A/N: Lots of line breaks in this chapter. This chapter fought me SO HARD it was nearly impossible, but I got it done. Also, for those who wish to know, canon will begin to change from here on out in terms of certain plotlines. The backbone will remain but it will be changed, as well as time changes to canon (Things happening earlier/later than it did in canon).

Something I feel the need to point out is that, despite all his powers, Eien is still only a student. If he were to go all out against a trained Hunter like Glynda, Qrow or Raven he'd likely lose. He'll improve obviously, but at the level he's at he can't compare to a veteran hunter. Yet.

We officially hit 1000 Views :D (Confetti~). Thank you to all those who had reviewed, favorited and followed! It feeds my inspiration to know you guys like the story so much~

NEXT UPDATE: Thursday (31/03/16)

I DO NOT OWN RWBY

Chapter 8: Fragment, Amber and Requited Feelings

Ruby sighed as she sat beside Eien's bedside in the hospital. She had a workbook in hand and her notebook in the other, writing down an assessment for Professor Port as she patiently waited for whenever Eien would wake up. One week ago she had gotten out of bed and read Eien's notice that Ozpin had urgently requested his presence, and he didn't know when he would be back. No sooner after reading that the whole school shook like it was an earthquake, undoubtedly waking up anyone who was still asleep.

After a brief fifteen minute mass panic Glynda came out and calmed them down, assuring them that the previous earthquake was the result of one Professor Ozpin's personal training sessions. It immediately occurred to her, and her team, that Eien was undoubtedly involved in it, or at least ended up getting caught in it. Glynda thankfully pulled them aside, only to give them the bad news that Eien was being taken to the infirmary - which was more of a hospital than an infirmary - and was being administered for Aura depletion, a concussion, minor blood loss, internal bleeding, a rare form of cardiac arrest and many other minor things.

They had to wait an entire hour before the operation was done, and that was a long wait. When the head doctor came out he regretfully informed them that Eien was now deemed in a coma, but uplifted them by saying it was possible - given his 'unique' circumstances - he would wake in a week or two. Unfortunately Ozpin did not tell them what caused him to be reduced to that state or cause the massive tremor, but did say he saved a life - did he overuse his Semblance? We didn't know.

So she sat here, everyday, waiting for him to wake up. She considered her and him to be good friends, even if she did admit - to herself - she may have a crush on him, but she couldn't really tell. She guessed she had a crush on him, since when she asked her sister when she was younger about it she said 'it makes your heart flutter' and her heart felt like a damn flailing peacock whenever he teased her. He was turning into another Yang!

Doom awaits that path...

But how could she tell him? He's been pretty friendly to Weiss and Blake too, so it might just be his personality... but still! It would just make their friendship really awkward if she revealed she had a crush on him and he didn't feel the same way. Gah! She'll just as Yang for advice, she has had more than a couple boyfriends after all. She sighed and put her textbook and notebook down on the table next to her, looking over at Eien's sleeping form, dressed in a plain black shirt and white shorts under a white blanket, arms above said blanket.

Memories of Eien in only trunks flashed in her mind, making her cheeks heat up in embarrassment.

Hesitantly she wrapped her hand around his nimble ones, feeling the cool feeling he emanated. Kinda like Weiss, only warmer with a hint of cold in it while Weiss's was just plain cold. It was a nice feeling, like a cool autumn wind on a breezy day. I yawned, unconsciously using him as a pillow as I lent down and rested my head on his chest, hearing the dull, repetitive heartbeat accompanied by slow breaths.

Soon, I fell asleep.

I felt a dull poking in my side, and in my sleepy state I just ignored it. It persisted, only slightly harder, and I swatted it away with my hand before turning over on the soft but fresh smelling ground. I heard a feminine sigh before the person - probably a woman - jabbed the object at me again, hard. I yelped in pan as I was rendered fully awake, landing on my rear as I blinked away the sleep in my eyes. My eyes landed on one Neopolitan, holding an umbrella - which probably used to poke me.

''Huh?'' Was all I could manage to say. Neo was supposed to be absorbed into Eien, and Eien was in a coma so she couldn't be 'manifested'. Neo rolled her eyes at my question, and turned and walked away from me, down a... grassy hill?

''Hello Ruby'' Eien's voice called and I snapped my head to the right, seeing him in his usual combat gear, a few cuts on him but otherwise in perfect condition.

''Eien?'' I asked hopefully. He chuckled and nodding, ruffling my hair playfully and making my chest tighten.

''Yeah, its me'' He smiled and I immediately hugged him for all it was worth ''Miss me?''.

''Mm-Hm'' I hummed as I hugged him, him bringing his arms around me as to pull me to my feet (I was kinda just hanging off him) ''Where are we...?''.

''Technically, inside my soul'' He chuckled and I blinked ''Remember when we talked the other day? Grassy hills and occasional trees?''.

I blinked again, looking around and sure enough we were surrounded by green hills of varying sizes and trees dotted about the landscape, a blue sky with clouds lazily floating about. Neo was sitting under a tree with a bowl of something that looked like ice cream, staring at the sky in boredom.

''Huh'' I said flatly as Eien let go of me, settling me down on my feet as we broke off from the hug ''So how am I here?''.

''Not a clue'' He smiled wryly ''Sorry about, you know, being in a coma... how've you been?''.

''Fine... the others are worried about you'' I smiled at him and he sighed.

''Sorry about that''.

''What happened anyway?'' I asked, prying for information on what happened.

He shifted ''I cant say exactly without Ozpin's permission, but I brought someone out of a coma''.

I sweat-dropped ''...and you ended up going into a coma yourself''.

''Yep!'' He laughed.

Inside his soul was actually really nice, it never got cold in her and never became night, only day and an orange-hued evening. It was awesome here, since you could fly just by Eien thinking about doing so, you couldn't die, and your Aura never ran out! It was cool 'cause you could spar and you would only ever need to stop when you got tired. As of right now, they were sitting on one of the taller hills of his soul, a large oak tree behind us as we sat with our backs to it. The orange hue of the evening sky ahead of us, a cool breeze blowing as leaves gently fell around us... it was peaceful. The silence was companionable, no words being said as we just relaxed in the strange but ultimately beautiful world.

''I'll probably wake up in about... two minutes'' He mused as he looked at the sky, breaking the silence with his abrupt claim.

I pouted, I was beginning to like this place, but it also meant she'd have her team leader back ''How do I wake up?''.

''You'll wake up when I do'' He smiled at her, standing as he wiped the non-existent dust off his pants before holding a hand out to me. I smiled and took it, allowing him to pull me up. He surprised me when he pulled me into another embrace, but I relinquished that thought in exchange for leaning into the mild-temperature hug. We stayed like that for however long, probably nearly a minute, before we parted slightly.

He abruptly smiled in a teasing manner ''Hey Ruby...''.

''Yeah?'' I said, curious.

''You know you talk in your sleep right?'' He smirked faintly, his nose touching mine making me blush ''You tend to say my name a lot...''.

My face heated up like a bonfire ''A-Ah... I- um...''.

His hand came up and cupped her cheek, doing nothing to dissuade the fierce heat in them, instead invoking more heat. Cool blue stared into my silver ones, my cheeks burning. It was at times like these that made my something in me just twist, making me anxious and shy when I didn't mean to be.

''Is the feeling mutual?'' He whispered and my eyes widened, was he admitting what I think he was?

I got my answer a moment later when his lips met mine, soft and cool like the rest of him. I couldn't help but relax into him, enjoying the feeling on how I felt like putty for even just a few moments. The twisting feeling in my chest melted like molten magma in me, making me feel warm all over, overjoyed. We broke apart then, him smiling down at me (it was weird saying that, since he was only taller by a few inches) and I felt a wide, happy grin come to my face.

''Guess they are'' Eien chuckled and I nodded, smiling. I had my answer!

''Time to wake up'' He sighed as my vision darkened, the last thing I saw being his caring blue eyes.

I groaned quietly when I woke up for the first time in what I presume was a week or two. I blinked several times to clear my eyes and sat up slightly in my bed, careful not to pull the IV out of my arm. Ruby awoke just as I did, turning her head on my chest and smiling at me. I returned the gesture and she got off, allowing me to sit up fully while she sat on her seat, stretching as she did so.

''What time is it?'' I asked with a yawn.

Ruby looked at the clock, which was above me ''Ten past ten in the morning, and its a Sunday''.

''Eh, only a week'' I shrugged faintly and I swung my legs over the edge, stretching my arms to get the blood flowing again. My soul was more or less in perfect condition, with only a handful of shards missing. I turned off the IV machine and then took out the IV plug in my arm, therefore preventing it from going flat and alerting the nurse. I headed to the adjoined bathroom and freshened up, getting changed into my combat gear and returning from the bathroom. Ruby, at my suggestion, went in too and had a quick shower before I handed in a fresh set of clothes - which I had easily spawned with my Semblance.

''I thought you said you couldn't make clothing?'' Ruby said from the opposite side of the door, the sound of clothes ruffling signalling her getting changed out of her previous yet identical attire.

''I lied'' I chuckled ''I just didn't want to have to go through the process of taking measurements for you guys''.

The ruffling paused ''...then how do you know my sizes?''.

''Because I measured you guys' sizes based on your combat gear - I couldn't be accurate if I made swimming attire based off those, but remaking you're usual combat attire isn't too difficult'' I replied smoothly as Ruby came out, a cute blush present.

''O-Oh'' She stuttered.

I smirked and raised an eyebrow ''Dirty thoughts?''.

She flushed darker ''S-Shut up!''.

I just laughed in amusement.

''By the way...'' Ruby asked, abruptly becoming shy ''Does this mean we're... dating?''.

I hummed before giving her a peck on the cheek, making her flush again ''I'm willing to, if you are''.

She positively beamed.

The door to Team ERWBY opened as myself and Ruby entered, the latter carrying her things she had brought to the hospital with her. It had been a breeze to get out of the hospital, leaving a note on the my desk as I left, assuring the nurse I was fine and leaving with Ruby in tow.

Immediately Blake, Yang and Weiss all perked up at our return. Upon seeing me they smiled, relief visible on their faces.

''Welcome back Eien'' Blake greeted with a smile and nod, book in hand.

''You had us worried'' Yang teased lightly ''Princess here was just as worried about her partners, one of you in a coma and the other never here''.

''S-Shut up!'' Weiss barked, an embarrassed flush on her cheeks,

''Hey guys'' I smiled as I moved to my bed, Ruby nearly skipping as she followed me, drawing curious glances from the rest of my team but was ignored. I went under the bed and pulled out my mothers journal, stashing it inside my coat before turning to the resident Schnee.

''Weiss, are you available for a while? I need you and Ruby's help on something'' I asked.

Weiss smiled ''Of course''.

I smirked faintly as I moved to the window - which had become my, and by extension my team's, impromptu escape window - and stood on the edge, Weiss and Ruby following while Yang and Blake casually continued to read their books. I gestured for Weiss and Ruby to go on ahead and they nodded, jumping down and softening the blow with their Aura. I turned and looked back at the two remaining team members.

''Hey Blake?'' I called and the Faunus girl looked up at me ''Hold Yang down for me would you?''.

Blake blinked but nodded, walking over to the girl and holding her arms down, the busty blonde - who coincidentally put headphones in - started in confusion, looking at Blake and pulling her headphones out in response.

''By the way Yang'' I called and the blonde looked at me ''I'm dating your sister''.

Without another word I jumped off the edge, breaking out into a full-on sprint and laughing all the while.

''Yang is going to kill you when we get back'' Weiss said dryly as we entered the cave. Since its original form I altered it, having it extended it lengthwise a bit more while making the entrance as inconspicuous as possible. I had built a second level, joined with stairs, that led into a room designated to be a hanger-area. In there was a custom Bullhead I was working on and some other military items. We had spare Adamantite, so better to put it to good use after all.

''Yep'' I drawled with a still-present smirk ''And it was worth it for the look of shock on her face''.

Ruby giggled and Weiss rolled her eyes, an amused smirk on her face.

''So, what did you need my - our - help for?'' Weiss inquired.

''A new weapon, one that'll help me use my Sigil's more effectively, since it takes a bit of time to create one'' I explained to both of them ''And since Ruby is the resident weapon expertise and you are the expert of Dust and Glyphs/Sigil's, I called on both of you''.

''Okay... so where should we start?'' Ruby asked, tilting her head.

I smirked, jerking my head over to the block of Adamantite.

''Of course...'' Weiss sighed.

Ten hours later we returned to Beacon, but overall pleased with our work. We formed an Adamantite Gauntlet with a golden circle on the palm of the Gauntlet to help conduct my Aura, we also painted the crimson Adamantite a midnight black. The Gauntlets went up to his elbows, and he named the pair of them Fragment, since Dunkelheit used Aura but also sometimes used fragments of his soul when it came to the healing-based or illusion-based Sigils. Overall I was massively pleased with Fragment, and it showed when I hugged the duo, making both blush heavily.

It 'projected' my Sigils, requiring only my memory of the Sigil to be summoned, and unlike the regular Sigil's - which could only be summoned a few feet at most - it increased this to maybe fifteen feet. Seemingly insignificant but overly a powerful increase, since in the process of making the Gauntlets they found out I could summon my Sigil's through my feet without even moving, but required most of my concentration, preventing me from attacking and even muffling my hearing when Ruby spoke, meaning that I could do it in a brief lull in a fight but not in the heat of one.

We walked into the dining hall, finding JNPR and the remaining members of ERWBY at their primary table. We walked over after getting our trays of food and sat down, smiling at them - I was careful to sit far away from Yang at the end of the table. The table we were sat at had eight seats on both sides, holding a max of 4 normal teams - not including ERWBY.

''Hi guys!'' Ruby smiled as she sat beside me, Weiss sitting beside her and filling the row of people.

''Hey!'' Nora smiled widely, stuffing food into her mouth ''Where have you guys been?''.

''Forging'' I shrugged, smiling uneasily at Yang ''Hi Yang''.

''Fight. Right now'' She glared.

I sighed ''Give me five minutes to finish my dinner''.

Yang grunted, finishing her own meal before storming off to the training grounds.

I sighed, again ''Well at least I can test my new weapon...''.

Ruby laughed awkwardly, patting my back sympathetically.

Word travelled fast, even at dinner time.

I had left two minutes after Yang, and by the time the rest of my team came in a minute later we had garnered a huge crowd. Whispers of Yang fighting against her so-far undefeated leader echoed through the crowd, curious as to who would win. Yang was powerful, arguably the second strongest on the team because of her incredible Semblance, but he was confident. While he wasn't one who aspired to never lose, he knew that if he won it would be better than letting himself get hammered by Yang - she wanted to beat into him, so if he could tire her out then it would be better.

I smiled at Yang and she replied with a dangerous grin. With a fluid motion I unslung Judgement and, surprising Yang and the crowd, threw it away, letting it hit the force-field away from us. I also threw Punishment as well, smirking at Yang as I lowered my hood and bandana, letting her see my smirk.

''You aint going easy on me, are you?'' She said dangerously.

''Never'' I smirked as I raised my fists ''I just wanted to test my new weapon is all''.

The automated system above us counted down ''3!''.

I tensed, spreading my legs in a defensive position as Yang went into an aggressive one.

''2!''.

Cheers from the crowd, for both sides. Yang's eyes widened faintly as my Dunkelheit activated, eyes becoming a royal purple as my senses became sharper.

''1!'' A pause, followed by ''Go!''.

Yang immediately charged, cocking a fist back and thrusting it forward. I raised both hands into an X position and easily allowed the Aura-enhanced Adamantite to absorb the blow, I allowed the aftershock to knock me back, skidding to a stop. I raised a palm out to her, the image of a certain Sigil appearing in my head. A body-sized red-orange Sigil appeared in front of me, stunning Yang momentarily and the crowd.

''Insho: Kasai'' I smirked as the Sigil glowed before a wild beam of flames shot out, worming through the air. Yang yelped and rolled out of the way of the attack, letting it hit the nigh-invisible barrier behind her and leave a mild burn on the barrier - a testament to the power the Sigil's held.

''No fair'' She pouted as she got up.

I raised an eyebrow in amusement ''Will that stop the oh-so-great Yang Xiao Long?''.

She grinned ''Nope!''.

I rolled the side to avoid a slew of shells she fired and I felt another smirk coming as I saw an opportunity to use one of my most recent and ultimately undeveloped techniques. SchattenSchritt. It was a very unique technique, holding some resemblance to Blake's and Ruby's Semblance in that it allowed one to essentially move at an incredible speed, but in fact that was not SchattenSchritt. The technique was far more complex on a molecular level, so much so I didn't fully comprehend, but on a simple term it was a form of teleportation. It allowed the user to move from a location to a different area in an area around them, in a radius of about maybe a twenty-five metres - the further the more taxing - and with training, it is said that one can even have a maximum radius of a thousand feet - but that's like best-of-the-best, so I won't reach that for a while.

I activated it, feeling my body evaporate and immediately reform, appearing behind Yang. I generated a torso-sized White Sigil behind me just as Yang registered I somehow got behind her, eyes wide.

''Insho: Chikara'' I intoned and she was sent tumbling to the other side of the arena, but got to her feet quickly as her eyes flashed red, hair igniting.

She almost blurred as she reached me in seconds, fist cocked back. I wisely avoided her strike, not willing to bet if her Semblance-enhanced Adamantite Gauntlets could overpower mine. I punched her in the stomach, dodging a follow-up strike and creating another palm-sized white Sigil, repeating the phrase from before as she was sent skidding back. She recovered admirably, charging me and landing a strike to my stomach, my Aura dampened the blow but it still hurt. I let out a grunt and dodged her second strike, landing a roundhouse kick to her side and allowing me to glance at my scroll for once.

Yang: 80% / Eien: 86%

She didn't let my attack stop her, and I attempted the same manoeuvre only for my ankle to get grabbed, followed by me slamming into the barrier with a loud thud, followed by an 'ohhhh! by the crowd as my Aura dropped to 65%. I hissed in pain and got to my feet, falling into a crouch and placing one hand on the ground at my feet. A large Black Sigil appeared beneath me, the size big enough to encompassed almost all of the arena.

''Insho: Juryoku'' I stated as the Sigil glowed faintly with wisps of black energy. Immediately gravity was intensified ten fold, Yang immediately been hunched over as the air almost blurred from the force alone. I was not exempt from this effect, but it was lessened to some degree. I let a strained grin cross my face as I used SchattenSchritt to move to her side, landing a fierce kick to her stomach, sending her into the barrier behind her, wordlessly dismissing the gravity Sigil.

Yang: 72% / Eien: 60%

She charged back again and I ducked under her titan-strength punch, swinging at her legs and knocking her feet out from under her, immediately backpedalling to avoid a slew of shells she fired in my direction, only a few connecting. I used SchattenSchritt to clear some distance between us before using both hands to create two separate Sigil's, fire and ice.

''Insho: Kasai - Insho: Reito'' I intoned and both Sigil's glowed before two beams of Ice and Fire shot out, intertwining and snaking towards Yang. She dodged, but got nicked on her arm, getting a fierce Freezer-Burn from it.

Yang: 60% / Eien: 48%

She charged me just as the Sigil's were dismissed and I ducked under a blow, grunting as she struck my shoulder and drove my knee into her stomach, knocking her left knee out from under her and striking her side with a roundhouse kick. I panted as I regained the air I had lost in my lungs, but that smirk-grin never left my face, and Yang looked like she was certainly enjoying herself - then again, she always complained about never having anyone to spar with who used hand-to-hand.

''Looks like I need to get better at hand-to-hand, eh Yang?'' I asked, grabbing her outstretched arm and throwing her over my shoulder, but she used my shoulder as a springboard, jumping off and skidding to a stop. She didn't reply, but smirked as she fired off another slew of shells and I raised my hand, silently summoning another 'Force' Sigil and allowing it to act as a shield, letting the shots bounce off. When she charged I quietly murmured the words, activating it and sending her tumbling back from the unexpected shockwave.

Yang: 40% / Eien: 38%

I use SchattenSchritt to appear behind her, slyly tripping her when she got up and dodging her annoyed counter. I danced around her shells, strangely enough everything seemed to be slowing down almost... but I haven't learned to use one of the higher-levelled Sigil's like Time Dilation... and Dunkelheit doesn't do this. Whatever was causing it stopped as time sped up again and I narrowly evaded one of her follow-up shots, forcing me to use SchattenSchritt to avoid it and step beside her.

She attempted to lash out but I leaned around her fist, striking her underarm and back of her knee, followed by a knee to the stomach and palm-strike to her collar. The resulting combo sent her tumbling backwards once again as she stumbled back to her feet. That was one of my problems with hand-to-hand; I couldn't last in an all-out fight with it, only trained to deliver a quick but harsh combination of attacks to stun my opponent long enough to retrieve my main weapons. However in this situation I was fighting against the 'Blonde Brawler' as she had gained the name, arguable the best hand-to-hand user in the whole school. I glanced at my scroll, just as Yang was getting up.

Yang: 18% / Eien: 34%

My breaths were coming in pants, and so was Yang's. But regardless we were both grinning, and my last set of attacks had turned the tables entirely, with me only losing 4% Aura while she lost a large chunk as her Aura was used to absorb the blows. She took off again, firing her shells as she did so, forcing me to erect another barrier and activate it when she got close, but this time she narrowly avoided it, leaving me wide open. I grunted as her fist slammed into my stomach and chest and the same time with all the force of a freight train, sending me skidding back.

I immediately retaliated when she got close enough, ducking inside her guard and elbowing her sore stomach, finishing with the classic roundhouse kick as she was sent tumbling away, the buzzer above us ending the match.

Yang: 8% / Eien: 19%

I let out a breath of air ''Damn you pack a punch Yang''.

She smirked back as she got up, stretching out the kinks in her shoulders ''You bet''.

We made our way to the edge of the stage, walking down the stairs as our team smiled in greeting. All was good.

For now, at least.

The next day I once again found myself on the elevator to Ozpin's office, and I idly hoped that it wasn't because I needed to revive another Maiden, then again Ozpin didn't mention multiple Maiden's so I presume that means it was a one-time thing - plus I doubt Ozpin would put me through that again. It was a pain to escape Ruby's clutches when Goodwitch requested my presence again, Ruby's excuse being she didn't want me to go into a coma again. I assured her I wouldn't and Blake and Weiss comically held her down while I made a hasty retreat.

The elevator dinged open as I arrived at the top of the tower. Like before the group from before was present, only this time Ironwood was missing while Amber was present, dressed in an off-white blouse with a brown vest, corset and pants. She also had a gold bracer on her left arm, two gold bracelets on her right wrist and a pair of golden armoured boots. She had a golden pauldron on her right shoulder as well as a shoulder strap with some pouches slung diagonally across her body.

''Welcome back, Eien'' Ozpin nodded his greeting, Glynda off to his right and Qrow lounging on a chair, a flask in hand. Amber was sat in a chair as well, nodding and offering a smile to me as I sat in my own chair.

''Hello'' I returned the greeting ''So, what's this about?''.

''A formal introduction, among other things'' Ozpin stated, nodding between us ''I believe you two have yet to officially meet, aside from meeting in your respective comatose states''.

I smiled at Amber ''Hello''.

She returned the smile ''Hi''.

It was a short and plain greeting, but I already knew nearly everything about her from her memories that I looked through, and I had a sneaking suspicion it went both ways.

''Right'' Ozpin drawled, a hint of dry humour leaking into his tone ''With that out of the way, I believe we need to discuss on where we will go from here, Amber''.

Amber nodded seriously ''Cinder Fall is still in possession of half of the Fall Maiden's power, meaning my power is halved, but still accessible. Taking into account that I've been in a coma for a few years, my skills have undoubtedly dwindled as well''.

''I see'' Ozpin nodded, pausing to sip his omnipresent coffee ''Do you wish at a chance to take your revenge on Cinder?''.

Amber nodded.

''Very well. Eien and Pyrrha Nikos will assist you in your combat training, while Pyrrha Nikos will also help you adjust to your stay at Beacon'' Ozpin said, surprising me and very much Amber.

I blinked.

Then shrugged.

''Eh, sure''.

The elevator dinged as the doors opened, with me, Amber and Qrow exiting while Glynda and Ozpin were still up in their office. Right now it was only about five in the evening, dinner having started half an hour ago. We made our way towards the dining hall, and I was mildly excited to introduce Amber. From what I had gleamed from the girl as of now, she wasn't shy, but was a bit... uncertain. As if everything would just collapse on her if she disagreed with someone or said something wrong, and Ozpin's subtle reassurances could only take her confidence so far.

We enter the dining hall and, at mine and Qrow's insistence, Amber took a small bit of food. Logically the reason for her small portion was sound, as she hadn't eaten a meal in years - sans the past week which was spent in physical therapy. I found my Team and JNPR and led my two companions over to the table, settling down next to Ruby with Qrow on my right, Amber hiding behind the hunters' larger frame at the end of the table.

''Hi Ruby'' I smiled at her.

''Hey Eien'' She greeted and peered around me at Qrow, eyes widening ''Uncle Qrow?!''.

''Yo'' He grinned and I blinked.

''You're her uncle'' I stated, looking between them - until Ruby glomped the elder man.

''Yup'' He smirked, peeling Ruby off as he looked at Yang ''How you kids been?''.

''We are not kids'' Yang scowled, before smirking ''Then again considering how old you are, its not surprising''.

''I am not old!'' He barked, but his eyes told of his bantering mirth ''And you're not going to introduce me? Have you no manners?''.

''Guys, this is my uncle Qrow!'' Ruby beamed proudly at us, as if she just won the lottery.

''Weiss Schnee, a pleasure'' Weiss nodded to the hunter.

''Blake Belladonna'' Blake smiled politely, looking up from her dinner.

''I'm Nora Valkyrie!'' Nora beamed at Qrow, who chuckled in reaction as she glomped her partner and friend ''And this is Ren!''.

''Lie Ren'' Ren said, muffled my Nora's arm ''Nice to meet you''.

''And I'm Jaune, Jaune Arc'' Jaune smiled hesitantly before looking at me ''Have you seen Pyrrha? She kinda just left a few minutes ago''.

Before I could respond, said girl sat down again ''Hello! Sorry I'm late, I'm Pyrrha Nikos''.

''Qrow Branwen'' Qrow smiled in greeting at all of us before looking down at Amber ''Are you going to introduce yourself?''.

Amber blushed faintly, embarrassed and suddenly shy ''I'm... Amber''.

''Hi!'' Nora greeted enthusiastically while I looked at Pyrrha.

''What did Ozpin say?'' I asked, Ozpin himself having called for Pyrrha when we were present.

''Its alright to disclose information within our group... as long as Amber says it fine of course!'' Pyrrha smiled at Amber, who hesitantly returned the gesture.

''Um... maybe if its only somewhere private?'' She said and I agreed with a nod. We ate our dinner and idly chatted, with Amber staying quiet and picking at her food while occasionally answering a question or two. After all that was done we headed back to our dorms with Qrow and Amber in tow, gaining more than a few looks. Once we returned to ERWBY's dorm I quietly locked the door behind us before turning to my friends - and Qrow, because I wasn't too sure on how to feel about him...

If he was anything like Yang, then I better up my training. By a lot.

''So...'' I drawled, looking at Amber ''Do you want to tell them, or should I?''.

''I'll tell them'' Amber said, taking a deep breath before facing the group ''I'm Amber... the current Fall Maiden''.

I couldn't suppress the snicker that came with their expressions of varying surprise. Nora was the only one considerably different, in that she looked more curious than shocked. Qrow also visibly found this amusing, judging by how his shoulder shook as he repressed his laughter, while Amber looked embarrassed. Two minutes later, followed by a lot of explaining, the two teams were calmed down and given the revelation that it was her awakening that caused the tremor the 'other day', and that both me and her were now fine.

''So Cinder was responsible for taking half your power?'' Yang scowled when she nodded ''Another reason to beat the shit out of her''.

''Get in line'' I murmured darkly, before reverting to my now-default cheery face ''Anyway, I believe Professor Ozpin has assigned you, Pyrrha, to help Amber get adjusted here?''.

''Ah! I need to show you your new room'' She smiled at the tanned Maiden ''Its just down the hall from here, I'll show you''.

''Thank you'' Amber smiled, looking at me as well ''And thank you to you too''.

I smiled ''No problem''.

She nodded and left with the Mistral champion, leaving us to our devices.

''Are you sure nobody will find us here?'' Amber asked for the fifth time.

I sighed, smiling ''Yes Amber, I can assure you that you will not be found, and if by some unlikely chance you are then Yang will beat the memory out of them''.

''Alright, sorry'' She sighed as we walked into the cleared, deep in the forests away from Beacon but not infested with Grimm.

''Its a reasonable paranoia'' I acknowledged as I turned to her ''If you'd please, I would like to see a basic demonstration of your abilities, then I can get a good grasp on what areas we need to work on''.

She nodded, moving to the centre of the clearing as to obviously gain an appropriate amount of space. She glowed and her eyes obtained a similar glow as to when Cinder used her Dust powers, only hers was in the form of clothing while Amber's were her eyes. The wind began to pick up around us as she breathed deeply, her Aura fluctuating slightly outside her body, it dulled hue showing its disuse. Regardless the wind picked up, scattering leaves around us while picking up others into the gust.

She slowly levitated upwards into the air, gaining about maybe seven feet before she stopped, the wind forming something akin to lopsided rings around her, whirling as the sky slowly darkened with storm clouds. Thunder crackled overhead and she directed her left hand down to a tree, and the thunder followed her guidance and sent a furious bolt of lightning down at the harmless tree. In seconds it charred, and by the time the golden bolt stopped it was nothing more than black ash that was blown away by the wind. Amber swiped a hand and a particularly strong gust of wind kicked up nearly a dozen trees, blowing them deeper into the forest and uprooting a few more of their brethren in the process.

Amber let out a breath as she lowered to the ground, panting lightly as the glow disappeared and the environment around us returned to normal. It seems she exhausted herself a little... probably from her disuse of her Aura. We'll need to work on her stamina and probably some advanced physical therapy to get her back into action, and she'll need a weapon since her powers could be dangerous indoors. Judging from muscle mass alone she was probably more of a speed fighter like Ruby instead of an attack-class person like Yang.

Bringing my attention back to Amber, I asked ''Do you, or rather did you, have a weapon?''.

''I had a staff I used to use to subdue attackers'' She said, straightening up ''But obviously, its long gone''.

I hummed ''Well myself and Ruby could help you create a weapon, we have access to some... exclusive materials''.

''Exclusive Materials?'' She questioned curiously and I closed the distance between us to prevent people from overhearing.

''Adamantite'' I clarified seriously.

''...oh'' Was all she replied with before smiling hesitantly ''Yeah, if you're offering''.

''Great'' I smiled and nodded ''First however, how are you in hand-to-hand combat?''.

She shrugged ''Okay, I guess. I only used to use them when I was knocked away from my staff''.

I nodded ''That's similar to my fighting style, hit and run in a sense''.

Falling into stance, I gave her a friendly smile as she hesitantly got into a similar stance ''Looks like we both something to improve upon''.

''Mm'' She hummed before we both charged.

I strolled into my dorm room after dropping Amber off at her own room and paused, to take in the scene in front of me. Blake was sitting behind her bed, hissing madly while in a very cat-like position while Weiss was behind her own bed and staring uneasily at the centre of the room. In said centre was a roll-like package, nothing too strange there, but when it jumped, I became concerned.

''What did you put in here?'' I asked, looking at the two girls while pondering the sisters' absence.

''We didn't! Qrow came in here and dumped it in here saying it was for Ruby and Yang!'' Weiss said, glaring at the package as she tried to regain some form of dignity.

Just then Ruby popped up behind me ''Hey guys!''.

''Hello'' I smiled down at Ruby, down as in by the several inch difference ''Qrow left you and Yang a package''.

''Did someone call my name~?'' Yang sang as she leaned in the doorway.

''I mentioned it'' I replied and she gave me a 'I was joking' look.

''Ooh, I wonder what he left?'' Ruby said as she sat down next to the bag, jumping when the package jumped ''Uh...''.

She unwrapped it hesitantly, but her face lit up when it turned out to be... a dog? ''Zwei!''.

''Zwei?'' I repeated, looking between the dog - which had now tackled a laughing Ruby to the ground - and Yang.

''He's our dog'' She grinned and I blinked.

''...why was he in a package?'' I drawled.

The blonde shrugged ''Eh, he's tough''.

I sighed in response, looking over at Blake who was watching with narrowed eyes, having used her blanket to hide herself, making her look like she was a baby wrapped up in a blanket since only her face was shown. Weiss was frowning at the dog, as if it would bite her but she was too dignified to repeat Blake's actions. Just then I felt a moderate weight being added to my chest, and looked down to see Zwei had jumped on me, clinging to my coat surprisingly well as it looked up at me with childish curiosity.

''Hello'' I smiled, patting its head as it barked happily ''So, why did Qrow leave you here then, Zwei?''.

As expected, he only got a cheerful bark in return, regardless if the animal actually understood the question or not.

Yang pulled out a note from the destroyed packaging, reading in a mumbled tone before reiterating herself ''Uncle Qrow said he sent Zwei when he left for Beacon two weeks ago, so Zwei ended up in Professor Port's care until now, and now that he's here Qrow will let him stay with him, but let Zwei visit us occasionally''.

''What?!'' Weiss exclaimed, stomping towards the dog in my arms ''Are you tell me this mingy... drooling... mutt! Is going to live with us forever?''.

I blinked as she did a complete 180 from annoyed to melting at the sight of Zwei, even her speech becoming one of someone fawning over a dog. I handed the dog to Weiss who immediately cuddled the fluffy creature, giggling when it licked her... she had to be bipolar. Something for me to note though; Weiss liked cute things. Noted.

I turned to Ruby ''How's the 'Project' going, my Sweet Rose?''.

She blushed a fierce red from my new nickname for her ''G-Good!''.

I chuckled, an amused smile curling at my lips as I backed out of the room ''Cookies~''.

Cookies being the calling for, well, cookies. I immediately laughed heartily as Ruby nearly tackled me off my feet, clinging to me ''Sheesh you're addicted Sweet Rose''.

''Not even once'' She responded with a laugh. Halfway down the hall we ran into Ren and Nora, despite the hour (21:00) ''Hey Ren, Nora''.

''Hello'' Ren greeted politely, taking note of their similar destination ''Cookies?''.

''Pancakes?'' I asked, nodding towards Ruby and Nora behind us who talked animatedly.

''Yeah'' He sighed, when one of the most horrific questions in existence came from Ruby.

''What happens if you mix a pancake and a cookie? A Coocake?''.

We paled.

Russell rolled backwards to avoid a downward smash of Magnhild, only for Nora to spin and strike his chest with the hammer-grenade launcher hybrid. He was sent sailing into the invisible barrier with a groan as hid Aura dipped into the red and the unseen buzzer buzzed as Glynda walked onto the stage.

''As you can see students, even though Miss Valkyrie missed her initial attack she used her opponents extended evasion time to follow-up with a second strike'' Glynda said sternly as Nora skipped off the stage, opposed to Russell who literally dragged himself off ''Next Match: Lie Ren vs Eien''.

I got up from my seat, smiling at Ren who returned the gesture, a dab of nervousness in his eyes. So far the only people close to defeating me have been Pyrrha and Yang, the latter because I was exclusively using only one weapon. I walked down to the stage and went up one set of stairs while Ren went up the other, leaving us facing the other. I pulled up my bandana but left my hood down as per usual for fights indoors (since the hood partially covered my peripherals). Judgement, as per usual during combat classes, was slung over my shoulder in its sniper form

''3! 2! 1!'' Glynda counted down ''Begin!''.

I unslung Judgement and fell into a crouch, using my forearm as a bracer as I quickly lay the bipod in front of my arm and fired a shot, the recoil making the bipod clank against Fragment. Ren easily evaded the bullet with trained ease, sprinting at me and sliding under my second shot. I stepped backwards as I spun Judgement during its transformation process, blocking the blades of StormFlower just as Judgement finished transforming. The two small blades of StormFlower grinded against the flat of Judgement's blade. After a scant few moments I shoved him back, spinning and twirling Judgement around me and succeeding in catching his chest, leaving a small cut as he moved back.

Judgement smoothly transformed back into its sniper state, allowing me to aim with one hand and pull the trigger, using the following recoil to clear some extra distance between myself and Ren. Said teen grunted as the bullet struck him in the stomach, his Aura protecting him from all but the blunt trauma that came from a fast-moving piece of metal. I got into a more stable stance and fired the fourth shot, which he dodged, and then fired the fifth and final shot, which hit his knee with enough force to make him stumble. He raised StormFlower and began unloading rounds towards me and I cursed under my breath, raising a hand in front of me and murmuring the required phrase before a 'Force' Sigil appeared in front of me, tanking the bullets while I reloaded, though a few bullets still hit me.

Ren: 73% / Eien: 90%

''Insho: Chikara'' I murmured as the force redirected several bullets back towards Ren, who easily dodged most them. I fired at my feet and took to the air, aiming and firing a shot at him, striking his shoulder as I went flying back into the nigh-invisible barrier. I planted my feet against it as I landed before firing behind me, rocketing towards Ren. Said teen just finished reloading his own guns and immediately began firing upon me, forcing my Aura to tank the hits as my momentum prevented me from dodging too much. In an effort to catch Ren off guard I threw Judgement towards him, and judging by how his eyes widened it did catch him off guard. The transformable scythe spun like a razor blade until its bladed edge embedded itself a foot from where Ren once was.

Ren: 55% / Eien: 80%

I impacted the ground with a thud, nearly cracking the ground, and slammed my palm onto the ground as I smirked deviously at Ren from behind my bandana. He seemed to see it regardless of the fact it was covered, and narrowed his eyes as he tensed, eyes scrutinizing me for any hints of my future movements.

''Insho: Han Juryoku'' I intoned as a sickly-white Sigil covered the whole of the arena at our feet, I could certainly feel the drain on my Aura. Immediately we found ourselves flying upwards towards the ceiling and in unison we flipped mid-air, landing with our feet on the roof.

''Reverse Gravity?'' Ren mumbled curiously and I nodded, before charging off towards him. It felt like they weren't actually inverted at all, sans the fact they were now standing on the roof. As long as the Sigil remained gravity would stay like this... but if I turned it off...

I rolled out of Ren's hail of bullets, firing a shot behind me and clashing blades with him. His knee came racing for my stomach and I leaned back, avoiding the attack and retaliating with my own swipe to his ankles. He fell but recovered admirably, landing on his hands and flipping backwards before resuming his hail of fire, likely aware that it was one of my few weaknesses with Judgement. I spun Judgement as fast as I could, using it as a shield that ricocheted incoming bullets, but it still didn't stop all of them.

Ren: 50% / Eien: 65%

I smiled, Ren was one of the few people on JNPR and ERWBY who had an automatic gun, and that being his one weakness made it difficult to counter. Getting my mind back on the fight I charged him when he ran dry, swiping at his legs while intentionally leaving my back open. As predicted he used me as a springboard to gain altitude, grabbing his magazines when I slyly turned the Anti-Gravity Sigil, making Gravity return to normal as we both descended rapidly.

Caught off guard, Ren couldn't react in time aside from flare his Aura, while I fell over him and crashed down on him with the assistance of a small Gravity Sigil. I smashed into him and fired Punishment and Judgement at once, creating an explosion mid-air and increasing his descent while the explosion slowed mine down and allowed me to adjust my position so I wouldn't land on Ren, instead I impacted against the ground and rolled to a stop, panting.

''Winner; Eien!'' Glynda announced, prompting me to look at the Aura metres.

Ren: 9% / Eien: 42%

I walked up to and heaved the teen up, steadying him before we walked off the stage ''Nice fight''.

''You too'' Ren smiled tiredly as we moved back to our seats, with Ren slumping into his chair next to Nora.

''Overkill much?'' Yang asked me with a grin.

I chuckled ''Ain't no kill like overkill''.

''I have to disagree'' Weiss grumbled and I chuckled again.

A series of metallic clanks and scrapes echoed throughout the cave now known as Eien's Workshop, since he created and usually worked there. Down on the second floor myself and Ruby in work-ish clothes, working on our newest Adamantite-based project; a Bullhead. On the far right of the room were four crimson Atlesian Knight-200's, made from Adamantite and following my commands. Interesting thing I noted about creating semi-sentient beings with my Semblance is that they don't require verbal commands, at least they don't anymore since they used to when I was younger.

As it was, they were in a sort of deactivated state, not needed so they would remain inactive. The plan was to make an Adamantite Bullhead that would work as ERWBY's and JNPR's private Bullhead for when they left for missions into hostile areas, since the incredible durability of the Adamantite could withstand a Nevermore to a degree. It would also function as a dropship for the Adamantite Atlesian Knights, which would now be known as AAK-1. Surprisingly it had been Ruby who suggested they do workshop projects, claiming she preferred it over just lazing about.

Despite the fact they were dating, neither of them were too... anxious, to go on a proper date. They had an idle conversation about it, and found out that neither were too overexcited for a proper date, 'Dates are overrated' they agreed with a laugh. It was a little strange in a sense, how they still acted like friends in a sense, if only with displays of affection added. Not that he minded, at all.

Currently, he was in the cockpit, adding the final additions to it, mainly dials. Fuel gage, altitude monitor, localised map, a small square screen displaying the current hull integrity, and weapon systems. They had given the Bullhead a duel spool-up Minigun's filled with explosive Dust rounds, courteously of buying nearly all of Vale's Dust to supply its ammo. Dust was still one of the few things I couldn't recreate with my Semblance, along with fully-aware Sentient Beings such as living humans. I couldn't understand why, and I intended to go ask Ozpin about it later, and perhaps Professor Oobleck.

Inside the wings of the Bullhead was several pairs of self-loading rocket pods, loaded with Dust-based rockets of varying types. Beside the main ventilator (which was on the top of the hull, directly in the middle) were two pods of a device he liked to call 'Flares'. What Flares did was when activated they shot off, you guessed it, flares. However from what he inspected of the Atlas AA Turrets, especially the newest ones, was that they replied on heat signatures that a Bullhead would naturally emit from its engines, meaning that as long as the engine was on it would track. Since they relied on heat, and flares were more-or-less a ball of fire, the missiles would be directed to the flares.

I had the idea of a fully 'Optimizable Camouflage' that would essentially make the Bullhead invisible, but he wasn't entirely sure on how to do so. Another thing to add to the growing list of ideas I had for the ultimate Bullhead. The sound of footsteps, more refined than mine or Ruby's, drew my attention as I walked out of the Bullhead. I was surprised to see Ozpin standing by the stairs, admiring our handiwork with a critical but appreciative eye.

''Interesting usage of Adamantite'' Ozpin commented and Ruby let out a cute 'eep' as she was caught off-guard by Ozpin's appearance. She tumbled out of the rear of the Bullhead, falling on her front with a groan.

I smiled and helped her up, while responding ''Well we had a fair amount left over''.

He hummed, raising an eyebrow at the deactivated droids ''Only four?''.

I smirked faintly ''When you have an army, its hard to keep track of all of them, the lower the number the easier it is to spot when one is missing''.

''Hm, quite'' He agreed with a nod, inspecting the Adamantite Bullhead ''Are you intending to mass produce these, or perhaps sell them to the highest bidders?''.

''Not really, considering the potential of its fabrication would allow for the chance of someone creating an army of nigh-indestructible airships'' I shook my head.

''Adamantite is strong, incredibly so, but not invincible'' Ozpin retorted ''In fact a high-concentration of Dust would probably be able to pierce it''.

''Probably'' I shrugged ''Anyhow, why are you down here if I may ask?''.

''Merely inspecting what you have been doing for over a month... you weren't extremely discreet'' Ozpin said with an amused smile ''That, and Miss Valkyrie is beginning another 'Coocake Massacre' as you have grown to call it, so I would advise you to avoid the dining hall if possible''.

I paled in worry for Ren. 'Coocake Massacre' was the title given to the event that occurred following Ruby's seemingly innocent question, when Nora literally devoured every Pancake-Cookie in the school and moved onto Vale like a hungry shark, gaining a serious craving for nearly a day straight before passing out. It was bad for her health, and anytime she had the urge to consume a mix of cookies and pancakes it usually required a fair amount of force needed to restrain her. Namely me or Weiss making a gravity Glyph/Sigil.

''Oum help us all'' I prayed for the safety of Ren, and the rest of Vale and Beacon.

''You know, when Professor Ozpin said that Nora was on a Coocake rampage, I expected more destruction'' Ruby commented as we peered into the lunch halls, seeing only a dozen shattered tables and food everywhere ''I mean its bad, but nothing like the first time''.

''Why did you have to bring it up in the first place'' I sighed, playfully poking her side.

''I'm sorry~'' She whined, clinging onto me with fake tears running down her face.

''You're so cute, Sweet Rose'' I smiled as she flushed red, even after hearing the nickname many times.

''S-Shut up'' She mumbled shyly as she buried her head in my chest and I laughed as we proceeded towards our dorm, and upon returning we were mildly surprised to see it barren, but shrugged it off. We moved over to my bed and I slouched against the wall, Ruby lying down and placing her head on my lap. I gently combed my hand through her hair soothingly and she closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling as we just sat there, enjoying the calm as the sky darkened.

''We should go with the others tomorrow, go see the festival'' I commented idly. Ruby hummed as she sat up, leaning against me.

''You wanna check out the competition?'' She asked curiously.

I blinked ''No...? I just meant it would be nice to get out. What gave you that idea?''.

''Weiss'' Ruby said plainly and I nodded, making an 'Ah' sound.

The door opened and Blake walked in, book in one hand and sandwich in the other. She looked at us and nodded a greeting before heading to her own bed, sitting and continuing her task silently.

''Hey Blake'' I called, breaking the calm silence ''We haven't shown Ruby yet, have we?''.

Blake blinked in confusion, so I poked my head and her eyes widened in acknowledgement and mild fear. Ruby looked between us in confusion, which grew as she watched Blake reach up to her bow. When the ribbon-come-bow was unwrapped however her eyes went wide, eyes glued to the kitty ears on Blake's head. There was a tense silence for all but five seconds before Ruby was a blur, glomping Blake.

''THEY'RE SO CUTE~!'' She squealed as she hugged Blake for all it was worth, mumbling incoherently about how cute her ears were for almost a minute. By the time she stopped Blake had passed out ''B-Blake! W-Wake up! I'm sorry, it was an accident! Blake~!''.

I couldn't contain my laughter at the sight of a Chibi Ruby shaking a Chibi Blake, the former trying to awaken the latter.

A/N: Well that's that. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and it really fought me to write this. Next chapter we will finally move onto the events of Episode 15-16, but since Blake's Faunus nature is already exposed to her team, things will be much different. OC's will likely be added in future for specific reasons, and I intend to change the Vytal Combat Tournament a fair bit, not just in the people participating but also how it is set up. I hope you don't mind~

Something to note about being inside someone's soul; damaging it will not affect the person, but any permanent damage to the soul will be represented (I.E. Part of Eien's landscape disintegrating).

Eien's Dunkelheit Powers Translation:

Insho: Kasai = Sigil: Fire (Japanese)

Insho: Chikara = Sigil: Force (Japanese)

Insho: Juryoku = Sigil: Gravity (Japanese)

Insho: Han Juryoku = Sigil: Anti Gravity (Japanese)

Insho: Raito = Sigil: Frozen(Ice) (Japanese)

SchattenSchritt = Shadow Step (German)

Omake #2: Blake's Kitty Traits!

Blake sighed contently as she flipped through her book, sitting in the peace and quiet of the library while her team was busy, sans Yang who was studying across from her. She enjoyed these moments of peace and quiet away from the hectic life of her team, and when Yang was not as subdued as she was now... especially with her excessive teasing.

There was a line between friendly teasing and perverseness, and sleeping in her bed was definitely the latter, Yang!

''Operation Bumblebee is a go...'' I heard someone murmur, but dismissed it and went back to my book.

She was abruptly drawn from her reading as she saw a red dot on her book, slowly going to the left as her eyes followed it. It went across the table to where Yang was, and I followed the red dot as it went up her arm, along her cheek, down to her chest...

''Uh... Blake?'' Yang's voice drawing me out of my trance, and my eyes darted to hers, dreading the mirth in her eyes ''People might get the wrong idea if you're staring at my chest, not that I mind of course''.

I felt the heat rush to my cheeks and looked away, glaring with all my might at a snickering Eien, holding a laser pointer in his hands. Redirecting my gaze to my book, I began listing all of the ways I could give Eien a long, painful death.