Of Hunger and Memory

In the ages past, the Domain of Light was a sacred, warm place, from where all forms of creation and life could spring. Now, one could walk right by it, and never even realize that place was ever of any significance. After Darkness had smashed through the moon, the chunks rained down over the plane's surface; which in the process, destroyed the area. All that remained of it was the remains of the mountain, with a large crater in the center, and it seemed to have permanent cloud coverage.

Darkness slowly walked down what little remained of the path that lead to his brother's fountain. He came to a stop at the place he had stood when he cast the spell that destroyed the old humans. Once he did, the god summoned a ball of magic into his palm. All he would need to do was will it, and it could've happened all again. Being immortal, it sometimes made him realize how… fragile everyone could be.

"Reminiscing, Brother?" Darkness noticed Light approach him, hands clasped in front of him, as he always did.

"This is where it all began," Darkness said, as he stared at the ball some more, "The place where the child dragged humanity to ruin."

"Oh, I remember," Light answered, as he walked past his brother, and pointed, "She knelt right there." Darkness nodded at that, as he waved his hand, sending the ball away

"Tell me something, Brother," Darkness suddenly said, "Why did you refuse her when she made her request?" That was a question he technically already knew the answer to, but wanted to hear his brother say it. Light seemed to understand that, but decided to answer anyway.

"Life and death have always been meant to be separate, you and I agreed on that early in the humans' development. Death would give them purpose, a reason to do the things they do. They want immortality, until they actually experience it."

"How true," Darkness answered.

"Now you tell me, Brother," Light said, "Why did you grant her request? You knew it was in violation of the rules we made, and yet you granted it anyway." Darkness was initially silent.

"You could never understand what it was like for me, in my domain," he said, as he walked down what remained of the path, "You had the mortals unceasing adoration and respect. They would always leave you offerings, send their prayers to you. Rarely did mortals come to me to seek my favor, to offer their reverence to me. It is as if I never existed to them."

"You cannot fault them for being afraid of you," Light said, as he watched his brother pass by, "You created dark things, frightening things, that were spawned in your realm." Again, Darkness was silent, as he looked at his hand.

"Is that why you kept the past from them?" Light inquired, as he came over him, "Because they were offering you reverence and love?" Darkness looked up towards the grey sky, before he turned into a wisp of dark energy, which vanished. Light didn't follow him, at first, as he looked at his old shrine one last time, before turning into a whip of bright energy.

(at Brunswick Farm)

Jaune had no idea what the two girls would want for him at this point, as he was nearly pulled into a nearby room. He looked at the two of them in confusion, as they stood in front of him; Ruby was looking down while fiddling with her skirt, while Weiss was looking Jaune straight in the eye, her arms folded in front of her.

"So… what's up?" Jaune asked.

"Jaune, Ruby and I have been talking," Weiss said, "There is something that both of us need to say, or else we'll both be driven insane." Jaune cocked his head slightly, not sure where they were going with his. Weiss looked at Ruby expectantly. The girl in red took a shaky breath, before she looked up at Jaune.

"Jaune," Ruby said slowly, "I… I…. I like you!" It took Jaune a couple minutes to really process was she had just said. Ruby had just told him that she liked him, and even he knew what she meant when she said that. Just what was he supposed to do with this information?

"I… I…," he stuttered slightly.

"But that's not all," Weiss added, stepping forward. A sinking feeling settled into Jaune's stomach, as he realized just what the two girls were now referring to.

"Jaune Arc," the heiress said, "I also have feelings for you." Those words hit Jaune like a bag of bricks, as he tried to comprehend what he was being told. Not one, but two pretty girls had just confessed to him; never in his wildest dreams did he think this would ever happen to a guy like him.

"Neither of us are expecting you to do anything in particular," Weiss said, "But the information is there, and you can do what you will with it." The three stood in silence for a time, as Jaune tried to think of something, anything to say.

"I… I…," he said. It was then that instincts kicked in, and he hurried out of the rom. That surprised Ruby, but Weiss just sighed.

"We should've seen that coming," she said.

"What?"

"Two girls just confessed to him at the same time," Weiss said, "What would you do if you were in his shoes?" Ruby brow furrowed, as she let out her own sigh, and nodded in agreement.

"I guess we did drop the anvil on him a little… hard," she said.

"That may be an understatement."

(in the next room)

Some time later, the whole of the group was still piling into the food they had, already having blown through several cans. That didn't go unnoticed by Oz, who narrowed his eyes as he came into the room.

"It's getting late," he said, getting their attention, "I think we should all get some sleep now."

"Do we have to?" Yang asked, "I'm still hungry."

"So am I," Pyrrha mentioned, though she wasn't sure why. There were a series of agreements across the room, which made Oz narrow his eyes.

"Just give us another…," Qrow began.

"No!" Oz said firmly, slamming the brunt of his cane into the ground, "You've all eaten enough!" That actually got everyone to stop eating.

"Now, get some rest," Oz said, as he went to the bookshelf, "I'll take the first watch." There was some glances exchanged, as well as some annoyed grunts, but eventually everyone reluctantly set their food aside, and went looking for some blankets. Once they did, they all settled down for the night. Both Ruby and Weiss moved to go sleep next to Jaune, but as they did, they exchanged looks, which turned into frowns. But neither said anything, as they lay beside each other.

(somewhere in Mistral)

Adam didn't know how it all went so wrong. It had all started so well; Adam had a plan, allies, everything that he needed to achieve his goals.

As he stumbled down the road, he took off his mask, and threw it over his shoulder.

"I suppose that's suitable, that mask won't command the respect it used to anymore." Adam was immediately on guard, as he put his hand on Wilt.

"Who's there?" he demanded.

"Oh calm down, boy," the voice said again, "If wanted to harm you, I wouldn't have spoken up." The voice was feminine, but sounded unfamiliar. Adam tightened his hand on the hilt, but didn't draw it just yet.

"What do you want?" he asked.

"What I want is a moot issue," the voice said, "I think a better question is, what do you want at this point?" Adam's brow furrowed slightly. The easy answer was the same as it always was: to crush the world of humans under his heels. But somehow, when he thought about it, that didn't seem to feel as important as it used to.

"Why do you care?"

"Questions like 'why' are pointless at this point. The better question is 'how'? How are you going to accomplish what you want at this point, having lost it all?"

"Where are you?" Adam demanded, getting tired of this talk, "Show yourself!" The voice laughed slightly, before Adam noticed a strange orange mist gathering at his feet. The mist then floated up in front of him, before it coalesced into a being. The being was tall, at least 12 feet, with orange skin, and long, dark hair that was in ringlets, with dark orange yes with black sclera. She was wearing a long golden dress, which her feet barely peeked out of. As Adam stared awe, the being smiled down at him.

"Who…. what are you?" Adam asked slowly.

"My name is Mnemosyne,"the figure said, spreading her arms, "I am the High Spirit of Memory, a being created to ensure the memory of all creation is kept." Suddenly, Adam's knees felt very weak, as those words set in. She was a High Spirit? One of the creators of the Faunus race?

"I know what you're thinking," Mnemosyne said, as she folded her arms, "But honestly, it's not really important at this point. Now, I'll ask again, what do you want?" Adam struggled to find the words he could use in response; how was he supposed to answer the question?

"I… I…," he said. The Spirit's smiled widened, though it turned less kind and more ominous.

"Perhaps," she said, "You could use some reminders?" Suddenly, memories flooded through Adam's mind; memories of his time in the White Fang. His time when he was still the hero for the Faunus, the champion who brought justice to the Faunus after so many years of oppression. And of his time with a certain, black-haired cat…

"Blake," he muttered. The memories of the two of them fighting side by side, and of them sharing moments together after the day was done. But he also remembered images of Blake turning her back on him, and of leaving him in the midst of their campaign.

"Oh my," Mnemosyne said, with a slight gasp, "How could she leave you like that? After all you two have been through? After all you've been through?" Adam's hands slowly curled into fists, as the memories simmered in his mind.

"Now tell me," the Spirit said, leaning forward, "What do you want?" Adam looked up at his creator, straight into her eye. He knew exactly what he wanted….

(at Brunswick Farms)

Pyrrha slowly walked forward through the dark hall, trying to make it to the light at the end. Eventually, she made it, and she emerged into Amity Arena. She looked around, before she looked down; she had both her legs again. But she couldn't dwell on those thoughts, as she heard a voice…

"Salutations, Friend Pyrrha!" Pyrrha slowly, and shakily looked up, to see Penny standing in the center of the arena, waving with a big smile. Pyrrha took a step forward, as she opened her mouth to call out. But the moment she did so, fire burst from her mouth. Penny cried out, as the fire consumed her. The fire then cleared, to show in Penny's place, was Talos, glaring down at her in his glowing, mechanical eyes. Pyrrha reach down to seize her weapons, but found they were gone. She looked back up to see Talos had grown, and was now towering over her.

"You murdered her!" the android roared, as he brought his fist down on her….

(/)

Pyrrha gasped as she suddenly sat up.

"Pyrrha?" Yang asked, as she leaned up from her position next to her, rubbing her eyes slightly, "You okay?"

"I'm… I'm fine," Pyrrha said, "I just had a bad dream, go back to sleep." She pulled herself back to her feet, as she rubbed her stomach. She was feeling hungry again, and decided to go look for something to eat. As she did, she glanced out the window, noticing the storm was still raging. With a sigh, she passed by Oz's seat, where the wizard was still sleeping, with an open book on the table next to him. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Pyrrha glanced over at the book, which seemed to be a journal of sorts.

Winter seems to have be coming early here. It's only September, and it's already getting cold. I've spoken to Stewart in Argus, though, and he says that the weather is still pretty mild there. Well, at any rate, I just hope it'll hold off just a little longer, so we can gather the harvest. At least the kids may be able to play in the snow soon.

Her interest giving way to her hunger, Pyrrha continued on. As she did so, Ruby was starting to wake up as well. When she did, she found she was nestled against Jaune's side, which made her smile. But as she sat up, she saw Weiss was also close to Jaune, and her smile turned into a scowl. But she was too hungry right now to think about that, as she went to the closet. She had hid a couple of cans in that closet, so no one else would take any. The sound of her rooting through the closet stirred Oscar, who rubbed his eyes, as he slowly leaned up in his seat.

"Ah, you're finally awake," Oz said in his mind, "I trust you slept well." Oscar didn't answer, as he stood up to fully wake up.

"The storm's still going," he said, as he looked out the window.

"It is," Oz said, "We probably won't be leaving anytime soon."

"Well, at least we got plenty of food," Oscar said.

"What's this about food?" Oscar looked up to see that Yang had woken up as well.

"You didn't take any did you?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Uh, not anymore than I had last night," Oscar said after a moment. Somehow, that didn't seem to satisfy Yang, who narrowed her eyes at him, as she left the room.

"What's with her?" Oscar said.

"I'm not sure," Oz answer, "But I've got a bad feeling about all this. Would you mind if I took over for a moment?" Oscar didn't protest, as Oz took control of his body. He then turned his attention back to the book, which was the journal of the man in charge of the farm, whose name was Bartleby.

It's only October, and the snows have already hit us. This weather is so strange, since I haven't head of any of the surrounding areas getting hit like that. We were lucky we were able to gather what he did, though even that was only a little more than half of the crop. But the kids are happy with the snow here, and we're happy to see them happy, so I don't think we'll have to worry about Grimm for now.

As Oz read, the rest of the group began started to wake up. As they did, they all had the same feeling: hunger. Qrow, of course, had less of an inclination to eat. He took a swig from his flask, emptying in the process.

"Damn it," he muttered, before he threw the flask to the floor. He then started the search for booze in the house.

"HEY!" Ruby's voice suddenly snapped, earning everyone's attention, "Who took my food?!" Oz narrowed his eyes as he heard that, but a thought came to his mind, as he turned his attention back to the journal.

We received a visit today by a traveling huntress. While she was here, she told us that there were reports of sightings of a creature in the woods. Though I told it wasn't going to be a problem, she still shared a sketch she had of the creature with us, as well as it's name, and told me to keep an out for it.

Upon reading that, Oz narrowed his eyes, before he turned the page. The sketch on that page sent a shiver down his spine; it was of a creature, definitely a Grimm, with it's, dark form, and sinister red eyes. It had a tall, emaciated, but aside from that, the only trait the sketch had was of a pair of broad antlers, like that of a deer. But it was the creature's name that turned the shiver, into an imposing chill.

"Wendigo".

The Old Ones: The King

Ahmad Horus' brow furrowed, as he stared at the map, or more specifically at the island to the South of Anima. With the war finally over, that island was going to be given to the Faunus. It wasn't much to be sure, but it was certainly better than nothing.

"The geography won't change if you look away." Ahmad immediately stood up straight at the sound of the voice, as a tall man approached him. He had long, blonde hair, with bright blue eyes, and was dressed in a green suit. It was the (soon to be last) King of Vale, William.

"Your Majesty!" Ahmad said, bowing slightly.

"You don't need to call me that any more," William said, holding up his hand, "My abdication will be formalized tomorrow."

"I still can't believe you're doing this," Ahmad said, "Seems so… strong."

"Darwin said the same thing at one point," the king said with a chuckle, as he leaned on the table next to Ahmad, "But it needs to happen. The people need to have a say in things at this point." Ahmad supposed he could understand that, as he turned his attention back to the map. As he did so, William follow his gaze, as he frowned.

"I'm sorry I couldn't get you a better island," the king said.

"You don't need to be," Ahmad answered, "I know how much you had to do just to make the Empress give up that island." William nodded at that slightly, before his expression turned solemn.

"I didn't do enough," he said, "I could've done more for the Faunus."

"You did what you could."

"You know that's not true." Ahmad looked at his friend, trying to think of something he could say.

"As long as there is one Faunus and one human who believe in coexistence, then it is a cause worth fighting for," Ahmad said, with a slight smile. The King returned the smile, as he put his hand on his shoulder. With that, he turned to leave.

"Hey, Your Maj… William," Ahmad suddenly said, to which the man turned around, "You know, I don't think I ever knew what your surname was."

"My surname?" William asked, and after Ahmad nodded, he answered, "It's D'Arc."

"D'Arc?"

"That's what I said," William answered, as he spread his arms, "Now I'm just William D'Arc."

"Does have a bit of a ring to it," Ahmad commented.

Note: So we've got another High Spirit being named, and she's meeting up with Adam. Mnemosyne was a Titan from Greek mythology associated with memory.

This chapter was originally longer, but I wanted the scenes to simmer a little more. I'm going to draft the next chapter, and see how long it'll end up being, so this arc may end next chapter, but I'm not sure yet. Also, for those who may not know, the Wendigo is a creature from Native American mythology associated with cannibalism.

Also, Weiss and Ruby have finally confessed to Jaune, but tensions seem to be bubbling in the farm.

Piece of trivia, I had originally planned on the gods talking in dragon form, but I realized reading that all in caps would've been an eyesore. I also initially had Ruby say "Who took my cans?", but I didn't want to deal with the one person who may leave a review sniggering about the potential innuendo.

Be sure to review.

Now, I want to say something quickly to the people who read my stories; I don't like to do this, because I don't like calling out people (even if indirectly), but this needs to be said. If you have ideas for a new story, that's great, and I'm generally willing to hear them. However I've now gotten a number of messages from people who do this mostly because they just want to have a concept they like written for them. I don't do requests; I tried once, but I got pestered by the requester so much I abandoned it. I suppose in some way it's a compliment that people think I'm good enough to write these stories, but still, I don't do requests, it's that simple. If you have an idea for a story, you can offer it to me, but when I turn it down, don't press me about it.