WRW

Wow, it has been a rough couple months. Sorry for no chapter last month everyone, trust me I wasn't exactly happy that happened. But hopefully from now on I can keep to my once a month schedule so you all have something to look forward to. This chapter was very important to get right so it took me even longer than normal once I was able to actually get the time to write at all... Anything to add Ms. Editor?

Yonder

Hmm. Dialog, check. My ship, check. *spoilers*, check.

Yep, this is a chapter all right.

WRW

*Deadpan*You are sooooo helpful.

Yonder

You're welcome!

WRW

Uhg, you're lucky I can't stay mad at you. Anyway, on with the show!

I hate him… I hate him, I hate him, I HATE him.

Neo's chant to herself wasn't completely serious, but she was definitely in a foul mood after having to trudge through half a foot of snow while still three days away from the next village.

On top of that, while Fen hadn't seemed to be a depressed mess the last couple days; he still wasn't talking to her!

Breathing into her hands to get some feeling back into them, she growled: At this point, I wish whatever it was that is keeping grimm away would stop just to give me something I could vent my frustrations on… violently.

Said growl didn't go unnoticed by Fen, who was well aware of Neo's foul mood even though he hadn't turned to look at her in several hours; though his reasons for doing so were a bit more complicated… or rather, simply cowardice.

With a strained smile he thought to himself, I have no idea what to say to her.

A few days ago he had an epiphany into what he felt for his ice cream-themed companion. The old man, whose words had caused him such mental torment for around two weeks, were wrong... but had some truth in them. What he felt for Neo wasn't love, but he did care about her. This might very well lead to love he accepted, though currently it was more simply a strong feeling of connection due to their extremely similar histories. However, upon finally arriving at his conclusion he was presented with a new problem that he saw no good answer to: how to explain any of this to Neo.

So, because of his new conundrum, he had just kept giving Neo the silent treatment the last few days and he didn't know how to stop. Plus, going by the growls she was emitting, he had a very realistic fear of various 'violent' outcomes occurring should he explain things poorly. Then, due to the weather, their travel conditions were at an all time low and though he was more than used to it having lived in Atlas most of his life, Neo was certainly not.

If things get any worse then Neo is going to snap, Fen theorized. Which is bad news for me considering that, while I'm probably the only thing within a ten kilometer radius that has a chance of survival, a berserker Neo is the last thing I want to deal with.

A shiver ran down his spine, and it wasn't from the winter wind. Just don't turn around. Whatever you do, don't turn around. Fen repeated this mantra as he felt the burning stare of his companion try to ignite him with thoughts alone.

Which Neo certainly was. As she focused on keeping her thoughts away from the miserable cold, she concentrated her fury on staring into the back of Fen skull in hopes that if she tried hard enough maybe it might really ignite and make words actually come out of him.

This actually served to distract her from the cold long enough for a couple hours to pass, but with it her patience had been worn dangerously thin. Thin enough that she decided to dance the line of the promise she had made to him.

Fen…

Her voice held a softness to it, a quality Neo wasn't usually known for, but she figured her other alternatives would just prove to be counterproductive.

Though unintentional, this softness only served to unnerve Fen as he refused to turn and confront her. The call did however freeze him in place and, somewhat unconsciously, caused him to pivot an ear backwards in a sign that he was listening.

Neo took the action as a sign that she could continue, so she decided to voice a particular question she had been having run in her mind ad infinitum since the campfire a few days ago:

Are you ashamed of feeling something for me?

Blindsided by the question, Fen could only stiffen at her words; something that Neo certainly noticed.

That's it, isn't it? The reason you won't talk to me. What? Do I remind you of them?

"Yes… You do." Fen broke his silence, the seemingly casual ease of him doing so surprising Neo into silence. "There are plenty of things you do that make me see them in you. But that has nothing to do with why I've been silent."

Fen actually rounded on her, having found his voice he decided to keep going while he still possessed the nerve, "After hearing about your past I had the realization that how I felt about you is different from how I've ever felt for anyone, and that terrified me. I thought I was projecting emotions from how I felt for my team onto you and in an instant that notion was shattered. I had no idea how to look at you. It felt illogical to be feeling something other than hate for anything after what happened… and it still does!" He couldn't help but laugh at the relative absurdity of what he was saying. "I felt 'ashamed', as you put it, because I actually care about you and I couldn't rationalize that to myself."

Neo, beyond the subconscious heat she felt rise to her cheeks at his words, noticed a particular word at the end of Fen's rant that gave rise to a different kind of heat.

Couldn't? Couldn't rationalize that to yourself? Anger building, Neo gave Fen a terrifyingly innocent smile. When were you able to rationalize it then, hmm?

Paling as he realized his slip, Fen realized that attempting to dodge the question would only doom him further. "Umm… a couple nights ago."

Oh... okay. And if you finally were able to sort your emotions, then what kept you from speaking to me the last couple of days?

Fen looked away awkwardly as he tried to find his voice, "I just... didn't know what to say to you."

Neo's smile turned to a frown as she glared at him with several emotions racing through her head, but chief among them was rage.

In a frightfully quick but fluid motion, Neo had her parasol in hand with its blade extended from the tip and heading for Fen's heart. So unexpected was the attack that only thanks to Fen's instincts was he able to begin to jump back so when her blade struck his aura the impact wasn't grievous. Still, it was plenty to send him flying several feet before landing in the snow and mud.

Dazed and shocked, Fen looked back up to see that Neo's expression now held a strained smile as she stalked a few steps closer to him.

Shaking off both the snow and his confusion, Fen was left with his own rising anger. "What the hell, Neo! Is that all the reason you need to kill someone!? Them ignoring you!?"

SHUT IT! Neo screamed in his mind. Her eyes blinked through multiple cycles of their pink, brown, and white, before she appeared calm herself enough for them to settle back to the usual heterochromatic pink and brown. Do you have any idea how agonizing your little request of 'give me space' has been to keep for nearly three weeks!? To have the only person still alive that I've ever opened up to shun me because he apparently felt weird about actually caring about someone else!?

Her anger only served to fuel Fen's own as he shouted back, "And what about you!? Do you think I enjoyed wallowing in my fear and uncertainty!? I've been in mental torment until just a couple days ago trying to accept that it was okay for me to even be feeling the way I do. Then immediately after, I was confronted by the problem of explaining any of this to you!"

Did you really think I wouldn't understand!? Neo demanded as she stepped closer. We both know what the other has gone through, out of anyone shouldn't we at least be able to fathom what the other feels!? Did it even cross your mind that maybe I was being plagued by the same fears and doubts!? That maybe we could have dealt with them together rather than both suffering in misery for so damn long!?

"OF COURSE I DID!" Fen roared as he rose from the ground, eyes flickering their blue glow. "Of course I wondered about how you felt! About if I should just tell you and find out what you thought of me! But every time I thought about it, the fear of what you'd say made every one of those uncertainties infinitely worse!"

Neo stiffened at seeing his eyes flicker, but held her ground as she responded with scarcely chained fury. Is that excuse meant to mean something? I trusted you with my past and you told me you didn't think less of me, yet now that trust isn't good enough for you to confide in me?

Clenching his fist tighter in an effort to force his emotions down, Fen replied, "Those things are completely unrelated and you know it. I can admit that I'm mostly at fault here, but that doesn't give you the right to criticize my feelings."

So that gives you the right to play with mine!? Neo's fury continued to bubble as she stepped closer again, now only a few feet left between them. If you had told me anything I would have done something to help you. Instead you decided to see how much stress and pain you could put on both our souls.

Fen felt the growl escape him as he struggled to remain calm, "Don't talk to me about stress. I've been dealing with more stress than you know for weeks!"

Then tell me about it! Neo shouted at him as her anger reached its peak. I can't do anything unless you tell me!

Unable to hold eye contact, Fen turned away with a response that was almost too soft for Neo to hear, "You can't help me with this."

Near about ready to stab him again, as that seemed to make him pay attention, Neo yelled, Can't!? No, don't deflect by saying I can't when I don't even know what this 'stress' is! Stop with the secrets! Look me in the eye and just tell me!

In a blink, Fen whirled back around and closed the gap between them so his was leaning over just a breath away from hers; his eyes blazing azure. "Then convince me you aren't afraid right now, and I will."

Neo couldn't help but shake at seeing those eyes stare into hers; though surprisingly to Fen, only one of her eyes had turned white as he waited for her response. Though she could not stop her trembling, Neo's expression turned resolute as she managed to say to him:

You aren't weak enough to let It hurt me.

Just as suddenly as it had appeared, the glow in Fen's eyes blinked away as he looked down at his companion with a serious gaze. Straightening up, Fen turned away and distanced himself from her slightly.

"It wants you."

The words from Fen had come so calmly that it took a moment for Neo to realize he had given her an answer, vague though it was.

What do you mean by that? The Omega wants to kill me?

"That would be far more simple if it were true." Fen responded with a sigh before looking over his shoulder at her, "It desires you. Not in bloodlust, I'm not even sure how to explain it more accurately, but the closest word I can use to describe what I feel when it comes to the surface and sees you is: yearning."

Neo couldn't help but recoil at hearing Fen's explanation. It's lusting for me!? That's absolutely disgusting!

Fen couldn't help but chuckle, much to Neo's hatred, "No, again, if that were true I wouldn't be still trying to make sense of what this feeling that comes up when it sees you is. It's still a grimm after all, the concept of sex doesn't really apply. Rather it's more like it wants to… ensure you stay close? I truly don't know an accurate way to explain a feeling I don't have a name for."

Hearing that, Neo relaxed a bit but was still generally unnerved by the revelation she had just received. Her anger had abated somewhat, but still had things she wanted answers to. Is that why you had been going off to 'train', to understand what the Omega wants?

Turning back to her with a look between irked and calculating, Fen chose his words carefully, "In part, yes. But also to better understand my own semblance. I had spent years developing techniques to keep the Omega locked away in my soul. After the Fall of Beacon, I came to the conclusion that if I am to get stronger, I need the Omega on my side. It just so happened that the night you spied on my training, was the night I finally made progress in learning that the Omega wants something: you. From then on, I've noticed feelings well up from inside me that only occur when it looks at you through me."

Neo winced slightly at Fen calling her out about spying on him, but was beginning to understand more about both Fen and the Omega. Then, does that mean you're able to communicate with it?

Shaking his head Fen sighed again, "No, communicate is too strong a word to describe it. It doesn't really talk, though it has shown to have the ability. It's more just an immense surge of emotions crashing into me that I have to decypher to get any meaning out of it. It does seem to respond to my own, but between me and it we haven't really come to anything I'd call an understanding as of yet."

Grrrrrh!

Fen spun around at the growl, "Hey! It's not like I enjoy being this uncertain! If I had a better answer I'd tell you!"

Neo was just staring at him blankly, then gripped onto her parasol tighter as she responded: That… wasn't me.

It took Fen a moment for Neo's words to register, but in the instant they did he had his grips in hand with their hardlight dust chains active. The two of them scanned the area behind the other but to no avail to the source of the growl, but as their uneasiness climbed they heard it again.

GRRRRH!GRRH!GGGGRRRRRH!

The sound echoed around them in chorus, or so it seemed at first; however Fen's sharp hearing led him to a much more disturbing truth.

"Neo… we're surrounded."

Though she didn't let it show visibly, hearing Fen's words only caused her muscles to coil like springs; ready to jump at the first source of movement that didn't come from them.

Then, suddenly, an idea came to Neo that caused all of her tension to release. Activating her semblance, she carefully stepped back into her own tracks while leaving a copy where she was. Able to more freely look around she still found nothing, but had a suspicion of where their foes were. A wicked smile crossed her invisible visage as she'd be getting, in her opinion, some well deserved payback on Fen as she put her plan in motion.

Focusing on the closest tree, she commanded her copy to fling itself at it. The look of shock on Fen's face as he watched what was presumably her suddenly move with no warning was priceless enough for Neo, but then her copy was predictably attacked when a black streak pierced the image causing it to shatter; his look of relief mixed with extreme annoyance as he caught sight of where she actually was almost made her lose focus at the hilarity of it.

However her attention was brought back to the black streak that was now embedded in the ground. Said streak was barbed like a very savage harpoon at its end and with the same speed it had launched, it was suddenly retracted back to its origin.

With its position compromised, the source revealed itself in a rippling shimmer across its body to reveal a five foot long chameleon-like grimm. It opened its maw to reveal several rows of razor sharp teeth with its harpoon-like tongue readied in its center to fire once again. Other than its dangerous maw, it also had several barbs on its tail that could be very inconvenient if they could be used as projectiles. The traditional glowing red eyes were somehow even more disturbing seeing them on the chameleon grimm as the two moved independently and erratically but also appearing to be focused with one eye on each of them.

The revealed grimm let out a echoing howl, and signaled its brethren. One by one, more chameleon grimm shimmered into existence, appearing on almost every nearby tree that surrounded them.

Such a sight for normal travelers, and even a fair number of huntsmen and huntresses, would likely have been struck with terror at the number disparity between them and the grimm; unfortunately for the grimm, their 'prey' were anything but normal.

Fen, after taking stock of the situation, calmly returned his attention to Neo, "You could have warned me you were going to do that. Would have one dead already if you had." He growled with mild venom.

Finally! Neo exclaimed as she barely acknowledged Fen's words as she had her gaze transfixed on the grimm that skewered her copy. A devilish grin crossed her face as she simply said: Stress relief.

Used to being the voice of reason, Fen attempted to plan with Neo, "Hold on, let's make use of your semblance and agility to distract them, and when I get an opening I'll thin their numbers—"

But, again as he was used to, he was ignored as Neo fell into a combat stance.

The grimm, as instinctual as they were, could tell that their target posed a significant threat. Each one had readied its harpoon-like tongue to skewer her through, but even while Fen attempted to plan with Neo, none of them had taken the opportunity to attack. It was as though a looming dread hung over the area, and both sides knew that the first to move… would be the first to die.

But grimm could only hold back their thirst for death for so long.

The first chameleon to appear was again the first one to act, and let out a hateful screech as its tongue launched at Neo like a missle. Being no surprise to her, she opened her parasol and diverted the blow, directing it into the skull of one of the other grimm which died instantly. Fen watched the lightning fast exchange in slight awe that Neo had been able to engineer such an outcome; his thoughts shifted from her being the distraction while he took them down one by one, to wondering if he should intervene at all.

With the first death blow struck, the grimm let out furious shrieks and five more black lines raced to skewer Neo where she stood. With surprising grace, considering the manic grin that still existed on her face, Neo leapt into the air and landed where the five appendages intersected at the place she had just been. Using their elasticity to her advantage, she launched herself into the air and used the hook of her parasol to catch the branch of a tree. Swinging off the branch, Neo propelled herself towards one of the grimm that had attacked and looked ready to skewer it through.

Another twisted its head unnaturally and fired directly where she would be, but upon contact the visage of Neo shattered and pierced the tree past it once again revealing it had been a fake. With her copy shattered, the real deal was shown to be floating down by her parasol almost daintily. This parasol wielding menace took the opportunity of the appendage that had just been fired and swung off it to change her direction once again.

The rapid movement was certainly appearing to disorient the army of chameleon grimm that continued to fire their harpoon-like tongues at Neo. It was all Fen could do to just manage to keep track of where she should be as Neo dashed and swung and propelled herself off trees and grimm alike as she took each foe down one at a time with that ever present manic smile she had manifested; and the longer Fen watched, the more he began to realize it was simply an expression of pleasure at being able to vent her bloodlust.

After the stress of the last few weeks I must have put her through, I'm kinda glad the grimm showed up. Fen thought to himself. Though how could so many have gotten so close with the Omega's presence detering grimm? By how Neo is tearing through them, they aren't particularly strong grimm. Could it have been our shouting match? No, even during that there is no way they could have snuck up in such numbers without either of us noticing; meaning they had been present the whole time lying in wait. But if they didn't attack at first because of the Omega, what made them give in to revealing themselves. Were we just here too long or—

As Fen contemplated, one of the grimm took notice and launched its harpoon-tongue at his back. His ears twitched and he sidestepped the projectile as though he had always known he was being targeted. With a flick of his right wrist, the chain in that hand wrapped itself around the offending appendage and prevented its return to the grimm in question. Turning to face it, Fen scowled at the dark creature with disdain dripping from his glowing eyes.

Raising his left chain he called out to the grimm, though he knew it wouldn't understand, "Excuse you. I was busy. But if you want to die that badly, I'll oblige."

He ripped it off the tree with a pull from his right arm, and while the grimm was in freefall he lashed it in half with his left chain. His own blood now burning, he rolled his neck to relieve several cracks of tension before declaring, "Alright, I suppose I have my own stress to work out."

Neo was currently on the defensive dodging the attacks from ten different chameleon grimm as Fen observed.

With him killing one of their own, a few of the grimm started to turn their attention to Fen who lashed out at two more with his chains which cleanly severed the heads of their targets and biting several inches into the trees beyond before he drew them back to himself. Neo took notice when a couple of the grimm targeting her shifted their focus.

She projected at Fen while piercing another chameleon through the eye. I can deal with this just fine alone!

Backstepping as a harpoon-tongue streaked in front of his face, Fen's blazing glare marked another target for death as he responded, "Sure you can, but then there wouldn't be any fun for me."

Too bad. Neo countered as she redirected three harpoons into the same grimm. I'm enjoying this too much to share.

Turning his chains into their spear form and deflecting multiple volleys of tail thorns, Fen continued to banter, "Well I'm sorry princess, but I wasn't asking for permission."

Neo was going to shoot him a glare but as she turned she was met with his spear flying past her to impale a grimm that had been about to skewer her. Fen grinned smugly with his eyes still ablaze. The sight sent a shiver down Neo's spine, but not exactly out of fear.

With a surprising burst of speed, Fen dashed past her to retrieve his weapon before kicking off the tree it had been embedded in and cutting down another grimm.

Tsk! Opening her parasol, Neo turned towards him to pout as she felt multiple volleys of tail thorns strike the reinforced fabric and bounce off.

There were only a dozen grimm left, and most of those remaining were now focused on Fen as the more imminent threat. All twelve shot their harpoon-tongues at him together in a bid to overwhelm him, but like Neo's agility prevented them from landing a serious blow on her, Fen possessed his inhuman reaction speed.

Holding his spear with both hands in a wide grip, he focused his weight on his back leg with the tip of his spear just past his front foot. Taking a page from Neo's tactics he strained his faunus senses to the limit, and as each harpoon came into range of his spear he used the hardlight blade to redirect them away from him.

Considering this all occurred in a fraction of a second, Neo witnessed the grimm's harpoons seemingly deflect against an invisible barrier projected from the tip of Fen's weapon; though she was firmly aware that wasn't the case.

Sparring had given them both a painfully familiar understanding of the abilities and limitations of each other's weapons after all.

Fen could feel the Omega urging him on, a chill stirring in his core as he felt the air around him begin to swirl, and unlike most times where he'd immediately attempt to pull back at feeling this sensation, this time he wanted to know what would happen.

The grimm retracted their attack but not before Fen severed a few of the harpoons causing screeches of agony from the unfortunate grimm. He shifted his spear back into chains and cut three more grimm in half, this time along with the trees they clung to.

The severed trunks fell with thunderous crashes, and Neo took notice of the near-feral state Fen had entered. Seeing the wind swirling around him made her fear that the Omega was manifesting, but when she noticed a distinct lack of black particles in the flurry around him, that fear abated somewhat. With her interest peaked, she decided to observe for the remainder of the battle.

Not that it would drag on for much longer anyway.

A rain of thorns was thrown at Fen, but he weaved his way through without even a graze to his aura. Whipping down two more grimm, their numbers fell into the single digits. It was at this point that the chameleon grimm decided to change tactics.

Shimmering like they had when they first appeared, the remaining grimm disappeared one by one until only Fen and Neo appeared to remain; though this wouldn't last long. Just like the first surprise attack at Neo's copy, a harpoon shot from nothing, revealing the location of one of the grimm. But unlike before, the grimm quickly retracted its tongue at missing Fen, who had easily dodged the assault, and was once again invisible.

Fen dodged again as multiple harpoons started to be shot at him before quickly retracting back to nothing. The hit and run tactics were easy enough for Fen to dodge, but he began to pant as his mind began to swim and the Omega's presence began to wane. Whether it was due to him not being used channeling the Omega for so long or some other reason he couldn't be sure, but either way he knew it was time to end this.

"Neo. Duck."

Surprise from the command didn't stop Neo from immediately listening and diving to the snowy dirt as Fen raised his chains.

With a click of a dial on each handle, Fen set his chains to their longest setting and whipped them around with all his strength in a circle. There would be no quarter for grimm and tree alike as his chains tore through their surroundings in a five meter radius. If there had been any dying screeches from the grimm, they were drowned out by the couple dozen trees that crashed down around them shaking the ground like an earthquake.

The sound of shattering glass soon after the echo from the trees crashing faded caught Neo's attention, seeing as it didn't occur because of her.

Rising up, she found Fen looked down at the handles of his weapons with frustration. It didn't take an expert to realize that the sound had come from the hardlight dust chains breaking after such extreme measures.

A sigh from Fen as he placed the weapon handles back on his hip changed Neo's focus to see that Fen's eyes had returned to their natural state as he said, "I always knew that was going to happen at some point. Though I wish the dust would have lasted until we made it over to Anima."

Well, it was certainly a flashy way to go. Neo commented as she gazed at the new clearing that Fen had just made.

Fen rolled his shoulders at the sore heat that came from his muscles. "Maybe so, but hardlight dust is extremely rare outside of Atlas. So for the foreseeable future, I'm basically unarmed."

Neo reclaimed her travel pack, which she had discarded early into the fight, before looking down the path. Glancing back to Fen she said:

I'm tired of this cold. Let's get moving.

Her sedate attitude surprised Fen somewhat, "I would have imagined you'd still be pissed at me."

The grimm satisfied my bloodlust for the moment. Neo replied as they started back down the snowy road. She looked back at him with a smile adding, Just don't pull a stunt like that again and I won't slit your throat while you sleep, okay?

Fen couldn't help but take a reflexive glup at her morbid threat, but hearing her do it also calmed him somewhat that she was back to her usual self, both of them were really. As he walked next to her and struck up a random conversation, he could honestly say he was thankful for everything that had happened today. A chill from his core made him feel as though the Omega agreed, a strange sensation all things considered. Though it might just be the beginning of what he was looking for after what he experienced today.

Only the future would be able to tell him for certain.

WRW

Ahhhh, feels good to have this done. Now I that we are officially ten chapters in I can start to do some things I've been planning since the beginning. Next chapter should be fun. I should be starting it in not too long.

Yonder

More please!

WRW

Oh come on! Can't you be satisfied for five minutes!

Yonder

Nope, get back to work.

WRW

Hhhhhhhhh, yes ma'am. Right away.

Everyone else, don't forget to drop a follow, fav, and review to let me know how you enjoyed the chapter.

Stay awesome everyone, WRW out.