AN

Considering what I'm about to do...

Well, one: Y'all ain't ready.

But two: In the word of Dutch van der Linde: I have! A PLAN!

Chapter 62

Nebo Aldric was alive.

And so too was he very clearly not.

Cinder Fall now beheld the Terran Grimm bathed in blood red light, leering at his new targets, his blade showing how it had been changed with him. No longer its once royal blue, it now was a harsh, vibrant, and bloody red.

The Maiden of two seasons blinked, and almost missed what happened next.

Aldric tossed his now active, burning blade lightly into the air, catching it in a reverse grip. The Summer Maiden's Guardian appeared to realize what he was doing and quickly lunged in front of his charge, as the silent Terran Grimm threw his blade, heaving it at them as though it were a spear. It moved unnaturally fast, speeding up after it had left his hand and crossing the several meters between them in the blink of an eye. The bright red blade slammed into the Guardian's head, broke his aura in an instant, and in the next, cleaved through his armor, into his skull, and out the other end. Where once they were two, in scant seconds the giant man had fallen dead, and the Maiden's mistake was in reacting to said death. She obeyed that human instinct to gasp, gape, and gawk at something so surprising that it would temporarily override any and all sense. The Maiden gasped, following the Guardian as he fell to the ground at her feet, and when she looked back up after hearing the sound of howling wind, she found Aldric had telekinetically slid across the snow-covered ground, like a puppet being picked up by its strings, so fast that said snow was still recoiling from his flight when he stopped.

Aldric's hand shot up, palm first slamming into the Maiden's throat, causing her to choke as she stumbled back. Now stunned, she was vulnerable to Aldric's hand closing to a fist, and then closing the distance to her nose, causing her to stumble back further. Now with the space he needed, Aldric threw his left hand out, fingers splayed open, and his blade zoomed back into his hand. He then zipped back to her in the same unnatural way he'd done the first time, and with one wide swing, Aldric dragged his blade across her chest, the sheer heat and destructive power of a weapon of another world again cleaving through her aura as though it weren't even there, and leaving a long gouge in her chest, going up to her shoulder. Now with no aura to protect her, Aldric's next attack was a downward slice that cut through both of her legs, and as she fell back, he lunged forward, grabbing one of her arms and pulling her towards him. Now with the limb straightened, he cleaved through it, and she flew past him.

The Maiden barely even had the time to understand what had happened before she fell to the snowy ground in a pile of her own limbs.

Aldric turned to her and stalked over, where he picked the Maiden up by her remaining arm, and to her credit, she took the opportunity to try and attack him, blasting him in the face with a gout of fire, but if Aldric even felt it, he didn't show it, as he simply lifted up his blade and, in one motion, cut off her remaining limb, deactivated it, hooked it to his belt, and caught her by the throat with his newly freed hand.

Aldric turned to Salem's seer and Cinder, the former wearing a proud sneer, the latter an expression of shock. Her once friend swept his hand over his head, dousing the flames that were now licking at his scalp, and then bodily threw the Maiden over to them. The Summer Maiden, limbless and now in so much pain and in such a state of shock that she was barely even able to choke out a gurgle to try and vocalize it, hit the ground and rolled to Cinder's feet, as the dull expression returned to Aldric's face, and he slowly walked over to them.

Cinder had to act fast to steel herself when the Seer turned to face her, knowing that showing any kind of weakness to Salem would be the last thing she needed, now.

Instead, as she turned her gaze to the Maiden, who was pathetically trying to crawl away despite a clear lack of any means, Cinder asked, "What did you do?" She gulped, "to him? through a dry throat"

"I revitalized his body, and kept it shielded such that... Well, Ozpin, wouldn't use a soulless vessel as a fast means of returning to this world." Salem explained, as Aldric ceased doing whatever he'd done to freeze the snowstorm, and the winds began howling and the snow blowing once again. "Unfortunately some of his limb replacements ceased functioning, considering his lack of aura, now... But I supplied the eyes and, interestingly enough, he had an arm of a much different make in that belt."

Cinder cupped her hand over the Maiden's face and began leaching her power, looking away from her, only to see Aldric first. She looked away from him too, instead now facing the battles both distant and close by, the air now being choked by both raging snow and the thick smoke from all of the airships Helmut was downing. Hearing Salem confirm Aldric's lack of aura sparked another question in Cinder's mind, however.

"How does he still have his power then, if he's no aura?" She asked, as she felt the Maiden struggling underneath her arm.

Salem was silent a moment, as she regarded the multi-Maiden, before responding with, "and what do you truly think the creatures of Grimm are, Cinder?" She asked, turning to face Aldric, as the solemn-faced Terran Grimm reached them. "Living creatures without souls... And yet when one dies, they vanish without a trace. No normal animal does that... No, I would describe what they have is a spark. A spark of what he and I once had, what Ozpin is running out of, and what you are stealing."

"And a spark is enough?" Cinder asked, as she felt the trickle of raw, undiluted power begin to thin out, and the woman underneath her begin to struggle less.

"One needs just that to light a fire." Salem responded, as the Seer floated over towards Aldric, who stood silently, as still as a statue. "His power may not be exactly as it once was... But where it has faded it has changed, and where it has changed it has grown. He is a titan now, and will be invaluable in these final days."

Cinder could no longer look away now, and she turned to face Salem and Aldric, barely even feeling anything left in the Maiden beneath her. "It sounds as though you traded a knife for a mallet." She pointed out, "as strong as he may be... I think he would say something to the effect of wars not being won with armies, but with a single blade, skillfully placed." A beat, "or rather... He would have."

This thing standing before them may be as Salem was, a sun compared to the bomb he had been, an ocean compared to a lake, a zweihander compared to a machete, but it clearly had none of Aldric's wisdom, none of his prowess, none of the skill that would make him truly formidable. Cinder's eyes briefly flickered down to the inactive hilt hanging from Aldric's belt, then to the belt itself, before snapping up again to the dull-eyed Terran Grimm. As it stood all he had was the ruthlessness to go for killing strokes as opposed to a pitched battle, and the weaponry that would allow him to do so.

"Oh, that will come with time." Salem assured her. "He may be an... Automaton, shall we say, at the moment... But that is merely because his brain needs time to reactivate. Without his soul to provide it all of his thoughts and memories, he relies on his synapses and neurons. A brain is a muscle, and like all muscles, it atrophies without use, it needs time again to grow back to what it once was." The seer's tentacle slowly slid down the side of the Terran Grimm's face. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes." Was the low, throaty whisper, that came out of his throat in response.

With the Summer Maiden dead and Cinder's body once again a wellspring of newfound power, the tri-Maiden stood to her feet, feeling the buzz of all of that energy settling in her bones, making her jittery. "Then why?" She asked, "what is the purpose?"

The Seer slowly floated back from Aldric, "all in good time, my dear. Take him with you to Mistral. He will listen to you." She paused, "and... Get him to think. Get his mind working again. It may speed things up. You knew him better than I, so you will know what questions to ask."

Cinder watched the Seer leave, and once it was enveloped in the snowstorm and gone from sight, she turned to 'Aldric' once again. He still stood there, injuries healing before her eyes, his expression blank, eyes locked on the ground in front of him, posture slouched. She couldn't decide which word to describe him, repulsive, depressing, horrifying, they all merged into one idea that made her chest tighten every time she laid eyes on him. She remembered the Master who had fought a Maiden to a standstill one moment, and would try his damnedest to get a rise out of her the next, not this ghoul who appeared uncomfortable with the mere concept of its existence.

Cinder was thankful to look away again, though she knew it was temporary. She looked around, hearing the sounds of battle around her. She had to leave, let Arthur and Helmut have their fun, they knew where to go.

So, steeling herself again, she turned back to the Terran Grimm. "Follow me, and don't fall behind." She said, before turning with a swish of her dress.

As fast as she entered the battlefield, she left it, zooming through it like a bullet fired from a gun. Surprising her was that Aldric kept pace with her effortlessly; she remembered that trick specifically had been one he'd always rued not being able to find out. They sprinted through the battles between Grimm and Atlesians until the snowstorm, marred by the fires and smoke of battle, became pure white once again, and they reached the Pelican, it partially enveloped in a pile of snow.

Cinder brought Aldric inside and, without the urgency of escaping the battle distracting her, examined him again. His hair didn't appear to be returning from his previous battles, making his head a macabre patchwork of bleached skin, missing hair, and bright red eyes.

No... No, I'm not doing this. She thought with a shake of her head, and calling upon the memories of the aftermath of their battle with his father. "Inside your belt, third pocket from your left hip. Pull it out." Aldric mutely followed her commands, and out he pulled a small vial, inside of which was one of the blue throwing stars, and a familiar looking mask. "Crush it." He did, and the mask grew to its normal size. "Put it on."

And he did, donning the mask and shielding his face from view. Another command had him throw a hood over his head, and the effect was mostly complete: She couldn't see his finer features. Now, though the knowledge was still there, this thing in front of her no longer wore the face of her friend, but rather the mask with the T-shaped visor. At least she could pretend he wasn't who she knew him to be.

Sitting down, and commanding him to do the same, Cinder spoke to Aldric. "So you are to follow my commands, is that correct?"

"Yes." Said the hoarse, wispy voice, filtered through his mask.

"And what else?"

"Do not jeopardize the plan." He rumbled. "You must live. Obtain power. Obtain relics."

Cinder frowned, but continued on. "What all do you remember?"

"Actions."

There were a few moments of silence before it dawned on Cinder he was done. "And?"

"That is all."

"Then explain."

"I remember what I did."

Cinder closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "You... Don't remember his thoughts? Or feelings? Intentions? Plans? Or anything the sort?"

"No."

"What about in his best memories?" She asked, thinking that perhaps it was merely in his weakest memories he couldn't remember the why of things that Aldric valued so much.

"No."

Of course not. Her opportunity lost, Cinder let out the breath and opened her eyes again, "fine... Then I'll ask again, what is it you remember?"

Aldric was silent for several moments, "I remember fragments. Of things I had done." He paused, looking down to the ground, as if in thought. "And I must have believed." He looked back up, "In Salem. In your shared goals. Everything I did, I did for you and through you her... Including dying. So I must have. So I will fight. Until she wins."

Somehow, Cinder wasn't put at ease. Seeing this thing in front of her, she felt both intrigued and repulsed, unable to look away and yet wanting very much to do only that. It was different from Salem somehow, she had a quality of humanity that this Grimm Aldric lacked. Perhaps it was because he was 'young', as she'd said, but Cinder still felt repulsed by the whole idea. This clearly wasn't him, and hiding his face helped a bit, but -

She was jarred from her thoughts by the sound of someone knocking on the ship's bulkhead. She and Aldric were on their feet, and Aldric, in his low, throaty monotone, said, "an old man. A well dressed man. Powerful."

Cinder let out a short sigh, nodding, and letting the Master and the Huntsman inside.

The Terran's first action was to take one look at Aldric and say, "who is this?" Which caused Arthur to roll his eyes.

"This is Aldric." Cinder responded, noting the furrow to Helmut's brow when she said his name. "He is the force multiplier Salem was referring to."

Arthur approached Aldric and held his hand out, "Arthur, a pleasure." Aldric stared at the hand, silently. Arthur waited for a few moments, before slowly retracting his hand and clearing his throat. "Well... Suppose we should make for Mistral, then. I hope Tyrian will have something for us on the Spring Maiden." He said, finding a seat on the wall and settling in.

Helmut took up a seat across from him, shaking his head. "If that madman has even anything for us I shall be thoroughly amazed." He said, as Cinder nodded to them and retreated to the cockpit, glad to have some time to herself, perhaps even a reprieve from all this, to give her time to come to terms with her newfound health, power, and her friend's literal new lease on life.

Or, at least, she thought she would have those things, until Aldric silence everyone with two words. "I know."

Cinder stopped at the threshold to the cockpit, hand on the frame, head slightly turned, just able to see Aldric through her peripherals.

Arthur was the one who bit the bullet, leaning forward and saying. "You know... What?"

"Who she is."

Helmut barked out, "and exactly how do you know that?"

"I don't remember." Was Aldric's response, prompting a groan from Helmut, Arthur to lean back into the wall, and Cinder to fully turn around. "Only that Ozpin knew. That he told me."

Helmut blinked, but before he could speak, Cinder asked, "where is she? Who?"

"Mistral. Raven Branwen."

It took Ruby Rose and her allies eight days to reach Mistral.

When they arrived, the entire city was silent, and the few guards there to greet them had only this to offer as explanation:

"City's locked down. Terrans about."

Were it possible, Qrow's spirits appeared to sink even further at this news, and he asked, "then how is the city still standing?"

The guard shrugged, "not many." He responded, "I don't know much... But if you are what you say you are, Headmaster Dorn would know more. Give you better information."

Stowing his shaking hands in his pockets, Qrow nodded. "Dorn... Right. Yeah, thanks." He didn't even look at the teams before continuing on, leading them to briefly wonder if they should follow him or not.

In the end, they had little else to do but follow him through the mountain kingdom. They weaved in, out, and around its many pagodas and stuck to its main roads, bee-lining it for Haven Academy, which loomed over it all. Ruby noticed that with every Huntsman they came across patrolling the kingdom, the slightest bit of stress appeared to roll off of Qrow's shoulders, the thinnest smile even appearing on his face once, as though he were relieved merely to see them. Seeing the history he shared with some of them, Ruby could understand why: So many aura-users, so many Huntsman, in one place, it made even her question her doubts over whether or not they'd lost already. Their species had, after all, gone through worse before.

They made it inside the academy inside of an hour and went straight for the headmaster's office; he was there to meet them. A man so gigantic it looked like he could snap trees by hugging them, his incredible size was hidden by long, baggy clothes, and what would no doubt under any other circumstances be an intimidating scowl was mitigated by a face framed by a thick horseshoe mustache and hair almost as white as Weiss'.

"Qrow." Was the man's grunt, his voice deep and filled with a chest-rumbling bass, as he lifted a meaty hand and shook Qrow's.

"Geld." Qrow sighed, "surprised you took the job."

"Someone had to, and it appeared as though the council wanted the polar opposite to the coward." He nodded, "News from Vacuo. Their fleet did damage to the terrans, but they used a sun bomb to knock them down, as they had done in Vale. With nothing but soldiers to defend them, they chose to surrender rather than have their kingdom destroyed as Vale and Atlas had been earlier in the year." He scratched at the crew-cut on his head, and beckoned everyone inside, with the young huntresses and huntsmen receiving little more than a passing glance from him.

Qrow took a swig from his flask, "we lost Winter." He said, "and Atlas used Vacuo to teach them how to fight the Terran navy. Ironwood's not going to be any help."

Dorn reached his desk and sat down, resting his arms on the desk and hiding his face behind his hands. "Suspicious, considering."

Qrow pulled out a chair and shook his head. "No, he's just... Scared." He admitted, as he collapsed into it. "World's ending... He's just trying to force some small part of it to make sense before it does." He swiped his hand through his hair, "so what's this about Terrans in Mistral?"

One of Dorn's steel blue eyes twitched, "I do not know. Twice now we have found blood and bodies. I think they are studying us. Trying to learn ways to awaken their aura without dust."

"What makes you say that?" Qrow asked, as the others pulled their own chairs from the wall and sat down.

"The first time we found bones, but some were missing. The second, blood, but no body. I mobilized yesterday when there were reports of screams and explosions, but we could find no evidence. I have huntsmen searching every inch of the kingdom, top to bottom, room to room. I even have faunus searching the sewers -" And without breaking eye contact with Qrow, he pointed a sausage-like finger at Blake, whose expression had barely even turned furious before he spoke. "Rat and slug faunus, and they volunteered. I recognize you."

As the cat faunus sputtered, Qrow picked up. "So since we can't rely on Atlas, since Vacuo's down, and Vale is functionally gone... All we have left is Mistral, and Spring."

"You are assuming Summer is lost." Dorn pointed out.

Qrow looked to Ruby, then to Dorn. "We have reason to believe that the two living Masters aren't really on her side... Rather they're biding their time. Trying to get to her."

Dorn was silent for several long moments, the only sound in the room being his deep breaths, as he processed this. "Okay." He said, "then the best we can hope for without giving her everything she wants is to cause so much damage when she comes here... Either for Spring or for Knowledge, or both, that they must retreat with all hands to lick their wounds."

Ruby blinked. "You..." She said, without thinking, attracting Dorn's steely eyes. "You're not even questioning it?"

"I trust your uncle."

"How do you know I'm his niece?"

"I see some of her in you." He turned his intense glare to Yang, who met it. "And I see much of him in her. Suggesting lineage, albeit indirect." A beat, "he also told me when you were born. But that is irrelevant." He looked back to Qrow, "have you any theories as to Spring's identity?"

Qrow clenched his jaw, and closed his eyes a moment, before nodding, as though admitting this were painful to him. "Oz and I figured it out. The kid died... Or was killed. Either way, I found the new one last week. I'll... Be amazed if she helps."

Ruby heard murmurings among the assembled students, and she too shared in their confusion - had Qrow found Spring in Atlas? Or was he suggesting she was in the Branwen tribe? How did he know? And why, again, did he not share this with them?

"Will she help the enemy?"

To which, he also nodded. "They have information. The guy who gave it to them is dead, but what he gave them is accurate, and it won't take too large a leap in logic for them to realize they can apply it to her. So they'll know what buttons to push, and as much as she denies it... Raven cares. She'll cave."

Ruby noticed Yang do a double take, her mouth slowly opening, but then, almost instantaneously, Dorn's head shot up, looking past Qrow, and an aged, decrepit voice with the strangest accent she'd ever heard, filled the air.

"I wish it were that simple."

Qrow and everyone else were on their feet and facing the newcomer, a man older than Ben, and much balder, but who carried himself in a similar way, like someone who had lost their youth and power, but had gained it back, and now respected and appreciated it. He wore simple travel clothes and stood with his arms behind his back, eyes squinted and face painted with age.

"But der teufel has changed the game dramatically."

Cinder was alone with not-Aldric again.

Arthur and Helmut had elected to go to Mistral ahead of them, to meet with Tyrian and the others and see what the scorpion faunus had planned for potential assaults on Haven, leaving Cinder with the Terran Grimm, whose eternal silence continued to unnerve her. This wasn't helped when they exited the Pelican and began walking through the forest the Branwen tribe had taken refuge in, as it appeared to grow unnaturally silent in the now-soulless Terran's presence. Insects stopped chirping, the wind stopped blowing, birds stopped singing, it was as though the world when in his vicinity died.

Perhaps worst of all is that speaking to him helped even less, with his laconic, clipped responses. No matter how many layers she hid his face and body under, she knew deep down whose body this was, who this thing was supposed to be, and could only ever think of him in terms of comparison. Where she expected snide remarks, jabs whose sole purpose were to get a rise out of her, or sarcastic non-answers, she got short responses, straight answers, and a dead, raspy rumble.

And beneath it all, she couldn't help but question if he'd actually fought for Salem, or died for Cinder, and despite the answer, the only response to this would be wondering if this was something he would have wanted?

Cinder had to purge her mind of these horrid thoughts when she found giant walls made of felled treetrunks, and guards standing in front of looming gates. The men with skeletal, thrown-together weapons, gave each other a look, then turned to her and her companion.

"And who might you be?" One asked, once they reached her, as his friend gave her masked ally an appraising, suspicious look.

Cinder steeled herself, and spoke with a confidence a small part of her didn't believe she had. "We're here to speak with the master of this camp." A pause, "or perhaps I should say Maiden?" She challenged.

The guards, not kowtowed, rolled their eyes, with one saying, "yeah, and I'm going to get a visit by the Brother Gods. Why don't you -" But he didn't finish speaking, because his head was suddenly turned one hundred and eighty degrees with a sickening 'snap'.

The other gate guard blinked, staring aghast as his friend twitched, the last semblances of life faded from his body. He remained standing in some macabre fashion, his body slowly going limp and appearing as though it were held aloft, hanging from his neck.

Then Aldric spoke, his dark, T-shaped mask peering directly into the other guard's eyes. "We have killed." He stated, "we will do so again." He let the first guard drop with a thud.

The guard ran into the gate so fast it couldn't open fast enough, resulting in him smacking into it and bouncing off, before he pushed it open and sprinted inside, screaming in fear, warning everyone to arms as he went to find Raven. Aldric didn't offer his corpse so much as a glance, he continued inside, Cinder following him after a brief pause.

"Was that necessary?" She asked him.

"Yes." Was Aldric's response, as other bandits and thugs began arming themselves, some bringing their arms to bear on the once Master and the multi-Maiden.

"How?" Cinder demanded.

"Fighting is inefficient."

"Now they will try to kill us." She pointed out, raising a hand and forming a barrier between the two as they continued to walk casually through the camp; she could feel her immense and only growing power bubbling inside of her, it only taking the smallest iota of what she had to intercept and halt the gunfire that soon came their way.

"Try." Was Aldric's response, as the gunfire stopped, and everyone in their vicinity began to float into the air, clenching at their necks and throats and kicking at the air; Cinder could even see those deeper into the camp being raised, Aldric, unlike her, wasn't merely dealing with those closest to them, but rather was getting rid of everyone.

And as he'd no doubt intended, it caught the immediate attention of the camp's master. Clad in a grimm mask, she came sprinting out into the battlefield, she charged Aldric and with no hesitation lunged forward, driving her blade into his chest.

But Cinder knew how that song and dance would go, he'd boasted the mail had been made of the same metal as his shield, and had proven it in their battle. Raven Branwen's sword didn't stand a chance, shattering like glass when it hit his chest and his chest didn't yield. Realizing her folly, Raven hopped back as Cinder rounded Aldric, standing next to him.

"If you surrender, I'll -" But before Cinder could issue her ultimatum, the sound of hundreds of necks snapping in unison filled the air, followed soon by that of hundreds of bodies unceremoniously being dropped to the ground.

Cinder slowly turned to Aldric, eyes wide and jaw slightly agape, as Raven processed what he'd just done.

"Ultimatum." Aldric said. "Inefficient." He shrugged his coat off, as Raven, her breath, and sword-arm, shaking, slowly turned her head, taking in the corpses that now filled her camp.

"And pissing her off is?!"

"Yes." Was Aldric's grunt, before they were met with an explosion of magical power.

Cinder's head snapped over to Raven. The air was swirling around her, magical fire was blasting out of her eyes and her mask was crumbling to pieces, revealing an outraged, enraged expression, her eyes aglow with her power, and leaking thin lines of tears. Her jaw was clenched so tight her muscles bulged, her teeth were bared, and her entire body was tense, as she brought her hand to the hilt of the blade hanging from her hip.

Cinder fell into a defensive stance, thrusting her hand forward and blasting Raven with a column of white-hot fire. Raven drew her blade and slashed upwards, cleaving it in two and splitting it around her as the ground began to shake underneath them. Cinder ceased her attack when she felt Raven dive into it, like a fish swimming upstream, though that wasn't the impetus for it. No, she stopped the attack because Aldric placed his hand on her chest and shoved her back, so hard that she flew through the gates leading into the camp, slamming into them and causing them to explode into splinters.

But that didn't stop her from witnessing what came next.

Raven brought her blade down in one enormous, powerful chop, intending on splitting Aldric's head. Aldric, in a flash, sidestepped her. She stumbled forward just an inch too far, needed just an instant too long to recover. Robotically, Aldric, his blood red blade burning bright, slashed it upwards, carving into her back, and shattering her aura in the same preemptive attack he'd used on the Winter Maiden. Raven realized that the weapon Aldric held was one that outclassed hers in almost every way, but she failed to account for the Terran Grimm's sheer mercilessness, because when she pivoted to try and cut at him, the earth beneath her feet rose up and swallowed them both, immobilizing her.

Aldric lunged forward, slamming his robotic palm into her face and bending her over backwards until she hit the ground. He roughly planted his boot on one of Raven's arms, pinning it to the ground as he took his sword arm and stabbed downwards at her other arm, cleaving through skin and burying it into the ground in one smooth motion.

Raven's screams were muffled by the metal limb, but they intensified enough to be heard anyway when Aldric roughly kicked at her knees as he stood up, breaking one of them and bending the other at a horribly awkward angle. The pain from that and her sudden loss of limb was enough to stun Raven long enough for Aldric to cleave her legs clean off.

Then, as he'd done to the Maiden before her, tore her last arm off with one quick, clean slice of his blade.

"Fuck you!" Was all Raven had time to do, one last act of defiance before Aldric, now appearing to relax with the passing of Raven as a threat, dug his foot under her back and kicked her over to Cinder.

Cinder almost didn't comprehend what had happened, it had happened so fast. She couldn't rip her eyes away from Aldric, bathed in the blood red light, face hidden by his dark mask, coat billowing in the wind, blade harshly humming. Raven tried to take advantage of this and spit fire at the multi-maiden, but this fire was caught by the Terran Grimm's telekinesis and frozen before it could get any more than an inch past her lips.

"Because it makes her sloppy." Aldric called out, after sheathing her blade with a zip.