They had finally found signs of Ruby, specifically a campfire that couldn't be more than a day old. Snow had barely begun to cover the signs of the camp, and the smallest of cinders could still be seen in the fire. The trio redoubled their pace, hoping today would be the day they found their leader.
Weiss decided to stay on the ground using her repulsion glyphs to run as her teammates took to the trees, jumping and swinging with their weapons in order to keep up. Penny's hologram kept pace with Weiss on the ground; while the hologram was mute, the gesture was still appreciated.
Weiss had come to realize she had grossly misjudged the robot during their first few encounters. When they first met, Weiss had just assumed that Penny was a less socially capable version of Ruby, if that were possible. Her opinion hadn't changed much in their next few run ins, not until Pyrrha had torn her apart in the arena had Weiss realized why Penny was the way she was. That had changed her thoughts on the girl somewhat, after all it wasn't her fault she was the way she was.
Lately though, Weiss realized just how wrong she had been even then. Penny had been a constant companion and capable fighter ever since she had helped Yang retrieve Weiss from Atlas. She obviously had had a profound affect on Yang, who was back to her old jokey self. Weiss had heard from Yang the sacrifice Penny had made to save Blake, vaporizing her only chance at autonomy without a second thought to get the drop on Adam. Penny had proven an invaluable and selfless friend. Weiss ended her contemplation as Penny broke the silence.
"I sense five strong auras ahead. I do not know about the other four, but one is definitely Ruby."
"Five?" Blake said quizzically, " I thought there was only four of them?"
"I do not know about that," Penny replied, " but the fifth aura is significantly larger than any of the other four and roughly a mile behind them."
"I don't like that at all," Yang muttered.
"Maybe they made a new friend!" Penny chirped happily.
"I don't think we're that lucky," Yang said darkly, "Penny where exactly are all those auras in relation to us?" Penny rattled off a list of coordinates, one for Ruby and one for the trailing aura.
"Alright, Blake I want you to go find that unknown. Whatever you do don't let yourself get spotted," Blake nodded her affirmation and took off ahead, "stay safe," Yang whispered.
"What about us?" Weiss asked, this unexpected complication putting her on edge, "what do we need to do?"
"I want you to catch up with Ruby and shadow her. They could know whoever is putting off that aura, but I don't want any of us seen until we're sure. If you see anything that suggests they know about it, come back and let me know. Me and Penny will hang back a bit to wait for Blake. If necessary, we could provide ranged support."
"Alright," Weiss disappeared into the trees, leaving a trail of fading glyphs in her wake. Yang sighed in frustration, then began to steadily pick up her pace. She hoped she was wrong, but regardless her reunion with her sister would have to wait.
Weiss landed next to Yang and Blake, both of whom were waiting patiently in the fading evening light on a low hanging branch.
"Did you find anything?" They both asked as soon as Weiss joined them.
"If they have someone else with them, they certainly don't act like it. They never made any attempt to go talk to another person that I saw." Weiss replied calmly.
"I couldn't find anything at the coordinates Penny gave me. Whoever this is really doesn't want to be found. I couldn't even find tracks." Blake said apologetically.
"I don't know what to do about this," Yang admitted begrudgingly, "It's fairly safe to say whoever this is doesn't want to be noticed. They could be some sort of spy, or a direct danger to Ruby. We need to flush them out, but how can we do it if we can't even find them?" The trio fell silent, trying to come up with some sort of a plan.
"Penny!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Yes?"
"That thing you did a few days ago, with Yang's aura?"
"You mean this?" As she said it, A small glowing ball appeared above Yang's palm. Roughly three inches in diameter, the ball of aura glowed brilliantly in the twilight.
"Yeah that," Weiss gently poked at the ball. Seemingly satisfied with its solidity she continued, "how far out can you manipulate it?" As Weiss finished speaking, the sphere zoomed out into the woods before violently tearing apart in the distance.
"Thirty three point three eight meters," Penny responded matter-of-factly.
"Hmm, I think I can make that work."
"Weiss, what are you thinking?" Yang asked, tired of being left in the dark.
"Well, I've been experimenting with Neuschnee. I'll show you, but first we need to get into position." Weiss, turned and ran toward the last coordinates of the mysterious aura. Blake and Yang angrily followed, irritated that they were being left in the dark.
Eventually, the trio stood silently beneath an oak tree less than fifty meters away from the supposed source of the aura. They dared not venture any farther for fear of detection; whoever was skilled enough to hide up from Blake was someone they could take no chances with.
"Alright," Weiss whispered, "Penny, can you make that thing again?" Another glowing orb appeared in response.
"Good. Time to see if I can do this."
"You haven't tried this before, Weiss?" Yang sputtered disbelievingly. Penny had scanned the aura signature in more depth and found it to be even more powerful than Mr. Schnee. This was not an enemy to test theories on.
"I'm a Schnee, you dolt," Weiss reminded Yang haughtily, " I won't mess it up, so let me concentrate." Weiss returned her attention to Neuschnee, preparing for the task at hand. Slowly, she placed her thumb firmly on the rune for earth. Sweat began to bead on her forehead as she began to force aura into the blade. A fine brown powder began to spiral off of Neuschnee, forming a fragile cocoon around the sphere of aura. Her teammates watched in fascination as she switched her positioning to the rune for ice and a pure white dust began to replace the muddy brown. This was a much thicker coat, adding two inches to the diameter of the sphere. Finally, Weiss weaved in traces of air dust before solidifying the mass surrounding the ball of aura.
"W-well," Weiss sputtered as she tried to catch her breath. The construction had cost her even more than she had anticipated, "that should do it. Penny, that should have a blast radius of around twenty meters. Find the best trajectory to blanket the area around that aura. If all goes well, it will be trapped or seriously wounded."
"Weiss," Blake said in awe as she softly stroked the smooth surface of the dust, "this is incredible." Weiss had formed a perfectly smooth dust crystal around the aura grenade, an unprecedented feat even for a Schnee. Blake studied Weiss's weapon replacement closely; while the heiress had remained silent on the subject, the blade was obviously something special.
"Blake! Focus on the task at hand!" Weiss fumed, a bit of her strength returning.
"Right. Are you sure this will work?"
"Of course not! Nothing like this has ever been tested. That being said," Weiss darted a safe distance from Yang with Blake in tow, "whenever you're ready Penny." Yang's face reflected grim resolution as she readied herself, kneeling down and bracing Penny with her other arm.
"Firing."
Qrow sat diligently at his post, monitoring the sector for grimm activity. He felt, rather than saw, as the makeshift explosive went off over his head. Dropping from his branch even as he returned to his human form, he looked back in shocked fascination as the sky began to rain icicles the size of his arm at the speed of bullets. While his greater size made him a far easier target, the utility of his scythe more than made up for his human form. Twisting and swinging, he either dodged or deflected the majority of the projectiles before he had even touched the ground.
Whoever had done this wouldn't give him time to think; the power of their opening attack alone was incredible. He knew this fight would be decided before Ruby and her team could come to his aid, and with a foe as powerful as this they may only end up as casualties.
Qrow rose from the ground, his eyes scanning the treeline for movement. A flitting shadow appeared for the briefest moment, but it was all he needed. Darting forward, his scythe moved through his enemy. To his horror however, the apparition dissolved into a wisp of shadow beneath his blade. As he processed the information, he heard a powerful blast behind him. A very familiar blast. Blocking faster than his assailant thought possible, the flat of Qrow's scythe met the devastating blow of her fist.
"Yang?"
"Uncle Qrow?! Guys, stop!" Weiss and Blake froze a few feet from them, their blades extended towards Qrow's midriff. Slowly, they all began to lower their weapons. The awkward silence was quickly broken as a cheery redhead broke through the treeline, sailing on a war-hammer.
"NORA!" Screamed Ren, as he Ruby and Jaune followed her into the war zone created by the previous blast.
"Uncle Qrow?" Ruby blurted in confusion.
"Ruby." Qrow nodded his head stiffly at his younger niece.
"Ruby!" Yang exclaimed as Nora landed heavily nearby, the unexpected reunion throwing off her hammer swing.
"Yang?!" Ruby's confusion was quickly melting into delight.
"Weiss!" Weiss said angrily, upset at not being mentioned by her team leader.
"And Blake!" Ruby yelled excitedly, darting to meet her friends in a shower of rose petals.
"And Wei-" Weiss was interrupted as she was scooped up by her hyperactive leader and added to a crushing group hug with Yang and Blake.
"Right. We're all a big happy family," slurred Qrow, " but you girls," he pointed to Yang, Blake, and Weiss, "need to deal with this." Qrow pointed his thumb over his shoulder. The girls saw nothing until the old man pitched forward, revealing a foot long shaft of ice sticking out of his back.
"Always the same with you Ice Queens ," Qrow muttered before drifting into unconsciousness.
A/N: Yeah, the whole gang is back together now! The story should start to really progress now that everyone is in position. Get hype. Also I wanted to put a Donkey from Shrek joke in the above names bit, but I controlled myself. Just know that it was possible.