Tyrian had stormed into the room early in the morning, hollering and crying about how he had allegedly managed to make contact with his beloved Goddess. As expected, that had caused some frustration amongst the three of them that had still been asleep, and Cinder very much included herself in that number. For the first time in a long while, she'd felt like she'd been able to shake some of the exhaustion that clung to her body. All for it to be ruined by a man in hysterics.

But it turned out that any possibly appearance of the so-called Goddess was something that had to be taken seriously, regardless of how it was presented to them. At least, that was how Watts and Hazel seemed to treat the matter.

Because of that, Cinder was now standing outside of the inn with a rambling Tyrian, while Watts was still inside making sure that they were checked out. Hazel had decided that he was taking the first part of the morning to gather some minor supplies that he hadn't bothered to name.

As for Cinder, she was mostly annoyed with having to hear Tyrian chatter so incessantly and so excitedly as he always did. There was a fairly large part of Cinder that seriously doubted he'd ever do something to stop. He'd never shown any sign stopping before.

Because of that, she decided to turn her uninjured eye up to the sky and watch for anything that could give them a clue as to what the day was going to look like. There were birds flying overhead, all in one direction. With the sun at their backs, they all looked black. Cinder didn't know whether it had something to do with prey or whether it had to do with something else.

Deep down, she wasn't so certain that she wanted to know. Mostly, she didn't think that it was going to matter. Birds were birds, simply going about their lives as they were supposed to- without care for anything else that was going on around them.

The door to the inn opened, and Cinder snapped her attention over to Doctor Watts, who stepped outside with his dossier book in hand and scribbling something down in it with a worn out pencil. He didn't bother to look up and see what Cinder and Tyrian were up to, seemingly much more interested in whatever was in his book than them.

Cinder watched as the man flipped a few pages and removed a map, opening it up and scribbling down some extra notes before he finally spoke.

And as usual, he didn't manage to come off as very kind when he spoke.

"Where is Hazel?"

Cinder was about to open her mouth to speak, but remembering how badly it had hurt to converse a few days before, she quickly quashed the thought and clamped her mouth back shut.

"He said that he was getting supplies." Tyrian said, having finally dropped the topic that had occupied his mind so relentlessly since his arrival back at the inn early in the morning. "He didn't say how long he thought it was going to take or where he was going, though-"

"I see." Arthur said, and despite the lack of a facial expression to accompany it, Cinder could practically hear the man sneering through every word. "I suppose that we should collect him before we leave, then."

The doctor somehow managed to frown even more under his facial hair before turning and leading the way through the village. Cinder and Tyrian exchanged a quick look between the two of them before they decided to follow after the man.

Surely enough, they did manage to find Hazel. When they did, he was in a relatively simple weapons shop, and Cinder's first thought that it was an old fashioned place. Nothing there had a foldable frame, nothing seemed to have any sort of high end trappings like what would be seen at one of the combat schools. It was all simple supplies, all seemingly meant to just give the bare minimum training to someone or to equip the locals just in case bandits came through.

But Hazel was there, his back turned to the door as he looked through a selection of shining crystals that were laid out on the counter in front of him. He seemed to be frowning at all of them, and Cinder watched the way that he would pick one up and the Dust would glow for a few seconds before he mumbled something to the shopkeeper.

When they came in, it sounded like the two of them were in a discussion on the prices, and Cinder realized after a moment that Hazel seemed to be doing his best to barter. It left her wondering what Hazel had to trade away for the sake of supplies. And why using Lien wasn't being brought into the discussion.

The tall man glanced back at them over his shoulder, and Cinder was quick to realize that Hazel didn't exactly look pleased by the interruption. He let out a sigh that sounded much more like a growl before reaching across the counter and shaking hands with the man there. After that, he was quick to retrieve a small pack from his bag and set it down on the counter between the two of them.

The shopkeeper opened it, and Cinder craned her neck to see what was inside.

What she saw was a selection of small packages of colored powder, and after a moment Cinder realized that Hazel was trading away Dust powder that must have been useless to him for the unrefined form that came straight out of the mines and was known for being more volatile.

Satisfied, the shopkeeper stowed the bags away and began to pack the new crystals into Hazel's pack before handing it back across the counter. Hazel paused, looking over the room that they were in like he was in search of something before taking a step away and saying his goodbyes.

With that, the four of them were able to leave the shop and collect themselves.

Arthur stared Hazel down, his eyes sharp as his tone. "Did you get everything that you needed?"

"Yes." Hazel grumbled, stashing the small bag of Dust back away in his things. "Could have been better."

"As usual." Arthur replied, frowning. "It wouldn't be such a problem if you found a more sustainable method for battle. Your reliance on Dust has always been a hindrance, and you know it."

Hazel rolled his eyes and began to lead the four of them out of the city. "It's always worked."

"It clearly isn't working so well if you need to trade powder for unrefined materials."

Cinder found herself to be all too aware of certain things about the way that the two men that seemed to trade off the title of 'leader' interacted. She couldn't help but notice the way that Hazel grit his teeth and glared at Watts dangerously. She couldn't ignore the way that Watts stood a little bit taller once he realized that he'd managed to get under Hazel's skin.

Neither of them spoke, but their eye contact did break faster a moment before Watts turned his eyes onto Tyrian and stared the man do

In that moment, Tyrian was standing several feet away from any of the others. He looked nervous, based on the way that he was wringing his hands together carefully in order to avoid injuring himself in the process. Cinder had come to realize fairly quickly that when given the chance, Tyrian liked to place some distance between himself and the rest of them. Cinder was sure that there had to be some reason for it.

Considering how the thin man tended to be normally, Cinder wasn't sure that she really wanted to know most things about Tyrian.

But he was nervous, and maybe scared. He was looking up at Watts with worried yellow eyes, and waiting for anyone to say something to him. Cinder wondered whether or not he was expecting some sort of outlash in his direction for the fact that he'd woken them all that moment. If that was what Tyrian was afraid of, then Cinder couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen once the man's priorities began to be made more clear.

"Yes?" Tyrian asked, his voice much more meek than Cinder would have normally expected. The man seemed like he was about ready to crumble under Doctor Watts' gaze, but he didn't let it happen. He just stood there, waiting some sort of instruction.

Finally, Watts spoke. HIs voice was as hard and sharp-edged as ever, and Cinder didn't think that was necessarily such a bad thing. "You said that we had somewhere to be?"

"We do." Tyrian replied as he stepped outside of the store where they'd gone to collect Hazel. "I do believe that I will be able to get use there without too much incident, oh yes, she will be proud-"

Cinder felt her stomach clench of the man's reaction, and she couldn't help but to pick up a hand and let her fingers brush against the scarring on the ruined left side of her face. How was Tyrian still able to act as though he worshipped his alleged Goddess when he had been harmed by her? When Cinder had been harmed by her? Was Tyrian somehow oblivious to the severity of the situation?

Deep down, Cinder wanted to doubt that Tyrian's case was one of ignorance. She suspected that there had to be something else going on that the man was reluctant to let any of the others be aware of. He knew more about the things that they were doing than she did, and Cinder couldn't help but feel a little bit bitter over that fact. She supposed that her jealousy and frustration wouldn't have been anywhere near as bad if not for the fact that things still failed to make sense, even when what she did know was pieced together.

There was a deeply uncomfortable silence that settled over the group of them. Watts was staring Tyrian like he thought that the man was going to spill his guts at any second and begin to give them something that could at the very least be considered somewhat useful that they could use. Cinder wondered whether or not the reason that Tyrian hadn't begun leading them away yet had to do with some sort of imagined time constraints.

But Watts said nothing. Tyrian stood there shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. Cinder took a half step forward and opened her mouth so that she could perhaps be the one to get the man to explain something, but was quickly stopped by a wave of Hazel's hand.

For the first time that morning, Cinder watched the way that power changed hands between Watts and Hazel. She suspected that she was going to end up seeing it happen a couple more times over the course of that day. When it happened, she certainly had no idea how she was going to see it happen. As far as Cinder had noticed, the two men had very little actual method when it came to how power shifted. It was circumstantial, and Cinder was sure that there was no sort of unspoken agreement between the two men.

No, Cinder thought to herself, Arthur and Hazel were both content to compete for power and to take their turns leading for as long as they could before one or the other became somehow obsolete.

It was a dangerous mentality, but Cinder didn't want to let herself obsess over it.

"Tyrian-" Hazel began, his voice managing to come out with its rather distinctive growl that shouldn't have fit on any man's vocal cords. Cinder supposed that it was possible that Hazel was a faunus, but if he was, he hadn't done anything to show that to her. If he was, then maybe it was just for the best that he didn't let that part of himself show for the sake of the group dynamic.

"Yes?" Tyrian asked. His gaze was unfocused, glued securely to a single spot on the ground that Cinder had to wonder about for no reason other than the fact that Tyrian seemed to have trouble with his vision on the average day. He was still standing there nervously wringing his hands in front of him and tilting his head just slightly so that he was looking away from the four of them just a little bit more. "Is there?"

"Where are we going?" Hazel asked, his voice hardening into stone all at once along with his expression. He didn't move to leave, he didn't do anything to even begin to show himself in an aggressive manner. For the little while, it seemed that Hazel was just content to be there and to humor Tyrian until they had information that the four of them could actually use and follow.

All three of their eyes turned on Tyrian, and the man seemed to almost shrink back for just a moment before holding his head high, turning on his heel, and beginning to lead them out of the city. Because of the fact that Tyrian hadn't said so much as a word to them, Cinder couldn't help but think that he was worried for what would happen if the four of them were overheard for whatever reason.

Cinder looked up at Hazel, who just shrugged and followed after Tyrian. A quick glance over at Watts only earned her a glare as a response, and so Cinder decided that it was for the best if she was sure to follow close after the others. She fell into an impromptu sort of walking order, and soon the four of them were outside of the village that they'd decided to call their home for a little while.

They must have walked for a while, and Cinder had to wonder what it was that was tugging Tyrian in this particular direction. She couldn't raise her voice to ask though, and even if she did, Cinder was certain that she would only be rewarded with some sort of worshipful rambling.

Finally they stopped, and when it happened Cinder realized that they were close to an hour outside of the village, although they were sticking to the well travelled roads for the time being.

Tyrian found a mile marker of sorts and decided that it was going to be their base of operations for a little while based on the fact that there was a bench. He dropped down onto it and made himself comfortable before looking between the rest of them.

"She wanted us to come out at night." He said, his voice as calm as possible. "We're still about an hour away from where She wants us, but-"

"What do you mean She doesn't want us yet?" Watts deadpanned, his voice threatening in tone. "Listen to me, insect, if you lead us out here for nothing-"

"I didn't!" Tyrian cried out, his voice distinctly insistent on the matter. "She wanted us to come at night, but I can assure you that She wants us here!"

Cinder felt a spike of annoyance, but decided that if they were going to be there for a little while then maybe it was for the best if she took the chance to relax. Because of that she took the few steps forward before seating herself on the bench. When she did, she was sure to try and place as much distance between herself and Tyrian for the time being.

"Tyrian." Hazel spoke, and Cinder couldn't help but think that he had a knack for making himself sound purely bored in every way. The deadpan expression that he wore only served to help with that image, and Cinder was once again wondering about what would make a man like him travel as he did.

She had to wonder about all of them, really. There were days when she didn't feel like she really knew why she was travelling, but when she'd met people in the past they'd always insisted that it was okay based on her age. She was young, they would tell her. They would be sure to tell her that for someone in their early twenties wanting to see the world was just normal.

But Cinder looked at Hazel and Arthur, and she couldn't help but think that they were both old enough to be her father. Tyrian seemed like he was probably a good ten years older than Cinder, though she couldn't be sure based on his face alone. The man so much time squinting that Cinder was sure that it was having an effect on his features.

If there was anything that cinder could be certain of, it was that Hazel, Arthur, and Tyrian were confident in their alleged shared cause, as abstract in nature as it seemed to be.

A worry spiked in her that made Cinder wonder whether or not she was ever going to be able to truly integrate with the rest of them. The disadvantage that her age presented was a concern in itself, but Cinder wouldn't date let the others know that. If there was anything that she felt she could be confident in, it was that they wouldn't hesitate to throw her to the curb if she ended up being useless.

Cinder didn't want to find out just how bad it would be.

Tyrian shifted on the bench beside Cinder and looked up at Hazel with expectant eyes, but he didn't seem to be as afraid as he would have been had he been facing Arthur. Hazel stared down at him and crossed his arms over his chest before glancing up for something that Cinder couldn't quite identify. It was entirely likely that the man was just looking out to make sure that they were truly alone.

An uncomfortable wave of warmth passed over Cinder and she couldn't help but shiver, but she said nothing about it.

After a long time, Hazel spoke up again, his voice too calm. "How long are we supposed to wait?" He asked, not shifting or bothering to make himself a little bit more comfortable in the spot that he had selected to stand in. "Because if this is going to be an all night endeavor, we should find camp."

"Hazel is correct." Arthur said, sounding deeply annoyed with every word. He raised an arm in front of him and Cinder watched him push his sleeve up just slightly to see that he was wearing a watch. "It would be best if we don't spend all day standing around doing nothing."

The man's vibrant green eyes snapped over to Cinder. "And I suspect that you feel the same way?" Arthur asked, and Cinder realized quickly that even if she did have it in her to respond verbally, she would only manage to find herself getting shot down for it. Arthur presented her a question with no good options beyond agreeing with him.

She nodded, blinking slowly before looking over at Tyrian, whose gaze snapped over to her.

After a moment, Cinder realized that the man was staring at her like there was something seriously wrong. If there was, he wasn't doing anything to say anything on the matter. Even still his mouth dropped open slightly in something akin to shock.

Tyrian didn't peel his eyes away from Cinder, and she wasn't able to really ignore the creeping feeling that was crawling up her spine. She had to suppress a shiver, but it wasn't enough. Based on the way that Tyrian finally tore his gaze away from her, Cinder was fairly certain that her efforts had only managed to fail.

Nothing was said for a little while before Hazel let out an angry sort of growling sigh and waved a hand to direct the others to follow him as he began to lead the way into the forests in search of the best camping site that they could use for the rest of the day, and probably through the night.

At the very least, Watts seemed to be even more irritated with that development than anyone else did. Words of frustration were already rolling too easily off of his tongue as he complained all happily about the fact that they had managed to cover absolutely no ground over the course of that day.

As they took the time to set up camp, Cinder found herself silently agreeing with the man about what they were doing.

Blake absolutely hated the way that things were outside of the kingdoms and cities. She didn't like feeling like she had to look out for anything and everything that could come out of the forest to attack her. Too many times, she would be walking in formation with her teammates, hear a rustle of bushes, and Blake would have to do everything in her power not to jump.

Somehow, Adam managed to hide behind every tree while hiding behind none of them.

There were greater monsters out in the world, and now Blake was staring out at one as she stood on top of an outcropping of rocks with the others.

The beast was massive. Blake had never seen something of such great stature as it, she had never really been able to imagine a grimm so large even in abstract terms. It seemed to her that there were just some things that there was no appropriate sense of scale for. By Blake's estimation, this monster would have been able to flatten her home city of Kuo Koana with a single footstep. The thought was more than enough to send a chill up her spine.

"Woah." Ruby said, stepping up on top of the rock and raising a hand over her face almost like she was trying to salute something, but Blake knew that she was just trying to shield her eyes from the sun. Yang stepped up alongside her sister, and Weiss even took the chance to get in and get a better view of the beast.

Despite the fact that she wanted to see everything for herself, Blake found herself hanging back and watching. At her side, Doctor Oobleck was taking the chance to ramble some information into his scroll. Blake figured that he was recording whatever he was trying to say.

"It's..." Weiss began, hesitating. Her voice was quiet and amazed. Blake figured that the monsters that Weiss had grown up probably looked a lot like the ones that Blake had grown up with. Maybe in Atlas they didn't have grimm of this size.

Blake had heard stories about monsters so large that they lingered under the desert in Menagerie, but Blake didn't know much of of it she really believed.

"Huge." Yang finished, cracking her knuckles that she was going to be able to jump into a fight with it. She shifted slightly and grinned over at Ruby. "How hard do you think that thing can hit?"

Ruby's mouth opened a little bit like she thought that she'd be able to find a way to answer, but Blake decided to take the chance to speak up and give her own estimation.

"Something that big could probably take out a village without much effort." Blake deadpanned, taking the chance to pull her sleeve up a little bit as she watched the grimm move. "We'd probably be dead from the first second that we ended up in combat with it."

"You think so?" Yang asked, grinning widely and even cockily. "Because I think that I can-"

"I'm afraid not." Doctor Oobleck finally jumped into the conversation, and Blake realized that he'd stowed his scroll away. "Even with a semblance such as yours, that grimm would be able to remove you as a threat without any trouble."

Weiss looked back at the professor and she turned slightly so that she could finally face the professor. While Ruby and Yang seemed to be content to talk about the grimm, Weiss and Blake had a first rare moment of something akin to loyalty as the two of them looked to their professor.

Everything in Blake's mind screamed at her that the worst thing she could do in any situation was turn her back to a threat. When she got a good glance at Weiss, and the still healing scar on her face, Blake felt a clench of something in her stomach that she couldn't stand. Guilt, everything told her, but Blake didn't let herself think about it too hard. It was too painful.

"Doctor Oobleck?" Weiss piped up, like she thought that it was going to be enough to get things off the ground as far as conversation. "If we're here to see that grimm, then-"

"We're on a simple reconnaissance mission." Doctor Oobleck said, without any hesitation. "Daily reports to Professor Ozpin have given us a fair idea of just how far away from the city it is, but it's up to us to get a better idea of what it'll actually be like to fight."

"Wait-" Blake asked, turning just slightly so that she could look out at the grimm. "Someone is intending to actually fight that?"

"In Atlas we would send an army to fight it." Weiss said, crossing her arms over her chest and swaying just slightly as she watched their professor. "Or at least a few airships."

Doctor Oobleck raised an eyebrow over that comment, but didn't' say all that much about it. Blake was already thinking it over herself. To send anyone against something like that would surely only end with people getting killed and for Blake it was hard to think of any way that it wasn't going to end with losses of life on some level.

She was glad that they were out of the way of the grimm for the next little while. She was glad that they weren't on a mission that was going to involve them in a battle.

"Armies wouldn't do much good against a grimm of that size," Doctor Oobleck explained all too calmly. It left Blake with a feeling like something was crawling up her back and prickling against her neck. "I know it sounds counter intuitive, but nothing matches a team of trained Hunters in action."

Already, Blake's mind was spinning with all of the ways that she could speak up and refute Oobleck's claim. The ways that something like this would be handled in another part of the world were different. Blake was certain that the Fang wouldn't have waited for so long before reaching into battle.

Never mind that they never would have faced Grimm instead of people.

"But-" Weiss began to make an attempt to protest, but it didn't get very far. "-Is it such a good idea to let it wander out here?"

"It can't be." Another voice jumped into the conversation, and Blake almost jumped at the sound of Yang's voice. The girl had turned slightly and was facing the rest of them, while Ruby was still looking out for the grimm herself. "I mean-" She shrugged. "-Letting it just stay out here is dangerous, but bringing it towards the city would be more dangerous."

There was a long silence between them, and Blake was wondering what was going to be said next. There had to be some sort of refutation coming soon from Oobleck.

"I'm afraid Miss Xiao Long is correct." Oobleck said, turning so that he could begin to lead their way out of the area. None of the girls turned to follow, and for just a moment Blake felt something akin to solidarity amongst the four of them. It was something that they weren't going to be able to get past, but it was also something unifying.

Ruby finally dropped off of the rock, and she fell into line with the rest of them. She was still looking back at the grimm over her shoulder, and it was enough to make Blake follow her instincts and look back at the grimm for herself.

There it was, still lingering over the landscape and waiting for something to happen.

Whatever that thing was going to end up being, Blake was afraid for it. Just the same as everyone else, Blake had learned about these beasts according to myths and pure word of mouth. The things that had happened before the change were still talked about but mostly went forgotten. Either way, there were still some universal truths.

For something to draw a grimm in of that size, there would have to be some sort of devastation that would be enough to affect a large number of people. It would have to shock at least a village, and it would have to take something akin to the razing of a village to make it all work.

And oh, Blake would never stop fearing what could happen to make things fall apart in that way.

"Its for the best that we begin the trip back to Beacon," Doctor Oobleck said, bringing his voice up enough that it was going to be able to draw the attention of all four girls onto him for the time being. "I"m sure that your families will be missing you, and it's best that the four of you don't miss too many classes on my behalf."

Blake wished that she could genuinely pretend that missing classes was something that she was deeply worried about, but she also figured that it was for the best if she didn't let herself stay back and hold them up.

"Right." Blake said, letting out a quiet sigh and feeling for her weapon at her back. IT was still there, still sharp, and still waiting for her to bring it into conflict. Even though they hadn't run into any sort of threat on this mission that they would face directly, Blake was still worried for what was to come.

Adam still managed to hide behind every tree.

She wouldn't let the others know about the fact that she couldn't ignore it. They didn't know who she was, or what she was doing at Beacon. The others didn't know anything about her, and that was safe.

She liked it better that way.

Once all of them agreed that it was for the best if they began the journey back to Beacon, they began the walk. Blake was mostly content to fall in towards the back, and found herself walking alongside Yang, who seemed to be content to enjoy the trip back to the academy as some sort of nature walk.

A voice in the back of Blake's head cried naive.