Hey guys, Dark again. I hope that you guys enjoy the chapter, I don't have a ton to say here. You were all probably expecting a Monty speech at the end of the last chapter, but I'll say at least a little something at the end of this one, but for now, read on.

He really needed to stop smiling at her. God he needed to stop, because he was breaking her down. She wanted to make him smile like that all the time. It was so easy and calm, like he didn't have a care in the world. She knew that she couldn't though, well, she thought she did. She was beginning to wonder if telling someone about her life before Beacon would really be a bad thing. Not yet though, she wasn't ready. She'd just have to try and resist him for a while longer. She couldn't keep up the silence though, she just couldn't. Besides, he was her partner, they couldn't just not talk, right?

She decided she was done with these thoughts, and threw her covers off of her body, covered in shorts and a tank top, her common nightwear. She blinked a few times, her eyes finally waking up. Her ears twitched, picking up the quiet sounds of Cyanna's soft, rhythmic breathing. Shane wasn't in his bed, but the bathroom light was on and she could hear the shower running. Logan wasn't in his bed either, but she knew he could take care of himself, though she did wonder where he was. She stood from her bed, grabbed a pair of her tights and an old Vale Sports hoodie, taking her shorts off, putting the tights on, and putting the hoodie on over her tank top. She opened the door as quiet as she could after checking her Scroll, seeing the time was 06:30. "Old habits die hard," she thought. She stepped out of the room, putting her Scroll on a forearm band and throwing her Bluetooth headphones in her ears. She flipped through her scroll to her run playlist, filled with a bunch of Fall Out Boy and Fort Minor, and walked over to the stairs.

Once she got to the bottom of the stairs, she jogged over to the doors, finding one hanging open in the fall warmth. It felt like it was about 16° celsius out, beautiful for being 06:30. She jogged out towards the outer edge, near the drop off of Beacon cliff, then began a circuit of the school. After she finished the first circuit, she checked her Scroll to see the distance, noticing it was about 1.5 kilometers. She ran another two loops, making her run about 4.5 km. It took her about 12 minutes to finish. She was happy with her time, though it wasn't her personal best.

She heard a sound behind her, though it was faint. She snapped around but she didn't see anything. "Wait…" she said out loud. "Logan," she questioned, her head slightly turned.

"Damn Tobin. Not even Shane can pick me out that easily in this kind of light, and he's had years to get better at it."

"I guess I'm just that good. Were you stalking me," she asked him with a slight grin on her face.

"No, I heard you out here, running. You ran right past me more than once. Disturbed my peace."

"Where were you? And what do you mean your peace, what were you doing out here?"

"I was in a tree, but I was hidden pretty high up and behind most of the leaves. Don't worry, your senses are fine. And for your other question, I was meditating. I like to start everyday with it, but I didn't get to the day of initiation. I did after though, which is why I was almost late. Luckily Shane found me, or I would have been. It's probably a lot like your running, just a way to clear the mind and get ready for the day."

"Yep, sounds like it."

"Was anyone else up when you left the room? Because they weren't when I did. I was surprised I was able to slip out without you hearing."

"Shane was up and in the shower. Cyanna was still crashed. Shane'll probably wake her up when he gets out of the shower so she can grab one." She pulled her sleeve up and checked the time on her scroll. "It's 06:50 now, we should head up if we want showers too."

"Sounds good. Let's go." He walked towards the front entrance, and she followed right behind. She noticed he was in a pair of black light fabric pants that hung low on his hips and a gold tank over it. She tried to ignore the lean muscle on his upper arms and shoulders, but it was pretty difficult. He started to climb the stairs, and she followed. His arms were solid as he climbed, with no fat to be seen. He stopped in front of their door, pulling his Scroll out of his pocket and putting it in front of the door. They walked in and saw Shane lounging on his bed with his pajamas still on. Tobin started as she realized he had a flame dancing around his fingers, then remembered what his Semblance was. He looked up as they entered, letting the flame sputter out.

"Hey guys. Logan I know where you were, but where have you been Tobin?"

"I just went for a run, no worries.

"God, now I have to deal with two of you morning people. Logan was enough. I don't know how you do it. I want to injure myself when I have to get up this early."

"Oh, you are just being overdramatic bro. Getting up this early isn't that bad," Logan told him.

"Oh yes it is," Shane deadpanned. "Is it the weekend yet."

"No Shane, it's Thursday. What are you gonna do when we have school for a week?"

"I don't wanna talk about it. I don't even wanna think about it."

Cyanna walked out of the shower then, dressed in the school uniform. It looked a little odd on her, with her gauges and cyan hair, but she pulled it off. Tobin looked over at Logan, but he gestured towards the door of the bathroom.

"Go ahead, I showered later last night. If I don't have time, I'll survive." She nodded and started to walk towards her dresser, and then to the bathroom. Just as she closed the door to the bathroom, she heard Shane.

"You might survive bro, but the rest of us won't." She heard Cyanna laugh, and that was when she turned the shower on, drowning the rest of them out.

About fifteen minutes later, she turned the water off and stepped out of the shower after drying off. She had brought her school clothes in with her, so she dressed in front of the mirror. She checked herself in the mirror, making sure that her hair looked alright and that her uniform didn't have any flaws. She checked out, so she opened the door and walked back into the room. She looked off to the side, and saw that Shane and Cyanna were gone. She looked over and saw Logan laying on his bed, looking at her.

"They went to get breakfast, Shane was hungry. You can head down if you want. I'll shower quick and be down."

She answered him, "I'm not that hungry actually. I can wait."

"Ok, I'll see you in about ten then." He stood, grabbed a school uniform from his dresser, and walked into the bathroom. She grabbed American Sniper from next to her bed and opened back to where she was last night. She was about halfway through the book, and she was definitely enjoying it. She was thinking that it would make a good movie when Logan came back out, dressed in his uniform.

"You ready to go," he asked her.

"Sure. Do you have any idea where the cafeteria is?"

"Not a clue, but I figured we'd just follow other students." She figured it was their best shot, so she nodded and headed to the door, opening it and throwing it open so Logan could come out behind her. She turned to head down the stairs. She saw a student who looked to be a few years older than them, and followed him.

After a few minutes, she saw a pair of large doors that were open and led into a large, high ceilinged room with about 30 long tables set up with seats on both sides. There weren't that many students in the cafeteria, but enough that the room was loud, especially to Tobin's Faunus senses. She picked out Cyanna's hair quickly, the color was difficult to miss. Logan stood next to her as she surveyed the room. He walked off towards the food line and she followed, fairly hungry at that time. He grabbed a sausage sandwich and a couple of hash browns. She followed behind him, grabbing a few hash browns and a couple pancakes. Both of them grabbed a bottle of orange juice and walked out of the line. They walked back to the table Shane and Cyanna were seated at, sitting down across from the other two and next to each other.

"Hey guys," Cyanna spoke just after they sat. Tobin responded with a nod, one that Shane returned.

"You are going to love those pancakes Tobin. I had a few, they are… I don't even have words," Shane spoke. She took a bite, and he wasn't kidding. It was easily the best pancake she had tasted, and she told him so.

"Told you," he answered. Logan ate his food next to her, quietly. Shane checked his Scroll just as Logan took the last bite of his sausage sandwich.

"Holy shit, it's 07:55 guys. We need to get to class. I may be a bad guy, but even I don't think being late to class is a good idea."

"No Shane, I don't think it would be. You said you and Cya explored last night right? You know where we are going," Logan asked.

"Indeed I do Fearless leader." Logan shook his head at the title, and Shane continued in an awful accent, "If you would follow me Sir and Madams, I shall lead thee to your desired destination."

"Please never talk like that again Shane. It's bad, and kinda creepy actually."

"You wound me brother," Shane said. He mimed like he had been stabbed, getting a laugh from Logan and Cyanna. She thought she was able to keep her face passive, but she wasn't sure. Shane's goofy antics were growing on her. Shane led the way down a few halls, and Tobin memorized the turns he made, eventually stopping in front of a lecture hall.

"Ladies and gentleman, we have reached our destination. Don't forget, tips are always appreciated." In response to more of Shane's jokes, Logan pulled a knife from his forearm and pointed it towards Shane.

"This is the only tip you'll be getting if you continue." He had a smile on his face though, and Tobin could hear the joking tone in his voice.

Tobin spoke, "Alright you two, we should get inside. Class starts in two."

"Party pooper," Shane muttered behind her. She smirked, and walked into class. They found seats near the center of the lecture hall, closer to the doors than they were to the front, but not by much.

A short man that Tobin had seen at the Team Ceremony walked in just as the clock over the stage hit 08:00. The students, who looked to be all first years, quieted as he stepped onto the stage. He faced them with his hands behind his back. She took a second to observe the man. He looked fairly old, with a gray mustache and hair. He was certainly out of shape, though Tobin didn't doubt that he could still fight if need be. He puffed his chest out like he had something to prove, and spoke.

"Welcome students, to your first day of Grimm Studies. I am Professor Port, and I will be your teacher for the next year of your studies here at Beacon…" He continued, but Tobin zoned out somewhat, knowing the it would be the whole first day, rules speech that every teacher in existence gave. Just after he gave them his name, Tobin heard Shane mutter,

"Add an -ly to that and you have how he looks." Logan elbowed him in the stomach, getting a suppressed laugh out of Shane. The class continued, and Tobin listened, taking notes when necessary. He gave the intro lesson to the class, then dismissed them.

After Port's Grimm Studies class came General History with a teacher listed as Bartholomew Oobleck. If his class was as interesting as his name, she figured she might actually enjoy it. They made their way to the lecture hall and found seats in pretty much the same place they had sat in Port's class. Just after 10:45, when class began, a gust of wind surprised her and she flattened her gold tipped ears to her head. She didn't like when someone else played with the wind, it was hers. She searched for the source of the wind, and found a man, likely about 40, standing on the stage, though she hadn't seen him enter. Two and two came together in her head as she realized the wind she felt had come from the man speeding his way into the room. She looked him up and down, noticing his glasses and his crazy hair. He was thin, and taller than her, but she guessed that he would be shorter than Shane or Logan. He wore a white button up shirt and a yellow tie that was not tightened to his neck. He had khakis on for pants and a pair of black shoes.

He finally spoke, and the man spoke as fast as he moved, a million kilometers a minute. She knew immediately that taking notes for his class would be near impossible and surely cause her to miss something, so she closed her notebook and decided to simply listen. He moved about the room as he spoke, as quick as ever. He gave a similar speech to what Port did, giving them his expectations of them in his class, all the common stuff. His first lesson taught of why history was important. After Another 2 and a half hour class, they were dismissed, though Oobleck was the first out of the door, beating even the student sitting closest to it. Tobin could've sworn that she heard a "Beat ya!" as he left, and she decided that she liked Oobleck, as eccentric as he was.

Logan

After Oobleck's history class, which was very odd, they had lunch, so they headed for the lunch room. He wasn't quite sure if he liked Oobleck yet, the man was very odd. He and Tobin walked in the front of their group, Shane and Cya behind them. He had noticed that the other two were walking very close together, and hoped they would tell he and Tobin what was up soon. He didn't want them to think they had to sneak around. They reached the cafeteria in about 5 minutes, and he went to get lunch. Beacon's food was pretty good, and he grabbed a burger, cooked rare, and a small salad on the side as he went through the line. He grabbed a water to drink, and headed back to the table. Shane had gone through the grill line with him, grabbing two hot dogs and a basket of fries for himself. He had seen Cyanna go towards something with noodles, and Tobin had headed for what looked like a sub sandwich bar. They all headed back to their table, lunches in hand. They sat across from each other, partners together, like always. Lunch went fairly quickly, the four of them eating with some conversation, but nothing noteworthy or very exciting.

They had a free period after lunch before they went to combat training, which was taught by Professor Goodwitch. Tobin and Shane decided to go back to the dorm. Shane wanted to sleep, and Tobin was going to read. Tobin had made Shane promise he would be quiet before she agreed to let him come back to the dorm with her. Logan followed them back to change into some running clothes. He wasn't sure what Cyanna was going to do, but he wasn't worried about it, free periods were exactly what they were called, free. He threw on a pair of Nike basketball shorts and a tank top, putting some Nike LunarGlides on and heading downstairs and out onto the grounds of the school. He set his Scroll onto a stopwatch and set some music on, a bit of rap mixed into Linkin Park. He took off, making sure to get lap times on his Scroll. He finished about 20 minutes later, breathing hard and sweaty, but feeling good. He checked his scroll to see his lap times, noticing that they all hovered around 5 minutes. He remembered from that morning that each lap was 1.5 kilometers according to Tobin, meaning he had run a total of 6 km.

He headed back inside the school, seeing the time was about 14:10. He knew Combat Training started at 15:00, so he decided to go back to the dorm to shower before class, though he'd likely need one after anyway. He climbed the stairs back to the room and entered with his Scroll. Tobin was sitting on her bed, her back on the wall, a book on her knees. Shane was passed out face down on his bed, and Cyanna sat on her bed as well, playing with her Scroll. He headed straight for the shower, giving a nod and a smile to Tobin. She nodded back, and he stepped into the bathroom, starting the shower.

He finished his shower and was dressed in about 20 minutes, giving them about 20 minutes before they needed to leave for class. He decided he would stay in the room, resting and clearing his mind before class. He sat up against the wall, facing Tobin's bed, who was still reading her book. It looked as though she only had about another 50 pages, but he was sure that she had plenty more to read. He caught himself looking her up and down in the black Beacon uniform. She was still beautiful, her black hair and golden tipped ears were amazing, at least he thought so. Her tail ran off to her side, its tip twitching fairly often. She looked over at him, and he snapped his eyes away, instead checking the time on his Scroll that sat next to him. It was 14:45, meaning they should head to class in about 5 minutes. He decided he'd better start trying to wake Shane, knowing that it'd take at least two minutes. He hopped from his bed, walking to Shane's bed.

"Shane, wake up. We have class in 10," he tried. He didn't even get a twitch of the tail. Next he snapped in front of Shane's face, and still no motion. He sighed, and finally resorted to physical attacks. First he hit his idiot brother's shoulder, not very lightly, and he saw his tail twitch, but his eyes stayed closed. Knowing he was close, he hit him a couple more times, and got a tail to the back in return. He had him now.

"Dude, we have class in like 10 minutes. C'mon, you gotta get up. It's combat training, I thought you'd be excited." At the word combat, Shane's eyes popped open.

"How did I know that you'd answer to combat."

"Because you've lived with me for 17 years. You know what I live for," Shane answered groggily, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Cya was smiling at him across the room, and Tobin had marked her place and stashed her book.

"All ready then? Good, let's get going. I've been waiting for this class all day," Logan said, turning to the door.

"YES! I can't wait to fight," Cyanna yelled as he opened the door. She had thrown her arms into the air like a little kid, and it got a smile out of him and Shane. He led the way down the stairs, and Tobin caught up to him at the bottom, walking next to him. He took a guess that the training hall would be near the locker rooms that they had been in before initiation.

They made their way into the locker rooms, and found the door on the other side that did indeed lead to the large training hall. It was truly huge, much larger than he had ever seen or expected. It was set up like an arena, with seating along both sides, raised above a very large elliptically shaped training area. The floor was brown, and slightly soft to the touch, enough that landing on it would hurt, but wouldn't break bones. He had changed from his uniform into his normal combat clothes, as had his teammates and the rest of his classmates. They stood in the arena, looking up into the seats. Professor Goodwitch walked into the seats at that moment, looking down at them. She came to the edge, where a railing stood, and looked out over them, her hands clasped behind her back.

"Welcome students, to Combat Training. I will not waste your time and give you an expectations speech. Instead, you will be sparring with your partners. Spread out around the arena, and begin. For today, weapons are permitted and you may fight until a student's Aura reaches 25% of full capacity. As we progress, you shall fight until one fighter's Aura is depleted. Begin."

Tobin

Logan turned to her, a light in his eyes. He looked like he was ready to enjoy this. She was certainly interested to see his one on one skill, curious as to how much he had been trained by his father. She too had heard the name Elias Walker, and she knew that he was one of the best hunters of his day. She thought of her own skill in close quarters, knowing her Lynx would be useless and that she'd use her swords. She had belted them on before leaving the locker room, as well as grabbing her Lynx, which was now set on a bipod near the wall. She pulled her two swords from their scabbards, feeling their familiar weight as she twirled them about her body. Logan had his Honey Badger out and was checking it's magazine, making sure it was full.

She knew that this would be a difficult fight, she was never a fan of fighting in close quarters, preferring to stay a kilometer from her targets, it was safer there. Logan however, had his Honey Badger and his knives for close quarters, as well as likely being better at hand-to-hand combat than her. She hoped that she didn't look foolish against him. He looked at her, and stared back into his eyes, reading them for any idea of what his first move would be. He nodded at her, and she nodded back, signaling that she was ready. He smirked, and she wondered why. She found out only moments later, as her instincts saved her from the knife flying right towards her left shoulder. Her sword flashed up just in time to deflect the knife and save her Aura from taking the hit. He smiled, though she could see that the emotion behind it wasn't happiness, or even mirth. He seemed... almost... interested?

Suddenly, he disappeared from her sight. She had been expecting this, why would he not just go invisible and use his Semblance to his full advantage, she would've. She saw a shimmer off to her side and jumped back, throwing a blast of wind in the direction of the shimmer. Out of seemingly nowhere, another knife flew forward and she blocked it with the wind. Her instincts saved her once more as she ducked, seeing a knife fly over her head. "If I stay on the defensive the entire fight, one of these knives is going to land. I need to get on him next time I spot him." It took another few seconds before she did, but she saw the shimmering in the air off to her left once more.

She was ready this time, and jumped at it, swords flashing in front of her. The shimmer moved backwards, and she kept up the offensive. Her swords flashed again and again, blocking a knife here and there, but mostly attacking where she thought her invisible partner was. She had counted three times when her swords had landed, but at least two felt like they had hit his Honey Badger, and she wasn't sure about the third. Her were a golden blur, their ring as they cut through the air was eerie, but not a sound that was foreign to her ears. In fact, the noise was almost… comforting.

All of a sudden, the shimmer disappeared, and he was once again lost to her. That is, until she felt the knife try to drive through her Aura and stick in her back. Just after the blade, the butt of a rifle stock drove in between her shoulder blades. Her Aura blocked most of the blow, but it still felt like… Well, like a rifle stock had been thrown into her back. Her tail twitched behind her angrily as she checked her Aura levels on the large scoreboard above the seats. She was just under 1 half of her Aura, and she knew that one more hit would be the end of her fight.

She wasn't finished quite yet though, she wasn't ready to accept this loss. At her 4 o'clock, she picked up the shimmer once more, but pretended to miss it, her eyes just glancing over it. The shimmer moved closer, and as it reached about 3 meters from her, she threw the wind at it, all of it at his feet. She knew from the forest that he'd go with the wind, using it to flip himself, but she was ready for this.

Mere milliseconds after the wind was thrown, she was moving, her blades coming from her sides and flashing up, cutting where she knew he was. She felt one blade hit a solid object, and she knew it was his Honey Badger. He had forgotten that she carried two, and she felt the air rush out of him as his Aura bore the blow from her other blade. His invisibility dropped as the blow landed, and she saw him continue his flip, his face grimacing, and land on his feet. He smiled at her, though she wasn't sure why, she had gotten him.

He simply said "Hi," as his smile grew, and his weapon came up. "Good fight kitty," but one blow is not enough. And he pulled the trigger. She felt the bullet hit her abdomen, her hands dropping to the spot, her grasp on her two golden blades slipping as she fell to her knees. She knew without even looking that her Aura would be under 25% after taking that hit. She grimaced, more in anger at the loss than in pain, though she would certainly be feeling that hit in the morning. Logan, meanwhile, had returned his Honey Badger to his back, and was looking at her with concern etched on his face. He jogged to her side, about 3 meters, and knelt next to her.

"Hey, hey, hey. You're okay, right? That bullet didn't go in, it couldn't have. I know you had plenty of Aura. Please tell me you're okay. I'm pretty sure shooting your partner is frowned upon by Professor Ozpin." His tone was one of complete concern, and she was pretty sure she discerned fear as well.

She looked up into his eyes, his piercing blue-gray eyes, and nodded. "Logan, relax. My Aura took the bullet, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt. Your little rifle packs some punch. I'm fine, okay?" She showed him her hands, proving to him that the bullet hadn't reached her body. He smiled at her, and for once, she smiled back.

"By the way," she told him, "Keep the kitty comments to yourself, big bad wolf." He smiled even bigger at this, and stood. He reached down to help her up, and she took it. Later that night she would wonder why, she had never enjoyed being helped in anything, yet she had taken assistance from Logan without even thinking of it. She tried to tell herself it was because he was her partner, and that she trusted him, but she wasn't sure how long she could keep lying to herself.

And, that's the end of yet another chapter of The Dusted Grimm, I hope you guys enjoyed it. I really liked writing that little fight scene between Logan and Tobin. For now, this'll be the end of this group of chapters, I'll be writing the next ones after I post this, I'm not really sure when you'll see them, but they'll be there. That's all I really have to say that pertains to the story, so for those who don't want to read about Monty stuff, you can stop here. See you on the flip, Dark out.

Ok, now that I'm done with that, I can write a bit about Monty. It won't be much, because I didn't really know him, I've never met him, but I'd be a liar if I said I didn't cry when I heard about his hospitalization and then his death. I'm a 16 year old guy, and when I listened to the podcast 309, I had tears in my eyes in the middle of school. That was not a fun experience. What can I say, Monty is the reason this story exists, just as the other thousands in this archive. His ideas are why I'm here, and why all of you are here reading. He was an inspiration to hundreds of thousands, and will continue to be for decades. I don't know what else to say about Monty Oum, other than I hope that he is resting now, free from his pain. I imagine that he's probably optimizing something, wherever he is. We miss you Monty, and we all love you.