~Notice: POV changed to Erydias Grey, present~

As the four Huntresses in training took their seats on my couches, I used the opportunity to take a closer look at these four individuals. The one called Blake drew most of my attention to her, for one obvious reason: We met when she was a child, and I saved her life back then. It pleased me to see her well, but she seemed to be very nervous because I knew what she was hiding under that bow of hers. And while her comrades didn't seem to notice her nervousness, she knew I did; I could see it in her eyes every time we had eye contact. Blake made the impression of being the most experienced of the squad – or team, as it is called these days – I could tell by mere observation. She was well trained and disciplined, maybe even under semi-military conditions, but she didn't seem to be ready for a real fight at that time.

As I learned during our greeting at my doorstep, Yang Xiao Long was her assigned partner. This young woman had a very different impression on me. She reminded me a lot of my two idiots – squad members M and R: Not a care in the world, always happy and smiling, and these wordplays Yang was literally throwing around herself were rather entertaining – at least some of them were – similar to M's boldness and R's insanity in combination, with less imminent danger approaching.

Weiss Schnee, however, seemed to be very irritated by Yang's behavior, especially when the older sister pulled the younger one into a hug with way more strength in it, than needed. Weiss was determined to protect her assigned partner, even from too much love of her family, if necessary. I couldn't tell, whether this originated from guilt for the incident that brought them here in the first place, or had a different, more hidden reason to it. And I wasn't sure why I even bothered.

Then there was Ruby, assigned leader of the bunch. A cheerful, young girl, happy to see friends and family reunited again. But that very cheerfulness bothered me from the moment Yang and Blake entered the room. It had something artificial to it, I thought. Yang was her older sister, as I learned in these few minutes, but she didn't even remotely look like it.

There was something about these four, and especially the bonds connecting them, I didn't understand at the time, but they all shared a past full of sadness and regret. Ruby's cheerfulness, Weiss' scar, Blake's heritage, and Yang's connection to Ruby were something Ozpin must have noticed during their initiation.

I put these thoughts aside for the time being, sorted out my memories of the event I was about to retell, and simply said: "So, this story begins right after my graduation from Beacon Academy, about seven years ago…

The task we were given was quite simple: Head to Forever Fall and investigate reports about an illegal settlement. Back then such things were sadly common, especially when Faunus were involved, but not only. Assuming this settlement existed, and was mainly inhabited by Faunus, Headmaster Ozpin assigned my squad for the task, since three fourths were Faunus. After receiving the coordinates, we boarded the first Bullhead available, without any incidents. Erydias Grey – myself – Marine and Robin Lancaster, the Faunus-twins who resembled dogs, sometimes more, than I even liked, and Diana Woods, a Wolf-Faunus, whose anger-issues were only surpassed by her brutality. Marine wore a blue camouflage-like set of clothing, Robin a similar one in red colors, and Diana an oddly tight leather overall with a brown and green color scheme. We were combat ready, as always, but what awaited us at the target coordinates was more, than we asked for."

I took a brief pause, and gathered my thought once more. Looking at Blake, we both knew neither of us would like what was about to be told.

"What are their weapons like?" Ruby suddenly asked.

"Ruby, our weapons did not matter at all…" I answered slowly, surprising all of my guests. Ruby's enthusiasm vanished, as I continued.

"They did not matter, because all we found were houses, almost burnt to the ground, dead people in the middle of them all, and evidence, that Atlas, my homeland, was responsible for that… Massacre."

I needed to stop again in order to regain my composure, which I almost lost again, as I lost it back then.

"Wow… So, what happened next?" Yang asked calmly. I noticed her comforting Blake, who was on the verge of tears, as I tore up this old wound of hers.

"Well, as soon, as we learned, that Atlas soldiers had done this, I ordered my squad to search for survivors. I used to be proud of myself until that point of time, and so I just stood there, in front of a pile of dead bodies. I tried to contact the Academy, to tell them, what we had discovered, but I was at a loss of words. How does one describe such an atrocity, when witnessing it for the first time?"

I just shook my head, while I took a break again. My living room was dead silent, much like the settlement I had stood in.

"After I finally said what needed to be said, I started to separate the bodies from each other. I just felt the need to bury these people, at least. No, it was my Duty to do so. I just finished burying the first, a young man, when my squad called me over to one of the ruined houses. I was surprised to see that it was relatively intact, and I learned, someone was inside: Young Blake, as we later discovered, but we already knew, it was a child. The others thought it best to let me do the talking, since I could handle children relatively well – sadly it was true. I'm sorry, Blake."

I realized that I forced her to tell the other three girls of her heritage. As she silently removed the black bow, uncovering her cat ears in the process, all of us stayed silent. No Gasp, no comment, nothing was said, until she nodded to me, and I continued:

"I entered the house, unarmed and without my armor, except for the boots. The child cried, so it was easy to find her hideout. As I entered her bedroom, she hid under her bed, and I started to talk to her."

I did not dare re-enact what had happened in said bedroom. Blake was crying, held by Yang, who whispered into her ear, while Ruby and Weiss just laid a hand on each of Blake's shoulders, the former supported by the latter. I saw it before my inner eye:

I kneeled down, tried to look under the bed, little Blake had hidden under, and repeatedly told her that I did not mean her any harm. The girl just tried to stay out my sight so hard, I was on the verge of giving up, because it was getting dark, and Creatures of Grimm were probably on their way to feast on the corpses of all these people. I had the idea of luring her out with food, so I opened my pouch in order to find something, a child would have liked to have; and found a cookie. I placed it on a plate that I fetched from the kitchen, put said plate right next to the bed, so little Blake could get it, without leaving her hideout, and waited almost a full hour.

"I don't like chocolate cookies…" I heard the girl say. She had crawled towards me, but stayed under the bed, as I anticipated.

"Me neither, but Robin always puts some into my pouch," I answered. Conversation was the key to earn her trust, or at least scatter her fears for a bit.

"Is Robin your friend?"

"Yes. And he is like you."

"Ten?"

"No, a Faunus."

"Did you give him cookies?"

"No."

"So, why is he your friend? You're a human."

That was the critical moment. Her parents had probably told her that humans are bad in general, and her latest experience with them was not helping me either.

"I had to earn his friendship," I started to explain, "and he gave me a hard time doing so. You know, humans are afraid of you."

"Why?" the little one asked.

"Because you're different than them. You can do things, they can't," I continued. At least she seemed to be opening up a bit, regardless of her traumatizing experience there. Now she was making eye contact.

"Like seeing in the dark?" She asked again, and I nodded. "But they are always mean to us," she said afterwards, and I could not blame her, because it was true.

"Most of them are, yes."

"Were you ever mean to Robin?"

"Yes, and Robin was mean to me, from time to time, but we both didn't mean it. We were joking."

"Oh… Where is he?" Little Blake was finally getting out of her hideout, and stood right in front of the bed, looking at me. I had taken a seat on the floor under the window, relatively far away from the door.

"He's right outside. You can go talk to him, if you want to," I offered, but she declined the offer. Instead, she picked up the plate, and started eating the cookie.

"I was lying, to make you go away," she admitted. "You're stubborn."

"Patient is what I am, as well," I added to her statement. "Does it taste good?"

"Yes, thank you." While she was eating the cookie, we continued talking. The brave girl knew she was the only survivor of this slaughter, and I managed to convince her, to pack up a few things and come with us. I made sure she got to a good orphanage.

I felt the same shame, as I felt while being in little Blake's bedroom. On one hand I was very happy to see her, grown up to a beautiful young lady with human friends who care for her. On the other hand her past, and the short time I was a part of it, saddened me deeply. Yang's voice drew me out of my thoughts, back to the present.

"Hey there, Kitty Cat… It's alright…" she said, as she still comforted Blake in a way much closer than comrades or friends. I could not imagine the kind of storm of emotions Blake had to endure in that moment. I stood up, walked towards the quartet, and placed my left hand on top of Blake's head, and she stopped crying in that very moment.

"I am sorry." That was all I could whisper, all I needed to say… It was all I had to say. The poor girl literally lost everything, and suffered ever since.

"I am, too…" Weiss whispered. Her comrades, however, seemed not to have heard her, or they did not recognize it. Minutes passed like hours, before Blake eventually calmed down. She looked at me, and my whole body shuddered. There was no hatred in her eyes, neither was there any mistrust, just sadness beyond any words I could muster.

"I should have told you sooner, guys," Blake said, and wanted to continue, but was interrupted by Yang. "Nah, it's fine… Kitty Cat."

"Please, stop calling me that…" Blake raised a plea. Yang just smiled, and I could see the kind of affection between these two, but it was not up to me to judge.

"Okay… Sorry…" the blonde answered calmly. "Are we ready to go, team?" she asked afterwards, and the other three just nodded.

So, team RWBY left my little house in the middle of nowhere. As I watched them enter the Bullhead, Weiss waved back at me, out of courtesy, I assumed. Yang and Ruby seemed not to think about it, they were just too happy to see each other again, while Blake did not dare look at me, for the reason she was able to actually be in that vehicle.

The next Chapter: Homecoming

Author's Note: A long time ago, I started to create a storyline, and wanted to share it with other people. Since then, said storyline changed many times, especially this very chapter, for which I apologize. I wrote this many times, and didn't like one of the outcomes. But at last, the journey continues, so enjoy, leave comments, and most importantly: Criticize constructively.