Cinder: Do you have my information?

Cinder  eyed Lil' Miss Malachite at her tavern.

Lil' Miss: Of course I do, darling. Lil' Miss always delivers. Although, I can't promise you'll be pleased.

Cinder glared at her.

Lil' Miss: Word is they were seen boarding the Argus Limited a few weeks back. While that isn't exactly far from here, Argus is rarely a destination for folks. Chances are they'll be going straight to--

Cinder: Atlas.

Cinder walks away while Lil' Miss smiled at her intuitiveness.

Lil' Miss: You know, you turned out to be quite the interesting customer... Cinder.

Cinder stopped in her tracks upon hearing her name. She turned around to face Lil' Miss again.

Lil' Miss: It's not often a single client brings me double the business.

Whilst Lil Miss spiderface tapped her cigarette holder into an ashtray, there was a creak from the walkway above, Cinder looked up to see who it was.

Cinder: Wait...

a certain pink umbrella was shown to be lowered before its owner placed it behind her head. A certain multi-colored best girl of pink, brown and white glared down at Cinder from her position...

Cinder: Neo?

Lil' Miss: Maybe put away the good glasses.

Neo jumped down and landed a strike on Cinder, only for her form to suddenly shatter. Neo then reappeared from another direction and knocked Cinder back.

Cinder: What are you doing?!

Neo proceeded forward and continued to land blows that pushed Cinder back to Lil' Miss' table who stops the ashtray from falling off the shaking table and held up her hand, as if to tell her two bodyguards not to intervene. Cinder pushed off of Lil' Miss' table and began to fight back, using hand-to-hand to counter Neo's strikes. She then kicked Neo up and the two fought on the bar counter. Neo knocked some bowls into Cinder before the latter yeeted the umbrella wielder off the counter. Neo landed gracefully back on the ground. The two continued trading blows until Cinder was launched towards the ceiling, she pushed off of it and Neo barely dodged the flaming fist that shattered the table below her. Cinder jumped up to the balcony railing and looked down on Neo.

Lil' Miss: That's enough, ladies!

the bodyguards drew their weapons at the two combatants

Lil' Miss: I love dinner and a show, but it's time to take it outside.

through no provocation of her own, Cinder ended up taking the gangster's advice, as she was pushed through the window onto the empty street with Neo following her. Cinder landed back on her feet while Neo's form shattered again.

Cinder: Hmph, nice trick. You've gotten stronger... So have I.

Cinder conjured a fireball that she launched behind her. Neo blocked the blast with her indestructible umbrella. Her clothes were slightly torn and tattered and she wears the hat that once belonged to Roman Torchwick. She stepped forward and angrily glared at Cinder.

Cinder: I don't have time for your misplaced blame, girl. I didn't kill your boss. If you want revenge, take it up with "Little Red".

Neo charged forward. Cinder conjured her weapons and used them to block Neo's attacks.

Cinder: You're not the only one with a grudge against Ruby!

One of Neo's attacks hit Cinder in the face, causing her to activate her Maiden powers, blowing Neo back a few feet.

Cinder: Listen! We both want that girl dead. So quit wasting your time fighting me and let's discuss how we kill her together.

Neo stood down as Cinder hovered menacingly.

Cinder: Okay then... Let's talk.

Cinder floated back down to the ground while Neo pointed at her mouth with an annoyed look on her face.

Cinder: Right...

===================

A snow storm made visibility difficult at Brunswick Farm as the wind howled.

Ruby: I don't get it. The empty towns I've passed through were all damaged or unfinished. But this place looks... fine.

Team RWBY, Qrow, Oscar, Y/N and Maria arrived at the porch of one of the many residences in the farm. Weiss ironically was shivering as she wrapped her arms around herself to keep herself warm.

Weiss: Maybe everyone left in a hurry. Before things took a turn?

Qrow tried to open the door, only to notice it was locked.

Qrow: Hmm. Stay on guard.

Y/N punched the door into splinters with the world and walked inside, not giving a flying stand about anyone who might've been inside.
Qrow sighed as everyone proceeded forward with their weapons drawn. They cautiously looked around the place.

Maria: Close the door already! It's cold enough in here as it is.
Y/N sighed and picked up the door before leaning it on the doorframe

Y/N: I'm sorry, I just find it a lot harder to fix them than punch them in

Maria walked deeper into the house. Blake and Oscar pushed a nearby drawer to block the door more effectively.

Blake: I saw a chimney from the outside. Maybe we could get a fire going?

Weiss: Please. I'll look for some blankets.

Qrow: Yang, go with her.

Ruby lingered by the entrance hall for a bit while the others looked around. Oscar opened a door and wandered inside.

Oscar: Looks like a study. Or, a library?

Ruby walked past to notice a group of pictures on the wall of the family that owns Brunswick Farms. Blake walked up next to her.

Blake: What do you think?

Ruby: Something doesn't feel right.

Blake: Let's look for some--

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream was heard from one of the bedrooms.

Ruby: Weiss!

Ruby and Blake headed up the stairs and ran into the room Yang and Weiss were in. Y/N literally appeared out of nowhere and Qrow arrived last. They looked on the bed to see a pair of decomposing corpses...

=====================

Weiss watched the fireplace burn, still shaken from what she saw earlier. Blake wrapped a blanket around Weiss before sitting on the couch Yang was on on. The group heard the door being pushed out of the way then dragged back into position and Qrow and Y/N walked back in brushing snow off themselves.

Qrow: It's the same in every house.

Yang: What?

Y/N: Bodies. Every bed in every home. It's like the whole estate just went to sleep and never woke up.

Weiss: Then we're not staying here, right?

Qrow: We don't have a choice. Storm outside's only getting worse. We'd freeze to death before we made it anywhere.

Maria: Well, might as well get comfortable.

Yang: Yeah, fat chance.

Ruby: Okay, then, let's do something. If this place wasn't abanodoned it might still have supplies we could use.

Oscar: Hey, yeah. Maybe even a car.

Qrow: I'll do another sweep of the grounds. No one else goes anywhere alone.

Blake: Yang and I can search the other buildings for vehicles.

Yang: (annoyed) Fine, whatever gets me out of this house.

Yang and Blake left, with Ruby moving the drawer and Y/N moving the door to let them exit. Afterwards, Ruby looked over to see Weiss at the doorway to the living room with a melancholic look on her face.

Ruby: Food always makes me feel better. Just saying.

Weiss: Right...

Ruby and Weiss left the room, leaving Oscar Y/N and Maria alone together.

Maria: I'll tell you what. You two keep that fire fed...... and I'll find us a story to read before bed.

Y/N: a bedtime story? hmph, I'm not that young

Maria sat back down on the couch and began reading while Oscar sighed and Y/N disappeared again.

Outside, Blake and Yang walked through the snowstorm towards a nearby shed. They enter it and find rows of shelves full of supplies on it and a tractor.

Blake: Something tells me that's not street legal.

The two of them continued walking through the shed.

Yang: What do you think happened here?

Blake: There's that well in the square. Maybe water contamination?

Yang: Yeah, maybe.

Yang stopped and put a hand on her forehead.

Blake: Hey, are you okay?

Yang: Yeah... I mean, no. But, I don't know. I'm just tired.

Blake: Yeah.

Yang continued walking forward.

Yang: Hey, I found something.

Yang sees a flatbed trailer next to a window. Through the window, Yang spotted a figure of Adam Taurus unsheathing his sword. Yang gasped and reeled backward while Blake ran up to her.

Blake: What is it?

Yang: I...

Yang looked back outside and saw a tree in the place where Adam had stood.

Yang: I was just seeing things. I'm sorry. I still get flashes from that night.

Blake saw Yang's normal hand shaking uncontrollably before she composed herself.

Yang: Do you think Adam's still out there?

Blake: I don't know. If he went back to the White Fang there would have been serious consequences. But, he never really liked people telling him what to do. Adam's strong, but his real power comes from control. He used to get in my head, make me feel small. But now I see he just wanted to pull me down to his size.

The both of them looked at Yang's prosthetic hand.

Blake: Hey, I'm not leaving. And if we ever see him again, I promise I'll be there.

The two shared a smile.

Blake: And I'll protect you.

At this, Yang's eyes widened slightly and her expression turns into a frown.

Yang: What?

Blake: What?

Awkward silence.

Yang: Forget it. Let's just head back.

Blake: But what about--

Yang: We're fine. We can hook that flatbed up to Bumblebee in the morning. Should carry everyone. Mission accomplished.

Yang walked away while Blake looked down sadly.

Back inside, Ruby used her scroll's flashlight to look around. All she had found was alcoholic bottles on the shelves. Weiss used Myrtenaster to send small flames to light up the candles in the room.

Weiss: There.

The two looked around the room. Shelves were stocked full of alcoholic bottles and a bar was there as well.

Ruby: On second thought, maybe we should keep this room closed.

Weiss: Huh?

Ruby: I'm just... Not sure how well my uncle's taking all of this.

Weiss: Oh.

Ruby: Come on, we'll never get to Atlas on an empty stomach!

Ruby walked forward, though Weiss lingered and sadly looked down. Ruby then opens up another door.

Weiss: Ruby? Are we really still going to Atlas?

Ruby: Why wouldn't we be?

Weiss: I mean... you heard what Jinn said. If there's no way to kill Salem, then what's the point in all of this?

Ruby: Weiss, you can't be serious.

Weiss: Sorry, I- I don't know what I'm saying, I'm just really tired and I really, really hate this place. Anything in there?

Ruby turned around and used her flashlight to look around. She saw more alcoholic bottles arranged on a shelf on the right side of the room.

Ruby: More alcohol... At least we'll never have problems starting a fire.

Weiss: What's that?

The two noticed a large, metal cellar door in the ground. Its handles were chained together.

Weiss: A wine cellar? Great.

Ruby then looked up to her left and let out a yelp before zooming over.

Weiss: What? What is it?

Ruby: Food!

Ruby held out a can that read "THREE BROS. BEANS: SHRIMP FLAVORED, EXTRA SODIUM".

Weiss: Canned food?

Ruby: Oh trust me, you put enough salt on anything, and it will taste juuust fine.

Weiss: Well, I guess it's better than nothing.

The two shared a smile. Weiss walked over and helped Ruby grab a few cans of food.

Weiss: But I still seriously hate this place...

The two then walked out of the room. Unbeknownst to them, the metal cellar door opened slightly, before shutting again with a startling bang...