Alright, so this time I was able to get an update out a little sooner than normal, mostly due to have a day off prior to Christmas and the sheer amount of business that I'm going to have to deal with working Christmas Eve and Boxing Day in retail. That'll be fun /sarcasm.

Anyways, I know that this isn't exactly a feel good chapter or anything considering the time of year we're in, but not everything is sunshine and daisies when things are going on. Not to mention that the show itself is on a weird tipping point for tomorrow's episode right now. Needless to say I'm a little worried for some characters right now. Doesn't bode too well necessarily.

Regardless, here is the next installment of The Fragments of Remnant. Leave any comments or thoughts after the break or just a general view on your thoughts so far if you feel so inclined. Merry Christmas everyone.

The majority of the boat ride for the rest of the trip to Atlas was relatively silent. After the assorted reactions to Frost's eye in their cabin, the three of them had avoided conversation with one another due to the lack of understanding of the situation in general. Emerald had never experienced the same thing that the other two had due to not being laced with the drug, and Neo had been rid of the Grimm DNA altogether through Frost's intervention. Thus, when questioned how he still had traces of it in his system, Frost had snapped back at the two of them stating that he had no idea either why it was happening. Realizing how he had reacted to the two of them- and the fact that his emotions seemed to be more out of line than usual- he had taken to isolating himself on a different part of the decks, constantly avoiding the other two any time they tried to talk to him to either calm him down or try to apologize. It wasn't because he didn't want their apology, however.

It was because he believed that it wasn't necessary.

They had nothing to do him being drugged, or the resurgence of it in his system. His first thought was that he may have been drugged in secret at some point, but if that were the case then Emerald and Neo would have likely been dosed as well given the fact that he hadn't been in a situation that he could recall being alone and vulnerable to anyone under Cinder's orders. That meant that his Semblance hadn't been blocking it like he had hoped- or at the very least not as much as it should. But why was it happening now all of a sudden? What had changed that caused it to return after being gone for so long? These questions constantly bounced through his mind over the course of the trip, in the hopes that he could come to a solution while he took time to himself.

Unfortunately, it never did.

Neo was devastated. The friend she had grown up with was suddenly avoiding her whenever she tried to approach him with nothing but a sad face. Each time she tried to follow, he would simply stay out of her way or move around her, even when she tried to teleport in front of him to block his way. And when he couldn't walk around, he would simply turn around and walked back in the opposite direction. Emerald had even volunteered to bock his path if he did decide to turn around in any of those cases but Neo refused, knowing that forcing a confrontation like that would only make things worse than they already were.

However the pain she felt wasn't simply because of the fact that Frost was avoiding them. It was also due to the familiarity she had with the eye she had seen on Frost on the first day aboard the ship. Every time she saw it again in her mind, she would start to break out in a sweat and look about fearfully, as though something were about to attack her from a random corner of the ship or a stray shadow in the corner of a room. After all, the last time she had been face-to-face with one, she had nearly lost her life in the ensuing struggle.

And so because of that, Neo ended up giving up trying to follow Frost after the second day, instead silently awaiting their arrival in Atlas with a prayer that they could find some answer or solution to their current problem on top of everything else.

A few days later when they landed in port, the three of them silently took to walking down the streets of the city, looking for a place to find a map that could lead them towards the capital of the kingdom in the hopes of finding Weiss and General Ironwood to find out all that they could. After finding said map and stopping somewhere to grab some food, the three of them set to finding their best route to the capital amongst their meal.

"We should probably stick to the roads for the most part of our trip; we'd be less likely to get lost as well as possibly getting an alternate mode of transportation if we follow the most common route." Frost stated as he pointed at the roads on the map that led through the assorted mountains and forests that layered Solitas.

"Bad idea," Emerald stated as she shook her head in disagreement. "If Cinder has the White Fang in Vale under orders, then she's bound to have people under her command in the other kingdoms as well. We can't risk being out in the open so much; we're bound to be recognized that way."

"So what should we do then?" Neo asked with curiosity as she and Frost turned to Emerald with questioning looks on their faces. "You worked with her the longest, so where are we more likely to stay hidden?"

Emerald took a pen and marked a route heading through mostly forests, occasionally stopping at small villages along the way rather than larger settlements on the way to the capital. "We'll still need to take breaks and rest every now and then, but if we can keep to the woods and hills more than not only can we stay out of sight more, but we'll still be safe from the Grimm since Solitas naturally repels them due to the geography."

Frost nodded his head once as he leaned back in his chair with a smirk. "Guess you've got more than just brains for pickpocketing, huh? Didn't know you were such a map connoisseur."

"Well it helps to know the most inconspicuous routes when you're trying to avoid people and getting caught, I learned that before I even met Cinder when I was still getting used to my own talents." Emerald stated proudly as she crossed her arms over her chest with pride.

The three of them were still awkward around each other when certain topics of conversations came up, however that didn't mean they couldn't talk to each other at all. It just didn't result in the same conversations being said sometimes. That being said, there was still some slight tension between the three of them that they attempted to counter through sass directed at one another. Though sometimes that did backfire if something was said by accident.

"Besides, I think the only Grimm we've gotta worry about is Captain Red-Eye over here and his grim jokes." Emerald stated before her eyes widened in shock, her hand quickly moving to slap over her mouth in surprise.

Frost's demeanor darkened somewhat as he got up from the table to silently march out of the building with a noticeable tension in his shoulders. Neo gave Emerald a nasty glare as the green-haired girl tried to apologize for what she had said accidentally, reverting back to old habits when she used to talk with Mercury on jobs. She quietly grumbled under her breath about how this was harder than she thought as she rushed to catch up with Neo, who had immediately set off to follow Frost after giving Emerald the her look. She eventually caught up to the two of them, only to see Frost shoving Neo's hand aside with a shrug oh his arm before turning to yell at her.

"I'm not a broken toy, Neo! You can't fix me by putting some glue and duct tape on the hinge and calling it done! I know I shouldn't have walked off like that, but did you ever think that maybe Emerald's more right than you think?!"

She quickly stopped in her approach as she overheard his words before he turned around and started moving at a faster pace down the road. As she neared Neo to try to apologize once again however, a figure quickly grabbed onto Frost as he passed a nearby alleyway, his body lurching to the side as he was tugged into the shadows. She fastened her own pace as she tapped Neo's shoulder to follow before turning into the alleyway she had seen Frost get pulled as she drew her weapons in their gun forms. Neo arrived moments later, her parasol drawn with the blade extended as they both took up a fighting stance. The two of them slowly made their way down the dark passage, their eyes flitting back and forth for any signs of a struggle or a path that they could follow in the hopes of getting to Frost and his assailant.

The two of them were immediately caught by surprise when they each felt a hand roughly grab them by the shoulder before they were tugged through the back door of an older looking building. As they both prepared to yell for help, the hands that were on their shoulders quickly shifted to their mouths as a grizzly voice came from just behind them.

"For a group of kids trying to act all stealthy and conspicuous on their journey, you three are pretty frigging lousy at it. Especially you green bean."

The two of them whirled about with their weapons up, only for Neo to lower her weapon and Emerald to raise hers further at the sight of the person in front of them. Qrow Branwen, with Frost sitting on an abandoned chair nearby with a less than pleased look on his face. Neo gave the alcoholic a confused look as she set the parasol against a nearby table before sitting at another chair in the room calmly, though her eyes did flash in Frost's direction for a brief moment before she turned back to Qrow with a question on her lips.

"Qrow? What are you doing in Atlas?" She asked as she stated aloud the thoughts the other two also were having at the same time.

"Doing some recon of my own while Cinder is in hiding, obviously. Though I should be asking the three of you the same question. Though I'll leave that to follow a couple of others." The man stated as he took a quick chug from his flask with a sigh. "Namely, why is the pickpocket travelling with the two of you," Qrow stated as he gestured his flask in Emerald's direction, "and why is Frosty here sporting a new eye and a darker expression than my sister whenever I run into her?"

Emerald raised her weapons in self-defense as she replied to Qrow's first question. "I don't need to explain myself to you, old man. Mind your own business."

Qrow shook his head as he calmly started walking in Emerald's direction, having moved to the opposite wall after making his initial comment to the group. "Oh, but I think it is my business. Considering you're one of the ones responsible for attacking the Fall Maiden, helping in the fall of Beacon and Ozpin's disappearance, and more importantly…" Qrow's arm moved so fast the three of them nearly thought they imagined it at his side moments ago, his sword suddenly drawn and pointed directly at Emerald's chest. "Framing my niece for attacking your accomplice in the tournament. So. Lower. Your. Weapons."

Emerald shook with fear as she immediately released her grip on her weapons, their metal bodies making a noisy thud as they landed on the wood flooring of the room. Her arms then raised in a helpless stance next to her head as Qrow stood unflinching in front of her. As she did that, he just as calmly returned his sword to his back as he returned to his position against the wall.

"Now, let's try that again. Before I decide to send you all back to Vale where you won't get caught by someone else working with the enemy."

Neo took a deep breath before she began to speak from her end of the room, Emerald shakily moving to take a seat of her own, though without ever taking her eyes off of Qrow's form where he stood nonchalantly.

"Frost decided after you had paid us that quick visit in the clinic that we needed to talk to try and gather up or at least talk to the rest of Ruby's team before we made any more moves of our own to try and stop Cinder after everything she had done. We stopped Patch first to visit Yang since she was closest, hoping to also speak to you and Ruby as well when we arrived, but the two of you were both gone on whatever travels you had already planned. We thought at first you may have taken her with you, but Yang and Ruby's dad stated that she had left on her own with some of her other friends from school. We got in touch with them after returning to Vale ad found out it was the rest of Team JNPR that she was travelling with when we also ran into Emerald. She had originally helped us escape Cinder and Mercury atop the roofs of the city before you found the two of us amongst the debris, and wanted to try and make amends for everything she had helped to cause. From there we decided to come to Atlas next to find Weiss and General Ironwood to find any leads that we could, since no one knows where Ruby's last teammate Blake went off to."

"The faunus girl?" Qrow asked with a raised eyebrow. "Probably back to Menagerie honestly since that's where her family is. Considering she's the daughter of the chieftain there, it's a considerably safer place to hide at the moment. As for the Schnee princess and the General, I doubt the three of you are going to have much luck getting to either of them with the state the capital is in right now. I was only just returning from there myself, so I doubt you'll find quite what you like when you get there. All the power to you though. As for my other question…" Qrow stated as all eyes turned to face Frost, his expression and stance in his chair having not changed for the entirety of the conversation. "What's your problem, sparky? Didn't get enough sleep last night? Bang your head on a board getting freshened up? I'm all ears."

Frost scoffed as he sat back with his arms crossed over his chest. "Don't see what the point is in explaining, you already know full well what it is."

Qrow shrugged his shoulders from his own position on the wall. "Oh, I've got some suspicions, but I want to hear you enlighten me."

Frost and Qrow simply stared at each other for a while, neither talking while Emerald and Neo both nervously looked on. Eventually, it seemed like nothing else would be said before Frost's head slumped forward in defeat as he gave out a deep sigh.

"It's the drug. It made a reappearance. None of us can figure out how or why, but it did. Makes me a great party guest now, huh?" Frost gave a dry laugh at his sad attempt at a joke, Qrow's expression softening somewhat as he walked over to place a hand on his shoulder.

"Look kid. I can't begin to imagine what you're going through. I can only guess based on what I remember from the last time this thing popped up before the whole project was shut down. We thought that would be the end of it, and then it came back in the case of you two and Torchwick. Then we found out that you had somehow flushed it out of her system and we figured that meant you had erased it from your own as well. Turns out we were wrong on all accounts. But the fact that you haven't turned into a raving psychopath on a blood hunt yet is a good sign. If you ask me, since the three of you are heading to Atlas already, you might be able to find some files about the original case if you ask nicely- it's possible that somewhere in there they may have come across a potential cure, even if all the victims had already died, just in case it ever did come back for some reason."

The rest of the room was silent for a little while as the three of them all thought to themselves. After a little bit, Frost looked up to Qrow with a lightened expression on his face as he gave the man a brief thank you, to which he responded with a nod.

"Well, I think that takes care of everything here. I'll leave the three of you to your own plans, but not without one piece of advice."

The three other occupants of the room all turned to face Qrow as he stood amongst the doorway to the building, his back turned to them.

"I can't tell what the three of you are at odds about. I was never in the same place as you, even if I had to deal with my own share of conflict back in my day. But I will say this: trust each other. You're only as good as the team that backs you up, so you need to help each other out when the other is down or you'll all fall one way or another. Think about that."

And with that, he left the three of them in silence as they all pondered on his parting words.