4-3: Lull

"Well... That was a waste of time."

Sienna's voice was decidedly neutral as she turned her attention back to the rest of the group. Sure, her words might've seemed harsh, but she was speaking what was on everyone's minds, given what they had accomplished. The four White Fang faunus had just spent the better part of an hour exploring the metallic corridors of the building, navigating through hallways that had not existed back when the building was a simple armoury. As they searched through the rooms, they came to a startling realization; this entire place was empty.

Perhaps empty wasn't quite accurate, as they had stumbled on a few rooms during their search: a functioning washroom, that odd dormitory room, even a storage room that was stocked with the fort's entire ration supply. However, none of these rooms were particularly helpful to the imprisoned faunus... and coupled with the fact that the corridors themselves ended abruptly, the group had quickly realized that they had simply traded a smaller cage for a bigger cage.

It only took them a few minutes to come to that conclusion, and the rest of their time had been spent trying to find some sort of flaw in their prison. Whether it was a structural weakness, hidden exit, or even something as exploitable as a window, the four faunus had searched through their extended prison for something that might've been able to help them escape.

The grizzly-faunus's words spoke volumes of their success.

"Well... It wasn't that bad, was it?"

The voice of her superior spoke up, and the Lieutenant couldn't even muster up the energy to rebuke him. Of course, that didn't mean that his words weren't stupid, and Sienna still sent a tired glance to her Captain to inform him of this fact, her eyes narrowing into an exhausted glare. This was enough to draw an awkward cough from the tiger-faunus, as he quickly shifted his gaze elsewhere, suddenly finding renewed interest in the metallic walls.

"A-anyways, we should probably head back to the... main area, then."

"You really want to eat that probably-poisoned pig, don't you?" Sienna's fellow lieutenant raised an eyebrow at the Captain, the ferret-faunus's words causing him to let out another nervous cough. Before the Captain could refute this fact, however, the rumbling sound of someone's hungry stomach echoed through the air... More accurately, everyone's stomach.

The Captain's expression quickly changed from slight embarrassment to a vibrant grin, flashing a look towards the rest of the group. "Ha! So I'm not the only one who was thinking about it!"

Three glares quickly quieted the Captain's enthusiasm.

"Ignoring our illustrious leader for a moment, we might as well head back. Unless someone else has another idea." Sienna quickly herded the discussion topic back to more important matters, turning to her peers as she waited for someone to offer an alternative. However, they all knew that, in their current situation, they truly were simple prisoners. The grizzly-faunus let out a heavy breath, her gaze turning to the ground for just a moment as that thought sunk in once again. "... Yeah. I guess we really don't have a choice on the matter."

Her friends must've noticed her expression, as the Lieutenant soon felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder, stopping her thoughts of doubt before they could cement themselves in her mind. Looking up, Sienna spotted the Sentry gazing back at her, trying to cheer her up as Lyra flashed her a soft smile.

"We don't have a choice for now... But don't worry, we'll get a chance soon. I'm sure of it."

Those words might not have had much weight, given everything they had experienced so far, but they still rang out stronger than the niggling doubt at the back of the grizzly-faunus's mind. And since it didn't suit her to dwell on things, the woman pushed those worries aside, her back straightening as she turned to face the group properly.

"Lyra's right. So, let's head back for now. If that crazy mummy guy's going through the trouble of making food for us, we might as well take advantage of him." The Lieutenant sent one last glance down the hallway, tilting her head towards one of the rooms at the end of the corridor. "Besides, I'm sure I saw some stomach medicine in that storeroom, in case anyone still has doubts."

That earned Sienna a playful punch from her friend, as Lyra's open hand closed into a fist, lightly batting at the grizzly-faunus's shoulders. She returned the gesture, lightly jabbing the Sentry's side, and the entire thing devolved into a playful tickle skirmish within moments.

It was with that lightened mood that the four White Fang members finally returned to the arena, the tension in the air slowly being whittled away by soft chuckles and the smell of roast boar.

She could tell from the night sky that it was midnight over Vale, and yet, Winter Schnee was everything but tired; In fact, that was the least important sensation that was currently going through the Atlesian operative's mind. Instead, the Atlesian operative's thoughts were clear, completely focused on the task at hand as she darted through the woods, ignoring the local grimm as she used her semblance to tear through the air. The telltale hum of her glyphs activation echoed in the woods, a low rumble that was neither loud nor quiet... But more than enough to compromise her stealth.

Perhaps her thoughts weren't completely clear. Not that she could fault herself for that misstep, as the Huntress's thoughts were elsewhere entirely. If her map was correct—and it most certainly was—she was supposedly deep inside a White Fang controlled region. Yet, Winter had still not spotted any signs of the White Fang, her journey completely uninterrupted by faunus patrols or perimeter lookouts.

Under normal circumstances, she would've welcomed this change, as it meant she'd be able to perform her mission unhindered; However, the woman's experience told her that these were not normal circumstances, and that her mission had just become far more complicated.

Her thoughts were vindicated the moment she spotted movement in the woods, as a monstrous figure made itself apparent. While the skies were dark, the moon of Remnant still shone on the woods below, and this soft light was more than enough to reveal the identity of this strange figure. And "strange figure" was the best way that Winter could describe it, as she watched the thing drag itself through the treeline.

At first glance, she thought that it was an Ursa, as the thing's silhouette matched the massive frame normally resolved for those powerful grimm. That theory was immediately discarded the moment she noticed the rest of the shadow's features, walking on its hind legs as it... dragged? something behind it. Unfortunately, moonlight was no substitute for the sun, and the woman cursed herself for not having night vis-

Wait. She did.

The operative slipped a hand into her coat, reaching into one of the pockets as she pulled out a small container. It took her only a moment to open this container, the black box parting to reveal one of the many experimental tools that she had been assigned for her work in Vale. She quickly retrieved the glasses from the box, sparing only a single moment to show her disapproval of the item to the empty woods, before slipping them on. All it took was a simple pulse of her aura, activating the glasses with a single reflexive motion, for the world to brighten around her.

No longer constrained by darkness, Winter settled her gaze back on the figure, only to feel a moment of unexpected surprise, her vision clear enough to spot the similarities between the thing and traditional grimm. Like grimm, most of its body was pitch black, with only the occasional spot of white plating in a few key places. Unlike its grimm counterpart however, the bear-like figure was devoid of bone spines or studs, wearing only thick plates of white in a few key places.

To say that this made no sense was an understatement, as she could not imagine any normal grimm developing in such a deliberate manner. The grimm that she knew tended to follow a more natural progression, starting off with bone studs and spines that gradually grew more complex the older they got, as though adapting to the opponents that they had faced. Rather than single plates, the Ursa-like thing should've been covered in spots of bone and claw, growing thicker as the unnatural armour drew closer to the primary plates.

Kind of like that Ursa that the shadow was dragging... along.

All delusions that the figure was a grimm vanished from Winter's mind. She had finally noticed that the thing was dragging along an Ursa, the figure's claws wrapped ar-... No, those aren't claws. Instead, the Ursa-shaped shadow was equipped with two graspers, not unlike the things she had spotted back in SDC manufacturing plants. More surprising than these clamps, however, was that the captured grimm did not protest its imprisonment, the beast's forearms locked together by metallic shackles as the figure... Wait, shackles?

Winter shook herself from her observations, her eyes instantly narrowing as she shifted her attention to the shackled grimm proper, trying to determine if she had made a mistake. But a second glance only confirmed her sighting, as she spotted the metallic shackles locked around the Ursa, somehow forcing cooperation from the grimm as the larger entity led it through the woods.

Had the White Fang somehow managed to weaponize grimm? There were already reports of a strange experimental weapon after all, and coupled with the fact that White Fang was undergoing tremendous change through its entire organization, there was little doubt why Atlas had chosen the closest Huntsman for the assignment. And since she was chosen, Winter vowed to complete the mission in its entirety, which meant understanding what this thing was.

It was with those thoughts that the huntress began her task, intent on following the figure as it made its way through the woods.

Fortunately, both the thing and the Ursa it was dragging were quite distinctive; coupled with her experience as both an operative and a huntress, Winter's actual task of following the figure had been trivial. In fact, the hardest part of her reconnaissance had been forcing herself to change her pace, in order to match with the much slower gait of her target. While she did frown at the lowered speed, especially compared to her previous semblance-fueled pace, Winter still recognized this as an opportunity to mask her approach.

So, rather than following the figure directly, the huntress had plotted out her path through the wilderness, slipping through blind spots or moving through the canopy where lesser grimm couldn't reach her, refusing to let her efforts be exposed. In fact, this subtly was the most important of her tasks, as the Atlesian operative refused to let herself get spotted now, especially at such a critical juncture. She made full use of her experience, keeping herself positioned between natural obstacles, making sure not to stumble into anything unexpected as she followed the figure.

Besides the constant adjustment and readjustment of Winter's projected plan, the journey had gone relatively quietly, the ambient grimm seemingly ignoring the shadow and its captive Ursa. Winter doubted that she'd be granted the same amnesty by the local grimm, however, and forced herself to remain vigilant as she navigated through the grimm-infested woods. After a few minutes and a sudden near-encounter with a nest of nevermore, Winter had finally arrived at the thing's destination.

She had no words, as the woman recognized the location instantly.

What was supposed to be the White Fang encampment was nothing more than ruins, as the main courtyard consisted of nothing more than rubble, craters, and grimm all strewn about. The woman saw no bodies in the courtyard, undoubtedly the work of the creatures that had overrun this fort, but she did notice the bloody stains that dotted the area. From a glance, she could already tell that those stains had been recent, no more than a week or so at most.

But she couldn't consider that at the moment, for she had something more important to do; Winter had caught the sight of something from the corner of her eyes, and a quick glance told her that it was the same massive figure from before, still dragging around that Ursa. The fact that the thing had not yet stopped told the woman that it had not truly reached its destination, so she turned her sight to the most obvious building in the camp.

It wasn't that hard, as the encampment itself was almost completely leveled, with countless building supports and vehicle wrecks scattered on the broken courtyard. As a result, very few buildings, still stood, most of them reduced to mere debris. Of all the things within the encampment, there was there was only a single object that seemed to have escape the fires of conflict, carrying neither debris or nor damage: a large metal dome that seemed. Where all else had failed, this metallic structure succeeded.

Winter had to find out exactly why it had survived.

So, when the strange figure she had followed began making its way to the single standing building, Winter followed suit.

Part of Nox acknowledged his latest test subject's arrival to the ruins, but most of his attention had been focused elsewhere instead; neither he nor his creations had remained idle since the last time he had checked on the subject, and with the resource acquisition capacities that his latest creations had demonstrated, the Xelor's efforts had been spent on facilitating his more... intricate projects.

And an expansion to his base of operations was one such project.

Granted, his home was already respectable in size and capacity, able to fit nearly a dozen of the largest shadow beasts he had seen while still supporting his existing Test Subjects... but it was lacking in a few key amenities. With the fresh supply of metal and raw resources from his clockwork bear-turned-labourers, Nox was able to partially rectify this issue; More specifically, he was able to build a dedicated assembly room for his base.

As useful as his initial assembly room was, it was still just something that had been converted from the local facilities. On a fundamental level, those workbenches and the workroom were insufficient for Nox's future plans, as they lacked the finer tools that a watchmaker such as himself needed, as well as the space to create the larger projects that he'd undoubtedly work on in the future. Especially if he was following the trend of clockwork shadow beasts, the dimensions of the initial room were far too inadequate for replicating the larger beasts.

So he had spent the last hour creating a new room in his base, suited purely for his fabrication.

Unfortunately, his new construction room was a fair distance away from his Dial room, due to the ever-expanding nature of his base. And, at the moment, Nox simply couldn't justify consuming the amount of Wakfu that he'd need in order to reform the base's layout into a more accepting array of rooms... To say nothing of the fact that his Dial was effectively immobile; Sure, the Xelor could move it if he was required to, but the same Wakfu cost applied, magnified by the fact that he'd be moving something as fundamental as his connection to Wakfu and the world around him.

Those limitations meant that Nox felt little reason to actually move the Dial; after all, any situation he could think of that required moving his monument could just as easily be solved by fabricating a new Dial.

The only problem with that was that he didn't have the Wakfu to create many more Dials, so his only hope of accomplishing that task would be to figure out how Wakfu related to the mysterious energy of this world. And, in order to do that, he'd first need to get a proper understanding of the energy... which in turn meant that the Xelor needed to find a method of communication with the locals.

One time-consuming solution would simply be to attempt to converse with his test subjects, attempting to identify commonalities between their language and his own so that they'd eventually reach some rudimentary understanding. Unfortunately, that manner of learning was the least efficient method, and certainly one that Nox wouldn't be pursuing anytime soon. Instead, he had another idea.

Language was taught like everything else, wasn't it? All he'd need to do is find an appropriate teacher... And his Noxines were very good at finding things.

If this world was developed enough to have technologies like the powder fuel and advanced firearms, then surely it was developed enough to have educational facilities as well. Based on that, Nox would simply have to seek out such places, especially ones that deal with younger demographics where it put more emphasis on language acquisition. Once one such facility is found, then it'd be a simple matter of planting his Noxines in these locations, leaving them in a low-power state so that they'd remain undetectable.

That would require a redesign of his Noxines, of course, and he'd probably have to give them a new moniker that suited their specialized role but those were both things that Nox would deal with later... Because, for now, he had workbenches to build. A Noxine was already a fragile creation, after all, and to create something smaller and more specialized than one required a dedicated workbench with precisely sized armatures and tools. He's just have t-

... Oh. It seems that his latest test subject has finally entered his abode.

"C'mon Igole. It's time to greet our guest." Nox gestured to the shadow beast beside him, beckoning the beast to follow him as he stepped out of the room.