Of Elder Scrolls and Huntsmen: Dragon Rose

by JessesanMan

Team RWBY finds themselves in a strange, new world where Grimm are nonexistent and magic is commonplace. They journey to find a way home, but along the way are caught up in several ancient prophecies and must save this world they find themselves in. As time goes on, they adapt to the dangerous land of Skyrim and fight against its foes be they small, large, or godly.

2. Chapters 4-6

Chapter 4: To Consume the World

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12th/13th of Last Seed

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"Weiss! Weiss!" Ruby shouted as she unburied her friend from what she had wanted to be a blanket burrito of comfort. When she finally had the heiress free, Weiss gasped in a breath and her arms shot up, clenching onto the first thing they felt, those being Ruby's left forearm and right wrist.

"Weiss!" Ruby said with relief filling her voice. "You scared us for a second there."

"I think you might have had a seizure," Blake said while dabbing her forehead with a wet cloth. "Gods, this is more serious than I thought."

"Any idea what to do when someone's having seizures?" Yang asked her partner. "I've heard jokes about putting a shoe in someone's mouth to keep them from biting off their tongue, but I don't want to go off of faulty info here."

Weiss didn't respond, instead shooting her gaze in every direction she could. Her throat felt so dry and she wanted nothing more than to drink something, and at the same time her grip on Ruby's wrists tightened.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Ruby started saying. "Weiss, ow! Weiss, you're hurting me!"

Weiss seemed to snap out of whatever daze she was in with a small gasp and snatched her hands away from her leader. "I… I'm sorry," she got out, rubbing her head while thinking over what had just happened. "I thought… I thought I was… I thought I was dead for a moment there."

"Weiss, no!" Ruby protested while hugging her friend close. Weiss went stiff for a moment then loosened up the tension in her as she accepted the embrace. Something seemed to push her to nuzzle her face against Ruby's shoulder and then turn towards her neck. An errant thought reached her mind, but she forced it down before pulling up and holding Ruby's arm more gently as their eyes met.

"It's okay. I think it passed. I…don't feel better, but I don't feel as bad as I did. I'll just…go back to sleep."

The team leader still had worry on her face, but acquiesced as she let her friend go and stepped back. "Okay. I'll be here for a minute, so don't worry."

Weiss laughed dryly while shaking her head. "Be sure to get some rest yourself."

"I will, but you first."

"All right." Weiss laid back down. She still felt awful, but she was sure the worst of it had passed. Something felt better, though she couldn't put her finger on it. She did her best not to linger on it, clearing her head as much as she could as she tried to fall into sleep once again.

The nightmares still came.

---

Morning came, and soon the girls were back on the road. Unbeknownst to Weiss, the other three had constructed a sledge using some branches, two long ones for the runners and five shorter ones tied atop them, with branches, leaves, and the saber-toothed cat's pelt functioning as a cushion for the basket. Despite all her arguments, the other three made her lie atop it and be pulled by the others. Mostly Yang pulled it along, but the other two had enough strength for it as well, so they planned to take turns.

"Honestly, this is ridiculous," Weiss complained again. "I'm fine. Much better than yesterday by any measure," she told them.

"Weiss, for all we know, you had a heart attack last night, if not a seizure," Yang called back to her as she dragged the sledge along. "I'm not a medical expert, but I'd say that's a pretty big sign that you need to stay off of your feet at the minimum."

"Yang's right, Weiss," Ruby said to her partner as she slowed just enough to walk next to her. "We still don't know what you've caught or what it might do. You could relapse if you strain yourself, and it could be even worse. We can't risk that."

Weiss sighed, knowing they had a point. Still, she hated feeling helpless, like a dainty maiden in need of rescuing.

"Fine. I hate this, but I understand. Can I at least have another drink?"

"You've only got to put up with it for a little while," Blake told Weiss while handing her a water bottle. "We get to Helgen, figure this out, and then we'll know if you're clear to move around."

"Yay..." Weiss droned, taking a large swig of water before capping it. One thing she had noticed, as had the others, was that she had suddenly become unbearably thirsty. She had gone through almost two water bottles already, and there was no sign that thirst was letting up anytime soon.

The Faunus then looked over and raised her eyebrows. The others followed her gaze and saw what she was looking at. Three stones stood on a flat, stone platform, each with a carving on them and a near-perfect hole at the top. Ruby hopped up to the structure and looked it over before taking a picture and then dashing back to her friends.

"This is so cool!" she exclaimed as she showed them, letting them see the carvings up close.

"Looks like a barbarian, a rogue, and a wizard," Yang listed off before the scroll was tilted to give Weiss a better view. The blancette hummed and took out her map, noting the small drawings where they should be near.

"Guardian Stones," she told them while tracing the roads with her fingers. "We should head south, and that will take us to Helgen." She looked back at the carving and smiled. "Quite remarkable, aren't they?"

"Professor Oobleck would have a field day with this place," Yang commented before hoisting the rope over her shoulder and beginning to take off again.

"You mean Doctor?" Ruby teased.

"Whoops," the blonde responded, completely sardonic towards the pointed-out slipup. They all laughed a little at the in-joke as they continued on. Most of their traveling went without incident. At some point, a roll of thunder passed over them from the direction of the nearby massive mountain, but they paid it little mind except to make sure the tent was within an easily accessible place. Hours ticked on by, dotted by a few more distant thunderous sounds that were sounding less and less like thunder and more like something screaming foreign obscenities while simultaneously roaring. The landscape slowly shifted as well. They steadily climbed uphill, reaching a higher elevation that allowed more snow to stick to the ground for longer, until they were seeing white in almost every direction close to noon. Spots of it looked iced over, letting them know that the rain from the other day likely landed atop the settled powder.

As they cleared a patch of piney forest, the town could be seen ahead, as well as the column of smoke rising from its center. A distant sound like crowds screaming reached them, and the girls paused in their steps. Black wings seemed to unfurl from within the smoke a moment later, and then an unmistakable roar sounded out, drowning out the screams they thought they heard. Weiss instantly jumped to her feet as the other three readied their weapons, grabbing her rapier a moment later.

"Ruby?" Yang said, looking to her sister and team leader for guidance.

"It's attacking the town! We've got to stop it!" she said before dashing forward, the others following after her, their honed battle instincts rising to the fore. Ruby was the first to jump over the gate, using her rifle's recoil to clear it. Yang followed her lead, with Blake leaping up towards the wall, finding a foothold, and further jumping up from there. Weiss set a glyph down and had it launch her into the air, another appearing just below the arc of her flight to catch her softly and let her jump down two more to join her team. The town's buildings were all set aflame or reduced to rubble. Blackened corpses dotted the sides of the streets, letting them know that this enemy used something heat-based to kill. Said enemy was partly hidden behind smoke and dust, but the obscuring cloud soon cleared enough that they could begin making it out.

It was massive, larger than even the Giant Nevermore RWBY had fought during their initiation, but it held itself with a predator's grace. It was covered in black scales, that, unlike Grimm skin, seemed to gleam with dark light. Its eyes were a baleful red and orange, but they were not mindless orbs. Intelligence lurked amongst the rage as it snarled as them, a breath leaving its nostrils before a corpse fell from its jaws. Bloodied and burnt, the person had been pierced, crushed, and charred. It wasn't certain which brought their death, but the wing of the not-Grimm creature before them slammed onto the body, further erasing their existence.

"Meyye…" the creature muttered, catching the Huntresses-in-training completely off guard. Monsters didn't speak. Grimmcertainly did not speak. "Mey jorre. Hi lost bo dir."

"Oh…my…" Yang got out before the dragon moved, standing upon his legs and then flapping his massive wings. It almost felt like hurricane winds were buffeting them before it rose up into the air, gaining altitude and then moving forward before banking hard. The four looked back at where it had gone and saw it approaching fast. The dragon's lungs seemed to fill with air, and Ruby's eyes went wide at the implication.

"Split!" she called out before diving one way. The others did the same, just in time to avoid a stream of fire and heat that turned stone red and lit up any wood already not burning. She quickly reached into her pouches and produced her specialty ammo. It was expensive stuff she commissioned specifically as an answer to things like the Ancient Deathstalker's carapace. Probably the hardest hitting bullets she could use without taking chunks of her own Aura from the recoil, even while using all the safeties she had built into Crescent Rose. She loaded the cartridge and chambered the first round before taking aim at the dragon, which had already turned back around for another run. She fired off a few shots, aiming for the spiked head, and saw the bullets spark off its hide like they were BBs hitting steel. She balked for a moment before being forced to dodge another blast of flame.

"It's bullet-proof!" she called out in warning to the others. Then a rumbling sounded out from above like…a laugh. The dragon was laughing at them!

"Cocky bastard!" Yang cursed as she took a stance. Mini-missiles launched themselves from her gauntlets as the dragon came close to her, hitting its wings. She cheered as that got it to pause mid-air and look at its limbs in worry, but then it glared down at the blonde with rage and instantly unleashed a fire breath upon her. Yang held her arms over her head, but after it washed over her, she was none the worse for wear.

"You've got to do better than that!" she taunted the beast. "Come down here and try it!"

In response the dragon growled and raised its head as it took another breath, only this time what came out was cold, white winds. Yang gasped before she was struck head-on, caught under the freezing torrent for several seconds. When it ceased, she was nearly frozen in place, some ice having even formed on her. The dragon made a sudden dive, its jaws aiming at the frozen girl.

"No!" Ruby screamed as she launched herself forward, her Semblance firing her toward her sister. She crashed into the blonde and yanked her out of the way, the two feeling the air displacement of the maw snapping shut where she'd been milliseconds before. They hit dirt and rolled into the doorway of a nearly collapsed building, both a little dazed and Yang slightly shivering. The dragon tried to turn back to them, but was distracted by small shots bouncing off its belly. Blake had gotten atop a building that was mostly whole and ran toward the creature, firing a few times before throwing her variant ballistic chain scythe and making it wrap around a talon. She pulled herself up, aiming to get atop the dragon, but it launched itself upwards and turned, smacking her out of the air and through another house on its last legs. She groaned as she picked herself up, the building she'd gone through collapsing behind her.

The dragon seemed to be deciding which of them to go after when Weiss went out and summoned a large glyph and poured an extra amount of Ice Dust into it. Spikes and spears of ice all flew at the dragon, many shattering against its hide, but some seemed to melt on contact before refreezing. Thanks to a slight application of Burn Dust, combined with a delaying effect through a small Lightning Dust-fueled time glyph, also applied to a bit of Ice Dust, she was able to make 'sticky' icicles. It was something she and Ruby worked on as a theory, but never had much time to practice. Part of the dragon was now covered in thick ice, forcing it to glide awkwardly away as it bit and clawed to free itself. Weiss instantly went to help Blake up to her feet while the sisters headed towards them, Yang scooping up Gambol Shroud as they did.

"We have to get out of here!" Weiss told them. "We can't even dent this thing, and I bet I only made it angry!"

"Damn thing wouldn't last if he landed," Yang griped as Blake took her blade back.

"We can't just head out," Ruby realized. "It'll probably follow us, and it's fast enough to keep up with us at our fastest."

"What do we do?"

Ruby looked around the ruined town, her gaze coming back to the stone structure nearby. It looked to be in one piece, though she wasn't sure if that was because the dragon couldn't damage it much or just hadn't started on it. Still, she could see a door that was partially ajar and the beginnings of the room within.

"Head to the fort!" she ordered. "Double-time!"

Without question, the girls obeyed, chasing after their leader as they did. At the same time, the dragon had risen back into the air, looking at their running forms with wrath. It crushed the block of ice in its jaws and roared before heading straight for them. Ruby reached the door first, throwing it wide open with her entry before turning and loading a new cartridge into Crescent Rose. She fired, and ice sprouted on the dragon's face where her bullet hit. It shook its head, but only seemed all the madder at her defiance. Weiss came in next, followed closely by Blake, then Yang, and Ruby continued to unload her Ice Dust shots onto their seemingly invincible foe. The door was slammed shut by Yang and the girls ran as far into the room as they could. The stones shook but held against the beast. A roar was heard as the iron door slowly turned red from obvious heat, smoke leaking through the cracks, but still, it all held. The girls were relieved, but for safety's sake, they decided to keep heading deeper in.

"What the hell…was that?" Yang muttered, hunched over and resting her hands on her knees after finally getting a moment to catch her breath and think over what they'd just faced.

"They have dragons here. Actual dragons," Ruby said softly. "Way tougher than any Grimm we ever fought, and they talk."

"More like shouted, if you asked me." Blake winced and pulled a piece of charred wood out of her hair. "But now what do we do?"

The building seemed to shake when she asked that, dislodging dirt and knocking over loose items. They could hear another roar, although this one sounded less angry, somehow.

"We can't go out right now," Ruby determined from that. "We'll have to wait it out or…see if there's another exit. Let's search the place and see what we can find. Other people might have holed up deeper inside."

For a second, Blake thought about bringing up the possibility that no one else made it out, but held it down. If people were close to the fort, they could have headed in for safety, and it seemed like the dragon either couldn't or didn't want to bother breaking into the structure. She hoped it was the former, because the latter meant that the only thing standing between them and death was the dragon's whim.

They started heading in, stalled for a moment by a collapsed portion of roof that fed their fears of the place not being able to hold out indefinitely. The door to their left seemed to invite them in, so they entered to find that it was something of a storage room and kitchen. Yang decided to open a barrel out of curiosity and laughed as she picked up a potato. "We won't starve, at least."

"Yang, that's not yours," Ruby quietly admonished her.

"Ruby, I appreciate your positive and lawful moral code, but I highly doubt anyone's coming back here for potatoes."

They heard rustling and looked over to see Weiss rummaging through a crate, pulling out several flasks of red liquid. Healing potions was inscribed on the side of the crate, letting them deduce what the concoctions were. She looked back to see her teammates' glares and shrugged.

"Like Yang said, people aren't coming back here for these. Besides, we can put them to use." She began packing them away, smiling as another thought came. "Also, if we come across any other survivors, medicine will be one of the things they need the most."

Ruby sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Okay, grab anything useful, but let's not linger. We don't want to be anywhere near here if the dragon decides to come back."

"No, we do not," Weiss agreed as she continued carefully packing the potions away. Yang just hummed and looked at the barrel of potatoes before scooping up a few and dropping them into her own pack of supplies. Weiss paused after filling up her sack, looking at the remaining potions. Her throat begged to be quenched and the red color was oddly inviting. Figuring it wouldn't hurt, she popped the cork off one and drank it down, smacking her lips at the odd taste. Disappointingly, she still felt thirsty.

During all of this, Blake had scouted ahead for them and came back looking a little off-kilter.

"Okay, good news and… I'm not sure how to say it."

"What's up?" Ruby asked her, concern evident in her voice.

"Bodies," the Faunus simply said. The girls stiffened for a moment, but gathered themselves. They'd already seen the corpses on the way inside, but outside there hadn't been time to really take it in. With their thoughts back to that, the weight of innocent deaths tried to settle onto them.

"We'll…be okay. Are there… Was anyone alive?"

Blake sadly shook her head. "I checked all the ones that might have been. All of them up to the stairs are gone." Ruby was disappointed to hear that, but there was nothing for it. The four set out, coming upon the bodies in short order. The first they came across was of a man in blue right next to a table, lying in a pool of blood with his neck and chest cut open, an iron axe next to him. Unable to do anything for the departed man, the girls continued forward. Past a doorway, there were more bodies, three in blue, two in red and leather, and a green-skinned civilian with tusks clutching a battle-axe.

"An Orsimer," Weiss said as she looked him over, gulping at the sight of more blood. Her thirst was making her think about maybe drinking it so that- She shook her head to banish the thoughts. She quickly took her canteen and swallowed some water, making her flinch at the feeling of her belly holding way too much liquid. "Looks like a blow to the head. One of the blue men had a mace."

Ruby lifted up an iron mace and looked it over before setting it back down, sighing as she noticed the bloodstain on its end. The blue armored man closest to it looked like his head had been chopped halfway off.

"Mutual deathblow?" Yang guessed.

"Why were they fighting?" Ruby asked, confused, concerned, and angry as to why people would be killing each other when a dragon was loose and killing people itself.

"I don't know," Weiss admitted. "I heard rumors of a civil war, but it was supposed to be… No, we're much closer to the eastern side of Skyrim now." Weiss pondered for a moment. "They might've been fighting, and that attracted the dragon."

As they continued further into the keep, they found even more evidence to support Weiss' theory of the nearby war being the cause. The next room had another body, an Imperial woman clad in steel armor similarly shaped to the leather armors of the other soldiers and a red cape with a stylized dragon with its wings in a diamond shape for a sigil, just like some of the banners back in Solitude. The woman had died clutching her bleeding side, though it didn't look like a battle wound. More likely she had been injured by the dragon's attack in some way, but only made it this far. On the ground before her was a helmet with a crest, in between her hands.

Stairs led them down deeper into the fort and into some sort of prison. There were a number of cages, gibbets, and several sorts of restraints. In the center cage lied a body, unmoving. Spread across a table were a number of tools and devices that looked designed to cause pain.

"Torture," Blake sneered, immediately recognizing the type of room they were in.

"How barbaric," Weiss added, disgusted as she glanced at the body of an old man. Based off the wounds he sported, it appeared that as the survivors fled deeper into the keep, desperately trying to escape the dragon, the old man was trampled in the ensuing stampede. His uniform was similar enough to the soldiers' that it could be seen that he was part of the same organization, but the tools falling from his pockets and held in his hand let her know that he was the one who worked in this dreadful place.

"What's this?" Ruby questioned, holding a book with another dragon insignia. "The Book of the Dragonborn. What's a Dragonborn?" Deciding it was a question for later, Ruby pocketed the book and joined with the others, preparing to move deeper along, until a faint sound came from the center cage. Turning around, the girls saw the previously unmoving man struggling in an attempt to get up.

"Wa-" he moaned. "Wat-"

"Hold on," Ruby called out to him as she took out her canteen and unscrewed the lid. She gently tipped it forward into the man's dry lips. He gasped after taking a swallow and she gave him a little more. After five gulps, he took a moment to breathe and looked at them all.

"Not Imperials," he said. "Not rebels. Who are you?"

"We're…Huntresses," Ruby said, figuring it didn't matter what he thought they were or what they were doing. At the same time, Weiss pulled out a healing potion and handed it to him. He threw it back and sighed as he seemed further restored. The girls blinked in amazement at the speed the medicine worked.

"Fine clothing for simple woodsfolk," he said as he sat up and grunted. "Ah, who am I to question the persons that saved my life?" Yellow light seemed to flow over him for a moment as he held his hands out, his palms appearing to be the source. He sighed and stood up, amazingly back at full strength now. "My name's Cynrrbert Veldrine. I'm a traveling mage. Just an honest man that got accused of forgery, among other crimes. Likely the damned… Never mind it for now. Suffice to say the Head Torturer decided he was going to starve and dry me to get me to tell them about contacts I don't even have. Then, next thing I know, half the town is coming through here, screaming about a dragon, Imperial soldiers and Stormcloaks not killing each other as they ran. They didn't even bother looking for the key to get me out. Just…left me to die."

"Well, they were running from a dragon," Yang said. "We tried to take it down, but…nothing gets through that armor."

"A… There really was a dragon? That's…" He scratched at his head, seemingly confused.

"It was awful," Ruby told him. "It was big and black and tried to kill us!"

"You have to forgive me a bit, but…no one's seen a dragon in…thousands of years, I think. I've seen some bones. The jarl of Whiterun has the skull of a dragon mounted upon his wall from his long-ago predecessor. Maybe… Perhaps it migrated from across the ocean. There may yet be more dragons in Akavir."

"So, this dragon caught everyone off guard, and it's been so long that no one could remember how to hurt it?" Weiss asked.

"Maybe a few elves. Very few, but it's possible. The Blades might have, but they've been disbanded. Better that the people in charge are told. If the townsfolk make it, word might spread, but I don't know if this dragon would stick around until… Never mind for now. Let's focus on getting ourselves out of here first. Um, mostly me."

"Sure, uh, one second," Ruby said before she looked around, wondering where a key might be.

"I didn't find a key," Blake said as she came from an adjoined room. "But I found a lockpicking set. Been a while since I used one."

The Faunus took out a small, slender piece of metal and a tension wrench. She gingerly placed the two items into the lock on the cage and began to slowly fiddle with it while listening. After about half a minute, the lock came loose. Cynrrbert sighed in relief as he stepped out of the cramped cage.

"Thank you. I owe you all my life. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to put something solid in my stomach before we move on."

Yang reached into her sack and pulled out a recent acquisition. "Potato?" she offered with a grin.

---

"So, can you explain to me this 'civil war' that's going on?" Weiss asked as they moved deeper into the keep, following after the survivors' trail.

"It all has to do with the White-Gold Concordat," Cynrrberrt explained. "About thirty or so years ago, the Aldmeri Dominion, led by the Thalmor, invaded the Empire, which was, and still is, weak from various calamities that befell it since the dawn of the Fourth Era. It lasted for about five years, with the Thalmor managing to reach and sack the Imperial City before finally getting repelled. A lot of lives were lost, and many cities and towns were ruined. Rather than continue fighting, Emperor Titus Mede II signed a peace treaty, the Concordat, with the Aldmeri Dominion, which ended the conflict. Among its provisions, it ceded the southern coast of Hammerfell and banned the worship of Talos in the Empire."

"Banning the worship of a god? That's…horrible!" Weiss gasped, echoing the others' thoughts. They themselves might not know or worship this 'Talos', but they knew all too well the importance of freedom of religion. Trying to restrict it only caused friction. Sure, there needed to be rules about what one could do even when following a religion, but it was generally a 'your right to swing your fist ends where others' noses begin' sort of thing. The last time there had ever been a total ban on any religion was in Mantle during the Great War.

"Indeed, but it wasn't really enforced until Ulfric Stormcloak, Jarl of Windhelm, made a big fuss about it. Before, everyone basically ignored the provision and had their little shrine to Talos if they wanted. But, when the Forsworn, native Reachmen cultists living in the Reach, took over Markarth during the Forsworn Uprising shortly after the war ended, and the Empire couldn't get them out, Ulfric managed to do so, only to demand that Talos worship be reinstated, otherwise the Empire couldn't get into Markarth to restore order."

"I take it those demands didn't go over very well?" Blake absentmindedly asked as she focused on breaking the lock of another cell, trying to get at the coin purse she had spotted inside.

"They did not. Due to this, the Thalmor discovered that the worship of Talos was still going on and that the terms of the White-Gold Concordat were not being enforced. As such, they demanded that Ulfric be arrested, which for a time he was. Many consider this event to be the true start of the Civil War, although it really only heated up this year, when Ulfric murdered High King Torygg. Shouted him to death, even."

"What? How could yelling kill a person?" Yang butted in, confused. "Did Torygg have a heart attack or something?"

"If a heart attack could cause a man to explode, maybe."

"Oh…"

"Anyway, the Civil War right now has been at a standstill, really. The Empire controls the West, the Stormcloaks control the East, with Whiterun, ruled by Jarl Balgruuf, the only one left undecided. Still, it can't last forever. The Empire will eventually get the upper hand."

"What makes you say that?" Blake asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, it's the Empire," Cynrrberrt unhelpfully pointed out. "That might be oversimplifying it, but really, the only reason the Stormcloaks have made it this far is because they have bigger fish to fry. Most of the Shadow Legion is stationed along Cyrodiil's southern border last I heard, along with the bulk of all regular Legions. Half the Imperial forces in Skyrim are local auxiliaries, with limited reinforcement from Cyrodiil. If the Emperor ever decides he can spare the forces from watching the Dominion like hawks, he could send a big enough army to rush over the Stormcloaks like a landslide."

Yang shrugged. "So, which side do you think is right?"

"Personally, I don't really care which side is right, as they both have a point. I may not be from here, being from Jehenna, but it's still draining Skyrim and Skyrim alone for the most part. Honestly, though, war in any form is just… Never mind for now. Let's keep going," Cynrrberrt finished lecturing as they crossed a bridge. The fort had been becoming more cavernous for a while now, and now what they were entering was an honest cave tunnel. Blake's bow flickered, and a moment later the others were hearing steel clashing. Recognizing the sound of battle, the girls rushed forward with all of them ready to intervene. The words that were being yelled at each other came clearer as they rounded a bend and saw two living men in the opposing sides' uniforms.

"You have no right to place the blame on the Stormcloaks!"

"Who benefited the most from this?! Was it the Empire, or the Jarl who got his neck away from the headsman?!"

"That dragon killed several of my brothers in arms!" the rebel yelled as he swung his axe. The soldier backpedaled. "It was targeting Nords! You know who it ignored? Your elven taskmasters!"

"They…are not…our masters!" the soldier yelled as he slashed at the rebel only to be blocked, though it put his opponent on a bit of a backfoot.

"Yang, Blake, stop them!" Ruby commanded, ready to use her own weapon to disarm them if needed.

The two girls dashed forward, Yang pulling the rebel into a chokehold while Blake wrapped Gambol Shroud's ribbon around the soldier's sword arm and tugged him away before twisting the limb behind his back. The two fought against the ones restraining them as Ruby came up between them, Crescent Rose held out but not yet unfurled.

"Stop fighting!" she demanded. "There's a dragon slaughtering people outside and you two killing each other is not going to stop it!"

The two ceased resisting and looked at the young girl who had commanded two grown men like she was a sergeant. The soldier sighed and looked back at Blake holding his arm behind him then to his foe.

"Truce, then?" he offered to the Stormcloak. The rebel huffed, a look of disgust on his face before he slowly let up his resistance.

"Fine." He grumbled out. "Another damned truce then. We'll get through Riverwood, but after that-"

"I know. Let's hold back from killing each other 'til Riverwood then."

"Yeah… Let's." He looked back at Yang, who was easily holding him in a full nelson. "You're strong, lass. You know that?"

"I get that a lot. Think they're okay, Rubes?"

"Yeah, let 'em go," the younger girl conceded. The Huntresses-in-training released the two men, who rolled their shoulders and necks around before stashing their weapons to their sides. "Where are the survivors?" Ruby asked suddenly.

"Scattered," the soldier told her. "It was one of the elder's idea. Said the dragon couldn't get everyone if they went in all directions. I hope by the Gods it worked."

"I saw Jarl Ulfric escape through the south gate," the Stormcloak explained. "He told me to keep an eye out for the people and get as many of our brothers and sisters in arms to safety as possible. Then some bloodthirsty Centurio decided that we should all be killed after we graciously decided to help the ones who were planning to behead us not even an hour ago."

"You don't know that!" the soldier defended. "We never got the story from the others before-"

"Time out!" Yang called while making a T sign with her hands. "No blame games here. We've all got to be focused on not dying today."

"The lass is right, gentlemen," Cynrrberrt backed her up. "We need to make sure we can get somewhere safe before the dragon or something run mad by it gets us.

"Wait, is that the dead mage?" the Stormcloak asked as he looked at the man RWBY had rescued. At that, said mage seemed to nervously back away.

"Apparently not dead," the soldier said before looking over the four teenaged girls. "Who are you all?"

"Travelers," Blake answered quickly, figuring it was easier than giving them the whole explanation.

"We came up and saw Helgen burning," Ruby explained. "We came to help, but then a dragon tried to kill us. We couldn't even hurt it."

"A whole cohort of legionnaires and some scattered militia couldn't hurt that thing," the soldier explained while shaking his head. He then looked back at the mage. "And you…"

"Look friend," Cynrrberrt began, "I almost died in that cage until these girls got me out. I'm not looking for trouble, and I'll say it again, I did nothing to deserve that. The crimes I was accused of were falsified beyond reason."

"Well…while it's not my decision to make, as far as I'm concerned, the man in that cage was dead and we were in a hurry." Cynrrberrt seemed relieved to hear those words. "Beyond that, we should head out. Riverwood's not far, but it'll be dark by the time we're halfway there at this point."

"We can camp by the Guardian Stones," the Stormcloak added. "Good position to keep an eye out from." He then offered a hand towards Yang and gave her a smile. "Ralof."

"Yang," she traded while shaking it.

"And I'm Hadvar," the soldier introduced himself. The others gave out their names as well, feeling the tension loosen as they became ever so much more familiar with each other. As they left the cave however, the tension flew back up with the sound of a roar. Everyone ducked for cover, Cynrrberrt being the last to react.

"Get down!" Hadvar said as he hid behind a boulder. All of them looked up as the dragon passed them way overhead, heading towards a northern mountain in the distance. Only a long moment after its disappearance did anyone dare to stand or speak.

"Looks like he's left."

"By the gods, you weren't joking!" Cynrrberrt exclaimed. "An actual, Gods-blessed dragon! The Chantry of Akatosh will have a day and half when they hear of this!"

"Should be safe now, at least," Ruby figured as she checked the sky with her scope. "Let's go?" she asked the men who'd just joined their party.

"Aye," Ralof responded while Hadvar nodded.

---

They camped near the river again, Team RWBY feeling like they had backtracked and lost a load of time. Luckily, the sledge wasn't far away and they relegated Weiss to staying on it again with a canteen of water, Ruby spending a few minutes fussing over her as they headed downhill. Once things were settled for the day, Ralof decided to take first watch, with Blake going out to look around the perimeter with him.

"What exactly plagues your friend?" Hadvar asked as he stirred the fire and looked over where Ruby was doing another check over the heiress.

"We honestly don't know," Yang answered. "She got bit by something, and then she came down with a fever. Last night she had a seizure, and Ruby's been low-key freaking out ever since." Ruby herself seemed to punctuate that statement when she zipped over to her bag, dug something out, and then zipped right back to Weiss' side.

"Hm, could be anything, but Bonebreak's been common this year. We don't have a local alchemist, unless you count Delphine and her brews, but the general store may have some things that'll help. Though I'd suggest heading to a city or town to get her treated."

"Yeah, we were hoping to do that at Helgen, but…"

"Ah, yes. I can't imagine how this might upheave the surrounding lands. Not to mention that dragon."

Yang hummed in thought, recalling the burned town and the dead men and women in and outside the fort. "Hey, mind if I ask about this war?"

"What of it?"

"Well, what exactly is going on? Cynrrberrt said it's because of religion but…"

Hadvar shook his head and set his stick to his side. "Can't really expect a Breton to understand everything going on here. You see, a good many Nords really believe it. They think they're fighting for their right to worship Talos freely and openly." His eyes narrowed as he stared into the fire. "But Ulfric? This was a power grab, plain and simple. If he really wanted the worship of Talos back, he would have worked with the High King rather than kill him. Gods, he would've worked with the Empire to get our strength back so that we could actually take a stand against the Thalmor when they next try."

"You think there's going to be another war?" Yang asked him, genuinely concerned about the possibility that this world's Great War, or perhaps Great War Two would be the more accurate term, might kick off while they were still in it.

"No doubt there will be. The Empire was hurt, but they hurt our pride most of all. And the Dominion, they won't be satisfied until every man, mer, and beast is under their boots or dead. The Concordat was only made to give us time to recover. The Emperor's done well with what he has, but problems like Ulfric are slowing us down. If it wasn't for this war, the men and women dying on each other's blades could be readying themselves for the inevitable war to the south."

"Damn," Yang muttered. "These Dominion guys are really that bad, huh?"

"Probably worse. I've heard of the horror stories that come out of there. How they've massacred whole towns for a few rebels. The way they slaughtered thousands of Birdfolk for just being mannish. Dagons' teeth, the stories Legate Fasendil has deigned to share are horrid enough. I can't imagine what he's kept to his chest."

---

"So, what's with this whole rebellion thing?" Blake finally chanced with the man. Ralof grunted, but crossed his arms before pausing in his steps.

"I can't expect you to understand. You're not a Nord."

"I can try," she offered. He nodded at that and sighed.

"It's not a single thing, but many. When the Great War was raging, all of the Empire was fighting them back, and we were nearly in place to win. The Battle of the Red Ring ousted the Dominion in the Imperial City, and they were reeling. The fighters had killed a lot of their lords and the like, with only a few escaping through the sewer systems. And then…the Emperor gave in. He gave in to the very same demands we were fighting to resist. After that, Hammerfell broke away, but when the Dominion fought them, they won."

"Hammerfell won?" Blake asked him to clarify.

"Aye. Surprised you hadn't heard of that, lass."

"We're from outside of Tamriel."

"Really?" His interest seemed piqued a moment. "Never actually met anyone from beyond. Just saw a few merchants here and there. Where are you from, then?"

"A place called Vale. Doubt you'd heard of it." She figured she wouldn't go into too much detail, as that'd be a tangent they wouldn't return from.

"You'd be right. Well, beyond Hammerfell proving that the Dominion could have been defeated all along, the Thalmor sunk their claws into the Empire all the tighter, especially Skyrim. And the Empire does nothing about it. I've heard them say the Empire's the only thing keeping the Thalmor out of Skyrim, but honestly, they're the ones letting the Thalmor in. The Thalmor accuse anyone they want to take of heresy, then drag them away to never be seen again. Ulfric took a stand against it, demanding that the High King stand up or stand down. And when Skyrim's laws and traditions dictated that Ulfric should be High King, the Empire stepped in and said no."

"When he challenged him for the throne?" Blake asked. "I don't know much about Skyrim law, obviously, but how many witnesses were there?"

"Not enough. Ulfric admits that was his biggest mistake with the duel, not making it public enough." Ralof shook his head. "Don't know if it would've mattered much to the Empire. We took a stand, and they took theirs. We just have to show them that we're really willing to fight for what's ours. And with Skyrim liberated, we can take the fight directly to the Aldmeri Dominion."

Blake frowned at that. She knew where he was coming from, but it felt all too familiar. Still, this was neither the time nor place to try and talk a single man out of a deep-set belief. Instead, she just focused on the practical.

"Do you really think you can fight them off if it comes to it?"

"It's a matter of distance and time. They'd have to come through Cyrodiil or around Hammerfell, and the Redguards will be sure to black the eyes of any Dominion ships trying to move through their waters. And having fought them or not, the Empire has no reason to help the Thalmor with a war. They'll stretch themselves trying, and then we can all smash them. Whatever arguments or grievances we've had, all of mankind will agree that the Thalmor and Aldmeri Dominion is a threat to us all."

Blake wasn't sure if it was as polarized as he made it sound, but then again, this Dominion did hit a lot of the marks that Mantle had eighty years ago. If it turned out they had also banned art and restricted color in everyday use, then it would basically be prewar Mantle-but-Elves. She shook her head at the thought, a deep cultural revulsion causing her to feel the beginning of shivers trying to rise up at the thought of such a thing.

"Starting to get dark," Ralof pointed out. Blake hardly noticed, having night vision that gave her almost perfect sight even in the dark. It would have to be pitch black for her to not see anything. "Let's head back to camp. Looks like all of the wildlife's been spooked by the dragon."

"Yeah," she agreed before they turned back.

---

"So, you see, while a little more magicka-demanding, it's far easier to cast than ice-based magics," Cynrrberrt explained to his near-captive audience. Though Weiss felt at least a little bit like a captive, just not by him but her leader, who had all but ordered her to lay down and not get up for anything.

"I see," she said while reading over his notes and comparing them to the book the Dunmer gave her. She was finally getting the hang of it, able to call up sparks of electricity or a small flame to hover over her hand. She was able to 'regenerate' magicka faster than she lost it while simply holding these little cantrips in place, but attempting to cast the spells caused the magicka to dry up quickly. Lightning, she realized, required far more energy than fire. Though what she really wanted was to be able to pick up on the ice-based magic soon.

"I never got far into the mechanics of ice spells," the mage admitted. "I've always felt I've had enough magicka for a proper amount of lightning bolts or firebolts for most threats, and I'm honestly more of an Alterer. But you might want to get the basics down before you try shifting the ground under people's feet or making the air twist itself around you just right."

"Oh, I understand completely," Weiss admitted. "I can imagine magic takes time to learn, same as any skill. I had the patience to learn to use a rapier, so I'm certain I will take the proper amount of time to learn over magic."

"Good to hear, but honestly, you've taken to it like a duck to water. I'm surprised no one's bothered to show you before. You could've been an adept by this point if you'd learned as a young girl."

Weiss laughed a bit nervously. She wasn't sure explaining that they were from another world was a good idea. There was only a small section on it in the Field Guide, but apparently most of the denizens from outside of Nirn that entered it were hostile, with most of the remainder considered dangerous at best. She'd also rather not they be grouped with 'demons' solely because they were extradimensional as well.

"Now, let's see… You'll want to feel out the heat in the magicka, but instead of calling upon it, pull it away."

Weiss did so, feeling a tingle of chill run over her hand. It wasn't all that uncomfortable, which wasn't too surprising. Being Solitan, it would take a lot of exposure to the cold before she started to feel uncomfortable. Flecks of ice and snow seemed to form above her palm and disappear at random.

"Well done, now forming it into usable spells… Well, that's the hard part."

"I think I can handle it," she responded confidently. The man laughed at that.

"I believe you."

---

13th of Last Seed

---

Chapter 5: Mortal Realizations

---

14th of Last Seed

---

"Seriously, I'm fine!" Weiss complained while pulling the hood lower over her head. The sun was extra annoying today, and she could feel her sensitive skin turning pink under its rays. Frowning to herself, she took another sip of water and grimaced. Her stomach felt terribly water-logged, yet the thirst in her throat persisted. If anything, it only got worse and was now joined by a pang of deep hunger. Groaning, she dug out some bread and nibbled at it.

"Nope," Ruby refused before poking her cheek. "You're staying on the sledge until we know exactly what's wrong and can get you cured."

Weiss muttered indignantly at that, but didn't bother arguing any further. There was no point. She'd already tried telling them that she felt fine after running from the dragon – and wasn't that an event! – but Yang had countered her by pointing out how she'd drank down healing potions soon after, and that was likely a big factor in why she didn't feel quite like someone who had recently suffered a seizure. Given that they weren't sure of the effectiveness of the concoctions, nor how they even worked, they couldn't really judge how well it would have helped or how long it should last. For all they knew, it could suddenly wear off and she'd collapse at any moment.

Didn't mean Weiss had to like feeling like an invalid.

"Wait," Hadvar suddenly warned them, grasping the hilt of his sword. "Think I heard something."

Everyone paused in their steps and went quiet. Ralof readied his axe while others reached for their weapons. Cynnrbert seemed to be holding a light in his hands, his eyes glowing before tracking something they couldn't see.

"Wolves! About a dozen!" the Breton warned them.

Their weapons came out, and then a moment later the wolves were upon them, leaping out of the forest and surrounding the group. Weiss had jumped up and grabbed her blade, not willing to sit out a fight her friends were in, even against something as mundane as simple wolves. The beasts came out of the woods in brown and grey blurs, far swifter and more agile than the girls expected. Noise from behind let the group know the pack was trying to surround them, probing at their defenses as the humans stood with their backs to each other. One wolf seemed to turn suddenly, heading straight for them before leaping. Weiss readied her rapier to impale it when a bolt of purplish-blue lightning went over her head and collided with it, sending the wolf back with a yelp. It hit the dirt and whined, other wolves stopping to sniff at it as it struggled to get up. Blinking in surprise, Weiss dared to look back and saw electricity coiling around Cynnrbert's hands and wrists before coalescing into his palms and firing off where he aimed them. Two more wolves were hit, zapped and sent reeling, but not downed. Still, it seemed to be enough to convince the others to not come any closer, and so the pack backed off. As the animals retreated, a few paused and turned around to growl threateningly towards them, likely to ensure that they wouldn't be followed. Then they, too, turned around and ran out of sight into the forest.

The group stood at the ready a while longer, everyone keeping their battle stances until the mage let his go and sighed.

"All right," he announced to the others. "They're gone."

"That was…" Weiss began, not sure where to begin. The Dunmer's Flames spell was surprising on its own, and Weiss was getting a feeling for the beginning techniques, but what Cynnrbert had just displayed was far more eye-catching and a stark reminder of the potential behind this realm's 'magic'.

"That was awesome!" Ruby shouted excitedly, displaying a far less calm response. She began shooting her arms around theatrically while saying, "They were like, 'Rawr!', and you were like, 'HAH!', and then 'zap' 'pew', and then they were running with their tails between their legs!"

Weiss and the rest of team RWBY rolled their eyes, used to seeing Ruby's childish antics. Cynnrbert chuckled in amusement as well as a slight hint of gratitude, as though he wasn't used to the praise.

"Eh, good work, I suppose," Hadvar said, catching the girls off-guard with his nonchalance. "Saved the rest of us the trouble."

"Well done, mage," Ralof said, almost equally unimpressed.

The girls felt confused by the Nords' lack of reaction. As the group regathered, there were some quick whispers about how common magic had to be for them to act like that, but it was eventually shelved in favor of getting back on the road to Riverwood.

---

"So, it's right up against the river," Yang noted as they came closer to the village. "That where the name come from?"

"That, and the wood, likely," Ralof admitted with a quick shrug. "I know, it's very creative. Our village mostly trades out through logging. Lumber is always in demand. Most of it is sent along the river." He then peered over to their team leader, looking a little nervous about the situation. "You sure you're not tired, lass?"

"Nah, I'm good," she grunted. Ruby was tugging along the sledge now, but she wasn't struggling too hard. The girl was used to lugging around a weapon larger than herself, so the weight of one teammate, the lightest one at that, wasn't a big deal for her. But it did usually keep her from talking, and after a quick smile and wave towards the Nord, he dropped his concern and carried on.

Soon, they were closing on the front gate of the wooden palisade, and as promised, Weiss was finally allowed to walk on her own feet. A number of tents were set up outside, Khajiit like those they saw at Solitude walking about or setting up stalls. A few Nords were looking over them, but didn't seem too interested once they saw the two soldiers from opposing sides entering without killing one another. An elf carrying a load of chopped firewood then walked over from a side street, almost bumping into them. When he saw them, his eyes widened in recognition and he nearly dropped his load.

"Hadvar, is that you? And Ralof?" the elf started upon seeing them, gently placing the firewood on a pile near him then rubbing his head with a confused smile. "Does this mean the war's finally over?"

"Sorry, Faendal," the Imperial soldier sadly replied and shook his head. "Please, keep this to yourself if you can. We're going to see our families for now, and we don't need to draw attention."

"Oh, of course." He nodded and looked back into the settlement, then towards Ralof. "Well, I guess you're going to see your sister? We can head right over if you want."

"All right then. Hadvar, I assume you'll head to your uncle's?"

"You assume correctly," the soldier grumbled while heading in. Neither said another word nor looked at each other as they walked towards opposite sides of town, leaving team RWBY behind. The girls couldn't help but feel saddened at the scene, and all were frowning.

"They really grew up together," Blake mumbled as the locals went ahead of them. "They grew up here, and they're fighting on opposing sides."

"It's harsh," Yang admitted while shaking her head. "I can't imagine what got them here."

"Who could?"

"Should we follow them?" Ruby asked, looking back at her teammates for their opinions.

"Maybe," Weiss considered for a moment. "At least, we should give them some time to catch up with their loved ones. We should look into stocking up and-"

"Oh! We need to check for an alchemist doctor or whatever!" Ruby suddenly remembered before taking Weiss by the hand. "Come on! Shouldn't take us long to find one. And we've got plenty of septims this time."

Weiss' eyes were practically begging the other two to save her, but in an act of benevolent betrayal, they just watched her get dragged away by the suddenly rejuvenated Ruby.

"A dragon! I saw a dragon!" an old woman started shouting from her porch. A young man nearby who seemed to have been trying to chat up some Ohmes-raht woman sighed and walked over to her.

"What? What is it now, mother?"

"It was as big as the mountain and black as night. It flew right over the barrow!" the elderly woman described, instantly making Yang and Blake pause in their steps.

"Dragons, now, is it? Please, mother. If you keep on like this everyone in town will think you're crazy. And I've got better things to do than listen to more of your fantasies."

"You'll see! It was a dragon! It'll kill us all and then you'll believe me!"

Yang hissed in a breath at that while Blake winced.

"So… They don't know yet," Yang realized. "Not sure if just telling people's a good idea. If the old lady was the only one who saw anything…"

"Yeah, let's try and figure out who's in charge," Blake figured after thinking for a moment. "If nothing else, we'll get some info for the team to use."

"Good call. They'll also be the ones to know what we should do next." A course decided, the two headed towards the village center, stopping by some people to ask some basic questions on the way.

Left behind on his own, Cynnrberrt looked around himself. After a few moments, he shrugged.

"Suppose I'll get comfortable at the inn."

---

"So, that was a bust," Ruby muttered as she and Weiss approached the other two members of their team, who were now standing near Hadvar and Ralof's gathered kinsmen, the two soldiers themselves having discarded their uniforms for more civilian clothing. "No real local alchemist, and the general store just stocks general stuff. In retrospect, I should have figured that from the name. Lesson learned, I suppose."

"It'll be fine," Yang assured them. "Already asked, and Alvor here thinks the Khajiit caravan outside might be able to help."

"Alvor?" Ruby asked as a big Nord man with a sooty apron and hairy arms reached out a calloused hand in greeting.

"Pleased to meet you," he greeted her. "Ruby, right?"

"Yes sir," she responded, smiling nervously.

"My nephew told me a bit about you. Not sure I believe half of it, but they've been waiting for you to tell the rest."

"Aye, and not even Ralof would fess up," a woman said from the other side of their gathering. "I've already told the men to clear out, so the lumberyard is abandoned right now. We can talk there."

"Right, uh…" Ruby paused.

"Gerdur," the woman filled her in with a smirk. "Ralof's sister. And this is my husband, Hod," she indicated the man next to her, who gave them a friendly wave.

"And my wife, Sigrid," Alvor finished before they started towards the islet over a wooden bridge where much of the lumbering equipment was situated. "And your friend? Weiss, right?"

"We told them a bit," Yang filled her in. "Just enough to get started."

"So you didn't mention Mr. Big-And-Flamey?" Ruby asked.

"Nah, left the best parts for you guys. Besides, figured we'd need a more private venue."

"We didn't want to cause a panic," Blake added. "Even if the effects aren't the same as back home, it wouldn't do anyone any good right now."

"Well, no need to worry now," Gerdur said as they stopped near an old, large stump and some chairs. "So, what exactly is going on?" she directed at the lot of them. "Surely…the war's not over."

"No, at least, as far as we can tell," Ralof answered. "The Empire had us captured, Jarl Ulfric too, and then…a dragon showed up at Helgen."

Everyone paused, The villagers' eyes widened and they looked at each other, then back at RWBY, Ralof, and Hadvar in clear disbelief.

"A…dragon?" Gerdur muttered disbelievingly, hunching forward and rubbing her chin.

"Are you certain you didn't see things?" Alvor asked.

"He's telling the truth uncle," Hadvar insisted, his face stern and focused. "It got…very close. I'd say I saw the white in its eyes, but it was all red. That thing…slaughtered us. It burned down Helgen without so much as a scratch on its hide. We barely got anyone out alive. These four and another came out behind us."

Ruby then spoke up. "We fought it for a while, but it's like it's made out of some sort of carbon nanotube steel alloy. We didn't even scratch it. The most we did was make it flinch. And that was with Weiss hitting it with a ton of ice spikes."

"Carbon nano… What?" Alvor wondered aloud, confused as to what she was talking about, before shaking his head and moving on. "So then, a dragon? If there really is one, then this is bad news indeed. Riverwood isn't made to defend against a large bandit raid, much less a dragon."

"We don't even have guards," Gerdur agreed. "We'll have to send for aid. They may not be able to spare many, but from the sounds of things we don't need to fight it, just have enough time to get the people away to hide." She looked up at the four girls. "You lot wouldn't mind helping us in that case, would you?"

"We could probably help out. What do you need?" Yang immediately answered for the team, who all quickly nodded their heads.

"We need someone to speak to Jarl Balgruuf directly," the woman explained. "Someone to convince him that Riverwood needs at least a few men to guard us. I think four witnesses to the dragon attack would work for that. Sorry to ask you, but as you can tell, this is quite dire."

"Hadvar likely needs to return to Solitude and rejoin the Legion there," Alvor put in. "And, I'm certain, Ralof will want to go back to Ulfric's lot."

Blake felt a bit of tension between the two families and nervously coughed to break their attention from it.

"We can get together transport for you," Gerdur said. "The Khajiiti caravan will be in town for a few days. They're headed straight for Whiterun after us. I'm certain they won't mind another horse and buggy. The day after tomorrow is when they said they'll be going."

"Just keep an eye on your coinpurses as you go," Alvor said with a little chuckle. Blake began to glare at him, but he didn't seem to notice. "No, don't worry too much. We've traded with them many times. Honest enough folk, if strange at times. They can get you there safe, at least. Their warcats can be fearsome things. Keep the sabers off of you at any rate."

"Until then, we need to prepare." Gerdur began to think. "The Embershard Mines southwest of us could be a good place to hide, but I think bandits have taken it over. Same problem with Bleak Falls Barrow."

"Embershard is closer," Alvor pointed out. "Even if we don't stay, having it cleared will give us a good place to wait it out. The barrow though… Might be in danger of the ones up there if we have to abandon the village. Not to mention there could be far more skulking about up there."

"So, two days to take out some bandits?" Yang smirked with some enthusiasm behind it. "No problem."

"You're a confident one, I see," Alvor said with a laugh, to which Yang nonchalantly shrugged while absentmindedly checking the back of her hand.

"Meh, I could probably take them on my own."

"Well, if you think you could," Gerdur began, seeming to take her confidence at face value, "Embershard is the first priority then."

"Got it!" Yang gave a thumb up.

"Maybe we can do some things around town to help out," Ruby suggested. "Ooh! Can I check out your forge?"

"I suppose there's no harm," Alvor conceded. "So long as you know what you're doing."

"We could check out the caravan?" Weiss asked Blake. The Faunus seemed a little nervous but nodded.

"Well then, I'll let Sigrid know to cook for a few extras tonight."

"We can help with that, Alvor," Gerdur said. "You all needn't worry for the next few days. After what you had to face, and what you're doing for us, the least we could do is let you take it a bit easier."

---

Embershard was only about an hour's walk away along the same road they came from, and Yang headed there as soon as she was able. Ruby felt apprehensive about letting her go and had been planning on joining her, but after getting a quick sitrep from the villagers and learning that there were only a dozen bandits and only three or four of them had any sort of combat competence, Yang convinced her to let her go alone. It was understood that if she didn't return by six o'clock, the rest of the team would come in and there would be words. Yang, however, was confident that the outlaws wouldn't stand a chance. Especially since she'd beaten the first one with a single backhanded slap.

Yang tossed the guard away, who rolled down the hill with several grunts of pain. Heading inside, it took her eyes a moment to adjust to the difference in lighting. There were a few torches, but not so many as to completely mitigate the darkness. Nevertheless, she continued walking confidently with no hint of nervousness. Then she heard something snap at her feet and looked down to see a broken thin rope. Something shifted above her and she looked up in time to see several rocks crash down on her. She yelped and raised her arms to shield herself, but each one bounced off her Aura and settled around her feet. She huffed a little and groaned as she dusted herself off and picked small rocks out of her hair.

"Traps, right," she mumbled before continuing on. When she rounded a corner, she came across a wooden bridge over a pool of water. On the far right was a downward flight of stairs, and at the bottom was a small campsite. Two men were chatting among themselves, their backs turned to her as they instead tended to the fire.

"Aren't you worried someone's going to walk in here?" she heard one of them say. "The entrance isn't exactly hidden, you know."

"This again?" The other scoffed and shook his head. "I told you, we have someone standing guard out there. And don't forget the rock trap we rigged up."

"Yeah, that tickled," Yang said as she walked in between them, loosely draping her arms across their shoulders. The two dumbfounded bandits turned their heads to her before jumping back in alarm, pulling out their weapons. "And by the way, your 'guard' couldn't even do that much," Yang quipped, cracking her knuckles.

"You…"

"Get her!"

The two charged at her, only for one to get smacked aside easily. Yang blocked a slash headed for her neck and then socked the bandit in the jaw. She grabbed his shoulder and turned him, taking the iron sword from him and breaking it over her knee. The man looked at her in fear before taking off screaming, the other one running up and joining him, soaking wet.

"Heh, losers," she laughed while tossing the broken sword away. A raised bridge separated where she was from the rest of the mines, so she pulled the blatant lever that obviously lowered the bridge. The moment she did, more bandits came running, shouting about how the bridge wasn't supposed to be down. As the group advanced down the bridge, Yang decided to introduce herself and leaped from the balcony onto the bridge. It shook from the impact, sending a few of the bandits stumbling. A few others backed up in surprise, but others did not and instead charged her. The first had a warhammer and swung it as soon as he got in range. She easily moved in past his defenses and shoulder checked him, sending him into a woman with darker skin. One man slashed with an axe only to get backhanded off the bridge. Two people shot arrows at her, which she caught before crushing them in her hands, then fired Ember Celica at them both in return. The bandits went down with a yelp, the sound of the gunshot echoing across the cave and causing the bandits near her to drop their weapons and clutch their ears in pain.

"What's going on here?" a man yelled from deeper inside the cave, attracted by the gunshot. When he emerged, he was fully clad in a suit of thick, heavy armor. The steel plate covered him from head to toe, and he had a shield and mace in his hands. He looked around the cave and saw the state of his men, and when he saw Yang, he growled angrily.

"You're going to regret this," he seethed, shifting his mace's weight in his hand.

"Nah, the only regret around here is aaaall yours," Yang cheekily replied, raising her fists and angling herself to the side.

With a mighty, bloodthirsty roar, the man came in with a heavy swing, faster than one would think his armor would allow. Yang deflected the first strike and ducked under the second before punching, only to hit his shield. The steel barrier was barely dented to her surprise, holding with a faint glow over its face. Now that she was closer, Yang could actually see that the man's entire armor had a faint sheen to it, seemingly originating from the shield itself.

"Get her boss!" a bandit shouted from behind, cupping his hands around his mouth.

"Show that harlot what for!"

"Hey!" Yang shouted as she fired towards the one who had said that. The bandit in question hastily ducked, clasping the back of his head as the shot missed and sent rocks and dirt exploding outward from the wall.

The 'boss', taking advantage of Yang's distracted state, quickly brought his mace down on her head, then smacked it across her face before ramming it up into her gut. The wind briefly knocked out of her, Yang rolled with the blow back across the bridge before coming up to her feet, annoyed. Before she could fire back, the 'boss' smiled and held out his mace with several strands of golden hair stuck on a single edge, waving it in front of his face.

"Had enough?" he asked cockily.

Yang looked up as her eyes went to red. She yelled and charged into an uppercut, knocking his mace aside before bringing down a torrent of blows onto him, denting his armor all around. He screamed, and Yang shouted as she reared back for a big strike, punching his helmeted face. Time seemed to slow as Yang heard a cracking sound coming from the helm. There then seemed to be a tearing noise, and red started gushing up as his head simply left his body. Yang's eyes went wide with fear and realization as the man's head took off and hit the far side of the mine and blood erupted from the neck stump.

The bandits started running and screaming. Yang looked over and noticed the two she had shot lying in pools of blood, holes in their torsos. She looked back at her hand and saw the sticky, red liquid covering it. She covered her mouth with her other hand, holding back the vomit that threatened to erupt out of her, and jumped off the bridge into the water below, desperately trying to clean the blood away.

---

Weiss and Blake watched with open satisfaction as Camilla tore into both Faendal and Sven for their plans. The two men had the decency to look ashamed, but still occasionally glared at each other with resentment. Sven and Faendal had apparently both been trying to win Camilla's affections and thought that a falsely written letter would be enough to frame the other. They tried roping Blake into their schemes, but the Faunus, disgusted by their methods, took matters into her own hands and jointly revealed their actions to the young woman. One quick convincing of an, at first, reluctant Weiss later, and now both simply sat back and enjoyed the show.

"Okay, that was fun," Weiss admitted through a small smile, to which Blake nodded approvingly.

"Yeah. Told you."

Weiss nodded back, then got up from the wall and stretched her arms. "Let's check out that caravan now."

Blake's bow angled downward slightly as she whined, "Do we…"

"Yes," Weiss cut her off. "The medicine the innkeeper gave me helped, but I'm still feeling…thirsty. I've had to stop for a break five times today already. If I keep this up, I could drink myself to death. Besides, the Khajiit could have something as well. They're supposed to have come from a place that's half jungle half desert, after all, so they might have different concoctions that could help."

Knowing that Weiss was right, Blake went along with her, her ears twitching when she saw the Khajiit in their camp. A few of them were Senche and honestly looked like some form of big cat, if there was a big cat with shoulders as tall as a man and slightly shorter back legs, bigger versions of a couple of those cubs from Solitude. Despite their bestial looks, they still wore clothes and necklaces. One looked at them and nodded.

"Greetings," it said, its necklace glowing with the words. "Khajiit welcomes you. Gerdur has asked that four men girls accompany us to Whiterun. These are you?"

"We are," Weiss demured. "Us, and our other two teammates. I was wondering though, do you think you have some sort of medicine or…potion that can help me? I believe I've come down with something this past week."

"You are in lucky paws. Do'dran's wife is a skilled alchemist and knows many cures and treatments. Ko'ari can help you. Follow this one."

The two followed the quadrupedal Khajiit further into the camp. There were a few children, but the smaller ones mostly looked like regular big cat cubs, even though several of the older ones walked upright. One of them seemed to be shedding hair excessively.

"You wonder about moon forms?" Do'dran asked them.

"It's…curious," Weiss admitted. "I don't quite understand how your…forms range so much. I mean, I read about it, but reading it and seeing it..."

"It depends on the cycles of the moons. The ja-Kha'jay is tied to every Khajiit. Within a few weeks, one can see the form that we have taking hold. The three smallest cubs you see are newborns. The one losing her fur is Ohmes. She is nearing a year old."

"Well," Blake started, "you all certainly grow fast."

The Khajiit laughed at this and the three stopped by a woman grinding something with a mortar and pestle. Her ears flickered about a moment, and then she looked up at them. She was mostly furless, looking almost like a cat Faunus to the two save that she had no human ears along with her cat pair. Her face had markings that looked almost like tattoos, but Blake realized they resembled the fur markings many of the others had.

The two Khajiit pressed their faces together a moment before she focused on the newcomers. "Welcome, young ones. You come to Ko'ari for healing, potions, or something else?"

"Uh, healing, I suppose," Weiss began. "I'm a little sick, you see."

The Khajiiti woman began looking at Weiss's face very closely then sniffed her. "How do you feel?"

"Um, thirsty, mostly," Weiss answered. "I keep wanting to drink no matter how full I am."

"And hunger?"

"Well, I have been craving a rare steak lately, which is odd since I normally prefer medium." There was also the deeper, inexplicable hunger that she wasn't sure she could mention. The fact that images of gnawing raw flesh seeped into her waking mind was disturbing. Just as well, she was sure it wasn't important, let alone pertinent to her situation.

"Hm," the Khajiit hummed, "likely blood rot."

Weiss blanched at the sound of that. "Blood rot?"

"Yes." Ko'ari nodded. "Odd disease, it is. Affects the humours. Still, perhaps a bit of… No, not for a man girl like you. Let's see. A…dash of moon sugar? Yes, that should do it. A moment, friend."

Ko'ari went over to a table and began rummaging through things, fitting some into another mortar and crushing them together. She set a pot of water to boil over a fire and started putting some of the ingredients in, as well as a handful of some sugar-like substance. She ladled some of the boiling mixture into a beaker, and then poured it through an alembic, where it dripped into a vial after mixing with some sort of solution and being boiled over a burner. Once the vial was filled, she turned off the valve and handed it to Weiss.

"That should make you feel much better."

Weiss held the drink in hand for a moment, then sniffed. She winced at the strong stench and nearly gagged, then powered herself through and drank the concoction. It was sweet and had a slimy feeling to it. She wanted to scrape her tongue to get the taste out, but it sat warm in her belly and the sliminess of it seemed to coat her throat, making her feel less thirsty than before.

She smacked her lips for a few moments as she handed back the empty vial, feeling the medicine take effect. Ko'ari laughed.

"You should feel better soon. You will need more doses in the coming days. Ko'ari will finish bottling the rest. She supposes it should cost… Hm, the lizard tail is hard to get in Skyrim… Moon sugar should be… Ack, five malks for the whole thing."

"Ko'ari is a healer, not a merchant," another Khajiit protested as Blake's eyes widened at the price. "Your sister would hate to see you practically give away product."

"It is my ingredients. Ko'ari will sell them how she sees fit."

"Five malks?" Blake asked in disbelief. They almost never had that many septims at once, and she doubted they had that much at the moment. And this was apparently practically giving it away.

"If it helps, there should be plenty of coin in that barrow," Ko'ari pointed out. "We would go there, but it is cold enough for Khajiit on the level ground."

"There are also bandits," Do'dran added. "This one prefers to avoid the bandits."

"I… Maybe we should go there," Weiss suggested with a finger held up, suddenly feeling much more animated than usual. "Alvor and Gerdur talked about clearing it out just in case!"

"Are…you okay, Weiss?" Blake asked, eyebrow raised. That last sentence had come out at Ruby-speed, a very un-Weiss-like behavior.

"I'm fine! Great, actually! I'll go tell Ruby! We can go up there later today or tomorrow!" Blake looked at her eyes and noticed how dilated they seemed. "I bet we can become a feared name in no time like this!" She sped off back to Riverwood. Blake stared after her teammate for a moment, immediately recognizing the signs of a drug-induced high, then shot her head around with an expression that screamed 'What did you do?' to the Khajiit traders.

"Oh, there may be side effects," Ko'ari just now warned her. "This one wasn't too sure how much moon sugar she should add. Now I suppose your friend may be having a… What do we call it?"

"Either sugar rush or sugar fit. Do'dran is not too sure."

"Just what is moon sugar anyways?" Blake groaned at this chain of events. "Is it why my friend is suddenly high?"

"Ooh, how do we explain?" Ko'ari mumbled as she tapped her chin.

---

Ruby wiped her forehead and looked at the sword blade she had just dipped. It was all hammered out, now it just needed a hilt and some sharpening. The hilt was already ready, she just had to wedge it in. Once that was done, she took it over to the grindstone and started pedaling while running the edge against the stone, slowly and methodically. Dorthe had joined her father in watching the girl work the forge and had to be pulled back by the man when she tried to get closer to see the sword being sharpened.

With the edge nice and sharp as a razor, Ruby looked over her handiwork. It was just a simple steel sword, but she bet it could cleave right through a monster in the right hands. Maybe not that dragon, but it could likely bring down one of those trolls. She gave it a test swing and smiled brightly as it sang through the air.

"Divines smile," Alvor murmured as he eyed the sword. "Can I see that for a moment?"

"Sure. Here ya go." Ruby handed over the newborn sword and Alvor began to look it over from every angle.

"You weren't joking when you said you knew your way around a forge," he gasped in amazement. "I don't think I've seen a blade this good since I last saw one of Eorlund Greymane's works."

"Ah, geez, don't," Ruby gushed as her cheeks went red from embarrassment.

"It's amazing!" Dorthe babbled as she looked at the sword in her father's hands. "I hope I can one day be half as good as you!"

"Aww, thanks! You'll be great. I can tell," Ruby told the younger girl. Dorthe smiled widely, her eyes gleaming in open awe as Alvor smiled warmly.

Suddenly, Weiss came bouncing into the forge, startling the three smiths as they stared at her. "Ruby! We should all go up to Bleak Falls Barrow!" she announced.

"Uh, if you think so Weiss," Ruby said, then tilted her head and leaned slightly forward. "You seem happy. Reeeaaaaally happy, actually."

"Oh, I feel great! I got some medicine from the caravan, and I think I'm finally cured! I'm going to let Yang know!"

"Weiss, Yang's at the mine!" Ruby called after her partner as she sped away. She blinked and looked at Alvor. "That was weird. The last time I saw Weiss that happy, the Vytal Festival was being planned."

"I think the Khajiits likely know what made her like that," Alvor plainly stated, then looked to the side as Blake slowed to a stop in front of his home. "Ah, your other friend."

Blake leaned forward, resting her hands on her knees and gasping a little. "Ruby, did Weiss come here?"

"Yeah, she said she's going to tell Yang that we're going to Bleak Falls. What's up with her?"

"She took some medicine, but then the maker explained to me that she might have used too much moon sugar. She's high as a kite right now!"

"Oh, so like reverse Nightwill™. Okay, well, Yang should have finished up the mine by the time she reaches her."

"She could get hurt on her own!"

Ruby paused, then nodded in understanding. "Okay, we'll go after her." She turned back to the blacksmith and offered a smile. "Thanks again Alvor."

"Anytime, Ruby. If you can make things like this, then my forge is open to you any time you'd like. In fact, I'll be happy to pay for any work you're willing to help with."

The young Huntress-in-training's smile brightened as she waved at the blacksmith and his daughter. She then joined Blake in running after Weiss, a few red petals following her wake.

---

Yang gripped her shoulders as she slowly walked along the road from the now emptied mines. She could see the tracks the bandits left as they fled, tearing through small bushes and ripping apart mountain flowers while crumpling the grass where they ran. All that remained in Embershard now was some scattered belongings, abandoned by the men and women who had fled, and the three bodies. She didn't know where they had all scattered, but it didn't matter to her anymore. Yang was just going to head back to the village, explain everything to Gerdur, and hope the woman would be lenient. There might not even be legal ramifications for all she knew. Back on Remnant, there were plenty of less than upstanding Huntsmen who would sooner eradicate a raider group than let them cause harm to nearby settlements, and they never received much more than a slap on the wrist, if that. And based on that execution they witnessed in Solitude, the prosecution of such criminals in Skyrim was probably no more merciful.

She shivered as the mental image of a man's head flying off and being replaced by a fountain of blood came back to the forefront of her mind. She had hit plenty of people that hard. Some she hit harder. She was sure she hit her friends harder on occasion during practice or in spars. But they had Aura. Anyone back home who ever even thought about fighting had Aura. That man hadn't, nor had the two bandits she shot down. Something that for most people she knew would have been a painful impact had torn them apart.

She had killed them, and it was something her mind didn't quite want to accept right now. Bile tried to rise up, but she managed to hold it down, splitting her focus on holding herself together and getting back to the village where she could try and find a way to forget all of this. A rapid pit-patting of feet then reached her ears, coming from up ahead. Yang looked up to see what it was and caught sight of a white blur coming straight for her. Before she could focus on it, it stopped right in front of her, revealing a wide smile that just seemed wrong for the face it was a part of.

"Yang! There you are!" Weiss exclaimed way too cheerfully.

"Weiss? What are you…" Yang then saw her teammate's eyes and noticed how dilated they were. Holding her friend's face, Yang quickly figured out the basics of what had occurred while she was away. "Weiss, have you taken anything…strange?"

"Just some medicine from the caravan. It's working wonders!" Weiss answered through a beaming smile. Yang paused and closed her eyes, counted to ten, then released a sigh and looked right at Weiss' face.

'Better to pull the bandage off quickly,' Yang thought to herself. "Weiss, I'm gonna say this slowly. You. Are. High."

"What do you mean I'm-" Her attention suddenly snapped forward as realization dawned on her. "Oh, I get it."

"Yeah, we should get you somewhere to lie down for a while." The blonde kept the fact that she wanted nothing more than to lie down as well to herself.

"Ooh, you should meet the Khajiits," Weiss gushed as she started leading her back to Riverwood. Just because she was aware of her impaired state didn't mean she was coming down anytime soon. More than a couple of irresponsible friends taught Yang that the hard way. "They're actually very nice, and their babies are these cute little kittens. Remember back in Solitude? Well, the really little ones are even more adorable!"

"Sounds nice. I'll go there with Blake later." If Weiss had taken notice of Yang's subdued demeanor, she didn't show it and continued prattling on about the people-kittens for a few minutes.

"Ooh, Blake was there when I got the medicine. She already met Do'dran and Ko'ari. I think they're a cute couple."

"I bet they are." As Yang absentmindedly replied, she started hearing people up ahead. The voices came clearer as they neared them, until she could make out Ruby and Blake's voices.

"Weiss?" she heard Ruby holler. It seemed they were at least a little aware of the need to look out for their friend. "Weiss?"

"Over here," Yang called out. As her partner and sister reached them, Blake quickly pulled Weiss aside and began scolding her, insisting that they wouldn't be going to Bleak Falls Barrow while Weiss was in such a state, even as the blancette tried to argue that they could make good time. Ruby, meanwhile, slowly shifted her attention towards her sister, noticing that something was different with her countenance. Before she could speak up, Yang made a gesture as though to ask what was going on with Weiss. Ruby shifted her attention back towards her partner, sparing Yang a little more time to get her thoughts together and figure out whether she should say anything at all.

---

Night descended quickly once team RWBY reentered Riverwood. Luckily, Alvor and his wife Sigrid were kind enough to lend the Huntresses their home for the night. The events of the last few days racing through her mind, Ruby herself sat in silent contemplation at the end of her borrowed bed in Alvor's basement. Weiss, meanwhile, merely mumbled to herself while lying on a bed. Sigrid was preparing dinner upstairs, venison stew if the smell was anything to go by, and the other three girls were seated nearby as they watched over their friend, who was finally coming down. Ruby looked over at Yang as her sister seemed to be shuffling about within herself. She didn't think it was because of Weiss, as everyone had told them she would bounce back fine, if a little groggy and possibly hungover. Ruby thought about staying silent on the matter, but didn't want Yang to feel alone with whatever she was thinking.

"Yang?" she began.

"Hm?" Yeah, her sister was out of it. Way too...quiet for her.

"What's wrong? You've been kinda...down."

Yang put on a smile, but Ruby could see right through it. "It's nothing! Don't worry! I've just got a lot on my mind, really. I mean, a lot has happened in a... It's been about a week, now?"

Ruby reached over and placed a hand on her sister's arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Yang, if there's anything you want to talk about, I'm here, okay?"

She saw Yang's eyes go blue for a moment. The blonde blinked, and then Blake reached over and patted her shoulder.

"We're all here," the Faunus added. Yang smiled at her partner and nodded. A moment later, a sound like a saw rose up and the three turned to see Weiss lying on her side and snoring. The girls chuckled a little, and Yang pulled up the blanket over the sleeping heiress.

"Supper's nearly ready if you want to come up," Sigrid said quietly from the top of the stairs. "How's your friend?"

"Sleeping like a baby," Ruby responded, putting aside the matter with Yang as she climbed up to the main floor. "Anything we can help with?"

"If you can just grab some bowls and plates and set the table, we can get started soon. Alvor and Dorthe are washing up right now."

"Can do, ma'am." Blake and Yang followed after her, but the latter paused as she came across a shelf with several bottles set on it. Her lips pursed as she looked back up to where the others were getting ready. Her eyes trailed back to the bottles before she gently reached over and grabbed a couple, looking over them for a few seconds before clearing her throat.

"Want me to bring up a couple of these?" she asked her hosts.

"Sure. And help yourself while you're at it," the woman told her.

While something else inside kinda twisted, another part of Yang that felt like it had been festering for hours seemed awash with relief. She pulled the cork from one of the mead bottles and took a deep swig, letting the sweetness and the burn take away all of her attention. She grabbed a couple more and brought them upstairs, purposefully ignoring the look of concern her sister had for a few moments.

---

14th of Last Seed

---

Chapter 6: Stained Hands

---

15th of Last Seed

---

Morning came; and with it, more than a few groans. Yang had helped herself to a few bottles of mead at supper, Alvor more than willing to share his stock with her. He actually seemed to find it amusing, although Ruby certainly didn't. The blonde hadn't really gotten a hangover, but she did experience a brief headache before breakfast. Weiss was actually far worse. Apparently, the medicine was less a cure and more of a treatment. They did allow her another dose, this time remixed and diluted by the potion-making Khajiit woman, and it did seem to help, but Ruby noted with some trepidation how her eyes kept glancing at the bag they'd placed her future doses in.

In her own mind, Weiss did want more of the medicine. It was certainly helping, but between the lack of inhibition and the constant, aching hunger-thirst, she would almost always choose the former, even dulled as these new doses made it. For once, she could, on some level, understand her mother. A thought that pushed her further away from upping her dosage. More than anything, the thought that she might be developing an addiction was terrifying to her.

With breakfast eaten and gear prepared, the girls readied themselves to head up to Bleak Falls Barrow. They would have to hike up a mountain trail towards it, which would take time and mean more than a little exercise, but it was nothing that they couldn't handle. The crisp mountain air had a different feel to it than the milder climate down below, but it was soon joined by a freezing cold that made them all glad they had accepted the thick coats offered by the villagers.

"Whew! I can see my breath!" Ruby said as she did her best to keep herself warm. "Any colder I might breathe out icicles."

"Cold enough for you, Weiss?" Blake asked while trying not to shiver.

"Admittedly, even I'm feeling it, but this is really more like an average day in Atlas," Weiss admitted, barely showing any reaction to the frigid mountain air.

"Sheesh, remind me not to go there without a coat or three," Ruby quipped with a smile. Her glee faded for a moment as she looked back at Yang, who was taking up the rear and seemed more than a little down. "You okay back there?"

"Y-yeah," Yang answered, giving her a nervous smile and a wave. "All good. Just a lot of thoughts right now."

"What's there to think about?" Ruby shrugged as she turned back and tried to look ahead with her rifle's scope. "We're going to beat up and chase off some bad guys, maybe bring 'em down to prison."

"Probably best if we scare them off," Weiss added. "Knowing the likely fate of bandits, they'd choose that over whatever primitive justice they might meet here."

"Bandits…" Yang muttered as her steps slowed, new images taking over her mind. She could almost see a small horde of men and women standing against them and then charging them, thinking they could easily take on four young women. Ruby would probably move first, being the fastest, firing two shots and then dashing forward, almost faster than her bullets. Two people would've gone down with holes in their bodies before her scythe came and sliced through a man. They would hit the ground with blood pooling all around them, and her sister's face…

Yang blinked and snapped herself out of it, looking forward to see that her team had turned towards her. It took her a second to realize that she had completely stopped in her tracks and they were likely wondering what was the matter. Taking a deep breath, Yang tried to brace herself for what to say, yet she wasn't sure what she could say right now. At the same time, there was no way she could let them go ahead here and charge in without knowing what she'd learned. She let it out in a huff and took in a new breath.

"Guys," she started, wincing as she forced herself to get out the words. "There's something I need to tell you."

---

"There's no Aura?" Weiss asked in disbelief after hearing out Yang's explanation. The others were equally as shocked, going purely by their expressions, though they hadn't spoken up.

"If there was, those bandits would have had it, but they didn't," Yang explained, the pain she felt inside herself growing numb at finally coming out. "The guy who fought me, he only lasted as long as he did because he was armored and had a magical shield or something, but even if he had a puny amount of Aura, he should have been fine. I hit random thugs with the same amount of force, and all it did was send them flying. I… He…"

"Oh Yang," Ruby said while reaching over and gently pulling her into a hug. The blonde looked over at her sister and saw a sad smile on her face. "It's okay. You didn't know. And it's not… It's not the…" She blinked and shook her head.

"Are you sure this means no one on Nirn has Aura?" Blake asked.

"Yang has a point," Weiss pointed out. "If anyone would have Aura, it's people who expect to fight for most of their lives. Bandits would get that at the minimum. No one wants to die because some villager got in a lucky hit with a shovel."

"And this is an alien world," Yang reminded them, pulling back from Ruby's finished hug and crossing her arms. "It feels weird saying it, but that's what it is. It might have some familiar plants, animals, and people, but this whole planet is not like Remnant. The course of natural history itself is way different. Not only that, but there's no Grimm. People here just…don't have the same pressure for survival as those on Remnant."

"There's still danger," Ruby pointed out.

"One fire-breathing dragon and some animals that could give the average Beowolf a run for its money isn't the same as the constant threat of Grimm," Blake explained. "Dragons were apparently beaten once upon a time, and now they're practically myths, and monsters like those trolls are still flesh and blood animals. Even the people there said that one was likely hungry and desperate. It'd be like if all we had to worry about on Remnant were occasional packs and one Leviathan every century or so. People just…wouldn't be as strong. There'd be no reason to be. Add magic to the mix, and people just don't need Aura as much."

"But it…doesn't make sense," Ruby continued to wonder. "It's still part of every living being. Everything with a soul has Aura."

"That's true…" The Faunus began to contemplate that as well.

"Maybe someone knows about it, but not the average layman," Weiss concluded. "I can easily picture some monastic orders or warrior groups learning about it and keeping it secret, but right now we don't have that kind of information. Even the occasional Aura unlocked by strenuous events could have been ignored or written off as flukes, and that's assuming the person who unlocked it even knew what was going on in the first place."

"So, what do we do?" Yang asked the others. "We can't exactly beat down a bunch of people without Aura."

"We can. If we're careful," Ruby quickly amended. "We'll just have to… What's the saying? Kiddy gloves?"

"Put the kid gloves on?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, that." Ruby nodded and gave them all a small smile. "We'll start small and work our way up until we find the right amount of force to use. Hit soft at first, like if you were playing with a friend. No sharp or pointy edges unless you absolutely have to. Blake, Weiss, punch and kick more. Yang, punch softer. Blake, you and I can use the back of our weapons if we're careful about how hard we hit. Weiss can use her Semblance on them directly, but hold off on the Dust. We do this right, and everyone will be okay."

"We might need to coordinate differently," Weiss mentioned as she thought their approach over.

"We'll figure it out as we go. Just do your best, guys."

---

The four slowly approached the stone, partially crumbled tower they had come upon. It was overlooking the valley below, connected to the mountain path through a small stone bridge. If they had to guess, this used to be an ancient watchtower that had long since fallen out of official use, meaning it was ripe for the taking by any entrepreneurial bandits. Blake was in the lead, being the stealthiest among them, with Weiss not far behind. Ruby and Yang hung back behind some shrubbery to hide the bright colors of their clothes until they were signaled. After Blake crossed the short bridge, her head perked up, and then she looked up the tower a moment before leaping up the side and going through the window. A man's voice shouted out, and then the other three were rushing in.

"What the heck?" Yang muttered as they came up to the entrance. Ruby was also wondering what made their teammate suddenly jump ahead when the plan had been to silently take down whoever was posted at this tower, but that was a question to ask when they caught up and secured the immediate area. The three practically leaped up the stairs to the next level, pausing as they saw their teammate standing over an unconscious man with her sword pointed at a dark-skinned woman. The woman in question was rubbing one of her wrists and grimacing, but still kept a cautious eye on Blake, sparing the newcomers a glance for only a moment.

"What happened?" Ruby asked after taking in the scene.

"I heard a…commotion and looked into it," Blake tried to explain, her eyes turning to the unconscious man as an angry frown morphed onto her face.

"Bastard," the woman muttered through her teeth, still rubbing her wrist. "Couldn't take no for an answer."

As the others were starting to put what happened together, a bushy-bearded Nord walked in from the upper level. He opened his mouth to begin speaking but stopped when he saw the scene before him. Weiss and Ruby both drew their weapons, but it was likely the unfurling of the latter's that convinced the man to take his hands away from his sheathed sword.

After tying up the three bandits and resisting the urge to brain the unconscious man, Team RWBY set out some of their food and three mugs of water onto the nightstand next to them. The woman had whispered to her other companion about what had happened, and now he was glaring at his fellow as well. Yang almost felt like kicking the man awake, but didn't trust herself to hold back enough for that at the moment.

"Okay, if you guys get thirsty or hungry, just lean over," Ruby instructed them. "If your buddy gets hungry, you'll have to pass him something. Same with the water." The woman had been tied to the other side, away from the men, but the unconscious one was right next to his counterpart. Somehow, the girls figured that the man wouldn't be getting anything until they returned. "We can't exactly let you guys roam free while we're moving forward. You could sneak up behind us or something. But, once we come back, we'll think about letting you go."

That earned a pair of groans from the bandits, but at least they weren't promising threats of violence like Weiss imagined they might. The team left the tower and made their way further up the mountain. The barrow was up ahead, and it was even more marvelous to see up close. Great stone arches, decorated with dragon heads, marked the entrance to the crypt. Ruby felt herself channeling her inner Oobleck and marveled at the ancient ruins as they walked towards them, thinking about the scale of such a construction and what it indicated about the land's past, only to have those thoughts abruptly halted as an arrow flew by her head, missing by inches, and embedding itself into a nearby tree.

"Scatter!" she commanded as she drew Crescent Rose and tried to spot her attacker while resisting the urge to ready a shot. She zeroed in on a Bosmer woman with a mohawk-like hairstyle taking aim at her with a bone-white bow and changed direction to rush her, the stairs providing little impediment to her petaled Semblance. Another arrow flew straight for her, but Ruby knocked it out of the air with her weapon as she stopped. The woman seemed surprised and was unable to react in time before Ruby swung her scythe around, hitting her with the blunt side and sending her ten feet through the air to fall onto a pile of snow.

"Okay, a little softer," Ruby told herself before seeing more bandits readying themselves for combat. Weiss slid forward on one of her glyphs, knocking bandits over with the broad side of her sword and sweeping kicks. Yang came in, visibly holding herself back, but still knocking outlaws around with her fists. Blake jumped in and out, blocking blows before smashing her opponents around. A digitigrade Khajiit leaped at her from behind, claws, teeth, and a sword bare, but what he attacked disappeared and the actual Blake reappeared before bringing her heel up to his chin, knocking him out cold.

Soon, all of the bandits were down for the count, Ruby counting around twelve of them sprawled out or groaning in pain.

"Okay, there's a few more somewhere. They said there would be sixteen at the barrow."

"Inside…" a man lying near her feet groaned while clutching his stomach, the same place where she had kicked him moments ago. "Please don't kill me," he begged.

"Thanks, and sure," she told him before pulling him up and dragging him over to where her friends were tying and bunching up the others. Once secured, the girls snuck into the first chamber of the barrow. Once again, Blake took point with the others not far behind. The inside was messy, with some recently killed skeevers and thrown around debris scattered about. There was a fire up ahead, and two more bandits stood next to it warming their hands.

"So we're just supposed to sit here while Arvel runs off with that golden claw?" the woman asked while rubbing her arms.

"That Dark Elf wants to go on ahead, let him. Better than us risking our necks," her male companion grumbled.

"What if Arvel doesn't come back? I want my share from that claw!"

"Just shut it and keep an eye out for trouble."

The woman scoffed and started to head out, but just as she passed the first pillar away from the fire, Blake grasped her mouth and body and yanked her away, only a muffled scream being heard. The man immediately went on alert and took out his axe.

"What was that?!" he shouted in surprise while looking around in fear. "Soling?" he called out, but no answer came. As he breathed heavily and tried to figure out what to do, a flash of gold skipped into the firelight and Yang was there, waving coquettishly and smiling at him, to his confusion.

"S'up?" she asked before her other hand came up from behind her waist in a fist, sucker-punching his chin just hard enough to rattle his brain and cause him to fall over. She grabbed him before he could land on the fire and pulled him away to where his friend had disappeared before his eyes.

---

It took some time, but soon all of the bandits were gathered into the chamber, including the three from the tower. Most were grouped up, but once word got around, the attempted rapist had to be separated from the rest as they were ready to bite and kick him until he was bleeding. Apparently, deduced from their shouting, he broke 'the rules'.

"I guess even bandits have to have a code," Weiss concluded while watching the tied-up baker's dozen of outlaws jeer their fellow. "Well, there's still two more, and it sounds like one of them has the Golden Claw."

"The what?" Yang asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Long story short," Blake answered, "Weiss and I went by the general store and offered to get a valuable item that this lot stole back to the owner, after hearing him and his sister…argue." She looked back at the bandits, who mostly just sneered at them. "Then we…pulled off a little something to help Camilla out." She smirked at the memory, and Weiss even giggled as she twirled her fingers while summoning sparks of electricity between them.

"H-hey!" one of the bandits said nervously. "Careful with the magic!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," she mockingly apologized while holding out her hand. "This magic?" An arc of electricity suddenly leaped from her hand, stopping just short of hitting the man's leg, who shrieked and bounced in his attempt to jump away. Weiss actually blinked in surprise and looked at her hand in interest.

"I finally did it," she uttered in muted astonishment.

"Good job, Weiss!" Ruby congratulated her with a half-hug. "You're now a mage!"

"Eh, I've seen better," a red Argonian mouthed off. Weiss glared at him, but then drew in a breath and released it.

"So, we're moving in?" Yang asked while looking at the stairway leading down into the tombs with some trepidation. "Kinda…creepy down that way."

"Well, Weiss and Blake did promise to bring back Lucen's stuff, and there's two more guys we've got to worry about," Ruby explained before looking back at their prisoners. "Okay, behave while we're gone. If you get loose, then you better skedaddle. Once we're done, we'll turn you all loose, but you have to leave the area and not come near Riverwood. And if you think about fighting us again, think about what happened last time."

There were some murmurs among the outlaws, but it seemed like they were all agreeing that her terms were far more generous than they could expect from anyone else.

"I was thinking of moving down into Falkreath anyways. Slim pickings in these parts." Most of the man's fellows agreed to that sentiment immediately. Ruby narrowed her gaze at them and smashed Crescent Rose's head onto the floor, cracking the stone and gaining everyone's attention again.

"And if I recognize any of you banditting again, I won't go easy on you, and I'll turn you over to the authorities next time. Are we clear?"

They all started vigorously nodding, including their recent outcast.

"Good. Now, we're going to head into the barrow. Behave," she reminded them through narrow eyes and a pointed finger before leading the rest of Team RWBY down into the crypts. Weiss paused at the sight of a small bag resting on a casket, then picked it up and began counting the coins inside.

"My savings…" a bandit woman practically cried out, but Weiss didn't care as she pocketed the coins and moved on.

Further inside the barrow, worrying signs were beginning to show themselves. Mostly in the form of giant cobwebs, though there was also the threat of booby traps, which they were warned of thanks to the bloated corpse of another bandit (who didn't have the Claw on him, nor matched the description of Arvel) with several darts stuck across his body, likely poisoned. The trap he fell for was rather simple as well, being a lock combination that the solution to was literally right in front of them.

"So, does this bring us down to one?" Blake asked as Ruby tried to ignore the body.

"I…suppose," Weiss figured while pulling her hand away. "Still warm. The darts on him must have been poisoned with something fast-acting and deadly."

"Terrible stuff if it was still potent enough to kill him after all this time," the Faunus said while looking at the small opening where the darts were likely fired from.

"Not even from something that complex," Yang added as she twisted the last pillar into place. She double-checked her work and grabbed the lever. Everyone jumped away after she pulled it, but no darts came and the gate simply opened. The girls walked through, all breathing a sigh of relief. Yang noticed a chain on the other side and pulled it, causing the gate to close again and the pillars to spin a half-turn each. She pulled it again and the gate re-opened.

"Okay, that explains how Arvel could be on this side with the gate still closed." She pulled it again, and the gate closed once more, though the pillars didn't turn this time. "Keep the others from following us, at least."

"Just watch out for more," Ruby warned them. "If they put in one trap, they could've put in dozens."

More and more cobwebs came into view, giving each of the girls a huge amount of spider-related anxiety. Some smaller ones were seen crawling about, reminding them all of the bigger ones likely scuttling further within.

"Guys, I really don't want to see any more spiders," Ruby whimpered. "The first time was enough."

"I still don't understand how they get that huge," Weiss complained while scratching at her head. "It shouldn't be possible. Unless they evolved lungs here…"

Weiss' ruminations were halted as a dog-sized spider suddenly crawled out from an alcove. Ruby promptly screamed and shot it, blowing it into hundreds of green and brown pieces.

"Ruby, save your ammo," Blake admonished the girl.

"Huh, wha?" She seemed confused.

"Guns aren't really a thing here, and we still haven't found anyone who sells Dust. Even if we get a supply, we're going to have to make our own bullets. Kit or not, that takes a while."

"Oh, geez, I totally forgot!" She then whimpered. "It wasn't even a big one…"

"It's okay. Let's just be conservative about them. Shoot only when you have to."

"Makes sense," Yang agreed before heading in front of them. More spiders appeared as they went in further, and the girls thrashed them with only the hesitation brought on by the instinctual fear of arachnids holding them back from a full-on slaughter. As they continued on while trying to settle their nerves, they began to hear something distinctly human.

"Is… Is someone coming?" a small, scared voice called from a little ways forward. "Is that you Harknir? Bjorn? Soling?"

"Think that's Arvel?" Yang asked in a low voice, referring to the one the bandits at the entrance had mentioned.

"Guess so," Blake answered.

"I know I ran ahead with the Claw, but I need your help!"

"Sounds like he's in trouble," Ruby said as she shifted into hero-mode. "Let's gooooooo… That's a lot of web in the way."

Blake responded by merely slicing her sword through the webbing a few times, clearing a path forward into the chamber.

"Thanks," Ruby meekly stated as she ducked into the room.

"What? Who are you?" a Dunmer trapped in a thick web at the other side cried. "Oh, never mind. Cut me down before that thing gets us!"

"What 'thing'?" Weiss coldly asked. Suddenly, a spider-shaped shadow filled the room, and everyone froze in place before daring to look up and see a spider the size of a small car. The girls had to force themselves not to scream, although Ruby did whimper slightly. A few wounds covered it, but obviously weren't enough to subdue the creature. If Ruby had to guess, this spider was the mother to the ones they just killed in the previous rooms.

"No! Not again!" Arvel cried out in terror, wriggling in a futile attempt to break free of his bonds.

"Guys, spread out!" Ruby ordered as the spider came down. It let out a chittering hiss and turned towards the leader before Yang came in and punched its side. It moved sideways and turned a bit, but besides a small dent in its exoskeleton, there didn't seem to be much damage.

"Blake, distract it!"

"Right!" The Faunus jumped forward and sliced at an already injured leg, earning a hiss and splat of green ichor on the floor. It turned toward her and snapped, but only caught air as the clone left in her place disappeared. It seemed stunned, and that gave Ruby an opportunity to make a downward slice at its middle. The creature shrieked and turned, but Ruby was already out of its reach. It thrashed around a bit and then clambered towards Weiss, who screamed in fright and fired out a shower of sparks from her palm. The spider shrieked again but kept going until it had rammed Weiss and pinned her to the wall. The heiress screamed again and stabbed forward with Myrtenaster, hitting the joint between its neck and body. It backed away with a frantic chitter, and then Ruby came in yelling with an upward swing of her scythe. Green fluid spattered out and then the head of the frostbite spider fell off. Green ichor pooled around the severed stump and stained the white snow that had accumulated on the ground, but other than the horrendous smell it posed no threat. Taking a moment to gather their bearings after the death of the arachnid, they approached the Dunmer thief, still suspended in spider silk.

"Well done, really!" he congratulated the four in excitement. "Now, if you could let me down, we could…work together, maybe."

"Work together?" Weiss skeptically asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why would we work with a scoundrel like you?"

"Also, you guys stole something that doesn't belong to you," Ruby added. "We'd like it back."

"You mean the Claw?" Arvel asked, his face betraying his panic as his wiggling quickened. "Listen, there's more to that thing than you realize! The Claw, the markings, the door in the Hall of Stories. I know how they all fit together!"

"Fit together?" Blake mused.

"What…do you mean by that, exactly?" Ruby asked.

"See, the Claw…is a key! There's a room at the end of the Barrow, the oldest part of the whole thing. There's no telling what secrets are there, what riches await! And you can't get in without the Claw or the secret I discovered!"

"Okay, so… You want us to go with you?" Ruby asked skeptically.

"You do realize we beat up a whole lot of your buddies, right?" Yang pointed out. "Practically all of them."

"Sure, but I'm not like the rest of those blood-thirsty Men and Mer. I'm just here to get some gold and go. Who knows, if this whole thing pays off, I could leave behind the whole brigand life and start up anew! And there'll be plenty for us all! Just think of it!"

The girls all looked to each other and Ruby shrugged.

"Well, no harm in it, I guess," Blake answered. "It's not like he could hurt us, after all."

"Okay then. Cut him down, Weiss."

"Fine," the heiress grumbled before a short cough. Her throat was beginning to feel dry again, making her grind her teeth. As she cut the spider web from around the Dunmer, she thought about taking a sip from her canteen. Her belly wasn't full, so she could probably get away with a large gulp or two.

His bonds finally cut, Arvel came loose and dropped to the ground with an 'oomph'. As he stood and dusted himself, he smiled slightly.

"Sweet breath of Arkay, thank you." Arvel smiled, still on his knees, only to quickly grab hold of a few strands of webbing and throw it in Weiss' face. As she was distracted and sputtering, Arvel took the chance to flee further into the crypt, speeding off with a laugh. The girls, shocked by his sudden, but in hindsight inevitable, betrayal, looked after him, only to see him knock down a brazier behind him and set the ages-old contents on fire.

"Uh, Arvel?!" Ruby called after him.

"Fools! Why should I share the treasure with anyone?!" he called back, seemingly not aware nor caring of where he was going.

Weiss silently fumed while the other girls just looked among themselves, confused.

"He knows the entrance is behind us, right?" Ruby pondered, her hand on her chin.

"Maybe he thinks there's a back way?" Blake guessed, trying to make sense of the Dark Elf's intentions.

"Could be, but if there was, why wouldn't he just use that to get in instead?" Yang rubbed her head before looking to the side. "What do you think, Wei- Where'd Weiss go?"

The other two followed her gaze and saw that their teammate was gone, but after a moment's listen, they could hear her heels clacking.

"Agh, Weiss! Now we have to chase both of them!" Ruby complained.

"Let's go get her," Blake huffed. The three took off after the runaway bandit and their teammate, none of them really in any kind of hurry.

---

"Get back here, you degenerate!"

"Stendarr's beard! How?" the bandit cried out when he saw Weiss gaining ground on him despite the heels she was wearing. The heiress, to his shock, soon caught up and violently grasped his arm, yanking him around in a spin that tripped him backwards, before jumping on top of him and holding his arms down, pinning him to the ground.

"Did you think you could just run?!" Weiss yelled in his face, days of irritation and illness, stacked on top of all the aches her body held, having pushed the worst of her to the forefront. "Did you think we'd let you run away?!" she repeated as she grasped his shirt by the collar and pulled his face to hers.

"Please! I'm sorry!" Arvel begged, attempting to reach for a knife at his waist. Weiss saw it and grabbed the knife instead, pulling it up and cutting his arm with the motion. He cried out and clutched the wound, but now looked in fear as his own weapon was pointed at his face.

"I am tired, sick, thirsty…!" Her pupils contracted as she suddenly smelled the metallic scent of blood from the cut going up Arvel's arm. "So…thirsty…" The icy blue of her eyes suddenly shifted into a glowing orange, her mouth opening up to reveal two elongated fangs to the Dunmer, who froze in horror before struggling even harder.

"No! NO! Someone! Help!"

Weiss's face came forward and she bit down on the struggling elf's neck. Liquid flowed into her mouth and down her throat, quenching the thirst she had felt for days. Her mind went into a flutter as Arvel screamed in pain and kept trying to get loose. A futile struggle, as his thrashing form only continued to lose strength with each passing second. When no more liquid was forthcoming, Weiss raised her head up again as she dropped the body, feeling revitalized and back at full strength, like she wasn't even sick. In fact, Weiss felt better than ever. A smile formed on her ecstatic face as she basked in the moment. Her attention was caught by a gasp and she looked over to see her teammates, all of them looking at her in horror, disgust, and revulsion.

She reached up to her mouth and pulled her hand away to see red, sticky liquid upon her fingers. Shakily, she looked down and saw Arvel's body, somewhat shriveled like a prune, not even bleeding from the holes in his neck. She gasped for air, her breath leaving her as the situation sunk in.

"…looked like a dried-up human, used a sword…"

"Was it…draining your blood?"

Her thirst was making her think -

she could quench it with mortal blood!

"...Weiss?" Ruby whispered in fearful concern, clutching Crescent Rose like a lifeline.

"What… What did you...do?" Yang asked softly, her eyes wide at the gruesome scene.

"I..." Blake whispered to herself as she looked on with dread. "Weiss...did you...drink…?"

Weiss gripped her hair and screamed.

---

15th of Last Seed