared for him more than she cared for anyone apart from her team, and that she would do anything to make sure he was alright.

No matter what it took, she was going to find him and speak to him, and find out exactly what it was that bothered him so that he felt it necessary to separate himself from someone who cared so deeply for him.

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Hours later, Noir once again was on the roof of the dormitory building, sitting alone on the edge with a book in his hand as he occasionally bit into the mango he was holding. It was late at night now, long after most of the other students had gone to sleep, and Noir was as wide awake, as ever, the light of the moon as bright as day for him. Late nights were nothing new to him, and he'd learned to pass time by reading, and after a full semester at Beacon he'd read half the books in Beacon's library.

After his match with Pyrrha he'd left as fast as he could, and with his stealth abilities, it hadn't been too hard. Noir had simply not felt like enduring the praise for his prowess as a fighter when all he'd really done in his mind was block and dodge, with one attempt at the offensive. In his mind, the victor of a fight mattered little, as long as the right side won. He hardly cared for sparring, in fact he found it quite wearing and unnecessary, but when Pyrrha had requested him as an opponent as politely as she did, he couldn't have refused her, and had obliged. And he had fought as he always did. Defending his position until his opponent began to wear out, then attacking and not leaving any room for a retaliation. That was how he fought, and it was how he'd always fight, for it symbolized how he was as a person. Noir was patient and calm, and cared more for not giving ground than moving to gain it. Noir preferred close-quarter combat as well, as that was how he'd learned.

Now, hours after the fight, Noir was where he always went when his bat-like nature prevented him from properly sleeping, on the roof of the Beacon dormitory building, reading, and eating his favorite food. When awake late at night this was where he came, and this is where he preferred to be.

"Noir?"

Noir jumped slightly at the sound of a familiar voice and turned around to see who it was. It was Blake, wearing her normal clothes and slowly walking towards him. The cat girl had somehow sneaked up on him without him noticing, something that only Yang had been able to do thus far.

"I knew you'd be up here, there's hardly a night when you're not."

"Blake. I never took you for a late night person," Noir replied as he looked her over. "You look like you're about to head out on a mission."

"So do you, and you're just sitting out here reading. What are you reading, anyway?"

Noir looked at his massive book. "This? It's a book about a man with the ability to control machines with his mind, but the longer he has control over them, the more they begin to take over his mind and control him"

"Sounds like something you'd read," Blake said with a slight grin on her face.

"Meaning what, exactly?" Noir raised an eyebrow at the cat girl.

"Meaning you tend to read a lot of rather dark-sounding fictions. I think the only thing you've read so far that wasn't dark like that was The Third Crusade, and no one carries that anymore," Blake actually smiled at him but her smile quickly dropped when she remembered why she was out here.

"Well I hardly think your reason for finding me out here was to talk about what I was reading. Why were you looking for me, Blake?" Noir inquired.

Blake looked him right in the eyes, her own yellow ones not blinking as they looked into his red ones. "We're all looking for you, Noir. Ever since the attack you've been distancing yourself from everyone a lot more than normal, and even before that you were acting more withdrawn than normal. Why?"

Noir didn't immediately answer, and returned Blake's gaze unblinkingly, his red eyes narrowing a bit as he looked into hers. It was rather evident that this was a conversation he'd have preferred to have avoided having, regardless of who it was with. Blake didn't press for an answer, and simply waited.

Finally after what seemed like forever, Noir answered, "It's not something I'd like to speak about. I simply don't to be around people."

"We're not just people, Noir, we're your friends. We've been trying to find you and find out what's wrong because we're your friends and we care about what bothers you. Why won't you just let us?" Blake insisted.

Noir didn't answer and turned away from her, not wanting to openly speak about what was truly on his mind. "You wouldn't understand, Blake. None of you would."

"Then help us to! Help me to! Noir, you're acting like we're strangers to you, when we're people who are supposed to be there for you! We can't be there for you if you won't let us, Noir."

Noir didn't look at her as she said these things and finally he said, "I recognize the problem, Blake, believe me, I do. However, what I have had on my mind is purely personal and something I feel I should deal with on my own." He turned back towards her, his expression almost sad. "Keeping you all in the dark pains me like you wouldn't believe, because I know you all care, even Ice Queen. I just..." He sighed. "I just can't put my burdens on you and the others. You all have your own that you carry already. You don't need mine, too..."

Blake cut him off by surprising him with a tight hug, wrapping her arms around him and whispering, "That's what friends are for, Noir. We carry our burdens as one. You don't have to carry such weight alone. I tried to, and you know what? I feel far better knowing my closest friends can carry it with me." She pulled back a little and looked deep into his eyes. "You're like a brother to me, Noir. Even if you won't share with the others...at least share it with me."

Noir returned her gaze and after a few moments his gaze turned down, unable to look into those eyes. "Thank you...Blake."

She smiled at him and hugged him again. "Anything for a friend. The others are still awake, and they're anxious to hear from you. Mind coming in? They still want to praise your performance today."

Noir returned her smile and nodded. "Just give me a moment to gather my things."

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"Emerald? Remnant to Emerald."

"Huh?"

Emerald was sitting in her dorm room with Mercury Black, and she had zoned out. Since the sparring matches she'd been unable to take her mind off thinking about Noir. She had been growing more and more intrigued by the faunus as the day had progressed and had completely zoned out, and Mercury had ended up having to nearly shout to snap her back to reality.

"You've been zoned out for the last ten minutes, what the hell are you thinking about?" Mercury demanded in an annoyed tone.

"Nothing! I'm just tired, that's all," Emerald lied, hoping to dear God that he'd buy it.

"Whatever. I'm just trying to ask you if you've also noticed that we haven't seen or heard from Cinder since that Torchwick guy fucked up all our plans. She told us to fight with the students of Beacon and then we spoke to her about possibly losing White Fang before that Taurus guy showed up, and we haven't heard from her since then."

Now that Emerald thought on it, it had been a while since they'd heard from Cinder, a few days at least. "Do you think she's alright?"

"Knowing her, she's probably fine and just having to deal with some random asshole trying to pick a fight with her or whatever. I'm just tired of waiting for her."

Emerald rolled her eyes. "You're always tired of waiting, and you know exactly what she'd say to that if she were here."

"Hey! Don't get started on me just because you're so eager to please her. Hell! You'd probably go so far as to..."

Mercury was suddenly cut off by his scroll ringing, and he pulled it out to see who was calling. When he saw the name on the scroll, he looked up at Emerald.

"It's Cinder."

Emerald immediately straightened up. "Give it here." Mercury tossed her the scroll, and, eager for to hear from her master, Emerald opened it and hit the 'Answer' button. "Cinder! We've been worried, where are you?"

There was silence on the other end, and for a moment, Emerald thought it was an accidental call. When after a few minutes there was no answer, Emerald was about to hang up when Cinder finally spoke.

"There's been a change in plans."