Chapter 7: Long Hunt

Winter!

Dazed, reeling from the revelation, Weiss reached for her rapier before it slid off the breastplate she stood on, clawed at it like a madwoman seeking a torch in the dark. A long, guttural moan came out of Winter — misery incarnate — and forced a twinge into Weiss' chest, her sister, her very own sister was still in there! Winter was immersed in a pitch-black mass of Grimm flesh, her left arm reaching for Weiss, her skin pale and protected only by a thin body suit, the veins blackened.

Was she in pain? Was it a trick of the Grimm? A new type, one that could take the form of their enemies? Weiss planted Myrtenaster's blade on the Dragon's armor with one hand, clutched Winter's forearms with the other. She pulled with all her might, strained her body with Aura, pulling her sister, even as the Grimm flesh refused to give, as if the act itself would free her from the dark prison.

Penny landed at her side, confused, unable to distinguish the boundary between what she should do and what could be done. As if the Grimm-flesh reacted to her presence, it drew Winter in, threatened to swallow her whole, like quicksand. Penny took flight again, yet the damage was done, Winter was sinking into it faster than Weiss could pull her out..

Weiss checked her surroundings, looking for her team. Still too far away, all of them.

Desperation took hold of Weiss as she turned to Penny, "Do something!"

In the heat of the moment, Penny determined her floating swords were the only tool in her arsenal that could do much in such a situation. She commanded the swords with hand motions, they sliced away as they cleaved freely through the air, around the edges of the rift left by the railgun shot. For every second that passed a handful of Grimm-flesh was cut off, discarded and destroyed.

Again, Weiss pulled, unknowing if it would save her sister from the abomination she was sealed into. Could she even survive outside it? Was she even alive? For long seconds, she was stuck in that tug-of-war with the unfeeling Grimm-flesh. Some of it yielded to her pull, peeled out from the head, shoulders and some of Winter's torso, most of it did not. The pitch black sinew multiplied as if it pulled from an infinite well, dark ribbons shot out and entangled themselves around her body, Penny's swords, and nearly Penny herself.

No, no!

Myrtenaster's blade bent as the strips of Grimm tendons pulled both Winter and Weiss, for a moment she was thankful for Ruby's craftsmanship — a lesser weapon would've broken under the same stress — and a groan of frustration escaped her. Slowly, she was being dragged into the Dragon herself, and her strength alone was not enough anymore.

Tendrils of black Grimm-flesh flowed around Penny's swords, braided along the thin, almost invisible to the eye strings that corrected Penny to the weapons. They were still awake and aware, somehow.

Weiss heard Ruby use her Semblance, coming from behind and to her right. She landed at her side in the blink of an eye, as quickly as she ebbed between human and petal-storm forms, "What is- Oh gods!"

Thankfully, as Weiss' partner, Ruby was mostly accustomed to adapting quickly in the thick of action. She shifted Crescent Rose into a scythe and cut, reaped tendrils as they ripped forth from what she could only assume was a ravenous instinct, the defense mechanism stalled.

Next was Yang, who jumped behind Weiss. She dug a heel into the breastplate, hard enough to bend the metal, then wrapped her arms around Weiss' waist, and pulled hard. A bit too hard, enough it forced the breath out of Weiss entirely.

At last, Blake joined them, cutting the last dozen of tendrils. Along with Ruby, she took hold of Winter's other arm, together, the four of them pulled…

Above them, Penny pulled her swords back, stopping her assault. Too many people in place to do it safely.

"Hurry, we have company incoming!" Penny said. She was looking south, to where Atlas was, where the Dragon had come from. Weiss noticed no enemy, but she trusted Penny's assessment, she had likely seen enemies in the distance.

Snap! A cold shiver passed through Weiss before she realized it wasn't a part of her sister that popped and went taunt, it was something else, were they coming close to ripping her from that dark flesh, or was it merely a trick of her senses?

Snap-snap-snap! The sound of Grimm fibers breaking, they were close!

Again they pulled, a group effort… the resistance increased, the amorphous Grimm-flesh doubled its strength, one last attempt to confine Winter…

Blake leaped forward and loaded a gravity Dust round into Gambol Shroud, her sword-gun. She used her Semblance, shuffling back and leaving a purple clone in her place. A moment later it detonated, pushing them all away.

Snap!

Team Ruby went flying, Winter in Weiss' arms, she was free!

They hit the snow with a deafened thump. Barely had the realization that her sister was in her arms to come to Weiss when she noticed the outburst of Grimm coming from inside the Dragon's armor. Tendrils attacked the air aimlessly, and from the back, like spiderwebs with minds of their own, the liquid flesh formed a skeletal frame, then membranes… Wings?

Penny shot a laser at the wound, merely stalled the growth.

Winter! Weiss thought. In a panic, she pressed a finger under her sister's jaw, checked for a pulse. A long second went by, fear gripped her heart…

A pulse. Frail, but it was present. Weiss let out a sigh of relief, entirely aware they weren't completely out of danger's sightline yet.

Ruby was the first to get up, followed by Yang, Blake, then Weiss. In the air, Penny fired another salvo at the Dragon, a quick burst of green laser blasts shaved away another mound of blackened flesh.

"We need to get out of here. Now!" Ruby said.

Yang pointed east, "I kept the h-bikes nearby, we can make a run for it."

"Penny!" Ruby called, "Retreat!" She was the first one to move, leading the group to their vehicles.

Weiss placed Winter over her shoulders, Running as fast as her legs allowed. She could hear Yang and Blake's hurried footsteps behind her, Penny's laser above as she kept up with the group, attacking as they abandoned the area.

An Aura instinct shocked Weiss, danger, incoming! By instinct, and virtue of having no enemies in her view, Weiss summoned a Glyph behind herself, a blockage just in time to stop a sharpened tendril from attacking. She looked back, it had passed through the gap between Blake and Yang, the only two behind her. Instead of flailing around itself, the Dragon had opted for a more focused attack.

"Whoa," Yang said, "Nice going, Ice Queen."

They raced away from the Dragon, moved between a pair of spiking rock formations, both about as tall as the dragon itself. Penny flew around the peaks, behind them were the trio of hoverbikes, waiting for them.

She landed beside Weiss, her arms outstretched, "Let me carry her, I'm riding alone, it'll be less effort for you and Ruby!"

Weiss hesitated for a moment, and Penny, likely mindful of their time limit, gave her a knowing look, "I'll keep your sister safe. Trust me."

Aware that they had no time for disagreements, Weiss let Penny take her sister. Carefully, the woman carried Winter, one arm under her legs, the other supporting her back.

"It'll be a little awkward if she wakes though," Penny mused as she climbed on the hoverbike.

The remainder of her team looked at Weiss, shocked. Ruby shifted Crescent Rose back to a more compact rifle form.

"That lady is your sister?" Ruby asked, her eyes wide as she mounted the hoverbike.

"What-who did you think it was?" Weiss asked in return.

Yang cut in, "I don't know, some civilian, maybe? She's much taller than you." Already she was riding with Blake, her hoverbike ready for action. Weiss took her own spot behind Ruby.

The dragon let out a blaring roar, a reminder that their time was running short.

"That's not important right now!" Blake said. "I think we should hide in the base mountains."

"Yes, there are cave systems!" Weiss recalled.

In moments they were riding out, Ruby's hoverbike flanked from behind by the two others. The mountains were crowned by jagged peaks, dark gray rocks covered by frost and snow, but the base was what they looked for. There were ravines between them, and they could be used as pathways too narrow for the Dragon to follow. It would cover their tracks well.

Weiss realized — with some amount of confort amid the stress of discovering her sister in such dreadful state — that the thought was some of Blake's own tactics and knowledge bringing influence to her own. Blake, she realized, had been the one to finally free Winter as well. In their Academy days, Blake would likely have done the same, but would Weiss have put herself on the line for a member of the White Fang? In past times, maybe not, and such was a mark of shame

Their hoverbike soared over a hill, diving deep into a crevice between mountains. Yang's and Penny's followed closely behind.

A long and narrow path laid in front of them, the wind howled above as it ran between the mountains. Mere air currents, but they sounded like people sometimes, a haunting and low-pitched sound. Down at the level they were at the snow didn't reach, it was mostly dirt and rocks covered by snow.

At the speed they journeyed, Weiss couldn't hear Ruby, but the signal, pointing to a nearby opening in the wall, was clear. Perhaps not ideal, as it was a bit too tall and narrow, more of a crack in the wall than propper shelter, but they were in no situation where they could seek out others. Weiss responded with a series of hand signals: Better than out here, she said.

Swerving into the cave, as the last one entered they all switched off the hoverbikes simultaneously, stood silent.

In the distance the Dragon was flying, Weiss leaned closer to the opening, listened attentively, filtered out the sounds of the wind. It wasn't flying their way, it was… returning to Atlas.

Retreating for repairs, perhaps?

Weiss turned to her team, "I think we're safe, for now."

The 'cave' was likely the best they could ask for at the moment. More of a hole in the wall than a true cave, It was only a few meters deep. Enough they could leave the hoverbikes by the inner wall, set up a snowtent and still have some room to spare, away from the ravine and possibly prying Grimm.

Penny climbed down from her hoverbike, still holding Winter. Yang opened the compartiment in the back, fished out an emergency kit.

"I think we have a few spare sleeping bags and fire and ice batteries," Yang said.

Yang separated the snowtent from the rest. It was folded into a cylinder, the gray mesh of fabric had several layers to it, the most superficial fabric being a hexagonal net, conductors, Weiss knew there were some on the inside layer as well, it made it they could use fire Dust for warmth without generating light, as well as ice Dust for camouflage, creating a layer of snow over the tent. It was a piece of technology from the Yamainuk, the natives of Solitas, dating from before the war.

Though they'd preferred the snow domes for the less temporary settlements.

Weiss unfolded it, revealing the square cloth, big enough it gave all six of them enough space to lay comfortably. There was a small gray plastic panel at one edge inside a pocket, one that housed only a single blue button. As she pressed it, the cloth expanded into a curved pyramid, the edges, where sides connected, hardened almost as quickly. It was the telescoping rods inside, extending. One one side was a circular cut, closed by a zipper, Weiss opened it.

The inside was somewhat dark, at the very center was one of the telescoping rods, holding the tip of the pyramid upright like a pillar. The floor was cushioned enough to make it almost inviting.

Penny and Yang entered, opened a sleeping back and draped iot access the floor, then laid Winter on top of it.

Ruby and Blake were at Weiss' side, "What happened to her?" asked Ruby.

Weiss shook her head, "I don't know. Winter wouldn't choose something like this, ever."

There was a moment of silence as Blake and Ruby looked at eachother. Ruby held Weiss' hand, aware of the stress that afflicted Weiss. It wasn't something that came up often, but Ruby and Yang were sisters, they likely worried about one another just as much, right? Their connection was the only sight Weiss ever had into what a normal family might look like after all.

Weiss hugged Ruby, reality striking her all at once, like a flurry of jabs all across her body. Her sister, her own sister, a part of that disgusting weapon? The Winter knew would rather die than become whatever that was. She was strong, resolute, even as a Specialist.

At least, such was Weiss' guess. She hadn't seen her sister in so long, and that was before moving to Vale, before Beacon.

Her state was… Like a corpse, Weiss realized, the painful thought stabbing into her mind. The pale skin, darkened veins were almost lifeless, the heartbeast was likely a miracle. Was it a Grimm infection? Such wasn't possible, the Aura would kill it for sure. How bad must it have been, to overcome a natural defense any Aura-enhanced person carried, was it dampened by some mechanical component?

"We'll find out what happened then," Ruby said. "She'll be fine, I promise."

By the Gods Ruby, is it so bad you must break our Rules now? We don't make promises we're not sure we can keep, to anyone. Civilian or teammate alike, Weiss thought. She merely smiled back and nodded before Ruby entered the snowtent.

For some time, only she and Blake remained outside, their back to the tend, watching the ravine. Neither spoke a word, there was merely the stark contrasts between the two of them: Blake black haired and donned in black, Weiss, dressed in white and white haired herself. She remembered the nickname their team attack callout had when they attended Beacon, Checkmate.

Weiss gathered the courage to speak, "Thank you, by the way."

Blake raised an eyebrow, "For what?"

"For saving my sister, maybe? If it wasn't for you, I don't think we could've pulled her out of there."

Blake smiled, looked away, "I suspected she was something like that. You don't talk about your family much."

"There's a reason for that, you know. Winter was the best, but most of what I remember was our training sessions where she had me fighting until I couldn't even stand anymore."

Blake chuckled alongside Weiss, then glanced at the tent, "I suppose that explains a few things. You two don't look alike, she's..."

From inside the snowtent, Yang let out a laugh, "Much taller than our Ice Queen?"

"Hey!" Weiss protested.

Blake looked away again, "Let us just keep it at 'different'."

"Let's. Still, thank you. It could've been easy," Weiss said.

"Why do you think so?" Blake asked.

"Well, for starters she was probably that Dragon's core. A more… practical approach would've just killed her, she would've been an acceptable loss, if it meant killing that dragon for good."

"But it didn't, and we couldn't know it would, or if she's just a host," Blake contended.

"That is true. It's why I like Beacon so much more, an atlesian sergeant would've taken the chance and shot her dead, then and there. Plus she's a Schnee like me, I know at least half the people on this continent want us dead anyways."

Blake looked horrified at that, "What, Weiss-"

Weiss continued, "Maybe that's what happened, isn't it? Maybe someone in the military had her poisoned in her sleep. Who cares if she's not the SDC, at least they'd be getting some form of payback, right?"

"Weiss-"

"And then making her into a weapon of war, a Grimm to rub salt on the wound. They couldn't get their hands on Jacques so they went for my sister! Assassins! Or maybe she chose this-"

"Weiss!" Blake gripped her arm, the jolt making her realize she was exalted, almost screaming.

"Sorry," Blake said, letting go of her arm.

"It's okay," Weiss said. She was losing control, in a time such as this, where self-control and sanity was key to a clear mind, and a road to victory. She couldn't lose her bearings so early in a hunt, there were still weeks, maybe months of hunting ahead.

Blake continued, "I wouldn't have killed her."

"What?" Weiss asked.

"Maybe some people would've done what you said, but from what you said, at least I think we can be glad your sister wasn't that Dragon by choice."

Weiss tilted her head to the side, "How can you tell?"

"She left your noble house, right?" Blake asked.

"As soon as she was seventeen. Before Jacques could officially make her the heir."

Blake smiled, "I did pretty much the same when I left the White Fang. Did she leave because of the SDC, like you?"

"As far as I remember," Weiss said.

"I knew plenty of people in the White Fang who would've jumped at the chance to kill a Schnee. You remember the chainsaw guy from the train, during the Breach, right? Or Adam?"

Weiss nodded.

Blake shifted on her feet, "There were others like them. They weren't fighting because it was necessary, or because freeing slaves took vilent action, destroying as many of those android knights as possible, for instance. Some were just there for the violence, revenge. So I left."

"Some would say revenge is warranted. Even I want my father gone, from time to time," Weiss admitted.

Blake looked at the grund, pensive, "Maybe. But tell me this, Weiss, how many slaves did you put in Dust mines since you left House Schnee? How many shock collars disguised as jewelry did you build?"

Weiss brows furrowed, "None, I-"

"Exactly, none. You chose to leave, and your sister did the same before you. That's something Adam's White Fang couldn't understand. It's how I know she wouldn't choose this to herself. Would we?"

Would we? The thought echoes in Weiss' mind, an impossible reality to even consider. She would never choose to become a weapon for the SDC, much less one of the Grimm they hunted. She shook her head.

Blake moved to Yang's hoverbike, opened the back compartment, "So let's lighten up a little bit. I think there's some herbal team packed into our kits."

"You packed them yourself didn't you?" Weiss asked.

Blake glanced back at Weiss for a moment, "Guilty."

She took out the kit, a kettle powered by fire Dust. They sat side-by side on a pair of stones near the edge of the whole, still staging out at the poured tea in Weiss' cup, a sturdy, metal one.

"What was it like, when you were children?" Blake asked.

Weiss recalled as far as she could, "It was… good, I think. I don't know, actually. We always knew our family wasn't normal at least."

"It's hard to know that when we're the only perspective we have, right? Tell me more."

"We used to sneak around the manor a lot, I hear that's normal."

Blake let out a laugh, "Playing hide and seek?"

"You could say that. Jacques didn't like it when we were out of our rooms, had some servants keeping their eyes on us. It became something of a game, you know?"

Blake chuckled, "You, sneaking around? I don't know if I can see it."

"Winter did most of the work there. Taught me how to walk in the rhythm of the wind, to mask the sound of my footsteps. That and how to keep an internal metronome mentally, to time the servant shifts."

"Geez, you had to go that far?"

"We didn't really have to, it was just better than staying in our rooms all day."

"And you were how old again?"

"About seven, I think? Winter was fifteen back then."

"Reminds me of the little kids back in Menagerie. We have so many houses built with wooden floorboards, they learned not to put too much of their weight in a single step. Silent little shits, all just so they could sneak out to hang out with each other late at night. It became something of a tradition, believe it or not."

"I guess it was some of the same back home, a tradition at least. Jacques would up security, we'd find ways around it. That and most noble houses had to worry about assassins."

"Sharp ears, right? Learning to filter out sounds, listen for unknown footsteps…"

"Yeah!" Weiss laughed, and Blake joined her. The shared experience had somehow never come up between the two of them, they certainly had more in common than the eye could see.

"How did we never talk about this?" Weiss asked.

Blake smiled, "I don't know. I guess some things we just take for granted."

Weiss nodded.

The minutes passed, and the two of them spent the time drinking their tea. It made Weiss glad, a brief respite, without pressure, with a friend. Finally, Penny opened the tent's zipper.

"Weiss," she called, "You may want to come in."