So….I've been hit with a massive case of writer's block when it comes to this story in particular. But still… over a year with no updates? I feel like I've let so many of you down, especially you Awesome Dude. You've probably lost all interest in this story by now.

If I owned either Naughty Dog or Roosterteeth then nothing would get done.

XXX

"Ugh…" Nathan groaned. "I feel like I've been knocked out for a year," he grumbled as he pushed himself. All he remembered bumping and tumbling down a flight of stairs before he blacked out. Oddly enough the landing wasn't so bad.

"Get...Off…" Winter growled from beneath him.

Ah, that explains it. Nathan pushed himself off the specialist and turned around to see a giant staircase leading up to the darkness. "We must have tumbled all the way down here." He deduced.

"Thank you for that astute observation," Winter stood up and dusted herself off.

Nate took a look at their surroundings. It was pretty standard stuff as far as ice caves go. Dark, big, and cold as Hell. Wait, cold as Hell, does that simile make sense? Questions for later. In front of them was a wall of ice with two tunnels leading in opposite directions; right and left.

"Alright, Drake," Winter said, her tone matching the wall composition. "This is the whole reason we've brought you here. Which way do we go?"

"Well…" Nathan scratched his chin. "If I remember correctly, right eventually leads to a dead end so left it is," he deduced.

"Very well," Winter nodded and began marching forward.

"Whoa, hold it!" Nathan blocked her path. "You can't just walk on in. There could be booby traps."

"Booby traps?" Winter raised an eyebrow. "If you're trying to be clever, it's not working."

"No, I'm serious," Nate insisted. "I've been through these kinds of places before. You never know when spikes are gonna pop out of the ground, or the walls start caving in, or the floor just gives out from under you!"

"That's ridiculous," Winter shook her head. "That's the kind of thing you only see in childish cartoons and movies. Now, I suggest you get out of my way."

Nate held his hands up in mock surrender and stepped off to the side. Winter nodded to herself in satisfaction, glad he could follow orders to some degree. She continued her march but suddenly halted in her tracks when a tile she stepped on sank into the floor.

As Winter stumbled to regain her footing, she heard the sounds of gears turning and locks releasing. For the second time that day, Winter was tackled to the ground by Drake. Just in time too, as the ceiling opened up to reveal what looked like a giant stone hammer. Gravity did its work as the mallet swung in an arc and smashed into the cavern wall. If Winter had just stood there, she would have been nothing more than a splash of red contrasting the blue hue of the ice cave.

"See what I mean?" Nate smirked at the shocked Winter. "Booby traps."

Winter shoved Nathan off her to stare at the mechanism. "But… the number of resources needed to construct such a convoluted contraption…"

"Best not to question the logic of an extinct race…" Nate dusted himself off. "Shall we?"

Winter glared at the thief but begrudgingly followed him through the cave, this time minding where she stepped.

(…)

It was a relatively uneventful ice tunnel. They continued in silence which is just fine by Winter. Of course, like all tunnels had to lead somewhere. They walked into a relatively large room, across the floor, there were many different tiles with pictures carved into them. At the end of the room was a closed set of doors made out of, unsurprisingly, ice.

"Ah," Nate let out a sound of recognition. "This puzzle is a classic, step on the tiles in the correct order, if you step on the wrong one; booby trap."

"You can't be serious," Winter stared at all the different pictures etched into the floor. "I've seen movies with this exact scenario."

"Don't believe me? Take it up with the giant hammer," Nate responded, cheekily.

Winter ground her teeth together as she tightened her grip on her sword hilt. "Fine. What's the correct pattern?"

Nate's smug expression disappeared as he suddenly appeared very lost. "Uh… I don't know."

"You… don't know?" Winter repeated slowly. "The whole reason you're here is to navigate this cavern and you don't know how to progress?!"

Nate held up his hands to defend himself. "Hey, the mural just showed a maze! It didn't include anything about puzzles!"

Winter growled and shook her head. "Well, this is just perfect! We're stuck in an ice cave with no way of progressing!"

"Hold on," Nate held up a hand and looked downwards. At the very base before the tiles started, there were scribbles. "I think there's something written here," he leaned down on one knee and analyzed it. "Well, if my ancient Matayan is correct, this says 'evolution is the key'."

"And what does that mean?" Winter questioned.

"Dunno," Nate shrugged. "But it's the only clue we've got, so we probably shouldn't take our chances."

They stood there for a minute or so, scratching their heads (Well Nate scratched his head, Winter just quizzically glared at the obstacle before them.) "Say…" Winter spoke up. "When was the theory of evolution created?"

Nathan quirked a brow but shrugged. "A few years after the Matayans disappeared, but if they were as advanced as the legends claim I wouldn't be surprised if they figured it out earlier and just didn't tell anyone. Why do you ask?"

"The tiles," Winter pointed out. "They have Grimm on them."

Nathan looked and saw that each tile did indeed have pictures of the creatures of Grimm. "Fair point, but what are you trying to say?"

"Evolution is the theory that humanity was born from changing animals in different cycles," Winter explained. "And every theoretical phase of humanity's evolution corresponds with a Grimm on these tiles."

Nate took a closer look at the tiles and saw that she was right. "Evolution is the key," he muttered to himself. "It's a long shot but it's all we have." He noticed a jellyfish looking Grimm drawing. "Jellyfish are invertebrate, just like the very first single-celled organisms. If this is gonna start anywhere, it's there." He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and pressed his foot down on the tile. The slab of ice slowly sank into the ground. After a second or two, the explorer opened one eye to confirm that no spikes had come out of the ground to impale him. He let out a breath of relief and placed his other foot on the tile as well. He turned back and held out a hand to Winter. "Come on."

Winter ignored the gesture but she did join him on the spacious tile.

"Okay, next stage would be the fish," Nate murmured. "So, it's got to be an aquatic Grimm, like a leviathan."

They continued their way across the maze of tiles. Moving from pictures of dinosaur-Grimm to rat-Grimm. Near the end of the puzzle, they stopped on a picture of a Beringal.

"Okay, now which one?" Nate asked. He spotted tiles with Beowolves, Slinkers, and Ursai but nothing seemed to add up. "I don't get it," Nate shook his head. "Given what we're on now, the next one should be human, but there's no such thing as a human Grimm!"

"Hold on," Winter grabbed Nathan's shoulder. "Look."

There was a tile sitting right on the edge. The picture on it was strange, it had no distinctive facial features but the body shape appeared to be female. The figure was dressed in dark robes and had her hands spread out not unlike Oum in the famous "Last Dining" painting with some sort of intricate crown atop its head.

"What is that?" Nathan's eyes widened.

"I don't know," Winter shook her head. "But it is vaguely human-shaped. Do you think it's the correct tile?"

Nate shrugged. "One way to find out." He carefully stepped on the tile and it sunk into the floor with a satisfying clunk. It apparently triggered a mechanism as it sounded like multiple gears turning within the walls. Slowly, the doors of ice opened inward.

"Ha!" Nate shouted triumphantly as he stepped off the tiles.

Winter smirked as she followed him. "It would seem you are not useless after all, Mr. Drake."

"Your gratitude is most appreciated, my lady," Nate gave a mock bow. "But in all seriousness, nice call on that evolution thing."

Winter nodded in smug satisfaction. "I went to Atlas Academy, I was taught to have extensive knowledge in all fields of academics."

Nate rolled his eyes. "It was one compliment, Ice Queen. Don't let it go to your head."

Winter's smirk faded into a glare. "Don't call me Ice Queen."

Nathan brushed off her glare and continued into the next room. Winter followed, her glare still prominent.

The next room was actually quite simple. Just a simple ice bridge over a chasm. Now, typically chasms mean a bottomless pit, but there was, in fact, a bottom. It was actually only a 30-foot drop. Any Huntsman with a halfway decent aura could survive the fall, but it wasn't the drop that concerned the two adventurers.

"Beowolves," Nathan muttered under his breath. There seemed to be an entire pack inside the pit, seemingly just laying around or sniffing for intruders. Thankfully, they weren't sniffing upward.

"They don't know we're here yet," Nathan whispered to Winter. "We can avoid a fight if we keep quiet and slowly make our way over the bridge."

Winter nodded. Drake was arrogant and crude, but even she wanted to avoid a needless fight. So she followed his lead.

Nathan slowly made his way across the bridge, the ice slightly creaked under the pressure but it held. The Beowolves didn't seem to notice.

Winter copied Drakes moves, one step at a time. They made it halfway across the structure when Nate suddenly stuck his hand out behind him. Winter stumbled as she collided with Drake's outstretched hand. Fortunately, the Grimm stayed unaware of their presence.

Nate seemed to ignore Winter's brief loss of balance in favor of observing the monsters below. "Wait, something's wrong…" he mumbled.

Winter seemed to be more focused on how he had still not lowered his hand from her chest. She smacked it away. "Be mindful of where you put your hand, least I remove it from the rest of your arm," she hissed.

Nate rubbed his smacked hand and glared at Winter. "What is your problem?" he tried to keep his voice low.

"You…" her face grew red. "...You threw me off balance, you nearly alerted the Grimm!"

"Are you sure it wasn't because of the heels?" Nathan deadpanned.

"I'm sure," Winter growled. "And is this really the time to criticize my choice of footwear?"

Nate shook his head. "Doesn't matter, look." He gestured to the Beowolf pack below.

Winter tilted her head downwards. The Beowolves had not yet caught on to their presence, but they did seem more riled up now. "I see a pack of monsters that will become quite a nuisance if we do not move!"

Nate grabbed hold of her shoulder and looked her dead in the eye. "But where's the Alpha?"

Winter blinked and looked back down. Where was the Alpha? It was rare to see a pack without one. Winter tried to find a relatively large one but then a small chunk of ice fell from the ceiling and bounced on her head.

Winter rubbed the spot where the ice fell as another ice chip landed by her boot, clattering against the bridge.

Winter was starting to get confused and looked to Drake, hoping for an explanation. Drake looked just as in the dark as her as an ice chip bounced off his shoulder. Wordlessly, the two looked up.

They found the Alpha.

A Beowolf that was at least three times the size of the ones below them snarled as it clung to the ceiling. More pieces of ice fell as its claws dug into the frozen wall. Winter grabbed the hilt of her sword while Nate did what he did best. "Well… There's something you don't see every day."

The Alpha Beowolf released itself from the ceiling and barreled towards the two temporary partners. Neither had any room to dodge as the Alpha crashed into the bridge, the ice structure crumbling apart.

Nate belly-flopped onto the ground while Winter landed on her feet like a true Atlas specialist. She immediately drew her sword and launched herself at the pack.

Nathan groaned as he tried to sit up but he was immediately forced on his back by a pouncing Beowolf. The adventurer gritted his teeth as pushed on the creature's chest, preventing its rapidly snapping jaws from closing in on his neck. With all the gusto he could muster, he applied as much strength as he could into one arm while the other one lowered to grab his pistol. The creature of Grimm was blissfully unaware of this as it continuously tried to maul him. Nate pulled out his gun and put the barrel right underneath the monster's chin.

Bang

The lone Beowolf became limp and fell on top of Drake's supposed descendant. He grunted as he pushed the now dissolving corpse off of him and managed to finally stand up on his feet. He readied his primary weapon for a fight and- whoa.

Nate never really time to see Winter's fighting style in action, he was usually more concerned with not drowning or not being killed by said style. Now, he could see Winter really let loose. His thought? He never knew someone could look so graceful while disemboweling a werewolf-like creature.

Winter brought her sword downwards to slice off the Grimms head before immediately spinning around to bisect another. A Beowolf behind her raised a claw before it was riddled with bullets. Winter turned her glare to a smirking Drake. She decided to ignore him and focus on removing the rest of the Grimm.

"Umm… your welcome?" Nathan sighed, annoyed. He didn't have time to stew in it as he had to roll out of the way of a Beowolf's paw. He steadied his gun as he fired upon a huddled group of the Grimm.

Winter breathed heavily but refused to wipe the sweat off her brow. They were doing remarkably well, all things considered. If things kept going this smoothly, they would only leave with drained aura diminished ammunition. She slashed another Beowolf in two and attempted to carry on when a huge claw slashed down at her. She barely had time to bring up her sword to block before she was sent sliding back. Thankfully, the heels of her shoes provided excellent traction. Eat your heart out, Drake. Of course, she would always deny having this petty thought but that's not what she was focusing on right now.

The Atlas specialist stared down the Alpha who snarled at her. She lunged forward. The Alpha brought up its forearms to defend itself and Winter's blade bounced off the bone-armored hide. It lunged forward to bite her but she quickly sidestepped the attack. She swung her sword downward but the Beowolf quickly angled itself so the sword once again only scraped against its armor.

Winter danced around the Grimm, continuously stabbing at various spots, hoping to find a chink in the armor. But the old monsters' defenses were surprisingly dense. After yet another failed attempt at beheading the beast, the alpha sprang into action with a roar. Winter found herself on the receiving end of a monstrous backhand.

Winter flew through the air but quickly righted her trajectory. She landed on the floor perfectly but her momentum was not canceled as she skidded across the ice floor. She stabbed her sword into the ice to slow herself down and eventually came to a stop right next to Drake.

Drake had just finished unloading bullets into a Beowolf's jugular. He turned to see the snarling Alpha pawing at the ground. "Alright, I think that might be the last one."

"It must be quite old," Winter deduced. "It's certainly smarter than all the others. It knew exactly how to defend itself."

Nathan glared quizzically at the abomination against nature till a look of realization dawned on his face. "I've got a plan," he smirked, confidently.

Not taking her eyes off the Beowolf, Winter quirked her eyebrow. "What is it?"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Nate screamed as he charged the Grimm.

"That is not a plan!" Winter screeched out.

The Alpha was at first confused at the human suicidley running towards it, but its natural instincts took over as it recognized a challenger for dominance. It roared and charged forward as well.

The two adversaries continued to charge at each other until the Alpha lunged into the air, opening its jaw to bite Drake's head off. Winter was already preparing an explanation as to how she lost her guide to Ironwood when Drake made her eyes widen.

Just before the creature struck, Drake reached down to his belt and grabbed a grenade. In a move only advanced Atlas soldiers were capable of, Nate popped the pin out with his thumb then shoved his hand straight down the monster's gullet. He then jumped off the ground and placed his feet upon the Alpha's chest. Using the Grimm as a springboard, Nathan launched himself backward, pulling his arms out of the Beowolfe's mouth.

The Alpha stood there confused. But it soon found out the disadvantage of being a creature of darkness with no biological needs; no gag reflex.

The dust grenade exploded within the insides of the Alpha, blowing the top half of the Grimm clean off. For a few seconds, the hind legs of a wolf just stood there until they fell over and started to disintegrate.

Nate slid on his back across the ice floor until he reached the legs of Winter. With a grunt, he pushed himself up to see his handiwork. "Yeah!" he pumped his fist before he was kicked in the back of the head by a high heeled boot.

"What the Hell was that?" Winter demanded.

"Give me a second, I'll tell you after this concussion wears off," Nathan grumbled from the floor, rubbing his head.

"Don't tell me that that half-brained suicide attempt was your plan?" Winter glared as she put her hands on her hips.

"It worked, didn't it?" Nate groaned as he sat up.

"It was a miracle it didn't," Winter rolled her eyes. "There was a huge margin of error on multiple accounts. What would you have done if the Grenade went off sooner than expected? What if the Alpha bit your arm off? What if it mauled you before you even had time to grab the grenade in the first place?"

"Well, none of that happened, now did it?" Nathan stood up and dusted himself off. "But thanks for caring so much about my wellbeing."

"Don't flatter yourself," Winter bit out. "I still need you to navigate this maze."

"And you need to navigate this maze because…" Nate gestured for her to continue.

"Classified," Winter replied.

"Walked right into that," Nate muttered under his breath. "Now, let's focus on getting out of this pit."

He made his way over to the other side of the pit. If they wanted to continue, they'd have to get up on this side. He scanned the ice wall up and down. No ridges, ledges, or anything he could climb on. The wall was completely smooth. He walked along the edge, hoping to find something. He had walked a couple of meters when his foot knocked against something that made a clunk sound. His eyes widened in recognition at the sound of metal and got down on a knee before digging through the snow.

"Winter," he called. The specialist walked over to him as he pulled an old grappling hook from the snow. The metal was old and had rust creeping around the edges and was held by a soaked and worn rope, but still looked to be able to hold one or two people without breaking.

"Must have been dropped by a previous search party," Winter observed. That or the other option. But Winter didn't want to go searching through the snow for skeletons to confirm her theory. "Must have been a long time ago too, no one these days carries a regular grappling hook without a firing mechanism."

"No one except yours truly," Nate said smugly. "Those grapple guns are expensive so I've learned how to throw one of these things," he backed a few feet away. "Stand back, I'll get us out of here."

He swung the hook in a circle a few times. He zeroed in on a jutted out stone at the very edge of the pit. Perfect. He threw the hook! It uselessly bounced off the rock and plummeted back into the snow.

"I see that your grappling skills are unparalleled," Winter commented, dryly.

Nate glared at her. "Well, if it's so easy, why don't you try it?" he handed her the rope.

Winter looked at the before shrugging and taking it from Drake. She pulled rope until the hook was in her hand. Mimicking her temporary partner, she spun the hook around a few times before tossing it at the same rock Drake did. The hook perfectly hooked around the stone and gained a hard grip on it. Smirking with satisfaction, Winter turned to drake.

"Shut up," he pouted.

"I didn't say anything," Winter said, innocently.

"You're mocking me… with your eyes."

(XXX)

Sully groaned from within the cell. Seriously, they couldn't spare him a pillow or something? He was interrupted from his attempts at slumber when he heard his cell door opening.

"Sleeping at this hour?" Ironwood asked as the door closed behind him.

"Not a whole lot else to do in here," Sully grunted as he sat up on his cell bed.

"Alright then," Ironwood nodded and pressed a few keys on his scroll. Two compartments opened up in the middle of the room. A table and a chair opposite Sully rose. Ironwood took a seat. "Let's talk."

Sully narrowed his eyes. "About what?"

Ironwood smiled. "Can't two old friends catch up with each other?"

Sully snorted. "I may not have a lot of friends these days, but I'm pretty sure friends don't hold each other hostage."

"We're NOT-'' Ironwood raised his voice before he cut himself off. He let out a sigh. "We are not holding you hostage. This is just a precaution to make sure Drake keeps his word."

"He'll keep his word," Sully said with steel resolve. "He's a good man."

Ironwood shook his head. "I wish I could believe you. These days, there are less and less people I can trust."

Sully studied Ironwood's face before shrugging and turning away. "I guess it doesn't matter now. But if you want to chat with me, you're going to be disappointed. There's nothing to talk about."

Ironwood had a smug grin as he reached into his coat's side pocket and pulled out a box of cigars. He gently tossed them onto the table.

Sully's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Then again, I'm sure I can think of a few new topics." he grinned as he grabbed the box. He pulled a cigar out and stuck it in his mouth. He was just about to light it when he realized he was fireless.

Ironwood chuckled as brought out the lighter they confiscated before handing it to Sully. "You always were addicted to these things, even back when I first joined the Atlas forces."

Sully laughed as he lit the cigar. "Yeah, those were the days. Still can't believe how quickly you climbed the ranks. I had at least ten years on ya and I only ever made it to sergeant. Now, look at you, General Ironwood! Leader of the whole shebang!" He took a long drag before blowing out a puff of smoke. "Hey, is it okay if I smoke this on your oversized Bullhead?"

"The airship is large enough that it won't be a problem." Ironwood waved off. "And your cell has air filters."

Sully snorted. "Mind if I come here when I need to unwind. I could use a smoke session without the kid's complaining."

Ironwood nodded. "Speaking of which, you've found quite the remarkable young man as your partner in crime."

Sully grinned. "Yeah, I found the kid some ten years ago in Vacuo. Pretty spry, but also pretty green. I took him under my wing and taught him all that I know."

"About stealing?" Ironwood asked.

"And fighting," Sully let out another puff of smoke and looked Ironwood dead in the eyes. "Alright, let's cut the bullshit. What do you want, James?"

The general sat there in silence for a moment. "Our scouts confirmed that the mural was destroyed. What destroyed it?"

Sully raised his eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"That's classified information," Ironwood replied, tersely.

Sully leaned back. "Sure, everything's classified with you people. Maybe the info I have is classified too."
The general slammed his hands on the table as he stood up. "Victor-"

"I don't know, alright!" Sullivan angrily shot back. "Freak avalanche that came out of nowhere."

"We both know that's not true," Ironwood said with a cold glare.

"Do we?" Sullivan stood up as well. "Because if I recall correctly, the very reason I left Atlas was that people kept too many secrets."

"You're trying my patience, Sullivan," Ironwood glared. "I'm only going to ask this once; what happened at that mural?"

Sullivan spat out his cigar. "I may not know what it is I saw, but I know enough to recognize Atlas' name written all over it," He glared right into Ironwood's eyes. "So I'm only going to ask you once; What the Hell did you do?"

(XXX)

And that's a wrap. So sorry it took so long.