He stepped out and headed there, still unsure what she could want from him. He arrived a few minutes later; Yang was already waiting for him;
"Good, you're here, follow me"
She took off at a brisk pace towards the gym, 'she doesn't need my help normally, something's up'.
They arrived after a few minutes, Yang hadn't anticipated how cold it would get, so she hadn't brought her big winter coat, Shayne removed his and draped it over her shoulders. She wrapped it tightly around herself thankful for its length. They arrived and Shayne took his coat back as she headed to the locker room door.
"Are you coming?" She said holding the door open, Shayne must have looked unsure as he stepped in, it was the girls locker room after all, "Don't worry there's no-one here to see"
"See what?"
"This" she threw herself at him, taking him to the floor with her, she kissed him roughly, 'well, now look what you've gotten yourself into' he thought.
He pushed Yang off and got up quickly;
"No, no, no, no, no! Yang we can't do this, I'm in love with Lina"
"Shayne, she'd never have to know!"
"But she would, we've shared our souls with each other, literally" he said pointing to his left eye, it was a sapphire blue instead of his normal hazel eyes
"I wouldn't even have to say anything, she would just know, I'm sorry you feel this way, I really am" his voice tailed off towards the end.
Yang started crying, Shayne being the good guy he was, went over to her and helped her to her feet.
He hugged her as she wiped her eyes, they shared a smile and she rested her head on his chest. She looked him in the eyes before he let go of her, Shayne was walking towards the door when Yang grabbed his arm;
"Shayne...you don't need to owe me any favours from now on..." Before she could break down again Shayne said;
"Yang, it's okay, we can still be friends" she smiled and Shayne walked away.
Shayne got back to his dorm as he stepped in; Lina shot him a look of venom and threw a lamp at him, her face turned soft and ended in tears. Dundra was confused;
"Does anyone have any idea what just happened?" He was met with blank looks and shrugs from everyone except Lina and Shayne who were caught in an embrace as she cried gently into his chest.
Vossler came in and stopped short;
"Hey, guys, anyone know what's up with the blonde chick down the hall? She's sat outside her dorm with her head between her knees" he walked over to the shared desk and put his backpack on it. Ashe and he were still playing catch up on the schoolwork, team SHDE were helping as best they could.
Hanna looked up suddenly at the mention of Yang;
"What did you say?"
"I said there's some girl sat in the hallway"
"Shayne, what did you do?! You went to do her a favour, you come back and she's found in tears!" Hanna stormed out
Lina looked at Shayne, since he had split the burden of his curse they had become able to read each other's thoughts, he told her exactly what happened silently. She thought no less of him for how he had handled it, though she thought he could go and deal with Yang again. Shayne ignored her mental suggestion.
Hanna came back sometime later looking flustered but not angry or upset. She went over to Shayne;
"I did the favour for you, she said she's okay but wished that you had been able to help" she said smiling, Shayne chuckled. Everyone else just looked at each other.
The next few days passed with Hanna and Yang spending more time together. Shayne was headed back to the dorm; he was just about to go in when he heard the muffled sounds. He instead went to the roof and lowered himself down the side of the building; he flung open the window, the cold wind rushed in. Hanna went to the window pulling it closed but not locking it.
When he flung it open again he swung in as well;
"tut, tut, Hanna, you should always lock the windows" Hanna fell off the bed and Yang covered herself with a blanket.
"Shayne you're a fucking asshole, you couldn't have just knocked could you" Hanna said as Shayne walked to the kitchenette to make coffee. He heard Hanna usher Yang into the bathroom and toss their clothes in after her.
He made three coffees and left two on the table while he went and sat on the sofa and waited. When Hanna and Yang came out, Yang went and sipped her coffee, whereas Hanna ignored it and stomped over to Shayne. She slapped him hard across the face;
"What the fuck was that!" Shayne nursed his jaw and put down his coffee
"You could have just sent a message and told us to stop as you wanted to come in"
"Now, one; that would have been less fun" he said winking at Yang, she blushed, "And two; It's not like you would have listened and stopped, now would you"
Hanna knew he was right, he was always right (except when arguing against Lina), instead of admitting that they wouldn't have, she went back to her bed sulking to clear up.
Yang sat down next to Shayne, she couldn't look him in the face, and he just looked at her, smiling;
"What?" Yang exclaimed
"Nothing, I just never took you as gay that's all."
Yang leaned in close to him;
"I'm bisexual actually" she said biting her lip slightly
Shayne's smile disappeared from his face; he stood up and walked away, Yang laughing hysterically.
A few minutes later, the twins walked in and could sense the awkwardness in the room. They were unsure on what happened but didn't ask. Ashe knew that Hanna and Yang were up to something when Yang left with Hanna at her heels. She went to where Shayne was sat tinkering with his gauntlet;
"Shayne, what's going on with them?"
"Nothing"
"You're lying to me, you know I'll find out one way or another, so you might as well tell me before someone else blabs about it" she said putting her hand on the gauntlet
"I'm not going to tell you so you can stop asking" Vossler came walking over as Ashe took a knife from her boot;
"Ashe, leave him alone, he said he's not going to tell you, so give it up already" she scowled and walked over to the bed and sat down to do her homework.
"Shayne, I was wondering, where did you get your tattoos?" Shayne hadn't told him the entire truth about his powers.
Before he could answer Lina came crashing through the door, followed by Nora holding a penguin.
"Um, does everyone else see the penguin?" Ashe asked, Shayne and Vossler nodded
"Nora took him from the zoo; I'm trying to get her to take it back"
"NO, I wanna keep it!" Nora yelled as Lina closed the door
"Nora, you need to take it back, it doesn't belong here" Shayne said calmly while slowly making his way to her
Dundra stepped through the door and saw the penguin;
"HOLY SHIT!" he said falling over backward as Nora ran through him and tore down the hall.
Shayne helped him up;
"What the fuck was that about" Dundra said as Lina went with Ashe to find Nora
"I have no idea, all we know is that Lina dragged Nora in here after she refused to take the penguin back" Vossler said
"Well I'm staying out of it, I hate birds, almost as much as I hate Grimm" Shayne looked at Dundra concerned, "Speaking of which, Shayne, I need to have a word with you"
Shayne and Dundra went to the roof while Vossler went to see if the girls could use a hand;
"Shayne… I've been thinking about the curse that we share, I have been thinking of the past and it has rekindled my anger for Grimm, my rage calms when I'm around you as the Grimm settles, other times it burns my skin and whispers things to me" Shayne looked at him and saw the truth in his eyes,
"Shayne I want this thing out of me, I can't take much more of this" he said dropping to his knees, dangerously close to the edge of the building
Shayne crouched down next to him;
"Dundra this won't be easy or painless you know" Dundra nodded slowly, "There is also the large possibility that the removal will kill you, the Grimm anchors to the heart and soul of the host…"
Dundra looked up at him,
"Trying to separate it from you is dangerous and is not a decision to be made lightly, I'm the only one who can do it" Dundra's head dropped and Eddi came through the door that led to the dorms.
"Shayne, what's going on?"
"Eddi, Dundra can't handle the Grimm, he wants it removed from his soul" Dundra rocked slightly in silence;
Dundra could hear voices as Eddi and Shayne talked about how to help him;
'They're conspiring against you…she is cheating on you with him…you know it to be true…do it…do it now…kill him'
He stood, pure rage making him see red as he grabbed hold of Shayne and jumped off the edge. They fell for some time as the building was right up against the cliff, Shayne wrestled with Dundra until they landed in a small lake. They coughed up water as they clawed their way onto shore, before Shayne could regain his senses, Dundra had kicked him in the chest, and he heard ribs snap as he rolled away from Dundra to safety. Shayne stood slowly, clutching his chest;
"Dundra…stop, it's me, Shayne, your friend…you've got to fight it….." Dundra punched him in the face; Shayne didn't want to fight him but he knew he'd have to.
Shayne was lifted from the floor as Dundra held him aloft, Shayne had grabbed a handful of sand before being hauled from the ground. He threw it into Dundra's eyes and Shayne dropped to the floor, he staggered into the forest as fast as he could, he checked his chest, one of the ribs was pushing against his lung, making him short of breath. He could hear something nearby, he continued towards the source of the noise, whatever it was, it had to be easier to fight than Dundra. He almost fell over Frank and Velvet, as they were laid down in the soft grass;
"Shayne, what's going on?!" Frank asked getting to his feet
Shayne looked back the way he came and could see that Dundra wasn't far behind; Shayne pushed past Frank before collapsing onto the ground, Velvet went to check him;
"Frank he's hurt, badly…his fifth, sixth…and seventh ribs are broken and the sixth is digging into his lung" she said after taking a moment to examine him
Dundra stormed into the clearing, Frank saw the rage in his eyes, and stood between them;
"Dundra, calm down and talk to me"
Dundra shouted over Frank at the near unconscious Shayne;
"You think you can take her for yourself! I'll kill you, you motherfucker!" Dundra shoved Frank aside and strode over to Shayne, Velvet ran to Frank.
Dundra was about to stomp on Shayne's skull when Lance slammed into him and sent him sliding across the damp grass. Lina rushed to Shayne's side, she and Eddi dragged him aside, letting Velvet try to help him. She tore open his shirt and using his knife, cut open his chest to access his ribs; she put her hand in and pulled the broken rib out of his lung, while feeding him her aura to seal the wound. She called for Lance to help her set his ribs properly before healing his chest. Frank and Eddi kept Dundra at bay for as long as they could until he finally got the better of them, sending Frank flying into a tree, and holding Eddi by the throat choking her.
Shayne knew he was unconscious, he was in the forest back on Managerie, and 'He' was there with Nemea.
'Shayne you know that you cannot help your friend' Shayne nodded, he couldn't speak;
'I…will consume him…he will….become mine….ahahahahahah!' Shayne glared at 'Him' and he faded away
'Shayne, you need to wake up, your friends need you, I know you want to sleep, but if you sleep now you will never wake' Nemea roared and Shayne's vision went dark.
He sat up suddenly, gasping for air, his aura pulsing strongly, he leapt to his feet and saw that Eddi was being choked; he sprinted across the distance colliding with Dundra and running him into a tree. Shayne bound him there using Grimm and went to check Eddi;
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, Shayne I'm fine" she said struggling for air, Lance came and took her to the side as Shayne released Dundra.
Dundra stormed towards Shayne, who stood there ready. Dundra was four steps from him when he collapsed, Shayne went to him and put his hand on his back, he drew the Grimm from Dundra and it made its way up his arm until it settled and became part of Shayne's tattoos. Shayne sat down next to him, and waited. 'well that proved you wrong Nemea, didn't it' he thought. Dundra woke up a few minutes later; he rolled over and opened his eyes to see people above him;
"What happened? The last thing I remember, is standing on the roof, then it all went red and I couldn't hear properly" he saw Shayne had another scar on his chest
"Dundra you asked me to take back the Grimm from you, then you collapsed and I talked to Eddi, you took hold of me and dragged me off the edge of the building"
"I could hear voices; they told me that you were sleeping with her, they told me to kill you"
"They were lies, Dundra; the Grimm had taken hold over you and was making you do its bidding, this was the only way I could help you" Shayne stood up and held out his hand, Dundra took it reluctantly and they went back to the dorm.
Shayne didn't sleep that night, neither did Dundra. Shayne was trying to understand how deep Dundra's hate for Grimm was by meditating with him while holding an aura link that allowed two auras to meet, it also allowed for Shayne to delve into Dundra's mind and see first-hand what caused his hatred.