Flames billowed out at Belka in small bursts from Idris's barrel, keeping her just out of range and obscuring her vision in a screen of fire. However, she knew that, so long as she kept her distance, she wasn't in any real danger. While she knew Whiskey's weapon could easily throw fire her way for another dozen or so feet, that wasn't the tactic her friend was going for. Someone else may have seen the bursts of heat growing shorter and shorter in their reach and assume her weapon was starting to malfunction or run out of Dust, but she knew better. Readying herself, she waited until the last billows of flame started to fade before swinging her naginata in a wide horizontal arc, the purple hard-light blade streaking through the lingering smoke. While she couldn't see it just yet, she could feel Morgan make impact with its target, as Whiskey, who'd planned to mask her approach with the fire and smoke, winced as she was struck by the hard light blade. She nearly fell as her charge was interrupted, attempting to pivot to try and continue the offensive, only for the lilac blade to draw back and thrust forward, striking her shoulder. She chastised herself for attempting that maneuver on her friend, their time apart having made her forget just how familiar they were with each other's fighting styles. After years of training together, it was all virtually muscle memory for them, which is why she immediately saw through her friend twirling her high tech naginata around, rapidly switching what side she held it on. Normally, the bright light emitting off of the blade waving around at such as speed would keep her opponent on the defensive, as a series of blows moving that fast would no doubt melt through a good chunk of Aura, if not break it altogether, but much like with her own petering fire, it was all a bluff, as the last thing her bestie wanted to do was to get in that close with a polearm. Doing the very last thing her sparring partner expected, she rushed right in, causing Belka's eyes to go wide as she froze like a deer in headlights. The plan had been to throw her off and land a surprise shot via suddenly switching to the laser, but the dog Faunus had been on the receiving end of that little trick enough to know just how to counter it, swiping just below her knees, and knocking her own feet out from under her. Tucking her head into her chest, she barely managed to avoid smacking her head on the stone tile below her, quickly rolling backwards and back onto her feet, swinging her weapon up at her opponent as she recovered. The two naginatas clashed, the nearly identical polearms each stopping just short of each other's necks. Seeing the other's weapon inches from landing true, both girls froze in place, locked in a stalemate that meant the slightest movement would result in a very painful experience for the both of them.

"You wanna just call it a draw?" Whiskey asked, offering an olive branch that would allow the two of them to get out of this predicament without a blade to the face, or worse, the full power of their respective Dust.

"I don't want to…" Belka panted from her position on the floor. A draw like this was almost worse than outright defeat in her eyes. Logically, she knew it was because they were inarguably at a stalemate, both because of the nature of each of them having their weapons at each other's throats, and the one or two percentages of Aura that made up the difference between them hitting their limits. But, even knowing this, it still felt like pity, Whiskey undoubtedly had the advantage between them in the moment, fully on her feet and looking down on her from above. In the end, logic, or possibly just the knowledge that she had a flamethrower aimed point blank at her face, won out and she nodded, lowering her weapon at the same time as her friend and properly getting to her feet a moment later. Glancing over at the holoscreen hanging over the arena, she smirked. The difference between their Aura levels was thin, just a few percentages between them, as she'd expected, but that slight difference was in her favor, meaning that if she wished to split hairs, she had technically won, but she liked to think she was above such pettiness, instead letting the draw stand.

"Good job girls, you both did great!" Jaune called out from his guarded position, his shield deflecting the chackram sent his way by Lao who he'd been sparring with. Still not looking away from the girls, he raised his sword hand, raising three of his fingers and stopping his godson in his tracks. It would probably do Lao good to have a break at this point anyway, the boy had been working up a sweat long before the girls had started going at it.

"It doesn't feel like a 'good job'." Belka pointed out, wondering just what had made him come to that conclusion. All she could see from their bout was stagnation, she and Whiskey had matched each other for about as long as she could remember, not to mention she doubted he'd seen the full display given he sparring with Lao all the while. Then again, he wasn't an actual teacher, he was a counselor, someone who was paid to make them feel better, of course he'd tell her that.

"Maybe not, but you both showed a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses your weapons provided, you only feel like you aren't growing because it's like you're fighting a mirror. Sure, it can help early on to get a better understanding of your style, but once you have that understanding, it's just a measure of personal skill. Even with how much you've improved, it's a simple matter of that you're not being challenged in a way you aren't used to." Jaune's praise was… unexpected, it was the first time she could recall someone other than Goose genuinely telling her what she did well without some scathing critique attached or as a thinly veiled insult. She didn't know he'd even paid attention to her enough to see her growth, but then again, she supposed it made sense, the whole team was his family in one way or another. Actually considering his words, she couldn't deny that there was some truth to them, she knew exactly how her friend fought, and in turn, Whiskey knew just about everything there is to know about her own particular fighting style, of course their sparring would feel repetitive.

"And in terms of our skill, that means…"

"That we're still neck and neck." Whiskey answered for her cheekily. Well, baby steps. Sure, there was still no definitive winner between them, but it wasn't for lack of growth. To be frank, it would be insulting to think that her friend had not improved at all in the time since they'd parted, and if they were still evenly matched, then that meant they had both grown. She had to hand it to Jaune, as if nothing else, her brother-in-law was decent at his job, helping to recontextualize her draw into a sign of progress. His Scroll rang a moment later, before she could thank him.

"Oh, I need to take this. You guys do some stretches while I talk." he said, speaking over an ancient-sounding and badly compressed recording of an opera singer. He let the tune repeat itself once, humming along to the tune before answering as the teens started to rest on one of the ringside benches.

"So, I see you're letting yourself tan again, trying on a new look for a certain someone?" The canine girl teased, nudging her with a childish grin that Belka couldn't help but find contagious.

"No, my boyfriend is in Vale, so it's not like I can go with anyone anyway." Despite openly admitting she'd be attending the event alone, the brunette preened herself at her friend's praise. She'd had mixed feelings about the tan Vacuo's sun had left her with, feeling as though it made her resemble her mother too strongly, but then again, she'd always thought her mother was a very pretty woman, so the comparison wasn't unwelcome. She briefly wondered how strong the resemblance would be if she dyed her hair to match as well.

"You could go with me." Whiskey offered excitedly, her ears sticking up the whole time, not seeming to realize how shameless it was to ask a taken woman out in such a way.

"Pfft- you mean like those little playdates like when we were kids?" Despite laughing at the idea, she wasn't fully against it, it really wasn't any different than the other times they'd spent together. Maybe she'd take her up on it, Sherbet would understand anyway.

"Exactly, except now you get the cutest member of KRMA to dance with! Or, well, second cutest if we ask Ken." The joke failed to even get a chuckle out of Belka, especially since Whiskey was certainly far cuter than that strange flirt of a boy.

"I really don't see it, is acting like a cat supposed to be part of his charm?" she said, making sure the air quotes around the last word could be felt from Atlas. Really, she had no clue just what the boy had been trying with her, and she certainly didn't appreciate how he'd just moved right on to Goose, even if her partner did have fun being 'goofy' with him.

"Oh let the kid have his fun, he'll probably grow out of it and be embarrassed by it soon enough." Belka raised an eyebrow as Whiskey called the boy a kid. Sure, technically a lot of students were still minors, but an age difference of a few months was hardly an excuse.

"You say kid like he's any younger than us."

"Well, he did just turn sixteen before starting Atlas." It took a moment for Belka to realize what was wrong with that sentence, doing some quick math in her head.

"Wait, just?" Whiskey tilted her head at her response, before it hit her. It hadn't been weird for a while, sure, but only to her and the other students at Atlas Academy, having long since normalized the exception, so when she explained it to someone not in the loop, of course her friend ended up confused.

"Oh crap, I didn't tell you? Yeah, Ken got admitted early." Belka gawked at that information. Him!? That childish catboy was good enough to be allowed into Atlas Academy early? She wasn't sure such a thing was even allowed, looking to her teammate for support, yet Lao was somehow unfazed as ever, blankly nodding along.

"I've heard of that happening before, Professor Rose started Beacon at only fifteen. He must be a formidable fighter to be allowed admission early."

"Oh he's amazing, and with his Semblance, it's like he knows what's going to happen in a fight before his opponent." Belka felt herself grow envious, naturally gifted as a fighter and a Semblance that was useful in combat? She almost wanted to beat him more than she did before. Almost.

"What is his Semblance?"

"Pfft- I'm not telling you. If I tell you what it is, then you might be able to beat it, dummy." A playful scoff left BGEL's leader as she crossed her arms with an exaggerated pout of disappointment that only lasted a few seconds before she let out a giggle.

"Very well, I'll just have to beat it without knowing it and truly conquer your team." Belka said, standing up with a smirk and heading over to grab her water bottle before she could make a retort. Heading over, she couldn't help but to try to overhear Jaune talking on his Scroll, wearing a wide, dorky looking smile that was oddly fitting on him. Curiously, she stepped forward, wondering if he was talking with one of her nieces or nephews, but instead, she was greeted with a voice she didn't know well, yet could identify immediately as Weiss. Nervously, she made her way closer, already aware she was going to be interrupting the conversation but… a part of her had to try. She hadn't heard from Weiss in a while, last time they'd even spoken had been briefly at a charity ball more than a year ago. He noticed her coming up before she'd said anything, his blue eyes momentarily locking with hers, yet the warm look on his face remained, never changing an inch, which took some weight off her soul. She'd always liked him, he never looked down at her for reasons out of her control, unlike the rest of her so-called family.

"Excuse me, mister Arc? I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but would it happen to be Weiss you're speaking to on the other end?"

"Uh… yes, that's right." he responded, the words coming out awkwardly as the man tried to maintain both conversations at once.

"Would it… be possible for me to have a word with her?" His mouth opened to say 'of course' almost immediately before the realization hit him that he really didn't know how Weiss would feel if he handed the device over. She had been very firm on her stance of avoiding contact with her father's side of the family as much as humanly possible, and based on what he'd heard from her over the years, he didn't doubt that her decision to keep that bastard out of their children's lives was for the best, but this wasn't Jaucqes, it was a young woman who his wife rarely even spoke of. Even so, he knew how much it hurt her to see her father, the same man who'd made her life hell for so long, suddenly start over with another child, one he treated significantly better. She hadn't taken it nearly as hard as Winter, but he still couldn't just drop a conversation with her half-sister on her like that. This time, Weiss had heard the voice on the other end, and asked if she'd called at a bad time.

"Oh no sweetie, it's just your sister." Belka's smile grew as she could hear more chatter over the speaker, unable to make out the words, but able to make out the slight raise in tone. Her smile tugged at Jaune's heartstrings, but he didn't have the heart to tell the girl that it was Goose she'd assumed was speaking to him. Quickly turning away, he whispered into the speaker. "Well uh, Goose is good, but it's Belka actu- No, no I get it, I'll… I'll tell her."

"She's busy isn't she?" Looking back over, it appeared that he wasn't as quiet as he'd hoped, seeing the smile having long since dropped from the young woman's lips.

"Yeah, she'll be on a conference call for the next couple of hours." Her lips pursed in a thin, irritated line, clearly not believing him. He wished he could change that, especially since it was true, even if Weiss had been more eager than usual to hang up. "I could pass your Scroll number onto her, maybe she'll have time later?"

"She's had my Scroll number several times since I was old enough to have one." she responded briskly, causing the counselor to wince. Admittedly, he didn't know Belka all that well, and with the age difference between them, he often regarded her and Goose more like nieces rather than his sisters-in-law, but even so, she didn't seem like a bad kid. She was haughty for sure, but so was Weiss when he'd first met her, and he knew more than anyone how she turned out.

"Look, I… it's a-"

"Don't. Just… don't." As much as it pained her to admit, she was used to rejection from her family. It had been a constant yet dull pain she lived with ever since she'd learned she had sisters, and subsequently, that they had their own happy lives that didn't involve her. It had hurt a lot at first, back when she'd first realized that 'being busy' really meant that they were avoiding being around her, and while she'd never admit it, she cried a fair few times over it, but now, with everything else going on, it hardly registered. "I'd like to get back to training if that's okay."

"Y-yeah, of course." Jaune said, watching her walk off back towards her friends, wishing he could've done more.


Luna's legs felt like jelly as she and Elena both stumbled over the marker that marked the finish line of the run that Juliet had set up as the end of an afternoon workout session, one that Juliet had insisted was a light one. She probably should have assumed that she and her leader had a different idea of what constituted a light workout, but this was ridiculous, she was absolutely drenched in sticky, nasty sweat! It even dripped off of her antennae, making her shiver at the heightened sensation of it tickling her as it traveled down her fuzzy appendages. It all just reminded her why she hated working out and preferred to let her Aura do the heavy lifting physically, she'd been told by a few of her friends that 'it wasn't that bad', but after that marathon, the only conclusion she could reach at the moment was that she'd been lied to. Where was that 'good burn' Jin and Juliet had told her about? She just hurt! Elena was similarly out of it, leaning on her for support as she gasped for air.

"Alright guys, good work!" Juliet said, stunning the partners as she praised them with little more than a wipe of her brow to remove what comparatively little sweat covered her skin, a stark contrast to themselves, who may as well have just gone swimming in their clothes. It was like she had endless stamina to throw around and she didn't even know it. Walking right up to the girls, she held her hand up high proudly, expecting a high five.

"I can- I can't feel my legs…" Luna wheezed, getting a chuckle out of Juliet who assumed the girl was just being overdramatic. Said laughter started to awkwardly die off when the pair started to fall under the weight of her partner before Rosaria reached out, stabilizing the pair's balance.

"Remember what I told you about overdoing it? I'm surprised they haven't passed out already." Rosaria scolded, pulling the pair over to the bench so they could get some rest. Yet, Elena stubbornly pulled away, shaking her head defiantly, getting a second wind seemingly out of spite. She immediately started to stretch her arms, eyeing a set of dumbbells that made her arms ache just by looking at them.

"No, no I can do this, I'll be ready for the tournament in no time!" Despite her exhaustion, she was determined to keep going. Juliet wasn't slowing down so neither would she, it wasn't right for her leader to carry them all, it made her feel so useless seeing Juliet casually handle her regime after it wore her down, like she was falling behind.

"Maybe we should take a break before we start again? I mean, the dance is in just a couple of days, you don't wanna be too sore, right?" Luna suggested, still out of breath and hardly able to stand, but Elena ignored her and started off towards the weights, only stopping once the firm grip of Juliet closed around her wrist.

"Elena, stop. You're not gonna do yourself or us any good if you overwork yourself." Despite being well intentioned, her words only dug the knife deeper, and that tone, it was like she was being spoken down to, like she was some dumb kid who didn't know any better instead of a warrior who'd been training for years. She wouldn't have it, pulling her wrist to try and break free, however, while not painful, her grip was as hard as iron and didn't budge, serving to anger her further.

"I can keep going, if you guys can't keep up with me, then take your breaks." Juliet sighed and released her teammate's arm, seeing no reason to turn this into more of an argument than it had somehow become. Watching as the redhead stubbornly continued on, she just didn't get the Faunus. Clearly something was going on in that head of hers, she just wished she knew what it was.

"Am I doing something wrong?" she asked without even looking back as Rosaria came back over.

"You're a very forward person, you have been ever since I've known you. While I find it to be one of your better qualities, you undoubtedly lack tact because of it." A low irritated sigh left Juliet's lips, yet she knew Rosaria was right, even if she didn't know what exactly she'd said. While it was true Rosaria wasn't the most social person, it wasn't from a lack of understanding on the whole being social thing, so she knew she was probably right about her just coming off the wrong way… but how else was she meant to come off? It wasn't like Elena was exactly trying herself!

"It just feels like every time we try to get close to her, she pushes us away, and it's starting to piss me off." she grumbled, kicking at the floor in a petulant and childish manner. Rosaria would have found it pathetic if it wasn't so amusing. Still, it wouldn't do her any good to have her moping about like a toddler who'd had their toy taken away, but thankfully, she knew exactly how to cure her of this state.

"I didn't think you'd be one who gives in so easily, after all, you made yourself friends with me." Juliet suddenly gasped, grabbing Rosaria by the shoulders with a wide grin.

"Hah, you admitted it! No take backs!" Of course, they both knew that they were friends, and had been for a while, but Rosaria had been especially stubborn about the label for some time. She'd never taken it personally, recognizing it as just another of the girl's weird quirks, but hearing her finally give in was oh so satisfying.

"Yes, even with your rampant childishness and general immaturity, you're my friend. Now, please stop shaking me."

"Nooo, is that a nightlight? What are you, four?" The sudden sound of a new voice made Juliet snap around, seeing that there was a girl she didn't recognize standing by Luna, dark-skinned with matching hair, green eyes, and an insufferably smug grin, looking down into Luna's bag, holding it open as she rummaged through it. Next to her was a bored looking boy with black hair and equally black clothing, standing back with his arms crossed. She'd heard about these two from Scarlet, SABL, if she wasn't mistaken. At a glance, it seemed the girl was the instigator with her friend just standing there, probably in case someone decided to actually do something about the situation.

"I-I have nyctophobia, it helps me sleep." Luna sputtered, equally blindsided by the sudden appearance of the two, freezing up at Siyah's presence, allowing Alyx to do as she pleased. The small Faunus looked back to her team, locking eyes with Juliet, who gritted her teeth in anger. Even Elena had taken notice, abandoning her station and rejoining the other two, equally furious.

"So you're afraid of the dark? Big deal, lots of people are. Grow up already." This brat was starting to push it, and with Elena and Rosaria at her side, Juliet was already preparing to throw caution to the wind and put her through a wall. But, doing so would get her in trouble, which on top of just being something she generally wanted to avoid, would also get her a scolding from Rosaria. As a result, she decided she'd try diplomacy first, walking over to pull Luna away, but not before the little imp could speak again. "Or maybe you're just one of those kids who got locked in a closet a lot as a kid, you definitely give off that 'mommy never hugged me' vibe."

"What did you say to her?" Alyx turned, the smug smile on her face grating Juliet's last nerve away. How dare she? How fucking dare this little tramp talk to Luna like that? Like she was happy about picking away at her friend's insecurities? As she raised her hand to hide her self-congratulatory giggle, Juliet reached out and firmly grabbed ahold of her wrist, turning it inward sharply at an angle, not enough to break it, but enough to hurt like hell if the little shriek she let out was anything to go by.

"Get your damn hands off of her!" Siyah growled, moving in to separate the two of them and to throw a punch if need be. To his surprise however, she listened to him, just not how he'd expected, lazily throwing Alyx several feet away. It took him off guard, as while his teammate was by no means heavy, the ease at which she was thrown was almost inhuman. Then, a moment later, Juliet's attention was on him. Similarly furious at the boy who'd intimidated her friend, she wasted no time, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him back against the wall. Despite holding back, the impact caused his black Aura to flicker and it strained around her hand as she growled, causing Luna and Elena to freeze up at the previously unseen side of their leader.

"I will end you, I won't even make it look like an accident! I swear by the Go-"
"Juliet!" Rosaria's panicked voice and her hand clasping around Juliet's wrist pulled her out of it, suddenly realizing she was being watched, with several students outside of her team in various states of shock all encircling their immediate area as she held him up. Looking back at Rosaria, she caught a glimpse of Luna, who was now shaking in her shoes at the sight. "Too much."

As she released him, Siyah fell to his knees, coughing as he was suddenly able to breathe once more once the shock wore off. Alyx scrambled over, trying to pull him away from the girl who'd just manhandled him, but now that he had his bearings once more, he grew furious, standing up, ready to throw down when someone else Juliet vaguely recognized stepped in between them, pushing Siyah back.

"Go, get the hell outta here!" Ruta yelled, partially scolding the members of SABL while also pushing them back, away from Juliet in a defensive manner, being joined by Sarasvati a moment later, worriedly looking between her underclassmen teams like she was the threat. It made her blood boil, they'd started this whole thing, so why were these girls acting like she was in the wrong? By the time she could say anything though, Alyx had convinced Siyah to go, but not before shooting her one last dirty look, leaving the two members of BRST to confront JWEL.

"What was that!?" Sarasvati asked, her voice cracking as she tried to yell with an authoritative tone she clearly wasn't used to taking. It didn't work as Juliet growled and stomped her foot, the impact being felt by all the girls present.

"He started it! Luna would never even hurt a fly, but she just gets to blow down on her like that? I don't think so!"

"I get putting someone in their place, but that was something else altogether. I heard what you said, ain't you supposed to be trainin' to be a Huntress?" Ruta chimed in, only for Juliet to roll her eyes in response like it was no big deal, infuriating the Vacuan further. She understood saying something in anger, but she had to understand threatening to kill a fellow huntsmen in training wasn't acceptable, even by Vacuo's admittedly looser stance on things. Put simply, her behavior was well and truly over the line, yet her message fell on deaf ears.

"Yes, we are, unlike that prick who might as well be a poster boy for wannabe bandits." It was Elena who spoke up, at the end of her patience with this sort of behavior. She could understand more governed Kingdoms like Atlas and Vale thinking this was acceptable, but how this had gone uncorrected in a place like Vacuo with a criminal element not unlike Mistral's was baffling. In her homeland, anyone who wanted to be a Huntsman was held to a higher standard, a practice apparently lost everywhere else. "If it were up to me, I'd have let Juliet finish what she started, the fact that any of the schools put up with such behavior from people who're supposed to be humanities protectors is disgusting."

"C'mon guys, I'm starving anyway." Juliet said, turning and leaving with her team, cutting the argument off there, and leaving Ruta and Sarasvati alone. The girls looked at each other, both silently agreeing that nothing about that had felt right. Did Siyah deserve it? At this point, yes, well and truly, but how easily Juliet went from simple anger to threatening to end the boy was worrying. They knew the difference between someone who was just blowing smoke and someone making a genuine threat, they'd seen that difference plenty of times when dealing with people on their missions… and they could tell that Juliet meant every word that had come out of her mouth.


"It's not a matter of showing off, it's a perfectly legitimate security measure." the woman on the other end of the group call said. The smooth but cold voice of Colonel Indigo Nasturtium had become nothing short of grating to Ruby as yet another overzealous measure was put in place that just so happened to show off Atlas's military might. She understood the need for security better than most, but the line between 'excessive, if understandable, measures' to 'an outright attempt at intimidation' had been crossed long ago. She sighed to herself as she walked the empty halls from her temporary quarters to the courtyard, thankful for the silence, as most of the students were either heading to the auditorium that had been changed into a dance hall for the night, or were still getting ready.

"Yeah, right. If that's the case, then why does it have to be your personal mech?" Touko asked in a much shorter tone from her end. Even beyond the insistence on rampant 'security measures', she had her own problems with the Colonel, like the fact that she was one of those people who were just a little too proud to be Atlesian for her comfort.

"Other than being a state of the art piece of military equipment? It's the model of Crusader I'm most familiar with, I wouldn't ask you to walk around on inferior augmetics." Ruby didn't need to be in the same room as her friend to see the scowl that had no doubt just appeared on her face, that line had struck a nerve in Ruby as well, so casually bringing up her cybernetics in such a disrespectful way. The nerve of this woman!

"Prosthetics, not augmetics." There was a moment of silence on the line after Ruby corrected Indigo, all three parties surprised at the ice in Ruby's voice. Unfortunately, the Colonel quickly recovered from her momentary surprise and kept talking.

"Right, right, my apologies. The point is, in the case of an attack, the Crusaders are our best tools for combating Grimm. The Headmaster already approved their use, it's a moot point to argue over this any further. And besides, couldn't I claim Professor Fuchsia's very presence as a show of Atlas's might, considering she wouldn't be here with-" The group call suddenly ended as Ruby hit the shutoff button, needing to end the conversation before she said something that would get her in trouble. She wanted to smack the woman upside her head with Crescent Rose, but at the same time, that would probably start an international incident. She needed to blow off some steam, find her happy place, and maybe fire a few rounds into some targets, so she activated her Semblance and made a dash to the armory where her baby was being stored, rematerializing in the center of the room to find the lights already on and a familiar head of green hair hunched over one of the tables.

"Jet, what on Remnant are you doing here?" The boy in question jumped out of his seat at her sudden appearance, his movements far stiffer than usual as the dark green suit he wore was clearly fresh off the rack and hadn't been broken in yet.

"I didn't think I was doing anything wrong. Are students not allowed in the facilities after class in Vacuo?" he said quickly, trying to excuse himself like he'd just been caught with his pants down. She giggled at his overreaction, holding her hands up to put him more at ease.

"No, I mean, why are you back here in a suit?" Jet paused before looking down at himself, realizing just how much his crisp, formal attire clashed with the dingy and dirty workbenches and oil-stained tools that surrounded him.

"Oh…" That was right, most people wouldn't work on their gear while wearing a suit that cost more than all the money they've ever seen previously combined. "Just trying to get this design finalized at the last minute."

With her curiosity peaked, Ruby wandered over, taking a look at the rough sketch he had down. It was a sword sheath designed to hold two blades, but interestingly enough, there was a trigger mechanism near the mouth, however, the specifics of that had been scribbled out and redrawn so many times it was hard to understand how exactly that was meant to work, but even still, she could tell there was a lack of any traditional firing mechanism.

"That's a sheath for Scarlet, right?"

"Yeah, I'm trying to get the same functionality as her dad's without just… y'know, copying her dad's." Ruby chuckled, looking down at the design a bit closer. Spending all his time before the dance doing anything but think about it, it was… something she'd have done…

"You're worrying about this instead of taking that girl to the dance?" She laughed as she remembered her own dance, a cringeworthy event if ever she'd seen one. She had to walk around in those stupid lady stilts and that dumb dress Yang had picked out, but looking back on it, had she known it was the only school dance she'd get to attend, she'd have tried to enjoy it more. Sure, it wouldn't be Jet's only chance, but that didn't mean he should squander it. Jet sighed, a part of him knew his professor was right, but leaving this unfinished was just bothering him too much. Had it been the exoskeleton for his arms, or the gun functionality Lumi had begrudgingly let him attach to her dagger, it would be different, but he just couldn't get everyone's upgrades done but Scarlet's.

"I just need to come up with a propulsion system. I was thinking about using wind or gravity Dust, but I don't know how that would react with the fire dust infused with the metal of the sword." he explained. While the fire Dust alloy made Wilt more dangerous as a melee weapon, it also complicated things substantially when it came to using other Dust types. Sure, it was possible, but Dust mixing was a science he was unfamiliar with at best, and the risk of having the weapon explode in her hand because he'd gotten his measurements wrong was a risk he wasn't willing to take.

"What's wrong with just using fire Dust? Make a small sealed explosion that shoots it out like a bullet."

"Because that's how Adam made his blade fly, and I wanna do something different. Besides, have you ever taken a good look at her red sword? A proper, close up look?" Ruby shook her head. Really, it was something she tried to avoid, though for reasons she thought was understandable enough, given her family's history with that particular blade. "The metal is covered in microfractures, I nearly had an aneurysm the first time I put it under the magnifying glass. Sure, Scarlet takes pretty good care of it, but if she swings it without Aura it's going to shatter. I want to try and negate that problem as much as I can"

Right, Aura could be finicky like that, while it protected clothes and weapons to a point, it wasn't at the same density levels as the body, which meant that, while a very slow process, they'd still get worn down by combat. Okay, so he was looking for a way to fire the swords out at high speeds while putting as little strain on the metals as possible, which complicated things. Her first thought was a sort of pressurized air system, but naturally, that would include wind dust to generate the pressure, which he understandably wanted to avoid, but she felt she was on the right track.

"Have you considered a high-pressure liquid system? No Dust?" At Ruby's suggestion, he started to think. It was theoretically possible, with enough PSI and a release mechanism, the pressure would propel the blades out like a bullet, but the method had several glaring flaws that immediately came to mind.

"But how would that work? All that extra bulk and weight from the amount of water we'd need to carry around would be a hindrance at best." Ruby chuckled fondly, seeing a bit more of herself in the boy with each passing moment. He was smart, but at the same time, he focused on the wrong aspect of the whole thing, on the augment, not the base. She'd done something similar when first making Crescent Rose, so focused on the sniper rifle aspect that she'd completely neglected the scythe function in her first design, ending up with a curved spear more than anything else.

"You're focusing too much on the gun part of this. Take it from me, these weapons are extensions of ourselves, not just tools, so with that in mind, how would you make that work?" Jet paused. Granted, that advice flagrantly flew in the face of basic weapon design, but he wasn't getting anywhere thinking of it as just any old gun, so he thought of it more as a part of Scarlet, as something only she could use properly, and then it clicked.

"Her Semblance." It solved all the immediate issues, completely eliminating the need for external liquid storage since she could just supply more with her Semblance, and it would put substantially less strain on the blade. Plus, shooting her blades with the power of pressurized blood was something Scarlet would get absolutely giddy about.

"Bingo."

"Okay, great, now I can draft up the final design." With the iron still hot, he had to get to work before his ideas faded, or worse, he forgot an important detail. Turning to grab his pencil once more, he found it was already gone, along with the paper, both of which were being pulled away by an unamused looking Ruby. What on earth was this boy thinking? The dance was in half an hour, he didn't have time for this!

"You know what? Here, I'll do it, I still owe you guys for how weird I was when we met." Jet opened his mouth to object but by then she'd already grabbed the pencil and a nearby sharpener. Then, in a blur, her hands shot back and forth along the page faster than his eyes could follow, leaving behind a noticeably shorter pencil and a small pile of rose petals intermingled with shavings that Ruby blew away, revealing a design very similar to his original concept, but with an additional gathering system at the scabbard's mouth. It was a bit bulkier than what he'd been going for initially, but still remained an effective way to immediately store and pressurize her blood.

"You can spend hours going over the design and making adjustments some other night, go be a kid and have fun while you can. Trust me, it goes by faster than you think." Jet looked at the design, it was… Honestly, it was better than anything he'd have thought of at the moment and he knew it. Left without a leg to stand on, he made his way to the door.

"Thanks Miss Rose." Glancing down at his Scroll, his eyes bulged out of their sockets as he saw the time. Bursting out the door, he turned the corner in the direction of SJJL's room, running as fast as he could manage in his suit without potentially damaging it. Shit, Scarlet was probably pissed, thinking he'd stood her up. This always happened, how could he be so stupid! As he turned another corner, something grabbed his arm, pulling him into a sudden stop.

"Damn, you look good all dressed up." Scarlet said, looking him up and down hungrily, reaching out and adjusting his suit a bit. He wanted to ask how she knew where to find him, but that was a dumb question, anyone who knew him would say the workshop was the first place someone should look for him.

"Aren't I supposed to be the one complimenting you?" She shot him a smug look at the question, she looked good and she damn well knew it, but still, hearing it from him was something she found herself craving at the moment.

"Well, are you?"

"You look amazing." She did, Gods above she did, it was like that dress had been made for her, and no-one else.

"Damn right I do." Jet could do little more than watch as she wrapped her arms around his elbow, resting her head on his bicep, looking up and innocently batting her eyes like she didn't know damn well what she was doing to him. "And you get to show up having this hot piece of ass hanging off your arm. Don't you feel lucky?"

"Like the luckiest guy in the world." Scarlet giggled, smacking his arm gently for such a corny line, yet, for some reason, it still brought some redness to her cheeks

"Flattery won't get you that lucky… Well, maybe it will, this dress does have me feeling kinda… frisky." Jet choked on air as she whispered the last part, once again going back to that damned voice.


Asher's metal hand connected with the head of the cultist with a sickening crunch, first feeling the Aura give way in a flash of light, then his mask, shattering into little white splinters, then finally his skull, the crescendo of his strike sounding out with a wet crunch and the ringing of steel, while the impact sent the body into the rock wall of the cave behind him. With that one down, it was just him and one other man left, who was already swinging a curved dagger down to stab him. Fortunately, he was faster than the masked man, and countered by throwing a punch to his wrist before the blade could land, sending his Aura through the strike and into the limb, causing the weapon to launch out of his hand and embed itself into the ceiling, as well as shattering every bone in his arm. The pain from this should have been enough to cause him to pass out, but the man was tenacious as he was devoted, growling through the pain and pulling his good hand back to send another strike his way. He never got the chance, his head suddenly jerking to the side and splattering the walls with blood and gray matter as a single gunshot echoed through the makeshift halls.

"I coulda handled them." Asher said as he turned to see Onyx approaching, smoke still rising from the barrel of her handgun. Despite his words, he was visibly happy to see she hadn't been hit in the scuffle.

"I know you could have." she said in a teasing tone. Noticing a small splatter of darker-than-usual blood on his cheek, she licked her thumb, gathering a generous amount of spit before rubbing it into the blood to wipe it away, Asher sighed, but didn't resist, after all, she knew he loved the attention. As she cleaned him off, she found the blood was colder than usual. That was weird, considering it was so fresh. Was the cultist some sort of Faunus? Despite being one herself, she was by no means an expert, but she knew there were bugs out there with blue or green blood, so it being colder and a bit off color didn't seem too out of the ordinary. Once he was clean, she whipped her thumb on her shorts and smiled at her handiwork. "Much better."

The next thing they knew another cultist flew through the door in front of them, a sai embedded in the woman's chest as she gasped and sputtered, coughing up blood before finally going still. Another robed figure was forced back, raising a scimitar to block Carmine thrusting her remaining sai at his throat. The weapons clashed, with the sword being caught between the center blade and the sai's tine, and with a grin on her face, Carmine twisted her hand until the sword snapped under the pressure. He didn't even extend his Aura to his sword, rookie maneuver. The moment the broken blade hit the floor, the ginger flipped her weapon around and drove it into her opponent's throat. His hands reached out too late to stop the attack, but did manage to latch onto her wrist and push her back. She allowed him to back away, knowing the damage was done, seeing the blood spill from between his fingers, desperately clutching the wound. It took a few seconds, but the blood loss eventually got to him, toppling over as his gurgles faded.

"Save the flirting for when we're out of here." Carmine said, reaching down and retrieving her other sai as the trio continued to make their way deeper into the complex. The hideout was nothing special, just a hastily converted cave system in a mesa located just outside one of the smaller satellite cities only a few hours' ride away from the capital. When first putting out feelers, they'd expected to hear rumors of secret communities isolated deep in the desert, but instead, got stories of entire groups of people coming into the towns who just seemed a little off, or residents who were just a bit too secretive, being unnecessarily difficult with innocuous details and with glimpses and rumors of strange ornate weapons hidden on them. Then, in a few standout cases, there were rumors of towns and hamlets being sacked overnight with no one left alive, the ruins looking like a warzone. When it became clear their targets weren't hiding in the shadows of civilization, or at least, weren't based there, they turned to common shelters between cities, one of which was the very mesa the cave they were clearing resided in. It was a common resting point for those between the western satellite cities and the frontier towns and hamlets , but recently, those heading near it had started to go missing, which, considering the various vehicles and boxes stashed away in here, now had a grisly explanation.

"I think that's all of them." Onyx said, clearing another makeshift room, a storage area of sorts based on all the stacked boxes. She made her way deeper, guns raised in the event someone tried to jump out at her, but she found no one, instead coming across a table crudely pressed against the slanted incline of the wall. Considering the coast clear, she found herself hunching over to look at the various papers and maps.

"Guys, come check this out." Following her voice, the other two made their way over, satisfied that they had eliminated everyone who could be a threat.

"Huh, for some reason I thought they'd be less organized." Asher mused to himself, flicking through what looked to be a log of supplies, be it food, weapons, and, according to the paper, several Grimm if the labels of 'Razerwings' and 'Sulfur Fish' were being literal instead of some code they were using. Onyx was less careful, haphazardly dumping out an envelope labeled 'Betrayer's Spawn'. Inside lay a set of photos, presumably taken from various hiding spots, of a girl with black horns and red hair she didn't recognize, as well as a set of what looked to be her friends.

"Who's this, a student?" she asked, handing the photo over to Asher. He took a more critical look at the image, quickly finding that, while it did seem like she was a student, he hadn't seen her at Vacuo before, meaning she was most likely a foreigner visiting for the festival. Looking over the other photos, it was clear this girl was a target of some sorts, but he couldn't imagine why this group would care so much about this girl in particular.

"I don't recognize her, no clue who her friends are supposed to be either." As the pair tried to brainstorm, Carmine occupied herself flipping through the drawer, finding herself begrudgingly impressed by how well organized this all was, whoever had been put in charge of their filing was a serious neat freak. However, one file simply titled 'Summer' stopped her train of thought dead in its tracks. Pulling it out, her worst fears were confirmed, as from within, she pulled out another set of photos, several of which were of Durga's previous caravan, clearly taken from a distance, as she and the pair of Huntsmen guarding her entered the gate of a city that had recently fallen. What was worse was that it came with a sketched map of Shade's library, marking the stone statue of Malik the Sunderer that stood in the room's center as a secret passage to the vault. Paperclipped to it were two photos, one of Durga, and one of a giant door with a frame of sandstone, interlaced with intricate gold patterns. Her heart sank, she'd never seen the vault herself, probably never would, and she worked directly with Theodore for years, so how someone had been able to discover not just the vault's location, but how to access it, meant there had been a serious security breach.

"What is that? Some kinda door?" Onyx asked, completely clueless as to the dire situation the information before her painted.

"Whatever it is, they seem to think Durga's the key… somehow." Asher's comment snapped her out of her daze and she gathered the photos back up before shoving them back into their folder, and forcing it into Asher's hands.

"I'll call this in to the closest settlement so we can get a full search of the area. You two fall back to the main city, get these photos to one of the Huntsmen at the Academy." At her uncharacteristically worried tone, the bounty hunters knew there was no time to waste; this needed to be brought to their boss's attention as soon as possible.