Blake was unceremoniously shoved towards the heiress, at her umbrage by the hands of Yang. Weiss watched with a strange look in her eyes, almost guilty or apologetic. Her hand didn't move from Ruby's head, which was still aimed at their campfire.

"Blake," Yang hissed through her teeth.

For some reason, it was Weiss that responded to the Huntress. "Yang, you really shouldn't—"

"No, no." Yang firmly shook her head. "We are doing this, because the only way we get out of this mess alive is together. So Blake, apologize."

Weiss spoke up again. "You can't force her to apologize! If she can't forgive me, then so be it."

The ensuing stalemate was tense for everyone but Ruby, who seemed uncannily detached from the whole thing, save for her earlier interjection. Yang stared demandingly at Blake, Weiss stared imploringly at Yang, and Blake just stared at her feet.

"Fine," came a grumble.

Ruby shifted in Weiss' lap, just enough to put Blake in her vision. The group went silent, ears perked expectantly.

"I said fine!" Blake growled, thrashing her arm out of Yang's grip. She threw her hands up in defeat. "Fine, okay! I'm fucking sorry, princess! Shepherd's fuck!"

Weiss blinked, both at the sudden apology and the odd curse. "You really don't have to, I understand—"

"Nonono, no, princess, you really don't understand," Blake tutted, making even Ruby raise an eyebrow. "I apologize,but there is no way in hell that I've forgiven you; my grace doesn't come free, unlike with these two milksops."

Ruby stirred to give her a mild look of offense, but remained silent. Yang seemed to get genuinely fazed for a moment, though, and had to blink hard to tamp her shock down.

"Weiss, if you really think you can be better than your lineage," Blake's voice was bold but sly, like a daemon proposing a contract, "then you'll have to earn my forgiveness. Just commit to one thing."

Weiss turned her whole body, pushing off a grumbling Ruby so she could rise to her feet and match Blake's eyes. "Whatever it is, I'll do it."

Blake gave her a bemused look. "If you ever lay eyes on a Binder, you have to free them. No matter the place, no matter the time, no matter the master, no matter the house," the last was said with particular emphasis, but Weiss' gaze only wavered for a moment. "You will free them."

Yang grabbed the fay's shoulder. "Blake, that's not—"

Ruby pushed up to her feet. "That's totally—"

"Agreed," Weiss' unshaken gaze bored into Blake's. She extended a hand towards the fay. "We have an accord."

Blake blinked, eyeing the hand with caution. "If you betray your word, I'll—"

Weiss flashed a knowing, tentative grin. "Turn me into jerky and feed me to a dog?"

Blake narrowed her gaze at the heiress, then smirked widely as she met the heiress' handshake. A threat from Yang had been turned completely in her favor; either Weiss was being truthful and would betray her own family just for some fay, or she would betray her word and they'd finally be rid of the parasitic Schnee. Pleasure clear in her voice, she agreed. "Wehave an accord."

Yang stepped back in surprise— she hadn't expected Blake to actually try to fix things, and she certainly hadn't expected them to reach conditional terms this extreme. No matter the time or place? No matter the house? What if they're trying to be stealthy? What if it's a Schnee Binder? What if the Binder's a threat? Yang's mind was abuzz with anxious questions.

Ruby, on the other hand, really didn't know how to feel. Her heart and mind were in abject turmoil, roiling with conflicted thoughts and feelings that had only just begun to hit her. Even as Weiss turned back to her and beamed, all Ruby could offer in return was a small, tentative smile; her mind was too consumed with thoughts of Binders, fay, and iron chains. After all, she'd just kissed a serious benefactor of such cruelty— gods, she might even be in love with her— just who was she getting involved with? And on top of that, they would now be taking an impromptu crusade against any owners of enslaved fay? They were already wanted, just how infamous were they going to make themselves— Ruby still wanted to go home, after all this! Gods, she missed her forge!

Was she even doing the right thing? She wished her mother was here; she always knew what to say. "Shite…"

Ruby's whisper had caught Weiss' attention, as evidenced by the way the girl bumped shoulders with her. "Ruby? What's wrong? You've just been staring into the fire."

Ruby blinked and shook her head— when had she and Weiss even sat back down? Who put her hood back up? And where did the other two go? She'd been too lost in her thoughts— thought, singular; regret, more like— to notice much of anything happening.

"Did I say something wrong? I really don't know how to do… this," Weiss waved between them. "You were speaking so candidly before, but you've gone quiet ever since the argument. Do you need me to kiss you again?"

Ruby looked up at her, though the blush on her face didn't match the shame she felt. Still, a kiss was a kiss, and she wouldn't pass up an opportunity to kiss Weiss. She turned towards the heiress, her eyes closed expectantly. Maybe it would help clear her mind.

"Wait, wait, we shouldn't— the others could return any second."

Ruby opened one eye and scornfully affixed it to Weiss. She leaned closer, tilting her chin towards the heiress. Her eye closed once more.

"I… I suppose one wouldn't hurt—"

That delectable warmth found Ruby's lips again, and she quickly wiped her hand on her breeches before threading it into Weiss' hair— wouldn't want to dirty those white locks, after all. The fencer made a light moan as Ruby pressed deeper into their kiss, her own free hand tangling itself into the girl's brunette hair.

'Gods, you two are like rabbits,' the sword commented, still stubbornly held in Weiss' grip. 'Is this really the time or the place?'

Weiss ignored it— it was hard to pay attention to anything but Ruby, and not just the blissful dancing of their lips; her scent overwhelmed Weiss' well-honed magical senses, blocking even the ever-present petrichor of the Emerald Forest. It was odd, actually, she'd noticed Ruby's fay smell before, but it was always faded compared to Blake's. Right now, though, it was blinding. She itched to be closer, if only she had both—

'Fine, as long as it gets me away from you slavering apes. Ugh. Find me a sheath when you're done— bum one off the girl if you have to.' Weiss was too busy parting her lips to question how exactly one of Ruby's short sheathes would fit the long blade. Control gradually returned to her fingers, along with intense soreness that she could not find the sense to care about.

Finally dropping the sword, Weiss wrapped both arms around the smith's neck, pushing her hood back in the process. Ruby, in turn, snaked her embrace around the heiress' waist and pulled her flush. Weiss let out a low, pleased hum.

Here, warmed by the fire and sharing each other's presence below the canopy, Ruby felt a certain peace. Not resolution, no, but it was calming all the same— questions, doubts, and fears still frothed in her mind, but she could bury them deep beneath the moment's pleasure. It was temporary, of course, but she took what respite she could. She'd enjoy it while it lasted.

Pyrrha insisted on taking the lead, even though she relied on Qrow's directions as they wandered on foot through the forests. He'd managed to convince her to leave the horses at the treeline for fear of spooking their quarries, but the Knight Captain made it abundantly clear that he wasn't the one in charge— mainly through frequent, unblinking stares that she'd cast over her shoulder.

He could smell them getting closer, less by their magical scent and more from the campfire that they had seen fit to reveal themselves with. Apparently they underestimated their trackers, though he could see why; Pyrrha would never have found them on her own, not without a Hunter as skilled as him. From what he could tell, she had no grasp of magical sense.

It only took them a couple of hours to track the site. Pyrrha nearly waltzed straight into it, but he managed to grab her before she could break into the clearing and reveal their presence.

"What are you doing?" She hissed as he pulled them both behind a tree.

"My job!" He hissed in return. "We are hunting them, so we need to do it right! And what does any good hunter do when they think they've found their prey?"

Pyrrha seemed to genuinely struggle with the concept. "Kill them?"

Qrow restrained his hand— revealing themselves via a self-inflicted slap to the forehead would be more than a little embarrassing. "No, you fool, the hunter watches! Because if we don't watch, we…" he trailed off for Pyrrha to finish on her own, like a father instructing his child.

"We…" Pyrrha squirmed, her face twisting. "We're no better than they are?"

The Huntsman blew a frustrated huff through his nose. "No. If we don't watch, we don't know our target. We don't know what they do, what they are, and we can't judge how they'll respond."

Pyrrha stared, completely lost. "Right. I understand."

Qrow rubbed his temples and gave the Knight Captain a light push. "Look, just… just watch, okay? Stay hidden, and watch. If we act rash, they could get away."

Pyrrha nodded slowly, and they both slowly encroached upon the campsite. As he approached, Qrow could make out a singular figure at the fireside, though he found it odd how wide they were, given what he knew of— wait, no, that was two people in… extreme proximity, wrapped in each other's arms like they didn't care about the others in their group. Qrow looked around the site, ignoring the mouth-noises and sporadic moans from the couple in favor of searching for their two companions. He didn't find any, which explained the two's carefree closeness.

Pyrrha made an odd sound, one which a creature like her should not make— a stifled, girlish giggle. Qrow sent her a glare.

The Knight Captain threw a hand over her nose to mask her snort. It was still much too loud, but the fireside couple were too passionately engrossed to notice. Pyrrha met his eyes, mirthful tears burgeoning in her own. "S-sorry, sorry, that's…" she snorted again, "Oh my gods, can't you see who that is?"

Qrow looked closer, tapping into some minor enhancement magic to sharpen his sight. The two were too close to differentiate without it, and heavily silhouetted by the fire, but the magical improvement allowed him to distinguish their forms much better.

"It's Weiss Schnee," Pyrrha had to use both hands to stifle her giggle. Qrow squinted, and he could indeed see the remarkable white hair unique to their lineage. In a stage-whisper, Pyrrha added, "And do you see who she's with? It's fucking Rupert! A Schnee-turned-tribade! Gods, could you fucking imagine?"

Qrow sneered at the term, which Pyrrha was clearly using incorrectly. Lady Schnee, shagging a woman? Unthinkable, especially because the other woman's name was apparently Rupert, of all fucking things. He squinted at the one Weiss was mashing faces with; he was young, probably Weiss' age judging by their similar height, but he couldn't make out much more past the hood of his enshrouding cloak.

As if purely to oblige his curiosity, Weiss wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling the hood back in the process. He watched a mop of brunette hair spill forth, the tips dyed… red. Odd. Few had the money to dye their hair, and those that did went for full bursts of egregious yellows, scarlets, or… ugh, blues like that peacock Vasilias. The only other person he knew with this kind of style was all the way in Patch.

He watched the two breathlessly part, giving him a better look at the boy's face. Some of the softness of youth still remained, contrasted by a pair of scars over his face— one starting from a notch in his ear and crossing all the way to his nose, with the other coming up from his eye and tearing his dark brow in two. Qrow watched him pant for a moment, his eyes half-lidded as he slowly leaned towards the heiress once more. Just before their lips could meet again, the light of the flames reflected the glint of his irises.

Silver.

Qrow moved without thought, without sense, stomping past the treeline as a shout tore from his throat. "Get the hell off my niece!"