Whew, that one took longer than I thought it would be. Sorry about that. Thanks again for over 200 views, and I hope you enjoy this one.

Chapter 3: Introductions

"….Yes…"

With that single utterance everyone froze with shock including the Beowulf before them. The only exception being Ruby grinning that she was right.

Both sides seemed to just stand there, neither sure as to how to continue. Time seemed to pass slowly as they were waiting for someone to say something or anything at all.

"Wait so you're not really a creature of Grimm?" Weiss asked.

"Well it's actually a little more complicated than that, but basically yes." The Beowulf before them responded in a calm monotone manner.

"What does it matter he tried to kill us, he hurt Yatsuhashi and poisoned everyone else!" Coco yelled recovering from the initial shock of the situation. Anyone could see Coco's eyes were on the verge of bursting into flames from her sheer anger. "Even if he is not a Grimm, he still needs to have his ass kicked!" she yelled, advancing quickly.

"WAIT!" Ruby said moving to intercept Coco. "We need to at least hear his side of the story." The scythe wielder said raising her hands in defense, just in case.

"You want to let him explain himself! HE TRIED TO KILL US!" Coco screamed.

"uhm.." the Beowulf interrupted drawing the attention of the group. "First I would like to note that your friends lying over there are not exactly poisoned. Well to be more accurate they are non-lethally poisoned."

"What?" Coco said looking at him confused as did many of the others.

"What they inhaled was a powdered mix from some of the local mushrooms I released from a tree above you. Which, when inhaled or ingested, will cause blurry vision, loss of balance, confusion, the inability to manifest one's aura or semblance, and loss of consciousness. And while in this environment that can get you killed, but by itself it is not fatal." He explained.

"So they're not going to die, right?" Ruby asked optimistically.

"Yes, and to comment on your tall friend over there, the mushroom powder have most likely already worn off. When I had slashed him his aura, though weakened, was still active and even after he collapsed he showed signs of his aura healing him." As everyone realized that there should have been a large pool of blood where Yatsuhashi was lying instead of the small one which was only just now showing. "So you only need to wake him up and he can use his aura to heal some of the damage. Additionally, I do not believe he received a sufficient dosage given his size, which is the most likely reason he could run carrying people before there were any visible effect." He explained, this time sounding more sympathetic.

Velvet already standing next to Yatsuhashi gave him a gentle nudge and was surprised when he began to stir.

"Vel…vet" He said like he was still tired after being woken-up from a nap.

"Listen Yatsuhashi I need you to activate your aura so I can patch you up." Velvet said in an almost nurse-like tone. Not one to complain Yatsuhashi complied and everyone took notice as the trickling blood that had been slowly leaking from his chest stopped. From their Velvet began to undress Yatsuhashi removing his armor and applying first aid from the kit that one of Ironwood's soldiers had been carrying. As Velvet was almost finished wrapping Yatsuhashi's wound with bandages she, and a few others, noticed that the purple marks on him were gradually shrinking and in some cases completely disappearing.

"I should probably mention that the more powerful an individual's aura the longer the poison will take to run through their system."

"But why did you attack us?" Jaune asked. Truthfully every one of them wanted to know the answer to this question.

"I should probably explain a few things before I answer your question." He stated, back in his previous monotone way of speaking. He cleared his throat and began "For the last ten years I have been trapped in this valley, unable to escape due to the surrounding Humbert Aconitum and the bedrock that forms a solid impenetrable bowl underneath the valley. As you may be aware Feign village has placed a bounty on my head as the, uncreatively named, Grimm Valley Beast. Alleging I am a dangerous monster even though they do not even need to come near the valley as I have no way of escape and thus pose no threat to them at all." Everyone now mentally questioning why they had not thought it was weird for anyone to put a bounty on a creature of Grimm, let alone one trapped in a specific location. "For the last ten years the only people who have stepped foot in this valley are those after the bounty on my head. As such I have had to attack anyone who walks into the valley that is skillful enough to survive this long in the valley despite my efforts."

"Efforts?" Weiss asked quizzically.

"When someone enters the valley I lore some of the local Grimm towards them." He explained.

"Wait so you're responsible for all of those Grimm attacks on our way here?" Yang asked showing some signs of anger.

"Only the first one, the rest were simply Grimm being… well Grimm." He responded. "Now if you do not mind I have a question for you." He said turning to Ruby who was turning around to meet his gaze. "How is it that you were able to determine that I was not just some rare variant of a Beowulf, but actually a sentient being?" He asked with everyone else leaning in to sedate their own curiosity.

"Well just a hunch I guess." The red hooded girl replied with her typical innocence. This of course warranted a number of confused stares from those around her and even the Beowulf standing in front of her.

"There has to be more to it than that?" The Grimm asked showing more emotion than previously.

"Well there was the whole 'your left eye changing color thing', but other than that I… I don't know just a feeling I guess."

Again this warranted confused and unsure looks from those around her. Except the one who asked her who began to chuckle.

"Heh hehe heheh ehehehe" He began to laugh changing the focal point of the confused stares to himself. "In all of my life I have never heard that one before." He said still chuckling.

"You are quit a unique one miss… miss… uh" He stopped "I'm sorry but I do not believe I've caught your name yet."

"Oh, my bad, I'm Ruby, this is my team: Weiss, Blake, Yang, and these guys are Coco, Velvet, Yatsuhashi, Jaune, Pyrrha, Ren, Nora, and Mercury." Ruby said gesturing toward each respective person.

"I see it's a pleasure to meet you a…" He said before suddenly stopping arching his head up and sniffing the air. "I'm afraid we will have to cut pleasantries short, a number of creatures of Grimm are coming towards us from the way you came. Your teammates are still under the effects of the poison, I suggest we carry as many as we can and run, I'll help." He said showing concern. Everyone knew this to be the best course of action as the entire group could be categorized as incapacitated, tired, or injured, none of which were the best condition to fight Grimm in.

"Ok you heard the man, grab as many people as you can and head towards the ship." Coco ordered finally regaining her typical confidence.

With that those that could move carried incapacitated running towards the Bullhead. Moving as fast as they could they made it to the Bullhead just as the Grimm began to come into sight. The still unconscious were secured to the seats at the back of the Bullhead and once the last person was on board Coco signaled the piolets to take off.

The Bullhead itself was much larger than the normal models and was equipped with garage door style side openings on each side that opened to an empty cabin for those ready to jump. This connected to an airplane-style cabin complete rows of seats that people still had plenty of room to walk in between the aisle and windows located toward the front of the Bullhead. It was also equipped with new state-of-the-art vertical take-off gear, a feature that quickly proved useful in this situation.

Once everyone was able to catch their breath the group noticed something they had in their attempt at fleeing momentarily forgot. Sitting next to Ruby in the seat closest to the window was the Beowulf they had been fighting with and then talking to earlier. He too seemed to be sobering up to the truth of the situation. That the creature of Grimm-like being that had only just earlier tried to kill them was now in a small confined space flying on a direct path towards the kingdom of Vale with them.

"Why did you sneak on to our ship?" Weiss asked with her usual commanding tone.

"First I would like to note I did not 'sneak on' I was merely securing one of your unconscious friends when the girl with the sunglasses and the beret signaled the take off. If anything I could argue that you kidnapped me." He replied with mild sarcasm.

"He has a point." Ruby pointed out, drawing a glare from Weiss.

"Well it doesn't matter to me, I am just happy to be out of that valley." The Beowulf commented leaning back putting his hands behind his head. "However I must ask where are you headed?"

"Beacon Academy in the Kingdom of Vale," Ruby responded.

"Ruby!" Snapped Weiss.

"What he asked." The redhead replied innocently putting up her arms in a shrugging motion.

"Well then, can I ask you to allow me to continue traveling with you until then? You see I have business I need to attend to in Vale and it just so happens it is not too far from Beacon Academy."

"What business to you have in Vale?" Blake asked betting Mercury and Weiss to the punch.

"Well, if her will was followed, I will be visiting my Mother's grave." He calmly responded.

"YOUR MOTHER?" a number of people exclaimed.

"You have a mother?" Coco more exclaimed then asked.

"Yes, most people do, remember I wasn't born looking like this." He calmly replied.

"Oh… I'm sorry to hear that." Blake apologized.

"It's ok, I've had ten years to come to terms with what happened and I just need to pay my final respects to put some of these feelings to rest."

"Wow, sounds like you have everything together." The Faunus girl commented.

"It wasn't always like that, I used to be just so angry that I almost became consumed by it, if not for my Grimm powers, literally, showing me what a monster it was turning me into I don't think I would be the person I am today."

"Waah" Cried someone from the back.

"What's a Beowulf doing here?" it was Neptune, he and his team mates seemed to have finally woken up.

"It's ok I am not going to harm you." The Beowulf said trying to calm them, but to no effect.

" A..A..A TALKING BEOWULF!?" His team exclaimed freaking out. Waking Ironwood's soldiers who also freaked out when he tried to calm them down and explain.

"Leave this to me,." Yang said with a wink as she rushed over and in one swoop slapped them all across the faces. "Now be quiet and let the man explain."

"Actually, he hasn't really explained anything yet." Penny interjected.

"Penny since when have you been awake?" Ruby asked.

"I've been awake since we took off, it just took me a while to regain motor function." Penny replied. "But that still doesn't change the fact we don't really know anything about him."

"Well, what would you like to know?" he asked.

"If you don't mind why or how did you end up in that valley, you said you were trapped in it for ten years, right?" Blake asked.

"Well my story begins in the village of Feign, well actually a little before that in the Kingdom of Vale. I was born to a team of an amazing huntsman and an astounding huntress. Both my mom and dad were huntsmen who would go on all kinds of missions around the kingdom. They meet after being paired together with each other on a team. My father was a Faunus and my mother was human. They told me that such couples weren't always accepted publically, but not to the point anyone really said anything about it. One day my parents went out on a mission while I was being babysat by a friend of my mom's, some idiot kids who thought they could wonder outside the kingdom without any weapons had gotten themselves stuck on top of ledge surrounded by Grimm. My dad died protecting them and while trying to save him my mom was critically injured. She saved the kids, but her career as a huntress was over. She eventually couldn't stand to be in Vale, too many memories with my dad I guess, so we moved to Feign village. She once told me that my dad was born in Feign, so she thought it would be a good place to start over. She used what savings she had to pack us up, move into a nice home and open up a flower shop around the corner. Apparently, she had always dreamt of owning a flower shop when she was younger due to her love of botany, still have no idea how she went from that to being a huntress, but that's life sometimes. Feign boasted how it was a picturesque place for humans and Faunus to live peacefully, but that isn't exactly true. While they don't have any real reported hate crimes, it's because they merely don't report them. The populous as a whole still hates each other, but pretend they live in peace in order to get people and businesses to come to the village allowing for a continual cash flow so they can afford huntsmen for the fall and winter months when the Humbert Aconitums are not in bloom. That's how the village has had so much "success" outside the kingdoms. The golden rule of Feign village is if you don't try to change the status quo everything's good, but try change anything, like say introducing a human-Faunus hybrid into the populous. Then they have a problem with you."

"So they called you names, big whoop." Cardin taunted, earning dirty looks from everyone listening.

"Oh yeah they did do that, in addition to cutting off one of my wolf ears and even trying to cut out my right eye!" he rebutted gesturing towards his clipped ear and the scar on his right eye. "The real kicker was the police wouldn't do anything and the local doctor refuse to treat the bleeding, crying six years old all of this happened to."

"THEY DID THAT TO YOU WHEN YOU WERE SIX?" the bulk of the group exclaimed, with the exception of team CRDL.

"I was culled by an older Faunus boy and not even a week later a few humans held me down saying wanted my ears to 'match', but I struggled and they ran off after accidently cutting my eye."

"Culled?" Ruby asked.

"Some Faunus hate humans so much that they hate the very thought of an interracial child. So in order to show that they are only half of a Faunus, they will go as far as cutting off an ear or an antler or cutting off half of their tail." Blake explained sharing a look with Velvet and Sun.

"That's horrible," Penny added putting her hands on her cheeks.

"Most of my early memories were of adults giving me dirty looks and telling their children not to go near me. Some of the parents even encouraged their kids to throw rocks at me and to call me names. Heh, one time they even tried to spread a rumor that I was the thief who stole from the teachers' break room in the school. Of course this was easily disproven by the fact I actually didn't even know the school had a break room let alone where it was and the fact that none of the teachers reported anything missing. Even still I was suspended and everyone in the village started calling me a thief. But through it all I can still look back and smile, a little, because I had my mom. She always stood up for me even when I wish she hadn't."

"If it was so bad why didn't you guys move?" Mercury asked.

"We had only lived in Feign for about a year and a half before I got trapped in that valley. About half way through that time frame we became aware of what Feign Village really was. My Mom wanted nothing more for us to leave once the villagers found out I was half-human and they started to treat me horribly. However, we used up almost all of our savings just getting there and getting everything set up. We didn't have the money to afford to move somewhere else, and my Mom didn't have any living relatives who we could live with so we were on our own. She did everything she could in order to save up enough so we could move and at least stay in a motel for a while. She did all she could, she even picked up two additional jobs washing laundry and cleaning houses, even went as far as to be an instructor in basic huntsmen training methods for those that wanted to become huntsmen. I can't even remember her once spending anything on herself, she would even sow her clothing back together when it ripped instead of buying a new shirt or whatever. The villagers who came into her store would make Frankenstein jokes about her clothing. She worked so hard and in one day I ruined everything."

"What do you mean?" Nora asked.

"The day I got trapped in the valley, the day before we were going to finally leave that horrible place, the local school bully called me out to fight in a secluded clearing near the edge of the village. Normally we weren't supposed to go there, it was the one section of the village that had had wild fire earlier that month and Grimm had been seen in the area. Looking back I should have just walked away, but I had reached my breaking point, I couldn't take 'just walking away' anymore, I knew the odds were I would never see him again, so I said I'd meet him there. It was supposed to be a one-on-one fight, but when he realized he couldn't beat me on his own his friends joined in. My mom had taught me a little about fighting and how to use my aura, just enough to defend myself if attacked, but it was still a nine or ten-on-one fight. They held me down and one of them yelled "Grab a rock", when I saw at least three of them heading towards me with rocks in their hands I honestly thought that was the end. That's when I heard it, the howl of a Beowulf, I had heard them all the time at night, but this was different for the first time I had seen one up close. Standing there looking at us with those piercing red eyes. We all ran for our lives, I was so busy with the Beowulf chasing us I didn't notice the bully running next to me take the rock he was still holding and bash me in the face with it."

"There I was an injured tired little kid pinned down by a Beowulf using what little strength I could muster to prevent it from taking a bite out of me. I don't really remember what exactly happened next, but I remember thinking that if the Beowulf wants to take a bite out of me then I'll do the same. That's how I discovered my semblance; consumption. "

"Huh?" Ruby responded looking confused.

"I can consume anything and temporarily integrate it into my biology."

"What?" Ruby asked scratching her head looking more confused.

"Say I ate a rock, I could for a short period of time turn my skin into stone or produce rocks from my body." He explained.

"Wow, that..is..soooo cooool!" Ruby said.

"…uh…Thank… you."

"So you look like a Beowulf because you bit one?" Pyrrah asked.

"Not exactly, you see with rocks or things like that the ability to imitate its properties eventually disappears after a while. With Grimm however, well not only does it not disappear, it eventually wants more. If I don't consume a creature of Grimm every so often I experience horrible… side effects."

"Like what?" Jaune asked.

"Let's just say the milder side effects are along the lines of crying blood, suffocating chest compressions, and continual vomiting/diarrhea for days on end."

"Oh.." Jaune replied.

"Do we even want to know about the more severe side effects?" Yang asked.

"No, no you do not." He responded bluntly. "Albeit even eating the Grimm itself has its own has some risk. Grimm are creatures of darkness, beings that those who walk in the daylight should never intermingle with. Every time I consume a creature of Grimm I run the risk that its hatred for humans and Faunus will meld with the already existing Grimm in my system, or even my own negative emotions, and overwhelm me. Just like it did on the day I got trapped in the valley." He paused trying to hold back his tears or at least hide them by covering his face with his hand.

"If you don't feel like talking anymore you can stop." The cat-eared Faunus said realizing how much this was upsetting him.

"No, it's ok, I might as well finish the story." He said taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"Like I mentioned before, when I consume Grimm I run the risk that the madness of the Grimm can take over my mind. The first time I experienced it… it was like drowning in darkness. I don't know how much time had passed or what I did during that time, but I came to as my body was returning back to… in the center of town… surrounded by lots of people… and a few huntsmen. I remember just standing there, looking at those shocked faces looking back at me, until someone yelled "KILL THE MONSTER".

Everything that happened next were the things of nightmares. I don't know how I managed to get out of there, but all I could think of was getting home. I have never been so scared. I remember pushing open the front door and running into my mom's lap… and… and just crying. Before she could even calm me down a brick came flying through the window. Everything just happened so fast; people yelling they were going to kill me, my mom trying to sneak me out the back door only to be blocked by one of the town's huntsmen, my mom fighting him as best she could as our home is being set on fire from the outside. I just sat there scared… a..as I watched him KILL my mom" his voice cracked. "Right in front of me. I couldn't do anything… I couldn't save her. The last thing she said to me was to run. All I could do was run... I left her there…I left her there" He his voice cracked as he began to cry.

Weiss handed him a handkerchief. She and the rest of those present remained silent, not sure of what to do or even say. After several minutes he eventually calmed down.

"Are you ok?" Yang asked.

"Yes, I'm ok, sorry to..." He trailed off trying to think of what to say.

"Its ok man we all understand." The blonde comforted putting her hand on his shoulder. "I don't think anyone would hold it against you. You were just a kid when this happened right?"

"..."

"You were just a little kid, there wasn't much you could do and your mom wouldn't have blamed you. It's like you said she wanted you to survive, she'd be happy that you're ok."

"D..do you mean that?"

"Of course, " The blonde brawler said with a smile.

"Thank yo, that means so much to me."

"No problem." She replied.

"That's why I it's so important to for me to visit my mom's grave, just so I can say my final goodbyes and finally put some of these emotions to rest."

"Well I don't mind, but you probably should as one of the professors when they wake up, though I don't see why they would say no." Velvet said, getting a look from Coco who still seemed angry towards the Beowulf, but at a greatly diminished capacity after hearing his story.

After that, there was a long pause both sides unsure of what to say next.

"Can I ask you a question?" Ruby asked directed at the Beowulf sitting next to her to end the silence.

"Sure" he responded nonchalantly.

"What do we call you?" Ruby asked drawing in the attentions of everyone else.

"Call me?" He responded not fully understanding what had been asked.

"You know, your name." Ruby responded. "You do have a name, right?"

"Yeah, if you're we're taking you to Vale with us we should at least know your name." Yang chimed in.

"It does seem like a bit of an oversight on our part." Blake added.

"My name…." He looked at the ceiling, musing "… you know it's been almost nine years since I've actually even said my own name." He chuckled somehow amused by his own statement.

"Did you forget it?" Ruby asked innocently.

"No, no, I'm just realizing how long it's been." He said sounding almost remorseful. "My name is William Beorthwulf."

"It's nice to meet you, William." Ruby said shaking his hand, smiling.

"Uh, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but there is no way a Beowulf can just walk around Vale, willy-nilly." The white haired heiress stated.

"Willy-nilly?" Ruby murmured earning a look from Weiss.

"Oh that's right I still haven't showed you what I really look like." William said gently slapping his forehead realizing he forgot something so obvious.

"Wait your wha…" Weiss began before stopping as his body began to rapidly disintegrate the same way other Grimm do.

As William began to disappear a form began to show among the disappearing Grimm ashes revealing a young man with fair skin, pitch black hair that was on the long side for a guy, wolf Faunus ears with the left ear cut in half, the same purplish-blue eyes now appeared in a more human form without diminishing in color or clarity, a scar on his right eye starting just above his eyebrow cutting through it and ending at his jaw. His clothing was well worn; a simple faded light purple shirt with a small tear on the left shoulder, faded blue jeans, no socks, and tattered black shoes with a hole in the top of the left shoe with his toes clearly visible.

"Well how do I look?" William asked jokingly as he stood up and turned around to show everyone. Looking at them he noticed most of the people who saw his transformation had their jaws on the ground including a recently awoken Dr. Oobleck, Professor Port, and Emerald who were in the dark as to what they had just witnessed.

At that moment William knew this would be interesting, to say the least. However, he didn't have the slightest idea how "interesting" things would become for him and everyone else.

Well now that school and finals (which I aced) are done and I am just basically lounging around for the next few weeks maybe I will even be able to post chapter 4 soon. Maybe.