Blake gave a disgruntled huff as the snowflake gently fell, landing softly on her nose, to which she quickly wiped away with a gloved mitt. Grumbling to herself, her hands wrapped around her form to try to tighten the thick winter coat around herself, burying her nose deep into the fabric of her wooly scarf. Frigid air bit at whatever exposed skin was visible, to which she frantically tried to remedy, despite the cold seeping through her clothes to nibble at her flesh.

She was not a big fan of the cold; this type of weather, bone chilling temperatures, made her want to curl up somewhere nice and cozy for warmth. Of course she felt this way, she thought sarcastically: she was a cat. And stereotypically, she enjoyed activities relating to domesticated felines, such as curling up with another person and getting all nice and snuggly. In this ice, she desired that as well, right now. Like, right this second. Soon she was going to start screaming; who decided on this trip anyways?

Apparently it was Beacon's job to harvest this one flower every year, almost like a type of official hazing given out by the staff. Make the freshman go and dig in the snow for some plants. Oh yes, that was high on Blake's list of things that she wanted to do. Yet, she needed the grade, and found herself walking with Weiss, the two trying to catch up with their team to get the job done as soon as possible. Blake's coat provided no resistance, despite the fleece interior and thickness of it, it did not restrain her movements as much as some of the other students. She resembled a black marshmallow, grumbling to herself with her earmuffs covering her ears, the bow struggling to conceal her cat ones.

Weiss wasn't fairing too well, either, Blake noticed with a little snicker under her breath. The coat that the young heiress had put up such a stink about wearing now was causing her to face deep regret in her decision. The high class fur coat proved insufficient; she was spending more time trying to brush off the falling snow off of her shoulders than actually trying to focus on their goal. Her stiff posture and trembling form proved evident of her chilly body –and disposition, the faunus teased to herself—and her white haired teammate locked eyes with her, a small pout present. Clearly for once, they shared the same opinion on the situation.

Curse this damn cold.

Weiss gave a low, loud sigh, watching the wisps of her breath climb up to the sky, scowling slightly. "What's the purpose of this anyways? Harvest some ice flowers or something? That we can't even use? Great. I'm not getting my new fur coat dirty."

Blake rolled her eyes, tugging her scarf to cover her beet red nose, grumbling softly, "I think Professor Glynda mentioned that it's a common courtesy to the people that live here. They've grown quite old, and they need to harvest the flowers before they interfere with their buisness. We volunteer—"

"We volunteer, or they volunteer us?" a sneer left Weiss' lips, causing Blake to toss daggers in return. "I personally don't want to do this, you know."

"Yes, yes. We all know." Blake sighed softly, her ears flicking a bit in annoyance. "But it is an honor to be at Beacon. We're here to be hunters and huntresses. If we need to help people pick the plants around the Frozen Lake before they become a problem, then so be it. I will rush to help."

Weiss said nothing at that, sighing softly as she followed Blake, the two quickening their pace when their destination slowly came into view.

It was a true definition of a winter wonderland. From the glittering ice covering the body of water, to the large specs of snow falling to conceal the vegetation on the massive trees that perfectly framed the picture, it was a beautiful sight. The canopy of branches formed a lovely path to the main attraction, the snow looking virtually untouched despite the students at different areas of the edge of the forest. Frequently the open area would be donned and decorated with different objects to make it more pleasurable on the eye depending on the time of year, a hearty vacation spot for the citizens of Vale. Including the cute little cabins dotting the horizon, connected by rocky paths, and wooden stairs and balconies, it was a stunning sight.

Blake and Weiss pushed open the gates adorned with embellishments and the beautiful wooden sign hanging from it, likely hand carved. The Frozen Lakes were closed to the public during this brief time of plucking the potentially dangerous flowers. They were spoken of being near deadly to the lake, but a few students were well aware that in all honesty, they were only plucked to be used for the school's interest and curiosity. The properties of the flowers were not concrete, despites years of research.

Or, perhaps it was the fact that Glynda's parents owned the property of the Frozen Lakes, and maybe she wanted to help them out with free labor. Whatever.

Suddenly, Blake gave a cry of surprise when ice cold snow was thrown in her face, causing her to stumble back and fall in the thick debris of weather. She scrambled to her feet, her fur ruffled a bit as she looked around for the source of the attack, and gave another squeak when she got assaulted from behind her. Frantically she spun around, then gave a loud huff of annoyance when she heard Ruby's loud laughter.

"Alright! Nice!" The dark haired young maiden high fived her partner in crime, Nora busy giggling happily, holding her own snowball in her gloved hands. Yet when she saw Blake's annoyed expression, she gave a cowardly little squeak, scampering away back to her older sister. The hammer wielding young huntress blinked in slight confusion, before laughing nervously, quickly following suit.

Blake huffed and rolled her eyes, brushing away the extra particles of the exploded snowball. Slowly, she jumped back to her feet, and with a small grunt, moved to join her team. She hated the snow. When would they go back to the cabin? Not soon enough. Soon she'd be ready to join that box of popsicles that Yang seemed to like so much. Faunus flavored popsicle. Ew. Nevermind.

Standing behind Yang, she hummed softly, the blond haired woman kneeling beside Ren, the two digging through the deep snow at the base of one of the trees, looking for the curious little flowers. The faunus tilted her head a bit in curiosity, before slowly kneeling beside them, peering over her shoulder. After a few moments, she grew bored, finding that they still hadn't managed to locate their goal, and she grunted, glancing over at Pyrrha and Jaune.

To her surprise, they were far more successful than the temporary pair of Yang and Ren. The basket they had chosen, snow clad and sinking haphazardly in a snow drift, was half full of the frozen crop. The little plants stuck out, a light blue lily, against the murky brown of the woven carrier. Its petals were a mixture of a deep blue, ending at the tips with a white that blended in with the environment perfectly. Stem curling around its companions, the thorns stabbed offensively at anything that threatened to damage it.

Yet, it seemed to glitter, sparkling within the falling precipitation. It shone, just like grounded up dust before it was injected into their weapons. Blake tilted her head at that, leaning a bit closer to look better at the strange, cerulean plant. Was this really a living form of dust? That was the rumor, according to some teachers. It truly looked as if the dust had been sprinkled on, like a cupcake at a bakery, prepared for consumption.

"Is that it?" Blake asked softly, easily grabbing her partner's attention, who paused holding the snow up for Ren's excavating hands. When it avalanched on him up to his arms, he grumbled softly and extricated himself from the heavy substance, brushing off the heavy clumps of snow from the fabric of his coat. Slowly, he stood up, stretching out his knees as he briefly decided to do a quick survey of the area to stretch his legs, leaving the two to speak.

"Yeah. Pyrrha seemed to recognize it right away." Yang shrugged. "Ren and I haven't seen it before. So she knew where to look." Stretching her arms over her head, she huffed, her breath forming a cloud by her red lips. "Eh. Whatever, I guess. A bag of nails is more useful then Ren is."

At that, Ren swirled around, giving a disgruntled huff, Yang teasingly waving at him and giggling. Ignoring the daggers sent her way, she tossed her hair over her shoulder. "We aren't doing so well right now. Care to help us out?"

"Why are you working with him anyways?" Blake asked, hesitantly sidling up over on the other side of her, tugging her sleeves down a bit more and adjusting her mittens. "Shouldn't he be working with Nora?"

"How many guesses do you want?" Yang snickered, jerking her head towards where the two other ladies were busy chucking snowballs at each other, ducking behind snow drifts or trees, trying their best to aim at once another. "They went crazy when they saw all this snow. It's like they've never seen all of this white stuff before. Personally, I want to get done and get into fresh clothes, ya know? So I grabbed my buddy over here and went to work. What took you and Weiss so long?"

"We particularly weren't all that interested in digging in the snow for some dirty plants." Weiss piped in, slowly walking towards them, stepping a bit awkwardly over the larger piles of snow, her luxury designer boots providing little help in keeping her feet warm and dry. With a small yelp, she yanked one of her legs out of the deep snow, waddling over to where the two girls were, Pyrrha and Jaune pausing to watch them from where they were a few trees down.

"I have a feeling you didn't want to get your new clothes filthy." Blake snickered softly from where she sat beside Yang, a disgruntled little squeal leaving Weiss' lips. She snorted softly and stood behind Yang, Ren slipping past her to rejoin his spot beside the tall blonde, having finished his rounds for the time being. He flopped back on the snow, preparing to start digging again.

"So what? I have you know this is real fur!" Weiss cried out, yet earned no sympathy from the three kneeling in front of her. Eventually she snorted, then nudged Ren a bit with her foot. "Hey. You. Druggie. Do you know what these flowers are for? What are they even called?"

Ren stiffened up at bit at that, gritting his teeth for a moment, Yang glancing towards him with a small frown. Slowly, he swallowed, glancing up at her. "…yeah, I think I do. Their name is straight and to the point. Dust Thorns, or something like that. I think they're also called Dust Flowers, nice and simple. I don't know for sure.

"Dust Flowers are basically when dust has been infused with the flowers. The flowers themselves are dust. A living form of dust. They only bloom once a year. I don't know too much about them, but they're basically like an edible form of dust. I know sometimes people will harvest them to smoke the dust—" at that, Ren paused, trailing off with a slight scowl. Of course. That was exactly what Weiss wanted to hear.

"I'm not surprised that you know about that." Weiss gave a cute little snicker, tugging at the collar of her coat at her neck, smirking darkly. Ren didn't look up, trying to busy himself with searching the snow for more of the plants, but found himself trembling a bit now. Great. He just dug himself a hole with that one, and not because of his hands buried in the snow.

Yang scowled at Weiss. "Oh cut the shit out already. He answered your question, isn't that enough?" she then elbowed the man gently, smiling feebly. "Hey, go take a break. I know Weiss will love to take your place. Go play in the snow with Nora and Ruby. Go on."

Weiss began to splutter at that, watching as Ren wasted no time in jumping to his feet quite easily. He smirked a bit at the young woman, giving a brief little wave, before trudging through the snow towards where Nora and Ruby were near the edge of the lake. Hearing Weiss' cries, he sped up a bit, out of the radius of the beast, approaching his saviors in a few large steps, standing before them.

When Nora saw him step forward, she grinned broadly at him. Her face was tinged red from the cold and the wind whipping up, the snow falling a bit more heavily than when they first arrived. From her wind tousled hair and her snow-clad winter gear, she looked absolutely adorable in her pink parka and thick denim dried jeans. Yet, from her slightly shaking legs, it was evident that even she was not completely defended from the cold around them.

"Ren!" she panted, her breath coming in quick bursts, exhausted from the ferocious fight with Ruby, the younger student flopping on the snow lazily, idly making a snow angel. "There you are! You've been working so hard, you should take a break with me!"

"Yeah, I gotta pick up your slack." He teased, snickering softly as he waded towards her, not seeming surprised when she encircled his not-so-slim waist and rested her chin on his breastbone, giving him her cheeky smile. Snorting softly, Ren brushed some of her hair out of her face tenderly—at least attempted to, finding his gloves providing little practical use with that activity—and then tugged her hood up, trying to make her at least a little warmer. "Where's that hat I bought you? That little cat one, with the flaps?"

"I forgot it at home." Nora pouted a bit at that. "I'm sorry. I feel bad…it was a nice present too." She sighed softly, reaching up and adjusting Ren's ear muffs, slightly askew as they wrapped around his head. "At least your ears are all nice and warm, right? Hehe! You look so cute with your pink earmuffs and your pretty scarf too! I'm glad you're wearing the things I got you."

"It's freezing outside. Of course I'm wearing this." Ren snorted softly, glancing down at her. "I'm not going to be running around like you, without a nice warm hat or a scarf. Look at you. You're going to catch a cold."

"I told you I forgot it." Nora repeated with a huff, rolling her eyes as she gave him a tight squeeze, giggling as she snuggled up to his chest contently. "At least you're all nice and warm from your blubber."

"Oh be quiet." Ren mumbled softly, his cheeks turning a bright red, and not from the bitter breeze biting at his skin. "It's only like fifteen pounds anyways. I don't know what the big deal is anyways."

"I think it's cute." The little redhead whispered softly, seeming content to just keep her arms around his waist. "You're always so serious and stern…it's nice that you're a little more laid back from the weight. It's also cute on you!"

Ren snorted, not saying anything about that. "I can't win against you, anyways. So what's the point?" He hummed, then rested his cheek on the top of her head absently, ignoring how she gave a small squeak of surprise. "You stubborn thing. You're more thick-headed than a bull."

Nora merely giggled softly, swaying slightly, still embracing him warmly with a small hum. She slowly turned his body so she could get a better view of the students working, seeing Ruby finally beginning to assist her team with fishing out the necessary quota of vegetation. After a few moments, Pyrrha and Jaune stood, walking towards them, having two baskets full to the brim of the volatile little flowers.

"Thanks for helping us with the flowers." Jaune sarcastically snorted, exhaling loudly from fatigue. As he approached them, he placed the baskets down on either side of him, the two standing next to their team. "Your help is really appreciated."

"Shut up." Ren scoffed a bit, Nora rocking him back and forth idly. "I did try to help. But you had Pyrrha, who's done this before in her home country." He said simply, watching as Pyrrha huffed and rolled her eyes. "While my partner was busy trying to win the snowball war. Thank god she made it home ok."

At that, Nora, leaned up and pinched Ren's nose, who gave a small squeal and batted her hand away, causing her to giggled happily.

"You've never picked these flowers in the other continents?" Pyrrha asked suddenly, looking towards Ren. Her two teammates stopped what they were doing, turning towards her curiously. "I mean, aren't you from Vacuo?"

At that, the male paused, blinking and tilting his head. "…Vacuo? What?" he sneered softly, Nora also seeming quite curious. "I'm not from Vacuo. You're talking about that continent with all of the Oriental customs, right? Yeah. I have no ties to there. I was born here."

"Yeah! Ren and I knew each other since we were little!" Nora giggled softly, snuggling up to him again, the snow beginning to fall a bit more heavily now. "He's never been to Vacuo!"

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Pyrrha seemed a tad hurt at her assumption, frowning as she wrung her hands against her jacket a bit nervously. Fearful of having offended her friend with what she assumed was a racial assumption, a stereotype. "I just thought—I mean, there aren't many people that dress and look like you, and I just assumed—I mean, myself, I am from Mistral I just—"

"It's fine." Ren waved a hand towards her, shrugging, placing his hands on both sides of Nora's slim form, the shorter girl seeming absolutely pleased with his attention. "Don't worry about it. You're technically right about the dressing thing, but as far as I know, I never lived in Vacuo. Maybe my parents did, but I have no way of knowing. I honestly just like Vacuo style of clothing and things like that. It's pretty cool."

When his partner heard that little reminder of Ren's past, she frowned a bit, squeezing him a bit tighter, her hood falling from her head to rest on her shoulder blades again. Automatically, the taller male adjusted her again, fearful of her catching a cold, especially in the thickening weather. He was not taking care of a sick Nora. Not again. Nope, not too much fun.

"But Pyrrha, how did you know what to look for?" Jaune voiced the question ringing dully in their minds, to which the young warrior merely chuckled softly, a gloved hand resting on her red tinted cheeks.

"These flowers grow in the arid desert of Mistral. Not exactly the same, but similar." Explained Pyrrha, looking down at the frozen little plants in the woven baskets as she spoke. "The ones in Mistral are orange and red instead of white and blue. Those ones are infused with red dust, so they're easily flammable. They're useful I know as another energy source, since they're a bit more controllable than the crystal forms of dust.

"Legend says that when large areas of dust deposits leak near plant life, it infuses with the nearby vegetation. That's more what scientists say than legends' ancient texts, excuse me. Wrong thing." She shrugged a bit, smiling at her team. "But in Mistral, at least where I lived, we lived near an area of the desert where there was an Oasis, right in the vicinity of the town. So there were a lot of those red little flowers. When we were children, we'd pluck them out of the burning sand, and run back to Daddy, who'd then sell them. We'd get the money, and that was our allowance. The flowers can be dangerous when used the wrong way, just like normal dust…but it's still fun to harvest for them and then make a few lien. They were always so pretty…"

"That's…kinda sweet." Jaune tugged his scarf tighter around his neck, looking at his partner fondly. To share a memory of her childhood made him feel closer to her just listening to her. It was…nice. "So I guess you're familiar with these plants, huh?"

"Depending on the environment, different ones grow. So I guess so." Pyrrha echoed softly, moving to look across the lake. "That's why I wanted to know if Ren had lived in Vacuo. I thought these flowers were…pretty." She repeated, speaking quietly, below the sound of the breeze rippling through the environment. "I wanted to know what type grew in Vacuo. It's a stupid question, but…" a shrug of the shoulders, and she stared back over the frozen water, trailing off of the subject.

Nora lifted her head, tearing away from Ren for a brief moment to follow her line of sight, turning until her back was pressed against his front, humming softly. "That's pretty cool Pyrrha! At least, I think so." She turned towards her friend with a small grin. "You know…that lake is where a lot of people like to ice skate! This is where I love to go. But Ren's a pussy, he's never ice skated before."

"Shut up." Ren grumbled, burying his nose in his scarf, curling up within himself as he tried to stay warm, Nora's heat gone from his form. "Ice skating is hard. I'm not falling all over the place and embarrassing myself. That's your department."

"Hey!" a pout appeared on her face, and she crossed her arms, looking back out at the lake. "I love coming here, don't be mean. Sometimes on the weekends I'll come here by myself and just ice skate for a bit…winter is great! I don't know why you don't come with me one time, mister!" poking his nose a bit harshly, she turned back to the other woman. "Pyrrha, have you ever ice skated before?"

"I don't have much experience with the cold." She answered, shaking her head with a soft giggle, the two then swiveling towards Jaune, the other male glancing over at him, all three curious of him. The scraggly blond blinked, raising his hands in defeat.

"I'm with Ren on this one." He laughed weakly, Ren giving a small whistle of victory. "Though, I'd be afraid of the ice breaking and me falling through! Gosh! I wouldn't want to freeze to death. That sounds painful. Nope. Not doing it."

"Aw, come on!" Ruby called, overhearing Jaune's response, jogging towards where they were standing by the shore of the water, her team wading behind her in the thickening snow, more of it falling a bit more vigorously, a blizzard brewing. "It won't break! This lake has been frozen for so long, I doubt that'd happen!"

"Yeah. Ruby and I used to always skate her as kids!" Yang's voice attempted to ring out over the howling wind, their hair whipping around at the increasing velocity. Whatever warmth that was left in the air evaporated and fell with the sun, darkness beginning to overtake the open area of the lake. The shattered moon hung above their heads, observing the students as a silent guardian. Distractions and conversations seemed to have brought night early.

Once the axiomatic fact of the sun's disappearance sank in, all eight of them exchanged looks at the sight of Team CRDL sprinting towards the cabin for the night. They wasted no time in scampering towards the source of a night's duration of warmth. It had been part of the package for the field trip—harvest the flowers the first day, and then the next, if a job had been well done, spend half of the next day hanging out on the frozen lake if so desired. Almost like a break, a congratulation on making it to Beacon and not flunking out within the first week. All paid for by the owners of the property as a thank you for their help.

A crackling fire place, a warm gust of air blowing away the chill in their bones, the students stepped inside and stood there for a few moments, letting it all sink in, the shock feeling wonderful. Slowly, each one of them peeled off their now dripping jackets and hang them up on the rows of coat hangers, joining the other abandoned garments.

It was homey, horns of fallen beasts and beautiful hand painted portraits hung above the fire place, made of stone and brick, sparkling away wonderfully. The entire atmosphere was warm and inviting, right out of a movie. Smells of pine and freshly baked deserts tugged them inside, temptations of hot cocoa and treats reminding them of a hunger that was previously nonexistent –well mostly.

Glynda had seemed to relax and unwind for the night, curled up comfortably on the couch in the den across from the fire place, idly watching the flames dance and flicker in their cage, sipping quietly on her hot chocolate. When the students entered the serene area, she glanced towards them, adjusting her glasses with a small hum.

"Place what you got over there, with the others. Then you're free to go to bed for the night, or relax in the main room. Whatever you wish." The teacher instructed, melting back into her quiet and comfortable zone, tucking herself into the cocoon of quilts and fleece throws.

Pyrrha placed her basket in the corner beside the others, Yang and Blake following behind her with their own load. Once that was finished, the rest of Team RWBY lumbered to their rooms to change into their pajamas and getting ready for the night. Counting up the baskets real quick, a frown appeared on the red head's face, and she turned to look towards her partner in concern.

"Hey…where's the last basket?"

At that, Jaune startled, blinking over at her curiously. Automatically he glanced towards Nora and Ren, whining loudly when he found them already walking away towards their room, staying fairly close to one another. Whirring around, he turned back to Pyrrha, pouting slightly.

"I forgot it outside…"

"Well go get it! I'm not putting on all of those layers again." She huffed, already unlacing her boots and tossing them in the corner, shivering when her socks stepped onto the melting snow on the wooden floor. "At least you still have your shoes on. Go do it real quick."

"But you just took your shoes off…! Pyrrha! It's too cold!" Jaune whined loudly, then slowly scowled when he saw Pyrrha's disgruntled expression, then dragged his feet back to the door, taking much more time than necessary. "…fine. I better have a nice mug of hot cocoa when I get back."

At that, Pyrrha giggled softly, tugging out the ribbon in her ponytail, her long hair cascading her back, her bangs framing her face perfectly, cheeks still flushed a light pink. Her appearance could resemble a small child, Jaune thought briefly, smiling as he waved a bit stupidly at her, before scrambling back outside into the blistering cold. The cold burst of snow lingered in the room for a moment, causing her to tremble for a few moments, before shaking away the cold and slowly walking towards where their team would be staying for the night. Oh, how she desired to wear her nice and cozy clothes to bed...curl up…and sleep away the cold.

Pyrrha made it towards the bedroom, humming softly as she peeled off the damp clothes, tossing them in the plastic bag she had brought for her dirty clothes. Ren and Nora were somewhere else getting dressed, and she felt pleased for the small moment of solitude to herself to change in peace. She buttoned up the warm top that she had bought specifically for this trip, smoothening down the fabric with both hands, the reindeer bouncing around the red background clutching onto her toned body. Kicking off her pants, she unfolded the new matching pair of pants, slipping them on over her legs and tying the drawstring, then glancing down at her form, deciding that she was perfect to go to bed.

Lowering herself into bed, Pyrrha tugged the heavy comforter over her shoulder and tucking it under her chin, humming quietly as she got herself comfortable. It weighed her down, squishing her between the firm mattress and the heavy fabric, and she rested her head on the pillow, breathing out through her nose as she shut her eyes.

Yet, before sleep could envelope her and take her away, she was rudely awaken by a pair of hands shaking her awake. With a loud grumble, she opened her eyes, staring up at Nora, who looked back down at her in curiosity, Ren standing behind the shorter girl with his arms crossed. Before Pyrrha could even open her mouth to voice her questions of why the hell was she woken up, Nora cut her off and went into a ramble.

"Hey! Has Jaune come back yet? Oh, you probably don't know. I mean, you went to sleep…haha that was a silly question…But he's getting the flowers right? I wonder what's taking him so long! Do you think he got lost in the blizzard! Oh, maybe he went in the wrong direction and he's going deeper in the blizzard! Maybe he tripped and fell and is trapped in the snow! Or maybe he's inside and—"

"Nora." Ren's voice cut her off before she could delve deeper into her floods of words and sentences, and at his stern gaze of disapproval, she went silence, both of them turning back towards Pyrrha. It was as if without their leader, they went to their second in command, wondering what should be done about Jaune's absence. The howling wind ripped against the cabin, whispering and crying to them of the torment of the storm blowing outside, giving a word of warning to the inhabitants.

Pyrrha sighed quietly, slowly rolling out of bed, rubbing the little droplets of sleep from her eyes with a small grunt, looking up at them. Tossing a glance over her shoulder, she confirmed their words. Jaune's bed was still untouched, and she sighed, slowly standing up. As his partner, she was yet again, the automatically elected person to go out and look for him.

"I'll go." She voiced the obvious, waving away the two. "Go on, go to bed. He's probably fine, I'll go pick him up." stretching and giving a brief yawn, she gave a halfhearted wave and slowly shuffled out of the room, the two watching her leave before departing to their own beds for the night.

When Pyrrha got to the den, she found the room dark, the embers of the fire still giving off a mild heat for the night. Her teacher had left for her own room, the main room not as open and cheery as it first had been. This made her speed up in throwing on her still damp winter clothes, slipping on her boots and trudging out the door.

Gusts of frigid air and bundles of snow nearly threw back where she came from, and she gave a loud huff, throwing her hood on and grasping at the doorframe, nearly thrusting herself forward into the heart of the raging storm.

It didn't take long for Pyrrha to slide down the steps, the snow almost up to her knees at this point. She scowled, her strides basically long jumps as she tried to make it back to the lake, her chest tightening as the frigid wind ripping at her and chilling her with a terrible cold. Visibility was close to zero, yet she continued to trudge forward, feebly trying to call for Jaune's name.

The words that Nora had spoken still rang in her ears, and she swallowed heavily. No, he was fine. Probably just…lost. Yeah, that's all. No big deal…he was and is fine.

The snow seeped into her pajamas pants, making her legs grow numb, her arms feebly wrapped around herself to keep herself warm, to fend off the heavy outrage of nature. Her sight was faltering, snow caking in at the corners, and she moved forward weakly, still crying out loudly for him. Fear gripped at her heart like a predator munching on their prey, and she gasped, terrified that something terrible had happened to him.

For a split second, she believed that dream to be merely a false reality when she stepped at the base of the frozen lake, staring out at the ice, and hearing Jaune's cries of reply back to her.

Yet, her entire existence came crashing down sharply when she saw the source of his cries. The broken ice, the bobbing figure of her partner in the water, and the figure towering over him, trying to knock him deep into the unforgiving abyss. Her voice became hoarse as she screamed, rocketing herself forward onto the ice to save him, the blizzard howling around them.