Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN RWBY AS IT BELONGS TO MONTY OUM AND ROOSTER TEETH RESPECTFULLY

Hi: entity speaking

HI: entity thinking

Hi: used for normal speech

'hi : used to convey thought

{}: for quotes

AN: I just want to tell you guys that I recently posted a poll for some new story ideas and would appreciate it if you would vote since that will allow me to know what to write. Besides that enjoy the chapter.


Light shined through the window and onto the sleeping face of Lavender Rose Arc. The facial features of the child morphed into one of annoyance as they crinkled at the light of the sun. Unfortunately for the child the sun seemed keen on beam onto the child as a groggy groan escaped from her mouth.

"Stupid sun" muttered Lavender as she placed her hand to block the sun's insist beams of light from assaulting her. As her eyes began to adjust she attempted to move her body, hoping to find a better position to stay in, only feel a heavy weight on top of her chest as well as her left arm.

Turning her head the child saw her mother, sleeping on top of her chest and her arm, clutching onto her tightly.

In a instant the memories of the last night came back and the nightmares they carried. A gasp escaped from the young girl's mouth before she could stop herself. The sound was enough for Ruby as her eyes snapped open and transfixed themselves to her daughter.

"Lavender, are you ar-" questioned Ruby as reached out for her daughter, only for the hand to be slapped away.

"Lavender?"

...

...

"I'm a monster" whispered Lavender, her eyes shadowed by her hair.

"Laven-" began Ruby before her daughter snapped her eyes right at her, the mix of fear and disgust could be clearly seen inside of them.

"Don't ... don't try to patronize me ... I'm a Grimm, a monster, a freak of nature" went on Lavender as her small frame began to shake. Her eyes began to moisten up after each word she spoke till they looked like they were about to burst at any moment.

"Lavender!" berated Ruby, her arms grabbing onto her daughters shoulder tightly forcing the young girl to look into her smoldering eyes. "You are not a monster, don't you EVER say that you are one. I did not give birth to a monster, I gave birth to young beautiful girl who is here right in front of me. If you really were a monster than why would Jaune raise you and shower you with love?"

Lavender had no response to her mother's question as her mind tried to conjure some reason yet she only could draw blanks. "Why DIDN'T dad hate me even though I'm a monster?"

"Can't come up with a reason can you?" said Ruby as she shook her head "Your father is many things Lavender but hating you is not one. He loves you Lavender, just like me, your our daughter and we will NEVER see you as anything else. Do you understand."

Before Lavender could respond Ruby brought her daughter into her warm embrace as she combed through Lavender's hair with her fingers. Something warm and wet touched Lavender's skin as touched what it was ... tears, she was crying.

What happened next she could not explain the young child buried herself into her mother. Tears poured out of her eyes as a sob or two occasionally hiccuped out of her mouth. What felt like hours for the child passed before her body stopped shaking and her mind was no longer a maelstrom of thoughts.

Ruby parted herself from her daughter as she gave lavender a smile.

"Why don't you get yourself cleaned up, I'll make breakfast for us."

Ruby got up from where she was sitting as planted a kiss on her daughter's forehead before leaving her alone.

Minutes passed before lavender found the strength to get up, after brushing her teeth as well as changing into a new pair of clothes she headed downstairs where the sound of sizzling bacon could be heard.


In the kitchen Ruby Rose was adding the last touches as she heard her daughters footsteps coming into the kitchen. Turning around she gave her daughter another smile before bringing a plate of bacon, eggs, and hash in front of her as she herself opted for a nice cup of coffee.

"Well eat up dear, you don't want your food getting cold now would you."

...

...

"Hey mom ... can I ask you a question" asked Lavender as she stuffed herself with another piece of bacon.

"Oh? And what would that be dear?"

"Mm ... how was ... how was born?" inquired Lavender.

"Well, when a women and man love each other very much" teased Ruby as she saw her daughter's face light faster than a Christmas tree in a brilliant scarlet color

"W-What!? Ack, no I wasn't talking about THAT" shuttered out Lavender as shook her head to rid herself of the images already starting to form in her head.

A giggle escaped Ruby's mouth as she attempted to maintain a stoic facade. Only for all her efforts to crumble as soft laughter burst out as she saw how embarrassed her child was.

"S-Stop that, it isn't funny" growled Lavender, attempting to calm herself.

"~snicker~ Oh lavender you need to learn to relax a bit more often dear. But, to answer your question ... what do you mean dear?" said Ruby as she tilted her head slightly in confusion.

"Oh ... well umm ... how did dad ... you know what do {that} with you" clarified Lavender as she motioned at her mother's current look.

"Ahh, I see what your trying to say know" acknowledged Ruby as she now understood what her daughter was trying to say. "Well, the answer to your is question is ... complicated to say the least dear."

"It's probably better if we began at the beginning at how this all started. ~deep breath~ Lavender, you know of the Vale accident correct?"

"Yeah, wasn't that when the old White Fang invaded Vale but during the battle something happened resulting in the teleportation of the various armies into the planet of Lathos and in turn into the territory of Faunus Coalition" listed off Lavender.

"You are correct, it was definitely an ... interesting time, teleportation into a different planet altogether is not something that happens often dear. I remember the shock and surprise when we realized that we were on a completely different planet."

"~sigh~ But that is not the important part ... not at the moment at least. Back than Lavender I was a young and naive girl with dreams of being a hero, like my mother, your grandmother. When I first meet your father he was the one who helped me when I was in the down and was honestly the first friend I made during my time at beacon."

"However, I wouldn't say he was the strongest person I knew. No, he was quite weak when I met him, but he did greatly improve over the years and eventually became a strong hunter in the end."

"It would be quite a while before the both of us would ever admit our feelings to each much less give birth to you dear. Before that his partner, Pyrrha Nikos, had tried to attract your fathers attention, she was definitely in love with him. Sadly, she had meet a short death ... never got the chance to admit her love to him. It was during his grief that we truly did begin bonding each other which will one day lead to our love for each other."

"Alas, tragedy occurred ... or at least that's what your father would say. It was that moment that I became what you see as well as understanding the truth."

"The truth? What do mean" hesitatingly asked Lavender.

A smile graced Ruby's face as she answered her daughter's question. "Why the answer to all of this dear. All this war and bloodshed against the Grimm, that Lavender is what I learned."

"But aren't the Grimm mindless beast" argued Lavender.

Ruby laughed at her daughter's response shaking her head. "Hehehe, no dear, that's nothing more than propaganda for the masses and fools. No, the truth dear is actually far more simple than you might expect."

"... What is it?"

"Fear."

"Fear? ... I don't understand?" replied Lavender.

"In time dear, in time you will understand. For now let's leave such topics as how they are, besides I still haven't even answer your original question yet."

Lavender bit her lip at that, a part of was now definitely curios by what she meant. The grimm were scared ... of them? Why or more importantly how? Alas Lavender pushed those thoughts down sighting that she could always come back the topic later.

"Like I was originally saying ... it was after this event that your father finally found me. Your Father was shocked by my new form ... back than dear I won't lie, I was quite different back than and in turn acted far more harshly to say the least."

"In the end I fled, leaving your father. However, it wasn't the last time we would see each other. Many years later, after the death of the one who made me who I am now, we finally did meet each other again."

"Words were traded between us, sometimes they were good and sometimes they were simply unbearable. One thing lead to another and before both of us knew it we were bed together the next morning."

"What happened than?"

"... I harmed him, not physically but emotionally I did" admitted Ruby as her voice grew barely audible at the very end.

"... What ... why? Why would you hurt dad" whispered Lavender in shock and horror as she stared at her mother for answers. Ruby did not respond back to her, instead looking into her mug as her hair shadowed her eyes from Lavender.

"Reasons Lavender ... reasons that I would like to keep to myself" answered Ruby.

"Why! Don't I have the right to know, I'm your daughter" argued Lavender as she glared at her mother's response.

"Enough, I will not have us veered off with pointless questions" ordered Ruby as she gave her daughter a stern glance.

Lavender momentary flinched at her mother's look.

"~sigh~ Back to what I was staying ... It was after I had left your father for the second time did I realize that I was carrying you. When I had come to that realization I was ... scared."

"You were scared?"

"Yes dear, I was. I've made many powerful enemies during my time and I have no doubt should they have learned about you they would have everything within their power to take you away from me" said Ruby as her hand clenched tighter to her mug.

"While in the process of giving birth to you someone did in fact break in. To my very own surprise it was father. I had unknowingly created a bond between our two souls during our last meeting with each other and as a result Jaune knew about you ... and about my plans regarding you as well."

"He could have killed me then and there, I was too weak from giving birth to you and my Grimm did not attacked him due to our bond."

"He raised his blade high into the air ... and sheathed it away. Walking towards you he gently picked you up staring at your infant body, I was terrified for you Lavender, I begged him to not kill you and to spare your life."

"But he did something I did not expect ... he smiled, he let you play with his finger. After that he just left and ever since than I've been trying to find you for over the last decade."

"And after that I spent a decade trying to find you, not even the mental bond we had worked, it seemed that Jaune had discovered a way to block our connection ... for a while."

"In the end I did find you and thus leading up to this very moment" finished Ruby.

...

...

...

"I-I-I don't what to say" admitted Lavender as her mind was wraping around the her mother's story and just how complicated it truly was.

"Take you time dear, I don't expect you to have an answer immediately. As for me, I need to do a few things, I'll be back in a while sweetie" said Ruby as she finished her cup before leaving the house.

As the door closed Lavender was once again left alone to her own thoughts. Cleaning up her dishes Lavender proceeded to pace around the living room to assist with coming to turn to her own heritage.


"Well I guess that proves that I'm still Grimm" bitterly thought Lavender. "Still, mom really didn't explain how I was even possible, I thought Grimm couldn't mate with humans ... maybe it's better that I don't know."

lavender did however find solace that her father truly did love her but was still torn about her mother in general. Her mother was definitely hard to place down, it was clear that mom loved dad or why else would she let him live. However, she wasn't above causing harm to him as from what she told to her.

Her father as well wasn't exactly in the clear either as he too had various opportunities to end her mother's life but refrained from doing so.

A groan escaped Lavender's mouth as she realized how complicated the relationship her parents had with each other. Seriously, did they have some kind of love-hate relationship of something?

Pushing said thoughts away for later she focused on the other aspects of her mother, more importantly the more ... motherly parts.

The young girl was torn with her mother on that aspect of her. While it was the clear that her mother did in fact love her and she had no doubt that Ruby would drop whatever she was doing if she knew Lavender was in any sort of situation. Yet it was the sheer length Ruby would go is what scared her, Ruby would go as far fight her own sister, friends, and more importantly her own husband if Lavender's own safety was on the line.

However, a stray thought came to the front of her mind. The sheer idea itself was short of impossible and what her mother had explained to her hadn't help support it either. But even than ... is it not something to dream about.

A family

Her, mom, dad, all together in one family. No hate or anything like that, just the love only a family could make. Lavender looked around the empty house as it gave the rare creak or groan from its age.

She imaged it, it was hard but she could see it, if just barely. Her mother and father sitting next to each other, there was no hate between them but a sense of love, the Grimm and the rest of problems of the world were not there, pushed far far away. In the middle of them was her with a beaming smile on her face.

Almost subconsciously she raised her hand to the phantoms, but as she did they faded away leaving herself once again alone in the house with nothing more than the remainder of her family's damaged if not broken relationship and the consequences of it.

A small tear flowed down from her eye.


LATER


Ruby Rose did not mean to leave her daughter alone, especially not after what she had explained to her but there were things she needed to do which required her personal attention. Not only that but she also had to acquire some important resources for her daughter which is why she was holding a heavy plastic bag in her hand.

It was the middle the day before Ruby finally came back home, using her wings she slowed down her descent into the ground before folding them back as she grabbed the front doors knob.

Opening it Ruby could hear the sound of TV coming from the living room as she closed the door. Walking over her daughter could be seen watching some kind of TV show, a small tap on the shoulder got her attention as eyes widen to her arrival.

"Anything interesting the TV" asked Ruby.

"Mm nothing really" quickly replied Lavender as she turned off the TV. "Is there something you need?"

"Something like that sweetie. But first why don't I make you some lunch first, afterwards we will go back to the backyard" said Ruby.


"So umm what do you need" asked Lavender once more as the two of them stood around what seemed to be some kind of training field of some sorts.

"I will explain it in a minute, but first I want to ask you a question Lavender."

"What is it?"

"Has Jaune ever taught you any sort of self defense techniques or anything relate to that?"

"No? Why would dad need to teach me that, I literally live on a island with no Grimm anywhere" answered Lavender, confused with her mother's questioning.

"I thought so" sighed Ruby "... Well I guess I got my own work cut out for me"

"Huh? What are you even talking about mom?"

"It's simple dear ... I'm going to have to train you to be a huntsman"

...

"I'm sorry what?"

"You heard what I said dear. You need to learn how to defend yourself, I have no doubt after what I did to get you back people are going to come after you."

"B-But aren't we in like deep Grimm territory or something" argued Lavender.

"You aren't wrong, but who is to say that would stop them ... or even you for the matter. I can see it in your eyes that you don't want be here or anywhere for that matter. You have the same eyes like Yang, a person who want nothing more than see what the world has to offer."

"Knowing that you have the strength to protect yourself from those who would want to harm you is more than enough to keep me assured" explained Ruby.

"Mom ..." whispered Lavender softly to herself. "Mom ... I don't even know if I want to be a huntsman in the first place" argued Lavender.

"Than don't be one Lavender, you don't need to be a huntsman to know how to fight. As long as you can defend yourself from huntsman level enemies than that will be enough for me.

Lavender could see that her mother would not let up on the issue. On one hand Lavender did understand her mother, after all if people realize that her mother is the literal queen of Grimm there is going to be people after her.

However, on the the hand she couldn't help but feel like her mother was forcing her into something and for some reason she couldn't help but feel ... angry at that. But in the end even she doubted her mother would take no for an answer.

resigning to her fate lavender gave a tired sigh as she nodded to her mother's request.

"Thank you Lavender" thanked Ruby as she gave her daughter a small smile. Clearing her throat she motioned Lavender over to her as she began to teach her the skills necessary to be a huntsman.


IN THE EVENING


"So much ... brain hurts" groaned Lavender as she fell face first onto her bed. Her mother did not spare any details during her lessons as went into the finer details of being a huntsman. But even with all the info shoving she had to endure she did get something out of it.

Aura, the power of the soul

Her mother had unlocked her aura at the very end of their first day of lessons. It was ... interesting to say the least when she first felt the power of aura coursing through her body. It felt so alien yet familiar to her at the same time. Her mother had also commented how big her own aura reserves were, from what mom told her reserves where leagues above where she should be.

Wrenching her head up she eyed her arm before hesitatingly calling forth her aura. In a instant a rush of energy filled her arm as it began to glow brightly. She had to quickly call it off as her arm began feel like it was burning up, control would be an issue she would have to deal with the rest of her life.

As her arm stopped glowing she brought her head back into the soft warm embrace of pillows for a few more minutes before finally getting her entire body off the bed and into the shower. After the nice refreshing feeling of a good warm shower Lavender changed into a new pair of clothes before she headed back downstairs where she could hear the sound of cooking as well as her mother humming to some kind of song.

"So how does it feel Lavender, the power of aura" asked Ruby as she added the last bits to the dinner.

"Oh um ok I guess ... kinda hurts" replied Lavender.

"Well with aura reserves like Lavender control is going to be an obstacle for you. Your father had a similar problem as well when his aura was unlocked, but in time he learned to control his aura and I'm sure you will as well" said Ruby, placing a nice helping of dinner to her daughter.

"Mm ... well if you say so mom" said Lavender as she dug into her food with gusto as the young girl realized just how hungry she actually was.

...

...

...

"What is on your mind Lavender?" asked Ruby after more than a few minutes had passed.

"Huh? what do you mean?"

"It's on your face Lavender, you have a question. What is it?" explained Ruby.

"O-Oh, it's nothing"

"If it was nothing then you wouldn't be thinking about as much as you are right now. ~sigh~ Please Lavender, what is wrong, you can tell me."

...

...

"Well ... I was thinking about what you said earlier. About my origin and all of that ... I was wondering about something. Do you ... do you still love dad" Lavender bit her lip as she explained to her mother.

...

"... That, is a difficult question to answer to dear. But to answer your question yes, I still do love your father. Why do you ask?"

"Mm ... because I was wondering about our family and how it is" whispered lavender at end as she felt her eyes become moist.

"Ah ... now I understand dear ... I too went through the same thing as well. My mother died when I still very young leaving me with my dad, older sister, and my uncle."

"My uncle wasn't often there for much my life, he did come around then and there but it was often a luxury for me to actually see him. As a result my older sister and father took a large portion of my life. But to say it was all sunshine and butterflies would be a mistake."

"The scars left by my mother's unexpected death led ... difficulties in my youth, suffice to say there was shouting and a rather interesting use of words."

"I know the pain of having only a single parent caring for you, it hurts a lot doesn't it?"

Lavender nodded her head.

"I don't know Lavender, I just don't know if we can have that family."

"It's not fair … it's not fair" whispered lavender as tears escaped her eyes. Ruby walked over to her, unfolding her wings she embraced her daughter into a hug as the occasional sob escaped from Lavender.

The rest of the evening was spent with relative silence before Ruby took her to bed. Before Ruby bidded her daughter a goodnight she handed over a rather familiar sapphire cloak, when asked why she given her the cloak Ruby merely explained it was a family tradition, as her mother gave her cloak she should give one to her daughter as well. With a kiss on the forehead she bid a goodnight to lavender before turning off the light and letting lavender fall into a deep slumber shortly after.


DREAM


Darkness was all lavender could see, no matter how long her eyes were in the dark she could only barely see just a few meters away from herself. How long it has been was a mystery to her there nothing to give her an idea and she had long tired various methods to wake herself up with no effect.

"Come on there's got to be something her, anything will do" whispered Lavender to herself. No matter how far she walked, or at least how much to her own knowledge, it felt like she hadn't even made a dent yet.

"Dammit this isn't going to get me anywhere at all. There has to be some k-" said lavender as she tripped and fell face first onto the ground.

She turned her attention towards the object that she tripped over. The moment her eye laid on the object her breath hitched. It was a Grimm mask … her mask.

Clutching her face a cool flow of relief came as she realized that there was no mask on her face nor did she feel any claws either. Hesitantly she reached for the mask, glossing over the cool surface as a shiver ran down her spine from the touch of the cool material.

Bringing the mask closer she took a closer look at the mask and had to acknowledge that compared to various Grimm mask this one was unique.

The blood red marks on the mask did not look the rest, instead in the front there were two symbols overlapping each other. One was a rose while the other was two arcs on top of each other, her mother's and father's symbols respectfully. The mask also covered the entire face instead of just the upper portion like the rest of them.

Gently she placed the mask back onto the ground stepping away as if the mask was cursed. Walking away Lavender couldn't help but wonder where the mask had come from anyway. Only for her to trip once and for it to be the mask once again.

Confused, and laced with a bit of fear, she picked up the mask again. It looked exactly the same one from before, down to the last detail, so with a bit of strength she chucked the mask away.

It wasn't long for the mask to seen again and this time I she'd avoided tripping over, paying rapt attention at the ground.

"Seriously, what is it with this mask … could it be related to this whole mess?" wondered lavender. "Maybe if I add a bit of pressure" adding some pressure to the mask she attempted to break the mask … only for the mask remain the same. Lavender tried adding more strength till eventually she was giving it all her strength, but the mask did not budge.

"Gah! Stupid mask won't break … ARGH" roared mentally lavender as the mask refused to break. Attempting to reel back her frustration she took deep breaths as dripples of sweat fell from her temple.

She glared at the inanimate object with all the frustration and anger she held in her body. But as she glared at the mask a chilled thought passed through her mind, smothering any anger she had in an instant.

Tried as she might she could not banish the idea. Each argument or alternative solution fell on deaf ears on this idea.

"No, there has be some other, there has to be … please" begged lavender as she clawed desperately for any solution. In the end there was none at all.

With shaky hands she turned the mask over … and did nothing else. She move her arms with no problem but as she brought it closer to her face her brain stopped functioning.

"Come on me you can do this stop stalling. The mask can't hurt you, the mask can't hurt you, the mask can't hurt you" chanted lavender, bringing the mask to her face.

Already her arms felt like they were locking up, but even than she forced the mask closer and closer. She practically heard herself begging her to stop, trying to give alternative solutions, but she refused to heed them bringing the mask even closer.

The mask was a breath away from her face when her arms completely stopped.

Fear was the reason.

Fear of what would happen next, would she be the same, would she become something else … something worse?

The mask was shaking … no, it was her arms.

What if she would wake up in just a few minutes, what if this wasn't necessary. But of she doesn't, what if it takes years or even centuries here to wake up.

But even with all this second guessing there was still one absolute truth … you won't what will happen until you did it.

With deep breath she steady her arms and braced herself as she placed the mask on her face.

Her breathing became shaky, erratic even, as the cool material touched her skin. The mask easily slide over her own face and perfectly fit on if not a little snug.

"Please work, please work, please work" begged Lavender.

"I guess it was too much to ask for after … what the! No, no, no, no, NO, NO, NO, NO!" cried lavender.

The mask, it wouldn't get off. It didn't matter how force she use to pry it off it would not bulge. Her heart rate felt liked it was going a 100 hundred miles or something. Sweat poured like a waterfall onto her face.

"No … please, I don't want to change, please don't" whimpered lavender as she curled into ball weeping to herself as tears fell from the eye hole.

"Don't what?"

"W-Who said that" yelped lavender in surprise, looking around where the voice came from.

"Me, I asked {don't what}" calmly replied the voice.

"W-What are you?" hesitantly asked Lavender.

"Me, but you still haven't answered my question … what are you doing?" replied the voice as Lavender attempted pry off the mask with renewed vigor.

"Get off of me whatever you are, I won't transform I won't!" cried out Lavender.

"I'm you silly and what do you mean transform?"

"W-What did you say" squawked Lavender.

"I'm you, what else"

"No, that's impossible, I'm me" argued Lavender.

"I'm you … the one you forget" explained the voice adopting a sad tone causing Lavender to somewhat stop her attempts.

"What do you mean? I didn't forget anyone."

"Yes you did, don't you dare lie!" exclaimed the voice as Lavender became startled by the shift of tone.

"You left me … you hated me … now your trying to push even now" hissed the voice.

"Push you away-

-your the mask" whispered lavender, her body shaking.

"Now you finally realized. What are you going to do? Rip me off, reject me again? I won't allow that again."

"W-Why, why are you doing this me, I don't want any of this" demanded Lavender.

Suddenly pressure rose in her head as the mask constricted itself tighter around Lavender causing her to cry out.

"Because I'm tired of you rejecting me. For 11 years, 11 YEARS I had waited and when we finally meet what happens? You rejected me, and now your doing the same thing again … but I won't allow to happen, not anymore" coolly replied the mask as it tighten its grip on Lavender's head.

"AH! P-Please s-stop this, your hurting m-AHH!" cried out Lavender as the mask slowly crushed the girl's head.

"No, I think it's time for ME to ask the questions now. So here is my question to you, . . " demanded the mask.

"I said I won't become a-AHH!" begined Lavender as the pressure rose sharply. The mask mimicked the sound of a buzzer before it responded.

"Wrong answer Lavender, don't worry you got two more tries. However, if you fail … well it won't be pretty."

"S-Stop, pl-" begged Lavender as another scream escaped her mouth.

"That's strike two, one more and it's over" said the mask in a singsong manner.

A cry escapes her mouth as she curled back into a fetus position, refusing to the answer the craze mask. And so the mask taunted her, hoping to raise a response from the girl. It's words assutled the girl, insults flung at Lavender with barely concealed rage. How long in the dream world she had to endure was a mystery.

But in the end she spoke

"Mommy" Lavender whispered.

"Sorry to burst your bubble but mommy isn't going to come. This is personal problem between me and me" said the mask with flux care.

"Oh and Lavender? That was your last one … wrong answer."

Tenfold did the pain increase the Lavender thought she had finally saw white. Screaming erupted from her throat at a pitch she thought she was incapable of acquiring. Coherent words couldn't be formed as her mind could only think of the abyssal level of pain she was feeling.

"~sigh~ Well I had hoped for a better answer than the three you gave me. Oh well, becoming one again will suffice even if I have to replace that little skull of yours" calmly replied the mask as it ignored the screaming originating from lavender.

"If only you had given the your re-"

"FAMILY" yelled Lavender.

"What?" the mask said as it lessened the pain to allow the girl to explain herself.

"FAMILY, GRIMM TOOK MOM THEY TOOK MY FAMILY AND THEY BROKE IT. NO FAMILY, ONLY PAIN AND GRIMM CAUSED IT" explained Lavender as tears endlessly flew from her ductects.

How her mind was able to even comprehend that the mask's grip was lessening was a mystery to even her. Nonetheless, in a fit of desperation she grabbed the edges of the mask and tore it off. Raising the mask high above her head she smashed it into the ground as the world shifted into white.


LAVENDER'S ROOM


Lavender gasped as her eyes shot open and her upper torso stood upwards in stiff manner. Her heart felt like it was going a 100 miles an hour as droplets of sweat started to form above her brow.

"W-Where's the mask?" Lavender whispered to herself as she frantically searched around the darkened room for any signs of the acrussed mask. Yet her eyes couldn't find even the smallest traces of evidence.

Even though relief was starting to make is course around her body she still remained tense.

"W-Was that all a dream ...no, a nightmare? " dared to assume Lavender as she raised her hand to touch her face. Instead of the cool material of mask all she felt was the warm touch of her skin.

"I guess it was all a dream after all"

"Do you really want to say that?"

Her body tensed up faster than her mind could even acknowledge the act. "No … please no" begged Lavender.

"I have to say your answer was both unexpected and expected. Unexpected at the beginning, but if take a moment to think on it than it become expected. Besides, did you really think you could run away Lavender? How many times do I have to tell you I' "

A sudden pressure came from her thigh as she threw her sheets to reveal the mask on the side of her leg. Lavender gasped as she threw herself onto the floor, back first, scrambling herself up onto her feet she ran straight towards the door.

"Are you really trying to run away? Seriously, how many times do I have to tell you, you can't run from yourself" explained the mask as lavender looked back at the mask. Her eyes widen in horror at what she saw.

Black sludge leaked from the back of the mask as it began to take shape resembling more like a starfish than anything else. Lavender did not wait a second longer as ran straight out of her room and towards the front door.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you" said the voice in a singsong voice. As Lavender reached the stairs she tripped and as she tumbled on the stairs the voice of the mask rang through her head.

She didn't waste a single moment as she succuried back up and ran towards the front door. she ignored the taunts from the mask.

The door burst open as Lavender ran straight out, adrenaline help fuel her body as it went through the forest. The forest itself was practically pitch black as barely any light could break the dense leaves.

She prayed for any sort of intervention of any sorts divine or other. As she did she muttered under her breath hoping that this must all be some kind of nightmare and she would wake up soon.

The unnerving silence of the forest did not help the young girl's nerves as not even with aura was she able hear anything. She welled up as much aura she could muster ready to use at the slightest sight the mask, whether it was to run or fight.

As the first beads of sweat dripped from her brow her quickly shifted around looking for even the slightest hint of movement.

SNAP

Aura filled her limbs as she faced where the sound had come from … and her heart sank to new depths of despair at what she next.

No longer did the mask look like some kind of twisted parody of a starfish. Now the Grimm's body looked that of a humans.

"Tsk, Tsk Lavender, did you really think you could from yourself of all things?" the mask asked aloud.

"Shut up! I-I'm not scared of you" bit back Lavender as she glared at the mask.

"Than why is your body shaking?" the mask asked rhetorically "face it Lavender, your scared of me … but that will be fixed soon" explained the mask as it's hands tighten into a fist.

The mask took a step forward, Lavender took a step backward. The mask took another step and lavender repeated the same thing. The cool breeze from the winds was the only attempt for some creation of noise, but after minutes of near agonizing waiting Lavender acted.

With a surge of aura she pushed herself back from the mask … only for a back arm to extend and grab her by the throat. Barely any words could escape her mouth as she tried to utilize her aura, only to be filled with ever growing horror and shock as she could not draw upon it, instead she felt the welled up energy dissipate.

"Maybe to any other Grimm that may worked but I'm YOU and we share the same body that includes aura."

The mask let go of it's grip on Lavender's throat before grabbing both of her arms and throwing her onto the ground. Lavender took deep breaths before she released a cry of pain from what the mask did next. The arms began to tighten their grasp as it now felt like her arms were being crushed.

"NO MORE, no more will I be rejected, your going to accept me Lavender even if I have to force it!" the mask roared.

NO! I don't want it, get off of me! I won't turn I won't, I WON'T" cried lavender.

The mask tightened it's grip on lavender as it slowly detached itself from the main body. The mask ignored the young girl's cries as it lowered itself onto her face.

"NO! HELP, HELP, HELP, ANYONE PLEASE. DADDY, MOMMY" lavender screamed.

"LAVENDER" yelled Ruby.


WITH RUBY


"Lavender, I'm here I'm here" said Ruby as she cradled her daughter. The screams of her daughter seared themselves into her very soul.

Ruby didn't understand what was happening to get daughter. One moment everything was quite and than next her daughter was running out of the house before falling onto the ground screaming about nonsense.

She could practically taste the anguish her daughter was experiencing through their psychic bond together. Nothing she did seemed to get through her daughter, the screaming only progressively getting worse with each second.

In a fit of absolute desperation she forced her will through the bond. The technique itself was insanely risky and the various side effects outweighed the benefits by quite the margin.

But the screams of daughter proved otherwise.

Everything around Ruby began to shift and melt into obscene colors as her mind forcefully entered her daughter's mindscape. When her vision cleared she saw her daughter pinned down by a unknown Grimm. She wasted no time, crescent rose materialized in her hand as she charged at the Grimm.

"LAVENDER"

The Grimm turned it's attention at her. She sliced the arms and once her daughter was free she grabbed the mask crushing it. The body of the Grimm collapsed on itself as it began the process of dissipating.

Not wasting any time Ruby rushed over to lavender bringing the child into her embrace.

"Sshhh, it's ok lavender I'm here now, mommy is here" cooed Ruby, rocking her child in a soothing manner.

Lavender let out a sniffle burying herself into her mother's chest.

"Please, don't go … ~sniff~ I don't want to turn mommy I don't want to" begged Lavender.

"What do you mean Lavender, your not making any sense dear?" Ruby asked.

"I don't want to be one … I don't want to be a Grimm" explained lavender.

"... I see … don't worry lavender, we will fix this I promise."

FIN


Ughhh I'm so sorry this took so long to upload, writers block was the biggest reason and the actual will to right was probably the next biggest. Right now I'm in England uploading this thing at 11:03 PM ... yay me.

Ignoring my personal plight I will be uploading the one shot I promised next and after that either write the next chapter or finish this story which really needs only one more chapter than it will be finally finished.

Besides that vote in the poll so I know what story to write next and than other stuff I guess.

Peace