Don't really have a lot to say as of this moment, so…

Enjoy!

Chapter Five

Crimson's day had been, for the most part, uneventful. After his classes, he got his daily workout in, and had resigned to roam the grounds of Beacon Academy. He liked the quiet. He wanted to enjoy it for as long as it lasted. Just walking in the orange light of a setting sun, listening to the air blow by, rustling the trees as it does, and hearing the sound of his footsteps on the concrete beneath. He had opted out of his red topcoat today, instead choosing a white button-up shirt, slacks, and loafers. He did, however, have Timepiece strapped to his belt.

Some would say that the blade never left his side, but that wasn't true. While it was precious to him, Crimson knew that there were certain scenarios that would make a katana seem… like a bit much. The real truth was that Crimson was never without a weapon. Even when he took Team RWBY out to dinner, he had a knife on him. He refused to be caught with his pants down again, metaphorically speaking. But still…

The quiet was serene, until it was disturbed by the footfalls of someone coming up from behind him. His hand left hand rested on the pommel of Timepiece, not in a threatening manner, still if the need arises… He turned around to come face to face with Yang. "Well, hello there, Ms. Xiao Long. Is there something you need?"

The blond brawler of Team RWBY looked gorgeous in the fading light, how it glinted off her glorious golden locks, shadows cast over those lilac eyes that seemed to keep him frozen in place. "Not really, no." Okay then… Crimson continued walking, now with Yang keeping pace alongside him. "I do have a few questions, however." Here they go again. "Like, what's the deal with you?"

Not at all what he was expecting. Rather, Crimson was prepared to dodge another question about the scars or… them… but no, instead she asked that. "I'm confused as to what you mean by that."

"Well, it's just a little weird how you can go from spewing snarky remarks while taking on my entire team single handedly to flirting with me during dinner at the fanciest restaurant in town." Ah. That.

She had a point. People were always a little put off by that. "I learned it from my mother. I learned almost everything I know from my mother." Crimson stared off, looking over the vacant plaza that was located in front of the school. "She taught me to live life with a tight fist and an open hand." He turned to look at her. "I'm… sorry about what I said that day… in Goodwitch's class. That was uncalled for and… insulting."

Yang nodded at this, clearly mulling it over. Was she deciding whether or not to forgive him? Was she even still mad about his wise ass remarks? He was half expecting her to yell at him about how he made a fool of her in front of the entire class. He was not expecting her to laugh. It was light, lilting, cheerful. "Next time, just don't make them about my boobs," she said with a smile. One that Crimson returned. He casually placed his hands behind his back as they continued walking.

"I won't," he chuckled. "As for the flirting, well…" Crimson suddenly produced a daisy from behind his back, offering it to Yang. "Normally, it's supposed to be a rose, but considering your sister's last name, I thought that'd be weird."

Yang accepted the daisy, laughing as she did. "Yeah, I suppose so. You, know, you're one of the few people who haven't asked if we're actually sisters or not."

He just shrugged, "Well, I figured you're half-sisters, what with the different color hair and all."

"Fair enough. So tell me, 'Mr. Harrison' what do you do in your free time?"

"Walk around, practice, get some exercise in."

Yang was dissatisfied with this answer. "No, I mean what do you do for fun?"

Crimson was confused. What kind of answer was she looking for? That WAS what he did for fun. It helps him relax. "Okay, maybe it's not fun for you, but it is to me. I enjoy time to myself."

"Or MAYBE you forgot what it was like to have fun," she ventured, her voice losing that usual cheer. She was trying to reach out to him, trying to connect.

Crimson read between the lines of what she said. He knew what she meant by that. Stopping in his tracks and making Yang walk ahead of him a bit, Crimson looked directly at Yang, his eyes ablaze, but his expression calm. "Did Coco tell you? About what happened to… them?" He was now gripping Clockwork tightly. It was something steady to hold onto. A life ring in the midst of violent waters. Something to keep him weighed down, and from being swept off his feet by maelstrom. His breathing became uneven as he fought to keep the memories from flooding in and whisking him back in time again.

Yang turned around, her voice quiet. "I thought you didn't like talking about it."

He nodded, realizing what needs to be done. "I don't. But, I feel as though if I don't tell you something, then the questions will keep coming. So, this is what I'll do: you, and only you, get one question. I will answer it honestly, but afterwards, I don't want to hear about it."

Yang thought for a moment. She got one question. She better make it count. She clutched the daisy close to her chest as she asked her one question. "Are you trying to forget? Because, if I was in your shoes, I would-" There it was again. The 'if I were you, I would' statement. Crimson had gotten so sick of hearing it from consoling teachers and well-meaning students. Because the information of what they would do was meaningless to him. It was his burden to carry, not theirs.

He closed the distance between them in an instant. "You'd what?!" He snapped. "What?! You'd stay positive? You'd try and live for them?! Tell me, blondie, after you watch your closest friends get slaughtered one by one, what would you do then?! Tell me! What would you do if Ruby got ripped apart by Beowolves right in front of you?! What would do if you had the images of your team being shredded…" Navajo. "And mangled…" Scarlett. "And broken…" Magenta. "Burned into the back of your skull!" At first, he was shouting. But, then his words became strained as he fought back tears. He would never let himself cry. He made a promise not to shed another tear for them. But there were some days where he wanted to break that promise. And, good Lord, did he want to break that promise right now. "What would you do if you had to relive the memories every single day of your life." But, he wouldn't.

Yang was taken back by his sudden outburst. He had never snapped like this before. He was always cool, calm, collected. But, this was something else entirely. This was someone else entirely. And when Yang looked past the contacts, and managed to glimpse at the red orbs, she could see him. She could see him for what he really was: tortured, hurting. Yet, there was something else behind the pain, and if Yang looked closely, she could catch a glimpse of it.

Fire.

There was fire in his eyes. It was raging. A fire that was burning so hot that it could melt through anything in his way. It drove him. She was inspired by it. Entranced by it.

Energized by it.

Like a hot cup of coffee running down her throat, Yang felt heat spread through her as her breath grew shallow. He was towering over her, but his face was no longer contorted into one of anger and pain. That had fallen away. Now, he felt it as well. That heat. That radiated out from the very core, racing through him and setting his body ablaze. The lilac in her eyes was beautiful.

Yang blinked once, then twice, then three times. Then, she reached up, grabbing him by the collar with both hands, and pulling him down to her level. Their lips crashed together. She heard Crimson suck in a lungful of air out of pure surprise, his hand clenching down even harder on the scabbard. She could barely believe she had kissed him, too.

But, here they were. Standing in the orange glow of the setting sun. The sound of a light breeze blowing by and the slight rustling of trees as it did. For the first time in over a year, Crimson was at peace. There was nothing except her. Kissing him. She tasted like pineapples. It reminded him of home. Of the peaceful tropics and the sound of the ocean waves as they crashed too and fro.

But he wasn't thinking of home right now. He wasn't thinking of them right now. He wasn't thinking of anything. His mind had ceased to work save for one, singular function. And so he pulled Yang close to him, and kissed her back.

For the first time in over a year, Crimson was at peace.

The following day, Weiss made the interesting suggestion of training. While it was not uncommon for Team RWBY to practice in the Emerald Forest, what made it different this time around was the fact that Crimson would be joining them.

Last night, Weiss noticed something when Crimson and Yang came back to the room. They were out of breath and their faces were flushed. Blake was too buried in her book to notice. Ruby was too naive to notice. But, Weiss noticed. Oh, she noticed. But, she didn't say anything. Just raised an eyebrow, and let out a low hum. The two of them didn't speak to each other for the rest of the night.

That was not the case, however, when the five of them were making their way to the edge of the woods. Weiss was having a conversation with Ruby as they walked. Well, it wasn't really so much a conversation as it was just Ruby talking. But, the heiress didn't mind. She secretly loved it when the young girl's voice increased in pitch slightly when she got really excited about something. But, the girl quieted down at one point. They had reached the edge of the woods.

While Weiss wasn't actively listening to what the team leader was saying, she did notice it when her voice lost its usual energy. She turned to face Ruby, becoming slightly worried when she saw the look of concern on her face. Her eyes were looking past Weiss, in the direction of… Crimson. He had been walking on the opposite side of Weiss, along with Yang. Everyone was quiet, now. An when Weiss turned around to see what was going on, she gasped slightly.

They had reached the edge of the Emerald Forest.

Where the graves were.

Crimson knelt down in front of the trio of tombstones. He was whispering something. Weiss crept closer to hear what he was saying. "Hey guys… I… I'm living with a new team. It was something Ozpin concocted. Apparently, I'm 'sufficiently skilled' and now I'm supposed to mentor them. So, that's changed… The new team. They're a bunch of first years. Still wet behind the ears. All girls. Their leader, she talks faster than Navajo, if you can believe it. Her name is Ruby. There's Blake. A faunus. She's quiet, but kind. Then, there's this girl. She's kind of a princess. You know the type: self-centered, spoiled rich girl."

How dare he?!

Weiss was going to say something, but chose to hold her tongue out of respect. "She's practically in love with Ruby. It's not hard to figure out if you saw how she looks at her." Weiss turned a deep shade of red, hiding her face from Ruby, who thankfully didn't hear Crimson. "Finally, there's Yang. She's… well, she's actually quite beautiful. I think you'd like her. I have to go now, but I'll see you guys later." He stood up, and rested a hand on the far right grave. Like he was giving a friend a pat on the back.

He was the first to enter the forest. The rest quickly followed. Soon they found a good spot to train. A large clearing in the woods, short grass taking the place of simple dirt and mud. Weiss, speaking up, said, "I think here is acceptable. So, who wants to go first?" The idea was for them to split into pairs and spar. While Ruby did come up with the plan, Weiss did help with the finer details of the exercise.

"Wait," Crimson said. "What are we doing here?"

Weiss rolled her eyes, putting her hands on her hips as she turned to face the huntsman. "Clearly, you weren't listening when Ruby said we should take today to train and learn to work with you."

Crimson shrugged, then shook his head. "No."

"What do you mean 'no?' We came out here to-"

"I know," He interrupted. "But, no. I am a huntsman. Specifically, I'm the huntsman that you all are supposed to be learning from. That's why I was assigned to your team in the first place. So, it's time for lesson one. You," He pointed at all four of them. "Are all huntresses. But, what do we hunt?" This was a dramatic change. The power shifted, control was ripped from Weiss's hands and placed into that of Crimson.

It infuriated her to no end.

Ruby nervously raised a hand. "We hunt Grimm?"

The older boy spun his katana around, and pointed it directly at Ruby. "That is correct. But, fighting a person and fighting a beast are two different things. As hunters of Grimm, we must learn how to fight the beast."

He was just taking control like it meant nothing. Weiss was slowly losing her cool."Excuse me, but I was the one who planned this entire excursion! You can't just change everything at the last second!"

"But, first, we must attract the beast. I believe that Ms. Schnee is already in the process of doing that," Crimson carried on, ignoring Weiss completely. He was smirking again. Oum, how she hated that damn look on his face. It stunk of arrogance. Weiss couldn't help herself. She ran straight at him, slapping him across the face.

"WEISS!" Ruby gasped, shocked and appalled by what the heiress had just done.

The slight sting in her hand wasn't even close to what she was willing to pay to see that stupid smirk wiped off his face. But, when he lifted his face back up, looking down at her, his slight smile had become a full-blown, shit-eating grin. And to top it all off, he laughed. Right in her face. Why in the hell would Yang get with this guy?

But, her anger rapidly drained away as she saw a large pack of Beowolves come rushing out of the woods, charging them. A few rushed past Crimson and Weiss, who were standing closest to the edge of the clearing. And Weiss's eyes widened in fear as she saw one make a lunge at an unprepared Ruby.

Don't forget to leave a review, let me know what you guys think!