Remnants SHDW

Prologue

"So, do you have any merry tales you wish to share?" a gruff man asked as he took another swig of his tankard that was down to its last drop.

"Well," I said eyeing him, "I'm not sure if they'll be any good compared to some of the things I've heard tonight."

"Nonsense!" interrupted the man, "Every tale is welcome here! So, you do have one, right?"

"Sure, I got a few." I sighed . Images flashed through my mind. People lying dead on the ground, their hands covering their empty eye sockets. A man's insides were torn out though his chest cavity. A woman was being devoured by the grimm. Her children staring in horror as a hunter cut down the grimm that were gathering forr the meal. I began to lose myself in these images...or memories as they were really known. A voice began pulling me out of the lull I had found myself in.

"Well, don't keep us waiting, get on with it! Oh, and Michael, get this man a beer would you?" The man placed down a wad of money on the counter. "It's on me, I insist."

"I'm sorry.. Err…"

"Zezil. My name is Zezil."

"Mr. Zezil. I can't drink while on the job." I couldn't meet his eyes, not after he'd been so kind as to offer me a drink.

"Arrrg what are you? A Hunter? Come on, have a cold one." the man insisted as the bartender brought two beers over.

"You could say that I'm a hunter, and I can't drink while on the job." I forced myself to meet his eyes in an effort to show just how assertive I was being.

"Well fine, it just means more for me." The man laughed as he down the first bear in an instant. "Now why don't you tell me this tale of yours before I sober up."

Forcing a half smile, I could see that the man was growing impatient, and when a drunk person grows impatient, they tend to lose control. Normally this would be no problem, but I didn't want to kill the man and everyone else in the room. Especially because there was a particular man in the corner with black hair and a gruffy face who looked to be quite strong. Also because I knew for a fact that the man was a well known hunter named, "Qrow".

"Well, I don't want to be rude. So first, let me ask you. What do you know about the power of grimm? Are you one that believes it's derived from the hatred in people's hearts or the manifest form of the darkness itself? Either way it doesn't really matter, all the matters is whether or not you believe what I am about to tell you."

"There were once two people in the world known as the Twin Demons. They were unbelievably strong, and their ambitions were high. They spent their days fighting the grimm, and their night's running from humanity. They were like a coin, complete opposites of each other, yet they were the same."

"They traveled the world together making it a safer place bit by bit. However, they had a dark secret, one that could never be revealed lest they be destroyed by the very people they were trying to protect. Still, even with the threat of imminent destruction constantly following them, they pressed forward."

"One day they met hunters who fought them without end. At first it was clear who had the upper hand, but at time continued on, the Twins became more and more ragged until finally one of the brothers faced destruction. In an attempt to save his brother's life, the eldest brother unleashed his true power, and in doing so, revealed their secret."

"The Eldest brother had saved his younger brother, but made it so that they would forever be hunted down for what they truly were. A byproduct of human curiosity. A type of creature that had the physique and emotional functions of a human, but also had the physical properties of the Grimm. They could blend in with a crowd easily to the untrained eye."

"And so the brothers ran for their lives, fighting and killing any hunter who dared get in their way. They could never again show their face to the world, and could never again protect the very thing that they loved." I paused to look around the tavern. It was the first time I actually studied the place. It was sort of small with no more than six people in it including me and my brother. The others in the room weren't of any concern, but my attention kept wandering back to a frantic woman.

"Well, go one, what happened to them?" asked Zezil as he listened, completely enthralled in the story,

"Well, as the story goes, the Twins soon found a place where they could harness and perfect their power. A place where they could train and become even stronger, so strong, that they could easily defeat any hunter who would try and hurt them." I kept staring at the woman wondering why she looked so familiar. After a couple of seconds she made eye contact and began to scream. Suddenly it clicked. She jumped up with her briefcase in hand and began to make a break for the door, but before she could reach for the door handle my brother stopped her with his knife to her throat.

"Stay right where you are." Those words set the world into chaos. The woman and my brother held still, but Qrow jumped into the fray with lightning speed. He drew his sword and sent into its scythe form with a flick of his wrist, having the blade rest perfectly on my brother's neck. The bartender, Michael, drew his quad-barreled shotgun and had it aimed at me without a single second to spare. The man sitting just three seats down from Zezil screamed and vaulted to cower behind the bar. And Zezil, well calling him mad would be an understatement. With his face flushed red, he stood up and smashed the bar into pieces sending redwood splinters everywhere.

"Finish the damn story!" he bellowed as he turned around. Fully upright now, the man stood at a towering 7'4" and weighed what looked to be a hefty 800lbs. With a body of a strong man, he looked like he had spent his life fighting beowolves in the wilderness, where he had never shaved or gotten a haircut.

"Well, you see." I started while processing the scenario. "After the brothers came back, everyone who knew of their existence was eradicated, as to keep their lives a secret. Those who searched for them were never seen or heard from again. Finally, with the time that has passed, it is presumed that they either died or are living amongst us, just waiting for their chance to hold all of humanity's fate in their hands once more."

Zezil let out a grunt, "That was a good tale, true or not. But now that my thirst has been quenched, I feel the need to relieve some pent up aggression." he grinned, I realized that he was the reason for Qrow being here. The man known as the highwayman. Zezil the butcher.

Looking at the man, the thought crossed my mind that I could kill him and save him from a fate worse than death. However, if Qrow's mission was to capture him and take him to The Prison, I didn't want to stop him. "Well, I think that I've had my fun for tonight. Dante, when I give the sign, you know what to do."

In a split second I moved, slapping Qrow's weapon out of his hands and rolling to the right. Zezil's punch missed me by a foot and put a new window in the wall. With only a split second to spare Dante closed the distance between him and Zezil and spartan kicked him into the bar, crushing both the bartender and the cowering man. With only four people left, the room grew quiet as Zezil began to "resurrect" from the dead.

I turned to see the woman close the door behind her. "Dante go!" I yelled while turning to face the rest. "I'll handle this, you get the woman." The door closed behind me and I began to survey the scene. Qrow was standing over by a coffe table and Zezil was back on his feet completely lost in his rage. "And I was hoping that I wouldn't have to kill you." I said drawing my staff from my back.

"Easy kid, I got this one." Qrow stood getting back into his fighting stance, tensing up as if he were a spring ready to uncoil.

Zezil charged, but Qrow was fast and strong. Within a single movement Qrow knocked Zezil's feet out from underneath him and sent him flying into the wall. "Looks like you're not as tough as you look." Zezil was back on his feet in an instant, rushing him with his head down, determined not to be deterred from his course.

While the two of them were duking it out I quickly snuck out the door and tracked down my brother. After twenty minutes had passed I caught up to him only to find him sitting on a boulder. "Where's she at?" I said strolling to his side.

"She's gone. That woman in red with the golden glowing eyes came and took her." He sounded as if he was going to go back to the tavern and kill Qrow and Zezil just to satisfy his hatred.

"Well, that woman has been a thorn in our side for some time hasn't she? I guess it looks like we'll have to go pay some old friends a visit, now won't we?"

A.N.

Hey guys hope you liked the prologue of the story. If you enjoyed and want to help us make the story better then please leave a review letting us know what we need to work on.