Weiss whirled around, but her legs buckled under the sudden movement, returning her rear to the stone path. Her eyes pulled up to the figure before her.

It was a fay— a male judging by the voice— with brown skin and drooping ears. He wore a strange, dress-like suit of plate, but carried himself like it weighed nothing at all. A sword lay snug at his hip, though Weiss was more worried about the menacing, clawed gauntlet on his left hand. His right arm was bare— at least, as bare as it could be with a Binder's chain wrapped around it. He smirked down at her.

'Valerius,' Aulus gravely muttered.

Weiss opened her mouth, but the fay spoke first. "I don't think humans typically go white at your age." He motioned to his wine-colored hair. "You're a Schnee, aren't you?"

At a loss, Weiss floundered for a long time before managing a nervous, "Why?"

The fay smirked. "Why do you think?"

Weiss narrowed her gaze. "I… don't know. I'm not a Schnee."

His head fell back, sending his laugh to the shimmering sky. "That's good, Schnee, very good!" His head dropped again, all his humor smothered by a challenging glare. "But you can't slither your way out of this one. Where's your little champion?"

Weiss watched him look around with genuine confusion on his face. "Champion? What do you—"

He cackled again, loud enough to interrupt her. "Oh, that's priceless! What are you, a bastard, or something? Did they send you out here to delay me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Sure you do," he drawled, "even one of lowly standing should know their own House's acts."

"Well—" I'm not of my House, not anymore, she wanted to say, but the words were too bitter to climb out of her throat.

'Say it. Anything to get this lunatic off of us.'

How did Aulus even know him?

'That doesn't matter, just say it before he scalps us!'

Scalps her. Swords don't have—

'Weiss!'

"I'm not of my House," Weiss hissed, the admission tasting just as foul as she'd expected. "Estranged, actually, chased here by the Knight Captain Pyrrha Nikos."

Unfortunately, the fay's smile only broadened. Had he sharpened his teeth? "Ah, wonderful. So there won't be any consequences for killing you."

'Ay, me pedica.'

She didn't need to speak dryadalis to know what that meant, she could feel some part of her contract telling her it was Aulus' equivalent of 'ah, fuck me'.

Willing her Aura into her legs, she shakily forced herself to stand. Since she was holding him in the wrong hand, Aulus took full control of her arm. "You're awfully confident," she spat, welling up with as much intimidation as she could. Her Aura was finally resurgent enough to siphon some from her exhausted legs, so she pooled it into her magic until frost seeped from her lips. "But I have a mission, one which I don't intend on ending so soon."

That much was true, but the fact that Aulus' contract held her soul hostage was much more of a motivating factor.

The fay, who Aulus had to remind her was named Valerius, chuckled at her statement and casually cocked his hip. "A mission, eh? Tell me, perhaps I can carry it out as your last wish."

Weiss' brow rose higher than Atlas' cathedral-spires. The fact that he actually sounded genuine was more than a little concerning. "I am going to murder enough of the Remnant nobility to bury my paramour's crimes beneath their corpses," she admitted, perfectly deadpan. She didn't expect him to believe someone as diminutive as herself.

Valerius leaned forward, hands on his hips as he stared with rapt interest. "Oh, star-crossed lovers? I could work with that."

Weiss recoiled. "You weren't supposed to—"

"Tell me, where does House Taurus fit into your little sap-dream?"

Weiss' high brows crumbled into deep furrows, her features twisting with intense confusion. She tried to consult Aulus, since he seemed to know this person, but he didn't have any answers to give. And, unfortunately, Valierus' face was too well masked to offer much more. "The same as everyone else?" She tried.

Valerius straightened up and sucked his teeth, his lips parting into a smile once more. "That's good, guess I won't have to fulfill your stupid wish after I murder you."

'Ah, fuck me.'

Weiss grimaced, her fingers coating with ice. "Shite."

It was nice to actually join the family at the table, for once. Ruby hadn't been able to keep herself sitting for long while she was soulless, so being part of the table talk— even if she couldn't understand any of it— was a welcome change.

"Keekero," Ruby called across the table, "sal."

Keekero perked up, beaming as he eagerly passed Ruby the salt. The others, even Benedicta, shared some of his joy. She wasn't really learning the language, per se, but she was observant enough to pick some things up over her days spent in the family's home.

"Gratias tibi," she thanked him, a little unsure of her pronunciation.

"Libenter, Rrrub-eeee," Keekero returned.

"Don't call me that!" She whined, flapping one hand at the boy as she sprinkled salt over her meal. This one was some kind of squab-like dish, but she didn't get a chance to see the animals themselves; Mirta and Yang had returned while she was playing with the children and prepared the meat themselves.

Thinking of her sister brought her mind to the rest of their estranged group, but Ruby hid the scowl that rose over her. She really shouldn't be here anymore, now that she was healed, but Yang had made an excellent point: they were in an unfamiliar land, with no clue how far they'd been separated from the others. It'd be better to stay in one place, only making small ventures to look for them, at least for a while longer. In a couple of days, they'd head to the nearest city and try their luck there.

Apparently Yang had already tried tracking them, probably while she was out hunting, but she'd told Ruby that everything smelled like magic— too overpowering to get a definitive scent from far away.

At least Weiss should be okay. She couldn't recall from much before she awoke in the Shimmer, but Ruby remembered the plan she'd made with the duelist beforehand, and none of it involved tussling with the Knight Captain. With any luck, Weiss would find Qrow and Blake; Ruby hoped her uncle's expertise made him a better tracker than Yang.

"Ruby?" Yang's voice shook her out of her thoughts. "Are you alright?"

Ruby pursed her lips; the others were engrossed in their own emphatic conversation, so they hadn't noticed her zoning out. "I… I don't know," she mumbled, picking at her food. "There's just so much going on."

Yang's cheerful expression fell a little, but it was replaced by something caring and sympathetic. "I'm worried about them, too. We'll find them."

A light breeze drifted into the house's open window, rustling Ruby's hair. "Or they'll find us," the smith hopefully added.

Yang smiled and gave her a sisterly smack between her shoulder blades. "There's the Ruby I know."

Ruby gave her a small smile in return, but that was all.

"You know," Yang started, her smile fading as her voice became somber, "I was more worried about you."

Ruby recoiled, shaking her head. "M— me? Not Blake?"

Yang nodded. "Yeah, Blake's probably fine. I get the feeling she's been through this kind of thing. You, though…" the Huntress bit her lip, her eyes darkening. "Gods, Ruby, you were at the pasture's gate. I couldn't stand seeing you like that.",

"Is that why you went out so much?" Ruby winced as soon as she said it— she hadn't meant for it to sound like an accusation, but it came out that way anyways.

"Y-yeah." Yang looked away, face red with shame. "I'm sorry."

Ruby gazed softly upon her sister. She leaned towards her, her head falling onto Yang's shoulder and making the older girl jump. "It's okay, Yang. I understand," she muttered. "I wouldn't want to see you like that, either. It must've been awful."

Yang chuckled, a little ruefully. "Still, I'm your sister. I should've been there."

Ruby shrugged. "I forgive you."

Yang's head whipped towards her, just long enough for Ruby to see the tears welling up before the Huntress cast her gaze aside once more. "I love you," she muttered.

Ruby beamed and threw her arms around Yang, hugging her tightly. "I love you too."

Yang placed a gloved hand on Ruby's encircling arm. They reveled in the passing silence, it felt like so long since they shared a moment of true bonding, even before all the chaos that their lives had become. Yang's career as a Huntress demanded she spend months away at a time, only coming home in short bouts to recover before going out again; it was something Ruby had been gradually embittered by, mostly since it meant she had to spend so much time under her father's thumb without the buffer of her sibling. Regardless, she savored the moment as much as she could.

Another breeze carried into the window. Yang's muscles stiffened, her back shooting up straight as she took a deep breath.

Ruby watched her eyes widen. "Yang? What is it?"

Yang stood up so fast that her chair thumped to the floor, forcing Ruby to scramble back from their embrace.

The Huntress' gaze locked onto Ruby, her features unreadably taut.

"It's Weiss."