Disclaimer; I own nothing RWBY. All rights go to original creators.
Gray stared at Cayde's electric yellow eyes. Cayde had claimed him as his partner. A tense silence fell over them for a moment. The forest around them stirred with the wind.
Cayde pushed off the ground and stood tall.
"Let's go. We're wasting time here." He offered his hand. Gray's face morphed into a dark expression.
"Damn you," he said. He stood, ignoring Cayde's gesture.
How could he have been so stupid? He had felt Silver's presence and was blinded to everything else. He was furious, both with Cayde and himself.
"Have it your way," Cayde scoffed. "Let's just try not to get off on the wrong foot, okay?"
Gray started off again, walking in the same direction as before. Cayde followed close behind. After a minute of walking, the trees gave way to a small field. In the center sat large stone ruins, holding several pedestals, and gold light glinted from the top of each. From the sight of it, no one was there.
"Guess we're the first ones," Cayde said.
"Shut up," Gray spat.
"Are you always this rude?" Cayde asked. Gray remained silent. He started for the mossy ruins, and Cayde joined him.
They climbed the stone stairs that led to the pedestals. Each one held a certain chess piece.
"These must be the relics," Cayde said as he examined one closely. "Well, let's grab one and- " He was interrupted by the soft sound of footsteps approaching them.
"Gray!" Silver leapt into a dash and threw her arms around the figure in grey. When she finally let go, she looked into his dark eyes.
"I got claimed," he simply put.
"Claimed? What does that..." Her eyes grew wide. She spun around to look at Cayde.
"You..." she hissed. She slowly turned back to Gray. "That means th-that we'll..." her eyes were glossy, and tears began to form. Gray stepped over to her and put his hand on her cheek.
"I'll fix this. You know I will. I refuse to let this happen," he moved his thumb to wipe away a running tear. His eyes bore into hers, and the connection between them felt like a light in the darkest of pits. Silver moved her hand to feel his on her cheek, and a smile grew.
"Okay. And if we can't, there's always Atlas right?" Silver said in a hopeful tone.
"From the beginning," Gray paused.
"To every damn end," Silver finished. Gray pulled her into another hug, much longer than the last.
Cayde was the first to speak. "Okay then," he turned to the relics. "Guess we should really be on our way now. Which one do we pick Gray?"
"Wait a minute-" Gray said to Silver, ignoring Cayde. "Who will you partner with till we get back?"
Silver went into thought. "I could probably just Realm-Walk again and-"
Just then, a loud voice and heavy, running footsteps rang out. "GUYS! HEY!" Gretchen was running out of the treeline, her brown hair whipping back and forth and her green and brown duster trailed behind her. Her expression was almost radiating pure excitement.
"Oh no..." Silver muttered. Gretchen began to slow as she arrived, eventually slinging to a halt.
"You guys beat me to it! No fair," she said with a pouty face. Gretchen's forehead was covered in sweat, and her heavy breathing was showing no signs of stopping. She slid her arm along her forehead. "How was the trip here? How many Grimm did you guys find?" she asked with a smile.
