Prologue
Timber wakes with a jolt, shirt soaked with sweat, heart pounding as he was ripped out of his recurring nightmare from the day he left Atlas. He didn't need or want to go back to that day, living through it once was enough for him. He surely didn't need to relive his only friend at the academy dying in his arms while his side was practically ripped open.
Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, he looked at his rifle leaning against his nightstand before he felt something resting on his right thigh. Looking down he was met with Luna's blue eyes looking up at him, tail wagging. Glancing back and forth between the two, he whispered "not tonight" and got up to change his shirt.
Checking the time on his scroll, and seeing it was less than an hour before he typically started his day, he decided he might as well get an early start. Letting out a short whistle, he got the attention of the four wolf pups he has been taking care of ever since he found their mother dead in the woods three months ago.
After changing into a pair of shorts, a T-shirt, and a hoodie he grabbed Claw and Fang, his twin dagger/short swords, attaching them to his hips, then slung his rifle "Wolf's howl" over his shoulder. Exiting the entrance to the long since abandoned dust mine complex he has been calling home, he pulled his hood up to cover his wolf ears. Giving a quick low whistle, the four wolves took off for their daily hunting practice, Timber staying a fair distance behind them so as to not interfere with their pack tactics.
After roughly half an hour, they signaled to each other that they had found something. Timber's hopes were high that they might actually get something more than a squirrel, but those hopes were thrown aside when he saw what they had "hunted". Looking at the familiar face of the local bandit camp leader, he walked up shaking his head.
"Timber? Aren't you up early?" said Ash
Taking his hood off and scratching behind his ear, "Aren't you a little close to the mine?" Timber shot back
"You want to quip back and forth or do you want to get breakfast, dumb ass?" She said as she crouched down and was practically knocked over by Hunter who promptly started licking her face.
"As long as it is cooked all the way through this time" he said smirking.
"That happened once dick, let it go" she said slightly agitated.
"Fine, fine, lets go"
Letting out a high pitched whistle, he had Luna, Smoke, Hunter, and Sabre standing at his heels as he began his walk towards the bandit camp he called a second home.
It's the year 2042, Trefor Belmondo, the current head of the Belmondo family, had been corrupted by some otherworldly force unknown to the people of Remnant. That force was created by an ancient Grimm closely related to the Apathy, the Demented, creatures who only existed only to bring forth insanity to an already chaotic world. Only those that were close to Trefor knew of his plight, yet his insanity was nothing that could be cured over time and eventually he tainted all the trust his ancestors had worked to build up with both humans and Faunus alike.
Thankfully, hope in recovering the lost title of the Legendary Belmondo clan laid with the last son. Trefor's offspring, Augustus Belmondo, who had killed his father in self defense with the family sword after his father's insanity had caused him to attack Augustus and his mother.
Rumor has it that after striking down his own blood, Augustus, ashamed of his actions, ran into the wilderness for seven years with the family heirlooms, the Grimm Reaper whip and the Belmondo longsword. Only to be seen briefly in the surrounding towns and villages within the continent of Anima where his intended goals are unknown.
"Alex."She doesn't hear him, just mindlessly staring at the wall."Alex!"She startles, jumping slightly. Plants swaying Ominously."Whats up?" She asks, confused. Absentmindedly twirling her fingers in a circular motion.
"You're doing it again" He says with a sigh, shaking his head.
"Am I?" She drops her hand, halting the movement of the plants around her."I'm sooooooo bored old man, when are you going to have work for me?" She asks with an eyebrow raised, smirk at the use of the nickname for him.
"Actually Dandelion if you're up for recruitment I have two people I'd like you to retrieve for me, if you're willing?" He sits down across from her.
"Retrieval? More people for the Reformation act?" She gets visibly excited, plants swaying back and forth in delight.
"Yes, some pretty reclusive ones who really don't want to be bothered" He sends files over to her. "Read them on your way, from my understanding the best place to start is Atlas then go by foot to this location." He points at the map seemingly a random spot.
"He'll be difficult, he's in a bandit camp, I don't know if he's hiding or what but you will need to be careful." He finishes giving her a serious look.
"Pfffft I can handle it old man have you seen what I can do?" She laughs, plants flexing their little branches in "might".
"Listen kid, his semblance is blood manipulation, if your aura is up it's no problem, but if it breaks he can probably kill you with the snap of his fingers. You need to be low profile about it, put him on his toes, don't just bust in vines grabbing everything in sight, do some recon."
"What about the other one? Will he give me trouble?" She asks worriedly.
"No, not really." He shrugs.
"When do I leave?"
"Right now if you want."
"AWESOME!" She gets up and bolts towards the airship.
"Forgetting something?!" She runs back into the room, sprouts a lily and puts it in her hair, smiling the whole time. She grabs a potted plant before leaving completely. Qrow is just shaking his head the whole time."Good luck kiddo."