Another week another chapter. A lot of good reviews and some very interesting questions. Some I'll have to wait on answering, or at least wait until the story actually answers it for you. That being said, there is a reason no one has actually straight up called Crue's form a 'Werewolf'.

In the Fairytales of Remnant, most monsters are probably based on Grimm, and while it wouldn't be too hard to imagine a creature like a Werewolf existing, it's probably too similar to Beowulves for anyone to think of it as anything but. Even the book, RWBY: Fairy Tales Of Remnant, has no stories that do not mention Grimm in some way or another.

Anyway, that's all I have to say. On with the story!

Winter Schnee awoke and was immediately certain of two things. One, she was alive. Two, she was naked.

A third certainty made its way into her mind, which was the fact she was going to kill Crue.

Groaning, old training kicked in as she observed her surroundings. She was in some sort of cave, with a decently sized crackling fire not too far from her. The sound of rushing wind and rain caught her attention, and she looked to the mouth of the cave, where she could barely see past the sheets of rain falling.

Was this the same storm, or had she been out for much longer? Over to one side, propped up with some branches that had been made into a makeshift clothesline, were her clothes, drying thanks to the fire.

She looked down at herself, and was somewhat pleased to not see her naked as the day she was born. A long green blanket was covering her, and it only took a second to realise what it actually was.

Crue's cloak was covering her, however as she tried to push herself up to get a better look at it, she let out a hiss as a pain shot through her leg. She dragged the cloak off of her, ignoring her nudity, and observed her leg.

A surprisingly well made splint was wrapped around her right leg, and she could feel the pain that emanated from it. Clearly she had injured it in the fall. Her mind suddenly clicked, recalling what had happened before waking up here.

She had been fighting with Crue on the train tracks, and then had been hit by a train. How could she have let something like that happen, she groaned, bringing a hand up to her head. She was meant to be a Specialist. What kind of Specialist let a train sneak up on them.

She had been distracted, obviously. Fighting Crue required all of her attention, but where was the man in question? His clothes were hung up next to hers- including her underwear! Winter burned red, and was about to stand up and snatch her clothes back regardless of her leg, before she heard the sound of metal scraping on rock.

She looked to the entrance of the cave, and thanks to a brief flash of lightning, she was able to see a silhouette approaching. With little to no time to act, she did the first thing that came to mind. She laid back down, covering herself with his cloak once more, and pretended to be asleep.

The sound of soaking wet feet padding into the cave was the first thing she heard, as she tried to form a mental picture of what was happening. They stopped right next to her, and Winter kept her eyes closed. She didn't screw them shut, as that would look too suspicious.

A sigh sounded out, and then a voice. "Still asleep. Shit." Crue cursed. Winter was almost glad it was him, if only because it was someone she knew. She almost woke up, when she felt Crue lay a hand against her forehead.

There was nothing for a moment, before he removed it with an annoyed growl. "Wrong hand dumbass." A hand was pressed once more against her forehead, though Winter didn't know why he removed the other in the first place.

"She doesn't feel as hot. Guess that's a good sign." The hand left, and Winter could sense his presence leave her. The sound of metal clinking against rock sounded out, and Winter wondered what it was that he had with him.

"Least I got her swords. Hopefully that'll make her less likely to kill me." His words nearly caused Winter's eyes to shoot open in surprise. He had picked up her weapon? Why? Wouldn't that be detrimental to his very presence if she woke up.

There was no more sound, aside from the crackling fire and the occasional grunt or sigh of frustration from Crue. When his noises had stopped, Winter waited for anything that might tell her what Crue was doing.

Her answer came to her, not with a sound or a spoken word, but a smell. The smell of cooking fish wafted into her nostrils, and unintentionally caused her stomach to rumble. She was amazed that she managed to keep a neutral face with her eyes closed through what might have been one of the more embarrassing moments of her life.

It didn't help that she heard Crue give a soft chuckle, and her hands curled into fists beneath his cloak. She could easily imagine him turning around with a look of surprise on his face. "Least she'll be fed when she wakes up."

He stopped talking after that, leaving Winter alone with her thoughts. The last thing she could remember was being hit by the train and falling off the bridge, while Harriet tried to save them. She remembered the iron grip Crue had on her, and how he put himself between her and the train.

Was he protecting her? She was only there because of him, so maybe he felt guilty letting her be hit by a train. Her thoughts, unlike the train that struck them, became derailed when Crue finally spoke up.

"Why'd you save her?" This time, Winter's eyes did shoot open in shock. She remained unpunished, thankfully, as Crue had his bare back to her. He was sitting between her and the fire, gently poking the flames. What confused and concerned her, was that he was alone.

Winter ended up staring at his back for what was probably too long, staring at the lines of his muscles and how his hair, now untied, fell down just between his shoulders. Finally spoke again, with a small, amused scoff. "Pack's pack. Yeah, I guess." He turned some of the fish over. "I don't think Weiss would forgive me if I let something happen to her."

He trailed off, turning his head to stare out of the cave at the lashing rain. Winter had laid back down as he turned, but kept one eye open. It was then she noticed a flicker in the corner of her vision. The fire had cast Crue's shadow onto the cave wall behind him.

The shadow looked like that of a monstrous wolf. Winter let out an unintentional gasp at what she saw, and felt a sudden cold wash over her as the shadow turned to look at her at the noise. "Winter!" She turned at the voice, and saw Crue's wide eye looking at her.

Winter turned back, only to find the shadow projected upon the wall matched Crue. She swallowed, her mouth feeling particularly dry in that moment as she passed it off as a trick of the light. "Wh-" She tried to say, only to devolve into a cough as her words refused to cooperate.

"Shit." Crue slapped a hand against his bare chest, before cringing at himself and standing up to walk over to where their clothes were drying. He rummaged around in his hung up, single armed shirt, before taking out his hipflask and walking back over to her.

Winter thanked whatever gods there were Crue decided to keep his underwear on as he handed her the hipflask. "It's water." He said as she unscrewed the top and drank greedily. Winter almost wished it was some kind of alcohol, if only to help her deal with the current situation.

Then again, drinking while naked in the presence of someone who was also practically naked probably wasn't the best idea. She nearly choked on her drink upon realising what she had just thought. She set the flask down and took a breath.

"First. What happened?" Her voice was scratchy, like she hadn't used it for days.

"Well. We got hit by a train." "I remember that." Winter frowned at Crue, before wincing as she tried to sit up. "I still feel it."

"We got hit, we fell, I held on for dear fucking life because I knew if I let you go I'd probably never see you again." Crue explained, before pausing at what he said. "That, came out more sentimental than I intended but whatever."

"Managed to get to some riverbank or other, I think. Dragged you out of there and found this place. Got a fire going soon as I could." He nodded to the fire in question. Winter nodded as well, sensing an oncoming headache as she managed to push herself up.

The sound of a cloth ruffling, and a sudden cold breeze washing over her reminded her of the second question. "Why the fuck am I naked?" Winter was not usually one to curse, but she felt the situation warranted it. She turned to stare daggers at Crue, only to find him staring at the ceiling of the cave.

"Ok, so don't kill me." Crue requested. Winter did not feel particularly inclined to honour that request, but she allowed him to continue to speak. "You've had military training, right?" It was a rhetorical question, but Winter nodded nonetheless, even though Crue's neck was still craned at a ninety degree angle.

"And seeing as you're from fuckin' Atlas, I guess you have procedures on what to do to prevent hypothermia." He continued.

"Of course. You have to handle them gently, get them out of the cold and remove wet clo- oh." Winter stopped her explanation, before glancing to the ground she was currently laying on. A bed of leaves and grass was preventing her from making contact with the ground.

"Yeah. We learned this stuff in Beacon too." Crue risked a glance down, and saw Winter had brought his cloak up to her neckline, preventing Crue from seeing anything, which he was eternally grateful for. "So, yeah, despite what you might think, I don't want you to die."

"And I couldn't leave you alone, especially with your leg banjaxed as it is."

"My leg is what?" Winter had a different question prepared for when Crue finished, but his words threw her for a loop.

"Oh, uh, in your vernacular, FUBAR." He gestured to where her legs were sticking out from under his cloak, where her splint could be seen. "Well, maybe not BAR. Just FU. Honestly kinda proud of that, considering I've only made ones with proper materials before."

Winter examined the splint closer, and to her surprise it was a textbook definition of a field splint, using large branches and vines to keep it together. She'd keep that tidbit of information to herself, however. She turned back to face Crue, who was keeping his eye on hers.

He still had his eyepatch, though it looked somewhat askew. "Who were you talking to?" Crue blinked, frowning in confusion.

"What do you mean? I'm talking to you. There's no one else here." He threw his hands out wide, gesturing to the entire empty cave. As he did, it gave Winter a good look at his chest. She found herself letting out a small gasp at the amount of scars.

It was like staring at a museum of his worst battles. A singular large slash stretched diagonally across him, and in the middle of it was what Winter recognised as a shrapnel wound. Several other scars, both big and small littered his body, but his entire left arm looked as though it was one massive limb of scar tissue.

"Ok, now I feel like I should be the one covering up." Crue brought his hands back in and across his chest, as if he were the naked woman in this scenario. However, Winter did snap her eyes back up to his.

"My apologies. You don't usually see so many scars on Huntsmen, unless they continue fighting after their Aura is gone." She gave a small, amused huff at the idea. Fights ended once Aura was broken, Huntsmen just didn't carry on without it.

Fighting without Aura was tantamount to suicide among Huntsmen, be it against Grimm or other opponents. It was a fact of life. Which is why the fact Crue was pursing his lips and looking as if he was about to be told off greatly worried her.

"Crue?" Winter frowned, her tone not unlike the one she had used with Weiss when she was skipping meals. The Faunus didn't meet her eye. "Are you telling me you've been fighting without Aura?"

"Well-I mean-Sometimes- Yeah…" He gave up and sighed, his head hanging low. "But, in my defence no one told me we weren't supposed to."

"Weren't supposed to- that's common sense!" Winter exclaimed. "Aura protects you from harm, from Grimm. Why on Remnant would you ever fight without it?!"

"Oi, I fought my first hundred or so Grimm before I had it unlocked." He gave a wave, as if it was nothing. Winter's mouth opened and closed, not unlike the fish Crue had taken from the river for them to eat. Speaking of…

"OH SHIT THE FISH!" Crue suddenly turned round, grabbing the skewers from the fire and blowing on the food. Which left him unable to see Winter's dropped jaw. She was still trying to work it, but Crue's words had her brain rebooting.

Huntsmen never fought Grimm without Aura. They had their Aura unlocked before they even started training, and then they had to spend countless hours learning how to use it properly. And even then, they would not fight Grimm without being accompanied.

But to fight, and successfully defeat Grimm without Aura was unheard of. "When did you unlock your Aura?" She asked, as Crue grabbed two large leaves and wiped off some of the charred parts.

"Hm? Like, three days after winding up in Beacon, why?" He glanced back briefly, but kept his focus on the food. Winter's mouth, which she had only just managed to pick up off the floor, dropped again. She had seen Beacon's records of Crue when he was under investigation.

He had only joined near the end of the first semester, and to hear that it was only then that he had his Aura unlocked… "How long have you been fighting Grimm?" At this, she saw Crue freeze. His back muscles suddenly tensed, and Winter would be lying if she said she wasn't somewhat impressed.

"For as long as I've been on Remnant." Crue answered, and it was the scorn, the anger in his voice that made Winter believe him. She wanted to get more information out of him, but he turned back around and handed Winter a fish wrapped in leaves.

"Eat. You're starving." He sat down cross legged across from her, biting into his own letting out a sigh of relief. Winter wanted to disagree, but her stomach disagreed louder. She bit into the food, and did her best to not let her feelings show.

It had to be the fact she hadn't eaten in so long that made it taste so good. But, Crue wasn't wrong that she was starving. It honestly worried her, if she was this hungry, how long had she been out. She wanted to ask, but she was too busy eating.

Long ago, she would have been distraught at the idea of wolfing down her food in such an undignified manner, but life in the military quickly beat that out of her. You ate when you could, as fast as you could. It got rid of a lot of things she had been uncomfortable with before her time there.

They ate in silence, nothing but the crackling fire and the occasional boom of distant thunder as ambience. After Crue was nearly finished, picking out some bones he had accidentally missed, he looked up to Winter and spoke.

"Is Weiss ok?"

The words caused her to freeze, her mouth wide open and about to take another bite. She quickly remedied her undignified position, and swallowed what food she still had before looking at Crue. "She was distraught at losing you."

Crue practically buckled, taking the information like a blow to the gut. "I… I didn't know." He brought a hand up to rest against his forehead as he gripped his hair in anger.

"She cared deeply for you, how could you not know she would be upset at the idea of losing you." Winter frowned. "It wasn't even an idea. It was a fact for her." Crue flinched under her words, and Winter almost felt as though she should stop.

But, this was her sister. "She has your weapon, you know." Crue's head shot up in surprise, before looking over to the side. Winter followed his gaze, seeing his claws and her sabres propped up against the wall.

"Your… Setanta. Was it?" She could vaguely recall the term. When Crue nodded, she continued. "It was the only thing from Beacon she was able to take with her, before our Father spirited her away." She saw Crue's fist clench, and she herself gripped her food just a bit tighter.

"But, you have clearly had an influence on her. And one that I, surprisingly, have no issue with." When Crue looked to her with a raised eyebrow, she elaborated. "The last time I was able to talk with Weiss, she told me she was trying to get closer with her- with our brother."

"I didn't even know you had a brother." Crue was surprised.

"He and Weiss… didn't get along before she left for Beacon. It doesn't surprise me she didn't mention him. But now she is trying to fix old mistakes, she said she never wanted to lose a brother again." Winter let out a sigh, suddenly not feeling all too hungry. "The fact such a rift exists, is something I feel partially responsible for."

"I left Weiss and Whitley to fend for themselves in a house that didn't love them. And without my presence, my Father pushed all of the responsibilities of being the Heiress onto Weiss. But not without trying to get Whitley to rise above her."

"Left alone in that house with my Father's views… I'm honestly surprised how much you cared for her, and how much she cared for you given your nature." Her eyes briefly flicked upward, glancing to Crue's ears.

They didn't twitch in annoyance, so Winter felt safe that she hadn't accidentally offended him. "That was never an issue. Not for me, anyway. And not for Weiss. I think she got all of that out of her system during the first seas- semester."

Crue let out a breath that blustered his lips as he awkwardly looked away. Winter didn't understand what was so awkward about saying 'season' instead of 'semester', but before she could ask, Crue continued. "However, I will smack the fuck out of your Da if I catch him being racist."

Given the fact this was Crue, and half the Ace-Ops had recently discovered a front for weapons in the form of a bar, which was only discovered because the patrons were racist to Crue and he threatened them, Winter fully believed his statement.

She briefly wondered if she should say anything to dissuade him. "You and Weiss, not a worry. And not, Whitely? Was it?" Winter nodded. "Yeah, he seems like a good sort, probably just too under your Da's wing."

"I agree." Which is something she never thought she'd say in any capacity to Crue. "Which, once again, is due to me leaving." She scowled at the ground, feeling guilt well up inside her. She thought she had gotten over these feelings long ago.

Crue said nothing for a while. "So, you put yourself first and enrolled in the military, getting away from your Da, trying to make a life for yourself."

"Yes." Winter scrunched her eyes shut. She supposed this was Crue's revenge for how blunt she was with Weiss. "It was incredibly selfish."

"Yeah, it was." Crue agreed, before taking a bite of his food. "But who gives a fuck."

Winter's head snapped up so fast it actually caused Crue to choke on his food in shock. "What?!" He asked, thumping on his chest as he tried to regain control of his breathing.

"You-How can you be so blasé about what I did? It was a terrible thing to do to Weiss and Whitley!" Winter would have stood to her feet and yelled, were she not still trying to preserve some dignity.

"Yeah, it was." Crue said once more with a slight frown. "But was it terrible for you?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Most of Winter's anger had left her thanks to the question, but she wasn't sure how to answer it.

"You were in a shitty situation and you saw an out so you took it." Crue stated. "Yeah, it left Weiss and Whitley on their own but they would have had each other if your Da hadn't stuck his grubby little mitts in."

"You did something selfish, yeah." Crue refused to break eye contact with Winter as he spoke, his tone becoming surprisingly soft. "But, you're allowed to be selfish, you know."

"Not all the time, of course." He continued. "If you were constantly selfish, constantly putting yourself first I probably wouldn't have anything to say to you. Probably wouldn't even have helped you out of the river."

"But, you made one selfish decision. One huge one, anyway. And it changed your life for the better. Everyone's a little selfish. Everyone has things they want in particular, that might conflict with what others want."

"It's Human nature." His ears twitched, and he sighed. "Faunus nature too. But that doesn't mean it's a bad thing. You can be selfish by wanting everyone close to you to be safe and well, but not caring about someone you don't know. Doesn't make you a bad person."

Winter said nothing for several seconds, her own mind reeling with his words. Eventually, she closed her eyes and sighed. "You are too mature for your age."

Crue let a grin blossom across his face. "Thanks, it's the trauma." They were left in a, not comfortable silence. But a companionable one. Neither spoke up, finishing their food and tossing what remained in the fire.

"So. Plan?" Crue asked, dusting his hands together and getting rid of the few remaining crumbs. When Winter raised an eyebrow in surprise, he gave a shrug of his shoulders. "You're telling me you guys don't have a contingency on what to do if one of ye goes missing?"

"We do." Winter nodded. "If the Operative in question cannot be reached by Scroll-" She paused, looking to where her coat was drying. Crue walked over as she mentioned it, patting it down before finding the object in question.

"Well, you're missing half of it." He said, taking out a single white grip with a single yellow square and a faded blue bar. He held it out to Winter with a vague 'what can you do' expression.

"It's meant to look like that, it's a new Atlas model." Winter informed him, before frowning as she looked closer. "Not that it matters. It should have held a charge for at least a week, the fact the screen is dark means it is out of commission."

"Mine's still working, I think." Crue leaned over to Winter, who almost instinctively leaned back. Then, Crue's arm passed around her to grab his bag. He flipped it open and reached in, rummaging around before eventually pulling out his Scroll.

It clicked open with a bright blue glow. "Thank god for water proofing." He turned it off to conserve the battery. "Ok, I think I have some of their numbers, so we can contact them once the storm lets up. We'll find the nearest town and get you to an actual medic. Might be hard to walk there in the rain." He glanced to the mouth of the cave as he said so, where it was still lashing.

Winter gave a hum of agreement. She was surprised at how well Crue was handling the situation, and how he was able to quickly form a plan. Winter had a plan of her own, however.

And it started with getting dressed.

…

Team RNJR expected many things on their trip to Mistral. Grimm. Walking. Bad weather. Walking. More walking. Many things. However, nowhere on that list was for a man to suddenly appear out of thin air, cartwheeling with so many revolutions he may as well have led the Colour War himself.

And then, he attacked them.

So that was a thing. "We're not looking for a fight!" Jaune exclaimed, holding his shield up all the same. What they were looking for probably meant very little to whoever this man was.

"Who are you?" Ren called, gripping Stormflower tightly.

The man in question, who had performed a perfect split and was keeping himself aloft between the wooden frames of an abandoned building in Oniyuri, smiled and let himself fall, performing another front flip and landing feet first.

"Who I am matters not to you." He said to Ren, jabbing a finger at him. "Or you." He pointed to Nora. "Or-" He cut himself off, pausing as he stared. "Well, you do interest me. Something so… familiar." His eyes roved over Jaune's blonde hair and blue eyes, causing him to sweat nervously.

"But, regardless. I only matter, to you." Silver eyes blinked in confusion, staring at the accusing finger.

"Me?" Ruby asked, staring at the man, before inhaling sharply as she met the stranger's eyes. They were a shining gold. "Golden eyes." She whispered, tightening her grip on Crescent Rose.

"Oh my! You do have a clue! Oh, how exciting!" He laughed loudly and maniacally, which set Ruby's teeth on edge.

"What do you want?!" She scowled, baring her teeth.

"Oh, the rose has thorns!" His own teeth were bared in a terrifying smile. "My little flower, if you must know, I am on a noble quest! To avenge an ally lost!"

"Hey! We're on a vengeance quest too! Maybe we can help each other out!" "NORA!" "What? I'm just saying?" Nora gave a shrug and a smirk, but did not lower her weapon.

The man looked surprised, before his golden eyes narrowed in suspicion, darting between Nora and Ruby. "An interesting proposition. But, I'm afraid my quest requires me to whisk that little flower away."

At that, Nora lost her smile. "Well, what if she doesn't want to go with you?" And what she lost, the man gained.

"Well, then I'll take her." He smiled. "She must pay for the death of the King. It's what I want. And I feel you must know…" His golden eyes seemed to shine. "I can be quite greedy."

"We're not letting you take her." Jaune stated, unsheathing his sword and standing between the stranger and Ruby.

The man closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his teeth. His eyes slowly opened, the gold glinting in the sunlight as he happily growled out a single word.

"Good."

In a blink, the man was already behind Jaune. "JAUNE!" Ren warned, shooting his submachine guns at Jaune's shield to ricochet the bullets into the man's face. It didn't matter, as the man was unusually dexterous and was able to cartwheel onto Jaune's shield and soar above them, making a bee line for Ruby.

It didn't matter what tactics they used, how tricky they were or how coordinated they were, nothing they did could stop this man. Oh, and it turned out he was a Faunus with a prehensile Scorpion tail. So that's another thing that dashed RNJR's expectations.

Never before had they felt so outclassed by an enemy, and that was something this man was quickly classifying himself as to them. Nora and Ren went in as an unstoppable tag team? Both were kicked away or nearly choked by the tail.

Jaune acted like a Human battering ram to knock the attacker off his feet? The man spun over Jaune and used his tail to trip him up before attacking Ruby once again. His blows were violent, vicious and fast, so much so that even Ruby could barely keep up with his attacks until it was too late.

A kick to her abdomen completely shattered her Aura, sending her sprawling onto the ground without her weapon. Their foe approached slowly, tail raising up to the side of his head and swaying ominously. His eyes were no longer gold, instead a dark purple as he stared at Ruby with unrestrained glee.

The tail struck.

And hit metal. "I said. We're not letting you take her." Jaune coughed, his shield blocking the deadly stinger. The man's smile fell, before his face twitched and it regrew once more.

"Ooh, still up and kicking. I was right to be interested in you." He leapt forward with a swing of his claws, and Jaune actually managed to parry, using what he had learned from Pyrrha and took the opportunity to swing in with his sword.

The man dodged as though he had seen the attack coming from a mile away, pulling down the shield and striking Jaune in the side, letting loose a few bullets as he did so. They hammered against Jaune's Aura, who yelled out in a mix of pain and anger, before the attacker apparently grew bored of toying with him.

Another kick, which seemed to be his favoured move at the minute, sent him skidding back, the soles of his shoes burning rubber before coming to a stop before Ruby, now joined by Nora and Ren. All of them were panting for breath, bruised and battered.

"Well, this was fun." He said with a cackle, sounding as though he genuinely meant it. "But, time flies, and so must I." His tail came up once more, twitching in anticipation as his eyes shone gold. "Now, once more for good luck!"

He shot forward, tail piercing out.

It struck metal once more. "AGAIN!?" He complained, before seeing who had stopped him. A grizzled man with greying hair had appeared from nowhere, gripping a massive sword on his back that had stopped the stinger in its tracks.

"Good luck, huh?" His red eyes scanned those in front of him, checking and assessing their injuries in a matter of seconds. The weapon spun round, forcing the Faunus to retract his tail, as Qrow Branwen stood protectively before his niece and her friends.

"I've got a feeling you're gonna be out of that pretty soon."

So, Winter is alive. I'm sure many of you are surprised by that, and so is Crue. The Wolf has a mind of it's own, and if it isn't clear, they have some level of communication. Not in the same vein as Oscar and Ozpin, of course. More, emotions and instincts.

But, something they share is the desire to not actually kill Winter. Crue, because there wouldn't be any point and Winter is, at the end of the day, technically on the same side as him. The Wolf, because Winter is Weiss' sister. Packs pack. And hey, Crue was technically telling her the truth! He has been fighting Grimm for as long as he's been on Remnant.

The fact he successfully killed and survived against a hoard of Grimm is something we all know the reason for. He's too stubborn to die. Also, you know, magical Author interference bullshit.

There's not a lot I hate about Volume 4, but the fight between RNJR and Tyrian, where Jaune just stands completely still while Ruby is about to die is something that never sat right with me. He just lost someone incredibly close to him, there's no way in Hell he would just stand there.

I think it was mostly so Qrow could have a badass entrance, but hey I managed that here and more.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, let me know if you did, and as always...

Until Next Time

-Friday