"We should head back." Blake is the first to break the comfortable silence that's fallen over them. "Jaune and the others were pretty worried when you disappeared like that."

"Sorry," Ruby says with a wince. She hadn't even thought about how her friends would feel when she'd run off, she'd just know that she had to get out of there. "I should have said something."

"Nah, it's not your fault," Yang insists, slinging an arm around Ruby's shoulders. She shivers slightly; she hadn't noticed just how cold it had gotten outside until she felt herself surrounded by her sister's warmth. "We should have actually talked to you about what was happening, instead of making you feel like you had to handle it all by yourself."

"But Blake is right, we should be getting back to the house," Weiss says. "It's getting pretty late, and we've got a lot to do tomorrow."

"Plus, you look like you're about to fall asleep on your feet, Rubes," her sister teases. As if on cue, Ruby yawns widely, feeling herself flush under her sister's knowing gaze. "C'mon, up you get." She's hoisted onto her sister's back before she can insist that she's fine to walk back on her own, managing only a few half-hearted protests in the process.

It's tempting to just let herself fall asleep once she's warmer and finally off her feet, but Ruby tries to keep awake as they make their way to the house. "When are we going to tell the others about what happened with the lamp?" she asks quietly. A small, selfish part of her is hoping that they'll say that they've already talked about what happened and dealt with the fallout, so that there's one less thing that she has to worry about.

Unsurprisingly, that isn't the case. "We were planning on telling them tomorrow morning," Blake replies.

"No point in getting everyone riled up tonight," Yang agrees. "We'll talk about it once we've all gotten some sleep. We were planning on swinging by the base tomorrow, too, to try to find a way to get to Atlas."

Nodding against her sister's neck, Ruby lets out a tired sigh. She doesn't even try to hide the relief in her voice when she replies, "Sounds good to me."

"Speaking of the lamp," Weiss begins hesitantly, sounding thoughtful, and maybe a little nervous. "We still have one question left. If you wanted to fill in some gaps, Ruby, you have that option."

Before she's even finished speaking, Ruby is shaking her head. Blake and Yang both stare at Weiss like she's grown a second head. "What?" Weiss snaps, clearly flustered. "I'm not saying that we should go in there right now and do it. I'm just throwing it out there as a suggestion."

Ruby is the one who responds first. "I appreciate the idea, Weiss," Ruby replies quietly. "But the lamp only has one question left, and we can only ask three questions every one hundred years. Let's save it for something really important. I'd rather not waste the last question on something like me and my memories. Especially when I know that you guys'll be there to help me. Right?"

"Of course!" the other girls chorus their agreement immediately, and the subject is dropped. The rest of their journey is made in tired silence.

Ruby is lucky to have such good friends on her side.

By the time they arrive at the house, Ruby is more asleep than awake. She barely has enough energy to tug off her boots and change into her pajamas before collapsing into bed. If her friends decide to explain what had happened to the others, she doesn't stick around for it.

Upon waking the next morning, she feels much better than she has since this whole thing started, despite her dreams being anything but peaceful. She only remembers disturbing fragments of images—a man with flaming red hair being devoured by a Nevermore, a woman with dark hair and red eyes like Yang when she uses her semblance smirking coldly at her, and the ground crumbling beneath her feet as she yells for Zwei to run.

She has no idea what any of it means, but none of it seems good.

The room is empty when she opens her eyes, and she can hear chatter from downstairs as she quickly dresses and gets ready for the day. After a quick breakfast, they make their way through town over to the base. Hopefully, the people working there will be reasonable and helpful, and they can be on their way to Atlas soon.

Well, that could have gone better.

Their meeting with the base personnel had nearly turned into a shouting match as Nora vented her frustrations at the soldiers—not that Ruby can blame her. The soldiers guarding the gate had been rude, snobby, and as unhelpful as possible, as if they were trying to adhere to the worst possible Atlesian stereotypes, and the woman that had been summoned to deal with them was even worse. It was like talking to a brick wall.

She'd been surprised when Weiss had stepped up to try to defuse the situation, offering to return to Atlas if the others could come with her. Ruby hadn't realized that Weiss was from Atlas in the first place; she certainly didn't act like anyone Ruby had met that came from there. Naturally, the woman—Cordovin—refuses, and they end up leaving in frustration before the situation can escalate any further.

So much for getting to Atlas any time soon. And it's not like things are going to be looking up in the meantime, since they still have to tell the rest of the group about what happened with the lamp, which isn't likely to improve any of their moods. But in the meantime, as they make their way down the streets of Mistral, Ruby is curious.

"I didn't realize that you were from Atlas," she tells Weiss, who seems surprised but also—pleased? "Do you have family there?"

Weiss nods. "My sister works from General Ironwood," she says, a small smile on her face. "And my father is the head of the Schnee Dust Company."

"So you're the heiress?" Ruby asks, feeling a bit sheepish. She should have noticed that sooner—Weiss' last name is Schnee, after all. Although in her defense, she has had a lot of other things on her mind.

"Former heiress," Weiss replies proudly. "I've been disinherited. My brother is the heir to the company now."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Ruby apologizes awkwardly. "That must have been hard."

But Weiss doesn't seem to upset about it. "It's okay," she assures Ruby. "I've found my own family. And I know that I'll see my sister again."

Ruby reaches over to squeeze Weiss' hand. "We won't let them take you back to Atlas without us," she promises Weiss. "We'll stick with you the whole time."

Weiss' smile widens, and she blushes slightly. "Thank you, Ruby," she says quietly. "That—it means a lot to me to hear you say that."

All too soon, they arrive back at the house. Ruby takes a deep breath, bracing herself, and exchanges a nervous glance with the rest of her team. Time to face the music.

"There's a few things we need to tell you guys, about what happened on our way to Argus."

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