This and the last chapter really work together as a pair, but unfortunately I didn't release them together. I probably should have. Also, this chapter contains something that may be disturbing for some people. I won't spoil it, but let's just say we'll find out what Weiss meant by "executed".

Storm watched as Cirocco performed a triple backflip across the balcony. As he landed, he was a foot away from the edge. It was impressive, probably the most impressive thing any of them had done all morning. Cirocco turned to the others and said, "Beat that."

They had been comparing acrobatic talents since breakfast, and so far Cirocco had been the best. Of course, Rayne wasn't competing—he wasn't the most physically or agile person so it was understandable. Now it was Rusti's turn.

"Okay, kids, watch this," Rusti said, taking a running position towards the wall. Storm shook his head at being called a kid—Rusti was probably only a few months older or younger than him. It was then that he wondered what exactly everyone's birthdays were. He'd have to ask them.

Rusti ran towards the wall, and as he reached it, he jumped. His feet met the wall, and he jumped off it, with nearly twice the height. He finally landed a few inches from the hand railings.

"Oh I can do better than that," Storm said, taking his position.

"Really? You're a lightweight; how can you beat that?" Rusti said.

"Just watch."

He ran at the wall, and jumped onto it as Rusti had done. But then he ran up the wall, and jumped off as soon as gravity began to take hold. He got more distance than Rusti did, and then he realized how bad that was. He was going to fall over the edge!

He had put too much strength into the jump, and now he was going fall off the mountain! He couldn't control which direction he went in midair. He was panicked. As he was about to fall past the edge he reached towards the hand railing, and tried to grab hold. His hands grasped the hard metal, and he stopped going away from the mountain, instead swinging back towards it. His feet slammed against the outside of the balcony, and he pushed back against it, swinging over the hand rail and landing back on the balcony.

Everyone just stood there amazed, except for Storm who didn't feel like it and sat down. He was sweating despite the cold temperature. "That trumps all," Rusti said.

"You could be an acrobat if you weren't a Huntsman," Cirocco added.

"I didn't know you were the agile," Rayne said.

Storm smiled, though he felt it was a weak smile, and said, "Neither did I."

He had just come face to face with a death of his own making. He'd been in battle, sure, but that… that was his own fault. No one to say was better than him, or to overcome. It was just his sheer incompetence that put him in danger. At least he was strong enough to survive it.

He shrugged off this giddy feeling of cheating death and turned to the others. "So, what do you guys want to do now?" he asked, half laughing.

Rusti looked at him oddly and said, "Well, uh…"

"Say, we've all got family in the other kingdoms. How's it going with trying to stay in contact him them after the CCT went down?"

After a pause, Rusti was the first to speak up. "Well, I didn't really talk to my family that much, but lately I've been wanting to talk to my brother. He's finally got someone funding his work with mechanical exoskeletons to reinforce someone's own skeleton."

"Huh, I use a similar exoskeleton in combat, but it just enhances my strength." He had built it a while back, in his Sanctum days.

"Huh, maybe you two should compare notes." Rusti had a good idea, but he wouldn't particularly want to talk shop like that. "What about you two?" Rusti said as he gestured to Storm and Rayne.

"Well, Redell's going to school here now, so we can talk to him whenever we want," Storm explained. Rayne probably wouldn't want to talk about the family, so Storm would instead. "I didn't really keep in contact with the rest of my family anyhow."

"Just the opposite for me," Cirocco said. Everyone turned to him. "Since my dad was killed and my sister Clove went crazy, my mom's kinda relied on me a lot for emotional support. Before the CCT went down, not a week would go by without a call to my mom. Now we're reduced to letters, and those take days to get through, and they might not even get through sometimes."

"Huh," Rusti said. "So, did your mom remarry after your dad died?"

Cirocco looked and Rusti angrily. "First, don't just say he died. He was killed by the White Fang for no reason other than he worked for the Schnee Dust Company. Second, she has never even considered remarrying, and you know why? He was probably the greatest man who ever lived! I'm just sorry I didn't get to know him more before the $*#&ing White Fang killed him." And he stormed off angrily.

Rayne turned to Rusti. "Rusti, as always, you've managed to upset everyone." And then Rayne left.

Rusti shook his head, frustrated. "I didn't know he was going to do that! I didn't mean to get his upset." He paced from one end of the balcony to the other. "I just…"

Storm decided now was a good time to let Rusti know some things he'd found out over time about that particular incident. He tried saying this as sensitively as possible. "His father was Jay Zaphyr, and board member for the Schnee Dust Company. He had quite a payroll, and it's not trauma or anything that put this idea in their head that he was a great guy; he really was. He was a philanthropist like nobody's business.

"But that didn't matter to the White Fang. In fact, they murdered him on live television, and mutilated his daughter right after him. The man who did it is a well-known agent of the White Fang—Adam Taurus. During the Grimm invasion, Cirocco ran into him, and even tried to kill him. He failed, but Taurus decided to let someone else kill him. In true movie villain fashion, this failed, and he's now even angrier than before."

Rusti's tan skin paled. "How is he still functional?"

"I don't know, but I can tell you this: he channels his anger into his attacks. Turns what's supposed to be his defensive Aura into offensive. And every time he loses, he gets more anger, and now… I think that anger's the only thing that keeps him going. The drive for revenge is more powerful than his grief. I think that after it's over—Taurus dies by his or someone else's hand—he's going to finally run out of steam. He'll shut down. Maybe then he'll be more manageable."

"Who knows," Rusti said. Then he cocked his head. "You think he'd calm down if he had a girlfriend?"

Storm laughed and shook his head. "Rusti, even if he had a girlfriend, he'd lose her. He has no problem with saying the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. She'd get tired of him saying every single little flaw about her."

"I don't know," Rusti said with an odd smile. "I think I can find someone for him."

"Rusti, count me out of this."

"Suit yourself, but I am going to make sure he has a girlfriend by the time of the next broken moon."

Storm shook his head. "Remind me to put this on your tombstone: "Died trying to get date for a guy he didn't actually like."

"I've given him enough crap; I might as well try to do this for him."

A chill went up Storm's back and he shook. "Hey, it's cold out here. We should go inside."

Rusti nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good."

Storm got up and walked back inside the mountain. As Rusti followed, Storm asked him, "Out of curiosity, when's your birthday?"

"March first, actually." Rusti chuckled a little. "I was almost born in February twenty ninth, and that would've been weird."

Storm laughed. "Yeah, that would be weird; you'd only have a birthday every four years."

"At least, by now, I'd be able to say I was four." They both had a good laugh. "What about yours?"

"Sometime in April. I'm not telling you which day; I don't trust you that much."

Rusti frowned. "That's not very nice. I told you mine."

"I'll tell you in April." While Rusti didn't seem satisfied, he didn't press the topic, which Storm was grateful for. He speculated—he hoped—that Rusti would forget this conversation by April. As much as he may like or dislike Rusti, he didn't he would want whatever present Rusti gave him—especially after the conversation about getting a girlfriend for Cirocco.

I heard somewhere that the White Fang's cause is justified. I tell you this: When a cause is reduced to terrorism, it ceases to be justified. The White Fang are not heroes; they are villains of the worst sort. They are terrorists in a world where fear brings about an hoard of monsters! But as to what's in this chapter, I have no idea where that came from. Half the time I just write with not much plan with what the dialogue is about.