Chapter Six

As a quick note, Yang is actually MUCH older in this AU, though Ruby's age is roughly the same as canon. Carry on.

Eons ago, back when the humans of Remnant were still scratching their sloped heads about what rocks were for, there was a Daemon named Malphas. The Patriarch of the Malphesian race, his knowledge of the cosmos and its magical workings were second nearly to none. The Father of Crows created his kind's own alphabet, Malphesis, with the intent of increasing his own power as well as keeping his kind's secrets that much further away from prying eyes. He was able to compile a single cipher before the Powers that Be found out, and they determined that just by the virtue of its existence, the cipher greatly threatened the cosmic balance.

Zerline herself handed down the edict, the Powers stripping all Malphesians of the ability to ever read the cipher or learn the written language to begin with, with the exception of Malphas. He was charged with maintaining the balance he so carelessly attempted to disrupt, and carried out the order by forming the Wild Hunt -to keep his word, both literal and figurative.

Now Raven, his direct descendant, stands in what was once his private chambers, staring with hauntingly similar eyes at ancient symbols she both does and doesn't recognize. Like Taiyang, she can't read them, but unlike him, she doesn't recognize it as anything in particular, and will forget all about it the moment it's out of her sight. That's how the magic works; all memory of it is freshly stricken from her mind the second it's acquired, vanishing as if it never was. But the fury certainly doesn't. The rage she feels right now will keep like a curse as her stomach churns and her jaw clenches slowly tighter, her molars creaking. With her arms crossed and a heavy scowl on her face, she lets her mind run rampant over all the new evidence she's been given. She finds a little comfort in believing that Qrow is doing the same, as his pose and expression are identical to her own. And, strangely, there's some consolation in Taiyang's presence too.

Eventually, after a tense, long silence, Raven's eyes lift -the sigils gone from her brain like a dream. "Coco confirmed the description Junior gave to the Shadowmancer?"

"Yes." Qrow nods once.

Raven's body expands and contracts heavily, as if breathing is like pulling against the world, and her exhale is a sound of resignation. "So Cinder lives."

"...Do you believe it's all connected now?" Tai has to ask, he had to hear her say it.

Another shrug, this one softer to get around the crow the Huntmaster is trying to swallow. "I do. The pieces fit together too well."

"So what's our next step?" Qrow loosens his posture, puts his hands behind him. "The Midden is closed off."

"I know. Is Glynda Goodwitch still on this plane?"

"Last I checked."

"See if she can do anything to help us open the gate, it's a long shot, but we can't risk overlooking any solution."

"What happened to the Gatekeeper?"

"She disappeared, but it would be better to consider it an abduction at this point, and Shaman Tanka has been after her for nigh on two years now. In any case, Cinder knows what she's doing, and her first step would have been to secure a safe zone."

"So she shut off an entire plane." Taiyang nods. "Then she took the Cornerstone."

"And I don't think we need to keep waiting for Oz's head to grow back to confirm that, but that's just my opinion." Qrow adds, and he looks to see both of them staring back at him, seemingly unreceptive to his attempt at humor. He's thankful they just return to the matter at hand.

"She must think Yang can tell her where the Scribe is." Tai continues. "Gods have mercy,"

"She's near the top of a very short list of anyone who could. But...until we can access The Midden again, there's next to nothing we can do."

The three of them look between each other, a brief and tense second, then Qrow nods. "I'll go spread the word to the rest of the Hunt, and Sienna while I'm at it."

"Good idea, and do your damnedest to track down another Gatekeeper, if there is one to be found. Happy hunting."

Qrow is gone from the room without another word, leaving behind only the echo of the heavy wood and iron door swinging open and clattering shut. Raven noticed all too quickly that her brother had taken some of her own comfort with him, and now she finds Taiyang more of a burden to share a space with. Just him being here makes her feel guilty, accused of several things.

"How can I help?" he asks softly. He knows she's feeling something less than at ease now, senses it like static as he always could. His sensitivity to her was one of the things that had drawn them together, once upon a time, because she guards herself too well and refuses to feel vulnerable; with him, she never had to.

Taiyang watches her staring at the floor, brow furrowed tightly, and her fingers curl slowly into her biceps. She's trying to swallow it all down, shove it into a place where it can't touch her.

"Raven,"

"Don't." she flinches, physically retreating. "Please don't."

Sympathy softens his face further, if that's even possible. "It's-,"

"You think I'm terrible, don't you?" she doesn't look at him, but manages to loosen the grip on herself and straightens. "Because I made us all wait and see."

"That's not your fault. You have a duty to uphold."

"At the cost of my own flesh and blood? And so easily too," the breathy laugh she adds to the statement is bitter, sardonic. "I know you think I don't care, but-,"

"That's not true." he cuts in. "I've never thought that."

"Still...Cinder is going to kill her. I know it. Just like she..." Raven swallows hard, trying to stop what would have been tears if Daemons could cry. "...S-Summer,"

He shouldn't, Tai knows he shouldn't because of her damnable pride, but at the moment he doesn't much care. He steps forward, meaning to ask forgiveness instead of permission as he chances to put his arms around her. Imagine his shock when she accepts, at least, accepts in a way that is uniquely her own. She doesn't reciprocate, but doesn't resist either, and tucks into his chest as if to hide.

Raven remembers this feeling, this sense of closeness and safety, and for a moment it's ages ago when they first met, when they were both young and stupid compared to the present. Back when the four of them, including Qrow and Summer, were something resembling friends; before becoming Huntmaster, before the impossible miracle of her own pregnancy, before Cinder Fall...

"Yang is going to die and it's my fault." She shudders in his arms with a curt gasp for breath.

"Don't sell Yang so short, she's tough, just like you. We'll find her." Tai does his best even though he knows she doesn't believe him. She's a natural born pessimist. "We're going to do everything we can, maybe even a few things we can't, and we'll bring her home." But he doesn't dare make a promise, not when even he -a living manifestation of Luck itself- isn't sure of the odds.

Raven has to push away, she won't let herself get too comfortable, and she's grateful that he lets her put space between them. "Cinder is going to be a step ahead of everything we do, she knows how the Hunt operates."

"Then we need to step faster, maybe get more feet on the ground, as it were." He chances a smirk with a lilt of his head. "I could...I can get the Mistrali cabals together, and I could ask Gypsy to spread the word in Vale, then there's Willow if she isn't doing that already -Kali too, for that matter. Sienna has connections in Vacuo and Qrow is already on his way to see her."

Raven's hands are fists at her sides, but not tight ones. Her scowl is tighter as she thinks and stares at the floor, her mind too busy to contain as she hisses "But is it enough?"

Part of Tai feels the question is rhetorical, because Raven has a tendency to do that when she's stressed or feels lost, which he wholly understands. But another part of him, the part that is still attuned to her, knows she's sincere. She really doesn't know what else to do.

"Have a little faith." He says finally, gently because he knows she hates to hear it. "And I know once you're able to move forward, you will. Gods help whoever is in your way when that happens."

By some strange twist of fate, Raven smiles. A little kink of a thing, but Tai knows what it is. For a brief second Raven wants to tell him she still loves him, that a part of her wants to try them again because it's obvious he still knows her like no one else does. But the Huntmaster pushes that down just as she had before, letting him have her little smirk and nothing more.

(II)

Schnees are notorious, in both the mundane and the supernatural communities, for taking matters into their own hands, so one could easily imagine the almost smug pride on Willow's face when Weiss suggested as much in regards to Yang's disappearance. Weiss is in no way content to just stand by and wait for the Hunt to get it's act together, and, though she felt the need to caution her daughter for the sake of her own responsibility to the cosmic balance, Willow wholeheartedly agreed.

"Going over Raven's head will likely get the Powers' eyes on you, but I'd imagine they would make an exception if you can keep the Cornerstone from being misused." Willow strides unhurriedly but with purpose through the family manor, Weiss on her left and Tanta padding along on her right. Blake is just behind Weiss, ears back with unease.

"I'm having a rather difficult time caring at the moment, mother. Besides," determination furrows her brow, "unless I threaten some cosmic law or another, the Huntmaster can't stop me."

"True enough." Willow's smiling again, and Tanta rumbles softly. "Do you feel the same way, Blake?"

The Faunus' ears flit upward, mildly surprised at being addressed; Blake could count on one hand how many times her and Willow had spoken before. "I do. I'd do anything for Yang, but I'm sure you understand I would much rather Raven not find out that we're basically giving her the middle finger."

"Hah! Indeed! Though giving the Huntmaster the bird would be absolutely priceless!"

Weiss rolls her eyes; clearly her mother and Yang had been spending far too much time together. But the frustration morphs into a sort of dread, and all of a sudden her thoughts do a one-eighty and she's praying they will get to spend more time together.

Willow leads them through the house, to the far end of the second floor. Blake can feel the energy shifting around them, the fur on her ears bristling as she acknowledges a supernatural pitch in the air. It gains weight by degrees, every step bringing the three of them to its source until Willow pushes through a pair of wooden doors that groan open.

The Schnee Cabal is, at present, one of the only groups that have tempted the results of melding magic with technology, so Willow's archive is not much at all like one would expect a Witch's to look like. It's pristine, sterile, and in place of bookshelves there is a collection of servers and digital storage units. All of them lead up to a single terminal equipped with several monitors and a console that looked more appropriate for an aircraft considering all the dials and buttons and things. Willow only has to snap her fingers for the terminal to switch on, at least one of the servers starting to hum as the screens fill the room with a faint blue light.

Willow taps a selection of keys with one hand, still half facing her daughter. "You know what you need to do Weiss, so I'll leave you to it while I arrange some provisions for you both."

"I was hoping we wouldn't be staying in The Midden very long." the tension Blake feels is almost audible. Traveling through the shadows across Remnant is one thing, but planeswalking?

"Assuming we can get there at all? Taiyang said whatever is going on there is blocking Gypsy," Weiss chimes in as she now stands before the cluster of monitors, one of her hands moving to a roller on the console made of pearly glass. With it she starts cycling through files, knowing what she's looking for.

"But Gypsy Arc, Powers preserve her, doesn't love Yang like you do." Willow's expression suddenly shifts. "Unless something has changed since her husband died?"

Weiss has to stop and think, blinking at the screen before responding. "Not that I know of." Then she shakes her head, trying to chase the very idea from her mind. "Here it is."

"Better get started then, before your sister comes looking for you." Because one would be hard pressed to find a Sentinel more dedicated to their duty than Winter.

Weiss only nods, unconsciously listening to the sound of her mother's heels as she leaves the archive. On the screen is a digital replica of the planar sigil for The Midden, identical to the one on Zerline's Atlas; Weiss hits a few more keys, the image on the monitor shuddering as the screen manages to project the emblem onto the middle of the floor just behind her.

Blake cautiously approaches, trying to swallow a touch of shock at witnessing this. Again, magic and tech rarely mix even today. "Is this going to work?"

"We're not using it to travel, it's so I can recreate the seal quicker." Weiss explains. "You have something of hers, don't you? Something Yang gave you?"

"Yeah." Blake just nods, eyes averted for a split second as a slight redness tinged her face. "You?"

Without thinking Weiss reaches up with one hand, touching the lobe of one ear and the strangely warm surface of her earring: a golden scale. Each of them carried a piece of her, something intimate that would allow Weiss to hone in on Yang even from a plane away.

Blake nods again. "You've planeswalked before, right?"

"Admittedly, it's not my strong suit, but yes." and she sounds like she's not just trying to convince Blake, but herself as well.

"I still don't see how this is going to work." Blake is shaking her head, still staring at the mark on the floor. "How can you do something the Hunt can't?"

"I don't know." Weiss shrugs. "But I have to try. Who knows, maybe we'll get lucky." and she tries a chuckle, hoping to ease some tension but feeling like she fails miserably when Blake just looks at her. She wavers. "I-I better get started."

For a moment Blake just watches her, partly mesmerized by Weiss' hand moving a piece of chalk across the floor under the guiding light of the projector. Then she shakes it from her head. "Can I do anything to help?"

"Have you ever been to the Midden before?"

"No. Have you?"

"I'm afraid it was...some time ago, and it was only for a moment really. I was just learning to planeswalk," she pauses to stretch and complete the first of several circles. "But I have been there."

Blake crosses her arms and smirks. "Oh yeah, aren't you a prodigy who learned to planeswalk before her tenth birthday?"

Weiss pauses again, her hand stilling as well. "Seventh."

"Ah, my mistake."

"In any case," Weiss starts again, beginning to outline the lunar moth of the sigil, "the Midden is mostly old growth forest, not unlike Mistral. You've been there, right?"

"Frequently."

"Then, depending on where we come out -if we can even get in- it will be just like Mistral."

"And if we don't?"

"We'll figure it out." She uses the edge of one finger to adjust an uneven line. "In any case, you can use the console there to access a map of the plane, at least get yourself somewhat familiar with it."

Blake lifts her eyes to the nest of screens, her ears twitching. "Almost need a map just to navigate this." All the same she approaches it, hesitating but a moment before she hits a couple keys. It takes some doing, and few huffs of frustration, but eventually she finds what she's looking for and starts to study the digitally recreated image of an ancient map on one of the other screens.

Once Weiss has finished she'll come to stand beside Blake, refreshing her own memory of the place, rattling off several strings of information when Blake asks for them. The Midden is the home plane for most if not all Fae folk, even those that dwell on Remnant can trace their lines back to it. It's a place of mystery and incredible risk, something as simple as introducing yourself could land you in serious trouble, but it is also a plane of wondrous beauty. However, the one time Weiss had visited the Midden as a child had been part of tradition, where she added her name to a longstanding treaty between White Witches and the Fae that had ended centuries of callous hunting of other magical creatures native to the plane, so she didn't have much time to really appreciate it.

But she's confident that her memory of the trip is mostly intact, which is more than Blake had to work with for the time being.

Oh gods, I'm leading my girlfriend's girlfriend to -likely- rescue my girlfriend. The reality hits the young Witch like a house, and as much as she hates using that euphemism, it's the only way she knows how to accurately describe the feeling. She and Blake were, by no means, estranged, but they certainly aren't as close as they were to Yang. Something about being the authority on this matter just didn't feel right, would Blake trust her?

"I can hear you worrying." Blake says softly, eyes still trained on the screen.

"Schnees do not worry, they calculate risk." Willow announces as she comes strolling back into the room. "Now, my dear, I've packed you both enough rations for about a week, though I pray you won't have to be gone that long. If you should run out, however, do be careful when you're foraging." Because the last thing she needed was her daughter becoming Fae.

Weiss straightens and brushes any creases out of her clothes, waiting for her mother to come close enough before accepting one of the backpacks Willow carried. "Yes, mother, of course."

Willow nods, her eyes set with a touch of resigned concern. She'll pass the other pack to Blake, "Also," and then half turn to Tanta, the snow leopard standing beside her with something in her mouth, "I think you'll need this."

Weiss' eyes steadily widen as her mother takes the heavy, leather clad length of a sword from her familiar, letting the weapon rest in both hands as she presents it forward. "M-Myrtenaster...you think I'm ready?"

"I do. And I think the only reason I hadn't done this sooner is because I didn't see the need. Matters never seemed this serious before." When Weiss takes the sword her hands fold in front of her. "I don't know who this Cinder Fall is, but I mean to take Lord Xiao Long's reaction to her mention as a word of warning. I want to make sure you're prepared."

For a moment Weiss is too awestruck to speak; she can count on one hand the number of times she had been able to lay hands on it, and now her mother was passing it on to her. Myrtenaster has been in the Schnee Family since...forever? It was made before the Schnee name even existed, so who knew for sure? In any case, this, to Weiss, is a huge responsibility, but also an incredible honor and show of trust. She manages to swallow down the butterflies and look her mother in the eye. "I'll do my best, I won't disappoint you."

"I should be the last person you're concerned with pleasing." Willow chuckles, controlling the urge to feel like this is indeed all about her -Schnees can be a vain bunch sometimes. "This isn't about me, or the company, or the cabal...it's about the woman you love."

Weiss blushes a little, not caring that her mother can likely see the red splotches forming on her cheeks.

"Bring your sunshine home," Willow steps forward, putting her hands beneath Weiss' as they continue to hold Myrtenaster, her fingers forming around to supplement her daughter's grip. "And if this Cinder Fall, or anyone else, has caused Yang any suffering," That quiet concern suddenly morphs, the pale iciness of Willow's eyes suddenly so vibrant, "see to it that you repay it threefold."

"I will, mother."

Willow will watch with visible pride, Tanta beside her replicating the expression in her own way, as Weiss leads Blake to stand within the circle of the sigil on the floor. They face each other, holding hands as is often the way of things with magic, and the Schnee Matriarch feels the pitch in energy in the room that coincides with the images on the still working monitors to scramble. The air in the room starts to stir, spinning in little gusts at first, and then begins to whistle with steadily growing force. The seal beneath their feet flickers and flares, then glows in a kaleidoscope of gold and green.

Weiss almost immediately senses resistance; once her powers reach out it is quickly repulsed. But she keeps pushing. Magic rebounds and crackles along her nerves, borderline painful, but she refuses to retreat. With one last heave of her very soul, focusing on the faint glimmer of Yang in the ether, the invisible path from Remnant to The Midden opens to her, and a column of light erupts from the seal that swallows her and Blake whole.

(III)

She hadn't been sleeping, but she had been in bed. Cinder had been lounging comfortably against a literal pile of pillows, Emerald's cold blooded self tucked against her, when an incredible pain ripped through her. Cinder jackknifes off the bed and tumbles to the stone floor with a tearing shriek, the marks hidden in her skin glowing to searing brilliance and even hissing as coils of steam rise from the seals carved along the length of her spine. But it isn't heat Cinder feels, it's a chill more frigid than the touch of Death itself, and it's so cold it burns.

Even with all the commotion, Emerald is slow to fully wake -her kind is like that, some losing centuries to a nap. But once her awareness is in full swing she's up and out of bed in a flash, rounding quickly to the far side to where Cinder lay, now face up and spreadeagled, panting heavily through a clenched jaw of tusks and fangs, her eyes wide with pain and shock as they smolder with a solid gold fury that's only begun to build.

At first, Emerald isn't sure what to do. "C-Cinder,"

"Shirt." she hisses forcefully.

Emerald scrambles to find her clothes, snatching what she hopes is a shirt off the floor and bringing it to her. Stiffly Cinder rolls onto her elbows and knees, her head still hanging as she whips out her hand and takes the garment Emerald offers. Smoke is starting to coil around her teeth when she gets to her feet, jerking the tunic over her head. Emerald will watch her skulk out of the room with a startling grace, swallowing loud enough to hear once she's out of sight. Gods above, she is so angry.

Cinder will remain on this floor, stalking the halls like a blooded hound, still golden eyes set forward and lips twisted into a tusky snarl. The sigils on her body are still livid, lighting the night-dimmed corridor, and her frame throbs with both rage and pain, and those feelings only surge as she nears her destination. The closed, heavy wooden door she finds is no match for her anger, and blasts apart under the impact of her fist. The lanterns in the room are lit, meaning the occupant is awake, and the once calm flames within the iron and glass flare and growl in Cinder's presence. And there in the roiling glow beside the lone and simple bed, is a Faunus woman trembling in her nightclothes.

"You useless scrap of manimal trash!" Cinder bellows as she advances, the glow of a bonfire in her throat and morphing her voice with rumbles and crackling sparks. "What made you think I wouldn't fucking feel it?!" And she punctuates the question with a hard swing of her hand, her knuckles connecting with cheekbone and sending the other woman to the floor.

Cinder looms over her, still fuming, smoke rising to the ceiling and filling the room with the pungency of ash and brimstone. With a snap of her fangs Cinder snatches a handful of cloth and hoists the dazed woman just enough to have proper leverage to lay a couple more solid blows to her face, the last one resounding with a wet pop and the snap of bone.

"You dare let a Schnee cross over onto my plane?!" When she doesn't get an answer quick enough, Cinder hoists her up and puts her hard to the nearest wall. "You better have a damn good explanation, or I'm going to turn that lovely tail of yours into an otter skin purse." And, truthfully, the low register of that last threat is somehow more terrifying than the screaming.

Tag sputters on the blood in her mouth, trying to suppress it as best she can so it doesn't get on Cinder and earn her another round of beating. "I f-felt it too. Tried to stop it, but there's only so much I can do against planeswalking. I swear I tried." she whimpers, tears starting roll down her bruised cheeks. "I swear."

Cinder knows she isn't lying, knows she can't, but that does nothing to smother her anger. Her eyes narrow, nostrils flaring as she exhales and unleashes a fresh cloud of smoke and embers. "You are. So. Lucky that you're still useful to me."

Tag doesn't dare respond, even if she had something to say she wouldn't have the guts to let it out. Not when Cinder's glowing like a furnace, all eyes and teeth, and looking to have her horns starting to push up through her hair.

"This won't happen again." Cinder growls slowly.

Tag shakes her head quickly, hoping it's enough of an answer to satisfy her, almost relieved when Cinder looses her grip and lets her hit the floor. Tag flinches away when Cider turns and stalks back the way she had come, lingering in the doorway to say one last thing. "Don't sleep too soundly, I'll have work for you soon."

This time she just nods, chin tucked and eyes shut, unable to open them until Cinder is gone. She'll flinch again when she hears the harsh echo of Cinder screaming in the hallway for Emerald.

Emerald is hopping as fast as she can in an attempt to pull up her pants and not fall flat on her face at the same time as heeding Cinder's summons. When she catches up Cinder simply walks on, expecting her to follow.

"There's a Schnee in The Midden." Cinder seethes, though she sounds to be calming a little.

"Oh." she feels a surge of heat across her skin and suddenly can't keep her eyes anywhere but on the floor ahead of her. "Any idea which one?"

"Doesn't matter, she dies." Cinder says succinctly. "Send Adam."

Emerald feels the small hairs on her neck bristle. "A-alright...now?"

"Obviously. Then meet me in the tower."

Emerald nods once, and the two will part ways in the stairwell at the end of the corridor.

Outside the fortress, along it's north wall, the Wraith materializes out of nowhere, creating its usual mercury silhouette. It lingers there, just outside the glow of the rampart torchlight, appearing to look out over the forested valley that surrounds the place. Then, without prompting, it descends the wall and drifts across the grounds to disappear into the trees.

(-)

"Weiss? Weiss, c'mon, get up."

It sounds like a distant echo, but she understands. She understands that she doesn't like the sound of it as it feels like it's rattling her eardrums and making her brain burn. As more of her senses come into focus the less she wants them too, feeling a dull crackle of pain beneath her skin as her body bows in on itself.

"Weiss, please, we can't stay here." there it is again, making her ears ring. "Don't make me carry you."

There's a hand, Weiss' feels it's weight and with it a shock of static intense enough to make her body jerk. Her arm swings wide, warding off, and though her jaw doesn't move she tries to speak.

"Shit." Blake hisses. She wishes they could wait, but it's night; the forest surrounding them is alive with creatures she can't name, and they just happened to come through right in the middle of an obvious circle of large, spotted mushrooms. Blake has never been here, but she knows damn good and well you don't fuck around in Fairy Rings. "I'm sorry."

Being a Faunus allows her to see well enough to crouch down and start gathering the smaller Witch into her arms, finding Weiss surprisingly light. But she won't settle to have both of her hands occupied with weight, and so ducks her head and swings upward, Weiss' waist bending across the back of her neck with a reactionary grunt of discomfort. "I'm sorry." Blake repeats, hooking her arm behind one of Weiss knees and then reaching across her own chest to grab one dainty feeling wrist.

Carefully, so carefully, Blake tiptoes outside the circle and walks on, mindful of not looking back. She'll keep her eyes on the ground ahead, on the lookout for more because she knows they tend to cluster, and the longer she goes without seeing more, the more confident she feels to stretch out with her Shadowmancy. It lets her feel the layout of the woods, not just see, and allows for quicker, surer movement. Blake lets the shadows guide her to where the trees break up and open to the edge of a river at the foot of a waterfall too tall to see the top of. It's far enough from the rings that she no longer feels the buzz of their energy against her felid ears, so she feels comfortable enough to stop.

"Please...down." Weiss groans. "Throw up."

Blake heeds the warning as quickly as she can, not wanting a stripe of vomit down her back. She helps Weiss to her feet, then down to sit in the grass by the water. She waits, ears folded back to muffle the sounds she hates -sounds that, thankfully, never come.

Weiss holds her head in her hands, swaying even as she sits still. Finally she takes a composing breath. "Ow."

"Are you going to be okay?"

"Ugh, momentarily. That was...something."

"What happened?"

Weiss rubs her face hard with both hands before lifting her head and clearing her throat. "Two things; one is that someone was pushing back, and the second was a Gate Ward. Felt like being pushed through a cheese grater."

Blake cringes, her ears tilting out to the sides. "Can I do anything?"

"Mother didn't happen to pack us any aspirin, did she?"

"Let me check."

Weiss doesn't like being jerked as Blake elects to search her pack, but let's it slide as she simply doesn't have it in her to complain.

"Um..."

"What?"

"Does...a bag of salt mean anything to you?"

"Oh, yes, I need that too." Weiss nods and angles her hand back as a request for it to be passed to her. "I don't have the strength to put up a circle right now, so this will keep us safe while we rest a while.

"Got it." Witchcraft isn't her forte, so Blake just accepts it. "And here's your aspirin."

"Thank goodness." She happily takes the bottle, giving it a reassuring shake before uncapping it a tipping back head to help her swallow a pair of tablets. Without having to ask, Blake passes her a bottle water, taking it with a quiet thank you. After that she takes a moment to simply sit, gather herself back together and settle, before carefully standing up.

Blake watches her, initially curious to what she's up to, but the interest fades as Weiss opens the satchel of salt and starts pouring it out on the ground. She'll make a complete circle around them, just wide enough for them to be able to lie down without worry of breaking the barrier. Blake had heard of this before, unable to remember where or when, but she had also heard that circles like these were old wives tales and didn't actually work. But this was Weiss, if it didn't work, she wouldn't be using it. When she's done, Weiss flops back down to the patch of grass where she had been.

"Can you take first watch?" and the request is riddled with a whimper.

"I was going to." Blake smirks. "Get some sleep, princess."

Weiss situates her backpack just so, using it as a pillow as she settles further down and on her side. The grass is surprisingly soft. "Only Yang calls me that."

"I know. It's cute, it suits you."

"I was more stating a fact. In other words, I'd prefer it if only Yang calls me that."

"Ah. My apologies."

"...I'm sorry, I didn't mean for that to sound so snappy."

"You're exhausted, I get it, don't worry about it."

"It," Weiss pauses, feeling vulnerable. "It's not just that. I'm scared."

"I sensed that." Blake's voice has softened. "Maybe once the interference of crossing over passes, you'll be able to feel her presence. I can, she's far, but not as far as she was."

Weiss exhales, actually finding a little comfort. "Good... that's good."

"We'll find her."

Weiss has a flurry of responses in her mind, unsure of which one to choose. Instead she simply reaches out until she touches something, the fatigues of Blake's black clothes. It's her way of saying I want to believe, but I'm too uncertain to get my hopes up. There's a spark of surprise when she feels the warmth of Blake's hand smooth over hers, leading Weiss to believe she may be feeling the same thing.

Author's Note: This chapter feels incredibly awkward, then again that could just be me because I'm so inconsistent these days. I dunno. Please, comments are really helpful, as are questions, so feel free to send them my way. Thankfully the reception so far has been positive, so I'm running with it as best I can. Next chapter, everything is going to -more or less- kick off, so it's probably going to be a long one. Hope to see you there!