To the esteemed reader,

Before we begin I would like to apologize profusely for leaving you all in the dark without an update to any of my stories. Several recent events took my attention away from my writing and with the holidays being a very present thing in all the chaos I am sad to say that I had failed to warn you of the coming haitus that would surely follow. For this I apologize profusely and I hope that events like these are few and far between. Unfortunately there may be a time when I must leave you all in haitus again in the future, but when that event comes, I will be sure to let you all know.

Now I'm sure you are all eager to go read this next chapter so I will leave you to it, and be sure to let me know what you think!

Best regards,

BloodAvenger42

Ch. 21: Growth

"Hey, do you ever wonder why we're here?"

The question was asked by a man currently jogging in what looked to be a military training uniform as white as the snow that was crunching below his feet. The question was directed to another man who was jogging beside him wearing similar clothing.

"That's one of life's greatest mysteries isn't it?" Stated the other man, "Why are we here? Are we the culmination of the powers of light and dark coming together to form a being that would have the power to create and destroy? Or are we simply the figments of some writer's imagination?"

The man trailed off as he continued to contemplate unaware that his partner was staring at him looking a bit put off.

"Uh… I meant why are we currently running around freezing our asses off in this military base on the ass end of this glacier?" stated the first man.

The other man jogged along silently for a moment realizing just how stupid he sounded.

"Oh. Right. That," he managed to say.

The continued to run as an awkward silence descended upon them for a while before the first man decided to break it.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked.

"Nope, not at all, nothing's wrong," the other man quickly answered.

The first man simply shrugged at this and continued on with his rant.

"Anyway as I was saying, why are we even stationed here? This part of Atlas doesn't really have anything particularly useful in a strategic standpoint so I honestly have no idea why the General would want to build a military base here."

"Maybe we're just the leftovers, the outcasts, so that our good General can continue to build his robot army," stated he other man, "Time's are changing my friend, and war is soon going to be one big video game."

"Okay seriously can you stop with that existentialist crap? It's really creeping me out."

"Sorry."

Another awkward silence.

"How much are we running for by the way?" asked the other man.

"Of course you'd be asking that, you are the laziest guy of us all," grumbled the first man.

"Wow… I only wanted to know because I forgot how much we were supposed to run, but if you want to be a jackass about it then forget it."

"We were supposed to run around the base ten times you tool!" growled the first man, "Although to be honest I have no idea why the Sergeant suddenly upped our training regiment, half of our platoon were admitted to the infirmary because of the stress it caused."

"Is that why we're like the only ones who're running?" asked the other man.

"Correction, we're jogging," stated the first man, "The others are a little ahead of us because they're actually trying to keep pace with the new girl unlike your lazy ass."

"First of all, you're running just as fast as me," stated the other man, "Second of all, who are you talking about again?"

"Hey, I have an excuse! I have a muscle condition!" growled the first man.

"Then why are you in the military?"

"Because you're required to serve at a certain age!"

"Uh… you do realize that General Ironwood rescinded that policy like two years ago right?"

The first man was silent for a moment before he glared off towards the horizon, the sun barely above it as it continued its ascent.

"A-anyway you didn't know about the new girl? Shows just how much you pay attention."

The other man decided not to press subject, instead focusing on his curiosity.

"Not really no, I like my sleep you know."

"Tch, typical, yeah apparently Specialist Schnee's younger sister's been hanging around here to do some sort of training."

The other man frowned.

"Wait you mean like Weiss Schnee, the kid who was almost disowned by the Schnee family? I thought she's supposed to be at Beacon."

"I thought so too, but I guess Beacon's too much for her."

"That or she's here as some plot design by an author in order to further character development."

Silence. The first man looked over at his running mate.

"What?"

"Huh? I didn't say anything."

The first man stared at his partner for a bit before shaking his head.

"Anyway it's because of her that the Sergeant upped the anty on our training," he said, "Something about not wanting to get shown up by a 'prim runaway princess'."

"What kind of nickname is that?" asked the other man.

"It is certainly not one of the most creative ones out there."

"I know right?" stated the other man, "I mean the Sarge seriously needs to learn how to come up with better nicknames."

The other man looked over at his running mate only to see him running with his face forward looking rather pale.

"You okay?"

"Look to your left," hissed the first man through gritted teeth.

The other man did exactly that, and almost tripped when he saw a girl with white hair tied back into a ponytail and striking pale blue eyes jogging alongside him. Unlike them, the girl was wearing a simple grey t-shirt and pair of black sweat pants allowing her pale arms and neck to be exposed to the elements. Both men were a bit put off by the fact that the girl seemed completely unaffected by the cold even as the two of them were freezing even when bundled up in their winter fatigues.

"You two are pretty far behind, you should try catching up with the rest of your platoon before your commanding officer yells at you."

"Yes ma'am!" stated the first man.

"Kiss ass," muttered the other man before he turned to the Schnee girl.

The girl in question didn't look at all like someone who could do the regiment that they were currently doing, he honestly had no idea why their drill sergeant was in such a tizzy.

"We'll work hard to finish this workout ma'am! You can rest easy that Atlas' finest will keep you safe!" continued the first man.

At this the other man let out an audible chuckle earning an elbow in his side. The Schnee girl's eyes flicked to look at the first man causing him his breathing to stop.

"This is a hard workout for you?" asked the girl.

The first man looked back ahead, unable to meet the intense stare.

"Well… I'll have to admit it is a bit difficult, our drill sergeant decided to increase the difficulty of our training in order to make us the best we can be."

The Schnee stared at them for a moment before she allowed small smile to grace her features.

"Well while I'm flattered by your dedication, I think you should know that this workout you're doing is actually just my morning warm-up routine," stated the girl, "I followed it during my time in Beacon with my teammates."

"W-Warm-up…" stated the first man before he promptly collapsed to the floor.

Both the other man and the Schnee stopped.

"Is he alright?" asked the girl.

"Eh, he's fine, I'll take him the infirmary just to be safe though," said the other man before he suddenly realized his opportunity, "I do have a question if you don't mind me asking Ms. Schnee."

The girl gestured for the man to go ahead.

"Why are you out here instead of at Beacon? Are you done with being a huntress?"

The girl smiled at this.

"No I'm not. In fact I shall be returning to Beacon in about a week… I just have a promise to fulfill before that time comes."

The man nodded at this.

"Makes sense, well I'll let you get back to it, I need to take sleeping beauty to the infirmary before he catches a cold."

The girl simply smiled as she pull the hair tie keeping her hair up off allowing her long hair to flow freely causing the man's breath to catch. He couldn't help but admire how the girl looked, the rather iconic scar over the girl's right eye doing little to mar the girl's complexion.

"I suppose I should be going, especially since my sister is a stickler for being on time," said the girl, "May I have your names?"

"Marcus Griffin," stated Marcus with a grin, "And drama queen here goes by Kyle Simons."

"She's only treating this as a warm-up," the Kyle muttered.

"Well then, Marcus, Kyle, it was a pleasure talking with both of you," she said, "Perhaps I shall see you again."

With that being said, a green glow appeared at the girl's feet for what seemed to be a split second before suddenly the Schnee girl was gone. Marcus couldn't help but shake his head.

"No matter how many times I see it that glyph magic stuff that the Schnees do are a sight to see… ain't that right Simons?"

Marcus looked over to his right only to find that Kyle was still on the floor.

"Oh yeah, you're still on the floor."

"GRIF, SIMONS, GET YOUR ASSES OVER HERE!"

Marcus couldn't help but groan.

"Ah nuts."

Ruby Rose slowly opened her eyes staring at the ceiling above her. For a moment she lay there quietly, taking in the atmosphere around her.

Nothing had changed.

Her bed was the same.

Her dorm room was the same.

The campus was the same.

But a new year is starting soon.

Ruby closed her eyes as she contemplated for a moment.

One year…

In one year Ruby learned much more than she had in the entire accumulation of the fifteen years prior about herself and what she was capable of. In this year Ruby learned how utilize not just her body, but her mind as well, reaching her true limits under the guidance of two headmasters. This past year was one of enlightenment… serving as both a chance of discovery… and acceptance. Ruby still held onto the belief that humanity as a whole was, in its very essence, good, but that belief was not as rigid as it was before. Ruby couldn't help but let out a sigh.

"Are you alright Ruby?"

Ruby smiled at the feminine voice as it was one she had gotten used to hearing during this rather eventful year. With one movement, Ruby sat up and swung her legs over to hang over the edge of her bed so that she was facing the person who spoke to her.

"I'm fine Pyrrha, I'm just thinking about how crazy this past year was," said Ruby

Sitting across from her was in fact Pyrrha Nikos, a girl whose fighting prowess was world renown with a nearly unbreakable smile. To those who didn't know her, she held many different titles such as "Invincible Girl", or "Goddess of Battle". Ruby, however, liked to think that this past year allowed her to get to know the redheaded warrior a lot more than she did before. Ruby knew that Pyrrha was a bit more closed off, kind of like Ren and Nora were in their own way, but Pyrrha was especially isolated. It was a similar feature that Pyrrha held with the rest of her team.

This did not concern Ruby in the slightest.

Yes, Ruby had grown wiser and held a bit more cynicism in her heart, but it didn't mean that she would stop reaching out to the goodness in people's hearts. It certainly didn't stop her from trying to get to know Pyrrha. Fortunately for her, studying and training next to a person tended to allow one to become much more acquainted with said person, whether either party liked it or not.

Starting off, Pyrrha had been affable enough mostly due to the fact that Ruby had proven to be… an acceptable presence thanks to one passing comment Ruby had made in the past. Despite the warrior's smiling façade, Ruby knew that she wasn't truly accepting of Ruby's presence and was mostly closed off, hiding her true feelings behind a mask. Ruby didn't blame Pyrrha for this. The older girl had to separate from the three people meant the world to her and for some reason held a grudge with Ozpin. Ruby couldn't really comfort Pyrrha about it because she didn't know how Pyrrha felt. This entire year Ruby had her sister, Ren, Nora, and even her family at home via scroll, to fall back to when things got too hard. In Pyrrha's case it was hard to discern if she talked to anyone at all really. It was like Pyrrha was simply shouldering all the burdens that were presented to her, a blind determination allowing her to completely ignore it.

It was only recently that Ruby discovered why this was possible and the revelation fascinated her… and made her a bit sad. Pyrrha's drive came from her bond with the members of team ABSN; what the drive was, Ruby couldn't quite discern. At first Ruby figured it was to be able to protect her friends… but that didn't seem right. Pyrrha wasn't that naïve nor did she seem to have the arrogance to think of something so outrageous. Ruby had no idea the extent of Pyrrha's bond with Jaune, Blake and Weiss, which was what made it so fascinating. What made Ruby sad however was the fact that even after spending more time along side the Spartan, Ruby didn't even hold a candle to what Pyrrha had with the rest of ABSN.

Well, at least she considers me a friend…

Suddenly a bright glow caused Ruby to be broken from her thoughts as she looked up towards Pyrrha just in time to see the glow fade from the redhead's eyes. Ruby smiled.

"You know… I don't think I'll ever get used to this glowy eye stuff," said Ruby with a grin.

Pyrrha looked up at Ruby and shot her a smile that was not so fake; it was small but present.

"There are very few who could."

Ruby smirked before she stared up at the ceiling.

"Hard to believe that an entire year has come and gone."

Ruby heard Pyrrha get up from the bed she was sitting and walked towards the window that seemed to be in the same place in every dorm.

"It seems time moves fast when you have a goal to work towards," stated Pyrrha.

Ruby looked back at Pyrrha and really took in the other girl's appearance. While Ruby had undergone some severe physical changes due to hormonal growth spurts, Pyrrha had remained largely the same besides a slight height difference and a change of hairstyle. Pyrrha would likely tower over several of the boys of the school and now wore her hair in a single, long braid rather than the simple ponytail that made her Pyrrha Nikos. Ruby had remembered asking why Pyrrha changed the look only to receive a rather ambiguous answer:

"I guess it's just time to try and leave the past behind."

Ruby didn't know what Pyrrha meant by that statement, but accepted it all the same. Ruby had learned from the first time she tried to pry into ABSN's business. Until she went through a hardship of her own, she didn't deserve to know about the pain that they went through. For now she would enjoy the fact that she now had made one more friend.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Ruby looked over at the door where the sound originated from before looking at Pyrrha. Ruby knew who was at the other side of that door and, judging from the intensity in her eyes as she stared at the doorway, so did Pyrrha. Ruby stood up and made her way over to the door, opening it up to reveal none other than Ozpin himself holding his signature coffee mug as usual. At his side was his fellow headmaster, Salem. Both of them held enigmatic smiles on their faces, their expressions give nothing away.

"Good morning to you both, I trust you slept well?" asked Ozpin cordially.

Ruby opened her mouth to answer before Pyrrha beat her to the punch.

"Yes."

The answer was blunt, precise and a bit rude. It was something that Ruby noticed Pyrrha doing with progressively less restraint as she trained alongside Ozpin and Salem. Ruby didn't know what happened between the Mistral Champion and Beacon's headmaster, but one thing Ruby did know was that if these two were to clash due to this tension, the aftermath would not be pretty. Ozpin in the meantime didn't seem at all phased by the comment simply continuing on.

"Well then, if you will follow us we still have much to do and a little under a week to do it," stated Ozpin as he turned and walked down the hall, Salem walking beside him.

Ruby looked back at Pyrrha who continued to stare at the place Ozpin was standing before she shook her head and looked towards Ruby.

"Let's go Ruby," she said as she strode past.

Ruby simply nodded as she walked beside the redhead. She didn't know what was in store for her in the future, but one thing Ruby knew for sure was that it was going to be interesting.

Neopolitan had always thought herself to be a scholar before anything else. Even after she took on the name of 'Neopolitan' over 'Marissa Arc' she held a keen fascination for literature of all sorts, especially those that dabbled in history. The Arc history held her interest the most for obvious reasons. It was why she was currently handling an book that was probably ten times her age, delicately turning the pages as she took in the knowledge written down by those who lived long before she was born. Each page contained a vast collection of knowledge that the writer wanted to pass to whomever decided to read their work and Neo was more than happy to oblige them.

THUNK!

Neo sighed, the sudden noise not bothering her in the slightest as she looked up with a slightly annoyed expression on her face. She was currently settled in the shade of a tree; right near the Arcadian Ruins and embedded in that tree was a black arrow of obsidian. The arrows sat there for a moment before fizzling away in a brief display of fire. Neo simply shook her head and she looked back down at the book deciding to ignore the arrow. It was not important enough to take her away from knowing how the ancient healers of the old city of Arcadia used their aura to-.

THUNK!

Neo took a deep breath to keep herself calm as she looked up again to find another arrow embedding itself into the poor tree. This one, however, was different from the first as it held a greater array of colors, with shiny silver gleam to the arrowhead, a white, wooden shaft, and white feathers at the tail end. Also unlike the first, this arrow simply disappeared, like a trick of the light. Neo stared at where the arrow was for a moment and couldn't help but smile.

He certainly has improved quite a bit this past year.

Neo looked back down the book she was reading, but couldn't find the drive to focus on the ancient words at the moment, her mind wandering to the events of the past year. It was a year full studying up on Arc lore all while training up her little brother to become a better warrior.

"Even after showing you how fun being active can be, you're still quite the bookworm aren't you?"

Neo looked up to find her sister-in-arms, Cinder Fall, standing before her in all her glory. The woman stood there with her arms crossed, a wide smile on her face, teeth showing and all. Neo rolled her eyes as she whipped out her scroll, swiftly typing up her message before presenting it to Cinder.

[I have been active long before I met you, and even now books will always hold a special place in my heart.]

"So cruel," Cinder mock-whined, "Why do you always have to be so cruel to me?"

Neo simply shot Cinder a pointed look before she went back to reading the text before her, pretending to ignore her friend. Through the corner of her eye, she was treated to the sight of Cinder crouched down and hugging her knees with her back towards Neo like a sulking child.

"Meanie," grumbled Cinder.

Neo rolled her eyes again before she typed in another message and tossed the scroll to land before Cinder.

[It seems that our little brother is doing well for himself.]

At this message Cinder was right back to her happy-go-lucky self, smiling without a care in the world.

"Yup! Jaune's grown so much sense I last saw him and he's still growing! I still remember when he first asked me to teach him archery! He was so cute!" gushed Cinder as she placed her hands on her cheeks.

Neo couldn't help but smile at this. With a simply activation of her semblance, Neo appeared beside Cinder with her scroll back in her hand.

[You sound like a mother gushing about her child.]

Cinder's smile never faded as she turned to face Neo.

"And I'm a very proud mother thank you very much!"

Suddenly several loud sounds reverberated throughout the forest, spooking some of the native wildlife. Both woman looked towards the general direction the noise came from, knowing full well what, or rather whom, caused it. Moments later several explosions of brilliant light seared through the trees and for a moment, Neo's eyes were subjected to the glaring light of the sun before the light disappeared just as fast as it appeared. Neo had gotten used to the brilliant display, as it was a common occurrence this past year. A year before these explosions would still have been brilliant, but overwhelming and uncontrolled.

All goes to show that our training is paying off.

Not that Neo was really all that surprised. Jaune always had the knack for picking up on things faster than most. Hell, she still remembered the time when she taught Jaune the ways of the sword. It only took a week of her guidance before Jaune started to pick up on things on his own just by watching her fight.

His semblance also helped with that, but it's still very impressive.

"At this rate Jaune will be strong enough to surpass you," stated Cinder.

Neo nodded at this before looked towards Cinder with a brow raised.

[And you think you're immune to this fact?]

Cinder grinned back.

"That's not something that's going to happen anytime soon~!

"Should we have another competition then, Cindy?"

Neo smiled as she looked behind her. Leaning against the tree she was resting near was Jaune Arc currently wearing a plain white t-shirt that showed off his lean build and a pair of black cargo pants with a pair of combat boots on. Jaune's hair had grown slightly longer, slightly hanging over his eyes and reaching past the back of his neck. On Jaune's back was the bow that he so lovingly named Ira, a weapon that Jaune had crafted with his own two hands. It was that weapon that grew a bond between Jaune and Cinder, much stronger than Neo could ever dream of having with another person. Sure Jaune still treated her like a sister, but it didn't hold a candle to how much Jaune idolized Cinder and how much Cinder cared for Jaune.

I'm sure this bond could even stand the test of Jaune learning of his true origins…

Neo looked to the side.

If he is ready for it that is…

Neo's eyes then wandered to the sword that rested at Jaune's hip, the fabled Crocea Mors, a sword that had been passed down among the Arc clan since the founding of Arcadia, its original wielder being the first true Arc to walk on Remnant, Joan Arc. While Neo had read many different takes on the sword's origins, one thing she knew for sure was the fact that this sword was very much an important symbol of the Arc family… a family that had cast Jaune out even when they had absolutely no right to. This sword should have been a reminder of that fact, yet Jaune kept it instead of throwing it away. This had surprised Neo a bit, she wondered what could have possessed Jaune to keep the sword even after all the flack he received from Julius and her… "sisters".

"Yeah, it's a reminder, but it is also very much a part of me," Jaune had said when Neo asked him about it, "And if I were to abandon it, it would be like leaving a part of my identity behind."

Neo never really thought of the weapon like that. She simply thought Crocea Mors to be very old sword. Sure it was a symbol that appeared in almost every Arc text she read, but she saw no reason to over think it, but it meant much to her brother, so who was she to get in the way?

And look at him now.

In the year she worked with him, Neo watched Jaune grow in both combat prowess and mental control. The more he learned about his family history, the more it drove him to become stronger so that he could live up to the legacy of his ancestors. Neo had no real interest since she had long accepted the fact that she wasn't actually an Arc, she was simply adopted into the family. Jaune, however held true Arc blood within him, despite what Julius claimed.

"If your ready for another loss, then by all means let's play," stated Cinder in challenge bringing Neo out of her thoughts.

Jaune grinned in excitement.

"Then follow me, I have some shots that even you might find challenging," stated Jaune as he walked away making sure shoot Neo a smile and a wave.

Cinder followed behind him.

"I will believe it when I see it Jauney," she stated.

Neo watched the two go, drinking in Jaune's happy expression and committing it to her memory.

With the coming events… this may very well be the last moments that I'm able to see his smile…

Neo closed her eyes, suddenly uninterested in returning to her reading, the knowledge she had spent time learning forgotten in favor of the thoughts that weighed heavily on her mind.

"Check."

The sound of laminated cardboard brushing against wood filled the air as a group of faunus men with white masks played a small game to pass the time. It was what lookouts did in this rather dreary old warehouse since nobody really knew that a White Fang base was right under them. Hell, they couldn't even be considered "lookouts" due to the fact that most of the members within the base could most likely hear most of what is going on outside due to their superior hearing. In reality the faunus out here were glorified doormen. Still, what was done was done and the grunts weren't going to question the decision of the higher ups… even if it was pretty boring.

"Fold," stated a tiger faunus tossing his cards towards the dealer.

"Aw c'mon man, we didn't even get to see the river card," complained a lizard faunus.

"Wasn't feeling it Tim," stated the tiger faunus, "Besides you cold bloods always seem to have something nasty up your sleeves."

"I just have a natural poker face," stated the lizard faunus with a toothy grin, his reptilian eyes making him look rather sinister.

The tiger faunus shook his head before he looked up at the ceiling.

"So what do you guys think of the whole debacle with the higher ups?"

"What do you mean?" asked dealer who was a dog faunus, two floppy ears hanging off the sides of his head.

"Haven't you heard what happened to Adam Taurus?" asked the lizard faunus, "How he was defeated by the traitor Belladonna?"

"Apparently he's locked himself in his quarters since then," said the tiger faunus, "I mean I would be pretty angry too if I failed to kill a traitor."

"I mean some of the fellas think that he's gone nutty," said the lizard faunus, "I mean just yesterday back at the main base Yvette said she heard strange giggling coming from Taurus' room."

"You mean crazy like that 'Shiro' girl?" asked the dog faunus.

"Crazier," said the lizard faunus, "Like asylum level crazy."

The tiger faunus simply shook his head.

"Honestly the less I think of it, the better off I am," he said before motioning for the cards. "Alright I'm the dealer now, let's see how you fair against him, maybe you can smell his lies."

With an amused smirk the dog faunus made to hand over the deck when suddenly a certain knock sounded at the warehouse door in a certain pattern. At first the faunus men tensed up the tiger faunus's hand hovering over his side arm which rested on the table. All three men relaxed, however when they heard the same knock twice. All the faunus of this base had a secret knocking code that only they knew of in order to get in and would do it twice, the first time to let the doormen know they were there and twice to let the doormen know that all was clear. It was a system that worked for them for many years, with them changing the "knocking passcode", as most of the grunts got to calling it, every month.

"Probably Dick coming back after getting lost again," said the dog faunus as he got up.

"How does he even get lost?" asked the lizard faunus a bit loudly, "Shouldn't he be able to sniff his way back?"

"Hey easy there, that's my cousin you're talking about," laughed the dog faunus as he opened the door, "How's it going, Dick?"

Sure enough another dog faunus stood there also sporting a pair of drooping dog ears. "Dick" as the men called him stood there for a moment, before collapsing to the floor a pool of blood starting to form below him. Almost immediately the two men at the poke table were on their feet, their weapons brandished.

"Tim, warn the others," stated the tiger faunus, "Mike close the door."

The reptilian faunus nodded and made for the entrance to the base, which was a trap door under a wooden storage crate. The tiger faunus looked at "Mike" who simply stood at the open door staring down at his dead cousin.

"Mike? C'mon man, get it together," said the tiger faunus causing the lizard faunus to look over as well.

The dog faunus slowly turned around towards his fellow White Fang members his face seemed to be frozen in shock.

"Mike?"

It was then, to the horror of both men, that the dog faunus quite literally fell to pieces. The sickening sound of several body parts falling to the floor filled the air.

"T-Tim get that door open," said the tiger faunus his hands shivering as he fought to keep his gun steady, his eyes searching for an unseen enemy.

It was only a few moments later that the tiger faunus realized he got no response causing his blood to run cold.

"Tim?"

The tiger faunus spun around only for his fears to be realized. Draped over the box was the headless body of Tim, his head slowly rolling towards the tiger faunus. Completely terrified, the tiger faunus whipped his gun around in desperation, trying to find the unknown assailant.

"Where are you?!" roared the man, "C'mon!"

It was then that the man heard slow, methodical footsteps coming from the trapdoor. The tiger faunus quickly spun around to look at the door only to see that it was wide open, which meant that whatever attacked his fellow lookouts had gotten into the outpost. The tiger faunus trained his gun on the entrance as the footsteps got closer.

"Yvette?"

No answer, the footsteps continued on their methodical approach.

"Henry? Ben? C'mon guys answer me!"

The footsteps continued along, the tiger faunus' sanity slowly decreasing with each step. His grip on his gun tightened.

"C'mon you coward!" he growled, "Get up here and face me!"

The steps continued to get louder and louder, each step seeming to echo in the tiger faunus' ears.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Silence.

The steps stopped. And nobody stood at the entrance of the trap door even though the footsteps suggested that whoever it was should have been standing there. The tiger faunus heart was practically pounding at his chest like a drum, sweat pouring out of every pore, his breath ragged. The continued silence was not helping with this.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" he growled trying to swallow down his fear, "Face me Oum damn it!"

"Okay."

The sudden, unexpected answer caused the tiger faunus to jump, dropping his weapon, before spinning around to face the speaker. The first thing he saw were to yellow eyes that practically glowed in the darkness. It was then that the faunus found himself unable to move, the eyes had him petrified, all he could do was watch as the owner of the eyes stared at him for a while.

"You know, of all of the people here, I didn't expect you to be the easiest to manipulate," stated the owner of the eyes nonchalantly in a distinctly feminine voice, "Then again I don't really know the extent of these powers yet."

The tiger faunus simply stood there, unable to speak, unable to move, simply stare back at those yellow eyes as they continued to stare back.

"Don't worry about your friends by the way," said the eyes, "They're not actually dead, I just twisted your perception to make you think they died, I guess your imagination is more grim than I first thought."

The eyes looked away for a moment and at that moment the tiger faunus looked around to confirm the what the eyes said and sure enough, there the lizard faunus was, not headless, but still unconscious and draped over the crate.

"I'm not in the business of killing," continued the eyes in the shadows, "At least not anymore."

The tiger faunus looked back at the eyes… or where they were supposed to be. The tiger faunus flicked his eyes this way and that in a blind panic.

"I only kill when I have to," said the voice, which seemed to echo from everywhere, "After all I used to call some of you family.

The tiger faunus didn't know how, but it seemed like the room was getting… darker, not even his night vision could pierce this growing darkness.

"So can you do me a favor?" stated the voice suddenly right behind him.

The tiger faunus spun again to see the eyes again, but this time with the owner being completely visible. The owner was a fellow feline faunus with long black hair tied into ponytail by a black bow. The female feline wore a simple black kimono along with a pair of skin tight black pants along with matching East Mistralian style gauntlets and greaves, the armor protecting the girl's shins and forearms. The girl looked into the tiger faunus' eyes causing him to freeze up again.

"Sleep."

It was the last word the tiger faunus heard before he fell into blissful oblivion.

"So… they truly have become stronger…" stated a dark figure as he stared into a rather ominous looking orb.

In the orb were the faces of four certain individuals before they all faded away causing the dark figure to straighten up.

"Good…" he said, "It will make things more interesting."

It was then a deep growl seemed to emanate from the surrounding cavern that the figure was in. It sounded like it should have shaken the cavern, yet not even a pebble budged.

"Yes, I know this, and I have prepared as well."

Another long growl responded, one that seemed to be full of curiosity.

"You need not concern yourself, this body is but a vessel for my revenge and nothing will stand in my way," stated the figure, "And besides, the host seems to hold the same amount of resentment towards these four."

Yet another growl, only this time in amusement.

"Yes, indeed they seem rather ironically named as such, it seems that things are coming full circle," stated the figure, "But none of it matters."

The figure turned to face the entrance of the cavern.

"Soon, soon I will have my revenge on you all, 'Team ABSN'," he growled, "You made a fool of me before, but this time it will be much different."

The figure looked back down at the orb, this time focusing in on the white-haired young woman practicing her form with her rapier. The man grinned maniacally.

"And we shall end your lives, slowly, one-by-one."

The man's laughter echoed throughout the cavern even as the presence he spoke to seemed be noticeably absent.