The Dreamer Gate

by Malignent

Thousands of Uruk-Hai are drawn to Remnant after a ritual gone wrong, and are more than capable of bringing their own taste of war to this new world. Now the people of Remnant must deal with this new and numerous threat. As the Tournament draws near, and the actions of the Uruk Leaders grows ever bolder, can peace truly be maintained?

4. Chapter 4: The Friendly

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of The Rings, the Middle-Earth universe, Shadow of Mordor or RWBY.

This work will contain moments of intense violence, dark and dirty humor, and canonical divergences.

---

The Friendly

Weiss glared at the body, trying not to seem as disturbed by it as she was. Having finished cleaning her weapon, she should be done looking at that disgusting thing. But yet her eyes kept getting drawn to it, it wasn't the same as killing Grimm... not by a long shot.

Around her the people of Yires were milling about their village, now that the fires had been dealt with they had all the time they needed to assess the scale of damage. Some homes had been completely reduced to rubble, but a sizeable number had survived thanks to the coordinated efforts of the villagers and the huntresses-in-training. Weiss tried to occupy her mind with something that would draw her attention away from the corpse, finding it much harder to avoid than any boring lecture or inane event.

Luckily, the sight of Blake hopping from a nearby roof to the ground provided just the thing to distract her.

"How does it look?" the heiress asked

"There aren't any Grimm in the immediate vicinity," the Faunus answered as she stood next to the white-haired girl "but if any farther than that sensed it then I can't speak for how it'll be in the next few hours or so."

"Then they should have enough time to evacuate if need be." Weiss said before nodding towards the community center, which had survived despite the blackened roof "Yang and Ruby are still trying to get answers, but from what I could hear earlier I don't think we'll be getting anything too useful."

Blake sighed at that, the Faunus watching as Weiss's eyes traveled back to the corpse of the Uruk Ashgarn. Watching for a moment, Blake nudged her before saying "Thanks for that by the way, I don't want to think about what would've happened if you hadn't jumped in when you did."

Weiss smiled at that, placing a hand to her chest "It was nothing, I should thank you for distracting that dual-axe wielding brute as much as you did. Suppose that makes us even, hm?"

Blake nodded "Want to go see if they could use some help in there."

With a smile, Weiss turned and led the way back to the community center. Inside were several cots set up for those who had been too injured to move, the village clinic had been partially destroyed making it unusable for more critically injured. Several villagers had been making supply runs to the clinic and back, but it seemed that for the moment there was no rush. Surprisingly, the raiders had been very careful to kill as few of the villagers as they could, mostly aiming to cripple or incapacitate them. The exceptions being those who tried fighting back, like the blacksmith's son who had died fighting one of the Raider's leaders.

On one of these cots sat a fat man in a baker's outfit who was busy talking to both Ruby and Yang. Being the most locally known and socially active villager right behind the village leader, Mr. Malts was the best alternative now that said leader was wounded. The sagely old man had been beaten unconscious pleading for the life of one of the village defenders. He was stable at least, lying several cots back with several worried villagers looking over him, but he wouldn't be waking up soon.

"-and then these smaller ones, um...Uruks with crossbows came in and hauled them off!" Mr. Malts said to the girls as he held an ice pack to a painful looking bruise on his face "But they were talking about it like they were taking them to someplace entirely different to where they planned to take us."

"And none of them mentioned where that may be?"

The baker shook his head "Sorry girls, I wish I could be of more use to you."

"Eh, its fine Malts." Yang said with a reassuring smile "From how it looks to me you've kept these guys together pretty well on your own!"

The baker tried to look enthusiastic at the compliment, but still looked down for a moment before spotting Blake and Weiss "Oh! Looks like your friends have returned!"

Ruby flashed the duo a smile as she turned to face them "How's it looking out there?"

"Grimm won't be a problem for a while," Blake admitted "but there's no telling how many could be on their way."

"You guys should probably start trying to evacuate this place," the Heiress spoke to the Baker, who grimaced at the thought "just in case."

"Won't be easy," Malts said as he glanced to the other villagers working around the community center "Yires folk aren't exactly the type to move easily, even after something like this."

"Just as a precaution, sir." Ruby pleaded "Please, you guys have to try at least."

The Baker looked down for a moment "I'll give it a shot, I'm positive they'll be stubborn but I'll give it my all girls."

They all gave him grateful looks before leaving the community center "In the meantime, we got bigger problems." Yang said as they stopped in front of the building, she reached back to nervously scratch the back of her head as she looked over her teammates "Those Uruk guys were apparently intent on capturing a very specific handful of Faunus that happened to wander into town soon beforehand."

"Yeah, they got ahold of them and moved them before we intervened." Ruby said with a determined look "If they were their true target then finding them should shed some light on why this happened, maybe we could learn about where those things came from... We have to go after them."

"What?!" Weiss blanched at the idea "Ruby, please..."

"She's right." the team Faunus spoke up "They have several hours on us, but we should be able to track them if we move quickly."

"Yeah, they left lots of footprints on their way out, we should move before they cover too much ground." Ruby looked at her Team, gauging their reactions. Yang seemed as pumped as usual, and Blake grew a determined look that nearly rivaled her own, but Weiss...

"Can we think for a second before rushing off into the woods hunting an unknown opponent who we still don't fully understand? We were shocked to find that they had aura, and even more surprised when that glutton showed off a semblance of all things. We don't have enough information on them. We can't just run into any other surprises they may have for us, we can't act on impulse!" the Heiress paused "I say we go back, travel until we get back into range of the CCT and tell the authorities. Have them send huntsmen on this mission after we give them information they can use to prepare with. We came here for a vacation, we're not fully prepared for this!"

"I understand you're just trying to be cautious, Weiss." Blake nodded before gesturing towards the woods "But all of that will take too long, we can catch up to them in a manner of hours at most if we move quickly, people's lives are on the line."

"I know that but-!" Weiss halted in the middle of her reply to stare wide-eyed at something beyond the team "Wait... where did it go?"

Confused, the rest of the Huntresses in training turned to follow the Heiress' gaze and found that Ashgarn's corpse was missing, a trail of thick footsteps leading away from where it once lay.

"W-what, who-!?"

"It just... ran right through..."

The girls turned to see a villager lying on a pile of slightly soot covered furniture, it seems she had been trying to move it out of the partially ruined building she once called home. She now lie upon a blackened couch, uncaring of how the dark filth got all over her already rugged looking form, staring at the bodiless puddle in open-mouthed shock.

"What happened to the body?" Weiss asked quickly as the woman put a hand on her head.

"It just leaped down right next to me..." she said, still obviously panicked by what had happened.

"What did?"

The villager looked up at the heiress and blinked a bit "One... one of those raiders you guys just scared off. It jumped down, ran straight for the dead fella' on the ground and hauled it over its shoulder before bolting."

"Well," Yang gave her teammates a glance before nodding to the footsteps "I figure whoever took the big guy would probably have an idea for where the captives are heading."

Weiss sighed "Fine, we catch that raider and find out where the hostages would be, then we can better decide upon the most reasonable option."

"I'll take it!" Ruby said before waving the other huntresses-in-training towards the trail "Come on team!"

---

They followed the trail into the woods, which became increasingly thicker the farther they went. Whoever had taken Ashgarn's body would have to be incredibly strong to carry such a large mass and still be able to keep ahead of them. The tracks were fairly easy to follow, as the body snatcher had ran through a section of forest laden with heavy fruit which had fallen to the ground. The fruits themselves were dark and stone-like, so much so that if placed next to a rock many would find themselves hard pressed to find a difference between the two. They couldn't be crushed by being stepped on, but they made it much easier to spot which path the perpetrator had taken. Though moving while avoiding stepping on the stone-like forms of the fruit was a bit of a hassle.

"Gah!" Ruby winced as she stubbed her toe on what felt like the fifth one since they'd entered that part of the forest "These things are terrible, what are they?"

"Herbology with Professor Peach approximately two and a half moths ago." Weiss didn't hesitate in responding "Honestly Ruby, there were about three questions based around Bura fruit in that week's test."

The name of the painfully hard fruit immediately tugged at memories "Oh, you mean the Boarbatusk Berries!"

"Just because your sister makes up a name for something doesn't mean you should internalize it over the correct label."

"Oh come on, Princess." Yang piped up as they paused in their running as the tracks seemingly disappeared, the girls began looking in different directions to see where the trail might pick up "With that name we internalized lots! Boarba Berries, hard as hell like the armored little dash hogs we all know and hate."

"Perhaps if you actually studied them instead of spreading that moniker about, you'd have had an easier time on that week's test."

"They're hard and taste terrible, what else was there to know?" Yang asked back as she glanced through some bushes for tracks that may have been obscured by the shrubbery.

"Oh, I don't know." Weiss said sarcastically as she looked pushed some low hanging branches out of the way to search "Perhaps how, historically, the Bura fruit's sturdy shell made them ideal for early settlers to use in basic explosives?"

Ruby paused at that, turning back to her partner "You don't think those Orc guys could figure that out, could they?"

"If they did then why didn't they use them during the raid?" the heiress questioned back "Though that does pose a problem for the-"

"Found them!"

The three turned to Blake, who had found the continuation of the trail on the other side of a log "He might be trying to obscure his tracks by running on things that'd be harder to find them on."

Soon they were back to following the footprints, giving Yang ample time to think on another subject. The body snatcher was one of the raiders, and was quite light on his feet too. Thinking back to those who participated in the assault on Yires, one particular face stood out amongst the rest.

"Hey Blake?" She said, turning to her dark-haired partner "Do you think it might be the guy with the axes, that you and Weiss fought?"

"The thought did cross my mind," Blake said as she glanced back to the blonde "but I believe if he was the one who took him then tracking him would be a much harder process."

"Why's that?" the Brawler asked

"The only reason that thick-headed brute was such a hassle was because neither of us had expected him to have a semblance like his." Weiss called back to her "Some form of sight-based teleportation, whenever we got through his guard he'd just blink to another part of the room and resume fighting. It made it hard to damage him properly until it became clear he was incredibly untrained at using it. After that I just used myself as bait so Blake could properly cut his aura away whenever he was distracted."

The Faunus nodded "If he was the one who took it then he'd probably be using that Semblance to evade us more effectively, skilled or not-...oh no."

She skidded to a halt at the very end of the tracks, which just suddenly stopped there in a patch of dirt and grass. Unlike before there wasn't any shrubbery or miscellaneous items to hide tracks on, they just ended right there in the dirt.

"Oh boy," Yang said before glancing up into the thick canopy of Bura trees "Maybe he climbed up the trees?"

"With the body?" Weiss asked before glancing around trying to see if there was any indication of a directional change.

"Maybe it was the axe guy," Ruby offered "and he just didn't start blinking until now."

"Then that would make tracking him the traditional way next to useless." The Heiress said while turning towards her younger partner, taking a moment to compose herself she turned to the other two, who looked just as confused by the sudden lack of tracks. "Look, if he really is the one who took the body... we simply won't be able to catch up with him."

"We still don't know that." Blake insisted

"I don't see any other reason for the sudden halt in footprints," Weiss replied before gesturing around them "unless you see anyplace for him to hide himself and a body without us noticing."

"Maybe he just stepped in his footprints backwards until he reached somewhere he could hide." Yang offered as her Younger sister paused to see something in the trees above.

"I didn't see a place big enough to conceal a fat corpse like that, did you?" Weiss complained with a hint of reluctance "Listen, I don't like the idea of leaving anyone with those things any more than you guys, but its not like another clue's just going to fall from the sky-!"

As if tempting fate, the words no sooner left the Heiress's mouth when the sounds of snapping wood and displaced leaves drew their attention to one of the larger trees. A large mass tumbled down through the canopy, shaking off Bura fruit and leaves before colliding with the ground. Almost immediately they could recognize it as an Uruk, from the orcish ears and thick looking skin, but as he gave a groan and rose to his feet two other distinct facts made themselves unbelievably clear.

One was that he was the most unbelievably massive humanoid figure any of them had seen, easily towering several feet over all of them while standing on his tree like limbs. Hearts went out to whoever had to weave the surprisingly light looking tunic which covered his torso, ending at some thick looking trousers which ended in minimalist foot-wrappings like some of the regular Uruks they'd seen during the raid.

Second thing they noticed was how he had the exact same face as Ashgarn, right down to the fat which constituted a chin. Though this Uruk's skin was a more beige-orangey color in comparison to Ashgarn's easy green and he was bald, everything else from the barely-there mound which acted as a nose to his beady eyes reminded them of the hungry devourer immediately. Of course, the main difference was the sheer contrast in size, but the nearly identical facial-structure spoke volumes.

He straightened a bit, massaging his neck with his right hand which had wrappings on it similar to those on his feet. His other wrapped hand was busy hefting a large sack on his back which seemed to be positively stuffed to the brim with Bura fruits. The handles of two weapons strapped to his back were visible, but unidentifiable from their position.

The Uruk finished massaging his neck and popped open an eye to see four weapons pointing towards him, their wielders prepared to unload the second he moved an inch. They stared at one another for a moment, the large Uruk quirking an eyebrow as he gave what seemed like a hesitant smile at the sight of them. However, he looked increasingly nervous as neither side moved, eyes glancing between them more frequently while the seconds ticked by.

"Psst," Ruby leaned towards her partner as they stared him down, eyes flicking towards the sack of fruit he carried "Didn't you say those things could be easily used for explosives?"

Weiss new where that train of thought was going, immediately cursing the possible jinxing she'd probably incurred "Yes Ruby, yes I did."

They went silent for some more time until Yang broke it "So, you gonna do some-"

He took off...

The girls each blinked, realizing the Uruk had darted off with speed more befitting a charging Alpha Beowolf than a beige monster the size of an Ursa.

"What the-!" Yang gasped "Where did he go!?"

"There!" Blake pointed out the Uruk's fleeing form in the distance.

"What... how did he-?!"

"Doesn't matter," Ruby interrupted before aiming Crescent Rose behind her "after him before he gets away with that stuff!"

Firing, their team leader soared after him while the rest went into pursuit as well. Catching up with him was not a challenge, despite the shocking speed which he demonstrated now as his thick legs somehow seemed to fly across the ground instead of the lumbering one would expect of someone his size.

Using her Semblance, Ruby managed to cut him off, appearing in a storm of rose petals as she swung her scythe and aimed it towards the Uruk. Finger on the trigger, she paused as the look on his face became clear. He was still smiling, but not in the way any of the raiders at Yires had been, not in any way someone under pursuit should be. It was possibly one of the warmest smiles she could think of, more befitting of someone in a cheesy commercial centered on an impossibly perfect lifestyle. On a face almost identical to the one which had nearly devoured her teammate, it was more than a little unsettling. He didn't even slow down, immediately changing directions and running into some nearby shrubbery as shotgun fire sounded out. Yang hopped onto an overturned log and fired more rounds from her gauntlets, hoping to slow down the ridiculously speedy wall of flesh.

Her blasts hit him of course, he was much too big of a target not to get hit even with his maneuverability. But he didn't even seem phased by the impact of rounds on his body, it didn't even seem like his aura was flashing up to defend him. The elder sibling felt her eye twitch as he continued running, grimacing in irritation before taking off after him. The forest became more densely packed as they chased after him, maneuvering around trees got harder as more bushes, large rock formations and thick vines got in their way. The Ashgarn look-alike simply charged through these obstacles with ease, rocks were crushed under his weight, bushes and vines were pulverized under his feet, rotting logs were left unrecognizable after he was done running through them.

As he ran, the Uruk's eyes widened as a wall of ice suddenly sprouted up before him. He made a sharp turn, skidding to a crawl before the ice wall and running to it just before Yang's fist nearly embedded itself in the impromptu obstacle.

"Weiss?!"

"What are you looking at me for? Be quicker next time!" the Heiress responded towards the now agitated brawler before running to catch up with their teammates who were also closing in. Yang groaned before picking up the pace as well, catching up just in time to see Ruby and Blake simultaneously leap from opposing trees towards the Uruk from alternate directions.

The giant gave a yelp of shock before launching his cargo into the air and bringing both his arms up over his face. Both Ruby and Blake's weapons connected, drawing blood as they slid by. Turning, they both paused to take in the sight of the Uruk looking up and opening his arms wide to catch the falling sack. The wounds on his arms seemed far too miniscule, as if he'd been cut with toy scissors instead of the well-maintained weapons of soon-to-be Huntresses.

"Are...you...kidding me!?" Yang shouted as she slid to a stop beside Blake and Ruby, pausing to catch her breath as she readied another barrage.

"Sorry!" the unexpected apology came from the Uruk as he reached up to catch the sack of Bura Fruits, jerking his other hand out to catch one which had fallen free "Sorry again lassies! Just taking my leave here! No troubles!"

He even had a similar nasally voice to Ashgarn's, but taking on more of an apologetic tone than they'd expect coming from someone with that appearance.

"Well then stop," Weiss ordered "drop the fruit and-!"

"Oh I knew it!" he seemed distraught, throwing his free hand to his face in distress "I'm givin' you lots of trouble and such! Don't mind me, lassies, I'll be going!"

He took off again.

"Wait-!" Weiss called before growling "Just shut up and listen!"

He was already too far away to hear her. Weiss threw her hands in the air angrily as the four continued their pursuit.

The Uruk seemed to turn towards an old stone bridge which was built over a small valley of trees below, the bridge was covered, looking more like a square tube which deposited weary travelers out on the other side. Weiss's eyes immediately lit up at the sight "Guys!" she called to her teammates "I've got an idea."

Running through the stone bridge, the Uruk glanced behind him to look for his pursuers. The sound of more ice drew his attention only to find the stone bridge before him was sealed off. An ice wall connected with the walls of the covered bridge, easily cutting him off from the other side.

"We've got you now, big guy!" He heard behind him as he turned to see the other path already obstructed by two of the huntresses.

Above Ruby clapped Weiss on the shoulder as her partner gave a sigh "Great job, now all we need to do is interrogate-"

The Bridge gave a mighty shake, prompting the Rose and the Heiress to ground themselves. Confused at first, hearing Yang's shout of "Come on!" led them to glance over the side of the stone bridge's roof. The bridge now had a massive hole in its side, and past it they could see the Uruk tumbling towards the valley below.

"He just ran right through." Blake told them as she and the truly peeved brawler glanced out of the hole towards their other teammates. Feeling Yang's rage, Weiss placed a hand to her face and took a deep, calming breath as her partner groaned.

"Come on, before he gets away." she said with much less enthusiasm this time.

Below the Uruk landed on his back, crushing another rock under his sheer weight as he protectively grasped the sack of Fruit. Groaning only a bit from what should be a lethal fall like that, he got back to his feet again and took off. Not soon after that, the sounds of approaching feet reached his pointy ears once more. He continued running, traveling alongside a small creek he occasionally splashed in as more rounds impacted against his back.

Eventually, the trees lessened as the Uruk slowed whilst nearing the creek's source. Ahead of him was a bed of rocks leading away from a large stone mountain. From the side of the mountain sprouted a waterfall which poured down into the bed of rocks. The Uruk found that the mountain's form cut off any escape routes, and he continued slowing down as the four behind him drew near.

"Okay okay!" the massive Uruk whined as he slid to a stop on the wet rocks at the base of the waterfall and turned to face them.

"Drop the disgusting fruit!" Weiss yelled as the four of them slowed just at the tree line and pointed their weapons at him in unison.

"Disgusting? Buddy I'm hurt!" he replied as he took one of the Bura fruit and held it up "These things be one of my new favorite treats."

Before their eyes he opened his mouth and bit through the fruit's insanely thick skin almost instantaneously, "Ya can have ya own opinion on it, but mind being a little less hurtful there friends?"

"We're not friends." Blake stated simply

"Pshaw!" he replied as he finished the rest of the rock-likee fruit, swallowing it as he jabbed at himself with his thumb "Everyone who Krimp meets is a friend by default, every Uruk, man, even you Fenuses."

"Faunus"

"Yeah!" Krimp cheered, pumping a fist in celebration "One of those! All friends!"

"I say we hit him until he stops shouting." Yang offered.

Weiss stepped forward and summoned a glyph behind her, face scrunched up in annoyance "I second the notion."

"Wait!" Ruby called to them "Maybe we can just ask this-"

"Oh!" Krimp said before she could finish, snapping his fingers and pointing towards them as his ever-present smile got wider "Ya just wanted a friendly tussle between pals? Well if you'd have said that before I went for a run then this could've all been avoided! I just thought you was scared of me like the other pinkskins I found, had to get away before my new friends were stricken by the same fear!"

The entire team stood dumbfounded, Blake sighed at this information while her Partner cracked her knuckles together.

"A...Are you serious?" Weiss asked in disbelief

"I'm always serious when it comes to my friends!" the Uruk insisted before devouring another Bura fruit and flashing that excessively warm smile towards them "Well then, if you want a go then let's have a go!"

"Wait!" the Team Leader called towards him "No, we can-"

Ruby's words fell on deaf ears as the large Uruk took a step forward from the watery rocks to the thick dirt next to them before charging towards them like a freight train. Team RWBY dispersed to the sides as Krimp barreled through their previous position, he slid to a stop and glanced around for a moment.

"New pals, where'd you run off to-UGH!" He stumbled forward a bit as a round impacted with his back and made him shift forward a bit, he grew a confused look and turned to spot Blake in a tree pointing Gambol Shroud at him.

"Ah," he spoke as his smile returned and he waggled a finger at her "you got around me didn't ya, you sneaky little munchkin!"

Blake didn't dare deign that statement with a response, instead aiming at him once more as he got into a another charging stance.

Rounds hailed on his thick skin as Krimp stumbled back a bit onto a glyph which activated almost immediately, the massive Uruk looked down at the spinning circles and managed to say "Pretty looking thingie ya got-" before he was blasted off his feet into the air. Nearby Weiss nodded towards Ruby, who looked reluctant for only a moment before taking aim with Crescent Rose.

"Yahoo!" Krimp cheered as he tumbled head over heels through the air, the sudden blasts of sniper rounds impacting with him did nothing to remove the smile from his face.

He rolled on the ground for a moment, not wasting any time in getting back on his feet as if nothing had happened "Wow, that was pretty impressive you guys!" he chuckled politely as he gestured towards them "That whole flingin' me through the air like a sack of logs thing was mighty fun!"

"Well then I hope this compares!" came a voice to his side, prompting him to turn in time to catch a flying left hook to the face. Yang didn't give him any time to stumble away like his smaller doppelganger, following in with several more jabs which were accentuated by blasts from Ember Celica. Her teammates looked on as Yang finished with a brutal looking uppercut which had Krimp staring straight up towards the sky.

"This doesn't make any sense," Weiss muttered annoyance as Blake jumped in to help her partner "he's not even using an aura and yet his skin's as tough as a Boarbatusk's."

Ruby met her partner's annoyed look with a bit of concern "Then I guess we'll just have to figure out where his underbelly is, right?" she said with a hopeful grin.

The Heiress gave her a look laced with inklings of doubt, before the two rushed into the melee once more.

---

Vacuo-The Desert Tower

"Come on you shrakh!" the angry grunts of agitation could be heard from outside the large room, which had been stripped of its previous old furniture for these tests specifically "By the Dark Lord himself you will work!"

Ishga Blood-Storm stomped angrily around a ritualistic circle laid upon the floor, occasionally leaning down to check the runes on it intensely before cursing and moving to glance at some other minor detail or other. Sitting nearby Skak Blood-Axe looked over the weapon he was named after, listening in on a conversation no other would be part of. Leaning against one of the barren walls of the room, Tarz's disgusting lips stretched into a humored smile at the sight of the red-themed hunter's agitation.

"He annoyin' you?" Skak asked the weapon, tilting his head as he leaned the skull portion of the axe towards his ear "Yeah? Mhm. Don't really know how to tell him?"

Ishga's growl of restrained rage caused a throaty chuckle to rise up in the Surgeon's throat, his fat pig-head shifting between the two.

"Well why should I tell 'im?" Skak asked with narrowed eyes before pointing towards the skull "You got ta speak ya mind if ya want anyone to listen to ya."

"Skak!" the Blood-Storm shouted towards him

"What'cha want me to do?!" Blood-Axe shouted towards his smaller partner, jerking the weapon around "He's bad mouthin' ya! Want me ta let 'em do whatever he damn well pleases!?"

Ishga's claws clenched tightly whilst one of his eyes twitched in rage, the smaller Uruk's eyes darting over towards Tarz as he failed to restrain his latest chuckles "What's so funny?"

Tarz wiped a non-existent tear from his eye-lids as his hideous grin stretched even wider "Don't know, watching you flail like that reminded me of this one time I whipped a slave so hard he jerked about trying to keep his wounds from bleedin' so much... Pretty funny if I do say so myself."

"How about you act slightly more progressive and help me with this wretched thing!" Ishga gestured towards the non-functioning Dreamer Gate "The sooner we get this done the sooner I can take some of this anger out on an unfortunate tark."

"Blood-Axe says yelling at the ritual won't make it work." Skak called out to him

"Yes! I know that, Skak." Ishga bit down on his tongue to hold back his own rant

"Jut thought I should mention it."

"So...very helpful." Blood-Storm groaned

"Why is he even here?" Tarz questioned "Far as I know you and me are the only Urukss with actual grey matter in this room, so why bring your meaty ally over there?"

"He goes everywhere with me," Ishga responded before waving it off and approaching the ritual once more "Forget it, you wouldn't understand. Just help me with-"

"Blood-Axe just wanted to mention that we don't do things like piss together."

Tarz's eyebrow arose as he locked eyes with the Blood-Storm "Mighty specific detail to mention, eh? Somethin' you wanna get off your chest?"

"Okay, no." Ishga stood straight and reached for the spears strapped to his back "I'm taking out this anger now, draw your weapons!"

"Blood-Axe is already drawn."

"Damn it Skak, I meant-"

"He's right," Tarz interrupted with a shrug "you cannot unsheathe a drawn weapon, Ish my boy. I'd expected you to know something like that."

Ishga was just about to pull his spear free when a familiar voice came from the now open doorway.

"Take comfort, this endeavor will bear fruit."

Three heads turned to see none other than Tugog the Dreamer himself step into the room, the feathered cowl covering his upper arms swayed as he walked over to them.

"S-Sir!" the Blood-Storm immediately stood at attention "I had no idea you had arisen from your slumber."

"My rest has been most eventful." Tugog said, seeming much more enthusiastic than had in previous days "I have catalogued many happenings that are to come to pass, but know that one is our successful use of the Gates which many have named after me."

"Sir," Ishga leaned forward with hopeful eyes "are you sure?"

The Dreamer nodded "I have seen our mighty warriors pouring from these gates in places far apart, we are destined to learn of its secrets and even master it. The task of reaching that point may be daunting, but take comfort in knowing that as long as you continue striving for it, victory is guaranteed in this regard."

The hunter gave a sigh of relief "It is as though a weight has been lifted from my shoulders, my master. I'm quite thankful for your words."

"Oh please." the Blood-Storm's moment of peace was interrupted by a fit of laughter coming from the grotesque Surgeon as he pushed himself from the wall "That's nowhere near enough of a reason to get all calm and pleased and such."

"Quiet you troll-born filth," Ishga bit back "your remarks are as worthless as you are."

"Me and Blood-Axe are quite sure most remarks ain't worth much."

"Silence!" the Spear-thrower yelled at Blood-Axe before turning to narrow his eyes at Tarz "You will not speak ill of my master's, your Warchief's, abilities of clairvoyance. Why, I wouldn't be standing before you if it wasn't for the knowledge gleamed from his dreams. That knowledge may save your life as well someday, you'd do best to show respect."

"Hm," Tarz tilted his lumpy head, the filthy hair falling to the side "if I believed in every Uruk who went and saved my life somehow I'd probably be rotting in the middle of the sea."

"It's not our fault you keep terrible company." Ishga pointed out spitefully

"Please," Tugog held up a hand "there is no need for such vehement hostility. Save such emotion for a duel, or the battlefield, not when researching the future of our Army's power."

Tarz shrugged, going silent despite the condescending smirk he sent the Blood-Storm's way, before gesturing towards the ritual itself "Suppose we should get back to it then, eh?"

Ishga didn't cease his look of irritated suspicion, but gave a slight nod "Suppose we should."

He gave his master a bow, the Dreamer nodding in response as the hunter walked over to the circle with Tarz and the two began to look it over. Off to the side, Skak glanced at his Blood-Axe quick before piping up "You two ain't gonna be able to get anythin' done before he-"

"Skak, please." Ishga sighed without looking up from the ritual "I don't care how many Pinkskins I have to give you for a moment's respite, I shall gladly-"

The Blood-Storm paused in his plea, as the sudden sound of immense footsteps drew all four Uruks gazes towards the door. A moment later it was thrown open by an irate looking mountain of strength, Hork of the Black Gate stood in the doorway in all his dark glory. His eyes immediately settled on the incomplete Dreamer Gate, and the two Uruks standing near it. Squeezing through the doorway, the massive Uruk paid the other Warchief nary a smidge of acknowledgement as he spoke to Ishga and Tarz "Progress... now."

The two traded glances before Ishga opened his mouth "Hork, we haven't exactly had long to properly decipher-"

"I didn't ask for an excuse, worm." Hork muttered "I demanded a show of progress."

He groaned as his eyes traveled to the other Uruks "And yet here I stand before an audience of the weak seemingly no closer to our return than when I last left them to their devices!" Hork grumbled before turning on Tugog "What else could be expected from your forces."

Though the Dreamer almost always conceded in the face of the Gate Guardian's fury, he had to keep some measure of dignity in front of his higher captains "Hork, listen to me, you must give them time."

"Time we do not have!" the larger Uruk barked "The longer we are apart from our positions the more likely that Gondor's disgusting menfolk are getting their filthy, grimy hands all over my charge!"

"Blood-Axe says the Dark Lord could probably replace our numbers quite easily." Skak piped up before Ishga could shush him.

"Silence that mongrel before I go over there and pull his jaw from his skull!" Hork growled

"You are letting the distance from the Black Gate negatively effect you." Tugog insisted

"Oh really?" Tarz said sarcastically "I don't think any of us could've noticed-Ow!"

Ishga silenced the Surgeon with a slap to the face as Dreamer continued speaking.

"Though his madness does bring a skeptical gaze you must admit that 'mongrel' you speak of is not incorrect. Your charge is not defenseless, I'm fairly certain that it will be ready and waiting for you upon our return."

"Fairly certain does not win wars," Hork grumbled before turning and walking out of the room "and neither does laziness."

Though Tugog seemed content with letting the larger Warchief stalk off to try mellowing out elsewhere, Ishga certainly wasn't.

"Laziness my arse!" the hunter shouted as he ran out of the room after Hork.

Inside, Tarz rolled his eyes as the Hunter left "Oh yes, go pick a fight with the walking mountain of muscle and excessive rage." the Surgeon muttered passively as he turned back to the Dreamer Gate. Warchief Tugog himself seemed worried, probably concerned he'd be undermined completely if Hork ended up killing Ishga in a fit of rage.

"I-I should go make sure they don't get out of hand." he muttered before running after them.

"Oh yes," Tarz waved him off without looking up from the Ritual "tell me if they become all buddy buddy because you dreamed they became best pals or something ridiculous as such."

As the Warchief left, Skak leaned out of the doorway to watch the proceedings whilst still talking to his weapon.

Hork had only made it slightly down the hall from the room and was just walking past a window which had lost its glass long ago, pausing as he heard the voice of the Red-Themed hunter behind him "If you're so sure we've been doing nothing this entire time then tell me, oh great defender, what have you and yours been doing this entire time? Preparing for an attack that may or may not come?"

"Ha!" the massive Warchief laughed as he turned to look down upon Ishga "You think we've been doing nothing? Foolishness seems to run in your entire army it seems."

As he spoke, Tugog slid to a stop several feet behind Ishga, debating with himself whether or not getting between the two would be a good idea at this point

"Not only have we been readying ourselves and this tower for any assault this damned realm could throw at us, but just look!" He waved a massive arm towards the window.

Glancing outside would reveal a section of scaffolding running along the outside of the castle, upon which an Uruk Taskmaster was having several slaves add more and more reinforcement to the massive tower. Beyond that, the large shanty town built around the lowest base of the tower had grown substantially since its initial construction. Nowhere near as thick as they were capable of back in Mordor, but with more slaves and excessive force they could probably be close within a few months.

"Your point?" Ishga asked

"Gates, castles, towers, and keeps," Hork counted them off on one hand "all these things were built by me. Defended by me and my army, and maintained for centuries. The same shall ring true once we've secured the Black Gate and returned to this plane with our Dark Lord's full might supporting us. We've not only built more than other armies could in half our time, we've nearly completely wiped out the dark beasts who threaten our creations."

Standing taller at that fact, Hork's often ever-present frown actually shifted into something of a small, prideful smirk "Excluding the ancient beasts, I could walk in any direction for twenty miles and not see hide nor tail of one of them. And once we've organized a true hunting party of substantial size then the ancients too shall fall under the overwhelming strength of my army. So you tell me, whelp, tell me how these sturdy buildings could be anything other than proper work? Tell me how the annihilation of any who trespass on Uruk territory could be anything but arduous labor? Tell me why-!"

"Its all so rudimentary." a new deep voice stated.

All eyes were drawn to another Uruk, a hunter standing somewhat down the hall from them. Initially unrecognizable due to the drastic difference in apparel, which actually caused Hork to do a double take. This Uruk wore oddly-crafted trousers of a dark blue variety, held tight against his thin frame with a belt. He wore no armor, besides a shoulder plate on his left shoulder. Around his neck was a blue scarf which was partially covered by a single plate of armor which rested in the middle of his chest. There was a strap tied around both of his elbows, and his metal helmet had many beast tusks protruding from it. The front was open, revealing a bored pair of red eyes which ran over them condescendingly as the Uruk folded his arms.

He was a hunter no doubt, his thin frame coupled with the spears on his back gave that away immediately. But the spears looked as if they were completely made of metal, no wood at all. And instead of being in a sack it seems that they were each individually slid into straps on his back. Odd at first glance, the most noteworthy thing about this Uruk were his colors. Every bit of exposed skin was covered in a white war paint with blue stripes running across it.

"Maku," Ishga recognized him before the others "what in Sauron's name are you doing back here?"

The blue Uruk rolled his eyes before extending a hand towards the other Hunter "Come now, brother, all this time we've spent apart and that's all you have to say to me?"

"You abandoned your Master!" the Blood-Storm bit back "Ran off with the rest of those cowards led astray by Bubol, now you come expecting some form of acceptance?"

"Is that what you thought we did?" Maku narrowed his eyes, before tilting his head towards Tugog, who had been frozen in disbelief upon seeing him "My Warchief, I apologize on the Grand Shaman's behalf if our actions seemed to speak of disloyalty, I'll have you know he's very much still ready to serve."

"How did you get in my tower." Hork suddenly spoke up, to which Maku responded to with a questioning glance.

"This tower has Hundreds of sentries and Uruks at almost every corner," the Black Gate Defender snarled "how is it nobody told us of your arrival?"

"Why should I explain anything to anyone other than my Warchief, Toll boy?" Maku asked with another tilt of the head.

Hork's eyes hardened and he took a threatening step forward until Tugog pushed past him "Do not think much on what he says, Hork." the Dreamer spoke before leaning down towards Maku with genuine hope in his green eyes "Is what you say true Warmonger? Has the Grand Shaman truly not abandoned me?"

"Of course he did!" Ishga piped up "Where was he and his Uruks when Bubol tore our army apart?!"

"The Grand Shaman simply wished to capitalize on a new location early," the blue Uruk said simply "wished to give his master something of a forward stronghold before the Chief-less could claim too much wilderness."

Tugog actually wiped at his eyes "Always the long-term thinker as usual," he said with relief "I take it he kept the rest of his Storm together during the exodus then?"

The hunter nodded "Of course, his portion of the army has gotten stronger than it's ever been before." he said with a hint of pride "We've been resupplied and rearmed twice over the past few months alone, we've been unimaginably busy setting up in this new realm."

The relief flooded the Dreamer's features, of the many things to plague his mind since inadvertently dragging so many of his kind to a new world, the location of the most powerful Captain under his command had been the most daunting. It had eaten away at him, before the incident his advisors had stated dozens of times that the Grand Shaman and his Storm could easily overthrow him at any time, but they proved the most useful out of them all. If only they didn't do as they did in this new realm so much, disappearing and reappearing wherever it suits them, then he'd have them at the front of his forces as long as he could. Sadly, his fear of the Grand Shaman overthrowing him always made him susceptible to the Uruk's whims, he just couldn't risk angering him. So knowing that, despite having disappeared as they tend to do, he still had contact with the Storm of all things filled him with a sense of security he hadn't experienced since they'd first arrived.

"To leave your leader to flounder as he has," Hork muttered as he stood tall "how lacking in respect you blue children are."

"How lacking in cares for your opinion I am, Gate Keeper." Maku responded immediately before giving a small bow to Tugog and walking past him as Hork's growl rang through the hall "The Shaman has sent me to reestablish connections with you, Master. He feels confident in our abilities to serve now that we've properly established ourselves."

"If you think saying that will make up for abandoning us," Ishga started, stepping towards his brother with a scowl carved into his features "then you shall be most-!"

"Which is why he sent me to help you create your own portals." Maku finished

The words dies in Ishga's throat, Hork's restrained rage immediately shifted to wide-eyed disbelief that nearly matched Tugog's spark of happiness.

"Y-You what?" Ishga stammered out

"The portals, like the one which brought us to this land." the Blue Uruk stated simply "The Great Shaman has completed enough trials to deem our portals stable and fully functional, and sent me through one to bring our master his research in case you hadn't made much progress."

Hork pushed past Tugog and Ishga and stared down at Maku "So does that mean-?!"

"And before you ask, we have not successfully been able to create a portal home." the hunter strangled that hope immediately "Though we are on the right track it will take much longer to build a portal between realms than a portal to cover great distances."

Hork's look of agitation returned a bit, and the massive Uruk merely groaned before turning and walking off down the hall once more "Do what you must, Warmonger."

The Blue Uruk gave a smirk before looking towards Dreamer and Ishga "Well then, I suppose you should show me what you've completed so far, hm?"

Ishga gave a defeated sigh before gesturing towards the door behind Maku.

Maku nodded before turning back to the room they'd just exited, Skak peaked out the doorway and gave his own weapon a look before slipping back in.

"Over here? Wonderful." the Warmonger said before following Blood-Axe inside.

---

Vale-At the foot of the Waterfall

Krimp raised his arms as Yang's blasts impacted with them, leaving no more than minor bruises as he lowered them and clapped his hands.

"Great job, Lass!" he cheered for her "With arms like that I think you'd be able to knock a Caragor's teeth in!"

Yang gave a sigh of exhaustion as she gritted her teeth at the annoyingly friendly Uruk, who gave her another warm smile before charging once again. Grunting, she lunged forward to meet him, ducking under a swing of his arm just to feel the other wrap around her wrist. Immediately Krimp swung her around into a tree which snapped in half upon impact.

"Oops," Krimp muttered to himself before cupping a hand around his mouth and calling out "Sorry about that! I didn't think the trees around here were so weak!"

Satisfied that he apologized for breaking the woodlands, the massive Uruk turned around only to receive a sniper round impacting against his forehead right between his eyes. The shot was so precise that it actually made him lunge back wildly in a daze as he placed a hand to where he'd been hit.

"Gah!" he cried mid-laugh before stumbling back and raising a congratulatory thumb in the direction of the shot's origin "Nice...shot-guh!"

Ruby looked up from her scope as Weiss and Blake landed nearby her "Think you did something permanent?" the Heiress asked in between breaths.

"He'll probably be just dandy in a minute." Ruby whined as she stood up "We need to hit him harder."

"There's only so many ways a girl can hit something." A voice off to the side drew their attention to Yang, who spat out some twigs and gave them a look of intense fury "Can someone please answer why this thing is LITERALLY tanking everything I throw at him?!"

As they talked, Ruby watched as Krimp massaged the spot where he'd been shot. He opened his eyes and began blinking to clear them as he slowly began to stand.

"Guys!" the Team leader gathered their attention "Proceed to look onto me, for I feel a plan coming along."

Krimp shook off the rest of his daze and stood to his feet, reaching back for his Bura Fruit and eating one before stretching and charging the girls with happy giggles. Blake and Weiss scampered to the sides as Ruby and Yang ran to meet the Uruk head on. Crescent Rose slammed into his gut, forcing him to step back despite being unable to pierce deeply enough into his flesh. As soon as the scythe was pulled free of his belly, Krimp swung his fist only for Ruby to leap back as Yang stepped in to continue pushing him back with another series of punches. Krimp chuckled happily as the explosive punches peppered his body and forced him backwards, both of his arms shot towards Yang only for Crescent Rose to force him back once more.

As the two sisters kept their combo strong, Weiss set up another Glyph behind the Friendly Uruk and shouted "Ready!" before darting off. The Bura-lover heard her, and turned around to check it out as Ruby crouched down for her Sister to leap off her and send a flying punch that sent Krimp stumbling onto the glyph. It launched him back even further, getting caught on Blake's ribbon which had been tied between two trees. And despite the ribbon holding up under the Uruk's immense weight, the trees it was tied between did not. They were uprooted, and the massive Uruk slammed into the ground as the two trees fell atop him.

Watching, Yang took a moment to crack her knuckles as Weiss set up another Glyph beside her "Try not to let him get up from this one." she said, the blonde nodded before taking a deep breath and letting her semblance activate. Krimp started lifting the two tress off of him with a merry hum, glancing up he saw the Brawler leap onto Weiss's glyph and suddenly launch towards him. Eyes-widening, the Uruk immediately shoved one tree to the side and dug his thick fingers into the bark of the other before lobbing it a the incoming flame that was Yang Xiao-long. Heading right towards her, the thrown tree was suddenly blasted off course by a sniper round. Silently thanking her sister, Yang's fist reared back as Krimp challenged it head on by throwing one of his own.

The impact of knuckles connecting with each other was massive, causing birds in distant trees to flee. The contact threw both Yang and Krimp away from each other, the brawler groaning and massaging her arm as she rose to her feet. After a blast like that, she wasn't surprised at how sore she felt afterwards, but glancing towards their opponent, she could tell she had clearly come out as the victor. Her teammates gathered around her, weapons raised as they watched the Uruk writhe on the ground for a moment. The lack of semblance seemed to have finally caught up with him, as despite his skin being unbroken, the force of the impact had been enough to thoroughly break his arm. The thick limb was twisted in a painful looking manner, but the Friendly Uruk still managed to smile as he rolled onto his knees and pushed himself to a sitting position with his good hand.

"Okay okay, pals," he said as he waved towards them "I concede, you win. Good game, Everybody!"

He delightfully slapped his good hand to his belly to simulate clapping as he cheered for them "Always good to blow off some steam with friends, eh?"

"Alright pal," Yang pointed at him accusingly "We just went through the wringer beating you, so no funny business or else we'll break your other arm."

"Oi!" he said as he wiped some imaginary sweat from his brow with a smile "I'd never run away from such accepting friends like you guys."

That gave them pause, a pause which Blake used to ask "Accepting?"

Krimp nodded "Mhm! All the other humans I ran across would scream and run while throwin' things back at me whenever I came 'round, so when you guys decided not only to pursue me when my confidence was at an all time low, but to go so far as to have a friendly tussle' afterwards!"

The Uruk sighed, raising his good hand to fan at his eyes "I'm sorry, I've gone emotional on you all of a sudden."

"Okay Yang," Weiss turned towards the brawler "break his other arm."

"No no!" Krimp took a deep breath and placed a hand to his chest "I'm calm now, all steady and calm-like, no need for more rough-housing you rascals!"

Yang leaned back towards her teammates "Look, I don't know if I'd be able to pull off something like that again, guys."

"Don't worry," Ruby whispered back "just act like you could! Its the same as performing, you're great at performing!"

Yang blinked, "Point taken."

The red-haired girl turned back towards the excessively friendly Uruk "Look, if we let you stand, do you promise not to run off again?"

"With friends like you, why would I ever run off?"

"Ehhh?" Ruby was not the only one unconvinced

"Are you about to doubt a friend like me?" he asked, looking as if he was steps away from shedding genuine tears.

"Ugh," Weiss groaned, "just get up already."

Sadness shifting back to happiness again, Krimp rolled onto his good arm and pushed himself back to his feet. The huntresses all readied their weapons once more as he towered over them once more, smiling all the while.

"So now that we've gotten through this no doubt memorable patch in our friendship," he said whilst gesturing towards them "what can I do for you, ol' chums?"

The Huntresses lowered their weapons a smidge, Blake piped up first "We're looking for one of your kind, Uruk is it?"

"Mhm!" Krimp nodded enthusiastically as he looked over his broken arm "Got a name? Krimpy's friends with lots of Uruks, know most by heart I do!"

"Well, we didn't actually get a name from him." Ruby admitted "We just know that he hung out with a big guy named Ashgarn and was covered in these disgusting puss-filled... things."

"Oh!" Krimp raised a finger "Bubol the Diseased, me younger brother's favorite friend! I know 'em."

Suddenly much more conscious of the similarities Krimp had with the devourer, Ruby swallowed nervously "Y-your brother?"

"Yep! Little Ashy always loved hangin' around Bubby, 'cause he was all supportive of him and such. They'd do all sorts of friendly things together, go raidin' together, hunt beasties together, and whenever they partnered up for a tussle, better watch out! Why, just a few days prior Bubby asked for me little kin's aid in recovering some Faunus folk who escaped him a while back. And like the helpful sort he is, Ashy agreed with next to no convincing required."

Ruby glanced towards Weiss, who gave her a stern look before shaking her head. Ruby turned back to Krimp, "So, would you happen to know where... Bubby is?"

"Well, I know where his camp is."

"Really?!"

Krimp nodded before pointing towards the small stream they'd cornered him at "This here stream trails all the way out of the valley to a cliff, then pours into a river along with several other streams that come from this 'ere mountain. Bubby's camp is right on the edge of that cliff, likes the sound of runnin' water. He likes throwin' parties there whenever he ain't playin' around with his other friends. Don't quite know if he's there at the time or not, though."

"So..." Ruby paused for a moment "I don't suppose you wouldn't mind taking us there?"

"Oh!" Krimp looked shocked, before regaining his teary smile "You want me to lead ya to one of my bestest friend's places? Of course!"

With that he lumbered over to the nearest stream and began marching along it in an overly jolly manner. The huntresses watched him for a moment before Weiss spoke up "Do you think we can trust him?"

"Absolutely not," Blake muttered "but we've got no other leads. There's always the possibility of him leading us into a trap."

"I don't know guys," Ruby murmured, gesturing to the still marching giant "do you really think he's just playing with us?"

"Well Weiss, you're our resident socialite," Yang piped up with a shrug of her shoulders "is he just screwing with us?"

Weiss groaned before putting a finger to her chin "I don't know, if he is then he's extremely good at it. There's just something about his smile, it almost seems... familiar in some way."

"Hey pals?"

They turned to see the massive Uruk waving them over "Don't wanna lose track of me now do ya?" he said with a giggle before turning and continuing to march.

"We'll just follow at a distance for now," Ruby concluded "eyes peeled ladies!"

And so they followed him, giving the crippled Uruk a wide berth in anticipation for some type of foul play to ensue. After passing under the stone bridge from earlier, the silence was broken by Krimp himself.

"Oh you guys'll just love Bubby's broth," Krimp said while glancing back to the cautious huntresses "he makes it with this delightful cream that really brings out the best of the flavor. Though where he gets ingredients is a mystery to me, what with him traveling so much it never seemed like he spent much time just explorin' like I do. Though I guess he could just ask one of his buddies for some fixings and all, but I always enjoy gettin' my meals on me own."

As if to emphasize his point, the giant reached into the sack and pulled out another Bura fruit before biting into it.

"So," Ruby couldn't help but speak "you were just going to eat them?"

"Of course!" Krimp answered as he stuffed the rest of it into his mouth "These plant things ain't no substitution for a real meaty meal, but they taste pretty good! And when you travel like I do ya gots to learn how to properly enjoy both to fill ya up on the go!"

"You travel a lot," Blake spoke up now with a suspicious look now visible on her face "mind sharing where exactly you've been?"

The Uruk snapped his fingers "Oh I've been all over this realm lady, been hiking through snowy mountains, traveled through the desert, stowed away on a ship for several days and even hitched a ride on one of them air boat thingies across that east continent, oh the sights that I saw!"

"That much?" the Faunus said "how long have you been traveling?"

"Eh, didn't really pick up speed until last month or so. After then I was going everywhere."

"Last month?" the heiress interjected as her eyes narrowed in skepticism, she picked up the pace a bit to ask "Are you saying you did all that in less than two months?!"

"Guess so, what fine times its been!" Krimp devolved into humored giggles once more as the huntresses looked on with disbelief.

"Hey Princess, you okay there?" Yang asked

"He has to be lying," Weiss spoke up as she glanced to the ground for a moment then turned to the Brawler "If what he's saying is true then he's been to all four kingdoms in less than two months, he'd have to stow away on a plethora of ships and he doesn't look like a stealthy individual."

"Maybe he is." Blake offered "We already know he's much faster than someone of his size ought to be, maybe we shouldn't rule out stealth just yet."

"So," Ruby tried to keep him talking "how long have you and your friends been in Vale?"

"Oh, we just arrived a couple months ago, before then we was in that sandy place to the west." Krimp said as he stepped a log, shattering it beneath his feet as he continued along in blissful ignorance.

"You mean Vacuo? How long have your people lived there?"

"We was there for about a week till Bubby got lots of us movin' along this way." the Uruk then gave a sigh "Before then we was from a very distant place called Mordor, dark, violent, beautiful Mordor!"

The Huntresses didn't even have to talk with each other to conclude that not one of them had ever heard of any place like that "So, how did you guys get to Vacuo?"

"One of me brother's buddies had this glorious ritual he dreamed up, said it'd give all us Uruk a power that would help us overcome any who could stand against us. But it turned a bit sour, sucked up several thousand of us and dropped us in the sandy place!"

"Several thousand!?" the heiress paled at the thought of a hundred of these disgusting things running around Remnant, but a thousand. The looks on the girls' faces broadcasted several layers of concern growing at the implication, a few dozen had raided a village, a few hundred could easily pillage dozens more, but a few thousand were enough to launch a proper attack on a city!

"Yeah, would be more if we had a spawn pit with us." Krimp said before shrugging "The only Uruk who came with us who kept the ingredients for one of those on hand disappeared when Bubby led a bunch of us 'ere."

"A spawn pit? Let me guess," the Heiress sighed "it makes more of you?"

"Mhm!" the Uruk slapped his hand to his belly to applaud her guess as the trees grew a bit more sparse "Lots of new friends!"

"You say you know most Uruks," Yang said as she stepped past a bush "you wouldn't happen to know where this Uruk with the Spawn thing is, would you?"

Krimp shook his head "Nope, sorry friends, he's even more elusive than I am. But ya know who ain't?"

He gestured towards the edge of the tree line, where some figures could be seen. The huntresses immediately got low as the image of a small camp near a cliff could be seen past the trees, a small number of shapes moving around it. Yang gestured for the massive Uruk to get down, his size proving the most eye-drawing thing amongst them. He did so with a smile, though sat a bit awkwardly to avoid straining his broken arm.

Receiving a nod from Yang, Ruby raised her scythe which shifted into a full sniper rifle before glancing through its scope. The camp had several Uruks, far fewer than what had been there during the raid, with only a small tent and several shabby cots spread around a brightly lit fire. Right in front of that fire were a few Faunus kneeling, restrained by thick ropes. And pacing in front of them was Bubol, the diseased Uruk walked back and forth speaking to his captives in an enthusiastic manner. The camp was perched on the very edge of a cliff, as Krimp had said, with the tips of tall trees visible beyond it and the sound of rushing water being audible even from there.

She relayed this to her Team, who crept up for a better view of the situation as well.

"This seems like a much more manageable number." Weiss muttered

"Yeah, but we already know Bubol's far more skilled at fighting than we originally thought." Blake pointed out "With so few Uruks here to support him, perhaps we should try taking him down first and deal with the rest swiftly."

"Stealthy approach then?" Yang offered with a smirk.

Blake nodded before placing a finger to her own chin "It'd probably be best if we had something to distract them with."

Ruby snapped her fingers and turned around "Hey Krimp, could y-?"

He was gone. The Leader, soon followed by her teammates, glanced about the space where the massive Uruk once sat but found that nary a trace was left of him.

"W-we just looked a way for several seconds..." Weiss stared in disbelief

"So what were you saying about him not being the stealthy type?" Yang asked the heiress, who just groaned in response.

"Doesn't look like he tried signaling them," Blake, who had turned to look over the camp once more, spoke up to her teammates "we should still be able to pull this off."

Joining her in her watch, the rest of Team RWBY found that she was correct. The Uruks were still milling about, Bubol was still taunting his prisoners, who were still either shivering fear or glaring at the Uruk in defiance.

"Still," Yang muttered "after all we went through to take him down..."

"We reached our destination much more easily because of it," Weiss pointed out "we'll worry about him after we free the hostages."

"But we still need to distract them." Ruby sighed before locking eyes with her sister.

Minutes later the two were walking towards the little camp, weapons raised.

"There's no way they're gonna fall for this." Yang muttered to her sister as the first Uruks noticed their approach and called for their leader.

"Just have faith sis, we just need to keep his focus on us." the Red-head responded.

As they approached, they noticed that all the Uruks there seemed to have crossbows. Their normal swords and clubs were all sheathed, instead they gripped the ranged weapons tightly on their approach. They also noticed that all of them were lanky like Bubol himself, who sported a grin as he stepped past the rest of the Archers and placed a hand on his hip, which had strange capsules tied to it now for some reason.

"Well well," he said in a sultry tone as he looked them up and down "if it ain't the cute little tarks who went and broke my favorite toy."

"We want you to release those captives." Ruby spoke up, hefting her weapon for emphasis

"Them? On no, sweetness!" Bubol waved her off "Since you guys went and broke my toy, I simply must get new ones to replace him. Was plannin' on just killin 'em in a grand fashion for escapin' me before. But now I feel like I should take my time with 'em, get rid 'o some of this pent up aggression I seem to have come down with for some strange unknown reason."

"You don't want to end up like your pal, do you?" Yang threatened, gesturing towards the archers behind him "You don't have nearly enough lackeys to cover you like you did back at Yires."

"Well see the problem with 'at is that I didn't really take you lot seriously at that tark village," Bubol said before chuckling, seemingly unaware of the figure moving around the camp behind them "and as a result I lost my little love dumplin'. Don't really plan on makin' the same mistake twice, sweetness."

"You don't really believe you could take us on do you?" Yang asked, subtly glancing behind the Uruk as a weapon was raised behind him.

"Actually," Bubol started before immediately throwing himself to the side as a Glyph appeared where his feet once were, Weiss's eyes shot up towards him as he came up bow raised and fired at her. She immediately jumped out of the way as the bolt sailed past the trees beyond.

The captain stood and continued "I feel as though you lot are in even worse condition than the last time we fought."

Weiss took a breath and raised Myrtenaster as half of the Uruk archers turned towards her instead, Bubol glanced between her and the two siblings "Honestly, could 'ere her draggin' her feet since before ya even tried this crummy little thing. Spent too much time in the army for cheap tricks like that to get m-"

Bubol stopped mid-sentence and jerked his head up just in time to see Blake descend towards him blade aiming for his head, gritting his teeth in annoyance for letting one get this close he immediately crossed his arms above his head and caught her wrist between them. The tip of Gambol Shroud rested just above one diseased eye before he shoved the Faunus off of him. Blake landed several feet away from him, and three more Archers turned towards her as well.

"What about that one?" Yang asked as the Captain turned back to them, he seemed agitated for a moment before letting his rage melt back into another perverted grin.

"Oh ya know I always enjoy a lass who tries takin' me hard by surprise every now and then," he mentioned before giving a lusty groan "but I still don't think you girls have the gumption to give a needy little runt like me the attention he needs."

Yang shivered at that wording before glancing towards her sister "Ruby, when we get back you and I are gonna have a long talk about things, just a heads up from me to you."

Bubol tilted his head to the side, infected eyes shifting between the Huntresses one after another before raising his wrist-bow and letting the blades extend once more "Fill 'em with nice sharp things!" he shouted with glee as the Archers fired on their different targets.

Blake darted forward under the first two arrows and spun out of the way of the third, two of the archers began reloading while the third tossed his crossbow to the ground and drew his sword. Blake intercepted his first swing and swung her sheath into the side of his head, making him stumble to the side as she went for the other archers. Before she could reach them, however, Bubol's grapple shot over both of their shoulders and latched onto her blouse before pulling her through the air towards him. Blake immediately made a shadow clone which dissipated in the claw's grasp as she dashed back, but Bubol merely cackled before stopping the grapple's pull and instead twisting it to the side. The claw and cord came full circle and slammed into Blake's side, effectively slapping her to the ground as the Uruk she tossed aside earlier charged her.

"No runnin' from me, sweetness!" Bubol called out as he stepped towards her, only to be spun around as Myrtenaster slashed across his back.

His greenish aura flashed as he spun, just in time to parry the next stab of the Schnee's rapier. Weiss pulled back and jabbed forward in rapid succession, forcing the Uruk Captain to dodge and weave past her attacks before suddenly crouching low and sweeping his leg towards her feet. Weiss managed to jump up to avoid the sweep, a glyph appeared between them as Bubol rose. Her feet connected with the glyph, which slammed into Bubol and knocked him away.

He slid past Yang, who was busy swinging one Uruk into another, and came up on his feet just in time to sidestep Crescent Rose, which cleaved through the ground he previously stood upon. Ruby spun Crescent Rose towards him, prompting him to duck under the swing and charge shoulder first into the Red-Themed huntress. Ruby stepped back from the impact and swung her scythe back in time to deflect more of Bubol's bolts, after which she darted towards the diseased lunatic, who brought up his wrist bow just in time to deflect her next slash. He grinned as he stepped back, prompting Ruby to unload more rounds at him, and his eyes flashed green as he raised his weapon once more.

Seven rounds were fired from Crescent rose, and seven bolts perfectly intercepted them on their way to their intended target, causing a minor explosion to separate the two with a cloud of smoke. Bubol stepped back with a laugh as he gripped his wrist-bow with his other arm and aimed it towards the cloud, stopping once he felt a finger tap on the shoulder. The Captain turned to find Yang flashing him a smile before gripping hard on his shoulder and pulling her knee into his gut. Air violently escaped his mouth as he backed up, clutching his stomach as he raised his wrist-bow.

"The nice sting of flesh colliding!" he laughed maniacally as Yang charged him, grabbing hold of his weapon, Yang raised it upwards as it harmlessly discharged its bolt towards the sky. Grip still strong, she blasted Bubol several times while he was still recovering before swinging him over her shoulder into the air. Steeling her stance, Yang cocked Ember Celica as Bubol oriented himself as he fell. Watching as she let loose a barrage of shotgun blasts at him, Bubol's eyes flashed green again as he fired a red bolt into the midst of the oncoming blasts.

It exploded, taking all of the rounds with it as Bubol landed just beyond his camp and had to halt his movement with his feet before he could slide off the edge of the cliff. Scrambling to his feet with more sick laughter, Bubol's head jerked back as his eyes locked onto Yang's incoming figure. Smirking, the Diseased Uruk raised his Wrist-Bow once more and fired several more bolts which the Brawler side-stepped as she closed the distance. His eyes flashed green and he gripped the weapon as she approached, firing the grapple instead.

The claw latched onto her gauntlet similar to last time, but she was ready now. He zipped towards her, firing two bolts as the distance between them shrunk to nothing. She leaned out of the way of the bolts and crouched under the Uruk as he sailed over her. Landing on his feet, Bubol turned while Yang stood, swinging his bow's blade as at her while the grapple pulled them close once more. Yang managed to stop her own movement by slamming a foot down, nimbly evading his swipe once more. Bubol skidded to a halt and turned back towards her with an eyebrow raised at the sudden ineffectiveness of his previous technique.

Yang flashed a smirk in his direction before cocking her free gauntlet, Bubol copied her smirk as he raised his wrist-bow and his eyes flashed green again. Yang fired a round which connected with the bolt he discharged, another cloud of smoke was the result. Yang felt the grapple on her gauntlets go slack...

...and then a second Grapple emerged from the cloud and caught her other arm.

Stunned, Yang's head shot up as she saw the ends of the two cords come into view, only to find that they were connected. They were both two ends of the same cord, pulling until they snapped together, effectively restraining both her arms! The cloud cleared just in time for her to see an empty shell ejected from Bubol's bow, the diseased Uruk pulled a canister from his belt and slid it into the wrist-mounted weapon as his grin grew wider. Eyes growing wide, Yang backpedalled and raised both her arms as Bubol darted towards her.

She fired, Bubol rolled under her blasts, firing his grapple at her boot as he slid past her and wrapped the cord around her back. Yang spun quickly, swinging both her arms in an attempt to dislodge the Uruk before he could restrain her even further. This proved fruitless however, as Bubol leaped around her, cord pulling taut as he fired the other end at her other boot. Now unable to even bend her legs, Yang struggled to turn as Bubol spoke.

"Love tying up naughty little girls" he cackled before lunging forward and grabbing hold of her head "they always get so wet and messy afterwards!"

With that Bubol pulled Yang passed him and sent her sailing off the cliff.

"NO!"

Bubol turned just in time for a red blur to barrel into him and knock him off the cliff along with it.

"Ruby wait!" Weiss could be heard yelling out as her partner and the Uruk Captain disappeared over the side of the cliff.

Ruby immediately shoved Bubol away from her as the two of them fell, the river below being much closer than she originally anticipated. Bubol whipped his weapon towards the trees on the other side of the river as Ruby swung the edge of Crescent Rose into the side of the cliff to halt her descent. Soon the Uruk grappled into the trees, but Ruby was far more concerned with the head of blonde hair she spotted struggling in the river's fierce current. Yang seemed to be managing to keep her head above water at the time being, but the force of the river's current would see to that soon enough.

Taking a breath, Ruby ran along Cliffside, keeping her sister in sight as she sought a position she could grab her from. A flash of light from the trees on the other side of the river caught her attention, and she glanced quickly enough to see the incoming bolt. She skidded lower on the Cliffside to avoid it, gritting her teeth as she spotted Bubol's form grappling between the trees to keep up. Forcing herself to focus on her endangered sibling, Ruby became a blur of petals as she took off along the Cliffside. Bubol's bolts came at a slightly quicker rate, prompting the red blur to bob and weave to avoid them. Up ahead she could see the cliff rounding away from the river, luckily more trees sprouted up ahead. Leaping from the Cliffside, she swung Crescent Rose, the edge catching on a thick branch and letting her swing to the ground below. Glancing again at Yang's easily identifiable blonde hair, Ruby picked up the pace once more.

Running along the edge of the river, Ruby aimed Crescent Rose to her side as she ran parallel to her sister. Pulling the trigger, she launched towards her sister, sailing just above the river's current. Reaching one hand towards her Sister, she heard a giddy "No no no!" before looking up to see Bubol swinging towards her on his grapple. His feet connected with Ruby's shoulders before she could grab hold of her sister, and the young huntress was sent sailing back to the edge of the river with the Uruk in tow.

He leaped off her as she hit the ground, spinning towards her with a cackle as the grapple sped back to him. Struggling to get up, Ruby raised Crescent Rose to intercept the next slash of his wrist-bow, the grapple extending a bit from it as the claw opened. Bubol twisted, whipping the cord towards Ruby several times. Each time she twirled Crescent Rose to deflect it, mid-twirl Ruby pulled the trigger and caught the Uruk in the leg during his next swing. Though his Aura held firm it caused him to stumble a bit, which was more than enough allow Ruby to change directions and swing her weapon back again. This time the blunt end of Crescent Rose caught the Uruk in his side, lifting him off his feet and flinging him into the nearby trees.

Spinning on her heels again, the red-head ran back to the river. She was horrified to find that she could not see Yang's hair anymore, panic taking root at a much deeper level as she sped up, eyes scanning more frantically for a sign of-there! At the edge of the river up ahead, a familiar blonde form was lying on the ground beside the river. Quickly dashing across the river, Ruby spun to her sister's motionless form and immediately dropped to her knees beside her.

Immediately turning her over, Ruby let out a breath of unimaginable relief to find that Yang was breathing. Unconscious but alive, much to the younger sibling's thanks. She was about to pull Yang further from the river when she heard it. Head jerking up, she saw a grapple attached to one of the nearby trees. Following it, she saw Bubol zip across the river towards them whilst releasing a giddy chuckle. Setting her sister to the side as gently as she could while in a rush, Ruby hefted Crescent Rose and fired at the incoming Uruk. He fired a bolt which caught her round as his grapple detached and he sailed over her onto the ground, skidding to a stop. He turned quickly, just in time to sidestep another round and charge Ruby.

Their weapons connected twice before Bubol backed up and fired a bolt at her, Ruby sped through the air over it and towards the Uruk. He bumped into a tree, which he climbed on and leaped from as Crescent Rose cleaved through its stump. As the Tree slowly began to fall, she turned and swung her weapon to deflect several more bolts as Bubol backed up against another tree. Firing at him again as she closed distance, Ruby leaped towards him spinning with her scythe in a circle of death which Bubol quickly rolled under. She landed against the tree, glancing up just as Bubol stood and fired his grapple at her. She leaped off the tree, letting the Grapple pass under her and grab hold of the tree behind her.

Bubol backed up as Crescent Rose dug its tip into the ground before him, with Ruby swinging herself on her weapon until her boots connected with the Uruk. As Bubol stumbled back he pointed his wrist bow behind him and fired the other end of the grappling hook. Pulling Crescent Rose out of the ground, the young huntress swiped at the Uruk once more. His grin stretching to comical proportions as he leaped back out of the way of her slash, and her eyes grew to comical proportions as well once she saw the tree she'd cleaved through earlier get pulled right beneath him. Pulled by Bubol's grapple from earlier, the tree slammed into Ruby, pulling her off her feet and dragging her entire body right back to the tree the other end of the grapple was attached to. The force made her Aura flash intensely at the sheer amount of damage it was suddenly defending against. She felt the strain of it as she was sandwiched between the trees and felt the one behind her snap from the pressure. Her entire vision went dark.

...

...

Ruby's eyes slowly opened, everything felt so sore. She had lost hold of her precious weapon when the two trees had nearly crushed her between them, and she could barely move. She heard a humming sound to her right and twisted her head to the side to see an unsavory form approach.

"Oh, ya still alive lass?" Bubol questioned as he leaned down towards Ruby's downed form. This close, she could more easily see the subdued form of her sister slung over his shoulder. She tried moving again, only causing that sore feeling to change into pain.

"No no sweetness, that precious Aura of yours is gone." Bubol told her with a smirk and a shrug as he placed his free hand on his hip "Now you ain't no more trouble than the hundred of tarks I've already ended. So why bother?"

With that he winked at her and cackled some more, Ruby's head hurt, keeping her eyes open this long was exhausting.

"Good pal o' mine will be pretty pleased when ah bring 'em this treat 'ere." Bubol nodded towards Yang, free hand shaking in what must have been sheer giddiness "I might even have a new toy by the end of the week!"

The Uruk finally seemed to calm down, giving a sigh before looking at the young huntress in training for a moment more "Ya know, I was planning on steppin on ya head until it popped open all nice and gooey-like. But seein' that defeated look in ya eyes is gettin' me heated in all the right ways, sweetness."

Bubol fanned at himself for emphasis "Haven't been gettin' that feelin' since you girls killed off dear Ashy! So how's about instead we do this again sometime?" he leaned down to her a bit "You come find me again so I can beat ya down and revel in that look again, eh girl?"

He put a hand to his ear, Ruby's pained groan being the only response. He pressed a bony hand to his filthy mouth and blew her a kiss with a wink "Great! See ya then, lass. I'll be waitin'!"

And with that, Bubol walked out of sight. Ruby tried moving her head again, but the overwhelming soreness wouldn't allow that. With nothing to focus on, her eyelids soon drooped closed as she blacked out.

---

Somewhere on Vale's border

A cave was lit up by a fire, inside four forms were seated around it. One of these forms was propped up against another, her hair messy from all the rough traveling she'd been put through these past few days. The figure she was leaned against shifted forwards to properly speak to the other two.

"So they chased ya off," Zog said slowly "but how did ya find each other in the woods then?"

Tuka folded his arms over his chest while glancing towards the hooded Uruk at his side "Coincidence, I stumbled upon this worm trying to fight off one of the dark beasts with one of the Tark weapons he collected during the raid. Needless to say he would've been killed and consumed had I not offered my assistance."

"Wasn't my fault!" Uthug shouted before hefting the musket in his hands "How was I supposed to know this damn thing could shoot?"

"You didn't see that human filth trying to fight the Diseased with it during the raid?" the berserker asked with a roll of his eyes "Your perception is astounding."

"Don't think I won't aim it at you," the hooded-Uruk grumbled, then nodded towards something behind him "or maybe at that 'precious cargo' of yours."

"Or maybe I break both your arms if you tried."

"Fellas fellas please!" Zog said as he gestured for them to calm down "How 'bout a song? When me old gang used to get antsy, a good ol' song always seemed to bring up the morale. We's gonna need it for the rest of the trip guys."

"Are you seri-"

"I think that is an excellent idea." Tuka interrupted Uthug, gesturing towards the Shield-barer as the warrior groaned. Zog brightened at that, turning towards his captive "Another song! Ain't that a treat?"

Without waiting for her mumbled reply, Zog cleared his throat "Now this one's about a big 'un that we all probably know by now."

Traveling the lands with a large smile,
an Uruk who seemed to travel miles.

Unknown the number of places he's been,
Uruks paid plenty for what he has seen.

With a large number of friends to his name,
his social prowess was greatly untamed.

The need to greet everything he could see,
had him face great dangers he'd often flee.

He was far quicker than one would expect,
stealthy was the one labeled the defect.

Yes, his kin would never see eye-to-eye,
with the Uruk, no matter what he'd try.

But with the strength of one with his great size,
he'd boundlessly search for his greatest prize.

"What was it: those friends? escape from his past?"
No, this Uruk sought power which would last.

---

AN: Well, this got out far earlier than I expected, and with an even higher word count than the last chapter. I'm quite certain its because I got a few portions done while working on the last chapter, so I'm pretty sure nearly 15.5k words a week isn't going to be a common occurrence. Anyway, since there's not much for the AN here I suppose I'll respond to the guest reviews here.

Starting with the Guests who posted on October 10th and November 1st, since their questions are similar in that they ask about things which may happen in the future. I've taken all those concerns into consideration back when I was first typing up chapter one, so I can say with absolute certainty that they will be resolved in future chapters.

Then there's the Guest who posted on November 14th, I'd like to quickly thank you for enjoying the story so far, who asked whether or not the Ranger will make an appearance. The answer is simply no, I didn't have a problem with Shadow of Mordor's main character like many others have, for often times understandable reasons. However, I don't see him being able to fit well in the kind of story I'm planning. But that doesn't mean that some of the Uruks won't remember some of his actions from the game, so they may mention him from time to time in relevant situations.

The other review was a helpful bit of criticism from ROG41 who I'm grateful to for pointing out some of my flaws which I have now taken into consideration, but other than that it seems this is just about wrapped up.

Anyway, hope you enjoy, any and all criticisms positive or negative are welcomed in full so leave a review if you are so inclined to do.

Next Chapter: The Prowlers