Conduit

by Zarkos

A self insert story where a stroll to the high school turns deadly and then I'm brought to the world of RWBY, though not as I was before. Can I survive as something more than human? Chosen to fight darkness that seeks to destroy all?

5. Wildcard

After a little more than a year another chapter for this story is posted. Sorry for the delay on that, but as some of you may have noticed I was focusing more on Void Warrior and Freezing: Wolf God, putting this story on the back burner. Some things about Conduits and Grimmbloods are explained in this chapter (pertaining to the chapter's name). I greatly enjoyed volume 5, especially Raven's fight with Cinder. It shed new light onto a bad ass character I had already liked before.

This chapter was originally uploaded to the site at about 24,300 something words and now it is thousands more words than before, so it went through some changes from the original uploaded draft. However I am happier about this version than the last one. In case I haven't mentioned it before this story will contain yuri and lemons in later chapters (don't remember right off hand if I have made this known or not in previous chapters, and if I have I do apologize for repeating myself on that).

From now on italics within quotes "like this" are for telepathic communication between characters such as Eve and her tamed Grimms as an example (to mostly make it easier on me and possibly for you guys as well). Now onto the story...

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Raysel clenched a hand tightly. "Dammit." She cursed under her breath staring at the spot the the mystery man had been standing at.

Ruby glanced between the vacant spot and the angered ConCain. It didn't make sense to her that Eve was the only one taken from their group. Why take her and not the whole team? "Why?" That word left the young Huntress's mouth quietly.

"Eve is a Grimm Tamer." Blake began facing Ruby. "Grimm Tamers are rare and worth a fortune for scientific study."

Ruby's eyes widened in horror. "They're going to experiment on her?!"

Raysel grunted. "That is the harsh truth." She said shifting back to human form. "We need to tell the Headmaster about this, and I'll contact my family to see if they know who could have taken Eve."

Jaune frowned with a hand tightened. How am I going to continue my training with Eve gone? What do they plan to do to her? A hand landed lightly on Jaune's shoulder jolting the blond from his thoughts. The hand belonged to the blue haired male of team ERIN.

"We can continue your training." Nolan said reassuringly as Isabel and Raysel nodded. "We're concerned about the abduction but at the moment we can't do much about it aside from telling Professor Ozpin."

The Beacon students slowly walked away from the scene of their friend's capture. The atmosphere around them was as silent as a graveyard. The two boys were not spared the solemn mood and stayed close to their mother, each holding a hand. After some time they reached Beacon with their destination clear. Raysel led the way with a fast pace that resonated urgency. The elevator to the Headmaster's Office was just large enough for all of them, minus Isabel and her boys.

"What brings you all here?" Ozpin said the moment the doors to the elevator opened. A cup of coffee sat near his ride side. Screens flickered out of existence as the silver haired man regarded the students.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly Raysel stopped in front of the desk. "E-"

"She was kidnapped!" Ruby blurted cutting off Raysel who turned to her. "She got into a fight and was really hurt by a building falling on her!"

Something subtle changed in the Headmaster of Beacon. His gaze bored holes into the young Huntress at the same time he leaned forward slightly. "When did this happen?"

"About an hour ago." Nolan supplied now having thsoe eyes bore into him. "We don't know who it was, but they also got Grendel."

"Whoever it was had others who followed their commands." Weiss said getting Ozpin's eyes to shift to her. The intensity of that gaze made her nervous though she hid it well. "That man also knew the names of Raysel, Pyrrha, and me."

"For some reason being near the man who kidnapped Eve was like being near my mother." Raysel added shrugging. "It's possible that man was a Grimmblood."

Ozpin's eyes narrowed dangerously. A dark look crossed the man's face while a clearly felt aura of violence emanated from him. "You are all dismissed." He spoke with a careful tone of neutrality. The Beacon students quickly took the hint and left back to the safety of the elevator. All of them breathed a sigh of relief as said elevator traveled away from the Headmaster.

"I didn't think he could get angry." Raysel said leaning against the door.

"Talk about scary." Yang commented before the elevator doors opened. "We need to do all we can to find them both."

"Right." The others around her replied in unison.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Jake Riddley couldn't help the small grin that came to his lips. It was a good day since he didn't need to battle the Conduit to capture her. The Wolf Faunus had surpassed his expectations by killing three Grimmbloods on her own. The soft splatting of blood reminded Jake that the Conduit was on a time limit. The Wolf Faunus was badly wounded with holes in her thighs clean through and one with a metal re-barb still in her chest. Glancing down the Conduit's skin had paled a little. Turning his eyes ahead of him again white dominated the landscape.

The halls of the building closely resembled that of a hospital, making it easy to spot any stains. Of course the blood dripping from the unconscious Conduit would need to be cleaned up later. It wasn't long before Jake took a left down a dark hallway. At the end of it was a door that opened the moment he was close. The room on the other side was lined with large tubes. Eight in total lined the far wall that were filled with bodies, save for one. Each tank held one individual within suspended in liquid. The individuals were a mixture of males and females that were human in appearance. They were covered with a skin tight suit of black stopping at the neck and feet. Each of the unconscious forms had numerous wires connected to them inside the tubes.

With ease Jake pressed a button on the console next to the unoccupied tube. With a hiss the lid to the tank opened. Jake moved the Conduit and set her up then closed the lid. Within seconds a glowing bluish liquid filled the tank and tiny robotic arms appeared from the top. The four arms produced blades that made short work of the ruined cloths and then collected the scraps for disposal. Those arms also came down to remove the metal rod stuck through the female's chest. After a pause the arms came back with a breath mask that was placed over the Wolf Faunus' face covering her mouth and nose. With that done Jake turned around and walked out of the room. He traveled down the hallway taking a left to continue further into the facility. After several minutes he came to security door where he put in a short number code into a keypad.

The door unlocked with an audible deep click before sliding back. Past the security door rested a large open room with numerous monitors and several control panels. At a chair sat a slim black haired man wearing a white lab coat over black slacks and black dress shirt. His soft blue eyes were deceptive to the intelligence within the man's mind.

"A good harvest Jake." The man said as his deep voice resonated through the room, once again speaking louder than intended.

"No need for the volume Victor." Jake groaned earning a chuckle from the other man.

"My bad, my bad." Victor replied turning his wheeled chair back around to face the control panel next to him. With a blur of movement two screens materialized in front of him. The seated man focused on the two screens that showed some form of charts and results of something. "This is interesting."

Jake grunted. "What is?" His yellow eyes scanned over the two screens in front of the scientist. He really didn't understand all the details shown, so that was left for Victor to work with.

Not answering immediately Victor pressed more buttons summoning images of cameras showing both the Conduit and another room that contained an unmoving Grimm with a familiar glowing collar. "The Grimm Tamer you just put into the tank is unconscious, and so is the Grimm bound to her."

Jake's brow furred a little. "Meaning?"

Victor snorted summoning another screen with images of crystals attached to wires that connected with the room containing the tanks where the Wolf Faunus rested. Eight crystals were situated into a line glowing pale green except for one. "As you can see she is different from the others completely."

Jake's eyes widened at the bright blue glow from the crystal knowing who it was connected to. Only a few minutes in the tank and the crystal siphoning her powers is brighter and a different color than the others. "Would it be safe to assume that her bond with the Grimm she tamed is different than the others?"

"Quite so." Victor replied changing the screens once again. This time it was an image of a chart that had seven lines of green and one of blue. In that chart the green lines stayed close to the bottom unlike the blue line that spiked high and stayed that way, even when going up and down. "The Faunus's bond to the Grimm is deeper and far stronger than the others. However without proper shielding that is also a weakness."

"Basically if the Grimm is killed she will be harmed?" Jake asked then the screens vanished at once.

Victor yawned stretching his arms over his head. "Exactly." The scientist stood up heading for the door. "Before you ask the Faunus should be out of the tank in about a week and a half."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"It's been over a week..." Ruby groaned laying her head onto the desk of her dorm room. The young huntress was for once exhausted after the countless hours of searching for the kidnapped Grimm Tamer.

"I know." Yang commented from her spot on her own bed. As with Ruby she was dressed in her typical combat attire. With a swipe of a finger a location was crossed off of a list on her Scroll. "Raysel was right in saying that it wouldn't be easy to find Eve or Grendel."

"You guys aren't the only ones worried." Nolan spoke from the open window. Instantly the four girls of RWBY jumped up, or fell to the floor in the cases of Ruby and Yang. "I've noticed that the teachers are worried too."

Weiss nodded slowly. "I have seen that Professor Oobleck appears somewhat distracted during lectures."

"It's only natural they would be worried." Raysel's voice echoed in the room. Then there was a pause before the Grimmblood appeared in the center of the room from a cloud of black smoke. "If whoever took Eve finds a way to gain control of her that will spell disaster for us."

Yang groaned pointing to the Grimmblood. "Teleporting into the room like that is just plain creepy!" A knock sounded on her team room's door seconds later. It wasn't long before the door opened to reveal Pyrrha. The green eyed amazonian champion was clad in her battle attire with a aura of tiredness about her. The absence of the Conduit had effected more than team ERIN and the professors.

"How did the search go?" She asked in a curious but somewhat off tone.

Blake's eyes focused on the champion with her bow twitching slightly. It was easy to hear the curiosity, however there was another tone under it. The cat faunus wasn't quite sure if that undertone was leaning more to anger or desperation. With a shake of her head the faunus replied. "Another dead end."

Pyrrha's smile left her face as her eyes went to the floor. "I see." She commented before leaving, closing the door behind her.

Raysel yawned as the others in the room returned their attention to her. "I'm also worried about the amazon." To this the occupants nodded. "Pyrrha seems rather attached to Eve. Though I cannot say if that is because of friendship, the desire to be something more, or the fact Eve makes Pyrrha feel normal compared to the Conduit."

Yang pulled back a little with her arms in front of her. "You mean that she doesn't like Vomit Boy?!"

Raysel giggled. "I am sure she does as a friend who sees her as a person rather than an idol as many others do. However I couldn't sense romantic desire from her about him."

"Hold on a minute." Weiss spoke holding a hand up with eyes turning to her. "You can sense emotions?"

The Grimmblood nodded. "Due to my kind's Grimm heritage yes. Naturally it is easier for us to sense negative emotions, though with enough practice you can sense more positive emotions too."

"Still no leads at all?" Nolan spoke getting shakes of the head from everyone.

Raysel sighed. "Got nothing from most of my family. I did ask my great grandmother about it..." The Grimmblood shivered visibly holding her arms in over of her chest. "She froze the entire main building and was in a rage yelling out a name until my great grandfather could calm her down."

"She's the Frost Empress, right?" Nolan spoke a little nervous. Despite not knowing much about the Grimmblood's family he was familiar with the eldest ConCain through stories. Famously known as the "Frost Empress" for her nightmarish power with the element of ice.

Raysel nodded.

"What name did she say?" Blake asked watching the Grimmblood shiver one more time, as if she could still feel the icy fury of her great grandmother.

"Jake Riddley."

Weiss tilted her head slightly to the left. "That name sounds familiar..." She said pulling out her scroll. With a series of key presses the white haired teen pulled up something, and her eyes widened.

"What is it Weiss?" Yang said noting the look on the heiress's face.

In response a finger was held up. The others waited patiently for another minute. "There is an article about him that made the news recently."

"Fill us in Weiss." Raysel spoke at the same time as Nolan.

The heiress nodded. "Basically Jake Riddley is a wanted man with a extensive history of crimes and violence. The centuries old Grimmblood is responsible for countless murders, kidnappings, and stealing. His preferred targets are Conduits and Grimm Tamers. As with the disappearance of the Eve over a week ago. It is known that he has a sadistic streak from the remains of dead victims and the few survivors of captivity."

"That narrows things down." Ruby commented cheerfully.

"It does, however..." Nolan paused placing a hand on his chin. "We still don't know where she is held."

"We can continue thinking about where tomorrow." Raysel yawned then teleported out of the room. Waving goodbye Nolan leapt down from the window perch heading for team ERIN's house.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

The overpowering scent of sterilized something was the first thing I noticed. Then I felt cold things on my body. I tried to move but nothing happened.

"Awake are we?" A voice said somewhere in front of me.

I opened my eyes groggily seeing nothing but blurry shapes. After a few blinks things cleared up. A man stood in front of me dressed in sharp clothing, a blue gray suit trimmed in black at the edges of the coat and sleeves. Further down his body the pants also had a black line going down the center of the front to black combat boots. The man's face was angular in a handsome fashion with bright yellow eyes and short combed black hair.

"Where am I?" I asked with a hoarse voice right as my tail touched something. I could feel both skin and something hard around one ankle.

"My lab, little Conduit." The male replied with a slight grin.

"Lab?" I repeated before trying to move around to see behind me. It was then I felt something around my neck, wrists, knees, and ankles. Bindings? I screamed internally feeling panic beginning to set in at the fact I couldn't move.

That grin got larger and more devious looking. "As you have no doubt noticed I have bound all the limbs of your naked form except for that tail of yours."

A slight shock went through me at those words. Naked form?! I internally repeated. Looking down I did see bare breasts with those claws scars on them. I could also see that I was suspended above a sterile white tile floor.

I heard the man in front of me hum as boots clicked on the tile floor. I turned my attention back to him to see some movement like lazily swatting away a fly with one hand, then the restraints on my form shifted. Chains rattled noisily making me flick my ears to try and lessen the volume. They shifted so that I was upright spread eagle, but with my arms together above my head. "Interesting." He commented as I watched him get close to me. He drew a hand from one of his pockets then lightly brushed a finger over one of the dragon claw scars at my waist. "Few have taken on a dragon in melee combat and lived to tell the tale, little Conduit."

The gentle brushing of a finger over the claw scar at my hip sent strange sensations down my spine. The first sensation was like tracing a finger over the arch of your bare foot lightly, a strange but pleasant feeling. Then there was a feeling of something hidden in that touch. A feeling that sent a chill down my spine. That finger brushed the length of the scar then kept on going for another one next to it. That other feeling left a disturbing sensation just after the path of the finger as if trying to let a little something flow from it to me.

Heat rose to my cheeks at the sensations but I focused a glare onto the man. "Stop tracing my scars." I growled.

His head rose to look me on the eyes with a raised eyebrow. "Something you don't like?"

My tail twitched from side to side quickly at the same time my ears flattened. "I know you're trying to have something flow into me." I replied narrowing my eyes in a darker glare as my blush faded.

"I see." He commented removing the finger tip from my skin and backing up. "You are quite the perceptive one. Or is it that you have no desire for men?"

My glare lessened from that statement as heat came back to my cheeks. It was out of the blue and threw me off a bit. Letting that thought go I watched him with careful eyes. "Why would that matter?"

Shrugging he replied. "Thinking out loud."

Sure he was. Or he did it to see what kind of reaction he'd get from me. After that he started walking over to a wall then pressed something. A section of wall folded down revealing an array of tools, tools used to inflict pain.

"Rape is not something that I care for. However..." The man paused grabbing a short blade from the angled tray. The steel colored blade gleamed from the overhead light. "I need to inflict pain for the purpose of my experiments."

As he started walking to me I gave him a defiant look. "Hurt me all you like, but I won't break."

There was a momentary pause in his steps. However I noticed that a sinister grin came to his lips when the steps continued. With a hand he grabbed the top of my head tightly. His face came uncomfortably close to mine. "You are not the first to say that to me. And I will enjoy every moment of your suffering." With that the blade sliced down the left side of my ribs. I grit my teeth not letting a sound out to the action. The man backed up changing sides. Again that blade bit into my skin, though there was something else this time. A powerful shock ripped through the slice frazzling my fur and hair.

"Electricity?!" I spat in shock feeling a slight burning feeling in my body.

The man let out a healthy evil laugh. "In case you haven't realized yet, I am like you." A ripple of energy washed over him to reveal a Beowolf then it changed back. "I'm a Grimmblood." With hardly a pause that blade stabbed into my right arm at the forearm, then he electrified it. I let out a scream of pain making the sadistic Grimmblood laugh with a gleam in his eyes. That shock went on for some time before a muffled roar reached my ears.

I smiled in relief as the electricity stopped knowing who had let it out. Grendel's voice boomed another roar of fury letting me know his anger. For some reason I couldn't reach out to him mentally or access my powers. "You won't keep me here for long." I remarked since he was turned to the sound of the Beowolf Alpha's roars.

Within seconds his head snapped back to me. A dangerous look of challenge was there along with anticipation. A fist hammered into my chest knocking the wind out of me. "I knew this would be fun!" He said in a voice that was like a child finding out they were indeed going to their favorite candy store to buy anything they wanted. There was little wasted time before another fist slammed into my stomach painfully. Blood spilled form my mouth mostly on my naked form, though some I'm sure landed on the floor. The sadistic man took several steps back turning around at the same time.

A spark of electricity lashed out from one hand. That electricity moved like a whip stinging and cutting at the same time. The first mark was centered on my abs. Then the next came from the other hand as he spun laughing the whole time. It left a mark just under my breasts causing me to scream out a bit. Two more marks were left on my them before more were made on my legs and arms. After that a final strike landed on my jaw. The force jerked my head upwards to the left hard. My vision blurred a bit while I tasted more blood in my mouth. I barely herd the crackle of electricity stop.

"As much fun as this is I cannot hurt you too badly on the first day." I heard with his voice seemingly distorted. He stayed for some time then moved over to the wall and did something I couldn't see. With a high tech hydraulic sound something moved then I saw him leave the room. My eyes grew heavy and I surrendered to sleep. I awoke to a room without any lights and smelled a little musty. I felt stone tiles under my legs while pain gnawed at my form. Moving was uncomfortable but I could feel that some of the bindings from earlier were gone. I felt a shift of something in the air near me. Glancing around the room I saw walls and one of them had thick metals bars, much like a cell.

I noticed a moving outline that stopped in front of the bars to my cell. That outline let me know whatever this thing was, it wasn't human. Overall what I could see placed this thing around the size of a lynx or bobcat. Then the outline vanished in a ripple of electricity. My eyes widened a bit as black and white dominated the form of the creature. Most of the body was covered in sections of armor plating that was white while I could see black skin or something through the cracks. It held the form of a cat with six eyes in triangular formations on either side of the head. Then it walked to me with a sort of harmless calm. It was hard not to notice the finger like toes on each foot that more than likely had retractable claws.

To my amazement the creature walked through the bars as if they weren't there before sitting down a little a head of me. With a bow of the head and some of the front body I realized the glow was a solid blue not the red I knew from Grimm. I tried to move closer to the feline only to find myself short. Clinking reached my ears letting me know I was chained to a wall with some room to move.

"Hello Mistress." The Grimm creature spoke with surprising clarity.

How the hell can a Grimm speak this clearly? I thought before shaking my head to focus. "Mistress?" I repeated feeling the soreness of my jaw from the last hit of the electrical whip.

The creature nodded. "Your power calls to me. The others are..." The feline tilted its head to the side as if in thought. "Lacking."

"How can you speak so clearly?" I asked feeling that this Grimm creature wasn't going to attack me for some reason. "Who tamed you?"

The creature snorted. "I was made, not tamed."

Again my eyes widened a little. This Grimm was created rather than found in the wilds? Who the hell would think to make Grimm with powers? "Where were you created?"

The feline tapped the front left paw out of eight on the floor several times. "These labs."

The same labs that the guy who tortured me owned? Then it clicked; that man needed data from Grimm Tamers to make Grimm of his own designs with the powers of a Conduit. "I need to get out of here." I muttered with a growl jerking my arms as I watched the chain on the wall jiggle, but not break.

"I can get you out." The Grimm said so I turned back to face it. "But you must wait some days for the best opportunity."

That was better than nothing, but not exactly what I was hoping for when the Grimm mentioned it could free me. "How long?" I asked feeling a bit of dread for the answer.

The Grimm held up both front paws displaying four clawed toes on each of them. "Eight days."

"Eight days?" I hisseded narrowing my eyes. I was not looking forward to enduring eight more days of this torture. "Can't you do it sooner?"

It shrugged its shoulder looking apologetic. With a shake of its head the Grimm replied. "Sorry Mistress. Must wait for a prime opportunity." Then the Grimm walked up to me placing its forehead on mine. Seconds later I felt something connect the two of us like I had Tamed another Grimm thought it was different. After some time the Grimm's head left mine.

I touched my forehead feeling a lingering tingle sensation that faded fast. "What was that?"

The Grimm stopped before the bars to my cell looking over one shoulder. "Despite your bindings we are now linked. You can now connect to me and see beyond your restrictions whenever you wish." With that the Grimm phased out from my view. However as it said I could feel it walking away on the ceiling before their presence was out of range. Maybe I could get some use out of this kind of bond. Yawning I closed my eyes to sleep.

Bright light shined onto my closed eyes. I groaned at the sensation before hearing boots on stone floor. I opened my eyes to see two people in armor carrying a rifle each. Both of them aimed their weapons at me while another that didn't carry a visible weapon came up to the door. The bars slid into the floor and ceiling automatically then she produced a key that unlocked the chain from the wall.

"Don't both to try and use your powers wolf." The woman who unlocked the wall chains grabbed that end in one hand. Her slender form belied the strength that tugged at the chain. "The chains on you seal those powers away." She added further as she led me from my cell. The two armed guards followed behind me with weapons still trained. I took note of the surroundings that changed from holding cells to the white halls of a lab or hospital. However my ears and nose told me numerous things. My ears caught the sounds of muffled screams mixed with the sounds of machinery. My nose easily caught the scents of blood and potent chemicals that either cleaned up messes or the untold amount used for whatever experiments were done here.

The hallway had no windows and only a few checkpoints with guards in armor. The woman leading me around produced a card each time we met a checkpoint. From that item she was able to move on after doing something with it I couldn't see past her lab coat. After the third checkpoint the woman led me down another hallway that held a right turn at the end. Once past that bend a strong looking security door stood in the way. The scientist jerked the chain she held forwards. The force was almost enough to have me crash into the metal door. I heard the distinct sounds of keypad buttons being pressed before the door hissed open.

The revealed room was large with a flat metal floor that held countless marks from claws and other things. Overall the room was once maybe white, but the scars from claws or elemental attacks had changed it to a dull gray-white along with stains of red. Another yank on the chain had me walking to keep up lest her or the guards do something. Along one wall three wheeled kart like trays were parked with a lot of things on them. I had a good enough glance to recognize those were tools like the ones I had seen the first time I met the man who owned these labs. I was led to the center of the room where the woman let go of the chains only for them to extend to the ceiling. Briefly pain flared around my neck then I felt my bare feet leave the ground. I watched her weave her hand in some pattern feeling my limbs move and bindings appear on them. She had me bound spread eagle with my arms suspended above my head with wrists bound together.

Her blue eyes looked over my form in a calculative manner. "I am a little jealous of you Conduit." She spoke with a softer voice than I had expected, though I could sense a dangerous hint to it. "You have a much better figure than I do." The woman took two steps closer then reached out grabbing one of my breasts in a hand. "Especially these." She added with evident venom. Her grip tightened for a few seconds then the let up and walked away.

A snap of fingers summoned robotic arms that came into view with several needle attachments, scalpels, and a small buzz saw. The third arm that came down from the ceiling contained three different attachments that stirred fear within me. Those were a sprayer connected to a small tube full of semi-translucent green fluid, another with a fiery red fluid, a glowing branding tool, and a pronged tool with arcing electricity between the two teeth.

"I look forward to seeing how your pet will react to your pain Grimm Tamer." A male voice echoed from some sport of speakers while the slim woman exited the room taking the two guards with her. "First is one of those injectors." The male voice added as I whipped my head to the side seeing a observation deck behind glass. On the other side of the glass I spotted a male in a lab coat standing over what could be some form of console if the movement of his arms was any indication. He was a slim man of some height dressed in a black shirt with some form of slacks I couldn't see clearly. Seconds later I felt a needle pierce skin and something come out of it. My vision blurred moments before my body felt as if my insides were burning.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

"Again!" A familiar voice barked signaling another round. Jaune panted glaring at the Grimmblood in her form fitting sports attire he knew she had on from when they started the night time sparring match. She had dragged him out in the middle of the night to the woods for practice, again. He admitted that this training made him quite tired overall, but he could feel a difference from before. Soreness covered his form from the several hours of sparring with the Grimmblood who was by no means tired.

A fist came for him from the right traveling at speed. Jaune had learned from these training sessions that taking hits from either Raysel or Eve hurt, badly. So he ducked under the blow having trouble seeing the limb in such low light. With a few moments pause the blond knight threw a left handed punch towards where he thought his target was. His fist was quickly met with a slap of a hand directing the punch harmlessly away from her. Following that was a palm strike to the chest sending Jaune back several meters spitting out blood.

The Grimmblood held her position for a few seconds as the blond knight landed harshly on his back. She could see that the impact had knocked the wind out of the poor human. She stood up relaxed snapping her fingers. At the action dozens of small glowing orbs materialized giving the area a purple hue and light for Jaune to see. "That's enough for tonight." Raysel said walking over to the panting male. She knelt down placing a hand over one of his thighs. As usual the boy was covered in dark bruises and some bleeding scratches from the forest environment around them. Power flowed from her to his form visually dispelling the injuries he had gained.

"Okay." Jaune replied with a slight cough at the end basking in the feeling of his pain fading and injuries getting healed. How Raysel or Eve were able to do that didn't matter as the sensation was quite relaxing and felt good. The blond closed his eyes absorbing the warmth healing gave him, though his mind drifted. Over the time that Eve had been missing teams ERIN, JNPR, and RWBY had done their best to look for the Grimm Tamer. Sadly their search had gone empty handed with no real leads as to where she had been taken. However there was a single powerful lead, Jake Riddley.

According to an article that Weiss had shared with her team then the other two that man was a Grimmblood centuries old. Known for many crimes and a sadistic streak. He also remembered that Jake was known for targeting Grimmbloods and Grimm Tamers over others. Despite that information they had no clue where he had taken the Conduit. Just where could she have been taken?

"All done." Raysel commented with the warmth of healing leaving Jaune's body along with the relaxing feeling. After that she grabbed the collar of his dark blue shirt and effortlessly pulled him to his feet. "Something on your mind?" She noted a distant look to his face as if the kid was wrapped in his own thoughts. I was an expression that was showing itself more and more lately.

He blinked a few times then shook his head. "Somewhat." He admitted scratching the back of his head with a free hand. A quick glance down let him know that once again the laundry staff would get their work cut out for them with the amount of dirt and forest debris his current cloths had on them. Not to mention he would have to go to Vale to buy some more cloths from the cuts that his current pants and sweater had.

"Care to elaborate?" Raysel asked placing a hand on his shoulder before teleporting them to the main courtyard of the school.

Jaune's gaze turned to the sky letting him see the moon shining brightly in the cloudless night sky. He took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I can't help but think that there is something we're missing on our search for Eve." One hand reached out towards the broken moon and that hand closed as if grabbing it. "Something just out of reach."

Raysel grunted in agreement before the two of them began walking. Their trip was silent enjoying the calm night. It wasn't long after the teleportation that they parted way to their respective sleeping areas. The following day teams ERIN, JNOR, and RWBY met together in Vale for the purpose of searching for the missing Conduit of Beacon. They split up asking around various places in the city, some even going for the more questionable spots in the city.

"Are you sure this guy is gonna have the info we need?" Nolan Quester commented stepping off of the motorcycle that Yang seemed quite attached to. The blond brawler was quite the chaotic driver, but he didn't mind. The afternoon sun burned hotly overhead giving off the feeling of summer, yet it was still fall.

The blond brawler cocked her head to the side with a grin. "I'm sure I can talk him into giving up some information." With that she took off her helmet, placing it on her bike, then strolling over to the bar entrance. Shrugging Nolan followed her into the bar quickly finding a large open room with overhead spotlights and more focused laser lights. In the middle of the floor was a raised part of it with a black floor and red lines that formed squares on it. All along the room men dressed in black suits with red cuffs and gloves watched them carefully. Nolan's gaze shifted towards what appeared to be Yang's destination. At the bar stood a man who was different from the others in suits and sunglasses. The suited men all stopped what they had been doing to watch her carefully.

Even over the loud techno music Nolan heard the man groan. "Not you again."

Yang sat on a bar stool with Nolan taking the seat to her left. "I need some information Junior."

Junior sighed running a hand over his short black hair. He was quite tall with gray eyes and a beard that followed the line of his chin. A black vest rested over a white dress shirt while black gloves covered his hands. Around his neck hung a red tie matching the ones worn by the other suited men in the bar. "About what blondie?"

Nolan leaned forward getting Junior's attention. "A man whom has a keen interest in Conduits."

The man behind the bar paled considerably. "What do two kids want with a monster like that?" Junior said struggling to keep composure.

Yang's eyes flared red as she narrowed her gaze at the club owner. "He took a friend of ours." Her voice echoed with anger.

Nolan leaned back at the intensity of her gaze while Junior flinched. "Anything you know about Jake Riddley will help us." The blue haired male said drawing Junior's attention giving Yang time to close her eyes and take a calming breath or two.

Junior's eyes glanced from Nolan to Yang then scanned the room. It wasn't long before those gray eyes came back to Nolan's own. The man took a deep breath then let it out slowly. "I don't know about that man. Though there is a number of groups interested in the Grimm Tamer at Beacon." Junior paused glancing around the room once more before leaning forward. Getting the hint Nolan leaned close to the man. "There is a group I heard of that has a keen interest in Grimm Tamers and their powers. They have a some research places within the city."

Nolan nodded committing the information to memory. "What are they called?" He whispered back.

Junior was silent for some moments before he swallowed. "Marlow Compact."

Leaning back and seeing the traces of fear on the other male's face Nolan smiled. "Thanks." He said placing down three cards of currency. He then grabbed hold of Yang's arm and led her out of the bar.

Yang yanked her arm only to find that Nolan's grip was firmer than she thought. "I can follow you." She commented feeling Nolan release his grip.

Nolan pulled out his scroll and dialed a number. Within moments the face of Raysel appeared along with the background of a rooftop cafe. "Did you find something?" Raysel's voice echoed out of the Scroll.

"Yeah." Nolan said stopping next to Yang's motorcycle as the blond got it running. "I want you to investigate a group called Marlow Compact who, according to Yang's source, has interests in Grimm Tamers and their powers."

Raysel nodded. "I don't have much skill in hacking but I can put one of my brothers to this."

"Do it." Nolan commanded getting another nod before closing the Scroll, killing the connection. "Lets get back to Beacon and meet up with her."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"That Conduit is something else." Victor commented with a content smile once more scrolling through data on three different holographic screens in front of him. The man reached to his right grabbing a coffee mug. His eyes glanced through one of the gaps between two screens to the room below. The reinforced glass let him see the blood stained white tile floor. It slowly trickled to the circular grate in the center of the floor. From there Victors eyes scanned the rest of the testing room where other spots of dried blood rested, uncleaned. However at that moment three people in hazmat suits entered with cleaning supplies in hand.

"She is, however something about her is troubling me." Jake Riddley commented from his spot leaning against the left side of the door frame.

Victor turned his chair to face the Grimmblood. "Is it her resilience to the experimentation?" Jake shook his head. "Her power?"

"Her power?" Jake repeated slowly mulling the words over. There was definitely something about the sheer power the Grimm Tamer possessed. The Command Crystals fabricated from her taming powers were beyond anything else his labs had been able to make since it had been started over ten years ago. One of those Command Crystals were able to control a dozen or so lessor Grimm at once, and supply them with minor versions of Conduit abilities. However a gut feeling told the him it wasn't the Grimm Tamer's power that had him troubled. "Her power is substantial, but it's something else."

Victor turned his chair back around before finders typed on holographic keys. "Has anyone from this lab done a thorough DNA scan of our latest catch?"

Jake shrugged. "I haven't told anyone to do that, so I would think not." His eyes shifted from the clear glass to the scientist rapidly typing in commands to one, if not all three, of the holographic screens before him.

Arms and fingers moved in a nearly dizzying blur as Victor did whatever calculations he needed via computer commands. Almost a minute passed as he worked his magic on the terminal. The scientist noticeably froze without warning. For a few moments he remained motionless then resumed animation. "This is startling." He commented typing in a several more commands into the terminal before facing Jake once more. Between the two men flashed into existence a holographic image of a portrait. That portrait was of a teenager of probably seventeen. The eyes of the female were a brilliant ocean blue that was more or less a match to the recently acquired Grimm Tamer while the hair was of a lighter shade being closer to silver or marble white. However the most distinguishing feature was the lack of wolf ears on the female's head.

A jolt went through Jake as his eyes finished going over the image. "I killed that kid eight months ago!" The Grimmblood said in disbelief. "How the hell is she alive again?" He added barely a whisper.

"Hell if I know." Victor said with a shrug. "The point is that kid is alive, but with some genetic modifications that allow for Grimm Tamer powers." However it seems the still present Grimmblood genes are dormant. Who or what did that? He added mentally, keeping that for himself.

A buzzer sounded in the room before a voice echoed from the room's sole speaker above the entrance. "Major Riddley. The Conduit you had put in Testing Room Five this morning has killed three lab assistants."

Jake pushed himself from the door frame straightening. "How?" He asked knowing the speaker worked as a microphone.

"She tore off the chains from the wall that were connected to her wrists. Even bound and unable to use her normal powers she is dangerous." The voice replied sounding clearly annoyed with a hint of worry.

A smirk worked its way to Jake's lips before it vanished for a neutral expression. "This is the perfect excuse to see the wolf Faunus." With that he turned on a heel swiftly leaving the room. His feet carried him with quick purpose down the hall to a left turn then a right. At the end of that aged hallway stood an equally aged door of metal grating. Pulling it to the side Jake entered going down the long flight of stairs. At the bottom of those stairs was another door with faded blue paint that had seen better days. After passing through that door a very large cavern greeted him. The area had been there for nearly three hundred years and was the perfect spot to have large rooms made for the purpose of experimentation for things that were not so legal. A sense of satisfaction filled him as he traveled down the catwalks from the ceiling towards the ground floor of the cavern. Almost everywhere his eyes looked were the signs of efficiency with lab assistants in gray green scrubs and mercenaries moving about with purpose. They kept the labs running on time and mostly clean.

However his eyes turned to the one room he was going to. The satisfaction from earlier faded to be replaced with neutral calm. It was hard to believe that the chains which had been firmly secured to the wall of Testing Room Five had been torn off. Those chains had been specially made to be incredibly durable, including the wall base. For years the chains had contained Beowolves, Ursa, and a few Conduits. During those times they showed no signs of significant damage. However Sargent Striker was not one to report something beyond reason to his commanding officer. With a shake of his head Jake jumped down from one of the lower catwalks to the ground clearing if effortlessly. It was amazing what being alive for seven hundred years could do for one's body. Although not in Beowolf form his ears could pick up the sounds of struggle in the approaching room.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Blood blocked vision in one eye though it didn't matter as I had one of the bastards who had experimented on my in my hands. Unlike the last three bodies lying dead at my feet this one was among the mercenaries that worked something along the lines of security. She struggled against my hold as the chains that were connected to my arms helped in chocking her. One elbow hammered into my ribs repeatedly in a painful barrage. I ignored that in favor of trying to kill my target who was getting desperate. A armored boot slammed down onto a bare foot with an audible crack. I barely held back a scream, but that did interrupt my concentration. My arms slacked in their grip unwillingly, and it was seconds later that I felt myself go airborne.

Air left my lungs a moment after my back slammed into the hard concrete floor of the room. I watched as the human mercenary started untying the chains around her neck while air refused to go in my lungs. After several deep breath attempts air finally came to my lungs with her almost having the chains free of her neck. With a growl I shifted on the floor, turning to deliver a powerful kick to one of her legs. The blow landed with my shin crashing into the body armor the mercenaries wore. However the force behind the strike wasn't hindered much and it threw that leg out from under her. She fell to the floor hard crying out when her head crashed into it. I rolled forwards then sprang up with a small jump. Seconds later I slammed an elbow into the human's chest.

Blood shot out of her mouth with a gasping cry. Wasting no time I pinned her down with a knee just under her breasts and began to pummel her with both fists. Blood splashed out of her mouth with each impact to either side. A knee rammed into my back hitting right about the base of my tail. I screamed out as nerves cried out in agonizing protest. My eye stayed on her through sheer will as the human regained breath and had a moment to do something. She quickly produced an edged weapon that glowed red orange the moment I saw it. With one hand she thrust it at me. Immediately I leaned back to avoid the weapon. As I leaned back the blade sliced clean through the chains between my wrists with ease. The woman's brown eyes widened in shock since my arms were now free to move independently of each other.

I grabbed her armed hand at the wrist and punched her chest with the other hand. Concrete cracked from the force with more blood coming out of her mouth. Some droplets of blood landed on my face and I grinned putting as much pressure as I could muster onto the wrist I held. She tried to move it from my grip to no avail. The armor strained under my grip then cracked followed by another crack that was no doubt her bone breaking. The edged weapon dropped and stopped glowing the moment if left her hands. I snatched it from the air with my left hand slashing her throat at the same time. Blood gushed out from the wound as air wheezed out of her. Just to make sure she died I stabbed the blade into her heart, going through the armor with the same ease it cut through the metal chain.

I watched her eyes dull in color signaling her demise. Boots on concrete alerted me to someone-no more than one coming. I took a moment to wrap the chains around my forearms and knucles as added offense and some defense. Quickly looking over the woman it would be impossible to wear her armor as she was shorter than me by nearly a foot. It didn't help the woman I had just killed was quite plain, meaning that none of her armor would fit around my chest or hips. Turning my attention back to the door I slid up next to it on the right side, then waited. Hours seemed to pass as I carefully listened to the footsteps of four people. In anticipation I held the knife I had acquired in a back handed grip, which would make it easier to stab into the throat of whoever entered. Ears flicked this way and that with each set of sounds. Finally the door hissed open at a volume that might be hard for human ears to detect. I watched carefully as the man who entered looked away from where I stood leaning close to the wall.

With that opportunity I lashed out plunging the knife into the exposed throat. As quickly as I could I pulled the knife back splitting open the vulnerable spot, coating the floor with more blood and left my arm. Pulling the limb back I front flipped over to the other side of the door frame hoping that the next person would look to where I had been. A few seconds passed by without anyone entering the room then another male armed with a pistol entered looking exactly to where I had been. With the opportunity before me I stepped up to stab him in the neck as I had with the other mercenary. With unexpected speed the man whipped around to face me. My knife plunged deep into a shoulder forcing the grizzled male to wince heavily and for his frame to follow the flow of impact.

"Shit!" The grizzled male cursed tightening the grip on his pistol rather than dropping it.

With a growl I took out the knife with the left hand seconds before my right fist hammered into his face. Blood exploded from his nose where my fist had landed. His head went back hard form the hit but came back quickly as the hand holding the pistol rose. On reflex I side stepped moments before the pistol discharged a short three round burst. I heard the bullets burrow deep into the wall behind me. A slight chill ran down my spine at the sound of them, but ignoring that I slashed at a wrist. I watched him try to move back only to have blood gush from the wound as the weapon left his right hand. With speed I stabbed the weapon into his gut then turned grabbing the pistol with my right hand. The pistol barked releasing two bullets.

Shock lit up the man's face as he stumbled back. I punched the male with my left hand effectively shoving him back. With distance between us I pulled the trigger three more times, putting a bullet into the head and the other two about where the heart would be. The corpse fell backwards at the same time a blur moved into the room. Following that and taking a sniff of the air I knew who it was. The bastard who ran these labs was quick for sure, but I could follow his movements. Time seemed to slow down as I focused waiting for the right moment to use the pistol. Several long seconds passed then I saw it, letting the weapon in my right hand bark four times.

Annoyed grunting sounded three times with blood splatting onto the floor. However I could hear the last shot miss my target to burrow into the far wall. A hand gripped hard on my right wrist so I let go willingly knowing that the pistol would not be of much use. I turned pulling back at the same time forcing the Grimmblood to close the distance between us as he still held my wrist. Moments later I rammed my left hand, blade first, into his chest once getting an oof in response. Quickly I pulled back then went for his wrist. The hand that came for my blade armed one was too slow to stop the knife from plunging to the hilt. Blood splashed from the impact dotting my naked form with more of it. He let go with a yell of pain.

Electricity crackled in the air at my location without warning. Pain rippled through my sore nerves at a dull level. It hurt though I could ignore it in favor of attacking this bastard. The Grimmblood's eyes raged with anger like a molten furnace or boiling lava. Moving quickly I caught a right handed punch with a lot of power behind it. I growled at the force but held my ground. I tossed the knife behind me catching it with my tail, though it probably wasn't the best of ideas. With my other hand free I grabbed his trapped arm then violently pulled him to me again. My right shoulder slammed into his chest and catching some of his throat if the sound of coughing up was anything to go by. With the Grimmblood trying to get air back into his throat I shifted back a step then unleashed a barrage of punches. Channeling the pain I felt into my anger my fists hammered relentlessly into him. I heard bones cracking and flesh beaten into submission, but I kept up the barrage focusing on inflicting as much damage as possible.

Something faint sounded near me but I paid it no mind seeing blood splatter out of the Grimmblood's mouth. Fire erupted into existence at my feet scorching flesh and a yelp of pain escaped my lips. I turned around to see another mercenary in armor, but this was tan colored. Along the armor I could see some form of tribal patterns of various colors from red to deep blue. At the shifting of his body I also changed position taking a step to the left. Fire erupted again where I had been standing. The heat licked at my skin painfully, more so than the electricity had done earlier. Again anger boiled in my blood. Rage at the pain I had suffered at their hands for experiments. Harnessing that I threw a fast punch at the newcomer. Flames blazed into partial existence around my left hand that hammered into the surprised face of a middle aged man with tar black hair. He went flying from the force crashing through the nearby wall.

My ears flicked at the sound of movement. I ducked on impulse moments before a fire encased leg went through the air where I had been. With the opportunity I tried to stab the Grimmblood only for him to vanish from sight. I heard the mercenary get up and move towards me at a sprint. With that I charged at him once again feeling the soreness of my body. At first I strafed left then right watching as he matched those movements. Seeing one of the dead bodies in my path I grabbed it and chucked the sack of flesh at the mercenary. At the same time I leaned back to slide on the floor under him. I watched as he grabbed the thrown body and threw it to the side. The look of confusion was priceless as I slid under him delivering a metal chain aided punch to the groin at the same time the knife sliced the inside of a leg. I heard the armor crack from the impact.

A shriek left his mouth when I slid to a stop behind the mercenary. Feeling heat I rolled to the side avoiding a flame covered fist and letting go of the knife from my tail. The flames were hot enough to scorch the stone floor and burn some of my tail fur. My nose twitched at the horrid smell, but I rolled again to the side avoiding another burst of fire. Feeling a wall with one foot I pushed myself forward then pushed myself up. An armored leg and boot rammed into the side of my ribs before I could get all the way up with one or two audible cracks. I cried out as I went up into the air and some distance away from where I had been. I tried to breath only to feel the need to cough. Blood came out in thick splotches several times as I tried to get air in my lungs.

A boot touched my ribs then applied some force, turning me over. I glared at the two men as one walked around to be on the other side of me. "I told you she was dangerous." The middle aged male commented as I felt a boot rest on one of my wrists.

"Yes." The other commented with a grin. He stood to my left while the mercenary stood on the right. "That's what made her good for the experiments. However it is time to teach her a lesson." He said then a boot crashed into my face.

Some time later I opened my eyes to find the Grimmblood I had stabbed with a bandage over the wound and next to an bound Grendel. His face had partially recovered but still looked battered from earlier with bruises here and there. Another bandage was over a part of his chest, likely where I ad stabbed him earlier. My Grimm was bloodied and bruised but this close I could faintly feel his will to endure. His clothing was a pair of jeans and a blood stained gray t-shirt.

"That Beowolf endured thanks to the strength of your own will." A voice echoed in my mind and my eyes went wide at it. The voice was oddly familiar, then an image materialized in my mind of the cat Grimm I had met days ago in my cell. "Help is on the way Mistress, hold on." The voice added then went silent.

"Eve." Grendel spoke drawing my attention as well as the Grimmblood who honestly looked surprised. I heard him clearly though I could tell his voice was strained from constant use.

"None of the other Grimm Tamers here had their Grimms able to speak, yet yours does." The man commented with his right hand twitching a little. That hand quickly closed to a fist before a tiny streak of blood flowed down from the bandaged wrist. "I've hunted many of your kind over the centuries. However none of them compare to you." He added turning to point at me with a finger.

I tried to move my arms only to hear the jingle of thick metal chains. However My legs felt unrestrained so I tried standing. Muscles made their protest known at the movement. Ignoring that I began to stand only for a circular shape of cold metal to poke the back of my neck. Fuck! There was more security than last time I was wake in that test chamber. Focusing my attention back to the man before me I saw him pet the mask of my Grimm.

"I guess the reason they were never a challenge is because they weren't like us." The Grimmblood said as if he was remembering moments from the past. Given the fact he said centuries before he was very old. That distant look did not last long as he composed himself.

"like us?" I asked feeling sore all over from experiments and the previous bout of combat. The cold metal of the chains came up to nearly my elbow unlike the last time that was only connected to my wrists.

"Exactly." He said with some tone I couldn't quite place. "To give you some information both of us are 'Wildcards'." He finished with a grin.

"What does that mean?" I spoke trying to tug my arms apart, though the chains resisted easily. There was little movement overall and a wall where the length of chain stopped to allow movement.

The grin didn't falter, but got bigger. "Wildcards have mastery over all forms of elements, while the others only have mastery and ability with certain elements like fire or ice." He explained. "Our only real limitations are the amount of power we can command and imagination."

"So we are above the rest?" I asked out of curiosity and for general information. It was enlightening to discover my ability for the various elements was something special.

"In a sense." The man admitted with a shrug shifting to a neutral expression. "That aside it is time to teach you a lesson about Tamed Grimms."

The air stood still around him for some time while my eyes felt glued to his form. Then one arm raced for Grendel piercing him through the chest, a spear of energy clearly visible out the other side of the Grimm. Eyes went wide at the exact moment pain exploded violently in my own chest. Blood came up in volume forcing me to spit it out with ragged coughs.

The man let out a dark laugh much like the ones I heard before when he tortured me. That psychotic gleam in his eyes shined with brilliance as I stared at him. "When not protected properly killing a Tamed Grimm will harm the Tamer!" He said letting out another laugh.

Shock held my form while my eyes shifted to Grendel. Tears ran down my face at the unmoving form who was limp within the chains that bound his form. A sob escaped my lips at the same time I let my head hang. Pain unlike what I had felt before burned within me, almost as if a part of my heart had been gouged out with a salt coated blade. I shuddered doing my best to keep from openly weeping. The battle to do so was a losing one with tears flowing more freely, but I felt a spark of sorts. Almost buried under the pain was the fires of anger. Anger at this bastard for experimenting on me and for taking away something important.

I bit my lip focusing on that. Flesh stung with the force while I held my eyes closed. It wasn't long before the embers I saw before me in the void of black erupted into an inferno. I held up my right arm in front of me then closing the hand into a fist. The flames funneled to me giving me the sense of power that had been absent for some time.

These bastards will know the flames of my rage! I thought opening my eyes and pulling on my arms. The chains resisted as expected, but I heard something shift in them. I got to my feet slowly haring the chains binding my arms strain and crack. I shifted my eyes to glare at the Grimmblood. He was looking at me shocked and the scent of fear faintly wafted from his general area. "You killed Grendel..." I hissed continuing to pull my arms apart. "Now...you will pay the price!" I roared with the chains finally shattering and power flowing through me. There was so much that immediately my body glowed orange in color.

"That shouldn't be possible!" The man behind me shouted with a clear tone of fear.

The Grimmblood took several steps back before I went for him. The distance between us was closed within a moment or two. Shifting my whole body I punched with the left fist covered in raging fire and sparking with electricity. A shock wave erupted outward from the point of impact kicking up bits of concrete and dust. The Grimmblood went flying away from me crashing through several walls. Blood trailed the path he had taken with some of that having landed on me. His eyes showed a heavy dose of surprise.

"You bitch." The Grimmblood muttered vanishing.

I clenched my right hand into a fist calling forth more fire to encase my form. "You can run, but you can't hide from me!" I growled walking into the open area that had been revealed thanks to hitting that bastard through multiple walls. The clicks of metal reached my ears letting me know that weapons were getting readied. After that was the pounding of boots on the move at speed. Turning to the right let me see a massive cavern with catwalks going to somewhere near the top. Along the floor I could see lines of concrete boxes that looked the same as the one I walked out of. Crates of glowing crystals sat in various places either glowing pale green or a vibrant blue. Several chained off areas held captive Grimm that all had their attention on me.

Holding one hand up a large ball of fire formed waiting to be unleashed. Down the lane or isle I stood in came a group of mercenaries. The fools were tightly packed and running in a straight line. I shifted getting ready to shove my hand forward, so it would launch the orb of fire at them. The front one reached for the weapon hanging by his waist and I shoved my hand forward. With a slight trail behind it the ball of fire surged on taking only about ten seconds before it hit. Once it made contact with one of the mercs it exploded violently showing the area with bits of fire. That was not all as another explosion rocked the cavern from something. Screams of dying people filled the echoing air then a rocket launched. I watched it go from the smoke of the burning men to around the top of the cavern. The rocket raced to and exploded once it hit the highest part of the catwalks I could see from the cavern floor.

"For fuck sake!" I groaned face palming hearing metal fall to the ground. Now I was going to have to find another way up so I could hunt down that Grimmblood and kill him.

OooOoOoOoOoOoOo

"What did you find out about Marlow Compact Abraham?" Raysel spoke walking directly behind the creature who had teleported into the dorm room of RWBY. Stranger than that the creature mentioned that the one they were looking for needed help. With a lot of haste JNPR and ERIN had been crammed into RWBY's dorm room to hear out the creature. It had claimed to escape from a lab where it was created within the city, and was mentally connected to its "Mistress", whomever that truthfully was.

A drone roughly the shape of a short rectangular box hovered in the air just behind the Grimmblood of the Beacon students. Attached to the front of it was a small roundish protrusion that functioned as the drone's head. From the end of it was a steadily glowing blue light that was more or less the eyes of it letting Raysel's older brother see what it saw. Folded to either side were arms with a number of small attachments. "First off that group is large with a lot of money, able to be one of the few competitors of the Scnhee Dust Company. They have many research labs for pharmaceuticals and for studying Grimm."

"I remember my mother saying something about them." Nolan said with the drone floating around a pipe extending from the side cutting off the path a little in the sewers. Without sound the drone made a full turn to the blue haired male. "My mother has had a number of court cases dealing with them and possible illegal activity. However she nor others have been able to figure out what they might have done with how secretive Marlow Compact is." They turned another corner in the sewer with Ren slipping on something. The black haired male nearly dropped into the murky and eerily still water. The thing that save him was one of Nolan's hands having grabbed an arm above the elbow.

"Thanks." Ren said with a nod fixing his footing. Shortly after Nolan let go.

Nolan honestly did not like the dim lighting of the sewers. It made it too easy for things to hide from the majority of the group's eyes, save for the two Faunus and the Grimmblood. Then there was the water that was too still. "They are know to be the only group to have detailed notes on some forms of Grimm as well as research into Conduit powers."

The drone let out a electric chirp. "Correct, and there is something else." A pause ensued with the group moving to wherever the feline Grimm was leading them. "Marlow Compact has ownership of what remained of Merlot Industries that had their main headquarters located in Mountain Glenn before the fall of that settlement. Marlow Compact has been known to lease out their labs to whomever wishes to use them if they meet their not so cheap prices."

"Can we really trust this...Grimm?" Weiss groaned walking carefully along the pathway in the sewers her group traveled down led by a eight legged feline. The sewers reeked of stale filth. The snow white eyes of the heiress once again noted the clear amount of grime and dirt on most surfaces around them, even the walkway to an extent.

"What choice do we have?" Yang grunted not exactly thrilled with going through a sewer like the rest of her team. However it if got them to where they could help or even save Eve then it was worth it. "This thing knows where Eve is."

"The Grimm isn't lying Miss Schnee." Abraham's drone said. "I've found video footage of Eve inside of the laboratory we are approaching."

Weiss glared at the hovering drone before trying to swat at it. The machine was quite agile moving out of the way long before her hand could have touched it. A part of the heiress knew the Grimm wasn't lying. But how ridiculous would it sound for her of all people to say she could trust a Grimm? Then again the heiress did trust Eve, a being who could tame Creatures of Grimm. Dismissing that train of thought she followed along until she bumped right into Raysel. "What is it?" She asked with a huff having managed not to fall over to the ground with some effort.

"A secret entrance is here." The Grimm spoke turning to face the group it had led into the sewers.

Yang looked skeptically at the wall before the feline Grimm. "I only see a wall."

The feline Grimm snorted holding up one paw aimed backwards at the wall behind it. Seconds later a blast of quiet energy roared forth from that paw cutting through stone and metal with ease. "Mistress is inside these labs." It added walking through the freshly made hole.

"Damn..." Yang commented with a drawl before shaking her head to follow the unusual Grimm with Raysel.

Pyrrha felt a sense of nervousness once again in her stomach. A feeling that gave her a sense of impending chaos. Ignoring that she took a step forward only to catch Jaune standing still to her left. "Jaune? What's wrong?" She said turning to face the blond knight. At that moment she heard the others turn the corner, though Nolan gave her a sparing glance.

He refused to look her in the eyes, keeping his own down to the floor. "I'm afraid."

Pyrrha tilted her head to the side slightly with an eyebrow rising. "Afraid?"

Jaune clenched his right hand to the point is started shaking a little. "What if we get all the way to her only to find out that Eve is dead? Or that the Grimm leading us is really only doing so to get us killed?"

Phyyra's chest tightened seeing her friend so distraught. The what ifs were really starting to take their toll after so long. She knew it wouldn't be easy and the same doubts plagued her mind. Ever since the time she had started interacting with Team ERIN she had felt normal again, a feeling she hadn't had in years. Her interest in the Conduit had begun when hearing about the story of her and Team ERIN killing a young dragon. Few Huntsmen could pull that stunt yet Eve had done so as a prospective student for Beacon Academy. Then it surprised her to find out that Eve really came from another world, reborn into this one. She remembered the pain within the Conduits voice and beautiful bright sky blue eyes. That made her desire for the Conduit increase ever more. Regardless of the few months she had known Eve she wanted to be with the Grimm Tamer.

Focusing back to Jaune the Mystral champion put a gentle hand on the blond's shoulder. This time he looked up to her eyes. "It will work out Jaune." She said mustering as much confidence and soothing tone she could muster, complete with a smile. "She is alive."

He stared into her green eyes for a time then took a deep breath. He let it out slowly with closed eyes appearing more calm. "Right." He said then moved to catch up to the others. Pyrrha followed after the blond knight catching up to the others who were gathered around a closed door. Near the top was an small open rectangle with bars through it.

"Mistr-" The Grimm started speaking only for a ground shaking boom to interrupt it.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?" Ruby shouted falling to the floor in a heap. The others managed to use the wall to not fall over, while Raysel and Blake stayed upright without issues.

Silence reigned then a series of booms echoed from somewhere within each followed by a shock wave. Then one final boom sounded far closer than the others with an equally more powerful shake of the area.

Seconds passed before a hazard light started flashing red and yellow. At the same time shouts and plenty of noise made it past the door the group stood next to. It was easy for even those without sensitive hearing to catch the words spoken by those who ran by the door.

"That Conduit the Major brought in has broken free of her chains!" One of the many male voices roared to be heard over the volume of noise.

"How the fuck is that possible?!" Another voice shouted, this time clearly female.

"Hell if I know!" Another male voice yelled back. "All we know is that she broke the chains that are supposed to cancel out Conduit abilities!"

"Get a move on! The Conduit is free and extremely dangerous!" The first booming male voice sounded again. "Full combat load is authorized!."

Raysel narrowed her eyes letting a low growl out that only Blake heard. The cat Fuanus herself didn't like the sound of that. Mercenaries in a full combat load were more or less the same as a regular soldier of an army from the Kingdoms. What the hell were mercenaries that armed doing inside a laboratory such as this one inside the city of Vale? Better yet, who was supplying them with that kind of equipment?

Pyrrha let a gasp escape her lips as the words sunk in. Full combat load. The words echoed in her head with a great sense of dread. Fear claimed her guts as mental images of a bloodied and dead Conduit played within her head. One riddled with bullet holes and missing a limb or two. They're going to kill her. Her mind added against her will.

"Mistress freed herself, but we can still help her." The Grimm spoke punching the door with one paw. It flew off the hinges slamming into the wall with a crimson splatter behind it.

"What the fuck?!" A man shouted roughly pointing the gun he held in the direction of the cat like Grimm.

The Grimm took in a deep breath then exhaled unleashing a cloud of flames that blanketed the hallway in front of it. The fire was hot enough to warrent the others behind it to shield their eyes. Following that was a wall of ice that closed in from all four sides. It sealed off the hallway from further use, unless the mercenaries broke through it. "We need to go down to find her." It said going to the other end of the hallway. They followed after the Grimm feeling a sense of urgency within them. It was only a matter of time until the mercenaries starting fighting Eve in mass. They traveled down to a door then past it to a large open hallway.

This one held dents from claw marks new and old from large creatures. Along the wall above several doors was a plaque reading "Grimm Experimentation Room".

"They're experimenting on Grimm?!" Jaune spoke with shock with eyes glued to the door the drone hovered in front of.

"Why wouldn't they?" The floating drone spoke, a sigh escaped its speaker. "No laws cover Grimm and those creatures are the enemies of humanity and the Faunus. They are the ideal test subjects for what could kill them, however..." It paused moving to hover at the open slot to see within the room. Inside the room stood a Beowolf of large size with plenty of glowing crystals sticking out from its body. Each of those glowed a vibrant blue with tiny wisps of energy coming off of them. A tiny extension came out of the drone for a few seconds then retracted back inside the head. It floated back with a jolt as if mimicking surprise. "They're making tamed Grimms!"

"How?" Raysel said shifting to her Beowolf form. Her eyes became glued to the drone with them as the little machine moved to hover before her snout.

The blue light in the front of the drone flashed repeatedly for a short time then glowed steadily. "I do not know how they did it, but whoever runs this place managed to make Dust crystals infused with the power of a Grimm Tamer."

Raysel tilted her head with ears flicking at the muffled sounds of combat. Another thundering roar shook the floor and jostled the hinges of the metal door to the Grimm's cell. With a shift of her feet she stayed standing but the clang of armor let her know at least one did not. Glancing over a shoulder her eyes spotted Jaune on his back on the floor. "Where are those tremors coming from?" She said turning her attention back to her older brother's drone.

"Down below." The drone supplied. A few seconds passed with the little light flickering again. "Conduit energy readings are off the charts!" Abraham supplied with awe. "There are two powerful sources of energy within this building. One of them matches the energy signature of Eve as well as the crystals sticking out of the Grimm in this room. The other is unknown and moving through the building towards the top."

"Run all you want, but you won't escape me torturer!" Eve's voice boomed with furious venom from somewhere deeper within the complex.

"Did you hear that?" Blake spoke up pulling Jaune to his feet. Seeing the others, minus Raysel, shake their head she sighed. "Eve is the one causing the tremors we are feeling."

"We need to get to her." Jaune said drawing everyone's attention. His eyes locked onto the door ahead of him that contained the mentioned Grimm. "Abraham." He paused with the floating drone turning the glowing blue light to him. "Can you tell if that Grimm will follow anyone's commands?" The light functioning as the drone's eye flickered as processes ran to answer Jaune's query. While the machine took its time to go through the possible answers the blond knight felt his mind race through thoughts. If the Grimm would listen to anyone's commands then it would make an excellent addition to the already formidable fighting force that his group consisted of. Even if it didn't setting it free might wreak havoc on the people who ran these labs, or it would just attack them. If the Grimm did listen to commands but required a not so human individual to obey there was Raysel to fill that role. However the wild card among the group was the eight legged feline Grimm that had led them here in the first place. That Grimm's goals were totally unknown. Though if he had to guess from its earlier conversation with the teams this Grimm was a servant of Eve.

"Unfortunately I cannot tell if that Grimm will listen to a normal person, a Grimmblood, or the Grimm Tamer whose power radiates from those crystals." The drone replied after a time dropping down almost a foot then bounced back up as if to imitate a shrug.

Jaune nodded turning his eyes back to the door of a cell holding a modified Grimm. There was plenty of risk for trying to control such a creature. There was no way to tell if the Grimm would have access to any of the powers of a Conduit with those crystals jetting out of it. He narrowed his eyes as if the door might shrink away under his gaze. There is a great risk in what we are doing right now. As much if not more so than attempting to use that altered Grimm. He thought turning to look at his fellow blond. "Yang, I want you to try and pry that door open." He said getting a grin from the brawler who wasted little time getting to work. With a determined expression he turned to face the taller blue haired male with them. "I want you to try and get the Grimm to follow your orders. If that doesn't work I want Raysel to try and control it."

Nolan nodded. "Will do." He replied right before metal tore accompanied by a grunt. Seconds later a thud sounded from the door hitting the floor. The tall athletic male entered the holding cell with caution. Even as a human he could faintly feel the energy that came off the Grimm in a steady flow. Slowly he approached the stationary Beowolf that had the armor plating to display that it could be an alpha, though he got the feeling that it was too young for that. The hairs on the back of Nolan's neck stood up as instincts warned him that approaching was not wise. Ignoring that he stepped closer with the Grimm finally taking notice of his presence. Once it did Nolan stopped going toward it, thankfully with a meter and a half between them.

The altered Beowolf's head slowly looked up and down Nolan who stood still in a position to fight and or run if need be. With a few sniffs the Grimm could tell this human wasn't afraid of it, but cautious. Few of those creatures would willingly approach a Grimm unless they aimed to kill it. However something suppressed the urge to lung and kill the human, saying that he could be trusted. Along with that feeling was the power from whatever had been done to it. The Grimm slowly closed the distance. One large paw reached out slowly until some fifteen seconds later rested lightly on top of Nolan's head to ruffle his hair.

Nolan resisted the urge to grin and patted the paw on his head three times. "If you will help us, follow me." With that Nolan carefully took the paw off his head and left the holding cell. Two steps behind him the altered Beowolf followed watching the male human before it. Nolan flashed a thumbs up to Jaune who sighed with relief.

That was short lived as the door before the group burst open with several armed mercenaries. Each of them had visible faces of fear and weapons within their hands. It wasn't long before surprise took to the faces of the four men in form fitting battle armor.

One of the men squinted his eyes then realization hit his face. "Oh fuck! That's Basilisk!" He began shifting the rifle within his arms up. A moment later the feline Grimm was on the man's form with clawed fingers tearing into flesh. Blood splashed and a gurgling sound could be heard as the mercenary fell down. The other three stood shocked giving the feline Grimm plenty of time to get to its next target. With a swipe of two front left paws a scream of pain erupted from the man's throat as he fell. Hands clutched the maimed leg that bled profusely from deep slices at the thighs.

"Die." An echoing growl came forth from the much larger Grimm with the group of intruders. In the blink of an eye the altered Beowolf swiped at one of the two still standing while claws glowed a brilliant orange. With horrifying ease the Beowolf's claws cut clean through the mercenary and his armor. The broken body fell to the floor in burnt and wet red pieces. The last man standing tried to scream only for it to be cut very short with the feline Grimm biting into his throat, and tearing it out.

The Beacon students swallowed hard at the gruesome scene before them. Jaune in particular appeared the most troubled while Blake seemed much calmer. Despite that the blond knight composed himself with some effort. He walked past the dead mercenaries ignoring the slight slippery feeling from the blood on the floor under his shoes. Down that doorway was another hallway that ended with an opening to a large room. They needed to move further into this den of horrors if they were going to find the Conduit.

OoOoOoOoOoOo

Bullets whizzed by me dangerously close, though I paid them no attention. Fury resonated within my mind and these bastards would pay in blood. The repeated click of a trigger let me know the woman ahead of me was out of ammunition for her current weapon. That empty magazine dropped from the weapon and one hand reached for another at her waist. Before that hand could reach a pouch I closed the distance grabbing it roughly. Without hesitation I twisted the arm backwards hearing an audible crack as the joint was dislocated despite the armor resisting the movement briefly. A scream tore out of her throat as I let go of the arm. She took several steps back from me with the scent of fear. Closing a hand around thin air a gleaming sword of ice materialized ready to slice and dice. I slashed down from the left to the right leaving icy spikes in the trail of the weapon's edge.

Another scream came out of her mouth though it was duller than the previous one. Following up the first slice I moved my arms as a blur focusing on cutting my target to ribbons. After some time I stopped seeing the head roll off the sliced body. Even looking over the dead mercenary to add to the several dozen I had already killed my rage was not quenched. Gripping the icy handle tighter in the left hand I moved on. Down the next corridors I lined the walls with blood from the mercenaries severing limbs with cold calm. I sopped at a four way intersection letting go of the sword, letting it vanish. Pain flared in my chest making me close my eyes and cough spitting out more fluid. Blood dripped down my chin and directly below me was a medium sized pool of it.

"Fuck." I cursed coughing feeling a bit more blood come up my throat. A hand went to the left breast about where my heart was and squeezed in a vain attempt to lesson the pain. That was not the only pain I felt with eyes glancing over my form. Blood from many others mostly covered me and some from myself. However many minor bullet wounds as well as slices from meele weapons or shrapnel covered my still unclothed form. At this point I was more worried about surviving and killing that Grimmblood than being naked.

"Kill the bitch!" A male voice growled to my left. Following that was the click of a trigger and a hail of bullets. Glaring at the man a barrier of visible light blue energy materialized before me. That stopped the bullets from harming me, with most of them turning into dust. There were some that stayed relatively intact from the spray. Weaving a hand up as if to do an underhand toss the used bullets floated up. After they all left the ground I used a mental push to catapult them at the man whom shot me. They each buried into the armor the mercenaries wore. That armor was effective at protecting them from standard bullets, however it couldn't hold up well to power infused melee attacks. From the force alone the man stumbled back several steps. I reached out a hand feeling a phantom extension go further than the actual limb to grab the man. Using my mind I controlled the phantom hand to lift the mercenary off the ground and squeeze him.

The man struggled in vain to get free of the invisible hold I had over him. "You will die like the others who have gotten in my way to your Grimmblood leader." I said with icy calm to my voice that scared the hell out of him even more than the invisible hand holding him. With that the struggle got more desperate with him trying to force his arms out, and I felt that in my left hand that was pointed at him. A growl echoed form my throat at the same time I closed that hand into a tight fist. The effect was immediate as the man turned into red paste mixed with thoroughly crushed armor. Closing my eyes for a brief time I grit my teeth feeling a sore spot at my left shoulder. Blood trickled down from an open wound that I had acquired at some point, but how?

Sensing something coming for me I crouched low to the ground keeping the right hand free as well as turning around. Before my eyes was the other man whom had subdued me with the Grimmblood I hunted. One hand was held out towards me as a fist with cold air hovering near his form. I could tell the man was dangerous just by the subtitles of his scent, of which told me that he was indeed human. This time I saw the markings along the majority of the armor more clearly. One on the held up palm glowed an steady icy blue. It reminded me of Weiss's glyphs when she was using her family semblence and not a time or gravity manipulating one.

"You are quite the fighter little do-" He said then I teleported to point blank range with a upwards punch packed with energy. The impact was explosive with a force erupting outwards in a sphere shape breaking walls with ease. The dangerous black haired mercenary went through floors until he was out of sight. With a crouching jump I made up to the top of the hole I made using him. Glowing red eyes littered the massive room separated by equally glowing barriers of green energy. I could feel the essence of every single Grimm within the space whom were all focused on me.

My ears twitched to the sound of movement so I teleported a short distance away. One leg come down for a chop kick that sent out an explosion of force that threw up chunks of concrete. Flicking one hand out fire shot at him only to be disarmed by a frigid blast of cold air. A bolt of lightning burst through the cloud of cold air dispersing it. Letting power once again roll off my form I batted it aside. It went to my left striking a computer terminal of some sort. That exploded into brilliant orange fire. I directed it to me encasing my form with it. He charged at me with a purple mark on his armor glowing. my eyes widened with the mercenary vanishing from sight, only for a kick to connect to my back. The force catapulted me across the room to one of pens the Grimm had been kept in. However the green barriers had disappeared since the terminal had either been the power source or the control mechanism for it.

The roar of a large creature and the spiky white and black form let me know the cage I had landed in was that of an Ursa Major's. Ducking under the paw thrust of the Grimm I grabbed the arm using the beast's momentum to help me throw it. With a yell I added my own strength tot he throw sending it flying at the mercenary. I saw him narrow hazel eyes at the quickly approaching creature of nightmare. I watched him charge forwards a bit to hammer a kick into the jaw of the Ursa Major severing the creatures head with an explosion of force. When that occurred I caught sight of the purple pattern still glowing.

That had to correspond to an element. But which one was it? A small group of Beowolves charged at the mercenary intent on shredding the human before them. However the black haired male disappeared, though this time I saw a blur of movement. There was no hesitation in the strikes that shattered the masks of Beowolves or entirely destroyed their forms. At the same time the purple marking glowed the entire time he dispatched them. Then my mind flashed to a particular episode of Fairy Tail, one with a purple haired swordswoman. The purple mark represents gravity! I grinned altering how gravity effected me loosing the flames around my form for a slight purple outline. I prepared to sprint as he was distracted by the Grimm near him. With a push of my right foot I surged forward easily getting close to him.

"Hey asshole!" I called slamming a gravity enhanced punch into his gut watching as blood came out in a large splotch. The impact was powerful enough to create a crater at impact, and send him clear to the other end of the room. At hitting the wall it crumbled on top of him revealing more holding pens that were empty. I took a deep breath then focused power towards my mouth. Following that I let out a roar that sounded very much like the dragon I had killed a few months ago during Initiation for Beacon. The room thundered echoing with the roar that had the Grimm present look to me. All of them changed a bit gaining a blue glow were red was previously, including their eyes. I pointed at the mercenary staring at me with surprise evident as the Grimm grouped up near me. "Kill that human!"

As a horde most of the Grimm from the room I had tamed charged at the mercenary. I could feel that their aim was to over whelm him with numbers. The other part of the mix of Grimm types stayed close to me. They were mostly Beowolves I would assume for their agility as well as their senses of smell and hearing. Another large presence in the mix of previous captive Grimm was Ursi and several Ursa Majors. To finish off the horde that was tamed two Deathstalkers charged slower than the rest to the human mercenary. I took a step closer to the human in the distance going through the Grimm with experience, then my vision briefly got fuzzy. I fell forward but felt claws catch me. One of those claw tips touched an open, but not bleeding wound. I cried out a little then felt the searing pain in my chest again. Blood dropped onto the floor from my mouth.

"Alpha is vulnerable." A voice in my head spoke, though it wasn't the one from earlier. With vision clearing up quickly I turned to see the Beowolf holding me up with a paw. It righted me then two more paws touched my form. The blue lines of their bone-plates glowed brighter before they slowly turned into blue-black smoke. At the same time I felt something growing over my skin. Looking down I saw the same bone-plates the Grimm had growing over my otherwise naked form. The bone-plates covered most of my body in sections that left joints able to move. However I felt that the bone-plates did not directly cover my crotch, but some of the area around there. It also did not cover a portion of my torso leaving the stomach exposed and some of my back. At least the armor was better then being totally naked. Once again the purple glow outlined my form then to my surprise the Beowolves to my left generated a cloud of fire while those opposite them generated cold air.

A pained screech pulled my attention to the sound. One of the two Deathstalkers flailed about missing a good section of the tail and the top armor cracked badly. Blackish blood flowed down the Grimm's form from the broken carapace. The mercenary landed a short distance away from that Grimm keeping his attention on it. A fist punched into the floor with one of the marks near it glowing a bright icy blue. Moments later a giant spike of ice erupted up from the floor impaling the giant scorpion, killing it. One of the flaming Beowolves charged in moving faster than I expected slashing at the mercenary.

A grunt sounded from the man who blocked the strike with a beam of earth between his hands. Without warning the man vanished in a golden flash of light appearing a distance away from the fiery Beowolf. One of the arms came off so it let out a howl of pain turning to face the mercenary. I sprinted to the injured Grimm planning to block his next attack. Seconds after got in front of the Beowolf a foot came for my head. I grabbed the boot with my right hand feeling the force behind the attack to flow out from me harmlessly.

I smirked holding the boot securely in my right hand. "Nice patterns on your tan armor." I said with a pause ensuing as his hazel eyes narrowed on mine. I saw the last living Deathstalker moving up behind the human. He tugged at the boot, but I kept it in place. Once the Grimm was close enough I let go spinning the human at the same time. A few seconds passed then the left pincer slammed into the mercenary's side. Armor let out a slight crunch of at least a dent at the same time my ears picked up the breaking of bone. "Hit him back to me." I commanded seeing an Ursa Major shifting some steps to its right. Then the bear Grimm closed one paw as if to mimic a fist, and attacked the air born human. The force behind that strike was enough to break some parts of the floor that flew up.

I crouched keeping keen eyes on the mercenary. Once close enough I back flipped channeling power to the left leg that connected with body armor. Another concussive blast went out and the mercenary was catapulted upwards. He hit the ceiling hard then fell back down. Metal groaned and tore somewhere behind me. glancing over a shoulder the Deathstalker held within one large pincer a metal beam almost as if the giant bug wanted to bat something. I jumped back out of range of the metal beam it had just before the Grimm swung it. However the beam of metal hit something hard that broke off a chunk of it. Teleporting to the top of the Deathstalker's carapace saved me from getting impaled by the broken off section.

A look of anger was in the bright yellow eyes of my torturer. "Run Striker. I will handle the wolf Conduit." At that the armored mercenary got up coughing a few times then sprinted away behind the Grimmblood.

Neither of us moved for some time then the Deathstalker moved throwing the remaining bit of metal it had grabbed. Following that I leaped off the bug Grimm and charged in. The Grimmblood side stepped the metal projectile before it could hit him. Moments alter I was there hammering a punch to his side that sent him flying. With a excited chitter the Deathstalker prepared to hit him with a pincer. However to my shock the yellow eyed male teleported above the large Grimm throwing both arms down as if to pull a rope of some sort over his shoulders. Seconds later sections of ceiling fell down onto the Deathstalker with force cracking the carapace, then one large chunk of metal came down to stab through it. That killed the last large Grimm though the Ursi moved in next. They worked in pairs to attack the Grimmblood, doing better than I thought. He was able to keep parrying their claw strikes without much trouble. Then a blast of force threw off the first two. Following that a bow of ice formed in his hands and two arrows found their mark in the heads of two Ursa on their backs.

An icy arrow came for me be, but I batted that aside with the back of a hand. A bow of flames materialized in my my hands before bolts of fire aimed at the Grimmblood. He started moving around to doge the fire arrows as I did the same to him. Some of the projectiles hit the other causing small explosions with one of them taking out another three Ursa, leaving two normal ones left and three Ursa Majors. Orbs of fire shot racing to my enemy exploding when they hit something. Shortly joining them was stakes of razor sharp looking ice. I sensed them being launched from the Beowolves behind me. leaning out of the way of another icy arrow then firing at the next one I reshaped the fire in my hands. It took the form of a spear before I threw it where the Grimmblood was about to be.

A growl escaped his lips right as he raised a hand in front of where the spear was going to hit him in the shoulder. A counter force hit the fire spear detonating. Flames surged outwards blanketing the majority of the room and killing several more of my Grimm.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Jaune looked back over a shoulder to his friends. Each of them looked to be a little troubled. However they pressed on following him and the two Grimms deeper into the den of horrors. Over time they had wandered through more areas with captive Grimm glowing with blue crystals sticking in their bodies. Then they had taken a path that brought them through what could only be an examination room. The room had been sizable and filled with medical tables that had stands for things like scalpels and other surgical tools. Each of those had old stains of blood as did the tables. A few of them even had corpses on them that were greatly disfigured. Those corpses, after an inspection from Abraham's drone, was clear detail of torture and experimentation. After that explanation Jaune had thrown up in a corner away from the group for the sake of the ones with acute senses of smell.

They ventured further into the building hearing sounds of combat at random times accompanied by a tremor or two. Now a large hallway big enough for an Ursa Major to walk through fine stood before the group going one way. Opposite that was another hallway of equal size, though debris from the higher floor blocked that path from use. With one option to go the blond knight went first followed by his friends. The feline Grimm quickly walked faster than the others to the room at the end. It entered without a care in the world briefly looking around soon joined by the altered Beowolf.

"Looks cozy." The feline Grimm commented before teleporting onto the cushions of a dark blue colored sofa. That sofa was one of several littered about the large room. Other cozy looking pieces of furniture were strewn about complete with coffee tables here and there.

Weiss' eyes scanned over the room taking note of what was in it, and naturally the price of said furniture. All of it was obviously good quality making each bit of furniture expensive. Her icy eyes stayed on the feline Grimm as it stretched to lay down over the length of the cushions, just as any normal feline might do. "Whoever these people are they have money. All of the furniture comes from the more expensive makers in Atlas."

"Atlas?" The altered Beowolf spoke tilting its head looking at Weiss. Silence reigned then the drone started chirping.

"Right on the mark." Abraham's drone said. "The scans of these do show that they come from a furniture supplier in Atlas."

"What do humans do when not working?" The feline Grimm spoke drawing attention, though it kept lazing on the cushions.

The drone turned to it. "Humans and Faunus relax in various places. Like this room as an example." A thundering boom sounded somewhere below the floor followed my more. One more deafened boom sounded before silence. That was short lived as a very inhuman roar echoed from below. Blake put hands over her cat ears at the same time they flattened and the two Grimms with the group stood at attention.

"What could roar like that?" Ren asked as the sound died, however his eyes were glued to the glowing forms of the two Grimms.

"That was like a dragon's roar." Nolan said scanning the room further. Besides the hallway they entered from the large break room, if it could be called that, was a single metal door with two buttons next to it. "I'd wager that was Eve roaring."

"Why?" Pyrrha said turning her eyes to the elevator. Without warning a pained screech filled the air drawing her attention to the floor.

Raysel's eyes also went to the floor before she knelt down. A hand was pressed flat against the laminated concrete. "I can clearly sense Eve's power below us. She likely used that roar to tame a large number of Grimm."

"I guess that makes sense." Blake grumbled with her ears feeling a little sore at the sheer volume the roar had. "How many did she tame?"

"A horde." The feline Grimm answered before the sound of booming blows sounded again in quick succession. After that was roars of Beowolves and Ursi and at the same time the glow around the two Grimms in the room died down. "They are fighting with Mistress." Just after finishing that a tremor shook the room with part of the floor dented up, launching an unsuspecting Yang into the air.

The blond brawler quickly recovered landing on her feet. "What was that?"

The feline Grimm walked over to the upwards dent in the floor placing one hand-paw on it. "Eve's opponent whom she kicked into the ceiling of the room below."

Blake flinched looking down hearing the loud sound of metal tearing accompanied by the screech of a Deathstalker. Another boom sounded far louder than the previous ones with the resounding crash of metal on metal. At the same time several howls of pain echoed from below, and all the students of Beacon had their eyes glued to the floor as if they would be able to see through it. Muffled explosions went off in rapid succession then the doors to the elevator let out a ding. Instantly they jumped switching attention to it.

Jaune's eyes scanned the room quickly taking in the furniture. Many of them were large enough for the humans to hide behind. His eyes next shifted to the two larger people. Both the altered Beowolf and Raysel, in her Beowolf form, were too big to hide behind any furniture. "Hide behind the furniture. Raysel and the Grimms will strike whoever exits the elevator." He spoke with the group getting into position.

The feline Grimm got ready to pounce with visible anticipation. The fur of the Grimm seemed to ripple back and forth and it was rocking back and forth a little on its eight legs. The altered Beowolf closed one paw like a hand only to have a large spear of ice materialize. It immediately got into a two handed position to use the conjured weapon, almost like it had mirrored one of Eve's staff stances. Raysel on the other hand encased herself with stone that matched her form with molten rock dripping from her clawed paws. Right as the door began to open they were busted out and catapulted into the room barely missing the stationary teens. With that came a roaring inferno with a form jumping out of it.

"Bloody hell!" A clearly male voice remarked from within the inferno as it died down. The man's armor bore obvious signs of battle damage in the form of dents and scorch marks. A number of places of the armor had slices missing from some form of edged weapon. Blood ran down one side of the man's face next to his left eye from a shallow cut on the forehead. "That Faunus might actually be a match for the Major."

The feline Grimm hissed drawing attention from the male. "We meet again Sargent Striker."

The male's eyes narrowed in annoyance at the Grimm. "Basilisk." He said then did a leg sweep around him. Along with that action a pale green pattern along the armor of one leg glowed summoning a rotating force of wind. With a series of yells the teenagers were thrown about the room along with the furniture. "So it was you who led these kids here."

With a grunt Raysel kept her feet then lunged for a swipe. The molten bits of rock were flung harmlessly from Sargent Striker, but the molten themselves hit. The mercenary's armor took the brunt of the wipe with sections coming off the right arm. Striker jumped back with the force then shoved an arm at the stone encased Grimmblood. Fire erupted at Raysel's feet at the same time an orange red mark glowed on the left arm near the shoulder. With a grunt Raysel moved through the flames stomping a foot down. Spikes of earth rose in a path to Sargent Striker.

A flash of light streaked from the path of spikes to another part of the room. That hit the floor before forming back into Sargent Striker who attacked Basilisk. The feline Grimm ducked under the kick then headbutted the mercenary in the chest. He stepped back with a grunt then slammed an elbow onto the feline Grimm. Basilisk grunted lightly at the heavy impact, though bone-plates on its back protected it from any real harm. Without warning a fist smashed into the back of Striker's head damaging his aura and with a shove from Basilisk the mercenary slammed into the wall near them.

"That guy has an insane amount of aura." Nolan commneted flexing the right hand that had impacted Striker's head. "However his isn't at full thanks to Eve."

Jaune looked at the blue haired male. "How do you know that?"

Nolan smirked. "Part of what my semblence can do."

Rubble shifted near the wall with Striker standing up dusting himself off. "So you're a Quester?" The mercenary's voice held distaste on the last word.

"What does his last name have to do with his semblence?"

"My family is one of those that have a power passed down from one generation to the next." Nolan said before his body gained a blue glow. The blue haired male closed his eyes before three tails materialized that held the shape of a fox. On his head fox ears also appeared and he opened eyes to show them with a cat like pupil and glowing blue as his hair.

"Vampire Fox." Striker said narrowing eyes at the young Quester. "An ability to steal the aura of others to empower yourself or give it to others if you choose."

Nolan grinned showing one wolf like k-9. He vanished only to appear behind the mercenary. A leg connected to the man's back sending him across the room. Immediately the altered Beowolf moved to the side waiting a few seconds before slamming one end of the ice spear into his torso, slamming the older male into the floor. Laminated tile broke into pieces at the impact but Striker got up fast. The ice spear raced for his head so he leaned out of the way of the sharp end only to have the altered Beowolf spin the weapon around to smack the other end against his leg. Taking the hit with a shift of feet Striker threw out a left hook at the altered Beowolf infusing it with fire, and a pattern on that arm glowed with it. The wolf Grimm yelped shoving the man back, but did not stop attacking him. Striker dodged the next few swings of the spear then snapped fingers watching an explosion of force knock the Beowolf away from him.

In the blink of an eye another took the previous ones place, though it was covered in stone that glowed like lava. he blocked one punch feeling the force behind it crack his battle armor just a bit more. However he palm struck the ConCain while said hand was channeling a cold wind. Immediately the molten glow stopped and she was sent into the wall next to the blown out elevator. Striker ducked sensing something faintly before Nolan's leg whooshed over his head. Going with the motion Nolan pulled up the other leg for a kick catching the older male in the jaw. A wave of a hand catapulted the blue haired male away from the mercenary with a burst of wind.

"Incoming." Basilisk said getting the rest of the teens attentions. Shortly after saying that the wall opposite of the elevator doors exploded forming a hole where a group of mercenaries stood. "Deal with them."

"Can I break their legs?" Nora asked enthusisatically pulling out her hammer. At the same time Ren got out his own weapons and Pyrrha aimed her rifle through a hole in her shield.

Jaune readied his shield before him gripping the handle of the blade for Crocea Mors. "Do it."

Nora squealed in joy before rushing up to the nearest mercenary to hit him. However a shotgun blast point blank launched the girl away from them. The others with that mercenary all had on helmets unlike the one behind Jaune's group fighting Nolan, Raysel, and the altered Beowolf. Nine weapons raised themselves to open a salvo of bullets. Without warning a wall of ice erupted from the ground blocking the shots. A quick glance behind him let Jaune see the blade of Weiss stabbed into the floor and a trail of ice from it to the wall.

"Shit!" Yang cursed barely getting out of the way of some projectile from the fight across the room that impacted the ice wall shattering it. Tiny shards of ice hit her and the others at the back of the room dealing no damage thanks to their Auras. With a flick of her wrists Ember Cecilia was ready for use. Wasting little time she fired off several rounds at the front most mercenaries.

One of the mercenaries stepped forward drawing out a short sword from his waist. The blade swiftly cut through the bullets before the blasts of fire vanished. "I'll handle that one, split up and get the others." With that he charged at Yang to start battling her while the other mercenaries split up to attack the teens separately. Without warning a bullet hammered into his midsection stopping the advance.

"You'll deal with the both of us!" Ruby proclaimed cocking another bullet into the chamber of her weapon in sniper form.

Given that distraction Yang shot a few more rounds at the mercenary, this time hitting home. The first three bullets impacted armor knocking the slim looking man back. Though the final two shots were slashed at by the sliver colored blade in the left hand. Her fists tightened along with her eyes changing to red. Hair glowed golden like the sun before the brawler shot herself at the mercenary. Said mercenary took a step back right before Yang's right fist was blocked by his weapon. The silver blade cracked under the force of the first blow, as he did not see the left hook coming for him. Once that fist landed the left gauntlet discharged a point blank shot. That man was sent violently back through the hole that his group had made. At the very least the mercenary was unconscious and without Aura for the time being, or he was simply dead.

"Scream for me!" Nora called swinging her hammer at the knees of two mercenaries standing too close to each other. The hammer hit home crashing into the legs of the two men violently. Screams echoed from their mouths as both went flying into the side wall towards the large hallway.

One of those mercenaries hit by Nora clipped a limb on the one in front of Jaune stumbling the woman. Taking the opportunity the blond knight charged at her bashing with his shield. A surprised grunt left her mouth before the blade in his right hand came slicing down, cutting Aura and the battle armor. A thin line of blood trailed the tip of the blade, but he wasn't done. Just as he finished the movement to slash down he brought the blade back up at an angle with force. It slashed at the inner thigh of the woman's left thigh with enough force to make her fall over. Seconds later a pair of black fur covered arms crashed into the chest armor of the mercenary forcing blood to fly out of her mouth. Blue eyes watched the feline Grimm hit both sides of the mercenary's head knocking her out. Still hearing the sounds of combat behind him he turned watching Striker's left arm shoot out with a shoulder pattern glowing the same color as fire, then fire erupted going for Raysel and the altered Beowolf.

The altered Beowolf inhaled then exhaled a cloud of icy air complete with snow flakes. The icy winds snuffed out the flames continuing on to the one who summoned them. Striker dodged to the side before his eyes widened sensing something behind him. The blue glowing form of Nolan was there before a barrage of fists hammered into the mercenary. The blows almost too fast for most of the group to see, but the effect was easier to see. The glow around Nolan's form glowed brighter until it was like his body mirrored that of a light bulb. With a final punch Striker was launched at Jaune's group.

Time seemed to slow down as Jaune's blue eyes scanned the armor noting the various patterns of color that had been glowing off and on during the fight. Narrowing his eyes it clicked as to why they did. Once the mercenary was close enough Jaune stepped forward with force shield bashing the older male. That stunned the man so he turned to the red reaper of the group. "Tear his armor to bits."

"Roger!" Ruby replied with enthusiasm before vanishing from sight leaving red rose pedals in her wake. Seconds flew by with Striker just regaining balance then a blur of red and black surrounded the man. At a horrifying rate his battle armor was cut away from whatever weapon the speed demon was using. Hours seemed to pass then the blur moved away sliding along the floor with the blade of a large scythe in the floor. After a pause a shot rang out knocking the mercenary into the wall he had hit just after entering the room. On impulse Ruby chambered another round into the sniper-scythe watching the older male. After a time he didn't move the teens all relaxed putting away their weapons. "We did it." The little reaper said with a happy tone.

Everyone took a breather with them flipping over chairs and both sections of the, now, bisected couch Basilisk had lazed on earlier. Jaune himself opted for a lazy chair not far from him in a corner. The blond knight flipped it over effortlessly feeling a little surprise. I guess that training with Eve and Raysel is paying off. He thought idly before sitting in it.

"What was that mercenary's semblence?" Blake said looking at the unconscious older male thoughtfully. "Not to mention a massive amount of Aura to be able to fight on par with Eve using Grimms."

Jaune chuckled lightly looking to the cat Faunus. All eyes turned to him, even though the blond suspected at least three others knew what it was. "Every time he attacked us with elements of some kind a colored part of his armor glowed matching the color of the attack. Before I saw fire fly from one of his hands a shoulder pattern of red glowed." He said pointing to his right shoulder. "So I figured his Semblence had something to do with Dust Enhancements." Seeing the smile from Pyrrha and the slightly surprised look on Weiss's face he gave himself a mental pat on the back.

Raysel walked over to the group shifting forms. "In other words his Semblence enhanced the effects of woven Dust in armor of clothing. And that does help explain why he had such a large Aura reserve."

Jaune looked over the gathered people till his gaze stopped at Basilisk's six eyes, ones that were staring into his own. The glow was so steady it was pretty much impossible for the human to tell what the Grimm was thinking. Then a sound escaped its fanged maw followed by more. That drew attention before the feline rolled onto its back and rocking curled up. Everyone stared at the Grimm realizing that the sounds coming from it was laughter. After a time the Grimm rolled back onto its eight legs and got uncomfortably close to the blond knight. "You proved her wrong." It said as if quite excited, or perhaps pleased.

"Huh?" Jaune got out looking at the Grimm confused.

With its tail swaying side to side in a manner to that of a pleased cat's the Grim spoke. "She did not think you had a mind like her's." Then the two front most paws were placed on either shoulder. "However you figured out Striker's power and led your team to live, proving Eve wrong." Jaune did not get any time to contemplate the Grimm's words before the room violently shook. A barrier materialized at the wall opposite of the large hallway they had entered from.

The barrier bent inwards from the force of an explosion before those bits of wall were pushed back. That revealed a large section of open building and many colored forms of Beowolves and one damaged Ursa Major that was missing an arm. Inside the inferno ahead of them battled two figures Both of whom were already injured. One was recognizable as Eve for her wolf traits, though the addition of bone-plates were odd. However the man before her struck the group of Huntsmen-in-training as familiar.

"That man is Jake Riddley." Abraham's drone remarked floating within the range of the barrier.

Thundering roars of Beowolves pierced the air from only the ones colored white. Following that the inferno was flash frozen and two of the dozen white ones swiped. With that action ice shards launched at the yellow eyed Grimmblood. If that wasn't enough of a shock two Beowolves glowing magma orange surged to Jake Riddley. One stopped near the Grimmblood then held up a paw summoning a ball of fire, then threw it. As that traveled to him the other fire colored Beowolf shoulder slammed him. However the closer Grimm was quickly grabbed into a choke hold right before the ball of flames hit. That exploded sending out a concussive blast clearing the flames quickly. Just above the centuries old criminal the form of Eve came down cloaked in sparking electricity. The heel of a foot brutally slammed into his head sending the man crashing through at least one floor if not more than one by the sound. It wasn't long before Jake appeared behind the Conduit with a blade about to hit.

"Eve!" Pyrrha yelled reaching out with one hand instinctively as if trying to touch the other girl. However sight of a smirk confused the Mystral champion. That was answered quickly by Jake's blade going through an image moments before a kick as brutal as the last one struck center mass. That launched the Grimmblood up into the air to almost hit the ceiling. At the same time they witnessed Eve take a wide stance while holding one arm, braced with the other, in front of her. Seconds later a ball of energy formed in front of the held out palm. It grew quickly to the size of a basketball, then exploded forward with Jake in the path. The beam of green and black colored energy drowned out all noise. A short thirty seconds later the beam vanished to display a clean cut hole through the building to outside, and another distant building with a hole through it as well.

"Holy shit." Nolan spoke with the blue glow around his body vanishing, along with the fox features. He knew there was no doubt in his mind as to who the most dangerous student at Beacon was this moment. Though he could see the Conduit breathing heavy from fatigue. I wouldn't be surprised if that ate up a lot of her stamina doing that destructive beam. He noted mentally. Eve stayed still for almost a minute as the Grimm under her command rushed out following the path of destruction, then she did as well.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Moonlight shined brightly over head giving me more light than I needed to see by. Landing on the ground outside the laboratory I took several sniffs of the air right alongside the still alive Grim from the horde I had tamed. Of them less than half remained with me, and all of them Beowolves. One scent quickly dominated most others being the smell of the ocean, or at least a large body of water. Other than that it was easy to pick up the Grimmblood's scent from the few other ones. Sprinting forwards I followed the scent trail eventually finding a blood one as well. Right at my heels was the large pack of augmented Beowolves that either had augments to represent fire or ice in their fur colors respectively. We chased that blood trail then caught sight of the one leaving it from burns on the arms and legs.

"Persistent bitch." The Grimmblood growled turning a sharp left. I followed jumping to run on the side of a building to keep my speed. Then dashed back to the street that was totally devoid of traffic, save for something approaching fast. It wasn't long before I saw the flashing red and blue lights of a police vehicle. The Grimmblood jumped over the car with ease letting a few droplets of blood fall onto it. Following that example I also jumped over it hearing my pack of Grimm do the same thing. He went down another left forcing me to run on the side of another building. Getting tired of the chase I shoved off the building with power in my legs. That let me get close enough to punch him in the back, though the momentum flipped me away from him. I landed on my feet with my Grimm on the other side of the Grimmblood.

"Enough running." I hissed waving a hand in front of me summoning large stakes of ice in the air that raced for him. A wave of his hand caused earth to shift and rise up as a shield. That blocked the spears allowing him to charge at me. I teleported behind the man summoning an ice wall at the same time where I had been. He paused the swing that would have been a punch seeing the ice. This gave me the opening to punch him in the back with a glowing fist charged with power. The blow was thunderous shattering the ice wall in one hit using the Grimmblood. His body crashed through a building to the other side where he rolled to a stop. Teleporting again I came at him from the side this time. He blocked the blow with one arm then retaliated with a punch. I blocked that feeling the force behind it and seeing a small sliver of bone-plate come off from one of the ones on my left forearm.

Two forms of orange and white closed in from both sides. They both came down at the same time and I saw a smirk form on his lips. Without warning he spun leg sweeping me to the ground. As I fell back he conjured two swords of stone before chopping the heads off of the two Beowolves. Once I hit the ground I pulled my legs back kicking him away. With the Grimmblood air born I summoned a ball of flame to the right hand before shoving it forward. The fireball raced to the target illuminating everything in the way with orange light. Seconds later it reached the downed Grimmblood exploding spectacularly. Bits of molten fire rained down from the explosion ignighting nearby wood and one metal box. Then that exploded with incredible force.

A blast wave of air washed over me as with my eyes widening. Glancing around quickly my eyes told me the two of us now had a dock complete with large cargo containers as out battle ground. I faintly heard soemthing next to me so I stepped to the left avoiding a blade that would have stabbed a leg. Summoning my own swords of stone I parried the first strike then the next. Each blow was powerful and quick, far faster than Pyrrha was when I had dueled her. At this moment I was thankful for having to try and keep up with Ozpin's insane speed with a weapon. We traded blows for some time, before his foot slipped just barely. Taking the opportunity I leaned out of the sloppy swing kneeing him in the gut getting him to cough out some blood. With the Grimmblood stunned I started slicing him up as fast as I could. Blood showered the area as I diced away at flesh. Then the pain in my chest flared up again so I closed my eyes involuntarily and opened my hands. Again I had to cough getting blood out from my throat before feeling one hand hit cracked concrete.

"Never give you opponent an opening." The Grimmblood spoke so I opened my eyes in a mix of fear and shock. The ground was close to my eyes so I had fallen to my knees and did not have either stone blade in my hands. A powerful strike in the form of a kick connected with my abdomen sending me flying. I went up into the air then crashed through something hard before hitting another hard object. The groaning of metal told me this was one of the shipping containers, and glancing down at it I recognized the familiar Schnee Dust Company logo.

"Never give your opponent and opening eh?" I said to myself hopping down from the top of it. Then I conjured stone to cover my hands on top of the parts covered by bone-plates. Once they were covered up to about mid forearm I grabbed the container and hefted. At first it didn't budge, but another pull got it moving. A third tug and spin let me throw it over towards where I had been. The container didn't hold up so well and let out a string of cases and some of those opened to let out Dust crystals. A bolt of fire came in from a distance nailing one of the Dust crystals spot on setting off an explosion of size. To defend myself from the flames I held out hands forming a barrier. While holding it I let myself breath a little feeling exhaustion creeping up on me from the non stop fighting for who knows how long. I dropped the bubble after the flames died down for the most part.

"We distract prey and you strike at his back." A voice from one of my Grimm said in my head. I grinned liking the idea, though could they actually occupy him enough to grant me another shot at a surprise attack? I quickly pushed that thought to the back of my mind summoning a spear of molten rock in my hands.

"Do your best." I replied back through the bond I shared with the tamed Grimm. Moving through the flames it did not take me long to hear grunting and yips from the two battling forces. Going around the corner of a cargo container I saw one Grimm of white and two of orange attacking the Grimmblood with unexpected fluidity of movement and coordination. I stopped in the shadows to watch the fight amazed by the way the three augmented Beowolves used their elemental weapons. The one doing the most was the white one using a spear of icy white-blue in the same manner as I did with my staff. The other two had swords of flame and the furthest back one was throwing bolts of fire. I waited seeing the signs of fatigue on the Grimmblood that I felt, so he was approaching his limit too.

The white Beowolf roared swinging one end of the spear to cut through the two swords in the man's hand before turning to use the opposite end to stumble him. It worked as the Grimmblood moved a foot out of the way to stay standing and the orange one with swords charged forward. It slashed at him generating the slight smell of burnt flesh and pushing the Grimmblood back. Several bolts of fire went past him to near where I was though none of them hit. Ignoring that I charged at his side going low for an upwards kick enhanced by electricity. He screamed going up into the air then back down. Once on the ground I went for a punch, but he rolled out of the way and back onto his feet. He came at me so I dodged under a kick moving backwards as the Grimmblood pressed the attack. Once again we traded blows, but this time it was purely hand-to-hand combat. With each strike a tiny sliver of bone-plate came off the ones on my arms and legs. Regardless I pressed on feeling his flesh and bones beginning to crack under my assault.

My back hit a wall stopping my movement and I knew pain was coming. That expectation was fulfilled seconds later by a fist crashing into my abdomen. A little blood came out of my mouth from the impact at the same time a concussive blast erupted out. I felt myself go through a number of solid surfaces to stop at another one, buried partially into it. With a grunt I pried myself from the hard metal of another shipping container vaguely feeling something sticking in my side. I quickly reached for the location of the feeling and pulled on whatever object it was. It was a sharp shard of torn metal with scorch marks on it. Bringing up a hand I held it up palm facing where the Grimmblood was. In front of it a small orb of energy formed until it grew to the size of a tennis ball.

"Scatter and come to me!" I ordered to the Grimm watching their forms jump into the air away from the trail of destruction that I had made thanks to him. The moment the Grimm were out of the possible blast radius I unleashed the energy as a beam. Eyes widened seeing a quick flash of light before a beam came for the one I unleashed. The two energies met for some seconds, then exploded in blinding light. I shielded my eyes from the light feeling the push of wind. After a time that subsided and I lowered the protecting limb. Between me and the Grimmblood the area was letting off lots of steam while nothing else stood but glassed ground. Across the wastes I could see that he had taken his Beowolf form that he had shown me once before. Yellow eyes glared with roiling anger at me, and I replied in kind.

The Grimmblood held up two paws then stretched them out as if pushing a curtain aside from the middle. In the blink of an eye a crimson glowing spear of energy was there hovering before him. It was like a simple rod of metal with both ends sharpened to a lethal point that had tiny wisps of energy at either end. One paw grabbed the spear then that arm readied itself for a throw. I narrowed my eyes with a growl conjuring a bow of lightning and quickly taking aim. At the same time I pulled the string back I figured otu where I was going to shoot; the right shoulder joint. I released the arrow of electricity at the same time her threw the spear. Following that came a salvo of ice shards and bolts of fire from my Beowolves. Time slowed down as I watched the spear of energy come towards me crackling with unstable energy half way to me. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw my Beowolves run away, then the spear hit the ground near me exploding.

Blinding crimson light engulfed everything as my feet left the ground. Pain at the same level as the one in my chest ensnared my entire body and I screamed. After some time I felt myself hit the ground then roll feeling more of the bone-plates being chipped away. My eyes stared at concrete directly before them before I began to move. Everything protested movement and I ignored it getting up. However I fell back to the ground feeling the bone of my jaw hit. Several more times I tried getting up, then on the fourth try my limbs more or less worked with me. Shakily I stood up breathing hard with blood dripping from too many places on my body.

"Another incoming Alpha." One of the Grimm said and I felt relief that they hadn't been caught int he blast except for one. That left me with a dozen Beowolves in total under my control.

Quickly focusing my gaze onto the Grimmblood I saw another spear of energy form, this time within the left paw. "Fuck." I cursed feeling knowing I couldn't survive another explosion like that, and have my limbs still attached. However it seemed that spear seemed to hold form until one of the sharp points connected with something. An idea popped into my head and i knew it was crazy. The idea was simple: grab the spear before wither pointy end could touch something and explode. Intently I watched him aim the spear before throwing it. My gaze quickly switched from the Grimmblood to the spear. Once again time seemed to slow as the spear came for me. I stepped to the right then reached for it. Immediately pain flared in my left hand from the spear. Gritting my teeth I ignored that to grip the weapon tightly and slide form the force. After early a meter I stopped sliding feeling the energy within wanting to burst. I saw the shocked eyes of the Grimmblood then focused all the power I could to the weapon in my left hand. From that I saw a orange and black glow take over the spear before sparking in those colors.

"Time to pay for your sins torturer!" I called taking a step to throw the spear. That raced for the stunned Grimmblood who did nothing to evade it. He was stabbed through the heart by one end of the spear. A split second later that exploded more violently than the last one, and I passed out.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"We need to move faster!" the crimson haired amazon of the group of Beacon students shouted in an attepmt to be heard over the wail of sirens. Ahead of them one of Vale's docks was glowing from fires they could see form some distance away.

"Pyrrha! Wait!" Jaune called to his red haired team mate getting no reply, only a faster sprint from her. He groaned feeling the strain of running so far from the half way collapsed lab they had been in. Thankfully the police arrived after they had gotten out of there as explaining their presence, and most notably the two Grimms, would have been difficult.

"Stop Pyrrha!" Ruby's voice shouted at them as she raced up to them from running ahead earlier. The champion stopped hearing the fear within the younger teen's voice. Her silver orbs displayed that as well as uncertainty. The others shortly stopped next to Pyrrha catching their breath and or looking to Ruby. "They are fighting at a level that we can't." As if to prove her point the ground rumbled violently with a tremor at the instant of an explosion of flames.

The feline Grimm, Basilisk, formed out of thin air before the group. "The two are at the end of their fight." Basilisk said before turning to face the distant evidence of superhuman fighting. Another tremor shook the ground a bit and at this time the group noticed a string of police vehicles. The vehicles and police officers were lined up a little distance form the entrance to the docks that were a battleground.

Dread once again filled the Mystral champion's gut. However she forced that down moving to get closer despite the risk that presented. Blake and Ren shook their heads at the same time, but followed the amazon anyway. They stopped within shouting distance of the police line being among the few who approached that closely. Weiss' eyes widened at the recognizable symbol of the Schnee Dust Company on one of the nearby shipping containers. Then her icy colored eyes shifted to a figure pulling on one of those with fingers buried in the side. Her eyes widened at the sight of the shipping container being thrown to another location from where it had been. As it sailed through the air cases of Dust fell out, and some of those opened to let out Dust crystals. Watching the Dust fly a streak of flames impacted a Dust crystals causing it to explode and chain to the others.

Coughing Jaune spoke. "What happened?"

"A shipping container was throne then its contents were made to explode." Raysel supplied waving a hand in front of her to clear the flames immediately before them. With the flames gone they all watched as a white Beowolf holding a spear of ice expertly used it to combat Jake's two swords. The Beowolf is using the same moves that Eve does when she uses her sword staff. The ConCain Grimmblood noted mentally. It wasn't long before that icy spear broke through both swords then the non-bladed end tripped the male.

The white Boeowolf wasn't alone in its attacks. Others colored a magma orange swiped at the air throwing bolts of fire that either hit or barely missed the Grimmblood. Then Eve's form became visible as she went to attack with electricity covering a leg. That limb connected with the 700 year old criminal launching up into the air. Once the man was on the ground she went to punch him, only for the male do roll out of the way. Quickly the tide of battle turned with Jake putting Eve on the defensive, forcing her to back up as they battled. It mesmerized them that each attack between the two cracked concrete under their feet. That stopped quickly with Eve backing up into the side of a shipping container.

Pyrrha's mouth hung open in fear seeing Jake Riddley shifting to punch with force. That strike hit hard enough to send out a powerful concussive blast sending bits of concrete and metal flying. Following that was a path of destruction carved out by Eve's body through a number of shipping containers and a brick wall. Eve finally stopped partly buried into another shipping container, then pulled herself out. There was a pause of combat with the Conduit pulling something out of her side, then a hand was held up before her. Another ball of energy formed in front of it smaller than the last one. The colored Grimm that had been previously attacking Jake all scattered away from him. The onlookers caught sight of Jake doing the same thing. Shortly after a beam of energy roared from Eve's location, then a retaliating one came from Jake's. The two beams of energy clashed and seemed to freeze for some a few seconds.

A bright light and the roar of energy in the air signaled an explosion that reached into the sky. Those at or near the police line of vehicles screamed, but couldn't be heard by anyone. The light died down slowly to reveal the aftermath; a glassed section of ground that had wisps of steam rising from it. Through the steam a form was seen that sent a chill down the spines of the more normal onlookers. A large Beowolf with plenty of bone-plates over its form standing upright. Jake Riddley spread arms wide like parting a curtain with a glowing crimson object materializing before him. The Grimmblood grabbed it and only then did the students realize what the object set his arm up for a throw that Pyrrha was all to familiar with due to her weapon.

Across the glassed land Eve had conjured up a bow of electricity and pulled back the string. Slow moments passed before the Conduit let go of the bowstring and the spear of energy was thrown. The attacks sailed by the other with the arrow or bolt of electricity striking first, hitting Jake in the right shoulder to electrocute his form. Following that up was a salvo of ice shards and blasts of fire from the distant Beowolves standing on shipping containers. The spear quickly started sparking before it hit the ground near Eve, and detonated. The explosion before paled in comparison to this one that rocked the ground shaking the police vehicles. A force of wind pushed violently outwards blocking sight, forcing the spectators to shield their eyes. Slowly the wind and bright crimson light faded and the sharp eyes of Raysel and Blake spotted a rolling figure.

The Conduit rolled on the ground gaining more scratches and bruises from chipped and broken concrete, before coming to a stop face first. For what seemed like hours Eve didn't move then her arms shook with struggle. Once the two arms were roughly in a sit up position she tried pushing up before falling to the ground again. Twice more she fell then on the fourth try she slowly got onto her feet trailing blood from countless places on her body. They could tell Eve was on her last legs with her breath ragged. Another spear of energy formed, this time in Jake's left paw. He wasted little time in throwing the weapon getting air into his lungs with deep breaths. A smirk came to the Conduit's face before she stepped to the side then grabbed the spear before the tip could touch anything. Her body tensed resisting the force that pushed her back for nearly a meter.

Once stopped orange and black colored energy surged over the Conduit's left arm to the spear. Within about a thirty seconds or so the spear had changed in color to match the energy that was sent to it. It sparked in the black and orange mix with her bringing up the spear to throw left handed. "Time to pay for your sins torturer!" Eve's voice boomed with volume as the spear was thrown. Watching in awed silence the students felt a ting of relief seeing it stab through the heart. This time the explosion was the biggest throwing up countless objects, including spectators.

Raysel slammed a palm down onto the ground conjuring up a barrier that was combined with one that Basilisk made. Through the protective energy the others witnessed the police vehicles tossed away like toys and dust washing over them for some time. The cloud of dust seemed to settle down then one of the police cars smashed onto the top of the shield. The others sighed in relief before the car was tossed aside by the altered Beowolf. The Grimm's form was covered in a layer of concrete dust making it gray rather than black with bits of blue glowing crystal. Once the car was off the barrier both Raysel and Basilisk stopped channeling them.

"What the hell was that Jake did?" Yang asked before waving a hand in her face trying to clear the dust that hung in the air. Without warning a chorus of howls echoed into the night air making the teens jump, except for Raysel. The howls held a feeling of energy in them to the young Grimmblood. Sure enough the dust was forced away from the area letting them see a wasteland of shattered materials. They hesitantly walked into it stopping when Weiss heard a soft squish from one of her boots. Looking down her right boot had stepped on some part of an organ connected to the horribly burnt remains of a head. The heiress for her credit didn't scream at the sight, but nonetheless felt a chill go down her spine.

A form leaped over the students to land in front of them. That form was the feline Grimm taking off with purpose into the thick of the ruined docks. Looking between each other briefly they shrugged then gave chase to Basilisk's form. It wasn't long before they stopped near the feline Grimm. Gathered in a protective circle stood the forms of just over a dozen Beowolves whose colors were a mix of white and lava orange. The tamed Grimms stepped aside for them recognizing that they would have the ability to help their alpha.

"My god..." Pyrrha whispered looking over the battered form of Eve. up close she could tell the bleeding wasn't as bad as it had looked from a distance, but that much blood loss wouldn't be good. Everywhere her green eyes looked wounds were evident from prolonged fighting. Then there was the white bone-plates that dotted most of the Conduit's form that had quite a few scuff marks on them or small bits missing. The champion dropped to her knees with her eyes glued to the most horrific of the injuries. A giant shard of fused Dust crystal shards and metal stuck out from an eye socket.

Raysel lightly pushed her way through the others to get next to Eve's form. She quickly got to work on checking on the Conduit's health. To say she was going to need some time in the hospital was an understatement, though the Grimmblood was more concerned if her leader was alive or dead. Placing a hand on the Conduit's chest Raysel felt better feeling a faint heartbeat. One of her fingers touched the bone-plate covering part of Eve's breasts then that fell off in small chunks. Taking off her shirt the Grimmblood placed it over the Conduit's chest.

Nolan came closer seeing the slow, but somewhat unsteady, rise and fall of his leader's chest. Without warning something brushed his left leg so he looked at his hip. The silver object that was his Scroll was missing. He turned to the sound of dialing to see Basilisk with his Scroll open and calling someone. How the Grimm had the knowledge to operate said device was unknown, though he had no idea just who the Grimm was calling.

It wasn't long before the dialing sound stopped and the face of Professor Ozpin appeared in the screen. The man nearly took a sip from his mug but paused upon what he saw. "Who might you be, and why are you using one of my student's Scroll?" From the Headmaster's point it was unusual that Nolan Quester would call him. However the feline like Grimm mask with blue eyes and a pattern that glowed the same color made him wonder what team ERIN was up to. For that matter teams RWBY and JNPR had been gone most of the day and into the night.

Within the blink of an eye Ruby zoomed into view of the camera letting Ozpin relax. "Eve is badly hurt!" She blurted then tried to grab the Scroll from Basilisk. The feline Grimm grinned showing one of its fangs before rolling under the scythe wielder. Ruby fell to the group in a surprised heap.

"Mistress needs medical attention." Basilisk commented then moved to point the camera at Eve's form. "Send it quickly." With that the Grimm closed the Scroll placing back where it has snatched the device from.

Weiss and the others moved closer to get a look at the damage. Silence hung in the air like a thick fog. "Shouldn't we remove the shard of debris in her left eye socket?"

Raysel's crimson eyes moved to Weiss for a time then back to Eve's head. With both hands she felt around the wound and the shard itself. "Yes." Raysel answered then without a word Nolan knelt down to hold the Conduit's head from the other side. "Yang I need you to pull out the shard straight up, in one go if possible."

The blond brawler felt apprehension at what she was asked to do. It could work, or kill Eve if she messed up. Taking a deep breath she moved over to position herself above Eve's head. She slowly let out a breath of air then reached down to grab the shard. Thankfully the shard itself was not razor sharp at the edges, though she could feel that with enough force the dull edges would be able to cut. Again she took a deep breath making sure to have a solid hold on on the object. After releasing that breath Yang pulled on the shard using her Aura to strengthen the motion, careful not to extend that to the Dust crystals within it. With a sickeningly wet slushy sound the shard came out trailing blood and bits of what was an eyeball and the bone around the socket.

Four of the nearby Beowolves turned to crowd over Eve's form reaching out to touch her body with a paw each. Each of the four Grimms glowed brightly from the blue designs where the students were used to seeing burning crimson. Then to their astonishment the Grimms began withering away into blue-black smoke that traveled to the open eye wound. The mixed colored smoke stayed there covering most of the left side of Eve's face in a bone-plate. They noticed the partial mask had an extra layer over where her left eye would be. Shortly after that a Bulkhead landed near them with paramedics rushing out. The Beacon students quickly got out of the way as the team of paramedics got Eve onto a stretcher and carried her onto the Bullhead. Feeling the weight of the night and the laboratory on their minds the teens all moved onto the spacious aircraft.

One of the shorter paramedics turned to look over the students then paled at the sight of 13 Beowolves and a never before seen Grimm. "What are those things doing here?!" Her voice quivered just a little.

"Those Beowolves are ones that Eve tamed earlier including the two next to me." Raysel spoke drawing the woman's attention. She visibly calmed down taking a breath to collect herself. It seemed that the paramedic recognized the ConCain form somewhere, or at least her family traits.

"That makes more sense." She shrugged before a neutral mask came to her angular face. "But they cannot ride with us so you will need to lead them back to Beacon Miss ConCain."

Raysel smirked. "Figured as much." With thst the Grimmblood stepped back with Basilisk and the altered Beowolf to let the ramp close. The vehicle took off quickly heading for the school's hospital. Raysel turned around to see the remaining Grimm huddled close together watching the transport fade from view. This makes things easier.She mused mentally then snapped her fingers. That got the Grimm to face her with questioning gazes. "Get a little closer to each other and I will teleport us back to Beacon." The Grimm collectively nodded then got close to one another with Raysel. The Grimmblood closed her eyes channeling energy around the small area they occupied tagging them. Then she pictured the courtyard and the statue near Beacon's entrance. With a grunt the group was teleported the distance and she slumped over to her knees. Ignoring the fatigue that came back to haunt her she made way to the landing pads for airships and Bullheads.

The Grimmblood caught sight of the paramedics racing the hovering bed towards the hospital with haste. Focusing back to the others she caught sight of two people she did not expect besides the Headmaster. One was a tall lean man with a giant sword on his back. The man's clothing looked a bit worn and rugged in colors of gray and red, with a short red cape. The other was a man wore casual cloths of a t-shirt and cargo pants both in dark blue. Short mangy gray hair decorated the top of his head. However it was not appearances that let her know whom it was, but the man's power. Raysel could sense that he was another Grimmblood like herself, though not of the same type of Grimm. The man's head turned to glance over a shoulder at her and for a split second the younger Grimmblood saw the image of a dragon past his form.

"Welcome back." Ozpin said as he stood at the dock, hands resting idly on the top of his ornate silver cane.

Red eyes scanned the students until they stopped at Ruby, and a smile came to his lips. "Hey kid." He spoke with his voice sounding equally as rough as his appearance in red and gray cloths.

"Qrow!" Ruby yelled zooming to the man putting him in a bear hug. At the same time Yang walked over to give the man, and Ruby, a group hug.

"So those two are your nieces Qrow?" The other male spoke drawing attention. Two very different colored eyes went over the group of students, then to Qrow.

"They are." Qrow replied ruffling Ruby's hair a little with one hand.

Raysel's eyes widened in recognition. "You're Cameron Drake, one of the few known dragon Grimmbloods."

The gray haired male to Ozpin's left nodded. "I'm an old friend of Ozpin's. He called me to hunt down Jake Riddley."

Basilisk snaked around the legs of the standing teens before sitting down in front of them, within clear view of the three men. "That man is dead." It said getting a raised eyebrow from the left eye that glowed crimson. "By Eve's hand no less."

Cameron nodded. "I see. And where is her Grimm?" He took the time to look glance over the pack of Beowolves that either held lava orange fur coloration or snow white with blue glowing patterns. After they his eyes went back to the six of Basilisk's own.

The feline Grimm shook its head in silent answer.

At the same time Ryasel stepped away from the group pulling out her Scroll. Less than a minute later she returned to them. "My mo-"

"Already here." Another voice said cutting Rasyel off. Silver white hair cascaded down the voluptuous form of the woman standing a little ways behind Ozpin. Eyes the color of regal purple looked over the crowd before them, lingering just a bit longer on the Grimms. She wore for some strange reason the female uniform of beacon students.

Ozpin turned around to look over a shoulder. "Why are you wearing that Arianna?"

Arianna shrugged. "I just felt like it, though this isn't quite what you think it is." With a wave of a hand over her form a smoke cloud went over her body then cleared to reveal that she was now clad in a white tank top and black cargo pants with a belt, and thick heeled shoes. "Before you ask I was with Cameron when he got a call from Ozpin to hunt down Jake Riddley."

"Let's all get some sleep." Nolan said going to the home of team ERIN. The others nodded in silent agreement going to their respective dorms.

Arianna watched the students leave and once they were reasonable out of earshot she turned to Ozpin crossing her arms over her chest. "I heard that Jake Riddley is finally dead, but how?"

"Alpha's hand." The altered Beowolf spoke letting the others know that they still had an audience in the tamed Grimm.

"Then where is the Beowolf she tamed originally? The one that Raysel told me was called Grendel." Arianna asked watchig the eight legged Grimm pull up a hand drawing it in front of its throat. "Ah, he's dead."

"Jake killed Grendel, then Mistress erupted with fury." Basilisk spoke getting a slight jolt out of Arianna.

"You should have told me that!" She grumbled then vanished teleporting.

Ozpin looked to Cameron a little puzzled. "What was the hurry for?"

Cameron snickered breifly. "For all the dozens of years you've been alive Ozpin there are things you don't know about Grimm Tamers." Cameron paused shaking his head. "The important one here is that certain bonds between a Tamer and their Grimm make the tamed creature stronger. However that comes with a risk if one doesn't protect themselves. If the tamed Grimm is killed the Tamer will suffer damage, namely internal damage."

Ozpin looked at the hospital where he knew Arianna was at looking over the battered Conduit. I am positive she will survive. He thought then began heading to his office, as more work awaited him. Eyes narrowed a little at the ground ahead of him. After all Eve is like him.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Eight days had passed since the night time incident at the docks that made news coverage. The stories were a little vague aside from the fact the two fighting had been identified to be the criminal Jake Riddley and a student of Beacon, the Grimm Tamer Eve Varendir. The Police had announced that the criminal Grimmblood was confirmed dead thanks to the horribly burnt Beowolf head that matched the DNA in their database to Jake Riddley. The news stations also covered the damage report from the fight between Grimmblood and Conduit, simply concluding that the port they battled at was rendered useless until it could be repaired. Another fact that disturbed some people was the police stating they discovered evidence of inhumane experiments conducted on humans, and experiments on Grimm as well. During that annoucement it had been easy for the police officers to be utterly confused to find the remains of Grimm within the shattered labs. Luckily the Huntsmen Cameron Drake had been there that day to explain that the bodies of Grimm tamed by a Grimm Tamer do not turn into black mist upon death, but rather stay around like a regular human corpse.

The news stations had been trying for six days to get any news regarding the condition of the Conduit who had not only destroyed a dock but killed a 700 year old criminal Grimmblood. So far Beacon had not permitted them access to the school for the sake of the recovering individual who was still under close watch. On the other hand things turned more or less back to normal at Beacon with the return of Eve, though the Conduit was still unconscious at the hospital.

Isabel Stelsa had been horrified to learn of what happened while she had stayed behind to spend time with her boys. The feline Faunus was still relived to have her team leader back. Her and the rest of team ERIN had been visiting the Conduit as much as they could, which wasn't much when there was a lot of preparing for major tests. Those had occurred two days ago on Friday, as it was Sunday. Team ERIN sat with RWBY and JNPR at the cafeteria in their usual spot feeling a bit relaxed, or at least some of them. Jaune and Ruby both looked as if they knew impending doom was coming. However Ruby did feel somewhat good knowing that she had gotten answers from an unlikely source to the exam questions: Basilisk. The Grimm had given her answers to the questions she couldn't through the use if images in her mind, though it was still all in Ruby's words of how she described those.

"Why are you whiter than normal?" Basilisk asked as the Grimm rested at the end of the table with the feline tail dangling off the edge. "You passed the test." It added with Ruby seeming to ignore the man made Grimm. With a shrug Basilisk chomped on another piece of large celery. all behind the feline was the pack of 13 Beowolves that Eve had tamed with a dragon like roar. To be honest Basilsik was still not quite sure how that had worked to tame the other Grimm besides the largest Beowolf with crystals growing out of his body. For all Basilisk knew taming Grimm was a one at a time deal, not dozens at the same time. Shaking its head Basilisk banished that train of thought for the time being.

"I am sure you passed your exam too Jaune." Pyrrha said putting a reassuring hand on Jaune's shoulder. He muttered a thanks then returned attention to the comic book before him. A chirping sound drew attention then to the source, Raysel ConCain. The Grimmblood pulled out her scroll then read the message and smiled.

"Eve finally woke up." Raysel said standing up.

"Really?" Pyrrha said with a tone that spoke of relief and excitement at once. With a nod from the Grimmblood Pyrrha smiled then hastily left for the hospital. The others quickly followed suit with Yang pulling Jaune along by his hood. The Group went through the halls of the school and into the hospital via a connecting bridge followed by the pack of Beowolves steps behind their resident GRimmblood friend. They ignored the front desk that was empty, already knowing what room the Grimm Tamer was in. Once on the second floor they went down the hallway mid way to be stopped by Arianna whom was dressed in a black business skirt and a matching business shirt. Her hair was braided into a long pony tail that draped over her left shoulder.

"You all are able to see Eve, but she's weak so you can't stay long." Arianna said then stepped aside from the door to room 248. She moved back in the path to the door. "Unfortunately the room is too small for the lot of you to enter it. However I will do everything I can to ensure that your Alpha lives. You dozen will wait out here until my daughter comes back out." The Beowolves looked at each other for some measure of time then back to Arianna and nodded. WIth that her pruple eyes turned to the door where Eve lay in a hospital bed on the other side.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Ears flicked at the sound of a door opening. I turned my head slowly to the left seeing a bunch of figures filter in. For some reason I couldn't see out of my left eye at all, but I could from the right one. Colors and shapes were a messy blur, though my nose told me who they were. "Hey." I croaked seeing the blurred mess move closer. I could make out their forms better at this distance telling them apart individually. However my vision was still blurry.

"You look like hell." Raysel spoke so I shifted my eye to the sound of her voice. The silver hair was easy enough for me to see.

I chuckled weakly. "I feel that way, and my vision is bad too."

She grunted then moved. "We can't be here long, but we all wanted to see you." Raysel said then I heard the door open and close. The others followed suit saying they'd visit again some time later. Each of them sounded quite happy to see me. After a time I noticed one shape hadn't left the room yet. Turning to it I could see red and gold, from the coloration I knew who it was. Pyrrha stayed standing in between the door and my bed.

"Eve..." The champion paused as I heard a swallow. "What happened to Grendel?"

I closed my eye seeing the memory of the Beowolf's death in my mind. My left hand tried to grip the blanket tight. "He's dead."

Heels stepped closer then a hand touched my jaw gently. That hand turned my head back towards the door. I opened my eye to see her close to me. "What do you think of me?"

I raised an eyebrow on the right side feeling no response out of the left one. That was an odd question to ask. Did she wander about our friendship? Where was she going with it? Regardless I took my time gathering thoughts. I ignored what I had known previously from the show before my rebirth, and focused on my own experiences with the redhead. I felt a slight cool sensation enter my body eliminating any pain I felt. At the same time my vision cleared allowing me to see Pyrrha's questioning gaze and to the door past her face. It opened just enough for me to see a woman's face through the gap. Her purple eyes held a knowing look with a smile on her lips, then the door closed so quietly I almost didn't hear it.

My attention shifted back to Pyrrha who did seem a little troubled by something. "You are someone who is strong, courageous, beautiful, humble, and caring." I said seeing some of the worry in her eyes lesson. "What about me?" I grinned, or tried to before I felt soreness in my face that made me stop.

Pyrrha pulled her face back a bit looking away form my eye for some time. This let me see that she was dressed in her usual battle attire, though without her weapons. Comfortable silence hung in the air for maybe three minutes or so then her eyes came to mine. "I think you're brave, beautiful, powerful, unyielding, kind, reckless, stubborn, and impulsive."

I winced as she mentioned my flaws last though I kept my gaze on her green eyes. I felt some sort of relief at the mention of those words. Why? I couldn't quite rack my brain for an answer after a minute. Silence once again claimed the room as I noted her small smile. The Mystral champion seemed quite happy, more so than the others, that I had woken up. I could see that in her body language, but why was she so happy?

Her green eyes left mine to look elsewhere in the room. "Despite knowing who I was when we first met you treated me just like any normal person." She paused gaining a distant look to her face. "I've been blessed with incredible talent and ability. Due to those people put me on a pedestal with many thinking I am too good for them so socialize with. Being put there for so long made me separated from the people who put me there in the first place."

"The down side of a celebrity." I weakly said gaining a giggle from her.

"Very true." Pyrrha said with a nod then her eyes came back to mine. "Now I know how how people feel when they compare themselves to me. Your powers and abilities set you apart from others far more than my own. When I compare the difference between us I feel grossly outclassed."

I grunted starting to see some fuzzy spots in my vision. "Just because I have powers few others have does that make me any less human then the average person, or you?" She stared at me for with her mouth hung open a little and a surprised expression on her face. "None of us are perfect regardless if they are a tournament champion or a Conduit."

After what seemed like half an hour she regained composure to smile brightly. "You are right." She giggled again.

I felt my eyelids go heavy and close of their own accord seeing her her talk before they closed, though I heard none of the words.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Pyrrha Nikos stopped talking when she noticed Eve's head go limp. Looking to the Conduit the redhead knew that she had fallen asleep as evidenced by her closed eye and steady breathing. Taking a quick glance around to make sure she was alone the champion leaned down to plant a kiss on Eve's forehead. "I will visit you as soon as I can." pyrrha said in a gentle tone typically reserved for her little sister or mother. With that she stood up quietly and left the room closing the door behind her softly.

"You love her don't you?" A voice spoke out behind the amazon making her jump.

Wasting little time Pyrrha turned around to be face to face with one of the most beautiful women she had seen. The champion also knew this woman to be Raysel ConCain's mother from earlier comments. "How do you know?" She said with her cheeks displaying a visible amount of red on them.

Arianna let out a hearty laugh at the much younger female. "I've lived in this world long enough to know love by seeing it."

The Mystral champion let out a sigh of defeat. "I...do." She said slowly watching the ConCain matriarch.

Arianna smiled putting a hand onto pyrrha's shoulder. "Nothing wrong with that, nor what Eve said a little bit ago." Pyrrha's eyes widened at that statement. "That girl is wise beyond her years." Pyrrha smiled a little setting the older woman at ease. "As much as I'd like to let you stay by her side I must ask you to leave. And don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Though I would not wait too long given that you chose to be a Hunttress."

Pyrrha smiled brightly nodding. "I understand, and I'll be here tomorrow to visit."

Watching the human teenager walk away with a spring in her step the ConCain matriarch looked back to the hospital door. With a sigh she entered the room to make another check on the Conduit. Her life signs came out normal for her kind and the girl herself seemed to be at some measure of peace. Turning her attention elsewhere the regal purple eyes landed on the bone-plates that dotted the female's form. How she got them was a mystery, though the testimony of the teens spoke volumes. They had claimed that four of the Beowolves under Eve's command had turned into blue-black smoke before forming the mask that covered the majority of the left side of the Conduit's face. At least the mask left Eve's lips uncovered so someone would be able to see if she smiled or not. In that though it was not hard to imagine that Eve had actually tamed many more Grimm than had arrived at the school. Assuming a similar process happened before the Tamer had lost a some Grimm to create the bone-plates for protection, otherwise she was stark naked.

Performing another check up on the young Grimm Tamer Arianna was met with green colors across the readouts of her scroll. Eve Varendir, As Ozpin had informed her, was healing good. Though her eyes focused on the holographic display of the Conduit's body. The first focus was the heart where a tiny red dot glowed steadily indicating damage. On the left side of the organ and some on the lung of that side rent tissues were healing. There would be scar tissue from the damage done by having her first tamed Grimm killed, though that would not cause her problems after it healed. With a shake of her head the Grimmblood's eyes focused on the other injury that held her attention as a medical professional. From the medical scan performed on Eve near the start of the school year Arianna had a good idea of what the left eye socket looked like. Though now it was a mesh of mostly healed damage altered from it's original form. The mask residing over the damaged area made it virtually impossible to get a reading through it with a Scroll.

It was clear that the mask was formed to protect the damaged area. Though Arianna had to wonder if the young Conduit would be able to see from that eye again, assuming another was forming under the mask. Letting out a sigh she yawned. It was late and the ConCain matriarch had been up for two days straight to oversee her latest patient. Arianna left the hospital heading for the silver and gold lined airship parked at one of the airship landing pads that belonged to her personally. It was time for her to get some much needed sleep.

---

who is the man that Ozpin refers to in comparison to Eve? that you guys will have to find out in time. also other details about Conduits and Grimm Tamers will come to light in future chapters.

next time: Chasing Flames