Hello again everyone! How are you doing?

Chapter 44 is here. I hope you enjoy it!

As always, thank you so much for keeping up with the story; I am grateful to all of you! See you next week!

February 3rd, 86

City of Mantle

Once more, Weiss found herself walking over the snow-covered streets of Mantle in the early morning. Yesterday's snowfall had left the city in a half-frozen state, but the immense cold didn't bother her.

Ok, if she wanted to be honest, it bothered her a little, but clearing her thoughts was more important than her health. She laughed at the stupid thought that just passed through her mind.

The girl walked across a large parking district. It was of course so early that only a few cars were left in it. It was better this way.

Not many people to bother her were around and her girlfriend was still asleep. Blake was meeting Ilia, so there was plenty of time for a walk.

Standing at the edge of the road, she stood up, looking at the grey sky. Today was going to be another dull day- like yesterday. And it was all her fault.

Ms. Flinch was barely around, visiting her grandchildren in Argus for the winter. Mr. Polendina and Penny were outside the kingdom as well, in some sort of scientific mission to Vacuo.

That gave Blake and Yang lots of space to stretch around- and lots of time to try and be around Weiss as well. There was nothing else to do in the lower city; and thanks to her, the team's morale was anything but high.

Unsurprisingly, both girls had been extremely careful with how they treated her. They gave her tons of space, didn't press or question her when she told them her decision and respected her stupid wishes.

For some reason, that kind of gentle treatment made the Atlesian woman feel even worse. Weiss rubbed her cheek- it was getting numb. A sensation her heart and spirits seemed to share with it lately.

Only Nora's gift book, for some reason, managed to offer her a tiny bit of amusement. She felt like she could share a little of Blake's fascination with books now; it was great to lose yourself inside them for a while.

Her scroll rang. She picked it up, briefly seeing Ruby's smiling image displayed at the caller's ID. Weiss sighed and pushed the 'Yes' button.

"Good morning, Ruby. How are you?" "Good morning, Weiss! I am fine! Vale is still cold, but not even close to Atlas!" the chipper voice replied.

"That's good to hear; how's everyone doing?" she asked, her voice more emotionless than she liked it to be. She might have been not in her best of days, but she truly cared for the others. Ruby knew that.

"Jaune's recuperating fast! Goodwitch told him that in a few days he will be stationed to Cypress for official training with Nora's division! She was so excited; we nearly lost a wall when I told her!"

A small smile appeared on the pale woman's face. Of course he would get over it; Arc is strong, unlike someone else. "Weiss, you are thinking something stupid, aren't you?"

"Is there any point denying it?" she conceded without even a fight. But her partner wouldn't have any of it. "Weiss, you have it tough. I know you do. We all know you do" she emphasized that part.

"I know, Ruby. I know I am not being myself lately, but I just… need some more time." She licked her lips to warm them "I know there is no reason to avoid the surgery, but-"

"You don't feel ready for it, Weiss. This is more than enough reason for me. And I can guarantee Blake and Yang feel the same. If you need more time, take it."

Weiss smiled as her leader finished her morning sermon. "We are all going to be there for you, anytime you decide, no matter what you decide."

"Thank you, Ruby" Weiss touched her eye patch. The cold seemed to hurt it again. "But please, talk to Yang at some point. You know how much it pains her to see you like this" the reaper added.

"I know. But I have no idea what to tell her. I can't even stand to look myself in a mirror, how am I supposed to talk with Yang? Especially when I don't know what to tell her?"

"How about 'I love you, please bear with me for a while?' Does this sound good?" The familiar voice made Weiss' veins freeze. She turned around- and came face to face with the tall blonde woman.

This is the second time in a week I get eavesdropped without noticing! Damn, Schnee! "Ruby, we will talk later. Give everyone my best regards and tell Zwei I love him. Goodbye."

She lowered her scroll, under Yang's fierce, yet caring glare. "How did you find me?" she blurted, despite the answer being fairly obvious.

"You have been doing this every single morning last week, taking the same route at the same hour, thinking that I am fast asleep."

"I see…" she looked away, shrinking under the blonde's gaze. "Sorry for waking you up; you have been pretty exhausted lately."

"It's for you; so I don't care." Yang walked closer to her "but I care about seeing you like this, Snowpuff. When are you going to talk to me about your problem? Like you always do?"

"I…" the pale woman didn't raise her head. The same thing happened again, like it did every time she wanted to talk to her team about her fears.

The eye throbbed with immense pain. She endured. Yang looked at her sadly. Weiss wanted to tell her something, anything, but… "Words aren't coming out, do they?" the taller girl finally asked her.

"I'm sorry…" she whimpered. Why was she acting this way? Why was she suddenly so hesitant to talk to her family? Why were Whitley's stupid words still lingering inside her head? "It just feels…"

"Like your heart got sealed" the warm voice was closer. Weiss could easily feel her breathing next to her ears. "Yes…"

"You feel hollow. You have lost the will to do anything positive or creative, because it seems pointless to you" Yang continued. "Yes…" she blinked a few tears away.

"You keep telling yourself that this is normal and you should accept it, but still fight your own feelings away. You are wallowing and finding comfort in self-pity, like slowly sinking in thick water."

"…" Weiss turned her gaze upwards and starred at her lover's warm gaze. "You are slowly sinking to the dark pit, but refuse to even try escaping your fate."

She closed her eyes, accepting the truth of these words. "Everything looks different now to you, even me. And that's the problem. You are afraid to admit it. Because it sounds stupid, doesn't it?"

"It IS stupid!" for the first time in quite a few weeks, Weiss screamed at her. Had she not been taken aback, Yang would be smiling with joy right now.

"I survived! I fought a battle no one else did! I sealed an ancient evil on my own and lived to tell the tale! Ruby was grinning like an idiot when I told her what I did! And yet…AND YET!"

Weiss gave a slow, almost childish, punch a Yang's shoulder "there is no reason for me to feel this way! I should be happy and prideful! Those feelings… are wrong! They shouldn't exist! I should be better than this!"

Yang's arms wrapped Weiss, allowing the girl to hide her shame inside her hug. "You can't be accusing yourself of what you feel, Snowpuff."

"It's wrong and stupid!" she muffled. "Your feelings exist, no matter what you are trying to tell yourself. The wrong part is ignoring or fighting them."

She gripped her harder, and whispered in her ear. "Trust me; I have been there. I have felt the exact same thing. It took me months to get over it. To realize how wrong I was, trying to fight my fears instead of resolving them."

"It's not the same; you are strong. You have always been." "And you are even stronger." "How come?" Yang smiled, despite Weiss not being able to see it.

"You are Weiss fucking Schnee; the W of team RWBY. The Warrior Princess of SHU. The woman who defies all logic and caution when it is about the ones she loves."

She hugged her even tighter "but for some reason always fails to take care of herself." "I feel numb…" the petite girl whispered. "I love you so much… but I can't feel anything right now."

"I know…" Yang whispered back "trust me Snowflake. I know that better than anyone. And I promise to you; I won't let you alone in this."

"You don't have to wait for-" "Don't finish that stupid line, Weiss. I am here. No matter what you want to do from now on- be it returning to action or retiring to a farm and tending to cows- I am here for you."

"I am sure I don't want to tend to cows" she slightly chuckled. "Thank Dust, cause I was kidding" Yang laughed back.

They stayed like this for a while, paying no heed to the chilling atmosphere. "I love you Yang. Please bear with me for a little more."

She nodded in affection "anything for my Princess. I am not ever leaving you alone. Ever."

-o—

Unlike the peace and quiet of the civilian district, the industrial area was already bustling. Starting their jobs quite early in the morning, the workers and miners of Mantle didn't have the luxury of enough rest.

The faunus population who formed them was already on the run, drying and cleaning the humidity off the mechanical apparatuses- the very lifeline of thousands of people around them.

Slowly and steadily, the loud hum of large machinery echoed in the freshly-cleaned roads and the bright red dust illuminated the powerful forges that supported the city's main heating facilities.

Around the main buildings and offices, countless convoys made of workers were already leaving for the mines, passing by and ignoring the small, abandoned alleys broken pieces of equipment were stacked in.

Inside such an alley, Blake was chatting with a petite shorter girl. They were both tugged in heavy winter coats with hoods pulled on to conceal their faces.

Having not changed a lot since Blake had last seen her, Ilia still tied up her brown hair in a chameleon-shaped ponytail. Her outfit was also including the same Maroon-colored jeans she had picked up in Mistral.

Her blue-grayish eyes shone with a little bit of playfulness as she finished the telling of her story. "Wait, so you never asked her if she truly liked you?" the cat-girl asked.

"She… wasn't inspiring. Save for the physical part, that is" Ilia's face literally flushed red, her dark spots of her skin getting a dark brown tinge. "I just never felt the need to go after her; that's all."

"That makes us how many, seven, this year? I never thought you would turn out to be such a heart robber, Ilia" Blake chuckled. "I am not doing it on purpose!" she replied. "Not everyone can find a Blake for them, tell your stupid fiancé."

"Sun says he misses you too" she ignored the jab. "And for the record, he tried a lot to finally make me crack. You can't be sure if it's worth it if you are pulling away when the first problem appears."

The red hue got swapped with a slightly greenish one. "How can I say for sure if a person is worth fighting for? It's not easy, you know."

"It never is. And unfortunately, there is no method for it. But your style of not getting too close is a no go in such cases." The chameleon girl nodded "I guess you are right. Again."

"Don't be like that" Blake gently smiled at her old friend. "Despite what we have experienced, we are still young- take your time to find what you are looking for." She then took a more serious expression.

"Speaking of time, your informant is running late. I hope he is not pulling anything funny on us." The brunette shook her head and checked the path in front of them.

"Even Gray's minions are not so foolish as to pull a stunt in the middle of Mantle industrial area. Worst case scenario, he just chickened out and left."

"That's impossible" a low, heavy voice interrupted them. Both women slowly and carefully turned around and saw a figure enter the alley from a back door.

Blake stared at Ilia in astonishment "Carlo Custard? That is your informant?" The other girl nodded in approval. "Carlo is one of the few ex-WF members still working with Fenris, so it was easy reaching him."

"Yes. He is also one of the people closest to him. Why would you ever betray Fenris, Carlo?" she stared at the man in disbelief.

"There have been quite a few implications, Blake. It's good to see you again" he calmly remarked. "But to ease your concerns, there is no such thing as 'chicken out' when one has decided to cross Blood Moon."

"Then why? You were one of the most adamant in supporting him back then. What changed?" she was confused, indeed, but if Carlo was truly betraying his leader then they might actually have a chance finding him.

"Gray has lost it. And before you say he already was a lunatic, let me stop you. He is a cold, calculating, bloodthirsty beast, but he never was foolish. Until we pillaged our latest convoy, that is."

"The attack in Dobaroth? What was so special about it?" Ilia asked. The man scoffed. "Yes- which led in another assault to a secret facility stationed near Everfrost Peak."

"Why would anyone be interested in that God-forsaken place?" the chameleon girl gasped. Next to her, Blake was listening intently.

"Taking it down the Dobaroth convoy was a mere supply run. But that wasn't the problem. What came after is. Among the prisoners we took, was a weird old man carrying a talisman with him."

"Talisman?" the cat girl's eyebrow rose. "Yes. The senile fool was some sort of street preacher, telling all sorts of idiotic stories. And for some reason, Gray believed them!"

"Wait; are you telling me the Old Wolf suddenly turned religious?" she asked again. "I find it hard to believe-"

"I am not talking about religion, Belladonna" he cut her. "That senile fool showed Gray something. That something made him cancel all of our plans and settle down there."

"That sounds weird, but barely a reason to betray him" Ilia commented. "You didn't see him, Amitola" the man's eyes bulged as he leaned over them and whispered.

"You didn't see him throwing away all his weapons and armor, changing them with ceremonial robes. You didn't see him going out to hunt Grimm on his own and then return, bathed in their blood and bearing scars and wounds that wouldn't heal."

"That…" "You were not there to see him order us carry large ceremonies, praying loudly to forsaken things. You didn't hear the wind howl in the night, or see shadows cast in walls without anything to create them!"

Ilia was speechless; Carlo had been a seasoned warrior and a battle-hardened veteran that had once faced a group of paladins with his team and survived to tell the tale.

But this behavior was… out of the ordinary. She turned around to ask Blake- and stopped, taking in the rare frightened expression of her friend.

"Carlo… those stories… can you describe me what the old man said?" "I have no idea. Gray is the only one who managed to get them out of the preacher. And with intense effort, mind you."

"Do you maybe remember the talisman? The one he wore?" she asked, visibly shaken. "That I remember. It was a gold talisman with green gems, very beautiful. Could easily fetch a high price, but Gray took it for him."

"Do you remember its pattern maybe?" He took in a thoughtful expression. "It was the head of a Grimm; an Ursa I think?"

Blake felt her heart stop for a couple seconds. The coincidences were way too many for her to even consider denying it. That man had a connection to Cherry somehow.

And he had talked to one of the most dangerous faunus of all Remnant, revealing him Dust knows how many information about things she didn't even want to consider.

Her mind went to Weiss, bleeding out of her left eye. Ruby, pressing a wet bandage to her shoulder. Yang, holding her broken rib while running. Blake shivered. No… of all things, NOT THIS!

She took a few rasped breaths, forcing her tense nerves to relax. After she had significantly managed to calm down, she heard Ilia asking the man.

"Thank you Carlo. I promise we will make good use of your information. But tell me one more thing. Who owns this facility?"

He looked around before he finally replied. "It belongs to Carmel Communications Company."

-o—

"That fits with what I wanted to tell you" Ruby's voice sounded through the scroll. "It could be a coincidence for all I know" Blake replied in her headphone while storming through the streets.

According to standard protocols, she and Ilia had followed different routes after their encounter with Carlo had ended.

She then had immediately decided to talk to her leader, since she didn't know the state Weiss and Yang were in. Surprisingly, it seemed Ruby wanted to talk to her as well.

"I don't think so, Blake" the reaper answered in a rare display of out-of-field seriousness. "I wanted to tell you this when you were all together, but yesterday Lumia finished the cracking of the first archive of Merlot's files."

"And?" she asked. "Did it reveal anything?" "According to the files, only six companies ordered such alloys during the last ten years. And one among them is Carmel Communications."

"You just dispelled all of my doubts Ruby. Someone inside this company is working with Alizar and Cherry." "Mhm~" "So, we have to find a way to infiltrate them and find who this might be." "Mhm~"

The black-haired beauty stopped walking. "You already have a plan, don't you?" The giggle that sounded instead of an answer confirmed it.

"Erik told me that Carmel Comms is holding anniversary ball tomorrow night! So, team WBY, under the command of Weiss-Captain, will send its three fashionable ladies to infiltrate it!"

"What?" "Your mission; find the one connecting Fenris' prisoner, Alizar, Cherry and Yugure. I will probably reach Atlas the day after the ball to see how we will proceed from there!"

"Wait, Ruby! This is-" "I wish you all good luck! We will be in touch! See you!" The phone shut and Blake remained in the middle of the street, right in front of Ms. Flinch's house.

Without realizing it, she stepped in; still trying to process the information she had received in one single morning. And came face to face with Weiss' naked back.

Fortunately for the faunus, only the petite girl's back was naked. Next to her Yang stood, a measuring tape in her hand and a pen in her ear.

"Hello Blake! Judging from your face, Ruby just told you the plan, didn't she?" the blonde asked after she shut the door behind her. "I will be done with Weiss in a few minutes then will take your measures."

"You mean you are ok with this?" Yang grinned. "I believe it's an excellent plan. Much better than sitting around brooding all day."

Yellow eyes fell on cyan hoping for support but to her dismay, there was none. "I don't like it as well, but it suits me more than fighting at this point" she flatly announced.

"…" Yang smiled softly and turned at her "it is our chance to take the initiative for once, Kitten. It is either take it or leave it. The World will not stand still for our sake."

-o—

In an office on top of a high tower in Atlas, Sophia Carmel finished hearing the record of Ruby Rose's and Blake Belladonna's phone call.

Smiling, she lit a cigarette and sat back at her chair. So, you will come to me on your own, will you? Well, that works even better. She exhaled and sent a series of smoke rings across her desk.

Team RWBY, Fenris… I will crush you all in your very own game like ants. I will make you regret picking a fight with me!