The world spun by, almost too fast for Hazel to keep track of, despite the fact that there was nothing out of the ordinary to keep track of. Animals moved through the forests, the sun set over the land, and the crackle of fire in the center of their camp had managed to become one of the few things that Hazel was able to truly focus on.
He was tired, so tired that Hazel was sure that he could have managed to sleep anywhere, though he didn't let it show. The scent of smoke left him feeling as though he'd been burned, and only managed to drag up a thousand memories that Hazel had learned were best kept hidden long ago. It exhausted him further, but he said nothing to his companions with regard to that issue.
For that reason, he had decided that it was for the best for him to take the patrol before the four of them would go searching for whatever it was that Tyrian thought was out there in the forest later that night. Hazel wasn't expecting that he was going to find anything out there, but still he had to do something to try and find out what was there to threaten them.
As it turned out, all that seemed to be out there in the forest seemed to be deer, based on the dung that Hazel had seen off of one of the pathways. Deer, bugs, birds, and nothing else of interest. Perhaps rabbits.
There were other reasons that he was taking his time before returning back to the camp though, Hazel knew. It was the burning that was spreading across him and emanating from his center. It was the possibility that he would find himself standing face to face with something from his past that he'd been sure he had lost forever.
No matter how many times Hazel told himself there were no major obstacles, things always came creeping back to him. His past was something that he could never face directly.
And now he was waiting for the chance for that to happen, and a part of Hazel was afraid.
It was just the fire, Hazel told himself as he turned back towards the pathway so that they could begin their search for the night. He needed to get back to camp sometime.
If Tyrian had been telling the truth, then punctuality was sure to be key.
Because of that little detail alone, Hazel resigned himself to the reality of his situation that dictated that it was for the best that he return to the camp and collect his teammates so that they could begin the search for their target.
Hazel felt like he had to ball his nerves and all of his feelings up into one great ball of tension and shove it into a bag in hopes that it would be enough to assuage his worries. Once he felt like he had a good enough handle on himself, Hazel made his way down the trail back to camp so that he could collect the others.
Almost predictably, Tyrian, Watts, and Cinder were gathered around the fire and seemed to be sharing some sort of food that had been collected when they'd been in the village. The thought of food made Hazel almost feel like something was twisting in his stomach, but for now he could ignore it.
If they could manage to find the spawning pool that night, then Hazel fully suspected that things would get a little bit easier on them from there on out. At least, that was the theory that he decided he wanted to work with for the time being.
Hazel didn't have to do anything to announce his presence to the others. The crack of a twig under his boot was all that ended up being needed to tip the others off of to the fact that he was there. All of their heads seemed to snap over to them and Hazel gave them just a nod of acknowledgement before approaching the fire.
"The area is secure." Hazel muttered, raising one hand to the fire to warm his skin for just a moment. "Almost sundown."
"Yes." Arthur responded, rolling his eyes in irritation. "I suppose that means that we should begin looking, shouldn't we?"
"Yes." Hazel mumbled, nodding along with his confirmation. "Tyrian, lead us."
It was the only order that had needed to be passed down. The man scrambled up to his feet, and stretched just slightly. The man's tail uncurled itself from around him, and Hazel just waited. The others got up as well, and it was only once they had all four of them ready that their journey began.
A quick glance over at Watts out of the corner of Hazel's eye was enough to assure Hazel that the four of them weren't going to be going into this without any sort of defending themselves if things went south.
Watts stared back at him, and Hazel glanced over at Cinder and Tyrian before finally speaking again. "Be ready."
"I could say the same to you, Hazel." Watts replied, his voice as barbed as it always was. "It has been some time."
"It has." Hazel sighed, remembering a day many years ago when he'd been in a place much like this one. Oh, how things had changed over the last decade or so. It somehow managed to feel like Watts was the only thing that hadn't, but Hazel knew that was a lie for a fact. "Nervous?"
"A little." Watts said, brushing the conversation off as easily as he could before beginning to follow after Tyrian closely. Hazel was sure to join him, and then the four of them were travelling further and further into the forest.
Hazel did the same, and he did his best to keep his head as clear as he could manage as the group wandered further and further off of the paths. Tyrian's leadership was never guaranteed to be anything even close to workable on the average day.
The further that they got off of the path that they'd started on, the more that Hazel found himself worrying. The disappearance of any good walking area was a problem in itself, and Hazel felt the undeniable urge to check the ground for traps just in case. This had to have been someone's hunting grounds once in the past, and if his theory was right, then this land would have once been crawling with Grimm.
If it had been a place for grimm before, then Hazel was sure that it had to still have some sort of link to that from the past.
And most importantly, nothing came from nothing. That was something that Hazel genuinely felt confident in. Grimm were no exception to that rule.
Tyrian stopped suddenly, turning about in the clearing and reaching out with an open hand like he thought that he was going to brush up against something at any moment. Hazel felt his heart begin to beat just a little bit harder in his chest because of it. If Tyrian was starting to act so weird, he was either sure that he was remembering something, or they were lost.
"Insect." Watts spoke up and his voice was even harder and less forgiving than normal. "Where are we?"
"She-" Tyrian began to speak. It sounded like he was trying to gasp some words out that weren't making their way out in any way that was relatively intelligible. "Here, She should be here!" Tyrian whorled back, turning to face the rest of them.
Anything that Hazel had been feeling that had been even akin to excitement began to drain out of him all at once. It seemed that this was turning up to be nothing more than a mistake, them chasing yet another story that didn't have any basis in reality.
If it had felt like they were able to turn their back on those sorts of stories, then Hazel would have been a much happier man. Regardless, nothing had come up that suggested that they were able to drop those theories.
"It appears that you've failed us yet again." Watts replied, sneering at Tyrian and his hand moving to the weapon that was resting at his hip. That set of an alarm in Hazel's head.
"We should wait." Hazel suggested, feeling that shot of pain that was working its way through his chest once more. It was harsher than earlier, and so that to Hazel meant something. "It doesn't seem we were given an exact time."
"Very well." Watts said, grimacing. "I'll give us until midnight."
As much as Hazel didn't want to admit to it, that was about all that they could have hoped for. They could sit there until midnight, and if something happened, then they were going to be able to ahead and do whatever they needed to make sure that things were in order.
Hazel cast a quick glance around the clearing where they were allegedly going to be able to have some sort of spiritual encounter and his eyes fell on a fallen log. It wasn't much, but it was going to be a place where he could sit there for a little while and wait. At least that way he wouldn't get tired by just sitting there.
The situation could have been better. Hazel let his eyes slip shut and rubbed at the old scarring that spiderwebbed its way across his chest to try and banish the pain away from him.
It was time for a wait.
-
Ruby's feet were positively aching. She was tired, and she was really looking forward to the chance for a proper dinner and the chance to go to bed. Of course, the dorm at Beacon Academy wasn't as good as the bed at her dad's house was, but sleep sounded amazing.
Among the most welcoming sights that Ruby had ever managed to see was the peak of the Vale city gate through the trees. There was a bright light shining on it, and it was the sight of green and silver paint that made Ruby's heart jump in her chest.
"There it is!" Ruby exclaimed, falling into a half-jog forward as she got a little bit closer to the gates. "Guys, c'mon!"
"Ruby." Yang complained, still keeping her normal pace and walking with her hands laced together behind her bed. "C'mon, it's late. I"m tired. "
Blake didn't say anything, instead she just rolled her eyes. Ruby wished that she was surprised by that, but if there was anything that she had managed to learn since meeting Blake it was that Blake didn't really do excitement. Or happiness. In fact, she was actually kind of mean in her own way.
As for Weiss, well Ruby was still doing her best to figure out the other girl.
And now as the Schnee Heiress stopped on the pathway to Vale, hanging back at a relatively comfortable distance that she seemed to think was going to be able to solve some of her problems, Ruby wondered. Ever since she'd met the girl she'd thought that there was always something a little bit wrong, but Ruby had never been able to really figure out what that thing was.
And because of that, Ruby stopped. She slowed herself to a jog and then to a stop after that before turning halfway so that she could look back at her last teammate.
"Weiss?"
Weiss snapped her head over to Ruby, her gaze having been formerly transfixed on the city gate. "Yes?"
"Are you.. uh, Is everything okay?"
Weiss blinked and let out a quiet sigh before nodding. "I'm fine. Just... trying to take things in."
"Right." Ruby said, dropping back so that she was walking alongside Weiss and falling into step with her. "I guess you've never been through the gates going in before, huh?"
"I haven't." Weiss replied, and Ruby could have sworn that she'd seen Weiss' face turn to stone all at once. "It isn't a big deal."
"Yeah, if you say so." Ruby shrugged and only began to walk again once it was clear that Weiss was going to start walking again soon. Ruby fell in beside her easily enough, and matching pace with the heiress was easy enough. "What do you want to do once we get back to the room?"
There was a flash of disbelief that flickered over Weiss' face, and it left Ruby feeling a little bit worried and even sick to her stomach when she realized what was wrong. Weiss had never really done anything to blend in with the rest of their team as far as the teammate stuff went. Neither had Blake, for that matter.
A quick glance over at Yang left Ruby wondering how much the four of them were going to be able to be a team when half of them didn't seem to want anything to do with the rest of them. Ruby and Yang had the benefit of already being sisters, but Weiss and Blake...
They didn't have that.
Ruby didn't like how long it took for her to realize that.
"I just..." Ruby shrugged, trying to brush the awkwardness off as easily as she could. "I was just wondering if you were going straight to bed or if you wanted to get food first?"
Weiss stared at her now, and for the first time Ruby really got a good look at the scar that was still healing around Weiss' eye. She hadn't ever asked where it had come from, and it was clearly recent, but Ruby was curious. Maybe she'd get a chance to ask about it sometime. Maybe Weiss would have a story for her like her dad's story about why he had burn scars coming from one of his tattoos.
"I... hadn't really thought about it." Weiss admitted, holding her head high. "I was mostly just hoping to get a chance for a hot shower."
"Oh." Ruby said, feeling slightly dejected. "That's cool. Do you think they're going to make us go to classes tomorrow?"
"I don't know, Ruby." Weiss sighed heavily as she walked, tipping her head down just slightly in a way that still managed to make her look regal. "We should try to be ready for it either way."
"Yeah, you're right." Ruby said with a shrug. A quick glance up at the sign made Ruby's heart stop as the entrance of the city came into view. Standing there at the sign, leaned up against one of the posts and laughing and talking, were her dad and Uncle Qrow.
They had waited to make sure that they got to see her and Yang when they got back.
"Oh!" Ruby turned just slightly to face her older sister, even though it took a little bit of craning her neck so that she could look back at Yang over her shoulder. "Yang, look!"
Yang picked her head up and gave Ruby a confused look before looking forward and seeing the two men standing there at the gate waiting for them. Her face lit up, and Ruby found herself practically bouncing in her step as she walked a little bit faster and faster to get to the city.
If the circumstances had been different, Ruby was sure that she would have been breaking into some sort of footrace against Yang to get to their family first like they would have done when they were little kids. But they were going to do that, Ruby knew, if only because to do that when they had Weiss, Blake, and Doctor Oobleck there would have been a little rude.
Maybe the polite thing would have been to drop back and to try and continue her conversation with Weiss, or maybe she should have tried to talk to Blake a little bit and tried to figure the other girl out.
But Ruby couldn't. She was just excited to be home because if Uncle Qrow and her dad were there waiting by the city gates for her and Yang, then Ruby was sure that they had to have some good reason for it. Whatever it was, she couldn't wait to find out.
Ruby practically skipped down the path to the city gates, and her general feelings of excitement meant that she didn't start feeling bad or worrying about things too much.
Eventually, they would reach the gates.
Ruby managed to catch the exchange of a few glares from her dad and Qrow that were very clearly directed towards Doctor Oobleck, and decided quickly that she had no interest in finding out what that was all about.
"Welcome back, girls!" Her dad exclaimed, smiling brightly. For the first time, Ruby realized that he was carrying a red leash, and Zwei was sitting there by her dad's leg waiting for them too. The little dog was shifting about and practically hopping in his place as he waited for Ruby and Yang.
"Dad!" Ruby called, practically flinging herself at her father and sinking into his warmth when he hugged her close before releasing her. Yang was next to hug her dad, and while that happened, Qrow was making his way over to them as stoic as ever.
Blake and Weiss decided to hang back with Doctor Oobleck, and Ruby felt the stir of definite guilt in her stomach at the realization that this was probably making things incredibly awkward for them. It wasn't fair to them to get left out in the cold when they got home.
But Ruby didn't want to make things worse by bringing it up. And how was she supposed to be able to forget about her family?
It just wasn't comfortable.
"How're you kids doing?" Qrow asked, looking among all four of them. "Kill anything cool?"
"We're fine." Ruby said, smiling widely up at her uncle as she finally dropped back in next to Weiss and Blake. "We didn't get to kill anything but-"
"The mission was a success." Blake deadpanned, casting a wary eye in Zwei's direction. "That's all."
"Not bad." Qrow replied, putting on an expression that Ruby recognized as his 'impressed' face. "We were worrying about you kids."
"Aww." Ruby looked away, feeling her face heat up in embarrassment over it. "Uncle Qrow-"
"C'mon." Qrow laughed. "Your dad decided to force me into cooking dinner with him tonight so that we could treat you kids when you got back."
"You made us dinner?" Yang asked, looking between the two of them with some surprise. "You know you didn't have to."
"Nonsense!" Their dad said, laughing. "We only wanted to make sure that you girls felt great when you got back here. It's chicken, with veggies." His voice trailed off for just a moment before he put on a brighter smile than normal. "And we made sure to get you guys some cake with strawberries for dessert."
It sounded wonderful, Ruby thought to herself. She shifted slightly to cast a look over at Weiss and Blake who took a moment to exchange a glance that Ruby could only really describe as being frosty. Worry stirred in the pit of her stomach, but Ruby didn't dare bring it up.
"Dinner sound good?" She asked finally, meek. Her eyes flicked over to her dad before back to them. "I think he's inviting us to the house before he drops us off at Beacon for tonight."
Blake and Weiss looked at each other, and finally Weiss sighed. "Dinner does sound good." She said, and Ruby worried for a moment that maybe there was some hesitation in her voice. It it was, Ruby didn't know what it was all about and she couldn't help but to worry about it all. "I wouldn't mind."
Blake however, seemed to take a little bit longer to figure out how she felt about it all. Surprisingly, it was Blake and Qrow stepping in next to each other and whispering something back and forth that made a decision get reached. "Dinner sounds good." Blake finally said. "Just keep the dog away from me."
Ruby raised an eyebrow and glanced over to Zwei, who was happily standing up on his hind legs next to Yang. It was weird, because everyone loved Zwei eventually, but Ruby decided not to comment on it.
Her Dad had picked up on everything though, and he was smiling brightly and looking so excited by the prospect of the whole thing. "Sounds good!" He exclaimed excitedly before looking back at Doctor Oobleck. "You want to join us, Bart?"
"I wouldn't mind." The professor said with a smile, and with that they began the walk back to the house so that they could share their dinner. Ruby was happy to walk next to Uncle Qrow, but once in awhile she would catch a glance at Weiss or Blake out of the corner of her eye.
Neither of them looked all that comfortable with how things were going, but soon they were on their way inside of the building and they were making their way to the dining room which had already been set up with enough room for close to ten people.
Ruby didn't think that there was anyone else invited, but she was happy to be there anyways. The house smelled like food, and she was happy to take her normal seat and was surprised when Weiss slid in beside her, looking all too nervous.
Blake was hanging back for the little while, and Ruby didn't want to read into it too much. SHe was nervous, and it only served to remind Ruby of how awkward Blake had been on that first night that they'd shared a dorm. The way that giving Blake cookies had gone had been awkward in its own way.
Yang took her normal seat, and smiled widely before leaning back and making herself more comfortable. Ruby smiled across at her sister, feeling a slight well of pride in her chest over how their mission had managed to go.
The fact that they were able to come home for a good meal was more than Ruby could have ever imagined coming up for them.
"So," Ruby's dad started with the slight raise of his voice as he made himself comfortable and leaned back in his seat. "Tell me about the mission girls. I'm sure it was interesting."
Ruby blinked and looked down the line at her teammates, wondering what she could really say about the mission itself. It had been fun, in its own way. really the most interesting things that she had that she could share were the things that Doctor Oobleck had told her and talk about the grimm they'd been going to see.
"It was fun, I guess." Yang said with a shrug. "It was a nice trip, being outside the city like that."
"You kids see the grimm?" Qrow asked, leaning against the refrigerator and making himself too comfortable as the Xiao Long-Roses made themselves comfortable in their seats. Blake had finally taken a seat, but she and Weiss were still awkwardly going about things. Ruby felt a slight pang of guilt over it, unsure as to what was wrong for the other two girls' situations.
Even after a mission, they hadn't really managed to bond all that much.
"We did." Blake said calmly with a slight shrug. "It was impressive."
"Good." Qrow said, smiling and looking over at Taiyang. "We ever see anything that big when we were their age?"
"I seriously doubt it." Taiyang laughed, all too happily before turning his eyes on the girls. Ruby found herself sitting up a little bit more straight and trying to get her father's attention, even if she knew that it probably wouldn't do much. She didn't know what she was supposed to even say, but being close to her family for then was too nice. Her dad looked between her and Yang with a softness on his face before letting out a sigh that sounded a little too heavy. "We're proud of you girls," He said calmly. "All of you."
"With all due respect-" For the first time Weiss took the chance to speak up, and everyone stared over at her in some surprise over it. "You don't even know us." Weiss looked awkward, and nervous, in ways that Ruby wasn't used to seeing.
Taiyang blinked, and he glanced over at Qrow before shrugging. "Well," He began quietly as he turned towards the stove to check how the food was cooking there. "I know for a fact that your teammates end up like family. I figure there's no harm in treating you two like family now." He paused for a long moment and looked back over his shoulder at the four of them, smiling softly. "Besides-" he began calmly. "I"m sure that this is all taking some getting used to. Moving into dorms and joining a team is a big deal."
"So we're doing what we can to smooth the transition." Qrow supplied, smiling in his own way and continuing to lean back against the fridge. "Hopefully dinner will help with that."
"I'm starving." Ruby commented, sitting up slightly and leaning forward in her seat. "When's dinner going to be done?"
"Soon!" Taiyang laughed, turning to face them again. "Why don't the four of you go and enjoy yourselves while we do the boring adult stuff in here."
Ruby blinked, feeling a little bit unsure because she really didn't know what she could do with her new teammates when she barely felt like she knew any of them aside from Yang. But, getting away from the kitchen for a while probably wouldn't hurt too much.
She shifted in her seat and looked over at Yang. "Wanna show them around?"
"Yeah-" Yang said, shrugging before she finally got up and out of her seat. "I guess that it wouldn't hurt too much to give them the grand tour."
That was really about all that they could have hoped for. So because of that, they got up and Ruby felt her heart skip a beat when Blake and Weiss actually got up and decided to join them for a walk around the house, with Zwei following after them all too happily the entire way.
Really, it was about all that she could have ever hoped for.