AN: To a guest who asked about Pyrrha dying on her injuries. Yes, that's what killed her, but the attempted transfer of Maiden power was killing her. Probably would've saved Cinder some trouble if Talos hadn't interfered with the process.


Two steps forward

On Patch, Yang had asked her father for training, so here the two were now, sparring on a patch of dirt in the shape of a ring next to the house.

On the side, Zwei was panting next to a small chair that had towels for when they would be needed. Pochi was next to the corgi, also attentive. Finally, Dragunov was sitting under a tree not too far from the corgi Driver and watching the spar. The draconic Blade never took part himself, because he noticed that Taiyang was much better teacher than he could hope to be.

During the spar, Yang managed to get a strong punch to her father's chest, pushing him back some ways. "Wow, you really pack a punch," the elder Xiao Long complimented as he rubbed the hit area.

"Come on, dad," Yang almost pleaded, "We've been at this for weeks. I get it you wanna make sure I still know how to fight." Then the lilac eyed blonde bumped her fists together, "I think I'm doing good."

"Good-ish," Dragunov said from the sidelines.

"Hey! You were supposed to be on my side!" Yang complained at her Blade.

"If I said otherwise, I would be against you," Dragunov replied with a cheeky grin.

"Asshole," Yang grumbled.

"Language, young lady," Taiyang scolded as he walked to Zwei, "Also, you're still off balance."

"What? No I'm not, I can do complex moves," Yang protested as Dragunov chuckled.

"That's not what I meant," Taiyang then said as he eyed at Dragunov, "Say…you haven't done any training, do you really think that you can do your job like that?"

"I'm a Blade, my skills don't deteriorate like yours do," Dragunov replied easily.

"You wanna put that to the test?" Taiyang challenged.

"No thanks, I wouldn't want to embarrass you in front of your daughter," Dragunov replied with a cheeky grin.

"That so?" Taiyang replied with a tone that made the fire Blade suspicious, "It's okay if you're scared to lose, you know."

"…You asked for it, twig," Dragunov growled as he stood up. It should probably be noted that Taiyang, by human standards, wasn't a twig. But compared to Dragunov, it wasn't an inaccurate comparison.

With that, Yang stood to the side, wanting to see how her dad fared against her mighty Blade. Then the elder Xiao Long and the Blade walked to the ring and, took a fighting stance some ways from each other.

"Same rules as with Yang," Dragunov informed," You get 5 hits on my face, neck or chest, you win."

"This isn't a contest," Taiyang shot back, before looking thoughtful," Though does knocking you off your feet count as a hit?"

"You? Knocking me off my feet?" Dragunov sounded out, clearly amused, "Sure, if you can."

With those words, the two fighters sized each other up for a moment before Taiyang made the first move. Dashing to Dragunov, the blonde man threw a punch at the fire Blade's face. Only for the said fire Blade to catch the fist, before delivering a punch of his own. Thankfully, Taiyang was able to maneuver out of the fists way before jumping up and giving a couple of kicks to Dragunov's face. The draconic Blade let go before spitting out dirt that got into his mouth from Taiyang's kick. This momentary distraction allowed Tai to deliver a jab at Dragunov's chest before the fire Blade swiped at the blonde man who ducked under the swipe before jumping away from the kick that followed up.

"That's three strikes," Taiyang said with a smirk, having counted the attacks.

"And that's where it ends," Dragunov growled before charging the man who frowned at the action.

Dragunov tried to punch the elder Xiao Long in the face, but the man slammed his palm against the side of the fist, redirecting the attack before going for a knee-jump in the fire Blade's face. Except Dragunov brought his unoccupied hand to block the knee before pulling Yang's father down to his face and headbutting him. Then, as the man fell down, disoriented by the attack to his head, Dragunov finished it with a kick that sent him sprawling over the ring.

"Urgh…Okay, you're good," Taiyang admitted as he shook his head to get the dizziness out.

"Now you realize it," Dragunov said smugly, calmed down after getting the satisfying hits, "Though you're not too bad yourself, for an old guy."

"Says the guy who came straight out of stone age," Taiyang joked with a grin.

"What do you mean by…," Dragunov trailed off as he realized what the joke referred to, "Oh, you're in for it now." Although he sounded more amused than offended.

"Then come get me," Taiyang said smugly.

Taking the invitation, Dragunov dashed in again. Opening with a high roundhouse kick. Taiyang instantly duck under it, but then he had to bring his arms in front of him to block the tail that followed up. The attack still sent him skidding almost outside the ring.

Yang was watching the scene with a frown. She was afraid that if her father and Dragunov ever had a fight, the fire Blade might actually outclass him. But it seemed like the blonde man was giving the fire Blade a run for his money. "I always barely got three hits in," Yang thought in shame at the accomplishment her old man got so easily. But now it seems like Dragunov had stepped up his game.

Speaking of which, Dragunov was having a difficult time keeping Taiyang at bay. The man had a lot of experience on his side, but Dragunov had battle encoded into him so he was still on even ground. But he already took three hits and he would need to keep at it until Taiyang got too tired to fight anymore. But then it happened, Taiyang ducked under another kick. Of course, Dragunov followed it up with his tail, but instead of blocking, the elder Xiao Long put both hands down and used both legs to kick Dragunov's still grounded leg from beneath him. This caused the fire Blade to fall down almost on top of Taiyang who rolled out of the way before kicking himself back up and dashed in to punch the downed Blade's cheek.

"Five strikes and I win," Taiyang said smugly, sounding a little winded.

Yang fully expected Dragunov to blow up with rage and attempt to kill her dad, but then a sound came out of her Blade. A sound that didn't make sense to her. Dragunov was laughing.

"You got me," Dragunov admitted, "But I still made you work for it." That last one was added with a smirk which Taiyang returned.

"Yeah, you're good, I'll admit it," Taiyang admitted in turn," Considering you didn't use those elemental attacks I hear you're so proud of." But he also called out on Dragunov essentially holding back.

"This was a contest of strength," Dragunov said as he got back up, "With our prides on our fists on the line. It would've been rude to use my flames."

"Thanks for that," Taiyang said and the two bumped fists. Then the elder Xiao Long turned to Yang," Did you learn anything from this?"

"Both of you kick ass," Yang replied easily, earning a frown from her father and a face-palm from her Blade.

"Bonehead," Dragunov grumbled.

"Hey." But loud enough for Yang to hear

"Tell me about it," Taiyang added in.

"Hey!"

"I saw your tournament fights," Taiyang then said, earning a groan from his eldest daughter.

"Let me guess, I was sloppy," Yang said mockingly.

"No, you were predictable," Taiyang corrected as he moved to Zwei who picked one of the towels into his mouth and offered it to the man who scruffed the dog behind the ears in gratitude.

Then Zwei let out a couple barks. "Boss says thank you," Pochi translated.

"You're welcome," Taiyang sighed, still not used to the Blade who was essentially the dog's spokesman, before drying the sweat off himself. "And no, you were predictable." That part was directed to Yang, "And…stubborn, and maybe a little boneheaded."

"As I said," Dragunov decided to add in with a shit-eating grin, earning a glare from his Driver.

Then Taiyang took a more serious expression, "Did you notice that you used your semblance to win every fight after the qualifiers?"

"So what?" Yang asked with a frown, "How is me using my semblance any different from anyone using theirs?"

"Because not everyone else's semblance is basically a temper tantrum," Taiyang replied as he walked to his daughter. "Once you take damage, you can dish it out twice as hard," Taiyang started, "But what if you miss? What happens if the opponent is stronger, what then?"

"I have Dragunov to compensate," Yang argued back, "With the Arts and his abilities combined, I have an infinite loop."

"No, you don't," Dragunov butted in, "Both Heatblast and my Burning Spirit are dependent on you hitting the target. What if you can't?"

"Well I hit that Adam guy!" Yang shot back.

"Mostly because I distracted him or made him immobile," Dragunov shot back as he rubbed the fleshy part of his reddish tan chest, "And let me tell you, some of those strikes hurt."

This made Yang look down, "Sorry I was useless then."

"You weren't," Dragunov said with a small smile, "After all, you gave me the push I needed to use my strongest Special."

"What?" Yang was curious about that, as was her father.

"The words you spoke, they touched me and…it caused our affinity to peak, which in turn allowed me to draw more ether from the air, " Dragunov explained as he clenched his fist," And as you saw, accelerated my regeneration to the point of reforming my arms in moments. Not to mention allow me to use Exhaust Nova."

"I guess I have some uses," Yang said with a sigh.

"Stop saying that!" Dragunov snapped, startling the girl, "The Yang that I accepted as a Driver never allowed anyone to tell her she's useless, so why would you start now?"

Yang stood up in anger, "Well then why don't you just kill me now and finish what you started!?"

"What!?" Taiyang cried out, looking between the two in shock. He was never informed about Yang's and Dragunov's first week together.

"That ship has sailed," Dragunov said simply, "A long time ago now. I made my choice and I won't back down from it at this point, even if it means I have to drag you to your feet and beat that kind of attitude out of you!"

"Is that so?" Yang questioned challengingly.

"Yeah, how about I do that right now." Dragunov growled as he cracked his knuckles.

"EVERYONE STOP!" Taiyang shouted, cutting through the rising tension. "Okay, first off: Yang, what did you mean by telling him to kill you?"

At this point, Yang looked fearful, before glancing at Dragunov. He gave her a nod with a resigned look. "The day I awakened Dragunov," the blonde Driver started," He tried to kill me because he thought I was…well, worthless."

Taiyang turned to the draconic Blade with a furious look and clenched fists, "Is that true?"

"Yes." Dragunov said without mincing words, "But then she made me eat those words and…here we are now."

Taiyang clenched his fists harder before turning back to Yang, "What did he do?"

"Dad, it doesn't-" "What! Did he do?" Yang's father interrupted.

"…He beat me and called me things, but I never gave up on making him eat his words," Yang replied with a heated look.

The man held his daughter's gaze for moments before sighing and unclenching his fists. "You definitely inherited your mother's stubbornness," Taiyang said with a sigh.

"Huh?" Yang sounded out in surprise, before looking down a little, "Sorry I remind you of her."

"Don't be," Taiyang said tenderly, "Raven was great in so many ways. Her strength, her ambition, her dedication to whatever cause she thought was worth fighting for. I'm proud of how much of her I see in you. But I'm glad I don't see all of her in you."

"…Why?" Yang couldn't help asking.

With that, Taiyang let out a sigh, "Your mother…is a complicated woman. Like everyone, she had her faults, but those faults tore our team apart. And…it did a real number on our family." As Tai explained, both Yang and Dragunov were listening with rapt interest. "Like you, she thought that strength is all that matters in a fight, but if you take a second look," Taiyang then spoke as he walked to Dragunov and made a show of moving around him, "There's a way around as well."

"Physical strength is a big factor, but you do have a point," Dragunov admitted while looking away.

"Drag…how is me getting angry any different from how you get angry," Yang asked, "And please give me a proper answer."

The fire Blade sighed, "The difference between us is that when you get angry, you focus on beating the enemy with all you have, making yourself predictable. Me? I channel my rage into my attacks and will to crush my opponent. The opponent avoids my attack? I follow it up with something that can't be avoided. Opponent stays away to avoid my fists? I use my flames. Or my personal favorite, opponent is focused? I make them unfocused."

At the last part, Yang remembered how Dragunov angered Adam, drawing his attention so that she could get a recovery hit on him. Still now that Yang found herself able to think about it rationally enough, maybe that Blade had an ability that can one-shot Auras.

"I still managed to beat you," Taiyang commented with a smirk, earning a glare from Dragunov.

"Yeah, yeah, let it go to your head why don't you," Dragunov groaned, earning a small laugh from Yang, "Stop laughing blondie!"

Yang replied with a raspberry.

"Alright, kids, that's enough," Taiyang said like he was scolding a pair of kids. Ignoring a blazing glare from Dragunov, the elder Xiao Long turned to his daughter, "Wanna go one more time before dinner?"

"Sure," Yang replied with a smile, "If you think you can keep up after Draggie, old man."

"Watch it," Taiyang mock scolded, "Or you won't get dinner." The threat lost some of its effect because of his amused smile.

With that, Yang and Taiyang had their spar, while Dragunov was approached by Zwei and Pochi. The dog let out a few angry sounding barks at Yang's Blade.

"Boss asks, 'Should I consider you a threat to the family,'" Pochi translated.

The fire Blade let out a sigh before looking Zwei straight in the eye. Somehow the cute corgi managed to have a look that screamed "You're suspicious". Regardless, Dragunov decided to give the short answer, "No. Yang is my Driver. I made that choice, and I will stick with it."

Satisfied with the response, Zwei let out a happy bark.

Then the three's attention was drawn to what Taiyang was saying to Yang, "There, see?" The father and daughter were locked in a power struggle, caused by the two having grabbed each other's arms. "Now when you use your head instead of-Whoa!" Taiyang got interrupted by Yang sweeping his legs from under him. But he never reached the ground, because Yang grabbed his arm with a smirk on her face.

Dragunov clapped at the performance, "And the student has surpassed her master."

"Don't get ahead of yourself," Taiyang shot back as he got his balance back, "That was one time."

Yang found herself laughing, happy that her father didn't make any bigger deal of something that happened many months ago.

After dinner Yang went to her bed, but Dragunov was pulled aside by her father.

"What's your intention with Yang?" Taiyang asked with hard look.

"I'm not sure what you mean," Dragunov replied as he crossed his arms.

"…Are you planning to do something to my daughter," Taiyang clarified with a glare.

"If this is about me not accepting her when she first awakened me, that has been resolved for a long time now," Dragunov said, wanting to get this over with fast.

"Is it?" Yang's father obviously didn't buy it, "What made you change your mind about her?"

"That's my concern, not yours," Dragunov replied with a glare.

"It's about my daughter, so it IS my concern," Taiyang replied with a glare of his own.

The two held their gazes for a moment, "If you must know, I just realized what drives her."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Taiyang demanded.

"…During a mission in Forever Fall, we were attacked by a giant Arachno, "Dragunov started, "At some point, the monster tried to attack Ruby, but then Yang saved her with no concern for her own safety. She wants to protect those she cares about. And to that end, my power is only a means to do that. It's better motivation than most."

"Why does it matter to you?" Taiyang asked, "Aren't you a living weapon? Why do you care about how your power is used?"

"What would you think if…say…Emerald Forest was burned to the ground because someone used their powers recklessly," Dragunov asked.

"Depending on the situation, I would call them stupid or try to reassure them," Taiyang replied, after all the said situation could be something along the lines of, "If I don't do this, everyone will die."

Dragunov nodded in acceptance, "Fair enough, but what if someone accidentally burned down a village because of a small disagreement with an individual?"

"No one is that petty," Tai said with an annoyed look, earning a scowl from the fire Blade. "But for the sake of argument, someone like that shouldn't possess that kind of power at all."

"And that's why I rejected Yang the first time," Dragunov then said, "I thought she was someone who might burn down buildings to show off without a care for anything but herself. I was wrong."

"…That's who Yang is," Taiyang said with a small measure of pride in his tone, before frowning, "But I do hope that she would be more protective of herself sometimes. I just…don't want to lose either of my girls."

"I understand," Dragunov said with a small sigh, "I may not be as protective of Yang as Roze is with Ruby, but I will do everything in my power to ensure that she stays alive."

"Thanks, that means a lot," Taiyang said with a grateful look, before his face morphed into a suspicious one, "But you're sleeping in the living room tonight."

"What? Why?" Dragunov was completely caught off guard.

"I don't trust you with my daughter's life or her chastity with you tonight," Taiyang said with a growl.

"WHAT!?" the draconic Blade roared, his cracks glowing briefly. "I don't know what delusions are in your head right now, but I do NOT think of Yang that way!"

"So, she's not good enough for you?" Taiyang asked in a threatening tone.

"What the-!? What's that got to do with anything!?" Dragunov demanded, not realizing that he was getting himself deeper with an overprotective father.

As the argument began, Yang decided to go to her room. After all, as far as she was concerned, there was nothing worth eavesdropping anymore. Moving to her room, she picked up Thauron's journal and continued from where she left off last time. The journey to Gormott Titan with Addam who he was working for and Lora who he was crushing on since he was ten years old. Yang was looking forward to what sounded like the beginnings of a love-triangle between Thauron, Lora and Jin…With Dragunov having fun at Thauron's expense.


In the Schnee Manor in her room, Weiss was training. The night she lost her heiress title, she had asked Dahlia to help move furniture enough to give her space to practice the one thing she has yet to learn. Summoning. After the incident in the party, she decided to train for two reasons. The first was to conquer herself, and the second one was so that an incident like that never happens again.

Weiss briefly wondered where the ice Blade was, but decided to instead try to focus on summoning. So, the glyph formed on the floor and started spinning, she was trying to focus on the feeling she had when she was getting somewhere. Soon enough, a sword started rising up.

"Hello sister." Only to be interrupted by Whitley who was standing by the door with his fake friendly demeanor.

"What do you want?" Weiss asked, not even bothering with even basic courtesy. She was still mad at him after all.

"How cold," Whitley said borderline melodramatically, "And here I was about to offer you a favor.

"Leave," Weiss then commanded.

However, Whitley ignored it. "Father is taking me to town to introduce me to some of his business partners. I was wondering if I could get you anything since you're…stuck here."

"Are you jealous?" Weiss then asked, turning her attention fully to that little monster she calls "brother". "Are you jealous of my abilities? Is that why you hate me? Is that why you hate Winter?"

Whitley seemed to give it some thought. "Hmmm, no." He sounded like it didn't mean anything to him, "Honestly I find it barbaric. Fighting is beneath people like father, people like me." Whitley continued like nothing was wrong, "What could a single huntsman do that an army cannot? That's why we have one."

"Even if the said army was run by a fool that allowed it to be turned against him so easily," added Jacques' Blade who just arrived.

"Shouldn't you be at my father's side?" Whitley asked in a condescending tone.

"He sent me to see what was keeping you," Jacques Blade replied with that fake smile of his, "And I see you are wasting your time on…this useless brat." Weiss looked just about ready to skewer the Blade who had seemed like was against his father, but was now kissing up to her brother.

Whitley seemed delighted though, "Thank you. It's nice to be acknowledged."

"But we should hurry now, after all your father's only perfect child shouldn't fail him like the first two did," the Blade then said with a meaningful tone.

It was only for an instant, but Whitley's face fell at hearing that, "Yes, of course." the boy sounded almost scared at hearing that. The boy then took a few steps forward as Jacques' Blade stood aside. But then the boy turned towards Weiss with his faux friendly demeanor restored. "What is your plan anyway? What could you possibly accomplish when you are confined into your own bedroom?" At that moment, Weiss used a glyph on her open door to slam it into Whitley's face. Or at least shut it, seeing as she didn't hear a pained yelp from the little…rapscallion.

With that, Weiss was able to get back to her training, although what her father's Blade did behind Whitley's back struck her as odd. He motioned towards Whitley's head before putting his hands together and opening them before looking at them. No, he was moving his eyes across them. "Why would he do that?" Weiss thought as her eyes fell briefly on the painting of the Arma Gigas on the wall, before shifting to her bookshelf. "Read?" Weiss then thought as she realized that the way her father's Blade held his hands was how some people hold an open book. "Read…Whitley's head? No! Read Whitley's mind!" And then the realization hit her, Jacques Blade was telling her to try and figure out Whitley's mind. Was he telling her to try and understand Whitley? Or was he reminding her of the old saying, "Know your enemy."

It was an interesting thought, but for now, Weiss had to focus on the image of Arma Gigas. The obstacle father put in front of her to prevent her from going to Beacon. The thing he tried to use to chain her down. The last servant of her father that tried to beat into her that Jacques' will cannot be opposed.

With those thoughts, Weiss formed a second summoning glyph above the first one. The two glyphs spun around rapidly as the former heiress focused on the image of the armor possessing Grimm to rise from the glyphs and coming to her side. Not as a foe, but as a servant, an ally.

With those thoughts, the entire room started to shake, a candlestick fell over, a book fell from the shelf. Then, the window shattered as a bright light flashed.

Not long after, the door to Weiss' room was opened with Klein and Dahlia dashing in, the latter having her bitball ready.

"Miss Schnee/Weiss are you alright!" the two shouted out together. Only to stare in awe at Weiss' accomplishment. The Arma Gigas that Weiss defeated stood before her, sword stabbed into the ground and staring down at Weiss. It was smaller than when it was thought, but still around Dragunov's height. The summoned knight looking Grimm then lowered itself to one knee before bowing its head.

"Yes." Weiss said simply, taking great satisfaction of having an obstacle that her father once put in front of her showing its loyalty to her now.

"Weiss?" Another voice asked from behind Klein and Dahlia, surprising the white-haired girl. It was her mother, looking on in awe at her summon, "Is that the same Grimm you had to fight to get into Beacon?"

"Y-yes," Weiss admitted, not sure why her mother was here now.

Tears started forming in the Schnee matriarchs' eyes. "I'm so proud of you," the woman said before speedwalking to her daughter. And then, to Weiss' shock, she was pulled into a hug. "I'm so proud of you…I'm…sorry. I'm so sorry for being a terrible mother," Willow openly sobbed as she hugged her daughter tightly, something she hadn't done in years.

"M-mother," Weiss sounded out, before allowing herself to cry as well. Dropping Myrtenaster to the floor with a loud clatter before returning the hug, being happy that her mother was finally "here" after so long.

As this happened, Klein looked at the scene with a fond look. He still remembered how Mrs. Schnee was with her daughters before Jacques revealed the horrible truth. He was afraid that this scenario would never happen again, but here it was. The short man had to wipe a small tear that wanted to come out.

Dahlia, she looked happy to see Weiss and her mother having this moment. Her hard work payed off. It started as the ice Blade just wanting to see what her Driver's mother was like, but then she got the idea to try and get the woman's act together. Just getting her to talk was a task in itself, but considering what was happening in front of her, totally worth it. Not to mention she did enjoy her talks with Willow, whenever they became light-hearted.

Soon enough, Weiss let go of her mother before directing a meaningful look to Dahlia, "You did this didn't you?"

"It was her decision," Dahlia spoke innocently, "All I really did was get her to talk."

"She's right," Willow said as she also released her hug, turning to glance at the spot where Arma Gigas was. "Was" because it disappeared when Weiss stopped focusing on it. "Weiss…There is so much I want to say, so much that I have missed out on…But…I wish…that I could be part of your life again," Willow said, still worried that her daughter doesn't want her into her life despite evidence to the contrary so far.

"Mother. I missed you," Weiss said with as she wiped her tears away, "You were in the house, but at the same time, you weren't…if that makes sense."

"It does, and I'm sorry about it," Willow said before having a small smile, "So, can you use your summoning at will now?"

"I think…no! I KNOW I can," Weiss said with a determined look.

"That's…my little girl," Willow said fondly, but still hesitant.

"Don't you mean, 'mommy's little snow angel'," Dahlia piped up with a smirk, causing Klein to cough into his fist to mask his chortles trying to come out.

Weiss on the other hand gaped at what Dahlia just said. "You told her!?" Weiss all but demanded, pointing at Dahlia who dared to look amused.

"She was curious," Willow said without any feelings of remorse this time. All she saw was that same little girl pouting while covered in snow right now.

"Mother!" Weiss cried out in embarrassment, causing both her mother and Dahlia to laugh. But soon enough, the girl calmed herself with deep breaths, "Klein, I need a favor."

"What can I do for you miss Schnee," Klein asked politely, even as his eyes had turned yellow to signify his happy personality coming out.


In Menagerie, Blake was chasing the spy by jumping from palm to palm, Nox right behind her. The Fang stopped on another tree for a moment to see Blake having paused too with a glare, but Nox didn't stop. The dark Blade had one Scythe ready to strike with his pupil in an X-shape, signaling that he was going for the kill. The Fang quickly abandoned her position which caused the palm tree to be sliced instead.

"Nox!" Blake shouted after her Blade, but the dark one didn't seem to hear her as he kept chasing the Fang spy. With a growl Blake followed after him, though she briefly wondered where Sun and Wu were. Soon enough, the chase took them to the town where they were now running across the roof tops. The spy turning around to see Blake and Nox still chasing. Then she ran in an attempt to jump over the street.

"Trickster Style: Running at a tree!" Only to be interrupted by a red staff with golden bumps hitting her entire body, like she had just committed the act it was named after. As the spy reeled back from the sudden hit, Wu was seen jumping up to the roof while twirling his staff. "Surprise, beeyotch," the self-proclaimed emperor said smugly, causing the Fang to grit their teeth before running to the side of the building to get away. Only to get hit in the stomach by another red staff as Sun also got on the roof.

"Gotcha!" Sun exclaimed as the spy clutched their stomach before running to the other side, only to see Nox with Dual Scythes ready. And at the back was Blake.

The Fang, who they could now tell was female with a long brown hair tied to a high ponytail, was surrounded. "Why were you spying on me?" Blake demanded from the spy who drew out a sword with a long thin blade.

"You're surrounded, so I would suggest you choose your next move carefully," Wu pointed out before pointing at Nox with his staff, "Unlike us three, the tall dark and broody one over there is out for blood."

True enough, Nox's pupil was still in its X-shape. But that didn't deter the spy who flung the blade, which extended into a whip, at the dark Blade who easily deflected the attack before dashing in with murderous intent. The spy replied with a thrust at the Blade's head who merely tilted it to the side before bringing the Scythes in an X formation to slice across the spy who managed to jump over the dark Blade before retracting her weapon to slice at the dark one's back. Only to be kicked away by Blake, which was followed by Wu punch-kicking at the spy with his hand-like foot. Which was followed up by Sun punching the spy girl in the face, breaking her mask revealing the girl to have gray eyes.

"Ilia!?" Blake exclaimed at the sight of the girl.

"You know her!?" Sun exclaimed in turn, "But she doesn't look like a-WHoa!" Sun was interrupted by recovered Ilia who swung her weapon in its whip form. Interestingly enough, her skin had changed from tan to bright red with her hair and several spots on her body turning yellow. Anyway, Sun was able to avoid the weapon even as Nox came from behind Ilia, ready to take her head.

"NOX, DON'T!" Blake screamed, causing the dark Blade to hesitate. Which gave Ilia enough time to turn around and stab the dark Blade in the abdomen before releasing a powerful electric shock from the weapon into Nox's insides that would kill a human or faunus.

But instead, what they got was an inhuman scream that sounded raspy and pained, although loud enough to force everyone to cover their ears. Even Ilia took her weapon out to cover her own ears from the inhuman scream she got out of Nox.

The dark Blade had dropped his weapons due to spasming, but he glared at Ilia with pure hate before swiping at her with his clawed hand, drawing blood. As Ilia clutched her bleeding face, Sun pounced on her getting her down to the ground.

"You better give up, I'm not above hitting a girl, you know," Sun said even as he felt mildly disturbed by the dark Blade leaving four sets of wounds on the girl, which were already healing thanks to her aura she momentarily forgot to keep up thanks to the scream.

"Get…off!" Ilia cried out before headbutting the monkey faunus off of her.

"Oh, no you don't," Wu shouted out as he tried to whack the chameleon faunus on her head. But with Sun off, she was able to move away.

As this happened, Blake was looking at Nox with a shocked look at hearing him make a sound for the first time. The dark Blade though had paused to stare at the blood he had drawn to his claws his pupil now taking a diamond shape as the slightly bloodstained fingers were trembling a little.

"Don't just stand there!" Wu shouted, snapping both of them to attention, "Help us apprehend her!"

As Wu said that, Sun had used his semblance to get a dog pile on the girl who was struggling against the glowing clones.

Blake immediately shook her head, the mystery of Nox's voice can wait for a while. She looked a little at Sun who had begun to strain at maintaining so many clones.

"Quit staring and tie her up or something!" Sun shouted out.

Nox seemed to have different plans as he was approaching Ilia like he was in a trance, pupil still in diamond shape, Scythes recovered and ready for the kill. Unfortunately, Blake had noticed the shape of Nox's pupil. And she had a mental list of what each of the shapes mean. Star is the normal shape. Cross is when he's angry or threatening. X is when he's going for kill. And the diamond Blake was still unsure of, but so far, her guess was…hunger. And then she remembered what those sausages that he liked so much were called. Black sausage and the key ingredient to make the batter it was made of was blood. And Nox was staring at Ilia's blood with same hunger as he did the sausages that were made using animal blood. That meant…

"Nox! Don't do it!" Blake cried out, causing the dark Blade to flinch. Seemingly snapping him out of whatever trance he was in.

At that moment, Sun's Aura gave out and he was unable to maintain his clones.

"By the monkey peaches!" Wu cried out in frustration before separating the staff into an eight sectioned nunchuk and swung it in hopes of wrapping it around Ilia, but the chameleon faunus got out of the way before extending the blade of his weapon in hopes of harming Blake.

"Blake!" Sun shouted out as he pushed the still surprised feline faunus away, taking the hit himself. And without his aura, the blade stabbed through his shoulder while also zapping him.

"SUN!" Blake cried out in distress.

"Why you!" Wu growled at the faunus that got a hit to his Driver, before bringing the eight sectioned nunchuk down on her again, this time with an intent to harm her big time.

But Ilia was able to move away from the downward strike, only to receive a hit to his abdomen when Wu flicked his wrist just the right way. "You never should have come Blake," Ilia grounded out, momentarily switching her skin to green with her hair and spots turning blue, before jumping off the roof and running away. Her skin and hair returning to their normal color.

"Get back here!" Wu shouted after the girl, but winced when he felt Sun growing weaker for a moment. "Darn it! Make your idiotic selves useful and help me get this moron some help!" the monkey Blade barked at guilty looking Blake and a furious looking Nox.

"What the heck was that scream!" Someone shouted out from one of the houses.

"Did a Grimm get in here!" Another shouted out with a fearful tone.

In fact, it seemed like several people looked out of the windows of their houses to see what caused such a monstrous scream. Apparently, someone also called Menagerie's police who were looked like they were expecting a Grimm attack.

"…You two get Sun to my house, I'll do some damage control," Blake said as she moved to get off the roof to talk to the officers before a huge panic happened.

"Where do you think you're going?" Wu demanded as he was inspecting the unconscious Sun.

"I must ensure that-" "Forget that! You heard the lady, you're supposed to be helping me with this idiot!" Wu growled out, not wanting to read the rest.

"But-" "No buts!" Wu barked out, "My idiot Driver just took a blade for yours, so you owe him and by extension me this much. Besides, do you really think that the lizard would try anything with that many witnesses around?"

Nox wanted to slit Wu's throat for telling him to not go with Blake, but he saw the logic behind it. Besides, as much as he hated it, he owed Sun now for protecting Blake. Something that he hated himself for failing to do…again. With those thoughts, Nox moved in to help Sun.


In the camp on Anima, everyone was beginning to stir. Ruby woke up without Roze next to her. Only to see him up and on watch. Still he was able to help her sleep through the night so Ruby wouldn't complain too much.

"Morning!" Nora called out loudly, causing everyone else to stir too. "Wake up lazybutts!" the orangette shouted out while shaking Electra awake who released an unhealthy amount of electricity at being so rudely awakened. Thankfully it was Nora who used the said rude awakening which allowed her to absorb the released electricity.

"Must you be so loud?" Otohime groaned while glaring at the annoying beast as she got off her sleeping spot, right next to Ren's bag. The boy himself only let out a sigh at her friend being a morning person.

"Milord, you should rise up now," Joana told Jaune who got out of his bag with a yawn.

"Salutations, everyone!" Penny called out having reactivated herself. Turns out that the dust reactor used to power her can go on up to few years without proper maintenance. Although Kos-Mos did snatch the blue prints for the specifics, she is unable to do the maintenance herself without proper facilities. Still going on what is essentially a sleep mode allows Penny to conserve her energy while everyone else sleeps.

"Up and about, Rex," Roc said as he poked the salvager with his foot. But the boy didn't even stir. "Wake up." Roc repeated, now poking a little harder.

Azurda got out of Rex's helmet, which was set aside to see the boy refusing to get up." Rex, it's time to get up," Azurda said as he fluttered in front of Rex's face. "Rex!" Azurda then cried out in alarm causing Pyra, who had her own sleeping bag to open her eyes groggily. This also earned everyone else's attention. "Everyone, come quick! Rex isn't looking good!" the small Titan shouted out in alarm. Now this got everyone moving to see what was wrong. Including Qrow who got up groggily before stomping as fast as he could to the boy.

"Rex!" Pyra cried out as she saw Rex's sickly pale face, "Rex, what's wrong?" the red headed Aegis was clearly worried about the boy.

"I don't…feel so good," Rex was able to ground out, not opening his eyes.

Joana unfolded her helmet before scanning Rex's vitals. "What? Impossible!" the knightess cried out at the impossibility in her visor.

"What? What's wrong with him?" Jaune asked, also concerned. Instead of answering, Joana ripped the band aid that covered the cut on his cheek.

"This is what is wrong with him," the knightess said after inspecting the used band aid showing it to everyone else. The stain on it was purple, like the poison on Tyrian's tail.

"I thought you said there was no poison in his body!" Roc called out loudly, "Did you lie to us!?" The avian Blade raised his Dual Scythes in case he didn't like the answer.

"I did not lie! But now the numbers have increased now. This should not be possible!" Joana shouted out frantically as they all looked down on the sick boy.

Kos-Mos moved behind Joana before grabbing at a seemingly random spot on the knightess' back. And then it seemed like Joana was jolted by something. "Please try again," Kos-Mos spoke up before her fellow light Blade could protest.

Still looking annoyed, Joana scanned again. "The numbers…the scan is able to pick up more microscopic changes," the knightess said in slight awe.

"So, your scanner was not designed for advanced poisons," Kos-Mos explained, "This explains why you missed it."

"That doesn't matter right now," Qrow piped up, "Basically the kid's sick and we need to get him medical treatment asap."

"Right." Everyone said in unison. All the while, Pyra was looking down on Rex in worry. She was sure that Rex wasn't in any kind of pain right now, but that could change very soon.


AN: And there we go. Taiyang found out about Yang's rough start as a Driver. Weiss not only learned summoning proper, and her mother is fixed enough to apologize for neglecting her daughter. Not that Weiss ever hated her. Sun got injured even with four on one. One was distracted by their own urges and another was horrified by said urges. And Sun had to do Nox's job for him. And finally, PSYCH! Rex was poisoned after all, though he's not as bad off as Qrow was originally, but they can't assume him to be okay without proper medical treatment.