Umbra counted in her head with each strain of her core. Hanging sit ups were never easy, but she always found the workout to be one of the most satisfying. When she reached two hundred, she stopped. She let herself dangle as she caught her breath, feeling her abs cry out in relief. As she debated whether or not to stop, she found herself face to face with two pairs of shorts.

"Hi Umbra," Mint greeted her in her usual quiet voice. Umbra turned her head to look up at her fellow Queen's Guard member and Velvet of team CFVY, both in gym clothes despite neither being common sights in the workout room. In fact, those three were currently the only people there.

"Hey you two," Umbra greeted as she pulled herself up and off the bar she had been hanging from. "What brings you here?"

"Velvet," Mint said, deferring to her friend.

"I was wondering...if you...could help me train?" she told her slowly as if she were embarrassed. If Umbra didn't know better, she would've thought Velvet was mocking her. Even though SURS and CFVY were together a lot, Umbra hadn't actually talked with her much.

"I don't mind," Umbra answered, "though I'd like to know why. You're not exactly the athletic type."

"I want to be able to keep with my teammates. Lately it feels like I'm just dragging them down," she explained, looking down and away.

"And what about you?" Umbra asked, turning to Mint.

"She asked me to join her," Mint responded, gesturing towards Velvet.

"Works for me," Umbra said with a stretch, kind of enjoying the painful sensation in her muscles. It was satisfying in a way. "But this won't be a one time thing," she said strictly as she turned to the rabbit faunus. "If I'm doing this for you, it'll be all the way. Are you willing to stick through this?"

"Y-yes," Velvet stuttered in response.

"Good answer." Umbra noticed her tone becoming more authoritative, it not unlike her father's when he had trained her with a bit of Olive mixed in for good measure. "Today, I'll just have you do some basics to figure out your baseline. I need to know what I'm working with."

A few minutes later, Umbra had her two new students on machines as she looked at the readings. It was incredible to her how modern and high quality the machines here were, even though it seemed only a fifth of the students ever came to use them at all. Most people at Beacon had their own training methods they preferred with facilities like this being considered useless if they even knew they existed.

About an hour later, Umbra had obtained everything she needed. Mint's scores rivaled her own, outperforming her in some areas and losing in others. Velvet's were noticeably worse, but Umbra couldn't bring herself to call them bad. It was remarkable that even though she was comparatively low scoring here, it would still be high in any combat school and absolutely outstanding compared to normal people. Back home, she knew people that would kill to be at this level.

"Do you have a regular training schedule?" Umbra asked as she began making notes in her head on how to train Velvet.

"Yeah, I do," she answered.

"Write it down in here," Umbra said, handing over her scroll. "Make sure you note what you train as well."

"Okay," Velvet replied as she began to put everything in. Umbra turned to Mint in the meantime.

"You, I know I don't need to train," Umbra told her.

"I just came for Velvet," Mint assured her. "The change of pace is nice."

"Of course it is," Umbra said, placing a hand on Mint's shoulder as she moved in closer to whisper. "Be careful how much you stare. It's really obvious."

Mint went tomato red at this accusation, but didn't put up any kind of verbal defense. Instead, she just looked away. "I'm finished," Velvet called their attention back to her. Umbra took back the scroll and began reading it over.

"Tomorrow, six AM, we'll start," Umbra told her after she looked at what was entered.

"Thank you," she said with a bow. That was one of Umbra's favorite things about Beacon: almost everyone was a hard worker. The students were there to get stronger, not just to coast into a career of some kind.

However, every rule had its exceptions, and this particular exception had just entered the room along with Redmond and Cinnamon. "Hey!" Silhouette called out to the girls and came bounding over.

"Hello Silhouette," Velvet greeted, leaning over slightly.

"Hello," Mint said similarly.

"Hey," Umbra said with a nod, her prickly nature rearing back up. Redmond and Cinnamon followed their companion at a more reasonable pace, raising their hands in greeting.

"What are you guys up to?" Silhouette asked in her over energetic tone of voice.

"You may not recognize it. It's called training," Umbra answered.

"Hey, I know what is. It's what you and Canary are doing all the time," Silhouette replied, her voice clearly making a joke. Umbra just grimaced in response.

"We're here to train too. At least, I am," Redmond said in an attempt to make peace.

"Are you two just tagging along?" Velvet asked, directing the question at the other girls.

"No, we're here to teach," Cinnamon answered.

"Punching practice?" Umbra said the first thing that came to mind.

"Yeah. Remember that fight I had with Cyrus a while back?" Redmond started. Umbra nodded, not mentioning that she had replayed that fight her head many times. Watching Cyrus get punched in the face had been very satisfying to watch. "I hurt my wrist when I hit him, so I figured I should learn how to avoid that."

"Better late than never," Umbra replied. It had been quite a while since the fight. It was strange that only now he would focus on this.

"It's not a major concern. I usually train with Vert today, but he's been off doing his own thing lately, so I had the time," he explained.

"And that's where we come in," Silhouette said, strangely proud.

"We'll stop distracting you," Redmond said, trying to move Silhouette away.

"We're done actually," Velvet told them.

"And I'd like to see Silhouette teach someone," Umbra taunted.

"Get ready to take notes," Silhouette proudly declared as she strolled proudly over to a punching bag. Redmond got next to her while the other four girls stayed back and watched.

"Yah!" Silhouette yelled as she delivered a punch to the bag. As much as it bugged Umbra to admit it, the form was perfect.

"You just need to do that," she instructed as she backed up, giving Redmond room to approach.

"Umm," Redmond started, his hesitation clear as day.

"Just copy me," she said again. He followed, stepping up to the bag and trying his best to adopt her stance. He made a punch, again trying to copy her. While it was similar, all the little things were off.

"No, not like that," Silhouette told him, "You gotta do it like this." She did another perfect punch in the air in front of her. Redmond tried again, but failed.

"What exactly am I doing wrong?" he asked after ten failed punches.

"Like I said, that way won't work. Do what I do," she said again.

"Enough!" Umbra barked, storming up to the pair. She turned to the small girl with a glare of anger. "You, back off and be quiet!" Umbra didn't wait to see if she had listened, turning to the struggling boy. She moved up to him and began to manually adjust his pose. "Don't just wave your fists around. These are irreplaceable parts of your body. If you're going to use them to attack, make it count."

"Ah," he muttered as he changed his pose according to her directions.

"Don't aim at the target. Pick a spot, and punch past it," Umbra went on. She took a pose next to him. "Watch my movements carefully." She did a proper punch, but very slowly, allowing Redmond to observe every movement. "Now do it with me."

Like mirror images, Umbra led Redmond with the proper form. After that, she had him throw a full speed punch. It wasn't perfect, but it was leagues better than before. "One hundred of those," she told him. "If you throw a punch worse than that one, you're starting over."

"Yes," Redmond said with gratitude. Umbra watched closely as he began to attack over and over. While the quality varied, it remained high until punch ninety-eight. She remained silent, allowing him to finish with two more punches that met her standards.

"Well done," she praised him, patting his shoulder. "It's not perfect, but you shouldn't hurt yourself with that."

"It's not enough," he answered. "I'll need more than just a straight."

"Master the basics first. Build on them later," she instructed him. "I'm sure Cinnamon can help you with that." Cinnamon nodded to this and stepped closer. Umbra scanned the room, seeing all the others were still there. Mint and Velvet were quietly discussing something, probably the training methods. Silhouette was in the corner, pouting. Upon making eye contact, the smaller girl turned around and headed out the door.

"Have him rest and do more basics. Make sure he can punch with both arms, focus on his left," she ordered as she walked out, not leaving any time for objections to be voiced. In the hall, it was an easy task to hear the steps of someone walking the mostly deserted halls. Turning a corner, Umbra caught sight of the other away quickly. Umbra bounded over, cutting her off. Silhouette tried to move around her, but Umbra kept up her block.

"Move," Silhouette demanded.

"Mind explaining what you were trying to do earlier?" Umbra asked, ignoring her previous comment.

"Teaching," she answered, again trying to duck to the side. Umbra moved in tandem with her, blocking the escape attempt.

"Not from my perspective," Umbra lectured. "Seems like you were trying to yell technique into him."

"Well sorry we're not all perfect," Silhouette spat back at her.

"Is that how you were trained? If so, I amazed you can do anything properly." Umbra continued.

"No, it's not," Silhouette replied, finally giving up on running away, settling for hanging her head.

"Then tell me what the hell you were doing," Umbra demanded.

"Trying!" she shouted back, seeming to fight back tears. "I was trying to help my friend! It's not my fault I don't know how!" Umbra was taken aback by this display of emotion, suddenly regretting her own outburst.

"Sorry," Umbra apologized. She stayed silent as she calmed down, letting Silhouette do the same. Umbra found herself being very grateful that this place was mostly deserted, though she couldn't help but notice the several individuals hiding around the corner. "Come with me," Umbra told her, taking her hand and leading her away as Silhouette tried in vain to cover up the sound of her sniffles. A few minutes later, they were out of the building and sitting on a bench on the grounds.

"I'm sorry about snapping at you," Umbra told her after making sure they were alone.

"It's fine," Silhouette replied, no longer on the verge of crying but still well below her usual levels of energy.

"Think you're up to telling me what was going on back there?" Umbra asked. Silhouette gave a sigh of resignation.

"No one taught me. I've always been able to fight like this and never needed to work for it," she started. "But after seeing my team and VAPR and the Queen's Guard all working hard, I thought I needed to too."

"That's good," Umbra said in both surprise and support.

"But I don't know how to train. Everytime I try, I just end up getting frustrated and confused. I thought teaching Redmond would help me figure it out, and you saw how that went," Silhouette finished with another sigh. Umbra thought briefly on this before reaching her decision.

"Starting tomorrow, I'll be training Velvet. If you're interested in joining us, be in the weight room at six AM. Teaching won't help, but being taught may be exactly what you need," Umbra told her.

"Are you sure? I know we've never really gotten along," Silhouette said.

"I'm sure. If you're not, then I hope you enjoy sleeping in," Umbra finished as she stood up. "At least think about it."

"Okay," Silhouette said, sounding more like herself. Umbra walked back inside and went about her day like usual, doing more training with her team and the Queen's Guard. It was exhausting, but she loved it. Before going to bed, she finished up training plans, one for Velvet and one for Silhouette.

The next day she was up early and headed for the weight room. She was ten minutes early, so she expected she was going to be left waiting. Upon entering the room, she saw Velvet and Silhouette talking. Even though she had extended the offer, Umbra was still surprised Silhouette had taken her up on that.

"Morning girls," Umbra greeted them with a smile that quickly became menacing. "Ready to begin?"

&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?&?

Eth stood silently in the corner, watching the three girls train. None of them had acknowledged his presence yet, so he assumed that they hadn't registered he was there. As he observed, he pulled out a small notebook from his pocket and began to jot down everything he saw. Once he was confident he had seen everything, he slipped away and back into the hall.

It didn't take long to get back to his room. All of his teammates were out at the moment, leaving him to his own devices. He made a beeline for the closet and retrieved several notebooks. Three of the ones he gathered were labeled "Umbra", "Silhouette", and "Velvet". He placed these, among others, on his desk. Eth took out his pocket notebook as he took a seat and began to write.

"You're back," Forest said as he entered the room.

"I got some interesting data," Eth answered. "Umbra is training Silhouette."

"That's a surprise," Forest commented as he too pulled out several notebooks from the closet. "Though I'm not sure which is the more unexpected."

"I'd say it's that she's training at all," Eth said. "Umbra will help anyone if they ask. She'll just have a frown the whole time."

"That's true." Forest sat down at his own desk and began to write.

"You find anything?" Eth asked without looking up or even slowing down.

"Nothing in particular. Mint still thinks she's coy. Vert's still being a loner. Beryl and Olive were doing homework together. Everything we'd expect," he rattled off. "I think Ebony and Ivory had another fight."

"So everything we'd expect," Eth finished for him. He assumed Forest had nothing left to say as he had fallen silent. Only the scratching of pencils on paper could be heard. This went on for several minutes before the door was opened. Eth looked up to see it was neither Tsukiko nor Nero, but Olive. She looked at him and his notebooks first before switching to glaring at Forest.

"Again with the books?" she asked. "And here I thought you had given this up a few years ago."

"Data is useful," Eth answered.

"This information could be useful. Plus it's good practice," Forest added. Olive sighed but didn't push the issue.

"Let me see mine," she ordered. Forest shuffled through some of his books before handing it over. Olive took a seat on the nearest bed and began reading. A few minutes later, she tossed the book aside.

"The verdict is…" Forest started, using his pencil to make a mock drumroll.

"Everything in there is correct. Yes, even that," she snapped before either of them could ask a question. "Who has seen this?"

"Just us," Forest told her.

"If you want to stay breathing you'll keep it that way," she threatened. Eth could tell that this wasn't a joke. "So other than stalking me, have you two found anything good?"

"I finished my combat chart," Eth said. "It's the likelihood of victory between any matchup in our year."

"Your chances of winning against the members of the Queen's Guard?" Olive asked.

"Umbra, sixty percent. Canary, forty percent. Mint, five percent. You, one percent," he rattled off without ever looking over a chart.

"Sounds accurate. What about me?" Olive asked, her voice betraying her confidence.

"Canary, Umbra, and Beryl have a five percent chance. Everyone else is at one percent," he answered.

"I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd know to put Beryl in there," Olive praised him.

"Why do you ask when you already know?" Forest questioned.

"I'm just testing you. Won't be very good information agents if I'm always more informed," she smugly explained.

"Well here's something you may not have known," Forest remarked as he handed a sheet of paper to her. She took no time in reading it.

"You're right. This is new," she complimented him. "Are you sure these are all the teams they plan on sending to the Vytal Festival?"

"According to my most recent data, yes," he answered. "Is something wrong?"

"OCEN, CSIC, FENT, BEYL," she listed off. "I want the entire year there, not just half. At the very least I'd like all of the Queen's Guard present."

"Well I'm sure Ozpin would be happy to allow that right after he gives you the title of headmaster," Forest told her sarcastically.

"Or you could make a challenge," Eth chimed in. "Fight them for their spot in the tournament. After all, if they can't best you they have no chance at winning at the festival." Olive sat there contemplating before springing up.

"Are you actually going to do this?" Forest asked as she made her way to the door.

"I've got a condition I think Ozpin will agree to," she said as she walked out. The two were left wondering what on earth she could be planning.

"Is she-" Eth started.

"Don't ask. It's easier that way," Forest replied. Eth decided to obey, and returned to his notebooks, scribbling down everything he had learned.