Here's the chapter, it's shorter than usual, but still, I hope you enjoy it!

"So, why are we going to Vale instead of eating a free lunch?" Crimson lamented asked as Team RSNC stepped off the Bullhead and into the bustle and noise of Vale, the lunch rush in full swing. "Because I'm not sure about you three, but free food is one of my more favorite things."

"Because tonight is Team Game Night!" Ruby pumped her fist into the air. "I said last night that we needed to go to Vale to pick stuff up and so, here we are! I'm thinking of stopping by home, we have lots of games there."

"We do," Neo confirmed before wincing. "But Dad locked them all away somewhere after the last family game night."

Skyler looked at her strangely. "What happened at your last family game night?"

"Ruby sliced a sofa in half and I accidentally broke my own wrist." Neo shrugged at Skyler's bewildered look. "What? None of us play by the rules, obviously, so things just sorta happen."

"It gets crazy," Ruby confirmed with a firm nod of her head. "I just hope we don't have to frame someone again."

Crimson leaned his head into view. "I'm sorry, what now?"

Ruby just waved him away. Briefly, she wondered if she could set Jaune up if the need arose, but quickly banished that idea as ridiculous. It would be a sin to waste a favor like that. Oh, yeah, that reminds me. I probably need to tell the others about Jaune…eh, I'll do it later. Right now, we're visiting Roman!

With that thought, Ruby smiled and she skipped ahead of the rest of her team, the familiar scent of chemicals and old seawater like a welcoming beacon lighting her way home. Like the hand of a loved one, small and warm in her own…

"Oh, by the Gods, the Great Wolf, and my own nose, what is that smell?!"

Skyler, if his rearing back in actual pain was anything to go by, did not share Ruby's sentiment.

xXx

The rest of the trip to the warehouse was uneventful, Skyler simply had a disgusted-and slightly pained-look on his face for the remainder of the walk and ignored the jabs directed his way by Crimson and Neo.

"Are milord's delicate nostrils better now?" Neo looked over at her teammate, an all-too-sweet smile on her face. Skyler just looked ahead, not bothering to give her so much as a glance. "Wow, rude. Hey, Crimson, isn't that rude of him?"

"So rude." Her partner agreed. "Here we are, concerned for his health, and he just ignores us!"

"Some people are so ungrateful."

"What a jerk."

Skyler, keeping up with his quest to pretend that half of his team doesn't exist, had already engaged Ruby in conversation. The topic, of course, being weapons.

"And that's why Lightning Dust rounds are much better than any other type. They can bypass aura and the light show can be spectacular!"

"I'll take your word for it." Skyler was mildly impressed by his partner's enthusiasm for weapons and the devices related to the deadly tools. He was no amateur when it came to weapons and their designs, but Ruby Rose took it to a whole new level. Her inventions showing that her skills and talents did not lay in killing alone. "By the way, is Mr. Torchwick going to be fine with showing us your home? I and Crimson are just employees, after all."

"I am here on a favor; Ginger-Man is not my boss!" Crimson crossed his arms before saying with a bite in his voice "Now if he paid me, I might reconsider."

"Just hold your breath and see." Ruby cast a dark look back at her teammate before turning back. "To answer your question, Skyler, me and Neo are bringing you, that right there is enough for Roman to not replace you."

Skyler sighed. "I rather not have my murder referred to as a replacing, but I understand what you are saying. Let's hurry, I rather get back to Beacon before lunch is over, I don't want to be late to class again."

"Yeah, yeah, we're almost there." Ruby stepped into the narrow alley that ran between two ramshackle storehouses marked with a faded sigil (Ruby always thought they looked kinda like a big M), and the warehouse that contains the most wanted man in Vale came into view. On the outside, it was the same as the rest, a grey building of metal and wood; but on the inside, it was home to the two girls of Team RSNC.

Of course, that was the reason Ruby gave herself to explain the warm feeling in her chest at the sight of Neo's smile. After all, what else could it be?

xXx

"And find the playing cards! Those are a vital part of any game night!" Ruby called out as her team ransacked the Loft for whatever could make their leader's game night all the more interesting. Although the wide, homey space was empty (They assumed Roman was working), just the mere fact of standing next to her bed relaxed the tensions that had been hurled at her since first stepping foot into Beacon.

"Hey, this pie is really good!"

"Zombie Boy! Get out of Mr. Torchwick's pantry, you crazed freeloader!"

"I found Monopoly, but there's a bullet hole in the board. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

…Okay, so maybe it wasn't just Beacon Academy causing all the anxiety. Her teammates were about the furthest away from normal one could get before they hit Grimm. Still, they kept life…interesting for lack of a better word.

Ruby's musings were cut off as Skyler's voice spoke up from where he was. "I don't mean to cut this short, but we have fifteen minutes before class starts."

She peered over the edge of the iron railing that separated her area from the rest of the loft. Neo, Skyler, and Crimson (Who was still munching on something that used to belong to Roman) looked back up at her. Neo raised a bag that bulged outwards in odd places, stuffed to the brim.

"I think I got everything, so if you want to start heading back, we can."

Ruby shrugged. "Might as well, it will keep Zombie Boy down there from eating us to bankruptcy at the very least."

"Not ones for warm hospitality, aren't you?" Crimson shook his head in mock shame. "What is the youth of today coming to?"

"No idea about the rest of them, but you're getting out of our Loft." Ruby marched down the spiral staircase and began trying to push Crimson down the stairs and out of the warehouse, he humored her by moving. Skyler and Neo followed their partners with shared eye-roll. As the two walked down the iron steps, Skyler glanced at Neo.

"So, did Belladonna ever apologize for yesterday?"

She snorted. "Oh, you mean for trying to kill me? No, not yet" A small grin played at her mouth. "But then again, how DOES one go about apologizing for threatening to silt another person's throat?"

Back at Beacon Academy…

"Good afternoon, students. Glad to see you all on time." Oobleck zipped around the classroom, oozing passive aggressiveness. Skyler noticed Jaune wilting at the rebuke as well as the awkward distance between him and his more famous partner. Mm, I wonder what that's about?

But Skyler Snow was not here to ponder the drama of teenagers, he was here to learn history! Or, rather, the history that was written by the victors. No one cared about the story of the defeated.

And so he listened to a Southerner tell a tale of the North, about a tribe who drowned in blood and were forgotten by time. And he felt a drop of rage, burning like hot gasoline, start a fire in his stomach.

Oobleck did not deviate from the textbook, his words were nothing but "This happening at that time" or "This person lead this force", his words were cold, impersonal, and nothing like the fiery passion the boy called Skyler remembered. The man's words were nothing like the cries of vengeance sworn to a spiraling mountain sky. And he felt that drop of rage turn into a molten stream of dark emotions.

Even when the class ended, and Oobleck said words that the boy did not hear nor care to, he still felt like his anger was clawing upwards in a mad attempt to spew out. When some of the students of Beacon, the ones he had already met, gather in the library to go over the essays and lectures, two of them start talking about the history lesson.

And their words were the tipping point for the boiling fury to roar out like the howls of hungry wolves.

xXx

Ruby was worried about her partner. Ever since Oobleck's class, he had not spoken a single word and his face seemed to be set in harsh stone. Of course, something told her that the words of one Weiss Schnee and one Pyrrha Nikos were not helping at all.

"I have nothing against the native people, but when I was growing up in Argus, I always heard stories of the Amarok attacking airships and caravans that got to close to the Hlintherlands and raids on villages built close to their borders." Pyrrha looked downcast at the long table. "So many people died because of them."

"That's because the Amarok were a violent race of raiders and thieves." Weiss's expression was as hostile as her words as she talked about the tribe. "They seemed to take a particular pleasure in destroying Schnee property and stealing whatever they could grab. In fact, even the White Fang comes in second to the destruction those savages wrought." As soon as those words came out of her mouth, Weiss winced and turned to Blake Belladonna.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't-"

"It's fine." Blake cut her off with a soft smile. "I'm not part of that anymore and maybe it is for the best to not pretend I never was."

Weiss smiled back at her before shaking her head and sighing, her earlier venom seemingly drained away. "Still, it probably was for the best that General Ironwood solved the Amarok problem. Who knows how many others could have been died if he didn't."

The creak the chair made as he slowly rose from it was like the splintering of old bones. In the quiet library, it drew everyone's attention. Skyler stared at the assorted students, still seating with confused looks on their faces. All except his three teammates, where wariness mixed with mystification. When he spoke, his words were like biting winter winds.

"It's funny how your own words tell why the Amarok Tribe did what they did. You call them raiders, and murderers and savages-" His voice turned harsh. "But who snatched children from their beds? Who took away entire families in chains? Who spread diseases so foul entire civilizations fell apart overnight? Who pushed us to the edge of the world until the only option left was to reclaim what belonged to us!"

He was panting, his eyes wild as he glared at everyone before him. "You were the invaders, you were the monsters that mothers told their little children about, you were the ones who murdered, and raped, and destroyed my people! My people, my…" Skyler closed his eyes and murmured in a voice filled with things no person should have to feel. "My people wanted justice and they were slaughtered for it."

Then he walked away, slowly, almost as if he was in pain. For a long moment, they just watched him go, but then Ruby got up and hurried to walk beside him, neither speaking as they left the library.

As the two partners left, Crimson and Neo shared a glance before turning back to the still slightly-shocked Teams JNPR and EWBY. With a slow smirk creeping up on his lips, Crimson leaned in closer to the two teams.

"I must say, I'm starting to fear for my life." The smirk widened into a grin. "There is only two members of the great Team RSNC left that you lot haven't already insulted or threatened. Keep this up, and you'll have four new enemies for life!" The grin grew into a smile. "Of course, since you just insulted our glorious leader's partner, you might not have to wait too long for the whole grudge thing. Bye now!"

The partners walked out of the library, eyes watchful, they had teammates to find.

xXx

Skyler walked in silence, the halls were empty except for him and his partner, strolling beside him. He could tell that Ruby wanted to say something, but was grateful that she sensed his need for quiet. For just a little peace so that he could arrange his rampant emotions back into the box that burst out of. To try and clam the rage that threatened to wipe his mind clean of human reasoning and devolve his senses into something brimming with hate and fury.

Finally, as he felt his anger drain away and the comfortable numbness return, Skyler turned his head to look at her.

"I'm sorry about screaming at you. You had...you had nothing to do with anything."

Ruby just smiled up at him. "Hey, it's fine. Don't worry about it."

Skyler turned his gaze back to the floor, his face impassive. "My real name is Kallik."

Ruby nodded as if she expected it. "It's a cool name."

He hummed softly. "I changed it to Skyler Snow after…well, you know what after. It was easier that way, both in everyday life and to seal away my past." He chuckled. "It's funny, Skyler Snow was invented after I got caught trying to rob Mr. Torchwick."

Ruby laughed softly. "You tried to steal from Roman? I thought you said you weren't a Crimson Shard."

"In my defense, I was uneducated in the ways of street life and also starving, I would have robbed Jacques Schnee if he happened to walk by." Skyler –or Kallik, Ruby wasn't sure what to call him-sighed. "Anyways, Mr. Torchwick caught me and instead of breaking my wrist, he offered me a job. Apparently, he was impressed with my attempt to relieve him of his wallet. It was only later that I realized what a feat it was to actually get Roman Torchwick's wallet out of his pocket before he caught you in the act."

Ruby whistled. "You got his wallet out of his pocket? No wonder he hired you, Neo tried to do that once and he caught her before she even lifted her hand, and she had illusions!"

"Yes, well." He shifted uncomfortably. "She probably took her failure with good grace and dignity, I called Mr. Torchwick a filthy white maggot and proceeded to try and take off his fingers with a piece of rusty iron. Needless to say, he wasn't very amused and it was only after I was being held upside down that he offered me the position in his Syndicate. I was a common cutpurse and pickpocket who worked his way up into the high position of a cat burglar."

"Did it quickly too," Ruby observed. The two walked in silence for several long moments before she spoke again. "So, what should I call you, Kallik or Skyler Snow?"

"Call me Skyler Snow. Kallik is the son of an Amarok warrior who harbors nothing but hate and anger. Skyler is a thief who merely wants to live in some semblance of peace." He looked up at his partner. "And for this assignment, we need level-heads."

Ruby frowned a bit at the strange wording of Skyler's answer but nodded anyway. The pair turned into another hallway before Skyler spoke again.

"You two can come out now."

With a shattering like broken glass, Neo burst into existence in front of the partners, her parasol hanging from the crook of her elbow. There was a rustle from above and Crimson dropped from the ceiling like a giant spider, landing on his feet with a loud thud. He grinned at the partners.

"I'm telling you, soon you're going to be braiding each other's hair and talking about cute people together." He sighed dramatically. "You found a bestie, Ruby, good job."

"I'm not even going to bother to try and understand you anymore." Ruby shook her head as the four of them started walking back in the direction of their dorm. Looking over to Neo, she asked.

"So, did anything interesting happen after we left?"

Neo shrugged. "The other teams didn't say anything, even after Crimson made a comment about all of us hating them forever."

"Great." Ruby snorted. "Well, I think it's safe to say that trying to be friends with Teams EWBY and JNPR is off the to-do list. Crimson, we're going back to your plan of avoiding them forever."

"What about Nora? Are we going to avoid her too?"

Ruby gasped at Crimson's inquiry. "Don't ask such blasphemous questions, of course, we'll still hang out with Nora! She's my shower friend!"

If either of them were watching Neo at the time, they would have seen her eye twitch sporadically. On the other hand, Skyler looked at his leader and partner with questioning eyes.

"So, wait," He said slowly. "Are you literally going break ties with the majority of the first years just because they insulted me?"

"Yes." There were no lies in Ruby's voice.

"Duh. Seriously, what kind of question is that?" Neo rolled her eyes.

"If you paid me enough, I would literally go kill them." Crimson's grin was warmer than usual, it was almost strange to see.

Skyler looked at his team for a moment, a thousand emotions flashing through his eyes before growing clearer then they had ever been before, like fresh snow in the height of winter. He turned back to face the hallway.

"Don't we have Monopoly to cheat at on a bullet-riddled board?"

Ruby gasped. "The Game Night! That's right! Come on, people, we got places to be!" In an explosion of rose petals, Ruby rocketed forward, leaving the rest of her team to race to catch up.

"Ruby! Stop! Heel! You're going the wrong way!"

"Are these rose petal real? Or are they like, I don't know, Ruby Nectar? The essence of Ruby? Did I just make this weird? Is anyone going to answer my question?"

Skyler smiled, a crescent of white that gleamed out at the world. Yes, this was his team. Yes, they were weird and crazy and left much to be desired in the morals department. And yes, he would fight for this motley gang of misfits with everything he had in him.

After all, it was nice to have something worth protecting.

And there we go. I hope you liked it! Oh, and expect something later tonight, maybe two somethings if everything goes smoothly. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this and I'll see you in the next chapter!