Cinder flew the both of them to the very edges of Atlas by the end of the day after their conversation and agreement of possible mutual aid. Weiss found herself astonished the dragon could fly so quickly, especially since she was so large as opposed to a bird for example. It was miraculous, beautiful thing that also brought a great wave of terror that surged inside of Weiss like a raging river. The dragons were so ridiculously powerful yet they did not dominate the world, at least not entirely. Mistral had always been somewhat occupied by the dragons, its landmass to great and its population spread out to thinly for the Nikos dynasty, or even the Inquisition, to control entirely. Significant areas of its land were taken up by dragons who took tributes from villages poorly protected by their nominal rulers, and it was said Menagerie had fallen to a dragon, though the circumstances behind that would-be Faunus kingdom's fall were murky at best.

How come the dragons didn't dominate the world?

"We don't want to." Cinder answered after Weiss asked her that very question once they had landed and she turned into her human form with a brilliant glow. "It's too much effort to control you humans, and you'd likely just keep rebelling against us. Dragons are independent too, so we've never had a ruler to guide us towards something like that. As it is we're too divided to focus on world conquest, and the current status quo benefits us just as much as it benefits you humans."

"Why do you have a human form?" Weiss asked curiously, earning a salacious grin from Cinder.

"How else do you think I'd mate with my mate?" Cinder replied in a tone that suggested it was obvious. "If we mated whilst I was in my armoured form I'd crush him in all the wrong ways."

"O-Oh..." Weiss blinked, cheeks flaring up at the implication that dragons had a human form for the express purpose of doing...that. "Wait, your armoured form?"

"You humans call me dragon when I am in it." Cinder said, and Weiss cocked her head.

"What do you call your current form then, if your dragon form is your armoured one?"

"This is my infiltrator form." Cinder smirked. "How else would I seduce your menfolk?"

"You seduce many men?" Weiss asked, wondering if dragons were monogamous like humans or were less loyal to their mates, something that seemed odd considering Cinder's clear affection and worry towards her mate.

"No." Cinder retorted, and there was bite to her words. "The only man I need I already have."

"I'm glad you found him then." Weiss said, partly to distract from her slip-up in implying Cinder slept around and also out of a genuine part of her, buried deep down inside her under layers of smothering duty, that was a foolish romantic. "Everyone deserves someone."

"Even a monster like me?" Cinder asked, and Weiss gave her a careful look.

"You haven't done anything monstrous to me." She pointed out, earning a bitter snort.

"I attacked your home and I have razed settlements inside you kingdom." Cinder said bitterly. "Not even for a reason too, not for gold or tribute or to put down insurrection. Nikos just wanted me to do damage to destabilise your kingdom."

"You've done monstrous things, that's true." Weiss conceded. "But that doesn't necessarily make you a monster. Did you do those things because you wanted to?"

"No." Cinder admitted. "But I still did them."

"That doesn't make you a monster then, the intent to want to cause harm wasn't there." Weiss countered. "Would you do those things again if you had the choice to?"

"No."

"Then you are not a monster."

Cinder said nothing for a while, her golden eyes boring into Weiss' own as if she were attempting to read her very soul. Could...Could dragons even do that?

"You are strange but kind Weiss." Cinder finally said, standing suddenly and brushing her skirt from non-existent stains or creases. "Stay here. I will try and find food from a village I saw nearby. I'm surprised humans haven't accosted us already."

"I'll come with you." Weiss said, stepping next to her and earning a raised eyebrow for her actions. "I may be be able to negotiate with them, even if I don't exactly look or can claim to be their Queen. I don't mean to presume anything but...I am human. I may be better at talking to them than you are."

"I will allow that." Cinder snorted. "If only because I am magnanimous and I care little for what you humans think of me. So long as my tributes are paid and my mate cared for I couldn't care less for whatever it is you do."

"How generous of you oh mighty one." Weiss deadpanned, earning another snort from Cinder. It was nice to have a light hearted conversation, especially after all the chaos that had unfolded in her life recently. It was like having Winter with her, albeit a less formal Winter who was also a fire breathing monster.

Winter could be a fire breathing monster in the metaphorical sense when she came to verbal blows with someone, but Weiss very much doubted she could expel the very literal fire that came out Cinder's draconic, or was it armoured?, maw.

"Cinder?" Weiss asked, and the dragon in human shape gave her a curious look.

"Yes little Dove?" She returned, .asking Weiss blinked.

"Little Dove?" Weiss blurted out, earning a grin from Cinder.

"Yes, you have white hair and you flew not too long ago." Cinder explained. "What were you going to ask?"

"Why do you call the forms you change into armoured and infiltrator?" Weiss asked, though her mind was still reeling from the impromptu nicknaming from a virtual, albeit kind, stranger. Though there was a truth to Cinder's words that made Weiss ponder them. Just hours ago, she, Weiss Schnee, had been flying in the air and seeing sights no-one else other than dragons, birds and possibly a dragon's mate might see. She could see the very landmass of Remnant sprawled out beneath her, every contour and nook and cranny and mountain and river that made up Atlas all for her to see and bare witness to. It was something that had so utterly enthralled her she had forgotten she'd witnessed it out of numb shock at the fact she had seen it.

"My mother taught me to address them as such." Cinder answered, breaking Weiss from her brief reverie. "I'm not sure on the specifics precisely, only that out armoured forms are armoured and so it is called that and our infiltrator forms make it easier to sneak into human settlements in order for us to properly track down and find our mates."

"I see." Weiss said, even thought she didn't really. They walked on in silence, Weiss following Cinder instinctively as they headed towards whatever settlement Cinder had spotted whilst in the air. After a few minutes of walking they came across a watchtower, though it had toppled over so that it blocked the muddy path they were walking on. Weiss hurried forward out of worry, her heart falling at the sight of torn, muddy flag of Atlas-Vale sprawled across the ground nearby. She wondered what had happened, and she made to step inside to see if there were any clues as to what happened, fury rising inside her at the thought of corrupt officials skimming out on building costs by paying for structural unsound buildings.

Cinder grabbed her before she did and dragged her back forcefully, giving her a sharp look.

"Stay here." Cinder ordered. "There may be bodies inside, and I say how well you responded to those back at your home. Keep an eye out for anyone approaching whilst I search inside."

Weiss nodded weakly and watched silently as Cinder marched inside and crouched to enter the crumpled watchtower lying on its side. When she was out of sight Weiss let out a huff and stomped over to the Atlesian-Valean flag lying in the dirt. She picked it up and wiped it down on her dress, not caring about adding a few more muddy stains to the torn dress she wore if it meant treating the flag of her Kingdom with some respect. She had grown up being taught to respect it, as the Kingdom's flag was seen as an extension of the Schnee snowflake sigil. The staff of Atlas and war-axe of Vale crossed in the background behind a Schnee snowflake, though the usual white and grey colours were a muted brown after lying for so long in the dirt.

She frowned at the thought and wondered if someone from the settlement that should be nearby had come to check up on the watchtower, the guards within possibly thought deserters for not reporting back in when in actuality they could be injured or dead. Cinder stepped outside and Weiss hurried over to her, the dark look on Cinder's face worrying Weiss greatly.

"Dead." Cinder said simply, and Weiss held the flag closer to her chest. "The tower seems to have been knocked over by something, and snow and ice flooded inside it, drowning those who did not die."

"But how...?" Weiss wondered, though her eyes widened with horror at the sympathetic look Cinder gave her. "No...No it wasn't! I didn't do this!"

"You didn't meant to-" Cinder tried, only to be interrupted once again by Weiss.

"The village, the settlement you saw." Weiss demanded. "Did you see any signs of life? Anything at all?"

Cinder frowned, whether that be at Weiss' rudeness or out of thought she did not know. Eventually she shook her head, and Weiss peered over her shoulder to see the distant sight of a house around the bend of the road.

She took off running, ignoring Cinder calling out for her behind her and running as fast as she could through the mud. Once one of her heeled shoes got caught in the mud she slid out of the other so she kept balanced and ran bare foot through the cold, wet, sludgy ground as if her life depended on it, heart pounding at the thought of what she had done, at what she might have done.

There was no sound coming from the village. No sheep or goats or chickens or cows or anything. There were no giggling children, whining toddlers, screaming babies, haggling old hags, no grunts of fathers and sons toiling in the fields and no mothers or daughters spinning and weaving in cottages. The village seemed empty, and the road seemed littered with bumps.

They weren't bumps in the ground. They were bodies. Curled up and shrivelled. Slowly sinking into the muddy earth as the ice and snow that had trapped and killed them melted away into water that made the ground a swampy mire. There was no-one left to bury them. No-one left to mourn them. They had died scared and alone and cold and utterly terrified of what was happening. Of the howling winds, of the savage icicles and of the swirling snow. The houses, though huts would be more accurate, had holes where thatched roofs had once been, the weight of the snow too heavy and too great and breaking into the supposed safety of the homes. Weiss didn't dare look inside any of them, knowing she would see the forms of children curled up around mothers and father who tried in vain to protect their little ones in their final moments. The thought of seeing a crib or the contents of a crib made her keel over onto her hands and knees and she screamed bloody murder at the ground.

Tears blurred her eyes and stained her cheeks. Her hands curled into the soft, squishy ground into fists as she sought something solid to hold onto, to grip onto and keep her sane as she felt her grief and utter self-loathing overwhelm her. This was what she was. This was what she had done. This was why her own people, the people she had sworn to do good by, had dethroned her and tried to kill her.

She was a monster. A witch. She was everything they accused her of and then more.

Had she abdicated, even after she knew precisely of what she had done through hundreds of reports detailing the death and destruction she had unleashed? No, instead she had continued to act as if nothing happened and she had let an innocent man take the blame for her actions. She had tried to move on, tried to pretend nothing had happened. The people she had butchered had no such luxury.

Even if she had more control over her powers these people would have died. The sight of the sea in the not so distant horizon when Cinder had come into land confirmed they were at the south of Atlas and not far from the coast. The plan, the initial plan had she truly been the Winter maiden, was for her to devastate these very lands to prevent the Mistrali advancing on Bessemer and deeper into Atlas.

These people had been doomed. Her people had been doomed. And for what?

Had they died for the kingdom? No, they hadn't. If she was a true Queen, a true leader, the plan would have been for her to march south to lure the Mistrali into battle. It would have been to make sure they were all concentrated before her so that she could unleash her power on a target, small area that would only affect the enemy. But because she had been a coward, a monster who only cared about preserving her throne and dynasty and lineage, she had decided to sacrifice the lives of these people, her people, on a stupid whim.

She truly was her father's daughter. She truly was a cold-hearted Schnee at heart, even if she had tried to be, no, tried to pretend she was otherwise.

Reading about what she had done was one thing. Seeing it for herself was another.

Someone touched her shoulder, and for a moment Weiss feared she would turn to see an army of vengeful spirits and ghosts behind her, the lost souls of the many thousands she had killed through her stupidity and her selfishness. Instead she saw Cinder, who gave her a complicated look.

"You are not a monster." Cinder said quietly, and Weiss scoffed angrily, gesturing with muddy hands at a nearby corpse.

"Look at him and tell me I'm not a monster." Weiss snapped, moving her hand to another corpse. "Or her. Or those two over there. Look at them and tell me I'm not a monster!"

"You are not a monster." Cinder re-iterated, and Weiss angrily jumped to her feet, stepping away from the woman slash dragon so that said woman slash dragon's hand fell from Weiss' shoulder to hang limply by her side.

"That's a lie." Weiss snapped. "You know it is. I am a monster. I'm a witch. I butchered these people, I slaughtered them and for what? My throne? My Kingdom? My own people deposed me and my actions have crippled the kingdom I was supposed to protect. How can you say I'm not a monster?!"

"Because I'm not." Cinder replied calmly. "You said I am not a monster, despite me attacking your home and razing your settlements. I orphaned children, widowed mates and burned hundreds, thousands, alive and for no reason. Not a reason at all other than because an ambitious leech instructed me to. Yet according to you I am not a monster because I did not want to do so, even though I did do so. Tell me Weiss, did you lie to me when you told me I wasn't a monster?"

"No." Weiss bite out. "You're not a monster. You saved me when you had no reason to-"

"I needed your magic to protect my family and counter the magic Nikos had." Cinder interjected.

"You've been kind to me even though you have no reason to be!" Weiss snapped back, before her anger deflated and she stared sadly through tear-filled eyes at the destruction around her. "This...This is different Cinder. These are...were my people. I ruled over them, I had a duty to them, and I killed them. Look at them Cinder. They had no idea what was going on. They were scarred...they were terrified and I m-murdered them!"

"You did not want to little dove." Cinder said sadly, pulling her into a hug before Weiss realised what was happening. She did not struggle, even though part of her wanted to because she did not deserve to be comforted. Instead she sagged against Cinder, body heaving with silent sobs as she fought back the urge to utterly collapse in on herself. "Tell me, did you mean to do this? Did you want these people to die?"

"N-No." Weiss replied honestly, though she didn't though. She had lost control over her senses and herself when she first connected with the power of the Winter Maiden. It was too strong, too potent and too utterly powerful for her to control, and so it had spread so far and so savagely across Atlas, utterly devastating her realm.

"Would you do it again if you had the chance?" Cinder asked, and Weiss shook her head fervently against Cinder's warm shoulder.

"Never!" She retorted hotly. "I'd take it back if I had the power to!"

"Well you don't." Cinder pointed out, and Weiss felt herself sag against her. "I do not have the power to take back the damage I wrought for Nikos, just like you don't have the power to undo what you have done here. The only thing we can do is rectify our mistakes."

"You said we can't do that." Weiss replied quietly, body still shaking with silent tears and half-gasped sobs. "We can't change what we've done."

"We can't." Cinder nodded. "But we can rectify them by never repeating them. We can honour those we killed by ensuring we don't take more lives in such a vain, useless manner. We can ease their souls by making this world better by never again doing monstrous things."

"That still won't bring them back." Weiss whispered. "It won't change how they died, the fear they felt when they froze or suffocated alone under a mountain of ice and snow."

"It won't." Cinder admitted. "Nothing can change that little dove."

They stood in silence, Cinder gently rubbing circles into Weiss' back and Weiss clinging onto Cinder's body as if she was part of a shipwrecked ship bobbing along in a stormy sea.

"I want to bury them." Weiss whispered hoarsely. "Help me bury them please."

"I will." Cinder nodded. "But only if you eat first. You didn't touch the sheep I got for you, so you must be starving. I will find the tools we need, you will eat what I found in the tower.

Weiss nodded wordlessly, though not eating and starving to death slowly and painfully seemed like an almost adequate way to atone for her sins. Instead she took the hard cheese and even harder bread and ate little nibbles as she waited for Cinder to return, not wanting to lose the dragon's help. She would bury them all by herself if she had to, but if Cinder helped she could at least ensure they'd be put to rest quicker.

Cinder eventually returned with a pair of shovels that looked well worn but she put them aside to push Weiss back down once she stood up to take them.

"You've barely eaten." Cinder scolded, with a warning look on her face.

"I'm not hungry." Weiss replied, only half-lying. Cinder frowned at her.

"I will force feed you if I have to."

Not wanting to test a dragon's patience Weiss gradually forced down the rest of the food until Cinder nodded in a satisfied many and handed her a shovel.

"The ground is wet and soft, this will make it easier." Cinder said, surveying the area around them. "Where do you want to bury them?"

"The main path." Weiss answered quietly. "They died alone from one another, scared and all alone. They deserve to be put to rest near one another."

"Very well." Cinder nodded. "Let's get started."

So they did. The muddy ground gave way easily as Weiss threw herself into digging grave after grave. She made sure to carefully lay the bodies to rest within once she had done, though that became harder as her arms grew more and more tired as the digging wore on and her palms started to blister from gripping the shovel so tightly. She made a noise of pain when the blisters burst but she tried to keep going, even as the pain of the shovel scraping against wet, bare flesh agonised her to her very core.

"Enough." Cinder said, suddenly close by and with a dark look in her eyes. "Do not be so foolish as to try and kill yourself digging graves. You have to atone for what you've done, as do I, and neither of us can do that if we dig our way to an early grave. Sit."

"I need to-"

"I will cremate those not yet buried if you don't sit." Cinder warned, and Weiss made to protest. "Sit."

Weiss did so reluctantly, and she watched silently as Cinder continued their work, even as the sun set and darkness rose. The moon was hidden, and Weiss could only barely make out Cinder's form moving in the dark, the squelching sound of the shovel digging into the wet mud over and over again telling Weiss that Cinder was completing their work.

Eventually the dark clouds parted and moonlight shined overhead. Cinder made her way over to Weiss, her raven tresses sticking to her forehead and her skin shining with sweat but the palms of her hands unblemished from the blisters that had so thoroughly scuppered Weiss' digging.

"It's done." Cinder panted, the only other sign of her exertion beyond her sweaty skin. "We both need to rest now, and I do not feel like sleeping int his village."

"I don't care where we sleep." Weiss replied neutrally. "So long as it isn't here."

"Then we are of the same mind, you and I." Cinder said, tossing aside her shovel before helping Weiss to her feet, being careful not to touch Weiss' ruined hands. "Come, I'm sure I can find a good place to settle in for the night."

Weiss followed silently, glad to be leaving the village behind even as the memory of it all made her shoulders heavy. She paused for a moment, eyes scanning the ground before finding the flag she had dropped earlier in her grief. She picked it up and held it close, promising to those she killed she would keep the flag to make sure she never forgot what she did to them, to never forget she had an insurmountable mountain of crime to atone for and that she would honour their loss.

She could only hope it was enough, though she knew it wasn't.

Cinder waited for her and led her on. True to her word she found a grove not far from the village and settled inside before pulling Weiss into settle beside her. It was a tight fit, and Weiss found herself snuggling closer against Cinder's warm body in search of the warmth radiating from it.

"You are curious human little dove." Cinder whispered tiredly. "I hope I can introduce you to my mate one day. I have a feeling you would get along, always carrying the weight of the world around your shoulders."

"I'd like that." Weiss admitted quietly, wondering just what sort of man could enrapture the heart of the enigmatic dragon that was Cinder. "Thank you."

"Thank you." Cinder replied quietly, before shifting slightly behind her. "Now sleep Weiss. We have a long journey tomorrow."

Like a spell being chanted Weiss felt her eyes droop following the words, and she found her sleep mercifully unplagued by dreams or nightmares.