He felt few things that night.

He felt the grass. He felt it brush his left cheek, tickle the spaces between his fingers, protrude through the gaps between his feathers, sink under the weight of his limp body. He felt the rain, tapping against every part of his body. He felt the vibrations of every droplet impact. He felt the cold. The frigid night air. It bit. It stung.

But most of all, he felt the pain.

The blood trickling down his nose as he lied down in the grass. The bruises on his body. The swelling in his eye. He couldn't see. He could barely even breath. But the pain, it was more than just that. So much more. The pain of loss. The pain of abuse.

The pain of loneliness.

He had known this pain for a while. It greeted him like an old friend. It usually crept in when he least expected it, without cause, without reason, but now? Now he had one.

Every day since Cenn began school, Bara had found him and pounded him until he couldn't fight back. Cenn was usually able to get away, but this day was different. It was worse. So much worse. He couldn't move. He couldn't see, but he knew that no one was coming to help him. It was almost as if he was going to be alone for the rest of his life.

Almost.

He heard something through the constant droning of the rain. Crunch. Crunch. They were footsteps. He heard them come closer, and as they did, they quickened in frequency. As they drew close, they slowed to a halt. He couldn't move his head to see their source, but he definitely heard what they sounded like.

"Oh gosh..!" they whispered to themselves. The person sounded like a girl, one around Cenn's age. Her voice was a little husky, but still had some softer qualities to it.

He felt her arms slip under him. He winced in pain.

"Sorry..." she said to him softly, "but I need to get you somewhere where they can help you...I hope ya don't mind..."

Cenn still wasn't able to see her face, and it took all the strength left in his body to nod in understanding. As she lifted him, she held his wings in her arms along with the rest of his body, so that they wouldn't be hanging down. As she began to move back towards the city of Vale, Cenn felt a slight bounce in her run, but not because of the way she was running, but because of the ground below them. It was almost like the ground below her was springing her back, allowing her to run a little faster.

Cenn felt himself beginning to lose consciousness. However, as he was, he finally got a good lol at her face with the one good eye he had at the moment.

Her soft, round features. Her amber eyes that sparkles even though there was no real discernible light source. Her mess of brown hair, wet with rain water. He looked up at his savior for a few seconds before his vision finally faded. And all he saw was black.

~——~

Light soon cracked through the space between his eyelids. He felt himself begin to come back, as if he had simply just fallen asleep. However, as he opened his eyes, he quickly realized that one of them was completely covered. He lifted a hand up to his face and felt where the cover was. It was a simple, white eyepatch. He looked down at himself. He was in some kind of bed, one that he recognized as one that belonged in some kind of infirmary or hospital. The bruises on his body had completely healed thanks to his Aura, and he was feeling relatively okay compared to how he felt before.

Before.

What had happened after that night? How long had it been since then? Questions flooded his mind as he began to make sense of his surroundings. He was in a hospital room. He sat up quickly and looked around. How did he get here? The last thing he remembered...was that girl. It suddenly made sense to him. The girl brought him to the hospital. Of course she did. Why wouldn't she? And here he was thinking that no one was going to come and help him. What a delightful surprise...

The door suddenly opened. Cenn looked to his right to see a nurse standing in the doorway.

"Oh!" she said. "You're awake! Thank goodness." She walked further into the room. "I'll report to the doctors and your family immediately." She began taking his vitals.

"T-Thank you, ma'am..." Cenn whispered timidly.

"When that girl brought you here, you were in dreadful shape. Do you mind me asking what happened to you?"

At the mention of the girl, Cenn perked up a little, but retreated back into his shell after she asked what had occurred.

"U-Um..." he said, "I-I...I fell..."

The nurse tilted her head to one side. He could tell that she wasn't convinced, but he could also tell that she wouldn't pry.

"You have a couple people who want to see you," the nurse said with a smile as she finished taking his vitals. Cenn nodded and looked down into his lap. He heard the nurse walk to the door and open it.

"You may come in," she said. He heard large, pounding footsteps begin to come into the room. He looked up from his lap and to the person who had just walked in.

Standing near the threshold to the room was a very large man, looking to be in his mid-to-late thirties. He had short, brown hair and a scruffy beard with dark blue eyes. He was extremely muscular and tall, at least six feet tall. He was wearing a black, rubber blacksmith's apron, a tight white tee shirt, brown slacks and black work boots. Soot dotted his face.

The man walked closer to the side of Cenn's bed.

"I'm so glad you're okay, my boy," he said. His voice had a deep, growling cadence, but his words were soft and gentle. "I knew you'd be okay..."

"You don't need to worry so much, Uncle Flick..." Cenn answered. "I can handle myself..."

Flick nodded.

"I know..." he answered. There was a small moment of silence in between Flick's next question. "Was it Bara?"

Cenn took a sharp inhale, then nodded.

"Damn that kid..." Flick growled, "If I ever see him, why I'll-"

"Uncle," Cenn interrupted, "It's okay. Really. You don't have to do anything..."

Flick looked at his nephew with concerned eyes, then looked down and sighed.

"Alright, my boy..." he said, then stood back up. "There's actually someone who wants to say hi to you. I'm sure you'll recognize her." He smiled and began to walk over to the door. He opened it, then called out.

"Alright, little one," he said, "you can come in now."

"Thank ya, sir!"

It was the same feminine, husky voice that Cenn remembered.

Flick walked back into the room, followed by another, much smaller person.

It was a girl. She looked about Cenn's age at the time, which was around ten. She had short, messy brown hair and bright amber eyes that sparkled in the light of the hospital room. Her face was round and soft. She was wearing a pair of overalls that had full length pant legs and light brown work boots. Underneath the overalls she was wearing a blue tee shirt with a floral pattern. She had a bright, energetic smile.

This was the girl that brought Cenn to the hospital.

She skipped over to the side of Cenn's bed. She leaned over the side.

"Hiya!" She said, "My name's Kairi! Kairi Kurohebi! What's your's?" She leaned in closer and her smile grew even wider.

Cenn's eyes fleeted from side to side.

"U-Uh..." he stuttered, "I-I'm...Cenn..."

"Well!" She said, then leaning back and putting her hands on her hips, "It's nice to meet ya, Cenn!"

Cenn looked down at his lap.

"Y-You too..." he said quietly.

Kairi walked closer to the side of his bed.

"You don't talk much, do you?" She said, then smiled, "That's okay! Doesn't mean I'm going to talk any less!"

Cenn looked up at her, his mouth slightly agape, then smiled softly.

"O-Okay..." he said.

"You're a Faunus, right?" she asked. The question made Cenn flinch. He was ready to get made fun of. But it never happened.

"I think that's really cool!" she said rocking back and forth on her heels. "You can, like, fly and stuff! I'm kinda jealous!"

Cenn was absolutely dumbfounded. This girl was complimenting him? That never happened.

"Well, I have to go now," she said, "My parents let me come and visit for a couple of hours, but you only just woke up, so I didn't get much time. I'll see you in school, though! I go to Signal, just like you!"

She skipped towards the door. Flick smiled at her and nodded.

"Thank you, little one," he said with a smile. "You don't know how much you've helped. I'm forever in your debt."

"It's no problem, sir!" Kairi said with a smile. She then looked back at Cenn and smiled brightly at him.

"See ya later!"

~——~

Cenn walked through the halls of Beacon.

It was the middle of the day, the day after they had visited Vale. Team RWBY had informed them that Blake had run away the evening prior. They were currently out looking for her in the city, along with the majority of Team MRACL, but Cenn stayed back just in case Blake decided to come back to Beacon.

Cenn understood. Many people might've taken quite a while to understand Blake's motives behind hiding her true identity, but Cenn experience the reason firsthand. He was lucky. Lucky that he got a team that accepted the fact that Faunus were people too and didn't deserve discrimination. But before now, before Beacon, there were many people who didn't believe that. And that discrimination...that oppression...it caused so much hurt.

So he understood. Because why fight back when you can just hide? That was the mindset he used to have. But now, he was beginning to see how flawed that mindset was, both within himself and Blake.

As he wandered the winding halls of Beacon Academy, something suddenly caught Cenn's eye. It was a poster. It hung on the wall near the hall leading to the classrooms, right in Cenn's like of sight. He walked up to it and inspected it.

The background of the poster was the silhouette of a rock band. A drummer in the center, a guitarist on the left, and a bassist on the right. The poster read: "New Upcoming Band: Unity! Four Kingdoms, Four Schools, Four students joined together making rocking music!"

Cenn was intrigued. Despite what people thought, Cenn was quite the musical person. He loved music deeply. He continued to read. "In Need of a Lead Singer from Vale!"

Cenn could sing. Cenn was from Vale. It was perfect! But...would he be able to perform. What if he messed up? What if he gave the band a bad name because of his timid nature? He had never sang in front of anyone but his Uncle and...and Kane.

But this could also help with his confidence. He decided to think about it. He took out his Scroll and snapped a photo of the poster, then walked away and continued to patrol the halls. He suddenly felt his Scroll begin to vibrate. He took it back out of his pocket and looked at the screen. Mal was calling.

He answered and put the Scroll on speaker.

"Mal..?" he asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Cenn!" he said, "We found Blake, but we need backup! We just got dragged into a fight with the White Fang. Hurry!"

Cenn hung up and immediately began to run down the halls as fast as he could. He needed to get there as fast as possible.

As soon as he got outside, he flapped his wings as hard as he could, shooting himself into the sky. He began to make his way to Vale. He needed to know that his friends were okay. He needed to help. What kind of teammate would he be if he couldn't? What kind of friend would he be if he couldn't?

He flew past buildings, trying to find where his friends were. That was when he saw the airships near the docks. One specifically, that was trying to get away. Cenn tried his best to make it before the airship took off, but to no avail. He touched down near the docks and began to run. As he came closer to the group of people.

He saw the rest of his team and Team RWBY, along with three more unfamiliar faces. One was a blond. He had on a white collared shirt that was all the way unbuttoned, revealing his strikingly defined abs. He also had a monkey tail, showing that he was a Faunus. The other two people were girls, both with orange hair. They looked strikingly similar to each other, except one had slightly longer hair and glasses, while the other had a short bob and a pink bow in her hair. Were they twins or something?

However, something seemed off.

The girl with the longer orange hair was knelt down beside Mal, who was lying down on the floor. Cenn felt a pang in his heart, and began to run forward.

"What's going on?" he asked as he went next to his teammates. Alice looked at him, then back at Mal.

"We were fighting the White Fang," she explained, "but right before they left...Mal suddenly started...I don't know, chanting? And then he yelled something and suddenly...we weren't HERE anymore. We were in some kind of void. There were swords and weapons...everywhere. And Mal just bombarded every ship with them. It was like he was controlling them. But the main ship got away. Before it did, though...we suddenly came back here. And Mal just...collapsed."

Cenn looked at Mal. He seemed to still be awake, but barely. The orange haired girl with the glasses seemed to be running tests on him.

"W-Who are they..?" he asked, pointing to all the people he didn't know.

"Oh," Alice said, then pointed to the blond boy, "That's Sun. He found Blake or something after she ran away. And those two," she pointed to the orange haired girls, "Are Penny and Kyrie. We kind of...bumped into them. Penny's the one with the bow."

"O-Oh..." Cenn said. Mal suddenly began to stir and come fully back into consciousness. Mal looked at Kyrie and tried to pull away from her.

"I-I don't think-" he said, but Kyrie held onto him.

"P-Please just let me," she said, "We need to make sure everything is okay before you get back up..."

Mal looked extremely anxious, like he wanted to get out of the situation he was in. Cenn was confused. Wouldn't he want to make sure everything was okay with him..?

That was when Kyrie's eyes suddenly grew wide with surprise. She looked down at Mal.

"Oh my god..." she said quietly.

Rogue suddenly cut in.

"What?" He said, "what's wrong?"

Kyrie looked up at the concerned Teams RWBY and MRACL.

"He...

He has heart cancer."

Cenn felt himself tense up. What? Cancer? But...but how could that be? That was when he realized. The blood that he coughed up, how he tried not to let people see it. It was because he was sick.

Mal suddenly chuckled.

"Well..." he said, "I guess the jig is up, huh..?"

Weiss stepped forward.

"Mal?" she said with worry. "What is she talking about?"

Mal looked down at his lap and was quiet for a few seconds before speaking.

"I know...I know this may sound crazy..." he said, "But...I'm not from here. From Remnant."

Everyone looked even more confused.

"What..?" Ruby said in confusion.

"Again, I know it's kind of hard to believe and trust me, not even I know how I got here, but...but that's not the point. The point is...that before I was transported here I was...I was put in a coma. And as sort of a way to wait it out, this being named Zelt gave me a chance to live somewhere else while I healed. But the catch was...I only have thirty years to live here. And every time I use my Semblance at full power...it takes away from that timer. I guess it kind of translated into the cancer that you're detecting..."

Cenn felt something. A feeling that he hadn't felt in a long, long time. It was that pain again. But it was a different pain.

The pain of guilt.

"...why..?" Cenn whispered.

Everyone suddenly turned to him.

Alice turned to Cenn and put hand on his shoulder.

"You alright?" she asked.

Cenn shrugged her off and suddenly screamed.

"WHY DOES EVERYONE I LOVE HAVE TO DIE?!?!?!"

Silence.

He felt his pain fade away, but he felt a new emotion take its place. Fear.

He opened his eyes and saw everyone staring at him, dumbfounded. Even Mal, who was sitting on the ground, had his eyes wide with shock. Cenn began to back away from the group. He clasped his hands together and held them to his chest. He felt himself begin to shake. He saw Yang start to come up to him.

"Cenn?" She said as she reached a hand out to him, "You okay, buddy?"

Cenn shook his head and opened his mouth, trying to say something.

"I-I-I..." he said, trying to speak, but before he could, he felt himself suddenly turn around and begin to run away.

"Cenn!" He heard Alice and Rogue shout from behind him as he sprinted in the opposite direction, but he didn't look back. He felt himself begin to cry, tears streaming down his face. Everything around him seemed to be consumed in the same dark shadow, all colors draining from his vision. The world around him felt like it started to melt.

He just kept running.

He didn't even know where he was going.

He just ran.

The next thing he knew he was in the forest, running past trees and bushes. He felt the branches scratch his arms and legs as he blew past them.

That was when he heard it.

The voice.

'GIVE IN....'

Cenn covered his ears and yelled.

"SHUT UP!!" He repeated, "SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!!"

'GIVE IN....GIVE IN....GIVE IN. GIVE IN. GIVE IN!! GIVE IN!!! GIVE IN!!!'

Cenn slammed into the side of a tree, then slid down the trunk. He felt himself start to sob. The voice just repeated the same two words, over and over and over again. It was enough to drive a person mad. That was when he asked it. A question that would forever change his understanding of himself.

"WHAT ARE YOU?!" He asked, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?!?!"

Then, silence.

It was almost deafening.

The voice had stopped, at least for a moment.

And then, it finally answered.

'Freedom...'

Then, everything suddenly went black.

~——~

Thank you everyone for reading! Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come out! Hopefully it was worth the wait! Love you guys <3 -Cenn51903