Yo!

Back from break. Well, this story's only back for this week, and will be taking next week off again, but it is back for the moment!

Shall we get into it?

Start Chapter 16

Weiss wasn't going to admit out loud that she thought 'Cheshire' was a stupid name.

Then again, it certainly wasn't their fault. Most people didn't pick their names. Weiss certainly wasn't super pleased about the fact that every member of their family has a name that started with a 'W', either, but she didn't have much of a say in the matter.

"Oh, but we'll have time for introductions later," Cheshire spoke, their cloak flowing in the harsh, bitter winds of Anima. "We have some of these creatures to deal with, don't we?"

Weiss couldn't much argue with that. The Apathy numbered somewhere in the forties or fifties. Not a ton, but enough to take her on if she'd been alone.

She didn't want to think about the fact that, without Jaune there to boost her emotions, she'd have been dead in the water long ago. She'd have just… laid down back inside that house, on the cold wooden floor, and sat there until she no longer wanted to breathe.

It was a chilling sort of terror, like there was something crawling up her back, and one that had her wanting to eliminate the Apathy as quickly as possible.

Cheshire, to their credit, wasted absolutely no time. They charged forward, spectral claws growing out of their arms in an odd color scheme, neon-pink and blue. They slashed down at the Apathy, carving them to bits with single strikes. It was an odd semblance, but then, Weiss had certainly seen many that were weirder than that.

Weiss couldn't see Cheshire's face, but she had a feeling they were wearing a manic sort of smile by the laughter that poured out of them as they hacked and slashed.

She realized that she shouldn't be sitting around doing nothing a moment later. She brought up Myrtenaster, and blitzed towards the closest Apathy. It got a blade straight through its protruding skull, and began disintegrating immediately.

The sole positive of fighting the Apathy was that they were very clearly not made for combat. Even when they struck out at her, they did so slowly, and without much energy. She made to block one of their strikes with her blade, but the creature quite literally sliced off its own limb on the edge of Myrtenaster, and then just sort of stared down at the bare wrist with confusion before Weiss cut it down.

In the end it didn't take much longer than five minutes or so for them to clean up the remaining Apathy. Even so, by the time the last one fell, Weiss had begun to pant with exhaustion. She was running on fumes; having not had a chance to truly rest in well over 24 hours by that point.

It wasn't like she could just lay down and sleep in the middle of a frozen forest, potentially surrounded on all sides by the Grimm, after all. In all honesty, she'd faced far more Grimm attacks than she was used to on her way to Brunswick Farms.

An amount that almost had her suspicious that something was afoot.

Still, she sheathed her blade onto the slot on her hip, and turned towards her newfound ally.

"Thank you for the timely assistance." She gave a curt bow. "I am in your debt."

"Oh, it's no trouble, no trouble at all." Cheshire chuckled out. "I was just… in the area, so to speak, and thought I'd offer help."

If Weiss were any less tired, that comment might have raised some alarm bells. As things were, she didn't have the energy to be suspicious of her savior.

Plus, if they'd wanted her dead, they could have just left her to the Apathy. That, or the cold.

Speaking of…

"I don't suppose you have supplies to build a fire?" She asked, already beginning to shiver yet again.

"Ah, I'm afraid not." Cheshire shook their head, still not showing their face from behind the rusted mask they wore beneath their cloak. "Although, I do not believe we currently need to construct one, given the…"

Cheshire gestured towards the now flaming house behind them, And Weiss couldn't really argue with that.

In the end, they ended up sat around the burning ruins, with Weiss finally, finally getting the chance to unwind. Although…

"Is there a chance that there are any more Apathy in the area?" She asked, hoping that either Cheshire or Jaune would be able to answer her question.

"Hm. I cannot say." Cheshire was the one to respond, and Weiss was amazed it had taken her this long to realize that Jaune was staying silent because there was a new person in their midst, someone who didn't yet know she was carrying a mirror capable of speech. "Although, you may wish to ask your companion there. He might know better than I."

Weiss' heart skipped a beat, even as she brought Jaune's mirror from off of her back and held it before her. Jaune wasn't present within it – likely laying down so as to hide himself – which…

Well, if he hadn't given himself away, then how had Cheshire known he was there?

"Thou knewest of my presence?" Jaune finally decided to give up the goose, standing up in the mirror and dusting himself off – why he felt the need, Weiss didn't know, given she was fairly certain no dust collected in a mirror dimension sealed by the gods.

"Oh, for quite a while." Cheshire giggled. "I have a… sense for these things, you see."

Weiss didn't much like that.

"What do you mean?"

"I simply had a feeling there was something more to that mirror than meets the eye." Cheshire spoke, before bobbing their head from side to side. "Oh, alright, you caught me; I may or may not have seen you talking to it while you were staying within that house. Before you burned it down, that is."

Weiss was both glad to hear that – it made their new arrival much less weird – and…

"You were… watching us?"

"Well, you did stumble into my neck of the woods." Cheshire spoke. "I felt it prudent to discover if you were some sort of miscreant. In the end, I saw you having a full-on discussion with a mirror, which was rather odd, might I say."

A fair response, even if Weiss was loathe to admit that she'd probably looked like a crazy person.

Still, there was something hanging about the back of her head, then. Something that had her growing the smallest bit suspicious of the figure sat beside her, even through the exhaustion hanging about her frame.

"Alright," She instead pretended as if she'd noticed nothing. "What is it you want from us?"

"Want?" Cheshire tilted their head to the side. "Hm… nothing in particular. Perhaps something of intrigue?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've been so very bored for the last little while. I felt it prudent to get out and… see the world, as it were. If you could perhaps point me in the direction of something interesting to do, or better yet, allow me to accompany you on whatever journey it is you're currently upon, I think that would be swell."

It wasn't that large an ask, in truth. Weiss didn't particularly like being alone in weather like this, in the middle of nowhere, when Grimm only seemed to be growing more and more interested in her for some strange reason. Having a traveling companion – one that could actually fight, as well – would be good.

In that moment, Weiss couldn't help but notice the way that the lamp upon her hip pulsed with energy. She knew not what to make of such. Even still…

It felt oddly…

…

"Alright." She spoke. "If you'd like to accompany us, we're currently on our way to Argus."

"Oh, how fun. And where is that?"

Hm. Yet another oddity about this person.

"It's a port town on the northwestern edge of Anima."

"So, I see. And what's so interesting about it?"

"Well, for one, we're going to use it to get to Atlas–"

"Atlas," Cheshire leaned forwards, as if that word meant something to them. "You said… Atlas?"

"Uhm… yes?"

"I see…" Cheshire giggled. "I see… Alright, then. To Argus it is."

"You seem… awfully excited about getting to Atlas. Might I ask why?"

"Well, a friend of mine once told me that that was where they were from. I felt it prudent to finally have a chance to visit."

Hm. A surprisingly innocent answer. Weiss wasn't entirely sure what to do with that.

"Alright." She cleared her throat. "Then, once we've warmed ourselves enough, let's keep moving."

"Sounds like a plan. But, before that, I don't believe you've introduced yourself."

"Ah, I suppose you're correct." Weiss brushed some of the errant snow off of her outfit as she stood.

"My name is Weiss Schnee."

"Weiss Schnee, hm?" Cheshire chuckled.

"How wonderful a name."

/

It was around thirty minutes later – once Weiss' body was nice and toasty – that she felt warm enough to finally make the last leg of the journey to Argus. It helped that, at one point, Cheshire had stood up, walked a way's away, and brought back an old vehicle that looked like it could be used to travel the remainder of the way in far more comfort. How it hadn't entirely frozen over in the time it had been left here was a mystery, but Weiss wasn't about to complain.

They climbed into the vehicle, although Weiss would be the one driving. She'd never actually driven anything before, but it seemed as if Cheshire was in a similar boat, given the way they looked at the wheel and tilted their head back and forth like it was an entirely alien concept.

Weiss, at least, felt like she knew enough of the basics through osmosis that she could manage.

In the end, driving wasn't terribly difficult as long as Weiss wasn't asked to perform any difficult maneuvers. Driving straight was, in fact, very simple. She held the accelerator down, and didn't turn the wheel.

When dodging trees became a thing she had to do, however…

Well, their progress slowed by a bit.

"I think you're supposed to avoid the trees." Cheshire let her know rather unhelpfully as she reversed the truck.

"Yes, Cheshire," She hissed out under her breath. "I've figured that part out, actually."

In the end, they ended up driving through the woods in near-complete silence for about a day and a half after that. Weiss had eaten nothing but granola bars and drank nothing but melted snow for going on three or so days at that point. She'd gotten less than a fourth of the sleep she likely needed, and she was fairly certain that saying she was running on fumes would've been an understatement.

She was running on the fumes of fumes. Which didn't feel like enough.

"Perhaps I could take over?" Cheshire asked. "I do believe I've seen you do this enough to try it myself."

Weiss was skeptical, but she was too tired to really argue anymore.

She pulled them to a stop, swapped seats with Cheshire, laid her head back against the headrest behind her…

"I do believe we've arrived, Weiss."

She opened her eyes blearily, uncertain as to how they'd managed to cover what had to have been at least a half day's journey in five seconds. Well, up until she realized that while it had been mostly dark before, it was now bright and sunny out.

Oh. She must've really been tired.

Still, just as Cheshire had said, the city of Argus laid beyond them.

It was an impressive and oddly familiar place, mostly because, for all that they were still in Mistral, it very much resembled Atlas in terms of design and architecture. Weiss felt right at home seeing the remnants of snow on the ground, and the tall, clean and relatively new buildings.

There were a few older-looking homes among that number, but that was only because they were styled to appear that way. When Weiss took a closer look as she and Cheshire – with Jaune slung along her back – stepped into the city proper, she saw a potent lack of any aging on the buildings at all.

They just wanted to appear rustic, but like the rest of this town, they were quite new.

"What a brilliant place!" Cheshire laughed as they peered this way and that. "How quaint it is. And so very many people as well."

"Is this your first time in a larger city?" She asked, wondering how much information she could gleam about her newfound companion.

"Certainly, the first time in one quite so large." Cheshire commented absently as they leaned down to peer through a storefront window, and gazed in at the outfit within. "Oh, what a fascinating color."

Weiss allowed Cheshire to peruse the selection at their own pace, despite the fact that she was still tired. She'd slept for… well, she didn't actually know how long, but it wasn't the physical exhaustion weighing on her now, so much as the aches and pains of days and days of continuous labor that was getting to her.

And so it was that, tired beyond belief and really just wanting to lie down, Weiss rounded the nearest corner, and nearly had a heart attack.

"Oh?" Cheshire commented absently on seeing her expression. "What is–"

Weiss hushed them as quietly as she could, doing her best to stay calm.

This wasn't a big deal. Why would this be a big deal?

So, what if she'd just found Cinder, Mercury, and Emerald casually lounging about in the middle of Argus without a care in the world, likely looking for her? She didn't care, why would she care!?

And so, what, if they had also seemingly found Ruby, Blake, Yang, and the rest of their entourage, who seemed to be entirely oblivious to the fact that two separate groups were watching them a block or so down the way.

"Did we… did we just stumble upon Cinder and her goons stumbling on our friends?"

Jaune, from off of her back, hummed. "That does seem like the case."

Weiss sighed. "Why must my life be like this?"

"I know not. But I do weep for thee."

For the moment, as much as Weiss wanted to help out, she was far more concerned with not being spotted. She had a feeling all bets were off if she were spotted by Cinder. She'd likely have to enlist the help of Ruby and the others, and at that point, Jaune would be in danger of being taken away by Ozpin.

And she had a feeling if that happened, they wouldn't be seeing one another again.

But she didn't want to let Cinder and the others spy on her friends.

…

"Cheshire," She turned towards them. "Could you do me a favor?"

/

Cinder Fall was bored.

This was not a particularly shocking revelation; she wasn't exactly up to much at the moment, and had basically been given the evil-mission-from-the-queen-of-the-Grimm equivalent of 'sit in this spot and do nothing' by Salem. She'd been hoping that they'd see some action, at least, but no, nothing.

Well, up until about five seconds ago, when the entire good-guy crew – minus that Schnee girl and her mirror – had arrived in Argus alongside them.

How Cinder, Emerald and Mercury had beaten them there, she had no idea. They'd had to fly back to the Grimmlands, stayed a day or two, and then fly all the way back.

Then again, that group consisted of a good twenty people at this point; ranging from the members of Team's RWBY and JNPR, to Qrow Branwen, to Ozpin's newest reincarnation, to Adam Taurus of all people, and his White Fang.

That… well, Cinder wasn't quite sure what to make of that. It was obvious that the mirror Salem held such interest in had done something to change Adam's usual… everything, but exactly what that was Cinder could not say.

For the moment, Cinder and her minions were simply blending in, and tracking the good-guy group. Once said group found a hotel, or a place to stay, they would mark it, and be able to keep an eye on them the entire time they were in Argus.

Information was the most valuable asset in warfare, after all.

"Excuse me, miss?"

Cinder jumped in place, but tried to disguise that motion as her simply shifting her posture. She turned towards the sound of the voice with a raised eyebrow, and a hand under her chin.

The person who'd walked up to them was… odd. They wore a dark cloak overtop what sounded like metal armor, although it was entirely concealed from view. Their voice was entirely androgynous, and the only thing noticeable about their appearance was the helmet beneath their hood, which seemed rusted beyond belief.

"What is it?" Cinder had business to attend to, and she didn't want to be distracted by random imbeciles.

"Ah, well," The figure danced about on their feet, before coughing into one fist, and then saying, "You're unbelievably beauteous, if I might say."

Cinder's eyes widened, even as Mercury rolled his eyes, and Emerald… well, one of Emerald's eyes twitched, and she leaned forward with one hand on Thief's Respite.

As much as it was annoying that some random person had come up to her and complemented her… Well, they weren't wrong. Cinder was quite the fine specimen. She'd done much to make sure that was the case for years. After all, during her time in the Glass Unicorn, she'd been treated as if she was all but invisible.

And now…

Now she would make sure that everyone saw her.

So, yes, while it was somewhat annoying for this person to come up and appreciate the splendor of her presence, she would not hold it against them too terribly much.

"Indeed." Cinder voiced, "that you have noticed speaks well to your character."

"Mm. I must say, in my time in this world, I have never encountered a single person quite as radiant as you are."

This time, Cinder almost blushed. Almost. She didn't, but it was a more powerful compliment than she'd ever been paid. She was… well, charmed, so to speak.

Emerald looked like she was attempting to grind her teeth down into dust across the table, and Mercury seemed to have fallen asleep, which was as impressive as it was unsurprising.

"Well, that's quite kind of you." Cinder nodded her head.

The person nodded their head, before looking off into the distance, seemingly searching for something. Whatever they were looking for seemed to be gone, however, for they nodded their head, looked back to Cinder, and bowed.

"A pleasure meeting you," they said in a rather theatrical way. "Perhaps we shall meet again."

Cinder was not entirely averse to that, in truth. She could use someone around who complimented her more often. Emerald was too sheepish to be honest with her very obvious affections, and Mercury was Mercury, which she felt was explanation enough.

As the person walked away, Cinder nodded her head, satisfied with the last few minutes. She was so satisfied that she'd basically forgotten all about what she was supposed to be doing.

…what had she been doing, again?

Oh, right, keeping an eye on the good-guy squa–

She turned towards where said good-guy squad had been just minutes prior, only to find an empty street, with no one upon it at all.

And no signs of where they'd gone, either.

…Hm.

Well. That was a slight issue.

/

"It appears to have worked." Cheshire shot her a thumbs-up as they walked back over, and Weiss allowed herself to breathe a sigh of relief. She'd been nervous about potentially alerting Cinder to her presence, but she hadn't wanted the woman to be able to keep track of her friends, either.

Still, now that that was done, she had other plans.

Namely, to have a chance to sit down and let her body decompress. She wasn't willing to do anything else to stop what was happening around the corner. So, instead, she brought out her scroll, looked up where the nearest hotel was that fit her specifications, and then made for it.

Cheshire followed, seemingly just happy to be there.

Weiss ended up at an establishment that was… well, it was fine. Probably the very definition of a 3-star hotel. It had clean beds and showers, however, so even if the checkout time was annoyingly early the next day, and even if the breakfast offered in the mornings wasn't free, she didn't have the heart to walk any further to another hotel.

She booked herself and Cheshire rooms, and then took the elevator, despite that likely taking longer than the stairs. She didn't have the energy.

She made it to their floor, bid Cheshire farewell – after explaining the concept of a hotel room, what they were, why one would want one, and the fact that they were staying in separate rooms – and pushed her way into her room.

It was… a room.

The wallpaper was cracked in a few places. The entire room smelled heavily of cleaning solution. The comforter on the bed looked like it had been made in just about the sloppiest manner known to man.

…It was practically heaven after the last few days.

She shucked off her dirty clothes, and immediately set about using the other thing that this hotel had that she'd been specifically looking for; an in-room washer and drier. Surely, she had had to pay about double the lien to get this particular room, but it meant she'd have clean clothes.

And that was worth the price of admission.

What she hadn't considered was that she was now nearly naked in the middle of her room. She'd of course been sort of aimlessly thinking that she was there alone, but…

"Ahem." Jaune coughed out awkwardly from behind her.

Her face went stark red, and she ducked where she was standing, looking over towards the nearby wall, where she'd propped Jaune's mirror up without thinking.

"My apologies," Jaune was looking away. "I meant no insult to thy propriety."

Weiss grumbled out under her breath; debating being upset with Jaune… but ultimately gave up. It was her fault, not his, that she'd been absent-minded enough to strip without thinking about the fact that she wasn't alone.

"Just… keep facing the other way for a second."

"Certainly."

She walked over, turned Jaune's mirror to face the wall, and then allowed herself a moment to breathe.

"Again, I apologize."

"You don't need to." Weiss sighed. "I'm… going to take the rest of this off so I can wash it."

"Mm."

It was as she was taking off her bra and panties – yes, she was going fully nude, but she had no other clothes, and she'd been wearing them and fighting in them for days now, so she felt such appropriate – that she heard Jaune speak yet again.

"Thou art beautiful."

She stumbled where she stood, nearly collapsing outright as she rounded on Jaune's mirror.

"W-Where did that come from?"

"I… simply did not wish for thee to think that I was… or…" Jaune coughed, sounding incredibly awkward. "…Pay thee no mind to my words."

Weiss was doing her very best not to, except it was nearly impossible to do so.

…Ugh, she didn't want to think about the fact that her face was practically glowing red, either.

She shook her head, before making her way towards the bathroom. As she placed her hand on the door frame, however, Jaune's voice called out to her one last time.

"Before you bathe, a word?"

"Hm?"

Jaune hesitated for a moment. "…Something's not right with that Cheshire person."

Weiss' eyes widened, before her brow set in a grim manner.

"I know."

"It feels… odd when we are around them. Something's… different. Yet somehow familiar." Jaune's voice sounded tense. "Yet I suppose that's not the real giveaway, is it? Because according to Cheshire, they were in the area for quite a while, long enough that they noticed us coming in. But that's impossible."

"If they were staying there," Weiss confirmed, nodding her head. "Then why didn't the Apathy affect them?"

Jaune nodded his head. "Either they were immune to the Apathy's abilities…"

"Or Cheshire was lying."

And Weiss had a decent feeling she knew which of those were more likely.

End Chapter 16

Alright, that was chapter 16! Hope you guys liked it.

I am currently very much enjoying the last few days of my vacation. Also having a much easier schedule these days (given that WWUTB has finished) means I can take my time writing. I've decided to postpone posting the other story that will eventually take its place. That will probably come around in February or March. Or whenever I feel like it, honestly.

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