Volume 1 Finale – Chapter12: The Effect

It's been three days. Three days since Ruby last saw you, after she returned from the carnival. You haven't shown up to class, you haven't been in the cafeteria, and you haven't contacted any of your friends. First they thought you were sick, so they didn't question it. The second day Blake dropped by to give you an assignment, but nobody answered the door. Not even Dylan. Now it's the third day, and you're still not in class. Of course by this time team JNPR began to notice, and even the professors took hint of it. Glynda was abnormally distracted during her class today, which made the two teams worry even more. Something happened. Something with you.

Team RWBY and JNPR leave their last class of the day, feeling a distinct lack of your spunk and humour. Even Weiss is concerned, though she'll never say it. In fact, out of everyone, she's put the most thought into your recent disappearance. They all walk back to their dorms as a group, but their normal conversations are non-existent. You're the only thing on their mind, and each of them is coming up with a different theory on what happened to you. During all that theorizing, the two teams reach their dorms.

"Well, let us know if he shows up," Jaune requests, trying to keep a smile on his face.

Ruby nods.

"Yeah, you do the same. Well, see ya guys!" She waves, and the rest of her team gives their goodbyes as they split up.

Ruby walks right to her bed, jumping into it and laying on her back. Weiss sits regally on the edge of her bed, staring at the floor as she thinks. Yang slowly paces around the room, while Blake simply stands by the window.

"You think he left?" Blake brings up.

"No way!" Ruby quickly dismisses. "He would have let us know! He would have let somebody..." Suddenly an idea, more specifically a person, pops up in her mind. "Wait, what about his roommate!" Ruby brings up, making all her teammates look at her. "He has to know where (Y/N) is!"

Blake winces a bit at the thought of Dylan, but she can't deny Ruby's logic. He's the only one who would know your whereabouts. She just prays he's willing to let them know.

"Alright, let's ask him," Weiss concurs, standing up with a purpose.

"Yeah, we'll be detectives," Yang points out, smiling.

"And I thought Ruby was the childish one," Weiss remarks.

"Hey!"

Blake cuts in to bring the group back on track.

"Let's hope this doesn't end badly."

The girls, with their course now set, head to your room. In little time the four approach your door, and Ruby knocks. After a moment Dylan opens the door and huffs at the sight of the girls.

"Why am I not surprised it's you people?" He remarks, rolling his eyes. "What do you want? I'm busy."

"Well, uh, you're (Y/N)'s roommate, right?" Ruby begins.

Dylan nods, then his face lights up in an almost sadistic way

"Oooh, I see why you're here now. You're trying to figure out where he is," Dylan predicts.

"How did you know?" Weiss questions with her brow raised.

"Considering Slater hasn't been back since you came to me last," he says, looking at Ruby. "I can only deduce that you're looking for him. Well, as I just said, I don't know. He hasn't been here in days, which isn't a concern of mine."

"Isn't he your teammate?" Yang brings up, suspicious. "That should make you care."

Dylan chuckles.

"He's nowhere close to my teammate. Now, please, I would like to be left alone. If you want to find him I'd ask her," he points to Ruby, who becomes flustered at the attention. "She went looking for him last."

Blake cuts in front of everyone else.

"Alright, thank you Dylan," she politely says, though her eyes are intimidating.

Dylan rolls his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever."

Dylan shuts the door, going back to his duties. Team RWBY walks away from the door, and all eyes are on Ruby.

"So you saw him last?" Weiss asks.

Ruby thinks back to that day.

"I suppose so, but he didn't seem upset or anything. We went to the carnival, came back, an- OH!" Once again, an idea comes into her head. "Ozpin!" She declares, jumping in front of the group. "Ozpin needed to talk with him when we got back. He's the last person to see him!"

"Oh, the plot thickens," Nora purrs, poking her head out from the side.

"Gah!" Ruby screams jumping away from her position and into Weiss' arms.

Weiss rolls her eyes at Ruby's actions and the fact she has to involuntarily hold their leader.

"Nora!" Ren exclaims, yet somehow remains calm in his demeanor.

Jaune, Pyrrha, and Ren jog to Nora's position, which makes the Nora slip out from behind the wall.

"Sorry, Nora just couldn't help herself," Jaune apologizes, embarrassed for his teammate. "But... it sounds like you have something?"

Ruby nods.

"We're hoping Ozpin will know. Do you guys wanna come?"

"Our numbers will intimidate him," Nora plans.

"Well, we were going to stay out of it for now, but there's no harm in asking around," Pyrrha concurs. "Besides, Nora might follow you again."

"I guess we're heading to Ozpin's office then," Blake says as she begins to walk towards the exit.

The rest of the group agrees, and follows their friend.

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Ozpin stares out at Mt. Glenn, one hand on his cane and the other behind his back. His face has a hint of sorrow as he gazes at the environment. He's also preparing himself for an inevitable question that he will receive from two people. The first is coming up the elevator right now. He hears the elevator ring, and the doors open. He exhales, preparing for the conversation.

"Have we not heard from him yet?" Glynda calmly asks, though Ozpin can hear the worry in her voice.

"Not yet. He was supposed to report-in the first day. I sent him a message as well."

"Nothing?"

"Nothing," Ozpin blankly states.

Glynda sighs, various scenarios running through her head.

"Do you think he's just gone dark?" Glynda proposes.

"But why? There's no purpose to it. What could possibly have come up that requires him to have cut communication?" Ozpin counters, attempting to find answers to his own questions. "But... I believe we'll find out in due time."

"What makes you say that?" Glynda questions, leaning forward to make eye contact with the headmaster.

Before Ozpin can answer his elevator rings, and the door opens. He smiles.

"That's why," Ozpin mutters before turning around to greet the two teams.

"Ah, RWBY, and JNPR," Ozpin greets as he takes a seat in his chair, and Glynda moves beside his desk. "How may I help you?"

"Um... Well, there's kind of this thing that you might know and I need your help," Ruby hesitantly answers, not wanting to come off like she's blaming her headmaster.

"And what can I help you with, Ms. Rose?" Ozpin politely asks, waiting for them to say the magic words.

"We've been worried about our friend, (Y/N)," Ren speaks, getting to the point. "From what we know, you were the last to see him."

Ozpin and Glynda share a look, then return their gaze to the students.

"I sent him on a mission to defend a small village," Ozpin reveals. "But... I'll admit he should have been back by now."

"He hasn't been in contact since he left," Glynda adds. "We believe something might have gone wrong."

The students share looks, but Ruby is the one most worried.

"If something happened then we have to help!" She blurts out with no thought.

Ozpin smiles, proud of his student's desire to help their friend. He looks at Glynda and raises his brow, having one of their silent conversations. Glynda nods, knowing that it's the only way they'll get any answers.

"Very well, Ms. Rose. You shall. I'll arrange transport to take you to his mission location, and you can investigate," Ozpin smiles.

"And if he just hasn't bothered to respond, be sure to tell me," Glynda growls.

"What about us?" Jaune asks, taking a step forward.

"There's no need for two teams to go at once. If the situation is bad, then you shall report back," Ozpin looks to team RWBY as he says this. "And you, team JNPR, will aid them."

"You can count on us!" Yang declares, slamming her fists together.

Ozpin smiles at the enthusiasm of both teams.

"Very well. Go to the air pad, a Bullhead will pick you up in a few minutes. Team JNPR, return to your dorms and rest. Any work you have for classes will be delayed until (Y/N)'s return. I only ask you prepare yourself in case you're needed.

Jaune nods.

"We'll be ready, Professor Ozpin."

With that, the two teams return to the elevator and leave. Glynda moves in front of Ozpin, her face drowned in concern.

"Are you sure you want to send team RWBY alone? Perhaps I should accompany them," Glynda voices.

"If team RWBY calls for aid, you'll go with team JNPR."

"I... but, may I ask why I shouldn't be there right away?" Glynda calmly protests.

Ozpin takes a sip of his coffee, smirking.

"Well, if (Y/N) has just forgot to call in and you find out... well... we're trying to bring him back, are we not?" Ozpin lightly chuckles.

Glynda crosses her arms and rolls her eyes at his joke. Ozpin isn't one to make jokes all that often, but he has his moment every now and again. This time he's right, though.

"If he is just ignoring us then he'll be cleaning the cafeteria for the next semester," Glynda huffs.

"We'll just have to see," Ozpin says as he inputs some commands into his scroll. "Honestly, I hope he's just ignoring us."

"As to what?" Glynda questions, swaying her body towards Ozpin.

"As opposed to him being in danger."

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Both teams leave the tower and head towards the air pad. The morale of both are vastly improved compared to an hour ago. They'll be able to find their friend, and see why you haven't been in contact at all for the past three days. Each person has something different swirling in their head with the new information they've received. Now that they know you were on a mission, it changes all their theories. However, one thing they all have in common is one simple question: What happened on that mission?

That answer will be revealed soon, as both teams reach the docking area. A Bullhead had already been awaiting the girls for who knows how long. Team RWBY turns to their friends.

"Good luck, girls. Let's hope nothing happened to (Y/N)," Pyrrha nods, keeping her spirits up.

"Yeah, we hope so too," Yang answers. "But if anything happened, we'll drag him out of there."

"Dragging might not be the best choice of words. That could imply he's very hurt... or dead," Blake comments.

"Blake!" Ruby cries, pouting at her teammate.

"Speculating won't get us anywhere. Let's not waste any more time," Weiss declares, itching to discover the truth for herself.

Both teams agree that it's time to go. Team JNPR waves to their friends as they head back to their dorms, awaiting any news from team RWBY. The young huntresses-in-training enter the Bullhead, close the door, and take a seat.

"So you girls are going to the village?" The pilot asks as he prepares for takeoff.

"Yes," Ruby confirms.

"Hm, alright. It shouldn't take too long."

The Bullhead lifts off and starts its course to the village. The girls strap in and wait for the Bullhead to arrive. Ruby, who already can't stand the silence, decides to speak up.

"Can we get some music or something?" She inquires, leaning over.

"You too? That's what the other guy asked. Geez," he complains. "No, you can't."

Yang starts giggling, which gains the attention of all the girls.

"What?" Ruby asks.

"Oh, nothing," Yang waves off, still giggling a bit. "Just gathering evidence."

"Evidence? For what?" Weiss queries.

Yang humbly smiles, crosses her arms, and closes her eyes.

"I'll let you know when I've got everything I need. It's just a personal case."

Ruby scratches her head, not knowing what her sister is talking about.

"Like what we put our clothes in?"

"That's the suit," Blake clarifies.

"The clothes?" Ruby questions, utterly lost.

"No, you dunce!" Weiss scolds.

"W-Well how am I supposed to knoooow!" Ruby shouts, throwing her hands in the air.

Apart from that rough patch, the ride is relatively quiet and smooth. Blake is thinking the most out of everyone on the Bullhead. She's thinking about you, about Dylan, and even about what Yang was talking about. She's taken a stance similar to Yang, though instead of her arms being crossed they're sitting on her lap. A lot has happened recently, and everything is starting to pile on Blake. The worry of what the White Fang and Torchwick are up to, Dylan's appearance here and what that means, and you're disappearance. It's taken its toll on Blake, and has involved one or two sleepless nights. She clenches her fists a bit. She knows she can't be distracted right now. Her focus has to be on you. You're a friend, and she can't risk your safety just because she can't focus. Everything has to be on this mission and nothing else.

Thankfully time goes on, as it always does, and the team makes it to their destination.

"Hey... I, uh, think you girls might want to take a look," the pilot notifies.

Ruby stands up and opens the door. The Bullhead circles around the village, and the team is greeted by a surprise.

"The village wasn't like this when I dropped him off," the pilot finishes.

The Bullhead lands near the village, allowing the girls to disembark. They stare at the village in awe.

"He... was supposed to defend this?" Yang states.

"I guess he wasn't just being an idiot," Weiss adds.

The group approaches the village, or what's left of it. No building is still completely intact, either having a wall torn down, a roof collapsed, or the entire building being taken down entirely. The grass is torn up, blood splatter on buildings and grass, and the smell of death has claimed this village for its own. The girls stay together, keeping their eyes in all directions as to not get ambushed.

"What'd you think, Ruby?" Yang asks, her voice far more serious than on the Bullhead.

"Split up, but stay in the village. We'll try to find out what happened here," Ruby plans, also more serious.

The girls split up, going in different directions. Blake examines some of the houses, hoping to find somebody trapped and alive. The first one she enters is somewhat intact. The top floor has collapsed, along with one of the walls, but the building itself seems fine. She enters the building and looks around. There are pictures of a family along the walls that haven't been destroyed. A man, a wife, and a child. Blake scans her eyes along the floor, hoping she'll find anything of value. As her eyes glide across the ground, she notices something brown leaning against a door frame. With Blake's enhanced eyes, she easily sees that the cover is made of leather.

"A book?" She whispers to herself.

Blake shimmies her way around the rubble and approaches the leather object. She picks it up, finally feeling the structure of the object. No doubt it's a book, and it seems to have remained in good condition after the collapse. Blake picks it up and begins to read it.

"The village leader, huh? Maybe this'll have something."

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Ruby and Weiss are going in somewhat similar directions, but they're a couple buildings apart. Not that it's far considering the village is far from a large one. Something catches Weiss' eye, however. She leans down and examines the Grimm tracks.

"These are big. No way it could be a Beowolf or Ursa," she says to herself. "It almost seems like a Goliath's tracks, and by the spacing of the tracks it was moving fast."

Weiss follows the tracks with her eyes, which leads her to look at the hill a short distance from the village. Weiss stands up with the intention to follow the tracks, but something stops her.

"Guys!" Yang shouts, concern in her voice. "I think you should see this."

Weiss and Ruby quickly regroup with Yang, who's standing outside the door to the largest building.

"What is it?" Ruby asks, stopping in front of Yang.

Yang turns to the building, a melancholy feel in her eyes. She huffs, then turns to the building, which has a massive opening at the front, and leads her teammates in. The three of them are instantly greeted by an overwhelming smell of decay, which makes Ruby and Weiss turn away and cough. It's not just the smell they're avoiding, however.

The entire room is filled with corpses. A small group of bodies to the left and right, while one man is lying in the middle. Ruby, who's never seen something like this before, is devastated. All these people, all these innocent people are dead. She's seen Grimm die over and over, plus she's killed dozens on her own, but the sight of fresh corpses right in front of her shocks her to the core. Her fingers won't stop fidgeting, her legs are trembling, and her eyes can't help but look, no matter how much she tells herself to look away.

"Oh my god," Weiss whispers, covering her mouth in horror.

"What happened here, (Y/N)," Yang mutters, shaking her head at the sight.

Moments later Blake joins her team, book in hand, and sees what's laid out for her. She shakes her head, turning away for a moment.

"Oh... I..."

Blake can't even form words. None of them truly can. No sane person could look at this display and be alright with it. Blake slowly walks into the room, looking over the bodies. Yang follows, but Ruby and Weiss stay near the broken entrance.

"Blake, have you noticed it?" Yang calmly brings up, still looking over the bodies.

"Some of these people were killed by Grimm... but..."

"There are gun shots... weapon damage," Yang finishes. "Someone else was here!" Yang shouts, alerting Ruby and Weiss.

"Are any of these people..." Ruby whimpers, almost in tears at the possibility of your death.

Blake shakes her head.

"I don't see him here. Yang?"

"No, he's not here, and he's not the one in the middle."

Ruby has the slightest sense of relief that you're not here, but the thought that all these people are dead and the fact that you're still missing doesn't help her all that much.

"Wait... you said someone else was here, Yang," Weiss begins. "Is there any indication who?"

"I don't th-"

"No," Blake cuts in, her voice shaky. "There is... the weapons... They're what the White Fang use," Blake concurs, ashamed at the fact.

"The White Fang was here?" Yang questions, turning to Blake. "But... so White Fang AND Grimm killed these people? Then why aren't there any White Fang bodies? Wouldn't the two fight?"

Blake weakly shrugs.

"I... I don't know. But..." Blake stares at the bodies of fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, humans and Faunus. "I can't believe... they'd do this..."

"But that leaves a question," Weiss states, gaining everyone's attention. She exchanges looks with everyone before speaking again. "Where was (Y/N) during this?"

Ruby folds in on herself, not wanting to think about what's gone wrong. Yang notices this, and moves beside her sister.

"Hey," she softly says with an understanding aura about her.

Ruby looks up at her sister, a few tears in her eyes that refuse to fall. Yang pulls Ruby into a hug, which Ruby accepts instantly. Yang moves to her sister's ear and whispers.

"I know it's hard. Believe me, we're all going through it too. But you're our leader. We're your team. If you're like this, then what should we do?"

Ruby takes in all of what Yang is saying. It's not often that Yang truly has to play the big sister role, and this is the first time she's seriously done it in a long time. In fact, Yang hasn't done it since Ruby became the leader of team RWBY. She's never had to, as Ruby's learned and remained strong through Beacon. But now, at a time where even Yang feels weak, she's aware that her little sister, the one who she knows cares most about you, needs a little help at this point.

Ruby knows Yang is right. It's what Ozpin spoke of, what Weiss spoke of, and even what she's told Jaune when he was struggling. If she's not at her best, if she doesn't believe you're alive, then what reason does her team have? None, and Ruby can't let that happen. As leader, she needs to be the pillar of conviction for her team.

Ruby looks up at Yang, a strong smile on her face. Yang smiles back, seeing the determined little sister she's come to love.

"You're right. Thank you."

"Any time, lil sis," Yang nods.

Ruby breaks off from Yang and regains her confidence for Weiss and Blake.

"Alright, if he's not here then we need to find out where. Did any of you find any clues while walking around the village?"

Blake pulls the book out from her pocket and displays it to her team.

"This has some interesting entries in it," Blake looks at the corpses around her. "But, lets plan this outside."

"Agreed," the three other girls say.

The team leaves the building and walks to the side of it. Weiss, as she walks, notices the same tracks she saw earlier. They're approaching the building, then seem to go towards the hill. In fact, as she looks around, those Goliath tracks litter the village. At this point it's uncertain where the Grimm started, and where it ended. But, Weiss keeps this in mind just in case.

Once the four stop, Blake begins to read the book in a calm voice.

"It's time. Soon we will need another sacrifice, but the town is unsure of what to do. Our birthrate is down, and sacrificing any more women will make that job even harder. We all know this is the way, even my wife knew before she entered the lair. Perhaps it's now Jasper's time to fulfill his role in this village."

Blake looks to her teammates, who are confused.

"Sacrifices? What are they sacrificing too? Grimm?" Weiss ponders, hand at her chin.

"Is there anymore?" Ruby asks.

Blake nods.

"Yes. This one is the most interesting."

Blake clears her throat and continues.

"Grimm have been stalking our village for days now. Do they know what we hide? Do they know of our protector? We need to get rid of the Grimm as fast as possible, and I know of a way. The Huntsmen of Beacon – Grimm exterminators. They can rid our village of these Grimm, and leave us in peace. Perhaps sacrificing him would appease it for some time, and it could save Jasper for another time."

The group takes in what the journal said.

"Did they kill him?" Yang theorizes.

"No way. Why would they do that then allow themselves to be attacked by Grimm?" Weiss retorts.

"Besides, we all know what (Y/N) can do. I don't think regular people could beat him," Ruby adds.

"So basically, we have a village doing sacrifices, a White Fang and Grimm attack, and we still don't know where (Y/N) is," Blake sums up.

Yang crosses her arms and thinks, her face showing her frustration. Weiss starts thinking back to those tracks. She looks back towards the hill, where the tracks lead. She takes a few steps away and scans the area once more. It's very obvious that Grimm were here since she can see their claw marks that tore up some grass as they ran.

The rest of the team sees Weiss' analyzing, and begin following her as she thinks. She steps away from the village, looking at where the Grimm could have gone, but also mirroring the tracks of the Goliath. As her eyes take in her surroundings, she notices an anomaly. A white and black line in the grass, in-between the village and the hill. Weiss lightly jogs towards it, and the team instantly follows.

"What is it?" Ruby inquires.

Once all the girls approach the object, a realization dawns on them. This thing in the grass. This is your sword. This is Crimson Blaze, but only the sword. The sheath is still a mystery. Weiss bends down and picks up the weapon, displaying it to the group.

"H-His sword..." Ruby mumbles.

Weiss nods, then looks towards the hill. She can easily see a small structure there. Her interest in this location has increased dramatically.

"There are Grimm tracks leading up to that hill," Weiss explains, looking back at her group. "If his sword is midway, then I think he was forced back there."

"Nice detective work, Weiss," Yang compliments, turning her attention to the hill. "So I guess that's our next destination."

"Alright team, lets go!" Ruby declares.

The team all walk towards the hill. The closer they get, the easier it is to see the structure. It's a simple stone template that's nearing the size of a small building. There's something engraved into it, but from the distance they're at they can't tell what it is. Well, everyone except Blake, of course. She squints her eyes, attempting to read what's been engraved in the stone. She can tell it's not English, but she doesn't recognize the language at all.

Ruby notices there's writing on the stone and lightly jogs towards it. To the surprise of her team, she suddenly falls through the ground. Yang instantly bolts to Ruby's position.

"Ruby!"

The team follows Yang and stops in front of a hole that's more than big enough for a person. The girls look at each other, worried of what might be down there.

"We're going down there, aren't we?" Weiss predicts.

"I'm not going to leave Ruby!" Yang shouts.

"I never said we would, I just wanted to hear everyone say it," Weiss huffs.

The girls jump down one at a time, Blake going first, then Weiss, then Yang. Each of them seem to fall a story or two before landing, and Ruby's right there waiting for them.

"Guys?" Ruby speaks, hoping her team has come for her.

"Ruby?" Yang calls out. "Are you here? I can't... see a thing," she complains, waving her hands in front of her until she slaps a back.

"Hey!" Weiss complains.

"Calm down, we're all together," Blake consoles. "I can see perfectly down here and... honestly I don't know how to describe it. It's a stone corridor."

"It's also cold," Ruby adds.

"Hey Weiss, your environment!" Yang chuckles.

Blake persists in scanning the environment. Nobody else can because it's pitch black – so dark that the other three can't even see the tip of their nose. Right now, everything is hinging on Blake, and she's not liking it. Apart from the environment, which is extremely tight width-wise yet very tall height-wise. Blake also notes that the roof where they fell in is now sealed, which means they were supposed to fall into this underground lair in this exact location.

But Blake's ears pick something else up – two things! She can hear breathing, very frantic breathing. It's not coming from her team either, which means someone, or something, is down here with them. It's easy to hear these things, as there isn't much noise in this place. Other than the two sounds, Blake hears the occasional drop of water, rumbling and crumbling of the structure, and the footsteps of herself and her team. It's easy for her to distinguish these sounds, but that still puts her on edge. The noises she can hear from far away are heavy. Whatever's down here isn't small.

"Something else is here," Blake calmly says, checking the corridor to see if something's coming closer.

"Could it be (Y/N)?" Weiss asks.

"It's possible... but I can't be sure. Right now the best option is to try and get out of here, and see if we can find whatever else is down here on the way."

"Let's just hope it's a friendly face. I can't punch what I can't see," Yang voices.

"Alright. Blake, lead us through the corridor, but I want everyone in contact with each other. Hold hands, perhaps," Ruby suggests.

The group agrees and links together, with Yang being at the end and Blake leading the group. As Weiss and Yang holds hands, Weiss passes Yang the weapon.

"Here, you're the one with a free hand," Weiss explains as Yang grabs the sword.

Blake carefully leads the group through the corridor until she reaches the end. Blake looks both ways, realizing that the corridor splits in two.

"Great... and there's sounds coming from both ends," she says under her breath.

With nothing but her intuition, Blake takes a left and lets the group slither behind her. Yang, though she can't see, keeps your sword ready just in case. She'll never admit it, but she's jumpy in this cavern. Though all the girls' eyes are slowly adjusting to the darkness, but even so they're not nearly as reliable as Blake. But even so, they all look around as if they're observing their surroundings.

Blake notices that this corridor breaks off many times at different intervals.

"It's almost like... I think this is a maze," Blake concurs.

"A maze? Why would there be a maze under a village?" Ruby shivers at the thought.

"Sh," Blake cuts in. "Something's up ahead."

Blake slowly approaches the end of this corridor. The moment her footsteps past the wall a hand shoots out from the side and grabs her neck. The force causes her to let go of Ruby, and she's slammed into the wall. Blake winces, eyes shut. But nothing happens after. She can only hear a heavy, fatigued breathing. Blake slowly opens her eyes to see a face, a human face. The eyes are sharp – full of fear and hatred. Dried blood is seeping down from the forehead down to the chin. Their clothes are covered in dirt and grime, as is their face.

"B... Blake?" You doubtfully huff.

"(Y/N)? You're okay!" She happily shouts.

The rest of the group passes the corner and sees you and Blake, though their vision is still imperfect due to the dark. Everyone runs up to you, giving you a tight hug.

"You're alive!" Weiss says as she hugs you.

"I knew you were okay!" Yang cheers.

Ruby, who's hugging you from the front, rubs her face into your dirty shirt.

"I... thought..." She whimpers.

"Yang... Blake... Weiss..." You whisper. "What're you doing here," you ask in a deadly serious tone.

The all release you and form somewhat of a circle around you.

"You've been gone for three days! Everyone's been worried sick," Weiss reveals.

Before you can respond Yang holds out Crimson Blaze.

"And you lost this."

You smile, grabbing your blade.

"Finally... I have a chance... Now, did you track yourselves? Remember the way out?" You bark, throwing everyone off.

"What are you-"

You cover Weiss' mouth.

"Quiet. If you're too loud it... No..."

The five of you begin to her a sound coming from down the hall. It's heavy, forcing dust to fall from the ceiling with each step.

"Damn," you growl, holding Crimson Blaze tightly. "Run! RUN!"

You push the girls in front of you, forcing them to run. They decide not to question you, as an obvious danger is running straight at you. Blake continues to lead the girls, making everyone turn left and right, but you still don't let them stop. You can all hear a beast's huff as the mysterious figure hounds you all down.

We're not going to escape like this... I know... but I have my sword now, and maybe...

"Weiss! Yang! I need you two to create a hole! We're in a maze – multiple floors – but we're only on the second one down. If you can break through to the top, we can get out of here!"

"And how, pray tell, do we do that while running?" Weiss shouts back.

"With time!"

You grind on your heels and turn yourself around, holding Crimson Blaze by your hip and letting the blade lie in front of your face.

"I'll hold him off! You get us a way out of here!"

"But," Ruby tries to argue.

"Don't fight me on this! Go!" You scream, making Ruby almost scared of you.

Yang grabs Ruby's hand and runs with her.

"Come on, Ruby! We have to go!"

The girls bolt down the corridor and take a left, leaving you alone. You can see the beast coming for you, running with all its might.

"Yeah, I know. I'm still here. Does that piss you off?" You smugly smirk, solidifying your stance as best you can.

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The girls leave you behind only to hear the sound of a major collision. Ruby hesitates for a moment, but she keeps up with her group. After a moment they stop.

"Alright," Yang nods, readying Ember Celica. "How are we doing this?"

Weiss waves her hands, forming a glyph above Yang. The glyph turns black as Weiss adds dust to it.

"Go!"

Yang pulls her arms back and starts shooting her weapon at the ceiling. Blake pulls out her weapon and shoots any stray rocks that fall from the ceiling. It takes a few more shots before a hole large enough for all of you to fit through is formed. Weiss allows the glyph to dissipate, then jumps through the hole to the next floor. Next Blake, then Yang. Ruby's about to jump until she hears something. Her eyes now decently adjusted to the darkness, she sees you fly into the wall, creating a crack in the structure. You push off the wall and land on your hands and knees, Crimson Blaze still by your side, and shake your head to get your senses back.

The moment you realize what's happening you roll to the side, evading a massive club from squishing you like bug. You run around the corner and tackle the beast, keeping it away from the girls.

"(Y/N)! The hole is ready! Come on!" Ruby shouts, taking a step towards your location.

"I can make it to the next floor on my own! Go!" You shout from around the corner.

Ruby hesitates in following your order, as your voice just does not seem right. You're far more cruel and cold in your words, rather than the cheerful and sarcastic tone she's come accustomed too. But, she'll have to trust you on this one.

Ruby fills herself with conviction and reassures herself that you'll be fine. She's seen you in action, and you obviously know more about this situation than she does. Ruby turns back to the hole and jumps through it, landing beside her sister.

"Where's (Y/N)?" Blake inquires, a little panicked.

"He said he'll meet us here, so lets make sure we can all get out of here when he gets here!"

The group nods and repeats the plan: Weiss creates a glyph, and Yang punches through the ground. While they do this, they can hear the rumble that's taking place below. Every crash, every scream you holler and every howl the creature makes. It sounds like you two will tear the entire place apart during your battle.

"Has anyone seen what that thing looks like?" Weiss voices, keeping her glyph going.

"I haven't had a clear view of it, so I'm not sure," Blake answers.

A large crash echoes through the halls and your scream soon follows. Ruby's face instantly fills with worry, but she shakes her head to ignore it. You're fine. She knows you're fine. You have to be fine. Yang reloads her weapons and continues to shoot the ceiling. She's broken through the stone, and now is pushing through the dirt to the surface. As she does this, the sounds of your fight drown out a bit, then the echoes become different.

"They're on our floor," Blake confirms from the sounds she hears.

Ruby and Weiss exchange a quick glance before returning to what they were doing. Yang fires off her last shots which makes light gleam down into the darkness. The girls, other than Blake, all squint at the sudden light piercing through the shadow of their confinement. With one last shot from Yang, a decent patch of land shoots out from the bottom and creates an exit.

"They're coming this way. Come on, we have to go!" Blake shouts.

Yang kneels down and clasps her hands together, allowing Weiss to step on them and get a boost to the surface. She repeats this process for everyone until she's the last one left. Weiss and Blake lay on their stomach and reach their hand out to their teammate. Yang bounces a bit, shaking her hands to prepare herself, but her focus is completely thrown off when she hears a loud noise, and sees you roll across the floor close to her.

You get to one knee and lean on your sword, which is implanted in the ground. You're huffing and puffing, trying to keep yourself going as long as possible. You're sweating like crazy, and you feel like your body's going to give out at any moment. But, you're going to kill this thing if it's the last thing you do.

Yang jumps and grabs both hands, which results in her getting pulled to the surface. Yang and Blake lie down and let their hands fall for you.

"(Y/N)! Come on!"

You look back at the girls then down the hall. You cringe at the thought of running, but getting out of the maze would be a relief for you. You push off your blade and bolt towards the hole. You leap off one leg and extend your hand out to link with Yang's. Inch by inch you get closer. Yang stretches out as much as she can to reach you, but it's in vain. The moment your hands are about to link the creature runs into you, charging you right into the wall a ways down.

"(Y/N)!" Yang calls out, but there's no answer.

The monster slams you into the wall, forcing you to cough up blood. It grips your throat tightly, turns around, and throws you back through the same hallway. You roll and bounce a few times until finally dragging to a stop. You reach out and grasp Crimson Blaze as you stand yourself up. A fire is burning within you. You're done with this. You've ran from this thing for days and you're ready to cut its goddamn head off.

You glance your eyes up, through your dirty, messy hair that falls in your vision, to see the red orbs of your enemy. You feel the rage flow through every muscle, every fiber of your being. You run as fast as you can, yelling the entire way. The creature howls back, rushing to you as well. The two of you meet, but you gain the upper hand by ducking a little low and grabbing it by the hips. You burst forward as fast as you can and slam it into the wall with all your might. Doing so, you consequently break through both the wall and the earth, bursting out of the bottom of the hill with such force that you both tumble across the grass.

Team RWBY, who were all staring at the hole, now turn to the source of the sound. They see you and the unknown creature roll across the ground, only to recover and enter a stare down. For once they see this mystery creature for what it is. Massive is an understatement. It's a Grimm, easily identifiable by the black fur and white skeleton armour. The body itself is very much like a man, with legs, a chest, arms, and a head. White armour covers some of the chest, mostly the ribs, and the thighs. Finally a large skeleton helmet covers its inhuman head. Its head resembles something of a cow with large horns that extend forward. But those red eyes still beam through the full face helmet. It twirls its giant, stone club in its hands then slams it into his other hand, taunting you.

"What... is that?" Ruby questions.

"I-I've never seen that before in any textbooks," Weiss stutters.

Yang and Blake stay silent, scarcely believing that such a Grimm exists in this world. It's almost like a man, but with a different head. Never before has this thing been mentioned to them, and they have no idea how to deal with it.

You stare at the Grimm, narrowing your eyes to focus, and ignore the shining light that surrounds you.

"I see you now, you piece of trash," you growl, moving into your fighting stance. "Now let's see if you can fight me!"

You rush at the beast with all your might, and once you get a few steps away, you spin and attack. The Grimm lifts his club to block you, which it does with some struggle. You push on his club, but his sheer size overpowers you and he forces his weapon through yours. He waves the club around his head and swings at yours. You lean back a bit, moving your head so the club grazes your chin. He continues the momentum and brings the club straight down on you. You strafe out of the way, but you unintentionally move closer to his free hand. He grips the back of your neck, lifts you up a bit and slams you face first into the ground.

You cringe at the pain, but you're too exhausted to get moving right away. You slowly try to push yourself up, but the Grimm has other plans. He readies his weapon over his head and goes to slam it down upon you. But his balance is interrupted by a certain blonde Huntress ramming her fist into its stomach, making it stumble back. The beast gains its bearings at glances at its new enemies. All of team RWBY, weapons ready, stand between the Grimm and you.

You finally get to your feet and notice the girls. You run through them, knocking Weiss and Blake off balance.

"Stay out of this!" You scream, running at your enemy with intent to kill.

The girls easily regain their balance but your behavior throws all of them off.

The beast swings its club around its body then attacks you horizontally. You drop to your knees and slide under the attack, then get back on your feet and quickly cut the Grimm's waist. That doesn't slow it down as it swings the weapon around at you as it turn to you. You hold Crimson Blaze to your side and allow it absorb most of the damage, however you are left with the momentum which drives you back a few feet. Ruby speeds in front behind, flipping her body around as she slices the Grimm's back. Weiss and Blake comes in front both sides, slicing through at once.

You grind your teeth at the sight. You don't need their help. They're just getting in the way of you turning that thing into paste. You push off your legs and run at the Grimm. As you run you toss Crimson Blaze up a bit and grab the blade, making you bleed onto it. You then grab the hilt once more and allow your blood to take over the black metal, activating its true form. You rush at the five in front of you, but your eyes remain still on your target. You stab at the air, but your blade extends forward at the cost of your blood. The blade soars through the air towards the best, and consequently, towards Yang.

Blake notices and quickly acts, throwing her weapon so it wraps around Yang then pulls her out of danger. The blade just misses Yang's stomach as it flies into the Grimm's skeletal armour, piercing its stomach. You stop the extension and allow the blade to shrink as you grow closer. You leap off your leg and throw your entire body into the attack, forcing the Grimm onto the ground and with you on top of it. It releases its weapon during your strike and lands right on its back. You pull your blade out of its body and attempt to stab its head, but the creature grips your throat and slams you beside him, then semi rolls over as he plunges his other fist into your gullet.

"(Y/N)!" Ruby shouts as she uses her semblance to reach your location in seconds and distract the Grimm.

One of your eyes are shut in pain and you're gripping your stomach, but this isn't about to stop you. You slip your hand under Crimson Blaze and allow the blood to seep into it again. You look to the side and see the girls fighting it again, going all out.

"Stop... stop getting in my way," you mumble, growing angry at them.

You slowly make it to your feet and rush at the Grimm with no hesitation. With your sword at its maximum, you attempt to end it with one clean attack. You want to watch it suffer, watch it scream as you dismember it one limb at a time, but having it dead is more than enough for you. You lightly jump, land, bend your knees, and launch yourself high into the air. You spin yourself around a few times then propel yourself towards the Grimm. Lucky for them, all the girls have stopped attacking it at the moment, and you can finish it. You grab the grip of your sword with both hands and hold it to your side, preparing your attack.

The girls notice you fly past them like a bullet as you reach the Grimm. You swing your blade at the last second right at its neck, cutting cleanly through the body. However you're going at such a speed that you can't stop yourself, and end up losing your grip on Crimson Blaze as you bounce across the ground. The head of the Grimm slowly slips off and falls to the ground, and the beast dissipates within seconds. You, on the other hand, slam into a nearby tree which stops you entirely. You see the Grimm die, and smile at its demise.

"Not so tough... outside your damn labyrinth are you?" You smirk, knowing you've had the last laugh.

Looking in that direction, you see the girls all running to you. Ruby picks up your sword on the way in one fluent motion to bring it to you. You very slowly and very heavily lift yourself onto your feet only to fall back to your knees. You cringe in pain. Your body is absolutely warn out after these past couple days. But you can't stop now. There's one more thing you need to do.

The girls reach you in seconds, all surrounding you except Yang, who slips her body under your shoulder and helps you to your feet. Ruby carefully slips Crimson Shadow into its sheath before looking at you with a concerned face. In fact, all of them have a concerned look to them. They are happy to see you, there's no doubt about that, but your behavior during that fight, and even your fighting style is absolutely off. You're far more calculated and cheerful in your attacks, you're more cheerful and carefree when not in battle. Right now, you're like a shell to them.

"(Y/N)?" Ruby whispers getting the closest to you. "Are you okay? What happened?"

The entire group waits in anticipation for your words. You slowly gaze at all of them, save Yang, then look back to Ruby.

"I... I... I didn't need your help," you spew.

Ruby's taken back from the comment, along with the rest of her team. You take a step forward, releasing yourself from Yang's grip and going towards the village.

"The... the village. They have to be alive," you mumble.

All the girls share a look, knowing what's waiting at the village. You stumble to the village, then upgrade to a lazy jog. The girls slowly follow, wondering if they should tell you, and what to even do with you.

"He's in shock," Weiss whisper to her teammates. "His pupils... his eyes... he's not completely aware."

"What should we do?" Yang asks as she looks at your back.

"I don't know..." Weiss admits, looking at her feet. "Let's just wait and see what happens. We can't keep this from him."

Ruby stares at you with sorrow. She doesn't want you to see what's at the village, but stopping you might anger you. You're already fragile, but Ruby still wants to be there with you. She wants to be by your side, making sure you don't break into pieces. So she reassures herself that she'll right by your side when you see it. She won't let you be alone.

You enter the village, staring at all the destroyed buildings and blood stains that litter them. As you walk past a building you see a small, white object farther away. You clench your teeth at the memory of what that's from, but it's not what's important at the moment. You need to make sure the villagers are okay. The last place you remember them being is in the main hall and...

You shake your head, just wanting to get there. You turn the corner, seeing the large hole in the wall caused by the Grimm. You pass the last bit of foundation and finally see the inside. Your eyes widen instantly at the sight. Corpses. Corpses of everyone that was in the village – everyone you were meant to protect. All feeling in your body slips away, and you all to your knees in shock, your wide eyes refusing to stray. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang finally catch up to you, and your reaction is exactly what they expected. Yang, Weiss, and Blake stand close beside you, while Ruby kneels down beside you.

"(Y/N)?" Ruby whisper, hoping that you answer.

But you don't.

You just stare.

The middle, the focal point, begins to change for you. The bodies slowly disappear, and are replaced by two different ones. The environment changes and you're now outside, looking at two bodies. Flames are all around you and those bodies. You blankly stare at your mother and father, dead, lying together in a pool of blood. Slowly other bodies start tumbling past the fire and landing around your parents. None of them have faces, but somehow you know them from your home village. They're your friends and family, and they're all dead. The fire slowly spreads past you and towards the bodies, burning them to ash. You want to scream, run to your parents and get them out of there but you can't. All you can do it watch as they all burn away, any hope of their survival dropping to non-existence. The fire slowly dies, and more bodies roll in. This time you know all the faces, as you've seen them so recently. These are the people of this village, the very people whose corpses are littered in front of you. They tumble in, falling on each other into one giant pile. You try to reach out to them, but all you can do is tighten your fists at the sight. Footsteps soon fill your ears, as well as a third foreign sound that accompanies every other step. A sudden pop, the a red concussive shot splatters the bodies out of the way, revealing an orange haired man with a white suit jacket, black pants, brown bowler hat, and a cane. He spins the cane around his finger then points it at you, sizing you up.

"You see kid, the odds have been stacked this whole time," he smile before firing at you.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Jasper! Down!"

Jasper follows your order and jumps forward, falling on his stomach. Your feet seem to glide across the ground as you spin your body around and slice the Grimm right in half, as you stop beside Jasper. The Beowolf's upper body flings off and passes right over Jasper, landing a few feet ahead of him. You grab his collar and lift him to his feet.

"Get with the others! Tell them to gather in the safe house!" You shout, push Jasper away as you weave out of the way of an Ursa and quickly cut him down.

Jasper nods and starts to running, yelling at the top of his lungs. You jump back from the Grimm and land on a nearby building to get a read on everything. Grimm are coming from all over this side of the village, but not all villagers are fleeing to the safe house. Some are still scattering around the village, running right into nearby Grimm.

Knowing you can't let them die, you jump off the building, leap off the next, and come down right in front of a panicked villager. You raise your arm towards the incoming Grimm, pointing your blade at it.

"Let's leave the Grimm slaying to me, huh?" You turn your head back to him, smiling. "Unless you want to take them?"

The villager slowly shakes their head and starts running away. You chuckle and twirl your wrist to weave your sword around. As much as playing around is fun, you have to keep the Grimm at bay. They're coming from all around, and you need to distract them all. Unfortunately you can't be everywhere at once, so you have to calculate this properly. You run at the Beowolf with full force. The best attempts to slash you but you hurdle right over his claw and land on his face. You step onto his snout then jump off it, pushing him into the ground. You soar into the air and read the location of the Grimm. You look to your right, attract your sheath to your hand, and throw it right at a Grimm. You spin around from momentum as gravity pulls you back down. You grip your sword tight and do a downward slash, landing right in the middle of a running Ursa. Your blade slightly stops at its spine, so you place the smallest amount of pressure to snap it in half. You cut right through the beast.

You throw your other hand out, attracting the sheath back to you which brings along an injured Grimm with it. A Boarbatusk rushes at you as a high velocity ball, intending to sweep you out from your feet. You roll your eyes at the hindrance and stick your foot out to catch it. The Boarbatusk continues to spin as your leg holds it in place – in perfect position. Finally your sheath and the Ursa come to your location. You grab the sheath and release it from the Grimm's abdomen in an instant. You let go of the sheath and slams your elbow into the same place your sheath was jammed into. The Grimm howls in pain, so you end its misery. You grab the Ursa's throat and throw him over yourself and onto the Boarbatusk. The spinning of its horns cuts through the Ursa, and the sheer size of the Ursa crushes the Boarbatusk.

Satisfied with that, you leap backwards with your weapons in hand. You land right in-between two Beowolves and quickly execute a full spin to end them both. You suddenly hear some villagers behind you, running towards the Grimm. A Beowolf hones in on his target and attacks, digging his claws into the villager's stomach.

You blankly stare at the villager as the Beowolf sinks its teeth into his neck, officially ending his life. You start to twitch, and your mind starts wandering. You shake your head, trying to stay in the moment.

"No! Damnit!"

You turn around and see that the Grimm have already overwhelmed the village. It's obvious, as there are far too many Grimm attacking for one person to handle. You could kill all these Grimm easily – probably – if they were all focused on you. But your mission is to help everyone. You have to get everyone to the safe house. You sprint towards two villagers running side by side and grab them by their collars.

"This way! Leave the Grimm to me!"

You drag them along with you as you return to the innards of the village. You hear a few screams from people trying to run, and the sound of blood squirting out of a body. You stop for a moment and turn around, seeing someone be cut down from behind by an Ursa. For a split second the two beings transform into a Beowolf and a young child. You clench your eyes tightly then start running again. A Beowolf lunges out from the side, so you push the villagers down so the Grimm only tackles you. It lands on top of you pinning you down with its claws. The Beowolf opens its mouth and attempts to bite down on your face, but you rock your hips up and throw it off balance so its snout slams into the ground. You slam the side of your head into its head, throwing it completely off your body. You move your hands beside either side of your head and flip yourself onto your feet. You grab Crimson Blaze and quickly finish off the Beowolf before it can recover. Another Beowolf attempts to attack you from behind, which you easily notice. However, before you defend yourself a small piece of wood smacks against the Beowolf's stomach, not even stopping it. The Beowolf continues with the attack, to which you duck under and slam your fist deep into its stomach. The Beowolf falls closer to you, and you finish it off by kneeing and elbowing its neck with so much force you feel your limbs touch through the beast.

You let the Beowolf fall to the ground and look towards the being who tried to attack the Beowolf.

"Jasper? What are you doing? Get in the safe house!"

"But people are back there shooting," Jasper responds, staying low.

"P... People?"

You grab Jasper and jump onto the nearby building. You jump across a few buildings and land on top of the main hall. You instantly recognize a few of the people, and the one leading is someone you don't recognize. He has a bowler hat with orange hair flowing out of it, covering one eye. He has a white suit jacket, black pants, cane, and a cigar. What surprises you most is that the Grimm are running right past them and into the village.

"Why aren't they..." You quietly ask.

"Are they with you?" Jasper curiously inquires.

"No... no they aren't. Come on, let's get you inside."

You jump down in front of the building and let Jasper go inside. You cut down a few more Beowolves and Ursi as you flock more into the building. But not everyone makes it. Once in a while a Beowolf or Boarbatusk would take one away. Each time your mind changed it to a Beowolf. You don't know what's happening, but you force yourself to ignore it each time. Once everyone is inside you sprint inside, locking the door behind you. The turn towards everyone and see the villagers crying and huddled together. All the families hoping to survive, both humans and Faunus. Adhar and Jasper share a hug before Adhar approaches you.

"There are people attacking us! Why are they attacking?" He screams, obviously panicked.

"I don't know," you honestly answer. "Just get everyone to the safe house and I'll-"

The wall behind you crashes open, sending pieces of stone flying into the building and a booming howl echoes inside the walls. You turn around to try and identify the threat but some sort of trunk wraps around your waist. You're picked off your feet and are slammed into the wall face first, then dragged into the opposite one. This happens four times, then you're dragged out of the building and thrown into a nearby house. The house's wall crumble and everything around you falls onto you. You push the wood and appliances off of you and fall forward onto your hands and knees. Your aura took most of the damage, but you're still winded from being smacked around.

Suddenly you remember.

"The people..."

You start running, tripping a bit as you begin. You exit the house and sprint to the building. You run around the side of the building to get to the entrance, but there are dozens of Grimm of various species standing around it. You stop, then unsheathe your weapon.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you, little Huntsman," the bowler hat man taunts, stepping out of the building with a smile. "I could just kill all the remaining ones, you know. Though if that pleasant man would just tell me what I want to know," Roman looks back at Adhar, who's on his knees with a White Fang member keeping him down.

Just then a few Beowolves slowly walk into the building, carrying the few corpses of the villagers you failed to save. They drop them all in a pile, then turn to you.

"How... How can you control the Grimm?" You ask in awe.

"I won't claim to know the details, but, I'm not going to argue it. Just don't make any sudden moves, or they... will pay for it," he smiles, pointing his cane towards the hostages. "But, if you really want to know, look up."

You tilt your head up to see a Bullhead circling around the village.

"A little technology and a lot of time can get you a long way. We just decided to mix wild and domestic animals together," he smiles. "Now, sheath that weapon, or I'll just start firing this in a random place that may or may not have hostages," Roman smiles.

You clench your fists and your teeth. You want to fight, but you can't do anything. You slowly sheath your blade, but you stay ready in case you need to move. Roman smiles.

"Now that's a prize: Slater is submitting to us. You know, I thought you'd put up more of a fight, but it makes sense to me. Cause you see kid, the odds were stacked against you the whole time."

Roman lifts his cane and the bottom pops off. He fires a red concussive shot at you that completely throws you off guard. It hits you dead in the chest, sending you a few feet back. You keep your bearing and roll over your shoulder, dragging your hand across the ground. Roman rolls his eyes and takes a step towards you. Suddenly Jasper bolts off his leg and attempts to tackle Roman. Roman steps back and trips the child.

"So much for keeping the hostages at bay," Roman scolds as he watches Jasper get back up.

You notice what Jasper doesn't, and reach for your sheath. Jasper tries to tackle Roman again, but he fails to notice the Beowolf behind him that raises its claw and cuts through his back. Your body completely stops as you see this. Now, after so many times, you get lost in your own mind. Jasper changes to a young you, and you watch yourself be killed. There was no father to save you this time. Right now, you are supposed to be Jet, and yet you allowed the child to die right in front of your eyes.

Only anger flows through you now. You rip our Crimson Blaze and charge at Roman.

"There's the spirit I was told about!" He chuckles, pointing his cane towards you.

The Grimm surrounding you start to howl and charge you, along with the White Fang. You hold your sword like a baseball bat the moment Roman fires his weapon. You slap the side of the shot, diverging its course and sending it into a few Grimm. A Beowolf lunges at you from the side which you jump over, then stomp on his back. You stab its head, then roll off it to avoid an attack from the White Fang. You project yourself forward once the roll is nearly complete, sending you torpedoing into an Ursa. You drive your feet into its face, then flip backwards to avoid another shot from Roman.

Now standing in the middle your enemies completely surround you. A Beowolf attempts to claw you, but you cut off its claw, grab it, spin, and shove it into its head. You twirl your sword and hold it to your back, stopping a White Fang from slicing you, then spin the sword around as you step towards him and cut him down. Constant Grimm come at you, and you perfectly counter every single one to hold your ground.

Roman rolls his eyes at your persistence, then throws his finished cigar away.

"Guess I'll need the big guns again."

You twirl around a Creep and decapitate it smoothly, then you hear the ground start to shake. You remember earlier, and have an idea to what this could be. Suddenly a Goliath comes in from the side and rams you with its tusk, then throws you far away from the building. You slide across the ground before flipping onto your back, only to barely have enough time to roll out of the way of a second charge. The beast turns around, swinging its tusk at you. You lean back, nearly touching the ground with your head as you dodge its bodily weapon. What you didn't expect was a supporting shot from Roman. He hits your side, causing you to fly towards the hill and let go of Crimson Blaze.

You lie there for a moment until you hear the rumbling sound of the Goliath on the move. You stand back up, shake your hands, and then run at him with full force. The Goliath howls as approaches you, and you scream right back. You leap forward, charge a haymaker, and throw your fist at it. Unfortunately it moves its head, causing you to punch, and break off, its right tusk. However the creature still manages to ram you with its head, sending you flying on top of the hill and smashing into the pillar there. You shake your head as you slowly get onto your knees, but a shadow soon lingers over you. You look up to see the Goliath's massive foot coming down on you. You raise your hands to try and stop it, but that does little against its brute strength.

The Goliath pushes down on you, which causes the ground under you to crack and drag you into its depths. You fall on your back into a dark, stone structure under the ground. You roll on your back a bit, still hurting from your battle, but you can feel the red gaze of the Goliath. You slowly get onto your feet only to have them pulled out from under you. The floor you're on opens up, swallowing you even further below the ground, then closing once you're down there. Now only darkness surrounds you. You slowly start to get up and look around, but due to the darkness it's to no avail.

"I have to find a way out of here. The villagers... I can't let them die too!"

Then you hear a howl from down the way. You blink twice then slowly turn around to see what that could be. It's not any Grimm that you've ever heard. You reach for Crimson Blaze but realize it's not there. With no other choice, you grab your sheath and hold it like a sword.

Little did you know you would spend two days like that – hopeless, weak, and alone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Weiss, Blake, and Yang all watch as Ruby shakes you lightly.

"(Y/N)? (Y/N) please, snap out of it," she softly begs.

All she wants is to see you smile. For you to recognize that your friends are here so you can all go home together. She doesn't like your current situation. You're hurt, you're bleeding, and you're tired. Nothing about you is alright, and you need to be brought back to school for medical attention.

Suddenly you seem to snap back to reality, but you instantly scare Ruby as your face becomes one of pure, yet contained, anger. You stand up suddenly, nearly knocking everyone over, and brush past the other girls.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Weiss demands an answer.

You ignore her and keep walking, your eyes scouring the ground for tracks. You walk to the side of the village where the White Fang first entered, hoping they would leave that way too. Team RWBY follows you, shouting your name to which you don't respond. You have no need to respond to them. They're a distraction you have no time for. Luckily your skills haven't gone away, and you can see Goliath tracks leading away from the village. That's it. That's where you have to go.

Finally you tune back into to the girls.

"Stop ignoring us!" Yang shouts, ready to knock you out.

You stop in your tracks, turning your head slightly so they know you're talking to them.

"I'm going after them."

"What? (Y/N), please, you're in no condition to do anything! Let us take you back!" Ruby pleads.

"Yeah, we can call in JNPR to take care of them," Yang speaks.

"You just need to get back to Beacon. Everyone's worried!" Weiss finishes.

You shake your head, smiling a far more devious smile than you normally have.

"Either come with me or get out. Of my. Way," you firmly declare, making all the girls mentally recoil at your words. "I'm going to find those White Fang, and I'm going to kill them. They can't escape. Not with that device."

You don't even allow the girls to respond. You start sprinting, following the tracks of your rival Grimm.

"(Y/N)!" Ruby calls out, but you refuse to listen and disappear into the forest. Ruby shakes her head, in denial of the whole ordeal. "What happened to him? He was... he was so kind."

Yang places her hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"I don't know, but I don't think he realizes what he's doing. Don't hold it against him," Yang reassures, hoping to keep a certain mindset of Ruby's intact.

"We're going after him, right?" Blake questions.

"I'm not sure he won't just start attacking US at this point," Weiss brings up.

Ruby shakes her head.

"No! We go after him. Last time we were sent to find him we failed. We're not failing this time! We're going to find him and get our old (Y/N) back!" Ruby declares with absolute determination.

Yang smiles at her sister's words.

"Couldn't have said it better myself. I'll drag him back if I have to."

"We should probably get moving as opposed to saying we're going," Blake advises, pointing towards the forest.

The girls nod and start running after you.

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You leap from a tree branch and land on another. Your leg suddenly gives out and you tumble off the tree branch onto the ground, landing hard on your arm. You wince in pain as you roll off it. You're still breathing heavily trying to fill your fatigued body with oxygen. You push yourself onto your hands and knees, feeling a mix of blood and sweat dripping off your nose and chin. You don't want to admit it, but the girls were right when it comes to your condition. But... you don't care. You'll keep going no matter what.

My father sacrificed his life for me... if I can't avenge my village like... no... that village... not mine. If I can't avenge them because I'm a little tired, then what kind of Huntsman am I?

You push yourself on your feet.

A weak one. One who can't stand up for himself! I can... I can do this.

You start running once more. Lucky for you, you hear the rumbling of a Bullhead. You remember Roman said that Grimm control device was on a Bullhead. You have to destroy that, and kill all of them. You can see a clearing not too far away. They're there. You know they're there. You grab Crimson Blaze and leap out of the forest, soaring above the forest and getting a quick view of the battlefield. The Grimm are there along with many more White Fang. That damndable Goliath is still there too. Two Bullheads sit at the other side, one with some sort of device in it. That's your target.

You begin to descend to the ground, right behind a patrolling White Fang member. You flip your sword around to an icepick grip and prepare to slice. You cut diagonally as you land, killing the Faunus. You continue sliding with the momentum, spin a bit, and stab one more that wasn't far away. You turn yourself around, bringing the White Fang member along with you, and throw him at his friend.

Finally they realize what's happening – that they're under attack. Grimm start to rush at you, along with a flurry of bullets from the White Fang. You spin your sword around your body to deflect any bullets that may hit you. You duck under a Beowolf claw, horizontally spin over a Boarbatusk attack, and slide under an Ursa.

"Hey! You're alive!" Roman cheers, walking out of a Bullhead. "How... annoying..."

The Goliath starts running at you from across the plain. You're not intending to drag this out any more than you have to. You actually smile when you see the broken tusk.

"You remember me?" You shout. "You missing that tusk?"

Already having multiple unhealed cuts on your hand, you allow it to flow into Crimson Blaze and unleash its potential. Still holding it in the icepick grip, you run at the Goliath. It howls as it swings its trunk at you. You side step and push your sword towards it, allowing the Goliath to throw its own trunk into your blade, cutting it completely. As you're side stepping you kick your foot out from under you and slide under the Goliath as it runs over you.

You look forward and see the Bullhead with the Grimm device in it. You push off the ground and spin like a ball. You allow more blood to flow out and extend the sword. You open up from the ball, showing how much the blade has grown, even making Roman think twice about this. It's far above the tree line. You shout as you bring the sword down, cutting the Bullhead and the device in half. Roman recoils as the shockwave from the explosion pushes him from the side.

"Well, that's not going to end well. I think I should make a timely retreat," he says to himself right before he runs for the second Bullhead.

The Grimm around the camp start return to their senses, seeing the White Fang no longer as allies, but as prey. Panic starts to spread around the camp as a small war breaks out between Grimm, White Fang, and you. But your target's still alive, and that's something you have to rectify. However something aims to get in your way. A Creep rushes you from behind, catching you off guard. Before it hits you its head spontaneously explodes. You look back at it, then around the plain. Your eyes are attracted to a small, red hooded girl with a giant sniper rifle whose silver eyes are staring right at you.

You share a stare for a moment until you realize you still have a Goliath to deal with, and fast. You know you don't have a lot of blood left to keep this up, so you plan one finishing move for it. The Goliath turns around, focusing on you exclusively. You gesture for him to come to come at you, not that a Grimm would know that gesture. He tramples his way towards you. Once he reaches your location you jump back, keeping your distance. The Goliath howls, throwing its front legs in the air to intimidate you. You smile at the reckless action. Goliath's are insanely durable with armour, but its stomach is weak, similar to a Boarbatusk. In the few seconds it's on its hind legs, you sprint towards it, jump into the air, hold your sword directly in front of you with both hands, and start spinning similar to a Boarbatusk. You crash into the Goliath's stomach, continuously slicing it with every rotation.

RWBY, who are fighting off their own combination of Grimm and White Fang, take a moment to see your attack. They've never seen a body move like that or an attack similar to that. It's like an olive and red blur that's driving itself into the Goliath's stomach.

"How is he doing that?" Ruby asks aloud.

"I don't know, but he shouldn't," Weiss answers.

Ruby turns to Weiss, confused.

"Why?"

"He's weak," Blake responds. "If you check, his aura is almost depleted AND he's using his blood. Weiss, you noticed it too. His body is near collapse."

Weiss nods.

"It's true. Ruby, call the Bullhead to pick us up here. We have to clear out the rest of the Grimm so we can bring him back!"

Ruby nods, easily taking orders in this situation. She pulls out her scroll and signals the Bullhead, while Weiss and Blake assure her safety. Yang watches you from the sidelines, not paying attention to the battle around her. She shakes her head and runs towards you.

The Goliath can't fight back against your attack, and eventually you drive it back. You lift it off its legs and push it across the field as you grind into its stomach. The Goliath howls in pain as you both fly across the plain. You release yourself from ball form and finish it with one more slice. You spin yourself around once and cut through the Goliath, going through the beast to the other side. The Grimm disintegrates behind you, and you almost do the same. You begin to lose consciousness as you approach the ground, dropping your sword and slamming against the ground.

You cringe at the pounding pain that's pulsing through your entire body. You reach out for your sword, but your body won't move more than that. You let your arm flop to the ground, admitting defeat. You watch as a Bullhead takes off, and Torchwick is standing on the side. He looks down at you, smiling in victory which makes you want to rip his mouth off. He points his cane towards you and gives a sarcastic wave before firing his weapon. You're surprisingly calm at the incoming shot, mostly because you know you can't do anything to avoid it.

Suddenly brown boots and cream legs move into your line of sight. One moves behind the other and you hear a grunt, a shot, and a bang. You try to move your head up a bit more, but your body just won't allow it. The boots turn towards you and Yang kneels down in front of you.

"Can you move?" She warmly asks.

"Get... Get him! I'm fine!" You angrily shout.

Yang looks back at the Bullhead Torchwick's on, which is already too far away to do anything. You see this and grind your teeth, finding the strength to move again. You push off the ground and topple your way towards your sword. Yang tries to grab you but her fingers just graze your jacket.

You pick up your blade and activate the blood enhancement. You throw your arm forward, extending the blade towards the ever fleeting Bullhead.

"(Y/N), stop!" Yang shouts, running to you and smacking the blade out of your hand. "They're gone! We can't do anything!"

You pause and slowly turn towards Yang, your eyes beaming at her like she's the enemy. Yang holds her ground, staring right back at you.

"You... need to come back to Beacon. I'll drag you back if I have to," she seriously states.

The rest of team RWBY regroup with you both, and they immediately feel the tension. Ruby moves beside you, lightly, and somewhat reluctantly, placing her hand on your back. You look down at her, your anger still lingering in your eyes.

"The Bullhead's about to be here. Come on, (Y/N). It's time to go home," she hopes with her brilliant silver eyes.

You look away from her.

He's gone... but... there's someone who knows where he could have gone. But...

The Bullhead circles around the field, which is clear of all hostiles, and lands nearby. You break away from Ruby, grab your blade, and walk to the Bullhead.

"Fine, let's go back," you coldly say.

The girls all share glances. There's no doubt you're not in the right mind, but you're refusing to listen to anyone. The fact that you're accepting the notion of returning to Beacon. But with the venom still slipping from your tongue they can't help but worry what you're going to do when you return. The girls stay silent and follow you to the Bullhead. You've already entered the Bullhead and taken a seat. The girls enter the Bullhead and take a seat opposite to you.

"Looks like you got him back," the pilot says as he begins to take off.

"Well.... We brought someone back," Weiss whispers.

The Bullhead reaches optimal altitude and projects itself forward. You remain ever silent, a trick you picked up from the days in the maze. You always knew how to remain extremely silent and still during your training, but you've never had to put that to use so much in such a short period of time. Every second was a struggle in that hell. You've never encountered a Grimm that's smart enough to create traps inside their own lair. Hell, the damn thing was using a weapon which is new in your memory banks. But the biggest problem was that it knew the playing field, and you didn't. It took at least a day to memorize the entire place – the cracks, the slides, the secret man-made tunnels that previous poor souls created to try and escape. That place ran at least three stories deep, and each story seemed to have its own design. Floor three has lots of rotating walls and constantly reformed itself using either dust or technology. It was fortuitous at times, and nearly led to your death at others.

The biggest problem about being down there was your lack of weapon. As you demonstrated, you easily dispatched of him once you had Crimson Blaze, and was outside his maze. It was still no walk in the park, but comparing the short amount of time it took for you to fight him then, and the days you spent like a rat in a maze, definitely fuels your point. Then there's the White Fang. They murdered everyone in the village, and even created a device that controls Grimm. Torchwick may have gotten away, but at least you destroyed that device. A small comfort compared to the hell you just faced. What wanders through your mind is why they were there in the first place? What made the village so special that they had to send waves of Grimm and White Fang to attack it? It can't have anything to do with the villagers, else they wouldn't have killed them all.

No, there's something else at stake here, and you're determined to find out no matter how much pain you have to cause. You tighten the grip on your torn jacket and cringe. You can feel the dried, crusty blood running down the side of your face, and even some where your hands are. You look like you've gone to war with blood all over you and your clothes slightly ripped up. Thankfully you can feel your aura replenishing, and your wounds healing nicely along with your body not feeling as sore.

Team RWBY sits silently as well, though not as still. All their eyes, however, are transfixed on you. Partly because you're their friend and they want to make sure you're okay, but partly because you're unstable, and they're not sure what you might do at any given time. Ruby constantly twiddles her thumbs, thinking of how she can cheer you up and make you smile again. She misses it. The difference between the carnival and now is astonishing, and not in a good way. Her heart beats faster just thinking about that day.

But, like all trips, they soon come to an end.

"We're approaching Beacon," the pilot informs.

You open your eyes for the first time during the flight, and the girls notice. You stand up and walk towards the door, clicking the button to open the side.

"What are you doing?" Ruby asks, standing up.

You ignore her and wait for the door to open. Once it is, you see the Bullhead is still a decent height from the school, but that doesn't matter. You take one step out of the Bullhead and fall. Ruby runs to the edge first, joined by the rest of her team. There's another group that notices this as well. Ozpin, Glynda, and team JNPR are all waiting at the docking area, watching as you hurl towards the courtyard.

"What is he doing?" Glynda asks aloud, yet nobody answers.

Ozpin becomes slightly worried, which is evident by the movement of his eye brows. Something is amiss – he feels it. Something happened while you were gone.

You continue to fly straight towards the ground head first, squinting due to the rush of air. Once you get close to the ground. You flip yourself right-side-up and slam into the ground, causing the foundation to crack at the impact. Ozpin and the group begin to approach you as team RWBY's Bullhead lands. The group of girls rush out of the Bullhead and join Ozpin. You, on the other hand, ignore them completely and begin walking with weighted steps towards the dorm.

"Ozpin! Something's wrong!" Ruby shouts, gaining the attention of Ozpin, Glynda, and her fellow students.

"And what would that be?" Glynda answers.

"(Y/N)," Weiss speaks. "He's... not himself. We... well, we'll explain on the way. We have to follow him!"

Everyone doesn't dare disagree, and the girls begin explaining what they saw as the large group follows you.

You menacingly march to the dorms, knowing full well that there's a group tailing you, but you don't care. They can't stop you from doing what must be done. You push open the door with so much force it nearly flies off its hinges. That alone augments RWBY's point as they wrap up the events of their mission. You hammer your way through the halls until you reach your dorm. Instead of using your scroll, you pull your foot back and kick your door open, breaking it off the hinges and sending it flying into your room. Dylan leans out of the way of the door and watches it smash into the wall. He slowly looks back at the door, only to have a hand wrap around his throat and slam him into that same wall. You lift him off his feet, assuring that you're choking him.

"Why didn't you tell me?" You question, voice darker and louder than normal.

"Gonna have to be a tad more specific than that, Slater," he barely speaks, constantly wiggling his body to keep himself alive.

The two teams see this and are about to intercept, but Ozpin holds out his cane to prevent them from entering the room. They all look up at the headmaster and teacher, but neither look back. Begrudgingly, they follow their teachers' lead.

"The village! The device! That goddamn maze! You know what I'm talking about! Why didn't you tell me?" You shout, pulling him away from the wall only to slam him into it again.

Dylan looks directly into your eyes, seeing the fire burning within them.

"Tell you, Slater, about the White Fang's plans? Ha... idiot. But I suppose it didn't go as planned since you're alive," he smirks, trying to stay as confident as possible.

"As planned?" You quietly state. "You knew I was going to be there?" You scream.

"No... but, ugh, I'd have hoped they'd have killed you. Guess they didn't."

"Why were you there?" You scream, changing subjects. "What was the purpose? Was it... was it that thing underground?" You realize, slamming him into the wall again.

"Ah... you knew... so did the villagers, you know? They didn't need it anymore, it was a win-win. Though I... I feel as though you killed it," Dylan assumes, raising his eye brows for your answer.

You slug him in the stomach, making him cough up spit, then crush him into the wall once more.

"You're damn right I killed it!"

"Such a shame... you should have been the one to die," he smirks.

You tighten your grip on his throat, making him cackle.

"Maybe you're right! But instead your pathetic allies decided to murder everyone there!"

Dylan's face instantly changes from one of confidence to one of confusion.

"W-What?"

"Don't tell me 'what'!" You snarl, punching him again. "You killed them all! You locked me in that maze with the Grimm and massacred the entire village! Fathers, mothers, children, human, Faunus, all dead Dylan!" You violently scream, smashing him into the wall each time you list someone.

Dylan cringes at the pain, yet a different pain settles on his face. You don't allow him to talk though.

"I was wrong to bring you here! I thought you might be different when you rescued that child, but I was wrong!" You spin around and slam him into the ground behind you, then slam your foot on his chest. "I... should... have let you burn with that Bullhead," you say as you clench your teeth, the words airing through the small gaps.

Dylan doesn't fight back anymore. He stares up at you, realize the pain you're feeling. It's not frustration, but regret. You're mad not because he could have helped you stop the White Fang, but because he could have helped you save all those lives. You unsheathe Crimson Blaze and settle the tip against his throat.

"I should kill you right n-"

"That's enough, (Y/N)," Ozpin declares with a stern voice.

You look up at him, realizing the audience you've gained. Students from the nearby dorms are watching now too, not that you care, but you're finally seeing the fear in RWBY's eyes, JNPR's eyes, and even Glynda's eyes. You look back down at Dylan, his very face causing you to swell with anger. You sheath your weapon and leave your room, brushing past those who stand in front. Everyone watches as you leave the building, then return their gaze to Dylan.

"Back to your rooms, everyone," Glynda commands, taking a step away from your room. "We'll handle this."

Everyone, save teams RWBY and JNPR, return to their dorms. Ozpin and the rest enter the room with Dylan. Blake moves in front of everyone and helps him up and sits him on the bed.

"Did... did they really kill everyone?" Dylan asks in disbelief.

"They did," Blake answers. "Perhaps now you see... why I decided to leave."

Dylan shakes his head.

"That wasn't part of the plan," he tells himself. "We just wanted the Grimm."

"The Grimm in the maze?" Ozpin requests clarification, to which Dylan nods to.

"Yes. We heard it was ancient, and we hoped to influence it with our device. Get the villagers to tell us where the Grimm was, then leave with it. Nobody was supposed to die."

Ozpin and Glynda share a look.

"If I had known..." Dylan weakly states.

"Perhaps you would have stopped it?" Ozpin proposes.

Dylan looks away from everyone. Blake gazes up at her professors, giving them a look. Ozpin nods and turns to the door.

"Ms. Belladonna, please meet with us after you're done. The rest of you, follow me," Ozpin decides.

"Where are we going?" Jaune asks.

Ozpin stops for a moment, then continues to walk.

"We can't let (Y/N) be like this forever, now can we?"

The entire group leaves, letting Blake and Dylan to be alone. Blake keeps her eyes on the group, then focuses on Dylan. He refuses to look at anyone, and instead keeps his eyes locked on the ground. Blake slowly places a hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch.

"Maybe you can help us prevent anything like this from happening," Blake softly says.

"Go against the White Fang? Heh... I'm not a traitor," Dylan responds, his conviction weaker than the previous times they've spoken.

"But is this the White Fang you want to aid? The kind that murders innocents, even fellow Faunus, just to achieve their goal?"

Dylan sneers, getting off the bed and taking a few steps away from Blake. Blake sighs, then gets off the bed herself.

"I'm not asking you to be a traitor, Dylan. I'm asking you to really think about what you're fighting for, and what the White Fang is fighting for."

With those final words, Blake makes her leave. Dylan turns back to the door, watching Blake as she walks away. He shakes his head, trying to clear it from all the information, thinking, and confusion its suffering.

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"Hyaaagh!"

You cut through an Ursa, splitting it in half. You turn around, grabbing the hilt with both hands, and cut the Beowolf's head in two, making it like a fleshy flap that slaps together. You jump, spin, and kick the Beowolf's lifeless body towards a couple more Beowolves. You land on the ground and look around. You've been fighting for some time, going all out against the Grimm to vent all your anger. Killing these Grimm just relieves everything, yet it somehow adds to the anger. You shake your head, grinding your teeth, and look around to the creatures surrounding you. To your surprise, the Grimm aren't focused on you anymore. You look around to see what's grabbing the Grimm's attention.

Your father and mother, overwhelmed by Grimm. The villagers, being mauled by them. A young you, about to be eaten. The massive Grimm that hunted you down, running straight at you. And team RWBY, unable to fight back. You panic, breathing sporadically as you decide what to do. You can't save them all, just like last time. Just like every time. You cut your hand with your sword deeper than you normally do, then shove it into the ground. Your blood starts flowing through the blade and spreading out to the floor. It passes by all the targets, filling the entire area you're in. You wince as you feel so much blood coming out of you, but you have to save everyone no matter what.

"Gh... GAAAAAAAH!"

You twist your hands, ready to activate your attack when...

"(Y/N)!" Ozpin calmly shouts.

You quickly blink and look up, seeing Ozpin and Gylnda standing in the middle of your blood. All the Grimm and people disappear leaving only you and Ozpin in the dimly lit room. You quickly let go of your sword before you go through with the move. You fall onto your hands and knees, sweat dripping off your forehead and nose, and you're extremely tired. Ozpin and Glynda look at each other, then approach you.

"It doesn't matter, Ozpin," you mumble just audiable enough for the two adults to hear you. "Twice... twice I tried to save everyone... and instead... instead I got them killed," you vent.

Ozpin and Glynda stop in front of you. You slowly get to your feet, then fall towards Ozpin, wrapping your arms around his waist and resting your face in his chest. They can hear you sob, and Opzin can feel the moistness of your tears settling into his clothing.

"I don't deserve to be a Huntsman, Ozpin," you cry. "I can't save anyone, even with all the training I've done, and I saved nobody."

Glynda rests her hand on your shoulder, attempting to comfort you. You release Ozpin only for Glynda to softly wrap her hands around you.

"Do not blame yourself for this mission, (Y/N)," Ozpin begins.

You release Gylnda and look up at Ozpin, your eyes still holding tears.

"No Huntsman in history has a perfect mission record; not I, not Glynda, not even your father. We all make mistakes, but it's how we deal with those mistakes and move forward that defines what kind of Huntsman they are." Ozpin leans down and places his hand on your shoulder. "So how will you move on from this?"

You stare into Ozpin's eyes, taking everything he's saying. You look away, your eyes not staying in one place.

"With friends," a young voice answers.

Ozpin smiles, and allows the young Huntress-in-Training to take her time. He and Glynda step back, allowing Ruby to approach you.

"Do you remember what I said, (Y/N)?" Ruby stops in front of you, making sure you're staring at her.

"We... are a team?" You say, still surprised at Ruby's adamant personality right now.

"That's right. We're a team. So when you can't handle something, when you're stressed, you come to me," she tells you.

"And me," Yang smiles, stepping out of the darkness.

"I'll help," Weiss adds, coming beside Yang.

You look behind Ruby and see Weiss, Yang, Blake, Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, Ren, and even Dylan, yet he's very reluctant, steps out beside Blake. All of them, save Dylan, stand proud before you.

"We're your team, (Y/N). We're your friends," Ruby reminds.

She then moves in close to you and slips her hands around your stomach, hugging you. You recoil a bit, but don't move. You gaze down at her until you warm into the concept. You slowly and somewhat reluctantly rest your hands around her as well. Yang leans back on her hips and smiles. Weiss looks over at her, then shakes her head.

"So, (Y/N), how will you move forward from this?" Ozpin asks, both hands on his cane.

You release Ruby and look towards your friends. You look back to Ozpin and smirk.

"I think you mean... how will we move forward from this?" You answer, looking down at Ruby who's beaming at you.

Ozpin nods at your choice of words.

"Very well, (Y/N). I'm glad you're okay," he sincerely says.

Glynda nods at you, mimicking what Ozpin said.

"Yeah... thanks you two. And thank you, Ruby," you say, turning to her. "I'm sorry. I should ha-"

"Hey, how about we just get some food, huh? Weiss' treat."

"Hey!" Weiss argues.

You laugh.

"Yeah, okay. I'm good with a dinner."

"Please shower first. You're bloody," Weiss points out.

You look down at yourself and realize you really haven't changed at all. You're still rugged, dirty, bloody, and sweaty.

"Meh, it's my natural musk," you joke.

"No. Shower. I can't eat with that smell," Blake admits.

"Maybe... Dylan, wanna wash me down?" You smirk, gesturing with your eye brows.

Dylan snaps, and a large pillar of water falls on you. Ruby jumps back, completely in awe at what just happened. Everyone is, actually. Everyone stares at you, turns to Dylan, then back at you. Dylan begins chuckling, then breaks out into full on laughter. Yang joins in, and soon enough everyone, even Ozpin and Glynda, are entertained at your misfortune.

You shake your arms, splattering water onto the floor. You look up at Dylan, eyes nearly closed.

"You only get away with this because I asked you to do it," you growl.

And the building is filled with laughter.

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A man walks through the destroyed town of Mt. Glenn. He's covered in a brown, hooded cloak that looks like it was lazily put together. However, it covers his entire body, save his shoes. The man stops and looks back at Mt. Glenn.

"It's been a long time since I was here. This is where Jet went missing. He should have stayed missing."

The man begins walking again, ignoring the dozens of Grimm around him. A Beowolf leaps in front of him, growling as it stares at its prey. The man stares at the Beowolf, unmoved and uncaring. The Beowolf somewhat backs away, then retreats entirely. The man looks around to the other Grimm, assuring they know the danger of who he is. Reassured that the Grimm won't attack, not that it would matter as he'd take them down with ease, he continues to walk.

His destination?

Beacon.

And that is the Volume 1 Finale! I hope you all enjoyed it, despite it being the length of two chapters. This was just one large finale and I didn't want to break it up into two separate chapters. It's not the longest "Volume" since this is after Volume 1 ends and Volume 2 begins, so 12 chapters seems good enough. I assume Volumes 2 and 3 will be a LOT longer. I have a lot more plans for the series as well, so I'm excited to get to it. However, like all good things, I, along with you, must wait. Well, I must write. You must wait. Honestly I think I have the harder job. Anyway, I'm looking forward to what you guys think. Did you enjoy Volume 1? What do you expect from Volume 2? How could I improve on my writing for RWBY for future Volumes? Is there something you're expecting of Volume 2 and 3? Let me know in the reviews/comments or send me a message!

FACT: Many names I use in this are references to something, as oppose to colour meanings. For example, Dylan actually means "Son of the Waves" which is why I used that name. Aza, his sister is a play on the name Azardokht, which means "Daughter of Fire". Even the village leader, Adhar, is a play on the name Adhvaryu, which is a chief priest who performs a ritual of sacrifice. If possible, I like to add meaning into OC names that I don't simply link to a colour.

BONUS FACT: I actually planned for this chapter to be labeled "Cause and Effect." However, I thought it might be more interesting if I labeled the last chapter "The Cause" and this one "The Effect." Props to anyone who noticed that!

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Send me a message! See ya!