A/N I apologize for the lengthy delay between the last update and this one. Life got a little busy and I got a little sidetracked. The release of Borderlands the Pre-Sequel didn't help either. Hopefully we'll get back on a regular semblance of a schedule somewhere along the line. 11/14/2014 update: Between College, an original work project, and just life in general I still can't promise a solid schedule anytime soon. As usual, I don't own RWBY and I hope you all enjoy

Volume 1: Chapter 5: Breaking the Ice

"Fighting with the team is the easy part; it's leading them that's hard."

Rot had never been a heavy sleeper. He'd always flittered between consciousness and the sweet embrace of darkness throughout the most peaceful of nights. The more restless eves he'd spend awake staring into the black, wishing his mind would rest. When he closed his eyes, he'd hear screams and panic. Gunshots and swords clashing as a fire ravaged throughout the research laboratory. In the center of it all would stand a fifteen year old boy, too confused, delirious, and in all honesty to scared to fight, barely holding his wits together enough to grab a weapon and run. It was this insomniac curse of his that caused him to be lying where he was, awake and staring at the ceiling. His left arm was still within Apocalypse for obvious reasons. One didn't just remove something that was embedded into your central nervous system. The first subtle rays of sunlight began to filter through the window and scatter the dark. He turned his head and gazed at the clock. 0630 the red numbers glared. Exhaling slowly, he stood up.

Their first class wasn't for another two and a half hours, but on the nights Rot couldn't sleep there was no point trying to pretend he'd succeed in fleeing reality for two hours. He reached into one of his suitcases -they still had yet to unpack- and slid out a simple dark red shirt. Rot slid it over his scarred body and paused for a moment. He always wore long-sleeve shirts. They covered all the scars that crossed his body and helped him avoid awkward questions. Though he always needed to cut the left sleeve short for Apocalypse. Rot stealthily slid out of the door and into the hall. The halls were deserted; this early in the morning it was hardly any surprise. Rot let a small grin cross his face before he started walking through the silent hall. The previous night he had passed out on his bed because of the amount of blood he had expended on the initiation. Although not enough to cause any lasting damage, it had been enough to threaten him with unconsciousness. A normal human's bone marrow would be barely troubled to keep up with the loss of blood cells Rot suffered. But those experiments had ensured he was far from normal, and not in a good way. Rot walked slowly through the halls until he was out in the courtyard gazing into the fountain. His reflection stared back at him. The eyes flashed red for a moment, causing Rot to stumble back. A brief shook of his head cleared his mind. Muttering a curse at his hallucinations, Rot pulled out his scroll and proceeded to contact Bruno.

"Rot?" Came the groggy voice. "Do you realize what time it is man?"

"Yes, I know." Rot placated the smuggler, "But I need a favor. One that I'd prefer not saying in front of other people."

Bruno's reply was a little more alert than it had been previously, "Who do you need it on?"

"I need everything you have on a Grau Schatten, an Ebony Veil, and a Nila Feur." Rot paused for a moment as he reflected on the past day, "and everything on a Mars Auburn."

"I'll see what I can dig up. You'll have to give me a little time to pay off Junior. He normally helps me get this info." Rot could tell Bruno was beginning to get his mind into working order.

"Take money from one of my accounts, the Mistral one, to pay off Junior. Keep the rest as payment for this and future assistance." Rot whispered his reply quickly, "Access code is 4190."

Bruno was silent for a moment. "Are you sure about this Rot?"

"Yes. Just do what you need to." Rot responded.

"I'll dig up what I can. It'll probably be a few days." Bruno was in full business mode now, "I'll get it to you when I have it. Good luck Rot."

"Thanks Bruno. Till later." Rot then cut off his scroll and ended the call. He glanced around the courtyard to ensure no one had seen him. With this ball set in motion, he now would have any information the people of Vale, and probably a few other places, had on his new teammates. And Mars. Something about that man troubled Rot. He wasn't sure what, but the way he had known that Rot wasn't a regular student. The way he had seemingly broken down each and every person he met. The way his words had seemed to carry more weight than others. The way that Rot knew he should have been more exhausted after that battle physically, but wasn't. His mind wandered back over his memories as he stared towards the vanishing stars. Realizing he better ensure he was back before his teammates awoke, Rot initiated his return journey. It still surprised him that the dorm rooms were co-ed. It wasn't exactly the most private of settings for either gender. But he supposed it could theoretically support the team unity thing. Or ruin it. Depended on your perspective.

He crept as quietly back into the room as he'd left it. He began to approach his bed, only to be greeted by Grau staring at him. "Couldn't sleep?"

"How did you notice me coming in?" Rot gaped incredulously. "No one could've heard that door close."

"Semblance." Was Grau's calm reply, "I can sense vibrations through the air and sometimes the ground. Your first door opening was subtle but got my attention. This one I caught. So, couldn't sleep?"

"Restless sleeper." Rot uneasily countered, "Don't worry about it."

"We're in the same team that I'm leading now. I see it is as my concern. Also you were very still for a restless sleeper throughout the night." Grau's hazel eyes stared into Rot intently.

"Well don't worry about me." Rot hissed back quietly. "I'm fine."

As Rot lay back down on his bed, he knew Grau didn't believe him. He also knew his response had been a tad harsh, but he also had to establish that he didn't want Grau too concerned or going to areas he shouldn't be. The irony of the sentiment and his past actions wasn't lost on him. The next hour passed without sleep. An alarm went off, awakening the team. Nila was the first up with a fire in her eyes that made Rot swear she had more energy than a normal human should. Grau apparently had barely gotten back to sleep as he was the next up. He walked over to his suitcase and began rummaging for something. Rot simply slid his way until his back was against a wall. Ebony was the last up, not that any of them had taken more than a few seconds. She simply got up, grabbed some clothes, and departed for a more private area to change. Rot glanced at the uniforms they had and grimaced internally. It was essentially a suit. The fact that he couldn't wear his armor annoyed him slightly, but he supposed he'd make due. As he started sorting the uniform into its separate parts, he noted the left sleeves were all cut short. Apparently they'd customized uniforms as needed. Rot took off his maroon shirt and reached for the white shirt of the uniform. Then he heard a noise that could have been a mix of a gasp and a cough, but it was definitely not from Grau.

"Where did you get all those scars?" Nila's question was part shock, part sympathy.

Rot mentally kicked himself for not having realized that no one on his team had seen those scars before. He had just been thinking about it too. "We grow up in a world where we're trained to fight monsters. Where do you think I got them from?"

A second voice commented as Ebony walked back in, "Those are too neat for battle scars. They look more like the scars from surgeries that didn't properly heal."

Rot slipped into his white shirt and continued on with his sarcastic manner, "So you're our team's resident doctor then?"

Ebony shrugged as she put on her blazer. "My father is, so you could say it runs in the family."

"That's great to know." Rot rolled his eyes as he forced the sleeve over Apocalypse. The metal gauntlet nearly tore the fabric. "Look the scars are from the past and their story can stay there. Sound fair?"

"Well someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today." Nila retorted as she grabbed her clothes. She then went to change where Ebony had. Rot sighed in slight exasperation.

"Yeah, but at least I don't have to leave the room to change." Rot countered as he slipped his pants over his shorts, an old habit that allowed him to take off his pants in warmer temperatures without being indecent. Again, he could've come up with a better comeback but had still been so caught off guard that he was lagging behind. Ebony shot a quick glare that Rot understood to imply he should have changed elsewhere.

Nila pivoted on her heel with the same fire in her eyes. "I could change right here. Wouldn't bother me in the slightest."

Grau's head suddenly snapped up from the tie that he'd been cursing at a mere moment ago. "Let's all just relax. Nila, ignore Rot and change. Rot, stop antagonizing her."

"Boss, I'd like to make it abundantly clear that she was antagonizing me." Rot replied in mild defensiveness. "All because she couldn't mind her own business."

"As much as I'd love to keep trading barbs with you, I don't feel like being late for class." Nila retorted, "So we'll just call this duel off."

Nila then left to get changed, leaving Rot to stare at the tie that was suddenly placed in his hands by Grau. A thought crossed his mind abruptly while he gazed at the simple red piece of clothing that suddenly seemed more difficult a challenge than any Grimm he'd ever fought. "Grau. How do I tie one of these?"

Rot looked to his team leader, who was still attempting to get his own tie to resemble what it was supposed to. Grau gave him a sheepish shrug. An exasperated snort could be heard from Ebony as she strode forward. "Here, let me handle this. You'd think you'd never worn a tie before."

"Uh, well I honestly haven't." Rot countered. "Never liked them much."

Ebony continued fixing Rot's tie as she responded, "It's one of the first things you should've learned before you got here. Where'd you go to school?"

"Let's just say my training was a little unorthodox." Rot hesitated briefly before supplying the last word; he then attempted to divert attention off of him. "I don't know what boss's excuse is."

Grau looked up from his mildly finished tie. "To be fair, I bought myself a black clip on tie. Wasn't expecting to be issued one here that was red."

Ebony, who had finished tying Rot's tie during Grau's response, turned a disbelieving gaze upon Grau that all but asked if he truly thought that was an acceptable defense. The three of them remained like that for around a moment, with the only real movement being Grau shifting under Ebony's judgmental gaze and Rot staring at his tie in disdain. Nila walked in and raised a brow. "What did I miss?"

Before anyone could reply, an alarm blared in their ears. Grau reached over, still under the scrutiny of Ebony, and turned it off. "Fifteen minutes till first class."

The four of them remained slightly still before Ebony turned back towards the door. "Well I suppose we should get going."

Grau shook his head briefly before following the girl out of the door. Nila looked over at Rot. "Okay, so seriously, what just happened?"

Rot glanced over at her. "Honestly, I'm not even sure. But I'm now wondering why we're going to class fifteen minutes early."

"You realize it won't be that early when we get there, right?" Nila responded as the two of them set off after their team leader.

"Irrelevant details. It's still the concept that we're leaving fifteen minutes before hand to get there that I'm stumped on. We could probably make it in a third of that time." Rot shook his head in mock exasperation, "But at least we won't be running to class I suppose. Feel bad for whoever that happens to."

The four of them didn't arrive to the classroom before everyone, as Rot's initial fear had been. It did cause him to wonder what kind of people must've attended this school to get to class more than seven minutes early. He promptly began walking towards the back. Nila gave a little not so subtle cough and motioned towards the front where Ebony had already taken a seat. Rot chuckled, "Oh no. You can drag me out of our room earlier than needed, but no way am I sitting up front."

Nila rolled her eyes before sitting next to her partner. Rot continued to the back corner. Grau was not far from where he'd intended to sit, so he sat next to his team leader. "Don't like the front either?" Grau questioned.

"Nah. Not as easy to observe people," Rot nonchalantly responded. "Also, I like to have my back to a wall."

Grau nodded in an understanding manner, "I can relate. Too much attention being upfront."

Team MARS walked in shortly after. Mars strode up to the seat next to Rot like he owned it. Then again, considering his imposing figure even in the suit and the lack of anyone in the seat, Rot supposed he may as well claim it. Arian sat next to him while Schwarz and Raaka took seats in the rows in front of them. Rot watched Mars cautiously with his peripheral vision. His attention was brought back to the front when the Professor finally began. He seemed a tad overweight with greying hair that betrayed his age. The man was also shorter than he expected a huntsman to be. There was also the matter of his ridiculous looking mustache. Rot assumed that his weapon was the one hanging on the wall, a blunderbuss-axe-hybrid that yet again made Rot wonder how some weapons were used efficiently by huntsmen and huntresses. His name was Professor Peter Port. And he was supposedly going to teach them about killing Grimm

With minimal preamble Professor Port began his monologue "Monsters! Demons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!" It was at this point that Rot realized Port had attempted to make a joke. "Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses... Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

A student stood up and gave a cry "Ayyyy-yep!" Seeing no response from those around him, he sat back down with chagrin written on his face. Rot rolled his eyes for what felt like the dozenth time today. As the professor devolved into a story monologue, Mars muttered a comment that only Rot and Arian heard, "He may seem dry and boring. But he seems to have at least a slight understanding of the danger. But I wonder if he understands how great the danger still is."

Rot stared at Mars for a moment, weighing his words, before turning back to the Professor. Who was still on his monologue, "Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. 'Peter', he told me..."

"I wonder if he's as good as he says he is." Rot whispered back to Mars. The larger man smirked as if evaluating their professor.

A sudden, "Ah-heh-hem!" caught their attention as Port continued speaking, "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero. The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable. A true Huntsman must be dependable! A True Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise! So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Rot had to admit, Professor Port had a way with rhetoric. Giving a slight smirk he started to raise his hand, but was cut off as an angry hand was flung into the air followed by a shout, "I do, sir!"

Rot stared at the person. The white hair was nearly all he needed to recognize the outspoken student. "Is that Weiss Schnee? The heiress to that Dust Company?"

Mars's cool visage remained in place as he nodded, "Schnee dust company, biggest industry around. Exploits the weak to make a profit from the rich."

Arian gave Mars a look that spoke of approval. Grau glanced over before muttering, "I wonder what that did for her." The tone that he spoke in suggested he had more to say than he was.

"Well I'm mainly curious to see how well she fights." Rot muttered to those on either side of him. "See if she's all practice and no experience."

Port replied to Weiss's cry, and incidentally Rot's comment, by gesturing to a cage, "Well, then, let's find out. Step forward, and face your opponent!"

It took minimal time for Weiss to get changed and prepare to face her opponent. Rot was still bemused by the concept of a combat skirt, yet here was the heiress of a massive corporation in one. He supposed that it must be relatively useful then. Cries of "Go, Weiss!" and "Fight well!" came from what Rot assumed were her teammates. The third one then called out, "Yeah, represent team RWBY!"

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" the white haired girl snapped in exasperation.

The offender sheepishly offered her reply, "Oh, um... Sorry..."

Rot raised a brow at that exchange, "Well then. I get the feeling there's some slight tension there."

Port unveiled the Boarbatusk which began fighting Weiss. Mars had a hand against his chin as he judged the heiress. "She seems to rely largely on focus and style over instinct. The distraction of the team dynamic is distracting her from that focus."

"What dynamic is that exactly?" Arian turned towards Mars with a curious look.

"If you recall from last night, Weiss Schnee is part of team RWBY. Led by a Ruby Rose. Weiss has a family legacy to uphold and defend, so therefore she most likely believes she should have been the leader due to her qualifications. Thus the conflict in the dynamic of the team and her lack of focus." Mars commented as they watched the duel unfold. Things seemed to be going rather poorly for Weiss.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted, "Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-"

The Schnee Dust Company Heiress glared at Ruby, "Stop telling me what to do!"

Rot crossed his arms and nodded, "Well Mars. Gotta agree with your diagnosis, but now I have a question. Did you memorize all the teams?"

Mars looked over at him with the same serious expression and nodded, "All the ones I saw."

"That's a tad creepy." Rot replied with a smirk before watching the end of the duel. As it unfolded, he found himself reflecting on the current setting he was in. Mars still perturbed him. The man was able to get a read on people far faster than seemed normal by any strength of the imagination. From a few lines of discussion he had diagnosed an apparent issue of leadership amongst a team that, as far as Rot knew, Mars had never interacted with. He seemed too on top of things. Rot chewed the inside of his lip as he mulled this over, trying to put pieces together. He was missing something in this man's life, something that he hoped Bruno could pull together. The concept of actually talking to Mars and attempting to discern the background to Mars's apparent skill at reading people briefly crossed Rot's mind, but he dismissed it relatively quickly. It wasn't that he didn't like talking to people. It was far more of the fact that he didn't trust them and would rather keep his paranoia on the down low. Professor Port was giving his dismissal after having congratulated Weiss on her victory. The words were distant mutterings to Rot as his mind was elsewhere. Grau standing up and preparing to leave brought his attention back to reality.

Mars and Arian were a distance ahead with their team. Ebony and Nila were waiting by the door for their teammates. Nila was in the midst of making a comment to Ebony, "She stormed out of the room way to fast to have been satisfied with those results. There's an issue there, that's all I'm saying."

"But it's not our concern." Ebony reinforced with a slight gesture. "She's part of a different team as well as an heir of wealthy family. I'm sure she can take care of herself and doesn't need people she's never met before intervening in her life."

Nila gave a slight noise of exasperation, while casting a glance in a different direction containing an emotion Rot couldn't catch. "Yes, I can understand that. I just like helping resolve these kinds of issues."

"Well regrettably not all of them can be resolved." Ebony's brown eyes stared at the blue fire of Nila's. Her next comment carried a little too much steel for her apparent disinterest. "So trust me, we shouldn't get involved."

"Does someone else not like the residential heiress?" Rot quipped. Even as he made the joke, he could tell Nila had a reply to her partner that seemed to hold some fire behind it, "She seems to be quite the unpopular, or popular depending on your view, person after that event."

Ebony turned a scowl towards Rot that made him grin all the more, "Let's just say that my family traditionally isn't the Schnee's biggest fans."

Grau continued to silently pace past the rest of his team, heading towards the next class. Nila followed a short distance behind while Rot continued with his comments, "So is it because they're wealthier than yours?"

"My father doesn't work for wealth." Ebony retorted with some ferocity. Rot could definitely tell he'd struck a nerve here. "He works to help those who need it. To help heal the sick, dying, and suffering. While he might not use the most ethical means to do so, he does. Which is more than the Schnee Dust Company could say."

"Can we try to avoid these kinds of arguments on the first day?" Nila asked carefully, her grin fading slightly. "I'd rather not see us torn apart by what our parents did or anyone else has done before we even get to rearranging the room."

Grau made a sudden noise and turned his head to look at the rest of his team. "Do we still need to do that?"

Nila nodded, "Yup. We have a lot of stuff left to unpack that might be a little difficult to unpack in our room's current configuration."

"That'll end well." Rot muttered under his breath. Grau's expression seemed to agree with him.

"It'll be more efficient," Ebony countered in a very neutral, controlled tone, "Unless you want us all to have only suitcases to store our supplies in for the rest of the year."

Rot unleashed a sigh to admit defeat. The rest of the day seemed to fall into a near rhythmic blur. They'd arrive at a class, be told what said class was going to be about, occasionally actually participate in an activity or action relating to said theme of the class, and then they'd leave and carry onto the next portion of the class. There were the classes where Rot was engaged in such as combat training classes, and those he was less engaged in. Either way, by the time they'd returned to their dorm room, Rot wanted little more than to sit and recall why he had forsaken his enjoyment of journeying across the world to deal with classical education –if one could call Beacon's style of education classical. He walked over to his bed and sat with his back against a wall before closing his eyes briefly. Grau strode to a position just short of Rot and gave a slight chuckle. "Wishing you'd had that sleep now, aren't you?"

Rot opened his eyes in order to turn a disdainful glare at his team leader. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm not tired at all."

"Those are commonly the words of one trying not to fall asleep and failing." Nila commented as she sat on her bed. "And given how you look, you're definitely loosing that fight."

Rot gave a halfhearted shrug combined with a grunt and closed his eyes again. "Wake me when its dinner time."

Had Rot's eyes been open, he would have seen Nila preparing to respond with some witty comment. He would have also seen Grau cut her off with a hand on the shoulder. Before the girl with blue highlights could ask why he'd done so, Rot had fallen into peaceful sleep. Grau whispered to Nila, "We'll do as he asks. He needs the sleep. I get the feeling it's going to be a long year."

Grau walked slowly down the halls. The first day had been rather chaotic, although straight forward. Go to class, learn about what you'd be learning, so on and so forth. The part that concerned him was the dynamics that were currently running rampant amongst his team. There was obvious tension between some of them, predominantly Rot and Ebony and it was still only the first day. Technically they had teamed up yesterday and taken down a dangerous Grimm then. But, as his father had once told him, getting people to fight a common enemy was easy. They could ignore differences long enough to handle the threat. It was after the common foe was gone and those who had once been working alongside one another had to deal with the personalities of the others that issues began emerging. Rot obviously had something that had happened in his past that had scarred him, physically and mentally. But Grau had never been a fan of invading other people's personal lives, unless they came to him first.

There was a subtle pit of concern that made him think that philosophy wasn't going to last too long. If issues kept creeping up amongst his team, he'd have to get to the root of them. And more often than not that involved delving into people's paths. Grau grimaced slightly at the thought of it. He'd seen how aggressive Rot had been in terms of those scars. Empathy had been a trait he'd always been close to, but he was concerned that Rot might want neither understanding nor sympathy. The poisonous worry that he was in over his head crept back into his mind. He hadn't been expecting to end up leader of a team. The expectations had been to show up, slay Grimm, work with a team, and learn how to be a huntsman. Though he was also letting anxiety get the better of him currently. Yes there were some aspects of the team that he could see developing into problems. It would definitely require him keeping an eye on people, something he wasn't entirely fond of. But he could do it. Of that he had no doubt. His walk finally led him to one of the courtyards. Finding a nearby bench, Grau took a seat and reached into his bag for what he desired. It was after dinner and the only light were those from light posts. But the dark didn't concern him.

Grau pulled out a sketch book and placed it on his lap. He closed his eyes and listened. He snapped his fingers and allowed his semblance to track the vibrations. The vibrations flowed through the air and collided against other objects. A tree, some pillars, light posts, and a few people. Ignoring the people, he began drawing the outlines of the objects based on the vibrations that came back. It was a habit he'd spent a long time working on and was good practice for honing his semblance. At first he would only receive blurred sensations based on the vibrations around him. He could tell when things were moving, but not where they were or any detailed aspects of them. Over time he'd began to refine his semblance with a hybrid process. His preferred method was to sit and sense vibrations, draw what he thought was moving and then open his eyes to check and see how accurate he was. Over time he got better and better at it until he achieved a point where he could initiate his own vibrations and sketch his surroundings based on them. It was not a fast process, as he had to adjust for creatures, or humans in today's case, and the vibrations they caused. Pausing long enough to snap his fingers again and send out another vibration, he continued sketching. His focus was the area in front of him and the tree. The relatively small amount of nature that was readily accessible to him. This process continued for an amount of time that was not important. When he finally opened his eyes again he had finished his sketch. Smiling slightly at the relatively simple sketch, he felt a vibration behind him and a burst of cold.

"That's very impressive." The calm cool voice of Raaka Isolde came from behind him. Grau turned towards her slowly.

"You were standing there for a while." He responded calmly. "Why?"

Raaka gave a very slight shrug, "I find semblances fascinating. Especially when people use them in methods that are not purely for combat. You capture an impressive amount of detail in that drawing of yours."

"I always liked to do this when I was younger. Helps me put my mind at ease." Grau replied.

"I can relate." Raaka said. With a gesture, the pale-blonde huntress in training began to generate a crystal. Through a combination of her ice dust and her semblance, she began to create a frozen crystal sculpture. Her design was not overly large, nor was it too small. It sat on the cusp of perfection. Intricate little details could be seen and felt by Grau. When she finally finished it, in her hands rested an ice replica of Beacon. "It's something I used to do when I was younger. I haven't done it as much recently."

"It's beautiful." Grau snapped his fingers and let the vibrations tell him all the details of the sculpture. "That's a gift."

Raaka ran a hand through her pale-blonde hair. "It's just a hobby I used to do in the past. It reminds me of back then. But that was a long time ago."

"Obviously not long enough to forget how to do it." Grau countered, still slightly in awe by the ice sculpture.

The huntress shrugged and then dissipated the sculpture. "I suppose. Though perhaps I should leave it there. No place for beauty in a world like this."

"We're going to have to disagree there." Grau quickly responded. "Beauty is what differentiates us from the monsters we fight against. Just because something's from the past, doesn't mean it has to stay there."

"Interesting idea." Raaka's words were slow and measured. Grau could sense the thought behind them. "The past does always define us. Nothing truly stays there even when we try to leave it behind. I apologize for my abrasive actions towards you yesterday."

As Raaka left, and the temperature rose slightly, Grau found himself reflecting on what had just been said. He grimaced slightly as he realized that one way or the other he was going to have to face the pasts of all those in his team. One way or the other their past was going to come back to haunt them and they'd have to overcome whatever demons they had tried to lock behind them. And that didn't go just for Rot.

Bruno walked through the halls of his ship with a partially downed bottle of alcohol clutched in his left hand. Not nearly enough to keep him from focusing, but enough for him to enjoy it. His tan skinned hand grasped a wheel that rested on the wall and rotated it slowly in order to open one of his more out of the way rooms. A quick glance over his shoulder ensured no one was behind him, after which he entered the hidden room. Closing the door and latching it behind him, Bruno turned to the rest of the room. Several piles of paper lay scattered across the table. He'd learned long ago not to trust electronics to store his highly sensitive information. They could be hacked. Although physical information could be burned, it was less likely to suffer such a fate than to have his information hacked. The less sensitive information he'd store on his computer, but he much preferred to look at papers. Four stacks were his primary focus for the night. He'd gotten what he could from a quick dig in regards to those that Rot had asked for. He was nowhere near done, but it had been enough to keep him busy for most of the day. He began skimming through the pile in search of what information he'd collected from accessing simple networks.

Not much could be found on Grau Schatten. His town was isolated and as such less information was electronic. That meant he'd have to do some digging. It wasn't that he disliked such actions; it was that he'd rather do a search and be done with it quickly. Grau had attended Signal Academy for four years, performing remarkably well. Although not well enough to eclipse some of his more stellar classmates, instructors commented on his ability to remove obstacles with unorthodox and different methods than was usual for huntsmen. He also suffered some disorder, but Bruno figured Rot already knew of that. It was a tad obvious. Passing the the papers to the side, he skimmed through the next set.

Ebony Veil was the daughter of Itzal Veil. The man was said to be a miracle worker, able to heal many from diseases that others couldn't. But there was also a lot of controversy surrounding that name. He had unorthodox research methods and isolated himself from the kingdoms to escape their judgment. These actions were overlooked as the Doctor, so to speak, would occasionally help the kingdoms with healing. Not much was mentioned on the first few pages. Again, Ebony would require more digging. But it was information that Bruno was also interested in. His eyes flashed over the emblem of the Veil family for a moment. He always considered the serpent around a rod to be a creepy enough stylized design without the wheel surrounding it. Something just felt off about the emblem. The Veil's personal history was well hidden from public eye. Even Ebony's transcripts and related were locked down by Beacon.

Bruno turned his eye to Nila Feur's stack of information. She had been easy to gain insight into. The vast majority of it had been on public record. Out of the list of people Rot had given him, she was by far the most normal. Well aside from the fact that her semblance was lighting whatever was in her hands on fire. But then again most semblances weren't exactly normal per se anyways. He'd compile the information and pass it onto Rot when he was ready.

Then there was the paradox of Mars Auburn. Apparently the kid was from a town that had been destroyed. Normally these cases were well-documented, however that was all the information Bruno had easily found in regards to him. There were a few pictures connecting Mars to some refugees from that town. He seemed pretty scarred from the journey, but still stood with a strength that impressed Bruno. Either the kid was really that strong and confident, or he was a good actor. He began to push the piles of paper away when one picture caught his eye. It was of Mars's back without a shirt. On it was a tattoo. Bruno could make out a wheel like design, but little else. Feeling a sense of familiarity, he began to closer inspect the emblem. An abrupt noise caught his attention. Bruno cursed silently as he grasped his bottle and began opening the door. Lilith was back and she couldn't be allowed to know about this room no matter how nicely, or impolitely, she asked.

He made it back to the common area before Lilith had fully arrived onboard the ship, it was always a blessing that he'd set up a slight alarm to the boarding ramp. He took a seat and propped his feet up on a nearby table. When the young woman walked in wearing normal clothes, Bruno had the appearance of someone who'd been wasting his time away drinking. "Why am I not surprised to find you like this?"

Bruno gave a half-hearted shrugged, "Hey. It was a long day. I needed a destressor."

"A long day?" She scoffed, "I find that a tad hard to believe."

"Well some of us still have lives to run, even if another person comes in and tries to rearrange everything around their precious little schedule." Bruno muttered under his breath. "So forgive me for being an average citizen."

Lilith gave a prolonged sigh. "What have you got for me?"

"Well for starters Rot survived the initiation. Not that that comes as a surprise to either of us. If you can best pirates you can best Grimm." Bruno began, as he prepared to organize the order of his delivery, then he saw Lilith's arm. Or more particularly what was on it. A tattoo of a wheel, with one spook being the handle of a large Scythe and another being the stem of a rose.

"What is it?" Lilith gave him a curious expression.

"Sorry, forgot what I was about to say." Bruno caught himself, swearing he had seen that tattoo before. "Rot's on a team with three others. Grau Schatten, Ebony Veil, and Nila Feur. As for the others you want me keeping an eye on, you'll have to give me a little more time. Some of them aren't as in contact with me as Rot is."

Lilith nodded and spoke more to herself than to Bruno, "Okay. That's good. Very interesting that he ended up with Ebony, I'll need to make a note of that."

"Why's that?" Bruno questioned slowly. If he could get something else on Ebony from Lilith, well it'd make his job a tad easier. It also made him uneasy that they both apparently, once again, had similar interest in the same person.

"Don't worry about it." Lilith retorted, "It's not an issue for you, rather an interest for me. Keep tabs on that team. Aside from that, continue focusing on those others that I want information on and we'll keep going from here."

Bruno rolled his brown eyes. "A thank you would be nice. Or at least some form of payment for taking time out of my busy life to stalk your ex."

"That's not the reason behind this." Lilith countered with some harshness reinforcing her voice. "Besides, you will be rewarded in due time. I promise you that."

"Alright, I'll keep digging, but just don't get in my way." As Lilith walked away and rolled her eyes, Bruno sat back down. Odds were that he was in over his head. But then again, that was how he liked it. The more chaos, the more fun. But he had the feeling he'd have to watch his back if he wanted to get out of this without getting himself into serious trouble. That tattoo on Lilith's arm. He could've sworn he'd seen it before, but he couldn't remember where for the life of him. But one thing it did do was fill him with a feeling of concern and worry, the kind of sense that made him think that the "trouble" he'd be in with Junior would seem minute in comparison. At the same time, he couldn't let it interfere with his profession. After all, he was a professional. So he'd keep going until this whole storm blew over, one way or the other. He sighed and uncorked a bottle, "Cause there ain't no rest for the wicked."

A/N Feel free to review if you desire.