Hazel and Gretchen

— Professor Ozpin

***Hazel and Gretchen*** is the third chapter of *RWBY: Witch Hunt*.

## Plot

Smoke billowed from the chimney of a small cottage in the Emerald Forest. Outside the cottage, a young girl with hazelnut colored skin hung from a tree, her brown hair which faded to blonde at the tips dangling downward as she laughed, her smile scrunching up her freckle-covered cheeks. She opened her pale blue eyes upon hearing the door to the cottage open. Out of the house stepped a boy the same age as the girl, his skin matching hers. He had dark hair and hazel eyes, and he looked up to her concerned.

"Gretchen," the boy said nervously. "M-Mom said not to climb the trees. The branches are too high up."

"Hazel, loosen up a bit!" Gretchen cheerfully said. "We need to have some fun! If you keep being such a safety-downer, you won't just be sad, but you'll be bored, too. And that's even worse."

Gretchen swung herself on the branch by her legs, and then proceeded to leap off the branch. Hazel winced and closed his eyes, fully expecting to hear a thud and cry of pain upon Gretchen's landing, but he hadn't heard that at all. In fact, the thud he heard was much lighter than one would expect from a body hitting the ground, and there was no cry of pain whatsoever. Hazel opened his eyes, and curiously looked at his sister, who had landed safely on her feet and one hand, despite the rather long fall from the tree branch.

"...How... Did you do that?"

Gretchen huffed with an eye roll. "You don't remember those tales in the books about people with superpowers?"

"I do, but what does that have to do with-"

"They're not *just* stories, silly. People actually have those powers. They're called Semblances. Not everyone has one, but everyone could possibly get one at some point or another."

"...You're making that up."

"If I'm making it up, then so's mom. She's the one who explained it to me. But we're not making it up. Watch."

Gretchen performed a backflip towards the tree she was just on, and summersaulted her way up the side of the timber, almost as if defying gravity. Her last acrobatic act missed the tree, though her smirking face gave away how intentional this was. Although she plummeted head first, her body quickly jolted into a right side up position, and landed on her feet, much like a cat. The entire time, Hazel's reactions were a mix of astonishment, curiousness, and more prevalent than any, anxiousness that Gretchen would hurt herself doing something so reckless.

"See? Not just anyone can do that. I doubt even someone with athletic training from Lady Browning's prep school could do it. Not without the right Semblance or Dust, anyway."

"B-But what if you get hurt?"

Gretchen rolled her eyes and walked over to her barely younger twin brother, scruffing his hair a bit. "You're such a worry wart. If I do miss a beat, my Aura will protect me. I've been practicing with it." Gretchen's eyes lit up, almost as if a light bulb had turned on inside her head. "Hey! I know! We can work on doing it for you, too!"

"Wh-What?"

"Don't you want your very own superpower, Hazel? It'll be so fun! Well. It's also gonna be a lot of work. But when work is fun, it doesn't feel like work! What do you say?"

Hazel pondered. He still was on the fence about if people suddenly unlocking random superpowers wholly unique to themselves was even in the realm of possibility, it was a very ridiculous notion, after all. But he never liked seeing Gretchen disheartened or disappointed. While he didn't know for sure if Semblances were real, what he did know was that if he declined while his sister was so dead set on this, her mood would crash for the rest of the evening. Maybe even into the next day.

Hazel sighed. "Okay."

"YAY!" Gretchen jumped about, startling Hazel. "Oops, sorry." She giggled awkwardly as she scratched the back of her head.

Hazel caught his breath and nodded, silently commenting it was fine. "So... How do we do this?"

"Well... In the books mom has, and from what she told me, Semblances can activate in different ways. Some people are born with them already existing. Others have them show up at random, and the most common one is for it to happen when under stress." She giggled. "Guess that last one might be the easiest way to unlock yours."

"H-Hey!"

"I'm kidding! You know I'm kidding!" She laughed, to Hazel's chagrin. Her face dropped a bit, a solemn smile on her face. "Dad was born with his."

Hazel cocked an eyebrow. He was only a baby when the family's father figure, Titan Rainart, had passed away from a fatal illness. Gretchen hadn't been much older, but she had some fond memories of Titan.

"Wh-What could he do?" Hazel asked curiously, though in a soft tone so as to not make Gretchen feel like she was obligated to relive the memories she so obviously missed.

"Will." She said calmly. "Dad's Semblance was a rare type. A passive one. It wasn't exactly something he did on his own, it just kind of happened when he needed it to. I think mine works that way, too. Anyway. When dad would set his mind in a goal, he'd power through until he could reach it. He wouldn't make dumb mistakes in the process of getting to it, but he also refused to give it up. It would make him fight harder and faster, too, and it's how he lasted so long when he got sick. Sheer Willpower is the name he gave it."

"Name?"

"Yeah. Some people name their Semblances. I'm still working on one for mine." Gretchen shook her head, trying to get back on track. "Wait here." Gretchen said as she went inside.

As Hazel waited, he turned his head to the tree line, as he could've sworn he heard, or even saw, something move. He shifted in place, his eyes somehow wide and narrowed simultaneously as he studied his surroundings. The noise scurried behind him, causing him to whip around. Although the family had lived in this forest for years, and even travelled through it several times to get to the nearest city, Vale, Grimm weren't a common occurrence for them. Not that they didn't show up, of course, it was just rare. However, this was certainly an inopportune moment for one to show up. Grimm were attracted to negative emotions, and Hazel's unsure and cautious nature was fueled by anxiety and fear.

"G-G-Gretchen?" Hazel said. He had attempted to say it loudly to get her attention from where she had entered the home, but his fear made it come out as a raspy whisper. "...Gretchen..." He tried again, but the fear still took his voice.

Suddenly a mass of rocks rushed out of the forest. It had almost a humanoid shape to it, with the "limbs" being attached to the "torso" via black smoke, and the "head" had what looked like a white mask with red markings, and a singular eye in the center that glowed yellow. This was a Geist, a ghostly species of Grimm capable of possessing inanimate objects. It hauled its large rock arm towards Hazel, who managed to evade it by falling, and screaming in fear as he crawled backwards, narrowly missing the Grimm thrashing down in an attempt to crush him.

***"G-G-GRETCHEEEEN!"***

Hazel cried out before rolling over to stand up and run. The Geist followed suit, but was caught off guard when its face was shot at, the bullets electrocuting it some with the use of Lightning Dust. It turned angrily, seeing Gretchen exit the house defiantly, holding a cultivating gardening tool which, as was typical of Remnant weapons, was also a gun.

"You get away from him now, you oversized cobble driveway!" Gretchen angrily yelled as she fired the weapon's bullets at the creature. The Geist blocked the bullets with its rocks, which prevented the shocking from harming it too much, having grounded the electricity. It only seemed to take issue with the electricity when its ghostly wisps were hit.

The Geist thrust itself against the ground, shaking it. The vibrations resulted in Gretchen's aim going incredibly off course. "Oh, breadcrumbs!" Gretchen exclaimed. Her eyes widened upon realizing that the bullets she had fired were now headed right for her brother.

***"HAZEL!"***

Hazel turned to the sound of his sister's bloodcurdling cries, only for his arm to be pelted by the lightning bullets. causing him to shout out in pain, loud enough to scare nearby birds out of their roost in the trees around the cottage. By this point, Gretchen had fallen to the ground, and the weapon had moved away from her, no longer firing. The Geist turned its attention towards Hazel's pain. A deep, yellowish-green mesh film flashed over Hazel's body, concentrating in bright patches around his wounds. Gretchen's eye widened with realization as she watched Hazel's Aura manifest itself to protect him.

But... It was more than just that. Hazel's cries of pain were slowing, growing quieter and quieter. He looked over, seeing the Grimm looming over his sister, despite its attention on him. The sight was enough to turn Hazel's fear into anger. His eyes quite literally flashed with lightning, as the Dust from within the bullets that had been lodged in his arm granted him the speed to rush over to the Grimm and up its body before it could react. Hazel grabbed hold of its mask-like face, electrocuting it as he yanked away from the rocks.

This was enough to pull the Geist away from its possessed body, toppling the rocks as Hazel threw the Grimm like a frisbee, its ghastly body manifesting briefly before it was impaled on a tree branch, only to disintegrate. Hazel took a few deep breaths as he landed on the ground, the electric sparks flickering and fading from his body. He and his sister locked eyes, filled with shock and relief. Hazel suddenly groaned, falling to the ground unconscious as his newly activated Aura shimmered before shattering, given his incredible lack of training.

"Hazel!" Gretchen hurried over, putting her hand to his neck, and sighing with relief upon realizing he still had a pulse. She gently dragged him into the house, and then pulled the weapon inside before closing the door.

Hazel rested in his bed in the cottage, his right arm completely bandaged up. Red spots stained the bandages, all coming from where the bullets had entered his body, and subsequently taken out. Gretchen stepped into the room with a small bowl of soup to give to him, a soft smile on her face.

"You were awesome out there."

"Wh-What?"

"Don't 'what' me! You took down that Geist like it was nothing!"

"...I-It *was* nothing."

"You sure acted like it!" Gretchen smiled as she sat the bowl down atop his bookshelf next to his bed, and sat in a chair next to that. "What was it like?"

"What do you mean?"

"Unlocking your Semblance."

Hazel's eyes widened. He hadn't quite processed the entire situation yet, much less that of all things. His... Semblance?

"That's what that was?"

"Duh, dummy!" Gretchen teased. "What did it feel like? It's different for everyone."

Hazel pondered, trying to recall exactly what he was feeling in the moment of unlocking it. Well, he felt fear, he knew that much. And when he saw the Geist near Gretchen, he felt rage, a need to protect her. But... That was all emotionally. When he thought back to the bullets hitting him, he remembered an initial, indescribably awful pain. And he remembered the exhaustion after defeating the Geist. Between the two?

"...N-Nothing."

"Oh. Um. I-I get it. I won't pry-"

"N-No." Hazel clarified. "I didn't feel anything. All the pain went away when I started using the Dust power."

Gretchen took a moment to process what Hazel said, and then grinned widely. "Oh, my gosh. You can block out pain! That's so cool!"

Hazel's look was far less ecstatic. "That seems a bit counterintuitive, doesn't it? Pain is how we know when we're at our limit."

"And when you block out pain, your limit is extended! And you can use Dust when using your Semblance!"

Looking at his sister made him certainly feel a bit better. Hazel himself was still a bit on the fence about what this Semblance, this numbing agent, was all about, but Gretchen seemed very excited, and seeing her happy made him happy. Plus, she had gotten what she wanted, Hazel to unlock his Semblance.

"Next step!"

"Huh?" Hazel was caught off guard.

"We need to practice more! With both our Semblances!"

Yep. That sounded about right. It never just ended with Gretchen. It was always just a lead-in to another step. Well, whatever it took to keep her happy, Hazel would be willing to do.

## Characters

* Gretchen Rainart
* Hazel Rainart

## Trivia

* The title of the chapter is meant to follow that of the allusion Hazel and Gretchen share, *Hansel and Gretel*.
	+ The chapter's plot in a way parodies the allusion in a more specific way, with the two siblings being alone near a cottage (albeit their own rather than the witch's), and the witch being represented by the Geist. Gretchen's exclamation of "Oh, breadcrumbs!" is a nod to the breadcrumb trail left by the siblings in the original story. The reason for this is due to the other members of Salem's inner circle having fairly literal interpretations of their fairy tales:
		- Cinder literally living a Cinderella story.
		- Tyrian, a scorpion, had his case overseen by F. Pickerel, the pickerel frog from *The Scorpion and the Frog*.
		- Watts playing second fiddle to Pietro Polendina the way John Watson does to Sherlock Holmes.
* The chapter's title is listed as "*Hazel & Gretchen*" in the AO3 version. The ampersand was replaced by "and" for the wiki version as the *RWBY* font I have downloaded doesn't have an ampersand for whatever reason.
* Gretchen's appearance was based on an image made by Artflow.ai when Hazel's name was inputted. Her Semblance's name is Equipoise, a word relating to balance. It was originally going to be named Equilibrium, but this was changed as that is the name of Arrastra Skye's Semblance in *RWBY: Grimm Campaign*.
* Titan's name comes from titanium, a bright white-silver color. His Semblance is developed similarly to Ironwood's Mettle; I've personally described it as "Mettle if it wasn't a liability." Its name, Sheer Willpower, is a nod to how Qrow describes Hazel during the attack on Haven Academy.
* Although the Rainart mother is not present, she is not deceased as of this chapter.