Cyan exited the headmaster's office, heaving out the tension in a great sigh. Two weeks. Two solid weeks of after school drilling. That was her penance for "insubordinate behavior" and "gross misconduct". She scowled and shot a dirty look back towards the office. More than an hour that had taken, and that was without her even saying a word. They certainly seemed to enjoy hearing themselves talk. She had taken to measuring how far out the instructor's nostril flared as he snarled out her name when they began repeating themselves for the third time "just to make certain they were clear". Keeping her mouth shut in there had taken virtually all of her remaining energy, and if nothing else, she was grateful they had chosen to talk to her at the end of the day rather than the beginning. Whatever. It was over now. All she had to do was make it to the door and this rotten day would be far behind—

As she turned the corner, she quietly spat a vicious curse at whatever being was in charge of irony. Ahead of her were three of the upper classmen who had attended the martial instruction yesterday approaching her from the far end of the hall. When the one in the front noticed her, a malicious grin spread across his face and they all strode confidently down the hall with purpose. Cyan quickly surveyed the hall, and suddenly regretted how quickly she had walked away from the headmaster's office. There were no other instructors in her immediate line of sight, and the few other students she saw quickly averted their gaze when she looked at them. She bit her lip and headed away from them in a different direction. They had a much larger gait than her, and, in spite of her quickened stride, were rapidly closing the gap while moving at what couldn't even be considered a leisurely pace. Being a little small for her age, all three of them were taller than her, with the tallest having nearly a head in height, and she had a pretty good idea which direction any conversation with them would be headed. Individually, she might be able to handle any one of them, but she didn't like the odds of a three-on-one in a confined hallway, especially with the headmaster's warning about fighting echoing fresh in her mind. She stopped and turned to face them, affecting the sternest look she could muster, while she considered her options.

Before she could come to a decision the one in front suddenly stopped. She looked up to see his smile was gone, replaced by a look of uncertainty. He quickly broke his gaze and the three of them turned down the first hallway they reached. Cyan blinked once, then smirked. Bullies were all alike; the instant you show just a bit of backbone they move on to an easier target. Her smirk vanished when she turned back around and saw Vermilion standing just ahead of her, looking both amused and pleased with himself.

Cyan gave him a scornful look as she stalked past him, "I don't need you to babysit me. I can handle myself."

The two of them headed for the lobby and pushed the front doors open. Outside, the sun beamed down through spotted clouds. Cyan closed her eyes for a moment and looked up, briefly enjoying the sensation of warmth as they walked. On their way towards the edge of the campus, they passed several athletic fields sparsely populated with students who chose to spend their off hours training: some ran, others engaged in muscle building exercises, and more than a couple participated in various levels of sparring. Cyan kept a brisk pace so as to stay just ahead of Vermilion so she didn't have to look too much at him when he spoke.

"Just looking out for you."

"You don't see me hanging over your shoulder and correcting your essays for you, do you?" she said with scoff.

"Not any more, at least." he replied with a chuckle.

"Then don't hang over mine when I'm handling a... situation."

Vermilion rolled his eyes, "Oh yes, I could see you had that situation well in hand."

Cyan muttered something under her breath that Vermilion couldn't quite make out, but he surmised it was suitably derogatory. They crossed the street away from the campus grounds and started in the direction of home. All told, the campus itself encompassed an area the size of several city blocks, once you accounted for the athletic fields. It was one of the oldest buildings in the city, and it's enormous pointed tan bricks stood in stark contrast to the more modern buildings around it. The three largest wings were set in a U-shape surrounded by a shoulder height gated wall, The grounds also sported several carefully tended shrubs, a single bright spot of nature in the center of the concrete jungle that was Atlas City. The sounds of the inner-city pedestrian and vehicular traffic provided a distracting buzz from the day's events. She allowed the cascading noise to wash over her and got lost in her own thoughts.

"So," he began, trying to change the subject, "did you decide on something for graduation yet?"

"Huh?"

"A weapon." he clarified, "This is the first year that Herald is adopting the program from Signal Academy. Everyone will have to forge their own weapon in order to graduate."

"Right now I'm more concerned with just making it to graduation." Cyan replied with a sigh.

Vermilion turned his head quizzically, then nodded back towards the school in understanding, "You know, you probably wouldn't have so much trouble with the seniors if you tried being just a little bit nicer."

"I'll try being nicer when they try being smarter." she shot back at him.

Vermilion raised a palm to his forehead and rubbed at his eyes, mumbling out the beginnings of one of Dad's lectures, but Cyan had already tuned him out. Her gaze happened upon a large group of individuals on the other side of the street. Five larger men were standing in a semicircle around two more, one of whom stood defensively in front of the other, who was presently on the ground, curled up against the side of the building with his arm raised over his eyes.

"Hey," Vermilion said, "hey, are you even listen—"

"Is that Lyoh?" she interrupted.

Vermillion blinked, and turned to look in the direction Cyan was pointing. He observed the situation with a frown, "Not again."

Zee Lyohniy was the only son of their neighbor from several houses down. He was the first person they had met after they moved here two years ago and, for some reason, had decided he liked them enough to follow them around ever since. He was a year older than them, an inch above six feet, and, like Vermilion, sported more than a fair amount of muscle. He had dark, closely cropped hair with the barest fuzz of stubble on his chin, dark skin, and often chose to wear a forest green leather duster over his school uniform. Lately, however, he had been having trouble at school. He disappeared during lectures, his grades had begun to slip, and he often showed up to the campus late, when he bothered to show up at all. His mother hadn't spoken about it to them directly, but Cyan had overheard the conversations with her dad. She was worried he had gotten involved with some of the local street gangs, but Cyan didn't believed that for a second. Even if he did have a habit of getting into other's fights, not caring who was involved.

She took a few cautious steps towards the curb, "Who's that with him? He doesn't look like a student."

"No." Vermilion confirmed, "And look at their masks. And their arms—those patches they're all wearing…"

He pointed at the five men, and Cyan noted the white bands tied around their left arms just above the bicep. They contained an insignia of a wolf's head with three red lines drawn through it at an angle, like claw marks.

"Those guys are White Fang." Vermilion said.

Cyan gulped. According to her history class, the White Fang originally formed at the end of the Faunus Rights Revolution to celebrate the newfound peace between the Faunus and humans. They worked to ensure the fair and equal treatment of Faunus; mostly by holding rallies, staging boycotts, and organizing nonviolent mass protests. But that all changed about three years ago, when they adopted a far more militant stance in response to continued discrimination. Now, instead of rallies, they were causing riots. Instead of boycotts, they were burning businesses to the ground. Worst of all were the rumors of kidnappings and assaults against companies that supposedly exploited the Faunus as cheap labor.

Naturally, all the members of the group were Faunus: some were stronger than average humans, others with faster reflexes, and all usually had any number of other animal traits like better hearing or nearly perfect night vision. That, coupled with a fierce hatred of humans, often made for disastrous interactions with anyone caught in their path. She had also read that their masks—sharp, angular things that covered the top half of their faces, usually gray, and done in affectations of creatures of Grimm—were adopted as a response to human antagonism. Humanity chose to treat them as monsters, so monsters they became.

Vermilion looked up and down the nearly empty side street, "We should get the police."

The group closed in on Lyohniy and whoever was with him. Cyan's heart began pounding, but she forced the terror away, covering it with a practiced glacial calm.

"No time." she replied, and without a hint of warning suddenly broke into a dead sprint.

"Wait a second!"

By the time he could get the words out, she was already halfway across the street. Vermilion growled in frustration as he followed her. The sound of one of the White Fang member's voice carried to her as she closed the distance.

"Alright, that's it! You had your chance, kid!"

He cocked his right arm back past his head, and Lyohniy shifted his stance, raising both arms in preparation to absorb the blow. In the same instant the Faunus pushed off his back leg, Vermilion collided with him, throwing all of his weight into an elbow strike aimed squarely at his ribs while Cyan leapt through the air and planted the heels of both feet in a dropkick that connected with the side of his head. The Faunus was thrown a full meter in the air before crashing into the wall of the nearby building. Cyan turned the force of her impact into a full backflip and landed in a crouch on Lyohniy's right. Vermilion pushed through his attack and skidded to a halt covering the flank to his left. They moved into a clean defensive formation around their friend, keeping a wary eye on their assailants.

Lyohniy blinked in stunned surprise as he looked rapidly back and forth between them, then beamed in recognition.

"Hey, guys! What are you—whoa!"

He cut off as Cyan ducked from an incoming blow and spun away. Lyohniy widened his eyes and leaned back, causing the blow to miss his chin by mere inches. He took a step back, planted his leg, rocked his hips forward, and threw his right arm into a hard hook. The blow connected with his opponent's jaw, and the Faunus grunted in pain as his feet slid out from under him. Lyohniy twisted his mouth up into a smirk and glanced at Cyan for approval. Neither her nor her brother seemed to notice, each busy with their own portion of the fight.

He frowned, "Yeah, okay. Talk later."

Vermilion clenched both his arms together and blocked an overhead strike with a grunt, "Ngh. Good idea."

Cyan squared off against her opponent in a wide defensive stance with her right arm raised in front of her and her left held perpendicular to her waist. Her opponent sneered, balled his hands into big meaty fists and raised them in front of him. He then took a long sliding step forward and punched. Cyan waved away from the blow and fired two quick jabs at his chin with her left hand, both of which found their mark. The Faunus shook his head out, ground his teeth, and lashed out again; this time with an overhead hammerblow and a right cross up. He was fast, but not fast enough. Cyan shifted to the side for the first blow, blocked the other one clean, and responded by throwing her body into a straight shot at the other side of his chin that spun her opponent almost in a full circle before sending him tumbling to the ground. She smirked back, and slid back into her defensive stance, almost daring him to stand up again.

The one that Lyohniy previously knocked to the ground shook his head, stood up, then charged at him again, attempting to fasten his hands around the lapel on Lyohniy's duster. The instant they made contact, Lyohniy knocked them down with a pair open-palm slaps. He then responded with a quick left and right hook, and leaned to the side, thrusting his leg into his opponent's solar plexus. The Faunus exhaled in a cough and stumbled briefly, but managed to keep enough of his footing to throw his arm forward into a haymaker punch. Lyohniy slipped in close, caught his opponent's blow in the crook of his arm, and slammed his fist into the the area just below the rib cage, then twisted the joints of his wrist and arm into a lock, and flipped him onto his back.

Two of the remaining White Fang members turned on Vermilion and attempted to flank him, but he managed to keep them both in his field of view by retreating partially down an alley as they closed the gap. They attacked him as a carefully coordinated pair, alternating their offensive flow in a furious rhythm. And they were repelled as a pair. Vermilion whipping his arms about in elaborate wide circles, twisting and rolling his upper body away from blows that weren't parried. As he found the rhythm, he gradually began picking shots between attacks, each of his strikes alternating between his two attackers. Once their own rhythm was broken, he went on the offensive. He stepped inside an overhead roundhouse kick, crouched and spun on his heel, sweeping the first opponent's leg out from under him and sent him crashing to the ground. He whirled to the other, catching an incoming punch with both hands, shifted to the side, and drove his heel into back of the Faunus' knee. He felt the joint buckle, and spun back around in front, following up with a palm strike to his upper chest, slamming him hard into the wall where he slumped unconscious.

Vermilion spun to check on Lyohniy and his sister, and was immediately greeted by a large heavy fist that crashed into the bridge of his nose. His eyes blurred in a flash of pain, and he turned the impact into a backwards handspring, landing in a low crouch. The last member of the White Fang assailants stepped forward, his lips twisted into a snarling grin as he popped the knuckles on his right hand. Vermilion cautiously rose to his feet as Cyan darted to his side, and considered this last opponent intently. He stood several centimeters taller than his companions with a much wider frame, and his face glowered maliciously behind his mask. Undaunted, Lyohniy and Cyan rushed forward.

"No, wait!" Vermilion pleaded, but again was too late.

Being the faster of the two, Cyan reached him first. She leapt at him, aiming a snap kick at his head. The Faunus moved far more quickly than his size would suggest he were capable of, and smashed a hammer fist into her back. She bucked her head backwards in pain and landed in a heap on the ground behind him. With a groan, she managed to plant her palm on the pavement and slowly turn herself over to just in time to see the vague outline of a huge leather boot aimed at her head come rushing forward. She rolled over several times in the direction of the building just in time to avoid the boot, which thudded to the ground a fraction of an inch away from her skull. Lyohniy took the opportunity to move into striking range, barely ducking in time to avoid the backswing of his previous attack. He then pummeled the Faunus with a series of ferocious blows to the abdomen, ending with a powerful uppercut that knocked the Grimm mask from his head. He allowed himself a tight grin and a victorious chuckle, as the Faunus slowly turned his head forward. The blow had barely unsteadied him, and he revealed that the mask was concealing a pair of ram's horns that curved outward from the front his scalp. He then favored Lyohniy with a sick toothy grin.

"Uh oh." Lyohniy said, dryly.

Ram smashed his forehead into Lyohniy's, toppling him to the ground in a daze. Cyan winced at the sound of the impact, and shook her head, trying desperately to clear it. From her position on the ground she got her first real look at the person Lyohniy had been defending. It was difficult to make out anything through her blurred vision, but she was fairly certain it was a he, and that he could have easily run away by now if he had wanted to. Instead, he chose to stay and was watching the scene unfold with a sense of bewildered fascination. Before she had time to wonder about anything else, she felt a hand wrap around her arm and lift her gently to her feet. She looked up to see her brother standing over her, his eyes glued to the Faunus in front of them.

"He's tougher than he looks." Vermilion said.

Cyan rubbed at the small of her back, "No kidding."

Lyohniy managed to roll to his knees and push himself back to his feet, He rubbed his eyes, trying to focus his vision through the pain, "Any ideas?"

"Divide and conquer?" Cyan replied, as if asking for approval.

Both Lyohniy and Vermilion blinked in surprise and exchanged quick glances. Lyohniy gave a little shrug, as if to convey that he didn't have any better ideas, and Vermilion nodded in Cyan's direction. She pulled in a quick breath, and exhaled it fast. They were ready.

Vermilion went in first, striking a careful blow aimed at Ram's midsection, he blocked it, and they exchanged a furious series of strikes and parries while Lyohniy and Cyan moved in from opposite sides. After working another opening in Ram's defense, he inhaled sharply and cocked his right arm back, preparing for an open palm strike. Immediately, Cyan recognized the stance and focus. Vermilion narrowed his gaze, focusing on his point of impact. He thrust his palm into his opponent's chest, and released the kinetic energy stored by his aura. Ram ground his stance, and even though the force of the blow pushed him a good foot and a half backwards on the concrete, he managed to stay standing.

Simultaneously, Lyohniy and Cyan both aimed a straight punch at either side of Ram's head. He sneered, and ducked his head just low enough to direct their incoming attacks at each other. It was Cyan's turn to smile, as she turned her forward momentum into a crouch, driving her shoulder into the back of Ram's knee. Lyohniy carried through his attack normally, moving safely over their opponent and tumbling to standing on the other side of him.

The blow was enough to knock Ram off his balance, but not off his feet. He grunted in pain from the impact and whirled in anger towards Cyan, lashing out a huge grasping hand. His fingers wrapped around her long hair, yanking her out of her recovery. She yelped in surprise and pain, and tried to pry the fingers away. In response Ram pulled up sharply, causing her feet to slip out from under her. At once, the grip was released, and Cyan looked up from the ground to see Vermilion had brought his hand down on Ram's wrist in a swift chop. The Faunus recoiled in pain, and Lyohniy used his lapse in focus to slam his clasped hands down on the back of his neck. Ram staggered again, but refused to go down. He lashed out with his fist in a burst of speed that caught Vermilion off guard, knocking him back, and then kicked his leg backwards, hitting Lyohniy squarely in the chest.

Cyan and Vermilion recovered first and rushed at Ram again. They attacked from opposite sides in a carefully practiced pattern, forcing their opponent on the defensive. They alternately landed strikes around his defenses; a low kick to the knee, a blow to the jaw, an elbow strike to the ribs. As Ram's anger grew, so did his carelessness, and more of their attacks started to slip through.

"What was that?!" Cyan demanded of her brother, "I thought your Semblance had been storing up energy for weeks!"

"Give me a break!" he shouted back, blocking a blow with a grunt, "I only discovered it last month. I'm still practicing."

"You really couldn't have hit him any harder?" she exclaimed, dodging another heavy-handed punch in frustration.

Vermilion swayed back in defense again, "If I wanted to kill him, sure!"

Cyan rolled her eyes, darted away from another blow, and then speared Ram's throat with her fingertips, quickly stepping aside as he gasped for breath to allow Vermilion to move in. He hammered Ram with a pair of punches to the jaw, and then ducked a return hook, and slipped around behind him. Lyohniy stepped forward in his place and thrust a strong heel kick into the center of Ram's chest, knocking him backwards into Vermilion, who wrapped both hand around his waist.

Lyohniy reached up, gripped his fingers tightly around the horns, and yanked down hard while simultaneously leaping up and driving his knee into Ram's face. He released his grip when he connected, and Vermilion tightened his arms around Ram's waist, using his upward momentum to haul him into the air. He arched his back, lifting the larger man into a suplex that slammed him into the pavement. The muscles in Vermilion's arms rippled from the impact, and he released his grip then quickly rolled away. Ram stirred, groaning in pain, and Cyan leapt at him, driving her heel down on the top of his forehead. The blow landed with a cracking impact, and Ram slumped unconscious.

Cyan stood over him, panting heavily, and watched him until she was absolutely certain he wasn't going to stand up again. Slowly, she closed her eyes, and collapsed up against the side of the nearby building. Vermilion rolled and managed to push himself up to one knee, his shoulders slumping in exhaustion. Lyohniy stood across from them, resting his hands on both knees, taking deep breaths and forcing his breathing to return to normal. Cyan regarded him with a level gaze. He looked up, and smiled broadly when his eyes met hers.

"Hey." he said.

She kept her expression neutral when she replied, "...hey."

Several seconds of silence followed. The only sounds were from distant traffic, and their own breathing.

"Dad says, 'hi'." Vermilion said at last.

Cyan nodded, "And your mom wants to know if you're coming home tonight."

Lyohniy offered the two of them a humorous grin. Then he started chuckling, which soon melted into full laughter. Cyan snickered once, and then found herself unable to keep from joining him. They looked down at Vermilion, who shook his head, his mouth already spreading into a grin. The laughter continued for a long while before slowly dissipating.

With her adrenaline fading, Cyan became acutely aware of the throbbing in the back of her head. It felt like half of her scalp had been torn out by the roots. She tried to rub the pain away, and collect her hair into anything besides the shamble it had become.

"I told you you should cut that shorter." Lyohniy said, pointing a finger at her long, loose hanging hair.

"Oh, shut up." she shot back at him, "What was this all about, anyway?"

"Well, I was taking a shortcut home," Lyohniy gestured towards the figure prostrated on the ground, "and I saw the five of them knock this poor guy out of an alley."

Vermilion blinked, "And you just jumped in? Without having any idea what was going on?"

Lyohniy replied, "What? He needed help."

"These guys are White Fang!" Vermilion said.

"I don't like bullies." Lyohniy shrugged.

While they bickered, Cyan walked over and knelt down next to the figure on the ground. He— she was still reasonably certain it was a he— wore ragged pants, well worn shoes, and a grey hooded sweatshirt with ripped sleeves. The clothing had sustained several years worth of wear, which made her wonder if he ever wore anything else. He held his right arm tight against his abdomen, and was using his left to keep himself pushed up to a sitting position. His breathing was coming out in short bursts, suggesting he was still terrified. Understandable, considering what just happened. She leaned her head to the side, and his eyes flicked upwards to meet hers. There was a definite sense of terror in them, but it seemed to abate somewhat when he looked at her. He was young, possibly their age or a year older, with a dusky complexion, and light gray eyes. There was something else about him...

"Is he okay?"

Cyan broke the gaze, and looked up at Vermilion, "I don't like the way he's holding his arm. It might be broken."

Lyohniy grimaced, "Well the way he got tossed to the ground, I'm not surprised. Looked like they were roughing him up pretty bad. Those other guys were also breathing hard when I got there, so they might have been chasing him a while."

The boy started shuddering, as if from intense cold, and Cyan gently put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to meet her gaze again, and his shudders subsided. She narrowed her eyes, and slowly moved her hand towards his face. When he didn't react, she took hold of the hood and gently pulled it down, revealing a smooth mat of iron gray hair. There was a gentleness to his features, and faint traces of fear behind his eyes. She then glanced up to note two tall, wolf-like ears protruding out of the top of his head. He must have kept them flattened when he had the hood up.

"He's a Faunus." she said quietly to the others.

"What?" Lyohniy said incredulously as both he and Vermilion took a step forward.

Vermilion pushed back a few stray locks of hair that had fallen across his face, "But the White Fang are a Faunus right's group. Why would they attack one of their own?"

Cyan looked back up at the other two, but saw nothing but questions on their faces. She sighed, "We should get him to Dad."

Vermilion nodded, and exchanged a glance with Lyohniy, who said nothing, Looking back down at the Faunus, Cyan asked, "What's your—"

Too late, she noticed that his eyes were fixed on something just below her chin. In the blink of an eye, his other hand shot forward and fastened around her pendant. Before she could even articulate a word of protest, he had jerked the pendant from around her neck and sprung to his feet.

"Hey!" she finally managed to shout at him. But he was already a fair distance down the sidewalk.

Lyohniy pursed his lips together, and waved his hand sarcastically, "Yeah, you're welcome, buddy. You take care too."

"He took my mother's pendant!"

At that, Lyohniy's eyes widened in a blaze of anger. Without another word, the three of them started after him.