"Deliver Winter Schnee and the huntsman in the golden armour to us at the Irithyll Police Headquarters, or all of Irithyll will be cleansed of heretics—and heathens—alike. Send no others. We have hostages."

Jaune grimaced and pocketed his scroll. "We have to get back to the capital," he said. "Inform Ironwood." They'd come to Irithyll by airship, though it had cost them in lien to find a pilot willing to brave the storm. Hopefully the pilot hadn't left yet.

"We can't just leave," Ren said. He gestured to the trunk full of burn dust. "This is surely the arsonist's. And the General said Specialist Schnee was looking into that case—she must be in Irithyll. We should look for her."

"If civilians start panicking, they might try and hunt her down. Turn her over to spare themselves."

"That's going to draw a lot of Grimm," Nora said. "I hate to leave these people, but we can't afford to be caught up in that kind of fight while Renny is injured."

"I'm right here, you know. I'll need a day at most."

"Unless you two go and I stay," Jaune said. "Get Ren medical attention in Atlas and come back with the cavalry."

"No. We're not splitting up," Nora said.

"Guys!" Ren rarely raised his voice. He did so now, though for him to raise his voice was more simply to speak at a normal volume rather than to yell. It got their attention. "We can't leave. Once my aura has recovered—even a little—I will be able to hide myself from the Grimm if it comes to it. Even if I'm not at a hundred percent, I will be fine. But before we do anything else, I need first aid. Farron's a huntress; she must have something upstairs."

"Right." Jaune pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry, Ren. Reckon you can get up the ladder?"

Ren glanced down to his arms. A few bits of shrapnel were embedded in the flesh, and he'd not removed them so as not to keep the blood from spilling too much. Putting his weight on that would be a bad idea. Beyond that there were only shallow cuts. "Probably not."

"Alright. Stay with him, Nora."

/-/

"Lily, lives are at stake. All of Irithyll." Winter leaned forwards in her seat.

"We don't know that," Lily whispered. "The transmission—"

"Whatever it was she was going to say, it wasn't good," Solaire reasoned. "You know her better than we do. You tell us what you think she'll do if she doesn't get what she wants."

She hung her head for a moment. Then, she looked up, her eyes flicking back and forth between them. "I'm sorry," she said.

A dagger fell from her sleeve into her right hand, and she lunged across the table.

/-/

"You know, I find interrogation a rather dull affair." Watts flipped the page on the file he'd stolen from Polendina's lab. "I'd much rather have Tyrian do it. Have you met Tyrian?"

"I have not," said Vengarl.

"Strange fellow. Preoccupied at present, unfortunately. But, without the help, it falls to me." He glanced up from the file. "Salem has told me Priscilla is dangerous, but we are not entirely clear on whose side she stands, so let's start there. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"I've already told you," Vengarl said. "I've never met her."

"But you do know people who have. Ozpin, for one. And… was her name Lucatiel?"

Vengarl stiffened.

"See, that's only two people, but as I understand it they're the only two people for over a hundred years. Of all those living, you are the most informed on the Painted World—save Ozpin, but he's rather hard to reach, isn't he?"

"How do you know her name?"

"Let's not get distracted." Watts set the file aside and leaned forwards, towards the bars. "What happened upon her return from the painting? Did she describe it to you? Did she speak of Priscilla?"

Was that my name? Remember it. Please.

"It won't help you."

"All the same, I would like to know."

"Leave me alone!"

Watts frowned. "I'm not fond of torture either, but very well. I'll leave you be." He stood, collecting the file from the table. "I'll be back down in a few days. Enjoy the solitude. And the hunger."

/-/

The streets of Irithyll were empty.

Jaune saw the occasional face peaking out through windows, civilians terrified of the Legion's threat. Or perhaps they were looking to capitalise; to find the people the Legion was after and curry favour that way.

They had no way to contact Winter nor did they know where to find her, and so had chosen to follow the best lead available to them: the siege tunnels, and the 'last resort' marked on the map. They came to a crossroads. "Which way?" he asked.

Ren held the maps. "Left," he said. While there'd been an entrance to the tunnels under Farron's own house, aside from the hidden room the passage had been blocked, and not even Magnhildr had been able to open it back up again. And so, they were searching for another entrance.

Up ahead, they saw a pair of figures coming down the street. Nora pushed Ren behind her, while Jaune's hand fell to the hilt of his sword. Through the snowfall, they saw a red cloak.

Both parties came to a halt. The man in red drew his sword from his back. "Who goes there?" he called.

"You first," Jaune responded. The other figure began slowly circling around, but the snowfall didn't hide his movement as well as he seemed to think. "Stay where you are," Jaune called.

"Hawkwood Crest."

Jaune glanced to Ren and Nora. The name seemed familiar, but Ren shrugged. Nora tapped her chin in thought then her eyes brightened and she stepped forwards. "We're team Juniper!" she called. "From Beacon!"

"And you're here… why?"

"To help!"

"To help who?"

"Well, not the Legion, that's for sure."

"You know you're making it sound like the opposite, right?" Jaune muttered.

"What? Nooooo." Nora shook her head. "It's fine. They'll believe me."

Hawkwood approached. "Damn. I remember you. That Pyrrha girl fought on your team," he said, oblivious to how they winced. "Where are you headed?"

"We were looking into Eliza Farron," Ren said. "We found a map in her… basement. She's planning something in the siege tunnels."

"Didn't Ironwood give you the memo? Don't approach her directly." Hawkwood shook his head. "Doesn't matter now. We need all the help we can get. You reckon she's behind the Legion?"

"Most likely."

Flynt approached, glancing around the nearby buildings. "We're being watched," he said. "We should talk somewhere more private. And you should tell the Schnee what you found."

"You know where she is?"

"Unless she's moved on already." Hawkwood shook the snow out of his hair. "Follow us."

/-/

"Stay away!" Winter backed away, parrying Lily's onslaught with her sabre. "Her semblance makes her more dangerous against groups."

Solaire seemed hesitant, shield held in one hand and dust talisman in the other.

"Go!" Winter repeated. "Wait for me outside."

He nodded and withdrew.

Lily's semblance allowed her to see one second into the future. If Winter hadn't seen it in action, she'd have thought the advantage would have surely gone to strength in numbers, surrounding her to attack her blind spots, but in their tournament fight, Lily had been nigh untouchable, always positioning herself to make it impossible for Winter to fight without risking striking—or being struck by—her own team. And, with a semblance like hers, she'd been able to make that risk a reality with ease.

Those had been people Winter had been fighting alongside for four years at the time. There was nobody on Remnant whom Winter could trust to not get in the way in a rematch. Even summoning would carry a risk.

That wasn't to say Lily's semblance lost all its efficacy in single combat. Her ability to see an attack before it even occurred still made it extremely difficult to break through her guard.

But Lily's semblance wasn't without its weaknesses. After all, her own actions influenced the future, and even with only a second's advance warning she could cause that future to change. And, when that happened, she would be unable to predict it.

Thus, patience was Lily's most powerful tool. She could see one second in the future but had to always wait until the last possible millisecond to react to that future, lest she change it too much.

It also left her on even footing while Lily was on the offensive: she was dictating rather than predicting the future, so any counterattack both reacting to actions and taking place within a one-second window would go unseen by her semblance. That being said, she was still a highly-skilled huntress, and very dangerous for it.

So Winter retreated, diving backwards over her chair and retreating through the door into the hall, then further backwards still into the dining room, leaping onto the table for the high ground and swiping with her sabre for Lily's neck as she made to follow. Lily twisted at the last second, and the blade pulled along her cheek rather than her throat, drawing out her green aura. She turned the movement into a spin as she landed atop the table, throwing all her weight into a stab at Winter's left shoulder.

Lily's weapon of choice was a dagger with a blade a little under a foot long, about a hand length's wide where it met the handle with an even taper the whole way along. It was heavy for its size, able to cut through Grimm bone plates and metal armour alike. The perfect strike would cut deep as a spear and wide as a sword. Its pommel was hollowed out to contain powdered dust, which ran up a channel along the blade. It was not unlike Weiss' Myrtenaster, Winter realised, though Lily's weapon had no cylinder and could not contain more than one type of dust at a time. Winter got a good look at it as it came hurtling towards her face. Gravity dust was the dust of choice today.

Too over-extended to draw her parrying dagger and too close to dodge, Winter brought her left hand up to deflect the strike, pushing it away so it only displaced a few hairs rather than sparking aura.

Backwards again she went. The table was clear save for a potted plant towards the middle, and as Winter reached it she retreated into a backwards handspring, kicking it up into Lily's face as she came back to her feet. It was so predictable the other woman wouldn't have even needed her semblance, but it bought Winter time to draw her parrying dagger from her sabre's hilt—and she was glad she did, for the blow Lily aimed for her chest as she came charging back in would have been difficult to stop otherwise. Winter crossed her blades to meet it, catching the blow and holding it mere centimetres from her body. A brief contest of strength ensued. Winter won and shoved Lily away, off balance. She didn't move to follow.

"I don't want to hurt you, Lily. Talk to me."

"You don't understand. He hates me!" Lily dashed back in, kicking up spilled oil from the broken plant. Winter caught it before it reached her with a black glyph, then dropped it as Lily re-engaged. "They all hate me here. And it's because of you and your family and those fucking judges and this fucking tail. I can't keep doing this!"

"Lily!"

It was no use. Lily renewed her assault, faster now, frantic, her blade carving gashes in the table first, then the doorframe as Winter was pushed back towards the kitchen. A feint meant to bypass Lily's semblance went wrong—the glyph she used to correct herself barely got her back to her feet in time to block the jab Lily aimed for her throat, but Lily activated her dust and Winter found herself careening backwards, heard the sound of glass shattering, fell face-up on the snowy street.

"Winter!" Solaire called where he'd been waiting for her.

"Stay back!" Winter repeated, rising once more to her feet. Lily began to climb through the window after her.

And Winter realised her folly.

She'd thought she'd improved in the four years since they'd last fought. And she had. She was one of Ironwood's best specialists. A world-class huntress. She was Winter Schnee.

But Lily had beaten her once, and she hadn't sat idle either. She'd been a teacher, for gods' sake. Of course she'd improved—more than Winter had, even. Winter was outmatched, but bringing Solaire in for backup would only make things worse. There were no good options.

There was a reason Lily had almost become a specialist. She was good. Always had been. She might have been recognised as the best huntress of their generation, if she'd had the chance to be recognised at all. And that chance having been robbed from her had only driven her to train harder.

But Winter hadn't just gotten faster or stronger or more perceptive. She'd honed other skills: her semblance. She rose to her feet, feeling her aura waning, and summoned a glyph.

Time dilation—while they had been the earliest glyphs Winter had been able to call—had never been her forte. They were hard to master and had a terrifying drawback when misused. Winter had used time dilation for the occasional Grimm, but never in sparring. It was too easy for somebody to capitalise on the drawback. And so, it had always been the weakest of her glyphs.

But since graduation she had come to appreciate it for both its strengths and weaknesses. A semblance was like a muscle. Every muscle had to be trained to strengthen the whole.

She didn't know for sure how it would affect Lily's semblance. Time dilation did not simply make her move faster. It altered her entire frame of reference so that others saw her as moving faster. Winter hoped it would affect the one-second offset on Lily's semblance. How would someone fight when they were used to seeing their opponent double—one a second apart from the other—when now she saw them two or three seconds apart from each other?

At best it would throw her timing off completely… if Winter were right. But, if she were wrong, she'd at least have a few seconds during which she could utterly outpace the younger huntress.

Winter's aura flickered and crackled angrily, unstable and diminished as it was, and she poured all that she had left into the glyph.

The world around her seemed to slow. Lily, alighted on her feet in the snow, brought her dagger to bear slowly.

No time to lose. The glyph would only last so long.

Winter sheathed her parrying dagger in the sabre's hilt and raised the weapon two-handed. Lily brought her weapon up to block, but too slowly. Winter feinted with ease and sliced for her side.

Back and forth her blade flickered, pale silver drawing flashing green as it connected with Lily's aura. But it wasn't that Lily's timing was off, it was that she was no longer trying at all. She stood stock still, barely reacting to Winter's strikes, her eyes narrowed and aura spitting and screaming as she barely held it in one piece—

And then Lily's aura gave out. And, at that moment—that exact moment—the world sped up.

Time dilation had its drawbacks. The length of time Winter had experienced had to become equal to the length of time everybody else had experienced. She'd been sped up, but now she had to be slowed down. She realised that her gamble had backfired.

Yes, she had broken Lily's aura, but what had seemed like six seconds to Winter had been one or two for Lily. She had seen almost from the beginning of Winter's onslaught that her aura would last just long enough. That was why she'd stood her ground rather than attempting to deflect or parry, so as not to risk changing the outcome.

"Solaire!" Winter called, but she knew it was too late. To her, it looked like Lily moved as fast as lightning. Her arm shot up, and Winter found the dagger impaled in her gut.

The world returned to its normal speed.

"Winter!"

Lily pulled the dagger free, and blood spilled onto the snow. She grabbed Winter and held her up as a human shield, dagger digging into her throat—Winter saw Solaire, his talisman raised.

"Do it," she said, but already her head felt light.

Solaire wavered.

Lily's aura was down, and her semblance was fuelled by aura. All she had now were her reactions. "Do it!" Winter repeated.

Solaire roared and golden lightning crackled in his hand. It burst forth, and Lily manoeuvred Winter to block it—

But with the last of her strength, Winter elbowed Lily in the stomach, and both fell to the ground, the dagger scraping up the side of Winter's neck, leaving a shallow cut, as they fell away from each other.

The lightning bolt missed them both.

Lily didn't flee. She grabbed her dagger from where it had fallen next to her and lunged once more for Winter.

The next bolt struck Lily square in the chest. She fell backwards and did not move.

Winter breathed deeply, tried to push herself up, then collapsed onto the cold, dark, gentle snow.

/-/

"Is that a body?"

Hawkwood rushed forwards to inspect the figure half-buried in the snow and brushed some away. He didn't recognise her face, and when he checked for a pulse, he found none. Splotches of red could be seen in the snow, leading towards the house's open green door. "It is," he said.

"One of yours?" Jaune asked. Nora was already unfolding her hammer.

Hawkwood shook his head, then rose to his feet. "Solaire?" he called.

There was no response from the house.

"I'll go first," Jaune said, drawing his sword. Hawkwood followed suit. "Ren, Flynt, watch the entrance. Stick together."

They pushed inside. It didn't take them long to find Solaire. He was in the very next room, the study, his expression blank, staring at nothing. On the carpeted floor lay Winter, her eyes shut, a pillow propping up her head. Her uniform was dusted with snow. A rag—little more than a torn sheet—was tied around her midriff and stained with blood on the front. Another was tied loosely around her neck, stained from just below her left ear to the top of her clavicle.

"Solaire?"

"I didn't want to kill her."


When I introduced Lily I didn't intend to kill her so soon. But the more of her I wrote, the more it made sense that, in this situation, she would just keep pushing for the kill. She's got a lot of self-loathing, a lot of which is brought on by things we'll explore as the arc continues.

Lily's death also (finally) gives me a chance to push Solaire a bit. I've mentioned before with Ana that it can be hard to bring up backstory for characters who've been around since so early on. I think I hit my stride with her last chapter. Hopefully this'll do the same for Solaire.

This did, however, put a pause on bible school with Hawkwood. Definitely doing that next Atlas-chapter.


I have a lot of free time on my hands right now. I don't know how long that'll last, but hey, I might as well write. For the time being, I'm aiming for 1-3 chapters a week. Next chapter we're in Menagerie to deal with the fallout of Ghira's death, which I'm sure will be lighthearted and fun for everybody involved.