The only thing that he could see was the blur of metal, actual shapes not coming to his vision. His body was rushing through something, although the buzzing in his ears wouldn't let him take in anything, and nothing was recognizable to him. His body skidded to a stop, and from the side he could see a blur of pink and brown, but that wasn't what had his attention. In front of him was Yang, lying motionless, a red patch spreading on her chest. It felt like a weight hit his chest, knocking the air from his lungs.

He was sitting upright, looking around. The room was dark, although he noticed some movement. Another nightmare, he told himself, as he shifted to lean against the wall, his head falling.

"Rather early to be waking up, don't you think?"

Sterling lifted his head, his eyes getting use to the darkness quickly and seeing Raz sitting at the desk, looking over his scroll but an eye on him. Sterling rubbed his eye. "What time is it?"

"It's one in the morning."

"And you're up… why?"

"I have insomnia, I'm always up this late. What about you?"

"I… had a nightmare."

Raz closed the scroll, turning in the chair to face Sterling fully. "You seem to be having a lot of those. Like every night often."

Sterling sighed, slouching against the wall. "It's my own personal curse. Most of the shit I see I can't understand, being a flood of color or something."

Raz nodded to himself, before shifting the chair to face Sterling. "Well, this gives us plenty of time to talk, then."

"Eh?" He lifted his head back up again. "What are you on about?"

"I mean, you've been our leader for two and a half months now, Sterling. And yet we have no idea who you are, besides this combat monster. Amy told us about the Death Stalker." Raz leaned forward, arm across his knees for support. "So out with it, tell me about who Sterling is."

Sterling scoffed, turning his head away. He heard Raz sigh, and a shifting from the other person before he started to speak. "I'm technically a wilderness child. My family lived on the outskirts of Atlas, that's why we were able to get Grimm to train on: They came to us. My sister is adopted, a Faunus… I remember when we were young, playing in the courtyard when a Nevermore came down, grabbed her and tried to fly off with her. The guards took it down before it got far, but I got an earful from my father, telling me that I had to protect her, because there weren't many out there that would or could. It was the next day that he put me in combat training.

"It was a few years after that when we went into Atlas for my father to get supplies, food and the like. She was kicked out of the store because she was a faunus. It was then that I saw what my father was talking about, that it wasn't about protecting her from the Grimm; it was about protecting fauni from humans, protecting people from Grimm. I knew that day that I wanted to become a Hunter, to become strong enough and famous enough that maybe I could get the influence to stop the discrimination, and maybe even manage to expand the kingdoms.

"My father… you could say he was eccentric. One would assume that of a man who had his son fight a Death Stalker alone at a young age and expected him to win. I got use to the hard training, though. He always told me that there were great things in store for my sister and I. That we could change the world if we had the will to do it. I always thought that it was an optimistic look of things, that he was being hopeful that we would be great leaders of the world. But then… he died. It was sudden, fallen ill and died in his bed about three years back. He left a good deal of wealth behind, and we scrambled to put things in order so things run smoothly while we are busy away, training.

"You know… I always felt that I was being pushed to be someone that I wasn't, something that I wasn't. But now that I am here, at Beacon, training to be a Hunter… I feel like I'm coming to terms with who I am, instead of looking, you know?" He finally turned to look at Raz, who seemed to be a little shocked by the outpouring from his leader. "What about you, Raspberry? What's your story?"

Raz winced at that, knowing that barb was for prodding so hard. "You know I don't like that name, Sterling."

"I know." He smirked. "So…"

Raz sighed. "I grew up here in Vale. Graduated Signal middle of the class, nothing impressive. I grew up poor, although thankfully we had a roof over our heads. My father worked at Signal for maintenance after the Mountain Glenn… incident. He helped in creating the railway… and then sealing it off after the expansion was lost. 'I did what I had to do,' he had said a few times. My mom… She worked with the Schnee Corporation for several years, until she was transporting dust for them. Her caravan was attacked by the White Fang. There were no survivors…"

Sterling frowned, lowering his gaze. "I'm sorry to hear that, Raz."

"Can't change the past." Raz shrugged, but the small bit of light from outside made his tears shine. "I wish I could find the people who did it, get my revenge… but it was long enough ago that I doubt I could ever find them. Not that it would make it right, mind you." He took a moment, his free hand coming up to wipe his eyes. "When I'm finished here, I plan on applying with the Schnee Corporation, as a Hunter Escort for shipment, to make sure nothing like that happens again."

"A novel goal, to be sure, Raz… make sure to keep yourself safe, as well. I don't want to hear a repeat of the experience happening with my teammates."

Raz smirked. "You know me; I'm not going to go get myself killed out there. It's them that have to worry about me."

Sterling chuckled, pulling out his scroll. His smile softened as the image popped up, Yang toppled over him in the sparring ring in the gym. Raz had snuck it on him, and he gave him a good punch at it, but at the moment he was feeling thankful for it. "It's one-thirty, Raz. We should get some sleep. Goodwitch said she was changing training around a bit to get us ready for the Vytal Festival, and we should be rested if we're called up.

"Yeah…" Raz got up, pushing the chair back with his foot before jumping onto his bed. "Good talk, Sterling."

"Likewise. Sleep well, man."

Sterling woke as the sun broke the horizon, feeling rested for the first time in weeks. Maybe the talk with Raz helped… or maybe he just had to stay up longer. He shrugged it off, heading out to take a quick shower before breakfast. He stood under hot water for a long few minutes, letting it relax the muscles in his shoulders, before stepping out, drying off and wrapping a towel around his hips before stepping out. And then he heard it, a voice that didn't seem very happy.

"Now there's a guy I've been looking for." Sterling turned to see Yang approaching. But before he could say anything he felt himself being pressed against the wall, a finger dead in the middle of his chest. "I've been looking for you for two weeks, and you always disappear on me."

That was far more straightforward that he expected, and Sterling had to think back. Had it been two weeks already? Yeah, he supposed it had been. "I'm sorry." He managed to say, his eyes down and to the right. "Homework has kept me busy the last few weeks, I didn't want to have any when the break hit, you know?" His hand came up, taking hers gently, lifting it up and kissing the base of her palm. "I haven't been avoiding you, far from it. I'm just bad with managing my time." He brought her hand to his cheek, and just that simple touch made his entire body relax; something that wasn't missed on her.

"Well then, what will we do to fix that?" Her voice was sharp but teasing, and it made Sterling smile.

"Well, I was thinking, maybe… the two of us can head into Vale tonight, there's a nice restaurant where we can pick up dinner?"

He could hear her chuckle, and that opened his eyes, seeing her inches from him, biting his lip from nerves. "Was that a date I heard?"

"It may very well be."

"Well… sorry, but I have to decline. Blake disappeared the other day, and we have to look for her after class."

"Oh… yeah, I heard about that. I hope you find her soon."

"Yeah, me too…" Yang's eyes drifted for a moment before locking onto his, a smile on her face. "Another time though, Sterling, promise." She leaned up, kissing him on the lips gently before running off, leaving Sterling to watch her go. He sighed, halfway between running for her and running back to his room to get changed from a towel. Eventually, modesty won out, and he headed to the room.

Breakfast was quick, although he could feel Raz's eyes and smirk on his face that said he knew everything. Sterling ignored him by focusing everything he had on the food in front of him.

"So, Sterling, I forgot to ask you last night, where have you been going for two hours after dinner every night?"

That caused him to freeze a second, before taking a bite of eggs. He let the question sit in the air before turning to Raz, his face serious. "I've been heading into Vale to take dance lessons. There's rumors that there's going to be a Dance at the beginning of next semester, in celebration of the Vytal festival. I thought lessons were a good idea. You should take some as well. I don't want my team to be the only ones with two left feet." He rose to dispose of his dishes, leaving a stunned Raz, Amy and Terra having a laugh at his expense. "Class is in 10, guys, let's finish up and get there on time."

The girls packed away the rest of their food, but Raz pushed his plate away, seemingly put off after the last joke. They left as a team, ready for class with Goodwitch, which packed in quickly. It seemed people were eager to what she was up to. "Good morning, class. Now that all of you have had practice against your fellow students, we are going take a step forward. The Vytal Tournament has both single fights as well as Team fights. So, for the next week we will be doing Team Duels in class. First up," She pulled up her scroll. "Team CRDL, against Team STAR."

Well, that figures. Sterling and his team stood, ignoring the calls from Team CRDL. They went straight to their locker room, stretching out and getting changed. Meanwhile, Sterling was talking strategy, Team CRDL in their own room.

"Raz, you're going to focus on Sky. Your close range style will put him at a disadvantage with his halberd, and your dust blows should let you take him down quickly so you can help out elsewhere."

"Got it." Raz was tying his shoes up, checking the dust wires on his wrists and sliding his metal knuckles on.

"Terra, you'll be fighting Dove. You may be able to lock weapons with him, but it's not a good idea unless you can disarm on him. Let him strike first and counter, don't worry about taking him down quickly, wait for support if you can't get the opening."

"You worry too much, Sterling… but fine." Terra scoffed, but she spun her sai's before sliding them into her sleeves.

"Amy, you have Russel. Your range will make his daggers insignificant, and if he does get close… well, you know what to do." He chuckled at that. "But be quick on it, I don't want to be patching your arms up after the fight because you toyed with him."

"So you have Cardin? Shame, I wanted the big guys."

"Knowing him, he'll be gunning for me. Cardin will want payback for his humiliation I gave him. So I'll just have to humiliate him in public." Sterling shrugged. "I won't even use my weapons. He isn't worthy of that honor."

Suited up, the team walked together back to the stage, Team CRDL already waiting, weapons out. Glynda stood between the two teams, but she quickly stepped out of the way. "You may begin."

The teams launched at each other, although Sterling moved slower, watching the battlefield to make sure he would have a clear fight with Cardin. Raz rushed at Sky, blocking the handle of the halberd with his metal knuckles, before firing an open palm strike at his chest, the blow exploding with the release of energy dust. Sky was sent backwards, and Raz pushed the attack. Terra launched herself at Dove, the anger from their prior bullying seemingly sending her over the edge as she struck with a rage that Sterling hadn't seen from the girl. Russel saw this as a chance, moving to strike at her side, but he was intercepted by Amy's club swinging, catching the strike, then stabbing at him with the end of her club, causing him to jump back.

And then Cardin was walking towards him, holding his club threateningly, but Sterling didn't care, hands in his pockets. "You're done for, Moonstone. Nobody to protect you now."

He couldn't help but snort at that. "Try me, Cardin."

That seemed to inflame Cardin more, raising his club up and slamming it down, although Sterling jumped to the side in time. His foot came out, kicking behind Cardin's knee, forcing him to the ground, before his body whipped the other way, the front of his foot contacting Cardin's face and knocking him to the ground in a hurry. He didn't stay down, though, looking pissed off as he got up, gritting his teeth. Sterling lowered his body, knees bent as he was nearly sitting on the ground.

Cardin rushed again, swinging with all of his strength, but Sterling jumped over the club. He flipped backward, the toe of his foot finding Cardin's chin, sending him flying back once more, dropping his club. Sterling landed low to absorb the impact, watching Cardin getting up, and launching himself forward. Amy's club came around as he moved, and he saw the nod from her. He jumped, landing on the club and getting launched into the air. A quick glance at the battlefield told him what he needed to know. Russel was tossed aside by Amy's last swing, Sky on the ground, and Dove was dealing with both Terra and Raz, a shocking palm disabling him and Terra disarming him before kicking him down.

Sterling saw Glynda stepping forward, so as he came down, his foot stomped down next to the downed Cardin, taking a moment to absorb the impact before standing fully. "Team CRDL has been incapacitated. The winner is Team STAR." There was a pattering of applause, but Sterling ignored it, moving to take a seat. He silently watched two more teams fight, before a handful of single combats. But it all blurred in his eyes, not particularly interested in watching his classmates fighting.

Glynda released the class for the day, and everyone started shuffling out. It wasn't long before Sterling found himself shoved against the wall once more, though.

"You sandbagger!"

Sterling took a moment to register that it was Yang pushing him once more into a wall, then another to understand why. "What, the fight?"

"You went easy on me!"

"I wanted to see what you were capable of. It would have been a better match if we weren't… interrupted." His eyes left hers to glare at Raz, who smirked, but he quickly was taken back by her voice.

"I want a rematch!"

Sterling laughed softly, His hands finding hers, gently cupping them. "We can have a rematch, when we have time for one. I promise."

"Good." Yang stepped back, a grin on her face "I have to go though, so I'll get to you when we can."

"Definitely." Sterling matched the grin, before leaning forward, kissing her on the cheek. "Go find your friend. If I see her I'll send you a message."

"Alright, kick your ass later!" Sterling watched as she went off, a smile on his face, and stares from his team. He returned it when he turned to them. "What? Come on, we have homework to do, let's go."

It was late in the afternoon, as Sterling was writing out the finishing touches for an essay, that he got a message on his scroll. No picture, just a simple message: Queen moves forward.

Sterling couldn't help the smile as he sent a reply: Check.