AN: Hey everyone, before this chapter starts I wanted to let everyone know that unfortunately this Fic will be switching to a bi-weekly update schedule. This is mostly to do with scheduling issues with the other Co-Authors and to allow us to put these chapters out in a level of qaulity we are satisfied with. That being said, thank you all very much for enjoying the story as much as yall have, your comments have been the highlight of me and my friends during this writing experiment.

Oh, also we saw a comment last chapter wondering where the whole dream and multiple personality thing came from. Well the main core of this Fic is a little experiment where me and two good friends of mine take turns controlling the MC as self inserts. All in one body.

The door to our room closed with a quiet click, and I exhaled a relieved sigh. I heard fading giggles grow fainter as Yang and Ruby made their way downstairs to do something or another, but that's beside the point. My sisters had taken this time to occupy each other without somehow drawing me into it—a rare blessing.

Feeling a manic grin form across my own lips, I finally had some time to myself, and it was glorious.

Hopping off my bed, I made a beeline over to the study desk at the head of Ruby and I's room. My hand reached for the drawer where the precious item I had kept had languished in the dark all this time. With almost gentle reverence, I withdrew 'Aura Manipulation: A Beginner's Advanced Understanding', the same book I had been gifted by my uncle a week or two ago, from its place in the drawer before retreating back to my bed post-haste; the secrets to some of the more outlandish feats you could perform with aura were in my grasp. Truly, it was admittedly a certain kind of torture to wait as the other two went about their business and ignored the trove of information this book represented, but, at last, I could remedy it.

Flipping open the front cover, a slip of paper slinked limply to my covers. Eying it with curiosity, my hand reached out and brought it level with my sight. Interestingly enough, it was a checkout card that fell out of the little envelope that was on the back of the front cover. I noticed a couple names that caused me to purse my lips in thought.

Beacon Library Checkout Card

Borrower's Name

-- ….

--- ….

---- Summer Rose

----- Qrow Branwen

----- ….

Of course, there were other students that checked out this book rather than just them, but I looked at the dates listed by their names, and they seemed to line up in my head chronologically. Both Qrow and… Mom read this book, or in Uncle's case, he might have been forced to since I knew how much he hated wasting time learning theory over practical application.

Gently shaking my head quietly to myself, I put that little revelation to the back of my head and continued on to the introductory chapter.

Prospective Huntsman or Huntress, before we continue, I would invite you to read Basic Auric Theory to get a fundamental grasp on the foundation of what we'll be discussing further in this text.

To begin, we shall be getting into a bit of the nitty-gritty of more subjective matters, such as delving into just a few of the many theories about the origin of Aura and the documented practices regarding the various differences in the use of Aura between the Kingdoms, both fallen and still standing today. Further on, there are some exercises regarding a number of aura techniques that I am aware of at the time of this writing; most of them, I am capable of utilizing myself, but there are a few that I've reviewed and thought might be useful to include after inquiring after fellow hunters in their proper use.

Eager to get to the meat of the subject, I skimmed the rest of the introduction and flicked a couple pages, finding myself at the first chapter.

Although it is disputed by most figureheads of research, the most well-known explanation, and the one that most with a religious bent tend to hang their hat on, is that we were given Aura by the Two Brothers Above All.

I couldn't help the smile that threatened to turn into a full-blown grin as it continued on to cite a few other theories. This sort of reading was simply fascinating, and it was strange to think that with my own knowledge of the history of this world, I could definitively say that I knew the Brothers existed with a level of certainty that might be mistaken for me being remarkably devout. Since they are very likely the ones that bestowed humanity with the qualities that endowed them with a soul, you could very well say that they were, in fact, to blame for the existence of aura.

Reading ahead a bit, it seemed that there was a schism on this matter between the more rational and logical experts and those of faith. The arguments spiraled on and on, with the rationalists pointing out that the lack of any observable action on behalf of the Gods meant they were silly legends concocted by the creative imaginations of humans and faunus in early history.

Humorously enough, the theologists pointed out that the mere fact that souls existed and could be measured to some degree was enough proof to display that the Gods must have designed an elegant system.

The bitterness that was exuded in the writing regarding the smugness of the theologists was almost palpable and almost made me feel a bit sorry for the poor scientists who believed they were living in a world without divinity.

Sadly, sometimes, life isn't fair. A truth I knew all too well at this point.

Moving on past the warzone over religion and science, I started on the more practical portion of the book. The text from here on became dry and terrifyingly dull, and yet every word felt like a gulp of cold water after being in a desert for years. Finally, I was learning about the very mechanics of Aura, magic in all but name.

The actual fundamentals were touched on only briefly; most of it I needed to figure out from the terminology the book seemed to think I'd already understand. It had said to read Basic Aura Theory or something at the start, a book I unfortunately didn't have access to. It was fine though, I was able to make, what I thought, were some accurate guesses on how things work based on the terminology alone. The most important thing I had noted was that all Aura techniques required something simply called a mental state in order to function — probably some kind of thought pattern you had to maintain in order to reshape my Aura into the proper shape.

Speaking of Aura techniques, there were many that seemed to err on the less outright exciting, by soul-powered superpower standards at least, and more toward a utility focus that Aura users could take advantage of if they took the time to learn them. One such utilitarian technique was a method of retaining your body heat within the shield that was projected around your body.

Really, some of these techniques were made with nothing but convenience in mind. And honestly, I can't really blame them.

But it would help explain why Huntsmen up in the frigid cold of Atlas never bothered to wear anything warmer than their usual Huntsmen get-up.

But then you had things like the Aura Blade Technique, which was somewhat difficult to understand, but it boiled down to a couple of things. Aura was malleable to sustained patterns of thought, and one of the most useful patterns of thought for every Huntsman who ever wanted to kill Grimm was the idea of truly treating your weapon as if it were an extension of your body. Once I had that down, then I apparently would be able to work on the exotic stuff, like shooting beams from my axe like I was a discount mage.

The many examples of techniques in the book gave me ideas and possibilities for my own potential aura techniques that could help boost my combat power significantly. Or maybe just make life a little easier for me; that would be nice too. I wasn't going to touch making my own quite yet; the book itself recommended against that, as while it wasn't dangerous, it was incredibly time-consuming and not worth the effort unless I knew what I was doing. It didn't stop me from fantasizing, however, and my mind ran wild with ideas that were each admittedly just as outlandish as the last.

As I kept reading, pages blurred by, and the light that once leaked through the curtains faded away. As my consciousness ebbed, the last thoughts in my head were of learning each trick big and small in this book, and of my gratitude that Uncle Qrow was generous enough to commit petty theft from the Beacon library for my sake.

Awareness slowly returned to me through the groggy haze born from my awakening. Squinting, I irritably turn away from the sunlight fluttering through my closed curtains. Slowly, I rolled out of my warm bed, bare feet hitting the wooden floor with a soft thud. With a gaping yawn, I stretch my arm across my chest, causing my joints to pop satisfyingly.

I raised a quick brow as I noticed a strange stillness that had settled over the bedroom I shared with Ruby. Normally, my morning would be filled with the soft snores drifting over from my twin's bed across the room, just begging me to wake her up to start our day. Ruby had a bad habit of clinging to sleep like a barnacle.

The room felt too still and quiet without my twin's energetic presence. But beyond that, I couldn't shake the niggling sensation that something was off about today. I turn and grab my scroll from my nightstand, and the hour glares back at me accusingly.

I let out a soft groan. No wonder Ruby was up before me; I seriously overslept after I spent the night pouring hours reading that book on Advanced Aura techniques. At this point, it was more accurate to call it the early afternoon rather than the morning. Brothers above, I hated when I overslept this much; it made the whole day really feel wasted in a way that wasn't recoverable.

With a frown marring my face, I head over the window overlooking the backyard leading out into the large clearing my family uses as a training ground. Peering outside, I see the sun shining brightly near the apex of its arc across the sky, solidifying the fact that I spent way too much time asleep. With a furrowed brow, I turned back into my room, absentmindedly running a hand through my sleep-mussed hair. The silver lining was that at least it was the weekend, and I didn't really have anything planned for the day, beyond just some basic training with Ruby and Yang sometime after dinner.

I slumped as I remembered how I got roped into that yesterday. But I might as well try to get as much out of Uncle Qrow before he disappears after his arm finishes healing up.

With a resigned sigh, I meandered over to my dresser as I went through the motions of my morning routine on autopilot as my mind wandered as a yawn overtook me. I focused on my Aura as I got changed, instinctively knowing as the petals whirled together, solidifying into a rough replica of myself inside the bathroom down the hall. And with a mere thought, I dissolved into a flurry of the crystalline petals that make up my Semblance, and nearly instantly, I rematerialized into the bathroom, motes of crimson light scattering as I dissolved the remains of the clone I appeared from.

I brushed my teeth and splashed water on my face, all while not really registering what I was doing. Staring into the mirror in the bathroom I was unfortunately forced to share, I saw my own silver eyes bleary blinking back at me, framed by the uncombed strands of dark-red hair. Honestly, I looked about as awake as I felt.

Running a hand through my perpetually messy hair in a half-hearted attempt to tame it, I ambled out of my room and started heading downstairs. Mentally steeling myself for the typical amount of chaos that featured in a Huntsmen family. Or maybe it was my family that was the outlier?

Eh, I shrugged off the thought as I reached the bottom of the staircase, before pausing. Instead of the playful shouts and laughter that I associated with my siblings, all I heard was frustrated grunts and the scraping of chair legs against our hardwood floor. With a sinking feeling pooling in my gut, I rounded the final corner to the kitchen and stopped in my tracks as a mix of confusion and amusement flooded my being.

There, in the center of our modest kitchen, was quite a scene. Yang had one foot braced against the kitchen table, both hands desperately gripping a plate of suspiciously black and white cookies above her head and holding it as high as possible. Ruby was practically climbing our taller sister like a tree, arms straining as she continuously made grab after futile grab for the treats that were being denied to her. Her silver eyes were wide and desperate, with a pout on her face.

"C'mon, Yang, stop being mean! Just one cookie, please!" Ruby whined, hopping in yet another attempt to snatch a cookie.

"No way, Rubes! I told you, not until Russet is up!" Yang twisted away from Ruby's flailing hands, golden hair swishing.

I leaned against the doorframe, an amused smirk tugging on my lips as I watched them wrestle for the plate, neither noticing as I pulled out my scroll to record this for future blackmail. Honestly, stuff like this was such a common occurrence that I'd long since stopped trying to intervene. Ruby's love for cookies was legendary, and I've already had enough misfortune trying to keep her from them over the years. Yang was on her own.

Unfortunately, my afternoon entertainment was soon to come to an end as a pair of lilac eyes landed on me. Yang grinned as she forced my twin into a headlock, using her superior strength to keep our flailing sister away from the plate. "Well, well, well, look who finally decided to join the land of the living!"

Ruby's head whipped around, and she beamed at the sight of her twin as she continued to swat ineffectually against Yang's muscular arm. "Russet! Yang's being super unfair and not sharing the cookies!"

"I was trying to be nice and wait for our bro so he could have his ice cream, too! I've been fending off this cookie monster for hours, dude. You can sleep like the dead." Yang dramatically sighed as she tossed her hair over one shoulder.

I just shook my head at their antics with a wry smile, walking over to the freezer. Ice cream is ice cream, and I'm not going to question my good fortune. "My hero," I said dryly. "Truly, your efforts were legendary."

"Pssh, I'll remember that lack of gratitude next time! Maybe I'll just let Ruby devour every dessert in sight; it'd serve you right." Yang snarked back while sticking out her tongue at me.

Smiling as I grabbed a fresh pint of my favorite chocolate fudge ice cream, I responded over my shoulder. "Nah, you love me too much for that. Plus, then you'd have to deal with Ruby on a sugar high all by yourself."

Ruby made an indignant noise between her attempts at freedom, "I am right here, you know!"

"Oh really? I hadn't noticed, what with you trying to climb me like a jungle gym earlier!" Yang snapped back sarcastically as she put the plate of cookies on the counter and pushed it towards me.

Ruby cheered as Yang finally deemed her safe enough to release into the wild, before pausing and turning her gaze onto the pint of chocolatey goodness in my possession. "Hey Russ, any chance you're willing to spare your favorite sister a spoon?"

"Nope, no way." Yang said firmly as she pulled the startled Ruby into another chair across from me. "You get cookies; Russet gets ice cream. That was the deal."

I noticed Yang give Ruby a mischievous side-eye before she continued. "And favorite sister? C'mon Rubes, we both know I'm Russ' favorite."

I couldn't help but roll my eyes as Ruby's face shifted into an expression of extreme offense before they spiraled into yet another argument. Gradually, their voices rose in volume, each trying to one-up the other in proclaiming their status as my 'favorite sister.' Honestly, it was way too early for this. Or late, I suppose, given the time. Plus, the answer to who my favorite sister is was pretty obvious.

"You? Please, you're always ditching us to go hang out with your Signal friends!" Ruby accused, jabbing a finger at Yang.

"That's because I actually have a social life, unlike you two nerds!" Yang shot back, not really helping her case.

With a long suffering sigh, I decided to put an end to this before they really got going. With a flick of my wrist and a brief flash of my crimson Aura, I generated a small amount of crystalline rose petals to carry over the plate of cookies from the counter where Yang had left it. Gently, as to not accidentally shred the plate, I slid it over directly in front of Ruby.

The effect of instantaneous, silver eyes widening and locking onto the black and white treats like a hawk spotting a mouse.

"Here, Ruby, the cookies are all yours." I said casually, peeling the lid off of my pint of ice cream.

Ruby's silver eyes lit up with glee. "Yes! Thanks Russ, you're the best!" She immediately snatched up one of the suspiciously oreo-like cookies and shoved it into her mouth, biting down with gusto.

I smiled fondly at my twin's enthusiasm, and grabbing a spoon, I dug out a chunk of the rich chocolate dessert, more than ready to savor the creamy goodness. I popped the heaping spoonful into my mouth…

And I immediately regretted everything as a sharp, stabbing pain lanced through my skull. I gasped and squeezed my eyes shut, one hand flying up to clutch my forehead. It felt like someone had jammed a giant icicle straight through my eye and into my brain! The icy agony was so intense that it took my breath away.

"BLEEH!"

Ruby's disgusted exclamation barely registered through the haze of my ice cream-induced torment. I forced my watering eyes open to see my poor twin sister frantically wiping at her tongue with her sleeves, her face scrunched up in revulsion. Bits of black and white dribbled out of her mouth.

"Yang, what the heck?! This tastes like toothpaste!" Ruby cried out, glaring at our older sister.

I winced as another wave of freezing pain pulsed through my head, forcing me to see spots near the edge of my vision. Blinking rapidly, I turned to look at Yang.

And I found her practically falling out of her chair, laughing like a maniac, arms wrapped around her stomach, and tears of mirth streaming down her face. She was cackling so hard that she could barely breathe.

Suddenly, everything clicked into place. The cookies. The ice cream. Yang's suspicious generosity…

"Oh Brothers, your faces!" Yang wheezed out between guffaws. "I so got you both good!"

Shooting her a baleful glare as I massaged my throbbing temples, I growled, "What in the Brother's name did you do to my ice cream?"

"Ice Dust, baby bro! Gives a whole new meaning to 'brain freeze,' huh?" Yang snickered, clearly very proud of herself.

Ruby looked absolutely scandalized, her silver eyes wide as she stared at the offending cookie in her hand. She was looking at it as if it had killed her firstborn right in front of her. "I can't believe you'd ruin a perfectly good cookie like this! How could you?!"

I gritted my teeth, my temple throbbing from the Ice Dust migraine still stabbing into my skull. Narrowing my eyes at my traitorous older sister, I pushed the sabotaged ice cream away with a scowl.

"Funny. Real funny, Yang." I grumbled. "You realize this means war, right?"

Yang just smirked back at us, not a single ounce of remorse on her face. "Bring it on, little bro. Bring. It. On."

Ruby and I exchanged a look of complete understanding. Oh, it was on now. Yang had no idea of the unholy retribution that she had just brought down upon herself.

I was going to make her regret those words…