One light step, followed by another. The dash from one building's shade to next. Waiting so quietly, her breathing almost inexistent, until the footsteps echoed a secure enough distance away. The still of her heartbeat when one of her chasees turned to look over his shoulder…

Cinder dove into an alleyway and pressed her back against a wall, praying she had been quick enough to avoid detection. It was infuriating – Mercury and Emerald had never been this vigilant when under her command.

After thinking about it for a little while more, though, she smiled. She was free, and they knew she would be after them… That was why they were being so vigilant. Fear… She had forgotten how good it felt to instill that on people.

Still, their attentiveness was a huge problem. She might have been able to stay undetected so far, but as they got closer to their destination, surely they would grow even more wary. Even Cinder wasn't arrogant enough to think she could avoid their detection then.

She waited for the footsteps to begin again, then unglued herself from the wall. She watched her ex-colleagues in crime walk away in silence, her face concealing her frustration and tiredness.

Following them would ruin her plan. She would have to be patient and wait for them to give her an opening… And when they gave it, she would take it.

Oh, she would take it…

"And when the evil dinosaur finally fell, from its hollowed body emerged… Lieutenant Connor, who had stayed alive within it the whole time, ripping its innards to shreds and so giving the victory to the good guys!"

Nora smashed her hand against the table with so much force, the pancakes in her plate flew upward and ended up on Ren's head. He gave her a round of slow clapping, but otherwise did not seem amused at all.

"Didn't you say the Lieutenant was dead?" Pyrrha tilted her head dubiously.

"Yeah. He got eaten by the dinosaur." Nora shrugged.

"So how come he was the hero in the end?"

"Pyrrha, that's what you call a plot twist." The hammer-wielder rolled her eyes.

"I thought it was a dumb ending." Jaune chimed in helpfully.

"That's because you just didn't get it." Nora ripped a piece of pancake off of Ren's head and munched on it. "Amateurs…"

Their conversation was cut short by the arrival of team RWBY, which drew various curious looks from them. Ruby had an unusual emotionless expression, while Weiss and Blake were obviously making an effort to not acknowledge the other's presence. Yang was the only source of noise from them, groaning and complaining about her injuries as she walked to the table.

"Hey!" Jaune greeted, trying to lighten the mood. "How are you girls doing today?"

"I'm fine." Weiss and Blake said at the same time, then blushed and lowered their heads, mumbling unintelligibly.

"Huh. What's gotten over you two?" Nora asked loudly, much to their discomfort.

Yang sat down and patted Weiss on the shoulder proudly.

"Ice Queen and our resident kitten have their first date today." She informed. "Both are acting like children about it. It's not like we're going to judge them or anything."

"Yeah, well, I've had to put up with too many jokes from you already, Yang." Weiss said pointedly. "Besides, our date is just that, our date. We'll act however we want to about it."

"Excuse me, princess!" Yang exclaimed, only to get a fierce glare from her white-haired teammate. Realizing Weiss was not going to warm up anytime soon, she got up and shrugged. "I'll get our food. Usual salad for the princess… Ruby, cookies?"

The redhead looked at her sister briefly and nodded, then returned to leaning her head on her hands morosely. Yang smiled sadly and looked at Blake.

"Blake?"

"Huh?" The faunus looked at her partner confusedly. "W-what?"

"What do you want for lunch?" Yang raised an eyebrow comically.

"Oh. I don't know, get fish or something." Blake mumbled.

Yang nodded and walked away, cursing lightly at her wounds as she went. Once she was gone, a small smile appeared between Blake's lips. If she was judging things correctly, she had just been forgiven by her partner… Maybe not officially so, but that was Yang's way of doing things – actions over words.

"You know, I think it's super cool that you two are going on a date!" Jaune said suddenly, pointing to Weiss and Blake. "Like… Super cool! Really great to lighten the mood, you know?"
"…Thanks?" Blake spoke unsurely. "We all need some romance in our lives… Which is why you should ask Pyrrha out."

Pyrrha tried to contain her excitement, but it was very easy to notice from the way her eyes lit up and she had to cover her mouth so she wouldn't squeal. Jaune gave her a look and shrugged.

"I don't think she's interested." He said, then turned to take a bite of his food.

If Pyrrha were made of glass, she would have shattered to pieces right then and there. Everyone in the table, except for Jaune and Nora, showed similar reactions to that statement. Ruby's left eye twitched, Blake's jaw fell, Ren shook his head slowly… And Weiss seemed ready to tear Jaune's head right off his shoulders and toss it into a furnace.

"You dimwit! Of course she's interested! Look at her, she's practically served herself as a dish for you!" The heiress paused to look at Pyrrha. "No offense meant, of course."

"None taken." Pyrrha sighed. "Seriously, Jaune… Are you blind?"

"Of course not!" Jaune said defensively. "Why didn't you say anything to me about it, then? How come I'm the one who has to take the initiative?"

Weiss raised her hand to make a point, but then she frowned, as if thinking better of his words.

"That is a good point…" She mumbled grudgingly. "Pyrrha, how come you didn't ask him out too?"

"…Stage fright?" Pyrrha said slowly, as if she weren't sure of the answer herself.

That excitement was followed by a long moment of silence, which had JNPR picking on their food slowly as Weiss and Blake shared their bewilderment with discreet glances. After a while, Ruby straightened her posture and looked at Jaune and Pyrrha.

"Are neither of you going to take the initiative now?" She asked. "Really? Here are the two of you, obviously in love or something, and you're not going to do anything about it? That's… That's just…"

Her expression closed and she looked away. Jaune looked down at his lap, suddenly feeling guilt bear down his shoulders. She might not have wanted to, but Ruby had spoken as if she were accusing them of something horrible… Like they had been acting like fools and she had been hurt personally by it.

He bit his lower lip and looked at Pyrrha, his cheeks burning even as his determination grew.

"Pyrrha…" He said. "Wanna go out tonight?"

"I…" The champion paused. She had yearned for a moment like this for so long, it felt almost surreal that it was actually happening. "Of course I want to."

The two nodded, and just like that, returned their attention to their food.

When Yang returned, the table was filled with amiable conversation, as if nothing out of the normal had happened, but she was glad to notice that Ruby didn't look as gloomy as before.

Eventually, they begun to rise and leave for classes or training, and Nora and Ren found themselves alone. Nora nudged him with an elbow, drawing a sour expression from him.

"I told you Jaune would be the one to ask." She said. "Pay up, Ren!"

"Fine… Only you would be crazy enough to believe Pyrrha would not succumb eventually." Ren took a considerable stack of money from his pocket and threw it to her. "I swear, nobody in this school can have a normal romantic life."

"Not even us!" Nora sang cheerfully.

Ren shot her a curious look, then shook his head with a faint smile between his lips. There's already enough romantic drama going on here. Let's keep it that way.

Emerald knocked on the door to her boss's office, nervousness tingling up her spine as her knuckle connected with the wood. She had only met with Mira once, and that had been enough to convince her that the woman was dangerous beyond belief.

Minutes passed without a response, and she knocked again, fearing for her safety as she did. Nothing. Emerald gulped and opened the door, slowly entering the office. Her face paled as she took in what was happening inside the luxurious space.

Mira was standing behind her desk, pressing a man against the wall by his throat. As if the strangling wasn't enough, though, her hand was also burning with fire, melting the skin beneath her touch.

Apparently unaware of Emerald's presence, Mira reached up with her free hand and forced the man's mouth open, then covered it with her palm. His eyes widened and his body started to trash… Until he convulsed one last time and all life drained from him at once.

Mira turned and threw the man on the ground unceremoniously, then looked at Emerald and smiled, as if nothing was wrong.

"Hello, Emerald." She greeted, sitting on the edge of her desk elegantly. "It's been too long since we last saw each other."

"Yes… I-I guess so…" Emerald looked at the dead man from the corner of her eyes. "What was…?"

"Oh, him? Nobody important. An outsider." Mira said. "Adam gave me a full report of the Baxter building's invasion just this morning, and I got… upset. We all need stress relief… Don't you agree, Emerald?"

The green-haired thief nodded stiffly, knowing very well that their definitions of stress relief were spaced very far apart.

"Enough idle chatter." Mira got up and walked closer to her. They were of similar height, but Emerald felt like she was being dwarfed in such close proximity. "What have you come here for?"

"I assume you already know about Cinder's escape." Emerald said cautiously. Mira only responded with a quick nod. "How do you want us to deal with her?"

"Deal with her?" Mira raised an eyebrow slightly. "Let her be."

"Let her be?"

Mira's eyes narrowed, as if she was aggravated by the repetition, but it was only for a brief second. Emerald shivered with fear.

"Yes. Dangerous as she might be, Cinder is not a bigger priority than Beacon and the whole of Vale. If she should try to interfere with our plans, then do something, but don't go out of your way…" Mira explained tactfully. "In fact, we should show her some gratitude. The information she gathered before her betrayal is still very useful. You should make good use of it."

Emerald nodded and made to leave, but Mira raised a hand, making her pause.

"Yes?" The thief asked.

"Would you care to take him out of here?" Mira gestured to the body nonchalantly. "I hate the smell of corpses burnt up inside…"

Emerald gulped and picked up the corpse. With it hanging over her shoulder, she moved out of the room, fearing that, at any second, she would feel fire behind her back…

The school gymnasium was mostly empty, as it was the middle of the afternoon. People were attending class, studying in the library, or just hanging out in their rooms… Not Yang, though.

The sound of her training could be heard even from outside the gym. Flames burst out of her body as she punched one of the target dummies relentlessly. Anyone who got close to her would be in serious risk, so she was very grateful she was alone.

Her fury was fueled even more by her injuries from the invasion. It upset her in a way she had never been upset before. Yes, she took a lot of pain because of her combat style, but it never persisted days after her battles. It made no sense – she was supposed to be the toughest one in the team, yet everyone else had already recovered before her.

She was so distracted by these thoughts that she didn't notice as her pain grew even more. She threw a punch and, suddenly, the world was spinning around her, legs giving out… And she fell to the ground with a loud thump, biting her lower lip so she wouldn't scream out in pain.

This is… She thought, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes. Humiliating…

She would have been perfectly content to stay on the ground and wallow in self-pity, but the sound of footsteps alerted her to someone else's presence. Before she could do anything, though, Raven was already looking down at her with an undecipherable expression on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Yang asked sharply. She didn't mean to be antagonistic towards her mother, she just really wished they were meeting in any other situation.

"I wanted to see you." Raven said hesitantly, as if she were afraid of how she would react to it.

Yang felt a pang of guilt and pity hit her at that moment. Maybe she was in pain, but that was no reason to push Raven away, even if she wasn't the mother she wished she were.

The blonde got up slowly and breathed in and out steadily, trying to block out her pain entirely so she could get back to her training. But as she made to throw a punch at the dummy, Raven closed her hand around her arm, stopping her from doing it.

"You are doing it all wrong, dear." The mother said, a faint smile appearing between her lips. "You're all about taking the pain and dishing it right back. That might work for most opponents, but it's far from the most effective technique."

"Excuse me?" Yang narrowed her eyes with annoyance. "What would you know about my combat style?"

"Everything. I have your Semblance, and believe me when I say I used to fight just like you." Raven told, ignoring her daughter's subtler accusation. "Yang, we're blessed with the ability to endure practically any injury and raise our power to tremendous levels… But, as you're finding out, there are limits to it… And you don't want to hit it."

Yang lowered her arms, intrigued by her mother's talk. Raven's eyes sparked with happiness. For the first time, they were sharing a moment of bonding, without fighting or narrating life stories.

"Let me put it simply." The Huntress said. "You can take a hundred punches and feel no pain. Your power's skyrocketing; the world is butter and you are the knife. Then comes a plane and crashes directly into you."

"That escalated quickly." Yang quipped humorously.

"Your Semblance will try to block the impact, but it gets through. Suddenly, you're feeling not only the pain of a plane hitting you, but also of the previous hundred punches you took… Enough pain to kill you right at that instant." Raven paused, allowing that explanation to sink in before she continued. "The plane, of course, is just a metaphor. It could be an explosion, or an energy projectile, or the hundredth-first punch."

"And what do I do it about it?" Yang asked.

"You dodge. Just because you can endure the pain, doesn't mean you should. Avoid your foe's hits, and choose to take those that could give you the greatest leverage in the fight. Let's give it a try."

Almost immediately, Raven threw a punch. Yang only dodged in time because of the warning, or else she would have been hit on the face and thrown to the ground. Raven didn't let up, though, pressing forward with her assault.

Yang was happy that she could successfully avoid her mother's attacks, but that moment of satisfaction was short-lived, for she noticed Raven's small smile and lax posture. She was definitely holding back. Yang just didn't know if it was because the target was her daughter, or because said daughter was tired to the point of dropping to the ground.

After a minute, Raven stopped and pointed to the floor. Yang grudgingly sat, ashamed that they had to stop so soon on her account, but also relieved that she could rest.

"That's how you should fight from now on. Smart, not tough." Raven sat beside her. "Understood?"

"Yeah, sure." Yang said, wanting to be annoyed by her mother's teaching, but finding no flaw in it. "…Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"Why did you kill those grunts?"

Raven's happy expression closed up. She looked away, lips pressed together tightly. That was a topic she had been hoping they could avoid, but she had known it was fruitless hoping from the very moment that she had killed in front of her daughter. That wasn't something a young Huntress-in-training like her could just shake off without questions.

"That wasn't personal at all." Raven muttered. "I just did it because of the mission. We needed to get to Taurus as fast as possible, so I just… killed them to clear the way."

"You could have just knocked them out." Yang said. It wasn't exactly an accusation… No, she sounded disappointed and sad more than anything else.

"You're right. It was an unnecessary measure." Raven looked back at her daughter somberly. "Remember what I told you about being infiltrated in the White Fang? About how I feared what would happen to Summer if she were the one there?" She opened her hands and stared at her palms, as if they were covered in blood. "This is what I was talking about, dear."

"But… But you can change, right? It's not like you killed innocent people." The blonde said hopingly.

Raven smiled, happy beyond belief that she wasn't being pushed away again, but ushered closer.

"Maybe I can." She said. "Do me a favor, Yang?"

"Yeah?" The daughter tilted her head with intrigue.

"Keep Ruby close. Having a friendship like the two of you have… That's something you can't lose." Raven looked down, her eyes obscured by shadow. "Losing something like that brings you to edge of despair, and you'd be lucky not to topple over it and fall."

Yang nodded, understanding perfectly what her mother meant. Clearly she was talking about losing Summer. Ruby's mother had meant a lot to her, maybe more than she could imagine… Raven's hallucination during the invasion had caused her to get Ruby and Summer mixed up, and that had hit her very, very hard.

But Yang didn't need the comparison. Just the thought of losing Ruby filled her with despair. She would tank a metaphorical plane for her sister without hesitation.

"That was a nice… thing, we had." Yang said. "I'll go back to my room, now. Weiss and Blake are out on their date right now, so Ruby must be feeling lonely."

"Don't wear yourself out. Walk slowly." Raven grimaced. "Sorry. I didn't mean to turn into this kind of mom."

"Oh, it's… actually kind of nice." The blonde assured, then planted a quick kiss on her cheek. "See you."

Yang blitzed from the gym, ignoring her mother's warning from ten seconds before. Raven reached a hand to touch her cheek and smiled.

"So…" Weiss said slowly, desperately trying to fill the silence with anything. "The stars are nice?"

Blake nodded slightly, looking up at the night sky quietly. Nervous as they were, neither of the girls had actually decided where their date would be, so they had just roamed Vale in amiable silence. It was nice, but not exactly what they would call a proper date…

"You know what? I just had an awesome idea!" Blake said suddenly. "I know a place where we can go. Follow me!"

Instead of letting Weiss do just that, Blake grabbed her hand and ran, leading the heiress along whether she wanted it or not. Weiss was a bit startled by her date's sudden shift in behavior, but she chalked it up to nervousness.

Blake walked into a park filled with trees and benches, making her way deeper into it until they were at the very center. A small hill stood there, bereft of any trees to block the sight of the sky. The faunus sat down on the grass and pointed to the vacant space beside her. Weiss complied, intrigued by the route their date had taken.

"This is the best spot in Vale to watch the stars. Nobody ever comes here, so we won't be bothered at all, and there's a view clear of any buildings too." Blake explained softly.

"That's… nice." Weiss smiled lightly as she looked up at the stars. "How did you discover this place?"

"Oh." Blake paused. She had hoped they could have spent some minutes of peace before stumbling onto those topics… "I came across it while I was waiting for the first day of school. I… didn't have anywhere else to go, so I actually slept here a lot of nights."

"Oh. Well…" Weiss didn't know how to react to that. "I had no idea."

"It's not as bad as it sounds. In fact, it's great." The faunus patted the grass. "It's a nice place to sleep."

Weiss grimaced, feeling like a spoiled brat. How many times had Blake been near her while she complained about the cafeteria's food or the size of their room? She was surprised Blake hadn't snapped at her, witnessing such pettiness every day.

"Weiss, don't get like that." Blake sighed. "You were born rich and a Schnee. What about it? I'm not judging you, so you shouldn't judge yourself. I just want to have a nice date."

Weiss nodded, though she was still bothered by the topic. The two lied down beside each other, looking up at the stars silently. It wasn't an activity the heiress had ever thought of doing, but she found it truly pleasant. She should have taken to these simpler acts sooner in her life.

"Blake?"

"Hmm?" The faunus rolled her eyes, knowing Weiss was never going to let them spend their date the way she wanted.

"What do you like about me?"

Blake looked at her and smiled. That was a typical thing for Weiss to do – she acted proudly in her everyday life, but she was as insecure as any other student at Beacon. Blake thought it was sweet that she was lowering the act for her, in particular.

"That's a tough question, Weiss." She said. "There are plenty of things. You're smart. I've never meant anyone that thought like you. It's like you have a library worth of knowledge inside your head."

"That's good." Weiss muttered.

"…You're beautiful."

"Beautiful?" Now she sounded in outright disbelief. "Don't lie to make me feel better! I look like a plastic doll…"

"You don't look like a plastic doll, Weiss!" Blake rolled her eyes. "Stop being so harsh."

"Then tell me why I'm beautiful."

"Sure, if you tell me why you're ugly."

Weiss opened her mouth to retort, but could find no proper way to do it.

"You're smart." The heiress said bitterly. "And that is kind of annoying, actually."

"Would you rather date a brainless wood board?" Blake raised an eyebrow tauntingly.

"No. You're more than good enough."

Weiss inched closer to her and, not knowing exactly how to proceed, just hugged Blake. The faunus stilled, a sense of warmth feeling her.

Maybe they weren't having a conventional date, but neither would say it wasn't a good one.

"Jaune, how come you never told me you could sing so well?"

The blond boy groaned as he and Pyrrha made their way to Beacon. Their date had gone well – very well, some would say – but he wished the part with the karaoke machine hadn't happened.

"I don't sing often." He said defensively. "I'm actually surprised I one hundred percent'ed that song."

"Me too." Pyrrha agreed. His choice of song was really suspicious, actually… "Hotter than the sun in the middle of July?"

"Please don't tell anyone." Jaune muttered, covering his face with his hands.

Pyrrha's following laughter was cut short by the sound of an echoing click somewhere behind them. The redhead spun around, ducking just in time to avoid a powerful kick from Mercury.

"What the-" Jaune began to say, only to have Emerald knock him on the side of his head. "Hey!"

He reached for his sword instinctively, but he had left it in his dorm. Taking your sword with you on the first date might give off the wrong message.

"What do you want?!" Jaune exclaimed angrily.

"You dead?" Emerald answered, as if it was obvious. "Actually, just the girl. You're not a threat."

He threw a punch towards her, but Emerald just sidestepped and knocked on his head again, this time causing him to fall to the ground. She planted a foot on his back casually as she watched the other fight.

Pyrrha didn't have her weapons on her, but she still was a formidable warrior without them. She couldn't risk getting on the offensive, so she focused on dodging Mercury's attacks, occasionally activating her Semblance to stray his kicks off their intended angle. Still, she was fated to lose as soon as Emerald decided to attack her too.

"Hey!" Mercury glared at his partner. "A little help, would you?"

"But it's so much fun to watch you flail your legs around!" Emerald smiled deviously.

"Come on, Eme-"

His eyes widened as a streak of fire jumped from a nearby rooftop, landing right behind Emerald. The thief was too slow to react and was knocked to the ground by a powerful kick. The flames dissipated, revealing Cinder.

"Nice to see you two again." She said casually, then pointed a finger at Mercury. "Get away from her."

Mercury growled and charged at her, jumping and angling a kick at her head. Cinder raised an arm, blocking masterfully, then grabbed his leg and slammed him to the ground.

Mercury realized he had committed an enormous mistake, trying to take on Cinder alone. Even with Emerald's help, he doubted he could take her down. The pyromancer's eyes glowed, and she reached down towards his neck.

"How's this for taunting someone, huh?" She hissed. "Do you want to turn my cage on its side now?!"

He opened his mouth, but only a weak whimper left him. Cinder smiled widely, the skin of her fingers turning red as she pressed them around his throat… Oh, it felt cathartic to watch him squirm under her power…

Mercury was saved of a permanent injury in the nick of time by Emerald's interference. The thief got back on her feet and tackled Cinder away, then helped her partner up and bolted, supporting him with her arms.

Cinder took a few steps towards them, her eyes burning with the need for more violence. It would be pathetically easy to catch up to them…

"Cinder?" Pyrrha called hesitantly. "What are you doing here?"

Cinder whipped her head around to look at the champion, getting ready to attack her too. But Pyrrha was kneeling beside Jaune, whose hair was dirty with blood. The redhead looked away from him briefly, her eyes wavering with fear as she took in Cinder's burning hands.

The fugitive blinked, and just like that, the flames in her eyes and hands faded. She took a step towards the students, but Pyrrha tensed visibly, as if in preparation to defend them against her. Cinder paused and gestured weakly towards Jaune.

"Is he okay?" She asked softly.

"Yes. He just hit his head hard when he fell." Pyrrha answered cautiously.

"I… I could help you get him back to Beacon?" Cinder offered.

"No… I think it would be best if you stayed far away from there." The champion took Jaune in her arms and got up. "I mean it. Don't get near her."

Cinder's shoulders dropped. She knew very well who her was.

After one last warning glare, Pyrrha turned and started to walk back to Beacon.

Yang walked inside her room quietly, thoughts of her mother and everything she had said filling her head. It was so strange – for so many years, wondering about her mother had been a rare occurrence. It had always been important to her, of course, but it wasn't something that occupied her mind every day. And now… Now there Raven was, part of her life whether she wanted it or not.

The blonde looked up at her sister's bunker and found the redhead just lying there on her side, silver eyes fixed on the opposing wall with conflicting emotions. Yang smiled sadly and jumped up to the bed, sitting beside the younger girl.

"Hey." Ruby said quietly.

"Hi, sis." Yang leaned over to part her sister's hair away from her eyes. "You thinking about Cinder?"

"…Yeah."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

When Ruby stayed silent, Yang decided to take the initiative anyway. She had been too passive while Cinder was at the school… She wouldn't let things get out of hand again.

"Things will get better, Ruby. We just gotta finish this whole mess, right? The White Fang's got nothing on us." She said. "So what if Cinder's out there? She wouldn't dare come any close to you, not here… And out there, if she even tried… You know I'd kick her ass."

"Thanks. I just…" Ruby closed her eyes. "I don't know, Yang. It's so confusing. I really liked her, and… I don't know if she liked me too. But it felt real, you know?"

"Ruby, she is kind of a psychopath…" Yang noted softly.

Ruby sat up suddenly, her eyes narrowed with frustration.

"Is she, though? I mean, she killed people, right? But… But your mother kills people too. Is she a psychopath? Are you going to condemn her too?" She asked sharply.

"I…" Yang frowned. "She had her reasons."

"That's great. I'm all for forgiveness." Ruby crossed her arms. "Yet nobody bothered to learn Cinder's reasons."

Yang lied down on her back, blowing a strand of hair off her face. There seemed to be no way to comfort her sister… Why couldn't Ruby just cry, instead of posing moral questions to her?

A knock on their door made her sit up again. A smile appeared between Yang's lips. With Weiss and Blake back from their date, the mood would be much better. She couldn't wait to unleash her practiced jokes on the heiress and her partner…

Unfortunately, it was Pyrrha who entered the room. Yang frowned, assuming that this meant bad news. Not only was it unusual for Pyrrha to visit them alone, but she also had a solemn expression on her face.

"Hi…" She looked from Ruby to Yang. "Something happened. Cinder's involved."

Ruby's eyes lit up, while Yang felt like punching her own face in frustration.

Things can never be troublesome enough…

Sorry, Yang. That's just the way things have to be.

These chapters are getting so much longer now. There's so much going on... Gah. But more content is always cool, as long as the quality doesn't drop! So yay!

Also, can I just say it's getting really hard to come up with the chapter titles now? The theme of this Act is birds and related things. And damnit, there's only so much bird stuff in the world. (This is totally not me drawing attention to my super cool thematic chapter titles. Nope. Not at all. Why are you scrolling up?)

Metaphorical-plane-sized thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and favorited Falling Roses Burn Brighter!

-Zeroan