Within the kingdom of Mistral, a horde formed.

Ursa, Boarbatusks, Beowolves, a pair of Deathstalkers, and even a towering Goliath. All gathered together in one large group, their white armor contrasting against their black fur and skin, the sound of their restlessness echoing, giving warning of the danger gathered.

To say this sort of event was unusual was an understatement. The only time that the Grimm gathered in groups such as this was when there was a large source of negativity to draw them in. Typically, when this happened, a massacre would soon follow.

It's for these reasons that the Kingdoms of Revenant put great pains into tracking congregations such as these. With enough advanced preparation, even a group such as this could be neutralized through Hunters, copious use of artillery strikes, and Bullheads.

But that sort of thing required time to put together.

A fair distance away from the horde within a copse of trees a small commotion took place.

In the copse of trees

Raven Branwen, estranged wife of Taiyang Xiao Long, former leader of one of the strongest teams to come out of Beacon, and currently leader and strongest warrior of the group of bandits known as the Branwen Tribe.

Currently, she was glaring at the corpses of several birds, their feathers still drifting to the ground.

The ability to turn into a corvid, She griped in her head as she resisted the urge to burn the bodies. Oh, it's great for stealth, convenient for traveling, and you can FLY. Nobody ever mentioned all the birds that would see me as prime 'mate' material!

Not that she could blame them, as she was obviously the best choice. But this sort of thing happened EVERY. YEAR!

Pulling in her frustration, she turned to the horde and observed them carefully. They were too close to where the tribe was currently located for comfort's sake, and as such the tribe was in the process of making preparations to relocate. The horde wasn't large enough to threaten them, but she was wary of any unusual Grimm activity. Unlike the Kingdoms, she was aware of Salem. Knowing that there was somebody behind the Grimm that could direct and lead them made them infinitely more dangerous, and she would not be caught in such a trap.

While some might find it unusual for the leader of the tribe to perform the task of observing the enemy, she was rather uniquely suited for this task. Her Semblance would allow her to instantly teleport back to the tribe should the Grimm make their move, and she was skilled enough in stealth to avoid detection.

That, and she hoped that this would distract her from the frustrations that plagued her as of late, and she found herself cursing an annoyingly observant blonde archer staying with Taiyang and the girls.

She had been surprised when she found out that a Faunus was staying with her former family, and had initially been suspicious. After an extended amount of time spying on her, she was quick to see that Atalanta absolutely adored the girls. But more than that, from what she saw as she trained with the girls, she was strong. Extremely so.

So when the Faunus woman had somehow realized that Raven had been spying on them and had forced a confrontation between them without the girls present, she had made the offer of joining her and her tribe.

She thought she was getting somewhere at first as well, as the other seemed to have similar ideas regarding strength as she did. Having no idea of who Ozpin was was an additional mark in her favor.

The discussion had turned to Ruby and Yang however, and when the invitation was extended she had vehemently refused. During the following discussion Atalanta discovered Raven's current status with her ex-husband and Yang.

She had never seen somebody's facial expression change to hatred as fast Atalanta's did right then.

The discussion only devolved from there. While Raven wasn't worried about losing to the Faunus, she saw no benefit in actually fighting. As such, she simply left.

Though there was one moment that put her on edge and made her suspicious. In her rage, Atalanta had appeared to grab something, her aura turning a dark purple… Honestly, it almost felt like a Grimm itself.

The feeling lasted only for a second however before she apparently changed her mind, and Atalanta had afterwards declared that she would not abandon the children as Raven did, had even sworn that she would ensure that they would surpass all Raven's Tribe.

That was a month ago.

While she wasn't worried about Atalanta being a threat to the girls considering how she acted towards them, that aura she had released made her paranoid. For that reason, the next time that she had seen her foolish brother she might have implied that the Faunus was a danger to Yang and Ruby.

As overprotective as he was, she was confident he would do something about it.

It was due to this that she discovered that Atalanta had been performing a rather successful campaign against all birds within a mile radius of the cabin. While he didn't suffer anything more than a broken wing, Raven dearly wished she could have been there to see that failure for herself.

Not that she needed more evidence that her brother was a fool, but it was something that brought amusement into her life.

Regardless, she was unable to observe her family like she used to, which caused her much frustration. She was hoping that by getting out and doing something it would relieve some of the stress that had been building up.

Her thoughts were cut short as she saw a figure walk out of the woods and start heading towards the horde.

At first she thought that he was one of Salem's tools - the way he was walking towards the group of snarling monsters without fear led to that theory rather handily. This is why she was surprised to see the whole horde focus on the lone man and snarl, hackles rising and bestial roars echoing.

The man wasn't scared of them, but they were clearly hostile towards him. A moron then. Heaven knows there were enough of them in the world.

Despite her judgement, Raven felt her eyes narrow as she stared at the scene. Something was off. She was too far away to see many details of the man, but the movements he made were confident. Two swords in his hands, she couldn't tell many details about them, but he wielded the large weapons without any awkwardness.

The air seemed to shake with anticipation, and Raven blinked in confusion as despite what her brain was telling her, her instincts were practically screaming that something was about to happen.

Leaning forward, Raven watched the scene intently.

Within the horde

The man walked out from the tree line, and Alpha immediately leaped to attention, the action alerting every other Grimm in the area as they focused on the monster in human skin.

The blasted nightmare of a Huntsman had followed him relentlessly, and after the incident with the Seer, Alpha had come to the realization that simply running away was not going to work. The man was following him despite his employing every trick he knew, and every trick that he made up.

Admittedly, avoiding long term hunts wasn't something that he nor his pack had ever experienced, but he'd have thought that the man would lose interest at some point! He certainly had no issues with taking detours to wipe out other Beowulf packs.

So if running wasn't an option, then he'd have to fight.

Grimm, unlike other animals, were immortal. The longer they lived, the more they learned. The more they learned, the stronger they became, eventually becoming advanced versions of their species.

Beowolves to Alpha Beowolves, Ursa Minor to Ursa Major. These Grimm were far more dangerous than their younger kin, as they were capable of strategy and trickery. Many Huntsmen had been led into a trap, thinking they were dealing with mere animals.

Regular Grimm could sense this of course, and while these older Grimm tended to gather together it wasn't unusual for one such to be seen leading a group of their less experienced siblings, the instincts of the smaller Grimm naturally submitting to the authority of the stronger.

Recruiting the Beowolf packs had been easy, as he used his authority as an Alpha Beowolf to gather them. Many were even other Alpha's, if younger and not as intelligent as himself.

The Ursa and Boarbatusks were harder. Whereas an Elder Grimm could command all Grimm lesser than it, an Alpha usually only had authority within his own species. An Elder Grimm was rare though, and they rarely gathered a horde together unless it was at the order of the Goddess.

Instead, as far out as they were from settlements and negativity, most Grimm became lethargic until a sufficient source of negative energy came by. It was due to this lethargy that he was able to cajole those of that species that he found.

The Deathstalkers and Goliath were a stroke of luck. The hunter had actually intruded upon the Scorpion-like Grimm's lair and had killed one of the younger ones before continuing his hunt. Enraged, the Deathstalkers attempted to give chase. While it had taken a bit to get his point across, they eventually joined this small horde.

A Goliath, the hulking behemoth several stories tall, had been curious. The elephant-like Grimm were the oldest and most patient of the Grimm, second only to the Elder Grimm themselves. They never attacked unless provoked, and simply stalked along the perimeters of the various kingdoms, waiting for the order of the Goddess. Upon seeing the group, one had decided to join.

It was a fairly large horde, if lacking in many of the Alpha species. Not as large as what an Elder Grimm could gather, but still much more than what a simple Alpha had ever needed to attempt. Alpha worried that the Goddess might be upset at him for his actions, seeing as how she usually restrained the Elders from creating hordes themselves most of the time, and he hoped that she understood.

Seeing the Huntsman in front of him now caused the stump of his arm to itch, and he growled out for the Beowolves to flank and attack from the sides, while the Boarbatusks and Ursa simply prepared to charge. The Goliath and Deathstalkers brought up the rear.

This was it. They had numbers on their side, as well as powerful Grimm! The scourge that had been hunting him and his kin was undeniably strong, and even now bared his teeth at them in amusement, but there was no way that he could destroy this many!

…

And yet, if that were the case, why was he still feeling this new emotion of dread?

With Beowulf

Beowulf smiled in anticipation at the sight in front of him. The cowardly name-stealers had finally gotten tired of shaming his name further and had gathered themselves together for him. How thoughtful.

Oh, and there were a bunch of other monsters as well that he should probably kill. Well, they'd just have to wait their turn.

He was becoming tired of chasing after the original name-thief. He had wounded it early on, and without its pack he figured it would be easy pickings. No need to waste energy, the beast would wear itself out eventually.

But then it didn't.

However, before he decided to take things more seriously, he realized that the original was showing it's intelligence once more by attempting to distract him, going through packs of similar thieves.

It was a rather transparent attempt of distraction. It was for this reason that he couldn't help but laugh considering how effective it was. In the end, he decided to let it be. If the original was going to keep showing him where others were, then he could find it in his heart to spare him. For a time at least.

Some of the larger beasts roared and charged, the earth shaking beneath their weight. Ursa and… Boarbatusks? He scoffed as he readied Naegling.

The creatures thundered closer and Beowulf took a deep breath as he focused himself.

Though his main purpose these last couple months had been in the eradication of those that sullied his name, he would have hunted the blackened creatures anyways. It was part of who he was.

He was a warrior, a man of Geat, who traveled far and wide across the land.

He was a hunter who killed monsters of the land for the simple reason that they were a danger to his people.

He was a reluctant king. Despite not wanting the burden of kingship, he took it and the duties it entailed.

Despite being in his 70's, it was he that was the only one willing to take on the dragon threatening his lands. And. He. Beat. It.

True, it killed him as well, but that was besides the point.

Ultimately though, he was a Hero.

And these cretins were a danger to the humanity of this land that needed to be removed.

Of heroes then living. He was the stoutest and strongest, sturdy and noble.

Naegling, the Iron-Hammer Snake. A clunky name, matching it's unwieldy nature. More akin to a club, this was a sword whose sole purpose was of smashing, no cutting abilities of its own. Though less famous than his other sword, it made up for it's deficiencies in power.

He raised it high, and for an instant the cracks in the weapon were illuminated with a crimson glow, a core a royal blue, and slammed it onto the ground with all his strength, the ground buckling and cracking under the strain.

Stone turned loose as cracks spread, so focused were the Boarbatusks in their charge and target that they failed to realize the change happening in front of them.

Armored bodies ran on now unsteady ground, their feet slipping and buckling. The speed of their charge and the weight of their own bodies working against them as they crashed into the ground and each other amongst squeals of confusion.

Hrunting, the Hound of the Red Plains. In Beowulf's other hand, he wielded the sword that tracked Grendel. Though it's true strength lay in its ability to sniff out it's prey, it was still a magical sword - A Beast Slaying sword in the hands of a Beast an instant, Beowulf was in the midst of the downed boars, sword slicing through Grimm armour as if it wasn't there.

The name-thieves then reached him, lunging and snarling desperately at the source of fear that many had felt, pushing their panic back and letting themselves fall into bloodlust.

With practiced movements, he leaped backwards, maneuvering around the corpses of the decaying boars to provide a bit of cover as he evaded the teeth. Just as he had done so, the Ursa made their presence known.

He disappeared from view as multiple types of Grimm overwhelmed him with numbers, biting and scratching at what they could. And yet the grin never left his face, even as blood trickled down his face and body.

To those Grimm that were closest to him, the stirrings of unease came as that same grin grew more vicious.

Though he retained his mental faculties, Beowulf fell under the Berserker class. While he was a good king, a Hero was summoned in the golden years of his life, and it was at that time in his life that it could be safely said that he was one that thrived on battle.

The wise amongst the Geats knew of his skill and valour, his strength that of thirty men, for they had seen him come back from battle stained in the blood of his enemies.

A swing of Naegling was all that was needed to give him some breathing room, breaking bones and shattering armor. Hrunting slashed and pierced, bypassing the armor and going straight for the throats. The more Grimm that were slain, the greater red seemed to permeate from both of the demonic weapons.

The Grimm were unused to working together to use their numbers to take down one person, and it showed in their attacks. Ursa disregarded the downed Boarbatusks and trampled over them in their attempt to get to the man, and while the Beawolves could work together decently well they were unused to working with the bear-like Ursa.

Beowulf used this to his advantage, managing to keep from being overwhelmed as he laughed in enjoyment.

The thundering of the ground was the only warning he got, and with instincts blaring at him he kicked out at the ground, launching himself away just as the Goliath rammed the ground with its tusks, tossing aside name-thieves, Ursa, and Boarbatusk aside with contemptuous ease. It glared at Beowulf with baleful red eyes and trumpeted loudly at him before charging once more.

He smirked at it back, and charged it.

It was he who destroyed the water monsters, grinding them to bits before the rising tide. He who killed the family of giants, enduring pain throughout the night to do so. Oh creature of Darkness, why do you think you are an exception?

He ran quickly to the multi-story tall Grimm, dashing under it's foot just before it hit the ground and pointed Hrunting up while bracing himself.

The clawed foot slammed down, unintentionally driving the sword into the center with a flash of red light.

PAIN

The Goliath screamed, immediately pushing itself on its hind legs in an attempt to get away from the pain, but it kept burning. It had been many, many years since it had last felt pain on this level, and even then it doubted that it had felt anything on this level of encompassing.

Beowulf smirked as he left Hrunting to be stuck within the foot. He wasn't merely a brute, and he had fought giant creatures before. Creatures of such size needed to be very careful of their feet. All of that weight put onto four relatively small areas, it made them extremely vulnerable. Damage the feet, and you remove the threat.

Ignoring the pained Grimm, he held Naegling with both hands as he faced the pair of large scorpion Grimm that were now bearing down on him. Allowing a shudder of revulsion to go through him at the sight of the arachnids, he got into a stance and waited.

He didn't need to wait long, and soon the two were right there, stabbing at him with poison practically dripping from their stingers. Shifting, he quickly leapt on top of one, to their great surprise. Adjusting his stance on the slick white armor, he slammed his feet down hard right next to its eyes.

"Creatures like you," He grunted balefully, "Belong only in one place. Under my heel!"

He brought Naegling down right between its eight eyes, crunching through the armor. Almost instantly he shifted as the other stabbed right where he was. Grabbing a hold of the stinger, he allowed it to lift himself into the air. Getting a better grasp of the stinger, he twisted, breaking it off from the rest of the tail even as the scorpion shrieked. Letting himself fall, he drove the stinger into one of its eight eyes.

Leaping off the Deathstalker while it was in the middle of its death throes, Beowulf looked around carefully before relaxing, ignoring the blood dripping from his new wounds as he stretched. The rest of the horde were either dead or had run away (or in the case of the Goliath, trying desperately to get the burning sword out of its foot) and the field was now filled with the bodies of the Grimm that were decaying rapidly. It had been a while since he had had a fight that had given him a workout.

He paused for a moment as he thought back briefly, and then cursed.

He didn't have any memory of killing the original name-thief. He'd have to get Hrunting back to be sure, but… It looked like the coward had run off once again.

He had been fine with it at first, as the original kept leading him towards other name-thieves, but his patience was growing very thin in regards to the wolf Grimm and its antics.

He readied Naegling as he looked at the elephant Grimm, contemplating. Sure, it was in pain and not paying attention to him, but it was far from dying. So how best to kill it with just a club…

Though Grendel feared not the men of Danes, he learned to fear a man of Geat. So too would these creatures learn to fear the last of the Geats.

Raven's perspective

Raven found herself looking at the man with much greater interest than she had before.

Sure, it had been a small horde, and defeating such a group was within her own capabilities if she so desired, but it still showed how strong he was.

And that aura he emanated… To be more precise, the two separate auras she felt in his swords. That was unusual.

A person could shift and redirect their aura - possibly to provide greater protection in a certain area, or to coat their weapons for an even greater blow. Doing so however was oftentimes considered foolhardy, as it left the body unprotected. Seeing as how he was bleeding heavily from his wounds, he must have done this. But why was there the feeling of two separate auras?

Her mind flashed back to her confrontation with Atalanta, and the different aura she had for an instant.

Was it connected?

Regardless, he was obviously not connected to Salem, and he had proven that he was very strong, thus making her very interested. Perhaps he would be more amenable to joining the tribe.

Changing into her bird form, she decided she'd spy on him and observe him before making an offer. Perhaps she would learn more about his dual aura.

Across the field

Hidden, with Scrolls pointed towards where the former horde was, two boys lay crouched.

"Dude, that was awesome!" Sun Wukong whispered excitedly to his friend, Neptune Vasilias.

"Um, I think you mean terrifying, don't you?" He replied back, looking at Sun incredulously. "And why are we whispering? That guy is the only one left alive!" He huffed, "And why did you even want to travel all the way out here anyways?! That horde could have sensed us!"

Sun shrugged, "I can't tell if he's a 'chill' type of awesome, or a 'dangerous' type of awesome," he admitted. "And besides, with us applying to Haven soon, I figured that having some bro time would be good, you know? What better way to do that than some camping?"

He nudged his friend with a smirk, "Don't worry, if I see any girls I'll give you a warning so you can freshen up for them."

Neptune huffed as he looked down at his dirtied clothes. In truth, he normally wouldn't be opposed to camping, and this area was normally pretty safe, even if it was much farther out than usual. Sure, they weren't huntsmen, but neither he nor Sun were slouches in combat. His only problem with all of it was that Sun had decided on this last minute, begging him to go with. And he had a decent idea of why that was.

"Just hanging out, huh?" He asked with his own smirk, "Are you sure this isn't your way of getting away from your sister?"

The effect was instant, Sun immediately flinched and looked over his shoulder in a paranoid fashion, "I've told you, that thing isn't my sister!" He hissed at Neptune, who shook his head.

"I don't know, your parents signed the papers and everything, didn't they? That sounds pretty official to me." He replied.

Sun groaned, "Nooo, I told you, SHE was definitely a HE!" He protested weakly, looking beyond tired at what was clearly something he had stated many times. "When I first met him, he said HIS name was Sun Wukong! I mean, I thought he was just playing some sort of weird joke or something, but when I said I was Sun Wukong, he just…" He struggled with the words and Neptune sighed.

"He just went poof and became a girl?" He finished tiredly, having heard Sun state this several times already.

"Yes!" He exclaimed, "It's gotta be a Semblance, right?"

"Dude…" Neptune bit his lip, "I mean, if it's a trick, then it's a pretty crazy trick, to be able to fool your mom, you know? And why would they do it?"

"I don't know," the monkey Faunus groaned, "It's been a couple months and all he does is smirk at me! He's doing it to make fun of me, I just know it!"

Neptune sighed as he tried to calm his friend down. He looked down at the field again, and the man was no longer visible. Hopefully he went to get his wounds checked, because some of those looked pretty bad.

"What should we do with the recordings?" He asked, snapping Sun out of his morose thoughts.

Sun regained his smirk, "Dude, we're totally posting it!" He exclaimed excitedly, "That fight was epic! And it'll do people good to see a Huntsman kicking Grimm butt like that." He thought about it for a bit, "And just think of all the views that we'll get with something like that," He added, "The quality isn't great at our distance, but it'll still be sweet!"

Neptune stifled a chuckle at the change in his friend, being careful not to mention that it wouldn't be safe for them to camp here overnight, so they'd have to go back to town. He didn't get why Sun was so against Tsun, but he would do his part in being a good friend.

Better not mention that Tsun had been talking to him about maybe becoming a Huntress. While Neptune loved the idea, he knew that Sun would be horrified with such a prospect. Why worry him with something that might not come about?

Alpha's perspective

Alpha ran. Desperate and afraid.

The plan failed. It had failed, and he was now back to running.

What should he do? What COULD he do? Running was ineffective, fighting was pointless… Hiding? Where could he hide? Equally pointless as everything else!

He ran, forgoing all thought and just focused on running.

As he did this, he didn't realize the shift in his body as more armour grew from his skin, his body becoming larger and the stump of his arm itching furiously as it slowly started to reform.

In response to the extended exposure to fear, his body started changing.

Author's notes

"Fear is necessary for evolution. The fear that one could be destroyed at any moment."

-Sosuke Aizen.

Well, another chapter done. This is the first time I've tried doing an extended fighting scene, so please let me know how I did with it.

I've mentioned it before, but the Heroes summoned will be approximately of Huntsman strength. They are definitely not running at full capacity. However, Beowulf has an advantage against Grimm because his legends declare him as a Beast Hunter, and he wields swords known for slaying beasts.

For the next chapter, who would you guys like me to write about next? I'd like to do one of the RWBY or JNPR team members, and would like you guys to choose.

I'd also like to thank everybody for favoriting and commenting. I really enjoy reading people's thoughts on what I am writing, and do enjoy finding ways on how I can improve.

And lastly, I'd like to thank my brother, Autumnstar, and sisters, Bluefires and CaptainDarkElf, for beta reading this chapter for me, and for the suggestions they gave.