Glynda is frantically searching through her contacts. "We need to call Hazel and tell him there are students trapped." Ozpin sips his coffee, but then his face contorts with disgust, as it is now cold.

He sighs and pours it out beside him before looking over at her. "I'm afraid that won't be necessary, Glynda."

She looks at him incredulously. "With all do respect, they're in real danger, professor! This isn't the time for your games!"

"They're well-prepared for a cave adventure," he insists. "At least two of them have a way of seeing."

Glynda squints her eyes. "What?"

"Don't worry yourself with it, Glynda. They'll be fine."

"How do you know?"

"Because I do." He smiles. "They won't learn if we constantly save them from every little thing, now will they?"

Glynda frowns, continuing to search her contacts. "I'm still calling Professor Rainart."

"Oh you can't."

"…What?"

"I deleted his contact from your tablet."

"You what?!"

Slower, Ozpin repeats, "I de-lete-ed his con-tact—"

"I heard you," she interrupts. "But how could you?!"

"Because I knew you were going to do this." He smiles at her and lifts his mug. "Now, if you plan to rush back to the school to get your scroll, would you mind getting me another cup of coffee?"

Glynda growls. "You've had enough coffee for today, Professor." Ozpin frowns, his plan having failed, and his assistant starts hurrying back to the campus so she can call in aid for the students.

.

The unlikely team walk through the dark, their only light vanishing quickly.

Nero starts complaining. "How are we supposed to make it out of here? It's pitch-black."

Lincoln pipes up, "Well! I can still see, uh…my hands! I think?" He panics. "Are these my hands?!"

Anna giggles. "Those are my hands, Lincoln. I'm hanging on to you so we don't get lost."

"Awwwww, thanks!"

Violet stops in her tracks. "We can't keep walking blindly through here. Someone's going to get hurt. We need to find some way of producing a light."

Lincoln blurts, "Oh! Why didn't you say so?" Suddenly, a light emits from his hands. As Violet's eyes focus, she sees that he actually has his scroll with him, and he's just turned the flashlight on.

She facepalms. "Lincoln, we're not even supposed to have our scrolls."

"Oh, we're not? Whoops." Lincoln turns off the flashlight, and right before he can put it away, Violet can see Nero snatch it out of his hands.

"I'm not dying because you want to follow the rules!" He hisses. The light quickly comes back on, and he takes the lead. Everyone walks behind him, trying to ignore the sound of the Ursa slowly but surely breaking into the cave.

Lincoln whimpers. "How long do we have?"

"Not long," his partner replies. "Probably a few minutes."

Anna swallows nervously. "Shouldn't we be hurrying…?"

Nero glares back at her. "What, so we can let everything in this cave know we're here?" Anna shrinks, and protectively Violet walks in front of her.

She stares fearlessly into his eyes. "Hey, back off. Your attitude will attract Grimm way faster than the sounds we make." The boy says nothing and looks forward again. It's mostly silence for a few moments, the tension in the air becoming thick. The darkness makes it all the more suffocating, but thankfully they start to see a light source, breathing life into them again.

Lincoln squeals. "The exit!" Then they hear the sound of an Ursa breaking down their only barricade.

Violet starts running. "Come on!" The students make it out of the cave, but they can hear the Ursa close behind.

Nero turns around, bracing himself. "We have to face it, we can't outrun it. Lincoln! You said your weapon is a turret?"

The boy beams. "Oh yeah! It's super cool! But honestly sometimes it really gets on my nerves 'cause—"

"Use it!"

Lincoln jumps and fumbles around with his sword. "G-Got it!" He stands beside his friend and faces the entrance of the cave triumphantly. "Ha-ha! Meet your maker, uh…big guy!" His weapon begins to transform, but then there's a strange...clicking noise. His face turns pale, and he starts shaking it furiously. "Oh no, no-no-no-no-no! Not now!"

"What's wrong with it?" Violet asks.

"Um—!" Lincoln laughs nervously, hitting his sword against a nearby tree. "It's fine, this happens!" He ends up accidentally cutting it down. "Whoops."

"We're going to die, you idiot!" Nero yells.

"What's wrong?" Violet repeats.

Lincoln gulps. "My weapon's defective."

Nero looks at him incredulously. "It's what?" He suddenly explodes. "How did you manage to do that?!"

The boy frowns. "Hey, I didn't have the luxury of someone else helping me fix my weapon at Atlas! Our teacher said 'You built it, you should know how to repair it!'"

Nero covers his face. "We're going to die."

Violet grits her teeth. "We could always try fighting, you know."

"What's a moron, a bossy eggplant, and a nobody gonna do against an Ursa that size without a turret?" Anna, having had enough, finally marches forward.

Lincoln's jaw drops as he watches. "Guys?"

They don't seem to notice him or Anna, as Violet is retaliating. "We have to do this as a team."

"And then we'll die as a team, right?"

"Uh, guys?"

"You can't do everything by yourself!"

"You don't know what I can do."

Lincoln finally shouts, "Guys!"

The bickering pair yells back at him. "What?!"

A deafening scream suddenly interrupts their conversation, forcing everyone to cover their ears. It lasts for a few moments, and when it stops, everyone turns their heads to see Anna. The cave is now completely caved in, and the Ursa is most likely dead. She turns and quickly walks away, not wanting to find out. She brushes by everyone wordlessly and simply hurries along. Violet's eyes widen, having been thoroughly impressed. She quickly follows behind her, coming up with several semblance-related questions to ask.

Nero glares at Lincoln. "Why didn't you say anything?"

He sighs tiredly. "I don't know, guess I didn't notice…"

"Hm. Come on." The two turn and trail behind the girls.

Violet, having a nice list, starts inquiring. "Anna, that was amazing! That was your semblance in action, right?" Anna nods. "I didn't know you had so much power in your voice! It looks like it's probably useful for stunning opponents, right?" Anna nods again. Violet squeals. "Wow! It makes sense why you don't talk that often. I'm sure your semblance really takes a toll on you, huh?" Anna nods.

Lincoln scratches his head. "Are you okay?" She awkwardly makes a gesture to explain, her hand moving across her neck several times. She hasn't learned sign language yet.

Violet rubs her chin curiously. "Oh. That makes sense. I guess that would hurt your throat, huh?"

Lincoln gasps. "She can't talk anymore?!" Anna sympathetically smiles and motions that isn't the case.

Violet holds up a finger. "I figure if she screams too loud, it makes her unable to talk for a while." Anna puts her hands together and draws them out. Violet adds, "Or for too long, it looks like."

Lincoln pouts. "That's too bad." He looks over at his partner, who's been silent. "Nero! Isn't that cool?" The boy remains stoic and keeps his gaze pointed forward. Violet frowns, coming incredibly close to hurting him, but then she looks ahead of the group.

Her eyes widen as she starts to see something. "Wait, guys, I think we're here!" She rushes forward, everyone behind her, and they stand at the edge of a short cliff, looking down at the relic site. It's made of old stone, with moss beginning to grow over it. There are some columns that sit around a large circular stone platform, on which pedestals await them. The two pairs hurry down, but there are only two relics left.

Violet groans. "We're the last ones here…"

Lincoln cheers. "Look at what's left!" He picks up a small stone tablet with symbols etched into them. "Me and Nero got the queen of shovels!"

Nero shakes his head. "Spades, you idiot."

Lincoln gasps excitedly. "He speaks!"

Violet picks up the other tablet. "It looks like we have the king of spades." She squints her eyes. "Wait…he's holding something. It's…" Her eyes widen. "Oh no."

Nero crosses his arms. "What?"

Violet looks at him angrily, showing him her tablet. "He's holding another card in his hands. The queen of spades."

Lincoln cheers. "Does that mean we're a team?!"

Nero growls. "If it means I have to spend the next four years with her, then I'd rather throw myself off the cliff."

Another voice suddenly interjects, "Not so fast." Everyone looks over, and Violet can't help but smile.

"Professor Rainart!"

The large man crosses his arms. "It looks like you all took your time getting here."

Lincoln laughs nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "Well, you know…Grimm."

The teacher stares for a moment before chuckling. "I have a good feeling about you kids. Come on, I'll walk you four back to Beacon Cliff." As the group begins to move, Violet looks over at Nero. He looks angry. She lowers her head, stressing out. Four years with him…Aunt Siva, what do I do now?

.

After Hazel walks them back to Beacon Cliff, where this entire mess started, the group sees Glynda and Ozpin waiting on them. They're walked back to Beacon, and the rest of freshman go through initiation. Once it's all over, they meet in the amphitheater, where Ozpin begins announcing teams and leaders. Violet and Anna are standing near the front of the crowd next to the stage, waiting anxiously for their names to be called. Violet has a bad feeling that she's going to get paired with those boys. Even then, who's going to be the leader out of them? Nero was pretty smart, Violet admits to herself. He had a lot of the qualities needed to be a good leader.

Before she could freak herself out too much, she feels a pair of small and delicate hands grab one of her arms. She looks over to see Anna, looking at her determinedly.

"It'll be okay," she says quietly. Violet barely hears her over Ozpin's voice and the cheering crowd. But she hears it nonetheless.

She smiles. "Do you know that for sure, or are you just trying to make me feel better?" Anna frowns, and Violet turns towards her. "I'm kidding. I'm sure you're right. Besides, at least we're on the same team for sure, right?" After a moment, Anna nods.

Violet starts to tune back in to Ozpin. "Coco Adel, Velvet Scarlatina, Fox Alistair, and Yatsuhashi Daichi." She bites her tongue as she watches Coco and Velvet walk up there. I bet I know who's leading them, she thinks sourly. They all put their hands behind their back and spread their feet apart. One of them looks pretty tall, but considerably shorter than Hazel. His hair is black, and shaved close to his head. He wears green armor and robes, reminiscent of Mistral. The other one has dark skin and orange hair and wears mostly red. She assumes that they're Fox and Yatsuhashi, and can only guess which is which. Ozpin continues, "The four of you retrieved a suit of hearts. From this day forward, you will work together as…Team Coffee. Led by…Coco Adel." The crowd erupts with applause, except for Violet, who rolls her eyes. The students leave the stage in a formal fashion, so now she feels compelled to look even more refined.

Violet watches with awe and excitement as she sees team after team march up onto the stage and leave. And with each team she sees, she prays to whoever is out there to let her lead one. It would be a dream come true…

Finally, she hears her name. "Violet Argyle." She squeals and quickly makes her way onto the stage, trying to look serious. It's hard to contain herself when Ozpin says the other names. "Nero Vanta, Lincoln Forrest, and Anna Bleu." They stand in order of how they were called, but Violet resists the urge to turn to Nero and start something. Ozpin smirks as he senses the tension. "The four of you retrieved a suit of spades. From this day forward, you will work together as…Team Vanilla. Led by…" Violet closes her eyes, waiting. Please be me, please be me, please be me, please be me…! "Violet Argyle." Her eyes snap open as she smiles wide.

Lincoln nearly tackles her, laughing. "Yaaaaaaaay, we get to work together!" He quickly pulls everyone else in, getting Violet and Nero way too close to one another. "We're gonna be like a family!"

Ozpin nods at them. "That's what I like to hear. Now move along, there are still more unassembled teams out there." Violet and Nero break free from Lincoln's grasp, marching angrily off stage. Their other teammates struggle to stay close. Violet and Nero don't end up saying a word to each other for the rest of the ceremony, which makes Anna infinitely more nervous.

Afterwards, the newly formed team travels to the dorms to collect their room key. They walk to their new home, and inside it looks like a pretty simple room. There are four beds on the opposite wall with a large window between the two innermost and a set of short shelves beneath it. There is a desk on the left side of the room supplied with a lamp and some compartments for books. Violet is absolutely thrilled, but only on the inside. On the outside, she was still absolutely fed up with one of her new teammates.

Lincoln laughs nervously. "So! Uh, I guess we unpack now! Right?"

"We can pick beds," Anna insists. Violet goes for the bed all the way on the left while Nero goes to the bed all the way on the right.

Lincoln sighs. "Hoo boy, this is gonna be harder than I thought."

"Yeah," Nero agrees. "It doesn't get much worse than working under a bossy know-it-all preppy."

Violet growls. "Who said you were working under me? We're a team! We do things—!"

"Together, I know! It's all sunshine and rainbows with you, isn't it? Let me guess, we'll also make perfect grades under your leadership."

"Well that's the plan!"

Lincoln claps his hands excitedly. "Yay!"

Nero turns to him, "That's not possible, you idiot, I was being sarcastic!"

The boy slouches over in disappointment. "Aw man."

Nero looks at Anna. "And you. Why the hell did you wait so long to use your semblance? We could have gotten away from that pack of Beowolves before that Ursa even got there!"

Violet advances on him, pushing him in the shoulder. "She made a tactical decision! She knew we could fight them and wanted to keep in contact with us since we weren't anywhere near the relics yet!" She looks over at the girl. "Right?"

Anna tenses up and looks at the floor. "Um, I mean…"

Nero growls and pushes Violet back. "She doesn't know the first thing about tactics!"

Violet shoves him. "Don't push me!"

"Don't push me!" They start to get into a physical exchange, but before either Lincoln or Anna could do something, they hear an intercom go off in their room.

They hear Glynda's voice. "Violet Argyle, please report to my office." Then, silence. Nero huffs and sits down on the bed.

"What'd you do, preppy? Correcting teachers already?"

"I didn't do anything!"

Anna quickly intervenes. "I'm sure it's nothing! You're our leader, after all."

"Yeah!" Lincoln adds. "Maybe it's like a super-secret leader meeting or something!"

Violet sighs. "Thanks. I hope so." With one last vicious glare at Nero, she leaves the room. On the way to Glynda's office, she starts to worry. There's no way I'm in trouble, right? What could I have done wrong? Maybe it has something to do with initiation. I wasn't sub-par was I? Am I getting kicked out already?! My life is over!

Violet mopes as she walks up to the door. It's made of a dark brown wood, and has a fancy golden handle polished to perfection. She takes a deep breath, trying to regain her composure before wrapping her hand around the doorknob and opening it. The moment she walks in, she sees Glynda sitting at her desk. And of course, with her luck, Coco is already sitting in one of the open chairs in front of her.

The professor stares indifferently at Violet. "Please, Miss Argyle. Have a seat." Nervously, Violet walks over and sits beside Coco. All along the perimeter of the room, there are bookshelves filled with all sorts of encyclopedias, dictionaries, books on education, Grimm, and probably everything else in existence. Glynda straightens her glasses as she closes her eyes. "Now, it is my understanding that you two have met before."

"We went to Pharos," Coco answers, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms and legs.

"It seems you didn't get along with your…human peers, Miss Argyle."

Violet lowers her head. "No ma'am. I was a mess."

Glynda glances at her. "And things are different now?"

"Completely. I'm not like that anymore!" Coco scoffs, and Violet turns to her. "I'm serious!" She looks back to the teacher. "I saved one of my teammates before we were ever on a team—Anna!"

"That doesn't prove anything," Coco insists. "You're just trying to get everyone to lay off of you so you can start causing trouble again."

"That's not true!"

"Girls," Glynda intervenes. They both quiet down and face her. "I did not call you here to discuss Miss Argyle's past. I wanted to address the rule that you both broke during initiation." Violet's blood runs cold, and Coco's eyebrows go up behind her shades. Glynda nods. "Then you already know what I'm referring to. You made eye contact during initiation, and deliberately went your separate ways." The girls continue to look on in horror. "Violet should be on your team, Miss Adel. Now, one way we can remedy this would be to remove Miss Velvet Scarlatina and put Miss Argyle in her place. Then a new leader would be appointed on her old team, and most likely they would become Team Naval." Violet lowers her head. Of course he was in second place to be leader, she thinks sourly.

Coco lurches forward in protest. "What?! Professor you can't—"

"On the other hand," Glynda interrupts. "You both are natural born leaders. To put you on the same team would obviously cause dysfunction among yourselves. That alone is not enough to keep you two apart, however." Violet swallows nervously. She wants to tear her hair out at just the thought of being on the same team with Coco.

The intimidating young woman tightens her fists. "So what's happening?"

Glynda pauses for a moment, which feels like forever. "Neither of you will be moved to another team." Violet sighs quietly in relief, but her parade is quickly rained on. "But don't think you're getting away that easily. You both still blatantly disregarded the rules set up for your initiation. Professor Ozpin has put me in charge of finding a suitable punishment for you."

Violet gulps. "Which is?"

The ends of Glynda's lip only barely turn up, forming a small and yet terrifying smile. "I'll be having you two working together on an extra credit assignment for my class."

She protests, "But I don't need the extra credit!"

"I don't either," Coco mutters.

Glynda leans over and opens one of the drawers in her desk, and she pulls out her tablet. "I would check again. One of the requirements for my class is to work together, and you two seem adamant on performing the opposite."

Violet frowns. "But the handbook says classroom rules don't apply outside of class…"

"This isn't fair!" Coco blurts, somewhat agreeing with her rival.

Glynda puts down her scroll, the work already done. "Professor Ozpin has given me permission to lower your grades for my class. If you would like to pass, then I suggest you participate in this mandatory extra credit assignment." In complete and utter horror, the two students look at one another. Glynda stands up. "That's all I have for you. I hope to see you on better terms in the future. Have a nice day!" And with that, they're put out of her office, and the doors slam shut behind them. All Violet can think of is a continuous string of No no no no NO no no…

"Hey," Coco suddenly says, her eyes forward. "I don't like you, Violet. But I'm not here to fail."

The girl gulps and tries to stand in a strong pose. "I'm not either. So it's a truce?"

"Until we get that assignment out of the way. Then I'm putting my eyes right back on you." With that, Coco marches off. Violet watches her until she vanishes, and then she slouches over tiredly.

"She's going to be the death of me…" Then, she trudges back to her dorm, preparing to be battered by Nero. However, when she opens the door, he's not there. Anna and Lincoln are sitting on their beds and talking. They see her walk in and smile.

Lincoln goes first. "Hey Violet!"

"How did it go?"

The leader gets straight to the point. "Where'd Nero go?"

"Oh, he left after you did. We don't know where he went."

Violet sighs and closes the door behind her, walking over and dropping herself into bed. She groans into her pillow, "I guess I have to go find him…"

Anna, who is on the bed adjacent to her, looks nervous. "What if he doesn't want to be found?"

Violet picks herself up. "Doesn't matter. He's part of the team, and we need him here so we can come up with a plan. We have three days to settle in and put our differences aside." She stands up, looking at the door determinedly. "I'm going to start on that now."

Lincoln frowns. "You're looking for him by yourself?"

"I'll find him. Besides, you two need to settle in. When Nero and I get back, we'll move our stuff in too."

"Oh, okay! Good, 'cause I got a lot of stuff!" There's suddenly a knock on the door, making him squeal and jump to his feet. "Here it is!" He opens the door, and they see a man wearing an Atlas military uniform with two luggage carts filled to the brim. He has dark skin, medium-length black curly hair, golden eyes, and his circular glasses are crooked on his face. He seems exhausted.

"Wow that was a lot harder than I thought."

Lincoln throws his arms around the man. "Dudley!"

The man smiles and pats him on the back. "Hey Lincoln."

Violet's eyes are wide with surprise. "Uh…"

The man sees them and quickly pulls away from Lincoln, clearing his throat and straightening his specs. "Pardon my intrusion. I'm Private First Class Dudley Blackoak. I work in the Atlesian Military, here on official business."

Lincoln turns towards his friends. "Oh! I forgot to mention, I'm from Atlas!"

"Wait, you were the student who showed up in his own airship?"

He sighs. "Yeah. Not because I wanted to."

Dudley grabs his shoulder reassuringly. "We've got our reasons. Here's all your stuff, Link! I'll help you unload it, but then I've got to go."

Lincoln pouts. "I wish you didn't have to leave."

The soldier musses up his hair playfully. "Don't fret too much. You got this! Jade and I are always just a call away." Lincoln laughs, and Violet and Anna can't help but be touched by this sweet moment. They help the two unload the luggage carts, and then Dudley rolls them out of the room.

He waves to Lincoln. "Be good, and study hard!"

"I will!" The boy replies enthusiastically. Dudley nods with approval, and then he finally leaves.

Anna looks around at all of Lincoln's bags of varying green colors. "Wow, Lincoln, I didn't think you would have brought so much."

"Nah, this isn't a lot. I've still got plenty of stuff in my room. This is what we managed to pack before I had to leave."

Violet crosses her arms worriedly. "It sounds like something happened."

Lincoln looks away, his gaze slowly becoming more and more distant the more he thought about it. "Yeah. Something happened."

Anna comes up to him gently, grazing his arm. "Do you want to talk about it?"

He sighs and stands up straight. "Well…we are a team, right? We tell each other stuff?" The girls nod. Lincoln closes his eyes. "Right. Um, I'm gonna…sit down for this one." Lincoln goes over to his bed, and the girls sit across from him on Anna's. He takes a deep breath before explaining. "Okay, so…I guess first I should tell you that Atlas wasn't always called Atlas. It used to be called Mantle, and that's where I lived. It's a city at the top of a really steep cliff, so we were pretty safe from the Grimm. It was too cold for them where we were, but it was also too cold for us. We have heaters that keep the cold out of the city, and it shields us from the snow."

He chuckles and scratches the back of his head. "Uh, sorry. Getting off track. My family lived in Mantle for a little while, and my sister went to Atlas to work in the military. Meanwhile, I was going to Stellar Academy trying to live up to her expectations. All of my teachers knew me because they were super proud of my sister." He laughs nervously. "Too bad I wasn't nearly as good as she was."

Anna murmurs, "It sounds like you've been compared to your sister for a long time."

"Yeah, but that's okay. I know she's a super awesome fighter! She just takes it a lot more seriously than I do. She wanted to be a Huntress so she could be part of the military. I just wanted to be like her. Anyway, my sister eventually graduated, and she did so good in school that the headmaster gave her a really high rank!"

"What is it?" Violet asks.

Lincoln scratches his head. "Uh…Hm." He mutters the word he uses to remember, "SAMSOU…Oh I know! She's a Specialist, but her official title is 'Specialist in the Atlesian Military's Special Operatives Unit.' She would've been first if Winter Schnee hadn't beaten her." Violet lowers her head at that. It looks like I'm not the only one who always comes second.

Anna raises her hand. "Who is she?"

"Oh, you don't know the Schnee family?"

She shrugs from embarrassment. "I guess I don't."

Lincoln smiles cheerfully. "It's okay! The Schnee family is pretty much the most important family in Atlas, because they own the Schnee Dust Company. They pretty much control all of the Dust trade in Remnant! They've got a lot of drama going on though. Weiss Schnee is currently the heiress of the company." He sighs as his cheeks start to pink. "My parents tried really hard to get me to talk to her, not that I ever saw her." He shakes his head. "Anyway, after Jade graduated from Atlas, our family got moved up into the floating city of Atlas. My dad got a job working on the Board of Legal Affairs, so we pretty much were part of the elite class at that point."

Anna tilts her head. "What was that like?"

Lincoln shrugs. "It had its ups and downs." He lowers his head. "Mostly downs. We got a lot of threats from the White Fang. I guess they blamed my dad for the crappy wages."

Violet, uncomfortable, tries to change the subject. "So why aren't you in Atlas right now?"

Lincoln closes his eyes. "Right before school started, they…" He takes a deep breath. "I heard that my parents were on their way home from Weiss Schnee's Recital when it happened. My dad was shot, and the car veered off of the road into a light pole. My mom wasn't wearing a seatbelt, so she was thrown out of the front windshield. They died." He covers half of his face with his hand as he adds, "Jade was worried that we were in danger. She asked General Ironwood if she could escort me to Vale, but he only granted half of her request. Instead, her friend Dudley came to Vale with me. Jade had to stay because other people were getting targeted too. So yeah, we stayed in Vale for a few weeks before Dudley took us to Beacon." He smiles tiredly. "On the bright side, since I was already accepted to Atlas, Beacon accepted me too."

Violet grips the edge of the bed tightly as she stares gravely at the floor. "What about their funeral?"

"I couldn't be there. I had to watch through a scroll in Jade's hands." All the girls could do was look at one another nervously. It surprises them when Lincoln suddenly smiles at them again. "But it's all behind me now. I'm gonna make this my year at school!"

Anna places a hand over her chest. "Lincoln, you just lost your parents. Why didn't you just take a year off of school?"

"I couldn't. My parents wanted me to get just as good as Jade, so I'm gonna do that."

Violet puts her hands on her hips. "You can't keep trying to live up to your sister's legacy. You know we're going to have to sit down and have a talk about this."

He beams. "Well I can't do anything about it now."

Anna looks at him softly. "Are you okay?"

Lincoln nods. "Mhm."

Violet starts heading for the door. "I'm going to find Nero. You two get your stuff unpacked." She glances back at all of Lincoln's luggage. "You might want to work together on that." Then, without another word, she leaves.

Lincoln looks at Anna and laughs nervously. "Uh…so what did you bring?"

Anna taps her fingertips together in embarrassment. "Um…that." She points to a little blue suitcase on her bed, about the size of a pillowcase.

Lincoln sighs. "Whoops."

.

Violet scours the campus in search of her lost teammate. While she looks around, she starts developing the conversation in her mind. She was going to bring up these points, elaborate, and then change his mind and convince him that he was being rude—easy peasy! Now if I were Nero, she wonders. Where would I be? I would want to let off some steam for sure. Maybe he's in one of the practice rooms! There's plenty to punch in there. And so, she makes her way over to the Combat Hall, a building all on its own dedicated to bettering one's fighting skills. Beacon has an arena-styled classroom within it, but for more private matches, this is where the students go. She checks room after room, until she finally finds Nero just as he stabs his punching bag several times with his stiletto blade.

Violet gulps. "Nero?"

He glares at her. "You've got a lot of nerve coming in here." She takes a deep breath before stepping in and shutting the door.

She starts approaching him. "Nero, I just wanted to tell you that—"

"Shut it, I don't care about your three-point plan to make me apologize."

Violet mutters, "It's six points…!"

He scoffs. "You're hopeless. Ozpin should have never made you the leader."

"How dare you! Professor Ozpin has been successfully running this academy since—!"

"You always turn to the facts, Violet. I don't think you have any real experience." He starts advancing towards her menacingly, causing her to walk backwards in a circle around the center of the room. "You hide behind tactics, pre-made plans, romantic ideals. Do you know what it's like to have to rely on your instincts? Come up with decisions on the spot? Have you ever even lived in the real world, Violet, or have you been in your stupid little fantasy this whole time?" Violet suddenly stops in her tracks, causing Nero to halt as well. She starts to stare him down, a furious glint in her eyes.

"You don't know the first thing about me."

"Maybe I don't. But it's time you get into a real fight." He gets into a fighting stance, holding up his fists near his face. "If you beat me, then I'll be convinced you have what it takes."

Violet, taken up by her pride, puts her hands on her pistols. "If this is how I get you to listen to me, then fine. Just remember that you asked for it." The two students brace themselves, each with something monumental to prove. This is more than a fight over leadership; this is a battle over pride and might. It's a meeting between an unstoppable force and an immovable object. Since that's the case, who wins?

Co-Authored and Edited by USB-Meister