"Well," Qrow said after a pause, "that was pretty strong. I mean, Likstar told me that same thing, but she didn't say it in that tone."

"What tone?" Winter knew what tone.

"I probably shouldn't have said that." Qrow felt a little bad for playing her. "I just wanted to see what you'd do."

"I hope you're happy then," Winter said angrily, turning away again purposely. 

She rubbed her arm. 

"You know, Ice Queen," Qrow said after a long pause, "we really don't make any sense anyway. We've been enemies pretty much since we met, and the only reason that changed was through  our lives being in danger. That's kind of a pretty big thing to have to intervene, and I'm not sure what that says about our flexibility."

Winter shrugged blandly. "That's a good point."

"I mean, you don't want to say it and be a jerk, but you had to be thinking that," Qrow said. "We don't have that much in common either."

"I suppose not," Winter said.

"I mean, other than saving the world," Qrow said, "and kind of rebelling against our bosses, and wanting to protect our families, and enjoying the occasional brawl."

"I never said I enjoyed that," Winter said.

"You were smiling half the time," Qrow said.

Winter rolled her eyes. "Is there a point to this?"

"I'm just saying, that's not that much in common," Qrow said. "I mean, they're essentials, I guess. But you know, other than that, we got nothing."

"Yes, well, we don't really have interests outside of those things to begin with." Winter realized she was kind of boring. "I don't have hobbies other than teaching Weiss."

"Oh, same. I mean, you can't count video games with Yang and Ruby as a hobby. I'm always too busy working."

"Well, that has to go double for me," Winter said.

"I mean, other than training once in a while," Qrow said.

"Indeed," Winter said. "Who has time for anything else?"

"Yeah," Qrow agreed.

Pause.

"S---, that didn't really make it better," Qrow said.

"Not in the least." Winter had a touch of humor finally.

"I was more ready for you to talk me out of this," Qrow said.

"I have no idea why. I didn't before," Winter said, struggling to stay calm again. "You did plenty of that on your own. Why should I help?"

"Okay, if we could just be honest for a second, you really wouldn't consider it, right?" Qrow said. "I mean, even if I didn't say all that dumb s---. With my past and reputation... I'm not your type."

"I don't have a type," Winter said, flatly. "Your past is no worse than mine at this point. Unless you're claiming my almost becoming part of a dictatorship is nothing. My life would be almost hilariously bleak if not for the DJs bringing us something to hope for again... and since that goes for you also, if you choose to accept it finally, we're not that different."

"And the drinking part?" Qrow had wondered this for some time.

"It's a thing of the past."

"How much did you think about this?" Qrow was actually kind of amazed.

"That part I would have thought anyway."

"I can believe that." Qrow realized that he did. "Huh... Well, I guess I look like an ass."

"Yes." Winter had no mercy right then.

"That's why I got worked up. I kinda thought you'd say that actually, and that's very, very dangerous."

Winter's pulse raced again. 

"If we're being honest, then how long exactly has it been going on? I hope the years thing was a joke."

"It was and it wasn't," Qrow said.

Winter raised an eyebrow.

"I think Raven already told you," Qrow said.

"Nevermind, what Raven said. I want to hear it," Winter said firmly.

"I think you won't like it."

"Stop saying that."

"Fine." Qrow gave up. She was going to get it out of him sooner or later. "Well, you remember when we met?"

"I was there."

"I thought you were uptight and kind of overly patriotic and blindly loyal to Jimmy."

Winter really wished she could argue with that... but...

"But I knew the story with your dad," Qrow added, "so I expected you to be... uptight. All the Schnees kind of come off that way... and I know why now. It's beaten into them. But the way you lost your cool, that was pretty unusual for Atlas military."

"It was humiliating," Winter shuddered.

"Oh, not really. I did deserve it," Qrow said. "And it was fun to piss Jimmy off. I'd be lying if I said I didn't look forward to our little tiffs when I visited Atlas."

Winter frowned at him. "There's something wrong with that."

"Yeah, probably, but it's not like you were exactly enthused about cooperating more, so a guy takes what he gets," Qrow said. "And not everyone fights you in a courtyard when they have a reputation to maintain."

"I really don't understand how this is possible." 

"You really don't?" Qrow gave her an odd look.

Winter paused.

"Well, if you didn't like Atlas, I suppose someone from Atlas not quite fitting the mold has a sort of intrigue," she said, very salty. "But not one I'd call admirable."

"Hey, you can admire other things," Qrow said. "No one gets promoted that fast who is not good at their job--much as I hated to admit that. That's why it was fun to mess with you. But I admit, I was just a bit perplexed about why you of all people wanted to work for that stiff Jimmy. Didn't really fit the rebel thing."

"That was to get away from my father."

"Yeah, well," Qrow sighed, "I actually wanted to be wrong about Ironwood."

"I believe it. We all did... at different points of his career, granted, but..."

"Yeah, well, we were friends, once."

"And this was the beginning of whatever you're calling this..." Winter didn't understand.

"The start," Qrow said. "But yeah, the last few months kind of made it much, much worse."

He rubbed his forehead. "I know how you are with Weiss and trying to hold the team together and dealing with pressure most people would have crumbled under a long time ago. I didn't want to start thinking about it, but it just seemed to start itself. You started acting different too-- you know it. 'Course I never thought it meant anything other than trying to be kind, but there it was... Not that many people are kind to me."

"I find that sad."

"And not that many would say that," Qrow said. "I know it's pathetic, but you know, when something is new, it's... harder to dismiss it..."

Winter was actually kind of touched by this.

Though she thought it was rather rose-colored...

 She spoke after a pause. "A flattering narrative--but it's not accurate. You changed your actions also... A couple months ago I still thought you were a hopeless jackass and slowly started to come to see why anyone would make someone like you a teacher, but that was nothing, really. I don't really think it was that remarkable."

"Yeah, so you're humble," Qrow said. "Not helping. Does that answer your question?"

"Perhaps more than I really wanted. I've never heard even half of those things in one conversation, let alone more... so, I'm not any less confused than I was previously."

She still avoided making eye contact. "But if that was really what you thought, why provoke me?"

"You think if you make someone mad  it'll make it easier to ignore them, but... it doesn't... and you just look dumb. Also it's pretty funny--"

"Oh!" Winter said angrily.

"Right, that's not really a good reason, and I did stop. Figured you had enough problems without me making it worse."

Winter hated that that made her feel kind of good.

Also, this wasn't helping. In fact, it made it worse to know it when the conclusion was the same.

Yet...

Well, it was nice to know she was... interesting in this way...

[I suppose, like all women, Winter just wants to know she's able to inspire affection.]

"Well, I..." She hesitated. "At least I know now... That was what I asked..."

Qrow couldn't believe that he'd even told her, but it was easier than he'd expected.

"At least you're not insulted," he said aloud.

"You know, it's more insulting that you would expect that," Winter said. "That I'm so prideful that I'd discount someone's admiration just because they don't meet some arbitrary standard that you think I have. And it's ridiculous--we both know I don't have any amount of admirers. I never have."

"Probably because you don't want any."

"It wouldn't have mattered." Winter believed this. "I'm not the type of woman that draws that kind of attention. I never have been."

"Are you nuts?" Qrow was actually surprised.

"Not really," Winter said. "It's true. So I really have no right to be snubbing it, in any case. Whatever I feel."

"Probably just no one would think they'd have a chance," Qrow mused aloud.

"Oh, don't sugarcoat it," Winter said, glaring at her hands. "I know that I'm not approachable. I never really attempted to be, so I can accept that. But it doesn't follow that I'd be so adverse to at least think it was possible. I'm not offended."

"Well, thanks for that, I guess," Qrow said dryly.

Another pause.

"I could have just asked that before, huh?" Qrow said.

"Yes." Shortly.

"I thought what I did was the right thing to do," Qrow said. "And I... I realized I might need to rethink my position on this."

Winter suddenly felt cold and hot at the same time.

She looked up, surprised, and then down again.

"I mean, I don't know if I have the faith they keep talking about," Qrow sighed. "But one thing's for sure, something's been looking out for us. I see that now... Maybe I'm being a little too thick."

Winter desperately wanted to agree with that, but she'd lost her powers of speech.

"But the point is, to really know for sure if I could even try, I'd probably need to think that there was a shot at it," Qrow said slowly. "So I guess this is why I asked you to be honest. If there isn't, just put me out of my misery now. And I won't take offense. It wasn't fair to spring on you at a time like this to begin with, but I know I'm never going to set my mind to it if I don't get it straight out... I guess that's just the way I'm wired."

Winter didn't answer him right off.

Qrow wondered if he'd pushed her too far... He had watched her cry a few minutes ago. She was recovering from the Grimm... Maybe he was being a cad.

Winter fingered the ground absently.

"You know, Miss Likstar asked me what I would do if this moment happened," she said. "And I didn't tell her."

Qrow wished Shine had stopped interfering so much... but he said nothing.

"I didn't think it would," Winter said. "Especially not so soon... In the past, I think I'd have told you roundly that it was out of the question after how this conversation went before... but I think my pride has taken some hits recently. I'm not that overconfident now. I don't want to just give a partially thought out response."

"So what does that mean?" She was killing him.

Not that he didn't deserve it after what he'd put her through.

"It's possible that I suppose I may have some... reciprocal feeling." Winter finally got it out with great difficulty. "But I haven't deduced just how deep they are."

Despite the very awkward way she put that, she almost shot Qrow into cloud 9.

"Wait, for real?" He sat up more.

"Is it that hard to believe?" Winter was not looking up still. "I didn't actually say no before. You didn't give me a chance to say anything."

"Yeah, but I really thought that was just to break it to me easy," Qrow said.

"Then you don't know me that well after all," Winter said. "Or did you just hope that was it?"

She had him there.

"Not that I'm happy about it either," Winter said. "I got on very well without you before, and I thought I would be able to again. I certainly didn't think I'd come to depend on you in any way. But Miss Likstar is right--once you start, you can't really go back to liking being alone. Once she told me that, it started to become clear to me that I have changed... in some way. I can't tell you if we would work out, not yet, but I've started thinking I would not want to be alone the rest of my life."

Silence.

Qrow had no clue what to say. He was still processing her words.

Winter was nervous, and she went on.

"Not that I'm saying anything has to change... I don't know what you want. But the idea doesn't repulse me the way it would have a year ago. I suppose I did come to care for you in some way even as allies--I knew that much. I didn't consider any more till you told me what you did. I'm still working it out... I realize that's not the most convenient response, but it's honest."

She paused nervously again.

"So that's not a no..." Qrow said. "But is it a yes? I can't tell."

"What do you want it to be?" Winter asked him point blank.

Qrow hesitated. "I don't know if I should want it to be yes, but I... have to admit that it's what I want."

"Well." Winter felt strange. "That might be what I want..." She paused again and tried to settle her nerves. "At least I didn't want it to be no."

There was a long pause there.

"This would be the time to say something." Winter finally broke it.

"I don't know what to say," Qrow said.

She frowned.

"Not like that. It's just..." Qrow said. "This sounds crazy... I mean, the world is potentially about to end, and this is what we're talking about? The odds of this happening are just... unreal."

"I guess that stupid Semblance of yours doesn't really work that well," Winter said.

She didn't think that was a hot thing to say, but Qrow did.

"Please stop," he said. "If you talk like that, I'm going to do something really stupid again. I'd hate to kill the moment."

"Nothing you do or say could be worse than what you already have," Winter said. "I wouldn't worry about it."

"I meant like this." Qrow took her face, to her astonishment.

Winter half thought she should stop him, but she didn't.

This time the kiss was a little longer than before.

Winter felt strange...

Oh no, she thought to herself. I think I may already have made up my mind about this... One would think that I'd be unsure for a while...

Qrow let go.

"That was probably a bad idea..." he said slowly.

"Among other reasons, yes, because I'm filthy right now." Winter's mind was recalled to this. "I have the Grimm residue still all over me."

"No one else is any better, so what are you worried about?"

Winter frowned, then reflected that there was a more serious point to consider.

"I don't really think that makes everything okay," she said, regaining a little more control. "I'm still going to need time to be convinced that you're serious about this... and vice versa."

"Well, that's fair enough," Qrow admitted. "Hey, let's not do anything else too crazy until we've had a little time to get used to it."

"Agreed." Winter was embarrassed again.

"I give it at least 24 hours," Qrow said just to get to her.

Winter gave him a sharp look.

Then she said, "Only 24 hours? How cheap."

Qrow couldn't believe she'd just returned in kind.

"Are you sure you've never done this before?" he said.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Winter said huffily. "You're saying stupid things. I was just responding in kind."

"That's kind of what flirting is..." Qrow said.

"Then it's much easier than people say. I don't know why they complain so much."

"You know, you're much better at this than you think you are," Qrow said, with a wry look.

"That is enough." Winter couldn't take more of this right now. "We should find the others--and if you say one word about this, I will kill you."

"I should be the one saying that." Qrow got up. "But as nice as this was, I'm starting to think we've stayed here too long... I'll go check to see if anyone's out there."

"No," Winter said. "Not alone." She got up, and her eyes flashed magic. "If I can't walk, I'll fly, but I'm not staying here alone with those Grimm around. And you're not going alone."

"Geez, two minutes and you're already being kind of clingy."

"Not amusing."

"Sorry, but you're right--it's not safe splitting up. Come on." Qrow assumed bird form, and Winter followed.

[Well, I did my best... I hope it was enjoyable... and don't worry, I'm sure there's plenty more Snowbird moments to come.]

https://youtu.be/CTspcr3Iaws

[I thought "I Found" by Amber Run would make a good ship song for Snowbird--a pity there's no AMV to it. Get on that, internet.]

* * *

Ren and Nora got separated from Jaune and Pyrrha on their way to the meeting point by more Grimm attacking.

Team Arkos ended up veering way off to the left and lost sight of their friends after that.

Grimm also blocked the path of Emerald, Mercury, and Hazel.

Raven, who'd been chasing Yang for some time and finally pinned her and Neptune both down, was then distracted by more Grimm attacking them that she had to fight off single-handedly.

Wally had a problem finding everyone because the Deimos were kind of in his way. He barely avoided being bitten by some and had to run for it.

Finally, he thought to probably make a barrier...but how long was that going to last?

Everyone kept running to get away from the Grimm. They all went the direction they thought the others would go... The trouble was, that direction wasn't quite the same for each smaller group.

Pretty soon it became clear to some of them that they were lost. And only one group had the map...

[Might be a minor oversight on their part not to have copies, but I guess it wouldn't have done them much good if they haven't been there before.]

Ruby and Oscar also got kind of confused while they were trying to track the others down.

Blake and Sun finally found Nora and Ren, up on the large, rocky outcropping, but they realized hardly anyone else was even close.

They could see a few people moving, but they weren't getting closer.

"Well...this is not good," Sun said.

"It was awful," Nora said, "the panic thing... I'm still shaking. I hope they cured the others."

"If they did, why aren't they here?" Ren was being short.

"To be fair, all these rocks look the same from a distance," Sun said. "I don't see Neptune anywhere either... He was with Yang last I remember, but everything went really fuzzy after I got bit, so I don't know if he still was."

"Can you imagine what Yang would do to him if she got bit?" Nora said. "I almost hope they split up."

"We have to wait," Blake said. "I mean, that's all we can do."

"How long do we wait before we decide none of them made it?" Ren said. "We could lose the Relics."

"Is that what you're worried about?!?" Blake said.

"Yes! The whole world will perish if we don't--I knew this plan was a bad idea," Ren said.

"Losing our cool won't help anything right now," Sun said. "I figure if no one shows up here by dark... Oh, it kind of is dark though, huh?"

It was hard to tell with these lands, but the moon did seem more prominent now.

"The Maidens can fly though," Blake said. "Why aren't they doing it?"

"There's more Grimm..." Nora pointed.

More were coming toward them.

"That's not...as many as I'd think," Blake said. "They're probably heading towards the Relics...oh..." She sat down and hugged her knees. "This was such a bad idea..." She put her head down.

"Hey, we can't give up," Sun said.

"We could," Blake said flatly. "Nothing's stopping us... We weren't supposed to get separated. We know what that means out here... Salem wins."

"If we give up, we'll never get out of here," Sun said.

"It won't matter," Ren said.

"Ren!" Nora said. "Stop it."

"Why? I think it's a fair point," Ren said.

"Because even if we're doomed, you saying that doesn't make it better!" Nora suddenly exploded. "It never has, all right?! And for that matter, if this was my last night on earth, I'd rather spend it at least trying to think of the good stuff than being miserable. There's no point to living if you're just going to give up before you're even beaten. My gosh, Ren."

"I'm kind of with Nora," Sun said. "We've gotta try... Maybe we should just look for them."

Blake sighed like she just didn't have the energy to discuss it. [I know the feeling.]

* * *

Maybe an hour passed of the split up groups wandering around.

Yang realized she was banging on ice suddenly.

Her heart was pounding, and she was perspiring all over... What... what was going on?

Oddly, she hadn't activated her Semblance. While she was under, it was possible she just couldn't do it.

"Hello?" she said suddenly.

Ice must mean one of the Maidens.

Yang realized her Aura was nearly gone, but she turned her Semblance on for a moment and shattered the ice.

She was somewhere in the wasteland still, but she didn't know where. She didn't see anyone, just more ice.

A Grimm suddenly snapped at her.

Someone threw a sword through it, and Raven appeared, looking pretty tired.

"What happened?" Yang asked, suddenly cold.

"Oh, good," Raven said flatly. "You're out of it. I was starting to think that was never going to end."

"I... those things... bit me, right?" Yang said.

"Yeah... seemed like only one of them at a time, weirdly," Raven said. "Like they knew... Anyway, if you're out of it, maybe that brat is too."

"How... how long was I...?" Yang paused.

"I don't know... could be an hour, maybe more." Raven put her sword away.

"And how long have you been following me?" Yang asked.

"Almost that long... Finally got both of you in ice, but you kept smashing it...so..."

Yang realized her hands had marks on them. She hadn't activated her Aura to heal them either.

She stared at the ground. "I don't remember anything after I got stung. It was like pure fear. I can't even explain it--I just lost my mind."

"You and everyone else," Raven said.

"Where's... Ruby?"

"I don't know."

"Anyone?"

Raven just pointed at the other ice and shrugged.

Yang knew her mother wasn't the type to give you a hug or cookies if you were upset--and honestly she didn't really want that, but it was a little hard to know how to respond to her being so... well... emotionless.

And Yang also knew at this point Raven was likely just trying to keep up a brave face so she wouldn't break herself.

Raven, on her side, was wondering if she could keep going on the Grimm. Using her power this long had tapped her out.

Yang went up the other ice enclosure and tapped on it. "Anyone in there?"

"Wherever here is..." Neptune's voice answered, sounding about as shaken as she felt.

Yang hit it, and the ice shattered.

Neptune looked pretty wrung out.

"Please tell me that's over," he said.

Yang nodded.

"Good..." He stood up slowly. "That was... hell."

Yang almost had to smirk at how accurate that was--but it really wasn't that funny.

"If you're both finally in your right minds, I should try to locate the rest of the group," Raven said.

She attempted to fly as a bird--and reverted back to human form about 2 seconds later.

She hit the ground hard.

"Oww..." she groaned.

"Are you okay?" Neptune said.

"Magic is getting harder to use." Raven rubbed her back. "Or I'm just tired. Unless you two have any ideas, we might be stuck here all night."

"Could we send up a flare or something?" Yang asked.

"Oh, good idea, let all the Grimm know we're right here," Raven said. "As if they won't sniff us out fast enough anyway."

"So... uh, we don't have scrolls, we don't know where anyone is... and it's night..." Neptune said. "Well... uh, so that's no problem, right? We could totally survive this."

Both women gave him a look.

"Uncle Qrow will be looking for us," Yang said, "I think..."

"Great... and in the meantime?" Raven said.

"I guess we find somewhere out of open sight," Yang said. "Is there some way we can contact anyone?"

Raven suddenly snapped her fingers. "Likstar suggested using that letter writing thing... but I don't have paper."

Yang didn't have paper. She shrugged.

"I mean, I have that one Oscar gave me earlier," Neptune said.

"You took that?" Yang raised an eyebrow. 

"Oh sure, look a gift horse in the mouth," Neptune said saltily.

"I'm just saying," Yang said. "Nerd."

"It's called insurance," Neptune said.

"Enough," Raven cut them both off. "I don't want to listen to this. You have it? Fine, we can try it. Use dirt or blood or whatever, I don't care, but make it snappy."

Well, you didn't argue with Raven when she used that tone.

They found some rocks to hide by and tried to wring out some kind of message.

Raven was the only one who really knew how it worked. She held the letter up and thought...

It vanished.

"Whoa!... It worked!" Neptune said.

"So now what?" Yang asked.

Raven shrugged.

About 5 minutes later, a piece of paper fell into her lap.

Raven used one hand to light up and the other to read it.

"'Glad you guys are okay,'" she read aloud. "'We've lost sight of pretty much everyone else, but Theo says that most of them aren't that far away. Concerned that only Cinder so far is the one who's not moving. If you can get to us, we're by one very tall rock that looks a bit like a triangle. Might be better to wait until day time. Pray. Sing... all I can really tell you. If we can't find each other right off, just keep heading west and we should rendezvous. Be wary of any unusual behavior. Love--Shine."

"Who signs 'love' to a non-family letter?" Yang said.

"She does," Neptune said sagely.

"Well, good news... no one's dead but potentially Fall." Raven crumpled the letter up. "But I was hoping for more of a plan."

"You're supposed to be smart, right?" Neptune said.

"When I know my opponent," Raven said. "This is different."

Yang sighed.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha picked their way towards the rocky hills they'd seen Ruby and Oscar head for.

"You know, Pyrrha, when I signed up to be a huntsman, this is not what I had in mind," Jaune said dryly.

"I don't think any of us did," Pyrrha said. "I keep thinking about what we said... when we were angry. I hope none of us really meant that, but what if we did?"

"I only remember a small part of it."

"It seems that the Mind Grimm stifle our memory after a certain point of being under. So far that's been how it is with all of them," Pyrrha said. "I kind of wish I'd given Oscar or Vara the last two cakes... I feel like they might need them, and now they are lost..."

She hugged her sides. "It's hard not being able to take care of everyone the way I want to... I think I'm starting to understand how you feel more."

Jaune glanced at her and sighed. "I still shouldn't have blown up. I've been kind of a jerk most of the mission since Atlas."

"I think we've already gone over that."

"Yeah, but you know, it's not how I want to be," Jaune said. "I wanted to be brave, strong, patient, all that stuff. I never thought all this would bring out this side of me so much. I never realized how many problems I have."

"Oh, Jaune... I don't think it's really that different from everyone else," Pyrrha said. "I think it's... different things test us all. And what tests most people just isn't what bothers you... You have your own struggles, and this has happened to be what's brought it all out. But it's just as difficult for the rest of us."

"Yeah, you always say something like that," Jaune said, with a faint smile. "And I appreciate it... but it's still a problem."

Pyrrha put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you want to get better... but if it helps, I'm just glad you're here right now."

"I'm sorry about everyone always bringing up what happened to you at Beacon," Jaune said, "me too... I didn't think about how weird that probably makes you feel--I mean, I did at first, but then it's like I forgot. You seemed okay with it, but it must get so old... Do you think sometimes that that's all anyone is going to care about?"

"Yeah, I do," Pyrrha said candidly. "But I hope that is not true. I think it is not true. Just, when I get frustrated, it feels like that. But I think that it isn't that things never change, but they just change more slowly than I'd like, that's all. I can't expect everyone else to change to suit me just when I want. You see? It's useless to ask that. Not that I don't... forget that at times."

"Can I say something without sounding like a jerk?" Jaune said.

She shrugged.

"I think I didn't realize how much you really just have the same feelings as everyone else," Jaune said. "I used to think nothing ever really got to you except being alone. But I get it now--everything else bothers you too. You just... don't show it the way some of us do."

"You figured me out," Pyrrha said wryly.

"That shouldn't really be hard to figure out," Jaune said. "I mean, we all know we're just human, but we're always trying to find someone who's a hero."

"Of course. Our desire for perfection makes us want to think it's attainable, and so we try to find people to put on that pedestal," Pyrrha said. "But after being put there myself, I realize it's all empty. It's one big lie, and anyone who tried would know it... You know, I've begun to understand Cinder a little better."

"Why would you want to?" Jaune grumbled flatly.

"Jaune," Pyrrha said in a low voice.

Jaune paused.

"Sorry," he sighed. "I'm still getting used to that... I just don't get it... She just... All she ever does is evil. I get maybe forgiving her... I mean, I haven't, but if you want to. But why would you want to understand that?"

"Cinder hunts after the idea of perfection," Pyrrha said. "There's something pathetic about it, but it makes me think she's on the other side of this. I guess it hasn't dawned on her yet that it's impossible. But the worst of it is, if she succeeded, she'd find it's not really that great. I can't imagine a perfect person liking to live in this world. So all in all, I pity her. But I see how we've all put that idea out there. And in a way, she's a product of our culture. Every culture perhaps. I'm sorry, if it upsets you, we don't need to talk about it anymore. It's just a thought."

"Why do you care so much about trying to understand your enemies?" Jaune said, like it was a real question.

"Shine has told me that at the point she understands her enemy, then she can love them," Pyrrha said. "And the Bible does say to love our enemies."

Jaune paused.

[Hmm.]