Nick spent the next year living on the streets of his home colony. Forced to wander the dirt streets, the Atleasian buildings felt as if they loomed over him. The pearl lavish structures taunting his existence, he spent his time begging on a reserved part of town. The Vale styled architecture with its simple designs felt more welcoming. He moved around often, sometimes stealing from the well off travelers. He figured he needed it more then they did anyway.

Nick sat in the dirty alleyway he woke up in, wet from the rain, thinking about his next movement. He sighed, realizing the next safe move would take him back to the part of the town influenced by Atlas. Specifically the Atlas part of the town market, the place his life changed forever. He briefly checked himself over to make sure his few possessions were present. His handful of Lien were still in his pocket, and the knife he stole off a traveling hunter was still hidden under his shirt. He was very protective of it, even though he's only ever needed it a few times.

He decided not to waste any more time, Nick stood up and made his way out of the alleyway onto the street. The strange street's mixture of Vale and Atlas styled houses dotted the muddy road. He took in a breath of the chilled, humid air, before he began his walk to the market.

The markets stalls were either empty, or contained bored shopkeepers. The only place that seemed to have any customers were the dust and food stalls, which had various people drifting through them. Nick eyed each stall before finding his prize. The red and white striped canvas roof over the booth was dripping wet, which protected it's goods inside. The Vale based fruit booth was guarded by a sleeping shopkeeper. Nick smiled sadly to himself, and moved over to the other side of the road where the booth was. As he walked past, he swiftly reached out and grabbed an apple and held it close to his chest. He never slowed his pace during the thievery, and the shopkeeper didn't complain.

When he felt he was a safe enough distance away, he allowed himself to relax and took a bite into the apple. They were rare treats to him, worthy of savoring each bite. After Nick had finished the last bite, he had tossed the core over his shoulder. He heard the splash of it landing in a puddle, but he kept walking until he felt a chill down his spine causing him to stop. He looked around and realized this was the exact place a year ago he met that Faunus girl. He sighed, staring at the muddy road that was the exact spot he ran into her. Nick never saw her again after that and he tended to avoid this part of town.

He began to notice the shopkeepers kept giving him strange looks, signaling to him that it was time to move on. He turned to leave. He saw his reflection in the last stall on his side of the road decorated in Atlas dust, mirrors, and other suck trinkets. His face had become dirty, his hair had grown out and was a mess, and his facial features had changed from a naive smile to a more grim expression.

Nick was tempted to stop at the stall and stare at the person he'd become. However, he knew he couldn't stay outside in the rain. He moved on, entering the residential area. All traces of the comfortable Vale buildings vanished, leaving only Atlas based large housing. His old neighborhood. He felt a little sick to his stomach being back here, remembering his mothers harsh words. As he began to increase his pace, he suddenly heard a short, high pitched scream. The scream sounded like it was cut off, and nearby. Curious and concerned, Nick began searching the area for the source of the scream. He found its source in another alleyway between the two buildings.

Inside the alley, four boys a few years older then himself were standing around someone, laughing. His eyes widened when he saw who was in the middle of the boys ring. It was the same Faunus girl he tackled a year ago. Her blue knee-length skirt and black T-shirt were ripped in places, and her left eye was freshly bruised. Nick moved back behind the corner and continued to watch the scene unfold.

One of the boys had gripped onto her tail and was aggressively jerking on it, causing her to yelp in pain.

"It can't be real, it's got to come off!" one of the boys jeered. She struggled and tried to escape them. Two of them held her arms back, the third one was pulling on her tail, and the fourth punched her stomach whenever she struggled to escape. Nick watched this continue for a minute or two, before deciding what to do. He can't just stand by and watch. He reached behind him, making sure his knife is still sheathed under his shirt. The confirming feel of the handle helped steel his nerves.

After Nick had made his plan of action, he took a deep breath and stepped into view. He left the knife sheathed for now, he didn't need it yet.

"Hey!" He yelled into the alleyway loudly. Attracting the attention of the four assaulters.

"Oh, wanna join in?" The front one taunts and four laugh. Nicks face began to twist in anger.

"Let her go, now!" He yelled, hoping someone will have heard his shouting, though he doubts it. "Or else," he added, almost kicking himself for relying too much on someone hearing him. "

Or what kid? You gunna beat us up to protect ya animal girlfriend here?" The one in front taunted. All four laughed, and Nick knew what was going to happen next. The fourth and obvious leader of the group stepped forward, as he rubbed his fist. "Maybe you'd like to be next?" He asks menacingly. Before the assaulter could react. Nick had full on punched the leader of the group, stunning him. He used this moment to dodge around him and kick him in the groin. The boy collapsed, and Nick turned to the other three, a grin slowly creeping up his face.

Taking advantage of the shock from taking down their leader so easily. Nick reached behind him and drew his knife, holding it in a way he's practiced a few times before in case he needed to use it. He isn't stranger to a fight anymore. He allowed the small grin to spread over his face, and watched the other three boy's faces displayed their shock.

"I'm getting serious, now who's next?" Nick asked in a menacing tone.

"H-hey! I know this kid!" One boy said. "He's that tough street rat that's been harassing people south of town!" He said after pausing. Nick simply continued to smile and beckoned them forward with a finger.

"This guy's crazy! Let's bail!" The other suggests. With that, the three remaining assaulters let go of the girl and run past Nick. They stopped to assist their leader standing up before they ran out of the ally as fast as they could. Nick sighed once they were out of sight, his adrenaline fading. He watched as rainwater dripped off his blade for a second, before sheathing it again under his shirt.

With that, he looked down the Faunus girl. Her assaulters had pushed her on her hands and knees as they ran. She stared up at him for a minute, before her eyes widened. "H-hey! Aren't you that boy who tackled me in the street that one time? With the crazy mother?" She asked, her voice trembled as she spoke. Nick said nothing. He just nodded and offered out his hand. She watched the rainwater dripped off the soaking boys hand, her face still written in shock of what happened.

She reached out and took his hand, both unaware that they were being watched by a figure cloaked in black in the other alleyway.


Authors note:

Heh, left ya on a cliffhanger, prepare for a lot of that. Anyway, thank you so much for reading and reviewing the last chapter! It made the debut of RWBY:Dark feel like a success thanks to you guys! Some of you pointed out flaws I made in the last chapter, thank you. I did my best to fix that here. Also, eventually if this story still has steam behind it and a good amount of content. I'll come back and re-do earlier chapters such as the last one and this one with a more improved writing style! Anyway, inconsistently uploaded chapters are inbound until I work out a good schedule for uploading and this story gets some meat on it. Thanks for reading!