Every hour or so, they would have to adjust their heading. That was simple enough for Seamus McCree, so long as Jinn kept telling him when and how much to change it by. Ten hours into the drive, however, and Jinn had grown tired to the point of distraction. Now, in the back of the transport, in the bedding compartments under the floor panels, four of LAD-1's passengers were sleeping. They were short, small enclosed beds that barely fit someone of Ironwood's stature, but he had managed to fit himself into one and close it up over himself, getting some early sleep so that he would be able to drive for an extended period the next day. Charlie Lima was also sleeping in another compartment, so that he would be rested for when McCree needed to sleep.

In the other two occupied beds, shut away from the rest of the LAD, Ruby and Jinn were fast asleep. That left McCree driving the LAD alone, except for Weiss Schnee sitting in the navigator seat beside him. As they had gone further north, the cold had been starting to seep into the LAD, and the three girls had begun to notice. They were now all wearing the brown fur-lined arctic clothes that had been brought along. McCree was pretty sure he would be changing into some as well, just as soon as he got to stand up from driving. Until someone woke up and relieved him, however, he and Weiss were passing the time with mostly idle chatter.

"So they're called LADs. Do you ever just call them Lads, instead of spelling it out?"

"Oh, yeah, definitely. Actually, they each have their own callsign. Nicknames, if you will. LAD-1 is Gavvy, LAD-2 is Micoo, and LAD-3 is Ray." He'd quickly come to realize that, despite her being one of General Ironwood's more favored Huntresses as well as a Schnee, she was typically just as grounded as any soldier he knew. None of it had gotten to her head, thanks to a simple sense of realism that she maintained. As such, it felt far more natural to be talking to her about just any normal thing that he might talk about with other soldiers. "And the big one, LAD-4, is Lil' J."

She stifled a laugh. "That's dumb. Why is the big one 'little'?"

"It's irony. It's like calling a short person 'big guy'."

"Well that's just mean."

"Is it? Okay, maybe it's a little patronizing."

"Alright, well, were does the J come from, then?"

"Look, I don't name these things." He explained humorously. "And I don't argue with the guys who do."

Amid their low key laughter, the sound of the wind outside could be heard beating against the outside of the LAD. Snow was piling up on the front, only being kept clear from the window by windshield wipers. Not that keeping it clear really helped right now, as they would only be able to see endless white either way. They just needed to keep their eyes open for anything that was more than just snow-covered ground. Hopefully, they would be able to avoid going snow blind. That would be easier since the standard issue helmet came with a visor which prevented that to a degree, and Weiss had found a pair of tinted glasses to go with her clothes that was designed just for that purpose. Still, the terrain was terribly boring.

Weiss started poking around the controls in front of her. There weren't many, so that the driver couldn't be interfered with, but there were enough to keep her occupied. She wondered aloud. "Is there any way to listen to music in here?"

"Yes, but the radio tower signals don't reach out this far. We'd be lucky to hear anything besides white noise."

She stopped and looked straight ahead of them. "So this place looks and sounds exactly the same, huh?"

"Were you expecting a candy cane forest?"

"I could stand for one right about now." She sighed, and her breath came out in a faint white cloud. "Preferably before Ruby wakes up. She doesn't need more sugar."

"Yeah, she looks pretty young. Like she just barely turned eighteen, and she looks younger than that even."

Weiss thought about that for a second. "Mmm... I don't think she's eighteen yet. I don't remember when her birthday is."

"Wait, so she's still just a kid?" He shook his head. "How does a cute little girl like her get to be the leader of a team of Huntresses?"

"That's what I wondered! Well, minus the cute part." Weiss glanced behind them to make sure no one had gotten up in the past few minutes. Once she was sure no one had, she continued. "She was advanced two years ahead and admitted into Beacon at fifteen. Then, at the Fall of Beacon, she stopped the people who were responsible from getting everything they wanted, and she walked to Mistral. She helped defeat a Grimm Leviathan in Argus, and now we're here. If you ask me, Ruby's pretty uniquely qualified to be a licensed Huntress at seventeen."

He let out a low whistle. "That's pretty impressive. I'll concede that point. Probably good teammates contributed to some of that, though."

"Oh, of course. Her crazy plans would never work without my help." They shared a quick chuckle at that, but she quickly sobered up. "I was jealous for a long time. Like, really jealous. I wanted that position so bad, and this... this child stole it out from under me. But somewhere along the line, I think I realized that a leader is only as good as the voice of opposition. If I wanted her to be the ideal leader, I needed to push her as her partner. Any leader left unchecked is going to cause problems, so I needed to be her check."

"Right. To avoid a checkmate."

"What?"

"Unchecked. That's a chess term. When you're in check, that means the game will be over unless you act. Checkmate is when it's too late to save yourself. If you put yourself in check, but the other player doesn't tell you, your move has been left unchecked."

"Huh... I didn't know that."

"It might be true."

"I see. ...wha-" She stared at him in disbelief.

"Want to take the wheel for a bit?" He looked over to her, amused at her expression upon learning that he had just made up that definition. He gave her a shrug. "I need to put on something a bit warmer, so I need you to take the wheel for a bit. If you're okay with that."

"I, uh... sure." Breaking out of her stupor, she got up from her seat. "How do I get in without stopping the transport?"

"Oh, we stop the transport." He reached down and grabbed the short-range radio, clicking the button to turn it on. "Gavvy here, we're going to stop for a second. Swapping drivers."

"Micoo here. We'll take you up on that."

"Ray here. Same."

"Lil' J here. Confirmed. Also switching drivers."

The four transports slowed to a stop, and McCree climbed out of his seat, taking a moment to stretch while Weiss climbed in behind him. He watched as she checked all the lights. "Do you... know how to drive?"

"Despite my father's best efforts, my sister taught me how." She was about to start the vehicle moving again, but instead looked up at him questioningly. "Is there protocol for this? Do I need to let them know first?"

"Yeah, just take the radio and say... 'Gavvy here. Ready to head out.' That should be enough, then wait for them to all answer affirmative, say 'Gavvy, confirmed.' and then go."

She did as he told her, holding the radio up to her mouth. "Gavvy here. Ready to head out." And then she waited for the others to respond. They didn't respond. She looked back to him for help. "Why aren't they answering?"

"You need to hold down the button."

She looked at the mouthpiece and saw a button on the side. "Oh... whoops." Holding it down, she tried again. "Gavvy here. Ready to head out." She released the button and looked to him for approval.

"That's good. If you kept it pressed, we'd be broadcasting and nobody else would be able to talk."

The other transports responded this time. "Ray here, we're ready to go."

"Micoo here, we're ready too."

"Lil' J here. Ready."

Weiss pressed the button again. "Gavvy. Let's get moving." She pushed her foot down on the gas pedal, and the LAD lurched forward a bit suddenly, then started moving more steadily. She let a big smile creep onto her face, with one hand on the wheel and the other holding the radio. "This feels nice. I'd never get to do this if I was still the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company."

"Not bad. Not perfect, but pretty good for your first time driving a LAD." He sat down in the seat beside her. "Though that start might wake the others up."

"Lil' J here. Who is that driving Gavvy?"

"Uh oh. We're in trouble." Weiss made a good-natured grimace. "Winter probably saw that awkward start." She spoke into the mouthpiece. "Gavvy here, uh... Weiss is driving now. Uhh... how are you?"

Winter's voice came across the radio. "Gavvy driver, your haphazard start shifted your heading about eight degrees to the right. Please readjust."

"Oop, there it is." Weiss flinched at the criticism, aware that pretty much everyone on the mission could hear her sister's comments. "Okay, how do I adjust..." She found the compass, then quickly responded to Winter. "Gavvy here, roger that."

"You're having fun." He got up. "Don't adjust course too abruptly. I'm gonna make some coffee." And he stepped away into the back of the LAD.

Weiss watched as the compass slowly moved until they were once again heading the same direction as before. She knew once Jinn woke up they would probably have to make a more major correction to account for the destination moving, but that was a concern for future Weiss. Right now, everything was nice. There were no black splotches Grimming up her view, none of the lights on the dashboard were blinking red, Ruby was not talking her into deafness, it was just about perfect. There was nothing inherently bad with the situation as it was, and Weiss was content with this moment. She was glad she got this assignment.

She stayed there, allowing the minutes to fly by her without concern, only allowing the smell of coffee to divert her attention when McCree placed a mug in the cup holder right next to the radio. She took a couple sips, glad for the special design of the mug that conserved heat as she took her sweet time about it. Some time passed, and she wasn't paying attention to the clock enough to know how much, when Ruby suddenly appeared and sat down beside her. To Weiss' surprise, Ruby didn't say anything. She just stared out at the blinding snow, her silver eyes searching around for anything to focus on.

After a minute, Weiss realized what was wrong. "Ruby! Cover your eyes with something!"

Ruby slapped her hand over her eyes quickly. "What? Why? What's wrong?"

"I meant with sunglasses, you dolt! You'll go snow blind!"

"I slapped myself in the face for that!?"

"Yes you did!"

Ruby fished around for the tinted visor that came with her arctic clothes and put it on. "There. Happy now?"

Weiss lifted her coffee to her lips and took a sip, then answered once she'd put it back down. "My happiness is not really related to your ability to see. But yes, I'm happy."

"Thanks." Ruby watched Weiss for a bit, noting how she kept checking several different instruments on the dashboard that were all far too scientific for Ruby to understand. She seemed to be favoring the one that was directly over the wheel, fixed in the roof. Ruby saw something she hadn't seen terribly often. Weiss smiled often enough, and she enjoyed herself from time to time. She knew how to have fun well enough, but this was different. She was completely relaxed. Content, in a way Ruby hadn't witnessed before. In this moment, there were no pressures on them. Not willing to ruin that simple happiness Weiss had so rarely gotten to experience, Ruby sat back in her seat and stayed quiet.

Of course, Jinn ended the moment, popping her head in between them. "Hey. Weiss, you're driving. Adjust eight degrees to the right."

"Seriously?" Weiss looked up at her in disbelief.

"Yup. That's how far it's moved."

"When we get there, how fast is it going to be moving? Will we even be able to catch up to it?" Weiss asked with concern.

Jinn shook her head. "Sometimes it moves rather fast, but right now it's stopped moving altogether. I can't guarantee what it'll be like when we get there, because, as I'm sure you're aware, I don't know the future."

"Right. So the real challenge lies ahead of us." Weiss grimaced, that feeling of calm disappearing. She adjusted her heading, picking up the radio. "Gavvy here, adjust eight degrees east." As the other transports responded in order, Weiss caught Ruby eyeing her suspiciously. "What? McCree taught me how to handle it."

"Schnee is driving?" Ironwood's voice came from the back. "Weiss, how much longer can you go for?"

Weiss took another sip of coffee, thinking about her answer. She could feel the coffee was helping, but it had been a long day. "I should probably hand the reins over in about an hour."

"That's good. Then you need to get some sleep. McCree, you too. I'll drive for six hours, and then Lima I want you to go next."

"Yes sir." The two soldiers voices answered as one.

Outside, the wind continued to pound on the LAD's walls and windows, snow flying around them in a furious flurry. They had already put more than five hundred miles behind them, and according to Jinn they had another eight hundred to go. The sky was overcast with clouds, which were dropping more of the endless snow on them as the four transports made their way through the vast icy wilderness. Somewhere ahead of them lay the Cradle, the Relic of Deliverance.