"Someday, when your older, you'll know what it means to question yourself. Never be victim of inner conflict, listen to your inner voice and fight your way bravely."

Hunter Carter to Ryner Cater, aged 6

[Ryner]

It was that day again. That day each year when he mourned what he had lost. It was this day seven years ago that his father had passed away, and it was by far his least and most favourite day of the year, in both senses. He loved visiting his dad, it was one of those rare times where even Legion paid some kind of respect, and be it a mere, "You weren't my least favourite human."

The reason why he hated it was because his mother insisted he visit him in a suit, and Ryner hated suits. He pulled on the black blazer and tie and felt ridiculous, which he thought was half the reason. His father had always laughed when Ryner's mother had forced him into a little pinstripe outfit to go to those company get-togethers. Ryner's father would have found it funny, which he guessed was half the reason she had insisted.

"Seven years." Legion said, his voice empty of satire.

'Long time. Where did it all go?'

"Well, mostly into beating the crap out of people."

'Yeah, I guess. I've been thinking of a few things Legion. I think I should tell her.'

Legion sounded like he was about to argue, then saw what Ryner was talking about. "Oh. You think she will remember you?"

'I hope so.' Ryner said leaving his room. 'I'll tell her when I get back, she has to remember.'

{Selene}

The sun was having one of its rare warm sunny days, and thankful for the lack of freezing conditions everyone was outside in the square. Although dark clouds loomed in the distance, Selene sat with Ruby, Yang and Weiss, discussing the field trip to the Forever Fall later that week. Blake was behind her book as usual, and Nora and Ren watched Pyrrha and Jaune practice sword play, something which Selene had notice they had been doing a lot more recently to.

"I just don't see the point in hunting for jam that I'm not even going to put in my sandwich." Ruby said, folding her arms and pouting cutely.

"God Ruby, you can't always think for your stomach." Yang laughed.

"Wait, you mean she's capable of not thinking for her stomach?" Selene smirked, receiving an evil glare from the girl in red.

"Hey Seal." A voice said behind her.

Everyone's jawed seemed to drop when Ryner came by in a black suit, which he wore immaculately. Selene could even see Weiss drool a little, while Yang had a strange fire in her eyes, not her usual angry flame though. Even Blake looked over her book, hiding her expression, and Pyrrha even let her guard down, but Jaune still managed to miss his swipe and fall to the floor in a heap.

"Where are you going?" Yang asked.

"I have to go somewhere" Ryner answered, his eyes were grey for some reason.

As he walked off Selene turned to Ruby. "What was up with his eyes?" Ruby spent a minute thinking, almost like she was remembering something.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think we should go see what's wrong." Yang said.

[Ryner]

Ryner reached the cemetery where his father was buried. Once he got there he just stood, his suit coat flapping uselessly in the winter wind, the rain was starting to pick up until it was a thunderstorm.

"Hey, Dad." Ryner started aloud. What he didn't know was that RWBY, JNPR and Selene were all listening to him from afar.

"It's been a while huh? A year if you don't count that semblance incident in the forest. It looks like I'm gonna be a hunter now, ironic, isn't it? I'm this generations Demon Blade, and I've got to hunt the very thing I was cursed with."

"Call it a curs again and I'll defiantly curse something alright." Legion muttered.

He laughed a little, sitting down cross legged and pulling his tie loose now the formal bit was over. "Tell me? Were you a Demon Blade too? Or do they only appear once in a while? Or do they stick to our fam-"

Ryner was cut off as an explosion behind him launched him through the graveyard. He slammed his foot into the ground and spun to glare at his attacker. He was met with the sight of dozens of White Fang soldiers, and a mech. 'Really!? A fucking mech?' Ryner thought.

"Can't you tell the difference brat? It's a power suit! Get the difference!" Legion yelled.

"So this is the kid that took out our guys at the bar? He looks weak." Their leader stated bluntly.

"Really? So weak you bring dozens of soldiers and a mech along!?" Ryner retorted.

"It's a power suit! Get the difference!" Their leader raged.

"I don't care what it is! Cause I'm still gonna shove it up your- shit." The power suit fired a rocket in his direction, and Ryner had to pull sprint away and dodge it, least his father's grave be destroyed.

Selene was shocked, she had never seen the real extent to Ryner's anger, and here it was. Staring them in the face.

The White Fang drew their weapons'. But Ryner didn't have his.

So out came Legion, the snakes jittering, hissing and roaring like mad men.

{Selene}

Selene could feel even Moon was shaken as the writhing snakes slithered from Ryners dark aura. She stood there with the other, mesmerised by awe, and fear. Selene wanted to rush in, snap Ryner out of his angered state, but she felt Moon pull her back. 'What's the matter? We could take him if he goes out of control, right?'

"If only it were so simple child..."

'What do you mean?'

"I told you once of the evil that came close to engulfing the entire world, yes?"

'Yeah...'

"It stands before you."

Ryner's black aura began to twist, dance and contort around him like flames. The darkness was so dense that you'd only ever see his glowing eyes, or the occasional limb. Suddenly one of the snakes darted out and wrapped around a grunt, squeezing into his back and bursting out of his chest, roaring. The second one was chopped in half.

The third one manage to slice the snakes head off. Only to be impaled through the eyes by two more. One tried to get the jump on Ryner, only for Ryner to spin with a darkness fuelled backhand and ripping his head from his body. Another open fired, only for the snakes to grab the gun and ram it through his head. The snakes then grabbed another and tore him in two.

The next was thrown across the graveyard and was impaled on the pike fence. Another was grabbed by the throat and gurgled as the snake bit down slowly. The mech open fired, bullets tearing into Ryner and shocking everyone, but he remained unfazed, in fact...

He laughed.

His blown off limbs began to regenerate. The snakes then grabbed the mech by the arms and flung it into the air. They then grabbed its legs and slammed it at high speed into the ground. His aura then shot out like a hedgehogs spikes, impaling all of the White Fang except the leader. After making sure the rest were dead he turned to the leader as the snakes grabbed him by the shoulders. The snakes then tore the leader in two.

Selene was shocked, as was RWBY and JNPR.

"I see, so it's worse than expected." They turned to see Ozpin with a sorrowful expression.

"What's going on, sir?" Weiss asked.

"Not here, to my office. We must leave Mr Hunter to mourn properly."

[Ryner]

Ryner stood there, panting as the snakes that coiled around him retracted back into his aura. His regenerated arms ached, his heart was pounding, and his head was filled with Legions laughter.

"Ah-hahaha. Now that was fun wasn't it boy!"

'I-I lost my arms. But, they grew back.'

"Yeah nifty little trick huh?" Legion said, his voice still filled with joyous maliciousness. "You got really angry there didn't you? Not surprising, since they tread on your fathers hallowed ground. But angry is good. It feeds me, made me… US, stronger. So well done."

'Whatever.' Ryner said, heading back towards his father's grave, brushing the dirt from it and bowing his head one last time. 'Let's just leave before I cause him any more trouble.'

{Selene}

"What was that, sir?" The two teams and Selene had only just entered Oozpins office and questions started flying around. Everyone's face was confused, and fearful, and she wasn't surprised. She could sense Ryner's power was incredibly formidable, she would even stretch so far as to say more so then her. Selene thought Ryner did not contain such power.

Ozpin sighed and began. "I cannot say, I am not an expert on the matter after all, it is a rare case. All I can say is that it is more deadly than any Grimm ever encountered."

"A Grimm?" Ren said, his voice low.

"If only the mortal knew." Moon said quietly

"I have known such a creature exists within Mr Hunter for some time, but as I said, I am no expert. So I have called in-"

Suddenly the door flew open and a familiar voice came through. "Hope I'm not interrupting anything important!" The voice yelled. Ozpin sighed.

"Ajax, my receptionist has told you time and time again..."

"To knock?" Ajax smiled. "I'm sorry Ozzy, but when you have an assistant with as big a tits as she has, you kinda think knock meant something different."

"Ajax…" Oozpin sighed.

"So, Ozzy. You kicked me out and now you beg me to come back...whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy?"

Oozpin looked ready to throw his coffee as Ajax. "I need you to explain the being inside Mr Hunter."

"Ah, well...prepare to be mind-fucked! See, good old Blade, lovely guy by the way... has a Grimm living inside his head. Not just any Grimm, but Legion! One of the first and most powerful Grimm in existence. You see, Blade's ancestors' made a contract with Legion. The daughter of the chiefta-"

"Woah! How long ago was this!?" Jaune interrupted.

"Rude! But around two million years ago. Anyway, the daughter of the chieftain would bear a child for Legion, so when Legion died his soul would be transferred to the child. Granting near-infinite power and immortality... and a volatile demon in your head, but they didn't know that at the time, you know, stupid ancient people are stupid.

"The descendant of that woman that is granted Legion's power are known as 'Demon Blade's'. A being that if fully trained, could wipe the floor with everyone in this room whilst drinking tea upside down and balancing on a chopstick. I bet your thinking 'Oh hey! Infinite power sounds awesome!', well, most of the time that would be the case. But sometimes the host is too weak-minded to control Legion. One time Legion possessed one of Ryner's ancestors' and massacred three thousand people before Legion was sealed away. Of course this only held Legion for a while, and now he's back. Inside Ryner."

Everyone was shocked, they were trying so hard to process this information. Selene heard Moon be eerily quiet. Yang was flashing red in the eyes, while Weiss looked like she might be sick and Blake stared out the window. Selene decided to ask more questions, if not to ease her curiosity but to end the silence.

"You said this, Legion, was sealed away. By whom?" She heard nothing from Moon, almost confirming her fears.

"No one's really sure. In some stories it was a group of powerful Hunter, the first team apparently. A more interesting theory is that a group of Gods set themselves the task of splitting Legions body, so not all of his power gets transferred into the new body. Course that information comes from the Luna tribe, them human sacrifice peeps."

'I thought so.' Selene said to Moon, who still refused to speak.

"Is this thing stuck inside of him?" Yang finally said, her voice not showing a lot of emotion.

"Beats me love. I'm just the smart and handsome Grimm expert who knows a fair deal about completely legal smart pills." He said, slipping Jaune a business card. "I'll give you the first batch for free, you might need it."

"Ajax…" Oozpin said, his patience now run down. Ajax winked at Jaune. "I suggest you head off now children, Mr Ajax and I must discuss something."

"But sir-" Ruby said about to agrue. But Oozpin gave them a final look to tell them they had enough for the day. They were all still trying to process things, Nora even seemed too stunned to speak, which was strange and uncomforting.

"So what do we do?" Jaune asked.

"There's nothing we CAN do." Oozpin said, his voice serious for the first time. "We just need to have faith in Ryner, because after all, it's him alone that stands between us and death."

[Ryner]

Ryner walked back to Beacon after washing off the blood. The edges of his eyes were pink from the crying.

"Blade!" He turned to see Yang running towards him. He just stood there, waiting for her. "I know." She told him.

"What about?"

"Legion."

He paled.

"How?" He said, his voice low, his eyes looking at anything but her.

"We-" She hesitated. "We followed you. To the cemetery and saw you being attacked and then those snakes came out from you and-and I was."

"Freightened?" He said, his voice now showing anger he didn't want to direct towards he but was because he had no other emotion to feel. "Terrified? Petrified that I'm some kind of monster is that was you think?!"

She shook her head slowly, tears coming from her eyes. He didn't want this, now Legion would stop at nothing to convince him to kill her. Heck, she should be running.

But no, she kissed him. Not like the first time, this time it was more gentle and warm. Ryner felt comforted, a little too comfortable. His head fell against her shoulder.

"I was scared that you might get hurt okay." She said, burying her head into his shoulder. He was incredibly confused as to why she wasn't shying away, fearful he might hurt her, not on purpose of course; but he was grateful she didn't see him as a freak, as a monster.

She pulled back and looked at him. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?" She said, her voice soothing and genuine, making him feel warm inside.

"Yeah." He said. "Think you can camp in my room tonight? I could use the company."

Yang blushed, looking down at the ground before nodding and taking his hand, leading him to his room.

"I swear." Legion said, his voice low. "If you pull tonight..."

'Not tonight buddy.' Ryner told him, as Yang pulled open his door and lead him to his bed, where they got under the covers and held each other close.

Ryner was stirred awake by a feint breath against his neck and a pressure against his back. He smiled, remembering the girl who had fallen asleep with him last night, and turned over to face her. "Morning Ya-"

But it wasn't blonde curls he saw when he turned over, but a black hair and amber eyes, staring at him smiling. "Hey you." Said a lustrous voice.

"Blake?" Ryner said, sitting up and realising his was just the pair of boxers he had been sleeping in. "Why are you here?"

"Well, after yesterday." He froze, she knew aswell? "I just want you to know it doesn't change anything. We all still care about you… I still care about you." She leaned in and pressed her kiss against his lips, a sweet kiss, just like Yang's the day before when she told him. He couldn't help but sink into this kiss aswell, and as the covers slipped off her he notice she was wearing almost as much as him. Just a black tank top and panties. He couldn't help but feel his nose fill with a metallic scent again, but he just deepened the kiss a little, but she pulled away.

"You have to wait a little more for that." She teased, leaving his bed and heading for the door. "It's still your turn to kiss me first after all." She said, sashaying out of his room with a swing in her hips he so desperately wanted to follow.

"Two birds in the space of mere hours." Legion sighed. "How do you do it?"

Ryner didn't answer. He was too busy feeling a lot better. So everyone knew about Legion now, but they still cared about him. That seemed hard to believe, but he did. He jumped out of bed, and was about to reach for some clothes when the door knocked. He quickly slipped on a pair of pants and headed for the door. Openning it to find a new colour, white this time, standing before him.

Weiss was about to speak when her eyes drifted to Ryner's bear chest, and a flush of pink fell on her cheeks. Legion was stunned. "Another one?!"

"Yes Weiss?" Ryner said trying to pull her back.

"Hmm?" He shook her head and looked at him. "Oh, Hello Blade. I was just erm."

"Coming to talk to me about yesterday?" he finished for her. "Yeah, that seems like a popular topic."

"Yeah." She said, shuffling on her feet back and forth like she was trying to force herself to do something. She eventually just stood up straight and spoke her mind. "I just wanted you to know although you have that... Whatever it is inside you. Your still a fellow hunter and therefore-" But she was cut off by Ryner, who had got the gist of what she was saying, pulling her into his room, pushing the door closed and pulling her into another kiss.

"Are you kidding me!?" Legion said gobsmacked.

She relaxed into it pretty quickly, standing on her tip toes and wrapping her arms around his neck. Ryner was now starting to believe that he really had friends who cared about him, and what's better, people who even liked him, as more of a friend.

Weiss pulled away from him, smiling and looking into his eyes, before straightening up and resuming her usually stance. "Well, now that that's sorted." She said, her eyes telling him she was tempted to be pulled into another kiss again, but she went for the door. "I'll see you Blade." And she left him feeling smug.

'Well, today's started off pretty great.' He said, finally pulling on his shirt.

"Don't talk to me." Legion said, his voice clearly expressing his irritation.

Ryner picked up his gear and headed for the door, and when he opened it he was genuinely surprised to find a new face at his door. Pyrrha had he hand ready at the door about to knock when Ryner had opened it, and now she stood slightly unprepared. Ryner blinked "Oh, hey Pyrrha." Legion was less than happy to see her.

"Are they falling from the fucking sky?!"

"Oh Blade hello." She said, putting her arms back behind her back. "I was just here to ask you if you knew about-"

"About you guys spying on me yesterday?" he said smiling. "Yeah I know."

"Oh." She said, taken aback, but not scared. "Well. I just wanted to inform you that, although we don't talk much, you can still… If you are ever in need of… If you're upset and require a friend-"

"Sure." Ryner said. He felt confident to say the least, so confident in fact, he even pulled Pyrrha into him, planting his lips into her now. She stiffened, the relaxed as the sensation of warmth passed between them. Her lips were unlike the others, they were pursed, inexperienced, and desperate to be taught how to be used. Ryner decided to remember this feeling she was showing him, but pulled away from the kiss, smiled at her and walked down the corridor, leaving Pyrrha in a daze.

Legion was speechless, and Ryner smirked at his quietness as he walked down the stairwell. Today was a good day. As he descended the stairs he passed Ruby, who noticed him and waved to him. He remembered something he was going to do today, so approached her.

"Hey Blade! About yesterday I- Where are we going?" he stopped her by grabbing her arm gently and pulling her into a nearby empty hallway.

'I wonder if she will remember.' Ryner thought.

"I highly doubt she will brat, it's been seven years. You've grown too much." Legion stated in his mind.

'Maybe so, but it's worth a shot, right?'

"Fine, but prepare for failure and disappointment." Legion huffed.

"Um, Blade? Why are we up here?" Ruby asked. Ryner didn't say a word, he just pulled a locket from his neck, which was shaped like a shark tooth, and tossed it to Ruby. "Um, I don't think it's my birth-"

Ryner cut Ruby off. "Open it." She timidly opened it and was shocked at what she saw. It was a picture of herself in a red casual summer dress as a ten year old, alongside a skinny boy with pure black hair, dull crimson eyes and he wore a brown short-sleeved shirt, and beige cargo shorts. Next to him was a dark blue eyed, bleach blonde haired Sapphire Carter in clothing similar to Ruby, but white. Behind the three were the beaming Summer Rose, Hunter Carter and Rachel Carter.

"What's this got to do with anything?" Ruby asked.

"That." Ryner answered pointing at the black haired boy. "Is me."

"But you have black and crimson hair."

"Hair colour is not permanent."

"How do you know if it's true?"

"Do you remember when we used to climb up the twenty foot oak tree and eat a load of cookies until we got sick and puked off the edge?"

Ruby's eyes widened at this. "...Ryn?" Ryner sighed in relief and nodded. Suddenly he was pulled into a death hug. "OMG IT'S BEEN LIKE SEVEN YEARS WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL THIS TIME AND WHERES SAPH AND...!"

Ryner cut her off. "Saph is fine, don't know about mum, and dads...dead." Ryner finished in a saddened tone. Ruby's grip softened.

"When?" She asked. "A month after you and Aunt Summer left." Summer wasn't Ryner's biological aunt, but she was like one to him.

"Oh... well, at least we can talk about weapons and binge-eat cookies again!" Ruby yelled, trying to cheer Ryner up. This made him genuinely smile.

{Selene}

Ruby came in to the lunch hall thousands of times more cheerful and hyper than usual, and that was saying something.

"Why are you so cheerful?" Yang asked.

"Oh, nothing, just had a talk with Ry- I mean Blade." She said, she still had the locket, and held it close to her. Ryner and Sapphire were her first genuine friends.

"Oh, really?" Selene asked with narrowed eyes, and just about every other girl at the table except from Nora did.

"It's not like that!" Ruby defended waving her hands. "I just- we haven't talked in seven years, he's changed so much. I couldn't even recognize him..."

"He has been through a lot." Selene told her. Selene felt a slight twitch of annoyance at what she said. The way she spoke about Ryner made her annoyed, and what did she mean they haven't talked in seven years?

"You've met before?" Ren asked.

Ruby held out the locket for everyone to look at, and they were genuinely shocked, even Moon had her jaw wide open. First off, Ryner was incredibly cute as a child. Second, he was happy, with a grin ready to rip his face off.

"Who's that?" Nora asked, pointing to the bleach blonde girl.

"That's Blade's sister, Sapphire." Ruby told her. Shocking everyone furthermore. Selene was glad Moon was asleep for that certain bit of knowledge.

"What was she like?" Selene asked, hoping to get to know a bit more of Ryner's past. In fact, they all did, even Nora stayed quiet while Ruby talked.

"Well, she was very kind-hearted, innocent, she was adventurous, but she never got to do anything dangerous. Blade was too protective of her for that. Whenever I played to rough, which was often actually, he told me if I hurt her he would give me his cooties on purpose." The immoral, evil, dark and adulterine host of Legion was capable of compassion eh? Selene shook her head, why was she angry all of a sudden.

"And who are they?" Nora continued.

"Well, the white haired, crimson-eyed guy was Blade's dad Hunter, the black haired, dark blue-eyed woman was his mother Rachel."

"Why did her never tell us any of this." Weiss said, her arms crossed and a hint of annoyance in her eye. "First Legion, then his family? We are his friends he should trust us."

"He does trust us." Blake raised her head to them. "He finds it hard to be honest. We can all be blamed for that."

'Yeah, we can.' Selene looked down to the ground, gripping her arm with her hand. How long will it be her they would question about trust?

"I'm sure Blade is only trying to protect us." Ruby beamed, ever the optimist. Selene looked at the locket she was holding, the picture of her and Ryner next to each other like two children, best friends for life. She felt a tug in her chest, a pang of jealousy. Ryner and Ruby had a past, and a happy on of friendship. What else have they done together? Planned there future, Ruby the Hunter, Ryner the… whatever he wanted to be. And maybe even promised that if they done find someone, they would hook up with one another. Their parents would have liked that, the two inseparable kids with an intertwined destiny.

"I'm sure Blade will protect you, sure." Selene said, her voice spiteful without meaning. She didn't want to say it, but it had come out without warning. Moon wasn't there to stop her, she was asleep, and without the second thoughts of her divine partner she spoke out of check to herself.

"Selene?" Ruby asked innocently. Selene looked around at everyone staring at her, and she realized she had risen from her chair, her fists clenched and her eyes fiery. She turned away from Ruby and the others, walking out of the lunch hall.

Selene stormed off up the stairs into her dorm room, more confused than mad now. Why was she even mad? The whole reason she had stormed out was hazy, all she remembered was Ruby talking about how she and Ryner had known each other as kids, and how they promised to get married and have 23 children and die on the same say. No, that wasn't right. She missed Moon, Moon could help her.

In her outburst she had forgot to shut the door, at which a tentative knock sounded as Ruby glanced half around it, nervously. "Heeellooo." She asked trying to sound fearless but in fact achieving the opposite.

"Leave me alone Ruby." Selene said, again with a spite she didn't want, nor knew why it was there.

Ruby ignored her, closing the door as she entered her room. "Selene why are you angry?" Her voice was scared now, even slightly hurt.

"I don't know!" She yelled, and Ruby recoiled slightly, shaking.

"I'm sorry if I upset you, I just don't understand why you're mad at me." She said, her voice slightly louder and defiant as she grew more confused and heated.

"I don't know Ruby!" Selene shouted. "I just feel mad okay?"

"No, not okay!" Ruby shouted back, her face fuming. "You have to have a reason to be mad!"

"Well I don't know how to say how I feel!"

"Well then show me how you feel!"

So, she did.

Selene almost ran at Ruby, her heart taking over the thoughts in her head that screamed at her to think. Now all she did was feel, feel as her hand gripped onto Ruby's arm as she pressed her lips against the red girl's. She didn't think, nor did she stop what she was doing, all that she knew was that her lips were against Ruby's as all of her emotions came to light. She had been jealous, jealous that Ryner might have had a chance with the girl she had feelings for this whole time.

For a second she was worried Ruby might not reciprocate the kiss, but after a second she felt the young girls muscles loosen, and her lips soften in return to the action of affection. Selene felt her heart fly out of her chest in relief, and after a second she broke the kiss a fraction, only to have Ruby let out a breath and pull Selene back into it again. The confidence of the young huntress and the precious kisses she gave Selene made her forget all of her anger, her jealousy. She felt happy now, truly, truly happy.

Finally after precious seconds they parted, and Selene rested her forehead again Ruby who didn't reject it, smiled and looked at her, her eyes almost teary. Selene suddenly felt worried she had startled her. "I'm sorry I just-"

"No, it's okay." She said, her hand moving to Selene's cheek and stroking it. "I'm just glad you're not mad at me."

Selene smiled, and kissed her again, almost addicted to the feeling of her lips touching Ruby's. "Never again, I promise."