Dark. That was all the Chosen Undead of old could see. He lay in the eerie gloom, pathetic excuses of eyes staring unfocused towards what he believed to be skyward. He had completed his task, feeding the First Flame. Alas, he knew his actions had been useless. Meaningless. Despite his resolve, his determination, his faith, he had linked the flame in hopes of freeing humanity. After slaying his hero, his lord, the personification of his faith, he had relinquished his body only to witness devastation. His soul, once proud and mighty, had been reduced to a flicker of its faithful self, consumed by a mass of screaming, writhing souls from lords of the future. As his knowledge in the arcane grew, his faith wavered. As the other lords taught him how to sorceries, his lord chose to withhold his strength, hiding away into the darkest recesses of the mass. And thus, his faith was severed, the weakness on his lordship's visage being the last confirmation.

He started moving, memories of the past flooding him with automated purpose. Try as he might, his undead body despised being stuck, deciding it even more suffocating then his time in the dreaded Asylum. Slowly shifting, he shifted his fingers against the oppressive... dirt? He was encased in the earth, buried completely under the hardened soil, unable to move even an inch. As the realisation dawned on him, the claustrophobia was set off. Kicking at his prison, he tried to scream without oxygen, burning his hollow lungs. Calming down almost immediately, he lay there, resigning to his fate. After all he'd done, he wanted to die on his own terms. And so, he stopped struggling and slumbered, waiting for an impossible death.

*

Light flooded the island of Patch as the sun rose up from beneath the world, beaming brightly as if ready to watch a spectacle. Under its kind gaze, a young girl climbed out of her bed, rushing down steps like a bundle of energy. A young Ruby Rose had made her way into the scene, jumping for joy as she disappeared and reappeared in a shower of petals. Why? She had just unlocked her semblance, of course. As she zipped around the front lawn of her house, she immediately beelined it to her mother's grave, desperate to tell her about her new ability.

"Morning, mom. Look what I can do now!" She used her semblance for a split second.

"I have my semblance! Oh, think of what I can do with it! Soon, I can fight against the Grimm like you did, mom. Isn't it amazing?" She sat there, like she was waiting for an answer, before she nodded vigorously.

"Of course, I'll make sure to take care of myself, mom. After all, I want to be a huntress, just like you." She didn't wait for a response this time. She disappeared into the forest, swerving around trees as she tried to gain control over her new power. Her dad and uncle had gone out the night before on an important mission and her sister was still asleep with her dog, Zwei. She had asked the night before if the forest was safe and she had been assured that there wouldn't be any Grimm nearby. As she avoided swinging vines and growing roots, one of the petals produced in her wake landed on the ground, slowly settling like a sign.

*

Pain. A dull pain flooded through the Chosen Undead. He felt something oddly familiar above him. Magic? No, it was too abstract to be called magic. Faith? Damn that accursed word. No, this was something different, something dangerous. An enigma founded upon something other than the divine intervention of the gods or the logical elements of sorceries. It called to him, whispering to him of an unfulfilled duty, an unfinished purpose. Quite frankly, he was sick of those words. Using his dulled rage, he checked what was in his hands. A stave of the greatest sorcerer to exist, Logan's Catalyst. He mentally cycled through his spells, hoping to find one which would help him escape this predicament. Soul arrow? Obviously not. Hush? Useless. Chameleon? He'd suffocate first. Making his mind up, he quickly chanted a spell.

"Soul Spear!"

The dramatic flair seemed to have payed off; the destructive force pierced through the ground and shot up into the sky like a firework, dissipating at the apex of its height. And from the makeshift resting place of the Chosen Undead, an iron gauntlet rose from the grave.

*

Night had started to close in on the forest as fog slowly seeped into the scene, climbing like vines upon trees and flowing through the air like a light breeze. For the young Rose, however, this heeded little attention to her mind, too enraptured in the absolute joy she was facing at having her body acclimatise to her 'petal burst', named due to the petals that she left behind. Whilst little in the way of direct combative power, it had the potential and versatility to be both a power to save and a power to harm, depending on the usage. She let out a whoop of joy as she circled trees and flowed towards the centre, unaware of the red eyes watching her until she had stopped, dropping to the floor at her newfound exhaustion. Between gasps of air, she cheered.

"That was the best thing ever!" She jumped to her feet. "I can definitely be a hero with this... when did it get so dark?" The realization of the time seemed to worry her to no end, especially when snarling broke through the silence like a knife through butter. She turned to witness an entourage of red eyes gleaming in the darkness, watching her every move with interest. They had prey after so long, after all, and they were starving. They stepped towards their target as one large group, sharpened teeth dripping with saliva. Ruby crawled backwards, the absolute terror she was facing making her legs freeze.

"Go away! Leave me alone." She quickly used her last remaining energy to use her semblance, teleporting on top of a tree. Up there, she had bought some time for herself.

"Help! There are Grimm here and they're going to kill me! Anyone, please help." She screamed at the top of her lungs as the Grimm in question started to shake the tree furiously, annoyed at the racket she was making. Her grip on the tree was failing, the branch wobbling precariously above one of the eager Grimms. Any further down and it could bite her leg off. It shook again. She hugged the tree with her arms and legs as the Grimm snapped at empty air, growling in distate at the wasted energy. She tried to use petal burst again. Big mistake. Her arms and legs unfurled from the tree and slowly she dropped into the waiting jaws of the Grimm, tears crawling out of her eyes as she understood what was going to happen.

"Am I going to die? What about dad, and uncle Qrow, and Yang? How will I be a huntress now?" She thought, wondering if her mother also felt this terror when she died.

"I miss you, mum."

Slam*

A blue glow crashed into the Grimm beneath her, making it crash into the tree she had been hanging onto dear life mere moments ago. Pain flared as she slammed into the dirt, spine taking the brunt of the collision. She was alive and could only witness glows of blue as the terrified screams of her assailants carried through the night. Her vision was going black. Dark spots closed in on her and threatened to consume her. She strained her neck to see her saviour and whispered to him,

"Help, please." before passing out.