The More Things Change

by The Doormaster

I doesn't matter how much time passes or how many things change, somethings are simple ingrained into the world. Conflict in every era is a simple truth, but maybe the key to ending this eras conflict lies in a relics from a past one. T for violence, language and/or suggestive themes.

1. Chapter 1

So I've been tossing this idea around in my head for quite a while an finally decided to put it to paper, well virtual paper. Let's begin shall we.

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, Bloodborne, Dark Souls, Sekiro or any of their characters. No profit of any kind is made from this story, it is written for entertainment purposes only. All credit goes to the rightful owners.

"Before there was time, before there was light, there were dragons and fog. Then from nothing came fire."

He stood looking down upon the one who'd caused all of this, he a mere undead looked down upon one who'd fancied himself a god. Gywn, Lord of Cinder laid breathing heavily as blood pooled around him soaking the ash of the kiln. The undead clad in faraam armor wielding a simple shield and long sword shook his head, he'd hated this being for an unknowable amount of time, but now looking down on him as he desperately reached for his sword the only thing the undead felt was pity. Raising his blade he swiftly brought it down and pierced the fallen 'god' through his very mortal heart.

As the deity gasped the undead pushed the blade further and further into him, he continued pushing until the hilt was touching his chest. He could feel the last beat reverberate through the metal of the blade until it finally came to a stop. He wasn't sure how long he sat there with his blade in the deity's chest, long after the familiar rush of souls entered him.

"And with fire came disparity. Light and dark, life and death. The age of fire burned bright and long, but like any fire."

He finally stood and pulled his blade from the the 'gods' chest and turned his gaze towards the bonfire at the center of the room, slowly he moved over towards it. Looking at the dim glow of what could barely be called embers he felt rage bubble up within him.

"It fades."

This was why so many had to suffer, that old man was so terrified of the dark, of man, that he was willing to allow the world to rot and die. The chosen undead turned away from the embers and began walking towards the entrance of the kiln. He was done, he slew the false god and had cast his work into the dust, whatever happened next was no longer his concern.

"After everything you'd let it fade?" He heard a familiar voice, Solaire stood at the entrance to the kiln. "You'd allow the world to fall to an age of darkness?"

The chosen undead looked at the man he'd come to see as his closest ally, even if they disagreed on much he knew the man had a good heart. Nodding he continued to walk passing the warrior of sunlight by.

"Then what was the point of all of this?!" He spun around and demanded from the silent warrior. "If you have no intention of rekindling the flame then why do this?! Why did you fight so hard to simply walk away now?!"

The chosen undead stopped half way down the stairs to the kiln, taking a deep breath he turned to face his friend. Raising his hand he pointed at the knight and then gestured to the kiln, the message was clear. 'If you care so much, I won't stop you. Do it yourself.' He said this with the simple gesture. With that done he turned and continued walking.

He could feel the lighting of the kiln as he went, he could only shake his head. He was tired and simply didn't care anymore.

It took a lot of walking but he finally managed to make out of the Anor Londo. He was leaving and hopefully would never return to this cursed city. He'd find somewhere dark and quiet and would rest, forever. Looking down at the blade at his hip, the ordinary looking sword that was anything but with a deep frown. "Never again."

Untold Centuries Later

"Don't ever mess with my team, my friends, ever again. Got it?" Jaune didn't wait for an answer as he turned to walk away. Cardin remained unmoving as the blonde left him alone in the clearing.

Dropping to the ground he let out an exhausted sigh, looking around the clearing he noted the torn up dirt and impact craters from where ursa had been stomping around. What stood out to him the most however was the absence of his own team, they'd taken off the moment the ursa had shown up, they abandoned him to his fate at the claws of the beast without a seconds hesitation.

He remained sitting for a few more minutes before he picked himself up and walked over to where his mace had been knocked away to. Picking it up he couldn't help but feel a growing rage inside himself, he wasn't sure why he was so angry or who it was directed at, but in a random act of anger he slammed the mace into the side of a nearby tree sending it falling to the ground.

What he hadn't expected however was for the ground beneath him to crumble and collapse in on itself dropping him down into a deep chasm. Landing with a hard thump on rock earned pained groans from the armored leader only for everything to become dark moments later.

Hours Later

Cardin's eyes cracked open as his head began throbbing, reaching up he touched it only to wince in pain. It was only when he went to check his hand for blood that he realized it was pitch black, looking up he couldn't see any sunlight shining through any cracks anywhere. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his scroll which was miraculously undamaged and opened it up, his eyes widened significantly when he saw that it was well past midnight.

He'd been out for at least nine hours. Instantly he attempted to call his team only for the device to say he had no signal. "Dammit." He hissed before activating the flash light on his scroll, it definitely wasn't the brightest in the world but it at least allowed him to see a few feet around him. To his surprise he wasn't in a cave, at least not from what he could tell. It looked closer to some sort of brick hallway than a cavern. Looking up with the scroll he saw the large hole he must've fallen through now blocked by large rock that likely fell after him.

Finally standing to his feet he went to take a step but felt his foot hit something, looking to it a small smile came to his face. Grabbing his mace he rested it on his shoulder, having his weapon at least gave him some small amount of comfort. Deciding upon a random direction Cardin began walking, he was careful with his steps after nearly tripping several times on roots that had grown through the walls or stones that had fallen from the ceiling or walls.

He walked for over an hour without seemingly making any progress, the hallway just kept going. A ding from his scroll alerted him to it's low battery, he grimaced at the thought of walking through here without it's light. He wasn't afraid of the dark, but the thought of twisting his ankle or possibly missing a turn somewhere was not appealing in the least to the teen. He was at three percent battery when the never ending hallway did indeed came to an end, a large wooden door with metal bars bolted to it took up the entire wall before him. Inscribed into the center of the door was a message, unfortunately it was written in an ancient script Cardin didn't even recognize let alone understand.

Grabbing the door handle he pulled, at first it didn't budge but after he began pulling with all his might it slowly began to open. Dust was kicked up at it ground against the stone floor but within a minute of pulling as hard as he could, which was far harder than the average human could, he managed to open it enough to slip through. On the other side of the door were two things, both filled the boy with nothing but despair.

The first thing he noticed was the fact that the room was simply a large twenty foot by twenty foot stone room with no other doors or windows. No furniture or boxes, nothing except what sat in the corner. Propped up in the corner was a body, at least Cardin thought it was a body, it was covered completely in armor with blue leather beneath the armor. A full faced metal helm adorned his head and white fur of some kind sat on his shoulders. Lying on the ground next to him was a metal shield and a sheathed sword. All in all the knight looked ancient, the fact that a root had grown through the wall and over his shoulder just went to show how long he'd been there.

Cardin frowned deeply, he was tired, in serious pain from the wound on his head, and now very slightly guilty that he'd probably just desecrated this old warriors resting place. The idea of turning around and walking for gods only knew how long without a light to see was enough to bring the teen to his knees. "DAMMIT!" He shouted punching the floor, his voice echoed around the room and likely down the hallway. Falling backward Cardin let his back hit the wall, sitting still he tried to ignore the growling of his stomach and the dryness of his mouth. He hadn't eaten or drank anything since lunch, closing his eyes he decided to rest in the room for a while, turning off his light to save what little battery he had left he closed his eyes. "This sucks." He said quietly to himself.

When he turned his scroll off he'd seen the time, it had been nearly two hours since he woke up. "Two hours and I already can't stand this place, I can't imagine how you must feel." He said in the direction of the armored body, a laugh escaped his throat at the fact that he was talking to a corpse. "Maybe this is karma you know, I admit I'm a bit of a jackass. I pick on people, sometimes I take my jokes to far, and yeah I don't like faunus, but is that enough to condemn a guy to death in an empty room who knows how far underground?" He asked the corpse. "I wonder what you did to end up here."

After a minute without any response Cardin shook his head. "I'm loosing my fuckin mind." He sat in silence for another few minutes deciding it was time to get up and leave. As he did his mind told him to pay some sort of respects to the corpse he'd disturbed with his presence. Walking over to it he dropped to one knee and closed his eyes before silently giving a prayer his grandmother had once taught him to respect the fallen. As he was about to stand he looked at the sword laying next to the shield on the ground. He didn't know why, but something inside him drew him to the blade, reaching for it he grabbed it's sheath and lifted it. To his surprise it was far heavier than he'd expected, so much so that he needed both hands to lift it, if he were to guess he'd say it must've weighed at least eighty pounds which for a one handed long sword of it's size was absolutely ridiculous. Out of curiosity he grabbed it's handle and was about to draw it when a hand grabbed his arm.

He didn't scream, he didn't swing at it with his mace. His heart simply skipped a beat and his blood felt as though it had turned to ice, turning his head slowly to the corpse, his free hand grabbing his scroll he slowly turned on it's light. His eyes met those between the slits in the helm, the corpse gave a slow shake of it's head. As it did so Cardin's world once more went black.

Beacon

Ozpin sighed heavily as he looked over the report on his desk, Cardin Winchester had still not been found. Search teams had scoured the stretch of forest where he'd last been seen, but aside from carnage that mostly matched what Jaune Arc had described after their run in with an ursa, they hadn't found anything. As was procedure with most operations involving citizens and standard law enforcement beyond the walls of the city, the search had to be called off till morning. Oddly enough team JNPR's leader had been one of the few who had to be almost forcibly brought back out of the field.

The blonde seemed to be taking some sort of responsibility for the teens disappearance seeing as he was the last person to have any contact with the boy. Glynda had also taken personal responsibility for his disappearance, it had been her job to keep the children safe and she'd managed to lose one. It had been harder to bring her back than Mr. Arc. The Winchester's, a rather influential family in Vale were also breathing down his neck to find the young man.

Ozpin was old, older then any one else on Remnant, minus one of course. He'd watched everyone he'd ever known die, whether it be through war, sickness, or simply old age. He'd out lived them all, still it never got any easier to lose one of his students.

He watched as the sun began peaking up over the horizon, it was morning and the search would continue soon. For what ever it was worth, especially knowing what he did, he prayed for the boys safe return.

With Cardin

The first thing he felt as his eyes began to crack open once again was pain from his head, then he noticed he was moving. He felt something pushing on his stomach and he was moving up and down slowly. It took several second to realize that he was being carried over someone's shoulder like a sack, but who and where was he? He tried to remembered walking down a long hallway and finding a room, inside the room he found a corpse in armor. That was when it hit him, he'd fainted when the corpse had moved.

In an instant his eyes shot open fully to see the dim glow of a torch near him, rolling of the persons shoulder Cardin reached for his weapon only to find it missing. Raising his fists instead he looked at the person only a few feet away, it was the man in armor holding a torch, at his waist was tied Cardin's mace next to his sword. On his back sat his shield.

The armored man simply stared at Cardin for several seconds without moving, following the teens gaze to his waist he reached down and grabbed Cardin's mace quickly removing the cord holding it there. Cardin held his stance as the armored man raised his mace and tossed it to him, surprised by this Cardin still managed to catch his weapon. Without a word the armored man gestured for him to follow before he continued walking.

Cardin waited for several more seconds still expecting an attack, but after the man had walked a good distance from him he'd decided that the man had no intention of fighting, at least for now. Walking quickly to catch up Cardin soon fell into step several feet behind the knight. The two walked in silence for several minutes before Cardin spoke up. "What is this place?" He asked, he received no answer. "Why are you down here?" He asked and again didn't get an answer. "Where are we going?" This time he asked without expecting a reply and wasn't surprised by the silence, at least silence from the knight.

For the first time since waking up he could hear something, it was barely audible and distant but he recognized it. "Running water." He whispered. It was coming from the direction they were walking and as they continued walking it got louder and louder until it was a roar. They finally arrived at a pair of stone door that the knight began to push open with visible effort, water began splashing them as it opened, it took several seconds for Cardin to realize that the door was behind a waterfall. Once the door was open the knight gestured to it. "Is that the exit?" Cardin asked the obvious, the first reply he'd received since waking came in the form of a light nod. Without further communication the knight turned around and began walking back in the direction they'd come from.

Cardin wanted to ask the man several questions but knew he wouldn't receive any answers. He stayed there for several minutes just watching the man walking away until his torch was just a flicker in the dark far in the distance. Turning to the water Cardin shrugged and backed up a bit before taking a running start and jumping through it. In a rare moment of luck he found that the fall was only about ten feet into a small pond that lead into a creek. Dragging himself onto the shore Cardin looked up at the sky, judging by the sun he was able to tell it was still morning, likely around seven based off of the height of the sun.

Leaning down to the clear water of the pond he scooped some of it into his hands and drank his fill before finally deciding to begin the long walk towards Vale. He knew he was west of Vale and he knew based off the rising sun which way to go, with a groan he began walking. Freezing in his track he took on an annoyed look. "I forgot to thank that guy." He said to himself looking to where he knew the hidden doorway was behind the waterfall, it was completely unnoticeable. After a few more seconds he sighed and continued walking.

Hours Later

Cardin sat quietly in the bullhead trying to resist the rage filled glare Glynda was sending his way. To both his luck and misfortune it had only taken about two hours before he ran into a search group that had been out looking for him, they'd been overjoyed to find him alive and he was happy he wouldn't have to walk all the way back to Vale. He'd been in the process of getting first aid for the wound to his head when Glynda had stormed into the tiny command center for the search parties and launched into a rant for nearly twenty minutes over the trouble his getting lost had caused. So far nobody had actually taken a minute to ask him what had happened or given him a chance to explain.

He felt the ship land and soon the doors opened up, he was really looking forward to collapsing in his bed. "Mr. Winchester, the headmaster has requested your presence the moment we returned." Glynda told him in a stern voice.

Another groan escaped his lips as he began following the woman to the large tower overlooking the school. It didn't take long before the pair were in the elevator raising up and the doors opened to the headmasters office. Entering the older man gesture to a chair across the desk from him, Glynda took her position standing next to his desk once again glaring at the boy.

"Mr. Winchester, it's good to see you alive and well. The medics reported your only injuries were a mild concussion and simple scrapes and bruised along the rest of your body. While this is all good to hear, I was hoping you could explain where you've been and why you disappeared." The headmaster explained to the teen calmly.

Nodding Cardin cleared his throat. "I fell sir."

"You fell?" He repeated.

"Yes sir, in anger I struck a tree with my mace and it fell over. The ground beneath me then collapsed in on itself and I fell down into the opening and into an underground tunnel. I must've hit my head on the way down because it was past midnight when I woke up. After waking up I saw the the opening above me had closed up, I tried to call for help but my scroll had no signal." As he explained all of this the headmaster simply listened and nodded along.

"So you were trapped in this tunnel, how did you get out?" The headmaster asked.

"Well using my scrolls light I picked a direction and began walking, when I reached the end a while later I found a large wooden door." Cardin explained with a bit more enthusiasm as his mind went to the knight who'd helped him, then he stopped. If he told them a knight in full armor came to life in a cave and carried him out they'd think he was crazy.

"And what was on the other side of the door?" Ozpin asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Nothing." Cardin spoke without really thinking.

"Nothing?"

"Uh, yeah. It was just a dead end, it turned out I went the wrong way." He said scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I was really tired so sat down for a while before turning around. It took a few hours but I managed to reach the other end which was an exit. After than I began walking in the direction of Vale and that's when the search team found me."

"I see. Well it's definitely not unheard of for seismic activity, in this case caused by the ursa and that tree falling, to open up fissures into long abandoned tunnels of mine shafts. If this is indeed what happened and I see no reason to doubt you, then it would appear this entire fiasco was just one big accident. As far as I can see there really isn't anything to be done, you may return to your room and get some rest. You will also be given the next two days off to rest and recover." Ozpin gestured for the elevator.

Standing Cardin nodded. "Thank you sir."

The two adults watched as he returned to the elevator and the doors closed. "He's lying." Glynda said once the doors closed.

"Indeed but only about what was behind the door he mentioned, everything else was true. Whatever was beyond that door either disturbed him to the point he didn't wish to talk about it or..." He trailed off.

"Or?"

"He didn't think we'd believe him." Ozpin finished.

With Cardin

Reaching his dorm room Cardin sighed, the last time he saw his team they'd ditched him to deal with an ursa on his own. Pushing the door open he found the three all sitting on their beds seemingly waiting on him, each looking nervous and guilty. Cardin couldn't stop the scowl from forming on his face. "Hey Car-" He ghosted past Russel and entered the bathroom where he began undressing and jumped into the shower.

It took a bit longer than usual as he had to be careful not to get water on his bandages around his head, after getting out he quickly through on some shorts and left the bathroom before going straight for his bed. This time nobody tried to speak to him.

The Forever Fall Forest

The chosen undead sat silently in the room at the end of the several mile long tunnel just as he had for eons, he hadn't been awake for most of it instead he'd put himself into a deep hibernative sleep, and for the first time in what had to be an incredible amount of time his rest was disturbed. A random young man untouched by the undead curse stumbled into his tomb and woke him by opening the door and breaking the seal.

He'd been content to wait for the boy to leave and reset the seal, then he grabbed his blade and was about to draw it. He long ago swore to never draw the blade again, it was soaked in the blood of countless beings, from pitiful hollows to gods. Then there was the secret the blade held, he'd never let it again allow it to be used by anyone. He could've killed the boy to prevent him from telling others of his resting place but doing so to an innocent being who he know wouldn't rise again felt wrong to him. Instead he decided to take the boy to the entrance after he fainted.

A part of him had wished he hadn't done so, after pushing open the stone doors he caught an extremely brief glimpse of the outside world. The crimson forest and the waterfall hadn't been there before, the landscape had been covered in snow and giant dead trees that reached up into the clouds, there had been no beauty to be found. After seeing that brief glimpse however it became curious as to what else had changed, he'd been waging a war in his mind over whether or not to go see if only for a few moments. He remained seated against the wall for hours just debating over what to do.

Finally he made a decision, just a moment. Standing began walking the long hallway once again, moving at an average pace it took him just under two hours to reach the end, the doors were still open like they were before. He simply stared at the water as it fell, it was dark on the other side which made sense as it had been hours since he'd taken the boy to the exit, night had likely fallen several hours before. Taking a breath the chosen undead jumped through and plunged into the water below and for the first time in many many centuries he felt water against his flesh as he sank to the bottom with all of his gear.

Opening his mouth he began drink from the water that surrounded him, his bone dry throat accepted the moisture happily. After drinking his fill he walked along the bottom until he reached the edge and pulled himself out, the cool air of the nights breeze blew against him and through the openings in his armor. The feeling was beyond his ability to describe, never before had he felt so refreshed. He may not need water to survive but it was clear his body still craved it.

Reaching up he grabbed his helm and slowly removed it, he wanted to feel the wind fully on his face. Closing his eyes he simply stood there and enjoyed the feeling of the fresh air touching his scared and hideous face, the face of an undead. It wasn't until he reopened his eyes that he took on a look of surprise, he gazed up at the beautiful night sky, the star shined bright, but the moon. It was not the moon he remembered, this moon was shattered to pieces.

Turning his gaze back to the waterfall where his tomb hid far behind he felt a pit in his gut at the thought of actually returning, then he looked around at the forest and the pond. Maybe he didn't have to go back in, could he stay where he was. With a small smile the chosen undead walked over to a nearby tree and sat down cross legged. This would do nicely.

Beacon

Cardin laid back in his bed, the dorm room was empty besides him, his 'team' were all in class. His head was feeling far better after a proper night sleep and his aura recharging a bit. He was still tired but he felt fine now, the only thing really bugging him were the thoughts that kept returning to that knight. Who was he, what was he, why was he out there? He wasn't the overly curious type but even Cardin knew that nothing about the situation really made sense and that made him want to learn the truth even more.

Picking himself up out of bed he threw on a random t-shirt and pants and left his dorm to head to the mess hall, he was starving. The entire walk he thought about what he wanted to do about it, he was sure he could find his way back to the waterfall the entrance was hidden behind. The problem would be getting there, he didn't own a vehicle that could cover that kind of terrain. What would he do if he did get there, he wasn't even sure if the knight wouldn't attack him on sight this time. He hadn't said anything to him while he was there and had done everything he could to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

Cardin was so preoccupied with his own thoughts he completely failed to noticed a certain rabbit faunus who flinched as he walked past her as if expecting him to do something, nor did he notice glares he received form the three people walking with her. It wasn't until he'd gotten his food and sat down to eat that he left his own little world and looked around only to notice his 'team', if they could even be called that, approaching him. Each holding a tray and wearing their uniforms.

Sitting across from him they all looked guilty. "Look Cardin, we pussed out." Russel spoke up first.

Nodding Dove agreed. "Yeah, we left you behind and I'm not gonna lie, Arc had a bigger sack than any of us did when that ursa showed up." He had a clear look of shame on his face.

"We were cowards and if you'd have died back there, I'd never be able to look myself in the mirror again." Sky continued. "But I swear that'll never happen again, next time a big ass grimm shows up. I've got your back even if it kills me, so is there anyway you could give us a second shot?"

The other two nodded in agreement as they waited for their leaders reply. "You think I can just say I forgive you and it'll be over like that? You left me to die back there without even looking back, how am I suppose to trust any of you to have my back again? We're suppose to be a team and you three abandoned me to save your own asses." Cardin glared at the three as he spoke. "All it took was ONE ursa that Arc managed to take out on his own to get you all to turn tail and run, how can I possibly expect any of you to be there when a horde show up on a mission?" Cardin rose to his feet having finished half his meal already, grabbing the remainder of his sandwich he turned and left the pathetic looking group of teens sitting at the table.

Two Days Later

Cardin swiped his card at the rental shop and signed the several papers the clerk handed him before handing it back and following them to the ATV he rented for the day. On his back was a large backpack filled with everything he'd need to find and explore that tunnel behind the waterfall, this included a compass, heavy duty flash light with extra batteries, a rope and several other essentials like food and water. Of course at his waist sat his mace.

"The tank is full and should take you a good sixty miles, there are two spare fuel canisters but please note that using these will result in extra charge." The clerk explained handing him the keys.

Nodding Cardin took them and hopped on after thanking the man. Cranking the engine he began heading for Vales west gate. The drive didn't take long, it actually took longer for the guards at the gate to allow him through the gate. After showing his student ID from Beacon though they did allow him through, they did inform him that they weren't allowed to open the gate after ten at night without orders directly from Vale's Huntsmen director.

The next two hours were spent making his way towards the location of the waterfall, it was easier to find than he expected. After reaching the general area he stumbled upon the creek and began following it. Along the way he'd run into several small groups of grimm, they didn't pose much of a threat to him, he was a Beacon student after all.

It was a bit past noon when he reached the waterfall, looking up at it he was just barely able to make out the doors behind it. Turning back to his ATV Cardin pulled out a bottle of water and a sandwich, it was about time for lunch and he knew he'd need the energy for the long walk ahead of him.

He was about to take a bite when heard metal tap against metal nearby, looking around he was surprised to find the knight sitting underneath a tree about thirty feet away. He was sitting cross legged with several birds perched on him, his head was turned to face Cardin. Walking over to the knight Cardin stopped about ten feet away. "I didn't expect to see you out here, I was about to trek through that long ass tunnel." He gestured to the tunnel behind the waterfall. The knight made no attempt to reply, Cardin hadn't really expected any different though. "Look, I came here to thank you for helping me out the other day."

This time the knight tilted his head upwards ever so slightly as if to take a better look at the teen, it was only for a few moments however as he soon went back to his previous position. Taking a bite of his sandwich Cardin decided to take a seat though he made sure to give a respectable amount of distance to the knight. He wasn't really sure what else to say, or if he actually should say anything at all. As a man he'd felt obligated to thank this stranger who'd helped him out when he needed it. "How long have you been out here, are you a huntsmen?" He asked not really expecting an answer.

Just as thought he was met with silence. "You really don't say much do you, I bet the ladies love that." He laughed at his own joke.

Before he could say more however the knight stood and turned to the forest, Cardin stood as well but didn't understand why until a few moments later. A familiar growling became audible earning a groan from the teen. "Dammit, some must have followed me." Reading his weapon he paled a bit when the growling beast stepped through the brush surrounding the clearing around the waterfall.

The grimm stood over fifteen feet in height and was covered in large white spines, he remembered this from Port's class. It was an Amarok, a type of beowulf that was far more rare and powerful than it's more common kin. That however didn't make a lot of sense, Amarok's were solitary hunters if he remembered correctly, plus they were nocturnal. Why was one out in the middle of the day accompanied by so many other grimm? Regardless to the reason Cardin took a step backwards, Amarok were considered A-class grimm, generally requiring at least a second class huntsmen to defeat one on one, or a team of third or fourth class huntsmen. He was just a huntsmen in training placing him squarely in the range of a fifth class, in short he didn't stand much of a chance against that thing.

His train of thought was cut off as the knight stepped past him, his blade still sheathed at his hip. His shield on his arm, as he approached the ever growing horde of beasts Cardin noticed a faint glow growing brighter in his free hand. Oddly enough the grimm didn't charge at the knight right away, they remained at a distance though everyone had their gazes set solely on him. The knight stopped several yards away and held up his hand, bringing it against his chest Cardin watched in awe as a red aura began to rise from him, for a moment he even thought he felt a light pressure coming from him.

Then without warning he charged running straight for the Amarok, leaping into the air he slammed into the beast. The surrounding beasts all began surrounding the larger grimm at the knight, none paid Cardin any really mind. Cardin himself watched spell bound as the knight began slamming his armored fist into the giant wolf grimms jaw causing visible cracks to begin appearing. With a roar the grimm grabbed the knight with one of it's clawed hands and attempted to sink it's fangs into him, the knight however jammed his shield into the beasts maw sideways then delivered another bone crushing blow to the monsters throat forcing it to release him. Dropping to the ground the knight immediately charged and slammed all his wait into one of the wolfs legs sending it off balance. Pivoting around the leg the knight let out the first vocalization of any kind Cardin had so far heard in the form of a roar of effort as he lifted the massive wolf and brought it down onto the ground causing the area to shake a little upon impact.

Before the beast could recover the knight jumped onto it's chest and grabbed the shield that was still jammed into the beasts mouth and ripped it about before using it to bash the Amarok in the face with the edge repeatably. Cardin had scene huntsmen fight before, his uncle was a second class huntsmen and had taught him most of what he knew before he entered Beacon. This was not how a huntsmen fought, there was no grace in the knights attacks, no flashy movements or techniques. This was simply brute strength and sheer brutality, the knight didn't seem to care about any damage he might be taking having already shrugged of several nasty looking blows from the beast as he continued to beat the monster into submission. Even when the wolf managed to kick him off and separate him from his shield the knight didn't attempt to take a more conservative stratagem, instead he met the beast head on when it charged. Upon impacting the beast he grabbed a hold of its throat with the hand with the glow and soon to Cardin's surprise the Amarok began howling in agony, then from it's opened maw fire began spewing forth. That should've been impossible as there had never been a reported case of a Amarok breathing fire, than he realized that it wasn't.

The Amarok was not the source of the flames, somehow the knight had burned a hole through the creatures throat and was shooting a stream of fire inside of it. This continued for nearly thirty more seconds before the A-class grimm dropped to it's knees and the knight jumped off landing near his shield. The monster laid still, it's now smoldering corpse beginning to turn to dust just as all grimm did upon death. The knight stood after grabbing his shield, Cardin only then realized that the knight still hadn't drawn his blade, he'd just watched a man kill an extremely dangerous and powerful grimm with basically his bare hands. He almost wished he'd have been filming it with his scroll to post online. He didn't doubt for a moment that it would be on the front page of HuntsTube for weeks.

"CARDIN!" A voice shouted from behind him causing him and several of the beast to turn and finally take notice of his presence. Standing far above at the top of the waterfall his team stood looking down, weapons in hand they all jumped and landed not far from him. "What the hell are you doing out here?" Russel asked.

"Me? What the hell are you doing out here?" Cardin responded to the three teens.

"We decided to follow you." Dove spoke up. "We were gonna go back to Beacon until we saw you drive to the gate and leave the city."

"So we decided to why the hell you were out here." Sky added as he raised his halberd. "Kinda glad we did to, it looks like you could use some back up."

The four boys then turned to the one sided slaughter going on nearby, the knight was decimating the grimm around him with just his fists, his shield and the occasional burst of flame. "I think he's doing just fine." Cardin said before looking to the grimm moving in on them. "I on the other hand would love the help."

Two Hours Later

The Chosen Undead sat cross legged beneath the tree he'd claimed as his own, nearby the four boys all laid out on the ground panting heavily. He'd been impressed by their skill and stamina, they fought will a level of strength and grace he didn't often see in normal people. It wasn't until about an hour into the battle that he'd begun to notice the first signs of fatigue from them, he wasn't comparing them to himself, such wouldn't be a fair comparison. He was an undead, and beyond that he wouldn't be boasting if he said he was likely among the most powerful undead in existence. He held the souls of lords and demons, dragons and beasts, he was far from the average undead. If needed he could fight nonstop for days on end without rest.

These boys however were just that, boys. Barely old enough to hold a blade let alone wield one with the skill they'd displayed. The beasts they'd battled weren't very powerful, the strongest of them could hardly compare to even a taurus demon, even still they'd impressed him. While he'd defeated the majority of the beasts he'd taken notice of their individual fighting styles, they caused a feeling of nostalgia.

Pulling out his bottomless box, the trusty container that held all of knick knacks he'd picked up in his travels and stuck his hand in. Even after having it for years he still didn't completely understand how the box worked, all he had to do was think about the item he was looking for and he would pull it out. Even with the countless things he'd should in it over the years he never had to search for anything. Withdrawing his hand he held four small objects, the boys had reminded him of their previous owners.

He stared at them for several minutes before turning his gaze over to the four boys, they'd all sat up and had begun talking with each other. From what he could tell they were discussing how one of them, the one with light brown hair that wielded a sword, had suffered the loss of his weapon. He was looking it over, it was snapped in two by the jaws of one of the beasts. He'd also noticed how odd their weapons were, but compared to many things he'd seen in his time they were hardly even noteworthy.

Looking back to the items in his hand he stood and began walking over to the group earning their attention. With his free hand he grabbed one and tossed it to the first boy he'd met, the one with the mace. As the boy caught it he spoke his first word in countless millennia. "Wolf." The boy looked surprised at the sound of his voice before looking down at the object in his hands. It was a ring with the engraving of a wolf.

The Chosen Undead turned the next boy, the one with the odd haircut that wielded daggers. He tossed the next ring to him. "Hornet." Next he looked to the one who used the halberd and tossed him a ring. "Lion." Finally he looked to the last boy, the one with the broken weapon. He'd seen the boy demonstrate an impressive level of skill in marksmanship, his broken sword somehow being able to fire projectiles. He tossed the last ring to him. "Hawk."

He watched as the four boys looked over the rings, turning he moved to return to his tree. "Wait." The first boy stood. "What do these mean?"

The Chosen Undead didn't reply, instead he reached into his box once more and grabbed something he'd nearly forgotten about. Pulling out a book he examined the cover, it was beyond ancient but he could barely make out the image on the cover. The Four Knights of Gwyn, the book that had inspired him to become a knight himself as a child, long before he became undead. He held the book out to the boy, he hardly needed it anymore, he'd long since met and slain his old hero's, maybe these young men could use such inspiration. "Read, learn." He spoke once more, his voice was rough like gravel and deeper then any of the boys had ever heard.

Once the boy accepted the book he continued to his spot beneath the tree, he didn't respond further that day.

Five Days Later

Cardin looked over the book in his hands, he'd already flipped through it several times but had found out immediately that it was written in the same incomprehensible language as the message that had been on the door the knight had originally been behind. He could make heads or tails of it, then there was the ring on his finger, it might have been even more strange than the book itself. While wearing the ring, he wasn't sure how to explain it, but he felt more balanced more sturdy. He'd noticed it for the first time in combat practice, he'd taken a direct blow to the face from Xiao Long and while the hit had knocked away the last of his aura he himself had barely budged.

He wasn't the only one to notice the odd affects of the rings either. Dove had sworn up and down that while he was using the schools shooting range his aim had improved drastically, he'd even managed to beat Rose's high score on the timed trial while using one of the rental rifles from the school, the same rifles everyone always complained about firing off center.

Russel and Sky had both improved as well, in just a few days Glynda had remarked that their improvement was noticeable. All this only made Cardin want to decipher the book even more. The knight had told him to learn from it and he desperately wanted to do just that. "Mr. Winchester!" Cardin's head shot up and found that the entire class was looking at him, the one who'd called his name being none other than Professor Port himself. "I apologize if my story isn't as interesting as your book but I'll have to ask you to pay attention all the same." He held out his hand to the boy. With a sigh he handed the book over to the teacher who took it over to his desk and placed it in the drawer. "You may retrieve it after class."

The class continued normally for nearly another hour until Port was called out of the room and Oobleck took over the class, when it had finally ended Cardin had been extremely frustrated when the Doctor had told him he couldn't remove the book from another staff members desk and that the leader of team CDRL would have to wait until tomorrow to get it from the professor.

"Hey Cardin." He heard his name called and turned to his teammate. "Dove just got word that his new weapon is finished, wanna head into Vale to pick it up?" Sky asked.

Shrugging the Winchester nodded. "Sure, I don't see why not, classes are done for the day." The two teens walked together to the airpads in relative silence, Dove and Russel would be meeting them there.

"So, you make any progress with the book?" Sky asked clearly just trying to start a conversation.

Cardin shook his head. "No, I don't even know where to start with it. I even checked the library, I couldn't find a single language that looked even close to the script it's written in." He then let out a tired sigh. "Doesn't matter anyway, Port has it and I'll have to wait till tomorrow to get it back."

Upon arriving Cardin noticed Dove was in higher spirits than usual, he looked downright giddy as he waited to board the airship. "What's got you so worked up?" Cardin asked his teammate.

"I finally get a new weapon of course! You have no clue how tired I got of using that damned sword." He explained to his leader. "It was a hand me down from my brother, once he graduated and got his license he had himself an all weapon built. My family isn't exactly rich so we couldn't afford a new one and I was never good at building one myself. But now I'm a Beacon student and the school is paying a large chunk of the bill."

The four boys all began boarding as the doors opened. "What kind of weapon did you get?" Russel asked.

The boy smiled widely. "Come on, you'll see when we get there."

Elsewhere

The Chosen Undead stared up at the sky, his mind wandered to just how different everything was. The stars even looked off the night before, and the moon, he could only imagine what kind of event must have taken place to shatter it so. Then there were those boys, they rode on such odd steads, four wheels and louder than any horse. Of course there were also those beasts he fought, they were odd but nothing he wasn't use to, in fact compared to the demons of his time they were down right pitiful.

His eyes moved to the waterfall that hid his tomb behind it, how long had he been in this self imposed exile from the world. He'd originally locked himself away in an attempt to put an end to the battles, he'd been tired, exhausted really. He couldn't remember anything of his past beyond brief flashes, such as his former admiration of the four knights of Gwyn, other than that the only thing he could remember were the countless battles and enemies he'd slain during his time.

Now however, his time had long passed by, those boy were completely untouched by the undead curse. Standing to his feet the undead walked over to where the boys stead had sat, he could see the strange tracks it's wheels had left. "Maybe." He whispered to himself.

Once again on a whim he decided to do something without much reason to it and he began walking, the tracks in the dirt leading his way.

He continued walking for hours simply following the tracks, where they would lead him he hadn't the slightest clue, but instead of thinking about these things he instead just kept walking. Along the way he encountered several of the beasts from before but they each fell with ease, his bare hands were more than enough for them. As he walked the sun set and rose again by the time he reach the end of the trail, he stared upwards at the giant structure before him. It was a metal wall that stood at least eighty feet high.

The tracks lead to an opening in the wall that was guarded by several men holding strange objects, by the way they held them he could safely assume that they were weapons of some sort. As he approached the men didn't seem concerned about his presence, a few even smiled and nodded, that was definitely something he was not use to. Usually the most polite thing normal people would do to undead would be to simply spit in their direction, at worst they enslave, imprison or exterminate them. "Afternoon huntsmen, slay anything impressive today?" One of the men asked as he neared.

Not wanting to be rude the Chosen Undead responded by raising his hand and tilted it back and forth to symbolize the so-so gesture. With a chuckle the man gesture for him to enter, something that surprised him further. Normally entering a city was a bit more difficult than that for someone in full armor and armed. Perhaps it was do to the title the guard and referred to him as, a huntsmen, maybe that was a respected position in this culture. Shrugging he walked through the gate, he was quickly stopped in his tracks at the sight before him.

Everything was different to anything he'd ever seen before in his long life. Building reached up into the sky higher than the greatest towers of Anor Londo, the roads were covered in black stone and horseless carriages speeding along them at incredible speeds. People walked along the sides of the roads wearing odd clothing without any signs of armor or weaponry. He began walking along the side of the road like the other civilians, some gave him strange looks, whether this was because he stood at nearly seven feet tall or because he was fully encased in armor he didn't know.

He didn't know how long he walked nor did he care, he was simply enjoying taking in his surroundings. He watched as large metal machines flew through the sky above. "Oh my gosh look at that armor!" He heard before the feeling of someone up behind him began sending red flags to his head. Spinning around he held up his hand with embers already glowing in his palm ready to summon an inferno at a moments notice, he stopped however when he saw a young girl looking startled by his preparation to turn her to ashes. Throwing her arms up she jumped back. "Wait wait! I'm sorry, I didn't mean any harm!" She shouted as three more girls came running over, the Chosen Undead remained still with his arm raised.

"Hey, what's the big idea with threatening my sister for no reason?!" A blonde girl wearing an extremely revealing outfit shouted at him.

"Calm down Yang, this is Ruby's fault. Didn't anyone ever teach you not to run up behind a hunter." A white haired girl spoke this time before approaching him, he lowered his hand slightly. "I'm sorry about her, she's very excitable."

The undead warrior didn't reply, instead he simply dropped his hand, turning away from the four girls he decided to just walk away. He heard the first girl shout another apology as he continued walking. "Hey, don't ignore us when we're trying to be polite!" The recognized the blondes voice as he felt a hand clamp down on his shoulder.

In an instant his instincts kicked in and he grabbed her arm and flipped her over his shoulder and slammed her back first into the ground with enough force to send cracks webbing and chunks flying into the air, fire covered his fist as he brought it down onto the ground next to her head again destroying the concrete and melting any rocks touching his glowing fist. The girls eyes were red now and anger oozed from her, however the knight could also sense a bit of fear there as well.

"Woah woah enough!" The undead was surprised to hear a familiar voice shout from nearby. Looking up he saw the four boy from the forest running there way. The first boy, the one with the mace, arrived and placed his hand on the knights shoulder. "Hey, calm down man."

The knight stared at him for several seconds before standing back to his full height and stepping away from the downed girl. "Wolf." He said just loud enough for him to hear.

"Cardin, of course you'd know this asshole. He totally just attacked us!" The blonde girl shouted as she got to her feet with some help from her team.

"Actually Yang, you grabbed him first." The black haired girl with the bow finally spoke for the first time.

"I was just trying to get him to stop and listen!" She responded. "Who is this guy anyway?"

"He's my cousin." The blurted out, the look on his face was filled with surprise by his own words.

Moments Earlier

Cardin didn't quite believe his eyes at first when he saw the familiar figure of the knight walking along the sidewalk. "Dude Car, isn't that that knight from the forest?" Russel's voice broke him from his stupor.

"And isn't that team RWBY running up to him?" Sky asked causing the leader to look to the blur of black and red moving towards the knight followed by the three other members of the all female team. "Think they know him?"

His question was answered almost immediately by the knight raising his hand and preparing a fire based attack like he did in the forest, he wasn't sure why he felt the need to intervene but Cardin began walking towards the conflict waiting to happen. He felt a bit relieved when the knight turned to walk away, then Xiao Long went and grabbed his shoulder, that's when he began sprinting. He was only a few yards away when the knight slammed the girl into the pavement so hard he felt the vibrations in his feet. "Woah woah enough!" He yelled as he neared the group. The knight looked up at him, slowly and carefully Cardin placed his hand on the knights shoulder. "Hey, calm down man." He told the knight without any aggression in his voice.

They stared at each other for several seconds and Cardin was nervous that the knight, who he'd seen tear apart an A-class grimm with his bare hands, was about drag him into a fight. Thankfully however the knight stood back up and stepped away from the girl. "Wolf." Cardin heard the knight say just as he did when he gave his team the rings. The teen couldn't help but feel a bit of pride form in his chest at hearing the new nickname.

"Cardin, of course you'd know this asshole. He totally just attacked us!" Xiao Long yelled at him as she got up with the help of her team.

"Actually Yang, you grabbed him first." Belladonna spoke up.

"I was just trying to get him to stop and listen!" The blonde shouted back. "Who is this guy anyway?" She demanded.

"He's my cousin." Even he wasn't sure why he decided upon that as a response, he didn't really think it through. The knight looked to him once again but like always he didn't say anything. "And last time I checked Xiao Long, he doesn't owe you anything. Come on Knight." It wasn't the most creative name he could think of but it was the first.

The knight only hesitated for a moment as the boy began leading him and the other three boys away from the group of girls, but then with a shrug he decided to do so and follow the four.

Less then a day into this new world and he was already someones 'cousin'. So many things had changed, but at least life was still interesting.

So this chapter is easily more than double the length of anything I've ever written before, DO NOT expect chapters of this length for my other stories. I will likely be updating this story once in a blue moon, mainly because the chapter length. For once I've actually planned ahead with this story so I'm excited. Until next time.