A/N: Moving is the absolute worst and I'm not even finished yet.

There was an unusual feeling in the Dream's air. Normally, the Dream was comfortable - the air just the right temperature, the ground a bit softer than expected, and so forth.

But tonight, the air was cold. Or, no, now that she was paying attention to it Blake could tell that wasn't quite right. Something bit at her the way cold air did, but it wasn't her skin that felt it.

"Obsidian? What's going on?" The others around her nodded as she asked the question on each of their minds.

There is knowledge you require. It is not entirely safe, but it can no longer be deferred to the future.

They glanced at each other, and Blake could see uncertainty on the other's faces. Yang, though, was frowning. "I remember... you said you'd keep secrets from us for our own safety. If I'm being honest, I didn't think you'd actually tell us what you were keeping."

Ruby glanced at her sister with sadness written across her face. "You didn't trust her?"

Yang shrugged. "I accepted it, I guess. I can... I can admit, especially after everything that happened recently, that Obsidian is involved in bigger stuff than we are. Most of the time, when people say they're keeping secrets for your own good, they mean they're keeping secrets so you do what they want you to, you know? But this is different. Obsidian... Obsidian I can believe knows some stuff that we don't need to."

"That's a very mature view," Weiss nodded, lips pursed. "I... now that we're standing on the precipice of it, I'm not certain I actually want to know whatever was worth keeping from us." She took a breath. "But I am ready, Obsidian."

Blake nodded wordlessly, and felt acceptance from her connection.

Then the sky turned dark, and she fought the urge to step back.

The Grimm. They speak.

For a moment, Blake considered that statement. Then she felt her stomach drop out from under her, and she had to fight to stay upright.

"Wh- what!?" Weiss' voice is the one that cries out, to her surprise. "That's... but they're not...!"

"Not intelligent," Blake murmured quietly. "Except we just learned that isn't true, didn't we? Is it this 'Salem' creature that speaks?"

Unknown. The Grimm speaks in a single voice that is also two; united and divided at once, agreeing and disagreeing with itselves.

Ruby wrapped her arms around herself. "What does it... they say?"

Many thing, cryptic and evasive. It was excited at the prospect of evolution, and regretful that few can hear its voice.

"Excited at evolution? Didn't we just say that the Grimm couldn't always evolve...? That sounds off, to me." Blake tapped a gauntleted finger against her upper arm as she thought.

Yang eyed her from the side. "I'm surprised you're taking this so calmly, partner." Her tone was subdued, and Blake turned to face her.

"I guess...after what we learned from Ironwood, after what happened to Adam, after how much Obsidian struggled to Dream of them, this just doesn't surprise me. It doesn't... it doesn't change anything about our goals or what we need to do. It just means we know a bit more about our enemy."

Yang stared at her for several long seconds. Then, she smiled and reached out to clasp her shoulder. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Doesn't change a thing, does it?" She shook her head, blonde hair shaking with the motion, and sighed. "They tell you anything we could use against them, then?"

Very little. The 'shape' of the Grimm is important.

"The hell does that mean...?"

Weiss tapped her chin. "Maybe that's why damaging their bodies forces them to disintegrate? They can only hold their form if it's in the right shape...? I admit, I've been wondering about that since we saw that 'Grimmsblood'."

"You've talked to them before, haven't you?" Ruby's question brought them up short.

Yes. When I first Dreamed of the Grimm.

"Heh," Yang chuckled humorlessly. "You know, I thought hearing that would piss me off, but..."

"When?" Blake asked.

In the aftermath of the Breach.

She breathed in, held it for a moment, and released it. "I see. I suppose it wouldn't have done us much good, back then."

Very little was learned except for its existence.

"And that was before we started working with Ironwood or Ozpin," Ruby murmured.

"Obsidian," Weiss broke the following silence. "What made you consider this knowledge dangerous?"

For a moment, there was no response.

The Voice expressed loneliness, but speaks in a manner that your minds are not designed to hear. If you had sought it, and spoke to it, the consequences are unpredictable. Yet now you have interacted with it, indirectly, and it may attempt to reach out. Ignorance is now more threatening.

Ruby's eyes widened. "That's what I felt. When we were helping you Dream, I thought... I thought there was something there. It felt so far away, but it made my skin crawl. I thought... maybe it was just the lab..."

Be wary. I will do all that is possible to shield you, if it is necessary.

Blake smiled. "I know." They stood next to each other, each of them considering what they'd learned, but there was another insistent thought in her head. "Obsidian... while we're on the subject, is there anything in your Dream of them that you think we should know?"

A thoughtful pause.

The Grimm were designed to fuel themselves by harnessing entropic forces. They may be impossible to permanently destroy by standard methods.

Her fists clenched for a moment, and then she sighed. "That isn't surprising. After how long they've been around, I'm not sure I could honestly believe otherwise."

"By standard methods," Weiss said thoughtfully. "You think another method may exist?"

All things that are made can be unmade. That is the nature of the world.

Yang smirked. "You know, under other circumstances that would be a pretty scary thought. But in this context? I'm a fan."

Blake nodded. "We'll just have to find the right method, then."