The rain pounded against the roof that was providing him and his associates shelter, and the sound of thunder in the distance left Tyrian feeling like his head was aching. It left him feeling like there was something seriously wrong- like something was trying to get close to him and reach out for him with sharpened claws. No matter how many times he told himself that he was safe as long as he stayed by Hazel and dear Arthur's sides, he couldn't shake that feeling.

But he was safe- Tyrian knew that. Hazel and Arthur kept him safe and kept him relatively close.

Thunder was merely a distant threat which felt more present than it was.

Tyrian's two companions had laid down to rest an hour before, neither wanting to be awake for the chaos outside. Tyrian had tried to calm himself and do the same, but he hadn't been able to find sleep.

There was the pain that lingered in his arms from repeated injury, there was the fact that he could practically feel his flesh ready to burst from his carapace on his tail because of the pressure, the sound of thunder cracks that reminded him of metal pipes striking against metal bars. There was the water leaking through the roof above the space where he was supposed to sleep, there was the fact that his genes dictated that he was nocturnal.

All in all, it made for a very uncomfortable experience waiting there by the small fire that the three of them had set to keep them warm. Tyrian sat there beside it, his tail wrapped tightly around him as he did his best to ignore the noises outside and tried not to jolt every time he heard another crack of thunder.

If he took the time, he could figure out just far away the lightning was. All he'd have to do was watch for a flash, then count. Every five seconds meant that the lightning was another mile away. It was an old trick that Arthur had taught him, but Tyrian couldn't concentrate enough to find his comfort that way. His heart was pounding too hard against his chest for that to be even remotely possible.

Tyrian didn't want to think about why, he didn't like the way that it was bound to make tears form in his eyes and make him a target for the others.

So Tyrian just sat there by the fire, tightening his own grip on himself with every boom and looking over at his two sleeping partners whenever he got too nervous to make sure that they were still asleep.

In the end, holding himself together came down to a mantra that Tyrian wasn't entirely sure he'd first heard in a dream.

Find me and you will find a home.

The open wounds on his arms burned again, and Tyrian rubbed at his injuries through his carefully-wrapped bandages, trying not to think too hard on what was underneath them. All he had to do was make it through this storm, and then they were going to be back on their way to find something that had failed to ever be properly named.

Another crack of thunder sounded in the distance, too loud and so powerful that it felt like the building quaked underneath him. Tyrian bit back a whimper and hid his face down in his knees, breathing deeply and trying not to think about it. He thought of dry warm places, of comfort, of the gentleness of a hug-

There was another crack, but this time it wasn't thunder.

Tyrian bolted from his seat, landing on all fours and raising his tail high over his head despite the fact that it hurt to do so in that moment. He blinked, trying to focus his vision on the area around him and trying hard to stop breathing so heavily like he was now.

Something had changed.

Something was wrong.

His gaze snapped over to Hazel and Arthur. Both still asleep.

Tyrian swallowed hard and reached for his gauntlets, taking the moment to strap into them so that he would be able to defend himself once things went wrong.

The fact that he was thinking of things in those terms wasn't good, Tyrian told himself. It didn't do anything to change his perspective. Fear clung to him like a living thing and nearly left him feeling like he was suffocating.

Slowly, the man raised himself up to his feet and began on the way over towards the stairs. All he had to do was go down and make sure that there was nothing there. No beasts, nobody that was there to harm, no bandits. All that he had to do was make sure that they were safe.

If he failed in that, he didn't want to consider what punishments and reprimands he would face for it.

Tyrian pressed himself so close to the wall while he walked down the stairs that he could have became one with the stone there. But he didn't let himself stop. Tyrian forced himself to take step after step until he was there on the ruined ground floor with its broken windows and broken apart pews before finally walking forward and through the remnants of the church that they called sanctuary.

He tried not to look at the ruined symbols and altar.

They weren't what he was here for.

When Tyrian reached the door to the church, broken and damaged as it was, he pressed himself against it so that he could properly peer out onto the overgrown street.

Across from the church, there was a ruined shop that he, Arthur, and Hazel had decided not to use as shelter in favor of taking shelter in the steeple where they could have high ground in case something went wrong.

There was a person there, travelling alone and probably soaked through to the bone. Once in awhile they would turn, and what Tyrian originally thought was a dust-based torch soon revealed itself to be a flame, being sustained in their hand by what Tyrian had to assume was their semblance. He repressed a shiver and watched the traveller closely as they tried to make their way into the ransacked shop.

They wouldn't have any luck- Tyrian knew that. All they'd find there would be broken glass and furniture, all held under a leaking roof.

He watched them with squinted eyes as the lone traveller turned slowly to finally properly survey the area before their gaze landed on the church. They dropped their hand to their side, the fire that had formed there disappearing away into nothing before they jogged over to the door on shaking legs.

Tyrian's eyes widened and he moved away from the door as quickly as he could, dropping down into a position several feet away where he crouched and pressed an open palm to the ground so that he'd be able to listen and feel for the other person as they moved. Seeing in the dark didn't mean much when his vision was already poor, so Tyrian had to feel and listen for anything. The rain made feeling difficult, and it made listening even harder.

But still Tyrian tried because that was what the others would have wanted.

The door opened and the person stepped in, dropping their pack by the door before slamming it shut behind her.

It was the first time that Tyrian managed to get a good look at them properly. It was a young woman, with long legs and curling dark hair. All that Tyrian could think was that she shouldn't have been alone.

She didn't even seem to know that he was there, and Tyrian couldn't tell whether that was good or not. After all, the last thing that he'd been able to eat had simply been what they'd managed to forage the night before in their travels. If this woman had food, then surely it wouldn't be of such great harm for him to steal from her?

Tyrian reminded himself not to fire a weapon, if only for the sake of not waking his travelling companions up.

The woman turned finally, breathing hard and pushing her wet dark hair back over her shoulder before she froze, realizing Tyrian's presence.

He dropped lower, preparing himself to strike and fight when he heard the characteristic clink of metal against metal.

So she was armed, Tyrian thought to himself.

"Who is it?" Tyrian raised his voice just enough that the woman would be able to hear him. He didn't dare draw closer. "What do you want?"

The woman lowered her weapon when she realized that he was just trying to get a read on her. "Who I am doesn't matter." She said finally. "I'm just a weary traveller looking for a place to rest."

"You can't be here!" Tyrian practically hissed the words out. "You being here would be very bad, miss, why, it would be-" He shivered, trying not to think about what would inevitably happen when either Hazel or Arthur found out that he'd failed to keep watch. Another thundercrack that made Tyrian jump. "You must go."

She took a step forward and watched him, just the same as Tyrian was tracking her as she moved. She wore high heels, he'd learned that quickly enough. The sound of her steps clicking against the floor made her easy enough for him to keep track of her position. "You haven't given me a reason why I can't stay." The woman answered him. "And you ask names without introducing yourself."

"Who I am matters not to you," Tyrian practically growled, deeming it fitting that he could stand up now. "All that matters to you, dear ember, is that you must leave."

"Ember." The woman repeated the word as though it carried some meaning. "You were watching me."

"But of course," Tyrian replied. "I was awake to keep watch."

The woman's eyes narrowed significantly at those words, and Tyrian supposed he couldn't blame her too much for it. After all, he doubted that he would have enjoyed being watched himself.

"So you admit to it."

Tyrian paused, sucking in a breath through his teeth and even rolling his eyes slightly. "Why, I cannot deny that, my dear Ember." His eyes narrowed again, even further than before as he finally focuses in on the girl in front of him. "But I must wonder-" He took a step forward, drawing in towards her just slightly. "-What winds have blown you here?"

"There isn't one." The girl answered. "I'm just trying to find… something." She stepped forward, holding her head high and looking entirely too confident the entire way through. She had Tyrian's interest, that was for sure. "And I need a place to wait out the storm."

Tyrian blinked, his gaze flickering over to the staircase that led back up to the space that he had been sharing with Arthur and Hazel upstairs. If this girl was truly just looking for a place to rest-

He pushed the thought away, knowing that he didn't want any involvement in what was going to happen should he let her in. Namely, he feared what would come to him as retribution for it. His lips quirked slightly before he focused on her again. "I believe-" He began. "There might have been an old stable that you could rest in that had a standing roof."

She took another step forward, reaching back for her weapon. The sound of metal clicking together was all that Tyrian needed.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, sweet Ember." Tyrian said, gesturing with his arms to show his weaponry for the first time. "I have no interest in harming you."

"Then why don't you permit me-" She looked him up and down, and Tyrian was sure that she was trying to find a way to address him properly.

"Tyrian." He cut her off, standing up straight since he was now absolutely sure that there wasn't going to be any way for him to lose track of her. "My name, dear Ember, is Tyrian."

"Tyrian." She repeated his name, and it was almost enough to make him shiver. "If you aren't interested in hurting me, then why won't you let me stay here to rest, Tyrian?"

He shifted where he was standing, almost uncomfortably and almost even stepped away from the girl for just a moment. "Why, I cannot allow it because my companions would not allow it."

"So then you aren't alone."

"I am not." Tyrian confirmed, tightening his tail around his waist just slightly, though he was sure that the woman wouldn't notice it. "But you are."

The girl's jaw clenched, and Tyrian was sure in that moment that he'd managed to make his way under her skin and irritate her enough that he was going to be able to get whatever he needed out of her at that point. It was a tactic that he'd learned from Arthur over his time travelling with the man.

"I'm only looking for a place to stay until morning." She paused. "Or at least until the storm ends."

Tyrian nodded slowly, as though he were humoring what the girl had said the entire time. He knew that he wasn't going to give her a place to stay in the church with himself, Hazel, and Watts. That was long off the table.

Finally he shook his head, his long braid swaying to and fro with the motion. "I am afraid I cannot shelter you through these rains, dear Ember." He blinked. "Like I said, there is a stable in which you could find some comfort."

The girl relented. She looked over at the door, where she'd rested her things and Tyrian heard more than saw her as she stowed her weapons again. Even standing where he was, Tyrian could practically feel the anger that was radiating off of her.

"I see." She said, her voice almost dangerous in tone. "I suppose that I'll be on my way-"

There was the sound of heavy footsteps on the staircase was the sign that either Hazel or Arthur had awoken and overheard the conversation between Tyrian and the girl. The heaviness of those footsteps told Tyrian exactly who it was going to be.

"What is this?" The voice sounded, as gruff as ever.

Hazel.

Tyrian knew that his tail twitched, wrapped up around him as it was then. He couldn't let himself get dragged down, not here and not now. After all, he'd been so close to getting the girl to leave them alone. Now that Hazel was up, Tyrian was sure that he wasn't going to be able to avoid some sort of punishment for his failure.

But Tyrian also knew that he needed to stand up and answer for himself somehow. "I was just chasing her away, Hazel." He practically gave an announcement of sorts to try and explain himself, even turning and repositioning his entire body so that he wasn't left with his back turned to either of the others there. "Why, she was just about to leave. I didn't mean to wake-"

"Tyrian." Hazel's voice was so harsh in tone that it as enough to leave Tyrian nearly quaking where he stood. In a lot of ways, Hazel's voice had always reminded Tyrian of thunder. Now in the middle of a storm, Tyrian could think of no comparison more apt.

"Yes?" Tyrian hunched over slightly, bringing his hands together in front of him out of nervousness.

"Quiet."

The order was enough to leave Tyrian almost feeling like he'd been struck. It tore through him like a bullet, and so when it was delivered, he couldn't help but to shrink back from it. "Y-yes." He managed, working hard not to let out a sound like a whimper. "O-of course."

Hazel nodded, and it was permission for Tyrian to stand by his side, so Tyrian took that permission and arranged himself there beside the other man. Hazel didn't say anything else to him, just gave the girl a once over like he was looking for something that Tyrian had never quite been able to identify.

"Girl." Hazel spoke again, focusing on the woman that had joined them. "Who are you?"

"The little Ember-"

"Cinder." The girl cut Tyrian off, not relaxing for a second. "My name is Cinder Fall, I have been travelling for a while, and I need a place to wait out the storm and rest." Her eyes snapped back over in Tyrian's direction. "Though it appears I am unwelcome."

At first, Hazel didn't say anything, just nodded along before asking a question. "How old?"

"Twenty one."

Another nod. "Where are you coming from?"

"Haven." Cinder replied.

"How long have you been travelling?"

"Six months." Cinder answered yet another question, seeming to relax slightly even under Hazel's rapid-fire questioning.

"Alone?" Hazel asked now, with something that almost sounded like gentleness beginning to touch his voice.

Cinder nodded, slowly.

Hazel looked over at Tyrian before shooting a question his way. "Did she give you any trouble?"

Normally Tyrian wouldn't be asked about such matters, but this was a rare case, it seemed. Normally, if Hazel or Arthur wanted to do something, they would just go ahead and make those things happen without even so much as seeking Tyrian's thoughts on the matter. He dropped his eyes so that he felt a little bit less like he was going to end up as one of Hazel's targets. "She did not." He finally said. "I-"

Hazel raised a hand in response, just enough to quiet Tyrian immediately. "She can stay." He mumbled, waiting a moment before focusing on the girl again, just one last time.

Cinder took a step back to pick up her bag, and then she spoke up. "Do you have a name?" She asked, turning to face Hazel as she began to stride over towards them. Tyrian made sure not to get too close, his entire body turning to nerves over the intruder being welcomed so easily.

"Hazel Rainart." The largest man answered. "You should come upstairs. It's safer there."

Cinder paused. "Then I suppose that it's a pleasure to meet you." She said quietly before taking the first step onto the stairs. "Where are you two headed?"

"It doesn't matter." Hazel replied, as gruff as ever as he began up the stairs behind Cinder. Tyrian fell into line directly behind him without much, if any prompting. He knew better than to cause too much trouble. "Where are you going?"

Cinder paused, one hand on the rail next to the stairs. "I don't know."

Hazel shrugged. "Then you'll fit in just fine."

None of them said anything to each other after that. The three of them climbed the stairs together until they were on the upper floor of the building where they were going to be safe. Tyrian didn't say anything to the others, just slid back into the space that he was supposed to be calling his bed for the time that they were there.

Arthur was still asleep, and Tyrian supposed that was a good thing as he tried to curl back into his space, finally uncurling his tail from around his waist and then around himself in another way, tucking the stinger in near his stomach.

He didn't miss the fact that Cinder had stared.

Tyrian tried not to think about it. He just held himself close and pulled his coat back over his body to keep him warm. In the end, he just squeezed his eyes shut and tried to ignore the sounds of the thunderclaps that so badly hurled him back to places that he didn't want to be.

He could ignore his companions, for just a little while, Tyrian supposed.

Water clung to Blake's entire body and left her feeling like she was shaking from the cold and unable to escape it. The rain was perhaps the coldest that it had ever been, and what she had for clothing didn't offer much for protection against it.

She couldn't let herself stop, though. Blake knew better than to let herself stop and put herself at risk of getting caught by Adam and the other members of the White Fang again. After all, she knew for a fact that she was just one crossroad away from their camp. Had she gone the other way-

Well, her torn right ear told her plenty about what she would have faced.

Despite all of that, she didn't let herself cry. Instead, Blake stayed as alert as she could possibly manage, and she refused to let anything stop her as she travelled. She'd had a couple of close calls that day, that was true, but Blake was fairly confident that she'd sent Adam and the others off on a road long enough that she was relatively safe, for now.

The thing was, if Blake ended up in trouble, she didn't know how she was going to be able to protect herself. Between the cold, the injury that she wasn't allowing for herself to heal by aura alone, and the fact that she'd just taken a beating that day, she didn't think that she had enough in her that she'd be able to use her semblance to divert other away from her.

So when Blake first saw the sight of green lights in a tower beginning to peek up into view over the treetops, it was almost like a sigh of relief. She didn't stop, just sped up so that she could get to the city sooner. Blake would be safe there- at least in theory. It was possible that word of her presence would make it to Adam, but Blake could probably take as much time as she needed to regroup before she started moving again.

This was her first view of the grand city of Vale, once destroyed but now standing as tall and as strong as ever.

Maybe, Blake thought to herself, this place could be a home for just a little while. Maybe she'd be able to be safe there for as long as she needed a place to rest and stay.

Blake took a deep breath, and then she continued down the road that stretched on in front of her. She did her best to ignore how cold she was, and how wet she was and how uncomfortable it was making her. The fact that the rain had chilled her down to the bones wasn't important.

All that was important to her at that point was that she would be able to find a place to stay for just a little bit.

So she hugged herself in an attempt to keep herself warm, and walked, on and on, and on, until she managed to step through the city gate and for just a little bit, Blake knew that she was safe.

Even if Adam were to find her in Vale, Blake knew him well enough to know that she was safe. That was how Adam worked- he only struck amongst chaos and in civil society like out in Vale, she was safe. There were witnesses, who wouldn't hesitate to attack.

Witnesses.

That word alone was enough to make Blake leap into an alley where she reached up to gingerly touch her ears. She was injured, but she needed a way to hide it. Blake had to think fast, and reached over to the long sleeve that she wore on her left arm. Carefully, she stripped it off and began to tear the fabric into a singular long ribbon before she tied it over her ears in a bow so that she could hide herself from the world.

It was safer that way.

When Adam came asking about her, he was going to be asking for a faunus girl.

Nobody could point him their way if they didn't know that she was a faunus.

The fabric rubbed against her wound and it made Blake want to cry, but she didn't let herself. She straightened up, fixed her clothes, and made her way into a nearby bar, in the hopes that she could be pointed in the direction of shelter. Normally that wasn't something that she would do, but seeing as she was on the run, she needed to get to people that were going to have loose lips.

The bar that she'd chosen was too big, with music that was far too loud for her liking- whether that was actually the case or a side effect of her ears picking up more sound than the average person would. Of course, Blake wouldn't have been surprised if this club that she'd chosen didn't serve many faunus.

But they didn't know that she was a faunus.

Blake made a beeline for the front and took a seat at the counter beside a too-thin man wearing a cape that seemed to be nursing a glass of whiskey. Behind the bar, there was a gigantic man, talking to a pair of girls that were probably her age. Blake said nothing, just did her best to disappear into the background of everything. She knew that probably wasn't going to be so simple.

After all, who wouldn't notice a teenager that was armed to the teeth like she was?

A voice at her side broke Blake out of her thoughts.

"Aren't you a little young to be here, kid?" The man there asked. Blake almost jolted, ready to attack, but when she looked over, she saw that the man that had been speaking was just staring straight ahead at something with red eyes that somehow managed to look gentle. She swallowed and spoke up.

"Just warming up." Blake said, snapping her vision back down to the bar counter in front of her. "Need some help."

The man shifted, turning so that he could face her. For the first time she got a good look at him. Scruffy, red eyes, looked a little tired. Blake already didn't know that she could trust him. After all...

Blake pushed the thought back before it could take her over.

Finally, he spoke up again. "How old are you?"

"Eighteen." Blake answered quietly. "Do you know any inns?"

"Yeah-" The man answered with a slight shrug. He offered a hand to her, and Blake almost shrank back but didn't let it happen. Just reached out to exchange a quick handshake before withdrawing. "The name's Qrow."

"Blake." She introduced herself as calmly as she could manage.

Qrow nodded slowly and raised his glass to his lips again, drinking from it and seeming to melt in pleasure with either the taste or the buzz. "Well, Blake." He said. "What are you, here for the academy?"

Blake blinked, figuring that she knew exactly why this man was asking her that question. He'd noticed that she was armed but-

She got a good look at him again, and saw that there was a weapon stowed on his back. A sword, by the looks of it. Huntsman, no doubt.

So Blake pursed her lips, snapped her vision away from Qrow, and stared down at her hands where they rested on the bar counter. There was bruising forming on her right wrist, so she just tugged her sleeve down over the emerging dark spot so that Qrow couldn't notice it. "Sure." She said finally. "We'll go with that."

Qrow nodded in understanding, draining the rest of his glass. "Running from something, then?"

Blake didn't answer. She didn't need to.

"I get that." Qrow said finally, giving her a quick look over again. "So you need a place to stay, huh?"

"Yeah." Blake murmured. "Just until it's safe again."

"Beacon could keep you safe."

"Why do you care?"

Qrow shrugged. "I've been in the same place, we'll just say that." He raised a hand to flag down the bartender, and then the behemoth of a man was over on his way there. The first thing that Blake thought when she saw him was that her father was bigger.

In a way, that provided some comfort, as well as some fear all wrapped in one.

The man leaned forward on the counter. "What is it?"

"Junior-" Qrow said, looking between Blake and the bartender. "This here's Blake. Kid needs a place to stay for a little while. Got a list?"

"Yeah." Junior said, looking over at Blake for just a moment. "Want something to drink? Seems like you've had enough of water."

Blake paused, not really sure about whether she wanted something to drink or not that day. "No thank you." She said finally. Food would have been fantastic, but she had a feeling that was something that this place didn't have. "No thanks," She said finally. "Just help."

Junior nodded and stepped away from the two of them, leaving Blake alone with Qrow again. She just shot Qrow a look, and couldn't miss the way that he smiled just a bit at her. Almost affectionate.

If she needed to, she was ready to fight.

"If you want it, kid-" Qrow began, watching Blake. "You seem capable, and that weapon of yours looks like it's nothing to sneeze at. You think you want to stay here in Vale, you go to Beacon Academy, find Ozpin, and say I sent you along."

"But-"

"Hey!" Qrow shrugged, displaying his open palms to Blake. "I've got friends up there, ones that trust me. Ozpin's the headmaster, and they don't turn down talent."

Blake paused, not really sure whether or not she wanted to take Qrow's offer or not. She knew that he was offering her something that she wasn't likely to find anywhere else. Something that surely wasn't being offered to her lightly.

She liked to think that she knew opportunity when she saw it.

She liked to think that her parents would approve of this- they'd be proud of her in theory…

Blake didn't know.

But the fact of the matter stood, and that she was going to have to make a decision at some point. She was going to have to decide on something that was going to end up shaping her entire future.

"What makes you so sure I'm a fighter?" Blake asked, weighing her words and making a point not to look over at Qrow. "Aside from the sword."

Qrow was quiet, swirling his drink in his hand for a long moment before he finally spoke up with an answer for Blake. "Because you look like you've been roughing it for a while. And kids don't just travel out there alone these days." He paused, looking at Blake's face now. "You're alone, right?"

"I am." Blake confirmed, sighing quietly. "You mean it about the academy?"

Qrow shrugged. "Sure," he mumbled, setting his glass down for just a moment. "I don't see why they wouldn't take you, as long as you can prove that you belong there." He paused. "I get the feeling you wouldn't have any trouble with that either."

Blake didn't like the way that her skin crawled with the suggestion, but she didn't let it show.

In the end, there was a question that needed to be answered, and Blake didn't know how much time she was going to have to make that decision. She took a deep breath and tugged down on her remaining sleeve again, glad that nobody had picked up on the fact that she was only wearing one. It was a good thing that asymmetry was considered fashionable to many.

She balled her hands into fists just slightly before turning to look over at Qrow. "I'll think about it." Blake said finally, her gaze quickly flicking back down to her hands instead of at Qrow.

"Well," Qrow shrugged as Junior came back to the bar counter with a small sheet of paper that he set down in front of Blake. "You might want to think about it quick, kid." Qrow mumbled, raising one finger at Junior, who knew exactly what he was asking for and immediately began fixing another drink for Qrow. "The new term is supposed to be starting soon."

Something about those words in particular caught Blake's attention, and she knew that she snapped her head back in Qrow's direction. Why would he knew that? Maybe he knew someone who went to the school, but if he knew the headmaster...

Her eyes narrowed, and Blake was sure that if she were truly a cat and not just a faunus girl, her hackles would have raised and her tail would have puffed out in stress. "Why do you care so much?"

"Doesn't matter." Qrow answered, taking his glass as Blake began to look over the list that she'd been given. "Think on it, Blake. It's a decent place to be." He paused for a moment before continuing. "Might find whatever you're looking for there, who knows."

Blake swallowed hard and nodded, folding the list and shoving it into her pocket before standing up. "Thank you." She said finally, pushing her bangs back away from her eyes before turning and making her way out of the bar. She'd gotten everything that she'd needed that night, and now it was just up to her to find a place to stay.

That was easy enough- she ended up in a sleazy looking hotel that had low rates for rooms.

She did her best to ignore the noise as she went to sleep that night.