I woke up at four forty-five in the morning and changed into my camouflage clothes and took along with the mask to avoid revealing my white skin in the black and green color scheme of the forest. I exited the town hall, the sky still dark with several dark clouds coming in and the morning sun starting to peak its head out from the horizon. As I entered the house that had been converted into a mess hall for the militia, I noticed that the only person in there aside from the cooks was Grace sitting alone at one of the empty tables nearby the set of stairs that had a few old family pictures hung up.

The building was a log cabin style two-story house with five tables strewn across the dining room, living room and in the two bedrooms upstairs. I could see all three cooks were busy making up meals in the marble-themed kitchen for the day using an old wood stove as a heating element. I pulled out the chair next to her and took a seat next to Grace and the woman looked up at me with a smile.

"Ready for recon duty?"

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes as one of the cooks emerged from the kitchen with a plate of the standard breakfast consisting of two scrambled eggs and a sausage and put it in front of me. I gave the chef a nod of thanks and turned my gaze back to Grace. "As ready as I'll ever be."

She then gave me a confused look. "Where's your partizan?"

I swallowed a mouthful of egg before answering. "My what?" I asked, not stopping my eating.

"It's actually better known as a viper hood. Helps you be concealed while maintaining full field of view."

I shrugged and grabbed the fabric of my hoodie. "This works just fine."

She nodded several times. "Hang on a sec." She then got up from her seat and rushed out the door of the house. She then came back a few minutes later with a green, military-grade hoodie laced with grass and a cap sewn into the top of the hood. "This, Wardog, is a viper hood. It just helps with concealment and mobility. It's light, sturdy and not too warm so you don't have to worry about overheating. You can either wear it overtop of your other hoodie or replace it." She then handed it over to me and I took it. I turned it over and lifted it, satisfied.

"Okay then, thanks." I said, finishing my breakfast. "I should get going before Henry yells at me again."

"'Kay, just come back alive." Grace said with a smirk.

I nodded back at the woman, slightly concerned that I might not come back at all. Before I headed out though, I took off my black hoodie, put it back in my bag and replaced it with the viper hood. I then put on my mask and headed out with Castor and Pollux on my arms, leaving behind Dusk as it would hinder my movement. Since the beowolves had retreated to the south, I decided to start there and just hope that if I followed the tracks that they would lead me to the Omega's den.

I took a deep breath, flipped up the viper hood, leaving only my eyes and hands exposed to the open air, and exited the safety of Hishan's defended barricades as I followed the wolf-grimm tracks into the woods. The second I entered the thick forest, darkness engulfed me and my surroundings, significantly reducing my vision. I then crouched as I walked forward, avoiding sticks and piles of leaves in order to make as little noise as possible.

"Remember Joe, if you're opponent is stronger than you, don't be afraid to disappear and resort to stealth. Stay crouched, stay calm and if you think you might be spotted, hide until you have a solid reason to believe otherwise." Uncle Pollux's lessons on stealth rang in my mind. He was the one of my two mentors who was the less bulky and smarter. But by no means was he weak. Castor was stronger than him, but not by much, and Pollux was only slightly smarter. After a few hours of tracking, I continued to follow the tracks until they turned sharply, now heading west. I thought that was odd considering the fact that dens were usually made in caves or mountains, but to the west was nothing but dense forest.

I shook my head and continued to follow the large pawprints in the grass and the occasional knocked over tree until I heard a loud crunch to my left. I immediately froze and started to hold my breath until I remembered another lesson from Pollux: "If you find yourself close to the enemy, do not hold your breath or else you'll end up taking one loud gulp of air which I can promise you will be your last. Just take normal breaths in and out through your nose."

I took cover in a nearby bush, shrouding myself in the foliage and waited. I waited two minutes until I heard another crunch and a beowolf entered my field of view, sniffing at the ground. I relaxed myself and tried to get all negative thoughts to leave my mind, any aggression towards the wolf-grimm, any hatred towards its species and any worries about my possible death left soon left my brain, replaced by thoughts of being next to Velvet, hearing her voice, looking at her beautiful face and imagining her long, soft brown hair intertwined in my fingers. I continued the train of thought until the beowolf sniffed at where I had been standing a second ago and looked around at the surrounding underbrush before wandering off, away from where the other tracks led. I emerged from my hiding spot and continued following the tracks that had been made by the beowolves of yesterday.

The large pawprints on the ground continued until they split up into five groups of two sets each, spreading out in five different directions. I sighed and decided to follow a set of pawprints that were heading towards a mountain to the north of Hishan.

As I followed the tracks, the weather got worse as thunder rumbled in the sky and a few raindrops began to fall, making me pick up my pace. I wasn't going to be able to track the beowolves if there were no tracks. The viper hood kept me warm and protected as I trudged onward, hot on the trail of the attackers. The pawprints continued until they turned sharply again, away from the mountain. It was then that I realized that these prints were much fresher than they should have been, the indentation had not been soaked by the light rain as much as the rest of the ground. After following this path for a while, I realized something: the beowolves were on a patrol route. They were protecting where the den was and hardly any prints actually headed towards the mountain. I deduced that that was where the Omega had made its den and was ordering its lesser beowolves to attack the village.

But there's no way Henry's going to believe me on a hunch. I thought. I have to go to the mountain and be certain that is where the Omega is or else we're never going to cooperate with each other. I took a nervous breath and readied my gauntlets as I moved slowly and silently towards the mountain. The very air seemed to grow heavy with death as kept moving towards my objective. As I got closer, fear began to enter my mind and threatened to override my brain into revealing my position to any monsters that might be watching. By the time I got to the foot of the mountain, I was on the verge of having a heart attack by how fast it was beating. As I moved forward though, the forest started to open up into a small clearing and I was able to get a good look at the large natural structure that had a beowolf coming out of a cave and just inside it, the creature straight from my nightmare the previous night. Taller than an Alpha, stronger and undoubtedly more intelligent. It let out a low growl at the smaller beowolf in front of it and the smaller creature quickly scurried away from its larger counterpart, thankfully not seeing me observing from the foliage. I could only stare at the beast in sheer shock, this was something literally out of a nightmare that could probably kill me easily if given the chance. It glanced in my direction and I just sprinted in the opposite direction, completely unsure of what else to do. I stomped onto piles of fallen leaves, broke fallen twigs and completely disregard my earlier stealthy demeanour. After around two or three minutes of panicked running, I picked up my earlier tracks and followed them back to the village of Hishan, sweat pouring down my forehead and cheeks. I caught my breath, hands on my knees and bent over after being remembering the horrifying size of the monster that I thought only a Goliath could achieve.

My breathing resumed to normal and I walked into the village in the late afternoon from the south barricade, a steady but soft rain now falling, to find Henry already awaiting my report with a scowl and crossed arms.

"Anything?" He asked sternly.

I nodded and took off my mask, holding it in my right hand. "The Omega is hiding in a cave in a mountain to the north with beowolves frequently patrolling the area around it."

"Very well then, I'll get four of the best from each guard station and we'll attack tomorrow morning."

I gave the veteran an astonished look. "Henry… that's-that's not going to work." I said in disbelief.

"Oh?" He replied. "And why not?"

"Because this is an Omega. Not an Alpha, not a regular. This is one of the most vicious beasts that you've ever encountered and you think that five soldiers can kill it?"

"We are the best of the best and our combined strength surpasses yours." He said with finality. "Thank you for tracking the Omega, your services are no longer required."

I just stared at him, astonished at his nerve. Sure these soldiers were good, but this Omega could probably go through their auras and flesh with a single strike whereas my aura was more durable than theirs and I was more skilled with killing grimm than they were. "Henry…"

"You're done, Mr. Taren." He interrupted me. "You wanted to help and you have. Our agreement was that you leave killing the Omega to us. Call your ride and leave the rest of the job to us." He said as he walked back towards Vanguard's barricade.

I let out a frustrated yell and plunged my left blade through the concrete road, cracking the cement. I'm not going to let this happen. I'm not going to let five lives be lost when it's not necessary. I headed back to my temporary living quarters and laid out my normal combat gear, including Dusk.

"Joe?" A voice called from the doorway of the watchtower. I looked over my shoulder to see the familiar face of Grace looking at me, her face the epitome of concern.

"Oh. Hey, Grace. I guess you heard about the situation?"

She nodded. "Yeah, Henry wants me, Barry, Skane and Daniella to accompany him on the hunt tomorrow."

"Ah. The best of the best, right?" I asked.

"Yeah." She must've noticed the aggravated expression on my face. "And I assume that you don't want us going?"

I nodded. "You guys were trained on how to fight other people, not grimm. I am. Sending you guys in would just get you all killed."

"I think so too. I tried to talk to Henry about at least taking you along, but he doesn't want anything to do with you."

"Fucker's afraid I'll steal his thunder." I mumbled. "When are you leaving?"

She shook her head and her face bore a frown. "I've been ordered not to tell you." She then coughed into her hand and thought I heard something.

"What was that?"

"I said I've been ordered not to tell you." She repeated. Grace coughed again into her hand again and I distinctly heard her say "Ten-hundred hours."

I smirked. "Okay then. Well, I wish you guys the best."

She smirked back. "Thanks. Hey Joe?" Grace asked from the doorway on her way out.

"Yeah?"

"If…if you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you like your last words to your girlfriend be?" I opened my mouth to ask how she knew I had one, but she cut me off before I could say anything. "I was on watch in the tower last night and overheard you talking to her."

I let out a sigh and thought for a moment. "I guess I'd tell her that I love her and if I died, I'd want her to move on." I responded. "I don't want her happiness to die with me."

Grace nodded back. "Her name's Velvet, right?"

"Yeah. Second year student at beacon. Rabbit faunus, part of team CFVY." I looked in the markswoman's eyes. "You'll pass those words along, won't you?"

She shook her head. "Only if something goes wrong."

I nodded again to the woman and she left me to prepare for the assault I would go on tomorrow. I've got to get there before they do. That way I'll at least weaken the Omega for them or kill a few other beowolves.

I unpacked everything I would need for the morning: Dusk, my armor, mask, gauntlets and normal clothes. I took a look at the items and my uncle Castor's lesson about living with a code came to mind. I had decided a few years ago that mine was 'deeds, not words.' I hated politics and always admired huntsmen and soldiers for that trait of acting rather than questioning. My uncle Castor's code:

"Disobedience can be a virtue as well as a fault."

I picked up my scroll and contemplated calling Velvet, but I just couldn't do it. I knew I'd end up cracking and telling her about my true mission, about the Omega and how close it was to Beacon. Then she'd be worried about me and I wasn't going to put her through that hell. If I was going to die, then I wanted for her to receive the news suddenly rather than spend all of tonight wondering if I'd be on the next bullhead that docked at Beacon; similar to choosing whether to be killed outright or tortured. I then contemplated calling Jaune, but the same problems arose. I didn't want to lie when it wasn't absolutely necessary and cause concern. Besides, if I died, Ozpin would probably fill them all in on the details.

In the end, I decided to simply call no one and go to sleep in order to prepare for the inevitable slaughter that would occur the next day, whether it was the Omega's or mine.