Everyone that had decided that they were going to go out and look for Blake had agreed that they were going to all meet in the same place before they went out looking for her without much (if any) trouble.

It was dark, the cracked moon hanging high over Remnant and lighting the world with its soft otherworldly glow. The city of Vale was lit up with electricity, Dust, and flame alike, creating spots of light like stars which could always beckon them back home.

It was far from the place that she had been raised in herself. Weiss could close her eyes and imagine the moonlight on the snow, and couldn't help but think that she was standing out like a beacon in the darkness herself. White among black.

"You really think that we're going to find Blake?" Ruby asked one of the people that had already gathered by the city gate and were waiting for them. Weiss was mostly glad that she was going into this surrounded by her teammates.

"I'm sure that we will!" A familiar voice replied from the gate. As they got closer, Weiss recognized the group of four students that were already there and waiting for them.

Team JNPR. Weiss didn't know all that much about the other students personally, but she had at the very least met Pyrrha before. She'd seen the rest in passing, mostly during their classes.

"Thanks." Yang said, hanging back just slightly behind Ruby and Weiss both. "For wanting to do this."

"It's really no problem." Jaune said, stepping up so that he could stand just beside Pyrrha. "Even if we don't know her, this is the sort of thing that we all went to Beacon to do."

"Rescue missions?" Yang asked.

"No, silly." Nora said, bouncing into the conversation with her eyes lit up and bright. "Helping people!"

"Either way, we have to thank you." Weiss said, holding her head up high and allowing for herself to look out past the gates and into the forest. There were going to be things out there. Grimm, animals, who even knew what else. It was entirely possible that them wanting to leave Vale to find Blake was going to end up being a huge mistake.

And that wasn't even considering the black shadow that the giant grimm cast over them.

"We are all glad to help." Ren said, smiling reassuringly over at them. "But if we are going to find your teammate, it would be for the best if we left soon."

There was a murmuring of consensus, and then they were all off on their way into the woods. The plan that they came up with on the way was a relatively simple one with a clear enough goal. The seven of them were going to be going out into the forest and trying to find Blake, with the intent of going back towards the area where Blake had wandered off in the first place as a starting point.

Weiss decided against allowing herself to bring up that if Blake had wanted to leave, it was entirely likely that she was all but completely gone at that point. It was even theoretically possible that Blake had made her way back to Vale and had managed to avoid notice.

No matter what, they were going to have to work from a flawed position though, and Weiss didn't like that.

But they were going to find Blake- that much was clear. At the very least they were going to do their absolute best to hunt her down so that they would be able to bring her back to Beacon together. Safe and sound, a member of the team like she was.

For almost the entire walk out to the location, all of them were calling for Blake, even the people from Team JNPR. Weiss was glad for it, because that made it feel more... genuine that the others were there with them.

"So." One of the boys fell back from the main group so that he could walk alongside Weiss. She glanced over at him and sighed when she realized that it was Jaune.

"What is it?" Weiss asked, sighing.

"I realized that I haven't really introduced myself at all." The boy said, hanging his head for just a second before offering her his hand, even awkwardly. "I'm Jaune."

Weiss took her hand and gave it a firm shake before releasing it. "Weiss." She said her name and kept her eyes forward, scanning the area for even the slightest sign that Blake was near. "Is there something that you wanted?"

Jaune seemed to hesitate. "I wanted to know that you were doing okay." He said finally, keeping his voice down. "I mean, I know that your team is a bit newer and that you're new to Beacon and all of that." He stopped himself, like he had just realized that he was acting a little strangely. Or maybe he just realized that Weiss wasn't perhaps the kindest audience that he could have. "I just... this isn't really normal, you know?"

"I think I'm okay." Weiss sighed, thinking back to the missions that she had gone on with her teammates. Always they had gone out on reconnaissance and when things had really happened, there had been something else in play. Blake had decided to run because of a conversation that they'd had while retracing their steps from...

Weiss stopped, eyes widening as she realized that aside from Qrow, it was all but certain that they were not the only ones searching for Blake. They had lead General Ironwood and Winter into the forest with them before Blake had run.

If they ended up being found by anyone else, it was entirely likely that they would end up in trouble for it. Weiss didn't exactly think that getting into trouble was a good idea for any of them at the moment. Personally, she didn't want to risk being run out of Beacon for going after Blake.

She decided against voicing it. "I just want to find my teammate," Weiss finally said, keeping her eyes glued to the area ahead of her. "Especially when-"

They both went silent, and Weiss knew that Jaune knew what she was trying to talk about.

Mostly, the giant grimm that was walking the forests in a silent patrol of its own.

Weiss was afraid of it, of what could happen should they accidentally stray too close to the beast.

She had to put in a rather significant amount of effort to make sure that she wouldn't end up becoming a problem for them in any way. Weiss swallowed and tore her gaze away from the monster. "I want to find my teammate. That's all."

Jaune shrugged, beginning to slow to a stop as they approached the area where Blake had last been with them. He was taking every step slowly, and when Weiss looked forward and towards the thing that she and her teammates had been supposed to keep as a secret, his eyes widened.

In fact, most of JNPR seemed like they didn't know what to make of it. All four of them looked at each other, worry showing on each and everyone one of their expressions. Weiss hesitated for a moment and allowed herself to just take a few steps and draw closer to the rest of her own team.

A moment later, it was Nora that broke the quiet. She took two nervous steps towards the black pool, reaching out for it but drawing back just as quickly. "What... is it?"

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang all gave each other a look before Weiss sighed and decided to begin to explain. "It... makes grimm. At least that's what we've been told."

Pyrrha stepped up beside her teammate, both her and Nora staring down into the black and clearly in search of something. She didn't move to try and reach out or touch it. Really, it seemed like she was doing her best to observe before acting. Her bright green eyes went from the pool to the grimm that towered over the forest.

"So what you are trying to say is that... thing came from this." Pyrrha stated, thought it was clearly much more of a question than it was anything else. "That seems-"

Yang shrugged and took a few steps forward, falling into line with the two other girls by the pool before allowing herself to speak up. "The way that Qrow has talked about it is more like... small grimm will come from this one, but one like that would be from something..." She shook her head. "Something else. He didn't say what, though."

"We need to find Blake." Ruby added, almost pleading as she took a few more steps forward. "Before she ends up running into something that she can't handle herself. Like..."

There was a long silence, and the group of them all but turned to face each other, standing in a circle. All of them exchanged looks, all waiting for someone to take the chance to take the lead. Finally, Ruby and Jaune were the ones to speak up, almost at the exact same time.

Jaune barely got a syllable out before he gestured to Ruby, allowing her the chance to speak first. Ruby took a few steps forward, and every eye was glued to her, Weiss' included.

"There are... a lot of us." Ruby explained, looking from person to person as she stood there in the middle. "So maybe the best way that we could look for Blake would be if we... I dunno, split up?"

Unsurprisingly, there seemed to be a good amount of hesitation over that suggestion. Jaune nodded before letting out a breath, all but waving his hands in front of him as he started. "Ruby is right." He began, smiling and standing up tall. "There are a lot of us, so the best way to do this is split up for sure. We'll be able to cover more ground that way. And it isn't like we don't have scrolls."

"Then how do we split up?" Pyrrha asked, sounding somewhat confident in the plan, but also like she needed to hear that they would have more planned just in case. "Because while there are a lot of us, it's a big forest. And if we end up running into trouble, we need to be sure that all of us will be able to take care of ourselves."

Ruby hesitated, glancing back over her shoulder to cast a look at Weiss and Yang before sighing. "I think that we should go by teams." She said finally, stepping back and standing close to her older sister. "Blake is our teammate, and if we find her, we should probably try to be together for it."

Jaune nodded and turned towards his own teammates. "I think that I can work with that plan." He said, rather calmly and smiling. "If anyone finds something, we should message the other group though-"

"I can watch the scroll." Weiss offered, because she had a feeling that if they were going to find trouble, she would be the least useful member of her team anyhow. "I don't expect anything, but someone should be in charge of it."

"And I can do the same." Jaune offered, smiling and shrugging. "Should we meet back here?"

"Yeah, definitely." Ruby said, her eyes bright and her bouncing with a certain sort of nervous energy that wasn't going to go away all that easily. "So... is that it?"

"Yeah." Jaune sighed. "I guess so." He began to take a few steps away, JNPR turning so that they could walk alongside him and stopping once Ruby decided to pipe up again.

"And uh... Thank you." Ruby said, watching as JNPR turned to face her again. "For all of this."

Pyrrha just beamed back at them. "We're all happy to help. Don't worry, we are going to find your teammate."

Weiss smiled and lowered her head before turning and walking with her teammates off in their search for Blake.

Oniyuri was a crumpled half-city in the middle of absolute nowhere. It had been destroyed years and years before, grimm having rampaged their way through after something had happened, and the details on what it had been were far from even beginning to be clear.

There were stories about Oniyuri, that there could have been something wrong with it. That it could have been haunted, or that the place was somehow cursed as though that were a thing that was possible.

A year before, Cinder wouldn't have believed so much as a word about it. Curses were impossible, magic wasn't real. Grimm weren't there anymore.

But then they were there, standing there in the middle of the broken down city, and Cinder didn't know what to make of it.

There was a certain sort of beauty to the destruction, something which was hard to quantify that Cinder couldn't quite find a name for or put her finger on.

But they stood there, just outside of the gates with not any one of them wanting to take the plunge and go in for themselves. Cinder glanced down the row of them to see that something was different between the five of them.

Watts seemed bored but mostly confident in the fact that they were there. Tyrian seemed nervous, for reasons that Cinder couldn't name. Emerald was all but afraid, but she was at the very least looking healthier.

And Hazel...

Cinder stood behind Hazel at the back of the group. He was standing as stone-faced as ever, but Cinder couldn't help the thought that there was something else on his mind. Something that he didn't want to say, and it just dragged her back to the conversation that their group had ended up having not too long before.

Watts was confident that Hazel was hiding something from them. Cinder was feeling about the same way now.

"Should we go in?" Emerald asked, looking over her shoulder at the others. "Or-"

"No." Watts muttered, smirking. "I think that you should go in though, girl. Seeing as you are the most dis-"

"Enough." Hazel cut Watts off, finally deciding to break from the way that he was holding himself and making his way to the front so that he could lead his way in. "We should go in, but we should go in together."

A chill ran down Cinder's spine, unforgiving and so terrible that it rocked her down to her very core.

"In what manner?" Tyrian asked, letting himself lower down into a crouch where he stood. He placed his hands on the ground, clearly feeling for something in the same way that he had done before. "This place-"

"As a group, I would assume?" Watts asked, looking over at Hazel with a wholly unimpressed look. "As though that would make any real difference." He grumbled bitterly.

"We're in an abandoned city." Hazel growled back, shooting a glare over at Watts before relaxing and staring up at the gates once more. "And anything could be in there. Grimm, hunters, or even bandits."

"Or the girl." Cinder said, staring down at the cobblestone pavement and feeling too much. That chill was still there, covering her and making it impossible for her to get away from it. Cinder tried her best to summon up her aura and bring some comfort to herself, but none came.

"Or the girl." Hazel repeated the words, but they came out far too quiet for Cinder's liking. Like Hazel was expecting for them to have found something and unable to think of any other way to state it.

"So then-"

"Tyrian." Hazel said, keeping his voice down. "You will go in first with me and Emerald. Cinder and Watts should stay back and offer ranged support, coming in only after we have gotten in a safe distance."

Tyrian's expression stretched into a smile as it always did. The man let out a sound that Cinder could only think of as a squeal of delight before standing up and clapping his hands together. He stood hunched over, but grinning all the same.

Hazel set his jaw and looked to Emerald, who looked ready to shrink back. Emerald stared at Hazel before looking back at Cinder for some sort of reassurance.

Cinder sighed, unable to think of anything to say. She just prepared herself to fire on whatever might be there to fight them.

She had a feeling that it could be nothing, if not the girl. However, she couldn't pretend as though a dose of paranoia couldn't be a little healthy in their situations.

Oniyuri was nothing if not incredibly creepy.

"I don't care for this plan, Hazel." Watts stated, sounding as bored as ever. "But if you insist."

Cinder watched as Hazel rolled his eyes and waved an arm, signaling that it was time for them to go in. There was an annoyed sound that escaped Arthur, but the man fell back into place beside her all the same and watched as Tyrian started on the way into the city first, with Emerald and Hazel not following soon after.

"Do we have any reason to be afraid?" Cinder asked the man at her side, already removing her bow from her back and preparing for a fight even though she didn't know that it was something that was actually necessary for her to prepare for.

"In all likelihood we don't," Arthur muttered, like the scan of the ruins was a complete waste of their time. He didn't make any motion to draw a weapon or otherwise, just stood there and watched as the others walked further into the ruined city. "But if Hazel's paranoia is getting the better of him, then there is little use in fighting him."

Cinder nodded, watching as Tyrian finally reached what looked to be a town square. He climbed up on top of some of the rubble there, likely trying to sense for something that just wasn't there. Unlike him, Hazel was working his way into a half-ruined building, pressing it open with a single blow from his hand. It opened with a bang, and that was all that was needed to make all of them stop dead in their tracks.

They waited there for a little too long, until Hazel finally raised a hand and waved the rest of them in, apparently satisfied that there wasn't anyone there in the city.

Watts rolled his eyes and began on his way in, shooting Cinder a look that she understood very clearly as a reprimand for staying still for even a second too long. She followed him in until all five of them were standing in the center of a ruined city.

"As expected," Watts started, his tone barely even a half step away from being an unashamed sneer. "There was nothing here."

Cinder shivered and turned her head, not entirely sure. There was something about this place that was giving her a bad feeling, and she couldn't quite figure out what it was that was making her feel that way specifically. Mostly, she knew that she didn't like it. At all.

"Some of the buildings look intact." Emerald offered, looking at the others in the group and trying her best to offer her input. Cinder felt a slight stab of guilt over that because she was pretty sure that Cinder's words weren't going to even begin to be considered at all. "Maybe we should use it as a camp."

"Risky." Hazel grumbled, and Watts just rolled his eyes.

"The girl is the only one talking any sense." He muttered, taking a step back from the group and allowing himself to scan their surroundings. Seeing nothing but destroyed buildings, Watts just shook his head. "And I have to agree. A night where we aren't setting up tents would be welcome."

Cinder wanted to say something, wanted to speak up and put her own thoughts out in the open for the rest of them but stopped as another chill covered her. She wrapped her arms around herself, but it wasn't going to be anything near enough to calm the bone-deep cold. The soul-deep cold that was going to keep her from being able to do much of anything.

Tyrian nodded, allowing himself the chance to seat himself and rest, his long tail unraveling out from behind him as he relaxed. "The city seems safe." He mumbled, looking down at his own hands. "And if our fates have lead us here, then staying must be the only thing we can do-"

Cinder swallowed and felt something in her change as she finally found her nerves.

"I don't like it here." She said, keeping her voice down and looking among the others. "It's... like something is wrong."

Watts rolled his eyes and shouldered his bag of supplies. "And to think that I thought you were above such nonsense, girl." He muttered as he began on his way into a building that seemed to have a mostly intact roof. "Truly, it's a pity."

Cinder grit her teeth and rolled her eye in some frustration. She wanted to snap back at Watts, but instead felt Hazel's hand settling on her shoulder, gentle but the message that came with it was more than clear enough.

It wasn't worth it to go trying to start fights with Watts of all people.

"I don't like it either." Hazel grumbled as the two of them watched the others go in. "We need to do patrol though."

"Why do you want me to do patrol?" Cinder asked, looking up at the much taller man who just stared straight ahead with his expression stony.

Hazel just glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, expression communicating everything that it needed to. A silent I want to speak to you alone.

Cinder just nodded and looked back over her shoulder to see that the others had all gone inside properly and sighed before grabbing her weapon and preparing to do the perimeter with Hazel.

He took the lead, as was somewhat expected. It was something that Cinder couldn't exactly pretend to be all that unhappy about. At the very least she would be with someone that could handle himself in a fight without even breaking a sweat.

Once the two of them were well out of earshot, Hazel finally allowed himself to begin speaking.

"How are you feeling?"

Cinder blinked, because she had been expecting that she'd been pulled away so that the two of them could share secrets or something. The possibility that Hazel just wanted to get her away so that they could talk about something normal had just never occurred to her.

"I'm fine." She answered, looking down and focusing in on the path. It was one that had likely been well-established before, but had been overgrown in past years. If she had to guess, it had been cut for whoever had been living in Oniyuri.

But now that it was just the two of them, and Oniyuri was gone, it had no purpose to be there.

"And your injuries?" Hazel asked, pausing as the two of them reached a small crack in the wall. Cinder watched the man take a step forward to touch the crack.

"They haven't... hurt." Cinder said, surprising herself a little bit with the statement. Considering the severity of them, a little bit of pain was to be expected, and they did hurt sometimes, but...

But they hadn't in some time. Not since the cave.

Hazel was looking at her, disbelief written across his expressions. Cinder just decided to explain herself more because there was something that she could talk about, but it wasn't about pain.

"I just feel... cold." Cinder said, falling into step behind Hazel as the two of them got moving again. "Ever since we've arrived here."

"That's... odd."

"It is." Cinder sighed, looking up at the outlines of the buildings that were looming over them on the other side of the wall. "I've never felt anything like that." She paused and watched Hazel. He was clearly listening closely, if the way that he was remaining as stiff as possible as they walked was any indication. "It doesn't feel real."

"Are you sure that you aren't ill?"

"I am." Cinder mumbled, feeling the creeping cold getting worse once again. "It's... like I am freezing from the inside out. Not like you would get from illness. Not like hypothermia."

Hazel stopped by a tree and gestured towards Cinder, ducking back behind a tree so that the two of them were out of view. A moment later he spoke up, his voice lower and more like a growl than Cinder had ever heard out of him.

"Has Salem come to you?"

And there it was, the suggestion that Cinder hadn't been wanting to hear, even though she knew that it was one that she had to expect, at least on some level. She looked up at Hazel, and for the first time that day she recognized that he looked... old.

Not old, exactly. Older. Tired, mostly. Like he had been at work for years and had never gotten a chance to lie down and rest. In a way, it almost felt like she was seeing Hazel as he was for the first time. No fronts, no attempts to hide his exhaustion.

This was Hazel Rainart, and Cinder could only see that he was so tired that he was probably about to drop.

"No." Cinder finally said, a moment later. She tore her eye away from Hazel and chose to stare past him, needing the separation from him for the time being. "She hasn't." She hesitated. "Does this sound like something that she would do?"

"She works in her own ways." Hazel grumbled. "I can't say for sure, Cinder. Just stay aware, and if something happens-"

There was a rustling sound, and Hazel stopped dead in his tracks, He turned his head, doing his best to track the noise, and Cinder reached for her bow and prepared to fight. She didn't know that there was anything, but-

But if Hazel was checking for a fight, then she should have been preparing to fight as well.

"Hazel?"

"We're moving on." He grumbled. "Oniyuri is well defended enough that we will be safe overnight. But we still need to be prepared for anything that could happen."

"Right." Cinder mumbled. "Of course."

Hazel looked down at her, and a moment later she saw him sigh, his eyes slipping shut in something akin to peace before just a moment. "It appears to be secure." He mumbled. "Is there anything that you feel that you need to say?"

Hesitation nagged at Cinder for a moment as she came to the realization that she didn't really know whether or not there was something particular that she wanted to talk about. However, the fact that she was being offered the chance was nice enough on its own. A sign of goodwill that she didn't want to have to let pass or forget about.

The chill rushed over her body once more, and Cinder just shook her head. She'd already said what she'd needed to say about it. Now they just had to wait by the city and hope that something would happen. And then if something happened, they had to hope that it would either be okay for them, or that it would at the very least be something useful.

"No." Cinder murmured, and Hazel nodded in understanding before turning and beginning on the walk back into the city. Cinder followed close after him. The two of them walked through it together, finding the space where the others had decided to camp and joining the rest of them.

Rest was welcome, but for Cinder, it didn't come easily.

She went to bed feeling as though she were freezing, even though she was lying impossibly close to the fire that had been set to warm them through the night.