Author's Note: And so we begin. I would've replied to you all personally, but I was off the grid for quite a few days and my phone isn't really the best medium to type, so the gratitude will have to happen here. Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!


Day 1:

Huang Lau Shan, or literally 'Yellow Old Hill' in English, is one of the harsh, natural barriers surrounding the city of Jiu Xu. It was a jutting peak of 1,032 meters that's bare of almost any vegetation, and its dull, yellowish brown soil more than made up its namesake. At first glance it seemed pitifully small and insignificant as compared to the other taller, harsher-looking mountains that littered all around Jiu Xu, but only a stranger to this land would make such a misconception.

To start with, the hill was treacherously slippery. It happened to be at a sweet spot where rain battered constantly at its surface throughout the year, and as such the soil was so loose that even a misplaced footstep might threaten a landslide. The hill was shaped in the image of a long, sharp needle riddled with countless tiny ridges, and the last time someone tried to build a secure route across the hill, the entire structure plus a sizable chunk of the hill itself flooded half the forest at its base. Even animal trails; safe paths that could be tread with a bit more security were scarce because there wasn't much food to be found along its barren slopes. The only saving grace was that it was too treacherous for even land bound Grimm to cross, but in all honesty Huang Lau Shan should've been unearthed since a long time ago.

Yet once upon a time, this accursed hill was the site of a great war. Long, long ago, during a time before Dust, there was a gigantic steel fortress built atop an even greater mountain, until a terrible evil came and obliterated it so thoroughly that only this thin, pitiful slab was all that's left. Only a handful of people knew about this forgotten history now, and it was through their efforts that the ancient site was preserved to this date.

"Is this one of Master Ju Long's discovery forty years ago, when Rose of Summer came across the city?"

"That's what he told me at least – Huff! – Da's a chronic liar, but he almost never lies about his old adventures – Puff!"

"Okay. But why are you telling me this story now? Do you mean to scavenge this place? I doubt we can find anything after such a long time, if we even know what it is or how to use it."

Yang stared at the red cloaked girl like she was crazy, even as she heaved herself up a big boulder before slumping flat on its rough surface, "Ruby, we're standing atop one of Remnant's greatest site of war. There's a giant steel fortress, and then a Grimm so powerful that it obliterated the mountainitself! Aren't you excited? Who knows, maybe there's even a vengeful spirit – a mechanical vengeful spirit, since this was a steel fortress! – stalking this accursed hill, hoping to drag the next foolish soul into the endless abyss. Wait, what is that behind you!? Uwaaaahhhhh!"

"Not funny," Ruby Rose frowned even as she swung 180 degrees with a hand on her gun-scythe just in case, "Yang. I'm fine with your jokes, but please don't make one concerning the dangers of the road. It will be dangerous if I mistake your cries of help as one."

"Agh! You, you don't have to be so straightforward about that…" Yang deflated like a balloon as Ruby laughed apologetically at the tiny jab. It had been just a day since they left the city, and thanks to the blonde's familiarity with this particular land they managed to reach the base of the hill relatively quickly. After that, they spent an hour climbing up about one third up the slopes, with plans to skirt through the middle ridge so as to avoid the faster, but far more dangerous flat lands in between the mountains. No one could explain why, but there had been countless incidents where unknowing travelers had been buried alive by landslides just as they were about to cross the narrow path. Better safe than sorry.

As for their destination? Northwest was where they're moving at, and Yang vaguely guessed that was 'the Altar' was the checkpoint of their adventure. Until something significant popped up during their journey, Yang had zero qualms about that.

"Yang."

"Yes love?"

"I've taught you almost everything you need to know about survival. Forage, shelter, navigation and more. Let's test you. When is your watch? For how long?"

"I'm not sure verbally reciting over ten thousand words per hour counts as 'teaching', but… five hours of sleep between ten to three, and a short thirty minutes nap during lunchtime, right?"

Ruby nodded, "That's correct. What about during emergencies? Let's say, separation without a tail. What do you do?"

"Oh. Oh that part. Actually, well, I'm still digesting so…"

"Yang, I'm not joking. This is very important," Ruby sighed before continuing, "Never mind that. Let's have you thoroughly memorize the basics again, okay? For a beginner, there are three things that you must never forget: Water, sleep, and goal. Are you near a water source? It is literally the most important thing when you're travelling outdoors. Get to the lowest possible ground and use your ears to pinpoint a rushing sound. If you're close, you won't miss it.

Next will be sleep. It's good that you have a camp, so there's no need to worry about building shelters yet. Me? I always sleep on a tree branch if I can ("Are you a monkey?") because it's safer and convenient. Speaking of which, you do not want to sleep too near a river in this case, because there are predators who frequent them during the night, not to mention those living inside the river. Always have a fire. They will keep most things away, and although the Grimm may still attack you won't be utterly defenseless in the dark.

Finally, direction. This is common sense, but you should know where you're going. You're not a celebrity explorer who drops in the middle of nowhere trying to make money out of the foolish and ignorant. Not to mention that nowadays, the need to travel by foot grows ever so smaller. Are you sure you don't want to fly to Atlas first and find me in a month or so, Yang?"

"Huh? Of course not! That will beat the whole purpose of adventuring itself, and I want to travel with you, not…" The blonde waved her hand about listlessly, "… to you, you know, if you get what I mean."

"I see," Ruby gave Yang a weird smile then before pressing her palms together, "Sure. But I must warn you again: the journey will not be easy, and I will be moving very fast. Efficiency is… critical. Are you okay with it?"

Yang laughed aloud and answered without thinking, "Is that a challenge I hear? Of course it is! This is my dream coming true, Ruby, it'll take more than just muscle aches or endless marches to hold me back!"

There was a gleam in Ruby's eyes, but the young girl turned away before Yang could make anything out of it, "That's great. Okay. We'll make haste for Atlas' borders in twenty days, and decide our next course there. Just in case, I believe we can catch a caravan or two for trade, so we won't be making stops at any town. Any questions?"

"None! Two hundred miles is just cake, sis! Oh, I can't wait to see Atlas already! Let's make it in fifteen! The greatest kingdom of science and warfare, here I come!"

"It's nice to see you excited, but we have to be realistic. Still," Ruby said wistfully, "Fifteen days, huh? I'll see what I can do."


And that was our first day. To be honest, everything was pretty much normal until that point. We climbed a hill, we talked about a ton of stuff, and past Huang Lau Shan I'm already seeing things I've never known in my life. Hell, a few hours down the road we even get to beat up a few Grimm and feel good about it. It was exactly how I imagined an adventure to be, and damn, at that time I was high enough to forgive someone for hurting my precious hair. Probably. Maybe just a punch to the groin, but really, everything was just – so – cool!

But thinking back though, that was exactly why I missed all the silent hints; cues of the days to come. If only I wasn't so foolish, then maybe I wouldn't have been hurt so badly on that day. Of course, I didn't know her nearly enough at the time – and I still don't, even if we are closer now – but really, I wished I had learned about it earlier. Even better, I wished she would just tell me.

But of course she wouldn't.