Hey readers, I'm back. I'm sorry that I had to go away for so long and without any updates or just me posting something. I had a lot of personal issues to deal with, but I would rather not go into those. Just know that I'm back, and I'm going to be writing again.

Now, I've got some news for you guys. I don't know how many of you have read any of my other works, but I have a story called "Do you believe in Destiny?". It's going to be coming down sometime in the next week. It's main idea was that I wanted to expand upon the lore of the RWBY-verse. It was going to tackle the Mountain Glenn incident, how Salem's cronies were recruited and more of Ozpin's story. Sound ambitious, right? Well, it was too ambitious for me, and without anyone's help, I don't think I can complete it. Besides, OC stories are rather unpopular anyway.

That being said, I am going to put something else up in it's place. No idea what it will be about, and that's because I want to leave it up to you guys. You can leave my an idea as a review, send it to me in a message, or I'm going to look at doing a poll. I want to hear want you guys want to see more of. What kinds of stories? About who? What pairings? Original or just not overused ideas would be nice, but it's up to you.

Finally, this story. I'm going to apologize in advance for this chapter. I know you guys liked the longer chapters, but this one is at about the original length because I just wanted to get something out to you guys. Future chapters will be longer, I just needed to get back in the swing of things. Anyway, here you go...

... ... ... ... ... ... ...

The strange creature's paws pounded toward the Cliffside, heavy pants accenting the rhythm. The pink one was still following it, it couldn't remember why. The pink one was always following it. As the edge of the cliff approached, the creature felt itself changing. Skin stretched and attached itself. At the edge, the monster flung itself off, spreading its limbs wide.

Flaps of skin between the creature's arms and legs filled with air, making it glide off into the forest. By the time it landed, it could feel itself changing again. Three paces later, and the flaps had dissolved into black smoke. A brief glance over its shoulder confirmed that the pink one was at the top of the cliff. The pink one yelled something, but whatever it was, it was lost in the wind and distance.

… … … … … … …

Pyrrha made it to the cliffs a solid ten seconds before Jaune, and took the opportunity to check her scroll. Thankfully, Nora still had hers with her and it was working.

With a huff, Jaune rested his hands on his legs. "Definitely…need to do…more cardio…in armor." Pyrrha couldn't help but smile a little at the blonde's statement. "Nora definitely beat us here." Jaune nodded his head at a single, triggered platform near the path up.

"She can't be too far ahead though," Pyrrha replied hopefully. There was no way to know, which made the spartan anxious, but there was nothing else she could do.

"Do you know how to trigger these?" Jaune asked, standing on the next platform.

"I think I have an idea," the champion smiled, standing next to Jaune. "Get your shield out and hold it in front of you." The knight did so and looked back to his partner. "Ready?" Before Jaune replied, Pyrrha used her semblance to trigger the platforms, sending the duo flying into the woods, one of them screaming like a little girl.

Pyrrha on the other hand, was in complete control. She angled herself towards her partner, latching on to him mid-air. As the duo neared the ground, the champion used her semblance to slow them down enough so that when they tumbled onto the ground, it was at a reasonable speed. As soon as she hit dirt, she rolled to her feet, graceful as swan. As soon as Jaune hit dirt, he tumbled into a tree, graceful as a water buffalo. The spartan couldn't help but giggle at the scene.

"Sure, laugh it up," Jaune groaned, flopping onto his back. "Thanks though, that was a bit better than your last landing strategy, throwing deadly objects at a person without aura."

"I'm sorry," said Pyrrha, almost reflexively, before noticing his smile.

Hauling himself to his feet, Jaune grunted out, "Let's get going. We don't want them to get too far ahead."

… … … … … … …

It had hoped the pink one would stay away after the cliffs. It was wrong. Not only did the pink one follow, but it was almost on him. It felt a weight suddenly land on its shoulders. It had taken to loping on all fours in an attempt to outrun his pursuer.

Two things pressed into its sides, closing like the steel jaws of a trap. "Gotcha," a high-pitched voice said from above it. It growled. The pink one had finally caught it. The creature jerked to a halt, tumbling to a stop with the pink one attached to it. Reflexively, the creature curled itself so it wouldn't hurt its unwelcome passenger. Why would it do that?

… … … … … … …

Jaune may not have been trained as a hunter formally, but he had tried to do what he could on his own; that much was apparent to Pyrrha. She was slightly surprised that he had been able to keep up with her, running through the dense undergrowth of the Emerald forest. She was only going a little below her top speed for long distances, or that was what she told herself anyway. And there was Jaune, puffing along beside her in his full gear.

"I would… never… had… thought… she was… this fast!" wheezed Jaune, crashing through the brush.

"The wonders of aura," Pyrrha replied, leaping over a fallen tree.

"Wait, it can help you run?" Jaune gasped. "And you didn't tell me that?"

"You weren't using it?" the spartan gasped, stumbling a little. Before either could continue the conversation, the duo burst forth into a clearing. There, in the middle of the grass, lay Nora. She was either unconscious or worse. Looming above her body, still sporting its maniacal grin, was the Grimm from the school.

… … … … … … …

Five minutes earlier…

The creature rose slowly to its feet, shifting back into a bipedal stance. The pink one lay at its feet, breathing lightly. Some red stuff matted the hair on one side of its head. Blood the small voice in the back of its head named it. The creature didn't like that the pink one had that stuff on its head. The blood drew the attraction of the others.

As if summoned by the creatures thought, three beowolves emerged from the brush. Low growls rumbled from the throats of the trio. They were challenging the creature, trying to claim its prey. The creature didn't like that. The pink one wasn't prey, and it certainly didn't belong to the Grimm wolves. The creature moved in between the trio. Bone plating began growing across the creature's chest, back and belly, even as six in talons of the same material sprouted from the creature's hands. The beowolves split up, two flanking it to each side as the third stalked slowly forward.

The creatures didn't give the wolves a chance to think. It charged forward to meet the one in front. It ducked underneath an outstretched paw and raked its claws along the wolf's belly. Continuing the motion, the creatures spun and slashed out, cutting the back of both the Grimm's hind legs. The creature howled its dismay, falling forward due to the loss of its feet. Matters worsened for the wolf as the creature pounced upon its back and, in a feat of strength, ripped off both the Grimm's forelegs. The Beowulf howled and thrashed, smoke already seeping from the creature as it writhed in its death throws.

A common misconception about Grimm is that they don't have feelings. Beolwolves were, in fact, pack predators. The creature was reminded of this when the jaws of the one to its left settled around its shoulder. The creature rolled over, flipping the attached Grimm into its remaining companion. The creature pounced and, as the talons on it's right hand melded together into one, wicked sharp blade, the creature drove it down in and through both creatures' heads.

With a huff, the creature pulled its hand out of the dissolving Grimm, pieces of the bone covering falling off, and stepped back. It howled its victory, letting every creature in the forest know who the victor. It probably shouldn't have done that, considering the bronze shield that slammed into its side a moment later.

… … … … … … …

Pyrrha had gotten ahead of Jaune and, upon seeing the creature roar while Nora laid slumped in the grass, assumed the worst. With an anguished cry she hurled her shield at the monster, knocking it back and away from her teammate. Jaune stumbled into the clearing a moment later and hurried over to Nora's side.

"She's still alive, just unconscious," he quickly said. The young knight hoisted the smaller girl in a fireman's lift and started carrying her out. Pyrrha nodded before summoning Akoúo̱ back and falling into a defensive stance; shield over her torso and javelin pointed at the enemy. The monster rose slowly onto two legs and leveled a hateful glare at the spartan. Pyrrha didn't even so much as flinch. She knew that if she failed, her friends would be hurt. The monster charged. On pure reflex, she hunkered down behind her shield, angling it to deflect the first swipe. What she wasn't expecting was for the monster to leap entirely over her and run into the woods. She turned and slung Akoúo̱ at the creature's back, and was amazed as the monster turned and deflected it of a section of bone armor on its forearm – which she could have sworn wasn't there before – before continuing its pursuit.

Pyrrha began sprinting after it, once again using her polarity to retrieve her weapon.

… … … … … … …

"Ughh," Nora groaned as she came to. "Did you get the number of that bullhead?" She could feel herself bouncing up and down but her eyes told her she was sideways, which made no sense.

"Nora! Thank the brothers!" She heard Jaune gasp. The bouncing stopped and she felt herself being lowered down. "Are you ok? How's your head."

"Pancakes," the Valkyrie slurred. "Where is he?"

"The Grimm? Pyrrha's facing it, she won't take long. Now let's get you back, Ren must be-"

"NO!" Nora shoved Jaune away, causing the knight to crash through a tree. She staggered of in the direction they had come from. "I've got to… find him."

"Nora, what are you doing?" Jaune sighed, pulling himself out of the wreckage of what you used to be the tree. "We need to get back to beacon!"

"Not. Without. HIM!" Nora said. The huntress in training before falling to the ground. Or rather, she would have fallen, if a shadow hadn't emerged from the forest to catch her. The monster was covered in what looked like dozens of small cuts -probably gained from escaping Pyrrha- as well as a semicircle of punctures on its shoulders. Jaune reacted instantly charging the pair, before Nora shot a hand out, beckoning for him to stay back. Her other grabbed the creature arm in a vice like grip. Less than a second later, Pyrrha arrived, slightly winded, her aura crackling around her slightly.

"Nora, back away… slowly," The spartan said, leveling her rifle at the beast.

"Leave him alone!" She screeched. "It's not his fault!"

"His?" Jaune asked, confused by the pronoun. "What do you mean?"

"Don't shoot him and I'll show you," begged Nora, her emotion bleeding into her voice. A second passed and nobody in the clearing moved. With a loud sigh, Jaune sheathed his sword and shot his partner a pointed look.

"You can't be-"

"She's our teammate Pyr," The blonde sighed. "And contrary to past performance, I'd trust her with anything. Put it away." Slowly, Pyrrha lowered her gun, but stubbornly met Jaune's look and refused to put her weapon away. Their contest of wills was sharply broken by a sound neither of them expected. Singing.

The other night dear, when I lay sleeping, I dreamt I held you in my arms…

The duo looked over at Nora, who, even while holding the struggling monster still, was singing in a soft, sad tone.

When I awoke dear, I was mistaken, so I hung my head and cried.

The monster's struggles slowly died away, leaving it just swaying slightly. It let out a mournful howl, as if trying to join in Nora's song.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine…

Black mist seemed to roll off the creature's form, and it began to shrink in the girl's arms.

You make me happy, when skies are grey…

The fur slowly receded along the creature's body, and the bone plating began chipping off and falling to the ground, as if an invisible stone mason was attacking the creature with a chisel.

You'll never know dear, how much I love you…

A single streak of pink hair sprouted from the creature's head as the harsh, glowing red eyes softened to

Please don't take my sunshine away.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed Nora kneeling on the ground, cradling Ren; limp, but alive.