When Sterling woke the next morning, the sun was already up and the room was mostly empty. Mostly only because Terra was standing over him, arms crossed over his chest. It took a moment for him to come to his senses, but he jumped back when he did. "Terra, what are you doing!?"

"I'm disappointed in you, Sterling." Terra seemed cross, but there was something in her eyes that told him that she was messing around. "Not only do you sleep in and almost miss breakfast, but you slept early and forgot the talk you wanted!"

"Wha… oh, about Raz." Sterling got up after that, grabbing a shirt, sliding it on and turning from her. "So, walk with me and tell me about what happened."

The two stepped out of the dorm, taking a lazy stroll down the hallway. "So, the moment you two left the room, I turned on him. 'What's this about attraction you have for me? Why haven't I heard about this yet?' Blah Blah Blah. He said that he had liked me for a while now, that he didn't know how to approach it, felt that he knew me for far longer. He was so nervous about it." The two of them turned the corner, opening the doors to the gardens.

"And what did you say about that?"

"Oh, I moved to face away from him, give him the coy angle when I said I didn't know how I felt. And then…"

"Then?"

"Then he came over, sat next to me, took my hand, and asked me to the dance this weekend."

"Smooth, Fox." Sterling rolled his eyes.

"I pushed him at that, told him to not joke around. He gave me his serious face, pushed back and said that he was serious, that he wouldn't go if I didn't go with him. And… well, can't let the team go fractured, can I?" Even with that, she seemed too happy with herself.

"That doesn't explain what took so long though."

"Well…" With that Terra turned away, her face turning red. "We may have made out for a few minutes…"

Sterling couldn't help but chuckle at that. "Of course you two did. Well, at least now he should leave me alone."

"Maybe, maybe not. If what I have heard is true, you may deserve it."

"Hey now. Just because I'm new to this doesn't mean people can make fun of me for it. Especially my own team."

"I think that's the perfect reason to." Terra pushed open the cafeteria doors, letting Sterling in first. "Just ignore him, and I'll keep him busy for you."

"Right, thanks." He rolled his eyes, but the smile was there. The two found Amy and Raz easily, their plates nearly empty, but they stayed through lunch to leave as a team.

"For someone who talks so big, Raz, your game is weak, I hear."

Raz snorted out orange juice from his nose at the sudden comment from Sterling, grabbing a napkin quickly to clean it up before shooting daggers at him. "Say what you want, but my methods give results."

"Namely getting pinned down and scolded to." Terra chimed in, making the boys turn their heads towards her with wide eyes. Amy was laughing silently to herself, but stopped and turned at a tap on her shoulder.

It was a faunus boy, two large ram horns coming out from his forehead and spiraling backwards over his ears. He looked nervous, and he was clutching a white rose. He opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it from nerves or fear. That repeated a few times before he managed to spit it out. "Hey, I've seen you around, and, and and I think you're really cute. W-Would you like to go to the dance with me?" He held out the white rose to her, almost as if it was a peace offering.

Amy looked confused, as her hand reached out and took the rose from him. "Suuuure… Yeah, we can go to the dance." That seemed to light up the Faunus' face, and he turned away, running back to a small group all excitedly. Amy turned back to the group, sniffing the rose for a moment. "Well, he was being strange." And then her mouth opened, biting down, ripping the rose head from the stem and chewing contemplatively. "Good taste in snacks though."

Sterling, Raz, and Terra were frozen, watching Amy with their jaws so far open they could have been unhinged. It was a moment of horror before the three busted out laughing, which left Amy in a small state of shock. "What's so funny?"

Sterling looked over to the Faunus boy, who seemed to be mortified that she ate the rose, almost in tears. "You know, he gave you that flower as a sign of his love, right? And you just ate it."

"What!?" Amy looked at the stem of the flower, looking horrified. "I thought he was just giving me a snack!"

His face went on lockdown, lips sealing hard as the corners of his mouth shot up, wanting to laugh. Raz and Terra didn't have the same strength, Raz doubled over and Terra covering her mouth to try to control it. "Nope." It was hard to talk without killing himself now, so Sterling spoke slowly. "He was showing interest."

Amy turned her gaze to the Faunus, who was facing his plate with his plainly pained face on lock. "You guys go to class, I gotta take care of this."

"On it." Sterling dumped what was left of his plate, completely unable to eat anything else now, and ushered the rest of his squad out of the hall. Of course, once they were in the fresh air, they broke down harder, Sterling leaning against the wall to keep himself up. At least they were feeling better now, less tension in the air. It was great what a good laugh could do. It was a few gasping deep breaths later before he got back up. "We can see what the damage is after class, guys. For now, Goodwitch is waiting.

Class was far more interesting, thanks to Pyrrha Nikos. Either from self-assurance or pure moxie, she was up against the entirety of Team CRDL, by herself. It was one of the few times that Sterling paid full attention to the class, partially to see her at work, partially to see Team CRDL be put further into their place. He wasn't disappointed; although they gave it a good fight, they didn't plan well enough to combat her, and Cardin had taken out one of his own team members before being dropped down and knocked out for a moment. Seeing the bullies taken down so effortlessly definitely made the day better.

"And that's the match." Glynda stepped forward, looking at her scroll. "Well done, Miss Nikos. You should have no problem qualifying for the tournament." She turned to the stands. "Alright, I know that's a tough act to follow, but we have time for one more sparring match. Any volunteers?"

Sterling didn't give her half a second to ask around further, his hand shooting into the air, but halfway. "I'll volunteer."

Glynda seemed to be shocked for a moment. "Ah, Sterling. It's good to see you participating. Now let's find you an opponent-"

"No need, I already know who I want to fight." He stood, already heading down from the stands to go to the changing room. "I challenge Team RWBY."

That seemed to shock Goodwitch. "I would not recommend such a matchup without your team, Mr. Moonstone."

"I know what I'm doing. Just need 3 minutes to get comfortable."

Sterling walked out to the main ring, hands in his hoodie pockets, eyes going over what he saw in front of him. Team RWBY stood waiting at the other side of the arena. Blake seemed to be out of it, but the other three seemed antsy. At least Yang seemed to think he was a worthy fight, and Sterling shot her a gaze and a smirk. He rolled his neck, feeling a few pops as he felt himself relax, starting to go into a state of calm. It helped him concentrate, and he had no doubt this would be the most difficult fight he has ever had.

At least they were being cautious and generous, letting him take his time. He walked to the center of the stage, and he stopped, eyes closing, taking a deep breath… then another. He was nervous about this still, but it was melting away as he slid into a battle meditation, slowly. His hands came out of his pockets, pulling out the metal rings, metallic clinking and clicking as the sword extended as it was withdrawn. His fingers moved idly over levers, his left hand weapon shifting to the cross swords, the right hand switching to two blades. He could hear the mumbling of the other students, remembering that he hadn't actually pulled his weapons out publically yet. He glanced at his team, and while Terra and Raz seemed surprised that he wielded at all, Amy had a grin on her face. She knew what was coming.

Sterling turned to the waiting team, his weapons angled forward in front of his legs, arms loose. "Alright, let's do this." He saw a glimpse in Blake's eyes, something between recognition and anger, and suddenly he wasn't so sure about this. The air was tense as the team slowly advanced forward. He could see Ruby thinking quickly on how to take her opponent down, and he knew that would be a bad idea. He lifted his right hand, a button pressed and the weapon firing a dust round, forcing her to block quickly.

That set them off, Blake and Ruby dashing in first strike from little red making him stagger slightly as he blocked with the left handed weapon from the strength of the attack, but he found his balance, parrying Blake to his right and bouncing towards Ruby. His weapon shifted from four blades to two, and he quickly went on the offensive, swinging hard with the left, the right blade spinning as he swung, spinning himself to face Blake and stabbing backwards twice. He heard the metallic clanking of blocking, and used that to launch at Blake.

Any sort of attack he planned was stopped the moment he heard a clicking sound. He turned in time to see the fist coming towards him, bringing both his weapons up to block, but the punch was strong enough to knock him backwards. He flipped twice before landing on his feet in a three point, then rolling to dodge Blake coming down from the sky. He jumped to his feet in time to block a strike from Blake, catching Weiss moving around to his back. He thought quickly, throwing his sword at Blake. She parried it into the air, and he struck, his open palm slamming against her shoulder. Immediately he felt it, the anger and desperation in her, wanting to solve the problem of Torchwick and the White Fang. It disoriented him for a moment, but his body moved for him, launching into the air and grabbing his weapon.

Blake followed suit, jumping up after him and slashing hard at his exposed side. It was to her surprise as the form flickered and disappeared, and Sterling was at her back, hitting her hard down to the ground before landing near her. As she pushed herself up off the ground, he could hear the muttering of everyone around him, could feel the gaze of the team on him. He ignored it, though, launching himself at Weiss. She shook herself out of it and dashed forward, her sword at the ready. Sterling was quick, though, a clone launching him to the side as she stabbed with her rapier, and he got a blow in on her side. Weiss staggered, and he followed it up with a second slash to send her away before jumping back. Ruby was back, and if she was a half second earlier, Sterling would have been half a man.

The left weapon switched back to four blades as he stepped back to reevaluate. Ruby dashed at him, the sound of a gunshot sending her forward. Sterling back flipped, the scythe swing going under his back, scraping his shoes before he landed. Weiss was already dashing forward, and he clone-jumped to the side, only to be knocked back as Yang was already intercepting, the punch hitting his gut and sending him rolling on the ground. He bounced up, dashing forward and his left weapon spinning as Ruby swung, the blades sweeping the scythe over him as he ducked. He swung hard, knocking her aside before getting behind her with a clone jump, another hard blow knocking her to the ground.

"Ruby!" He heard both Yang and Weiss yell out, and Sterling quickly jumped to the side to avoid a shot from Yang as Weiss dashed forward. He was pushed back a few inches as he blocked, and he swung hard. She was prepared, a rune appearing under her feet and launching herself in the air. His eyes went skyward to see her coiled on another rune, and she launched at him. He blocked, with his spinning blades, but the force still knocked him to the ground. He saw her coming down to finish him, but he swung hard, hitting her hips and knocking her legs out from under her. He flipped, his feet hitting behind the shoulders, flipping her face-first into the ground with a hard thud, completely out.

Sterling barely had time to catch his breath as Yang came in with full force, knocking him back several feet as he blocked. She was on him before he even regained traction, and he was forced to parry the strike, knocking her hand away from her body. He released his weapon, and his palm slammed against her shoulder. The feeling that went through him was indescribable; some mix of worry and joy, and just the connection was intimate to the point that it broke his battle meditation. In his pause she grabbed him by the wrist, wrenching his body around and hitting him square in the chest, sending him flying. He skidded on the ground a few feet before getting back up, a smirk on his face. He only had one weapon on him, but he was already shifting his stance to hold it in both hands.

He took a few deep breaths, a small lull as a voice picked up. "You can do it, Yang!" Ruby had gotten up and moved to the sidelines. Even Weiss was picking herself up now, getting out of the way from being removed from combat. Sterling smirked as he looked at Yang. "Let's make it interesting, Yang." He said, his voice soft. The color in his eyes swirled as they shifted to blue, his body becoming engulfed in a wave of blue energy. Yang smirked at that, widening her stance and slamming her fists together, flames erupting from her and her eyes going red.

They both dashed at each other, a blast like sonic as they both swung, his blade hitting the armor of her fist. He rolled his wrist to block with the other blade, releasing the hilt with his left hand and punching hard, hitting her side. It sent her sliding back, but she caught herself and was quickly back on the offensive. He parried her next punch, releasing the clasp on the weapon so the blades spun, locking them as he swung at her midsection. She punched down, knocking the blade away, before a hard right hook sent him down to the ground. He rolled to avoid a kick, standing up. Both of them were panting hard from the fight, and they rushed each other once more.

The sound of metal scraping caught Sterling as he swung, Yang blocking with the side of her gauntlet as she punched. It landed square in his chest, sending him flying back in the air, tumbling over a few times. He managed to get up, and he took a moment to check his scroll. Low yellow. He could try, but another punch like that would end it. Yang was already charging forward…

"Stop." Sterling spoke loudly, dropping his weapon to his side, which made Yang falter. "You win this round."

Sterling's entire body seemed to relax from battle tension, shifting to sit down, his head down as he breathed deep and heavy while Goodwitch stepped forward. "Well, that was an eventful match. The Victor is Team RWBY. Alright class, you are dismissed."

Sterling had barely heard her, but he saw the hand that came down near his face. He looked up to see Yang's smile. He returned it, taking her hand and letting her help him up. He scooped his weapon up before walking across the stage to pick up the other. They transformed back to their one-blade variant before he put them into his pockets. He turned, seeing Yang with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face. "What?"

"Are you that cocky, or were you just trying to impress me?"

Sterling couldn't help the chuckle, a red tint touching his cheeks as he looked away. "Maybe a bit of both… But, you got your rematch."

"I would say the odds were a bit stacked for a one-on-one rematch. So, are you going to tell me what that was?"

Sterling and Yang were walking together by now, and he stopped outside in the hall at that question, turning to face her. "What was what?"

"That. Your semblance."

"Oh…" Sterling turned away for a moment, before walking to a more secluded area. "For most of my life, I felt like a stranger to myself, that I was in the wrong body, that I didn't know who I was. Everyone tried to make an impression of me, and I started being able to be whatever I needed at the time. And yet I still felt like a stranger, like my soul was not my own. My Semblance… My Semblance is an extension of that. If I touch people, I can extend my soul to theirs. I can feel what they are feeling, raw emotions. It's a very intimate thing, the touching of two souls…" He couldn't help but blush hard at that, remembering when he touched hers. "But when the souls touch, I can change mine to match theirs for a short time, and through that I can use their Semblance. However, even if I know what their Semblance is, my copy is always a different variant of it, so it takes a lot of practice."

Yang went quiet for a long moment, seeming to mull his words over, before she smirked, turning to him fully. "So you saw my soul, did you? What did it say?"

That sent Sterling a bit off the edge, stuttering and looking around. "Ah… um… well… I didn't really try to look deep into it… I was fighting, after all…"

"Then why don't you look into it now?" Yang's smirk caught his eyes, and he seemed frozen, a bundle of nerves.

"Well… I… ah…" He was lost for words as he watched her approach him. She knew exactly what she was doing; he could read it on her face. He swallowed hard to get words from his throat. "Before that… I have a question."

That stopped her, the gaze going from teasing to questioning. "Sure, what's up?"

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes to get himself calm before opening them, focusing on her lilac eyes. "Would… you go to the dance with me, this weekend?"

He saw the smirk play on her lips as she stepped forward, her arms slowly wrapping around his neck. He felt his back press against a wall, thankful for the support before he felt her lips on his. He eased into the kiss, his arms going around her hips, fingertips playing with the ends of her hair. It didn't last long enough for his wants, though, as their eyes met once more. "You know, I thought you would never ask."