Alternate title - Animal Farm but there are no animals and its nothing like animal farm

~§~

Tanith woke up and looked around, it was morning, but everyone was sleeping soundly. She still felt uneasy about that, an uneasiness that even being wrapped in Elster's arms wasn't appeasing. She still had that feeling, that weird feeling that wasn't coming from her but from something below the house

Then she realised that she was actually wrapped in Elster's arms, they had fallen asleep under separate blankets, some space between them but still close. It was the best they could do and Tanith was satisfied she couldn't pull anything. Elster had fallen asleep almost as soon as her head hit the floor, strange considering the hard wood floor and the distance between them had taken Tanith a lot longer. Everyone had fallen asleep with relative ease actually, that only added to her own unease. Apparently Elster's touchiness was present in all her states, the woman having shuffled over in the night to spoon her back, their legs tangling under their blankets. Tanith wasn't sure whether she should be irritated or smiling like an idiot.

She wriggled a bit before eventually giving up all pretence and just moving out of Elster's grip, turning round to apologise for waking her up. She frowned, Elster was still fast asleep. She covered her with the blanket again before walking quietly amongst the other blankets, eventually coming to the hallway of the house and pausing as she saw Qrow fast asleep, a bottle in his hand and more bottles littered around him.

She shook her head and after a brief thought sighed before plodding over to the bar room. It was ridiculous o'clock for even considering having a drink with the light streaming through the windows, but she figured she was due a reprieve considering the last several hours she'd just gone through.

She glided a finger along the bottles before stopping on a blue one and pulling it off its shelf, she placed it down on the bar before looking round for a glass. Seeing none she walked toward the back room, squinting at the darkness and activating the light on her scroll, looking round.

She scowled when she saw none and walked back to the bar, sitting down and glaring at the bottle. Thinking back to Qrow, she sighed again before pulling the cap off the bottle and sniffing it. Satisfied it wasn't off she raised it and brought the bottle to her lips.

She paused.

Where was that whispering coming from?

She looked around before focusing on the backroom, the source of the whispering.

She nervously felt in her pockets before pulling out her pills and shoving one in her mouth, tightening her grip on the bottles neck and bringing it to her lips. Tasting the wine in her mouth before swallowing quickly, swallowing twice more before finally pulling the bottle away from her lips and breathing heavily.

The feeling was worse, almost as if it was nearby.

She froze, then her hands began to shake as she heard the whispering and felt the feeling. They were both coming from the same direction-

"Seriously?" Said a voice and she jumped, turning to see Ruby frowning at her in the doorway. Tanith felt the disapproval and disappointment coming off the girl.

Tanith looked at her before looking back at the bottle, then groaned and pushed the bottle away "god fucking dammit" she muttered before rubbing her face and standing "sorry" she said quietly.

Ruby continued to frown before sighing and looking over at Qrow "drinking is not what you should be doing, especially right now… something about this place doesn't feel right"

"Tell me about it" mumbled Tanith

Ruby looked at her "we're gonna be getting out of here soon, let me just wake everyone else up. Get out of this room"

Tanith followed her out and Ruby shut the door before walking up to Qrow, she sighed and left, walking into the other room and Tanith heard the sound of curtains being shoved open and Weiss groaning and muttering. Tanith wandered into the room to see people slowly shuffling awake and frowned, finding everyone's weird tiredness very strange considering she felt fine and wide awake.

Elster yawned as she stood, watching through tired eyes as the blanket flopped onto the floor.

Then everyone snapped up, some slight alertness entering them as a bottle smashed. Tanith turned and saw Ruby glaring at Qrow. She sighed, it was going to be a long morning at this rate, but the quicker they left the quicker the feeling that something was below her feet would go.

She looked over at Ruby who was telling everyone to pack up as they were leaving, everyone shuffling about tiredly as Ruby and Qrow volunteered to go get the cart that Yang and Blake had discovered in the shed.

They were all standing outside, Oscar and Blake both having collapsed back down onto the steps leading up to the house. She was next to Elster who was leaning against the wall next to the door, watching the others discuss things. This was her first opportunity to tell Elster about the voices.

"Elster?" she asked and got a tired hum in response "I keep hearing a voice" she whispered quietly.

"Yeah, this place gives me the creeps as well" Said Elster tiredly, squeezing her shoulder with worryingly dilated pupils "we'll be gone soon"

Tanith narrowed her eyes, noticing how dilated Elster's pupils actually were. She snuck a glance over and noted that everyone's eyes were the same, except Ruby, who didn't look tired nor had the dilated pupils.

"I'm just going to…" she trailed off as Elster yawned and then decided to just walk away, feeling that Elster probably wasn't going to notice much. She walked between Oscar and Elster and made a B-line for Ruby, no one seemingly caring as she yanked her aside.

"What is it Tanith we need to get moving and-"

"Have you noticed?" Asked Tanith cutting her off.

Ruby blinked and tilted her head "noticed what?"

Tanith glanced over and watched Elster yawn again, Blake soon copying her as everyone stood around with blank expressions "the fact that everyone is basically a zombie"

Ruby bit her lip before nodding "Yeah… I have" she sighed "we'll be out of here soon, whatever it is isn't affecting us so at the moment we're… on our own" Ruby finally said.

Tanith nodded "yes ma'am"

"You keep an eye out for anything unusual, me and Qrow will be back soon"

Tanith nodded and Ruby practically had to drag Qrow away to the shed. Tanith watched as Yang and Weiss messed around with Bumblebee, Tanith concerned at the fact a very tired Weiss was currently trying to do metal work. She'd offer to do it herself but she didn't have a blowtorch… or a protective visor.

She heard Blake and Oscar talking about breakfast as Ruby and Qrow wheeled the cart over to them. Ruby separating to walk up to Yang.

"You guys got the bike ready?" she asked

Yang simply gave an apathetic gesture at the back of the bike and Tanith chimed in "Weiss sorted it out, pretty handy as well even if she is tired" Tanith and Ruby both looked at Weiss who hadn't even acknowledge her name with her usual pride, she simply sat and stared.

"Well, it's done now. So let's hook this thing up and-"

Qrow was cut off by a sharp bang that temporarily seemed to wake everyone up, only for them to slowly turn their heads towards the source of the right tire deflating. Tanith felt Qrow's rage surge inside him as he growled and stomped around the cart to have a closer look.

"You people are just beacons for bad luck, aren't you?"

Tanith and Ruby both cringed at her choice of words while Qrow scowled and stomped away to collapse against a fence and drink from his flask.

"I'm starting to think the universe just doesn't want us getting to Atlas"

Tanith frowned "Guys, its just a fucking flat tire, I can have that fixed in like, ten minutes, calm the fuck down"

Ruby stepped forward "Tanith's right, a popped tire isn't the end of the world"

Yang shook her head "But that's not all it is, is it? It's everything. Storms, crashes, monsters..." she let out a long weary sigh "I'm so tired..."

"Me to" said Blake "It feels like we're always having to fight to get by"

"Okay, that's an exaggeration, its literally a popped tire" Tanith frowned as she looked around.

"Yeah. This is what we signed up for" Ruby backer her up.

"We signed up to try and save the world, not just... delay the inevitable" Oscar spoke and Tanith didn't really know how to refute that point, because she'd be lying if she hadn't been having similar thoughts since the reveal.

Weiss finally stood "Last night, I... I couldn't stop thinking - why are we even going to Atlas?"

Everyone shared a troubled looked and Tanith quickly stepped in "Because that's our plan"

"Weiss, we have to"

"Why?" Yang lethargically argued "Ozpin hid the Relics behind giant doors under enormous schools, but... how long would it take Salem to find a lamp in the middle of nowhere?"

"No, no what the hell Yang? The Grimm would just-"

"They'd find it eventually, sure, but bury it or just throw it down the well, it would take years. It might not even happen in our lifetime. But we could be done with it now" Yang argued.

Tanith then felt disbelief as Ruby unhooked the relic from her belt, looking at it before looking up, her pupils dilated. She walked over to the well and Tanith froze as she held the relic over the edge.

"I am..."

Tanith stopped gaping.

"Really..."

Tanith began to move.

"Tired…"

Tanith reached the edge as Ruby suddenly gasped and dropped the relic, Tanith blindly reach and snagging it. Then she saw the red glowing eyes. And she was tilting over the wall towards them, a skeletal hand reaching for her.

She reacted with her gut and swung the relic, smashing it into the creatures face and making it sink into the darkness of the well. But Tanith was still falling. Then she wasn't as hands closed around her legs and began pulling, more hands joining before she was free.

She looked around to see that Elster and Ruby had managed to pull her up, the rest just staring apathetically.

"Are you okay?" asked Ruby

"There was… s-something down there… and it was gonna grab me so… I hit it with the… relic" Tanith looked at her empty hands as did Ruby who began pulling at her hair

"No! No! No!"

"Ruby, it's okay" Weiss tried to comfort her.

"No! No, there's something down there! I saw it, it was looking at me! Tanith saw it!"

"Yeah! There's something down there!"

Yang put her hand on Ruby's shoulder "Hey, it's okay. You just said you're tired. It's probably nothing. Now let's go"

Ruby shook Yang's am off, looking between them with wild eyes "What's wrong with you?! We can't just leave, we have to go down there! We have to get the lamp back!"

"All we have to do is fix this trailer. Hey, farm boy, check the shed for a spare" Qrow said.

Tanith blinked at the sudden outrage that surged from a source she'd never felt it from before. Ruby.

"I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT THE LAMP!" she screamed

A silence fell as everyone looked at Ruby before Blake gave a sigh "I'll go down with you..."

"We'll go down together" said Weiss looking over to Yang

Qrow stood with a scowl "Fine! Get the stupid lamp. Oscar, Tanith, fix the stupid tire"

Tanith flipped off his retreating back as he marched into the house, she rubbed her face before looking at Ruby.

"You okay?"

"Not really"

"Look, just try and keep your head"

"I'll try, stay safe up here"

Tanith sighed as she walked away toward the shed "oh we'll try. C'mon Oscar, let's get this fixed"

"Alright" he said tiredly, getting up and trudging after her.

The shed was old and smelled of rust and rotting wood, cobwebs decorating everything and fifty tons of dust entering their lungs with every breath. However, Oscar was the one to make the discovery.

"What is it?" grunted Tanith as she removed the last of the tools that had been resting on top of it.

"It's a pump for tires, my aunt had something similar on the farm"

"Neat… doesn't solve the popped tire problem… however" Tanith did some more searching and then discovered a spare tire, next to it a lug wrench.

When they exited team RWBY was gone and Maria was reading her book with narrowed eyes, apparently reading something troubling. Elster was leaning against the well with tired eyes as she stared at nothing.

"Oi, Elster" Elster blinked and looked over at her "c'mere, need your help". The huntress gave a grunt, pushing off from the well and walking around to them "Lift the cart for us"

Elster nodded blearily and grabbed the cart, after a moment of concentration the cart lifting. Tanith would usually take such a moment to admire Elster's strength, but right now Elster was under the influence of… something and as such was not at peak physical capacity.

They quickly worked to replace the tire, chucking the popped one carelessly behind them and applying the new tire. Tanith patted Elster's arm "Good job champ, you can let go now". Elster did so, giving her arms a lazy shake and then watching them as they fiddled with the machine, Tanith trying not to think about how fucking wide her pupils were.

Elster was still watching them fiddle with the machine when Maria suddenly ran up to her and jabbed her with her stick, Elster grunting and looking down at her.

"You're a semi functioning huntress at the moment, you need to come with me right now!" She snapped.

"What's wrong?" Asked Tanith looking at her.

Maria pointed towards the book she'd dumped on the staircase "the water ways! The farm! It's infested with Apathy"

Elster frowned and for the first time since arriving at this place she looked wide awake, standing up straight as her pupils narrowed "fuck, of course"

"What's the Apathy?" Tanith asked.

"No time to explain!" Called Maria as she and Elster both ran toward the well and jumped down.

Oscar and Tanith looked at each other before Tanith sighed "why do I love a huntress?" she lamented.

~§~

The shock of the news had knocked her from her apathetic state, Elster cursing herself internally as she sprinted with Maria through the water way, looking for the sounds of the commotion going on. She should have realised! She should have been able to do something! She was a trained huntress for goodness sake! Yet Tanith had been the one so far to pick up on the wrongness of the farm, Ruby too. It didn't seem to be affecting them much, or at all in Tanith's case, that was odd.

She was knocked from her internal scolding as a sound wave was travelling toward them and Elster grit her teeth and forced herself to keep moving as the screech washed over her. Her axes were suddenly heavy, her arms and legs were slow to respond and why was her head so heavy and stuffed.

"C'mon!" Maria yelled, apparently having brushed the apathetic effects off and whacking her with her cane.

Elster grunted and continued, the huntress and the old woman turning the corner to see a similarly struggling team RWBY and the skeletal Grimm slowly marching toward them with too long limbs and terrible human maws.

"What is this...?" asked Yang.

"My weapon... feels heavy..." murmured Blake.

Elster stared at the Grimm, she'd heard of them and had even turned in an A level paper on them for Grimm studies, but she'd never come face to face with them. They were just as horrible as she'd imagined them to look as she tried to think back to Grimm studies.

~§~

Professor Port was actually a competent teacher despite what others in the school might say, at least in Elster's opinion. He taught the material required, his problem was he'd get too wound up in recounting stories of his exploits and get carried away.

But between that he did provide useful information.

Port slapped his pointing stick onto a diagram that he'd drawn and Elster had to admit he also had amazing drawing skills. Next to it were photos of the Grimm as well and the drawing was near a perfect copy of the Grimm's anatomy with lines and notes around it detailing weak points and strengths.

"The Apathy are a dangerous foe! Scaring even the bravest of Hunter's with their human appearance! Their limbs are as long as they are tall and they often walk like their heads are too heavy for their own body!"

Port suddenly stepped forward and slammed his hands on a student's desk, the student snapping up from their apparent nap "They're also cowards! They fight not with claws and strength! But with a terrible aura around them that causes even the most energetic fellow drop to the ground and fall into a deep slumber! They can also release a terrible scream! One that can knock out someone with no aura unlocked on the spot!"

He gave a nostalgic sigh and put his stick behind his back, beginning to pace the class room "I remember back in my days as a rambunctious young huntsman…"

Time to zone out as she began to idly copy the drawing into her notebook, her art skills and writing a lot more scratchy then her teachers. She finished scribbling the Grimm's thick neck, idly putting in the note about how beheading would be hard due to the thick muscle. There was a tapping on her left arm and she heard Ulrich quietly whisper "Move your arm"

She rolled her eyes at her teammate, finding it funny how he had to squish himself into the desk as she obliged, allowing him to look at her notes and begin to copy them down.

"How the fuck did you get all of that from this shit?" he asked in his usual frustration and surprise.

"I listen, rather then play noughts and crosses with Frey across the room" Elster smirked as a light blush dusted Ulrich's face.

"Jokes on you, I'm winning motherfucker"

"That's a first"

"How dare you, you-"

"Something you to wish to add Mr Cradle? Miss Castle?"

"No sir!" said Ulrich quickly.

"Yes actually, would decapitation or amputation be a good idea? Especially considering how thin its limbs are?" Elster curiously asked, Port's bushy brows raised in either surprise at the question or approval.

"How apt Miss Castle! While decapitation is easier than most Grimm species, it's still a battle. Some older excerpts from old times passed describe it like a similar experience to decapitating a man. The limbs however pop off with minimal force! A paper cut would knock those limbs off! If you can get close enough that is"

Port smacked his pointy stick back onto the picture "As well as that however, hey have very thick hides that few bullets, even high calibre ones can pierce. You'd have better luck simply attacking with your blades. Y'know, that reminds me of another time in my youth where-"

Elster finished her note taking and went back to her doodle as she heard Ulrich shuffle beside her "Fucking nerd"

Elster smirked and raised her eyebrow "So you don't want to see my notes then?"

"Well hold on now"

~§~

Elster didn't fancy getting closer with that big of a pack, the last time she'd done that with a Grimm she'd lost a limb and with how tough the Apathy were she'd lose a lot more then another limb.

"We need to get out of here! Now!" she shouted, team RWBY turning to them.

"Run!" Maria shouted and Elster conceded that that was a much simpler command "Now!"

However Maria then didn't wait for them and just began to run, there was a sloshing as they watched the Grimm begin to march toward them.

Ruby was quick to react however as she shouted "Go, go!"

They turned the corner to go back to the well only to see that more Apathy had appeared and were coming from that direction, blocking their path.

"This way!" Ruby shouted and Elster turned to see she was pointing down a dug-out section, more dry water ways beyond. The walls turned to a blur as they ran, Elster finding even her incredible sense of direction being turned around down in the dark water ways with Apathy seemingly everywhere. When an Apathy stepped out ahead to block their path they had to enter another collapsed section of wall to see they were in a cellar.

Elster saw another small pack in the back of the room but zeroed in on the stairs, Shoving Yang and Weiss toward them "Get those doors op-"

A screech cut her off and everyone stumbled, Elster included. She tried to think and a memory came to her.

"A good, sharp shock should wake you back up"

She grunted as she bit her tongue, the sting awakening her sense as she stood shakily back up to see that Yang had collapsed to all fours, Weiss barely doing better.

"I can't... do this... I can't..."

"Yes you can" Grunted Elster, feeling the powerful apathetic aura already beginning to work on her again and she cursed again at how easily she'd missed it "Get that door open!"

"Blake... get... up!" Ruby yelled and Elster turned and saw Blake just lying on the ground, the Apathy beginning to march toward her.

"It's fine..." Blake murmured.

Elster took a step forward and then more Grimm were emerging from the hole and they were all screeching and she could taste the blood in her mouth from how hard she was biting her tongue to stay aware as her weapons felt like they were going to drag her to the ground with their weight. Her arm sent a dull ache up into her body, the phantom seemingly deciding that now was a good time.

"BLAAAAAKE!" Ruby screamed as the Apathy extended a claw toward the cat Faunus.

~§~

Tanith looked up from the thrum of the machine and looked toward the house, she swore she heard something.

"Stay here Oscar" She said as she wandered away. She got a grunt in response as she entered the house and walked toward the bar. She rolled her eyes at Qrow's hunched form but then snapped her head over to the back room at the sound of a metal door bumping as something tried to lift it.

Tanith ran in and saw it trying to open but the chains stopping it from doing so. She walked forward and then saw a familiar white through the crack followed by Weiss's voice.

"They're locked!"

"Out of my way!" shouted Yang's voice and Tanith backed away, not wanting to get in the way of that.

A screech suddenly sounded out and it made Tanith blink, a yawn coming from her throat without any previous promoting. When nothing happened for several seconds she walked forward and lifted the doors, looking through the crack.

"Guys? You guys okay in there?" she asked before seeing Yang collapsed on the stairs reaching for the door, Weiss at the bottom in a similar state.

"Help…" Yang whimpered.

"O-okay!" Tanith stepped away and looked for something to help, hoping for something, anything she could use. She looked back into the bar and then ran to Qrow.

"Qrow! Qrow they need your help!"

"Leave me alone" he mumbled

"I can't do anything! They need you!"

"No they don't"

"They're trapped down there!" Shouted Tanith in Qrow's face, trying to get him to do something "you need to help them!"

"Leave me alone" mumbled Qrow.

Tanith threw her hands up and growled, her hands clawing at nothing "you- we- your- ARGH!" Tanith grabbed the hilt of Qrow's sword and yanked, Qrow falling to the ground as Tanith pulled his sword free. She grunted as its weight immediately caused it to clang against the ground.

Tanith grit her teeth and then lifted it up slightly, running toward the basement door despite Qrow's drunken protests. When in front of the door she pulled it up behind her and brought it down in an arc, the chain slicing in half.

She dumped the sword on the ground as Qrow finally stumbled in, shouting at her angrily about stealing. She ignored him as she tugged the heavy door open and finally got a view of what was happening downstairs.

Humanoid Grimm creatures slowly advanced toward Blake lying prone on the floor. Ruby was collapsed on the floor with Maria hunched over her, Elster was struggling to stay standing, her axes clutched weakly in her hands. Weiss and Yang were collapsed on the stairs, seemingly not having moved since Tanith had gone.

Then Ruby suddenly snapped up and something in Tanith quivered in fear. Then a bright silver flash shone from Ruby's eyes and Tanith could only stare as it hit her and everything went black.

~§~

And then everything was nothing and everything at the same time. Tanith looked around herself before hearing a whimper, looking down to see herself curled foetal.

"Wow, you look like shit"

Her reflection looked up at her with a scowl, bags around her eyes and her skin pale "fuck you"

Tanith let out a breath and looked around "so what's this place?"

"It's your brain dumbass"

Tanith nodded as she watched an indescribable something passed by "riiiight, cause that makes a lot of sense doesn't it?"

Her reflection bared her teeth "you have no idea what you've fucking done have you?"

Tanith tilted her head "well I mean, I'm willing to do it again cause you look fucking awful"

Her reflection laughed a broken laugh "oh, you don't know, that's amazing"

Tanith looked at it before shrugging "I dunno what sort of response your expecting here, I'm pretty chill about all of this"

Her reflection growled and slammed its fist into the 'ground' beneath it "You almost fucking killed yourself"

"I don't know about that, you're the one on the floor" she pointed out.

Her reflection looked up at her with bared teeth, but terror and desperation in her eyes "you think your body's doing any better? We almost died"

"Okay"

Her reflection growled and slowly climbed to its shaking swaying feet "you're so fucking arrogant aren't you, you love seeing me on the floor like that. Well let me tell you, that doesn't make you any better then me"

Tanith looked around again and her reflection growled "so… this is my… mind scape right? Anything I come up with shapes this space"

"What the fuck are you talking about"

"Well you see stuff like this on TV and in movies" she shrugged "just kinda makes sense to call it that"

"God you're an insufferable fucking id-"

The reflection was cut off as a bus rammed into it, carrying it away as Tanith laughed. It reappeared with clenched fists.

"Holy shit that's amazing!" she howled between laughter.

Then she was cut off as hands closed around her neck, cutting off her air until she realised she didn't need to breath. It stared at her with rage in it's eyes.

"You almost killed us! You weakened us! We'll grow stronger though" The clone was beginning to speak with multiple raspy growly voices, its eyes were going red like a Grimm's and its skin was darkening "We'll grow, we'll become you and you us and we'll become a servant for her glorious majesty and-"

Tanith felt the shotgun appear in her hands and pressed it not her clone's stomach, that made it stop its rant and grin with too many sharp jutting teeth "You won't do it, to look yourself in the eye and pull the trigger"

"You remember what happened to Ruben right?" asked Tanith as the clones eyes widened. Tanith pulled the trigger and the clone stumbled back, winded as it clutched its bleeding stomach. Tanith let the shotgun rest in her hand as she tilted her head "So…am I here for any particular reason or just for shits and giggles?"

It glared at her as it's stomach healed "You're here so I can tell you to not grow accustomed to what's coming next, we'll grow stronger soon enough even with your little silver eyed friend"

"Ruby is great, and what do you mean grow accustomed?"

Her clone smirked "That would be telling"

"Wha-"

~§~

"Mother fucker" Tanith groaned as she put a hand to her aching head, it wasn't like her scar pain but instead felt like a just a migraine.

"Tanith! Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Do you feel alright?"

Tanith finally opened her eyes and saw Elster's concerned face, she grunted and sat up from her position on Elster's lap to see that they were on the cart, Yang driving bumblebee as trees passed them.

"I'm fine, just some stupid bullshit" grunted Tanith massaging her forehead.

"I wouldn't say so, did something hit your head? Do you feel any pain? Can you see alright, how many fingers-"

"Elster, I love you, please stop" grumbled Tanith, rubbing her forehead harder as Elster nervously worried over her.

"Fine, c'mere a moment" said Elster, Tanith feeling her leaning away for a moment.

"Why am I-huh" Tanith gasped as Elster's hand filled with snow was pressed against her forehead and immediately began to numb her headache "Oh my god that's amazing" she sighed

"I know. What do you remember?"

Tanith hummed in thought before tilting her head "Weird looking Grimm, everyone lying on the ground or just looking like shit… a silver flash?"

"The Apathy" Maria suddenly spoke, drawing everyone's attention "They're not strong or ferocious. They drain your will to go on. Bartleby's estate was haemorrhaging money towards the end. He wanted to cut costs on Huntsman protection, but in order to do that, he needed everyone calm... always…"

Oscar took the book and read aloud for them to hear "'Managed to get two away from their pack. Hike back was miserable but got the bastards in the cellar. Wife thinks I was out sealing the waterway entrance. I'll do it tomorrow and tell her the truth once these things take the edge off of everyone. I'm tired.'"

"The next page proves that he did, but not before the rest of the pack followed their missing pair all the way home. My guess is they made their way beneath the estate through the water tunnels that Bartleby sealed up the next morning. Bartleby's plan worked" She took the notebook off him "No one was angry or sad or scared. No one was anything. And then... no one was left" Maria looked over the book once more before throwing it away into the snow, the group watching as it quickly disappeared.

"I should of seen the signs" muttered Elster looking back at Tanith "you tried to but…"

"Hey none of that. You were under its influence" argued Tanith.

"I should have known" sighed Maria "The signs were all there, but I'd never seen an entire settlement withered away like that. I suppose my mind just isn't what it used to be…"

"Miss Calavera?" Ruby timidly asked "How do you know so much about the Grimm? And in the tunnels, you knew exactly what to say to make me... to make my eyes do that. How?"

Maria smiled "Well, isn't it obvious, girl? I had silver eyes"

Tanith sighed "Ah, backstory time"

~§~

The city of Argus loomed in the distance, its walls growing larger and larger as they passed through farmland. Ruby's scroll connection getting clearer and clearer until just out of the gates of this city they got a connection and planned a place to meet up. Handily enough Jaune also guided Yang to a storage shed the people they were going to be staying with owned.

Tanith stretched as she stepped off the car, watching as the Yang put the bike away and locked the locker. A hand slipped around her waist and she let her head flop against Elster's body, Elster humming "How are you feeling now?"

It appeared Elster was going full into 'I will not leave your side for the next 24 hours until I've seen you make it through a day without pain' mode, which was sweet but could be inconvenient "I'm fine, headache's gone for the most part and I just want food"

Nora's voice suddenly cut through the quiet hustle and bustle of the street "Cute! Boy! OZ!" And then Oscar was tackled to the floor by Nora with Nora shouting "Oh, come here!"

Jaune suddenly entered Tanith's vison and then Tanith found her shoulders being shook "Do you know how worried you made us? We couldn't find you anywhere!"

Tanith ran a hand through her air with a small smile "I'm sorry, a Manticore stopped me from joining you and trust me, I really wanted to be on your side of the train"

"It's been kind of a crazy trip" Yang said coming up beside them.

"That's an understatement" Weiss grumbled.

"Wait, who's the old lady?" Asked Nora finally noting Maria's presence.

Maria stamped her staff "My name is Maria Calavera and… I am old" she faltered at the end.

"I'm so glad you're all okay" said Blake.

"Ah! You're gonna love this place!" excitedly exclaimed Nora

Tanith grimaced unseen by anyone, knowing that some bad memories awaited her in the city where she'd been stationed for 6 months while working for the military. Soon they were travelling on a tram through the city, Tanith noting they were heading toward the residential district.

"It's a lot bigger than I thought it'd be" said Yang staring around in wonder at all the buildings

"It's actually one of the largest non-capital cities in all of Remnant" Ren supplied

Ruby gasped at the information and Tanith found herself wishing to be like Ruby, ecstatic about everything "No way! But wait, wouldn't it be harder to settle something this big away from the main Kingdom?"

"Well, it was" said Jaune and Tanith was surprised at his knowledge if a little annoyed at how he delivered it "Until Mantle showed up. Early settlement attempts by Mistral didn't go well. But colonists from Mantle were able to help them brave the cold climate and return for goods that Solitas couldn't provide"

"Yeah" said Tanith suddenly sarcastic, leaning on the open window and a bitter expression on her face as she watched the city pass "Big brave Atlas helped out the feeble weak Mistraliens to set up this thriving utopia, all it cost was allowing them to keep a massive military presence which is totally fucking cool. As long as their grip on Mistral goods stays then everyone's happy"

No one said anything a she turned around to see that everyone was looking at her, she turned her head to the side with a slight blush "Sorry, just… painful memories"

"Do you need to-" Ruby was interrupted by the tram stopping, all of them getting out using the (in Tanith's opinion) not needed floating stairs and onto the cobbled street.

Tanith looked behind her and stopped at the familiar sight of the base, airships parked and military personnel's walking around in the distance. Blake then stepped beside her and stated "We should probably start looking for a ship"

"So, where have you guys been staying?" asked Oscar looking to Jaune who rubbed the back of his head.

"Uh..."

"There you are!" called a woman's voice and they all turned to see what was undeniably a clear relation of Jaune's, blonde hair and blue eyes the massive give away. In the woman's arms was a baby, maybe two or three years old. Then Tanith froze as she finally processed who the woman was and how awkward some things were about to get.

"Oh god they were 'that' Arc" she muttered

"Huh?" Elster glanced at her.

"Is that...?" Yang trailed off.

"Hey, Saph" said Jaune waving.

"Hey Jauny, so these are the rest of your frie- Tanith!?"

Tanith tugged at her collar as most of the groups eyes turned to her. She coughed and waved "Heya Saph… good to see you again"

"Wait you two know each other?" Jaune asked in confusion looking between them.

Tanith ran a hand through her hair as Saphron blushed "Something like that…"

"Anyone else feel awkward?" Nora asked with her usual grace and tact.

~§~

Tanith made (surprisingly accurate) noises with her mouth of the small toy airship flying around, the child giggling as she made it do a loop. She smiled and then lightly threw the toy, the model flying over Adrian's head and Yang smoothly catching it and continuing with entertaining the child. She looked up and caught Elster's eyes, looking at her fondly with a small smile and her arms crossed as she leaned against the wall next under the stairs.

"I can't believe I'm meeting your sister! I have so many questions" Ruby gushed behind her.

"Oh, I can give you the rundown later!" Nora schemed.

Jaune grumbled "Will you guys knock it off?"

"What?" said Saphron affronted, that familiar smirk that Tanith recognised from Lucia on her face "I love telling stories about my baby brother!" she pinched his cheek playfully.

"I am not a baby!" squawked Jaune before pointing at Adrian "That's a baby"

Adrian huffed back at him and Weiss and Yang began gushing over him while Tanith simply snorted as she listened to their baby talk.

"So Saphron, you're the only Arc living here?" Asked Blake.

Saphron nodded "Yep! Moved the second I could. Jaune and I are the only two living away from home" she smirked again and leaned toward her brother with a devious expression "I guess he just wanted to be like his big sis"

As they descended into teasing and sibling play fighting but stopped as the front door opened and closed, several brown paper bags obscuring the woman's face until it peeked around the side and the eyes widened.

"Everyone, this is my wife, Terra Cotta" Said Saphron with a proud smile.

Everyone said their greeting as Terra simply chuckled "Why, hello there! Wow, quite a party, you weren't kidding" The eyes found Tanith who was trying to shrink into her shirt at this point "Oh! And Tanith, what are you doing here?" then Terra winced "Hun, can I get some help please?" Saphron ran over and they both appeared in the window set into the wall between the kitchen and living room, they exchanged a quick kiss before beginning to unpack the bags, showing various food items

"Okay, why do you seem so acquainted with my sister and Terra?" Jaune asked in confusion.

Tanith worriedly glanced at Elster who… seemed bemused at the situation more then anything. "Well… I've already said I was stationed here for six months… in my off time I liked to… de-stress so to say…"

Saphron looked up, seemingly sparing her from further questioning "Jaune, get your butt in here and help us prepare food for your friends"

Jaune stood, Nora and Ren also standing and going to the Kitchen. Elster pushed off the wall to follow only to be stopped by Ren.

"You've had a very taxing day, let us prepare food and you just relax"

Elster shrugged "not much different from when I was a huntress with my team, I always cooked for my team in the wilderness and-"

"Sit" Ren interrupted her.

Elster blinked before then holding her hands up at his stern instructions, walking away back over to the Tanith. Tanith raised her eyebrow at her "Looks like you just got told"

"Mm, appears so" Then Tanith found herself pulled up and shoved onto the sofa, then looking down she saw Elster slipping in to rest her back against the sofa between Tanith's legs.

Saphron and Terra came back in and sat back down on the other end of the sofa, watching JNR very quickly making sandwiches in the kitchen.

"And you're sure it's alright if we stay with you?" asked Weiss.

Saphron smiled "Of course, we're happy to house Huntsmen and Huntresses"

Terra nodded "You all risk so much to keep people like us safe. It's the least we can do" both women grimaced slightly "However, we're not quite sure if we have enough room for all of you"

"Don't worry about it" piped up Tanith sending them a smile as she idly ran her hands through Elster's hair "We'll go find a motel or something, I don't imagine we'll be here long anyway"

"Is that so?" Terra asked, her eyes looking toward Tanith's hands in Elster's hair before smirking "Okay. We always try to house Hunter's when we encounter them" she looked between Elster and Qrow "Especially for such an elite Hunters like yourselves. Although, I will say I was surprised to learn you had students helping you. Is that even... legal?"

Elster picked up seeing that Qrow wasn't paying attention "They're being supervised by trained Huntsmen and trust me, these kids are more then qualified at this point to handle what we're doing" she didn't quite have the bullshitting ability of Tanith however and turned to Qrow, loudly saying "Isn't that right Qrow?" At Qrow confusedly looking at her she flicked her eyes over to the married couple "These kids already act like professional Hunter's don't they?"

Qrow quickly caught on "Uh, yes. Let me tell ya, these kids are way better than we were at their age"

Terra seemed satisfied and looked to Tanith then "Tanith, I hope you've been well"

Tanith gave an awkward chuckle "I'm doing a lot better then I was… thanks to madam here"

"We're happy you found someone" said Saphron with a smile and Tanith smiled back "and its good to see your taking care of yourself, good girl"

Tanith spluttered and looked away, feeling Elster tense under her fingers for a moment before then laughing loudly while everyone else looked confused.

Tanith was saved from answering any awkward questions by Nora announcing "Foood time!" with a massive stack of sandwiches.

"Holy s-macaroni yes!" she quickly corrected upon remembering the presence of a baby present as she grabbed two sandwiches and handed Elster one before digging in. Everyone was eating calmly when Terra's scroll buzzed and she sighed and stood.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back" she brought the scroll to her ear and began talking.

"Is everything okay?" Asked Blake in concern.

Saphron nodded but the frown in her face said otherwise "Oh, yeah, it will be. Terra's a technician for the town's relay tower. Unfortunately, the military's radar system is also housed there" she turned to her son and began making baby talk "Guess what's been on the fritz lately and who's getting falsely blamed"

Terra peeked back into the room "Me"

Tanith frowned as she finally realised, she hadn't felt anyone's negative emotions since arriving, she couldn't feel Spahron's obvious negative emotions when she talked, she couldn't feel anyone's unease or sympathy. Was this what the monster in her head had been referring to?

"So, what's your plan for tomorrow?" Asked Saphron.

"Well..." Ruby swallowed the food in her mouth "We're trying to make our way to Atlas. We'll probably start with the military base"

Tanith caught the concerned look Nora and Ren shared

Jaune grimaced "So, we kind of already tried that, and... it didn't go... super great"

"Sounds about right" muttered Tanith at the same time of Yang saying

"Come on, it couldn't be that bad..." Yang trailed off as she looked at Tanith.

Tanith shrugged "short woman, superiority complex?"

Nora laughed "please, we didn't even get past the guards"

"Huh, two broad shoulders guys? Big hats and weird?"

"Yes! How did you know?"

"The Nubuck twins"

"What about the commander, that's who we've got to try and convince" Asked Ruby leaning forward.

"Caroline Cordovin, resident racist superiority complex base commander. She will be impossible to convince, even if we claim to know the general"

"I'm sure we can" Said Ruby "we have to"

Tanith saw the determination in her eyes and honestly wished she could be swayed by it.

~§~

They'd left the Arc residence and after a brief search had found a nearby cheap motel to stay the night, the couple walking into the reception to see it empty bar the person behind the desk. Tanith looked to Elster, saw the bags under her eyes and considered how they'd both had a very taxing day.

"I'll book the rooms, kay?"

Elster nodded, letting out a yawn. Tanith smiled at the adorableness and leaned up, pecking Elster's chin before walking over to the receptionist who was trying hard to act like she hadn't been staring. She raised an eyebrow as she leaned on the desk, getting a good look at the girl and realising she was a teenager, this was probably just a part time thing.

"Hello"

"Hi" replied the receptionist.

"One bed please"

"What?" she asked flushing.

Tanith raised an eyebrow "I would like to book a room with one bed, preferably big enough for two people but" she smiled "we're not picky"

The girl flushed further as she typed into her display "o-okay, we have a room available it's one hundred Lien a night"

Tanith put her scroll to the reader and grabbed the offered keys before turning and walking away, trying not to feel the stare the teenager on her back. Elster was looking at pamphlets stacked on a stand talking about the various museums and parks available, Tanith grabbing her by her flesh hand and dragging her away.

A quick walk later and they entered their room, dumping bags and finally relaxing for the day. Elster then frowned when she looked around the room "I think they gave us the wrong room, this only has one bed"

"Or maybe it's the correct room because I asked for one bed" Said Tanith, looking back at Elster with a small smile.

Elster blinked and looked at her in surprise, some excitement and hope twinkling in her tired eyes "are you sure?"

Tanith nodded as she brought out night clothes "I'm sure"

Elster smile grew to that dopey one she had whenever something great had happened but she was really tired, the one Tanith liked so much. They tiredly and almost robotically began undressing for bed, though Tanith paused as Elster shrugged off her shirt. Tanith was used to seeing Elster's body by now, but after the experience they'd had today she was looking at the scars in a new light.

Elster was just starting to fiddle with her belt, trying to get it off with her sleep addled mind when Tanith's hands gently forced her hands off the belt. She looked up to see Tanith looking up at her with a small smile and eyes that spoke both adoration and confidence as Elster felt a tug on her belt, pulling her closer to Tanith who began to pepper kisses along her right collar, idly tracing a scar she had.

"Tanith" she said tiredly, her left hand coming up to tangle in Tanith's hair "I don't think I can-"

"Then we won't" whispered Tanith "I just want to love you"

Elster blinked before leaning down to kiss her hair "then you can keep on doing that"

She felt Tanith's right hand trace down her arm gently, caressing skin until it met the metal of her prosthetic. Tanith hand gently forced the hand open and then closed around it, holding it for a moment. Tanith then gently pulled off the prosthetic and it came off, Elster sighing in satisfaction.

"You okay?" Tanith asked, gently taking the stump into her hand and rubbing the scarred skin.

"Yeah" sighed Elster, slumping slightly against her with her face pressing into the top of her hair "my arm hurts" was mumbled in a shy admittance.

"Phantom?"

"Yeah"

"How bad and how long?"

"Just a dull throb"

Silence.

"How long Elster?"

"… since we fled the farm"

"Jesus- that's nearly six hours Elster, you were suffering while we had dinner and-"

"Not like there's a lot we can do"

Tanith pulled away and looked around for her jacket "I could go out and get like, ice from a convenience store or something-"

"No, I want you to stay and to keep doing that" mumbled Elster, grabbing her hand and bringing it back to the stump.

Tanith looked at her for a moment before nodding, stepping close again "okay, let's sit down"

Elster let herself be lead to the bed, then she sat on its edge, letting her head flop on top of Tanith's head and they remained liked that for a quiet peaceful moment.

"Also, your not going out dressed like that" she added with a playful smile.

"I would've put trousers on!" Said Tanith scandalised.

Elster just chuckled, lowering her head to Tanith's shoulder "I know, I was teasing you"

Tanith 'hmph'd' but the silence again overtook them, Tanith biting her lip as she nuzzled into Elster's shoulder.

"Can… I know your tired and it's super selfish of me to ask cause of like everything that's happened today and-"

"Tanith" Tanith's ramblings cut off before they could truly take off "just ask"

Tanith took a deep breath "can… can there be two of you?"

Elster's tired eyes brightened and she pulled away with a grin "well, that's a perfect segue onto something I've wanted to tell you about for a couple of days"

Tanith tilted her head.

"Y'see, y'know how my clones pop when I fall asleep?"

"Unfortunately" nodded Tanith, disappointment at the fact on her face but one she understood well enough.

"Well, while at the place in Mistral, I was also doing some semblance training. Specifically, trying to keep a clone around after I fall asleep"

Tanith frowned "but, even if that did work what advantage would that have, there just be two of… you"

Elster grinned as Tanith put the pieces together "I have it down now, I can keep a clone around while I sleep and because I'm asleep there's very little aura burn from it"

Tanith tilted her head, still curious even with the burning excitement inside her "did you… do that just for me?"

Elster nodded "of course, I know you like it when your being sandwiched but you're always a little disappointed in the morning. So I trained myself to see if I could and I figured it out-" Elster was cut off as Tanith chucked herself forward and wrapped her arms around the woman's neck, hugging her tight.

"I love you so fucking much"

Elster smiled and returned the hug "I love you so fucking much too"