Though it was a journey that the young faunus had made every day for months, Sasha Rainart never did grow comfortable with the walk to and from her apartment and place of employment. The jewelry store was on the 'good' side of Vale City, right in the middle of the shopping district. Her apartment, however, was located twelve blocks to the south, where things were decidedly more dangerous and less regulated. The police often turned a blind eye to criminal activity in the area, colloquially known as the 'faunus quarter' due to a single block of apartments along the edge of it, and hunters generally had no reason to get involved in stopping petty theft and assault with so many grimm around the nearby forested areas. Every morning and night, Sasha walked to and from one world to another just to be able to afford her small, dilapidated apartment. Every morning and night, she passed the dust shop that been the target of what she hoped had been her final heist.

Sometimes she would stop and stare through the window, but she never dared to enter. The fear of being recognized was too great, and though she had served her sentence, she knew that such a thing would be of little comfort to the owners. Sasha also had a sneaking suspicion that a faunus- any faunus that entered the store would be closely watched and be assumed to be a thief, especially after her little stunt months prior. The thought filled her with frustration, as did the notion that a single refined Schnee-branded crystal somehow finding its way into her pocket accidentally could cover an entire month's worth of rent if offered to the right buyer.

On a day like any other during the summer, she stood before the window once again, just wondering. She was trying so hard to put that life behind herself, but urges from the past just wouldn't go away. Work was grueling, boring, and she was subjected to passive-aggressive judgment and comments on a daily basis. The prospect of starting at Beacon and beginning an entirely new life with no real friends or anchor save for Kali and her team was intimidating… and she didn't entirely trust Kali to begin with. The other faunus was too nice given their history, and such a thing was incredibly suspicious. It would have been so easy to just fall back into her old ways… but something stopped her. Some desperate hope that she- and her life could be something more.

Sasha's shift started soon. She knew she had to hurry to reach the store on time, lest her boss cut her hours again. It was as though the man was always looking for excuses to screw her over despite putting in her best effort, and it was a problem for some other employees as well. All of them were faunus. None of them were trusted or valued quite the same as the human workers, and Sasha had a sneaking suspicion that her salary didn't quite match that of the humans with an equal amount of experience. She couldn't help but wonder why the man had hired her to begin with, but she wasn't about to ask after having been turned down by so many other establishments on account of having an extra set of ears.

Eventually, Sasha arrived at the store and managed to get things running on time. The morning was slow, as it always was, and her uniform of a pencil skirt and sleeveless buttoned white shirt was scratchy and uncomfortable, just like any other day. As a personal effect, she had decided to keep her heavy chain belt cinched around her waist, and so far, managed to get away with it. She knew it was only a matter of time before someone commented on it, but having the implement made her feel safe when she couldn't carry a firearm into the store.

A customer asked for a different attendant to help them with several questions regarding a necklace as they gave Sasha a dirty look when she had walked over to assist. When told that Sasha had the morning shift alone, the customer had decided to take their business elsewhere- to an establishment that didn't employ a 'flea-ridden teenager' as they had put it. It was all mind-numbingly boring, predictable, and frustrating, to the point that she didn't even bother to look up from the display case she was polishing as another customer approached her. The moment they spoke, though, a chill ran down her spine.

"Pretty pieces of work, all of these. Must be worth a fortune…"

Sasha froze, her eyes widening as she stopped running her cloth over the glass of the case in circular motions. Within the reflection she could see her brother looming over her, his expression neutral.

"…w-what are you doing here?" Sasha asked. "How did you… where have you… you need to leave."

"I need to leave?" Hazel repeated as Sasha finally turned around, looking horrified. "What, you're not happy to see your big brother?"

The panicked, sick feeling in Sasha's stomach was immediate and intense. She looked around the store to check that there were no other customers, only to see that there was one- a lion-tailed man holding the door closed from the inside. The sight of Leonardo shifted her feelings toward anger, and she stared defiantly up at Hazel.

"You are not my brother."

Hazel blinked in surprise, seemingly caught off guard by the statement, Sasha's glare, or potentially, both. It was enough to make him take an uncertain step backward as he put his hands up to his shoulders in a gesture of surrender.

"I know you're probably upset that I didn't come back for you immediately…"

"And why didn't you?" Sasha demanded as she threw her rag down and folded her arms across her chest. Her tawny feline ears flattened against her skull, and she looked off to one side. "Actually… don't bother answering. I don't care. Maybe it's good that you didn't try to spring me from jail, because I've moved on. I've moved on from crime, and I've moved on from you. That chapter of my life is over."

Hazel slowly lowered his hands, his brows knitting in confusion.

"Sasha, what are you talking about? We've always had nothing but each other, even back before we were taken in. It was you and me against all the others kids, and then all of Vale…"

"And now, I have someone else to watch my back," Sasha seethed. "Someone willing to give me a chance to get out of the path you insisted we start down. I'm starting over doing honest work, and I don't need you here fucking it up for me. I have a future I'm planning towards!"

"I'm not here to make a mess of things," Hazel started as he took a step closer to Sasha. "I promise you, if I could have done things differently, I would have…"

"Well, are you doing things differently now?" Sasha asked as she nodded toward Leonardo. "And what is he doing here? Leonardo being here tells me that you're still up to your old bullshit, and I'm not going back to that life!"

Hazel raised a hand to rub his forehead as he closed his eyes with a grimace.

"Sis…"

"Don't call me that!" Sasha yelled, banging a fist down on the tempered glass of the counter behind her. "You asked me for information via text, and I gave it to you! You couldn't even… you didn't return my calls, I thought you were dead! I moved on both because of that, and to do better for myself… and now you're back, out of nowhere? You think I'm just going to join 'the crew' again and throw all of this away, not worrying that you and all the others will leave me to rot in a cell alone if we get caught again? How am I supposed to feel!?"

With a heavy sigh, Hazel lowered his hand back down to his side and shook his head.

"…I know, I messed up… but let me make it up to you. I'm not just committing petty crime anymore, Sasha. A woman offered me an opportunity unlike anything you can even imagine. Leonardo, Tyrian, and I are a-"

"Tyrian?" Sasha interrupted. "You're still running with Tyrian?"

"I broke him out," Hazel admitted with a nod.

"They said the convoy was attacked by grimm," Sasha pointed out. "The police were talking about it for days afterward."

"…it was," Hazel confirmed, leading to a long, tense silence between the siblings.

"…Hazel, what the hell have you gotten yourself into?" Sasha asked. "What are you doing with grimm?"

"It's… complicated," Hazel tried, well aware that Sasha was getting angrier by the moment. "There's someone I want to introduce you to. Someone powerful that could help the two of us g-"

"Someone associated with controlling grimm?" Sasha asked, only for the much larger man to visibly deflate. "Hazel, what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking about your safety!" Hazel replied as he threw his arms out to the sides. "Leonardo and I have to go to Mistral to do some work in the area. My employer needs the local hunters' guild destabilized, and she would be more than capable of setting up a better life for all of us than… whatever it is you're doing here. Where are you even living, Sasha? A job like this can't buy you much…"

"I have an apartment!" Sasha rebutted, looking almost offended.

"One that you're happy with?" Hazel dared to ask. "What it is that you're doing here… things could be better. We're not the kind of people who can just get by with honest work, the way the system is set up. Especially you, being a faunus…"

"So, what, you want me to just drop everything I've built over the last few months and run away with you to Mistral?" Sasha asked. "To destabilize a government? Stealing from a Schnee-run company so we can eat is one thing, but this… you think you have a powerful friend? Well, so do I. One who can do better than all of this, too, and I just have to wait it out a few more weeks before things start looking up."

"Is that so?" Hazel asked. "And what are you planning?"

"I'm going to Beacon Academy," Sasha answered. "I'm going to become a huntress, and Professor Ozpin is willing to help me financially until I can stand on my own two feet. I don't need whatever it is your employer is offering, and I definitely don't need it if it involves something shady with grimm. You're going to get people killed, and I'm going to save them."

Another silence filled the space of the jewelry store, and Hazel's expression soon mirrored Sasha's own.

"…Ozpin," Hazel said ominously. "You're casting your lot with Ozpin?"

"What of it?" Sasha asked, remaining defiant as she upturned her chin.

"My employer has told me things ab-"

"And who is your employer?" Sasha asked, unwilling to let Hazel continue to skirt around the issue. "What is it that you're hiding and so ashamed of that you won't even give me the details about?"

"Who she is isn't important," Hazel replied. "It's what she knows, and what she has told me about that man. Ozpin isn't who he says he is, Sasha. Relying on him is more dangerous than anything I'll be doing in Mistral, and I don't want to see you getting hurt! You're smart- you know that you should enroll yourself in the winning team at all times. Any other approach is shortsighted and putting you at a disadvantage, especially when relying on a snake like him."

"I have no reason to trust you anymore," Sasha insisted. "Get. Out."

"I'm not letting you do this," Hazel denied as he began to approach. "You're coming with me."

Suddenly, Sasha's eyes and the tips of her hair began to glow a frosty blue as she reached downward and hurriedly pulled off her chain belt. The heavy links dropped to the floor with a clatter as the chain itself adopted the ghostly glow.

"No. I'm not."

"You wouldn't dare," Hazel accused, his voice dripping with disgust. "Not against me. Not after all we've been through together."

"That was the past," Sasha insisted as she swung the chain up, gripping it in her other hand and adopting a threatening stance. "Let it go, and leave."

"What a decidedly Ozpin thing to say," Hazel spat as he backed up. With one final shake of his head, he turned to Leonardo. "We're leaving."

The faunus returned the nod and stepped outside, giving Hazel one final opportunity to look in his sister's direction.

"I'm coming back for you. Stay safe."

Sasha said nothing as she watched her brother exit the shop. After remaining in place for what seemed like a eternity, she nervously walked to the window and looked down the sidewalk to see the two men making their way off into the city. With a sniffle, she turned her back to the window and sat down to hug her knees into her chest. An intrusive, calming male voice echoed within her mind, though it did nothing but bring her even more frustration.

You did the right thing. There's so much more waiting for you, beyond what he can offer. That being said… we should find out who his employer is. I can tell that you still care about him…

"Shut up, you," Sasha commanded as she let go of the chain. The wisps of aura within her eyes and hair faded away, as did the lingering energy around the chain. She dropped it unceremoniously and gave the metal links a glare. "I didn't ask you."

Author's Note:

It's been 84 years…

-RD