"Mmmgh!" Weiss's face contorted as Qrow peeled off part of her suit, checking her invisible wound, lightly prodding the collarbone and forearm.
"When did you manage to get it..?" Qrow muttered, looking at a thin long bruise forming on upper forearm. As she thought more and more, Weiss's ears became redder and redder.
"Um, I believe it was when I vaulted over to help you two," Weiss scratched her thigh in embarrassment. Raven's raised eyebrow mimicked Qrow's and the trader's eyes danced everywhere not to meet theirs.
"I think you need more training, less focused on dueling and more on stamina and flexibility," Raven proposed, now sporting small synthetic bandage on her forehead. Qrow nodded lightly. Weiss imagined her doing splits and handstanding under the woman's watchful eye and barely managed to suppress a groan.
"This is gonna hurt," Qrow warned and started massaging the damaged tendon.
"Agh..!"
The pain shot through her shoulder as the man intensified his massage of the bruise, causing Weiss's eyes to well up a little. Surprisingly, the pain started to subside after few moments... or maybe she just grew used to it, she didn't know.
"Try to bend your elbow," Qrow instructed. Weiss did as she was told. The arm started to move little by little and soon she could bend her fingers, through pain as it was.
"Good as it's gonna get," Qrow stood up and stretched, his joints popping, and moved to help his sister to get off the ground. "Come on, we gotta get moving."
"Alright."
The young woman put the upper body layer of her suit back on and got up as well, helping Raven put her armor plates back on. Rubbing her forehead, Raven nodded to her brother and took her katana, heading towards cave entrance with the other two following. The sand that whirled around the entryway began hitting them on the face, prompting Qrow and Weiss to put their helmets on. Raven frowned at the sensation but did not comment.
"Anyone remember where we came from?" Qrow asked.
"From the east," Weiss looked at the wall of sandstorm and glanced at the compass on her HUD. Nodding to the twins, Weiss drew her blade and ignited it to serve as a waypoint for Raven who will be half-blind in this storm. Qrow kept close to Raven in case she went astray. Jerking her head to the twins, the trader entered the sand wall, feeling the pressure hit her body. Visibility was almost zero, leaving Weiss trusting to the HUD on her visor. Keeping her blade close to her body to the point of almost blinding herself with the light reflected of the sand mass, the girl started marching and the Branwens followed, Qrow holding Raven by the shoulder.
"That monolith better be gone!" Raven yelled to Qrow.
"I'm sure it is!" Qrow flippantly answered, refusing to prioritize the dismal thing over his sister's safety.
"Well if it's any consolation, I don't think my ability is blocked," Weiss told Qrow over radio, nearly slipping on uprising sand. "So it must've been destroyed."
"Doesn't mean the Grimm are gone," Qrow pointed out.
"Then let's accelerate, shall we?"
Qrow nodded and kept following the girl up the dune, not losing the sight of Weiss's blade that kept burning through waves of sand particles, bathing everything around her in cyan-purple pulses.
Moving through a sandy expression of mother nature is not easy, they concluded. Worse than through the snowy one, even. The sheer mass of sand being moved around by ever-changing wind currents kept tripping them up and even knocked them down once. Coming across another cave, they decided to stop and rest up.
"This sucks so much ass..!" Qrow wiped the sand off his visor, sitting on the ground shoulder to shoulder with his sister.
"You sound like Yang."
"Well he is her uncle," Raven kept rubbing and scratching her face that itched and burned from all the sand hits. Weiss threw her a watercan to wash.
"Shockingly, you don't sound like her," Weiss chuckled. "And you're her mother."
"You haven't seen her mad, kid," Qrow laughed curtly, earning a small nod as Raven poured some water on her face and used a rag to wipe it clean, drying it off to prevent the future sand sticking to it. "It's like watching a storm brewing then it explodes in every cuss word you can remember."
"You're welcome to stick around and get a chance to see me get in that mood," Raven said.
"I'll think about it," Weiss's visor trained onto Raven's eyes. "If you stick around your children more."
Raven's finger twitched and Qrow let out a small 'Ooooh' as Weiss's emotionless mask kept drilling into the older woman. Raven held her gaze before turning away with a sigh.
"Are we really going to discuss this now?"
"No, but as someone without parents, I sense I can offer an advice."
"Duly noted," Raven threw the can back to Weiss. "Let's get going. The ship is not far, yeah?"
"It is not," Weiss didn't press the issue, attached the item to her belt and turned to the exit.
Qrow put the helmet back on, "And just when it got interesting."
The storm subsided substantially, letting the sunlight through. Letting Raven walk on her own, Qrow jogged up to Weiss who turned off her blade, not seeing any point anymore.
"Listen kid," Qrow started. "I appreciate your attempts at getting Raven to stay at home more but I don't think she'll agree either way. She's too stubborn."
"I got the impression," Weiss waved him off. "I'm no less stubborn."
"Yeah, kind of got that when I heard about your and Winter's survival on Mantle Prime."
"Two of a kind."
"Right."
Weiss honestly expected her Foresight to kick in any moment, waiting for more lines from Qrow. It didn't, curiously and alarmingly enough… Wait...
"We've got company," Weiss whirled around to face confused Qrow and yelled over his shoulder. "Raven!"
"What?" Raven grumbled.
"Get over here, I think we have an incoming!"
"… What!"
The woman spun around and noticed the dunes behind them shift, "… Great."
The older sibling ran up to her brother, both of them readying their weapons. The Huntsman glanced back to Weiss.
"Can you call in the ship now?"
Weiss checked the connection, "I can."
"Get to it."
Nodding, Weiss crouched down and started to whip through the commands as the dunes started rising on three sides.
"This just gets better and better," Raven muttered.
"Eh."
The sands exploded around them, revealing dozens of centipede-like creatures of Grimm with black body and white carapaces.
"I take whatever smartass quip I had back," Qrow groaned. "Centinels."
"Weiss...?"
"Done," Weiss informed standing up, handgun at the ready. "It'll be here in a few minutes."
The Centinels started scurrying around them, sizing them up, acidic venom dripping from their mandibles.
"It's gonna be loooong few minutes."
The Branwens stood around Weiss as if shielding her. The Grimm charged them, the black 'n white tidal wave of razor sharp legs piercing the sands under them. Weiss started unloading her pistol, cracking and piercing the carapaces of the two monsters charging in her direction as Qrow and Raven charged back at the Grimm to her sides, swiping and slashing through the dark flesh and white bone, black blood splattering onto the scalding sand. Hearing her pistol dry-fire and ignoring small protest of her forearm, Weiss threw it at the Centinel's faceplate, igniting her blade and quickly ducking and slashing at its legs, making it falter as she finished it off with a stab through the head, sparks of molten bone flying off it. Salad-green liquid oozed out of the Grimm's mandibles as it fell, burning through the sand with a hiss and trail of steam. Qrow overpowered the beast he battled, killing it with a bisection cut and ran up to the young trader. In her brief curiosity, Weiss reached out to feel the sand damaged by the ooze.
"Don't!" Qrow grabbed her hand, making her flinch. "It's acidic!"
"… Oh," Weiss slapped her visor. That much was obvious. Man she needed to rest. With that clear revelation, she began to noticed some Grimm accumulate the acid in their mouths and arching their backs, as if…
"Are they-?"
"Yep!" Qrow started backing up and tensing his legs. Seconds after, the Centinels released the acid, spitting it in large green loogies, forcing them to dodge and sprint around, sliding along the dunes.
Evading the acid projectiles, Qrow closed the distance to the formed Centinel artillery line and started dispatching them one by one. Raven quickly came to his aid and proceeded killing the Centinels that tried to chase and grab him. Some droplets of the ooze grazed their armor, melting and searing it but the twins paid no mind. Having dealt with the annoying long-rangers, the twins backed up to Weiss.
Another Centinel almost jumped her as Qrow grabbed her hand and jerked Weiss towards him whipping around and making her spin behind him as he slashed across the creature's head. Raven was much faster due to her build, sprinting around and drawing the monsters to her. As they neared her, she quickly dove and rolled around in the sand, cutting off limbs and killing them afterwards. More and more Centinels crawled out of the sands, seemingly coming in waves. As the carnage went on and the ground was getting blacker and blacker (at one point they couldn't even see clearly as the black vapors from the corpses rose around them), the three felt fatigue set in as they heard the engine whir of the Defiant coming closer, thankful for the incoming reprieve.
"Looks like our ride is here!"
"Holy shit, finally..."
"Ooooh, potty mouth."
"Guys," Weiss jerked her head to another formation of Centinels, acid projectiles at the ready. A barrage followed the collective groan as the three started moving about again. The shadow of the Defiant blocked out the sun as it flew over them and with a command from Weiss and a deafening booms, opened fire from its machine guns, razing the sands and cutting the creatures apart. The twins stood ready but Weiss fell to one knee, feeling her arm ache and her legs burn with exhaustion. The vessel kept the rate of fire up until remaining Grimm were either dead or retreated down under the sand.
Qrow hoisted his sword on his shoulder and whistled, "Well then."
"We better hurry," Weiss urged and commanded the ship to land. "Only matter of time before they come back."
"Agreed," Raven helped her up and the group started walking to the Defiant. What they failed to see was one lone Centinel hiding behind the vessel.
"So, I think this mission was successful," Qrow concluded as they were walking up the ramp.
"Yeah, well, it didn't go without a hi-"
Everything slowed down in that moment for Weiss as she saw this one Centinel burst from the ground and grab Qrow that was walking behind them, coiling around him and biting into his side. The man didn't even get to scream as the shock set in. Without a word, Raven's grip on Weiss vanished and she jumped down the ramp, stabbing the Grimm into its body until it released its hold of the man but not before whiplashing the woman in the left leg, giving her a pause but not stopping. The Centinel screeched and trashed as Raven exacted revenge on it, slicing it multiple times until it fell still. Satisfied with her retribution, the woman rushed with a small limp to check her brother as Weiss sat dumbly on the ramp, her brain just now catching up.
"Qrow!" Raven threw Qrow's helmet off his head to reveal his pale face, eyes still wide. Blood flown like fresh wine from the two-point wound. He seemed unresponsive as Raven slapped him. "Qrow!"
"We-" Weiss finally found her voice. "We need to move him inside and get out."
Mutely, Raven motioned her to help carry her brother. The two women grabbed his arms and dragged him onto the ship. Closing the ramp, Weiss helped to set Qrow down on the floor.
Scanning the wounded man, the suit informed:
"Warning: dangerously high level of toxic substance present in the bloodstream of the subject. Immediate response recommended."
"He's poisoned. I'll-" Weiss cleared her throat. "I'll go and check our supplies for any antidotes..."
"Hurry...!"
It was the first time the trader saw the Huntress lose composure, even if minutely. The frown was still there but there was panic dancing in her eyes. Climbing up the ladder, the trader rushed to the kitchen to retrieve small medical crate, opening it to scour through the contents. Finding several syringes, Weiss examined the medicine in them and referred to the list of antidotes suggested by her suit. Finding the correct one, she grabbed two more along with a synthetic patche and raced back down.
"Found it!" Weiss informed, running to the pair. By this point Qrow already started convulsing as Raven tried to hold him down. Sliding next to them, Weiss hurriedly removed the cap from the syringe and inserted the 8 millimeter needle into Qrow's neck, draining the syringe. The man's convulsions seized shortly after and his eyes seemed to finally register the shine of a small flashlight his sister flashed at his face before finally closing. Administering one more injection, Weiss grabbed the bandage from her pouch and started catching and wiping off the blood leaking from the bite wound. With the wound clean, Weiss carefully placed the synth-patch to Qrow's side and waited for it to meld and seal up.
Heaving a sigh, Weiss's body went slack and she leaned against the crate, tracking his condition via A.U.R.A. suit. With Qrow's condition stabilizing, Raven joined Weiss and slammed her back against the crate next to her. Seeing no further use in it, Weiss collapsed the helmet and glanced to the older woman and spoke the truest words that were uttered today, making Raven nod.
"This was, for all intents and purposes, fucked."
"How is he?" Weiss turned away from the controls to look at Raven entering the cockpit, her limp diminished and now sporting a simple short yukata while Weiss hasn't even got out of her suit yet.
"Asleep. A little cold."
"Hm. And you?"
"I'll live," Raven patted her left leg where a bruise now has formed. "Not like I'm incapacitated am I?"
Raven sat down and said nothing else as Weiss thought about their next step. Go back to Vale? Qrow's injury isn't that severe to warrant that. Go on and let him recover on his own, prohibited from leaving the ship? Seems like a sensible thing to do: let him rest in stable environment. Raven looks firm about her own state. So…
"Kid?"
"Hm?" Weiss titled her head to Raven, still thinking.
"Looks like you got a call."
The trader glanced at Raven who looked behind them before sliding off her seat and grabbing her buzzing 'in silent mode' Scroll off the small table near the exit, looking at the caller's ID with surprise.
"Yes?" Weiss answered.
"Weiss?"
"Hello, Uncle James."
"Are you okay? Winter said she contacted you recently."
"Yes, I'm fine, thank you," Weiss walked back and sat down in her pilot seat. "Is something wrong?"
"I'd like to discuss this in person, Weiss," a tired sigh came in between the words. "Would you kindly make your way to Alsius Combat Academy?"
"Alsius?"
"It's a neutral station albeit technically under Atlas jurisdiction."
"Okay," Weiss agreed, glancing at the expectant Raven. "Just be aware, I'll probably have a company."
"Qrow?"
"And his sister."
"Hm. All right. How quickly can you get there?"
"In about a day."
"Okay, I'll be waiting you at docking bay 4. Meet you there. Good day, Weiss."
"Goodbye."
Weiss ended the call with confusion and glanced at Raven, apologetically, "Looks like we'll have to make a detour."
"It's fine, not like Qrow can do anything right now."
"And you can?"
"Like I told you," Raven exhaled through her nose, frowning. "I can move if the push comes to shove."
"That's not reassuring."
The Defiant was gliding silently. Weiss stared into empty darkness of space peppered with bright cold-white dots of stars, sitting in her pilot chair. Gone was her suit, replaced by a small long-sleeved shirt and black leather pants. Her hair was blanketing her back after a quick shower. Raven has gone to Qrow's quarters to check on him before moving to her own to grab a shut-eye after fruitlessly trying to convince the young trader to sleep as well, muttering something about 'stupid juiced up youngsters.'
Weiss flexed her arm: the shooting pain was gone, replaced with a sensation she could only describe as 'tense muscle tissue being pulled.' Who would've thought? She had to laugh unironically at the list of her injuries. Of all things to hurt her in her list that's being updated of what seemed like a monthly basis, was a damn lack of muscle elasticity.
She looked at the clock telling her it was 3AM, and Weiss had to honestly do a double-take. How did time manage to be so malleable whenever it wanted? In the desert it felt like an eternity. Now? She thought a couple of hours passed at best. Sighing, the young Schnee decided to entertain Raven's request and walked off to her quarters.
"Hallelujah..." Qrow threw his hands up to the ceiling. "Some sweet filtered recycled air."
Weiss's eyes trailed the man's posture not loosing its steel as the lights turned on and he stepped away from the panel he was fiddling with to achieve this result. Raven hummed at the bland joke, standing near the rusty doors leading to the docks. Weiss turned off her blade and put it away.
*Clang*
The noise echoed and bounced off every metal wall around them, tracking the source of it was nearly impossible. Everyone tensed and lowered their stances to the floor, in case there was a shootout.
"What was that…?"
"Hell if I know..." Qrow whispered answering Raven's quiet question. Weiss stayed silent, looking around and feeling like a disaster was about to strike. "Maybe some bolts came loose off the ventilators in the vent system?"
"No, sounds too heavy to be some bo-"
An alarm drown out Raven's rebuttal and the lights switched to ominous orange blinking as the sound kept blaring. Weiss even had to close her ears from the suddenness of it all.
"What in the-"
Weiss didn't even have time to formulate her question in her had as the vent lids in the ceiling exploded around them, raining debris and sparks everywhere. For the moment, nothing but the alarm going off over them.
*THUD*
The thudding noise then multiplied and seemed to come from everywhere, even the wall vents. Raven and Qrow rushed to stand back to back, weapons trained at the ceiling and Qrow jerked his hand to Weiss, ordering her to stand alongside them. Weiss scrambled to get up.
*CRASH*
Another vent lid on the wall behind the twins exploded and a gutural screech rung out. The time slowed down for Weiss as she saw a blackened figure burst out of the vent and close the distance, making a beeline to the Branwens. Weiss couldn't even scream to alert them in time as she saw what seemed to be a sharpened bone-blade rear back and descend down on the twins. She reached out as the blade was about to connect with Raven's neck-
"No!" Weiss sprung out of her bed, eyes looking around wildly as her brain struggled to catch up. Recognizing her spartan-looking room, her adrenaline started to wear off and she felt her legs buckle as she decyphered what she saw. Weiss's eyes welled up as she fell to her knees and put her forehead at edge of the bed.
Raven saw Weiss enter the kitchen and handed her a cup of coffee, "You look like you went through a meat grinder."
"Certainly feels like it," Weiss glanced in the mirror in the door of the cabinet. Her hair was an unkempt mess and the dark rings under her eyes could give a black hole a run for its money. "How's Qrow?"
"I'm fine."
The Huntsman waddled into the kitchen rubbing his side, "Son of a bitch got me good I'll give it that."
"Are you sure it's all right for you to be up and about?"
"Kid I'm not made of sugar," Qrow snorted although his eyes narrowed at the ache of his wound. "Man I do not like getting old."
Weiss was about to poke fun at the man's intimate life, especially his relationship with her sister but thought better of it. She turned to Raven.
"Have you told him?"
"She did," Qrow sighed, sitting down and taking a mug offered to him. "Been a while since I saw Jimmy. Lot of catching up to do and discussions to be had."
"Like how you're banging his subordinate?" Raven asked with a poker face. "You've always liked to troll the man."
"Heh, yeah..."
The twins started reminiscing out loud and Weiss allowed them, focusing on her predicament and General Ironwood's request. Lords only know what the hell she saw in her sleep. The sheer mystery of visions scared the hell out of Weiss sometimes and this time was no different. Weiss's gaze locked onto the swirling coffee in her mug. Black bony blade, dark rusty hall, blaring sirens, screeching of bending metal, Raven-
"Oh shit!" Qrow's mug slipped off the table and hit the floor, breaking and exploding. The noise made Weiss jump with probably the loudest gasp she has ever let out and she almost threw her own mug at the source of the noise. Raven and Qrow stared at the wide-eyed trader in apprehension.
"Weiss?"
The trader kept deeply breathing until she calmed down, "… Yes?"
"You good?"
"… Yes, Qrow. I'm fine."
"Doesn't look like it to-"
"Let's get ready," Weiss cut Raven off, setting down her mug with far more force than she should've and turned to the door to bathroom. "We'll be at Alsius soon."
The twins shared a glance with Qrow shrugging and letting Raven clean up the broken pieces.
Alsius reminded her of the house of old, like those houses she saw the pictures of, where the ancient Solitites used to gather in to form a battle strategy against the Sanusites. The floating rock in space, covered in wooden panels protected by H/L shields with just one tower-like structure sticking out on top, akin to Beacon and Atlas towers, illuminating the surrounding darkness. Finding the needed dock, Weiss landed and after making sure that Qrow was fine walking around, the three left the Defiant. On the way out of the bay, she noticed a familiar figure standing near the hangar door.
"Weiss," General Ironwood grinned at the girl leading the group. "It's been a minute."
"Hello General," Weiss offered a small smile that turned into a small barely-there frown as she inspected the man's face: small stubble, faint rings under his eyes and tired gaze. James glanced at the twins and Qrow offered a two-finger salute while Raven minutely nodded but otherwise the adults did not exchange words. "Are you alone?"
"Sort of. Winter is here, she's in the school section right now, conducting the drills for the first and second year students."
Everyone (Weiss to a lesser extent) glanced at Qrow who involuntarily flinched at the attention and smirks he got, "What, am I supposed to run to her at neck-break speed?"
"Well if you want, I'll go with you," Weiss offered. "It's… been a while."
"I suggest you do so before we discuss business," James advised. "It's a doozy."
Weiss raised an eyebrow at her honorary uncle's eyes hardening but did as suggested, grabbing Qrow by the arm. Raven said she would hang out in the guest area at the small bar jokingly adding that 'She's not ready to meet her sister-in-law yet,' drawing a laugh out of Weiss and a groan from Qrow while James disguised his chuckle by clearing his throat.
"No Violet," Winter pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm not suggesting you're inferior recruit, in fact, I believe you have sharper perception than many."
"Then why am I not given harder tasks?" Violet, a young girl with purple hair crossed her arms.
"I-"
"Are you grilling brats again?"
The older Schnee whipped around to see Qrow and Weiss standing in the doorway to the classroom. Winter's eyes widened and her mouth morphed into 'O' shape as she saw her old friend (ahem) and little sister for the first time in months. Not uttering a word, the woman dismissed Violet and walked up to the pair.
"First things first," Winter embraced her little sister with as much strength as she could, eliciting a groan from Weiss. Letting the trader down, the special operative squinted at Qrow and punched him in the shoulder. "That was for walking out on me without a word."
"… Fair enough, I get it," Qrow rubbed his shoulder, flinching and carefully patting his side.
"What is it?" Winter's scowl softened, seeing the man rub his side. "Are you hurt?"
"Nah, well yeah but it's not bad."
"He got poisoned."
"… He what!?" Winter, against Qrow's protests pried his arms off and lifted the jacket, revealing the synthetic patch. "Lords above..."
"It's not that bad, Ice Queen," Qrow repeated, not meeting her eyes.
"How is THAT..!" Winter gently poked his side. "… Not bad?"
"Winter, please give him some space," Weiss tried to steer them with a forced smirk. "He's not a spring chicken anymore."
Her attempt was promptly stonewalled by both adults as Winter kept burning holes in the man who began staring right back, embarrassed to be put on the spot, "… Well then."
"I'm fine, Winter," Qrow reaffirmed, taking Winter's hand and guiding it away from his side. "It just throbs every now and then."
"And the venom?" Winter raised an eyebrow and glanced at Weiss. "Or poison?"
"Managed to neutralize it as soon as he got bitten," Weiss reported, standing at attention, pausing in thinking back to her 'dream.' "I advise he remains here for the remainder of the upcoming assignment."
"Kid," Qrow muttered giving her stink eye. "Quit."
"Hm, I'm inclined to agree," Winter tapped her chin. "Less risks that way."
"First off, that's not for you to decide," the Huntsman groused. "Secondly, I don't exactly answer the brat here outside of her ship."
Weiss internally groaned. The man was aloof most of the time but damn does he have good selective memory. Winter scoffed at Qrow but remained silent, electing to stare him down before sighing and walking back to her desk and sitting down, crossing her arms. Weiss mirrored her sister's every action and also added her own touch, turning away from Qrow while Winter did not break eye contact. Was there a way to convince him to stay back? Raven as well? Weiss hummed quietly to herself, scanning the blackness outside the window.
"Maybe I should go to the bar..." Qrow half-turned-
"It's a school for minors, you dumbass."
And turned back with a dejected look. Weiss finally faced him, "I believe I should go and speak with the general while you two-"
She pointed at both her sister and Qrow, "- Are going to catch up."
"And what about sibling bonding?" Qrow rose an eyebrow.
"We can talk later," Winter chipped in. "Right, Weiss?"
"Mhm."
"… I'm surprised I'm still alive," the Huntsman sighed.
They were sitting in distant corner of school cafeteria, far away from prying eyes and ears. Weiss was fiddling with her hilt, cleaning it superficially while James slowly drank his coffee in which he snuck a bit of his whiskey to.
"So," James stopped sipping. "I heard you've had eventful last month."
"You could say that," Weiss set the half-stripped hilt aside. "Winter told you?"
"Mhm."
"Can a girl have her privacy?" Weiss grinned.
"Not when she nearly got killed on what was supposed to be simple retrieval assignment."
"Uncle James..."
"No, no I understand," James ruefully smiled. "Boy do I understand."
Weiss sighed, remembering the Solitas events, absentmindedly rubbing her shoulder. The man nodded to the tablet on the table, "You should see this."
Weiss picked up the tablet, turning it on and inspecting what appeared to be a recon report. After skimming first paragraph, she set it down and had to take a deep breath.
"They're at it again?"
"Mhm, our old buddies managed to hijack one trading vessel near Vacuo Station and sped off in unknown direction, remaining a mystery. Until recently."
"There doesn't seem to be any colonies or planets in this sector."
"Indeed, we've been unable to ascertain what the motive was for such action."
"Desperation I'd say."
"Perhaps. Its locator beacon was found just recently, drifting."
"Why turn to me?"
"Because it's not our trading vessel, it's an independent ship that used to run between Atlas and Vacuo," James rubbed his forehead. "Syndicate must have had a good reason for taking this specific ship, seeing that they have a small fleet at their disposal. I don't know what to think."
"You want me to check it out?" Weiss set the tablet down and put her elbows on the table. "It will be a perfect covert mission."
"Yes."
"… Understood," the trader took the table to study this task further, gathering her still disassembled hilt.
"Well then," Weiss exhaled. "I should go."
"Weiss," James stopped the girl mid-step. "Remember. Caution is-"
"- is mother of success, I remember. Good day, Uncle James."
James smiled and watched the trader go.
"Since when do we answer to James the Terminator?" Qrow asked no one in particular, reading the report.
"Since I said so," Weiss stared him down, surprising both Qrow and Raven. "You're currently on my ship, so you obey me, remember?"
"… Well shit."
"What do we know?" Raven snatched the tablet from her brother, scanning it and throwing it on the table. "That's quite a detour, kid."
"I know but I kind of owe the General since he, you know, looked after me and Winter after Mantle?"
"Fair."
"Well, we better get going then so that we can get to our actual mission," Qrow muttered. Weiss took out her Scroll and entered coordinates and the Defiant started moving resolutely towards its destination.
So sorry my guys for such a delay and yet another very dialogue-heavy chapter. I got flooded with, y'know, real life so I was bogged down pretty much every day.