Hello all you Boils and Ghouls! I am back from my break and am ready to start on the new chapter, but before we get there... Um...

Looks like the reveal was um... a little bit less than expected for quite a few of you, and... I just wanna say...

Whoops? XD

But seriously, I need to get some things out because there has been complaints that people brought up in regards to not only Dichro but about the chapter length in general (and I know it's only because people wanna read more, but you'll understand why I'm bringing this up). I wanted to make this ABSOLUTELY clear that Dichro's personality and reactions are more or less based on my OWN personality and reactions - that what he does in the story is what I, personally, would do. Now before you go saying "Then it's a self-insert, you jack $$; don't jerk us along like that!" just let me explain; he might have MY personality and feelings, but THAT is where the similarities end. He has his own history, his own family, his own name, and his own interests. Regardless of this, if you call his personality cliche or bland then that's essentially the same thing as calling me cliche or bland. And in response, I only have these words to say, and am not trying to be rude by saying them; "Don't like it? Don't read it."

That's it - plain and simple; I don't like to be forced to do something I don't want to do, even if it's myself forcing me, so I know others don't like it as well. Don't leave a review that says how bad a character is without leaving some form of criticism or suggestion on how to fix it (i.e. telling me what NOT to do without telling me what TO do which makes me a better writer in general), don't try to bully or push me into doing something I don't want to do because plain and simple I am not 'forcing' you to read this; I am not 'forcing' you to say something about it. I only write what I would enjoy reading, as I stated in the last chapter, and if that makes me 'wrong' then I don't want to ever be right.

With that rant out of the way, let's get to the 'other complaint' which really isn't so much a complaint as it is just people wanting to read more of the story... I'm doing this to keep an approximate five thousand word count per chapter limit because my mind gets very empty when I go too long into a chapter - though these long AN's don't help much... In fact, the reason some parts of chapters feel rushed is because those were points where I ran out of ideas or where I was struggling to write something. I will only extend that limit IF and ONLY if I feel it is necessary to get a certain scene/event done by the chapter's end. While I'm not exactly 'new' to writing fanfiction, I'm not a seasoned vet or anything by ANY stretch of the imagination... Regardless, I apologize to anyone I may have offended with any of the above rants and hope you do enjoy the story regardless...

As for the questions... there's quite a few but one thing has 'bugged' me for a while now... And I'm not just making a pun out of that, either. XD

Like seriously, there's only ONE other known ant faunus OC?! That's just... Insane! I figured there would be more since a SCORPION faunus was a confirmed character in the show; and just about anyone who studied biology and taxonimy knows that a scorpion falls under the classification of an insect at the least. I was shocked when quite a few of you, even my 'betas', said that Dichro was a first. Thankfully, one of you proved them wrong, so thank you Daozong. XD

With that out of the way, let's get the questions done.

Ride player hary, in just a few more chapters, they WILL meet so just hold your horses... And I don't mean your horse faunus either. XD

Fiction Fan 369, I think we have a little more of a serious problem than explaining his powers; like an UNCONSCIOUS DICHRO and an UNGUARDED GGD! Joking aside, he will be explaining them soon enough.

Cartoon Savior, he won't "immediately" have a plan ready, but he will eventually by the time he meets them. Also, you might have a reason for that feeling.

The Mind Master, I have to sadly say no to the twins using Mighty XX, but I will not say anything else for fear of spoiling it. As for Kamen OP as hell Rider Chronus and the Ride Players... the person that gets the gashat WILL transform into both, though not in THAT order. Also... Ha ha... Guess I'm not the only one who made a Harry Potter reference in this story now. XD

Card Dealer, it won't be obvious but you will eventually know what that paradox is. Just... Not until halfway into the story.

Neo Raida, he will be a middle ground for both a trainer and a normal teen.

With those out of the way, let's begin with the chapter!

Oh, and Disclaimer; I own nothing but Dichro Spectrum/Steven Richardson.

)-Legend-(

"Yo!" - Speaking

'Is he an idiot?' - Thinking

"Dearest love," - Reading

"Kaishin no Ippatsu!" - Specials

)-Third Person PoV-(

Yang could see the shock on the dichromatic boy's face as Blake had told him that he was an Ant Faunus and knew full well there was something wrong. What's more, she could almost 'feel' the shock as if it were her own but pushed it aside thinking that it was the shock of seeing the young man trying to cut off a part of his body. She had to draw the line and tell him what a mistake he was making... Too bad it turned out to be too blunt even for her.

"You weren't about to cut off hair... You were about to cut off your antennae!" she practically cried out. His shock reached it's peak before his eyes rolled upward as he fell onto the floor limp and nearly lifeless - the only signs of life coming off him was the slow rising and falling of his chest. "DICHRO!" both girls yelled out as they ran to the boy's body, Blake out of shock and Yang out of fear when the feeling of shock vanished and was replaced with what she felt was a void; as if something had been ripped out of her. Blake had already begun to check for a pulse before trying to shake him awake as she pulled him to a sitting position. Weiss had ran over just before Yang had spoken up, trying to see what all the commotion was for just a little haircut; only to see the end results of an unconscious boy. The heiress was trying to see what was wrong when Ruby came running into the room. Until that point, she had been speaking with Jaune and Pyrrha about trying to find a suitable place for Dichro to sleep when she suddenly heard her sister cry out that very name. When she saw the unconscious boy, her immediate question was, "What happened?!"

Yang was too distracted by what she was experiencing to explain as she stumbled on her words. Noticing this, her partner answered for her, "We found out Dichro was trying to cut off his antennae and tried to stop him, but he legitimately believed that he was human from what his reactions were telling us. Once Yang let slip what he was about to do, he fainted on the spot."

"I'd faint, too, if I were told I was about to cut off the equivalent of a nose or an eye," coined the heiress as she looked at the scene before her. Blake and Ruby glared at her in a cross between annoyance and anger before she held her hands up in defense and said, "What? I'm being honest here!"

"Doesn't matter," Ruby started, "We have to do something to help. I'll try to find a professor that can help; Blake, you and Yang take Dichro to the infirmary; Weiss, you tell Team JNPR what happened."

At hearing what Ruby had planned, Yang immediately snapped out of her trance and looked her baby sister in the eye. "Ruby, I'm not so sure him going to the infirmary is a good idea," she said as she turned back to the unconscious boy, "Remember what happened yesterday when we tried to get him there?"

"We don't have much of a choice," Ruby interjected, "We can't just leave him there like this."

"Fine, but I'm not lettin' him outta my sight." Nodding at her sister's words, Ruby proceeded to take out her scroll and tried to call one of the teachers as Yang scooped up Dichro in her arms and tried to calmly walk out the door. What ended up happening was her going out of the door in a jog with her partner right behind her and Ruby's own partner knocking on the door of Team JNPR's room as well; whether she liked it or not, Dichro was still both Teams' leaders and, as such, had to take Ruby's suggestion seriously. As this happened, the Reaper girl managed to contact one of the professors; the image of a portly, middle aged man with gray hair and a rather large gray mustache appeared as a deep voice replied, "My word... Hello? Is something the matter?"

"Yes, professor," Ruby immediately answered, "We have someone on his way to the infirmary right now; he suddenly fainted and my sister is carrying him there now." She looked out the door before continuing, "I don't know what exactly happened, sir, but there might be something wrong."

"Yes, well... This is Ms. Rose, correct?" the man inquired. As soon as she confirmed it was her, he continued, "Then fear not, Ms. Rose, I'll let Professor Ozpin know what's going on." With that, the line went dead with a click as the man hung up in a hurry. Ruby, now finished with her objective, made a beeline for the infirmary to try and follow her sister and Blake.

)-Meanwhile-(

Jaune and Pyrrha were staring at the door, where Ruby had ran out after hearing a cry of some kind, wondering just what was going on. Ren was trying to keep his long-time friend from invading the other room when the Schnee Heiress herself came up to them. Seeing Weiss, of all people, enter their room was a shock to the members of Team JNPR; they didn't think she would have a reason to be in there, yet she was about to give them one regardless.

"Hey, uh, what's going on?" Jaune asked as she came in. Her reply came after she slipped a small glare at the blond boy. "Something happened with Dichro..." she began to explain, initially annoyed, but as she spoke her concern grew. "I'm not sure what, but, if I had to guess, it would seem our so-called 'leader' nearly did something that would have harmed himself... Very badly, I might add." When asked what that was by the pink-loving hammer-wielder, Weiss simply said, "He tried to cut off his antennae..."

"WHAT!?" was the collective response of team JNPR.

"I don't understand..." Pyrrha in her unnerved confusion stated.

"Turns out... He's an Ant Faunus," the heiress answered before continuing, "Why he didn't tell us is more than likely the same reason he tried to cut his antennae if what Blake said is true; he actually didn't know." This was when Jaune interjected as he waved his arms out in front of him in a stopping motion and said, "Whoa whoa wait, time out! Are you saying he didn't know he was a Faunus?! How does that even happen?!"

"If I had to guess, it must have something to do with his upbringing... " Ren speculated as his hand went to his chin with his index and thumb around it, "Maybe Faunus are that frowned upon in his society that even recognizing them was effectively breaking some form of social law?"

Nora joined in the conversation at this point by practically shouting, "Or maybe they never even heard of Faunus where he's from!?"

"That's impossible, you'd have to meet at least one Faunus in your lifetime," Weiss interjected but was soon rebutted by Ren. "That only applies within the four kingdoms, Weiss; who knows what goes on outside them? Maybe Faunus don't exist or maybe Faunus are so integrated into their society that people don't even recognize them without the obvious features?"

"Or perhaps they have stricter standards of what consists of a Faunus? Look at Dichro, did anyone here think he was one at first glance?" Pyrrha added as she looked at the room's occupants, all of which shook their heads in a negative save for Weiss. "While I didn't really consider him being a Faunus at first... You weren't on the Bullhead with my team and him when he showed off one of his species' telltale signs - his strength." the snow-haired girl said, "He bent the armrest of a solid metal seat - and he didn't even have his aura activated until earlier today!" Team JNPR simply stared at her in shock. Each of them thought about different things; Nora concerned about Yang, Pyrrha in concern for Team RWBY as a whole, Ren in bemusement as he tried to put the pieces together, and Jaune simply trying to keep track of everything; as they looked at each other before Jaune finally spoke up, "Listen, we need to be sure about this, so... I suggest we go on down there ourselves and find out from the horse's mouth - er... So to speak..."

"I already planned on that after I told you about what happened," Weiss stated before she turned to leave; this resulted in the rest of Team JNPR following her as they silently agreed that answers were necessary.

)-Later-(

)-At the Infirmary-(

Dichro's unconscious form rested upon one of the divided beds with Blake and Ruby sitting on either side of him, staring at a rather... peculiar sight...

Just beyond the foot of the bed, pacing back and forth in inapt worry, was Yang. As she paced back and forth between the dividers surrounding the space's occupant, multiple emotions were going through her head; the least of which were anxiety, fear, confusion, and frustration. The thoughts of this morning combined with the events that just transpired had her brain going into full steam ahead as she tried to sort out what was going on. Ruby, in fear of her sister pushing herself too far, tried to speak up, "Yang, please... You need to calm down and rest; all this pacing isn't doing any good for anyone, least of all Dichro."

"Calm down?" Yang repeated in frustration before turning on her own sister, "Ruby, I can't calm down! Ever since this morning, weird things have been happening to me! First, when I unlocked his aura, there was this like string thing comin' out of our chests before it vanished; then whenever he got called short or somethin', I could feel how embarrassed or angry he was!" This had both girls wide-eyed in shock but for different reasons; Ruby in awe that her sister had unlocked his aura and Blake in horror due to knowing what was causing that. Before either girl could request it, Yang was already continuing her tirade, "THEN we find out Dichro was trying to cut his antennae AFTER we figured out he was an Ant Faunus, and when we tell him; he faints! And when he does, I felt like..."

"Like a piece of you was ripped out of your very soul, Ms. Xiao Long?" a fourth voice interrupted her.

All three girls jumped at the voice though visibly relaxed when they saw it was Ozpin, holding a mug of coffee in one hand and his cane in the other. Yang was the first to speak up as she asked, "Professor Ozpin? What brings you down here?"

"I heard about what happened with Dichro from Professor Port," said the headmaster as he paused to sip some of his caffeine-heavy beverage before continuing, "Also, before you ask, I was here when you so politely told your sister that you 'can't calm down'. Normally, I would have reprimanded you on your behavior, but, due to the condition you are in, I am more than willing to turn a blind eye to you in this case."

"Condition?" Ruby and Yang both repeated before the red-caped reaper went wide-eyed in shock. She turned her sights on Yang in a glare before asking, "Yang... Are you pregnant or something?"

Sputtering over her words, Yang looked at her sister in shock before yelling, "RUBY! Why would you ask that?!" Poor Blake couldn't handle it as she was barely holding back her giggles at her partner's distress. "Sorry, sis; that was the first thing that hit my mind," was Ruby's reply before the headmaster immediately cleared his throat loudly to catch the attention of the young girls before he spoke.

"While that is not the condition that I was referring to," he began with his face still ever so stoic, but underneath he was grinning at the sight of at least 3 members of team RWBY getting along, as he continued to explain, "what Yang currently has can potentially lead to a similar result should both parties allow for it." As the sisters looked at Ozpin in confusion, Blake looked down in embarrassment as she could have avoided all this if she had just opened her mouth sooner. When asked what he meant by Yang, the headmaster replied, "Why, the fact that you have a soulbond of course."

"I have a whuh?" Yang asked, utterly confounded by what he just said. His eyebrow quirked upwards as he looked at her and asked, "You've never heard of a soulbond before?" The only reply he got from Yang was a negative shake of her head which Ruby clarified by saying, "Sorry, professor, but dad... didn't really explain all of this when he and Uncle Crow explained aura to us before attending Signal..."

The headmaster nodded in understanding as he looked to Yang and began his exposition, "To begin with, a soulbond is a rare phenomenon that happens when a person's aura is unlocked through the now commonplace ritual. When this occurs, a single thread materializes between the affected parties, connecting to their chests. The effects brought on by this bond varies depending on the color of the thread. To current experts' knowledge, there are four colors; Pink, Red, Green and Gold. A pink thread represents familial relations, is the most common form of soulbond, and will only form if the bondmates are family; most commonly directly. This bond allows relatives to find one another easier and allows for simpler interpretations of one another's feelings. A red thread represents rivalry, is rarer than the pink bond, and only forms between people with competitive personalities. This bond allows for the overall power that one learns to increase quite immensely until they catch up with their bondmate or rival. A green thread represents unparalleled friendship and is the second most rare type of bond despite the only condition being that those with this bond share no form of familial relations; this means too this day no family members have achieved a green bond. This bond allows for the passive and active ability to read one another's minds; allowing for communication even across vast distances. All of these bonds, however, share a downside... Should one of the bondmates die, it will leave a void in the soul of the surviving bondmate; they never are quite themselves again but they have not shown any suicidal tendencies."

Ruby listened on with rapt attention as Ozpin spoke while Blake simply looked at him in disbelief; she hadn't realized other forms of soulmates existed before now and only knew about the golden bond. Yang, meanwhile, stared in shock before she realized that he only mentioned three bonds just now. As she caught on to this, she inhaled before asking, "Professor... You only mentioned three bonds... What does the fourth one mean?"

Smiling softly in understanding, Ozpin nodded before answering her question, "Ah, yes... the Golden Bond and the rarest bond of all... This kind of bond can, quite literally, happen to anyone, yet is so rare that only one set of bondmates from each kingdom at any time has been recorded at any given time. Anyone with this type of bond are typically called 'Golden Couples' for a reason. While it was not often to happen, gold bonds tend to lead to easier dating and possibly even marriage by allowing their bondmates to feel more at home and comfortable with one another. The bond itself actually gives the ability for the bondmates to feel each others' emotions and, like the pink bond, allow them to find each other no matter where they are."

After taking a sip of his coffee, his face returned to being stoic as he spoke again, "There is, however, a much greater drawback to this bond than any other. When one bondmate is unconscious, not asleep, the other experiences what the other types of bonds suffer should their bondmates die. If a golden bondmate dies, however, the survivor's soul will effectively be destroyed; leaving them as nothing more than a shell of their former selves incapable of feeling any emotion whatsoever..." When he finished this, all three girls paled in horror at the thought of no longer being able to feel any kind of emotion at all, though Yang's mind quickly went from herself being doomed to such a fate to the unconscious boy potentially succumbing to such a consequence; the thought itself felt heavier and more dire than if it was her suffering it. The headmaster's voice brought her attention back to the topic at hand as he spoke once more.

"The pink and green bonds can be cut at any time by either bondmate but can never be reformed ever again; doing so will reduce the consequence of a bondmate dying, though it applies the portion that is left over immediately after being cut. The red bond is the only bond that cannot be cut by either bondmate, and the gold bond can only be cut by the bondmate that had their aura unlocked during the bond's formation; that being said, it is also the only bond that can reform at any given time with the aid of patience and constant contact with their bondmates. When a golden bond is cut, both bondmates will respond as if the other had died."

That gave the blonde brawler some relief as she sighed. "Then... I'm assumin' you know which one I got, right?" she asked the headmaster who nodded. Ruby immediately jumped up from her seat and briskly walked up to her sister. "Yang, what's going on? When did you get a soulbond? And why Dichro?" the reaper asked her older sister in concern. Blake tried to field for this one but was interrupted by the door into the infirmary opening up; revealing the Schnee Heiress and Team JNPR. The new visitors looked, for the most part, nonplussed as they each tried to gauge what was going on before Jaune spoke first asking, "Did... did we come at a bad time?"

Ozpin shook his head as he eyed Team JNPR and the missing member of Team RWBY before replying, "No, as a matter of fact, you're right on time... One of the medical staff should be coming out with the results of some blood work they did." Sure enough, a man with a white coat and beige shirt and pants came out of the door opposite to the one the new visitors came through. As the man approached, his expression was similar to that of Ozpin's save that it was more tiring; as if the man had been thinking too much, before holding up the clipboard he had in his arm.

"Mr. Spectrum will eventually make a full recovery," the doctor started to explain, "but his tests, while actually typical for humans, are incredibly off for a Faunus; especially one as rare a breed as he is."

"So he really is an Ant Faunus?" Pyrrha asked in concern. The doctor nodded before continuing.

"His glucose levels are dangerously low as well as his cholesterol," he stated as he looked at the clipboard, "His body has been malnourished, dehydrated, and running on empty for quite some time and needs to restore his fats and blood sugars soon."

At hearing this, everyone except Ozpin stared at the doctor in shock. Yang, however, was the first to ask how they could do anything to help with that. To this, the doctor stated, "As a doctor, what I'm about to suggest goes against everything medical science has ever stood for... But he needs to go on a high fat, high sugar diet. Make sure he gets as many proteins and eats as much fatty foods and sweets as he can; even if he says he's full, make sure he finishes it."

"Why should we do that?" Blake asked, "We'll just be forcing him to get sick, won't we?"

The man smiled at Blake's observation before shaking his head and replying, "Actually not so. You see, Ant Faunus aren't like normal Faunus in that they don't experience hunger like the rest of us." As he said 'rest of us', Blake took note of the not-so-hidden Labrador tail that was jutting out from between the coat's tails and thought, 'At least there's someone who won't be biased against him here.'

"That being said, he'll need about 5 or 6 small meals a day just to get his metabolism kick-started back up," the doctor began again, "I'd recommend a few servings of super fatty foods like bacon and, say, a two inch width slice of cake just to start off for an example."

"Oh, before I forget, doc," Yang interjected as she asked, "you mind me askin' why he fainted like he did?"

The man simply nodded before answering, "The stress of the shock, combined with the malnourishment of his body, is what caused his body to essentially shut down until it can recover, which will be soon."

"Thank you for your discretion," the headmaster said, "But for now, we need you to disappear for the moment... Your patient here has iatrophobia if I remember correctly and would fall under duress if he spotted you." With this, the doctor nodded before leaving the room where he came; setting the clipboard on the desk next to what used to be Ruby's seat as he did so.

Nora simply stared at their unconscious, impromptu leader for a second in a cross of pity and envy before speaking up. "Awww... I wanna have his diet plan..."

"Nora..." Ren started on her case, "You already have too much energy as is; you're not even allowed to have caffeine."

"Yang," Ruby called out to her big sister, who answered with a 'Yo,' before Ruby spoke up again, "You never answered my questions..."

"I..." Yang looked at her sister in distress before she sighed heavily in guilt. "He asked me to unlock his aura for him this morning... And... well..." she began before Blake interrupted and answered for her.

"Ruby, your sister had no idea she had a soulbond with him until after she told me about it... And I then told Nora about it because she refused to leave me alone until I answered her... Long story short, it was a complete accident on both parts; that's why she can feel what he feels, and apparently it can work both ways."

Ruby simply nodded despite visibly not being okay with this as she looked at her half-sib in concern. "Yang..." she started, "Please be careful next time you do this, okay?"

Nervously chuckling, Yang donned a lop-sided grin as she scratched the back of her head before replying, "Don'cha worry about that, Rubes... That was a one-time thing and I won't be doin' that again." With that, she was glomped by her baby sister in a massive hug for someone her size was capable of. Ren had his hand on his chin looking at Dichro's unconscious form before thinking aloud, "That explains all that, but there's still one thing that's been bothering me; why did Dichro not know he was a Faunus?" That question got everyone but Ozpin's attention and got them to thinking about possible reasons why. They looked to said headmaster for an answer, only for him to shake his head in a negative as he said, "That is for Dichro to disclose... Not me."

"Either way," Weiss said as she glared at the dichromatic boy, "We're not leaving here without answers... And he has a lot of questions to answer." Both teams resumed their own musings on what was going on.

Any further train of thoughts on the matter vanished as a soft groan cut through the short silence.

xXx

Finally, the chapter is done and I can work on the next one. That being said, I'm sorry that, once again, there is no action in this chapter... I hope you still enjoy it for I will do my best to make a training scene in the next chapter. Until then...

See ya next game!