Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Once upon a time, the world of Remnant was a peaceful one. The five kingdoms scattered across its surface were, at the very least, amenable to one another. But as with all great things, the peace wasn't to last, and a deadly conflict between the desert nation of Vacuo and the more temperate nation of Vale brought about the end of an era. The effects of the so-called great war were many and varied, with one of the largest being the wholesale execution or banishment of any practitioners of magic or sorcery. Vacuo accused the mystical people of swaying the tide of the war in Vale's favour, as well as being abominations that deserved to be put down.

Vale did what it could to protect its famed mages, but at the end of the day, the peace they had been striving for was finally well within their grasp, which meant there was little room for compromise. They had at least promised to banish their more magically inclined citizens to a small Island off of Vale's coast, Patch. With the mages separated from the mainland, Vale had promised Vacuo that they would never again have an unfair advantage in combat. Eventually, the peace deal was signed, and any remaining mages still living within Vale’s borders were sent away to Patch to live out the rest of their lives in solitude. 

One Century Later

In the middle of a sparse forest, nestled away in a small corner of Patch, stood a simple albeit large cabin of wood and stone. It may not have looked like much, probably because it wasn't, but to the Rose - Xiao-Long family, it was home.

"-and you girls better be eating healthily! I don't want Ruby falling off the wagon. Her sugar diet's finally going well for once!" A low, almost authoritative voice said to her daughter, gently lecturing her to maintain her and her sister’s current eating habits for when they were out of the house.

Yang sighed, having already heard this spiel dozens of times already. "Now, Rae, they're both adults. I’m sure they can handle their own meals." Summer chimed in a soft voice, lightly chastising her wife for being just a little too overprotective. "Don't worry, Yang, we trust you. You can eat whatever your heart desires." She continued, reaching out and ruffling Yang's hair as she did so.

Raven rolled her eyes, always thinking that Summer was being too soft on their kids and yet secretly wishing that they looked up to her the same way. It was a vicious cycle. “At least promise me you’re not going to take any cookies with you, you know how Ruby gets-” Raven began to at least attempt to regain control of the situation until Ruby herself entered the room hauling a large gym bag over her shoulder.

“The cookies are packed, and I’m ready to leave!” Ruby announced grandly, plopping herself down onto the nearby sofa. Yang laughed and sent a slight smirk to Raven, who had frozen up mid-argument at Ruby’s appearance.

It was apparent that she wasn’t getting anywhere, so Raven shook her head as she turned to leave the room. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be making dinner.” She said as she dragged herself into the kitchen.

Summer softly giggled at her partner's attitude. She knew that underneath all that tough exterior, Raven really did care for the two young mages in the house and that she just had a funny way of showing it. “I’ll be right out, sweetie!” Summer called after her before turning her attention back down to the newest arrival. “And how’s my little angel feeling? All excited for your first time out of Patch?” She clasped her hands together in excitement for Ruby’s first expedition.

Ruby smiled up at her mom, one of the big toothy grins that she was known for. “I can’t wait!” She practically cheered, swapping her gaze from her mother to her sister. “We’re leaving soon, right?”

Yang couldn’t help but chuckle at Ruby’s exuberance. “Yeah, we’ll be going soon, don’t worry. Just gotta say bye to dad and make sure we’ve got everything packed.” She said reassuringly, turning to leave the room and joining her own mother in the kitchen. After the horrors that befell mage-kind during the aftermath of the great war, almost all of the mages that survived and were banished to Patch were very scared and worried about their future. 

Not that Patch was a terrible place to live. In fact, the entire island was already inhabited by many Valean mages due to its natural enchanted properties. But the tragedy of the war had lingering effects on its survivors, and they were afraid of being hunted down by Vacuo extremists or being abandoned by the Valean government. Because of this, the family dynamic of mages changed drastically in the ensuing years.

Rather than the traditional couple of people occupying a household, mages began to band together for added safety and security on the sparse island. At first, it was merely out of necessity, but as the years wore on, it slowly became very natural, and pretty soon, large families of mages began cropping up all over the island. For Ruby and Yang, this was no different, as they shared a house with four different guardians, Summer Rose, Taiyang Xiao-Long, Raven Branwen, and her brother Qrow Branwen.

The four of them had heard stories about the war from their parents, and since they had all been together, it only made sense to turn their friendship into an alliance they could be proud of. Fairly soon, they had charges of their own to care for, and they could only hope that Ruby and Yang both grew up to have large, protective families that they could rely on. "I can't wait to get out there!" Ruby said, jumping up from her spot on the couch. "Can you tell me about the five nations again?!" She asked her mother excitedly, practically hopping in place.

Summer chuckled, never once getting tired of her daughter's boundless energy. "Of course, Ruby." She answered, turning to take a seat on the oversized comfy chair in the corner. "First, you've got Vale. That’s where Nana Rose came from, and, well, all of us mages did." Summer said, reiterating the descriptions of the outside world that she had told Ruby many times before. "Next door is their neighbour, Mistral. Mistral is a wonderful place, with large green fields and glorious towering mountains as far as the eye can see. You'll love it, Ruby." 

Ruby couldn't wipe the large smile off her face as her mother spoke about these far-off lands. Far off lands which were finally well within her grasp. "And then there's Vacuo. Vacuo...used to be a horrible place for our kind." Summer said, her smile dropping slightly as she stared off into the distance. She shook her head and returned her gaze down to her daughter, smiling once again. "But that was a long time ago; everybody has made major strides to return the world to its previous neutrality. In fact, it was within your lifetime that Vacuo began to allow mages back into its borders." She raised a hand up and ruffled Ruby's hair. "Who knows what the future will hold for us? I'm just glad that you'll be around to see it." 

The idea that it had taken so long for Vacuo to shove out their old beliefs did little to comfort the small mage sat before Summer, and she felt uneasy at the idea that her kind were treated so poorly. It was a shame, too. Vacuo’s golden deserts always seemed like a beautiful place to visit. "Next up is Menagerie. An island, much like Patch, but inhabited almost entirely by Faunus." Ruby had heard many stories about the Faunus throughout her life. She had heard that they wielded a very different type of magic that most humans feared, even other mages like herself. And yet, any and all questions regarding this magic had been met with hushed whispers, and Ruby couldn't wait to see what sort of tricks a Faunus could pull off when she eventually got around to meeting one.

Having heard the tales of the outside world countless times growing up, Ruby knew which one was coming next. "And finally, you have Atlas. Which is where you're going first if you remember. Atlas is...very diverse! And they take their peacekeeping very seriously. Make sure you stay on the straight and narrow." Summer said sternly.

Ruby giggled softly. "I will, mom! Yang'll make sure I do!" 

She beamed as Summer reached a hand out and ruffled her hair. "I'm so excited for you to get out there and show the world what Ruby Rose is made of!" 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Yang was kneeling down in the kitchen, currently rifling through a yellow gym bag of her own, her hands delving down into the impossibly deep interior as she was triple checking she had everything she needed for the trip ahead of her. One of the benefits of being a mage was having access to a whole range of magically enchanted items, including non-euclidian bags that were much larger on the inside. 

Benefits such as items like these were things that almost all mage-kind made use of, especially ones going on their first expedition off of Patch. "I'm just saying that this is a big commitment you've signed yourself up for! You two could be gone for months, maybe even years. And you've got to babysit Ruby the whole way!" Raven said, hands on her hips in the way only a serious mother could do.

"It's not babysitting. She’s a grown-up now, as much as you refuse to accept it. Besides, I have a two-year head start…." Yang said with a smirk as she raised her arm up and opened up the palm of her hand. Before Raven could stop her, a small flame appeared in Yang's hand which quickly grew into a large fireball. Raven's panic slowly faded from her face as the fireball kept its shape. Yang retained her confident smirk all the while. "See? Nothin' to worr-"

The atmosphere in the room instantly changed when Yang's fireball exploded, sending burning hot embers and sparks away from Yang's palm and into the room. Yang instinctively shielded her face with her arm, wincing as she felt a sharp pain on the back of her hand, while Raven instantly shot into action, raising her own hand up and conjuring a protective bubble around herself. 

The bubble popped with magical energy, putting out some of the small fires around the room while also soothing the burns on Yang's hand. Yang looked over at the cotton drapes covering the small kitchen window as a fire slowly burned them away. She heard Raven tut from beside her. "This is why we always say no magic in the house!" Raven said, raising a hand out and spraying cleansing water onto the drapes, putting out the last of the fire.

A few seconds later, Taiyang burst into the room from the outside door."What was that noise?!" He asked in surprise, taking in the black charred marks scattered around the kitchen as well as Raven's intense staring contest with a nervous-looking Yang.

Raven's frown curved up into a smirk as she kept her intense gaze on Yang. "Our precious daughter was trying to prove that she was a grown-up." She said simply, allowing the mess in the kitchen to explain itself.

Tai tutted as he pulled a small cloth out of a drawer beside him. "And this is why we always say no magic in the house." He said, wetting the cloth and beginning to wipe away the black soot staining the countertops.

His annoyance was met with a growl as Yang folded her arms in front of her. "You don't need to tell me twice! Jeez…" She said, scowling at Raven.

"Maybe if you listened in the first place. we wouldn't have to keep repeating ourselves." Raven argued back with renewed confidence in her voice. 

"Look, Yang, we're not trying to be so hard on you. It’s just...we know what it's like going out there to tackle the rest of the world. It’s not easy." Tai said, hoping to calm the situation down somewhat. He threw the blackened cloth into the trash and headed to the sink to wash the soot off his hands. “And when we did it, there were four of us!”

Yang huffed and leaned back against the counter. “So what, me and Ruby aren’t good enough now?” She asked, turning to look out of their small and crooked kitchen window. 

Raven sighed and shared a look with Tai, hoping to find the right thing to say. “You have no idea what to expect out there, Dragon.” He said in his most comforting voice, taking a step closer to place a hand on Yang’s shoulder. “You could be the strongest mage on all of Remnant, but the outside world would still chew you up and spit you back here without a second thought.” Yang shrugged his arm off but continued to listen to his words rather than storm out of the room. Which was progress, as far as her parents were concerned. “What I’m trying to say is...it’s not either of your skills we’re worried about; it’s your lack of experience with how things work out there.” Raven nodded in agreement, already knowing that Tai had managed to say her thoughts better than she ever could. “So just promise us, you’ll be careful and keep you and your little sister out of trouble, okay?”

After a tense moment of silence Yang eventually dropped her arms. “I guess if it’ll get you guys off my back.” She said quietly. “I promise I’ll be careful.” Tai continued to look at her, and Yang knew precisely what he was asking, so she sighed. “And I'll look after Ruby too.”

“That’s my girl!” Her father said, reaching up and ruffling her hair. Yang knocked his hand away and turned back around to her pack, lifting it up and swinging it around her shoulder. “Message us as soon as you get to Atlas, okay?” Tai said, waving his scroll around for emphasis. 

“I will.” Yang agreed once more. “It’s a few days before we get to the balloons, so don’t wait up!” Yang said in finality, waving goodbye to her parents and retreating back into the living room to rendezvous with her sister.

Tai turned to Raven with a smug grin on his face. “Don’t say a word.” Raven cut him off before he even had a chance to speak. Tai mimed, zipping his lips up before stepping forward and scoping Raven into a hug. “Have you seen my brother around? He said he wanted to do something special for the girls before they left.” Raven asked, gently hugging Taiyang back.

She managed to get a shrug in response. “Qrow? Beats me. I think he said something about a present for the kids, but I haven’t seen him in a few days.” Tai said, assuming that his brother-in-law was going to show up at some point before they left. “Come on, let’s go see our little adventurers off.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------

“...and don’t forget it’s cold in Atlas, so ask Yang to keep those heat enchantments up on your cape. It’ll help!” Yang rejoined her sister and other-mother in the living room just to catch the tail end of one of Summer’s lectures. As expected, Ruby was wide-eyed and hanging onto Summer’s every word, bringing a smile to Yang's face.

The appearance of her older sister snapped Ruby out of her trance, and she grinned wildly up at Yang with pure excitement in her eyes. “Are you ready to go?!” She asked, instantly hopping up to her feet. 

Both Yang and Summer couldn’t help but share a chuckle at Ruby’s boundless, childlike exuberance. “Yep, everything’s packed, and I just survived a pep talk from pops. I think it’s time to head out," Yang said back to her little sister. Summer stood up from her spot on the couch and quickly wrapped her arms around Ruby in a hug.

“I’ll miss you guys!” Yang turned around to see who Ruby was referring to, only to find that Tai and Raven had joined them in their admittedly cramped living room. “But I think I’m ready to go, too,” Ruby said, leaving her mother’s embrace and bounding towards the front door, swinging it wide open. “C’mon Yang, there’s a whole world out there waiting for us!” She shouted once again, not hesitating in dashing outside and heading halfway down the path on her own accord.

Yang was worried that she would have to pry Ruby away from her family in order to leave, but it seems that she actually should have been worried about being rushed out instead. She turned towards the gathered parents, sending a smile Summer’s way while leaning forward to pull Tai and Raven into a shared hug. “I’ll look after her. You have my word.” She said, pulling away from the hug and turning towards the door. “Right, I better go. We’ll be in touch!” She said finally, racing out of the door to join her sister with one final goodbye wave.

“Ruby, wait up!” Yang called while dashing to catch up with her sister. She didn’t make it very far before getting stopped by another person yelling out from beside the house.

“Hey, you weren’t gonna leave without saying goodbye to your favourite uncle, were you?” The all too familiar gravelly voice of Qrow called out as Yang reached her sister.

“Uncle Qroooooow!” Ruby shouted as she stopped what she was doing to turn around and leap towards her uncle. She outstretched her arms as she did so and wrapped him up in a hug. “Where have you been?!” 

Qrow laughed as even Yang bounded over towards him, a big smile on her face. “Well, I knew you two were gonna be heading out, so I figured I’d sneak away to my nest and make you guys some presents.” He explained, reaching into his coat pocket. He lifted his hand back out, now holding small jewelry boxes, and handed one of each to the young women in front of him. “A little something of my own design.” He added to the intrigue with a smirk. 

Naturally, Ruby opened hers first, tearing open the box as soon as she was able to. She slowed down and gasped when she saw the contents of Qrow’s present, with Yang doing much the same thing afterwards. “Woah, Qrow, this looks so beautiful!” Ruby couldn’t help but exclaim, pulling out the small chain necklace and holding it in front of her. The chain wasn’t as impressive as attached to it; a small roughly cut ruby encased in a copper frame. The gemstone shone brilliantly, and Ruby could tell from how it reflected the sunlight that the item was enchanted. She looked over to Yang and saw that she, too, was holding a necklace of her own. It was in their uncle's signature style but had a brilliant topaz instead, a fitting gem to match her sister's yellow colour scheme, she thought.

“So, as you may have already guessed, those are both enchanted," Qrow said, folding his arms confidently in front of him. "Keep them on, and they'll keep you safe." He added to his explanation.

"Thanks, Qrow!" Yang said, smiling up at her uncle. "What do they do exactly?" She asked curiously as she slipped the chain over her neck.

Qrow tapped a finger to his nose. "That would ruin the fun of the surprise." He chuckled when he saw the frowns appear on Ruby and Yang's faces. "Besides, I hope you never have to find out." He added cryptically. "Now, get a move on, it's a long trek from here to the port, and I bet you both can't wait to get out of here."

Ruby gave Qrow a high five before turning to jog back down the path. "Thank you, uncle Qrow!" She called as she ran down the pathway away from the house. 

Yang watched Ruby go with a smile on her face. "Thanks again, old man, we'll be in touch!" Yang said, sending a quick wave in Qrow's direction before continuing down to Ruby's side. 

Qrow couldn't help but laugh at the nickname Yang had given him. "Old ain't even the half of it, Firecracker." He muttered as he watched his two nieces leave the safety of their home. "You kids'll find that out soon enough."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

As part of the peace-brokering contract that sealed their fate, any witch or wizard residing on Patch were bound to the island until their 18th birthday, where they were finally allowed to leave to the remainder of the world. It was an incredibly restricting rule, one which had been petitioned against time and time again. Yet, despite all of the mages arguing, it had stuck and will likely remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Yang was just as eager as Ruby to make her way off the island, but she had also been incredibly close to her younger sister and didn't want to leave her alone for her time away. Instead, she made a vow to leave with Ruby as soon as she was allowed to leave, which meant that Yang had to wait two whole years until Ruby was old enough to go.

And as soon as she saw Ruby's large grin, she knew that the wait was more than worth it. "Are you excited, Ruby?" Yang asked as the two of them meandered down the dirt track leading away from their house. 

"Are you kidding?! We've been stuck in Patch for so long I've run out of places to explore!" Ruby beamed, with the hop in her step proving that her excitement was genuine. "And I get to do it all with my favourite person in the whole world! Thank you for waiting for me, Yang." She added, pausing her walk to dash over and hug her sister.

“Of course I was going to wait, Rubes, we've done everything together, and there’s no way I’m letting my lil’ sis down now!” She graciously returned Ruby's hug, ruffling her hair before pulling away from her. “We’re taking on the big, wide world the only way we should, as sisters!”

“Yeah!” Ruby cheered, raising a heroic fist into the air. Yang mirrored her sister's act with a slight chuckle, smiling in glee as Ruby picked up the pace again, hopping down the pathway excited for the remainder of their journey. Yang tightened the strap on her weightless bag to get more comfortable before moving again to catch up with her sister. 

While the two of them may have trundled around Patch, exploring all they could, the exact route to the balloon port that promised them safe passage across the waters was a mystery to them. Their guardians had done their best to fill them in with what to expect, but Yang was sure that she had forgotten some of the more intricate details. Their first step was an easy one; continue following the path that would eventually lead them through the small forest that surrounded their family home. 

Apart from the occasional bird or insect, the forest was largely barren, and the path was straight and simple. In fact, when they were younger, the two mages spent a lot of time playing hide and seek in this very forest, trying to find each other with their undeveloped detection spells. They both had to admit that they had gotten pretty good with that particular field of magic, much to the pleasure of their family, who assured them that the awareness would come in very handy when they were out there in the wilderness.

Once they had cleared the familiar forest, things became a little more tricky for the young duo. Qrow had taught them that the best way to head to the port was to travel south from a place called the Whispering Cave. Thankfully they already knew where the cave was. However, it was still a good hour away from their current location.

As soon as Ruby realised that this trek would likely take the whole day, she sighed in exasperation. "Is it bad that I'm already bored?" Ruby whined as she followed behind an equally bored-looking Yang.

"Yeah, kinda, we've got a long way to go…." Yang muttered out. She scanned the horizon ahead of them, bringing a hand up above her eyes to shield them from the sunlight. She spotted a small trail that snaked around the base of a cliff that would lead them slightly off track but would undoubtedly be better than trekking across the rough terrain. "Let's go, Ruby. I see a path," Yang said simply, leading the way for the two of them.

Ruby groaned but continued to keep pace with her sister, the spring in her step having faded as boredom began to set in. After a few minutes of travelling down the new, less developed track, Ruby had had enough. She broke the silence with a curious look towards Yang and another equally curious one at her surroundings. "I spy with my little eye….something beginning with M!"

Yang's reaction was instant as she tilted her head to one side curiously. She didn't say anything, though, and Ruby was worried that for a second, she didn't hear her. Just as Ruby was about to repeat herself, Yang spoke up. "Mountains." She said simply, earning a long groan from Ruby in the process. "Don't get angry, Rubes, you're messing with the pro here! I spy with my little eye…." Ruby was happy that Yang was humouring her with the little game. She hoped it would make their trek a little less boring. "Something beginning with C!" 

Ruby immediately got to work, looking around at their environment for something that stood out. A few things came to mind, but she tried the more obvious one first. "Cliffs!" She said, but her mood deflated when she saw Yang shake her head. "Ummm… Oh, clothes!" Ruby guessed again, earning another negative headshake from Yang. 

Not one for giving up easily, Ruby squinted her eyes and scanned the horizon once again. That's when she saw it, a small wooden post with a bit of fabric blowing in the wind tied to the top. Ruby's face lit up, and she dashed further down the path towards the stick as fast as she could. She raised both hands up and pointed to it with a smug smile on her face. "Cloth!" She shouted back to her sister, gesturing to the flowing fabric. 

Yang laughed and shook her head one more time. "I couldn't even see that when I told you my guess!" Yang said as she picked up the pace to catch up with her sister. "C'mon, Ruby, it's obvious. I was looking at the GRIMM!" Yang's tone suddenly shifted, and she broke into a sprint towards her sister.

Completely unaware of the danger she was in, Ruby scoffed and waved an arm at her sister. "Grimm? There's no Grimm here, Yang! Besides, Grimm doesn't start with a-" Ruby suddenly yelped as her sister slammed into her, tackling her down to the ground and letting them slide along the grass beside the path. Before Ruby could ask what the tackle was for, she saw a Beowolf leaping through the air with its claws outstretched, swiping at the place she had just been standing moments prior.

Ruby shook her head to recover from the shock, but her sister had already leapt into action. She watched on in awe as Yang growled in anger and stood in a protective pose above her. She raised up both of her arms with balled fists as if she was about to start throwing punches, but when she opened up her hands her palms were glowing with a scorching hot fire, and Ruby figured out precisely what was about to happen.

Yang brought an arm back before swinging it forward, throwing a molten hot ball of fire at her sister's attacker. Her other arm did the same moments later, which gave time for the first fireball to regenerate. Fairly soon, her arms were moving in sync with one another as she hurled fireball after fireball at the Beowolf, with most connecting with their target. 

The creature was pelted with strike after strike of explosive fire, and pretty soon, it collapsed to the ground and ceased to be, evaporating into a fine mist with one final squeal of pain. Yang's heavy breathing was all that the sisters heard for a moment before the roar of another Beowolf sprung them back into action. 

Ruby hopped up to her feet and raised both of her palms up into the air, her hands glowing a light pinkish colour for a second. "Can you try to buy me some time?" Ruby called out to her sister, who simply nodded curtly as a response. Yang dashed forward down the path and around the bend, where she saw two more angry Beowolves waiting for her, one of them considerably larger than the other.

And just as she spotted them, they spotted her, snarling angrily at their latest threat. Yang hesitated a bit when she saw the size of the bigger Beowolf that was growling at her, seemingly angry about the loss of its comrade. But she knew that she couldn’t wait around, so she cupped both of her palms together in front of her and began to cultivate a new energy in her hands. She slowly pulled them apart to reveal a raging fire brewing in between them. The flame alone wasn’t enough to ward off the Grimm, the larger of which rose up on its hind legs and began to howl, which signaled their incoming attack. Just as they began to run towards Yang, she thrust her hands forward, sending an initial force of fire barreling into her targets before proceeding to maintain a steady stream of fire that managed to stagger her would-be attackers.

She knew that the fire alone wouldn't be enough to stop them completely, but she only had to slow them down for now, which was exactly what she was managing to achieve. She peeked her head over the flames to get a look at the Beowolves, just in time to see the bigger one shielding its face and proceeding through the fire, getting a little too close for comfort. Yang pulled her hands back slightly and then thrust them forward, sending a burst of energy down the firestream. Her tactic worked, and the large Grimm stumbled backwards, undoing the progress it had made advancing on the mage.

The extra energy burst made Yang feel more tired, and just as she expected, her makeshift flamethrower started to peter out. 'C’mon Rubes…' Her mind began to race as she knew that she would have to wait awhile before charging her flamethrower move up again. Thankfully she was saved when she finally heard her little sister's voice from around the corner. "Ready!" Ruby called out, instantly shattering Yang’s concern.

Yang closed her palms, and almost instantly, the fire stopped, revealing a duo of very charred, very angry Grimm standing before her. She smirked at them before turning around and dashing back around the corner towards her sister. As expected, Ruby's pink magic glow had turned into a deep crimson, and her arms were starting to shake in an attempt to contain the energy brewing within her. "Duck!" Ruby shouted as soon as she saw the Beowolves come bounding around the corner. Yang dived to the ground just in time to see two long, thorny vines whip out of Ruby's hands and extend out towards the Grimm. 

They both started to flail wildly, with Ruby concentrating her hardest to focus on slicing at and striking at the Grimm in front of them. Yang, meanwhile, had crawled underneath the thorny green tendrils and was now sitting on the ground beside her sister, watching the dark creatures get pulverised by Ruby's nature magic.

After a few seconds, Ruby pulled her palms back, and the vines slowly receded back into the glowing red spots on her hands; both of the Grimm had been completely obliterated. A deafening silence returned to the sunny cliffside path, with the only evidence that a fight had taken place left being the fiery scorch marks in the ground and heaving breathing coming from the two young mages.

Ruby and Yang both shared a long look before their mouths curved up at the edges. "That was awesome!" Ruby cheered, holding a hand out to help Yang to her feet. "Since when could you throw so many fireballs at once?!"

Yang simply smirked at her combat partner. "I've been practising for the trip." She then dashed forward and pulled Ruby into a sisterly hug. "But that's nothin' compared to what you did with your vines! You charged them up so quickly," she added with a cheer of happiness, beaming with pride down at her younger sister.

Not used to the attention, Ruby blushed and tried to push away from her sister. "Stop, it wasn't anything special." She said modestly, managing to break free from Yang's tight grasp. "Besides, I couldn't have done it without you slowing them down! I can always rely on you, sis."

Yang raised a hand up to give Ruby a well-deserved high five. "I think we make a pretty great team. We're gonna have to rely on each other out here. From what everybody's told us, it's only going to get more dangerous as we go on.” She said, turning to look out at the horizon.

"I can always count on you, Yang," Ruby said in earnest, walking back down the path to pick up the bag she had accidentally dropped when she got attacked. "But I don't like how big that Grimm was. It was bigger than anything I've ever seen in Patch…." Ruby idly said to herself as she rejoined her sister's side.

"You're right…." Yang said solemnly, thinking back to the fight. Her parents had taught them both about the Grimm before, but they had always said that Patch's natural magic warded off the ferocious creatures. While they may have still cropped up on the island, they were rare, and more grown-up ones were practically unheard of.

But that was a query for another day, they had a pilgrimage to make, and Yang wasn't about to let her concerns ruin their schedule. She sent a confident smirk at her sister. "We better be careful then!" She cheered out as her bravado returned, hoping that her concerns were unfounded and the Alpha Beowolf was little more than a freak occurrence.

After the adrenaline of the fight began to wear off, the two of them continued on with their journey towards the balloon port. They knew they had to make it there before sundown, camping before they left Patch wasn't on the agenda, and the Grimm only became more active at night.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been a solid four hours of on and off travelling, eating, and fighting for the young mages, but all of their hardships were about to pay off as they reached the edge of a cliff that they had been traversing and finally saw exactly what it was they had been looking for. The official Patch/Mainland transit hub. Or, as it was more commonly referred to as, the Balloon Port.

The two sisters cheered as they finally got a view of their goal after almost a whole day of trekking. They started to make their way down the pathway that appeared to lead them straight to the front gates of the port. "This is the home stretch," Yang announced, glancing over at her excitable sister. "After this, it's an hour-long ride through the skies!" 

Ruby groaned as she heard Yang's time estimate once again. Their game of I Spy only lasted so long before she started to feel the strain of their long trip, and now she was reminded that she had even more time to wait. "I should have brought some books with me." She grumbled as the two of them trundled down the dirt path.

Yang chuckled at her sister's pain. She too was starting to feel the drag of their long trip, but she also knew that it was rapidly nearing its end. “Chin up, Ruby, we’ll be in Atlas before you know it!” Her words appeared to fall on death ears when Ruby suddenly started to dash forward down the path. “Woah, what’s up?!” Yang asked as her sister started putting some distance between them. She jogged along to catch up but stopped when she saw the sight that had clearly captivated Ruby. “Woah….” She hummed in awe.

Ahead of them, a bit further down the incline was a large field of freshly bloomed crimson red roses. Ruby’s favourite flower, as well as her moms. Yang's pace had slowed down but she continued down the path, following in her sister's footsteps. “They’re so pretty….” Ruby muttered, barely loud enough for Yang to catch, but catch it, she did.

“They really are….” Yang replied as she crouched down on the floor beside her sister. She reached out her hand and ran her fingers across the silky petals of one of the red flowers. All of a sudden, the petals started to lose their colour, and Yang looked over at Ruby to confirm her beliefs; her sister was performing some sort of nature magic on the flower. Ruby was holding out her palm, with green magic emanating from her hand, as the flower's red petals slowly started to turn white due to her manipulation. "Woah, where did you learn to do that?" Yang asked in awe.

Ruby smiled warmly at her new creation. "Oh, Raven taught me this last week, it's just colours at the moment, but she said soon she could teach me how to grow them faster,” Ruby explained. Yang marveled at how much progress her sister had been making, Ruby was already far better than she was at her age, and she was only getting better as time wore on. “Red roses are neat, but I think they look better in white, don’t you?” Ruby said, absentmindedly running her own fingers along the freshly coloured petals. “Something about them is almost...comforting.”

It wasn't the most common observation in the world, but as Yang looked over the sea of red they were on the edge of and compared it with the white flower Ruby had altered, she began to see what she meant. 

It seems that the local insect population was also in agreement, as a pudgy-looking bumblebee appeared seemingly from out of nowhere and flew down onto the white rose. It landed on the edge of a petal and made it bounce up and down. Ruby couldn't help but chuckle at the thought that her recolouring had somehow made the flower look more attractive to the little creature. However, it happened the bumblebee went about its business, pollinating the flower before taking back off into the chilly Patch wind. "Nature is so cool," Yang said, earning another small giggle from Ruby beside her. 

"You're such a dork," Ruby said, hopping up to her feet and continuing to run down the pathway. 

Yang couldn't help but laugh at her sister's antics before she too jumped up to her feet. "Says the girl who just dyed a flower!" She jeered as she chased her sister down the pathway, the two of them laughing the whole while.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Anyone who wished to leave Patch, whether they had just turned eighteen or is this was their hundredth trip, was legally bound to use a suspended zeppelin, colloquially known as balloons, to reach several different areas on the mainland. They only operated from this port, and each and everyone was logged and monitored by the Valean government.

The port had been established a few years after the mages were sent away to isolation, and the law was still coming down hard on their kind. Only a very select few were allowed to leave at a time, and that's only if they wanted to, as the early years after the war still saw Vacuo and even Mistral applying heavy amounts of pressure for magic wielders to keep off the mainland. 

Over the years, their positions relaxed, and eventually, more and more balloons came into service. By the time the next generation had rolled around, travel to the mainland had become commonplace, and the fears instilled in their predecessors weren't being carried over to the new, young generation of mages, who were yearning to get out there and explore forbidden lands.

It was thanks to this second generation's efforts, their parents included, that all Ruby and Yang needed to do was sign their names before being allowed on their designated balloon. The peppy Valean official that had presented them with the documents gave them a small bow as they approached their transport for the evening.

The two mages were slightly nervous, not quite knowing what to expect, as the balloon ascended and rose up into the sky. As the balloon, along with its payload, left the safety of Patch, it went past the point of no return for the sisters. It wasn't staffed, being powered by a magic guidance spell, which meant that Ruby and Yang were now in it for the long haul. Not that either of them were complaining, they've been waiting to leave Patch for most of their teen years at this point.

The small basket suspended below the giant cloth balloon looked rickety enough to give even the most frequent fliers a fright. But Ruby and Yang had been told tales from their friends and family enough times to trust the arcane trickery that kept them afloat, even if they didn't truly understand it. 

The balloon drifted gently through the wind and towards its destination. Unfortunately for the sisters; travelling from their home island to anywhere on Remnants mainland consisted mainly of flat ocean views that the young mages quickly started to grow bored of once again. However, it did mean that the far and few between sightings of gargantuan aquatic Grimm or wayward boats traversing the choppy waters provided more than enough excitement to keep them entertained.

"Woah Yang, look at the size of that thing!" Ruby pointed down towards the great blue expanse. It was hard for Yang to miss what Ruby was referring to, after all, the large black, red, and white body of a gigantic Whale Grimm stood out easily amongst the sapphire ocean. 

"Wow, that's really somethin'," Yang said with an impressed whistle. 

Ruby's eyes remained wide in awe. "Do you think we'll ever fight something that big?!" She asked, her voice filling up with excitement.

Yang chuckled as she leaned back over the edge of the basket, dropping down to sit with her back against the sides once more. "I reckon we could take it." She said in total confidence while smirking up at her excitable sister.

Ruby bunched her hands up into fists and made several punching motions. "Yeah, especially with all of our practice, it wouldn't stand a chance!" She cheered out, coaxing a laugh from her sister. "Hey, do you think we'll have to do a lot of fighting when we get to Atlas?" Ruby asked as she took a seat beside her sister.

As much fun as they had using their magic to fight, Ruby's question was not entirely unfounded. After all, the two of them were running on fumes, not having had any sleep since early that morning. And as Yang eyed the orange setting sun over the horizon, she had hoped they were done fighting for the day. "I don't think so. Remember what dad said? We land in Beacon, and go straight to Atlas. Someone will be there to sort out our accommodation, which means that as soon as we touch down, we'll be minutes away from a pair of comfortable beds."

Ruby let out a weak cheer at the good news while idly growing a small leafy plant out of a swirling green pool in her hand. She watched in awe as fresh leaves sprouted before her eyes. After a few seconds, they began to fall off the plant one by one as her creation started to wither and die. Temporary creations like the rose vines from earlier were a lot easier to manage than outright creating new plant life, and Ruby sighed, wondering if she would ever be able to accomplish it. 

Before she had too long to ponder on her own questions, Yang said something that immediately grabbed Ruby's attention. "Speaking of Beacon…" Ruby looked up at Yang only to see the fiery spellcaster shielding her eyes and looking out into the distance. 

Ruby instantly hopped up to her feet and followed Yang's eyes over the sea. She gasped when she saw the large spires of Beacon Towers piercing the foggy ocean mist. Ruby cast her eyes lower and sure enough, she saw the telltale sign of land in the form of sheer white cliffs. Vale was within throwing distance and, very soon, their long tiresome trip would be over.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The basket they were in was travelling at a perfectly steady level for the duration of the trip, which meant that they felt a noticeable change in elevation when it started to descend towards solid ground. It sailed over the walls surrounding Beacon, clearing them even as it continued to get lower and lower towards its destination. The girls saw other balloons coming and going from the landing pads below them, and they were excited to see signs of civilization once more.

"Well, here we are!" Yang said in glee as she took in the sights of the imposing building before them. What was once the shining jewel for magically inclined academics everywhere, the once-proud Beacon Academy hadn't been used as such in decades. While most of the other mage schools had since been emptied, demolished, or abandoned, Beacon had been repurposed into little more than a transport hub.

As the basket gently came to rest on the ground, the sisters practically sprinted to the small opening in the basket that had magically appeared, exiting the balloon as soon as they were able.

"Miss Yang Xiao-Long!" A voice suddenly called out, grabbing the attention of the older sister almost immediately. "And Miss Ruby Rose." The voice spoke again, drawing the attention now of the younger sister. The woman speaking was a tall, blonde lady with a very authoritative demeanour. Even without knowing her identity, the two girls knew she was someone they wanted to listen to. "I've been awaiting your arrival. I trust the trip didn't give you any problems?" 

Ruby and Yang glanced at each other for a moment, sharing a quick shrug before returning their attention to the mysterious lady. "No…  it was...alright?" Ruby answered, decidedly unsure of herself.

Either the questioning woman hadn't noticed Ruby's hesitation, or she simply didn't care. "Very good. My name is Glynda Goodwitch, and I am here by request to escort you both to the Mantle portal. I don't often take personal requests. Your family must care a great deal about the two of you." Glynda breathed a small, exasperated sigh. "It's also not often I get the same request from four different people."

The fact that their guardians had gone to these lengths to keep them safe on their journey made Yang let out a silent cheer. It was a nice reminder that despite their conflicting attitudes, they were still a family at the end of the day, and they cared a great deal about one another. Ruby snapped Yang out of her thoughts when she brought up a good point. "Mantle? I thought we were going to Atlas?"

Glynda sighed again. "Due to...a conflict of interest, Atlas is currently not accepting portal travel directly to their capital. Alas, the new procedure is to travel to Mantle first." The news came as a bit of a shock to the sisters. The shock must have been evident on their faces, because Glynda was quick to clarify. "It's no problem, we have sorted adequate accommodation for you both in Mantle instead. However, I fear you may have to make your own way up to Atlas itself. It appears we no longer have jurisdiction there.” Gylndas apparent displeasure with the situation in Atlas was evident on her face. Still, she shook her head after a moment and gestured to the sisters to follow her into the old building, putting her role as a guardian first. A move which Yang couldn’t help but respect

They headed down the paved pathway that snaked in between the various landing ports for the balloons and into Beacon proper, with both Yang and Ruby marvelling at the various paintings that sat upon the walls depicting famous mages, witches, and sorcerers. It appears that Beacon had also become somewhat of a museum in the intervening years since the war. Understandable, since it was also the last safe bastion for any mages that were left in mainland Vale. “So, how exactly is this going to work?” Yang asked their helpful advisor as they made their way through the long corridors of the grand building

Glynda slowed her pace ever so slightly as she explained the basics. “As soon as you step through the portal, you will be taken to Mantle.” She abruptly stopped walking as if she just remembered something important, almost causing Yang and Ruby to plow into the back of her. “Before I forget, here is the key to your new accommodation.” Glynda reached into a pocket on her shirt and produced a plain-looking house key. 

She dropped it into Yang’s outstretched hand, but as soon as the metal touched Yang’s skin, she felt a vision flash into her head, a vision of a small bungalow sitting amidst trees that had been stripped of their leaves. The ground, and indeed the bungalow itself, was coated with a relatively thick layer of snow. “Woah!” Yang let out a small squeal, raising her arm up to wipe her eyes with the back of her hand. Pretty soon, her vision flashed back to normal, and the first thing she saw was a concerned Ruby looking up at her. "Okay...what just happened?"

“I forgot the key was enchanted.” Glynda gave Yang a slight bow.  “My apologies. What you just saw was your accommodation for the trip. All you need to do is hold that key and concentrate, and you’ll always find your way back there.” Sure enough, if Yang focused on the key she could subconsciously make out exactly how to get to the small cabin, despite having never seen it before. “Another thing you girls are going to learn about is currency. As soon as you reach Mantle itself I highly recommend getting some work. You'll need money to buy your own food and the like.”

Money was a completely foreign concept to the young women. Of course, they knew that mainlanders needed it to survive, but it was entirely unnecessary on Patch as everyone banded together to keep their bellies full. Not to mention the use of magic to create some basic necessities, and the lack of government requiring some sort of tithe. Ruby and Yang glanced at each other, hoping that the idea of money wouldn’t be too hard for them to grasp. “How do we do that?” Ruby asked innocently enough.

“Well, you can get a conventional job selling your spells for basic services.” Glynda’s mouth curved up into a rare smile. “Or you take on contracts wiping out Grimm. They’re becoming a real problem nowadays, especially since we aren’t around to keep them in check. I think people didn’t know how much work we put into culling the beasts down.”

Glynda's explanation began to wind down as the trio approached the large central portal room. “Sounds good to us!" Yang cheered, punching her fists together for emphasis. “Fighting Grimm for money is as good as it gets. Heck, we killed a bunch of them on the way here!”

The more excited Yang got, the more Glynda felt the need to rein her in. She placed her hands on her hips, aiming a slight frown at the boisterous blonde. “You ought to tone back that attitude. Grimm are far worse and more numerous outside of Patch, and you girls are going to have to get used to fending for yourselves.” Glynda explained, hoping to temper Yang’s expectations somewhat. A sudden gasp from Ruby drew the attention of the duo, and they both turned to see what the younger girl had found.

As it turns out, Ruby had dashed ahead into the large circular room and marveled at all the large stone archways surrounding them. “Wow, Yang, come look at this!” She called out, altogether abandoning all decorum in front of the more experienced mage.

After hearing Ruby’s utter glee, Yang had a hard time restraining herself. With one quick glance at Glynda, she ran forwards to join her sister, glancing around at all the labeled doorways that surrounded them. “Woooahhh…”

Upon seeing the unrestrained awe in Yang and Ruby’s faces, Glynda couldn’t help but chuckle and join them in the large room. “Welcome to the start of your adventure. Atlas, was it? Follow me.” Glynda said, gesturing to the two girls and walking up a curved set of stone steps. They followed along, glancing at the mystical doorways that surrounded them, each and every one pulsating with a powerful magical energy. Glynda eventually led them to a stop in front of a stone archway with ‘Mantle’ engraved on the top. "So I presume you chose here to watch this year's Lyfe Festival?” Glynda asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow at the sisters. “I must say you're in for a treat."

Ruby turned to Glynda. "Actually, um, we were hoping to compete." She said awkwardly, hoping that they weren’t about to get into trouble. 

Thankfully Glynda just turned to face the curious girl. "Interesting…" She mumbled under her breath. "Do you think it's wise to participate in such a cutthroat event as part of your first trip away from home?" She questioned, hoping to learn more about the young womens' motivation.

"Why not?" Yang argued back. "Mom did it when she was our age!" She added, assuming that this Glynda person was an old family friend.

Her assumptions were proven correct when Glynda was quick to quip back. "Ah, there's that famous Branwen temper that I haven't missed." She said with a small chuckle. "I'm glad to see that you share Raven's passion, Yang." She said, watching as a smirk formed on Yang's features. "I was just making sure. As you're well aware the Lyfe Festival Tournament doesn't pull any punches, you two will be in for a rough time." Glynda was sure she didn't need to explain exactly what the festival entailed, but at the same time she feared for the safety of the young mages. 

Yang and Ruby looked at each other, bolstering their confidence to speak and relax Gylnda's fears. "We know." Ruby said softly.

"And we're ready." Yang said, turning away from Ruby's gaze to look at their parent's old mentor.

Glynda glanced between the two girls and, after seeing the conviction in their faces, firmly nodded to herself. "Very well. If you need any assistance then we have a small embassy in Atlas that you can use to get into contact with me. But as I said before, you won't be allowed to leave until our kingdoms reach some sort of...agreement." With that out of the way Glynda returned her attention to the swirling portal in front of them. She clicked her fingers and in an instant the blue light cleared up to reveal a snowy, boreal forest.

Yang recognised it as the same forest she saw in her vision from the key, only this time she felt a cold, bitter wind blowing from the portal itself. "Your future awaits." Glynda said grandly. "Miss Rose...Miss Xiao-Long...I wish you both the best of luck "

Yang looked over to her sister and raised an arm, grabbing Ruby's hand in her own. "You ready?" She asked.

Ruby responded with a nod, and together they stepped forward towards the snowy visage before them. Hand in hand, the two sisters walked into the portal and into parts unknown.

Their adventure had finally, truly begun. 

Chapter Text

An old, angular building sat nestled in between two sheer cliffs. It looked abandoned, with the only signs of life being a dim yellow light shining through its boarded-up windows. A lone black cat was slowly making its way towards it with determination in its amber eyes. As it approached, it recognised the building as an old military outpost from the great war. Once the fighting ceased all those years ago, both sides were quick to pull out their equipment and combatants, leaving their old structures to rot.

Unfortunately, an unguarded military base was prime real estate for more unsavoury types to take over and use for their own nefarious deeds. 

Two guards were standing sentinel in front of a small chain-link gate. They both looked impatient and sour as if they were waiting for something to happen. They were wearing matching uniforms consisting of a thin shirt underneath a metal armoured vest. They also had matching red and green tartan bandanas on their heads, the signature colour scheme for their particular organisation. One of them had shorts on while the other donned jeans, and both of them looked equally tired and bored out of their minds. "How long until Glass and Ray get here?" The taller-looking one asked in a gruff voice.

"They were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago!" The shorter guard responded. "Look, I'm hot too! We've just gotta wait until they show up." 

That wasn't the answer the beefier guard was looking for, as he turned to his colleague and scowled darkly at him. "If they ain't here in five more minutes, I'm going!"

The short man scoffed. "Good luck with that. If Missy catches you leaving early, there'll be hell to pay." Unbeknownst to the squabbling pair, the black cat was slowly making its way through the sandy desert wind and was now seemingly listening to their conversation from its concealed position. 

"Bah, it's not my fault if our relief is late!" The larger guard argued back. "Maybe if they cracked down on all this laziness, we would actually be making some progress here!" The bigger of the two men started to raise his voice as his frustrations began to catch up with him. "And why are we out here anyway? In the middle of the bloody desert? What are we-" His rant was cut off when a new voice appeared from behind the duo. 

"Chill out, homeslice." The confident, almost smug voice of one of their replacements called out. "We're here, alright?" 

The already ranting individual only became angrier when he was shown a lack of respect. "Chill out? Wait until Missy gets a load of this. You two were supposed to be here fifteen minutes ago! Just like yesterday! I've had enough!" He picked up his argument from where he left off, but he stopped and paused in shock when the new guard started to laugh.

"Get a load of ol' Rusty, he thinks complaining to the boss is gonna actually get results!" She said confidently, derailing his train of thought completely.

As soon as he realised he wasn't getting anywhere, the angry guard growled and stormed off towards the main building, presumably forgetting his threat at the risk of being humiliated further. His colleague laughed along with the new arrivals as Rusty stormed away. After a brief handover, he left his post as well, following his friend back to the main building. 

After a few seconds of idle chatter, the two new guards heard the chain link fence beside them rattling slightly. They both looked around for the source of the noise, only to see the small black cat from earlier drop down to the ground and meander its way towards the small base. They both looked at each other and shrugged in confusion, swiftly returning to their lookout duties.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

As the cat slowly made its way further and further into the camp, it kept swinging its head around, looking at the views that surrounded it. The most prominent feature of the old base was a large banner with tartan lettering on it. The letters spelt out HFR, which stood for Humans For Remnant. The cat-eyed the red and green sign as it approached the building and mentally scoffed at the idea that these savages claimed to unite people of all colours and backgrounds and yet causally excluded Faunus. The irony of their ideals was not lost.

To the left was a series of tents, six in total, beside a large training field. The tents contained tables, plans, weapons, and stored training dummies. Thankfully they were devoid of life, and the training grounds were barren, which meant that everybody was currently inside the building. Which is precisely what the small feline was hoping for.

On the north side of the base was a dilapidated watchtower, with only half the ladder remaining and the floor of the lookout perch collapsed in. The cat correctly assumed that two more guards were stationed at its base, watching the other gate into the camp. The entire facility was nestled in a small valley, which meant that the only two sides of the fence that contained an entryway were guarded by two soldiers each. The cat noted its findings and returned to the base proper.

It slowly walked around the old building, being careful to avoid sources of noise so as not to alert the inhabitants, before finding precisely the sort of thing it was looking for: an open window. With expert agility, the animal hopped up and used its front paws to grip onto the lower window sill. It hoisted itself up and perched itself on the side, cautiously glancing into the room. 

The cat found itself in a darkened room, with a thin sliver of light coming through the ajar door. It silently thanked its feline vision for being able to see perfectly in the dark, and it scanned the room from side to side, taking in the assorted boxes. Grenades, ammunition, fuel, car parts, and mixed scrap metal were all haphazardly strewn throughout the small storeroom. 

It hopped down to the ground and crept up to the open door, immediately hearing voices from the sizeable illuminated room on the other side. "-the White Fang’s getting cocky. Our recent defeat at Coyote Ridge has made them think they're untouchable." An authoritative voice was explaining to a small gathered group of about 15-odd soldiers.

The cat grinned to itself as soon as it realised they were talking about the White Fang. This was exactly the sort of intel it was after. Just as the boss was about to continue, the double doors on the far end of the main room swung open with a loud clang. The first two guards that were previously stationed at the front gate came jogging into the room, making their way over to the conference table in order to join in with the discussion. "You're both late." The woman in charge said. The smaller, more reasonable guard opened his mouth and prepared to speak but paused instead when the boss spoke up again. "I don't wanna hear excuses. Just sit down, shut up, and pay attention." 

"Yes, Missy."

"Sorry, Missy."

The two guards spoke in unison as they moved to a pair of empty seats. As soon as the late arrivals were settled in, Missy continued her speech, much to the delight of the small, dark feline curled up in the corner of the room. "As I was saying, Sienna's getting more and more confident as her and her stupid animals keep gaining ground. Coyote Ridge was yet another disappointment, so command has asked us to step up and take responsibility."

The news garnered a few angry murmurs to erupt around the table, all of which were quickly silenced when Missy began to speak again, unimpeded. "There's a White Fang base to the east of Corundum." She said plainly, returning order to the meeting. "They want us to take it by the end of the week."

The cat let out a silent gasp, and the group at the table did as well; The news seemingly came as a shock to everyone involved besides Missy herself. Just as before, the room became loud, filled with excited murmurs and surprised whispers. 'There's no way they're going to hit Corundum...' The cat thought to itself as the commotion began to die down 

One of the guards seemed to echo the animal's thoughts. "Woah, we don't have enough firepower for that." He took the initiative to speak up to their boss with concern. It seemed that his concern was well-founded, as the statement ushered in a silence and gave Missy a chance to explain herself.

"You know, that's exactly what I said," Missy replied, answering the room's confusion with a solution if her smirk was anything to go by. "They're sending down the Bulldozer."

The small cat's heart sank. Corundum could handle a dozen or so ill-equipped militants, but it didn't stand a chance if the Bulldozer got involved. The large siege engine was the HFR's pride and joy, and if they were willing to bring it all the way down here, then they were serious about how much the White Fang scared them. "Those Faunus freaks won't know what hit 'em!" Missy continued, laughing at the prospect of an easy victory.

'Shit, I need to warn Adam!' The cat's thoughts quickly transformed into action as it dashed out of the main hall and back through the ajar storeroom door. The cat leapt back up towards the window and dived out into the warm desert air. The mention of the Bulldozer was enough to conclude the cat's little recon mission. It had learned about an impending attack, which was precisely the sort of thing it was scouting for. 

The investigative feline sprinted across the open area and towards the front exit of the base, barreling towards the same fence it had used to enter the grounds. As it leapt up, clearing the fence with a single frenzied jump, it heard one of the guards shout at it to stop.

If only they knew who had just slipped through their fingers. The small feline sprinted away, leaving the base and the guards behind as it made its way out of the valley. Eventually, it found what it was looking for, a small rock formation further up the hill that was perfectly concealing the cat's partner; a tall red-headed Faunus with small bull horns on his head. "Blake." He said as the cat rounded the corner. "That was fast, even for you."

"I got what you wanted." In a blink of an eye, the tiny black cat was gone, and in its place was a strong-looking, lean, black-haired Faunus with small cat ears protruding from the top of her head. She didn't say another word, instead eyeing her colleague to see if he had mellowed out.

Evidently, he hadn't. "Well? We haven't got all day." He spat out without even sparing Blake a glance.

Blake just rolled her eyes, barely even phased by his tone of voice at this point. "Well, you were right. It’s the HFR. But their force isn't considerable. There's about twenty of them, and they seem.." Blake paused for a minute, racking her brain for the right word. "..ill-prepared for a fight." She stepped around the rock slightly, gesturing for Adam to follow her. "They've got two guards on this side and two more on the north gate." She raised her hand to point down to where she was referring to. "And we don't have to worry about the watchtower, it's broken down, and they're not using it."

Adam let out a small hum of approval, which Blake correctly assumed would be the only thanks she'd get. "And you found out what they're doing here?" 

Blake nodded before answering his question. "Yeah, they're planning an attack on Cougar base." She relayed the information quickly and cleanly.

Her response was met with another hum, but when Adam seemed to grow silent, Blake continued. "And they're bringing in the Bulldozer."

That was the exact thing Adam didn't want to hear, and Blake could practically hear a scowl form on his face. "Well, that changes things…." He muttered out seemingly to himself. When Adam refused to elaborate, Blake turned to him to ask what he meant. However, she instead caught him raising to his feet. "Twenty guards, was it?" He asked with an almost amused tone.

"Um, yes or thereabouts," Blake said as she looked up at his determined face. "You're not thinking of going down there, are you?"

It didn't take very long for Blake to get her answer. "I'm not thinking of it." His scowl turned up into an almost crazed smirk. "We're doing it."

Blake's eyes widened at the sudden announcement. "What? You can't be serious!" However, her words fell on deaf ears when Adam hopped forward and over the low rock that he was previously using to conceal himself. Blake leaned over the top and yelled after him in a hushed shout. "Adam, the plan is to fall back and pass on the info, not charge in alone!"

He walked a few more steps down towards the small base before stopping to turn back to Blake. Rather than come to an agreement or ask her opinion, he simply glared at her with a sickeningly false smile. "You coming?" He asked in an almost condescending tone.

Blake didn't even get a chance to answer as he turned back around and continued walking to the base. "Unbelievable…" Blake muttered under breath, placing one hand on her weapon before joining her partner in trudging back down towards the HFR encampment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Things were looking up for the HFR. Sure, Coyote Ridge was a bit of a setback, but all things considered, they didn't actually lose too much in the attack. Not that it mattered anyway, as soon as the Bulldozer arrived tomorrow, the White Fang would learn that Humans For Remnant were not to be trifled with. 

At least, that's what Missy was thinking until one of her most trusted guards burst into the room. "White Fang!" He shouted in a frenzy, "White Fang are here!!" In the perfect timing to prove his point, another HFR guard suddenly entered the room via being thrown in through the window, the glass shattering around him and doing a number on his aura.

Missy immediately rose to her feet, knocking over the chair she was sitting on as she did so. "What? How many?!" She asked, grabbing a long glaive that was resting against the table. It wasn't her weapon of choice, but if the White Fang were here, then she didn't have a lot of time to sort herself out.

Unfortunately, she had even less time when the first guard was suddenly wrapped up and constricted by a black whip, being yanked backwards outside into the darkness with a yelp. With her question unanswered, Missy dashed over to the crew's quarters and shouted into the room, slamming the lights on as she did so. "White Fang attack! Get your asses in gear!" She yelled, rousing the tired guards from their slumber. 

She watched on as only about four of them leapt out of bed, with the rest groggily getting up or somehow remaining asleep. With little intel and a lazy army, Missy rolled her eyes and returned to the main room, preparing to hold her own against her would-be attackers.

It wasn't long before she was confronted by two Faunus, one on each side of the room. There was a tall man with red hair and a shorter woman with black hair. The man looked confident, but the woman looked worried, which immediately told Missy who to target first. "White Fang." She said simply, glancing between the two of them when nobody made a move. "Getting a little ballsy attacking a fresh base, aren't you?" 

Missy was trying to put on a confident aura, but it was clear to both Blake and Adam that she was nervous. "Not as ballsy as you are, planning an attack so close to Corundum." When Adam caught her looking over his shoulder, he chuckled. "There's no one else coming, human." Adam spat out the words like an insult as he raised his sword. 

Before either of them had any time to react, Missy leapt away from the doorway and straight towards Blake, who she assumed would be an easier target. Blake may have been nervous, but she was still a fighter at heart.

She raised her weapon's holster and used it to deflect the incoming glaive blade, angling it so that the metal swung down towards the floor. Missy was quick to recover but not as quick as Blake, who managed to slam the flat end of her holster against Missy's side.

Adam was fully prepared to dash forward and join the fight against the captain but was stopped when three of the more awake guards blocked his path. With a low growl, he swung his sword at the smallest of the new targets. His blow connected and sent the victim spiralling down to the ground, their weak aura shattering instantly. 

He turned his attention to the other two guards, one of them wielding an enchanted sword that was glowing hot with fire. The two of them rushed at him, but their inexperience was no match for Adam's reflexes, and he leapt high into the air, dodging their dual attack before dropping back down on top of them. The goon with the flaming sword managed to dodge out of the way, but the other guard wasn't so lucky, as he got struck down by Adam's crushing blow. 

Blake, meanwhile, was locked in a fierce duel with the HFR captain. Once Missy realised that her Faunus opponent wasn't going to be a pushover, she redoubled her efforts. Blake was fast, striking her over and over. Missy wasn't allowed to get an attack in, but she also managed to block the majority of Blake's attacks, effectively resulting in a stalemate between the young women. 

After a few repeated attacks, Blake grew tired of their game and swung her weapon's ribbon around in a circle, managing to ensure Missy's ankles and drop her to the ground. The move was instant, and Missy growled as she looked up at her attacker. "Mangy animal!" She snarled out, dodging another one of Blake's blows by rolling to the side.

She shot up to her feet and stabbed the blunt end of her weapon into Blake's chest, winding her and allowing Missy to get an actual swing in with her blade. Blake recovered from the strike just in time to see Missy raising her glaive and charging at her. With some quick thinking, Blake swung her ribbon to one side and pulled the trigger on her pistol, propelling herself out of the way of Missy's attack…

...and straight into the side of Adam's final opponent. The hapless soldier dropped his flaming sword to the ground, crying out for a second in shock before Adam took the opportunity to knock him down to the ground as well. With one proud swing, the soldier was out for the count, and Adam looked up at the newest threats: Four more of the less awake guards that were now standing in the doorway of the bedroom with shocked expressions. 

Since Missy's stab went wide, her glaive was now firmly lodged in the bases' thin plastered walls that surrounded the fighters on all sides. After a few unsuccessful attempts to pry the weapon free, she dived down to the ground and grabbed a random sword that had been dropped during the combat. When she looked up to see her soldiers and the Faunus attackers all standing around in shock, she yelled at the top of her lungs. "Don't just stand there. Kill them!" 

The words caused all six individuals to leap into action. Blake quickly deflected a flurry of sword swipes coming from one of the HFR guards, spinning her blade this way and that until an opening presented itself. As soon as it did, she thrust forward, knocking the guard off balance and pushing him to the floor.

And that's when she noticed it; the flames from the enchanted sword that was dropped to the ground before had managed to catch a loose piece of fabric that was hanging off the end of a side table, igniting it. The fire was small for now, but before Blake could work out how bad it was going to get, she suddenly recoiled in shock when her aura blocked Missy's sword from entering her side. 

She leapt back into action, sending a quick glance at Adam holding his own against three different guards before turning her attention back to Missy herself. Blake raised her stunted katana to block another stab and then another. For a few seconds, the two young women were locked in a fierce struggle as Missy's repeated attacks were shrugged off by Blake's guard. It was a stalemate yet again, mirroring the one from before. This pace continued until Missy swung her leg out and attempted to trip Blake up.

Blake noticed the maneuver and managed to dodge out of the way, which gave Missy time to catch her breath and recover for a second. It was at this moment that Blake heard the distinct sound of flames crackling. She looked over only to see that the small ignition from earlier had steadily grown into a much bigger blaze, and the flames from the fire were slowly edging their way towards the open door of the munition storeroom. Blake recalled all of the fuel and dry explosives that were piled up high in the room and quickly came to the conclusion that things were about to go drastically wrong very fast.

She glanced out of the open doorway, tempted to leave Adam and the HFR to their fate. But her morality got the better of her. She wasn't like him.  She instead called out to Adam for a retreat. "Adam, we need to go!"

Adam had just finished disposing of another guard when Blake made her call. "What are you talking about?! We're winning!" He smirked as two more victims appeared in the bedroom doorway. "I'm not going anywhere." 

Sensing the urgency of the situation, Blake wasn't about to hang around and argue. "The fire! Adam, we have to go NOW!" She yelled again, grabbing him by the back of his collar and yanking him towards the entrance of the base. Adam shouted out in shock, but Blake tuned him out entirely. With the adrenaline in her body hitting a fever pitch, the only thing she could focus on was getting the two of them as far away from the building as possible.

Adam was still mouthing off, struggling against Blake’s grasp even as she threw him down to the ground, with herself following him soon after. She clenched her teeth, held her breath, and prayed they were far enough away from the impending explosion. Moments later, the cold night sky lit up a fantastical orange colour, and the silence was shattered as the old, brittle building exploded into a bright, hot fireball. 

Debris and wreckage scattered far and wide as the military base was completely demolished, and Blake kept her head down and her frame small as the debris landed around her. She felt a surge of warm air for a few seconds before the dust began to settle on the scene. The silence was still missing as the sound of old creaking wood and rouge flames burning away at what was left of the base filled the air. After another few seconds, Blake slowly picked herself up off the ground.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she concluded that she wasn't missing any body parts. In fact, her aura miraculously had barely been grazed. She looked up only to see her partner still in one piece as well before curiously gazing over to the base behind them. There was nothing left to look at. Smoke poured up into the sky from the raging fire that was overtaking the rubble pile that was once the building they were standing in. Blake carefully rose to her knees and crawled her way over to Adam. She pushed his arm and, after getting no immediate response, rolled him over to his back. 

It seemed like his aura had been destroyed, but he was still breathing, and that was good enough for the rattled Faunus. She shook him once more, a bit more violently, in order to wake him up. A few seconds later, Adam coughed and shot his eyes open, quickly moving into a sitting position. He glanced at Blake and then opened his eyes wide at the carnage before him. "We have to go, Adam, before any more show up!" Blake said quickly, standing up and holding out a hand for him to take.

He grabbed it and pulled himself to his feet, nodding swiftly to Blake before turning and jogging away from the destroyed base. Blake followed along after him, and they made their way back up to the rock formation they started at. As soon as they were swiftly behind cover, Adam began to laugh maniacally, which caused Blake to flinch, still rattled from the events that had just taken place. As soon as he calmed down, Blake pushed his shoulder and scowled at him. "What the hell was that for?!" She asked in anger, not having a chance to talk to him since he decided to assault the base. "I can't believe you risked our lives like that!"

Adam's laughter stopped, and his smile turned into a frown. "Chill out. We stopped the attack, didn't we?" He said, choosing to ignore the disastrous events that they had just escaped from. "Why do you care?" 

Blake's breathing slowed as the adrenaline from the fight began to leave her body. Ahe stared back at Adam’s unblinking eyes before averting her gaze. "You're right. I don't care." She said, turning her back on her partner. "We should go report back to base." She waited for a moment until she heard Adam let out a small amused snort.

"Really? You better stop with the moody stuff, Blake," He said simply, making Blake's blood boil with anger. "Besides, we're not going back to Lion base. We’re heading out to Raptor. We’ve got a flight to catch.”

The sudden announcement made Blake jump in shock. "Wait, what?!" She asked, turning back to Adam in surprise. "What are you talking about?" She wasn't expecting such sudden news, especially after everything that had happened just a few minutes ago.

Adam simply nodded at her as he dusted off his clothes, getting rid of all the loose sand he could. "You know as well as I do that we can't win this fight alone! The HFR are moving faster than us, and we need a new strategy. And new allies, I’ve got us a meetup in Atlas." He watched her expression change, gauging her reaction to the plan. 

Her reaction, as it turned out, was to be completely dumbfounded. This was all news to her. And new allies. From Atlas? Something didn't add up in the girl's head. Before she could question Adam's motives, she had a more pressing concern on her mind. "And is that why you just attacked this place without even thinking about it? Because waiting for our reinforcements was 'too slow?' We could have died, Adam!" When Adam laughed again while under scrutiny, Blake seethed and moved on to her next point. "Besides, Vacuo still needs us! The HFR are going to want revenge for what we just pulled, and you know as well as I do, Corundum is still a target!"

"The HFR is small news," Adam said quickly in response to Blake's concerns. "I've got some new contacts that are going to thrust us into a new era, Blake! The golden age of the White Fang is upon us, and you and I are the ones who are going to usher it in!" Adam began to walk in a small circle, gesturing grandly with his hands.

Blake wanted to argue back. She wanted to scream. When they first arrived at Vacuo, the White Fang’s original mission statement was to help out the local Faunus population and provide a safe place from the tyranny of the uncontested HFR. But she soon found herself getting roped into a street war between the two organisations, with the branch Adam was leading seemingly ignoring Sienna’s wishes and forming a small army. "I don't like the sound of this." She said simply, staring daggers into the man she held very little respect for anymore.

As expected, he didn’t even spare her a glance. “Well, it's not your decision to make. We’re going to Atlas, and you’re going to make the White Fang look like a disciplined organisation.” 

She wanted to run away and go home, back to Menagerie, and away from the craziness that had overtaken her life these past few months. 

Blake looked out into the horizon, thinking just how easy it would be to get away from Adam under the cover of darkness. But where would she go? Who would take her in? She turned her gaze back to her partner and sighed deeply. For better or for worse, she was stuck with him. At least until a better opportunity presented itself.

She resigned herself to begrudgingly follow him, starting the long trek all the way towards Raptor base. Even if she was dreading the flight, she was looking forward to getting some food and rest. Maybe these ‘New Contacts’ in Atlas would be able to talk some sense into her ever angrier partner. 

Chapter Text

With four years of business school under her belt, as well as the support of her caring parents, Willow Schnee founded Schnee Diamonds at the age of twenty-three. She had managed to secure a spot in Atlas' main high street, and pretty soon, the small store was a household name for the local residents. The building was well designed, with birch wood panelling walls and white ceramic tiles littering the floor. It gave off an air of professionalism and sophistication that befitted the extravagant city.

Over the years, Willow had observed the societal divide in Mantle, and to a lesser extent Atlas, and had created her business ethic accordingly. There was a combination of expensive, fancy jewellery that most people would scoff at and alternative pieces with a more reasonable price tag for the common man. The inclusivity of the shop, as well as the warm nature of Willow herself, made Schnee Diamonds an instant hit.

Even as business boomed, Willow remained true to herself and her less-than-fortunate upbringing, and used her money to first off pay for her parent's residence before donating a sizable chunk to Atlas' board of education. Of course, she kept some for herself but still managed to remain modest and responsible with her spending. That was until one Jacques Gelé entered the equation.

The well-dressed, suave demeanour of the older gentleman wooed the bachelorette with promises of true love and happy life. Their whirlwind romance of rapid-fire dates and exciting nights eventually led them to a marriage proposal before their first anniversary. Some may have considered the move reckless, but Willow was determined to prove that their love was true.

As a sign of good faith, Jacques even offered to take the Schnee name as soon as their vows were said. Their marriage was a joyful and peaceful one, and under Jacques careful guidance, two more Schnee stores were opened throughout Atlas. The move was a bold one for Willow, who at first questioned the benefits of such expansions. But as soon as the money started rolling in, the questions faded, and Willow's love for Jacques' ingenuity grew.

For many years, Jacques slowly transformed the Schnee business from a small, home-grown store to a global goliath, with stores cropping up in every continent on Remnant, save for Menagerie. Willow remained blissfully unaware of the small changes happening to her business, blinded by her love for Jacques and the lavish life she began to lead. They had three children at various stages in their marriage, and it seemed to Willow that her life couldn't get any more perfect.

However, a few years down the line, Willow, and by extension, the rest of her family, soon came to realise that Jacques' intentions were less than pure and that the man had essentially conned Willow out of her true happiness.

After numerous business scandals and an alleged affair, it had become evident that Jacques loved the money behind the woman far more than the woman herself. The illusion of good faith of taking the Schnee name had also been shattered when people began to realise that he was using the marriage as a way to further his own image and print enormous sums of lien off the back of the Schnee's hard work. 

If Willow had one regret in life, it was signing the contract that gave him primary ownership of the family name. Of course at the time, she was too blinded by love to question Jacques true motives. In hindsight, she hated the man and the con that he had played. Instead, she was blinded by a drunken haze most nights, as Willow took to the bottle to escape her tragic reality.

Nowadays, If one was to spare Willow a passing glance, they would see a woman who had it all. A large family filled with warmth and love. Excessive amounts of money, more than any one person knew what to do with, and a successful business to boot. She spent every social gathering with a smile on her face and a wine glass in her hand, laughing and joking with the other social elite of Atlas.

But if one looked deeper, they would see that Willow was simply putting on an act to impress the wealthy investors and political powerhouses that she ended up dining with. The familial love was surface level. And as the saying goes, money can't buy happiness. While the booze in her glass is very much real, her smiles and laughter were false, little more than a facade to mask her own despair she found herself in. 

Nobody knew this better than her very own children. Winter Schnee, the eldest of the three siblings, had a strained relationship with her mother at best. When she was seventeen, her grandparents died, and Jacques' aggressive takeover of the Schnee name became more apparent to everyone around him. Winter became bitter, arguing with her mother about her loss of control. She left home to join the Atlas military the moment she turned eighteen and gained independence, barely acknowledging her father’s angry ranting about how she was throwing her life away. Winter was determined to not end up like her mother.

Likewise, Whitley Schnee, the youngest child and the Schnee’s only son, grew tired of their parents' constant bickering and arguing with each other. He was told at a young age that since Willow had, in his fathers own words, 'abandoned' the family, he would be taking over the business as acting CEO in just a few short years.

This understandably put a lot of unnecessary pressure on the young man. Rather than growing naturally into the role, he soon found himself detesting the work and effort that his father was trying to force on him. Once he reached the age of fifteen, he learned what Winter had done and how she had managed to escape the clutches of their suffocating father. He put his foot down, standing up to Jacques and telling him that no, he didn't want to be groomed and guided into a position he neither wanted nor asked for.

But as Whitley quickly learned, saying no to Jacques Schnee was a big mistake, and the poor youth was given the option to either be grounded and locked in his room for the foreseeable future or be kicked out into the cold, dark streets of Atlas. Thankfully the methodical boy had a plan and happily chose the latter option, leaving his father’s iron grip, as well as his family name, behind. Moments after being escorted off the premises of his childhood home and prison, he got into contact with Winter, who had been offering support and help for both of her siblings for a long while.

While Whitley was happy he had managed to escape his father’s clutches, he was saddened that he had to abandon his other sister.

The largely forgotten middle child, Weiss Schnee, wasn't as independent as Winter or as confident as Whitley. Her father and his moods terrified her, and on top of all that, she didn't want to abandon her mother to such a solitary fate, even if she had been cold and distant for most of Weiss' young life. She instead spent most of her time isolated in her room, partaking in whatever hobbies she had access to. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The morning routine of the nineteen-year-old Weiss Schnee was a surprisingly simple affair, considering her family's otherwise busy lifestyle. She would wake up and have a quick shower, making sure her hair, in particular, was perfect, before making her way downstairs for breakfast.

Weiss always ended up eating breakfast alone at the large family table. It was usually a hearty bowl of oats, but on occasion, the breakfast chefs would whip her up something special, whether that be a large fried breakfast every couple of weeks or chocolate pancakes for special events such as the heiress' birthday. Today, however, called for her regular porridge oats, a nutritious and filling breakfast if there ever was one.

As soon as breakfast was dusted off, Weiss returned to her room and changed into her fancy high-school inspired uniform. Considering she was only going to be seen by the same few people every day, Weiss didn't know why she had to change. All she knew was that it was necessary for school and that she shouldn't question it.

Weiss greeted Mrs. Humphries, her personal tutor and life coach, before settling down for her usual four hour studying day. Weiss quite enjoyed her lessons, as she always ended up learning something new and gaining insight into how people outside of her manor walls lived their lives. In a way, she saw lessons such as history and geography as escapes from her ordinary day to day home life, even if her father had told her such thoughts are dangerous.

She was actually okay with being homeschooled, as apparently, other children were distractions that would only hinder her education. She would admit that while having a friend her age would be great, her tutor was friendly enough, and she had grown to befriend the maids and butlers that attended her every need. However, hollow such friendships may have been.

The end of this particular school day was an exciting one, as Weiss had thought of a fun activity to try out today while laying in bed the night before. She thanked Mrs. Humphries for her lesson and excitedly rushed out of the makeshift classroom and back up to her quarters. 

Weiss couldn't wait, excitedly throwing open her closet doors and pulling out a musical instrument that she had prepared the day prior. An instrument that she hadn't used in a long while, and yet that had randomly popped into her head while relaxing. 

She set up a small music stand and some old sheet music that she had acquired not long after the instrument itself. As soon as everything was set up, Weiss knew that she could relax and enjoy her time, practising all afternoon at least until dinner rolled around.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Weiss brought the long silver and ivory flute up to her mouth and pursed her lips, methodically blowing into the small hole, which allowed her breath to be transformed into music. The light, airy tones coming from the flute danced around the room and brought a smile to her face. After several hours of practice, she had finally managed to make something that resembled a melody.

After a few seconds, she paused and pulled the instrument away, catching her breath for a moment before trying again. She glanced down at the music sheet in front of her as if it was going to make any difference. In truth, she had no idea what the black symbols and squiggly lines meant, and her knowledge of the flute was only what she had managed to glean from playing it. 

Being born into a wealthy family had its perks, that's for sure. She could have whatever she wanted the second she asked for it, and having a private kitchen meant that she had instant access to some of the best food money could buy.

However, as she grew older, she started to realise that having easy access to anything she wanted throughout her childhood had ended up making her ungrateful and inconsiderate. This revelation turned the young girl's attitude around. She made a vow to actually begin to utilise all the opportunities her luscious upbringing had afforded her, which eventually led her to start working through the many discarded hobbies and presents that had only ever seen the light of day once.

She brought the flute back up to her lips and began to blow again, immediately getting soothed by the windy music she was producing. She held her fingers over some of the holes further down the instrument, already figuring out that it made the noise lower or higher, depending on how many she covered. 

The soothing note continued until she once again ran out of breath, and she pulled the white tube away from her mouth, pleased with her progress. Weiss wore a satisfied smile all the while, proud of the music she had been making. Of course, she didn't have anything to compare it to, and she suddenly felt an urge to hear a professional flute player. If her long humming sounded this good, she could only imagine what a practised musician could do.

She once again brought the object to her mouth, blowing into one end and filling the room with warmth. The peaceful atmosphere she had been building was promptly destroyed when she heard muffled shouting through her door. "I remember when you used to be loyal!" The shrill voice belonging to her mother said. The woman had obviously just re-entered the corridor, as this was the first Weiss had heard of the argument.

Weiss sighed and lowered the flute from her mouth, content to wait until the shouting stopped. "And I remember when you used to care." She heard Jacques' voice next, still loud but considerably less fierce than his wife’s. "About your job? You know, the one I gave everything up for?" While it was true that Weiss didn't know too much about Willow’s past before Jacques entered the picture, she had been told enough to know that Jacques hadn’t actually given up anything and that the man was blatantly lying in order to try and make Willow feel bad.

However, it seemed that his plan didn't work, especially if Willow's answer was any indication. “Don’t give me that! You horrible, manipulative man." She screeched out. Weiss heard a loud door slam, swiftly followed by another one before her room was once again plunged back into silence. Weiss let out a breath she didn't realise she had been holding and returned her hands to the flute, fully prepared to continue playing. 

But her plan was cut short when she heard loud, thumping footsteps towards her room. Weiss froze up as soon as she heard them, and her grip tightened on her flute, as the threatening sound instantly made her feel uneasy.

Jacques was fast approaching, and his footsteps grew louder and closer to her door. Weiss felt her hands begin to uncontrollably shake, and she instinctively turned around to face her father, lest she get punished.

Moments later, her door burst open, and a tall, authoritative figure glared down at his last remaining offspring. Weiss froze in place as she tried her best to steady her hands. "Dinner has been postponed again today. The chefs will bring up your meal in due time." He narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw Weiss with the flute in her hands. "I suggest you stop playing with that toy. You were never any good at music to begin with." He said firmly, turning around to leave the room without sparing Weiss a second glance.

Weiss' eyes remained wide in surprise as she watched Jacques disappear down the corridor, not daring to look away lest he turn around and see her disobedience. As soon as Jacques had vanished around the corner, Weiss stepped over to her door and pulled it closed with a shaky hand. Jacques had spent a lot of money on gifts trying to find a marketable skill that Weiss was a natural at, and apparently, it wasn't playing the flute.

Weiss looked down at the offending instrument in her hands before violently throwing it onto her bed. She turned and made a move to sit down at her vanity, lowering herself onto her fancy plush stool and staring at herself in the mirror. Once again, the room was plunged into silence. Weiss could hear her flute playing from earlier in her head. What had once filled the room with life, now sounded like failure in her ears. Maybe her father was right. Her music was awful. It would have been easier to not try and instead focus her efforts on business, which was precisely what he wanted from her in the first place.

She felt an all too familiar sting in her eyes, which gave her ample warning to grab a handkerchief and prepare for her tears to start. She dabbed her eyes as a few droplets of the salty liquid ran down her face, doing her best to keep her composure. However, her own reflection managed to catch her eye, and that was all it took to set her off. She watched her face crumple up in the mirror as pangs of sadness shot through her body, and sobs escaped her pursed lips. 

Weiss couldn't stop the tears from flowing, and as she watched herself quickly grow more dishevelled in the mirror, her anger and frustration started to build. She violently stood up from her stool and threw herself onto her bed, crying into her pillow and allowing her thoughts to run rampant.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Weiss had fibbed about poor lighting as a way to explain her puffy, red eyes to the butler that had brought her dinner up to her room. It was apparent to both of them that Weiss was lying, but the elderly man knew better than to pry into the girl's personal life. Weiss quickly ate her food, her appetite having built up quickly during her crying session. 

As soon as she was finished with her meal, she felt a little bit lost on what to do. She spied the flute that had rolled off her bed earlier, but the thought of picking it up and getting back to practising made her feel sick. She instead stood up and slipped on a jacket, swiftly making her way out of her room, intending to get some fresh air.

She chose her route carefully, making sure to steer clear of both of her parents' rooms. It had been a few years since the two of them started sleeping down the hall from each other, but Weiss couldn't remember a time when the two of them didn't act so distant from one another.

After descending the stairs and somehow avoiding any particularly awkward encounters, Weiss found herself in the lush gardens that sat out the back of the manor house. Since even her room wasn't safe from random intrusion, the gardens were easily one of her favourite spots to spend her free time. Not only was it secluded, but she also had many fond memories from her youth out here, which is more than could be said for the rest of the house.

As she spied the entrance to a large hedge maze, one particular memory of herself and Whitley playfully hiding from Winter, as the older sibling tried to round them up for dinner, popped into her head. She could practically hear her brother's happy giggles as the two of them ran between the large hedge walls of the maze, evading the more experienced hunter.

Of course, this memory was from a time long since passed, and Weiss shook her head to clear her thoughts lest her tears start up again. 

For a brief moment, she feared that her hopes of isolation had been ruined when she heard humming coming from further within the gardens. After a moment of hesitation, Weiss breathed a sigh of relief upon finding out that the little melody belonged to none other than Klein, sporting some gardening gear and a long dirt-stained apron.

The Schnee employee was an older gentleman that sported a large bushy moustache and had quickly made fast friends with the young heiress ever since he was assigned as her personal steward and servant. Klein smiled as he noticed her. A smile that Weiss was eager to return. "Ah, good evening, Weiss! Have you come to enjoy the sunny Atlas weather?" He asked with a touch of sarcasm, brushing the fresh snow off his shoulders for emphasis. 

The small joke made Weiss chuckle to herself. "Klein…" She began to speak but paused as she found that her voice was raspy from the tears. The thought made a shiver of loneliness run up her spine, and she cleared her throat and tried talking again, pushing the thoughts of isolation out of her brain as quickly as she could. "I just needed some fresh air." She said simply and honestly.

Klein glanced around at his surroundings before settling his gaze on the old building back up behind Weiss. "Yes, I can only imagine how suffocating it is for you up there." He replied, making Weiss pleased. He always seemed to understand her plight. "If you ask me, I think keeping you away from making friends does more harm than good." 

Weiss considered Klein’s words. It wasn't the first time he'd said such a sentiment, and the prospect of making friends was definitely something that piqued Weiss' interest. "How am I supposed to make friends, Klein?" She asked with a hint of frustration in her voice. "You know how Father feels about that." Weiss sighed, knowing that Klein wasn't going to have an immediate solution. After all, this also wasn't the first time they'd had a conversation like this.

It almost didn't matter what advice Klein was going to give, as she noticed that his eyes had changed over into a dark red colour, she knew she was in for a treat. "The stubborn old git doesn't have any feelings anyway. Stuff 'im, I say!" Klein said,  his accent and mood pulling a complete 180. 

Weiss couldn't hold in her giggles as Klein pulled off his party trick. It never got old, no matter how many times he did it. Pretty soon, his regular brown eyes returned, and with it his soft tone of voice. "You're awful!" Wiess said in between her laughter.

Klein couldn't help but join in; a smile on Weiss' face often meant one for him as well. Klein had watched Weiss grow up and was easily more present in her life than either of her actual parents. Having accomplished his goal of cheering the young woman up, Klein reached out a hand for Weiss to shake, which promptly turned into a hug as soon as Weiss took the offer. "You'll find a way, snowflake," Klein said simply. "I just know it."

This sort of comfort was precisely the reason she looked up to the older man and enjoyed his company. "Thank you, Klein." She replied, breaking up their hug. "I think I needed to hear that." Weiss was secretly hoping that she and Klein could stay together out in the gardens for a little while, but she had known him long enough to know that there was always some minor task that kept him busy.

As if on cue, Klein turned his attention back up to the Schnee manor and let out a small sigh. "I'd love to stay and chat, Miss, but duty calls!" He said with a slight chuckle. "Maybe tomorrow morning, I can do your breakfast, and you can chew my ear off then?"

Weiss venting about her problems to Klein had become somewhat of a regular occurrence, and she had come to adore the company and opportunity to do so. "Tomorrow morning sounds lovely." She said simply, letting him leave after they exchanged a quick bow. Seeing her friend and guardian had been a nice distraction, but Weiss once again found herself lost and without much of a plan on what to do.

After a few minutes of wandering around the snow-blanketed gardens, she decided to sit and rest on a nearby bench. She shut her eyes and pictured the view of Atlas' snow-covered streets. She saw distant street lights illuminating the fog that had inevitably descended on the city, and she sighed peacefully, allowing her daydreaming to carry her away into the evening.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

When Weiss pried her eyes open a few moments later, she noticed that the sky had grown dark and cloudy and quickly surmised that she must have drifted off at some point. She stood up with a yawn, stretching her tired limbs before properly collecting herself.

She shivered as she made her way back down the pathway, cursing her past self for letting her drowsiness get the better of her. Weiss returned to the grand back doors of the manor and slipped inside, thankful that the warmth of the building had managed to maintain itself and help her out.

She was honestly surprised that nobody had come looking for her. After all, she was out well past her curfew, and the servants of the house usually made sure she was accounted for every night, as they were scared of the consequences if Jacques found out that she wasn't.

But with Klein's experience, he was practically in charge of the staff, and Weiss correctly assumed that he had thrown them off the scent, allowing Weiss some much-needed privacy. She silently thanked her guardian as she tip-toed through the manor, hoping to make it to her room without interruption.

Weiss had just made it to the stairs, placing one foot on the lowest step, when a voice called out her name and thwarted her attempt. 

"Weiss!" The voice belonged to an older lady and was decidedly authoritative. Weiss recognised it instantly.

She lowered her foot back down to the ground floor and slowly turned to greet the matron of the Schnee family. "Mother." She said simply, giving her a soft bow. "I was just getting some fresh air." 

Weiss tried to gauge her mother's mood, but it was hard to do so owing to the darkness of the night. "That's fine," Winter mumbled out. "Are you okay?" As it turns out, Weiss' defensive remark wasn't entirely necessary, as her mother barely seemed to acknowledge that Weiss was out of her room so late at night.

Not expecting the relaxed, almost disinterested attitude, Weiss nervously glanced up the stairs before looking back at her mom. "Um, yes, thank you." She said simply. "Um...how are you?"

Small talk had never been prevalent amongst any of the Schnee family, especially in recent years. Both of her siblings leaving, as well as her parent's contrasting attitudes, had a profound and negative effect on Weiss, and she was far too afraid of saying the wrong thing. The only person she felt comfortable with was Klein, which explained why she adored the man's company so effortlessly. 

"I'm doing…well enough," Willow responded, sounding unsure even to herself. "Don't let your father catch you out here." She said soon after, her tired eyes struggling to stay open as she glared at Weiss.

Weiss shuddered at the thought of both of her parents grilling her in the middle of the night, and she was quick to remedy the situation. "I'll head straight back to bed."

Once again, Willow didn't react in any way that Weiss was expecting. The older lady nodded lamely before stepping back towards the stairs. "Alright." She said, her voice mumbling and with a very distinct slur. "Be on your way now, Weiss." She said as she ascended the stairs, not even considering giving her daughter a second glance. 

Weiss remained in place until Willow had vanished from view, just as before letting out a subconscious breath once the coast was clear. She didn't know what her mother was like before Jacques intervened, but she had heard stories about how much of a strong, brave, and skilled woman she was. Weiss aspired to be that woman, and not the one that roamed the halls every night, filled with regret and nursing a bottle of old wine. 

She begrudgingly began to climb the grand staircase towards her room but stopped when she saw a beam of moonlight shining through a high window. The light was perfectly illuminating an old family portrait that had been hanging up on the wall for as long as she could remember. It was Winter's face in particular that had grabbed her attention.

Or rather, her lack of face, as a black scribble from a marker had wholly covered up the face of her older sister. Weiss thought back to when Whitley did it; it wasn't long after Winter left, and her sudden disappearance had made him act out, scribbling all over the walls and paintings and refusing to eat food until she returned. Admittedly that second part only lasted a day before her younger brother grew hungry, but the rebellion still stood out in her memory.

She remembered her dad being furious at everything Whitley was doing. And yet, after all was said and done, Whitley was still allowed to live in the house and was still fed and cared for, at least by the servants of the manor. At the end of the day, he wasn't kicked out, and it had been Whitley's choice to follow his sister and escape the shackles of the Schnee family.

A choice that she realised she now had as well.

She could return to her room, go to sleep and wait until tomorrow, where she would simply fall back into the monotony of her morning routine. Or she could break free. Follow in the footsteps of her braver siblings and move on to better things. What sorts of better things? She didn't know. That would be something for Winter and Whitley to tell her. Just as soon as she found them.

She blinked and found herself back in the cold, dark stairway she was standing on, with the daring thoughts of freedom and rebellion now fresh in her head. After a few more minutes of stealing her nerves, she put her plan into action.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The door to Weiss' room burst open, almost mirroring Jacques intrusion from earlier, but this time the offender was determined and excited. Weiss dashed over to the large closet adjoined to her bedroom, which was almost the same size as the room itself, and began to search for a particular chest that had become buried deep within her belongings.

Last year her mother had gotten her hunting equipment, and she had gone out on a few guided tours to the area out the back of her manor. It was yet another boring hobby, and pretty soon, the equipment found itself locked away and gathering dust.

But now, she was thankful for the addition to her collection, as it meant that she could defend herself from the supposed dangers and horrors that lurked outside the walls of her childhood home.

Eventually, she found what she was looking for; a sizeable brown crate embossed with the Schnee crest. Weiss happily lifted the lid and began to extract its contents. The lightweight leather clothes laying on top came out first, swiftly followed by a selection of weapons. 

Weiss stood up straight and began to fit the armour onto herself. She had a little bit of trouble but eventually managed to clasp the clothes into place. She ensured it was all secure before slipping a beautiful silver rapier into her hip holster and strapping a sturdy crossbow made of wood and steel onto the mount attached to her back.

She slipped a quiver of arrows over her shoulder and stepped back into her bedroom. Weiss couldn't help but catch her reflection, humming rather approvingly when she saw how fetching and rugged she looked. Before finding her way up to her room, she stopped by the kitchens to collect as much dried meat as she could, something that she knew would last a long time, as well as a canteen full of water. 

Weiss had also taken the liberty to leave a couple of goodbye notes. The first one was addressed to her mother, informing her of her quest to find her siblings and promising her that she would stay safe. The second was left on the door of Klein's office, thanking him for his support and encouragement over the years. The note was extra insurance, ensuring that her unreasonable father didn't suspect him of breaking her out of the house.

There was one final note, folded up on top of her unmade bed, and addressed primarily to her controlling father:

I've left to go find Winter and Whitley

Don't follow me

Don't look for me

This is what I want

- Weiss

---------------------------------------------------------------------

With another bag filled with the food and extra supplies slipped onto her back, she paused to reinforce her courage once more before carefully and silently making her way back down the stairs. Under the cover of darkness, she left the Schnee manor via its backdoor entrance and scrambled around the side to the large gate that separated the gardens from the front yard.

The nervous Schnee was thankful for her heavy snow boots as she trudged through the thick white blanket away from her prison and towards freedom. And soon enough, she realised she'd taken the first steps of the rest of her life. 

Chapter Text

The two sisters tightened their grips on each other's hand as their senses were overcome all at once. A loud whooshing sound accompanied an alien feeling of weightlessness as the portal worked its magic, instantly transporting them to the snowy landscape they had been watching through the archway just moments ago.

One of the first things they noticed upon stepping through the portal was the drastic temperature change, as the warm, stony sanctuary of Beacon's interior was replaced with a bitter, windy chill that neither girl was expecting. 

Upon arrival through the portal, the other thing they noticed was that they had seemingly travelled through time. Since Atlas was a few hours behind Vale, it was as if the sun had miraculously risen back up above the horizon line. Yang silently mused that they were going to end up watching two sunsets in a single day.

"W-well, here we are! The b-big wide world!" Yang announced through chattering teeth. She had raised her arms up as if presenting the snowy woods like an art piece to her little sister, but she couldn't hold that pose for too long before folding her arms back around her body.

Her little sister didn't seem overly impressed by the display as she looked around warily at the leafless trees and the partially muddy snow that blanketed the floor. "Y-you know, I was expecting something...cooler." When Yang turned around and raised a quizzical eyebrow at her sister, Ruby just shrugged. "I don't know, big c-cities and hundreds of people and bright lights and stuff." Ruby kicked the snow beneath her hiking boot, revealing a tuft of trampled, wet grass rather than a road or a pathway. "This is just Patch in w-winter."

Sadly, Yang knew the tone of voice her sister used all too well. Ruby rarely got agitated or grumpy, but the day-long trek from the warmth of home only to reach somewhere that was admittedly a little disappointing was obviously beginning to take her toll on the younger girl. Yang understood as she herself was expecting at least some sort of civilisation. "Okay, so it isn't….great." She was trying hard to think of an upside in order to alleviate Ruby's concerns, but as she reached her hand idly into her coat pocket, she inadvertently found the answer she was looking for. Her fingers brushed past the house key Glynda had given them, and a warm pulse shot through Yang's body as she sensed their accommodation was closer than she first thought.

Yang reached down and gripped Ruby's hand, rousing the young mage and making her snap her eyes back up to meet Yang's. Yang pulled the key out of her pocket and presented it to Ruby. "Come on, we'll find the city after. Our house is just around the corner!" She said, putting as much oomph in her voice as she could. 

Ruby tentatively reached up a red, cold hand and grasped the key. In an instant, a vision of a small wooden cabin flashed up in her mind. Just as what had happened to Yang when she first touched the magical object, Ruby was presented with what could be only described as directions through the wilderness. Sure enough, their home away from home was only a few minutes further into the silent forest they found themselves in.

The plan worked, with Ruby's anxious frown being replaced with a smile of amazement, and Yang had to suddenly leap into action as the young red mage sped away and further into the white wilderness. "Race you there!" She said with a happy giggle as she left Yang in the dust.

Yang gasped as soon as Ruby posed her challenge, but that didn't slow her down as she began to sprint after her energetic sister. "Winner gets the top bunk!" Yang shouted the stakes to Ruby as she gave chase, referring to the fact that the vision had subconsciously shown them the interior of the bungalow.

Together the two adventurous mages filled the empty forest with joy and laughter as they raced each other to the front door of their new home.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The rapid trampling of snow under two pairs of boots was all that could be heard for quite a distance through the quiet, frozen forest. It was all the proof Summer needed that her two children were doing okay. She watched the two of them sprint joyfully through a clearing from high atop the leafless trees and smiled to herself. 

She was glad she was partnered with one of the only women she knew who had a natural ability to create lifelink portals. It was going to make keeping an eye on Ruby and Yang just that much easier, especially since herself, or indeed any one of their family, could immediately travel to either of the young girls with a snap of Raven's fingers.

However, she had made a promise that she wasn't going to abuse this power. For many mages, your first trip off Patch was more than a rite of passage. It was a journey of growth, one that would shape your future as a mage in the world of Remnant. Summer knew that no matter how hard it would be, she had a duty to passively watch from the sidelines and let the chips fall as they may.

Which was why she was so thankful that her two precious daughters had gotten off to such an excellent start to their Mantle detour. With a satisfied smile and a full heart, Summer leapt from the thin birch tree branch she was perched on and into a large red swirling mass that was hovering a few metres away from her. Moments later, the portal closed behind her, leaving behind no evidence that the sisters were being observed. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------

At first glance, it was apparent that this area of the forest was far removed from civilization. The small, fragile wooden cabin looked like it hadn't been tended to in years. Glass was missing from several of the windows, and the snow-covered roof had a noticeable indent from what appeared to be a cave-in. The entire garden was covered in a layer of powdered snow, and icicles hung down from the gaps in the small picket fence that surrounded the property.

It hardly looked stable or warm enough to live in, and anybody who happened by this section of the woods would likely rightfully assume that it was an old abandoned and disused shack, mere moments away from collapsing and fading into obscurity.

However, all of this damage and disrepair went overlooked by the speedy pair of sisters that were barreling towards the cabin at their absolute fastest pace. A red blur headed straight towards the picket fence, not even bothering to slow down as she leapt over the gate and into the front garden, violently disturbing the snow and revealing the start of a dirt track that led towards the front door.

Mere seconds behind the red blur came a slightly larger yellow one, with Yang still in hot pursuit of her sister. Unfortunately, thanks to Ruby's head start, not to mention her natural boundless energy, she had maintained her lead and had managed to secure victory against her older sister. Yang's ragged breaths were among the first sounds the lonely cabin had heard in years, shortly followed by Ruby's loud cheering. "Whoo! Yes!" 

Yang had been bent over, hands on her knees to recover her breath from their little impromptu race. Ruby's cheering had convinced her to stand up straight, and as soon as she did, she saw Ruby swinging her arms around in a little victory dance. It was hard to hide her smile as she realised her plan had worked. "Yeah yeah, dance it up, cheater!" She said with a chuckle. Not only had the race cheered Ruby up, but it had also gotten them to the cabin in record time, saving them even more walking through the heavy snow.

The accusation immediately grabbed Ruby's attention, and she raised her arms up in annoyance. "What?! You never said head starts were against the rules!" Yang's amused smirk was infectious enough to cause Ruby to drop her attitude. "But fine, if it makes you feel any better,  you can get the top bunk!"

Yang responded by playfully poking her tongue out at her sister. "Hey, I'm not a sore loser, the bunk's yours!" She teased out, prompting Ruby's own tongue to leave her mouth.

Now that Yang had finally stood up straight, she could get a good look at the building they had raced to. However, she immediately got underwhelmed with what she saw. Ruby must have seen Yang's unimpressed gaze, and she also turned her head to look at the house they were to call their home. "Well, that doesn't look like the brochure…." Yang mused, beginning to walk down the pathway towards the front door.

Ruby furrowed her brow at the state of their little cabin, slowly regaining her breath from her sprint as Yang stepped past her. She moved to follow Yang while she was sliding the key into the lock. Although with one glance at the windows, Ruby had to wonder just how much protection a locked door was actually going to give them. 

After a firm tug on the door, the hinges creaked as it suddenly came loose and swung open, almost knocking both the sisters onto their backs. After recovering, and with an almost nervous glance between them, they stepped inside the cabin, eager to see if the house’s exterior was not indicative of the interior.

However, what they saw was, in fact, much, much worse. The entire cabin was little more than one big empty room. Sure enough, a pair of dusty bunk beds sat in the far corner, and an even dustier wooden table sat in the centre. Three metal chairs that looked as uncomfortable as they did unsafe surrounded the table, while a fourth was utterly busted and lay in pieces in the corner. 

A countertop and an oven were in the corner closest to the sisters, although the stove’s surface was charred and black as if the last occupants had barely managed to put out a raging fire. Suffice it to say, the place they had been given was not entirely living up to the sisters' expectations. But it had been a long trip, and Yang had only just managed to stop Ruby's whining, so she was intent on making the most out of an otherwise negative situation. "Welcome...home!" Yang was using the most cheerful voice she could muster, but it still sounded disingenuous even to her.

Yang shut the door behind them as they walked into the large room, only to realise that the chilly wind was still very much blowing through the flimsy wooden walls that surrounded them, offering little to no protection from the elements. "Well, it's not much…but there's a stove! And we finally have the beds we've been waiting for!" Yang explained, still trying her best to sound optimistic for the benefit of her younger sister. "I bet with a bit of elbow grease, we can get this place to-!"

"Yang, it sucks." Ruby's dry comment cut through Yang's cheery demeanour like butter, and she turned to see Ruby's defeated face and slumped shoulders.

It was hopeless. Yang had never been one for lying, and she couldn't bring herself to keep up her facade, especially since she wasn't even fooling herself. "Yeah, you're right; it sucks." She said, her attitude having wholly deflated. It was hard to be upset, especially since they had received this place for free. But even still, as the two of them glanced around their current home, the disappointment was evident on their faces.

Ruby let the handle of her bag slide down her shoulder, dropping it down to the floor with a thud that echoed through the room. The mood between the two women was desolate, to say the least, although Yang was sure that once they reached the city, their luck would finally begin to turn around.

But that would have to wait, as she knew of one more thing left to do. Something that would hopefully perk up Ruby's mood. "C'mon, let's call up home, at least let them know we're safe." She said as she walked over to the table and dropped down to a chair. Her own bag fell to the floor, and Yang pulled out her scroll, eager to hear their guardians voices in the hopes that it would cheer them up. However, the second she placed her tired elbows onto the table's surface, a burst of light emitted from the point of contact. Yang immediately jumped up from her seat in a panic as the light spread over the top of the old crooked table.

"Umm…" Yang said as she backed away from the mysterious glowing furniture, grabbing Ruby's attention. "Ruby, stay back," Yang said cautiously, making sure the two of them were keeping their distance.

They watched in awe as the glow consumed the surface of the table and ran down each of the legs, reaching the hardwood floor with ease. Yang was frozen in fear at the strange new development, but the second the building began to shake, she leapt into action, spinning on the spot and wrapping an arm around Ruby's waist. 

Clearly fearing the worst, the two of them leapt out of the cabin and dashed down the pathway. As an extra precautionary measure, Yang threw herself and her sister to the ground and into the soft snow just outside the fence. Their ears and nose began to tingle as a familiar but powerful sparkle of magical energy started to fizzle in the air around them.

The sky suddenly lit up as if an explosion had gone off, despite nothing else indicating anything even close to an explosion had happened. The cabin hadn't burst outwards and was seemingly still in one piece. There were no flames or any extra heat to speak of, and most importantly, both of the mages were unharmed, not even having a scratch on their body from the fall.

Ruby raised her head up first, turning to Yang, who followed suit not long after. Their faces were covered in snow courtesy of their dive, and they both had slightly fearful looks on their faces. As if in sync, they turned their heads around to look at the building behind them. 

Standing in the place of the dilapidated wooden cabin was what looked like a freshly built brick cottage, complete with pristine glass windows and covered with a thatch roof. The front garden was no longer a small square patch of snow and was instead a patch of green grass, split in two by a cobblestone pathway that led to the entrance.

The two sisters were rendered speechless at this new development. Despite growing up around miraculous magic spells and enchanted events, nothing had prepared them for this. Ruby was the first to react, her agape jaw turning up into a big smile as she looked at the home in front of them. She ran forward and leapt over the low picket fence that surrounded the house, only turning around when she noticed her sister hadn't joined her in her ecstasy. "You coming?!" 

Yang shook her head to recover from her shock, only to see a giggly Ruby making a beeline for the thick wooden door that the two of them had just escaped through. "H-hey, wait!" Yang jumped into action as Ruby swung the door open. "We don't know...what…." But Yang's words trailed off, and she instead returned to a state of shock as she finally saw the interior of their new home. Instead of one singular big room, the fancy cottage had split up into several separate rooms. 

Compared to the wooden shack that was there earlier, the cottage provided more than ample protection from the harsh wind, and Yang closed the door behind them as the two of them stepped inside. The front door opened up into a generous living space. A long couch sat in the centre opposite a warm, roaring fireplace, and there was a full stacked bookshelf in the corner. There were some tomes on its shelves that Yang recognised and just as many that she didn’t. 

Just as before, this main room was connected to a kitchen, only instead of a broken appliance and a single countertop, there were cupboards, shelves, a freezer and even a working stove all in their rightful place. She heard a door open in front of her and looked up to see Ruby peering into another room. "Hey, it got rid of the bunkbeds!" Ruby's exclamation made Yang walk to her side to see the change for herself.

Sure enough, the dusty old bunk bed had been replaced by four soft, plush looking regular beds. The promise of a good sleep that night helped Yang relax, but then she finally processed Ruby's choice of words and furrowed her brow in confusion. "Well, whatever it was, I wish it would have warned us that it was going to transform the whole house." 

Ruby chuckled as she turned to try one of the other newly formed doors. "Hey, why don't we ask Dad or something? They'll know what happened!" The idea was sound and reminded Yang that they still hadn't gotten into contact with their guardians. "Hey, there's even a bathroom!" Ruby's voice echoed from within said bathroom.

"Well, that's a relief," Yang replied with a small laugh. She hadn't even realised they didn't have one previously, but she was thankful that had changed in this new version of the house. She couldn’t imagine life without one. She reached back down into her bag and pulled out her scroll once again. The small stone rectangle made a clunk as it dropped onto the wooden table, and just like before, Yang pulled up a chair and took a seat.

She cautiously lowered a hand onto the table, and when the surface didn't begin to glow like last time, she breathed a sigh of relief and got to work operating the device. The second the soft blue glow began to emanate throughout the room, Yang was joined by Ruby, who hopped over to her side to say hello to their family. After a moment of low humming and the same familiar tingle of magic, a blurry light blue projection appeared from the scroll. It took a second for the picture to adjust, so to speak, and it soon revealed that the head belonged to their Uncle Qrow. "Hey, kiddos!" The ghostly projection crackled with their uncles all too familiar greeting, accompanied by a wave of his hand. 

“Hey, Qrow!” Ruby almost yelled at the hologram, causing Yang to recoil slightly. Although she should really have expected it by now, especially from Ruby. “We got here safe and sound!” Ruby continued.

“Hey, that’s great news!” The duo heard Tai’s voice from somewhere in the room behind Qrow, and sure enough, the hologram expanded, revealing that Qrow was joined by all three of their other guardians, who were all crowded around their scroll intently eager to hear about the girls trip so far. “Thanks for remembering to get in touch.”

Yang and Ruby both beamed when their family was revealed to them, and before either of their moms could voice their gratitude for the call, Yang spoke up with something that had been on her mind. “Hey, Summer, you were right; those balloons are awesome!”

The comment was followed by Summer’s soft chuckle, recalling the time she had managed to convince Yang that the balloon ride off Patch wasn’t anything to worry about. “I told you~” She hummed out, smiling to herself all the while. 

Eager to not let Yang hog all the limelight, Ruby interjected with a tale of her own. “We saw a giant whale! It was a Grimm, but it was huge!” She announced in glee, spreading her arms wide as if to prove her point. 

As experienced mages and travellers themselves, all four of the older people weren’t surprised to hear about the sister’s run-in with the titan of a Grimm. “Well, it sounds like you two had a blast!” Tai said, himself eager to learn about the latest part of their trip. “Did the house give you any trouble?”

Yang and Ruby shared a quick glance with each other. “I…guess you could say that.” The confusion on their faces was apparent, and a mixture of laughter came from some of the adults. "Wait a second, did you guys know that it was gonna transform?"  The answer was almost obvious, given the telltale smirks on their family's faces. 

"We mighta' had something to do with it…." Qrow said cryptically, confirming their suspicions.

Ruby scowled at the projection of her dad. "You coulda' warned us!" 

The team laughed again, none of them feeling the least bit apologetic about scaring their daughters. "Quite frankly, I'm surprised that it still works," Raven said, offering to explain the house and its bizarre shifting magic. "It's an ancient spell. It enchants the whole building, and it shifts matter around to accommodate its occupants' needs." She said to the pair of wide-eyed girls. "Cool, right?" She added with a smirk.

This caused Ruby and Yang to look around their enchanted home with a fresh perspective, marvelling at how quickly it had gone from a broken-down wooden shack to a beautiful picturesque cabin. "Wait, still works? This was your house?" Yang asked, turning her attention back to the blue projection of her family. 

Tai nodded sagely in confirmation. "Yup, that was our little home away from home whenever we were in Atlas." He flashed Ruby and Yang a slight grin. "We liked to travel a lot."

"Why else did you think Glynda had that key?" Qrow interjected, causing Yang's eyes to light up in understanding. "You don't think we were just gonna send you out there with nothing at all, did ya?"

They both knew their parents were going to help them out on their adventure, but they didn't quite realise it was going to be to this extent. "This place is so cool!" Ruby said, still gazing around the cosy cottage she could now call home. "How come you never told us you guys could do this?!" She asked, looking back to the projection.

The older generation of mages glanced around one another awkwardly. "Well, when I said it was old magic, I meant...even older than us," Raven said, hoping that the girls would understand.

After a second or so, Summer hummed and offered to explain further. "You see, it's very unique magic. Something special and powerful. It's a testament to how strong the mages of old used to be..." She trailed off as she mentioned their ancestors. Such a topic was always a sour one to bring up, but Summer felt it necessary for their children to learn. "Ever since the war ended, a lot of our more fantastical spells were sadly lost to time," Yang recalled hearing similar statements all throughout her childhood. Apparently, the mages that survived the war and that were pushed into exile only retained a fraction of their power. She would have loved to see a mage perform spells from centuries ago. “But I don’t want to get into all those politics right now. We’re just glad you kids are safe.” Summers' comment snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Mom, we’re not kids!” Ruby said defensively. Her pout only served to prove Summers point, and Yang laughed along with their parents as she gently pushed Ruby out of frame. "Hey!"

"We'll be fine!" Yang said as Ruby retaliated with a shoulder nudge of her own. "As soon as we get settled in, that is." Ruby finally recovered from her attack and now stood firmly next to Yang, smiling over at her guardians. "Which hopefully...won't take long!" 

Her words seemed nervous, and Tai was quick to offer some advice for the young adventurers to start their journey outright. "So Mantle isn't too far from where you are now." He began to explain. "You've gotta make a name for yourselves first. You know, go around the city, help the locals, do some chores. And eventually, they'll let you take on contracts for killing Grimm." He finished with a smile. "I know you girls are good enough for that."

"Just a heads up." Raven seemed prepared to add her own spin on Tai's advice. "You're gonna run into a little opposition, especially in Mantle. There are still a lot of people out there who despise magic." She said, recalling how much trouble she had gotten into during her time in the city.

"But for just as many people like that, there are going to be ones who are going to love your company." Summer was quick to amend Raven's statement. "Just make sure you choose the right crowd and take care of each other!"

"We will!" The two younger mages said in unison. Their parent's wise words had helped spell out their path, and they couldn't wait to get back out on the road. 

A long yawn from Yang prompted one from Ruby, and Qrow chuckled from within his blue projection. "I think you girls need some sleep." He said, turning back to look at his family. "Let's call it here and leave them to it." 

All four of the guardians seemed to be in agreement, especially since they already knew all about the sisters' long journey. To be fair, Yang and Ruby were both finding it harder and harder to ignore their urges to collapse into their beds and didn't put up much of a fight when their parents started to say their goodbyes.

"We'll be in touch!" Was the last thing Yang managed to say before the blue projection vanished from view. Once the cabin was plunged into silence again, both herself and Ruby yawned and promptly nodded to each other. "Come on, we can unpack tomorrow…." Yang muttered as she stood up and made her way to the bedroom.

Ruby agreed with her sister, turning and groggily stumbling towards the bedroom, not quite realising how tired she was until everybody started mentioning it. "G'night, Yang!" She called out as she vanished into the room.

Yang paused and took a final look around the room with one central thought swirling through her mind. Raven had told them that the magic would have changed things to suit their individual needs. However, the cottage was abnormally large for just the two sisters. Not to mention the abundance of furniture, too. There were four beds, four chairs at the dining table, and a three-seater couch with an extra plush chair off to the side. 

Then again, Raven had said it was old magic, so maybe it just wasn't working to its fullest extent. Whatever the explanation was, Yang was too tired to properly question it and quickly flopped down into the next bed down from her sister. "Night Rubes…" She mumbled, knowing her words were falling on deaf ears. She could already hear Ruby's snoring.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

The silence in the cottage didn't have a lot of time to settle, as a loud, red mass appeared out of thin air. Raven poked her head through her portal, taking a glance at the bedroom before rolling her eyes. She turned her gaze over to the fire, still burning away in the fireplace, and sighed deeply to herself. She effortlessly raised up a hand that was already swirling with blue energy and magically launched a jet stream of water towards the burning logs, extinguishing the flames that the sisters had forgotten about. 

After saving their home from burning to the ground overnight, Raven sighed again, hoping that her daughters would learn to handle themselves in the coming weeks. "You girls have a lot to learn…." She grumbled, disappearing back into the portal and once again plunging the dark cottage into silence.

Chapter Text

Having been planning her potential escape for months at this point, Weiss knew precisely where to go and what to do. Instead of the main gate at the front of the manor, she opted to leave via a smaller, often forgotten side entrance. For one, it was unalarmed. In fact, the way it was neglected made it seem as if everybody had forgotten the gate existed over the years. Secondly, it surprisingly led straight from the path to the gardens and into the untamed wilderness beyond. In addition, it was the only way off the manor grounds that was on the side facing Atlas, which suited Weiss' needs perfectly.

Once she was through the rusted gate and had passed the Schnee manor property line, her mission suddenly became far more real. It was only a matter of time before the early morning servants began to wake up, cutting off her one chance of a silent and unobstructed re-entry to the house.

But the day's events had left little room for doubt in Weiss' mind; She wasn't going back. She reached into her backpack of supplies and pulled out a lantern, sliding her wrist through the handle in order to keep it steady while she struck a match. The flame would help combat the cold and the dark, at least until she reached the bright city streets. With a glance into the sparse woods in front of her, Weiss' target seemed miles and miles away and far from the warm sanctity of her home. The journey was imposing, but Weiss felt that she didn't have a choice. Leaving was something she just had to do.

Ignoring her chattering teeth as well as the doubt in her mind, She resolved to press on. Weiss forced her legs to move, beginning her descent towards Atlas.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, down in a far corner of Mantle, a slender, cloaked figure hopped up onto the back of a horse-drawn carriage that was seemingly ready and waiting for her. "I'll just be in the city for a few hours, Jo'!" She said in her most convincing tone. "Don't worry, I'll be back in time for the meeting." She was yelling down to a tall green-haired woman, who simply rolled her eyes in response.

"You better be. You know how cranky Robyn can get in the mornings!" She shouted back as the carriage began to steadily roll forward.

A third woman shouted from the back room, with a playful scowl obvious in her voice. "I heard that!"

Joanna let out a hearty chuckle as she playfully shouted back to the disembodied voice. "That was the point!" She turned back to the carriage just in time to see a grin on the cloaked figure's face disappearing into the night. "What are you up to…?" She mumbled quietly to herself as the carriage, now carrying her teammate, left the secluded warehouse.

The carriage had an easy trip to the outskirts of the city. Since her little group were only allowed to operate under the pretence of transporting goods, the cloaked figure had to remain under wraps until they were safely out into the wilderness. A light knock on wood came from the driver's seat, muffled through the fabric that she was concealed in. "May, we're clear." The soft voice of the driver was equally muffled, but May had received the message either way.

Now she had heard the signal, May was finally allowed to release the breath she had been holding and lifted herself up from her hiding place, quickly hopping up to the front of the storage wagon and leaning her head over the barrier. "Hey, thanks for doing this on such short notice."

The driver, a short lamb Faunus with mousy hair, returned May's smile as she gently coaxed the horses to increase their speed. "No worries!" She said happily, turning slightly to face May with a question on her lips. "But I've gotta know, what's gotten you so worked up in the middle of the night?" She asked quizzically.

Thankfully, she wouldn't be left in the dark much longer, but May's answer was still surprising. "Remember the Schnees?" She asked almost rhetorically, knowing full well that the name was familiar. Just like clockwork, a look of horror washed over Fiona's face as she recalled the trouble that was associated with that name. She slowed the horses back down and turned to look at May with wide eyes. May simply nodded with a knowing look on her face. "The last one finally came to her senses." She said simply. "At least, that's what I've been told." 

The Schnees. May didn't need to say any more than that. Fiona now knew exactly why May didn't want Robyn to know what they were doing. 

But if the third and final Schnee was out and about, then she also knew that it spelt trouble. They could only hope that this job was going to go a lot smoother than when the brother ran away. Fiona released a nervous gulp as she turned her gaze back to the road ahead, returning the horses back to their full gallop. "It's going to be a long night…." She muttered mostly to herself.

The sound of May's laughter pierced the silence of the night as the two of them headed for Atlas.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Weiss didn't know how long she had been walking for. Her legs ached, and her fingers had gone numb, threatening to drop off at a moment's notice. As the lights from her home's gardens faded into nothingness behind her and darkness began to surround her on all sides, her little lantern had turned out to be a saving grace.

She would have been more panicked if it wasn't for the fading light in the distance guiding her way towards Atlas. The faint yellow glow had been on the horizon for the entirety of Weiss' journey, and she could see that it was growing bigger with every step she made. Her clothes were managing to keep her warm, but she didn't dare stop for a bite to eat until she was sure she was safe.

She thought her walk to freedom was going to be short and easy, but Weiss had forgotten to account for her lack of experience. In fact, the more she thought about how little she knew of the outside world, the more her feelings of worry and anxiety grew. She had only visited Atlas on a few occasions. Each one was under escort from either her overbearing father or a group of servants for when he was otherwise engaged.

Every time she entered the exotic city, she yearned to be free and explore at her own pace. Interacting with the locals and shopping around for additions to her wardrobe. Additions of her own choice, at the very least, and not things that were handpicked for her.

Weiss was too young to remember the exact journey to and from the shopping district. Her earliest memories were gazing outside of the car window at the endless white landscape that blended in with itself. She would pester her family if they had arrived yet, only to be met with annoyed tuts, which always made her laugh. 

The first indication that they were nearing the city was the tall stone walls that offered protection and shelter from the harsh elements. The sight of the walls was swiftly followed by a second of darkness as the driver passed under the sheltered gatehouse, and after the brief moment of darkness, Weiss' favourite part of the trip arrived. The massive buildings that graced Atlas' skyline came into view, springing up on the horizon like beacons of adventure. To a young and impressionable Weiss, these trips to the city were truly magical.

But it had been many, many years since her family last brought her out here, and the magic of seeing the city had long since worn off. Now that she was close to actually getting her dream to explore the city herself, she was filled with dread. She would have to rapidly learn to be independent, scraping by with what limited knowledge she had. When a wolf howled from somewhere within the woods, Weiss shook her head to snap herself out of her thoughts, bringing herself back down to reality. There were more pressing matters to attend to, and she urged her tired legs to pick up the pace.

Weiss had no intention of becoming dog food so early into her journey.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

After almost an hour of trudging through the heavily layered snow, Weiss' heart began to swell with hope. She had managed to find a road nestled amongst the trees. And not just a forgotten dirt track that had been steadily worn down by the occasional hiker, but instead an actual paved road intended for travellers and vehicles. Her feet silently thanked her for being allowed to walk on an even surface again, and Weiss couldn't help but smile as the road let her walk even faster towards her destination.

The first proof that she was nearing civilisation appeared to her in the form of cars and carriages trundling down the road, both to and from the city. The motor cars were less common, being the more expensive option, and Weiss mused at how they were barely faster than the more traditional horse-drawn wagons. The sight of the vehicles making their way down the road brought her back to her trips as a child once again. In particular, she remembered a time when she saw a traveller, alone and with a large backpack, seemingly walking towards the city by themselves. 

She remembered thinking to herself that they must have been fearless to wander around in the cold, and her mind couldn't help but wonder what exactly they were doing and where they were going. But now, the situation had reversed entirely, and she was the one walking down the road alone. She pictured the eyes of children watching her walk towards the city by herself, and she let out a small laugh at how things had come full circle the way they had.

It was already extremely early morning by the time she reached the road, and it only took a few more minutes of comfortable travel granted by the paving for the forest to thin out, and those very same city walls that she remembered from her childhood to spring up into view in the distance. The tall, imposing stone barrier was the only thing standing between herself and absolute safety. But before she could enjoy that safety, she had to get into the city itself. Mercifully the road she was on led her right into an entry gate, promising an easy way past the walls.

Weiss was nervous about being stopped and denied entry, but she recalled that the walls were there mainly to keep the horrible creatures of Grimm out, which meant that she shouldn't have any trouble passing through as a human. She pushed on as much as her tired legs could carry her, knowing that she was mere moments away from civilisation.

However, her easy passage theory turned out to be incorrect. The vehicles that had passed her by on the approach to the city were all lined up in a queue for the gates, seemingly being stopped by guards before being allowed in. However, much to Weiss' delight, the pedestrian gate off to one side didn't have a queue, and she was hoping that she could pass by unnoticed.

She quickly learned that this would not be the case. As soon as she neared the gate, two previously unseen guards swooped in with lightning speed, blocking her way into the city. They were large and burly, almost comically so, and Weiss flinched as soon as they popped up in front of her. "Hold it!" The one on the left roared loudly. "Atlas is currently on lockdown! No-one's getting in or out of the city without being signed in first!"

Before Weiss could even try and request entry, the other guard began to shout, almost as loud as the first one. "Please state your name and reason for visit!" 

The sudden interrogation made Weiss start to panic, but she took a deep breath to calm her nerves and began to speak. "My name is Weiss Schnee, and I'm…." She hesitated as she tried to think of a decent title for herself, but before she could even get a word out, the guards perked up and cut her off.

"You're a Schnee?!" The first one said in disbelief. 

They both lowered their bodies down into a small bow, surprising Weiss by their sudden change of demeanour. "Why didn't you say so sooner?!" The second guard said in almost a panicked voice.

The first guard quickly slammed an elbow into his colleague's side. "Uh, what my friend here meant to say was we're sorry for the inconvenience, miss!"

The second guard barely recoiled from the hit, but he quickly began to make up for his supposed disrespect. "Uh, of course! I am sorry, Miss Schnee!" He tried to remain professional despite bumbling over his words. The two of them moved to one side and allowed her to pass. "Please, go right ahead!" 

Weiss was a little confused by their actions, but she was too tired to honestly question it. "Um, thank you…." Her voice sounded uncertain, but she began to walk through the gate. As she passed the guards by, she heard them muttering something to each other under their breath, and curiosity got the better of her. "Is everything okay?"

The two burly guards shared another quick look before one of them turned to address Weiss directly. "Please don't tell your father about our mistake!" He was almost fearful of what Jacques would do to them if he found out how he treated his daughter.

Weiss just stared at the guard with confusion evident on her face. She had no idea what was happening, but she was more than happy to oblige his request. "O-oh, of course, father...won't find out a thing." Her voice was a little shaky, and she hoped she was saying the right thing.

Thankfully her words seemed to do the trick, and the two guards bowed at her once more. "Thank you! It won't happen again, we promise!" They said in unison. Weiss thanked them again and turned towards the city, happy that the debacle at the gate was finally over.

After all this time being scared, cold, and anxious about the future, she had finally reached Atlas. The second she was through the gate, the sights and sounds hit her all once. An endless city stretched out before her. The main road she was on kept straight, with a large stone statue of a horse standing proudly in a clearing further down.

She raised her arm and snuffed out her lantern. After all, the bright streets of Atlas proved to look just as magical as she remembered them, and they provided more than enough light. However, the streets were decorated in a way that she didn't recognise. Long ropes covered in smaller lights were strung up in between buildings, and colourful banners hung in between rooftops. It seemed as though some sort of event was taking place, but at the same time it had been a while since she had come to the city. Perhaps this was simply the norm.

On top of the overwhelming sense of scale, the streets were surprisingly busy for this time of the day. The maze of buildings and scattered crowds in the streets in front of her was alien to the sheltered girl and without realising it Weiss had frozen in place, her legs rooted to the spot as she watched people come and go. She was almost expecting some sort of welcome committee or formal greeting. But as she stood there, covered in snow and visibly tired, she was seemingly invisible to everybody else. In a way, this invisibility was a blessing in disguise. She was worried about being recognised or, even worse, accosted by some sort of criminal. But as it stands, Weiss was being largely ignored by the citizens of Atlas.

Without much information to go on, Weiss slowly began to march into the city itself, setting her sights on the large stone statue directly ahead of her. Her first order of business was to find somewhere to stay the night and rest her weary bones, and she was hoping that the large opening within the buildings that surrounded the statue was some sort of central hub that could get her exactly where she wanted.

While being unrecognised and ignored was a great relief for the young woman, Weiss didn't want to take any chances after making it so far. She moved swiftly and precisely down the main street, hanging her head low in order to not draw attention to herself. After a brisk minute or so of travel, the horse statue was within her reach. 

She was curious to find out the animal's significance and was tempted to step up to it and read the plaque that adorned its base. But something else caught her eye. Something that completely changed her plans. Over to one side, right on the corner of a block of buildings, was a small secluded building with an old rustic feel and a wooden sign in its window. 

It was an inn. An inn with available rooms, to be precise.

In an instant, Weiss forgot her mission to the statue, instead turning to make a beeline for the small building. She honestly wasn't expecting to find somewhere to stay so soon and, for a brief moment, thought that she was hallucinating the whole thing. But as she reached a hand out to the door, she could confirm that it was real, and stepping inside proved that it was just as warm as she was hoping it was going to be.

The interior of the lobby was spacious and cosy, with a hanging lamp lighting up the room and a fireplace keeping it warm. Weiss glanced around the room in awe before turning her attention to the innkeeper, approaching the front desk with determination in her eyes. She had prepared an excuse for why she looked so exhausted, but she was a little taken aback by how casual he sounded. "Mornin'." He said with disinterest. "Want a room for the night?" 

In a way, Weiss was grateful that this wouldn't be a hassle. "U-um, yes please, I-" When she began to speak, her voice came out hoarse and strained due to her nerves, and she quickly shot her hand up to her mouth as she roughly coughed. The innkeeper raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything, allowing Weiss to continue at her own pace. After composing herself, Weiss continued. "My apologies. Yes, please, I'd like a room with a bath, if possible." 

The man simply nodded and crouched down to the floor, rummaging around for a little bit before finding what he wanted. As he stood back up, his eyes bulged out of his sockets when he saw a massive stack of Lien sitting on the counter. Thousands of it, far more than he had ever seen in his life, was piled up in front of him. "Oh s-sorry, is that not enough?" The words made him look up at Weiss' innocent eyes, and she visibly panicked at what she thought was a judging glare.

Weiss reached back into her bag, and for a brief, horrible moment, the man considered overcharging the inexperienced girl, robbing her for everything she had. But he was supposed to be a respected business owner, and he couldn't quite bring himself to do it. "Um, slow down a second, will ya?!" He said, getting Weiss to stop looking through her bag and turn her gaze up to the innkeeper. "This is plenty." He said slowly, grabbing a few notes of lien from the pile and dropping them down into a waiting cash register. 

Realising her mistake, Weiss quickly grabbed the rest of the Lien on the counter and started stuffing it back into her bag. "O-oh, um, sorry!" She said awkwardly, hoping that she hadn't come across as completely useless. A few seconds later, the clerk wordlessly produced a big key with a number 3 on it, still surprised at what he just saw unfold before him. "T-thank you." 

With that ordeal out of the way, Weiss hurried away from the counter and towards the set of stairs labelled 'Rooms' at the back of the lobby. "Breakfast is served at 10!" He quickly shouted out after her, but Weiss had already begun to ascend the stairs. "Jeez, some people…." He mumbled to himself, leaning back against the wall as he had been doing before Weiss entered.

It was only a matter of moments before Weiss made it to the sanctity of her room. It wasn't much, but it was far better than remaining outside and braving the elements, so she wasn't in any state to complain.

She stripped out of her heavy and snow-logged clothes and began to run some water into the bathtub, breathing a sigh of relief after finding out that warm water was actually available. After a relaxing soak in the bath, Weiss only had one thing on her mind: catching up with some sorely missed sleep.

She changed into some simple sleeping clothes, at least being smart enough to wear something warmer than a nightgown lest she freeze to death, and settled down into the bed. 

Despite how anxious about the future she was feeling, her tiredness won out, and she drifted off to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Sadly Weiss had missed breakfast later that morning. All of her travel and exhaustion had resulted in oversleeping until about midday, and if she was honest, she valued her precious sleep over a meal after so long on the road.

But that didn't stop her stomach from rumbling as she got dressed back into her clothes. She knew she couldn't stay at the inn for much longer, and even if she could, she had a mission for today, and she was eager to get to work on it. She asked the innkeeper if she could use their dining room for a quick meal, and after a small amount of hesitation, the man accepted. Weiss settled down for a breakfast of dried meat and bread before setting out on the road once again, eager to follow any and all leads she had pertaining to her sister's whereabouts.

Weiss walked out the door swiftly, and without soaring a glance to the innkeeper, after all, she was on a mission. As she left, he glanced down a rolled-up piece of paper that the town guard had dropped off only a few hours ago.

WANTED ALIVE: WEISS SCHNEE 

ABANDONMENT OF DUTIES, THEFT OF SCHNEE PROPERTY, GENERAL TROUBLEMAKING.

IF SEEN CONTACT AUTHORITIES IMMEDIATELY.

He looked back up just as the doors shut behind the young woman and shook his head in disbelief. "Just a coincidence…." He mumbled to himself, grabbing a cloth and wiping down the front desk.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Weiss' first stop was an obvious one: The Atlas military headquarters. It was a large base near the outskirts of the city, and after asking someone for directions, she began the journey through the streets towards the large concrete military complex. If Winter was going to be anywhere, then this was an excellent first place to start looking.

The base itself was nestled right into the corner of the city, and from street level, it was nigh impossible to get a good look at it. Weiss felt her heart drop when she realised that she wouldn't even be able to get close to a single one of the complex's buildings. Thankfully it seemed like she didn't need to, as a pair of guards were stationed right outside of the gate, seemingly keeping watch of the road leading up to the headquarters.

Weiss saw this as her way in, and after gathering her courage, she approached the guards and cleared her throat, immediately grabbing their attention. "Hello, may I ask if Specialist Winter Schnee is currently stationed here?” 

She tried to sound polite and professional, but her confidence wavered as the two guards barely reacted to her presence. "I'm afraid General Schnee isn't currently on site." One of the guards informed Weiss, who was shocked to learn of her sister's new title. 

Remembering how the two men guarding the front gate treated her like royalty as soon as she mentioned her name, Weiss smirked to herself and happily told the soldiers exactly who she was. "My name is Weiss Schnee, and I demand to know where my sister is." She said with renewed vigour.

Instead of obliging her request, the two guards looked at each other with scowls on their faces. "Thank you for confirming your identity." The other guard said as soon as he looked back over to her. "I'm sorry, miss, but I need you to come with us."

The scowl on his face remained, and Weiss instinctively took a step back, now feeling threatened by the armed guard. "U-um, w-why do I need to go anywhere?" She asked defensively.

Both of them took another step forward towards Weiss, closing the space that was already relatively short between them even further. "Your father has a warrant out for your arrest, Miss Schnee. Please don't make this any harder than it has to be!"

"N-now, hold on a second, w-why am I being arrested?!" Weiss' question fell on deaf ears, one of the guards reached his hand out to grip Weiss' wrist, which was the last straw for her. In her eyes, she hadn't done anything wrong, and she wasn't going to allow herself to get taken into custody, especially after getting no closer to finding her sister.

Weiss' fight or flight response kicked in, and she had no trouble doing both simultaneously. She leaned as far forward as she could and swiftly raised her leg, kicking the guard that had her by the wrist in his side. The shock of the attack made the soldier lose his grip, freeing her arm and allowing her to turn on the spot and start to run. "Hey!" The other guard said, sprinting after Weiss after ensuring his colleague was okay.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

All while this was unfolding, Weiss never once noticed the amber eyes watching her from atop a nearby rooftop. 

May had been tailing Weiss for some time now, but she didn't dare act without concrete proof that the young woman was, in fact, the heiress to the SDC like she had been told. It wasn't until the debacle at the military base that May's suspicions were confirmed. “It really is you, Weiss." The cloaked woman was happy to confirm her target's name as the situation unfolded down on street level.

She couldn't help but release an approving whistle when she saw Weiss put all of her power into a kick and escape from the clutches of the soldier. But she didn't come here to stand around being impressed, and Weiss running back into the streets was only serving to slow her mission down once again. 

As Weiss' ivory ponytail disappeared into the crowd, May rose back to a standing position and prepared to continue her pursuit. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into, kid…." She muttered under her breath before hopping down from her perch.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Thankfully by this point, the Atlas streets had become crowded and filled up with markets that easily allowed Weiss to make a clean getaway. Now that she knew she was seemingly wanted by the military, she had become hyper-aware of the various people that were combing the streets looking for her. It didn't take her long to notice the wanted posters sporting her face that were on every street corner and lampost.

Weiss instinctively flicked the hood of her jacket up over her head and proceeded to keep a low profile, lest she get recognised by someone aiming for the bounty placed on her head. After a few minutes of aimless walking, she ducked into an alcove to catch her breath in relative safety. She didn't know how she had managed to get this far without being caught, but she was sure her luck was going to run out sooner or later.

She had started today full of hope and optimism, fully prepared to find her sister and safeguard her future. But in a matter of minutes, that hope had turned into despair, and the optimism had become paranoia. Weiss didn't even get a moment to think, and her rest was interrupted when she noticed a slender woman with blue hair making a beeline straight for her. The second their eyes made contact, Weiss stood up and bolted back into the crowd, certain that the woman was some sort of bounty hunter. 

Worried that was still being followed, Weiss approached the first building on her side of the street that looked available to her. As it turns out, it was a pub. A pub that was packed to the brim, which was another lucky break for the young runaway. Seeing as all the tables were taken, and knowing that standing up would make her too obvious, Weiss clambered up to a seat at the bar, as far in the corner as she could go. She leaned forward and rested her head on the counter, banging it down once or twice for good measure.

Today had been an utter failure for Weiss. She was now locked out of her only lead regarding her two siblings, and the whole city was after her for crimes she didn't even know she committed. And on top of that, she couldn't even return to the inn anymore without getting herself caught. With nowhere left to turn and an escape that seemed nigh impossible, Weiss thought she was at her limit.

But she didn't know that things were about to get much worse.

While she was busy sulking about her recent bad luck, she failed to notice the attention she was attracting. The conversations within the pub began to slowly die down until all that was left was some quiet mutterings. She heard her name get said by someone in a hushed whisper, which tipped her off that something was amiss. She immediately shot her head up just in time to catch a toned woman with outstretched hands mere moments away from grabbing her from behind. Weiss practically jumped to her feet and kicked the bar stool in front of her, trying her best to make some distance.

"Well shit, it really is Weiss!" The woman said with an evil laugh, uncaring about her attempt being thwarted. 

Weiss looked around the room at the several people that were beginning to surround her. Admittedly it wasn't every other patron in the pub, but it was enough to send a chill of fear up Weiss' spine. "What do you people want with me?!" She asked in a frenzy, reaching down a shaky hand and preparing to grab the crossbow that she had stashed on her hip.

Half of her would-be attackers laughed at her question. "There's a pretty penny for bringing you in." One of the goons closer to the back of the pack said with a snarl.

Weiss glanced over to the pub entrance only to see it blocked off by yet another person who was seemingly there to do her harm. The pack leader must have watched her eyes as she chuckled to herself before nodding at Weiss. "That's right, there's no escape. So why don't you just come quietly, and we won't have to hurt you."  She said, offering a hand for Weiss to simply give herself up. 

But Weiss had come too far to pack it in now. She didn't respond to the gang leader and instead made her intentions to resist obvious by grabbing her bow. As soon as Weiss' hands gripped her weapon, the leader sprung into action, pulling out a knife that she was concealing behind her back. "Bring it, posh girl!" She said with a menacing grin, clearly not expecting Weiss to make the first move. 

Both women were frozen in a stalemate, and before either of them could act, Weiss heard someone from behind her whisper into her ears. "When I give the signal, run!"

"Hey, hands off our mark!" One of the gang members sneered at the woman now standing behind Weiss. Weiss didn't even have time to react, as a moment later, the whole bar erupted into chaos. 

She heard a gunshot ring out, which was the catalyst to the whole thing. Someone had shot the chandelier that was hanging high above the bar, and it came crashing down on top of the gang that was holding Weiss up. Without missing a beat, Weiss assumed that this was the signal, and she dashed forward, hopping over the chair that she had pushed over earlier and charging straight for the exit. 

The commotion in the pub was like nothing she had ever seen before. People had begun to fight each other, and she could hear shattering glasses and splintering wood from the area around her. But Weiss didn't even try to question it. She just kept her head down and escaped from the chaos as quickly as she could. Weiss managed to make it through the front door of the pub leaving back outside into the fresh air of the streets. She didn't quite know who saved her, but she didn't need to. She started to make her way down the street, trying to find the perfect balance between moving fast and staying concealed. 

Her efforts didn't get her very far, though, as moments later, she felt a pair of hands grab her from behind, one over her mouth and the other around her waist. She didn't have any time to escape as she felt herself get dragged into a dark alleyway alongside some buildings. She wasn't going to allow herself to go easy, though, and she struggled and kicked out her legs. Her screams were muffled by her attacker's hand, but that didn't stop her from trying. 

"Weiss, Weiss!" The person who had a hold on her started to speak. "Shh, calm down! I'm not here to hurt you!" Weiss recognised it immediately. It was the very same voice that spoke to her in the pub. The one that granted her an escape. "Or turn you in!" 

Her voice was soft and calm, even despite everything that had happened, and Weiss felt herself relax after learning that she wasn't in any danger. "Okay, promise you aren't gonna scream as soon as I let you go?" She continued, finally releasing her hand after Weiss shook her head. "Good. I promise I'm here to help get you out of the city." 

Weiss turned around to face her saviour, finally coming face to face with her blue-haired, amber-eyed guardian angel. She was wearing a vest and rather loose-fitting pants, both of which were mostly covered by a long cloak that helped conceal her identity. Not only was this the same person that had approached Weiss in the alcove, but she was wielding a long rifle which told Weiss that she was also the person who shot the chandelier down and saved her in the pub.

And much to Weiss relief, it seemed that she wanted to help her out. "Who...are you?" The words tumbled out of Weiss’ mouth, laboured only by her heavy breathing from the commotion moments ago.

"The name's May." The older woman said, flashing Weiss a confident smirk as she did so. "Now come on, we've gotta move!" May turned and began to speed down the alleyway towards the other way out, but Weiss hesitated a moment, unsure if she could trust her new companion. May stopped and turned back to Weiss, frowning slightly when she saw the uncertainty on her face. "Okay, I'll have to make this quick. I know Winter. In fact, she's the one that got us to save Whitley's ass last year."

Weiss' eyes lit up as soon as the familiar names came into play. "Wait, you know Winter? And Whitley!" Weiss' hesitation from before faded and was replaced with excitement. "You just have to take me to see them!" She hopped forward, closing the gap between the two of them.

But that excitement wasn't to last when May's smile dropped ever so slightly. "I, uh...we can't exactly go do that." She said sadly. "We'll explain on the way back; come on, we've gotta go." She reached out a hand, and thankfully, despite feeling down, Weiss took it and let herself get pulled towards the exit of the alley. As if on cue, a large wooden carriage pulled up right outside the opening, and May effortlessly lifted Weiss up into its wagon, with herself following after.

Once they were laid on their backs, May pulled a blanket over the top of them and told Weiss to keep quiet. "Wait, won't they be checking everybody on the way out? We're going to be caught!" Weiss began to panic as it seemed like her guardians hadn't thought their plan through properly.

But May swiftly put an end to that train of thought. "Don't worry, Fiona's in good with the city. We smuggle people out all the time." The explanation did manage to relax Weiss, even if only a little bit. Before Weiss could ask any more objections, May shushed her as the wagon began to rumble and get pulled through the city streets.

She couldn't believe how quickly things had gone wrong. Less than 24 hours ago, she couldn't wait to get to Atlas. And now here she was, desperate to leave. Weiss didn't forget what the soldier at the base had told her: Her father was to blame for ruining all of her plans. She silently cursed him for even managing to be a hindrance to her this far from home. But all hope was not lost, May had told her that she knew both of Weiss' siblings.

And after all, that's the reason she left in the first place.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, far from Atlas and back in the comfort of the Schnee Manor, Weiss' childhood home was abuzz with activity. At this point everybody had heard about the young woman's disappearance, with all of the staff coming up with different theories about her reason for leaving. Despite the ideas they came up with, they all made the wise decision to steer clear of Jacques and go about with their duties. So they didn't dare question it when a mysterious stranger clad in black entered the manor and ascended the stairs towards the patriarchs office. 

"Enter." Jacques said as the stranger knocked on his door. 

The seemingly invited guest swung the office door open and stepped inside. Her eyes bore into the back of Jacques head, clearly showing her distaste of the Schnee but still resolving to speak with him. She had a job to do, after all. "I have my best men on the case." She said, her voice serious as she spoke. " We've tipped off several private mercenary groups as well as placed wanted posters on every street corner. She isn't making it out of Atlas." 

Without turning to face his new 'business partner', Jacques takes a sip of whiskey while watching the sun set over the artificially lit streets of Atlas. "Good." He said simply, tilting his head to dismiss the stranger from his office. "You'll see, girl." He mumbled menacingly under his breath. "I'll get you back eventually."