One thing Ruby had taken for granted at Nördliche Burg was the warmth of the castle. Weiss' family had long ago bought the services of a powerful mage who had installed a magical heating system within the very walls of the mighty fortress. The how of the great feat eluded Ruby, who despite her silver-eyed magic, knew very little about the intricacies of magic used by mages, but the why did not, especially since whatever deity existed decided today was a good day for a spot of freezing wind and biting hail.

She and Jaune had been travelling westwards for a week now, passing by a number of inns and resting lodges along the way. The inns were warm and full of food, whereas the lodges were empty and cold, but free to use and a stack of wood was left behind by their previous inhabitants (including them once they were done with the lodges they'dstayed in) as dictated by law. They had long since left behind Nördliche Burg, but the next big settlement was still many miles away. Atlas was cold, inhospitable and ,for the most part, uninhabitable.

Their current plan was to head to the market town of Snowmire, which rested atop the very small mountain of Mira's End, which stood at the very end of the Mountain chain that protected Nördliche Burg from attack from the south, east and for the most part the north.

The reason why was simple. They had no idea where they were going. The knight's that had taken Nikos' bounty on the dragon had long ago departed, and they hadn't left tracks on the paved Solitas Road. Other's would've taken up the bounty, regardless of their ability to actually do so, due to the hefty reward it offered. Whether she and Jaune would actually be able to claim it was another matter altogether.

They were criminals after all.

Well Jaune was apparently, but he seemed too nice to be a criminal so Ruby didn't really believe it. Besides it was her who'd driven off the dragon that attacked Nördliche Burg using her silver-eyed magic, not whatever magic mumbo jumbo Nikos claimed Jaune had used.

"What are you thinking about?" Jaune asked quietly, and Ruby looked up at him, wincing internally at the sight.

His bags rested underneath his eyes, and his pale face seemed gaunt. His blonde hair was damp and dull, whereas a week ago it had been golden and bright. His eyes were red from crying and there was a haunted look to him that made her sad.

"Stuff." Ruby replied, looking away quickly and avoiding his gaze.

"What stuff?"

"Just stuff."

He looked so sad and she had no idea what to do.

Their flight from Nördliche Burg had hit him hardest and it was obvious why. Besides the fact he was a noble not used to hard travel, their forced decision to abandon Sir Klein had hurt him internally as well. Ruby hadn't known the man well, but he was loyal to Weiss and capable with a sword despite his age. He'd bought them the time to escape and Ruby hoped he had surrendered when Jaune and her had fled. Weiss would spare him after all.

They stared at the fire. The wind howled and hail stones battered the windows of the resting lodge. Their horses whinnied, huddling in the corner together. If they had left them outside they would've frozen to death, so she and Jaune had led them inside and they had tied their reigns to an impromptu hitching post they had constructed and fed them some apples and sugar cubes.

They'd have to be careful with the sugar cubes in the future. They were running low already and it had only been a week on the road.

Normally a bodyguard her mother assigned to protect her would temper her more overgenerous nature when it came to feeding the horses with treats. But her own had sadly perished when Nördliche Burg was attacked and now there was no one to temper Ruby's instinct to treat her Petal Burst.

Said Petal Burst whinnied, drawing Ruby's attention to her. The brown and cream horse gave her a withering look before nodding her head towards Jaune, who continued to gloomily stare into the fire.

"I don't know what to do." Ruby mouthed and if Petal Burst had them, Ruby knew she'd be raising an eyebrow at her.

"Cheer him up." Petal Burst seemed to say.

"How?" Ruby mouthed back but Petal Burst merely snorted and tossed her head, apparently done with the conversation.

Ruby glanced toward Jaune, who hadn't looked up once since he spoke a little earlier.

"I was thinking about the quest." Ruby said, as a few moments of awkward quiet passed. Jaune looked up from the fire, his eyes distant and hazy for a moment before they seemed to refocus on her.

"What?"

"The quest. I was thinking about our quest."

"Our quest?"

"Yeah. Our quest. Y-You know...where we kill the dragon."

"I never thought about it like that." Jaune whispered hoarsely. "We're really on a quest. Like heroes."

Oh thank whatever deity was out there! This was a conversation Ruby could hold up and keep going until Jaune was happy.

"Yeah! Like Gagea the Mage! The one who defeated Wyrith the Tyrannical."

"Oh please. We're more like Oswyn the Old One. He wasn't a mage so it's more fitting."

"Well yeah but he only killed Inkanus the Wrathful. Inkanus had nothing on Wyrith."

"Actually Inkanus is stronger. His teeth could bite through enchanted armour. Wyrith could barely bite through the doors to Mantle's Great Hall."

"That might be true but it took two dozen mages to kill Wyrith. Inkanus died with a sword through the eye."

"Yeah but it was a really big sword! Justifier was at least two times bigger than a sheep!"

"I'm not denying Justifier was a big sword. Just that it's a sword."

"Of course you'd think that."

"What?"

"Well you've got your silver-eyed magic don't you. That makes you biased in favour of magic users."

"It does not! I love swords and some axes are cool too but scythes are where it's at."

"Scythes? Aren't they used to bring in harvests?"

"W-Well yes but they're really effective as a combat weapon too! If you forge it out of Vacuan Silver then you could very easily pierce the hide of most dragons!"

"Most. What if you meet a dragon you can't scythe to death?"

"Oh I'd just use my magic. That's enough to defeat even the most powerful dragons!"

"Even an Ancient?"

"Absolutely."

"Wait a minute! That proves my point! If you couldn't kill a dragon with your scythe you'd just use your magic!"

"Firstly, his name is Crescent Rose and he is my baby. Secondly what point does that prove again?"

"That your biased in favour of magical heroes. Sorry for insulting your weapon by the way. It looks super cool and sharp and stuff."

"I forgive you. Also I am absolutely not biased in favour of magical heroes!"

"Yes you are! You said if you couldn't kill a dragon in battle with your weapon you'd just use your magic!"

"So?"

"You have an inherent bias towards non-magical heroes."

"I do not!"

"You do!"

"Dont!"

"Do!"

Ruby replied by sticking out her tongue at Jaune, who replied the favour, leaving her shocked for a moment. It was hard to reconcile the fact that Jaune was a noble. He seemed so nice. Plus he knew a bunch of stuff about heroes. Shouldn't he know how to rule and stuff?

Oh wait. She was a noble too. Oh well. It was hard to remember that at times. Whilst she'd spent a lot of time at her mother's keep, she'd been travelling for a long time now in hope of finding a bounty to hunt down a dragon. She hadn't had any look until she'd been forced to attend Weiss' betrothal celebrations with Nikos.

Jaune's laughter brought her out of her thoughts. It was light and a little hoarse on account to his lack of speaking recently,, but at least he was laughing again.

"What?" Ruby asked and Jaune looked at her with a small smile and a glimmer in his eye.

"I don't think I know any noble like you. Apart from my sisters, they don't count."

"Sisters? How many do you have?"

"Seven."

"Seven?!"

"Seven."

"B-B-But how?!" Ruby asked shrilly. Her mother still complained about giving birth to her, but Jaune's mother had done it seven times! Well, eight if you included Jaune.

Eight times!?

"Do I really need to explain the birds and the bees, Ruby?" Jaune laughed and Ruby cocked her head curiously.

"The birds and the bees?"

Jaune paled drastically. He looked like he'd been caught eating a sweet roll even though he said the cooks hadn't cooked anymore and wouldn't until tomorrow.

She still hadn't forgiven her mother for doing that.

"A-A-Are you serious? Y-You don't know what the bird and the bees are?" Jaune stammered, looking like he'd been told he looked a little heretical by an Inquisitor.

"I know what birds and bees are Jaune."

"But not the birds and the bees?"

"Why would there be birds and bees? Don't birds eat bees?"

"N-No Ruby that's not what it is."

"What is it then?"

"W-W-Well when a w-woman and a m-man get married they…" Jaune paused, taking a breath to steel himself. Jeez. The birds and the bees must be something really bad. "I can't believe I'm doing this. W-When they get married they have to consummate the union to bless it and have children. T-That means they h-have to…"

"I know what sex is Jaune."

"...cuddl-Wait wha?"

Ruby rolled her eyes. 'Wha' must be Jaune's favourite word from how often he says it.

"There's only so many times you could accidentally walk in on your parents in the middle of trying to make you a sibling because you've had a nightmare before they have to talk to you about the real reason they're 'play fighting' in bed and why I can't join in."

"Buwha?!"

"I didn't know okay!" Ruby cried out, realising what that sounded like with his horrified expression. "I thought I could get tips from mum and dad on how to fight better." When the horrified expression refused to fade, she decided to elaborate. "I was young okay! Only nine!"

Jaune's horror faded and he relaxed with a heavy sigh.

"Maybe you should start with that next time." Jaune said, no bite or harshness in his tone or expression.

"Y-Yeah I will. Besides you threw me off by calling it the birds and the bees! Why would you call it that?" Ruby exclaimed, pointing a finger like she was a Bailiff judging the accused.

"It's what my parents called it before they explained it." Jaune shrugged, and Ruby cocked her head again.

"Why'd they do that? Birds and Bees have nothing to do with sex."

Jaune shrugged again, but this time he cringed as well.

Ruby's eyes lit up mischievously.

"You don't like that word don't you?"

"W-What word?" Jaune asked, but from the tone of his voice Ruby knew that he knew exactly what she was talking about.

With a mischievous grin, Ruby leaned forward, her eyes alight with glee at the thought of what his reaction might be like.

"Sex."

Jaune cringed again, a blush now adorning his features.

"N-Nope."

"Nope what?"

"Nope."

"You don't like it?"

"Nope."

"I'm getting a little confused Jau-"

"Nope."

Ruby leaned forward again.

"Sex,"

"..."

Jaune looked away, his blush a bright crimson and an embarrassed look on his face.

"Sex."

Jaune flinched slightly, shuffling uncomfortably.

"Sex."

"You win!" Jaune exclaimed suddenly, hugging his knees as they drew them up into his body. "I don't like se-the word. I don't like the word."

Ruby decided to take mercy on him, just on account that if anymore blood rushed into his crimson cheeks he'd probably explode.

"Why?" She asked curiously.

"It just sounds...icky no that's not right. I guess it just sounds too formal." Jaune replied, finishing with a sage nod.

"Formal?"

"Yeah. Well, impersonal sounds like a better word to describe it."

"Why?"

Jaune shrugged.

"What do you call it then?"

Jaune looked away again, his blush coming back in full force.

"M-Making love?" He whispered, though the way he phrased it seemed like it was more a question than an actual answer.

"Awww!"

"Wha?"

"That's so adorable! You're like the innocent maiden who needs to be saved in the stories and legends!"

"I am not! I'm a knight! Or will be after we hunt down the dragon."

"Nope." Ruby giggled, her body shaking with repressed laughter.

"What!? Why?"

"Because the innocent maiden doesn't fight silly." Ruby said, before snorting at the expression on his face.

"I'm not an innocent maiden!"

"Never fear oh beautiful one!" Ruby proclaimed, standing up and planting a hand on her hip and the other on her chest above her heart. "For I, the brave Ruby Rose shall protect you!"

Jaune huffed, crossing his arms and looking away from her. Moments passed and when he realised she wouldn't sit down he sighed.

"I thank you for your offer, oh kind knight." Jaune replied in a horrible impression of a woman's voice that made her snort.

Then Jaune snorted.

She snorted again.

Then they were laughing. It continued for a while. She'd ended up rolling around the floor with laughter, whilst Jaune was wiping tears from his eyes. The laughter came to a sudden stop when a loud crack tore through the cabin, and something thudded against the wall.

Petal Burst and Jaune's horse whinnied nervously. Ruby inched closer to Crescent Rose, which rested next to her bags that sat next to Jaune's in the centre of the resting lodge, not too far away from the roaring fireplace.

As a few tense moments stretched into minutes, Jaune managed to calm the horses, whilst she peeked out one of the two windows to see if someone was hiding. She couldn't see anything, but blocked the door with a chair regardless.

"You're blocking the door?" Jaune asked from where he was gently stroking Petal Burst's mane. Ruby nodded.

"It's just in case someone is there. It was probably a broken tree branch but better safe than sorry." She explained, and a conflicted expression twisted Jaune's face.

"But what if someone needs to enter the lodge and we can't hear them because we're asleep?" He asked quietly.

Ruby shrugged, shifting the chair slightly so it didn't quite block the door.

"There. If someone needs it they can come in, but at least they'll knock the chair down so we can wake up and share guest right."

Jaune nodded, and the conflicted expression faded into one of gratitude.

"Thank you Ruby." He said honestly and Ruby shook her head.

"No need to thank me. I'm just fulfilling my maiden's request."

Jaune rolled his eyes, but they were bemused with exasperation rather than anything else.

"Well we better get some rest. No telling what time it is right now or when we'll wake up." Jaune said, walking over to one of the four beds present in the lodge that he'd claim as his. Ruby had claimed the one on the opposite side of the lodge to him, but only because she didn't want to be on one of the beds furthest away from the fire.

"Yeah your right. At least with the hail we won't have to worry about being snowed in. It'll be too wet for snow to set." Ruby replied, walking over to her own bed and crawling beneath the covers after shucking off her boots and tossing her cloak over the furs for added warmth.

"Goodnight Jaune."

"Goodnight Ruby."

Sleep came quickly soon after, with nothing but the pitter patter of hail, the gentle cracking of firewoods, the soft huffs of Petal Burst and the soft snores of Jaune filling her ears.