(A/N): This chapter's a bit of an interesting one, and one of my personal favorites at that. We're gonna be laser-focused on the Schnee sisters and their states of mind this time around, with a lot of snapping back and forth between both Weiss and Winter as their paths and pains mirror each other. You'll see what I mean once we get to the big action set piece for this chapter, so get comfy and enjoy!
It didn't take Weiss long to remember why she hated the Drifts.
Those reasons flooded into her mind as she followed Kopaka through a fierce blizzard, as she clung tightly to her ivory-white cloak and shivered with each step. The coldest cradle in Ko-Wahi was unforgiving enough on a good day, when the sun was out and the skies were clear and the temperature dropped low enough to kill in only hours of prolonged exposure. And based on the storm that she and the Toa of Ice were currently navigating, and on how bitterly the winds bit into her Aura, this was not a good day on the mountain.
If it were up to her, she'd be anywhere else. She'd be in Vacuo. She'd be in a volcano. Better yet, she'd still be swimming with Ruby Rose and drinking in both her love and the warm Ga-Wahi sun. But this was where Kopaka had picked up the trail of the Kohrak pod they'd been tracking, so this was where they needed to go. It was all Weiss could do but follow in her Toa's footsteps, putting one foot in front of the other as he carved a path for both of them through snow banks as high as his knees.
"Are you alright back there?" called Kopaka over the rushing winds.
"Aura's still in the green, so I won't freeze!" she answered back. "But that might change soon if we don't find shelter eventually. You're sure the Bohrok went this way?"
"They must have. I can see their tracks, their marks…the telltale signs of their destruction. No amount of ice and snow can hide that. Not from me."
"Well, then keep at it! I'm trusting you to get us through this, Kopaka."
The Toa of Ice looked over his shoulder and nodded. "If we don't find them within the hour, we'll put the hunt on hold again. Let me know if you start getting tired before then, and I'll carry you while we look for shelter."
"Such a gentleman." Weiss hugged her snow cloak a little tighter, wishing it was just a bit warmer in the face of a bitter blizzard. Her eyes, shielded by a fogged-up visor, kept instinctively sweeping from side to side, watching for potential threats moving within the swirl of snow. She hoped to see anything - Bohrok, Rahi, even one of Matoro's old flags - but all she saw was an abyss of pure white. The Drifts may not have been the most lively place for Matoran, but she couldn't shake the feeling of just how empty the mountain felt. Even more than usual.
Time was that this valley could have had dozens of Muaka and Taoniho roaming the Drifts in search of food, and plenty more Rahi that made for walking meals. Her brow furrowed as she pondered. Did the Bohrok drive all of them away? How many more kinds of Rahi are going to lose their homes before we can save the rest of the island?
Eventually the Toa of Ice came to a hard stop, so abruptly that Weiss nearly walked into him. She recovered her footing and whipped around, hands already inching towards Myrtenaster on her hip and Hakoki between her shoulders. Maybe a fight would be just what she needed to warm up…and usually when Kopaka stopped during a hunt, it meant he'd found their target.
Except this time, clearly.
"…Kopaka?" she asked after a moment. "Why'd we stop? There's nothing here."
"Exactly." Weiss could hear both the confusion and the annoyance in his voice. "The trail we've been following ends here, but…it doesn't make sense. There's no marks in the ground that suggest they burrowed away, no footprints going a different direction, not even disturbed snow showing they got into a fight with the local wildlife. Just…nothing. It's like they vanished into thin air."
Her frosty eyebrows shot straight up. "Can Bohrok even do that?"
Kopaka furrowed his brow behind his mask. "If they can, then we've got bigger problems."
Normally the heiress tried to keep a lid on her temper, especially in the middle of storms, but spending hours in a freezing wasteland eroded any and all patience she might've otherwise had.
"You mean bigger problems than being stuck out here, in the middle of a blizzard, chasing a Bohrok pod that's long gone?!" Weiss wailed and threw her hands up in the air. "I know we have the rest of the island to worry about, but we can't save it if we turn into popsicles!"
The Toa of Ice turned to face her. "Weiss -"
"Don't 'Weiss' me! You know I'm right! We have to find shelter, we have to get out of this stupid storm!"
"Weiss -"
"Stop interrupting me! I get it, this is bad, but right now we're the ones in danger! So tell me…what could possibly be a bigger problem than what's happening to us right now, Kopaka?!"
KRRRRRRRRRRRR.
"I can think of a few things, and one of them just found us."
Ah. That's probably why he kept trying to interrupt her.
Why do I keep doing this to myself? Weiss mentally wailed.
A massive shadow suddenly fell over the pair, blocking out whatever meager sunlight shone through the blizzard. Both icy warriors turned and drew their weapons, eyes narrowing as they took in the metal frame lumbering over them both. Twin armored forelegs, a heavy-duty tank tread in the back, rows of razor-sharp teeth…its mind may have been freed from Makuta, but the Muaka were still the dominant predators of Mount Ihu, and this one had just found its next meal.
Kopaka widened his stance. "Seems we've crossed paths with the one Rahi that hasn't abandoned its hunting grounds yet. Let's bring it down quickly, and get back to -"
The heiress suddenly blinked in recognition, and gasped. "Wait. Kopaka, lay down your sword."
"Lay down my what?"
"Just trust me!"
There was a time not long ago when the Toa of Ice would have argued and fought with her suggestion, or maybe even frozen the Muaka solid in defiance. But that time had long passed, and now Kopaka had nothing but trust for the warrior of another world. He nodded slowly and put his sword tip-first into a snowbank, though he kept his shield raised. Just in case.
Weiss nodded in thanks, then made a show of laying down both Myrtenaster and Hakoki before slowly stepping towards the giant Rahi. As she approached she kept her hands raised and at her side, peering up at the Muaka while averting her gaze from its dagger-like eyes. The massive mechanical tiger growled in warning at first, clearly anticipating a sneak attack; when no attack came, it leaned its head forward to sniff her once, twice, three times.
KRRRRRR…
As it did so, the heiress knew her gambit had paid off - the crimson flag tied around the beast's left ear marked it as an old friend, which was only further confirmed when the Muaka's throat started vibrating loudly enough to rumble. A laugh escaped her lips even as the Rahi started nuzzling her, and she paid it back with scratches under the chin and a hug around the neck. All the tension faded from Weiss's shoulders as a newfound sense of warmth flooded into her, unrelated to the cloak around her shoulders.
"Mumu," she said with a happy smile. "You're safe. You're okay. It's so good to see you again, girl."
The friendly Muaka purred in response. Well, as much as a fifty-foot-long half-robot tiger even could purr, which to the untrained ear sounded a lot more like a different shade of growling.
"Odd that she didn't flee with the rest of the Rahi," mused Kopaka as he retrieved his sword and slung it over his back, then scooped up the heiress's surrendered weapons. "Especially considering the Bohrok are driving all her favorite prey further down the mountain."
"There must still be something in the Drifts that's worth staying for," reasoned Weiss. She hugged her friend a little tighter, then reluctantly withdrew to sheathe her sword and disk. "Mumu, we need to get out of this storm. Do you know anywhere we can lie low until it passes? Like a den, maybe? Preferably yours."
Mumu chuffed and started skulking away with a tilt of her head, as if commanding the great white hunters to follow her through the battering blizzard.
Lacking any other options, Weiss and Kopaka moved to do just that.
"Well, how about that? The two of us, patrolling an overcrowded residential ward on a moonlit night…been a while since those days, huh?"
The sound of Robyn Hill waxing poetically snapped Winter out of her distant gaze as they walked the dusty streets of Vacuo. She answered the blonde Huntress's musings with an unamused stare, which her patrol partner met with a smile and a shrug of her bare shoulders. There were only a handful of people who could withstand the icy expressions of the stoic Maiden without crumbling on an emotional level - and much to her dismay, the former hero of Mantle was chief among them.
"Almost a decade since our time in the Academy, I believe," she answered with a sigh. "I'll admit, it does feel…vaguely nostalgic. Reminders of a simpler time, I suppose."
At that, Robyn frowned. "Yeah…though if you ask me, it's a little too similar to what we were seeing back in Mantle."
She understood the unspoken commentary implicitly. Ever since thousands of people had emerged from magical portals into the sandy desert, there'd been so many problems with integrating them into Vacuo city. Food and water continued to be the highest priority, of course, but shelter was a far more immediate concern at the beginning - large and flexible as the desert capital might've been, there wasn't enough space in the existing buildings to house so many displaced souls all at once, and the terrified refugees needed safety from the Grimm and the sandstorms. This demand for safe havens had led to a new section of the city being grafted onto its side like an ugly tumor, one that served as an improvised residential district for the displaced Atlesians hoping for a new home.
Within the newly-expanded city wall sat hundreds of boxy little prefabricated houses, all constructed out of sandstone bricks and cement in as little time as possible. Each identical structure could comfortably house a family of four in their cramped little confines, though with times being what they were there were often twice that number trying to coexist inside each unit. The rectangular, uniform nature of the houses meant that they could be put into rows and columns for maximum efficiency; horizontal space was at a premium, and arranging the units like apartment blocks helped keep things at least somewhat organized. Of course, the understanding of all the families moving in was that these would be temporary dwellings while the city worked to build them proper homes…a promise that seemed to slip further and further away with each passing day, as resources continued to dwindle and tensions between neighbors continued to rise.
The entire district was held together by a waning hope that things would get better, by a fragile dream that could all too easily be shattered.
Hence the area's semi-official nickname - the Glass District.
"We're doing everything we can," said Winter defensively. "It's not an ideal situation, but we're working on -"
"I know you are." Robyn held up a gloved hand both in surrender and in understanding, giving a small smile. "You don't have to convince me you're trying, Winter. I already know how hard you're working…how hard we all are. It's tough, but we'll get through it. Together."
The violet eyes that looked down on the Maiden held nothing but warmth, and yet Winter still struggled to meet them - for reasons she couldn't entirely explain.
As silence joined them once more on their walk, Winter took a moment to study the taller woman. Robyn's combat gear was largely the same as it was in Atlas - a bird-shaped crossbow folded away in her forearm, two quivers of bolts tucked into her boots, and a sleeveless navy-blue long coat and a beige scarf secured by a pin bearing her sparrow-like emblem. But nowadays she wore lighter clothes more fitting for the desert than a freezing city, including a pair of baggy black cargo pants and a red tank top that left her arms and stomach exposed to the elements. It had somehow escaped Winter's notice up until now just how…fit…Robyn was…how her toned abdomen rose and fell with each breath, how her shoulders looked broad and strong enough to carry the weight of the world…
Dammit. When did Robyn herself get so distracting?
"So, how's your family doing?" The former hero of Mantle tried again to break the silence. "Everything going okay at the House of Schnee?"
Okay. A new conversation topic. Good. Something new to focus on.
"Mother has made good strides towards bettering herself," reported Winter clinically, though she allowed a shadow of a smile to grace her lips. "She actually just celebrated her one-hundredth day of sobriety this morning."
"Really? That's great!" Robyn's smile was far brighter.
"It is." The Maiden nodded as she continued. "As for the rest of the family, things are much the same. Whitley is still being his usual self, but he's finding ways to be helpful all the same. Klein continues to perform his duties admirably, Albus is a perfectly healthy growing kitten, and Weiss is…"
A sudden spike of pressure filled her chest like a fistful of needles, as her sister's name slipped out while her guard was down. Dammit. Why did she keep letting her mind go there again? Why couldn't she just focus tonight?
"…she's back on that island, isn't she?" Robyn tilted her head. "The one she and her friends told us about when we picked them up. That's why she and Ruby weren't at the VCC meeting the other day, right? Why we haven't seen them around lately?"
Of course someone clever like the leader of the Happy Huntress could puzzle things out. Winter nodded tightly, berating herself internally and forcing shut once more the vault of waiting tears. Dammit. Come on. Keep it together. Weiss is strong. Weiss has allies with her, from Remnant and Mata Nui alike. Weiss will be fine. I am fine.
Robyn thankfully had the sense not to ask more questions about the topic, instead just coming to a stop and laying a gloved hand on the Maiden's shoulder. Not to stop her, clearly, even though Winter did pause her walking to turn and face her patrol partner. The touch felt stiff, and strange, and sent ripples across Winter's nerves…and yet, for some reason, it wasn't unwelcome.
"…you look tired, Winter," intoned the blonde instead. "Have you been getting enough sleep? Or food?"
Why did everyone keep asking her that?
"Yes," answered Winter dismissively as she stepped away, continuing down the patrol route with deliberate steps. "I've been getting enough of both to fuel my magic and keep myself fit for combat…anything more of either would be wasteful."
A skeptical hum escaped the infuriating Huntress. "Lemme guess. Lots of caffeine?"
"It's been very efficient at keeping myself charged up."
"Ah. You must be drinking your weight in coffee each week."
"…tea, actually," she admitted. "I…never developed a taste for coffee."
"That's easy enough to fix," said Robyn with a soft laugh. "I know this great little café over in Gust Winds, serves the best brew you'll find in all of Vacuo city. Believe me, I've looked - me and the other Happy Huntresses go there all the time. If you ever need a pick-me-up, just come find me and I'll show you where it is. I'd be happy to take you there…and they do serve tea, too, just in case I can't convince you."
Winter regarded her patrol partner with a critical eye. Her cheeks were red, her lips were curled, and her steps seemed a lot less confident than they'd been moments earlier. Was she ill? Had the cold desert night sapped her vigor? Or was it taking all her courage to propose such a meetup?…
Well, she saw no reason to deny such a request, so why not accept?
"…I'll consider it," she finally said after a moment, and she could have sworn she heard a small sigh of relief from Robyn. The blonde opened her mouth to say something when a static-laced voice crackled through their Scroll speakers, prompting them both to answer the emergency call.
"…I repeat, we have a four-alarm fire in the Glass District! Building 14A, at the corner of 104 and 257! Need rescue personnel and firefighters here, over!"
"Building 14A?" Robyn frowned as she met the Maiden's gaze. "That's -"
"The central apartment complex," finished Winter, eyes already ablaze with magic.
A fire in a crowded residential district was already bad news. A fire in a desert city was even worse news. A fire in one of the largest buildings, full of scared people with few ways to safely escape? That was a nightmare in the waking world, one that needed to be dealt with swiftly before it caused a ripple effect of both fear and flames in the surrounding area. Worse still, the building Marrow had called out was on the clear other end of the Glass District - too far to run over there and help, at least in time to do anything besides sweep up the ashes.
But it wasn't too far to fly.
Robyn's fingers were already swiping through her Scroll. "The other Happy Huntresses are on patrol around there…they should already be en route. I'll grab anyone else in this sector and meet you there -"
"No. We need to go now."
"We?"
Winter moved without thinking, scooping Robyn up by the waist and pooling jets of flame into her boots. She instantly shot into the sky like a sapphire rocket taking flight, the wind whipping past her ears and almost drowning out the surprised screams of her patrol partner. Her gaze was set on the intersection Marrow had called out, her senses barely registering the world around her…until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her neck, with force that was just shy of choking her.
After only a few seconds, the pressure eased, and Robyn dared to look down at the rush of buildings and lights that zipped past them.
"Whoa…" breathed the blonde. "Is this…is this how it always looks while flying?"
The question caught Winter off-guard for a moment. "…more or less."
"It's amazing…"
Despite the urgency, despite the stakes, despite the distant smell of smoke, Winter found some amusement in Robyn's incredulous reaction to the Maiden's preferred method of travel.
After all, she wasn't wrong.
Weiss was pleasantly surprised at just how warm and cozy the interior of a Muaka's den was. While it wasn't anything more complex than a large cave with walls of ice and stone, it still provided some much-needed relief from the biting winds of the Drifts. The lightstone on the heiress's hip gave enough light to see all the usual things she expected in an animal cave - claw marks along the floor and walls, icicles hanging from the ceiling that dripped with fresh water, and dried metallic bones presumably belonging to past meals. It smelled like oil and grease, and the air had a slightly pungent taste in her lungs, but a little bit of aromatic discomfort was preferable to the raging blizzard outside.
Of course, all that paled in comparison to the most adorable thing the heiress had ever seen in her life (besides Ruby and Zwei, of course).
Baby Rahi.
A trio of smaller, chubbier-looking Muaka sat huddled in a dugout for warmth, one of them raising its head to peer at the newcomers. Upon seeing that the two unfamiliar figures were accompanied by their mother, the middle one stood up and stretched like a housecat rising from a nap - if that housecat had metal plating around its body and face, two massive yellow front claws, a single tank tread instead of back legs, and an accordion's folds for a neck. The other two did the same before clumsily stumbling over to meet Mumu in the middle of the den, nuzzling their snouts against the larger Rahi's huge jaw. The middle cub (who was clearly braver than its siblings) sauntered over to Weiss and stared up at her, tiny blue optics regarding her curiously.
Krrrr?
Weiss's heart melted as she scooped up the Muaka cub - which was no easy feat, considering it was almost as big as a golden retriever and weighed twice as much. "Awwww, look at youuuu! You're so tiny! And so cuuuute! Mama's a Mumu! I mean, Mumu's a mama! Ooh look at those widdle chubby cheeks I could just eat youuuu…"
Kopaka cleared his throat. Loudly.
She blinked, realized what she was doing, and sloooowly looked over at the suddenly-angry Mumu. The feline Rahi may have been a friend, but she was still an animal at her core - and like all mother beasts, she was fiercely protective of her babies. Given the way her back was arched, how forcefully her claws were digging into the frosty floor, and how a low snarl was escaping her bared teeth, it was clear that the heiress was treading on thin ice, and every second she laid a hand on the cubs was one second longer than the Muaka was willing to tolerate.
"R-right…" said Weiss with a flustered expression, gently setting the cub down and stepping back. "I, uh…sorry. I don't know what came over me."
That seemed to appease Mumu, though she didn't quite take her eyes off of Weiss. Not until the brave little Muaka cub crawled forward again and reached up on its tank tread, putting both paws against her thighs with a purr of its own. The sight of her own child accepting the Huntress was enough to make the mother cat finally relax her stance and let out a resigned chuff, opting to start licking the two less-adventurous babies while the third rubbed its chin against Weiss's leg.
Krrrr…
Her heart melted all over again.
"I didn't even realize that Rahi even could have babies like this," mused Weiss as she dared to reach down and give the cub scritches behind the ear. "Guess I just assumed they were like you guys in that regard."
"Matoran and Toa might not reproduce biologically, but all our wildlife still has that capability," Kopaka intoned. "New Rahi have to come from somewhere, after all. Lately there's been an uptick in their populations across all of Mata Nui, especially in larger species like this one. With Makuta no longer using the island's beasts as shock troops, they've had a lot more…freedom, in that regard."
She hummed thoughtfully. "Makes sense. I doubt someone like Makuta would've let them mate naturally while he was in control. These are probably the first cubs Mumu's had for herself in a thousand years."
"Wouldn't surprise me." His lenses clicked and whirred. "Based on their size and temperament, I'd say that this litter's no more than a few weeks old. Old enough to walk and see and start navigating the world, but young enough that their outer coats haven't fully developed…which makes venturing out into the Drifts a death sentence at this stage of their lives. Muaka cubs around this age rely on their parents to do all the hunting, while they focus on staying warm and safe inside the den."
"That must be why Mumu stayed here in the Drifts, even when all the other Rahi left." The pieces started clicking together in the heiress's mind. "Her cubs aren't strong enough to handle the cold yet, and she refuses to abandon them."
The Toa of Ice nodded. "But with the Bohrok active in this area, she may not have a choice for much longer."
Weiss frowned and shot a pleading look towards her taller ally. "Kopaka…"
"Don't." His words plunged into her heart like an icy dagger. "We don't have time."
"There has to be something we can do," she protested. "We can't just leave them here."
"And we can't afford any more distractions," countered Kopaka. "The only way to save the island is to -"
"- hunt down the Bohrok, collect their Krana, and find their nest!" The heiress scoffed. "Yes, I know that! But what good is saving the island if we don't save the people - or Rahi - that matter to us? We know that Mumu and her cubs can't stay here…we know we have the power to help them. It's not as cold at the base of the mountain, right? We can get them there, somehow, where they'll be safe and free to live."
"There won't be anywhere safe if the Bohrok have their way -"
"It's not that simple, Ironwood!"
The entire cavern seemed to freeze at Weiss's outburst, including herself. Kopaka's lenses clicked and whirred as all three of them focused on her, though whether it was out of curiosity, indignance, or annoyance was hard to tell. Mumu tilted her head with a low rumble, while her cubs chirped in confusion. An angry fire burned within the Huntress as her scars began to itch, both physical and emotional, and it took all her willpower to simmer back down and refocus.
Getting angry at ghosts wasn't going to help. It never did.
"…I'm sorry," she finally said after an icy moment of silence. "I didn't mean to imply -"
"I understand." Kopaka sighed. "I'm sorry, too…you're right, Weiss. A Toa's Duty is to protect all within his realm, including the Rahi that live there. Between your summons and my elemental powers, it shouldn't be an issue getting Mumu and her cubs out of the Drifts. It's not much…but it's the least we can do."
A warmth filled her chest, compelling her to run over and hug her favorite Toa around the waist. "Thank you, Kopaka. I'm…sorry for being difficult. I just…" Her breath hitched slightly. "I can't just leave people behind anymore…"
The Toa of Ice put a hand on her head and patted gently. "We won't. I promise."
She pulled away with a small smile, wiping her eye with the edge of her snow cloak as she faced the maternal Muaka. "Okay…Mumu? We're going to help you get your cubs to the base of the mountain, away from the Drifts and the Bohrok. You'll be safe, you'll be warm, and you'll have plenty of prey to hunt for yourself and your babies. But we'll need to leave the den for that…is that okay?"
Mumu chuffed and lowered her head for a moment, before her ears shot straight up and her head snapped to the left.
KRRRRRRRRRRRR.
Weiss frowned as she followed the Muaka's gaze to the back wall. "Look, I know it's your territory, but you can't stay here -"
"I don't think that's what's bothering her, Weiss," noted Kopaka. "She must hear something we don't - something that's not supposed to be there."
Sure enough, Mumu arched her back and crawled to the far end of the den, a low snarl echoing through the icy cave amidst nearly-silent footsteps. Weiss swallowed the lump forming in her throat and tapped her Scroll, channeling the power of Kopaka's Kanohi Akaku. With the Mask of Vision it was easy enough to look through the wall of ice and stone…and even easier to see a dozen two-legged insects scurrying around through a tunnel like demonic ants.
"Bohrok," she muttered. "They're in the walls…and they're on their way here."
"The same pod we've been hunting, even." Kopaka's eyes narrowed beneath his mask as he activated its power for himself. "I recognize the markings and their Krana…they must've been tasked with making more entrances and tunnels from the nest."
"But why would they be inside the mountain?" Weiss tapped off her Scroll power, mostly to conserve her Aura. "You said there was no sign that they'd been tunneling where the trail ended. How'd they get here from there?"
"A mystery to puzzle out later," said the Toa of Ice as he unslung his sword and raised his shield. "For now, let's remind them of who's the predator…and who's the prey."
Mumu snarled in agreement, widening her front legs and baring her teeth. Weiss nodded and drew Myrtenaster with a tight frown, then spun the Dust cylinder until her rapier crackled with electric sparks. Even the cubs imitated their mother with squeaky growls of their own, though they slowly backpedaled towards the mouth of the cave so that the larger Muaka could stand between them and the coming threat.
The hunting party didn't have to wait for very long.
Six silver-armored Kohrak burst out of the wall in a shower of ice and snow, though they weren't alone. The rest of the pod revealed itself to be the black-shelled Nuhvok, masters of digging and tunneling and escaping without a trace. Buzzsaws whined and whirred with piercing wails. Pneumatic jackhammers thumped and rumbled with deafening bass and hisses of steam. And of course, that damn noise the Bohrok always made filled the den, almost overpowering every other sound.
CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT-CHIKT…
With nothing but a nod between them, Huntress and Toa and Rahi alike charged at the intruders.
It didn't take Winter long to pick out the burning building against the night sky, but even flying at full speed didn't feel fast enough.
The ten-story-tall apartment complex was nearly lost in an orange hell, engulfed in the plumes of smoke billowing from each window. Tongues of flames flickered and danced through holes in the stone walls, fueled by the cold desert winds blowing over the site of desolation. While the prefabricated housing units were to some extent fireproof, they weren't built to withstand a fire of this size - plaster and concrete crumbled under the intense heat, glass melted back into its semi-liquid oozing state, and even the steel support beams began to buckle as their metal cores softened.
As she came closer, she could see that Vacuan firefighters were already on the scene, cannons loaded with precious Water Dust that did their best to quell the flames. To her delight, she also saw that the Ace Ops and the Happy Huntresses were working like one unit, as well as some of the Glatorians and Agori from the Bara Magna Outreach Committee. Elm and Gelu were keeping a crumbling archway from collapsing completely with nothing but their raw strength, giving Berix and May time to run out while clutching terrified tenants. Joanna was propping up another exit with the flat of her staff as an electric blur raced past her again and again; Harriet deposited a few coughing civilians each time she left the building, where Fiona and Metus were waiting to hand out damp blankets and respirators. And a blast of concentrated wind from inside turned a formerly-impassable wall into an open doorway, giving a swift exit to Gresh and the crowd of people he was leading to safety.
"Right this way, people!" called the Jungle Tribe Glatorian over the Scroll, his words nearly lost in all the background noise polluting the area comms. "Quick, before the building caves in - oh, hells, too late for that! RUN!"
The distant Gresh looked up just as the wall of a housing unit fell away from the rest of it, a chunk of stone and rubble falling towards him and his civilians. He instinctively slammed his tonfas together to form a shield in a vain attempt to protect the people below him, even if it meant he'd get crushed himself. Winter saw it falling, but was still too far away to do anything - but luckily, someone else was there to help.
"STAY!"
The rain of rubble suddenly slowed mid-fall, its pace brought to a crawl at Marrow's command. While it didn't stop them completely, it at least gave the people time to run to safety - as well as giving Gresh time to act. The Glatorian separated Vinebreaker once again and fired the Wind Dust crystals in both tonfas, blasting apart the nearest falling rocks and blowing the biggest pieces away from the crowd. Chunks of stone and plaster exploded into bursts of pebbles that fell like hail, which Gresh deflected with his weapons and forearms to protect his civilians. Only when everyone was clear of the entrance did Marrow finally release his Semblance, letting the rest of the rubble fall where his unlikely friend once stood.
Thank goodness for small miracles, thought Winter to herself as she closed in on the building. But we'll need more than small ones to stop this.
"Robyn," she said aloud with narrowed eyes. "You have a landing strategy, right?"
The Huntress in her arms gave a tight nod, reluctant as she seemed to leave. "I'll be fine, Winter. Do what you do best."
She nodded in turn. "Good luck."
"You too."
With that Robyn practically jumped out of the Maiden's grasp, wings of her crossbow springing into place as she fired a bolt with a rappelling cable attached. The tip of Goodfellow's projectile dug into a nearby (non-burning) building, allowing the Huntress to swing safely down to the ground level. Confident that her former passenger would be fine, Winter worked on pooling magic into her hands and willing icy copies of Eisen Blume into existence that flew alongside her, forming into wings that stretched behind her shoulders as she approached the blaze.
Just when it seemed like she would crash into the burning building, she acted.
Winter banked hard and flung her collection of frosty weapons through flame-tipped windows, targeting the higher levels that the firefighters below couldn't reach with their cannons. With a wave of her hands the sabers exploded into bursts of icy foam, blanketing the worst of the fires in suffocating snow that snuffed them out. She circled around the building and gave any fires she saw the same treatment, as well as grabbing anyone screaming for help at a window. A fleet of summoned Manticores flanking the Huntress carried the people she rescued, leaving both her hands free to fight the fires as only a Maiden could.
Despite putting out dozens of fires with her own force of will, the building continued to burn.
Her brow furrowed with each pass she made around the higher floors, struggling and straining to focus amidst the bright flames and the darkening smoke. The heat didn't bother her, thanks to her Aura, and she had plenty of room to breathe, but even hovering near the fires at this distance was taking its toll. Worse, she could feel her stores of magic dwindling with each special sword she crafted to extinguish the blazes; the elemental power of a Maiden was vast, but it wasn't unlimited, and in her perpetually-tired state it was draining her faster than usual to keep performing miracles.
Yet what other choice did she have, but to keep pushing herself?
What other choice did Vacuo have?
Still, fighting the fires wasn't her primary focus right now. It was all about finding people in need of rescue, and getting them out of the burning building - no matter how much they swore and shouted at her.
"Get your hands off me, Schnee!"
"You're still a tyrant's lapdog - doesn't matter who holds the leash now."
"Fascist puppet!"
"Filthy traitor!"
"The lives you're saving tonight can never erase the blood on your family's hands!"
It took every bit of professionalism in her bones not to rise to each sharpened barb, or to "accidentally" drop some of the mouthier tenants.
Another night of being the Maiden nobody wanted, she mentally intoned.
Eventually, all the windows she passed contained nothing but flames or darkness, with no tenants calling for rescue. Winter made two more sweeps just to make sure she hadn't missed anyone, then finally dove down towards where Robyn and Fiona were setting up a triage area alongside the fire chief. Her summoned Manticores followed suit while carrying the rescued civilians, setting down gently and handling their wounded, winded passengers with surprising care.
"That should be everyone from the top floors," reported the Winter Maiden, doing her best to conceal her breathless panting. "I tried putting out some of the higher flames, too, but it's still spreading too fast for even my magic to counter."
The fire chief - a stern-looking ram Faunus with a burnt scar across one eye - gave a stiff nod of approval. "That it is…" he rumbled thoughtfully, stroking his jet-black goatee with a frown. "Still, we've got most of the folks accounted for thanks to you and your other friends - you Atlesians sure know how to coordinate in a crisis, I'll give you that."
"We've had a lot of practice," said Robyn as she wrapped a cool gauze around one woman's burnt arm.
"No doubt there," chuckled the fire chief mirthlessly. "Shouldn't be too hard to contain the fire, though, if we can get everyone to start blasting it with the water cannons now. Long as we're sure that everyone's out -"
"Wait! Where are my babies? My girls?! Where are they?!"
Everyone turned to see a hysterical-looking fox Faunus stumble over, choking out words through a violent coughing fit.
"Easy there, ma'am," intoned the fire chief with a professional tone. "We'll help you find them - what do they look like?"
"Two…" The woman heaved a sob. "Two little girls, one with ears like mine and one with a tail. Four and six years old…I was downstairs when the fire broke out, and they wouldn't let me go back for my girls - no matter how much I pushed and begged. I didn't see them when the Maiden brought her people down, so they must still be up there! Floor six, Unit D! Please! They're all I have left!"
Winter cursed under her breath and looked up at the area in question, which was hanging by a thread in a near-literal sense. Robyn reached the same conclusion as she covered her mouth in shock. Fiona's eyes welled up. Metus just hung his head.
"Unit D is where the fire's burning hottest," said the fire chief mournfully. "It'd be a one-way trip to get to them, if they're not already…I'm sorry, ma'am. There's nothing we can do."
"Nothing you can do."
Everyone snapped their gaze to the Winter Maiden, whose eyes were already ablaze with flames of their own as jets of cerulean fire burned against her heels.
"…Winter?" Robyn asked warily.
"I'll be right back," said the Maiden as she willed the winds into a swirling vortex around her. "I'll get them."
"WINTER!"
Robyn's scream fell away along with everything else as Winter soared and crashed through the stone barrier.
Weiss grunted as her back slammed against an icy wall, thrown against the side of the den by the mighty headbutt of a Nuhvok. Her Aura flared and flickered once in protest, but held firm all the same. Good. She couldn't afford to lose her glyphs or mask powers. Especially not now.
Even with the pod reduced to half-strength by a volley of opening attacks, the remaining Bohrok still put up a fight. Kopaka fended off the whirling sawblades of a pair of Kohrak, while Mumu put herself between her cubs and the trio of insects closing in on her. And the Nuhvok's sneak attack had knocked Myrtenaster out of her grip - her precious sword was now on the other side of the den, and the black-armored, twitchy Bohrok staring her down didn't seem too keen on letting her retrieve it.
Guess it's time to take a page out of Yang's playbook, thought the heiress as she pulled herself out of the wall. To think that all those unarmed fighting lessons would actually be useful…
The Nuhvok curled up into a ball and spun in place like a tire on slick pavement, eventually finding traction enough to barrel towards Weiss at ramming speed. But a quick tap of her Scroll empowered her with the Pakari, giving her both the strength and the stability she needed to stop the rolling Bohrok in its tracks. Once the black-armored brute came to a screeching halt she grabbed it by the fangs and leapt into the air, letting out a mighty yell as she spun it around and threw it against the floor - with enough force to make it bounce like a big metal basketball. An overhead glyph propelled her back down with a burst of force, allowing her to bring her heel down on the stunned insect's faceplate in one final mask-empowered kick.
CRUNCH.
To her delight, the Nuhvok folded instantly.
With her current opponent taken care of, she turned to face her next target. Kopaka gave a slight nod of approval as he skewered one Kohrak on his sword - Krana and all - while Mumu snarled as she clamped her jaws around the last Nuhvok. After shaking it for a moment the Muaka flung the ebon-shelled digger towards the ceiling, clearly intending to impale her prey against the cluster of pointed icicles overhead. But the Nuhvok began to hum and hover in mid-air, slowing its flight until it stopped just inches away from the sharpened ice.
Oh come on! Weiss mentally groaned while running to snatch up Myrtenaster. These things can fly, too?!
Before she could grouse any further the Nuhvok changed its course to plummet onto Mumu's back, unfurling its limbs from its body and driving its jackhammers into the back of her neck.
KRAAAAAAAUGH!
"NO!"
Weiss moved faster than lightning as she zipped from one glyph to another, crashing her electrified sword against the Bohrok and -
- bursting through the thin plaster walls while barely even slowing down. Winter narrowed her eyes as she peered through the edge of her swirling vortex, trying to make sense of the burning world that lay just beyond her barrier. Luckily her poor eyesight in the face of the smoke and fire wouldn't matter. Her ears worked well enough.
"Help! In here! Anyone!"
"We…we can't breathe…we can't get out…please…"
The Winter Maiden cooled her jets and took off with a run towards the muffled sound of screaming and coughing, concentrating on taking the shallowest breaths possible even during her measured sprint. Her bubble of wind gave her an air supply amidst the ash and smog, and her Aura kept the worst of the heat at bay, but neither would last forever. She needed to find the girls fast, and get out even faster. A series of glyphs along the floor helped build up her horizontal momentum, allowing her to crash through the collapsing bedroom wall and come face-to-face with a pair of young vulpine children cowering on a single smoldering mattress.
"It's okay," she said in as gentle - yet urgent - of a tone as she could, pulling them into her sphere of relative safety. "I'll get you out of here."
One of the girls - the younger of the two, with a big bushy tail - started squirming even as she gulped down air greedily. "No! No! Mama says you're bad! Mama says you're bad!"
"Ceru!" hissed the other in a pained wheeze, ears flat against her head. "Calm down!"
"I'm not going with her! I'm not letting Atlas take me away! Not like they took Papa!"
Part of Winter's heart broke, but the rest of it was hardly surprised at the reaction. While she knew that arguing with a four-year-old was a futile endeavor, she needed the girl to at least stop panicking - if only to make the air in their bubble last longer. So she hugged the children close to her chest as gently as possible in an attempt to be reassuring; when the elder Faunus bravely reached out to hold her sister's hand, the more reluctant of the two finally calmed down and curled her tail around them both.
"I swear by every star in the sky that the only place I'll take you is to your mother," whispered Winter. "Now hold on tight - this might get a little bumpy. But I'll protect you, okay? Just stay calm…and be brave."
As her passengers nodded numbly, Winter summoned another glyph and charged -
- headfirst into the icy wall while using the Nuhvok as a wedge, driving the Dust-infused Myrtenaster deeper into the insect's mechanical guts and yanking it out with a messy slash. The unit spasmed and shrieked for a pathetic moment, before both its remaining limbs fell limp and its shattered eyes darkened. Weiss glowered at the robotic corpse and whirled around to check on Mumu, who was standing on two unsteady front legs with showers of sparks shooting out from between her shoulders. While the wound wasn't fatal by any stretch, it was still debilitating enough to sap the Muaka's strength - and worse still, the mechanism that allowed her to stretch her neck had been damaged, significantly reducing the range of her greatest natural weapon.
A pair of Kohrak seemed to sense the vulnerability, because they stepped forward with whirling saw blades as the cubs huddled behind their injured mother. But Weiss twirled Myrtenaster like a magic wand and summoned a very large glyph beneath the white-shelled Bohrok; two armored spectral hands burst out to scoop them up an instant later, followed swiftly by the remaining upper half of the Arma Gigas. With an ethereal growl the towering knight slammed the icy insects together, hurled them onto the ground in a dazed pile, then summoned its massive blade and impaled them both in one downward stab. Her summoned titan gave a bow to Mumu before it faded into snowflakes, and as exhausted as she felt she forced herself to stay on her feet and lock her gaze onto the last Bohrok standing.
"This one's got a shielding Krana," intoned Kopaka as he hopped back to avoid the sweeping buzzsaws of his final opponent. "I've whittled down its barrier as much as I could - it just needs one more good hit to shatter it, and a stab from behind while it's stunned should finish it off. Ready, Weiss?"
She nodded tightly as she readied her rapier once more, summoned a propulsion glyph underfoot, waited for Kopaka to break the cyan barrier with one final icy swing, then lunged forward -
- and nearly tripped over a piece of rubble as yet another wall collapsed in the face of her mad, frantic dashing. Winter coughed and blinked blearily, straining to focus on her surroundings through the smoke-induced darkness. Her bubble had started to thin out faster than she expected, the air within quickly stolen away by the hungry flames, and it took all her willpower to keep it alive - to keep herself, and more importantly her passengers, alive.
One more, she thought to herself. I have enough strength for one more charge. Just need to hope that the next wall I bust through leads to the outside world. But which one? Which way…?
Time was running out. Aura was running low. Magic was almost exhausted. They needed a way out. They needed an escape.
They needed a miracle.
Luckily for them, they got one.
CRASH! FWIP! THUMP!
The sound of breaking glass put Winter on high alert, signaling that a nearby window had shattered. Winter reflexively ducked as something whizzed past her ear, something sharp and fast-moving that buried itself into the unstable roof. At first she snarled at the notion that people would throw things into a burning building, but then she noticed that the projectile stuck fast in the stone, had a long shaft with feathers at one end, and seemed to glow with a faint blue light.
It was a crossbow bolt.
It was one of Robyn's bolts.
FWWSSSSHHHHHHH.
The shaft exploded in a spray of water a moment later, which washed over the Maiden, her passengers, and the room around her like a gentle spring rain. Not only did the Water Dust detonation quell the rising heat and dampen the flames, it also cleared the smoke from the air and allowed her to see for one brief moment. That moment was all it took to realize that the bolt had been shot through a window - which meant that the outside world was indeed just one lunging charge away.
Thanks, Hill.
Steeling herself and pooling her Aura into one final glyph, Winter Schnee took off running and braced herself to burst through the wall of the burning building, emerging into the Vacuo night sky as Unit D finally collapsed behind her. A crowd of firefighters, Huntresses, and civilians had already gathered below, stretching a safety net out among a dozen hands to catch her and her passengers as they fell back towards the earth. And while it wasn't the smoothest of landings for the Winter Maiden, who twisted in mid-air to shield the two vulpine girls in her arms from the impact of hitting the net, it was still preferable to the alternative - for all parties involved.
"We got 'em! They're safe!"
"She found the kids!"
"Way to go, Eltee! Never doubted you for a sec!"
"Weren't you hyperventilating and freaking out the whole time she was up there, Marrow?"
"C'mon, May, give the kid a break."
"I'm not a kid…"
"Cut the chatter! Fiona, Metus, we need some respirators and damp blankets! Everyone else, set 'em down easy now!"
Winter groaned and greedily gulped down air as the net suspending her was slowly lowered to the ground, keeping her gaze on the children who lay limply on top of her. "Are…" she hissed through a sudden coughing fit. "Are you girls okay?"
"W-we'll be fine," rasped the older of the two sisters. "Thank you…thank you so much…"
"Wow…" gasped the younger girl with stars in her eyes, her tail whooshing back and forth as she wagged it excitedly. "Mama was wrong. You're not bad at all. You're so…cool! I wanna be just like you when I grow up!"
…well that was a first.
A choked, pained laugh escaped Winter's throat as she reached up and patted the excited young kit's head. "You…might have a little trouble being exactly like me. Magic is rare these days, after all. But…I'm flattered, all the same. And I'm glad you're alright."
"Crimson! Cerulean! My girls!"
At the sound of their mother's voice the pair pried themselves from the prone Maiden and took off running, practically stumbling into the arms of the Faunus woman who fell to her knees and wept with joy. Winter let out another hiss of pain and nearly choked on her next breath, clutching her side and feeling several bruises forming from the shock of landing and crashing through walls with so little Aura. Nevertheless, she summoned the mental willpower to push herself off the sandy ground, rise onto unsteady feet -
And she nearly toppled over again as a taller woman with pale blonde hair crashed into her.
Winter struggled to breathe once again, this time due to the arms wrapped around her torso. "R…Robyn? What are you -?"
"Don't you ever scare me like that again." The former hero of Mantle pressed her chin against the side of her head, allowing Winter to feel the hot tears pooling down Robyn's face. "I was so worried that you wouldn't come back out…that we'd lose you in the fire. You can't just…you can't just throw your life away, Winter. You're too important to everyone. To me."
A sudden pang of guilt shot through the eldest Schnee. "I…I apologize for alarming you. It was…a calculated risk. Even if I…hadn't come back out…I would've made sure you got the Maiden Powers, so that Vacuo would still have a Winter -"
"That's not why I was worried about you." Robyn sobbed and sniffled. "Idiot…"
…oh.
Oh.
That pang of guilt suddenly felt like an arrow in her gut, and reaching up to reciprocate the hug was the only thing that made it hurt less.
"…I'm sorry," she whispered, as the last fires behind her faded to embers in the night.
Compared to the fight with the Bohrok, getting Mumu and her cubs down to the base of Mount Ihu was almost boring.
It helped that the storm plaguing the Drifts ended soon after the Kohrak were defeated and de-Krana'd, returning the valley to its usual chilly nature. A few Fire Dust glyphs here for warmth, a couple Summons there for heavy lifting, and soon Weiss and Kopaka were saying goodbye to the mother Muaka and her family of three. Many licks and nuzzles were involved from the grateful Rahi, which Weiss returned with hugs and kisses of her own. The Toa of Ice was less liberal with physical contact, only mostly tolerating the affectionate headbutts from Mumu and enduring the trio of armored kittens purring at his legs, but Weiss could tell he was glowing in pride all the same.
"You stay safe out there," cooed Weiss as she reached down and scratched the most adventurous Muaka cub under floppy chin folds. "Listen to mama, follow her wherever she goes, and don't go wandering off. Okay?"
Krrrr…
"That's a good boy…" The heiress blinked. "Or girl. I actually don't know how to tell the difference, and I feel like Mumu would eat me alive if I tried looking."
The mother Muaka chuffed and snuffled.
"The one you've got there is a male," answered Kopaka with a wry smile. "The other two are females, like Mumu herself. Rahi don't have external differences like you organics do - it's all internal."
"Ah." Weiss smiled and hummed. "So a mother, two daughters, and a son. Just like…"
Just like my family.
Her voice trailed off as her smile faded suddenly, and she could only stare at Mumu as she deposited her cubs onto her back, roared once more in thanks, and trundled off into shallower snowbanks. Maybe it was a little selfish to project her own life circumstances on the wild animals, but she couldn't help but empathize with their plight all the same. A family just trying to survive the world around them changing, the life they thought they had upended by chaos and darkness and so much destruction. Was it normal for a mother Muaka to raise the cubs all on her own? Or had something happened to the father, something terrible that ripped him away from his loved ones all too soon? Was that something else the Schnees had in common with Mumu's pack?
Of course not. After all, Jacques had never loved her, or Winter, or Whitley, or even Mother after their marriage. So while Mumu's mate may have deserved sympathy, her own father didn't deserve that same luxury. Right?
Right?
A small sigh slipped past her lips as she hugged herself, an old familiar ache welling up in her heart all over again. Jacques Schnee was dead. This should've been good news. This should've been a huge weight off her shoulders. One of Remnant's most evil, disgusting, vile men died alongside the Kingdom he'd poisoned, and that was a victory in and of itself. Yet despite how many times she told herself that he deserved everything that happened to him and more, how many times she saw a world better without his influence, it never erased the sorrow her soul longed to feel for a man who'd spent seventeen years molding her into who he wanted. Much as she wanted to pretend the sadness wasn't there, it gnawed away at her all the same.
It was something she never dared to talk about aloud, though. The world hated Jacques, including her. He was a Goliath in every room at the Schnee household, a topic no one wanted to broach lest they all unravel at the seams. Hell, Weiss hadn't even tried to talk with her teammates about this - Ruby, Yang, and especially Blake all had fathers who'd loved and adored them all their lives, so how could they possibly understand the bitter pain of wanting to mourn a monster?
So she did what she always did. What she was currently doing just now.
Bottle it up, and focus on the most pressing issues.
"It says here that these Krana Vu give any Bohrok the power to fly, and to carry heavy loads while doing so." She looked between the Krana Tracker on her Scroll and the belt of prizes dangling from Kopaka's shoulder. "I'm guessing that's how the Kohrak disappeared without a trace earlier - either the Nuhvok came and picked them up, or those little guys swapped out their brains in the middle of the Drifts."
"That seems the most likely," noted Kopaka with a nod. "We know that the Bohrok Va serve as Krana runners for decommissioned Bohrok, so it's possible they're also responsible for switching them out as the need arises. The Kohrak pod we were hunting must've been responsible for scouting out the mountain and finding places to make new tunnels…if we hadn't stopped them, they might've made a brand-new entrance to the island, right through Mumu's den."
"Do you think those tunnels could still be connected to their nest?" asked Weiss. "If we can get Onua and Tahu to clear out the earth and ice, we might have our backdoor into that main hive that Vakama told us about."
"It's possible," answered the Toa of Ice. "But we'd need to know where the nest itself is before we begin digging. And we obviously shouldn't try and open it before we're ready - otherwise, we'd be giving the Bohrok exactly what they wanted."
"Mm." Weiss hummed thoughtfully and stowed her Scroll, rolling her shoulders and straightening her posture. "Well, I would declare that a successful hunt. Four more Kohrak Krana to our name, plus two from the Nuhvok that Onua and Nora haven't gotten yet. That should make things easier for them…and for everyone else. Not only that, we have a possible lead on getting into the nest…great work, Kopaka. Onto the next pod, then."
She took a sharp breath and started to walk away, but an icy hand on her shoulder made her stop. It wasn't forceful enough to physically stop her - if she wanted, she could have walked right out of Kopaka's grip and kept going. But it was a silent signal all the same, one that she met by turning around and looking up at the taller warrior.
"I've traveled with you long enough to know when you're putting on an icy mask of your own," said the silver-armored Toa with a frown. "I understand that speed and time are of the essence in dealing with the Bohrok threat…but I will always have time to listen to your burdens, whatever they might be, if you wish to share them."
Weiss wanted nothing more than to brush off her ally's concerns, to insist that everything was fine and that there wasn't time. But she knew what was down that road, and she wasn't strong enough to face the coming collapse. Not anymore.
So instead of suppressing the bitterness and sorrow, she opened her heart once more.
"I…I didn't see my father when I went home," she finally choked. "You remember me talking about him last time I was here, right?"
"The man who made your family miserable," said the Toa of Ice with a small nod, keeping his own emotion out of his voice. "Ever since you came back here, you've spoken extensively thus far of your mother, sister, and brother…but you haven't mentioned him at all yet. Let me guess - he didn't make it to Vacuo?"
She shook her head and bit her lower lip. "Y-yeah…no one saw him on the other side of the portals before they closed. With Atlas in ruins, and with the crater flooding…it's pretty clear that he's…"
Dammit. Weiss couldn't even bring herself to say it? How pathetic.
A bitter chill washed over her, prompting her to hug herself. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that the rest of my family got out, but…I thought I'd be happy, knowing he's gone. Happy that I'm finally free of him and his stupid plans to control the family name. To control Whitley, and Winter, and Mother. To control me."
Her breath hitched as her eyes welled up. "…and yet…and yet…I still…"
Kopaka had no words of comfort save for pulling the weeping heiress into a silent hug, which ended up being exactly what she needed in that moment. Weiss sobbed and shuddered and wrapped her arms around the Toa of Ice, resting her forehead against his armor and letting the deepest tears finally flow freely amidst wailing cries. To her surprise, her biomechanical partner was gentle in his touches and understanding in his silence; from the hand carefully stroking her ponytail to the shield pressing against her back, it was clear that Kopaka had become a kinder, more empathetic Toa in her absence.
In a way…the Toa of Ice felt like more of a father to her than Jacques Schnee had ever been.
His presence didn't completely erase the yawning void in her chest, but it was enough to make Weiss feel just a little bit warmer than she had before.
The air was choked with ash and smog, but at least the fires had finally burnt out.
Winter allowed herself a sigh of relief, though it didn't last long. While the blaze had been contained, due in no small part to all the Hunters and Glatorians hosing the flames with water cannons, the building itself was nearly unsalvageable. Actually, calling it a "building" at this point may have been too generous - the former apartment complex resembled a preschooler's attempt at building a skyscraper out of melted clay, except somehow even more unstable and lopsided and painful to look at. What was once painted white and beige was now permanently charred black. Rubble and ashen belongings sat in piles as people ventured into the ruins for salvage, bringing out anything that might have any kind of value. And Robyn was already setting up a memorial wall for everyone who had lost someone in the fire, speaking words of comfort that the Maiden couldn't hear over the weeping crowd.
"I know it looks bad, but it would've been worse without you."
Her gaze snapped over to Marrow, whose own tail hung low as he approached her. She wasn't sure if he was saying that to reassure her, or if the words were for himself. Either way, she greeted him with a nod and straightened her own back.
"Any idea what caused it?" she asked as the mask of professionalism went up with practiced ease.
Marrow frowned as he consulted his Scroll. "Forensics just finished making a sweep of the building. They found traces of munitions-grade Fire Dust on the seventh floor, along with a bunch of burnt-out oil cans and patches of charred cloth. Someone definitely started the fire on purpose, without even trying to make it look like an accident. Either they didn't have the time or the experience to hide it…"
"…or they wanted the evidence found." The Maiden scowled. "So now we have an arsonist to worry about, on top of everything else."
"Emerald did say that Salem sent Tyrian and Mercury to Vacuo while Atlas was under attack," noted the dog Faunus. "Maybe this was their doing, to try and get us pointing fingers at each other. Lots of hungry, desperate people around to blame, right? That's what she'd want us to think, and some folks are gonna think that no matter what we tell them."
Given how the crowd before the memorial wall seemed to be splitting into two distinct groups, despite Robyn's pleas, it was clear that the poison of disunity was already spreading. While the crowd wasn't getting violent - not yet, at least - more than a few on each side were quick to sling blame and accusations, in some desperate attempt to rationalize the tragedy and put a face to their own misery.
"Perhaps…" sighed Winter. "In any case, I'll make a sweep of the area from above. The fire's likely to have caused some unrest, which will entice the Grimm if unchecked, and the mere sight of me flying overhead is usually enough to quell that. As you were."
The former Ace Operative clearly had something he wanted to say, but he stepped back with another salute all the same. Good. Even if it was preferable for soldiers to think on their own now, he still knew how to follow orders.
It was a luxury she lacked, and hadn't realized how much she missed.
With a shake of her head and a squeeze of her blazing eyes, Winter suppressed the flood of intrusive thoughts once more. She couldn't afford to get attached, or fall apart, or even cry. The people of Remnant needed more than a Maiden right now - they needed a stalwart, invincible, competent Maiden that was on their side and making life better. And with Spring running like a coward, Summer struggling to even access her power, and Fall hellbent on ruining the world for everyone but her shadowy mistress…Winter was all they had.
Winter Schnee was all they had.
And so she flew off into the desert night once again, feeling just a little colder than before.
(A/N): I know that it's canon in BIONICLE that new Rahi are created by the Makuta using viruses, so that they don't reproduce normally as I showed with Mumu in this chapter…but given how that makes absolutely zero sense from a logistics and lore perspective, I've elected to ignore that tidbit for this story. :P (Baby Rahi being possible is a very convincing counterargument!)
Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Next time's gonna be a more traditional anthology-type chapter, so I'll see you then!