Weiss had a new problem, and she placed full blame on Sapphire. Her problem would be nonexistent if Sapphire kept her weird thoughts to herself.

The issue arose as soon as Adam was able to fight again. At first, Weiss was delighted to see that he made a full recovery, but her excitement vanished when they encountered their first pack of Grimm.

She was sure it would go away as the day went on. She did wake up earlier than usual. Her head was likely fuzzy from fatigue.

Weiss was terribly wrong. Her problem persisted even late into the afternoon. It grew worse whenever they fought the Grimm.

It wasn't that the fights were particularly hard, they'd both managed to destroy the Grimm without breaking much of a sweat. The problem was that Weiss couldn't stop noticing Adam's form as he fought.

She'd seen him fight plenty of times before, but now she couldn't stop admiring how easy he made it look. He moved as if he was dancing, the battlefield was his stage, and she was his entranced audience. There was a dangerous elegance in the way he handled himself in combat. His form was firm, leaving no room for an opening, but also flexible enough to adapt to any situation.

She never knew someone could put so much style into combat. It was hypnotizing to see how smoothly he could control his sword, the weapon appeared weightless in his hands. The most impressive part was when he threw it. Even as it spun midair away from him, he never let lost control of the fight.

"What's wrong?"

Blood rushed to her face when he caught her staring.

"I was just impressed by how well you can fight," Weiss stammered. She was admiring his fighting abilities. Friends did that all the time without being weird. "I didn't have much chance to appreciate it until recently."

"You're not too bad yourself." Adam laughed amusedly. "I don't think you ever told me who taught you how to fight."

Happy about the change of subject, she told him about Winter's intensive training routine.

"I heard from Violet that Sienna taught you," Weiss said. From what she remembered, Sienna's weapons didn't resemble Adam's sword one bit. If anything, Weiss suspected she helped him with his agility and violent approach to combat.

"She helped, but she wasn't my main teacher. I learned from many swordsmen in the White Fang and adapted my style over time," he explained. "Eventually, I became good enough to help tutor people like Blake."

Weiss nodded, her chest tightening at the mere mention of Blake's name.

"I'm lucky Sienna didn't make me teach that often, it takes a stupid amount of work," he continued. "I only ever taught people I got along with."

"You and Blake must've been close then."

Weiss wondered if Blake ever had as many meaningful conversations with him as she did. Since they worked together, he must've spent a lot of alone time with her. It would've given them plenty of time to know each other. How many secrets did they share when they were together? Would she ever know him as Blake did?

The irritation towards Blake turned rotten.

"I wouldn't say we were very close, but I always thought she was easy to talk to. People were always put off by her quiet personality, but it never bothered me."

"That's nice."

Weiss kicked a pebble laying in her path, it knocked into a nearby tree stump with more force than she'd intended. She pretended not to notice the strange look he was giving her and kept her eyes forward.

"You've trained with her at Beacon, right? How well do your fighting styles blend?" he asked.

"We can combine our abilities fine," Weiss said flippantly. "I prefer to work with Ruby's Semblance, though. It's always produced more interesting results."

She wasn't saying that to avoid talking about Blake. From day one, Ruby's Semblance perfectly complemented her own.

"How so?"

Weiss promptly explained all the team attacks Ruby had come up with at Beacon. The subject of Blake faded as quickly as it had appeared. He burst out laughing when she shared the cute nicknames they assigned each combined attack.

"You're laughing now, but they help us coordinate while keeping our opponents clueless," Weiss explained proudly. "Since we're working together, it would be beneficial to think of a coordinated attack too."

"No, I'm not going to come up with some silly name to shout in the middle of battle. Some of us have dignity."

"Hey, don't dismiss the idea without giving it a fair chance! I used to think it was silly too, but it's gotten us out of sticky situations before."

"We work fine without using some dumb attack name."

"But we'd work even better if we do." She winked. "Come on, what do you have to lose by giving it a try?"

"My pride."

"Your pride will thank you when that silly attack saves your life," she shot back. "So are we doing it or what?"

"You're not going to stop asking until I agree, aren't you?"

"You know me so well."

They spent every evening after dinner trying to perfect their combined attack. Adam was apprehensive at first, but his enthusiasm grew the more they experimented with the effects produced by Weiss' Semblance and Dust.

Their little project was all Weiss could think about for a time. Every day she woke up anticipating for the evening to arrive so they could make more progress. If they were lucky, they got to put their combos to the test when they encountered wild Grimm.

Having something to look forward to even helped her get over her hesitation over hunting. She knew the faster she got it done the faster she could get back to practice.

After dozens of trials and errors, they perfected an attack that would leave their enemies devastated.

Weiss collapsed onto the grass after they tested the combo one last time for any potential faults. A part of her still couldn't believe she'd managed to coordinate a team attack with Adam. She wanted them to run into Grimm more than ever to see how fast they can clear them now.

"I'll admit, your idea wasn't that bad after all," he said, sitting down beside her. "At least we both got some valuable training out of it."

"All we need now is a cool name."

"You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to help with that."

"Whatever, more fun for me."

She silently went over a list of potential names while Adam tended to their fire.

"How much longer until we get to Magnolia?" he asked, shaking her out of her thoughts.

"I'm not sure. Hold on." Weiss switched on her Scroll and checked the digital map.

Travelling had become a lot more convenient with the help of Scrolls. It was easier for them to see exactly where they were.

Weiss was bitterly disappointed when she saw how close they were to the city. She hadn't realized they made so much progress already. If they walked at a steady pace tomorrow, they'd likely get there in the evening. She relayed this information to Adam, trying not to sound too upset.

It wasn't like their journey was going to last forever, but she was hoping to spend more time with him. Adam didn't say what his plans were after dropping her off, and Weiss wasn't sure she felt ready to ask him.

It was far too soon for goodbyes.

"You look troubled," Adam said.

"I'm thinking about how I'm going to miss this," she replied.

"What? Travelling?"

"Yeah. It's nice to be out in the wild like this." With no one to tell her what to do, how to act, or who to befriend, she was completely free.

"I never thought I'd hear a Schnee prefer being in the forest than in Atlas." He leaned back on his hands. "You never fail to surprise me."

"Well, I had some good company along the way. Even if said company stalked me during the first few days."

"I told you it was surveillance. There's a difference."

"Whatever helps you sleep."

A comfortable silence lapsed between them. Weiss turned her attention to the night sky. The bright glow of their campfire dimmed the stars' light, but it couldn't completely hide their brilliance.

"Did Violet ever tell you stories about the constellations?" Adam asked.

"No." She turned her head to look at him. He was also staring up at the sky. "Did she tell you?"

"Yeah, on my first night in Rumduol. She gave me the idea to go stargazing whenever I couldn't sleep." His eye met hers. "I can share some stories if you'd like. There are some famous constellations out right now."

"I'd love to hear them."

He turned his attention back to the night sky. "You see that cluster of stars to the right?"

"You're going to have to be more specific."

"It's a bright line of stars." He pointed up, his finger trailing to some point in the sky she couldn't see.

"Hold on." She moved closer to him, resting her back comfortably against the right side of his chest. "Show me again."

"Follow my hand."

His finger trailed a group of lights arranged in a jagged line.

"Oh, I see it!"

"It's one of the largest constellations. Legend says that it was once a dragon that guarded the gods' realm."

Weiss spent the rest of that night listening to him speak about the stars. She leaned her head against his shoulder, eyes tracing constellations he unveiled to her, as she immersed herself in ancient stories of gods and heroes. While their fire grew smaller and smaller with each passing tale, his warmth kept her safe from the cold.

How is it almost April? Where did all my time go? ;A;

Thank you to two Guest readers, CMDR Quillon, Gleaming Onyx, StarStream2005, LiteralWhiteTrash, D-D, Yeet, Able and Table, and RokenDarkly for the reviews!

Lemme know what you think and I'll catch you tomorrow!