"An' these are the plans Team ARTS had so far for the welcome reception. The students from Shade, Haven, and Atlas Academy get here halfway through the winta break, a full week before next semester starts. Questions or comments?" Alice had the table in front of her littered with typed out pages, drawings, and samples of different fabrics.

Ebon held up a disc, "Did… did Sepia put together a film to welcome the students?"

"Oh yeah, I think she did! Remember when she went around with one of those little digital cameras and filmed students saying things? She would just hand you a piece of paper and pester you until you read it for the camera!" Turf pointed to the disc, "That must be it, or at least a rough cut. She must've done it right when they were put in charge of all this!"

"Kind of a waste just to throw it all on us like this…" Navy asked as he looked over one of Arty's sketches, "So how much of this are we scrapping?"

"Why would we throw any of this away?! We can use all of it as a jumping off point!" Ebon was taken back. Apparently Team ARTS did a lot of work for the welcoming committee when they found out that they got picked, and it made him feel bad that all of it might go to waste. It did explain why Team ARTS went missing a lot after the Yamuna incident. They probably wanted some time to themselves. With all the work they had done, it was still weird that they dropped it all out of nowhere.

Navy looked to Alice expecting to hear the usual 'it's from ARTS, just get rid of it' like she did when she cut through one of Arty's sketchbooks earlier in the semester.

"No," Alice flipped through a few pages of a schedule, "we can use most of this if not all of it."

The three boys looked shocked.

"Alice, did you hit your head on something?" Turf asked carefully. He knew how much she hated Team ARTS.

"No. I'm fine, Turf," she put down the papers and looked around the ballroom, where the majority of Team ARTS's planning had gone towards, "This is actually… good stuff ta build off of, like Ebon said. If we don't use it all, then we'll fall behind."

"Right, so let's see what we can do to…" Ebon trailed off as he saw someone come into the ballroom through one of the doors on the side, "Wait, what?"

Roland stood in the doorway. His eyes were red and puffy, but he kept his usual scowl in an attempt to mask it. He looked between the members of Team ANTE in confusion, "What are you guys doing here? Team ARTS is supposed to handle the welcoming party. I don't think we really need any more distractions."

"It got passed onto us when Arty decided that you guys couldn't do it for whatever reason. Didn't he tell you?" Turf set down the papers he was holding. He could feel that Roland wasn't feeling quite right, "You okay, man?"

Unlike Team ANTE, Roland knew exactly why these duties had gotten passed on. There was no doubt that his actions made Arty forget about their responsibilities as a team. He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. He couldn't do anything about the situation, but he could at least try to make up for it a little, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I'm going to text Arty. Do you guys think that we could at least still help?"

Even though she was reconsidering her whole outlook on Faunus, Alice knew she still didn't like Roland, but she bit her tongue for the time being.

"Why should you?" Navy snapped, "Your team gave it up, and Maple asked us to take over. Sounds pretty cut and dry to me."

"Look, I know we're on bad terms, but I'm trying to be civil here. This is a lot for just four people to do," Roland finished his message and sent it to his team, "You guys still have final say, but we could help a lot. You wanna keep being a dick, or can we actually help before you guys bite off more than you can chew?"

Navy shot to his feet and stood face to face with the otter Faunus. "What did you just say to me?"

"I said that you're being a dick, but I could say a lot worse," Roland shot back. Though he was still feeling down, there was always a small reserve of fury in him, "I could say that you're no better than cannon fodder, just like those mindless soldiers that you seem to love imitating so much."

It was at that moment Navy's fist connected with Roland's cheek. The heated argument had become an all-out fist fight with a single blow.

Roland rebounded from the strike, and didn't get his hands up in time to block the uppercut to his gut that came next. He stumbled back and nearly hacked up a lung. Stings of spit hung from his lips, "Navy, I'm warning you. Back off… this isn't the day to start cra-" Another blow crashed into his left ear.

Navy swiped low at Roland's feet, sending him to the ground before he could recover. "Don't tell me what to do, Faunus."

Alice watched as Turf shifted in his seat. She stood up and slammed her hands against the table, "Navy! That's enough!" but her interjection wasn't enough to stop the brawl.

The Faunus remark sent him over the edge, "I'll show you what a Faunus can do," Roland launched himself off the ground with his tail. The arm with Writer's Block attached rocketed into Navy's sternum. Having sufficiently knocked the wind out of his opponent, he dug his unburdened hand into Navy's ribs.

A knee slammed into Navy's middle while a weighted fist pounded into his face. Thinking this was enough, Roland threw Navy into a nearby column by the vest and huffed in a mixture of rage and exhaustion, "I said that this isn't the time, Navy…"

As the fight continued, the main door to the ballroom opened.

"Roland!" Arty yelled as he and the ARTS girls ran up to the brawl. Arty latched onto Roland's shoulders in an attempt to pry him away from Navy.

Alice saw what Arty was doing and ran up to do the same with Navy.

In a matter of moments, Team ARTS was trying to pull Roland away while Team ANTE was trying to to the same with Navy. It was a futile effort.

Roland yanked away from his teammates, using his tail to swat them away, "I told you to back off!" he flew at Navy again. He was going for blood. This time around, he drove a knee straight into Navy's crotch, then followed it up with a uppercut to the chin.

Navy reeled back and doubled over, but was quickly ready to get back into the fight. He charged towards the cowboy.

"Navy! Stop it!" Alice dove in front of him and tried to hold him back with her hands pushing against his chest. She felt her boots grind against backwards against the floor. No amount of ordering or bossing him around was going to calm him. Any control that she had over him was waning.

"Get… out… of… my… way… Alice!" He snarled as he pushed her towards Roland. His fingers curled around the grip of the knife on the shoulder of his combat vest. If Roland could bring a typewriter into the brawl, then he had an excuse.

Alice moved one arm the opposite direction, pushing against Roland. "Will you two stop it!" she yelled as she tried to push them apart and not get crushed between the two raging monsters.

A fist slammed into Alice's ear, sending her sprawling. The fight was put on hold as the voice of reason crumpled to the ground.

In a fit of blind rage, Roland completely forgot about his fight with Navy. Team ANTE's leader entered the fray, and there was much more hate in Roland for Alice than there was for Navy. For a moment, he realized what was going on. He remembered that the blow that Alice took was meant for Navy.

"Oh crap…" Roland reeled back. Sure she had been awful towards him, but she didn't deserve to have her brain rocked around like that when she wasn't even part of the fight.

Alice reached up to her ear. She wasn't injured, but the shock and pain of the attack scared her and, more noticeably, angered her. "I go… out of my way… to try and make things betta… Ta stop this brawl before someone gets hurt..." She pushed herself to her feet.

"Alice?…" Arty said reaching out to her.

Alice threw her arm up, "Don't touch me, Painta-Boy! Just get your savage creature out of here…" She began to gather the papers and other materials sprawled out on the table. Was Papa actually right all along? No… he couldn't be, not every Faunus is bad… are they?... The conflicting thoughts went back and forth inside her head as she pushed her way past everyone to leave.

Navy snickered, "I guess you were right, Alice!" he called out, making his leader stop dead in her tracks, "Faunus like Roland can't hide their true instincts! They'll always be violent," he made sure to keep eye contact with his rival, "Maybe he really did get it all from his dirty, mangy, piece of trash mother, just like you said. There's no way he could've gotten it from the trade magnate, Henry Wells! He is human after all."

The room fell dead silent.

Alice's eyes widened. She had said that weeks ago when she put together that one of her father's' trading partners, Henry Wells, was Roland's father. That was long before she got attacked by Yamuna. Back before she began rethinking things… She turned to face Roland, "Roland… I…" she stuttered, unable to explain herself.

Before she could even attempt to defend herself, Roland dove on top of her and began wailing on her. He brought down fists into her stomach, threw elbows into her face, brought knees up into her side. Even his tail was thrown against her. Alice was going to physically experience every ounce of pain that her words had dredged up.

Everyone watched as a white shimmer of light traveled across Alice's body. Roland had broken her aura, but he wasn't letting up.

Navy tried to jump in, but Roland threw his fist back, launching Navy to the side.

Timbre didn't get along with Alice, but he couldn't watch Roland do this to someone. With a flick of her arms, her gloves slid out from under her sleeves and hooked themselves around her hands. "Roland! Stop it!" She flung wires towards him.

Cables wrapped themselves around Roland's waist. He tried to pry them off, but he found himself flying backwards. He slammed into the wall and slid limp to the ground.

Turf and Ebon ran up to help Alice up while Navy stayed back.

Turf put an arm under Alice's to help her up. "Alice! Are you okay?!"

Alice pushed her partner's hand away. "Get away from me!" she began sobbing, "I can't even look at you right now…" She clutched the sleeve of Ebon's down jacket tightly, "Get me away from him! Get me away from him!" She yelled.

Ebon lifted Alice in his arms and began heading for the door with Turf close behind. He couldn't help but watch the boy that had just tried to kill his leader as he tried to get up. He knew Roland's anger was bad, but he never imagined it could reach this level. He made sure to be out of the ballroom before Roland was back on his feet.

Navy began stomping his way towards Roland. After what he did to Alice, this soldier was ready for round two. How dare some dirty Faunus lay hands on his leader.

Timbre drew more wire from her gloves and stood before Navy. "Back. Off."

Navy stopped in his tracks as he glared down at the girl. He was easily a full head taller than her, "Out of the way, girlie."

Timbre didn't falter, "Don't you have something better to do? Like go make sure Alice is okay?"

Navy afforded a glance to the door.

"Yeah? Let me say it again. Back. Off. And. Leave. Us. Alone." She commanded.

Navy sneered and stormed off, his boots slamming against the floor with every step.

With Navy gone, Timbre reeled in her wires and disengaged her weapons. She ran to the corner, where Arty and Sepia were tending to a dazed Roland.

Roland leaned back against the wall. Tears were still welled up in his eyes. Beneath all the flailing and screaming before, he was crying. When Navy told him that Alice talked about his mother, something inside his mind cracked. Every strike that he made was involuntary. His body just reacted.

"I… kind of lost it… huh…?" he mumbled and pulled his arms and legs close to him. A few tears streamed down his cheeks as he stared at the ceiling. He didn't know what else to say. There wasn't anything else to say.

Arty stood against the wall on Roland's right as Sepia sat against the wall on his left. They stayed silent for a few minutes as Timbre paced back and forth anxiously.

Arty pat Roland on the back, "Let's go back to the room," he held a hand out to him, "Come on."

For a moment, Roland didn't move. He just stared at his partner's hand. How could he be so calm?

Finally, he reached up and let Arty help him to his feet. When they stood eye-to-eye, Roland managed to speak, "I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I just… I don't know…"

A pair of hands wrapped around his left hand. Sepia stood right next to him with concern in her eyes. He knew that she wanted to tell him that everything was okay this time, but she couldn't lie to him like that.

Timbre stepped in front of him and smiled weakly, "Let's go, we can talk things through back in the dorm."

With that, Roland was led out of the ballroom and back to the dorms, narrowly avoiding Professor Maple, Professor Alabaster, and Vincentas storming into the ballroom in their hunt for Team ARTS.

The dorm was lit only by the dots of sunlight streaming through the curtains, and Team ARTS sat in their own corners around the room in silence. No one knew where to begin.

"Can I just sleep this off for a while...?" Roland asked, but he already knew the answer.

Arty took a deep breath, "Roland… you've been pushing it off all semester. You need to talk about whatever's going on. It's getting out of hand."

"How many times have you gotten in fights over something Navy or Alice said?..." Timbre asked, "You could've killed her just now, Roland… This is getting too serious to just ignore."

This was the moment that he feared since the semester began. He clenched his fists against his knees, "I'm not ready to talk about what happened…"

"You haven't been ready to talk about what happened the whole semester…" Arty said calmly, trying to keep the situation from blowing up again.

"I told you guys that I lost something back in Mistral when we met. Why can't we just leave it at that?" Roland quivered. He could feel the uneasiness gathering in his stomach. The room felt like it was getting smaller and smaller, inch by inch.

Arty, Timbre, and Sepia looked to one another. Arty nodded to Timbre.

Timbre took a deep breath, "Roland… I think we know who you lost"

Shivers shot down his spine, "I don't think you d-"

Timbre couldn't look at Roland as she said the name, "Chiara Oscura…"

Gavin's word echoed through his head. She wasn't really gone, but she was. Chiara Oscura died, and her name had become the ultimate reminder of that. It seared his heart every time it was uttered. "How did you find out…?"

Arty held his hands together. He could feel the tension in the room intensifying with every word. "We… did some research. We found an article in a newspaper from Mistral… You were in the picture on the front page."

Even after he blew up at Timbre, they all still snooped on his personal business. Stop shutting your friends out. I can't be there for you every step of the way. This is what a team is for, she would have said. Those words of hers kept him in line. Before she left, he might have brushed off a few of her words of wisdom, but now he clutched every single one as if they were his very soul. Out of all of the words that he knew, hers were the most important. The most essential.

"She was everything to me…" he held his head down. Tears already began wetting the carpet below, "She… she went by CiCi, you know… she would always correct people for getting her name wrong… she was funny like that…"

"Is she the one who got you into writing?" Timbre edged a little closer. Maybe she could do something. Anything. For the first time, she could see just how much pain was inside of him, and it shook her to the core. It was like looking into a mirror.

"She taught me everything that I know. She gave me all of my books, or at least the ones that I didn't end up buying myself. Always pushing me to do better and better... that was her…" he didn't lift up his head. The words were coming somewhat easier, but they were still caught in his throat like fishhooks.

"She must've been one heck of a teacher…" Arty tried to pry out a few more words from the depths of his partner's feelings. A tiny stream of rage was all that he knew flowed through Roland's head, but he was starting to see the black lake of sadness that it flowed into. How could he have missed something like that in his own teammate? He was supposed to be a leader. He was supposed to see his teammates for all that they were.

"She was a lot more than that, Arty…" Roland whispered.

Sepia slowly got up and sat next to him. She put an arm around his shoulders and leaned against him. There wasn't anything that she could say, even if she could have spoken. Her embrace was an attempt to pull him back together. The pain couldn't be taken away, but she wanted nothing more than to do just that.

The words began pouring out, "She was my teacher... she was my coach... she was my hero… she taught me to be proud to be a Faunus… how to read… how to write… how to be me… she was the only one that I could actually say was by my side… always fighting in my corner..." he looked up slowly, tears pouring from his eyes. After a shaky breath, he finally pushed the words out, "CiCi Oscura was my mother…"

The sudden realization that came across Arty and Timbre's face said it all. They kept prying and prying, but they never connected the dots enough to see that it was the death of his mother that turned him into what he was. Thinking about the pummeling he had just given Alice, no wonder her comment about Roland's mother was what threw him over the edge. The way he acted made much more sense now, but bottling it up for so long must have been killing him on the inside.

"That's why…" Arty tried to bite back the words that just wouldn't stop, "you told me not to bring her up when we first met in the Emerald Forest…"

"Oh my god…" Timbre covered her mouth. Tears rolled down her cheeks, "Roland…"

"I was the one who found her body…" he couldn't stop. Not now. Not when he was finally managing to talk about it, "I went over to her apartment to stay with her for the night, but… all of the residents of the complex were dead… all of their Faunus traits were…" he nearly choked at the thought, "gone… all of them were mutilated… then she was just face down… I…" his eyes were wide with fear. Roland wasn't in the dorm, but back in the apartment complex. He could still see every detail, every speck of blood. That damned wheel painted on the wall in her-, "I attracted a Nevermore by myself… it flew straight through Mistral just to meet up with me… and then I killed it. Every ounce of hate in my heart came out on that thing. I tried to hurt it as much as whoever hurt them… whoever took her from me..."

Arty and Timbre didn't know how to respond. Sepia on the other hand, just hugged Roland tighter.

"I'm here because I want to kill someone…" Roland held onto Sepia's arms. He hung his head down and let the tears go, "I want to kill whoever took my mother from me…"

"So that's why you want to be a Huntsman…" Arty nodded to himself.

"They said that only Huntsmen had the jurisdiction to investigate, so that's what I have to do. I'll track them down. I don't care about any bounty, or praise, or anything other than giving them the same treatment as they did her," his clenched fists threatened to rip the seams of Sepia's gloves, "That's all I want. I just want them dead…"

Timbre ran across the room and joined Sepia in hugging Roland.

Arty reluctantly did as well. After a few moments of silence, he finally pushed off, "Roland, I can't let you become that…"

"What does it matter if that monster dies?" Roland pushed the rest of them off, "They killed my mother, so they deserve to die."

"Because more killing isn't going to do anything. You said yourself that it's just because they killed your mother, not because they might kill again. I'm not going to let you become a murderer. I can't just sit here and watch you go on a rampage," Arty stood over Roland. He was ready for any kick or punch that might come his way. Being the leader of Team ARTS meant that he was responsible for all of them, even after they graduated. What they became was on him, "Your only motivation can't be hate."

Rage began making its way back into Roland's mind. How dare Arty try and lecture him. He didn't know the real world. He couldn't being from a cushy place like Atlas, "What other motivation is there, huh? We kill Grimm because we hate them. We stop criminals because we hate them. I'm going to kill that killer because I. Hate. Them."

"No… no we don't, Roland." Timbre watched on cautiously. She didn't like where this was going, "We kill Grimm because we love the people of Remnant enough to protect them. That's also why we stop criminals… It's about love, not hate."

That's what she would have said too… CiCi always preached to him about loving those around him. Back before she left, he believed that. Without her, there was no one to stop the haze of pain and hatred from clouding his thoughts. Her death wasn't doing this to him. He was. How much peace could actually be gained from taking someone's life? "I… I just don't want to hurt like this…"

'Then lean on us a little. Let us take on a little bit of that pain. I never knew your mother, but it sounds like she would have wanted that. Tell us about her. Tell us how much you love her. Just… be you, Roland,' Sepia grasped his hands and leaned her head on his shoulder. Love is what he needed, like she had said from the beginning.

"Yeah, exactly. We want to listen. We want to be here for you," Timbre managed a smile, "That's what friends are here for."

"How can you call me a friend after hearing all of that…?" Roland looked over at Timbre, but then up at Arty. How could she forgive him for blowing up at her? How could Arty forgive him for the crap that he dragged him through?

Arty thought for a moment, "You know, at the beginning of the semester, I probably would've said something like 'because we're stuck together for the next four years' or 'Professor Alabaster, can I have a different team?' but… you know what? Because I actually consider you my friend and not just a teammate. We don't just put up with each others' problems. We want to actively help each other through them. When Timbre went through her issues earlier this week, we wanted to help her, too. You gotta face it, bud. At this point, there's not much you could do that would make us not consider you our friend. We could get mad at you, yeah, but we'll still be with you."

"As much as I've wanted to at some points, we don't want to give up on you." Timbre finished his thought.

"I… I don't know what to say…" Roland took a deep breath. It was all out in the open. If they wanted to hear about who he actually was, then that was fine. He was their friend, and they were his, "Okay, I… I can work with this. We're actually friends. That's not just a figment of my imagination. You guys want to help me cope..."

He thought for a moment. What could he do to show them that he was willing to accept that they were there for him? Once the answer came, he finally began to smile, "Okay… so, I want to show you guys something. Think of it as a start in trying to be more… open with you guys about who I am… and who my mother was, I suppose."

Arty, Timbre, and Sepia all watched on as their teammate rummaged through his toolbox for something that seemed to be buried underneath a mess of wrenches, nails, and screwdrivers. Once the item was retrieved, the room began to fill with the faint aroma of fish. It came from the perfectly rounded stone in Roland's hands.

"If you've ever wondered why the room sometimes smells bad, it's because this is the rock that I use to bust open clams."

Timbre and Arty looked on in confusion.

"The what to do huh now?" Timbre asked.

"What she said." Arty continued.

"It's an Otter Faunus thing. Most of us have one special rock that we like to use to crack open shellfish, just like actual otters," Roland smiled sweetly at the stone. Being able to talk about her actually made him feel better. It was like a weight had been taken off his shoulders, "Mom gave it to me on my seventh birthday. It was a really big deal. We were at this really nice restaurant, and she ordered about five pounds of clams. When the waiter came around with the bucket of clams, he sat a plate in front of me with this rock on it. Before we came to the restaurant, Mom went in and told the staff to make sure that this rock was on my plate when our food came out. She picked it out of the river that she used to take me canoeing down. I've kept it with me-"

SLAM! SLAM! SLAM! The door rattled on its hinges. Someone shouted from the other side, "Let go of me, Carmen! This kid needs a lesson!" That gruff tone could only have belonged to the one and only Vincentas Saurus.

"Roland?! Arty?! Is anyone from Team ARTS in here?!" Carmen's yelled over him, but she sounded far more concerned than angry.

"Oh crap…" Arty feared that they would come for Roland. Sure, everything seemed to be worked out now, but that wouldn't mean much if Roland got expelled, "That isn't good…"

Timbre looked worried, "Oh no… Arty… what do we do?!"

"What else can we do?" Arty held up his hands. They were out of options, "Come clean."

Timbre and Sepia looked at him as if he'd just ratted them out for cheating on a homework assignment.

"Arty!" Timbre's eyes darted between the door and her leader, "How can you even think abou-"

"Kid, I'm about done with you being a thorn in my side!" Vincentas shouted from the other side, "I'm sick of these temper tantrums! I've had enough!" he kicked the door, sending a cracking sound through the frame.

Roland sighed in defeat, "We can't run from this for four years. I made this problem, so I'm going to face this. Just open the door, Arty."

"Right," Arty slowly walked over to the door and looked to his team. Timbre seemed wholly against the idea of turning the knob, but Sepia seemed… relieved? Arty reached for the doorknob, but hesitated when he heard another crack in the frame. Seeing as it hadn't flown off its hinges yet, he clasped the doorknob, and-

Splinters exploded into the dorm. Fissures traveled up the door. It finally failed, and sent a flying rectangle of wood careening into Arty. He sprawled on the floor, the door flopping down on top of him in a blizzard of sawdust and shards of wood.

Timbre shrieked as pieces of the door and light from the hallway came flying into the room. Sepia just clapped at the spectacle.

Vincentas shot towards Roland with a hand ready to close around his throat, "I'm going to-"

"Stand down," Professor Alabaster ordered. He was happy with the immediate response that he received. When looking over his students, he noticed drying tears on Roland, Timbre, and Sepia's cheeks, "How are you all feeling?"

Arty, wanting to be an effective leader, spoke up first from underneath the door, "We finally managed to get everything out in the open," he pushed the door off. Splinters and sawdust puffed out with every ensuing cough.

"I told them about my mother," Roland refused to even look at Vincentas. Getting into it with a man that skilled wasn't going to help matters, "Everything. I told them everything, sir."

"I see…" Alabaster scratched his chin. He was surprised to say the least. Seeing as Roland assaulted another student with seeming intent to kill, he was half expecting to have to lock him up for a little while. It was a relief to see that this was not the case.

"I will take whatever punishment that I must. I understand that what I did was wrong," Roland stood to ready himself for whatever his consequences were. Without so much eating away at him, it was far easier to not get defensive. The pain inside him didn't have to be hidden anymore, so there wasn't much to defend.

Silence fell around the room. No one expected him, of all people, to react so calmly. Roland was the one that was always dragged away kicking and screaming.

"His aura is… actually…" Carmen stood behind Alabaster. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, "It isn't acting up. He's telling the truth..."

"Well then," Alabaster took a few steps forwards, "This has been a strange turn of events. I wasn't prepared for this, to be completely honest," Team ARTS had just made a serious bound in team development. With that in mind, separating them might have been the worst possible option, but finding a way to ensure that Roland would continue to be open could work, "Roland, I want you to go to the CCT and open a video line between you and your father. I know for a fact that you two haven't spoken since CiCi's passing. In addition, you will be going to the infirmary immediately after to speak with Ms. Crims. You owe her an apology, and you both have some things to talk about. If you have another outburst during any of this, then-"

"I won't. May I be on my way, then?" Roland looked between the adults.

"You're just gonna let him off the hook after that?" Vincentas growled.

"Under normal circumstances, I would not, but there is a lesson for my students to learn through all of this about how an adult handles a situation like this," Alabaster cast his gaze over to the door that had been blown off its hinges before returning it to the Huntsman, "Mr. Wells assaulted Ms. Crims. We're a school for young adults, not children, so I will treat them as such. They can handle this themselves, but I will decide the appropriate punishment for Mr. Wells if they cannot."

"Stupid old man…" Vincentas grumbled and stomped out of the room.

"Mr. Wells, you may go on to the CCT. Take as long as you need." Alabaster nodded.

Roland left without another word.

A few moments were given to ensure that Roland was out of earshot, and then Carmen focused her attention on the remaining members of Team ARTS, "Is everything okay? Did he lash out on any of you?"

The three of them shook their heads.

"Roland didn't," Arty spoke up, "but… he kinda did…" he said, gesturing to the direction the man in the red cloak had walked.

"Who is he anyways?" Timbre asked curtly. She had seen him a few times now, some at the beginning of the semester, and again only recently. His presence at the school was a mystery to her and her team. He was obviously a Huntsmen, but she hadn't heard about him teaching classes and he wasn't introduced in the orientation meeting when all of the teachers welcomed the new and returning students.

'Vincentas Saurus. He's a Huntsman from Vacuo, and a good one at that. He's a loner, so it really surprised me that he was here. I tried to tell you guys earlier today, but we kind of got… preoccupied,' Sepia signed to her teammate, 'He uses a double bladed scythe that's super cool! It uses Fire and Ice Dust, and… well, I don't know all that it can do. We talked about it a lot in class back home because it was a great example of a good Dust-based weapon.'

"He was on a mission in Mistral when Roland's incident happened," Carmen explained, "He was the one who brought Roland to Beacon, and we kept giving him money as long as he kept a watch on him. See, we knew that Roland would be suffering from some sort of psychological damage, and that it might lead to a breakdown or worse. It was a precaution."

Timbre shook her head and looked to her teacher and close friend in disbelief, "Carmen… why couldn't you have told us that Roland could be a threat? What if he actually did kill Alice? What if it was one of us and not her?" Timbre was hurt. Carmen had never been one to keep secrets from her.

Arty sat on his bed, "After all of the fights he's gotten in… and you guys didn't even warn us?"

"We debated it when you all became a team, but Vincentas's observations told us something promising," Alabaster explained, "You see, Roland acted more and more like his old self as he got closer with all of you. We tracked his fights, and noticed that they became less violent and less frequent as time went on. It was our understanding that he and Ms. Hughes began dating after the incident in the library, which coincided with a massive drop off in his… tendencies. Would you all like to know what his disciplinary record from Sanctum looks like?"

"Horrible, I'm guessing?" Timbre said bluntly.

"Completely clean," Carmen told them, "When we were looking through his records, we communicated with some of his instructors. He was sociable and even had some close friends. He was the ideal student."

"I…" Arty paused. Roland did mention some friends back in Mistral, but he just brushed it off as one of Roland's deflections, "I honestly don't know how to respond to that."

"That's what I said," Carmen sighed, "I was just as surprised."

Timbre just couldn't shake a question she'd had since the day Team ARTS was formed, "Carmen? Why was Roland brought to Beacon of all places? I mean, Alabaster asked Arty to come here after what happened at Atlas Academy… I came here because I live in Vale and wanted to be a Huntress, and Sepia…" she looked to her partner, "actually… I don't know why exactly you're here either…"

'I just wanted to come here.' Sepia signed.

"Because the headmistress of Haven made it clear that she did not want Roland coming to her school after what happened," Carmen looked to Alabaster for him to further explain.

Alabaster nodded, "After hearing this and meeting with young Roland, I knew that it would be more dangerous for him to go out into the world and begin his hunt for CiCi's killer on his own than it would be for him to be disciplined as a Huntsman. Whereas you three are here for pure…" his voice trailed off as he looked at Arty, "for the reason that you would like to fight for the innocent people of Remnant, young Roland is here to learn how to become the most dangerous person in Remnant to those who harm its occupants. He wants to bring about justice, or at least what he sees as justice, to a murderer. His goal is focused on causing pain, while you three are focused on preventing it."

"That's… kind of the conclusion we came to before that Vincentas guy kicked in our door… but wait, so you're saying he was sent here because he had nowhere else to go without being…" Timbre thought about the wording for a moment, "a menace to society?"

"That's the nicer way of putting it, yes," Alabaster nodded.

Arty raised an eyebrow, "How is that the nicer way of putting it?"

"We could have said that we were concerned that he would go off the deep end if he went out on his own, or that we really didn't want to have to watch a bounty get put on him…" Carmen's voice trailed off. The thought of Vincentas tracking down a feral Roland wasn't a pretty picture.

The rest of Team ARTS were trying to process everything. They'd spent half a year together and felt as if they were just now learning who one of them were. It felt unreal.

"Well…" Arty began, "I guess all we can hope for now is that having all of our stories out in the open will help us… cause less trouble for you teachers?"

"Mostly yourselves and the other students," Carmen corrected. She tugged on Alabaster's sleeve and nodded to the door, "We need to call in a repair for the door. We can take it out of Vincentas's pay."

"Yes, yes," Alabaster stepped out with Carmen, "Well, have a nice day you all. I will send Roland back to you when we have figured out what exactly is going to happen with him. I am hopeful that we do not have to go any further than detention, but we cannot be sure until all is said and done," and with that, they were gone.

Calling home was never easy, which was precisely why Roland never did so. For one of the first times in his life, he couldn't bring himself to type something. He sat at a blank screen in the CCT with a cursor flashing in a text box labeled 'name', "Henry Edgar Wells. Henry Edgar Wells," he repeated to himself.

He stared at the exchange of texts that he and his father had.

Roland Wells: Hey dad, catch a ride to the CCT. I want to talk. Bring Dante. Don't tell Shirley.

Henry Wells: We will be there in twenty minutes. Don't go anywhere.

Roland Wells: I won't. Promise.

Twenty minutes had come and gone, and knowing his father, Henry was sitting at a monitor in the CCT in Mistral. Right on time.

"Come on, just type it," he commanded himself. His fingers finally complied, but became stuck once again when it came time to hit 'call'. Butterflies slammed against the walls of his stomach, but he finally managed to do it. He pressed 'call'.

They were connected almost instantaneously. His father had clearly been waiting for the instant the call came through.

"Roland!" a disheveled man appeared on the screen. The mass of untamed black hair on his head was glistening with sweat, as was his mustache. He wore the same black suit and white cravat as he did when Roland left for Beacon, "It is so good to see you! I am so sorry that I missed family day!"

Roland was silent for a few moments, "That's because I didn't tell you about it, dad…"

Henry bit the inside of his lip, "Right… well, um… you look strapping in your Beacon uniform! I see that you have been training a lot. You've gained a lot of muscle since I saw you last! I'm glad that you're keeping healthy!"

His father was as awkward as always, but it was comforting. It was normal, "I guess you could say that I have someone to look good for."

"Really?! That is wonderful!" Henry exclaimed. He leaned forward, "Tell me about her!"

"She's nothing like Saffron, thankfully," Roland laughed, "She's really great. Her name is Sepia. Short, brunette, a bundle of energy, mute…"

"Mute?"

"Yeah, but I've been learning a lot of sign language so that I can communicate with her. She's… well, amazing," he grinned, "She's an indie filmmaker, and probably one of the best fighters that I've ever seen! You should see her on the battlefield, Dad. She has the coolest Semblance. She's super nice, too. Like, really nice. I'm lucky, and I'm thankful that my teammate finally made us stop beating around the bush. You might know that teammate's name, by the way. She's Timbre Forté."

Though Henry showed no recognition of the name, something hit the ground with a thud off camera.

"Are you alright, Dante?" Henry asked while looking down and back, "Do you need help?"

"I'm alright…" a young woman pulled herself up next to Henry. Her skin was olive, her tightly curled hair as black as obsidian. The resemblance to Roland was relatively apparent, being just enough to lead someone to believe that they were brother and sister. Still, she gave off a feeling of authority.

She straightened the crimson robe that had begun falling off of her shoulders and greeted her brother, "Roland. It's good to see you again."

"Dante, good to see you as well," Roland shifted in his seat.

"Timbre Forté. The Timbre Forté is on your team?" she raised an eyebrow.

In his mind, Timbre had become just another teammate. Her being a celebrity never crossed his mind unless he was telling someone else about her, "Yeah, but we don't think much of it. She's just a crazy emotional mess to us, but she cares. As much as I want to punch her in the face sometimes, I'm glad that we have someone who can actually spark some disagreement between us. If we agreed on everything, then we would be a lot less effective as a team. It also helps that Arty makes sure that we talk almost everything out."

"That must be your leader. What is he like?" Henry cut in.

"He is, and my partner. He's alright… awesome, actually. He's a little clueless when it comes to emotional stuff, but he's certainly fun to be around. Always working on some drawing, that guy," Roland thought back on he and Arty's friendship over the semester, "I'd say that he's the best partner that I could ask for. We really balance each other out, and… I guess I can't really compare him to anyone but Epazote. He's really becoming a great friend to me."

"I see," his father nodded, "That's all great, but we did become... worried with the disciplinary notes that kept coming in. Using your Semblance to throw around a student…"

"Navy, yeah. He was being a jerk, but he threw the first punch," Roland explained.

"Cheating on tests…"

"Helping people cheat on tests, actually," he corrected, "My buddy, Turf, was a fish out of water on a history exam. I changed all of the tests and the answer key while the instructor had his back turned."

"What about the destruction of… most of the Beacon Library…?"

"Fought a werewolf. Her name is Yamuna. She's like a Faunus Sepia, but can speak. She also has a bigger appetite. We made the repairs, but Arty sat on his butt and redrew the illustrations. Long story."

"How about the other ninety-seven disciplinary notes for other fights…"

Roland was silent for a few moments, "I was… still torn up over Mom," he looked down. It didn't hurt nearly as much to say it after the talk that he had with his team, "I still am, but… my team is helping me through it now. I had to nearly kill another student to get them to force it out of me, which will be the ninety-eighth disciplinary note, but I'm okay."

"What about the student?" Henry asked. If his son really managed to hurt another student badly…

Roland shook his head, "I'm going to talk to her after this. I broke her aura, but she's okay. Just in recovery."

They all sat in silence for a while. No one knew what to say.

Finally, someone spoke, "What did you need me here for?" Dante asked.

Not wanting to anger his already impatient sister, Roland began, "I'm going to send a binder full of notes. They're… to my mother. Would you make a visit to her grave for me, please?" he twiddled his thumbs, "And read them to her. I trust you enough to do that. She always liked you more than Ahab or Shirley. You can leave the notes at her shrine. It would mean the world to me if you did that."

Dante was taken back. She didn't expect something so… emotional from Roland. After Chiara's death, he totally shut down. To see that he could talk about it meant that he was getting better. This made her smile, but barely enough to be visible, "I will do so when Mother is not around. I will be sure to bring some of the foods that you said that she enjoyed. I'm sure that she would see it as a kind gesture to have some clams while she listens to what you have to say."

"Yeah, she would love that during the four hours that you're going to be reading. Thanks, Dante," Roland smiled, "Anyway… I hate to cut this short, but I have a classmate to apologize to," he held up a bright red book, "This is my ice breaker. Hope it works."

"Make things right, and keep in touch more if you can. I miss my son," Henry clenched his jaw. He couldn't just bust out crying in the middle of the CCT, "Eat more than clams and macaroni. Make more friends. Keep those grades up!"

"I'll give all that a shot," Roland put a finger over the 'end call' button, "I'm glad that we had the chance to talk. I will keep in touch more. I lo…"

"We love you too, Roland. Don't forget it," Dante allowed herself to relax enough to say that much.

"Right. See you two," he finally ended the call.

"Ms. Crims?" the nurse asked as she came up to the end of the bed, "You have a… visitor…"

Alice held her hands to her sides. The bandages surrounding her body showed how much damage Roland had done to her after her aura broke. Her healing was slow, despite her aura levels returning to normal. She hadn't had time to test what she had been reading on strengthening aura before Roland had attacked her. She hated the fact that her aura was so weak compared to others. She wouldn't be in the infirmary if it wasn't for that. "Who is it?"

"It's Roland Wells."

Alice felt the color drain from her face and her heart raced. She had to keep her composure, "What does he want?"

"He says that he wants to apologize for what he did," the nurse watched the door carefully, "He made it clear that he has no intentions of harming you."

Alice considered her options carefully, "Fine… let him in. But have Alabasta and any willing Huntsmen in this academy on call in case he tries anythin'…"

"They already are," Roland's voice came from behind the door. He opened the door and gingerly stepped through, "How are you feeling?" he asked. His eyes followed the nurse as she left the room and closed the door behind her, "That's a bad question, sorry… I mean, are you feeling any better at all?"

"What do you care?" she turned away from him, avoiding any and all eye contact, "You're the one who put me in 'ere. You think I wasn't in 'ere long enough afta Yamuna attacked me?"

"May I take a seat?" he asked, avoiding the question. He motioned towards the chair beside her bed, "I… well… sorry, I'm awkward about this. I got that bit from my father. Saying that you're sorry is a little nerve wracking, you know?"

Alice stayed silent. "How do you think it felt, Roland?" She rubbed her arms nervously, "I was beginnin' to rethink things. The way I thought… the way I act towards people… then Navy brought up one thing I said before all that when I was angry…" she knew how the rest of the sentence would go. "I'm… I'm actively tryin' to work against my prejudices, but with people like you an' Yamuna sendin' me to tha infirmary every otha week… I can't help but think that there's somethin' to those prejudices… you know?" She looked up to him with her one unbandaged eye, "I'm scared of you, Roland."

"She was killed, Alice," Roland slowly sat down. For the fourth time in the same day, he was going to talk about what happened. No, not what happened. He wanted to tell her who CiCi Oscura was, "My mother, that is. That's why I lost it, and I am sorry for that. I truly am, and I understand why you're scared. I just… that's a fresh wound. I lost her about six months ago, and I haven't been able to cope. Navy said that you spoke about her like that, and I just saw red."

Alice covered her mouth in shock. "R-Roland… I… I never..." her words faltered as tears fell down her cheeks, a sight Roland thought he'd never see. She thought of how she would have felt if her mother had passed, and someone spoke about her like she had to him. It would have torn her apart, "I had no idea… I… I can't believe… I'm… I'm really… I'm really awful…"

"No, you aren't," those were words that he never thought that he would say to Alice, "I'm the one that attacked you. I put you here. I let my anger get the best of me, and you were just trying to break up the fight. I'm sorry that I hurt you, Alice. You didn't deserve it," more words that he thought that he would never say.

No matter how much Roland sincerely tried to make her feel better, Alice still felt a painful tugging sensation in her chest. The tears slowed to a stop. There was no need for all of the hate between them. It would just lead to more incidents like this one, "I don't want ta live with this much hate..."

Maybe they didn't have to. Roland held up the book that he brought. The red of the cover was identical to Alice's own color, and read 'Wonderland' on the front, "I brought this to tell you that I don't want to go on hating each other anymore. This book made me think of you, so I thought I'd bring it by to say that… I want to start again."

Alice held the book in her hands gingerly as she flipped through the pages, "Roland… you didn't 'ave ta-"

"Mom always said to pass books on when you're done with them, but I'm a bit of a hoarder…" Roland scratched the back of his head, "Do you read, or…?"

"I do. I do. I just… haven't read for fun in a while. Thank you, Roland…" I guess I was right about not all Faunus being bad… "Listen, it's very kind of you ta be so… apologetic. It's something that I never thought I would see in you. I'm just not sure if it's as simple as startin' again... I mean, you did beat me to a pulp, but I did… say some truly awful things. We can call that much even for now."

"Or we could blame it all on Navy. Let's be honest here, I tried being civil," Roland suggested. Jokes aside, he still had things that he wanted to tell her, "We're both really hateful people, Alice, but hate poisons the heart, as Mom always said. Be it towards yourself or others," he couldn't help but grin as he remembered her scolding him. Sure, he felt bad, but that was when he knew that his mother truly cared.

"Hate is a terrible thing, huh…?" Alice stared at the book. After so long of forcing herself to hating them, it was the Faunus around her that were changing her worldview, "But it's so hard to get rid of, isn't it? It likes to linger…"

"But I think that we only really hate other people when we hate who we are," Roland slowly removed his hat and set it in his lap, "That's been the case for me for a while now."

Alice felt a bit uncomfortable talking about something like this with someone she normally considered a mortal enemy, but she had been thinking the same thing to herself for a while, "I've always been… sheltered. Now that I'm actually experiencin' otha people and things, I feel like the viewpoints I've been raised with aren't exactly… correct," she sighed, "So the big question for me is, do I fight ta change the way I am an' go through the pain of actually changin', or do I just stay the way I've always been an'… be hated by everyone?..." she shook her head, "I guess you can say I hate tha fact that I'm so… indecisive."

"I don't hate you, so I guess you already made that decision," he thought about what happened earlier in the day, how she tried to stop the fight, "But you're scared to admit it, aren't you?"

She couldn't respond. Deep down, she didn't know if she could let go of what she'd been taught and told all her life. "I don't know, Roland," she nodded to him, "What about you, then?"

"I could say a lot, yeah?" he looked down at the tiled floor, "I guess it's that I let her down. She was a Huntress turned instructor. Everyone she came across… they admired her. I had to live up to that, and I nearly did. When she… left, I was left with a hole. I kept trying to fill it with hate. Maybe then I could go out and kill whoever killed her, and I honestly do want to do that. I know that those feelings would disappoint her, though. The last thing that she said to me was to be a Huntsman for myself just as much as others, but I'm failing that miserably. I suppose that I hate myself because I feel as though I am letting her down," he looked back up at Alice, "but it also gets less painful as I talk about it. Yeah, I still have someone on my hit list, but I'm learning that I can rely on my team and my classmates. It's cheesy, but friends really make a world of difference when it comes to that brand of pain that doesn't just pass on its own."

Alice looked down to the red book on her lap, "I…" she looked back up at him, "Can we work togetha on this, then? It's clear that I can't do this on my own, an' you understan' what havin' so much hate feels like, an'…"

"I think that'd be best for both of us," Roland put his hat back on when he heard the nurse walking back up to the door, "Things like these are too much to deal with alone."

The nurse slowly opened the door, "Roland, Alice needs some rest. You should be on your way."

"Right…" Roland stood from his seat, "I'll come check on you again tomorrow morning if that's okay. Alabaster only wanted me to come by now, but…" he tried to hide his smile, "I have to keep tabs on my friends when they're recovering. I'll even bring a bran muffin or some cla… sorry, biscuits or something. If you would like, that is."

Alice couldn't help but sit there with her mouth agape. Less than a few months ago, she'd rather eat dirt than eat anything given to her by Roland. "Yeah… that'd be nice, Roland." As Roland went to leave, she stopped him, "Oh, an' Roland. The next time you want ta beat the eva-livin' crud out of me, just make sure it's in the Vytal Coliseum if Teams ANTE and ARTS miraculously happen ta get in the tournament and be matched up, okay?"

"After I beat the living crud out of Navy first. I choose my battles," he stepped out of the door, "and I always save the best ones for last."