"Hatemonger" That was the word Ozpin used in referring to his stunt in the cafeteria. It was so bad that he had to inform Herr Schnee that their arrangement was in jeopardy if Kroenen's antics continued.

It grew even more awkward when he had to inform the man that he had failed in his mission and that Weiss already knew.

Needless to say, his future with the Schnee Dust Company was dead in the water.

He had been effectively terminated, this contract was to be his last with the Schnee family. Surprisingly Herr Schnee did not think to recall him as he ordered that he continued with his observation of Weiss Schnee and her growth in Beacon. Though by the end of her tutelage his contract would be void and that he would be paid for his dutiful service under the Schnee.

Ozpin as well did his own disciplining, the janitorial staff now had a new temporary addition for the remainder of his time in Beacon. In Ozpin's words if Velvet had decided to have her word he'd have him expelled and that he was lucky.

Kroenen had a sinking suspicion that there was more to this.

He was not employed under the Schnee solely because he was an effective assassin.

He was among their most prized assests, his schematics and knowledge of the inner workings of the human body was what allowed them to go so far with biomedical technology. Without his genius, they would have been incapable of even producing half of the things that was implanted deep within him.

Speaking of implants he was also their most prized genuine pig. A mere test subject for their most advanced and most unethical research into dust. That part of the contact along with ownership over his patented inventions remained intact, they would still send in the dust effusion elixirs that had effectively made him their slave through his addiction to them.

He looked into the mirror, his torso bare.

His room was nearly empty, devoid of anypersonal knick knacks that one could use to delve into Kroenen's psyche. A spartan enviroment that only had a bed and still unpacked luggage with his few personal effects.

A bronze plate was in place of his chest, welded into the very flesh. This was the first of Schnee's experiments.

An integrated computer that improved one's aural capabilities. It was the only thing that kept his fluctuating aura in place. It allowed him to go past speeds beyond human comprehension with the reflexes to match. This was also the thing that mutilated his very soul.

It had several nodes and knobs that effectively controlled the modified processes in his body through his heart.

His blood was Dust itself now.

His heart did not beat, it hummed and whirred mechanically. It was a device of his own creation; built upon a clockwork version he had designed back in his old world.

He was effectively superhuman, an ubermensch.

He was a perfect specimen of the Aryan race.

It did not feel right.

He turned and craned his neck to oversee his back.

A polymer material had ben grafted over his spinal cord, located after every four vertebrae was a hollow indentation. These were the ports for the dust effusion injectors, this was where the harness became conjoined with his body.

The harness itself was a specialized device, created by Merlot Industries instead of the Schnee Dust Company. It was effectively another form of body armor that protected the vials of dust that would be injected into his body when required.

He stared at the two tattoos over his shoulder blades, the only places that were still of his natural body's skin.

The one on the left was the hakenkreuz of the National Socialist Party, the Swatiska. In his old world, it was the symbol of the revitalized German Reich, one that elicited fear and hatred among so many. In this new world, it had become the symbol of Anti-Faunus resistance. The sigil of Werwolf, or the Black Fang as it was colloquially known. He could only imagine the face Blake would have if she saw it or if she discovered the extent of his personal hand in the organization's creation.

The other tattoo on the right was something more esoteric. A two-sided hook, the opfer rune. A rotated version of the Eihwaz rune from the Futhark alphabet. It symbolized self-sacrifice. Rasputin had never liked the rune; he had derided the SS for their pseudo-occultist nonsense but Kroenen couldn't help but be sentimental.

Kroenen never had a taste for tattoos, mutilations were far more preferable; however, ever since he became stuck in this strange place he wanted some sort of remainder of where he came from.

He turned back to his front again.

He looked as he raised both of his arms, they were not made of flesh but of plastic and alloy. He had lost his previous arms in an incident, his first fight against the leader of the White Fang.

Kroenen lost his arms, but the dangerous Faunus had lost an eye.

It was one of the few wounds he had received in this new world that would not heal.

It would be a fight he would never forget.

He stared hard and long into his face.

Scarred and rough, no different from when he was still in his old body. His blue eyes reflected back to him. They were dead eyes, no joy and no passion.

They were the eyes of a man who's seen too much.

"Who are you?" He asked absentmindedly.

He remembered his first conversation with Ruby, he remembered his faux death, his intimate moment with Weiss and the recent fiasco in the cafeteria.

Beacon was changing him, he felt that more and more of Karl Ruprecht Kroenen was dying. His identity being slowly taken by the being known as Silber Totenkopf.

Remnant had taken his soul.

Question is how much of it was left when he first arrived here.

"What are you?" He looked at the amalgamation of metal, plastic and meat. He became dependent on the dust infusions. He had deluded himself into thinking otherwise. His conflict with Schnee had opened his eyes, he had panicked for only a moment at the realization they could revoke his access to the substance; but that single span of weakness shook him out of his reverie.

He was addicted.

He had been enslaved.

He remembered a time when he would have thought these mutilations as gifts that had brought him closer to bodily perfection; he remembered that this combination of man and machine would have elicited great enthusiasm from a younger Kroenen.

Now he felt only disgust.

And he didn't know why.

"Why am I here?" He asked again.

He had failed his assignment, the first that was through his own damned fault. There was no point in remaining in this school, filled with stupid adolescents still ignorant of the cruelty of the world outside.

"Why am I still here?" He quietly asked.

Why did he continue living on?

What was the point?

Project Ragna Rok must have failed with the portal destroyed, the Third Reich should have fallen by now. Why was he sent here? Why did he remain here?

What was the point of struggling to live in a world that he didn't belong to?

He was promised Eden, paradise free from the filth of baser humanity. He had killed, he had participated in genocide, he had zealously followed in blind faith because of that beautiful promise. He had given up everything to further the cause of the Dragon of Revelation.

Now that promise was dust and ash.

He had destroyed, and nothing was created.

He had no purpose.

He had no desire to live.

Kroenen walked over to the Merlot apparatus that was located near his bead, it still had half a dozen of dust infusion elixirs left. Just enough to last him through three months.

He took one of the vials, inspecting the viscous purplish liquid that was contained within.

He crushed it in his hand, the glass shards would have lacerated his flesh if they were still there.

He looked back towards the five remaining vials.

He no longer had any use for them.

"Why should I remain here?" He asked the final question, the only question that mattered.


Things were painfully awkward, after that bout of drama involving Silber none of the girls seemed to be their usual selves.

Ruby tried to put on a brave face, but Yang knew that she was despondent inside.

Weiss was for a lack of a better term heartbroken, Yang didn't know what would elicit such a response. Her haughty demeanor almost gone.

Blake was livid with anger, almost impossible to calm down. A far cry from the usually stoic girl.

"Why is he still here?!" Blake exclaimed to no one in particular after they discovered Silber had been punished with community service.

"Blake calm down." Yang knew it was a pointless exercise to say, but it was something.

"Calm down? They're letting in a known racist and murderer remain in this school!" She proceeded to say in indignation.

"You can't do anything about it Blake. The Headmaster makes the decisions." Blake's look of anger towards Weiss meant something was about to get down.

"Leave it to a Schnee to defend her pet dog." A large wet smack echoed across the room.

Blake felt the stinging skin on her cheek, a bit taken back by the sudden slap.

Weiss was shaking, tears freefalling.

"Don't you care compare me to my father ….. or that animal." She said with equal parts pain and fury.

"G-Guys stop." Ruby was really upset now, on the verge of tears as well.

Yang hated this.

"ENOUGH ALL OF YOU!" She shouted them all down, her golden locks illuminating for a moment.

All of them heeded her words. Blake calming herself, Weiss wiped off her tears and Ruby was normal again.

"Blake, don't blame Weiss for Silber being just a jerk." The tone Yang used meant she wasn't taking a no so Blake quietly complied.

"Weiss, talking to Blake while she's fuming isn't a smart thing to do." Weiss limply nodded her head.

"Ruby, I understand that Silber is your first friend in Beacon; but he isn't worth the effort." Ruby was about to talk back, her hand enclosed around Silber's locket.

"Ruby." Yang said severely before she had the chance.

She promptly shut up.

"Why are you accusing Weiss of defending her dog?" Yang asked of Blake.

"He's the Faunus Hunter." Seeing Weiss' shamed affirmatory nod meant that statement is true.

"Who?" Ruby asked cautiously, seemingly not wanting to know more about Silber.

"A famous serial killer from Atlas who targets Faunus according to official sources. To people who aren't as ignorant, he's an assassin who works for the Schnee Dust Company. A sadistic murderer hired to oppress and eliminate any Faunus who pose a threat to them." Weiss could only look away in anger as Blake continued.

"S-Silber?" Ruby said slowly, she couldn't believe it.

"How'd he ended up here then?" Yang asked curiously.

"The Schnee of course." Weiss was about to bite back, but then bit her lip.

"Weiss" Yang called out the girl's name, all she could do was cry.

"W-What do you want me to say? T-That my father is a monster? That Silber is a monster? W-What do you think I can do that can make you feel better Blake?!" Weiss lashed out in utter anguish, her loud cry catching Blake off guard.

"Weiss…. I didn't" Blake couldn't finish before Weiss left their room.

"Weiss!" Ruby chased the weeping heirless, Blake after a moment of hesitation followed too.

Yang didn't join them.

All she felt was rage.


It took too long for her to find the target of her anger, she had to fight through crowds of people to do so; but when she did it proved to be very fortuitous.

He was in his oversized janitorial uniform, trying to clean up the amphitheater by himself.

He strangely wasn't wearing his gasmask as well.

He noticed her almost immediately.

"Yang." He stated monotonously, his dead blue eyes meeting her fiery ones. He needed only a single glance to discover her intentions.

"You're here for a fight." He didn't sound afraid or surprised. He simply stated it.

"Yes I am, thanks to you my team is falling apart." She cracked her knuckles and her neck in anticipation.

The amphitheater was large enough for their impromptu sparring session.

"I don't have my gear." He stated simply once more, his ugly mutilated face not changing its dull expression.

"Too bad." She walked closer and closer, her gauntleted fists ready to unleash havoc.

"I don't think school rules permit this." He said in it in a light-hearted manner, as if he wasn't going to receive the most painful beating in his life.

"Says the guy who almost broke a studen'ts neck." She charged, her fist ready to make contact with his face.

Before she was able to fire Ember Cilicia she felt something cold on her neck.

She looked downwards, a long wicked looking blade was inches from her veins. The blade tore a hole through the wrist of Silber's uniform.

"A dirty trick." Yang said through gnashed teeth.

"Only dead men play fair." He had a slight smile, it only made her angrier.

She lashed out with her other arm and missed.

She noticed he was a lot slower, back when they were fighting the Nevermore she remembered Silber moving way faster.

Still he was too fast for even her to catch.

She turned and saw him behind her, two blades from his forearms were now crossed with one another.

Yang smiled.

"You better not go easy on me." She slammed her fists together, the sound echoing across the room.

She charged again, this time not letting him slip away like the snake he was.

He was still too fast even with her caution, he dodged and weaved after every punch. Yang got only more frustrated, controlling the urge to fire her shot gauntlets inside the school.

He wasn't striking back, if he didn't strike back her semblance wouldn't work.

She went down, trying to sweep him of his legs. He easily jumped and used his wrist blade to cut her orange scarf in half.

Yang gritted her teeth, he wasn't taking her seriously. He wasn't going to fight back.

She unleashed a battle cry, her patience running thin, she fired her gauntlets back behind her back and launching herself at great speed. Silber however just casually strafed to the side.

He was annoying to fight, he was too flexible, his movement too erratic. It was like trying to fight a puppet with loose strings.

She fired her gauntlets back to the front, stopping her momentum and launching herself backwards. She tried to do a reverse lariat, but he jumped over her outstretched arm.

She tried to steady herself. Her eyes narrowing. She then noticed the strand of golden hair that was now falling slowly through the air.

"Now you've you done it!" She screamed as she finally lost her temper. She repeated her earlier tactics of using the shot gauntlet's recoil to launcher herself only this time she used the recoil again just a bit earlier before making contact with Sliber, the sudden stop surprised him as she fired her right gauntlet next to Silber's ear. The concussive force was enough to disorient him.

She then planted her other fist into his gut and unloaded.

A small cry of victory emanated from her mouth as she saw Silber getting flung across the room.

Her small moment of joy quickly turned into concern as she noticed he was still on the floor, unmoving.

She ran by Silber's side, her eyes widened in horror as she saw the blood pooling beneath him.

His skin was getting paler, his blue eyes almost fading.

"Y-You're good Yang….. you're really good." He was choking on his own blood with a bright and relieved smile.

"What do you think you're doing!? Use your semblance you idiot!" She bent downwards, trying the staunch the wound on his gut.

Why wasn't he using his semblance?

"I… can't…don't…have ….dust…" He was smiling, why was he smiling?

She felt a stab of revulsion in her heart.

She had done this.

She didn't want to.

She was angry. She wasn't thinking straight.

"SILBER STOP FOOLING AROUND!" She tore out her skirt, using it as a makeshift gauze for his wound just like how Ruby did with her cloak. She didn't know if it was effective.

"Y-You're … good… worthy… killing … Faunus…hunter." Every word was a struggle to breath, every breath a step closer to death.

"Shut up!" She yelled as she tried her best to make sure he was still breathing.

He weakly raised his cold metallic hand, caressing her face and staining it with blood.

"It's….alright… leave…die…peace…" Yang couldn't understand what had gotten into him, it had been only two days when he was ranting about wanting to kill every Faunus. Now he was the one who wanted to die?

"I'm not going to leave you here." Even in the verge of death there was no change of expression.

With surprising venom and strength he pushed Yang away. His bloody palm knocking her on her butt.

But Yang refused to budge.

"I'M NOT LETTING YOU DIE!" She shouted furiously through resolute tears.

Now she didn't care if she was going to make things worse, she needed to bring him to the infirmary asap.

She heaved him over her shoulders, surprisingly heavy for such a spry guy.


Where was everyone?

She felt the sticky dried blood that was staining her favorite jungle. She didn't remember where the infirmary was. The bleeding had stopped thankfully; but that wasn't going to last long.

"Why… are you doing this?" Silber was surprisingly still conscious, even after losing so much of his blood. He was tough.

"I'm not a killer Silber." She stated simply as she tried navigating through the corridors.

Weren't there cameras over the place? Why didn't anyone pick anything up? Jeez even if it's the weekend that's no excuse to not be in school.

"My name…isn't Silber." He sounded delirious.

"What's your real name then?" She decided to humor him, if he was talking then he was still alive.

"Karl…Ruprecht…. Kroenen." Everything about that name sounded weird to Yang; she didn't think she'd known anyone with such a name.

"Man your parents must be some weird people if they gave you that name. "Yang attempted to joke, even with a dying assassin on her back she wasn't going to stop trying her best to be optimistic.

"My parents are dead." Yang bit her lip, she started feeling horrible now. Even if the person was Silber, or Kroenen apparently.

"Don't expect me to pity you." Yang said without thinking, still angry at Silber for causing so much headaches for her team.

"I don't… pity is a luxury … for the weak." Yang felt irritated at the word weak.

"Not everyone is so strong and edgy like you mister genocide." Yang didn't want to sound condescending, but Kroenen's attitude was half the reason he was bleeding all over her.

Kroenen was silent for a while.

"Kroenen?" She hoped he was just angry at her for the caustic comment and not dead.

"You…shouldn't…be here…" Silber said finally, Yang was pretty sure they were close to the infirmary now.

Damn it he was really freaking heavy.

"Why?" Yang picked up the pace now, well tried to.

"Women…shouldn't...be doing this…" Yang rolled her eyes, so he was sexist too?

"Stuff it Kroenen. We're almost there."

"Pretty girls…..should…. enjoy life…not…..exposed…..death." Yang couldn't help but blush a bit at his compliment, too bad intolerant jerks weren't her type.

Pity, Silber had really pretty eyes.

"I can handle myself." So, close now. She saw the big obvious sign that had INFIRMARY written with big block letters.

She swore that if through some twist of fate it was closed she would break in.

"You're…..strong…..but….can you kill…." She looked inside the infirmary door.

Oh no.

Where was the nurse? The doctor?

Was Beacon the most understaffed Huntsmen academy in the entirety of Remnant?

"Aghhhhh!" She kicked down the door. Not caring if she was breaking any rules.

She threw Silber onto the nearest bed, probably not the best thing to do for someone with a bleeding wound.

She carefully tore off his tacky janitorial uniform.

Blushing as she noticed the abs that were so clear for her to see. Her blush quickly receding as she noticed the bloodstained gauze that was once her skirt.

"Do you know…..how to treat a wound?" Yang just sheepishly shook her head.

"Disinfectant…" Finally, it looked like Silber was cooperating, as he pressed his hands heavily on the wound that she inflicted.

"Remove…. gauntlets…clean…hands…" Yang followed his instructions diligently hoping that she was going to be able to do this.


That was the most harrowing experience she's ever had, preforming surgery was something she definitely did not expect to do in Beacon.

She sat next to her quiet patient, wiping away the sweat. Taking a glance at her bloody clothes and frowning. This was her favorite outfit.

"I wasn't supposed to live." Silber spoke for the first time.

"Oh stop being so dramatic." Yang sighed out.

She took a good long stare at Kroenen's body.

It looked so broken, wracked with scars. So much of it replaced by metal or plastic. It looked like it was put through torture.

She didn't know why she felt such an intense sadness looking at him.

"I thought you said you wouldn't pity me." He looked at the ceiling, he looked oddly calm for someone who almost died.

"I'm just wondering how you managed to last so long without using your semblance or aura." She responded back.

"Training and exercise." Yang wasn't sure if he was joking.

"How'd you lose the arms?" Since she was stuck here might as well enjoy some conversation.

"A bull ate them." Again, Yang didn't appreciate the joking.

"Fine." She crossed her arms, turning her face towards the setting sun through the window.

"I was serious when I said I wasn't supposed to live. How plausible is it that we didn't encounter one single person coming here?" Yang didn't want to admit it, but Silber had a point. She was pretty sure she could have met the girls at least once.

"Ozpin is out to get you maybe?" Yang half-joked. Silber's nod meant that he considered the possibility.

"Check your scroll." Yang didn't understand, but decided to do so anyway.

There was a veritable flood of messages, Yang's face faulted at her forgetfulness.

She put it on silent.

She read through the messages, dozens from Ruby and one from Beacon.

"There's an emergency drill. Everyone had to evacuate." Yang's eyebrows twitched as she had a dawning realization.

"That's weird. Why didn't the both of us notice anything?" Yang's face faulted.

So that was why so many people were leaving the school grounds when she was bustling around looking for Silber.

"You didn't notice didn't you?" Yang got flustered.

"I was furious! What's your excuse?!" Silber turned his neck towards her.

"Spent the entire day as a janitor." Yang couldn't help but find that excuse more justifiable than hers.

Things became quiet again.

"so should I call you Karl or Silber?" Silber pinched the bridge of his nose, obviously bothered by the question.

"I was hoping that was just a blood loss induced dream." He groaned, the most emotional she's ever seen him.

"I guess it's Silber then?" Silber looked back at her with his blue ocean eyes.

"Do what you will." He stated simply.

He was more hardheaded than Blake.

"Why aren't you leaving? I'm not dying anymore." Yang smirked back at him, of course he wanted her to leave. That was why she wasn't going to.

"Since everyone's gone, I just can't leave a recovering patient by himself." She was elated when she noticed the irritated scowl on Silber's face. It seemed she was finally getting under his skin.

"This isn't the first time I've gotten injured, won't be the first time alone if you left." Now that was just sad.

"Come on don't be so stubborn. I bet you're secretly enjoying this pretty girl looking over you?" She gave him a playful smile, making a v sign over her eye.

She stopped when she noticed the look on his face.

A deep and sad frown.

Someone with Silber's face shouldn't be capable of such a miserable looking expression.

"Are you okay?" Silber resumed his pokerface, staring back at the ceiling like it was the most interesting thing ever.

"I'm fine." He said gruffly.

"You really don't want me here huh?" She didn't get a response for the longest time.

"Why do you fight?" She was almost about to stand up and leave when he asked that question.

This was the first time she's ever seen Silber be proactive in something.

She didn't expect that question to be too complex for her to give a good answer to.

"The Grimm need to be stopped." She decided she was going to play safe.

"The Grimm can never be stopped." That was a reasonable answer, no one really knew what the Grimm were anyway.

"Still doesn't hurt to try, you're the one who said life is a struggle didn't you?" She turned his words back to her.

"So you listened?" He was slightly surprised.

"Not like we had a choice, you were being obnoxiously loud." Silber was quiet again.

"You really believe in it huh?" Yang didn't enjoy Silber's little rant, but she couldn't deny that he sounded like he really thought it was the truth.

That life was only about struggle and killing.

"The gist of it yes, but not the entirety of it. "Now this Yang needed to hear.

"So there's more to it than 'killkillkill'?" She repeated the word kill whilst imitating his thick Bavarian accent, Kroenen couldn't help but smile by how good it was.

"No one can live life by themselves." Yang perked her ears up in curiosity.

"Even the most solitary of creatures need to interact with one another no matter how minute. Hence a race can die, but individuals of such a race can still be alive. It's why we have packs, prides, herds and civilization. A man cannot exist by himself. He cannot be a perfect being independent of outside phenomena." Yang took this in with some skepticism.

"So united we stand divided we fall?" Silber nodded.

"Very close to that idiom." Yang couldn't help but agree.

"But you're quite the lonely one, aren't you? You don't even have a team." Silber just remained quiet.

"You are correct." He said tersely.

"So why don't you stop being alone?" That question seemed to have Silber pause for a moment.

"It's something I've discovered for myself only recently." Yang noted the tiny hint of sadness in his voice.

She stared at him, at how exposed and vulnerable he looked.

He was different from the raving lunatic back at the dining room.

She noticed how weak his breathing was, the bloodied bandages wrapped around his abdomen was rising and lowering with each ragged breath. She couldn't imagine the sheer pain he was experiencing.

Silber was really tough, but even tough guys had their weaknesses.

"I'm sorry." She apologized finally.

"Save your apology for someone who wants it." She should have been angry at how rude he was being, but she somehow understood why he was so prickly now.

He was alone.

"Fine." Yang said apathetically, she wasn't going to waste any more of her time with someone stubborn as him then.

The quiet interludes in their conversations were getting less awkward now, both realizing it might be for the best.

"Do you like my sister?" This probably the longest she's ever talked to Silber without Ruby nearby. She decided to take this opportunity.

Silber didn't seem all that enthusiastic.

"Define like." Yang wasn't going to let him get away too easily.

"Kissing on a tree." Silber just frowned.

"No. She's too young." Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

"At least you have some standards." She mockingly wiped her forehead of imaginary sweat.

"Why do you even ask me? Don't you talk about stuff other than crushes?" Yang couldn't help but purse her lips.

"Hey now, we girls don't always think about guys. We talk about stuff like pretty dresses and makeup." She was surprised that their conversation started becoming a lot warmer than before.

"Not weapons?" Yang grew excited at the word.

"Oh you should see Ruby mouth off when you talk about weapons! I think that's the reason she's so into you! She's really obsessed with you checking out Crescent Rose and work on-"Then Yang remembered Ruby's face when she found out the truth about Silber

"I bet she hates me now doesn't she." Silber sounded quite sober when asking that question.

"That's too strong a word to use with Ruby. She's disappointed at worse." Yang smiled slightly, when it came to her sister she was very overly protective.

"You love her don't you?" Yang couldn't believe he just said the L word.

"Yeah? We're sisters? What you think family is weak to-"Then she remembered.

Silber's parents were dead.

"I-I didn't mean to say that." She covered her mouth, greatly embarrassed by her crassness.

Silber didn't seem all that bothered.

"They died a long time ago, I can no longer remember them." Yang couldn't help but feel pity, she couldn't imagine forgetting her parents.

"Who raised you then?" It was getting quite dark now, but learning more about Silber was just an opportunity too tantalizing to resist.

"Myself" That explains so much.

"Must have been difficult." Yang couldn't imagine raising herself and Ruby, they were too close to dad.

"Life is difficult." Yang agreed completely.

"Yang" This was a first, he was calling out to her.

"What's it like having a family?" This was an easy question.

"Being harassed by an annoying sister and an annoying dad." She smiled blissfully.

"What about mom?"

There was a long silence.

"I don't know where mom is." Yang said softly, the first time she's every sounded so quiet.

"Dead?" Yang shook her head.

"She abandoned us when we were young." There was a tinge of bitterness in her words.

"Do you know why?" Yang felt her fists balling up.

"That's what I want to know too." She tried to calm herself, this was not the first time she mulled over her mother.

"I think she must have had a good reason." Silber sounded so much calmer now, maybe the blood loss was affecting him more than she thought it did.

"Why?" Silber broke away his gaze towards the ceiling, his soft blue eyes shining even in the relative darkness.

What gave him a right to answer so casually? What made him think he could so easily lull her when her own father failed to do so? What could he possibly do that could help her understand why mom left?

"You need to see what I see looking at you. I sincerely doubt any mother would leave a daughter like you. "He said with a slight smile.

Yang felt butterflies in her stomach as their eyes made contact.

She slapped her forehead after she realized what he was doing.

"Remember you're flirting with my sister! Don't start flirting with me too!" She shook her head out of her stupor, chastising Silber for his suaveness.

All Silber did was sigh.

"I don't understand why every female I talk to thinks I'm flirting with them. All I'm doing is stating sentences I assume are 'nice'." He complained.

"It's the way you say it and how you look at them that makes them think you're flirting." Yang collected herself now.

"This is why I wear the gasmask." Yang giggled at that joke. A surprising first.

"What made you say that though, in all seriousness." Yang's inner voice told her she was going to regret that question.

"You are like the Sun." She never was the kind to get metaphors.

"You burn with an intensity; you have the capacity to kill and to destroy. So far in this academy. You are the one person I am confident who is able to kill." Yang didn't know if she liked being complimented on her bloodlust.

"But yet you shine brilliantly, even if so destructive, as beautiful as the dimming sunset or radiant dawn." Yang felt her ears heat up, she wasn't expecting a love poem now.

"O-Okay you're being a bit too dramatic now." She waved him off.

"You asked for it." He seemed to be blissfully unaware how skilled he was in charming a girl.

"I didn't expect you to go overboard." She rubbed her head nervously.

A large buzzing noise interrupted them.

Yang took out her scroll, her jaw dropping as she saw the hundreds of messages from Ruby.

"I thought you answered them." Yang snarled at him, she wasn't asking for his input!

"Looks like I'll need to go. I'm going to inform Ozpin about this." She took one final look at Silber, he was sitting upright now. He looked a lot healthier.

"Great, I bet he's going to blame me for this too." Yang stood over him, a beaming smile.

"Don't worry, I'll tell him it was me who made a mess in the amphitheater. Who knows I might end up helping you as a janitor myself." Silber just looked at her, specifically somewhere slightly below the chin.

"I don't think they make uniforms your size." Yang grabbed her chest and turned, clearly indignant at where he was staring.

"Avert your gaze! These were not meant to be seen by eyes such as yours!" She declared dramatically.

"I can see where Ruby got her dorkness from." Yang stuck out her tongue, hurriedly leaving the room.

"Goodnight! Don't let the Bed Grimm Bite!" She cheerful said her goodbyes.

All Silber did was wave a hand.


She walked down the corridor, frantically answering every of Ruby's messages.

Some big sister she turned out to be.

'You are like the Sun.'

Her pace slowed down as she remembered her long talk with Silber.

'My parents are dead'

She warned him she wasn't going to pity him.

A man cannot exist by himself

She looked back, wondering what Silber was thinking right now.

What's it like having a family

She warned him.

She stood in the middle of the darkened hallway, she remembered how she obsessed with finding out just what had happened to her mom. How she nearly got Ruby and herself killed.

She couldn't imagine the pain she'd feel if both of her parents had died.

She told herself she shouldn't sympathize with him.

He was an assassin, a killer and a racist. It was more likely he was lying than actually confessing to her. She had half the mind to think he was lying about that weird name.

Yet Yang couldn't shake off this funny feeling, that she had just seen Silber at his most vulnerable. That he talked to her like he had never talked to anyone before.

That he had just told her he was alone.

She knew it was a bad idea to feel sorry for someone like Silber, she kept reminding herself just what he had done back in the dining room. What he did to Ruby and Weiss and Blake.

But the heart is not the most rational of organs.

Silber said she was like the Sun.

Yang thought he was like Lightning.

He was quick and destructive. Yet even if so terrifying, he was almost hypnotizing to watch up close. If one didn't look fast enough one couldn't see the brightness within.

Looks like whatever gave Silber his poetic flair is contagious.