As Reed slowly returned to consciousness he was relieved to find that the pounding in his head had subsided somewhat. His head felt like it was full of fluffy white clouds, light and lacking any real substance. He laid there for a long while, until the realization that he was lying down seeped into his mind.

With that one realization came a series of questions. Where was he lying down? Why was he lying down? Surely he had something better to be doing. He could be practicing with Halmvoulge at Phaedra's forge, or sparring with his teacher. Even hanging out with Seraphina would be better than lazing around, they would be going out on road patrols after all-

Reed sat bolt upright, wincing as pain and memories filled his head in equal measure. The hulking forms of Beowolfs flashed in his mind, their razor claws seeking to tear into his flesh, the flesh that was the only thing stopping them from descending on Seraphina…

Seraphina.

Reed turned his head frantically from side to side, ignoring the protests of his stiff neck and shoulders. He was in what looked like an infirmary, two rows of neatly made beds shining blindingly white in the light of the setting sun, visible out a large window at the end of the room.

Tanners, Tamus, and Phaedra sat on his right, all of them looking startled at his sudden movement. When he glanced to his left, Reed relaxed. Seraphina laid in the bed next to him, still except for the slow rise and fall of her chest.

"By the damned Maidens, Reed!" Phaedra's outcry was punctuated by a solid punch to his shoulder, causing him to wince. "What the fuck is wrong with you! Sitting up from a dead sleep like that, you scared us half way to Mimar! To think we were getting ready to call a nurse to check on you, and all the while you were getting ready to just pop up like a toddler from a nap."

"Sorry Phaedra," Reed grinned, before a wave of exhaustion struck him. His vision blurred, and he eased himself back onto the pile of pillows behind him.

"Take it easy, recruit," Tanners said in a concerned voice. "Phaedra has told us about your semblance, and I can extrapolate what happened from there. I'm betting you've never strained it that far, you need time to rest and recover."

Reed grunted in agreement, allowing his body to sink lower into the bed. "What about the others?" he asked, as he remembered the sight of Katelyn lying on the ground covered in her own blood. "Is Katelyn dead?"

Tanners dropped his gaze for a moment before looking back at Reed. "Yes, she is."

Reed felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't been fond of the dirty woman, but he had been less than five paces from her when she had gone down. He should have been able to do something.

"That's enough of that, Reed," Tanners said sharply, and Reed looked up in surprise. The young sergeant's eyes were hard and his mouth was set in a determined grimace.

"I recognize that look in your eyes. There's nothing you could have done for her. She panicked and forgot her training. We are lucky you are more capable than her, otherwise others may have died when your line fell. You did well."

Reed let out a long sigh and nodded, pushing the guilt away. He couldn't get rid of it that easily, but he resolved to learn from it and not let it wear him down. Reed looked past Tanners, and for the first time noticed that Tamus was refusing to look at him. He had his head turned away and his eyes downcast. Occasionally he would glance at Seraphina's cot, but whenever he did he would flinch and look away.

"Corporal?" Reed asked tentatively. "Is something wrong?"

"This is all my fault," Tamus said. His voice was ragged and his head was still bowed. "If I hadn't gone after that Beowolf and waited for it to come to me I could have helped you sooner. Poor Katelyn was a lost cause, but my carelessness almost cost the Town Guard its two most capable recruits."

Tanners sighed. "Henry, we talked about this. A battlefield is full of unknowns, who would have thought that one patrol would meet four Beowolfs and a small horde of Creepers? These numbers are unheard of in recent years, you did what you thought was best by engaging a stronger enemy."

"Yeah, not your fault it almost killed a couple of green recruits," Phaedra said in a mocking tone. Tamus groaned and dropped his head into his hands. Reed chuckled softly, amused despite himself at how easily Phaedra could torment a man three times her size.

"Take it easy, Phaedra," Reed told her, a ghost of a smile still on his lips. "Tamus is a good man, and I hope to fight with him again in the future. Just, you know, maybe next to him next time."

Tamus uncovered his face, and Reed saw that a small smile had broken through his chagrin. Turning his head to look at the prone form next to him, Reed asked the group, "How is she doing? Has she woken up yet?"

"Not yet," Tanners said, voice calm. "That was an amazing display she put on, but it drained her aura in an instant and strained her body to its limit. The physician said she should wake sometime tomorrow, once her Aura has had a chance to recover."

Phaedra smirked and said, "It's gonna be a lot harder for her to hide her heritage now. Once word gets around that she can turn into a giant glowing bear, people will put the pieces together. She already looks like an animal when she fights."

Tamus shot Phaedra a dirty glance and opened his mouth to retort, large flat teeth flashing.

Reed quickly cut him off and said, "She's not trying to hide anymore, Phaedra. I'm sure it will take her a while to fully accept who she is, but she told us her secret of her own volition."

"Only after you beat the hell out of her," Phaedra said.

"Point," Reed acknowledged, "But it's the first step."

The group fell quiet for a time, and Reed's eyes started to droop. He was enjoying the company of the others, but it felt like his eyelids were made of lead. Tanners noticed that Reed was struggling to stay awake and stood, gesturing to the others.

"We should go and let Reed sleep. Take the week off, recruit. If you feel up to it, you can join the rest of the recruits Thursday for drills. Sleep well."

With that, the three of them filed out. Phaedra was the last to leave, pausing in the door and giving Reed a worried look. He smiled tiredly and waved at her, which she returned before closing the door softly behind her. Reed was asleep before the sound of their retreating footsteps faded.

Reed leaned in the entrance to the Town Guard Headquarters, checking the time on the glowing display of his scroll. It was almost five o'clock on the Saturday after his disastrous first road patrol. He was waiting for Phaedra to get off work so they could go to Komodo Curry and plan their expedition for the following day.

Reed had barely seen Seraphina in the last week. When he had woken Tuesday morning she had been lying on her back staring at the ceiling. Other than asking Reed to fill her in on the events following her black-out she had remained quiet, answering his questions with grunts and monosyllabic responses.

He had been dismissed after one final check-up, but Seraphina had been asked to stay in the infirmary for further observation. He hadn't seen her all week. Reed was surprised, therefore, when he looked up and saw Seraphina walking down the hall, headed right for him.

As she drew closer, Reed called out, "Hey Seraphina, glad to see you up and about. How are you feeling?"

"Fine," she said shortly, looking at a spot on the wall next to Reed and scratching the back of her head. "Actually, I was released the day after you. I just… I had some thinking to do, so I took the week off to 'recover at home.'"

She put air quotes around the last part.

"Well," he said, "if you took the week off, what are you doing here? You could have milked a couple more days before coming back on Monday."

"Actually I wanted to talk to you, and I figured you would be meeting Phaedra after she got off work." There was a hard note to her voice when she said the forge apprentice's name, and Reed wondered if there was some sort of tension between the two girls. "The thing is, before the other day, I had no idea what my semblance was."

This surprised Reed. Most people discovered their semblance as children and had an instinctual understanding of how to use it. He had never heard of someone discovering their semblance as an adult.

"As a kid," Seraphina continued, "I passed off my super human reflexes as my semblance. For years I believed that to be the case, until I got the letter describing my parentage. After that I assumed I was a freak, the only person ever to not have a semblance. It would keep me up at night, worrying that the other children at the orphanage would find out and think me weak for it. If there was one thing you didn't want to do in that hell hole, it was show weakness.

"After years and years of inner struggle I had finally accepted my lot in life, content to let people think that I had a supernatural awareness of my surroundings and couldn't be snuck up on. The other day destroyed that."

"I would have thought you would be thrilled," Reed said. "I mean, that was awesome! You saved me from those Creepers, and I'm sure with practice you will be able to maintain it longer and not knock out right after."

Seraphina shook her head slightly. "It wasn't just the unexpected appearance of my semblance. The circumstances that triggered it were something I had never felt before. Standing there on that road, with you just out of reach and about to be mauled by a pack of Creepers. For the first time in my life, I was scared to lose something. For the first time, there was something I desperately wanted to protect."

Seraphina's cheeks took on a red tinge, and Reed looked away in embarrassment. Whatever he had been expecting, it definitely wasn't that.

"But I wasn't strong enough," she said, fists clenching at her side. "I got rid of a couple of weak enemies that wouldn't have done any real damage through your Aura, then passed out just before the much stronger Grimm appeared. Despite how much I wanted to protect you, I ended up being protected instead."

"That's not entirely true." Reed said. "If you hadn't taken out those Creepers, they may have distracted me from the Beowolfs and allowed them to get me from behind. All I had to do was delay them long enough for Tamus and Tanners to get there and finish them off."

"And it nearly killed you!" The intensity of her voice shocked Reed. He glanced at her, and saw that the pink eyes fixed on the wall were angry.

"When I woke up in the infirmary and saw you in the bed next to me, there was a horrible moment when I was sure it was your corpse there. That you had died to protect me. That the one who had shown me that there was more to life than being a petty criminal had died on some back road protecting some stupid girl unable to fend for herself.

"When I finally noticed that you were breathing, I was so relieved. But more than that, I felt resolve. Resolve that I wouldn't let it happen again. Resolve that next time I wouldn't need saving, that next time we would fight side-by-side against the Grimm. That's why I have a request."

Seraphina looked at Reed, and her eyes were hard and unmoving. "I want you to take me with you and teach me how to fight Grimm."

Reed's mind raced as he processed all the information Seraphina had dumped on him. He was uncomfortable at how much she appeared to look up to him. He had still been coming to terms with the fact that she didn't want to kill him anymore, while apparently she had decided that Reed was someone worth risking her life for. He felt guilty that he had been half expecting her to turn around and clock him on their patrol.

"Come on, two fighters are better than one, right?" Seraphina said. Reed's guilt intensified at the pleading note in her voice, realizing that he had taken too long to respond and given the impression that he didn't care for the idea.

"Yeah, of course you can come," Reed said quickly.

The tension drained out of Seraphina, and she let out a relieved sigh. She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, a small smile on her lips.

"Do I have any say in this?"

Phaedra rounded a nearby corner, her voice causing Seraphina to jump. Her light blue hair was out of its usual pony tail, hanging an inch or so above her shoulders. She had traded out her forge uniform for her normal street clothes; black leather pants, sturdy boots, and a blue tank top under a leather jacket with the sleeves rolled up.

"She won't disrupt our usual activities," Reed promised. "Think of it this way, now you have two people to test your experiments."

"Not a bad point," Phaedra said, looking at Seraphina with the look she gave Reed when she was trying to decide what modifications would best suit his fighting style. Seraphina shifted uncomfortably at the scrutiny, but squared her shoulders and withstood Phaedra's searching gaze.

"Fine," Phaedra grunted, "But I refuse to just make you one of those shitty gun-spears. I deal with enough of that bullshit during the day. We can discuss what would suit you at dinner, I'm starving."

The bell above the door jingled as Reed, Phaedra and Seraphina walked into Komodo Curry. The dinner rush was in full swing, Melony frantically darting between tables taking orders as little Kat wove through the aisles with platters of food balanced on her head.

Upon seeing them Melony smiled, attempting to slide a "reserved" card off of their usual booth at the back without Reed noticing. Even though they were packed and had people waiting outside she knew Reed and Phaedra always came by Saturday evenings after work, and had made sure their booth was ready for them.

"Hey you three!" Melony said. Seraphina twitched guiltily. She had been attempting to hide her greater than six-foot frame behind Reed and Phaedra, an amusing if futile prospect. "You're in luck, your usual booth is open. Reed if you would be a dear and just tell Menlo when you know what you want."

Reed smiled and gave her a quick side hug as she slid past, thanking her for saving their spot, to which she insisted it just happened to be free. When he turned around Phaedra was crouched next to Kat, whispering something into the little Faunus girl's ear. Phaedra winked at her, and the three of them made their way to the booth, Phaedra sitting down on one side and pointedly dropping her bag in the seat next to her. Reed rolled his eyes, but slid into the other side with Seraphina. Reed grabbed Seraphina's bag along with his own and shoved them across the table.

"Here, as long as you're being a pig you can at least keep these over there too."

After they had all figured out what they wanted Reed took their order back to Menlo and brought back three frosty glasses of Komodo Tea. Phaedra already had her book of sketches out and was flipping through them. "Alright freeloader, let's get down to brass tacks. What kind of weapon do you feel most comfortable with? And I swear to the Maidens if you say a spear I'm going to gut you, giant glowing bear or no."

"I already said I didn't want a spear!" Seraphina retorted hotly. "And frankly I prefer hand-to-hand, none of this fancy spinning nonsense."

She glanced at Reed quickly and said, "No offense."

"To each their own," Reed shrugged, taking a sip of his tea. It had been a disgustingly hot day, and the cool drink instantly made him feel refreshed and energized. Of course part of that was probably due to the large amount of caffeine in the beverage.

"Well, I can work hand-to-hand into it," Phaedra said, chewing on the end of a pencil, "But I think it would be better to have some sort of blade as well. Punching Grimm works to an extent, but nothing is as effective as a wickedly sharp hunk of metal. When you fought your hero over there didn't you use a pair of knives?"

Phaedra's eyes glinted as Seraphina's cheeks turned a shade of red to match her spiky hair. It was obvious that she loved how easy it was to torment the taller girl. She may be short and petite, but Phaedra had a wicked tongue and loved putting it to use.

"Yeah, standard weapon on the streets," Seraphina said, regaining a measure of her pose. "Although I never used anything as complicated as that pair that you used when fighting my, uh…"

"Cronies?" Phaedra supplied with a helpful tone. "Lackeys? Slime intent on licking your-"

"I think she gets the point, Phaedra," Reed said dryly, cutting her off before Phaedra said something unsuitable for a family establishment. "Why don't we just call them your former friends?"

"That's a decent idea though," Phaedra said, flipping to a page near the front and tapping it thoughtfully. "The gauntlets in the hilt were designed more for protection than offense, but the base is already there for enhanced hand-to-hand combat. In fact, I bet I could modify them over night to something more suited to your… style."

Seraphina tried to get the other girl to elaborate but Phaedra refused, the corners of her lips lifted in a cruel smirk.

"Don't bother, Seraphina," Reed said, "When Phaedra gets like this it's because she wants to surprise you, and nothing you say will make her change her mind. Don't worry though, she's a professional, and whatever she makes will work marvelously. Anyway, if she says she will have it done by tomorrow that's perfect. I wouldn't want you going out into the woods with us without a proper weapon."

It was then that Reed noticed a platter of food winding its way toward them across the crowded restaurant, clawed hands gripped on its lip. Kat stopped in front of their table, her face peeking out from under the platter.

She squeaked, "Delivery, for Reed's harem!"

"Thanks Ka- Wait what did you just say?!"

Phaedra roared with laughter, falling over in her seat as both Reed and Seraphina gawked at the little girl, cheeks aflame. Kat grinned from ear to ear. It was obvious she had no idea what she had just said, but the reaction was enough for the little girl. Reed spluttered for a moment before finding his voice. "Kat you shouldn't use that word, at least until you're older and know what it means. And by the Hermit don't say it to your parents."

"'Kay!" The little girl responded cheerfully, dumping the platter on their table and skipping away.

Reed started handing out the steaming plates of food, glaring at Phaedra. The girl straightened in her seat, pushing her blue bangs out of her face and wiping tears from her eyes.

"Oh that was just precious," she gasped.

"If Melony comes after me for this, I'm ratting you out in a heartbeat. I don't know if you've ever seen a komodo mother angry, but I assure you it's terrifying."

Reed sat on a bench in the middle of the square before the North Gate, stifling a yawn with a hand over his mouth. The morning was cool and wet, dew covering the ground and making everything shine in the growing morning light. Soon the summer sun would scorch that all away, but one advantage of living so close to the ocean was they at least got some reprieve from the heat during the night and early hours of the morning.

The gates were still closed, though it would only be a few minutes before the gears hidden in the wall pushed the massive steel and wood structures agape. Reed wondered what was keeping the other two. Normally Phaedra would have been here before him.

As if on cue the two girls appeared on opposite sides of the square. Phaedra sauntered around the corner of a wide street on the east side of the square, overstuffed bag swaying back and forth with her stride. Seraphina slid from an alley on the west side, glancing back over her shoulder as she entered the square. She wore a tattered white Gi top over loose black pants. The flapping edges of the shirt had been secured with a red cloth belt, the knotted end pushed into the small of her back where the remaining lengths of cloth would be out of her way.

The gates ground open, the echoing sound fading as the two girls stepped in front of Reed's bench. It struck Reed how different the two girls were. Phaedra, short and petite, stood straight backed with a confident smirk playing around her lips. Despite the dark rings under her eyes from a long night spent slaving over the forge, her eyes were alight with excitement at the prospect of a full day of weapons testing. Seraphina on the other hand stood with shoulders slumped, hands shoved in her pockets and shifting her weight from foot to foot. Her eyes darted back and forth, flicking around the square as if she expected an ambush at any moment. Two more different people would be hard to find.

"Come on you lazy excuse for a bodyguard," Phaedra said, impatience obvious in her voice. "Time's a wasting, and I have to give Miss Muscles a lesson on her new weapons before we get to the fun part of the day."

Once they reached the cliff edge and had all unloaded their packs, Phaedra pulled out the fruits of her night's labor. The knives looked similar to before, but the spikes on the knuckles were more pronounced, while the blades were short, straight, and thick, with a sharply angled tip compared to the previous long thin curves. With it Phaedra pulled out two sheathes, which she tossed to Seraphina.

"Put these on, then I will give you an introduction to my latest masterpiece."

Seraphina untied the red cloth at her waist. The flaps of her shirt fell open, revealing a light pink undershirt that clung to her muscular upper body. Once she had tied the belt back in place, Phaedra passed her the knives. When she held them in her hands the edges of the knives glowed a dull red, and Reed realized Phaedra had forgone the multi-dust infusion for a simpler, single fire infusion.

Phaedra went to the woods and grabbed a long branch from the ground. She stuck it in the ground, and said, "Well, give them a shot. Those edges will cut through solid steel, so this should be nothing."

Seraphina quickly reduced the branch to six-inch segments, and looked down at the knives with grudging respect. "These definitely top anything I used in the alleys of Adigiar."

"Press the buttons on the hilt with your thumbs," Phaedra said. Her voice cracked in barely suppressed glee, and when she threw a wink at Reed he got an ominous feeling.

The black metal began to flow over Seraphina's hands, and she watched in wonder as the blade spit into four and wrapped around the underside of her fingers. Then her eyes grew hard as the metal clinking stopped and she stared at her hands.

She spun on Phaedra, and growled, "You have a death wish, you conniving little pixie?!"

Reed groaned. Seraphina's arms ended in two large, metal paws. The pads of the paws glowed red, lines linking them to the wickedly sharp red claws on the end of her fingers. Phaedra grinned at Seraphina innocently.

"What, you don't like them?"

"You think you are so funny don't you?" Seraphina stalked toward Phaedra, rage building in her voice. "Making my shame into a weapon I'm expected to use to fight for my life? Don't you realize how hard this is for me, coming to terms with this part of me? No, of course you don't. Growing up in a loving family, I'm sure you were praised for every bit of wind that passed out of your tight-"

Reed stepped between the two girls, putting a restraining hand on Seraphina's shoulder. "Easy, Seraphina. I agree this is inappropriate," he shot an annoyed look at Phaedra, who put her hands behind her head and looked away, whistling tunelessly. "But Phaedra's work is top-class, and she wouldn't have sacrificed an inch of quality for a stupid joke. She has a knack for studying people's fighting style and building a weapon to match. I'm sure she was thrilled when she figured out that this was the most appropriate weapon for you, but I have to say, given your fighting style it certainly has its merits. Plus, it will give you practice with the fighting style you will have to employ when your semblance is active."

"But-!" Seraphina said indignantly, but Reed cut her off.

"And you need to stop thinking of your Faunus heritage as something to be ashamed off. Own it, Sera," her eyes flashed to Reed's own, startled.

"It's part of you. Just like we are now part of you. Even her," Reed jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "She's a pain in the ass to work with, but deep down she's a good person who cares about those she works with, creating weapons that won't fail them in the heat of battle."

"For the record," Phaedra piped up, "I care more for the weapons than either of you two. The better they are the more likely they are to make their way back to me." Reed raised a stern eyebrow at her, and she dropped her gaze. "Well, at least more than her."

Reed stepped out from between them, and Seraphina dropped her arms to her side, the metal sliding back into the twin knives.

Seraphina said, "For the record, Pixie, I'm still pissed about this."

"For the record, Miss Muscles, I don't care."

"Beautiful reconciliation, you two," Reed said dryly. "Well, I guess as long as you're not trying to kill each other it will do. Seraphina, let's go give those a try. I will support you at first, make sure you don't get flanked while you get used to them."

Reed started for the woods, Phaedra falling in beside him. He stopped however when he noticed Seraphina wasn't following them. "Seraphina? What's wrong?"

"Could you…" She scuffed the ground with her feet, eyes downcast and a reddish tinge to her cheeks. "Could you call me Sera? I've never had anyone give me a nickname before…"

"Reed's got a girlfriend," Phaedra said in a sing-song voice.

Seraphina looked startled at that, glancing between the two of them. "Wait, aren't you two…?"

"By the Hermit no!" Reed said as Phaedra snorted explosively. "I'm afraid you are actually more her type, better watch yourself."

Seraphina gawked at Phaedra, who threw her a broad wink and made a big show of looking her up and down. The blush returned to her cheeks, and Reed laughed as he turned back to the woods. "Come on, Sera. Let's go find some Grimm to kill."

Walking through the woods with Sera and Phaedra, Reed got a glimpse of what he had missed by isolating himself in high school. The banter between the two girls had lost its hateful tone, and Reed had fun strolling down the forest path exchanging light-hearted jabs and discussing the best methods for taking on different Creatures of Grimm.

Then again, he doubted many of the people he knew in high school would have walked through a deadly forest with him looking for trouble.

When a pack of Creepers crashed onto the path, the three exchanged excited grins. Phaedra fell back to watch their rear, while Reed and Sera squared off against the four Grimm. Three juveniles surrounded a full grown adult, the smaller ones dwarfed by their greater than five-foot tall companion. As was the habit of Grimm, the alpha of the group held back, allowing its companions to make the initial push.

Reed nodded to the tall girl next to him. "You got this, Sera. Go for it."

A wild light entered Sera's eyes as she threw her arms to the side, hands disappearing under waves of black metal. When the three Grimm were less than ten feet away they jumped through the air along the path.

In the blink of an eye Sera was standing in front of the right-most Creeper in a low crouch. Her left paw flashed through the air, leaving flaming gaps in the mask of the monster. Before the body had even hit the ground she turned and slammed the claws of her right paw through the body of the middle Grimm. As the howls of the two dying monsters faded, the left Creeper thrashed its tail, twisting in the air to reorient on Sera. It jumped, but she was ready for it, left paw catching it under the chin and obliterating its head into wisps of mist.

The mature Creeper roared from its position down the path and charged Sera. She met its charge, and as it swiped its clawed hand at Sera she met it with one of her own. The two exchanged a rapid series of blows, before the thing whipped its thick tail at her. Sera caught the blow on her crossed paws, but the force of the blow sent her skidding back, past Reed.

Deciding it was time to step in, Reed stepped past Sera, activating his semblance and the two switches on his staff. He let the staff spin around his right hand, creating a deadly disk to his side. The large Grimm slashed at him with its left paw, but Reed directed the blow past him with his left hand. With the creature off balance and its side exposed, Reed brought the spinning halberd in, cutting through arm and shoulder before sheering the creature's head from its body. Reed tossed the spinning weapon in the air, allowing the kill switch to deactivate the wind before catching it in his left hand and retracting the ax head.

"Alright," Sera said, looking at her hands. "I admit it. These things kick ass."