Hey guys: me again. Well, first off, I'd like to say that a month sure went by faster than I thought it would. It's been great getting so many people reading my material. Granted, it's not as many as I would've hoped, but it's definitely more than I would've expected when I started writing, or even publishing this. So just a quick thanks to everyone who's PMed, read and commented, read and favorited, read and followed, or just read. I appreciate it a lot. A special thanks to the French guy (yes, the traffic graphs show the countries) who's been going back every day this month to reliably check on whether or not I've added any more. Unfortunately, Je ne parle pas le Français. Hope I spelled that right. Ok… what else… sorry for not getting back to this in a while. Just… life, am I right? Heh. Jokes aside, I've been bouncing around the details to Jade's abilities, and while the general plot won't be affected by the details, her actions certainly will, so that's something I've been dealing with. In addition, I've made a minor edit to Ozpin's dialogue in chapter 2. Nothing changes, just fixing the grammar. Oh, starting in this chapter, fonts will become more plentiful, so the details will be important: here's a quick guide for what we have so far.

"Speech, Text"

"Thoughts, Internal Dialogue"

"The Voice" (will be revealed steadily, but later on)

"Flashbacks"

Also, last thing: remember how I said in the last header that I had one proofreader who wouldn't do much and only ask for help with his own stuff? Yeah, scratch that. He's still asking for help, but he's also been helping me with the details to this recently, so shoutout to that. And I'm gonna stop right there, because if I add anything else, this may just be longer than the chapter itself.

Keep Moving Forward

Published Mar. 4 2017

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"So, why'd you crash into that tree again?"

"Couldn't control my landing speed."

"How come I didn't see you with the other freshmen?"

"Came in late."

"What about your arm?"

"What about it?"

"It's been amputated."

"I know."

"How come?"

"Mistakes."

"Does that kinda injury happen to all Hunters? Does everyone get some physical limitation?"

"You sure as hell better hope not…"

"What about your semblance? What can you do?"

"Don't like talking about it."

"Really? It's gotta be suuuper cool considering your skills. I mean, really, it is, right?"

Jade scowls and turns back to face the girl, who's still blabbering on about various topics. "Ok, you're starting to piss me off. Just so you know, I'm only with you because you kinda saved me back there." She turns back around and starts walking again, quickly adding "So, if you wanna start getting 'chummy', you're gonna have to start quitting with the questions, 'cause I'm not in the MOTHERFUCKING mood…"

"Should you be swearing right now? I mean, we're still teenagers."

"Uggghhh… what'd I just say about the questions?!"

"Ok… oh, but I have one more."

"Fuck me… fine. What?"

"Why don't you like working with others? I mean, don't friends and teamwork make things easier?"

"Teamwork… friendship… camaraderie… all are simply the words of those so weak as to sacrifice others in a pathetic attempt to save themselves."

She stops in her tracks, the memory leaving her mind as suddenly as it entered. "Sometimes… it's better to work alone." she whispers quietly. "You can't be held accountable if you were never involved, after all."

Her heart begins pounding in her ears as another memory resurfaces. "But you… you will all become strong, and triumph over those who cling to such foolishness. To attain the power that you deserve." She clutches her head in mild discomfort, and keeps walking. "Never mind that. We need to find the temple, and a higher point of view is always a great place to start. I'll just climb that tree over there, and"

"Higher view point?" Skyla interrupts behind her. "Don't worry, you can just leave it to me!" Jade turns around to see that the other girl had bent down, before watching her leap into the air, high above the treetops.

"The fuck?"

"Couldn't see anything." Skyla says disappointingly as she falls back down. "Hold on, let me try again." She continues bouncing through the top layer, only bothering to talk once she falls back down. "Nope. Still. Can't. See. Anything. Wait. I might. Have it…" She drops back down and falls over, apparently worn out from the activity.

"That was… impressive. What was that?"

"That? Um… that… was my semblance. I can… control gravity."

"Really?"

"Yeah, yeah. But… erm, I'm not very good. You see… my parents wanted me to stay in the family business. You know, become a doctor, and all that stuff. But once they found out that I qualified for Hunter-prep-school, they immediately shut down the idea. I had to pretend to do what they wanted, and study medicine. But whenever I had the chance, I would… go out and practice my Huntress skills. I didn't really have many opportunities, actually, but I managed to land a place here at Beacon."

"So, your parents changed their mind and let you come?"

"No. I… my dad said he would disown me if I went. 'I'd probably end up dying anyways,' he said, 'so it doesn't make a difference when he cuts his losses.'"

"That's… that's awful. Why would he be so cruel?"

"Bit rhetorical, don't you think?"

She feels another memory flood back, causing her to stumble back in surprise.

"You miserable wretch! Get back here! I'm not done with you!"

"Please… no more…"

"I'LL BE THE ONE TO SAY WHEN YOU'VE HAD ENOUGH!"

"AGH! You PRICK!"

"Yeah, yeah, love you too."

Turning back to the girl in front of her, she sits down and lays on her back, looking up at the sky through the small opening in the trees above. "I… I kinda know how you feel. I… I ran away too. Had to learn how to survive on my own."

"That sounds hard. My mom said she would just send me some cash in the mail every now and then to help me out, cause she's the, you know, supportive one."

They both stay quiet for a moment more, only breaking the silence as Skyla rolls herself upright and points behind them. "I don't know if it was the temple, but I saw something weird over there, way in the distance."

"Weird? Like what?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you."

"Well, what'd it look like?"

"Like something that wasn't a tree."

"Huh. Well, that's probably our best bet."

"Again, why can't you just sniff it out? Don't lots of Faunus have enhanced senses?"

"Ok, first of all, I already told you, I wasn't born with an enhanced nose, so I can't smell anything like that. Secondly, even if I could, I've heard that stone isn't that exceptional, so it would still be hard to track."

"It was just a thought… are you going to get up now?"

"Yeah, sure."

…

"So… does everyone call you Sloth?" Nicole asks as the larger girl pockets the pawn figurine they found.

"Yeah. And to boot, everyone in my family's a religious nut. 'Cept me. Makes it even harder to avoid a 'sins' nickname, but, what the hell. Anyways, no use believing in something if I can't see it, am I right?"

"I guess."

"So, enough about me, what about you? What can you do?"

"Me? Um… my semblance is shadow control. I can make someone temporarily blind… doesn't work on Grimm though… my shadows can become physical matter, which I can attack with, and they can even block incoming attacks, even if I don't realize there's something going on. But, it takes a while for the pre-cog to prepare itself again."

Without warning, the world goes dark for both of them, Sloth quickly crying out "What did you just do?! Awesome, but kinda terrifying."

"That wasn't me, that was…"

Her eyes widen as she processes what just happened, her hands reaching for the daggers at her waist. "We're under attack. Get ready."

She can hear her partner's booming laugh as she asks "Attack, eh? Fine by me. HUMAN OR GRIMM, BEWARE THE WRATH OF THE VERMILLION COUNTER!"

The shadows vanish back into the ground, leaving Nicole confused, unable to see the threat. A sudden hissing noise behind them alert the huntresses-in-training to the threat, barely able dodge as acid is sprayed all over the forest floor.

"Erm… Sloth? Do you know if Grimm are supposed to get that big? Or that fancy?" she asks nervously as the Taijitu slowly uncoils itself in front of them.

"I don't know about that, but I know we can take it. After all, a Vermillion never backs down from a fight!" She walks up to the Grimm and yells "LEAVE NOW, OR WITNESS THE SEMBLANCE THAT HAS BEEN PASSED DOWN THROUGH THE VERMILLION FAMILY FOR GENERATIONS!"

The monster hisses again, almost laughing, and lunges, barely warded off by a giant stone fist that burst from the ground beneath its head.

"Oh, you liked that? Well, good for you, 'cause I've got a lot more where that came from!"

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Like I said, it was kinda short. However, I'm currently trying to wrap up the editing on chapter 6, and the actual writing for chapter 8. Honestly, when you see it, it's probably not going to be that impressive, but nonetheless, it's been an absolute pain in my ass. The only upside to working on that chapter for so long is that I get to listen to RLR II basically all the time, and who doesn't like RLR II? As per usual, I'd appreciate a review: just a simple "enjoyed it", or "thanks" will do. And before I forget, thanks to everyone who supported 'Cupid's Arrow': I may just do other challenge fics in the future. Thanks for reading, and until next time.

Keep Moving Forward