"Have you seen this girl? No? Okay thanks." Nia and Iris asked, walking about a village that they stumbled into. Iris took a picture of her standing in front of a sign that displayed the village's name.
Nine.
"Nia, is it 'Nine'? Like the number?" The blonde shook her head.
"No silly, it's pronounced 'Knee-neigh'. Like your knee and… neigh!" The girl shouted.
"Hold your horses Nia." Iris giggled. The blonde sighed at the pun.
"That was good but I didn't like it."
"Come on. Not even a little?"
"No." Nia repeated.
"Now I know how Yang feels. Pour your heart out into a joke and people hate you for it."
Gray sat on the stairs of a, 'market' of sorts and watched the kids run and play. He smiled when Nia and Iris checked on him then ran off. It was interesting to see these villages, or at least this one.
Faunus and human were one community, everyone was accepted. The man rubbed his nonfunctional arm, trying to get some feeling but failing sadly. He watched the kids gather into a small circle whispering about stuff and glancing his way. Kids were so easy to read. Gray chuckled as Rhys sat next to him. "Hey."
"Hey." Gray said back. "Any luck with more clues?" The man shook his head.
"No not yet, we'll ask a bit longer before we just take a shot in the dark, who knows maybe they went the same path."
"We should try and get a map of sorts, they would follow routes. Thinking about it they might go from village to village you know?"
"Yeah you have a point. Alright, we'll get one as well. See you later, we're looking for like village leader of sorts." Rhys stood and walked off messing with is scroll. It made Gray smile, seeing how his team is almost putting him and Ruby first before their goal. The man turned to look ahead and saw a small child in front of him, a young eight year old child with ocean blue eyes and yellow hair. The thing that gave Gray interest into the kid as her Faunus fox ears, a familiar yellow.
"Hey kid. What's up?" Gray asked smiling and showing some of his normal and sharpened teeth.
"You-you looked like you were alone. My-my-my friends were talking about it and weren't doing anything so…"
"Well, that's very brave and nice of you to come over here. What's your name girlie?"
"Um, Sabry."
"That's a fancy name can I call you Sabby?" The girl grinned and nodded.
"Yeah! Yes!" Gray chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Um, what's yours mister?"
"Gray. I'm a Hunter of sorts." The girl's blue eyes widened with surprise and happiness.
"Really?!" Gray nodded. "Yay! My family has been looking for a Hunter for a while. And you look really nice and strong!"
"Why?" Sabby frowned and sat next to Gray on the stairs.
"There's been like a problem with Grimm. They've been getting really close to our town, and my house. I can hear them snarling when I'm in my room. It's scary."
"Hey, look what if I went to see your parents and try to resort this problem? Would you like that?"
"Yes!" Gray smiled and stood up.
"Well, before we go…" Gray looked at the store he was sitting at for a while. An idea formed in his head. "I wanna buy you something."
"Really mister Hunter?!" Gray nodded and opened the door to the store.
"Yeah, come on." The two entered the store and Sabby ran around looking for something. The store was mostly for clothes and 'jewelry'. "Sabby, go find a necklace or bracelet."
"Okay!" The girl danced around the store as Gray walked to the counter. The owner smiled, a middle aged man and leaned on the counter.
"This is awful generous of you. Buying something for a little girl you don't know."
"I'm a Hunter kinda. I want to help her out. Apparently her family is having trouble with Grimm?"
"Whole town has. Things have been getting rather odd around here. Grimm had… lines on their skulls. Not the usual red but, like a oddly bright orange or other colors. Their more hostile and less territorial. That girl lives around the outskirts. We had people to defend but, things didn't go to well." Gray ducked his head and nodded.
"I see. I'm sorry to hear that. Me and my team will try and do what we can." The man smiled.
"Thank you."
"Mister Hunter!" Sabby called. "I found one!" The girl ran up to Gray and showed him her necklace.
It was oddly well crafted. The necklace had a golden chain for the neck and the charm was a large topaz and holding the thing together was a golden holder of sorts, the topaz looked rather beautiful and it seemed to fit the girl. "That's interesting. You like it?" Gray asked.
"Yeah! Can I get it?" The young 'Hunter' turned to the man and paid for the necklace. The two then stepped out of the store, Sabby rather happy. "Thank you mister Hunter! Thank you so much!"
"No problem. I would help you put it on but…" Gray pointed at his inactive arm.
"Oh! I can take you to my parents! Come on!" The girl grabbed his right hand and dragged him through the town. Sabby led Gray to her house, it being a lovely and slightly large one story house. Sabby threw her sliding door opened and waved for Gray to enter. "Mommy! Daddy! I found a Hunter who can try and help us!" Gray entered the house and looked around, it's furniture was simple yet, stylish, paintings scattered the house, and more pictures covered the walls and sat on tables.
"Sabry what are you talking about?" A feminine voice called, Sabby groaned and ran into a connecting room, Gray's guess being a kitchen. "Oh my! Who bought you that necklace?!"
"The Hunter he's really sweet and nice and he's here!" Sabby ran back out into the living room, giving Gray a smile. A older woman rushed to the living room gasping when she saw the tall boy.
"Oh! Hello! My daughter wasn't lying."
"Moom! I don't lie!"
"You like to tell tales Sabby." The woman then cleared her throat and Gray got a better look at her.
The woman was a much older looking Sabby, the only difference the two had were their noses and eye color, Sabby's mom having emerald green. "Sorry, I'm Sabby's mother Cilo." Gray frowned and shook his head.
"Sorry, nice to meet you. I just have a history with that name." The little girl's mother frowned and folded her arms.
"Oh. So, are you with the other three visitors?"
"Yes ma'am. We were seeing if any of you seen a a small group and a young girl, fifteen, wears a lot of red and she was wearing a large hoodie?" Cilo tapped her chin, thinking.
"No can't say I seen anyone… wait, yes yes I have." Gray's wolf ear jumped up in excitement.
"Really?!"
"Yes, they came not too long ago. The girl seemed upset, they came by and asked if we needed anything."
"But you told me to stay quiet!" Sabby intervened.
"Yes, I did and I apologize."
"Did you see where they left? Which direction."
"Mm, to the north? I was more focused on my duties then them."
"That's good enough. Now, Sabby said you've been hearing Grimm come closer?" Cilo nodded.
"Yes. They've been getting more, violent. This morning we found a Beowolf too close to the village. We sent a few to investigate their rising presence but… they haven't come back."
"When did this issue start to happen?"
"One week ago." Sabby said.
"When did you send those people." Cilo looked down, twiddling her fingers.
"Three days ago." Sabby's mother turned to her and softly smiled. "Sweetie, why don't you go play outside? Show your friends your new necklace." The little girl grinned and nodded before hugging her mother. Just as she ran out, the girl ran back in and gave Gray a hug as well.
"Thank you mister Hunter!" The two 'grownups' laughed as the girl closed the door to her house.
"Now, have you sent any others?"
"No, we're a small village. We'd like to but…"
"I understand. Look, there isn't much that we can go off of but, we'll check it out. Kill any Grimm we see."
"Oh, just that will calm some of the people here. Including Sabby. But, you four are looking for someone…"
"We'll do it. Don't worry." Cilo looked at him with happiness and joy.
"Oh thank you! Thank you Mr…"
"Gray. You can call me Gray." The boy stood up and left the house, looking for his team.
"Gray! There you are!" Nia called, running up to him with Iris behind her. "What were you doing in that house?"
"We need to do something here. Clear out the forest behind that house."
"Why?" Iris asked as the three walked through the village's streets.
"They've been a little too grabby with this place." Nia nodded in understanding but jumped in Gray way.
"But, we're after Ruby right? If we make any delays we might not be able to catch up with her."
"Yeah but…"
"Look, we'll do this one thing and then we have to stay focused alright Gray?" Iris said. "We need to keep moving if we want to meet up with Ruby, if we're all together KIN and Cinder won't be a problem." Gray nodded. "Hey, don't get upset. You're a good guy that wants to help these people."
"And that's exactly what we're gonna do!" Nia added. "Let's find Rhys." As the trio walked away from Sabby's house a man trailed them far behind, a ember appearing from his hand.
"Their here. I'm in pursuit."
"So, why are we doing this? We're in a rush." Rhys said and once again he has a point.
"We can't leave them like this, who knows what will happen. So we do this real quick then back to work." Rhys hummed.
"I would just leave now but… I understand." Nia ducked down and scanned the dirt pointing to the north.
"These tracks lead north. Maybe there's a pack there, we slay that and then bam. We got our job done."
"Hopefully it is a pack, Gray can you handle it." Gray growled but nodded.
"Yes, I can last time it was just… I don't know what it was but I can take it." Iris rubbed the boy's back to calm him.
"It's okay Gray we're just asking. Don't push yourself." The boy nodded as they now, crept through the section of the forest that was behind Nine. Nia stood straight and unsheathed her weapons.
"Their close. Let's take care of this little group and get back on track. Okay?" The rest nodded and Nia smiled. "Let's get to work then. Rains comin' in too"
Ruby sat in a chair, watching the rain pour down and hit the window in front of her. The girl rested her arm on the desk to her left, her foot tapping with anxiety. She felt useless right now, she was supposed to rush to Mistral and take out Katherine and the remains of KING and here she was hiding from this downpour. The girl huffed playing with the strings of Gray's hoodie.
It gave her some comfort.
The girl slipped her arms into the center of the hoodie, tucking her legs in too. Ruby hugged her legs, still staring at the rain. Times like these gave her time to think and reset. Her target crossed her mind. Katherine. Ruby bit her lip. This was the first person she truly had hated. With a passion. Katherine caused all this misery that Ruby felt, that she hid.
Ruby couldn't wait to met her again. That's all she wanted, to have Katherine in front of her so her decision could be made. A knock on Ruby's door made her stand up, the hoodie covering her. Opening it, Ruby smiled at the sight of her uncle. "Uncle Qrow. What's up?" The man walked inside and grabbed a chair.
"Checkin' up on everyone. But mostly you. How ya holdin' up?" Ruby took a seat on her bed, hiding her hands in her prized hoodie.
"Okay. Just a lot of thinking." The man nodded, running his fingers on his flask.
"Understandable. You know this is a lot for you to take in and do at this age."
Ruby hummed. "Yeah I know, but I can be very mature for my age." Qrow laughed and his niece folded her arms. "I can!"
"I know Little Rose. What were you thinking about?"
"Uh, my goals. What I want and what I'm after…" Ruby twiddled her thumbs.
"Yea, KIN and what else?" Ruby sighed as her uncle asked.
"It's cheesy but… before we left I wanted to see Gray. You know? Before we left. Just to see how he's doing." Qrow raised his eyebrows in interest. "Well, it's because I… miss him. A lot. This is also why we're or I'm after Katherine. For what she did to him. He can't feel his arm, I remember Rhys telling me that before my scroll died. Don't you think these things should be like. Solar powered in case were left in the dark? Off topic." The little leader shook her head. "It's just awkward to talk to you about him since, you're my uncle." Having a mom talk would be great now. "But, I just want to see him. But now I can't, and I can't let that distract me as much as it is right now."
Qrow smiled, standing up and resting a hand on his nieces shoulder. "I'll tell you this…" The man opened her door and stood in front of it. "You think Gray's out of the fight right? Same with his partner?"
"Y-yes?" Ruby answered, confused.
"Well, I talked to Rhys' parents, they were taking care of Gray and his partner." The man grinned. "Well, Gray and Nia were released about a week ago. No one knows where they are. See you later Little Rose." Ruby stared at her door, what was the point in that? Wait… no that's not it.
Oh! Crap Ruby lost her train of thought. Ah-ha! Darn it!
The then gasped finally understanding what her uncle meant.
GRIN trudged through the forest as the rain poured down on them. Nia groaned and occasionally ran ahead to get to a tree that stopped the rain. As they reached Nine, Nia ran to another tree only for the leaves to buckle under the weight and showering her in rainwater. "Ah!" She screamed, her teammates laughing at her. The four rushed to Sabby's home knocking on the door. Nothing could be heard through the door due to the harsh rain but abruptly, Sabby's mother opened the door.
"Oh, GRIN! Please come in, it's horrible out there." Cilo let the four inside, the team staying at the doorway, not wanting to ruin their house. As they entered, a man strolled into the center of the street.
"Oh, please relax, the rain is fine." Gray stood behind Sabby's family couch, Nia and Iris sitting in it and Rhys still at the door. "So, did you clear out the Grimm?" Rhys nodded.
"Yes ma'am. There shouldn't be any problems now. We even went a little overboard." Cilo smiled relieved. Quickly, Sabby ran into the room and jumped in joy when she saw GRIN return, more specifically her Hunter friend Gray.
"Mr. Hunter! Your back!" She yipped, leaping into him.
"Hello Sabby. The big Grimm won't bother you guys for a while!"
"Really?!" She gasped. "Thank you! I knew you could do it! You looked so big and strong I knew you could do it!" Cilo smiled at her daughter, the rest of GRIN doing the same. Suddenly, glass shattering pounded in everyone's eardrums. Turning to the left of the front door, everyone saw glass on the floor of Sabby's home and not to far from it…
Was a fireball. A dangerously familiar fireball.
"Get down!" Gray screamed, grabbing Sabby forcefully and shielding her. Nia and Iris tackled Cilo and Rhys ducked behind the couch. A loud fiery explosion, rocked the house. After the big boom Gray looked up, seeing the left side of the house and the front on fire. The man gritted his teeth and let go of Sabby. "Rhys! Iris! Help Sabby and Cilo get out! Nia, with me!" The blonde nodded and the two rushed out the front door, spotting a lone man in the village street with a small flicker of fire in his hand. Gray balled his hand in heated anger. "The fuck is wrong with you are you crazy?!" Nia turned to her leader unsheathing Dexterity.
"Gray, look at his chest…" The boy narrowed his eye.
"White Fang…" Gray shook his head even more angry. "So you guys want to be copies of Katherine, Huh?! Kill innocents?! Fine by me." Gray activated his shield, standing up straight. "Let's just day this is an eye for an eye." The boy pulled his shield to block the main center of his body, leaving his lower legs and top of his face exposed. The boy rushed the White Fang Katherine-wannabe, Nia using him as a mobile shield.
The man snapped his fingers at the ground in front of him, a fiery explosion happening at Gray's feet. The boy shrugged it off and smashed into the White Fang, pushing him back. Nia leaped over Gray and landed on the man's shoulders, placing her blades at his neck and slicing, leaping off of him as she did so. Landing behind the White Fang monster, Nia began another rush, since his back was toward her and Gray did the same. The man crouched down and planted his hand on the ground.
Just as the two reached him another flaming explosion rocketed them back and also suspended The Katherine wannabe into the air. Growling Gray closed his father's shield and grabbed his Broken Stem from his back. With one hand this'll be difficult but…
Gray was not focused on that. With a sharp tooth and intense glare, Gray rushed ahead not thinking. "Gray! Slow down!" Rhys yelled, but the warning fell upon deaf ears. As the Kath-wannabe fell, his hands were engulfed in flames. Pulling the triggers on his weapon, Broken Stem switched to its scythe form. Yelling, Gray held the weapon in a reverse fashion, the blade now digging into the ground and trailing behind the boy. Leaping into the air with proper timing, Gray ripped the lads upward into the air and hitting the man in the process, ascending and keeping the White Fang in the air. Arching his body, Gray handled and switched his grasp , slightly behind the man in the air. The boy hooked the man by the throat and dragged him into Gray, his legs extended at the man's lower back. The drag cut at the man's throat but his Aura held on but wavered as they both landed, one actually landing and the other collapsing to the ground. Gray quickly turned around and returned his weapon to its rightful home, his lower back.
Summoning his shield once again, Gray closed the distance and dragged the man out of the center or Nine, throwing him into a slightly more open area. Shaken up and drained, the White Fang held up his hands. "You think you know how to control that?" Gray asked. "How many of you are there?"
"Enough to wage a war." Gray bit his lip. The man threw a fireball at Gray but the boy deflected it off his shield, the ball falling into the wet grass. The Kath-wannabe's fire was starting to get weak, nullified by the heavy rain. As a final charge, Gray bashes the man before sweeping out his feet, quickly standing up and giving off a harsh kick to the White Fang's chest, shattering his Aura right there. The White Fang tried to crawl away, and into the forest only for Gray to step on his hand.
The White Fang stared at Gray's lifeless and lightly scorched arm, before looking into his eye. "Now, what's your plan with Mistral? Why's Katherine there? And why are you assholes getting Dust inside you." The White Fang scoffed and glared at Gray.
"Like I'd tell you." Frowning, Gray gripped Broken Stem in it's collapsed state and threw it down where his foot was.
On the man's hand.
The sickening sound of meat slicing and bones breaking broke through the heavy sounds of rainfall and thunder. The White Fang screamed in agony, tears mixing in with the rain on his face. "You wanna tell me now?" Gray asked calmly, his face empty. "No? Okay." Gray stood up and kicked the man over, making him lie in his back. Gray transformed his collapsed weapon into a axe and rested it on the White Fang's chest.
"Wait! All I know is that, the rest of KING is there and their making more White Fang like me there too. Their creating more to stop this girl with silver eyes! But, now we'll be hunting you too now." Gray's face didn't change as he rested his now axe on his shoulder.
"Good to know." Gray stepped back and raised his hand, the White Fang staring into the swords deadly blade. This was going to take his life. A seventeen-year-old kid. Throwing the axe down, the blade ripped through the man like butter, his chest collapsing under the pressure, his chest cavity shattering and buckling. The Katherine wannabe stared at his chest in horror, screaming a bloody scream however it couldn't be heard over the lightning and thunder. The man began to choke on his blood, bones stabbing into his already pierced lungs making him unable to breathe. Gray ripped the axe out from the man watching him try and crawl away on his stomach. Wanting this to be over, Gray threw the axe down again, silencing the man's groans and gasps for air. The man lied still and Gray removed his weapon from the corpse. Collapsing it Gray scabbed the thing.
Blood was mixed with the showering rainwater, and the light that the lightning gave off made the blood look weird like, almost a dark tar state. The blood washed off the blade due to the rain but, it burned in his mind.
Gray has killed someone.
And it wasn't a 'I had lost control' situation. He was in full control. He took that man's life, either it was just or not Gray took it. "Gray?" The familiar voice of Nia asked. As she approached. "Oh my…" The girl covered her mouth as she saw the man's corpse. "You-you killed him right? Self-defense?" Gray shook his head.
"No." Nia swallowed hard.
"He deserved it. He tried to kill us after all. He almost killed Sabby and Cilo. Also, we got them out Rhys is dealing with the fire now." Gray nodded as Nia informed him. "I don't think you made the wrong choice. An eye for an eye after all. Come on, let's head back to Nine."
"Yeah." Gray said. "An eye for an eye…" Gray thought about Ruby. What would she think? Would she understand his choice, his sudden code out here? His team is being hunted and so is Ruby. Gray sheathed his weapon and balled his fist. "An eye for an eye…" Gray trailed back to Nine, finding Sabby and Cilo. Not seeing the man's body spark into flames that couldn't be put out.
As Gray returned he saw that the house had charred parts but was luckily still intact surprisingly. Gray ducked down to Sabby's level patting her head. "We have to go now Sabby. It's better for you and Nine." The girl frowned and nodded. "Your gonna be brave now right? Your gonna help protect you mom?" The girl nodded.
"Yea! I'll even become a Hunter if I have to!" Gray smiled.
"You don't have to do. Be what you think you'll love."
"Do you love being a Hunter?" Gray laughed nervously and nodded.
"Yeah, I do." Sabby pumped a fist.
"Well, I wanna make you proud so… I'm gonna be a Hunter too! And I'll help protect Nine! And other villages! And the whole world!"
Gray held his hand in front of him. "You don't have to do that, Sabby."
"But I want to! You said yourself that I should do what I love and I know I'll love that even more so if I make you, or mommy or daddy proud! Just watch!" Gray sighed and smiled.
"You got me there kid. Lemme see your necklace?" The girl willingly gave the necklace to Gray, grabbing Broken Stem, Gray flipped the necklace over and held the charm, scraping letters into the back. The man then waved his fingers around what he drew and grinned. "Here. Now, your secretly apart of GRIN. Sabby looked at the necklace seeing what Gray wrote. On top was in all caps and in shaky writing: GRIN and below that was the large letter S. "One day you might be the leader of your own team."
Sabby gasped and looked up into Gray's eye. "Does that mean we're GRINS now?"
"Yup." Nia said with a smile. "As long as you have that necklace your apart of GRIN and it'll keep you brave and smiling. Share that with others, give them a reason to smile and grin. Also, we want you to stay here and grow up all big and strong so one day you can help us and save the day."
"Okay! Okay! I'll do it! Thank you Gray so much " Rhys then stood up from behind.
"Gray we should be going." Cilo frowned.
"So soon? It is raining after all."
"We don't want to overstay our welcome Miss Cilo. Also we may bring danger here. So we must leave." The woman nodded in understanding.
"Wait! Before you go Mr. Hunter!" Sabby ran to her room and quickly returned with two things. "Take these, it's one of my bracelets." The girl slipped it onto Gray's lifeless arm. "And one of my favorite dolls! I got them at the same time so… maybe if you have both it'll bring your arm back and make you even stronger!" Gray grinned and ruffled the girl's hair.
"That's very kind of you Sabby but. You should keep the doll, after all I can already feel the bracelets power heal my arm." The girl reluctantly grabbed the doll and Gray stood up. "We should really be going. Thank you for your hospitality Cilo. Until next time." The four left the house and waved goodbye.
"Farewell! Have a safe trip!"
"Bye Gray! Thank you!" Sabry wave, grasping her necklace. Nia smiled and waved back along with her girlfriend.
The four soon left Nine, rushing to catch up with Ruby.