"Do not be distracted. Keep your mind clear and try again." Catalaya said from her spot on the roof. She was currently trying to help Weiss get the basics of her new abilities. It was almost 11:45 at night and they'd been doing this for hours on the hotel roof. The cold desert at night was the perfect chance, ice mages thrive in it. Although, it seems as though it wasn't helping the Schnee at all. When the paler girl failed again Cat quickly leapt to calm her down. "Snow, breathe. It's okay." Weiss looked ready to burst, "How is this okay? I can't even make a snowball. How am I supposed to protect the Nexus?" She huffed and sat down.

"That's because you're thinking with this," Cat poked her forehead,"instead of this." She poked her chest. "You're trying to apply logic to something so unbelievably strange. Tell me, using logic, what allows me to change my forms at will?" Cat looked expectantly at the girl on the ground who said nothing, her brows furrowed in thought. "Exactly my point. Logic can take you many places, but only emotions can bring you everywhere."

Weiss chuckled from her spot on the floor, "A bit cheesy don't you think?" Cat crouched mext to her,"Definitely, but important." She set her hand in front of the other girl, "Try again?"

Weiss grabbed her outstretched hand and allowed herself to be pulled from the ground. After dusting herself off she began to imagine the snowball as stupid as that sounds. Let her emotions fuel her power just a small bit. Slowly, a ball of ice grew in her palm, it was barely even the size of her hand but she was ecstatic. "I did it!" She shouted then lowered again, "I can't believe it." Looking out the corner of her eye, she could see Catalaya looking very proud. "Alright, Snow. You got that, want to try another?" At Weiss' impatient nod, she set her up to create many different things; from a simple square block, a miniature car, to even a living kitten of ice. They turned in near two o'clock to get some sleep before everything they needed done.

9:00am Vacuo Hotel

Team RWBY were doing some morning exercises when Catalaya began growling. They looked around to find she wasn't in the room, "Think something's out there?" Yang asked as Ruby took out her Glock just in case. The group slowly ventured from their room to find an unexpected sight. Director Ozpin, his second in command Goodwitch and Atlas General Ironwood talking with a very flustered Coco. Only one thing stood out the most; Ironwood aiming a gun at the still growling wolf with a deadly look in his eyes. "What is this creature doing unchained?" He asked in a calm voice. "Because we believe she isn't dangerous." Ironwood side eyed Coco,"To us anyway."

Ironwood kept his focus on the large black wolf crouched before him,"Then have your pet go somewhere else." Catalaya snarled and snapped when she was called a pet but remained somewhat quiet as the room waited for Coco to speak. Team RWBY watched silently from a doorway as Coco said, "Cat, return to your room please." She quickly winked at the canine who slowly turned around, but not before snapping at the general once more. Begrudgingly she entered the room she shared with team RWBY and sat in the doorway in order to eavesdrop on the conversation. She must not have known she was still growling slightly as Weiss carefully rubbed her head to get her to stop. The wolf seemed to calm due to her touch and leaned slightly on the paler girl.

Unbeknownst to them, Ozpin and Glynda saw this display and quietly smiled to each other. "I do believe you can rest now James." Ozpin said to the stiff general and turned back to Coco, "So, you left because you worried someone was untrustworthy and would interfere with the mission?" The girl nodded, "Would you mind telling me who you believe it to be?" Coco glanced at Ironwood as he moved around the small living room, the Director nodded in response, "I've had that feeling as well." He sipped from his coffee,"Where is the armor piece now?"

"With a contact of mine." Coco nudged her foot to a silver case beneath the couch. "Where can we find him?" "Downtown province, at the mechanics shop." Ironwood left immediately after she finished speaking.

Ozpin chuckled out loud, "That man is idiotic." He picked up the case and gave it to Glynda who performed a small distortion spell and made it look like a cellphone. "I do apologize for bringing Ironwood here, he just followed." Coco smiled,"It's no bother, sir." "It appears your suspicion was right, Ms. Adel." Goodwitch said as she stood by the door. "I would however refrain from disappearing off the map the next time."

She smirked as Coco rubbed her neck guiltily. The two left not long after in order to keep up appearances with the General. Coco breathed a sigh of releif and plopped back down on the couch. The three groups gathered and began planning the next search. This time for the right leg piece of the armor. Although, it wasn't long before that devolved into Ruby and Nora trying to get Cat to tell another story. "Can you tell us about the fifteen?" Catalaya stopped her search through her satchel and looked at Nora with a vacant look in her eyes,"That's it!" She shouted as she ran to her duffel bag across the room. She pushed through the endless items of clothing they'd bought her before jumping up with a leather bound book in her hands as well as an unidentified bag. "This book is Inatrus' journal anything about the armor should be inside, use that translation book." She picked up another 5 more books and tossed them to Weiss, who almost lost her balance. Catalaya put her duffel over her head right when Coco asked,"Where do you think you're going?" Catalaya grabbed Weiss' unoccupied arm and looked up,"Training." Then she dragged the white haired girl out the door in a puff of dust, leaving a very confused group.

"So, is "training" a new codeword for something?" Nora asked setting Yang off into a fit of laughter.

Nearby Rooftop

"What the dust are we doing up here?!" Weiss screeched when Catalaya finally let her go. She'd dragged her downtown in the scorching heat then up onto the roof of a restaurant that sat not far from a scrap yard. Catalaya's smile was a bit unhinged as she spoke in her native tongue, talking at speeds incomprehensible to a normal person."This is it." She grabbed a book from the pile in Weiss' arms then jumped off the roof and over the barbed fence of the junkyard. "Come on, princess. This is where you'll train for now." Weiss carefully performed a running jump over the obstacles and into the wolf girl's open arms. Cat moved the girl to the center of what used to be a car, positioned underneath a tower of metal. "Sit." Weiss sat and placed the books beside her,"Your magic potential doesn't respond the way others do. It can't be coddled like glass the way my kind does during training." Weiss tilted her head,"Because it was unstable right?"

Catalaya hopped onto another crushed car's remains,"It still is really." She pointed to Weiss,"Yours is not. Magic like yours responds only to strict training and force-" "Wait, but I did all that stuff earlier?" She shook her head,"You made the snowball, I helped you make the rest." Weiss narrowed her eys at the other,"Don't be mad, its how I was able to figure this out. Your magic responded the best out of negative emotions each time you've used it. Anger and fear." Cat hopped onto another car,"This is where I will train you, to get a hold of those emotions and use them to your advantage."

"Pick up a book and study." Weiss looked very confused,"Why?" Cat turned to her,"Magic can't be used willy nilly. Having the knowledge and the power helps, although mostly knowledge." Cat jerked her hand in a strange motion,"So, get to it or else." Weiss flipped over a book,"Or else what?" She was suddenly hit with a snow ball. Gasping and sputtering she flicked its remnants from her hair and looked to her assailant. "What was that for!?" Catalaya smirked,"I'm training you the way the monks trained me. For every question you get wrong, for everytime I see you slack, and if I just happen to want to, I will throw a snowball at you." Weiss looked pissed,"To be fair, this is easy. They threw rock at me, I'm being nice." Another snowball appeared in her hand,"Get to it." Weiss quickly opened the book in her lap only to be greeted by a language she didn't understand,"I can't-" a snowball hit her face.

"Never say that." Catalaya wiped some of the snow from her face,"You have to learn the languages in order to cast." By the time Weiss could question her again another projectile flew into her. "Well?" Cat asked as Weiss cautiously kept reading the book given to her. Using the equivalent of a dictionary, she attempted to decipher the meanings of each word and transcribe them onto a another paper. She felt like she was back in college, try to complete a 40 page essay in 4 days time. Every five minutes or so, Cat would conjure an artificial snowball then throw it at her. They repeated the process for hours until it started getting dark, they then switched to magical combat.

"Why are we doing this in the dark again?" Weiss asked as she pulled herself from a crater. "Because ice mages thrive in cold environments," she gestured to their surroundings,"and the desert at night is practically freezing." She watched Weiss dust herself off,"So I'll be able to perform better in this environment. That's what your saying?" Cat nodded, "Now, again." Weiss groaned as she got into position, right foot positioned behind her diagonally from the left, her right hand angled at her side and left hand palm up in front of her. Catalaya analyzed the girl's position thoroughly before shouting "Begin!" At the command Weiss pushed her power into her left hand and created a ball of ice, she stepped forward and used her right hand to launch the ice towards Cat using only the center of her palm. The ball, no more than 6 inches in diameter moved in a direct line to the awaiting girl. Cat caught the projectile, swirled it from her left arm to her right arm, then hurled it back at the ice mage at half strength-which was still pretty hard anyway. The ice moved at 45 miles per hour at most as it headed back to its source.

Weiss flipped forward from her left foot, catching the ball with her same side hand then, as she landed threw the ice again with more force, pushing it for a faster speed. "This process is no more than an intense game of catch." Catalaya had said before they started, as they continued however, she realized the wolf girl and her had very different opinions on what intense meant. At first it was if she tried to stop a speeding truck with her hand the first time Catalaya threw it back, over time it got a bit better. She conjured the ice easier and was able to respond faster, Cat was clearly proud of Weiss' progress with a wide grin on her face. They went home at 11:45 and Weiss practically collapsed onto her spot, her body unbelievably sore. The next morning they'd do it all again.

And she dreaded the very thought.

9 Days Later

For the next four days they repeated this routine. While Weiss was training and studying the magic texts, Catalaya helped the group search for the next peice of the armor. She assited Velvet in translating the Elven text and traveled with JNPR to possible sources of magical energy. Each one was a bust but the group kept going, they wouldn't stop until the armor was safe. It was Thursday morning, 9:30 to be exact, when the taskforce was traveling to the Vacuo airport when a clue practically smacked them in the face.

Well, it smacked Jaune.

A green bird flew right into the blondes face then perched on his forehead as he lay on the ground. The fact that bird wore a piece of paper on it's foot, attached by a peice of string is what caught Catalaya's attention. However, her group was focused on the completely green bird with purple eyes and feet. "What the eff is that?" Ruby asked as she aimed her gun at it. "A messenger." Catalaya streched out her left arm and the bird hopped onto it allowing her remove the note. "Who is it from?" Coco asked. Catalaya chuckled, "An old friend."

She nodded her head and spoke to the bird, "Tell your master we will be there." The bird chirped as if it understood then flew away, to the direction it came. Cat tutned her back and found the entire group still staring at the bird,"Shouldn't we be moving?" She walked ahead of the group for a minute and listened to the hastened footsteps of her comrades. "Whoa, hold on."

Yang ran beside her, "Are you going to explain what happened or what?" They followed the shifter back into the desert terrain. "It was a message concerning the armor from a friend. Its location is in their territory, so they thought it best I be notified."

"But who is this friend?" Weiss chirped from her right. "Why," Cat turned to the expectant group with a smile, "he's a troll of course."

"A what?!" Was the groups response. "Aren't they dangerous?" Ruby mumbled from behind her as Cat shook her head. "Depends which type of troll." Weiss' brows furrowed in thought, "Okay, putting aside the fact that you know a troll. I don't recall any troll territories in Remnant."

Cat nodded,"Because it's not in Remnant. It's in Stroforis. The land of monsters." Coco stopped on top of a dune "And where is that exactly?" At Catalaya's smile she became a bit apprehensive, "Don't tell me it's another realm."

Cat pulled a pearl from her satchel, "Okay." Loud groans came from Coco and a bunch of mumbled curse words from Velvet as they realized the implications while trams JNPR and RWBY remained confused. Weiss watched intently as Cat spoke in her native tongue and conjured a large yellow portal before her.I wonder if I can do that one day.She thought as the wolf girl turned to the group,"This will take us directly to Stroforis. Though I must warn you of the side effects." "Such as?" Blake questioned with deep regret. "Headaches, nausea, fatigue, peeling skin."

"Wait what?" Jaune said as she continued, "Numbness in your limbs, heart attack, hair loss."

Yang was the most frightened at that,"And spontaneous combustion."

She reattached her bag,"But that's why I have this." It was a small emerald gem in her palm, using her thumb she crushed it and tossed the remains in the air, creating a light magical barrier around herself and the others. "This will block any serious effects." She turned to the portal, "Meet you there." She hopped in with a grin on her face. It was quiet for a while as the group tried to figure a way out when Nora and Ruby just shoved everyone in after the girl.

With a strangled scream they landed in a massive heap in front of Catalaya. Ruby gazed around to see they were in a forest with black barked trees and bright blue leaves. What looked like a horse with eight legs passed by her field of vision as Cat cried out, "Welcome to Stroforis."