Raven jumped slightly in her seat as Adam spoke, breaking a long, awkward period of silence that had lasted minutes on end after the teens had run out of decidedly non-romantic topics to discuss throughout the ride to their destination.

"So, this man we're headed to… Leonardo, was it? Is there anything I should know about him before we get there?"

Taiyang sat up a bit straighter from his place in the back seat and locked his eyes with Raven's through the rearview mirror.

"Not particularly, no," Raven replied as she redoubled her focus upon the road. "He's a bit… squirrely, I guess? He always seems just a little anxious, and I have an odd feeling that he might be interested in me beyond just being professional partners. It's a little… off-putting."

"Wait, what?" Taiyang asked, turning his eyes back to the mirror and finding Raven's elsewhere. "You never told me any of that."

"It never came up," Raven said nonchalantly as she shrugged.

"Too bad you can't get out of the van to defend her honor," Adam said lightly. "After all, it's no secret that you two are… involved."

Both of the boys lurched forward slightly as Raven slammed upon the brakes, bringing the vehicle to a sudden stop. Clouds of dirt kicked up from the makeshift road through the forest, and Raven heaved an annoyed sigh.

"Adam… I'm sorry, but I'm just not interested in you like that. Taiyang and I aren't together just yet, but my feelings for him are what they are, and they have nothing to do with you. You're a great guy, a close friend, and someone I care a lot about, but it's just not happening. I'm sorry."

The faunus' brows raised to the point that Raven was suspicious that they might actually disappear into his hairline for a moment. Suddenly, the boy looked away from her and coughed into his hand, his reflection in the window showing an incredibly embarrassed look on his face.

"I… I'm not entirely sure what you're… talking about…"

"I know that you have a thing for me," Raven admitted as she gripped the steering wheel a bit tighter and rested her forehead against the leather covering. "And I'd rather get this over with now. This whole ride has been tense because of it, and I don't want this to get even more awkward over time."

Adam took a moment to compose himself as Taiyang fidgeted in the back seat, seemingly unable to get comfortable.

"Raven, it's… it isn't about that. At all," the faunus said slowly as he finally turned back to face her. "I had set those feelings aside months ago, for the same reasons you're describing now. I'm happy for you to have found something romantic in Taiyang… whatever you two may or may not be, currently."

"…oh," Raven said quietly as she returned her eyes to the road and began to drive once again. She made an uncomfortable noise as she furrowed her brows, and then stole a pleading glance at Taiyang through the mirror. "He and I are… well…"

"…working on it," Taiyang finished for her. "It's complicated, yeah, but we're… I mean, we're sorta involved? Right?"

Raven kept her eyes locked to Taiyang's for a moment too long and had to swerve the van slightly to avoid a rather large rock in the road as she brought her attention back to the path ahead.

"…we are. Right."

"Then please, put it out of your mind," Adam said with a wave of his hand as he turned his attention back to the window.

"I mean, it's great that you're cool with… 'us', but you're clearly still upset," Taiyang pointed out as he leaned slightly closer to the back of Adam's seat. "We both do care about you, man. What's eating at you?"

"I thought you didn't want the remainder of this ride to be awkward," Adam pointed out as he rolled his eye. A moment later, he shook his head and sighed in resignation. "I thought you were invited on this mission because Raven lacked faith in my combat abilities and didn't trust that just the two of us could get this done."

Raven immediately hit the brakes again, looking a little sick.

"Adam, I wouldn't… if I didn't think you were ready, I would have said something! You've already gotten a few kills on the ride here and done really well!"

"That's what I thought, but that's not how this all came off," Adam spat as he gave her a cold look. "I was looking forward to a chance to prove myself in actual combat, and had no idea that your mind was still on something months old that, quite frankly, you're not supposed to know about in the first place."

"I told her," Taiyang lied quickly. "I'm sorry, Adam. I know I probably shouldn't have said anything but we were just… as a not-really couple, I thought she should be aware o-"

"It's fine," Adam seethed in a tone indicating otherwise. "I'll just be more careful with what I tell you in the future."

"Please don't be like that," Raven said softly as she began to drive again. The tree line ahead of them broke into a view of a port with a watchtower, from which a man in a floral shirt was descending. "Adam, all of this was borne of miscommunication, and we'll do better to be open and honest with you in the future. I promise."

"I hope so. You'd better hide, Tai. We're here," Adam announced as he sat up a bit straighter.

"Yeah. And… yeah. Sorry, bro. We'll talk later?" Taiyang asked as he slipped down and rolled beneath the benched seat in the back of the van.

"…hmph," Adam answered noncommittally.

"No more talking," Raven commanded as she pulled into the lot and parked the van. "And let me handle the business side of things."

Adam didn't bother to reply as he exited the van and walked around the front of the vehicle, to where a fairly buff man in a loud yellow shirt with a pink floral pattern awaited. He had a lion's tail, bushy brown beard, and kindly eyes befitting of his casual attire, which was topped off with a pair of cargo shorts and sandals. The man extended a hand in greeting and offered Adam a winning smile, though something about the sheer width of it struck him as a bit forced and unnatural.

"Ah, you must be Adam Taurus, correct?" Leonardo asked as the younger faunus took his hand in an awkward grip. "Good to meet you!"

"…and you as well," Adam returned as the handshake lasted a bit too long for his liking.

"And Raven!" the man announced boisterously as he took her extended hand and gave it a quick kiss. "Car trouble? I thought Jacques just had that van's battery replaced…"

"I… no?" Raven asked, caught off guard by the question.

"Oh. Huh," Leonardo mused as he folded his arms across his chest. "I saw you stop twice, from up in the tower. I almost went out there to meet you, just in case something was wrong."

"Oh, no," Raven answered quickly. "I just… I thought I saw grimm, off in the trees. We had to deal with a few on the way here, as usual."

"Huh," Leonardo replied with a quick shrug. "Well, no matter. Come, let's get these unloaded… though I do have some things I want to talk to you about."

"And I have the same," Raven answered coldly as she led the men to the back of the van. "Why only two people, and why specifically ask for me? You've done it before, but never this insistently…"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually," Leonardo offered as he watched Raven throw the back of the van open to reveal the usual crates of dust. "Money isn't what it should be right now, so I'm cutting back. I insisted on getting you because I know you can get the job done... maybe even by yourself. That being said, you're not in this for the money, are you?"

"No, I'm not, but I'll still collect my fee," Raven snapped as she hefted a box and moved out of the way to let Adam do the same. "This isn't your way of asking us to treat this as a favor, is it?"

"Oh, no!" Leonardo answered quickly with a hearty laugh. "Much the opposite! I actually have an extra, smaller job from here to offer, for additional pay… but I only need one of you," he added as he gave Adam a meaningful look. "It's quite easy, but lien is lien. Are you here for the lien?"

Adam bristled, sensing that something wasn't quite right.

"…I am," he answered slowly. "What did you have in mind?"

"Oh, it's simple enough," Leonardo began. "I just need you to come with me to deliver and unload this cargo. Cutting back means that I don't have my usual boys ready and waiting to unpack at the drop off site. I'll give you a ride back to Vale once the work is done, and I can spare say… 250 lien. It would only take a few h-"

"Adam," Raven said coldly as she tried to catch his eye.

"I'm in," Adam answered before Raven could stop him. "That sounds easy enough, and I'm not doing well, financially."

"Perfect!" Leonardo praised as the trio began to carry their boxes toward the docks. "It'll give us a chance to get to know each other for future jobs, as well! Raven, you'll be fine driving back alone, won't you?"

Raven paused as she set down the first of her boxes and gave Adam a hurt look. He returned it with one lacking any emotion, and she was the first to look away.

"…yes. I'll be fine."

Taiyang kept his eyes on the road ahead as Raven finished recounting the events at the docks after a good twenty minutes of silence. Without a word, he transitioned his feet up onto the dashboard and folded his arms behind the back of his head as he waited to see if she had anything else to say, before chiming in.

"Raves… we can fix this. Maybe he just wants to be alone for a while."

"It's not about the now, Tai," Raven replied, though her voice had lost all of its nervous energy and fervor in favor of an exhausted and defeated tone. "It's about how I've completely fucked up everything I've touched since arriving at Beacon."

"Hey, don't start down that road," Taiyang warned as he gave Raven a sidelong look. "Please. Especially not in front of me."

"Why? So you don't start feeling sick?" Raven asked with a scowl. "It's not like it isn't tr-"

"No," Taiyang interrupted, his voice full of annoyance. "Because I don't want to see you dig yourself into a defeatist hole over a few missteps. I care about you- the sickness is a secondary concern, at best. You couldn't have known this would happen."

"Maybe not in terms of specifics, but in terms of how I was making Adam feel? Maybe if I didn't spend so much time walling people off and being self-absorbed, I'd be able to figure it out," Raven replied as she turned her eyes to her friend.

Taiyang returned the look and shook his head.

"Maybe if he spoke up and didn't keep his feelings about you a secret, the situation wouldn't have devolved into this," Taiyang countered with a shrug. "There's a lot of 'maybe' on the table, and you're placing it all squarely on your own shoulders. That's not smart, or healthy. You're just going to end up wre-"

Taiyang lurched forward as Raven looked back to the road and immediately spun the wheel to one side, causing the vehicle to veer to the right at a dangerous speed. The van plowed straight through a collection of bushes and clipped a tree, spinning itself back in the other direction before the side slammed into a much larger oak. The entire van rattled and threatened to tip over before finally settling a good fifty feet into the forest.

"Tai! Are you alright!?" Raven asked frantically, her face alight with panic as she turned to face him.

"I'm fine!" he called back, his heart racing. "Where the hell did you learn to drive!? That's the third time this trip y-"

"You didn't see him?" Raven asked, her breathing uneven and panicky. "There was someone standing in the middle of the road!"

"There… what?" Taiyang asked, searching Raven's face for confirmation. "I… we have to get back there and check! You didn't hit them, did you?"

"I don't… I don't think so," Raven said nervously as she unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed Omen from its place resting between the seat and the armrest. "Let's hurry!"

Taiyang quickly undid his own belt and snatched Reel Talk from the back seat before hopping out of the van and beginning to follow Raven, who had taken off in the direction of the road at a run.

"Hello?" the girl called, cupping a hand around her mouth. "Is someone here!?"

"Hey!" Taiyang added, mimicking Raven's hand motion as the pair arrived back on the dirt path. "Hey, come on out! Are you hurt!?"

The teens turned and circled, listening intently for any sounds from the underbrush as they tried to pinpoint any sound other than the insects and bird calls in the area. Raven slowly drew her sword and took up a ready stance as her shoulders tensed, and she placed her back firmly against Taiyang's.

"Someone's here," she said softly. "I know I saw someone…"

"I believe you," the boy replied as he kept his eyes forward, opposite of Raven's. "Maybe they're hiding from us? Maybe they're hu-"

The rest of Taiyang's sentence never made it past his lips as the echoing sound of splintering wood made itself known. Suddenly, a massive nearby tree began to tip toward him, and the boy whirled and dragged Raven forward as he dived down into the dirt and out of the way. The weighty wooden column fell down across the road with a deafening crash, sending leaves, bark, and dirt skyward while narrowly missing Taiyang's leg.

"Wh… why did…?" Raven began as she dragged herself into a sitting position, looking terrified.

"I don't know," Taiyang replied as he leaned to sit up beside her. "But I… look out!"

The pair of teens rolled away from each other as another tree fell into the road, landing between them. Raven barely had time to get Omen up into a blocking position as an unfamiliar figure launched out of the tree line and crashed a fist into the flat of her blade as he landed atop her. His free hand shot out and seized around Raven's neck as he planted his knee firmly into her chest, his face twisted with rage.

Raven writhed and sputtered for a moment before dropping Omen and using both hands to claw at the man's grip, only to make no progress toward freeing herself. Just as she began to see black dots in her vision, several golden spikes impaled themselves into the man's right shoulder and then began to reel themselves backward, effectively wrenching him off of her and allowing Raven to finally gasp for breath.

"Get off of her!" Taiyang roared as he continued to draw the wired tines back toward his trident.

The burly man dropped into a wide stance and grabbed at the retracting wires in response, before ripping the golden tines from his shoulder and glaring at Taiyang as he spoke in a booming voice.

"No. No, I don't think I will."

The man used his other hand to snatch farther up along the caught wires and yank Taiyang toward himself. Taiyang stumbled forward with a look of surprise, only for Raven to rise from behind the giant of a man and land a raking slash across shoulder. The man's brown leather vest split and his aura flickered as he stumbled to the side. He let go of Taiyang's weapon and clutched at his shoulder with a hiss as he turned his attention to the girl.

"You… you were supposed to be alone," the man said threateningly.

Raven said nothing in response as she hastily moved to join Taiyang and began to size up their opponent. The man was clearly older than them by a few years and had a good foot and a half on Taiyang's height. He was built like a professional weightlifter and dressed almost like a cowboy, wearing dirty dark blue jeans and a sleeveless leather vest. His arms were hairy and covered in scars, as was his face, and he sported long muttonchops that extended down from his messy black hair.

"Yeah, well, she's not," Taiyang spat as he raised his trident in a cautious manner. "You want her? You'll have to get thr-"

"Who are you?" Raven interrupted with a cough. "Why do you look familiar, and why 'should' I be alone?"

The man merely chuckled in response as he let go of his shoulder and reached down into a pouch at his side. He withdrew a white crystal of dust and held it in his bare hand, before clenching his fingers tightly around it.

"Hazel Rainart. As for the rest- it doesn't matter. What does matter is that you helped put my sister in jail… and you ripped my vest. That's going to cost you."

"That's it. I saw you on the news… and during the robbery," Raven replied as she drew Omen back toward her face and leveled the blade parallel to the ground. "Leave us, and we'll let you go. We don't want any trouble, but we will fight if you force us to!"

"Raven," Taiyang said softly. "I've got a bad feeling about this. He might not be alone, and even if he i-"

Once again, Taiyang found himself unable to voice his thoughts as Hazel charged forward and extended a fist. A blindingly bright glow emanated from within the man's hand, and Taiyang felt a sudden invisible force throw him backward and over the road. He collided hard with a tree and cried out in pain before falling to the ground with a heavy thump.

"Tai!" Raven cried as she spared a glance back before returning her gaze to her charging opponent. She grit her teeth in fury as she swung hard in a downward diagonal slash, only for her breath to hitch as Hazel caught the blade within his bare hand.

"Cute," the man mused as a trickle of blood began to run down his palm, the bright red default blade of Omen trembling in his grasp as Raven tried to dislodge it. "But you're out of your league, girl."

Raven made one final attempt to wrench her weapon free from Hazel's vicelike grip, only to cry out in surprise as he wrapped his other hand elsewhere around the blade and pressed the dust crystal against it. The vibrations of her blade grew exponentially more violent in a period of mere seconds, until the blade shattered into a shower of bright red fragments. The force sent Raven reeling backward, holding only the hilt of the former weapon and a small jagged section of what remained of the sword.

"Raves!" Taiyang cried as he ran forward, thrusting Reel Talk for Hazel's abdomen as he reached Raven's side.

Hazel swung an arm downward and batted the weapon aside, putting Taiyang off balance as he took several steps forward to correct his footing. While the teen was unbalanced, Hazel drew back his other fist and took aim for the back of Taiyang's head. Raven interrupted the coming attack with a quick slash from a fresh, bright blue blade attached to Omen's hilt in place of her shattered red one. Hazel's arm quickly iced over, and he growled in frustration while his shoulder tensed with effort as he tried to shake off the freezing crystals.

"Slow me down all you want!" he taunted before bringing his other arm up beside the frozen limb. "But you won't stop me!"

Raven and Taiyang both backed off, watching in horror as the crystal in Hazel's hand began to glow white yet again. A sudden banging noise in the air was the only warning before the ice crystals exploded off of Hazel's arm, and the man rolled his shoulder before shaking out his previously frozen hand and cracking his neck.

"How did h-"

"Force dust," Raven answered quickly. "That's also how he threw you. Extremely rare and powerful, but to use it in his bare hand, and taking hits like he is… his pain tolerance must be incredible…"

"We can't win this," Taiyang warned as he and Raven began to step backward the moment Hazel resumed his advance. "We need a plan. Go and get the vehicle, I'll hold him off!"

"That's not a plan!" Raven protested.

"Go!" Taiyang insisted as he moved to run forward and meet Hazel. "I can keep him occupied!"

"The hell you can!" Hazel yelled, only to trip forward. The man fell face forward into the dirt of the road as Taiyang moved around to his side and bashed him on the back of the head with the end of his trident, once again causing his aura to flicker. Hazel let out another growl as he used his hands to protect his head, all the while looking downward to find the tines of Reel Talk and their attached high tension wires tangled around his leg.

"Go!" Taiyang yelled again. Raven made a face of uncertainty at him before taking off into the trees and disappearing from sight.

"Think you're clever, do you?" Hazel asked as he balled a fist and pounded it down into the dirt. "You were at least right about one thing. "You two can't take me. Not when I've got all the reason in the world to make her life a living hell."

Taiyang watched uneasily as Hazel stood and planted himself into a wide stance once again while readying his crystal, the familiar glow charging up.

"Yeah? I've got every reason in the world to protect her!" Taiyang replied, before engaging the retracting mechanism in Reel Talk once again. The boy hissed as he found himself being pulled toward Hazel rather than the reverse, and he just barely managed to duck the wide hook that Hazel threw at him as he slid forward.

"Never heard the phrase 'know your enemy', kid?" Hazel asked as he dropped an elbow into the center of Taiyang's back.

Taiyang's aura flashed a bright gold as he kept his grip on his trident and yelled in pain. Unable to wrench the cables free from around Hazel's calf, he instead used the butt of the weapon to throw a hard blow into Hazel's chin. The force of the blow sent the man reeling to keep his balance as he whirled his arms, and Taiyang used the opportunity to press a button on Reel Talk's hilt. The wires dropped from the weapon immediately and went limp, leaving him with a trident devoid entirely of points as he backed off and whirled the weapon.

"I'm figuring you out," Taiyang said confidently as he flicked his thumb across his chin. "And more importantly, I'm buying us time."

Suddenly, Taiyang began to back away from the road as he did his best to keep his eyes on Hazel. The man extended his hand with the dust crystal clasped within it as he took aim for Taiyang once again, only to hesitate as he heard a rumbling noise behind himself. Hazel looked over his shoulder just in time to see the van as Raven crashed it directly into his back, sending him flying nearly twenty feet. He rolled several times as he hit the ground and then lay within the ensuing cloud of dirt, motionless.

"Get in!" Raven yelled as she shoved the passenger side door open.

Taiyang hurriedly entered the vehicle and closed the door behind himself. His breathing was shaky, his entire body ached, and he was covered in sweat and dirt.

"Go, go, go!" the boy called.

Before he could even finish, Raven had the van turned around and stomped hard on the gas. She didn't look much better than Taiyang, though she had suffered fewer wounds.

"Are you alright?" she asked immediately as she gave Taiyang a worried look.

"I'll live," Taiyang hissed as he shifted to get comfortable in the seat. A chill ran down his spine as he looked up at the rearview mirror, only to see Hazel rising from the ground to stand menacingly in the middle of the road behind them. "No fucking way…"

Raven followed his eyes and found that she couldn't breathe for a moment. In response, she stomped harder on the gas and tore her eyes from the glass as she sped through the forest. Taiyang buckled his seatbelt as they began to reach clearly unsafe speeds, and he chanced a look sideways as he spoke in the gentlest tone he could manage.

"Raven? Are you alright?"

The girl didn't look back over at her partner as she kept the steering wheel in a death grip. Her cheeks were streaked with dirt and tears, and she let out a tense sniffle.

"I just want to go home, Tai. I just want to go home."

Author's Note:

Next week, the climax of Volume 1 begins. Get ready for some absolutely wild shit.

-RD