First things first, I am sorry it took so long for me to write this up and get it out for you all. I've been extremely busy, and I barely got time to write anything last week. But, I am back finally. Kai and his friends make a return, and we get to see how they react to classes. Blind Kai is still blind by the way.

Justus80: It's Ozma/Ozpin, you gotta expect that from a guy like him. Such a morally grey character he is.

Arctech: Don't worry, Malienna will be coming back soon. She isn't going to just be the baby sister of our main man Kai forever. As far as straying from the canon though, I got this. As far as everything else goes, you'll have to wait and see what I do with the possibilities I have at my disposal.

Bolticronic: of course I will, kinda have too with these new teams I got to work with.

Oblivious IJ: Poor Jaune, I wonder how that partnership is going to go. Hey, don't bash on Yang too much, she knows not what she does. As far as silver eyed powers go I do not think they are similar to the Sharingan. The only thing they might have in common is that they are both eye powers, and maybe the fact that in this story the silver eyed activations may increase the strength and speed of the person using them. Saying that it's just like the Sharingan is a bit of an hyperbole I am afraid. Sharingan I think is much stronger. I mean, canon silver eyes literally only work on creatures of Grimm. I have not yet decided on theme songs, feel free to offer some though.

Banru: I am glad you caught on to that, I have done a lot of research on his character and I am happy that it all came together to help me write his character in my stories.

Thank you all for the reviews!

Now let us get on with the story!

Beta: Crowskull

The Blind Huntsman

Chapter 41- Volume 1, Episode 8

The Stress of School

Kai tapped a finger against the wood of his desk absentmindedly as he thought about his discussion with Ozpin, his apparent headmaster. He had papers in front of him, though he made no move to even touch them nor did he respond to sensing some of his teammates sit around him, Blake to his left, smelling a kind of feline aroma coming from her body which distinguishes her from anyone else, and Ruby and Orchid to his right.

All he did was think and think while the professor went on about monsters and Grimm or something of the sort. Kai barely paid attention, the only sound he was tuned to was the gently tapping of his finger on wood while his other hand played with the ends of the cloth that rested on one of his shoulders. His tail was curled up around his waist and tightening every time his thoughts strayed for the worst.

Ozpin wants him, that much was clear. In the same way he wanted his father back during his time as a student. It made sense when he thought about it, Malikai was insanely strong and he never really asked how he got that strong. Though he was sure his father would simply tell him that he trained nonstop. But while the training regiment that Malikai put on him two years ago through a message was grueling and rewarding through hard work. It was certainly not enough to get him to where he was when he died.

So now there was the disturbing thought that Ozpin did something to his father to make him strong, just like he did with Qrow and Raven by giving them just enough magic to transform into birds whenever they want. It was Raven that told him that about a year ago when Kai asked about her ability to transform purely out of curiosity. Turning into a bird and creating portals did seem like very dissimilar semblances after all, and unless Raven was somehow another one of these season maidens, she did not have two semblances like he did. But now there was the question on what exactly Ozpin did to an eighteen year old Malikai Matsuoka, and another question in which if he should take him up on the offer or not.

He considered telling Raven or Vernal about it and asking either of them for advice, but he knew straight away that they would tell him to not go through with it. They despise Ozpin, for what reason he does not know just yet, and didn't get an answer when he asked. Training with the headmaster was bound to benefit him in some way, that much was beyond dispute, he is a man with centuries of years of combat experience. He just might be the most skilled man in the world at the moment. If he did take him up on the offer, and if what he said about him being stronger than his father was when he first got into Beacon was true… how strong could Kai get?

Kai shook his head, he wouldn't let that seed Ozpin planted in his mind go any further than that. There was a reason why Malikai and Raven didn't trust Ozpin, and abandoned him to fight his own war. They both trusted him at one point, and both lost faith in him and went into their own corners in the world, they wouldn't just do that without any reason.

He hummed to himself as he tuned himself back into what was actually happening in his classroom, content with where his train of thought ended for now. Ruby was still scribbling away at something two seats to his right, and Orchid was still snoring with her face so flat against her desk he could almost make up every inch of her facial features with his sensing ability. Blake was probably reading that same book she pulled out in the beginning of class, he doubted that she ever put it down.

Actually, now that he was actually paying attention to the world around him, only a handful of the other students were actually paying attention to what the teacher was saying. Yang's team certainly wasn't, and the team Rick was on wasn't either.

He soon found out why.

"-and so, with my bare hands I successfully helped deliver a baby into this great world of Remnant while I was batting away Grimm with just one hand." The professor cheered as he clenched a fist burning with passion. "That woman named her daughter after myself naturally, I still visit little Petrella every year, and every year a single tear falls from my eye as I see what my bravery was able to accomplish!"

So that was a damn lie. Kai almost wanted to call out the teacher on it, Professor Port if he remembers correctly was basically a huge beacon of pure deception as Kai sensed him out. He seemed to be a round man, heavy too. He couldn't tell much else of what the teacher looked out but he had no intention to. He could already tell that this class was a joke-

"Kai Matsuoka! Do you see yourself as a true and honorable Huntsman according to the traits that I have recently described!?" The round man suddenly yelled in questioning at him, making him lurch up and at attention at the tone of his voice.

"Huh?" Was all Kai had to offer, he could hear the snickering of some students as he was caught not paying attention, though he was sure it would be very different if they were the ones caught. Whether he liked it or not however, he was now the center of attention for every other student in the classroom with him. The thought of it made him sigh silently.

"Huh? My boy, I am afraid that 'Huh' is not a valid answer, please try again."

Oh so this is how we're playing it then. Kai thought to himself as he raised an eyebrow. "I do see myself as a Huntsman, yes." He said, finally answering the apparent question that was asked of him.

"Is that so?" Port muttered silently enough so that none of the nearby students could hear him. But Kai was not one of those students. He used his enhanced hearing to catch what Port said to himself, and committed it to memory. He already didn't like this class and it was just the first hour in.

He kept silent on the matter, however. Instead, he stood there waiting with one hand idly resting on the hilt of Silver Ebony, the sword that still hasn't left his side since the morning.

"Come prove it then!"Port suddenly went from cold on calculating to boisterous and loud in the span of a second, surprising Kai as he sensed the man do the hardiest belly laugh he has ever hear. "My, ever since I have heard of your existence I needed to see you in action myself and in person! Go get changed my boy and come down. Go Go!"

Kai turned his head down to his partner, who simply offered him a shrug in return. He sensed it and sighed, shifting carefully around Ruby and Orchid and following the braille signs leading him to the mens changing rooms.

A few minutes later he walked out in his combat outfit, the entire mini-journey made irritated him more than anything. He could already sense the Grimm in the cage, and he bet that even if he couldn't sense but had eyes he would have been able to see that the teacher brought a damn Grimm to the class. But the question as to how the teacher got it in there and hauled the cage all the way back up to Beacon and in his classroom was something of a spectacle to Kai.

But it was well known that Kai wasn't just adept at slaying the creatures of Grimm, he was borderline at a masters level with it came to fighting Grimm. As was most of the other students probably. Once a person got their aura unlocked and training on how to use it defensively and offensively, they wouldn't even need a weapon to kill a common Beowolf. Of course one mistake could get you ripped apart by the monsters, but to Hunters and Huntresses in training alike, most days they were just a nuisance. Sometimes he wonders how humanity nearly went extinct in the first place if the Grimm were so weak and Huntsman and Huntresses so strong.

"Now I am sure you are wondering why I called you down here specifically to prove yourself." The professor said as he stretched his muscles for whatever reason, Kai didn't care or want to know why.

"To kill whatever is in that cage?" Kai asked.

Professor Port laughed, his head swinging back as he let out the same hardy laugh Kai heard before. He was genuinely amused, which confused the blind huntsman in training.

"My, you really weren't paying attention were you?" Port asked.

"... No." Kai answered honestly, flushing the slightest shade of red as the teacher chuckled once more.

"No need to feel so bad about it chum, you are forgiven this once. But only this time, don't let it get into your head." Port yawned, and looked to his wrist watch to see what time it was. "Oh dear, look at the time! Let us get this done quickly then."

Kai felt himself tense up as he sensed the heavy man pull out some kind of weapon from his back. He instinctively got into a stance and half drawn Silver Ebony with his left hand, only stopping when he remembered that he was still in Beacon and not up against the White Fang or Cinder.

"What are you doing?" Kai hissed at the teacher as he strengthened his stance. The teacher may be heavy and round, but he was a teacher and a Hunter for a reason, and it wasn't because of his ridiculous stories.

"A mere Grimm wouldn't teach you the lesson you need to learn, Mister Matsuoka." Peter Port said as he flourished his battle axe blunderbuss and rested it on his shoulder. "The lesson that I've been informed that you must learn is something you yourself will have to pick out and understand. Thus, I shall be your opponent for today's... demonstration"

Kai sensed around for his fellow classmates, they didn't seem all that surprised by this sudden turn of events, and surprisingly. Not even his friends did. Was he really being that oblivious to his surroundings while he was thinking about what Ozpin said to him? It seemed impossible, given his way of hearing and absolute reliance on his senses more than anything else. With a defeated sigh however, he fully drew Silver Ebony, and held it with both hands. Preparing himself for the overwhelming strength of the professor before him.

"Isn't combat training supposed to be for the combat training class?" A student in the crowd asked before they could begin. Kai could tell that it was Weiss after hearing her voice again before and during initiation.

"Why yes, but Mister Matsuoka is a special case." Port rubbed his mustache as he kept his gaze fixed on Kai. "Given his affliction, visual learning is all but impossible, and I can't force work onto a boy who can't see what work he is supposed to do. Nor can I force his teammates to write it for him. So his grades are going to be more revolved around a… practical way of learning."

That actually made sense. Kai took it for it was and sensing the acceptance within his classmates he could tell the feeling was mutual.

But he also wasn't stupid. Even if he said no to Ozpin, he was still got to be trained by many full blown Huntsman it seemed. It was a sneaky way to force him into it without even getting a solid answer from him, but Kai couldn't help but respect his decision. At least it would help him learn some things, and more importantly, get stronger.

"Are you ready my boy? We shall spar for a single minute, then I am going to pick out one of you for another demonstration I have in mind." Some of the other students perked up at that, but most of them groaned in agitation.

"I'm ready." Kai breathed in deeply and went into Focus Mode.

"Then we shall begin!"

Kai was the one who attacked first, with a minute on the clock his first goal was to get a few hits in at least. He may be a full fledged Huntsman, probably stronger and faster then him even with his plump body type, but Kai has been training with fully fledged Huntresses. Well, only one of them was actually a Huntress, and the other was the Spring Maiden. But he has been training with them for the better part of two years. He was used to the strength of a Hunter, he could only eat the grass so many times before he started getting used to it. Even now, Raven and Vernal were on a complete other level than him.

Which was why he was so surprised when the professor seemingly warped from his position, dodging his sword slash in the process, and appearing behind him already assaulting his neck.

Kai stumbled and fell over, his aura taking a big blow and the bones underneath his skin still rattling as his teacher cracked his fingers. Was that only a chop? A chop that strong no less?

Instead of being fearful of being struck like that again, Kai smirked. A competitive spirit lighting up inside him as he pushed himself up from the ground. Raven made it sound like the teachers at Beacon were pushovers compared to her. But evidently that was wrong, Kai thought about that as he massaged his neck and prepared for a second assault.

"Up again so soon?" Port asked, genuinely surprised. "I must be getting rusty, now I am going to look bad when I tell my colleagues I wasn't able to defeat one of my students in a single strike."

"I am sure they'll handle it well." Kai sniped back as he pushed off his back foot, charging at the teacher once again.

As he expected this time, his senses went haywire as Port dodged his attack expertly. Then swung his large weapon at his back. Kai fell forward instead of raising his sword to block the attack, getting so low it was like he was on the down part of a push up before he suddenly thrusted his arms up, propelling himself into the air with the intention of elbowing the professor.

His elbow was caught by something that felt wooden and metallic at the same time, and Kai found himself spinning through the air before landing on one foot. Dazed and disoriented.

If Port was trying to show him that he still had a lot to learn, he was doing it well. At least Vernal held back from time to time, even though she was definitely not as nice as Port was when it came to training. Port was just embarrassing him, dodging his attacks effortlessly while nearly defeating him with each attack he through back.

Silver Ebony lit up as Kai thought about the power gap between he and Port, a frustration building up inside him as he thought about Cinder, and his failure to help his father against her and her forces. With a roar, he slashed the sword through the air and in the direction in which port was standing. Good enough.

Port opened his eyes and used his full strength in a counter attack. His battle axe heating up to a bright red color as it met the arc of white light that was shot out of his blind students blade. He managed to negate the attack, and immediately blocked Silver Ebony from cutting through his aura with the blade of his axe.

"Time is up!" Port declared, instantly draining the adrenaline within Kai along with any excitement the boy felt.

Kai hesitated as he drew back Silver Ebony and returned it to his scabbard. He sensed something negative with his professor however… it felt like disappointment.

"Mister Matsuoka, what would have happened if I weren't strong enough to defend against that attack?"

"W-what do you mean?" Kai stammered.

It was only then did he realize just how scared the other students directly behind Port were. He didn't even realize. If Port was too weak to defend against his light attack… then not only he, but the students as well might have…

"Oh…"

"Oh indeed. You would have killed me, and a a few bystanders behind me. A problem I already see within you is a tendency to go all when you do not need to." Professor Port began. "There are going to be those stronger than you, yes. But there are also going to be those weaker than you as well. You wouldn't want to be responsible for the deaths of innocents now would you?"

"No…" Kai said shamefully. He didn't use his semblance in this fight because of its destructive capabilities, but he was considering using it in this fight to give himself more of an edge. He momentarily forgot that he was in a classroom full of occupants, all unarmed and unprepared for a fight. Those that might have been hit by his light attack may not have been killed by the initial impact but the burning effect it leaves afterward would have melt through any aura and left heavy scarring.

Kai's shoulders slumped, fully processing his mistake.

"The fact that you regret your mistake is indication enough that you will grow into a fine Huntsman. Remember lad, the best lessons are those learned after a mistake." Port said, finally speaking some wise words as he turned back around to the rest of the class.

"Now, who else thinks they have what it takes to be a Hunter of Remnant!?"

Many hands rose, but only one could be chosen.

Thankfully, Kai got out of there before the arguing started.

"Oh please Kaizy, you aren't that bad." Orchid said, putting emphasis on the word bad just to prove a point.

"Orchid, if I go too far while we're training and hurt any of you, I want to know what to avoid so I don't make the same mistake I made earlier." Kai argued, pressing his point. "Have I ever hurt any of you while training?"

"Nope!" Ruby, and Orchid chirped at the same time, and Kai couldn't find it within himself to even try to tell if either of them were lying. They sounded genuine enough anyway.

"Yeah, no Kai. You're overreacting a bit here." Yang added. "Yeah, sometimes you get a little excited, but we all do when we get into a match, be it sparring or otherwise."

"I'm more concerned as to why our Grimm studies teacher would be adding a practical into what we are being graded on." Weiss complained loud enough so that everyone around her heard every word, earning a snicker out of her partner. The team that was without a doubt named after Ruby joined up with team KRBR after class, mostly because Yang and Brick ran up to them, making Ren and Weiss join up with them so they could actually look like a full team. Rick's team wanted to join up, but after Nora carried Jaune in a piggy back ride, Rick and Pyrrha were forced to run after their other teammates and leader so they wouldn't lose them. They shall be remembered. "At the last minute no less as well!"

"You're still mad that Professor Port made us both work together to take down that Boarbatusk aren't you?" Brick asked, earning a scowl from his white haired partner.

"Ugh, don't even get me started on that mess. I still can't believe you shocked me!"

"It's not my fault you got in the way of my lightning strike! I mean, how did you even manage that!? It's literally as fast as lightning."

"You have a naivé sense of how fast lightning is then."

"You-"

"Calm, please." Ren said with a certain authority in his voice. To Yang's immense amusement, it seemed to work like a charm on the two who clammed up right away. Brick out of instinct, and Weiss out of respect for her leader. After a few hours, it seemed that Weiss grew to accept Ren as her leader, he was good at it after all. He never gave her anything to complain about.

"So yeah, you're okay Kai. Don't worry." Ruby continued as if Brick, Weiss and Ren never spoke up in the first place. It was good to hear it out of her for Kai, since he actually started training with her more before Beacon started because he thought he was going to be away from her for a long time. He tried to get her into a lighter version of what he had to do, and to an extend it worked. But Ruby's genes just didn't allow her to get much larger muscle mass, and instead leaned toward a more agile and flexible fighting style. Combine that with reflex and semblance training, and she quickly became one of the people who could defeat him in combat since she moved so quickly that Kai wasn't able to keep up with her most of the time. It didn't help that she knew exactly how his senses worked, and worked her way around them. She was still young however, so while she could defeat him one on one, she would only do so about thirty percent of the time.

"I'm glad." Kai said as a rare smile grew on his face, one that made those around him perk up as well.

"Have you all known each other long?" Blake asked, politely filling the silence that carried for a few minutes as they made their way to their next class.

"Why my dear Blakey flakey on the cakey, are you curious?" Poetic Orchid asked as she rested one of her elbows on the disguised faunus' shoulder.

"I… what?"

"I see that you are perplexed, perhaps that can be fixed by reading about some of that sex."

"W-WHAT!?" Blake shrieked uncharacteristically and flushed. Finding herself rightfully scared when she realized that she couldn't pull away from the Flamingo Goddess' almighty grip.

"I know~" Orchid whispered to her so quietly that to the others it only looked like she was moving her lips in some pattern, but with the way she whispered it into her ear made it more than easy to overhear.

"Oh, that's just rhymey Orchid, you get used to it after a while." Yang yawned, everything happening around her was something she has seen and heard before. It showed.

"Let's just get to class guys." Kai said as Blake began to splutter something out about her books being a part of the romantic genre and not purely revolved around whatever smut was. "We shouldn't be too far away."

This was his team and friends, they took some getting used to, but they were the people he would die for if he had to. They were his second family.

Emerald paced around the dark room as her partner sat down on one of the wooden chairs and fixed some screws in his legs. She kept muttering her thoughts out loud and made a squeaking sound with her foot every single time she stopped and turned around, only to do the same thing. It went on like that over and over and for several minutes. Mercury only able to stay sane because of the work he had to do on his legs, an upgrade so to speak.

"No… that can't be right." Emerald muttered a little louder as she stopped for a few seconds, filling her partner with hope as he thought that she was finally going to stop, only to continue pacing. In a different path this time.

"What about-"

"Finish that sentence and I swear to God I will murder your first born child." Mercury snapped, slamming his personal screwdriver down on his desk as he looked straight into Emeralds red eyes with his own grey orbs.

"I am never going to have children." Emerald countered with a sigh as she leaned on her hip. "Are you finally in a speaking mood now?"

"Hmph, I didn't think you liked the sound of my voice. I'm flattered." Mercury quipped, any scent of anger snuffed out on a dime.

"Don't flatter yourself please, you'll make me barf." Emerald said as she held a hand up to her mouth and gagged dramatically, earning a chuckle out of her silver haired comrade. "Even your voice is more preferable than this boring silence, as much as I hate to admit it." She added as she leaned up against the wall, crossing her arms and one of her legs over the other as she waited for Mercury's response.

"And I am sad to admit that I don't really have a lot to say at the moment, you can try again later if you like though." Mercury said as he put his right leg down, and then rose his left leg. Beginning to work out the kinks on that metallic leg while humming an obnoxious tune.

"Really? Not even about what happened earlier this week?" Emerald asked, tilting her head in confusion.

"We shouldn't talk about that, you know Cinder punishes anyone who does." Mercury hissed at her, even looking to the door as if Cinder was about to burst through at that very moment.

"Cinder isn't here right now, she's with Roman and that other chick. Planning something." Emerald looked conflicted, and clearly agitated by this turn of events.

"What, jealous that she isn't paying much attention to you anymore?" Mercury teased, more than happy to change the topic and start some banter with his mint haired partner in crime.

"No, and don't try changing the topic on me. I'm not as stupid as most people." Emerald pointed out, narrowing her eyes at Mercury and just daring him to try and change the topic again.

The trained assassin sighed, and shook his head. "Yeah, it'll work one day though."

"The day that happens is when Salem decides she wants humanity to live in peace."

"Ha. So you do have a sense of humour."

"Cut the shit Mercury, I haven't seen Cinder that angry in a long time." Emerald started, looking down as she remembered a scene burned into her memory. "Not since-"

"Not since the brat unlocked his little eye powers, yeah, I've noticed. I don't know if you realize this but I was there when it happened. Literally stood right next to you too." Mercury said, cutting her off as he cut his work short and pulled his pant legs over his metal parts. Then proceeded to stand up and roll his shoulders, groaning as he heard and felt the satisfying clicks of his bones and muscles settling into place.

"And then what happened the other day, Cinder hasn't been in the best moods." Emerald added.

"Yeah, no shit. She killed three guys for just talking about it behind her back. Burned them black and threw them in the ocean." Mercury snickered at the memory, but it was clear that he was disturbed by it. As much as he enjoyed cruelty and making people feel pain, he was never too fond with pointless killing. If someone bothered him, yeah he might break a bone or ten, but he wouldn't kill the person unless they made him really mad. But at that point the fight may have already started.

"And she has been making me train with my semblance a lot more ever since then." Emerald said as she brought a hand up to apply pressure to the side of her head. "Over and over again, using my illusions on ten people at once sometimes. Gah, it makes me head hurt."

"Hey well, at least you have a semblance in the first place." Mercury grinned as Emerald glared at him. "How's your head now that you brought it up?"

"Hurts, just like the last time you asked." Emerald drawled, rubbing her head with both hands to try and make her headache fade away painlessly.

In time time between what happened in Mistral and now, Cinder has been making Emerald train extensively with her illusional semblance. Every single day it used to be for almost half a year. After her and Mercury's failure to capture Kai while he was weakened, and their failure at defeating the Violet twins, she was nearly killed for it when Cinder recovered from her battle. She is still surprised to this day when Mercury stood up for her, and earned a scar on his chest for it. But even with her life, Cinder made sure she wished she was dead sometimes. Forcing her to create illusions for ten people at once instead of her previous limit of two, and to target specific senses like hearing and smelling. No doubt intended for a certain silver eyed warrior. It was too much for her in the beginning, and she began seeing illusions she wasn't creating. Not that Cinder truly cared of course, she only slowed down on the training when her boss told her to so she wouldn't be driven insane by her own abilities.

The training worked to an extent, she is now much stronger mentally, and now she can cast an illusion on four people at once without too much strain on her mind. Anything above that leads to a violent migraine, and as Arthur Watts diagnosed, could lead to a possible stroke that would leave her braindead.

Even though the training was over and stopped (With physical training continuing of course), Emerald still had that instinct that told her to keep going, or the pain will only spread to the rest of her body via flames. But the drawback of all that training was the occasional headache or migraine that bothered her to no end. Mercury once quipped that now he doesn't even need to be near her to give her a headache, and as stupid as it was of him to say that, he was not completely inaccurate.

"Damn, that sucks." Mercury said, showing a strange amount of concern for his partner in crime as he took a step forward and seemingly tried to look into her head.

"Mercury…" Emerald sighed, then looked to him. "Why are you still here?"

"Eh? Didn't I tell you why before?" Mercury asked in return, tilting his head out of confusion.

"No…"

"Huh, must have been a dream or something then."

"Be serious for once in your life and answer the question please." Emerald snapped, sounding more irritated than she really intended to be, not that she felt bad about it. Sometimes you had to get a bit mean to get through Mercury's thick skull.

"Tch, whatever. Where else do I have to go? Can't go back to Mistral after what we did, sure as hell can't go to Atlas, and Vale already started huntings us down now that they know that we're here. Even if I wanted to go, where would I? Vacuo?" Mercury laughed at the thought. "Even if I could escape this shit I don't know if I want my balls melting off for the rest of my life. If I even could manage to escape Cinder, Salem, and whoever they send after me for years to come."

"That the only reason?" Emerald asked, a smirk curving up from her lips as she teased him.

"Because I'm madly in love with you, and I can't bear to leave you with them all on your own." Mercury rolled his eyes. "I don't know what else you want me to say Em, that's all there is to it."

"Hmph, whatever you say." Emerald said with a roll of her eyes of her own. Their relationship have been constantly dipping over the years, hating each other one moment, and being there for each other the next. It was a roller coaster of emotions that neither of them seemed keen on getting off. Between Cinder, Salem, Ozpin and his allies, maidens, and silver eyed warriors. The constant that has always been there was Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black. As much as they both might say that they hated one another, some of the nights they've shared together scream out the contrary. They were young and hormones were confusing, neither of them sought to deny that.

A silent message passed between the two as they brushed their fingers against one another just before Emerald's scroll started ringing. The caller ID said that it was Roman's code name; Flame Stick. But they both knew that Cinder may very well be on the other side of this scroll call once they answered, so they took careful attention to make themselves look right and 't want Cinder getting angry with them about anything while she was still so quick to lose her temper.

"Ah! There they are. The kiddies, how's it going tonight?" Roman asked once Emerald worked up the courage to answer the call.

"What do you want Torchwick?" Emerald asked straight away.

"What, I can't call my kids just to say hello? Talk about entitled."

"Ergh…"

"Calm down Minty, things are a bit different this time around though. Boss wants to talk to Quicksilver over there." Roman revealed.

"Me?" Mercury asked, pointing to himself in disbelief. Cinder doesn't so much as look at him for more than a second these days. She just expects him to know what he has to do, and most of the time he does. The last time she specifically called for him though… it felt so long ago for him.

"Him?" Luckily, Emerald was just as surprised as he was.

"Yeah, the kid who's in his late teens and already has grey hair, that guy." Roman confirmed, rolling his green eyes as is seen through the screen.

Mercury and Emerald look to each other and keep their eyes locked onto one another. After a few seconds, Emerald shrugs and hands him the scroll. With a nervous gulp, Mercury reluctantly steps forward and apprehensively takes the scroll from Emeralds hands as if it was a bomb about to explode.

Cinder's scarred face was there to meet him, and he immediately forced himself to look away from the left side of Cinder's face and stare into her right eye. He didn't know how, but Cinder would somehow know if he was looking there, and he didn't want to know what the punishment for getting caught doing that would be.

"Mercury." Cinder greeted grimly, her face as hard and stone cold as ever with a sharp edge to it.

"Mam." Mercury greeted back politely. He could hear Emerald step back and take a seat a few feet away from him, her eyes were filled with concern, but just seeing Cinder's face through the back of the clear scroll forced her into submission. He could understand why as well, and couldn't at all be upset with her.

"I have a mission that requires your… expertise." Cinder stated slowly, narrowing her eyes at him when he raised an eyebrow at her. "Tell me again, what did your father teach you before you murdered him?"

"He… He taught me how to be an assassin." Mercury hesitantly answered, he never liked talking about his father. He killed him for his own reasons, and Cinder and Emerald both already know why. Why it was brought up again however, was still a question in his mind. "How to kill, how to stealth, the whole nine yards."

"Mm, it seems like my memory was correct after all then." Cinder smiled at him, making his spine feel cold in his back. When Cinder Fall smiled, it could be one of two things. 1. She could be in a very rare good mood. And 2. She has thought up something so diabolical that it put her in a good mood, and every single time it was number two.

"I have some targets for you, only one of them needs to be kept alive. Kill the other."

Mercury sucked in a deep breath, but kept his mouth shut. He killed his father just so he didn't have to be an assassin. Yet Cinder was here, telling him- No, ordering him to be just that. He wanted to argue, but this wasn't the same woman from two years ago who would actually listen to what her underlings had to say. She would kill him if he said no.

So he complied.

"Understood… Who and where are these targets if you don't mind me asking?"

Cinder's sick grin could only be described as disturbing as she got what she wanted. It was nearly ear to ear, and more of her scarred tissue showed beneath her hair as her face lit up. She was literally two faced in a literal way. One side was beautiful, and the other grotesque, especially with the Grimm bone mask she wore underneath her bangs on the left side of her face. No one has ever seen her take that off ever since Salem gave it to her after returning injured from Mistral's Vytal Festival.

"I am sending you a picture of them now, and you'll be surprised with how close they are, trust me." Mercury didn't trust her, not one bit. "Did you get it?"

Mercury's scroll dinged right as she said that, and he looked down at the picture message only to widen his eyes in shock and genuine fear.

In the picture were two female monkey faunus. One a middle aged woman, and the other a little girl who barely looked more than two years old. At first glance, he would have wrote them off as some pair of a mother and daughter unfortunate enough to catch Cinder's attention. But in the next second of him looking at this picture, one key trait stood out to him.

The little girl had bright silver eyes, and the same color tail as the Blind Huntsman Kai Matsuoka.

Once he found out who the girl was, it didn't take long for him to put the pieces together that the older woman was the blind kids mother.

"They are…" Mercury's voice trailed off, the impact not quite fading away just yet.

"Maron and Malienna Matsuoka. They are moving to Vale, and Watts intercepted and hacked into a text message sent between Ozpin and the mother and figured out where they were going to be staying. It will be heavily guarded with security and some retired Hunters. Which is why stealth is going to be of the utmost importance." Cinder took in a sharp breath, almost choking on it as she thought of the results of what this assassination would have. "Our Queen wants the silver eyed brats alive, but the mother is of no use to us. Kill her, and take the girl. Little Kai will come in time."

"Is… this an order?" Mercury asked, his unseen hand shaking.

"Of course it is, an order from me shall never be taken lightly."

Cinder hung up with those parting words left hung up within Mercury's mind. He thumbed the scroll off, and dropped it onto the ground. His breathing was ragged and hoarse, hand still shaking as he took in what Cinder had just ordered him to do.

Emerald could only offer support by stepping up to him and placing a hand on his shoulder. She wouldn't insult him and say that she knows how he felt, and she was just as shocked after hearing what Cinder had just said. The little girl was no threat, and the mother's only wrongdoing was doing what any mother would do, and that was protect their children.

"What are you going to do?" Emerald as the silver haired teen.

Mercury pulled away from her, arms crossed and head help up high.

"What I have to, I guess."

God, this chapter was hard to write. I had a bad case of writer's block this chapter because it was one of the ones I didn't really have a whole lot of plans for. There was Ports class, and the part where Mercury was assigned an assassination mission on Maron and Malienna, and between that I didn't have much to go off of.

But, we all know that Marcus Black trained his son to be an assassin, but isn't it weird that we've never actually seen Mercury go on an mission to kill someone besides Tuckson? And even then, he never killed anyone after that. An assassin who sucks at killing people, talk about ironic.

I am glad I was able to get this chapter finished finally though. Please review and let me know what you think of the chapter, if you want to follow me on the progress of all the chapters that I write, go ahead and give me a follow on twitter: T witter . com (slash) genatools

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JamesFames