(Hazel) (Fenrir's arrival…)

Coughing violently, Hazel slowly got up on his feet, his passive Semblance numbing the pain even though his Aura was broken. He turned back to see his target, who grabbed the famous huntsman, Qrow, by the collar as they escaped from the Titan Grimm. Surprisingly and fortunately for Hazel, Fenrir ignored him completely, running after the two with his impressive speed.

Hazel let out a deep sigh before coughing again. He was lucky with Fenrir's arrival, enough to actually escape. He did not know if Tyrian managed to escape either, but he won't stay to find out. If he did, then good for him, and if he didn't, then good riddance.

Hazel did not like that maniac at all…

He shook his head, holding his left arm in pain as he walked away. If he can hide somewhere, then his Aura can regenerate somewhat. With every passing minute, Hazel felt worse. He needed to rest, for at least half an hour so he can heal with his Aura.

His thoughts returned to Salem, and he shivered. With Cinder's failure, they already angered her enough. He isn't sure if he could somehow convince her, but he was confident that he's still useful. It's not arrogant to think that he's strong, enough to defeat two powerful hunters on his own, and she was reasonable enough to see the bigger picture.

Hazel won't let himself die, not until he kills him. And if he could, he'll do it over and over and over, until Ozpin breaks down.

His sister won't rest until that monster gets what he deserves.

"Tsk, tsk…" Someone behind him clicked their tongue, making freeze. "And where do you think you're going?"

A dark and powerful presence descended upon him, and Hazel almost fell on his knees. He knew who this presence belonged to, one that he feared far more than Salem. A manifestation of evil, an abomination that has no place in this world…

He slowly turned around, spotting a long-haired, snow-pale man wearing an open vest and simple pants, with black sclera and red pupils for eyes. He held a severed arm in one hand, and the unconscious body of Tyrian in the other.

"Y-you…" Hazel coughed. "W-what… are you doing here?"

"Hmm…" The Titan hummed. "I was… curious, I guess you could say. I wanted to know who this person that stopped Salem from getting the Fall Maiden… and what do I see? A real, living mage, wiping the floor with you two."

"W-what…" Hazel gazed at him in confusion. "A… mage?"

"Ah yes, you can't sense magic." He stated. "No matter. You see Hazel, unlike Tyrian here, something you did made me a little... annoyed."

He froze, the terror he felt increasing by tenfold as the monster glared at him.

"Why didn't you use all the Dust you have?" He questioned. "You could've defeated the Mage if you did, right?"

"T-the repercussion would've been severe." He replied quickly. "I would've been out of commission for weeks if I-"

"And now you dare to lie, hmm?" The Titan cut him off. "I never thought you were this stupid."

"I-I can-"

"No, you can't." He grinned, letting go of Tyrian's hand to take out a coin from his pocket, then flipping it. "What you can do, however, is pray to the gods… but I doubt they could hear you."

Hazel tried to think of anything that could get him out of this. Morningstar was nowhere near as reasonable as Salem. He purely lives for his amusement, and won't care if he hinders Salem in any way… and they both knew he won't face any consequences. Salem won't risk losing someone like the Strongest Titan, one that even surpasses her in magical skill, and he definitely doesn't care if Salem wins or loses the war.

Pulling the "Salem won't like this" card won't do him any good…

All Hazel could do now, is hope for the coin to land on-.

"Tails~"

Before he could comprehend what happened, an arm went through his chest. Hazel did not feel pain, but he did feel the coldness of death approaching, and the darkened, blurry vision slowly took over. Morningstar pulled out his plunged arm, then crushed the heart with his grip, blood splattering and painting the grass crimson red.

Hazel could only fall on his back, feeling regret for not even killing Ozpin once.

I'm sorry, Gretchen…

(Reid) (After Fenrir's death...)

"Finally!" I say, kneeling down to take Nahkriin from the ground. "Damn, I thought I lost you…"

Alright, that's my mask and sword down. I need my heart and arm back now, but where did I drop them…

...That sounds really weird out of context.

"Did you guys find anything?" I call out to the two.

"Nothing here," Glynda says.

"I'm afraid not." Ozpin shakes his head.

"Woof!"

"Damn…" I scratch the back of my head. I'm sure the arm is around here somewhere… "I'll go check with Qrow, see if he found anything."

I don't wait for a response as I dash towards where Qrow is, making sure I activate my Sharingan to look for anything out of the ordinary. Thankfully, I was able to see my, uh, previous(?) heart on the ground, and I flinch slightly at its sight.

That's… I'm not sure I can look at it without feeling weird. And not the good kind of weird either.

With a grimace, I let out a sigh and kneel, hesitantly grabbing and shuddering at its touch. I send it to the inventory as fast as I can.

Ugh…

My ears pick up something, and I turn to the noise to see a concerned Qrow coming from the bushes. Through his behavior alone, I was able to pick up that something wasn't right

"What happened?"

"...Tyrian escaped."

Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me.

I scowl. "I knew we should've killed one of them when we had the chance. Now both ran away!"

"He couldn't have escaped alone," Qrow says. "He was weak, unconscious, and out of Aura. Hazel was the complete opposite side, and was way too weak to run this far."

"You're saying they had someone else with them?" I look at him in confusion.

"That's the only way, yeah."

I hold my chin in thought. Who could it be? Cinder? Mercury and Emerald? Probably one of them, or, while unlikely, Watts. It also could be a Grimm that helped him out, but I was sure that I cleared this area, otherwise, we would've been swarmed when we fought Fenrir with the fear Qrow and I were feeling.

"That's not the only thing." Qrow continued. "It was as if Tyrian slipped away from the cuffs. They were undamaged, same with the tree root he was trapped in."

"That… doesn't make sense." I frown. "You're telling me he… vanished? Just like that?"

"I'm just as shocked as you." Qrow sighs, taking out his flask. "I'm too old to play detective anyway…"

He says that, but I can see the concern, and even sense what's his feeling.

Oh yeah, level 6 Observation Haki unlocks Emotion Sensing, so that's great.

Level 5 actually.

Shock. Emergency.

As Gwyn's sends me his thoughts, I narrow my eyes and head back to where Ozpin, Gwyn, and Glynda are. Qrow tells me to wait, then clicks his tongue and follows me back as I ignore him.

I slow down my pace as I see the shocked faces of Glynda and Ozpin, and as my nose picks up a powerful scent of blood, my eyes widen as I see the corpse of Hazel, a large hole where his heart is supposed to be.

"Kid, I seriously need you to slow d-" Qrow freezes as he sees the dead body.

"What… what could've done this…" Glynda whispers.

"This is too clean for a strike," Ozpin replies calmly. "No doubt a hunter, or a trained warrior did this."

"...Gwyn…" I speak, feeling a knot in my stomach. "Is this… where my arm is supposed to be?"

Confident.

"Then where is it?"

Unsure.

I look around the corpse, using my Sharingan to look for it everywhere… but nothing. This... this must be connected to Tyrian's disappearance somehow… but why would they kill Hazel, save/capture Tyrian, and take a random severed arm? What do they gain from this?

There's something I'm missing here, and I don't like it at all.

I have a really bad feeling about this…

(?)

One of its siblings has perished.

The weakest and youngest of them, it seems.

It snorted. It knew that wolf was gonna get itself killed somehow, and its not even surprised.

It is, however, interested. Did the humans band together to kill it? That's how humans work. They're weak individually, but strong together.

Maybe those four? That's a possibility.

Oh well, not like it cares all that much.

It closed its open eye, going back to its slumber. It'll see for itself eventually anyway...

It just needs to take a nap...

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