It has been eighty years since the great war, a war that nearly saw the end of the world, but it wasn't just the fighting between kingdoms that nearly destroyed us all oh no. In fact what almost killed us was a virus created by a mad man a virus that created the monsters we now call Grimm. It is these horrible creatures that wiped out so many people, but they didn't just kill them, those bitten by the Grimm would soon after see their bodies change.
The virus affected animals differently than it did people, normal animals would undergo a much more horrendous mutation where as people human or faunus their skin would change, matching the black and white colors of the monsters that attacked them. Those lucky enough were able to retain their minds for a time and the ones that were unlucky mindlessly and savagely attacked the ones they once called friends. Not all was lost however, for it was in this darkest time that the warring kingdoms banded together to fight this new threat.
Though many more were lost before it finally ended, we managed to not only end the war and save the world, but obtain a peace between us and also wipe out the monsters that turned us against each other. Or so we thought.
"And that students is how the monsters we call Grimm came to be."
At the front of a half circle classroom a rather slender man with untamed green hair stood holding a ruler in one hand and a thermos in the other. His white shirt was only half tucked in to his pine colored pants and his yellow tie left slack. Adjusting his opaque glasses he took a sip from his thermos and with inhuman speed zipped to the far right side of the classroom standing in front of one of his students.
"Now Mr. West tell me" he began his words almost as far as his movements, "What do you think was the biggest turning point of the war that ultimately led to victory against the Grimm?"
"The battle of..." the student fell silent, "I think it was the battle of Pitax."
"Incorrect" the teacher answered, "But you are not far off. Though the turning point was during the battle to reclaim Pitax it was actually the reclamation of Fort Lev and the many supplies and weapons that remained buried within it."
"Professor Oobleck" another student said raising her hand.
The teacher appeared in front of her almost immediately, "Doctor" he said as if correcting her.
"I have a question" the student continued, "Did anyone ever discover a way to change those who turned back to normal?"
The teacher's gaze fell to the floor, "Sadly no, but that doesn't mean a cure won't be made in the future, we still have many researchers hard at work to find one. In the meantime" the professor zoomed back to the center of his classroom, "My self and m fellow educators here at Beacon as well as the other three academies will continue to train you to be the best huntsman and huntresses you can be, it is our job to prepare you for the horrors you will face in this line of work. With that in mind it is imperative that all of you continue your studies and leave the actual fighting for fully fledged huntsman like myself and your other teachers. But take heart dear students, one day you will be ready and hopefully succeed in eradicating the Grimm once and for all."
The bell rang signaling the end of class, "That's all our time for today" Oobleck continued taking another sip from his thermos, "Remember your extra readings due at the end of the week, a ten page essay on the Vacuo campaign."
With that Oobleck sped from his class and into the hall vanishing around the corner before his student had even gathered their things. With their last class of the day finished the students poured into the halls meeting up with their friends and going off to study, goof around or just hang out. It was here at Beacon Academy that boys and girls train to become hunters, people who seek out and slay the creatures of Grimm, each student had his or her own reason for wanting to become a hunter, some wanted the fame that came with it, some had hope to make the world a better place and some merely wanted revenge on the monsters that tormented them.
It was five years after the end of the great war that the huntsman academies were built, one in each of the four kingdoms, Beacon in Vale, Atlas in Mantle, Haven in Mistral and Shade in Vacuo. The major cities in each kingdom were lucky enough to be surrounded in defense perimeters that helped alert the population to a Grimm attack and even slow down the monsters should they get too close, but the smaller towns and settlements were often on their own. It was rare to go a month without hearing of a Grimm attack somewhere and it was just as rare to hear of an attack that didn't leave any casualties.
"I just don't understand any of this" a male student with blonde hair said looking over his notes from class, "How can something as trivial as a bite cause someone to change like that?"
"That's the beauty of a viral infection" one of his teammates another boy with a magenta streak in his raven hair told him, "Well...not that this particular kind of virus could be beautiful. Alright let me put it to you like this, when you get bitten the creature's saliva gets into your blood, the saliva carries the virus cells in it."
"I get that part" his teammate growled, "I'm not that much of an idiot, I just don't understand how something like that can cause such a big change in someone. Not only does it affect their mind it also changes their physical appearance. That's what I don't get."
"The virus attacks and mutates other cells" the second boy continued explaining, "Considering it was created by someone it's safe to assume that it was meant to target specific cells to cause the mutation."
"Which is why anyone bitten always becomes sick" the first student noted, "Fever, sweating, extreme fatigue and dehydration."
His friend nodded, "Yes and not long after their skin pigmentation begins to change as well as their eyes."
"But not everyone changes right away right?"
"Supposedly some are lucky enough to retain their humanity and mind for a time. I think there was one case where a person lasted an entire week before changing, though no one is entirely sure as to what allows some people to last longer."
"Which is why we say those lucky enough huh?"
His friend nodded again, "That's what I would think. At first doctors, virologists, scientists, researchers. Everyone thought it was based on how good a person's immune system was and then some started thinking it had something to do with how strong someone's aura was and then they thought it was a combination."
"And now we think it's luck" the first boy sighed, "You're telling me that after the better part of a century we still don't have a solid grasp on how to counteract this thing?"
"That's what Doctor Oobleck told us."
"Ha..." the blonde boy hesitated, "Have you ever known or seen anyone that changed?"
"I've only seen what happens" his dark-haired teammate told him, "I've never seen the change itself happen, only what becomes of someone. It's not something I would wish on anyone."
The blonde boy agreed, "Yeah, something that horrible I wouldn't even want my worst enemy to suffer that."
"Perhaps it would be better to think of something else for now" the dark-haired teen told him, "Focus on one of our other assignments to take our minds off it."
The blonde boy nodded, "Yeah alright" he looked over his shoulder, "Where do you think Pyrrha and Nora disappeared to?"
"They only said they had something to do after Doctor Oobleck's class perhaps Pyrrha is just helping Nora with some extra studying, she's been falling behind recently."
"Hey look!" another student shouted pointing toward the sky where a pair of ships had appeared on the horizon.
"Is that Professor Sin's ship" another student asked.
"Looks like it."
"He and Professor Peach have been gone for three weeks."
"I hope their ok."
"That other one looks like a military craft. Did something happen?"
The landing pad was cleared for the two ships to land with the military craft touching down first. Students gathered around when the ramps were lowered surprised to see a squad of a dozen armed men march of the craft before taking formation on either side of other ship's ramp. Many of the soldiers had claw marks on their armor and one was missing his vest entirely, evidence of a heavy battle.
When the door opened the flanking shoulders reached for their weapons holding them at the ready as a hush fell across the horde of students that had gathered. The first to step off was another man dressed in military attire and on his breast pocket the emblem of Atlas. The middle aged man turn around at the foot of the ramp and order the soldiers around him to switch their weapon safeties off the second person stepped off the ship followed by an Atlas robot pushing a large cage on a dolly, inside the cage a Boarbatusk, one of the creatures of Grimm.
Seeing the monster the students began whispering amongst themselves wondering why it was brought here, one of it's tusks was missing half of it broken off and it was covered in scars and other injuries. The creature was sleeping probably tranquilized, but being this close to it made many of the students nervous. The soldiers all took a step back keeping their weapons trained on the cage in the event the monster woke up and managed to free itself.
"Well done men" the officer said, "We'll be taking it to the doctor's lab, keep your weapons hot and follow me" he turned to the mass of students that had gathered, "Step aside students be sure to keep your distance, the Grimm is sedated, but there's no telling when it will wake."
"They actually captured one" a girl whispered, "I thought they were hard to catch."
"So did I" another girl replied, "Looks like it put up a big fight though."
When the soldiers began escorting the Grimm away from the landing pad the students looked back to the ship in time to see one of their teachers step off. A tall slender man wearing a grey shirt tucked in to his sand colored jeans the end of which were tucked into his boots. A large duffle bag slung over his shoulder his white hair a mess and a demoralized look on his face the man stopped at the bottom of the ramp and waited. The next person off was the ship's pilot pushing and another soldier carrying a stretcher with a large white sheet covering the person laying on it. The whispers amongst the students stopped when they saw the stretcher and seeing the way their teacher regretfully placed his hand on the side of the stretcher confirmed what they thought.
"Professor Sin" the boy with blonde hair stuttered as the teacher walked by him.
"Mr. Arc" the professor said stopping in mid step, "And Mr. Ren, it's good to see you again. Have your studies been going well in my absence?"
"Yes" the raven-haired boy replied, "Your substitute was really helpful."
The blonde boy looked at the covered stretcher as it moved by, "Professor Peach?" he asked quietly.
Their teacher's eyes fell to the ground and slowly he shook his head, "She didn't make it" he confirmed.
Without another word or glance Professor Sin walked away leaving the two students and the many others gathered behind. Three long weeks he had been gone on assignment to experiment on live Grimm in the field in hopes of finding something that could be used to make a cure only to return in failure with another dead colleague. He could feel the eyes of the students around him, their despair, their sorrow all of which only magnified his own as he disheartenedly walked back toward the academy wanting nothing more than to be alone.