Unknown Legends

by KTWizard

In a land he doesn't know, he is surrounded by things he can't understand. Rules, Government, Weapons, Schooling, even their Goals. They are all unknowns, but so is he to them. Link, and the memories of his friends. But there is one common rule between their world and his. The Unknown has the Advantage. So he will remain just that as long as he can. [Pre-Season 3, Min-Canon Change]

21. In Medias Res

There wasn't much Qrow was good with, he could admit that. To the right person, with the right drink, he might brag about it. If he was drunk at three with a good ear next to him, he'd list the few things he was good at then brag about the stuff he never got asked to do because of it.

Most people would hear that and shake their head. It was why Qrow had the 'bad' luck to usually find those kinds of people listening to him. Sure, there were a few altercations with people who wouldn't take his excuses, like letting a dog run away because he couldn't find his flask.

Sometimes though, he'd find that rare friend who'd listen, console, and then let him due his thing with just the promise that he'd pay it back later. Unfortunately for Qrow, as he usually found out later, that was when his Semblance decided to play Tennis and hit the ball into his court. Case in point was where he was now, namely doing the one thing every body in his family and gene pool made his swear to never do, and something he agreed he should never do.

And yet, here he was, doing that same thing as a favor to a friend who'd never let him down. Sometimes his Semblance had a hell of a sense of humor, enough to make him think it had a mind of its own.

Afterall, who else would trust him to babysit a kid?

A kid that had gone through as much hell as he'd seen across the colonization towns and frontiers, probably a bit worse. Probably made worse by the pair of wolf ears that stuck out from the top of her head like a character out of a children's show. Scratch that, definitely made it worse, like gunshots after a night spent drinking a keg.

Wasn't too much of a surprise to Qrow that he'd be put on child duty, not after he tried to get that sweet sweet blackmail on the Ice Queen and Super Faunus. Too bad his luck, and Ozpin's good morals, decided to throw that away, with him still paying the price. Also probably a good idea to have a guy who watched over a pair of rugrats while they grew up over any other stranger on the street, especially after what the kid had gone through thanks to a gender-questionable thief and his posse.

So logic, dues, and time were against him, which meant that it wasn't too much of a shocker that Qrow was in charge of watching the charge of one Link, the newest Super Faunus of Remnant, or whatever the title was supposed to be. Resident badass usually worked out, given what he he'd heard he pulled off recently. Still, wasn't all bad, at least to a guy who'd played surrogate dad twice over now.

Moraine was easily the quietest tike he'd ever seen, or heard, wanted to be alone more than explore, and tended to sleep longer than anyone else he could remember. Even with a shot memory, that still was a pretty good list, especially with drunks and PTSD victims on it. And freaking pre-pubescent brat was beating them all.

Like right now.

Right now being Qrow swinging his one of his legs off the side of the desk he sat on. Chair be damned, that thing would definitely break if he sat on it for too long. Besides, the table had more leg room to relax on, was higher up, and a wall to lean against. Too many benefits to ignore. Near the top of that list was the sun avoiding his eyes, given that it was mid-day and therefore stupidly bright, especially to a guy who was nursing his fourth hangover in a row. Still, with his trusted weapon at his side, about the only thing his Semblance didn't have a penchant for destroying, he was doing pretty okay.

Good enough to watch over the little girl still curled up in the bed Oz had given to her. Probably felt like a freaking king's bed considering the small thing she must have slept on back at the orphanage, before the flames got to it. Then again, probably anything would do after that. Not like a good bed was going to fix it.

Food had to have helped though, seeing as she was at least eating three square meals a day. Probably got the same thing in the orphanage, but Qrow wasn't about to bet that the food there compared to Beacon. Sure, probably rated the same on the danger-scale, but there was a bit reason to up the ante when it came to feeding the next generation of hunters. Orphans in the wild? Not so much.

Man, didn't that bring up some bad memories.

"Couple of kids lookin' to make it big and bring it all back home," Qrow mumbled to himself. And it was definitely just him. Kid was still asleep, curled away from him and towards the wall. "Runnin' out of a bandit gang lookin' to learn how to hunt… and kill."

Yeah, that was a familiar story. Qrow got a little further into his before fate intervened with him though. Sounded as if Moraine barely got to the start before destiny or whatever threw its hammer onto her. Tough luck, and he wasn't helping. Least he could was make sure he wouldn't hurt.

His head rolled against the wall he leaned on, turning until he was facing the still snoozing kid. Seriously, napping in the middle of the day. That was what he wanted to do, but he wouldn't make a very good watch dog if he was resting on the job.

"Caught up in a war that was way bigger than any territory disputes we saw a kid. Longer too, older than anyone I knew, or thought I knew." A long sigh left Qrow's lips. No idea where this was coming from, but if he was going to talk to the room, might as well be the next best thing to empty. Occupied by the sleeping and ignorant. "Ran away from family to save them. Left chasing feathers and tails for the past few years. Cause you know that always works."

Like whiskey to dull the pain of a migraine. Qrow shook his head again, rotating his shoulders to readjust himself. Jacket felt heavy again, always did when he slept on it funny. Too bad he hadn't had a real chance to snooze yet. If he was going to hit the clubs later tonight, he'd have to get in a least a dozen winks.

"Depending on family, friends, and those who just want a fair trade." Count all of them on one had as it were. Still would be able to if he lost a few fingers to a Beowulf on top of it. Hell, a Ursa would cut it. "And anyone else willin' to be the sucker." He grinned at that, knowing the truth of it all. No way anyone left a deal with him for the better.

His musings stopped as he saw the girl shiver in her sleep. The grin fell from his lips, the kid curling into herself, wolf ears pressed against her head. Not a good sign, but a pretty obvious one. Pretty universal for anyone who'd walked through hell, especially those who were in the middle of it.

Another sigh left his lips, another tired sign that Moraine couldn't hear. All for the better.

"You're a lucky kid, you know that?" Now he was talking to someone, just someone who wasn't listening. "You got a Super Faunus ta catch your fall. Better be sure ta pay him back when you get older."

Qrow's head twisted again, stopping only when he was looking at the half-blinded window across from him, showing so little of the outside garden. Probably by Ozpin's design, keep the nosier of the kids out. Least it gave him a good view of the sunset.

"Best way to do that is grow-up safe." He continued to mumble, even as his hands patted his coat for his flask. Had to be on hand. Third tap got it. "Live a long-life and you'll pay him back ten-fold." The metal of the flask cap spun till it clanged against its top. He put it to the edge of his lips. "Otherwise you'll just make 'em worry the rest of their lives."

"Words of advice for inspiring youths?" Qrow would have shot off the table, if he didn't already know who that was.

His gaze turned lazily towards the door, completely unsurprised to see the big man of Beacon standing on the other side of it. No idea how he got it and shut the door without making so much as a peep, not the Qrow at least. Probably had the power to just walk through the dang thing, given everything else he was capable of doing.

"Just runnin' my mouth, same as usual," Qrow responded, grinning as he brought the flask back to his mouth. "Gotta do somethin' if I'm going to be watching a girl that sleeps more than a drunk on his tenth night. Speakin of." He lifted the bottom of the flask up, letting it pour down his throat.

It tasted like the truth. Bitter and cold, just the way he liked it.

He heard Ozpin step into the room, stopping besides the bed, back to Qrow and gaze down. Qrow could see his still had his cane and mug, about as surprising as hearing that Qrow still had his own flask. Might as well be glued to his person so long as he was at Beacon.

"She does rest quite a lot. Though I should not be surprised. Hunters of stricter training would require much cooperation after experiencing much less than her." No doubt there. Hell, Qrow had seen a few of his friends up and leave the business over a few bad sights. Again, no blame to place. He just had too many debts to repay to step out himself.

"I ain't gonna stop her," Qrow responded, waving his hand in the air. "More she sleeps more time I got ta drink. I'd call that a win-win, right?" He chuckled, even if Oz only glared at him through those jagged glasses. Seriously, how long had he had those? "What? I'm kidding, I'm kidding. You know I'd just if anything so much as barked in her direction." He'd done it before anyways.

"Of that, I have little doubt." Oz turned away from him, looking down at the youngest kid at Beacon. Considering Ruby was here, early, that was saying something. "My concern, however, is less of what may lurk around her, and more for what is churning within her." Qrow almost dropped his flask.

Last time Oz had talked about that, it had been about the Spring Maiden in Haven…

"Wait, you're not seriously thinkin' she's-"

"No, she is not a Maiden." The Sniper Scythe wielder blew a hot puff of air out of his lungs. He turned a sardonic gaze to his old mentor, who finally managed to chuckle at the look. Of course, that got a reaction out of him. "Forgive me Qrow, I couldn't help myself."

"Yeah, like Tai couldn't keep it in his pants." Seriously, maybe the reason his Semblance wasn't always on was because it was already paying back on its debts. "Seriously though, you think the girl has some kind of power in her? Or are you trying to sound extra mysterious for a reason this time around."

"No reason for mystery this time," Ozpin dismissed easily, even as he raised that mug of his to his lips. He sure did like his coffee, not that Qrow had a leg to stand on against it. "I simply cannot think of an all-encompassing term for the trauma she must still be trying to cope with." Ah, yeah, that would do it. Qrow scratched the back of his head at the admittance.

"Guess I'm not the only one thinkin' about it." Then again, it'd have to be a strange kind of guy to hear about everything that happened to the kid and not wonder if she was okay. Guess if there was ever a test for psychopathy… "Probably saw 'nough side that fire house to give her nightmares for a lifetime. Ain't gonna try and dig into that myself." Knowing his luck, he'd make it worse.

"The other children are faring no better." Qrow raised a brow, letting it lower only when Ozpin looked over his own shoulder to answer. "I am told they are under going constant therapy sessions. Some have already begun to show symptoms of emotional withdrawal." Qrow hissed. To hear that happening to a kid?

"That bad?" He asked, and hated it as he did. "Fires are bad, I get that, but did anything else happen ta warrant it?" He wasn't asking to sound insensitive, but fires alone didn't usually send kids screaming.

"I do not know," Ozpin answered, probably honestly. Always a crapshoot with him. "I suspect that whatever Roman did to start the fire, and instigate Moraine's call to Link, it did not begin with that. I hardly wish to know of what Link saw in that burning building before he and Lana were able to save the few children present. Heavens only know what the fire destroyed." Beyond what was there before, he meant to say.

Qrow blew at a strand of hair in his face. Leave it to a fire to destroy evidence of some other horrific thing. Wasn't that a metaphor for the world? One tragedy to hide another. If there was ever any other reason to drink, this was it.

"I hope that Link returns soon." Ozpin continued to speak. Qrow listened, passively. He was the man who paid his bills after all. "I very much doubt Moraine will do little else but sleep until then."

"She's eating at least," Qrow offered. Not much good that was. "Better than goin' into a coma or something like that." He'd seen that before, too. About as pleasant as seeing friend burning in a fire.

Wow, his Semblance couldn't save him even in his own head. And people wondered why he was driven to drink.

"Yes… I suppose that is true." Ozpin tapped his cane on the ground, the usual tick over tapping his foot. "Still, I wonder if it would be too callous of me to encourage her to walk around the school once or twice before he returns." Qrow had to raise a brow at that. "I fail to see how telling a guardian that their charge remained locked in a room for the duration of their trip is a good thing." Ah, yeah. Tai would have had him by the throat if he said he locked Ruby and Yang away for a couple of weeks.

Still, not a lot of options on how to fix that.

"Got any ideas?" Qrow asked. Ozpin at least shook his head as an answer. "C'mon, no harm in brain stormin'. You told me that." He grinned cheekily as he tilted his flask towards the Headmaster of Beacon. The grin turned into a chuckle at the tired sigh from the big man.

"I hardly hope think speaking such ideas while the child is present is a wise idea in itself." He was being paranoid.

"The tike's asleep, Oz," Qrow pointed out. "And sides, not like anything we say is gonna make her suddenly scared of us. Sides, could always do the usual stuff I did with the girls. Take 'em out for combat practice, see a movie after all the lights are out, maybe show 'em how ta build their weapons."

He chuckled at the last one, knowing that Tai had very literally threatened to kill him for it. Probably after Yang took Ruby into the forest he decided against it. Savings lives did help, but damn if it didn't take a few years off of his own.

"Or we could offer to show her a police line up of some of the usual suspects." Ozpin rolled his head at that one. If Qrow had a scoring table for getting reactions out of people, that would have been a straight, especially coming from Oz himself.

"How, may I ask, would that be a good idea?" The man turned, making Qrow put in the same effort. Not all bad, but still more effort than he wanted. "I hope it is a jest you are speaking of, as a child who has gone through as much as she has deserves rest and comfort, not reminders of what has happened to her." Ignorance was bliss and all that.

Still, Qrow could understand. Children deserved to be ignorant.

But what was the harm in shooting crap with an old friend? It wasn't like Qrow had a lot of chances to do this without risking a gun fight, fist fight, or just a general rise in his tab.

"Nah, it'll be good for her!" He gestured towards the sleeping kid, her wolf ears twitching on her head. "Just take her down to the police station, put her in a line up with the goons who Link and the girls kept alive, make her point out all the guys who torched her home, makin' her the final nail in their coffins. That's gotta be therapeutic." Least it sounded like it was to him.

The tired sigh Oz gave was probably worth a three-of-a-kind. Got that a lot from a lot of people.

"Should I prepare a Bullhead then?" Qrow felt his flask slip in his grip.

"Huh?" He spoke aloud, before seeing the grin on Oz's face. It was practically framed between his white hair, green suit, and glasses.

"A Bullhead for transport. Straight to the police lock-up. Perhaps we can swing by the other children who were present, give Moraine comfort in knowing that her other friends survived as well." Geez, talk about cruel. "Perhaps we should reminder her of those friends she has lost." Oz could be dark when he wanted to be.

"You sure you're not a secret villain over there Oz?" Qrow questioned. The chuckle came out after it was asked. The idea of it was about as logical as him sober. "That's not somethin' the white knight would think of."

"I prefer emerald, if any color is to apply." Qrow's eyes rolled at the idea. "Secondly, why not-" His words stopped quickly. Qrow didn't need to think long why.

Not when the covers exploded behind them. Moraine was standing on the bed. Crap, had she heard them? The snarling lips and furrowed brow said yes.

Qrow would sacrifice his Semblance at an alter if he could, no questions asked.

"Whoa! Hey kid!" Qrow spoke quickly. Nothing too surprising about a kid jumping out of bed after a nightmare. If she had heard him and Oz… that'd count. "You can relax there, nothing to worry about." That didn't work.

The faunus kid was still squatting on her bed, feet sinking into the mattress and arms hugged around her shoulders. Even her ears were up right and focused. Qrow had done enough assignments with faunus to know that they tended to rely on their more animalistic traits, just as they tended to show how they actually felt.

Made it really easy to see the kid wasn't just angry. She was spooked.

"Moraine," Oz spoke now. He'd had set his mug down somewhere, leaning on his cane as he held up his now free hand. Guess it made him look weak, to the dumb and stupid. Considering how this kid was smart enough to play asleep on them, she didn't qualify. "You are scared, and that is our fault. We were joking about you in a way you didn't deserve, nor is appropriate in any circumstance." He spoke honestly. Guess he could once in a while.

Kid wasn't backing down though, or at least calming down. She nearly snarled at Ozpin when he tried to take a step forward. It was clue enough for Qrow to at least swing both of his legs over the table, ready to do what was necessary. What that was… he didn't know.

Moraine wasn't exactly a kid he had a life-long relationship with. Not like the couple of kids in the practice ring still.

"There's no reason to do anything drastic, nor to be on edge with us." Maybe true, but a kid wasn't going to think that. "Perhaps… there is something I can do to show you we were joking. Is that fair?" No idea what that was, but Qrow was sure he'd show it if he had it.

The kid was at least looking like she was considering it. She kept looking down at her arms, crossed over her body and holding tightly to her chest. It was the same position she had for the past several days whenever she went to bed. Didn't change even when she was spoked by their shared stupidity. And… wait…

She wasn't just holding her chest, she was holding something… It was faint and hard to see, but she was definitely holding onto something. It could just be made out, at least the shape of something, beneath the folds of her fabric, off that dang piece of clothing she refused to wash or take-off for bed. Now it made sense why she didn't want to.

There was something under her tunic.

"What'ch you got there?" Qrow asked now. The girl's eyes could've melted steel with how hot they were. Qrow chuckled as he held up his hands. "Easy, easy, not biting. Just askin'. First time I realized you got something you're hiding from us, and I'm just curious what it is."

Ozpin's gaze turned from him to Moraine, probably because he was starting to see it now too. Figures they missed it though, at least with Qrow's Semblance active as it was. Probably the reason the school hadn't burned down yet. It was too busy keeping them from seeing something right under their noses. Talk about being your own worst enemy.

"I get it, I get it, you're scared, we scared ya, it happens." More to him than most. "How 'bout this? You 'stead of just showin' us what you got, how about you show us what it can do? I bet whatever it is its gotta have some cool feature to it, am I right?"

"Qrow?" He ignored Oz for now. He didn't get kids, little ones at least.

Tikes like Ruby and yang, when they were this age, tended to hide things that just did cool stuff, like the spring of his spare magazine or a ring that changed colors. Moraine had to be in that same kind of boat, hiding something because she probably wasn't supposed to have it, but just did something so cool, to her at least.

"C'mon, won't be a bad thing," Qrow pushed. Must have been working, because the kid wasn't growling at least, which was a plus. "I bet whatever I is, it's so cool that it'll have me and Old Oz here ready ta hit the floor." His employer sighed again, which was only worth a pair if anything. He got that a lot. It was probably the old comment this time.

But Moraine was at least considering it, standing on the bed and barely eye-level with them with the boost. Wasn't much she could do, sure, but the kid running away or causing a fit wouldn't be the best thing in any scenario, let alone a room with two adult males, neither of who were her guardian. And that wasn't even throwing Qrow's Semblance into the mix.

Yeah, placating her was the best. Bonus points because it was working.

He watched as Moraine slowly lowered one of her arms, guiding the object that she was hiding out of her tunic and to the open air. She was being very careful with it, not that it needed it, whatever it was. Still, kind of sweet that she was being so forward. Better than her doing nothing or making a big scene. That was before Qrow saw what it was she was hiding. And when he saw it, he knew his Semblance was well and truly screaming at him with laughter.

Because short term or not, he at least recognized Link's mask when he saw it.

A golden mask that was colored like the sun, having waves coming off of it just the same, grinning on one side with a bright gold sheet on the other, and staring at him and Oz like it was alive. All while being held in the girl's hands like a prized treasure that it was.

A treasure that Moraine was putting on her face…

Just before a flash of white overtook the room…

Coupled with a scream…

And when both were gone, and Qrow was able to see clearly again, there was no one else in the room. Just him, just Ozpin, and no trace of the faunus girl that the super faunus had found. Her, or the girl beneath the mask that came out when Link wore it. She wasn't in the room, at all. Not even by the elevator. It was like she just… disappeared.

Honestly, it was his kind of luck that it would happen.

"Well shit."

"Well said."

---

Ren let out a deep sigh from his spot on the training room stands. Arms folded about his chest, leaning back slightly with the small room allotted to him in the empty stands. It was slightly more comfortable than normal, seeing as the seats as of late were crowded with students both watching the battle field before. Though, more for the instructor that commonly took it up than the students themselves.

As of this moment, he desired to be one of those students, taking advantage of the empty classroom due to the absence of Link, practicing his craft so that he could better himself for the future. But that the moment, it was impossible. Both against the orders of those who watched his health and his own abilities being severely limited by his injuries. Light as they were, they were still very much present.

It wasn't the place he normally sat during this time of the day, let alone this day of the week. During such a time, it would be much more common for him to be improving his forms or muscular structure through long practiced forms or endurance training, usually assisted by whatever means were made available to him and the other students of Beacon Academy. Even speaking and thinking on the subject conservatively, there were quiet a lot of them. However, prior events had forced him out of his usual routine, making him adopt the nearest substitute that his body and recovery would allow.

As a consequence, he was forced to sit in the stands, watching the arena beneath him, listening to the students, his friends, that practiced their own craft in it, and let his mind wander on what to do when he was able to train efficiently again.

"This is sooooo boring!" Correction, him and Nora to train again.

Ren turned his gaze towards his partner, his life long friend, watching as the bombastic orange haired girl was splayed across the wide open bleachers. Half of her body was falling towards the set of seats beneath them, the other half reaching for the upper set behind them. It spoke a great deal of the amount of trust she had in him, seeing as her position left little for a curious eye to miss.

"Healing is rarely ever an enjoyable task, Nora," Ren noted calmly to his friend. Her pout was as expressive as her words were vocal. "It is necessary, though I do understand the disappointment in it. It hardly seems fitting that we must watch others improve as we are forced to wait ourselves. However, if we are to fight with our team once again, and assist our friends, we must allow our bodies time to heal."

"I know that! I'm just mad that it's so boring." Her body almost appeared to be melting with the groan she let out, head flipping sideways as her chest fell with the slow release of air. "Lying around and doing nothing's only fun when you're tired, but I can't be tired if I can't smash anything." Her fists lightly began to swing back and forth. No real force behind them, but he was in no rush to get in their way.

Ren chuckled lightly at the antics regardless. It reminded him a great deal of how she acted when she was told she had a bed time again. Attempting furiously to try and stay up all night, only to reconcile that staying up alone while everyone else around her was asleep didn't work too well. She pouted then, too. And complained. Difference was, Ren agreed with her now, somewhat.

"I'm sorry to say there is precious little I can do to help you there." Because any annoyance she had for not being able to do something, it was an annoyance shared. "The most we can do now, as we wait for Jaune and Pyrrha to return, is watch our other friends improve." His hand motioned towards the arena, uncurling itself from his chest.

He motioned towards the arena, and the team of young girls that battled across it. Across it, over it, around it, and nearly any other describable direction. It was hardly a rare thing to see a team of young hunters in training perform super human feats, not when Ren now was able to proudly consider himself one of their number. That wasn't what he was watching so intently, not directly.

"Yeah, at least they got super powers outta helping Link and Mor-Mor. Dumb mega weapons and stupid powers." Childish pouting aside, Nora was right in noting the key difference RWBY was demonstrating at the moment.

They weren't just practicing amongst themselves. They were practicing their new weapons and abilities amongst themselves.

Yang was running across the field like the ball of fire she so clearly embodied. A concentration of fury and flames that ducked and rolled past and around every blow that so nearly hit her. A collection of guns popped and rose from the ground, at speeds emulating the tactics of militants and specific Grimm. Faster than most eyes could see, they fired munitions at her, all with same precise accuracy they could expect from well-trained soldiers or vicious monsters.

Yet, none of them even grazed Yang's golden mane. It was hard to even call them close when she was grinning so broadly through the barrage. Her body swayed to the side, pushing her out of the way of a high caliber bullet's path, only to twirl quickly, letting the barrage of a machine gun's fire to miss her with every shot. When her body was parallel to the ground, so nearly considered fallen, her fists shot out, sending her into a quick flip away, the gunfire following her fruitlessly.

And all the while she did it, a fake pair of large golden bunny ears were swaying from her head.

Ren didn't comment, fearing the rage of the fiery blonde. Nora only giggled at the sight, once. But where as Yang was practicing her dodging through the new tool adorned on her head, Weiss was doing much the opposite. She was using a tome in her hand, combined with her famed rapier, to generate glyphs about her form. Glyphs, and something more.

Unlike the gunfire that tested Yang, a barrage of explosives, likely only slightly weaker than Nora's own grenadier shots, were being thrown at her at a violent pace. Each canister thrown into the air, shot out with a lit fuse and fragile shell, would doubtlessly spell harm or death for any individual lacking the cover of Aura. It was shown in the size of the explosions, in the small rumble that moved through the stands they sat on. Yet Weiss was unperturbed.

Her rapier swung to and fro, the familiar blue runes of her family's namesake spinning to life with her every movement. They hung in the air like paintings, carrying markings that to this day Ren was unfamiliar with. When he first had seen her fight, they were a cause of focus for him and his studious mind. Now though, what came with them was far more wonderous.

It was hard to call the walls of seemingly ice-like material, forming from nothing and holding where her glyphs hung, anything but eye-catching.

They endured the blows of the explosives with little effort, the ceramic coverings of the volatile canisters doing nothing to them, even with the propulsion of high-powered explosives behind them. It almost appeared like they were the ones shattering against the icy walls. And it was clear Weiss was, if barely, partially satisfied by the results. It was clear to Ren who watched her hold the tome of Lana in one hand, instructing her glyphs with the other. He felt little fear for the Schnee heiress.

Ruby, however, was another story. While Yang had a tool that allowed her to 'sense' the timing of things, and Weiss had a tome that seemingly granted her a new ability to her tomes, Ruby had only an improved sense to her Semblance. An impossibility, he falsely said before the team had corrected him in the same way Impa had, apparently, corrected them. An improvement that allowed her to sense danger, seemingly born from the same wish to reach danger fast enough to stop it.

Alone, it made sense to Ren, and it was an endearing wish he could understand. What he could not understand was how Ruby hoped to train it. Because it seemed like an antic out of an unthought movie script.

Running across the near battle-torn arena, unguarded, without her weapon, at her highest speed, blind-folded. The only possible grace in it was that Yang was about has happy with the idea as he was.

That said, Ren had yet to see the red-cloaked girl take so much as a glancing blow, in a while at least. Even as he watched ruby petals explode and reform across the arena, the leader of the all-girl team bouncing back and forth within it. He watched, carefully from a distance, as the leader's hood ducked, rolled her body bent and spun, disassembled and reformed, all to dodge the exploding shells and flying bullets that came at her from a multitude of directions. And all of them with her vision taken from her.

It was a vast improvement to how she performed some days ago, head rapidly shaking as she tried to gather what was where, her sense of sight taken from her being more detrimental than she believed it would be. Ren believed at the time it would be enough to shake her. He was wrong. Rather, it appeared to only be a motivator for her to improve.

And in the days of their practice, improve she did.

Blake was… harder to watch. In truth, Ren could only say he was watching all of RWBY because he would catch glimpses of the hiding faunus, hiding now both in plain sight and behind a heavy cloak. A cloak that could only be seen when it was off her person.

Like now, Ren noted as he saw the dark member of the team seemingly popping into existence. It was Nora commented it to be like, and he could not find fault in the descriptive term.

When the last member of team RWBY did appear, she did so with the heavy red cloak of Link in her hands, off of her body, and bent forward with panting breath. Her chest was heaving back and forth, Ren spotting the tell-tale signs of Aura exhaustion already. He had seen it enough growing up in the wilds with Nora, and that frequency only increased when his team began to train here at Beacon.

The flickering color around her skin, the difficulty to maintain balance, the small spastic impulses of her clenched fists. They were all there. All signs that medical professionals looked for when they were treating hunters following a Grimm hunt. Or Ren after combat practice with his team.

It would be far more common for him to go down and attempt to help Blake, in most other situations. He would assist her with fluid intake, rest to replenish her Aura levels, and providing herbal medicine to relax the tense muscles, all small necessities to make recovery quicker, very similar to what he and Nora were doing now.

Blake, however, wanted none of it. Because she wanted to train like this. She wanted to train using the Magical Cloak so she could push her Aura to its limit.

It was a dangerous wish, but one Ren could not fault her for having. It was no more dangerous than Yang dancing through gunfire, Weiss enduring explosives against her walls, and Ruby dodging both with her eyes shut. Compared to them, simply wearing a cloak until one felt tired seemed rather tame. Spoken like that it was tame. Ren, however, held no illusions about the importance of it all.

Every single member of RWBY was practicing their hardest with the tools given to them, gifted to them, to use them as efficiently as their original owner, assumingly, did. He pondered if it would be possible to ask Link, or one of his friends, to demonstrate the tools when he returned. It seemed likely, given his openness to do so with RWBY alone. His team present, after Jaune and Pyrrha accompanied him on his expedition, was likely, assumingly.

Ren sighed, dropping his head into his hands. He was over thinking this, again.

With friends using magical tools from a far-off land, instructed by a Faunus with only barley recognizable characteristics, literal fairies following his motion, and now searching for his friend lost in their land… it wasn't something one was typically trained for. Then again, what was there about his life that was typical.

"I wonder if Mor-Mor is okay." Ren was forced to look at Nora with the comment, head rolling out of his palms with the comment. Long enough to see she was still rolling her head back and forth on the bleachers, hardly watching team RWBY practicing. "She went through something scary. She's too young for scary things like that." Ren had no room to disagree.

"She will be okay," he answered honestly, knowing Nora would not be satisfied with that alone. "She has Link taking care of her, with the headmaster and the uncle of Yang and Ruby keeping an eye on her. She was strong enough to endure the fight following her rescue, and now she is in quite possibly the safes place in the world, bar Atlas." Beacon was nothing, if not a fortress for training.

"Yeah, I know," Nora let out in a voice that couldn't be anything but a grumble. Her head turned away from him, flopping sideways on the bleachers as she turned back to team RWBY on the arena floor. He did the same, though he knew not who his old friend was watching. "Kinda sucks that I can't even tell what someone's feeling, and all I wanna do is make them feel better. Don't even know if they need it."

"There is no shame nor harm in wishing someone else kindness and love, Nora." Ren watched Yang swing out with her first, batting away a grenade canister, milliseconds before it exploded. None of the debris hit her rapidly dodging form. "Rather, you should be proud that you feel such empathy. I can name many who would not be able to comprehend what you feel."

"Lucky them." They were not. "Don't gotta wonder what they've gotta do to help others. Just get to help themselves." Ren hummed at her statement. She wasn't incorrect, about the apathetic and unjust.

"They may not care for others, and work only for themselves, true. But they are not better men for it." Ren watched Blake blink out of existence again, moments before Ruby's ruby exploding form shot past her, bullets chasing her and her long cloak. "They are the individuals who are often forgotten in history's pages, those that let civilizations fall for the sake of a singular life, and care not for the thousands lost as a result."

"That's a crummy way of making me feel better, Ren." He chuckled at that, even if she did not in return. She was attempting to be serious, he knew, but her bluntness was not something that would ever truly vanish. "All I want to do is know who we gotta help. Not guess and check." He dared not try to tarnish that part of her.

"We don't have to for everyone," Ren noted easily. He watched Weiss throw up another glyph in front of her, before arcing her rapier and forcing a column of ice to float around her from it. "And for those who do not speak or ask for help… we can only offer our aid should they be ready to accept it." Forcing aid on anyone was never the correct path. It made enemies as efficiently as burning towns, for those you tried to help saw no difference.

"And what can be done when that happens?" Ren thought of the question, clearly not expecting it. He thought of it as he searched for Blake, hoping to see her pop back in an area he could guess.

"What can be done is anything we are capable of doing," Ren answered carefully. "Comforting words if they need support, a helping hand if they are incapable of a task, truth if they need reason, or safety if they are scared. Anything we can give, without the implication we are incapable of anything." It was important that children saw Hunters as impossibly strong. A childish ideal that built a resounding resolve.

"Are you capable of all that? Or only some of us?" It was another fair question, and one Ren thought of carefully, even as his eyes trailed the ground, watching Ruby duck and dodge a barrage of high-caliber rounds, fired from behind her, and her eyes still blind-folded. "Would you need aid to assist another?"

"I likely would, we all would," Ren answered simply. It was a god question, but not one he needed thought for. "We are specialized in certain areas, gifted in tasks at hand. It would be cruel to assume any of us would be capable of all tasks. No one is."

"No one? Truly?" Truly? Ren rolled the rod around in his head, not used to hearing it in causal conversation. Nevertheless, it was curiosity he could answer.

"Truly," he repeated. "I, for example, would be capable of comfort, offering food and guidance for recovery, tracking Grimm through manipulation of emotions, and perhaps emotional guidance where I could. But Jaune would be a man I would ask for assistance when it comes to holding a line or dealing with larger threats. Yang Xiao Long would be no different, and Ruby Rose would be able to help return anyone, or anything, lost in a far away place." A bit over simplified, but it was all that Nora needed to hear.

"You are a wise one," Ren grinned at the compliment, but spoke little otherwise. It would be rude to turn down praise from a friend. "I can see now why Link thinks so highly of you and your friends."

Wait, what?

"Link?" Ren parroted, looking up and for the first time ignoring the girls in the arena. "What does-" He turned to Nora, only to stop when he saw her sitting up, looking behind him, and with a slack-jawed expression on her face. She wasn't looking at him. She wasn't talking to him. Then… who was…

He turned around completely, looking towards the same sight Nora did. It was not a sight that was terrifying, appalling, or atrocious in any considerable manner. However… it was unexpected.

Ren did not expect to see a young girl standing behind him. He did not expect the same young girl to be dressed in an emerald garb so similar to Link's, but frilled in a manner that made it far more feminine. He did not expect said girl to have emerald hair brighter than Headmaster Ozpin's own tower. He did not expect the girl to be leaning over the bleachers, far enough to warrant falling, and grinning all the while.

He certainly didn't expect the pair of equally green ears poking out from the top of her head, sharp and poignant around her otherwise face framing hair. It was, after all, completely unexpected. For this was not Moraine, but… he didn't know who.

"S-SARIA!" Someone did. "What are you doing here?!"

Ren whirled around, again, to see Blake standing along a far wall, Magical Cloak off of her body and pointing at the girl with a look of absolute shock on her face. It was rare to see, no matter the circumstance. But it was clearly something that crated action.

All the bombardments and gunfire ceased in the arena, presumably from Weiss's command. It created a deafening silence that made his ears ring, too used to the sounds of explosions and battle. Weiss had dropped her glyphs and walls, Yang her bunny hood, Blake her cloak, and even Ruby her blindfold. Now, it only left all four girls, adorned in the tools they had been gifted, and staring up at Ren, or more likely, past Ren.

"Hello Blake," the girl behind him responded. Saria, he reminded himself. A girl that… was doubtlessly a friend of Link. It only created an innumerable number of questions in his mind. "It is good to see you and your friends are doing well. Your practice is well-done, and will earn you a just reward in the future."

"Forget about that!" Yang yelled out, stepping forward as she did so. "How are you here?" That was a fine question as well. Ren knew all of Link's friends, or the memories of them, were contained in the masks that he wore, holders for the memories.

For her to be here, for Saria to be present, implied a great chain of events he did not even know the beginning of.

"Here?" Saria parroted. "Here as in this room, this school, or this land?" She leaned back with the statement, standing above Rena and Nora on the higher bleacher. "All have a different answer, so I don't know which one to lead you to." Lead them?

"All, no, not now," Ren just barely heard Ruby mumble from the now silent arena. "Link wears her mask to bring her out, but Link's not here, Link's gone, but Saria's here so… but I didn't feel anything." Her Semblance, Ren lightly noted, in order to answer what few questions he was currently capable of. Because Saria was the source of many he could not.

The best way to answer those questions, however, were to ask questions of his own. Like she had.

"Why did you ask me… if I could help Moraine?" It was how the young girl had introduced herself, by asking questions that sounded far more philosophical than a child of her age should be capable of, or worry of. "Can I presume it is because she is close to Link?"

"REN! That is not something important to-" Yang was interrupted by Saria, whom was far closer than the bombastic blonde.

"I ask because that is how you answer." She was simple with her answers, just as with her questions. Simple, but deep, like an ocean's trench. "You know of what to do, but cannot decide on what to do. A question gives you focus, and so often focus gives you direction. A bit of direction, and you become capable of so much more."

Ren watched the young girl, her small smile as plain as the wolf ears on her head, just the same as the deep green eyes that stared into his own. He wasn't aware he was even breathing as they kept eye-contact, nor of what the other girls were doing as he stared at the youngest presence. RWBY was wary of her, or at the every least surprised to see her. Neither he nor Nora recognized her, and her age should have prohibited her from coming here. And none of that considered that this was very likely one of Link's friends, no different than Impa or Mikau. So how was she here without Link?

While he removed the possibilities for her being here, however, the girl only began to giggle. A light small bubbling laughter that children were often home to, and one he now witnessed as the girl rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet.

"Apologies, I could not resist." Ren blinked at the short girl, colored in hair and dress like shrubbery and with ears long enough to match Link. "I often love leading individuals to answers through questions. Simply telling what is right does not explain why it is just." He was having difficulty forcing his mind back to the conversation he had with her, unknowingly.

It was difficult, given the clearly unexpected, if not impossible, presence of the girl.

"However, I can tell you are making presumptions about me, as many do when they see me." Ren would not lie that he did, but he could not think of what he was false on presuming of her.

A friend of Link's, a forest child, young in age, strong in wisdom, curious, but that was it. Everything else was a mystery to him.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ruby yelled out now. "If you are here then… then are you going to teach us? Like Impa or… like before?" Apparently that was a question that Ren did not expect. He would never expect children to give lessons to… older children.

"It is not the proper time to ask that, Ruby," Weiss corrected her partner. It was a correction, because Ruby's silver eyes dropped as she nodded her head. Ren didn't understand. A glance at Nora, noting her gawking expression, implied she did not either. "It is the proper time to ask a continuation of Yang's question. Why are you here without Link, Saria." The caution in her voice was clear as the ice of her Semblance.

"You are still sore from my earlier words." Ren didn't understand. She gave Weiss a lesson? No, from what Ruby implied… all of them? He ran a hand through the thick of his hair as he listened and thought at once. "I understand your reason why, though I do hope it is not a wound you carry for much longer."

"Less sore, more worried." Yang spoke up now. "Cause you don't exactly show up with good news when you do." The bite in her voice was as obvious as the bark. So was the answer to Ren's thought.

They had met before, multiple times.

"Yang, enough." Blake now. Ren was having difficulty keeping his eyes on Saria, not wanting to turn around and see her gone. She, however, had her eyes to the arena, as she balanced on the edge of the stands she stood on. "Saria, we have taken your words to heart. Our team, we, have started speaking much more, making it clear where we stand with one another. It is what we promised we would do."

"A promise to me, or to each other?" She did love her questions, Ren realized.

"Each other," Blake answered in return. She was not one easily thrown in conversation. Never was, and it was doing her many favors now. "But they're right to wonder. Are you here now because… you think something is… wrong?" Ren expected another question from Saria, as she had answered all other questions before. What he did not expect was the action from the girl.

He did not expect laughter.

It was the kind of laughter children were home to share, the kind of laughter she gave off before, but now with hands folded about her mouth, hiding if only barely the broad smile beneath. Her wofl ears atop her head bent with the expression, giving her the visage of truly entertained youth. It was a thought that was heart-warming, but kept from truly being such by the unknown of this faunus friend of Link.

"Hey, now what's funny?" Nora asked. Ren saw she had hands on her hips, kneeling on the stands. But she wasn't pouting, as she would normally do when something bad happened. Instead, she had the expression Ren had seen her adorn whenever they were around children before they came to Beacon. It was the kind of face she made when she wanted to bit the elder sister to them, a guardian they could depend on. It meant there were only seconds left before she did something drastic.

"If you're gonna be a meanie about important questions, then you can get be tickled for it!" That was it.

Ren leaned back as Nora jumped up to the higher bleacher, quickly planting her foot to make for a lunge for the smaller girl. Her arms were out forward as a large smile decorated her face, laughing as she did so. She watched Saria glance at her, having enough time to blink before Nora's arms were already stretched past her, ready to surround her and-

She jumped.

Jumped not only up and out of the hold Nora almost had her in, but up three sets of bleachers and onto the palms of her hands. Then she 'jumped' again, by pushing herself with her palms until she was sailing through the air, stopping when she was some distance away, far enough that no child, only a few Beacon Students could have hoped to match her. It made Ren blink, twice.

"Uh… where'd you go?" Nora asked, looking down at her hands, then up at Saria nearly ten times as far away as she was before. "How'd you get over there?" By jumping, Ren wanted to say, but he wasn't sure she'd believe it.

The girl, however, didn't appear to be paying attention. Her eyes were looking elsewhere, not even at team RWBY. It was like they were scanning the walls, the room, or something else that he couldn't see. What it was, he didn't know. There wasn't enough information to make an educated guess either.

"Hmmm." Saria hummed as she looked towards one of the exits to the training ring, spinning on her heel as she looked over them. "It appears I don't have much more time." Time? Time for what?

But before anyone could ask, she jumped again. This time, with a small twirl that had her stopping above the entrance to the arena, by hanging off of it with her hands. It let her swing above the exit, like a child on the jungle gym's, but with the abilities of a Huntress. It was a paradox that lead to only a few possibilities, none of which seemed plausible.

"Hold on! Where are ya goin'?" Yang yelled out. It was only after she did that Ren realized she was running across the arena, as was the rest of her team. But Saria was too far away, and she was already by the exit.

"I said it before, and I will whisper it again." Saria dropped from the door frame, spinning once through the air and landing with a deftness children her size did not possess. It gave much credence to the thought of her not being of young age. Unbelievable as it all was.

She twisted on her heel, spinning on the ground as she eyed the exit. But in the middle of her twist, her let her innocent grin shine, just before she spoke again.

"No answer worth having is unworthy of finding." And then, like a true child, she ran away laughing.

"Hey! HEY!" Yang was yelling after her, already running up the bleachers after the girl, though Ren could tell she was already gone. "Get back her Saria! You gotta explain how you're here!" The statement brought Ren back as well.

"How is she here?" He asked, even as his legs were already moving. There was no reason to not talk as they ran. And there was even less reason to not chase the girl. "I thought… I believed only Link was capable of bringing forth his friends? But… who is wearing her mask?"

"Moraine." The voice was both wholly expected and nerve teasing.

Ren stopped, as did Nora and what few members of RWBY he could see, to turn and eye Headmaster Ozpin entering from another entrance to the arena. His coffee cup was not on his person, and cane being held along its central shaft. To Ren, it meant he did not walk here. It meant he was running. There was little question towards what.

"Headmaster, Moraine?" Ren heard Blake ask. "Those ears… of course it was her. There's no one else in Beacon that… Saria is possessing Moraine? How?" The calmness in her voice bellied the clear tension she was feeling. The conclusion she reached quickly discarded. It was just as clear Ozpin had no heart or humor to dance around the issue, not with his next words.

"It appears she either stole the mask of the girl from Link, or it was gifted to her before his departure." He would not say it aloud, not with Blake present, but the former held more merit to Ren. "Regardless, we cannot know until we find her. I hope I am not asking too much of you to assist me in doing so."

"Are you kidding? We were gonna do that regardless!" Nora nearly jumped at her own declaration. "Buuuuut, now that you're here, you wouldn't happen to know where she is going, would you? I mean, you somehow knew she was here, right?" Her innocence didn't fool Ren, and it didn't phase Ozpin, externally at least.

"I followed her here, Ms. Valkryie," Ozpin spoke as he walked, eyeing Ren's partner even as he moved towards the door Saria departed from. It was clear he was not going to stay and talk. Ren found himself moving as well, quickly coming up behind the Headmaster as he moved towards the exit. He heard Nora and the rest of team RWBY doing the same. "But for where she is going, I can only assume where a child of the forest would wish to run to."

The implication was obvious, and Ren had no need to speak again.

---

Ruby ran, fast.

She knew exactly where she was running to, the same place that Headmaster Ozpin implied they should go. The same place that everyone was probably running to at this point. Only different was, she was running there faster. She'd get there in no time, she knew, and then she'd start looking for Moraine and Saria and figure out what had gone on.

Ruby knew that as soon as she found the Emerald forest, she'd be able to find out where Moraine went, probably, at least likely. It wasn't like it would be harder to find her in the forest than in the Beacon halls. Beacon had floors and rooms and stories and a lot of cracks and crevices to look in. A forest just had tall trees, really big trees, with long branches and canopies, and sometimes caves, and other stuff.

Okay, so Ruby knew it would probably take a bit longer to look for Moraine and Saria than she expected, but at least the sooner she started the sooner she'd find them. There was truth to that at least. It was the same thing her dad and Weiss kept telling her. The sooner she started something, the faster she could end.

So Ruby ran as fast as she could to the forest, out of sight of her friends and Professor Ozpin in a second, way ahead of them the next. She saw the dorms zip by her, the teachings halls, the practice arenas, the landing bay for the Bullheads, all as she ran towards the Emerald Forest. And it had to be the Emerald Forest, because no way would Saria want to go to the Everfall Forest.

She was wearing green, so she had to go with the green forest. It made perfect sense.

That's why Ruby caught sight of the Emerald Forest, easily, and ran towards it with an explosion of ruby petals in a moment. And in the next moment, she was there, right where the edge of the Emerald Forest was to Beacon Academy.

Or at least… it should have been.

There was something very different about Emerald Forest, the more she looked at it. Different in a way that didn't make sense, at least to her and the many times she and her team had gone into it. She could still see the tree line of the Emerald Forest, no problem. She could still see the school behind her, a-okay. She could make out the separation between the two, a cinch.

What she could not figure out, or understand, was where the seeming 'wall' of mist had come from.

That was what it was, without a doubt. A wall of mist. A dense cloudy fog of misty that just filtered through the trees of the Emerald Forest, hovering there like she thought snow did in winter. Except it wasn't winter, she wasn't cold, and mist wasn't supposed to be that dense. Or there.

And dense meant dense. Dense as in Ruby could hardly see the second line of trees into it. Outlines at best and barely shapes at worst. Considering how thick the trunks of the trees were, and how huge they were compared to the trees on Patch, that was saying something. She wasn't sure what, but it wasn't good.

Ruby licked her lips as she stared at the woods. They were misty, really misty. Too misty for just normal mist, and it wasn't even morning any more, so it wasn't normal. That meant that it wasn't something that should be here, at least not likely. That meant that… something else was making it? Maybe, but she doubted a fog machine was setup for just making the entire Emerald Forest look 10% creepier.

But she also didn't sense anything wrong with it, with her new Semblance ability at least. Sure, it was true she wasn't 100% confident with it yet, but she was getting better with it! Good enough in her opinion to at least be able to tell if the creepy misty woods in front of her were okay to walk into or not. True again, her abilities mostly worked off of bad things about to happen, not actually happening, but it was close enough, maybe, probably.

Her boots kicked at the grass outside of the forest giants. She walked along its perimeter watching the mist move like… well mist. That dense kind of fog that was wet to touch. Mist for sure. It was getting the edges of her cloak all dewy, the kind of feeling that she'd have to wring out before she did anything for combat practice, or bed. Good thing it was midday and her team was done for the day, probably.

Team… her team! She had to tell them that she'd found where Saria probably was!

Ruby fished into the pockets of her combat skirt, thankful again that Weiss had pointed out how to add pocket space to them. She produced her Scroll a moment later, a triumphant grin on her face.

She could tell the rest of her teammates, and even Ozpin and Uncle Qrow, all about forest! Maybe they knew, or at least seen it, but if they didn't she could tell them! The glass extended in her hands, the images of her teammates popping up for quick dials. Her thumb hovered over Yang's picture.

And it continued to hover, waiting there… Ruby bit her lip as she watched it. Why was she hesitating?

She was supposed to tell them once they found Saria, or where she might be. It was why they all agreed to help Ozpin, with Nora and Ren and Uncle Qrow, and whoever else the Headmaster would ask for help. Because they were supposed to find Link's friend. Because… because she didn't have Link with her.

But did Ruby know Saria was in those woods? Her silver eyes hovered on the misty woods, watching the dense fog-like water drift around the thick trunks, hiding anything from view more than arm's length in. Extra creepy, for sure. Her heels ground into the ground as she looked at the forest, gaze drifting up and down between it and her open-and-ready-to-dial Scroll. She was hesitating.

She was hesitating and she knew it. Problem was, she wasn't 100% sure why. Saria was her friend, and her friends were her friends. It didn't make any sense to tell her friends she'd found their friend… but it also didn't make sense to expose her friend to her friends… if they had something they were trying to do. But would that be okay?

"Geez, this is silly," Ruby muttered to herself. It was silly, even to her, because it should have been obvious. Saria didn't have anything to hide, and neither did Link. But Moraine could be in danger, because only Link had ever used those masks, and Moraine wasn't like Link, aside from being a faunus, so… she should do something to help…

But she didn't sense anything was wrong. And that was what worried Ruby.

She sensed bullets and grenades flying at her while she was blindfolded.

She sensed Moraine and her friends being hurt by Roman and his goons before.

She sensed Impa attacks when they were being launched at her.

She even sensed that weird Yang's pain during their fight before, even if she knew her sister could handle it.

But Ruby could not sense anything now. It was just… a creepy misty forest.

Maybe, just maybe, that meant there was nothing to worry about. Like, as in, there was something Saria was doing or something she needed to do. If that was the case, and Ruby got everyone over here, she could ruin it. It was possible, at least for someone like Saria who was… extra mysterious, like super mysterious.

She was a forest child, like Blake had said she was, and Saria had called herself. So if she was that, then there should be nothing in the forest to worry her. And if that was the case, there was only one thing for Ruby to do make extra sure she had to call her teammate and friends.

She had to investigate first.

Ruby clicked her Scroll back into its docking position, putting it back into her pocket before marching forward with long strides. Long strides with her arms pumping in excitement, as they were held out in front of her, as far as she could manage, reaching into the mist. It was a lot cooler looking than it felt, Ruby was sure. Didn't stop the fact that it was necessary.

Because it only took her a few steps into the mist for her to almost completely lose track of herself. Almost literally, at least close to it.

It was like she was walking through her bed sheets, bed sheets hung up on tree branches and floating past her as she pushed her way through them. The mist was heavy, heavy for something that was supposed to be majority part air at least. Ruby at least thought it should be light, because no way was there anything so dense back on Patch.

Mist wasn't new to her, seeing as she did grow up in a forest that got misty, especially in the spring. Problem was it was never this bad. Bad enough that her hands, held out in front of her, felt like they had been dragged through a small pond with the amount of dew they were collecting. Dew sounded right. At least it felt like dew, on her hands and on her cloak!

"Bleh," Ruby spat out with her tongue, hating the feeling of the mist on her. It was always a bad feeling to her, when she wasn't getting ready to go for a swim or something similar. It just felt weird getting soaked for no reason, or no good reason. And she'd be hard pressed to accept someone telling her that walking through the misty forest of Emerald Forest, which wasn't supposed to be a misty forest, was a good reason. Then again, searching for Moraine and Sari were good reasons.

It was why she was here, after, all keeping her eyes focused as her hands waved through the misty woods, pushing her away from the trunks her wet fingers brushed across or the low hanging branches that would otherwise snag her cloak. None of them were getting by her!

Unfortunately, with how dense the mist was, there was a good chance that something was going to.

"Maybe this'll be harder than I thought," Ruby muttered to herself, even as she kept walking. No use in complaining if she wasn't going to do anything. "This rate I'll be the one who ends up getting lost." At least she had her Scroll still, when she was ready to call the rest of her friends… and deal with them complaining that she had come in here ahead of them.

Ruby dropped her arms, sighing a bit with the action. The rest of the forest was deadly quiet as she did so, without even the chirp of a bird to let her know she was even still in the forest. In fact, it felt almost weird where she was, considering how the whole place seemed to feel like a whole new world. That made sighing appropriate at least.

She was in the Emerald Forest, caught in some magic mist that was heavy enough to drench her cloak and arms, looking for a friend that was wearing the face of a friend to another friend, and all the while believing she could have done it easily.

"I need to start thinking things through." Yang would laugh if she ever heard her admit that aloud.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha." Ruby's skin chilled at the laughter.

Her head whipped around in the mist, silver eyes wide and focused on nothing but the mist that surrounded her. That wasn't what she was focusing on. She was looking for what she heard. She knew what she heard. It wasn't like there was much she could confuse laughter with. Not even Zwei, and that was what Yang always told her when she heard her snickering. Hold on a minute…

"Yang?" Ruby tentatively called out. "Is that you?" Silence was her response, the still mist dampening her hand and cloak, but doing nothing else. "C'mon Yang. I'm sorry if you think this is payback for not calling you… oh yeah, that's probably what this is." It made sense at least. She got teased for doing a lot less, like leaving her boots out in the middle of the room, just because they wouldn't fit on the shoe rack.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha." Ruby shivered that time.

"Okay! Seriously, where are you?" Ruby held out her hands again, tentatively walking forward once more. She kept pushing away the damp mist, never succeeding in seeing more than a few patches of grass and leaves. At least she hadn't run into any trees yet. "I can hear you! So stop playing around with me! It isn't funny!"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha." She sighed now. Obviously the laughter disagreed.

Laughter that was very high pitch… amused… and not listening to her whining. It wasn't Yang.

"Okay, Saria," Ruby emphasized now. "You got me, I don't know where you are and I'm a little lost in the mist. A little lost, but still enough that you're not being very nice with this!" She called out again, but still got no response. It was a little more than unnerving.

She focused on her new Semblance, or improved Semblance as Impa put it. She used it to figure out where the bullets, grenades, and her teammates weapons were coming from, and she did all of that blindfolded.

Right now though, she wasn't getting anything. She didn't know what that meant.

Even as she kept taking slow, but long, strides forward into the mist, she couldn't tell if she was missing something and was walking into danger, or if there actually wasn't anything dangerous at all. Given the laughter that kept echoing through the forest, and the fact that she felt like she'd fallen into a lake at this point, not to mention that she was still getting used to her Semblance's abilities, the former seemed a lot more likely. Like a ton.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha." Especially given how much of the laughter she was hearing and how little of it she was seeing. Okay, she could never see laughter before, but she could at least see people who were laughing. And right now she couldn't!

All Ruby could see as she took long strides forward through the heavy misty forest was mist and more mist and some grass and misty mist and green clothes and misty mist on her misted…

"Hey!" Ruby shouted, heading spinning back where she was just looking. Her silver eyes caught the vestiges of a running figure, the mist billowing around their path. "Hold up! Wait for me!" Ruby called out again, quickly taking off after the path she'd seen.

She kept her arms out in front of her as she ran, too nervous she'd run head long into a tree trunk and knock herself out. She hadn't done that since she was ten, but now was the perfect time to do it again. She couldn't focus on that though, especially not how Yang would hold it over her head.

She needed to follow Saria, because it had to be Saria. Saria playing tag in a suddenly misty Emerald Forest, just after Moraine put on her mask… Ruby realized there was a lot more going ono than she cared to admit. She really did need to start thinking ahead more.

Right now though, she needed to focus on the billowing mist, and the short figure in green that was running ahead of her. Short green shorts, shirt, and dark boots to match. Ruby was almost on them.

"I'm fast you know!" Ruby called back, starting to pump her arms to catch up. "Faster than anyone in Beacon and Patch and probably in your forest!" She knew she'd prove it just as soon as she caught up to Saria, and got her to do away with… whatever this mist was. Ruby couldn't even think of the questions she'd ask to get Ruby to think of how she did it.

Probably because right now all she could think of was catching the faunus girl wearing a faunus mask as she got closer and closer and closer and-

She tripped.

Not Ruby, Saria.

Ruby barreled past in the mist past the figure, just able to turn around by the time Saria was lying face down on the ground. Given how heavy the mist was, Ruby could just make her out. She made sure to wear her grin as she stood at her tallest a few feet away, arms on her hips and wearing the dew on her like a second coat. Even if it was cold like water.

"Told ya I'm the fastest!" Ruby cheered delightfully. "Fastest runner, fastest tagger, and fastest snoop. Too much practice with a sister." Her silver eyes watched Saria pick herself up off the ground, kneeling as she dragged her legs closer to her body. Hold on a sec, that wasn't right.

Ruby watched, carefully, as Saria buried her face deep into her knees, curling into a ball. That really wasn't right.

Then she heard sobbing. Tiny barely let out sobbing. Ruby felt any pride she had lose itself in the mist like she had.

"Whoa! Whoa, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Ruby hastily let out as she dove back in front of Saria. She hovered over the smaller girl, who was actually super old, wondering how to comfort her without looking weird, even though she'd never helped someone old through a crying fit, or understood why. "I-It's okay! Really! You lasted a lot longer in the game than anyone else had! NOT that you meant for this to be a game, even though you said you wanted to have fun earlier and I'm hearing trying to find you. It's alright because we're friend and friends have fun and beat each other in games, not physically but… but this isn't working."

Ruby bit her lip as her rambling went nowhere, her silver eyes continuously trained on the sobbing appearing-child figure in front of her. Because Saria was supposed to be old, really old, old enough to raise Link. And she was crying like a child, which she wasn't, in front of her.

This was bad in more ways that Ruby could count, and she could at least reach thirty before she needed a breath of air. If Saria was crying than maybe Moraine was crying and if both were crying then it would be bad when Link returned but if they kept crying and they stayed lost then they'd need to wait for her team or Ozpin to come help her and then it would get even worse!

"H-Hey, Saria how about… we…" Ruby's voice puttered off as she started to reach out to the young girl, looking young woman. Her voice fell as she truly focused on Saria, through the mist.

A mist that was slowly dissipating, retreating away and revealing just what lay around her. Ruby should have been concerned about that. She should have been freaked out that the mist that had suddenly appeared around the Emerald Forest was now running away from where she was almost just as quickly as before. It should have been a red flag that Weiss would yell at her for not realizing, and Blake would see coming a mile away. But she didn't pay attention at all.

Because the mist wasn't important, not really. What was important was the child-like person who was looking up at her now. Saria was important, and Moraine too.

And the figure in front of her was neither.

Neither had short blonde hair. Neither had a long-pointed hat. Neither had unsettling blue eyes. They didn't have them. But Ruby knew who did.

"… Link?" Ruby quietly voice, unsure of how crazy she had to be to even think it. Even though the figure looked like him, but younger. And had his tunic. And his boots. And his hat. All smaller, but… all Link.

Ruby continued to stare at the smaller child that was sitting in front of her, wet tears down his face and looking as if he were ready to start balling again. His youthful face, lacking any of the weathered appearances that he had as an adult, as normal Link. He really was just a small boy sitting on wet grass in a forest that was way too misty… except for where they currently were!

Ruby didn't know what to do before, but now she wasn't even sure if there was anything that could be done!

How was Link here? Why was he so small? How had she run into him? Why was he crying? Why was he running through the mist? Why wasn't he talking to her? What was she supposed to do to help him? There were a million and one questions in her head!

Through it all, she still couldn't take her eyes off of Link, off of the obviously smaller Link that was somehow smaller than her, but was the same Link that was able to fight mega-Grimm and teach her team and entire school. That same Link now curled up and sitting in a ball, crying in front of her, lost in the woods. It just didn't make sense. She'd had nightmares that made more sense than this, even the one that involved time-travel and being her own great-grandmother.

But this was now, and the now here was that Link was still here, looking up at her, and waiting for her to do something.

Link… the same faunus who she had saved in the forest once more, now needing her again. Ruby took a breath though. She didn't need questions, she needed action. Because huntresses acted, and she'd get nowhere by doing nothing.

"Hey, it's… okay…" Ruby softly spoke, unsure of her won words, even as she reached out towards Link again. Slowly. "Just… tell me… or… show me what's wrong?" Because Link couldn't talk, at least in a way she could hear. Blake should be here… or Tatl or… Ruby hesitated again.

Ruby couldn't hear Link. That was a fact that was well established by the way he spoke, and how only faunus like Blake or machines could hear him. Or fairies, fairies were included. But Ruby wasn't any of those things.

Then who did she hear laughing?

"FOUND YOU!"

Ruby screamed, loudly.

"HYYAAAAAAGH!" Ruby bolted up and fell to her side, scrambling across her wet cloak. It pulled at her cloak, nearly sending her head back into the ground and pulling dangerously hard at her throat. Her fingers pushed back against the damp grass, righting herself and getting off of her cloak as her silvers eyes quickly swept around for the voice. The mist was clear, thankfully, so it was easy to see. It just wasn't what she expected.

She didn't expect to see Saria standing behind her.

The same girl-like woman who Link's friend was wearing who had run into the Emerald Forest. Except now she didn't have hears, or wolf ears. She had her pointy ears, but no hair on them, or fur. Just… Just her like she was before.

Standing tall in the middle of the forest, arms crossed, and looking down at her. It wasn't hard, given that Ruby was still sprawled out on the floor. She was doing a poor job of righting herself as fast as she should have. She blamed the dewy mist, and Saria's prank.

"Do you have any idea I was looking for you?" She was looking for her? "I've been running all day and I didn't see you even once. Not since this morning." Ruby shook her head, sure now that she had hit it when she fell. She didn't expect to have Saria looking for her. Let alone getting a scolding from her.

Why a scolding? Ruby honestly preferred the questions! Even if the questions usually had bad answers, at least they weren't given to her with the disapproving glare and crossed arms of her dad!

"I-I'm sorry about that," she replied almost automatically. "It just got really misty and I was looking for you before so when I saw… him, I-" Ruby was half way to motioning towards the mini-Link. A Link that really shouldn't have been here, at all. But still was. Somehow.

Only half-way, because Saria kept talking.

"I know Mido can be mean, but he's like that to everyone." Ruby stared back at Saria, blinking slowly. Who was Mido? "That's no reason to go running into the Lost Woods. Not without a Guardian Fairy of your own." The Lost Woods? They weren't there, this was the Emerald Forest!

"Hey, h-hold on," Ruby quickly let out, standing up as she spoke. She was still taller than either Saria or Link, and it felt really weird to even think that, even if she could visibly see it. "I think you're confused, we're still at Beacon, a-and Link's supposed to be with Jaune and Pyrrha… and this doesn't make sense." She looked back and forth between the two of them.

But neither were looking at her. Saria only continued to gaze down at Link, who looked back up at her. Ruby didn't want to interrupt, not really, but she also hated being ignored. It was very rude.

Then again, it was also rude to ignore the mini-Link crying again.

It was impossible to ignore the way his head ducked back to his knees, hiding his small sobs as she held himself tighter. Ruby bit her lip, unsure of what to do as she stared at the sight. Staring was bad, but so was crying in the forest. Did that make it right? She didn't know. And because she didn't know, she didn't act. Besides, Saria was here, SOMEHOW, so maybe she'd know how to help Link.

"… He made fun of you for not having a Guardian Fairy, didn't he?" The question was a Saria question, or at least it sounded like one. Ruby watched Link's head shift against his knees. A nod, it had to be a nod. Just like how the sound Saria made was a sigh. "I thought so. He does have a poor filter for his words. What he said was uncalled for."

Ruby watched from the side as Saria uncurled her arms, walking the short distance to Link's side. The grass made wet sounds as her shoes slid across them, ultimately making a small splash as she turned and sat next to Link. Ruby kept her distance, not sure of what to do, or even what was still going on. This was one of those times that Weiss was talking about, where she should just stay still and listen.

They sat there for a moment, and Ruby watched. They really were the same size, which was weird to think about. Even weirder was seeing Saria hover over Link, who was crying. That was the weirdest part. This was all weird.

"It's not your fault that you don't have a Guardian Fairy." Guardian Fairy, maybe like Tatl and Tael. Wait, where were they?! "You are still to young, and the Great Deku Tree has not deemed it time for you yet. This is the time for when you must prepare and learn, so that when your fairy comes to you, you can explore."

Saria held her arm out, and Ruby watched, enthralled, as an emerald fairy flew out from her sleeve.

The fairy rang like Tatl and Tael, hovered like them, dropped dust like them, and swayed through the air like a floating lightbulb. He, or she, was just the same as the fairies that taught them next to Link and gave them pointers! She, or he, was the same, they were the same!

"Holy cow Saria!" Ruby let out finally, only in time to realize she was already jumping for joy. Weird how she didn't even realize that herself. Pretty low scale on the list of things that were weird. The fairy began to twirl through the air, and Ruby almost missed how Link was watching the fairy, too. How couldn't he! Ruby was holding her hands out for the little guy to land on. "You have a fairy, too?! That's amazing! That's awesome you gotta-"

Her voice caught in her throat as the fairy flew at her.

Then through her.

She yelled, again, for a second time.

"GAAAAAAHHH!" Ruby fell backwards once more, hands quickly rising to her chest and patting it over and over again. She couldn't feel the fairy there, or any holes, or dust, or guts, or anything else to make her thing that the fairy had suddenly merged with her like one of her old cartoon shows.

The idea was further thrown away when she saw it flying around her, ringing up through the air and lolling about. Saria and Link were still watching the little guy. Ruby was watching the fairy, and Saria, and Link, and the mist, and the forest, and most importantly, herself. She kept patting herself. That wasn't normal, whatever happened. Nothing about this was normal.

Tatl and Tael couldn't fly through people. She held Tatl once! Sari and Link were still ignoring her, and they were still talking and… and this was all too weird!

"Saria!" She called again to the mentor of Link, hoping for an answer this time. "Can you please just tell me what-"

"Not having a fairy doesn't make you less of a Kokiri, Link." Saria spoke over Ruby, interrupting her. It almost sent the girl to the ground, again, while she was already on it. She caught herself, long enough to see the Emerald fairy land on the girl's, but really much older woman's, shoulder.

Ruby stared at it now, back and forth between them, pouting. What in the world was going on? If this was some kind of lesson from Saria, it was too confusing to make any real sense of!

"Someday, the Great Deku Tree will gift you a fairy. And when he does, he will give you a task for the forest." Saria kept talking, and Link was looking at her and the fairy on her shoulder. Ruby pulled her knees up to her chest, the same as Link. He had wet cheeks from tears. She had a wet face from the mist. He was sniffling from his sobs. Ruby was growling in irritation.

Still, this was something she wanted to watch, if only to scold Link for later for not including her, while she and the rest of her team probably drilled him for answers on what was going on. Moraine would have a lost to answer for to, and Saria. Maybe her fairy, if the guy ever acknowledged her.

"Perhaps on that day, you'll be to care for the trees. A chance exists that you will be responsible for defending our walls. I would not be surprised if it were even for you to seek out the souls in these Lost Woods." And she said that again. Lost Woods. It wasn't the Lost Woods though, not that creepy place Tatl described before. This was the Emerald Forest! Sure, a little mistier than usual, but not going to eat your soul and leave you to rot bad!

But Link was looking up though, gazing at her and around them. He wasn't crying anymore, not that she understood entirely why in the first place. It was hard to when they weren't even paying attention to her!

"It's not your fault that your so different Link. It's no one's fault." Then again, it was really easy to pay attention to her words. Especially with how quiet the rest of the forest was. Ruby let her chin rest on the tops of her knees as she listened to the pair of weirdly out of place people, both ignoring her, plus a fairy. "What does matter, and what is your own, what you do with what is given to you. Do you run away into the Lost Woods, because Mido is an idiot?" Link giggled at that. Ruby joined him.

She didn't know this Mido, but making fun of Link did sound like a stupid thing to do. Actually, pretty mean now that she thought about it, considering how big Link was, which was not at all. The Mido guy had to be huge.

"Or do you accept where you are now, and work to be somewhere better?" That was a Saria question though, and one that Ruby focused on. Link did the same, she noticed.

The way he looked at her blinking, sniffling back the few tears he had and wiping his face on his forearm. It was probably snot covered, but given how dewy the air had been, or would be, or whatever, it probably didn't matter. What did matter was what she saw.

Link and Saria smiling at once another, Link nodding his head towards her, probably saying something she again couldn't hear, and the emerald fairy of Saria ringing through the air as it resettled itself back inside of her sleeve. They still weren't paying attention to her, and the fairy still had flown through her. Ruby still, on top of it all, had no idea what was going on.

Then again, Saria did raise a good point. It was probably her easiest question yet.

There wasn't any real use in dwelling on what she didn't have. Not when she needed to focus on what she needed. And what she needed was to be stronger, so that she could be a Huntress, so that she could save others, and so that she would be a hero, just like Link.

No, just like her mom.

Ruby curled her arms tighter around her legs. That was a bad place for her thoughts.

"Now though, I think I know exactly what you are." Saria spoke as she stood, patting off her legs. Link and Saria both watched her, seeing the woman, who looked too much like a girl, stroll around the small mist clearing. Ruby wondered if she was finally going to address her. "Just between the two of us, I'm sure it's something you alone can be." Ruby sighed. "Do you care to guess what it is?"

Link looked around at the question, something that Ruby couldn't help but find adorable. Even though she knew this was the Link who was supposed to be way taller and stronger and more sure of himself, that is without crying, she still found it adorable. Even if she couldn't get the questions out of her head for what was going on. With his age, with his appearance, with Saria and Moraine but without faunus ears, and everything else.

Basically, literally everything that was happening.

"I think you are… IT!" SMACK!

Ruby wasn't sure what shocked her more.

The strength that Saria hit mini-Link with, the way she ran off into the forest, the speed at which Link got up to chase her, or the fact that she wasn't following them.

The last one, had to be the last one.

"Wha-WAIT! Hold on!" Ruby yelled out, running after Saria and younger Link. They were already lost in the mist, the creepy mist that swirled around her, but Ruby kept going forward. She couldn't get lost if she just went straight, and that was where they went! "C'mon! I waited for you guys! Just give me a second here!"

Ruby wanted to speed through the mist, but doing that without seeing where she was going was a bad idea. She'd learned that at a young age. And she didn't want to zoom right past where Saria and younger Link were. She had to find them! So she kept running, holding her hands out to make sure she didn't hit the trees as she ran, pushing out the low branches to keep herself from being clotheslined, and all the while keeping her silver eyes open and wide.

And she ran forward step by step by step through the mist, ignoring the feeling of the water on her face, dampening her hair, and getting her cape even soggier than before. She just needed to find her two faunus friends first, so she could ask why Saria didn't pay attention to her, or why Link looked so young, or what they were talking about, or-

Whooosh!

Why she was outside the Emerald Forest.

Ruby blinked at the cleared fog, out of the way and out of sight like she had walked through a wall. She looked down at her hands, seeing the green grass of Beacon without a leaf on it, no trees in front of her either. Just the dorms for the upper classmen and a few lesson halls, not Emerald Forest… not the misty woods.

Those were behind her, and still where when she turned around.

The dense misty forest she had just run through, the stuff that had made it almost impossible to see a few feet in front of her, still hung between the trees. The trees she had been running through as she chased Link and Saria, the smaller versions of them at least. She was staring at them, the forest at least, and she remembered running through it, but she never remembered turning around, at least not so much that she would run out of the forest.

How had she gotten here?

"Rubes!" "Ruby!" Ruby turned when she heard familiar voices calling her name, unfortunately, it was not Saria or Link. Unfortunate right now at least.

"Guys?" She spoke aloud, watching her teammates jog towards her. "What are you-whoa! HEY! YANG!" Ruby cried out now as Yang wrapped her arms around her, pulling her into her sister's chest and smothering her. It felt about as great as it always did, like being suffocated by her bed sheets and pillows.

"Geez! You little idiot, you had me ready to start burning down the forest!" She did? Ruby thought as she tried to push her way out of her sister's grasp, to the same avail as always. None. "We couldn't find Saria or you, then we find out there's a weird fog covering the forest and your Scroll GPS just so happens to be broadcasting from inside it!" Ruby kept pushing, unable to answer and only barely hear.

"Yang is right, Ruby. You had us all deftly worried! Not in the least bit because you failed to so much as send out a message as for where you were." Weiss's scolding didn't change either, and Ruby still wanted out of her sister's grasp. But there was no give.

"What you were thinking running into the forest like that!" Yang continued to scold her, even as she held her in the usual hugs she reserved for her little sister. The kind that left said little sister red faced and out of breath. "Were you thinking at all, or were you just hoping to find Saria before the rest of us?" Little of A, mostly B…

"I don't think she can answer you right now," Ruby heard Blake say, and she was so thankful for her sister's partner now. "Maybe give her some room… and air." Both would be great!

"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I guess." Ruby gulped in the air as she leaned back from Yang, the crushing hug holding her close now gone. "Geeze Rubes, don't need to exaggerate. It wasn't that tight."

"Yeah it was!" Ruby shot back, unable to pout while she took in the air she needed. Geez, her sister. "Do you know how hard it is to breath when you're holding me that close? I feel like Zwei is chocking me when you do that." Maybe not that bad, because Zwei was a cute little puppy. Yang was more like the ferocious bear that made Ursa run away.

"I understand." Ruby turned to see Ren, nodding at her with crossed arms. Then she saw Nora jumping up and down on her toes, grinning like she always did. And she kept pushing out her chest… Ooohhh, Ruby got that one. "But if we may return to the matter at hand, what were you doing in the forest, Ruby? At least when it looked like that?" His arms unfolded to indicate the obvious. Ruby glanced at the misty that poured from the forest still, watching it dissipate to nothing before it barely over a few feet away from the edge of the forest.

"And why were you running?" Weiss asked now. "It at least appeared you were running from something, or perhaps towards something." Yeah, kind of expected there would be questions after she came running out of that.

"The last one, actually," Ruby pointed out for her partner. "I was chasing Saria and Link in there, because I saw them and-"

"Wait, back up," Yang spoke first. "You saw Saria and Link?" She held up her palms, that look of 'I-think-you're-lying' on her face. Ruby still nodded "As in the same Link that's like a day's trip by Bullhead away, with Weiss's big sis and half of JNPR? That Link?" Ruby nodded her head again.

"Yeah! Well, it was sorta them, but they were both different and weird." Because it was totally weird for Link too like he was younger than she was all of the sudden, and definitely different that they wouldn't even pay attention to her. That was a far cry from the same Link that sang a song for her with Elrora's help… or was it just Elrora…

"Oh! Oh! Were they different like wearing different clothes different or different like walking in a different way different?" Nora questioned as she waved her hand in the air. Ruby wasn't a teacher, so she didn't need to do that. "Then how were they weird? Was Saria super big or a different color? Oh! Was Link not a faunus anymore? No wait! I know! I bet one of them was a dog!" Ruby shook her head faster and faster with each or Nora's statements.

"No, no, no, no, and definitely no!" Her hands were waving with her shaking head. "It was just… well, okay, that third one was kind of close." Nora was jumping with excitement. She really was the only one.

"Yes! I knew it! I told you things grow bigger in the forest Ren. That's why you're so tall and I'm so big!" Ruby looked at Ren in confusion, but his head was just shaking the same way hers was before. "Things are always bigger in the woods! Like trees and animals and plants and Grimm and everything else!"

"That's because of an environmental protection, built up through many many years of evolutionary advantage." Ren spoke like he'd said this before. It was the same way her dad talked to her when she started to run through the forest and he'd tell her about how dangerous it was. "There is no correlation between living in the forest and personal growth."

"Aside from character." Nora pointed out as she leaned into Ren. Ren rolled his head, making Ruby giggle with Nora.

"Aside from character," he relented. Ruby saw Yang make a whipping motion with her hand, whatever that meant. It did make Nora giggle louder, and Ren shake his head.

"ANYways," Yang spoke us. "You were gonna tell us about Saria and Link, right Rubes?" She was? "Like they were different and weird." Oh yeah! She was!

"Of course I will, and you'll definitely agree that they were being different and weird," Ruby spoke up to her sis, even as she took a step back. Yang might not wrap her in a hug. But she wasn't above giving her a noogie. "Cause, I mean, Link was like younger than I was and Saria kept-"

"Stop right there!" Weiss instructed, and Ruby obeyed. Her head practically rose with the speed her mouth shut. "Just what are you implying when you say Link was younger than you are? Was that a euphemism? An exaggeration of his appearance? Something similar to that?" Ruby shook her head, fast.

"No no! He really was little!" Ruby held her hand out to her side, holding it just above her belly button was. "He was maybe this tall, and had cute pointy ears, and had a really small cap, and he tripped chasing after Saria, so she was giving him a lesson on runnin gin the woods and he listened to her really hard." She made fingers around her eyes, like they were binoculars. Link never looked away from Saria after all.

Kind of the same way everyone was keeping their eyes on her, even though they were all squinted and had really twisted frowns on their faces. Did she say something disgusting?

"Ruby, did you hit your head?" Blake asked her, and Ruby had to blink before she answered. Why did she ask that? "Because if you did, we can get you to the nurse without any issue. We'll keep looking for Moraine without you, so you don't have to worry." And why did she say that!

"But I'm not making it up!" Ruby yelled out, arms out at her sides as he did so. "I was even trying to talk to Saria and link, but they wouldn't answer me, so I just listened to Saria telling Link about how dangerous the woods were even though she never mentioned the mist but kept talking about things like Wolfos and Moblins and I'm staring to ramble, aren't I?" There was a collective nod of her friends' heads. "Okay, yeah, I do that, but I am telling the truth! I mean, why would I make up a story about mini-Link and Saria like that?"

"If it helps, Ms. Rose, perhaps you can start from the beginning." Ruby recognized that voice, even if she didn't see him at first.

"Professor Ozpin?" Her head turned, seeing the professor walking up to them. Had he just gotten here? Was he always here? Did he teleport here? Maybe all three, somehow. It made sense thought, because he was the one who was supposed to watch Moraine… with Uncle Qrow… "Wait, where's Uncle Qrow?" Ruby looked around. If her team was here, and half of JNPR, and Headmaster Ozpin, it didn't make sense her uncle wasn't here. And on top of that… "Or Ms. Goodwitch."

"Qrow is not here due to my orders, Ms. Rose," Headmaster Ozpin returned. Ruby noted he had his hands on his cane again, looking towards the woods with a stern expression. "Though the possibilities of you being here, as well as Saria, were high, it would be impudent of me to focus all of our resources on a singular area. And Qrow does have an ability to search over a large area quickly." That did sound like her uncle, at least able to search quickly part. She never did win a game of Hide-And-Seek against him. "Ms. Goodwitch is also looking out for other areas, as this heavy mist is… far from natural."

He turned back to the forest Ruby had run into, and out of. She could tell he was thinking about going in there, the same way she had. Probably, at least she thought that was what he was doing. Considering how he was supposed to be watching Moraine, and Moraine was in there, with Saria, and a mini-Link, that did make sense. Yeah, that made enough sense to her.

"That, and she's trying to keep others from going in," Yang spoke up again. "She just about threw Nora into the back of the building to keep her from running in there, at least when we arrived. Kind of easy to forget how strong she is sometimes." It was? Ruby had a hard time thinking of Ms. Goodwitch without her being intimidating, powerful, or anything else like that. Even when she was giving a lecture. Then again, Yang did have a habit of not paying attention.

"She is trying to keep you all from Danger, Ms. Xiao Long," Professor Ozpin returned. His head only leaned towards them, his eyes still on the forest. Did he see something else? Maybe, considering how Ruby saw something before, too. But that was after she was in it. "Something like this is meant for a professor to explore first, in order to ensure the students are safe. It is our job, after all, to ensure you are safe.

"Well it might be dangerous, but it wasn't for me," Ruby put her palms to her chest as she spoke. "It's like I said, all Is aw was a mini-Link and sterner Saria talking to each other. They were ignoring me at the same time." Which was still very rude, but if they were still lost int eh woods, and they were that different, she could forgive them.

"Why don't you tell us about it?" Blake suggested. Ruby looked at her. "I mean everything that happened. Where you went in, how long it was, and then what you saw. Because if you did see Saria, I have a hard time believing she'd just ignore you. She'd probably ask you a question instead." Yeah that did sound like her.

"And I wanna know about mini-Link!" Nora cheered next to Ren. "Was he like a boyish Moraine? Was he cute and cuddly? Did he still have really long ears?" Ruby was nodding her head at the questions, realizing a bit too late that she was doing so.

"I agree it would be beneficial to hear of your time in the forest, Ms. Rose," Ozpin spoke again. Was he standing closer now, or was that just because it looked like everyone was standing closer to her. Probably the last one. "Before anyone else goes in, it would be a fine point to hear of any oddities you saw while in that dense mist." Ruby felt like a canary all of the sudden. She wasn't sure why.

"Are you asking me because you wanna know what I saw because you're curious, or because you wanna know what's going on before you go in?" B, it had to be B, she thought. It had to be B because she knew everyone else wanted to go in, so of course they wanted to know what was there before they went in. It was like Professor Port said, when he wasn't explaining how he used to be an amazing Hunter in the days before her dad, you had to have information about where you were going to be able to survive. At least, she thought that was what he was always referring to.

"The latter, Ms. Rose." Ruby would have cheered, if she wasn't under so many eyes, and Professor Ozpin's. "While Ms. Goodwitch doesn't wish for you all to be put in unnecessary risk, this is an issue that has likely occurred because of my… negligence. Mine and Qrow's as well." Ruby had to nod at that. The Uncle Qrow part.

It was easy to blame him. Yang and dad did it all the time. And it usually was his fault, because he was asleep. A lot.

"That being said, I do not blame you for entering as swiftly as you did, now that you are safe. Now, I wish to know what you saw, so that I may have a better chance at finding Moraine and Saria within, assuming that what you saw pertained to them." Oh, it did, it definitely did.

"Heh, kinda feels like we're watching a teacher trying to find the naughty student in class," Yang spoke up again. Ruby rolled her eyes. Her sister wasn't wrong, but it was just hard to keep Saria as a kid in her mind, not after everything they'd seen, and heard, and talked about.

"Quiet, Xiao Long," her partner turned up. "Headmaster Ozpin is right, and we are extremely fortunate that he's willing to enter before any of us."

No matter what anyone said later, Ruby knew she didn't imagine the laughter that came from Professor Ozpin. It wasn't something she heard a lot of, true, but there wasn't much she could mistake it for. The same way she didn't mistake the beer bottles in Uncle Qrow's room ending up in Yang's. She knew what they were.

So, she knew Professor Ozpin found what Weiss said funny. Why that was, she didn't know. Maybe it was a professional Hunter thing. Something that made her wanting to understand it even more.

"I believe we are getting off track," said professor spoke up. Ruby looked at him again, watching him nod towards her with his twisted glasses. "If you are able, would you care to explain what you saw in the mist, Ms. Rose?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Ruby nodded her head, even as she glanced at the misty woods, just in case she'd catch Saria and mini-Link running around in there.

No such luck.

"Well, I started by walking into the woods, with my arms held out so I didn't run into any trees. It's why I had to walk, too." Ruby held up her arms as she spoke, making sure to copy her actions as best she could. Like her dad told her, the best stories were visual. "The mist got really dense on me and then…"

---

Only a few steps into the Emerald Forest and Ozpin could already tell it was not the woods that were outside of his grounds.

He had walked the beaten paths too many times, watched timber grow for too long, observed countless initiations through the dense woods, to possible mistaken the foreign bark and trunks that now grew and sprouted from the misty land. It was not the Emerald Forest that sat adjacent to Beacon Grounds and Vale proper. This, he realized, was an alien land invading upon his school's territory.

His cane tapped on the soil as he walked, feeling the ground give from the excessive moisture in the air. A phenomenon that presented itself by also clinging to his emerald attire, something he could do little but withstand for now. Annoying as it was to have it cling to him, dense enough to be mistaken for rainfall, his focus was on a far more pressing matter. The matter of this foreign land that mimicked the Emerald Forest his school so closely bordered.

Somewhere in this foreign territory was the friend of Link, the ancient Sage Saria, and the young faunus Moraine, a girl who had somehow gathered the mask of said friend. Ozpin would have to look into how she had acquired said mask from Link, and then hid it from both him and Qrow so well. Her ability to was either a talent or a skill, either one worth investigating. That was only one mystery however, one of many.

What was not a mystery, to him at least, was how this forest of mist came to be. Foreign as it was, he needed no thought to know it was by the act of Saria, or more appropriately, the powers of the Maiden she possessed. Though far from anything he had seen before, it would hardly be outside the realm of possibility, not when put next to the explosion of life and proliferation of nature. A cloud of mist, the moving of trees, would be a hand-wave in comparison.

It did not change the fact that the motive for said action on Saria's part still escaped him, something he thought of as he continued to move through the misted woods. Slowly, carefully, at a pace that allowed him to listen to the odd sounds that echoed through the mist, all while searching for odd billows in the dewy cloud.

If Ruby Rose was to be believed, and he had little to no reason to doubt her, then Saria had somehow maneuvered a manipulation of Link in this mist, an illusion of sorts that was far beyond any basic Semblance. He was certain it was an illusion and nothing more.

For if Link had returned, or something bad had occurred to him, Bartholomew would have contacted him post haste, or Ms. Schnee the same to James. No, the Link that Ms. Rose saw was not the Link that had befriended Moraine, not likely. It was an illusion that Saria had made for the poor girl, one that had her chasing to the edge of the forest and out of the woods.

Unfortunately, Ozpin could not deduce why. A haunting one-word question that so often plagued him.

Why would Saria do such a thing, aside from it being a rather extravagant way to lure Ms. Rose out of the woods. It didn't seem appropriate to Saria, the child-like Sage that often led other to answers through riddles and questions, rather than chasing false realities away from their goals. The two methods were perpendicular to one another, such as a teacher that believed in experience, but never left the classroom.

There had to be a reason for it, and it was just one more reason amongst many that Ozpin took it upon himself to traverse into the woods, before the teammates of Ms. Rose or the remains of JNPR took it upon themselves to do so. He needed to find Moraine, find Saria, and figure out why the girl, either of them, took these misty woods to such a far degree.

Ozpin swung his cane through the air again, watching as the cloud of misty in front of him swam and drifted in the wake of his staff. The billowy mist, wet to the touch, drifted like silent clouds. Silent like the woods the Emerald Forest now appeared to be, but rarely so often was. Were he a lesser man, the unnerving sense of calm would have gotten to him.

A slow sigh left his lips, loud as a scream in the silent air that surrounded him. It gave the improper feeling of being confined to a small space, locked in an endless corridor he could see neither entrance to nor exit from. It was not a feeling he was soon to think he would experience in the Emerald Forest, not the woods that so often straddled the line between safe and dangerous, housing the Grimm for exhibition and exams, yet never dangerous enough to warrant guards or watches.

Now, he heard neither the growl of the Grimm nor the chirp of the birds. Despite the immense size of the trees he continued to slowly stride by, stretching higher than many other woods in the world, he heard not a sound of them straining in a breeze nor of the leaves rustling in any wind. It was as if they were captured in time, them and the rest of nature that took refuge between their thick trunks.

Only the mist moved in the woods now, this forest that paraded itself like his Emerald Forest. It, and himself.

"A curious case," Ozpin mumbled to himself, not speaking to anyone but his own thoughts. "So often I find myself wondering what the Maidens can do, and so often I find myself surprised at what they are capable of."

"Then do you wish to see more?" His eyes shifted and his feet stopped.

Ozpin's cane settled on the ground, slowly, as he turned his head in the direction of the voice. Through the lens of his glasses, he peered into the dense mist of the woods, but saw nothing but more billowing dew. His ears had not deceived him, he knew, but neither did he know who spoke or where exactly it had come from. Only that it had come from the outer rings of the mist, and supposedly in answer to his question. If that was the case… perhaps a conversation was in order.

"What more is there to show?" Ozpin gently ventured, louder than before, but no different than if he were carrying a conversation with someone in front of him. "What more is there to see that you are willing to show me?"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha." Laughter was the response, often the response given by youths hiding an answer, or wise figures playing a game. If it was Saria he was speaking to, or some figment her powers had created, it could likely be either. "If you wish to see, you have to be willing to leave." Leave the woods? Hardly the proper action to take.

"I'm afraid I can't do that, not just yet." Ozpin spoke, resting both of his hands on the head of his cane as he did so. "I was put in charge of watching over you, or more accurately Moraine, while Link was vacant from Beacon. To leave without thought or care for your safety would be hypocritical to many of my oaths." Those to his friends, his students, and the people of Vale. All were included.

"Safety is such an important thing," the voice admitted through the woods. Ozpin did not approach still. Something, a honed sense, was telling him to wait. That, or telling him to listen. Perhaps a part of him sensed the familiarity in the words. That, or the voice. "But why do you watch so carefully without ever reaching out beyond?" Ozpin was worried by those words.

Not the vagueness they contained. Too often he was caught in word games that offered much less, even those that were not questions. This… this was something he had heard before. Most worryingly, he could recall where he had.

"Then come out. Leave behind where you are. Leave it so you can find something more." Those were hauntingly familiar words. Words familiar enough that he could not ignore them. Not for the chance to be swayed by Saria or to be lured into a trap. For someone, for anyone, to know those words so well spoke of many things at once.

It spoke of age, of convenience, of knowledge, and most importantly, of destiny.

His feet carried him through the forest now, cane swinging at his side and no longer searching the air before him. Ozpin could tell from where the voice was coming, and he intended to follow it through. The laughter that came with his strident march was evidence he was playing into some kind of ploy or game. It was not one he feared, not with Saria of Link's past at the helm, but it was one he knew he'd be disadvantageous during. Still, he carried on. It was a risk worth taking.

"That's it. Come out and join us all!" All, as in more than one. Just as it was before. Every word more the voice spoke was more that confirmed his fears and dreads, his curiosities and wonders. It was all something he needed to see.

And the mist appeared to hear his silent call, billowing away from him at a pace that far outmatched his swift march forward. Falling away into wisps and showing more than the few feet in front of him. It was little different than what Ms. Rose described, but all at once happening in a way totally different than what she told. Afterall, Ozpin was not walking around a boy she had chased, watching an exchange that ignored her.

He was walking into a clearing he had not been in for eons, walking to a cabin that had long since rotted away, and watching a figures no longer of this world hosting a party in the calm plain of the woods. Figures that were colored like the seasons, gowned so differently than one another, but neither appearing to be alien in a group. All looked appropriate, all appeared to be friends, and all busied themselves to a task that befit their looks. Looks that Ozpin recognized well.

The woman in white, wearing a robe of elaborate fur and warmth, was clearing a table with her hands. A word of hard labor that did not befit one looking as if they were royalty. The girl who wore trousers of lavender, short and letting her skin breath, worked in a garden Ozpin had not seen and could scantily remember, pulling vegetables and planning seeds as she went. Another girl in a dress of green, long enough to reach her ankles and matched by an emerald circlet about her head, laughed and danced through the yard, nature almost following her movements as she did.

And the last, a girl who wore clothes similar to that of a hermit herself, dark as bark and showing only what was necessary, was placing food on the table, even as her lips moved in a chant that only she could hear. Perhaps only she could hear, but Ozpin knew the words well, words that he now spoke whenever he sat before a meal he was thankful for, or a lesson he did not believe he'd be able to share.

Even now, watching them move about an area far too familiar to be coincidence, Ozpin felt his lips moving to match hers, his feet slowly caring him forward. It was all to impossible to witness, and yet, it would be nothing short of foolishness to use that as the basis to deny its existence.

"Are you ready to come out now?" The girl in green spoke again, a green that captured his gaze far more vibrantly than before. The dress that billowed like the mist, but hung around her form like a greedy piece of cloth. Ozpin only now, after so many years, stared at the smile the young maiden gave. It was only then he realized how familiar it was. "We're almost ready, and wouldn't there be more to see how here than there is in there?" Those words, again, and that question, once more, was something Ozpin had hardly expected to hear.

And he watched, mesmerized and confused, as a man of age and power stepped forth from the cabin, hand to his forehead and blocking out the sun that barely pierced the canopy above. There was no confusion of what he was seeing, only disbelief that it was possible.

Illusion or not, Ozpin knew he was staring at the origins of a fairytale, and his own long journey.

"See? Isn't this much better?" The girl asked, the one who so neatly embodied the spring air, having a matching step to her waltz. "The vibrant air? The new life? The slow harvest and food? Is there anything in your cabin that so easily trumps this?"

"No, there isn't," Ozpin mumbled to himself, watching from a distance as the scene unfolded. It was almost a sense of vertigo he was suffering now, watching as the familiar, too familiar, old man stumbled out from the cabin and towards the too kind maidens who walked about and flourished the land as they helped him.

"No, there isn't," he spoke again, the him that was no longer him. The old man answered as his steps grew more sure, more sturdy as he walked forward towards the table the woman of tan clothing worked. As he did, the girl in green laughed and spun once more. The air continued to spin around her, as if heading her call.

And Ozpin could not deny, the air was warmed, though he could not decide if it was due to familiarity, or the powers that had yet to be. He hoped it was the former, but suspected the latter. It was a suspicion that almost made his soul shiver, because the idea of it was astounding.

"I'm glad you agree!" The girl cheered, spinning again as she readily plotted herself down at the table, just as her friend was finishing. Ozpin was not naming them, refusing to do so, until this figment of a dream did so. Only then would he know who was orchestrating this dance. "Isn't it important to see all that you can while you can? Or do you think that the safety of a home is always more important than the freedom of nature?"

"Why are you helping me like this?" Ozpin mumbled again, the question that was in no way related to the curiosity the girl had proposed, the girl of emeralds and dancing in leaves.

"Why are you helping me like this?" His ancient double repeated. His hands tightened on the head of his cane, watching mutely now as the exchange continued. "Why assist an old hermit who is busying himself in his home? I have nothing to offer you but time, something you need not me for."

"Because treating those with kindness will lead to kindness in return." The girl of dark bark spoke back, standing up as she clapped her hands. The act came for obvious reasons, that being the display of food she had designed being complete. Ozpin had seen it before, but witnessing it again made his mouth water, even if his jaw felt tight.

The freshly cooked goose that did not fly in this region, the vegetables sliced and diced and sprayed with seasons that grew in far off lands, even ripe fruits that were out of season, perhaps even time. All were carried on plates that he did not own, and never did, sitting on a table that moments again, or perhaps eons now, was dusty and coated with nature's spite. And yet, the girl had made it all look more appetizing than the chefs who were paid well in high castles.

The aroma of the meat wafted through the air, spiced with the vegetables and fruits that lingered on its breath. The steam of the well-cooked meat as enticing a sight as the browned skin of the well-prepared carcass, done up only by the luscious greens that were strewn around it. Though with a tight stomach and nervous glance, Ozpin stared down at the food with some reluctance. The him that was now, at least, did.

The him of before looking down and licked his lips, the strands of his long beard being pushed aside as he sat at the table with little hesitation. His hands played with the cutlery, wondering which would be used for, or if it was appropriate to use any at all. The him of now knew better, the but the him of before, wishing for solitude and peace, did not. It would have been a humorous sight, were he not still attempting to justify all that he saw.

"I have nothing to offer you," the him of before spoke again, the old man resting his hands as he wondered of what to do. Though surer of himself now, Ozpin was still familiar and skeptical of the feeling of loss. Eternity did not aid in finding self-confidence, it only offered more time to lose it. "I have nothing to gift to you nor nothing to welcome you with. Nothing but my old home and land."

"That is more than enough for most," the woman in a blue robe and alabaster features spoke. Her hands were dirtied from her work, but her smile was warmer than the clothing she wore. Ozpin knew of both for certain. "Such would be a blessing in the harsh weather, or even long night. To offer even that is enough for us. Though to be honest with your equal honesty, we do not need it." He already knew why, the him of now at least.

"We wish to offer you food and welcome, because we passed by your home and did not wish to leave you alone." The frolicking girl of green spoke again. "Wouldn't it be rude to simply walk past a man who is alone and not offer him some warmth? What better way is there to offer welcome than to sit and cook a meal together?" Few that Ozpin could name, even now.

It was nothing but good deeds he was showered with, and he watched now as they did it a second time, though perhaps the first. Watching as they gave him something he had not received before, and asked not even for a spade to dig or tent to sleep in. It was something he was not used, and such took an action in kind that he did not think he would repeat.

"Good deeds need to be returned." Ozpin began, though not words that he would speak. He only knew it was the conclusion he reached before, and the him of then did the same, with a determined look in his eyes. Eyes old enough to have seen time drift by, but sure enough to know that it was not so passive as to be uninfluenced by the actions of the present.

"I still wish to reward you," he spoke then, enough to earn their attention, and enough for Ozpin to know what would come next.

He watched as his hand lifted, rising from the table and summoning forth the strength he no longer possessed.

He watched the four maidens observe him, keeping silent as looks of anticipation crossed over and towards him.

He watched as light collected at his palms, bringing forth the very forces of nature the girls so well appealed to, and all that they were capable at once.

He watched… as it all disappeared.

"Done."

As if the call of a curtain, the image of his passed faded away, leaving behind the last shot of himself offering the powers of godhood and greatness to the four women who were so deserving of them. And in its place was the misted woods of the Emerald Forest, no different than when he heard the voice the first time, the now clearly familiar tone and inflection. Now, however, he saw and heard nothing.

No cabin near decrepit in the woods, no table with a feast, no maidens helping him prepare a meal, and not even the act he was close to repeating. He saw none of it.

"What?" Ozpin asked aloud, looking around him again. His hands remained tight on his cane, unsure of what just happened. No, that wasn't entirely true. He knew what had happened.

The illusion had dissipated, like the mist that was there before, and had returned now. It was either complete in its tale or dismissed by the caster, one of the two. Why the timing of when it was dispelled, be it either coincidence or not, he was not sure, he only knew it was too jarring, too unnerving to merely just let go.

That is, until he saw a girl spinning through the woods. A girl with emerald gown, emerald air, and a pair of wolvine ears atop her head. A girl that spun through the forest, turning the air around her with a warmth that reflected her smile. A dance that was met with her giggles, and complimented by her innocence appearance.

He watched, nerves raw from the illusion he had just been lifted from, as the girl continued to weave and move through the woods in a way that appeared so alien to what was natural, and yet embodied the natural allure and innocence of nature to a tee. Perhaps it was the emerald clothing to so easily matched the leaves, perhaps it was the hair that appear to be the canopy of the trees she danced between, or perhaps it was in her mystery nature, all of that being something Ozpin had seen before.

It was all something Ozpin had seen before, but only now knew where.

The similarities between the girl and the maiden were too close, too extreme, to miss.

The clarity and link between Saria of the Lost Woods and The Maiden of Spring were far too jarring to be mere coincidence.

And as Ozpin had observed just before, it likely was not.

"Saria," Ozpin called lightly towards the girl, already taking steps towards her. She stopped at his call, turning towards him. The smile on her face was as evident as the spin in her step.

"Professor Ozpin," she returned in kind. "I'm gad you are here. Did you get lost on the way?" A clever question, though a ruse and nothing more. One he had to play along with, regardless. Saria was a Maiden, for sure now, and it would be foolish to try and be direct with her.

"I had a journey of some kind, for that I am certain," Ozpin returned. "But I must ask how you sent me on such a trial in that mist. Or, to be more precise, how did you create such illusions within your damp air?" He waved his hand with the question, stopping his stride forward only when he stood in front of her, not that she faltered in her own. She only one heel on the ground, alternating, and spinning with great pride.

"Sent you? Did you mean to imply that I made you go anywhere? Were you not the one who stepped into the fog yourself?" It was a mist, not a fog, but it was not the question that needed to be asked or corrected.

"I followed you as I promised Link I would watch over you." That made her falter for a moment at least, long enough to have Ozpin continue. "If not you, then Moraine who wears your mask, and who's features you currently help bare."

The emerald furred ears atop her head were evidence enough, and the way they tilted showed a form of regret, no different than a scolded dog. It was endearing, to be certain, but not what Ozpin was looking for. Saria, after all, was a child only in appearance, a gift of her apparent eternal youth. Perhaps even a benefit to her Maiden power. Either could be possible.

"I see. Then I suppose I did force you on your journey, didn't I?" Her spinning slowed until she was left standing with a single raised leg, her emerald clothes leaning with her, as she attempted to take an exaggerated step forward. "It was not my intention to do that to you, of that I promise. I only hope that anything you saw was not unbearable for you to witness." Two pieces of information came from such a statement.

First, the Maiden truly did possess no intent to harm or maim. That was a benefit to be noted. But secondly, and far more importantly, she apparently did not know of what was seen.

That, Ozpin found a bit less likely.

"Are you saying that you do know now what I saw?" Ozpin ventured curiously. "You recognize that the mist showed me something, but you do not know what it was? That what I witnessed was as likely to be seen by someone else who dared to venture into these woods? Woods that you have altered?" The last question was unneeded, for now, but perhaps a reminder to himself to not forget to critique the Maiden later.

"That is the truth," Saria spoke back, and Ozpin found her words doubtful. "These woods are yours, the Emerald Forest if I recall the name correctly, but I merely brought forward a bit of my own. A bit of the Lost Woods that I guarded and carried for so long, because they carried with them many benefits to me." She was attempting to lead him away.

Ozpin realized it with her statement not being a question. She wanted him to ask on what she needed, not what she had done. She wanted to lead him away from what they were just talking about, but he was no just ready to do that yet.

However… if she truly didn't know of what he saw, then he also needed to bring out an answer to suit him without baring answers to her. The Maiden powers were fickle, so it would not be impossible for her powers to have such an unpredictable effect, even to her.

After all, it was too common that those who wielded great power were heedless of the effects of such might. Eons may come with wisdom, but they did not gift answers.

"Then you mean to say your Lost Woods, this… misty groove, is something you brought forward?" Ozpin began with a wave of his hand, his other still tight on his cane. Saria nodded at him, and he continued on. "And they are wooded groove that show people images of what? Happenings of the past? Predictions of the future?"

"Whatever is lost, in truth." It was an answer Ozpin should have seen coming. "What do you expect to find in the Lost Woods but lost thoughts? The dreams and wonderings of those who ventured through it, ideas that have been lost to the light of day. You may not find them in the depths of a tome or the bed on which you sleep, so where better to find lost thoughts than where you may be lost yourself?" Where they originally where, and Beacon was not where he originally gifted his powers.

"So it was coincidence then, at least your word is such." Saria tiled her head in curiosity to her question. "You showed me something that was too well-tied to me, and you are certain that it was not something you orchestrated on your own?"

"Would you believe me if I said did not?" She asked the question with a twirl, the short skirt laden atop her shorts spinning with her. The very image of innocence, to the untrained eye. "Would it be impossible to believe that I had no say or rule over what the fog showed?"

"Mist. Mist is wet to the touch, fog dissipates due to temperature." Ozpin lightly corrected once, not taking his eyes off the girl. Not again. Not while they were in what could debatably be considered her territory. "And in truth, while I can understand a certain level of uncertainty to your powers, I have a difficult time believing you'd have such a… lack of say over what they conjure."

"But why would I have any say?" Her inevitable question came again. "No more than you can say what students will come to your school when the doors open, how can I have said of what appears in the mist when I give life to the woods?" At least her short slip of the tongue let Ozpin know exactly what she did with those laden Maiden powers, confirmed beyond any shadows of doubts.

The offering of life, to something in the forest around him. Similar, though unspecific compared to the abilities she demonstrated atop his tower, evidence that still grew from above his balcony. It was one question answered, but it left still many more to be asked.

And the best place to proceed was down the path she was pointing.

"I would say that I control the types of students that approach my halls," Ozpin smoothly added on. He took a step forward, following Saria as she swept and danced through the forest. He did not ignore the continuing movement of the mist. He simply believed in the child's lack of desire to harm him. "Much the same, wouldn't you control the type of things that come from your mist?"

"In a sense, I suppose I do." The admittance was nice, but offered Ozpin nothing new. "However, then the question becomes something else. Not my ability to control, but what I control, if I control anything at all. What would you say I control, Headmaster of Beacon?" The title was important. No different than when he addressed her earlier. Cute, if effective.

"Life would be too broad of a guess," Ozpin began. The way Saria giggled in response, he knew it was true. He had never gifted such an extreme power to any of the Maidens. The ability to grow, perhaps, but freely manipulate was another. Raising a child was something any parent could do, but to turn them into your perfect child was something impossible. Life was little different. "I would venture energy, though perhaps you already know this. The energy that comes from new life, from new beginnings or new events. Be they those that create new life or those that create new paths. That is where your energy comes from."

He already knew it did. And perhaps, if Saria was content to no longer play her came, she did as well.

"I like that answer. Enough that I hope it is true." Ozpin knew better than to hope. "Then the question becomes why I would do such a thing. Why would I, after all, manipulate the forest in such a way? Would it be for my enjoyment, or perhaps another purpose?" It was one of the more leading questions in Ozpin's mind, and one he could not afford to ignore. Though, he could be more direct.

"Have you a goal in mind in this forest, Saria?" He asked as leaves crunched beneath his feet. Saria continued to dance around the ones beneath her, neither disturbing their form nor sweeping them away. Not those that were not alright caught in the tailwind of her gown at least. "Perhaps something you wish to see, or do, or… perhaps something you wish to grow?" It was an idea that came to him while he was speaking.

But having said it, he realized just how likely it was.

After all, it was Saria herself that wished for things to grow before, be they on top of his tower or deep in another part of the Emerald Forest. He would not be surprised to hear there were another somewhere in the Forever Fall at this point.

For now, however, the smile that split the girl's face, as she stared at his own face long enough for him to study hers, told the only tale he needed to hear.

"You are a wise one," she complimented, a compliment he heard in many tongues from many people through his many lives. "Though you do have more to work than others, more answers than questions than most have." He did, Ozpin could admit.

"It is the benefit in being a high position. The more the eye can see, the less I have to ask to understand." She giggled at his words again, and he offered a small smile in return. But he kept his nerves up, his senses honed through battle prepared. Nothing was amiss in Saria's actions, but her normalcy had proven itself, quite quickly, to be far and different from his own. "Still though, if a question cannot be asked, perhaps you can show me the answer. After all, this is a part of my forest, and I would not wish for my students to be harmed by your actions."

"Harm them?" Saria's dancing stepped mid-pose, figure falling as she did so. Her disbelief at the statement was obvious, and Ozpin let himself remain silence in the face of it. "I would never do such a thing. It is the Kokiri's job to guide, and those of pure heart especially. No act of my own would ever do such harm." Her answers were direct at least, something about her was thrown. It offered Ozpin room to step.

"Though I will not jest that Ruby Rose was frightened, she was certainly put off by your misty entrance." Or by what she had seen, but such a thing was not to be uttered, not by him at least. He suspected Saria did not know, as she was not aware of the Maiden's birth he had nearly seen. If she was to hear it, it would be from Ms. Rose herself. "And though Glynda and Qrow are keeping other students away, I do not wish to even chance their harm, not without knowing what such a harm is."

"And would knowledge of what I have done excuse my actions?" The questions had returned, but with a binary answer, and one leaning towards a positive. "Knowing that I meant no harm, knowing myself I have done no harm, are you intending to push a consequence upon me?"

Ozpin ignored the chill in the air, nothing compared to Atlesian lands. However, compared to the warm mist and bloom of life the forest had before, the contrast was unsettling in itself. Enough that he knew that steps had to be taken carefully now, now more than ever.

Saria was a Maiden of Spring, as her mannerisms had confirmed if not the visage the mist showed. Her power was grand as her age.

"I only wish to know what is occurring, or have you forgotten that I have given you some permission to act?" Her expression stilled for a moment, appearing as that of an old figure caught by surprise. Quickly though, almost humorously, it shifted into that of a child wondering of what was to come. He'd seen the expression many times before, this time matched with wolvine ears bending with the tilt of her head. IT was cute and, if circumstances were permitting, perhaps a little endearing.

For now, Ozpin simply needed an answer.

"That's understandable. It is the same as I would do. Why would I let strangers plant and move the Lost Woods without permission?" A question that made sense in context. "But as you said, it would be easier to show over tell." Her form spun and skipped again, as if she had never stilled. Ozpin knew that was blessing that came more with her age than her power. "Thankfully, we are already close."

Ozpin didn't ask to where. Instead, he merely watched, hand still ready on his cane, as Saria grabbed and pulled back a stray branch from a tree. The action caused the mist about it to dissipate on command, like a switch on the wall banishing the light. It was a marvelous display of her power. But what was revealed was far more important.

Though Ozpin would have to admit, the tree he saw was rather expected.

It was a tree much similar to that atop his tower and that witnessed during the Lynel fight. However, it was also different. Though it had a similar height to the others, thought it had similar trunk to the others, and thought it was colored the same as them as well, it was also unique and different. Easily distinguished from the others.

One of the threes spun like a twister.

Another was shaped as a feather.

This one, humorously or not, was shaped like a question mark.

"I suppose the tree is curious what it is as well." Ozpin remarked as he walked forward, earning a giddy laugh from the child that skipped ahead of him. She twirled in mid-air, her emerald clothing helping her blend into the forest around her. The smile she wore was just as bright. "Though I suppose, in truth, this is done for a similar reason to before. In that this tree, whatever it is, needs a specific place to grow."

"Yes, and no." Ozpin sighed as his favorite two answers came together, creating a paradox. "The tree can grow wherever it wishes. Rather, I'd say that the more random or unknown the place it grows, the stronger it will bloom. Be that in the remains of an old town, a dense jungle, misty mountain, or anywhere else."

Ozpin listened to her as the girl jumped to in front of the trunk, a distance that would earn her much praise from any instructors of sports. Her hand knocked on the wood twice, like opening a door.

And in response, two seeds fell from the tree like acorns. That was not due to wisdom, Ozpin was quick to remind himself. That was doubtlessly the subtle act of the Maiden's powers at work. No different than having the mist sway with the swing of a branch or leaves twirl with a spin of her gown. IT was the blessing of a Maiden, and Saria had the age to bear it.

He only hoped that the child that wore her mask was not overburdened with such memories.

"Here they are," the girl spoke again, holding up the two seeds to him. She did so with a reach of her arms. It was only then Ozpin truly took note of the size difference between the two. Tall though he was, he realized only now the girl was barely taller than half his height. It was humorous, if only for a moment.

What mattered far more, however, were the seeds that she handed to him. A pair of green curved seeds sat in his hand. Much like the small top of the tree they fell from, they curved around a singular point, dotted by the kernel of their stem. It was the oddest thing Ozpin had seen grown from a tree, and that was against the vegetation that continued to flourish atop his roof.

"They're called Mystery Seeds," Saria spoke once more. She was spinning again, and Ozpin only partially noted now how the mist flittered and change. That, and how the leaves of the forest scampered and rose with her as well. All in the woods truly was at her command.

Even these seeds that Ozpin held. Seeds that felt odd to the touch, odder in shape, and perhaps oddest being the tree they came from. Mystery was a fine name for them.

"Mystery Seeds," Ozpin repeated the name, wondering how something so oddly shaped could be so

equally named. It made sense when you wished for consistency. He only hoped Bart would never hear of it, or else he would insist on a name more befitting of their purpose.

Speaking of…

"And what do these Mystery Seeds do? Are they like the Whirlwind Seeds you have growing upon my tower?" He still did not mind, in truth. It was humorous to know that there was a tree growing above him, while he stared down at the ground from hundreds of feet up.

"They are, and they aren't." The aged wizard of Beacon sighed at the explanation. Even now, a simple answer was not to be had. "It can hardly be easy to explain a mystery, Ozpin. For what good is a puzzle if you already know the answer? And it cannot be simple, for all mysteries are simple once solved." To that, his eyes still shut, he could only nod his head.

"Of that you are correct," he noted again. His gaze opened to find the girl, in appearance alone he reminded himself, walking around her new growth, the tree that now housed itself deep in the Emerald Forest, free of the mist and fog. "And I suppose your answer for why you needed to grow them here will be much the same?"

"It has to be." Ozpin had small amount of pride for guessing her words correctly. Even still, he twirled the pair of seeds in his hand, looking them over through the lavender tint of his spectacles as the girl spoke. "Because any answer to a mystery is like a hint to a question. A hint is also many need to know where to look, but knowing where to look robs one of finding things they never knew. How do you know to grow a flower until you know where it cannot grow, what it cannot drink, and why it cannot live in darkness?"

Her body spun with the question, entire frame titled around the trunk of the sapling she had grown. Her eyes were questioning, even if her grin was teasing. The wolf ears atop her head twitching, a thing he was not used to. Ozpin kept his own smile up, staring at the girl who he knew was one of only a few beings in existence that compared to him in age, even if only in memories. Second… behind another.

His eyes fell back to the seeds he was holding, curved at the end and straightened at their cupules, or close to equivalent thereof. One felt warm to his hand, and the other a dense cold that nearly made him shiver. It was such a contrast, and from the same tree they fell. If he had not witnessed it, he would not have believed it.

"They would be answers themselves, though guards against harm," Ozpin reason in return. "It is a teacher's job to have their students learn without the fear of harm or punishment. To explore without the idea of meeting an early end. It is why my school has prospered, as have the other kingdoms. Because, and I do apologize if it differs in Hyrule, but I do not find the idea of sink or swim appealing to me." Saria laughed in response.

"It would be a marvel for you to sink or swim in a forest." There was the innocence of a child she so easily reverted to, averting away from an answer herself. Truly this was a duel of words. "Do you fear the water so much that you would enter the forest that so easily drinks it up? Would it worry you to know that the woods are so keen on swimming through their own memories, twisting them with their roots?" Swimming in a metaphorical sense again. Ozpin hid his sigh as he lifted the seeds to his face.

Swimming through memories, ideas of a forest that gave new life, growing in a forest, but not needing to… It all sounded so unrelated to him that he believed it would take a story to make sense of it, and one that was dissected through many scholars over many years. Not by himself with a pair of seeds in a forest dark and deep.

A forest that he thought he knew, but Saria's memories both ancient and fresh seeded, scaring his students and sending himself back to a past he remembered now only through regrets. Cold reminders of his failures, even as he worked to remember the happier times he shared with his colleagues in school.

The warmth of being able to see the new students, older students thanking him, parents congratulating their children, life surviving in a cruel world. It was something he could remember. But a dip in the tainted memories, the many that took up his mind, the thousands he had accumulated through his many centuries… it was hard to not feel a shiver of discontent.

It was… something he could feel. Something that was relatable… Something that was constant in his mind but a… mystery to others.

He sighed deeply, ensuring he didn't crush the seeds in his hands.

"These are grown from memories…" Ozpin spoke slowly, watching Saria as he did. The small grin she wore, growing like the sapling she had seeded, was evidence of his correct direction. "Like needing high winds, like needing constant traffic, like needing great heat… these need vast and rich memories."

"You are a wise one, Ozpin," Saria spoke, giggling a she did so. She lacked nothing in charm, that was for certain. "There are many in Hyrule, and even the forest, who never once wondered or guessed how they came to be. Can you wonder of the many who merely assumed they grew because I asked?" A great deal, he was sure, and nearly himself as one.

"I imagine I may be able to further surprise you with another guess of my own." The girl cocked her head, jumping down from the branch she sat on, leaves billowing as she landed. She fell like a pocket of air from the sky. "I can assume that it is not merely because of your gifts of a… sage, that allows you to do this. It is due to your vast memory of experiences as well."

Her smile was bright and the answer just as true. Her wolf ears perked up at the same moment.

"Wise and creative!" Saria giggled with her words, nearly skipping across the forest floor of leaves and twigs. She never once faltered across it. Perhaps evidence of her ease to maneuvering through the forests such as these. She looked up at him with bright emerald eyes, half his height but so much closer in age. "How did you guess such a thing? Did you not know until I did answer? Did you assume and need only the last root for planting your idea?" Neither, in truth.

"Actually, it was the difference in the seeds." Ozpin held the Mystery Seeds to her, the very same that she had handed him. She gaze at them, for a moment, before turning her eyes back to his, through the tinted lenses of his glasses. "I have not held the seeds of your other trees yet, but I am familiar with vessels of power feeling different depending upon the power they hold."

"A furnace housing fire would be hot to the touch. A damp hand is drawn back from full canteens." Her words were obvious to him, and he nodded in agreement. He chuckled, quickly, at how her wolf ears bent at the idea of water.

"These seeds, however, are different, despite coming from the same tree." He spun them in his hand, feeling against the difference in temperature as he did so. Hot and cold, inviting and frightful. "I would not have guessed they were born from different memories, nurtured as if they were fertilizer. Not alone at least."

"Alone?" Saria parroted, rocking herself back and forth on the balls of her feet. Her smile never faltered. "Perhaps you learned of this from speaking to the young Rose, to the child who ventured through the woods before you. Hmmm?" She hummed the question. Ozpin threw away the idea of joining in her game.

If he was close to having a conversation to fully exchange knowledge, jumping off the bridge he hoped to get her to stand on would not be a very wise political move.

"If she had not spoken to me, then yes, I would have never guessed such a thing." Ozpin drew back his hand, pocketing the seeds. He had to be careful with them, but holding them in a clench fist was not the wisest move either. "Not only of the idea of memories being involved, but also the vastness to which they are associated."

"Good times and bad, uplifting or preparing for a fall, all are experiences those who live must endure." Saria spoke words befitting her age, not her appearance. Ozpin put both hands on the top of his cane, watching the 'girl' as she held out her arms and spun in a circle.

It was the oddest thing watching such a childish action somehow having the strength to lift the trees and twigs off the floor beneath them. One did not need his knowledge and experience to know she had great power within her. Or her memories.

She was nothing but memories, borrowing the body of a girl who had adorned her. The ears on her head, upright and green as her hair, were proof of it. Link had ears long and sharp, far more than any human could ever hope to have, but he did not have wolf ears from atop his head.

Those were Moraine's.

"And you are not the only one who has had the cruel experiences of life, not to mention the warmest of them all." Ozpin's cane lifted, the dull edge pointing at the top of Saria's head. A leaf she had kicked rose and fell on her emerald hair, between her wolvine ears. They twitched as she looked up at them with her own emerald gaze, blinking. The smile that broke afterwards was as innocent as a child, though she was anything but.

"She has, she has," Saria agreed, still grinning. "But Link has done much to encourage her to grow, to give her soil to plant her roots, to save her from a fire she had no hand in." That he had, in so many words. Still though, the smile the Forest Sage wore was… troubling.

"I do not think this an honest question, but are you… pleased with what has happened to Moraine?" Her look of confusion was immediate, even as nature danced around her skipping from. "I mean to say you seem… rather happy with her memories. I will admit I do not think I could hold such joy so easily." Now Saria stopped, turning to face him.

"Why would I feel joy at all her memories?" She questioned first, spinning once around until stopping with a harsh push of her heels, hands on her hips titled gaze looking up at him. Ozpin stared at her under the lenses of his glasses, not adjusting his head. "Or yet, why would I feel sorrow at all her memories?"

"You wouldn't, and shouldn't." It would be deplorable idea for either. A mockery to the experience that both represented.

"And yet, you ask me to express sorrow more so than joy, why?" Ozpin's brow quirked. Was that what she believed he insinuated. It was nothing of the sort. "Should I allow my more sorrowful memories to flow merely because they are more numerous in number? Would it be best to deprive the saplings of the forest light, because they are far too often held in the shade of their giants?" Those were extremes, and neither was encouraging.

But they were specific, enough for him to answer. He spun his can back to the ground, shaking his head at his own foolishness. Perhaps he was the child, despite being the elder in both appearance and age.

"I understand," he spoke before another leading question could be posed. "You remember the more joyful times, because they encourage a brighter future. Letting Moraine or yourself slip into sorrow would do no good for either."

Saria's arms fell to her side, swinging as she nodded her head. A confirmation much like a child would.

"Correct again, oh wizard Ozpin." The giggling certainly was juvenile, as was the name. He only shook his head at the clearly teasing title, well aware of the lack of weight behind it. "I will not say that every memory in the mist of the Lost Woods was pleasant, but I'd hardly wish to let the Mystery Seeds house the fruits of only a few specific memories. They need a variety for their nutrients, and my age is vast enough to provide."

"Doubtlessly a reason for why you are among the few who can grow this then." She didn't argue with his words, even as they listened to nature flicker beyond and around them. The Mystery Tree still stood tall, despite its very young age. Truly Saria was a Maiden unlike any he had seen before. "Did Moraine's memories assist, or were those not sufficient?"

"Hmm?" The ears atop her head twitched at the question, causing her to stop and turn. "Oh, in truth, none of Moraine's memories are present. She has yet to awaken within her own mind." Ozpin turned.

"I beg your pardon?" He did not hide his fear, though he had no malice. What Saria just described was not an enjoyable scenario. His unease was appeased only by the small smile and waving hands of the Forest Sage.

"Do not fret or worry. She is unharmed." Saria had no reason to lie, but Ozpin still waited for an answer. "I believe Link once spoke to you of the purpose of his masks, such as my own, and what they do. The pain of revival, the memories and experiences. What do you think that would do to a child who is clinging for comfort?" She turned as she asked the question, hiding herself.

Ozpin knew why, for her felt a mask of horror fall over his own face. Even in a forest that was dancing with life and a tree that literally grew memories from the age's past.

Such a horrifying contrast to the memory Saria now placed in his mind.

"She'll awaken when the mask is removed." Saria tapped lightly on the edges of her face. "Though… that does raise another ill I believe no one could have prevented." Ozpin shut his eyes tightly before responding, calming his mind as he had tried to do before all experiences he took. At least now he had the time to afford the sacrifice.

"What is the... ill that has occurred?" He hoped it was nothing too damning. Nothing that would keep him from leaving the woods without interrogating the Forest Sage. "Is it something reversible?"

It would be awfully difficult for him to convince Glynda and Ironwood of Link's goodness if one of his memories had committed an unforgiveable atrocity.

"Entirely reversible, I'm pleased to say. A rarity for me, who has always lived in the woods." Her smile was genuine, and Ozpin was thankful to hear it. "However, it will not be possible until Link returns, for only he could have prevented the ill, and now is the only one to reverse it." That was curiosity. Ozpin wondered of what that could be.

"May you be more specific?" He ventured. "I trust you are honest with the ill being benign, but to not know it is unacceptable, at least within the walls of my Academy." He would not speak of how they were not currently there. With the wisdom Saria held, she doubtlessly already knew.

"It's simple, as is a tree." Her hands rose to her face, cupping her pre-pubescent cheeks with hands that matched. "I cannot take off the mask where my memories lie."

Ah… that made sense… and it did not.

"You… cannot remove yourself? From Moraine?" The Maiden of Spring nodded at the question, though her smile was thinner. Not gone, not vacant, but surely lacking the earlier joy. Only a small wonder why, and not one that Ozpin wished to pursue. "Is this to do with Link's abilities or… his lack of presence."

"Abilities, I will confess for your ease." She held up her hands to him as she spoke, falling from her cheeks. The leaves still rustled around her, as if heeding her commands. Ozpin doubted little that they were. "Link has had some time and patience with masks such as I, with taking on the memories and lifetimes of those whom he has spent years with. It allows him to separate himself from us, to know who he is, and who we are. However, when he wears the mask and calls either myself or another for aid…"

"… he fuses with you, and your minds near become one." And that was what made it impossible to remove. Ozpin nodded his head at the words. "So in order to not lose yourself, or Moraine to be lost…"

"Link must be here to help. I will be honest with such a statement, as a life is affected by it." Saria's hands fell as she spun on her heel once more, small skirt billowing with the leaves that twirled like a tornado around her. The branches beneath spun to the trees they fell from. "Like I spoke. It is an ill, but hardly one that will threaten lives or well-being. Only cautionary for further actions… and a note that I will be present until Link's return."

For some reason, Ozpin could not shake the feeling that she was pleased with that outcome. It wasn't even something he could fault.

She was only memories now, as he had never forgotten. Memories of a Forest Sage, a Maiden of Spring, carried by a boy she had raised and whom had done much for her and her woods in return. To carry the memories of another was a heavy burden, and the wisdom of the sage doubtlessly knew that.

It made sense Saria would wish to see Link again. Ozpin only wished he did not have to explain away Moraine's disappearance for it.

"If there is no other way, then I suppose I must." He let out a tired sigh, unwilling to debate a subject that had only one conclusion. There would be no gain to complaining, after all. Saria's giggles were evidence enough she was pleased as well. "I suppose you at least recognize that we must leave now. I have a school to run, and I can hardly leave you alone in these woods. Maiden in your home or not." It would be dangerous on too many levels to leave her level of power unattended.

"I understand, and I know the way." Ozpin would be surprised if she didn't. "It certainly helps that the others call came from the same direction, all yelling loud enough to rattle the trees and awaken them from their early rest." That, however was more surprising.

"You can tell who entered the forest?" He posed, even as he moved to join her, walking forward. "A form of clairvoyance of the Maiden, perhaps?"

"No, not that. I recognize they were there, but only there," Saria noted, her feet spinning on the leaves of the forest. They twirled with her, as if heeding her commands. Ozpin knew they likely were. "How do you know what you are stepping on, unless you look down upon it?"

To illustrate her point, the emerald haired youth, in appearance alone, kicked at the leaves under feet. They flipped through the air like flower petals, so unlike the dead leaves that fell from trees. It was as if they were given new life, as if Spring had come to them. Ozpin stared on through his tinted shades, smiling at the display.

"You know something is there, but not what." Saria continued to note. "I knew the students were there, but not who. I knew they were following me, but not why. How could I know those answers without looking for myself?" She couldn't Ozpin knew.

"The difference between clairvoyance and spacial acuity." He twisted his cane in his hand, feeling the familiar metal twirl about his fingers. Without his mug to sip from, it was a quirk enough to calm his mind. That was necessary, and appreciated. "I suppose that is why there are many stories of the forest children spying on those who enter their woods. Looking for those who have entered their woods, always aware of where they are… but having to watch to know who they are." Saria grinned brightly up at him with the words.

"You are a wise one," she complimented lightly, appearing so much like the youth she eternally appeared to be. "I understand why Impa and Link needed me to best you in that game of wit some time ago." Ah yes, the chess match, he had nearly forgotten of that. "So many are unable to understand how I can tell my woods have been intruded upon, but be unable to see who they are."

The way her wolf ears twisted at the idea of there being something around her was proof enough. Not looking to identify what or who, only where. Saria was aware of the where forever in her forest, it seemed. At the very least she implied. The what and who needed investigation. It was hardly a surprising realization, not against how similar it was to his own systems.

"It is no different than any system in place at Beacon," Ozpin admitted. "We can know when someone enters a door, a room, a safe, but until we observe them, we cannot say who they are. Not with any certainty at least." It is, after all, difficult to say that an individual is present because of their ID alone. Not something so easily misplaced or forged.

"And yet you trust those systems to exist?" Saria commented with her question. Ozpin watched as she spoke, careful, but not wary. Her powers, far more controlled than any Maiden he had met in the past, bringing the fallen leaves to life, and stirring a wind with her twirls. "I suppose you trust those around enough, and you reward them in kind."

He watched the emerald haired girl spin again, her hand running up the bark of a tree. It bloomed with flowers. The elder head of Beacon smiled at the display, familiar with the powers he had gifted the girls long ago.

Never before had he seen them used in such a way. Perhaps it was true what they said, experience with power begetting powerful experiences. Enough to not only hear the forest, but reward the woods as well. It was a marvel he hoped the others could experience.

And Amber would have a chance to at all.

"The three of you came from this direction," Saria pointed out as she spoke, arm holding rigid as her body spun. Like a child's toy, being imitated by a child. "I can race there if you like. I may be old, but I assure you I am quite fast in my woods." Ozpin could only laugh.

"Of that, I have little doubt." He replied earnestly. "But if you wish, you may run along ahead. I am sure that Ruby Rose and her friends will be pleased to see you. No need to let an old man like me slow you down." The girl laughed at his words, though she held no contempt for their meaning.

"Of course! I'll be sure to tell Ruby!" Before another word could be said, she fled.

And indeed, she was fast. It was as if she truly were one with the trees, with the speed at which she took off. Ruby rose was one to explode into petals of roses to flow with the wind, charging at rate that was nearly unseen. Saria, however, appeared to have the trees aiding in her steps.

Never once did she trip or waver over the uneven surface of the forest. Not once did she have to catch herself from a spare root or inopportune twig. She sprinted through the forest, around the many giants, laughing as a child should. It was… peaceful, if Ozpin were to confess, if conflicting.

The proof of the girl's immense power, the Maiden of Spring of an untold age, still stood behind him. Still housing and holding the seeds grown from memories past. A thing he would not have believed if he hadn't seen. A use for powers he had not imagined. A testament to the creativity of the Forest Sage, or at least the memories she carried.

Ozpin looked down at the cane in his hand, feeling the Mystery Seeds in his pocket. Such a contrast there was, the point where he could hardly keep track of is own school, yet the memories of a Maiden, aged like himself, could track those entering the woods so easily. Just by-

Ozpin looked up, staring at the path Saria had already vanished down.

"Three?"

---

BANG!

Cinder didn't care for the students that yelped and turned to her as she kicked open the door. They didn't matter. Never have and never would. The door she had kicked, the black of her heel and impression of her boot emblazoned on it, mattered even less. None of it could generate even an iota of concern within her.

One of her hands, shaking as she lifted with sweat dripping from her palms, lifted up and ran through her hair, combing her long dark locks and smoothing them out, ruining her hair. She could not care about that either. Breathless, uniform disheveled, hair a mess, eyes wide, and being stared at by the collection of worthless Beacon students, Cinder couldn't care at all.

She stepped into her room, head as much a mess as she believed she looked. She didn't care about that. Not now.

SLAM!

Her door slammed shut again, cracking either the frame or the door itself as it was banged into place. She would worry about any talks of property damage later, far later from now. Because in the moment she was in right now, she couldn't care about anything else around her. Not the room she and her subordinates had successfully stolen their way into, not the frayed appearances she definitely gave the pubescent students as she made her way here, and not even Scroll that sat on her bed, holding the culmination of her contacts and plans. None of it mattered.

None of it could matter. Not now. Not while her mind was focused, obsessively and possessively only what she saw. She couldn't afford to forget.

Cinder didn't dare let anything else even remotely interest her as she made her way here, heedless and careless openly to anything in her way. Attempting to disguise herself, hide herself, or anything she was meant to do jeopardized forgetting anything about what she had learned, and that was not acceptable Not now.

Not after what she saw in that misty forest.

Not after what she had witness through a true sage's power.

Click Cinder's fingers clenched the bed spread as she heard the door opening behind her. She didn't dare hide her snarl, already knowing who it was.

"Mistress! We-" Emerald's words fell and died on her lips, red eyes wide with fright, naturally, as she stared at Cinder.

The dark-haired woman stared back, near snarling at her and the boy who stood behind her. Neither looked comfortable taking a step forward, even if the girl, pathetic and desperate as she was, oh so clearly desired to. She was weak, malleable, easy to control, momentarily necessary, but right now an inconsequential distraction. Cinder disposed of those without a care.

She already felt flames flickered at the tips of her fingers, possibly charring her bed sheets. She couldn't care.

"M-Misisstress…" Her words were so mumbled she was misspeaking, and that only succeeded in angering Cinder further.

"Get out," she nearly hissed at them. They had to leave, now, or else she would not be responsible for the ashes the cleaning crew would need to remove in the morning. "Leave me alone, this instant!"

"But w-we found out something!" Now Cinder did snarl. She could take no pleasure in even the shiver of fright the boy gave off at her look. They had best leave, their graces for living due only to their loyalty thus far. It would not survive much longer. "It involves the masks Link-" Cinder did not care!

"I said leave!" She now howled at them.

Flames flew from her hand, tearing through the air like blades through paper.

The powers she had taken, the strength she possessed, demonstrated again before her very eyes. Controlled even through the singular focus she had on another subject. It should have been uplifting to her. But it was not, because Cinder could not care.

The cry of fright from the pair of them wasn't even satisfying to her. Just an annoying sound that made her snarl deepen, scratching crow's feet against her eyes and making her snarl forwards. The door was shut by the time her fire had vanished, the pair of them having gone, either under her orders or fear for their life, it didn't matter which. They were gone, the useless lot of them, and now Cinder was alone again, alone with the damning memories that her mind would not let go of.

It was the one thing she refused to let go of, the singular thing she did care about. Even if the more logical part of her mind, the facet to her character her Mistress had aided her in growing, honing, and developing, was telling her the girl needed the carrot for she had drawn the stick too hard, she didn't care. Cinder could not care about reward or punishment at the moment, not for those around her and certainly not for submissive little girls and dutiful boys that did as they were told.

Her breathing was sharp as her fire, her body hunched over the bed as she turned back to her. Her pale knuckles turned alabaster with the strength at which she gripped them. The long dark hair she normally kept well kempt and defined was frayed at the edges, matted at their roots, and giving her disheveled look, she was are of this. She knew all of it. And that was not to consider what her actions would likely result, at the very least the most likely occurrence of what was to come.

A student would report her, Ozpin would be wary of her, the elder woman would speak to her, and discipline would be brought down upon her. All would end up resulting in negative light being shined upon her. At the moment though, she couldn't care.

So many possibilities were likely to happen due to her unnecessary outburst. So many small details that now chipped away at the survivability and feasibility of her plans for the festival and taking power from Link, so many wary glances that would be aimed at her now.

That should have scared her. That should have angered her. That should have made her call back Mercury and Emerald to have a discussion of necessary actions in order to redeem themselves, perhaps with rewards for the pair of them including her praise.

But right now, Cinder still couldn't care. From what she had seen, from what Saria had shown her, intentionally or not, she could not care. All that she cared about was what she had witnessed in that misty forest of the Spring Maiden's powers. All she could wrap her mind around, fingers on her bed sheets, knees buckled, and flames dancing over her skin, was the full implication of everything she had witnessed.

It had yet to stop replaying in her mind, and Cinder dare not stop it, for fear she would lose it.

She recalled stepping through the Emerald Forest and into a misty woods. She had no fear of any terrors that were present, the Grimm knowing she was no foe they dared to face, not that they had the power to do so, and no instructor would harm her more than bruises and cuts, paltry wounds compared to those she would later inflict upon them all. No matter the unease the young girl wished to push upon those who entered the vision obscuring woods, Cinder would have none of it. She was no child wary of change. She was half the Maiden of Fall, and already so near her goal of power and control.

Her dark heels stepped through the woods, crushing leaves and fallen twigs beneath herself, burning away the small amount that clung to her fine dress and boots, all else wisely billowing away under the guide of the heat her body and powers let out. She smiled as she continued to walk through the dense fog, the mist that flew away under the command of her powers.

A path was being carved through the dense wood by her, the forest adhering to her unspoken demands. The mist could not cling to her if the Maiden of Fall told it to rise, and the leaves burned to nothing if they tried too desperately to approach her. She was untouchable to even nature itself, and that was as it should be for one who was raised and taught by the Mistress of Grimm.

Amusing as it was to her, seeing the fruits of her labors and plans, it was not why she was here. Salem had need to find the girl who had stolen away the mask of Saria, the girl that she had only gained quick glimpses of until this time. This was not an opportunity to be easily missed.

The girl had much strength and knowledge about her, show by her observed exchange with Ozpin, revealing her nature to be more than that of Faunus or man, a critical step in understanding from where Link hailed from. But more than that, a possible opportunity to learn of the powers the girl supposedly held. And there was much to... dissect.

The notes that they had gathered from Glynda's Scroll, the virus of the CCT still working marvelously, showed that there was suspicion that Saria was a Maiden of Spring before the current girl, wherever she may lie. The misty woods she walked through now cemented the idea of such a possibility.

Cinder's amber eyes roamed through the tree lines, quickly losing sight of the distant paths due to the heavy mist and dense fog, so easily turning the heavily walked path into a careful stride forward, wary of each movement. Were it only a small location in the woods, a small circumference of a circle she was trapped within, it would be inconsequential.

However, this was no different than what was happening to Ozpin and the children he had with them, all on different edges of the woods and looking for ways forward to find the girl. The Emerald Forest, despite its peaceful nature against he horror of the world, was no small place. To cover it so completely required a great deal of power, the power of one who had been gifted by nature at that.

Or, as one could say, a Maiden of the World.

Cinder folded her hands behind her back as she continued to stride forward, smiling confidently as she did so. She would find Saria, and she would speak to her as a worried student, looking for a girl that appeared so much like the new teacher she was 'inspired' by. The faux sense of worry would beget concern on the girl's part as well, though Cinder knew she referred to her as such only for her appearance. She was no child, neither of them were.

But adults, and those of age with a lack of wisdom, were so easily misled by the worries of the youths they surrounded themselves with, making it a simple task, to have the Maiden offer her support, and therefore have Link seed some trust in her as well. In conclusion, she would have the first step on the bride of knowledge for this 'emerald warrior' her Mistress had warned her of. Before any action took place, that was always the most important.

"…Link…."

Cinder's steps slowed as she heard the whisper of the name. Her long dress billowed as it carried forward while her legs stopped, her sharp eyes narrowing from where she heard the name drift through. The mist did not drift nor twist at the gaze or her name, but through the curtain of her dark hair, she was sure she was looking in the right direction.

"… not… her…."

She could not understand what was being said, unfortunately. However, and far more importantly, she was aware of where it was coming. That was far more, likely than the others had succeeded in finding. It brought a warm smile to Cinder's face, contrasted by the chill of excitement that ran through her heart.

Her feet burned the leaves beneath her as she walked forward towards the voice, mist spreading for her as she walked. Her eyes were focused on the supposed path, noting the trees around her should she need to find this place again. Saria had fled to this location, the girl she was 'latched' to wholly unimportant. She only was concerned for the memories that the Maiden of Spring once held.

"… please Link… need… hear…"

The voice was louder as she approached, but still too far away. Perhaps it was for the mist, Cinder mused, a facet of the Maiden's honed powers. She was ancient, or so she claimed. The use of the powers could be formed in many different ways, and the manipulation of sound was hardly something so unbelievable, not against the creation of life, turning of weather, and unlocking of ancient gates.

However… the trees were what concerned Cinder. Not enough to stall her approach, but enough to make her wonder of where she was.

These trees that now surrounded her were far larger than those the Emerald Forest usually homed. Though those giants of the forest, soft and quiet, were far from miniscule, even against the pathetic structures the humans and Faunus enjoyed housing themselves in, these giants of the forests were far larger than before. Large enough that she believe they could be hollowed out and used comfortably as homes.

These were not trees common to the Emerald Forest, or at the very least the edges of its domain.

"Talk to me… Link…"

Though unbelievable as the trees were, Cinder pushed them to a footnote in her mind. The most important facet of this journey through misty woods was fast approaching, and she would not let herself be distracted from Maiden powers by the curiosity of nature, not nature she could easily, and eventually would, burn. For now, she cared only for the girl and her memories.

With sure steps forward, Cinder kept constant in her approach. The power of the Maiden of Fall, half of it at least, were far more than enough to keep her mind focused and sure. The confidence of interference being kept away let her mind focus on only the task at hand. And so, she stepped forward towards the growing voice.

And was greeted with the sight of a true giant, built of timber and bark.

It was enough to stall her, make Cinder crane her head to see the height of the giant tree that was rooted before her. The other trees until this point were large, without question, wide and able to conceal entire homes within them. This, however, was put them to shame in the same way she was sure her own power eclipsed those of the students of Beacon.

It's tall frame nearly scratched the skies above her, stretching beyond the limits of the mist and fog, the canopy of its leaves out of sight. Her head had to turn to take in the full circumference of its frame, not to mention the age and thickness of its apparent bark. It was a thing of such immense size that it was impossible to not appreciate the age for which it took to grow. For all the legends made of children of gods of the forest, Cinder now believed she was looking upon one.

Or at least, a dead one.

One that had no sway to its branches, no life curling at its roots, nothing to show that it was benefitting or giving to the forest surrounding it. It was all a show of size, but any life or magnificence it once held to share was now gone. Not burned, as she would have been well aware of, but merely taken. Offered, perhaps, but here no more. Of that, it was certain.

"This isn't your fault Link. It never was."

K-Shink. K-Shink. K-Shink.

Closer now, Cinder made out the words of conversation, and the sound of something beating against the soil of the forest. She held no imaginings of what it may be, for she knew the sound well. What some might mistake for the sound of chopping wood or clashing steel, she knew it for what it was. Cinder knew it for what she had heard countless times in her past.

K-Shink. K-Shink. K-Shink.

Her feet carried her around the tree, her steps slow and measured, soft to avoid detection. The leaves did not burn and mist moved only as she waved through it. She made no sound to overcome the speaking girl or the sound of the steel, constant and continuous. She did not want to spook whomever was present, not before she could observe them.

She was thankful for her care, for what she saw she thought nearly impossible.

Cinder believed it impossible, for she could think of no reason nor method for Link to be present before her.

K-Shink. K-Shink. K-Shink.

The faunus warrior her Mistress had warned of was indeed present before her, standing off to some far side of the old forest god, hunched over with the familiar green tunic adorned about his body, complete with the pointed hat that fell past his neck. He wore more than that now, though, wore a red cape that fell from side of his shoulder, wore a belt and sheath that were both held tightly around his waist, and held a shovel in his hand.

K-Shink. K-Shink. K-Shink.

A shovel that continued to dig into the earth of the forest, tearing up the hardened soil and past the gnarled roots. Cinder knew it would be such, but she never would have expected who it was.

"You must not blame yourself Link. Do not punish yourself in the same breath." Cinder heard the voice, but could not see from where it came. Not from a lack of obviousness, but wariness on her part. It came from not only above her, but around where Link now stood. "Not of yourself, not of me… please." To approach to find the voice would mean exposing herself. Such would be too dangerous too quickly.

Instead she watched, watched as Link continued to dig, face hidden from her with his back towards her, but shovel and deed obvious enough to her and any other who witnessed him. Even still, her mind thought of how he was here, present among the Maiden of Spring's memories, powerful enough to… conjure mist… misty memories in a misty forest…

Cinder sighed to herself, but threw away any embarrassment she may have had. She could not be faulted for being careful, but should instead be celebrated for realizing this so quickly.

K-Shink. K-Shink. K-Shink.

She strode to where Link continued to dig, or at the very list the figure of Link. She moved around the ancient tree, observing the Faunus as he continued to scratch his way into the forest floor. He did not react to her approach, he did not offer a glance or even notice her when she moved to his side. She knew he would not. Memories were not capable of changing so easily.

And this was a figment of Saria's memories, her played out imagination. That meant that the voice was doubtlessly the girl… and so finding her would be simple enough.

"Should I wait for you to stop before I speak?" The voice of the Maiden of Spring spoke. There was no more confusion or wonder if she was or wasn't, not with displays of power such as this. "Will you not heed my words until you finish your task? Am I so unworthy of being gazed upon now by you? For our failure?" Cinder could not help but smile faintly at the disappointment in her voice, a sense of dread she wished to have on the lips of all who lived as they did.

Still, she needed to see Saria to speak to her, or at the very least understand what was happening. Cinder turned her head, looking for the emerald girl of forest color. It took little effort to find her sitting high up in the already massive tree.

K-Shink. K-Shink. K-Shink.

But Cinder's amber gaze widened when she saw for what the girl was.

No longer was she the simple spirit of a child, appearing to be human in all facets but wisdom and age. No longer was she the embodiment of power capable of such feats, turning the memories to life and changing a forest to her whim. Now, she was what horror stories were made of, warnings to children to steer them from venturing into the forest deep, and doing a fine job of it.

With skin of gnarly bark, with air of dead leaves, with clothing of ruined cotton, and with eyes of rotten green. She was no longer a child to be held and cared for. She was hardly that of an approachable figure.

She was a tree, fused with the giant and already dying.

"You cannot blame yourself, and I will speak such as much as I need until you hear me." Cinder was sure the ability to hear was not the issue for this crime. Disgust was her repulsion. "I offered you the floor for your task, but I had no knowledge you would treat it as the last words you would exchange with me."

K-Shink. K-Shink. K-Shink.

The idea of not gazing at her made far more sense to her now, to Cinder to Link. It made far more sense when she remembered what the Faunus was doing with the forest floor, and why he was digging into the ground. There was, after all, only a single reason why anyone would dig into the earth next to such a giant of a tree. No botanist or caretaker of nature would dare to plant a new sapling next to such a monument of nature.

The bodies she saw beside the faunus, covered in sheets of white, were hardly surprising. At least for them being there given the task. It was hardly so surprising that one as powerful as Link would not have bodies he had buried. None rose to gain great power without first losing the ties to humanity that kept them weak. It was only unfortunate that Link carried the same trait as many others like him, who mourned those gone over simply being thankful they were no longer there.

Cinder kept her amber gaze between the three sights of this memory, of this moment in time recorded and being replayed by the Maiden of Spring. Between Link digging graves, between the bodies he wished to fill them, and the decrepit Maiden that sat on the Forest Giant. This was what she was looking for, though only in a sense.

She wished to find Saria to gain a bridge for information. This, however, was pure knowledge of an ancient being possessing even older power. This was not something Cinder was to forgive herself if she were to pass this chance.

"Will you speak to me when you are done, Link?" Saria questioned again. And once more Link did not respond. It was humorous to Cinder, watching the aged and horrifically transformed Maiden unable to garner even a word from Link. "Will you talk to me before you leave once more?" And every word was a treasure to hear.

Her eyes turned away from deplorable being, looking instead to Link's handiwork. Already two of the graves were dug, the third nearing completion, and the bodies for each next to them. She hoped to see him merely kick them into the hole, but his unfortunate optimism would likely do just the opposite. Care for all things, as heroes were condemned to do, even this.

K-Shink. K-Shink-Shink.

The noise was different from before, and was differed by Link planting the shovel into the ground. Cinder watched his red cape twist, his clothing shuffle, as he immediately turned away from the hole, going to a knee next to himself. It was clear what was coming next.

Saria spoke not a word, and neither did Cinder blink, as Link lifted one of the alabaster draped figures from the ground, lifting the figure up and gently holding the body above the hole. Cinder stared at his face, careless for the covered corpse.

It was clear he had aged centuries while holding the body, hateful of having to do this, mourning that it was necessary. Cinder found enjoyment in both, watching the Faunus so broken by such a natural aspect of life. If only she was there to have witnessed the death of whomever he was burying. Then again, perhaps he wasn't himself…

As she predicted, the 'hero' gentle laid the body into the hole he had dug, nearly six feet into the ground with roots of the tree visible around the edges of the pit. The tall giant of the forest hovered over the draped figure ominously, the same way Saria did staring down at her supposed friend. A friend who buried his dead as his last friend rotted under some curse on the tree.

Twice more he repeated the process, picking up the body, holding them for a moment, then laying them to rest in their eternal slumber. Better for them to avoid the coming years then the hero who buried them, especially a Faunus unable to do so so easily. It was a problem Cinder was proud she did not share, and one now she knew Link still suffered from

Something to remember, for sure, but not nearly enough.

"That is enough, Link." Cinder turned eyes towards the Maiden, curious of her words. "You do not need to do anything more." Cinder's grin grew.

Was she about to banish him from the forest? Leaving the corpses of his supposed friends to rot in the open? The Faunus, clad in emerald clothes and a cape of red, stared up at her, his face a thin line. Anger then, and an anger that Cinder found herself eager to witness. What a display it would be, to see the hero strike out against the Maiden. Was his tales of their passing lies? Was he the one who had slain them?

No, apparently not. That was the obvious answer when Cinder saw Saria raise her gnarled and bark-like hand up, motioning over the graves.

The ground beneath Cinder trembled for a moment, before roots of the trees slowly grew from the edges of the pit. Like a cage of steel growing from the wall, the roots crossed over the sheeted bodies, their barky exterior and soiled surfaces covering them from the air, hiding them from view. Slow groans of the effort rumbled through the tree, making Cinder wonder if it was the effort of the growing roots that shook the ground, or the slow cry of the forest giant that did its last act, already so near death.

Or perhaps, it would have been better to ask if it was Saria's last act before her. Either were acceptable to Cinder.

When it was done, the bodies were hidden from view, a layer of nature over them, perhaps more permanent than anything soil could accomplish. It would be poetic for tales, but it was only inconvenient for her.

"They'll rest in these woods for all time," Saria spoke again. It amazed Cinder, how easily she spoke despite a body like the one she had. One that appeared to be only a stray arrow away from shattering into a hundred pieces, a hundred rotting pieces. "Beyond my own time, the guardians of these woods will not disturb them. They will be at peace, just as they wanted. Just as you wanted." Ah, so they were of importance.

It was clearer when Link knelt again to the side of one, hand rubbing over the roots that covered the body. Perhaps a melancholy comfort for who was there, knowledgeable of their demise, yet unwilling to fully let go. A sign of weakness if ever there was one, but one that Cinder would not soon forget.

"Her desire to see these woods was something I am sorry I could not give her in life." A girl then. A good friend at the very least. Perhaps more? "She fought well before, and she deserves to rest here now. She did often refer to you as a 'fairy boy', if I recall. It is only fair for Malon to rest here then, where the 'fairy boy' came from."

Two pieces of information now, two critical.

The girl, one of the bodies he buried, was named Malon. A dear friend who nicknamed the Faunus for the creatures that followed him. That was important to remember.

The second, this was the forest Link had grown up in. The files the old woman had on her Scroll told of the "Lost Woods", but it appears that they were housed to giants and guardians as well. More than that, also the bodies of Link's friends. All important to know if ever she should need to break him, or a fellow ally.

"She was a grand friend to you, to everyone." Sociable as well. Usually a prerequisite for intelligence. "You told me tales of how she would try and have Epona race the other mares and stallions of the castle, often winning each race with little effort. The praise the king and princess would give her would be… grand…" More to dissect.

A stable hand, perhaps one who raised a race horse that Link used. That was definitely worth remembering, worth holding onto in case nostalgia were to be conveniently used. Naming a few attack or reward Epona could work. But the unease of the royalty, what was that for? Discontent? Another death?

"I am sorry about Zelda, Link. All who hear are." Death indeed. "Even now I… I believed she would be the one to guide me as the forest grew, as the castle rose. Not like this… not at all." Death for sure.

Made only more apparent by the slow cry of pain that came from Link's gauntlets, taunt leather being stretched by clenched hands. His eyes were shut, head bowed, and perhaps willing away the pain that clouded him. What a sight to behold. It was only too unfortunate she could not capture a picture with her Scroll. Not without earning unneeded attention.

"You can be sure to know that… that no matter what else happens, this is not your fault Link." Her repetition of that implied that, in the very least, the hero was directly involved. Fault could not fairly be passed, no matter how humorous the outcome would be, until all was known. Guilt was common among hunters, necessary or not. "You did all that was expected and more, gathered more strength than Hyrule has ever seen, than Time has ever witnessed… it was too much for you to stop alone, especially while she had planned for so long."

Link turned at the statement. More to learn there. A 'she' was responsible for his problems, perhaps another Maiden that had turned against him. An interesting dilemma, but unconfirmed. One who, at the very least, had history with him. A history he wished to ignore. That, or what she was now.

"Please Link. You listened to me since you were a babe. Please don't throw away my advice now… not… not while everything is falling apart." The desperation in her voice… it was matched only by the despair she near completely resembled.

Rotted figure of tree-like shape. Clothing near falling from her bark skin, all matched by her desperately leaning forward on her branch, as if to fall and comfort Link with her decaying eyes, but unable to do so without tearing her body apart. It was something that Cinder as marveled she could witness, and thankful for it even more.

"Link… please… you have to stop her." The desperation was clear and present, and Cinder was on edge for every word. "Everyone, myself… even you. She's made mockeries of us all. You have to… you're the only one who can stop her now."

Cinder watched Link turn back, and what she saw made her heart sore.

The tears that sprung from blue eyes, the hopelessness and lost in them. They were pits of misery that the hero Faunus was trapped in, looking desperately for the convenient exit from. None existed, none ever did, and Cinder was happy to see him desperately fighting to find one. It would only make the realization there was none all the more beautiful to witness.

"Salem must be stopped."

Cinder's fire turned to ice.

"W-What?" She spoke aloud, though none were there to hear her. No way for the memory to respond to her.

It had to be something she misheard, some convenient name that sounded so similar to her own Mistress. Something that was just a horrifying coincidence.

"We thought we could save her, we all did." Save her? It couldn't be Salem then, not her Mistress. There was no reason to be saved from her position, she was the one who offered it to those she deemed wise and worthy enough. "But she's killed everyone Link she… she cursed me. She… killed them all, because she wouldn't let us try and help her."

Cinder was torn, torn and ripped asunder.

That sounded like her Mistress, that sounded exactly like the Queen of Grimm and her dark ruler. Someone beyond reproach who would throw away the useless lives that offered little gain to her plans. Attempting to go against her promised only death for the comrades of Saria and Link. That was what she would do, it was what she had done to dozens to hundreds to thousands through her long and well-lived past.

But that only meant she was from here, because she acted like they spoke. But she could still be wrong. There could… there was more than one evil in the world! Another vile human that let themselves fall to greed was likely parading as her, or closely attempting to at best. That had to be it.

"Link… please…" the torn voice of the Maiden sounded again, and Cinder fought down the urge to throw fire at the memory. She knew it would do no good. Even if real and not some misty figment, then dying girl of the woods may have thanked her for the act. Instead, Cinder watched bated breath as the Maiden of Spring, fused with the forest giant, stared imploringly at Link. "You cannot save her anymore. There is no one else, nothing else, to try and save her from. You have to stop her Link. You must… or else the world will truly be burned to ash."

Cinder wanted to feel joy at the sorrow the Maiden spoke with, the tears and worry of a decrepit old thing that housed power it could no longer fully use. She wanted to feel joy as she saw the tears slip from Link's face, watching as he stared up at what she assumed was his old friend. Watching her die as she told her to kill, something that no hero wished to do.

It was everything she was supposed to enjoy! But she couldn't. She was incapable.

"You have to kill Salem." Not if they kept saying her Mistress's name!

Cinder hissed heatedly through her lips, staring at Link as he let his gaze fall to the graves he dug and Saria filled, staring at the corpses that Cinder could not recognize. His pain was no longer a pleasure, not if her Mistress was a part of his past… not if they were implying he was a part of hers.

Salem stared at Link longer, harder, searching the Faunus's face for any clues, any evidence, that this was a falsehood. She saw no deception in the blue eyes shading heavy tears, in the tired gaze that aged his currently youthful appearance, of the dirt that stained his uniform or the shaking lips of dread. It was genuine sorrow, mixed with hatred and remorse.

But then she watched his lips move. She was angry she was incapable of reading them. Something Watts would have loved to hold over her, but eventually tell her.

"I know Link," Saria replied above them both. Cinder's dark hark whipped to the barky sage, fused with nature. "She was capable of so much, she did so much."

Even with an appearance that begged for death, the Maiden smiled down. It was a disgusting sight in every way to Cinder.

"But… we cannot ignore what is, simply because we loved what once was. We cannot… we cannot remember how she helped us… how she grew with us… how she loved us…" That tore it in half.

It couldn't be Salem. It couldn't be the Queen of the Grimm. Not her Queen.

Love was a useless thing to her, beyond consideration and not even worthy of thought. To think that her Mistress, that Salem would ever even dare be associated with it was a joke in itself. She would kill any who dared to jest of it in her presence!

"But that's not her anymore." Cinder wanted to scream at the Maiden to be silent. "She laughed, Link… She laughed when she k-killed Malon. She enjoyed walking over Impa. She… She had no mercy in her gaze when she cursed me…" And now the sage was crying, and Cinder was close to screaming, too close to even consider breathing.

Link, the damnable hero, was the same way. She hoped he'd speak and she'd hear, so then perchance she could throw these ideas of her Mistress coming, hailing, from this land being a sham! But all she could see were the bitter tears, stained like the rotting corpse of Saria's body, falling to the ground.

"Her red eyes had only mirth." Cinder shook her head.

"Her white hair glistened in the sun." Cinder raised her hands to her ears.

"She thanked me… for raising you… before laughing as she killed me." Cinder finally snapped.

"She's not from here!" Cinder finally yelled back, pathetic and useless. There was no reason for the figments of the mist to speak to her in return. "My Mistress was never from you damnable land! She would never hail or even be aware of your pathetic kind!" The words were lies to her own ears.

Her Mistress had warned her of Link, of his land, of the coming battle, of his strength, and needed the power that Saria possessed. It was possible, too possible, and it was damning to hear.

"My Mistress is the Queen of the Grimm! Not some pathetic associate of your rotten race! She is a savior who has always ruled! Never has she… would she…" But she would associate with them, no different than how she brought forth Watts, Hazel, the White Fang… Cinder herself.

It was possible, and it was impossible. It wasn't something she could think of. Nothing else mattered.

Too unbearable to hear anymore, Cinder ran. She had heard enough.

"Stop Salem, Link. You have to stop her… you have to… please… please… please…"

Cinder ran it through her head once more, twice more, each time ensuring that she had not misheard that illusion of the girl's power, making doubly sure she had not been tricked by the specter of the Maiden's might. But no matter the scenario she conjured, she could find too many faults to make it a possibility. No matter which way Cinder thought of it, she recognized she had witnessed only the truth.

Saria, that conglomeration of memories, had no way of knowing her connection to her Mistress in the Badlands, no way of knowing her original purpose. There was no way for her to know of her purpose here at Beacon, let alone to insinuate a connection between the wise one and some green clad hero of a far-off land, not when her Mistress had already warned her of his coming.

Cinder could see no benefit to the ploy were she to completely believe it. It did nothing to shake her faith in her Mistress. No, it strengthened it. she was able to harm the seemingly invulnerable hero to his core, and back in his mythical homeland he could no longer find. The memories of the Maiden even told, directly or not, that she was always working towards ridding the world of the pests and parasites that were the humans and faunus. Nothing of her conviction had changed.

And yet… that was not what made Cinder squirm with discontent, what made her entire being writhe as if the Maiden of Fall were scratching to escape her soul. It wasn't about what Saria might have been planning or the schemes she was creating herself. It wasn't about her possible ideas or reasons, it was about the one singular conclusion that was no an inescapable fact.

Link knew of her Mistress. More than that, Link knew of Salem's origins.

No one knew of such a thing.

Salem, her Mistress of the Grimm and all the world's truths, was older than any kingdom and more ancient than the eldest Grimm. She lived beyond the years of Aura and was crafted at the time of Magic. She was the watcher of the pests that grew from humans and the gardener that now looked to exercise them from the world.

She was the only path to salvation for this damned world, the only one who could possible cleanse the world of the vileness of man and faunus, and was wise enough to turn their own greed and hatred against them. Only one of impossible age could possess such boundless wisdom. It was a fact that was inescapable and a logical conclusion for any scholar that thought of the subject.

But now… there was another who knew not only of her, but where she had come from. There was now someone who knew of her beginning. Her possible birth.

The idea was… impossible. In so many ways that Cinder could not even care for the room she mulled the information over in. She couldn't even care of the bed sheets that were no cinders in her hands, staining her pale skin black. It was a possibility she had never even considered before, so beyond the realm of reachable. That was no longer the case.

And the worst part of it all was that it made sense to her. IT made sense why her Mistress would warn her of the 'emerald warrior's' coming, it made sense why Link was so powerful and able to maneuver himself so well in battle, in made sense why those spirits that followed him were so keen to learn and share, and it made sense why he wanted to help these pathetic children. It explained so many curiosities she had.

Link knew of Salem, her Mistress and the ruler of the dark.

Salem knew of Link, and was wary enough of his strength to warn her before her plans were set forward.

At some point, at some moment in time, Link and her Mistress were associated with one another, enough that the Maiden of Spring, cursed by her Mistress to a decrepit form, had to convince him to fight her.

Link had not been able to kill her Mistress… and her Mistress had not been able to kill Link.

They were all there now, all indisputable facts that were running through her mind with a force to make the Maiden's powers tremble. She could not turn away from them or ignore them, do nothing but recognize they were very much there, and very much real. That left now only a few damning questions upon her mind.

Where had Link come from that was so ancient and well hidden it housed the origins of her Mistress? Hyrule alone was no answer. No different than saying Merlin sat in Avalon.

How had Link survived a battle with her Mistress, but struggled against the Grimm of her Badlands to the point of requiring the pathetic Military to rescue him? She would have snuffed him out without a thought, unless he could do the same to her creatures. Yet he endured a battle valiant enough for her to be wary of him… and for him to survive her.

But most important of all… the question Saria never answered beyond conjecture and possibilities…

Who was Link to Salem?

---

Author's Note: And this is where I make sure I don't lose more favs like I did last chapter. Seriously, a chapter I spent a month on to feel right and I lost a difference of 3 favs… not a big deal I know, but I want to break 1k badly!

What's better, this chapter took so long because my computer had coffee spilled on it, meaning I had to get a new one, my work is starting to make me doubt myself, I'm hitting what I can only call a quarter-life crisis, a crisis of faith, recognition that everyone else is taking off with their lives without me, and I'm still writing fan fiction that's niche at best…

Any who, here is the first MAJOR thread detail for Link's past. Hopefully this answers a few questions I've been getting PM's about, or at least helps them. Cinder was hard to right for this, mostly because I didn't know how far she was into devotion to Salem and how much of it was personal joy. Had to be here though, because anyone else would just jump on a ship to find Link at this point.

But yeah, Saria is kind of the star of this show, for a reason. One that will come up in… 5-6 chapters. Mostly because I need to establish the powers of the other masks, so when the NEXT twist comes… you all know SHTF.

Ta-ta for now! Be sure to check out my Samurai Jack Fiction if you want to have fun in the meantime.