The Bullhead doors opened on an unfamiliar scene, a small camp breaking up the frigid ice plains stretching far as the eye could see. Dr. Zaffre Zro disembarked the warmed vehicle into the frozen brace.

Solitas was as it ever was. Cold as fuck. Thankfully, if the report was right, he wouldn't be exposed to the elements for long.

"Get the equipment from the Bullhead!" he ordered his assistants waiting at the vehicle entrance. A pair of graduate students foisted on him by the university. While he loathed babysitting them, they were at least of adequate competence.

"Are you the scientist sent by Atlas?" a suited man approached him. His suit was fancy, clearly modified to endure the cold without having to sacrifice style. A small snowflake pin stood out on his lapel, above an embroidered 'SDC'. He stretched a hand in greeting.

Zaffre took it. "Dr. Zaffre Zro of the University of Atlas, Department of Archeology."

"Bruno Lau, SDC Surveying Director for this region." The men shook hands. "Come with me, I'll take you to the find. We can discuss on the way. Do you need any assistance offloading equipment?"

"Let the students handle that," Zaffre waved it off. "They want their field credit, they gotta work for it."

Bruno barked a laugh. He gestured to the camp. "Shall we?"

Zaffre nodded. They started to the camp. It was fairly atypical for an SDC survey operation as far as he could tell. The discovery must have forced modifications. Warmed tents in a defensive circle, automated turrets guarded the perimeter, and a few vehicles were parked towards the center.

"We were doing a survey of the sector. This area was originally hotly contested by the Grimm, so it was deemed too dangerous to set up any operations," briefed Bruno.

"What changed?" Zaffre asked.

"Nothing, really. The Grimm migrated, and we re-appraised cost/benefit."

"They migrated?"

"Grimm kill people. No people to kill, eventually Grimm leave."

"Indeed," Zaffre said dryly. The wind buffeted at their backs, biting through the layers of thermal gear. Zaffre shivered, looking mournfully at the heated tents. Not yet, he had to get a general idea first.

"Ten days ago, our equipment picked up faint Dust signatures over this spot. Usually that would mean a small deposit, not worth the effort of securing the site and deploying equipment, but this was different. Seismic scans showed no Dust near the surface."

"Near the surface," Zaffre noticed. Bruno nodded.

"Exactly. That means two things. It's deep and it's big. So we all get excited, survey bonuses and all that. We set up and start drilling for samples. Miles later, our drill broke through to a cavern in the ice. Not unusual, natural dust tends to rot ice, but it does make a safety hazard."

They arrived at the center of the camp. Faunus workmen moved around, some chatting lazily, others moving equipment or trying to stay warm. A couple warning signs surrounded a crane overlooking a small pit. They moved past the cordon.

"I ordered a couple grunts down, to make sure it was safe. What they found, well, we knew it wasn't the motherlode, I'll tell you that."

"And then you extorted the government," Zaffre pointed out. He knew what came next.

"Er, that part wasn't me," laughed Bruno. "I reported it to my superiors, they're the ones who charged a finder's fee."

"But you're getting a cut of that, I expect."

Bruno grinned.

They stopped at the mouth of the drilled site. The shaft extended down into blue icy darkness. Zaffre idly kicked a dusting of snow and watched it disappear from site.

Bruno clapped him on the back, nearly pushing him in. "Come on, let's get some hot coffee in you. Your students are still struggling to haul your stuff in."


The ruin's glow shone beautifully on the ice.

Lowering themselves and their equipment down miles of dark ice lit up only by headlamps was an experience he wouldn't soon forget. Neither would the grad students, given their whimpering.

Dr. Zaffre Zro exhaled, his breath a faint plume in the frozen cavern. His eyes scanned the open space, memorizing detail. He needed to contain his excitement better. "This was well worth the cost," he muttered.

Ruins of unknown make, hidden beneath ancient ice for thousands of years—no tens of thousands of years old. It had the potential to be the greatest archeological discovery… ever!

Zaffre inhaled, and exhaled, keeping his breath steady.

"Doctor?" one of his assistants queried. Right. There was work to be done, history to be made.

"Ah, yes," he said, focusing. "Let's get to it then, shall we?"

They approached the ruin, it seemed to be made of a dark steel blue stone, although the color may have just been a result of the light and ice. Columns soon surrounded as they approached deeper, interesting rope-like patterns burned into the stone.

"Get a rubbing off one of the columns," he ordered the female assistant. "And be careful!"

"Yes, Doctor!" she complied, breaking away from his side. Rivulets of cyan light poured from the seams in the stone, not that there were many. They were almost too irregular, like each stone used in the construction was shaped like that naturally. The ruin seemed almost a completed puzzle, abandoned beneath Remnant by some giant.

He did not bother examining them, that was for his assistants. Besides, there'd be plenty of time to obsess over every career-making detail. He knew in his bones there's something deeper. And he was quickly proven right when he found a entrance of some kind.

Stuck in the frozen wall, it was vaguely conical in shape, and made of the same stone. Cyan and now bronze light swirled from apertures dotting a door. The light danced and moved with every step he took to hit, and he realized as he stood before it, that it had resolved into a shape.

A triangle of three triangles, one atop two.

Mesmerized, Zaffre reached a gloved hand out to it. He wanted to touch it, needed to touch it.

As soon as his finger's broke the light, the shapes disappeared, and the cyan and bronze were replaced with foreboding red.

Zaffre leaped backwards, cursing. Stupid, stupid, stupid! He'd expect such carelessness from an undergrad, not himself!

Whatever it was he was expecting, it wasn't for the lights to peter out. A loud kerchunk resounded, and the stone door slid down to reveal a dark interior.

Zaffre blinked. "Students!" He called out, summoning his flunkies. The pair rushed over, one with charcoal rubbings, the other carrying a camera. "We're going in."

"Sir, is that a good idea?" the male student asked. "We were just doing a cursory examination, not a full—"

"I'm sorry," he interrupted the whinging, "do you have your doctorate?"

"No," the student sighed.

"Were you put in charge?"

"No, sir."

"Then where are we going?"

"In, sir."

"That's right. Come on."

They entered the ruin, enveloping themselves in crushing darkness staved back by their headlamps. Zaffre ignored the walls around them, focusing his eyes forward. Eventually, the space opened up to a dimly illuminated chamber.

"Amazing," he whispered, taking the site in. Artifacts lined the walls and rested on pedestals around the place. Elegant swords, exquisite shields, bows, weapons, musical instruments! This wasn't a ruin, it was a vault! "This is what I was born to find…"

They wandered the chamber, the female student taking notes while the male taking pictures. Zaffre surveyed his discovery, his magnum opus of academia. He noticed another archway, perhaps leading to even more artifacts. He smirked to himself, before entering it.

To his disappointment, it didn't contain the veritable cavalcade of valuables. However, the walkway led to a dais, lit the strongest. A holy site perhaps, there was something on it, white and topped with gold.

He approached it, and his jaw fell.

"Is that a woman?"


Some time later…

Link bundled the wood in his arms. Twigs and sticks, but they'd suffice to feed his small campfire. The straw-blonde warrior paused, pointed ears twitching slightly. He frowned, but knew it wasn't a monster.

He departed, satisfied with the amount he gathered. His campsite was small, nothing more than a makeshift bedroll of grass and leaves, reminiscent of a bird's nest. He approached the guttered fire nearby, dumping his newly-found firewood and prepared for the meal.

Wild chicken eggs and foraged onions. Hardly a meal, but he survived on worse before.

His campsite was located not far from a road, and he'd been slowly making his way along it, albeit more hidden than the usual traveler. He supposed he'd reach civilization sometime, although he wasn't confident in what he'd do when he did.

It didn't bother him as much as he thought it would, not having a goal for the first time… ever, going by his memories. Still, maybe he shouldn't be surprised with himself. After all, it wasn't like he was the real Link of Hyrule.

Oh, he had his memories alright, those the real Link managed to recall. The last tangible thing this Link recalled was the defeat of the Calamity. Yet, there was a bone-deep realization that he was not the same being responsible for that triumph.

He didn't know how he knew that, but it was probably similar to how he knew he wasn't in Hyrule. Wherever he was.

Like his home realm, it was filled with monsters. The first time he witnessed the beasts, he had immediately assumed the Calamity's Malice was the cause. However, the observation didn't bear out. The beasts didn't spread infection, nor did they harass the animal or plant life. As far Link could tell, they were mindless monsters, lacking even the basic intelligence of bokoblins.

Their senses were dull, and their attacks poor. Until he had scavenged a blade from a burnt-out cabin, he'd been forced to sneak around in order to avoid them. With it, he could put up resistance whenever he was forced into a confrontation.

They only troubled him if they saw him, and he felt confident in his own senses to alert him to any danger.

Link lit the fire, the motions rote. Lifting the large flat stone atop the flame, he created a makeshift stove, and he cracked the wild eggs once he felt the surface sufficiently heated. Before long, he had a crackling meal of onions and eggs.

Snap. A cracked twig. Footsteps approaching in the distance. Link instantly perked up, then relaxed a breath later. It was too light to be a monster. Two feet, not four like the bear or wolf like monster. The bird beast he saw earlier wouldn't have bothered landing nearby if it was hostile.

Only a person walked like that. Link kept an eye out.

It wasn't long before he saw her, walking cautiously into his campsite.

"I'm sorry if I startled you!" The newcomer greeted. "It's been a while since I've seen someone on the road, and I smelled your fire…"

She trailed off nervously. He appraised her. Covered in brown and gold leathers, the tan figure carried a staff capped on either end with colorful crystals. Shoulder-length brown hair framed a youthful face as she regarded him with apprehension.

He said nothing, merely gesturing around his fire.

"Ah!" She understood. "Thank you!" She hurried to take a seat near him.

Link prepared to split the food, but she interrupted.

"Please, there's no need," she said. "I've rations of my own, and you look like…" She glanced around his spartan campsite. "…You look like you need it," she finished sheepishly.

Link shrugged, shoveling the food on his leafy "plate."

"Anyway," she coughed. "My name is Amber."

Link failed to reciprocate, letting the nascent conversation falter. He started digging into his meal, picking out bits of egg and onion with his fingers. The taste left something to be desired, but he'd found some wild herbs to spice it up a little, though they imbued the eggs with bitter aftertaste.

"A-anyway," Amber said, unsure. "It's nice to see a… friendly… face. It's been nothing but empty road and Grimm these last few days."

Link continued eating. He took a sip from a water skin he fashioned from a deer's bladder.

"You'd think fighting mindless monsters would liven things up, right? But sometime after the twelfth Beowolf it got old. At least throw in a Boarbatusk or Deathstalker. Something new."

Amber continued chattering.

"So, uh, what are you doing out here? If you don't mind." Amber asked.

Link shrugged.

"Not very talkative, are you?"

Again, Link shrugged. Finishing up his meal, he wiped his hands on a nearby leaf he'd reserved for that purpose.

Silence fell on the camp. Amber, it seemed, had exhausted her own complaints and was left awkwardly sitting before the fire. With a cough, she started scourging through a saddlebag. She pulled out a bar wrapped in silvery foil. She unwrapped the end and took a hearty bite.

Link examined it curiously from across the fire.

Amber chewed. Swallowed. "Do—do you want a bite?"

Link refused, shaking his hands at her.

Amber took another bite. She returned her hand to the saddlebag, withdrawing an apple. She sighed to herself and tossed it to him. "Here, I was saving it for when I was closer to Vale, but you can have it."

Link caught the fruit easily, glancing at her uncertainly.

"Think of it as repayment for the fire. And company."

Link shrugged, accepting. He bit into the apple. Crisp and sweet. If he had some butter, he could try baking it, though he lacked his usual cook ware to do so easily.

Still, he appreciated the gesture. "My thanks," he said.

Amber froze, eyes wide. Then she recovered. "And here I was thinking you couldn't speak," she laughed.

Link smiled at her before returning to his newly acquired apple.

Amber waited, but when it was clear he wouldn't speak further, she finished off her own ration bar.

After the food was gone, they sat around the fire, the fire crackling keeping the awkward silence at bay. Well, awkward to Amber. Link didn't really care either way.

"So… where are you heading?" Amber asked, breaking down. "I'm on my way to Vale, myself."

Link shrugged.

"There's nothing really out here for miles. Maybe a farm or two, but Vale is only a couple days away." Amber continued. "Are you going there?"

Link shrugged.

Amber bit her lip, considering. "Well, do you want to accompany me? It'll be easier travelling with the two of us."

Link paused. He nodded.


Amber cringed, though she hoped it didn't show on her face. She hadn't meant to offer to travel together, it just slipped out, honest! And what was she supposed to do? Leave the poor guy out in the wilderness alone? He didn't even have a tent, or supplies, or anything normal travelers should have!

Now, he walked beside her, a half-rusted short sword tied to his waist as she rode the horse she'd rented. She'd offered him to take her place at the saddle, since it seemed only polite. He had glared at her until she had surrendered and mounted the mare.

And of course, she still didn't know his name! Here she was, in the middle of nowhere with a total stranger, and she had not even the slightest clue who he was!

Okay, when it's put like that, it sounds even stupider. Curse her bleeding heart!

Still, she was a trained Huntress, and if her training failed, she had her secret ace. Besides, all he had was poor sword for a weapon. He'd be Grimm food if not for her, whether he knew it or not.

At least Vale wasn't far. It wouldn't be long before she was home and could relax. Until then, however, she had to put up with Mr. Pointy Ears. Maybe he was a kind of faunus? Not that she knew much about faunus, in general. Aw well.

"You never told me your name," she started, breaking the silence. The blue tunic-ed man looked at her. "If we're traveling together, we should at least know what to call each other," she reasoned. "I'm Amber, in case you forgot."

He stared at her.

"It'd make things less awkward, for me anyway," she pleaded.

He considered that. "Link," he said, quiet enough to be near a whisper. He turned back to the road, clearly done with talking.

"What was that?"

"My name. Link."

Amber grinned. Progress. Oh, he may be done, but she wasn't. She'd drag him kicking and, hopefully, screaming into conversation. "Nice to meet you, Link!

He smiled, she could tell, but remained taciturn. That wouldn't do. "Is that your sword? No offence, but it's not in very good shape."

Link shrugged. Damn it, she was losing him! "Seriously, I wouldn't trust that to take down a branch, let alone a Grimm. You need to take better care of your weapons."

Link grimaced. Yes! "Not mine," he insisted. "Found it."

"Where? In a ruin or something?"

Link nodded.

Huh, what are the odds? Well pretty high when she thought about it. There's all kinds of abandoned buildings and settlements dotting the countryside. Wouldn't be too hard to find weapons left over from some plucky frontiersman who bit off more than they could chew.

"Well, don't worry about fighting any Grimm," she grinned at him. "I'm a huntress. We come across anything, just leave it to me! I'll protect you."

That got a reaction. Link blinked, raising his eyebrows. He shook his head, chuckling softly.

Amber narrowed her eyes. Oh, so it was like that. "Hey! What, think I'm not up to it, mister Link?" She glared balefully at the pointy-eared wild man.

Link shook his head, still laughing to himself.

"What's so funny?! You have any objections, I want to hear 'em!"

"Not you," Link finally explained. "It's ironic."

"What is?"

Link didn't answer, returning to his self-appointed task of staring ahead silently.

Amber huffed. At least he was smiling now. That was… something. She didn't know what, but things felt a little less awkward. Only a little though.

They continued in (semi-)comfortable silence for about an hour or so, when Link paused, frowning.

"What's wrong, Link?" Amber asked, shaking her head, and taking in the new surroundings. She'd zoned out some time ago. They were in a clearing, two abandoned fields on either side of them. Dilapidated fencing of rotting wood marked the edges of the road. And on the road in front of them…

"Is that a child?" Amber's eyes widened. It was. A young girl squatting in the middle of the road, crying. They weren't so far from Vale, so she'd probably wandered off from a nearby settlement and gotten lost in the woods. "We have to help her! Before any Grimm show up and—"

Link raised an arm, shooting a focused glare. His other arm went to the sword on his side. The message was clear.

"What are you doing, Link? It's a child!"

Link shook his head and started forward. Amber quickly dismounted, her confusion obvious. The child ahead didn't pay them any mind, sobbing into her arms.

Amber made to catch up to Link, but he shot her a look saying stay there. He continued to the girl.

The girl still didn't move. Why? What was going on? And then she saw it. A swirl of dust approaching quickly that shot alarm through her. She opened her mouth to issue a cry, hand darting back to grab her staff. She was too slow and too far, she'd never make it in time.

But Link saw it too, his sword drawn in less than an instant, and raised up in time to guard. A foot was suddenly on it, blocked by the rusted blade. Incredibly, it held, and Link forced the leg to go wide leaving the newly appeared assailant open.

He was a grey-clad, wiry man with hair the same color. No teenager. His youth was obvious even from a distance. Even more obvious was his skill. He bent his knee, dropping his weight low, and his body out of the way of Link's horizontal counter slash. He planted his hand on the ground, and kicked out, aiming at Link's midsection.

Link jumped back, avoiding the blow, then darted back in before the attacker could recover his balance. Not that he'd lost it, the teen quickly getting both feet back on the ground and launching a barrage of kicks.

Amber had her staff out and extended, rushing in to assist Link. Her aura up and ready, it saved her life when she was intercepted.

Small caliber bullets peppered her body, taking her by surprise and forcing her to pause. To her side, a pastel green-haired girl showing more skin than Amber had ever been comfortable with at that age aimed a pair of pistols at her.

Forced to divert from Link, Amber didn't hesitate, activating the white dust crystal to generate a gale of wind aimed at the newcomer. The blast took her square, forcing the girl to guard herself, lest she be blown clear off her feet.

Amber charged, staff thrusting out to stab at the teen's hands. The girl shifted, letting the staff pass by. She raised her pistol, but Amber countered by changing the thrust to a sweep. The green-haired girl took the blow, but it lacked the strength necessary to deal any meaningful damage. But the strike didn't matter so much as where the red crystal was. Amber activated it

The girl sensed danger, but too late, and a fiery explosion knocked her back. Amber withdrew, a moment's respite achieved. She glanced towards Link, fearful of what grey teen may have done to him.

Turns out, she needn't have worried. The kick heavy fighter was on the backfoot, no pun intended. Link dodged and weaved and deflected, never letting himself or his sword take a direct hit.

Somehow, he even managed to dodge shotgun blasts.

"Stand still dammit!" the grey attacker yelled. He launched another round of kicks, punctuating each strike with a shotgun blast from his boots.

Two kamas cut through aura, slicing away a chunk of the protective force. Amber yelped, spinning around to strike. And hit only air.

Must be a semblance. Invisibility? Speed? Reflexes?

The kamas hit her back, getting closer to taking her life.

Amber grit her teeth, muscling through the pain.

She took a breath. Then spun, activating both crystals. Fire exploded from the staff, and gale force winds carried it from her in a tornado of bright flame.

The girl reappeared, struck by the blast with her kamas still raised for another blow. Maximum damage, Amber thought.

The girl was down, knocked out by the blast. Amber turned away, prepared to help Link finish the last of them.

Bullets impacted her aura from the direction of the girl's body. Amber stumbled, already in motion.

This was getting bad. Whatever her semblance did, it must be messing with her vision. Her aura couldn't take much more of this, so long as the assailant kept getting free shots.

Another bullet hit her, despite her attempt to guard.

Fuck this.


To say things weren't going to plan would be an understatement. The maiden was supposed to be alone, not accompanied by a pointy-eared wild man. They'd moved forward with ambush anyway, because he seemed an easy target, with his dirty clothes and rusty sword. Should've been simple to take him out fast, then focus on the maiden, Amber.

Should've been simple being the key phrase, Mercury screamed internally, struggling to land a single blow on the ragged elf man.

"Stand still!" He shouted, missing another kick. His target shifted again, inside the reach of leg. Mercury tried to transform the attack into a spin kick, but he could already see the sword shifting, if he hit it at that angle, he'd lose his balance.

He withdrew his leg, and leapt back, launching a shotgun blast at him. The man had already rolled out of the way.

A danger sense semblance? Mercury didn't know, but it sure was frustrating. At least Emerald wasn't having as much trouble with the maiden, using her semblance to keep Amber off kilter. So long as Mercury could reliably keep things one-on-one, then Cinder and Emerald could take down the maiden and join him in taking down this stupid. Blonde! Asshole!

The rusted blade swept across his chest, but his aura easily withstood the blow. Mercury grit his teeth.

The elf man darted back, avoiding Mercury's counterattack. Mercury chased after him, preventing him from going to Amber's aid.

Emerald screamed. Both he and the elf man looked at the scene. Amber floated above the ground, her back to them both. Fire blazed from her hand and wind kicked up dust from the ground beneath her feet. Emerald lay crumpled beneath her, trying desperately to crawl back. Too slow, she'd never make it. Like an avenging angel, she prepared to smite Emerald with her maiden powers.

But her back was exposed. Mercury could practically taste the opportunity to make an easy kill. And if he could see it, then Cinder could too.

Apparently, so did elf man. The rusted sword launched through the air, spinning like a propeller, and caught Cinder's glass arrow before it had the chance to finish off Amber.

Okay, that's bullshit.

The sword took the arrow, but its momentum carried further, where it broke upon hitting the ground. Amber glanced back, blazing eyes widening.

Mercury charged at her, hoping to provide the distraction necessary to let Emerald withdraw and Cinder to take another shot.

He was stopped by elf man charging in with a kick of his own, and Cinder's next shot was blown away by Amber's maiden powers. Well, Emerald managed to regain her bearings and stand back up.

The maiden must've realized her precarious position, low on aura and flanked by two fighters with ranged weapons, because she narrowed her eyes, and the winds beneath her floating body began to swirl with increasing velocity.

Mercury smirked. He aimed a kick at elf man's face, forcing him to cover his eyes to guard. In an instant, Mercury pulled back his foot and dropped to his belly. Just in time to avoid the vicious explosion of gale wind.

Emerald, Cinder, and the elf-man were all swept off their feet. The maiden's eyes widened.

"Sorry!" she shouted over the din of ripping winds as she floated down. Landing on her feet, she failed to notice Mercury. Not in time to save her anyway.

Mercury launched forward from the ground. One strike, that was all he needed to finish her. One strike, and she'd be knocked out, leaving the three of them to triple team stupid elf man. He was already turning his body, transforming his forward momentum into a spin kick.

Unfortunately, his luck ran out, and Mercury was slammed by a sword, knocking him aside. He hit a fence post, but still managed to barely dodge the follow-up slash.

Mercury leapt out of reach, Emerald took the opportunity to join up with him, and Cinder stepped forward to support them.

Qrow Branwen, newly come, stood before Amber, sword in hand and ready to defend. Amber looked ready to crash, but she'd recovered her staff and was already in fighting position. Elf man was closer to Mercury and his team than to the huntsman/huntress duo.

He reassessed the situation. Three-on-three, but he and Emerald had both taken damage in the bout. Cinder was the only one capable of going toe-to-toe with Qrow. He was fine for another go, but Emerald was nearly tapped out on aura. Not to mention it was a strain using her semblance on two people, forget about three.

The maiden was vulnerable, but that made things riskier, not less. They needed her alive long enough for Cinder to claim her powers. Qrow was fresh and undamaged, he wouldn't let them near her if he could help it. And the elf man was a complete unknown, but judging from his boxing stance, clearly familiar with unarmed combat.

They might, might still be able to come out on top. If they were lucky. Very lucky.

"What do we do?!" Emerald hissed at Cinder, her panic eclipsing her respect from the wannabe maiden.

Mercury could practically hear Cinder grinding her teeth. She definitely saw the same things he did.

"We withdraw," Cinder spat. She wasn't a maiden, yet, but the glare in her eyes would probably set him on fire if it were focused on him. "For now!"

Mercury shrugged. No skin off his back.


The three of them turned and fled. Just like that, the fight was over.

Amber moved to pursue. They'd attacked her and Link, nearly killed her! They couldn't just get away!

Qrow grabbed her arm. "Hold on, kid. You're in no condition to keep fighting."

"You're joking, we had them!"

"Yeah, so they ran. Take the win, Amber."

"Wasn't a win," Amber huffed. "What are you even doing here, Qrow?"

Qrow smirked. "Ozpin sent me to make sure you got home all safe and sound." He sheathed his sword, the fighting over.

"Of course he did," Amber muttered, glaring at him. "I don't need his help."

"Not what I saw, kid."

"Ugh," Amber turned away from the drunkard. Link stood apart from them, dusting himself off. Amber winced.

"Sorry about that!" she called out to him. "Didn't mean to catch you in the blast, it just sorta happened…"

Qrow snorted. Link waved a dismissive hand.

"Who's this guy anyway?" Qrow asked. He appraised Link with a suspicious eye, looking the raggedly clothed man up and down.

"See something you like?" Amber interjected, snickering. "I found him on the side of the road."

"You the kind of kid that brought home every stray they saw? Think I'll be able to resist," Qrow said. His voice dropped low. "Besides, we have bigger things to worry about."

"The ambush?"

"Among other things, but I was referring to your stray witnessing your special abilities."

Amber flushed. "What was I supposed to do?" She hissed.

"Not saying you should've rolled over, just that it creates new issues for us."

"Don't kill him."

"I'm not going to kill him," Qrow rolled his eyes. "What kinda man you take me for."

"You don't want me to answer that." Amber regarded Link. Initially, she assumed he wouldn't be able to stand up to a stiff breeze. But Link had, quite easily, held his own against the ambushers and even saved her life. Potentially saved her life, she amended.

Link examined the broken sword that had held so well up until it blocked that woman's arrow. There wasn't much left attached to the hilt, and the blade was buried in the fencing. Link shrugged and tied the hilt to his hilt. Beggars can't be choosers, Amber supposed.

"He's on our side," Amber said. "He helped me."

"Could've been an act, to worm his way in with you."

"You're paranoid, birdbrain."

"Someone's got to be," he rejoined. "You just found him on the side of the road? Able to hold off a trained fighter with nothing more than a rusty blade? Come on, Amber."

"You can ask him yourself," Amber huffed. "We've got some time before Vale."

"Guess we better get started, then," Qrow chuckled.

"With any luck, it'll be easy going."

Qrow glared at her.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"You just had to say that, didn't you?"