The great beast reared its head deep in the cave sniffing the ash filled air of the mountain where it had made its home.

The salamander rose, at the same time the ground shook not just with the movement of this monster but the entire volcano as well. As if this great lizard was somehow linked to its lair. And all the fury of this rent in the world would be manifested and brought to bear on him.

He took up his newly forged sword to vanquish the beast.

A different kind of creature was descending on team APRC at the moment. Not really hostile though the manmade flying behemoths from Mistral did cast an ominous shadow over where they were going to land.

Kad and his team was sitting on some rocks a short distance from the landing pads. Half of the young group trying to enjoy the afternoon, content to just be outside and out of uniform, without an assignment for the moment. The other two not so much,

"Do we seriously have nothing better to do?" Co'Balt asked stretching back against his boulder with his arms tucked behind his horned head.

"Yeah… just sit here and creep." Alicia nodded, one knee hugged up against her chest and maroon stitched vest staring up at the white clouds above.

Kad shook his head a little, "Come on, it's the simple things."

The visiting students were all orderly walking off of the ships and getting into lines. Kad knew they may not be the most military like people on the planet, but Mistral's discipline bit deep. Cinder almost had their group enroll as full time students there for cover. But things had worked out in a different manner.

The so far silent Jaxon spoke up, "Call it psychological warfare."

"How so?" Alicia asked.

He stood up on his rock casting off his yellow sport jacket and flexing his arm muscles, "They get a good look at the best team in Beacon straight away. HEY assholes, be afraid!"

No one looked.

The team shared a laugh.

Kad smiled, idly sharpening his knife on part of his chain looking out over the Mistral visitors again. Letting his mind wander in the peace of this moment.

The path was shaky and carrying his kill made walking difficult, the sun had retreated behind the clouds of ash in the air from the mountain's unexpected eruption. Molten rock was flowing down to the lowlands.

Until his eyes wandered over something in the crowd of grey and checkered cloth. The pale orange orbs narrowed, trying to track a familiar flash of color drifted through the ranks of trainees.

"No…"

"Can't be." He thought to himself.

"How many people in the world could have green hair like that?"

A dozen thought trails took off in his head, distracting him from the memories that he had been thinking of at the moment.

Alicia was the one who noticed his sudden laser focus first.

"Kad…" She asked cautiously, "You alright?"

"Huh," Kad said in surprise, snapping out of his tunnel vision, "What?"

"You look like you just saw a ghost."

"No… worse…"

He saw him, though not where he expected his son to be.

Hanging by one hand over a lethal drop, Vulkan still clutched his prize. How long had he been there? Trapped by the approaching magma, unwilling to give up and save himself.

It couldn't have been her.

Kad kept repeating that mantra to himself over and over as he walked through the high halls of Beacon. The others where in the cafeteria taking advantage of the free time before lights out, Kad was on his own looking for the Mistral exchange students.

One of foreign teachers chaperoning them gave Kad a pointed look when the giant approached one of the side doors to the hall hosting their orientation meeting. So he made another circuit around campus killing time but was not there when that little meeting ended and the students were dismissed. So now he was nearly aimlessly wandering around all over the school. The Mistral students seemed to be scattered all over the place, almost like none of them knew where the visiting student dorms were. And he was hesitant to go up and ask one of them if they had seen someone matching Emerald's description.

"It wasn't her…"

"You know it was…"

So what was she doing here, the young Primarch asked himself? He had enough mystery in his life as it was this was just going to eat at him until he figured it out. So Kad found himself sat under a tree next to the Beacon dorms watching the most unoccupied dormitory building on campus. This was one of only two buildings on campus with enough left over space to host their sister academy's visiting population, sooner or later the others would begin to trickle in to one or the other. So Kad made himself comfortable as dusk approached and the sky began turning red as the sun retreated for the night.

They would have told him if something needed to be done at Beacon.

His scroll had been down for a few days. Having discovered how flimsy those devices really were when sat on by someone of his bulk.

Maybe he missed a call.

But her presence here wasn't part of the plan. They were going to come to Vale directly when the tournament began. At least he thought so.

A voice disrupted his thinking, "Are you just gonna sit out here all night?"

Alicia was standing right next to him, he had been so unfocused he hadn't noticed her presence.

"Possibly…" He told his partner,

"What's wrong Kad?" She asked crossing her arms, "Last time you started getting distracted like this you were almost eaten by a giant snake."

"It's nothing." The giant said, trying to wave her away.

She pressed the issue, "Then why are you out here all alone staring at the visitor building?"

Kad sighed, there was no way his partner was going to let him off easy this time, and she couldn't hurt anything if he told her the truth this time.

"I thought I saw someone I knew." He admitted,

Alicia stepped closer, "Who was it?"

"Just someone."

"Does this someone have a name?"

"It's not important I can't find her anyway. Was probably just seeing things."

"Then are you going to come hang out?"

"No, I think I'll take a walk." Kad said as he stood to his full towering height tugging the sleeves of his leather jacket back in place, "I'll meet you guys back in the dorm."

The look on Alicia's face was anything but happy. She took her leader's place sitting on the massive gnarled root and watched him walk away.

He should have trusted his eyes Kad realized.

One is an anomaly, two is a pattern.

And Mercury walking side by side with Emerald definitely made a pattern. The pair of them hadn't spotted Kad in the shadows of a tall emerald tree behind them yet, coming out of the main classroom hall. Both were dressed in the Haven school uniforms. And he had no idea what they were doing here, but if they were here Cinder would not be far away.

Silently he stepped onto the cobblestone path and approached.

"So a thief and a kickboxer walk into Beacon." The giant began

Both of his old friends spun around, surprised bordering on terrified expressions on their faces.

Mercury almost managed to raise his hands in a fighting stance, "Kad! What?"

"Really Mercury?" Kad cut off his babbling, "You're the one who is shocked about this?"

"We… didn't know you were here." The assassin's son tried to explain

"Here behind you or here at Beacon?"

Mercury was at a loss for words. Emerald smiled awkwardly and stuttered a response,

"We were co…"

But Kad cut her off, had some questions for the two of them. Not at all happy with their behavior toward him. Yet there would be time to apologize and catch up properly later.

The giant grinned, "No wonder you two aren't allowed to think, great minds like those that can't remember simple facts like where their old friends are supposed to be. It's amazing you remembered to put on pants this morning. Where's Cinder?"

Emerald silently pulled out her scroll, looking angrier with every passing moment.

"Room Nineteen C," She told him, "Do you…"

Kad pushed between the two of them nothing further needed to be said or heard. Now was not the time to try and rebuild a few bridges. They tried to hide it, but Kad had noticed how resentful they became of his rapid rise in prestige in their little group. They had been with Cinder for years and in only a few months with them he was already trusted with more responsibility then either one of them had ever been. But as long as they followed along Cinder saw no harm in this. In fact Kad suspected that she encouraged the little competition, pushing all three of them further and further.

The two of them followed Kad into the visitor building. He ducked into the nearest stairway and climbed up to the third floor. Mercury and Emerald had a hard time keeping up with him at a walking pace, the length of his stride was unmatched and impatience was doing the opposite of slowing him down.

Soft light was glowing from the few lamps Cinder had turned on in her quarters. She was standing by one of the beds next to the open wind unpacking things from a small purse jewelry Dust crystals her scroll, and a few other trinkets. She turned towards him when he entered the room.

"Before you say anything Kad..."

"Why are you here," He demanded, "What's going on?"

She answered him immediately, "The tournament is not accepting unaffiliated contestants this year so we are entering as Mistral competitors."

"When did that happen?"

"A couple of weeks ago, I doubt the teachers would have told you. We tried to contact you recently but had… difficulty."

Kad took a few calming breaths, his confusion abating. He had felt so sure he had been betrayed in some way. Cinder wasn't done.

"Why couldn't you answer the other day Kad?" She asked.

"My scroll broke it's nothing." He quickly explained.

Apparently satisfied his mentor went back to her luggage, Kad however was more than a little confused.

"What? Is that it?" He asked.

Cinder turned around and walked straight at him. He was several feet taller and outweighed her by a few hundred pounds, but nothing ever made this woman scared.

"Yes that is it." She told him, "Plans change but only slightly nothing that involves your part. Plus we couldn't afford to waste this opportunity."

"Opportunity for what?" Kad asked.

"That's none of your concern."

They both stared into the other's eyes, each unblinking. She was challenging him, silently daring him to question her judgment, or his role for the future again.

Without only a nod Kad turned around and left his mentor behind. Mercury and Emerald said nothing as he walked by back to the stairs down and out onto the campus.

Mercury closed the door behind him after following Emerald into their room. Glad to be free of Kad once again.

"Good riddance," he muttered, although not as quietly as hoped.

"What was that Mercury?" Cinder asked over her shoulder.

He clenched his fist on the brass knob, "Nothing…"

"I thought so."

In silence Kad walked through one of the small groves of trees on campus, circling around the shadowed plants, trying to decide what to think.

Whenever he couldn't work past a problem Kad would pause and look at the sky, night was better when he could see the stars. He would put aside the things that were troubling him just try and remember where he came from. That mystery more complex than anything in the normal world would put his problems into another light and then usually he could make a decision.

Not this time, he had been so sure what was going on only this morning. Cinder's presence here made him worried. Fluid plans be dammed, she never went off track with anything she did. But in the end he couldn't see how it mattered, her plans for him didn't matter in the present. But that knowledge just got under his skin more.

Twigs snapped above his head, small wings beat the air as a creature landed. He looked up expecting an owl or some other type of night bird.

The small Nevermore tilted its head and looked right in his eyes.

Time seemed to slow slowed,

His Primarch heart accelerated.

No matter how small, no wild Grimm was ever be allowed to walk on Beacon's ground. And this creature landing in arms reach was just asking for trouble. The giant's right hand darted down to his knife. Kad drew it nearly out of the scabbard ready to slice the bird in half,

But paused when he felt a familiar scratching at the back of his mind.

"Always searching aren't you?"

It was back…

The Grimm glided over to another tree out of his reach, "You feel it do you not?"

"Go away!" Kad nearly yelled at the little monster.

"You don't belong here. Deny all you want, take comfort in your lies spun around you. You are not like them."

"Who?"

The creature laughed, clacking its little beak crowing with its unneeded mouth before returning to the jagged words in Kad's mind.

"Hahahaha, everyone. Mortals…"

In the blink of an eye his knife was spinning at the Nevermore. But much to his amazement the bird ducked and his knife slammed point first into the tree.

"It confuses you doesn't it, you know they don't think like you. You are trapped and straining against your bonds. Denying the axioms of your existence."

With only his right hand Kad reached up pulled Ignis off his back. The blade shimmered with fire, leaving spots on the edges of his vision hissing in the cool evening air.

"Are you truly meant to just sit?" The voice asked, "To stay on the side while the world moves?"

"I have a job to do." Kad growled.

"Promises to keep?"

He took a step forward and pointed with his sword, "Piss off."

"Not so easy to live the life of a follower? You share your sire's memories, you were meant for more."

This thing knew about his dreams…

"What do you know?" Kad demanded.

"All that you do, so why don't you see it? Is everything as it seems? Choices approach, perhaps you may see what needs to be done, or you can be swept aside like all too many before."

Again Kad roared at the beast, "What do you want?"

"You should not ask questions to which you already know the answer. No time to waste. A prize beyond measure. The one thing to come here in all these millennia to truly make a change..."

The bird stretched its wings preparing to take off, "You shall see the cracks soon enough and know her web Huntsman… This we promise unto you."

With that last cryptic remark the Grimm took to the air and disappeared into the dark. Outlined for a moment in the sky for a moment against the broken moon before it was gone again.