Death March:Return of the Red Crow

by SHDW productions

Set in AU. 25 years ago the forces of Grimm were defeated by the hands of an aura less humanity. In doing this they earned themselves seven years of peace, however, when the aura finally arrived fear over took them, and now they persecute the Aura Sensitives to the point of extinction.

26. Maiden of the Abyss

A/N: Hey guys I'm back, and I'm sorry for the short message last week family came into town. So my original plan for this chapter was to get us to the Thirty-First Ward, and end it right before the Archangel Summit. Yeah, that was the plan until I got sick with the worst sickness I think I've ever had, like it's the first time Nyquil has not immediately knocked me out at night it was so bad, thus I lost almost a whole week in our new bi-weekly schedule. So basically these past four weeks have been a comedy of errors; but I pushed through because I love you guys and I love this story. Now that my rant is over I just wanted to thank you for all the support and patience as I try to not pull my hair out. Don't forget to review, follow, and favorite; Love you guys^_^

The mood turned to one of silent anticipation as the cart's pressed on; their wheels squeaking as they turned on what seemed like an unending curve that could only end in a giant circle. Through imagination one could hear violins playing a melody of despair as it felt like they were being washed down a drain to the underworld. The tunnel they were in was pitch black to the point that Ruby, had to strain her eyes to see the black uniforms of her comrades sitting behind Macy and Chi. She looked to her right and saw that Weiss was equally hard to see; her black hair playing tricks with her lover's eyes as the wind caused it to dance around her porcelain skin- breaking up her image. They had completely bypassed the last station on the Market Line, and were now descending even deeper underground. The carts crashed onto the tracks as they began running down a steep slope; a slope that much like the rest of the tunnel barely had any light in it. The orange lanterns that were hanging off the makeshift train brought some comfort with them, as their faint glow gave their eyes relief. Ruby flexed her hand around the pistol grip of her machine gun, and found sudden interest in the rifle. She released the the magazine and pulled it away before reaching the bolt and charging it back. A 5.56 caliber round flew from the ejection port and into the air where, Ruby, caught it just before it hit Weiss in the head- which reminded her that she needed to check her bandage again. She took the round she caught and pushed it back into the polymer magazine it was in previously, before setting the magazine down on the bench next to her. Ruby looked around again and was greeted with even more darkness, yet she took some solace in the fact that Weiss had put her book down and accepted another lantern from Macy.

She turned it over and the oil ignited with a bright orange flame that was soon placed right between Ruby and she. Ruby smiled at Weiss, who returned it in kind, and went back to checking her gun. She popped the pin out of her 416's receiver and watched the upper swing forward and down while she held the lower receiver in place. This action exposed the charging handle and bolt carrier to the cold, humid air. Ruby removed these key parts from the receiver and peered down the chrome lined barrel, which made her grimace. The outer rim of the barrel was still shiny like it should be, however, when she looked down the barrel all she saw was jet-black carbon build up; a testament to the fact that guns got dirty when fired. 'Thank God, this thing uses a piston system or I would be screwed.' Ruby thought, putting the machine gun back together. She reassembled it in about thirty seconds, and after she was finished placed it between her knees barrel up. Ruby took a moment to adjust herself, before taking the lantern and hanging it on a piece of rebar sticking up from the corner of the cart. She smirked as she bumped Weiss' shoulder with her own, grabbing the other woman's attention.

"You should let me check your bandages, you know, before the Fallen has you hauled off to a sick bed." Ruby teased.

Weiss rolled her eyes and nodded, "It's so peaceful in here, I almost fell asleep."

Ruby set to work removing the gauze that had a very faint blood stain left, "Heh, I don't think it would take that much for us to fall asleep after all we've been through. Oh, yeah that looks to be all better."

"Does that mean you can stop wrapping the top of my head up like a mummy?" Weiss asked, smiling at her.

This time Ruby rolled her eyes, "Oh please, it was only wrapped twice."

The silence returned as Ruby threw the used gauze onto the rails, and leaned back on the seat with her arm behind the back rest. Suddenly, however, she felt something fall on her and when she opened her eyes, Ruby, saw Weiss lying on top of her; head buried in the crook of her neck. She looked down at her and was met with her eyes looked up at her as if she expected them.

"Why?" Ruby mouthed, putting her arm around Weiss' waist.

"Because I'm cold, you're warm, and I'm tired. Plus your boobs are a damn good pillow." Weiss said, resting her head on said, "pillow" and closing her eyes.

Ruby's face deadpanned as she realized that she had just been reduced to an object, and turned to look at Chi and Macy.

Macy was busily being bored with her hand bracing her head up as she looked lazily into the darkness; something that would drive Ruby nuts but when it came to her stepmom nothing really affected her. She shifted her gaze to Chi who just winked at her before making a pillow with her hands and resting on it. A wink came from the older, Mistrali woman that Ruby responded by sticking her middle finger up. Chi laughed and looked ahead of them; the black chamber greeting her with nothing but a dark wall that seemed to devour all light.

"That's strange, there should be a pretty heavy dip coming up. However, I can't seem to make out anything ahead of us. Talk about driving blind." Chi said, pulling the brake a few times.

Ruby looked behind herself and saw the same see of black that was currently sabotaging Chi, "Might be a good idea to brace ourselves just in case. Well, unless we'd like to figure out what it's like to derail."

Chi let out a mocking chuckle, "Very funny, Ruby."

Weiss started shifting in Ruby embrace and opened her eyes like she had been sleeping for over four hours, which was impossible. Her eyes slowly looked up and met Ruby's silvers once again; taking an extra moment to allow her eyes to focus.

"Good Morning." Weiss said, lazily.

Ruby's eyebrow rose, "Um, you know you've only been out for like five, ten minutes right?"

Weiss suddenly pushed off of Ruby's legs and pressed her lips to hers, before pulling away. Chi flexed her forehead as Ruby's cheeks turned red. Macy had caught a glimpse of this and smirked as she stared off into the abyss. Weiss kept her head on Ruby's shoulder and her hand wrapped around Ruby's left.

"What's up with this tunnel anyway?" Weiss asked, "It's so dark that I can't see the rails."

Macy turned round and was first to respond, "It's the last line of defence for the Thirty-First. We call it the 'Abyss' and eventually this tunnel will open up into a giant cavern that's just as dark, and has several areas that, when followed, will lead you to a dead end while soldiers with night vision watch every move you make."

"That's a little unsettling." Weiss commented, now paranoid of the darkness around her.

Macy chuckled, "I bet it is. Don't worry, though, as long as you're with us you'll be fine."

"Also we all know the route, so getting there will be a piece of cake." Chi said, before noticing the dull echo of the tunnel begin to taper off, "And there it is. Entering the Abyss, cutting speed. Lights, lights, lights!"

Ruby shifted and gently nudged Weiss away from her so she could grab her machine gun, while also dousing the flame in the lantern next to them. Like lights turning off in the city, were the lanterns doused and the only light that was left to remain was a single lantern in on the middle cart. The soldiers who had night vision pushed their goggles down onto their eyes while several others, including Ruby, used their tac lights mounted on the side of their rifles. The tunnel suddenly receded and they were thrust into a massive, foggy cavern where the rails were held up by large, wooden bridges. The train clattered rhythmically as they slowly progressed into this "Abyss", the lantern swaying as if they were a boat gliding down a river that would lead to the underworld. Chi put her hat down, effectively covering her eyes, and kept their pace steady as she fairied them into this seeming underworld. A cold shiver ran up Weiss' back as she looked at Chi and remembered what Macy said. Somewhere, in the black wall, or ceiling, or even below them were a multitude of, what Weiss could only assume, were some of the Fallen's most elite soldiers. She rubbed her arm nervously and kept looking around her as they slowly trudged along. The thought crept into her mind that asked if she had died on the surface and this whole journey had been a the journey to the underworld where she would be tormented day after day. She shook this from her thoughts immediately, and kept her thoughts locked on just making it through this horrible place.

Unlike Weiss, Ruby, was as calm as could be. The young woman kept her eyes focused on the tracks, but her eyes also yearned to close and fall asleep this area was so… boring. Everywhere she looked was darkness, and a mist that rose from the bottom of the supposedly bottomless cavern. It was like being lost in a forest that just went on forever and ever; but you knew that it didn't go on forever and ever; and just to add insult to the smoke and mirrors, you also knew where the exit was to the supposedly exit-less forest. Ruby loved to equate it to a story she heard when she was a kid: 'Once there was a man who built a massive wall around his city with a supposedly hidden exit that nobody but the people knew where it was. However, the door was not hidden at all, in fact, it was just as tall as the wall itself and could only be opened from the outside. The man had fooled his people and himself, because his pride blinded him to the point his grand wall was actually an elaborate trap he had laid down and stepped in it himself.' That's what this whole cavern was, an elaborate lie built off the pride of psychological warfare. The whole plan behind this "Abyss" was to crush the will of anybody who attempted to enter it by bombarding them with too many choices. In reality, all one had to do in order to enter the Thirty-First Ward was… go straight. Yes, it was that simple; it was so simple it insulted the very idea of psychological warfare, while kicking it in the balls to boot. It was because of this fact that, Ruby, always felt as if her brain cells were slowly dying while they were in here. She had to figure her teammates felt the same way every time they came here, the very idea of this place was too stupid to have any other effect. Unless you were Weiss, who looked shaken as she moved her head around in paranoia whilst fidgeting with the zipper on her jacket. Ruby watched this repetitive action for about a minute or two, before she couldn't stand it anymore.

Putting a hand on the exile's shoulder, causing her to jump a little in the process, she said, "Stop, you have no idea how distracting your fidgeting is."

Weiss immediately turned as solid as a rock, and although it looked very unnatural, kept her from driving Ruby nuts. Weiss felt some safety in the image of the rails underneath them and kept her eye focused ahead of them, if not to save her own sanity. Ruby had to keep her eyes focused on the front, as she would be the first to see if anything went wrong. Sure, Chi would be able to see it as well, but an additional set of eyes never hurt. Ruby set her elbow on the back of the bench and lay her head on her hand, her eyes having to wrestle with the temptation to close them. She had to resign herself to the fact she probably would have benefitted from a nap on the way here. She glanced over to Weiss again and found the older woman staring at the tracks as if they were doing something wrong. Ruby tapped Weiss with her shoulder and watched as she turned her head to look at her quizzically.

Ruby motioned towards the tracks with her head, "Did you notice the tracks are covered in gold?"

Weiss looked at her incredulously, there was no way these lines were plated in gold. Vale hadn't been a mining powerhouse since the beginning of the Ear of Peace, which ended abruptly thanks to the Great Extermination. She leaned over the front of the cart and squinted as hard as she possibly could to see the faint glimmer that was telltale of gold; however, no matter how hard she tried the rails were covered by a thick gunk that vaguely reminded her of Ruby's pistol back in the viscera pit.

"Very funny, Ruby, you got me." Weiss conceded, looking back up at her lover.

Ruby snickered, "Come on, you know I don't tell bad jokes."

She reached onto her belt and grabbed her katana. The blade shot forward like a collapsible baton, and echoed off the caverns giant walls the silence was so intense. Ruby smirked at Weiss as she bent over the bench and scrapped the rails with the blade; its tip piercing the black gunk to scrap the metal underneath. The blade screeched as she quickly shaved off some of the metal and brought it back up to Weiss. The blade gave off a little ambient heat as the metal had been ripped off by the force generated by the cart. Ruby pointed the tip towards Weiss and let her get a good look at the glimmering yellow color that was, in fact, gold. Her eyes opened like pools of radiance as the soft metal reflected the light in her eyes.

Her mouth moved slowly but, for a moment was at a loss for words, before saying, "It's beautiful. But why is it on the rails, as I am certain gold is far too malleable to be used as a heavy duty transportation material."

Ruby flexed her wrist and flung the precious metal into the fog below, where its impact would never be heard or seen. She pressed the button on the folding sword and watched as it securely locked back into its compact form.

"You are right, Princess, but as I said its only gold plated and, while you may not believe this, the gold is growing on the steel rails. It's like a weed, or a vine that never stops until it envelops everything. I do have to wonder thought, can wood be plated in gold as well?" Ruby asked herself.

"I'm pretty sure it can, Ruby; but why does gold, one of the rarest metals on Remnant, grow like a plant down here?" Weiss asked again, her eyes trying to see anymore of the glittering metal on the rails.

"You'll see, but you probably won't believe it again. So how are you holding up?" Ruby asked, half looking at Weiss; half looking at the rails.

Weiss rubbed the back of her neck and popped it a few times, "I'm doing good. I need a shower, though."

Ruby could understand how she felt; underneath her own clothing she felt slimy and didn't even dare to run her fingers through her hair for fear of what she may encounter. It wasn't that Ruby was particularly against the idea of getting dirty, far from it in fact, but when it came to the fact that she hadn't bathed in two or so days it really did start to bother her.

"Same. I bet your muscles are as sore as mine too." Ruby predicted, staring into the Abyss.

Weiss nodded, "I feel like my lower back is wrapped around itself, and my shoulders… Well, let's just say it difficult to itch my face."

Macy started laughing, causing the two to turn towards her, "Ladies you sound like a bunch of old people."

"You're not exactly a prime example of youth, Maman." Ruby responded, with a mischievous smirk.

Macy clutched her hand over her chest, "Oh Ruby, you've injured this poor old woman and she can no longer go on! But, seriously I will hurt you."

"Bring it, old lady. We may actually get some entertainment on this boring journey." Ruby responded, teasing her.

Macy smirked and rolled her eyes, "Please, I don't think you would want your girlfriend here to see you get embarrassed like last time."

Chi snorted as she remembered the last fight Ruby and Macy had, while Weiss cocked an eyebrow, "What happened to you?"

Ruby blushed at the thought, "Nothing. Nothing happened, she beat me is all."

"Sure, she 'beat' you alright; but I think you're missing a few, key, details there Red." Chi clarified, smirking mischievously at her.

It was Weiss turn to laugh as she pushed her bangs out of her eyes, "Come on, it can't be that bad. What did she do to you?"

Ruby looked between Weiss, Chi, and Macy before crossing her arms and muttered, "She made me piss my pants."

Weiss had a hard time hearing what she said, but started laughing anyway because she had a feeling it was funny, "What- What did you say?"

Ruby simply turned away from everyone, her face more red that it had been previously. She crossed her legs and stared into the darkness finding it to be more interesting than her current situation. Weiss leaned forward and put her chin on Ruby's shoulder, her body as stiff as a rock.

"Ruby, it's rude to ignore me." She said, puffing out her cheeks.

Ruby shook her head and rolled her eyes, keeping her lips sealed tight; although, she wouldn't deny that Weiss was making it hard to stay silent. A frustrated expression spread across Weiss' porcelain face as she took her head off of Ruby.

Macy chuckled, "So if my lovely stepdaughter won't do us the honor of divulging one of her most embarrassing moments, I guess I will."

Weiss turned to Macy with an interested expression, while Ruby, on the other hand, covered her ears and grunted her disapproval. Weiss snickered at Ruby a bit before letting Macy continue.

"So we were sparring, probably over six months ago," Macy began, "and it went well as it always did with Chi reffing and things of that nature. Eventually, we were almost finished with everything until Ruby decides she wants to fight me one more time. We had a few minutes left before we had to leave so I accepted; with the knowledge that we had to make it fast." Ruby buried her face into the top of the bench as Macy continued, "So we stood there, ten steps away from each other, eyes locked with our swords poised to strike each other." Chi's snickers became louder as Macy got to her part, "Chi blew the whistle and right as the match started, Ruby, shot forward using her semblance to try and get an easy hit on me; but I obviously saw that coming and just stepped to the the side, where I turned round and grabbed the back of her pants as she flew past me. This resulted in me grabbing her underwear, which lead to the biggest wedgie she's ever had, to the point that she pissed herself." Macy finished, slapping her knee and laughing.

Weiss and chi started laughing hysterically as well, while Ruby tried to bury herself in the seat. Her whole body wanted to take the form of a ball and simply roll away to fall into the darkness below.

"It was not that fucking funny, you assholes. I had fabric burns on my… area, for a week and couldn't pee without searing pain. It was not funny…" Ruby trailed off, turning towards the darkness again.

Weiss put her hand on Ruby's shoulder between laughs, "It's okay, Ruby. We're just… teasing you, I… I can't breath, oh my God."

Ruby shrugged her lover's hand off with a disgruntled groan, that only made Weiss' smile run over. She lost or found herself for a moment, but at the end of her action she didn't care what had happened, it would be wrong to regret it. Ruby felt Weiss' petite hand touch her once again and it made her brow furrow in frustration as she turned around.

"Stop it, I'm mad at-" Ruby was cut off by Weiss' lips meeting her out of the blue.

Ruby's eyes flung wide open as her body froze in an attempt to give her brain some time to catch with what was happening. She moaned for a second before closing her eyes to reciprocate her soft lips that still, somehow, had a trace of lip gloss on them. Chi pursed her lips and let out a low pitched whistle as Macy put her hands in front of her mouth; heart a flutter. Ruby could feel her lungs burning and her mind still buzzing wildly as her heart rate rose significantly. However, she grimaced when the kiss ended all too soon and left her with her mouth slightly ajar.

Weiss opened her eyes and smiled at Ruby, "So? Still mad at me?"

Ruby blushed as she forced her mouth shut; her face looking more like a tomato now than her name's sake. She tried her best to keep Weiss' lips out of her mind, but try as she might, her own were still buzzing if not burning with the passion Weiss had just transferred to her; the kind of passion that formed a wall to block any reasonable thought except for those that pertained to the passion itself. Ruby shook her head as she realized just how infectious this passion was and that it more or less turned her into the very definition of putty.

"I…" Ruby began with a raspy voice, "a little bit."

"Oh ho, is that your round about way of asking for more?" Weiss teased, leaning back into the corner of the bench making it squeak.

Ruby shook her head with haste, scared that if she did it again she would never be able to recover, "No, I'm fine. Let's just wait till we get to the Thirty…"

Weiss chuckled as Ruby trailed off her lips still red from the intimate moment, "You're adorable when you're flustered."

Meanwhile, Chi, had been only half focused on the couple's antics with the other half was used to watch the tracks in front of them. Her onyx eyes were lightly dusted with the afterglow of the orange lights that surrounded the convoy, but as for the rest of the light; it was blocked by her hat that sat gently atop her silken black hair, that she had expertly woven into a bun that was kept in place by two chopsticks that matched her red cheongsam. Her gold earrings had long since been removed and placed inside one of the pockets that her holsters featured. She let out a soft groan as she reached up and rubbed the back of her neck, several soft pops resounding as she moved it back and forth; a strand of black hair falling from her hat and landing on her nose only to be blown away. She flexed her hand around the accelerator lever and winced as her aggravated callouses screamed; reddening her hand to the point it looked like Ruby's highlights. She let out a pained sigh as her had returned to the lever and pulled at her embroidered cheongsam, specifically the area where her tube style bra was beginning to chafe her. She sucked in air as the fabric was pulled away from the tender area and placed lower on her rib cage so that it could give her some momentary relief that would only lead to it returning to the same area to wreak its hellish havoc all over again. Chi wanted, and somewhat needed, someone to take her place, she wanted to sit down and relax a bit, she wanted to have some private time to take her bra off and drink a beer, she wanted to take a shower, take her ruined fingernail polish off and let her mind go numb in front of a cheesy romance movie- her guilty pleasure. However, she was so close to the goal that she had been thrust into that she just had to soldier up and deal with it till these dreams, wants, and needs all came to fruition- like seeds lovingly planted just to sprout up when she arrived. 'Thank you Lord,' Chi began praying. 'For getting me this far now please just let me get through this last. Damn. Stretch.'

As if her prayer was immediately answered her eyes could a see a set of three lights burning a bright yellow in the distance of the dark abyss. The lights were arranged in such a way that it formed a triangle with one point closer to the tracks, but parallel to the one not close at all. The top point was also dotted with a light, but this one was right next to the tracks; like a sign instructing those that they may, or may not be going the right way. Luckily, for Chi she knew what this place was and felt a fleeting sense of comfort seeing the place.

"What's that?" Weiss asked, her hands clutched together nervously.

Ruby grabbed Weiss' hand, "Relax, it's a friend. One that you might like actually… well, if you like Chi then you'll like her I guess."

Weiss looked over to Chi who smiled at her before slowing down considerably, while also trying not to wince in pain. She had been through this passage many times, in fact, one would think over half this rail line was named after her she had passed through it so much. A little arrogant sure, but Chi chalked it up to the fact that she needed a victory somewhere and while they had been driven back down into the underground she figured that would be a small victory for herself. Although, this "victory" didn't actually exist in any way, shape, or form in the depths of reality that were as coarse as cement; it really didn't matter to Chi. She was probably the only other person to have an ego as big as Ruby's, which was also the most likely origin of all their quarrels. Well, it was either that or the fact that Ruby's bust size was only bigger than her's by a cup; but it was probably enough to make her feel intimidated.

Chi slowed them down considerably again, until the clattering stopped in front of what appeared to be a… spring cottage style house, only built a mile underneath the surface and fashioned together out of scrap metal to boot. The farthest point of the previously formed triangle was a car headlight strapped to a small sign that read "Huanying suoyou ren, dan tichu mo you." (Welcome to all, but offered to none.) Weiss frowned at the sign and turned back to Chi.

"What is… this place?" she asked, knowing that Chi's native tongue was the language on the sign.

Chi simply shook her head and held a finger to her lips, telling Weiss that she should remain silent for the time being. Ruby already knew this and resigned herself to reclining back on the bench and shutting her eyes; maybe she could find some peace to escape into her dream land that was probably filled with Weiss anyway. She wasn't picky though. Macy was just as bored as Ruby, but proceeded to entertain herself by grabbing her sword and running her nails on the much larger side of the blade. It was the literal representation of a sadistic nail file, if one had ever existed. A sharp squeak resound through the cavern as the front door of the small, shanty opened to flood and blind those with the bright yellow light within. Weiss covered her darkness abused eyes from the beams of gold that she could have sworn rivaled the sun at some point. The loud thudding of a wooden pole was suddenly heard from the maw of light and before Weiss' eyes, a woman shorter than Ruby but taller than Chi, stepped forward with light rolling and slithering off her clothes like it was a physical thinking being. In left, gloved, hand she held a tall naginata, a spear that was characterized by its more sword-like blade instead of the typical pike design, that was dressed in black and gold. The woman wore a hat similar to Chi's on this one looked more like an ornate lamp shade with a bowed rim that curled up; it was woven out of wood that was painted black with gold trim. Red tassels hung from the back of the hat and an equally red dragon ornament was wrapped around the headspace of the hat to where the large toothed mouth was facing the one in front of her at all times. Her body was covered by a cheongsam very much like Chi's only her's traded in the length of the skirt for a short one that was a lot more risky than Chi's; which was saying something since the long slits of Chi's dress revealed the beginning of her underwear. This woman's cheongsam was also colored in jet black with a embroidered dragon sewn over her right breast; the opposite of where Chi's was placed on her own. Her heels clicked along the metal, and only through squinting her eyes could Weiss gather that the shanks of her heeled boots were gold plated and very much resembled the armored heels that Macy wore; however, the metal two cap gleamed gold and was indented with the seal of a tribal dragon. Her hair was silken black just like Chi's only her's was just as long if not longer than Macy's and was braided with what Weiss could only assume were cherry blossoms but given how dark it still was, it could have been anything. Her arms were covered with tattoos just like Chi's and it finally dawned on Weiss that she knew relatively nothing about Chi outside the Fallen and it lead to the conclusion that she may actually have a twin sister.

Weiss turned towards Chi, who was watching the display with little interest, and spoke softly, "Is that your sister?"

Chi could just barely hear her faint voice since it was like that of a cricket gently chirping in at night, but the auditory noise did find its way into her ears and allowed her to give a response. Yet, the only response Weiss could get was a nod of the head before the foreign woman's focus landed back on her twin sister as the light light gently faded around her.

Her head rose and Weiss caught a pair of eyes that were like smoldering coals they were so orange; the very light clinging to the gold accents of her outfit could not even begin to outshine eyes such as these since they appeared to command the very light like an ancient centurion commanding his legionaries. Her lips were dressed in black lipstick that gave off a slightly playful, yet more mature look than Chi's bare ones; but Weiss supposed it was wrong to compare Chi to her sister this much. After all, she doubted Ruby would enjoy people comparing her to Weiss; especially in saying that she looked too shabby to be anything but the exile's servant which was just not the case. She still kept her eyes locked on the two; however, when she finally made her way up to the cart, Weiss, looked away for fear of being deemed suspicious and, or creepy.

"Chi?" the woman questioned, her eyes widening. "Wow! I knew you were coming, but not this early. How are you?"

"Diayu, you have no idea what I've been through getting here, but I'm still in one piece so don't worry. How's mom?" Chi asked, taking a light and crisp approach to the woman in front of her.

To say Weiss was baffled was beyond its very definition. Here was the woman who she had barely known and could only gather that she was very jovial most of the time; but when one tried to engage her in basic conversation she closed up tighter than a lockbox, speaking nonchalantly to her sister as to whether or not her mother, who Weiss didn't even know they still had contact with, was alright. As if sensing her incredulous stare, Ruby, had woken up- if she had fallen asleep at all- and tapped Weiss gently on the leg. Weiss turned round to find Ruby shaking her head and putting a finger to her lips, her eyes telling her that there was a reason for this quiet and sense of reverence.

Diayu rested the naginata against the cart, "I called her last week, but haven't checked in sense. "Wo xiwang ni yihou neng he ta da dianhua." (I had hoped you would want to call her with me later.)

"Xiexie. Women yinggai dedao ta de dongxi, ta de shengri kuai daole." (Thank you. We should get her something, her birthday is coming up.)

Daiyu clasped her hands together in excitement, that roughly reminded Weiss of a school girl, "Zhe shi yige keai de xiangfa dan women yinggai zenyang cianeng dedao ta?Wo hui lun dao ta dedao yixie dongxi." (That's a lovely idea; but what should we get her? It would be my turn to buy her something.)

"Wo hui likai ni, wo xiangxin ni hui zhaodao yixie dongxi, ni song shi you, dan woman yinggai chongxin kiashi yewu." (I'll leave that up to you. I'm sure you'll find something, you always have, but we should get back to business.) Chi said, waving her sister towards her traveling companions.

Daiyu turned towards the rest of those in the cart and blushed when she saw that they had been waiting patiently, "Pardon me, Macy, I got flustered when my sister showed up unexpectedly."

"Don't worry about it, after all you can do what you will. You are the same rank as me, remember?" Macy inquired, already knowing what the woman would say as it had not been the first time she posed the question.

Diayu nodded, the bells attached to the tassels on her hat gently chiming as she did, "It has not escaped me, but I am right in saying that it is rather rude to completely ignore people who have a title. Even Ruby here, has a right to be mentioned."

Ruby smiled at the older woman, the flattery she earned from Daiyu's politeness was next to that she felt when speaking to Weiss. Needless to say, Daiyu, was just a sweet person and that was it. She didn't swear, didn't smoke, didn't drink and as far as Ruby knew was still a virgin; but Chi had told her that she wasn't and hadn't been for a long time. She didn't really care in all honesty, it was Daiyu's past and if she didn't feel it necessary to clarify if she was pure or not was her business. Either way it didn't change the fact that she was, probably one of the sweetest people, Ruby, had ever come to know and would probably ever know, simply because her mind had already branded her as such.

"Sure, but the person with the most important title here is the woman with the less ornate hat. After all, you only get one sister and you most definitely only get one that looks exactly like you." Macy responded, being careful to remind her with a gentle smile.

Daiyu laughed, "You sound like my mom, Macy." Daiyu turned towards Weiss, and peered into the cerulean eyes, gently. "Now I know my sister, I know Macy, and I know Ruby; but who might this little, elegant lady be?"

She accented each name with a finger that, at least for Weiss, was so precise and properly timed that it relaxed her to the point that her mouth felt like rubber. This woman seemed to convey the very thought of precision and flawlessness that could only be achieved through careful training or sheer dumb luck.

"I'm, uh, Wei-ss Schnee." Weiss replied, flinching as she almost mispronounced her own name.

"Come again?" Diayu said, with an incredulous look on her face. "It sounded as if you said, you were the famed exile of the Schnee Company."

Weiss' mouth tried in vain to form the right words, "Well, I…"

Luckily, Ruby caught onto her lover's nervousness and wrapped her arm around her back, squeezing her close, "She's shy. No, your ears did not deceive you; her name is Weiss Schnee and yes, she was a part of the Schnee Company when she was younger. She's also a Sensitive."

Weiss felt a weight lift off of her as her mind was set back into place, as if Ruby had just flipped a reset switch. Thanks to her girlfriend's clarification; her mind was set into order like a new army receiving its general. Her mouth no longer felt like rubber and her body felt more solid and stable. She allowed herself to relax a little bit and absentmindedly fell back into Ruby, making the larger woman grunt a bit but she didn't move.

"Wow!" Daiyu exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "One of my subordinates owes me five hundred Lien; but that doesn't matter right now. The fact that you are a Sensitive is awesome, I mean there have been rumors about you circulating for years, concerning what the real reason your exile was about, but to find out that you are actually a Sensitive like us is just… flippin' awesome!"

An overwhelmed smirk crept along Weiss' face as she motioned for Daiyu to hold off a bit, "I guess I'm a celebrity and didn't even know it. Although, I'd rather prefer to not have my name known so well so soon."

"We would have told you about your own legend; but to be honest, it slipped my mind. Plus, when I first met you; well, trying to put it softly you weren't that special and you also didn't know I was a member of the Fallen." Ruby explained.

Weiss nodded, somewhat glad to know that she didn't get special treatment when Ruby and she were just friends. Although, in this new relationship she had entered into, Weiss, wouldn't really mind a bit of favoritism when they were intimate; after all Ruby's "Princess" nickname wasn't that bad when she was being carried to bed bridal style, but that was a fantasy for a different time.

Yet, nothing kept her from blushing like a loser and gave away her inner thoughts like a billboard that was alight every second. Daiyu caught onto this and tilted her head with a playful smile that stabbed straight to the point.

"What… Oh ho ho, I know. Yes," Daiyu closed her topaz eyes and when they opened the orange had been snatched away by a sea of toxic green and the pupils had mutated into that which looked like those of a dangerous viper. "Somebody has feelings for Miss Ruby, and they appear to be fully reciprocated, so I take it you two are a thing?"

Diayu closed her eyes again and her beautiful, smoldering orange eye color returned as Weiss stammered a bit to answer her question, "I- well yes. How did you know, or am I that obvious?"

Diayu chuckled, "A little bit, but I can see aura and sense aura. Its interesting, when you look or are close to someone you love your aura aggravates just like your heart rate. That's enough of that though, proper introductions state that I should at the very least tell you who I am; so Weiss Schnee, my name is Daiyu Lee Zang, Chi's older sister."

"By five minutes." Chi added, smirking at her sister.

Diayu rolled her eyes at her sibling's antics, "Anyway, mind if I catch a ride with you guys? My shift just ended and it'll save you some time waiting for my replacement to arrive."

"Sure, hop on. We've got room and the sooner we get inside the gates the more time we have to rest up before we have to be at the damn Summit tomorrow." Macy said, moving over.

"Thanks," Daiyu climbed up the side of the cart and used her naginata to balance herself as she lifted her leg to fully climb inside. "I hate it when they call the stupid Archangel, it makes my job harder thanks to the fact that we get an influx of traffic and I'm the one who has to repair the rails. So I'm basically stuck out here for however long it takes me to form enough gold to repair the rails."

This struck Weiss with confusion as she knew that there were better materials than gold to repair high-tension rails with, "Why use gold?"

Diayu turned towards Weiss and smirked at her, "Because," she reached over and hovered her hand beneath one of Weiss' earrings, "Whatever I touch… " Weiss felt her earring heat up considerably to the point she thought it would burn her, but it stopped just as Daiyu moved her hand over to the other one where the same sensation started, "...turns to gold."

She took her hand away and Weiss immediately reached up and clutched her ears like a little kid, before carefully removing the first earring and holding it in her hands; the once silver metal, wrapped carefully around the aquamarine colored stone, now gleamed and shimmered in the orange light a bright yellow. Her mouth dropped open in amazement, which made Ruby laugh thanks to how sudden it was.

"And Diayu's semblance it twenty times better than Chi's." Ruby said hoping to get a rise out of the other woman.

It proved fruitful with Chi immediately saying, "At least mine can save your stupid ass if you go dying on us."

"But, Daiyu's can make my stupid ass rich so I wouldn't have to go dying on you. I wonder, if I got a sports car would she be able to turn the whole thing into gold?" Ruby asked herself, a finger to her lips.

Diayu's face deadpanned as she suddenly felt like a piece of furniture, "Beat me in a fight and I'll think about it. Until then, I'll be happy to turn your debit card to gold since it'll be worth more than your bank account by that point."

Macy snorted and started laughing as she covered her mouth with her hand. Chi started laughing as well, but Weiss was too busy putting her earring back on to fully laugh.

"Hey! I'm not that poor, I can pay my bills and buy groceries." Ruby declared adamantly, as they crossed over a bump in the rails.

Weiss turned towards her, "Actually, if you had a solid gold credit card with would be worth around twelve thousand Lien."

Ruby's face hardened to the point she looked as if she was made of candy, and her eyes stayed forward in a thousand yard stare that made her look like a bronze statue that Weiss would see in Ward One. Inside Ruby's head, she was coming to terms with the fact that Daiyu had been right and a solid gold debit card would be worth more than the money it represented. Ruby hunched over and put a hand on her thigh.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." Ruby said, turning away from the others.

Everybody laughed this time and Weiss rubbed Ruby's back. They crossed over another rough part of the track and everyone stopped laughing as they suddenly felt their ears filled with the common echo only this time much sooner. They looked to the front of the train and began peering into the solid wall of the dark once again; however, in the distance was a red light that looked to be a large rectangle much like the eye of a giant robot

The light steadily got large, and larger as they chugged along. Weiss was mesmerized by it's glow while Ruby looked at it with thanks in her eyes, but there was also a faint glimmer of disdain. The rest of the soldiers, including Naga and Clarke, looked to this "Beacon of Hope" in the Abyss and while some didn't the others breathed a sigh of relief. This was the beginning of the Thirty-First Ward, their home, and their protection. Ruby became aware of the disdain held in her and even though it wanted to grow like a weed in the middle of a luscious field of fruits, she didn't have the energy to foster and cultivate it to the point of fruition. Ruby, just simply let out a sigh and reclined back into the bench; the wood creaking as she snaked her fingers into Weiss'. Daiyu stood up and braced herself up on her naginata as the darkness cleared like the red sea, and revealed a large steel gate. They squeaked closer and as the door came even closer, to the point that they were mere meters away, Diayu lifted the naginata and slammed the bottom of its pole into the steel plate floor of the cart. The loud bangs resounded off the walls and the gate to the point that for a moment they thought that was the only sound they would ever hear again. The door responded by slowly, agonizingly sliding across the tracks and opening to now blind them with their deafened ears. Bright light like that of the Heavenly Hosts assaulted their retinas and caused them to either lower their gazes or cover their eyes as they had not seen a light this bright in two days. Ruby shielded her eyes, but let some of the light into her gaze in order to re-accustom her eyes to normal surface light that the Thirty-First tried to replicate as best it could. Weiss was doing much the same, but her eyes were watering although she was getting a better view than Ruby. Diayu sat back down next to her sister and lowered the hat in front of her eyes just like Chi.

Daiyu started speaking, and for the first time, Weiss heard the Fallen's full name, "Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Thirty-First Ward… Glory… to the Fallen Aura Sensitives."