Writings of a Sage

1.) Home Invasion

2.) Back to the Streets

3.) Always Forward

4.) Home Turf

5.) Memory Lane

6.) The Mission

7.) Firesale

8.) Scarlet Hearts and Blue Blades

9.) Flashback

10.) Just my Luck

11,) Down in the Second Period

The door flinging open with a loud slam did very little to disturb Dash. He was already awake, and although sleep had evaded him for the past hour at least, he still laid curled up hoping it would embrace him soon. But, his body was too acclimated at this point to the same confined surroundings, and seeing the same guards watching him for what felt like the millionth time, and the same early wakeup call from the medic Sienna sent to check his vitals. Dash rolled over and creaked his eyes open, still trying to maintain the facade of sleep even though the racket meant it was pointless. It was like he was begging the alarm before class for five more unattainable minutes. He was expecting the medic to kick the bars and bark at him to wake up any second now. 

But instead, all he saw through squinted eyes was Sienna pacing back and forth in a crazed hurry. She was mumbling in a hushed tone, too quietly for Dash to make anything out. On about the seventh or eighth cycle of turning toward the door, she finally noticed three or four Fang soldiers in the doorway, each with important questions or paperwork for Sienna but none of them daring to be the first one to present it to her.

“I need this place to myself for a while. So everyone OUT!” Now the guards were tripping over each other to see who could get away from Sienna’s flame-bearing teeth the fastest. Dash could hear the tornado of papers being abandoned from his cell. The last one out didn’t want a reprimand finding its way up the chain of command. Or worse, a reprimand from Sienna in the form of fire being flicked their way. Once left alone, Sienna put two fingers to both her temples and rubbed with an excruciating groan. Now she talked louder, but still as if Dash couldn’t hear. “They have to know by now, right? They have to, one of them had to tell them. How does this keep happening? Why do they keep showing up now of all times?! What am I, haunted??” Dash sat up on the bed, with Sienna unaware, her back turned in search through a cabinet for the next stashed bottle of booze she would claim as a victim.

“So. How was he?” Dash finally spoke up. Sienna’s spin cycle of rumination halted. Dash wanted to add a comment about how it was a bit too early to drink. But he didn’t want to test his possibly sleep deprived warden’s barely existent patience. Otherwise the next bottle of whiskey would be aimed right at his head with speed and precision that would’ve made him jealous on the baseball field.

“What?” Sienna said angrily.

“Sol. You saw him, right? Did you make sure to tell him hi for me?”

“You think this is funny? I keep running into your fucking team!”

“And that’s my fault?” Dash said, unable to contain a disbelieving laugh. “Oh look! It’s the consequences of my own actions! I thought they’d never catch me here!” Sienna snarled and suddenly reached in between the bars to snatch the heir by the throat. Dash gasped and tried to prop his foot against a bar to try and pull away, but Sienna kicked the bar, sending pain reverberating up to his already damaged knee.

“You don’t get to talk about actions! Look where your actions got you! Forgotten by your precious family name that you defended at any cost no matter how many lives had to suffer in your shadow!” Dash was choking for mercy. His legs were starting to give out. In a last ditch effort, he reached out to try and pry Sienna’s hand off of him, just for her other searing hand to lock onto his forearm. “It’s your fault you're here. It… it's your fault we can't be together!” She suddenly let go, and Dash dropped onto all fours in a vicious coughing fit. It was like Sienna was brimming with so much rage she couldn't transfer it to her muscles. So instead, she settled for an alternative and grabbed her own arm. She grimaced but didn't let go as the skin around her fingers began to glow red.

“What… what are you doing?” Dash asked shakily, his voice raspy in between coughing.

“Like you care,” Sienna mumbled with ears down. She was right, part of him didn't. Part of him wanted to watch her self-destruct. But part of him remembered what she told him. How she was the reason he and Dawn were still alive. He felt care in between the pulses of pain throbbing through his arm and his neck. He wanted to tell her to stop, to knock it off, although the chances of her actually listening were somewhere between slim and none. The door flying open again, however, did the trick and she let go. The White Fang rookie that drew the short straw scrambled in.

“Boss!” he called.

“I told you I didn't wanna be bothered! This better be good,” Sienna yelled. He nodded sheepishly and outstretched his hand to offer up a phone. After a moment to let her fingers cool, she took it for inspection. The screen was dark at first, but then illuminated to reveal a call with an unknown number already in progress. “I hate phone calls,” she thought to herself, surveying it a little longer as if someone else was going to take it from her if she waited. But, she put it up to her ear and spoke bluntly. “Speaking.” The voice on the other end was calm, almost scarily assured, like it was nothing more than a standard business affair.

“Where are my kids?”

An uncontrollable grin took over Sienna's face. This was exactly what her spirits needed. The voice she had been dying to hear grovel and beg.

“Well, well. Hello Toney. I got one of them with me right now,” Sienna said with a triumphant chuckle. She hoped the sense of victory in her voice oozed right into Tone's wounded, defeated pride. Dash was already perked up before she held the phone up to him. “Say hi to the daddy that forgot about you.”

“Dad?! Dad whatever you gotta do, just do it and get me and Dawn outta here!” As his volume raised, so did the irritation in his throat before he was cut off by another loud cough. “I haven't heard from Dawn in weeks. We've been here long enough, we gotta get her out! Just do it!” He couldn't hear his dad respond before Sienna put the phone back to her ear, thanks to the racking coughing fit that doubled him over. He didn't even know if there was a response to listen to.

“See? He's alive,” Sienna sang into the phone. “No thanks to you. It's been damn near a month now and you've done nothing to try and get your kids back? Not even a whisper from you, just your cronies. It's almost like you want your kids to die. Don't blame you, your son is annoying as hell.”

“I see,” Tone said. If any of Sienna's attempts to get under his skin worked, he didn't show it. He was still in negotiation mode. It was the complete opposite of Dash's silent panic. “And what, may I ask, are you planning on doing with him and my daughter?”

“Oh Toney. I don't want anything but to see your nice little family reunited. But others in the White Fang? Well, they have a looooot of plans involving your children. So what happens is entirely dependent on what you do next.”

“So what do you want from me?” Tone asked. Sienna found his unwavering stony demeanor disappointing. She really wanted to hear one of Remnant's most powerful oppressors pleading at her feet for mercy, not acting like he was trying to get her to cut to the chase. But, that didn't stop her from letting out a hellish cackle.

“What I want? Your obituary,” she said. Again, no vocal response. She wished she could see the face on the other end of the call. “But we'll settle for some reparations. To pay us back for the trouble we went through getting little Dawn and Spicy, you will transfer five million lien to a specified bank account. Once the payment is received, we'll provide you their location and you can head back to your cute little estate or take a vacation to some private island to destress, whatever rich people do, I dunno. So, we got a deal?” 

There was a pause. A long pause. The seconds ticked by long past uncomfortable lengths. Sienna tapped her foot impatiently before silently scowling. “C'mon, clock's ticking Ospreay. Otherwise that begging you heard will be the last words you'll ever hear from your son. I know you got enough brain cells in that dying skull of yours to know how blackmail works, so why don't you-”

“You're a fucking idiot.” Sienna's eyes flared with shocked anger as she slowly stared at the phone, only to be met with the call runtime. Her eyes then shot at Dash as if looking for an explanation. But he merely shrugged, alarmed and lost. “It's obvious I've worked in this world longer than you have. You're out of your depths. I have been working to make sure you are fucking sorry for ever stepping foot in my home, you stupid, pathetic mutt!”

“Ooooooh mutt, that's a new one. I don't know, I enjoyed stomping my muddy feet all over your clean floor. Might have to do it again some time,” Sienna replied, stubbornly refusing to let him shake her confidence. Her disobedience knew no bounds. “And for being so full of shit, now your kids cost ten million.” Dash's eyes widened at Sienna's gall, silently mouthing his worry even though it fell on “deaf” ears. There was another pause.

“Bold. I would almost commend you. Almost. You see, I have a reputation to uphold. My business is a stalwart amongst Atlas. If I didn't hold myself to being a beacon of strength and consistency, then who knows what else in Atlas could fall? So with talk of this renegade ‘bounty hunter’ coming onto my property and making off with my kids without consequence, that would most certainly be a sign of weakness.” Another pause, though this one shorter and much more tolerable, until uttering just two more icy words.

“Sienna Umberon.”

Sienna's ears instantly pinned back. For once, her body went cold. Even her blood was frozen with fear in her veins. She glared at the phone as if he could see her through it. Then she spun around looking at every corner of the room. Was something bugged? But, not even the piercings or mismatching eyes would give her away to him. “How the fuck does he know that?!”

“It's that reputation I wanna destroy. Remember, do anything too brash and I'll start sending you back your kids IKEA style.” Sienna refused to acknowledge he nailed her identity. However, the threat that had Dash keeping a grateful eye on all ten of his fingers in his cell only produced a light chuckle from his father.

“I see you haven't grasped the gravity of the situation. You think I'm still bluffing.” The phone dinged in her ear loud enough where she had to tilt her head away from it. The notification was a text message. It was a picture from the night of the Ospreay raid taken from under a table by a frightened partygoer of Sienna sauntering right to Tone's face. “I know who you are. I know your marks.” Two more messages came in quick succession, kicking the first photo she was still studying up the screen. The first one was a screenshot from the Vytal Festival TV feed of Team JASR lined up for their first round match. One of Sienna’s hands was on Amber’s shoulder to ease her anxiety from the massive crowd while the other was claws out, ready to fight. The second came from a social media account that set off sirens in her head - DownTheFoxxhole. It was Alex’s account, and the picture was a selfie her brother took of them. “And I know who you hold close.”

Sienna grit her teeth and made sure to turn her head away so Tone couldn’t hear her seething. Her tail flicked sparks in every direction. The next sound the phone made caused Sienna to cock back like she was going to spike it, but instead of more “evidence” it was just an excessive heat warning. She grabbed a bottle to unload her semblance in order to spare the phone. All this time he was simply building a case. This wasn’t life or death to Tone. Nothing could be to a man who thought he was the definition of untouchable. This was just another trial in a litany of defense cases against himself, except this time he didn’t need the skeezy but insanely skilled lawyer the Schnees gifted him upon forming their alliance.

“So you will return my children,” he went on, “or I will make sure these photos end up on every scroll in Remnant. It would merely take a couple of phone calls. I’m sure every news station would want to have the inside scoop on the identity of this kidnapper that has captivated their headlines.”

“I know you’re not bluffing. I’m not fucking stupid! Congrats, you and your little bootlickers can use the internet.” Sienna could no longer play cool and stifle her resentment. The stress relief bottle was getting softer, melting and sagging where it touched her palm.

“I’m sure you have enough dying brain cells to understand how blackmail works. So, do we have an understanding, Miss Umberon?” Tone said. His self-satisfaction came effortlessly, and it was enough to stop Sienna’s heart due to the fury it was causing. She didn’t come this far to back down now.

“Shut down everything you run, make a public announcement acknowledging the number of faunus you’ve killed and endangered for the sake of money, and never go into business again. Then we’ll have an understanding.”

“Fuck…” Sienna said, barely anything more than an emotion riddled sigh. She pressed her clenched fists to her forehead until no amount of aspirin would make this headache go away easily. She closed her eyes. She wanted to cry. She wanted to punch something. She wanted to burn the whole world down and start something new in its ashes. Something alone. But instead, all she could do is scream. “FUCK! I’M GONNA KILL HIM. I'M GONNA SO KILL HIM!”

“Hm,” Tone hummed, unmoved. “Speak with your higher ups. I have a feeling I will be hearing from you very soon. And remember, if you cross my deal, I will make sure to personally bash that blonde little faggot’s head in and mount his tail on my wall.” It was a good thing the “negotiation” was over because that was the last thing that phone would ever do. Smoke and sparks poured out of it before Sienna finally sent it hurtling into the concrete. Whatever parts weren’t liquified bounced and shattered into pieces.

“What the hell happened?? Is he paying the ransom or what?” Dash finally worked up the courage to make his presence known again. Sienna paid him zero attention. She was too busy going back to pacing the floor again, now at double time thanks to the frenzy she had worked herself into. She was kicking aside pieces of broken phone as she did so. “Sienna, what happened?” Dash called again louder to get through her mumbling of wanting to kill him over and over again.

“No! Your daddy is too worried about his precious bottom line! Is that what you wanna hear? I was fucking right and you didn’t wanna listen! That’s the reason you’ve been left here to rot for weeks!”

“Quit with the bullshit already and just tell me what happened!” Dash said. To his heartbreak, there was no snarky comment, no shit eating grin, no teasing at his expense. Only a deadpan stare as she pushed her hair aside with a glowing red arm, the same as Dash's. His sternness trailed off. “You're… you're not joking.” His heart sank. His eyes widened before glazing over into a blank stare. He knew Sienna's asking price was steep, but still easily affordable for Ospreay Industries. So to be stuck in this hell with seemingly no end, and left to wonder what his sister has been going through. Did the money really matter that much? Was his dad's pride really that important to him? “What did he actually say?”

“That he's gonna make me regret breaking into your house, crap like that. Nothing about ‘saving’ you and Dawn. He's just focusing on blackmailing me.”

“And how’s he planning on doing that?” Dash inquired. No reply from the bent over fox faunus as she searched for her next dose of firewater for her nerves. “C’mon Sienna you gotta suck it up and use your words!”

“It’s for me to know and for you to find out at the side of your dad’s deathbed! Sorry I’m just full of disappointments for you today, Strawberry Shortcake,” she said without turning around. Then she mumbled on to no one besides herself in particular. “Typical medic bullshit, telling me to slow up, she better not have hid it.”

“Lemme guess,” Dash said after a moment of contemplation. “Your teammates. Or your brother. Knowing my dad, probably both. He likes to be thorough.” The loud crashing and tossing of the cabinet’s contents that weren’t Sienna’s sole objective came to a sudden stop.

“Lucky guess,” she grumbled.

“It’s not much of a guess. You only like four people, Sienna.” She finally spun around, causing Dash to recoil, until she saw the smile on her face at finding the bottle she had been yearning for. 

“That’s not true! … It’s five people. Leo’s a cool brother-in-law,” she said, ears lowering a little.

“Wait.” Dash’s stare grew far away, a thousand yards past Sienna inelegantly tearing off the top of the bottle. His eyes moved like they were calculating something, dots being connected. “If he goes after your team, then mine won’t be that far behind! Sol will try to defend Amber, and Sapph will help. And anyone that helps them, he’s just gonna go after them too!”

“Yuuuup. Glad to know we’re in this sinking ship together!” she said, raising her glass in a mocking toast.

“Sienna you gotta let me outta here!”

“Like hell I do! You and your sister are my only way out of this mess! I gotta talk with the High Leader. Ugh that fuckin pain in my ass. He’s gonna be pissed at me if we kept you alive this long and get no ransom money out of it. I kept trying to tell him the reward would make everything worth it. Now the reward is just keeping my identity safe. That bastard is gonna try and sell me out.”

“Our reward is keeping our friends safe! We’re the only ones that know what’s going on! We can warn them! I can maybe get my dad to stop, he might listen to me. But that’s only if you let me out to talk to him.” Sienna shook her head during his whole explanation, only stopping to down another swig. “Does your chain of command really mean anything to you if they’re just gonna view you as a ‘necessary sacrifice’?”

“And what about you?!” Sienna said with renewed indignation. “You’re the one keeping all your dad’s business secrets safe. You keep thinking he’s the victim here when he clearly left his own kids here to die! If you had just helped me like I asked and let me have it my way, he woulda been dealt with by now!” 

“For a woman who swears she doesn’t kill, you sure sound ready to murder,” Dash said. Sienna stayed dead silent. Not because she had a lack to say; there were a thousand words ready to spill past her lips. But, she kept them pursed shut. Nothing she had to say would’ve been worth wasting her breath on him. Instead, she closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to compose herself as much as the internal whirlwind she was facing would allow her. An uphill battle if there ever was one. But, she figured the last thing she needed was to scorch her insurance policy.

“You still don’t get it. You’re still blind to the world around you. Do you even know where you are right now?” Dash paused. He hadn’t a clue where he actually was. The only answer he could come up with was hell, and Sienna was the personal demon assigned to him. After going unconscious in his garage, he woke up in this cell. He couldn’t even guess what continent he was on. Sienna got tired of waiting for an answer. “You’re in an abandoned factory that used to have your name on it. Tore down part of the forest for Ospreay Industries’ latest state of the art crime against humanity. The White Fang converted it into something useful. Guess your loss is our gain.”

“Tsuyukusa?” The town name came to Dash almost instinctively. A small town in the snowy north of Mistral, where Atlas’ influence was stronger than their own home kingdom’s much further away in the south. No one besides the locals or the biggest of geography buffs in Remnant would know this place if it wasn’t for its lone claim to infamy. The reason Dash prayed he never ended up on the path to this town. He prayed he was wrong, up until Sienna nodded her head.

“You automatically knew.”

“I remember the headlines well,” Dash said meekly.

“Oh, you remember them? You remember the people that died here? Or do you only remember what dear old dad wanted you to hear while he was throwing money at his latest PR mess. Shutting this place down and relocating somewhere new for a show of “good faith” to get the journalists off his ass while in reality changing nothing. The new place is run the exact same way. And if the workers couldn't relocate with the factory, well sucked for them.”

The truth was Dash remembered this incident very well. He remembered all the headlines his father let past his filter, and this one was far too big to hide from his son forever. His dad would always explain how the headlines were always blown out of proportion. The papers were just looking for some explosiveness to generate more readers and get them riled up. He was told those same things for so long that he believed them, and he would spout them over and over at Beacon. All the smear campaigns, the threats from the White Fang, his family were the victims here. Dash could've and should've felt more victimized than ever with the beatings he had been taking while held captive. But, he didn't feel like his family were the ones suffering. Not equally at least.

“I heard it all. I even heard a few of the workers left behind from the move jumped from this very roof. That's… not true, is it?”

“Wanna see the memorial built for them?” Sienna asked, back turned and arms across her chest. Dash closed his eyes. He had always clung to that plausible deniability. If he didn’t see it personally, maybe it didn’t happen. But now, he was face to face with the truth he spent his whole life avoiding. He was living in it. It was all around him. Only a small clinking noise got him to peek in between his fingers without removing his hand from his face. A freshly poured glass of whiskey sat in between the middle bars of his cell.

“Figured you might need that right now,” Sienna said, still facing away. She was about to take her leave before Dash stopped her once more.

“Sienna. You gotta at least do me one favor.”

“I don't have to do anything.”

“Tell Dawn what happened here. Tell her the truth. She deserves to know.” Sienna sat motionless before her shoulders raised and fell with a deep sigh.

“Fine. And by the way, I wasn't kidding Dash. If it means saving my friends and my brother, I will make your father's skull my personal cup.”

{some time later}

Why was this so hard? It was just a White Fang captain having to tell the bounty she scored that her dad left her here to die. Not like it was anything she couldn’t have figured that out by now. And not like Sienna was supposed to care. No one else wearing her mask would. But, it still ate away at her as she rehearsed what she was going to say in her head at least half a dozen times, just to shake her head and start over each time. The damned walk there wasn’t helping matters. It was already long enough to make Sienna wish to sink her butt into a bean bag chair every time she took it; the dread was only making it feel longer.

It seemed like no one hardly noted Sienna’s arrival into the room upon first glance. Dusty was leaned back in his chair, his mask doing the job of trying to obscure that he dozed off for a nap. The typing from the fennec fox faunus sat across from him was too soft to stir him. Their double monitor setup illuminated pale skin, a sandy reddish pixie cut, and a pair of fox ears that were the only thing getting them to clock over 5 feet tall. Even if their head was plain to see and not buried in work, they would fuzz even the most attuned gender radars. Dawn was actually the first to spot Sienna, though she did so silently. She stopped scribbling in her sketchbook, which was at least a couple dozen pages more filled than the last time Sienna noticed it.

“Finally relieving us from our post, Captain?” T asked without pulling their eyes away from the screens.

“Not yet. Just came to check on the girl,” Sienna replied before looking around. “Where’s Karma?”

“She got tired of doing action poses for the kid’s drawings, so she subbed me in. Kept telling me I’d make a good muse,” Dusty spoke up, revealing he’s awake.

“Yeah, if the brave hero needs to defeat someone sleeping on the job, then consider me inspired.” Sienna rolled her eyes. Her comment did little to rouse the Tango Squadron leader apart from sitting his chair back on all four of its legs. She wanted to expect more from both of them while on watch duty, but she knew she wasn’t going to get it. So, she ignored them and turned to Dawn, trying to play off the fact her heart was beating out of her chest. “Still not gonna talk to me?” Dawn shook her head. Sienna was just hunting for anything she could use to stall for time, even though she knew she should just rip the bandage off. Why now of all times was her trademark bluntness failing her? Eventually, her eyes fell to Dawn’s book, which the young socialite had lowered from her guard without realizing. On it was a drawing of her brother, the #1 on the back of his jersey proudly - or a lot of times, arrogantly - bolstered on his back. But instead of fighting some goon in a White Fang mask vaguely in the shape of her or Dusty or Karma, it was a man armed with a sword and shield that Dash stood over in victory.

“Wow, you’re getting better each time I see you. You really nailed your brother. Who’s the other guy though, an original character or something?” In a jolt, Dawn immediately pulled it back to her chest. Sienna sighed and dismissed her own question. Conversation was going to get her nowhere even if the small talk did work. “So… I heard from your dad just now.”

“Y-you did?? So he’s finally coming to get me and Dash?” Dawn said, finally perked up enough to speak. Sienna swallowed hard.

“Um. Yeah. Soon,” she awkwardly sputtered out. She wasn’t technically lying. She knew in her head one way or another, this was going to end soon. Neither the White Fang hierarchy nor her father were patient enough to wait on this for much longer. But, she couldn’t face Dawn with anything more than a mere half-truth. Not even Sienna’s claws could match the sharpness of the truth. However, there was no bright surge of optimism evident on Dawn’s face. Instead, her face mirrored her falling heart.

“Soon…? Th-that’s it? All he gave you is soon?” she said. She hung her head, hiding her face underneath her bright red locks. “I… I shouldn’t be surprised. Why would I be a priority? I haven’t been one since Dash left for Beacon. And dad hasn’t pulled himself away from his work since then.” At first, her words weren’t burdened with the weight of untamed emotion. She sounded unsurprised, more resigned to her fate than anything, which honestly hurt Sienna worse. But as she kept talking, the cracks became more visible. Her words trembled as tears began falling and staining the artwork in her lap. “I-I’m no heir. But Dash.. why would he leave us? Why would he abandon us to be left with terrorists??” Hearing this from her gutted Sienna, and it even brought Dusty to remove his mask and look over with concern.

“Is that really all they told you is soon?” T asked with a disgusted groan. “I knew this plan was a mistake, expecting the capitalist machine to pay up their precious money. We shoulda just offed the two of them.” Dawn finally looked up, her teary eyes now filled with a feeling none of her captors and even none of her family had seen from her before: defiance. She hummed a crayon over Sienna’s shoulder, drilling T in one of their fox ears. “You brat!” they growled after a flinch before rising from their chair. But the moment T took a step toward the cell, Sienna stood up with her hand aflame. Dawn reeled back and closed her eyes, but her fear of punishment was abated slightly when she saw Sienna was glaring daggers at her comrade.

Riley sat in her locker with head down, focusing on twirling a puck between her fingers. The passing by of teammates discussing gameplans hardly fazed her. It was second intermission in front of a packed house tonight, even though a sizable chunk of the crowd were just looking for a brief escape from Vacuo's desert heat. Regardless, it made it all the more frustrating for the goaltender that with 20 minutes left to play her team was facing a 3-1 deficit. The offense was struggling to find a consistent rhythm, so she kicked herself a little harder for giving up a pair of goals she thought she should've easily had covered. But she'd never allow herself to be pulled out of the game. They'd have to rip her away from her position kicking and screaming.

“Hey goaltender.” The voice coming from the doorway that followed a knock Riley was too zoned in to hear brought her eyes upward for the first time in minutes. Sienna stood there, ears down a little. Her usual grin was present, but a bit more muted with a soft tenderness that replaced her loud brashness. Riley smiled back in turn, but it was fleeting.

“Hey she can't be in here! Team personnel only! We don't need distractions!” one of the team's defensemen Aurora growled at the fox-tailed punk. Sienna scowled and stuck out her tongue. Making sure to stare at Aurora the whole time she willfully ignored her, Sienna stepped inside and sat right next to Riley. The heat naturally radiating from Sienna made Riley want to curl up next to her like under the covers on the rare cold night, but she fought the urge.

“God is she always such a bitch?” Sienna asked, semi-hushed.

“She just wants us all to stay focused,” Riley answered in defense before finishing her thought in a mumble. “She and I both know I really need it right now.” Sienna frowned. She knew better than anyone how chill Riley was under pressure. Ice in the veins, especially when it was game time. But she could tell today was different. Riley was bothered, but she couldn’t figure out why. One of Sienna’s hands came to rest on Riley’s thigh, rubbing gentle circles on it.

“Hey, chin up. 3-1 is the worst lead in hockey, right? You got this. And if you don’t, then I’ll just fight the other goalie. If he tries to chirp you, I’ll just get him with a pipe wrench to the kneecap.” The casual madness brought a more long-lasting smile to Riley’s face, which in turn broadened Sienna’s own smile. It did way more to help than vague platitudes of optimism ever could. Just Sienna being Sienna. What could make her happier? She wrapped an arm around Riley’s shoulders for a supportive side hug, and Riley nodded with renewed determination. “Whatever happens, Riley, you know we’re in it together.”

“Hey, sorry we’re late.”

Riley sat on a bench with head down, focusing on twirling a puck between her fingers. The passing by of teammates discussing gameplans hardly fazed her. It was just past dusk, but she could still feel herself being pelted by Vacuo’s desert heat. She paid it as much mind as she did with Auburn and Rin’s arrival. In fact, despite everyone’s wear, the only one who seemed to mind was the approaching husky faunus, slick with sweat after the run there with her jacket tied around her waist. Auburn waved a hand toward Riley’s face after her apology drew no reaction, but again the redhead sat silent. Jade filled the uncomfortable void from behind her.

“Glad you made it.” Amber accompanied her with a soft wave hello. While not as low as Riley, it was obvious neither of them were in top spirits either. They probably spent the past day racked with emotion, and none of them good. But it also appeared to make the three of them equally determined. Auburn gave a nod before turning to face a building across the street.

“This is the place?” she said. The building she eyed was a small and unassuming brick fixture. Nothing about it from the outside screamed it was run by the so-called “force of revolution” White Fang. Though that was probably by design. But, Auburn's dad was sure it was the place, and she knew better than to doubt him. “So what's the plan? We just head in there and bust some asses till someone gives us something useful?” Her right fist met her left palm as she went on.

“Is everything just a bar fight to you? Not only are you gonna ruin an actual soup kitchen, but you're also gonna throw us in a situation where we don't know what to expect,” Riley finally spoke, doing very little to conceal her irritation. Jade placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her, even though she was just as displeased with Auburn's “plan”.

“Hasn't stopped us before,” Auburn mumbled under her breath with a shrug. Riley shook her head before looking up and meeting the green eyes of her team leader.

“What's the plan?” she asked her. Jade recoiled her hand back in surprise. She was always surprised when they asked her, like it was still a shock she was an actual team leader. Despite internally wondering if she should ask someone else, her team always looked to her and trusted her to lead nevertheless. 

“The White Fang have these kitchens all over Remnant. It was an initiative the Belladonnas pushed for during the previous regime. I remember there being one in Vale where I grew up. While it was primarily for faunus, they'd give a human a free meal too if they looked down on their luck enough.” She rubbed down the back of her neck until her fingers curled around the ends of her hair. Amber reached a hand out to her, but quickly drew it back when she continued. “Now I doubt they'd be so tolerant. Only a faunus is gonna be our ticket inside.”

“Problem with that,” Rin interjected. “Auburn and I just fought with some Fang guys. What if we get recognized?”

“Not to mention everyone on these streets is gonna know my face by now. It'd look suspect if I just strolled in asking for food,” Auburn added. She was right. With how notorious the leader of the Leash was, no Fang mask could hide her from the dusty, maze-like streets of her hometown. Before Jade’s brainstorming could go far though, someone crashing into her from behind nearly took her off her feet. A scaled reptilian faunus trucked through her before turning back with a scowl like it was her fault. While he was in normal street clothing, the hoodie marked with the red claw marks of the White Fang insignia made it clear who he was with. No mask required.

“Ugh move it stupid human! I’m already late enough!” he said nastily, only slowing down just enough to scold Jade. Auburn’s crimson eyes flared with the trademark rage that usually came before a quick and decisive combination of punches. But before she could pick her fight, Jade acted first. Her face didn’t express anger; it expressed the light bulb above her head going off. In a flash, she drew her weapon: two bladed pistols bound together by chain. She wrapped the chain around the mouthy faunus’ throat, effectively clotheslining him onto the dirt below. Jade followed up with a blow to the temple to render him unconscious, all before the other four girls could even question what she was thinking.

“Help me with this,” Jade said, strained as she began to try and drag the man’s body into a more secluded alleyway. Riley was first to snap out of the stupor and spring up to help her. Rin looked around in hopes they weren’t attracting too much unwanted attention. Not that most Vacuoan citizens cared enough to rat them out to someone that was supposed to stop them. Meanwhile, Auburn was just jealous Jade stole her KO. Once out of sight, Jade fished around through his hoodie pocket and found the missing piece to his ensemble - his Fang mask. The man probably wished he was wearing it. At least it’d cover the nasty bruise under one of his shut eyes. Jade held up the mask to her friends. “I think we just found our ticket inside. The girls then understood. Handing it over to Amber, she then started pulling the hoodie off of him with Riley’s assistance, all while Rin and Auburn stood guard.

“We’ll make sure to keep an eye on you while you’re in there,” she told Rin.

“Wait what? Me?? Why am I the one going in there? You’re the one always showing off how well you know Vacuo,” Rin said, flabbergasted.

“Yeah that’s the problem. Like I said, this whole kingdom is gonna recognize me, and they know I’m not gonna go anywhere near a Fang establishment. Besides you’ve been here long enough. You got this.” But before she could offer any more objection, Riley threw the hoodie at the husky girl. In her mind, they had already wasted enough time. She unfurled it so the Fang emblem across the chest was glaring back at her. Even as just a disguise, it felt… wrong. It felt like something she was grateful Shiina and Hikari weren’t here to see. But, she dismissed those thoughts and put it on, covering up the chain L logo of the Leash  on her tank top. She grimaced slightly at that awful heat. How could the others be so used to this weather they can wear leather jackets or hockey jerseys? Then, Amber outstretched a gloved hand and gave her the mask. It was nothing more than a monotone standard grunt mask, but now it was outfitted with a radio piece Amber had retrieved from her backpack.

“Damn, you did that really fast. You must be a tech wiz. I gotta call you next time I’m having computer problems,” Rin said with a soft smile. Her cadence was rocked with nerves she was trying to play off. If anything, the compliment and attempt at humor was to ease her own tension more than anything. But it backfired when all it drew was a shy nod from Amber. Again, Rin couldn’t figure out this girl’s deal.

“Let's go,” Riley said to get them back on track. Rin slid the mask on and tried to readjust her vision through only the tiny slits it provided. With one last pat on the back from Auburn - one Rin didn't see coming - she unsteadily made her way down the alley toward the back entrance of the kitchen. After struggling to find the handle, she let herself inside. Hopefully there would be an actual Fang agent back here where she could get some answers from. So long as she didn't fall on her face in front of them. Outside, Amber tapped her scroll a few times and synced up to the radio she gave Rin.

“Hey Snowdog, ya got me?” Auburn asked into the phone.

“How the hell do they see out of these things?!” Rin came back in a vexed whisper. All she could do was carefully stagger down the hallway toward a faint commotion. It grew louder and louder until upon opening the next door, then the noise blasted her in the face. A cacophony of shuffling plates and volunteers barking for what food needs to be made next. Rin scanned around, overwhelmed without the slightest clue of where to go or who to go to. That was until a panther faunus that was doing most of the directing pointed Rin out.

“You're late!” she said. It took Rin too long of a pause to register she was talking to her not to be awkward. She was just praying she wasn't in trouble after ten seconds of being there.

“Um y-yeah, sorry. Got caught up in a… sandstorm.”

“Doesn't matter, you're here now, we're down on workers and need you serving. And ditch the mask while you're inside,” the panther replied, practically pushing Rin along. Between not listening to her excuse and being allowed to stuff the mask away into her pocket, Rin was at least a little relieved. She was brought behind the counter, behind several different serving options. Spaghetti and meat sauce, chicken noodle soup, bread rolls, a plate of brownies for dessert. She didn't have long to get situated, however, before her first patron greeted her with a soft “how do you do, sweetie?” She was a short, elderly badger faunus whose white hair and face weathered with wrinkles told she had been through hard times. But, her smile was a genuineness Rin had hardly seen before. She reminded Rin of a grandparent who always looked forward to sharing stories of an exciting long time ago to the grandkids. Rin smiled back before filling her outstretched bowl with soup.

“Thank you so much, my dear. I don't know what I would do without you guys’ efforts here,” she said.

“Hey. It's like I always say. Us faunus gotta stick together,” Rin said. It was something she had said plenty of times in her life, but they lacked her usual gung-ho vigor. It just didn't feel right. It didn't make sense. To be wearing this hoodie, to have this mask, and see not shock or horror or outrage, but gratitude. And as she served more people, that continued. Endless gratitude. Full hearts to go along with full bellies. People giving thanks amidst endless swearing that “the scumbag rich in that floating city would never do this” and that’s what it makes it special. Rin couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride, no matter how sick or twisted it could be when viewed under certain lights. She was doing something right, but for the wrong team. Eventually, the dinner rush died down and that same panther dismissed Rin and the other workers so they could get plates of their own. While scanning for a place to sit, a ram-horned woman in the same hoodie Rin was in tapped her on the shoulder. She had been working next to Rin all night, but it was the first time she spoke to her.

“You seem lost. Come sit with me and a couple friends.” Rin nodded and followed the girl, whose striking blue curls made her easy to spot. They ended up next to a pair of faunus clad in Fang garb of their own. There was a girl with panda ears chatting away with a silver-haired man with a goat tail, along with a couple patrons that blew in from the street next to them.

“Ooooooh I haven’t seen you before. You must be new,” the panda faunus leered at Rin, who barely had the chance to set her tray down.

“Um yeah. I just signed up a week or two ago now,” Rin said, trying to play natural.

“We’ve been getting a lot of new faces around here lately,” the goat faunus said. “Seems like the recent publicity spike is inspiring the next generation. That Ospreay raid was a hit.” Rin fidgeted in her chair a little. The thought of people being “inspired” by such headlines wasn’t one that sat easy with her. At least it took the focus off of her, and meant she could dodge questions for at least a few more moments. She knew she was here for info, and now was her chance.

“What did you all think about that raid?” When no one immediately responded, Rin’s ears shot straight up. Did she mess up already? “I-I mean, you’re right it’s what got me to join. Seeing the Fang do that, that was just something else, man.” The Fang trio exchanged glances before each of them had a smirk grow on their faces until the point of laughter. It sounded triumphant, well-pleased, much more so than the shaky chuckle Rin mustered up to join in.

“Those capitalist bastards finally, finally got a taste of what they deserve,” the goat said, reclining away from his almost empty food tray.

“So many faunus have suffered just in the name of making their bottom line a few pennies bigger,” the ram spoke next, her tone carrying a more solemn weight to it. “So many lives destroyed, condemned to the lowest rungs of the ladder.

“A friend of mine worked in one of Ospreay’s factories as a kid, like age 9 or 10. She lost both her parents in an explosion there, and it caused her to get dust particles infused in her eye. She’s blind in that eye now. Know what the supervisors told her? Get back to work, you’re wasting company time.” Rin couldn’t find anything to say. Nothing she could say could make it any less appalling. Nothing could justify it, not to her, and even heartbreakingly less so for the four girls listening from outside. They all sat in uncomfortable silence. Jade pulled her hood over her head. Amber looked like she wanted to plug her ears. But no one was it feeling it worse than Auburn. The empire her team leader was set to inherit, the one he spent most of their time at Beacon flaunting. It was no secret this is what it was built on. It led to many fights between herself and Dash, shouting matches their neighbors JASR could attest to. But despite Dash’s seemingly endless shtick of playing the victim, despite all the yelling at his stubborn brick head, she kept coming back to that phone conversation at Amity. Him standing up to his father for her.

“Personally, I think they shoulda killed Tone’s brats already. I don’t get this whole ransom play. The only way they’ll understand us is through fear. Eye for an eye,” the goat said resentfully. Auburn stared at Amber’s scroll like she was ready to smash it. She marched forward, ready to vent into it loud enough for everyone to hear through Rin’s earpiece. But thinking quickly, Jade clasped a hand over her mouth.

“So they’re still alive. Alright,” said Rin. Auburn pulled Jade off of her and, after a staredown, her shoulders relaxed. She was happy to hear they were alive. Jade was happy Auburn kept her mouth shut. The next few minutes passed uneventfully, just casual back and forth among friends that Rin couldn't add anything of substance to. She was too deep into reflection of what they said about Atlas’ cruelty anyways, right up until they began rising from their chairs. It was nearing closing time, and most of the cleanup was done.

“So new girl. If you don't have any plans, you're welcome to come with us. We're heading to the Estates to watch the Underground fights tonight,” the ram offered. Rin froze as she stalled in search for an answer from the whispering voices secretly in her ear.

“What's that?” Amber said.

“A fight club that goes on at the Sunshine Estates every week. Bounced around in ownership a bit recently but still always a reliable show. Or a way to make cash, if you can win,” Auburn said. None of them needed to question how she knew all this.

“I don't know, guys. Maybe we should call her back. The longer she's there the more likely she gets figured out,” Jade stated.

“No! She's hardly learned anything yet! We need to see if we can get any lead on Sienna,” Riley retorted in defiance to her leader.

“Uh hey. You in or what?” the ram asked again.

“Uhhhhhh yeahhhh. Yeah I'm in.” After a moment of just stammering, Rin took it upon herself to make the judgment call. She wasn't too worried about being caught. But she couldn't shake a sneaking suspicion in the back of her mind Jade had a point. Despite that, the crew was on their way to the Estates, excitedly led by the panda faunus. Rin brought up the rear. Meanwhile, Amber and the others were being confronted by the soft but growing hum of static.

“Guys, this radio isn't built for long distances. I didn't expect her to be moving,” Amber said. Auburn motioned for them all to follow as she assuredly started leading her own trek. They followed behind the Fang pack by about a block, keeping their distance but still close enough to see Rin lagging behind. She was trying to find an opportunity to radio back to them, but there was no way to do it inconspicuously.

“We need more. Get anything you can, please,” Riley pressed despite the husky's attempts at contact. Her ears lowered, though they snapped back up when the ram girl slowed up to wait for her. She wrapped an arm around her to bring her forward, questioning what was on her mind.

“Sorry, I just… can’t get what you guys said at dinner out of my head. All the crap about the Ospreays. I gotta know, since that’s why I’m here, how do I get missions like that?”

“Pay your dues, work your way up, and show undying devotion, and trust me you’ll get noticed,” the ram smiled at Rin’s eagerness. “Besides that, I really don’t know specifics. The big missions like that are kept completely under wraps. Those probably never leave Mistral HQ. But I did hear a rumor that the person who led that mission is from Vacuo. Granted, I also head they were picked because they knew an Ospreay, but still means there’s hope for you.” Riley deflated, to the point where she almost slowed to a stop. Jade had to make sure she kept walking. Her mind raced too much to focus on keeping her legs moving.

“Could that be… Sienna? No, there’s no way. The Sienna I know wouldn’t do that. She might not have liked Dash, but… No, it has to be someone else.” Jade swallowed hard, while Amber kept herself glued to the screen. It unfortunately lined up with what Auburn had told them. Even more unfortunately, they never had the chance to share that news with Riley. Even if they wanted to, after last night, how could they tell her that? A short jaunt later, they arrived at the former gated community the Sunshine Estates. Inside the small checkpoint building at the entrance was a lone guard, the last one of his kind appointed by Vacuo public officials to keep loiterers and trespassers out. Those same officials, however, had very little power to stop his pockets from getting fatter from all the bribes he was accepting. The truth was every crew in the city had him under their payroll, and that included the White Fang. They passed by, only receiving a downward head nod for their troubles. Then, it was the girls’ turn, with Auburn still leading. The man stood up from his post and directly in the middle of the path inside.

“Auburn,” he spoke directly with a gravelly voice. Auburn smirked, her tail swishing. She seemed entertained more than anything by his attempt at intimidation. His size difference to the average person would have most thinking twice. But Auburn wasn’t most.

“Heya, Blaze. Glad to see the new owners kept you around. How’s the bank account looking these days?” The guard gave a small nod in acknowledgement that business was good, but he didn’t budge. “Look, I already got a date here to see the fights, but if you wanted to join, you just had to ask.” She pointed to Riley on her right at the word “date”, drawing an eye roll from the hockey star turned huntress.

“You know the drill. No weapons,” he said firmly. Riley stepped forward, almost instinctively squaring up to push her way through. She was already tired of wasting time they didn’t have. Auburn’s hand meeting her chest stopped her. “Hm. I see why you picked her as a date.”

“What can I say, she has a thing for abrasive fox faunus. So, this ‘no weapons’ thing. You told the same thing to your Fang buddies up there?” The man kept his ground and gave no answer. Auburn did the same. No one moved a muscle, apart from slight trembling from Amber. Leaning over slightly, she could see the submachine gun he always kept stashed under the desk of his office. With a sigh, she yielded and withdrew a stack of lien from her jacket, the same lien she had won from pool earlier in the day. This finally granted them access to join the growing audience.

Between two of the buildings led them to a packed courtyard. It once housed a playground and blacktop basketball court in view from plenty of rooms from their balconies to watch their children as they played. But today, it held a makeshift ring encased by a sea of rowdier growing spectators, and those same balconies served as viewing platforms for tonight’s main event. A lot of them of the ones watching from above were doing so behind White Fang masks, here to support one of their own. Auburn stretched to her tippy toes to look over the heads in the crowd, first spotting a wolverine clawed faunus in a specialized Fang mask of his own. In the other corner sat a familiar eagle faunus; Shadow was staring bullet holes into his opponent. Auburn figured he needed to make up for his losses. She found no sign of Rin though. Meanwhile, Amber had ducked away under a balcony along a graffiti coated wall.

“It’s too loud, I can hardly hear!” she shouted to the rest of her party. As if on cue, the problem got worse as chants of “Kick his ass!” broke out after ring introductions ended and the fight got under way.

“I lost her. Anybody know where she is?” Auburn said. Riley, using her height to her advantage, tapped her and pointed to the other side of the crowd, . They saw Rin, too busy taking in her first experience to do any investigating. She watched as Shadow ate a punch to the cheek before firing back a retaliatory shot. After a moment of playing with settings, Amber got the audio to come in a bit clearer, though it was still a struggle to put the noise aside.

“There's so many people! Are these fights always this packed?” Rin said.

“No, it seems like every crew in Vacuo is here tonight,” the ram said back before hollering in response to a vicious looking left jab from the dark-haired eagle faunus.

“What do we think of these other crews? Are they cool or?” Rin asked again.

“Depends on if they're smart enough to realize the White Fang is out of their league and stay out of our way,” the goat faunus said from behind them. “Some are, but then you get the few that wanna play big shot. Like the Leash.” Rin went rigid. She tugged on the bottom of her hoodie a little, just to make sure the Leash shirt underneath stayed hidden. “I swear the chick that runs them is dumb as hell. Likes to think she runs this city. She beat the shit out of me cause I was wearing Fang colors in her daddy's little bar. I'd love to kick that bitch's ass back to that excuse of a huntsman school she went to.” He had hardly finished what he was saying before Auburn started pushing her way through the crowd. Her blood was scalding hot. Amber tried to call out to her, but she either couldn’t hear or didn’t want to hear. All she saw was red.

“Auburn! Uhm guys?!” Jade and Riley, who had their backs to them to watch the fight, both spun around and instantly noticed the missing fox. Riley cursed loudly and started trying to chase her down. But it was in vain with how much of a head start Auburn got. The goat faunus felt a tap on the back. He turned around. Directly into a teeth rattling uppercut from Auburn that sent him flying into the rest of the Fang, Rin included. It also had the side effect of grabbing the attention of the section of people around them. And the attention of some of the Fang-affiliated onlookers above.

“You lookin’ for me? You wanna talk shit? Well here I am,” Auburn yelled.

“Auburn?!” Rin said impulsively before catching herself. Her tail tucked between her legs. Oh shit…

“Where the hell did you come from?!” the goat said, holding his jaw on unsteady footing. “How did you- wait, you know her??” He, the ram, and the panda, who were all squaring up ro defend themselves, all turned around to face Rin. Rin backed up protectively until her back bumped into someone else in the crowd. Rin shot a look for Auburn’s way hoping she had some kind of a plan of attack. No escaping now. The Fang member looking down from behind her had no intention of letting get that far as he drew his rifle and aimed down sights at the back if Auburn’s head. Jade and Riley saw this too. Jade drew her pistols, but had no clear shot. So instead, Riley took a puck from her pocket that was glowing red in the center. Pulling out her stick, she lined up her shot like it was a goal before tossing it to herself and smacking it at the bottom of the balcony. If the iconic sound of stick meeting puck didn’t alert everyone, the resulting explosion destroying the balcony sure did. Everyone turned around and collectively gasped.

“Thats the plan. Fuck it, bar fight!” Auburn called to Rin. Confusion reigned for a moment before panic set in. Some blitzed for the exits. Others began fighting amongst themselves. It was a full brawl, with Auburn at the center of it. The panda girl growled and brought out a collapsable bamboo styled bo staff, pointing it right at Rin’s throat. Rin flicked her wrists, snapping her arm blades out as she stood side by side with her Leash sister. The goat angrily charged Auburn with a few sloppy haymakers. She easily dodged and shoved him into another brawler, who turned around and decked the haphazard goat back toward Auburn. Drawing her new chain, she wrapped it around his wrist and used that momentum against him by kicking him away in the back.

The ram faunus paired off with Rin, unable to put her visibly distraught feelings into any words when she clashed with Rin’s blades. So she instead made her emotions clear with a hard headbutt to Rin, causing her to stumble back to. Back to a pole that once held a basketball hoop, Rin’s eyes widened before barely sidestepping a punch aimed at her nose. The ram’s knuckles met unforgiving steel, allowing Rin to kick her aside for the moment. Two more onrushing Fang members armed with swords were coming at her next, so she decided it was time to try out her upgrade. Her blades detached into two boomerangs. She threw them at the two assailants, with the left one sweeping one guy’s legs, while the right one initially missed only to nail the other guy in the back of the head on its return course. Rin caught them and they locked back onto her arms.

“Ditched the crossbow?” Auburn called out.

“I wanted to leave the sniping to… someone else,” she said. The panda faunus came at them with a war cry but Riley intercepted her, hooking the blade of her scythe on her staff. Auburn could feel the frost from the cold shoulder and supplementing unfriendly glare. Auburn wrinkled her nose a little, before a kick to the gut put her on her back. The wolverine faunus that was once one half of the show’s main event had climbed out of the ring to aid his Fang brethren. He had been trying to keep one eye on his opponent, but Shadow had mysteriously disappeared, faded from his peripheral vision into a dark corner. However, as the wolverine tried to stand over Auburn, Shadow materialized from the unlit shade along the building and cinched in a tight sleeper hold. As Auburn dusted herself off and got to her feet, the two exchanged a nod before she left Shadow to collect his winnings. Meanwhile, Jade was trying to keep the marksmen up top busy by firing pot shots at them. But, she saw two more on the ground charging toward Amber.

“Amber! Agh!” She groaned as a bullet struck her in the shoulder, her aura flickering green around her body, absorbing most of the blow. Amber froze in the middle of scrambling to pull something out of her bag. Right as the two goons got close, she brandished a handful of knives between her fingers. She yelped and chucked them at the attackers, but they all missed. They laughed in Amber’s face before one of them backhanded her, dropping her to her hands and knees. They taunted over her, until she raised a gloved hand that began to glow with orange circuitry-like webbing, and the knives retracted back to her, striking the goons in the back like hail.

The ram honed in on Rin again, but this time Auburn stepped in. Suddenly her chain split in two, each half locking onto a metal bracer on her fists. One hand wrapped its chain around the ram’s horn. She widened her stance and held serve, so Auburn used it as leverage to propel herself to her, nailing her with a superman-esque punch. The goat and the panda, now reunited, tried to coordinate a combined attack that would isolate Auburn. Riley knelt down, though, and activated her semblance. With a wave of her hand, the ground they ran on suddenly became a 20 foot long sheet of ice. As they slipped in place, concentrating all their effort in just staying upright, Riley deployed skates from her boots. With no grip, neither of them stood a chance. Slash after slash, she dashed back and forth like it was a practice drill, unleashing more punishment with every swing of her scythe. With both down for the count, Riley skated over to the goat. She towered over him with a terrifying glare.

“I’m done with games tonight. If you don’t recognize the name Sienna Umberon then you better point me to someone who does,” she bellowed. The pained goat faunus tried to a menacing scowl, but it fell flat. He tried to frantically move away, but the ice just kept him slipping in place.

“Wh-who?” was all he could croak out in genuine bewilderment. Riley lifted her skate so the blade was lined up right between his widened eyes. His thrashing intensified, but he still couldn’t get away. Auburn and Rin looked equally shocked.

“Hey whoa!”

“Riley!”

SLAM! She brought the skate down. After a moment of expecting to see the heavenly glow of the pearly gates, the goat opened his eyes to see her foot a mere few inches from his left ear. Riley turned and glared again at Auburn specifically, before a swift kick to the side of the head knocked the White Fang member out cold. She knelt down and started rummaging through his pockets, drawing confused glances from the rest of her team looking on. After grabbing his phone, she walked away and past Auburn. Again, the shoulder made Atlas feel like the desert.

“Did you really think I was gonna kill him?” she said icily. When Amber approached, she handed her the phone so she could store it away in her backpack. “Now let’s go. We need to get out of here.” The sirens they could hear advancing only served to prove Riley more correct. All the girls broke into a full sprint. Out the courtyard, out the Estates, past the armed guard who was too busy preparing for his own police troubles to care about them. Using Auburn’s extensive knowledge of the city’s layout, they kept to the back streets, making sure to steer clear of any main roads. Their pace did not waver all the way to a hideout Auburn knew would be empty and secure enough to lay low for a bit. They barely made it in the door before the toll of the run caught up with them. Amber was bent over, huffing heavily. Jade was still holding her shoulder where she got shot. Rin stripped off the hoodie and threw it at the wall in disgust before laying on the ground.

“Well. Coulda gone worse,” Auburn said, still somewhat chipper. Riley, still using her stick to steady herself as she caught her breath, slowly, frightening slowly, brought her eyes up so Auburn couldn’t deny the seething frozen fury in them. Auburn’s head tilted slightly.

“That’s all you have to say? ‘Coulda gone worse?’ Tonight was a disaster! We didn’t even learn anything about Sienna yet!” Riley said with an unnerving amount of rising anger.

“Eh we weren’t getting anything else from those foot soldiers anyways.”

“So that just means blow our cover? All you wanted to do since the night started was pick a fight. You were itching to do it, and it’s the only reason you thought tonight went ok. Cause you got what you wanted!”

“That’s not true!” Auburn fired back, showing her teeth. “I learned my team leader is still alive, and probably in Mistral.”

“A massive continent half the world away. Good job, Auburn, you sure found him.”

“What the fuck is your deal? We got what we could tonight.” By this point, the two had inched closer and closer so they were in each other’s faces. Jade tried to squeeze between them with her shoulder, focusing on keeping Riley back. But Auburn wanted none of it. “Nah Jade if she wants to keep acting stupid then let her find out what happens.”

“You really think I’m supposed to be calm about this? I haven’t seen the woman I love in months. I didn’t even know if she was alive! Now that I know she is, why should I stop? You just think I have to always be the calm one because I’m not as ‘chaotic’ as her.”

“Well you weren’t dumb enough to join the White Fang so.” Riley immediately slammed Auburn with a right hook to the chin. It was fueled by rage-driven instinct, one she had broken out a few times before when she was prepared to visit the penalty box. Jade jumped in further, as did Rin, who sprung up and hooked Auburn’s arms to prevent her from fighting back. She was too stunned to do so yet, but Rin knew it was coming.

“Why aren’t you more worried about her?! You two were best friends at Beacon! You were closer to her than you were to Dash, but now he’s your only concern? I heard all the arguments you two had at school, but now you’re all buddy-buddy with him? He’s been missing for weeks, but now you decided you’re motivated enough to do something about it?”

“We fought together. He stood up for me. And he didn’t abandon us!” Auburn’s voice was a nasty growl, as she still held her bottom jaw.

“He finally got you to believe his victim playing routine?”

“You saying he deserves this?!”

“No!” Riley snapped before pausing. She came down a little, the adrenaline subsiding momentarily with a deep breath. “I’m not. But don’t act like he’s our only priority.”

“Like you’re not doing it with Sienna? Sorry I have more sympathy for the kidnapping victim than the woman who carried it out herself!” She shook her head and looked away in refusal. She thought Auburn was just trying to provoke her more. Half her mind wanted to shove Jade aside and hit her again for saying such a thing. “I heard it straight from Sienna’s mouth. Just ask Jade and Amber.”

“Enough!” Jade screamed, her voice rippling. The argument finally ground to a halt, at least for the present second. She sighed. “Okay look, we’re all tired, and we’re all missing people. Why don’t we just rest so cooler heads can prevail tomorrow.”

“You’re right. But Auburn’s right too,” Rin spoke up.. “That’s not an excuse to let our emotions get the best of us. Like you said, we’re all missing people.”

“Amber’s been missing Sol for all this time, you don’t see her fuckin’ going on a rampage about it!” Auburn said.

“That hasn’t stopped me from trying though.” Amber’s voice was still soft, and her body language was reserved. Her eyes were cast downward. “Every day I work to get comms fixed again just so I can see his face. It’s selfish, but I’m doing it cause I miss him. I love him…” She was desperately trying not to cry at this point. “He made me feel like I didn’t need to be so shy at the world. But so does JASR. Sienna is a big part of that. She thought she could face anything, so when I was with her I thought I could too.”

“When I came to Beacon,” Jade stepped in to alleviate some of the pressure off of Amber’s shoulders, “all I had was my weapon and the clothes on my back. I didn’t know anyone, so when I got picked to lead a team, and that team put their confidence in me, I swore to give them my everything. Cause they were all I had.” She stopped as if to correct herself. “My friends are all I have. And that does include Dash. I stood up for him, I thought there was good deep down in him, and I still do. I want them both back.”

“See though, you can have these feeling and not be a cheap shotting bitch about it,” Auburn reiterated, never breaking eye contact with Riley.

“There you go just assuming I’m always the chill one. You realize I was always by her side right? I loved her fun mischief because it made Sienna Sienna. I never stopped her,” Riley said, calmer than before, but not by much.

“If you did maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation right now!” The silence that followed Auburn was as deafening as a grenade. They could hear a pin drop. Everyone in the room turned to Riley, but she met none of them. Her head fell downward, her face now hidden to Auburn under her jewel-toned hair. Her fists were clenched to the point where her knuckles changed colors.

“So it’s my fault…”

“Come to Mistral and awaken to whole new worlds.” A slogan every Mistrali was more than accustomed to, whether they wanted to be or not. It was plastered on every travel brochure or stapled to the end of every commercial from their tourism department. On one hand, it wasn't exactly fake advertising. Being home to a wide variety of diverse cultures and huge swaths of untouched natural beauty made it an ideal vacation spot for many. The perfect blend of traditional and modern. But on the other hand, it left the door open for more “unsavory” types to make themselves home in. With such a vast kingdom to look after, it was easy for certain criminal groups and black markets to slip under the watchful eye of Mistral's central government, so long as they knew where to go. Criminal hot spots that pop up scattered through the dense forest. Like Kuchinashi.

Being the largest settlement for hundreds of miles and strategically placed on a key trade route, Kuchinashi attracted plenty of activity from the surrounding villages and tribes. Some came for highly rated restaurants, some for the closest taste of nightlife at their disposal. But others in what were called the “lower classes” were there for other reasons. Drug smugglers, assassins for hire, anyone evading the law. Throughout the labyrinth of streets and alleyways, particular establishments thrived in spite of - or because of - the street gangs that constantly crop up. As evident by the line of people trying to plead their cases to the imposing bouncer at the entrance, Orion Kuchinashi was one of those places. A group of humans employed every trick of flattery and bribery to the bear faunus guarding the door, but he stood there, stone faced and undeterred. He denied them access to one of the most electric scenes the whole continent had to offer. Great drinks, live music, an always populated dance floor. And for anyone hoping the gods favor them enough to luck into a quick buck, a gambling den hidden tucked away in one of the club's dark corners.  Mysteriously enough, the phrase “the house always wins” seemed to always cosmically reign true at Orion. But at one poker table tonight, someone was defying the odds among the lost souls swearing that one more round was all they needed to get their money back. 

It wasn't the monkey faunus with the graying beard, although he was merrily laughing and drinking away through his diminishing funds. It wasn't the red headed wolf faunus girl clacking one of her remaining stacks of chips in her hand behind a pair of sunglasses. It wasn't the butch hyena girl that was gripping her cards tighter with each passing hand that didn't go her way. It was all the lion faunus on the dealer's left coolly leaning back in his chair. Even just sitting down, anyone with eyes could tell his beyond impressive stature, especially as he stretched his arms to rest them behind his head. With his jacket hung on the chair he was in, his muscles were on full display from under the white tank top he was wearing, including a tribal tattoo stretched around his bicep. Pushing his wavy brown locks aside, his golden eyes honed in on his next two cards. A queen and a six. He stroked his goatee in thought before glancing away toward the sea of people on the dance floor. The rippling waves of energy could be felt from their table, until the slight buzz of the dealer’s wasp wings snapped the lion back into the game. Her practiced porcelain smile cracked just enough to show her impatience and annoyance hidden underneath. The lion gave her a wink that would swoon anyone regardless of sexuality before tossing in a couple chips to play the round out. After a swig of his drink, the monkey slapped his thigh with a hearty guffaw before calling the ante as well. The lion cocked an eyebrow, the other players groaned, and the dealer inched just a bit closer to the end of her rope.

“No need for the sour look, sweetheart! It’s not like the Kinshika can’t afford it!” The dealer’s professionalism never wavered, as she turned her focus to the next gambler in line.

“The who?” the lion asked without much thought. His relaxed tone certainly didn’t match the reaction he got from the rest of the table. Glares from the wolf and the hyena that would’ve pierced most into backing off. But, he just met them with a shrug. “What? I’m not from around here, just passing through.”

“Yeah like that ain’t obvious,” the wolf grumbled to herself. Again, the lion paid no mind. Right now, he let his growing stacks of poker chips do all the talking for him. But, the monkey took his opportunity to take center stage once more.

“They’re the blood and the poison of Kuchinashi! A parasitic pillar of the community! They’ve been around way longer than the neon signs have glowed through the fog around this town.”

“Get off the damn soapbox, old timer! This ain’t fuckin’ story time with the grandkids,” the hyena growled before tossing her cards away in a frustrated fold. But the lion leaned forward in his chair. He was no closer to having his question answered. The only thing he was able to decipher from that was that this monkey faunus has some flair for the dramatic. He gestured for him to go on.

“Ya see, my boy, in Kuchinashi, a new street gang shows up here at least once a week. They’re all flashes in the pan though, some punks in way over their heads, maybe some Haven dropout trying to become a hitman for hire.” He made a theatrical shooing motion with his hand, accidentally almost flinging his cards in the process. Maybe the hyena was right, he’s not sober enough for exaggeration. “But not the Kinshika Family. They’ve been around for generations. Ever since Old Man Kinshika was just a low level nobody hustling these streets himself!”

“So they’re a gang,” the lion chimed in. “Take it they’re a big deal around here?” The monkey let out a “ha!” that came directly from his belly.

“So big of a deal that when the White Fang came into the area, they didn’t wanna mess with them. They knew better than to challenge the Kinshika, so they entered a pact together. The Family’s been a loyal subsidiary ever since.” It was like the monkey was spinning a yarn to buddies he had drunk with countless times before, not some strangers competing for his money at a poker table. The lion nodded.

“Interesting. Lemme guess, they're tied with this place?”

“They own this place, boy! Now that Old Man Kinshika is exactly that, an old man, he enjoys the lap of luxury and leaves the hard part of running the empire to his lieutenants. And the kids he wants to inherit it all one day. His grandson, Kenzo, runs this place now. But between you and me, I think he's enjoying the jet set nightclub lifestyle a bit too much. This place is a staple of the Kinshika's cash flow, you know. If he was to fumble it, well..”

“Your move, sir,” the dealer interrupted sternly, trying to put a sudden stop to him airing her boss’ business in the open. He folded his hand and hushed to take another sip of his liquor. The other two players were just relieved he finally shut his trap. This left the lion with the wolf, the latter of which upping her bet to try and raise the stakes. By this point, another six and queen had entered the field of the play. The lion didn't flinch. Not until a third six was revealed as the final card. Full house. Jackpot. The deadpan facade behind the sunglasses dropped as the wolf faunus scowled. Meanwhile the lion went in the opposite direction, finally letting a smirk of smug elation loose. As he leaned back again, he still seemed split between the poker game and the dance floor, where a commotion was arising at the front door. A group of men clad in cheaper looking suit jackets and White Fang masks were demanding all the attention as they stepped inside. Perhaps they didn't want to upstage High Leader Taurus by stealing his style. Out from in between two large bodyguards ambled a younger looking man with a pair of deer antlers protruding from slicked back blonde hair. He was the only one in the group whose jacket actually looked designed and not some ridiculously cheap knockoff.

“That’s him. Kenzo Kinshika,” the monkey said while drunkenly elbowing the lion. The lion intently watched as his boys dispersed to a booth and began cracking their way into a couple bottles of champagne to entertain their “lady friends”. On the house’s tab of course. One bodyguard made his way to the bathroom, but Kenzo stayed put and surveyed the sights, the sounds, everything that made this his kingdom. The look in his eyes made it clear he was looking for a woman to score for himself tonight, even as the bruising tiger faunus guard that still flanked him began to carve a path through the masses to lead Kenzo upstairs to his office. But instead, that woman found him. The golden prince was intercepted by what he could only describe as his perfect wet dream come true. Her blonde hair cascaded flawlessly down her shoulders, with purple highlights shining in the club’s strobe lighting. The towering platform boots she was still somehow grooving in lifted her to accentuate every single gorgeous curve from under her dress. A pair of fox ears flicked playfully on her head while her tail wrapped around Kenzo’s waist. To have this fall into Kenzo’s lap, not even have to hunt for the finest catch in the club to 

“Looks like he’s the only guy luckier than me in the building tonight,” the lion chuckled before rising from his chair. “Getting too crowded for my tastes so imma cash out.”

“Sir, you can’t cash out yet, you’ve paid for another hour. You’ll lose your deposit if you choose to leave,” the dealer told him. She made a move to try and block him, but it was like a sedan meeting an 18-wheeler with how much he dwarfed her. The only move he made toward the casino employee was another core rattling smirk as he continued putting on his jacket.

“Then let them fight for my pot. Looks like they need it more than me.” With that, he turned to leave, flashing all the poker participants a peace sign over his shoulder on the way out. They were all left befuddled, and he even caught a mumble of “What was that about” as he departed. Soon enough, even his 6’5 body disappeared from their views amongst the dancing mob. He passed by right by the antlered club owner and what he was hoping would be his escort for the evening before heading into the same bathroom.

“Yeah I own this place,” he could hear Kenzo briefly over the twenty other conversations fighting against the music. The stunning fox’s eyes lit up with excitement as she wrapped one arm around his shoulder before trailing it down his side. Her other hand reached for a hand fan she had on her - where she stashed it was a mystery Kenzo was dying to solve.

“Really? Like that’s so fun! Ummmm what would you say is the best part about it?” she said while fanning herself, covering her mouth in the process but her eyes peered sharply over it. She had the exact kind of trill voice he was imagining. Complete bimbo. He smirked.

“Getting to meet smokeshows like you. What’s your name, cutie?” he said.

“I’m Alex!” the fox replied with a bubbly giggle. All it did was begin revving Kenzo’e engine into even higher gear.

“Well, Alex, glad you walked into Kenzo Kinshika’s club?” She giggled again, mouth still covered to make it look even more adorably innocent. Interrupting for a moment, the guard tapped his boss on the shoulder, motioning that they need to leave. But Kenzo shooed his hand away, and Alex took him by both his hands, wrapping her tail around his waist to keep him dancing. Reaching a hand around, Kenzo firmly grabbed her ass, pulling her close to the point where they were rubbing against each other. There was no resistance from Alex, the only thing she had to resist was the urge to hum by biting her bottom lip. After allowing this for a few more minutes, again the bodyguard intervened. Kenzo again shot him a glare. He wanted to ask who do you think you are, wanted to assert that he was the heir to everything around here. But, his father and grandfather wouldn’t appreciate any infighting amongst their ranks. So, he turned to Alex.

“Lemme get you a drink. I got some special top shelf collection up in my office.” Alex eagerly nodded and took his hand, so he could lead the way, even though the guard led them both. Up a flight of stairs and down a hallway later, he brought them to a fine wooden door. The pair of lustbirds were too distracted with both eyes and both hands on each other to notice the guard attempt to signal to a “Frankie” via his earpiece once, then twice. When it appeared as if he got no answer, he tried to turn to Kenzo but the door was inadvertently shut in his face. With that, he just had to assume Frankie was with the other boys downstairs and couldn’t hear him. The music could cover anything. He had no choice but to assume his post at the door. Inside, the office was dimly lit, almost as if to set the mood, with what lighting being offered centered around a lamp on his desk. A baseball bat autographed by some former pro that his dad got for him rested on a stand behind his desk next to a bottle of high grade vodka. Pouring two drinks mixed with some soda he kept in his mini fridge, he slid one of the glasses over to his date. By the time he sat down in his overly comfy yet overpriced chair, the blonde bombshell had slammed her drink down in once guzzle. Kenzo was petrified with aroused shock.

“Wow. You don’t beat around the bush, do you?” Alex shook her head seductively, which only amplified Kenzo’s racing heartbeat. “Good. Then why don’t we quit wasting time and get right to it then?” Clearly undoing his pants, with one hand, he points below the desk. The fox licked her lips. First putting one gargantuan heel on the desk then the other, she slowly crawled on all fours on the desk toward him. Every move, every sway of her tail or sashay of her hips, in Kenzo’s mind she was begging for this. She wrapped one hand around his tie and pulled him so their faces were mere centimeters apart. Warm breath trickled down his neck as Alex’s lips parted. His heart nearly thumped out of his chest with anticipation.

“I’ve been told I’m the best fucks around.” Kenzo paused slightly. Her voice suddenly lost that bimbo quality. She spoke more confidently, and her pitch dropped. She didn’t sound as feminine as before, just enough to fuzz the gender radar, not helped by his two heads now thinking in opposite directions. “My ass is just that damn good. Even with the pole pretending to be a hole. Leo could tell you that. Isn’t that right, babe?” Kenzo’s shock magnified at seeing a massive silhouette emerging from a dark corner in the room. How the hell he didn’t notice a lion faunus that size was beyond him.

“Damn right, babe,” the lion called Leo spoke up. When his body finally broke through f its paralysis and caught up with his brain, Kenzo made a panicked reach for the bat. Alex yanked him by the makeshift leash around his neck to put a stop to that, and pulled him right so the cold steel of a dagger tip from one of this now retracted fans met his throat. Hearing the commotion, the bodyguard burst through the door. While radioing for backup and hoping the Kinshika Family guys were still sober enough to assist, he wasted no time in facing Leo and nailing him with the hardest punch he could muster right to his chin. It would’ve had any normal rowdy patron coughing up teeth for days. But Leo didn’t budge. It was like punching granite.

“Yeahhh that doesnt work on him. Wanna show him what you did to his poor friend in the bathroom, Leo?” Alex said. Leo grinned right into the tiger’s face, who had barely even move his fist away from Leo. Fingers adorned with silver modified brass knuckles stretched in ready as his knuckles cracked. A surprise ear clap discombobulated the tiger enough to get some space. He covered up, but Leo delivered a shot to the gut so hard it lifted him off the ground. Then a straight shot between the tiger’s arms to the nose. Then a second. Then a third. Reeling, the tiger bounced off the bookcase behind him directly into a forearm smash. Punch to the right temple. Then the left. Then one to the left ear. The unrelenting berserker teed off until an uppercut took him off his feet. He was unconscious before his face even met the floor. At this point, Kenzo tried to make a mad dash out the open door for freedom, but Alex was far too quick, flipping out of his chair and leaving him on his back facing up at a wall of a lion faunus. Leo picked him up by the collar.

“Y-you’re fuckin’ crazy! What is your deal?” Kenzo shouted, trying to cling to any shred of that authority and swagger he sauntered into Orion with.

“Awww is someone mad they fell for the surprise sausage? Don’t worry baby I have a cage that can basically make it disappear and I can bend over and moan like the rest of them,” Alex said with that same bimbo giggle to taunt him. While he wouldn’t admit it, Kenzo was more angry at the betrayal of Alex being the most convincing femboy in all of Remnant more than anything that happened to one of his own men. Still, he scowled nonetheless.

“You fucking freak! Let go of me or I’ll have every thug in Kuchinashi on my payroll to kill you!” Leo lifted him, pressing him over his head as if he weighed as much as a feather, before slamming him hard onto his back. In the moment he spent winded on the floor, Alex stomped one of these heels onto his chest.

“Ooooh shouldn’t have said the f-word in front of him. You’re right though. I am one freaky bitch. But only he’s allowed to say it.” The heel pressed harder onto Kenzo’s sternum, causing him to writhe even harder. He wanted to pull at Alex’s ankle, but the shadow being cast by his looming “babe” - and what he just did to his personal security - convinced him otherwise. “Relax, all I need is some info and I’ll be out your hair and you can enjoy your drink and do whatever boring vanilla guys do in their spare time. The name Sienna Umberon. Ring any bells?” Kenzo shook his head in bewilderment. That question was almost as startling as Alex’s ruse. Almost.

“W-what are you talking about? Y-you guys are mad! If you’re huntsmen, you don’t act like any other ones I’ve seen before!” Kenzo yelled. Leo motioned for Alex to step aside before kneeling down on the deer’s chest, driving the air out of him. He grabbed him by the antlers like a pair of handlebars and forced him to face Alex. Alex sighed, though the playful, toying look never faded. This only irritated Kinshika further. “Don’t you know who my family is? You can’t do this!”

“My gods, you are a stereotype. Is every rich heir of something remotely important just a stuck up prick? Can’t take anything besides the stick up your ass?” Alex laughed.

“He couldn’t even take my pinky,” Leo let out a low, satisfying growl. Depending on who you were, it would either scare someone down to their bones or turn them on in ways they never would’ve pictured. Kenzo was definitely the first one, which caused Leo’s grin to only grow. “Maybe we should ask the Old Man instead.”

“Fuck you!” Kenzo barked with the might of a chihuahua.

“Hey, back on track here,” Alex said while snapping his fingers at him. “We know a lot of White Fang activity is centered in Mistral. Kuchinashi is a major hub, and allegedly these are your streets. So you should know some of what the Fang is doing. So I’ll ask again, and this time you’re gonna answer. Sienna Umberon. What do you know?”

“How would I know anything? I hardly pay attention in those meeting with the White Fang brass anyways. They don’t really concern me,” he finally answered after a moment to ponder.

“What, figured daddy would take care of it all so you wouldn’t have to listen?” Leo grumbled at the pompousness, especially at Kenzo’s shrug. He couldn’t deny it. “What about the raid on the Ospreay estate?”

“H-how would I know anything about that? That’s a whole continent away! Not to mention it’s a bit above my pay grade.”

“Then who do I need to speak to, your manager?” Alex chimed in, hands on his hips. Kenzo raised his arms over his head in lack of understanding of what Alex wanted from him. Alex wasn’t sure either. But he knew he wanted more than this.

“Look, all the Kinshika Family does for the White Fang is disrupt the trader caravans in the area. They loan us some manpower in exchange for a cut of whatever we raid for them. And for the agreement to leave our turf to us.” Alex’s ears flattened. Arms folded and head down, he tapped his foot on the ground. It wasn’t even close to what he was hoping to hear, but it was at least something. He felt like that described the past few months to a tee. Reaching into his boot, he with drew a small piece of paper. It was still neatly folded, and on the front in flowery penmanship written in purple ink was one lone word: “Sienna”. He knelt down next to Kenzo and held the letter out, glaring at him until he unsteadily accepted it between his fingers before Alex let go.

“See to it that this gets to Miss Umberon by whatever channel you gotta go through. Whatever chain of command you need to go up, you make sure it gets there every step of the way.”

“What do I look like, a fuckin’ mailman? I’m not doing that!” Kenzo scoffed. Leo wrenched on his antlers once more, forcing the golden deer back into submission.

“You’re gonna do it, because otherwise we’re coming back. And we’ll bring more huntsmen. And if we were able to get to you by ourselves, do you really wanna test your luck against more? Even if you do win, it’ll still be a massive headache that I’m sure your granddad doesn’t wanna deal with. Double so for the Fang.” Kenzo’s eyes darted away in begrudging acceptance of the fox faunus’ point. “So unless you really want that blowjob, I doubt you really wanna see us again.” Kenzo’s muscles flared with renewed rage at the reminder of why he was stuck in this situation in the first place. He was supposed to have a cherry picked one night stand over a couple drinks, not a night being held hostage.

“You think you’ll even make out this building tonight? I’ll have every one of my men try and take you down,” Kenzo reaffirmed.

“Who’s gonna tell them, you?” Alex let out a sultry snicker. “Gonna do that from the dream world?” Kenzo didn’t even have time to question before the last thing he saw, five furious knuckles from Leo quickly bearing down upon him, knocked him out like a light. Standing up, Leo dusted himself off and shook his hand a little.

“I mean I wouldn’t have blamed him if he said yes. It is the best blowjob I’ve ever had,” said Leo, smirking at his shorter partner. Shying up a little, Alex couldn’t contain his blush, before nudging Leo and looking away. It did nothing to disrupt the lion’s balance. “And there it is. You almost coulda fooled me with the dominant act you were pulling off.”

“Ugh, that does not feel natural. Really not my style, but douchebags like him make it easy.” Alex adjusted his dress before both of his daggers opened up into fans once more. One stayed out in front of him while the other was at his side. He slowly creaked the door open and peeked down the hallway. There wasn’t a soul in sight. “Now let’s get outta here before anyone sobers up enough to question where their boss is.” Out the door, then down the hallway, then sneaking their way into a fire escape staircase. It was eerily quiet all the way downstairs apart from the muffled booming bass that was doing its fair share of masking their exit. The back door shot open followed by an outstretched clenched fist with its knuckles glowing red from fire dust. But, the only thing there for Leo to see was an empty back lot aside from a couple of raccoons rummaging a dumpster for a late night snack. As he stepped out, the glow from hus knuckle dusters dissipated, and the crisp air and cooling rain met his skin. Alex followed suit, checking for any security cameras on the building, but the only one he could spot was out of commission. With ease, Leo lifted his boyfriend over the fence scaling the chain link behind him as silently as possible. The two checked both directions before seamlessly blending in with the other foot traffic on the street.

“Let’s head back to the inn. We’ll probably have till tomorrow morning before anyone figures out what happened to Kinshika. If he has enough wits to remember us, he’ll probably have a bounty on our heads. We can’t stay in Kuchinashi any longer, so we’ll head out at dawn and check out those trader caravans he was talking about.” He avoided looking up to make eye contact, the rain was annoying enough. He was growing jealous of the pedestrians passing by with umbrellas. Leo, however, seemed unbothered by the rain.

“Alex,” Leo said in more of a concerned sigh straight from the heart than a statement. It drew Alex directly to notice. He reached for Leo’s hand and held it tight. “You really sure about this?”

“Huh? Yeah, we’re huntsmen. The people who depend on those goods need our help. It’s what we signed up for, isn’t it?” Alex responded with a question of his own, confused as to why Leo was asking to begin with.

“You’re not doing this to be a huntsman, though.” There it was. Alex’s tail instantly tucked and he brought his hand back. How was he gonna defend himself this time? “I’m… I’m just worried about you babe. You’ve been letting this chase after your sister consume you. Don’t get me wrong it’s been great getting to help the villages out here and do actual huntsman jobs, but… it’s been a lot. Basically ever since we last saw her before the fall it’s been nonstop.”

“I know she’s out there somewhere. I know it. That bitch is too stubborn to die,” Alex said adamantly. Leo nodded. He knew Sienna too well to disagree with that. But while it registered, it did little to sway him.

“It’s been months now and we don’t even have actual proof she joined the White Fang.”

“Trust me, she’s got a track record. No one knows that flammable idiot better than me. You weren’t there when we were in the Fang as kids.” The desperation was beginning to seep through his words, emotion overcoming him more and more. “I’d never go back. I can’t stand what they’ve become today. But her…”

“Do you really think running roughshod on some of the Fang’s most notable just to hand deliver them these notes is the way to do it? Do you think they’d even make it to Sienna and not just get thrown away?”

“I-I just need one of them to get to her! If she reads one of those notes then maybe it’ll convince her… Leo, you just have to trust me on this one, please.” Again, Leo sighed. He stopped his walk to fully face the younger Umberon twin by only a few minutes, running his fingers through his rain soaked hair. If the pleading puppy dog eyes could convince Leo to buy him a new outfit, then surely they would work for something that was much more meaningful. Leo moved a hand to one of Alex’s fox ears and gave it a gentle rub, causing him to push into his hand with a slight hum.

“I’m still with you. Always will be. I just worry about you. I love you, you asshat.” Launching into a hug, Alex rested his head on the lion faunus’ chest as he caught him. No matter where they were, it was Alex’s safest place.

“I love you too. And thank you so much.” The rain suddenly didn’t bother Alex anymore. The cold couldn’t reach him now. But still, it was his turn to sigh heavily. “I do miss Beacon though. When life was easier. When our only worry was what to wear. Sometimes I wonder if we shoulda kept going with our Onlyfans. We were making mad money off of it.”

“I would’ve been chill with the pornstar lifestyle,” Leo laughed. “But you’re right. This is what we signed for, what we trained for at school. Helping these people has been satisfying as hell.” Scooping up Alex with one arm under his butt, he brought him to face level so they could finally look in each other’s eyes. Each of them found an ocean of relief in the other’s gaze, which was felt in the fleeting but passionate kiss that came next. Leo smiled. “Now c’mon, let’s get out this rain. We got a nice shower and a warm bed calling our names.” Alex kept his arms firmly around his partner so he could be carried the whole way back. The only time either of them harshed the soothing peace they found in one another the whole way back was from Alex.

“Hey Leo.”

“Yeah?”

“You know when we find Sienna I’m gonna slap the fuck out of her right? She pissed off her own kryptonite and I hope she knows it.”

“That’s what twins do.”

Somewhere, stealthily jetting through the night skies high above Remnant, Sienna sat on a transport cruising back to headquarters. The mission report to turn in was complete. The celebrations of a successful mission at Beacon had long since ended. Dusty was laid out on a bench across from her asleep, and Karma was finally beginning to doze off next to him after pacing away her energy. But Sienna still sat awake. The memories Solomon forced to spin back into her head resembled more of a tornado than a washing machine’s spin cycle. Leaning over, she withdrew a piece of paper from her back pocket. It was given to her by some other captain she had never encountered before or since.  It was still neatly folded, and on the front in flowery penmanship written in purple ink was one lone word: “Sienna”. Exhaling a deep breath, she unfolded it and read the very brief message for what felt like the two dozenth time.

“Please reconsider. We love you.” -Alex

"Captain, everyone’s in position. Awaiting your word."

It was the second time the voice coming from the headset buzzed into Sienna’s ears. The first time was unsuccessful in snapping her back into reality. Her eyes were firmly honed in on the Vale CCT tower sitting motionless in the dead of night. Vale authorities had sent a team in order to establish a safe zone, basically whatever huntsmen that hadn’t abandoned Beacon Academy as a lost cause they could scrape together, along with a limited amount of soldiers provided by Atlas. With the Vale relay tower out of commission, even communication within the same kingdom was spotty at best, and anyone outside the major hubs were completely in the dark. That’s why officials viewed this mission as imperative. After a long and grueling fight against the grimm that still seemingly had no end, they were actually able to procure enough ground to begin making progress in restoring global communications. But, the safe zone’s existence was extremely fragile. The smallest push could erase months of forward advancement.

And that’s why Sienna was here. The White Fang had received intel of this progress, so High Leader Taurus sent her and a team of their own to undo all of it. No one better to lead a strike team into Beacon Academy - or more accurately, its ruins - than a former student. And no one better to spark a little mayhem than Sienna Umberon.

But as she sat perched on a tree branch, mentally tracking the route of every patrolling guard on every level of the tower that she had vision of for the twentieth time, her mind began to wander. Back to the times when she called these walls home. To her first days when she was giddy with excitement telling Jade to tuck and roll before being launched careening through the sky and into the Emerald Forest. The time Sienna started an all-out pillow fight war between Team JASR and their next door neighbors Team DASH that ended up spreading to the entire dorm thanks to her brother spreading the word about it. The time her and Amber devised a plan to sneak away with all the cookie dough when the team decided to bake cookies. All the nights she spent talking with Riley until 5 AM whether they had class the next morning or not. When she met that redhead in that same forest and they grabbed that chess piece together, Sienna had no idea this was going to be someone she poured her aspirations, her passions, her fears to. It was a level of vulnerable she didn’t think she would ever allow for herself, and for every step Riley did the same and let her barriers down in kind.

Then she also remembered the last time she saw them, the last day any student attending Beacon knew normal. She was split up from her teammates after the catastrophe at Amity Colosseum. The voice that spoke through the arena loudspeakers and through every broadcast of the tournament echoed in Sienna’s mind over and over and over again. It was at that moment she knew what needed to be done. She could see Jade, Amber, and Riley from afar, from a rooftop looking down to the street as they had just finished defending a group of civilians from a pack of grimm. Or at least, she made out their vague, blob-like shapes through the tears filling her eyes. She couldn’t bring herself to say goodbye. Goodbyes were too hard.

“Hey. You good?” This time it didn’t come from Sienna’s earpiece but instead from directly below her, albeit barely. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her grimm mask and gave it one long survey, running her thumb over it before putting it on. Now focused on the tower once more, through the slits in her mask she saw not her old home but instead only her objective. She dropped to the ground and finally acknowledged the voice that called to her, even though she had to look up to the stratosphere to do so. The liger-tailed faunus leaning casually on the tree before her stood at a whopping 7’1, leaving Sienna face to chest with him. His black hair was done in a half up half down ponytail, and his skin had a reddish tone to it. His name was Dusty Millaray, and while usually he was the leader of a three-man force known as Tango Squadron, tonight he relaxedly turned the reigns over to Sienna.

“Yeah. I’m fine,” Sienna answered. Gotta focus. “Where’s Karma?” As soon as she was mentioned, a cheetah faunus raced to stand in between them, her speed semblance giving her a blink and you miss it arrival. Her athletic build stood a few inches taller than Sienna, but still a foot shorter than the imposing Dusty. Tail swaying slightly, she moved to make sure the bun that kept her dyed blonde hair in place was still in good shape. Her light tan skin was freckled all over, growing more spot like the closer they got to her tail. Karma Gylden knew how to make an entrance.

“Sorry! I was just scouting the other side of the building. More of the same,” she said, hardly out of breath from her run. Dusty smirked and took the opportunity to check out his partner in crime in more ways than one. Sienna shot them both a look. C'mon guys, not now. Stay focused.

“They look a bunch of losers that got stuck with the graveyard shift and don’t wanna be here.” Sienna pressed two fingers to her earpiece as the voice from the radio came in again. The third and final member of the squad, the fennec faunus only known as “T”, was not on site with their fellow Fang teammates. Instead they were far away currently tapping into whatever surveillance system the tower had left to offer.

“Then tell me what these losers are armed with,” Sienna asked.

“Basic model 42s. Not even the new 44s. Guess Atlas cheaped out on them.” Sienna smirked to herself. She was hoping for at least a little challenge, but she would take way too easy all the same. “I have no visual of the top floor though. The nest has no internal feed. Appears to be off the grid.”

“That's where I need to get to. All the fun shit to break is up there. Are they working on it right now?”

“I think I saw a couple of engineers enter the building from the other side,” Karma answered.

“They’ve been working on this 24/7,” Dusty said while finally getting off of the tree. He cracked each of his knuckles with a sly grin growing across his face. “Lucky them.”

“You know the rule. No deaths. Got it?” Sienna said. Dusty raised his hands in innocence. He might’ve been the leader normally, but he knew better than to challenge Sienna. He had heard the stories. He secretly thanked his lucky stars he wasn’t under her command normally. 

“I don’t get why,” T chimed in. “Those wastes of oxygen wouldn’t even think twice about killing one of us. Yet we’re the animals.” 

“Maybe you didn’t get the memo, T. But tonight, I’m in charge. Which means you operate by my rules. We’re gonna prove just how we’re better than them by not being them. Otherwise you can drag your ass out your little VPN powered bunker and fight with us. So no deaths. Got it?!” The fiery symbol of chaos had to fight back the urge to take the radio and char it beyond recognition, only appeased by T giving it a quiet but firm “Sorry Captain.” Sienna gave them all an approving nod before facing the tower once more. One last check of each guard’s path, memorizing ever detail she could. “You guys are gonna be my way in. Now raise some hell. Break everything you can, steal what you think is useful.”

“Let’s go babe,” Dusty said to the cheetah faunus. Using the trees and the darkness of night for cover, they began to circle their way to the front entrance of the tower. There, they could spot two sets of guards, one flanking each side of the front door, while the others were slowly circling the perimeter. As Dusty crouched down to somehow hide in the bushes, he could hear the two guards’ conversation as they listlessly sauntered toward him.

“Like you gotta be fucking kidding me, right? You know who doesn’t have to patrol in the middle of the night?”

“I’m sure you’ll tell me.”

“Watkins. Watkins is probably back in his bunk fucking sleeping right now with his stupid fucking head laid on a pillow while I’m out here stuck with-”. The soldier’s complaining was cut off by the realization that has partner had stopped a couple steps back. He was frozen, rigid, like he couldn’t shake the feeling something was watching them. Looming over them. Like something was casting a massive shadow over them despite there being no sunlight. Then, a deep unfamiliar voice came from the void to confirm his suspicions.

“That’s rough, buddy. Someone need a nap?” The two guards spun around to see a wall dressed in a White Fang uniform. They both barely had time to let out a panicked “what the fuck” and scramble for their weapons before Dusty grabbed both their heads and cracked them together. Both of them instantly dropped to the floor, unmoving. The two guards posted at the door screamed out at the Fang operative and pointed their weapons at him. But in a golden flash, Karma blurred past them, throwing off their aim. She began racing past them back and forth, each time delivering a blow at highway speed, all while the other had nothing to even aim at. Once the first one finally doubled over and fell, she kicked the gun out of the second’s one hands and jammed the butt of it directly into his nose. Dusty rejoined her, offhandedly stepping over one of the incapacitated Atlesian soldiers while making his way to the door. He took one look at the security keypad to the left of the door before inputting his own code five knuckles at once. The now cracked screen emitted a distressed whirring sound before the doors parted ways. He gestured for Karma to take the lead.

As Sienna caught eye of the guards on the second floor turn away from their lookout post as word of an unknown commotion reached them, she pounced on the moment she had been itching for. She made a beeline for the tower. Grabbing the grappling hook on her hip, she shot it upward so it hooked the upper floor railing. The soldiers in that corridor suddenly hushed at hearing the distinct clank of the hook meeting the metal railing. Right as one of them leaned over to aim at whatever was below, Sienna pulled herself up and delivered two boots to his face. His partner unholstered his pistol and fired several panicked and erratic shots at her, none come close to hitting. She took advantage of his frenzy by charging him with claws out and slashing at his chest three times. Out the corner of her eye, she noticed the first soldier staggering back to his feet. So, she grabbed the second soldier arm and violently whipped him into the first one, knocking him back on all fours. A swift punt to the head ensured that both were out cold. Hands on her hips, she surveyed the damage she caused with a prideful smirk.

“Beacon didn’t have to teach me that one. That’s all Vacuo,” Sienna said to herself. The smirk immediately faded. The last thing she needed to do right now was bring up home. Reaching down to one of the guard’s bodies, she swiped a keycard from his pocket. Once she pressed it to the door, it uttered an affirmative beep before opening up and granting her access inside.

“Now where are those elevators?” she thought to herself. She began sprinting down the maze of hallways in hope for her ticket to the top floor. After a few more turns, one backtrack from a dead end that led to a supply closet, and another guard that received a fiery claw mark across his faces for his troubles, Sienna slowed to a stop at a corner upon hearing voices. She pinpointed two more guards standing in front of the elevators, one nodding while receiving a transmission. They both turned around and queued the elevator, so the moment it opened, Sienna rushed toward it. She ended up catching the doors with her foot at the last second. She stepped in between the guards with a confident smirk, unphased by the commands they were shouting or the weapons they were pointing at her as the doors shut. By the time they opened again, only Sienna sauntered out, as the others were reduced to heaps on the floor.

The way to the main control room was very brief by this point. Each side of the hallway was scattered with machines both new and old. Sienna couldn’t tell which ones were useful, so she dragged her flaming claws through all of them, nonchalantly leaving a trail of destruction in her wake. A storm of sparks and smoke followed her as her tail whipped with evil satisfaction. Once she was faced with the door to the control room, she pressed her keycard once more, but this time she was met with a red light and an “ACCESS DENIED”. She growled before just grabbing the lock with a flaming paw. Her grip remained tight out of rage and annoyance, even though the uncontrollable flames were doing damage to her hand, until the lock melted away.

“Shitty lock you got there,” she muttered to herself while shaking her hand and slowly creeping inside. In front of her were several screens that were lit but nothing on them, the center one much bigger than the others. Terminals, both functioning and broken, lined the walls. A lone chair faced the center screen, one that Sienna dismissed as empty at first until she noticed a pair of feet on the floor. It was all she could see from the figure in the chair. She readied her claws and stalked her way forward. Hard to finish repairs with your engineer nerds out of commission. However, just when she got into striking distance, all of the screens went dark. She froze and backed off slightly in confusion. Then, the large center monitor came to life again, displaying something she couldn’t believe. It was displaying… her. 

The video panned out first to show Beacon Academy coated in a blanket of freshly fallen snow. Sienna remembered this; it lived on in stories and legend as the Great Beacon Snow Day. It was the first time she had ever seen snow, which was apparent when she watched herself on the screen pounce head first into a snow pile. The camera turned to catch her team leader Jade laughing at her antics before lightly trying to dig her out. Then the focus was on Dash, a lot healthier than last she saw him in his cell, bundled up in a jacket with arms crossed. The film was just in time catching him getting pelted with a pair of snowballs. He yelled out and started to pack up some snow in his hands to retaliate at the two cackling culprits, Auburn and Sapphire. The camera then spun around once more to reveal DASH’s last teammate, Solomon, was the one filming. He was currently laid under a tree, with Amber curled up comfortably by his side.

Sienna looked on in silence as her younger self exploded out of the snow bank, blowing past Jade in the process. She was in as much of a full sprint as the terrain would let her, which looked about as graceful as one would expect from Sienna’s first time handling ice, toward a certain redhead in a hockey sweater. Riley was on a frozen lake practicing her maneuvering on skates until Sienna took her down into the whiteout once more. The screen cut to black. The jarring contrast was lost on Sienna. In her mind, the video was still playing on loop. Tears began escaping from under her mask. No. Not now. I can’t think of this now…

The lights in the room flipped on, causing Sienna to first cover her eyes before quickly wiping her cheeks before the figure could see. She knew exactly who it was, even before they tossed a familiar purple pair of Technomancer brand  headphones on the table beside them. She still refused to accept it. But she wasn’t given much choice when the chair spun around, leaving her facing with the one who filmed the video, Solomon Roxos. His black hair was just as messy as it was when last she saw him at Beacon. His signature hoodie, however, had been traded away for some uniform looking polo shirt. He silently rose from his seat. The glare from his glasses gave way to piercing blue eyes. Sienna was desperately searching for signs of his usual timidity in his body language, but could find none.

“So,” Sienna said to finally break the silence. “Looks like you got an upgrade. Guess Beacon had plans for you after all.” She awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. It took effort to maintain eye contact. It took even more effort to not burn a handprint on her neck or singe her hair. Why did you have to show up now?!

“Beacon had plans for all of us. You just ignored yours,” Solomon said back, the soft-spoken shyness that charmed Amber seeming like a distant memory. Sienna’s ears flattened.

“Yeah sure, if you believe that. Nobody’s had plans for me from the day I was born,” she said at about half normal volume. If Solomon heard, he didn’t show any kind of impression he did.

“Regardless, if you’re here to kill me, you might want to be quick about it. Otherwise, you got about-”. He pulled his attention down to his coveted supercharged scroll that was fastened to his left forearm as it always was. With a couple presses and swipes, the monitors behind him illuminated again, this time with camera footage from the downstairs lobby. They could see Dusty tormenting a poor scientist by slamming his head so hard into his desk, he fell backwards out of his office chair out cold. The monitor directly next to it came on next with footage of three huntsmen running towards the tower. Each of them were a faunus; one girl with black and purple cat ears and tail, one girl with cow horns on her head, and one guy with owl feathers mixed into his hair. They looked like students, same as Solomon and Sienna both were, but they were all armed and ready to fight. “Let’s say five minutes before backup arrives. And I want an explanation.”

“You’re so confident that those scabs are gonna get past us? Arrogance is just not you, Sol,” she said in a condemning growl before raising a finger to her earpiece. “D, K, heads up you’re about to have company!”

“What?! Where from?” Karma answered.

“Huntsmen! Three hostiles coming via the north entrance!” T answered for her. As they started to give information on what they’re dealing with, Solomon once again began to work on his tablet.

“That’s enough out of you.” The voices of Sienna’s comrades were suddenly drowned out with a static that was twice as loud in Sienna’s ears than it actually was thanks to her growing rage. She really wished she didn’t know Solomon. Then his introverted self wouldn’t bother trying to talk to her. “Now start talking, Captain Umberon.” Her fists were clenched and the tip of her tail was sparking. All it would take is one punch to shut him up so she could finish her mission. So she could leave this school and not have to worry about it. So she could push it to a back corner of her mind to remain untouched. But, even though it’s something she’s had to do her whole life, she couldn’t swing. She sighed. Why couldn’t these memories just stay away?

“The night Beacon fell. Do… do you remember what that voice that came across the Vytal Festival broadcast said?” Solomon paused for a moment, trying to decipher what “voice” she was referring to before an image of every screen barring the one on his arm lighting up red with a black chess piece.

“The hacker?” he asked softly. “Not really. I didn’t really pay attention. It sounded like some vague firestarting revolution rhetoric.

“Yeah of course you’d think that,” she again mumbled. Solomon was tired of this act from Sienna already. “I thought you of all people would at least be listening. You were always better at that crap in school than me.”

“You really don’t agree with the hacker, d-”

“And what if I fucking did, huh?!” Sienna interrupted as she began to show her teeth again. She was tightly gripping a wrench she took from atop the computer next to her. “Our leaders cling to their status quo just so they can hang onto their precious positions of power with both hands! But this status quo is one that punishes me for something beyond my control. It’s cursed me and many others like me to have to live at the bottom rung of the ladder just because I was born with these stupid fucking things!” She swatted at her fox ears, a slight clang sound coming from one of her piercings. “They say they do this in the name of peace. But is this what peace looks like for me? For the faunus? All the discrimination, the poverty, the shit conditions. Because if this is what “peace” looks like in their system, then their system needs to be fucking broken!”

“You’re right. There’s a lot of injustice in the world, especially towards you. I don’t disagree. But you were already doing the right thing in trying to fix it. Being a huntress is the correct steps in being the change you want to see in the world.”

“You just don’t get it.” Sienna was already adamantly shaking her head before he had even finished. “You never will get it. You’ll never know what it’s like to be in my shoes. You’ll never know it’s like to turn to the White Fang at twelve years old because it’s the only way you can think of to support your brother. They’ve backed me when the rest of the world kicked me while I was down!”

“And what about Alex, hm? Does he approve of this? Since you sound so confident,” Solomon said, perking up at the mention of her brother. Sienna’s knuckles wrapped tight around the wrench before she used it to smash the computer monitor next to her. Finally something she could take out her frustration on. She began going down the row, one after the other, breaking everything in the way. Solomon went on. “And what about your teammates? Your friends? You think they don’t back you? Do you know how much they’d go to hell and back for you?” This got Sienna to stop in her tracks. Her masked gaze was fixated on her boots.

“They’re probably over me by now. Doubt they’d even look back to see me again. I know I didn’t look back for them…” she said.

“So that’s it. Leave your friends behind for a terrorist organization targeting innocent tolerant humans. What about Sapphire? Or me?”

“Tolerant?” Sienna scoffed loudly before it morphed into a full on laugh. “That’s what you call yourself? How many times did you just sit and watch your little tablet while your team leader berated me almost on the daily! You had every chance in the world to ‘do what was right’. And guess what. You didn’t.” Now it was Solomon’s turn to glance downward at the floor. He rubbed his arm. Finally, there’s the Sol I know. “How is someone like me supposed to start a family and raise a child and have them face the world in this kind of state?”

“And what about Riley?” he said.

“Do. NOT. Mention her name.” Sienna didn’t need to hear any more from the tech expert. It was already wracking enough that Sienna had to see her face, her smile, her gorgeous maroon hair, happy from time that they spent together. Squinting at her, Solomon saw exactly what he wanted to see from her. Reluctance. Regret.

“You think she’d start a family with you now?” He went to the wound again. It resulted in an extremely hot wrench being tomahawked at his face. He had to full on duck to dodge it before it crashed into a keyboard behind him.

“SHUT UP!” Sienna had heard enough. She ripped off the mask and glared at Solomon with eyes incensed with fury. Her claws came out and she rushed Beacon’s former resident hacker. Solomon was able to sidestep the first blow, but another one came just as quickly. He was barely able to block this one with his scroll, the claws scraping and sparking off of its bulletproof casing. Solomon was never comfortable in close hand to hand combat. He needed time and space in order to get a grasp of his surroundings. Auburn had worked hard training him to get better, but it was never to a level of excellence, merely competence. So Sienna’s signature blitzing style denying him time to even think was his kryptonite. He took a hard punch to the solar plexus that briefly winded him, before Sienna followed up with a big slash to his face. Knocking him to the floor, the shot sent his glasses flying off his face into shattered pieces.

“I said not to mention her,” Sienna sternly said, standing over him with a boot firmly planted onto his chest. He struggled as hard as he could to get her off, but it was like stone. Sienna could spot he was leaking blood from a cut under his left eye. “Not a day goes by when I don’t regret leaving her. But, I need to take my fate into my own hands for the first time in my life. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that isn’t taken away from me too.” Suddenly, the earpiece began stirring to life again, as words began to make their way through the flood of static. It was only a few sparse words, then a few more filled in the blanks, until finally a whole warning.

“Boss! We lost sight of one of them! You might have one coming up to you!” Dusty’s voice came in, ragged from the fight he had been in the whole time. No sooner than when Sienna’s ears flicked with the news did she hear rapidly approaching footsteps to the door. Just as her hold on Solomon loosened, a transforming sound brought her attention to underneath her. Solomon’s tablet had turned into a machine gun, aimed right at the Fang leader. She was able to dodge from the single gunshot fired.

“Fall back! We got what we came here for!” she said to the radio, just hoping her transmission would make it out as she dashed to a window.

“Run away. Just like you did before,” Solomon said shakily as he weakly rolled over to watch her make her exit. Right as the doors were pried open, and that same cat faunus Sienna saw from the security footage came in to Solomon’s aid, Sienna made her exit. She grabbed her mask and busted through the window before using the grappling hook to swing her way safely down to the trees below. The cat faunus never caught a sight of her. With the canopy of trees as more than sufficient cover, she was able to put considerable distance between herself and the campus before eventually reuniting with Dusty and Karma about half a mile away.

“Woooo! Love me a good fight! That bird knew how to throw down!” Dusty said with a laugh. Arms waving like he was just getting warmed up, he sounded more like he just had a fun experience on vacation more than having to fight his way out of a White Fang mission.

“Yeah, and T is gonna love all these toys I found for him!” Karma replied just as gleefully, motioning to a bag slung over her shoulder. She seemed completely unbothered by the run she took to get here. Unlike Sienna, who was doubled over heaving in an attempt to catch her breath. “What about you, Sienna?” the cheetah asked. She didn’t reply at first, only beginning to lead the team back to their transport out of here. “Sienna?” she asked again.

“Mission was a success. We wrecked shop. They aren’t fixing that anytime soon. Good job, guys.” The pair both smirked, with Karma resting her head on Dusty’s shoulder as he pulled her close. “You too, T.”

“Thanks for the souvenirs, K. Can’t wait to see what the kingdoms keep locked away in their basements,” T said over the radio. The celebrations were hardly over though before Sienna started leading the walk to their transport back to base a couple miles away. The other two White Fang soldiers mentally noted she remained mostly quiet. Her eyes were cast downward. Her tone before notably lacked any distinct excitement; it was very straightforward. Any attempt of making small talk only solicited one word answers if it didn’t fall on deaf ears entirely. In fact, she only opened her mouth unprompted once, a question directed at Karma.

“Karma. The prisoner. She’s been doing ok?”

“This must be the place,” Riley thought to herself. Amidst the placards advertising what brands of alcohol were served, a small glowing neon sign of a stitched up heart was all the confirmation she needed. The Scarlet Heart. She wasn’t supposed to be here for at least another hour. But, she spent all of last night either tossing around in bed or trying to give and receive comfort from Jade and Amber. After enough restlessness, she gave up and decided to get a head start on the day. Perhaps just that much sooner in finding Sienna. With a deep breath, she stepped inside.

The bar was dimly lit, helped only by the noontime sun pouring in from the windows. Patrons were scattered about the bar and booths. Most were there to grab a quick bite to eat during their lunch break or to socialize with nothing better to do. Some casually watched sports highlights from the previous night as they ate. But, even though the operating hours said that they hadn’t been open long, there were at least a couple people subscribing to the mantra “It’s five o’clock somewhere.” Riley surveyed the poster and memento laden walls. A lot of them were centered around boxing: old newspaper clippings of historic title changes and posters hyping pay-per-view main events. There was a pair of ancient looking gloves encased in glass next to one of the TVs, and above the bar was a title belt that Riley couldn’t figure out if it was real or a very convincing replica. It quickly became no surprise why Auburn asked to meet here. Just when she thought she was too early and needed to grab a seat and wait for the fox faunus though, Riley recognized a tail swishing around.

Bent over a pool table, Auburn had cue in hand lining up a shot. Riley could only hear the distinct clack of pool balls before seeing the maroon #7 ball rocket past her tail and into the corner pocket. On the other side of the table, a man with long black hair and marked with a large pair of eagle wings watched on holding a cue of his own. Both of the arms coming out of his black tank top were coated with tattoos. A bandana sat around his neck under a face containing thick stubble. It was a face that looked clearly vexed, which did not disappear as he turned his focus to the approaching Riley.

“You want next game or somethin’?” he spoke with a country accent. Alerting Auburn to turn around, she met her friend with a smirk and a familial head tilt.

“Sup Riley. You’re here early,” she said before staring down the 8 ball. “I was just killing time till you got here.”

“Yeah, well… wasn’t exactly getting much sleep last night,” Riley said with a shrug, trying in vain to repress a downcast sigh. Auburn stopped and gave her an understanding nod but quickly spun back around to the pool table. Nothing she could say could make Riley magically feel better. But while the lack of bother was normal for Auburn, Riley couldn’t help but feel put off by it. Like she could show just a bit more concern about the situation. “You seem… really calm given the situation we’re in right now.”

“Helps when you’re making money,” she replied with a chuckle. She smacked the cue ball, whic in turn met the 8, before banking off both a striped ball and the wall before coming to a slow roll and finding its new home in the middle pocket. Auburn sheathed her tool like a sword and outstretched her arms at her opponent. “Oooooh bad luck, Shadow. Double or nothing wasn’t so kind to ya. Doesn’t mean triple or nothing won’t be better though. Whattya say?” The man she called Shadow groaned and stared at the ceiling. After a moment, he went to a leather jacket that was hung on a chair behind him and withdrew a stack of lien out of the pocket. He tossed it on the table for her to quickly take and count.

“How about we forget the lien and forget the pool? Instead we hit up the dartboard and if I win, I get a date with you,” Shadow said. Auburn folded her arms. The urge to roll her eyes was so strong that Riley wanted to do the same just thanks to proximity.

“This isn’t the guy you brought me here for is it?” Riley leaned over and asked. She couldn’t break eye contact with Shadow. She was too amazed with his gall.

“Oh hell no,” Auburn said back while stuffing her winnings in her chest.

“C’mon, can ya blame me? I know fire’s hot but you’re definitely Au-burnin’ hot one,” he said with an unabashed grin that was as suave as he thought that pickup line was. Riley was getting Beacon flashbacks in both the best and worst ways. That was somehow worse than the beyond cheesy lines Dash tried out beginning of his freshman year, including one to her that was best left in the past. But, she couldn’t stop conjuring memories of her girlfriend seeing Auburn take a page out of Sienna’s playbook and use her chest like a pocket dimension. Suddenly, a cold, unshakeable grip locked onto Shadow’s shoulder and the outstretched wings tucked timidly. He tried to twist his way free of the hold, but it was no use. The man that emerged from behind Shadow’s wings stood a good several inches shorter than him, but looked tougher than anyone in Vacuo. His hair was nearly a full buzz besides being a bit longer on top, and he had a fuller beard than the eagle faunus. His wedding ring dug into Shadow’s shoulder blade. Once Riley saw the fox ears on his head that looked strikingly similar to the woman next to her, she smiled as it all made sense.

“Son, if you’re gonna have the balls to hit on my daughter in my bar, you gotta have a better opener than that,” the man said with a gruff, raspy voice. Shadow finally wrestled free from the vice grip and faced the other man, attempting to hide the discomfort and keep a straight face.

“Damn, Jack,” Shadow said while shrugging his shoulders to stretch them, “You woulda done the same thing back in the day in my shoes and you know it. Assuming, y’know, she’s not your daughter. Still, cut me a break.”

“Oh I did. I coulda went for the wings.” Shadow’s wings instantly folded as small as he could get them. Even if he didn’t fully believe Jack would do it inside his bar, there was still a chance. A greater chance considering it was Auburn he was messing with. It was one he couldn’t afford to take. He retreated to a booth, cutting his losses where they were and leaving Jack with both Riley and his daughter.

“You know I coulda handled that, Dad. He didn’t have a hope in hell,” Auburn said, hands on her hips.

“You've been saying the same thing since you were a kid. Usually it was about a fight you started,” he said back with a hearty chuckle. Auburn rolled her eyes and stepped up to her dad so he could pull her into a hug. For a moment, her eyes closed and her ears lowered as that nostalgia of being safe in her father's arms like when she was younger washed over.

“And was I ever wrong? And why do you assume I was the one that started the fight??” Jack released the hug so he could give her a look that could only be read as “Really?”.

“Are you really gonna ask that question? I've seen you pick a fight cause one guy took the last flaming hot cheetos out the vending machine,” Riley finally spoke up. Before Jack had the chance to question anything, Auburn cut him off.

“Dad, I want to meet a really good friend of mine. This is Riley. We hung out a lot at Beacon.” As she motioned to the redhead that was trying to stuff all of her exhaustion and anxiety away, Riley gave him the best smile she could muster. Jack almost let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh she's from Beacon, thank goodness. Hate to see who you drag in here off the streets.” Jack laughed harder when Auburn held out her arms in bewilderment at what they meant. Riley couldn't help but snicker at her expense too, even though she couldn't pretend like she didn't have plenty of Vacuoan street punk in her. “Hey, anyone that has to try and keep my battering ram in check is welcome here. Jacinth Vulpes, but my friends call me Jack.”

“Riley Currant. It's nice to meet you, sir,” she replied. Jack nodded as he made his way behind the bar and began wiping down the vintage bottles of liquor that adorned the back shelves. Meanwhile, the two girls claimed a pair of stools. Riley's body seemed to flop into her chair more than she sat in it. Auburn frowned.

“How are the others?” she asked.

“They're… going through the motions right now. Can't say they're great emotionally but we're all hitting that point where we wanna do something about all this. Amber's going to work today and see if there's any trace of Sienna from security cams around where she found you. And Jade is crafting battle plans as we speak. She won't allow herself to cry though. I think she needs one.”

“And what about you?” she said next after a slow, receptive nod. There was a long, poignant pause. Auburn found it harder and harder with each passing second to maintain her gaze.

“Well I’m here early cause I’m on garbage sleep, so that should tell you a lot. But I’m still here. I’m ready to do whatever I gotta to bring her home.” Auburn finally let her eyes fall away and kept her lips pursed shut. She couldn’t show any sign of the bubbling anger inside every time she talked about Sienna like some innocent victim, and not someone who made her bed for everyone else to lie in. Mercifully, her dad made the inadvertent save from behind the bar before the silence could reach awkward lengths.

“So is it a daydrinking kind of visit or are you girls just here to cure boredom?”

“Actually we came to see you,” Auburn came back with.

“Isn’t that a nice surprise? My daughter finally coming to visit. Whatcha wanna t-”

“We came to ask you something. Do you know anything about what the White Fang’s doing lately?” Jack was brought to a screeching crash of a halt. His shock froze him to the point where he had to set down the bottle of vodka in his hand because he nearly dropped it. With arms crossed, he eyed Auburn with insatiable suspicion.

“Whyyyy?” He carried that same concerned parent demeanor Auburn had heard hundreds of times in her life. “How many times have I told you not to mess with the White Fang?? Don’t touch them with a 50 foot pole.”

“Hey, I’m not the one messing with them!” Auburn held up her hands to show her freedom from guilt. “We’re looking for someone. And since Uncle Bren used to be in the Fang, I figured maybe he’s told you something.” Jack still didn’t look convinced. No answer Auburn could’ve gave would’ve eased his worry. 

“How did you even know he’s ex-Fang?” he said.

“He let it slip one time when he was drunk.” Jack closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with an exasperated sigh.

“Dammit, Bren,” he cursed under his breath before quickly snapping back to full volume. “You’re talking to the last person that would know anything about what they’re doing. Bren and I agreed a long time ago to keep that shit in the past. And if any Fang come in here,  I just let ‘em drink in peace. They don’t need me being nosy about whatever the hell they’re up to. Like they'd tell me anyways, and besides I don’t wanna know. As long as they don’t cause trouble, it’s whatever.” Auburn and Riley’s hearts both visibly sank. She knew it was a longshot, but she was still hoping it would yield at least an inkling of a direction to go. But instead, all it was earning her was a lecture. “Is this about that redhead from Beacon that was on your team that I’ve been seeing in the headlines lately?”

“Partially,” she responded in a half ashamed mumble. There was no use lying. There was only bracing for the coming speech.

“I thought you didn’t like him. Complained to me about how he was an arrogant jackass that could never back up how much he ran his mouth?”

“Still not entirely wrong. But… he's not so bad when you get to know him. And what kind of huntress doesn't stand up for her team when they do for her?”

“I know you've always thought you could take on the whole world with one arm behind your back, but you can't take on the entire White Fang. No matter how big of a crew you can make. They're bigger, they're much more dangerous, and they will not hesitate to put you down for being in their way, even though you're a faunus.” His sympathetic smile was little consolation to her. “Please, Auburn. Sit this one out.”

“Sir, this is not her fault. This is mine, I'm dragging her into this,” Riley finally interjected. Auburn wanted to object since this was her idea technically, but Riley wouldn't allow it. Instead, she fished her phone out of her pocket and rapidly began scrolling through her gallery until she landed on a picture of her and Sienna taken in Beacon's locker room. “Have you seen her pass by your bar? She was in Vacuo recently.” Spinning the phone to face him, Jack studied the other fox faunus she pointed to for a moment.

“Can't say I have, sorry.” Riley didn't even have the willpower to accept the scroll back from him. Her head met the countertop in dejection. Auburn was handling it better than her, but she still possessed a downtrodden look in her face, mainly out of concern for her friend. She moved a hand to rub her back but backed off as Riley lifted her head.

“Well fuck, there goes my lead. Now what?” Auburn said.

“Maybe you should get back to your pool game. Hate to pull you away from your priorities,” Riley chimed back.

“What’s that mean?” Auburn was taken aback. “I’m just trying to keep us moving forward here!”

“You just don’t sound worried! We have friends out there fighting for their lives and you’re just in here shooting the shit like it’s a night out on the town!”

“And what’s worry gonna get me besides a headache from slamming my face into the bar? Just cause I’m handling it better than you doesn’t mean I’m not worried! I’m trying to get Bubblegum back!” Riley cocked her head indignantly, like she was waiting for an end to a sentence that was already over.

“Only Dash?” The two’s looks turned more into glares at each other. Raising an eyebrow, Auburn waited as if she was permitting Riley to keep going, while Riley sat waiting for Auburn to do the same. Neither of them budged.

“Enough.” In the end it was Jack who broke the tense silence. Auburn winced and closed one eye, knowing that tone all too well. Similarly, his most common patrons recognized it as well, but it didn’t fully connect with Riley. “I didn’t call this bar for 12 Rounds for a reason. You wanna fight, then you take this shit to a ring. Keep it out of my bar, got it?” He fully zoned in on Auburn, too knowledgeable with what she was prone to causing. She was leaning away to avoid the stern daggers he was giving.

“Sorry, Dad,” she said loud enough for it to come across as meaningful.

“You’re not gonna give this up, are you?” He already knew his daughter’s answer. The question was more for the red-haired woman to the other side of him. One look at Riley and he could clearly tell the distress and anguish prevalent in her eyes through the bags of lack of sleep. It looked like the only reason she didn’t cry out with “Please” was to maintain appearances. He shook his head. He couldn’t believe he was about to do this. “Well. I heard from someone that there’s a Fang run soup kitchen just a couple blocks from here.”

“A soup kitchen?” Auburn said. Both girls perked up, Riley with more renewed optimism and Auburn with more perplexity. “What the hell are they running a soup kitchen for?”

“They’ve had it since the regime change, back when they were peaceful. A lot of the programs they started to help faunus back then they’ve kept up with.” Jack shrugged after placing a freshly polished glass under the counter. “Not everything is just black or white.”

“Alright, there’s our lead C’mon let’s go!” Auburn pumped her fist and immediately bolted from her seat. She stretched her arms out like the muscles on her biceps were getting antsy, itching for some work. Riley, however, hadn’t moved. She appeared deep in thought.

“Wait.” Auburn stopped in her tracks. “We can’t just storm in there right now, we’re not prepared.”

“You’re the one that wanted me to show more urgency!”

“Which you’re only doing cause you know you got a chance to start a fight!” Auburn was not a fan of today. She felt like she spent way too much time getting grilled. “You and I can't just go in there alone with no plan. We'll be in enemy territory unarmed. You don't even have your whip anymore.”

“I'm never unarmed as long as I have these.” Auburn held her fists up in a half-committed boxer stance. Riley and Jack mirrored head shakes.

“We need to wait for the others. Jade and Amber wanna help just as much as I do,” Riley said.

“I'm not even gonna ask what happened to your chain,” Jack said, causing Auburn to again lift up her hands with palms out like she was pleading innocence to a cop. Her pleas of “not my fault” did little to Jack, even though it was the truth. “Go see Uncle Bren,” he said through muffled fingers as his head landed firmly into his hand. Auburn rushed to him into a bearhug that would snap most in half, but it didn't even get him to stumble. He returned the favor. “Love you too, kit. And make sure to visit me again soon. We got some catching up to do. Same spot as old, alright?” Nodding the whole time, Auburn promised she would do just that in between a couple “love yous”. After Riley gave one last “nice to meet you”, the duo left out the door and down the street. In the direction of the junkyard.

MISTRAL

Somewhere deep in the Mistrali woods, two pairs of footsteps crunching leaves and twigs underfoot were the only rustlings of life under the canopy of trees. They moved lightly, briskly, but frivolously hopping over tree roots and ducking under branches. The trail was just a few miles long, if you could even still call it that with how much nature had reclaimed. But it was still a few miles Shiina knew like the back of her hand. She was even using her spear as an explorer would use a machete to cut back the encroaching vines and shrubbery. Meanwhile, Sapphire was too stunned by the raw beauty of the surrounding scenery to help contribute. Despite staying here for a little while now, this place kept finding new ways to endlessly charm her. It was such a far cry from the life she led at Beacon. Soon enough, their walk led them to a clearing in the trees, causing Shiina to stop and take in the view like they had just arrived at a grand destination, the hidden city of gold.

“Where are we, Shiina?” Sapphire said.

“Where the sun and the moon’s song never dies for those who listen for it,” she said with an intimate warmth in her voice. It sounded like someone reminiscing about feelgood childhood memories, like a favorite homecooked meal. After a brief moment, she shook off the binding spell of nature with slight embarrassment. “This is where I train. Or where I go whenever the tribe gets to noisy and I need to get away.” Sapphire was confused how that little village could be too noisy in any way. It was nothing compared to the nightclubs or concerts that dotted the urban maze she called home. But, she let it slide. “It’s been awhile, and I want to train with you.”

“You and me both, girl. Now I get why we’re somewhere so secluded. But I wish you told me sooner. I woulda wore something a bit easier to get out of.” Shiina tilted her head until the realization hit and a burning red blush overwhelmed her cheeks. “Oh. Oh you meant actual training, alright.” Shiina tried to glower at her fellow huntress, but it melted quickly. She knew Sapphire was joking even before her sticking her tongue out gave it away.

“Sapph, I’m serious,” Shiina said while desperately hoping her blush would subside. It wasn’t going away nearly fast enough. If Sapphire really wanted to fluster her, she would’ve answered with “so was I”. But she resisted the urge, and again let the moment pass. “I know your bow transformers into a glaive, but you seem hesitant to use it. Why?”

“So this is why you told me to leave my arrows behind,” she said before a thoughtful pause. “I dunno though. I guess it’s because with my team, Dash and Auburn covered the close range, so they left me to handle the sniping. I just feel like I’m a better archer.”

“Which is fine until you’re without your team and a Beringel trucks you through a wall.” Sapphire bowed her head in acceptance. Her recovery was going well, but her back and shoulders were still sore from that. Shiina was more shaken up having to witness it. Someone would think she was the one getting run over by a rampaging beast. “There’s nothing wrong with being a better archer, the things you do with arrows are incredible. But the best huntresses in my opinion use every tool they have at their disposal. So I think you have to level up your spear work.” Recoiling a little, Shiina grew anxious that her words came across too harshly. But Sapphire was too focused on the authenticity of her admiration. She nodded and readied up, glaive in hand straight up and down with blade pointed to the sky. Shiina smiled. “Alright, let’s get started! So your glaive is a guandao. Not too far off from my naginata except mine is built with a thinner blade for more speed, whereas the guandao has a wider blade for more stopping power. So for the guandao, it came into use-”

“Speaking of training, how's yours coming with your semblance?” It took a moment for Shiina to recover from the whiplash of her flow of consciousness suddenly crashing. Sapphire was too restless for an entire history lesson.

“Oh uhhhhhh I haven't really made much progress lately. Supposedly I can conjure from tattoos on other people too, but I can't even master my own,” the inked fox faunus said. In the held out palm of her hand, a small garden snake inched along before fading away as she folded her arms across her chest. Her shoulder hunched forward slightly. Her gaze fell to the shine emanating from her blade. Sapphire didn't have an opportunity to inquire why before Shiina spoke once more. “I'll stop boring you with the history details. Let's just get into the combat, shall we?”

Sapphire couldn't argue, even though remorse of ruining the mood started to creep in. Shiina took center stage. Every strike she demonstrated had a light, airy flow to it, almost as natural as the landscape they sat in. It was as if the essence of the forest was channeling through her, culminating at the tip of her blade. Then it was Sapphire's turn. As Shiina pointed out, her weapon provided slower, heavier strikes. But, without a quiver full of arrows weighing her down, she could really let loose with some impressive footwork of her own. Some more acrobatic swings she made look effortless. As she moved, Shiina couldn't help but notice the muscles on Sapphire's back that were generating a lot of her power. She assumed the tone was from having to constantly pull back the bow string. She had to remind herself not to stare.

“Very nice, Sapph. You're looking good,” Shiina said. After though, her face contorted with regret. “I-I mean your moves were good! I mean your footwork and your strikes were-aaaahhhh.” The sentence stumbled along until the last few words barely petered out into a discomposed noise.

“I was hoping you were talking about me more than the fight moves, but thanks for the compliment, boo,” Sapphire giggled. She wasn’t thrown off by Shiina’s minor meltdown; she thought it was quite cute in fact. Shiina knew that too, and knew that was why she egged her on. The bushes to the west of them began to rustle. Neither of them paid any attention at first, writing it off as the wind. But, it grew louder without any accompanying breeze. Then, a low, rumbling growl reverbed through the forest. They both froze on edge. “Y’know Shiina, if you’re hungry you could’ve said something and we would’ve headed back early.” Her voice carried no confidence in the joke.

“That wasn’t me.” Shiina’s eyes locked to the bushes as they both gripped their weapons tighter. Their suspicions were confirmed when they could see several pairs of demonic red eyes peering through the darkness between the trees. Slowly, a pack of beowolves crept out of the gloom, prowling on all fours. Now revealed in the light, the growling grew louder until the pack leader stood up on its hind legs and snarled.

“Again? What is it with the grimm lately?” Sapphire said.

“I didn’t mean for today to be a trial by fire,” Shiina remarked as she spun her weapon into a ready position.

“Shouldn’t be a problem. Just watch.” With a subtle wink, Sapphire took off in a sprint toward the intruding grimm. Just before she reached them, however, she planted her glaive into the ground and, swinging around it like a pole, drove her boots right into the alpha’s head with a dropkick. A quick followup slash to stagger it freed her to begin tackling the rest of the pack. Shiina was almost temporarily stuck in place appreciating the unorthodox offense before snapping out of it and rushing in to lighten Sapphire’s load. Using the shaft of her naginata, she was able to block and parry a big swipe that was aimed at Sapphire from behind from one wolf, leaving it wide open for counterattack.

The two moved not only like they were connected with nature but also in rhythm with each other. When one needed to step away, the other would step in and take the heat. They would slide under each other and jump over each other. It was all immediate, seamless, and speechless. One by one the creatures all started to fizzle away into black smoke. One beowolf in particular they locked onto at the same time. They blitzed their target, criss-cross cutting it and leaving it nothing more than a hazy black afterthought. But just as that formation ended, the alpha was back on the hunt. It charged through Shiina, clubbing her in the face with a forearm that sent her flying several yards back. Then, in a full gallop it plowed into Sapphire, its massive claws pinning her to the ground by her shoulders. The attack knocked her spear out of her hands and out of reach.

“Sapphire!” Shiina yelled as she sat up. PTSD of their last grimm encounter wracked her mind. Last time she was left unconscious and helpless. But this time, Sapphire was awake, groaning and struggling in pain but still fighting. From Shiina’s point of view, it looked like she was trying to reach her boot, but the beowolf’s grip dug her harder into the ground as she did so. The claw raised up and began coming down right at Sapphire’s face. Right as it did though, Sapphire was able to grab a frost arrow she kept hidden in her boot. Letting out a primal yell, she stabbed the creature. With the tip broken, firmly lodged in its ankle, the grimm suddenly became entrapped in ice mid-swipe. Wasting as little time as possible, Shiina ran in and delivered the killing blow, shattering the newly made ice sculpture into pieces with one drive into its chest. Sapphire sat up and dusted herself off.

“I told you no arrows!” Shiina chastised after a second to catch her breath and her thoughts.

“You also said the best huntresses use all their tools at their disposal.” Again, Shiina couldn’t argue with her even if she wanted to. “Got ya there!” She smiled softly. She was just thankful this brush ended better than the last one. But as helped the archer up, Sapphire noticed Shiina still looking concerned. Her stare was fixed on the spot of the forest where the grimm originated from. “What’s wrong?”

“These grimm attacks are happening more frequently. And they’re coming from the opposite direction they usually do. The grimm usually come from the east, deeper in the woods. But lately they’ve been coming this way. In between our village and the bigger towns in the area.”

“Hmmmmm something must be attracting them. Something worth investigating?” Shiina responded with a determined nod. “Sweet! I’ve been wanting to hit up the town anyways, got some catching up to do with city life. Maybe we can try contacting our teammates again.” Those towns still couldn’t hold a candle to the major cities in the kingdoms, but it would still be enough for Sapphire to scratch her itch. “But that’ll have to be saved for another day. It’s getting late, we should head back.” She had no desire to trek back through that “trail” in the dark, even with a guide who knew it like the back of her hand like Shiina. So on that, Shiina led the way back home, right as the sun was beginning to dip toward the horizon.

VACUO

“Yo Uncle Bren, you home?” Auburn unceremoniously crashed the silence that the junkyard office was sitting in. But, none of the rusted wrecks around her answered back. All she could hear was the feet meeting metal steps, both hers and the ones of Rin behind her. They approached the door and Auburn knocked on it loudly several times only for nothing to happen again. Only then did she see the handwrittennote taped to the window next to the junkyard’s logo.

“Auburn. Sorry I missed you. Jack told me you were coming. Door’s open. You know where everything is,” she read from the letter. “Sweet!” She opened the door and stepped inside, with Rin following much slower as she took in the new scenery. Beyond the table and usual basic office furniture, there was scrap metal everywhere. Junk and broken bits and pieces all cluttered into various piles around the room. Some were rusted like their prime was an era ago, while others looked newly refurbished to the point of appearing fresh out the factory. Various machines that did said refurbishment dotted the outer walls of the room. It looked like a mess at first, but somehow also seemed like everything had a place, a method to the disorganized madness. Meanwhile, smaller tools like hammers and wrenches and a welder’s mask sat scattered on the table next to metal that was being fashioned into blades and gun barrels.

“Jeez, time to have a garage sale, don’t ya think? Clean out some of the old energy, y’know?” Rin said with a soft chuckle.

“My uncle recycles all this stuff and crafts weapons out of it. By the time he’s done, you would never guess the stuff he makes came from crap people threw out.” Auburn crouched down and started digging through some cabinets, tossing things like gun magazines and blade handles over her shoulder. “Ugh c’mon where is it?” she groaned to herself. As Rin casually strolled around the room, she came across a stack of several schematic papers on one of the counters. They looked like current works in progress. Rin was amazed someone could pull all this together from trash nobody else saw use in.

“Wow. So he made your whip?” Rin asked while beginning to scan through the stack of blueprints.

“Oh hell no. He made me build it myself. He just kinda lightly supervised while drinking to make sure I didn’t set anything on fire. But.” She kept searching as she talked, knocking over a whole nearly finished sword accidentally in the process. “He’s got a spare prototype that he kept around here somewhere in case something happened to mine. I doubt he got rid of it. Unless he found something else to use it for.” As she kept rummaging, Rin stopped to study one design that caught her attention.

“Would he be mad if I used some of his tools to make some adjustments to my gauntlets while I’m here?” she said.

“Knock yourself out.” Auburn again didn’t move her head away from her task. Once she saw the glint of a bladed chain under a stack of other collected items that didn’t have a set place, her crimson eyes flared with excitement. “Aha!” She yanked it free, toppling the stack over carelessly. But, out with the chain came a piece of paper tied to it. There was a design hastily sketched on it in permanent marker.

“Ohohoho Uncle you are a genius you know exactly how I think!” Rin’s ear flicked and she tilted her head, only momentarily pausing her search for a machine that could play with steel. “Let’s just say imma need a minute to work too.” The time over the next hour or two didn’t so much as tick by as it soar by. The clanging of tools meeting metal, the sparks flying, the tossing aside of pieces that wouldn’t fit for ones that may. Auburn and Rin putting whatever mechanical know-how they had to use coalesced until they hit the point where they could stop and applaud the fruits of their labor. Auburn’s phone blowing up with calls and messages was the sole thing signaling to them how much time had passed. Jade’s name underneath a caller ID photo of a rose wrapped in thorns faced her.

“Sup Jade,” Auburn answered the call. “Yeah, sorry we got caught up working on something … You’ll see … “Alright, yeah we’ll be right there. Fill us in when we get there … Alright, bye.” She quickly stashed her phone. “They’re ready. You ready?”

Although he had lost track, Dash was fairly certain it had been a few days since he had last seen Sienna. Or at least it was a few sleep cycles since then. But, between the days and nights blending together from inside his hellish prison cell, and his body demanding rest from a combination of pain, exhaustion, and boredom, there was no guarantee he was right. When she eventually did return, she looked more irritable than usual. Which was saying something. Dash watched as the other White Fang troops did their best to stay clear out of her way. The ones that were forced to interact with her received their orders with complete compliance, no questions and words kept to a minimum besides a succinct "Yes ma'am." Every time her gaze found Dash out of the corner of her eye, her scowl intensified. Dash had no clue why. He knew Sienna well enough to know something was bothering her, but trying to pinpoint what would've been sheer guess-work.

"I'll be in my office. If you bother me, it better be real important," Sienna told the soldiers before retreating behind her office door. It was down the hallway but in plain view from where the caged heir sat. Another unknown amount of time passed. Time might as well have had no meaning to Dash at this point. It was long enough for him to wonder if having Sienna around was better or worse for him compared to the revolving door of faceless Fang cronies. Despite the time, he couldn't come up with an answer before a loud thud from the other side of the door derailed his train of thought. Staggered, stumbling stomps grew louder and closer until the door swung open. Sienna wobbled in place in the doorway with a goofy grin until the door bounced back from its hinges and thwacked her in the shoulder.

"Owww motherfucker!" she cursed at the door before giving it a big two-handed push. The door came back at her again so she inelegantly dodged, nearly tripping over her own two feet in the process. "Fuckin' feet always failing me," she mumbled to herself. Somehow managing to stay upright, she entered Dash's room and her grin curled into something more mischievous. He noticed after light investigation the half finished bottle of whiskey in her hand.

"Helloooooo," she cooed at Dash with a playfully evil undertone before, to Dash's surprise, unlocking the cell door. However, the shock was short-lived once he laid eyes on the chain leash and collar wrapped around her other hand. "I'll be taking the toy into my office. I'll make sure he's fed," she called out to any Fang member within earshot. Dash tried to tilt his head and move away to make it difficult. But, one harsh grab by the chin from Sienna was correction enough so she could snap the collar on with ease.

"But Sienna, ma'am," a particularly nervous looking new recruit spoke up, instantly drawing Sienna's death stare. "Er, Commander, uh.." Sienna's eyes burned two holes through him. "H-High Leader Taurus said the prisoner is to remain in his cell at all times."

"High Leader Taurus can suck my fat cock!" Sienna exclaimed, leaving the rookie perplexed on multiple levels. "The prisoner knows to not even dare try to escape on me. Isn't that right, Spicy?" Dash sighed instead of rolling his eyes at the name. It was one of many used to irk him at Beacon. A quick yank on the leash curtailed him though and brought him closer to Sienna's side.

"Watch the lungs, red. I heard that," she said. A brief moment of PTSD powerlessness gripped Dash and caused him to break into a cold sweat. Sienna then began leading the way, with Dash lagging behind, outside his normal confinement and into a new one. Thankfully the walk was short. In Dash's mind, the less people that saw him like this the better. Even though Sienna was already too much. "Ya know if you ever make it out of here, you're gonna have a serious pet play kink thanks to me." Her loud, uncontrollable laughter was like nails on a chalkboard to Dash. As he trudged along behind her, Sienna kept flicking the end of her tail so it brushed against Dash's face enough to tickle him. Well that's one to be told to pick up the pace. With his hands cuffed and unable to turn his head, the only way he could avoid the relentless tail tickling was to speed up. Sienna snickered again, this time punctuated by a snort. 

Once inside her office, Dash took a survey around as Sienna locked the door behind them. A beautifully crafted dark oak desk sat as the master centerpiece to the room. On one side of the desk sat a messy stack of almost late paperwork with her mask on top of it as a paperweight. Her claws were hung up on a display stand behind her chair. As Dash wondered how Sienna swindled a stylish place like this, Sienna forced him down into a sitting position where he stood. She hooked his bindings to a pipe running along the wall, leaving him very little wiggle room. But, it was still a nice step up from the blanketed shelf he had been sleeping on.

"I don't think you'll need that. It's more for in case someone knocks," she told him while knelt down. Once he was secured, Sienna got up and sauntered toward a counter on the left to begin preparing the inmate his dinner. She had been the one who set his eating schedule during his time here, but it was the first time he watched her actually make it. Or rather he watched what wasn't obscured by her body or the insane amount of fluff on her tail. After a couple moments of eyeing her as she casually went about her business while fighting her drunkenness, she sat down a hot meal in front of Dash - in a doggy bowl. Dash glared at his warden.

"Gotta be able to eat without hands somehow. Now quit giving me that look and be a good puppy." Her words dripped with an infuriating amount of mocking impishness. Dash didn't want to give her the satisfaction of being even more of her obedient dog. He left his food untouched. It was a strategy he had already tried to employ against his captors. It hadn't proven very effective though, and every time he would eventually crack and give his body the scraps it had been begging for. "Suit yourself. Only hurting you."

Sienna turned back toward her desk, whipping her tail into Dash's face one more time in the process. Jumping into her comfortable office chair, she kicked her feet up onto the desk before leaning too far back and nearly falling backwards. She did recover, albeit clumsily. Dash sat in disbelief that this one of the White Fang's fiercest and most capable, the one who stormed into Atlas and got out with him. "So," she went on, "I heard your daddy's little speech." Dash grumbled as his eyes fell away from her and toward a wall. "In the damn near month - fuck has it been that long already? - guess how many times your dad has contacted us personally. Or how many times he's tried to break you out by force."

"You already know the answer," he finally mumbled after a minute of Sienna patiently waiting. He really didn't want to say it. He had already heard it once.

"Yeahhhhh. But I wanna hear you say it," she said. Still, no reply. "Come onnnn, I'll give you a drink if you answer." Sienna waggled the whiskey bottle she had just taken another swig out of. Only silence followed. But, Sienna's stubbornness was only amplified without her sobriety. Dash was learning quickly that there was nothing more frustrating than a happy in-your-face kind of drunk to deal with when you can't leave. "I know you know the answer. You're gonna hate it."

"I get it! It's zero, alright?!" Dash snapped.

"Ayyyyy," Sienna said. "Strawberry shortcake want a drink?" Again with the names. If he didn't like them at Beacon, he fully detested them now. Somehow, the grin that always accompanied them was even more annoying now than it was then. Shrugging him off, Sienna started to rummage through the obscene amount of drawers in her desk. "So much shit in here," she muttered to herself.

"Where is Dawn?" Dash asked.

"She's fine. A different crew is looking after her. I've been keeping in touch with them. They're ones you can trust," she said before her head popped over the desk again with an unopened bag of pens. As she tore into it with her teeth, she met Dash cocking an unsure and faithless eyebrow. Sienna rolled her eyes. "She's got coloring books to keep her busy, and her own personal grunt to make sure she always has crayons. She's broken a few throwing them back at him, just for him to give her more ammo. Poor bastard doesn't know what to do." Dash smiled slightly. It was the first warmth he felt inside in a long time knowing that Dawn was being so strong. He knew she was tough. The smile faded, however, when the first pen was thrown in his direction, even though it sailed over his head.

"Damn!" Sienna remarked. "So when are you gonna learn your daddy doesn't care about you?"

"That's not true," Dash said lowly. Sienna lobbed another pen, this time nailing Dash right on the forehead. He flinched at first, but couldn't turn his head away, before growling and kicking towards Sienna. But he was a mile away, and he only kicked the air before the chains tugged him back to his spot.

"Bullseye!" Sienna laughed. "But it's true. He's too worried about his precious profits to pay the ransom and get his own kids back. He’s either too dumb to realize you’re being held hostage by a group who have wanted you dead for years, or he just doesn’t care."

“If he gives in to the White Fang’s demands, no matter what they are, money or whatever, then they win. Not to mention it can’t be easy coming to the table to negotiate with a side that only wants you killed.”

“Man, he’s got you brainwashed real good,” Sienna said while shaking her head. Her mismatched eyes looked down at Dash, simultaneously stunned and expectantly disappointed that this was his line of thinking even in the situation he’s stuck in. It still didn’t stop the next pen from raining down and getting him right in the nose. “But hey, that last part’s fair. I think everybody wearing these masks want nothing more than his death certificate. Myself included.”

“Yeah, I bet you wanna be the one to personally do it,” Dash grimaced as the next pen tomahawked at him clipped him in the ear. “And are the pens really fucking necessary?? Quit it!” This time at least he kept the thrashing to a minimum so the collar didn’t painfully remind him of his place.

“Still got that hot head. Don’t think anyone will ever beat that out of you,” Sienna said. Dash eyes glanced upward in thought for a moment before he nodded in concession. “And yeah, I’d say the pens are necessary. Let’s see. The first one was for when we first met and you called me a ‘punkass faunus wastelander’. The next one was for the time you tried to pin the argument on ‘faunus like me’ when thirteen people died in an accident at one of your factories. And the one I'm about to throw is for the time you tried to pick a fight with Riley just cause she stood up for me! Actually-". With each accusation, Dash shrunk and shriveled more and more in his place before the sounds of more drawers opening and closing brought his attention forward again. Coming back up, Sienna was reloaded, this time with a box of paper clips. With one heated up in the palm of her hand via her semblance, she chucked it at him. He made no effort to try and dodge, letting it burn where it hit him.

"And to answer your other thing. I want him dead, yeah, but I don't wanna be the one to do it. I don't kill if I can help it," she continued.

"How noble of you. Want a medal? Want me to rub your feet?" Dash scoffed.

"Ohoho," Sienna chuckled, "you even think about touching my feet and I'll make an exception and ship you back to your dad in more pieces than IKEA furniture." Stopping mid-breath, Dash was briefly paralyzed. He wasn't sure if it was a bluff to call her out on. But it sounded like the most real threat she's delivered yet. Guess she wasn't the type to get foot rubs from Riley. Sienna laughed loudly and took one of the last swigs the bottle had left. Slowly, Dash exhaled and let his arms drop. Once the laughter ceased, Sienna caught her breath. "You should be thanking me, ya know."

"Thanking you? For what?? The privilege of being an insane fox's plaything? Or that you don't have anything bigger to throw!" Dash said incredulously almost like his tone was instinct. Another searing office supply smacked him in the forehead, only further proving his points.

"Ooooo maybe I could find some ball bearings, that's an idea for next time. But I'm serious. You should be grateful. I'm the only reason you're alive."

"Uh-huhhhh. You're totally my savior and not the reason I'm in this hell to begin with, right?"

"Think about it, Spicy. You think that hit at the party only happened cause of me? You’ve been on the hit list for a long time, and that party gave them the golden opportunity. They were gonna crash that mansion and come after you anyways. And all the people guarding you while I was gone, you think they have the patience to deal with some trust fund kids? If they had their way, they woulda offed you and Dawn and sent back your corpses in exchange for the ransom money.” A cold snap rocketed up Dash’s spine. It was partially for his safety, but mainly due to the image of his little sister meeting her end like this. It was an image he couldn’t erase. “So I told them I knew you, knew you too damn well, and they offered me the job in a heartbeat. I took it, cause yeah, I wanted to get back at you for all your cocky prick bullshit and for all the times you defended your dad. But also cause… I didn’t wanna see you dead. Same goes for your sister.” Dash squinted at the fox faunus like he was trying to peer through some mirage. “So yeah, think about that next time you wanna call me trash or whatever. I’ll be expecting some more obedience from my pet.”

“So what’s the endgame?” Dash questioned, dismissing Sienna’s cackling and cutting to the point, all the while suppressing a groan.

“It was supposed to be have your sperm donor fork over the ransom and get you two back home safe, but he hasn’t gone for it yet. So now I don’t know.” There was a momentary pause, Dash studying Sienna as she offhandedly fidgeted with a clip.

“And what about you?” he spoke up, causing her fox ears to flick slightly in confusion. “How do you see this ending for yourself?”

“Probably when everybody we went to school with come to put me six feet under,” she said. Her response was quick and seemed to carry no care on the surface, but Dash noticed her entire demeanor shift. Her ears lowered. She sat more leaned forward in her chair. She dropped her makeshift fidget spinner. She instantly sobered up.

"What does that mean?" Dash asked.

"It doesn't matter how it ends for me," she replied, not really answering Dash about where their friends from school came from or how they fit into this.

"Sienna what do they have-"

"Oh for fuck's sake you still just talk way too much! After all this you still can't keep your mouth shut! I said it doesn't matter so drop it!" Sienna swiped her bottle just for her growl to magnify when she realized only the last drops of her bourbon were left. Tossing it aside on her desk, her right hand wrapped around her left forearm, leaving a glowing red mark. Dash took note of her manner. It mirrored the mood she was in when she first arrived today. There had to have been something more to it under the aggressive exterior. Was it stress? Worry? Fear? Sienna wouldn't reveal that even to her most trusted friends, much less him. Whatever it was, it didn't stop the next scalding paper clip from coming at him with renewed vigor, although her aim was wayward. Dash released a heavy sigh. Something in his mind was clearly weighing him down, something he had no idea how to begin to articulate it. What were the words to say here?

"I'm sorry, Sienna." Sienna's ears shot straight up and she stopped mid-windup of her next throw.

"What?" Sienna had no idea that those words were even in the Ospreays' vocabularies. Was that the first time Dash had admitted guilt about anything? It was like a baby saying his first words. It was awkward and lacked confidence. But, she couldn't dwell on it too long. The clip in her hand started to melt and burn her fingers, prompting her to fling it against the wall. "Fuck!"

“What’s the look for?” Now it was Dash’s turn to be befuddled.

“The fuck? Where’d that come from?” Sienna furrowed her brows, convinced he was joking. She almost wanted to lob another pen at him for the audacity of lying to her face like that. Or to make sure he was real and not some alcohol-fueled hallucination.

“For all the shit at Beacon. I’m sorry,” he repeated. He sounded genuinely sincere, but that made it all the more baffling and unbelievable to Sienna. “Believe me or not, I don’t care. You’re not getting it out of me again.” Now that was the Dash she was more than accustomed to. That braggadocio that gave him a very punchable existence. She folded her arms and intently glared at the trapped heir. After an excruciatingly long moment, Sienna unsteadily rose from her chair. Still struggling with coordination, she made her way to the counter without faceplanting into the floor and withdrew a fork from one of the cabinets. Dash’s electric eyes widened in panic.

“Whoa whoa hey hey now what are you planning on doing with that?? Let’s not be rash here, we can be more civilized about this,” Dash said with a nervously petrified fake chuckle. Sienna didn’t answer and kept approaching. He tugged hard on his restraints as the instinct to put his hands up and block his face kicked in. He fruitlessly tried to scoot away before closing his eyes and awaiting the pain of a fiery utensil meeting his skin. However, he kept waiting. And waiting. Until his arms were suddenly able to fall to his sides in their natural position. Unsure how or why he wasn’t bleeding, on fire, or both yet, Dash opened one eye to see his bowl of food placed in front of him now complete with a fork to eat it with. Then, his gaze raised upward to Sienna towering over him, twirling the key to his binds.

“Eat.” The command was stern, frighteningly so. It was still coming from the woman who held the fate of his life in her hands, whether he wanted to admit it or not. Dash rubbed his wrists, hesitating to break eye contact until his grumbling stomach won out. The food was still warm. It was nothing fancy, but every bite he took felt like heaven. The subsequent bites after the first one came quicker after the previous as his body cried in gratitude. After a moment, Sienna dropped down to one knee in front of him. “You know. You can help us.”

"You expect me to help the White Fang?" Dash said with a mouth full of food before swallowing. "The info I've given up already isn't enough."

"You can do more. Give us more, do what we ask, and do it all without having me to beat you into submission, and it might just be your ticket out of here. And our ticket to end all the pain your family"s caused."

"And condemn my father to death?"

"He's doing the same to you right now."

"I can't do that to my own flesh and blood, Sienna. How do you expect me to sleep well at night doing that?"

"Uuuuuugh," she groaned. "Definitely getting something bigger to throw at you next time." Before Dash could escalate the argument any further, something he had a talent for doing, a knock on the door cut them both short. Dash froze before his next bite, petrified if someone heard them or saw him somehow. But, Sienna just groaned louder. "Now whaaaaat?" Rising once more, she went to the door and opened it up just enough for her to stand in the doorway. She blocked any vision of Dash from the outside, and vice versa. But, Dash could still hear a Fang official's voice.

"Commander Umberon."

"Yup, that's me."

"We have received intel that significant progress is being made in repairing Vale's CCT tower. The crew working on it is supposedly close to a major breakthrough in restoring communications." Dash perked up at the mention of at the current state of his old home, but luckily it went unseen. “We need those comms to remain offline so we can continue to operate with less secrecy as we have been. We are sending Tango Squadron to make sure our great strides will not be halted, but they could use an extra bit of firepower. And since you are so familiar with Beacon Academy, the High Leader suggested you.”

“Tango Squadron, huh?” Sienna said before pausing to think. Not like she was pondering not doing it, it was just taking a moment for her buzzed mind to catch up with the rest of her. “Yeah, I’m in.” As she was being relayed all of the important mission details, most notably that this was happening tomorrow night, she nodded rakishly through it all. “Yeah, yeah, got it. And hey tell one of the grunts sitting on their asses to get me some more booze, would ya?” Dash couldn’t see the response, only the door shutting and Sienna spinning to face him once more with a smirk.

Amber wasn’t sure what to think. Up until this point, it had been an otherwise unremarkable day. Another day at work at Shade Academy trying to stabilize communications between the other two kingdoms that weren’t deemed lost causes. Another day hoping the team at Beacon would make some headway in their repairs. Another day hoping that comforting voice would come through. But another day that it never does. Regardless, she began her walk home, wondering how long the usual song and dance of deciding what to eat for dinner tonight would take. Until she spotted one of her closest friends that she hadn’t seen since Beacon standing on a rooftop with another girl she had never seen before, and both of them looked freshly worse for wear.

“Auburn? Are you ok? You look like you got into an argument with a Beringel,” Amber inquired. The approaching fox faunus was holding her side and sporting a couple of newly acquired bruises. The other girl similarly limped through pain and soreness. Amber couldn't tell if the Beringel had won.

“Hey, where ya headed?” Auburn resolutely dismissed her concern through gritted teeth.

“Um I was just heading back to our apartment now. Jade and Riley are waiting for me.”

“Mind if I come too? Gotta get everyone together. We need to talk.” Auburn had said the same thing while on the roof. It didn't carry the weight of someone who wanted to catch up with a chat over drinks. It sounded more like what someone says when they're about to end a relationship that isn't working anymore.

“Sure? You’re always welcome. We can patch you up while we’re there.” Amber wasn’t sure what to think, but as she clutched onto her cat backpack a little tighter and led the march down the sidewalk, she could feel the anxiety welling in her chest. She wanted to talk with Auburn about nothing in particular like they used to after class. She wanted to rekindle some of the magic that was desperately missing from Beacon. It was a wish she had been pining for more frequently as of late. But, hushed inaudible murmurs from behind nixed her plans for the present moment.

"Who is this girl?" Rin whispered from over Auburn's shoulder.

"That girl we just fought? That's one of her teammates," Auburn said.

"Wait what??" Rin's ears shot straight up in shock. "Does that mean-? Does she know?" Auburn shook her head.

"She has no clue, none of them do. They've been looking for her since the fall. All they know is she disappeared." Rin's ears lowered in sorrow. Sorrow for this girl she hadn't even spoken a word to yet. Her heart broke into more pieces when she realized she and Auburn were about to share the truth they were burdened with.

“Hey Auburn?” Amber’s usual soft-spoken mildness coaxed the two of them out of their respective mindspaces. “Have you… heard from Solomon?”

“No. But I know he’s alright out there. He’s tougher than you first think,” she replied. The optimism didn’t quite connect with Amber.

“I see,” she said solemnly. “What about Dash? Do you have any news on him?”

“You could say that.” Amber turned her head to look back at her for an elaboration, but received none for her troubles. The conversation came to a tense and uneasy halt after that, so Rin tried her best to make small talk with the orange-haired stranger.

“I like your backpack. I kinda have a thing for cats too,” she said with a chuckle. Amber gave her a nod as a genuine thank you, but it did little to ease everyone’s nerves. Again they returned to awkward silence. Rin had to fight back the urge to sigh. “Is it much farther? I’m not exactly built for this heat.”

“Just around the block,” Amber said. As promised, only half a block later Amber led the Leash duo into an apartment complex. They went through the lobby, up two flights of stairs, then stopping at the first door on the right, room 302. One turn of the key later and the three of them were met with an arctic blast. The apartment was kept like an igloo, the polar opposite to the desert heat outside. Rin tilted her head back and outstretched her arms in relief like she had just reached the promised land after a hero’s long, arduous journey. Posters of bands and shows garnished the walls. One corner of the living room was marked by a pile of laundry, while another had a duffel bag of hockey gear complete with a full set of goalie pads. On the coffee table sat a stack of comic books next to a bong that was recently used, as evident by the faint aroma in the air.

“Look decent, guys. We have guests,” Amber called out while dropping her backpack on the couch. Stepping into the room from the girls’ left first was Team JASR’s leader Jade Meadows. Her stark black hair, free from her beanies for once, fell messily down the shoulders of her hallmark purple hoodie. 

“Hey Auburn, about time you came to visit. Finally gonna show us all your hangout spots?” Jade smiled as she passed by to make a quick pit stop at the fridge before flopping into a bean bag next to the couch.

“Auburn’s here? She doesn’t count for looking decent,” another female voice came in from the other room. Auburn smirked to herself; she knew full well “decent” in this household just meant wearing pants. The other voice sauntered in to reveal a taller woman with maroon hair in a hockey jersey that didn’t quite stretch down enough to show a slip of short gym shorts on underneath. Riley Currant gave her old friend a fist bump before looking past her curiously. “Although your friend does. Sup.”

“Oh yeah, right. Everyone, this is Rin. Rin, meet Amber, Jade, and Riley. We were all close back at Beacon,” Auburn said.

“Nice to meet all of ya,” Rin said while flashing a peace sign. Each of the JASR girls gave her their own version of pleasantries. Rin tried to buck up with a chipper smile, but it took considerably more effort than normal. She really didn't want to just open up with this truth bomb that she and Auburn were loaded with. She scanned around the room for something to break the ice with, again trying to drum up light banter. And in her infinite wisdom, she settled on the bong.

"Sooooooo who can take the biggest hit?" she asked with a snicker to cover up

"Sienna," all three answered in unison with a soft yet heavy, almost mournfully reminiscent chuckle. Well that didn't work.

"It's not even close," Jade added.

"Hey I can give her a run for her money," Riley said before her gaze was magnetized downward. After a dragging moment, she willed herself upward to face their new and probably confused visitor. "Sorry, Sienna's our fourth, and my girlfriend. We… haven't seen her for a while though."

"Have you had any luck finding her? Any leads?" Auburn asked. Maybe they already knew. Maybe she didn't have to be the herald of terrible news. However, the silence that followed spoke volumes, as the magnet on the floor tugged at Riley once again.

"I haven't had time to look with all the tech stuff keeping me busy," Amber filled the quiet void.

"I don't even know where to begin looking. I miss her but… where do I even start?" Jade spoke up next.

"I've been doing everything I could, but Jade's right. I just… wish I knew she was alright. That she's alive and not hurt so I can bring her home." Riley sighed. "I know she's still out there though. She's too stubborn to go down." Auburn folded her arms and leaned on the wall behind her. How was she supposed to this? She was never the type to keep secrets. The truth was always quicker in her mind, so why waste time? It’s gonna hurt no matter what, so rip the band-aid off. But, that had never been harder to live by than this very moment. How was she supposed to say the right words when her heart was in her throat. How was she supposed to even look them in the eyes?

“You miss her too, don’t you Auburn?” Jade said. “It’s not like we’re the only ones who lost a friend, you two were really close. Not to mention Dash. I’m worried about him too. I know he was an ass but I always felt kinda bad for him. I don’t think he was all bad.”

“Yeah…” she trailed off again. She was mentally cursing at herself to say something. “Kinda hard to miss her right now though.”

“What does that mean?” Riley said, recoiling in indignation. The question hung in the air for an uncomfortable amount of time for her liking. Likewise, Amber also had her head tilted in puzzlement and Jade cocked an eyebrow.

“Hard to miss what you just saw.” It was barely a strained croak past Auburn’s lips. Rin was backing her Leash leader, eyes darting between each JASR member, examining for any kind of reaction.

“Wait. You saw her??” Jade exclaimed first.

“So she’s alive!” Amber said next, echoing the relief coming from her green-eyed teammate.

“Oh thank gods!” Emotion surged through Riley to the point where her body couldn’t contain it. Rushing to Auburn, she pulled the boxer into a tight hug, barely able to stand on her own. “Thank you, Auburn! Wait, that must mean she’s in Vacuo! Where is she? I gotta see her.” Auburn’s reddish fox tail tucked between her legs, accidentally brushing past Riley’s knee. “Ohhh I get it, it’s like a surprise right? She’s waiting jump in here from out the hallway.” Once Riley released the hug, she still had Auburn by the shoulders. Then she could read her expression. It was dejection. Each agonizing second the beam on the hockey star’s face slowly, painfully slowly, diminished. “Auburn. Why isn’t she with you?”

“Does she not wanna see us?” Amber asked sheepishly.

“We didn’t do anything wrong, did we?” Jade said. Auburn sighed heavily, so heavy it felt like it could drop out of her lungs and through the floor.

“No you didn’t. She did. She… joined the White Fang.” The grip on Auburn’s shoulders loosened bit by tiny bit, but Riley’s arms still remained extended outward, frozen beside slight trembling. Her expression was also motionless, nothing more than a blank, dead stare that pierced right through Auburn. “I’m… really sorry you had to learn this way.”

“I am too. Not the first impression I wanted to make with you guys,” Rin tacked on. Jade wanted to get up and console Riley, but all she could do was sink further into the clutches of her bean bag. Amber clung to a pillow from the sofa, wrapping it around her chest like it was a bulletproof vest. All of her concern, however, was bouncing back and forth between her friends.

“W…what?” Riley said. Shock, bewilderment, disgust, utter devastation. It’s like she couldn’t compute. It didn’t add up. “What? No that’s not- why? Why would she leave us? Leave me? I-is it something I did? Why would she go back to the Fang?”

“Back?” Rin’s husky ears twitched.

“She and her brother both joined when they were kids back when it was peaceful. Their parents didn’t want them to, but they did it to try and help their family. And help themselves,” Jade swooped in to answer to save Riley the trouble.

“You kidding me? So she has a track record of this?” Auburn said.

"But she wouldn't go back to them! Not the way they are now!" said Riley, trying to grasp any tatter of hope. "Are you absolutely sure it was her?"

"Do you really think I wouldn't be able to tell if it was her? There aren't many people with pierced fox ears and two different colored eyes that spit flames. She went back to-"

"There's no way, there has to be more to the story. I can't believe you."

"Really? Still think I'm lying?" In a huff of exasperation, Auburn lifted her shirt to show newly acquired battle scars, scratches and burns from an all too familiar pair of fiery claws. She then pulled out the two pieces that remained of her trusted whip. What once had helped Auburn win countless duels while training was now indistinguishable from scrap metal. Finally with the fortitude gathered to rise from her seat, Jade peered over Riley's shoulder and clasped a hand over her mouth.

"No way. Hang on I got a med kit here, I can help take care of that," she said, but Auburn waved her off. Meanwhile, Riley took one of the junked halves into her hand and 

"A-anyone could've done this. That doesn't mean-"

"Riley, c'mon," Auburn fired back.

"No! I can't believe you! I… I just can't!" Riley turned around and stormed back into the room she originally came in from, slamming the door shut behind her. The only noise that accompanied the thick fog of tension were crashing sounds of things being thrown around carrying through the wall from the other room. None were feeling it more than Jade and Amber, both of them glued back to their seats.

“Should I go check on her?” Amber said softly to Jade.

“Not right now. She’s gonna need a minute.” A louder thud suddenly snapped all four of them to eye the wall. “A long one.” No one had anything else to say. The aura of defeat and devastation was too deafening. They were left to just wallow in silence. Rin had her hands firmly stuffed in the pockets of her bomber jacket. Auburn held her fists behind her back to prevent them from lashing out at the nearest wall. Amber kept her attention up and chest out as if her posture was the only thing keeping the floodgates of tears from pouring out, while Jade just looked… tired. So very tired.

“This… feels really personal. Do I need to leave?” Rin posed to the crowd. She wasn’t sure if it was more for her sake or theirs at this point.

“No you’re fine,” said Jade. “This isn’t your fault it’s just-” The JASR leader was cut off by the sudden swinging open of that same door with it meeting the wall with a sharp smack. Now dressed in actual pants, Riley flew between the two sides of the discussion and made a beeline for the pile of hockey equipment. Even then, the slight glisten from her cheeks displayed to everyone she was not as fortunate in holding back the tears. The first thing she went for was a stick that clearly stood out from the rest as something more than just a tool for a pickup game on the rink. Then, she knelt down and, unceremoniously tossing some pads and dirty jerseys aside, fished out a custom mask and placed it on the top of her head.

“What are you doing?” Rin decided to be the one to inquire.

“You said you just saw Sienna. That means she’s still gotta be in the city. I’m going to bring her home. Even if I gotta scour every single block and every single street corner and I gotta fucking kick the ass of every White Fang member including hers to do it!” With a small twitch of her wrists, the stick transformed, with the taped up blade of the stick being replaced by the gleaming blade of a scythe.

“Alone? Riley wait we can come with you,” Amber interjected.

“You’ve got no leads to go off of, let’s think about this,” Jade tried to plead reason next.

“C’mon Riley, you know this ain’t gonna help anything. All it’s gonna do is tire you out and make you feel worse, so just sit your ass down.” Auburn’s bluntness certainly wasn’t helping, but nothing else was working either. Riley clearly wasn’t listening. Without another word, with the scythe resting on her shoulder, she exited through the front door and disappeared from view once the door shut with a loud bang. Auburn clenched her fists and shook her head. Rin went to put a hand on her shoulder but it was quickly pushed away.

“Great fuckin idea! Let’s just act stupid and start a parade down the street looking like Jason Voorhees just subscribed to the NHL Network!” The only thing stopping her from putting a hole in the nearest sheet of drywall was the fact that this was not her apartment.

“She’s just hurt, Auburn,” Amber said sympathetically to try and soothe her.

“Hurt? This is how we deal with hurt now? We’re all hurt! I’m hurting! First Ospreay, now this?? I’ve had to hear these headlines for weeks now. I’ve been worried sick he hasn’t been brought home yet!” She tried to take a deep breath, but it did little to temper her intensity, only the volume in her voice. “He wasn’t given the choice to leave like Sienna.”

“I know, Auburn. Trust me, I know. I don’t like it either. I wish she handled it differently too. But we all deal with trauma differently,” Jade said, hanging on to any resolve she can.

“We all got trauma! That doesn’t give any of us an excuse to run away and become a mercenary!” Auburn yelled.

“I’m not excusing it! Everyone’s trauma is different! Sienna’s is different from yours, which is different from mine, which is different from hers!” She pointed to Rin, chaining her back into a debate she was praying to stay out of.

“I’m sorry but I kinda agree with Auburn here. It doesn’t sit well with me that she left. I know the huntsman teams aren’t forever, but to me that means you stick together with those people through thick and thin,” Rin chimed in. “And the redhead? Not exactly helping. She acts like she’s the only one missing someone when she’s not…”

“It doesn’t sit well with me that she’s the reason Bubblegum is a prisoner of war right now!” Auburn fired, using her longtime nickname for Dash.

“That’s not true, it’s just a coincidence,” Jade said, still trying to pacify the resident punch-happy fox.

“Then why was she bragging to me about it?! Why did she tell me she was picked because she personally knew Dash?!” If it was possible for someone’s heart to sink past rock bottom, it was evident from their faces that Amber and Jade had achieved it. The color drained from their faces. Auburn’s ears instantly slicked back apologetically and she winced. “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to just drop it on you like that.”

“She… she really told you that?” Jade’s voice was nothing more than a quivering, heartbreaking whisper. “Oh fuck.”

“D-do we tell Riley?” The tears Amber had miraculously suppressed for this long to stream down her face, leaving visible glowing trails down her cheeks before burying her face into a pillow. Auburn raised a hand toward the tech expert, but she knew it would be futile to try and get her to stop crying. Nor should she try. Amber badly needed this release. They all did, but Jade was still holding stern. Months of worrying bottled up just to come crashing down with something barely a half step above the worst possible outcome. She was still alive, but to be in the White Fang doing their biggest dirty work jobs so far out of reach from them.

“Sorry, guys. Really I am. I understand if you need some time,” Auburn said while rubbing her arm before nudging Rin with her elbow. “C’mon, Snowdog. Let’s go find her.”

“Which one? The flaming fox or the star goalie?”

“Whoever we find first.”

By the time Riley had left, only the final breaths of light from dusk watched over her. That was a few hours ago, and night had long made itself cozy within Vacuo by this point. Certain neighborhoods in the kingdom that were already sketchy during the day became downright treacherous in the dark. But, Auburn knew them too well to care, to the point of sending Rin to split up to cover more ground. It was unclear if it was confidence or determination or sheer rage that motivated her to walk these streets so worry-free. But nonetheless, she passed Sunshine Estates, The Lanes, anywhere that looked like it could house a White Fang hideout, anywhere that looked like it could remotely capture Riley’s attention. But, there was no sign of anything. Rin hadn’t called, so it was unlikely she was having any luck either. No gang would’ve dared messing with Riley so long as she was lugging that scythe around. Maybe she went home. Maybe her experience mirrored Auburn’s right now so she decided to call it a night.

As Auburn decided to circle back home, she whipped out her phone to text Rin to do the same if she hadn’t already. Before she could message Jade next to ask if Riley returned home, she noticed something while passing a public playground. A lone figure barely discernable through the darkness sat at the base of a slide slumped forward with their hands covering their face. Auburn passed the gate and tiptoed closer, and she did the sobbing grew louder and louder. Then, Auburn laid eyes on the hockey stick sat at her feet, and the goalie mask leaning against one of ther thighs. Riley choked back a sob with an ugly gasp.

“Auburn,” she started despite her not saying a word or noticing that Riley saw her approach, “everyone always said I was the strong one. They looked at us and thought I was the stability, I was the rock. Sienna would always agree. But it’s wrong, it’s all wrong.” Auburn was a little grateful her tear-glazed eyes were fixated on her mask. She couldn’t bear to look her in the eyes right now. “I’m nothing without her. I need her back.” Auburn wanted to tell her how she was connected to the Ospreays’ kidnappings. She wanted to tell her that the Sienna from Beacon, the stoner chaos monster that would stuff her dinner plate with nothing but ice cream and would let loose pigeons during classes for the hell of it, was gone. But she couldn’t. Not right now.

“I getcha. It was bad enough wanting to do everything in my power to get Bubblegum back. I thought there’d be some kind of ransom paid by now and he’d be back with his family. I want him back too. But I’ve had to be strong about it. You say you’re not the strong one, but you’re the one still here, still fighting for your relationship.”

“No no no, I’m not, I’m not the strong one.” Riley was emphatically shaking her head before Auburn even finished before repeating, “I need her back.”

“I do too, she’s my partner in fox crime, but-”

“Do you know how long it took Alex to convince her to give Beacon a shot? Months of trying to get her to take the entrance exams. He told me he hoped it would be both of their tickets out of their shitty childhood and onto something better. I had hoped that Beacon would give her security in her life that she needed and it would never get ripped away. And I was wrong…”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean she gets to respond like this,” Auburn said.

“I’m not saying she’s right. But I know she’s scared and alone. She needs help. I am going to get her back. Even though I don’t have any inkling of what the first step of doing that is.” Part of Auburn’s brain couldn’t fathom why she was more worried for a girl who abandoned her than a friend who was forcibly taken from his home. It was enraging having to bottle those feelings up, but the other part of her brain knew exactly what she was going through, and condolence didn’t even begin to describe. However, after a moment of contemplation, her eyes widened and her ears perked with an idea. Maybe this was the push needed to get both of their friends back.

“I may have an idea,” she said.

“You do??” Riley finally looked up at her fellow huntress in training like she was the last bastion against hopelessness.

“I know someone we can talk to. It’s a complete shot in the dark but it’s better than anything else I got. You ever been to the Scarlet Heart?”

“That bar on Carmine Street?” Riley said after a pause with slight confusion on what that had to do with anything. “No, never been. Why?”

“Go home for the night. Get off this playground and be with Jade and Amber. They need you bad right now and you need them. We’ll meet there tomorrow. Just get some rest for me tonight, ok?” Auburn plunked a hand on Riley’s shoulder before the latter suddenly sprung up and wrapped her in a tight hug. She buried her face in Auburn’s shoulder, her tears staining and running down her leather jacket.

“Thank you for even trying. Thank you thank you thank you,” Riley said softly. After a moment to collect herself, Auburn softly returned the embrace for a few moments before letting go.