I do not own RWBY or any of the characters.

Ghast

Fox glanced to the side, seeing Yang staring at Blake. Blake noticed too, also glancing over. Yang jumped, realizing she had been caught and instantly began to get nervous.

"Sorry!" Yang said. "Just not...used to the new hair yet."

"Is it...bad?" Blake blushed, ears folding down. "Fox wouldn't tell me it is even if I was bald."

"No, no!" Yang said hurriedly. "It's good! Great even!"

Fox sighed, looking back at the two Ace Ops with them, Marrow, a dog Faunus with a boomerang that transformed into a gun, and Harriet, the girl with the white hair on top and brown on the sides and the gauntlet-type weapons attached to a pack on her back. Marrow was complaining about babysitting them and Harriet responded by making a joke about the Ace Ops babysitting Marrow.

"Hey, you alright?" Blake asked.

"Yeah," Fox nodded.

"Is it just me, or is Yang acting weird?" Blake asked.

"She's just trying to figure out how to act around you now that she's falling for you," Fox said, walking toward the min, Blake stopping and staring at him before following.

"Fox, I'm being serious!" Blake said once she had caught up.

"So am I," Fox said. "Even when I first met you guys at Beacon, I thought maybe she was attracted to you. And now, it looks like everything that's happened has finally pushed her over the edge into falling in love with you."

"What should I do?" Blake asked.

"Whatever you want," Fox said. "He's your girlfriend."

Blake looked over at him in surprise, only to see the shit-eating grin on his face and groan, rolling her eyes before punching him in the shoulder. "You're such an ass sometimes."

Fox chuckled. "I'm serious about her falling for you, though. And about what to do about it being your choice."

"What do you think I should do?" Blake asked.

"As your boyfriend, turn her down gently," Fox said. "As a male, invite her over sometime."

Blake rolled her eyes. "Pervert."

Fox shrugged. "You say that like you didn't already know."

Blake smiled, slipping her hand into his. "Well, no matter what I choose, it's definitely not going to involve me dumping you."

Fox smiled, kissing her for a moment before continuing. They joined the others at the main entrance. They walked through the ice tunnels heading toward the mine for several minutes, falling back from the Ace Ops in order to discuss what to do about their information about Salem.

"We're really not going to tell Ironwood what happened to Ozpin?" Yang asked. "What we know about Jinn? What we know about Salem?"

"We are," Ruby said, then hesitated. "We will. But you saw the way Atlas looked when we got there."

"Ironwood is prone to overreaction, and he's too stubborn to listen to reason," Fox said. "Even at Beacon, Ironwood was completely convinced that he was correct, and that anything he did was the right move. Right up until it all fell apart. His entire plan to tell the world about Salem is a terrible idea, not only because she can't be killed, but also because it's going to do Salem's job for her. The entire world will be divided instantly, and then the Grimm will slaughter us."

"That's an awfully dark prediction," Weiss said. "Maybe try having a little more faith."

"Do you disagree?" Fox asked. "How many licensed Huntsmen and Huntresses do you think there are currently active? Against how many Grimm?"

"Plus there are those other ones," Blake said.

Fox nodded. "Friends from my former life. Turned into Grimm Generals."

"Well, maybe we won't be slaughtered," Weiss said. "Besides, that's not the point of this conversation."

"For right now, we need to keep the information to ourselves," Ruby said finally. "At least until we know we can trust Ironwood."

"Okay," Yang nodded. "If you think that's best. But...how did Oscar feel about that?"

"Not great," Ruby said. "He thought it was the same thing Ozpin did to us. But...But we will tell Ironwood. When the time is right."

They all nodded and fell silent as they caught up with Marrow and Harriet. Before them, there was a massive wall of debris, the result of a cave-in. Blake looked around at the mine, her ears folding forward as she seemed to close in on herself.

"Are you okay?" Fox asked, Yang looking over at Blake worriedly.

"I just realized where we are," Blake said. "This mine was closed after a disaster."

"Ilia," Fox realized, Blake nodding.

"I remember this disaster," Weiss said. "Or rather, I remember how furious it made my father." She sighed, walking over to them. "I wish I could take back the years of sadness my family's caused the Faunus and all of my complacency in it."

Blake rested a hand on Weiss's shoulder, smiling.

"This society is set up for Faunus to be at the bottom, and humans are willing participants," Marrow said, walking over. "They benefit from doing nothing to help us. There are still those who actively abuse us."

Fox's hand rose to his ears and his tail pressed tight to his leg, as he used to keep it to hide it in his pants.

"Anyway," Marrow said, smiling. "I didn't come over here looking to solve systemic societal issues. Harriet found a gap in the rubble we think one of you could fit through. I dealy someone with a knack for seeing in the dark?" He looked to Blake.

"Why don't you go then, hotshot?" Fox asked. "You're a Faunus too."

"I figured you guys would like to show your skills off," Marrow shrugged.

Fox rolled his eyes. "So you're scared, then. Whatever. Let's go Blake."

"Right," Blake nodded, following him to the gap.

Despite what Marrow had said about the gap only being big enough to fit someone through, it was actually a little more than shoulder-width apart, so Blake and Fox had no trouble whatsoever passing through it.

"Alright Blake, Fox, any dust in the immediate area?" Marrow asked.

"Mine carts, debris," Blake said. "No dust through."

"Great," Marrow said. "Then it should be safe to blast our way through."

"Okay," Blake said. "Heading-"

A shadow flashed out from behind a mine cart, slashing at the pair of them. Blake shouted in surprise, flipping backward while Fox blocked the slash with his sword, the claws shrieking as they scraped across it. Then, the Ghast shot down from above, swiping at Fox, who leapt back beside Blake, who opened fire at the two Grimm, only for both to vanish just before the wall of debris exploded inward, the others running through. Just as they arrived, centipedes began to burst out of the ground and walls around them.

"What happened?" Weiss asked.

"The target and an old friend both came to greet us," Fox said, switching to his bow form and pulling it back. "Shall we?"

"Oh yeah," Ruby smiled.

Fox released his arrow, sending it drilling through two of the centipedes before they all charged. Blake slashed a pair of centipedes and one of them shot toward her, only for Fox to split it in half the long way, killing it. Two more fell at them from above and Yang stepped in front of them, blasting both and killing them. Weiss passed them killing two more before Ruby slashed one of them. However, the head was still alive as it fell, so Ruby pressed a switch, the head of her scythe spinning, before she fired the scythe's gun, sending the scythe flipping up over her, finishing the Grimm. Then, Marrow jumped over her, shooting two before hurling his boomerang and making it slam one into the ground before catching it and slamming the bladed end down on one of them. Two more spiraled together toward him only for him to smirk.

"Stay," he said, snapping his fingers.

Instantly, the two Grimm slowed to almost a complete stop and Harriet shot forward, electricity streaming around her as she moved at a speed that rivalled Ruby's own Semblance. Then, she grabbed the two centipedes with her gauntlets active and whipped them onto the ground, both hitting with enough force to splatter, both dying.

"This is Bravo, we've encountered the target but it escaped," Harriet said. "Engaging sentinels."

"All squads be advised," Fox said into his own communicator. "The Ghast is not alone. There's a second Grimm with it, Wendigo. It's humanoid with a pair of antlers, can bcome a shadow, and is very dangerous. Do not engage. That includes you, Qrow."

"What the hell is a Wendigo?" Qrow asked.

"Her moniker," Fox said. "I'll explain later."

He disconnected, slashing a pair of centipedes heading for him just as Blake flipped over him, slashing one behind him.

"Thanks," Fox said.

"Last one," Weiss said.

"I got it!" Ruby said, only for Harriet to streak past her and drill her fist through the Grimm. "Whoa! Your Semblance makes you superfast! Just like me!"

"Very cool," Harriet smirked. "Although, judging by your reaction time, I'd say I'm a little faster."

"This is Alpha!" the leader of the Ace Ops, Clover, who had a fishing rod as a weapon, for whatever reason, said suddenly. "We've engaged the target! All squads converge on our location!"

Everyone else began to leave, only for Fox to remain motionless. Blake skidded to a stop almost immediately.

"Fox?" Blake asked.

"Yeah," Fox said. "Sorry. I was just thinking about how to deal with Wendigo."

He caught up to Blake and they ran after the others. They followed them quickly, reading the heart of the mine just as Jaune's team ran in as well. However, the Ghast wasn't present. Wendigo was, though. She stood in the center of the chamber, crouched low with her left hand on the ground, her right raised slightly, and her entire body shrouded in darkness, darkness curling off of her like smoke, and her eye shining white from inside. Aside from her eyes, the only other distinguishing feature she had were her deer-like antlers, and her claws. Her fingers were entirely claws, sharpened both inside and out, and were about six inches long. Her toes were also sharpened, but she only used them for climbing, except in drastic situations. At least, when she was still a living Faunus.

"Wendigo?" Blake asked.

"Yeah," Fox nodded. "A deer Faunus that was so shy and afraid of attention that when her Semblance developed, it developed to allow her to hide among the shadows by becoming one herself. As a shadow, she could also control certain things about her body, such as making her fingers and toes into claws."

"Are we sure she's a Grimm then?" Blake asked. "And not just using her Semblance?"

"I'm sure," Fox said, stepping forward and drawing his sword. Before he could attack, however, he stopped, looking up. "Shit. I found the Ghast."

Everyone looked up at the cavern's ceiling. The Ghast was in the ice in the center of the roof of the cave, pulling Dust into its ice body. Fox swore. He couldn't shoot it.

"That thing's a bomb," Fox growled.

"We'll handle the Ghast," the Ace Ops said. "You handle the Wendigo."

Fox nodded, turning back to Wendigo, who watched him for a moment before extending her right hand, pointing at him.

"He comes," Wendigo hissed. "The Eclipse will blacken the sky."

Fox felt his blood run cold, swallowing hard. Then, Wendigo dropped into the floor, becoming a round spot of darkness before vanishing.

"What did she mean?" Blake asked. "Fox?"

"Later," Fox said, turning to the Ghast, watching the Ace Ops work.

They weren't bad. Their teamwork was impressive and they were able to fight the Ghast at the same time as catch the massive chunks of Dust that got knocked free from it each time. Finally, Clover used his fishing rod to yank the Ghast out of its possessed body and Harriet killed it with a single punch to the head. Then, they went to work catching all of the dust released from the body as it crumbled. However, as Harriet moved to catch the last piece, moving just a second too slow, Ruby shot past, catching it at the last second as a red spiral, then stopped spinning and landed on the ground, skidding to a stop against the wall.

"That was easy," Blake said.

"They're pretty good," Fox nodded.

"Now what did Wendigo mean?" Blake asked.

"She was talking about another of my former comrades," Fox said. "Arguably the most dangerous. Nero Shade, ancestor of the founder of Shade Academy. His Moniker was the Moon Wraith."

"Why?" Blake asked.

Fox sighed. "Wait until we get back to Atlas. I'll tell everyone about all of the Generals there."

Blake nodded and they walked over to join the others, who were busy congratulating each other on completing the mission.

"You're sure the Wendigo's gone?" Clover asked Fox as they reached them.

"For now," Fox said. "She'll be back."

"So this area's not safe?" Clover asked.

"No, no," Fox said. "You misunderstand. She'll be back for me."

Clover nodded and turned back to the others. Fox sighed. He really hoped he was wrong.

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