#team dash

Far away from the factories and mines of Atlas, the tribes of the Solitas mountain ranges thrived in the harsh conditions. Through peace and war, these villages remained hidden in the mountains as one of the Remnant's best kept secrets. Despite technological and industrial advancements within the kingdom, these areas laid isolated in time. Not many other than the ones who called it home knew of its existence. Even fewer would be crazy enough to brave the ice and the howling winds to live in the beauty of untouched nature.

The sun was just rising on a new day for the village known as Kavik. Some of the townsfolk were awake bright and early, including the chief's daughter. Stepping outside of her cabin, the girl's turquoise jacket was tied around her waist despite the light snowfall that was hitting her pale skin. Silver hair cascaded down her back, almost reaching her wolf tail. She stretched her arms out to embrace the rush of the cold against her body and the smell of pine trees before making her way into town.

"Priestess Wolverina," an elderly lady called out, stopping her morning walk. "You should really be wearing that jacket."

"Ma'am, it's Wolfie, you know that," she said, her carefree smile not fading for even a moment. "And I'll be fiiiiiiine. I've grown up in this all my life. This is my element!" The old woman knew Wolfie was always one to let her addiction to fun get the best of her, and sometimes it took half the village to make sure she stayed out of trouble.

"This is the priestess we're talking about!" a young boy spoke up, his ear lined up next to a radio. "The Battle Angel! The Wild Wolf! She can handle anything!"

"Awooooooo," Wolfie playfully howls before letting out a small giggle. The old lady couldn't help but smile at seeing the silliness in her heterochromatic eyes, but she still remained adamant.

"One of your new friends you brought back with you should make sure you stay warm."

"They do, Fernie especially. But, he can't stop me from being one with the snow!" she said.

"You guys kicked ass at the Vytal Festival! The whole village was listening on the radio cheering for you!" the boy said. Wolfie smiled at him then ruffled his hair, meanwhile the old woman was ready to smack the kid’s head. Through the kid's excited rambling, she caught a snippet of the news report playing on the radio.

"…following the developing story of the White Fang raid on the Ospreay estate…"

"Turn that up! Turn that up NOW!” Wolfie yelled. The serious tone she suddenly carried in her voice caught the boy off guard. He immediately went quiet and fumbled with the dial to turn up the volume.

"Atlas officials report no casualties, but millions of lien worth of property damages. There is still no word on the whereabouts of the two missing persons, the Ospreays' son Dash and daughter Dawn. Investigations report of a scuffle in the garage, where they found collateral damage and a puddle of blood. Both Tone Ospreay and his eldest son Tone Jr declined to comment on the situation. If you have any news on the status of Dash and Dawn Ospreay, call-". Wolfie reached over and shut the radio off. Listening to it any longer wouldn't help her believe it. Her gaze was fixed on the snow beneath her feet. Her mind and heart alike were racing.

"Priestess? Is everything ok?" the old lady asked. Her head snapped back up to see concerned looks from her and the little boy. She couldn't formulate an answer, only able to bolt back toward her cabin. There, the ram faunus Fern Tremblay was waiting in the doorway. Dark-skinned with curly white hair, his leather jacket was buttoned up over a green tank top.

"Wolfie, why even have a jacket if you're not gonna wear it?" Fern said. But Wolfie almost ran past him without even acknowledging him, let alone firing off a snappy comeback. "Wolfie? What's up?" Ignoring him again, she stepped past him and looked into the cabin. Inside, another boy was looking at himself in the mirror, trying to fix his scruffy green hair. A black-haired girl was asleep in the corner, her beautiful body hidden underneath blankets. The green-haired gentleman, Owen Walsh, turned to see his leader's distress.

"Lead? What's wrong?" Owen said, his Irish accent prevalent. "Did Fern and ya have a fight last night?"

"Hey! This isn't my doing," Fern said, walking in behind Wolfie.

"Oh crap, she's still asleep," she murmured in reference to other woman in the room. "What is she gonna say?"

"Babe! What's wrong?" Fern said louder, spinning Wolfie around and holding her by the shoulders. He caressed her chin to make her look into his green eyes as he tried to give off the most comfort he could muster. Owen dropped his comb aside and slowly stepped toward them as well. Wolfie eventually sighed and brought her heart rate back to normal with a deep breath.

"It's the hothead," she said.

"Hothead? Ospreay?" Fern asked.

"What's Red got to do with any of this? Did te lad mouth off too much like usual?" Owen chimed in.

"He's missing. He and his sister were kidnapped by the White Fang," Wolfie said. Both guys shut up on the spot, and could only exchange glances of disbelief as Wolfie struggled through that sentence. Neither one of them could find anything to break the silence, so it was done by someone else.

"What?"

The female voice grabbed everyone's attention as each of them turned to face the dark-haired woman. She was now awake, sitting up in her bed. Her button-up top was ruffled and the blankets were now pushed aside. Her own face of disbelief was mixed with more outrage than the others' expressions.

"Liddy, I…"Wolfie said.

"Sis, take it easy," Owen said softly as he slowly approached her. But, she stomped out of bed before Owen could get to her

"WHAT? Kidnapped?! Please tell me this is a bloody joke, lead!" Lidiette said angrily, her British accent cracking with an overflow of emotion. Wolfie could only shake her head, feeling the tension as Lidiette's face grew dark. She screamed through gritted teeth loud enough for her brother to cringe slightly. Before anyone could think of the right words to tell her, she immediately walked back to her bed. Rummaging through her stuff, she put on her tailcoat, vest, top hat, and laced on her knee high boots. She grabbed her cane that was leaning on the wall and gripped it tight.

"I'm going to find him!" She stormed toward the exit until Fern stood in the doorway with arms up to block her.

"Nope! He could be anywhere in Remnant, and you are never gonna find him by blindly marching around," Fern said. Lidiette knew he was right, and she definitely knew that they weren't going to let her go alone. But, she still wanted to lash out at something, anything. Knowing his sister all too well, Owen stepped in, wrapping her up and lifting her in a hug before she could do anything.

"We have to do something! I will not just let them take my darling from me! I’ll kill them before they lay another hand on him!” she yelled, thrashing around in Owen's arms.

"We will do something," Wolfie said confidently, trying to console her. Her leader prowess was kicking in, the rally cry that united her team so many times before. "I want the hothead back too. He's like a little bro to me. Not to mention how much he means to you, Liddy. We just have to figure out where he is."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Owen asked, setting Lidiette back down on her feet.

"Simple. We get it from the mouth of the White Fang itself. With so many members, one of them has to give us what we want if we force it out of him. We just gotta grab the Fang's attention. Which means…" A crazy and mischievous smirk came across her face as she panned back to her teammates with eyebrows raised.

"Which means we got to piss 'em off!" Owen said with a laugh. "Oh I'm in. That's one hell of a fight!" Wolfie then looked over her shoulder to Fern next.

"Crazy, probably gonna die? Nothing unusual as far as your plans go. I'm in too. Let's go save the idiot and his sister."

Wolfie pumped her fist then walked to Lidiette. Looking down at her cane then back to her leader, Lidiette saw the conviction that made her such a great leader, especially in the biggest of crises. She set the cane down then hugged Wolfie tight. After stepping back and scanning over the rest of her team, she met them with a nod that replicated Wolfie's assurance. Owen shouted excitedly and grabbed his jacket. Wolfie smirked at her team's eagerness, and Fern wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Team WOLF was back in business.

It took Dash several moments to process that he was awake. He couldn't tell where he was, or how much time had passed. The room was dark, barely lit enough to see a sizeable red blot on the bandages that were wrapped around his stomach. In fact, the pain was the only thing confirming to him that he was awake. He tried to reach for the wound, but his hand only made it a few inches before restraints forced him to stop. After a moment of confusion, he pulled harder, but again only heard the rattle of chains.

The lights suddenly came on, blinding Dash temporarily. Once his sight came back to him, he saw Sienna stroll into the room, mask in hand. She was still in her White Fang uniform tights, but only had a black tank top on her torso.

"Not gonna hide yourself behind that mask?" Dash said, his voice shaky compared to the usual confidence it carried.

"I don't need to hide from your bullshit anymore, Ospreay," Sienna said back, dropping her mask on a nearby desk.

"Someone gets in one cheap shot and all of a sudden they can topple an empire?" Dash said. Sienna couldn't contain her laughter.

"You're still so arrogant. You don't get it, do you? A cheap shot is still a shot, and it's the one that got me one of the most powerful families in Remnant in the palm of my hand." Dash's eyes zeroed in on the fox faunus, squinting like it was all a fever dream that he was expecting to dissipate any second now. "What do you expect? You have a very punchable existence."

"I almost beat you in dress shoes. You really think you stand a chance?"

"Your own little world must be one hell of a place, Spicy!" Sienna said, laughing even harder. "You're unable to grasp that none of that matters anymore. For the first time in your pretty little life, you've lost. You're nothing more than my little plaything until I can turn you over for ransom."

"Plaything?! Ransom?!" Dash fired back, fury spilling from his voice.

"What? Didn't think I've got some anger pent up in me? From every time you put me down, insulted me, trashed me, treated me like dirt!" The giggling was gone, and now her voice was matching Dash's in intensity. She slowly stepped forward and knelt down, looking the All-Atlesian shortstop in the eyes. "I've been looking forward to this."

"If you're that fed up with me, why don't you just kill me then? Too scared?"

"Oh, please. You're far too important to let slip through our fingers. I can - and will - get every bit of information I can out of you and use it to burn your precious family business to the ground." She stands tall, looking down upon her prey. "I would've dumped your barely conscious corpse for the Grimm, but my squad doesn't kill faunus and human alike."

"How noble," Dash sarcastically snapped. Sienna's anger flared again, her semblance kicking in with her tail flicking a small spark. "Why would I talk anyways?"

"Don't you want to see your little sister again?" His heart froze. His eyes widened. The last few moments of the party played in his head, a rush of memories overruling all his other senses. Dawn's cries for help. The blood on his fingers. He couldn't get up. He couldn't rescue her.

"Don't worry. She's safe," Sienna said, snapping him back to reality. She turned her scroll for Dash to see, and on the screen was Dawn, either asleep or unconscious. Even not awake, it was clear she looked terrified, and her eyes were still puffy from crying. But, she didn't have many bruises on her. "For now."

"Fuck off, Umberon! You were always a wasteland lowlife! Just some criminal who crawled out of the scrapyard!" He thrashed against his restraints harder, as if he could break free and reach through the screen to pluck Dawn to safety. But, with each enraged yank on the chains, he only exhausted what energy he had left.

"Watch what you say, boy," Sienna said back sternly. "Or I'll make an exception to my rule and send you back to your family too charred to recognize!" She roughly grabbed his face by the jaw and ignited her semblance. Without her gloves, the embers were more uncontrollable, but they were burning his face all the same. Dash winced and pulled on his chains again, not out of anger this time, but just trying to avoid the pain.

"Aw what's the matter?" Sienna said, backing off to admire her handiwork. "Not enough aura for just a tiny little burn?"

"Shit," Dash thought. "It hasn't had time to regenerate yet." With a devilish smirk, Sienna ran a finger across his jaw once again.

"Now. Tell me what you know about your shipments. Gimme locations of your biggest ports." Dash didn't answer though. Fatigue was already setting in once again. The pain from the claw marks and the burns was turning everything into a haze. Sienna grabbed his arm and dug her fingers in, sending a shockwave through Dash's body that was too much to shrug off.

"Kuchinashi, Izolim, Lugine. Weekly shipments for each of the kingdoms. A truck convoy goes directly to the Atlas capital," Dash cried out. Sienna's grip lessened, and Dash sighed at the little sweet relief he could get. Sienna smirked once again before taking a half step back.

"There ya go. Was that so hard?" she teased amidst more cackling. "This could be good for both of us, Ospreay. I get to watch your evil corporation crumble and you get to hug your adorable little sister one day. But, you gotta behave." She glances at her scroll then nods. "Especially while I'm gone."

"Gone?" Dash questioned.

"This kidnapping job got me some notoriety amongst the White Fang ranks. I just got a couple missions in some of the other kingdoms. I'll make sure to stop by those ports along the way." Dash tilted his head in confusion. He didn't know which were the 'other' kingdoms because he didn't know which one he was currently in. Sienna continued, "That's another day though. Today, I get to play more with my new toy." Dash didn't speak back due to a combination of fear and tiredness, but neither stopped him from putting on his best scowl. Sienna met the daggers being glared at her with nothing more than amusement.

"That's adorable. Clinging to the illusion of power still," she said while turning her back. After a long pause, she looked over her shoulder and went on, "Remember when my team and I first came to Beacon? You heard we were from Vacuo and tried to brand us as 'violent anarchists' in front of everyone."

"Yeah. I remember that," he softly said, not exactly feeling proud of that moment.

"I hated that day. I was so worried that was going to ruin us on the first day. On the outside, I was fine. On the inside, I wanted to scream." Her speech was now irate in tone as she approached Ospreay once again. After a brief staredown, she surprised Dash by tightly grabbing his abdominal wound with a hand that was aflame. Tears welled in Dash's eyes as he cried out in agony.

Shiina tossed the roll of bandages after finishing wrapping up her arms. One quick stretch ensured her that both her arms and her chest could breathe under the tape. She reached for her scroll on her bed. The picture of her friends was awaiting her on the screen. It had been difficult for Shiina to readjust to life back at home. Even though she had only been enrolled in Haven Academy for a short time, it had been her most thrilling life experience yet, one that taught her a lot about herself.

"You know, this place is a pretty cozy vacation spot. It just needs a coffee shop."

Luckily she didn’t have to entirely leave that life behind.

"Sapphire," Shiina said, her fox ears twitching at Sapphire's voice from the other room. "My tribe barely decided to open up to neighboring villages and roaming huntsmen for protection. Do you really think we're gonna let a café anywhere near our borders?"

"A girl can dream, right?" Sapphire stepped in, her blue boots in hand. She flipped her streaked black and blue hair so it perfectly cascaded down her back. She met Shiina with her trademark bright, lighthearted smile before bending down to lace up her thigh high boots. Shiina looked for an answer but could only shake her head, flushed at Sapphire's genuine positivity.

“Now I know the bandages are kinda your look,” she continued. “And while they look good on you, why are you wrapping yourself up still?” Shiina immediately shied away at the question, her eyes gazing down at her arms as if they held the answer. Sapphire went on, “You don’t have to hide it from your own tribe, right? Aren’t you proud of it?”

“Yes! Well, I try to be at least,” Shiina said, backing off of an initial snap. “It’s just hard being proud in something that you haven’t even begun to understand.” Eyes now shut, her fists clenched as frustration at herself was starting to show. “I feel like such an idiot for not being able to know what I’m capable of!”

“Shush. It’s not ‘being able’. It’s not wanting to try. And I get how scary it is. But, you’re not gonna learn anything by keeping it wrapped up like that.” After a few moments of trying to remain stubborn, Shiina relaxed her arms. Despite how exasperating it was, she knew Sapphire had made a good point. Her face turned a light hue of pink, suddenly feeling silly for acting so aggressively.

"You're so cute when you're all flustered," Sapphire said, catching Shiina off guard. Her slight blush reddened further and she looked away, unable to face the smug grin she knew Sapphire would have on her face. But, as soon as she felt Sapphire's arms wrap around her, all of her tension faded away with a defeated sigh.

"Why did you even want to come with me?" Shiina asked.

"Why not? I'm always up for seeing new places and meeting new people. And even the biggest night club in Remnant can't show me everything." She traced the scars marking Shiina's stomach with her fingers before letting the faunus out of her embrace. Shiina's eyes peered up at the taller woman to follow her as she slowly sauntered around.

"Yeah, but are you sure? This probably isn't like anywhere else you've been."

"That's why I did it," Sapphire said. "I knew being a huntress would put me in places I'm not comfy in. Might as well start now. Besides, the places aren't what I miss. It's the people."

"Have you heard from your friends lately?" Shiina said softly after a reflective pause.

"No…" her voice trailed off for a brief moment before recomposing herself. "When I went into town last I heard news of the Ospreay anniversary celebration. But that's it."

"Yeah, communication's been even harder to deal with lately. Before we went our separate ways, Rin told me she wanted to see new places too." Sapphire perked up, her positive attitude returning to suddenly make the memories of the Vytal Festival more sweet than bitter. "I just hope Hikari went with her."

"Why wouldn't she? Those two were like inseparable," Sapphire said.

"Hikari was always concerned about holding Rin back. She always thought that Rin was stronger without her," she answered with another sigh. Sapphire shook her head. "I agree, but no matter what we said, Hikari wouldn't see it that way."

The archer sat down on the bed next to her and put a hand on her thigh, but to no reaction. So, she then playfully leaned on Shiina, knocking the two of them over. Despite an initial groan, Shiina couldn't help but break into a giggle. No matter how bad things were, having Sapphire by her side seemed to make every situation better.

"Sapph," Shiina started. "You don't think that way about me, do you? Am I holding you back?" The end of the question was barely a squeak, as she was scared both to ask it and for the answer. In her mind, she just knew Sapphire wouldn't consider her as a burden, But, the moment Sapphire's mouth opened, they were both caught by a soft wail echoing from outside. A siren.

Sapphire bolted out of the room. Shiina followed closely behind. They ran out the front door and saw a plume of black smoke billowing in the distance, now raising high above the treeline. Shiina’s eyes widened in a combination of shock and horror. A quick glimpse of Sapphire showed the only thing preventing her from vocalizing these same emotions is her hand clasped over her mouth.

“That’s… that’s coming from Onizawa! That’s one of the villages we just allied with,” Shiina eventually said. “I need to see if the tribe wants to go and help.”

“We can’t wait for that. Good thing I’m not part of the tribe.” By the time Shiina had processed Sapphire’s response, she had turned to see Sapphire was no longer beside her. She quickly glanced at the house, then the fire again before bolting back inside. Charging up the stairs, she found Sapphire already with a loaded quiver on her back and a blade in each hand. With a quick snap, the two blades formed a bow.

“Coming with?” Sapphire asked her. Although Shiina stammered on her initial response, Sapphire didn’t give her much time to answer. With a wink and a quick “Meet ya there!”, Sapphire was gone again, this time heading out of the house and onto the forest trail that led to Onizawa.

Shiina peeked out of the window to barely see the archer disappear into the foliage. The leader of SPHR spun around on her heel and paced toward the wall, just to turn again and head back to the window. Each time she repeated the process, she faced her naginata on the wall. Finally gaining the courage to grab it, she gripped her weapon tight, the blade reflecting her panicked expression.

“Dammit Sapphire why do you have to be right today?!” Without another moment of hesitation, she rushed outside, hurrying down the same path. The trees arched over the trail, a usual shady haven from the sun that was nothing more than a green blur to Shiina. The only thing that got her to even slightly slow down was a flock of dead Nevermores, each one with an arrow piercing its chest.

“That’s my girl,” Shiina thought. “Now if only you didn’t have such long legs!” Trying to minimize her stress was proving difficult, as even the precious seconds lost from Sapphire having a longer stride was weighing in her mind. Once she burst through the trees and arrived at Onizawa, what she saw was once a beautiful village. It was now left in ruins, toppled buildings in its wake, some still smoldering from recent fires.

After a moment of surveying the devastation, Shiina ran toward the village center. There she saw Sapphire, perched on the second story of a building that had lost a few walls, sniping at a pack of Creeps down below. But, a low rumble caused her to stop the onslaught of arrows. The wave of Grimm moved aside, leaving an aisle for a Beringel to suddenly barrel through.

Sapphire shot a volley of incendiary arrows, lodging several into the beast’s chest. But, it did nothing to slow down its momentum. The gorilla Grimm leapt up at Sapphire, leaving her little time to brace for impact. It trucked through her with enough force to send her through a wall and crashing back down to the earth. After landing hard on her shoulder and back and rolling several times, Sapphire laid on the ground, unmoving. Shiina audibly gasped, which was enough for the Beringel to stop mid-roar and for the Creeps to turn around. Her muscles tensed up and froze in place, but she closed her eyes.

The moment a Creep launched itself in an attack, Shiina’s eyes opened and with one graceful movement, she lodged the end of her spear right between the eyes of the creature. She jumped onto her naginata and ripped it out of the beast’s skull. Catapulting herself into the horde of Grimm, she began tearing through them one by one with swift strikes equally precise and elegant. Once the Creep back began to thin out, the Beringel rushed at her, forcing her to somersault out of the way.

It came at her with arms flailing in a series of clubbing blows from its massive paws. Shiina managed to dodge every one it threw at her before getting an opportunity to slash at its chest twice. However, again the Beringel did not flinch. It aimed a hard punch at her chest, but Shiina was able to get her arms up and deflect the brunt of it. She blocked another swipe, but this one with enough to strength to send her skidding back.

The bandages around her arms were now torn, loosely clinging to her skin for only a few more seconds before falling to the ground. Now revealed were intricate tattoo designs, most notably two snakes slithering all the way from her wrist to nearly her shoulder. Shiina ran at the beast, but after the first few steps it was clear that running in a straight line became significantly harder. Dizziness took hold of her, and dropped her to one knee.

“No, please. Not now, please not now…” Shiina whispered. Her ears tucked. The grip on her spear eased. Her eyes frantically bounced from the Grimm to Sapphire’s unconscious body. A small glow began to form around her arms.

“NOT NOW!”

A bright flash, enough for even the gorilla to stop in its tracks. Suddenly, Shiina felt her weakness dissipate. She was able to get off of her hands and knees and what she came across was something she could not believe. On each side of her were two enormous snakes, the size of King Taijitu, glowing the same color as her arms and now her eyes. The two snakes slithered around Shiina, protectively defending her.

The Beringel roared again. As soon as Shiina raised her arm, both snakes pounced toward the monster. In a lightning fast maneuver, they circled it, and before the Beringel could even counterattack, it was entrapped in the two seperents’ coils, only its head visible. Shiina grabbed her spear and ran on the back of one of the snakes. When it brought her to the Grimm, she jumped up, and with one slice she cut the Beringel’s head clean off.

Upon landing, Shiina’s eyes returned to normal in the course of a blink, and the snakes fizzled away just as fast as they first appeared. She looked at her shaking hands, a mixture of emotions flooding her system. She sprinted toward Sapphire and gently supported her into a sitting position. Sapphire still didn’t move.

“Sapphire, please…,” Shiina squeaked, the emotions now boiling over in her now unsteady voice. “Please be ok. I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough…,” A giggle. It was so soft yet it still made Shiina jump. It got her to look up to see a soft smile on Sapphire’s face.

“Told you you looked better without the bandages,” she weakly said. Shiina didn’t know how to react. All she could do was pull Sapphire into the tightest hug she could manage while keeping in mind her injuries. Sapphire leaned forward and lightly kissed her. It only lasted several seconds, but to Shiina it felt like an eternity yet it wasn’t long enough. Once Sapphire broke away, Shiina was left again in a confused silence. Sapphire giggled once more before Shiina helped her to her feet.

“I hope all that answered your question, by the way,” Sapphire said.

“What do you mean?” Shiina asked, tilting her head.

"Ospreay Industries: Celebrating 25 Years of Being #1" 

"Hm. That's what they came up with?" Dash muttered to himself. He stood on the upper balcony, a staircase spiraling to the ground floor on each side. He watched as everyone was filing into the ballroom, exchanging small greetings while waiting for the party to really begin - or at least whatever Atlas qualified as a party. It had only been a couple years, but Dash couldn't help but feel so far removed from this world of clinking martini glasses and fancy suits, such as the one he was clad in now. However, being the heir to one of the biggest corporations in all of Remnant, Dash knew that it almost virtually guaranteed that he would have to show up to its anniversary celebration. 

The next hour consisted of Dash standing by his father's side as he was introduced to several business associates and Atlesian upper class members, none of which were memorable enough for him to recall. He tried to feign interest but it was clear he was not engaged at all. Any attempts of conversation he tried to make were only met with "Why did you leave Atlas for Beacon?" or "You should've kept playing ball" or "You should be starting to run the company". Even when Mr. Schnee himself came to visit his Ospreay Industries partners, Dash couldn't be bothered to listen. He only noticed Weiss mirroring his expression of boredom, shackled to her father just as he was to his. 

To his relief, Dash was eventually set free. He retreated to a corner by himself and spent most of his time staring at gold watch on his wrist, hoping it would tick faster. When he looked up, his eyes glanced toward catering tables. Sat there was his little sister Dawn, clad in a fluttery red gown and her hair let down. She didn't notice her brother approach her, as she was too focused on working in her sketchbook. 

"Do Mom and Dad know you have that with you?" Dash said sternly, arms folded. Dawn's head snapped upwards to face him, and she timidly pulled the book to her chest. Dash shook his head and broke his mock coldness with a chuckle. He lightly messed with Dawn's hair, getting her to let out a childlike giggle. 

"Hey! Quit it!" she said. When she lowered the book to continue where she left off, Dash peered over his shoulder. 

"Whatcha working on?" he asked Dawn. He saw a sketch of a building, one that looked amazing given her age. However, the building looked all too familiar, and when Dawn pointed to a mural on the wall, Dash figured out why. It was a painting of Beacon Academy, one he had seen before at Weiss' concert. 

Gravitated to it, Dash approached the picture and studied it for a few moments. All the memories came back in a vivid rush. Sapphire constantly keeping the team up at night with talk of pillow fights. Bickering with Solomon over car culture. Making bets with Auburn with absurd stipulations. Meeting different teams from all schools for the tournament. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes before a deep breath recomposed him. This was definitely the last place he could have his public persona crack, something that he took great effort in maintaining. 

"I hope they're all ok," he thought to himself. He turned back around and leaned against the wall next to the painting, and moving his sport coat sleeve out of the way, he checked his watch again. "Almost done." Blankly staring forward, Dash sighed as he expected his boredom to resume throughout the night. That was, until a female voice loudly called out from the balcony above him, one that he couldn't see the source of but instantly recognized. 

"Tone Ospreay." 

Everyone's discussions were quickly stopped and replaced by hushed murmurs of confusion. Their attention was drawn to above Dash to someone on the balcony. He sprinted out from under it and his eyes widened in shock at seeing Sienna Umberon. However, she looked far removed from her days at Beacon where her team and Dash's would regularly hang out. Now, her usual outfit was traded for a White Fang uniform, and her heterochromatic eyes hidden behind a personalized mask. 

"Faunus labor, child labor, frequent factory explosions, the list goes on. Quite the rap sheet. One that could almost rival your master's," Sienna said. 

"What is the meaning of this?! I don't care how you got in but I'll have every force in Atlas come to throw you out!" Dash could hear his father yell back, while he was still too stunned to react. 

"Oooooh Schnee's lapdog thinks he's got a bite," Sienna said with a chuckle. "Don't bother with that. You're gonna listen to what I have to say." Dash snapped his head back around to see his father still adamantly stubborn. A sudden shatter of glass pierced the scene and made way for the sound of something metal clanging across the ground. Dash surveyed the middle of the ballroom floor and caught glimpse of a cylindrical object rolling to a stop. "Stun grenade!"

"Whether you want to or not." 

A bright flash. A deafening bang. It was enough in itself to cause Dash to stagger back. But something else - or someone - had also thrown him off his feet. By the time his senses had returned to him, he had realized a deer faunus with short brown hair and a similar mask was on his back, keeping his head forced to the floor. From what he could see, a whole White Fang squadron had invaded the party, all armed to the teeth. Each one of his family members was held back by a Fang member, and Dash could feel anger swell up at seeing a muscular soldier with ram horns with his arms around Dawn. Sienna sauntered down the stairs and headed towards Tone. 

"Thousands of faunus go into your factories with the hope of making enough to feed their families. They desperately try to survive through godawful working conditions just to get paid like dirt. And if they actually manage to stay alive, there's a good chance they'll get laid off anyways." She was now in Tone's face, with the White Fang soldier behind him forcing the owner of Ospreay Industries to look up at her. 

"I've seen firsthand just how flashy your family is," she continued, side-eyeing Dash with that comment. "And the fact that you act so flashy without even a hint of guilt is a fucking kick in the teeth to faunus everywhere." Her speech was now through gritted teeth, years of anger and frustration finally culminating. Stepping back to scan the area, she saw everyone paralyzed with fear, unable to do anything against the surrounding fleet of troops. 

"You're all guilty here!" Sienna said to address the whole room now. "You've all helped create this Atlas empire that has made it a crime for a faunus to even exist! No money for bills. No way to raise a family. No escape." She clenched her fists and turned her back to everyone. 

"Well, Ospreay. If I'm not allowed to have a family, you're not either. Tear this place to the ground!" 

The girl on Dash's back yanked his head up by his hair, forcing him to watch as the White Fang squad began dismantling the party. They vandalized anything in sight, and would not stop until everything the Ospreay family owned in this household was ruined. Dash watched as Sienna made her exit through the two grand doors that led to the rest of the house. The ram faunus followed suit, still with a tight grip on Dawn, taking her with him despite her cries for help. 

"Dawn!" Dash yelled. The deer faunus jerked him up to his feet and slammed him into the wall, keeping him firmly pressed against it. 

"Not prepared for this one, were you Richie Rich?" she said in Dash's ear. 

"I'm always prepared," Dash replied. Without a moment's hesitation, he moved his leg free and kicked his captor in the back of the knee. She groaned and reeled back, loosening her grip on Dash enough for him to spin around and catch her in the temple with a jumping knee strike that knocked her out on impact. All of the other soldiers turned their attention to him, and he quickly ran toward the direction that Sienna left in. He slammed the doors to the ballroom shut behind him, then toppled over the shelf next to it to serve as a barricade. 

He sprinted through the Ospreay estate as fast as his dress shoes would allow him, following the trail of carnage Sienna was causing. Along the way, he ditched his sport coat and his tie. He only had one thing in mind: getting his sister safe. And he knew he would have to fight for it. He eventually made his way to the garage, where he saw Sienna and the ram destroying the red sports car parked in it. 

"I knew you were a wasteland punk, Umberon. But I didn't think you'd stoop this low," Dash said to reveal himself. Sienna's fox ears twitched at the sound of his voice. Dawn smiled brightly at the sight of her big brother, but the smile was abruptly cut off at the sound of Sienna laughing. 

"Y'know. I really should thank you. The way you treated people was one of the main reasons I decided to join the Fang. I can finally repay you for all the disrespect you've shown me," Sienna said, all the while approaching Dash slowly until they were face to face. 

"I'm honored," Dash coldly said back and barely finished that statement before aiming a right kick to her head. Sienna immediately caught his foot and whipped him into a dragon screw takedown. Dash landed hard on his back, temporarily winded, allowing Sienna to put her boot on his chest. 

"The Fang has made me stronger, Dash. Faster, too. Better than training at Beacon had ever made me," she said before driving her heel down on his sternum. 

"You think I've been slouching around?" Dash roughly said back before he suddenly swiped at Sienna's other foot, tripping her up enough to kip back up to his feet. He went for another kick, this one similar to the first but coming from his left foot this time. Sienna caught him again, but this time Dash followed up by leaping up and driving his right foot into her ribs in a modified dropkick. Now she was the one flat on her back. 

The ram faunus charged at Dash, and Sienna moved back to grab Dawn and tie her down before she could escape. Dash sidestepped him and stayed close, firing off a flurry of kicks. But, they had little effect on the monstrous soldier, as his physique dwarfed Dash's athletic 5'10 frame. The ram picked Dash up with ease and slammed him onto the hood of the car with enough force to crumple the hood and break the windshield. He rolled off of the car to avoid another incoming blow, then before the brute could get to him again, he swung open the passenger side door, hitting him and keeping him back momentarily. 

"C'mon big bro! You can do it!" Dawn said to cheer on her brother. But, the ram faunus closed in on him again and lifted him by the collar of his now disheveled dress shirt. He threw Dash into the electrical box on the wall, denting its cover. It creaked open, so the ram repeated the process, this time sending Dash into breakers underneath, causing sparks to fly. The ram smirked at his handiwork until he noticed that Dash was unfazed. What he didn't know was that Dash's semblance was kicking in - conductivity. 

He lurched forward again, and Dash responded by grabbing him by the throat. All of the voltage that was going through Dash's body was suddenly going into his as if Dash was a human lightning rod. Upon letting go, the ram staggered back, gasping for air. While he was struggling to regain his breath, Dash nailed him with a kick to the midsection, finally dropping the behemoth to one knee. He then stepped back, jumped above him, and drove his head into the ground with a vicious curb stomp. 

With the goon now rendered unconscious, Dash turned his focus to Sienna. She looked up at him, looking less than pleased, flicking her fire dust infused claws to make a spark. The spark ignited and she got into a ready stance with her claws now ablaze, putting her own semblance of fire manipulation to use. Bolting to her, Dash aimed a baseball slide to her ankles. Sienna telegraphed his move and jumped over it. Dash rolled back to his feet and ducked his head to miss a right hook from Sienna, then a left. 

He rolled under the next punch to get behind her, but Sienna was a step ahead and turned around quicker than Dash could react. She wrapped him up in a bear hug, the fiery gloves searing his chest. Dash screamed loudly, the agony in his voice too much for Dawn to handle as she cringed and tried to look away. He eventually mustered up the strength to flip Sienna over his shoulders and get her off, but the damage had already been done. Dropping to one knee, he glanced down at his singed chest through the remnants of his burned shirt. A red sheen glowed across the length of his body. His aura was depleted. 

He weakly got back to his feet as Sienna walked toward him again, looking to end the fight. But, with a roaring battle cry and a last burst of adrenaline, he charged his assailant again. He hit her with a series of punches and kicks, each one doing more visible damage than the last. Finishing the combo off with a heel kick to her chin, he was finally able to ground Sienna. But, he wasn't able to revel in the moment for long, because a sharp cry of "Dash help!" from his sister swiftly spun him around. Two White Fang marked aircrafts had landed in the front yard, one of which had unloaded two soldiers that were taking Dawn away.

"Dawn, no!" He took half a step forward then suddenly stopped in his tracks. His eyes widened before looking down. Shakily moving his hand to his stomach, he could barely fight the tremors to see his hand now holding a crimson pool. 

It hurt to stand. 

It hurt to breathe. 

He collapsed to the floor. He still couldn't process what was happening. The adrenaline was long gone at this point. His usually electric yellow eyes expressed anguish as they looked up to see Sienna looking at her blood stained claw. Dawn's pleas filled the air one last time before being silenced by the distinct sound of a jet taking off. The ram faunus had now regained consciousness and joined his squad leader. 

"What do we do with him, boss?" he asked Sienna. 

"What's our one rule?" she said in response. 

"No deaths." 

“The campus and surrounding areas remain inaccesible. Try as they might, the remaining huntsmen and huntresses cannot seem to get a hold of the situation at Beacon Academy.”

Jade sighed as she watched the news through the window of the television store. The on-display TV’s usually played the news, and it felt like every time she passed by, the headline was the same. It was almost as if it was the same rerun for the past couple months, but Jade knew the fact that Beacon’s condition was not improving. Each time she saw the broken campus, it was too easy to close her eyes and recall the times when she called it home. The images of being with her team in the dorm and causing trouble with their friends were all still so vivid in her head. But, she couldn’t focus on that past life right now. She had to go to the store and pick up groceries to make dinner tonight.

Jade adjusted her beanie and kept her head down as she approached The Lanes, a district of downtown Vacuo notorious for gang warfare. It seemed that every gang that called Vacuo home resided there, and fights over turf were regular. With every pair of eyes outside that turned to watch her as she walked by, she could feel her pace quicken. Even as she left The Lanes, she barely slowed down until she reached her destination.

Stood before Jade was a little convenience store located on the corner of Carob and Hickory. Before she walked in, a buzz from her hoodie pocket made her draw out her scroll. On it displayed a message from her friend and former teammate Riley Currant asking Jade to pick up some chips for her. Jade shook her head and smiled at the screen, typing up “We’ll see” as a response before entering the store. 

Upon walking in, she noticed a dark-skinned wolf faunus near the entrance. His short white hair was tucked under a fedora, and he was sporting a black bomber jacket. His attention didn’t shift from the newspaper he was reading, and it seemed he was oblivious to the world surrounding him. Jade took a few minutes to go up and down the aisles, scratching off the items on her shopping list one by one. She even made sure to grab Riley her snacks. Once finished, she went to the register, greeting the small elderly man behind it with a warm smile.

Midway through checking out, Jade noticed two guys come from the back of the store, one with sunglasses on and the other with a bandana covering most of his face. Two more walked through the front entrance, with one standing in front of the doors and the other standing next to the wolf faunus. Before Jade could even react, she felt something cold press against her neck. She froze. Her hands slowly and shakily raised above her head.

“Down,” the scratchy voiced leader Shades said. Lester, the bodyguard that accompanied him prodded Jade’s neck with the gun harder, forcing her to her knees. The one that approached the wolf faunus, named Aries, suddenly sprinted toward him and put a knife around his throat. The wolf didn’t tense up or even look away from his newspaper.

“Now. Give us the money,” Shades said with bat in hand. He feigned a swing in order to scare the cashier enough to start emptying the register. But, all of the thugs were suddenly caught off guard by the sound of light chuckling coming from the faunus.

“This ain’t gonna work,” he said, smiling while putting the paper down. His icy blue eyes glinted in the light, and he showed no signs of fear.

“Quiet, fleabag!” Aries said. “It don’t work that way anymore! You got no power!”

“Just figured I would warn you. What do you think, guy?” he said while motioning to the one guarding the entrance. They all turned to see him bright red in the face, violently trying to grasp for air with a chain wrapped around his throat. A face suddenly peeked from behind him, one that Jade immediately recognized but never thought she’d find here. The familiar brown fox ears and mischievious crimson eyes.

“Auburn?!” Jade exclaimed.

“What?! We got Leash!” Shades said as all of the gang members simultaneously readied their weapons for a fight.

“Miss me, boys?” Auburn said. Shades charged at her, so she rammed the one she had in a choke into him. She then jumped off of his back and nailed Shades with a big punch. Acting quickly, Jade used the distraction as an opportunity to elbow Lester in the knees. He groaned angrily, then aimed at her but before he could fire, Auburn had thrown an entire display of candy bars at him. It knocked him back and forced him to drop the gun, giving Auburn a chance to run at him. She quickly nailed a left jab to his stomach, then a right. He swung wildly, which Auburn easily ducked. She spun around him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and lifted him over her shoulders, suplexing him into the shelves. She stood over him, her body now glowing.

While this was all happening, the wolf smirked and delivered a headbutt to Aries to get him off. He reached into his jacket and slipped on a pair of brass knuckles. When Aries went to retaliate, the wolf nailed him with an uppercut, flooring him in the process. He landed next to the gun, which he scrambled to grab and point at Auburn. Jade saw this and ran toward him, hitting him with a kick to the chin, but not before he fired it twice at Auburn’s back. While she winced slightly, the bullets just bounced off of her. She turned around with fury covering her expression.

“Kinetic armor, bitch!” she said before wrapping her chain whip around his waist. She ran past him and yanked him off his feet and through the front window, sending him crashing to the sidewalk outside. The only one left was Shades who was staggering to his feet. He tried to punch the wolf, but he intercepted it and wrenched his arm backwards to its breaking point. He fell to his knees and looked up at his assailants.

“Did The Lanes miss me? Because I’m back to reclaim what’s mine,” Auburn said while wrapping her chain around her fist. “See, I had to come back. Because scum like you never learn.” She then suddenly rained down a hard right to his temple, then a second, then a third. The last one knocked him out and sent his trademark glasses flying off his face, shattering on impact. Jade couldn’t help but cringe slightly, even though she knew what Auburn’s wrath was capable of.

“That feeling never gets old, Revan,” Auburn said to the wolf before turning and finally facing Jade. Jade smiled softly at her, unsure of how to greet her friend from Beacon. Their teams were close, and after the fall, she wasn’t even confident that she would see them again. It had felt so long since the last time they were together. However, Auburn did her the favor and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Why do you have to do this? You’re making me miss Beacon,” she said, smiling the whole time.

“Glad to see you too, Foxy,” Jade said in response before stepping away. Revan looked at the two with his head tilted in curiosity while dusting off his fedora.

“You know her, boss?” he asked.

“Hell yeah,” Auburn said. “I told you Beacon had some great people.”

“I could tell by the way you fought. Most people just hide in the corner,” he said while handing Jade her bag of groceries. Once she took it, Revan pulled out some lien and tossed it on the counter to the shaken cashier. “On me, don’t worry.” Before Jade could protest, the sound of incoming sirens cut her off.

“Welp, time to go! Mika’s waiting out back,” Auburn said. “Jade, you’re coming with us. We have some catching up to do.” Jade could only nod as she took her food and followed them out the back entrance. Behind the store laid waiting a yellow sportscar with the engine still running. Revan slid across the hood and got into the shotgun position, and Auburn opened the door to the backseat to let her in. As soon as everyone was in, the car sped off, away from all the incoming police cars.

“Picked up a hitchhiker?” said the female driver. She had shouler-length navy blue hair that faded into yellow, and she had yellow markings painted on her face. She was wearing a white and blue hoodie marked by a #00 and had on a pair of cut-up jeans.

“Right, introductions. Guys, this is Jade Meadows. She’s a close friend I made from Beacon. Jade, let me introduce you to the crew. Revan Polaris”

“M’lady,” Revan said on cue while tipping his fedora. Jade rolled her eyes and Auburn knocked the hat off of his head.

“And the driver is Mika Inari.”

“Whaddup, girl?” Mika said. “Where are you going by the way?”

“Could you bring me to the ice rink? I’m meeting a couple of friends.” Mika nodded and Auburn chuckled to herself.

“Guess Riley is up to her usual. What about the rest of the team?”

“Well, Amber, Riley, and I are fine here in Vacuo,” Jade said before trailing off. Auburn turned, now looking a little worried, and waited for her to go on. “But... we lost contact with Sienna. We have no idea where she is.” Auburn clenched her fists hard enough to where her knuckles cracked.

“She’ll be ok,” Auburn said, mainly to reassure herself. Jade nodded in agreement, also trying her best not to think about it.

“What about you guys?” Jade asked in an attempt to change the subject.

“We got split up. When Atlas called back all of their soliders from the other kingdoms, the upper class got paranoid. Dash got called back, so Sapphire went with him. I hope she likes the trophy wife lifestyle. And Solomon is currently in a group tasked with fixing communications in Vale.”

“You know how much Amber misses him?” Jade said.

“Hell, I miss him,” Auburn said back. “I miss all of them. Even Ospreay.”

“Yeah. But at least you have a good crowd here.” Jade’s words prompted Revan to take a bow in his seat, and Mika shot her a thumbs up. “So... is this what you’ve been doing since Beacon? Leash?”

“It’s what I did before Beacon too,” Auburn replied.

“Isn’t The Leash the gang that got charged with arson after the old Arashi warehouse burned down?”

“Yeah, the same Arashi warehouse that got linked to faunus trafficking a few months later,” Revan added.

“Don’t listen to the cops. Don’t listen to the news. We’re different. We only target other criminals,” Auburn said. But Jade crossed her arms, not quite swayed by her words. She had heard a lot about The Leash, and although most of it was just rumors, she knew they were a group shrouded in mystery.

“Why should I believe that?” she asked.

“Because I was its leader!” Auburn said, legitimately shocking Jade. “Well, at least I used to back when it actually existed. After I left for Beacon, the group bascally disbanded. When I came back and tried to get us all back together, I couldn’t get a hold of most of them. The only ones I could get were these two.”

“Those vixens ain’t loyal!” Revan yelled. Jade looked down and processed what Auburn told her. She knew her friend to be loose with authority, taking orders more as suggestions, but she knew Auburn would never be a criminal.

“What made you make The Leash then?” Jade couldn’t help but ask and learn more about Auburn’s past.

“Because there’s a lot of injustice in this world that needs dealing with,” Auburn said. “I remember my first day of school. Little cutie Vulpes was about 6 years old and ready to make friends. What I got instead was kids a few years older than me picking on me for being a faunus. My dad and I watched some boxing movies together, so I decided that it would be best if I used some of those moves.” She was then cut off by Revan and Mika both trying to hold in their laughter.

“Yeah, you guessed it,” she went on. “Got my ass handed to me that day. I ended up getting used to it the teasing at least. Still made some good friends, like Mika. Until one day when we were about 12, and this group of guys stopped us on the street. I was ready for whatever crap they had to say, but they didn’t focus on me. They focused on Mika. They called her a disgrace for hanging out with an animal in public.” She paused again, her emotions boiling over just bringing it up.

“Anger didn’t even begin to describe how I felt. I didn’t know what else to do, so I just swung at one of the guys. Then again, and again, and again, till I made sure he was down. That was the mistake the first time I tried to fight. The guy got up. Wasn’t letting that happen again. From there, I knew I had to get stronger, not for my sake, but for my friends. Eventually, a lot of people that felt the same way, human and faunus alike, joined me.” Jade smiled slightly at Auburn’s sincerity.

“Problem was, The Leash was getting me into a lot of trouble with the law. I didn’t care, but my dad did. So one day, he handed me a little pamphlet for some place called Beacon. To me, it was a place to fight for what was right without worrying about the cops. Sounded like a win-win to me. So the next time I could, I said goodbye to my dad, and got on a plane to Vale.”

“And the rest is history,” Jade said. “That’s very sweet of you Auburn.” Before the sharing could go any further, Mika pulled into the rink’s parking lot.

“We’ll catch up more another time. Tell Riley and Amber I say hey, ok?”