Samuel Lionheart felt his entire body fall forward, falling against the ground with a thud as the food on his tray spilled onto the floor, completely ruining it and staining it in the process, the lion faunus got up from the ground in some pain, looking around to find the cause of his fall.

"Oooh, I thought faunus had developed instincts, it seems they are not as similar to animals as I thought" A girl with light greenish hair spoke, pointing at Samuel with her index finger while laughing somewhat exaggeratedly.

Samuel got up from the ground, approaching the girl and pushing her with all the force his 10-year-old body could give, although it was enough to destabilize her "What is your problem?! I didn't even do anything to you!"

"Faunus always have something on their minds, they are like beasts, primitive and act on instinct" The girl didn't seem to be genuinely hurt by Samuel's push, in fact, she stood up and faced him head on "Are you going to hurt me like an animal from the Black Fang?"

Samuel hissed angrily, finding somewhere in his mind enough will to keep himself half-calm "Rossana, please…I know you don't like me, but, I don't want to get into any more trouble and-"

"Of course you do! It's in your nature" Rossana interrupted Samuel, leaning forward slightly and taking the boy's lion tail, squeezing it with some force "My cat likes it when I do that, you do too-"

Rossana was interrupted when Samuel's fist ended up in her face, knocking her to the ground with ease and causing her skull to take most of the impact, the school cafeteria suddenly fell silent, the children looked at the scene with different emotions, most scared, and others angry.

Samuel felt something collide with his face, causing his face to turn to the side. When he saw the object, he realized it was a sandwich.

"It's a monster! Faunus hate us humans!" A child shouted, picking up another child's food and throwing it at Samuel, who moved to the side to dodge the projectile, his foot ending up hitting Rossana by accident, causing her to finally recover from her daze.

As she stood up, her light green hair was stained with blood, right where she had been hit, the children's gasp of surprise caused the little girl to place a hand behind her head, staining it with the reddish liquid.

Rossana looked at her own blood in surprise, finally becoming aware of the sharp pain coming from the back of her neck, her eyes filled with tears in less than a second, her voice breaking out into a rather loud moan of pain.

"What's going on here?!" The doors of the cafeteria swung open, revealing the figure of a man in his mid-40s, panic flooded Samuel's entire body, he should have known, he should have remembered his position.

The man looked angrily and confused at Rossana's dripping head and at the lion faunus standing in front of her, without a second's hesitation, he approached at a furious pace, taking the boy's hand very tightly and gently placing his free hand on Rossana's back.

"We're going to the infirmary, young man, you have a lot of explaining to do!" The man muttered, leading both children out of the cafeteria, filling it once again with a heavy and unpleasant silence.

...

Samuel slapped his legs perhaps a thousand times, at this point he didn't know how much time had passed since he was in detention, his mind had been dedicated to reviewing what happened and the consequences of what he did.

Rossana Chloris, known to the students as the daughter of a famous Huntress of the ABRN team, Samuel may have been the grandson of Leonardo Lionheart and the son of the current Headmaster of Haven, but even so, that didn't save him from having purposely hurt a poor girl, just because she touched his tail.

Samuel was aware of that little problem he had, every time he saw a faunus being insulted or if he himself was offended, he lost control and usually ended up hitting or pushing people, this was not the first time he seriously hurt someone, no, it could perfectly be the fourth or the fifth, he doesn't even remember it well.

The Black Fang was a problem for Mistral, but especially for the Faunus who were not affiliated with the organization, the White Fang variant was an incredibly aggressive pro-faunus movement towards humans, capable of looting camps or entire villages, almost as if it were a tribe of Anima, those who were not affiliated with the organization ended up suffering even more discrimination, being accused of being possible accomplices.

The accusation of being basically a criminal of the nation was very serious, but still, he was a faunus, he was not supposed to lose control, if he did, he would be giving his attackers reason, he should simply remain calm, not throw his fist at the first opportunity he could.

"Young Lionheart, I'm sure you know the consequences of this" The school principal was a lady easily in her 50s, her physical appearance didn't really give her away, but the wrinkles on her face and her partially graying hair revealed that fact "This isn't the first time you got into trouble, coincidentally, everyone involved ends up being human"

"Miss Kincaid, Rossana touched my tail without my consent" Samuel muttered, loud enough for the woman to hear "I… lost control, but-"

"Kids can be a little strange and curious, Samuel, that's no reason to hit them, it was just a squeeze" Principal Kincaid downplayed the matter, waving her hand from side to side "Being Leo's grandson won't save you, I'm a close friend of your father, and I'll have to talk to him about this incident, for now, you must return home…you are suspended for 3 days"

Samuel felt his anger replaced by guilt and shame, being the son of a Headmaster of an academy was not exactly the easiest task, even worse if you make mistakes, the most serious ones always end up leaking to the press, and the news of Leonardo Lionheart II's son hurting an innocent human girl would not be very good for his father's reputation.

The way home ended up being the same as always, the area where the school was was not exactly dangerous, at least not during the day, it was always busy and the necessary establishments allowed faunus, the others had a huge sign prohibiting the entry of that type of people, getting distracted while returning home was complicated for Samuel.

The atmosphere of Mistral remained the same as always, nature always had control over the hand of man, although there were more houses than several years ago, adding establishments such as restaurants or more, ironically, the fauna was richer in Mistral than in other places, so it was normal for healers and gastronomy enthusiasts to settle in the kingdom.

Samuel stopped at the gate of his home, his house could practically be considered a mansion, extremely spacious with a total of 5 floors, a black steel gate that was connected to two 3-meter-high walls, completely surrounding the main building, in addition to being protected by multiple guards.

Samuel greeted the guard, entering his home shortly after the steel gate opened, the interior of the mansion welcomed him, as almost every day, although the predominant light brown color and the pleasant aroma of perfectly clean wood no longer made him feel safe, now, it was a harbinger of the scolding that would come shortly.

Leonardo Lionheart II appeared as he passed through the threshold that would lead to the mansion's study, his robust body and somewhat impressive height betrayed his age, his lion's tail hit the ground a couple of times, his gaze fixed on the boy's, sharpening his eyes and closing the book he had in his hand.

"Young man…we have a lot to talk about"

...

"Principal Kincaid called me a little while ago, claiming that you seriously injured one of your classmates, Rossana Chloris, right?" Leonardo sat in an incredibly expensive chair, glaring at his son, who was on the family couch "We've talked about this a lot, Samuel…"

"But she touched me and insulted me! You taught me how to defend myself! That's why I'll be going to an academy for Huntsmen in the future, right?" Samuel quickly looked for an excuse, one thing was the headmistress, but his father might be more understanding "...Grandpa would understood…"

Leonardo's face suddenly softened, remembering for only a second his father, the former Headmaster of Haven, his face moved to the side, avoiding staring at his son, any mention of the deceased man always made his stomach turn, the public had a unique perception of what happened at the academy, one that even his son possesses.

"Your grandfather wasn't very fond of hurting people" Leonardo sighed, smiling weakly "You're very kind, Samuel, and you look like your grandfather…but you must understand that your emotions shouldn't take control of you, you must take control over them and take their strength, understand?"

Samuel took a few seconds to nod "I… I guess I understand, I'm sorry I hit Rossana… I'll apologize to her"

"Fine" Leonardo's smile widened, standing up and approaching his son, ruffling his hair "Now…unfortunately, you're grounded, so you won't be able to play Blazblue Chrono or anything"

"The name is Chrono Phantasma, Dad!" Samuel laughed, forgetting for a moment about the impending punishment that was coming upon him.

Even if his father had not been upset with him, he still understood his words perfectly, his emotions cannot take control of him, he must learn to tame them and manage them to his liking, thus, he will be able to fulfill his dream.

Be a Huntsman, and change Mistral forever.

...

"The sap that comes out of the bark of the trees in Forever Fall is very special, it has several interesting properties capable of altering some plants that we will use in class, as well as being quite sweet and pleasant to the taste buds of living beings" Petra Oobleck had an appearance that completely revealed who her parents were, her orange hair was completely raised in exaggerated spikes, her eyes were partially visible through her glasses, however, their large size and her ability to penetrate the soul of whoever she wanted were notable.

She was the daughter of Bartholomew Oobleck and Thumbelina Peach, both former Beacon teachers.

"The red sap…my father used to put it in my food when I was younger" Neithan Rose murmured wistfully, feeling his stomach growl at the thought of tasting such a delicacy once more "How sweet…"

Samuel laughed lightly, looking to his side to check Waylon's condition, his posture and facial expression showed that he was at least partially calmer than before, however, his body language also halfway revealed his lack of attention towards the class.

"Are you feeling better?" Samuel couldn't help but ask, Waylon shook his head slightly, managing to sketch a weak but calm smile.

"I'm better" he murmured, returning to his position on the table.

The last few days at Beacon had been much calmer, Telsius won his arranged match with Almethia, and the popularity of the STRM team had risen slightly due to said event, the red-haired boy seemed more confident of himself lately, as well as closer to Myrian than before, so Samuel was more than pleased with the current situation of the team.

"Forever Fall awaits us" Professor Petra declared, drawing the attention of all her students "I got special permission from Headmaster Oscar for a field trip to obtain this magnificent sap, furthermore, there is an extremely rare plant that only grows in Mistral, but there have also been reports of this same plant appearing in Forever Fall, If you manage to obtain it, you'll get extra points in my class" Professor Petra explained, her glasses-covered eyes seeming to widen with excitement.

"Buxuris, the plant is called Buxuris" Waylon placed his back in a straight position, finally becoming more interested in the class "Huh, finding it is complicated, its appearance is recent, they say that if you smell it you will be able to see your past lives, or something like that, I don't believe much in fantasy stories"

"Don't you want to know if you were a cat in your past life?" Riana asked with genuine curiosity, dropping her head on Waylon's shoulder, quickly pulling away when he looked at her with a somewhat amused look "Eh…then we should get ready to go!"

The WBRN and STRM teams prepared for the trip to Forever Fall, there was a certainly curious story related to said forest, in particular, one that claimed that Cardin Winchester was saved by Jaune Arc, showing his bravery and loyalty to his team, the story was confirmed by both men, who had a certainly pleasant relationship at present.

However, none of the young aspiring Huntsmen were aware of what awaited them in Forever Fall.

...

Forever Fall had a unique and special atmosphere in Remnant, the forest of red trees was characterized by being incredibly wide and spacious, reaching miles and miles of northern Vale, which was precisely the reason why the vast forest had begun to undergo changes, all made by the current council of the kingdom.

Vale had only one large city, its main city being the place with the most commerce and population in the entire kingdom, because of this, it was decided to start a project to begin populating the entire Forever Fall area, an initiative completely inspired by the current Menagerie cleanups, where the uninhabitable desert has begun to be safe enough for normal people without an aura.

Forever Fall was not the most dangerous place in Remnant, but it was not a bed of roses either, the Ursa walked calmly through the forests, consuming the sap that crawled within the bark of the trees, this being a reason why not just anyone decided to venture into the northern area of Vale.

The WBRN team and the STRM team walked alongside the other group of students, led by Petra Oobleck, the first years seemed clearly alert to any kind of visible movement between the trees, even if the sun was shining directly on their skin, the interiors of the forest were still not visible.

Another case was the third-year students.

The presence of the Grimm was still something relatively new for some first-year students, so Petra had no better idea than to come accompanied by all the third years, much more experienced students who took low to medium range missions every few months, which automatically made them more reliable when it came to combat.

"If you look closely, you can see several unused rails and a few small towns, Forever Fall is starting to be visited more by tourists and people looking to build a decent future, on the horizon, the city of Vuwell" Petra pointed out some buildings seen in the distance, capturing the attention of most of her students "But today we are not tourists, the delicious sap of these trees awaits us, each of you has been given a jar with which you must collect the juicy nectar, the Ursa love it too, so be careful"

In less than a second, all the students began to disperse, the WBRN and STRM teams stayed together.

"Alright, we'll cover more ground if we split up" Waylon turned his head slightly, barely making eye contact with his teammates for a brief moment "Me and my team will head east…you guys pick another spot, what do you think?"

"Sounds good to me" Samuel didn't make any complaints, causing both teams to completely separate, WBRN headed east and disappeared within seconds, while STRM headed west, thus beginning the search for the sap.

The tranquility of the forest did not seem to be interrupted by any Grimm, the voices of the students became more distant with each step they took, giving a new and pleasant confidence to the entire team.

"Forever Fall is pretty calm, the red is very vibrant… Argus Forest is much flatter" Telsius commented quietly, stopping at a tree and looking at the bark, a small trace of a liquid of a somewhat strange magenta color, the red-haired boy uncovered his bottle, placing it very carefully under the trace "Okay, it's so different from Mistral"

"Do you miss Mistral? I mean, it's pretty new for you two, Riana and I have practically lived here since we were born, so, this is nothing we haven't seen before" Curiosity got the better of Myrian, Riana, who had been fervently licking the bark of one of the trees, turned her full attention to the two male members of her team.

Telsius thought for a few seconds, moving the jar away from the tree and covering it "I miss my mother, but Mistral was kind of boring, and honestly, it was really hard at times"

"What about you Samuel?" Riana asked, looking expectantly at her fellow faunus.

Samuel's mind wandered for a moment, remembering with some resentment and anger all the racist and derogatory comments he suffered since he was practically born, even though he was the son of the Headmaster of Haven, the intolerant did not know how to distinguish classes, so the insults towards him were just as horrible as those suffered by the others of his kind.

"Mistral is not a nice place, racism is around every corner" Samuel began to speak, his face furrowing into an annoyed grimace "The Black Fang only makes it worse…at least here in Vale, I don't have to put up with-"

Samuel couldn't continue when he felt a somewhat strong blow to his skull, stunning him and practically knocking him to the ground in a miserable instant, his eyes fluttered around the ground, searching for the cause of the pain in his head, finding a bottle identical to his own.

"Felines are cunning and macabre animals, it is not expected that a faunus like you would be so, well, known for your attitudes" A boy with brown hair and amber eyes, his appearance was more defined by a somewhat tight suit, similar to that of a ninja, even with a dark cloth completely covering his mouth, giving him an even more mysterious appearance.

Samuel stood up from the ground, his teeth clenched together as anger began to flow through his veins "Kaito Nakamura…from Team TINY, give me one good reason not to break your mouth right now"

"That fierceness, that anger when you speak… you are definitely a faunus" Kaito laughed lightly, putting the rest of Samuel's team on alert "Calm down, children, I have no problem with you, you are not as wild as the animal that you have as a leader"

"I thought we had settled our issues" Myrian muttered, her frown revealing her annoyance "Can't Ivonne put a leash on her friends?"

"I should say the same about your leader, haven't you heard the rumors?" Kaito asked, his eyes widening at the lack of an answer "Oooh, well, then there wouldn't be any problem with me telling them, would there, Samuel?"

"Shut your mouth!" Samuel growled, taking a step forward with clearly aggressive intentions, to his surprise, Telsius grabbed him firmly by the arm, stopping him and looking at him with some concern.

"In Mistral, Samuel Lionheart is known for being the son of the Headmaster of Haven, but also for being incredibly aggressive…Rossana Chloris, her mother is Reese Chloris, from team ABRN, the poor girl was hospitalized when she was barely in school, guess who was the bastard who split her head?" Kaito's tone of voice turned somewhat darker, a grimace of disgust adorning his face "Samuel, what do you have to say in your defense?"

Samuel's expression lost some of its fierceness, now adding a clear sign of regret, the grip that Telsius had on him eased a little, finally allowing him to break free.

The tension in the atmosphere became heavy, the air whipped the trees with some force, throwing reddish leaves towards the group of teenagers, creating a somewhat dramatic and unfriendly scene for the entire STRM team.

"It seems my purpose here is finished" Kaito smiled in satisfaction, looking at the shattered jar on the floor "I'll have to ask Tatsuno for another one… don't say I didn't warn you, okay? There's a good reason why faunus are frowned upon in Mistral"

Kaito disappeared into the trees, leaving the STRM team completely alone once again, the charged atmosphere was interrupted by the angry and frustrated voice of Riana, who was more than offended by the way her leader had been treated.

"Who does he think he is?" the black-haired girl muttered, crossing her arms.

"…Samuel?" Telsius whispered, looking at his leader's back, who was motionless "What he said is true?"

"…I didn't mean to do it" Samuel muttered, his voice lower and more vulnerable than he would have liked. His teammates let out a gasp at the confirmation of Kaito's accusations "She was stalking me, she touched my tail and I got really angry, I didn't know she was so fragile… she recovered a short time later in the hospital, that's what I found out before I was expelled and transfered to another school"

Myrian's jaw hung for a moment, her leader seriously injuring a poor little girl? She couldn't exactly blame him for the past, but, he looked clearly upset right now, Telsius had to stop him to prevent him from doing something he would regret later.

"You…were going to hurt Kaito?" She asked, her expression showing some sadness.

"I… have anger issues, I get angry pretty easily when people mess with my faunus traits… if Telsius didn't stop me…" Samuel shook his head, turning around and finally facing his friends "Can we just forget about this? Kaito might open his mouth about what happened with Rossana and I don't want people looking at me weird in the hallways"

Samuel didn't give his team a chance to respond, he simply turned around and continued walking forward, Telsius, Riana and Myrian looked at each other for a moment, before simply lowering their heads and following their team leader.

...

The chases in the city of Vale were not exactly normal.

The city's police were not as efficient as those in the other kingdoms, mainly because they were usually bribed or turned a blind eye to some events of medium to high importance, any crime related to the Malachite twins was totally ignored due to its complexity and the likelihood that nothing would happen, just to mention one example.

But, one of the reasons why the criminals are so calm lately, is because of Ruby Rose.

The presence of the legendary Huntress in the kingdom is no mystery, even more so with the latest news linking her and the Schnee Corporations, Ruby Rose was on the streets, keeping watch like a nocturnal animal.

She had actually been spending quality time with her husband the past few days, but that was something the press wasn't supposed to know about.

The Branwen tribe's armored vehicle skidded on the concrete of the road with difficulty, the sharp turn instantly alerted all the respectable citizens walking along the sidewalk, forcing them to stick to the building furthest from the truck, thus avoiding serious injuries.

"She's following us! Damn it!" A burly, nervous bandit bellowed loudly, nervously looking in the rearview mirror "I can't see her, I can't see her!"

"Calm down for a second" a tanned woman with defined muscles murmured calmly, although a single drop of sweat was showing on her head "You just have to go around a couple of times, we will lose her without much difficulty"

The driver nodded, still nervous and with his heart racing, it was certainly popular among the criminals of all Remnant that Ruby Rose used to play with them from time to time, if playing meant disappearing while they escaped, appearing from one moment to the next to give them a heart attack.

The bandit looked back with some relief at not seeing Ruby anywhere, his gaze moved towards the multiple devices shaped like small white boxes, they had once again stolen one of the Schnee Corporations trucks, although, unfortunately for the tribe, it had become more complicated.

Since Felicia's small attack, the security of the Schnee Corporations armored trucks had been increased considerably, five vehicles from the Branwen tribe had been sent to different routes from the company's own vehicles managed by Winter Schnee, three of the trucks had to escape when they were cornered.

"BE CAREFUL!" The voice of his partner alerted the bandit instantly, feeling the need to brake the vehicle, the truck skidded for a couple of seconds on the road, forcing both bandits to hold on tightly to some object.

"What's going on?!" He asked, terrified.

"I saw her, I swear I saw her…" The woman muttered, her calmness replaced by genuine fear.

They both remained silent as they processed the little information their frightened minds could understand, they carefully exited the vehicle, moving their heads from side to side to verify the presence of the legendary Huntress.

The man felt a sharp pain in his back as an elongated stick-like object hit him firmly, throwing him forward and immediately alerting his partner, Ruby Rose looked much healthier and more energetic than the day of the attack on the truck with the Ex Requiem sword, her wild smile was the living image of the jovial spirit that had taken control of her since she was 15 years old.

"Playing cat and mouse is fun, but you guys have been causing a lot of trouble lately, not to mention stealing refined technology" Ruby firmly gripped Crescent Rose's handle, spinning the scythe a few times "How about I arrest you two and you confess where the tribe's main camp is, huh?"

"We will never betray our people, Biggs, get up" The woman growled impatiently, moving her hands behind her back to firmly grasp two slightly curved swords, an action that was repeated by her ally.

Ruby looked around, noticing how a group of people began to activate their Scrolls and Neo-Scrolls to start recording the confrontation in progress, the woman sighed softly, holding her scythe tighter.

"Citizens, stay away from this, you might get hurt-" Ruby ducked as the bandit woman's swords tried to slash at her, giving her the opportunity to kick her in the legs, to her surprise, she was hit firmly in the jaw with a knee, making her stagger back slightly.

"My name is Epidia, I want you to know the name of the woman who will kill you" The woman now known as Epidia growled these words with clear resentment in her voice, almost as if Ruby had done something specific to her, the Huntress activated her semblance and transported herself to her side, preventing Biggs, who had approached aggressively, from cutting her neck.

Ruby raised her scythe until it was at the height of her right shoulder, pushing herself forward with her leg and spinning around, hitting both bandits at the same time, Ruby pulled the weapon up, throwing the lower tip of the handle towards Biggs, knocking him back while Epidia managed to recover from the attack.

Epidia threw her swords multiple times in Ruby's direction, connecting a succession of cuts towards the Huntress at an impressive speed, the brunette managed to block each of the attacks without much difficulty, firmly kicking the bandit in the stomach.

Biggs lunged at Ruby, falling face first to the ground as the Huntress vanished in a cloud of petals and rematerialized from the side, delivering a precise slash to the bandit's back, shattering his aura in a single second.

Epidia growled in irritation, looking at the static figure of her ally, her fingers trembled as the grip on her swords weakened, she was angry, but also somewhat scared, fighting Ruby Rose and winning without having a semblance of useful combat was simply suicide, she had to find a way to escape, along with Biggs.

Epidia reached into her back pocket somewhat nervously, pulling out two Atlesian military-grade grenades, Ruby felt her mouth go dry in an instant, much more alert than before.

"A lot of people admire you" Epidia growled, looking to her sides at the groups of people surrounding her and Ruby, now also scared "It would be a shame if they died for wanting to admire you, don't you think?"

"Drop that thing, now" Ruby said somewhat softly, motioning with her left hand for the citizens to move away "There's no need to hurt anyone here"

Epidia's silence put Ruby's senses even more on alert than before, the legendary Huntress began to carefully take steps back, giving the other woman the chance to wake her partner, Biggs got up from the ground clearly in pain, while Epidia held the grenades in her hands, her thumb brushing the activation mechanism.

Biggs entered the vehicle with difficulty, turning it on and placing his right foot on the accelerator, Epidia maintained eye contact with Ruby at all times, approaching the passenger door and quickly entering, giving the go-ahead to her partner to move the vehicle, the truck increased its speed in an instant, Ruby raised her scythe and with great force cut through the entire rear door in one fell swoop, managing to break it and causing all the objects inside to fall headlong onto the road, while the vehicle continued on its way.

Ruby activated her Neo-Scroll and quickly contacted the kingdom's police, she was very sure that they wouldn't achieve much considering that the routes that the Branwen tribe members followed were still somewhat confusing and strange, but at least they could prevent more people from getting hurt.

The applause was not long in coming, the group of people surrounding the woman began to show their gratitude and admiration for her, the youngest ones quickly approached and asked for an autograph, while the teenagers activated their own Neo-Scrolls or Scrolls to be able to record her.

Ruby smiled softly as she took a black marker, signing the shirt of a little girl, she discreetly observed the devices that had fallen from the truck, she would have to call Oscar so she could analyze them more carefully.

...

Hawk ran his hand along the bark of the tree in front of him, feeling the hard and somewhat loose wood, the sap oozing out through small fissures, creating a somewhat faint trail but which could be intensified if the fissure was opened further, the boy simply pushed his jar open to the trail, allowing him to enter the container without any impediment.

The rest of the HARM team was not around, each one had decided to take their own path in order to analyze and better understand the territory, none of them were originally from the kingdoms, and the forests of the rest of Anima were not the same as Forever Fall, so learning was not a bad idea.

Still, the places they had gone were strategic, keeping an eye on the other teams and understanding them halfway was a priority that Hawk had made clear to his teammates more than once, fortunately for him, he had to find out more about Beacon's most interesting and peculiar team.

The WBRN Team.

Hawk wasn't much of a rumor-monger, to him, gossip was childish and not very useful in most cases, knowing about students' love interests, or if they had a breakup, was totally useless to him, however, he had to admit that they had been quite useful lately.

Team WBRN was on everyone's lips, especially due to how distant their leader seemed from the rest of his team, an event related to the fight between Waylon and Felicia Torchwick, an event that became news throughout the city and the kingdom in less than a few weeks.

Hawk had to find out more about that, his information was limited, and his ways of communicating were risky and he didn't want to take unnecessary risks now, therefore, he had to get information in a more normal way.

Hawk discreetly looked to his side, finding the presence of Roy Schnee, son of Jaune Schnee and Weiss Schnee, he had already seen him on a couple of occasions in the past, obviously from a distance, he had never talked to him, and strangely, he was a little worried about getting closer.

Roy and Waylon were direct cousins, and apparently there were some problems in their relationship, but they also seem to be close, so approaching and asking directly about the red-eyed didn't sound like a good idea, but the options were running out.

Hawk took a step to the side, then another, and then another, finally standing in front of the tree next to Roy's, the blue-eyed looked to the side with curiosity, recognizing Hawk's features, smiling softly at him.

Hawk couldn't help but smile in response.

"You must know about Forever Fall" Hawk began, placing the lid on his jar and closing it with ease "You move around here pretty easily"

"Have you been spying on me?" Roy asked, not exactly offended, his smile widening a little more "I've been here a couple times in the past, when my family came to Vale to hang out… you're from the outskirts, right?"

"I am" Hawk replied, feeling oddly comfortable with the start of the conversation "I wasn't spying on you…well, maybe a little, but I was just curious…"

Roy laughed softly, paying more attention to the boy in front of him "That's cute…where's your team? You know…the three that are giving my friends so much trouble?"

Roy's tone wasn't accusatory, rather it was curious and cautious, Hawk didn't feel offended by the accusation either, in fact, he could follow the course of the conversation more calmly "They're doing their own things, none of us are from the kingdom and we want to find out a little more about the surroundings, what about your team?"

"They're a little further ahead from here, I decided to move away a little to collect more sap, Neithan eats it without me noticing" Roy laughed softly, Hawk felt the need to laugh as well, but managed to hold back that strange impulse.

"What about Waylon?" Hawk cocked his head in interest, to his surprise, talking to Roy seemed to be pretty easy.

Roy's expression turned serious for a few moments, his mind automatically reproducing the image of his cousin, not with an arrogant smile and a confident look, but rather guilt and remorse.

Talking about Waylon with anyone was complicated, he was his cousin, even if they had some problems originated in the past, he didn't feel the need to talk bad about him behind his back, no, he wanted to help him, but, he just didn't seem to want to be helped.

"He's been down ever since the Torchwick thing happened" Roy began to explain, his more neutral expression making Hawk's stomach turn slightly "Apparently he was supposed to protect something, and Felicia managed to intercept him in time, he wasn't seriously hurt, but the driver was, Waylon is blaming himself for it… I can feel it, even if he was somewhat successful"

Hawk growled slightly at the information, even so, he felt the need to comfort Roy, he shouldn't seem suspicious or anything like that, he needed to appear more natural.

The words started to come out on their own "I'm sorry to remind you of that…I shouldn't have asked"

"It's okay" Roy shook his head, his bright smile returning to his lips "So… I heard you've been seeing my aunt in her office, do you like her?"

Hawk couldn't help but laugh this time, starting to slowly walk away from Roy, leaving the white-haired boy puzzled "Your aunt is amazing, I admire her a lot, but...women aren't my type"

Roy felt his mouth go dry as Hawk walked away, leaving him perplexed and puzzled, the blue-eyed boy ran his hand through his hair, feeling more than satisfied to have had a casual conversation with the black-haired boy, In fact, now that he thought about it, he should have asked for his number.

"That was so gay" Bryan Xiao Long emerged from behind a tree, surprising Roy to the point that he screamed, although it came out more like a shriek.

"Shut up!" The blue-eyed boy growled, blushing softly "God…we were just talking…no one says anything to you when you talk to Monica"

"Good point" Bryan nodded, his expression turning more serious in a moment "Telsius called me, he said Samuel had a strange argument with Kaito Nakamura from team TINY, it seems there were rumors about him in Mistral, and now… he's embarrassed and away from the group"

"Sounds bad" Roy replied, his expression turning somewhat sad "Should we go talk to him?"

"I propose that we leave that job to Waylon" Bryan proposed, surprising Roy "I know that…he hasn't been himself lately, but he knows better than anyone what it feels like to have rumors going on his back, we need to convince him"

Roy bit his lip, sighing in defeat after Bryan looked at him so insistently "Okay… I guess, it doesn't hurt to try"

...

Ruby's expression completely betrayed her confusion and curiosity, her eyes completely fixed on the multiple electronic devices of Schnee Corporations, although these were not working and needed some more adjustments to work.

Ruby had learned quite a bit about technology in her time in Vacuo, she may have been more of a weapons enthusiast, but fully understanding the tools that can help her or that will stand in her way as an obstacle is almost as important as fully understanding how Crescent Rose works.

The devices in front of her were as big as her forearm, the blackish color and missing pieces showed that the EMP in front of her was incomplete, the reasons why the Branwen tribe would need an EMP were several, but she still had her doubts.

The EMP was still pretty small, it was military grade stuff, sure, but it was still capable of at most knocking out power to a fairly small house for a few hours, so why the hell would I want something like that?

"Did you come up with something?" Nora Valkyrie asked with curiosity and expectation in her voice, handing a cup of coffee and a plate of cookies to her friend, Ruby hummed in satisfaction "…Well?"

"They're…EMP" Ruby explained, placing a chocolate chip cookie in her mouth, savoring the texture for a couple of seconds "This one is incomplete, as it is right now it's not even capable of functioning, on top of that there are batteries powered by electric Dust, some GPS…it's too specific to be a casual theft"

"They must be plotting something, maybe taking power away from the CCT tower?" Nora asked, shaking her head as she quickly dismissed the idea "It would be incredibly stupid to invade Beacon just like that…"

"My uncle Qrow might know something or other, his mission here when he was a bandit was also to wipe Beacon off the map" Ruby stood up, drinking her coffee in one gulp, then devouring her cookies in less than a millisecond "Oscar?"

"I'm listening" Oscar Pine looked the same as always, though his slightly more put-together appearance betrayed a desire to look good for his wife "I'll have Pyrrha look into any possible decisions the tribe makes based on their history, but, to be honest, I think this is more of a Felicia thing than a Raven thing."

"Felicia is a tech geek, remember when the White Fang allied with Roman and the plan was to steal Dust to the death?" Nora asked, receiving a nod from the pair "The tribe should do the same with Felicia, let her take control over the resources they will use for their plans…which leaves me with the question, what about the dagger?"

"I've been doing my best research" Oscar rubbed his forehead, feeling a migraine coming on "The results are…disappointing, I found information in ancient writings but…something doesn't fit"

Ruby walked over to her husband, placing her hand on the man's back and beginning to gently massage him "You've done a lot, sweetheart, we all deserve a break"

"I propose we go out!" Nora said excitedly, making the couple nervous "Ruby, you can go see your uncle later, Oscar can continue looking for the dagger from beyond…and I can keep eating, but for now, we have to relax"

"What do you think?" Oscar asked, raising his head to see Ruby's expression.

"I don't think we have much of a choice" Ruby laughed softly, patting her husband on the shoulder before he stood up from his chair, leaving the office with Nora and Ruby herself.

...

Waylon looked up for a moment, noticing how the sun was beginning to set over the horizon, a frown adorned his face as he considered how dangerous it would be to wander through the woods in total darkness, the faunus would have their night vision on their side, but humans like him…

Waylon removed the jar from the tree bark, closing it as his worries flooded his mind, he turned his whole body to the side, looking for his teammates, finding only the youngest of them all, Neithan Rose.

"Where are Bryan and Roy?" Waylon asked, causing Neithan to jump into position, turning to face his leader, the boy's face completely stained with tree sap.

"I'm not sure" the silver-eyed answered honestly, dipping his finger into his mug and dragging it across the glass, putting it in his mouth shortly after "…Do you want me to call them?"

"No need, here they come" Waylon muttered, watching as the two missing members of his team made their way through the trees to him "Where were you two?"

"We were looking for more sap, Neithan already drank four jugs, so it was better to hide" Bryan explained with a shiver on his body, hiding the jug he had in his hand behind his back, eliciting a defeated groan from Neithan "We want to talk to you, Waylon"

"What is it about?" the red-eyed asked dryly, barely managing to maintain eye contact.

Roy sighed, feeling certainly uncomfortable with his cousin's blunt attitude "Samuel had a problem and this… he's not the same, Telsius thinks you can make him see reason before he does something stupid, or isolates himself…"

The accusation was quite direct and clear, Waylon sighed softly, he didn't want them to worry so much about him, but they still did, there is a reason why he is reluctant to share what he feels.

Isolating himself wasn't what he wanted, it was something that just happened, he hasn't been feeling very well lately, the desire to take the initiative in combat or in classes has been lost somewhere in his mind, he needs to find a way to pull himself together, but he feels the need to do it by himself.

"I guess I can try" Waylon muttered, looking out into the sunset once more "Stay here, I'll be back in a bit"

"Understood" Bryan, Roy, and Neithan said in unison, once again giving way to awkward silence.

Waylon sighed, managing a weak but genuine smile "I know you're trying hard to help me, I know I haven't been well lately, but… I'm trying, thanks"

"No problem, you're our family" Bryan smiled softly.

"If you need someone to complain to, we're here" Neithan winked, feeling a little more comfortable.

"Don't leave us out, okay?" Roy said, Waylon nodded and set off to find Samuel, but not before being forced to ask Riana where he was in the first place.

...

Samuel was certainly feeling stressed.

Keeping his emotions under control had always been complicated, his mind seemed to be a bomb that had no timer, it was about to explode at any moment, it was something he wanted to fix since he was young.

He always felt ashamed of his anger problems, when anger and hatred take control of him, he commits actions that he regrets, but he is not able to admit them or want to correct them, when he attacked Rossana, everything changed, from that moment on, the looks on him became much heavier and judgmental, and as if it were a joke in bad taste, they judged him according to his sins.

Rossana was in the hospital for a couple of days, Reese Chloris was more than upset with her daughter's condition and the ugly scar she would have on the back of her neck, because of this, Samuel was expelled and was forced to attend another school, where he did not last long.

He deeply hated it when people were right about him.

He barely had any friends at school, some just as aggressive and with the same problems as him, at Beacon, things had changed, his teammates loved him deeply and trusted him blindly, and now that they knew the whole truth, Samuel was scared.

Samuel was afraid that they would begin to be afraid of him.

"Looks like you're hiding pretty well" The sound of Waylon's voice caused Samuel to look up, recognizing the figure of the white-haired boy "Everything okay?"

"Did they send you to talk to me? Damn, you steal the work of Remnant's psychologists" Samuel joked, trying to lighten the mood, Waylon's weak laugh showing that he had succeeded "Did they tell you everything?"

"I heard that Kaito made bad cat jokes and you got angry, and apparently you have a somewhat shady past with Rossana Chloris" Waylon explained, surprising Samuel a little by how well informed he was "I've known the story for a long time, I like to read, gossip too"

"Doesn't it bother you to know that I can do something stupid at any moment?" Samuel asked, waiting for Waylon's response.

The red-eyed thought for a second, gathering his thoughts and also considering the possibility that he might have lost control in the first place "I don't judge you, we've all made mistakes in the past...there are parts of us that we don't like, but we must have the strength to fight them and accept them, you can't make your anger disappear, but you can control it and take advantage of it"

Samuel nodded, Waylon had a point, making his anger go away sounded like something too good to be true, he couldn't do that, but he could accept it, stop being ashamed of it and start managing it, take control over it and finally avoid being a danger to others.

It wasn't going to be easy, but he had his team, his friends, on his side.

"I would be worried if Kaito opened his mouth" Waylon spoke again, turning to begin his way back to his team "Look for him, he shouldn't be far from here, he should be the first step for you to improve"

"I think so too" Samuel replied, taking a couple of seconds to speak again "Waylon"

"Hmm?" The red-eyed muttered, half turning his head.

"You must improve too" Samuel said, his tone of voice somewhat serious "You must accept that part of yourself that only you know"

"I know" Waylon nodded, finally leaving the spot and giving Samuel the go-ahead to go find Kaito.

...

Samuel walked for perhaps half an hour, the night had already completely settled and the warm atmosphere of Forever Fall had become eerie and mysterious, his faunus eyes allowed him to see in the darkness with total clarity, and fortunately for him, finding Kaito had been simple, in theory.

He wasn't even that far from his previous position, although Samuel feared he had already left, but according to Professor Oobleck, they would have until eight o'clock at night, it was only 6:30, he could still talk to him a little.

Samuel didn't think about it too much, he took a step forward and came out of his hiding place, surprising Kaito instantly.

"You came to get revenge?" The other brunette asked, becoming alert and placing his hands near his hips, where a series of kunais hung "I won't let you split my head, Lionheart"

"It won't be necessary" Samuel raised his hands, trying to convey a sense of security "I didn't come to hurt you, I came to talk"

"There's nothing to talk about, you can't justify your actions" Kaito snorted, taking a step back to put even more distance between them.

Samuel groaned, managing to stay calm after taking a breath for a moment "I know, I've done horrible things in the past, but I'm going to try to change, I'll learn to control these impulses"

"Oh yeah?" Kaito laughed, his stiff pose becoming more confident, his mocking face betraying that he didn't believe a word the lion faunus said "How am I supposed to believe you?"

"You can tell the whole of Beacon about what happened with Rossana" Samuel said firmly, surprising Kaito "You can spread the rumor and I will just confirm it, I don't want to keep escaping from that part of me, I won't do it anymore…"

Kaito tried to answer, but the words just wouldn't come out of his mouth, he heard hundreds of things in Mistral, all kinds of stories related to Samuel and how he was a bomb waiting to explode at all times, but that he was deeply ashamed of his actions, even if he wasn't even able to admit his own guilt.

Now he wants to change? How did he know he was telling the truth? He could be lying, he could attack him at any moment, the darkness was horrible, Samuel had a considerable advantage, he could see easily in the dark and-

"BEHIND YOU!" Samuel's scream put Kaito on alert once again, before he knew it, a row of extremely sharp teeth sank deep into his shoulder, shattering his entire aura, and he was then lifted up with force, being thrown towards a tree and crashing into it, completely knocking the air out of his stomach.

Kaito watched angrily as two incredibly large and dark Ursas hovered over the trees, they didn't seem to be a normal pair, but rather two Ursa Major, it almost seemed like a bad joke.

"How could I not see them?!" Samuel growled, his gloved arms releasing sharp claws ready for combat, the green-eyed man panted loudly as he felt around in his jacket for an object, taking out an inhaler, he threw it to Kaito without seeing him.

"It's a stimulator! Your aura will take a few minutes less to restore itself" Samuel said, Kaito looked at his Neo-Scroll in hopes of calling for help, finding that it was broken, without waiting any longer, he took the inhaler and placed it on his lips, pressing the button and feeling his mouth grow cold in an instant, he quickly felt the discomfort go away, but his aura was still broken.

Both Ursas growled and moved aggressively towards Samuel, raising their claws and trying to hurt him, the brown-haired boy hit one of the Grimm hard in the pit of his stomach, managing to push him a couple of meters away, the other Ursa bit the brown-haired boy on the right arm, receiving a punch to the skull before being able to sink it's teeth completely in.

Samuel gasped loudly, fighting one Ursa Major was already complicated, but with two? That was much more complicated and dangerous, the brown-haired boy activated his semblance quickly, managing to locate the weak points of both monsters, he sighed with some fear, preparing for another attack.

One of the Ursas lunged at him, Samuel moved to the side with ease, raising his right gauntlet and dragging the weapon's claws over the Grimm's neck, making it growl, the other bear-like monster grabbed him by the back, lifting him out of the air and squeezing him with its large paws.

The wounded Ursa growled once more, opening his mouth and closing his teeth on Samuel's leg, the brown-haired boy groaned in pain, moving from side to side to try to get out of the Grimm's grip, he managed to free his right arm with difficulty, elbowing the Ursa that had him trapped in the mouth, causing him to fall to the ground.

Samuel felt a rather familiar anger rise in his chest, the mere fact of receiving constant damage and having difficulty defeating both monsters was making him angry, without thinking much he launched himself at the Ursa that had him trapped, cutting it's chest multiple times and managing to throw it to the ground, crushing it's skull with his leg.

The Grimm groaned in pain, but Samuel thought nothing of it and continued to subdue it, hitting its head multiple times until he simply managed to destroy it, making the monster disappear, sharp claws dug into its back, making it scream from the sudden burning, its aura flickered a couple of times as it tried to get away.

The remaining Ursa bit Samuel on the shoulder, sinking its teeth fully into the boy's skin, Samuel groaned softly as his aura shattered, the Grimm finally doing some real damage to him.

The Ursa threw Samuel to the ground, perhaps for the mere fact of having killed his counterpart or out of sheer anger, who knows, the green-eyed kept his gaze on the bear-shaped monster, completely furious, even if his bleeding shoulder did not allow him to stand up.

The Grimm's head was completely pierced by a sharp weapon, Samuel sighed in relief as he let his head fall to the ground for a second, raising it shortly after to recognize his savior, it was Kaito, with a katana in his hand.

"Honestly, your inhaler didn't help at all" Kaito muttered, approaching the other brunette and helping him up "Your shoulder has some holes in it…I'm going to call Professor Oobleck"

"Sure…" Samuel groaned, the loss of blood making him feel weaker with each passing second "Do you believe me now?"

"Yes, I believe you" Kaito replied honestly, sitting Samuel against the bark of a tree and pressing his hands against the green-eyed boy's shoulder "Now stay still"

Samuel nodded, even so, the constant loss of blood seemed to take its toll on him at that moment, everything went blurry in an instant, and he simply passed out.

...

Samuel sighed softly as he looked at his notebook, Professor Ren's lesson had become longer and more tedious than usual, something that was relatively normal considering how passionate he is about the history of Remnant.

A few days had passed since the events of Forever Fall, Samuel had lost consciousness due to his shoulder injury, so it was only a matter of time before Professor Oobleck came to the rescue and they returned to the academy, where he could be treated more calmly and safely.

To Samuel's surprise, rumors of what had happened began to spread rapidly, ending with him saving Kaito from a pair of Ursas Major after accidentally encountering them, which was strange.

Samuel could swear that Kaito was going to tell everyone about what happened with Rossana, but apparently, he remained silent.

"Everything okay?" Telsius asked, looking at his leader with some concern "You look… calm?"

Samuel laughed lightly "I'm fine, just a little tired"

"Do you need to talk about something?" Myrian joined the conversation, gently taking Samuel's shoulder and caressing him for a moment "Look…we don't judge you for what you've done in the past, I'm not saying it's right, but you can trust us to improve"

"Yes!" Riana shrieked, punching the brunette on the uninjured shoulder "We're a team, aren't we? We always help each other"

Samuel laughed softly, feeling the support of his team, he genuinely would have been a little nervous to talk to them again after Kaito's revelation, but they were genuinely worried about him, which was somewhat comforting to say the least.

They weren't scared of him, or embarrassed, or angry, none of that, they seemed more like they were a little disappointed that he hadn't just told them the truth, after all, in the short time they've had in their first year of school, they've already shared a lot of things about themselves.

Samuel felt genuinely comfortable with his team, now that they knew the truth and there was nothing left to hide, he felt that they could help him improve, learn to manage the anger that was born inside him, and be able to control it.

"Thanks, you guys are the best" Samuel said with an honest smile, receiving the same gesture from his teammates "I have to go talk to Kaito…go to the cafeteria without me, I'll catch up with you later, keep Riana away from Waylon while I'm gone"

Riana groaned in defeat, slamming her head into her hands, blushing.

Class had finally ended, Samuel gathered his things and said goodbye to his team for a moment, he wanted to talk to Kaito one more time, just to clear everything up.

As he walked out into the huge classroom hallway, Kaito was already waiting for him, leaning against the wall, he nodded in greeting, approaching him.

"I heard you're better" Kaito said, receiving a nod from Samuel "I'm glad to hear it, you were bleeding quite a bit"

"It seems like your first aid skills are pretty good" Samuel replied kindly, eliciting a soft laugh from the amber-eyed "So…why didn't you tell on me?"

Kaito sighed "I knew you were serious when you saved me from those Ursas, you could have left me to die there, but you decided to put yourself in danger to avoid it… you saved me"

Samuel nodded, understanding Kaito's words perfectly "That's great, thanks"

"Don't thank me" Kaito shook his head "I just wanted to see that you were okay…I have to go, take care of yourself"

Kaito retreated from the hallways of the first year classrooms, leaving Samuel alone with his thoughts, It had been a rather pleasant and friendly outcome to the whole conflict, something that had genuinely made him feel better.

Saving Kaito was easier than he thought, in the sense of risking himself to prevent him from dying, Samuel himself would have thought that his mind would have made him question at least a little about whether leaving him there to die would have been a good decision, but he didn't even have to think about it.

His body had begun to move on its own, which was surprising in the least.

Samuel smiled softly, saving others without thinking was something his grandfather Leonardo Lionheart did all the time, at least now he felt like he had done some justice to his family name.

But especially, that he had done justice to himself, that he could be more than a bomb of rage waiting to explode.

Samuel Lionheart went to find his team, happy to be accepted as he was, and to be helped to improve.