Volume CRBN!

by Dancesnapple

Four individuals. Four different people of different walks of life resulting in an adventure. Hopefully, a bond that can last. Team CRBN (carbon). Features: OC Main character, main team has two OCs alongside a lovable crime duo, and some family drama on all sides. Features a 'soundtrack' element for the fic. ENJOY! Story begins on third listed chapter. Very slow start.

4. 2 Of A Different Pack

Greetings and welcome to chapter two of Volume CRBN. For anyone who is reading, I'm glad a story that will very OC heavy is getting any attention at all and appreciate the views (Broke 100 already?! I'm being punked). Feel free to leave a review.

Chapter Two: Of a Different Pack

"Fire dust: two hundred seventy three units. Grav dust: sixty five units."

A focused voice speaks out. The sounds of an office fills the background. A phone call, answered by a voice. Various murmurs as people walk the open door. The people marching by outside the door mostly wear sunglasses, simple brown uniform shirts with black pants. A few have belts with various items hooked on. Others have hats and have radios strapped to their uniform chest. Cops.

Inside the office, the voice continues. "Populous orders: one ton of garden soil for crops. Three thousand units of construction adhesives and nails?" The voice stops it's monotone, sounding surprised.

The office is fairly well decorated. Behind the desk chair are two windows, blinds allowing partial light into the room from outside. The mahogany desk sits with a comfortable space between it and the windows for the leather chair. One wall is lined with shelves containing files on the bottom and middle rows. The top row is lined with books and various reading material. The other wall is occupied with pictures, plagues, and hanging medals.

"Ah, so they're finally expanding further into the island." The voice continued, chuckling. "I need to send a letter to update trade conditions."

The plaque on the desk read, 'Chief Inspector: Jared Uhlric'. The man in question sat in the leather chair, looking through a paper report in front of him. The center of his desk is covered in papers, writing material. The right side is occupied by a monitor and keyboard. The left side has a framed picture.

Within the picture, Jared can be seen winking with a small child sitting on his shoulders. Jared is wearing a simple white black shirt, while the boy on his shoulders wears bright blue shorts and a red long sleeve shirt. The boy's red hair is in a bowl cut, the silver at the ends of his hairs not too visible on the camera. Both Jared and the boy have one half of a pull apart Popsicle. The boy's eyes are wide enjoying the treat, while Jared uses one hand to keep his in his mouth, his off hand steady on the boy's leg to keep on his shoulders.

In the image, a reflective window behind them shows a light brown haired woman with large dog ears taking the picture. Her eyes are covered by the camera, but she's laughing at them.

Jared raises a brow at the paper. "And forty two units of assorted bread." He tosses the page down. A shipping request from Menagerie. Fairly standard outside of the building materials. He'd heard that Ghira Belladonna had stepped down as leader of the White Fang organization. However, it seems the black cat never stops striving for improvements.

Jared leans back in his chair, sighing. "Finally done with paper reads." He glances over to a clock hanging by the door. 2:35 PM. He might have time to do some patrolling. But first...

A blond cop with a slightly darker mustache moves around the corner. He smirks at Jared's position as he leans through the door. "First of the month, boss. You coming for the reveal?"

Like he's been blessed, spirit is renewed in Jared. He bursts to his feet, exclaiming. "I wouldn't miss it for the world!" He walks around, marching out of the office as the two men traverse the hall.

The hall opens into a large room with cubicles. A main room with plenty of spots for open space. The words 'Sanctuary Police Department' are etched into every other labeled corner and sign. On the far side of the room is a large open space with the wall cleared. Cleared, except for one... large item hanging on the wall.

A semi circle of cops and officials stand as they appreciate the object, Jared and the cop with him joining. All are men save for two, a total of 23 spectators. A few female cops peak up from their stations, sighing before returning to work. One mutters 'ugh, children'.

Jared gives a wide smile, clapping his hands onto the shoulders of the cops at his sides. "Alright, standard bet, guys?"

The object on the wall is fifteen feet wide and ten feet tall. The right seven feet of the object is a list of days for the week on repeat... a calendar with all the days marked out with various X's. As the first of the month, it's time to remove the current impractically large sheet for the next month.

The left eight feet of the calendar has the department's attention... a beautiful beach front with tanned woman for the foreground. Her feet are dug into the sand while she's leaned to showcase a model figure. A modest one piece golden swim suit. The woman's black hair gives way for two large antlers coming from her head. The words, 'Feisty Faunus Calander' are in bold in the corner.

Yes, seeing the new eye candy picture has become a morale event for the department... The male half and some few females that is.

The brown haired cop to Jared's left claps his hands. "I got bear Faunus." He rubs his hands, shaking his head with a grin.

Jared scoffs. "You need to diversify your bet! It's why you always lose!" He shakes his head with a smirk. "Just because you want 'a bear to go bare' doesn't mean it'll happen." He looks to the blonde he'd walked in with to his right.

The blonde answers. "Chameleon Faunus." He brushes his beard in a thoughtful look. "They can change skin tone to match the suit. Makes it look like skin. Something that hot has to be in the calendar somewhere."

Jared looks up in thought, as if contemplating, before forming a grin. "Not a bad one." He looks forward with determination, taking this very immature guessing game too seriously. "When you shoot big, you win big! I'm callin' fox Faunus!" Jared wiggles in place in thought. "Now, they need to hurry up. Let's see the foxy lady!" His emphasis on the worst lady mixes with a comically over the top lecherous tone.

Clearly they were enjoying themselves.

One of the cops moves to the calendar with a grin. The men plus two all focus on the wall with suspense building... and the cop pulls the massive calendar sheet off.

Many of the cops snap, cursing up a storm as the image is revealed, swinging a limb in frustration at losing the apparently department wide bet. Others simply nod with approval at the image. A woman of pale skin in a pool. She wears a two piece blue bikini. She looks upward into the camera with green eyes, the water up to her legs. From behind her, an orange fluffy tail with a black tip. The woman's light hair shifts to orange as two large ears come out. One ear is flicked to the side while the other is up. The ears are tipped with black fur... Fox ears.

Jared's face splits into an exaggerated grin as he shoves both cops away. The pouting cops mutter curses as Jared steps forward, stepping into a pose stance with two thumbs up at the calendar. He winks as he screams in excitement. "WE HAVE A WINNER!" All the sore losers glare at him, a mixture of curses and grumbles as they move away.

The celebration lasts a few minutes. Turns out, the winner gets to make the whole department pitch in to buy them dinner. In this case, Jared wasn't the only winner, so the winners took time coming up with a pain in the ass feast for the department to get them.

Chuckling, he re-enters his office, shaking his head. Just as he closes the door, his scroll on the desk lights up. A ring tone sounds out, startling the jovial nature from Jared immediately. He walks to it with purpose, hitting answer. "Inspector Uhlric speaking." His tone is professional and firm.

Silence fills the room as feint whispers could be heard from the scroll call. The voice on the other end speaks quickly and politely. Jared's expression lightens up before tensing. He glares at the scroll, confused. "He did what?"

. . .

The town of Sanctuary was always thriving. With its position for trade, it made for plenty of business and trade, prosperity and expansion. It wasn't remotely close to Vale's size, but it was respectable.

Downtown Sanctuary had many stores and facilities, but Jared's focus was on one in particular. Sanctuary Primary School. The school was plain, composed of square and rectangular buildings. It was built for function only, but he knew from previous visits that many activities could occur within the walls for student fun.

Jared's black police cruiser parks out front. The former huntsman steps out of his vehicle, staring at the school as he sighs. "Kid, what are you doing?" He speaks out loud. He was alone, but speaking the thought somehow centered him.

He shakes his head and enters the school. He moves through the opening, eyeing a teacher walking in the halls. He nods politely, receiving the same from the faculty official. 3:45. Classes let out just fifteen minutes prior, so the students all just left.

All except for his, of course. He walks around a corner, finding the entrance to the principal's office. He opens slowly, stepping into the secretary area and looking to the seats at his left.

There sat a small boy, head looking down. He had red hair with silver tips. His blue eyes were set in scowling at the floor, but marred by the black eye on his left side. His cheek is swollen. He's wearing a red hoodie and gray pants. The boy's scowl shifted to worry, but he wouldn't pick his gaze up to meet Jared's.

Carmine Uhlric

Age – 6

12 Years before The Day

Jared stared at the child for a moment, eyes half lidded as he frowns. He turns to walk into the next door, stopping to lightly tap the boy on the shoulder. The tap jolts Carmine attention as he looks up at his dad. Jared gives a weak smirk, but sighs a second later. He continues to the door, moving into the actual principal's office.

. . .

The car doors shut, Jared settling back into his driver's seat. In the passenger side, Carmine sits, still alternating between scowling down and looking guilty. Jared's analytical gaze saw that Carmine's hands, clenched on his pants, were bruised.

"You know, when I taught you to punch, you weren't supposed to be the first one to do it." Jared starts out. His tone isn't angry. Just disappointed. It works as intended, Carmine's shifting expressions settling only on guilt.

Jared turns the car on, pulling out of the parking space. He turns out onto the road as the actions seem rehearsed. "You've never thrown the first punch before. What do I say?" He says, somehow crossing a stern tone with a jovial one.

Carmine looks away, attempting to look out the window, even though his eyes barely reach the bottom of the window in height. The boy sighs and speaks back. His immature voice is filled with a whine, like he still is angry. "'Don't hit first. Hit last.'"

"Ah, you DO remember." Jared states with false surprise. The kid tilts his head at him, not fully understanding the sarcasm. Ah, to be young. Jared's face is stern, but he keeps his eyes on the road. "What happened, Carmine? Be honest."

In an instance, Carmine's face morphs away from guilt to a scowl. While the kid stews, Jared thinks over the past incidents.

There were four times in total this year that Carmine was involved in physical violence. Each time involved a self absorbed snot by the name of Kerry. The boy was the son of a drunkard that Jared's had to arrest on multiple occasions, so the boy was very blatant and upfront about his open disgust with things he doesn't know about. The boy was taking his father's drunken rages and channeling that to bully others.

That's partially why Carmine wasn't punished for the previous four fights. Each time was clearly proven that Kerry was in the wrong. Jared suppresses a snicker, remembering the first time. Kerry threw a rock at a five year old Faunus girl with brown rabbit ears. Carmine's response was to shove the very same rock into Kerry's mouth.

The second time, Kerry and two of his friends stole another student's lunch money. Carmine, in turn, stole their homework and got the three detention, all while splitting HIS lunch with the kid they took the money from. Kerry found out and had his buddies help jump Carmine during recess. Needless to say, Carmine didn't win three on one. Also needless to say, Kerry's father received a broken arm the next time he resisted arrest with Jared.

The third time was minor. Kerry tried to start a food fight and tried to shove a cafeteria pizza in Carmine's shirt. The kids were split from each other while punching and tugging at one another.

The fourth time... Well, Jared was pretty damn proud of Carmine. There were some... unsavory individuals hanging around the primary school. One of which was part of a gang Jared and his cops routinely struggle with. The kid offered Kerry a drug in exchange for some of Kerry's father's things. Carmine witnessed the exchange and reported it.

Jared never narrowed down the specific bastard, managing to pin it on at least one gang member. Kerry had the drug confiscated and was... despicably disciplined by his father. Kerry took out his anger on Carmine by sucker punching him in the hall. This was the only fight Carmine definitely won, thanks to some self defense lessons from ole papa!

However, in each situation, Carmine waited for the little bastard to act first before doing anything. Carmine is... socially shy. He only takes action against others if he's so angry he stops caring. So, for him to be the first to get physical... something provoked him.

The boy finally mutters. "He's a jerk and deserved it." Silence reigned in the car for a few blocks. Jared remained stoic and quiet, waiting for Carmine to continue. He typically used silence to make Carmine uncomfortable and keep talking til he admitted the truth. A benefit to using that shyness against him. Carmine finally continues. "He... said bad things."

Jared's right brow raised, his eyes checking the directions at a stop sign so he could pass safely. "What about?" He asks straight forward. Internally, he chastised himself for the tone. That was the tone he gave to criminals when asking about something suspicious.

"A-about you." The boy stutters. "And mom..." His speech is slow, like he's somehow embarrassed.

This makes Jared's gaze soften slightly, curiosity growing. "Really?" He stops at an intersection, allowing himself to look over to Carmine. He mildly jokes, hoping to ease some of Carmine's tension. "I deal with criminals. Daily. What makes you think something that boy says is serious enough to attack him over?"

The car gets quiet. Jared is forced to look back at the road, moving once more. Carmine scowls, taking an angry huff of a breath. "He said you and mom were bad! His dad said that you took me from some other family!"

Jared's body tensed completely. Humor was gone as he frowned. The sound of the car driving served as white noise while he processed that. A twitch of his finger for the turn signal, and he turns off the road, parking in a store parking lot.

Carmine continued, taking angry breaths the whole way. "He said I don't look like you two, and he said that I don't have 'freak parts' like mom, and he said that I'm only here cause you stole me!" The boy was seething angry, tears forming in his eyes.

Jared sits in the driver seat, thinking over that information. Clearly, he was going to have a very, very long discussion with Kerry's father. However, this needed help first. This would always need his help first.

Carmine startles when Jared's hand clasps onto his shoulder. Jared and Carmine share a look for a moment. Jared smiles at him, keeping a firm grip. "I want to be clear on a few things, Carmine." That tone makes the boy nod slowly. "One, you've started to learn how to fight, even as young as you are. I do NOT want you using that as an excuse to beat others up. Only fight defensively."

Carmine looks away, guilt washing over him. He swallows and nods.

"Two, what you did was sweet, but wrong. You won't be rewarded like before. You've been suspended from school for three days, so you're gonna work with me in the workshop whenever I'm home." Jared states with a stern look in his eye.

Carmine looks horrified, moving to complain. "But-"

"No buts!" Jared cuts him off. His tone is intended to end the argument there and then.

Carmine frowns, pouting almost adorable. "Then ash?" Silence. Carmine said it in an angry pout, like he was intentionally doing something bad. It took a moment for Jared to connect that Carmine was trying to say 'ass' and butchered. From a butt to ass, huh?

Slowly, Jared looks thoughtful, raising a finger to Carmine. "Three, never EVER say that in front of your mother." Jared then gets a sly look. "But point to you for being a good smart 'ash'." He ends with a wink. Kid's gonna be a massive smart ass when he's older, but that just means Jared's done his job right.

Carmine gives a stupidly childish grin, giggling in his seat. The first giggle Jared's heard from him today.

"And four," Jared's smile softens as he gently ruffles carmine's head. "Your mother and I love you more than the world. Never forget that." Jared put his hands back to the wheel. "Now, I'll go take a beating from your mother for getting you home late, and then we'll go from there." He winks while taking pride in the big smile Carmine had the whole way home.

However, it wasn't for about five minutes that Jared realized something. The bruises on Carmine's face and hands were gone... the black eye too.

About ten minutes of meeting up with a cop on the road, notifying them of a 'family disturbance'. He'd be off the rest of the day. Finally, they'd made it to the suburban area, houses with small yards. He pulls the car into a driveway. Home sweet home.

The house is a one level structure, the lower half of the walls brick and top half wood. The driveway stopped at a large workshop building, stepping stones making a pathway to the front door.

Jared parks and looks at Carmine once more, giving an uneasy smile. "Let me break news to your mother."

Carmine simply blinks at him, tilting his head. "The principal said he left her a message before calling you."

All color drains from the former huntsman's face as he rigidly pulls his scroll from his pocket. Sure enough, he'd put it on silent to deal with Carmine... three missed calls and thirteen messages. The top alert read 'YOU ABSOLUTE FAILURE! ANSWER ME!'.

Jared stared at the screen, looking as if he'd just read his death sentence. He twitches his look back to Carmine. "Lovely..."

The child's large eyes show a... bizarrely understanding look. "I'll miss you, papa." 'Don't say that!' Jared's eyes screamed at him.

Jared lowers his gaze, sighing, before snapping his head high with a smile. "Ah, it'll be fine." His door pops open as he slides smoothly out of the car. Standing up, he has his back straight, posture perfect. Despite this, Carmine's look of... sad understanding, follows his father as the man starts walking onto the stepping stones. He moves his way to the front door while Carmine opens his door, still looking sad for his father.

Jared gives a toothy grin, completely forced, as he dramatically opens the door and disappears into the house, his words starting to fade. "Ah, home sweet home! What's my beautiful wife got going-"

A violent crash sounds as Jared is launched out of the front door, skidding to a halt in the front yard on his back. A figure dashed out with him, now standing over him. From the bottom, brown slip on leather shoes, gray socks over it, with forest green capris pants up to a sleeveless pale gray-green top. Sleeveless scrubs. She has brown leather fingerless gloves. She's lightly tanned with shoulder length light brown, almost dirty blonde, hair. From her hair shoot out two large dog ears. Her features are sharp, sparse freckles abound, with cutting hazel eyes glaring at Jared. Senaya Uhlric.

She grabs Jared at the collar with one hand, wrenching him up to glare at his face, despite his visage being conked out. Her voice snarls, a low growl, as she nearly yells. "WHERE'S MY BABY?!"

The thud of a car door shutting pulls her glare over. Carmines lips are sucked in, clamped shut, as his eyes are wide. He stands by the car door as his mother's glare remains on him. His mouth opens with an audible smack as he awkwardly looks away, anywhere other than his temperamental attack mama dog. "I got homework... for the next few days."

He snap turns to face the front door as he starts marching along the stepping stones to the house. He makes it only two steps before Senaya's hand pants onto his hand, gripping lightly, yet firmly, as she turns his head to her. When did she even move closer? She always does this when he gets hurt. Now close, she turns his head to look at the black eye, now only a very faint bluish hue around his eye. The swelling is all gone. Her eyes glare like a hawk at any and all imperfections on his face. "You started the fight this time?"

Carmine's eyes widened more as he gulped. "Ye-... Yeah mom..." Nerves rise as she turns his head another way to look from the other side. She's knelt down, at his eye level.

Satisfied, she turns him to look at her eye to eye. He sweats nervously, frozen under her gaze. With a hard look, she nods at him. "Grounded for one month. Understood?"

The look of a shattered life passes the boy's face, mouth going agape. His lips smack closed and back open as he starts. "But mom!"

Comically, Carmine sees a storm of murderous intent erupt from his mother, her glare somehow turning worse. She speaks plainly. "You'll never instigate anything again if I go shorter. Un. Der. Stood?" She enunciates clearly with each syllable. Her eyes narrow ever so slightly.

Carmine snaps his mouth closed, eyes wide. He hesitates, but nods. His shoulders slump in defeat, head hanging. "Yes, mama." He pouts with a scowl aimed low.

In an instant, the threatening cloud and atmosphere in the yard dissipates. Senaya's features soften, looking at the boy fondly. Her hand pats his head lovingly, making him blush through his pout. "Good boy." She grins. "Now, go clean up and do homework. We're having country fried steak in about an hour or two."

"Fine..." Carmine grumbles as he dramatically walks around her, scowl growing more and more childish as he disappears into the house. The whole trek into the house, his mother watches him with a fond smile. Something about his pouting made him more adorable in her eyes.

Said smile is washed away upon Jared sitting up. He rubs his cheek with a huff. "A month? You'll break and let it go in a week, max." He groans as he stands up, popping his back in a stretch. He merely raises a brow challenging when he sees her murderous canine glare looking his way. "I remind you that the term 'bitching' has a double meaning when you do it, so speak carefully." He cocks an easy grin at her, as if she didn't just send him careening across the yard just a moment ago.

A low faint growl sounds as Senaya's left eye twitches. "I never stated what type of meat the steak would be. You have a minute to explain what happened with him."

. . .

Jared groans as he sits back onto a couch. The room is dimly lit, television set to local news. His red leather fur collared jacket is hung on the far arm of the furniture, leaving him in his dark green shirt. He'd just finished explaining everything he'd gone over with Carmine. His brow raised. "Of course." He begins, tilting his head a second in thoughts. "I believe it leaves us with two problems now."

Senaya steps around the coffee table in front of the couch with a bottle and a wine glass. She eases herself onto the couch beside him, filling up the glass with red liquid.

Without looking, she stops pouring as Jared reaches for the bottle. She pulls the bottle away from his hand, offering the filled glass for him.

He pouts at the glass, accepting it without more than a grunt. Upon him accepting the wine glass, Senaya brings the bottle to her lips, taking a large gulp from the bottle. Jared swirls the glass in his possession, sparing it only a glance before taking a sip. All the while, Senaya still gulps down, chugging a third of the bottle before stopping.

Senaya holds the bottle out, staring at the television with a blank expression. "We have to tell him, don't we?"

Jared offered a noncommittal grunt. "Not like we have much choice after today's fiasco." He glances to the side. The living room has the front door on one side, an open archway leading into the dining room and kitchen on the opposite side. To the side of the TV is a hallway to the remaining rooms of the house. "Better to have him hear it now and accept it than strike anyone who points it out."

The dog Faunus' look grew more distant, not staring at anything in particular. "We can't exactly go full board with it, given he-who-knows-more-than-you." She watches the news, seeing a report where Jared appears on screen at the scene of a public event. Senaya grimaces. "How do you tell your child they weren't supposed to be yours?"

The man beside her kicks his legs up, resting them on the coffee table. He spares the wine glass in his hand a glance, giving it a shake. "I hear this is a good motivator."

That makes Senaya chuckle, shaking her head. "Please. If that was the case, I'd be a gods damned master." She continues chuckling as she looks at her husband.

The man shrugs. "Best in small doses, I'm sure." He meets her gaze, slowly losing his smirk. "No talks of the witch. No talk of his birth mother. Not yet, anyway. Do we tell him about Big O?"

Senaya scoffed, leaning forward on the couch. She sets the bottle on the table. "I don't know..." Shaking her head, she looks back at him. "Part of me wants to say no, but you know he'll want an answer at some point. If he just hears it, he'll be satisfied. Ozpin's one of the busiest, hardest working men in all of Remnant. Letting Carmine know will only motivate him, maybe inspire him more to be a huntsman."

Jared brings his off hand to his chin in thought. "True. I'd say that letting him know might put him at risk, but he's not exactly one to go around blabbing. He should be safe so long as we tell him not to talk about it."

Senaya's look gets an edge to it. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The man shrugs, meeting the look. "He's not exactly the best at socializing. None of the kids are clamoring to make friends with him."

"Excuse him for looking after them. They're too immature." Senaya huffs, looking away.

"Or excuse them for being normal kids. Come on. You know Carmine is... scarily accepting to rules, restrictions, and responsibility." Jared's gaze softens in thought. "Without even meeting, they're a bit alike."

"A problem that will be solved once he enters combat school." Senaya challenged with a narrow glare. "A port town peoples who will mostly become merchants don't have much in common with those that end up at the academies. I'm positive he'll do better once he's with like-minded people."

The former huntsman was forced to nod along with that argument. His expression darkened slightly as he leaned to check the hallway once more. "Which... brings me around to the second problem."

His wife gave him her full attention. "Define problem." Her hard voice was soft, nearly imperceptible. Her ears twitch lightly, then she sniffs. "He's still in his room."

Jared, seeming satisfied, settles back down in his seat. He stretches his neck and sighs before meeting her gaze. "The principal told me something." His brow furrows as he breathes in and out. "The teacher than separated the kids. He said that something... strange happened with Carmine."

"Strange how?" She responds, voice still low.

Jared slowly leans forward, looking in thought. "A flash. Carmine was... in a troubling spot in the fight. The teacher was still working his way over, then in an instant, Carmine was behind the brat and beating him down." His gaze narrows, now speaking more to himself as he thinks. "And of all the bruises the kids had, the hit that knocked Carmine down prior to the flash is the only one that didn't leave a mark."

Senaya flinches back, eyes wide with realization. "... He used his semblance?" She watched as Jared looked back at her, a grim nature to his face as he nods. Rather than be introspective, Senaya simply shrugs, turning her attention to the television. "Neat."

Her lack of reaction makes Jared spew out his next sip of wind. He coughs a bit, giving her an incredulous look. "Okay, 'neat' doesn't exactly match the situation." He states through a last cough.

She looks unimpressed. "Why? What's the big deal with that?"

Jared tilts his head, looking at her like she'd grown a second head. "Most students don't unlock their semblances until combat school! Preteens to 16! You're the medical expert between us, show some astonishment!"

Senaya huffs, taking another swig of her bottle before sitting it down, all the while ignoring her husbands over the top reaction. "Children who unlock aura at an early age can have semblances develop before their age even reaches double digits." She sets Jared with a know-it-all look. "Our boy had his aura unlocked before birth, Jared. Him learning it now fits with where one might think."

She takes another chug of the wine bottle, finding it empty. She scowls at it, sighing before placing it down once more. She continues, sparing him little mind. "Besides. Didn't he use it during birth? I'm surprised he hasn't accidentally used it by now."

Jared seems to simmer at her lax response. He grumbles under his breath about 'stupid medical knowledge' and 'you can't know everything'. However, he ends up sighing and responding. "What's bothering me is not knowing what it is. I'd like to get a handle on it before moving forward."

Senaya's look blanks out. She looks ready to listen, sitting up straighter, as she gives him her attention once more. "Well, I'm curious at least. What thoughts do you have?" She looks away in thought.

Jared holds up a finger. "He can heal fast. Most of his bruises from today were severely reduced by the time he got home." He fails to notice the look of pure ire wash over Senaya as he continues with a second finger up. "He produces a light during an active use and was in a different position. No one saw how he moved." His third finger rises. "His birth mother's insides were worn dry by it."

Senaya simmers, taking the information in. "That's... a wide range there."

"Healing semblance?" He questions.

"Unlikely. Healing semblances could theoretically also be used like poison to others, which could explain his... real mother." The words came out stressed from Senaya as she looks off. Jared notices, patting a hand on her back, grounding her in the conversation. "... Same goes for a poisonous or decaying semblance. It could be harmful for others and helpful to him."

Jared nods. "But warping in front of others? Not likely."

"There ARE semblances that involve teleportation and warping. An illusion based semblance? Maybe he didn't actually take the hit to begin with?" She questions.

He shakes his head in denial. "Nah, illusions wouldn't heal active wounds."

"But could cover up wounds." She counters.

He pauses at that. "Hmm... But how would that affect her." Jared wonders. He tilts his head, meeting his wife's eyes. "Physical copies? Illusions that can be touched?" He puts a hand to his chin. "Could take hits for him, stress the delicate insides of a mother-"

"Would require an insane level of control to mask a person permanently throughout the day." Senaya concludes. "I looked him over myself, so to fool me, it wouldn't be possible for it to be his doing."

Jared scratches the back of his head. "Yeah... I'll take him out to the gun range tomorrow. Make him think he's there to help me with maintenance. See what I can get out of him."

Senaya smirks. "Not much of a punishment for him. The moment he sees your gun, he'll light up with glee."

Jared shares the smirk. "And that's how we know he's ours." He finishes with a smile.

The statement brings an honest smile to his wife's face. "Yeah, for a pervert and an alcoholic, we're doing pretty good."

At that, Jared stiffens. "You... weren't drinking while working at the hospital again, were you?"

She merely raises a brow at him playfully. "Which beautiful girl did you and your workers fawn over today?"

Jared flusters red, sputtering. "Well- uh- um... I don't see what foxy has to do with it."

Senaya simply gives him a dry look as she reaches around and pulls forth a flask from her pocket. "You have your thing. I have mine." She pops the lid and begins to drink while Jared simply stares, a dry look on his face. He hasn't even finished his glass yet.

. . .

Gunshots sound as a forest backdrop comes into view. Various trees, rocks, and other obstacles obscure the scenery in the distance. More gun shots sound with metallic clicks. The sound of wooden boards stressing with movement.

Finally, a figure snaps out from behind a tree. Black fur covering its whole body. Its canine face obscured by a white upper mask with four crimson eyes. A beowolf... with a few dozen holes in its image... and it is not moving... a wooden cutout in the image of a beowolf.

CRACK!

A shot ignites at the jaw of the image, a hole exploding through. The cutout shudders from the impact, shaking before the metal rods holding it withdraw it back behind the trees. The expanded area is littered with cutout targets flipping in and out of cover. The majority of the targets are images, perfect artworks of various Grimm. Even a massive cutout of a Nevermore is hidden within the trees.

Across from the firing field is a long wall lined with fifteen open windows. Many of the windows are occupied with various people. A firing range, using Grimm cutouts as targets. The people in the windows all have various firearms: rifles, handguns, shotguns, one with a double rifle elephant gun. In the middle window, center of the range, a silver revolver is aimed out the window, smoking at the end of the barrel. The gun has a second barrel under the first, taking its bullet from the bottom chamber of the revolver. A second gun hammer is on the bottom side, between the chambers and the gun trigger. The two barrels make the front of the gun look like a long flat surface, save for the two barrel ends sticking out. The flat side of the barrels has a crimson sigil of a howling wolf.

The gun is withdrawn as Jared smirks at his marksmanship. At his hip, Carmine stands up on his tip toes to see out the window. "Wow!" He grins with glee, nearly bouncing giddy. "You can hit anything!"

Jared chuckles, glancing down at him. "Oh, I don't know about that. I mean," Still looking down at Carmine, meeting the kid's eyes, he aims the gun back out the window and fires. Carmine watches back out the window, seeing Jared's shot nail the heal of an Ursa Major cutout. "I just got some keen instincts." He continues firing four more shots, nailing each of the Grimm eyes of the cutout. Carmine's mouth drops watching the dead eye aim. Jared keeps his cocky grin on. "It's just practice is all." He finally snaps his gaze to range as he fires a seventh time.

Just as he fires, a cutout of another beowolf snaps up from a rock before the top of its head is cracked off. Carmine's wide eyed expression is locked on the range as Jared kneels next to him. Jared bumps shoulders with the kid, getting his attention. "I also know the order the cutouts pop out." He huffs a laugh.

Carmine giggles with him, looking at him with all the excitement in the world. "You can out shoot anyone, Dad."

Jared stands up, tilting his head in a cocky look. "You know what? Yeah. Yeah I can." He accepts the praise, raising his off hand in a 'look at me' gesture. He suddenly lights up, excited, as he aims back out the window. "Oh! Nevermore's coming!" The boy looks up excited.

From behind the largest tree, a massive cutout swings upward, locking the 15 meter long cutout of the black bird. Immediately, gunshots rain into it. Holes riddle into the image, pieces of wooden debris chipping off and falling below.

Jared snickers. He pulls the trigger fully, firing both barrels of his gun at once. Two holes punch into the head of the Nevermore, one above the other. Jared keeps a grin, tilting his gun, as he fires again. Another pair of holes his. The upper one to the lower left of the top, the lower to the upper right of the bottom hole. He tilts the gun again fully sideways. Twin holes appear horizontal along the curve of the previous shots. He tilts the gun more, making a fourth set of holes to complete a small circle of holes.

Jared grins as he pulls back, holstering the gun. Carmine's shining 'O' face looked like he couldn't possibly imagine anything more beautiful. Jared enjoyed watching the kid's excitement. "You're gonna catch a fly if you don't shut that."

Carmine's mouth snaps shut, face going red with embarrassment. He shakes it off and looks at the gun in its holster. As he stared at it, the light and excitement in him started to dim. The boy's brows scrunch together as he leans in just slightly.

Jared watches curiously, a brow raising. "What's the matter, kid?" He smirks with the question. Did the boy finally notice a trend?

The boy just tilts his head looking at the holstered weapon. "Dad? How come you don't reload?"

"A good question!" Jared announces with a grin. He raises a finger up, drawing the boy's attention. "And part of why we're here." He reaches down and unholsters the weapon with a gun twirl. He slowly places the gun on the counter of the firing window they're at. Smiling, he addresses Carmine. "Carmine, tell me what you're looking at."

The boy looks back and forth between his father and the weapon. His head tilts, the boy looking confused. "Um... your gun? Heulin Noon?"

Jared nods, an expecting look in answer. "Go on."

Carmine raises a brow, still tilted in confusion. "Ummmmm" He continues the 'm' sound as he thinks. He narrows his scrunched expression on the gun. He finally looks up at his dad. "It has six... champers?"

Jared's grin widens slightly. "Chambers, and yes." He picks the gun back up. Giving it a twirl, he removes the revolver cylinder with the firing chambers. He catches it with his off hand, placing it on its side on the table. "Now, what do you see?"

The boy, now deciding to just play along until his dad spells it out, answers. "It's empty."

"And?"

The boy scowls at it. A bead of frustration that his answer wasn't good enough. He glares at the cylinder in thought. In the background, the patron in the window next to them, behind Jared, begins firing a burst rifle. The bursts come out in spurts of three shots apiece. Accompanying the sound is three empty gun shells ejecting from the gun, pinging off the ground.

Carmine leans back in thought, looking back at the cylinder. "The... empty shells. You don't have any."

Jared's proud smile beams at him, hands going to his hips. "And give the kid a prize! That's right! No shells, no bullets."

Carmine blinks a few times, confusion evident. "But, how do you shoot?" He tilts his head, eyes narrowing at his father in a disapproving look. "Are you cheating?"

Jared's toothy grin shines. "Absolutely!" He kneels down, meeting Carmine at near eye level. He pulls the cylinder off the counter, holding it in his off hand. His right hand comes up to Carmine, completely empty. "I think it's time I teach you something. You paying attention?"

The boy nods, looking curious, yet still confused.

"Have I ever explained what Semblances are?"

The boy's look of confusion leaves, curiosity remaining. "They're super powers that heroes have, right?"

Jared lights up with amusement. His hand comes up in mock thought. "Hmm... Well, let's start with this. Do you remember all the stories your mother would tell you about Aura?"

The two sit with each other for a few minutes at the window, the sounds of gun shots coming and going. The father leans his son a few things, explaining the ins and outs of aura.

Upon finishing, Carmine nods, but seems down. "So, everyone has aura, so... everyone has one of these semblances?"

"Exactly." Jared says, still with an upbeat tone. He notices that something is off with the kid, so he goes on. "Although, only a handful of people ever unlock their aura to use it. Even less of those even learn what kind of Semblance they have. So, 'superpowers' are a good way to describe them."

The boy brightens, giggling. "So, you're a superhero?"

"Of a sort." Jared looks away, seemingly to play it smooth. He looks back at Carmine, a smirk on. "Like this." His hand opens in front of the boy. A small ball, no bigger than a marble, sits in the center of his palm. It shines, no brighter than a dull glow stick, but glows dimly white, tinged faintly blue.

Carmine's wide eyes watch the ball, waiting with anticipation. "What's that?"

Jared snickers, shaking his hand so the ball rolls on his palm. "This... is my Semblance." He holds his hand up out over the counter, aimed towards a range cutout of a ursa. Jared smirks, his off hand coming up, thumb restricting his middle finger in front of the ball. His thumb releases, middle finger flicking into the ball in the other hand. The ball sparks, firing out towards the Ursa. The ball flies and strikes the ursa in the chest. On contact, the ball sparks and bursts, blowing a small hole in the center mass of the cutout.

Carmine's eyes widen in curiosity and awe. He gasps, speaking softly. "I could always win at dodgeball with that..." Jared bursts into a laugh, that his son would so gladly want his Semblance to win a childrens game. He shakes his head, the kid looking at him again. "How's it work?"

Jared nods at him. "I can condense my aura into a concentrated mass of kinetic energy."

Blank stare... too many big words.

Jared blushes and scratches his face, trying again. He raises the revolver cylinder, all six chambers dimly glowing white-blue. "Uh, I can just keep making energy bullets in my gun and keep firing." Regaining composure he chuckles. "Who needs Dust? Not this guy." He swiftly locks the cylinder back into Heulin Noon, twirling the gun up.

He aims the gun back out to the range as he continues. "I can also charge it." He aims set on a beowolf as its cutout snaps out. He pulls the trigger half way, the top barrel firing. The shot hits the beowolf image in the jaw, leaving a larger than expected hole. He then pulls the trigger the rest of the way, firing the second barrel. The second shot hits center mass.

Jared smirks, releasing the trigger as the cylinder rotates to the next chambers. "And if I fire both at the same time, the energy reflects out, making the 'boom' a bit bigger." He pulls the trigger quickly and fully, firing both shots. The shots strike the beowolf image in the chest. The two shots burst, resulting in a bright flash BOOM, completely erasing three feet from the center of the cutout.

Immediately, the boy exploded in a grin, turning to his dad. "Can I try?!" He pleads, body lit with excitement and anticipation.

Jared snickers, placing the gun on its side on the counter. The handle faces in towards Carmine. Carmine pouts, barely tall enough to see it. Jared walks away from the booth, swiftly returning with a high chair. He places it by the window, smirking at the boy as he brightens. Jared picks up the boy and sits him on the chair close to the counter.

Carefully, Jared reaches around Carmine, taking the kid's hands and guiding them to hold the revolver at the handle. "Alright, you want your grip steady." Carmine's grin is beaming as he nods excited, looking ahead. "Number one rule of firearm safety: NEVER aim the gun in anyone's general direction, even unloaded. Not everyone can be sure if a gun is loaded or not, so better safe than sorry."

Carmine gulps, nodding, but still grinning. "Uh huh. Got it!"

Jared assists the boy in aiming the weapon, guiding the child's small finger over the trigger. "Now, for Heulin Noon, it has a two fire trigger. Don't simply pull the trigger, only half pull."

The gun shaking takes aim, the boy looking in awe as he looks down the barrel, guided by his father. In his sight is an ursa cutout as it jumps out. The boy's nerves suddenly come on, but he nods, pulling the trigger.

BOOM!

The kickback nearly makes the gun fly into the boy's face if not for his father's steady secondary grip. Carmine flinches hard, looking with wide eyes. On the range, the shot hits the branches far above the ursa. Carmine gulps air, slowly exhaling it out.

"Keep calm. You double pulled and fired both barrels." Jared snickers. "Pull the trigger half way the fire the top barrel, pull the rest to fire the bottom. When fully pulled and you release the trigger, the chambers will rotate."

The two sit there, minutes passing as Carmine fires shot after shot, assisted by his father. Soon enough, a gleeful smile was on the child's face, giggles and laughs abound. Jared exclaims any time the boy lands a shot, rare as it was. But the positive reinforcement, and stern reminders of rules and tips, allowed the two to have a fun time.

The happy duo finish up after fifteen minutes of what Jared's target practice. He steps back from the boy, holding his hand out for the weapon. Carmine grins, holding the revolver in an awkward angle so its barrel isn't pointed at Jared. Unfortunately, he was having mental war with keeping the barrel away from him as well, then a mental was of not pointing to either side where other people could be. Finally, he just pointed the gun up and smiled, handing it over.

Jared chuckled and shook his head. "Not quite the way to do it." He grabs the gun but the barrel, accepting it before placing it in his holster. "But good progress."

"Your semblance is so cool!" Carmine exclaims as he wobbles in the tall chair. He grips his shorts hard as he seems to pout. "Mine won't be cool like that."

Ah, now came the moment where Jared could begin this conversation. "Why's that? You don't know what yours is yet." He chuckles. "You could blow mine out of the water for all we know. Maybe you already have it and haven't realized how to use it?"

The boy shook his head. "Nuh uh..." He crosses his arms with a scowl. "I can only redo. It's lame."

"..." Jared raises a brow at him. That was easy. "Carmine, explain."

Carmine flinches, the stern command making him give a nervous grin. "What?" He sweats nervously.

Jared gives the boy a dry look. "Are you saying you knew that you might have your semblance, but didn't tell your mother or I?"

The boy opens his mouth, clamping it shut the next second. He sputters out, not ready to speak. "I-I, uhh- I d-don't- I mean, I don't know?"

Jared's features soften as he pats the kid on the shoulder. "Okay. It's not like you to not tell us something. What happened?"

The boy frowns, pouting. "I don't know. I just..." He rolls his head around, easing tension and showing his mental debate in his expression. "I don't know how it happened. A few weeks ago, I broke my pencil in the middle of Miss Pensin's test. She doesn't let us borrow or ask for things during tests cause she's real strict and mean during tests. I couldn't put any answers and knew she'd punish me for not being prepared or bringing a personal sharpener."

As the kid babbles on about details with the test, Jared waits patiently for him to get to the point. Just be patient. He doesn't know he's babbling. Just be patient. It doesn't bother Jared. It doesn't bother Jared. It bothers him. It bothers him a lot. He's not caring about his bitch of a teacher. It bothers his brain cells. "Carmine." He interrupts. The boy stops, clamping his mouth shut. "So what did YOU do during this?"

Carmine blushes, flustered and embarrassed for talking a lot. "Well, I just thought how much I needed my pencil and how much I needed it and... it was just okay, in my hand."

Jared raises a brow. Not a very helpful answer, but it's in the right direction. "You fixed it?"

The boy exclaims with his arms out. "Maybe? I can't remember how I broke it anymore. I thought I just wasted time for nothing..." He pouts.

Jared kneels down, now shorter than Carmine sitting in the high chair. "Carmine, did anything else happen? Any other instances?" Carmine looks genuinely in thought, but is silent. "One of your teachers told us that, for lack of a better word, you 'flashed' around Kerry yesterday. Do you remember that?"

Carmine's eyes lit up, remembering. "Ye- Yeah..." He frowns in thought. "I just... didn't want to be in pain on the ground..." He looks away, looking embarrassed. "I wanted to get up again like before so... I did. I tried doing it again a few times before bed..."

Jared looks his son in the eyes. "Can you demonstrate it for me?" He smiles softly, encouraging. "Come on. You have a gift, so show me what you can do."

The boy's face scrunches up. He looks off, not really sure how to go about this. He closes his eyes, a high pitched hum of effort followed by a grunt. He opens his eyes in a huff. He climbs off the high chair, onto the ground. "I'll be right back!"

Jared raises a brow as he watches Carmine run off at top child speed. He moves to the end of the room, disappearing just around the corner. Jared's instincts kick in. "Hey! Don't go too far!" He stands up fully, looking at the corner Carmine disappeared around. He waits a few second, his own nerves started to show. He starts taking steps. "Hey, where did you-"

"Dad, I did it!" The voice exclaimed directly behind him.

Jared jumps at the sound, whipping around with wide eyes to find... Carmine back on the high chair- what? The boy's bright smile was strained, a bead of sweat on the kid's brow.

Jared's mouth hung open, one hand raised with a finger up. His expression was dumbstruck as he glances back down to the corner Carmine had walked to. He looked back, the boy giggling. Back to the corner turn. Back to the bright, now getting nervous child.

Slowly, Jared's raised hand comes to his mouth, index finger tapping his cheek in thought. His brow is furrowed, eyes narrow. "... do that again, Carmine. Please."

The boy sits up straighter, now being asked to do something again. He drops from the chair, taking a short run down the length of the room and rushing around the corner. Silence...

Jared glances back to the empty chair. Nothing. He looks back to the corner. A shift... something in and out of focus. Jared's eyes widened, seeing the shift in the air. He snaps his gaze back to the chair. Sure enough, Carmine is sitting there. "AH!" He breathes hard, a few beads of sweat trail down his face. His face shows some effort while he takes a moment to breath. The boy looks up at his dad, giving a shaky smile. "Did it! Did you see?"

Jared's eyes were wide. Thankfully, most of the occupants in the room had cleared out by now. The two being the last people in for the evening. Being police chief inspector had the perk of being trusted in here alone. Jared glances at the boy, an analytical stare. Slowly, he places his hand on the boy's shoulder.

A white eerie glow emanates from the hand as the boy's skin lightly glows as well. His heavy breathing stops as he gasps. Carmine looks around himself, confused. "Wha- Dad?"

Jared speaks calmly. "It's my aura, Carmine. Some people can place their aura into others." He smiles for his son, easing the kid's nerves. "It's how a lot of people unlock their auras, by having someone who already has it unlocked put theirs into them." He waits just a second more, the boy seeming to be in good health. "Now... one last time, Carmine. Please."

The boy looks at his father, raising a brow confused. "Okay..." He hops down from the chair, preparing to run-

"Slower, this time. As slow as you can." Jared orders.

The boy pauses, turning to look at his dad. "That... makes it harder, but okay." He slowly walks, step y step, until he's out of the room. Jared waits in utter silence, eyes locked on the corner, waiting. He saw it before. Was it a fluke? When will it come?

Finally, the shift comes. An invisible shimmer in the air... as if life we slow motion, Jared's eyes follow the shift in the air, an invisible humanoid shape. He watches as it seems to be... walking with chicken legs? No, walking backwards! Jared's eyes snap to the high chair just before the shimmer can move around him.

In the empty space of the chair, the shimmer defies physics, moving backwards into a sitting position on the chair before a green flicker. Carmine is sitting in the chair. A loud exhale sounds as Carmine gasps for air. The kid sways in the seat, leaning forward with his hands planting onto his knees.

Jared followed it that time, his eyes wide. Well, there was no doubt about that. That was definitely a warp based semblance. Just one more thing to see...

He places a hand on the wheezing boy's shoulders. He leans in, placing a kiss on the boy's head as he gets a smile. "Good job!" He smiles at the kid, a bright proud look. "That was awesome!" He praises.

The boy weakly lifts his head, giving a tired smile back. "Really?"

Jared chuckles, ruffling the kid's hair. The boy slowly squirms out of the ruffle, laughing weakly. "Yes, really! Wait right here. Take a breather." The boy nods tired as Jared walks around him, closer to the counter top of the window. He turns back to the boy. "And never EVER do what I'm about to do." Thankfully, the boy wasn't even turned to look at him.

Jared vaults over, out onto the grass leading out to the trees and targets. He walks out into the open firing range, walking quickly. His brow furrows. "Just one more thing to test..." He makes the trek to the nearest tree, looking up at the branches. Each single branch is analyzed. "Too thick... too small... too long." His eyes widen. "There!" In a blur, his quick draws Heulin Noon, firing and blasting off a small branch, one and a half feet long.

The branch falls down, the huntsman catching it deftly, heel turning back towards the windows. He walks back to the window he'd leaped from. As he walks, he wipes off pieces of look bark from the branch, all beginnings of other branches chipping off. In a swift move, he vaults back into the window, landing just behind his still resting son.

The boy turns, hearing his father walk up next to him. "Dad?" He looks confused, eyeing what's effectively just a stick.

Jared smirks, holding the branch out with both hands. "Now... just like your pencil." In one crank, the stick snaps into two pieces. Broken, he hands the two pieces to the boy, a grin on his face. "Do what you did in that classroom to that branch. Put it back together."

Carmine looks at the two pieces of the stick in his hands. He frowns in thought. A minute passes as the boy simply glares at the pieces, holding the broken ends close. He closes his eyes, concentrating.

Jared waits, leaning against the counter. He watches with interest, seeing as the boy's aura seemed to be responding to his call, but not how he wanted. The aura manifested, he could see the dull white glow, but nothing happened.

Carmine grunts as he lets out a breath, shaking his head. "It's not working..." He looks down in shame, but Jared merely raises a brow.

"Throw the small stick away." Carmine turns and tosses the piece out the window. "Now, break the piece you still have."

The boy looks at him weird, but nods. He holds the now smaller piece, about 8 inches. He grunts, bending the stick with all his strength as the moderately thick wood snaps. Now with the even small sticks, Carmine tries again, holding the broken ends close as he closes his eyes, concentrating.

Jared's watchful eye remains locked on the stick. Once more, he sees the dull white glow from the boy's hands, a minute passing as the sounds of effort come from the boy. Just as he was gonna call to stop, he sees it. A feint glow. Very feint, almost a trick of light. The color of green faintly outlining the stick.

Just like with Carmine himself, there's an invisible secondary shimmer in the air, just as large as the two sticks. Being see through and near imperceptible, Jared isn't sure, but he thinks the two shimmers remained in the same spot Carmine himself held them. Then the outlines came together... Finally, the outline returned to the sticks, the two pieces of wood coming together. A flickering green flash and... it was one stick together again.

Repaired... but only when Carmine did it. Jared's eyes widened, the beginnings of a grin forming on his face. "YES!" He fist pumps the air, cheering for his son.

The boy opens his eyes wide, seeing his work and smiling wide. "I... I-I did it!"

A loud boisterous laugh came from his father. "Hell, yes you did!" He approaches the kid and pats him on the back before wrapping his arm around the boy. "That's amazing!" The boy had a giddy grin on his face, giggling at all the praise he was getting.

Jared let the moment continue until he broke the embrace. "Okay... I have one more thing I'd like you to do, and then we can get some ice cream on the way home, okay?" Jared bargains with a grin.

Carmine's face lights up, staring at his dad in shock. "Cookies n' Cream?"

Jared nods with a toothy smile. "Cookies n' Cream."

Carmine erupts with more energy, hands up and ready. "What do you need? What do you need? I'm ready!"

The older man chuckles, taking the stick back from Carmine. He turns around from the boy, adjusting the stick and pressing the point into the tip of his finger. "Just like with the stick, I want you to try to fix something a little different but the same." He presses the point of the stick harder into his finger. "Remember when I built your desk for ya before the school year? Hit my finger with a nail."

Carmine tilts his head, confused. "Mom said I shouldn't repeat any of the words you said." No shit. No mother wants their son to repeat 'GOD DAMN SH*T F*CK!' after hearing their dad exclaim in pain.

Jared laughs hearing that. "Well, let's do an experiment." He swipes the stick from his finger as fast as he can, wincing in pain. He looks down at the digit, seeing a small cut from the tip. A drop of blood comes from the tip, nothing his aura wouldn't heal in a second. However, he restricts his aura, allowing the wound to remain.

He turns around, tossing the stick over Carmine's head into the firing range. Carmine flinches out of the way of the stick, then looks confused. That is, until Jared holds up his cut finger to Carmine. The boy's eyes widen. "Oh no, you're hurt!" He exclaims.

Jared chuckles, shaking his head. "Oh, this is nothing. But..." He sets Carmine with a straight look. "What you did with the stick, putting it together? I want you to try that with this cut."

Carmine looked at it, nervous, but grabbed his father's hand with both his own. "Okay..."

And like that, Jared waited. He waited to see the faint green aura.

. . .

"A what semblance?!" Senaya exclaims. She sits on one side of a dining room table, eyes wide with one brow raised skeptically. Her hands were frozen in place as she was pulling a fry from a fast food meal, a half eaten burger next to the few fries.

The windows in the background were dark, after sunset. The boys just got home not too long ago. Their son walked with with ice cream caked around his mouth and licking it back in. He shoved food into his mouth and now resided back in his room... possibly stir crazy, but he's grounded. Can't go work off that energy he's getting.

Jared ate with his wife and explained this new... development. All with the grin and excitement matching their son. "A TIME semblance!" Jared answers with a wide grin. He laughs, giddy, happy to explain. "I saw it myself! It matches everything we talked about, Sen."

Senaya's mouth hung open, eyes narrowed in thought. She met her husband's eyes, a skeptic look in her eyes. She breathes in, preparing as she raises a finger. "So... warping?"

Jared grins. "Recall. He's putting himself back to a previous position." He chuckles again as he takes another bite of his own burger. He shook his head, continuing before swallowing the last bit of meat. "Took me three times to actually notice the shift and track him."

Senaya's eyes widened slightly. She raises a second finger. "Fast healing?"

The man's giddiness lessons, but is still there. "His semblance is activated by him picturing and wanting to be at a certain point. It's likely his body is accelerating his healing, or even reversing the effects on his body because he doesn't want to be in pain. To be back to perfect condition." He sways his head back and forth. "Not entirely sure on that one. I'm not about to test that."

"As well you shouldn't." Senaya's voice lowered in threat, eyes narrowing. She breathes in and out as she raises her third finger. "... His mother?"

The happy feeling was gone completely. Jared's face scrunched as he placed his food down. He swallows and continues. "Well... with inanimate objects, he can interact with them using his semblance, but only if he was interacting with it first." At her confused look, he went on. "I broke a stick. His semblance did nothing. HE broke the stick. He recalled the stick back into one piece." He said with slight hesitation, voice lowering.

Senaya's eyes widened. Her eyes trailed down in thought. She took another bite of her fries, swallowing while gathering her thoughts on the matter. "So... what about living things?"

For the first time, Jared seemed to frown. Wordlessly, he lifted his off hand, laying it out onto the table. He outstretched one finger for her. Her eyes hardened, looking at the digit. While she scrutinized the finger, he remained quiet, waiting for her input.

A minute passed before she answered. "Your aura should have healed that immediately without a trace."

Jared nods. "I didn't let it so he could try." He wiggles the finger, a single line visible on the tip. A scar. "It's an hour old." He states with a wry smirk.

Senaya sends a heated glare at him. Her eyes are wide, brows set in a furious look. She nearly hisses. "That looks like it's been there for a week!"

Jared withdraws his hand from the center of the table. He spares the finger a look. "Yeah... Yeah it does." He then meets his wife's eyes. "So, how long is the human body SUPPOSED to hold a pregnancy?"

With that, Senaya's eyes widened. The stupid question merely getting directly to the point. Sickeningly slow, her gaze moves straight down. The implication was clear. His aura responded to the base need of returning to how he wanted to be... So the immediate stress of childbirth... Vanessa Maxwell-Ozpin. Her body had no possible way of being prepared for that happening inside her. "Her insides were worn... failing... malnourished and..." She murmurs.

Jared could only give a grim smile. "Yeah... and aged." He waited a moment before a tired shrug. "He was so excited. 'I have the power to heal! I can heal people!' he said." The man shook his head. "I told him not to use his semblance at all. Only when we train, which I guess will be often with something like this."

Senaya's look brightened. "Still... it's an amazing semblance." She smirked, a chuckle coming out. "Not quite a Schnee glyph semblance, but it's in the ballpark."

Jared laughs with her. "Heck yeah." The two settle down, munching on the last of their food in silence. As they finished, Jared sighed. "So... his mother is off the table. We still mention big O?"

Senaya looks off for a moment before giving a tiny nod. "Yes. It'll give him some closure on it before we move on." She takes a drink from a small beer bottle. A second later, she pulls it away, tossing the now empty bottle into the garbage can at the corner. She raises a brow at Jared. "You gonna tell 'Big O'?"

Jared grimaces. "Yeah... Yeah, he enjoys knowing how the kid's doing."

. . .

Less than a minute later, Jared steps out of his house. He walks out into the lawn, looking up into the stars. More start to appear by the minute, now officially night time. The man sighs and pulls out his scroll. Looking through his contacts, he hovers over one name: Ozpin.

Hitting the call button, he brings the scroll up to his ear, waiting and listening. Nothing but a ring and the sound of wind accompany him. On the third ring, a click sounds.

"Ah, hello Mr Uhlric. I trust all is going well?" The voice would seem no different from usual. However, at this point, Jared could tell the ever so slight anticipation in his voice.

Jared smirks, but hesitates. "... Amazing, actually. How are things with the school wonderland?" He chats back.

He hears Ozpin give an amused chuckle. "The students are as rowdy as ever. Has Huntsman Branwen contacted you from his mission yet?"

Jared blinks a moment before recalling. "Ah, yeah! He dropped off some good information about that school of aquatic Grimm. We took care of it. Tell the young crow a thanks for the info." He finishes with a grin.

"Good." The voice continues. "I trust that there is something you need to tell me? You usually call once a month, and never at this hour."

Jared scratches his head, nervous. "Yeah... Yeah. Two things, actually." He chuckles. "We discovered the kid's semblance, for one."

There's an uncharacteristic intake of breath. That slight pause in the professor's rhythm brings slight joy and dread to the former huntsman. Ozpin responds, full attention. "Is that so?"

Jared smirks. "Yeah. Surprised me, though Sen wasn't as shocked, more wary of it after she found out what it was." He takes an intake of breath. "It's a time based semblance. I know you know how rare that is."

Ozpin gives an audible hum in thought. He speaks low, as if to himself. "I see... That answers some things."

"I'll go into more detail in another call after I've trained some with him. However, there's something more important to say." A heavy breath in the nose. "We're telling him tonight... about you."

The call goes silent. Nothing but the background noise letting him know that no one is in Ozpin's office other than the man himself. The silence drags, to the point of fooling Jared into believing the call had ended. Finally, after a minute of dead silence, Ozpin's voice comes in, as rehearsed as with all things. "I see."

Jared closes his eyes, knowing the exact response. "We won't mention anything... personal about you. We've also vetoed anything about Vanessa-"

"I trust you to care for him." Ozpin cuts off. His voice was unchanged, but Jared could imagine the undercurrent of dread within the man. "Just..." A rare moment. Ozpin trailing off.

Jared nods, even though the action can't be seen. "I know. We're careful with it, but holding off is only going to hurt. Other kids are starting to point out he has a Faunus mother while he's human. He's... not taking that too well without explanation."

"I understand." Ozpin states. "Inaction will breed confusion." With that, the line is silent again.

Jared closes his eyes, glad that he's on board. "Good. I'll let you know how it goes." He pauses. "Good night, Ozpin."

"Farewell, Mr Uhlric. I appreciate the sentiment." Ozpin leaves off before the call goes dead. Jared looks up, sighing. He pockets his scroll as he turns to walk back inside. Time for a difficult talk.

. . .

A week had passed. Carmine's suspension was lifted, and he was back in school. It was Thursday, and now he stood in front of the school, a backpack on. Other kids of varying ages mill about as he stands on the road.

His gaze is square ahead of him. His bus wouldn't be here for another five minutes. The look in his eyes was dark. A slow blink. He'd gotten good grades on his homework. That was good news at least. That said, he didn't recall a single thing in class today. He'd spent the entire time stuck in thoughts.

It was just weird. Well, it's not like his mom and dad weren't his mom and dad anymore. But, that lingering thought... that his actual mom and dad simply didn't want him. Or rather, the couldn't want him. Of course, continuing that thought just brought him back to the name.

Ozpin.

Carmine Ozpin. If he thought about his video games, he thought immediately of calling himself C.O. Make himself a commanding officer in this hizzouse. His lip quirks up at the initials making a pun. THAT doesn't come from some know-it-all professor. That comes from his dad. His dad dad. Ugh! Jared. Damn it, that's annoying. He can't stop thinking that.

He can't stop thinking about HIM.

Carmine shakes his head violently, hoping the physical action would somehow magically dispel these thoughts. He huffs, staring up into the air. Come on, there has to be SOMETHING to pull his mind away from this. Something entertaining. He looks down the road.

Aaand immediately wishes he hadn't. There's the jerk. Kerry, brown hair with gray long sleeve shirt and simple blue pants. The kid was walking down the road from the school. He stopped at an alleyway between buildings. The second alley from the school... The second alley from the corner of Mantela Street and Fauna Avenue-

Oh, frick on a stick!

No. Not his problem. Not his problem. It doesn't bother him. Why are his legs moving? Why is he so angry?! More importantly. Why is jerkwad Kerry going to see that sleazy bad guy? That sleazy, disgusting, 'teenager' who looks older than a grandmother's sock- what is he, anyway?

"Ugh!" Carmine groans as he makes it to the alley Kerry entered. He slowly looks around the corner, trying to be stealthy.

Within the alley, Kerry stands with another guy. The guy wears simple loose clothes. He's skinny, but the clothes obscure that, make him look bigger. He has sunken in cheeks. A single lock of dark hair comes out from his hood. Yep! It's that same druggie loser! The same one Carmine's seen talking to Kerry before.

Carmine's eyes narrow, lips puckering as he scowls childishly. "Don't..."

Inside the alley, Kerry and the man speak to one another. The guy gives a dung eating grin, nodding to the other side of the alley where people are walking. The next street over?

Kerry nods, walking to the end of the alley, disappearing a street over from Carmine's view. Carmine growls. He can walk away from this right now. He can just go back to dealing with his thoughts. Let this kid cause his own problems and drown in them.

Of course... He thought of his dad. No, NOT that silver haired man on the TV! HIS DAD! Jared's face came to mind.

"Don't use your semblance in public. We don't know all the ins and outs yet. Only when we train." His dad had said.

"Stay out of trouble. Don't do anything stupid." Of course, that order always contradicted his other teaching. "Never stop trying to help people. It's the only true work of good you can do in the world."

Carmine groans, looking around the corner back into the alley. The dealer is sitting against the wall, hands on his gut. He's moving as if he's in pain. What? When did he get hurt?

"Help! He's this way!" Kerry's whiny jerk voice faintly sounded from the end of the alleyway. He enters with a lady in her mid 30s. He points towards the dealer. "My brother get hurt and needs help. You gotta take a look at him!"

Carmine's face scrunched. Brother? He knows that isn't true- Carmine's eyes widened. This jerk can't seriously be doing what Carmine thinks he is.

The woman walks over to the dealer, exclaiming. "Oh my god, are you alright?" She stops, moving to reach into her purse. "Hold on, I'll call for help!"

However, she never managed to get her scroll out. The dealer was on his feet in a moment. The woman let out a yelp, the dealer charging into her and grabbing her purse. He shoulder checks her, knocking her back, before wrenching the purse away from her. From there, he sprints down the opposite side of the alley where she came from. Carmine's eyes widen as the man turns right on the opposite end of the alley.

Caution to the wind, then!

Carmine sprints down the side walk. He knows he can't catch a groan man, but if that man tries to circle around, maybe he can catch him off guard?

Carmine rushes at his top speed. He can vaguely hear the woman left behind. She's screaming for people to stop the man, to stop the purse snatching dealer. Carmine continues on, hoping that he can turn left at the street ahead. He hears it up ahead. The screaming and people shouting... the runner was one street over, so he must have turned right! They're going to intercept each other.

Carmine's eyes narrow. His breathing is intense as his heart pounds. Running faster than he ever has, he locks his arms in, bracing himself. He'll cut the guy off at the corner, grab him, and hold him until an adult can help! That's the plan as he makes it to the street corner...

And runs dead into the runner's side... The runner was faster than he thought... a lot faster. Somehow, that's both lucky and unlucky at the same time.

Carmine braced body strikes into the dealer's right hip, right as they're both mid step. Carmine bounces off him, tripping over and hitting the ground behind the dealer. He hits the ground on his side, arm going numb as he cries out in pain.

The dealer's breath is knocked out as he's thrown off balance, tripping and running his center mass into a fire hydrant. A part of the hydrant knocks right where the sun doesn't shine, making the dealer's eyes bulge out in pain, legs twitching as he struggles to move.

Carmine coughs out, looking up and seeing the purse dangling by the dealer. His arm and head are both sore, but he grabs the purse, standing and wrenching it out of the startled dealer's hand. "Hey!" The dealer coughs out, but Carmine doesn't listen.

The boy turns around, shaky for a second, and begins running the direction the thief came from, hoping to get back to the lady it belonged to. As soon as he takes off, the dealer shakily stumbles off the hydrant and begins running after him.

The boy keeps running, as fast as he can. He almost makes it to the next corner to turn, only to feel a hand grab him by the backpack. The dealer wrenches him to a stop. The man is twice Carmine's height, but that doesn't stop him from picking the six year old up and slamming him onto the concrete on his side. Carmine hits the ground, crying out in pain and coughing out.

The purse padded his fall, but now his leg and shoulder ache fiercely in pain. Tears burn in his eyes and he sees the dealer's hands shove him off the purse. The dealer grabs the purse. "Shitty brat!" He kicks Carmine in the side while he's down, then takes off running back where he and Carmine ran into each other. Carmine coughs out in pain, one eye open to watch the dealer run.

Damn it. He's getting away... He's going to get away with it, even if he gets Kerry in trouble. People were now running in, citizens now actually trying to step in, but they're too far behind the guy.

He's running back to where they hit each other. If only Carmine was back there...

If only Carmine was back there, he could stall him again. If only...

"Don't use your semblance in public." Jared's words echoed.

Carmine coughs out, gasping for air. "No..." His a faint flicker of green, Carmine's form disappears as a shift in the air. The shift moves quickly, down to the street corner he and the thief ran from just now.

The dealer's face gets confused as, just in front of him, Carmine blinks into existence. Carmine immediately ducks... but not low enough. The dealer's knee strikes into the boy's cheek, bashing Carmine back. A spurt of blood from Carmine's mouth stains the dealer's pant leg. The rest of the shocked dealer trips over the boy, bottom taken out. He falls forward... head smacking right into the same hydrant from before.

He releases the purse, dropping it, as he rolls onto the ground, grabbing the pained spot of his face. The dealer curses a storm of words, crying out in pain and insulting the kid. He rolls around, getting to his knees, seeing three pedestrians rushing towards him, one the original woman. He sees the purse on the ground and realizes it's a lost cause. The dealer growls as he stumbles to his feet and takes off running.

The pedestrians make it to Carmine, the boy on the ground, holding his face and crying in pain. The boy coughs out, a bit of blood staining the concrete. The people all catch up, the woman getting her purse, as they immediate get to their scrolls, calling police and an ambulance.

But one thing is certain... they all saw him do that. They all saw the child use a semblance for sure.

One thing was for sure. His parents were going to be SO mad about this...

. . .

Somewhere in Mistral...

One month later

A man walks into a bar. Yes, the setup is suspect at best. A ratty guy with whiskers on his face. He wears simple black cargo pants, a large jacket, a hood attached to his undershirt that's pulled over his head. The guy's face is shadowed out as he walks in, looking around the bar.

It's not well kept. Broken bottles, wooden walls with holes and patches. A few dart boards with more holes than swiss cheese. What do they even throw at that? There's a pool table, actively being used by two teams playing against each other.

The mystery man, a rat Faunus, walks through to the bar, taking a seat. In response, the bartender, a Faunus with slit snake eyes and no eye lids, walks up to him. "What'll it be?"

The rat Faunus scoffs, waving him off. "A job for Gonzola. He in?"

Lacking eyelids, one might expect the bartender to narrow his eyes at such a cutting response. Instead, his expression is difficult to gauge. After a moment, the snake man bartender nods, moving to a phone. "If you insist..."

Picking up the phone, he seemed to dial an extension, not a full number. Internal calling. "Hey, you got a job offer." The bartender spoke softly. "No, a rat guy. Asked for you by name." Another second passed before the snake Faunus glanced over at the rat man, then turned away again. "No, this one's a lot skinnier."

The bartender paused once more, the rat Faunus sitting patiently. Finally, the bartender hangs up the phone, returning. He hands the rat man a key, nodding to a hallway on the far side of the bar. "Fifth door to the right, passed the bathrooms. He's waiting."

Taking the key, the rat man moves across the bar into the hallway. The lights are flickering, wallpaper peeling. The health code an easy absolute failure. That didn't bother the man, though. He walks through until he finds the fifth door on the right after the bathrooms.

The door had several cuts on it, damage all over. A sign was hung on it. 'FAUNUS ONLY'. The rat chuckles at the sign. He reaches down and turns the knob. Opening the door, he looks down a dark stairwell, leading to the basement. The man walks down the steps, moving through the shadows.

The walls are painted in graffiti. Various statements ranging from 'LOOT LEFT BEHIND ISN'T YOURS' to 'KILL ALL HUMANS'. He makes it to the bottom of the steps, the room nearly too dark to see. The man sees a single light hanging from the ceiling. It has a lamp shield around, directing the light directly down over a single small table. Each side has one seat. The rat looks it over, approaching and sitting on the nearest chair.

He sits and waits, looking around the darkness. He turns his head, trying to see through the shadows. He's beginning to feel like he's being punked. Where is Gonzola-

"Hey there, chump." The lax voice startles the rat Faunus.

The man snaps around, looking forward and finding a figure sitting across from him. How-When-What- This doesn't sit well. The man across from the rat Faunus is wearing a silver open jacket, showing a golden chain around his neck and black tank top underneath. His pants, shown with his crossed legs, are tight and silver as well. The man's face is obscured in the shadows, not quite in the light. However, his hazel eyes are visible in the dark.

The rat Faunus speaks slowly. "Killian Gonzola? The infamous outlaw?"

The man's toothy grin appears from the dark, his teeth just bright enough to see. He waves a hand, as if excited for the announcement for his reputation. "Aw, flattery will get you everywhere, but I believe you have a job for me?"

The rat Faunus snickers, starting to relax, but shakes his head. "I may have misspoke. I have information... and an offer for you."

The toothy grin disappears from the obscured face. "What kind of information?"

The rat man's hands came onto the table, rubbing against each other. "One of my... very, VERY low level dealers had a run-in with a child in the smaller port city of Sanctuary." The rat man smirks. "Seeing as I have contacts in trafficking services... I believe it would be worth it to kidnap the child for ransom... or for the black market trade-" He's cut off as the man reels back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Killian shakes his head. "You did not come to me of all people for a chump child abduction! Any liquored up, high on meds street rat could help you with that." The offense is clear, the man putting this job beneath him.

The rat Faunus reels back, hands up in a placating manner. "I-I assure you, it is very much worth looking into for you." The Faunus man smiles, showing partially rotten teeth. "The child is worth more than one can imagine. For one thing, he's an early primary schooler, but he's already unlocked his semblance."

Killian settles, hand raising up to cup his chin in the shadows. "So he's a big price tag for the black market. Probably has hunter parents... So you want me to kidnap the kid and be hired muscle against his parents?" He scoffs, leaning to one side. "You want cheap labor, you can go to the Branwen bandits. Like I care about some chump or chumpette child ruining a street dealer's day! His parents probably can't put any ransom up anyway!"

The rat Faunus snickers. "Well... that's where this comes into play." He withdraws an envelope from his jacket, placing it on the table. Killian's mouth becomes visible under the light, a frown in place. He's tan, very tan.

The ruffian hired man grunts. "I'm waiting for the point! Waste my time and we're done!"

The rat Faunus grimaces, but continues. "My dealer escaped the cops, and his pant leg was covered in the kid's blood." He reaches for the envelope, opening up the top. The rat man smirks. "A precaution to figure out who this kid's parents were. All hunters have medical records with one of the four major kingdoms. So... I pulled some strings, did some favors, and compared the boy's blood to that on record for all registered hunters in the kingdom of Vale."

Killain's eyes roll. He gets up from the table with a scoff. "And you found his parents. I get it. Look, I don't care about any hunter in all of the Vale kingdom. Unless you hit a magic lottery with one of those famous Team STRQ members, I don't care!" Killian disappears fully into the darkness.

The rat Faunus slid the folded paper from the envelope to the table. The dealer Faunus chuckled. "... Professor Ozpin." He finishes with a cocky grin.

Killian's hand whips out from the darkness, slamming on top of the folded paper with a hard smack! The sound echoes in the dark room. A screech sounds as Killian pulls the paper to him. The light above shakes from a mild shockwave from the man's smacking the table. The light now shows that Killian is reading the note... results of the blood tests. Within the barely lit edge of the shadows, Killian's face curls into a toothy grin. His accent twitches, saying his words slightly nasally. "Ello... What's all this then?"

The rat Faunus giggles. "So... you do this... we get a ransom... split the profits 60/40- in your favor, of course." The rat Faunus speaks. "I don't want any part of the action, but I would like a cut for... a finder's fee."

Killian turns to him, grin still on. "Awe, I wouldn't dream of cutting out a friend." The two grin at each other. After a second, Killian starts to giggle. "However, I typically give my boys , so I'll be taking that out of your pay."

The rat Faunus frowns. "But... then I'd get zero-" The Faunus is cut off as a gun shot sounds. The muzzle flash lights the room for a split second. The rat Faunus' body falls back, a bullet hole in his head. The Faunus' blood seeps out onto the dark floor.

"Oops." Killian speaks out, as though he isn't alone. "I forgot, you're not my friend." His hands clutch his gut as he cocks his head back, bellowing out a laugh. He pulls the paper back out, giddy. He finally moves under the light, showing tan skin, hazel eyes, and a blonde one inch length mohawk spiked. He looks at the paper, showing a picture of a certain famous headmaster with silver hair. Killian eyes it with glee. "I need some of my boys for this!"

He shakes with excitement, pacing back and forth. Moving under the light, a scaly tale comes out from the back of his jacket. His skin shifts tone lightly... a chameleon Faunus. He cackles. "OH! This is gonna be FUN ON A BUN!"

Join next time in Chapter 3: The Big Score!

And now we have the end of chapter two! There is a massive drawback to Carmine's semblance, but problems for later, I promise.

Apologies to those who may wait with baited breath for Roman and Neo, but we're currently in the Carmine arc, showing his backstory. They'll slowly work into it. For those wanting canonical characters, they'll come. Oh, my, they'll come. I hope the OC's at least seem... okay for now.

Speaking of, character inspirations/design inspirations:

Jared Uhlric (pronounced J-air-red) and Senaya Uhlric (Pronounced Sin-eye-Uh) are each based loosely off of two sets of characters. Being adoptive parents trying to instill good values from a smaller town, there are comparisons to be made to Superman's Jonathan and Martha Kent. However, their primary inspirations come from Naruto's Jiraiya and Tsunade. So one might say they're similar to if the two ninja tried to be the Kents.

Killian will be explained more in future chapters. His inspiration is so obvious, I want to showcase him and see how short it takes people to understand. It's not difficult. He IS going to be a cartoony villain too.

Weapon: Heulin Noon. Heulin is derived from Heul which is German for Howl... Howl Noon... it's a pun on High Noon for western showdowns... since it's a revolver. Howl because the wolf theme for the Uhlric family.