Even before her eyes opened she was aware that it was morning just by the sounds of the forest around her. The fire was still crackling and popping several feet from her.

The woods were still quiet save for the low buzzing of the cicadas in the trees and the far away barking of a dog. The birds were still quiet. The sun had yet to rise. Another sound gave her pause. It was a quiet scratching sound. It was familiar but she wasn't sure where she'd heard it before.

A silver eye peaked open to confirm what her ears and experience already told her.

Dawn hadn't yet broken but the sky was ever so slowly transitioning from the color of pitch to a darkened blue.

Sitting on the other side of the fire from her was Weiss, a leather bound book laid open in her lap as she scratched at the pages with a quill. Her eyes moved over the page, following the lines her hand was making before she stopped, regarded whatever she was doing carefully before glancing up and finding Ruby's cat like eyes looking back at her. She immediately stopped what she was doing and sat up straighter.

"You're awake. Good, we need to get moving." She said curtly as she capped the small inkwell at her side and stood, closing the book and stowing it inside her saddle bags.

With a grunt Ruby pulled herself up and yawned, arms stretching out over her head, making the leather squeak and the metal clink and rattle quietly as she moved.

"It's not even dawn yet." She mumbled through another yawn. She watched Weiss as she blinked away the sleep.

The Sorceress was putting away her things and running a hand down Stardust's neck.

Ruby found herself admiring the Sorceress's lithe figure. She was short. A few inches shorter than herself, (Ruby was by far not the most imposing Witcher to come out of the School of the Wolf) even in the heels she'd been wearing that night at Signal Castle.

The long white hair that dangled at her waist looked soft and only now was she picking up on the scent of perfume. It hadn't been so apparent at Signal around all the smells of food, but out here in the woods, it was glaring against the smells of dirt and grass.

The scent of peppermint wafted around their camp, more than apparent now that she was aware of it.

Weiss glanced over her shoulder and blue caught silver.

Ruby realized what she was doing and jumped up, turning away from the Sorceress's stare by bundling up her blanket.

'Nope, nope nope. Why do Sorceresses have to be so beautiful?' She thought to herself, annoyed that she'd been staring.

A quiet thud made her jerk back around.

Weiss had dropped her bag of provisions and was quickly grabbing them back up.

"You alright over there?" The Witcher checked.

"Of course I am." Weiss snapped, looking over at her. The fire cast a warm orange glow over her face.

"Alright…" Ruby said backing off and rolling up her pallet.

'Beautiful, but cranky.' Ruby thought to herself, strapping the blanket beneath the back of her saddle.

Zwei snorted, butting his head against Ruby's arm. Ruby chuckled and rubbed his soft pink nose before pulling a carrot out of a side pocket of her bags and feeding it to him.

She gnawed on a piece of hardtack from her bag while Zwei chomped on his carrot. Weiss glanced at the munching Witcher over her shoulder.

When everything had been stowed away Ruby set about kicking dirt onto the now smouldering fire until the smoke had dissipated.

With camp broke down they mounted and started out once again down the main road.

The summer sun was shining in their eyes as it rose over the jagged tops of the Glenn mountains.

Ruby shielded her sensitive eyes from the harsh light through the morning, until the sun had risen up and out of their line of sight, bringing with it the heat of the afternoon.

Ruby was hot under the layers of metal and leather, but that was nothing new for her. This time of year most men would have been dying of heatstroke, but her mutations just kept her uncomfortable at worst. She wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her leather clad forearm.

She glanced over at Weiss who seemed cool as ice as she rode along, bobbing gently in the saddle. Yang did the same thing in the summer.

"You're using a spell to keep yourself cool aren't you?" She said out of the blue, startling the Sorceress. That made her grin, which of course made Weiss huff.

"Of course. Why suffer the elements if you can bend them to your will?" Was the Sorceress's simple answer.

"That's basically what my sister said too..." Ruby mumbled remembering what Yang had said.

"To hell with that, I have magic."

"More or less…" She finished with a roll of her eyes. "Don't they teach a bunch of rules about how and when you use your magic in the academies?" Ruby turned to look at her companion.

"Of course not. There are no rules." Weiss scoffed. "It would be like someone telling you how to use your sword. Yes, there are certainly ways you shouldn't use it, but no one is telling you you can't. At one point the brotherhood of Sorcerer's did regulate the use of magic, mostly to keep the use of black magic to a bare minimum before it was dissolved."

Ruby hummed in reply.

"The first thing they teach you in Aretuza are the many scholarly and often contradicting and inconsistent definitions of what magic is, but the version Mistress Goodwitch taught me I think is the most applicable." Weiss nodded to herself.

"Which is?" Ruby asked, even if she was being lectured on the technicalities of magic, a subject she really knew very little about beyond monsters, it was nice to be having a conversation with the grouchy Sorceress.

"Magic is viewed by most as one of three things. Art, chaos or science." Weiss started.

"Those all sound like three very different things to me." Ruby said. Weiss silenced her with a look.

"Magic is an intense discipline requiring both talent and artistry. Those capable of mastering it are able to create beautiful and wondrous things which without our world would be a poorer place." She turned to see if Ruby was paying attention and pleased by the attentiveness carried on. "In the hands of the inexperienced or carless, magic; a primal and merciless force can lead easily to destruction and ruin." She pulled herself higher in her saddle.

"Chaos," Ruby mumbled under her breath, causing Weiss to look at her and give an almost imperceptible nod before going on.

"Lastly, magic requires knowledge, hardwork and intense study. By using magic we can better understand everything around us. It induces innovation, answers questions and cures diseases and thus is a particular science of its own." Weiss finished.

"Which do you believe it is?" Ruby asked her companion curiously. Weiss regarded her quietly for a moment.

"I believe, like Mistress Goodwitch, that magic is simultaneously all of those things."

"So…" Ruby finally said after a long moment of silence. "Magic is whatever the wielder uses it for."

"Essentially," Weiss agreed to the Witcher's assessment.

"Like being a Witcher." Ruby said. Weiss couldn't help but snort at that.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" The disbelief in her tone was obvious.

"After twelve you're too old for the trials that make us what we are, you'll die for certain, so all Witcher initiates are children under twelve. Children who are taken to become Witchers weather they want to or not, because the world needs them, like people with magical abilities, you don't get a choice." She said.

Weiss said nothing to this.

"They teach you and then let you go out into the world with two options, do what they trained you for or use those skills for other purposes. Most Witcher's set out on the path because we don't know anything else and honestly it's not the worst job in the world. There are always monsters to kill." She turned toward Weiss and smiled, reminding the Sorceress that they were on their way to hunt down a monster. "Some Witcher's become assassins, like those from the school of the Cat." She mumbled.

"I've heard of them. Assassins for hire." Weiss said. Ruby nodded.

"They gave us a silver sword and sent us out into the world, what we actually end up using that sword for…" Ruby trailed off and shrugged. "I don't think I'd say I'm glad I became a Witcher but as a child I decided that I wanted to help people and I can do that as a Witcher. Slaying monsters and keeping people safe." She grinned at the Sorceress.

Weiss stared silently at her companion, deep in thought.

A few hours later they were halfway into their trek through the mountain pass. The wind blowing from the south was blocked by the surrounding walls of towering stone, taking what little relief it had given Ruby from the heat of the day.

"I can't wait for winter." She sighed to herself.

A moment later the wolf head medallion trembled against her chest. She glanced around at the sheer walls of rock and saw and heard nothing. Her medallion couldn't have been wrong though, could it?

It was than she realized that the heat of the sun had vanished. Bright rays of light still streamed down on her constantly as they always did but the heat had vanished. She turned to Weiss with sudden realization but the Sorceress in question was pointedly not looking at her.

She smiled as she turned back to the road.

'Thanks,' She thought and smiled even wider when her companion grumbled something quietly to herself.


The sun was hanging low on the horizon when they rode up to the gates of Beacon castle.

A guard on the ramparts, perhaps recognizing Weiss, yelled for the gate to be opened. A tall man with unruly green hair and large round spectacles was waiting for them at the base of the steps leading up to the castle's great dismounted and stood in front of him.

"Ah, good, you've arrived." He greeted, speaking quickly and giving a polite bow to both woman. "I hope your journey went smoothly. Welcome back to Beacon Castle, Mistress Schnee."

"It was well, thank you Doctor Oobleck. Allow me to introduce Ruby Rose of Patch, a Witcher." She addressed the Doctor. "Ruby." She said turning to the Witcher. "This is Bartholomew Oobleck, he is the head physician here as well as the steward of the castle."

"Quite, it is my job to ensure that Beacon castle is running as it should and thus I am sorry to say that we couldn't meet under more agreeable circumstances, Mistress Witcher." He frowned.

"Don't worry about it." She said, ignoring the look Weiss was now giving her. "I'm here now so show me where you found the bodies."

"Ha, straight to business, I like it. Very well. The servants will show you to your quarters for the duration of your stay and then I shall lead you myself. I will meet you in the dungeon." He declared before quickly walking into the castle.

A servant with long inky black hair and amber eyes lead them both to the stables. She was moderately tall and the long pointed ears gave her away to any who saw her as an elf. she spoke only when spoken to as most servants did. Something about her just struck Ruby as inherently sad. Zwei and Stardust were left in the stables as they were lead back into the castle with their things.

"Your usual quarters were prepared for you, Mistress Schnee," The black haired elf gestured to one door and Weiss nodded, going inside without another word.

"These are yours, Mistress Witcher." She lead Ruby just across the hall to another door.

"Thank you." Ruby nodded to the servant before pushing open the door and walking into the room, leaving the door open behind her.

It was more or less the same as the room at Signal castle though it was decorated slightly different. She laid her things on the bed as she wandered about the room. One notable difference from her room at Signal were the doors leading out to a balcony, overlooking the castle gardens. She pushed open the door and stepped out to look at the garden in full bloom. The rays of the setting sun cast long shadows over the many different kinds of flowers and herbs growing below her: dark red roses, deep colored violets, and bright daffodils stood out against the dark greens. A mix of smells wafted up to her sensitive nose on the gentle breeze. The herbs were sharp against the softer smell of the flowers. She stood there a few minutes admiring the view.

The soft, distinctive 'pit pat' of now familiar, silent steps from behind alerted her to another presence.

The steps stopped and she waited a moment but the person made no sound. She glanced over her shoulder to find Weiss standing just outside the open doorway, watching. She jerked when she noticed the silver eyes looking back at her. She straightened up, embarrassed that the Witcher had caught her watching.

"Oobleck is waiting for us." She finally said in the most commanding voice she could muster at the moment with those slitted silver eyes still trained on her.

Ruby nodded and adjusted the sword strap on her shoulder as she stepped into the hall, closing the door behind her. Weiss led them through several halls, decorated much the same as Signal castle. Ornamental axes and suits of armor decorated the stone corridors, all accented by the green banner of Vale.

Oobleck stood waiting for them at the entrance to the dungeons, a guard stood at his side, each holding a lit torch.

"You're here, very good. We found the victims in the catacombs, beneath the dungeons." He informed them.

"Catacombs?" Ruby questioned.

"Yes. Beacon castle is quite old, it was at one point the seat of the kingdom. Beneath the dungeons are natural tunnels that reach several miles underground. The past Kings of Vale made use of these tunnels as crypts."

'Of course they did,' Ruby thought.

"However, the catacombs fell into disuse nearly one hundred and twenty years ago when the capital was moved to where Signal castle now stands. It was forgotten until recently…" He trailed off.

"How were the victims discovered in the catacombs?" Weiss demanded from the steward.

"Yes, well. A servant was caught stealing and was being taken to the dungeon, and the guards escorting him noticed the entrance to the catacombs had been left ajar and when they investigated… they found all the missing victims." He said quietly.

Weiss glanced at Ruby who nodded to the steward.

"Take me down." She said. Oobleck turned to the guard and nodded. He unlocked the dungeon and followed them inside.

The bright flickering sconces on the wall did little to eliminate the damp and darkness of the dungeon. This far underground the air was cool and stagnant.

Ruby glanced over the empty stockades and shackles as the walked through the dismal room. At the back of the room in a cell, shackled to the floor was a young servant. He dared not look at them when they passed, his head hung low.

Past his cell was an old door, the wood split and cracked from the damp atmosphere of the dungeon. A large iron padlock dangled from the latch.

Oobleck pulled a large ring of keys from the pocket of his pale yellow jerkin and a loud click and thunk filled the otherwise silent room. Oobleck pulled the door open and stepped to the side.

Behind the door was a stone tunnel leading down, presumably beneath the castle. Ruby stepped close and could see that the entrance to the tunnel had been carved away to fit the door that closed it off from the rest of the dungeon but further down it became natural.

"Alright, I'm going down." Ruby declared as Oobleck handed her his torch.

"We, are going down." Weiss corrected.

Ruby looked back at the determined face of the Sorceress. She'd only known Weiss for the better part of two days but she got the distinct impression that the mage was used to getting her way and would argue with her till day break if she told her no, not that Ruby could stop her anyway.

"Alright." she said simply as she started down the tunnel, holding the torch out in front of her.


The story continues. - Malthazar LOS

[Oobleck is awesome] -ODST110