With Elise pushing from behind, Kris and Cheyenne pushing forward from its claws and Kagami holding it up slightly and pulling from its underbelly, the team slowly trudged along through the wasteland with the mole crab. The trail they left behind from dragging it was gone within minutes from the ever changing landscape. The sun was directly above them when they started, and by the time they got to a small settlement, it was nearly dusk.

With an exhausted groan, Kris collapsed on the ground face first. Feeling sand in her mouth she immediately regretted the decision and rolled over onto her back with her arms out. "I want to die..." She panted. With Kagami's hoodie on she wasn't exactly burning up but with the amount of effort she had to put into moving the mole crab she was sweating through the hoodie. "Chey... kill me."

"You'll be fine." Cheyenne mumbled as she sat down beside her with a huff. She brought her knees up and rested an arm over them. "Just remember to drink some water." She patted her shoulder while trying to catch her breath.

"I'd rather dydrate..." Elise muttered under her breath. She took a few steps before falling onto her back with a thud. Her hair and flannel was drenched in sweat. "Screw hydration." She closed her eyes.

Falling to her hands and knees, Kagami clenched her eyes shut tight and lowered her head. "D-Damn..." She heavily panted and dug her fingers into the sand.

"Heh." With his axe over both his shoulders, the leader of the hunting party whistled towards the others of the group. As they went to work on tending to the meat of the mole crab, he walked over towards the group of girls with a smile. "You kids are a lot tougher than you look." He adjusted the sleeveless dark red jacket he had on.

Looking up, Kris narrowed her eyes. She went to say something not very nice before being silenced by Cheyenne.

"We've been around." The Faunus waved her hand. "We were originally going to a Huntsman Academy but..."

"But?" He placed his hands on his belt.

"We found better ways to help than just sitting in a classroom." Elise wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Plus all that school stuff is super boring."

"Hm." He gave a small nod. "I'm Brik. Down at the end over there is Gran. She can set you up with something nice to drink. Or something else if your hungry."

"Thanks." With heavy breath, Kagami slowly pushed herself up to her feet. Eyeing him, she gave a small nod. "Kagami."

"Elise." The brunet was already up and on her feet at the thought of eating something.

"Cheyenne." The Faunus stood while dusting herself off. "And that's Kris." She spoke before the redhead had a chance to.

"Alright then." Brik nodded back. "I'd like to hear more about how you ended up here once I get everything sorted out around here. I'll see you at Gran's later."

All of MACE glanced at each other. None of them wanted to explain how Sanguine placed a bounty on their heads. Even if they weren't her allies, they were still strangers. They didn't know who to trust.

With the sun going down, the desert began to quickly cool. It was a blessing. Sitting at a small table in a saloon, Kris tilted her head. "Um, do you have anything that isn't crab?" She asked.

Staring blankly back at her, a short old woman blinked. "Do you want me to cut a slice of cactus off for you and cook it?"

"Yes?" She raised an eyebrow.

She blinked more. "Really?" She scoffed a bit and shook her head. "Whatever. You're the one eating it."

"Can I get one of everything you can make?" Elise practically drooled while leaning over the table. "Please?"

Gran glanced between the two of them before sharply exhaling. "Brik sure knows how to pick them." She mumbled under her breath. "What about you two?"

"I'll take some crab Rangoon." Cheyenne softly smiled.

"Crab soup, please." Kagami replied while glancing around the room. There were plenty of people inside. All of whom were eating bits and pieces of the mole crab they brought back.

"I'll be back with those coffees and cactus tea then." The old woman gave a nod before quickly walking off.

Once she was out of earshot, Elise quickly turned to face her leader. "So...?"

"I don't know." Kagami took a deep breath. "Let's just... try to keep things as simple as we can. We don't need anyone getting any ideas."

"Sounds smart." Cheyenne nodded. "Who knows who else Sanguine told."

Once team MACE got their drinks, they practically downed them. Even after drinking the water they had, they were still all ungodly thirsty. Stepping into the saloon, Brik gave a whistle just before a large mug of ale was tossed in his direction. He caught it without so much as spilling a drop.

Walking over towards the group of girls, he grabbed a spare chair and pulled it over and twisted it around. "So," he took a large gulp of his drink before sitting down with his arms over the back of the chair, "what are the lot of you doing out here?" He asked while narrowing his eyes at Kris.

"We were coming from Vytal and heading towards Vale but our pilots were bounty hunters who kidnapped us because a crazy loony in Vale wants us dead or something stupid like that." The redhead softly mumbled.

Blinking, all three of her friends slowly turned to stare at her with wide eyes.

Raising an eyebrow, she glanced up. "What?" She asked before her eyes widened. Her eyes suddenly locked on Brik as she jumped to her feet. "What did-!"

"Down! Down!" Cheyenne scrambled to push her back into her chair and hold her down.

With a sigh, Elise faceplanted onto the table. "Great." She grumbled.

Kagami furrowed her brow while glancing over at the dark skinned man.

"What?" He shrugged. "People can't help but tell me the truth." He flashed a smile before drinking. "Though now I'm even more interested. Who did you manage to tick off?"

The jadette eyed her friends for a second before giving in and leaning onto the table. "Sanguine. A crime lord in Vale. She basically has the whole underworld of the city in her grasp."

"Don't know her." He gave a shrug. "You're welcome to stay here though. Especially after that mole crab you brought us. You deserve it. We could always use some more night patrol too." He gestured towards Cheyenne.

"Thank you." Kagami gave a small nod and smiled a bit. "Very much."

After eating, team MACE made their way through the settlement. It was dark out and with no moon the only light came from a few lamps here and there.

They walked by a man sitting outside of a small hut and he quickly sat upright. "Hey." He called out while eyeing Cheyenne.

Looking back, the Faunus raised an eyebrow. "Um, yeah?"

"That a Solitas wolf pelt you got there?" He pointed.

"This?" She eyed the hood around her neck. "Uh, yeah. It is. Why?"

"What do you want for it?" He grinned.

Looking back at her friends, Cheyenne raised an eyebrow. Kagami shrugged back. Thinking to herself, the light brunette turned back around. "What do you have?" They might as well be as friendly as possible.

Once back in their own little tent Brik had set up, Kagami pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans. "Thank Oum." She exhaled while tossing her shorts away. "I like my loose fitting clothes, but I was going to start chafing really badly with those."

"Same here." Elise hopped around as she put on a pair of sand colored cargo pants.

"I think you guys are crazy." Kris shook her head as she shifted her practically bare legs around. "I'd straight up DIE if I put pants on."

"Says the girl with a magical hoodie." The brunet scowled.

"It would probably be smart to have pants on though. Just to help protect your skin from the sun and sand." Cheyenne pointed out as she adjusted a brown long sleeve jacket with tassels on the chest, back and shoulders. Smiling a little, she ran her fingers under a few of the tassels. "Wonder if I could put beads on these..."

"Eh." The redhead shrugged as she laid down. "I'll pass." She yawned before immediately dozing off.

"Heh." Elise flashed a smile before slowly getting onto the ground as well. "I'm exhausted..." She yawned and closed her eyes. "I could sleep for a week."

"Considering how much you eat I'm surprised you don't hibernate." Cheyenne laughed a bit as she too got into bed.

Smiling, Kagami got comfortable. "Night guys."

"Goodnight." Elise mumbled.

With her friends falling asleep, the jadette laid silently. Swallowing, she eyed the front of the tent. After a few minutes, she shifted around and moved to face it while grabbing her sword and pulling it close. Brik seemed nice but she still wasn't sure who exactly to trust. They were in Vacuo after all.

The following morning, the whole settlement was happy. There was plenty of meat from the mole crab for everyone to have a large hearty breakfast. Team MACE even got a few quiet cheers as they made their way to get breakfast.

"Well this is definitely different." Elise mumbled as she sat down at a table with her friends. "I'm not hating it though."

"Still not as nice as living in an actual house." Kris rolled her eyes but smiled a bit. "I like these people though. They amuse me."

"We can't stay here forever though." Cheyenne interjected. "We have to find our way to the Kingdom eventually. I thought you hated it here?"

"I do." The redhead sighed. "I want to die."

With a quiet laugh, Elise glanced over and eyed her leader. "Hey." She gently kicked her. "You look tired?"

Kagami nearly jumped as she was touched. "Huh?" She exhaled. "What? No, I mean, yeah." She shook her head. "Everything just has me a little exhausted."

Frowning, she reached out and gently rubbed her shoulder. "It's alright." She softly smiled.

Walking into the saloon, Brik gave the team a wave before stepping into the back. As he disappeared, Gran came out with a set of four plates. "Here you go." She set them down on the table. "Three breakfast crab casseroles and some cactus fruits." She stepped back. "I'll have your coffees and tea out in a moment."

"Thank you!" Cheyenne softly called out before sitting back in her seat.

"See. Nothing to worry about." Elise nudged her leader. "So why don't you relax some, hm?"

Eyeing her, Kagami let out a very quiet sigh and slouched forward. "Yeah... you're right. I know." She nodded. "I just..."

"It's alriiiiight." The brunet leaned over onto her. Smiling, she poked the side of her face. "These people are nice and hospitable. All we have to worry about is sandstorms."

She didn't even bother to swat her hand away as she flashed a smile. She glanced at her before nudging her away. "I get it. Okay, okay. Let me be. It's too hot to be laying on top of each other."

"Says you." Elise mumbled under her breath. She went to take a bite of her breakfast but froze as she heard the sound of a gun cocking from behind.

Swallowing slightly, Cheyenne very slowly set her fork down. Beside her, Kris slowly chewed on a piece of cactus fruit while narrowing her eyes.

Kagami slowly breathed in and narrowed her eyes at her plate. She glanced over her shoulder and fully expected to see Brik only to be surprised at the sight of a tanned Faunus with a gills on his neck. Despite all the sand, his clothes were bright colored. He was a long way from home and had the group of girls held at gunpoint.

"You know, it must be my lucky day." He smiled. "I heard a woman in Vale was looking for four girls, but I never thought you'd come walking up to me." He took a step closer and placed the barrel of his weapon against the back of Kagami's head. "You four are going to make me rich..."

"Neon!" Brik's voice roared as he stormed out of the back. The entire saloon had gone quiet and his voice shook the whole place. "The hell do you think you're doing?"

"Oh let me tell you." He let out a chuckle and held out his arms. "Do you know who these girls are?"

Eyeing team MACE, he sighed and slid his thumbs into his waistband. "Not the slightest. But I know they're a good help. So why don't you put that down before you cause a panic and draw Grimm in, eh?"

"No, no, you don't get it." Neon waved his gun. "These kids are worth a fortune. Sixty million lien." His eyes narrowed at Kagami. "And she only wants one of them alive. The rest..." He trailed off and shrugged with a smile.

"Sixty... million?" A woman eating breakfast tilted her chair back. "You're joking."

"Nope." He chuckled as whispers began to quickly spread throughout the saloon.

Frowning, Brik took a few steps back before holding out his hands. "You know, do whatever you damn please. Just get the hell out of this place before you wreck it, alright?" He went into the back again just as Gran stepped out. Before she could get an arms reach away from the door, she was pulled back inside.

"Okay..." Elise took a deep breath at all the eyes on them. "Maybe there is a reason to worry."

"Wow. Thanks Captain Obvious." Kris glared.

"Now is not the time for patronizing." Cheyenne hissed.

Thinking quietly to herself, Kagami glanced around before finally holding up her hands and looking over her shoulder. "Okay. Fine. But sneaking up behind someone is hardly the way here, right? You only stab people in the back that you know here." She raised an eyebrow. "You should at least give me a fighting chance. You said it yourself, Sanguine wants me alive. That doesn't mean unharmed."

Neon blinked a few times before scoffing. "Fine then." He pulled back and headed towards the front. "Ladies first." He gestured. "We'll see how this goes."

Taking a deep breath, Kagami stood up after bumping into Elise. "We will." She nodded.

"What does that even mean?" Elise quickly stood but was slow as she stepped towards the front.

"Oh this is bad. Really, really bad." Kris swallowed hard as she carefully moved with all the eyes of the saloon watching her.

Cheyenne bit her lip hard as she stood up. As she followed, she tilted her head slightly as she watched the farm girl's feet.

The knife she had made her was no longer strapped to her ankle.

"Kagami..." She exhaled as the bright sun blinded her for a moment. Shielding her eyes, she watched her leader boldly walking down the center of the settlement. "What are you planning?"