Chapter 2: Meet the Reaper

One flyby, aerial photoshoot, and quick landing later, I find myself dressed in a pair of loose-fitting tan slacks, with an unassuming black t-shirt. A faux-leather jacket and a pair of dark brown combat boots complete the look. A slim bracer clings to my left forearm, the metal a matte black that almost seems to absorb light save for a row of buttons and a small holoprojector. Ghost and I had compromised, in the end. Instead of trying to stuff my suit's entire armor matrix into the tiny bracer, we left just enough space for Ghost himself and a sidearm, the Vestian Dynasty. Not much, but I'm not expecting trouble. Add a set of dark brown contacts to conceal my distinctive purple eyes, and I'm confident I can pass as an ordinary human.

Looking back to my ship, I confirm that the visual cloak is still functioning. Now, with the engines powered down, the stealth system should be able to run indefinitely. Just to be certain, I'd landed in a small forest, just a few minutes' walk from a pathway that should take me towards the settlement.

"Ready, Ghost?" I call out. Clicking softly, I see him transmat into my armor matrix. "I still need to ask him how that works." I muse as I see my HUD blink to life, despite my lack of a helmet. Turning around, I set off through the woods, towards civilization.

"That didn't take long." I whisper to myself as I crouch behind a tree. Ahead of me, walking down the path I've been following, is a… woman? The skirt is unmistakable, though the cloak and hood mask any other features at this distance. She's walking this way, though, and I don't fancy my chances of slipping past her, woods or no. Damn leaves, crunching whenever I move. I should have just kept walking and moved right past her, but my damn instincts sent me scrambling for cover at the first sign of movement. Too late to come out now, pretend like nothing ever happened. Or… is it?

I shake my head. No. I know what I can do. Closing my eyes, I steady my breathing, letting my surroundings slip away. A moment later I open them, and the world seems… different. I can hear the rustle of the leaves in the wind, the crunch of boots on gravel, smell the scent of earth and sap from the forest around me. Gone is the sense of overwhelming strength, of utter confidence and inevitability. I am a Hunter now. Slipping into invisibility, I edge my way around the tree, trying to keep out of the woman's line of sight. No matter how hard I try, I always leave a telltale shimmer in the air wherever I go, so moving in the open isn't an option. Just as she passes by, I feel something give way beneath my heel, the sharp crack of a dry twig breaking beneath my boot ringing out. Wincing, I stop moving. Unfortunately, she doesn't.

Faster than my eyes can follow, the woman leaps into motion, reaching behind her back and pulling out a large, bulky rectangle as she whirls towards my position. Spinning the rectangle in her hands, it rapidly unfolds into a massive, crimson scythe. I freeze immediately, every sense in my body screaming at me that this weapon was dangerous. Looking more closely, I can see what appears to be a bolt, trigger, and magazine all incorporated into the shaft.

"Who's… who's there?" She says, her voice surprisingly… young? Almost squeaky, like a teenager. I stay still. Only a fool would give up the game this early. "Come out now." She says, louder and seemingly surer of herself. "I-I'm a Huntress!"

I raise an eyebrow at that. Like a Guardian? No, even female Hunters still call themselves such. Interesting. Though… I'm here for information, aren't I? Instead of sneaking into an unfamiliar town, surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of possible threats, wouldn't it be better to simply get what I need here?

I feel my bracer vibrate. Looks like Ghost agrees. Still don't know how he reads my mind like that. Or how I read his. Should probably ask, one of these days. Letting my cloak drop, I step out from behind the tree, raising my hands. "Alright." I chuckle softly. "You got me."

The woman seems relived, lowering her scythe immediately. "Oh, it's just a person. I thought it might be Grimm."

"Grimm?" I ask. This is new. Our Cryptarchs found references to that term in some unencrypted radio chatter but are still struggling to figure out who – or what – they are. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, I had to deal with a pack of Beowolves a few months ago this way. I thought- thought there might be more." She says. Seeming to realize something, she raises her scythe again, though not pointing it directly at me. "Hey, why were you creeping around there anyway? Are you spying on me?"

I pale. Yeah, I didn't think about what kind of picture this would paint, a man seemingly stalking a young woman alone in the woods. Waving my hands, I quickly stammer out a denial. "No, no, nothing like that. Truth be told I was walking this way, and when I saw somebody else coming I just… panicked."

The woman nods energetically, releasing the scythe with one hand and shouldering it with the other. "Oh, yeah." She says. "I do that all the time. The panicking part, not the… hiding from people part. Sometimes." She says, the last so softly I would have never picked it up without my enhanced senses.

I can't stop a small grin from spreading across my face at that. Social phobia, huh? Well, it's probably easier to let her believe that. Better than "Oh, sorry, I'm an immortal space wizard here to scope out your planet. Take me to your leader." Doubt that explanation would go over well. Stepping forwards, I offer her a hand. "I think we got off on the wrong foot here, I'm sorry about that. Name's Urs. Izanagi Urs."

After staring at my hand as if it were a Hive worm for a moment, she seems to snap back to reality and shakes it, one hand reaching up to brush her hood off. "My name is Ruby Rose. Umm… it's nice to meet you?"

Despite myself, when her hand touches mine, I can't help but shiver. I can feel my Light rippling, in a way I've never seen before. What on Earth could it mean?

I look down at her face. Young, like I thought. Based on the voice and height… or lack of it… I'd say barely out of her early teens. So… 13? 14? Hard to say, I've never been good at guessing age at a glance. No surprise, considering Guardians never age, and I don't exactly hang around a lot of humans. Not ones this young, anyway. Maybe it's a good thing though? Younger, less experienced, probably less guarded. Might make a decent source of information.

A squeaky voice brings me back to reality. "Hey. Are you alright? You kinda… zoned out." She says.

"Sorry about that. Happens a lot with me." I give her an embarrassed grin. Have to sell the 'harmless stranger lost in the woods routine'. "So, are you from around here? I'll be honest, I'm kind of lost." I'm not, but she doesn't need to know.

"Oh, yeah." She says. "I live just down the road, with my Dad and my sister. The town is a half-hour past that, it's a straight shot."

I smile internally. Definitely easy to squeeze information out of. "I was kind of hoping in the more general sense. I don't even know what town that is. Last I remember, I was in…" What was the name of the nearest city? Valus? Vales? "Vale, that's right."

A pair of silver eyes blink. "Vale? Vale is on the mainland; you'd need to take the ferry there. This is Patch, a small island off the coast." In a quieter tone, she continues. "How-How'd you even get here without remembering anything?"

I sigh. "It's a long story." I deflect. "But what did you say you were earlier? A Huntress?"

Instantly she perks up, before slouching slightly, seemingly embarrassed. "Ah, I'm-not yet I'm not. A Huntress. I'm a…Huntress-in-training?" She brightens again. "I'm going to combat school, and then Beacon in two more years."

"What's Beacon?" I ask, confused.

Her jaw drops. "How do you not know what Beacon is? Aren't you from Vale?"

"I never said that," I argue. "I just said that's the last place I was."

She shakes her head. "Beacon is, um, a school, for Hunters and Huntresses. It's huge, one of the four big Huntsman academies. It's really hard to get into though, I hope I can make it. My sister's going this year!" She finishes cheerily.

Okay. I frown internally. This conversation is going on several tangents already, and I still don't know anything useful. Time to change tactics, strategic withdrawal recommended. "That's pretty cool," I say offhandedly. " But I really need to get back to Vale though. Is there a payphone, or somewhere I can find a computer in town? I need to get in touch with some friends of mine so I can get back." Who knows, I might be able to extract some useful data from their infosphere if I can find a terminal.

"Oh, umm… no, not really." She admits quietly. I swear, without my sharpened senses I wouldn't hear half of what this girl is saying. "But, uhh… maybe in Vale, you could find something?"

"Hmm." I grunt. Foiled again, by a lack of public works. She has a good point though. Sneak into Vale aboard the ferry, avoid the risk of being caught by a sensor sweep, or somebody stumbling into my ship. "Well, I tried. Thanks for the help, Ruby." I wave at her as I turn and begin walking towards town.

"Wait!" Her cry catches me off-guard. I look back. "Are you a Huntsman?" She says, pointing towards the bracer on my left arm.

I bite back a curse. Damn Ghost. I knew any sort of armor would stick out on a civilian. Too late now. I doubt I could pass as a Hunter, not after failing to recognize what this 'Beacon' is. "No," I say. "I'm only a… Guardian." Before I can turn away again, a sudden beeping makes me freeze. Glancing down at my bracer, I see the holoprojector flash once. A message from the fleet, asking for a progress report. Really? I'm… I'm less than an hour into this mission!

"What's that?" I blink, as in a flash of… rose petals? In a flash of rose petals, Ruby goes from ten feet ahead of me to about ten inches, grabbing my forearm and tilting the bracer towards her. Her eyes seem to shine. "Oooh, does that have a built-in scroll? Where's the display? Why does it have so many buttons? What kind of dust does it use? Is it custom-made? Where'd you get it done at?"

I step back, pulling my arm out of her grasp. She freezes, before folding her hands behind her back and staring at the ground. "Sorry." She says, embarrassed. "I just love gadgets and cool stuff like that. I know it's kinda nerdy and all, but-"

I shake my head, cutting her off. "It's fine," I say. "Just, a little personal space next time, okay?"

She nods quickly. "What was that, though?" She asks. "That beeping."

"Just a call." I say vaguely. "From a friend of mine."

"That's so cool!" She gushes, craning her neck to look at the buttons again. "Who is it?"

"Uhm…" I draw a blank, not expecting the question. My roving eyes settle on a large, black bird perched in a tree not far from us. "Crow."

"That's his name?" Ruby asks. "Wait, my uncle-"

I can feel my eye twitching. This is a disaster. Twenty years of field experience and I can't even talk to a woman. Pretty sure I've contradicted myself twice now. I really should have thought up a cover story before I went into this. Leaning backward, I snap my fingers. "Bye!" I shout, waving my hand as I drop into a shadestep. Maybe not the best choice, so brazenly displaying my abilities, but I need to get out of here before I out myself more than I have already. As I feel my feet touch the ground, I fling my left hand out, blinking deeper into the forest towards my ship.

I whirl around, looking for Izanagi. "He just… vanished?" I say out loud. "Ooh, is that his semblance? I thought he wasn't a Hunter?" Looking around I can see that he's definitely gone, the only evidence he was ever even there being a pair of dusty footprints on the side of the road.

Shrugging, I turn back towards the path, walking towards Mom's grave. He was weird, but he seemed nice enough, for a random stranger lost in the woods. Seemed uncomfortable talking to me, I hope I didn't mess up too badly. At least I met somebody more awkward around strangers than me! I can't help but feel like I forgot something important though. I wonder what-

I freeze. Oh no. No no no nononono…

"I never asked him about his weapon!" I shout.

A sharp tapping noise awakens- I mean, startles, me as I sit at my desk in the Emerald tower. Looking up from my desk and the scattered reports, transcripts, and paperwork, I gaze forlornly at my empty coffee mug before turning towards the window. Tapping my cane on the floor, it swings open as a dusty old bird flies inside, only to transform into an equally dusty old huntsman.

"Qrow," I say neutrally. "Please try not to dirty the carpet. Glynda's already had it cleaned twice this week."

Scoffing, the huntsman reaches for his ever-present hip flask. Taking a swig of the vile concoction – I cast another glance towards my empty mug – he snaps to a drunken parody of a salute before slouching into a chair. "Got some interesting news, Oz." He rasps.

"Any progress on finding the identities of the Fall Maiden's attackers?" I say, leaning forwards as I brush the papers aside.

"No." He says, taking another drink. "Bastards are covering their tracks pretty well. I don't even have any leads to go off. Unless we want to round up every woman under 30 in the kingdoms and start doing spot checks."

"Then what is it?" I ask, curious.

"Was checking on my niece, over in Patch. The small one. She bumped into somebody, out on the road. She didn't notice, but the fucker was invisible Oz. Honest to god invisible, until he chose to show himself."

"Invisibility, while uncommon, is not exactly a rare semblance, Qrow." I say, with a touch of annoyance. "Anything else?"

"That's the thing." He leans forwards. "It wasn't his semblance."

My hand slips, a sheaf of papers falling to the floor. "What's that?" I say, mind already racing with possibilities.

"Well, it might have been. They talked for a while, he got impatient, made to leave. You know how it is. But then the fucker looked me in the eye, Oz. Sitting up there in the tree, he looked me in the eye, said my name, and teleported."

"Teleported? You say? How do you know he couldn't have gone invisible again?" I say. Despite my words to the contrary, I trusted Qrow. The man was loyal, and his instincts were rarely wrong.

"Not sure how it works, might have a range to it. But he vanished and reappeared in a different spot a second later. Nobody moves that fast, not without some kinda speed semblance. Then he just vanished again, but in a different way. The first time, it was like he dissolved into shadow. The second, boom, gone in a flash of light. If that shit isn't fucking magic, tell me what is."

"Concerning." I say, "Do you think they may be connected?"

"I dunno, Oz. It'd be awful coincidental if a maiden gets attacked and a guy who can turn invisible and teleport pops up a week later out of nowhere. And who the fuck knows if it's even a man? Amber's attackers already had a way to conceal their identity before the attack, who's to say this isn't the same thing? Semblance bullshit."

I pause for a moment. Yes, it would be, wouldn't it? Still, best not to tip my hand too soon. I want to lure them out, not scare them back into the shadows. "It's worth investigating." I allow. "The fact that he was able to recognize your avian form is concerning enough. But together…?" I hum softly, thinking. "Find out whatever you can about this man. You said he spoke to your niece, that may be a good place to start."

"Will do, Oz." The man says, standing up and walking back towards the window. With a flurry of feathers and a sharp "Caw!", he transforms back into a bird and flies away.

I walk over towards the open window, gazing out over the Emerald Forest. "Interesting," I say. "Most interesting."