"-and so, when the Atlesians descended upon the Northeastern borders of Sanus, they were met with harsh resistance from-"

Olivia felt her head beginning to slip out of her palm and righted herself, shaking her head lightly and breathing deeply to rid herself of the fatigue weighing on her mind. She leaned forward against the desk instead and wrapped her arms tightly across her chest, kneading her chin down into the soft fabric of her coat.

Doctor Oobleck stood at the front of the classroom, zipping back and forth while rambling on about the Great War and drinking his coffee in spontaneous intervals. It had been enough to keep her awake for the first half of class, but now nearing the end, her mind was beginning to slip. Olivia shivered, drawing her arms in tighter still.

'Dang it, Miltia…'

There was no real force behind the thought. It was Olivia's own fault for jumping Melanie after she'd been taking care of her twin for two days straight. The sister had proven impervious to the cold's effects, but Olivia had no such luck. She'd woken up the next morning with a terrible headache, a heat behind her eyes, and a chill running through her body that had forced her to wear her coat.

As of yet, neither of her teachers had commented on the attire, a fact that Olivia was supremely thankful for. Falling prey to sickness was for the weak, those unfit to survive within the slums. Olivia outright refused to stay posted up in her bed, wiling away the hours in solitude while there was work to be done.

'Even if said 'work' is really, really…'

Olivia's head shot back up with a start several minutes later as she felt the teacher passing her by and setting a paper on her desk. She feigned a weak smile, pretending like she'd only been resting her eyes, and looked at the paper that had been left. With a flicker of recognition, Olivia reached out to flip it over.

She paused in shock.

Sitting at the top of her essay, written in bold red ink and circled several times over was a very apparent 'A+'. Olivia frowned, turning the paper to the side to look at the grade from different angles, figuring her mind was playing tricks on her. In two weeks, the best she'd received on any grade was a 'C'.

"Well done, Olivia," Weiss chirped from beside her, noticing the faunus awkwardly twisting her paper. With a glance, Olivia could see that Weiss's own paper was similarly decorated, though hers had been circled less times.

'I… really got an A…?' Olivia was having trouble wrapping her head around it, then realized the truth behind the matter. She turned to face Weiss and bumped her on the shoulder lightly with a fist, "Thanks, Princess. I really couldn't have done it without you."

Weiss waved a hand dismissively, "I only provided direction. You would have gotten there eventually."

"No…" Olivia shook her head, then stopped as that only served to further her headache, "I really wouldn't have," she raised the paper up in front of herself, a small smile tugging at her lips, "Maybe this whole 'quid pro quo' thing won't be so bad, eh?"

Weiss smiled in return, then began gathering her things as the bell rang, "I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, we won't be able to train later. I've heard from some of the other students that Miss Goodwitch's class today is going to be a field trip out into Forever Fall."

"Forever Fall?" the name sounded mildly familiar to Olivia, though she couldn't exactly recall from where.

"It's a portion of the woods, north of the Emerald Forest. Beats me what we'll be doing out there. Fighting Grimm, maybe?" Weiss shrugged and stood, waiting for Olivia to gather her things as well.

A pair of cat ears twitched against their bonds on top of Blake's head, her eyes darting over in Weiss's direction after picking up on part of the conversation, "What about Forever Fall?"

Ruby stopped in the middle of what she'd been saying to Blake, caught off guard by the sudden shift and looking a little put out. She shifted her eyes over to Weiss as well, though, curious as to the source of the interruption.

"Just that we're going there after lunch. Miss Goodwitch has a field trip planned for it," Weiss put a finger to her chin, tapping idly, "I really hope we get dropped off with the bullheads… I'd hate to walk all those miles in my heels…"

Olivia snorted in brief laughter, then choked back a groan when her head began to swim, "Maybe you ought to consider a change in wardrobe, then. Heels aren't exactly the best footwear for fighting anyway, Princess."

"I-I do well enough in them," Weiss argued without much determination, eyes falling to the shoes she was currently wearing.

"Do you, though?" Olivia asked offhandedly, grabbing up her own things and placing the paper on top, grade prominently displayed. She wasn't the type to usually take pride in high grades, but something about the one she'd received this time felt... nice… Olivia violently squashed the sudden desire to show it off to Ren and Nora. She was sure they would congratulate her, but the grade felt more personal than that. She didn't want to show it off to just anyone; not after the reaction Weiss had already given her.

The four of them set off from class, fairly behind the rest as Olivia was struggling to keep up with their normal gait. She did her best, but soon enough, her breath struggled out. Sweat beaded at her forehead, and she couldn't help but hold herself tightly to stem the shivers coursing through her body.

'This damn skirt isn't helping at all,' Olivia admonished, glaring down at the silly thing. Each step made her shiver anew, the open breeziness seeming to pull away whatever warmth she could muster from the rest of her body. An idea came to mind as they walked, and Olivia changed courses for the locker rooms instead of the dining hall.

"I'll catch you guys at lunch. Something I need to do first," Olivia waved herself free of them and hurried off towards the locker rooms, more than ready to change into her combat clothes ahead of time. There were no regular classes left aside from Miss Goodwitch's, and Olivia doubted the teacher was going to ask them to venture out into grimm territory in their Beacon uniforms.

The other three watched her go with curious glances until she'd turned the corner. Olivia could feel them heading on their way towards the dining hall after that, right before the distance became too great and she lost all sensation of them completely. Thankfully, most of the classes for first years were all situated within the same building, the only exception being Professor Peach who required a smaller one all to herself.

Olivia was panting even more heavily by the time she reached the locker rooms, the books in her arms seemingly gaining weight with each step. She was glad once she was finally able to unload them on to one of the locker's shelves. Olivia changed quickly, having to hold back a groan when the open air made contact with her upper torso.

'Why am I so cold!?'

Olivia had been sick before, many times in fact, and each time she'd been able to grin and bear it. Hell, she'd nearly ruined one of her own missions by going on it while sick. At least the target had made her laugh with his reaction after hearing her suddenly sneeze behind him. The fully grown brute of a man had squealed in terror like a little girl. A pitiful end for a notorious drug kingpin.

'At least I spared him anyone else knowing,' Olivia laughed lightly, finishing with her combat clothes. She rolled her sleeves down and put the coat back on for good measure, taking a moment to bask in the comparative warmth. There was still a light chill that she could feel, but it was muted by the clothes that clung much more tightly, and in the case of her pants, thick compared to the nothing that had been there before.

Whatever Melanie had transferred to her, it was unlike any sickness she'd had before. Olivia still staunchly refused to allow herself to be coddled by her teammates, though. She'd be fine, just like every other time before. Colds came and went, but people's opinions of you could dip sharply if they thought you weak. Lot-... 'Olivia'... was many things, but never weak.

Newly changed and feeling a slight grumble in her stomach, Olivia set off for the dining hall with renewed vigor. She snatched Oath on her way out for good measure, saving herself a return trip before Miss Goodwitch's class. Olivia doubted she would need the weapon for any grimm they might encounter out in Forever Fall, but it would still be a welcome weight nonetheless.

'Why does that forest sound familiar…?' Olivia couldn't quite place it. Judging by Blake's reaction, she must have known something about it, but with the haze that had settled over her mind, Olivia couldn't connect the dots on her own.

The trip to the dining hall was the worst of all, a continuous billowing gust of wind rolling across the campus grounds and turning Olivia's body to ice itself. She shook unabated, incapable of holding back what her body demanded in order to try and stay warm. The only solace she could claim was by wrapping her arms around herself once more. In that way, at least her chest remained warm.

Olivia hurriedly rushed over the final dozen feet to the large double doors and pulled them open, just wide enough to slip through and shut out the wind that attempted to follow in her wake. Not wanting to give herself away, she allowed herself one last full body quake before tensing. Thankfully, the dining hall was full of other students, a mass of body heat and hot food keeping it blessedly warm.

The line was rather short with her having arrived later than most. Olivia moved through it quickly, gathering up an assortment of warmer items that might serve to heat her from the inside, and topped it off with a tall cup of hot cocoa. It didn't really go with the foods she'd chosen, but she'd be damned if it wasn't going to help more in the long run.

Ruby and Nora both waved her over as she approached the dining table, Ruby going so far as to shuffle to the side so that Olivia could sit between her and Blake. Weiss was pushed down further as well, but didn't bother to complain upon seeing the reason for it. Aside from a brief welcoming glance, she didn't interact with the rest of them much. Weiss was busy with her nose in the book that Olivia had given her, studying the traits of the various faunus that inhabited Remnant. Olivia had told her it wasn't necessary, but she insisted regardless.

Ruby loudly continued on with her conversation to Nora, the two of them comparing the size of their weapons. Olivia was having trouble paying attention to it, but it sounded like Ruby was trying to recommend lighter parts that Nora could use, while the Mistralian ginger was adamantly refusing in favor of said weight. Her entire argument seemed to stem from whether or not she could 'break legs' with something smaller than Magnhild.

A small tap on her shoulder alerted Olivia to Blake's desire to speak privately next to her. Blake's face was stuck in a permanent scowl, suppressed enough that the others there might not recognize it for what it was. The way the cat faunus's ears twitched irritably beneath her bow, and how her hands clenched into white knuckled fists were signs enough for Olivia. She leaned closer to Blake as the cat faunus did the same.

"I'm really worried about this class trip. What if we run into the White Fang out there? Can we really go all the way out to Forever Fall with a Schnee up for grabs?" Blake whispered it minutely, afraid that one of the others might overhear.

'Aaaah… that's why it sounded familiar…' Blake had told her that was where the White Fang put up their camp. From what she could recall of the map of Vale, though, the forest was a rather large place, 'And I kind of have an agreement with Adam and my mother not to target the Princess…'

Olivia turned her head in kind, careful to speak quietly, "You don't need to worry about that. I um… spoke to you-know-who. They won't be targeting Weiss since she's… under my protection?"

Blake's eyes grew wider with each word. Olivia turned away and lowered her hand to grab a slice of pizza, but was very suddenly yanked away from it as Blake dragged her from the table. Olivia stumbled over the side and righted herself, then turned back to the rest with a grin, "We'll be right back."

They were too caught up in Nora and Ruby's argument to pay them much mind. Ren gave a small wave and suggested they not be too long, having eaten so little. Olivia made a half baked remark before being led away once more. Blake pulled her through the cafeteria and out the front door, walking further from the main thoroughfare so that they wouldn't have to worry about being overheard by other students.

The wind hit Olivia full force once more, and she clenched her teeth together while her arms instinctively raised to nullify some small portion of the wind's strength. The two of them stopped beneath a tree and Olivia leaned against the opposite side, as far out of the wind as she could manage.

Blake rounded on her, "What do you mean, 'spoke to you-know-who'? Do you mean Adam!?"

Olivia scratched her chin, averting her gaze slightly from the ferocity and hurt in Blake's eyes, "I uh… yeah," she held her hands up defensively, "It wasn't planned or anything."

Blake shook slightly, her feet threatening to turn away and leave Olivia where she stood, "How… How'd you meet?"

Olivia could feel the cold threatening to make her teeth chatter, and held it back with pure force of will, "Do you remember what I told you on the roof…? My 'mother'... she joined the White Fang again. She's working with Adam now," Olivia shrugged, "Widow must have told Adam about me, enough that he wanted to introduce himself."

"And…?" Blake raised an eyebrow, the pain beginning to dull slightly in her eyes as the truth was revealed. From the sounds of it, Olivia hadn't gone out of her way to betray the other faunus.

"Well, he um… wanted to threaten me for protecting Weiss, for starters."

Blake gave her a quizzical frown, prompting Olivia to explain further, "That day when the three of us went to the Daily Grind? One of the members of the Fang that showed up was Widow. I might have… told her Weiss was off limits, and to spread the word to the rest of them. That must have gotten back to Adam, eventually."

Blake smiled slightly, her defensive posture diminishing greatly at the news that Olivia had gone out of her way to stick up for their teammate, "That must have been terrifying… What did you say when he threatened you?"

Olivia snorted in a small burst of laughter, "Told him he'd die trying," Blake's eyes narrowed, and Olivia held her hand up, "He didn't seem like the type that would be impressed by 'please', Blake. He wasn't kidding about killing me right there. If I'd shown an ounce of hesitation, he might have actually tried."

Blake shivered, "Okay… I understand. Still, you need to be more careful. Adam is the strongest faunus I've ever met."

Olivia did laugh at that one, and placed a hand dotingly on Blake's shoulder, smiling back at her sudden look of confusion, "Blake. Please. I am. Your ex wouldn't last two minutes against me."

"How can you be so sure? You lost to Pyrrha. Who's to say you wouldn't lose to him?"

"I lost to Pyrrha on purpose, silly," Olivia shook her head, feeling like the champion's secret would be safe with the reserved cat faunus, "We were both trying to lose. That fight was a total sham."

Blake's face twisted in pure confusion, and Olivia saw fit to go into further detail, "Pyrrha doesn't want to be in the limelight anymore. She saw the chance to escape it by losing against someone else who's skills were near enough to her own. I saw what she was doing, but… I couldn't win, Blake. People would recognize me if my face was suddenly plastered all over social media. I wouldn't have any other choice but to leave Beacon…"

"What did you do…?" a small amount of fear ebbed into Blake's voice, her ears straining against her ribbon in their attempt to lay flat against her head.

"I…" Olivia considered her options carefully. Ren and Nora already knew part of the truth, but only under the pretense of a lie that Olivia had been 'one of the good guys'. If she told Blake the same truth, it would be under a very different context. There weren't many ways that Olivia would be able to twist it in her own favor, and once Blake's trust was gone… Olivia wasn't sure how long their team would last.

So instead, she decided on a different truth. One that was a harsh reality… the reason she couldn't tell Blake. Olivia summoned up her courage, fixing her teammate with a determined eye… and sighed sadly.

"I can't tell you."

"Is it… Did you do something that bad?"

Olivia turned her head to the side, able to just barely see through a gap in the windows to the two teams that made up her new family. She nodded her head in their direction, turning Blake's attention to them, "That is what I would lose. The me from before… she didn't have that, Blake. She didn't have you, or Qrow, or… hope. All I had was my mother, and she… Widow was the worst influence I could have ever had. I was a young, stupid kid that lost her family, and just when I thought I'd found a new one… they all died, too. Widow was all I had left. A scared, gullible little girl with a semblance too strong for her own good. I did whatever Widow said, fell for everything she told me, took every lesson as the truth for how the world worked."

Olivia's hand on Blake's shoulder clutched tightly, drawing her focus back to the very real tears brimming in Olivia's eyes. She blinked them away, but not before the other girl's eyes widened at the sight. Her voice came out with some struggle, a hitch in its tone, "I can't, Blake. Not again. I can't lose another family. Please… you have to understand that."

Blake's hand raised to lay overtop Olivia's, fingers grasping her own warmly, "Okay, Olivia. I'll trust you. Just… don't give me a reason not to…?"

Olivia nodded in understanding, "I'll try my best. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about meeting Adam when it happened, but… I didn't want you to worry like you are now. As strong as you think he might be, Blake, I promise you. I'm stronger."

Blake laughed with a small sniff, rubbing a hand across her face, "You do kick a lot of butt."

"I kick ass, thank you very much~" Olivia grinned, sharing in the moment with her friend. With the cold beginning to take hold, Olivia nodded her chin back towards the doors to the dining hall, "Now, if you don't mind, I'd actually like to get a little food in me before we go traipsing off into the forest for Oum knows what."

Blake nodded her agreement, and the two of them returned to the interior of the dining hall. Olivia was immediately thankful to once again be enclosed within the heated space, and spared only a mild greeting upon their return before digging into the food she'd chosen.

'That went better than I could have hoped…' Olivia thought gladly, sparing an eye over to Blake who had also returned to her meal. The other faunus's mood had improved, and Olivia noted with some satisfaction that there was an almost imperceptible change in the way she sat. Where before Blake had been tense and distant, keeping herself removed from Olivia… Now she sat much more casually, an arm draped across the table near Olivia's own, their legs mere inches apart. Blake had relaxed in her presence, and it wasn't until she actually had that Olivia could even spot the difference.

'She might actually trust me now…'

Olivia grinned happily, and bumped shoulders with Blake simply because she didn't know how to express herself otherwise. Blake seemed to understand the wordless gesture and reciprocated with one of her own, playfully bumping her back before returning to the meal at hand.

Olivia's only regret in the moment was the pounding headache that was truly beginning to take hold.

By the time the bullhead touched down in the middle of Forever Fall, Olivia was beginning to regret her own stupid pride. It took a very real effort to keep herself from shaking, her head was pounding incessantly, and the dull heat behind her eyes had grown nearly tenfold. Olivia was getting by with mostly her sixth sense as a guide, choosing to keep her eyes closed more often than not when others weren't paying attention.

The ship rocked upon resting against the uneven terrain below. The ramp opened, and Miss Goodwitch was the first to step off onto the grass. The students followed, Olivia taking up the rear and suppressing a groan when her feet hit the ground, 'At least there's no wind…'

Instead, the chilling breeze had been replaced with a humid heat, her skin starting to feel clammy with the excess moisture in the air. The forest itself was rather beautiful. Tall trees basked in the sun's rays, light reflecting off and piercing through the brilliant red leaves that encompassed the canopy above. Their small waypoint was a desolate clearing of trees. A glance around showed signs of deforestation, the place they were in not a natural opening in the forest floor.

The pilot checked to see that they'd all vacated the airship, and lifted off once more to head back towards Beacon. Olivia held herself to keep her clothes from whipping in the engines' streams, and turned to face their teacher as Miss Goodwitch began to speak, leading them further into the forest itself.

Goodwitch gestured towards a pair of other students, each carrying large boxes filled to the brim with glass jars, "Today, I'll be having you assist in the collection of sap for one of Professor Peach's many projects. Included in those boxes are tools that you may use to tap the trees. Your grade for the day will depend on whether or not you manage to fill your jar," she glanced over her shoulder as they walked, noticing the many awestruck eyes enraptured by the beauty of the forest around them, "Indeed, Forever Fall is quite a sight to behold. Remain cautious, though. As always, the creatures of grimm abound, even more so within the confines of these woods. Stay on your guard, but…" she smiled, "Have fun. We'll meet back at the clearing in half an hour."

The students carrying the boxes stopped and set them down as others clamored to grab jars and tools of their own. Groups began to split off in various sizes, either with singular teams or more clumped together to enjoy what basically amounted to a free period. Eyes remained vigilant though, not forgetting to heed Miss Goodwitch's warning. No one wanted to get caught off guard by a beowolf so far from immediate medical assistance.

Olivia waited until everyone else had taken their tools before calmly stepping up to take some for herself. The rest of her team and team Lion stood waiting off to the side, Ruby in a particular hurry to get going and making no secret of it by the way she gestured for Olivia to keep up. The faunus simply sighed and followed after, remaining a dozen steps behind the others as they excitedly soaked in the sights.

Weiss and Blake were both the least impressed by the view, and were the first to notice that something seemed off about Olivia. The normal carefree attitude she possessed had been replaced by one that was more so just tired, her eyes blinking repeatedly against the harsh light and arm moving up to blot out the sun. The pair fell back, waiting for Olivia to catch up before taking places on either side of her.

"Are you alright, Olivia?" Weiss was the first to ask, hand hesitating to reach up towards the faunus girl's forehead, "You're looking really pale…"

Olivia waved her hand away, "I'm fine, just a little under the weather is all."

"Are you sure?" Blake spoke up as well, leaning forward to get a better look at Olivia's face, "I thought I noticed something was off earlier, but Weiss is right. Your eyes are pretty bloodshot, too. Were you up late last night? I fell asleep before you got back to the dorm."

"I didn't stay out that long," Olivia assured her. She paused in place a moment later as her stomach began to churn, the various scents of the forest making her more nauseous as time went on. The rest of the group had found a much smaller clearing to claim ahead, so Olivia excused herself with a few muttered words and angled off in a different direction. The two began to follow, but at a raised hand, backed away with uncertain glances between each other.

'I don't need you watching me puke…' Olivia groaned, dropping the jar and tool to the ground to pick up later in favor of holding her stomach in their stead. She shut her eyes tightly, feeling the heat build up once more now that her path had put the sun more directly in front of her. Olivia relied on her sixth sense to keep herself from tripping over any exposed roots or large stones.

She found a small group of trees tightly packed together and sat down within their midst, leaning back against the dense trunk behind her. With a little difficulty, she managed to angle Oath so that it wasn't digging the edge of its blade into her back, and allowed herself to relax. Out of direct light and mostly protected by the shade, Olivia felt at least somewhat better. Her head laid back against the tree, and she sighed deeply while the grumbling in her belly calmed.

A few minutes later, Olivia was beginning to drift off when she felt a familiar presence approaching her little hollow. She didn't have the energy to panic or jump up in her own defense, so chose to wait for the figure to approach her fully instead. After a handful of seconds had passed, her mother walked around the side of the trees and planted a hand on her hip, grinning down at the younger spider faunus.

"Lazing away while your class does all the work~?" Widow chided playfully.

Olivia ignored the remark and cocked her head to the side, frowning up at the older woman, "So the White Fang really does have its camp set up out here? I didn't think you'd try sneaking around when the entire class is out and about."

Widow made a small 'hmph' sound in her throat, "As if any of them have the skill to catch me. Besides, didn't you want me to find you? Why else did you wander so far out from the rest?" she took a closer look at Olivia, her smile faltering into worry, "Are you okay, Little Spider? You don't look so good…"

"I'm fine," Olivia began to wave Widow off like she had her own team and then groaned, the simple action causing her insides to protest once more. Not wanting to appear weak in front of the most dangerous person she knew, Olivia struggled for a moment and used the tree to support herself back to her feet. The world swayed, and she was forced to dig her fingers into the bark to keep from falling over.

"No, you're not," Widow stated matter-of-factly, looking Olivia over. Despite wanting to protest, she was in no condition to stop Widow as her mother reached out to feel her cheek, check her pulse, and lift one of her eyelids, "You need to get back to your team, Little Spider. You're worse off than you think…"

Olivia shuffled irritably and did her best to swat Widow's hand away, "I was just about to leave anyway," she took a step forward and felt her knees give out weakly, collapsing to the ground heavily. Her stomach wrenched, and she couldn't fight back the sudden urge to vomit. Her lunch came back up, splattering the grass in a disgusting display of weakness.

Widow was at her side a moment later, holding Olivia up so that she wouldn't fall further into the mess she'd made. The young faunus brought a trembling hand up to wipe off her mouth, her eyes widening in surprise when it came back smeared with blood.

"Lotus...?" Widow was shaking her worriedly as Olivia's mind began to waver. The world around her numbed, sixth sense fading away along with sound. Her strength gave way completely, and she fell to her side, eased on to the soft grass by Widow.

The last thing she could see was her mother's panicked face, shouting her name, eyes looking up to dart across the forest in search of others.

The world faded to black.

Weiss found herself continuously glancing back over her shoulder, worriedly waiting for Olivia to return. Despite what she'd said, her teammate had not looked 'fine'. Blake seemed to agree with her, the raven haired girl was only half-heartedly focusing on the task at hand. She spared a nervous glance with Weiss as the two looked back from where they'd came once more.

"It's been ten minutes," Weiss stated with a sense of finality, "I can understand if she wanted to be alone to, eh… take care of business, but hasn't that been long enough?"

Blake nodded, setting her barely filled jar off to the side, "She should have been back by now. I'm worried something may have happened to her…"

Weiss sighed in vexation and set down her nearly filled jar, spinning the top on for good measure. Ruby was busy chatting with Yang, the majority of the group too caught up in their field trip to notice their missing teammate. Weiss shrugged to Blake, "We should be able to find her well enough on our own, right?"

Blake was opening her mouth to reply when the forest was filled with a chorus of howls, the air suddenly filled with the blood curdling calls of dozens of beowolves. Weiss and Blake shared a panicked glance, pulling their weapons free and staring off into the distance where Olivia had last been seen.

"You don't think…?"

"No," Blake stated harshly, her tone betraying the fear she was truly feeling, "Olivia is more than capable of handling herself…"

The rest of their group had drawn their weapons as well, eyes scouring the forest around them for any signs of approaching beowolves. Ruby darted over to their side in a flash of red petals, a brief gust following in her wake. She looked at the two of them with a confident smile, then frowned.

"Where'd Olivia go?"

"She… she was sick, and wanted to be alone for a minute," Blake answered shamefully, not wanting to meet Ruby's worried gaze.

Their leader's eyes widened, mouth immediately setting in thin line, face twisting into one of determination, "We'll find her. Where'd you see her last?"

Blake was once more interrupted as a hoard of beowolves came charging out of the treeline.

Both teams sprang into action, cutting down the creatures of grimm that began their sudden assault upon the group of seven hunters in training. Team Lion were holding their own easily enough, not unexpected given their level of skill. Weiss raised Myrtenaster in preparation, then paused in surprise as the small, innocent Ruby became a flashing whirlwind of death.

The small red reaper blasted off with Crescent Rose, utilizing her semblance to the fullest in the way that Olivia had suggested. She moved in shorter bursts, a red blur that darted from beowolf to beowolf, stopping in place after each and immediately pivoting to attack the next. Within moments, a handful of the beasts had been cut to ribbons, their bodies becoming ash, black blood staining the long glistening blade of Crescent Rose.

Several of the beowolves backed up warily, retreating into the treeline. One in particular growled deeply, then turned to run into the woods. Blake cut down the other two before they could do the same, and Weiss gasped in panic, staring wide eyed after the remaining beowolf.

"It's headed towards where Olivia was!"

Ruby shouted, "Let's go!" and the three of them set off, sprinting into the densely packed forest in pursuit of the beowolf. The sounds of fighting continued behind them, team Lion still dealing with the remainder of the pack. Weiss kept her eyes fixated on the beast ahead of them, all the while hoping to spot Olivia in her periphery.

"There!" Blake suddenly called out, pointing ahead of them with Gambol Shroud. Lying on the ground next to a puddle of her own sick was Olivia, unconscious. Worry flashed through Weiss's mind, seeing red mixed in with the liquid already staining the grass.

The beowolf was headed straight for her.

"Oh no you don't!" Weiss shouted loudly. She raised Myrtenaster at the same time that Ruby blasted off once more in a flurry of petals. The beowolf charged at Olivia's downed form, suddenly slamming into the black glyph that Weiss had conjured.

It only had time for a single yelp before Ruby fell upon it. Her blade slashed directly through its midsection, an angry glare in her eye. With a spinning flourish, the blade whipped through the beowolves body many times over, churning its form into nothing but mincemeat. The pieces that were left fell with a sickening sound, blood pooling out beneath it even as the ashes began to form.

Blake reached Olivia first and rolled her on to her back, checking for any wounds. The source of the blood was immediately apparent, much of it staining the area around her mouth along with remnants of what had come from her stomach. Blake grabbed Olivia by the arm and hefted her up. Weiss followed suit and wrapped her arm around the other side, placing her shoulder into the crook of Olivia's armpit to assist.

Ruby's hand dipped into her pocket, retrieving her scroll. She pulled it open hurriedly and dialed Miss Goodwitch. The call went through instantly, and Ruby tilted the video feed so that their teacher would see the state their teammate was in. Their leader's adrenaline had vanished, replaced with a shaky panic, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes.

"Olivia is sick! We need to get her back to Beacon, right now!"

Miss Goodwitch nodded firmly, "Can you get her back to the evac point?"

"On it!"

The call was swiftly ended, Miss Goodwitch presumably calling to request the bullhead's immediate return. Ruby kept her scythe at the ready, watery eyes scouring the woods while the other two supported Olivia, carrying the small faunus girl between them.

"Olivia! Can you hear me?" Weiss tried to get a response out of her, anything as they hurried through the trees, careful to disturb their teammate as little as possible.

Weiss heard a gasping sigh escape Olivia's mouth, and her heart rose with hope for their teammate's well being.

It was viciously stripped away by the blood that followed it, dribbling from between Olivia's lips and down her chin.

Weiss shook with fear, but continued all the same. She repeated the same words over and over in her head, a true sense of panic setting in.

'Please be okay. Please be okay…'

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Thanks for reading,

- Sybaen