An important note at the end regarding the upload schedule.

"So what now?" Weiss was the first to break the awkward silence.

Adam sat to her left as a campfire crackled between them. Their late brunch consisted of wild berries and freshly caught fish, all courtesy of Adam. The tension in his body gradually vanished as he prepared their food. Weiss wasn't sure if it was because the act of cooking distracted him or if he was picturing her roasting over the fire. She hoped for her sake it was the former.

Neither of them said much to each other since waking up. Weiss was still dumbfounded to find herself in this situation. Just the previous day she couldn't stand the sight of him, now they were sharing a meal.

"You need to get to Magnolia City?" he asked as if nothing was wrong.

"Um…yeah." She played with the end of her ponytail. "I'm planning to catch a train to Mistral City."

"Is this urgent or can it wait?"

"I need to get there before my friends leave. I don't know where they'll go afterwards."

He frowned at her response but didn't comment any further.

"I'm guessing Sienna's going to know about this?" she asked him with a weak laugh.

"Probably." He ran a hand through his hair.

"Are you going to get in trouble?"

He fed another block of wood into the firepit. The fire between them enlarged, leaving her uncomfortably warm.

"I'll escort you to the city." His answer made her do a double-take. "I'm already knee-deep in this shitshow. Might as well see it through to the end."

"You're serious?"

He looked at anything that wasn't her. It was almost funny to see him act so awkward around her when she's only had volatile interactions with him.

"I've never lied to you," he sighed tiredly. "It doesn't matter if you believe me or not."

Weiss wanted to point out his blatant denial about their shared past but decided to keep that thought to herself.

"We'll call it a temporary truce then. You don't hurt me in any shape or form, and I won't bring up anything from the past." She hesitated before holding out her hand to him.

Weiss couldn't continue to treat him like her enemy after everything they'd been through. She wasn't sure what they were, but they were far from being enemies. It was pointless to keep trying to pretend.

Adam looked at her hand like it was infected. She was about to retract it when he accepted her handshake. His grip was brief but firm.

"A truce then."

"Umm…" She awkwardly folded her arms together. "Thanks for taking that hit for me last night. You didn't have to."

"Think of it as getting even for what you did at Rumduol."

"You also cut down that Beowolf for me."

"It wasn't for you. It was for the village," he answered a bit too quickly.

"You kept those Faunus traffickers from finding me…"

"You would've ruined my entire rescue mission."

Silence.

"It's almost finished," he said, turning over the roast fish.

"Oh…good." She twirled a piece of grass around her finger. "Thanks for brunch."

He shrugged, keeping his attention on the fish. This would be the second time he treated her to a meal. Despite their previous argument, he was still willing to cook a filling meal for her. She flushed, remembering all the volatile things she said to him in their last encounter.

"Um…I'm sorry about what I said the last time we uh...met."

"I'm not so sensitive that I get hung up on arguments."

"It doesn't matter. I still shouldn't have said…" She bit her lip. "I don't actually wish you died at Beacon."

"Relax, Schnee. It takes a lot more than that to offend me."

Not knowing what else to say, she nodded and let the ambience of the forest fill in the space between them.

The awkward tension didn't get any better as the day went on. Weiss tried to make small talk with Adam, but the most she could get out of him were one-word answers.

Weiss eventually resigned her efforts and kept to herself. Travelling in tense silence was better than screaming insults at each other. It still would've been nice to have some sort of civil conversation, though. She'd even be okay with complaining about the weather.

They spent most of the day ignoring each other. He always walked ahead of her, picking up his pace whenever he felt she was too close. Even when they stopped for breaks, they resigned themselves to opposite sides until it was time to go.

The only time he came closer was when he needed to reference her map. She wasn't sure why she didn't give him the map so he wouldn't have to approach her.

Twilight had just begun to paint the sky orange when they decided to call it a day. After finding a small clearing to make camp, Adam insisted on hunting for something small to eat.

"You should learn how to hunt," he said, much to her horror. "It's a useful skill to have."

"Can't you do all the hunting? I can look for berries in the meantime."

"I'm not going to do everything for you. If we're going to travel together, you need to pull your own weight."

He didn't even give her a chance to protest before stalking further into the forest, no doubt expecting her to follow.

"I could get our campfire ready instead…" she grumbled, dragging her feet after him.

To her utter disappointment, Adam managed to track down their dinner quickly. It was a chubby rabbit with the fluffiest white tail she had ever seen. Its brown coat reminded her of the bunnies she saw in Mother's garden growing up.

Adam didn't seem the slightest bit concerned with the criminally cute animal as he coached her on how to kill it quickly.

"Go on," he urged her once he'd finished lecturing.

"You want me to kill it?"

"You're not going to learn any other way."

"But…" She looked back at the fluffy rabbit. How could she kill something so cute and harmless?

"You've killed plenty of Grimm before. It's no different from that."

"But they're not cute."

"Cute won't keep us from starving," he said bluntly. "If you don't want to kill it, then we can starve tonight. It's your call, Princ–Schnee."

"I could watch you first. I-I've always been a visual learner–"

"Hurry up before it gets away."

"Adam-"

"I'm being serious, Schnee. If you let it get away, don't expect me to get you something else to eat. It's your call if you want dinner tonight."

Weiss cursed under her breath and focused on their cute, fluffy target. She forced herself to ignore the tiny twitch of its rosy pink nose and attacked.

It was pathetically easy for her to put an end to the poor rabbit. Even without the aid of a gun, her Semblance alone was enough to get the job done. Adam at least had the courtesy to carry their dinner back.

Weiss thought the worst of their hunting trip was over until he began skinning the rabbit right in front of her.

"That's disgusting!" she shrieked.

"What the hell were you expecting when you cut a rabbit open? Flowers and perfume?"

"Do you have to do it here?"

"It's what you have to do to survive out here. We don't have chefs or servants to do everything for us."

"I don't see why you can't do all the hunting. It's not like you have any trouble getting it done."

"Because I think it's stupid not knowing how to get your own food. Get used to it, Schnee, this is what it's like to survive in the real world."

"I'd rather go vegetarian." She turned her head away from the rabbit's corpse. She wasn't feeling hungry anymore despite walking all day. "Can we at least get something else to eat?"

"Like what? Leaves?!"

"Berries, fruits - anything that isn't bloody!"

"We've already got something to eat. It's a waste of time and energy to wander in the forest for something else."

"But…" Weiss couldn't think of a good reason to convince him otherwise.

"You'll thank me when you're not starving. Now stop complaining and watch. I'm only going to show you how to do this once."

Weiss clenched her teeth and forced herself to look back at the poor rabbit. The last of her appetite shrivelled away when he made a long incision down the rabbit's midsection.

She didn't feel any better even when their dinner finished roasting over the campfire. Weiss had only managed a few feeble bites before vomiting it all up, remembering the gruesome process that went into preparing the meal.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said incredulously when she'd finished throwing up behind a bush.

"I told you we should've gotten something else to eat," she grumbled.

"It's not my fault you're as squeamish as a child! And you call yourself a Huntress."

"Killing Grimm isn't the same thing!" She huffed in frustration and found a comfortable patch of grass to lie down on. "Whatever, I'm going to bed."

Turning her back to him, she closed her eyes and hoped to pass the rest of the night in peace.

Weiss woke up in a cold sweat, breathless. Their fire had dimmed into weak ambers, washing her in cold shadows. Moonlight poured into their small camp, mixing with the warm glow of their dying firepit.

She sat up, patting the scarred half of her face to ensure it wasn't gushing blood. Her face was dry, but her scar burned like a fresh wound. Weiss squeezed her eyes shut, trying to wipe the lingering images still haunting her mind.

Father was not hurting her. She was not bleeding out on the floor. There wasn't–

Blood on her shirt.

Glass fragments cutting her back.

Weight pinning her down.

It was so hard to breathe.

"Nightmare?"

Adam's voice made her jump. It took her a second to spot him in the shadows, barely lit up by the light of their campfire. He was still wearing that awful Grimm mask. She was hoping he'd at least take it off at night.

"N-no. Just…couldn't sleep." She wrapped her arms around her torso, her stomach hurting more than ever from the lack of dinner.

Of all the nights to dream about what Father did, why did it have to be tonight? Even as his Grimm mask shielded his eyes, she felt his gaze lingering on her. Weiss kept her attention glued to her feet. She grimaced as her stomach groaned miserably for food.

"I never thought you'd be this traumatized over a dead rabbit," Adam said.

"Well…it was a really cute bunny." She managed a weak smile, glad he wasn't going to call her out for starving herself another night.

"Let's hope you never run into a cute Grimm."

Weiss laughed. Her fear slowly thawed from the ridiculous image of a fuzzy, plush-like Grimm trying to attack her.

"In that case, you'll have to fight in my place since you're immune to all things cute," she teased.

"I don't think our definition of cute matches."

"I'm sure the Grimm can be cute if you look at them from the right angle."

"You're ridiculous." He chuckled lightly.

Weiss ducked her head to hide her smile. It was the first time she heard a genuine laugh from him. Maybe it was the amount of time they spent apart from each other or this was the most they'd ever gotten along recently, but his reaction left her chest warm. If only it could always be like this.

Silence fell between the two of them like a wall, but Weiss continued to hold onto the moment she managed to make Adam laugh.

"Why are you awake?" Weiss asked, not wanting whatever was happening between them to end yet.

"Making sure we don't get jumped,"

"You think they're trying to follow us?" She looked warily around in the dark.

"Better safe than sorry."

The firepit spat out sparks with a loud crack. Specks of light drift onto the ground before the darkness snuffed them out.

"I can take over while you get some rest," she offered. Weiss didn't think she'd be able to sleep anyway.

"I have better night vision."

"I know, but you must be tired after last night."

"I'm used to it."

Why was he used to it?

The question she wanted to ask fell silent on the tip of her tongue. It felt like too personal of a question to throw at him, but it didn't stop her imagination from running wild.

Was it because of the missions he went on for the White Fang? Was it because of the work the SDC forced him to do at a young age?

Does he get nightmares?

She remembered his journal entry with a painful twinge in her chest. Did the things in that journal still haunt him to this day?

The invisible wall sitting between them felt thicker than ever before. Weiss wondered if she could ever reach him again.

"You should get some rest, Schnee. I doubt you've ever lost this much sleep in your life. It'll put you at a disadvantage if the White Fang catches us."

"You'd be surprised," she muttered, reluctantly curling onto her side.

As much as she wanted to spend the rest of the night awake, Weiss knew it was foolish to deprive herself of any more sleep. With the White Fang pursuing them, she needed to be in top form. Even with all the benefits in mind, her blood went cold at the thought of sleeping again.

"Why do you wear that mask?" she blurted to distract herself.

"Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?"

"I'm just curious."

"Stop being curious and go to sleep."

She dug her fingers into the grass and forced her eyes closed. Her heart rate spiked as she felt the pull of sleep drawing her back in. At any minute, she would fall back into the terrors that lurked beneath the surface of her mind. It was only a matter of time before she found herself–

Weiss opened her eyes, staring into the dark forest surrounding them. If a killer was stalking them in the shadows, she was none the wiser. She pulled the grass beneath her hands, focusing on the quiet snap that followed as she ripped them out of the ground.

She heard Adam fiddling with the firepit. The amber glow and heat of the fire strengthened. Weiss appreciated the added light, but it wasn't enough to calm the storm raging in her head.

"Are you seriously losing sleep over a fucking rabbit?"

"Sure…" she muttered.

Weiss would rather dream about that poor rabbit being gutted than revisit that night.

"I find stargazing helps to calm my nerves." His comment came out so suddenly Weiss thought she'd hallucinated it at first.

She turned her head to look at him. He stared into the fire, not acknowledging her presence in the slightest.

Weiss rolled over onto her back. She was never able to see many stars back in Atlas, but out in the middle of nowhere, they were abundant. Thousands – no, millions of tiny lights twinkled above her like diamonds. Gentle wisps of blues and purples mixed amongst the stars, giving the night sky a breath of life she never knew it could have.

Underneath the stunning display of lights and colours, the night didn't feel all that dark anymore.

"Wow," she gasped.

"You don't get to see this sort of thing in the city," he breathed. "There's too much light pollution."

"I always thought photographs exaggerate how it looks."

"You've never been stargazing before?"

"No. I never knew it was so beautiful…"

"Yeah. Seeing them like this makes it easy to forget about...everything."

They marvelled at the celestial body without another word. Weiss could see what Adam meant. When there was nothing but stars shining down on them, it was so easy to forget about the world. Right now, it was just the two of them under a beautiful night sky. Nothing else existed outside their peaceful bubble.

Her stomach interrupted their moment of peace with a sad moan.

"I can go and see if there are any fruits nearby," Adam said. "It might be easier to rest when you aren't starving."

"No, it's not that bad. Thanks, though."

Weiss didn't want him to leave her in the middle of the night. At least with him here, no one could sneak into their camp.

"Hey, Adam," she whispered. He didn't answer her, but she knew he was listening all the same. "I'm sorry about dinner. You're right, there's no one out here to take care of me. I'll try again tomorrow."

She closed her eyes, capturing the night sky in her head.

"It's been difficult to adjust to everything. I'm trying my best, though. Life is really different outside Atlas, but I'm glad that I can go through this journey. Thank you for taking the time to teach me."

She didn't dream again that night.

The next morning she woke up to the delicious smell of meat cooking over the fire. Adam was roasting some sort of bird for breakfast.

"I caught it earlier," he said when she sat up. "I prepared it somewhere else, so you don't have to worry about getting sick again."

"Y-you didn't have to," she said despite her relief. "I'll have to get it to when it's my turn to...hunt–"

"Forget about hunting. I'll take care of it from now on. You're right about one thing, I can hunt faster. As long as you help set up camp, I don't see why we can't work with this arrangement."

"You're…serious?" she asked incredulously. He didn't sound like he was joking or teasing her, but the offer was too good to be true.

"I can show you fruits and vegetables to look out for later today. If we're lucky, we might run into some herbs to add extra flavour."

Weiss didn't bother hiding the massive smile on her face. If this was a dream, she never wanted to wake up from it.

"Thanks, Adam. I appreciate it," she said sincerely.

"Don't overthink it. I'm only trying to be efficient."

"Of course." She laughed. The day was still new, but she had a good feeling it would be a beautiful one.

From next week till March 15, my work schedule is going to be chaotic. Our regularly scheduled chapters may come out later.

I always do final revisions before uploading, so despite having everything prewritten, you guys don't get it until I go over everything one last time. This new schedule will 100% mess up my uploading process. I'll try to hit my usual Saturday/Sunday goal, but there may be some instances where I upload on a weekday instead. Once the 15th passes, everything will be back to normal! Thanks for bearing with me :)

Thank you to StarStream2005, A. 0001, Gleaming Onyx, Yeet, CMDR Quillon, and Guest reader for the reviews!

I also JUST realized GleamingOnyx is the legend behind Red Sun Over Beacon LOL. I purposefully set that story aside until this project is over because it's so good I didn't want to accidentally copy elements from it. Pree cool to see them interacting with this story tbh :)