Hello, reader(s). Just a little something as a warm-up for some bigger stories, and to get back into the game. I hope you enjoy this small little story!

"Hello, Winter."

Winter Schnee looked at General James Ironwood, a white medical eyepatch covering her right eye. Two jagged gashes scarring her right side of her face, and her left arm in a cast. Her usually bright white hair now greyed from dirt and mud.

"Hello sir," she said solemnly.

The General sat down in a chair next to Winter's hospital bed. "How are you feeling?"

Winter just gazed down on her chest, where there was bandaged peeking out on her shoulder, indicating a wound to her torso.

James sighed. "I see. Still don't want to talk about it?"

"No," Winter looked back at her superior, "just… trying to figure out what happened."

"You're the only survivor we have from this attack. I will take an incomplete story to this madness. Better than being left in the dark about a potential threat."

Winter clenched her hands. "Will due respect sir… I don't even think I have a clue of what that thing was."

James leaned back in his chair a bit as Winter continued.

"It slaughtered all of my men in as little as a day, not to mention how ritualistic it was in the killings."

"I heard reports about it being 'like a ghost'?"

"O-oi! Sanchez is down! A big blue ball of light just…"

Joe, the heavy weapon specialist puked out his lunch, the smell of the vomit adding to the already horrid-smelling air as spilt blood and fried flesh wafted into the now five man squad. The corpse of Sanchez was indistinguishable as his torso and head were blown off in a bloody mess. The bird that would usually sing their tropical jungle tune were silent, as if afraid of being next.

"What the actual fuck…" Mike, the team's sniper, said, "I don't think White Fang have anything that can do that!"

"Where did the shot come from, Jacob?" Winter asked.

"Over there, but I was looking right at it!" Jacob frantically shouted as he pointed to a low hanging tree branch, "It just came out of nowhere!"

"Calm down!" Winter snapped, which Jacob whimpered at her harsh tone. "No amount of yelling will solve our problems. Let's just get to extraction and get this prisoner into custody."

"Having problems, Schnee?" the said prisoner sneered. Joe whacked the bull faunus with the butt of his gun.

"Quiet, you damned animal!"

Winter meeky nodded. "Yes, every time someone went down, we couldn't find it…"

Suddenly, a nurse came in with a tray with a sandwich and a glass of water.

"Lunch for Winter Schnee?" she asked.

"Please, put it on the table," James replied.

"As you wish, General," the nurse said as she placed the tray on the table to the left of Winter. As soon as the woman walked out, James once began his debriefing.

"Was Sanchez the first fatality?"

"Yes. Next was Joe, then Jacob, next Mike, and then finally Jaeger."

The General frowned. "Do you… wish to indulge information on how?"

Mike screamed, alerting the others. As they ran towards the sound of his voice, they all looked in horror as a now skinless and lifeless Joe hung from his feet from the tree branch, his weapon laying on the ground under him, now contaminated with the blood dripping on it. Winter couldn't help but heave out her lunch.

"Oh god, no!" Winter tried to cut the razor wire that was slowly sawing through Jacob's flesh, but the metal wasn't even scratched by the Dust-infused blade. Not too long, Jacob's lungs could not move, leaving his bones to scream by themselves.

"Help me!" Jaeger and Winter rushed toward Mike, who was being held up by an invisible creature. Blood oozed onto the transparent figure to reveal that it's claws was pronged and jagged, and the size of the creature was well over seven feet. Mike's head suddenly jerked back, and was ripped out from his body. The spine hung limp like a tail as both Winter and Jaeger stood helplessly as the creature's eyes flashed yellow for a moment.

"Run, Winter, I'll hold it off!" Jaeger yelled as Winter held her right side of the face, which was bleeding from the now-decloaked creature's wrist blades. The masked demon roared in defiance as Winter ran, but she could hear the sound of Jaeger's own wrist blades clashing with the creature's.

"No," Winter simply stated. The General looked at his watch, then got up.

"Get well soon, Winter. I'd hate to have my best officer be bedridden during the Vytal Festival," Ironwood said as he left the room. Winter sighed. She heard of that faunus prisoner that they had during the operation was causing trouble with her father's company again this month by hijacking one of their trains. This made her wishing she was back out there, keeping the peace.

However, she swore to never, ever return to Selva Cadáver.

The Corpse Jungle.

One day before the train heist.

"Are you sure you're up for this, Blake?"

"Yes, Adam, I am," Blake said to her mentor as she loaded Gambol Shroud with the Dust bullets, "I told you, I need to be doing something."

Adam frowned, but his mask covered his emotions in his eyes. One in particular: wariness. Being in Forever Fall brings up bad memories in that cursed red-tinged, overgrown excuse for a forest.

"Blake."

The cat faunus looked up at the bull. "Yes?"

Adam sighed. "Do you wish to know why I wear this mask all the time?"

This cause Blake's cat ears to twitch with curiosity. "Why the sudden question?" she asked.

Adam then removed his mask, revealing two parallel scars that run horizontally across his face. Blake gave a small gasp of shock, but mainly because how ugly the scars were, like someone took fish hooks and dragged them across his face.

"Do you remember when I got back from that mission involving one of our jungle bases?" he asked.

"Yes… all White Fang members and Atlas Militants fought there that lead to a great deal of bloodshed and death to both sides due to the Grimm and-"

"There was no Grimm. No battle."

Blake looked at Adam confused, but he held his hand up to stop her from asking questions. "Don't listen to those propagandizing snakes that told the rest of the White Fang about a 'great battle' and 'Grimm feeding', those are just a cover up."

"For what?" Blake asked.

"The ghost that gave me these scars."

Blake raised an eyebrow, before her facial expression turned to one of fear as Adam told her of his encounter with the demons…

Adam was running, still cuffed. Since that sniper was ambushed by the ghost, Adam took the opportunity to escape while the two humans went to look for their comrade. It wasn't long, however, until he reached an open clearing where the White Fang hid an emergency SOS transmitter. Adam opened the trapdoor and pressed the button on the console. It beeped in response, but it fell to no ears as Adam was torn away from the trap door. As the White Fang operative got up, something slashed at his face.

The ghost found him.

"Damn…" Adam growled as he put his cuffed hands on his face, the blood pouring down from his eyes and the bridge of the nose. The cut was deep, but not enough flesh was torn out get his eyes. He could hear the demon's footsteps stomping towards him, the shroud of invisibility that covered the creature fading away. Adam knew he would die today, as the demon raised his claws to finish him.

.

.

.

But it never came.

With blurry vision, he could make out that something knocked down the demon. It roared in defiance at the newcomer… who looked exactly the same as the demon. The second monster clicked back, as if replying to the demon's challenge.

Then, they clashed.

Adam, however, wouldn't stay to see the fight…

… After all, he would've known who won by the fact he was still alive.