"What is it?"

"Hm?" Yang blinked.

"What's with that look?" Ruby asked. "You've been making it since we got here.

The 'here' Ruby was referring to was Vale, in perhaps one of the more classy areas. It wasn't that late at night, people were still out on the street, enjoying late meals and the like as the moon began to climb.

The two huntresses were getting some odd looks from the more high-class individulas on this side of town. This was where Ruby had eaten with Cardin last time. Or atleast in the general area if she recalled correctly.

"It's nothin' really." Yang shrugged. "Just thinking… It's a little weired leaning that Cardin's part of so secret group."

"Tell me about it," the younger girl agreed. "I only found out at the end if last semester. We me up during a hunt."

"Wait what? You two went on a mission together?!"

She nodded. "Yeah. We went to the industrial district and cleared out a nest of feral goblins. They weren't too much trouble apart from the hobgoblins, but he managed to burn it down while I covered him."

"…You just revealed to me that there's goblins... I'm going to need a second to process that."

Ruby rolled her eyes. "Okay fine, just make sure to do that before we get there alright?"

The blonde nodded. "Right… but uh, where exactly is this meet up point anyway?"

Ruby checked her scroll. Cardiin had sent her a map of the district with a marker. They were less than a street away from it.

"Not far." She told her older sister. "I don't actually know what it is he wants though so be ready for anything."

Yang frowned. "You actually think this might be trouble?"

"Think so? No, but with the fact that they know I work for Ozpin they might be considering a few things I don't want to think about…"

They turned into an alleyway out of sight of passers-by. The marker was less than ten feet in front if them. "I trust Cardin though, if he was given an order like that, I think he'd be fair enough to stab me in the front instead of the back."

"How nice." A male voice groused from above. Yang's eyes snapped up to the black coated figure standing on a balcony railings as if it were the moist natural thing in the world. The trench coat wrapped around the front like some hybrid between medieval garment and badass assassin robes.

It was… pretty awesome if Yang had to admit it allowed.

Ruby was slower on the reaction, but only because she purposefully held herself back. When she did look up, it was with a nod of greeting.

The figure hummed and hopped down gracefully, taking the ten foot drop like a single step and landing like it was exactly that.

Cardin Winchester raised an eyebrow.

"Well at least you're here on time." He said, eyes flickering to the blonde. "Wasn't expecting you to bring company though."

Ruby shrugged. "I'm turning over a new leave you know including the family."

"Oh?"

"Ozpin doesn't know about it." she admitted then adding firmly. "I'd like it if you could keep it that way."

The tall man's eyes shined for a second before he laughed once. "Didn't think you of all people would be one to keep secrets form the guy. Can't say I'm upset about it to be honest though."

Ruby doubted anyone would be. Ozpin didn't have many friends. Just powerful ones.

"Well," he said, turning to her sister. "I suppose I should introduce myself properly."

Yang blinked as her extended a hand. "Cardin Winchester. Member of the Order of Vale. A pleasure to meet you."

The brawler took it, and after a moment laughed. "Yang Xiao-Long, Huntress extraordinaire and blonde bombshell at your service. Between the two of us, I'm still new at this, so don't mind me if I sound a little bit touristy okay?"

"Of course." He smiled.

Yang made a noise and he blinked. "What is it?"

She grinned. "Ah nothin' I was just thinking that if both of us were single, I might have called you hot."

"I… am single."

"That's not what I heard from Velvet~"

Yang wasn't sure if Cardin's lips twitched because he was holding back a frown or smile, but she'd take it as a win.

"Well alright then," he said after they let go of each other's hands. "I guess the two of you want to know why you're here then."

"That would be a good place to start." The reaper agreed.

"Well, it's nothing too bad, but it's good to see you both prepared." Was referring to the fact they were wearing their weapons, as well as the outfits they'd worn last time they'd gotten into trube in Vale. That had been when Yang had got into a fight with a mech.

Yang's rm was free though, and though Cardin gave it a look he didn't comment. He, along with the other students t Beacon had seen it the day before school ended. He probably had questions about it, but nothing overly important right now.

"basically it's a simple task of showing our faces. There's a caravan coming through this part of the Kingdom and the Order needs to register it's items as they pass through."

Yang was the one to ask. "Uh, for the uninitiated?"

"Oh," he said. "Right, well, a caravan is what it sounds like in the old sense of the word. A group of people will be skirting near the city border as they make their way around the continent. The Order usually sends a number of our own to make sure they're not selling anything dangerous or threatening, while buying what we can ourselves.

The older girl blinked. "So you s buy and sell with travellers… seems kind of… normal if you ask me."

"It would be for you," he agreed. "If you didn't count the fact that the people in the Caravan would be anything from Saytr's to Pixies to Spriggan's and dryads."

Yang choked, but Ruby managed to speak before her. "They manage to get this close to the border without being discovered?"

Cardin smirked. "Ozpin doesn't see everything, and with the Order working hard we make sure he doesn't see the innocent people just going about their business."

That was… nice. Ruby would be the first to admit she didn't know a lot of how magical society worked, but she know it was… different to what she was used to. The Order was helping what they considered people though, so it was a point in their books.

It was also another point for Cardin funny enough. If his Order personality was faked, then surely racist tendencies towards the Faunus would show towards things that were even further form humans.

But he seemed fine with it. more than that, he seemed to think it was an everyday occurrence.

Maybe it was for him.

"Wait a second!" Yang cried out. "I thought all of those things were extinct!"

"Not quiet." Cardin told her slowly, probably deciding whether or not he could trust her. She may not have been working for Ozpin, but if he found out from her that the Order was taking such an active role to hide creatures from Ozpin's gaze there could be trouble.

He must have seen something though.

Something in Yang's eyes that screamed curiosity and an honest desire to know more.

They might be rare, really rare actually, but the Orders of Vale has worked hard for centuries to protect their numbers and cooperate with them whenever we can to keep their numbers steady.

Yang had already pulled out a small little notebook, but before Cardin could even look question what it might before he saw her scribbling down some sort of note. She was documenting what he was saying. He looked to Ruby for answers and she smiled.

"Yang's decided to find out as much as she can on Magic. We had a run in on our last mission that opened her eyes to all of this and she's wanted to collect as much as she can."

He accepted that answer and watched as Yang suddenly froze, turning to her sister with wide eyes.

"Did… you just make a pun?"

Ruby looked confused for moment before her eyes widened. "It was an accident!" she cried. "I swear."

The blonde wrapped her arms around the reaper and swooned about pride or something, and Cardin could only watch in bemusment.

"Okay then," he said. "Are ready to go? I'll lead you there and we can meet up with some of the other knights."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Knights? Pretty lofty name isn't it?"

He shrugged. "Maybe, but technically it's because members of the orders are actually given knighthood by the elders after they've proven themselves enough. So, it's kind of earned."

"Eh, point."

Cardin rolled his eyes. "Come on, I'll lead you outside the walls. There's a specific path we need to take."

They sisters nodded, and followed the young man through the alley ways.

"So…" Yang mused. "What uh… what 'creatures' are extinct then? A I mean, there's like, a difference between the intelligent ones and not right?"

"There is." He said. "I'll be honest, I'm not a scribe, that sort of knowledge isn't something I'm specialised in. I do know a few, but if you want more information you'd have to join us. Trade secrsts and all that."

The brawler raised an eyebrow. "What, you hiring?" she coughed as Ruby elbowed her in the side. "What?"

The younger girl glared at her. "Remember the part where keeping you involvement from Ozpin a secret was a priority?"

Yang tutted. "Relax Rubes, I'm just askin'"

Cardin laughed. "I don't know if I could help you anyways. The recruitment process is… complicated, and very, very selective."

"Figures."

He hummed in agreement. "I suppose I can tell you a few though, if you want that is."

Yang's book was already in hand.

The male huntsman in training laughed, looking up at the sky as they made their way through the closed off streets. "Lets see… well the ones we already went over are there; Saytr's, Pixies, Spriggan's and dryads, though they're what you'd call 'forest dwellers'. Goblins can be sentient, though we don't know what it is exactly that drives them feral in the first place. The ones we've asked don't seem to know either."

"I do."

Both of the more experienced members of the magical world turned to the blonde, who had a thoughtful look on her face, arms crossed in thought.

"You… do?"

She nodded. "It was something I got off Merlots notes. He studied Grimm a lot, but he figured out from some kind of ancient texts that it had something to do with magic. Like, too much or too little drove them crazy. For Goblins at least. He never got to test it out exactly so I could be wrong but…"

She trailed off, and as she looked to Cardin she saw something in his eyes.

He was… impressed.

Or something more.

"Alright then," he said. "I'll asked some of the scholars to test that out. Thanks."

"No problem. So, about the other sentient ones, you were saying."

"Right, well I talked about the forest dwellers, and apart from them there are three other species that aren't extinct: Selkie's and Harpies exist, though in smaller numbers, as well as spirits… though only a very small portion of our numbers can communicate with them."

"Why is that?" Yang asked.

He huffed, though not at them. "Because they're not physical. It's… hard to explain. Members of the order are normal people, we don't usually come with some innate ability of magic. It comes through intense training and patience."

He glanced at Ruby. "A few of the elders think the reason Ozpin recruited you is because of your eyes. I'll be honest, we don't know much, but we think they let you see spirits." He paused. "And judging from your lack of a reaction, you already know that… or there's something more to it."

Ruby and Yang shared a look, but Cardin just sighed. "You don't have to tell me, I'm here for your help, not to interrogate you… anyway, there are a lot more sentient creatures, though they're extinct now after The War."

Ruby blinked. "the war? You mean the war between kingdoms?"

"No… not that one. That's… another story, not something I can really talk about. Anyway, there were a lot humanity had to co-exist with, or at least tried to; like faeries, mermaids, beastmen, elves, vampires, dragons… and a few others I can't actually say."

"What? Why?"

"Because it's safer if nobody knew they existed."

"…"

He sighed. "We're almost there, come on."

…

…

"No way." Yang whispered.

They'd made it outside the barrier, after a secret passage within a secret passage. They were standing inside a little cave, or a cove of some kind, dropping down to a long winding path going both north and south, into the forest beyond.

There in front of them stood about a dozen other people, all dressed in the same apparel Cardin wore, each with a silver weapon in their side; from swords to staves to maces.

By Yang was focused on one of them in particular, who was staring back in just as much shock.

"Miltia?"

The girl usually dressed in red wore the black coat and high collar of an Order knight. She looked so different, even though she wasn't. on her wrists instead or her signature red claws, were long, curved, wicked looking silver ones.

"Son of a- what the hell are you doing here wrecker?!" the maybe-criminal glared at Cardin. "What is she doing here?"

He shrugged as he stepped past her and peered over the plateau. "Elder Mirark's Order's."

"Yeah, for the silver eyed girl not- her."

"I came with." Yang interrupted, stepping up to the Malachite twin and staring her down.

The girl choked on whatever she had to say, but not because she was upset, but because she say Yang's arm.

"What… what the fuck happened to you?"

"I got a hair cut," Yang quipped. "What do you think happened?"

"I…" she cut herself off and growled in frustration. "Melanie can't know. You got that? You tell her and… just fuckin' don't okay?"

"Jeez okay, no need to get so worked up about it."

Another growl. "There is actually. I worked hard to keep this part of my life a secret. I don't need you spilling it to my sister, junior or any of the guys"

"And I won't" Yang promised.

The shorter girl didn't look like she believed her. "What are you even doing here, are you gonna tell me that?"

"I will, after you tell me what you're doing here."

Miltia scowled, crossing her arms. Cardin rolled his eyes at her stubbornness and answered for her.

"Knight Malachite was recruited by the order two years ago. The higher ups saw she had potential and was willing to make the city better… it also helped that she has contacts within the criminal underworld."

Yang raised an eyebrow. "huh, didn't think your order was the kind to recruit people on the other side of the law."

"The Order doesn't work the way you're thinking then." He grunted. "We don't care what side of the law you're on as long as you care about protecting this city."

Ruby blinked. "And… criminal's do?"

"Of course they do," Miltia scowled, turning to Yang. "Who is this girl anyway?"

The blonde put a hand on her hip as if challenging her. "My sister." Was her response.

The red malachite twin blinked, before groaning. She knew about Yang's… situation with her sister, or, at least her previous situation before Glenn.

"This just got a whole lot more complicated didn't it?" Miltia muttered to herself, before taking a breath and turning to the smaller girl. "Well for your information pipsqueak yes, even criminals care about the city. We have people we care about living here too. Even the most generic thug on the street has a family of some kind, you think they want their home in ruins?" she scoffed. "You and your littler group of do-gooders do the same work as us, just differently."

Ruby frowned. "Not from my experience. I've seen plenty of people who just want to destroy everything."

At that Miltia sneered, though Ruby got the feeling it wasn't at her. "Yeah, and we call those people terrorists. Criminals like me take pride in what we do, but we can't do anything in a pile of ruins. Terrorists are the ones who want to destroy, and the only people who want terrorists are the ones who want to tear this city apart."

"And that's where the Order comes in to stop it."

The four of them turned to the new voice, and almost immediately both Cardin and Miltia bowed.

It was a woman, wearing the same black attire as the knights, yet somehow gave off an air of superiority and authority that they lacked.

She had dark hair down to her shoulders and sharp hazel eyes. She was a good deal taller than either Ruby or Yang, older too, looking somewhere in her thirties with a long, thin silver sabre dangling from her hip. Even her smile gave off a feeling of confident control as she stopped before them, looking specifically at Ruby and Yang.

"Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao-Long, it's a pleasure to meet you both." She said. "I am Elder Mirark, I'm here to oversee trade with the caravan, in case you're wondering. Though, I think you're more interested to know why you've been asked to be here."

The sisters shared a look.

"That did cross our minds yes." Ruby agreed, wary of the woman in front of her. She was powerful. Ruby could feel it, as if an invisible pressure warning her body of the individual in front of her… and yet, she didn't feel threatened. This… Mirark wasn't a threat to them specifically. Or at least that was the feeling she got.

The woman laughed, and the young girl had to admit she... had a nice laugh. It was soft, airy.

It made her wonder. What kind of person was this woman to be some kind of leader within the Order?

And moreover, why was Ozpin seemingly opposed to them?

"Well then I'll be frank with you; recently it came to my, and the Orders attention, that you aided knight Winchester in the extermination of a dangerous hive earlier this year."

"Oh yeah." The reaper blinked. "I remember that."

Mirark smiled. "I'm sure you do," she nodded to Cardin. "from Winchesters report you were a vital part of the operation, and even saved his life when the situation took an unexpected turn in terms of what he had been prepared to face alone."

The elder stepped over to the ledge. In the distance, tiny lights got closer and closer.

"the act was impressive, and one or two of the elders suggested recruiting you into the Order for it." She shrugged. "Though we realised such a thing would be difficult, seeing that you work for Ozpin."

Ruby winced at that, something the older woman caught, grinning.

"But from the looks of it you at least understand… well, him."

"He's not bad." She defended. "We… he's fighting to protect the world; his methods are just… too far for me sometimes."

Mirark closed her eyes and hummed. "I see. Well I suppose that's understandable. Make no mistake, the Oder has been at odds with him, but we do understand that we are technically on the same side. So I won't hold it against you for working for him."

Her eyes flickered to the blonde, who listened to their conversation uncertainly.

"And what about you miss Xiao-Long?"

"E-eh?"

Again the woman smiled, perhaps amused by the girls confusion.

"Tell me, is there some kind of special attributes to that arm and leg of yours?"

"W-well I mean…" Yang stuttered. She wasn't sure why, but this woman's sudden interest in her was surprising. Ruby was the one working for Ozpin, she was just the tag along. Ruby gave her a nudge, to tell her she could relax a bit.

Instead of talking, Yang raised her golem-construct arm and let a tiny flame build in the palm of her hand.

Ruby stared at in, shocked and… awed.

Miltia and Cardin looked to be in a similar state, if not leaning a lot more to the shocked side of things.

The woman's eyes glinted. "A magi. Isn't that something? People like you are rare you know… very rare indeed."

She sighed. "The Elders would definitely what their hands on you… it's a shame you would be in danger."

Ruby stirred beside her. "Yang doesn't need to be a part of this, I don't want Ozpin knowing."

Yang might have argued, she was old enough to make her own decisions, older that her little sister to be sure, but the genuine fear in Ruby's voice, not to mention the smile of Mirark's face stopped her.

"I understand. Truthfully as long as magic thrives I think it's fine if young Yang choses to stay out if all of this. I am interested in you instance to keep it from you superior however."

"…"

Mirark shrugged again. "It doesn't matter. Though, I will extend the offer. Yang, if you ever do feel like you want to join the Order, we will accept you. People like you have talents that should be nurtured. Although."

The adult suddenly turned, calling over one of the other people where the same dark coats. This one looked a little different, if only because of the large bag on his back, and the belts and buckles that lined his body and filled with scrolls. Actual scrolls, as in paper.

"Scribe Spruce, would you hand over a novice class?"

He bowed. "Yes ma'am." He said, reaching around to the bag on his back and pulling out a hard, red-leatherback book. It had a circular symbol on it, something Ruby couldn't quite understand what it was."

He held it before Yang, who recognised the offer took it hesitantly.

"This is a novice's Grimoire." She chuckled. "And despite the similarities in naming conventions, is not Grimm related. It is a spell book of sorts, and should held you get a better grasp on what you can do in absence of the Order's guidance, at least at a beginners level."

Yang stared at the book with wide eyes, then stared at the woman before her as she cradled it in her arms. "Why… why are you giving me this."

Mirark hummed. "I'm not sure. Perhaps I see potential, perhaps I want to recruit you later on. But right now I just feel like helping a young magi." She raised her hand, as a flame engulfed it. Yang gasped as the woman smirked. "Us magi should stick together after all."

She flicked her wrist and the flame vanished. "Come now. There was another reason I called you hear." She gestured to the ledge and allowed Ruby and Yang to peer over it.

The stood frozen at what they saw:

It was…

By the gods it was a caravan.

As in, hundreds of people all traveling together. Some on horseback, some on feet and others in actual old-timey wooden caravans pulled by mounts.

Expect most of them weren't people.

Ruby couldn't even take them all in.

Goblins, Saytr's, Pixies, Spriggan's, Dryads centaurs and so many more. They were laughing, talking and treading with each other, and some of the Order members that had already made their way down.

"They purchase supplies from us." Mirark told them. "They can find food on their own but medicine, building materials and amenities are harder to come by when their existence is kept hidden from humanity. They have a few humans as you can see living among them but they are usually only capable of bartering with frontier towns further out because of it. Every so often they come to us, because we can help."

She smiled again. "Now then, just so you know, they do use lien as a currency, so why don't you explore the caravan, see if you can find anything nice for yourselves?"

Ruby looked up at her with wide eyes. "Why are you doing this?"

Mirark gazed roved over the caravan before her. "So that you know that we all have something we wish to protect, no matter our allegiances."

….

…

Mercury watched the car lights fly by below with a sort of slowness. Not that they were actually slow, but he was in a sort of lull, a state where the speeding traffic just… seemed slow.

He didn't really enjoy silence. Or, well he did, but for a long time, the silence was always a build up. His old man had been the type to get drunk and fester and when things got quiet…

Mercury knew things would get violence.

It was different now obviously. The old bastard was six feet under and he never had to worry about people like him again, but old habits died hard he'd come to realise. The fear was still there sometimes, creeping at the back of his mind that something bad was going to happen amidst the quiet.

He laughed to himself. He wasn't a kid anymore, but most people would probably think he needed therapy.

And speaking of people needing therapy.

The rooftop door opened behind him and he didn't even need to turn around to know who it was judging by the grumble.

"Hey Em," he grunted. "What's with the long face?"

The green haired thief scowled at him, but after a moment must have decided it was too mich effort to try and get into an argument with him.

He blinked. That was…

"What's wrong with you?"

She scoffed. "What do you think? I've had to deal with that… that freak."

"Oh." He winced. The 'freak' she was referring to was a Faunus with a nasty scorpion tail. Tyrian something, a complete psycho if he'd ever seen one.

"Yeah, oh." She grumbled. "I haven't gotten a good night sleep since he got here. I don't trust him. I keep getting this feeling that he's going to slit my throat in my sleep."

That… made sense. Even he wouldn't relax around the guy, and he didn't have trust issues like Emerald.

"There's something else bugging you though, right?"

Emerald sighed, leaning against the railing beside the silver-haired assassin and running a hand over her face.

"The plan's been changed. It just got a whole lot more… more."

He winced again, he knew exactly what she was talking about. With that Watts guy, and now two crazy Faunus there were more people wanting things to get… violent.

Cinder wanted violence sure, but even if she knew the city would have casualties, her focus was on Beacon. She'd planned it out meticulously, all the way down to directing Huntsmen away from the school and forcing them to protect the civilians.

The others weren't so keen on leaving the inhabitants of Vale out of it.

Taurus in particular disagreed.

"And Cinder's…" she sighed. "things are like this because Cinder was recognised at the CCT tower."

"By the red girl," Mercury hummed. "Her team went on a mission the day after and screwed Roman over right?"

Emerald nodded. "Right. I… talked to Cinder about it. I thought it might be a good idea to, you know, get rid of the kid."

"What she say?"

Em shook her head. "I've never been more afraid in my life."

"Seriously?"

"I thought she was gonna melt me right then and there." She shivered. "But…"

Mercury picked up on it almost instantly. "You still want to do something about her."

"Things changed when the brat came into the picture. Thing got even more crazy and Cinder's been different. You've noticed it too right?"

He had. Cinder was different from anybody he'd ever met. She was hot, smoking hat, but she was deadly enough that he'd never try anything on fear of agonising death. But he was an assassin, and he appreciated the nuanced.

Cinder was strong, really strong, but even more than that she was clever, cunning, manipulative and prepared to do anything to get what she wanted with a calmness that was scary to see.

Or she had been. Ever since this 'Ruby' had talked to her Cinder was more…

Emotional. She was angrier, quicker to annoy and sometimes even brash. Like, even the way she talked was different, how she phrased her words.

She was just so… different.

"So what do you want to do about it?" he asked.

Emerald turned herself around on the railings, back top the edge as she looked to the seiver-haired assassin. "We need to find answers. There's something going on there and it's important. I- we need to know."

Mercury smirked. He could practically feel the jealousy. That was fine, this sounded like fun. They could rough the kid up and-

"So how well do you think you can play the 'nice guy' role?"

… Or… not.

…

…

Weiss was woken unceremoniously in the morning with a loud rattle.

"Agh!" she cried, falling out of bed. Her face met the ground with a dull thud that her aura was so kind was to shield her from. She was still dizzy though, and glared up at the red hooded buffoon that was her team leader. To her right, Blake had also fallen out of bed from the same noise, and was glaring at Ruby with the same fervour she felt. It didn't help that- dear god! Weiss only say it out of the corner f her eye but seriously?!

Five in the morning?!

If Ruby noticed their irritation, she ignored it with a bright smile.

"Up and attem' girls, team meeting outside in ten minutes!" and then she disappeared in a burst of rose petals.

Weiss palmed her faced tiredly. "Remind me why I haven't skewered the dunce yet?"

"Because no matter how small and innocent she looks she's a terrifying ball of cold rage." Blake answered easily, with a resigned acceptance to her situation as she got dressed.

Oh.. right, that was it. Weiss sighed, doing the same. Whatever this was, it better have been important.

She found out just a few minutes later, when she and Blake stepped outside, the sun hadn't even come up yet.

"Training?" Weiss echoed what her leader had just said. "Now?"

Ruby, Yang, Mr Xiao-Long and Mr Branwen all stood before them with a sort of awakens she and her Faunus companion lacked. Was it a thing gained by being born into a Huntsman family?

"That's right." Qrow laughed. "Tai and me are teachers, it's about time we did some teaching."

The blonder of the two adults crossed his arms. "I don't like having to say this, especially because it's true, but you four girls have gotten into a lot of trouble, and if you're anything like we were when we were young, this won't be the end of it with all the time you have at Beacon. Yu need to be prepared."

Qrow nodded. "That's where we come in. "We have the whole summer to train you four, and by your glorious team leaders decision that's exactly what we're going to do. It's going to be intense, a nd you're going to feel like you're traversing the freezing pits of Hel the whole time you do it."

"But," Taiyang said when Weiss and Blake shared a nervous look. "When we're through, you'll be far stranger than you otherwise would have been. This is Huntsman training, the reall kind. If Beacon is the parameter for the level of training you do, we're going to triple that."

He smirked, and Weiss was struck by how differ it made him look, much more like yang.

"You have the Vytal festival coming up right? Let's make sure you're good enough to crush the completion."

"Get ready kids," Qrow grinned. "It's time you four were taught by two of the greatest Huntsman in Vale."

Ruby and yang grinned and despite themselves, Weis sand Blake shared another look, this one more excited than the last.

They'd been issued a challenge.

It was about time they rose to the occasion.

...

...

So there's a reason this chapter is a week late, so I'll explain that and then rant a little afterward.

So, first off, my computer that I've done most of my work on, including these fics, a laptop of seven years, died last week. yep, just dies, shut off and became utterly unresponsive. so I had to get an entirely new one. on the upside, it's a big, beefy PC now, so I suppose all's good. the problem was transferring those files from the laptops hard drive. You can imagine the difficulty there. Second, on the new computer, it meant I had to install all sorts of program. One in particular being Microsoft word.

And I just... WHAT!? I got Office and all it's features years ago for like, £30. I bought it once and that was it for seven years, but when I lokoed it up this week I saw that it was £80 for a YEAR. A YEAR! FOR THE BASIC FEATURES!

I just... what. Screw you Microsoft, I still had the disk, remember those? the ones that let you install it onto multiple PC's? well I still had two left!

Also, in case it comes up, the software I usually use to find mistakes is absent for now because of the move also, so feel free to point them out if you see any and I'll be sure to fix them.

Just... ugh. Here's the transitional chapters conclusion. get ready for Volume 3!

Hopefully my PC doesn't die on me this time.

P a treon . com (slash) WSpectre