Roses & Thorns – Volume 1 – Chapter 9

-Converging Rose-

"Again." Weiss grit her teeth as droplets of sweat stung an open cut on her cheek, the salty liquid sliding past the wound and taking on a red tinge before dripping to the ground below. Surrounding the scrape was the yellowing skin of a bruise that she was keenly aware of, its formation caused by the strike of a closed fist only a few minutes ago. Despite the exhaustion that clung to her limbs, she raised Myrtenaster with her lips set in a determined line, giving a nod to signal her readiness.

A keening whine announced the incoming blow, one that she deflected by letting it slide down the length of the rapier she held. The attack was a diversion that was all too predictable now, as her opponent had attempted the maneuver several times before. It had taken getting hit for Weiss to realize that the punch was not a sincere effort to harm her, but way to measure her reflexes and gain an understanding of how to continue the fight. She swiped at the offending wrist, knocking the blow away and earning an impressed grunt from the girl she was fighting.

Continually she had underestimated the other, through nearly all interactions between them. Claire Briar had been a vicious and unyielding fighter when they had first met, but had also displayed an aptitude for having a tactical mind, keeping advantages hidden until the perfect time. The first time they had trained, it was a test of her stamina, and Weiss had mistaken the frenzied pace of that battle for a race to victory. This time, it was thinking that a repeated strike would open a door into the realm of the wolf-girl's fighting style, but that portal remained firmly closed upon the revelation that the expected punch was only another test.

Claire's style was unique, and incredibly fluid. Where Weiss depended on form and practiced strikes, the Faunus was a creature of guided instinct. There was no style to study because the brunette acted in each individual moment in relevance to the situation at hand. It had infuriated her to discover this, but beneath that anger had lay a pool of admiration, perhaps even a bit of envy if she was allowed to be honest with herself.

The point of a rapier drove the curved edge of a saber towards the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust that joined the veil already settling over the field they trained in. Immediately, the steel of her opponent's sword retracted and then shot forward at waist height. Diving toward the attack, Weiss somersaulted over the blade in a graceful dodge, a sense of satisfaction filling her at being able to perform the maneuver in such a tired state.

That feeling disappeared quickly as a boot caught the edge of her ribs, sending her tumbling onto the ground with a sharp gasp of pain. It had been Claire's idea to train without the use of aura, and Weiss had agreed, trusting that the skilled fighter would be able to pull her strikes and not cause a sense of real harm. That didn't mean that it didn't hurt, however, as she pushed a palm against the rough dirt in an attempt to stand after having the breath knocked from her lungs.

Before she could refuse the help, a hand gripped the underside of her shoulder and hauled her up to a standing position, the other girl's hand moving to dust the streaks of dirt from the back of her white shirt. Glaring up at the Faunus, Weiss pushed the wolf-girl away with an apprehensive shove, earning a frustrated expression from her taller opponent. Raising the tip of her weapon once again, she grit her teeth and spoke through the pain that was lancing through her chest as her lungs filled themselves back up with air. "Again."

"Give yourself a second, Schnee." Claire's gaze slid down the form of the smaller girl, scanning for any other injuries that were apparent aside from the cut on her opponent's cheek, and the gash evident through the fabric covering the left shoulder. It wasn't hard to admit that she might have gone a bit too far with this training session, but sympathy was short for the heiress that kept demanding they continue. "We've still got a few minutes before I have to meet Ozpin."

Her suggestion was taken with the usual sneer, but it seemed much less arrogant than it normally did from the way the heiress was standing, and the unusual clothes she was wearing. Supporting herself with the tip of the rapier, the girl was adorned in much simpler attire then the regular white dress. A t-shirt and a gray pair of pants, complete with black sneakers that left her a couple of inches shorter than was normal.

Claire had commented that it was strange to see the heiress in such relaxed clothing, but in the back of her mind a thought had taunted that it certainly flattered the slim figure of the girl in a much better way than the dress that was usually worn. Shaking her head to clear such observations from her mind, she studied the way Weiss struggled to straighten from the bent position, the form that the shorter girl assumed flawed in glaring ways. "Nevermind. Let's call it here."

"Excuse me?" Biting the words at the other girl, Weiss let her own frustration with the failings of her body unleash upon the fighter who was training her. The last three days had been filled with constant sparring between classes or during any other such downtime, but her stamina had improved little. Compounded on top of the other problems affecting her life at present, it had worn her patience down to a hair trigger. "You said we had a few minutes."

"Well, I'm tired. And you're tired." Sheathing the saber in its place at the leather belt, Claire turned away from her, and the Faunus moved to collect the tan jacket that had been discarded before their training had even begun. Weiss followed, stamping her feet with each step as she approached the taller girl, finding her staring up into two narrowed orbs of brown. In close proximity, the flecks of blood red became apparent, an effect that she had become quite acquainted with during the last three days. "If you keep pushing like this, something is going to break."

It wasn't clear if the wolfish girl meant pushing the limits of her own endurance, or the constraints of the Faunus' temper. The latter caused a flash of worry to cross her thoughts, having been on the receiving end of Claire's rage once before, but she chose not to be dissuaded from her course. "I can take it, and I won't improve if we don't keep up the pace."

"And you won't improve if a block is so sloppy that I accidentally take an arm off, either." The rising volume of Claire's voice vanished immediately when she took a step back, looking down at the heiress with a new frame of mind. She consciously tried to soften her expression, but the result was a twitching that set into her wolf ears, one of nervous agitation. "Look, Weiss.. I know that what's been happening with your team is.. What I mean to say-" Growling to interrupt her own fumbling words, she shook her head. "You keep running, and it won't deal with itself. Do you get what I'm saying?"

It was a strange new path that she took with this argument, one of concern for the heiress' well-being. While the girl was set on a path to great improvement in the realm of combat, it was worrying to see the self destructive manner that was being employed in their sparring. There was no sense of self-preservation. The Schnee girl was determined to be better, or get injured in the effort. It was not what Claire's aim had been when entering into this strange agreement, and though now may not have been the best time to bring it up, she decided it was time.

"Why do you act like you care?" That reaction caught her off guard, causing an eyebrow to raise as the smaller girl shoved the thin rapier into a belt. The heiress folded slender arms and assumed a glare that was at least double the intensity of the previous version, a brief warning for Claire of the coming storm. "Do you think that because we do this, suddenly you're my friend? That you understand me?" It surprised her to find that the words cut rather close to her heart, feeling as if she might have earned a bit of respect, given that she was the only one willing to put up with the unbalanced Schnee the last couple of days. "We aren't friends, we're just training partners. And now you aren't even willing to do that, so what good are you?"

Weiss had almost faltered upon seeing the brief flash of hurt cross over the Faunus' features, but anger had egged her onward, desperate to release her frustration. For a moment, the fear that she had gone too far touched upon her thoughts, but was summarily dismissed as a heavy shoulder slammed into her side. It wasn't a hit that carried the intention of harm, instead it was more for the function of getting her out of the way than hurting her. "Fuck you, Schnee."

There was a shocking lack of anger behind the words, but the voice kept a firm tone that showed no signs of breaking. That lack of emotional response only confirmed what Weiss believed she already knew, that the wolf-girl did not truly consider their relationship deeper than a few spars worth of time. Scoffing as she turned to follow the trail back to the main building of the Academy, she put on a convincing front to those she past that all was right in the world. But below that, even she couldn't hide the turmoil from her own mind, and her thoughts offered no respite from the hatred she now felt.

Yang stared at the plastic tray upon the table as she bit into the apple once again, her teeth scraping a fair bit of flesh from the core and filling her mouth with the refreshing taste of the freshly picked fruit. Normally, such a bite would have been accompanied with a hum of satisfaction, but not these last few days. In total, it had been three days since her partner had revealed that not only was the girl a Faunus, but also a member of the organization known as the White Fang. To make matters worse, her little sister had chased after Blake without a glance back.

Weight on her shoulders pressed her chest down as she felt a folded pair of arms lay upon her back, complete with a chin that touched the back of her neck. "Hey there, cutie. Missed you in class the last couple of days. Really know how to make a girl feel unwanted." The light voice caused the muscles throughout her chest to tighten in a sudden fit of nervousness, knowing that a whole slew of unresolved issues awaited her on this front as well. When she was not forthcoming with a response, the smaller form of the other girl slid off to the side and settled on the bench next to her, facing the opposite direction. Indigo eyes studied her with a look of concern, and a frown marred the Faunus' beautiful features. "Thought about coming by and seeing if I could help.. But Amber said it was best to stay clear until you were ready. She might be a bit strange, but she has a grasp on these things."

Yang was intensely aware that she had not spoken a single word to the fox-girl since they had shared a rather intense set of kisses in the other Team's dorm, but it brought a sense of relief to know that Iris was not taking her absence as a personal offense. "Yeah, I.." Trailing off, she wasn't quite certain how to explain what was going on within her. In truth, she didn't know much about it herself. Settling on what she did know and could find the words for, she stumbled awkwardly into the next subject. "Ruby still hasn't answered any of my calls. Just a text each morning, letting me know she's okay and not to worry."

Slender fingers ducked beneath the locks of her golden hair and brushed them over the ridge of an ear, the gentle touch causing a small amount of heat to rise beneath the skin of her cheeks. When she finally summoned the courage to glance over at the other girl, she found a weak smile waiting for her. "At least she's okay, right? I'm sure she'll be back once she can figure out what to do about Blake."

Appreciating the small comfort that the words brought, Yang leaned into the hand that softly stroked her cheek, eventually abandoning her aloofness completely in an effort to lay her head on the shoulder of the other girl. "I still worry." Her advance was readily accepted, and she found herself pulled into a semi-hug that could have been more comfortable if they weren't sitting in such a strange position.

Nevertheless, Iris embraced the blonde with a small smile, happy to be of help for the girl in any way she could. "Tell you what. I'll help you look for her, today." There was a shuffling as Yang considered her words, but no confirmation, prompting her to continue. "Maybe I'll rope the rest of the team in as well. Oh! I could use my semblance to get Weiss to go, because there's no way she doesn't want to find them, right? I mean, if not Blake, then at least Ruby. I know she's a Schnee but-" Silenced by a finger touching upon her lips, she let her eyes slide slowly over to the tiny grin that had appeared on the brawler's face.

That alone made her rambling effort worth it, but when Yang leaned over to press a gentle kiss to her cheek, she couldn't help but grin like a moron. "Maybe we should, three days is too long, right?" There was still a trace of uncertainty in the blonde's tone, enough that Iris realized the other girl was truly searching for a sign of validation for the course. Sliding off the bench and straightening with a confident expression set into her features, she offered a hand to the taller girl.

"Come on, let's go find our wayward classmates." Yang stared at the open palm that was offered to her, then slid her gaze up the pale skin of the bare arm until it reached the black sleeve of the girl's overshirt. Glancing up to the pools of violet hue that awaited her, the corner of her own eyes caught the movement of a tail that began swaying once their gazes locked. It was strange, for her heart to flutter with such a light feeling the midst of the drama that had shattered her team and friends apart, but the sense of gratitude she felt to the Faunus for being able to make her feel that way was no small thing.

Taking the offered hand and allowing herself to be lifted from the seat she had occupied, Yang made an immediate effort to entwine their fingers together as she was led toward the exit. Every so often, the fox-girl would turn a half step back and glance at her, a tiny smile evident at the corners of the pale pink lips. Given all else that was going on, she didn't suppose it was so strange to feel this close to Iris, despite their relatively new friendship.

That thought caused Yang to cock her head to the side with an amused chuckle, a stray thought asking just what she should be calling her relation to the other girl at this point. For now, friendship was needed, and anything further was appreciated. Perhaps that was enough.

"Ms. Briar, you seem.. Agitated today." Ozpin watched as the girl tossed him an angry glance from across the desk, her eyes alight with a fire that had been absent in their previous sessions. If he had to guess, it was something more akin to a wounded expression than one of irritation. That thought led him to rise from his seat and cross over to where a table sat on the side of the room. Taking a spare mug from a row of identical cups, he leaned his cane against the side of the table. "Perhaps we should talk about what is was that put you into such a state?"

Pouring from a fresh pot, he filled the mug in his hand nearly to the brim with coffee before turning back to face the young Faunus. "You take it black, if I could hazard a guess?" A nod confirmed his suspicions, and he took up the metal rod that allowed him increased mobility, moving over to the desk at a leisurely pace. He set the mug on the surface in front of the girl's folded arms, finding some small measure of amusement in the way the brown eyes widened and glanced curiously between him and the cup, as if such an offering may come with strings. Taking his seat once again, Ozpin leveled his gaze on his upset pupil, bringing his unanswered question back into focus. "Whenever you're ready."

A hesitant hand slipped through the grip of the mug, clasping the surface of the cup without even a flinch at the heat that was sure to be permeating from the liquid at this point. Unaware of the way that he was studying her, Claire brought the edge of the container to her lips, sipping at the coffee experimentally before taking in a larger drink. Warm, but carrying a bitterness that bit at her sense of taste, she shook her head after gulping it down. "It's only the usual, Professor."

Setting down the mug and withdrawing her hand from its grip, it was only then that she noticed the dull ache that had settled into the pad of her fingers, a light burning sensation from the heat of the cup. Flexing the digits of that hand with a raised eyebrow, she turned her gaze past it to the man sitting across the table. Ozpin was looking over his glasses at her, his thin eyes hiding the constant calculations behind a mask of practiced calm. "Would I be right to assume that your current conflict with Ms. Schnee has to do with the fact two members of Team RWBY have not attended any of their classes for the last three days?"

A light chuckle escaped Claire's lips, knowing full well that the Headmaster was probably well aware of what had happened. Her own team knew because of the screaming match that had accompanied the revelation, but Professor Ozpin seemed like the man that knew everything happening under the roof of his Academy. Whether or not that was true didn't matter. He gave the impression, she and the rest of the students bought it, and he knew about the fight. "You would. She isn't dealing with it, and when I called her on it, she got angry." Giving a long sigh, she took another sip of the coffee before continuing. "So then I got angry, and I did what you told me to do, I left before it got to be too much."

"Hmm." He revealed nothing in that small noise, merely tilting his head to her as he spoke. "Well done. Showing progress this early is surely a sign that you are dedicated to learning what I have to teach you." Clearing his throat, the Professor leaned back in the wooden chair, watching her through his dark spectacles. "As for Ms. Schnee, you must keep in mind that the revelation of Ms. Belladonna's heritage came as quite a shock. In her mind, the fact she missed that her own teammate was a Faunus, how wrong could she be about the race as a whole?"

"Given the rather.. Volatile nature of the argument that brought about that revelation, I believe Ms. Schnee is now experiencing a crisis of self. A mirror was held up, and what she saw looking back was not something she could be proud of." Folded hands separated for a moment to complete a gesture towards Claire, as she narrowed her eyes at the Huntsman. "What she needs from you is patience, and understanding. Her very view of the world was recently threatened, and so I suggest you do your best to help her along, even if she lashes out at you."

"You want me to..?" Trailing off with a fuming huff of agitation, she shook her head and looked away. Her own defiance could only hold for a few moments under the Headmaster's intense gaze, bringing another wearied sigh and a glance back. "I could work on being more patient with her. But she might need a good smack to the head to come around.." Grumbling the last part, she didn't miss the mirth that crossed the man's face before he clapped his hands together.

"Excellent! Now, instead of continuing our conversation from yesterday, I wish to ask you a question about the recent trip to Forever Fall." The ears atop her head perked up at the mention of the forest, twitching and turning towards him, betraying her interest when her facial expression would not. "Your substitute teacher, Slate, tells me that the performance of both teams was more than admirable in the face of overwhelming odds."

Giving a light shrug of her shoulders, Claire cocked her head to the side, her mind racing through what the Professor's aim could be with this line of thought. "To be fair, it was a bunch of juveniles.. If we had gone up against adult beowulves, or alphas.." She let the topic rest at that, shaking her head at the very thought of how lucky they had been.

"Of course. Nevertheless, it was impressive to bring down a much larger Grimm." With the reference to the Death Stalker, it became clear to her that Ozpin was leading to a question concerning the conflict down in the canyon. "However, when I watched the various recordings of the fighting, I noticed something rather odd about your interactions with Ms. Rose."

Ozpin noted the way that the Faunus froze at the mention of the scythe-wielding leader of Team RWBY, the wolf-girl's body language remaining the same except for a slight stiffness that came over it. Most would have missed that, but not him, not when he was looking for it. He remained quiet for some time, letting his student ponder the implications of what he was about to ask before it came. Eventually, he relented in the quiet torture, speaking up and drawing the nervous gaze of his companion in this conversation. "You seemed to place yourself in harms way when it came to protecting her, to the point where she herself expressed no small amount of shock at your recklessness." There was a slight narrowing to the dark brown eyes, to which he donned a smile. "Yes, I spoke to her the night you returned from the forest. I asked that she inquire to the reason why you acted in such a manner, as I was afraid that you would not share the truth with me. Alas, she is tending to her own team's problems, and here we are. Forgive me, but my curiosity must be sated.. Did you know Ms. Rose before attending my school?"

Claire was concentrating on not fidgeting within her seat when the question reached her ears, causing her to sit unnaturally straight and stare out the window that sat behind the inquisitive Professor. After a long string of silence, she flicked her gaze to the man for a single second before glancing away once again. "Does this.. Matter?"

"Does it not?" The question was spoken with a pondering, almost teasing tone, enough to cause her to shift nervously and dread what was coming next. "Perhaps you met her before your time at Beacon, in the time you spent in the slums, and she was kind to you."

It was a suggestion that was so far from the truth, and yet not so far that it could be discounted. For a moment, Claire considered simply answering that yes, it had been that. But something told her that Ozpin had already put two and two together, and that no lie would allow her to escape answering his query. "I was.. I was just looking out for her, Professor. She's young and inex-" The words came out with a near-pleading sound to her voice, and she finally locked gazes with the man, not wanting to pursue this any further.

"Ruby Rose is one of the most talented students ever to be admitted into my school, so I know that you are not about to imply that your caution was due to her inexperience. Young as she might be, she is far from helpless." The man pursed his lips together, a stern look dominating the brown eyes that arrested her own view. Fear filled every vein, spurred on by the realization that the truth would be pulled from her one way or another. "Perhaps you met a different Rose?"

There it was. Confirmation that he knew exactly what she was hiding the moment he had asked this of her. She couldn't suppress the instantaneous amount of anger that sprung up in the wake of his final, damning question. "You already know the answer!" In a moment, she was on her feet, a fist smashed into the wood of the Headmaster's desk so hard that it jostled the mug he had given her. A small pool of coffee now lay nearby her hand, but even the shuddering breath she took as she realized her own rage did not calm her. "Why do you keep prodding?!"

As always, he met her anger with a infuriating patience, all clasped hands and studious gazes. "Because some truths are not absolute. Each perspective holds a different version of events, many of them conflicting, and all of them correct." The rather cryptic statement did back her down a level, causing Claire's eyes to widen as she leaned away from the table. The man across from her noticed, and took the chance to explain. "I have read the reports of what happened, and though I suspected that you were connected, it took your excursion to Forever Fall to confirm it. Qrow.. Never told me."

She couldn't stop the drain of strength in her limbs as she slumped back into the chair, all thoughts anger, or of a fresh start from her past fading away in an instant. "He promised he wouldn't." A weak mumbling of the words was all that she could manage.

Ozpin observed the way the young Faunus seemed to be utterly defeated by the notion that he had deciphered a slim portion of her past, and knew that he had to take a much more careful route now. "Tell me.. Why conceal this from me? I must admit, your issues with rage were very much a mystery until I put the pieces of this puzzle together." Leaning forward, he folded his arms upon the edge of the desk. "It is the very key to dealing with those issues that we were searching for, and I suspect that you knew this all along."

"No one likes to talk about their scars, Professor.." The simple explanation was all that she could offer, refusing to look away from the spilled coffee upon the surface of the table in front of her. It quickly sunk in that Ozpin's continued silence meant that he would not be accepting such a short answer, and so she dug into the recesses of her mind in order to pull something more satisfactory to the surface. "All I have are my memories, and my anger. If I talk it all through, if I fix everything.. I might lose that. I know I shouldn't embrace it when I feel it begin to boil, but I do. It-It's when I feel most alive." A shaky chuckle came with her rambling thoughts, and a tongue darted out to wet her lips before continuing. "If that's gone, I might just fade away. I'd.. How do I face what happened if I'm can't rage against it?"

"At what point does it become too much, Claire? At what point does your anger cost you more than what it's worth?" The Huntsman spoke softly now, his tone conveying a sense of sympathy with it, but not seeming to be one of pity. "You have lost much, and though you might hope that wall of anger you have built will stave off the pain, you must know that it's not true. Nothing ever can truly hide you from what has happened. You must face it, you must overcome it." Leaning back away from her, the man gave a simple shrug of his shoulders. "Or it will consume you."

"Those are my choices, huh?" She tried to laugh off the tension of the moment, but all that came out was a noise far too close to a whimper for her liking. Taking in a breath in order to strengthen her resolve, Claire made her decision, and conviction is what drew her gaze upwards. "I don't want to be like this anymore. But you-you can't tell Weiss. If she knew.."

"As I said the very first time we met here, all that is said between us shall remain that way." It brought a small measure of comfort as the mood of the room took a step back towards comfortable, and she let out a shaky sigh. "And I am truly sorry for having coaxed the information from you in such a way, but I must ask that you trust me. Both that it is for the best, and that I will be able to help you move past it."

"I.." Claire stared into the older Huntsman's eyes, searching for a shred of certainty in making this decision. There was no careful consideration, however, as she knew that it was this or face being expelled from the Academy. That thought did little to calm the rampant fear running through her chest, but it did allow her to gulp down the panic and give a small nod. "I will, Professor. I mean, I do trust you. But.. Where do we start with this?"

The man leaned forward, placing elbows on the surface of the desk and folding his hands to create a small base to place his chin upon, staring at her for a long moment. "You've told me of your parents, of your sister. The village you grew up in." She swallowed an audible gulp, unable to hide her own discomfort with the topic, and knowing where it was headed. "Start with the day that village was destroyed."

Yang felt good. Maybe it was the fact that she was up and doing something again, maybe it was the girl that had motivated her to go after Blake and Ruby. Either way, it was enough that she wore a broad grin as she turned the corner into the infirmary, sliding through the door as it was swinging close due to another person's passage. Compared to how packed the room had been on their arrival back from Forever Fall, it was now near empty, with only a few beds taken by those that had suffered wounds requiring more than basic first aid to accommodate the healing process.

One of those beds was her destination, as she stepped around a nurse that gave her a skeptical look. Her targets had spotted her the moment she had entered, too, with bright red eyes having been fixed on the spot where she had emerged. Another set of a more subdued yellow color found her as well, and she flashed a confident smile to both of them as she came to a stop at the end of the bed. "Hiya Nyx, Amber."

The taller of the two, Nyx, gave her a welcoming smile and a nod. "What's up, Yang?"

The twin in the bed fixed her with that same unsettling stare that always seemed to adorn the girl's face, causing Yang to falter for a moment before continuing. "How're you feeling? You look better." Hopeful that the conversation would bring out a little more personality from the redhead, but that hope was smashed when the shorter of the two Pinions replied in the usual dreamy voice.

"Doctor Sheppard told me that the wounds I took from Claire healed at a rate she hasn't seen before. I was called back for a follow up scan today, but so far it has revealed nothing." Yang felt her grin slip more into the realm of nervous smile as she stared into the eyes of the other girl, unable to shake the uneasy feeling that was being generated by the way Amber seemed to be studying her. She felt naked under that gaze, as if those burning orbs could see past every wall and shine a light on every secret. "She is now in her office, obsessing over the results in an effort to explain it. The good Doctor hopes to study me and gain an understanding of the effects two auras have on wounds."

"Wait, two auras?" Yang looked to the boy standing at the bedside for an answer, cocking an eyebrow in her confusion.

Nyx opened his mouth for a moment before his thoughts aligned and the explanation came to mind, starting it off with a shrug. "I can't claim to know what the process actually is, but the first time Amber ever used her power was on a victim that was pulled from a car accident just outside our estate in Northern Vale. The family doctor was frantic to get her to a hospital, but by the time they arrived, what had been gashes had turned to cuts, and bruises were several shades lighter." He felt an unconscious smile creep up onto his lips as he remembered the content expression he had seen on his sister's face then. "During the time that they were cleaning her up, one of the interns happened to glance at the aura scanner, and saw that it was picking up two distinct signals."

"So.." Yang turned back to the girl on the bed, greeted by that same strange expression that was the perfect definition of neutral. "When you use your Semblance, it takes some of the other person's aura in order to speed up your healing? That's.. Pretty badass, actually." Letting out a small laugh, the joyful sound drew a chuckle from the boy standing nearby, and she even saw the corner of Amber's lips twitch upwards.

"That's the first time anyone has called it that." Flecks of yellow mixed with the crimson of the smaller Pinion's eyes, creating that illusion of fire as the light caught them, and Yang found herself being appraised in a new way. The girl was no longer looking at her, but through her, with a faraway look. "But you.. You're an optimist in a way that not many people are, aren't you?"

"Eh, I wouldn't go that far." Shrugging her shoulders, she gave the two twins a wide, confidant grin. "But things always tend to work out for me, it's true." A thought reminded her of her reason for coming, and that brought down the mood almost instantly. "Um, anyway.. So Iris and I are going out to look for Ruby and Blake, I just wanted to stop by and ask if you guys were up for coming with us?"

She watched as Nyx tilted his head, the brother instead looking to Amber instead of answering. The redhead, seeing that the decision had been deferred to her, did not hesitate to answer. "When do we leave?"

As Claire stepped from the elevator that led up to Professor Ozpin's office, she raised a hand to scratch at one of her wolfish ears. Surprise crossed her features when she felt that the fingers were shaking, causing her to bring the digits to a more comfortable height for studying. It took a long moment of staring for her to realize that it was her entire body that had taken to the nervous vibration, and that every hair on the back of her neck was standing straight up.

She felt uncomfortable in her own skin. Hyper-aware of the way the fabric of her shirt was rubbing against the ridges of the scars that lay along her back, the feeling only served to reinforce the playback loop of her past that was circulating through her thoughts. It pulled her further and further into a state of anxiety, something she had managed to keep at bay when relaying the various stories of her origins to the older Huntsman.

"There you are! Gonna need your nose, 'cause we're going.." The voice caused her cringe, her eyelids fluttering before slamming back to a wide open position as she turned to stare at the girl that bounded up to her. Iris seemed to immediately know that something was off, slowing to a stop a couple of feet away and losing the cheerful expression she had arrived with. Quickly, the fox-girl's features turned more to concern than wariness, and the shorter student sidled up beside her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Her mouth opened and closed a few times, unable to force the words out in a way that made sense. The delay caused her teammate to reach out, but Claire flinched away the moment fingers brushed over the skin of her forearm. The other Faunus withdrew, her actions only serving to increase the worry evident on the pretty face, as she worked up what courage she had left in an effort to communicate. "O-Ozpin had some questions, about.. About before all this."

"Like Impetus?" Iris watched as the wild mane atop her friend's shoulders was dislodged by the nearly violent shaking of the girl's head. It clicked then, the reason that Claire was acting so strangely, and where she had seen it before. In the time that they had dated, she had gleaned only a small bit of the wolf Faunus' life. It had been enough to know the why behind the girl's anger, and odd personality, but she had never dared question past that. Largely in part of the way she had seen it totally wreck the other girl's ability to function. "Oh.. I-"

Before she could even begin to comfort the other, the sound of footsteps announced the arrival of the rest of their small party, and both of them gave an awkward clearing of their throats. Claire looked at her with appreciative smile, then took in a deep breath. It seemed to calm the taller girl, at least to the point where she wasn't shaking anymore. The gratitude evident in the wolf-girl's brown eyes quickly turned to confusion as the other four members of their teams came around the corner. "What's going on?"

Iris opened her mouth to answer, but was too slow to beat Yang, the blonde looking to be chomping at the bit to get moving. "We're gonna go find my sister, and Blake. Drag them back here if need be."

Chuckling as the brawler stepped up next to her, she turned back to look at her partner. "What do you say, you game?"

Claire looked over the small assembly, noting the way that Iris and Yang were standing in closer proximity to each other than they normally would, that detail bringing a smile to her face that continued as she scanned over the other two members of her own team. Nyx gave an eager nod as they locked gazes for a moment, and Amber gave that subtle twitch of thin eyebrows that signaled the girl was keenly aware of what she was feeling in that moment.

Her grin didn't last long, as it found the last member of the makeshift search party, the girl that stood in the back with arms folded and a glare marring pretty features. The scar that slashed through the heiress' right eye only amplified the effect as the pale blue eyes slid over and found her, widened for a moment before resuming their angry state. Gone was the cut and the bruise from their training session, wiped away by the power of aura, leaving behind the unblemished porcelain surface of the girl's right cheek.

Despite what had occurred earlier, Claire took a beat to remember what Ozpin had told her concerning Weiss Schnee, and made a conscious effort to find what little patience she had. She felt her lips move into a smile, and gave an encouraging nod.

If nothing else, seeing the depth of the shock that crossed the heiress' face was worth it.

Ruby tilted the mug in her hands one way, and then the other. The dark liquid contained within sloshed about with her movements, arresting her gaze as she struggled to stay quiet. Silence had been a constant companion the last three days, aside from a few acknowledgments or grunts to announce her friend's intentions. It felt unnatural to her, to be so quiet for so long. She honestly felt as though this was the least she had spoken in all of her life, at least since she had learned how to talk.

Taking a sip of the hot cocoa that she had ordered, she took the opportunity to glance over the lip of the cup at the girl on the other side of the table. It was midday, and they were sitting alone in the upper dining area of a cafe in downtown Vale, a situation that Ruby was sure she would have enjoyed more if it hadn't been for the circumstances that had forced them here. Blake was across from her, staring into a cup of coffee that lay untouched on its saucer.

The girl was gorgeous in the light of the sun, the light causing shadows to play across delicate features and create a sharp contrast to pale skin. Beneath the tresses of black hair peeked out two wide, golden orbs that seemed to glow in the shade, unfocused and darting about from time to time as if the Faunus was deep in thought. Ruby trailed her gaze up to the bow that had been replaced atop Blake's head, watching it intently for any movements that might betray the set of cat ears that lay beneath it. She found herself holding a small amount of apprehension for that little silk ribbon, as if it alone was responsible for creating the insecurities that plagued the person sitting before her.

Lost in her study as she was, Ruby failed to notice that the other girl had caught on, and let out a quiet yelp when she saw those amber irises staring out at her. "I.. Heh." The apology was lost into the void of silence that had surrounded them since they left from Beacon. Looking down into her lap, she felt a buzzing that announced another message had been received by her scroll. Unlocking the device with an idle thumb, the notification bar showed that the text was from Yang, asking where she was.

Giving a soft sigh, she locked the scroll again. As much as she loved her sister, she needed to figure this all out, and Ruby knew that Yang was going to give her the chewing out of a lifetime when they finally went back to the Academy. If she was ever able to get Blake to go back, at least. "So.." The word startled her, causing her to drop the mug she had been holding an inch above the table, causing hot chocolate to splash over the edges and create a small pool contained in the saucer beneath it. Steadying the wobbling cup with both hands, she fought the urge to giggle and turned to look at the girl across the table, afraid that she may have spooked the Faunus back into silence. "You want to know more about me?"

Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out, it's been a crazy week and..basically two weeks. Weddings(not mine), work, what have you. Also struggled with where I wanted to take this from here. The problem is I know what happens two chapters from now, but this one and the next are pretty much just winging it. Anyway, sorry about that! Please feel free to drop a review with your thoughts, I always love to hear from you guys! Until next time! -Fox

Mogwai Muse: Yeah, I've cut out a lot that made the show progress as it did, and every change I introduce changes what is to come.. I won't be surprised if it gets a bit crazy down the road. But I'm glad you like the alternate take on it, I hope you'll enjoy what's to come! I tried to model the accent after one of my friends, but I'm glad it was able to come across as such, especially to an Australian.

Phew, was worried I was advancing Iris and Yang way too fast, but it does feel rather natural considering their characters. Still there is a step back in this chapter because of the space Iris gave Yang.. so it still has some time to develop more fully. I hate(hate, hate, hate) it when an author gives a character a tail and just never mentions it ever again except the occasional wag. Any animal with a tail uses it to express it's thoughts and feelings just as you or I would use our eyebrows. If someone had a tail, it would be as good an indicator as any as to what they are feeling! /rant

Anyway, thank you for your reviews, I appreciate the time you put in to them, and they've really helped motivate and inspire me in writing this. You rock!

queenofthezone: Thank you! I often worry that my chapters are far too long, but I also feel like I include everything that needs to be there, so it's really a toss up. I'm glad you're enjoying Team CAIN, because I am certainly having fun writing them. Claire might be the result of a dozen other characters that I've always wanted to write kind of thrown into the same person.. and I'm a little surprised that it kinda works. Anyway, you're awesome, and thank you so much for letting me know you like my story!