Hi guys, yeah it's been a while but I haven't had much time to write considering work, my brain neighbor wanting to do things and YADADADA you know, life stuff, I hope you enjoy!

Thoughts.

"Someone who isn't there but is speaking to someone...like telepathy or something."

Time-skip or location or P.O.V. switch or something.

"Normal Speech and SHOUTING."

(Making an authors note during fic.)

"You're weak."

"And so are you."

Black cracks spread through the white ground, like vines growing over ancient ruins as Cann fell to a black abyss below him. He opened his eyes to find himself standing alone on smooth stone ground, barely able to see his feet as a dark fog surrounded him, making him unable to see as a spotlight of white constantly followed his actions.

He started walking slowly, unafraid of the smoke that plagued his surroundings, he was used to the darkness from the eternity he once spent in it.

"This is pointless." He said to himself before pausing and scanning his surroundings for the source of a certain sound.

High heels.

His eyes widened, only one person he knew wore high heels.

"Cinder?"

He asked nothing, it was more of a whisper, still searching for the source as it seemed to be coming from every random direction.

"CINDER!"

He shouted almost in desperation, letting the echo die down before growling as he ran through the darkness in his original direction, the ground cracking under each of his footfalls, the sound of high heels walking on stone still sounding in a beat, like a clock.

"Your weakness is starting to show Grimm."

"Do not call me that! I am not one of your slaves!"

He said defiantly before his head began to hurt like he had been hit by a sledgehammer and continuously by a jackhammer, to the point he fell to his knees, blood dripping to the floor below him, he ignored it along with the slightly empty feeling on the inside.

"This is only serves to annoy me further."

He said as he began to stand back up to his feet, despite his dizziness and fading vision.

"You're getting weaker, Grimm."

She put extra emphasis on the word 'Grimm'. His vision began to grow white as if staring at a cars headlights travelling towards him, he soon found himself standing amongst burning buildings in what he thought is downtown Vale.

"Why do you show me this?...What do you hope to accomplish?..."

The place is completely destroyed, buildings were on fire or in ruin, Grimm were marching about freely, corpses of human and faunus alike strewn along the ground, or what was left of them, if you could even tell what species they were in the first place.

He started to walk forwards without willing his body to do so, he came around a corner to see Cinder sitting by a statue with a girl by her side, laying on her back, likely due to injures sustained earlier, they were both exhausted.

"Cinder..."

He whispered to himself before the girl in her lap groaned and sat up slightly, gasping as her goldish amber eyes looked in his direction, she was a young faunus, no older than 8 or 9 years old with tiny little horns on her head, a bull faunus, with red hair that barely went past her neck, a few black bits in her hair that reminds him of the girl he'd met last night, oddly enough, but also someone he could do with punching right now.

Cinder wears a dark-red, off-the-shoulders, v-neck mini-dress with yellow designs. The dress ends in an upside-down triangular tail in the back, ending just above the knees. The blue feather that was usually there, likely lost in battle.

There is a baseball diamond-shaped keyhole on the dress' upper back at the same height as her chest. The sleeves end in a triangle shape, which are wrapped around her middle finger, with the gold designs of the sleeve taking over at the wrists.

She wears a gold loop earring with a tiny shard of a black dust crystal dangling from it on her right ear, same as ever. She has dark, glass, high-heeled shoes and a damaged jeweled anklet on her right leg.

Her dress is partially torn up mostly at her gut area and she had a few bruises and dirt on her, indicating a fight and a recent one, or multiple draining ones.

"Cinder...look."

He heard the child say as Cinder looked in his direction, barely able to stand and keep her expression of shock, before his body started to involuntarily jog towards them, at this he could only gasp in shock inside his mind as he saw his hands.

His hands along with his arms had turned completely black, bits of white bone sticking out of parts of his arms, white claws that burned brightly as if dust were infused with them and that's when he realised, he wasn't going over to them both to greet them.

He tried to will his body to stop as his speed grew, every fireball or arrow fired at him only served to make it all seem to go faster, as he reached them both, he...killed them...with his bare hands, mauling them both until he started clawing them, their flesh, muscle and bone alike shredded and burned like paper and he felt...joy?...Why would he feel joy?

"This is what you will become, Grimm."

"No."

Those were the only words he managed to stutter out as he stared aimlessly at the sight before him, blood, charred and burnt flesh coated his hands, innards of both his lover and an innocent child strewn around the place.

"I'm not a monster."

"You are a Grimm and you will kneel eventually, like the rest."

"I kneel to no man."

He could hear the dark and demonic chuckle all around him as he heard someone behind him, he instantly turned around to find the last person he expected, Professor Ozpin, with his usual stoic expression and a cup of tea or coffee.

"Wake up."

His head started to hurt as he growled and put his hands to his head, kneeling as his body started to crack like a vase, everything felt like it was on fire.

"I will break you."

"Sh-ut up...shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!"

Everything turned white again, giving a roar of both pain and defiance as he opened his eyes to see Glynda staring at him.

"So glad that you could come back to reality Arbiter."

She said in her usual scolding tone with a hint of concern.

He soon found out why. He's in a combat stance with Guilt in his hands. (One of his katanas.) His heart sounded like it was trying to destroy the rest of his vital organs.

He looked around as he started to slowly calm down and put his blade away, twirling it a few times before he did so. He was assisting in Combat class, standing just outside the arena, students sitting in their seats that he recognised to be teams CRDL, JNPR and RWBY.

Some were snickering while others either wore a scowl or a look of concern.

"Reality is preferable to my mind Ms. Goodwitch."

He spoke low enough so that only she could hear, his voice modulator still active as usual, at this her frown became evident for a split second before turning back to her usual teacher demeanor.

"Excuse me for a moment." He said with a slight bow before exiting the classroom.

His mask folded up as he entered the males restroom and promptly began splashing his face with cold water, looking at himself in the mirror.

His eyes were bloodshot and the black on his skin had spread more along with the silvery whites of his hair, it made him feel old. He sighed and turned off the tap before pulling down slightly on the skin below his right eye to find that the sclera in the eye was starting to turn completely black.

Now he was contemplating telling Ozpin about his worsening condition...and that he needed to hurry the fuck up with his research.

He was starting to get the dreams whilst awake...that isn't good. After he'd left the temple he'd have them once every so often, but as he spent time with Cinder and that dust crystal, he started getting them more and more often, eventually getting to the point he started getting them every single night and now during the day, every dream was mostly different but each had the same theme, seeing people die was old hat for him, but feeling pleasure killing those he loved and those he felt obligated to protect? That made him shiver slightly at the implications.

The dreams weren't real, but they had a physical effect on his body somehow, he'd wake up with a new burn or a new gash or something, so you can imagine the amount of scars on his skin that weren't from his physical 'conditioning' as he called it, others would call it self-torture, he didn't care, it had worked.

If it worked physically why wouldn't it be true with emotions? Emotions can be controlled same as his body. Right?

Sighing once again he dried his face and let the mask form over his head once again, giving an annoyed huff as he felt his second pair of ears be uncomfortably flattened, AGAIN. He stepped out of the restroom and back into the amphitheater which was currently being used for Combat Class, the moment he stepped in, a match had finished and he received stares, all of them mixed, but he was used to it as a child.

"Students, as you can see, Mr. Arcs aura has dropped into the red. In a tournament-style duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle and the official may call the match."

Everyone had their own reactions to this.

"Mr. Arc it's been weeks now. Please refer to your scroll during combat. Gauging your aura will help you decide when it's appropriate to attack, or when it's better to move to a more...defensive strategy. We wouldn't want you gobbled up by a Beowolf now, would we?"

That was as close to humour as you'll ever get from Glynda Goodwitch, certified by The Arbiter 2016.

He noticed the one who won say "Speak for yourself." Which put him squarely at the top of Cann's arrogant prick list, first entry to.

"Welcome back Arbiter."

Goodwitch spoke, at this everyone turned to his direction...again.

"Thank you."

Was his immediate response before Glynda turned her attention to her class.

"Since this is the Arbiters first day for his visit of Beacon academy, I'm going to give a rare opportunity."

At this he audibly sighed and groaned, knowing exactly what was going to happen, she always liked picking on him back when he attended classes in this very place, even when he wasn't attending Beacon. He could remember the dents on a steel bar from when he'd bang his head against it continuously, he wondered if they're still there, before he was brought back to reality.

"With the Arbiters permission, a few will be selected to spar against him and he will provide you with immediate feedback, is this acceptable?"

She turned to him with her still stoic look but behind that face he could see the amusement, her eyes gave it away. Goddamn you Goodwitch, I swear I'll get Ozpin to...ground you or something!...though he'd probably just stand there and smirk...everyone hates me...except Oobleck and Port...who am I kidding, that's worse! He thought to himself.

"Of course Professor, so long as the students are up for it."

His reply was respectful as he turned to look at the students who each looked excited, worried or smug at the idea.

Yang instantly raised her hand.

"I volunteer!"

She nearly shouted her excitement, though her grin gave away that she was REALLY hoping this would happen and that she is seriously looking forward to this. Probably too much. Maybe a little bit sociopathic...

"Very well, Yang Xiao Long, you will fight with..."

She paused for effect, much to Yang's annoyance. Or is she pouting? He couldn't tell from this distance.

The screen came up with Yang and...Lie Ren...

"Lie Ren, Yang Xiao Long, can you both step up to the arena please."

They both do so, one obviously more excited and angry than the other.

"How's the arm?"

Yang teased with a smirk, Ren had no reaction besides a slight look of confusion.

"Fully healed, no thanks to you."

"Allow me to break all of your bones this time!"

"Maybe if I let you like last time."

Yangs grin got wider as she got into stance with Ember Celica at the ready, Ren also getting into stance with his Stormflower at the ready, Cann simply stood there putting one foot slightly forward, feeling the tension build as the sound of drums started playing in his ears and the arena darkened.

"Huh?"

Was Yangs reaction, it's Canns' turn to grin behind his mask.

"You will both be fighting with limited vision."

Glynda announced, the arena was only partially lit up, Canns eyes adjusted quickly to where everything was dark. Thank you night vision. He thought to himself. Yang was still smirking and Ren remained unflinching, Cann greatly respected this.

He let out an audible and demonic chuckle as he stepped into the dark, seemingly disappearing.

"You sure you want them fighting a superior enemy that they cannot see Professor?"

His question was meant to anger the enemy, but it only angered one of them, I'll give you three guesses.

"The match begins...now."

"Go Yang!"

"Break his legs Ren!"

Their class mates are cheering them on, how cute. he thought as he silently gave off a small but evil smile similar to what Adam used to do. Yang started firing Ember Celica at different areas of the dark, illuminating those areas temporarily, Ren however remained still, eyes closed, he smiled wider knowing that he was attempting to sense his aura. Good luck. He thought to himself.

"Yang...the time you broke my arm, I actually have to thank you for that."

Yang smirked.

"Well I'm going to do it again!"

She said eagerly, at this she heard a chuckle as a response that originated from seemingly everywhere, she was dragged away from the darkness's edge by Ren, much to Yang's annoyance.

"Hey! What gives?"

"He's drawing you to the dark where his advantage is."

Ren said calmly as Yang and Ren were back to back to the slowly encroaching walls of darkness.

"Okay...how do we draw him out then?"

"I don't know."

"Well that's a big help."

Yang said sarcastically before being punched in the gut by a shadow faster than she could process, leading her to fire a round to where she was hit from, only to find nothing reacting, she growled, which was replied with a chuckle again seemingly coming from every direction as usual. Always smoke and mirrors with this guy. Yang thought sardonically.

"Won't come to play? Fine."

He said in his usual demonic voice, rushing Yang and before she could react, she was flung past a surprised Ren who only just managed to block a single blade, watching as the trench coat of the thing in front of him turn from black to white like ink filling paper.

"Well done."

He complimented before kicking him next to a only just recovered Yang, as they both got their bearings they both nodded to each other before attacking simultaneously, Ren firing as many shots as he could at him so Yang could try and break through his defense.

Cann managed to use Guilt to block the bullets headed his direction whilst walking backwards, as Yang got closer however he drew Innocence to block bullets whilst keeping Yang busy with Guilt, unfortunately for him, he couldn't keep this up much longer so he changed it up a little.

Stunning Yang as she threw a punch, he ran at Ren who only just managed to block his attack but at the cost of his weapons as they left his grip from the sheer force, but Cann also lost his weapons, that didn't matter to him though.

Then again, he forgot a rule, never underestimate your opponent. As he was about to enter hand to hand combat with Ren he catches a fist from Yang, roundhouse kicking her head and ducking enough so that Ren's palm strike would hit Yang squarely in the chest sending her back a bit, though Ren was fast enough to land a hit at Cann's head cracking the mask slightly since he didn't expect this attack, he couldn't defend as well from it.

Ren then attempted to capitalize on this and swiftly attempted to launch a fast combo of strikes, only for Cann to parry or block each of them, even though he was on the defensive, he thought of a plan.

As Ren was about to end the flurry of attacks and begin a new set of them he managed to get a kick behind the knee in and spin kick Ren in the face sending him spiraling to the ground, Cann was barely prepared for the attacks that would come from Yang, time seemed to slow down as he lent backwards and proceeded to use the momentum to cartwheel backwards.

As he got to his feet he drew his shot-saws and started firing them at a recovering Ren rather than a charging Yang, much to everyone's confusion. As Yang got to optimum range, the bandages under the sleeve of his arms connected to the handle of both shot-saws he started using them like a flail to keep his distance from Yang whilst keeping up an impenetrable barrier, but of course, that doesn't really work with the master of punching all the things, Yang.

Yang managed to find the right moments to knock the shot-saws off course and into the arena barrier making them lose their motion and almost stop, giving Yang the prime opportunity to strike, if she could see him, the last thing she saw of him were his eyes before she started hearing distant whispers of someone calling her name as she could no longer see anything besides black, when she looked at herself she could see herself perfectly fine.

It was a little too late to realise her opponent was attacking her until she felt a very large foot kick her straight in the rib cage, very fast and very hard launching her next to a barely standing Ren who helped up Yang, Ren being very close to getting knocked out of the fight. She was getting a little angry.

"GET OUT HERE AND FIGHT ME!"

Just a little.

Her hair was starting to glow as her eyes turned Crimson.

"I'm right here."

A demonic voice said in a teasing tone, directly ahead of her she could see half of Cann step into the light, at which she grinned and charged, only for her to run into a flurry of rapid blade swipes that she didn't have time to block, so she was forced backwards again, her aura drained a little.

"You lucky son..of...a..."

A lock of hair started to float past her face...then another...and another...and it was at this point as the fourth lock started to float in the air like a leaf, Cann knew, he fucked up.

"You...BASTARD!"

She charged at him full sprint, using blasts from Ember Celica to speed her up, she really did look like a really pissed off Pheonix right now, very...fiery...Unfortunately for Cann the first punch Yang threw sort of appeared in front of his face, not giving him enough time to react, so half his mask was shattered to pieces, off his face, but the second punch was caught and dragged forward, bringing Yang straight into his knee, but this trick wouldn't work twice on Yang, she tensed her gut so only part of the wind was knocked out of her, she had enough air left to block the kick to her head.

But not enough to notice the sweeping kick and the resulting heavy right hook into her chest which felt like it hit harder than anything she ever felt before.

"Arbiter that's quiet enough."

Sounded Glynda as Yang stared up into the red and partially black eye and face of Cann with a very curious expression, the anger now fading away being replaced with wonderment and concern at what she was seeing, leading Cann to cover his face and step into the shadows.

"The Arbiter wins the match, is there anything you have to say Arbiter?" Glynda asked.

"Yes, you both fight well, Ren, your reaction time in close quarters is impeccable and your quick thinking bought you both an extra thirty seconds, your knowledge in cqc and tactics was enough to keep me delayed for a period of time. Yang, whilst you hit hard enough, you run into the enemy almost without thinking, it is very easy to manipulate you on the battlefield. Grimm aren't the only things Hunters and Huntresses face out there, people as experienced as me will easily be able to exploit Ren's frailty and Yangs easily manipulated mind. I managed to separate you both eventually, keep together in these scenarios, notice that the moment I divided you, it became easier to deal with both of you. It's important when facing someone who lives in the dark such as myself to stay in the light, it hurts their eyes and negates their advantage, as Ren said wisely."

After Cann gave his lecture he started to walk away, covering the exposed part of his face. Not long after that, the class was dismissed.

"That. Was. Awesome!"

Was Ruby's reaction to when Yang met up with her Team again.

"Keep the Arbiters advice in mind."

Weiss said with a surprisingly not as icey tone.

"He still owes me for my hair though."

Yang said with a obviously unhappy voice which was instantly replaced by curiosity.

"His face was weird." (Thanks -_-)

They all instantly looked at Yang.

"We saw that his mask had been damaged but you saw his face?"

Weiss asked before Blake was the one to instantly ask.

"What did he look like?"

Yang thought about it for a few seconds whilst Ruby tried to keep herself quiet.

"Well, it was strange, his eye was kinda weird, the white parts were starting to turn black from the looks of it and the eye was red like a Grimms, it wasn't a contact lens or anything it was definitely real, some of his skin around the eye was turning black and ran down his cheek, almost like it was spreading like a virus or something, silvery parts were also spreading through his hair which I noticed was black, pale as snow where his skin isn't black to, have to wonder if he's ill or something."

Ruby was doing her best to keep her mouth shut, Weiss was slightly confused and Blake looked distant and slightly concerned, before she turned to Ruby.

"Ruby, are you okay?"

"Mhmm."

The rest of the Team raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?..."

Yang asked with slight concern for her sister.

"Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmhmhmhmhmhmmm."

She looked like her face was going to explode with how red it was going.

"Ruby..."

Weiss said in her accusatory tone before Ruby let out a breath then sucked one in.

"IsawhimwithouthismaskonafterIfollowedhimwhilsthewasbeatingupabunchofbadguysandhe'sactuallyafaunusandhelookskindacute!"

At this everyone raised their eyebrows and had their own reactions.

"He's a Faunus?"

"How cute and is he fit?"

"What did he look like?"

(wait, wait they understood that?)

Ruby became flustered and started stuttering before Weiss said.

"It doesn't matter, it's lunch and I'm hungry."

At which point Blakes stomach growled very loudly leading them all to look at her as she blushed and disappeared, they each followed Blake into the cafeteria.

During the wait to grab lunch, Blake found half of her favorite meal was gone and whilst at her table with her teammates and Team JNPR, she stared aimlessly in the distance whilst Nora was spouting the normal 'Nora talk' as Blake and pretty much everyone else called it. But what she then began looking at was a certain someone with a large dish of Her favourite meal...which she couldn't help but scowl deeply at, before turning her attention back to the table and her book.

This only lasted a couple of minutes however as she heard different ways that Cardin Winchester was bullying Jaune which lead her focus to be planted on him, same as everyone else, but Jaune was attempting to laugh it off, and failing quiet miserably.

"I didn't land far from the school."

"We had to pick you up from the centre of the forest with Professor Port." Weiss said with an obvious tone of annoyance.

"Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can ask." Pyrrha said with her usual concerned and sympathetic look.

Nora then blurts out a plan that Blake and Yang would quiet happily agree to right now. "Oooo! We'll break his legs!" Her ecstatic grin was ever so slightly disconcerting for some.

"Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone." At this they all looked over to see Team CRDL and a rabbit Faunus be the source of laughs and cries of pain.

"Ow! That hurts! Please, stop..." The faunus grimaced as she stops struggling.

"Told you they were real!" Cardin said boastfully.

"What a-"

THWACK

and suddenly the boy was launched to the other side of the room by a not very happy looking person wearing a white trench coat that looked like it was slightly on fire. The man turned to Cardin who instantly dropped the Faunus, cowering beneath the gaze of the eyes of one far superior to him, every inch of cockiness leaving him, being replaced by a cold dead feeling inside as from his perspective, everything began to melt away.

He's lifted easily by the scruff of the neck by something that didn't seem human in his eyes, this was no man or animal, it was something darker. He could hear the voice of a demon call out to him. "You, will never, Ever, discriminate against us again for so long as you and your descendants live, Do. I. Make. Myself. Clear?" Cardin hastily nodded as fast as he could as he was dropped into his seat, the bench shattering as he landed on it, the world seemed to turn to normal in an instant making him wonder if he was dragged into another dimension entirely for a few eternities.

What he didn't notice was the fact his face had landed in the cake in front of him making more than a few people in the area laugh including the bunny faunus he was picking on. Cann turned to her and asked in his normal voice that no one else could hear. "Are you okay?"

Velvet was more than surprised that such a soothing and ironically velvety voice would come from someone who could appear and sound so demonic, have the voice that could brighten even the darkest of days. A light blush entered her features as she replied nervously. "Y-yes, thank you." She smiled a little, the bottom half of his mask seemed to fold to reveal a warm smile, at which her blush further solidified.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Ummm...V-velvet, Velvet Scarlatina." She smiled warmly at him at which she could barely see the edges of his smile grow as he kneeled to her her height.

Blake could not hear a word that they were saying and her lip reading skills were not up to par, which made her slightly frustrated, she wasn't one for eavesdropping but she wanted to know who the Arbiter is, he knew ALOT about her and quiet frankly it made her a little insecure. Eventually he noticed his mask fold back up to its normal self and he escorted the bunny who she knew to be Velvet back to Team CFVY before heading over in this direction.

He noticed her direct stare and returned it, but it wasn't neutral or anything negative, but rather it's a stare that is more suited to 'Oh hi, nice to see you.' Before he cleared his throat grabbing everyone's attention.

"Team JNPR, your team will be scheduled for training regimen the beginning of next week." At which all of them besides Nora who was eating pancakes drenched in syrup, nodded an affirmative.

"Good day, students." He said in his usual demonic monotone.

This however sparked Blake, Yang and Weiss to stare at Ruby as he left making her wince slightly and make her want to curl up into a ball at the stares.

"Uhhhhh...guys?" Jaune asked the other members of Team RWBY.

"So, you were about to tell me how fit he looks?" Yang asked with a slight smirk.

"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait, Ruby, you saw what he looks like?!" Jaune asked with a mixture of surprise, shock and anticipation, the previous conversation obviously leaving the mind of everyone on the table.

Ruby then pulled her hood over her head to hide herself from the world. "Yes."

Nora was nearly halfway across the table before Ren poked a part of her neck making Nora tense up and fall over, twitching every so often. After an awkward silence everyone turned their attention back to Ruby who had disappeared, they looked at the entrance to find the door slowly closing from where Ruby had run away.

"Not fair!" Yang shouted as everyone else sighed sadly.

"Just give her some time, we might've just embarrassed her too much." Weiss spoke leading everyone to look at her.

"Did I just hallucinate or did Weiss just say something nice?" Yang asked seemingly no one.

"So they wanna know what I look like huh?"

"Yeah! They kinda...Really...wanna know." Ruby lowered her face a little.

The two of them were sat on top of one of the many flat roofs of Beacon, the place may look like a jagged topped fantasy castle, but there really are some places with beautiful views.

"Hm...Do you want to tell them?"

"Yeah! of course! You're big news, no one knows what you look like, they're my friends so I feel I've gotta tell them, but at the same time I...I don't wanna upset you, you know?"

At this Cann looked into the distance and smiled slightly.

"I tell you what Ruby..."

"Mmm?"

"How about, every week I buy you a full 12 box of cookies and I give you a lot of help with Crescent Rose with a brand new modification." Cann smirked slightly, in his head he was giving an evil laugh.

"You mean those cookies you gave me when I went to your place and what kind of modification?" She had a business woman look on her face, which made him chuckle.

"The kind that will increase the recoil on Crescent Rose enough to make you faster but not enough to tear your arm off whilst you don't have her in Scythe form and yes the cookies I first gave you." She was seriously contemplating this.

"Make it 20 a week and you've got a deal." Cann laughed audibly at this which Ruby smiled and gave a short giggle at.

"Deal." He held out his hand and Ruby shook it, with a surprisingly good grip.

"Good grip you got there."

"Yeah! I drink Milk!"

This caused Cann to laugh loudly as he fell back leading Ruby to glare daggers at him.

"I'm sorry! Ahahahaha." Ruby then crossed her arms.

"35 a week."

"Nope, too late, we shook on it."

"Come on!" She gave him her best puppy dog eyes which he crumbled under. (Pun intended.)

"I'll buy you 15 now."

"Deal."

Sorry for the short chapter.