Author's Note: We have nothing currently written past this. Expect this to be the last chapter of this story posted for quite some time. Sorry, blame RealTerminal.

Chapter 45

The smell of fresh melted butter filled the air, mingling with the scent of floral tea and rich coffee, all accompanied by the sound of sizzling. Glynda's kitchen had rarely been so filled over the years, with barely more than a guest or two ever gracing its floor. The witch herself sat at the table for a change, as Ren managed the current course for breakfast. On the menu were pancakes, specifically for Nora, who had not joined them that morning.

"I thought cakes were larger than that." Ilia noted, hovering over the cooking area in wonder. "Will it grow?" The prospect of a new food had enamored her to Ren immediately, though she still flinched when he made sudden moves. Fortunately he rarely did so.

"A cake is a broad definition." Ren explained. "Form rarely matters. Ingredients are the most common relation."

"So anything can be a cake if it contains those ingredients?" Ilia asked.

"Not necessarily, but often times yes." Ren replied.

"Unless it's a slice." Pyrrha chimed in from the table, her plate already cleared of her hearty breakfast.

"I believe a slice is a layercake." Ren speculated.

Pyrrha took a long sip of tea before responding. "People are welcome to think that."

"What is a slice?" Ilia inquired.

"Unhealthy." Glynda retorted. "Let Ren work Ilia, a watched pot never boils."

"But I'm hungry." Ilia groaned.

"Eat an apple." Glynda suggested.

"I don't want an apple…" Ilia pouted.

"Then you're not hungry." Glynda stated. Ilia grumbled and slithered back to her chair.

Dew stared blankly at the fruit bowl before her, coffee cooling in her hands. She was no longer phased by the menagerie surrounding her. It concerned Glynda to see her so dead to the world, but at the very least she was up and about now. Blake, meanwhile, had decided to visit Velvet, another excuse to leave the house Glynda suspected, though she had meant to pay a visit herself, so at least some good was coming from it. The back door opened, Dew flinching slightly, a move only noticed by Glynda. Violet eyes flicked to the doorway before calming and dropping back to her food. It was only Ruby entering, having tended the gardens, which were protected from the winter cold by a series of wards.

"He's back!" Ruby cheered as the patter of little paws followed her in, the tiny puppy panting happily by the summon's feet.

Pyrrha huffed a chuckle. "Well, I suppose we can visit the puppies again."

"Wash his paws before letting him run about." Glynda instructed. "And tell Nora breakfast is almost ready."

Ruby scooped the puppy into her arms as she ran to obey. "Yes ma'am!"

"Are you certain Ilia can handle these?" Ren asked, flipping a third wide pancake onto a plate, spooning a dollop of butter on top for good measure. "I am unfamiliar with lamia digestion."

Ilia looked pleadingly to her mother, a small pout on her lips threatening to quiver. Glynda grinned. "Thus far we have had no incidents. I see no issue with the occasional foray." Ilia's expression lit up as Ren brought the plate over, the contents lightly steaming, butter forming a molten pool in the middle. Everyone paused to watch as Ilia stared at the plate in wonder, her slitted eyes dilating until they were barely rimmed in blue. A forked grey tongue flicked out curiously. "Ilia, what do you say?" Glynda chastised.

Ilia blinked, snapped from her daze. She looked to Ren and bowed her head. "Thank you."

"It was my pleasure." Ren smiled, holding a boat of syrup aloft. "Syrup?"

"Just a drizzle." Glynda answered for her daughter. Ren obliged, leaving trails of warm syrup across the pancakes' surface, setting the boat aside as he returned to flip the next batch. "Knife and fork." The witch instructed. Ilia froze mid grab, barely hesitating to snatch up the implements. She stabbed the fork through the surface, clumsily sawed a large chunk free, and barely avoided devouring the fork as she shoveled the dripping meal into her maw. Dew watched in detached wonder as the giant reptile ate breakfast by her side.

"Nora says she isn't hungry." Ruby spoke from the doorway. "I think she's angry. Did I do something?"

"No Ruby, Nora is just…" Pyrrha hesitated, searching for the words. "How do I put this…"

"Nora wants to confront the spriggans." Ren explained. "I am against it."

"Would it not bring Nora peace?" Pyrrha asked.

"Not in her current state." Ren replied. "She is angry and hurting, confronting the reality of her existence. If she faces them now she may very well do something she regrets."

"I would rather avoid an incident with the wildlife." Glynda interjected.

"It goes beyond that." Ren continued. "Spriggan kind are our family. We are kin to them. This act of negligence has brought harm to us, and will not be overlooked. I wish to wait for them to approach us of their own free will. It would be more meaningful to us, far more so to Nora."

"I must admit, I have not studied spriggans very deeply." Pyrrha noted. "I never expected to face them in combat…"

"Nor should you." Ren nodded. "You are kind and caring. You do not pose a threat to their home." He flipped another stack of pancakes onto a plate. "Those who do can never prepare for nature's wrath." He slid the plate in front of Pyrrha with a smile, along with a jug of blood red syrup. "And so the forests are kept well fed."

Pyrrha eyed the jug with worry. Glynda merely looked amused, which meant she knew something Pyrrha did not...as per usual. A crash and a curse sounded from the living room, followed by steady thumping. The group turned to behold Nora catch herself on the doorway, squinting into the light through clouded eyes.

"I'm going!" Nora shouted. "And you can't stop me!"

"Nora, your clothes!" Ruby stepped around her, holding out her tunic.

"Let them speak to me as an equal or not at all." Nora decreed as she stepped forward, directly into the table. "Argh, sorry everyone. You all smell nice this morning."

"Nora, please." Ren sighed.

"I've waited long enough." Nora declared. "I'm not getting any blinder, I'm not getting any better. I'll crawl there if I need to!"

"We cannot force a confrontation-" Ren cautioned.

"Watch me!" Nora yelled. "Or don't! Keep making pancakes so I have something to eat after I give 'em what for!" She fumbled her way along the wall, making her way to the door. "Stupid blindness, stupid eyes. Oh hey Glynda, sorry about your table."

"Just don't scar the town with your nudity." Glynda deadpanned.

"If anything I'll put a pep in their steps!" Nora grinned, fumbling with the door.

Ren stepped over, laying a hand over Nora's as it gripped the handle. "Nora-"

"Please don't Ren." Nora croaked, looking vaguely in the direction of his eyes. "I can't stand this anymore. We deserve better. They're supposed to be family."

"You and I both know things are rarely as they are supposed to be." Ren reached up to cup her cheek, wiping away the tears running down it. "I worry for you."

"I know Renny, but sometimes I gotta' jump, or I'll never be able to sit still." Nora leaned into the contact.

"And then I have to tend to your skinned knees." Ren responded.

"And give me that look that says I told you so." Nora added.

"How can I give you the look if you can't see it?" Ren asked.

"I can feel it, when I'm laying there wondering what went wrong." Nora answered. "It's like a warmth on my soul."

Ren sighed, slumping in defeat. "I need to finish breakfast."

"I can escort her." Pyrrha volunteered, standing. "I uh, don't really eat much in the morning anyway."

"You'd skip Renny's pancakes for little old me?" Nora smirked.

"For the sake of our friendship." Pyrrha confirmed.

"Aw, see Ren, I can make friends!" Nora cheered.

"Hmm, occasionally." Ren allowed.

"Shall I follow?" Ruby asked.

"We should be fine Ruby." Pyrrha declined. "You can have my breakfast for me, okay?"

"Yes mistress!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Love you Renny, be right back." Nora pecked him on the lips and dashed out the door.

Pyrrha sighed. "Ruby, please hand me the smock."

"How's your head feeling?" Nora asked as they walked. She was thankfully clothed, if only in her barely modest smock.

"It aches at times, but normally I feel quite fine." Pyrrha replied, wary of Nora's balance. The werewolf walked mostly unassisted, her perception of the world being acute enough to keep her on track, but she still staggered and stumbled over sudden changes in elevation. "It should pass in time."

"I remember the first time I got shot." Nora smiled. "I didn't even know it either, until I got all light headed from losing blood. Good thing silver bullets usually leave clean wounds."

"Blood loss does have a way of making itself known." Pyrrha chuckled, eyeing Nora's dirty feet as they narrowly missed yet another stray root. How she ignored the cold clawing at her skin was beyond understanding. "Are you not cold?"

"Hot blooded!" Nora shook her head. "It's actually really pleasant right now. Think of me like...uh...a husky! Yeah, a redheaded husky!"

"You're not nearly hairy enough." Pyrrha noted. "In your current form at least."

"Because Renny keeps me trimmed!" Nora announced.

"How attentive of him…" Pyrrha sighed.

"I've never been really good at all the gentle human stuff." Nora admitted.

"Do you consider yourself...other than human?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well, kinda', but also not really." Nora shrugged, missing yet another knot in the road. "I'm human, but I haven't lived as one since I was a kid. I've been a werewolf as long as I can remember. The only parents I ever had were spriggans, and the only full human I've really spent much time with is Ozpin, and he's more of...and uncle I guess. A nice uncle, but kinda' distant most of the time." She began walking backwards, staring vacantly in Pyrrha's general direction. "At what point do I stop being human and start being formerly human? I mean, I don't really understand human society that well. It's too stiff and rigid and scared of being free. Every time I'm immersed in it I feel stifled. I hate clothes, perfumes hurt my nose, and shoe-wah!" She finally tripped over a root. Pyrrha lunged forward, only to grasp the scruff of the smock. It tore away effortlessly. "You know, if you wanted me naked again, all you had to do was ask." Nora giggled from the ground.

Pyrrha was growing to appreciate Nora, but her nudity was taking far more adjustment. "I envy you at times Nora." She sighed, reaching a hand for Nora to take before realizing yet again that Nora would likely not be able to see it. She clicked her gloved fingers to help.

"Oh?" Nora grinned. "Ya' know it's not that hard to become a werewolf." She took the offered limb and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. "I've never sired someone before, but I think you'd make a great packmate!"

"Thank you Nora, but that's not what I meant." Pyrrha declined the offer. "Your confidence and lack of modesty is something admirable. Due to my upbringing I formed a...somewhat childish view of the naked form."

"Aren't you from Mistral?" Nora asked.

"I am." Pyrrha confirmed.

"But your religion is like...sex and fighting and more sex and marriage and sex to celebrate the marriage, then you fight together and have more sex!" Nora rambled.

"This reality has not escaped my notice." Pyrrha groaned.

"Were you offered to celibate monks and raised to be pure?" Nora asked.

"No." Pyrrha replied.

"Chased off because your skin was too light and raised by fish?" Nora suggested.

"No, but there is a small element of truth there…" Pyrrha allowed.

"Fish?" Nora inquired.

"My skin was considered oddly pale." Pyrrha elaborated. "My parents were advised to bathe me in olive oil beneath each full moon."

"Do you still do it?" Nora asked.

"Sometimes I use olive lotion, but otherwise no." Pyrrha answered.

"Wait, isn't olive oil a sex thing?" Nora quirked her brow.

"In certain situations, but not always." Pyrrha explained. "Gladiators and participants in seasonal games oil themselves beforehand as well. Some of the more remote parts of Mistral still use olive oil in lieu of soap when bathing."

"Were your parents like, exiled or something?" Nora asked.

"No, Nora, they were devout Mistrali warriors, who raised me the same as any other." Pyrrha responded. "I just happened to dislike the sheer…" Pyrrha grimaced, searching for the right word. "...intensity of our culture. It...made me feel uncomfortable, being around so many people, doing such intimate things. I saw it as overly stifling, and sought to escape it whenever possible."

"But intimacy is wonderful!" Nora exclaimed. "People are beautiful and being around and with each other is one of the greatest things we can do!"

"Perhaps it is, but to my younger self, I was confused and scared, and just wanted to be alone sometimes." Pyrrha lamented. "But my parents and everyone around me thought that was wrong, that something was wrong with me. So that which is considered special and beautiful to them to you, became something hellish to me, to the point that I left my home and my country to pursue a life dedicated to what was in my eyes a more noble cause."

"But you still envy me?" Nora tilted her head.

"I do, for you are happy in such acts, you crave and value them as a normal individual." Pyrrha nodded. "I do not. The thought leaves an ache in my heart, fear in my soul...it...I had a friend, who showed interest in me. When I rejected them I fear I hurt them on such a level that they became careless...they passed soon after."

"That's…really heavy Pyr." Nora noted.

"Yes, well it does weigh upon me at times." Pyrrha agreed.

"You know, there was a time when I took my job real serious." Nora said.

"Oh?" Pyrrha asked.

"I mean, I wasn't stoic about it and all." Nora chuckled. "It's just that I really wanted to save everyone, and when I couldn't, it hurt a lot."

"I understand." Pyrrha comiserated.

"But Renny said something that really stuck with me." Nora continued. "He says Ozpin told him. He's just being modest, he's always like that."

"He's certainly a man of few words." Pyrrha interjected.

"And those few words are always important to me." Nora nodded before going on. "He said to me Nora, we can't save the world, but we can save who we can."

"Wise words, but the pain of failure shall always weigh upon us." Pyrrha countered.

"Our souls are stubborn like that." Nora allowed. "Luckily Renny helps distract me, and when Renny can't help, I usually just go for a run. Running helps me find peace. Do you run?"

"During my morning exercises, yes...it doesn't bring me peace." Pyrrha frowned.

"What does?" Nora asked.

Pyrrha remained silent, contemplating the things that had brought her peace over time, and how they had lost their effectiveness, driving her to other methods. Finally she landed on Ruby's effect on her…

"I think we're here." Nora announced.

"Hmm?" Pyrrha asked.

"I can smell the lilies." Nora explained.

"Are they so strong?" Pyrrha inquired.

"To me they smell of home." Nora nodded. She and Pyrrha walked through the trees, emerging by the frozen lake. "Even now I can feel them, like a weak pulse beneath my feet...it's like, you know, someone's heartbeat. Everything in nature shares one."

"I was unaware werewolves shared such a bond." Pyrrha noted.

"They don't, not naturally." Nora corrected. "Our connection was a gift, from our saviors, our family, deep in the forest of northern Mistral."

"They can gift you such a power?" Pyrrha inquired.

"It's not so much a power...more like...we all have a soul, but some have a strong bond to the void." Nora tried to explain. "It's where we go to dream, but spriggans are born of the soil, fueled by the sun. The world is their void, and with enough time and love, anyone can form a bond." Nora took Pyrrha's hand, pulling her closer to the ground as they crouched, clearing away snow to hold it to the soil. "We spent our childhoods among them, drinking their sap, bathing in their luminescence. They loved us, and we loved them. Sometimes if I really reach for them, I can see a glimmer of their essence, even so far from home. I can feel their gaze."

Pyrrha tried to concentrate on what Nora wanted her to feel. At first there was only the cold of the ground and the warmth of the werewolf's hand, but their pulses entwined until one. A gentle, slow thrum became evident, shocking in its immensity. "Oh." Pyrrha gasped.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Nora beamed.

"It's vast!" Pyrrha found herself struck by a sense of vertigo. Nora released her hand in time for her to fall back onto her rear, dizzy and disoriented.

"I've shown kids before, but never an adult." Nora spoke. "How does it feel?"

"Like...like peering over the edge of a mountain, only for the ground to vanish beneath me." Pyrrha struggled to put the feeling into words.

"Kids haven't learned the way of the world yet." Nora mused. "They just go with the flow and let their minds go where nature takes them. It makes sense that you'd be so disoriented. You've spent your whole life thinking the ground is solid and simple, but now you see, you see what I see, and that's just a hint of what spriggans see in this world!"

"So you see, like this?" Pyrrha asked.

"A little." Nora shrugged. "Enough to walk, but I'm not used to it...maybe I never will be, but I've got it much better than humans in my place."

"It's…" Pyrrha looked at her hands, still slightly shaking. "...disconcerting how ignorant I am of the world's natural forces."

"Most humans are too busy trying to get by to ever care." Nora observed. "What with Grimm and bandits and taxes, it's as much as any individual can do to make it through the day. At least that individual isn't likely to do harm to the world in the process." She sat beside Pyrrha, the pair looking over the lake.

"Is the lake alive?" Pyrrha inquired.

"It has living things in it, yeah." Nora replied. "But water isn't alive, so no...good at conducting though!"

"I sense a story behind that." Pyrrha guessed.

"Play your cards right, maybe I'll tell you someday." Nora winked. They shared a laugh.

"Can they see us, right now?" Pyrrha asked.

"Always really...it's why I was so confused when I came here." Nora slumped. "They could see me, they knew who I was, why didn't they speak to me? What did I do? What have I done?"

"Could it perhaps be something we did?" Pyrrha suggested.

"I asked Glynda, she said the spriggans on this isle have been secluded for decades." Nora answered. "Maybe they just didn't want to be disturbed. The humans of Patch tent to keep to the coasts."

"Is it truly unusual for them to be so private?" Pyrrha pressed.

"It depends on what's happened." Nora explained. "Atlesian spriggans are...cold, and angry. The Templars treat them like an infestation, burning their homes, poisoning their lands, because they get in the way of 'progress,' and the people suffer for it, because they can't risk going into the forests for fear of reprisals, which feeds into the narrative the Templars push and justify it all!" Nora grew louder and more heated throughout the rant. Pyrrha took her hand to calm her down. Nora returned a painful but restrained grip. "When Renny and I traveled there, there was so much pain, but even they met us with open arms, because they knew us as kin. What happened to Patch that made things so different here?"

"The blame lies with me, little one." A stern voice replied. Nora tensed, her hand squeezing hard again. Pyrrha turned to see Amber, the spriggan matron, standing not far behind. "My soul is not so jaded as to ignore my failings. No matter my intent, I am but one individual, leading her pack…" She walked past the pair, toward the water's edge. "Let me tell you a story, short in your tongue, yet long in my heart, of a woman. She was long tortured by the realities of this world, wife to a murdered husband, mother to a stolen daughter, who fought until her fingers were raw and her lungs were dry. As the last of her foes fell, and the blood of her kin stained her very soul...this woman found no justice of her own. No peace. No absolution."

Pyrrha had never met a spriggan before. Even in the rarest of Mistrali rituals they were seldom contacted. She found them intimidating yet beautiful, transcending description. Even the books, of which Port had given her many, could not begin to prepare her for the encounter.

"In her pain, she sought seclusion from this cruel world, from all that had harmed her." Amber continued. "She traveled until naught by the sea and memory surrounded her, to live out her final days in peace…" The spriggan reached out to Nora, who blinked blearily at her, tight lipped and stock still, eventually standing to approach. "But loss and pain had broken her. She found no solace in solitude. The agony of her loss screamed and screamed until she could bear it no more. She walked into the forest, searching for her final rest…" Nora allowed Amber to take both hands in her own, and the matron knelt before her. "She walked, bare and unfettered. The forest beheld as she cast aside her mortal bonds, prostrating herself before certain death...only for the forest to offer her a second chance...to live among the trees, to love and be loved, by a family who understood her loss, who felt her pain, and wished only to ease it…" Sap fell from the spriggan's eyes like tears, and Nora found herself similarly moved. "At pleje er en Spriggans kald, men alligevel har min natur gjort mig slidte og uagtsom. Magnhild, jeg beder om tilgivelse, af dig, din kæreste, og din kammerat...Jeg har aldrig ønsket skade på din art."

Nora collapsed to her knees, wrapping the matron in a hug that was returned tightly, the werewolf shaking with gently sobs. Pyrrha watched the two comfort one another, the spriggan starting to glow, golden veins illuminating beneath bark-like skin, until she slumped. Nora gasped, shaking her head rapidly before looking to Pyrrha. The huntress took a moment to realize her friend's eyes were no longer clouded. Amber lurched, retching into the lake, expelling a silvery substance that melted through the ice.

"I must admit, I have never done such a thing before…" Amber struggled. "Death's Tears are disagreeable."

"Will you be okay?" Pyrrha asked, crouching beside the spriggan.

"In time." Amber replied. "Huntress, for now…" She reached for Pyrrha's hand, grabbing it before she could reach. Pyrrha felt herself struck by a harsh warmth flowing through her system, waves cascading down toward her injured leg. There the feeling intensified before warmly receding. "Your bravery was admirable, huntress, and you have never inflicted harm upon us. For that we are thankful."

Pyrrha allowed herself to sit as the shock of rejuvenation sent shudders through her body. Unable to rationalize the combination of drain and adrenaline flowing through her veins, she fell back, staring blearily into the sky. The aching pain that had plagued her leg since the injury had disappeared entirely. She wondered if such a power could be taught.