The Story of Night (RWBY AU)

[Grim Lord]

The last thing Ruby saw before Weiss enclosed them all inside of a large ice flower was the train previously loaded with bombs hurtling towards a sealed off wall that lead right into Vale. Then the ice blocked her vision, the train breached the wall, and she completely lost track of what was happening around her.

Ruby was launched forward at the sound of the explosion that could have only been the first car. The ice shattered as she and her three teammates were launched forward into the air. Ruby vaguely remembered slamming into something hard, probably a piece of concrete of foundation that was knocked loose, and ice cutting at her skin. She was lucky her aura was able to hold out against it.

The world finally stopped spinning and her body was stopped getting throwing around like a rag doll in the flurry of flying rock and ice, she opened her eyes and took in the scene around her. Weiss, Blake, and Yang, all shaking themselves out of the same dizziness she just experienced as they drew themselves from the rubble.

Ruby grit her teeth and rose to her feet to join them. They were launched into some sort of open square. People were all around them, looking at the destruction they were standing on confused and maybe a little scared. Everything was silent for a moment, then there was a rumble. And then the ground exploded.

Ruby grit her teeth and shook her mind free of whatever thoughts were distracting her because Grimm had just broken into the city and she couldn't get distracted.

The others were already on their feet and were moving backwards as Grimm flooded around the King Taijutsu as it slithered out of the hole. Ruby gripped Crescent Rose a cautiously backed up onto the rectangular white platform that had been part of the square. The other three joined her, each taking up a corner and readying their weapons as the Grimm surrounded them.

Ruby's eye narrowed as the Grimm waited to attack. Not long ago she would have been confused as to why they were waiting, but if recent events were anything to go by, the Grimm were smarter than she gave them credit for. They were waiting for more, waiting to build up their numbers until they could overwhelm her and the others.

Ruby slid back the magazine of her rifle and let a fresh bullet slip into the chamber. She was about to call out to her team mates when suddenly they heard a furious shout coming from above them. The four of them looked up to see a black blur arcing through the sky a moment before it came crashing down on the King Taijutsu's head. As soon as it didn't the creature's head exploded into a rain of black Grimm blood and bone. The black thing that hit it slammed into the ground with a heavy thump that cracked the concrete. At that moment, Ruby recognized it as a person.

The man- no, a teenager from what Ruby could tell, about Yang's age- was dressed mostly in black, which accounted for the blur he had become when he sailed through the air just a moment ago. He wore a black leather vest with five different belts wrapped around his waist and shoulders at different angles. Each belt held throwing knives and little pouches. The only armour he had was a pair of leather pauldrons on each shoulder. Apparently, this guy had a thing for leather. The vest left his arms exposed, showing an incredible amount of muscle, especially for a Hunter.

Aura already augmented a person's strength, so it was incredibly difficult to work hard enough for a Hunter to push their body enough that muscles would form. And this guy was just short of a body builder with the kind of muscle he was packing. Yang's entire fighting style was based on punching and she didn't show one ab or a toned bicep for it. This person clearly didn't have that problem.

His hair was really long for a guy, the thick black hair pulled into a tight ponytail behind his head and dangling below his waist. But even though he had outrageous amounts of muscle for his age and the oddly long hair, it was scars that were his most defining feature. He had three claw marks that stretched from his right eye, down his cheek, and along his neck before stopping at his collar bone. In the centre of his neck where his two clavicles meet was a round, twisted, scar that made Ruby shudder when she looked at it. She didn't have any idea what caused a scar like and she wasn't sure she wanted to.

There were other scars too, along his arms and more on his face. But Ruby didn't get enough time to study those because at that moment the guy let out a growl before jumping forward with a burst of speed. Ruby could barely track him as he had crossed the square and grabbed a Beowulf with his right hand before crushing its head in his grip.

As if roused out of a shock from the Beowulf's death the other Grimm lurched into action, swarming them from all sides. But oddly enough, most seemed to gravitate towards the new comer on the scene.

Ruby pulled the trigger on Crescent Rose and a bullet caused an Ursa's head to explode.

"Come," Ruby urged the others, "Let's help him out."

Ruby leapt forward without waiting for the others, her scythe already in motion.

The great thing about having a large amount of Grimm all bunched up together as they all get in the way of each other when a massive scythe comes barreling towards them.

The scythe cut through about five Beowulfs before it finished its arc at which point Ruby pulled the trigger, the recoil sending her flying to her right, where the pointed pommel of her scythe buried itself in the skull of an Ursa. She planted her boot on its head and kicked off with enough force to send her flipping through the air.

She aimed her landing so that she would slam feet first into one of the subterranean Grimm known as Creep. But she didn't trust her light weight to be enough to kill it, so she slipped her scythe under its neck as she landed, decapitating it as she did so. Then she felt claw rake her back and send her flying forward.

She felt her aura straining to protect her from the attack and the fall. She was very grateful that she was launched away from any gathering of Grimm as she didn't think her aura would hold for long.

She rose off the ground and looked at her attacker, an Alpha Beowulf stalking towards her slowly. Slow enough she could survey the scene as it approached.

There were Grimm everywhere, unsurprisingly. But while Weiss, Blake, and Yang were all over the place fighting them, an unnatural amount were gravitating toward the stranger that had appeared. So much so that she couldn't even see him anymore, just a wall of black where the Grimm were attempting to swarm him.

She glanced upward and saw Bullheads sailing through the sky towards them, but not nearly fast enough. It would still be a minute or two before whoever it was got here.

Ruby twirled the scythe behind her and got ready to release a burst of speed that would catch the Alpha wolf in the crook of her scythe when suddenly the stranger burst forward out of the swarm of Grimm that had been piling on him.

He darted forward thrust his fist through the Alpha Beowulf, his bare hand piecing all the way through it and out the other side. He then twisted and hurled the Grimm's corpse at the charging mass that were turning to follow him.

A boarbatusk was rolling directly at him, but the stranger made no attempt to dodge the attack, instead, he held out his hand and force it to a stop by grabbing its outer armour so hard his fingers sank into it bone plating. He paused for a few second as he got his grip on the Grimm, just long enough to get a clear look at his face.

The first word that came to Ruby's mind was anger. His face was twisted so badly into an expression of rage that she had thought he was about to explode. And that explained why all the Grimm were so dedicated to attacking him. Compare to the four of them, this stranger was probably a beacon of negative emotion to the Grimm. But it didn't seem to be slowing him down.

The stranger suddenly brought down the Boarbatusk down on an Ursa's head so hard that both exploded into black goo. He followed it up grabbing some Creepers and throwing them back at the Grimm horde chasing him.

And Ursa was running up behind him when Ruby fired her scythe and cut it in half with a measured strike. She landed feet first just a foot or two away from the stranger. He punched another Ursa backwards, pushing the horde about twenty feet with its body. They had a few seconds as the Beowulfs, Creepers, and Boarbatusks crawled over it and head toward them.

"Ruby Rose," Ruby told him, taking up a ready position next to him. He shot a sideways glance at her and she met his eyes with her own glance. His were golden in colour, speckled with white dots.

"Nox," he replied gruffly. "Invictus." Ruby smiled a little as she noticed his eyes moving up and down Crescent Rose, lingering a little longer at the bladed end of the scythe.

The Grimm were getting a little closer now. Ruby spun the scythe and planted the pointed edge in the ground to brace it before she started releasing sniper shots to take out the smaller ones.

"I'm better- at taking- them out- one at a time," Ruby said in between shots. She fired once more then stopped to slip in a new magazine. "They're too close together for me to cut down," Ruby stated, cocking back the slide to auto load a fresh bullet. "Think you can break them up?" She asked the last part with another glance toward Nox. His eye narrowed at the approaching horde and he scowled, at them, not her.

"I line them up?" He asked.

"And I'll knock 'em down." Ruby finished. Nox nodded, then burst forward with enough speed he left cracks in the pavement behind him.

What Ruby had not been expecting was for him to literally run straight through them. Nox charged right into the Beowulfs and Ursa without stopping, totally ignoring the Grimm as if they were sheets of paper in his way.

The Grimm scattered as he barreled through them hard enough to send some flying in the air above him, the rest were scrambling to get out of his path. Ruby smirked at the now disorganized group of Grimm. She did a mental check of her bullets and plotted a course through them. Then she was in the air with a blaze of rose petals behind her.

She had done stunts like this before, so much so that certain moves had become second nature and barely registered as she whipped and tore through them. Sometimes using their bodies as platforms, other times simply pointing her sniper scythe at one before using the recoil to get to the next one. Ursa required more thought as they were a little tougher. But not much more, just a little more leverage and a little more of using Crescent Rose's weight to do the work for her and their heads rolled just as easily as a Beowulf.

She cut through the last one just a second after she used her last bullet. She landed in a crouch and spun her scythe around, ejecting the clip, sliding in a new one, ejecting the old bullet, and then draping the weapon around her shoulders all in one fluid motion.

It was then she noticed team JNPR had arrived on the scene as well as teamed CFVY. There was a broken mech near the hole where all the Grimm had come from and Atlesian soldiers were dropping down from the sky. Well, that explained why she had run out of Grimm.

She looked around and saw Nox standing on a pile of Grimm corpses, brutally snapping the neck of a Beowulf so hard its head popped all the way off. As its body dropped to the ground Nox looked around angrily for more, but when he saw there wasn't enough to still care about his expression stopped being one of uncontrollable anger and more of mild annoyance. Ruby assumed the bored scowl to be his resting expression.

"Thank for that," Ruby said cheerfully, storing her scythe away on her back and walking up to Nox with her hand outstretched for a handshake. "That was totally awesome how you ran through the Grimm like that. Is that your semblance?"

Nox looked at her like he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing, but he held out a hand to her cautiously.

"Ruby Rose," Nox said slowly. "I remember you from Qrow's pictures."

Ruby blinked. "You know my Uncle?" She asked, a confused look passing over her face. Nox shrugged at her and turned to look at the rest of team RWBY walking toward them. For some reason, Weiss didn't look too happy.

"We've gone drinking together," Nox answered. "Which makes that one Yang." He said with a nodded towards her. Then his eye narrowed. "And Blake Belladonna, former White Fang."

"Wait, how did you know that?" Ruby questioned.

"I've had some disagreements with the White Fang," Nox said dismissively. Then his eye moved to her last teammate as he said, "Which makes her-"

"Nox Invictus!" Weiss yelled at him angrily, shocking everyone as she proceeded walk right up to him and lean in really close to his face before pointing an accusatory finger at him. "What makes you think you can show up in my presence after what you did?"

"You think I want to be in your presence?" Nox asked with a touch of annoyance. He placed a hand on her head and pushed her back a few steps. Not violently, but just enough to get her out of his personal space.

"I was doing my best to never see you or your sister ever again," Nox continued. "Hell, I put a freakin ocean between myself and your family and it still wasn't enough. If anything I thought you might tracking me down."

"Hrmph," Weiss let out indignantly. "As if any Schnee would want to find you."

"Well, your sister would," Nox added dryly. "If for nothing else but to gut me and string me up like a fish."

"Uh, guys?" Ruby interrupted them, her eyebrows drawing together as she got more and more confused by what was going on. "What exactly is between you two?"

Weiss and Nox glared at each other for a few moments and something of an understanding seemed to pass through them. And understanding that neither of them were going to talk about it.

"I've had… a disagreement with the Schnee family." Nox said bitterly.

"If that's what you want to call it," Weiss muttered pointedly with a roll of her eyes. Nox glared back at her.

"Unless there is something else you want to call it," Nox shot back at her. It looked like the two of them were about to go at it again when rubble start flying through the air and buildings started pulling together, signalling the arrival of Professor Goodwitch. Nox suddenly took a step back and glanced around guardly.

"Look," Nox said quickly. "It was nice meeting you and whatever, but I've got to go. Police don't particularly like me, among others." Before any of them could get a word in edgewise Nox darted towards the breach the train had come from and ducked down into the hole, disappearing from sight a few seconds before Glynda brought all the cracked concrete and pavement back together and sealed it again. Cutting them off from going after him.


***


The four of them shuffled into the elevator silently, Ruby reaching out and pressing the button for Ozpin's office. Ruby looked back at her team mates and gave them an apprehensive look before turning and looking forward at the door.

"So…" Yang began idly. "Anyone got an idea why Ozpin's calling us to his office?"

"Maybe because of whole train incident yesterday?" Blake suggested passively.

"Mmm, I don't think so," Yang said doubtfully. "They already questioned us on that. I was thinking maybe that guy Ruby met yesterday?" Yang's eyebrows shot up suggestively, but no one called her out on it.

"He did leave in a hurry," Blake admitted.

"Let's not forget it was because he didn't like cops," Weiss added bitterly. The other three paused for a moment and looked around at her. "What?" She asked defensively.

"Well…" Ruby began and immediately trailed off.

"The way you two were going at it yesterday…" Yang began.

"It seemed like you two might know each other." Blake finished. Weiss crossed her arms and looked away from them in an attempt to hide her expression.

"He's no one worth mentioning," Weiss stated definitively.

"I don't know Weiss," Ruby said slowly. "He knew things." Yang shot her sister a curious look and asked,

"What kind of things?"

Ruby shrugged. "Well, he said Uncle Qrow showed him pictures of me and you, and he said he shared a drink with him. But Nox didn't look old enough to drink."

"Never stopped me." Yang committed with a grin.

"Yang!" Ruby protested.

"What other thing did he know?" Blake asked with a raised eyebrow. Ruby glanced at her and suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Well, he knew you were in the White Fang." She mumbled as much as she could while still getting heard. Blake sucked in a breath.

"How?" She asked quickly.

"I don't know," Ruby answered with a defeated shrug. "All he said was that he had 'disagreements' with the White Fang." The four of them paused for a moment and thought that over.

"Which you know," Yang began, "Was also what he said to Weiss about her family." All eyes went back to Weiss who looked a little off balance at the attention.

"H-Hey," Weiss stammered quickly. They noted a little colour rising to her cheek. "Nox Invictus isn't worth anyone's time of day."

"That sounds a lot like something you would say about someone you don't like because they are," Ruby said somewhat innocently. Somewhat.

Weiss looked like she was about to defend her position when the doors of the elevator opened up to reveal Ozpin office. Complete with Ozpin in his chair, Glynda standing just behind him, and an old man smoking a cigar.

"Team RWBY." Ozpin said with a slight smile playing on his lips. "Do come in."

Ruby lead them forward nervously, approaching Ozpin's desk. She subconsciously smoothed over her combat skirt and presented herself with a nervous rock onto her toes then back on her heels.

"Professor Ozpin," Ruby said politely. "What is this about?" In response, the old man standing next to the headmaster's desk turned his head to look at Ozpin, who nodded at him. The man took a drag from his cigar before taking it out of his mouth and releasing a puff of smoke.

"My name is Eolas Invictus," the man said. "And I would like you to hunt down my nephew."

 

[Grim Lord]

"Um… what?" Yang was the first one to speak after Eolas drop the bomb shell.

"My nephew, Nox Invictus," Eolas said. "He has been on the run for while now, ever since… a particular incident." Eolas' eyes settled on Weiss and she glared back at him. There was a tense silence as the two glared at each other, neither wanting to break it off. It wasn't until Ozpin cleared his throat and spoke that the two looked away from each other.

"Perhaps you would like to explain Nox's situation a bit better?" Ozpin suggested. Eolas nodded dismissively and continued.

"When it comes to troubled children, Nox usually sets the definition," Eolas explained. "Besides myself, Nox is the only living member of the Invictus family. A family much older than the Schnee family, might I add." He said that last bit rather pointedly, causing Weiss to scoff at him.

"But you've only been a competitor since you built your empire on mind altering substances," Weiss said smugly, causing everyone in the room to look at her with an odd expression.

"Well, not all of us can exploit second class citizens." Eolas retorted calmly as he tapped a cigar into an ash tray.

"Just what exactly are you implying?" Weiss demanded. Eolas didn't even blink.

"Nothing that can't be proven with a brief tour of your family's mining facilities. Something that hasn't been available to the public since the White Fang's founding, oddly enough."

At that point Weiss' hands curled into fists and she took a step forward as if she was going to start something.

"I'll have you know that-"

"Ms. Schnee," Glynda interrupted sternly. "Please sit down and keep this civil, this meeting isn't about your… family rivalries."

"Precisely," Eolas said, moving on as if Weiss wasn't even there. "About nine months ago Nox ran away from a… prior engagement and has been sighted all over Remnant." Eolas reached into his coat and pulled out a stack of photos and began laying them down on the desk in front of the girls.

"Halsworth, Vacuo. Gerson, Vacuo. Riche, Vacou. Maelstrom, Mistral. Forsworn, Mistral. The Cliffs, Atlas. Icilis, Atlas. Kiritsugu, Vale. Topoch, Vale. And now, Vale proper." As he said the last one he dropped a photo taken from a security camera of Ruby shaking had with Nox. All the others had been fleeting and blurry photos that were barely recognizable as Nox, making the last one the only clear photo of him.

"As his legal guardian," Eolas continued. "I'm legally and morally obligated to do what is best for him. But seeing as he is bound and determined to go out and fight Grimm, I believe it would be best if he was convinced to attend Beacon as a Hunter in training."

"Given Nox's activities," Ozpin said, sliding himself into the conversation. "It is only a matter of time before he makes a mistake that gets people hurt. Once that happens he'll be a fugitive of the law and we won't be able help him either way."

"Isn't he already a fugitive?" Weiss asked, not even trying to hide her annoyance. Eolas fixed her with a flat look.

"Your father dropped the charges," Eolas said. "As of now, the only thing Nox is guilty of is being a runaway." He shot Weiss a look that was clearly asking her to challenge him. She didn't, instead, she crossed her arms and did her best to look at anything else.

"As it stands," Ozpin said. "Nox holds a massive amount of physical strength. Enough so that he is just as much a danger to himself as he is others until he gets formal training. From what we know of his exploits around Remnant, he has caused over three hundred thousand Lien in damages."

"Something I have to pay for." Eolas added with a grumbled.

"So," Ozpin stated. "Nox has a pension for causing collateral damage, is legally a run away from home, has no formal weapons training, and appears to get rather enraged at the very sight of Grimm."

"Yeah, I noticed that," Ruby mentioned quietly.

"Do you understand what is being asked of you?" Glynda questioned as she took a step forward, a tablet in hand. The other three stayed silent and let Ruby answer. She drew her eyebrows together in confusion for a moment as she thought about it. After a moment, she said,

"I think I get it," she told them, "But why us?" Ozpin and Glynda looked at each other oddly for a moment then looked back at Ruby.

"Because of the accident yesterday many students were pulled from their scheduled missions," Ozpin told her. "And your mission, in particular, spiralled far out of control. We're going to have to reschedule and cancel many team's individual missions. As such, many teams no longer have a mission to accomplish. With the reappearance of Nox we have decided to add this to the list of missions that could be done."

"This isn't the first time I have gotten close to reaching Nox," Eolas interjected. "But I have found he tends to notice when people, particularly Hunters, are gunning for him. So we have been calling in all the available teams one at a time to brief them on this subject. It was the best way to attempt to make sure Nox could be approached without him running."

"So," Ruby asked slowly, "We're just being asked? We don't have to do this?"

"Correct," Ozpin said before Eolas could answer. "However, given you have already had brief contact with Nox, he might be more inclined to listen to you."

"Not to mention," Eolas stated. "Given the amount of trouble he has been causing me, and the potential trouble he could cause, I am offering a reward for the team to accomplish this."

"Wait," Yang said, pushing her way forward and placing her in front of the team. "What kind of reward?"

Eolas raised an eyebrow and told her, "Fifty thousand Lien." Yang whirled around and grabbed Ruby by the shoulders.

"Ruby, we're taking the mission."

"But Yang-"

"Ruby, listen to me. We need to take this mission."

Ruby sighed in defeat. "Alright, I guess we'll do it."

"What?" Weiss demanded. "I don't want anything to do with that- that- that-"

"Weiss," Yang interrupted her. "All that money split four ways is over twelve thousand Lien each." Weiss looked like she wanted to contest it a bit more, but apparently something crossed her mind because she bit her lip and said nothing.

"Alright then," Ozpin said with a happy little smile. "Then I suppose it is time you got the other details of the mission." Eolas nodded and reached into his coat and pulled it out some more photos.

"From what I can tell," Eolas began as he dropped down more photos. The person in them cause Blake to draw a sharp breath off to Ruby's side. "He was hunting down an Adam Taurus of the White Fang. We don't know why, but for whatever reason the White Fang has become increasingly aggressive under Adam's leadership here in Vale. And Nox is targeting him. He has already left over twenty White Fang members in his wake, leaving their bones broken in several places. From what we can tell Nox has been interrogating them. So we can assume that his closer to finding him than we are."

"And we know which way he went," Ruby pointed out, eager to be part of the conversation. "He jumped into the train tunnel just before Professor Goodwitch sealed it up again. So he could only be heading towards Mountain Glenn." Ozpin nodded in agreement and was about to say something when he was interrupted by Weiss.

"How are we even going to convince him?" Weiss said. "Ruby, we're going after a dangerous criminal-"

"Runaway," Eolas mumbled.

"-and we're going to try to convince him to enroll in Beacon and become a Hunter. Is that even possible?"

"Simple," Eolas stated, pulling out yet another stack of papers from his coat. He held up four blank letters for them to see. "Tell him what you want then give him this. I have it on good authority that the contents of this letter will sway him." Eolas paused before he started handing them out to the four of them. "But, for your own sake, I would suggest not reading them."

Ruby took her copy of the letter and slipped it into a pocket, as did the others. The letter was thin, as if there wasn't anything in there at all. She personally didn't care what was in it, but she could see Weiss eyeing it suspiciously.

"Well, if that is all," Ozpin said, putting his hands together in front of him. "Then tomorrow come to the landing pad at eight o'clock for transport to Mountain Glenn where you can begin your investigation. You'll be supervised by Glynda. Keep in mind that other teams can also take this mission, so don't be surprised if you see them on your way."

"Thanks," Ruby said with a little nod.

"See you tomorrow Miss Rose. And the rest of you get a good rest, you have a long mission ahead of you."

The rest of them all shuffled towards the elevator silently as they could, giving each other awkward stares until the doors closed and they burst into chatter so loud they could be heard through the thick elevator doors. Eolas and Ozpin shared a look before the elevator descended and took the four out of earshot.

Ozpin let out a sigh and turned to looked at Glynda. "Are you sure this situation is under control?"

Glynda frowned deeply and shook her head. "Absolutely not, you know what happens when ever He gets involved."

"I'm well aware," Ozpin replied dryly. "But ignoring His obvious influence, can you see any issues arising?" Glynda let out a huff and answered with,

"Possibly. Nox is incredibly far from scratching the surface of the potential of his… Affliction. But it appears his contact with Ruby has caused some change."

"Hm, I noticed that too." Ozpin mused. "It would appear His mark stirred Miss Rose's mark and now both are undergoing some sort of growth."

"Hold up there," Eolas said, raising his hand to stop them. He took a breath of his cigar and tapped it on his ash tray. "I won't pretend to know this whole-" He waved his hand through the air looking for the word. "-soul mumbo jumbo, but are you telling me that the kid, the red one just a minute ago, has the same same thing Nox has?"

"Not even close," Glynda snapped angrily before Ozpin even had his mouth open all the way. "The two marks couldn't be more different."

"But they come from the same source," Ozpin added hastily. "And because of the nature of Nox's specific mark, it is effecting Ruby's mark. Causing it to manifest where it otherwise wouldn't."

"But that can be possible," Glynda said, turning to address him directly. "We have been attempting to invoke the same reaction out of her since her birth. Qrow has been-"

"You know as well as I do that His mark undoubtedly does something completely different than anything we could have thought." Glynda looked like she wanted to retort, but she swallowed back her remark. Eolas looked between the two of them and asked,

"Who is this 'He' and 'Him' you keep throwing around." The two of them turned and cast Eolas a cautious glance.

"It is better if you don't speak His name," Ozpin told him.

"And even more so that go out of your way to know as little as possible about Him," Glynda added. Eolas held up his hands in defeat and said nothing, choosing to silently pull air through the cigar.

"Anyway," Glynda continued, pulling her gaze away from Eolas. "What should we do?"

Ozpin leaned back in his seat and bridged his fingers in front of him as he thought.

"It appears that proximity to each other may very well increase the power of both marks. If Nox is convinced to become a student here, it would be beneficial should he end up on team RWBY. His initial not getting added to it."

"Ozpin that is incredibly reckless!" Glynda protested. "For all we know His mark could cripple Ruby's."

"You know that won't happen," Ozpin answered.

"It could, a person's mark is influenced by the nature those who placed it. And we both know the nature of Him."

"Granted," Ozpin acknowledge with a nod. "But regardless, I severely doubt His mark could harm Ruby in any meaningful way."

"Then how about the fact that Nox is a year older than the three older members of team RWBY?"

"Nox has no formal training," Ozpin said dismissively. "We put him a year back because of it." Glynda scowled at him.

"Then maybe the fact he would be the only male on a previously all female team?"

"Actually," Eolas interrupted. "You shouldn't worry about that. Every source I have suggests that Nox doesn't pursue relationships. Period. I would be more afraid he would reject normal friendships with these four."

Ozpin gestured to Eolas pointedly and Glynda let out a growl of frustration.

"Fine," she said. "But when this blows up in our face I'll be sure to let you know it was your fault."

"I'm sure," Ozpin said dryly. "Now, let's call team JNPR in next…"

 

[Grim Lord]

Ruby wasn't sure what she was supposed to be feeling when they returned to Mountain Glenn. But anything she might of thought about it was crushed under the shock of what they saw as the Bullhead flew over the city.

The first thing that caught her eye was the black smoke, the kind that came from dead Grimm. At first she thought of it as a good sign, even Ursa don't last more than an hour after being killed. Meaning that they could probably find Nox nearby. But that hope was dashed as they saw what Grimm were dead.

Goliaths.

She wasn't an expert on them, but she had checked them out on the Grimm Database. The website that catalogs all the different Grimm discovered across Remnant. Unsurprisingly, they ranked as a 'Major' Grimm. That is, something more dangerous than Ursa, less common than Beowulfs, and smarter than any lesser Grimm. In her reading, she learned the Goliaths could take days to disintegrate.

And like that, their first lead on Nox lasted about ten seconds into seeing it.

The Bullhead didn't even land for them, instead just hovered a few inches above the ground and allowed them off before it turned and speed away back to Vale proper.

They spread out, not a lot at first. Ruby and Weiss going down one street, Blake and Yang going down the next one over. Glynda followed behind Blake and Yang for the most part, but after thirty minutes of not seeing so much as a Beowulf they spread out a bit more. One person per street, including Glynda.

An hour later they found themselves in the heart of the decrepit city. Only this time, things were different.

Ruby blinked as she step out into an open area at the same time everyone else did, with the street abruptly ending along with most of the buildings.

In front of them were several dozen Goliath corpses laying on the ground barely even half way into their disintegration. Bits and pieces of the Goliaths were scattered all over the place. Trunks ripped off, tusks snapped in half, skulls caved in, legs ripped off. What was worse was that the fight had taken out all the standing buildings in the area. The remains of several story buildings scattered everywhere. Mostly that meant large steel beams protruding out of the Goliaths in ways that made it impossible to tell if the Goliaths were put on the beams or if the beams were put through the Goliaths. Each outcome equally unlikely.

"Professor Goodwitch?" Ruby asked quietly.

"Yes?" She answered without taking her eyes away from the scene in front of them.

"Doctor Oobleck said that my sniper rifle wouldn't do anything but annoy these kinds of Grimm."

"That is correct." Glynda answered softly.

"But when I saw Nox fighting, he wasn't using a weapon, just his hands." Ruby turned her head to look at Glynda. "How strong does someone have to be to do this?" Glynda paused for a long moment before she tore her eyes away from the scene and looked at Ruby.

"Too much."

***

"Well, he doesn't exactly make it hard to track him," Blake pointed out as they followed Nox's tracks through the woods.

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. There was a trail of destruction leading out of the city, including a massive gap in the wall that surrounded the city where something or someone destroyed about a twenty meter section of it. After that, Nox left a fairly obvious trail through the woods by way of a ten meter wide path of destruction carved into the ground. Sometime literally.

Trees and bushes were a mess of shattered trunks and crushed leaves. The remains of Grimm were scattered all over the ground, sometimes just the bone armour other times the still decaying corpses of larger Grimm. Once they found a still living Ursa struggling t move after its spines had been shoved through a thick boulder. Another time they came upon a wide clearing that had only became a clearing after what appeared to be a fight between two Deathstalkers, four King Taijutsu, a Giant Nevermore, at least three Goliaths, and two new Grimm Ruby only knew from the Grimm Database. Ragroks, or the fire breathing, heavy armoured, rampaging rhino Grimm.

"Let's stop here for the night students," Glynda said, glancing upwards towards the setting sun. "We'll camp here for the night and continue our search tomorrow." She held up her riding crop and flicked her wrists. The next moment was filled with filling trees and rock as the destruction of the forest surrounded them. A second later the whirling stopped as everything settled as makeshift walls all around them.

Ruby cast a look at Yang who shrugged and dropped her pack pulled out a sleeping back. Ruby quickly did the same, followed by Blake and Weiss. Glynda made a fire pit with another wave of her hand and Weiss pinched off a little bit of red Dust to get it going. Glynda elected to take the first watch, climbing up onto the wall she made and standing at attention.

Ruby stretched out on her sleeping bag and sighed. They had walked all day and not gotten any closer to finding Nox. Only more of the same. But at the very least, they hadn't run into anymore Grimm. Though, she wasn't sure if that was such a good thing.

She laid there as an hour past, looking up at the stars and the way the smoke rose and twisted into the sky. She wasn't tired, though maybe a little sore from all the walking.

"Pst, Ruby." Yang half whispered at her.

"What," Ruby asked, rolling over to look at her. Not like she was getting any sleep regardless.

"You wonder what's in the letter as much as I do?" She asked with a impish grin. Ruby rolled her eyes.

"No Yang." She told her flatly. Yang rolled her eyes.

"Come on, don't you want to know what could possibly in the letter that would make Nox, the guy that has been ripping up enough of the forest a car could drive down, stop what he has been doing and come to Beacon?"

"Well…" Ruby bit her lip. She was curious, but didn't feel right. "If we open the letter he'll know." Ruby stated, hoping Yang would drop it after that.

"That's easy," Yang answered. "We just open your copy of the letter and give him someone else's." Ruby searched her mind for another reason to delay her, but she couldn't find anything.

"Come ooooon." Yang moaned, poking her in the arm.

"Ugh, fine." She felt a little guilty for caving to her, but if she hadn't Yang would have opened the letter herself and then she just wouldn't know or Yang would tell her in the morning. Silently cursing to herself, she reached into her bag and pulled out the letter.

"Yesss!" Yang celebrated.

"Shh!" Ruby snapped at her. Slowly, she slid her thumb underneath the flap of the letter and peeled up the seal. The sound of tearing paper followed.

Yang rearranged herself to look over Ruby's shoulder. Inside was a single slip of paper, so small it didn't need to be folded to fit inside of the note. Yang and Ruby glaced at each other as she flipped it over and saw the writing on the other side.

Nocturnal, Noc, Nox,

"You won't find redemption in death, only in life. Go with the hunters, they will show you."

-Idra

"Um…" Yang started with disappointment.

"That was kind of let down." Ruby agreed. She slipped the note back inside and did her best to make it look like it wasn't opened. She failed.

"Now go to bed." Ruby said, rolling over.

"Oh, you're no fun." Yang said before tossing herself back to herself onto sleeping bag. She didn't both her again the rest of the night.

***

Ruby was roused from sleep by someone gently prodding her in her side. She fought the urge to roll away and groan. Instead she reached up and wiped the sleep from her eye and stretched. She opened her eye and saw Blake standing above silently, waiting for her to finish getting up for her turn of watch.

Ruby stood up and found her back a little stiff from sleeping on the ground. She raised her hands over her head and leaned backwards in a stretch, a small groan escaping her lips as she worked out the stiffness.

"What time is it?" She asked a little groggy. Blake glanced at the others, making sure they weren't waking up.

"Four in the morning." She answered with a whisper. "You have watch until six, then we'll get moving again."

"Alright," Ruby said with a cloud of depression. "Did you see anything odd recently?"

Blake shook her head and opened her mouth to answer when suddenly her bow twitched violently and Blake froze.

"Blake? What is it?"

"Shh," Blake hushed her. "I heard something." Ruby opened her mouth again but caught herself, clamping her jaw shut and shooting Blake a look. Blake brought a finger to her lips then pointed up the makeshift wall Glynda erected.

Slowly, the two of them crouch walked toward the part of the wall Blake had indicated. Blake got there first, sliding her hands into the gaps of the wall and pulling herself up. Ruby followed her lead and attempted to climb it. The first time she tried to draw herself upward she dislodge a rock and caused it to fall to the ground with a heavy crack. Blake shot a look back at Ruby who half cringed, half shrugged apologetically.

On her second try Ruby pulled herself over the lip of the wall onto a space just wide enough for a person to stand. Blake was there next to her, in a tense crouching stance like she was ready to leap backwards incase of anything. Ruby matched her stance just in case and started scanning the forest around them.

At first she didn't see or hear anything. Just the general blackness of the forest greeted her as she searched for the cause of alarm.

Then something bright caught her eye and she looked up. About ten meters away from her she saw a pair of bright golden eyes staring at from the tree.

After a few seconds of eye contact, the figure the eye belong to dropped out of the tree and landed on the ground in a kneeling position. The figure rose and revealed himself to be Nox, standing calmly with his arms crossed. He stared up at the two of them for a moment, then raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Ruby and Blake glanced at each other and shrugged. Ruby slipped off the wall first, followed closely by Blake.

"I don't suppose you followed me out of some sort of elaborate soliciting campaign?" Nox asked dryly as they approached.

"Um well," Ruby began, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. "We sort of- wait, are you bleeding?" She hadn't seen it at first because of the darkness, but now that she was closer she saw he was dripping blood across the ground.

The was a hole in his shoulder that look like it went all the way through, his leather vest was peppered with small holes that was leaking blood rapidly, and their was a long gash along his right leg almost eight centimeters wide.

"I'll live," Nox said dismissively.

"No, you won't." Blake said seriously moving closer to him to get a good look. "It looks like you're going to bleed out in minutes. When did this happen?"

Nox shrugged, clearly not nearly as bothered by them as she was. "I few minutes ago. White Fang patrol decided they would try and shoot me. A lot of good it did them."

"Seriously Nox," Ruby said a little nervously. "You should lets us bandage you up before you collapse or something." Nox cast her a cool look and took a step towards her. She flinched a little.

"Look closer." He stated. Ruby blinked and hesitated a moment, but did as he said.

The hole in his shoulder was about the size a ping pong ball, making Ruby asked herself what kind of gun did they have that did that. Then she realized, the wound was closing.

It was too fast for it to be aura, since he was wounded she could assume he had run out of aura anyway. Aura healing was slow, it could take care of small wounds quick enough, but holes like that took hours. Yet, right in front of her his flesh was knitting itself back together over several seconds.

Ruby glanced down and saw the gash in his leg had already closed, leaving only not quite dried blood as the only evidence it had been there at all. It was too dark for her to see, but if she had to guess there was probably a scar that matched those around the rest of his skin.

"Is… that your semblance?" She asked weakly. It didn't make enough sense, if he run out of enough arua to get hit then he shouldn't have enough to activate his semblance. But, if Ruby was being honest, stranger things have happened on Remnant.

"You could call it that." Nox told her. "Now that we've established that I won't be dieing on feet, maybe we can get to the point where you and the others are following me?"

"Your uncle sent us," Blake told him promptly. She was about to say something else when Nox snorted.

"First he send actual Hunters after me, now he is recruiting students? I'm almost insulted. So, are you going to try to arrest me now?" Ruby and Blake glanced at each other.

"Actually," Ruby corrected, "He and Ozpin wanted us to sort of recruit you. For Beacon that is."

Nox raised an eyebrow at her. "So this was an elaborate soliciting plan?" Ruby and Blake looked at each other and shrugged.

"I guess it was." Ruy admitted.

"Look," Blake said. "We were supposed to give you a letter, you uncle said it would convince you."

"Must be some letter." Nox said sarcastically. Blake glance at Ruby.

"I left my copy back at the camp do you…?"

Ruby grimace and reached into her pocket for the letter she already opened. But if t convinced Nox she guessed it would be okay.

Blake shot her a sharp look when she handed the very clearly opened letter to Nox but didn't say anything. Nox took it out of her hand took out the letter inside. He paused a moment as he read it, then he laughed.

"Um, what's funny?" Ruby asked. Nox chuckled a little bit and held up the letter.

"You read this right?" He asked her. Ruby nodded. "Well, Idra, an old friend of mine, is the silent type. They kind of person who rarely says anything and when she does she tries to make every word count. That's what makes this funny. Because it isn't even her own words, it a quote from a book we read called Ninjas of Love."

Suddenly Blake's head snapped at him and her eyes widened. Both Ruby and Nox shot her a puzzled look.

"You've read Ninjas of Love?" She asked breathlessly. Nox's eyebrows furrowed.

"Well, I, uh, skimmed it once or twice."

"Who is better for Amelia," Blake demanded of him. "Victor or Leon?"

"Oh please," Nox said with a roll of his eyes. He paused a moment before saying, "Besides, Tommy is the only man for Amelia."

"How dare you!" Blake hissed at him.

"Guys?" Ruby asked. "What is going on?"

"Nothing." Both of them said at the same time. Ruby looked between them questioningly.

"You know, let's just back on track." Nox said with a shake of his head. He took a breath and thought for a moment as he remembered what it was they were discussing. "Oh yes," Nox said when he finally remembered. "I don't want to go to Beacon, stop following me." Abruptly, he turned on his heels and started walking away. Ruby shot a helpless look at Blake but she looked a little off balance. Deciding it was up to her, Ruby took a breath and spoke loudly after, just enough for him to hear.

"You're not very good at fighting."

Nox paused then turned around on his heel.

"Come again?" He asked.

"You're good at killing things." Ruby amended. "But you're not a good fighter. You push your overwhelming strength against all skill. Which lets you kill lesser Grimm. But any Hunter would beat you easily."

Nox shot her an annoyed look.

"I've managed rather well without it."

"Is that why you got shot?" Ruby asked innocently. Nox quirked his mouth oddly, as if to bite back a retort.

"Look," Nox said, "I've got several dozen White Fang members I still need to break in half. So I say again, stop following me. I'm not going with you."

"Then let us go with you." Blake finally spoke up. She started walking towards him, her weapon drawn. "If you hit a White Fang patrol like you said then you have thirty minutes until another patrol comes to relieve them. Takes us with you, and if you catch the guy you're looking for you can reconsider coming to Beacon."

Nox looked her over searchingly as he tried to spot her angle. After a moment, he gave in a waved at her dismissively.

"Fine, but what about your friends?" Nox said, gesturing back toward the wall surrounding their camp. Blake shrugged and answered with.

"We have two hour before they wake up and White Fang patrol's never go further than a twenty minute walk from where they're stationed. A five minute run if we move as fast as we can. They kind of set up they'll probably have around her? I give it less than half an hour before they scatter. We see if who you want is there, then we come back with more than hour to spare."

"And the Grimm that might come while they're sleeping?" Nox asked plainly. Blake shrugged.

"What Grimm, you already killed everything in the area. We haven't even seen a Beowulf since arriving here."

"Fine, fine," Nox said bitterly. "Let's just get going." Nox turned again and started walked the other way. Blake moved forward to follow.

"But- Blake!" Ruby protested, torn between staying at the camp and following her. But Blake didn't stop and Ruby groaned as she decided to follow her. Jogging forward to catch up.

"We are so getting detention when we get back." Ruby muttered.
​

 

[Grim Lord]

Ruby had an involuntary eyebrow twitched as she led the other two forward. She didn't even know why she was the one leading. Blake had infinitely more experience with White Fang than she did and Nox had clashed with them on more than one occasion from what she knew. Her only experience with the White Fang had always been eclipsed by her interactions with Roman. Which made the fact those two were having that much more annoying.

"... But why Tommy? He was a side character throughout the entire story." Blake stated plainly, clearly not seeing where Nox was coming from.

"A massively important one." He retorted.

"That is ultimately wasted because he decided to give himself up with that stupid moral dilemma."

"All the more reason he and Amelia would be better together."

"But he is a total control freak!"

"Yeah and Victor doesn't swing that way!"

"That isn't true! He had that thing with Herbert!"

"That was pity sex and you know it!"

"Guys," Ruby snapped back at them. "Underage girl here." Blake shot Nox and glare and he just rolled his eyes before raising a flask to his lips. Ruby did a double take.

"Is that alcohol?" She asked incredulously. Nox glance at her and held up his flask in front of him, his eyes narrowing at it suspiciously.

"I hope so, otherwise I might have just been poisoned."

Ruby shook her head. "Where were you even keeping that?" Nox wasn't wearing a bag of any sort, and his tight leather vest didn't have any pockets. In fact, Ruby suddenly found herself wondering how he carried any gear or food with him if he traveled as much as he did.

"I kept it in my own personal pocket dimension." Nox said sarcastically. "Where do you think I was keeping it?"

"Alright geez," Ruby mumbled with a shake of her head. "I was just asking." Nox shrugged and took another sip.

"Hey," Blake said, her bow twitching on top of her head. "You two hear that?" Nox and Ruby looked at each other.

"I didn't hear anything," Ruby said.

"Not a thing," Nox answered. Blake frowned.

"Stay here, I'm going ahead." Blake was in motion before Ruby could protest. She jumped up and grabbed onto a tree branch which she used to swing upwards into the tree itself. A moment later she was gone.

Ruby looked back at Nox only to see he has already taken a seat on the ground, his back up against the tree and the arm holding his flask draped over a bent knee. Feeling a little exasperated from it all, Ruby decided to flop down against a tree across from him only to land right on a root.

She let out a sharp squeak in pain but managed to cover it up a cough. Nox raised an eyebrow at her.

"So…" she began awkwardly. "Why don't you use any weapons?"

"Oh, for a handful of reasons." Nox said vaguely.

"Liiike?" Ruby pressed. Nox sighed.

"Well, I don't need them for one. I do just fine by myself."

"Buuuuut?" Ruby prodded again. Nox scowled.

"It is also because I'm not trained in the weapons I have."

"So you do have weapons!" Ruby said with a touch of excitement creeping into her voice. Nox sighed and reached behind him. He pulled out a thick cylinder almost too large for his hand. She was almost too excited to see what he had to wonder where he was keeping it. The light leather really wasn't that good for pockets.

She didn't see him press any buttons or anything, but the cylinder began expanding anyway like it was spurred on by some unknown force. It expanded, growing rapidly until it was far longer than it had been originally.

"A bo staff," Ruby stated slightly disappointed. She was expecting something with a little more… style? The staff didn't have any of the odd gears or moving parts that was so prevalent on the gun fused weapons most people had. This was more akin to something Jaune would have.

Its style was fairly simplistic. It was made mostly of a dark blue metal and had white tendrils of what Ruby guessed to be ivory set in the metal in such a way they looked like white vines wrapping around the staff.

Nox nodded. "It is a little more than that, but this is the form I'm most familiar with." Ruby frowned and furrowed her eyebrows.

"It has other forms?" She asked, a touch disbelieving. Nox nodded.

"How much do you know of Mimar?" He asked her curiously. Ruby tilted her head and looked at him oddly.

"It was called the New World, it became a place where people around Remnant flocked to make a new life for themselves. It was becoming the most prosperous kingdom on Remnant when the Great War happened. The kingdom fell in the early days as the other kingdoms targeted it for its resources. Grimm over ran the city and the war devastated the outer villages. No one has lived on the continent since."

"Right, right," Nox said dismissively. "Now, you could ask one of your professors and they'll tell you the Mimar were the first to make the development of gun sword weapons. But they don't tell you about an innovation before that. Micro-smithing."

Nox placed two hands on the staff and appeared to snap it in half. The pole broke cleanly in half and began to shit. Where before where it appeared to be a solid and telescoping staff, it was now a whirling mass of thousand of moving pieces and parts. She couldn't even follow what was going on until that all came to a stop to reveal itself as a pair of blue metal gauntlets fitting perfectly over his hands and forearms.

"That was incredible!" Ruby squealed excitedly. "How come I had never heard of this before?"

Nox shrugged. "Various reasons. It doesn't work with guns at all, and the gun/sword fad came so shortly after the development of micro-smithing that the technique never made it out of Valengard, a smithing town in Mimar."

"That is still incredible," Ruby pointed out. "How does it work?"

Nox watched her carefully as he explained. "Lots of really small parts, if you couldn't guess. I needed over three thousand identical pieces I call scales. The scales make ninety percent of the weapon and they way they stack with and against each other make the weapon seem like one solid mass like the staff you saw. Just as strong too."

"So cool," Ruby whispered.

"But like I said," Nox said dismissively. "Doesn't work with guns, so it isn't much use for Hunters."

"But wouldn't it still be a really useful thing to have?" Ruby asked. Nox shrugged.

"Maybe, I don't know."

"Guys," Blake suddenly said as she appeared from shadows of the forest around them. "I found their base."

***

The White Fang set up wasn't that complicated. They based themselves inside of an old ruin, a tower of some sort, and surrounded the bottom with tents for everyone else to use. White Fang were milling around. Some were moving boxes, others were chatting by campfires, a few were eating their dinner. All and all, things were peaceful for them.

The three of them were hiding in some bushes several dozen feet away from the camp, closely watching everyone as they went about their business.

"Alright," Ruby said, cocking back action on her scythe. "Let get in there and kick some butt."

"Not so fast," Nox said, grabbing her by the shoulder to stop her from moving forward. "You see those up there?" Nox pointed out some mounted guns on top of the aging tower. There were five of them facing their direction, more on the other sides.

"What are they?" Blake asked quietly.

"Anti-mech rifles," Ruby realized.

"Right," Nox said with a nod. "They can pack a punch hard enough to shoot right through a person's aura if they aren't fully trained Hunters. We go in there guns blazing, you'll be torn apart."

"So what do we do?" Blake asked. Nox paused a moment to consider that.

"Well, I could go in guns blazing to distract them. Then you and Ruby can take out the guns while they're distracted by me."

"What about you though?" Ruby asked. "Won't they shoot through your aura too?"

"I don't use aura," Nox answered automatically. "Or, rather, I concentrate it around my head and in my hands so the full strength surrounds only my head so I don't get decapitated. I don't know if my healing would bring me back from that, not willing to try either."

"Okay," Ruby said with a shake of her head. She had already forgotten he could apparently heal. "So let's do this already."

"Wait," Blake said with a wince. "Do you think you could not use Crescent Rose?"

"But why?" Ruby asked defensively, clutching the weapon closer to her.

"Is there even a nonlethal way to use that?" Nox asked dryly.

"Well, there's…" Ruby bit her lip to stop herself. There wasn't one really, it was either stab, slice, or shoot. Against Grimm or dueling other Huntress that was fine, but these White Fang members wouldn't have unlocked auras or have really strong ones if they did.

"But then what do I use?" Ruby finally asked, slumping a little as she put her weapon away.

"Your fists," Nox answered, looking a little puzzled with her. "Simply math, force equals mass times acceleration. And from what I've heard from Qrow, no one can accelerate as fast as you, making your fists just as destructive as any other weapon."

Ruby looked down and sighed. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Good, Nox said with a nod. "Then if we're all in agreement-" Nox cut himself off by taking a massive swig of his flask and leaping out of the bush.

"What's up everyone?" He said, dropping his flask on the ground. The White Fang were only shocked for a second before they were picking up their guns and attempting to shoot him. Nox punched one into the ground so fast Ruby couldn't even follow him with her eyes as he moved. And then bullets began to tear through his body.

It didn't stop him though.

 

[Grim Lord]

"This guy is completely insane!" Ruby hissed as she ducked behind some crates that offered her cover.

"And drunk," Blake said calmly as she joined her behind the crates. As soon as she had taken down the snipers like Nox asked, the White Fang came out in force. And that was when Nox really let loose.

It was almost amusing how he did it because he had no fighting skill to speak of, but he didn't really need it. He ran through gunfire like he had a death wish, threw people like they were toys, and broke stuff like it had personally offended him.

Ruby darted out of the cover in a brief dash then slid to a stop, turning slightly to where Nox was fighting a group of people trying to swarm him. She activated a brief flash of her semblance and shot forward with a burst of speed. She came out of the effect just a foot from a person attempting to take an ax to Nox's back. She tapped into her aura again, but this only around her arm just like Nox had suggested and punched the man in the chest.

She felt something snap underneath her fist before the man went flying and she winced internally. She didn't want to seriously hurt someone, not even these guys. They weren't nice by any means, but they were still people.

She turned around to see Nox holding two fauness by the back of their shirts and using them to hit the other White Fang members. Ruby shot backwards away from the fighting with a burst of rose petals so she could get a wider view of the fighting.

There was a lot of gunfire ringing out, but hardly any of it mattered as it was all directed toward Nox who wholehearted ignored it. People were swarming Nox with everything they had, but it was Blake that was taking most of them out. Nox was great at attracting their attention, but without weapons or skills to speak of, he was terrible at putting them down and keeping them down. Blake though, she used the chaos of his presence to move unseen and striking them out of nowhere.

Ruby glanced up and saw more gunmen climbing on the balcony she and Blake had already cleared of the Anti-mech riflemen. She narrowed her eyes and jumped through the air.

Ruby normally used her semblance in bursts. It was enough to take her over a large distance and give her the power she needs. There was another issue that maintaining her speed made it really hard to control and practically impossible to make turns without ridiculously wide arcs. But there was nothing to crash into in mid-air.

Giving herself a tight spin she flew through the air, leaving a trail of rose petals behind her, and slamming against the wall right behind the gunmen. A few got off a shocked cry both her instincts kicked in and she and started to attack.

She dropped the first one with a quick hit to the gut, then spun around and swept the legs out from under a man when she hooked his ankles with her boot. She clocked him in the throat with her elbow as he went down. She jumped up as one of them pointed his gun at her and placed a boot on his chest, pushing off hard enough to send her flying the other direction. She found another man decided his face would break her fall.

A few more men later and she was standing by herself. Looking down, she saw that the fighting below was almost finished, with faunus running into the woods to get away while the ground with littered with the injured and unconscious.

Now that they weren't swarming him, Nox wasn't moving wildly anymore. He chased them down now, letting Ruby see the result of his kind of fighting.

His clothing was full of holes and covered in blood, and his skin was completely invisible underneath a layer of drying blood. Ruby let out an exasperated sigh and hung her head. This guy was completely ridiculous, she could only imagine what he would be like if he got real training.

She looked behind her and saw the door that the gunmen had been coming out of. Glancing back at Blake and Nox she wondered if she should wait for them. But then we're almost done, and they would only be coming just behind her. And they already lost most people trying to fight off Nox.

Silently, Ruby opened the door and checked to make sure no one was on the other side. Not seeing anyone, she moved forward as stealthily as possible. The halls of the old ruin were abandoned, a set of lights jury-rigged to the ceiling being the only trace that anyone was here at all.

The tower wasn't that big, Ruby discovered. Only being about the size of a tall house with only two floors in it. The top floor she entered on wasn't special, holding some large rooms that held several crates of Dust and other supplies. There was was one room that appeared to be a bedroom, but it wasn't being used.

Finding a ladder where a staircase used to be, Ruby made her way to the ground floor. On the ground floor there wasn't a lot of rooms, just one long hallway leading away from the front door and the staircase she came down on. This hall was much darker, with none of the lights that had been on the floor above working at all. It was also a little moist, with puddles of something unknown on the floors. Ruby smartly avoided them.

She followed it to the end of the passage and found a set of double doors that had clearly been installed recently for whatever purpose the White Fang wanted this room for. After just a brief pause, she reached for the doorknob.

"Stop!"

Ruby turned and say Nox and Blake coming up behind her at a brisk jog.

"Maybe let the guy less likely to die if this is some, oh I don't know, death trap," Nox said sarcastically.

"Where did you go?" Blake asked, slowing down to a stop as she approached.

"I wanted to look ahead," Ruby said, only slightly guilty.

"Well," Nox said as he grabbed the door handle. "That would have been nice to-" He opened the door while he spoke and there was a loud click followed by a high-pitched beep.

"Goddamnit," Nox swore before turning around and tackling the two of them a second before an explosion ripped through the walls of the ruin.

***

Ruby woke up with a massive headache and a slight ringing in her ears. She groaned as she sat up, pressing a hand to her head. Then she opened her eyes and found herself complex surrounded by a bright white nothingness that extended in all directions.

"What the heck?" Ruby exclaimed as she scrambled off the ground.

"Calm down," Nox said. Ruby whirled around and saw him sitting on the ground, leaning against a completely white tree, leaves and all. Ruby looked around and saw they were actually in a forest, not an empty white expanse like she first thought. The trees were white, their leaves were white, the ground they grew out of was white. They casted very light grey shadows, the only thing giving them their depth. But there were also very small black spots in her vision with some odd effect to them that made them really hard to look at. It wasn't until she waved a hand in front of her face that she realized what it was, she could see the black spots no matter what was in front of them. Like inverted stars, they shined completely through all objects to hit her vision, including the earth considering the were some directly below her.

"What is going on?" Ruby asked. Nox sighed and pulled out another flask, taking a sip.

"This one is actually my semblance," he admitted with a sigh.

"Your… Semblance?"

"The Shadow World, my ancestors called it. Some thought it was a pocket dimension, others thought it was a parallel dimension because of how it mirrors the real world."

"The Shadow World? Dimension? Nox what the heck are you?" Ruby held her head to try to stop it from spinning. This was too much. His strength was one thing, his weapons was a little understandable, everything before this was a little much but not too much. But this was just ridiculous.

"You said the other things were your semblance!" Ruby protested.

"No," Nox corrected. "I said you could 'call' them my semblance. I never said it actually was."

"Ugh," Ruby groaned. And then she remembered something. "Wait, when you said that you were keeping your alcohol in your own personal pocket dimension were you not actually joking?!"

"Uh…." Nox began. "Yes?"

"You have a problem," Ruby said, defeated. Nox shrugged and took another sip from his flask. Ruby took a minute to process what happened before she sighed and sat down with her back against a tree.

"Where is Blake?" She asked.

"She's unconscious, on the other side of the tree." Nox told her. "You two got lucky. The first time into the Shadow World in normally incredibly painful, but you guys managed to pass out just before that."

"Why would it be painful?" Ruby asked.

"Because the Shadow World rips your aura away from your body and soul," Nox answered simply. Ruby blinked at him.

"What?"

Nox took a deep breath and let out a sigh. "Alright, the Shadow World doesn't work the same as the real world, things are weird and different. First, the is now aura here except for mine. Second, this world perfectly mimics the objects in the real world with one exception; people and animals don't exist and neither do the items on their immediate person. Third, a door closed in the real world cannot be opened in the Shadow World. In basic terms, you can't move or manipulate objects in the real world from this world. And finally, unless it is alcohol, don't eat or drink anything while you're here."

"Why?" Ruby asked, the last rule throwing her off just a little.

"Because food is another working with its own rules here," Nox explained. "Each kind of food operates differently, with alcohol being the only thing you can trust." Nox finished by up turning his flask and swallowing the contents.

"This… is a lot to think about," Ruby said, grabbing the sides of her head again. Nox shrugged.

"Then don't think about," Nox answered. "It's worked for me." Ruby met his statement with a sigh. Maybe he was right, it would make processing it all so much easier. Suddenly, Nox stood up and tossed his empty flask off to the side.

"We should probably get going," he said. "I'll carry Blake until she wakes up and we can jump back into the normal world a little closer to your camp."

"Will it hurt?" Ruby asked with a hint of trepidation.

"Less than it would have the first time," Nox answered honestly. "As bad as it sounds, your body eventually gets used to the feeling of having your aura ripped away from you."

***

Somewhere along the way, Nox had gotten new clothing to replace his tattered old set. Ruby chalked it up to something else she was unaware of about the Shadow World and proceeded to not think about it. Blake had woken up about halfway back to camp and Nox went through the explanation of the Shadow World again with her as they walked. Although it was mostly consistent, he let slip a few more things about the Shadow World she mentally noted.

There wasn't just a set of rules, like Nox had made it sound like. What he said were just the most important ones to note. According to him, there were random rules that affect almost everything to make the Shadow World just slightly different. One example he had used was that glass in the real world didn't exist in the Shadow World, it was just open space. The world was really weird, Ruby decided.

Getting back to the real world was painful, just as Nox had said, but in a very particular way. It felt like all of her bones had been dislocated and they were getting shoved back they way they were meant to be. It wasn't quite as painful as it would have been if her bones had actually been dislocated and relocated, but that was the closest thing she could describe it as. She wasn't eager to do it again.

"Welcome back," Glynda said. Ruby looked up and realized she had reappeared back in a world that made sense again and felt a flush of relief. Despite what Glynda was probably going to do to her, she was just glad to be back in a world where things had actual depth and colour to it.

"I'm sure you two have a very good reason for disappearing while one or both of you were supposed to be on watch," Glynda said. "So sure in fact, that you can write a two-page paper on it while you are server detention."

"It wasn't their fault," Nox's voice said. Ruby looked up and got her bearings. She and Blake were next to each other just outside of the walls Glynda had erected. Glynda herself was standing just over the two of them. Nox, though, was approaching from the trees. His pale skin being the only thing making him visible in the darkness of the night.

"I pulled them away for a bit of exploring," Nox answered, sounding almost honest.

"Nox," Glynda said, clearly taken aback a little. "We've gone through a lot of trouble to find you."

"I'm aware," Nox said. "They explained the situation to me, and I'm convinced." He held his arms wide in an almost drunken stance. "Let's go to Beacon."

***

Several hours later they had made it back to Beacon. No longer having to track Nox's path had allowed Glynda to call transport right to their location and then flying them back. The plane ride was mostly Glynda going just short of interrogating Nox, with the other four of them trying to listen to Nox's answers. Past that and Yang pressing Ruby and Blake for details, everything wrapped up on a fairly quiet note. Though, Ruby suspected Yang might have been more annoyed with not getting go than she let on. But Ruby was fine with that, everything that had happened was too confusing for her to really want a fourth person added to the mix to further complicate things. Particularly now that she was getting called back to Ozpin's office.

When the elevator doors opened she was able to see the sun was coming up through the large windows of his office. Ozpin was sitting by himself behind his desk, his hands folded into each other as he waited.

"Miss Rose," Ozpin greeted. "Please take a seat."

"Uh, alright."

She sat down in the chair that had been set out in front of his desk and immediately felt awkward. Ozpin considered her for a moment then said,

"I heard you had an interesting encounter with Nox."

"You could say that," Ruby admitted. Ozpin nodded.

"He is quite the character isn't he? But you did a good job, got him to accept our invitation into Beacon."

"Yes," Ruby said with a small sigh. "I just wish I understood why he did."

"Oh?" Ozpin asked, and eyebrow peaking. "Do tell."

"Well, when we first met out there, he was really against the idea," Ruby explained. He didn't want to do it, said he was better on his own. But after our 'adventure' into the woods he suddenly changed his mind."

"Hmm. Perhaps you inspired him in some way? Or showed him how being alone isn't as nice as having people there for you?"

"I guess," Ruby said, not quite feeling that was right.

"Well, you did a good job anyway, which is why I would like to talk to you." Ozpin leaned back in his chair and continued to study her with his cool yet critical look. "As you might have noticed, Nox isn't normal."

"That is kind of an understatement."

"Granted, but Nox could use some familiar faces when we officially accept him to our school tomorrow. I was thinking you might help him with that."

"What do you mean?"

"Nox has many talents and abilities, as I'm sure you are aware, but he has done anything to develop them. I would like you to volunteer to accept Nox to your team tomorrow and make sure he has the support he needs."

"I… guess?" Ruby said, a confused look passing over her face. "I know Yang would like someone to spar with, and Blake reads the same books as him apparently. I don't know about Weiss though."

"She'll come around," Ozpin assured her. "What is important is that you keep an eye on Nox and make him feel accepted. With proper training, Nox could become a real powerhouse for your team."

"...Alright," Ruby said. Ozpin smiled.

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow Ruby. And remember, Nox has extended a small measure of trust to you, be sure to take it."

 

[Grim Lord]

"Ahem," Ozpin cleared his throat into the microphone. He looked out on the crowd of students that he had gathered into the auditorium. He glanced at Glynda. She looked solemn and impassive, trying not to think about what they were about to do. "Today I called you all here due to an… unexpected addition. Due to a sizeable donation from The Ragrix corporation it appears we have a new student…"


Thousands of miles away in the Vacuo desert…

Two giants stood shoulder to shoulder observing their soldiers. Faunus in White Fang uniforms milled about among humans in grey uniforms around the compound. Containers of Dust were getting moved around to the desired locations.

"Are you sure we're ready, brother?" The first giant asked. He was large and muscle bound, standing almost a meter above most men.

"It doesn't matter." The second giant responded curtly. He was shorter, skinnier and toned. He looked more like an above average man. "Our window is closing, we can't wait any longer."

"Are the others starting as well?" The first giant asked, turning his head to view his brother. The second giant nodded.

"They are, but the fatherland can't spare the resources for them to start something, which is why we need to finish here before they do. But we have another problem."

"Oh?"

"He's back..."


Beacon

"... due to his late entry into the school, this student will be needing a team." Ozpin continued. "I have allowed for a slight change in the rules. A five person time will be allowed for this person only, and their intial shall not be added to the team name. He will function as a full member of your team, but during certain team vs team exercises one person must be excluded from the team…"


Somewhere in Vale…

Raven walked through the portal and found herself in a dimly lit bar where Qrow was silently drinking in the corner. She walked forward, ignoring the stares other people gave her as she approached him. Qrow barely looked up to look at her when she stopped above in front of him.

"He is back." She said simply. Qrow paused and looked at her.

"The kid?"

"Yes."

"Damn." Qrow said, then promptly threw back his drink. He set the glass back down on the table. "I'll let the others know."

"The other one is nearby somewhere." Raven added. Qrow frowned, nearby could mean a lot of things when said about this particular person, if you could call him that.

"Glynda won't be happy to hear it." Qrow said with a sighed and took out his Scroll. "Go, I'll let you know if they need you." He told Raven with a wave. She nodded and turned the other way, cutting open another portal and stepping through it. Qrow dialed a number and held the Scroll up to his ear.

"Winter, it's Qrow. Yeah, I know. Listen to me, he's back…"


Beacon

"... This future Hunter is fast, strong, and silent. He has the versatility to be part of any team." Ozpin looked over the crowd and noted the ones that seem interested. Everyone at least seem curious in some way. "I have been assured of his capabilities so none should worry about his impact on your team's overall grade. But be warned…"


In a secret location in the forest of Forever Fall.

Cinder twirled a glass of wine as she laid in bed with Charcoal next to her. Her mind raced with ideas and complex scenarios playing out. Alway something, alway thinking, always planning. The room was almost unbearably hot and hazy. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Adam entered a moment later in his battle gear. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword.

"We have a problem." He said in his gruff voice. Cinder hushed the many voices in her head and stopped all the side thoughts were running almost passively in the background.

"What?"

"He is back, in Vale." Cinder frowned deeply.

"Did you tell the boss?" Adam nodded.

"Then we proceed as planned. We will deal with him if we have to, but no sooner."


Beacon

"... should you take him as a member of your team, prepare for your challenges to increase for you and your team. With that in mind, Nox Invictus if you would." Ozpin took a small side step ans Nox joined him on the stage, his face set in an emotionless frown.

After a moment of getting ogled by the crowd, Nox leaned forward into the microphone and calmly said,

"Hello." His voice was even and cool and vaguely unsettling. He took a single step back without another word, allowing Ozpin to reclaim the stage.

"With that said, who would like to volunteer to accommodate Nox?"


In the headmaster's office in Atlas

Ironwood sat in his chair patiently staring at the Scroll, waiting for the inevitable phone call. He flex his robotic hand idly as he waited. When it did begin to buzz he picked it up on the first ring. The voice flowed through to the other end.

"Plans have been moved ahead. We are sending you and a small fleet to Vale under the pretext of securing the area for the Vytal festival. Your contact will be a monkey faunus by the name of Sun Wukong. You are to get in, gather information on Nox and Ozpin and await further instructions." The message clicked off and Ironwood turned the Scroll off as he stared into space wondering what he was going to do.


Ruby's voice carried across the crowd from the back row of people.

"Over here!" Ruby leapt into the air. She was much happier and much more energetic since that night, all it took was a little time to put it out of her mind. "We'll take him!" Weiss grabbed Ruby's arm and got her to stop, moving to scold her be losing the chance as Ozpin continued speaking again.

"Good, the rest of you, off to class. We have much to learn before this year can end." Ozpin's tone sounded grim at the end, but he turned and walked off with Glynda before many had noticed.


Somewhere in the commercial district of Vale

Jenn closed her laptop and slipped it inside of her bag before throwing the strap over her shoulder and slipping out of the coffee shop she was sitting in. She stepped out and looked at the bank across the street. People were being told to leave and the manager had come out to start locking things up behind him. Jenn checked to make sure the funds she stole from the manager that had been embezzling them had transferred into her account, with a little shaved off and sent to her employer. The satisfied smile disappeared off her face as a message appeared on the screen.

"Chase the rabbit Alice! -O" Attached a semi camouflaged tunnel in the Forest of Forever fall. Jenn sighed and said,

"Damn it, dad." She slipped her Scroll back into her pocket and began walking towards the nearest Dust shop. She was going to need some supplies for this…


"Are you sure about this Ozpin?" Glynda asked. Ozpin was watching a project screen in front of him intently. On it was Nox interacting with team RWBY. Nox was unsurprisingly calm and reserved. Only speaking when asked a question directly and avoiding going into detail. Ozpin predicted that much. He was more interested in the individual reactions of the members of team RWBY. Weiss was immediately hostile toward him, although he couldn't be sure if it was because she knew his history with her family or not. It would take looking into.

Yang was immediately friendly towards him. She had thrown her arm around him, told a joke, and offered to show him around the school. Whether is was to poke fun at him or a genuine attempt to know him, once again Ozpin could only guess.

Ruby was excited, but also wary of him. Every time she looked at him or spoke there was a reseverd look of concern and curiosity, yet she decided to not bring it up. Blake on the other hand had curiously elected to stay a distance away from him and hasn't said anything as of yet.

Nox reaction to each of them was telling too, despite his attempt to remain emotionless. He and Weiss had chosen not to mention talk about the family issues they had in front of the others. He was guarded around Yang, meeting her personality with resistance by going silent every other time she spoke. He and Blake had shared a few words, but not many. Ruby was by far the one he responded the most to, going to far as to make a joke about her in his dry, somewhat drunken, tone.

Ozpin linked his fingers together and contemplated Glynda's question to him for a moment.

"Yes, I'm sure," he finally answered.

"He had visited the planet a few years back, played with that one boy. Lux I believe he was called. Nox could have gotten the mark during that time." Glynda said with a hand raised.

"No," Ozpin stated clearly. "When He comes He effects a lot of people, there is no reason Nox would be the only to have the mark among dozen of other candidates. No, it has to be Him."

"So what do we do then? We can alert the authorities, have him arrested at any time."

"Not… yet. We will observe him, see if He appears, let us hope He doesn't." Ozpin looked up and stared at the gears moving above him. As if he could see through them and the ceiling behind and could look through the clouds at the moon hundreds of miles away. As if he could see the man standing on it.

The moon
The man looked as if he was balancing on the tips of his toe of a piece of the shattered moon. His suit coat rustled as if there was a wind blowing past it. The man adjusted his top hat and stroked his goatee as a goofy grin spread across his face. His hat and suit changed to a bright red colour as he began to chuckle.

"Thats a nice backwater world you hold yourself up in, Ozpin. It would be a shame if someone… broke it."

 

[Grim Lord]

The first thing Ruby noticed about the way Nox fought Grimm was that it was entirely unlike watching him fight people. Back in Mountain Glenn Nox had basically stood in one place and let the people attack him, only chasing after them when they began to run away. The Grimm were the exact opposite.

Just like before, Nox showed little to no skill in fighting that even a common person might be capable of, let alone a Hunter. Yet, once again it didn't really matter as Ruby watched Nox cause a full sized Death Stalker to get knocked a little off balance when Nox met its claw with his fist.

Ruby quirked her mouth as he let out an angry and frustrated shout before thrusting his arm elbow deep into one of the Death Stalker's eyes. Its tail suddenly shot forward and impaled Nox through the chest, making him cry out in pain as the tip pierced through him and out the other side. Ruby heard Weiss gasp next to her as it happened. Nox reached a hand out and grabbed the stinger where it met the rest of the tail and crushed it in his grip. The stinger fell out and rolled off the Stalker's back, revealing a baseball sized hole in Nox's chest.

Nox tore his hand out of the Grimm's eye socket at that point, pulling out a massive black lump with it. The Death Stalker collapsed to the ground and Nox stumbled off its body, putting a hand over his wound even as it healed rapidly. Holding up his other hand, Nox recorded the kill on the armband.

Ruby glanced at the score and saw that Yang was barely keeping up with Nox, and not for lack of trying. Actually, when looking closer at the numbers, Yang had been killing more than Nox yet still had the lower score.

"Hey," Ruby asked, slightly confused with the discovery. "How come Nox is running into all the stronger Grimm."

"Well, obviously it's because of how aggressive he is," Weiss said with a wave of her hand, her tone very clearly voicing her disapproval.

"He does seem to be rather angry," Blake observed.

"You're both quite right," Glynda agreed with a nod. She paused the video feed zoomed into Nox's facial expression. His teeth were clenched and his jaw was set, his eyes so fierce with anger Ruby actually half expected them to shoot lasers or something. With everything else he seemed to be capable of, Ruby didn't doubt he could probably find a way.

"It would appear Nox's unprecedented amounts of anger are attracting much large Grimm to him," Glynda explained. "And fighting them doesn't seem to do much to help him vent. I would suggest working on that with him, maybe get him into therapy if you think it will help. It is going to seriously harm your effectiveness if Nox attracts Grimm whenever you go out."

As soon as she finished speaking an alarm and notice went off, telling her that their time was up.

"Nox wins with one hundred thirty-three points to Yang's one hundred twenty points," Glynda stated matter-of-factly. "Who would like to go next?"

"Oh, me!" Ruby said excitedly, pulling out Crescent Rose and unfolding it into a scythe before anyone could say otherwise. Blake and Weiss looked at each other and shrugged. Ruby grinned at their reaction and moved to the launch pad. It reminded her of her first official day at Beacon, only this time it was actually all about the combat.

Glynda waited until Yang was well on her way back to the cliff face and Nox had scaled a tree to avoid any more combat before handing Ruby her armband. It was blinking across the top to show that there was a current pause in the combat. Ruby slipped it on and held her scythe ready, giving Glynda an eager nod. Glynda returned the nod and hit a button on her pad. A second later, Ruby was in the air.

She let herself fly freely for a moment, just enjoying the feeling of flying through the air. But a few seconds later she brought out her scythe and was about to fire a round to slow her down when two bullheads burst out of the trees.

For a second Ruby could only stare in shock as the battle plane shot out of the trees only a few hundred feet away from her. She was knocked out of this stupor when the first shot slammed into her and sent her spiraling through the air.

In a moment of panic, Ruby used her already damaged aura to charge a small speed burst into a twirling motion that slowed her down just enough that she didn't take a lot of damage when she struck the ground.

She looked up and saw the bullheads already circling around her, only this time they were much lower and the side door was open on one to reveal a man in a dark grey suit vest and pants with a pinstriped undershirt topped off with a matching grey fedora that had a single, amber feather sticking out of the band.

"Good evening there Miss Rose," the man in grey said as he swept off his hat and gave her a bow. "I know some people that are very interested in meeting you, so I thought I would do you the kind of asking if you would like to come with us before we had to force you. Common courtesy and all that."

"Glynda Goodwitch is here," Ruby declared definitely. "And my friends!"

"Ah, yes," the man in grey responded. "Well, they are currently occupied with my fine feathered friends, sometimes literally, so I wouldn't count on it. Last chance before we have to get a little rough."

"No!" Ruby shouted before darting off into the woods. She hoped the trees would make it a little harder to follow her. She was answered with autocannon fire thumping into the trees behind her. She darted in the other direction and made a split second decision.

She could use all her remaining aura in a no holds barred sprint to try to get as far away as possible or she could keep it to protect herself. She decided she liked living better and didn't use it. Which just left one question for her, what now?

Weiss was always good when it came to strategy, what would she do? Well, that was actually simpler to answer than Ruby first thought, fight or flight.

Against two bullheads she didn't stand much of a chance without getting extremely lucky. She knew her sniper could shoot through the window and maybe do some serious damage to the engines. If she got her scythe close enough she could cut open the plane like it was made of tin. However, both plans required her to put herself in the path of their autocannons. Not a good idea when the next bullet might shatter her aura.

So if running was the only option that gave her a reasonable chance, then she needed to pick where to run to. Glynda, was her first thought. The teacher and full Huntress had shown to be capable of handling a bullhead when they had first met. But, going by what the man in grey said, she was already dealing with probably more of these if not worse. Ruby did go to her, she would only be adding two more bullheads to her and her teammate's problems. That left Yang and Nox who should still be in the woods near her. It was clear which one was going to be more useful.

Ruby pulled out her Scroll and dialed up Yang as she turned toward the direction she thought Nox would probably be in. It took a few rings, but Yang eventually picked up her phone

"Rubes, tell me you aren't also getting attack by White Fang in a bullhead. They just came out of nowhere!"

"White Fang?" Ruby asked, confused. "No, but there are two bullheads after me and-"

"Two?" Yang asked with a degree of panic.

"-And I think Glynda is in worst shape. But don't worry, I have a plan."

"Sweet, what it is?"

"Find Nox."

"Uh, sis? What is Nox supposed to do?"

"Punch them or something! I don't know! You saw him fight haven't you?"

"I might have caught a glimpse, but-"

"Just find Nox if that doesn't work you can throw him at the planes." Ruby hung up a moment later and picked up her speed. If nothing else, Nox could get them out of the forest through the Shadow World. Only problem now was finding him.
​

 

[Grim Lord]

Ruby zigzagged through the trees as gunfire bit into the trees around her. She had run into a few White Fang members since, which made her hopeful that she was going to run into Yang soon.

She jumped through a bunch of bushes and instantly ground to a halt. Standing in a half circle, a whole legion of White Fang members stood calmly pointing several dozen guns at her. Ruby turned around when the Man in Grey dropped out of the sky and landed on the ground in front of her, a large naginata in hand.

"Why, hello again," the Man in Grey said with a grin. "Do me a solid and set your scythe on the ground and put these on." The Man in Grey threw a pair of reinforced handcuffs at her, letting them land with a clank at her feet. Ruby took a step back and studied her options. There weren't many.

Suddenly, the forest went pitch black. No, not the forest, the shadows.

"You make a good argument," Nox's voice said, coming from seemingly everywhere. "But counter argument; piss off." Nox rose out of the pitch black shadows right behind the White Fang members and caused some of them to jump when he lazily said,

"Peek a boo."

They whirled around and opened fire and for a moment Nox was masked from view by muzzle flashes and gun smoke. A full thirty seconds went by before they started running out of bullets, and then one by one the guns clicked off. When it had all stopped, Nox was just standing there covered from the shoulders down in his own blood.

Nox raised an eyebrow at the White Fang members and asked,

"Would anyone else like to try that?"

The White Fang members glanced at each other a moment and then lowered their weapons. Nox rolled his eyes and strode through them, using one hand to shove a few aside and another to lift a flask up to his lips.

"Noc," The Man in Grey said with a mock bow, "Or is it Nox now? I forget you change it too often."

"To be honest," Nox said, a slight slur making it into his voice now. "I don't care what you call me anymore. But it seems you just won't leave things alone. What do you want?"

Ruby started edge backward towards Nox, keeping a suspicious eye on the two of them. This exchange was a little too odd, a little too comfortable.

"Simply, I want her." The Man in Grey pointed his naginata at Ruby.

"Well, that's going to be a problem."

"Oh, you have gone straight," the Man in Grey said, sound genuinely disappointed. "And here I was hoping it was just a rumor."

Nox paused and considered that for a moment, his expression darkening.

"Who sent you?" Nox demanded. The Man in Grey grinned.

"You know who."

Nox took a deep breath and let it go with a deep sigh. "I have my guesses." Suddenly, Nox darted forward swung a fist at the Man in Grey's face.

Suddenly, the Man in Grey wasn't there. He had ducked under Nox's swing and slammed his blade into Nox's back, cutting a wound that was impossible to distinguish from the blood around the rest of his back.

Ruby whirled on the White Fang members and launched herself at them, flipping her scythe over in her head. She slammed the heavy blunted end through the lined up men like they were dominoes. The broke apart immediately, darting into the woods and disappearing into the undergrowth.

She turned back and looked at the two bullheads circling above them. It looked like they weren't going to open fire while the Man in Grey was on the ground, which should give her an opening to attack them.

She was about to jump upward with assistance from her weapon's recoil when she glanced at Nox and paused.

Nox was swinging wildly, throwing incredibly powerful punches that tended to shatter the trees they hit. But the Man in Grey moved like water, dodging every attack Nox threw with an amused expression and taking every chance he had to hack at Nox with his spear blade.

Suddenly, Ruby recalled one of the first things she had said to Nox back at Mountain Glenn, that he would lose to any Hunter.

Torn between what she should do for a split second, Ruby flipped her scythe over and aimed the rifle at the Man in Grey. For a single frame in her mind, the Man in Grey had turned around and flashed her a grin before moving on and stabbing his spear through Nox's throat.

Nox hit the ground a moment later and didn't get back up.

Ruby fired her gun but the Man in Grey cut the bullet out of the air with almost casual ease. She fired two more shots, one he deflected and the other he let miss. Ruby lifted the scythe slightly and fired another shot, letting the recoil power a spin so she could bring the blade down on him.

The Man in Grey leaned slightly and dodged the blade with a centimeter of space between it and him. He suddenly thrust his blade forward, taking out a few hairs of hers as it passed.

She activated her aura and darted back to get some space. The Man in Grey sauntered towards her casually, swinging his naginata carelessly.

"You really want to keep this going on much longer?" He asked. "I've been playing nice, but the order is just to take you alive, not unharmed. I've been trying to be a gentlemen but you're making it rather hard."

"Who are you?" Ruby demanded before firing another bullet at him

"I am just an extension of a much large group. I would have thought that much was obvious by now."

"Why do you want me?"

The Man in Grey shrugged. "How should I know? I'm just supposed to catch you."

"That's your first mistake," Nox suddenly stated, still lying face down in the dirt. The Man in Grey chanced a look back at him curiously. Ruby attempted to shoot him again but he just deflected it. "Because if you were smart you would have at least pretend to have a good reason."

"A first mistake would imply I made a second one," The Man in Grey quipped.

"You did," Nox said, rising to his feet. "You let my spinal cord reconnect."

Nox stood up and turned to face the Man in Grey with his full body. His head and hands glowed with a black shade of light before spread across his body, showing his aura spreading to cover his whole person. The Man in Grey started taking a few steps back, keeping an eye on both Nox and Ruby.

Nox pulled a knife out of his barely intact belt and turned it slightly, letting Ruby see a red symbol drawn into the side. Nox let the knife drop into the ground a moment before the shadow beneath him turned a pitch black. Nox stuck hand in and pulled out a blue cylinder. A second later, he was holding his bo staff.

"You made a third mistake too." Nox stated.

"And what, pray tell, is that?" The Man in Grey asked, a slightly annoyed tone getting into his voice.

"You let her sister catch up to us." Nox gestured with his staff behind him. Sure enough, Yang came out of the bushes. Her eyes already red.

"Oh dear," The Man in Grey said, moving into a defensive position.

Ruby grinned as she felt a rush of excitement flood through her. The tables had turned and she had a plan.

 

[Grim Lord]

Ruby pointed her scythe behind her and pulled the trigger.

The Man in Grey barely reacted in time, using the shaft of his weapon to deflect Ruby's blade upwards.

"Yang," Ruby called.

"On it," Yang answered back, already in motion. She tapped her fist as she flew through the air and punched at the Man in Grey. He cartwheeled backward out of the way, but was caught in the explosion Yang had caused.

"Nox, take out those planes," Ruby ordered. Nox took a step forward, but paused in hesitation. The Men in Grey suddenly flipped his naginata over, revealing a rifle transformation. He fired two shots at Nox, which glanced off his aura ineffectively. Nox shook his head clear and started stalking towards the Man in Grey with heavy footsteps.

"Nox, the planes!" Ruby shouted again, leaping through the air and dropping her scythe on where the Man in Grey had been standing before he dodged out of the way. "Yang and I can handle him, just get the planes!"

Nox scowled at Ruby before jumping, pushing off the ground hard enough he left a small crater in the ground. Turning her attention back to the Man in Grey, Ruby saw Yang hit the dirt as he brought the shaft of his weapon across Yang back. Instinctually, Ruby leapt forward, swinging her scythe towards him.

The Man in Grey shot her a grin and moved inside of the scythe's range. Ruby's eyes widened as she watched his blade extend towards her face. A moment before it connected, she used the last of her aura to power a speed boost, bring her fist into his gut while dodging around the blade.

She didn't get a chance to see his reaction as he went flying a moment later from the force.

The Man in Grey flipped over in midair and landed feet first on a tree before leaping back toward Ruby. Suddenly, Yang kicked off the ground and clocked him in the chest with an explosive punch. He went flying through the air, which Ruby noticed only had one bullhead still flying in it.

The Man in Grey recovered from this attack expertly, turning it into a roll to his feet. He looked up at them and grinned, completely unphased by the hits he just received. He rushed forward at the same time both her and Yang did.

This time, the Man in Grey wasn't holding back.

After few seconds of attempting, it became clear that her scythe was only getting in Yang's way. So with a final attempt strike at him, she buried the tip of Crescent Rose in the ground and switched to attempting the shoot him with the sniper rifle while Yang occupied him.

Fighting like he was possessed by a demon, the Man in Grey's naginata turned into a blur as he cut Ruby's bullets out of the air and striking Yang all while avoiding her punches. Ruby was sure a few bullets made it through but it didn't matter, as a series of impossible to follow movements later he was strangling Yang with the shaft of his weapon. He arched his back and suplexed her into the ground before popping back up and striking her with the blade, shattering her aura and cutting into her leg. Leaving both her and Ruby without any aura.

"Well," the Man in Grey said, slightly out of breath. "That was a little annoying, but a good workout." He turned to Ruby and smiled a sickly sweet smile. "Don't you see?" He asked, holding his hands out widely. "You could fight all day, you're not going to land a hit on me."

"That's because you're fighting two people that still value their lives," Nox said, walking out of the forest with a bullhead engine on his shoulder. He dropped it on the ground and made a show of his black aura retreating into his body. He stretched his neck, releasing an audible crack, and pulled out his telescoping bo staff.

"I don't have that weakness." Nox said seriously. The Man in Grey's grin fell slightly, becoming a small, interested smile. He turned on his heels to face Nox and held his naginata ready.

"So I've heard. Do show me, will you?"

Nox set his jaw and flew forward with a burst of speed. The Man in Grey lifted his spear weapon defensively almost as fast. The two weapons hit each other with a glass shattering crack that rang through the forest as the Man in Grey became his own crater as Nox's strength shove him deeper into the ground.

They held each other's glare for a moment before they broke apart and began to attack one another furiously. The blur of a blue staff against a grey staff followed a series of clashing metal as both moved at true Hunter level speeds.

It boggled Ruby how they were fighting for a moment before she fully realized why it shocked her. Nox was using an actual fighting style. But it wasn't a real way of fighting, instead, it was something that was so perfect for Nox and so fitting for him to use for as well as Ruby knew him. It was all the striking methods and none of the defensive ones. It was ruthless, no holds barred, and absolutely savage attack with no regard to his own bodily safety.

And the Man in Grey was winning.

After a full two minutes of this ruthless attack keeping up, Nox began to slow down. The Man in Grey was bleeding, from the mouth and just above the eye. But Nox looked like he was dying, with wounds slowly closing all over his body and his own blood now coating him like he was dipped in a bucket of red paint.

Suddenly, the Man in Grey thrust his naginata through Nox's gut so deep the tip sprouted out the other side. Nox froze, his staff held above his head. Ruby saw the Man in Grey grin again and felt her heart sink as Nox's grip on his staff failed and it hit the ground.

Then Nox grabbed the Man in Grey's naginata and pulled himself further on it and grabbing the Man in Grey before he realized what was happening. And then Nox charged.

Nox slammed straight through a tree, sending splinters everywhere as he did so. And he didn't stop, continuing to run through tree after tree. Ruby quickly checked to make sure Yang was alright before chasing after them, reloading her weapon as she went.

It turns out, about thirty trees was the number Nox was set on slamming the Man in Grey through. Something, despite taking some wounds beforehand, he had survived, even if he was looking more than a little battered. Ruby slowed herself down to a light jog and approached Nox and the man slowly as Nox lifted the man up into the air. She heard Nox speak first.

"Why are you really here?" Nox demanded. "Who sent you?"

The Man in Grey chuckled weakly. "Don't ask questions you already know the answer to Nox." He answered. "I think our conversation beforehand made it pretty clear we both know is pulling the strings here." The Man in Grey raised his gaze to look past Nox, directly at Ruby. He grinned one last time and said,

"Don't think I'm done here though. I've got a job to do, and I've been given permission to do whatever it takes to bring you in. Once they know Nox is here to stay, escalation is the only option."

Suddenly, he and the weapon still lodged in Nox turned a dark grey before breaking down into ash, leaving Nox holding nothing. The ash cloud swept upward and collected in a vaguely human shape that offered a lazy salute before blowing away in the wind.

Nox fell to one knee and let out a shuddering breath. Ruby looked down at him oddly and saw he was still bleeding, and badly.

"Nox?" She shouted, going to the ground next to him. "Why aren't you healing?"

"Took… too much…" Nox managed between breaths. "Need… food… got organ… failure… help." He attempted to get to his feet a moment before collapsing face first into the dirt. Ruby rolled him over panicky and searched for what to do. He was bleeding from cuts all over, and the massive hole in his gut wasn't helping.

She almost went to rip her hood off to use as bandages when Nox was suddenly enveloped in a bright purple glow. Ruby turned around and saw Glynda descending from the small transport ship they took to get here, her aura glowing as she lifted Nox into the air. Weiss and Blake were standing behind her. Blake was supporting Yang, who had a bandaged leg but managed to look alright for the most part.

"Come along Miss Rose," Glynda said seriously. "We must get him to the infirmary before his injuries become too much.

All Ruby could manage was a tight nod before running up to the transport to join them on the ride back to Beacon.

***

"Heart damage, blood in the lungs, his liver basically cut in half, sever trauma all over the body, and several other organs getting some terrible damage." Dr. Ekleston summed up for the three girls. Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were waiting in the hallway outside the infirmary, having waited almost an hour for the results.

"Yet, he holds on. His organs seem to be refusing to shut down, as if stubborn. It is too early to tell, but he might make a full recovery if he can stay stable. As for Miss Xiao Long, the gash on her leg was deep, but a day or two off it and her aura should take care of the problem."

"Thank you," Blake said calmly.

"Is that it?" Ruby asked. "Is there else nothing wrong with him?"

"Well," the doctor began, "There is certainly no shortage of things wrong with him, but besides his wounds nothing out of the ordinary."

Ruby bit the inside of her cheek and said nothing in response to that. The doctor looked between the three of them, waiting to see if they needed anything else. Not seeing a response from any of them, he nodded once and turning around to return the infirmary.

"What happened out there?" Blake asked solemnly once the doctor was gone.

"I don't know," Ruby said. "They just came out of nowhere and attacked us. The Man in Grey said he was here for me."

"Another talented human working for the White Fang," Blake observed. "That can't be a coincidence. Someone is definitely behind this."

"Like who?" Weiss asked. Ruby turned her head slightly, looking at Nox's bandaged body lying in the infirmary bed on a breather through the window in the door.

"Someone I think Nox knows," Ruby said quietly. "And now they'll be coming for him and me both now."

 

[Grim Lord]

Ruby prodded Nox by poking his cheek with a finger. Instantly, his eyes flew open and he looked at her. His hand came up and he fumbled with the breathing mask they had put on him.

"Ruby," Nox greeted curtly once he had it pulled off. "I don't suppose you have any food."

Ruby raised an eyebrow at him. "Food?"

"My healing factor uses food to supply the material it needs," Nox explained quickly before devolving into a series of horse coughs, spitting up some blood in his hand as he did so. Once it passed, he swallowed deep, making Ruby cringe inward at the thought of swallowing blood.

"I'm currently trying to breathe and speak with half a lung," Nox said, sounding completely out of breath. "So please, food. Meat if you have it."

"Will this work?" Ruby asked, pulling out a small bundle a jerky Weiss had included in a survival kit she whipped up. Nox shrugged and took it from her, scarfing it down as fast as he could.

"I thought you didn't have a fighting style," Ruby stated, trying to make conversation. Nox shot her an odd look.

"I don't," he said, popping a piece of jerky into his mouth.

"That's not what I saw when you fought the Man in Grey."

Nox shrugged and ripped off another piece, chewing a swallowing quickly before saying,

"It was all instinct. Maybe a little bit of muscle memory after fighting Grimm for so long." Nox suddenly reached up and pulled a bandage off his shoulder. Ruby watched with wide eyes as he dipped his fingers in his open wound before turning around, lifting his pillows up, and drawing a symbol on the wall behind them in his own blood. When he was done, it turned the shadow into a solid black portal and he reached inside, pulling out a flask.

"What was that?" Ruby asked.

"Instant teleport," Nox stated. "If I have that blood crest at two locations, I can perform an instant teleport between them. It lets me travel without weighing myself down with gear." Nox unscrewed the cap of the flask and start downing the contents.

"I thought people with healing factors couldn't get drunk," Ruby said as the thought occurred to her.

"What made you think that?" Nox asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, a lot of people and writers say that."

Nox snorted. "Only people that don't know how getting drunk works." Ruby gave Nox a curious look, making him roll his eyes as he explained.

"To get drunk you just have to get alcohol into your bloodstream. It doesn't do any damage or harm to your system until it is getting filtered out by your liver, well after you've gotten drunk. And that goes with all poisons for the most part, until it starts damaging my body it's free to circulate in my system. Sucks when you accidentally eat poisonous berries, is great when you want the world to spin." Nox finished his statement was another sip from his flask and popped another piece of jerky into his mouth.

Silence stretched between them a moment as Ruby considered what she wanted to say next. After bouncing a few ideas back in forth in her mind, she eventually sighed as she decided to just jump to her reason for coming here.

"Nox," Ruby began as he ate, casting her look downward. "Who was that in the forest? Who were you two talking about?"

Nox's chewing slowed and his expression darkened. He finished chewing what he had and swallowed, taking a moment to consider what he was going to say.

"Ruby," Nox began. "I'm going to tell you right now, the less you know about these people the better."

"Why," Ruby urged.

"Because they're a virus," Nox hissed. "The moment you so much as hear their name they're a part of your life. And the deeper you go the more they cling on to you. Every single encounter increases their influence on your life, making it more devastating when they finally moved against you."

"Nox," Ruby said seriously. "They came after me. They attacked all of us, hurt my sister, hurt you. If you hadn't managed to hurt him, something that almost killed you, they might have kidnapped me. You need to tell me who the Man and Grey was talking about."

Nox's frown deepened, but slowly he nodded.

"Just know, all it takes is their name. Just their name and they will change your life irreversibly. I've seen it happen so many times."

"Who are they?" Ruby pressed, getting increasingly impatient with his stalling. Nox took a deep breath and let out a sigh.

"Do you remember what I was doing in Mountain Glenn?" He asked, shooting Ruby and odd look.

"You were hunting down the White Fang," Ruby recalled.

"No, I was hunting down the man in charge, Adam Taurus."

"But what does that have to do with these people?'

"Everything," Nox stated. "I used to work for these people, and so did Adam.

"When I ran with them, they were a government-sponsored agency based in a Faunus sanctuary town in the deserts of Vacuo. They were supposed to prevent and research ways to prevent the kind of radical Faunus groups that caused the first Faunus war. Obviously, they aren't really about that anymore, if ever." Nox shook his head and looked at Ruby. He took a deep drink from his flask and sighed.

"Adam and I… were teammates, you could say. We worked together along with a few others when we were part of the group. But things broke down and I left, thinking the organization had fallen apart. It had been years since I've so much as heard of him or anyone else from the group doing anything. I thought the group was done, so when Adam was made the leader of Vale's White Fang I immediately suspected our old group and set out to hunt him down. I didn't what they did to ever happen again. But when you and Blake helped me take out that White Fang camp, I started to think that maybe they didn't have anything to do with it. That this was just Adam moving on with his life, and that maybe I should start to do that same." Nox rolled his eyes and took a distainfull pull from his flask. "Clearly I was wrong."

"That doesn't tell me who they are," Ruby pointed out. Nox sighed.

"They call themselves The Project."

***

"He didn't say anything else," Ruby stated as she finished explaining her conversation to Blake and Weiss. They had met just outside of the school, making sure no one would hear them.

"Are you sure?" Blake asked. "That's all he said about The Project?"

"That's what I said," Ruby responded dryly.

"That doesn't make any sense," Blake said, biting her thumb in thought. Weiss and Ruby shared a look with each other.

"It is Nox," Weiss began. "You don't want to trust anything he says."

"What is your problem with Nox?" Ruby asked, not meaning it to be accusingly, even though it came off like that. Neither she nor Nox were saying anything about it, yet Weiss kept referring to it in those vague terms. It was getting annoying.

"Besides being part of a secret organization that attacked us and tried to kidnap you, and then refused to tell you anything about it except the name?" Weiss asked, a touch sarcastically. "I wasn't aware I needed more reason."

Ruby stared at her with a raised eyebrow.

"No," Blake began slowly. "I knew Adam. He never mentioned anything like that."

"Well, yeah," Ruby stated, "That is kind of the point of a secret organization." Weiss and Blake looked at her, then at each other, then shrugged.

"So what are we supposed to do about it?" Weiss asked.

"We look into the White Fang," Blake answered immediately. "If they're involved then we'll likely find some evidence of them in one of their bases."

"But how do we do that?" Ruby asked. "Isn't the kingdom already trying to track them down."

"Mercenaries," Weiss answered. Blake and Ruby looked at her oddly. Weiss blinked at them and suddenly looked uncomfortable. "The Schnee Company and the kingdoms both post rewards for information and capture of White Fang members. It's not quite as popular as it once was, but you can still find people putting together teams to scout out and attack anything to do with the White Fang."

"So we find one of these mercenaries, join their crew, and hope it leads us to information on the White Fang?" Blake clarified.

"Well, unless you have a better idea," Weiss said defensively.

"It might work," Ruby said slowly. "But are you sure you guys want to do this?"

The two of them looked at Ruby blankly for a moment.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"Yeah," Weiss agreed, "they attacked you, going after them is the only thing we could do."

"Right," Blake said with a nod. Ruby smiled at them. She didn't want to admit it, but she was kind of looking forward to it. It sounded like it was going to be fun.