A/N: Wow, I am behind. Busy af last week until Sunday, didn't have much time to write anything. Hopefully I'll be able to finish tomorrow's writing on time as well XP

Somehow, after so many days of constant fighting and surviving by the skin of their teeth, a full day of nothing made them more tense than ever.

The whole group walked in silence, no one saying a word as they all turned like they were on a swivel, waiting for something to pop out and try to kill them. Honestly, most of them would've welcomed it at this point rather than walk and wait for something to happen for hours on end. It made them restless and tired at the same time.

A rustle in one of bushes was violent enough to make some snow on one of the trees drop, making everyone turn and draw their weapons, ready for a fight. When it was revealed to be a single, lonely, and very confused Beowulf that died in one shot from Crescent Rose, none of them relaxed, waiting for the rest of the pack to bear down on them.

But no Grimm did.

So they stood there for minutes on end, waiting for an attack that would never come, sweat falling on their brow.

"...I have a feeling that was the only Beowulf." Ren said hesitantly, the first one to withdraw his weapons and walk around, double checking to make sure that he was right.

"Don't be silly Ren." Nora replied back. "Beowulves always travel in packs. Everyone knows that."

"Well, that one didn't." Cardin muttered, sheathing his weapon as well.

Jaune looked around again, and opened his mouth, intent on using one of his shouts to make sure that everything was actually safe or not before being stopped by Vedrahgol. There wasn't a word exchanged in between the two of them, but the dragon actually forcibly took hold of his body and stopped the blond from speaking, immobilizing his vocal chords.

What was that for? Jaune asked irritably, rubbing his throat and trying to forget the weird feeling of all of his vocal chords tightening up for a brief second.

It would be most unwise for you to continue shouting so soon. The old dragon replied back calmly. Doing it so soon may make your voice even weaker, or eliminate it completely. He shook his head. And without the power of your shouts, facing anything like another Dov may be too much, even for all of you.

Jaune grit his teeth, but understood the dragon's caution. As much as he hated it, it would be a better idea to keep silent for the moment and conserve his voice, waiting for a better—and more dire—time to use it.

And so they continued onwards, jumping at every little sound and generally wearing themselves out to the point where they decided to make camp before the sun even came down, too weary to actually try and push on any further.

Everything and everyone seemed to be moving in slow motion, Jaune noted. The whole group moved with a lethargy that suffocated them, and they without any words exchanged amongst themselves, they all laid down to sleep.

Jaune had a difficult time doing so, lying on his back, facing the starry sky. Closing his eyes seemed to be just as difficult as keeping them open, the paradox of being tired by alert catching him. Hours seemed to pass by before Jaune was able to close his eyes and drift off to sleep, waking up in a field of white.

Snow was all around Jaune, falling softly down. Trees bigger than he'd ever seen stood in front of him, reaching high into the sky, the branches spreading out and leaves blending out into the background. It took him a second to realize that he wasn't in Atlas anymore, and started to look around for the ever present presence in his dreams.

"Hello?" Jaune called out, taking a step forward. "Hello? Demon, Dead-thing Gods? Is anyone here to give me advice or try to kill me? Hello?"

Surprisingly, there was no answer, only the howling wind that picked up as Jaune stood there, baffled at the dream that he was in at the moment.

Jaune jumped when he heard a crunch of snow, whirling around to find a hooded woman with a golden scroll attached to her back taking gentle steps towards him. Instead of tensing up like most normal people would have usually done, Jaune's shoulders fell a little, relieved that he had found whoever had contacted him.

"About time," Jaune drawled, taking a step forward. "Now which one are you, and what are you trying to get me to—" He was cut off when the woman ignored him and continued to walk straight through him, making him gasp at the strange feeling. Spinning around, Jaune's eyes grew wide as he touched his chest, wondering if the woman was a ghost.

Another set of boots disturbing the snow made Jaune turn again, finding someone else, dressed in menacing dark armor, the man's eyes shining. Not figuratively, as his eyes were actually shining.

The man walked over towards the woman, holding up a dark scrap of cloth.

"What do you think of this?" He asked. Jaune walked up to the two of them, eyes whipping back and forth at the two.

"...Can... you guys hear me?"

"It... certainly smells like him." The woman replied back, crinkling her nose. The man nodded, grinning a little.

"It does, doesn't it?" The man tossed the cloth to the side, sighing. "Unfortunately, the trail goes cold here. Were you able to catch anything?" The woman lowered her hood, revealing her short, dark hair as she shook her head.

"I can't sense him. It's as if he disappeared from Nirn altogether." Jaune gasped involuntarily when the woman turned to face him briefly, revealing glowing eyes, as if someone had stuck fiery coals into her eye sockets.

"If that's the case, then there's not many questions on how he disappeared." The man said seriously, nodding his head. The woman hummed thoughtfully, agreeing with the man.

"The big question here is why… and which Prince decided to do this?"

"I do not know." The man sheathed his sword, frowning as he spun around slowly to look at his surroundings. "All I know is that nothing good can come out of this. We need to find a way to track Imaar down soon, before he is able to take us by surprise."

"And how are we going to do that when we don't know where or even when he is?" The woman said, crossing her arms. The man raised an eyebrow and pointed to the scroll on the woman's back. "…No way." The woman said, taking a step back. "That would be risky. And incredibly dangerous."

"Maybe." The man agreed, taking another step towards her. "But when have I really cared about what is dangerous and what is not?"

Jaune woke up to gentle shaking, blinking his eyes slowly as sunlight streamed through his eyelids, making him wince in pain. Looking up, he found Pyrrha with her hand on his shoulder, the Amazon the one trying to wake him up.

"It's morning Jaune." She said softly, before letting go. "It's time to continue on."

The boy nodded and sat up, rubbing his head and frowning, able to recall the dream that he had just had perfectly. It was strange, because usually he wouldn't be able to recall such detail just after waking up from a dream, the only times it happens when one of the 'Daedric Princes' were involved.

So which one had decided to send him to a dream and not say anything? He had gotten used to the Princes making demands and being overt about their gestures, but no matter how he thought about the dream, he couldn't make heads or tails about what whoever sent the dream was trying to tell him.

"Jaune?"

The blond looked up to find Pyrrha still standing awkwardly beside him, not exactly looking at him while she called his name.

"Yes?"

After he said the words, they both fell silent, neither of them speaking as Jaune waited for Pyrrha to say what or why she called out his name for.

"…I just… wanted to apologize." The red-head said haltingly. Jaune blinked, confused.

"For what?" Jaune couldn't think of a reason why the Amazon wanted to apologize, pretty sure that if anything, he would've needed to apologize to her. "If it's about the fact that you were trying to attack me, that's not really your fault. You got hypnotized or something by that crazy staff and—"

"I'm not apologizing for that." Pyrrha said quickly, cutting Jaune off. "I'm… I'm apologizing for… being… mad. At you. And Yang." Pyrrha's fingers jittered nervously as she spoke. "I—seeing what we had just gone through reminded me that… that we could die at any moment. And I don't want to be so… jealous and petty over your relationship."

Jaune's head spun at the admission, surprised and confused.

"I- Okay." Jaune held out his hands, trying to get the girl to slow down for a second. "First off, none of us are dying any time soon. Not on my watch. And second… you were jealous?" Jaune tilted his head. "Why?"

Pyrrha stared at him, her eyes showing emotions that Jaune couldn't really discern before she sighed, scratching her head.

"I'm not surprised you don't understand." She muttered. "It's not like that much has changed with you."

"I like you, Jaune."

The boy looked at her, mouth slowly opening in surprise.

"What?"

"But it's a little too late for that now, isn't it?" Pyrrha smiled painfully, before turning around. "I just- I just wanted to let you know. Before anything happens to the two of us. I wouldn't want that to be my one regret." Pyrrha inhaled sharply, before turning around and letting her lips stretch across her face. "I hope this doesn't change anything between us Jaune. I'll see you later."

"Pyrrha wait—"

But it was too late, as the girl slipped away from him, loudly declaring that she was going to go wash up before they took to the roads.