Team AMBR are all sitting around in their dorm room. Ambré and Rose are sitting on the same bed, Maize is leaning against the wall next to the door, and Byzan is sitting on the windowsill. The afternoon sun shines into the room.

  "Do you think..." Rose bites her lip. "She actually did it, or did Mercury actually attack her?"

  "No, Yang would never do that." Maize speaks up. "Besides, she seemed genuine when she told us what happened."

  "Yang may be hotheaded, but she'd never attack someone without reasons." Ambré states.

  Byzan looks outside as a soft breeze blows in, then back to his team. "She's telling the truth, someone is messing with her."

  Everyone looks towards the trap.

  "How do you know?" Ambré asks with a raised brow.

  "I..." Byzan rubs his scarred palms. "I saw someone use their sembnce, an illusion sembnce on her. At least I'm pretty sure I did."

  Ambré stands up. "Then if you did we should take this to Ironwood, right away!"

  "He wouldn't believe us without evidence." Maize points out. "He won't do anything on just a bunch of kids telling him something."

  Byzan then adds on. "Besides, the whole world saw her attacking Gr-... Mercury. The damage is already done."

  Rose looks down sadly. "This is... just so unfair." Then her eyes turn red and she holds up a fist as Thorn takes over. "We should find Mercury and force him to talk!" Rose takes back over as she shakes her head.

  Ambré sighs as she sits down beside her sister. "We can't, Mercury and his team was rushed back to Heaven. We won't know anything till the Festival is over."

  Byzan looks outside. "I think we could use some fresh air-" He looks over at his team with a smile. "All of us."

  Rose hops to her feet, her chest bouncing a little. "I think that's a good idea!"

  Ambré gets up with a grunt. "Well, it's better then sitting in here till tonight." She then points to her arm that's in the sling. "Beside, this is annoying the shit out of me, I need to get my mind off it."

  Byzan chuckles as he slides off the windowsill and slides over to Ambré, rubbing against her side. "I can take your mind off it another way~"

  Maize and Rose both gre at Byzan as he purrs as he looks up to his Team Leader. Ambré gres at him as she raises a fist, and brings it down onto his head. Byzan lets out a loud meow and falls onto the ground.

  Ambré steps over Byzan's fallen body, and towards the door. "Let's go." She opens it up and steps out to see team RWBY exiting their dorm to the right.

  "This is a mess..." Weiss says as she shakes her head.

  Jaune peeks out of his dorm room from across the hall, the rest of his team peering around the edge. "She doing okay?"

  "She's doing the best she can." Bke informs.

  Ambré shakes her head. "This is not fair for her."

  Ruby holds her hands up. "I heard Mercury and his team rushed back to Haven to be with his family. So, until they nd, no one can really question him about what happened."

  Byzan groans as he appears in the doorway, rubbing his head.

  Ruby looks down. "Alright then. If that's the case..." She looks up gncing between Pyrrha and Byzan. "Byzz, Pyrrha."

  "Hm?" The two question.

  Ruby holds her clenched hands up as she tries to put on a grin. "You be sure to win one for Beacon, okay?"

  Weiss nods as she and Bke also smile sadly. "It's what Yang would want."

  Pyrrha turns her head away before coming back with her attempt at a confident look. "I'll... do my best."

  Byzan smirks as she struts up next to Ambré. "I'll be sure to win." He then gnces over towards Pyrrha. "I'll be coming for you, Spartan~"

  Pyrrha gives a light chuckle, as she holds up a fist. "I'll be sure to win just to fight you."

  Ruby becomes excited. "I'll be sure to watch either of you tonight, in case you're picked!"

  Pyrrha's smile dips down into worry as she looks away. Byzan keeps his confident smirk, as he leans down a little, wagging his butt.

  Bke then speaks up. "Sorry but, I think I've had enough fighting for one year."

  "Oh, come on Bibi~" Byzan leans onto his older sister. "Fighting will never end for us."

  Bke rolls her eyes and lightly pushes her brother away as she walks over to Weiss.

  "Coffee?" Weiss asks.

  Bke smiles. "Tea."

  Bke and Weiss walk off, Ruby grabs Rose and they go in a different direction. Ambré turns to Byzan, only to find him gone. Ambré throws up her good hand.

  "Fine, I guess I'll explore alone!" Ambré stomps off.

  .

  .

  .

  Byzan is ying on a secluded sunny spot on Beacons roof. A soft breeze blows by as he has his arms behind his head and his amber cat eyes closed.

  He hums a soft tune as smiles. But then a swooshing sound and heels clicking echo behind him. Byzan raises an eyebrow and opens his eyes and looks up, a soft dusting of red hits his cheeks.

  "You're still here." Raven looks down at Byzan, a hint of disapproval in her eyes.

  Byzan's eyes slightly trail down, looking... somewhere, before looking back up to her eyes. "Raven? Didn't expect to see you so soon."

  Raven steps beside Byzan and sits down beside him. "I wasn't pnning to, but you're still here. She's making her move and you're not running?"

  Byzan huffs. "They're just here for the Maiden, then they will leave. And I will be gone from here, never to be seen from again."

  Raven raises an eyebrow. "Why not run now? You still have time, do you really think they'll stop with the Maiden? No, not with what they did to Yang."

  "You're worried more about me, then you're your own daughter." Byzan smirks. "And I thought I was a bad person."

  "Yang doesn't get into as dangerous situations as you do."

  "But you know I can handle myself." Byzan sits up and stares out to Vale in the distance. "This isn't my first rodeo. So why all the worry?" He looks over at Raven.

  Raven just looks away. "This world is a dangerous pce, Byzzy. And you keep poking the hornets nest, you may be able to escape each time. But your luck will run out, and you are pushing it very far this time."

  "Don't worry." Byzan smiles as he looks out towards Vale again, the setting sun casting a warm glow over it. "After the Festival is over, I'll be heading to Vacou. I... have some people there that can hide me."

  "You can't hide from her."

  "Heh... I can sure try."

  The two remain in silence, but then Byzan feels something warm on top of his hand. He looks down to see Raven's hand on top of his, while she looks away/.

  "Look, Bzzy, I really need you to leave here. It's not safe anymore, so you better leave after the Festival. Or..." A small dusting of red brushes her cheeks. "I will drag you back to my camp."

  Byzan smirks and licks his lips."Oh. maybe I should stay, just to have you drag me back."

  Raven growls as her face burns red, and she smacks the cat on the back of the head. The two remain in silence for a few moments again, Raven wraps her hand around Byzan's.

  Byzan turns to Raven. "Well, I better- HMPH!"

  Raven suddenly leans forward and kisses Byzan on the lips. She wraps her arms around him, holding him close as she shuts her eyes.

  Byzan blinks a few times, as red slowly creeps up his face as he closes his eyes. Raven and Byzan slowly lie down, with Raven on top; as she slowly starts to get more aggressive, trailing her hands over his body. Raven releases a few moans as Byzan trails his hands on her sides.

  Over in another part of Beacon, Ambré is walking as she downs a bottle of water. Until Pyrrha suddenly bumps into her, tears dripping from her eyes.

  "Oh, sorry, Ambré." Pyrrha wipes her eyes and looks up to her tall friend.

  "Pyrrha?" Ambré questions as she wipes some water from her chin. "You... good?"

  "I just... um..." Pyrrha sits down on a nearby bench. "I just..." Pyrrha sighs as Ambré sits down beside her. "How... how are you always so confident. How do you always know what choices to make."

  Ambré raises an eyebrow in confusion. Her heterochromia eyes holding a slight hint of concern. "Well uh... I guess it is that I just always push forward; even when I'm scared. And for your second question, uh... I just go with what I think is right... even if others don't like it."

  Pyrrha leans back on the bench. "Well, what if you had to make a choice, that very much effect... everything! I just don't think I should be making a choice like that!"

  Ambré sighs and leans back on the bench, looking up to the blue sky slowly turning orange. "Well... I can't tell you how to make choices but... Just go with what YOU think is right. If its that important, don't let anyone else choose for you."

  "But... I don't think I'm confident enough to make it for myself." Pyrrha leans forward, rubbing her hands.

  After a moment of silence Ambré looks down at Pyrrha. "Remember when we first meet, six years ago?"

  Pyrrha chuckles. "Yeah, you and your school were on a field trip and so was my school. We all meet up at a park, and that's where we first met. I was just starting to become a star in fight css and started to get sponsors."

  Ambré smiles. "And I changed you right there, I wanted to prove to everyone that I am strong. So when our eyes locked, I knew I had my chance, but-"

  Pyrrha covers her mouth as she tries not to ugh. "And you tripped mid fight, which led to my win."

  "And then every few months I would come to Argus and challenge you, and lose every time."

  Pyrrha smiles as she leans back. "But then... you join the military, mid school year, why?" She looks at her friend.

  "Well... I got Expelled."

  Pyrrha looks at Ambré in shock. "You... did?"

  Ambré shrugs. "I don't regret it. A group of gals messed with my friend, and one thing led to another and I sent them to a hospital. And the only reasons I didn't get sent to prison was that my Cousin, Winter, got custody of me. And that's how I joined the military. I... worked very hard, I didn't want to let my mother or sister down. And since then, I have done very inmoral things since then. I will stand by what I've done and I don't regret them."

  Pyrrha looks up to the sky. "Sometimes I wish I was like you, you never doubt yourself or get scared. You're so... amazing."

  Ambré shakes her head. "I just can hide those things well. I get scared quiet often, me and my team are always finding ourselves in dangerous situations, and I get scared one of them will get really hurt." She sighs. "But if you don't feel confident Pyrrha, maybe just py a little dirty."

  Pyrrha grows confused. "Py dirty?"

  "Yeah, you know. If you're facing something you know you can't overcome, just... throw a little dirt into its eyes and power through it."

  Pyrrha hums and stands up. "Thank you, Ambré. Your a good person, you know that."

  Ambré shakes her head. "No, I'm honestly not, but... thank you."

  Pyrrha gives a smile before walking off. Ambré sighs and looks down at the ground.

  "...My arm itches... I hate this."

  At the cliff side docking bays the main alleyway and under the floating Amity Colosseum, Ruby and Rose walk up to the end of a waiting line to get in the transport up to the arena.

  They look around to see Brawns Ni and Non Porfiro talking outside the line, and meyond that, Sun Wulong walking away, Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang his shoulder.

  A familiar rabbit Faunus is snapping photos of him. Ruby steps out off line and walks towards Velvet. Rose watches Ruby walk off and to the long line. She lets out an annoyed sigh and follows after Ruby.

  Ruby and Rose walk over to Velvet and she turns to them.

  "Rose, Rubym how you going?"

  Ruby raises a hand in greeting, Rose waves with a smile. "Hi, Velvet! What're you up to?"

  Velvet rolls her eyes happily. "Oh, you know. Just working on my photography. Do you wanna see?" She shows her camera to the two, looking delighted. They notice it's more of a picture of Sun's weapons then of sun himself.

  "That's... better." Ruby steps away as she grins in forced approval.

  Rose raises an eyebrow. "It''s decent. I might not be of a bird, but it's...nice."

  Velvet puts Anesidora away in the box on her back. "I think it's just awful what people are saying of her. Yang's such a nice person."

  Ruby ughs a little as she rubs the back of her head. "Well, I'm gd someone thinks so."

  Memories of Yang flirting with Byzan runs through Rose's head. "...Sure."

  Velvet shakes her head, arms crossed. "Most people don't know what it's like on the battlefield. I mean, even experienced fighters can get scared and start seeing things. If it happened to Coco, it can happen to anyone."

  Ruby cocks her head to the side. "Coco?" Rose gives a questioning hum.

  "Yeah. She swore she saw Yatsu with her in the forest during the fight with Emerald and Mercury, but he never made it out of the gyser fields. Stress-induced hallucinations, apparently."

  "Yeah..." Ruby and Rose looks at each other in thought, only to be startled after Velvet takes a picture of them with the fsh on.

  Velvet lowers her camera, smiling apologetically. "Oh! Sorry!"

  .

  .

  .

  Nighttime soon arrives as Ambré, Rose and Ambré sit in the stands. They cheer as Byzan steps onto the field.

  "Our first contender is Byzantine Beldona from Beacon!" Port announces.

  Mazie's scroll suddenly buzzes and she pulls it out of her pocket. "Hmm, Penny?" She says in confusion as she looks at the message and stands up.

  "Something wrong, Maize?" Rose asks.

  "Just a message from Penny, asking to meet in Vale. At the Cats Corner Book store." Maize begins to walk off.

  "That's strange, isn't it?" Ambré calls out.

  "Well, Penny is a little strange as well." Maize calls off as she leaves the stands.

  Oobleck is then heard. "And his opponent is Rua Degram!"

  "Go Byzan!" Rose turns to the arena.

  "You better win, asshole!" Ambré shouts.

  Byzan smirks as he stares at his opponent.

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  02-05-2025

  2500 words