I tumbled against the paven road as my aura stopped my skin from scraping against the concrete. Exhaustion weighed heavily against my body. I shielded Weiss from the ground with my back—she'd be more useful than me if they decided to keep attacking us.

"What just—" Weiss began to say, pulling herself off the ground only to be cut off by a sword shoving her back. A kick to my face sent me tumbling.

A lion-woman was glaring at Weiss and I, a great sword held in her hands with murderous intent. Her golden eyes, so similar to my own, promised pain. "I'll kill you for what you did." The woman swore, voice grave.

With that, the blonde haired woman lunged at me, my body unable to move from sheer exhaustion. I was forced to watch in literal slow motion as the blonde's glowing blade sought to remove my head.

Weiss moved to cover me, physically blocking me while a glowing glyph glistened in the air, stopping the blade from hitting us. The lion-lady was launched back, her sword digging into the ground to slow her down.

Violet sparks singed the air violently, creeping and crawling across the sky with deadly intent. The knowledge that Weiss had no weapon on her rested painfully in my mind.

Purple electricity crackled in the sky and poured off of the woman's body like drops of water. Plip, plip, plip sounded little drops of energy as they fell and corroded the ground. Liquid sparks were sent flying in our direction, the acidic energy gnawing through Weiss's glyphs like angry piranhas.

Weiss sent me flying backwards as she dodged. I was forced to helplessly watch—I was using the very last of my chi to be able to even perceive this fight. It was agonizing being useless.

The Schnee heiress created a glyph under the faunus, the lioness being propelled into the air. The faunus spun, drops of lightning pounding from the sky like a hail of roaring thunders.

Weiss used her glyphs like an umbrella as she moved towards the blonde, sigils appearing in the air to further increase her speed. Dodging strikes, Weiss made it in close and landed a punch on the woman, forcing the faunus back.

Weiss was faster, bobbing and weaving through crackling droplets of energy as she forced the lioness onto the defensive.

Swings and strikes were blocked by glyphs while sprays of electric acid were spun and danced around. Weiss outmaneuvered her enemy brilliantly, like she was playing with a toddler.

Unfortunately, I could also see the exhaustion weighing against her limbs. Weiss had never had stellar stamina. Each dodge got slopper, each block got slower. If this was drawn out, Weiss would lose.

Weiss kept forcing her enemy on the backfoot, apparently having some plan in mind that I wasn't aware of. The lioness kept moving back and even more back, eventually walking directly into a glyph. Instantly, the trap was set. Another glyph appeared above the golden-eyed lioness and others appeared on her sides.

The faunus was fully trapped…and then the glyphs began to shrink.

And shrink.

And shrink.

The faunus's semblance failed to help—whenever one glyph broke, Weiss immediately replaced it. The lioness was being crushed to death.

The faunus screamed and wailed. She begged, but Weiss kept going. It was like something out of a horror film.

Weiss shouldn't have to do this. And yet, I was too weak to move and help. I was more than useless.

The glyphs were painted crimson while green acids and yellow fats dirtied the pure red color.

In only an instant, the woman was crushed to a pulp, dead in a ball of gore and mangled blood. The screaming and begging and pleading and wailing had stopped a little bit before. A lot before. Weiss had crushed her far past death.

My friend fell to her knees and vomited. I stumbled up to try and get to her. On tired legs, I wobbled over to her. Step after step, each movement stung and burned.

I may love my semblance, but at this moment I truly cursed how tiring it is.

Weakly, I wrapped my arm around her to pull her up. "We have to move. There will be more."

We were lucky that there was, apparently, only one aura user among them. Aura was rare for a litany of reasons, but it was still odd that a sect of a paramilitary only had one.

Weiss coughed roughly a few times, still on her knees and staring at the mangled blob that was once a person. "...yeah…" She muttered, pulling herself up as we leaned against each other. Her cheeks were twinged green and her eyes had a red, watery hue to them.

Weiss gave one last glance to the amalgamation of acids and blood and flesh and fats and other bodily fluids that was once her opponent. With one last nauseated look, she turned her back to it.

She and I stumbled through the darkened street as fast as we could, leaning on one another for support. One step at a time, we wobbled away.

We went through alleys and back streets to try and stay hidden. We were in no condition to fight—both of us were utterly exhausted from using our semblances.

It only took a few minutes of walking for yelling to pop up from where we'd come from. It was an agonized sort of yell, the type that a wounded animal would give. The White Fang must be close to each other, like a family of sorts.

We'd just cut their family down by two. I don't know if I feel guilty for that, but I do most certainly feel like scum. If I was forced to relive that moment again and again, I'd choose to kill Edward every time. But, pragmatism still didn't make me feel good.

I couldn't even imagine what Weiss was feeling like. She might not act it, but she most certainly is more moral than me. More empathetic. Her kill was also far more brutal than mine.

This will tear her up inside.

That made me feel even worse than killing Edward—the fact that I was too weak to defend Weiss after I got us out of the animal's den was even worse. She shouldn't have been forced to kill someone. If she had her sword with her, maybe it'd at least have been less brutal of a death.

But, it does not do well to dwell on what-ifs.

"You alright?" I murmur softly, leaning against an alley wall for support. My hand rubs soft circles into her arm.

She leans against the brick wall with me, eyes cast over with the shadows of the alley. She looks lost, pupils searching for something that they'd likely never find. She remained silent, face so blank it was almost as if she had no expressions at all.

I nudged her again, keeping my voice low. "You good?" I quietly say, trying to get her to react at all.

She looks at me, but it's like she doesn't see me. Her eyes seem unnaturally wide. It was like something I'd heard about in history—a thousand yard stare. The kind of look that you get when you do or see something so traumatizing that you struggle to process anything.

I have no clue how to deal with this. I have no idea how to help. It's horrible to be useless. I'd try my best to be less useless than I was, at least.

Latching my arms around her, I pulled Weiss into a hug. My hand moved in circles on her back as I tried to be soothing, having no clue if I'm doing anything helpful at all.

She didn't react, didn't respond. She just stood there, like she couldn't even tell I was hugging her. She usually ran cold, but now she just felt dead. Like she was a cooling corpse that had long since lost its grip on life.

I kept my arms around Weiss, trying my damndest to pass my warmth off to her. She shouldn't have to feel like this. I should've been stronger.

"It's okay." I mutter to her, holding her in my arms tightly whilst she maintains her doll-like demeanor. "You saved my life—our lives. Thank you."

Her head fell onto my shoulder, a heavy weight pressing down upon me. Weiss was usually light, but she had greater burdens to bear today. Her icy skin was a stark contrast to the warm drops slowly cascading onto the sleeve of my shirt.

"How?" She softly spoke, head pressed onto my shoulder.

I rubbed circles into her back and lowered my head. "How?" I repeat, confusion twinging my voice.

She stays quiet for a moment, the sounds of the sleeping city painfully loud. She opened her mouth and spoke. "How are you—" She paused, going silent to gather her thoughts. "How did you deal with it?"

I remain taciturn, trying to process what she said. I have no clue how I dealt with it…

I hadn't even begun to deal with it. I don't know if I'm sad or mad or angry or happy or glad. I just…am. "I haven't. I've never killed someone before." I inform her, throat dry. "I don't know how."

"Then—then how are you so…so…" Weiss struggled to articulate herself, her search for words failing.

"I'm—I don't know if I'm okay." I reveal, feeling like a million pounds were resting on my back. "I'd do what I did again and again. Was it right?" I huffed out a laugh. There was zero mirth in it. "No. No, I don't think it was. But, I'd do it again and again and again if it meant keeping you safe."

"But…how—why are you fine?" She begs me, pleading for her own weights to go away.

I shook my head slowly, rubbing her back in smooth, gentle motions. "I'm not. I feel terrible, like I'm complete trash. I don't know if I feel guilty or not. I don't think I do—I don't. But, lives matter. People matter. It's—I said I'd do it over and over and over again. Put me in the same spot, the same place, the same scenario—I'd kill Edward to keep you safe. But, I know it never needed to be that way. Edward seemed like a good guy, a nice person. Put me in a different spot, a different place, a world far different than ours…"

My words broke off there as I went silent. It's easy to think about killing someone. People are weak. We're fragile. Killing is easy, far too easy. To think of it is simple, to imagine slicing a knife across the carotid artery and ending a life in a moment. It's not hard, not at all.

But, to think and do are very different. Very, very different. I know that now. Killing felt odd, even if it didn't hurt. It didn't hurt me to kill. It was the knowledge that I removed a being who had loved ones and a life and an existence equally important to my own that hurt.

Trash trash trash trash trash trash trash trash trash—

I cut myself off of that line of thought. Self degradation wouldn't help me here. I killed because I had no other option. I killed because of my own greed and the very world we lived in.

The fact we lived in such a world…it's disgusting.

"Lives matter." I continue from before, Weiss breathing softly in my arms. "All lives are special. Everyone matters equally. Killing is an atrocity, a thing that shouldn't exist. But, we live in such a world that it does exist. A world where killing is necessary to live at times. We shouldn't have a world such as this, but we simply do."

I exhale deeply, trying to force the burden from my lungs. "It'll probably never stop hurting…all we can do is try and use what we've done positively. We'll probably have to kill again and again and again. It's our job. It's the lives we live." I rest my chin on her head, enjoying the sound of her soft exhales. "So, horrible as it may be, we can't waste their sacrifices."

Weiss stayed quiet, simply breathing into my chest as we stood there. I doubt I gave her the answer she wanted. I only gave her the answer I could find.

She seemed better than before, at least.

"Hey…" I murmured softly into her hair, playing with some of the strands. "We should head back. Go get a shower, you'll feel better. I have to call my parents anyway, so you can get some free time to yourself."

"You said you wanted me there." She protested lightly, barely moving an inch. "We can both take quick showers and then you can call them."

"Are you sure?"

Weiss moved back a step, just enough so that she could meet my eyes. They weren't lively by any means, but she seemed to get a little bit of life cast back into them. "I'm certain."

Her eyes gave no room for me to argue.

"Alright."

And so, we started to head back. We left the alley covered in bits of blood and gore—if anyone saw us, they'd probably run and scream, calling the police while they were at it. It was, luckily, dark out. The sun was already down and, judging by the area, I have high doubts people wander here at night.

It was a silent walk. Neither of us were in much mood to talk; I guess that sort of thing happens when you have a lot to think over.

I really did have a lot to think over. I said we shouldn't waste the deaths of the people we killed, but I have no clue as to how. That always seemed to be the gap in any of my plans for the future: the how. How will I make the world better? How will I help the faunus? How will I stop war? How will I stop poverty? How will I stop killings and rapes and murders and crimes?

How, how, how, how—the word just always popped up. It popped up so much because I was useless. I couldn't think of answers. I was ambitious without a path. My goals in life, the things I wanted to do, they'd probably sound ridiculous to anyone else.

After all, there is always a path to any goal that is accomplishable. How in the world do you accomplish world peace?

You don't. You can't. People are free. I freely chose to kill today. Tomorrow, someone will freely chose to kill someone or to rape someone or rob them or all the above. And that will happen the day after tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that until the end of all life.

I'm a fool, then. A fool with lofty goals with no real plans to even begin to reach them. What an idiot I am.

I guess I'm an even bigger idiot for still wanting to pursue those same goals.

Wanting people to have agency and peace? How foolish. Wanting to end war without darkening your morals? How ridiculous. Wanting to stop famine and hunger and racism and all the bad things in the world without utilizing conflict? How fucking dumb of me.

I just—

"Nigel, we're back." Weiss speaks in a soft tone, almost as if her voice would strain and break if it tried to be any louder.

I blinked. "Oh."

We were, in fact, back. I stood at the entrance of our dorm, not wanting to dirty the room with the numerous amounts of filth permeating my body. "You can have the first shower."

She nodded, moving to the bathroom. I slid down the wall, resting my head for a few minutes as the pounding of water played like a melody.

My muscles tightened as I clenched my hands into fist, breath growing harsher. The peppering of the water against the ground sounded a lot like the lioness faunus's semblance.

My heart pounded faster, my blood heavy in my veins. I could only hope Weiss was alright. I hadn't heard any banging or loud noises, so I pray she is fine.

Only a minute later, she walked out at a brisk pace, her face clouded with dark shadows. She was wrapped in a towel while her hands were clenched into balls.

She must've noticed as well.

I walked into the shower a moment after, the droplets sounding like bullet fire to my ears. I washed myself down as fast as I could, rushing to get out of the death trap.

Rubbing soap over myself and washing it off, I got out of the shower a minute later. It felt like a minute too long.

"You done changing?" I called out the bathroom door, not opening it yet.

From somewhere behind the door, Weiss's voice picked up. "Yeah." She said quietly, just loud enough for me to hear it.

I exited the bathroom and went to change, quickly tossing on underwear, shorts, and a tee. Finishing with that, I moved over to the couch where Weiss sat. She was wearing clothes almost as casual as my own.

"Are you sure you want to be here when I call them?" I hesitantly ask her. "It's—you can always be here another time."

"I'm alright, Nigel." She said tightly, voice still low.

I eyed her for a moment and sighed, pulling out my Scroll. There were a few cracks on the screen, but it was fine overall. I was fortunate, I guess.

I went to my parent's contact and called them. It rang. And rang. And rang. And rang. Just as I was sure it was about to go to voicemail, the screen bloomed to life, showing my parents faces. They kept the camera too close to their faces—they were old, though, so who could blame them?

I tried for a smile, still feeling utterly wasted. "Hey Ma, Dad!" I said weakly, barely having the energy to keep my eyes open. "How've you guys been? Weiss is with me, so you guys should say hi!"

They didn't respond. They just kept staring at me, eyes unblinking. It was uncanny. They didn't move, didn't twitch, didn't do anything. They just sat there.

Unblinking.

"Mom? Dad?" I tried again, chest tightening. "You guys the—"

The camera zoomed out. Weiss gasped. I blanched, blood freezing within my veins.

A desk. Blood, so much blood. Too much. It was too much, my head felt woozy. I could only stare in horror at the screen.

My parent's disembodied heads stared back lifelessly.

It took all my effort not to vomit. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. I felt paralyzed, like a viper was coiling around me and constricting me, only just to bite my neck and inject me with its venom.

"Nigel Dietrich, I've been wanting to meet you." A voice came from somewhere just outside of the range of the camera. It was deep and harsh and full of hate. "And you even brought the Schnee."

A masked man with red-black hair, a mask, and horns walked into frame, casually sitting in between my parent's severed heads. Fury ran like a drug through my body. "Who the fuc—"

"Speak when spoken to, human." The beast snarled, spitting the word like it was a slur. "As is right of your inherent position."

I remained quiet as Weiss was stock still next to me. I wanted to kill this beast. Murder him. Desecrate his gods damned corpse and—!

"Adam Taurus…" Weiss whispered out, staring at the faunus in horror. I recognized that name. Why would he..?

He glared at Weiss through the screen, eyes full of hate and loathing. "Weiss Schnee. So, you know who I am. I'm surprised that a Schnee would spend their time learning the names of those…beneath them."

"Why'd you kill them?" I cut in sharply, venom pouring from my voice in droves. "Why them? They had nothing to do with the SDC. Why them? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why them? Why were they a target? What made them a target? They never worked for the SDC. They didn't like the SDC. So, why the fuc—"

"Did I tell you that you could speak, human?" He snarled out, looking at me like I was trash. "And, why would I not kill them? They birthed you, did they not? The human protecting a Schnee?" He pushed my dad's head off of the desk. It uselessly thumped against the ground. Fury ran through me.

Weiss tightened up from next to me, her head darting towards me. She looked horrified.

My eyes narrowed as I glared. I yearned for his death. I'd kill him. I'd burn his entrails as I ruined everything he ever tried in his life. He'd suffer for this. "They did not know. They did not know I am working for the Schnees. They didn't know. They did nothing. My dad hates the SDC. My mom actively helped fauni. They did not deserve to die!"

My mom's head was casually pushed off of the desk. "They birthed you. They made you. To cull a problem, you snip it from the roots." The animal spoke like he was telling some great truth. He spoke like he thought what he was doing was somehow good. Like it was somehow moral.

"That's—" I choked on my words, fighting with vitriol and spittle and my own arguments. Each wanted to come out, to lay blows against the beast on the screen. "Because they birthed me. Because…because they…" I laughed. I laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed and laughed.

Weiss's hand grabbed my own. The cold of it didn't feel comforting like it usually did.

"We couldn't take risks of more of your type being created." The creature spoke like he was spewing holy literature. His voice was smug. "Humans who go above their station get put down. We were lucky we stopped another of your type from being born."

"...what."

I stare at the screen. It looked smug. The beast looked smug. Mom had, apparently, been pregnant. He killed two innocents and a—a fetus and felt smug.

How? Why? Why would he—?

"This is what happens when you side with the Schnees."

My blood boiled violently as I shook. I don't know if it was from rage or pain or—or what. I just—

It stood up, looking at the camera narrowly "We will see each other again, Schnee, human. Tell Blake I said hello."

The call ended. My Scroll smashed into the ground as I stared at its broken remains.

"I'm sorry." Weiss said from my side, holding my hand tightly. Her head hung low. "It's my fault. My fault they are dead. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. If you never met me, had never—"

I lightly wacked the back of her head. "Stop being stupid. It's that beast's fault that they died. I'm going to kill him." I swore to her. "I'm going to ruin everything he loves and make him watch. He'll die a painful death. I'll ruin him and his plans. The White Fang will shatter. Menagerie will shatter. He will burn and suffer and die and…and…"

Weiss's arms wrapped around me. My arms immediately clung around her. I sobbed into her. Hot tears rushed down my face as I cried and cried and cried. I desperately held onto her like a lifeline, fearing that she too would up and vanish.

Sobs wracked my throat as my body shook. I trembled, the stress and pain of the day finally freeing itself from me. My head buried into her shoulder as her hair absorbed my tears.

Weiss is all I have left, now. No parents. No other friends. No other family. Just her. Only her. I have no one but her.

She is everything, now. I love her.

Her arms felt so nice against me. So nice, like their natural iciness sapped away the hot fury from me.

But, I wanted that fury right now. I needed it. Regretfully, I pulled back from the hug. She gave me a confused look. "Where are you—"

"It knew Blake."

Somehow, that monster knew Blake. Knew her on a first name basis. Was Blake once White Fang? Is that how they knew each other? Both were faunus, so it isn't impossible. How else would they know each other?

Or, was she still White Fang? It'd be dumb to expose her like that, but that creature didn't seem rational. That thing seemed insane. Like it'd do anything to hurt others.

It's very possible it'd break Blake's cover to hurt Weiss. It hated the Schnees. Weiss might not admit it but she'd grown fond of team RBY. That beast would do something like exposing a spy to hurt someone. It seemed sadistic.

I pray that Yang and Ruby found Blake.

"Don't do something stupid." Weiss warned carefully, hand latching onto my own.

I lightly pushed her hand off of my own. "Go get some sleep. I'm going to go get some answers."

She eyed me in worry, eyes still red from tears. My eyes were probably even redder. Weiss slightly nodded. "Just don't do anything dumb. Please, please do not get hurt." She pleaded with me.

"I won't even leave the building." I promised her.

That seemed like enough to relieve her worries. I soon walked out the door and into the halls. It only took a quick walk to get over to team RBY's room. My fist thumped against their door like a mallet.

Bang. Bang. Bang. My fist hammered at the door, likely waking up half the people in the building. The door swung open and I came face to face with an irate Yang. "...Nigel? It's eleven at night—!"

I pushed by her. "Where the hell is Blake?"

I heard tired groanings as I entered the room. The light was flicked on and I could see Ruby in a bunk above Yang. Blake was lying down in a different bed. Seems like they did find her.

"Hey, I know you and Weiss are used to having no personal space but you can't just—" I tuned Yang out.

"How the fuck do you know Adam Taurus?" I hissed at the half-conscious Blake. She immediately shot up from her bed. Yang went quiet from behind me while Ruby gasped.

Blake's eyes were wide as she stared at me in abject shock. "How do you—?"

I gave a wide grin. "Just had an amaaaazing talk with the guy! Real sane fellow, that one! Really, he seems like he is a big fan of the Schnees and anyone who works with the Schnees! He may have mentioned your name while going on and on about how kind and considerate he is to all people who have any kind of connection to anyone of the Schnee name! Lovely chap, really!"

Blake stared at me, mouth wide. "I—I…" She struggled out words, barely able to speak. Pain was held behind her eyes. "He—he killed someone, didn't he?"

My grin only stretched wider. "Yup! He only just killed my dad and my pregnant mom, nothing big! Then he only just picked up the call from my Scroll with their cut off heads displayed!"

Yang and Ruby gasped while Blake looked down at her hands, her face showing a myriad of emotions so complex that I could not interpret them. "I'm—why would Adam do that…he—he was never that bad before. He wasn't…he'd never been so…"

"Ah!" I cheerfully say, palms going to fists. "So, you are buddy buddy with that guy! I'd been wondering why he seemed to know you." I tilt my head, staring deeply into her eyes. "You're White Fang." I say with certainty. "So, tell me why I shouldn't kill you."

"Wait wait wait wait!" Yang cut in. "No one is killing anyone! Hear her out! Maybe she didn't—isn't…" Yang went quiet. Blake was in a pretty damning spot.

No one ever wants to side with the friend of the baby killer.

"Yeah!" Ruby added her two cents. "Blake has to have a reason. This is all just a misunderstanding."

I clapped my hands together. "Well, Blake, you heard them. Tell us how you aren't a horrible person."

Blake went for a glare but it quickly fell off. The girl slumped. "I'm…I've always been part of the faunus fight. I grew up in it. My parents were the leaders of Menagerie several years back before things changed. The White Fang—they were made to be a cause for good. To help the faunus. We were peaceful—" I snorted at that. "—for a time. We protested, trying to help bring equality to the faunus!"

The cat faunus tapered off, looking sad. "It…it didn't go great. Change through peaceful means is slow. People wanted to stop being hurt. They wanted to stop being oppressed. And so, they fought back. The White Fang became more and more violent. I remained in it for too long, Adam constantly feeding me promises and honeyed words about how great all of what we were doing was."

"When'd you leave?"

Her eyes cast down. "Only a few months back." She admitted. "Not very long before I applied to Beacon. Adam and I—we stopped seeing eye to eye. He was becoming more and more violent. He kept getting wrapped up in this…this echo chamber. He went from wanting equality to supremacy. He just kept getting worse. So, I left."

"And, now you are here." I mused. "Fine, but why should I believe you are telling the truth?"

"Have I ever acted like a supremacist? Do you think I'm the kind of person to agree with what Adam does? I'm not like that! I want to help people, not to kill them!"

Unfortunately, I did believe her. She wasn't the type. I sighed deeply, turned tail, and left.

I needed sleep.