Hello everyone! This chapter, Winter and Steele vs. a flock of pit dragons, and a very long day finally ends.

67. Reunion

Sunlight glinted off of Specter's wings. He was in the lead, with Pit close behind him, separated from the enemy dragons by only a dozen yards or so. Both were obviously struggling just to keep themselves in the air.

Steele swept in closer. There was an instant of panic, where Specter started to veer away from him. He called out, saw Weiss' head snap up from where it had been bent against the dragon's neck. They managed a little burst of speed as they turned towards him and Winter.

And Justice. He glanced at the other dragon out of the corner of his eye, still not quite comfortable leaving him at his back...

But there were eight—nine—ten pit dragons swarming after Specter and Pit. Too many to be picky about allies. So he ignored Ilia and Justice and focused all his attention on speed. Winter shifted on his back. Probably itching to draw her pistol, but the academy had taught her only to draw a weapon if she planned on firing it. The off chance that her gun might do something to those metal plates that dragon claws couldn't wasn't worth the risk of hurting them.

The one controlling the pit dragons knew their chances of catching their prey were dwindling. They made a last, desperate attempt to hit Pit with a blast of water. He dropped to avoid it, stalling in mid-air—but then Steele was in range of them.

He dove in headfirst, screeching at the top of his lungs. The instant he was ahead of the younger dragons, he filled the air with deadly mist. Pit dragons swerved left and right, banking hard to evade the attack.

There were too many of them to fight, even if he was willing to hurt them. "Keep going," he roared at the younglings. "We'll draw them off!"

Specter tried to protest, but before he could get even a word out he wobbled in midair and dropped twenty feet. Sensing that he was at the limits of his endurance, he obeyed. So, after a few insistent tugs from his rider, did Justice. Steele wasn't sure how to feel about that, but...

Justice might be a risk. The two exhausted dragons alone in the woods, where there were Grimm and pit dragons about, was definitely a risk.

He and Winter would just have to make this quick.

"Justice!" Ilia shouted in his ear. "Come on!"

She tugged at the reins. He tugged back, frustrated. He didn't want to go with Blake, especially not when there was another stuck up ice dragon with her. Besides, he'd been itching for a fight since—

The wind dragon in the lead turned her head, and sunlight glinted off her bared teeth. There was blood on them. His ears went back. This time, when Ilia pulled on the reins, he let her turn him.

He wound up almost neck and neck with a struggling Pit—close enough that he could hear the disbelieving shout of, "Ilia?"

"Later!" his rider yelled back.

Justice was not looking forward to later.

He glanced behind himself. Steele had cut off most of the dragons that were chasing them by breathing frozen mist everywhere—but not quite all of them. Two slipped past him, the big wind dragon and a much smaller, dolphin-grey water dragon.

The ice dragon, Specter, groaned. Pit stayed silent. Justice could see his chest heaving with the effort of staying in the air, and for a second all he could think of was baby Gigas and his tiny wings. He swept down at the water dragon, who was nearest. Ilia stiffened in alarm on his back, but didn't try to stop him. "We need to lead them away!"

Too close. The pit dragon lunged for him, her teeth snapping shut inches from his throat. Justice roared indignantly and buffeted her with his wings. She twisted and bit his foreleg. He hissed in pain, and in frustration that he had to protect them. His claws lashed out, tearing a gash in one of her wing membranes.

"Justice!" Ilia started to shout.

"Stop it!" Specter screeched. "You're going to hurt her!"

Justice's ears went flat. "I'm trying to help," he snarled back, and snapped at the water dragon again. She dodged that, and swiped her claws across his chest.

"She can't help it!"

"What? You want me to let her attack you?" Justice blocked another vicious bite by cracking her across the nose with his tail. It wasn't like he was going for her throat or anything—they had to get these two to stop chasing them somehow.

Or, he supposed, he and Ilia could just fly ahead while the other two slowed them down.

Justice was seriously considering doing just that when there was a whistle overhead. Steele had caught up to them again, with the rest of the horde close behind him. He descended on the big wind dragon. She tried to bite his foreleg. He dodged, and then kicked one of her wings. She stalled in the air for just a heartbeat, lost altitude, and had to bank hard to the left to avoid slamming into a tree.

A cloud of mist separated the water dragon from Justice. She tried to fly through it, then swerved when ice crystallized at the tips of her wings. Others approached, while Steele darted back and forth in front of the pack, harrying them until they faded into the distance.

Justice, slightly awed despite himself, almost managed to forget who he was now alone with. Then he noticed Specter giving him a disapproving glare—though there wasn't much heat to it when he was still struggling to keep his wings flapping.

He rolled his eyes and ignored both other dragons. Now that they'd found Blake, Ilia could tell her that she'd defected, too, and ask her to go wherever they were going. She would say no, and he and Ilia could be alone again.

Winter leaned into yet another hairpin turn. Instinct screamed at her to draw her gun, but she held back—these weren't Grimm, just dragons with supremely bad luck. Still, she couldn't quash the anxious feeling that she should be doing something to contribute to the fight.

A glance over her shoulder told her that the younger riders were almost out of sight. Good. That meant it was almost time to break away. Not a moment too soon, either. Steele swept under the outstretched claws of a large water dragon, then flipped sideways so that he could slip between a blast of fire and a pair of snapping jaws. Without looking away from the action, Winter flicked an ember off her shoulder.

At least they weren't that comfortable in the air. Steele could outfly any one of them easily—but there were ten of them, and they were vicious. Another look behind her. Only a trio of tiny specks could be seen on the horizon. One of the pit dragons broke away, and Steele had to chase it down and grab one of its wings. By the time it stabilized, it had fallen far behind the others.

This time when Winter looked back, she couldn't tell where the students were. She waited another minute anyway, to be sure, but they didn't reappear. Probably down below the tree-line, if she were to guess. They didn't have many other options with Specter and Pit so exhausted.

Winter tapped Steele's shoulder to signal that it was time. He stopped breathing mist at a three-legged earth dragon and veered sharply to the left. About half the contingent followed him, while the rest spread out in the direction the students had disappeared.

She scowled, but this was probably the best she was going to get. Better to get back to Weiss quickly, so that she could defend the group if any of the pit dragons got lucky.

The sky was clear. No clouds to lose the pit dragons in, and too many pursuers for that to work even if there were. She scanned the horizon, and spotted a jagged cliffside that had collapsed into a series of natural pillars and arches, most of them thousands of feet high.

Winter allowed herself a tiny smirk. She didn't have to touch the reins—Steele had seen it too.

Whoever was controlling the pit dragons clearly wasn't stupid. The earth dragons peeled away in a heartbeat, as did the gigantic wind dragon. It was fast, yes, but the missing half of its tail meant it wouldn't be able to make especially sharp turns. A few others dropped back, too, though she couldn't tell why just from looking at them.

The hold-outs split up. The wind dragon went up—it wouldn't get to the other side as fast as she did, but it might get across fast enough that it wouldn't lose her. Half the rest went right, the other half left. They would need to go all the way around the rock formation.

A few kept following her—a pale water dragon, a red-brown fire dragon, and the toothless water dragon. Two of them young and small, one larger and with more powerful wings. None were trained in the Flight Squads.

The first pillars loomed to either side of them. Inside was just as Winter had hoped—a maze of jagged pillars and narrow gaps. She took the long view, her eyes darting from side to side, plotting their course. Always taking the most difficult paths she thought they could handle, and avoiding places where their pursuers could get around obstacles too easily. It was up to Steele to dodge. He folded his wings to his side to dart through the space between two cliffsides, then veered sharply to the left to duck under an archway. With a thump and a pained yelp, the pale water dragon fell behind.

Through another narrow gap. Up and over a smaller cliff. Under an arch. Through a cave burrowed almost straight through part of the mountain. Only the fire dragon was still following. Winter guided Steele into a steep dive. They skimmed the surface of a small lake, and passed through a gap so narrow that even folded, the tips of his wings skimmed the sides. He left a cloud of deadly mist behind, and their last pursuer was forced to swerve hard to the side.

They emerged on the other side of the cliffs. Other dragons were still following, she was sure, but none of them had line of sight. Winter angled Steele under the canopy—he'd have to fly slower this way, but even if the pit dragons spread out to search for them they'd be hard pressed to pick up their trail. All they had to do now was return to the area where they'd last seen the students.

Her knuckles were white against her radio, as she told Tai and Qrow that she'd found them. The action was over—anxiety had returned.

"Pit." Blake nudged his shoulder gently. Then again, harder. "Pit!"

He groaned and rolled onto his side. She looked up, saw blue sky through the trees, and winced. "I'm really sorry, but you need to get up."

"Nnnn."

With a grumpy flick of his tail, Specter pressed his nose into Pit's side. It was apparently cold enough to shock him onto his feet. Blake pointed to a spot about thirty feet away. Not ideal, exactly, but she doubted they'd make it much farther. Besides, they should probably stay in the area so that Winter could find them.

When the dragons finally dragged themselves into the bushes, there was a pair of hefty thumps as they both collapsed onto their stomachs. Then, silence.

Blake was about to join them when she turned around and froze. Ilia's dragon was staring at her.

"Justice," Ilia said, a touch of warning in her tone. "Relax."

He huffed. Blake felt the rush of warm air even from several feet away. But after several suspicious backwards glances, he wandered over to where the other two dragons were. Specter's tail flicked. Pit didn't stir—it looked like he'd already fallen asleep.

Blake's head swam with questions. One rose to the top, and she opened her mouth to ask what the dragon's name was before she remembered that Ilia had just said it. Justice. She blinked. Blinked again, and almost tipped over backwards. The adrenaline she'd been running on for the past day was gone, and fatigue washed over her. "Why... why are you here?"

Ilia glanced at Weiss and turned an uncertain shade of orange. "I left the Fang."

"That's good." Belatedly, Blake managed to process what her friend had actually just said. "Wait. What?"

The rest of the story tumbled out of Ilia in a rush. She spoke quietly, so that Justice wouldn't hear. Explained how angry he was getting, how even the new leadership didn't seem to care. That they thought she was sabotaging their lab.

"That lab," Weiss interjected. "You know where it is?"

Ilia's skin turned a deep purple. "It's none of your business if I do."

Weiss' eyes narrowed. "This is one of the labs that's experimenting on dragon hatchlings, isn't it? I'd like to make as many of those my business as I possibly can."

Oh no.

Before Blake could even try to intervene, Ilia had taken a threatening step forward. "Is that right? Look, Schnee—"

"Stop!" Blake stepped between them, her hands out. Then, to Ilia, "I'm glad you got out."

Ilia stopped glaring at Weiss long enough to glance at Blake, then the ground. "Thanks."

"And you're... you're okay? No one's chasing you?"

"No."

"Good." Blake took a steadying breath. "Cinder's people told us they've been making changes in the lab. They said it was better. Since you're here... I'm guessing that was a lie."

Ilia shrugged without making eye contact. "It's better."

"That's not exactly a high bar," Weiss pointed out.

Ilia stiffened, but before she could say anything Blake interrupted with, "Better how?" Then, when Ilia wasn't looking, she gave Weiss a look that she'd hopefully interpret as please let me handle this.

"It's more systematic now. Sometimes Cinder gives us formulas."

Weiss' eyes flashed, but she didn't say anything.

"How many died?" Blake asked. "In the last week you were there. The last day."

"What else were we supposed to do?" Ilia burst out. "We were doing everything we could to make it better!"

"If you believe that... why are you here?"

"I told you." Ilia glared at her shoes. "I was worried about Justice. And they thought I was sabotaging them."

"Because you told them they were going too far," Blake guessed. "You suggested ways they could change things. Ways to hurt less people, that you thought they'd want to know about because you thought that's what they were trying to do."

Ilia flinched. "It's not like that." Not like him, she meant. "Nothing was working. I thought it would help Justice to spend some time fighting Grimm, and talking to people in outer villages, but that would slow things down. I guess they thought it would be worth it, in the end. Even if..."

"Even if all those dragonets died?"

Ilia opened her mouth, glanced at Justice, and closed it again. "Yeah."

A fresh wave of exhaustion crashed over Blake. She rubbed her eyes, sighed, and said, "I'll keep an eye out for Winter. Weiss, maybe you should get some sleep."

Weiss' eyes flicked towards Ilia and Justice. "If you're staying awake, so am I."

Blake nodded once, and took to the trees. Weiss climbed up with her, and kept half an eye on the dragons sleeping below them. They sat in exhausted silence, their shoulders touching, scanning the sky for a flash of silver.

Winter returned alone, with none of the horde of pit dragons that had been chasing her in sight. When Weiss asked her how she'd managed that, she only smirked and said that the Flight Squad trained in aerial maneuvers.

Ilia watched from the sidelines. The second they went after Blake...

"Here." Winter pulled two packets out of her saddlebag and passed them to Weiss and Blake. They turned out to be sandwiches—which vanished in half the time and with none of the manners Ilia would have expected of a Schnee.

Winter watched them, her lips slightly pursed, her expression slowly softening as the pair of them drooped where they stood. She sighed. "Go," she said, her voice still snippy, and gestured towards their dragons. "Sleep. You'll obviously be useless until you do."

Weiss mumbled something that might have been an attempt at an argument, but let Blake lead her over to where both their dragons lay in a slumbering heap.

Leaving Ilia alone with Winter Schnee. Who did, admittedly, seem slightly less ready to snap at a moment's notice now that her sister was safe. Ilia noticed Justice glaring in her direction, though, and decided it would probably be better to get some sleep herself. Or at least pretend to—she wasn't sure she was comfortable being unconscious just now.

She walked around Specter, who hardly even twitched. He and Pit lay curled around one another, forming a little dip between them. Blake was already asleep. Her head rested in the crook of Weiss' neck, and one arm was thrown over her side.

Ilia stood there for a moment, waiting for the dull ache run its course. Because of course she had. She swallowed the bitterness and turned away, telling herself that she was finished. Blake had awful taste, and that was that.

The ache stubbornly refused to go away.

She hadn't had a full night's sleep since leaving the Fang, which meant that her plan of pretending to sleep turned into Justice nudging her awake with the sun noticeably closer to the horizon. Blake was still out cold. Ilia stood up, and watched Winter approach the other two.

She moved as if to touch Weiss' shoulder, but before she could, Blake snapped awake with a start. Weiss opened one bleary eye and sat up. "What...?"

"We should move," Winter said. "It'll be too dark, soon."

"We'd been traveling at night..." Blake started to say, then trailed off.

Winter frowned at her. "Not a bad idea," she decided, "but speed is our priority now that we've found you."

Blake hesitated, glancing at Ilia. "Right." She waited until Weiss and Winter were busy mounting up, then walked over.

"What?" Ilia asked. Her voice came out colder than she'd meant it to.

Blake winced. "I... we have to do something about that lab. Not now—we should get backup from the others. But I need you to tell me where it is."

Ilia resisted the urge to let her skin turn scarlet. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"Do you have any idea—"

"Do you?" Blake cut in, and Ilia went silent. "You have a dragon, now. You have to know it's not right."

"I don't like it, but—"

"But nothing, Ilia!" Blake hissed, her ears going back. "There are safer ways to create hybrids. The White Fang aren't using them, because they don't think they're fast enough. They think that getting more power now is worth killing as many hatchlings as it takes. Am I wrong?"

"It's not..." Ilia tried to say, but somehow the words got stuck in her throat. She remembered those horrible yellow eyes boring into her. It saw the lab. It must have.

"We don't have to bring it up now," Blake said, her voice softening a little. "But when we get back to the others... someone has to go back there, before they move again."

"I'm not a traitor," Ilia snapped, but it sounded weak even to her.

Blake smiled sadly at her. "No. You're not."