Twirling Crescent Rose frantically, Ruby racked her brain, trying to figure out how she could have prevented her team from getting into this mess and, more importantly, how to get them out alive. Their mission had been simple: find and kill a lone Deathstalker harassing a Dust-mining town. Everyone on Team RWBY had felt that it would be a great cool-down mission after the horde that Torchwick had let into Vale; after all, Team JNPR had managed to kill one during the eventful Initiation earlier that year.

RWBY killed theirs with ease using similar tactics. And that was when everything went wrong. The girls had decided to camp out that night with a plan to head for their extraction. Then, during Weiss' watch, their camp had been overrun by a mix of beowolves, ursai, king taijitu, and lesser nevermores. Weiss had been knocked unconscious, and Blake was now carrying her to safety while Ruby and Yang held off the Grimm.

Unfortunately, everyone was running low on both Aura and ammunition. Yang had only about a dozen shells left for the Ember Celica, the pistol portion of Blake's Gambol Shroud was out, and Ruby had less than half a clip left for Crescent Rose.

Then things got worse. Both heads of a king taijitu struck at Yang. With her Semblance at its maximum, she was able to smash one head into a pulpy mass on the ground, but the other head smashed into her chest. Her Aura was depleted, and she was sent flying into a tree, the impact knocking her out, cold.

"Yang!" Ruby blasted forward with a combination of her Semblance and recoil from Crescent Rose, beheading the taijitu on the way to rescuing her sister. She picked up Yang and carried her as far as she could, managing to catch up to Blake and Weiss, the latter of whom had recovered enough to cast some glyphs. "Weiss, can you do an Ice Flower?"

The heiress shook her head. "Wish I could, Ruby, but I don't have enough Aura left to do that."

Ruby looked around and worried, for the first time, that her friends would die here. They were surrounded by almost a dozen beowolf alphas and a couple of ursa majors. At peak condition, these Grimm would have barely constituted a workout for the team. Now, however, the girls were tired and battered and in an overall poor condition for a fight. I wish that sword lady who saved Yang would come here now.

Yang's eyes flickered open. When she saw how bad their situation was, she mustered the energy to make a last quip. "Well, at least we'll be dying together."

Two of the beowolves charged toward Ruby's part of the team's defensive circle. She dropped one with a few shots from Crescent Rose's sniper rifle and pivoted to shoot the other. *Click* "Oh no." Those had been her last shells.

Then she heard Blake yell, "Ruby, on your right!"

With how close the two wolves were, Ruby realized she only had enough time to kill one before they could reach her. In a snap decision, she darted forward, cut down the beowolf in front of her, closed her eyes, and braced herself for the attack from the one on her right.

There was a loud thud, echoed by her pounding heart. One beat, then five, then ten. At that point, it dawned on her that nothing had happened and she opened her eyes.

Standing next to her was a beowolf alpha, but it looked different. Where a normal beowolf had bone spikes, this one had plates of bone. In addition, its posture was straighter, more upright, more…humanlike. Finally, it was standing on the already-dissipating corpse of the beowolf that would have struck her down. The new one looked at her, and then it spoke! "Why are you just standing there, you stupid girl? Run!" Then it–no, he–charged the remaining Grimm.

"Um, right. Right. Blake, Weiss, grab Yang and let's get out of here." As she caught up with her teammates, Ruby looked back at the beast that had saved their lives. She was just in time to watch him be slammed into the ground by one of the ursai. Weighing practicality against her morals, she looked back and forth between him and her team. Arriving at a decision, she whispered, "Please don't hate me, Weiss."

"What?"

Ruby took off at top speed toward the battle.

"Oh, Ruby you insufferable little red…" Weiss cut herself off with a groan. "Blake, keep going. I have to go save our foolish dolt of a leader. Again." She conjured a speed glyph under feet and rocketed after Ruby.

"You idiot girl, why'd you come back?" the not-Grimm growled as Ruby cut off a forepaw of the ursa that was about to squash him.

Between slashes, she replied, "You looked like you needed help. So I did." She beheaded the wounded ursa. "And you didn't tell me which way to run."

Even while holding a true beowolf in a headlock, the not-Grimm still took the time to bury his face in his palm. "Stubborn and soft-hearted to a fault." He snapped the beowolf's neck. "Fine. Get this through your thick skull: Go home before one of you gets killed." He ripped off the head of another beowolf and used it to bludgeon the last ursa to death.

The pair turned to face the last of the local Grimm, four beowolves. Before either group could act, a blue-white blur shot past, and one of the beowolves found itself impaled on Weiss' rapier. With a flourish and rapid shifting between Dust cylinders, she whipped a slew of icy spikes at two more and immolated the fourth. "Now, shall we go as we were supposed to?" Weiss was panting and using Myrtenaster to support herself.

Ruby nodded. "Right. Thank you, friend!"

The not-Grimm tilted its head, quizzically. Before he could speak, Yang approached. Although she was still shaky, the blonde brawler had recovered enough to walk unsupported. "Hey. I wanted to thank you for saving my sis." She hugged Ruby. "For saving all of us."

He blinked in confusion. With time to think Ruby noted that his eyes had actual black pupils rather than the molten gold of true Grimm. "I am a monster. Why are you trusting and thanking me?"

Ruby shook her head. "You're not a monster. You've got a good heart and soul. I can feel it."

"I…" He laughed and seemed to smile. "You remind me of my mother, able to see the good in everyone. Thank you."

"Why?"

"You've reminded me that my heart is still human."

Weiss stood straight. "'Still human?' You mean–?"

He nodded. "I was born human, yes. Years ago, my family and friends were nomads. The day before my Aura was to be unlocked, we came under attack from a group of Grimm. Although we were able to fight them off, a beowolf bit me almost hard enough to crush my chest. My wound was tended to, and we moved on." He sighed and sat down. "And then came the night I first became this thing. I only remember blurry bits and pieces, but, when I awoke the next morning, I was naked, and my arms were covered in blood. Both animal and Faunus blood." He glanced at Blake, his eyes dulled with tears. "I. Killed. People. I am a monster."

It was Blake who rebutted his assertion. "After you learned how to control this form, did you kill anyone?"

"No."

"Then you aren't a monster. I've dealt with enough of them to know." Ruby, Weiss, and Yang knew what she was referring to.

The not-Grimm studied the Faunus. "I…never thought of it like that. You've given me something to think about. Thank you." He stood and turned to leave.

"Wait." Ruby grabbed his arm. "You never told me your name."

"I…just call me Topaz." He pulled his arm from Ruby's grasp. "Now, I think it's past time that you return home and tell of your success." Without waiting for a reply, he bounded off into the forest.

After a moment of silence, the team turned around and began heading for their extraction point, and Yang said, "Well, that was a thing."

Weiss groaned. "Is that really all you can say?"

Author's Note:

This story came about because I wanted to make a RWBY-compatible werewolf. No other reason.

For those who would want to adopt this story: Topaz is his real surname, with his first name being Lawrence. His source of influence is Lawrence Talbot, the Wolfman. His weapon is a kanabo (six-foot iron club) that doubles as a sheath for a pair of yataghan swords and, when the swords are unsheathed, can be shifted into a sniper rifle.