I am back everyone! Sorry for the wait, I had some school and sickness problems to deal with. So, you know, the usual stuff. I hope this chapter makes up for all that and remember, Follow/Favorite/Comment everyone! Your feedback and support would be much appreciated for me as a writer, and would help me improve this story in the long run!

Disclaimer-I do not own RWBY, which is owned by the late and great Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth. Only thing I own is my characters.

"The art of war is simple enough. Find out where your enemy is. Get at him as soon as you can. Strike him as hard as you can, and keep moving on."

8 Sextilis, 3176 PD -C. Astali-

"How did so much dust collect on my things? I haven't even been here for a week!" I thought, brushing away the substance off of a box holding tools and cleaning supplies. Instead of watching the students attend to getting ready for Initiation, I opted to use the time I had to sort my room and get an overall feel of my surroundings. The room was rather spacious, to say the least.

The room was about the size of Vale. Large and expensive. The living area was half full with boxes, and the bedroom was already being converted into a workshop. Sleep wasn't much of an option for me, nor did it welcome me as it used to.

I had already set up some of my more needed items. A television already firmly held against the wall, an oxygen mask and tank right next to a worn couch, and my weapon rack. Warmaker and Peacemonger were already placed on it, gleaming from a recent cleaning of them. It was a rarity for a Huntsman to have two weapons, as more than one could easily weigh you down if you are not built for carrying heavy armament. While not as physically built as some, I had made Peacemonger for being easily carried and, if needed, concealed. The sole purpose of Warmaker was to be as loud and ferocious as possible, as no one ignores a shotgun blast echoing throughout their base.

Walking over to the rack, I gently grabbed Peacemonger and used it to cut open boxes. It was as if cutting through butter with searing hot knife, which it could have been if I hadn't been careful, and started cutting open a footlocker sized box.

I was halfway cutting through the tape holding it closed when I noticed some purple and pink golf balls laying inside of it, and I knew only one man who would have these. I rolled out of the way as I saw some vapor coming from my left, pushing the box and dropping Peacemonger in the process.

As if out of thin air, a man, followed by a thin trail of vapor, jumped out of the the box I had been sitting next to and landed feet first on the couch. The man was brightly dressed and was sporting an unnaturally wide grin, his hair having a light grey color to its untamed style. He was wearing a purple and pink striped tailcoat with a dress shirt that was white with blue accents. He also had on a pair of red and pink tap dancing shoes and purple breeches, a cat tail moving around behind him. If anyone else was here, they likely wouldn't have guessed this man was my partner.

"Hello Bud! I see you found my golf balls." Seemingly out of nowhere, he pulled a gold and purple golf club and hopped down in front of me. His blue and aqua eyes stared at me with an almost childlike glee, as if he had just found his long lost toy. "I've been wondering where they went. They always disappear for some reason."

"Like you?" He spun around me, tapping me on the head with his club as he did, and picked up a ball from the box.

"It's no fun to be in the same place for to long. I mean, look at you," He gestured at me as if I were some type of trophy, something to be shown off to anyone who happens to be interested in me, "You staying in Atlas for so long has made you act all formal and angry. Last time I saw someone like you, he took over a company."

Having grabbed more golf balls while he was talking, he began juggling them around idly, while leaning against his golf club, which was slowly sliding away from him. I ignored his comment and continued unpacking my things. "What do you want Alistair, don't you see I am busy with something?"

"That's what I'm here about!" Nonchalantly catching every golf ball, he walked over to me and put an arm around my shoulder, putting his hand forward in a pushing motion, "I have pushed all my plans for the rest of this year to spend some time and help my teammate, and resident best buddy, Cadec Astali."

I froze, from either shock or anger I couldn't tell. All I knew at that moment was that this day was being a real piece of shit to me. From my lack of movement he started snapping his fingers in front of my face, and then resorted to tapping my lens' with his golf club. Shaking my head, I reached into a pouch at my side and pulled out my medicine. Injecting it into my bloodstream, I felt a calming presence take over once more and I slowly looked at Alistair with a calm stare. "Alistair? You do know that Adolf and Layton are coming here, correct?"

"Yep!" I never understood where the joy came from.

"So why are you here if you know I already have those two coming to 'help'?"

"It's simply because I want to spend time with you, as I have said, and to have a big ol' family reunion with all of you guys!" He disappeared suddenly, leaving only hints of vapor in his place. Looking around, I found him looking down the barrel of Warmaker, while casually stroking the trigger. "Besides, I also have a small gift for you."

From within his coat, he pulled out a file crudely labeled Open On Yuletide, and tossed it towards me. Amazingly enough, none of the papers fell out as I caught it. "First of all, put it back," He grunted and reluctantly put my weapon back on the rack,"Second, why did you want me to open this in the holidays?"

", Well, I was planning on coming during Yuletide, but I thought maybe it would be kinda late to get this to you."

Thumbing through the file, I realized why he had gotten this to me now. It held very in depth papers talking about every student that was to go through Initiation today, and further back was an extra little treat for me. "These last few files are very revealing on the teachers here, why would you give me these?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He was on the couch again, lazily sitting with his arms behind his head. After a few seconds of silence, he sighed and looked at me out the corner of his eyes, "Who knows how many of them would disagree with our little experiment, right? And we need leverage the ones that do, yeah?" He was back at my side in an instant, leaning on me in full force. "I swear, sometimes you are the densest person ever. Of all time."

Ignoring the insult, I shrugged his weight off of me. He fell onto the floor rather loudly, but it didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. I walked over to the kitchen counter and paced the folder on it. I started going through the boxes, looking for the whiskey I had stored away for 'special' occasions.

I was interrupted by Alistair rolling over to me and wrapping his tail around my wrist. He rolled his eyes after a quizzical look was sent his way and started to guide my hand towards a large box. "It's in the right corner, very top, covered in tin foil."

"Why is it in there?"

"Because some people get thirsty in a box after three hours," Sighing, I opened the now obviously badly opened box and looked for the tin foil covered alcohol. Sure enough, it was where he said it was and after pulling it out and taking off the foil, I took out a glass for myself. Before I could start opening the bottle, I heard a coughing sound to my right. Looking over, I saw Alistair holding his own glass out, looking at me expectantly. "Not going to leave your best bud empty handed, right?"

I gave him the most evil glare I could muster, which got even worse when his response to it was his already huge grin getting larger. Finally, I submitted with a growl and took his glass from him. "Fine," Putting the glass down, I quickly turned back at him and held up my finger, "But only one, I don't want another drunk escapade like the last time."

He held up his hands and gave an innocent look, laughing as if I had lost my mind. "If I remember correctly, you were the one trying to shoot me out of a cannon." Not wanting to have this conversation again, I quickly opened the bottle and poured our glasses. "The explosion scared Headmaster Lionheart half to death, even heard he had to go to the clinic afterwards."

I handed him his glass while I started unclasping my helmet and apparatus. He looked at me worriedly as his trademark grin faltered, something that never happens. "You know you don't need to keep that on, right?" I placed the helmet and apparatus on the counter and took a long drink from my glass.

The alcohol burned my throat as it went down, but most drinks burned now. Especially water. "It's better this way," I looked at the mirror on the wall and saw the terror all over again. I heard the screams, I heard the pleading, I heard the begging. I felt the fire, saw the flames, smelt the cinder's as they rose into the night. But most importantly, I saw the man that had been willing to commit genocide for a simple matter of revenge. Anger. Sorrow. Whatever anyone wanted to call it, whatever anyone said to try and justify it, it still wouldn't change the fact. It wouldn't save those that I had killed all those men, women, and children. People who had family and friends that they wanted to see one last time before a bullet, a fist, a foot, made them quiet. It wouldn't save everyone in my last push that had nearly destroyed all of Mantle.

And everytime I close my eyes, I see someone looking up at me. The Butcher. The Monster. The Silver Eyed Devil.

Alistair noticed my staring and was about to speak, but he was stopped by a ringing in his coat. He pulled out a scroll and snorted, giving it an annoyed look. "I have to make a rain check on my staying here, seems as though my employer was actually not finished with me." He started and finished his glass in a matter of seconds, and stowed it in his coat. He stopped leaning on the counter and put his hand on my shoulder, giving me a genuine and kind smile. I nodded back at him and gave him the closest thing to a smile I could give, something he seemed to beam at. "Remember, you ever need someone to talk to, I'm your main man." Patting my shoulder, he grabbed his golf club that, I hadn't realized, was leaning against the box the whiskey was in.

He walked over to the box he had appeared from and was about to jump back in before he stopped himself, turning back towards me, "Also, forgot to say this, but congratulations on becoming the new professor here at Beacon!" And with that, he jumped into the box and disappeared with a cloud of vapor coming out of the box.

Chuckling, I finished my glass and placed it in the sink. "Thanks, Alistair."

Checking the clock, I saw it was almost time for the Initiation. Grabbing my helmet and apparatus, I started placing them back on with mechanical speed and efficiency. I heard a knock on my door as I was finishing putting on my apparatus and, as I was walking towards the door, noticed Peacemonger laying on the half opened box that used to have golf balls in them.

I picked the weapon up, and saw a slightly damp note on its grip.

"Did your mother ever teach you not to leave toys on the floor ;)"

Shaking my head with a hint of a smile on my face, I put the note back on the box and sheathed Peacemonger. Walking over to the door and opened it, being greeted by the site of a woman with a riding crop and a cape resting on her shoulders. "Colonel Astali?"

"I know the Initiation is about to start, I was just… getting ready."

She narrowed her eyes at me and looked me up and down, before nodding and turning around. I began following her down the halls of Beacon, my hands clasped behind my back as I did. I noticed that the walls were very plain, except for the occasional painting, and that the doors lining the hallways were recently disturbed.

"Excuse me, Miss… Goodwitch was it?" I knew it was her. She was the very first one I looked into when I accepted the position here. She had a very impressive track record as a huntress and as teacher, being the combat instructor at Beacon. I wouldn't say she was teaching flawlessly, but she was still impressive.

She stopped and turned towards me, pushing up her glasses as she did. "Yes?"

I guess that was an answer and a gesture to continue. "Ozpin didn't go much into it, but what am I to be teaching here at Beacon?"

She turned and started walking again, me following her as before. "I believe you are to be teaching Military Science and History, if I am correct."

Odd that he wants me to teach that to the students. Military history makes sense, but Military Science? I will have to ask him after the Initiation.

We continued walking in silence. As we approached a very familiar door, I heard two men shouting on the other side.

"I guarantee that Mister Arc will be paired with Miss Xiao Long, Bart!"

"You are only saying that because they are the only blondes we have found out of all the students here!"

"You can't prove that!"

Hearing this, Miss Goodwitch groaned and opened the door louder than was necessary. Walking in after her, I saw a large pile of Lien on the table and the green haired man from the last time I was in here pointing at Port, whose hair was sticking up in places, accusingly.

"Ah! Miss Goodwitch!" The green one was in front of here in a second, holding a coffee cup that I had not seen him holding before. "Would you like to join us in our most enjoyable game?"

Goodwitch pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, "No thank you, Bartholomew. But I would like it if you and Peter would be quiet."

The green one, now named Bartholomew, rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I apologize, Glynda. It seems we got a bit carried away." Port nodded his apologies as well and fixed his hair, he nodded again once he noticed. I reluctantly nodded back, but took a step back when Bartholomew appeared in front of me. "You must be Colonel Astali! I had heard you be teaching here but-" He interrupted himself and took a sip of his coffee. "But I didn't believe it at first!" He took my hand and started shaking it quickly, with a surprising amount of force behind it. "I am Professor Bartholomew Oobleck, it is a pleasure!"

I stood there bewildered for a second after he had released my hand. This school was insane. Ozpin was insane. How did these people get a position here? Did Ozpin even care to interview them? Now that I think about it, he only asked me one question of importance. In fact, I asked more questions then him.

'What have I gotten myself into?'

Before I could respond, the scroll Goodwitch was holding buzzed. She tapped on it a few times and began walking towards the exit. She stopped and turned back towards us, giving Port and Oobleck a stern look. "If I hear of either of you getting into a fight over this 'game' of yours again, Ozpin won't be able to help you this time." And with that, she left a terrified pair of teachers and an amused me behind.

I went and sat in a chair facing a large monitor, while Oobleck and Port continued their betting. Port looked at his scroll and cheered victoriously, standing on the couch he had sat in. "It seems I am not the only one that pairs the blonds!" He held up his scroll proudly, showing a message from Ozpin. "He puts 155 Lien on them becoming partners."

This started another wave of the argument from before Goodwitch's intervention, with me having to suffer through it all in the middle of the battleground. It went all like this for a little over fifteen minutes, only being stopped by the monitor turning on. The image showed Ozpin and Goodwitch watching students as they got into some sort of readying position. I noticed someone raise their hand as one by one the students started being flung off the cliff. Looking more closely, I realized it was Sir Arc, who appeared to be asking questions as the platform underneath him pushed up quickly and sent him into the woods below.

I began to quietly laugh at the situation that was put forth for the young Arc, and I did something that I thought I never would have thought I'd do. I threw some Lien onto the table as well. "I would like to but five Lien on…" I looked over the list of students carefully and quickly, looking for the best and most likely options. I looked at two unlikely ones and chose them as my bets. "Madams Rose and Schnee."

Oobleck nodded quickly and put my money in the pile, while Port looked at me as if I'd made a mistake. I ignored the look and continued to watch the monitor as it split into four separate feeds, showing different students every few seconds while also displaying their names.

At the moment, it showed Madam Rose,a Pyrrha Nikos, a student named Cardin Winchester, and another one named Achilles Prasinos. They had all landed successfully, and Nikos threw her spear somewhere in the woods. And odd decision to say the least. The feeds suddenly changed to those of Weiss Schnee, Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren, and Sky Lark. It seemed as though Sir Lark was in combat with two Beowolves and an Ursa. Nothing to challenging I believe, but I wasn't focused on that anymore.

I was more focused on the fact that I was close to winning the bet.

Madams Schnee and Rose were staring right at each other, both looking rather surprised by seeing each other. Madam Schnee quickly turned around and left, leaving Madam Rose there on her own.

'This could be a serious problem if not dealt with soon.'

The screens changed once more to four new students, and my expression changed to one of terror for once in a long time when I saw what an Erland Parsley had found. The black bundle of mangled and tattered fur that seemed tangle was very stationary, the only hint of it being more than just that was the long, jagged, and broken pair of antlers in the middle of it. It seemed my peers had noticed it too.

"I thought they were only native to Atlas." Port said, his tone changing to one of panic.

"It seems that's changed, Peter." Oobleck was speaking slowly with a measured tone, seeming to look at every possible way the student could get out. I reacted as I should have. Peacemonger was in my hand in seconds and I was advancing towards the door quickly. Port grabbed my arm and held me there with surprising strength for someone his size.

"Let go, I need to deal with that…" I stopped speaking as I saw the black bundle that was in front of Sir Parsley start to shift and unfold out of the shape it was in. As I saw the horror rise, I began shaking uncontrollably, something uncharacteristic of me.

As it rose to its full height, I could only say one thing. "Gods help that poor soul."

-?-

The bastard Ozpin couldn't have warned us? I mean it's one thing to send us into the forest, but it's another to just launch us off a fuckin' cliff?! I barely landed that fall!

Sighing, I started to revolve the chamber in one of my pistols, making sure they weren't damaged during the fall. I continued doing this for a couple of minutes until I heard snoring.

'Snoring? In the forest? Who sleeps here of all places?'

I moved in the direction of the sound and stopped at the site in front of me.

A… thing was folded over itself, the torso bending were the chest and stomach meet, its head hanging unnaturally. It's right arm was muscular to the point where the muscles had broken through the skin, a dark red blood seeping out of the opening. It's left arm, and most of its body, was gaunt, with the ribcage seeming to have torn its way through the skin. Its organs protrude from its almost skinless torso, ignoring the occasional hanging pieces of flesh, only being kept in by what looked to be a stringy red sinew. Its head was elk like and almost as white as the mask, likely from its own head skin looking as though it was chewed off. The antlers haphazardly sticking out of its skull, branching out as if it were a crooked, broken and dying tree.

Suddenly, the right arm shot up and grabbed the tree that was behind it, revealing a bony hand with fingers as sharp as a knife. It slowly started to unfold and rise, showing gnarled legs that looked as elk like as its face. The skin on its back looked as if it was too big for it, hanging off like an enormous cloak. It was shaking as if it were in tremendous pain, and it slowly lifted its head in the air and sniffed the air. It fell on all fours, suddenly, facing me with glowing red eyes and snarling.

"Couple of bullets aren't gonna put you down like the rest?"

My answer as I turned back and ran was the scream of a monster and a small child crying at once.

Oh boy, now wasn't that a chapter? I want to hear what you guys think about this creature of Grimm and what it is based off of, would absolutely love to hear you guys thoughts on it. And tell me if I'm moving the whole entire Team BLAC reunion along too fast, and if I am, I'll slow down a bit in the future. I'm also thinking about doing a type of WOR series in the near future, to talk about all the things said in this story I don't think I can get to in this story. Lot from you guys about.

Next time on The Passing of War

TV Show Host: Cadec Astali, you are the father!

[Crowd gasps as Astali looks around questioningly]

Cadec Astali: Why did you bring me here?

Me: Because we need that dramatic plot revolving around your child, [Insert name here], and your fling from the Revolution.

CA: First off, I haven't had a romantic relationship before. Second, I would prefer it if we didn't talk about my sexuality!

Me: Jokes on you, I can make your sexuality whatever I want. Bi, Hetero, Homo, Pan, whatever I feel like.

CA: What gives you the right!

Me: Because I am a metaphorical God of this world I have built. Hell, I could make you a woman with a few edits to the story.

[Astali gives a death glare to a metaphorical God]

CA: You wouldn't dare.

Me: I dare everyday.

CA: That makes no sense.

Me: Don't care, metaphorical God. Boom.

CA: I hate you.