Weiss took in her surroundings, admiring Vale in all its great splendour. It had been four days since Sanctuary, and the trees had thinned out as they approached a very large plateau. It was, without a doubt, gorgeous. Qrow had stopped the wagon here to water and feed the team of horses, along with enjoy a brief respite from the road.

A stone, weather worn and lichen-dressed, stood at the edge of the massive overhang. Weiss had inspected it, curious, but neither she nor Ruby could gather anything. When they asked Qrow, he only shrugged and said he knew nothing.

At first, it filled Weiss with a sense of annoyance. Such markers were always important, remnants of some part of history, survivors of an age long past.

She found she didn't care as much when she finally looked past it and saw what was the great land of Vale in all its beauty. As Ruby had foretold, the forests had began to shrink as they drew evermore inland, though they never disappeared, and rose gently with the rolling, green land. From the vantage point, they could spot many small towns, villages, and signals of humanity. What caught and held her attention, though, was what could only be Central Vale.

The great city stood on the middle of the land, built upon a mountain that, curiously, seemed to have been cut smooth near its base. A great path seemed to lead up from the grasslands and into a pair of white, crystalline gates, gilded in what shone like gold from where she stood, green flags waving from the peaks of their towers. A constant stream of people filtered into and out of city.

A wall of white circled the city like a scarf with many parapets and pointed roofs. One massive structure, a great, long tower, speared out from a seemingly random juncture to the right of the wall. The wall itself rose high here, as the tower appeared built into a peak that had remained unscathed.

When she finally gazed into the city, she lost her breath as it fled from her lungs in a gasp. In the farthest end of the city sat a keep so large that it sprawled from one end of the wall to the other, no small feat. It, unlike the rest of the city, held a darker color to its stone. She couldn't see much of the front, but the roof above the center of the great building was white, accented with thin lines of gold that Weiss couldn't quite make out the patterns of. A multitude of thorny towers rose from behind it, flying colors of both white and green. Both wings of the keep seemed to rise upwards, and Weiss assumed the city was built on a set of tiers.

Behind the city, the mountain appeared again, as if it had only had three quarters cut from its body. It towered over the city, and Weiss wondered how large it had once been. She noticed that another building sat in the face of the cleaved mountain, high enough that it was above the city, and wondered about it.

The city was leagues off, and Weiss imagined it would take weeks to get there. Spreading out like a sea from the front gate was a bustling amount of buildings and farmland that rested upon gentle and fertile plains. Eventually terrain proved it impossible to see how far it all reached, long before the tendrils of humanity had stopped. Weiss wasn't wishing for a war between nations, but she was glad that Atlas had their great stores of dust, because she was certain that Vale was a massive force to be reckoned with.

Ruby was smiling at her reaction. "It's amazing, isn't it?" She asked, though the question wasn't necessary. Weiss couldn't even compare anything she'd seen in Atlas to Central Vale, humbling as it was for her to accept it.

"Very," She told her, sincerely. Ruby beamed, made to look as if she was going to leave Weiss alone at the edge of the plateau, and then settled back down into a stationary position. Weiss didn't mind, and paid the actions no attention other than to notice them. They waited there for several long minutes, sweeping the gorgeous landscape with their eyes and respectively imagining what some of the places they could see were like in person. For Weiss, she kept being drawn back to Central Vale.

Her mind was still captivated by its sheer beauty after they'd set back out on the road again, leaving the great view behind for another traveler to discover.

"They're Grimm." Ruby said solemnly, standing up from her kneeling position. She swept her hand through her bangs and sighed, wishing it was slightly warmer. From above on the wagon, Qrow cursed, and Weiss' mouth grew taught. Ruby moved to stand closer to her, tightening her hand around Thorn's grip.

"Alright, I'll trust your word, kiddo. Damn, this wouldn't be such a bad thing if it wasn't so close to a village." Qrow growled, and Ruby looked at him, unbelieving that he would even entertain not giving chase to the creatures. They were, after all, exactly on the schedule, and people were in danger. It was their job to take care of this, and even if it wasn't it would be the right thing to do.

"Do you think there could be White Fang involved?" Weiss asked, which gave Ruby a pause. Grimm were one thing, but Faunus and humans? She wondered if she could fight other people. The answer made her feel nervous.

After a moment, Qrow shook his head. Ruby sighed inwardly. "We'd have seen tracks of them already as well. No, this is just wild Grimm." The way he said it, so grimly, didn't really make Ruby feel any better about it.

The party of three had stopped on a small rising of hillocks to survey the land, and what they'd seen hadn't pleased them. Paw prints varying in size but all significantly larger than any normal beast's littered the ground, tearing up tuffs of dirt and grass with abandon. It was a very, very large herd of Grimm that had passed through here. The issue was that the Grimm weren't far from a small, nameless Village Qrow knew to be close by, and if any of them knew Grimm, it meant that there was soon to be a bloodshed.

"So then we leave the horses tied up, find the Grimm and kill them, right?" Ruby said, breaking the tense silence that had grown. Qrow looked down at her with eyes that were hard and troubled.

"Ruby, this is no job for one Hunter and two girls who don't even have their semblances. If I wanted to kill myself, I'd have jumped from the plateau." He said, and Ruby scowled.

"Then what? We can't just let them kill all those people!" She said, and Qrow nodded but said nothing. Fear that he'd decide they move on gripped her and motivated her to press on. "If we don't do something, it'll be like killing them ourselves!"

Qrow sighed, and Ruby saw him share a look with Weiss. Weiss turned her gaze downwards, and said nothing. "Ruby, it's a fool's errand. We'd die. I'm no coward, and neither are you, but you've got to know that this is suicide." His tone was as harsh as gravel, and Ruby tried and failed to protest.

"We have to do something..." She managed, pleading. She couldn't stand to just leave the situation as is. She thought of the wolves, and a determination to stop this horde of Grimm filled her. "We have to!" She repeated, stronger.

"We shouldn't." Weiss sighed, and when Ruby turned to look at her, she wouldn't meet her eyes with her own. "Ruby, I feel the same way, but it's not worth the risk of our lives." Ruby growled and ground her teeth, looking from Qrow to Weiss to Qrow again. "However," Weiss said, "We could at least find the monsters and see if there's anything to be done."

Ruby straightened her back and looked to Qrow, who was glaring at the heiress. Ruby didn't care; she was so elated to have Weiss be on her side, even if it was only partially, that she wasn't going to give this argument up. Qrow seemed to take notice of this, because after he stared long and hard at Ruby for several moments, he uttered an oath and dipped his head in a nod.

"Fine, we'll go see. Ozpin had better pay me double for the trouble you two are putting me in."

As Ruby re-mounted the wagon and sat beside Weiss, grabbed the other girl's hand and gave it a thankful squeeze.

Weiss didn't seem to notice.

They traveled the road for a while longer, until the tracks veered too far off to the side and left the roadside for the bank of a forest river. The tracks moved in the direction of the village, which was only a few hours off. They were certain, now, that the Grimm were aiming to spill blood tonight. Ruby kept searching the sky for smoke, and listened for the tell tale sounds of a battle.

Qrow drove the wagon into the forest a bit until they found a place with enough foliage to hide it mostly from view. The closer they got to Southern Vale, the more likely it would be to find fellow travelers, and so hiding their wagon was a prudent decision. The horses they took further in, staying on the edge of the bank so that it would be easy to find them should it get difficult to find their way back. They tied them to trees and shushed them, feeding them apples and stroking their manes.

Only after they were certain the equines would be quiet did they set off, picking up the trail and following it as silently as they could. Ruby's pulse quickened and she could hear an incessant pounding within her head. She was, despite her bravado, hesitant to engage such a potentially large pack of Grimm, but it was demanded of her as a huntress, so she steeled herself and pressed on with greater speed, if not as much care.

The first time Ruby heard sounds of Grimm, she had drawn Thorn so harshly that it had almost flew from her grip. Qrow had gotten up and scolded her badly enough that her ears burned red. She was glad for her hood, then.

Then the Grimm came into view, and Ruby's breath hitched in her throat and refused to leave her lungs. They knew of their whereabouts long before they'd ever seen one, and could already tell that the numbers would be far too much for them three to handle. Like the air around her, her blood turned chill.

The grotesque beasts with skulls on their heads had gathered into a horde that had to be in the mid hundreds.

It was terrifying.

Her palms grew sweaty but she made no move to wipe them, holding on instead to Thorn as she half crouched in the shade of a pine. The Grimm, for whatever reason, had stopped, and were growling and grunting and moving like a writhing mass of inky blackness. It made her want to puke. The forest around them had already been trampled and torn to shreds, and a grey tinge seemed to already taint everything, as if the life was being sucked out of the earth beneath their twisted feet.

Beside her, Weiss was watching with wide, unblinking eyes. For her credit, she neither shook nor seemed to lock up like Ruby had. Instead, she seemed ready to either bolt or leap into action at the first sign of the Grimm noticing them. Qrow's only reaction was a face somehow more grim than before.

Neither of them dared make a sound.

After a while, when it seemed the monsters weren't going to notice them, Ruby slipped her bow carefully and quietly off of her shoulder, and placed an arrow ready to be loosed. Qrow grabbed her wrist and held it, giving her a warning look. She understood, and had had no plans to lose an arrow as it was. She just wanted to be prepared.

When Qrow motioned that they head back, Ruby stayed, hesitant. It was only the glare he gave her, a look she'd never before received from her uncle before, that made her reluctantly follow. They crawled at the speed of inchworms through the tall grass and thick branches, careful beyond measure to watch for missteps.

After twenty minutes, Qrow got up off the forest floor and swore an oath so vile Ruby would have blushed if she wasn't otherwise preoccupied. "There's no way we can do anything about that." He said after a moment's pause, and Ruby tightened her grip on Thorn out of frustration. He snapped his eyes to hers and held them with his intensity. "Ruby, I'm sorry, but you're both far too important to throw away for the sake of a small village." He said.

Weiss spoke up, then. "Qrow, Ruby, I thought she wasn't-"

"To hell with what she's not supposed to know." Qrow growled, but didn't say anything afterwards. Ruby, confused and angry, turned on Weiss.

"Not supposed to know what?" She asked, even as she glanced nervously back towards the Grimm.

"Nothing." Qrow snapped, and his voice was so strained that Ruby thought it was wise to not pursue the matter. Not yet, at least.

Weiss put on a stony face and stared Ruby down until she looked away. Out of her peripheral vision, she could see Weiss deflate and an expression of tiredness creep onto her face.

Ruby didn't realize it, but she was growing colder as the day progressed past afternoon and the sky began to glow a faint shade of purple. "There's nothing we can do." Qrow repeated. Ruby stared upwards beyond the tips of the trees, biting hard on her bottom lip. "The best option would be to get to Beacon and arrange a force to quickly take care of this threat."

Ruby swallowed, not wanting to say the words on her tongue. It felt thick and dry in her mouth, and she tried to generate some saliva so that it would work better. "But the people in the village, the mothers, children, babies-"

"Don't guilt trip me!" Qrow snapped harshly, and Ruby was taken aback by the ferocity in his voice. She tried to meet his eyes, but they burned with an anger that made her just as wary of him as she was the Grimm. "These monsters, Ruby, will tear that village apart and everything between it. Nothing, at all, that we do will stop them. We'll only serve to kill a score or two before we're overrun and spread all over the ground as nothing but gore. If we live, and we get Weiss to Beacon, then in the end more Grimm will be slain and more lives will be saved."

Ruby tried to contain her shaking, but it overtook her anyway. A bile rose in her throat as she tried to imagine what kind of horrors the small hamlet was going to face this night, and she had to lean over to the side and empty her guts. When she was done, her eyes stung and her breathing was ragged. A weight fell on her shoulder, and she looked up to see Weiss gripping her shoulder with a look of worry on her face. Ruby shook her head, rolled her shoulder and stepped away from both the gross pool of bile already sinking into the dirt and Weiss.

"Are you alright?" Qrow asked, his voice soft and full of concern.

Ruby breathed deeply, trying to ignore the scent of evil that seemed to exist in the air. Weiss stood off to the side, looking blankly at her feet. "I'm... I'm okay, I guess." Ruby murmured, feeling weak. Her legs, she thought, didn't want to support her. All those people... Her stomach revolted again, and she dry heaved.

So many...

"Come on, let's go." Qrow said, and to Ruby's initial shock, picked her up in one full scoop into a bridal carry. She didn't have the strength, or the will, to fight against him. She rested her head begrudgingly against his shoulder, and closed her eyes.

Sleep never came, but uneasy rest did. Every step Qrow made was jolting, but her aura worked fast to steady her again, and she suspected Qrow was feeding her aura of his own as well. She couldn't wait to get out of the forest, knowing that until she was far from it, she wouldn't feel any better. Perhaps she might not even recover afterwards.

The night brought with it a terrible quiet that bellied the truth of what Weiss knew was transpiring. They had left the forest behind two hours ago, but once or twice she was sure she'd heard a scream. It made her feel ill.

Qrow was completely unapproachable, shut off from Weiss and drinking heavily from not his flask, but a wineskin she couldn't begin to guess the contents of. Ruby had retired to the back of the wagon immediately after they'd gotten back to the road, and Weiss hadn't felt she should go back to see her. Something told her that Ruby didn't want to see her or anyone right now. No doubt that she was dealing with the turmoil in her heart. Weiss hoped dearly that she'd bounce back to her normal self after a time.

She didn't watch the terrain, busy instead with the phantoms of her mind. Flitting images of burning homes and dead men in torn armour plagued her mind's eye, and she tried to forcibly push them out to no avail. It was Qrow that came to her rescue.

"Hey, Weiss. How're you holding up?" He asked, and Weiss immediately noticed that his voice had a husky tone to it. He was tipsy, at least.

"I'm... Okay." She answered truthfully. She wasn't sure if she liked it, but the thought of the poor folk of some nameless village dying didn't bother her nearly as much as it did Ruby. "I wish we could have at least done a little bit."

"It would have killed us."

"I know."

"Humph." Qrow grunted, pressing the wineskin to his lips, growling a moment later and tossing it out to the side where it vanished in the grass and was lost to sight. "She's going to be feeling this for a while." He said, and Weiss nodded, though she didn't know if he saw it. He didn't show signs of seeing her movement, at least. "Think she'll forgive us?"

Weiss smiled more for his sake than her own. "Probably. I think I know her well enough to assume she'll come around."

Qrow dipped his head towards her, and his tension seemed to ease just a bit. "I feel like I'm experiencing déjà vu." He said with a humourless chuckle. "It's not the first time I've been through this particular rodeo."

Weiss stared at him, noting how the half moon illuminated only half of his face, making him look even more uncharacteristically sinister than normal. "What do you mean?" She asked, wondering if there had ever been another case such as Ruby's.

"I mean," He said, with a heavy sigh, "That I've been through this ridiculous need to be a hero before, with someone else."

"Who?" Weiss asked, her interest piqued. Up ahead, Summer shook her head from side to side and snorted. The other horses made quiet sounds at her.

Qrow said nothing for a bit, focusing instead on the road. Eventually he said, "Keep her safe, Weiss. They grow on you, those silver eyes, and trust me, if you lose them, you're going to regret it. Deeply."

Weiss' skin prickled, goose bumps raising along her arms and legs and back. She denied a shiver. "Pardon?"

Qrow growled, and turned a glowing eye to her. "Don't allow her her fantasies. Don't let her believe that life is some fairy tale or that she can save anyone." He paused, searched for his wineskin with one hand, cursed and drew out his flask from his coat. "Because she'll try, and when she finally bites too much, you'll both suffer for it. Don't," He said, punctuating the word harshly, "Loose her. If you must, throw yourself in her place and take the hit instead."

Weiss blinked, feeling as if Qrow wasn't just talking to her anymore, but to himself as well. It felt to her like he'd heard and said these words before.

"Qrow..."

He took a swig from his flask, a long, deep one, and took it away with a sigh. "What, Schnee?"

"Who... Who was her parents?"

Qrow growled, screwing up the cap of his flask and stashing it within his coat again. "Don't ask me that ever again, Schnee. Ever." His use of her surname was harsh, and Weiss nodded her head in what felt like apology, but she couldn't be sure.

With that, they fell into silence, until eventually Weiss got up and left for troubled sleep full of nightmares and fire. Throughout all her dreams, which mostly consisted of fighting endless hordes of Grimm, she had the most terrible urge to protect a silver jewel that she always had with her, stashed within the folds of her leathers.

A week passed by, uneventful. The party was sombre, but on this last day, they'd seen something that lifted their spirits, the first thing since the terrible Grimm horde. Off in this far distance when Ruby had rode ahead on Summer, climbing a long hill, she'd reported a great cliff separated from the rest of the land by a huge lake of water, and on it sat the silhouette of a castle.

"Beacon." Qrow said, and a hint of a smile touched his face, which was worn and carved with lines of stress and worry. He had relaxed so completely that he'd even let out a small chuckle out of randomness. Ruby was delighted; it was impossible to tell she'd been upset in the first place. Their moods helped Weiss recover, as well, and soon she was feeling more normal as she lazily flipped through the pages of a journal she'd burrowed from Qrow, detailing a lot of Grimm and their weaknesses.

"What's it like? How many people are there? Am I going to learn how to use my semblance as soon as we get there?" She pestered Qrow, riding beside him on Summer, who seemed glad to be separate from the wagon team.

"Boring, not many, and something like that." He replied shortly, and Ruby stuck a tongue out at him.

By the time midday rolled around, the Beacon cliff was perfectly visible for them all to see. Weiss was impressed. It would take a great climber to scale it, and the length of the lake would make it even harder to do so after swimming across. This brought up a worry, and she wondered how they were possibly going to get across to the other side.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Qrow said with a mischievous chuckle, and Weiss huffed. Summer had joined the team again, unwillingly of course, and Ruby had taken her seat between the two. She had a grip on Weiss' wrist, and Weis was surprised when she could feel the essence of her aura, warm and sweet and buzzing with excitement. It wasn't unheard of for someone with little aura control to not be able to effectively seal it away from the rest of world, but she thought Ruby was exceptionally skilled in such things.

When they got to the lake, Weiss was once again impressed by the many marvels of Vale. The water was so clear and sparkling that, astonishingly, she could see the lake's floor, and it was quite a drop. The cliff rose what she imagined must have been two hundred feet above the ground they stood on, and from what Weiss could tell, there was so direct path from here to there. Qrow parked the wagon, put his feet up, let out a sigh and grinned casually.

Weiss watched him quietly at first, as did Ruby. Ruby's aura changed from excited to antsy and then to annoyed in the span of a few seconds, which affected Weiss, as well. The feeling was weird and alien, and she pulled her wrist away from Ruby and excused the action by running both hands through her hair. The absence of Ruby's aura left her feeling more connected and whole, like she was now herself and not a mixture of two people, and she shivered at the memory of the odd feeling. She didn't think Ruby could feel her own aura, either.

After waiting ten minutes, Ruby said something first. "Now what?"

"Now," Qrow said, shifting and seemingly making himself more comfortable, "We wait."

"For?" Weiss asked, impatiently searching the cliff for signs of something they could be possibly waiting for.

"Glynda, of course." He said, and Ruby perked up.

"The legendary huntress? Goodwitch, Ozpin's assistant?"

"Pfft," Qrow said, looking at Ruby with an expression of ludicrousness. "She's his equal, if not even more powerful than he is. You'll see what she can do." He said, and Ruby looked around with uncontained excitement.

Any thoughts about aura left Weiss' mind as she wondered at the power of this Goodwitch. Anyone to gather the praise of Qrow like that must be strong, and anyone who was regarded as equal or stronger than one of Remant's four great Hunters must be unimaginably powerful.

The minutes passed, and still nothing. Ruby fidgeted uncontrollably, small little huffs escaping her lips at irregular intervals. Weiss eventually got tired of it and dropped from the wagon to the grassy ground, deigning to pay attention to the horses. She stroked the ear of a palomino, the back horse on the left, and the beast leaned into her hand appreciatively. She giggled when it began to loll its tongue out at the side, like a dog might, and regretted that she hadn't spent more time with the creatures.

Her thoughts randomly turned to Atlas, Coldfront in particular, and she wondered what her father would think of her. She'd already been part of the salvation of an Atlas settlement. A disturbing thought struck her then, one that twanged a deep chord in her being and made her consider everything from a different light. She had felt such a strong urge to protect those people, her people. She thought it might have been stronger because it had actually been possible, but she thought about how little she really wanted to help the Vale villagers, as if it would have been like helping the enemy.

She felt, for maybe the first time, as if she had a flaw in her being.

She moved on to pet and scratch the rest of the team, giving Summer an even longer pet than the rest, and she rolled her eyes happily at her. Then she came back to the wagon, and moved to get up.

"Hello, Qrow, Ruby, Weiss." A positively female voice rang out, a voice that sounded like bells and power all rolled into one fierce, independent package. Weiss jumped, whirled around, and moved to draw Myrtenaster from her waist. "Ah, that won't be necessary, Miss Schnee." The woman said, and Weiss was thrown off guard when she attempted to draw the rapier but it wouldn't budge.

"Ah, Glynda. Nice of you to finally show up."

Oh.

Weiss released her grip on Myrtenaster immediately, standing tall and straight. Ruby let out a squeal and leapt from her seat to stand beside Weiss. "Look!" She said, grabbing her by the shoulders and turning her to face the cliff. There was no feeling of Ruby's aura, but Weiss hardly noticed anyways.

A woman gently touched ground in front of them. Her hair was done up in a tight bun at the back, and a slight spiral of blonde locks that hung to the left of her face bounced as she reached solid footing. She had a riding crop in one hand, perfectly straight and glossy, and wore a white blouse, a black skirt and high leather boots. Most interesting was the cape that hung from her shoulders, inky black on the outside and royal purple within, ending in stylized shapes of flames and arrows. A pair of small glasses rested on her nose, and her eyes were green, deep and wise, but powerful, as well. She held such an air of authority that she couldn't even picture Qrow disobeying.

Weiss had never seen such a woman, other than perhaps her own mother. She swallowed and bowed, but Glynda paid her no heed.

"Speak for yourself." She snapped, crossing her arms against her chest. "Ozpin expected you back five hours before now."

Qrow shrugged, grinning still. "We had a setback. A setback, mind you, that is of utmost importance and should be talked about as soon as manageable."

Glynda was silent, then gave a curt nod. "Very well, then. Come, let us be done with this quickly. Leave the wagon, we'll send someone down for the horses later."

"What about Summer?" Ruby asked, and Glynda looked at her as if seeing her for the first time. A look of confusion and then recognition crossed her face.

"She can wait here with the rest. Summer will be well taken care of."

Ruby nodded, though she looked at the mare with apologetic eyes.

Weiss was still unsure how it was they'd be getting up to Beacon. That was, until, Glynda raised her arm and with a flick of her crop, her entire body glowed a deep purple and the lake replicated the color like a shimmering gem. Weiss' breath hitched when a great, stone walkway began to rise from the depths at a great speed, breaking the surface with a great roar and splash, though no sprinkle touched the four of them.

Pillars, seemingly untouched by the water and made of white marble, climbed with the walkway. The stairs themselves were of a pale green color, though they appeared to be made of stone, worn and cracked. A bronze, shiny railing traced the steps all the way to the top of the cliff, where the stairs seemed to end and connect with the cliff.

The entire construct glowed purple the entire time, until with nary a whisper the radiance subsided and the great stairwell sat glued in place. The purple around Glynda disappeared as well, and Weiss was amazed. That had to have been her semblance, but the woman looked as if she hadn't even exerted any effort to lift the thing into place.

Beside her, Qrow chuckled. "Heh, show-off. You could have flown us up there."

Glynda scowled at him, and Weiss wondered what kind of addle brained inbred moron would dare raise the ire of such a powerful woman. "You were dearly missed, Qrow." She said sarcastically, and Qrow let out another chuckle.

Ruby was beside herself with excitement, and couldn't drag her eyes off of the stone steps.

"Come along, Miss Rose. This way if you please, Miss Schnee." Glynda said, taking the first step. The two girls, with Qrow, obediently fell in behind.

Weiss was numb with anticipation and, dare she say it, giddiness. She had the absurd urge to grab Ruby's hand and run with her all the way to top, all some odd thousand steps. It was an inexplicable feeling, and one she decidedly ignored, for the sake of not looking like a fool.

"You're going to enjoy it, Weiss." Qrow told her, with a grin. "Beacon compares well to any other castle, if you ask me."

"It's not a castle, Qrow. It's an institute and a headquarters." Glynda corrected him, and he scoffed.

"As far as I can tell, this is pretty much a castle." He said again, and Glynda huffed. Weiss, already picking up on the dynamic, couldn't help but smile. It impressed her how much she'd come to like Qrow, and that she could ever possibly appreciate such a vulgar man gave her hope that perhaps she wasn't as bad as she thought herself to be.

As they climbed the steps, Weiss looked over the edge of the railing, and was able to perfectly make out the underside of the bridge in the reflection of the water, which still dripped and caused ripples in the surface.

"Isn't this exciting?" Ruby asked her, grabbing her wrist. Weiss flinched when the feeling of Ruby's aura brushed against her own again, but Ruby either didn't notice or didn't care, because she didn't let go of her grip. Her entire being was vibrating with the excitement that now mirrored itself in Weiss, and she nodded a little too sharply.

"I'm eager to see what Beacon truly looks like." Weiss said in a controlled voice, and wished Ruby would withdraw her hand.

"Mm." Ruby said with a nod, and grinned at Weiss. When Weiss smiled back, she felt Ruby's aura change almost imperceptibly, like there was a sudden itch of emotion there that hadn't existed before. Weiss jerked her arm away and rubbed the spot Ruby had been holding, who was now looking at her with an expression of hurt and confusion.

"Sorry," Weiss murmured, quiet so that neither Qrow or Glynda would hear, "I'll talk to you about it later, okay?" A shadow crossed Ruby's face, but she nodded and looked away without pressing. Weiss wondered just how much Ruby had forgotten that village they'd left to its fate, and the conversation that had been held.

In the last few minutes, they'd climbed a lot of the steps, and Gylnda announced, "We're close to the top, now. If you've the mind to, girls, I'd suggest paying attention to the path ahead. Beacon is, after all, a sight to behold." At the sound of her voice Weiss did as told, out of both natural respect and because she was supernaturally compelled, almost, to listen.

Beacon was, after all, everything she thought it would be and more.

The steps ended at the beginning of a circular dais made of weathered stone. Her hard-soled boots clicked solidly on the surface, and the noise echoed loudly along the Cliffside. The round platform was surrounded by a ring of thin pillars, all connected by slim stone. The dais ended in a walkway which lead straight to Beacon itself. In between them and the great building was a statue showing a man and a woman, both fierce and standing above the form of a Beowulf, the wolf like creature of Grimm. The man held a sword in his hand, lofting it above his head in what seemed like triumph. The woman stood leaning on a battle ax, staring, it seemed, at nothing.

Behind that was the impressively large set of double doors that was the entrance, Weiss assumed. The walls rose to great heights, breaking off into smaller subsections and miniature towers with small peaks. The entire campus was decorated in aqueduct-like-structures and leafy trees, and the walkway was lined with long, black poles, all flying a pale green flag with the emblem of two crossed axes on their surfaces.

"Look," Ruby breathed, and pointed upwards. Weiss followed the direction of her gaze and widened her eyes. Reaching high like the limb of a giant, a tower thrust out of the building and into the clouds, massive in size and glowing green against the blue sky. Whatever created the strange luminosity, Weiss couldn't be sure, but it had quite a profound effect on her and Ruby.

Beacon was, without a doubt, a wondrous marvel of architecture.

"Welcome to Beacon, ladies." Glynda said, and with a flick of her wand, Weiss heard the stony bridge behind them fall and crash with a loud boom.

Hi! Writing this chapter was both difficult and enjoyable. Landscape, for one thing, is not my strongest point.

Introducing Glynda, and soon to be a lot more characters, has me excited. I'm looking forward to JNPR! The only thing I have to say that's even partially important is that I'm unsure whether or not I'll be on hiatus to write most of Arc II before posting it. It'll result in a higher quality story, I feel, or perhaps it won't. If you've got any thoughts on the matter, feel free to include them in a review or whatnot, or heck, hit me up with a PM.

I hope you guys are enjoying Inheritance. I'll cya all with a new chapter sometime soon, I hope!