The landscape below Dawn was a slow blur of green as she flew through the sky.

The Emerald Forest was still a short distance away but Dawn was making excellent time. She may or may not have taken a ridiculously dangerous shortcut over Vale to shave some time off the flight, allowing her to enjoy a more relaxed trip to the forest.

As much as she hated to admit it, Dawn was pretty nervous about all of this. She had fought humans before, trained hunters even, but this was her first time going out on a human fighting mission without Manslayer. These novices would be a lot easier to deal with compared to a seasoned hunter, but since they were forming teams, they might end up ganging up on her.

Dawn shuddered imagining it. She'd heard horror stories of even the largest and most powerful Grimm being brought down by vicious swarms of humans. They always went for vulnerable areas that were hard to defend, wearing you down with disturbing persistence. Gods forbid if you actually killed one of their group and managed to escape, they'd hunt you down across the face of Remnant for revenge.

Sheer often liked to tell stories about the huntress that had stabbed his eye out and nearly finished him off, only for Manslayer to arrive and save the day. If even someone as powerful as Sheer could be brought down by a single hunter, Dawn shook at the thought of fighting an entire team of them alone.

"It's just a bunch of disorganized, untrained rookies. There'll be other Grimm in the forest to help too. You'll be fine Dawn."

Shaking off the train of thought, Dawn picked up speed slightly as the Emerald Forest finally came into view. It was fairly similar to the rest of the forest, but Dawn recognized it by the slightly taller trees and cliff face to the north. The forest seemed so peaceful and unassuming, unprepared for the incoming conflict.

Dawn noted that there was another Nevermore by the northern cliff. The Grimm was perched on a ruined spire and picking at its feathers, unaware of the events that were about to occur. Dawn took mental note of its presence. If the humans pushed her towards the cliffs, she could get the Nevermore to help her. However, for the time being, she left it alone. Best not to draw too much attention too early.

To the south, Dawn saw a somewhat large group of humans assembled. She couldn't make them out very well, but there was no doubt these would be the hunters she was going to fight. Deciding to stay off their radar, Dawn dove below the tree cover. Rather than go after the group now, she decided to wait for them to come to her. The hunters had to get into the forest somehow, probably by climbing down.

It would be the perfect time for the first strike.

Dawn flew low, as to draw less attention to herself. Her talons nearly touched the treetops as she flapped her wings, eyes still focused on the hunters. Dawn was able to count 18 of them in total, although two figures stood away from the rest. One was easily recognizable. Ozpin looked so unassuming from behind, light grey hair and dark green suit hiding what was no doubt one of the most influential people on Remnant. He honestly gave Dawn the creeps, and she wasn't quite sure why.

The other figure was new to Dawn. From behind she couldn't make out much, but Dawn assumed they were a female based on their dress and hairstyle. Probably a teacher or some other staff member at Beacon who worked closely with Ozpin.

Then there was the hunters. It was a diverse cast, for sure. Dawn was a bit in awe of the sheer amount of colors in both their outfits and hair, making them look like something out of a fantastical story. Red, white, black, yellow, orange, brown, pink… and much more. Dawn would have loved to get a closer look if they wouldn't try and cut her head off.

While Ozpin was explaining something to the rookies, Dawn decided to scan the forest from above to try to spot some other Grimm. She knew that there was at least several dozen Beowolves and Ursai scattered around, and chances were some others too. Since the hunters would be tied up in their climb down to the forest, Dawn still had plenty of time to fly down and bring as many Grimm as she could to her side.

A few minutes of searching yielded nothing. Where had all the Grimm gone? Dawn had seen them with her own eyes not all that long ago, so she knew they were in the forest. She sighed. This was not ideal, sure, but she didn't really need to help of other Grimm for this mission. Saving them was mostly what she was after, but she could handle the fighting aspect. Suddenly, Dawn ripped from her focus by the sound of a human screaming.

Looking back towards the cliff, Dawn realized with horror the humans were most certainly not climbing down, but instead flying through the air. The little Nevermore squawked as a stray bullet cut through the air close to her. These humans must be insane, they were not only catapulting themselves into the air, but were attacking her while doing it!

Dawn took evasive maneuvers as more random projectile fire shot towards her. Thankfully, it wasn't all that hard to dodge. Humans might have respectable aim when they had time to steady themselves, but it was moot when flying through the air. One by one, the hunters began to hit the treeline and disappear. Once they all were gone from view, Dawn took a moment to regain her composure.

This turned out to be a terrible idea. From nowhere, a screaming ball of yellow hair launched itself towards Dawn. The Grimm let out a startled shriek and attempted to move out of the way, but it was too late. The hunter collided with Dawn, sending the two of them into an entangled spiral through the canopy. Several branches smacked them both on the way down before they finally landed a short distance away from each other.

…

Yang got to her feet. Without a doubt, that had to be the coolest landing ever. She'd knocked that Nevermore out of the sky! While it would have been a bit cooler if she had actually stuck the landing, Yang wasn't going to complain about it.

The Nevermore hissed at her, having also gotten to its feet. Yang noted that it was rather small, probably a young Grimm. Instead of the trademarked glowing red Grimm eyes, it sported pale white ones. The insulted Nevermore was yet to make a move, but had its wings outstretched to the side and feathers puffed out to appear larger.

"Say, you wouldn't have happened to see a girl in a red hood around here?"

The Grimm kept staring. It let out a strange sounding caw and took a step backwards, as if retreating. Strange… usually only the oldest Grimm showed signs of self preservation, not random juvenile Nevermore.

As the Grimm took steps backwards, Yang took steps forwards. "You know, for a Grimm you sure don't seem like you want to fight!"

The Nevermore responded raising its wings above its head and firing a barrage of feathers towards Yang. Grinning, Yang ducked and rolled, blasting the feathers out of the sky with shots from Ember Cecilia as she dodged.

When the explosions cleared, Yang realized the Nevermore had used the exchange as a chance to flee. The strange Grimm had turned and begun sprinting away, disappearing into the depths of the forest.

Yang scratched her head. "Well that was… weird."

…

Dawn's heart was beating a million miles an hour. That hunter had taken her totally by surprise. While Dawn was confident she could have taken them in a normal match, she didn't feel like chancing it after being ambushed from the sky.

Never in all her life did Dawn expect such a thing to happen. Sure humans had their ships, but Nevermore were masters of the skies! To have such a thing happen to her was honestly humiliating. Besides, there was at least 15 other hunters to mess with. Dawn didn't have to stick around with that insane one.

Dawn was so absorbed in her thoughts as she ran, she bumped right into another human. While Dawn wasn't massive, she was still a good deal larger than the hunter in question, sending them sprawling to the ground.

"Waah! Ow!"

Before the human could get up, Dawn pressed her talon gently to their chest to hold them in place. The hunter let out a yelp and squirmed, but wasn't able to escape. It made Dawn feel powerful, knowing that she had overcome such a fearsome and deadly hunter. Looking down at the thrashing girl, Dawn realized with shock that she had silver eyes. The little Nevermore shrieked and stumbled backwards, terrified.

"Wait! Please don't kill me!"

The hunter got to her feet, brandishing a large scythe towards Dawn. She scowled, eyes gleaming menacingly.

"I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!"

Dawn leaped into the air and took to the skies, flying away as fast as she could. The hunter fired a shot at Dawn, but it missed. Thankfully, they did not use her deadly silver eyes as Dawn breached the tree cover and escaped. The Nevermore let out a relieved exhale as she flew away.

"By the gods… what is wrong with these humans?"

First they flew into the sky, then they attacked her from the sky, and now there was one with silver eyes running around too? Was Remnant as they knew it ending?! Forget being subtle and not drawing any attention to herself, Dawn was going to need some backup.

As she flew towards the ruins where the Nevermore had been, Dawn heard the familiar sound of a Deathstalker. At first she had thought it was Sheer, but she quickly remembered that this was a solo mission. There must be another Deathstalker in the forest, which while Dawn had serious doubts could be as good as having Sheer around, wasn't nothing.

Dawn was able to spot the Deathstalker from the air, chasing after two of the hunters. It was hot on their heels, but the humans seemed to be pulling away. Tucking her wins in, Dawn swooped downwards like a hawk.

One of the humans noticed her dive and raised their weapon, hurling it towards Dawn. Dawn spun and dodged out of the way, but the weapon turned around mid air and chased after her like a demented wasp. Startled, Dawn kept bobbing and weaving out of the way of the weapon as she made her way towards the Deathstalker and the hunters.

The javelin was persistent in its attempts to skewer Dawn, narrowly missing as it whistled by her left wing. Hissing, Dawn tucked her wings in and began to drop out of the sky. The cursed thing chased behind her, slowly gaining. Just before Dawn went splat on the ground, she unfurled her wings and put on a burst of speed forwards. The javelin couldn't slow down fast enough and embedded itself in the ground.

Not pausing, Dawn hit the ground and began sprinting after the Deathstalker and its prey. She gained quickly, soon running alongside the much larger Grimm.

"Hey you with the pincers!"

The Deathstalker paid Dawn no mind, its attention entirely on catching and killing the two humans before it. With another burst of speed, Dawn leapt into the air. Spinning, she landed in between the Deathstalker and the humans.

Dawn stretched out her wings and locked eyes with the Deathstalker. "Stop!"

There was a dull burning sensation in the back of Dawn's eyes. The Deathstalker slid to a halt, stopping mere meters away from Dawn. It let out an enraptured hiss, eyes locked with Dawns. Gradually, the burning red of the Deathstalker's eyes transitioned to a more dull pale.

The Deathstalker pivoted in place, curious at its surroundings. "Huh…?"

Dawn promptly let out a massive sigh. She didn't actually expect that to work.

"Welcome to the world of the awakened! Pretty great, right?"

"I feel so much more… alive?"

Dawn nodded cheerily. "Yeah, it feels nice not being used as a soulless machine of war doesn't it!"

"Yes… thank you!"

As the Deathstalker express its thanks, Dawn saw the pair of humans retreating in the corner of her eye. She had no doubt they'd be going to group up with the others she had seen before.

Dawn smirked. If they wanted to group up, then so would they.

"I need you to come with me, alright? We have to fight some humans, but I'll cover you."

The Deathstalker looked hesitant, worried even. "I'm not sure. They seem awfully dangerous."

Dawn placed her wing on her chest with a determined look. "I've fought against seasoned hunters and won before! These are just a bunch of rookies, it'll be fine!"

Dawn carefully chose to omit the part about having Manslayer and other Grimm to back her up.

"Well… alright then. Let's go."

The two set off at a comfortable pace, slightly slower than a run. Dawn considered her options. Trying to fight all the hunters at once was no doubt suicide, so if she wanted to get the Deathstalker and the Nevermore out of here, a more delicate approach was needed.

The hunters were forming teams, weren't they? Last time Dawn checked, hunter teams came in fours, not sixteens. While trying to fight 16 hunters was downright crazy, fighting 4 was a lot more manageable. Considering they were rookies, Dawn might have been able to do it on her own, and especially with a Deathstalker backing her up.

A group of hunters in danger fighting against Grimm would attract attention from the others. If Dawn could quickly beat one team, and then flee, all the others would flock to the aid of their fallen brethren. Dawn would then be able to nab the Nevermore, and any other Grimm on the way out, and then exit the forest.

Since they were already heading in the same direction, Dawn decided to take care of whatever team the two humans from earlier were headed off to. After what the red haired one with the javelin had tried to pull, Dawn would feel no guilt in beating up on them.

Two to four humans.

Nice and easy.

…

With a scream, Ruby plummeted from the sky.

Hitching a ride on the massive Nevermore wasn't exactly her best plan ever. Weiss had pointed that out, but she was such a downer! Maybe if she hadn't complained about every single thing Ruby did, she would have paid her concerns a little more head.

Well, it didn't matter now. Ruby was falling from the sky, Weiss a short distance behind her. Below, Ruby could make out Yang and a black haired girl.

"Yaaaaaaaaang! Catch meeeeeeeee!"

Yang scrambled to get into a good position. To Ruby's relief, she managed to get to the right place at the right time and catch her.

"Dropping in?"

The sisters exchanged laughter at Yang's joke. The black haired girl opened her mouth to say something, but was crushed by a falling Weiss.

"Ahhh!"

"Ouf!"

Yang laughed again as Ruby went over to check on the two. "Are you guys alright?"

Weiss stood up and dusted herself off, doing her best to look regal. "Yes. I'm fine."

The black haired girl, face still in the dirt, gave a weak thumbs up. Yang shook her head with a grin and pulled her partner to her feet.

"This is Blake by the way. She's great for more than just landing cushions."

Blake nodded. "I'd say it's nice to meet you, but… that wasn't a very nice experience."

Yang and Ruby snorted while Weiss turned her head with a harumph. Suddenly, two figures burst from the treeline in full sprint, running towards them.

Ruby recognized them right away. "Jaune! Pyrrha!"

Jaune and Pyrrha reached the group, Jaune stopping to catch his breath while Pyrrha bore a look of grave concern.

"There was a Deathstalker on our tail, but-"

A roar interrupted Pyrrha. An Ursa burst into the clearing, but an explosion slammed into it from behind, causing it to fall dead. An orange haired girl appeared behind the fallen Grimm, looking disappointed at its body began to fade away into smoke.

"Ren, I think this one's broken!"

The boy who was apparently Ren trailed shortly behind the orange haired girl, leaning up against a tree to catch his breath. "Nora… please don't ever do that again."

Nora skipped over to the temple behind the assembled group and eyed the chess pieces stationed on pillars there. With a wide grin, she snatched a rook and placed it on her head.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!"

"Nora!"

Ren made his way over to the group, looking sternly at his energetic companion. Pyrrha, looking around to make sure nobody else decided to fall out of the sky or appear from the forest first, opened her mouth to continue.

"The Deathstalker-"

The Deathstalker burst through the treeline with a triumphant screech. Everyone turned to face the incoming Grimm, weapons raised. However, the Deathstalker did not charge them, instead hesitating and even taking a few steps backwards.

Before either party advanced on the other, a familiar little Nevermore also burst from the treeline with a leap, landing besides the Deathstalker. Upon seeing the hunters it let out a startled squawk, also doing a back take. To two Grimm began chittering and cawing back and forth, occasionally sneaking glances towards the group of hunters.

Weiss narrowed her eyes. "These Grimm are behaving very strangely."

Yang nodded in agreement. "Yeah! I saw that shrimpy Nevermore earlier too, and instead of fighting me it ran away!"

Ruby looked surprised. "Really? I had an encounter with it too! I got knocked over and it had me pinned to the ground, but it took one good look at me then freaked out and ran away."

Blake looked over at the Grimm and thought it over for a moment. "Maybe it has to do with the eyes? Grimm don't normally have white eyes."

Pyrrha took a step forwards. "That's what I've been trying to say! When the Deathstalker was chasing us earlier, that Nevermore showed up. We saw it get in front of the Deathstalker and do… something that made its eyes turn white as well."

Ruby's expression darkened slightly. "So do you think it's some new breed of Nevermore or something?"

"Well, it doesn't matter! As long as I can crush it with my hammer!"

Everyone turned to face Nora. The girl had her hammer in hand, and a somewhat worrying amount of blood lust in her eyes.

"You know… she has a point. If this is some super Nevermore, killing it while its small is probably a good idea." Yang pointed out.

Jaune looked nervous. "That won't be easy, it's got a Deathstalker with it, and the Nevermore Ruby and Weiss rode in on is circling back now."

Ruby's expression shifted to one of determination. "If that Nevermore is a danger to others, and we let it go, then we've already failed as hunters. What if it gets away and goes to attack some of the nearby settlements? Or worse? We have to take it out, to protect the people who can't protect themselves."

Yang grinned and ruffled Ruby's hair, much to the latter's dismay. "Ah, that's my sis!"

Blake glanced back over towards the Grimm again. "I wouldn't be surprised if Ozpin had it placed here to test us. The Nevermore definitely doesn't seem natural to me."

Nora pounded her fists together. "Alright then! Let's turn them into pancakes! Oohhh, wait! Ren, can we get pancakes after we kill these Grimm?"

Ren deadpanned at Nora. "Sure."

Nora let out a delighted squeal and grabbed Ren in a vice like hug, causing him to gasp for breath.

"Alright guys, let's show these Grimm what we're made of!"

The 8 of them advanced towards the Nevermore and Deathstalker.

…

Dawn wasn't one to curse usually, but she cursed rather loudly as she saw the hunters spreading out to surround them and approaching slowly.

"Pinch, we got a problem!"

"I didn't agree to that na- oh no."

Pinch looked scared as the hunters approached them. "What are we gonna do?! You said there'd be four at most, not eight! We're doomed!"

Dawn did her best to pat Pinch with her wing. "Don't worry. I've got a plan, we just need to stall for a bit while the Nevermore comes back around."

Pinch still looked nervous. "Well… I'd rather not die on the same day as my freedom… but if you're the experienced human fighter…"

"Great! Now, stick close to me. I need you to be a big distraction while I get some good strikes in."

The duo suddenly charged the humans. Dawn had a terrible feeling that this wasn't going to end well, considering the silver eyed hunter, but they didn't have a choice at this point.

Gods have mercy on their souls...

…

Ozpin stood looking off into the forest, sipping his cup of coffee. Initiation was always one of the more interesting parts of any given year. He did his best to make sure the next generation would have a good test of their metal, while also making sure the less adept students would be able to get trough.

"Ozpin, look at this."

Glynda, Ozpin's faithful second in command, showed her scroll to the headmaster. On it were several video clips of a rather unusual looking Nevermore engaged in battle with some of his new students. The Grimm was rather diminutive in size, and…

Ozpin nearly spat out his coffee. White eyes?

"I've never seen a Grimm quite like it before. Did you bring this Nevermore in for the initiation?"

"No, I do not."

Glynda's brow knitted with worry. "Should we interrupt? We can always re-do the initiation, but we can't bring students back from the dead."

Ozpin elected not to respond just yet, pressing a few buttons on the scroll. Another video clip was pulled up of a group of eight students facing down both the Nevermore, and now also a Deathstalker with white eyes.

"I think they can handle it Glynda. While this is an interesting development, the Nevermore has shown to be far more adverse to combat then one would expect from a Grimm. The students will be able to use this to their advantage, if they are wise."

Glynda didn't look convinced, but did not object. She pulled away her scroll, joining Ozpin in looking out onto the Emerald Forest.

Ozpin's mind raced. He had not seen such white eyed Grimm for a very long time. In fact, Ozpin had thought the variety was extinct. The fact that they chose to resurface now, of all times and places, was an equal parts interesting and worrying development.

"It seems the Champion has come back out to play."

Dawn, Pinch, and nameless Nevermore versus RWBY and JNPR! It'll be an interesting fight for sure.

Before anyone gets their hopes up about daily updates of this caliber, I'm going to have to curb your enthusiasm. While I'd love to make chapters like this everyday, I sometimes have other stuff in life to do that take priority over writing. Not only that, but I've also been playing around with some other fic ideas that may or may not see the light of day. Don't worry though, you should see updates to The Manslayer at least once a week, if not more often!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and you'll stick around for the next one! Cya'll next time!