A/N so this is another story I've been throwing around my head. Don't know how it will do but here it is.

It hurt but It didn't know why. The wounds It had sustained had been healed within minutes of It receiving them, one of the many benefits of being able to control the primordial tar It had been birthed from millenia ago. No this pain went far deeper than It had ever felt before. Why? Why had SHE betrayed It? Now It's brethren hunted It through this dark forest. It, HER oldest and most powerful servant. Was that It? Was that why SHE had attacked It? Had it grown too powerful? That was the only conclusion It could come to. Soon the pain was replaced with something older, more familiar to It. Rage, SHE wanted to make It an enemy did SHE? Fine then It would make sure that Salem felt every bit of It's rage. It would need an army to fight against Its former master's shadows, but where could It find one? It would have continued this line of thought if It hadn't heard the sniffles and felt the negative emotions that could only indicate a tasty meal nearby. Sure enough It saw the small human girl, good for little more than a snack, lying face down in the dirt. There was one of the humans sharp objects in her back and her lifeblood slowly leaked onto the forest floor beneath her. The ancient beowulf was about to begin it's feast on the small human, when she turned her head and looked at It. The beowulf didn't see the dark matted hair, or her tear streaked face. No, what It saw were the eyes, pure silver stared into glowing red. The beowulf immediately leaped back, It knew those eyes, It knew the damage they could cause. It quickly realised there was no danger, the human apparently didn't know how to summon her own power and would be dead within minutes anyways. Then a thought came unbidden to It. How would SHE react to those eyes? It didn't know, but the answer to that question soon became very important to It. It would find out even if It had to do the unthinkable.

000000000000

Several minutes earlier

"Hey, Neo, do you know where we're going?" Ruby asked her older, mute friend, who replied with a simple head nod. They were currently walking through the large forest just beyond the wall of the city. Ruby knew they weren't supposed to be here but she always found the forest, and her spars with Neo, to be well worth the risk of getting in trouble. This time however they had taken a different path that Ruby had never seen before.

"It's just it's getting late and if we aren't back at the orphanage soon Yang might get worried and try to find us." Neo seemed to pause and consider this before shrugging and offer Ruby a smile.

'It's nearby, just a little farther.' Neo signed to Ruby

"What's nearby?" Ruby asked, she thought they were heading out to spar for a bit.

'It's a surprise. We'll only be out here a few minutes that's all.' Ruby was a little disappointed when Neo signed this, she had been looking forward to the spar. But if Neo had a surprise it would be fine, she could use her new strategy next time. They continued on in silence for a few minutes until Neo stopped.

'It's right here close your eyes' Neo signed to Ruby 'If you open them you'll ruin the surprise.' Ruby nodded and did as Neo asked, expecting that it would have to be a great surprise for them to come all the way out here for it. Suddenly without warning Ruby felt a sharp pain in her back. Her eyes shot open and she looked down to find the point of one of the kitchen's knives protruding from her stomach. Her vision quickly began to swim and she felt a small hand push her forward. The moment she hit the ground she heard the tiny sound of Neo's footsteps skip away.

"N-n-neo, why?" Ruby croaked out as her mouth began to fill with blood. She didn't know how long she laid there but after what felt like an eternity Ruby heard something moving beside her. She painfully turned her head to look at the source of the sound. Only to stare into the open jaws of a beowulf, for some reason she couldn't bring herself to care. Her life was already over, if her only friend other than her sister hated her enough to kill her, what could this grimm do to her? She couldn't even bring herself to be surprised when it jumped back suddenly. Her consciousness quickly began to fade as the grimm moved closer towards her.

'Why don't you struggle?' Ruby couldn't tell where the voice came from within the black of her mind but she knew it was not her voice, it was deep and guttural, more like a growl with meaning than an actual voice

Why should I? Ruby thought back, my best friend did this to me?

'I understand your pain, but why give up, your kind is not known for such things' the voice replied 'If I give you the ability would you take it? Do you have anything to live for' Ruby's thoughts immediately drifted to her sister whom she had kept in the dark about her and Neo's excursions into the forest. The voice returned 'that will do.' suddenly Ruby felt a burning sensation spread throughout her body, bringing her back to a very painful consciousness.

00000000

Qrow was furious. He had come back from his extended mission to find that two of his teammates had disappeared on a mission for the Valean council, simultaneously leaving behind their two kids. But had the government seen to inform him or even check to see if there was any family who could take care of his nieces. No, they hadn't. The council's children's services had just stuck the two in some random orphanage, nevermind the contribution of their parents to the safety of the kingdom. So now Qrow was storming into his fifth orphanage that day. He walked right up to the office's main desk that had a young lady sitting behind.

"Hello sir, can I help you with anything?" the lady asked Qrow as he stormed up to the desk.

"You can not waste my time and tell me if you have a Yang Xiao Long or Ruby Rose here." Qrow said impatiently.

"I'm sorry sir, but we can't give out that sort of information to just…" The girl was interrupted by Qrow holding up his scroll, with his official government huntsmen ID displayed on the front.

"I said don't waste my time miss, now do you have them here or not" the girl looked flustered but motioned for him to wait a second.

"Uhm, yes sir, we do have a Yang Xiao Long here." she then turned to Qrow, "may I ask what…"

"Bring her out here please. Now." Qrow interrupted her. Her demeanor was getting increasingly upset but she did as he asked. A few moments later blonde pigtails appeared in the hallway.

"Uncle Qrow!" Yang ran and jumped on her uncle and immediately began bawling. "You're here! Everyone else is gone!" Qrow turned to the girl behind the desk.

"Whatever paperwork there is you better do it quick because I'm leaving here with her." Qrow said with a tone that brokered no arguments. He then turned to Yang "Yang, where's your sister? Where's Ruby?" Yang looked up at him with tearful eyes.

"I-I don't know," She said as more tears streamed down her face, "they said she ran away, but Ruby wouldn't do that! She wouldn't do that to me! Would she?"

"Of course not" Qrow new Yang needed support, but something else was going on, there was no way a five year old girl would be able to run away without anyone realising it was happening. "We'll find her I promise."