Chapter 2

[Nora Valkyrie]

"That. Was. So. Cool!" she exclaimed, looking around the place at the quickly dissolving dead Grimm. She didn't care for those, but she could almost see the variants the man in front of her had been… What had he been doing? Ordering them? Were they like pets and he was taking them out for a walk? Because that would be weird and awesome!

The man turned towards where Ren and Nora herself were standing.

"Glad you enjoyed the show," he replied with a smirk, apparently unsurprised that they were there. "Can I do anything for you?"

"Can I take one for a walk?" Nora asked excitedly as she started walking towards the man, doing her best to look adorable, like she did when asking Ren to do something he didn't want to. The man blinked a few times and Nora was ready for a confused question as to what she was talking about. People were usually slow on the uptake, she'd learned.

"... Sure?" he answered hesitantly instead, looking thoroughly confused but still letting one of the Grimm but not Grimm-Grimm out of his shadow, which was all kinds of amazing all by itself. The man looked at the creature then and then at Nora, while she had trouble keeping herself still. Could she really…? "Have fun?" the man asked, his lip twitching up as she squealed and jumped on the back of the Beowolf but not Beowolf-Beowolf.

But, the thing didn't move.

"Ah, it's not moving?" Nora asked, throwing a confused look towards the man.

"It just occurred to me that maybe we should introduce ourselves?" he asked.

"Ah, of course, silly me!" she exclaimed before meaning, still on top of the not beowolf-beowolf. "I'm Nora Valkyrie and my friend over there is Lie Ren! Nice to meet you Not Grimm-Grimm Master."

"Not Grimm-Grimm…" the man mumbled with a baffled smile. "I'm Vincent Blackwood, and my friend over there-," he introduced himself, before waving his hand towards a man that was just casually leaning against a tree off to one side of the clearing. "-is Silver Astra," The man in question lightly waved at them from where he was.

"Nice to meet you, Vinny!" she exclaimed, glad that she had apparently made a new friend. Vale was really as great as she thought it'd be, and Ren and her hadn't even joined a Beacon yet. Things were finally looking up for them, it seemed.

"Vinny…" the man repeated, his grin falling a little as his expression shifted. The other man, Silver, winced a little at the nickname. Had she struck a nerve unknowingly? It wouldn't be the first time she did so. Suddenly, Vincent didn't look as confident and strong as he did before. His features softened and his smile grew sad. It was an expression that Nora was very familiar with. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you too, Nora. You can have fun now," he told her, visibly pulling himself together, even if he wasn't really successful.

Regardless, the not beowolf-beowolf started moving, however, and Nora couldn't really see him anymore. That was fine, people usually needed a moment to themselves when they got expressions like that. Nora would know.

[}-o-{]

[Lie Ren]

"I'm sorry about her," he apologized, bowing a little towards the man, Vincent. However, he didn't seem to care overly much for Nora's spontaneous nature, which was… A relief, even if it was also unusual. Ren didn't remember the last time someone hadn't at least been left confused by her.

"Don't worry about it," Vincent replied, his eyes still following Nora as the girl thoroughly enjoyed the chance to ride a grimm-like creature around. It wasn't the first time she tried, but things were certainly going better now, for obvious reasons. Ren was also happy that this one wasn't trying to kill her too. That was a nice plus.

"Your girlfriend seems to be quite an excitable young lady," said the second man, Silver, if he heard correctly. He was looking at Nora with a strange expression on his face. He'd recognize that melancholy anywhere, but Ren decided it was a better idea not to ask. He had seen people like that before, usually refugees of evacuations. They had a weird glint in their eyes as if they were looking at something that wasn't there anymore.

Vincent turned his eyes towards Silver too, surprised.

"We are not together like that," Ren decided to say then. Years of practice managed to keep the small amount of fluster out of his tone. Basically everyone they talked to said something along those lines, after all.

"Ha, sure you aren't," Vincent said, barking out a laugh. "There needs to be a "yet" there at the end, I'm sure," he added, before turning towards Silver. "Just like Arthur and Hollie, right? I can already tell," he called, grinning widely.

Silver seemed to crack a smile at that. His eyes still tracking Nora as she rode nearby, the not-grimm zigzaging with a grace that seemed to far surpass its- Kin? Inspiration?

"Heh, just like them. Wonder if it will take just as long as them to make it official," the other mused out loud.

"What are those?" Ren asked, partially trying to change the subject. He might be used to such comments, but those two seemed so… sure. Somewhere in between teasing and stating facts, which were more the usual thing.

"My… semblance," Vincent answered, his voice slow for some reason. "Any grimm I kill, I can summon back to fight for me," he explained, still strangely careful. Ren guessed it would be awkward to explain such a semblance to people. He also imagined reactions weren't usually as calm as his own… Certainly not as enthusiastic as Nora's.

"Sounds like a useful semblance," Ren commented, unsure of what else to say.

"It is," Vincent agreed with a nod, making him wonder why both men seemed so… Not disturbed, but focused on Nora. Ren had noticed that it all began when she called the man "Vinny", but… What was that all about? Ren shook his head after a moment, it wasn't his issue to pry, it was disrespectful to dig on the past of a stranger either way. He certainly wouldn't have liked it if someone did that with him. "So, huntsman and huntress-in-training, huh?" the man asked then, grinning slightly as he watched Nora pull out her weapon again and waving her hammer in the air above her head, as if the pseudo-beowolf were a war mount of some kind.

"Hoping to attend Beacon, then?" Silver asked suddenly, prying his eyes of Nora riding the grimm for the first time to look at him. He appeared to be measuring him. "Selections for this year are already long over, and next year is quite a few months off, isn't it?"

Ren straightened his posture at the eyes of what were clearly two veterans on him. He still had his pride as a warrior to maintain after all. These two were already where he wanted to be, and he felt like making a good impression on them. It wouldn't do to shame themselves in front of his and Nora's seniors.

"Weeee! I am queen of the castle!" screamed Nora, as she rode the grimm waving her hammer around.

…It wouldn't do to shame himself in front of his and Nora's seniors.

"They are, and yes, we are hoping to get in," Ren answered, doing his best not to deflate. Nora would be Nora, after all. "We are confident, however."

"That's good," Vincent nodded, looking him up and down before looking at Nora. "So, hammer and… What do you use, if you don't mind me asking?"

Wordlessly, Ren pulled out one of the machine pistols that formed StormFlower and showed it to the man.

"Huh, neat," the man said then, and Ren blinked as he saw Vincent twirling a dagger in his hand. When had the man taken that out? He hadn't even noticed… "Are you any good with that?" Vincent asked then, looking off to the side, to where there was only forest.

"I am," Ren replied confidently.

"Hm, care for a demonstration?" the huntsman asked with a half-smile as a group of ursa came out of the forest, making Ren's eyes widen. "Alpha's mine though," Vincent declared, at the same time as Nora let out a squeal, while her "mount" took off towards the incoming grimm.

Thus, Ren rushed towards the monsters of darkness, StormFlower in both of his hands while Nora charged into battle with her "steed". As he started firing his weapon though, he was keenly aware of the eyes of the two Huntsmen behind him. A recommendation would go a long way, after all. Especially for people like him and Nora, who didn't have the proper background as huntsman/huntress-in-training.

There was an exam they could go through to get in, but Ren would feel a lot more confident if there was a little more behind them, really.

Silver didn't seem to move a muscle from where he was resting against one of the trees. He only looked at him and Nora, seeming without a hint of thought on protecting himself. Vincent, on the other hand, walked leisurely towards the roaring ursa major. His knife twirling in his hand as a small grin grew in his face. It looked like he was walking through a park rather than picking a fight with a grimm that must have at least a few decades of experience hunting humans. Even Ren and Nora would have had to team up against that to make sure there was no chance of something happening.

'That's the difference between a true huntsman and us, I guess,' he thought, his determination solidifying in him. Ren didn't dwell on that for long though, instead focusing on the fight before him. He could be in awe later, when he wasn't trying to make a good impression on his seniors.

So, Ren concentrated on killing grimm, doing his best to show how good he was without pushing too much and making a mistake. It was a balancing act that left him feeling uneasy. Was he doing enough? Was he doing too much?... He envied Nora at that moment, she didn't worry about any of that. She saw grimm and she smashed them, as simple as that. Somehow, she managed to look perfectly in control and like a great huntress-in-training even approaching things like that…

In Ren's completely unbiased opinion, of course.

Eventually, all the ursa were gone, the last one dying after he slashed its throat with StormFlower. Nora, for her part, had finished a moment before and was now watching as Vincent seemed to be… Why wasn't he attacking the ursa major? The man seemed to be simply standing there, occasionally taking a step to one side or another as the grimm tried and failed to slash at him with its claws or bite him.

Ren was then startled when a loud sound came from right next to him. Turning to the side, he saw Silver with what was probably the biggest war-hammer he had ever seen, and the remains of a nevermore on the ground under it. Then, the huntsman pulled the weapon up like it was a twig and rested it on his shoulder before turning towards Ren.

"Don't let your guard down, kid. You are still in their territory. Doesn't matter how strong you are, mistakes like that might get you killed one day," the man lectured Ren.

"... Yes, sir," he replied, already feeling like he'd failed. There went that recommendation, he supposed. Then again, if it were that easy, they would probably already have one or two.

Silver just looked at him for a few moments, before leaving out a sigh.

"You did well, kid. Don't let a single mistake drag you down, you just need to learn from it and not make it again." The huntsman seemed to have more to say, but a very excited Nora suddenly appeared between them and decided to climb on top of the man to get a closer look at the hammer he was carrying.

"Ooh! You use a hammer too?! Why is it shining? Does it become a grenade launcher too? I hope it becomes a grenade launcher. I mean, it is okay if it becomes another weapon entirely, but a grenade launcher would be the best option to go with a hammer, clearly. But I guess a shotgun would be a good option too. Or maybe it can shoot those horns it has? Why does it look like a Bull? Or is it a cow? Did you kill a cow grimm and put the head on a shaft and made it a hammer? Because that would be way cooler than the grenade launcher!" Nora positively vomited words out of her mouth.

The man, Silver, looked to be both amused and exasperated at the same time. A quiet mutter of "First the kids, then Arthur and Hollie and now Henry?" leaving his mouth. Ren heard Vincent chuckle behind him and when he turned, he saw the man sitting on top of a dissolving ursa major. How had he even taken the thing out so quickly with those little daggers? Ren knew he wouldn't have been able to do something like that with StormFlower, for sure.

"Yes. It is shining because it is my semblance. No. No. Because it is the form Taurus takes when I summon it. No, it is not a cow. No, sorry, not a cow grimm weapon," Silver answered without missing a bit. Ren was honestly surprised that he even understood 'Excited Nora' speech, let alone answering all of her questions.

He also was curious about the weapon too. He didn't quite catch it at first because of all the dust the impact with the nevermore and ground made, but after taking a closer look, Ren noticed that he could almost see through it. Like it was made of light-blue glass or something like that. He would have thought it was made out of hard-light dust, but he wasn't sure that weapons made of it could look so… He didn't even know what word to use, really.

"Well, it doesn't matter! Even if it is not as cool as Magnhild, we can still be hammer buddies!" Nora exclaimed excitedly as she somehow managed to climb on top of the man's shoulder with her hammer, Magnhild, held high as if she just conquered a mountain.

Vincent just laughed at the frankly embarrassing spectacle. Then he was practically cackling when Silver made no motion to take Nora from on top of him. The man just kept looking ahead with a deadpan expression and an annoyed grumbling at the back of his throat.

"Ok," Vincent said, standing up and cracking his neck. "I like you, kids. Let's get to Vale, yeah?"

"Sure thing, Vinny!" Nora called out, dropping so she was sitting on Silver's shoulders when the man's hammer vanished into thin air. Not the strongest of Semblances he had ever heard of, but it was a very practical one. Being able to summon a weapon in any situation without any need of maintenance sounded very useful. "Let's go. Onwards!"

And Ren…

Ren just sighed.

[}-o-{]

[Perry Foster]

"They are real," the fucking teenager said, grabbing and twisting at Perry's floppy ears too hard and laughing like that was a completely fine thing to do. Perhaps even more frustrating and insulting, however, was the fact that nobody in the restaurant seemed to care. To make a bad thing worse, Perry knew that he couldn't even do anything in retaliation, because the owner was looking for a half-decent reason to fire him as it was. "I can never believe it, even when I touch them. It's so weird," the teenager commented, as if the situation was normal.

To him, it probably was.

For Perry… It reminded him of the reason why he'd joined the White Fang. To change his situation, his people's situation. This kind of thing should never be normal in any way. 'They'll get what's coming to them,' Perry reminded himself in order to not snap and do something… drastic.

"Are there any other animals around that you can see, guys?" the teenager asked, looking around, his fingers still gripping painfully at the faunus's ears.

"I think that's quite enough," a new voice said, and both the piece of racist shit and Perry turned to look at a man that had somehow approached them without either of them noticing. The black eyes staring at them seemed to give as much pause to the young bully as they did Perry. There was something very unnerving about those. "Go back to your table, young man," the man said, his expression devoid of emotions as he simply looked at the teen in front of Perry.

"And what if I don't?" the teenager asked, somehow mustering some bravery from somewhere.

"You are a huntsman-in-training," the man said, his lips pulling up in a lazy, amused smile. "I'm sure you know what a proper one can do."

A huntsman? Suddenly, the situation was a lot more serious than Perry though. It was a realization that was shared by the bully, whose hand let go of the faunus's ear ever so slightly. Not enough for Perry to pull away, but enough that it didn't quite hurt anymore.

"I'm a Winchester," the teen declared. "You can't do anything to me."

"It's cute that you think I care who you are," the man commented, his grin widening. "Now, stop and return to your table, before things get… drastic, yes?" he asked, and suddenly the already frightening black eyes turned even creepier. There was suddenly no shine to them and the sclera turned just as dark as the iris and pupils. The literal black pits in the man's eye sockets stared deep into the teenager as the man took another step forward.

The Winchester flinched, letting go completely of Perry's ears as he backpedaled a bit.

"What are you waiting for?" the man asked Perry then, raising an eyebrow. "I think you have a job to do. Actually, you know what? How about you serve our table. I'll be sure to give you a nice tip. It's the one over there, with the white haired man and the hyperactive redhead."

Sure enough, in the direction the man gestured towards, sat… Sat…

'Is that a Schnee?' Perry wondered, eyes widening. There was no way, right? He knew who the Schnee family was comprised of… Or at least the main members, that is. Besides, surely a Schnee wouldn't be with someone that went out of their way to face an influential family of Vale to help out a faunus… right?

"Right," Perry muttered, stepping away before turning to face the man. "Thank you, sir," he added, receiving a nod before he went to wait the table he'd been pointed towards.

He'd have to inform his higher ups of this. If the man was a Schnee… This could be important, one way or another. For the moment though, Perry would take the opportunity to see how this supposed Schnee acted though. If he was anywhere near as… good as the black-eyed man… Well, now that would be something.

[}-o-{]

[Cardin Winchester]

"You have no idea what you did," he told the man in front of him with a scowl. How dare he? Cardin was a Winchester and this idiot thought he could just come and threaten him? And get away with it? No way.

"You don't scare me, kid," the man told him, looking a breath away from laughing at him. "Neither does your family. You'll learn that, eventually, you can no longer hide behind daddy's legs when trouble comes your way. It's kind of pathetic that you still do so, considering how old you are."

"How dare you?" Cardin tried to say. His vision already red with anger.

"Grow up," the second man, at the table, suddenly interrupted him with a huff.

"I got this, Silver," the man in front of him called with a grin. "Just keep Nora under control, yeah?"

"Break his legs, Vinny!" the redheaded girl at their table called. The second man, Silver, had a hand on top of her head, as if he was pushing her down to stay on her seat. 'Vinny?' Cardin thought to himself.

"What kind of stupid name is Vinny?" he asked and it took him less than a second to realize that, maybe, just maybe, saying that wasn't a good idea. Back came the completely black eyes on "Vinny", staring at him as if he could see Cardin's soul and found it wanting. It made him feel small, like being a kid once more and being the target of his father's disappointed look, but many times worse.

"Look, Winchester," the man said, his voice almost casual, despite the fact that Cardin knew the situation was anything but. "Go back to your table, sit down, and behave yourself and maybe I'll forget about this. You are a sad excuse of a human being, and I honestly find it depressing that someone can look at you and think you are someone at all just because of your name. Do yourself a favor and at least become something worth being proud of before trying to think you are better than anyone."

"You think-"

"I think-," the man interrupted him, taking another step forward and looking down at Cardin. His voice… There was something very wrong with it, almost as wrong as the way his eyes looked to be full of something at the same time as they looked empty. There was something very wrong with the man's everything, Cardin realized. From his eyes, to his voice, to even his fucking hair. "-that you should be listening to what I tell you, before you do something you'll regret."

"Sir, you can't threaten a client in here, please calm yourself," a new voice said and both Cardin and "Vinny" turned towards who seemed to be a member of the staff of the restaurant. "This is my restaurant and I'm afraid I'll have to kick you out if you continue behaving as you are to a distinguished client of this establishment."

To that, Cardin smirked, an expression that was short-lived as "Vinny" laughed.

"You'll be doing no such thing though," the man said, turning his attention to who they now knew was the owner of the place. "I know people like you and you are easy."

"Excuse me?"

"Here," That was all "Vinny" said as he produced a stack of Lien from nothing and waved it in front of the man, who locked up as if the action had taken away his ability to think. "I'll give you this and you'll go back to whatever hole you crawled out of. I'll never see you again, and we'll both be happier for it."

"Sir- I'm afraid that- I don't," the owner stammered before he was silenced once more. Probably trying to muster some kind of backbone and failing miserably. Cardin found the whole spectacle pathetic, truly.

"Take them, we both know you will," the huntsman told the owner curtly. "Do it, before I take it back and go somewhere else. This place is really pushing my buttons, it seems, but I'm too lazy to try to find another place right now. I will if you keep being a fucking annoyance though."

Without a word, the owner took the stack and counted through it, his eyes widening. And then… Cardin couldn't believe his eyes as the man just nodded, turned and left. He was a Winchester and this man was just turning his back on him and leaving? What the actual fuck?

"You see?" the huntsman asked, turning to look at Cardin once more. The annoyance seemed to have been bled from him now though. Instead, he just looked… somewhere between disgusted and pitying. "You are nobody, truly. Things like a name will only take you so far, kid. Make something of yourself. Do something with your life. That's what can actually make you stand above others. And once you are there… Remember, that even then, there'll be people on top of you, so be nice, else you find yourself facing your betters… again."

And with that, the man left, walking back to his table.

Cardin looked on then, growing more and more annoyed by the second. Turning, he walked towards where his family sat, ignoring his friends as he walked. The fucking cowards had just left him when things got dicey and he wouldn't forget. For the moment though, he had to talk to his father. Surely he wouldn't let the stupid "Vinny" get away with what he'd done.

[} Chapter End {]

Adrian: Vincent is just having a good time all around, it seems.

Arc: Every day he can be an asshole is a good day for Vinny. Also, really enjoyed Nora's and Ren's PoVs, those two have always been fun.

Adrian: Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter!

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