"Do we need to practice Bolting again?", questioned Celia. Team DECO had spent a lot of time over the weekend in Beacon's sparring arena bringing their new member up to speed. Their first patrol together was the next day and they had to be ready.

"Sure, the more practice we get, the better we'll be able to take advantage of it when we need it," encouraged Dorren.

"Oh, no. I'm not doing it, not again..." worried Erol.

"Just because you get airsick doesn't mean you get a pass from practice," scolded the leader.

"Suck it up," said Olivia coldly.

"If he doesn't want to, he-" Celia offered.

Dorren held up a hand, "No, if you're going to be a member of this team he needs to become accustomed to your semblance the best that he can." Dorren turned his head to face Errol and said pointedly, "It could save his life."

The complainer couldn't hold his gaze for long, he turned away and conceded with a grunt.

The little mage sighed and raised a beckoning hand, "Alright, then come over here and give me your hand."

Erol shivered, "We have to do that again?"

"Yes, your distaste for my Bolting also leads your Aura to reject mine, so I need to reattune to your Aura." Celia explained, "I've dealt with this before."

"Oh, and how was that?" Erol inquired.

"Practice," Celia said matter-of-factly. "Hand," She directed, and Erol held out a tense hand. She took his bare hand in hers and closed her eyes to focus. "You're going to have to relax. I could force a connection, but those are much less stable."

The young man took a deep breath and tried to release the tension evident in his shoulders. Despite his effort, the concern remained on his face. She waited patiently and at last said "Close enough, I guess."

A yellow glow emanated from Celia, goosebumps immediately rose on Erol's bare forearm and the orange glow of his own Aura emerged in response. His unease rapidly gave way to clear discomfort. He thought he felt a thousand hands grasping at every part of his body, his mind, his Aura. Poking, prodding, grabbing, testing, every last piece of his Aura he felt had been dissected and sewn back together, documenting their contents.

At last, Celia released his hand. Becoming aware of his body again, he was covered in a cold sweat. "Well, that one was... better," Celia confirmed.

"And what's that supposed to mean!?" he replied, exasperated.

"It's a bit better of a link, but it will last a few days at most." she said.

"That's it!? But that was the third time..."

"True, the good part was that you didn't actively resist it this time. However, your Aura still fought back." she explained.

"Alright, alright, let's just do this," he said.

"It will be the same as before, when I use my Bolt you will feel a tug on your Aura. Brace yourself and imagine that the pull on your Aura is a rope and grab hold." she instructed.

Erol let out a deep sigh and pulled out his axe and shield. He crouched low, his shield held between himself and an imaginary foe and his axe held low behind him. Facing the expanse of the arena, he could see Celia out of the corner of his eye. Now in his typical combat pose, she gave a quick nod and her Aura began to radiate from her body. He thought he saw her yellow eyes brighten when he felt the tug on his Aura directly forward. "She's starting easy," he thought.

He leaned forward, and reached out with his mind and thought of pulling a rope like she had said. Immediately, his whole body responded, launching into a low arc forward. The expanse of the arena rushed past him in seconds and found himself about to land on the opposite side of the arena. He landed on his feet, but all too quickly another pull was already in place, this time behind him and to his left. "The hard part," he thought.

He turned and leaned back, as if he were losing his balance, and accepted the tug again. This time the backwards motion brought the arena back into his field of vision. At the low peak of the arc he already felt nauseous. When his feet met the ground, he wasn't ready to stop his momentum. Instead of stopping, he tried to recover his stance by flipping back. Not the most graceful Hunter in training, he was partially successful; landing again skidding on his feet and scraping his shield on the ground.

"Last one," he heard a little voice say, and a final tug pulled on his Aura forward and to the right. Not fully recovered yet, he turned and made to dash toward the pull. This time, his launch more resembled a pounce. His unusual form when he Bolted made his body a spear flying to the other end of the arena. He wasn't going to land on his feet. The axeman steeled himself and brought his shield up before him. The shield hit the ground hard, and he tried to use the rebound to vault back onto his feet. He flipped over, and came to another skidding stop and rose into his fighting stance.

The exercise over, he relaxed and returned his axe to his belt. "Do you want me to bring you back?" Celia called to him.

"Thanks, but I'll walk," he shouted back. The wide area took a while to cross, and his wobbling didn't help.

Rejoining the other three, he asked, "Better that time?"

"Yes, a little chaotic, but it will work," Dorren confirmed

"Good, I don't wanna have to go through that again unless I absolutely have to," said Erol.

"And hopefully you won't, but we should prepare for the worst," said Dorren. "I'll let you get a breather after that, then we should get to some sparring."

"Sounds good, I'm gonna go get some water and sit down until the room stops shifting." he said groggily and slowly made his way to the locker room.

Ladies, how about you-," he began, but cut himself off when he saw a winded Celia. "Or not. How many times can you use your Bolting anyway?"

"On my teammates I can use it several times before I'm this tired. A less willing target? Three times or so." she answered. "Throwing you two around isn't much harder than my own teammates, but he is another story.

"Good to know, how about you two... ummm..." said Dorren.

"We'll figure something out." offered Olivia. "For now, Celia should rest. She won't be able to do much after using so much energy."

"You're right, the two of you are free to do what you like," he said. "Practice-wise, of course," he added.

"We know," said Olivia. She turned and began walking toward the seating around the arena. It took a few seconds for Celia to register that her training partner had just walked off, with a sound of surprise she hurried to join Olivia. Together, the two took a seat in the raised stands overlooking the arena, and waited for the next battle to begin.

A few minutes of silence had passed before Erol returned from the locker room, now much steadier on his feet. The two men had a short exchange and then positioned on opposite sides of the arena. They charged, and the large room was filled with the sound of crashing steel.

As the ladies watched, the two men were fairly evenly matched, but Olivia knew her leader was holding back just a bit to account for his opponent's recent flight. During the fight, Celia looked to the girl next to her. She sat hunched over in her seat, resting her chin on an open hand. Her normally stoic expression was pensive, a frown tugging at her thin lips.

"Is something the matter?" Celia inquired.

"You have an amazing semblance," Olivia said. "Like chess with people."

Surprised, Celia answered, "Yeah... it's come to CTIL's rescue a few times already." Celia replied. "It's a semblance that is more helpful when used on others."

"Wish I could say the same."

She sounds almost... disappointed, Celia thought. She asked, "Is there something wrong with that?"

"The best way that I can help my team is by backing them up and catching anything that wanders into their blind spots." She told Celia. "My dirty, selfish semblance does almost nothing to that effect at all."

"What IS your semblance?" the little one asked. "I've never seen you use it."

"It's just a trick. Hold out your hand." Olivia instructed while drawing her sword.

"I don't think I..." Celia trailed off.

"Won't hurt, trust me."

Celia held out an unsteady hand, unsure of what to expect. "Hold still and watch," said Olivia and raised her sword. Before the younger one could retract her hand, Olivia swept its now translucent blade cleanly through the outstretched hand.

"Ghost," said Olivia shortly. "I can make something immaterial and phase through something else; trees, rocks, shields, people, you name it. Works on my bolts too. Like I said, just a trick."

Celia brought her hand back and tested all of her fingers, they still worked. "Yours is certainly different, can it do anything else?"

"I... don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know!" Celia exclaimed. "That's like not knowing part of yourself! Why don't you know!?"

Olivia, taken aback by the girl's sudden outburst, "Well, ummm..." Her face began to turn red. "When I discovered my semblance back at Signal, I got ahead of myself. I tried to immaterialize myself..."

"And?" Celia said expectantly.

"I phased ONLY my self." she replied. Olivia saw the gears turning in her head and waited for the revelation.

When the implications dawned on her, Celia reeled back, "Oh, oh my. Co-ed training hall?"

The sharpshooter blushed further, and made a sheepish nod. "I'm fine now, I've just been cautious when experimenting with my semblance. And alone."

"For good reason," joked Celia. "That's something we could work on."

Olivia's face sobered, remembering that they should be training for their patrol the next day. The frown also returned, replacing her embarrassed grin.

"There's something else," Celia observed.

"Perceptive, are we?" concluded Olivia.

"I'm a team leader, I should at least be a LITTLE bit so."

"I guess OUR leader's mostly pertains to the battlefield," suggested Olivia.

"And we're girls, that helps, too." said Celia. "So, what is it?"

"I don't really know how to get better," said Olivia. "For the guys down there, it's simple, they just need to get stronger. I don't need to get stronger, it wouldn't help me at all and it's really difficult for me. I'm already one of the best marksmen in this school, maybe even better than some of the professors. Lastly, my semblance is only marginally useful. I don't know what to do."

The little mage thought for a while, then quickly stood up. "I know just the thing, you're coming with me!" she proclaimed, while clamping both hands onto Olivia's arm and heaving with all of her might. Olivia, rather than be hauled off, conceded and followed Celia.

"We need to get away from those loud boys," Celia had told her. After a quick detour to Team CTIL's dorm room, Olivia hadn't expected their destination to be Beacon Academy's gardens. The midday sun shined brightly overhead, reflecting the vibrant colors of the sprawling garden space. The soothing scent of the myriad flowers filled the air, allowing no escape from their aroma. Small, neat lawns and flowered arbors were scattered haphazardly about the space, where students could relax or study in the beautiful scenery.

The two found one of these such lawns and took a seat on the grass. Between them, Celia placed a dark wooden box she had retrieved from her room and opened it. The inside was thickly cushioned with eight round compartments in all. Six of the round spaces were occupied by thick glass vials, each containing a different colored powder. Dust.

"So you've probably figured out why I brought you here," Celia ventured.

"You think that I should practice using Dust, and we're here so that I will better be able to focus," Olivia answered.

"Correct. Have you used Dust before?" asked Celia.

"Only back at Signal, it's been a long time." said Olivia.

"We're just going to say that's a 'no.' Your turn to hold out your hand." said Celia.

Holding out her hand, Olivia asked, "What's this for?"

The mage had already pulled out four vials of Dust, one for each of the primary elements. "We need to test your affinities, the types of Dust that you will learn the fastest. I have a prediction, we'll see if I'm right." One by one, she uncorked each of the four vials, placed a pinch in Olivia's hand, and resealed the bottles. "This method is perfect for first-time users." Olivia made a face, to which she replied, "You haven't used dust in years, you're essentially a new user."

"It may sting a little," Celia informed. "I need you to focus, and concentrate your Aura into your hand." As soon as she finished her sentence, the little mound of Dust in Olivia's hand scattered in a blue and red cloud, leaving behind several pebbles. So quickly, she must have a fairly strong Aura, and it makes sense that she would have such precise control, Celia thought.

"About what I expected," said Celia. "Earth made those little pebbles and Wind blew the rest away."

"You had predicted what they would be?"

"Yes. A person's elemental affinities, to an extent, reflect who they are," Celia explained. "Earth is stubborn or stoic, take your pick, and Air is fleeting and free and does what it pleases." Celia began giggling, as if she were a mad scientist and Olivia her experiment. "This is perfect, it's just what we need."

Olivia gave her a flat look, demanding to be let in on the joke. "Hold on, hold on." Celia said as she pulled out a notebook and pencil and began scribbling furiously. When Olivia leaned over to look, the artist quickly pulled her masterpiece away. Olivia grumbled something about snooty artists and returned to her seat in the grass. She had begun to pluck and examine individual blades of grass when Celia announced her completion.

The sketch piece was a variant of her own sword and crossbow, Windlash, but with some key design changes. The mechanical details she would have to add in herself alongside Celia's own work. Immediately apparent, in place of the two limbs of her own weapon were four similar limbs in the shape of a wide 'X.' The body around the crossbow's draw lever was widened, and a separate drawing detailed the addition. Contained in the expanded lever housing was a dust canister and an odd pulley system.

"That," Celia pointed to the new lever system, "is what makes this all possible. That arrangement is a Dust-powered draw assist so you can launch heavier bolts, or the same ones much faster. This works out well, as the required Force Dust is a combination of Earth and Air, which you have an affinity for. All of this to draw twice as much force from the two extra limbs that also make a second sword."

"Wow, this is… you've made something awesome here," said Olivia.

"Really, you made it. Modifying it was easy." said Celia. "Now, on to your semblance. I doubt that making your sword go through stuff is all it can do. You're going to need to focus again, really hard this time. This is something that needs to be done on your own; it's your semblance after all. If you can't figure it out, just rest on it. It could take all day, or all week." She collected her vials back into her box and gathered her backpack. "I'll let the boys know you're here and not to bother you."

"Thanks, I'll see you tomorrow at departure," said Olivia. Her new teammate left down the winding garden path toward the tall, white buildings of Beacon.

Celia gone, she flopped back onto the grass. Olivia remembered how the teachers at Signal walked them through discovering their semblances, or rather the process of discovery. Alone in the garden she laid back on the ground, looking at the sky. She spread her arms out wide, as if trying to capture the sky in her arms. The occasional puffy white cloud passed over her through the bright blue sky.

First, the body, she thought. Beginning at her toes, she labored to release every bit of tension from her muscles. Her legs were an obstacle, having walked all over Beacon and just finished sitting up on the grass. Next, the mind over the body. Having released her chest and arms, she had to forget her body; convince her mind that it isn't there, ignore all of the cumbersome little signals reporting back to the mind that everything was in its place.

One by one, the sensations around her disappeared, the warmth of the sun and cool autumn breeze faded away. She could no longer feel the very weight of her body, or the earth and grass pressing back beneath her. Sounds fell unheard and sights went unseen, as she focused more and more inward on her Aura.

Last, the soul.

The soul, the 'who' to the body's 'what.' The core of one's being, it is contained by the body and mind; without the two the soul has no anchor and may fall prey to the rough seas. A soul can be overburdened by fear, anxiety, jealousy, hatred; these and many more can weigh the soul down and drag it under the water.

The Semblance and the Aura, both manifestations of the soul, are the soul's means of interacting with the physical world. To grow one's Aura is identical to strengthening the soul, and discovering the Semblance is akin to shaping it. The soul must raise anchor and bail out before it may change direction or move forward.

Olivia closed her eyes. She had to cast out the heavy emotions that were dragging her down. They were all there waiting for her: fear for her team and for Vi, anger at herself for her weakness, her jealousy for Celia's semblance and loathing of her own. As she fought the last a new foe emerged, doubt of her self. With each that fell, she felt a growing disconnection with reality. The separation from her mind and body made the world look like the dream.

She found herself walking the forest near her home. The trees rose several stories high before forming a needle canopy overhead that still allowed filtered sunlight through. Outside of the leaves crunching underfoot, the forest was totally silent. When she looked to her side, she saw herself an arm's length away looking the same direction. She raised an arm out to grab a shoulder, and jumped when a hand grasped her own.

She looked to the other side, and saw herself grabbing her shoulder and looking away again. She released the shoulder, and the hand on hers obeyed. Ahead of her stood another Olivia, and she guessed that another stood behind her. As she looked upon the different, yet identical Olivias, it became apparent that more and more were appearing around her. She stepped forward, and the mass obeyed. Surveying the mass once more, some of them were partially phased into the trees of the forest.

She felt another hand on her shoulder, this one was not hers. It shook her repeatedly, she was losing grip on the world around her. As she fell through the ground itself, all of the copies turned and watched her fade from their presence.

The thin girl came back to the real world with a start, a reaching hand almost swiping at her partner's face. Rejoining the realm of the living she heard Erol, "We've been waiting, it's time for dinner."

Falling again.

Countless times she had fallen, only to find herself placed on an invisible floor once again. Vi had begun to lose hope that she would ever break the cycle. The many times she had collected the courage to combat the enemy horde were all met with defeat. She had finally concluded that without Dust it will be impossible for her.

If I can't beat this, then I guess I will never be a Hunter, she thought. A Hunter. Something about that word triggered her memory. What is a Hunter? The word felt arcane to her. The memory forced its way to the surface, it was from one of Ozpin's infamous cryptic speeches. His voice rang clearly in her mind, "Hunters are comprised of the earth in their bones, the breath in their lungs, the blood in their veins, and the fire in their hearts."

Earth. Wind. Water. Fire.

Adrift in the void, she called out to her body in search of the faintest glimmer of Dust, of hope. She could feel it inside of her, all four were present and accounted for. There was the rigid and stubborn earth that was the strength in her bones. There was the water, the base of her lifeblood. The air filled her chest. Then there was the fire. Unlike the others the fire was concentrated at one point: her heart.

Vi placed a hand over her beating heart. She focused on that point of fire and willed it into her hand. From her chest emerged a roaring fire, wreathing her hand in bright flickering flames. It had been ages since she felt the warmth of her fire and joyful tears streamed down her cheeks. She huddled around it, reveling in the feeling of the fire as her tears sizzled and hissed in its heat.

The feeling of weight was returning again, as if gravity was falling back into place. She knew what was coming, but the enemy didn't. Standing up on the invisible floor, the red eyes opened around her. She stepped forward again, the white floor expanded from beneath her.

She raised a hand high and a crackling pillar of fire burst from her hand in challenge.

Professor Ozpin returned to his desk, one last check for correspondence before he turned in for the evening. Finally, he thought as he saw Headmaster Rorek's simple message: "Agreed. -R." This concurred with Azalea's "Explain. -A" that he had gotten four days prior.

The Beacon Headmaster's reply was just as brief, "Friday, 5:00 PM."

Here begins the division of the civilized world, thought Ozpin