Neo dismounted from the bench, she found the cobblestone path painful on her bare feet and her short legs were already going to slow these nice people down. She looked up from her feet to see Jaune looking down to her. "Leave me." She singed looking down disappointed. Jaune just smiled and scooped her up in his arms bridal style. "You don't need to do this." She signed blushing.

"Helping nice girls is what heroes do," Jaune said with a cheesy tone.

Velvet giggled "Man Jaune, you are a dork."

Neo wanted to protest more but she couldn't bring her hands to move. She just let herself be carried by Jaune. She blinked again forgetting to keep her eyes brown when she opened them one was pink.

"Your eyes change color?" Nora asked. Neo looked scared her ears drooped. She looked like she was waiting to be dropped right then. She glanced over to an open garbage bin and looked at it like she accepted her fate of being thrown away. Nora looked at her "Sorry I can tell it's a sore spot."

"Will it help if I said I think it's cute," Jaune spoke up with a big warm grin.

Neo looked at him blinking, her ears pricked back up eventually she signed "Nobody ever said I was cute before, most people think I'm weird and creepy."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Jaune said softly.

Nora looked at Jaune and asked, "You do realize you use a French accent when you translate her?"

"No, I don't." Jaune blissed. "Whatever you mean by French."

Neo singed with a chuckle "It's an accent of some kind."

Ren chimed in "You just did it."

When they made it to a local shoe store Neo sat down on one of the benches, Jaune healed her but she was still sore. Her aura had never been this low. She couldn't make an illusion of a ring if she tired. Jaune was watching her, the other three were scouring the place for anything in a size five they could find.

"What are they?" Neo signed and then pointed to Ren and Nora

"I'm not sure I understand what you mean." June answered her "they're both humans if that's what you're talking about. Though I don't think anybody would be that surprised if Nora turned out to be an alien."

Neo gave a silent giggle and signed "aren't they lovers?"

It was June's turn to laugh. Before he could respond they both returned Nora had a pair of pink high heels and Ren had some white and brown sneakers "Can't find boots in your size." Ren said, "maybe velvet is having better luck."

"She just asked if you're a couple." The blonde said with a laugh. In the two other teenagers joined in the chuckle.

"We're like siblings." They said simultaneously "and I'm a lesbian." Nora continued.

"I'm gay," Ren said.

Neo looked at them confused "What do you mean by that?"

"They are women and men that look for others like them in romantic partners." Jaune said, "you weren't told about that when you were younger?"

Neo looked down ashamed "The man who took me in, he tried his best to keep me isolated from everybody else. He said I would frighten everybody. He didn't want me to sign to anybody but him. He told me to hide my ears and he told me they would fear my eyes."Jaune's response was to say a few rude things in sign language. "We shouldn't sign ill of the dead, but maybe you're right. But please, let's change the subject, what about Velvet?"

"She's my girlfriend," Nora answered.

Neo sat there finger fumbled until Velvet came back to the group with a pair of white faux fur lined boots. Unlike her old ones, they were smaller, only going past her ankles. She also had a pair of pink kitty slippers. "Here these might be what you need."

Neo tried on all of the pairs. She gave a smile after each one but preferred the boots. "You people are so kind, especially you." She pointed to Jaune and tears started to well up "Nobody ever made me feel normal before."

Nora smiled "I think we promised you Ice Cream in exchange for your tragic backstory."

"Right" Neo singed. "But you also have to tell me about you and Velvet, and one more thing."

She looked nervous as she signed. "Can I get one of those like you are wearing? She then pointed at Jaune.

"A hoodie?" Jaune said with a nod. "That's not a problem."

One quick trip to a clothing store later and Neo had a new pink and white hoodie. It was a little too big, but she didn't mind. It let her wear it over her ears. She still held onto her broken umbrella.

Soon they were at the ice cream parlor. They piled into a booth with Ren, Velvet, and Nora taking one side leaving Neo to hang out with Jaune on the other side. Jaune had a dish of pumpkin ice cream with salted caramel, Ren a small green tea cone, Velvet had chocolate in a dish with marshmallow cream, Neo chose a strawberry shake so she could keep a hand free.

Nora had a monstrosity of a sundae that could feed 8 people with cake batter and cotton candy ice cream, with chocolate cream cookies, gummy worms, peanut butter cups, pineapples, bananas, rainbow sprinkles, and extra whipped cream and caramel.

"Okay, she's not human!" Neo singed in disbelieve. "And I felt guilty for asking for a large."

"Hey, if you're not ready to tell us more about you it's fine," Nora said from behind her mountain of ice cream.

"No, it's all right. As painful as it is I want people to know." She signed with a silent sigh. "I 'm originally from a mountain village, not far from here actually. My parents were both cat Faunus like me, my father was C-O-L-A and my mother was C-H-E-R-R-Y she was great she had a semblance like mine. I was already skilled with it when I was just a child."

"Ohh what's your semblance?" Nora asked between bites.

"Umm mind if I get back to that latter?" Neo responded. The others nodded and Nora gave a thumbs up. "Both my parents where showmen. Mom was an illusionist and dad was an acrobat. We were part of a traveling show It was pretty great until…"

"Grimm." Everyone said at once.

"Griffins, mom and me were the only survivors that I know of, and she was badly injured." Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. "She collapsed in the snow just outside of the city, leaving me scared, cold and alone, with just a necklace and her signature umbrella. The one that muscle head broke today."

Jaune put an arm around her and held her. Neo cried into him again before she continued. "A man found me, he took me in. He wasn't nice. He told me that people would be afraid of me so I shouldn't sign, and that I should hide my ears. And he made me into a criminal. I've done so many terrible things, and I was willing to do more, would still be doing more but he was eaten."

"You're a criminal?" Ren asked.

"And now that you know, I will be alone again." She started to cry and get up. She found a hand on her shoulder."

"It doesn't matter who you were, it's who you are," Jaune said. "You're not a bad person despite who raised you."

"We aren't going to just dessert you," Nora said. "You are our friend now."

"Besides your not the only one with a major felony here." Nora giggled.

"Tell the world, why don't you!" Ren snarked.

"Really?" Neo singed. "Can I know about you and Velvet now?"

"Well, it all started in Argus," Nora said with a smile.