Pearls on a String

Volume 1

Chapter 4: Impressions

Shade Academy

Sunday Morning

Evie bounced out of her bed eagerly the instant she heard Lustre's alarm going off. "Okay, guys, dibs on first shower!" she proclaimed.

A pair of sleepy mumbles emerged from the bunk above hers as well as across from her, though Lustre smiled at her agreeably. "Go right ahead," the silver-haired girl replied softly over her ever-present book from where she sat up on her bed.

The Cat Faunus set a new personal record for getting ready that morning as she knew she'd need to work hard to rouse her teammates. While Lustre took her place, she paced the room, looking at the pair of occupied beds eagerly.

Sooo, who gets the Evie treatment this morning… I suppose, since Pip already got pounced yesterday, that leaves…

She dropped to the floor, crawling across on all fours towards Beryl's bed, her tail swishing playfully behind her. An eager grin creased her face as she slowly rose up over the edge, her twitching black furry ears visible before her sapphire eyes could crest the edge.

A pair of bronze eyes, twinkling merrily, stared back at her.

"Aww," Evie pouted. "No fair."

"Would it help if I closed my eyes again?" Beryl asked humorously.

"No, it's not the same," Evie sighed, flopping back on her haunches.

The blue-haired girl reached a small hand out from under the covers, wiggling her fingers in mid-air. "C'mere, kitty cat, I'll still give you a scritch."

"Yay!" Evie exclaimed, scooting back over to the bed and propping her chin on the edge. "You're the best, Beryl."

Her eyes closed as Beryl began to scratch lightly at the base of her ears, though she did catch the slight blush on her friend's face beforehand. She has so got to get over this shyness, I thought we were past that when I'm acting like a cat… I suppose I'll just have to step up the antics, maybe it's been awhile…

Still purring loudly, Evie eased herself up into Beryl's bed and curled up next to her, kneading the smaller girl's side gently with her hands.

"E- Evie!" Beryl stammered. "W- What are you doing?"

"Relax, I'm just being me," she said in reply, giving a soft mewl as Beryl moved her hand up to gently stroke one of her ears. She let out a soft hum of contentment, which was broken by the sound of a scroll capturing a picture.

She cracked her eyes open to glare at Pip over her shoulder, who was standing by the bed with a wide grin on her face. "Really?" she asked.

"Oh, you'll thank me for this one day," the blonde called out cheerfully as she walked off, wagging her scroll over her shoulder. "One day."

"I don't get that girl sometimes," Evie grumbled, closing her eyes again. Beryl had ceased her ministrations, so she gave her hand a helpful nudge with her head. The blue-haired girl quickly resumed her scratching at the base of her ears.

Eventually Lustre finished up her shower, though Pip was already in there brushing her teeth and taking care of other biological necessities. The silver-haired girl was shaking her head as she entered the bedroom.

"Did you know there is no lock on the bathroom door?" she asked levelly.

Evie snorted out a laugh as she rolled out of the bed and onto the floor in a crouch. "I'm guessing Pip is taking outrageous advantage of that fact."

"Indeed. I am surprised that girl does not simply parade around campus naked."

"Please don't give her ideas," Beryl groaned as she sat up.

Grinning, Evie launched herself up and into the blue-haired girl's arms, giving her a warm hug. "Thanks for the pets, sweetie," she murmured before pulling back and walking over to her dresser.

"Um, y- yeah, sure thing," Beryl stammered out behind her.

Evie noted Lustre giving her an odd look, which she laughed off. "What, I'm in a good mood again today, we get to meet folk at lunch!"

"Oh, yay," Beryl deadpanned, stretching as she rose from her bed.

"We could have met them at breakfast," Lustre commented, running her fingers through her damp silver hair.

"Pfft, not with these two," Evie laughed, pointing first at the bathroom and then behind her in Beryl's general direction. She brushed out her raven tresses while she talked and tied it back into her customary ponytail. "How many breakfasts have you been to since attending the academy, Beryl?"

"I've been to a few," her friend grumbled. "Back in the first year. When you made me."

Evie and Lustre shared a soft snicker. The raven-haired Faunus grabbed her makeup and walked into the bathroom where she felt the lighting might be better. "You okay with me sharing space, blondie?"

"You know I am, babe!" Pip replied over the sound of the shower.

Grinning she stood at the counter and worked on adding some subtle makeup while Pip finished up. As the lanky blonde exited the shower, wringing her hair out, she gave the raven-haired Faunus a smirk.

"Gettin' primped, are we?" Pip grinned at her in the mirror.

"First impressions and all," Evie replied evenly.

"Exactly. I have taught you well, young one."

"Oh, bite me."

"You wish, kitty cat."

"Come on you two," Beryl called out irritably. "Lunch starts in an hour and I haven't even gotten my shower yet!"

"Well, come on in and be my guest, babe, you know I don't mind!" Pip called out cheerfully.

"Pip," the Faunus warned gently.

"Oh, Dust, right," the blonde muttered, remembering the previous night's discussion. "Er, sorry Beryl," she said in a louder voice. "Didn't mean to tease you, I'll be out in just a sec!"

She did the minimal amount of drying necessary before skipping out just ahead of Evie. "All yours," the Faunus winked at the smaller girl who was waiting with barely restrained impatience with her clothes in hand.

"Thanks," the blue-haired girl murmured with a slight blush as she brushed by them, closing the bathroom door behind her.

"Oh, hey, completely forgot about the mirrors!" Pip exclaimed while standing at her dresser. "I can get my makeup done here!"

Evie flopped onto her bunk, lying on her side while she watched her friends. Pip was concentrating hard on applying just enough makeup so that it didn't look forced. It really does make her coral eyes pop with that pink eyeliner. On the other side of the room and up on her bunk, Lustre was, surprisingly, not engaged with a book for a change. Instead, she was tapping intently into her scroll, her earlier book lying by her side.

"Hey, whatcha working on there, Lustre?" she asked curiously, her tail curling around her waist like a furry belt.

The silver-haired girl didn't pause in her typing. "Our schedules for the week," she murmured. "Fortunately we are all in the same classes, though I am afraid I will be bored senseless in some of them."

"Oh, no, Lustre must associate with us mere mortals!" Pip snickered as she finished up her makeup. "Such tragic hardship!"

"Hush, you," Lustre replied without rancor. "In any case, we will have plenty of time in between most of our classes. History will be first thing on Monday, taught by Professor Darcy, and then in the afternoon is Combat Instructional Class." She finally looked up with a grin. "It is actually taught by the headmaster, Professor Zaff."

"The headmaster for Shade is called Zaff?" Evie asked curiously. She rolled her eyes at the look Lustre shot her. "What? It's not like I look these things up beforehand."

"Obviously," Lustre sighed, though she gave her a small, affectionate smile. "In any case, that will be our schedule for Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Then on Tuesdays and Thursdays we shall have two slightly longer classes, Grimm Biology in the morning with Professor Cyan and then after lunch is Dust Mechanics with Professor Nyanza."

"I'm guessing the last one will be the boring one for you," Evie commented. "Since you took that advanced class."

Lustre blinked her eyes slowly. "Er, yes, that is correct."

"See?" Evie grinned, stretching out her back in a very feline-like manner. "I pay attention."

Beryl walked through the door, adjusting her black stockings as she walked. "Okay, I think I caught most of that. So you're gonna give us maps and all, right Lustre?"

"Of course I shall," the silver-haired girl smiled at her partner. "Not initially as we shall remain with each other for the first two days, but once I have determined the most efficient routes I shall relay them to you all."

"Awesome!" Pip cheered, crawling around on her hands and knees to locate her shoes. "Thanks, babe!"

Beryl sat on the edge of her bed, pulling her own shoes on. "So," she sighed, dread lacing her words. "Are we ready to do this?"

The Cat Faunus rolled off of her bed and made a long leap to land in front of the morose diminutive girl. "It's gonna be fine, Beryl," she murmured sincerely. "Just stick with us, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Beryl finished putting her shoes on but kept her eyes downcast. "Thanks, Evie."

"Anytime, sweetie." She jumped back to her feet, twirling about in a circle with her tail flung out and almost striking Beryl in the face. "So, let's go guys!"

The four of them collected themselves and walked out of their room, heading for the dining hall.

There weren't many other students walking with them until they reached the other dorms. At that point they were joined by several Shade residents, dressed informally for the most part in colorful shirts, skirts, and pants. Unlike the academies at Beacon, Haven, and Atlas, there seemed to be no official school uniform there.

"I feel ridiculous," Evie whispered.

"Do not be like that," Lustre chided gently. "We should be proud of our uniform. However… perhaps we might get away with wearing our more casual outfits here at Shade."

"Hmm, we don't have any professors from Beacon that accompanied us," Pip agreed slowly, considering the option. "Remind me tonight, I'll go ask the other Beacon teams what they think. Maybe if we all do it at once, nobody will complain. Just wear the uniforms for formal occasions, like the reception tomorrow evening."

"Please," Beryl breathed. "I would be so much more comfortable in my battle clothes."

They entered the dining hall, their dark jackets and red plaid skirts making them obvious in the colorful sea of people. More than a few curious glances were sent their way, as well as whispered comments, though nobody seemed to be in any hurry to approach them.

Beryl slipped behind the others, sticking close to them. "They're all staring at us," she moaned softly.

"That's because we're so awesome," Pip chuckled as they headed for the line. "They're basking in our magnificence."

Evie snorted out a laugh, but before she could make a snarky comment a squeal came from behind them.

"Oh my Oum, you are sooo cute, I love your hair, c'mere, you have got to come with me and let my team see you!"

The team turned as one to see a frantic and rather hapless-looking Beryl being dragged off through the crowds by another girl, of whom only a flash of orange-red hair could be seen.

"Oh, Dust," Evie sighed as she nimbly sprinted after her beleaguered teammate, the others on her heels.

They stopped by a table that had three other students sitting there. Clinging tenaciously to the clearly panicked-out-of-her-mind Beryl was a Fox Faunus with a bushy tail wagging merrily behind her. She was fairly short, only a couple inches taller than her blue-haired prisoner, and from what they could see from behind wore a dark yellow halter top and biker shorts in a brighter yellow. The other notable fact about her was her bare feet.

Evie stood there uncertainly, unsure whether or not to forcibly remove the girl's hands from her teammate, but Pip took charge of the situation smoothly.

"Excuse me," she interjected over the excitable Faunus' babbling at what must have been her team. "You seem to have kidnapped our teammate. May we have her back?"

The girl rounded on them without relinquishing her grip on Beryl's arm. "Oh, hi!" she greeted them, her amber eyes glowing excitedly. Now that they could see more details, they noticed the bright yellow headband keeping her shoulder-length orange-red hair off of her face, as well as the many jewel-colored necklaces and bracelets that adorned her. "I'm sooo happy to meet you! So, I'm Sunny! Can I keep her?"

"Hi, Sunny," the blonde replied, reaching forward to gently but firmly extract Beryl from her grip. "My name's Pip. And no, sorry."

"Awww, can I maybe borrow her? She has, like, the coolest hair! I've never seen a blue that vibrant before!"

"Sunny, down girl!" one of the laughing students at the table called out. The girl had purple hair that was short and spiky with matching eyes and wore a cornflower blue blouse. Her arm was wrapped around another student's shoulder sitting next to her, a raven-haired boy with a scruffy but good-looking face and a red vest that exposed his chest. "Sorry about her, she's a little, um… enthusiastic."

Beryl let out a small whimper as she hid behind Evie. The Cat Faunus reached back with a reassuring hand which was immediately gripped feverently.

"Eh, well I'm not normally one to make a big deal out of things," Pip began sheepishly. "But Beryl, she's the girl that you dragged along... she's a little mistrustful of strangers."

The purple-haired girl sighed and gave the Fox Faunus a stern glare. "Sunny. Apologise."

"But-"

"Sunny."

"Oh, fine, but you know I didn't mean anything by-"

"Sunny!"

The redhead sighed and scuffed the floor with her bare foot while looking down. "Um, I'm sorry, Beryl, for dragging you off like that. I think you have really pretty hair, though, and an even prettier name."

Evie had to hide her grin behind her free hand while Pip nodded her head solemnly, only the very edges of her mouth curled upwards slightly. "Thank you for apologising, Sunny." The blonde turned to look over Evie's shoulder at the visibly shaken Beryl. "You okay with that, babe?"

"Y- Yeah," Beryl muttered. "It just, um… took me by surprise."

"So!" the purple-haired girl said, her visage relaxed and friendly once more. "You've met our Sunny Titian there. My name's Tara Wine, and this is my boyfriend and teammate Quicksilver Claret, but everyone just calls him Q. And this big lump over here," she indicated with her head the fourth member, a tall boy with reddish-brown hair that was swept back into a long ponytail and wearing a dark brown duster that left his muscular chest bare as well, "is Rufus Henna. We're Team Turquoise, that's T-R-Q-S, second-years here at Shade."

"Pleasure to meet you all," the blonde smiled warmly. "I'm Pippin Cerise, but you can call me Pip. This is Evie Black, Lustre Bijou, and then Beryl. We're Team Pearl, P-E-R-L, from Beacon, also second-years."

"Just Beryl?" Sunny asked, her eyes sparkling.

"That's what she goes by," Pip replied calmly, unwilling to concede further ammunition for embarrassment in the form of her hated first name. Evie smiled to herself softly at the leader's consideration of their friend.

"Cool, so we're likely going to have classes with you," Q spoke up. His voice was low and quiet but with an intensity that would catch a person's attention no matter how boisterous the background noise might be. His pale grey eyes were crinkled in mirth as he watched Beryl try to keep Evie between her and the excitable Fox Faunus.

"I would imagine so," Lustre replied politely. She was keeping a wary eye on Sunny, her posture indicating she was prepared to jump in as well to protect her partner from further harassment. "Perhaps we can compare schedules?"

"Sounds good," Rufus chimed in. He had a pleasant tenor and eyes the color of warm chocolate. Interestingly he seemed to not be able to take said eyes off of Pip.

Evie glanced over at her partner, and rolled her eyes when she saw that Rufus' attentions were being returned in earnest. "Hey, fearless leader," she snarked. "How about we grab some food?"

"Oh, yeah, good idea babe," Pip grinned. "Okay if we return and join you?"

"Absolutely!" Tara grinned back. "We'll push another table up!"

The four teammates walked off, surrounding a still shaken Beryl. Apparently Sunny might have followed them, but a stern word from Tara brought her up short.

"Well, at least Tara seems to be able to, er…" Pip trailed off uncomfortably.

Evie snorted humorously. "You were about to say, 'put her on a leash', weren't you?"

"Yeah, but then I realized how incredibly racist that sounded."

"Don't worry about it, I get it and don't mind. Don't know how sensitive she might be, so yeah, watch stuff like that around her, but still… Wow, she was hyper."

"I might have a few other words I could use," Beryl muttered. She was still clinging to Evie's hand tenaciously, and the raven-haired Faunus noted that her other hand was encased in her partner's.

"I don't think she meant any harm," Pip tried to reassure her. "She's just enthusiastic and wanted to make friends with you."

Beryl grumbled a few things under her breath. Even her Faunus hearing couldn't pick up on much of it, but it was decidedly non-complementary.

"Do we have to go back and sit with them?" the blue-haired girl finally asked querulously.

"Hey, hold up," Pip ordered. The three of them halted while Pip moved around to stand in front of them.

"Look, I'm not going to force you into anything," the blonde stated earnestly. "If you're super uncomfortable sitting with them, then we'll grab our food and just give them our apologies, okay?"

Beryl looked down at the floor for a few heartbeats. Eventually she released her grip on both Evie and Lustre, taking a few deep breaths. "Even though you couldn't stop looking at that big guy, what was his name, Rufus?"

"Yeah, even though," Pip smiled softly. "You're what matters here, Beryl. So tell me what you want to do."

The blue-haired girl wrapped her arms around her middle and closed her eyes. She muttered a few more things under breath, of which Evie caught something that sounded like 'Dust-damned ten lien'. "Okay," she finally stated, looking up. "Yeah, we can sit with them. Just, please, don't put me next to Sunny?"

"You got it, babe," Pip grinned, giving her a quick hug. "C'mon, let's see what kinda grub they have here."

As it turned out, the food leaned towards the spicy end. The chef's eyes lit up when Lustre spoke with him regarding the heat levels of his food, and her resulting chicken sandwich seemed to have been thoroughly soaked in a sauce that practically bubbled all on its own.

"Lustre, I think your sandwich is going to eat through your plate," Evie complained lightly.

"Not before it gets in my belly," the silver-haired girl retorted eagerly.

The Cat Faunus laughed, happy that they catered to so many different tastes here. She was able to find a fish sandwich that didn't seem to be heavily spiced in any way, and noted that both Beryl and Pip picked up simple burgers. They weaved their way through the crowds until they ended up back with Team TRQS, who had indeed pulled another table up.

Pip promptly plopped herself down across from Rufus with a sly smirk, Lustre on the other side of her. Sunny looked to be ready to pounce into whatever seat was open next to Beryl, but the Cat Faunus deftly blocked her and allowed the blue-haired girl to sit in between her partner and herself.

"Oh my Oum, she got a face-melter!" Q announced with horror as he noted Lustre's plate.

The other members of the Shade team leaned away from the silver-haired girl warily, which made the Beacon students snicker.

"One thing you will learn about our dear Lustre here," Pip laughed, "is to never underestimate the strength of her stomach lining."

"Also, never accept food from her," Evie added.

"Like, never ever," Beryl murmured with a fond smile as she glanced at her partner.

Lustre just shook her head sorrowfully. "Such comedians," she sighed before taking a decent-sized bite out of her sandwich. Red sauce oozed and bubbled out of the end, and Evie could have sworn she heard the plate sizzle where it landed.

The others intently watched her as she chewed thoughtfully. Finally Lustre swallowed and smiled. "Not bad at all," she commented. "I have had hotter, of course. But it is quite pleasurable."

"Sooo," Tara drawled hesitantly, unable to keep her eyes off of Lustre. "You guys are in the tourney, huh?"

"Yep, we sure are," Pip grinned. "We're actually the only second-years from Beacon participating in the Vytal Tournament."

"That's so cool!" Sunny exclaimed. "So you guys must be really really good, huh?" The Fox Faunus was leaning around Evie in order to look at Beryl.

"We're pretty decent," Evie replied modestly.

"Right, then," Rufus stated, crossing his arms over his impressive chest and grinning widely at Pip. "What's your weapon?"

"Greatsword," Pip answered nonchalantly. "You?"

"Same actually."

"Hmm. Mods?"

"Claidheamh Mor has an extended hilt and guard," he began proudly. "Better maneuverability. Also got a dust chamber, lets me channel my semblance through it."

"And what would that be?" the blonde returned coquettishly. Evie groaned slightly at her partner's blatant flirtatious attitude, though everyone else at the table seemed to be highly amused with the pair.

"Sonic," the auburn-haired boy stated with a smirk. "I can knock a wall down, not to mention an Ursa. Now, how about you?"

"Well, my baby, Odachi Dahlia, is also a high-caliber sniper rifle," Pip replied offhandedly, twirling a spoon in her hand. "But it's dust-reinforced so that it can handle my own semblance."

Rufus leaned forward slightly. "Which would be?"

"Well," Pip smirked, setting the spoon down. "I can make her really." She placed an elbow on the table. "Really." Her hand cupped her chin as she gazed into Rufus' eyes with her own pale red irises. "Hot."

Evie groaned once more as Rufus licked his suddenly dry lips. "Oum preserve us," she heard Beryl mutter.

"Well, damn, Rufus," Tara chortled. "I think you found someone who just might be able to keep up with you."

"Oh, I don't know," the blonde purred. "I'm wondering if he can keep up with me."

Rufus cleared his throat. "So, you busy tonight?"

Pip gave him a sultry smile. "Depends on what you have planned."

"Dammitall," Beryl grumbled, digging a ten-lien chip out of her pocket and throwing it down in front of Evie in disgust. Lustre followed suit but with far more aplomb.

"Pleasure doing business with you ladies," Evie smirked.

Pip threw her head back and laughed uproariously. "I should have known the three of you would wager on that," she gasped out, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes.

"You all are rather different from most of the students from Beacon we've met," Tara said with a cautious smile.

"Oh, yeah," Evie grinned. "We are at that."

"Hey, so are you guys in the tourney also?" Beryl timidly asked after swallowing a bite from her burger.

"No, unfortunately Q's semblance disqualified us," Tara sighed, though she gave her boyfriend a reassuring peck on his cheek. "He's just too good."

"Oh, really? And what would that be?" Beryl leaned forward, her interest piqued.

"Aura regeneration," Q replied cheekily. "It works fast enough that I almost never run out."

"Wow," the blue-haired tactician breathed. Evie nodded, just as impressed. With an aura that was practically limitless, he could take any amount of hits and just keep fighting as his defensive aura blocked whatever damage came his way. She eyed her petite teammate as she could see the gears visibly spinning in her head. And then it was as if a lightbulb went on over her blue bangs.

Beryl glanced at Evie with a grin and a wink. Hmm, so she figured out a way to get around that already, huh? This could be interesting…

The Cat Faunus cleared her throat gently, catching Pip's attention from where she was mooning over the muscular Rufus and his biceps. The blonde glanced at her, then noted how her ears were twitching towards Beryl. It only took her a second or two to get the message as her brain caught up with the previous conversation.

"You know what would be really cool?" their leader asked with a grin. "If we both have combat class together tomorrow afternoon, we should spar. Our two teams against each other."

"Really?" Tara asked, her purple irises sparkling eagerly. "I mean, yeah, that'd be awesome!"

"Cool!" Pip replied as their agreement was accepted with nods from around the table. She flicked her blond hair over her shoulder and gave a glance around at her team.

Right, Evie thought with another nod. We'll discuss the specifics back in our room.

They spent the rest of lunch chatting amicably with their new friends. Afterwards Tara and Q volunteered to show the team around campus, which they quickly agreed to. Beryl was a little more hesitant to walk where the vivacious Sunny might be able to get ahold of her again, but she was in full-on information gathering mode for the next day's fight and managed to push past her trepidation.

The Fox Faunus still managed to latch onto her side, though she made sure to keep a small physical distance between them.

"Sooo, Beryl, what do you fight with?" the strawberry-haired girl asked cheerfully.

Evie glanced at her diminutive teammate and quirked an eyebrow. Need rescuing?

Beryl sighed in reply and gave a slight shake of her head and then tilted it to the side. Not yet, no, but please don't abandon me with her.

The Cat Faunus grinned and winked. Never happen.

Tara sidled up to Evie's side as they walked through the campus. "You four seem extremely close," she murmured somewhat appreciatively. "Don't think I didn't notice the nonverbals."

The raven-haired Faunus smiled. "And I noticed yours as well. Seemed a little off, though."

"Yes, well, keeping Sunny's attention is a futile effort under the best of circumstances," the purple-haired team leader admitted wryly. "It's a good thing she's a terror in an actual fight."

"We are pretty close," Evie agreed with her initial statement. "Family, you might say."

"That's really neat," Tara replied warmly.

"Yeah," she said with a soft smile as she glanced at her teammates. "It is." She frowned suddenly. "Wait, did Pip and Rufus ditch us already?"

Tara stopped in her tracks and swiveled her head around. "Those little…" She barked out a quick laugh.

"Hormones," Evie grinned ruefully. "What are ya gonna do, huh?"

"True enough."

"So, you and Q? How long has that been going on?"

"Just since summer break," Tara replied with a smirk. "I met up with him for a date that he didn't realize was a date. And then I was very, very convincing as to why he should date me."

"Nice," Evie chuckled. Absently she listened in on Sunny and Beryl's conversation as her teammate began to grow more flustered in her answers. Finally her cat ears perked up at the current line of questioning.

"...So you do like girls, then?" Sunny was asking intently.

"I- I- Um, I mean…" Beryl stammered, blushing furiously. "Well, I suppose so, yeah…"

"Sweet! Me too!" Sunny grinned widely. "We should totally hook up!"

Evie groaned as Beryl looked completely panic-stricken at the notion. Time to make with the rescuing.

"Hey, Beryl, sweetie," she called out. "Is your stomach still upset from the flight yesterday? You look a little green."

"Oh, um… Yeah, yeah I suppose it is," Beryl replied with a weak smile. She angled her walk over towards her partner who was chatting with Q about a book series relating to the history of Grimm that they had both enjoyed. "Lustre, would you mind coming with me back to the room, make sure I don't get lost?"

"Of course, Beryl," Lustre said agreeably, noting the look of panic on her friend's face. She glanced over her shoulder as she began steering Beryl off towards a side street. "Will you be able to return as well on your own, Evie?"

"I'll be fine, guys," the Cat Faunus smiled and waved.

Sunny made as if to follow, but Tara flicked her fingers at her boyfriend.

"Hey, Sunny, why don't we go see what the cooks have leftover from the lunch dessert tray," the raven-haired boy prompted, grabbing the Fox Faunus around her shoulders.

"But… But…"

"I think I saw brownies."

"Really?" Sunny's amber eyes lit up in pleasure.

"Yep, really. C'mon, let's go, we'll see them tomorrow."

"Well, okay… Bye, Beryl!" she called out loudly at the two Beacon student's retreating backs. "I'll talk to you tomorrow!"

Evie chuckled as Q steered Sunny back off to the dining hall. "Nicely done," she murmured.

With a sigh, Tara shook her head. "You'll have to forgive Sunny, she really does mean well. She just has this slight problem of completely missing the filter that goes from her brain to her mouth. Also, she's an incredibly outgoing lesbian. Never seen her gush over someone like she did with poor Beryl before, though."

"Hmm," Evie replied noncommittally. "That so?"

"Yeah, I'm afraid she's pretty well smitten. Do you think Beryl might be receptive to, er… something like that?"

"Honestly? I don't really know." Evie looked up at the bright sky as she walked, her tail flicking thoughtfully behind her. "You have to understand, Beryl is incredibly anxious in social situations. And I'm afraid Sunny got off on the completely wrong foot with her."

"Yeah, she does tend to blow first impressions," Tara laughed. "Still, she's a sweet kid. I know she's the same age as us, but we all look at her as our little sister. We just want her to be happy."

"Well, I suppose the same could be said for Beryl," Evie smiled. "It's not a good idea to push her, though. If you want to have a talk with Sunny and let her know to ease off some, not come across so aggressively, she might be more…"

The Faunus paused consideringly. Would she actually be receptive? She'd never really thought of Beryl as having a relationship with anyone, she was just always a part of the team. Pip, sure she would sometimes be off on romantic liaisons, not nearly as often as Evie would tease her, of course, but the four of them were a solid unit. Could she imagine Beryl off with someone outside of the team?

The thought of it caused an unfamiliar feeling to creep in and curl around her gut. It wasn't one she'd experienced before, and she decided she didn't like it at all, so decided to abandon that train of thought entirely.

"Well, you get my meaning," she simply stated.

Tara nodded, her lips pursed. "I think so, yeah. Worth a shot, anyway." She looked up as they passed the towering first-year dormitory. "Well, my bunk is this way and yours is in the opposite direction. I should go wait for Sunny and Q, have that little talk maybe before she gets it into that cute little head of hers to do something drastic."

"Please do," Evie smiled. "And hey, it was really great to meet you."

The purple-haired girl grinned and wrapped her up in a hug. It felt a little strange hugging someone the same height as herself, as Evie was used to hugs more from Beryl and Pip. Lustre was very much not a hugger.

"I'm glad we met as well," Tara murmured. "See you guys at dinner?"

"Definitely," she nodded. The Cat Faunus gave her a little wave as she turned to head over to the guest dorms.

What was with that earlier feeling? It certainly wasn't a positive one. Don't I want Beryl to be happy?

She snorted to herself humorously as she walked through the doors and into the cooler interior of the building. She hadn't realized how warm it was outside.

Of course I do. She's a sister to me, I want whatever will make her happy.

A/N: Okay, so that ends Evie's voice for now, and takes us through Sunday! The next chapter will be from Beryl's viewpoint for the first time as she tries to fend off the attentions of a very enthusiastic Fox Faunus. It makes me giggle to think of Sunny's bushy fox tail wagging happily behind her.

Also next chapter we get to see some action as Team TRQS faces off against Team PERL, and Beryl's plan is revealed...

As always, much love for reading, favoriting, following, and/or reviewing! Let me know what you think so far!

Stay shiny!