"So, you think Pyrrha's gonna make a move?" Nora asked, looking up at her partner.

Lie Ren remained silent, though he looked down at the shorter girl with a bemused smirk.

"Hey, a girl can dream, right?" She pressed chipperly. "It's the perfect chance!"

The orphaned pair strolled slowly through the streets of their district. The Commercial district was not a small region, part of why they'd had to divide it amongst themselves. It had many different sections to it, all for different purposes. Shopping, entertainment, fitness, and a dozen other distractions and necessities. To any who they passed, they were merely a pair of students, coming down from the Academy to enjoy the start of their weekend. They'd even removed their masks to help sell the look. Though they waited, not far out of reach.

'Maybe it looks like we're on a date.' Nora thought, her own emotions betraying her as quickly as they appeared. Though she hammered them away and out of sight. She couldn't match her partner in that practice. But she'd had more than a decade's worth of practice in hiding how she felt from who she wanted. She enjoyed being able to surprise people who couldn't expect it of her.

Something she could only scarcely muster with Ren anymore. She was sure he knew some of what she felt. But only a small amount.

Regardless, she would enjoy the privacy while she could.

"Y'wanna go get something to eat?" Nora asked. "I'm starving."

"Never would've guessed." Ren answered evenly.

"Wish Six could've told us sooner we weren't having dinner tonight." Nora pouted, but then immediately began smiling again. "But~ I heard there was this new noodle place that's supposed to be around here somewhere. Wanna do noods?"

Ren kept his face straight. However, Nora knew he found it funny by the way his eyes twinkled for a moment. "Don't call them that… but it does sound good. How about we cross a few places off, then we stop for dinner?"

"Deal." Nora chirped, giving Ren a manic smile. Her smile always betrayed the energy she had. It was hard for her to contain it anymore. Especially on a night such as this. A night alone, with her closest friend in the whole world. Hunting bad guys, getting into fights, and getting to make stories she'd heard as a child. Stories she was sure most of them had heard as children. Just her and Ren, alone, being awesome together.

Just her and Ren.

Alone.

Together.

As that thought continued to circulate in her head, she followed Ren. He double checked the address in his scroll. Comparing it to the surrounding signage. Making sure they were moving in the correct direction.

"We need to be careful going into some of these places." Ren said. "We're just asking questions, but there's no way of knowing what we're going to find."

"Mhmm." Nora hummed, trying to push certain pleasant, but very distracting thoughts from her head. There were fights to be had, bad guys to chase, and legs to break. She could think about them later. Though she did like the way Ren wore his outfit. He had gotten more muscular in the few months they'd been at Beacon, even if it was all lean and thin. She couldn't help but think it helped fill him out in all the right ways-

"Nora?" Ren asked.

"Hm!?" Nora chirped, blinking.

The boy turned to look at her, leaning down slightly.

Nora couldn't help but let her eyes wander a moment longer, before finally gaining a measure of control. "Yep- uh- what's up?"

"… Nothing, you just seemed to be spacing out." Ren answered, looking towards the signs again.

"I'm good." Nora chirped. "Just having a little daydream, you know me."

"I do, and that's why I asked." Ren said dryly.

Nora responded with a lady-like roll of the eyes, and a childish raspberry. Better that than let her mouth say something she didn't want it to. She had enough trouble with that already, without having a very good looking Ren standing in front of her- No, without having a Ren standing in front of her-

Nora silently bit her cheek, getting herself to focus. They had things to do. How did everyone do this 'focus' thing when there was someone like Ren around?

Though she also knew they somehow managed it while she was around.

"So what's this place we're starting with?" Nora asked. "Is it a Pancake Shack? Please tell me it's a Pancake Shack. I still need to get pay-back on that waiter from the last one."

"You know it wouldn't be the same one." Ren said, rolling his eyes. "But from the note Six made, it's a… Dust shop?"

"Well that's ironic… I think." Nora chirped. "Not ironic… it fits I mean, like a sock and shoe."

"You mean a foot and a boot?" Ren asked.

"What'd I say?" Nora chirped, smiling innocently. "… How much further?"

"…" Ren checked the signs, shrugged, thinking. "… Maybe a few minutes. Most of them should be close together."

"Wouldn't it be dangerous to keep a bunch of these places together though?" Nora questioned. "Like, if one gets caught, what about the other ones?"

"You're asking the wrong guy." Ren said. "Though I don't know who the right one would be either."

"Six maybe?" Nora offered. "He seems to know a lot about this stuff."

Ren nodded. "Probably…" He then chuckled. "It's strange to think, we started school maybe five months ago. Now we're doing this."

"And we're friends with a dimension hopping cowboy alien. There's a rare sentence." Nora chirped. "Oh! You think I should ask him if he's ever been in showdowns at high noon? Or if he's ever stopped a train robbery?"

"I'm pretty sure he's already told us about being in a showdown." Ren answered blithely.

"That one doesn't count." Nora chirped, tweeting along. "I mean one of those 'glare each other down from across the street and wait to shoot each other' ones."

"… Pretty sure those are only in the movies." Ren answered. "… come to think of it, I don't even know if his world has trains."

"Then that's something we can ask him." Nora chirped. "… You still owe me those pancakes too. For saying I'd never make friends with an alien."

"You still owe me a backrub for scoring higher in the first semester." Ren countered.

"It was one lousy point." Nora pouted.

"A point more than you." Ren chuckled.

Nora blew another raspberry, but conceded the point. She wouldn't renege on the bets she and Ren made. She knew they were in good fun, they'd been doing them for years, since back before either one of them was good at making pancakes or giving back rubs. It just gave them both a means to keep challenging each other in a healthy way.

Secretly though, it helped her see how Ren was doing. He tried so hard to hide how he was feeling from her, she only wanted to make sure he was doing okay.

He'd been smiling a lot more since the two of them had made it to Beacon. He seemed happier. Getting in had been a labor for the both of them. She'd had to sit down and actually study to make sure she passed the written exam. Ren probably didn't need her help passing the physical test, but she made sure he was good. Nana Bess had been pushing them both, too. Making sure they could both hold their own. Stand a chance at making it, like Nora's family had.

Really, she'd probably just wanted them both out of the house already.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Doing this, getting this far, becoming Huntsmen, it'd been a dream for both of them. Not the way it had been for some of their friends, something more. For Nora, it meant she could fight monsters and travel like she used to. She wanted to see the world, and beat as many Grimm as she could along the way.

Ren though… she'd never been sure why he wanted to become a huntsman. Neither of them would ever forget Kuroyuri. What happened there. But they couldn't change it either. The further away they were from it, the better Ren seemed to be. That didn't keep Nora from worrying about him. Worried what would happen when they finally graduated. Nora would drag Ren along with her if she had to. But there was always going to be that part of him, she knew, that was still back there. She didn't know what they would do then.

So Nora chose to not worry about it. Graduation was still years away. She'd worry about that when they got there.

If they did go back to Kuroyuri… Well, she wouldn't let Ren go alone. She was sure of that much.

"We should consider grabbing some soap." Ren said offhandedly.

"Hm?" Nora chirped.

"I don't know what kinds of necessities are in the apartment, Six probably doesn't either." Ren said. "We're probably going to need to get some soap and stuff."

Nora nodded to that. That was like Ren, to be thinking about the small details. Be responsible and all that. Here she was, thinking about pancakes, backrubs, and the future, while Ren focused on what they needed now. She could appreciate it was a good idea. They were probably all going to want a shower or something when they got back. If she and Ren got into any fights, she knew Ren would. He'd really need soap.

Though, as Nora continued to follow that train of thought, an image began to appear before her. One of Ren in the shower, covered in suds.

"Down girl." Nora muttered to herself.

"Hm?" Ren hummed.

"Nothing!" Nora squawked, trying not to blush.

The pair walked a few blocks more, chatting occasionally as they went about unimportant things. Making notes of the things they would need to collect before the meet-up later that evening. Pondering on the minutia of their lives and the current events surrounding them. How bizarre it all seemed. How excited it made either of them feel for whatever came next. Underneath it though, they both felt the current of danger.

The Courier had made it clear that things were going to get dangerous, doing this. They were all prepared for danger, it came with training to be a huntsman. But training for it, and experiencing it, were very different things. Ren and Nora could both attest to it.

In a turn of irony, it left them both feeling more prepared than they might have.

As they approached the shop, they began to don their disguises. For Ren a simple, full face mask. Smooth and the color of eggshells, only having a pair of holes for the eyes.

Nora had gone the complete opposite direction, and was quite proud of her efforts. She had taken several hours to craft a mask from whatever materials she could get her hands on. The shape had to be just right, the colors couldn't be a shade off. It would be too easy to mistake for a bear, or maybe some off-brand koala. Especially if she got the nose wrong. To her, it needed to be absolute perfection.

As Ren looked down at her, she felt it was.

"… I still don't understand why you went with a sloth." Ren said, chuckling.

Nora merely smiled, letting out a trilling note in answer. The call of a sloth, in her mind.

Without any further pause, the two approached the Dust shop. A small place, sitting squat on the corner of a street. The name 'Gathering Dust, On the Corner' flashed in the window. They stepped through the door to find a well-traveled interior. There were other stores throughout Vale that boasted a larger selection, they could tell almost immediately. But the varieties lined the walls, sat on small shelves running the length of the store. Both in varied sizes of colored crystal, and in tubes of volatile powder. Different grain sizes, purity ratings, brands, and all manner of minor details. The things that would enable a specialty shop such as itself to exist.

Near the door, sat a singular register, manned by a gruff young man who, Nora noted, looked like a goat. Not in the way that a Faunus would, but something in the shape of his face. It reminded her of the goats that her family would occasionally raise. He even had a scraggly little goatee.

The young man eyed them as they entered the store. Clearly confused as to what a pair of masked individuals were doing entering his store. Perhaps wondering if he was about to experience crime. A curious sensation that'd been happening with violent frequency recently.

"…I'mma look around." Nora said, voice muffled by the mask. "I'll let you know if I find anything."

Ren nodded, and the two separated. He approached the counter as Nora began to pace slowly through the store. Hands behind her back, resting just over her weapon. Though she wondered, idly, if she were to launch a grenade in the small shop, would they survive it? Or would there just be a massive crater?

Though she imagined Six wouldn't be happy with her, and she really wanted that breakfast.

As she began to round along the far side of the store, she could hear Ren beginning to question the cashier. A list of simple things they'd gone over. How've sales been? Has the recent crime wave affected business? Why's everyone else been robbed except you? Simple questions, just to cross him off the list. Of course, they were also just meant to work as a distraction.

While Ren asked questions, Nora would just give a quick peek into the back room. If she didn't see anything they'd be on their way, no trouble.

She really hoped there would be trouble.

As Nora walked along the back wall, she picked up a jar of Rayne Enterprises lightning Dust. She was fairly certain it was just Schnee Dust that was rebranded under a different name. Although she'd never made her own rounds, so she wasn't certain. She knew that was something the Courier had shown capable of, and something Ruby expressed interest in. Would they be able to use it?

Then the thought popped into her head, maybe she should ask the Courier if he could make grenades. She loved Magnhild, and being able to make her hit even harder would be amazing, in her mind. Maybe, if she asked nicely, a pretty please with extra sugar, she'd get him to consider it. Sure, he was still holding a grudge about the chair incident, but they were all friends.

She would need to remember to ask him… eventually.

As Nora wandered along the back wall, she spied a short hallway. Leading back towards a restroom, and a singular push door, the store room.

Without a moment's hesitation, she strolled down the hall towards the back door. Her foot came up and kicked the door open, slamming it back on its hinges.

The sight she found caught her off guard.

A small band of White Fang, in the midst of packing their gear. Weapons, tools, uniforms, everything a ragtag insurgency needed to stage an unwanted revolution.

As the door crashed against the wall, echoing and rebounding off it, the White Fang all turned towards her. There followed a brief moment, where the masked Faunus looked at the girl wearing a Sloth mask.

Then Nora smiled. A trilling note escaped her lips.

This was going to be a very fun night.