The streets were deserted, lit sporadically by the low-burning lamps. Grit crunched under Ruby's soles as she traversed the empty pathways, half cobbled, half packed earth or worn stone. Single and double-story buildings loomed over her in black silhouette for a while, but at the edge of town the sky spread overhead unbroken, spanning the open space between the mountains. The night air was clear as crystal, the stars as bright and pure as snow sprinkled across the night. Ruby tilted her head back as she walked, a hand clasped to her chest as she drank in the sight.

It gave her a familiar feeling, an expanding, a stirring of the soul, like she could look out into the sky forever. So what if their first day in James Point hadn't gone exactly according to plan? They hadn't had much of a plan anyway, and sorting out what had gone on at the tavern couldn't be too hard. They were here to fight Grimm, after all, to keep this place safe so people could sit out at night and watch the stars and broken, haloed moon and not have to worry about baddies or monsters or anything.

Ruby walked backwards, fingers intertwined behind her head to give her neck a rest, briefly wondering what the view would be like from the mountaintops. Probably they could make a trip. It would be completely worth it.

Her musings came to an abrupt end as she tripped onto the cabin's porch steps.

"Ouch, ow," she cringed, clutching her head with one hand and her back where she'd hit the edge of one of the steps with the other.

The front door opened and a bar of light fell across the weathered floorboards. "Ruby? What are you doing?"

"Oh, uh, hey Weiss," Ruby grabbed the railing and pulled herself up, still rubbing her head. Her partner was frowning, a hand still on the doorknob. Light caught in her hair white hair. Her coat lapels were pulled close. She had a bundle under one arm. Ruby let go of the splintery railing and dusted her palm on her cloak, "Are you going somewhere?"

The heiress dodged her eyes, "I... thought I might keep a lookout. Over the town."

"By yourself?"

"Well, the rest of you will need your energy to deal with the Liliac in the mines, right?" she shut the door behind herself and became suddenly interested in straightening the cuffs of her coat sleeves.

Ruby stilled her hand to catch her attention, "Weiss, we wouldn't go without you. I mean, come on. We're partners," the older girl turned away with a small growl. Ruby kept on, coaxing, "It takes more than a random angry miner guy to split up Team RWBY."

"How about a random angry miner and the head of the town?" Weiss grumbled, shifting her bundle- which Ruby discerned as her bedroll- under her arm.

"Nope," Ruby grinned.

Weiss didn't say anything. Her brow was still creased, so Ruby decided tried a different tack.

"So... I just banged my head on the porch and I have like five splinters," the young team leader held up the hand she'd touched the railing with. "Mind if we go inside and check out the first aid kit?"

This time the heiress sighed. "Fine. But I still don't see how we're going to be allowed into the mines."

"We've got time to figure it out. I mean, there's the whole outside of the mountain to check out. We can just do that first," Ruby held the door for her partner, this time careful of the rough wood. "Keeping watch is a great idea, though. Gale did say they were starting to see Grimm in town. Maybe we can take shifts."

"Probably they already have some kind of rudimentary alert system," Weiss shed her coat and scarf and gloves and strode to the couch to drop off her bedroll. "At least, I can't imagine one person looking after the town day and night. It's a little late now, but we could ask about it tomorrow."

She dug in Ruby's bag for the red first aid case and fished a sewing kit with a silver buckle out of her own.

"Yeah," Ruby sat on the raised hearth, examining her palm. She snatched it to her chest as Weiss approached, "Um. Why are you holding a needle? We don't need a needle, do we?"

The heiress rolled her eyes, "Just let me see."

The night in the tavern wore on; bright, spirited, tiring, and absolutely thrilling. Yang had long since lost track of both the time, and the count of how many arm wrestling matches she'd accepted. The bear of a man currently grappling with her had to be... the 22nd? Maybe the 57th? Concrete numbers aside, she had to have taken on at least half the tavern at this point. Yang's eyes narrowed, a slight twinge hidden behind her wild grin. She'd already switched back and forth between her arms a few times over, but each victory took a little more effort than the last, and her overworked muscles were finally beginning to protest the abuse. It probably didn't help that her stomach had growled so long and so often that it finally tired itself out and gave up on growling altogether.

Still, the very leader of the town they were here to assist had tasked her with keeping the people entertained and by Dust that's exactly what she was going to do. A low growl of effort slipped through her teeth as Yang finally slammed her latest opponent's arm to the table, throwing the tavern into another round of cheers. Despite his gruff appearance, the man was surprisingly amicable in defeat, and he simply laughed, shaking Yang's hand for only a second before lumbering out of the way as someone very small took his place sitting across from her.

"How about you let an old woman try her luck?"

Gale flexed her hands, leaned forward in her seat, and placed an elbow on the table, ready and waiting, eyes alight with amusement.

Yang stared openly, intrigued. Was Gale offering her an easy win? Then again, none of the townspeople seemed surprised at their elderly town leader's behavior, and she knew the dangers of underestimating an opponent. She suddenly recalled their first meeting in the cargo ship - the sheer strength hidden in those deceptively small hands... Hadn't Gale mentioned being the one in charge of guarding miners from the Liliac? Yang's face lit up.

"Yeah! Of course!" Yang reached out and gripped the awaiting small, scarred hand in her own, feeling strong fingers gripping right back. The entire tavern buzzed with energy as the server who had appointed himself referee about 6 matches ago began the countdown, throwing his arm down to signal the match's start.

An immediate explosion of force on Gale's part forced Yang to respond in kind, leaving them in a temporary stalemate. The two stared each other down, matching smiles gracing their faces as they held each other in check. Gale was strong, no doubt about it, but Yang was still holding back. A smirk began to works its way across the blonde's features as she gradually increased the pressure, feeling the older woman's arm start to give. She blinked when Gale smirked right back.

In the span of a second, Yang felt something surge through her fingertips and all the way up to her shoulder, making those muscles go utterly limp. Her arm slammed into the table in defeat. Gale stood, extending her hand with a smile. Yang stood as well, stealing an utterly bewildered glance at her own arm which, as she shook it out a bit, was now apparently back to normal. She reached out to shake Gale's hand, curiosity piqued.

"Well, I guess you win a kiss!..." Yang rubbed the back of her head, "Uh, do you want it?"

Gale laughed and shook her head, "What I want is for you lot," she swept her eyes over the townspeople gathered around them, half-smiling, "to let this poor girl take a break!" The crowd took the gentle scolding well, letting loose one final cheer before dispersing.

Two small steps brought Gale around the small table to smile up at the huntress who was staring down at her with unguarded interest, lips already parting, likely to ask about how she'd won. "Get something to eat, dear. There's going to be live music shortly, so go relax, have a drink, and enjoy the show."

The curiosity shining in Yang's eyes instantly flipped to enthusiasm at the mention of food and drinks - the perfect method of distraction for a hungry, thirsty brawler. Yang saluted, "Yes ma'am!" and made a beeline for the table laden with food.

Minutes later, a plate buried under a mountain of meats, vegetables, and just about everything else slammed down next to Blake, followed closely by a beaming blonde brawler. "Hey Blake!" Yang took the seat beside the quiet Faunus and attacked her food with a vengeance without waiting for a reply, pausing to glance at the mug sitting by her partner. "Whatcha drinking?"

The Faunus remained silent, focused intently on her book. Yang blinked, pausing in the middle of stuffing her face. She swallowed a mouthful of what was probably chicken. "Blake?"

"Apple cider."

Yang grinned at the delayed response. Her partner was probably at a really important part of the chapter or something. "Oh man I haven't had apple cider in ages! Especially hot." She went right back to her food just as one of the tavern's servers came up to their table to greet her.

"Evening, hon. Bang up job on those matches. What'll you have to drink?"

The brawler smiled around her monumental mouthful of potatoes, forcing them down to answer. "Thanks! I'll have... hm..." Yang glanced at the bar, torn. The location had her leaning towards a nice cold drought, but the weather had her leaning towards something hot. She glanced once more at her partner's steaming mug, eventually motioning to it. "I'll have what she's having."

The server nodded and smiled, walking away in time to the music that had just started up. The rhythm was catchy, and Yang found her feet tapping the floor of their own accord. Blake however, remained motionless. Yang side-eyed her partner. "So... whatcha reading?"

She waited, watching as Blake's eyes slowly drifted from side to side, nothing like the quick precise movements she was used to seeing when the Faunus devoured a piece of literature.

"A book."

Amethyst eyes rolled. "Real descriptive there, partner." The brawler's attempt at a second round of teasing was cut short when the server returned with her drink. Yang waved at the retreating woman with a smile, and took a sip of her apple cider. Her very clearly alcoholic apple cider.

"Blake."

Amber eyes slowly, slowly drifted up to meet amethyst. It was clear from this angle just how glassy those amber eyes were.

"How many of these did you drink?" Yang held up her mug.

Blake stared, brows furrowed in concentration. "...I lost count. It kept refilling."

It took everything in the brawler's power not to crack a smile at the very slight slur that became evident when her partner tried to speak more than two words at a time. "And how are you feeling?"

The Faunus frowned, clearly taking a moment to compose a coherent sentence before speaking. "I believe my senses have been compromised."

It was no use - Yang snorted behind her hand, breaking into a fit of giggles at the inebriated girl attempting to glare daggers at her.

"It's not funny," Blake's half-hearted glare slipped down to her book, "I can't focus on the words."

"Oh no you can't read at a party~" Yang nudged her partner's shoulder, stifling another snort of laughter when the playful gesture nearly knocked the Faunus out of her chair. "Jeeze, you lightweight," a weighty arm snaked around Blake's shoulders to keep her steady. "What am I gonna do with you, huh?"

Blake's retort was cut short by a familiar voice ringing out from the other side of their table.

"Miss huntresses!"

Amber eyes blinked and amethyst eyes brightened at the sight of the small girl who first defeated Yang, the fringes of her bangs barely reaching the height of the tabletop.

"May I take your picture?" She all but whispered, glancing repeatedly at Blake, but keeping her face hidden behind a camera roughly half the size of her head.

The brawler's heart just about exploded at the sight, reminded of her own little sister's initial hesitation when being forced to approach Blake their first night at Beacon. She tightened her hold on her unwittingly intimidating partner, smashing their faces together to look as silly as possible. "Of course you can!"

"YAY!" The little girl stamped her feet in excitement, then glanced left and right, eyebrows raised, "Where is the red huntress?" she tilted her head, "and the white huntress?"

"Oh those two? They're just..." Yang pulled back a bit to look around the tavern, fully expecting to find the pair standing around or sitting at a table... somewhere... She was certain once she'd seen Gale that everyone had come back inside.

"Uh... they're..."

"Secret mission." Blake ignored Yang's inquisitive glance, squishing their cheeks back together and offering their young photographer a severely lopsided smile. "Cheese."

With a giggle and a blinding flash, the little girl snapped her picture and fled.

Yang disentangled herself from her partner, trying in vain to rub the residual light out of her eyes. "Wait, so where are Ruby and Weiss?"

"At the cabin."

Blonde tresses flew in an arc as Yang whirled on her partner, both eyebrows and the pitch of her voice rising with each word she spoke. "They went back? Alone? Together?" Her mind started to race, instantly jumping to the absolute worst possible scenarios, the majority of which involved the small twin beds, or that warm, inviting couch by the fire place, or the-

"Weiss got banned."

Yang's imagination ground to a blessed halt. "...From the tavern?"

"The mines."

"What? Why?"

Blake shrugged, listing forward from the motion, stopping only when Yang reached out to hold her steady. The brawler's brows were furrowed in thought. "...Did she insult someone again?" Gale hadn't seemed angry about anything during their match... Maybe that big burly guy?

Blake shrugged again, her head and the bow atop it beginning to droop.

"Well aren't you a fount of useful information," Yang patted Blake's shoulder, smiling at her partner's attempt to mumble something back. "Come on," she gathered up Blake's book, stealing one last glance around the tavern as she stuck a napkin between the pages to serve as a rudimentary bookmark, "let's uh, let's somehow get you back to the cabin too. Can you walk?"

Blake's bow twitched as her head snapped up, eyes hard with determination. "Yes." She stood, gripping her chair's back for support, took one step, and immediately went down, rolling out of her fall into a crouch. People standing nearby began to ooh and ahh and clap, mistaking the tumble for an intentional display of acrobatic prowess. Yang joined in the applause, earning a grumpy scowl from her partner. "Give me a hand."

With the slightest of smirks sneaking across her face, Yang helped her partner to her feet, doing her best to pass it off as a friendly side-hug to the crowd. "I would say you owe me for this, but free hugs the whole walk home is more than enough."

Amber eyes rolled in response, and the pair bid their farewells to the townspeople, heading out into the cold.

Ruby lay full-length on the couch, her groans muffled by the cushions. Who knew that getting splinters out could hurt so much? Especially when you had to dig for them. With needles. And there was blood.

A teeny tiny speck of red showed through the bandaid at the edge of her palm.

"Stop whining," Weiss flicked her white side-tail back over her shoulder, snapping the first aid case shut. "And get off the couch. It's still mine, even if I won't be using it the entire night."

Ruby popped up onto her elbows. "Oh right. Are we going now? Let's leave a note. Did we decide to set up in that bell tower?"

"It was your idea," Weiss said. They had discussed optimal stake-out locations during the splinter extractions. Ruby had a tendency to be squeaky when she was talking and experiencing pain, but that didn't detract from the quality of her contributions.

The bell tower in question was set up on second-tier of James Point. It stood a full story taller than the surrounding buildings- from there, Ruby and Weiss would be able to look out over most of the town.

Ruby swung her legs over the side of the couch, "So... yes to the bell tower?"

"Yes to the bell tower." Weiss began re-layering, starting with a light sweatshirt, a scarf, insulated white leather gloves.

"I thought you said Atlas was colder than here," Ruby poked at the heiress's cloak, bundled on the arm of the couch. "You look ready for the snowpocalypse."

"Please. This is my autumn gear." Weiss pulled her hair free of her scarf, "Do we need anything else? I packed granola bars."

"Ooh, hang on," Ruby zipped to the hearth to retrieve the box of hot chocolate packets. "Be right back."

A trail of rose petals fluttered towards the kitchen. Weiss called after her, "Also put on another layer. Not a T-shirt."

"My cloak is warm," the younger girl's voice countered.

"Do you own gloves? We're in the mountains," the heiress shot back, collecting her bedroll and other supplies, "You've already complained about splinters, I do not need you complaining about the cold."

Ruby hiked her and Weiss's bedrolls up under her arm to get a better
grip as she gazed thoughtfully at the sky.

"I see a kind of jagged-y flower," she announced.

Weiss grabbed Ruby's hood and pulled her back onto the path, "I see the moon."

"Ooh, hey, this way it's a bunny made out of stained glass, except
it's glowy and white instead of all colored."

"I still see the moon."

"You suck at this game, Weiss," Ruby hugged the bundle of sleeping
gear in front of herself, frowning, "Were you even looking?"

"Why would I?" the heiress didn't break stride on the uneven dirt path
leading in to town, "I know what the moon looks like."

"Ugh, that's not the point," Ruby hopskipped to catch up, "You're
supposed to use your imagination."

"How about you 'imagine' that I'm good at this game."

"Weeeeeiiisss..." the young team leader whined. She leaned hard into
her partner's shoulder, inadvertently pushing the older girl towards
the ditch.

"Ruby..." Weiss growled, shoving back to regain the path.

Beneath the very same shattered moon, two figures stood at a dark crossroads lit by a single streetlamp. Yang allowed herself a small sigh, one arm wrapped around Blake's middle, the other bent at her side, hand on her hip as she stared down yet another four-way path.

"I really should have paid better attention on the way here. Everything looks different at night, you know?" And it probably didn't help that she was being distracted by a certain inebriated Faunus hanging off her side.

An indistinct mumble from her partner tickled Yang's ear. Amethyst eyes glanced down at the raven-haired head resting on her shoulder. Blake's steps had been dragging more and more with each passing minute. All that accidental alcohol - Blake had insisted she thought it was regular apple cider - was probably starting to finally take its toll. She might have to just go ahead and carry her if this kept up.

"Hey, you still with me, partner?" Yang waved a hand in front of Blake's face, jerking it back at the last second when her partner chirruped and made to swipe at her fingers. "...Oh." The brawler bit back a smile. If this was what she thought it was... Just to be sure, she stuck her hand out again, smiling like mad when Blake batted her wiggling fingers away. There was no doubt - she had only seen Blake act like this once before - while hopped up on pain killers. "That's a no, I'm guessing, then?"

As if to answer the question, Blake happily pressed her face into the massive tangle of gold before her, letting loose a low purring rumble as she nuzzled Yang's neck. Heat exploded through the brawler's face in a crimson blush, drawing the the warmth-seeking Faunus up to rub their cheeks together with another round of contented purring.

Stupid grin firmly in place, Yang made a not-even-half-hearted attempt to push her partner away. "Oh, oh Blake no - that's way too cute." She ceased her not-quite-struggle moments later when she heard voices in the distance coming from one of the other darkened paths leading to the crossroad.

Finally, someone she could ask for directions.

The two figures that stepped into the circle of light pooling down from the street lamps hanging overhead were unexpectedly familiar.

"Weiss?... Ruby!" Yang smiled and waved, confused, but happy to see the pair nonetheless. Had they come back to retrieve herself and Blake? After pushing Blake's hair out of her face to see a bit better, her eyes quickly darted between the heiress, her sister, then landed on the bedrolls in her sister's arms. Her smile slipped several notches.

"Yang!" Ruby juggled the bedrolls back under one arm so she could throw a hand up in greeting. A second later, she skidded to a halt in front of the pair, grinning, cloak swirling at her heels. "We left you guys a note."

Weiss followed, a thermos dangling from her hand. She scowled and picked rose petals out of her hair, "Ugh, Ruby, don't do that when I'm downwind. Honestly." she noticed Blake all but draped upon Yang's shoulder. Weiss frowned, "... is she purring?"

"Oh, uh," Yang tried once more to push Blake's face away, but only succeeded in shoving her partner back down into nuzzling her neck. "...Long story short, yes. Yes she is. More importantly," she placed her free hand on her hip, the smirk on her face partially hidden by Blake's hair, "Where are you two sneaking off to? In the dead of night? With your bed rolls?"

Weiss glanced at Ruby and back at Yang, flushing and scowling at Yang's insinuation. Before she could set her straight, Ruby broke in cheerfully.

"We're going to the bell tower," the young team leader struck an awkward, bedroll-hindered martial arts pose, "It was Weiss's idea- taking turns watching for Grimm in case they try to bother the town."

"As Ruby said, we left you a note back at the cabin," Weiss crossed her arms, attention shifting to the abnormally affectionate Blake. "That's not normal."

"Oh it's not so bad," Yang casually waved a hand, "Actually, it's really-EEE," she whipped that free arm behind her, pulling Blake's icy fingers from where they had snuck underneath the hem of her shirt, "cold, jeeze." Yang gripped Blake's hand, both to keep it warm, and to keep it from wandering elsewhere. "Uh, she's just cold, right Blake?" The purring only grew louder. "...Aaaand she might have had a little too much to drink. Nothing a good night's sleep won't cure!"

Yang glanced between Weiss and Ruby, her smirk replaced with a regular smile for the time being. "So you're going to give the town's watchmen a hand then? That's a great idea!" Her eyes traveled down to Blake, who seemed to have found the perfect spot buried in golden hair and had stopped moving altogether, "We uh... might not be able to join you, though."

"Because you got Blake drunk," Weiss shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger, "On our first night here. Perfect."

Yang rolled her eyes. "Hey now, for once I had nothing to do with this," she motioned to Blake, who's purring had been replaced by a light snore, "Apple cider is tricky business you know. Doubt she even knew what she was drinking... And anyway that's rich, coming from the girl who somehow got herself banned from the mines before we could even set foot in them," amethyst eyes narrowed at Weiss, "What happened anyway? Did someone mess with you? Is there someone I need to go punch in the face?"

"I take it you missed that whole scene with the neanderthal and his claymore-cannon back at the tavern," Weiss snapped, "which was not my fault." Noticing the two sisters' skeptical looks she added, "Not entirely. He drew first."

"Apparently these miner guys don't really like the... uh... well, anyone related to the Schnee Dust Company. So..." Ruby gestured towards Weiss's spotless white, insignia emblazoned get-up.

The heiress tossed her hair over her shoulder, feigning indifference while she avoided the others' gazes.

"Yeah that guy didn't seem too fond of you - but Schnee or not, calling people things like 'neanderthal' probably isn't going to help your case much," Yang smirked suddenly, "...you didn't actually call him that to his face, did you?"

"Of course not. He was insulting my family," Weiss crossed her arms and lifted her chin, "I was much more creative."

Ruby gave a nervous laugh, making a mental note to talk to Weiss about her people skills sometime. For the team's sake. Then again, maybe she could just ignore it for a while and everything would just work itself out. For now she scuffed her feet on the cobbles, clutching her cloak closed with her free hand, "Right, so, do you need a hand getting back to the cabin or anything?"

"A hand, some directions," the heiress allowed the edge of her lips to quirk up at the way Blake was clinging to Yang, her dark head buried in the blonde's tangle of gold hair, "a chaperone, perhaps?"

Yang made a dismissive noise, trying to keep up her smirk through the blush creeping across her face. "Yeah right, if anything it's you two who need a chaperone." With a slight shift of her shoulders and hips, the brawler secured Blake against her side. "Lucky for you, my hands are full at the moment." More-than-half-dragging her partner at this point, Yang started towards the path Ruby and Weiss had come from.

"Just kick her if she gets too feisty, sis!" She called back to Ruby, pausing a few feet away at the edge of the circle of light shining down from he street lamp. After staring down the darkened street for a second, she looked back over her unoccupied shoulder. "Actually... some directions would be nice."

Weiss reigned in her snark about walking away from the giant mountain looming over the town enough to point her down the street that led pretty much straight to the cabin while Ruby drew maps in the air and rattled off semi-helpful landmarks such as 'the house with candy cane stripes down one corner' or 'this weird post that might have been a tree or a fence'.

"Also don't touch the railing. It's kind of splintery," Ruby added, holding her slightly injured palm up as evidence.

"OK. Take this road until I find candy canes, tree-fences, and splinters. Gotcha. Thanks guys! No funny stuff while you're out!" With a cheeky smile and a wave, Yang and Blake disappeared into the night.

A/N: Thank you for the tax-season encouragement! It turned out I messed stuff up and I have to try again. T_T (On the plus side I might owe less money. Ha! Well, we'll see.) Also, thanks for the reviews- makes our day, seeing them come up.

Also, remember how it took a while for Recovery to get serious?

Stay tuned, guys, stay tuned. In the meantime, hope you enjoy the character interactions,

-Fiercesomest