The Mystery of Rodd Rose

The South Sanus sea was home to many myths fairytales and high seas stories and has been for generations. The islands in the area have no real connection to any of the four kingdoms, as they have all been colonies to each kingdom at one time or another, and at this point, they have gained some autonomy. Mantle was its last occupier back when the War was waging but since the King's victory at Vacuo, no one bothered to check who owned who. They along with the other with the four kingdoms still abide by the Vytal conventions set forth by Oslaun the last at the end of the great war and have their fair share of huntsmen outposts but not much else. The territories were not considered Kingdoms but the settlements that were occupied on the islands were sturdy and reasonably protected.

One of these islands was the Island of Pati the island was one of the southernmost islands. It was a tropical island if the definition of a tropical island included a never-ending forecast of light snowfalls. It was cold, freezing in the winter not quite like Solitas, but it could be unpleasant if worse comes to worst. The winter of 45 AGW(After Great War), was a suspiciously heavy winter storm especially for the town of Blue Haven. Winds were howling like wolves and the snow was especially blinding and was coming down harder then hail. A blackout knocked out the entire town's electricity coating the entire town in darkness and cold. It was three days that the inhabitants would remember for the rest of their lives.

And that is where one story ended and this one begins.

10 years later, Year 55 AGW

Cardilian Neeson was getting old. Old enough to file for retirement in the upcoming months and he was looking forward to it. Card was a first-generation huntsman, been one for over 35 years. Most of those times he was stationed in Mistral and sometimes Vale where he worked a lot of within. There he worked helping people around the city and working with and against some of the cops there.

With his 60th birthday, fast approaching Card and many of the junior huntsman had thought he has seen it all. Serial killers, drug lord, crime lords, Protest, Counter-Protest, corrupt cops huntsman, riots, and many others were all things he had seen over the years. After a while, he got himself transferred over to the South Saunus Seas as a way to find a peaceful semi-retirement hoping that would be enough. But he was wrong.

This mourning was like any other. He one day put on his normal red huntsman attire, says good morning to his wife kissed her on the four head as the two went out for work. He waved at the fishermen as they made their way to the peer. Had some chit chat with his niece who works at the coffee shop, and finally stopped by to say hello to old lady Norma before he made his way into the office.

The place was small and seated next to the pier so it always stank a bit like fish. The cramped office space had enough for the Four Huntsmen that worked there, a smallholding cell and small training room so that they could be able to still put up a fight way out here.

Cardilian came in like any other mourning, and like usual his junior Blossom was here before him. Knowing her she was here at least an hour before he even woke up. The girl was passionate and young recruit having just graduated from beacon 2 years prior.

"Mourning Blossom" Card said with a gruff.

The younger huntress took the bud out of her ears. "Mourning Card. How was your weekend"

"Oh, me and the misses stayed inside mostly. I called a couple of family members from the mainland. And we started the new Edge Copper novel". Blossom nodded, caringly before picking up a ringing phone. He shrugged, like every day since he got here ten years ago it was a slow weekend. Technically he was always on duty and huntsman doesn't normally have weekends off. But this town and the surrounding archipelago for that example was pretty low-key. There was the usual thieves, smuggling that happens from time to time but nothing that the police themselves cant handle so they were rarely called in. The Grimm was a problem, one that had always been dealt with swiftly and while he did do his duty there has rarely been an incident around blue haven or any surrounding settlements in the past ten years. So he and the other younglings were able to handle each situation cautiously but effectively.

"Really?" Card heard Blosum voice raise suddenly "Where? Thanks for the report" And she put the phone back on the hook.

"What is it," The old Huntsmen asked.

"There is a body," Blossom responded completely composed but there was a slight hint of eagerness in her voice.

Okay this was different, "Come again"

"A the geologist that went out hiking and stumbled across a body frozen in a cave," Blossom repeated trying to calm the excitement in her voice. She was waiting for a moment like this ever since she graduated. "And we have been called to help investigate since it was outside the borders of the settlement"

Card sighed, he was hoping for a peaceful day. But now he had grouped a band of police officers to help assess the area where the body was found. And find a way to secure the body back here. He did not reciprocate the feeling of excitement that the young girl had. This just meant more paperwork.

"Great" He mumbled to himself. "Where exactly is the body located"

"The Tundros mountain range"

Card froze. The Pati mountain range as well as the surrounding area was a forbidden area. No one is supposed to go in or out of that area, even smugglers avoided the area. As far as Card knows nobody has even entered the place since before the war. Whatever happened there, it was not gonna be pretty.

It wasn't pretty.

The Tundros mountain range was not far outward from blue haven, but that didn't stop Card from ordering a bullhead to get him Blossom and the other personel so they can safely reach the mountain sight. This part of the island was used as a military testing ground during the war the remaining of which severely damaged the area and it was still very dangerous. Only recently have the huntsmen council approved of people going in. If only for Environmental research and even then it was still very restricting.

So when Card helicopter landed, and the team found the cave Card thought he was prepared for what he could see.

He had found the body, a man wearing all black with a black hood and some equipment around his belt. Bits and pieces of what was once red hair still planted firmly on the man's head. The corpse shriveled and decayed slightly indicating that the body was here for a while. He was partially frozen, perhaps to him being exposed to elements for so many years. One thing that stood out was the outfit he was wearing and the fact that he was missing a hand. The suit was torn, something tore through it there its was decay or something else it was unknown to him. His face told a bleaker story, the skin was shriveled around the bones, it was quite well preserved considering all the elements found around him. Jaune Doe, or what's left of him was sitting up against the cave's wall his body leaning over. With a sword through his chest.

"Poor soul" Card told himself. He took a walk around the crime scene, still trying to find anything or clues.

"Yeah," His young counterpart chipped in. "What do you think happened?"

Cardilian looked around the empty cave. "He was stabbed obviously, not recently either. They probably had him killed here because of the travel restrictions to this place, thinking that no one would be able to find the body. Check to see if there is a blood trail in here"

Blosum took out UV light from her front pocket, one that she on hand in case something like this would happen and shined it next to the body.

Cardilian doubled back, to where the body was. And when the purple light hits the body and the ground, they are lit up. There was blood or traces of it, all across the ground where he was lying. Cards testament would have to be rechecked, as it clearly showed that the man bled, and bled a lot. It was all across the cave, coming in and out of the entryway. One point pooled in front of him right where Card was once standing. However, another detail came across because of this revelation.

"Wait, shine that back on his clothes" Card asked,

"What?" Blosum asked

"Just do it" He commented, Blosum reluctantly moved the light back to the man revealing Card's suspicions.

"Interesting, where is the blood?" he asked

"What do you mean?" Blosum gestured to the rest of the cave. "Its everywhere all over the cave."

"Except on his person," Card corrected, gesturing to the man's outfit. If the man was bleeding out it would get over his cloths and thus would have been brightened up by Blosums UV light but nothing came up. A weird small detail, but it was curious none the less.

"Do you think someone dressed him after he died," Blosum asked, her face recoiling at the thought. "Why?"

"Doubt it, not sure what it means though," Card told her, "In the meantime look over the body, you're the medical specialist"

Blosum kneeled and studied the man's face. Gently moving parts of the body and slowly started her initial body search. "Well, the man here has been a while. A couple of years I would wager." she mentioned, "It is hard to tell, just how long he has been here, either way, his body is remarkably preserved. Should make it easier to determine the cause of death" She noted, "Initially it looks like he bled out, but we won't know for certain till we get back." She continued checking the man's body, slowly adjusting his jaw and slowly analyzing the rest of the body on the way down.

"Whoever he was this guy was a fighter. His jaw seems dislocated, and there are several wounds on his face and his jaw is broken and so is his legs." She sighed "He did not go quietly in the night. Hello, what's this?"

Gently she lifted Jaunes Doe's right hand and took a hard long look at the man's wrist.

"What is it?" Card asked,

"Well, for one" Blosum stated, "There is a partial tattoo covering his wrist" She tilted her head trying to get a good read on it. "It's old, but it looks like there is a zero, two, one, and what appears to be a six or an eight. It's hard to tell, it been cut off."

Cardilian looked around the cave flashing his light, it wasn't that big of a cave about ten yards deep, and from what he can tell there is nothing around that even remotely looks like a hand.

"It's not here," Card noted "He must have lost it before he made it into the caves"

"Or it could have fallen off" Blosum responded

"Very funny Blosum"

"No, I am being serious here Card"

Card turned around, Blosum gestured back to the man's arm that was missing and hand. However, in its place, Card saw what Blosum noticed, stumbles of what appears to be ... thread? A couple of lines of thread half as long as a scroll's width sprouted from the man's arm.

"Was his arm held together by string and stitches?" Card asked, "though this brings out an interesting thought"

"Which is?" Blosum asked

"That this isn't the first time he lost a hand. And what's more likely is that he somehow got it back the first time. That's not something you see these days" He noted, there has been a push for amputees to get robotic replacements for their missing limbs for the past couple of decades. Replacing of the limb with a robotic limb became much cheaper and more efficient than reattaching the limb. Still, the craftsmanship for this one, in particular, seems shabby and rushed

"So it's an old injury" Blosum followed the line of thought. "Probably had a scar, and along with the tattoo is another distinguishing mark."

He nodded, then by instinct he looked at the man's other hand. His hands were balled up into a fist. But with the light they had, he could tell that something was being held in it.

"What's in his other hand?" Card asked. Blosum looked over and lifted his left hand, and gently opened up his hand, and in it what he found was a black cube. It was no bigger than a die and had the smoothest edges from it. It was wrapped around in what to be a page of an old book, Card gently put both parts into an evidence bag.

Blosum stared at the die, "What is that?"

"I have a few ideas, but for right now let's get a 3D scan of this cave" He looked over to the outside, noticing how the weather is picking up and howling in the distance. "We can't stay here for long" He gestured to some of the cops that came with him. The gave him, two small metallic spheres. He pressed a button on them both and threw them in the center of the room. The balls suspended themselves where they then shot a beam of light, absorbing all the information that it can gather about the surrounding area. They might not be able to come back here again, so they need to collect all the environmental data it can, in this case by making a perfect 3D model that can be explored when they get back to headquarters.

When the orbs sat down, Blosum gave the okay for the team to move the man's body. However, at that moment while they were moving things away two things happened. An item fell out of one of the man's pocket and Card hears a small flapping sound from the corner of the cave.

Blossom goes over and picks up what fell over. A book fell out of the man's person called, a collection of poems called 'The Tales of Summer's Last Rose'. She had never heard of that particular book before, but he had it on his hand suggesting that it was important. The other was a small knife, one with a black handle with a blade so pure and white like it was made of a pearl or the moon itself. It was unlike any knife she had seen before. It had survived years of corrosion and was still in great shape.

Card, on the other hand, went to the far end of the cave found a crumpled ball of paper locked in under ice. As gently as he could he crack open the ice. He did and what he found was a kid's drawing. Drawn on it was two figures, a man with red hair and a woman with what looked like white and black hair. Together they held the arms of a smaller girl, who had red and black hair in a small white dress. It looked like they were all dancing out in the snow.

'This picture was him' Cards thought. Whoever this man was, had a family. One that they had not seen in a long time, and probably have no idea what has happened to him.

Vale Academy

If there was an upside to anything that was happening today, it is that their team attacks training was over. Between the four of them, the practice was absolutely chaotic, Tai somehow set Ravens hair on fire, Qrow made Raven open the wrong portal and Raven just laughed when Summer didn't stick the landing on some of her jumps. She didn't even help her up, she just laughed.

But that was okay, the team dynamic might have been chaotic but somehow, through whatever some magic when the chips were down they all would come together. Like a weird dysfunctional family. They would win the Vytal festival for sure, how often can a huntsmen team claim double victory in the tournament? No one since she was a child not since he was still with her.

That thought taken to a dark place and brought her back to a bad mood.

She never liked thinking about her father, or how he walked out on her and mom when she was 11. Leaving Summer alone to attend her mother and her failing health. It made her upset.

She never vocalized her feeling of course. Her father made his decision years ago, and she has in return decided to leave him behind. She was not interested in why he left, nor was she interested in going on some fool's quest to find out what happened to him.

Because she knew deep down that nothing he could say or justify all the pain he caused her over the years.

Where ever he is now, Summer hopes he isn't able to sleep knowing all the damage he has caused her in his absence.

AN: Before any of you ask, this has no connection to First Words, completely different double fictional universes.

I don't know what it is about the RWBY world that gets me hooked, something about the characters, and the world is very interesting to me.

I don't know if you can tell, but I am very interested in Summer Rose as a potential character and it makes it very interesting and fun to write potential stories. And I have always been interested in the lack of information, and I have fun with that. Thus the story of Ruby and Yangs grandfather is born. I tried my best to make it look like one of those cases from Buzzfeed Unsolved I don't know if I overplayed some things but if things get to crowded I will go back and rewrite some things.

For other upcoming things, I am just about done with Darklist part 2 and Code:RWBY 4 is in the final stages and could be published soon.

Till then see you all later.