"Well, it definitely lives up to its name," Ruby loudly announced. "Green and full of trees!"

Weiss groaned. "Ruby…"

Blake loudly repeated Weiss' sentiment with her own heaving sigh, but pressed her horse forward regardless. Her eyes held a sour kind of familiarity, like seeing a long-forgotten enemy.

On the other hand, Yang's expression was uncharacteristically serious, her lilac eyes bouncing to and fro with something close to panic. Ruby had never seen her so intensely aware.

"Yang?" The smith called. "You alright?"

Yang grunted in response, her shoulders tight. "I know we came to this place as a safe retreat, but…" she looked up and down the thick treeline. The verdant flora was so pervasive that it made the forest seem like an impenetrable wall. "Maybe we shouldn't have. I get too many Hunts here."

"What other option is there?" Weiss countered, her voice morose.

"We'll only be here a day or two at most," Ruby stated, hoping to assuage the anxiety that now floated over the whole group. "Just to rest, and make sure we're not followed."

"And then what?" Yang's pointed question drove daggers into Ruby's chest. "We'll be hunted across Vale! Where do we even go after this— we can't just run forever."

Ruby fumbled for an argument, but being challenged by her own sister was too much to look past. She'd assumed Yang would just be on her side, no matter what.

Blake, of all people, cut in before Ruby could think of anything. "Now's not the time for that, we can worry about the future when we're safe from the present."

Yang grumbled in agreement, even though she wasn't the one in control of the reins. Ruby sighed. Slowly, they pushed into the thicket.

Qrow grunted. The Knight Captain, who insisted on riding right at his side, turned with an annoyed look. "What is it this time?" She asked.

"They're going to the Forest," he stated. "Probably think they'll lose us there."

Surprisingly, Pyrrha actually blanched at the Emerald Forest's mention. "Are you sure?"

Qrow scoffed, turning to her as he idly ran a hand down his horse's neck. "Of course I am. What, are youlosing heart?" If you even have one, he wanted to say, a statement which would surely have him killed on the spot. Much as he lauded his own skills, whatever this thing was at his side scared him, deeply. Every second he spent with the Knight Captain only highlighted her inhumanity— he hadn't seen her eat once, she slept with eyes wide open, and he'd never seen her blink.

"Obviously not!" She declared, turning her nose up at the Huntsman. Her confidence quickly faded as the next words came, "I just… have a history there. The Forest doesn't like me."

Qrow sneered. "I'm not surprised," he mumbled under his breath, too quiet for Pyrrha to hear.

"And why is that?" Pyrrha asked, making Qrow jump. Shit.

"W-well, you're… not… er…"

Pyrrha raised a challenging brow. "I'm not what, Huntsman? Please, illuminate me."

Qrow scowled. Well, he'd stuck himself in the shit now, no point trying to get out. "You're not natural," he claimed. "Forest doesn't like that."

Pyrrha actually smirked at that, and Qrow swore he could see the phantom of a needle-sharp maw behind her impossibly white teeth. "And why not?"

"It's an old place, older than… well, everything," he vaguely stated. "With age comes spirit, with spirit comes wisdom, and the Forest has all of those in spades."

"No wonder," Pyrrha mused, "place is always out to kill me."

Qrow turned a puzzled look her way. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I've been sent a few times," she elaborated, her voice growing morose. "Scouting missions, surveys, expeditions. Forest always finds a way to kill my crew."

Concern etched Qrow's face. "How so?"

"Grimm," she stated simply, the word hanging in the air like a thick black cloud.

Qrow's brow furrowed. "Grimm? You're sure?"

Pyrrha rolled her eyes. "How couldn't I be? There's only one thing that looks like Grimm, and it's Grimm."

The Huntsman thoughtfully stroked his burgeoning beard. "That's… odd. Golems, sprigs, heartlings, those I'd expect. They're the will of the Forest made manifest, but Grimm? They're…" just as alien as you, "well, they're just not. They're too strong for the Forest to force out."

The Knight Captain hummed, unbothered. "I suppose I'm not so unnatural then, eh Huntsman?"

"Or the Grimm just find you easily," Qrow countered. "You're hard to miss."

And that much was undeniably true. Pyrrha's mere presence was like being assaulted with several bags of burning incense, flowers, various perfumes, and a dozen pounds of rotting ham. A damp earthiness underlined it all— but not like the soil of Remnant, more so the petrichor of another realm. "I'll take that as a compliment," Pyrrha lied, her voice taking an odd, hissing quality that seeped past her lips just a second out of time with her words.

Qrow shivered, giving his steed a single pat as it nervously chomped its bit. If he had one, he'd be doing the same.

They rode in strained silence for a long time, the only sound being the clacking of Pyrrha's plate armor. After a while, though, she spoke again. "Huntsman?"

Qrow half-turned towards her. "Knight?"

He watched her turn oddly thoughtful, a distant look glazing over her eyes. "Is that your horse?"

Qrow recoiled, taken aback by her sudden shift in demeanor. "Yes?" He answered tentatively, unsure of where Pyrrha would take this.

She nodded. "Did you name it?"

Qrow blinked and shook his head. "I… n-no, I didn't. My line of work demands I not make bonds with horses; they die too quickly."

"I named mine," Pyrrha stated.

"O… kay?"

"I don't remember what I named it. I remember when I named it, though."

"That's… interesting." He was deliberately trying to brush the conversation away. He didn't like the wistful, almost childish tone that had suddenly overcome the Knight Captain.

"The Chasm was so deep. I had a lot of time to think, so I thought about horse names. I really liked Wheatstraw. Or Haygrass. Or Meathook."

Qrow blinked. "Is that so?"

"Evergreen. Malady, because it sounds like 'milady'. Erstwhile. Eggshell. Large George."

"Mhm."

"Cowbird. Egret. Tit, haha."

"Tit. That's funny."

"Booby, too. Birds have funny names."

Qrow didn't like where this was going, but he especially didn't like the absent smile that had overtaken the Captain's face. A bird-eating grin. "Yes, they certainly do."

"I really like birds. So free. I hate to see them in cages."

The threat wasn't even veiled, and it was wholly uncalled for. "Is that necessary?"

"I'd think not. No bird deserves to be caged. Except for ravens."

Qrow seized, nearly halting his horse. Pyrrha's eye slowly found him, staring knowingly, hungrily.

"Oh yes, I hate those things. Wandering about, making strange noises, mocking you. They're such an annoyance. Little blighters are what they are, feasting on corpses because they fear to take a beast on their own."

"That is… in their nature, I suppose," Qrow tried to excuse.

"Would an unnatural being even be able to respect the state of one's nature?"

That hiss seeped through again. Qrow shivered, his hand instinctively seeking comfort on the pommel beneath his cloak. "A philosophical question, one which I'm hardly equipped to answer, Ser Nikos."

"Ser Nikos, Lady Nikos, Knight Captain Nikos. Nikos, Nikos, Nikos, that's all I hear. Is it a family name?"

Qrow blinked. "I would imagine so? Most surnames are."

Pyrrha let out a hollow, razor-sharp laugh. "Surnames. Like Branwen. It denotes origin, family, clan… tribe, even."

Qrow tightly gripped the sword, lightly tapping his horse in the hopes that it would speed up a little. He desperately wanted to escape the Knight Captain's hungry gaze. "I see what you're getting at. I'm far past that life, my Hunter's Vow is proof enough. My sister is her own woman, and not one who is keen to heed my words."

"Actions speak louder than words, Huntsman. Do you know how many lives her roving gang has ruined?"

"I try not to."

"So uncaring, Sir Branwen. Perhaps, if you truly cared so little, you would divorce yourself of that name."

Qrow scoffed. "It's just a name."

The Knight Captain's next words were teeth on his neck. "Do I scare you, little bird?"

Qrow didn't need to turn to feel that she was looking directly at him. "Yes." It wasn't even an admission, just a simple fact. Grass is green, the sky is blue, and Pyrrha Nikos shook Qrow to his bones.

Pyrrha chuckled, the sound creeping over his ears like talons. "I'll name this one Birdcage."

Qrow gulped.

"One day, I'll stuff its ribs with crows and ravens."

Good fucking gods, he was going to piss himself.

A/N: sorry this took a minute lol, i wrote way too many chapters and my editor gf got sick. next one should be out tomorrow, though, it's a big argument and its still got some more kinks to work out.

really liked this chapter btw, and fucked-up-eldritch-horror!Pyrrha is a blast to write, and so is Qrow; i just love their dynamic :)