Never trust a stranger-friend;
No one knows how it will end.
As you're pretty so be wise;
Wolves may lurk in every guise.

-Little Red Riding Hood

They came upon the crash site two hours after landing, in a wide clearing. The wreck was little more than a twisted hunk of black and burning metal, bodies littering the scorched ground, human blood mingled with Grimm ashes creating some kind of morbid, yet artistic, landscape. Blake counted five bodies; the pilot of the vessel, who had died on impact, and four others scattered around the outside, each having been ripped apart and butchered. Judging from the weapons and remnants of armor, the occupants were soldiers.

"So, what can we make of this" asked the snow queen Weiss.

Blake ran her hand along the claw makes on the ship's hull. "Nevermores brought them down; the survivors tried to leave but were ambushed by beowulves," she looked to the edge of the clearing, "and they fled in that direction."

"If we're lucky some of them might still be alive," said the red hooded Ruby, trying to sound more confident than she really was about the ships former occupants.

"'if'" repeated Blake.

Yang playfully slapped her faunas friend on the back. "Don't be such a pessimist, let's find these guys and get out of here".

Team RWBY made off into the general direction of the fleeing survivors. They encountered no Grimm on their journey, nor any other wild life. In fact, the forest was eerily calm. But before the colorful girls could be lulled in to a sense of peace, they began hearing the faint sounds of gun fire.

That was when they found one of the survivors.

He was sprawled out, looking up at the sky and coughing up blood. He had a dark red crater in his chest that erupted blood with every breath the dying man made. When Weiss went to his side, he grabbed the heiress' arm with a weak grip.

"No!" he cried with a whimper. "you've got ta… save… te' others." The soldier spoke in an accent Weiss couldn't place.

"Where are they?" asked Ruby said frantically.

Before she could receive an answer, the man's eyes rolled back in his head and grip on Weiss' arm weakened even more.

The team bolted toward the shots, which became more frantic as time went on. Then they came upon an outcropping on a hill surrounded by Grimm. Ursas, Beowulves, and Boarbatusks; dozens, attempted to crawl onto the soldier's perch, only to be gunned down by bright blue munitions.

They could see five men on the ridge, shouting and shooting at the encroaching monsters. One of the defenders hit an Ursa square in the chest with a shpot of his rifle, punching a hole through the creature's torso, only to have his head taken off his shoulders by another flanking monster.

The girls knew they had to help, that without them the troopers would eventually be overwhelmed by the swarming beasts and killed.

As they moved to engage, Blake noticed a sixth soldier. He leaped from Grimm to Grimm, almost a green blur, slashing and cutting each with near surgical precision. Where ever it went, the black beasts were parted in two. Something was off about him though, something she just couldn't place.

Yang was the first to enter the fray, followed by the rest of her team. The fiery blond brutally dispatched Grimm with practiced ease, effortlessly bringing down each foe that crossed her path.

Blake and Wiess worked in unison, turning multiple Grimm into dust in mere moments. The beasts tried surrounding the duo, but were cut down before they could mount a successful attack.

Ruby made her way to where the soldiers were making their stand, using Crescent Rose to propel herself quickly up the hill and on to the outcropping. She landed in front of the defenders, who looked at her with stunned, tired eyes.

"Bloody 'ell" a bearded trooper said, seemingly not believing what he was seeing.

"Don't worry boys," Ruby stated triumphantly, "Team RWBY's got this under control."

The soldiers looked at one another in disbelief, then at the red hooded girl in front of them, before she leapt back down and joined the fray.

After the last Grimm fell, the soldiers finally left their perch.

"Who'd we lose?" shouted the lead Huntsman the men coming down the hill, sliding his silver blade back into its scabbard strapped to his back.

" Just O'Bannon," one of the men shouted back.

Their leader cursed before turning to the four Huntresses'. He took off his brown duckbilled hat and bowed, smiling as he did so.

"Thank ye' ladies," he rose, smoothly sliding his hat back on, "if it weren't fer ya, me an' me boy's id' all be dead."

The men behind him nodded. The four remaining men could not have looked more diferent from their leader. The troopers were disheveled, covered in mud, blood and ash and all wearing the same greenish uniform and armor. The huntsman, however, wore a green suit vest with white dress shirt and brown pants. He had barely a speck of blood on him save a stain on his right shoulder, where he must have been cut during the fighting.

"If ye don't mind me asking" the man said, "who exactly are you four?"

"We," Ruby gestured to the other girls, "are team RWBY!" This seemed to amuse the huntsman, who chuckled at the small girl's enthusiasm.

Weiss rolled her eyes as the group introduced themselves. "And you are?"

"Me' names Polyc, and these glorious bastards here are me' Bloody Boys."

The man with the salt and pepper beard stepped forward first.

"Names Gormain."

"Conner," said the man in the dark-green beret.

"Call me Paidi," said a thin man with a pink scar over his lips.

"And I'm Gilla" a youth with the red hair said finally.

"Why were you guys out here in the first place," Yang asked, clapping off dust from her hands.

"We were sent to recon the area fer some minin' ting they got goin on. Clear whatever was out here and get our pay, simple as tha'". Polyc turned to his subordinates, "right boys?"

The Bloody Boys nodded.

Blake narrowed her eyes at the men; something about them didn't seem right.

The group began walking back to the clearing to await the air-ship. The Boy's seemed to be on edge, shooting glances at every cracking branch or rustling of leaves.

Ruby fell in beside Polyc.

"So," she said inquisitively "you're a huntsman?"

"Aye" Polyc answered, not looking at the small girl beside him. "I hunt 'tings from time ta' time."

"Where'd you study?" Ruby asked, getting closer.

"What do ye' mean?" He looked at her with confused, grey eyes.

This caused Ruby to raise an eyebrow.

"Like… an academy. Beacon, Haven…"

"Self-taught," Polyc answered almost too quickly.

"It's just I've never seen a non-huntsman move so fast before."

"Well, where we come from, it pays ta' be light on yer feet."

"Where are you guys from?" inquired Blake, eyes narrowing on the Boys' leader.

Polyc looked back at the cat eared girl, fists clenching.

"How bout we save the questions until after we know we're out of harm's way," Gormain said loud enough for all to hear. The troopers and huntress' proceeded along in relative silence.

They soon reached the airship that would take them back to civilization, team RWBY ushering the men into the hold before entering the transport themselves.

Sitting down, both teams facing each other, Blake leaned forward.

"So about my question", Blake began. "You still haven't told us where you all are from"?

The Boys looked slowly to their leader before Polyc spoke up.

"All 'round" he said, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back into the chair.

"'All around?" the faunas repeated, unconvinced.

"We been trou ala bi'" Paidi said, "lota our bi's are dead, you all showin up outa' nu'where cu'in up fuukers left and ri', shou be us askin the q'estions here bi."

"Like where you'll be taking us for the time being," Conner interjected.

"Beacon Academy," Yang said with pride.

"Beacon Academy?" said Gilla, tilting his head.

"Aye Gilla," Polyc said, putting an arm roughly around the red haired boy's neck, "Beacon Academy, the place these fine ladies learned how to save our asses."

The other men nodded and agreed, Ruby and Yang beamed and Blake glared. Weiss simply looked on at the four disheveled soldiers. She had been all around the world and seen many great things and met many strange people, but never anyone like the men sitting before her. Their uniforms were strange, their accents even stranger, and the weapons they used were nothing like anything she had seen before.

The guns were more compact than regular guns; the magazine was under the stock, a short hand guard that fit their hands and a two inch barrel.

Their clothing, though torn and muddied from the day's battle, could be seen to be deep shades of green and black, in small hexagonal patterns.

Polyc, though, was the strangest of them all.

The Boys quickly dazed off into sleep, as did the huntress' after them.

The ship touched down with a thud, jolting the occupants awake and making

"Right, time to disembark boys," shouted Polyc sleepily. The men in green jumped to their feet almost immediately.

Yang threw the transports door open, leading the way out. Waiting in front of the returning huntress' was none other than the schools head master, Professor Ozpin.

He took a sip from his mug as the returning students funneled out of the airship, followed by the men.

"I take it the mission was a success" he asked, looking over at the men behind the four girls.

"We got there too late, these were the only survivors," Blake answered.

Polyce put his hand forward, Ozpin returning the gesture and grabbing his hand with a nod.

"Names Polyc, if it weren't fer your girls back there, me and me boys would all be wolf food."

"That's what huntress' do" the Head Master replied.

Ozpin led the group into the academy, the men distracted by the remaining female students still out after dark, while Polyc was looking around at the architecture.

They found themselves in the dorms reserved for guests and visiting students, in front of a vacant room. It was only marginally bigger than the normal rooms, the same four beds adorning the sides of the room.

"Well shit," Gilla said, stepping into the room, "four beds, five of us?"

"Least now you can finally spoon Paidi like you always wanted," laughed Conner, causing Paidi and Gilla to laugh along with him.

"It's the best we could do on such short notice" Ozpin said.

"We'll make do," Polyc said. He looked to the group standing in front of the dorms door, "We always do" he said before shutting the door softly.