When I was little, I only had one fear in the world. I was scared of monsters. I was scared that their were monsters under my bed and in the closet. Sometimes, I found myself staying up at night till the sun rose, since I was scared to close my eyes fearing that they would eat me when I slept.
One day teacher told me, that their only two kinds of monsters in the world; People and Grimm. He said it was okay to be afraid, but you must never show that fear in front of your enemies or let that fear control you; it's a sign of weakness, and enemies will use it to their advantage.
I'm scared of monsters; and that's okay. If they try to hurt me, than I'll fight, for my survival.
All was lively throughout the small town by a lake, and everyone seemed busy throughout the streets. It was especially lively throughout a store in a bakery; everyone in the store left with fresh bread in their paper bags and such. A young girl at the age of fourteen had just exited the store with some bread in a bag on her back. This young girl was a Faunus, bearing a pair of fox ears and a tail. Her hair had transitioned halfway from orange which had matched her ears and tail (Which had a white tip) to an aqua green color; her hair was tied to the front with a single red ribbon.
She wore a brown and gray hoodie with a blue a symmetrical skirt with black cropped leggings underneath; Most of her skirt had covered part of her tail. She wore brown survival boots with a pair of white socks
She had decided to take a detour back to her house by walking by the lake shore, to enjoy the breeze.
"Ah…" The girl named Scout had said aloud to herself, "The cool gentle afternoon breeze. It feels so nice."
"Hey there Scout!" She heard a man call out to her.
Scout turned her attention to a local man, who was carrying some fishing tools.
"Oh, good afternoon." Scout said with a friendly smile.
"Listen I wanted thank you again for helping out my son's fever, you're a real lifesaver."
"Hey, it's no problem really." Scout said, "Your son is a real sweet kid. One of my best patients thus far."
"Well, I know who to look up if I'm ever sick." The man said before walking away, "Well I hope you have a nice day."
"You too, good luck in catching those fish!" Scout said as she waved goodbye.
For the past few months Scout has made herself feel right at home in this small little town, since she had completed her training. Soon after her training was done, she left her teacher's home and had settled down in a small town. Though because she was a fanus it took her time to settle in; eventually many of the townspeople accepted her. She became well known, and is one of the best of the best healers in the town. She was happy with it, despite everything what has happened in the city of Vale. Scout continued to walk down the dirt road, though it wasn't long before she stopped in her tracks when she noticed something peculiar.
A little white fox; though he appeared to be looking for something. Scout approached the small fox; that was when she noticed that the little white fox had on a gray collar.
"Hey there little guy." She said to the little fox, getting his attention, "Is something the matter?"
The white fox went up to her and started to sniff her a little. She noticed something written on the collar he wore, it had said-
"Frosty huh?" Scout said, "That's a cute name. Are you looking for somebody?"
The little white fox, named Frosty ears perked up. He had started to let out a few barks as he ran up to a certain distance. Scout's ears twitched, having understood the barks of the little fox.
"What?! Your friend is sick?" Scout said with worry, "Please take me to her! I can help!"
With that Frosty began to run and Scout followed close behind the little fox. They had taken a left at a fork in the road just outside the town; and after a few twist and turns, the fox had lead her to what small yet large cave. The fox ran inside as did Scout.
One good thing she was thankful for when being a fanus, is that she never had to use a light source of any kind, thanks to her night vision. She had soon stopped in her tracks when she heard hoarse coughing echo throughout the cave. She spotted a girl older than her; her hair black and she wore a blue t-shirt with a black choker and a silver cross, and she was using her green hoodie as a blanket in an attempt to keep herself warm.
Scout went to walk to her but stepped on something; she looked down at her feet and saw it was a guitar case. "Whoops my bad, guess I didn't see it there." Scout said, before stepping over it, "Are you okay miss?"
"Who…" The girl said with a raspy voice, "Who's there…?"
Scout kneeled down beside the teenage girl, "Please try not to talk. I'm here to help you."
The first thing Scout did was check her temperature; she placed a hand on her forehead and it was hot to the touch. "My God your burning up." She said, before noticing traces of blood on her hoodie.
"Don't tell me." Scout said.
Scout helped the girl on her back, and she removed the hoodie. She saw that there was a wound on her shoulder; a graze from a bullet she could tell. "Your injured…" She said to the girl, "Though it doesn't look like that's what's causing it… Please tell me, do you have any other injures?"
The teenage girl spoke again; struggling through the pain as she did, "Le… Leg… I was… Shot… In a fight…"
Scout immediately went to check her leg after she had said this to her; that's when she saw it, red streaks on her leg and signs of swelling.
"That's definitely an infection." Scout said, "How long has it been like this?"
The girl let out a groan before replying, "Two… Days…"
"Oh my Goodness! I mean granted, it's incredible that your still alive, but it's still a big problem! Are you able to stand?"
"I…" The girl said groaning, "I think so…"
Scout placed the girl's arm around her shoulder, before helping her to stand up. "Just take your time." Scout said to the girl, seeing that she was struggling to stand up. After she was standing on her feet, Scout helped her out of the cave, grabbing her guitar case and hoodie on the way out; Frosty had followed them out of the cave.
Immediately Scout had helped the girl back to her house, despite the weight, and the fact the girl would sometimes stop to catch her breath. After some time, they were back her home which was a wooden cabin.
Scout had helped her inside, and drew a bath to get the fever down and clean up her wound. After helping the girl out of her clothing putting into the tub filled with cold water and started to clean up her wound. It took her some time, though she was able to clean her wound no problem.
Scout had managed to find some spare clothing which was a simple t-shirt and a pair baggy pants that the girl could wear so that she could wash the clothing she originally wore; after she put on the clothing on the girl, she helped her to bed in a spare room in the cabin. After that she prepared some food and medicine for her to eat.
Though she wasn't having any of it, since she hated the taste of it; she's stubborn Scout thought to herself. Afterwards she tended to the girl for the next three days; it was easy for her since she was mostly asleep throughout the time she was in the cabin, though it did worry her.
That afternoon she had finally woke up.
"Oh good, your finally awake." Scout said relieved; she petted Frosty on the head who was laying on the bed just beside her, "We were both worried about you. We didn't think you'd wake up."
"Where am I?" The girl asked, her throat not as raspy as before.
"Your in my cabin." Scout replied with a smile, "Don't you remember Melody? I brought you here after your friend showed me where you were."
The girl named Melody was a bit taken back, "How do you know my name?" She asked with a quizzical look.
"Isn't it obvious? Your friend Frosty told me."
"You talked to him?"
"Well I am part fox you know, so of course I understood him."
Melody looked at her ears and tail, "So you are." Melody said with a smirk.
"How are you feeling?" Scout asked pulling up a chair before taking a seat, "You were out cold for three whole days."
Melody looked at her bandaged leg, that was resting on a pillow. "Well my leg still hurts, but on the plus side, my fever is gone."
"That's good to know. Looks my medicine was able to work with wonders." Scout said with a relieved smile.
Melody looked at Scout a bit shocked, "Your a healer than?"
Scout nodded, "I became the local healer of this town a little over a month ago. I was staying with my teacher for awhile but now that my training is finished, I'm able to help out anyone that needs it."
"That's good." Melody said, "What's your name anyway?"
"Oh right!" Scout said, "I didn't tell you my name yet. My name is Scout Lapis. Sorry we couldn't get a proper introduction before."
Melody shrugged, "Eh, it's no problem, I mean they're are worse ways to start an introduction."
Scout couldn't help but chuckle at that, "I guess your right. So what happened to you exactly? How did you end up like this?"
Melody sat herself up using the pillow as her cushion to lean back against. "I was attacked a few weeks ago."
Scout gasped at this, "Attacked?! That's awful! Was it bandits?"
"No." Melody replied, "It was a girl about the same age as me. She told me her name was Sinn, but there was something off about her."
"Off?"
"She didn't seem to possess any aura when I landed a few hits on her. I honestly thought she was with the White Fang, but she couldn't be, since they never allowed humans into their group. She had on a Grimm mask, covering half of her face, and she was marked with a red eye on her leg."
"Your right, that definitely doesn't sound anything like the White Fang. Sure they have members but they would never mark them."
"Yeah. She and I both fought, and I almost ended up dead when my aura finally broke. I would've been killed if she wasn't called back."
"Called back?"
"She said something about a Mistress, but she was forbidden to speak about her. But that's not all…"
"What do you mean?"
"When she approached me… She was riding on a Grimm."
Scout's eyes widened in disbelief at this; she never heard such a thing. A person riding on a Grimm was impossible even if it was tamed. No one could've been able to do that; not human or a Faunus. Just than they heard what an alarm echo throughout the area. They were both quick to realize it was coming from the town.
The alarm could only mean one thing.
"A Grimm Attack!" Scout and Melody both said in unison.
"We gotta go and-AGH!" Melody was cut off when she felt the pain in her leg.
"No, just me! You still need to recover." Scout said, before she went to grab a pair of her weapons, "Please stay here and rest, I'll go take care of it."
Before Melody could stop her, Scout had already ran out the door. "Gah! Damn it!" Melody said moving out of the bed, grabbing her guitar case, "Frosty! Let's go!"
Despite having a limp, Melody had gone out the door with Frosty following behind her.
Scout had ran at full speed when she saw smoke just in the town, and people running away from it. Scout managed to stop one of the townspeople, "How many Grimm are there?"
"That- that was no Grimm I have ever seen! That girl- She's- She's controlling that thing!" The man told her before he started to run again.
"A girl?" Scout said, before she ran into the town. When she had gotten there she saw most of the houses were either wrecked or burning. The town had already evacuated but she didn't see any large amount of Grimm.
"I thought there was a Grimm attack. Where are they?" Scout said. Soon she saw what was causing the attack. She saw what appeared to be a suit of armor but there was something off about it. She saw black vapor emitting from their eyes.
"What? What is that?" Scout asked herself, "That doesn't look like Grimm."
It didn't take her long to notice a teenage girl at the age of seventeen standing behind it; slightly shorter from the suit of armor. She had black hair tied back into a long ponytail, and wore a gray shirt revealing her stomach and red eye just on the side of her stomach. With the gray shirt she wore dark red pants with a single black knee pad and she wore a pair of black and red boots. Over her outfit she wore a medium gray trench coat, with a burnt umber biker gloves; she wore a Grimm mask that covered her eyes but not her nose and mouth.
"That must be the person controlling them." Scout said to herself, "She has the red eye like Melody described."
Just than the girl spoke up, "I know your out there Fanus girl. I can smell you. There's no point in hiding so come on out."
Scout took a deep breath before she gotten out from her hiding place. "How did you know I was there?" Scout asked the girl curiously.
The girl tapped her nose as she replied casually, "I picked up your scent awhile ago. I never expected there to be one person left in this town. Your either brave, or stupid."
"Who are you supposed to be?" Scout said, "Why are you attacking this town?"
The girl replied, ignoring her first question, "I was told to see if this kind of Grimm would be able to listen to commands like the others. And from what you've seen it seems to be doing that well."
"Grimm?" Scout said looking at the armor, "You mean that suit of armor is Grimm, how?"
"This one unlike the others was made in a laboratory*." The girl replied casually, "Under her orders I was able to retrieve it, and now, it will do what I say."
(*As reference to the Possession Type Grimm as explained in the Manga, or at least according to the RWBY Wiki page)
"You would attack a town just so you could see if it could take orders?" Scout said, "That's just cruel."
"Mankind is cruel enough already." The girl said, "I thought you of all people would see that much, like the White Fang."
Scout was taken back by that, "How dare you! I'm not like the White Fang! Not even close to them!"
The girl let out a sigh, "It doesn't matter what your thought is. Your all the same in the end." She than turned to the suit of armor beside, "Destroy her."
(Song Starts: Attack Performed 30 Seconds to Mars)
The suit of armor charged at her, armed with a broad sword in it's hand. Scout acted fast and quickly jumped away before it could hit her. She than pulled out two twin pistols and started to fire at the suit of armor. Though it didn't have an affect on it, considering it was wearing metal.
The suit of armor charged at her again, this time it went to punch her; it landed a hit across her face, and Scout ended up flying back.
I won't suffer, be broken,
Get tired or wasted
Surrender to nothing,
Or give up what I
She landed on her feet and her twin pistols she had, switched to a pair of hand blades. With speed, Scout charged at the armor, landing a few hits, and dodging it's attacks. They kept up with this pattern for awhile before Scout had pressed a button on the end of her blade. The blade suddenly extended; the extended part appeared to be made of fire.
Started and stopped it,
From end to beginning
A new day is coming
And I am finally free
When she landed a hit on it, she was able to land a large cut across it's arm and chest, but it still stood. "Well at least that did something." Scout said to herself with a smile, before charging at the suit of armor again; with her weapon made from flames.
It had tried to attack her with it's sword, though she ended up cutting it in half. Before Scout could slice and dice, the armor was able to kick her in the gut, catching her off guard. But she was quick to recover and she balanced on his leg; she pressed a button on her second blade and it had extended, this time it was made from ice.
Run away, run away, I'll attack
Run away, run away, go chase yourself
Run away, run away, now I'll attack
I'll attack, I'll aa-WHOOOOAAAA!
With the ice she was able to slice the head off of the armor with ease; when she did however the black vapor left its body causing Scout to jump back.
"HOLY CRAP!" She exclaimed in surprise and shock.
The vapor flew back to the teenage girl and it circled around her left arm as if it was a chain.
"I guess I'll have to take care of this than." The girl said, before drawing her weapon. She drew a Gothic Battle Axe, and charged at Scout. She swung her weapon to hit her, but scout was able to flip back with ease. Scout allowed her weapons to switch to guns and she started to fire on the girl. Though she was able to block the bullet with her battle axe.
I would have, kept you forever, but we had to sever
It ended for both of us, faster than a
Kill off this thinking, it's starting to sink in
I'm losing control now, and without you I can finally see
The girl was quick on her feet, when she charged at Scout once more; she had almost caught Scout off guard when she the blade was just inches from her face, Scout had activated her semblance. The blade had suddenly gone right through the fanus girl's body which had taken the girl by surprise.
Scout had used as the opportunity to counter attack. Switching back to her blades she attacked the girl head on; though her enemy blocked most of her attacks with her axe, leaving minor cuts on her arms, and hands. Scout than used a powerful kick that sent her back a few feet.
The girl was quick to recover as she spun her battle axe, changing it into a bolt action rifle, and began to fire at Scout.
Run away, run away, I'll attack
Run away, run away, go chase yourself
Run away, run away, now I'll attack
I'll attack, I'll aa-WHOOOOAAAA!
Despite the bullets going straight through the fanus girl without harm, Scout made haste to find some cover since she knew her semblance wouldn't last so long on the battlefield. She ducked behind a crate and armed her pistols again. Peeking out from the cover every now and than, she fired, but as expected the girl dodged the bullets with ease and continued to fire. This pattern went on for only a few moments, before both of them stopped taking a moment to reload.
Though Scout reloaded her gun with Dust bullets. They both fired again, but this time, her enemy was sent flying back; once again a few feet when the ground in front of her exploded right in front of her.
Again when she recovered, she dodged the oncoming bullets, as Scout continued to fire them at her. However at one point the girl found herself trapped in a corner and bullets were flying at her.
"GOT YOU NO-Huh?!" Scout said cutting herself off.
The bullets had suddenly stopped, just inches from the girl's face and body, which took Scout by surprise.
"Wh-What?!" Scout stammered, "How are you-?!"
The girl lifted her hand which was clenched into a fist; it appeared that there was a small black substance around half of her arm. With a wave of her hand, she sent the bullets flying back into Scout's direction so fast that she didn't have time to react. Despite her aura protecting her she stumbled and fell on her back; her weapons disarming in the process. Scout tried to get up but before she knew it, she was held down by the girl's foot.
"Did you honestly believe that you had a chance to defeat me?" The girl said, "How pathetic."
Scout struggled to get her off but had no such luck. She found herself staring face to face with the girl's gun; The girl kneeled down to get a better look at her.
"Elise." The girl said.
"Huh?" Scout said, being confused by what she said.
"You asked me before what my name was didn't you?" The girl named Elise said, "It's Elise. It's something you should know before you die by my hand fanus girl." She armed her gun and placed her finger on the trigger, which made Scout jump slightly; she tried desperately to activate her semblance, but mentally cursed herself when she didn't.
However all of her fears stopped when she had gotten a closer look at Elise. Despite her wearing a mask, she could've sworn her face gave off a familiar presence, a familiar appearance. She even saw a familiar face. In fact, she knew where she had seen her face before.
"Pumpkin Pete's…?" Scout suddenly said without thinking.
Elise's finger lifted off the trigger; confused by what Scout had said. She tilted her head slightly, as if she were a dog that heard a new sound.
"What?" Elise said befuddled.
"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Someone shouted in the distance. Elise and Scout turned to see Melody, armed with her arm blade. Pulling the trigger a bullet fired onto Elise, hitting her in the mask of the left side of her face, causing it to crack; Elise screamed out of surprise before crying out in agony when Scout hit her off with the help of her tail.
Run away, run away, I'll attack
Run away, run away, go chase yourself
Run away, run away, now I'll attack
I'll attack, I'll attack, I will attack
(Chorus Repeats Before Fading Out)
Elise rolled on the ground ultimately landing on her side, with her back facing towards them. Scout got up from the floor and turned to Melody with Frosty who was on her shoulder.
"Thank you!" Scout said, "But you really shouldn't be out here! Your still hurt!"
"Trust me, that's never stopped me before." Melody reassured her as she walked over to her, despite her limp; she still had her weapon armed and pointed over to Elise, "This the one causing those alarms?"
"Yes!" Scout said arming her weapons, "She has the red-eye like what you described, and she has a Grimm that can posses things!"
"A Grimm that can posses?" Melody said with disbelief, "That's definitely a new one." Elise got up from the floor; traces of her mask were seen on the ground in bits. When she faced them, her left hand had covered where her left eye was.
"Alright listen up!" Melody said to her, "I want answers! Who are you!? Are you with a girl named Sinn?!"
Elise didn't answer Melody; instead she removed her left to reveal that she had… A vivid green eye? Scout and Melody lightly gasped at this; with part of her face finally revealed, their eyes widened in disbelief when they saw the girl before them.
"Wait a second…" Melody said lowering her weapon, "I've seen you before…"
Scout did the same thing as she looked at Elise with disbelief and shock, "Yeah, hold on, aren't you…?"
Before Scout could finish her thought, Elise lifted her left arm, and the vapor flew off.
"WATCH OUT!" Melody exclaimed pushing Scout down; causing the both of them to land on the floor. They saw the vapor fly into samurai armor just nearby. They saw it's hand twitch and get up holding while baring a katana.
Frosty barked at the armor, as Scout and Melody stood up from the floor, both of them armed and ready to fight. Though that was short lived when suddenly there weapons flew out of their hands, courtesy of Elise.
Elise armed her battle axe, while the armor armed it's katana that was provided.
"Well that's not good." Melody said.
"Indeed." Scout said, "It was nice knowing you while it lasted."
"Right back at ya." She said to the Fanus.
Both Elise and the Samurai charged at the two of them. Both Scout and Melody shut their eyes, so they wouldn't see it coming. However they were befuddled to find that nothing had happened to them or that they were in any kind of pain what-so-ever.
Upon opening her eyes, Scout was shocked to find another teenage girl right in front of her, armed with a pair of swords that were steampunked themed. She saw a girl with short black hair in front of her wearing a brown leather coat with dark brown pants and buckles and black boots to go with it.
Melody was shocked to see a young girl with grey pigtail, wearing a black and blue hooded top with the sleeves cut up just around the shoulders; Melody saw a stitches on both of her shoulders the fact that she wore dark brown short pants. She was even more shocked to see that the girl in front of her had a prosthetic leg, armed with a blade, and she was using it to block the katana.
Both of them attacked the enemies pushing them back and catching them both by surprise.
Elise looked to the girl possessing the pair of swords.
"You must be Cristal…" Elise said to her, "I was wondering when I would meet you."
"Nice to meet you too." The girl who saved Scout named Cristal said with a smirk, "Now do me a huge favor and leave this town."
"Unless you want to live." The girl with the pigtails said, now facing Elise.
Scout and Melody picked up their weapons and got in their fighting stance once again.
Elise looked to her opponents and let out a sigh. "I've already gotten the results I needed. Very well I will take my leave."
With the swing of her axe, a portal, in the shape of an eye suddenly opened. The Samurai, entered the portal. Elise was about to enter the portal, but she took a moment to say, "Be for warned, the next time we meet, I won't hold back."
With that being said, Elise stepped in and the portal disappeared just like that.
This allowed both Scout and Melody to catch their breath. Frosty had gone up to Melody in concern, but she picked him up and patted him on the head; Scout turned their savoirs.
"Thank you so much for helping us." Scout said to Cristal, "Cristal right? I really appreciate it."
"Hey, no problem." Cristal said to her.
"Yeah, thanks for it." Melody said to the girl with the prosthetic leg, "Sorry, what's your name?"
"Rosario." The girl replied with the prosthetic leg replied, "And it's not a problem."
Cristal looked at the two of them, and Scout and Melody were a bit taken back.
"Um… What?" Scout asked nervously, "Is something on my face?"
Cristal didn't say anything; instead she stood up straight and said to her, "Your Scout Lapis? This town's famous healer right?"
Scout nodded her head and replied nervously, "Ye-yes. Yes I am."
Cristal than turned over to Melody, "And if I'm not mistaken, judging from the way your weapon looks, you must be Melody Branwen. Daughter of the famous Huntsmen Qrow."
"Yeah, what of it?" Melody asked, causing Scout to double take at that.
"Your the daughter of Dusty Old Qrow?" Scout asked Melody.
Melody turned over to Scout, "Yeah, didn't I or Frosty here mention that?" Scout shook her head in reply.
"Oh, well now you know." Melody said.
Scout turned to Cristal and Rosario, "Wait, why do you wanna know who we are?"
Cristal smiled and said to the two of them, "Actually, I'm glad that we found two people like you. I have, a little something I wanna share with you concerning Vale and Beacon, if you care to listen that is."
Scout and Melody's eyes widened at the sound of that, and they turned to one another. Both of them thinking the same thing, they turned back to Cristal.
"We're listening…" Was all that Scout said.
To Be Continued in "The Shadow of Grimm"
Hey guys Tenshi here! So here we are the final short story to the Team CRMS! Now I know I said originally that their was gonna be an actual story with Team CRMS, but since these short stories took way longer than expected since constantly I was rewriting two of the short stories, cause I didn't like the first versions of it, and with RWBY Volume 4 is coming out in less than a month I'd rather get the time to gather ideas, and prepare for what is if Roosterteeth does the route I think it's gonna go on.
In short I don't if I'll be able to do the Team CRMS actual story, we'll see what happens.
Speaking of which, The Shadow of Grimm is the sequel to The Child of Grimm for those of you that are gonna wonder about it later. Currently I am writing the prologue to it, and honestly my hope is, that this sequel will be better than The Child of Grimm. To be honest I've never written an actual sequel, and even if I did it turned out horrible, so anyway that's my hope for it.
Thanks so much for being patient with the Team CRMS short stories, and thank you for taking the time to read them, it means a lot. Let me know what u think of them in the reviews, cause I tried my best on them.
Stay tuned for The Shadow of Grimm, and prepare the hype for RWBY Volume 4! Go support Roosterteeth and Monty Oum (We all love you buddy, and you'll always be remembered! Everyone in the staff of Roosterteeth is making you proud)!
This is Tenshi, signing off ;)
