Chapter Nine

Several seconds of awkward silence later, Yang stared at Lune and said the two words that perfectly summed up this situation. "No way."

Lune honestly couldn't agree more and she wanted to say so, but right now her mind was too busy processing everything. All she could do was shut her open mouth.

Deciding that she needed to do an encore just to prove she didn't just fall asleep somewhere, Lune eyed the small drop of water that remained at the bottom of the glass. She cautiously raised a hand, felt the same rush of power that coursed through her system earlier and, like a rider holding a horse's reigns, latched onto it and proceeded to make the drop levitate until it reached her surprised, green eyes.

Holy cheese balls. It was amazing how time seemed to slow around their table when everything else was obliviously happening in normal speeds. Students still ate and chatted like normal, sitting around the cafeteria tables with their own cliques, and not a single glance was even thrown Lune's way.

However, just as it finally, completely sunk in that the faunus most certainly wasn't in a dream, she lost her grip on the drop of water and watched it splash back down on the glass. Plink.

"…Apparently, yes way." Lune finally said. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh. A grin slowly crept its way to her face as she looked at Yang, then at Vanilla. "I… didn't think it'd be that thrilling to have my semblance discovered."

"That's the best reaction you can come up with after discovering your semblance?" Yang then said, completely forgetting her own food laid out on her table. "Come on, where are the explosions? The screaming?"

Lune stuck her tongue out at Yang. "I don't think social suicide is even worth doing after today. So shush, take my grin and call it a day."

"Still, Lune, this is wonderful!" Vanilla then said before Yang could open her mouth, smiling at the faunus. And then apologetically at Yang, because she did just cut the blonde off. "That means we have another thing we can go over during the weekends, huh? It's normal not to have complete control over it yet… But it feels good to know it's there."

"I bet Lune feels awesome now, knowing that she finally has something that might help her kick butt in Uncle Qrow's class," Yang joked, her eyes practically twinkling as they met Lune's amused ones.

Lune picked up the apple sitting innocently on Vanilla's tray and tossed it at the blonde. She didn't have to be nervous about accidentally hitting her friend for real. No, not when Yang easily caught the thing. "Almost. I probably will next term, when we all can finally apply our semblance alongside our fighting style—which, by the way, I'm not sure I have yet."

Qrow had first wanted the entire class to meet his standards of combat adeptness before everyone really started getting creative to weave their semblances into their fighting style. The last time someone cheated in a sparring match by making use of it, Qrow chewed out the guy so hard that Idrisa Blackthorn overheard from outside, took a peek inside the room, and burst out laughing. Obviously, the headmistress had the sense to also tell Qrow to be "gentler" with his students, but there was no mistaking the mirth in her eyes as she then told everyone to keep their chins up and carry on with their training.

"After all, you really can't consider yourselves Huntsmen if a little scolding is enough to bring you all down." Idrisa had said. Lune had even heard her snicker after she'd turned and stepped out of earshot—or so the woman thought.

(Then again, the headmistress seemed to know that Lune did hear; Idrisa had given the rabbit girl a sideways smirk before completely leaving the immediate area.)

Returning her mind to the present, Lune watched as Yang tossed the apple back to Vanilla with a quick "Heads up." Vanilla deftly caught it and, surprisingly smoothly, proceeded to take her first, small bite out of the juicy fruit.

"If that's the case, Lune, I'm looking forward to it." The blonde then told Lune with a toothy grin. "If I recall correctly, you still need to exact revenge on me for that brutal takedown last week."

Oh, ha-ha were basically the words that best described Lune's expression after being reminded how Yang wiped the floor with her. Brutal indeed. The faunus saw how Vanilla winced at the memory as she continued munching on her apple.

"However weird it is that you want me to take vengeance… you're right, I do." Lune admitted. She shrugged. "But… meh. I've got, what, more than six-and-a-half years to prepare for that day? No pressure. For the meantime, I'll keep up with Vani's weekend practices so maybe eventually I'll be able to really kick someone's ass into the next millennium."

And if I can do that, I most definitely can kill a Grimm no problem.

"That reminds me… Lune, can we practice on the same time this weekend?" Vanilla asked after swallowing her food. "I-if you don't mind, that is."

"You know I don't." Lune nodded at her friend. "Same time, same day, then—"

"Wait a minute. So that explains why you looked a lot more confident last meeting!" Yang said at this new discovery, a finger pointed at the faunus' face. Lune raised her eyebrows, but her lips were stretched into her usual, dry smile. "No offense, but you weren't exactly eager whenever we have combat classes. Ooh, then again, there was that time when we had nothing but a week of classes involving guns, but you get what I'm saying."

"Well, excuse me me if I realized I actually enjoyed gunplay," Lune shot back. It was something Lune never got to experience as Amelie. She remembered having been promised a trip to the firing range with her then-father—a trip that never happened because, well, y'know. "Though, yeah, I guess you can say that combat is half-exciting, half-dreadful. For perfectly valid reasons."

"Stuck in a class where everyone seems to be better than you, me and Vanilla included. Right."

"Pretty much."

"In any case, since we've had quite the huge discovery today…" Lune somehow didn't like the look on her friend's face. As Yang stood up with an air of purpose surrounding her, the chair she'd sat on made a scraping sound as it was pushed backward. "It's only right that you get to tell your Daddy Dearest, don'tcha think? Heck, your mom should know ASAP, too."

"…You do realize I'd rather live the next six or so years without being publicly embarrassed, right? Sit back down, Yang."

Yang didn't do a thing. Typical.

"Uh-uh. And don't look at me that way—it can't be that bad! My dad didn't do anything that might have me screaming bloody murder at him…" Yang trailed off, blinked, and immediately reconsidered. "Then again, Ruby was there. Ehh."

"And my older sister simply patted me on the back before dragging me into a sparring match," Vanilla added. That seemed to have brought forth a particularly nasty memory, however. Her face took on an uncomfortable expression and she squirmed awkwardly on the chair she sat on. "I think that was the worst spar I've ever had, though… I might have hated guitars for a while."

Lune could only stare at the bespectacled girl incredulously.

"Okay…" She drawled out, shaking her head. "Anyway, point is, I'll never know what he ends up doing if he finds out here. In Signal. You know how dads are when they're proud of their kids."

Or maybe not. But, okay, okay, maybe she had the stereotypical dad in mind when reality would always dictate that reactions differed from father to father. Something something each person being unique from another person. Still, that didn't mean Lune wasn't allowed to begin imagining all sorts of particularly embarrassing things her dad could do after hearing this particular news. Vert Beryl's darling little girl did just discover her semblance or, in the words of most people, what made her "special." That wasn't an every day thing.

"Good point, I guess," Yang allowed. "My dad can be a total weirdo at times."

"I'm glad you agree. Now will you go abandon that idea and just… sit down?"

For a moment, Yang really did look like she was about to obey the faunus. She'd started bending her knees down and all.

"Nope."

But just like that, Lune's hopes were stomped on as her friend immediately straightened up, went around the table, grabbed her arm, and pulled her up to her own two feet. Before Lune could voice any objections, Yang began dragging the rabbit faunus with her outside the cafeteria. An android had nothing over the blonde's vice grip; Lune could only let her hand fall back down to her side after she failed to pry Yang's fingers off her arm.

"I'll, uh, save you guys two chairs on our next class!" was the last thing Lune heard from Vanilla before her voice and the chatter of the Signal Academy students faded away into the distance.

To Yang's puzzlement and Lune's half-surprise, half-relief, Vert Beryl was nowhere to be found in the campus.

First they've checked the faculty lounge—well, more like peeked; students were normally not allowed there—but alas, there were no signs of a fox-eared teacher there. All that had greeted the two girls were several rows of rectangular tables littered with stacks of test papers, some books, notebooks, lesson planners, scrolls, and the occasional Huntsman weapon. Lune wondered what irresponsible being left that there. Also, there had been two sleek bookshelves standing at the side of the room, some empty chairs underneath aforementioned tables, an air conditioning unit in the corner… and a teacher who had noticed them there and oh wow that was one helluva questioning stare thrown their way.

Then, after skedaddling and later brainstorming where they could possibly look next, they'd decided to pass through a few classrooms with ongoing classes in different floor levels. As the doors had a small, rectangular glass panel where one could easily take a peek of the room inside, it was easy to chance a glance as they walked by.

Alas, they didn't find Lune's dad teaching any of the upperclassmen, either, and they had to get the hell out of the immediate area before they were caught loitering. Lune liked to think that she could bullshit her way out of some tangles, but that might not be one of them.

Lastly, they had even swung by the dormitories in the off-chance that Vert Beryl was waiting for Lune right by her room's door. The faunus hadn't really expected anything to result from that, so when she and Yang stopped in front of a white door with a card reader installed, she was hardly surprised to find the lack of a fox-eared faunus with an equally foxy smile. She could count on her dad to come running if she ended up in an accident, though…

"Well, Yang, looks like luck is with me today," Lune said cheerfully. Ten minutes had passed since the two arrived at Lune's dorm room and no one had come at all. "I get to live to see another day."

The smile became strained, however, after her statement resulted to a light bonk in the head… that is, light by Yang's definition. To the general populace, that basically meant yowch.

"Oh, fine, you win." Yang said as Lune stuck a tongue out at her, rubbing the stinging body part. "Aren't you worried, though?"

Lune blinked. "About my dad? Should I?"

"Don't we normally see him here in Signal? Think about it! A single school day doesn't pass without him ruffling your hair whenever we encounter him outside of class."

Oh. Lune made a slight grimace; she didn't have to be reminded of that. Up to this day, she continued to wonder what it was about her hair and why every adult has the urge to just… mess it up. She also might have unconsciously ran her fingers through her wavy hair just then, as if to straighten some imaginary tangles.

"Thank you for reminding me." She said with much more sarcasm than she usually went for.

"Oh, come on, it's kinda cute," Yang said with a snicker—and easily sidestepped the punch Lune meant to give her arm. "Anyway, yeah, back to the topic at hand. Our Dust Studies class had to be moved to our free period this afternoon just because he couldn't make it in the morning. He's still not here, so if that doesn't scream fishy to me, I don't know anymore."

"Seriously, I wouldn't worry. He has his Huntsman responsibilities, too, so maybe it's just taking longer than usual. He gets some missions in Vale from time to time." Lune informed her. She smiled dryly. "If he doesn't, we might end up going hungry. I don't think his salary here is enough to support even just a family of three because, you know, Huntsmen have additional things to spend on other than the average person's daily needs."

Yang stared at Lune in disbelief before she finally nodded in agreement. In hindsight, it did make sense.

"Alright, that works. Dad did tell me one time that it's also important to put aside some Lien for tools or materials to keep weapons. You know, to keep 'em in good condition and all." Yang said. "Parts to replace, bullets to buy, etcetera, etcetera. I'm pretty sure I also remember him saying, 'You don't just build a weapon and call it a day.'"

Lune bobbed her head up and down. It was one of the lessons she learned as she grew up.

Of course a future Huntress like her should have it ingrained in her mind that a weapon's durability degrades overtime without any regular maintenance. No matter how well-crafted it was. Otherwise, any person fighting the Grimm was one overlooked issue away from being torn into pieces.

That, and in regards to Huntsman missions, apparently some did offer money as reward. The amount tended to vary from the difficulty of the mission; simple tasks around the city netted enough Lien to stop even the whiniest person from complaining, while the high-risk missions paid pretty darn well. Besides, when you had to think about it, each man, woman, or faunus did risk their lives every day just to keep the Grimm at bay and keep the peace. It was just right that society gave back a little something for their good deeds. Positive reinforcement and all that, maybe.

"Oh, and then there's the increased Dust usage since it's constantly used for combat, too." Lune quickly added. "God knows how often Dad makes a trip to the Dust shop just to keep maintain a decent supply; Mom doesn't grow tired of teasing him about it."

"Oh yeah! I think I was around when I heard her one time. That when he accidentally froze a flowerbed, right?" Yang noted. She chuckled. "It's amazing she didn't explode. Just a simple, 'You're the one who insists on using Dust' before shaking her head and heading back inside the house."

Lune found herself doing the same, shoulders shaking as the cheerful memory came to mind.

"Yup. That's the one. Seriously, Yang," Lune said afterwards. "There isn't much to worry about. My dad's fine, we're fine, the whole day's going to be fine."

"Alright, alright, I believe you! But you're stillgoing to tell him about your semblance when you see him, 'kay?"

"Yes, ma'am. Anyway, he'll probably be back soon. I know he's going to sub for one of our teachers later since she's sick with the flu. He told me." Lune said. She then shoved a hand inside her skirt's pocket and pulled out a key card. The card reader on the door beeped after Lune had the thing scanned, the circular light on its surface shifting from red to green. "For the meantime, do you wanna hang out in my room? We still have thirty minutes to burn."

"Spend some hopping good time with my favorite rabbit? Count me in."

"…Just don't make that pun again."

"I make no promises."

Lune would very much like to take back what she'd said earlier.

The beginning of class had started normally—maybe even predictably—enough. The catchy tune of the electronic bell had gotten every Signal Academy student rushing into their respective classrooms. Lune, Yang, and Vanilla settled down on the front row of the class and, as the rest of their classmates waited for the teacher, they either sat quietly on their chairs or started gossiping with their seatmates. At least the girls had, anyway, while the boys were being boys and Lune hadn't really bothered knowing beyond that. She was certain that she caught their attention, though, once they'd noticed her staring and their voices started becoming a little more hushed.

(The rabbit jokes were getting stale at this point.)

Yup, typical pre-class chaos.

But then came today's curveball: Professor Beryl was a no-show.

Lune pulled out her scroll and checked the current time: 2:20 pm. Twenty minutes since classes started. She stared at the doorway, as if expecting her dad to finally make an appearance and maybe crack a cringey joke or two to break the tension… but no. No one really came. The door remained shut, just as it had been ever since all students were inside the room.

She twisted her head slightly to her left, where Yang was seating. She was kinda-sorta expecting the blonde to look back at her and remind her of her slight worry earlier, but it seemed that Yang was animatedly chatting with another girl beside her and enjoying the conversation too much to care about everything else. She hardly even noticed Lune's gaze. The faunus managed to pick up bits and pieces of their conversation, which revolved around homework and somehow, combat dresses. She didn't bother knowing more than that.

"Something's wrong, isn't there?" Asked a soft, gentle voice to her right.

When Lune met Vanilla's bespectacled violet eyes, she tilted her head to the side. Questioningly.

"You squirm on your seat when something's up," Vanilla supplied.

Oh. The faunus decided to just… smile and laugh it off. "Sorry! I'm just used to having my dad come to teach on time. Don't worry, I'll stop bothering you."

Her heart might have skipped a beat, however, as Vanilla stared at her with an indescribable expression on her face. It was somewhere between disbelief and mild suspicion. She could have sworn the girl saw right through her, but then Vanilla smiled and returned her attention to the quiz papers she'd been organizing. She pulled out three stapled papers, looked at the rest that proceeded it and began sorting in whatever way she'd decided on.

"If you say so." She aid so softly the faunus almost didn't catch it. Her tone of voice pretty much implied that she didn't believe the rabbit girl despite having dropped the issue. It was too polite and fake, even for Vanilla.

But before Lune could even decide on doing something to really assure her friend, the door suddenly swung open with a soft creak. Her head turned towards the sound, noticing from her periphery that some students had done the same thing.

The teacher that entered wasn't Vert Beryl.

But it certainly was someone else's parent.

Lune twisted her body slightly to the side as she glanced at Yang, whose lilac eyes had gone wide as she stared at the man whose appearance hers resembled. Blond hair, though paler, lilac eyes that could look bluish, depending on the lighting, and a clothing color scheme that revolved around different shades of brown and red. Yep, that was totally Taiyang Xiao Long over there at the front. Nobody else wore a red bandana on his arm and a brown vest over a tan, buttoned shirt.

But if he was here, then it was most likely that Qrow was watching over Ruby at home right now. Lune had long since learned that it was either Qrow or Taiyang that spent time with the kid while Yang was busy during the weekdays.

Anyway, Taiyang merely winked at Yang before making his way to the desk at the center, plopping down a small bag he'd carried with him.

"Hey, kids. I'm pretty sure everyone's been expecting someone else, so I'm sorry to disappoint. Fortunately or unfortunately for you guys, the role of teaching this class ended up falling into my hands today." He said. "Professor Beryl is, well, he's got his hands full at the moment."

Lune immediately shot a hand up. After being noticed and recognized, Taiyang nodded at her.

"He's not in a tangle or something, is he?" She said. Her voice was calm and even, but she'd be lying if she said that piece of news didn't make some alarm bells ring in her head. But then she wasn't about to fly into a panic, either. There wasn't enough info, not enough cause to warrant such a reaction. And even then, her usual way of dealing with things was to go with the flow—to adapt and to roll with it.

Huh, maybe that was why water manipulation was her semblance.

(Memories of her time spent in civilian school might have proved that was so. No direct confrontations with Aqua, and in general she had no trouble going along with all the new, Remnant-related stuff she had to learn along the way.)

"Judging from the message he'd sent to my scroll earlier, he sounds like he's okay." Taiyang answered. "Just dealing with something back home. Nothing too serious."

Was that so. She wasn't sure if that was actually reassuring. On the other hand, it wasn't anything her mind had envisioned, either. Nothing grim at all, pun so unintended. Because this was Remnant and the Grimm were a thing and… okay, she definitely ruined the joke now.

Besides, if something was up, it wasn't like she could just stand up, go home at once, and check if her dad—and her mom—was really okay. She still had a class to finish before calling it a day, and ditching wasn't going to reflect well on her permanent record. Maybe she could get away with it with a real, confirmed emergency… but from the sounds of it, it was hardly that. So no, she had no choice but to wipe that from her mind so she could focus on the class.

While this decision would feel like it took forever before it was made on Lune's mind, in reality she'd only been thinking for a couple tick-tocks of a clock. Lune shrugged like she'd thought there wasn't anything to be concerned about and relaxedly leaned back on her chair. "Okay then. That's all, sir. Sorry about that."

Taiyang nodded. Then, turning away from her, he clapped his hands once and caught all the students' attention. "Alright! Now that that's out of the way, let's move on. If I recall correctly, we're two weeks away from your finals. So instead of teaching something new and making my job as a sub harder than it should be"—he grinned like he'd made a funny joke—"let's just do a review of your past lessons today."

The murmurs coming from the class were one of agreement, thankfully. Not that they could object; nobody had the nerve to piss off any Signal Academy teacher. At least, outright. Their professors were the people that could ruin a students' chance at getting into a Huntsman academy if they so much as showed they had poor discipline. Though of course, doing things behind the scenes, so to say, was a completely different story.

Seeing this, Taiyang then opened his bag, shoved his hand inside, and pulled out a rubber ball.

"Alright, this is how this session is going to go: I'll ask you guys a question, and whoever ends up catching the ball would have to give an answer. I'm pretty sure I won't end up asking something you haven't heard of, so… there's no need to contemplate faking an illness if you're nervous about the questions I have in mind." He said, tossing the round, red object up and down. Lune could have sworn she heard Yang snort beside her. "And before you ask, no dodging. This isn't combat class, after all!"

It was an interesting way to do a review, to say the least. Maybe even fun, and Lune supposed this was a good way to distract herself for the meantime. Besides, she could use a refresher for the things she'd studied on her spare time. Her lessons were pretty fascinating stuff if she ignored the more boring parts.

Everything will be fine.

I hope.

"Any questions? None? Great. Then let's get started." Taiyang said. "We'll start with something nice and easy. Define Dust."

Taiyang sent the ball flying in an underhand throw. Lune immediately realized that the toy was flying towards her and, fighting off the urge to duck because of her dad's extreme dodgeball exercises ingrained in her mind, she cupped her hands in front of her and watched the round object land safely on them. She could have sworn Yang looked at her almost jealously, the want of catching the ball herself visible on her face. Lune shot Yang an apologetic expression before turning back to their current teacher.

"Textbook definition or anything goes?" Lune asked with a hint of her usual (though forced) dryness.

"Anything goes. It's up to you."

"Alright. Let's see… Dust is a source of energy on Remnant, used on a variety of purposes ranging from general utility to weaponry. Mostly weapons these days, but maybe that's just me being around people who would be using those on a daily basis. Anyway, Dust is, uh, how mankind managed to win the war against the Grimm back in the early times. Or at least that's how the ancient legends put it." She answered. "Nobody really knows where it came from, though. Just that it was there, and the rest was history."

That was what she remembered the best. And to be honest, it was actually common knowledge by now.

Once upon a time, mankind fought a losing struggle against the creatures of darkness known as the Grimm. However, through their resourcefulness and ingenuity—perhaps with a hint of desperation mixed in—humanity managed to discover Dust. That was all they needed to turn the war into their favor. The Grimm were eventually driven back; civilizations were then made, and Dust was integrated into every day life.

And as Lune had said, the rest was history. She tossed the ball back to Taiyang, who easily caught it with one hand.

"You've definitely been hitting the books," the man said in approval.

"More like forced to, but eh, same difference," Lune said all-too-casually, leaning back on her chair. She heard Vanilla chuckle beside her—it was all the bespectacled girl's doing, the whole studying thing. Not that Lune wouldn't have done that at all! It was just that she had the tendency to delay it as much as possible before cramming everything into one day. Yes.

"Either way, that's good! You could stand to improve your grades a little bit more." Taiyang said. He then returned his attention towards the rest of the class. "Alright, guys, next question: how many types of Dust are there at the present?"

The ball then went flying, and whether it was by coincidence or otherwise, the ball went flying towards Yang's direction. The girl eagerly shot up from her chair and caught the thing instead of letting it land into another unfortunate student's hands. Some students appeared to have wanted to answer such an easy question, though, judging from the way their faces fell for a split second. But considering that it was Yang who got the ball, nobody really wanted to outwardly object. Mostly because everyone liked Yang anyway.

The answer the cheery blonde gave was pretty much what everyone knew about Dust so far: that there were four basic types in four, equally basic colors. Red, blue, yellow, green. Fire, water, earth, air—or at least that was how Lune had understood it. There were some secondary types of Dust such as ice, lightning, steam, or even gravity, but so far she and the rest of the class had put more focus on the basics this term. There could be more Dust combos she hadn't known about.

In any case, Yang had said it all without missing a beat or doubting her knowledge. And after finishing, she crossed her arms behind her head and leaned back into her chair with a wide grin.

Things had pretty much happened the same way after that. Ball goes flying, a student catches it, then an answer's given. Rinse and repeat. Lune had paid attention to the first few questions and even smiled encouragingly at Vanilla when it was the shy girl's turn. But eventually, the faunus found her mind straying as questions concerning her more recent lessons were now the ones being answered.

In fact, she couldn't help but inwardly ask herself: why was she so bothered? Was there even any problems to begin with? So what if her dad happened to pass on one day of teaching?

If something was up, it wasn't like her parents were incapable of solving a nasty tangle all by themselves. They were adults. They dealt with those sort of things practically on a daily basis. Dad was a capable Huntsman, though not necessarily the best out there, and Mom had implied that she wasn't no greenhorn either. She didn't need to be involved for anything to happen.

Grimm attack? They'll kick ass. Marriage troubles? Dramatic, but it could be solved through some serious talking… or some counseling. And if it was something else entirely… she had to admit, she was curious. But then the saying "Curiosity killed the cat" existed for a reason.

(She might have wondered if that particular saying was racist against cat faunus, though. Hoo boy, blurred lines.)

She could always show them her newly-discovered semblance some other day, she told herself. It wouldn't be as great or as exciting, but at least they would finally know. And whatever issue was there, if there was one, she'll take their mind off of it. She'd thought of going home after class, but maybe she didn't have to. She shouldn't have to because her mind was just being weird.

On the other hand, what would she lose by just swinging by her home? It wasn't too far from Signal. The safety of the roads was questionable thanks to the Grimm, sure, but she could at least fight back before cutting and running if the situation demanded she do so. So, really, all she'd be wasting was time.

Unfortunately, Lune never managed to consider that thought completely. Once again, the ball was falling her way and it appeared that nobody even wanted to catch the darned thing. She sighed inwardly and caught the ball.

"Can I hear the question again? Sorry, I kinda spaced out." She said with an awkward rubbing of the back of her neck.

Fortunately, Taiyang decided not to comment on that. Judging from the look on his face, he seemed to understand that she had the tendency to do that. Yang must've told him.

"That's fine." He said with a smile. He then proceeded to give her the kind of question she hadn't been entirely sure about: how gravity Dust worked and where was it best used.

She suddenly regretted catching the ball.

"Where are you going?" Yang later asked as she spotted Lune. The rabbit faunus was making a beeline towards the exit of the dorm building, still wearing her uniform: a pale yellow, long-sleeved, buttoned blouse and a white skirt. And before anyone asked, no, she didn't decide to cut classes. School was done for the day. In fact, a glance at a clock would reveal that the current time was around 4:30 pm.

Lune paused from her walk. She faced her friend and noticed how the blonde was hugging to her chest two—no, three—textbooks, with a cute backpack (that Ruby gave as a birthday present months ago) strapped over her shoulders. Well, someone's decided to go do some studying today.

"I'm going home for a quick visit," Lune answered honestly.

"So you are worried about your dad."

"Yep." Lune nodded. "A tiny bit. It's probably nothing, but I gotta be sure, you know?"

After all, she thought. I wouldn't want to be kept up at night by something like this bugging me. It was bad enough that her dreams of her old life attacked her when she least expected it.

Yang smiled, adjusting the way she carried her books. "Yeah, I get you. If my little sister's in trouble, I'd come running too." Then, after a pause, she added, "And before you ask, I'm not even mad. Or… Yangry. Get it?"

"Pfft. Bad pun aside, if you are mad, I'd know. Your eyes would turn red and you look all fiery and stuff." Lune said with a chuckle, both at the pun and the mental image of Yang and her fiery semblance. "So I'm guessing you want to come with? You always tag along since we pass by your house before we reach mine."

"Yeah, now that you've mentioned that…"

To Lune's mild surprise, the blonde shook her head and gestured to her books by slightly hefting them up. Her teeth showed as a wide grin stretched across her face.

"No can do, bud. I have to hit the books today."

…Oh.

"I hope you mean figuratively, not literally." Lune said flatly. That resulted to Yang sticking her tongue out at her.

"You wish! Much as I'd love to go on an adventure, I gotta make up for that last test. Dad's not going to let me hear the end of it if I score low again." Yang said. She shrugged, barely affected by the weight of the books she'd carried. "Yep. That'll be the last time I play a video game with you the day before a quiz."

"You're the one who insisted on playing when I kept telling you we had to study. I hate to say I told you so… but I told you so." Lune decided to say. She'd sacrificed some precious sleeping hours just to be at the top of her game the next day. Lune then eyed the end of the hallway. "Anyway, I guess I'll see you later. Or tomorrow, if I spend too much time there."

"Right." Yang nodded. "I'll tell Vanilla where you'll be. Be safe, you hear?"

"Can do. Ciao." Lune gave Yang a two-fingered salute before turning away and walking past the glass doors of the building.

Maybe it was just the calm atmosphere that the environment provided. Maybe she was just feeling sentimental. But somehow, Lune couldn't help but feel kinda-sorta glad that Patch hadn't changed after all these years.

Granted, the constructed port on the east of the island—a little bit to the south of Signal Academy where the trees thinned until the coast was finally visible—was a recent development because the old one was one storm closer to being wrecked beyond repair. And, okay, there was also the once-forested portion of the island now cleared of trees, with a house being built there (and she could have sworn the thing wasn't looking pretty skeletal anymore).

But! All in all, things were still mostly the same.

Patch was still an island filled to the brim with trees; that was one. There were still more forests than clearings, and the dirt path that either went around or through them still twisted and turned towards dead ends, a lone inn (yes, an inn) or some other establishment, or a quiet home like Lune's.

And just like before, Patch was still relatively secluded from Vale; that was another. If it weren't for the existence of Signal Academy, probably nobody would realize the island existed. At least until someone from there told them. On the plus side, the island was slowly gaining some recognition as time flew by. The fighters Signal Academy produced were actually competent enough that they got into Beacon Academy without too much fuss, and that in turn would lead to some background checks. Or something.

Yes, indeed. Lune might be used to adapting to new environments, but she did like it when things were consistent.

Things not including the Grimm, at least.

Lune paused from her walk the moment her ears picked up a sound that sounded eerily like a rumbling throat. She wasn't sure how far the sound originated from, something that was occasionally a con when it came to having two sets of ears, but she knew that still meant one thing: shit may or may not hit the fan anytime soon.

The rabbit faunus didn't waste any time on continuing her walk once more. This time there was hurry and a sense of urgency in her steps.

She knew she was going to face one of those bastards someday, but who's to say she was ready to fight one right now? She might be able to take on one Beowolf if she applied what she'd learned so far. But if there were many, and if she made just one simple mistake…

Lune looked over her shoulder, found nothing (yet), and decided that maybe she was going to sprint home. Beyond her stretched the brown, unpaved road that was surrounded by trees; as of now, she still couldn't make out the sight of her home. If she was getting close.

Okay, fine, world, you can start gloating because I've just made a bad decision.

Keep calm, she told herself as her walk became even more brisk. Sprinting might be a bad idea, after all. Could excite the Grimm and actually chase her. She had to keep calm. They were attracted to negative emotions—even the slightest increase of fear would be enough to get one on her tail. It would also depend on whether it was close enough to pick up the feeling, how many were experiencing said emotion, or how strong it was, but Lune wasn't going to take any chances.

Huh, she managed to think despite her current, tense situation. Maybe that's why the local government strives to keep its citizens content and at peace. Well, other than keeping a steady number of Huntsmen around to watch the borders and kill any Grimm that comes close. It's a scary thought that one revolution is all it takes for everything to fall into chaos... wait.

Oh… crap. This time she could hear some steps, reminding her of dogs running on the grass. The sound followed her as she went; she was sensed.

Lune tried to fight off her rising panic as a result. Judging from the sound, it didn't seem like the creature was with a pack. Good thing Beowolves existed on Patch, nothing else. That meant she knew what she would face.

Then again, on the other hand, even with her aura being unusually plenty, there was always the risk of dying for real. As if dying once was bad enough. No one could say what would happen after she died a second time.

(Fallingfallingfalling the ground coming closer she was going break all her bones, bleed, and die—)

She shook her head and banished the remnants of her past memories. Calm. Down. Keep calm and go home where Dad or Mom will deal with this particular boogeyman.

But...

But she couldn't.

Not when a black blur finally sped past her and turned around, blocking her way.

Lune felt her black shoes scrape against the ground as she immediately stopped, her mouth running dry. She regretted to think it, but a jolt of fear went down her spine as she found herself face-to-face with a real, honest-to-goodness Beowolf.

The pictures she'd seen of one didn't do the real thing any justice. Yes, it was bipedal and clawed like the fictional werewolves of Earth. Yes, its face was a bone mask lined with red marks. Yes, their eyes were just as red, like blood. And, yes, yes, their fur was black as the dark and white bone (was it really a bone?) spikes protruded from their muscular arms and hunched back.

But the textbooks had never mentioned just how awful she really felt by being in the presence of one. In time, she'd get used to it so she could do her job well, but right now… Right now, she immediately realized why both human and faunus strive to completely eradicate them from the face of Remnant.

Creatures without souls, indeed. Their unnaturalness made the hairs on Lune stand on end. She could feel the nothingness emanating from the Beowolf, make her think that this was enough to be the stuff of nightmares.

The Grimm should never exist.

The Beowolf roared, dove forward, and clawed at her before Lune could even react. She felt the brief flash of white-hot pain before it was immediately dulled by her Aura, and all she managed was a surprised yelp as she was knocked back and sent colliding against a nearby tree.

You friggin'... that hurt. The tree had shuddered and let a few leaves drift down on her body as she shakily stood up, pretty sure that her Aura had taken a noticeable dent from the attack. She wasn't down for the count just yet, though she wished she had her scroll to gauge her Aura level. She was the prime example of a Huntress right there, forgetting her scroll and shit.

Now how was she going to fight this thing?

Your first mistake in combat is taking too much time to think, she suddenly remembered Vanilla telling her last weekend. It was after they had that talk and they continued sparring for the rest of the afternoon. Or, um, thinking when you should be doing nothing but moving and moving.

Vanilla had a point; any opponent would never even give her room to think just a tiny bit. Just like this Beowolf that now sped towards her for a follow-up attack—wait, merde. Here it was!

Lune immediately, ungracefully leaped out of the way, hearing the creature's claws scrape against the tree's bark. The faunus swallowed as she noticed the amount of wood it managed to tear off the poor thing, and she couldn't help but imagine what a bloody mess that would have been if it had been an Aura-less human in its place. Anyway, before the Beowolf could attack again, she hastily gained distance by taking huge leaps that would later tell her how ridiculously rabbit-like that was. She'd then thought of running as it was the smartest thing to do because this could be a bad match, but…

Either the thing caught up to her when she finally lost the energy to keep running, proceeding to kill her, or she stayed long enough to incapacitate the damn thing before she could run again. Or, you know, actually kill it before it killed her.

After all, the Beowolf was the size of an adult human. Lune was a quick runner, alright, but her short height and equally short legs would make sure that the Grimm would always manage to be faster than her. Like, look at those long legs; this monster could make strides thrice as big as hers. But if she could manage to run far enough that her dad could come to her rescue…

"If there's anyone around to help me, now's the good time to intervene!" She yelled out anyway, in the off-chance that someone was around to hear her. So far, there was no response.

In any case, she might as well try to prove to herself that she was competent in her own way. And that meant finding a makeshift weapon. Too bad there's no water puddle nearby; it hadn't been raining these past few days.

This time, Lune managed to at least spin and shoot out a leg, aiming a kick at the creature's head as it charged towards her—a kick strong enough to stop the thing in its tracks and make it whimper. She took satisfaction at that despite feeling a painful jolt from the impact. And, deciding that maybe she could take it to the next level, she jumped up and aimed a stomp at the same once, twice, thrice, like she was on a trampoline instead of a goddamn Grimm. Then she ran across its spiny back as she heard an infuriated roar and... oh hey, she managed to eye a tree branch several feet in front of her.

Through the use of Aura, you can actually weaponize anything you end up channeling it into, the voice of one of her teachers echoed in her mind as she reached for the thick, sturdy thing. Fancy that, she realized that aura was most likely the reason why team RWBY managed to make a swordfish work like a rapier, or a piece of baguette function like a spear or a sword without breaking, back when the food fight scene was a part of the show on Earth. Aura hardened anything that would have been soft or fragile.

And, knowing she was better at dual-wielding (Qrow had said so, even though she was still leagues away from being very good), she brought her knee up and slammed the branch into it. It didn't break in that smooth, cool way like it would in the movies; it took the faunus twice before it finally snapped into two. As the Beowolf recovered and turned towards her, she then let her Aura flow from her body and into the tree branch. The most she could do at that moment was to criss-cross them in front of her as an incoming claw suddenly swiped at her, the monster having come close too quickly for her liking.

The way Lune wielded her branches wouldn't be something worth writing about in any book, but it was good enough for her, and she wasn't really picky at the moment. As she stopped sliding back, she then dashed forward and swung her makeshift weapons in the way she remembered doing that made her combat teacher nod in approval.

Eat that, scumbag.

After that, the fight pretty much improved for Lune. Becoming more and more comfortable with her makeshift weapons, she lunged and slashed while ducking its claws or avoiding its bites. Heck, for one moment, she even managed to dance around the Beowolf before delivering two neat slashes against its side. It was honestly neat as fuck (pardon the wording) as to how she managed to do that so smoothly and gracefully; for once, she didn't feel like she'd moved awkwardly like she always did during combat class.

The Beowolf retaliated with another swipe of its claw. Lune managed to block it in time, pushed the arm back, and countered with a slash of her own.

Seriously, for those few seconds, she had a sense of rhythm. One-two-slash, step back, twirl away, two—no, three quick steps forward, and slash again. She could almost imagine a song playing during that moment, even. She then prepared to perform another round of assaults, but—

Lune gasped in pain.

The Beowolf got a lucky hit. Somehow, the creature managed to catch her arm with its teeth just as she was about to dash forward and stab. Her eyes widened as she realized what could happen here, and in that split-second, she did the first thing that came to panicked mind so the damn thing would let go: poke—no, stab its eye with the branch on her free hand before the thing could swing her around like a ragdoll and really mangle her arm.

It whined harshly. Music to her ears. She hadn't managed to stab through its skull and kill it, damn her poor upper arm strength, but she did manage to make it flinch and open its mouth. The Beowolf reeled back, and Lune quickly snatched back the branch stuck in its eye before she was blindly clawed at again.

Except that she was, and Lune was knocked back as a result. Her backside collided painfully against the ground, and her branches went flying in random directions.

Well, darn.

She was, basically, disarmed. She swallowed nervously as that sunk in.

Maybe I should have run instead.

(She also belatedly realized that her arm had several puncture marks in a small arc. Apparently, she'd thought with a slight pang of hysteria because oh wow look at that blood flowing down her arm, Aura could only take so much damage before it breaks for a short time and hastily repair itself. The Beowolf bit harder than she'd anticipated, but it's a good thing adrenaline existed.)

And just like something out of a movie where the damsel was in deep shit, Lune felt her heart beating against her chest as the creature now loomed over her. She swallowed again and helplessly crawled back, but then she bumped against another tree.

This is it, she thought in despair as she watched it raise a clawed hand. I wasn't able to do enough in the end. I was stupid, okay?

Lune shut her eyes and—

The now-familiar sound of ice slamming into something solid registered in both her rabbit and human ears.

Wait, what?

The sight of an ice spike having pierced through the Beowolf's chest area greeted her the moment she opened her eyes. She did what any sane person would do after such a blatant deus ex machina happened: she blinked. And blinked.

She could only watch as the spike dissipated in the air along with the now-dead Grimm. It was like watching the wind blow away sand. She slowly stood up, her mind strangely silent for once.

Okay, so she was stunned. Very stunned.

She almost didn't register who was behind the Beowolf after its remains were finally lost to the wind. But when the feeling of recognition finally slapped her in the face, her heart leaped—but not in joy, no. It was actually more of shock and bewilderment.

At least... someone did hear her cry after all?

Well, make that two someones. But then they were also whom Lune expected would never appear in so far a location from where they originated from.

How? Why?

Glynda Goodwitch lowered her riding crop and pushed up her glasses with her free hand. Familiarity washed through the faunus as she took note of the blonde hair, purple and black cape, long-sleeved white blouse and black business skirt, but that feeling was immediately replaced by nervousness. There was nothing particularly warm about her stare as her green eyes met Lune's. Was she going to be harshly berated for fighting a Grimm when she was still a fighter-in-training?

Fortunately, or unfortunately, her attention shifted from her to the bespectacled, gray-haired man who stepped forward, his equally familiar-looking cane in hand. Just like she remembered, his brown eyes hold a certain intelligence in them, but she didn't know what to make of the smile on his face. It was pleasant and sorta unsettling at the same.

Heck, for that matter, she didn't know what to make of this situation.

"While it was quite brave of you to have confronted a Grimm alone, young lady, that was also quite a reckless and a poorly-thought decision," he said, making Lune feel like a kid who was caught sneaking out cookies from the cookie jar. His smile turned into a slightly more impressed one. "However, just like any warrior-in-training, you show potential. Now tell me, why is an adorable girl, such as yourself, walking through the forest alone and nearly defenseless?"

Lune could have sworn some parts of that last line sounded oddly familiar.

A/N: Aaaaand... done! For the record, guys and gals, I'm not dead. I almost got buried alive by college stuff, sure, but yes, I live. Apologies for taking so long (I should really stop doing this every chapter...); I've recently gone back to attending my college classes. One or two terms left before I graduate, yey.

Anyway, you guys probably have some questions about that last part of the chapter. Basically, yes, I have something planned (...mostly) for this angle of the story. Those two appeared for a specific reason, but no, I won't necessarily reveal everything on the next chapter. Just some vague hints for now. I won't say more than that, but I do hope the encounter doesn't sound too strange. :P

Alsooo, I think a reminder's in order that I'm still trying to get good at writing combat scenes. I'm not sure how the one I've written was believable enough - though I'm sorry for not getting a water manipulation semblance involved - with Lune's current skill level, though I like to think that one Beowolf is easier to deal with than another human/faunus combatant. Either way, I just wanted this chapter finally finished. I stayed up late and everything, haha~

(As an aside, I really wish I had something for a good cover pic with this story. Alas, my drawing skills are nigh nonexistent. XD)

Hope the length makes up for the wait!