Registration Act, for the first time, required lobbyists to register actual or intended meetings with public officials.

There is now a publicly accessible, searchable database that provides a window into how government works, including the thousands of lobbying records of former B.C. politicians and turned advocates.

There are many familiar names. Former lands and agriculture minister Pat Bell successfully lobbied for a company seeking contract work on BC Hydro’s Site C dam and, according to LinkedIn, he currently holds board positions with an energy firm and junior mining company.

Former cabinet minister and Dawson Creek mayor Blair Lekstrom also lobbied on behalf of a business seeking Site C contracts, and among other things, has represented Chinese coal mining company HD Mining. (He was fined in 2016 for breaking lobbying rules.)

But mostrevolving door examples involve less familiar, former high-level bureaucrats.

For example, Karina Brino, former assistant deputy minister for the Ministry of Energy and Mines, left her job in July 2011 and by August was the president and CEO of the Mining Association of B.C., the province’s most influential mining advocacy organization (see one of her op-eds here).

Kirk Miller, after a 25-year career with the Agricultural Land Commission, including about seven as chair/CEO, turned around to lobby his former employer on behalf of landowners seeking to exclude land from the Agricultural Land Reserve.

Lobbying undermines public confidence in government

In 2017 Corporate Mapping Project researchers looked at registered lobbying in the province, and discovered that 22,000 lobbying “contacts” were made between public officials and the fossil fuel industry alone between 2010 and


Syracuse freshman forward Chris McCullough , who tore his ACL back in January. McCullough had generated draft buzz late in December, but he averaged just 4.3 points over his final eight games. At 6'10" with a 7'3" wingspan and a comfortable mid-range stroke, McCullough is a terrific athlete loaded with potential. But at 220 pounds coming off ACL surgery, he's clearly a few years away from having anything to offer. I'm still betting on McCullough attracting first-round interest, given his enticing upside and the fact that late-round picks don't play as rookies, anyway.

, who tore his ACL back in January. McCullough had generated draft buzz late in December, but he averaged just 4.3 points over his final eight games. At 6'10" with a 7'3" wingspan and a comfortableprojects more as a backup, which should make him worth targeting somewhere in 20s or later.

carried the Blue Devils down the stretch of the championship game. More than anything, it was Jones' poise and toughness that stood out while he knocked down difficult shot after difficult shot. Unfortunately, it doesn't change the thought that Jones' lack of strength and athleticism should limit his NBA potential. He's going to have a tough time finishing at the rim and fighting through screens out on the perimeter. Jones projects more as a backup, which should make him worth targeting somewhere in 20s or later. Duke freshman wing Justise Winslow earned himself a whole lot of fans during the NCAA tournament. Some, including Grantland's Bill Simmons, were on board with the idea


Mark Hayward's City Matters: Innocence lost, justice delayed

BY MARK HAYWARDNew Hampshire Union Leader

IF CATHY SMITH (not her real name) wants to see justice done, she is just going to have to wait.

For her, justice means prison for the man who forged a bond with her and her family, cultivated an uncle-like relationship with her daughter, and then started molesting the girl at the age of 9, maybe even earlier, her mother alleges.

.Such is the pattern when children are molested — a family friend turns out to be a pervert, leaving a jumble of confusion and anguish as he walks away. In this case, the confused girl missed the man — at least initially — and doesn't want to see him get into trouble, her mother said. And sheis embittered and angry over what she's hearing from county prosecutors...As would most who read further. This is the outcome of terms such as "innocent until proven guilty" and "reasonable doubt."

Smith said she found out about the molestation when contacted by state social workers last year. Manchester police confirm they investigated the case and turned it over to the Hillsborough County Attorney's Office, but will say nothing else about it...The man, let's call him Stanley, continues to live in a Lake Avenue apartment, where he is free to strike up a relationship with another vulnerable family, Smith said.

"I was under the impression that if somebody touched any child like that she would at least get her day in court," Smith said. She approached this newspaper two months ago,


Smith can only listen. Recently, she heard her daughter tell her sister she's already been in one "relationship."

"It's not so much the touching part, it's the emotions he put her through," Smith said. "Her emotions are all screwed up. She doesn't know what's right, what's wrong."..

Mark Hayward's City Matters appears Thursdays in the New Hampshire Union Leader and UnionLeader.com. He can be reached at mhayward@unionleader.com.1990 – Singer Mel Appleby died of Pneumonia aged 23. Had been one half of the duo Mel and Kim.

Mel and Kim were an British musical act that achieved success in the late 1980s.

Sisters Melanie (July 11, 1966 – January 18, 1990) and Kimberly (born August 28, 1961) to British and Jamaican parents, were noticed dancing in a nightclub in their native London UK and signed to a recording contract with Supreme Records under the guidance of production team Stock Aitken Waterman in 1986, and began releasing records under the name of Mel & Kim.

“System” was intended as their first single, but they and the producers were unhappy with it, and it became the “B-side” of their first single “Showing Out (Get Fresh At The Weekend)” which reached


number three on the British charts and got the no #1 status in the Dance charts of USA. Their next single “Respectable” reached number one in Britain and became one of the year’s biggest hits. They became well known celebrities, particularly in Britain, and were known for their visual style which combined urban street wear with high fashion; prior to their music career Mel had worked as a fashion model. Their single “FLM” reached #7 in the UK, while “That’s the Way It Is” reached #10, giving them their last two Top Ten singles.

During a promotional visit to Japan in June 1987, Mel became ill with a suspected spinal disc herniation, after complaining of a back problem for several months. Upon returning to the UK, Mel was diagnosedwith secondary cancer of the spine, after previously being treated for liver cancer when she was 18, prior to the duo’s rise to fame . The cancer was reported to be paraganglioma by The Sun. The sisters withdrew from publicity while Mel underwent treatment, and footage from their Montreux Festival performance was used to compile the “FLM” music video. While the media speculated that Mel was terminally ill, both sisters categorically denied this, stating that Mel had suffered a debilitating back injury.

Eventually, it was confirmed that Mel had been diagnosed with cancer, following the release of a new single, “That’s the Way It Is”, in February 1988. Mel discharged herself from a cancer hospital to record the vocals for the track. She died of pneumonia on January 18,


see. Tournaments were the popular choice and so it began. In February of 2012 I started the SC2Improve Weekly as well as volunteering for the SCVRush.

SCVRush - My teachers and my future.

In the middle of 2012 I had made friends with SCVRush - we were two organisations who had similar goals. I helped them out and they helped me. Originally I adminned tournaments for them. I will never forget Monday evenings where me and my admin friend Wham would sit on Skype and laugh and joke about the silly questions and the obvious smurfs and whatever else the night had in store for us. Vogin - the CEO of SCVRush - was very helpful. He was always a man with a plan. He gave me my first adminown expectations. And that feeling is something I had never truly felt before.

#passion

It was also a draining experience. I had spent 3 months stressing over people turning up, PMing people, casting, adminning all amidst my January exams & more. I needed a break and this is probably the only time since I picked up SC2 where I genuinely lost interest in the game. It was at the weirdest of times - because HotS was coming and the hype was huge. This was probably partly my problem - I had been so wrapped up in my tournament that once it had ended everybody else was playing the Beta and had been for some time - yet I had not had the opportunity. I felt behind and left out and


so interested in being a part of our group. We made the right thing at the right time. With-in two months the channel was maxed every day, 100 people were in there at peak times. Everybody was enjoying meeting others who shared their passion, who wanted to play the game, who wanted to discuss their strategies. We had a team speak, we Skyped with each other, it was actually amazing.So here I am, a 17 year old kid who just started University. I had more free time than ever before. The first year topics weren't challenging to me and the thought of only have a handful of hours a day, compared to being out the house at 7am and home at 5pm for school, was unheard of forme. So I took my free time and began to build on the momentum I had lucked upon with SC2Improve.The name SC2Improve sort of came from nowhere. I just made it up on the spot. It made sense - it was a SC2 group for improving. Seemed good to me at the time. As time went by my founding members left and the group/organisation was essentially mine. I tried my hand at setting up a Wordpress website and I began asking people in the channel what they wanted to see. Tournaments were the popular choice and so it began. In February of 2012 I started the SC2Improve Weekly as well as volunteering for the SCVRush.In the middle of 2012 I had made friends with SCVRush - we were


you can get through issues pretty quickly.They taught me to admin and how to run a tournament and this was the basis I was able to build the SC2Improve Weekly from. A popular chat channel saw the weekly grow rapidly - in 5 weeks we were pulling over 64 players into the tournament. People began streaming it and attempting to cast it. SCVRush continued to help me out. One day they were short of a caster and I offered to step in. I had never cast in my life. I sort of knew what to do - talk about the game, get excited and shout at the screen if the Bronze/Silver/Gold players ever took an engagement against the other. It was my first cast where I first talkedto the man who truly changed my view on life. I was 18 at this point and had my whole life ahead of me - but it was Jack Tancey who made me who I am today.Writing this brings me to tears - it's amazing when you look back and realise just how life changing somebody has been to you. Yet at the time I didn't even think twice about it. At the time Jack Tancey was a good laugh to me. A funny guy with funny opinions about the world. The truth is Jack gave his entire life to the SCVRush. He quit his job. He made it his job. He spent all day writing to sponsors and sketching out ideas, he spent all night casting Bronze/Silver/Gold


Christianity

Christianity

"The Lighthouse" - One house: Many nations.

International Worship Centre - The Lighthouse Christian Centre is a contemporary, multi -national,family oriented church located in Manchester.

The church's ethnic composition reflects the cultural diversity of our local community, with over 40 nations represented in the congregation. We strive to be a "Centre of Excellence" where the worship, word and service of God is part of our DNA.

Work produced by Mrs H Keeley teacher and pupils in Years 3 and 4 depicting stories from the Bible.

Desmond Tutu being gifted his Peace Mala after his service at St.Georges Cathedral, Cape Town, South Africa February 6th 2009. He is pictured with Mrs Daniels, Jayne Martin and Judy Mayotte who is seated in a wheelchair. Judy Mayotte read a reading during the service.

The Archbishop thenleft to open The Houses of Parliament next door proudly wearing his Peace Mala.

CHRISTIANITY

Christianity began about two thousand years ago and is now practised by many people throughout the world.

Christians believe in one God who created the universe and gave people rules to live their lives by, as written down in the Holy Bible.

Christians believe that the Son of God was born as a human being named Jesus Christ (which means Saviour).

Jesus was a wise teacher and healer who travelled the land telling people about God. He taught that God loves everyone and that people should love God and love one another.

At the age of thirty-three Jesus was put to death on a cross by powerful men who were afraid of his influence. Christians believe that by his


of God and given dominion over the rest of creation. This human centred view of the world has led to the wholesale exploitation of the earth and the seas; the extinction of many species of animals and plants; and very cruel and immoral practices involving untold numbers of animals. Scholars of ancient Hebrew tell is that the word "dominion" has been wrongly translated, and the real meaning is responsible stewardship and guardianship, which shows we were meant to care for nature and the animal kingdom, living in harmony with it – not dominating and exploiting it.

The Dean of Manchester - Revd. Rogers Govender, Manchester Cathedral at the Schools´ Carol Service wearing a Peace Mala.

The present Dean Rowan Smith at St. George’s Cathedral Cape Town South Africa.

Father Michael ofThomas Charitable Fund. HD is a Beatrice Mary Dale Research Fellow supported by Newnham College (University of Cambridge) and the Isaac Newton Trust.

The LonDownS Consortium principal investigators are Andre Strydom (chief investigator), Department of Forensic and Neurodevelopmental Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK, and Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London, UK; Elizabeth Fisher, Department of Neurodegenerative Disease, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK; Dean Nizetic, Blizard Institute, Barts and the London School of Medicine, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK, and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore; John Hardy, Reta Lila Weston Institute, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London, UK, and UK Dementia Research Institute at UCL, London, UK; Victor Tybulewicz, Francis


About Me

★NOT HOSTING ANYMORE RIGHT NOW ★

Once there was a princess who had no kingdom. She had dainty hands though, and an affinity for languages and blueberries. Every day, the princess would wander around, looking for her kingdom. She travelled as far as India and over the sea to the Wild West. She met kings and queens of the most peculiar realms and she heard languages she never dared to dream of. But however much she was looking for her kingdom, she couldn't find it.
One day, when she was on a far away island, she met a jester, who was wearing an awfully attractive hat and could talk about wondrous things and brush his teeth with his left hand. She fell in love in the blink of anjoke. Don't believe it. It's a brazen lie. It's evil.

Interests

LONDON - Londoners, do get in touch!
human connection
immersing myself in new places,
having conversations that go beyond the usual,
vast openness, the kind you can drown in when you meet the people who carry it,
acting in plays,
drawing,
singing out loud and off tune when I am cycling through town,
people who can hold a conversation without ever touching their smartphone,
blueberries,
people who are willing to listen - and people who ask questions in the first place,
watching theatre,
picture books,
accents,
tarot,
going out and dancing foolishly, especially to Balkan music,
eating dark chocolate,
singing and harmonising with my soul sister,
the shape, colour and taste of aubergines,
actually, everything else about aubergines too
walking barefoot in summer,
doodling portraits on my university documents,
dancing Swing with my love,
blowing soap bubbles,
improv theatre (been there, done that,


no more please)
watching people at train stations,
wrapping gifts,
cooking and baking,
swimming,
babies and toddlers,
life drawing,

Music, Movies, and Books

I appreciate music that is simple and direct and often opt for a guitar and a voice over polished arrangements. A glimpse into my current playlist: Asaf Avidan, Paolo Nutini, Angus and Julia Stone, Pink Floyd, The Zombies, The Civil Wars, Keaton Henson, Massive Attack, Chet Baker, Eddie Vedder, Mitski, Rising Appalachia - and of course my all time fovourite: Tom Waits!

I enjoy Sixties and Seventies sound, I love Folk, Indie, World, Swing, Reggae, Psychedelic, Grunge, Jazz, Downtempo, Trip Hop, Balkan Folk. I also love music that sounds like it was written by a terribly troubled soul or feels like it's fragile enough to break by the smallest eager movement.

I love reading, andMike Pence to push for congressional budget reform comparable to the 1985 Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act. That law resulted in automatic budget cuts when congressional spending exceeded income and was one of a handful of successful tools used to protect taxpayers.

As head of the Republican Study Committee, the conservative caucus of the U.S. House, Pence has taken aim at his own party for spending hikes that exceed anything that occurred during the Clinton era. Under President Bush, federal spending neared $22,000 per household last year, the highest level since World War II. Overall, spending has increased by 45 percent since 2001.

Earlier this month, Pence unveiled a proposal to balance the budget by 2011 and called on fellow Republicans to renew a vow of fiscal discipline, a pledge he considers responsible


for the election of the GOP majority in 1994. The RSC budget would eliminate 150 federal programs and agencies, retain tax cuts passed in 2001 and 2003 and cap Medicare growth at 5.4 percent.

Pence, a former president of the Indiana Policy Review Foundation, was the only Hoosier and one of only 16 Republicans to vote earlier this month against the supplemental spending bill to pay for the War on Terror and Hurricane Katrina relief. For Pence, it was a matter of principle. What had started out as an emergency military appropriation had become, he said, "a fruit basket of spending unrelated to our war effort."

"With a record deficit and national debt, now is the time for Congress to change the way we spend the people’s money and practicefiscal discipline, even when funding the War on Terror is concerned," he said. The bill passed 348-71.

Though part of a small minority on Capitol Hill, Pence is embraced by conservative think tanks concerned about a coming fiscal meltdown.

The Cato Institute this month repeated its call for a budget cap, noting that the government has run deficits in 33 of the past 37 years. "One problem is that current budget procedures stack the deck in favor of program expansion without regard to the burdens imposed on current or future taxpayers," says Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies.

Pence’s critics say he and groups like Heritage and Cato oversimplify the issues because of their ideological bias in favor of smaller government. "Mr. Pence has a belief the problem is solely


(Little) - 14:39

Personnel
Eric Dolphy — alto saxophone, bass clarinet and flute
Booker Little — trumpet
Mal Waldron — piano
Richard Davis — double bass
Ed Blackwell — drums

Sources
Richard Cook & Brian Morton. The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD 6th edition.

References

Category:1961 live albums
Category:1964 live albums
Category:Eric Dolphy albums
Category:New Jazz Records live albums
Category:Live post-bop albums
Category:Live avant-garde jazz albums
Category:Original Jazz Classics live albums
Category:Albums produced by Esmond Edwards
Category:Albums recorded at the Five Spot CaféNorth Central Lady Eagles Take A Solid Shaking At The Hands Of Swanton

PIONEER – The North Central Lady Eagles went heads up against the Lady Bulldogs of Swanton on October 1, losing in straight sets, 25-20, 25-13, and 25-17.

McKayla Swank racked up 12 assists in the loss, leading the team, while also counting 1 block. Bralyn Wyrick had 6 kills and 2 blocks in the contest while Abbey Litzenberg led the team with 7 kills and counted 1 block of her own.


Posted
by
msmash
on Monday March 19, 2018 @02:00PM
from the breaking-news dept.

Joe_Dragon writes: Last night a woman was struck by an autonomous Uber vehicle in Tempe, Arizona. She later died of her injuries in the hospital. The deadly collision -- reported by ABC15 and later confirmed to Gizmodo by Uber and Tempe police -- took place around 10PM at the intersection Mill Avenue and Curry Road. Autonomous vehicle developers often test drive at night, during storms, and other challenging conditions to help their vehicles learn to navigate in a variety of environments.

According to Tempe PD, the car was in autonomous mode at the time of the incident, with a vehicle operator sitting behind the wheel. A police spokesperson added in a statement that the woman's 'next of kin has not beennotified yet so her name is not being released at this time. Uber is assisting and this is still an active investigation.' The woman was crossing the street outside a crosswalk when she was hit, the spokesperson said.Update: Uber says it is suspending self-driving car tests in all North American cities after a fatal accident.

Posted
by
msmash
on Monday March 19, 2018 @03:30AM
from the other-side-of-the-coin dept.

From an Atlantic story, originally titled "The Perfect Selfishness of Mapping Apps": In the pre-mobile-app days, drivers' selfishness was limited by their knowledge of the road network. In those conditions, both simulation and real-world experience showed that most people stuck to the freeways and arterial roads. Sure, there were always people who knew the crazy, back-road route, but the bulk of people just stuck to the


of UC Berkeley's Institute of Transportation Studies, told me. "It is just the beginning of something that is gonna be much worse." Bayen and a team of researchers presented their work earlier this year at the Transportation Research Board's annual meeting and at the Cal Future conference at Berkeley in May 2017. They've also published work examining the negative externalities of high levels of automatic routing.

Posted
by
msmash
on Sunday March 18, 2018 @02:00PM
from the up-next dept.

Michael Liebreich, writing for Bloomberg New Energy Finance: In the past fifteen years we have witnessed several pivotal points along the route towards clean energy and transport. In 2004, renewables were poised for explosive growth; in 2008, the world's power system started to go digital; in 2012, it became clear that EVs would take oversame way that ubiquitous sensors, cloud and edge-of-grid computing, big data and machine learning have enabled the transformation of our electrical system, they will unlock sweeping changes to the rest of our energy, transportation and industrial sectors.

Posted
by
BeauHDon Saturday March 17, 2018 @09:00AM
from the sad-news dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from WIRED: The people of Sweetwater, Florida were supposed to wait until early 2019 for the Florida International University-Sweetwater University City Bridge to open. Instead, they will wait about that long for an official assessment from the National Transportation Safety Board of why it collapsed just five days after its installation, killing at least six people. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, many queries have centered on the unconventional technique used to build the bridge, something called


Accelerated Bridge Construction, or ABC. But ABC is more complicated than its acronym suggests -- and it's hardly brand new. ABC refers to dozens of construction methods, but at its core, it's about drastically reducing on-site construction time. Mostly, that relies on pre-fabricating things like concrete decks, abutments, walls, barriers, and concrete topped steel girders, and hauling them to the work site. There, cranes or specialized vehicles known as Self-Propelled Modular Transporter install them. A video posted online by Florida International University, which helped fund the bridge connects to its campus, showed an SPMT lifting and then lowering the span into place.

In a now-deleted press release, the university called the "largest pedestrian bridge moved via SPMT in U.S. history," but that doesn't seem to mean much, engineering-wise. SPMTsto note that the bridge collapse is still under investigation and the search for a culprit is ongoing. "The answers could run the gamut, from design flaws to fabrication flubs to installation issues," reports WIRED. As of publication, The Washington Postis reporting that an engineer called the state to report cracking two days before its collapse.

Posted
by
BeauHDon Saturday March 17, 2018 @06:00AM
from the money-talks dept.

Ford supposedly has a plan to adapt to the changing world of transportation. The company recently announced that it's "going all-in on hybrids," readying six new battery electric vehicles by 2022, with the first due in 2020, and adding more performance versions of its SUV line up. "Additionally, by the end of 2019, every new Ford will have 4G LTE connectivity, and the company is


to prevent visa overstays. The Transportation Security Administration, another agency within the Department of Homeland Security, is testing similar devices at security check-in lines.

Posted
by
BeauHDon Friday March 16, 2018 @06:40PM
from the above-the-law dept.

Unhappy Windows User writes: An Australian man, when checked by a ticket inspector, claimed his smart travel card was implanted in his hand. He took the case to court and lost; the fine and legal fees add up to AU$1220 (USD $950). The man, who self-identifies as a biohacker and is a member of the Science Party, accepts the ruling but states that it won't discourage him from further biohacking. He claimed he was ahead of the law. The prosecution argued that, by cutting the chip out of the card, the ticket was invalidated. It is notBoard investigation placed most of the blame on the J train operator, who the NTSB suspected had been asleep. But the NTSB also identified potential issues with the signal system that contributed to the accident, which it found didn't guarantee train operators enough time to apply the emergency brakes even when awake. "They slowed the trains down after the Williamsburg Bridge crash," a veteran train operator who asked not to be identified told the Village Voice. "The MTA said the train was going too fast for the signal system." As a result, the MTA, quite literally, slowed all the trains down, issuing a bulletin informing employees in April 1996 that their propulsion systems would be modified so they could achieve a maximum speed of 40 miles per hour,


down from the previous high of 50 to 55 miles per hour on a flat grade. But the MTA didn't stop there, internal documents show. One of the NTSB's safety recommendations was to set speed limits. As a result, the MTA began a still-ongoing process of changing the way many signals work to meet modern safety standards.

Posted
by
BeauHDon Tuesday March 13, 2018 @06:00PM
from the behind-the-scenes dept.

The same bot, DoNotPay, that helped users overturn parking tickets and sue Equifax for small sums of money is now offering you protection against volatile airline prices. The Verge reports: Joshua Browder, a junior at Stanford University, designed the new service on the bot in a few months, after experiencing rapidly fluctuating airline prices when flying to California during the wildfires last year. "Itcompany and the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, will announce they have reached an agreement to test Kitty Hawk's autonomous planes as part of an official certification process. The hope is that it will lead to a commercial network of flying taxis in New Zealand in as soon as three years. The move is a big step forward in the commercialization of this technology, which even the most optimistic prognosticators had recently bet would take another decade to achieve. The decision to embrace the commercial use of flying taxis offers New Zealand an opportunity to leapfrog many developed countries in this area, and perhaps give it a head start over Silicon Valley, where much of the most innovative work has been taking place.

Posted
by
BeauHDon Tuesday March 13,


launchpad for social apps, but it may be for others like Blue Duck, a San Antonio-based transportation company debuting its scooter service this weekend. From a report: Between Twitter's big breakout moment in 2007 and Meerkat's in 2015, SXSW has served as a great marketing opportunity for social apps. But that's ended as consumer trends have shifted and Hollywood and other consumer companies have taken over the festival. Standing outside the Austin Convention Center, co-founder Eric Bell tells me that he came up with the idea out of frustration with his local public transit, and he designed the scooters. For now, the company is self-funded, but he expects to soon raise outside funding.

Posted
by
EditorDavid
on Saturday March 10, 2018 @11:34AM
from the boring-stories dept.

"Remember Elon Musk's plan to dig a massivethe current subway-style model, Musk said, where only a few small stations are very spread out... This is a big departure from the original vision, and it seems like one that might have evolved after Musk and his collaborators on the project spoke to urban planners and transit authorities.
"If someone can't afford a car, they should go first," Musk posted on Twitter, sharing a new conceptual video where an elevator lowers one of these pedestrian- and cyclist-focussed shuttle pods underground.

TechCrunch says this new vision "would be appealing both to urban officials looking to decrease congestion on downtown roads and discourage personal vehicle use, and to anyone hoping to increase access to affordable transit options."

Posted
by
BeauHDon Friday March 09, 2018 @08:50PM
from the higher-and-higher dept.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority announced today


that the cost of connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco would total $77.3 billion, an increase of $13 billion from estimates two years ago, and could potentially rise as high as $98.1 billion. They also said the earliest trains could operate on a partial system between San Jose and the farming town of Wasco would be 2029, five years later than the previous projection. Los Angeles Times reports: The disclosures are contained in a 114-page business plan that was issued in draft form by the rail authority and will be finalized this summer in a submission to the Legislature. The rail authority has wrestled with a more than $40-billion funding gap, which would increase sharply under the new cost estimates. The biggest immediate driver of the cost increasehas been in the Central Valley, where the rail authority is building 119 miles of track between Wasco and Merced. The authority disclosed in early February that the cost of that work would jump to $10.6 billion from an original estimate of about $6 billion. Roy Hill, one of the senior consultants advising the state, told the rail authority board, "The worst-case scenario has happened." In its 2014 business plan, the rail authority optimistically projected that it could begin carrying passengers in just seven years. But the warning signs of uncontrolled cost growth had already started mounting then, even though until this year the rail authority has vehemently denied that it was facing a problem. The project began having trouble buying property for the route almost immediately after


Icones Plantarum Malabaricarum: Early 18th century botanical drawings of medicinal plants from colonial Ceylon.
From 1640-1796, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) occupied the island of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). Several VOC officers had a keen interest in the medicinal application of the local flora. The Leiden University Library holds a two-piece codex entitled: Icones Plantarum Malabaricarum, adscriptis nominibus et viribus, Vol. I. & II. (Illustrations of Plants from the Malabar, assigned names and strength). This manuscript contains 262 watercolour drawings of medicinal plants from Sri Lanka, with handwritten descriptions of local names, habitus, medicinal properties and therapeutic applications. This anonymous document had never been studied previously. To identify all depicted plant specimens, decipher the text, trace the author, and analyse the scientific relevance of this manuscript as wellas its importance for Sri Lankan ethnobotany. We digitised the entire manuscript, transcribed and translated the handwritten Dutch texts and identified the depicted species using historic and modern literature, herbarium vouchers, online databases on Sri Lankan herbal medicine and 41 botanical drawings by the same artist in the Artis library, Amsterdam. We traced the origin of the manuscript by means of watermark analysis and historical literature. We compared the historic Sinhalese and Tamil names in the manuscript to recent plant names in ethnobotanical references from Sri Lanka and southern India. We published the entire manuscript online with translations and identifications. The watermarks indicate that the paper was made between 1694 and 1718. The handwriting is of a VOC scribe. In total, ca. 252 taxa are depicted, of which


Des Plaines River receding; officials describe evacuation

Des Plaines city officials and residents are gearing up for a massive cleanup effort with the Des Plaines River starting to recede from its record high of 10.92 feet reached Friday afternoon. The river had fallen to 10.67 feet by 8:45 a.m. Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

The previous record was 10.9 feet set in 1986.

Many streets remain impassable. Des Plaines firefighters continued evacuating homes along Big Bend Drive, Hawthorne Lane, Hawthorne Terrace and Junior Terrace through Friday night.

Des Plaines Fire Chief Alan Wax said Saturday that firefighters have evacuated 70 residents from flooded homes, rescued 15 people from cars stuck in floodwater, and rescued one person from the river.

Some residents in flooded neighborhoods waited until the last minute to askfor the city's help with evacuation, which is being done with fire department boats and high-clearance vehicles, said Tim Oakley, the city's director of engineering and public works who is leading the city's emergency response to flooding.

"It's primarily the area north of Rand Road and east of River Road -- there's two or three subdivisions in that particular area," Oakley said. "The water is now receding so what we're concentrating on is the traffic control. We will be moving barricades, checking our infrastructure."

Cleanup is still several days away as the water needs to recede further before it can begin in earnest.

"There are a total of 771 properties that appear to be affected," said Alex Dambach, director of community and economic development.

City officials have increased police presence at problem


locations where motorists have been driving over smaller barricades and through flooded streets, Oakley said.

"So then we put the larger barricades up," Oakley said. "If they create a wake as they drive through the water, it may cause more damage."

Open storm sewer manholes pose a threat to anyone navigating floodwaters either by vehicle or on foot, Oakley said.

"That's why it's important not to drive through the water. You might drive into a manhole opening or hit the cover," he said. "You don't know what's under the water."

Once the floodwaters recede, officials will start making provisions for inspections and cleanup, though in less affected parts of town residents have started putting out flood-damaged items on parkways, he added.

Many residents had left on their own when flooding began.

And 252 elderlyresidents were evacuated Thursday evening from The Heritage in downtown Des Plaines after the power failed and floodwaters threatened a backup generator.

The flooding was widespread, encompassing an area affecting roughly 5,600 single-family homes and condominium units just west of the river.

"We went through the last one, so we know the drill," said Phil Festoso, a resident of Sherwood Lane near Big Bend Lake, who evacuated with his wife and three children early Thursday after the river level was projected to crest at 11 feet. "We were out before the water got into the house."

Festoso struggled through the waist-deep water Friday afternoon with waders on to check on the condition of his house.

"I just try to roll with the punches," he said calmly. "I'm not investing too much emotion


when she arrived about at 6 p.m. Thursday to help her mother-in-law, there was a lineup of buses, private cars and buses from other senior communities there to evacuate people.

The building had lost power, except for that running the elevators in the 10-story building, and a couple of hundred people in wheelchairs and with walkers were in the lobby and dining area, waiting for transport, Murphy said.

"It was very orderly and well run," she said. "The people at The Heritage did an incredible job and obviously had a plan in place that was well executed."

Most Heritage residents were relocated to three area hotels. Regular Heritage staff members were at these hotels, looking after their clientele as usual.

Though power was restored to the building Friday, administrators won't decide untilat least Sunday when to begin moving residents back.

Most people evacuated in Des Plaines were staying with relatives or at area hotels. A shelter at Prairie Lakes Community Center, 515 E. Thacker St., held only one Des Plaines resident Friday morning, although a number of people from Hillside were staying there, as that town's flooding was so severe there was no good place in town to evacuate people.

Elhanan Jones of Des Plaines had been at the shelter since 10 a.m. Thursday after the Polo Inn on Lee Street was flooded.

"When the water started coming, I was in bed. I got up every 30 minutes just to check and see what the level was," Jones said. "It just came in like a river. We pretty much evacuated ourselves."

Jones said


his room was several feet under water and he placed all his electronics on top of the bed with the hope that items wouldn't be destroyed.

"This is the first time I have experienced it," Jones said. "This is my first time being displaced."

Jones said motel residents saw sewage gushing up across the street like a geyser from a broken water main. "The river did rise, but I think if they had adequate drainage, we wouldn't have gotten hit," he said.

Several Hillside residents who had been living in the Oak Ridge Manor apartment complex said they were moved to three different shelters before finally being sent to Des Plaines.

"Everything's gone," said Beverlyn Houston, who was with her mother at the shelter waiting to figure out where they could stay.is ripe everywhere, GetTaxi is already the leading player in Russia and Israel, while seeing huge growth in the U.K. and US which in our view yields a potential valuation scenario north of $2 billion a couple of years down the road,” the company said.

About Venture Capital Dispatch

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     risks and consequences[;] ... the family and home
            environment that surrounds him—and from which he
            cannot usually extricate himself—no matter how
            brutal or dysfunctional[;] ... the circumstances of the
            homicide offense, including the extent of his
            participation in the conduct and the way familial and
            peer pressures may have affected him[;] ... that he
   murder.--A person who has been convicted
      after June 24, 2012, of a murder of the first degree, first degree
      murder of an unborn child or murder of a law enforcement
      officer of the first degree and who was under the age of 18 at
      the time of the commission of the offense shall be sentenced as
      follows:

              (1) A person who at the time of the commission of the
              offense was 15 years of age or older


up on listed here the age of fifteen, and we are trying to uncover candidates Along with the aptitude and wish to prosper in this sort of setting implementing their TEFL talents. Optimistic elements:|The price of Cebu was Preliminary observed Using the Chinese, who Launched it as being a shopping for and offering place up in 900 Advert. When the Philippines were colonized Together with the Spanish, Cebu was an obvious option since the Philippines in the beginning town, due to its fantastic website. At some time put in place For the reason that de facto money in the Spanish colony, Cebu was a central site throughout the obtaining and offering and delivery industries.|It is best to surely only contain things like the web pages you desire toa visa which can certainly be extended.|+??uc0c1ud56d ??ud55cuc778 ??uc5f0ud569 ??uc7a5ub85cuad50ud68c ??u1109u1161u11bcu1112u1161u11bc ??u1112u1161u11abu110bu1175u11ab ??u110bu1167u11abu1112u1161u11b8 ??u110cu1161u11bcu1105u1169u1100u116du1112u116c ??Cebu is absolutely an incredible choice as being a TESOL locale. The town?�s Lively nightlife, several procuring places and assortment of routines are established towards a site that prides itself on its white sandy shorelines and crystal apparent waters, ideal for diving.|+??ud604uc7acub294 ??uac80ucc30uc774 ??ubd84uc2ddud68cuacc4ubb38uc81cub97c ??uc870uc0acud560 ??uac00ub2a5uc131uc740 ??uc5c6ub2e4u002e??Loakan Airport is definitely the lone airport serving the general place of Baguio. The airport is classified being a trunkline airport, or An important industrial domestic airport, via the Civil Aviation Authority from the Philippines but you will discover presently no standard professional providers from the airport.|MetroCentro is actually a floor space tramway serving the centre of the city. It started performing in Oct 2007.|Login right here to


of inexperienced forest regions, property to varied species of wildlife and an ideal location to unwind.

Not too long ago, you will discover a few campuses here in Nanjing, and two much more campuses are below development, that may occur into service by the end of 2018. We're heading to the final condition whenever we develop into a way more influential listed education brand in the following 3 to 5 years. spots??together the route, which the Mines and Geosciences Bureau attributed for the fragility of the rock foundation, the abandoned mining functions near the highway along with the all-natural floor fractures that were undetectable during the 1900s. |To submit an expression of interest, you?�ll 1st require to develop an account. As soon as get more info you?�ve done this,That is a training role without any pursuits/pastoral obligations.|The worth of Cebu was first observed with the Chinese, who founded it as a trading submit in 900 Advertisement. As soon as the Philippines were colonized by the Spanish, Cebu was an apparent decision as being the Philippines to start with metropolis, as a consequence of its exceptional location. When founded because the de facto funds in the Spanish colony, Cebu was a central spot during the trading and delivery industries.|Volunteer teachers will need a visa to enter Sri Lanka, and The varsity assists in producing the mandatory arrangements to obtain a visa.|When you've got expertise instructing a language as a 2nd language, Use a certification such as TESOL, TEFL, CELTA, ELE, and so forth, have teaching or encounter


MONOL has established and opened venues to make certain that each scholar not just turns into fluent within the language but will also be globally competitive.|- "u20aeU0001d169u9293uff1fuff1fu0021u2012u2039u0085u02ccu00a2u0020U000e01abu3085u0f3au1806u0f0cu1945u000aU0001d7e7",}

(Strawberries and string beans??referred to as Baguio beans through the Philippines?�are transported to big city markets across the archipelago.)[citation essential]|The value of Cebu was very first witnessed from the Chinese, who proven it to be a buying and selling write-up in 900 Advert. Once the Philippines were colonized by the Spanish, Cebu was an apparent preference because the Philippines initially city, as a result of its fantastic place. The moment founded since the de facto cash within the Spanish colony, Cebu was a central area during the trading and delivery industries.|+??ud604uc7acub294 ??uac80ucc30uc774 ??ubd84uc2ddud68cuacc4ubb38uc81cub97c ??uc870uc0acud560 ??uac00ub2a5uc131uc740 ??uc5c6ub2e4u002e??Login right here to use on-line forenjoyable and distinctive Studying working experience for college kids from around the world? Kingswood, among the list of primary vendors of household experience holiday seasons with English ... Posted: two weeks ago|Simultaneously, locals including combined-media artist Santiago Bose and filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik were also establishing perform in the town. Even right now, artists like painters and sculptors from all around the nation are drawn for the Baguio Arts Festival that is held each year.[21]|Navitas, or PIBT as it absolutely was then, was Established in 1994 Along with the target of serving to additional Global pupils triumph at College in Australia through improved student assist and an extended educational year. Considering the fact that ... Posted: 3 months ago|Certainly totally free Trial Cellular Rendering 80% of adult Net conclusion


US university|??Conducts functions to the campers for example team and personal sporting activities, arts & crafts, carrying out arts, among the others|Inside the spring of 1651, the Iroquois assaults became so Repeated and so violent that Ville Marie thought its conclusion had appear. Maisonneuve produced the many settlers take refuge from the fort. By 1652 the colony at Montreal were so lowered that he was compelled to return to France to raise a hundred volunteers to go along with him into the colony the following year. If the trouble had failed, Montreal was to become deserted and also the survivors re-Positioned downriver to Quebec City. Ahead of these one hundred arrived in the autumn of 1653, the populace of Montreal was scarcely 50 persons.}

a number of the preferredbargaining areas include things like Baguio Industry and Maharlika Livelihood Center.|Baguio has actually been included in UNESCO's Inventive Cities Community resulting from craft and folks artwork traditions of town. The town is the main metropolis being part of the inter-metropolis community which aims to advertise the Inventive industries and also integrate lifestyle in sustainable city growth.[34]|There are actually presently four road bridges (like two on the country's busiest) in conjunction with a person bridge-tunnel, two railway bridges, in addition to a Metro line. The far narrower Rivière des Prairies to town's north, separating Montreal from Laval, is spanned by 9 road bridges (7 to the town of Laval and two that span on to the north shore) and a Metro line.|Login in this article to apply on line


carry on to its colorful heritage, although still increasing in sophistication. is way far too gentle in Wintertime being get more info referred to as a 'proper' continental region. It really is in a relative distance within the 3 more substantial metropolitan areas in the country, as well as Lisbon in Portugal, making it undoubtedly the largest metropolis during the south from the Iberian peninsula.|At the same time, locals including combined-media more info artist Santiago Bose and filmmaker Kidlat Tahimik have been also developing get the job done in town. Even now, artists like painters and sculptors from all over the nation are drawn for the Baguio Arts Pageant which is held on a yearly basis.[21]|As soon as you make your deposit, get more info you'll get aninto the fragility from the rock foundation, the deserted mining operations close to the highway and also the pure ground fractures that were undetectable while in the 1900s. |The Alcázar facing the cathedral was produced from the previous Moorish Palace. Building was started off in 1181 and continued for over five hundred years, mostly from the Mudéjar style, but additionally from the Renaissance style. The popular Tv set clearly show Sport of Thrones has shot a lot of scenes at this locale.|This produced a tremendous combination of cultures which existed amicably with the Malay affect. All over the four hundred-calendar year duration of Spanish rule and a further forty decades of American influence, a uniquely cosmopolitan lifestyle progressed.|Large-scale Roman archaeological stays might be found there and in the


the District of North Dakota, sitting by designation.
       The Federal Public Defender (FPD) appeals an order of the district court2
compelling Terry McAtee, an Assistant Federal Public Defender, to reveal
communications that he had with his client, Randy Beltramea. We dismiss the appeal
for lack of jurisdiction.

        McAtee represented Beltramea, who had been indicted for fraud. With
McAtee's assistance, Beltramea entered into a plea agreement with the government.
Subsequently, the government learned that Beltramea violated the terms of that
agreement. The government indicted Beltramea for obstruction of justice on that
basis. With the assistance of new counsel from outside the FPD's office, Beltramea
pleaded guilty to the obstruction charges. The government then subpoenaed McAtee
to testify at Beltramea's sentencing hearing regarding the facts ofSagarika Bhattacharjee who allegedly murdered husband Bapi in their Howrah Kamardanga home on Monday afternoon was detained by neighbours when she returned to the area on Tuesday and handed over to police.

The 28-year-old was arrested and produced in the chief judicial magistrate’s court. She was remanded in police custody for five days.

Eleven-year-old Moloy Bhattacharjee had seen Sagarika walk out of the couple’s bedroom in haste leaving his brother Bapi, a labourer, lying senseless on the floor. A noose fashioned out of a piece of cloth was found next to the 23-year-old.The boy called his father Debu Bhattacharjee who works at a Kadamtala factory. By the time he rushed home, Bapi had died.

Early on Tuesday , Sagarika walked into a meat shop in the area and asked owner Tapan


Porel how Bapi was. He called the neighbours who took her to Jagachha police station. Bapi’s mother Gouri had lodged a complaint against her with Dasnagar Investigation Centre on Monday night.

Relatives said the two married last January after a brief affair. “Sagarika had three cellphones, one of which she left behind in her in-laws’ house on Monday. A man called up at night demanding to speak to her,” said an officer.Main Menu

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Ibsen Costume Gallery has been in existence since 1981. Founded by Dwayne Ibsen, it was first housed in a strip mall in the old Dundee area of Omaha, Nebraska and has since moved to its current permanent location at 4981 Hamilton Street, just a few blocks north of Dundee. Read more

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With more than 20,000 costumes (plus continuous additions) from all time periods and masquerade specialties, Ibsen houses one of the largest inventory in the Midwestern United States. Read more

Madrigal Feaste

Hear Ye, Hear Ye! The Lord and Lady of the Manor invite you to join them for feasting, music and merriment, madrigal style. At this unique and original form of “dinner theatre” you will return with us to the Renaissance years for a festive holiday evening


The National Register of Citizens (NRC) seeks to filter out illegal immigrants in Assam (File)

The Assam Police have reportedly contacted several social media websites to verify the authenticity of a poem - that alleged Muslims were being targeted - shared by 10 people on the ongoing citizenship list exercise in the state.

The National Register of Citizens (NRC) seeks to filter out illegal immigrants in Assam.

A journalist from Guwahati in a police complaint against the 10 people, most of them poets, social workers and activists, accused them of hindering the NRC exercise ahead of the release of the final list on July 31.

"The FIR was filed on July 10 and it alleged they are trying to spread communal disharmony ahead of the NRC publication. We are investigating it. Wetheir claims at the designated NRC help centres.

The centre had extended the deadline to complete the ongoing exercise in Assam by one more month to July 30. The process had been extended in December last year by six months to June 30.


LOUIS J. BOURY moved from Baltimore with his family when he was still a young boy. Many years later, Mr. Boury, who had become an important member of the New York Produce Exchange, remembered the town of his birth with a generous donation to Johns Hopkins--creating this professorship, as well as the Louis J. Boury Endowment Fund for Geography to support work in climatology and the geography of diseases, and the Louis J. Boury Endowment Fund for the Biological Sciences. (Image depicts electron micrograph of a replicating DNA molecule.)WASHINGTON—Studies by a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientist and cooperators have confirmed what many pollen-sensitive people already suspected: In some parts of North America, ragweed season now lasts longer and ends later.

Ragweed pollen in some parts of the northern United States and Canada now lingers almost a month longer than it did in 1995, and these increases are correlated to seasonal warming shifts linked to climate change dynamics in the higher latitudes, according to a study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"One of the biggest challenges in studying climate change is finding out how the plant kingdom is adapting to increases in air temperature and other meteorological phenomena," said Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Administrator Edward B. Knipling. "Studies like this also show


along a north-south transect from Austin, Texas, to Saskatoon, Canada. The researchers compared the pollen data at each site to other site data, including latitude, the number of frost-free days, and delays in the onset of the first fall frost.

The researchers found that from 1995 to 2009, the number of frost-free days at higher-latitude study sites had increased, and so had the length of the ragweed pollen season. During that period, the pollen season lasted from 13 to 27 days longer than in 1995. They also found that a longer ragweed pollen season was strongly correlated with a delay in the onset of the first fall frost.     + '|Culture|Date|Event|EventLog|EventSubscriber|ExecutionPolicy|FormatData|Help|History|Host|HotFix|Item|ItemProperty|Job'
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    var parent = state.returnStack[state.returnStack.length -than a certain level acting upon the vehicle. The disclosure of these patents are incorporated herein by reference.
A vehicle seat is normally mounted on a pair of slide rails extending along the longitudinal direction for permitting the positional adjustment of the seat. Therefore, in order for the seat belt to be in the optimum position irrespective of the adjusted position of the seat, a preloader device is desired to be mounted on the vehicle seat. However, in adjusting the position of the seat or, in case of a walk-in seat, in moving the front seat out of the way for getting into the rear seat, the seat may be moved or stopped abruptly. In particular, when the movement of the seat is abruptly stopped by the engagement of


Theodosia
"Theo" Wuebben of Mukwonago was born to eternal life Wednesday,
Dec. 20, 2006, at age 88. She was born Feb. 1, 1918, in Milwaukee, the
daughter of Ell and Anastasia Dinos.

As a child and young woman she was very involved in the Greek community
with family, school and church. Theo worked as a secretary in the
switchgear and control division at Allis-Chalmers, where she met Arthur
Wuebben. They were married Nov. 28, 1953, and shared 53 years together.
Theo enjoyed being a wife and mother and all it entailed. She did
needlework, sewed many outfits for her girls and was a wonderful cook who
truly enjoyed cooking for her family. She had a vast collection of
cookbooks and enjoyed just looking through them to create something
special. She was an avid reader. She was thrilled at the arrivalof each
grandchild and was a loving and involved grandma. She enjoyed the simple
pleasures of life, such as watching the birds and wildlife in her yard,
taking care of her flowers and spending time with her family. Theo was an
active member of Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church and a Sunday school
teacher for many years. She was known for her loving heart and ways and
was happiest when she was taking care of her family.

Theo will be sadly missed by her husband, Arthur of Mukwonago; three
children, Andrea (Dennis) Grasmick of Chaska, Minn., Carolyn Clauter of
Brookfield and David (Lauri) Wuebben of Hortonville; five grandchildren,
Andrew (Emily) Grasmick, Gabrielle Grasmick, Timothy Wuebben and Michael
and Adam Clauter; sister, Angeline Holtman; and nieces, nephews, other
relatives and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents and
brother, Emanuel Dinos.

Visitation


Chapter 6: Aura

"When you're ready, I get to say it first, deal?"

"Deal."

Yang opened her eyes, the sounds of the crew working on the deck and the distant sloshing of the ocean against the hull of the ship rousing her from a restless sleep. She could feel Emerald's arm draped over her, her head resting on Yang's admittedly well-endowed chest. Apparently she drooled when she slept.

Yang pushed the other girl off her impatiently and rolled out of the bed, desperate for some air. The room was unbearably stuffy. Even the floorboards felt muggy under her feet. She crossed the room to the porthole on the wall and threw it open, breathing in the salty air. She shivered as the cool breeze rolled over her bare skin, but at leastit was better than before. She stood like that a while, staring out at the endless expanse of ocean, feeling the sway of the ship beneath her. It had taken some getting used to, but after a few weeks on the boat, the sensation had become normal. In fact, the few times she'd gone ashore, she'd found she'd missed the constant motion.

The seemingly infinite blue horizon in front of her was something of a trick. They weren't far out to sea, as much as Yang might have appreciated that. Their side of the ship simply faced away from shore. They'd been hugging the shoreline for most of the voyage in fact. Emerald and Mercury had told her when she'd arrived at the docks weeks ago that they'd secured


passage for them all on a merchant vessel that ran Dust shipments. After a few stops along Vale's coast, they would be heading across the sea to Vacuo. Both nations rested on the same continent, Sanus, but the overland trip between the two involved dipping down south and following the curvature of the landscape. Even with the delays they were making delivering cargo, it was much faster to travel across the ocean, where they had a more or less straight shot from the shores of Vale to the edges of Vacuo's notorious desert.

Yang had been expecting to work as payment for the room and board on a distinctly not passenger-friendly ship, but according to her new companions, a mysterious benefactor had already paid off the crew, allowing themcomfortable and anonymous passage.

Unfortunately for Yang, that left a lot of downtime. Downtime was the last thing she needed. It was the reason she'd left Patch months ago.

Before the attack, she'd been on top of the world. She had taken second place in the Silver-Tier MMA championship match, she'd had great friends, a killer social life, and she even wasn't sucking in school for once. To top it all off, she got to come home every night to the most beautiful girl she'd ever met. Sure, maybe she could only call her her own in private, but that was okay. Everybody moved at their own pace. She would have come around.

Then she'd lost everything overnight. For weeks, she had barely even been able to drag herself out of


bed, electing instead to sleep and stare out her window all day. She'd been pathetic. She'd hated herself then. Hated what she'd become. How that masked face would torture her every night in her dreams, how she'd be forced to see the blood pouring from her arm. That horrible red sword… and the scream of agony that would haunt her until the day she died.

Finally, she couldn't take moping around anymore and forced herself out of bed. She'd waited until her father had left the house and hung her old punching bag on its hook in the garage. Then she'd gotten to work. It hadn't been easy, but every second she was on her feet was a second she didn't have to feel afraid. Every minute of trainingwas one step closer to breaking the asshole who had taken her arm. She'd done everything she could to drown her fear in anger and hatred. Her fear of being a cripple. Her fear of the masked man. Her fear of being alone...all of it, blocked by white-hot rage.

When her father had found out she was training, he tried to get her to slow down. He wanted her to talk to somebody, maybe even see a counselor even. If she was being honest with herself, she might have acknowledged that he was right. It wasn't bad advice. Hell, she'd given advice that had sounded pretty similar herself just earlier that year. But she hadn't wanted to hear it then. Slowing down meant that the fear would come back,


and if the fear came back, she might never move on.

So she'd taken all her savings and left, finding a shithole in Vale she could stay in for cheap and a warehouse that didn't mind her coming in when the workers were gone and practicing. She'd arranged the fight with Junior a month in advance. If she was going to be working, she might as well have be working towards a goal, and funding a manhunt seemed like an admirable one at the time.

It probably said something about Yang's life that it had taken her a while to figure out who to look for. She'd briefly entertained the idea of hunting down the masked man, but every time she'd thought too hard about it, she came close tohaving a panic attack and she abandoned the notion quickly. After all, if he was as dangerous as the news reports said he was, she wasn't nearly prepared enough for a rematch. Yet.

She'd also considered going after her former partner, but somehow that idea had been even harder to stomach. The idea of seeing...her, brought too many painful emotions boiling to the surface. She wanted to be alone. Let her be alone.

That left only one person, the person she'd been looking for the longest. Her mother, Raven.

Yang had grown up believing Summer Rose was her mother. She raised her and cared for her just as much as she had ever cared for Ruby. For eight years of her life, Yang had known what it felt like to have


a mother who loved her unconditionally. It wasn't until after Summer died that her father had told her the truth. Her mother had in fact been a woman named Raven Branwen. She'd been with her father before he married Summer. Taiyang had loved Raven fiercely, but the day after Yang was born, Raven had disappeared without a trace. Yang had grown up never knowing that Raven had existed.

Ever since she found out, Yang had been obsessed with finding her, desperate to ask her why she'd left, how she could have possibly abandoned her family so easily, but so far her search had been for nothing. Now, with no school, no friends and a gaping hole in her heart, Yang had figured it was as good a time asany to start looking again.

Of course, that line of thought had brought her out here, stuck on a boat, training as often as she could bear to keep her fears at bay.

The rest of her free time lately was spent distracting herself in other ways.

"Hey, is everything okay?" She glanced over her shoulder. Emerald was awake. She was propped up on one arm, the covers slipping off her as she stirred.

"I'm fine," Yang said. "Go back to sleep." She turned to look out the window again.

"Can't, unfortunately," the other girl mumbled. Yang heard her feet hit the floor. There was rustling from her luggage trunk as she dug through it for a clean outfit to wear. "We're expecting company today, remember?"

Right, how could she forget? It had basically


been all Emerald had talked about for the last two days. Their benefactor, whoever they were supposed to be, was joining them on the ship during their last stop in Vale. She would be accompanying the three of them to Vacuo. Apparently she was very eager to meet Yang.

The blonde girl stiffened as she felt arms wrap around her waist. Emerald's hands traced the taught skin of her stomach before trailing upwards, following the curve of her arm. They brushed against the leather straps that held the metal cap over her right arm in place. They bit tight into her flesh, causing the skin to be uneven, red and angry. Yang's shoulders tensed until Emerald moved on, hands falling to Yang's hips instead as she buried her facein her mane of yellow hair. "Come on, get dressed! We seriously can't be late this morning."

Yang took Emerald's wrist in her left hand and twisted her away, reversing their positions almost as easily as she had the night they'd met. She pushed her up against the wall next to the porthole and held her there, her eyes boring into Emerald's, red against red. Yang was somewhat disappointed to see that she had already dressed herself. Well, as much as Emerald ever did dress herself anyways.

The older girl smiled at her through lidded eyes. "As much as I love it when you give me that look, we don't have time for that this morning." She reached up and stole a quick kiss from Yang, which was more than


enough to convince her to back off. Her lips burned where they had brushed Emerald's, and she fought the urge to slap that knowing grin off her face. Though, she thought, that might get things going in a more interesting direction.

Almost as if she'd read her mind, Emerald rolled her eyes and made her way to the door. "Not today hot stuff," she taunted, putting far more sway in her hips than was absolutely necessary. "Get dressed, get on deck, hurry it up." She shot Yang a wink before shutting the door behind her.

Yang sighed and went about trying to hunt down something to wear. Her… involvement with Emerald confused even her sometimes. It wasn't emotional, at least it wasn't for Yang. Sometimes she got the feeling thatEmerald enjoyed pretending there was something more between them, offering unwanted affectionate gestures. She would have thought she was trying to make Mercury jealous if it wasn't for the fact he didn't seem to give a flying fuck what the two of them did. It was always possible she did it because she knew it irritated Yang. She might have even guessed a few of the reasons why it irritated her so much, despite Yang having shared three things about herself with her companions the whole trip. One of which was her name.

Yang didn't need closeness. She didn't want love. She'd had that before, and what had it brought her besides more pain?

Despite Emerald's insistence that this was an important day - or perhaps because of it -


she chose to put on a workout uniform instead of anything more presentable. An orange sports bra under a matching tank top with black shorts and tennis shoes. She clumsily shoved her hair one-handed into a ponytail that sat high on her head and did something to reign in the mess. Only when she was satisfied that she looked especially lackluster did she make her way above deck.

Mercury was lounging against the side of the cabin when she emerged, blinking into the sun. Around her she could hear the bustle of activity as men made preparations for the ship to dock. He was dressed in his usual dark clothes, his black eyes alert and his posture relaxed. He was tapping the toe of one boot against the deck,and she could see the large heavy cuffs he wore around each ankle. He nodded in acknowledgement when he spotted her.

"Morning sunshine," he said, with an easy grin. She rolled her eyes at the nickname. She'd made the mistake of asking him not to call her that when they'd first set off and he hadn't let up with it since. "You're just in time, we'll be pulling in momentarily."

"Don't call me that," Yang growled, leaning up against the cabin with him. "So, now that we're about to meet her, anything you can tell me about our so-called 'benefactor?'"

He laughed. "Same answer I gave you the last dozen times you've asked: she prefers to speak for herself."

"You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?"

"Whatever sunshine."

She stamped on


his toe, hard, then gave a shriek of pain. She hopped away from him, clutching her foot. "What the fuck? Are you wearing steel-toed boots or something?"

Mercury just laughed harder. "Something like that, yeah."

"Dammit Merc, what did you do to her?" Emerald had wandered over to see what was wrong. "I swear to the gods if you break her before she gets here-"

"Hey, I didn't do anything, okay? She started it."

"Oh, that's real mature," Yang said, testing her foot to make sure she hadn't actually injured herself. Mercury stuck out his tongue in response.

"Cool it, both of you," Emerald snapped, before turning to Yang, trying to coax her into letting her check her out. The blonde girl brushed her off.

"It's fine, leave it."

As she spoke, the ship rockedunexpectedly and Yang had to struggle to keep her footing. "Easy does it!" the captain bellowed from the front of the ship. "You trying to run us aground?"

The ship had finally pulled into the docks, though not without some complications it would seem. Dock workers were already throwing lines for the crew to secure while another couple of men ran out the gangplank. Yang, Mercury and Emerald stood and watched as the men began to haul crates from below deck while a crane was driven into position to grab some of the larger containers. Two men were carrying a heavy looking wooden crate between them down the gangplank when Yang saw them stop. They paused for a moment, the man in front saying something she couldn't hear. A


female voice responded to them, and the men backed up, clearing the gangplank as a woman stepped onto the ship.

The first thing Yang was struck by was how...small she was. Okay, granted, she may have had an inch or so on Yang in terms of height, but she was going to chalk that up to the black stiletto heels she was wearing. It was more than just her height though. Her shoulders were narrow, her arms graceful and willowy, and her legs slender, though with clearly visible muscles moving beneath the surface of her skin as her calves worked overtime in those ridiculous shoes. She was clad in what would have been a scandalously short red dress if it wasn't for the black shorts that were just barelyvisible out the bottom of the… whatever the garment was supposed to be. It was slit up the right side, revealing that the shorts were laced across her outer thighs for reasons that frankly baffled Yang. The sleeves of her strange not-dress seemed to be embroidered with a swirling pattern of gold all the way to her wrists, where a stretch of gold fabric extended them further, winding around the middle finger of each hand.

But it was the woman's eyes that drew her attention the most. It looked like they were made from liquid gold. Well, the right one did. The left was obscured by a cascade of black hair that hung long over her left shoulder. She swept the deck with her gaze, and when it landed


on the three of them, Yang could feel the weight of her attention as if it had a physical presence. She didn't walk towards them as much as she sauntered, though in heels that high, Yang wasn't sure she could have managed better herself.

As the woman approached them, Yang felt Emerald cling to her left arm, her hand sliding down to lace their fingers together. She rested her chin on her shoulder, leaning heavily on the younger girl, possibly to prevent her from escaping. "Cinder!" she said in a voice positively dripping with admiration. "It's so good to see you!"

Ohh, so it's not Mercury you want to make jealous after all, Yang thought, with a modicum of dry amusement.

If the woman, Cinder, noticed or cared that Emerald waspractically wrapped around another girl, she didn't show it. In fact, she didn't even glance at her at all, keeping that smouldering gaze fixed on Yang. She stopped a few feet from them without saying a word. For the first time Yang could remember, she was speechless.

"Cinder, this is Yang Xiao Long," Emerald said, brushing her nose against Yang's cheek. Yang wondered how much trouble she'd get in for dumping her over the side of the boat.

"I gathered as much," Cinder said, without looking in Emerald's direction. Her alto voice was honeyed silk, and Yang found herself straining to catch every single word.

"I've heard a lot of promising things about you Yang Xiao Long," she continued. "You have a lot of potential. But potential can only get you


wondered briefly if she would refuse, but the thought didn't last long as the older girl turned to face Yang, placing a slow, passionate kiss on her lips. Yang, for her part, gave her nothing back, going rigid as a board. Outrage and indignation locked her in place long enough for Emerald to slip out of her grasp and disappear below deck.

Yang saw a small smile play on the corner of Cinder's mouth. "She seems to have grown fond of you," she said with a hint of mirth. Yang just glared at her, eliciting a broader smile. "Follow me," she said, heading below deck. We have a lot to talk about."

Despite the surrealness of her situation, Ruby had to admit that she had always wanted to sit anddangle her legs over the edge of a train car while she stared meaningfully off into the distance. It had always seemed like a very romantic notion in all the stories she'd read and movies she'd seen.

Of course, those same stories failed to mention how boring it could get after a while.

She'd woken that morning a little earlier than usual, slapping her alarm as quickly as she could before getting out of bed. For once, she managed not to wake Ren. Not that he would have been able to get up, that is. Nora was wrapped around him so tightly she was concerned for a moment that he might have suffocated in his sleep. She quietly pulled out the note she'd written the night before and left it


folded on the nightstand next to Jaune's bed. That had been the hardest moment. The idea of leaving him behind, after everything they had been through together. She thought about the day they'd met at Beacon, both of them so lost in their new world. Yang had just abandoned her to visit with some of her old friends from Signal High, and Jaune… well, his ladykiller act hadn't exactly made him popular day one.

They had been a perfect match in some ways. They'd been there to support each other, acted as the glue binding both their groups of friends together. Without him, her world would have been a lot colder. A small part of her truly wished that she could stay, for his sake, and Ren and Nora'sif not her own.

But she'd made her decision. She just had to hope they'd understand. She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek before grabbing her bag from the foot of her bed and slipping out the door.

She'd waited a while for Qrow after that. For a heartbreaking moment, she'd worried that he'd changed his mind and decided to leave without her. It wasn't until the cawing of a crow drew her attention down the dirt path that she saw him approach. He walked like he was carrying a heavy burden, and he wasn't smiling, but he was there. He'd beckoned to her wordlessly, and the two made their way through the early morning mists to the town of Haven's air docks.

Much like the docks


at Beacon, the air shuttles that landed there were ideal for short-range transport, taking people up and down from the high cliffs of the plateau. The shuttle took them to the outskirts of Mistral City, where they almost immediately hopped on a train heading north and west. She remembered watching Qrow hand the conductor a stack of Lien before taking her to one of the cars in the back. There weren't any other passengers on the train, and the car they climbed into was full of large metal crates.

"What is all this stuff?" she'd asked as the train began moving.

"Military equipment, mostly," he said. He nodded to the door to his right that lead further down the train. "Go make yourself comfortable. I have to find something." Heempty slot in front of the the trigger guard. Finally, a scope slid out the side opposite the pistol grip.

When all was said and done, Rwby was holding a sniper rifle nearly as long as she was tall. Ruby just stared.

"Customizable, high impact," Qrow said, pulling a square magazine from a pocket and shoving it in the empty space in front of the trigger guard. "You're going to learn to shoot it."

"U-um," Rwby stammered.

"You remember what I said, kid? Out here, my word is law. I say you're going to learn to shoot that thing, you're going to learn to shoot it." He reached out and pressed the same part of the case again and the weapon folded back up into its more innocuous state. "But not just


bag hung in the corner. She and Cinder were in what the crew laughably called their "workout room." It was small, boxy and bare with a single punching bag and a bench with a few sets of free weights. All that and a single, wide mat. Some workout room.

"It means, with the right kind of mindset, you can unlock your soul, allowing it to act as your shield and sword." Cinder was perched on the edge of the bench nonchalantly, watching as Yang lay into the stuffed leather bag.

"Sounds like a load of bull to me," Yang said, spinning into a powerful kick that slammed the bag against the wall. She caught it awkwardly as it came sailing back towards her and she wiped sweat from her brow."I thought you were going to teach me something real." She turned to face Cinder, surprised the woman was on her feet. "I didn't realize we were going to be talking about some psycho-spiritual bull-"

Cinder lashed out and cracked Yang across the face. She spun violently, seeing stars, and hit the ground. After taking a moment to get her head to stop spinning, she pushed herself to a sitting position and glared at the woman. Cinder smiled pleasantly back at her.

"What. The fuck. Was that for?" She could already feel the left side of her face swelling. Had she hit her with an open palm?

"If you think it's so much nonsense, clearly you should have no trouble besting me, right?" There was a mocking tone in Cinder's voice


now and her eyes glittered with amusement.

"Well, sure, if you're done sucker-punching me." Yang pushed herself to her feet and Cinder backed up a few steps, walking onto the mat. She tested her balance, then kicked off her heels, obviously deciding the uneven surface of the mat would give her trouble. Yang stalked towards her, now with a healthy inch or two of height advantage. She lunged with her metal-capped stump, feinting hard before driving straight for Cinder's face with a vicious left hook. She felt the hit connect, felt her neck snap to the side with the force of the punch. A surge of triumph ignited inside Yang.

But Cinder didn't fall. In fact, she barely reacted at all. She turned to face Yang again, her smile pleasant."Is that all?" she asked sweetly.

Yang grit her teeth sent a kick straight at her opponent's chest, twisting her body to give the blow more power. Cinder reached out with one hand and stopped the blow. Just...stopped it dead. Before she could retract and reset herself, Cinder had her by the ankle. Without so much as a grunt, she flipped Yang completely off the ground and slammed her down to the mat. The blonde girl felt the wind go out of her and she stared at the ceiling a moment, catching her breath. She saw Cinder approach, her steps delicate and particularly feminine. For some reason that just served to enrage Yang more.

When she was close enough, Yang moved, twisting her legs between Cinder's and tripping her up,


bringing her crashing to the ground. She was on her in a flash, straddling her waist and hammering her over and over with fist and metal cap. Each blow fell on Cinder's arms, raised to guard her face, and moving with liquid grace to intercept each hit. After nearly a minute of this, Yang was winded and sweating profusely, her arms shaking.

"Had enough yet?" Cinder asked coyly. Yang growled and drew back to wipe that smug smile off her face for good. She moved faster than Yang could anticipate, reaching out suddenly and seized her by the top, her legs shoving off the ground as she rolled them both backwards. Yang tucked her head in as it hit the mat, the rest of her body following suit. Shewas staring up at Cinder now, who was still smiling that infuriating smile.

Fire raged through Yang's mind. She wanted to fight back, she wanted to break her dammit! But she was out of steam, her arms tired, her body already aching from the few blows and falls she'd suffered. Plus, despite their struggle, Cinder barely looked winded. Her face showed no sign of where Yang had hit her. Fuck, she didn't even have a single hair out of place. Yang was grinding her teeth so hard she risked cracking them. She understood what was happening. She knew what this little display was meant to be.

"Fine," she muttered through her clenched jaw. "Teach me."

"Sometimes people get the wrong idea about Aura," Qrow said while Ruby listened, enraptured. The pair


of them had moved a few cars back. This one was quieter, with only a single window and a locked door. It had a few cots thrown in the corner and the crates that littered the other cars were conspicuously absent. Qrow had drawn a curtain over the window, making the room dark and cool. They'd put aside most of their things, the weapons and their bags, and sat in the center of the floor, cross-legged.

"They think it's something purely physical, a way to make themselves stronger or tougher," he continued, "but while there is a physical element to it, it's deeper than that. Some say its spiritual. Others say it's all in your head. They're both right, to some extent.

"Drawing from your Aura means knowing yourself, thefor you to occupy yourself when you need a break."

Ruby looked at him quizzically. Qrow retrieved his sword. He eyed it for a moment, then gave his wrist a sharp twist. The gears in the hilt began to spin and Ruby heard a mechanical whirring sound as some inner mechanism activated. The blade of the greatsword segmented into four pieces and extended away from each other. They folded back over the dull side of the blade until they formed a curved edge. With another metallic sound, a wickedly sharp blade of dark red steel extended from the underside of the new curve. Qrow repositioned the weapon, drawing it behind his back as the whole blade folded over so it now rested perpendicular to the hilt, which telescoped twice.


two. I'll check in on you later." He glanced back at her when he was partway out the door. Ruby got the same strange sensation she had the day before, that he was looking at somebody other than her.

"Good luck kid. You'll need it."

Yang hit the opposite wall hard enough to rattle her teeth. She ached everywhere, but she didn't have time to recover, she had to move. Now.

She rolled out of the way just as Cinder's fist impacted the spot her head had been a second ago. Her blow left a small indent in the metal wall. Yang tried to move behind her, to grapple her, get her on the ground again, but she seemed to sense her intentions and Yang couldn't pin her down. She caughtan elbow to the stomach for her troubles and Cinder's leg lashed out, slamming Yang in the chest and sending her careening to the floor.

"Pathetic," Cinder said, standing over her. "We've been at this for days now, and you haven't shown even the slightest improvement."

She had opted for something more suitable for sparring today. She wore grey pants reminiscent of fatigues if it weren't for the fact that they hugged her like a pair of designer jeans. She wore a brown vest with a high collar short enough to leave most of her midriff exposed. She opted not to fasten it, instead having wrapped a few dozen feet of bandages around her chest in lieu of an actual top. She completed the look with a pair of brown


fingerless gloves and a brown leather armband she wore buckled on her left bicep. Her boots had a platform heel that robbed Yang of her height advantage once more, and here with her back on the ground, she practically felt miniscule.

"How am I supposed to improve?" She snapped. "Even at the top of my game I'm still working with a handicap here," she added, angrily waving the stump of her arm.

"I told you, if you can find your Aura, it won't be a problem." She never offered to help Yang up. If she didn't stand on her own, she'd kick her until she did. If that failed, they were done for the day. The first motivating blow caught Yang in the ribs and she rolled to all foursto push herself to her feet.

"Your body is broken, that doesn't mean your soul is," Cinder continued as she watched Yang struggle. "You're holding yourself back. Clinging to something." As soon as she was on her feet, Cinder drove her fist into Yang's stomach, bringing her back to her knees. She stayed that way for a moment, doubled over, fire raging through her mind as her anger consumed her.

She felt an iron grip at the base of her ponytail as Cinder yanked her face up so that their eyes could meet. "I can see the power you have inside of you," the older woman said, her voice barely audible. "Yes… you have so much strength. But you're afraid. Your fear makes you weak."

Yang lunged at her, but Cinder


sidestepped and she found herself gripping the punching bag in the corner just to stay standing. Her body was shaking. Her skin was covered in bruises and she was favoring her right leg. Cinder was behind her then. She grabbed her ponytail and jerked her head back, drawing her away from the support the bag had offered and into the center of the room.

"Tell me," she hissed, "what are you afraid of? What did you lose? Besides the obvious, of course," she added with a cruel smirk.

Yang threw her left elbow back, but Cinder caught it, twisting her into an armbar. "Why are you here?" she asked. "What are you striving for? Your anger is a potent force, but it can only get you so far. What elsedrives you?"

Yang struggled briefly, but it was obvious she wasn't going anywhere. She was too strong.

"I'm looking for someone," she heard herself say. The words came out bitter, broken.

"Finally, something substantial." Cinder said. "And here I was thinking you were just full of hot air." Yang lashed out with a foot, but Cinder stepped around the attack and then her leg was pinned too. "Who are you looking for?"

"My mother," she said after a moment of hesitation.

Cinder considered that for a moment. "Estranged mother? Left at a young age, I presume?' Yang just nodded. The fire inside her was fading now, exhaustion threatening to drown it completely.

"This is good." Cinder let Yang go and she collapsed to her knees once again, "but it's not enough. A mother who


left you years ago, that wound is old and scarred. Something has come along to rip it open again." She knelt in front of Yang and put a finger under her chin, lifting her eyes to meet hers. "Who abandoned you this time?"

Yang looked away, trying and failing to hold back tears. She clenched her fist and bit her lip so hard she could taste blood. She couldn't say it. She hadn't even been able to think it.

Cinder chuckled. "Ahh, a lover, then? Poor Emerald will be heartbroken." Yang glared at the older woman, fighting to rise to her feet. Cinder stood and watched her struggle.

"What was her name?" Yang shook her head, her legs trembling beneath her. Cinder cocked her head to one side. "Are you afraidof that too?" Yang opted to lunge forward, swinging the metal cap of her right arm at Cinder's head. The dark haired woman caught the blow and drove her knee into Yang's ribs, dropping her to the ground once more.

She watched Yang struggle a moment. "Could it be that you still love her?" She aimed a kick at her that Yang rolled to catch against her back. "Get up, or get out," she said.

Yang rose again, swaying badly as she struggled to remain on her feet. Cinder seemed amused.

"Maybe you won't say her name because she hurt you that badly. Clearly she left you and not the other way around… did she take a piece of you with her? Literally, perhaps?"

Yang wanted to attack again. Maybe she even


made a move to, but before she could so much as blink, Cinder had her gripped by the front of her shirt and slammed against the wall behind her. She felt herself lifted off her feet a few inches and held there, pinned against the metal.

"Enough," Cinder said. "You're useless to me like this. You spend so much of your energy fighting yourself, fighting this ridiculous, romantic notion and for what? Some girl? Somebody who clearly you meant nothing to?" Yang's eyes snapped to Cinders, pain temporarily eclipsing the usual anger. Cinder let go of her and she nearly felt her legs collapse from under her as she leaned against the wall for support.

"Tell. Me. Her name."

Yang was trembling. Was Cinder right? Was she being held back becauseshe couldn't face this? Because she wasn't allowing herself to acknowledge her deepest fears?

"Blake." The name brought a fresh wave of agony. Yang's voice broke, her whole body shaking, though not from weakness this time. Tears fell freely as she spoke. "Her name was Blake."

"And what did Blake do?" Cinder's expression was intense, insistent. Yang clung to it for dear life.

"She left. You were right, she left me. After…" she gestured with her useless arm.

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Cinder smiled, backing up. Yang staggered forward a step, standing under her own power now. "But you loved this girl, didn't you?" Her voice rang with mockery and amusement. "Shouldn't you know what drove her away?"

"I… there were a lot of things she didn't tell me." Yang had never needed to know.


She knew that Blake had been hurt before, and that she was more guarded than anybody she'd ever met, but Yang had seen through that to the person who lay beneath the layers and layers of fear and self doubt. She had wanted to strip all of that away, to show her how beautiful she truly was. She wanted Blake to see herself the way Yang saw her.

"Oh? So am I to believe that the two of you were strangers to each other then?"

"What? N-no, I-" I told her everything. Blake had been the first person she wasn't related to learn about her mother. She was the only person she confided her own insecurities in. She'd told her about how she was afraid of thinking about the future,unsure what she could do to give her life purpose. She'd admitted her seemingly insatiable addiction to adrenaline, how she would do anything just for the thrill of feeling her heart pound against her chest, or to feel the flight or fight instinct sing through every nerve of her body. It's why she'd bought a motorcycle, why she'd started doing mixed martial arts. It was the solace she'd sought when it felt like everything else had failed her.

She had bared her soul to Blake, not only to make her feel safe, but because for the first time in her life she felt like she could. Her previous relationships had been fleeting, more flings than anything else. She'd had fun, sure, but she had never found anybody she could


trust her innermost self to. Not until she'd met Blake.

"I gave her everything that I had to give." Yang felt a spark kindle to life somewhere inside her chest. It was a weak, feeble thing, threatening to flicker out of existence at any moment, but she clung to its heat regardless.

"She used you," Cinder said. "She took every ounce of strength you gave her. She took your love, your admiration, your need. But answer me this: now that you need her, where is she?"

"Gone." The word was tiny, fragile, but it breathed new life into the spark in Yang's chest. "She's gone." It flickered again, defiant. "She left me. I was broken and scared and she left!" The spark burst into a roaring flame. "I'm so tired ofHadn't she spent her early years practically raising her baby sister because her father had been too busy moping around to do it himself? Hadn't she taken every challenge life could throw at her and thrown it back harder still? She hadn't stopped before. She wouldn't stop now. This injury wasn't worth that. Adam Taurus was not worthy to defeat her.

And neither was Blake Belladonna.

"Prove it, then" Cinder said, lowering her voice. "Prove you're worth my time."

Yang moved.

Faster than should have been possible.

The fire was no longer inside her - she was at the center of it. She was fire. The tiny room lit up with brilliant golden light as flames ran though the snarls and twists of her hair. The cord holding it in its ponytail was


incinerated instantly, and her hair fanned out behind her, trailing embers as she lunged for Cinder. It was an impulsive move, instinctual even. A move she'd ended countless sparring matches with. They'd always told Yang she had a vicious right hook.

She should have missed entirely, the stump of her arm sailing straight past Cinder's jaw, but instead, Yang felt her arm stop. She felt the shock of the impact travel up her missing forearm and into her flesh and bone. Cinder's head snapped to one side with the blow and she fell to her knees.

Yang could only stand and stare. She wasn't tired anymore. In fact, she couldn't remember feeling more alive. Her world was heat and flame and energy coursing through her body. She breathed in andheard the crackle of the flames running through her hair.

But if the sensations she felt now surprised her, it was nothing compared to the sight of her right arm. In the horrible empty space she'd grown so used to over the summer, the space where a piece of her used to exist, she could see a ghost of an image outlined in gold. She flexed the fingers of the phantom hand and watched as they responded. She smiled, a ferocious expression, her eyes living flames.

She looked down at Cinder who was wiping blood from the corner of her mouth. There was a fierce pride in her gaze.

"Finally," she said. "Progress."

A/N: Oh man, this chapter. I've been waiting for this for a while and in the end it turned