A/N:

I'm so sorry for not updating this (or anything for that matter) for so long. I'll keep my explanation of my absence brief: laptop warranty, pile of work, the big brother and fat cousin to that pile, new jobs, and general life.

If any of that didn't make sense, don't worry. I'll be updating everything at least once before Friday, and will also be posting a new story that I started while my hard drive was on vacation.

And to the reviewers who thought the last chapter was a little off... I understand your point, but I assure you that there is method to the madness. Also: this isn't supposed to be one of those happy, idyllic romances. Remnant is a dangerous world. And despite being trained, they're still fairly new to experiencing its cruelty.

Anyways, on a lighter note: This chapter is a little lighter and fluffier. Please enjoy!

It was nearing the end of dawn as Weiss sat upon the floor, her recently closed scroll in her hands. This wasn't a common occurrence, but then again, neither were the events of the previous night. Even thinking about all that would come from their actions had been a set of thoughts Weiss found herself avoiding. Evidence of this was the mess of supplies she slowly packed back into their packs as if hoping that her teammate might wake before she was finished. The distraction wasn't near as potent as she'd wished.

Ruby had cried in her arms until a little less than five hours previously as Weiss tried in vain to calm the storm that had burst forth in Ruby's eyes. Even now after Ruby had long fallen asleep, she sat awake because of the tortured and haunted look behind those usually joyful silver orbs. Every time she closed her eyes, she'd see visions of the body falling to the ground or of the pain behind Ruby's eyes as she coughed and gagged herself hoarse over the waste basket that was the only luxury the room housed other than the single bed she now slept on. And all of that was Weiss's own fault.

She forcibly stopped her train of thought there before she made herself start to cry and tried to think of something, anything other than Ruby literally crying herself to sleep. She pushed that portion of the night to the side of her mind and recalled instead the first thing she'd done after Ruby'd fallen into the dead slumber that now kept her still.

It had taken her almost three hours to clean Ruby's weapon from all evidence of it's deed, the process made longer from the remorseful tears Weiss had shed as she accepted that the dark staining on the blades were her fault, and hers alone. If she'd been faster, if she'd been stronger, if she had used a different tactic… she would have spared Ruby the torment of taking another's life. But she wasn't fast enough. Nor was she strong enough, and she'd used a tactic that had come to her in the moment of crisis. But these weren't any excuses that she'd accept. She was in her final semester at Beacon Academy, the leading school on Remnant for training hunters and huntresses, and she was also at the top of her class in everything except her sparring record. Getting knocked down by an assailant and nearly getting killed was a failure larger than every failure she could possibly imagine, except it wasn't. She'd failed at the one thing more important than that.

She'd failed her promise to be Ruby's best teammate. She'd forced her hand to intervene in a fight that wasn't hers and by doing so, forced her to take another's life. That blood, though it fell on Ruby's hands, stained hers deeper than she could have possibly imagined.

She already knew that there was little chance for an inquiry to be filed about the incident, and was relieved that she wouldn't need to relive the incident to get her partner acquitted. Although she knew better than to hope against reliving the night one more time when the headmaster debriefed them at the conclusion of their mission. And she feared what her dreams would show her when she inevitably fell into sleep.

She carefully replaced the bag holding the cleaning equipment back by the wall and slowly looked over at her teammate, hoping that her sleep was quiet and restful. Ruby hadn't moved at all since she'd rolled over and placed her open hand on Weiss's shoulder as if just that small contact was enough to bring her comfort. Her eyes were still behind their lids and her breathing came in slow, deep breaths, confirming that she actually slept and Weiss found herself wishing with every fiber of her being that Ruby would awake and help her move past the self-imposed hell she'd created in her mind. But though the people bowing to her had thought her a demon, Weiss only looked upon an angel.

Izanami, they had called her. The fear of the people penetrating the air had left a lasting impression on Weiss and she couldn't honestly blame them. One thing she'd learned in her time at Beacon was the reason hunters and huntresses were feared. When they fought for real, they were more terrifying than most grimm, and that's no easy level to reach.

In the remaining time as she waited patiently for morning, she'd researched the name Ruby had been called. She only finished her research a few minutes ago, and could tell why the people would be afraid, if not terrified of the cloaked girl.

According to Mystralian lore, Izanami was a goddess of both creation and death. Weiss had come across a picture that had frozen her blood as she'd taken in the details. It was an old painting set in an obscure and dark forest, but the creature it depicted was one Weiss had seen many times over her time at Beacon. A shrouded figure with a bright red hood, precisely the same shade as Ruby's, but with the features beneath shrouded in dark shadows that made it impossible to tell of the appearance of the being beneath it. The limbs were all clad in black and the left hand held a scythe made of dark red fire. Once she'd moved past the shock of seeing the painting that was easily older than her grandfather, yet so similar to her partner, Weiss read the attached description that spoke of the goddess creating the swamps and all the life they housed. The god had been murdered by a messenger god who grew frustrated of traveling through the mud and become the caretaker of those who died within her swamp. As a tribute, her husband had created a place that was more dangerous than any other in the swamp in order to lure more souls to the underworld. The place of death had been well received by the goddess who soon sought to expand the region, until her powers were sealed by her husband who feared she'd become power hungry. Weiss hadn't needed to read further to know that this was the Mystral Anomaly that was marked on all maps of the region.

This distraction too, lasted only as long as it took to think through the information that she'd gathered. It didn't matter either way. Ruby was no vengeful god, no matter what others chose to believe.

She turned to look at her partner, to ensure she was resting peacefully. The calm look on Ruby's face seemed to help with her stress levels. Ruby's cheeks were puffed out slightly and her lips parted in a manner that made Weiss want to brush them with her own. Ruby's breathing was slow and soft, a peaceful rest that Weiss prayed wasn't plagued with images of horror.

If she was being honest with herself, Weiss wanted to end the mission now to just cut their losses, but she didn't want to give her father yet another reason to withdraw her from Beacon. Not that she could predict what he had planned, since she'd expected him to say something… anything really, but he had yet to even send her a message on her scroll. Though she wasn't entirely sure she was within range of the nearest CCT tower so it was quite possible that he had already.

Weiss sighed and leaned her head back against the bed and looked up at the ceiling. Paint was crumbling off and there was a water stain near the corner, but there was nothing else to look at, so she just stared as she felt her eyelids finally pulling themselves down over her eyes. She didn't want to sleep, she wanted to be there the second Ruby awoke to make sure she was okay. But she'd been awake for so long she could no longer keep that need at bay.

"I'm so sorry, Ruby." She mumbled as her consciousness faded into darkness.

Weiss's eyes snapped open as a groan was barely stopped at her lips. Her neck had a kink in it and her back hurt from sitting on the hard wood floor for so long. Ruby seemed to have shifted onto her back, leaving her hand on Weiss's shoulder but otherwise seemed no different than when Weiss had last checked.

Weiss noticed that with Ruby's new position, there was a spot on the bed large enough for her to fit and slowly stood as her blood rushed into her cramped limbs. She carefully ensured that Ruby wouldn't wake by keeping her hand on her shoulder as it had gripped tighter when she'd first stood. Weiss slowly started to carefully crawl over Ruby to the open side of the bed. She only made it half way.

Ruby's eyes snapped open in a panic. She tightened her grip on Weiss's shoulder as she realized where they were and the ghost of her dream faded. As it did, tears appeared in Ruby's eyes and Weiss didn't make any move to continue. She knew how it would look with her hovering over Ruby the way she was but didn't bother to care because Ruby didn't seem to either. What the girl needed was someone who could simply be there for her, and at the moment Weiss was the only one who could fill that requirement.

"Shh…" She leaned down and gently kissed away the tears before they started to fall down Ruby's face. "Everything's okay."

Ruby nodded and pulled Weiss close, letting out a shaky breath then several more as she pulled herself back from the brink of tears.

"I'm sorry." Ruby mumbled into Weiss's ear at length. Weiss waited, knowing Ruby had to get whatever demon had possessed her out in the open. "It's all my fault."

"No. Don't even start on that idea." Weiss whispered back quickly and strongly, hoping to let Ruby know with the conviction in her voice that there was nothing to apologize for. Ruby slowly released Weiss and rested her arms at her sides.

Weiss pushed herself up so she could look into Ruby's face but she'd turned to the side, her eyes trained at the blank wall next to the bed. Ruby seemed to have zoned out so Weiss bent to give her a gentle kiss on her cheek, hopeful that the contact would help bring back a semblance of her partner.

"Don't do that." Ruby's voice rang out gravelly as she stiffened at the touch. Weiss had no intention of obeying the command and repeated her action. "I said stop!"

Ruby pushed Weiss up, keeping her arm stiff so Weiss wouldn't close the space between them. Weiss waited patiently as Ruby's breathing started to calm once again.

"Why?"

This whispered question froze any remaining movement in Ruby. Making her turn slowly to Weiss in confusion.

"I'm a murderer. I don't deserve this… this…" Ruby lost her ability to form words as she lost herself in Weiss's eyes.

"No Ruby. You're the farthest thing from that." Weiss breathed, forcing Ruby's hand off her shoulder so she could close the space between them. This time she rested her weight on her girlfriend so she wouldn't get pushed away again if Ruby still wanted to argue. "It was me or him. You're my savior… my hero, Ruby."

Weiss closed the remaining space and after a moment, Ruby relented into the gentle pressure of Weiss's lips. Weiss pulled away even wishing she didn't have to. But business before pleasure.

"He was going to kill me when you stepped in. And if you didn't kill him, he would have killed you too." Weiss knew her words sounded hollow, trying to justify the extinction of a life, but there really was no way to do that. "If the roles were reversed, I… I would have done the same thing."

"But-" Ruby was silenced by another quick peck.

"Ruby… even if I have to remind you every day, remember that you saved my life, not how you did it." Weiss felt horrible that Ruby had to get involved. Now it was her duty to put everything right. "You… are the only one who puts a real value on me that has nothing to do with my family…. But I want you to know that because of that… I owe you more than I could ever even start to repay."

"You don't-"

"Yes, I do." Weiss argued, already knowing Ruby's argument. "And I will, even if that means…. Even if that means going against my father to do it."

"Weiss… what are you saying?" Ruby asked in a hush.

"What I'm saying is…" Weiss hesitated, wondering exactly what she wanted, and where she was going with the conversation. She was sitting at the verge of two paths her life could take. One large and open, the other narrow and restrictive. It was finally obvious to her which one she should take. "I've decided what I want to do after this mission. I want to stay at Beacon, whatever that entails, and become a huntress… with you."

"But what about-"

"They don't matter." Weiss cut Ruby off harshly. "Listen, I don't know what's going to happen when we get back. But you… I'll fight to stay with you. I know it's not much and it's only a start, but… I promise to you that I won't willingly leave you. You're the most important person in my life, Ruby. I… you've shown me how much you care, and all I want to do is show you how much you mean to me."

Ruby's jaw hung open. She'd only heard Weiss use any sort of promise once before, and had been informed that promises were the most important value in her family. It meant that no matter what, Weiss would carry it out no matter what the consequences were and no matter what lengths she had to go to make it happen. It meant that Weiss had basically just sworn her loyalty to Ruby like a knight to a kingdom, no… it was even more than that. It was like a ninja assassin swearing loyalty to a single master. Okay, I'm definitely not reading Blake's books again…

"Listen, I know it's not exactly the best guarantee you'll ever get, but its what I can do for now. And-"

Ruby shook her head to clear it and then met Weiss's lips in a kiss she knew wouldn't even start to describe how happy she felt. All the thoughts of the previous night dulled into the back of her mind as Weiss pulled her close, forgetting the words still on the tip of her tongue as Ruby caught it with her own. She could feel the arguments Weiss had presented clicking into place within her as she accepted them one by one with a small gasp of air each time. Yes, she'd killed another person. No, it hadn't been murder. Yes, there hadn't truly been any other options. And yes, he'd been a murderer first. She'd killed a murderer, much like the justice systems in the capital cities. Much like the hunters that were sent out to find the most dangerous of said criminals, she'd only protected what was important. She'd protected her team, her partner, her girlfriend, herself, and who knows how many others if the man was left to his own devices.

Weiss broke the kiss, pushing Ruby back down into the bed. She was breathing heavily and Ruby saw the battle taking place behind her eyes, but paid it no mind. She was too happy at the moment. After a few calming breaths, Weiss removed herself from the position so they could sit up. Ruby took Weiss's hands and leaned into her, fitting her head on the heiress's shoulder. And she finally realized one thing she hadn't before.

"You shouldn't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it." Ruby mumbled.

"What?" Weiss sounded surprised. "What makes you think I can't?"

"You can't just ignore your father." Ruby replied. "Last time I checked, he had you under his thumb."

Weiss blanched. She took a deep breath, ready to tell Ruby just how serious she'd been. "I can guarantee my family will not like it when we go public with our relationship. And yes, I plan to do so when we get back as long as you're okay with it. I have enough personal savings invested to pay for the remaining time at Beacon, so I don't have to worry about if they withdraw their financial support. In other words, they might disown me Ruby. But I'm prepared for that. I've been prepared for a long time already. And if that means I get to stay with you, then I'll welcome it as well. Because if all I am to them is some figurehead for the company, I'd rather not deal with them at all. I'm not saying it'll be easy, but I can do it…. We can do it."

The silence that followed was comfortable. There wasn't anything either girl had to say and simply the presence of the other repaired the atmosphere of security that had been so badly damaged after the previous days. After a few moments, Weiss felt she needed to voice the question that she felt she knew the answer to already.

"Will you be okay?"

It took a while but Ruby finally responded by taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. "I will be, as long as you'll be there."

Weiss simply nodded and the two returned to their silence, simply drawing comfort from the silence. They remained cuddled together for a long time, each in their own thoughts about the future. When the sound of another hour passing sounded from the town clock down the street, Ruby sighed and stood while offering her hand to Weiss.

"Come on, let's get this thing done so we can get out of this hole." Ruby grinned, knowing full well that they'd both spent nights in worse conditions than this.

"As you wish, Izanami." Weiss couldn't block the thought and the giggle that escaped before she realized, making Ruby freeze.

"Wait… do you know why everyone's acting creepy to me?" Ruby's eyes were wide and her tone imperative. Weiss couldn't help smiling a little at the resurgence of the energetic Ruby that she loved best. "I went to buy the bug spray and people kept randomly bowing and then the guy at the counter gave it to me for free. Then the whole bar last night…"

"Well, you do look identical like a famous artwork of a local deity." Weiss took Ruby's hand and stood to wrap her in a quick hug. "To be honest, I was surprised."

"Um… what do you mean?" Ruby deadpanned.

"It's actually quite accurate, considering it was painted so long ago." Weiss smiled, knowing Ruby still didn't completely get what she was saying. "Ms. Reaper."

"Oh… Ohhh!" Ruby finally picked up on the concept and gave Weiss's shoulder a smack as she started laughing. "That's just stupid. Who would think I'm a grim reaper?"

"Well you sure did an excellent impersonation last night." Weiss commented before quickly looking to Ruby hoping she hadn't made a mistake. Her smile faded for a second before returning slightly brighter than before as she squeezed Weiss's hand.

"Thinking about it, I really did didn't I?" Ruby laughed as she picked her weapon off the nearby table and placed it on her back. "Let's hope I don't need to repeat it."

"I'm with you there. And it sort of helps the likeness that you are actually a huntress with a scythe." Weiss nodded before picking up the backpacks. If the information was at the dead drop today, they wouldn't need to return to this inn. She did a quick survey to make sure she'd put everything they'd brought back and nodded before joining her partner out in the hall.

Ruby was looking at her with a peculiar look as she exited the room and locked the door behind her. She tilted her head in question while raising her eyebrows, asking silently what Ruby was thinking.

"Sorry… I was just kind of wondering how I ever got so lucky to get you of all people." Ruby mumbled with a blush.

Weiss almost laughed but held it in. "Well… I had a choice between you and Jaune… I might be a good teacher, but I'm not a miracle worker like Pyrrha. Not to mention you did make quite the first impression."

"Come on, stop it!" Ruby cried as Weiss once again dragged up the memory of their first meeting. Weiss circled around Ruby as she held her face in her hands while willing the blush to fade. Weiss leaned in close over her shoulder so her breath ghosted past her partners ear.

"At least if you want to get me now… all you have to do is ask…" Weiss whispered before stepping quickly away from a stunned Ruby. And starting to run down the stairs. "And catch me!"

Ruby snapped out of her state with a shake of her head, knowing her face must have been glowing bright red with all the blood she felt rushing to it. "Weiss! Come back here!"

"Nope!" Weiss called back, her voice already distant as Ruby ran to catch up.

"You are so going to get it!" Ruby replied as her semblance carried her down the stairs in an instant. Weiss was already at the door and waving as she ran off. Ruby grinned and chased her out into the town, keeping her semblance in check so she could enjoy the chase. Maybe this mission isn't going to be so bad after all.

Wrong. She was so wrong it hurt. Literally.

Ruby's legs complained as she pulled her mud covered leg out of the ground yet again, just to have it sink back in with the next step. Beside her, Weiss faced similar troubles but at least her shoes provided less resistance when she had to pull them out, not to mention that she had actual muscle in her legs unlike Ruby who relied on her semblance for speed where Weiss didn't have that luxury.

"How much farther?" Ruby whined for not the first time in the last few minutes causing Weiss to sigh.

"Probably not much less than when I answered you last time." She answered with a grunt as she pulled a foot out and wobbled as she tried to keep her balance. "But I think I see the path up ahead."

"I told you we should have gone around." Ruby complained, also not for the first time.

"I already said I was sorry. I didn't think it would be this deep." Weiss grumbled as she fought to pull herself forward. "Be happy it's not quicksand."

"Right." Ruby scoffed. "We passed three patches of that already, remember?"

"Just shut up and keep going." Weiss grumbled as she moved forward, widening the gap between the two girls.

"Be happy there aren't any grimm around right now!" Ruby replied as she tried to move, her distressed leg muscles screaming at her as she pulled her foot out of the suction of the bog. She stood while trying to keep her balance on one leg when she had an idea. "Weiss!"

"What now?" Weiss turned her head to look back at Ruby.

"I want you to help me get up there." Ruby replied, pointing at the tree she was passing. The swamp wasn't a forest by any means, but it did have a lot of trees scattered across it with large, stable-looking branches.

"Why?" Was the response as Weiss kept moving slowly away.

"Because I think I have a good idea." Ruby replied to a sigh from Weiss.

"Fine, where do you want to go?" She asked as she turned to focus a glyph beside Ruby so she could climb out of the bog.

"Second layer of branches." Ruby replied as she drew her weapon.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" Weiss asked and received a sly grin from her partner. "Up you go."

Weiss released the glyph as Ruby launched skyward, her weapon transforming as she flipped herself into an arc. Weiss noticed Ruby's goal and started quickly trying to move as Ruby's scythe bit into wood creating a very loud crack before her shot rang out to push the blade the rest of the way though. Weiss fell to her left as the large branch fell inches to her right, creating a large splash of the stinking substance they were wading through.

Coughing and now completely covered in mud, Weiss picked herself up and dragged herself onto the branch that was now lying at the surface of the mud but not sinking. Weiss looked around for her partner and found her splashing around where she'd fallen into the mud seemingly head first. Weiss sighed as she quickly moved to grab onto Ruby's hand which was the closest to the branch and pulled her up until she was lying sideways on the branch, mud dripping from her face as she spit and coughed to catch her breath.

"You complete dolt!" Weiss reprimanded her as Ruby continued to try to get the substance of the terrain out of her mouth. "Do you have any idea how close you came to killing me?"

Ruby shuddered and wiped the mud off most of her face with muddier hands that honestly didn't do too much. She looked up at Weiss still gasping.

"But I didn't!" She argued stubbornly.

"But never mind me! You were lucky you didn't knock me out otherwise you'd be drowning right now!" Weiss continued her rant. "People die in these swamps, Ruby!"

"I know that, Weiss!" Ruby replied, mimicking her tone of voice. "And unless you can help me get Crescent Rose in the next ten seconds, you better do something about those Griffons!"

Weiss turned and noticed the standard pack of four of the avian grimm flying through the sky in their direction. Weiss judged there to be a few seconds before they'd come within her range but a few more before she could guarantee their kills. She pulled up a glyph with one hand, using an ice dust cartridge from her belt to add a freezing effect to it and quickly ran her hand over Ruby's head.

"OW!" Ruby yelled as Weiss's hand ripped a knot out of her clumping hair. She then quickly covered her head with her hands as she watched Weiss roll her eyes.

Weiss turned back to the grimm who were all flying in a tight formation towards them. Weiss almost laughed as they closed the fifteen meter mark. She flicked her dripping, mud covered hand quickly in the direction of her glyph. The mud froze into sharp solid shards as it passed through, taking on a coating of ice which exploded into fragments on contact with the flying creatures, literally tearing them to shreds and sending what was left of their corpses into the swamp just under five meters in front of the huntresses. Weiss let her glyph fall with an exhausted sigh and turned back to Ruby.

"There. Happy now?" She asked as she reached down and broke a small but long branch off of the large one Ruby'd cut off. She hooked it's bend onto the handle of Ruby's scythe and with a quick pull, it was within Ruby's reach. Ruby took her weapon up and quickly shook it off before returning it to her back.

"I'm not unhappy." Ruby said, her voice implying a repressed laugh.

Weiss stared at her for a few seconds and sighed to herself more than anything. She turned around and looked around at the endless bog around them. Off in the distance, barely visible through the slight remnants of the morning fog was the path they were aiming for. Weiss looked up at the next tree and mapped the quickest path through the long branches to the path. Jumping through them would be no problem but she was weary of using too much energy before they'd even received their assignment.

"You're thinking about it too, aren't you?" Ruby whispered with a smug tone in Weiss's ear, making her spin. Ruby didn't move back, keeping her face almost too close for comfort as she waited patiently for Weiss's response.

"Get away from me, you stink!" Weiss smiled as she took a step back onto her glyph that she used to propel herself up into the branches of the next tree.

"You stink too!" Ruby argued, as she jumped while using her weapon's recoil to push her up to the branch Weiss was walking down. Ruby covertly admired Weiss as she walked down the branch. Her small heels in combination with the relatively narrow branch did marvelous things with her posterior that Ruby felt was borderline illegal.

"Ruby, I'm up here." Weiss smirked as she jumped to another branch. Ruby winced that the first time she'd actually taken the time to admire that side of Weiss, she'd been noticed. Ruby mumbled something Weiss couldn't make out but could easily guess. "And if I make it to the path first, you owe me anything I want."

Ruby's ears perked her head up out of her embarrassment. Weiss never exactly made bets, but this was about as close as it came, meaning she wasn't actually too angry. Either that or she was furious. Ruby figured either way it would work out as it always did, so she replied as she usually did. "And if I win?"

"A-ny-thing." Weiss smirked, enunciating each syllable as she jumped to the next tree making Ruby realize she was already behind.

"Wait up!" Ruby cried as Weiss ran off, jumping from tree to tree as she went.

Ruby sprinted as fast as she could without losing her balance as she followed Weiss's path. She used bursts of her semblance in places to help but she was only coming even with Weiss when she lost her footing and slipped off the branch and fell on her back into the mud below. Weiss landed on the ground about a meter away and turned back to Ruby with a long stick already held in her hands.

Ruby sighed and grabbed on to it as Weiss pulled her out of the mud and onto the solid path. "You win. What-?"

"You'll see." Weiss replied, already walking off. "We've still got this mission to do."

"Right. Where is the drop again?" Ruby asked. The audible sigh she received in response didn't do anything to help her move from where she was lying, staring at the sky.

"Here." Weiss dropped a medium sized wood box onto Ruby's stomach, forcing the air out of her lungs at the unexpected impact. She rolled over and coughed for a second before Weiss collapsed beside her with a yawn. "I'm exhausted."

"Same here." Ruby replied as she quickly opened the latch on the box's lid. Inside was a simple folder and towel. "At least they were nice enough to give us this."

She wiped the now drying mud from her face and hair as best she could before cleaning her hands and passing the unused half of the towel to her partner who mirrored her albeit with some more difficulty due to her long hair. Ruby opened the file and started reading as Weiss continued trying to get her white hair back to some semblance of it's natural color.

"Well, this was a waste of time." Ruby grumbled, collapsing onto her back and rubbing her fists into her eyes.

"Don't tell me-"

"Yup. Back where we came from… and about two kilometers east." Ruby cut her off. "I seriously have to rethink our training routines for this place."

"Don't beat yourself up too much." Weiss replied much to the surprise of Ruby. "I honestly don't think anything will really help other than actual experience walking through knee deep mud."

"But-" Ruby stopped speaking as she felt a warm breath against her lips. She didn't think twice and leaned up from the ground to meet Weiss's kiss that lasted forever yet passed in a blink of an eye. Ruby sat up as Weiss sat back on her heels, suddenly feeling much more energized.

"Let's get this done, and after we get back to Beacon let's go on that date you wanted to take me for." Weiss had been waiting to use this as a last resort, but at this point she was done with this mission. She'd go with Ruby to that stupid arcade she wanted to visit as long as it meant less procrastination before the lactic acid settled itself too firmly in her limbs.

"You really mean it?" Ruby jumped up and spun around happily. "Alright! And I promise you'll have fun!"

"I'm sure at least one of us will." Weiss replied cryptically as she took Ruby's offered hand. "As long as we get it done before the end of today, that is."

Ruby looked up at the sky. The sun indicated it was somewhere just before noon. It would take a few hours to backtrack and then head out to the target. She estimated it would be nightfall before they returned to the town, meaning it would likely be the next day before they were able to catch a transport to the capital to return to Beacon. Ruby wrapped one arm around Weiss's shoulders in a sort of sideways hug as she waved her hand across the horizon.

"Trust me, Weiss. When we go to the arcade overmorrow, you're going to have so much fun you'll be like 'I love Ruby and I'm gonna take her to the arcade all the time!'" Ruby said in a bad imitation of Weiss's voice.

"First, I do not sound like that!" Weiss stepped away from Ruby, keeping her back turned. "Second, I'll most likely never want to return to another arcade for a long time. And third…"

Ruby's face had fallen as Weiss turned back to see her starting to mope.

"I'm honestly shocked that you even know what overmorrow means. So maybe this arcade of yours will surprise me too." Weiss grinned as she started jumping back into the tree. Once she was up, she turned and summoned a glyph for Ruby. The girl smiled and stepped on. She caught Weiss's arm for balance as she landed on the relatively thin branch with a smile.

Definitely never going to get tired of this. Ruby thought as she followed Weiss back the way they'd come, jumping from tree to tree as they made their way to their target.