Well guys the last few months have been... less than great. Lots of things occurred IRL out of my control and forced me into basically an unintended hiatus.

I've been unable to give you all anything for a while so I'll keep this brief and speak to everyone at the end of the chapter. On with the show!

Kura drummed his fingers against his thigh as he sat on the edge of a large metal table. Wires hung off of him from places on his wings, back, and torso, connected to various machines gathering readings far beyond his minimal medical understanding. Arthur Watts sat at a transparent display typing away, compiling the data in some effort to understand Kura's 'mystical' nature; a compromise Kura was forced to allow in return for the doctor's help with enhancing his weaponry, plus a little something extra.

It had already been a couple hours since they had started and Kura was well beyond simple boredom: "Doctor, I can't imagine you're learning much from just having me sit here. I had imagined when you spoke of tests it would be somewhat more interactive."

Without even bothering to cease typing the posh man replied: "Well unfortunately for the both of us, I am without many of the luxuries of quality equipment out here; which leaves me with little choice in how I can go about exploring the 'magic' you possess. Then add to that splitting my focus to work on refining those crude sickles of yours, plus your little accessory, and I have my hands full enough with that."

Kura gave the man a flat look: "You wanted to use me as a lab rat, Doctor. I believe it is perfectly fair to require some compensation in return. Improving my weapons is I imagine little trouble for someone of your background, and the mask I asked for will have multiple purposes."

Watts' hands paused for a moment, before continuing as he switched the display to a blueprint of Kura's weapons: "It still empedes my own work. Modifying your design is troublesome considering it relies heavily on a power source I have no understanding of: yourself. I've improved the efficiency in places, but there isn't anything special of what I've done that you couldn't have accomplished yourself. Though—"

" 'Though it would have taken you ten times longer to think of the same things, and it would still require my equipment' is what you were about to say, isn't it Doctor?" Kura smirked at the glare the older man shot towards him. "Which is why I asked you to do it in my place. Can't have me taking up time with resources you need to use now can I?"

Watts grumbled under his breath before replying: "Indeed, I suppose, though the mask still baffles me. The technology you wanted me to include is fair: night vision, infrared, retical weapon link, and the other few odds and ends. It's effectively the same as the helmet displays for Atlas military soldiers, but I still don't see why you want it designed as a grimm mask. We are supposed to avoid drawing attention and making ourselves memorable."

Kura looked over to a fabricator working on the circuitry of said mask: "It will be less of a problem than you'd expect, Doctor. Not long before I left the White Fang, a new trend of wearing such masks was gaining popularity among members. I imagine the image of faunus wearing grimm masks will become synonymous with the White Fang within the year. Even if I somehow gained a reputation, it would be one spoken about in whispers among criminals or associated with the Fang by law enforcement. In effect, it's actually one of the more convenient items for me to possess for completing tasks for the Madam than my weapons will be in most cases."

Watts looked towards him skeptically: "That is still a gamble by what I can tell. You could end up hunted by both kingdom forces and the White Fang if you aren't careful. Your history with the Fang's leader already makes things dubious enough as is; if she finds out you're alive then it could very easily complicate matters for you, am I wrong?"

His feathers bristled slightly at the words, but Kura kept his voice even: "I have no doubt Sienna Khan has learned that my transport to Atlas crashed. Even if she were to suspect I survived, she knows I would be in Atlas and outside of the Fang's current reach. If any of my missions were to create rumors, there is almost zero chance she would be able to commit people to find out the truth. Any she might try I'm more than certain I would be able to deal with avoiding or otherwise."

Watts turned to glance at him briefly, no doubt from the change in readings that had occurred from the sensors wired across him, but turned back to his monitors just as quickly: "From what I know of your training I've happened to hear from our resident lunatic, I can understand your bravado. Those unflexing morals you cling to though… 'avoiding or otherwise', hah! The world isn't changed by hopes and dreams alone, boy."

Kura actually nodded: "Fair, but without them the world doesn't change at all. I'm not naive enough to believe sacrifices will not be paid for seeing the Kingdoms fall, but focusing only on death is a sure way to spiral to a place…" He paused as he reminded himself of Salem. She would likely brush off such a sentiment, but it still fits. "A place that is honestly rather sad to dwell upon."

Watts gave a dry chuckle: "Your sentimentality is rather ironic given the company you presently surround yourself with. Though so long as you can do as you claim, then I suppose I have no reason to criticize your fantasies. We all found purpose serving Salem for different reasons after all."

"In that you needn't worry, Doctor. Being uninformed is a quality I hate, so it gives me good motivation to do my job; for my own sake, if nothing else. In a way you could say I'm being selfish, and the Madam and the rest of you are benefiting out of happenstance."

Watts looked over to him once more: "You continue to remind me, just at the times I start to believe you are the outlier of this random assortment of misfits, almost eerily you find a way to make yourself seem like one of the ones who has been here the longest. If it weren't for knowing otherwise, I'd have assumed you had a semblance that let you alter perceptions towards yourself. After dealing with you for so many months however, I know it's just that infuriating manner of speech you possess."

Kura laughed: "You make it sound like I'm some kind of eldritch creature who manipulates people to make them ignore that I'm not human! Sorry to disappoint, Doctor, but besides the extra set of feathered appendages, I'm as human as you or anyone else on this ball of dirt and water."

Watts chuckled along: "That's just what such a creature would say to convince others as it masquerades among us."

"Touché." Kura smirked. "Though I would have made quite the mistake by allowing myself to get hooked up to all your equipment then, Doctor. For what is a monster against the 'wondrous miracles of technology'?"

Turning back to his work, Watts commented: "Keep it up and I'll perform a vivisection on you just to make sure you aren't one."

With a slight shiver at the thought, Kura raised his hands: "I'll keep to the cold little diodes you have stuck to me I think. Less… invasive."

Hearing the beeping of one of the machines, Watts pushed himself away from his desk to the fabricator that was apparently finished. He took the mask from it and started to move his hand in the air, his rings glowing as he worked on it. After a few moments, Watts looked the piece over before flagrantly tossing it in Kura's direction:

"There; you'll need to do some tuning, but it is otherwise complete." Watts told him as he returned to his desk, but paused as something seemed to cross his mind: "It's supposed to be the mask of a grimm, but I've never heard of any that look like that. Is it meant to be based on a kind that went extinct?"

Kura held the mask in his hands as his fingers traced over the inky black lines giving it detail: "Actually, yes. I remembered it from an old book I was shown that had accounts of many such a grimm. You could say I'm reviving an old legend of it. Feels kind of fitting, if I'm honest."

Watts raised a brow: "What was it called?"

"There I was, surrounded on all sides by Beos; nothing too worrying for a huntsman, right? Well it wouldn't have been, if the pack didn't happen to have an Alpha in it." A man recalled as he told his tale to a surly audience of bar-goers.

Rain pattered softly against the window as Kura listened, seemingly with rapt attention like many other patrons who had gathered around to hear the adventure; none around them the wiser that he had been the one to prompt the tale in the first place. For weeks he had been jumping from town to town around Anima hoping to find anything of importance, until he had ended up in the little backwater village barely on the edge of where the CCT network functioned, and stumbled upon this gem of a braggart. Came back from a hunt a week ago and, true to what he had heard, still couldn't shut up about the experience. It had taken several rounds of buttering the man up with drink, but Kura was getting to listen to the story firsthand. It was almost worth pretending to enjoy the swill he was nursing as he listened.

"I know, I know. Just an Alpha Beo and some fodder? Any huntsman worth a lick could handle that!" The man slothed a bit of his drink before knocking the rest back. "B-but, my luck was shit that night. Had a fuckin' Geist playing up being an Ent come crashing through the trees! Biggest golem 'd ever seen! And as though life wanted to just seal the fuckin' deal, I heard a crack of thunder before the sky let loose and I was suddenly in the middle of a thunderstorm!"

One of the patrons jeered at him: "What's next? There was an earthquake and you were suddenly dangling over lava?"

The man slammed his mug down: "I wouldn' hav' been surprised if it had by then! Y-you know how stupid semblances like'n my flash step are in rain!? There'ant no fuckin' traction! It's a free trip into a tree! Probably would have been into the leg of the Geist's golem if I had used it considering my luck that night!"

Well, certainly sounds like a bad time. Kura thought to himself. If half of it was true I'd feel bad for him, but if all of it… then that sounds like the semblance of a certain—

"I was just waitin' to be jumped at tha' point when I heard it." The drunkard's tone shifted to one of reverent awe as he continued. "Through the downpour someone yelled for me to 'get down', and I heard gunfire behind me. All the Beos turned towards something behind me but I just hit the ground, and I was lucky I listened because a huge sword flew past me and would have taken my head off if I hadn't! It hit the leg of the golem and didn't seem to phase it but it took a step and the log of its leg split down the middle and caused it to go wwwooooo~ BANG! The crash bounced me off the ground it was so heavy, I landed face first in mud. I was spitting muck and grass as I wiped my face, when a blur raced by me and grabbed the sword before going to town on the rest of the Beos."

Near abouts the whole tavern was listening in by this point as the man continued to recall his rescue: "The guy was a grimm blender! Whoosh, there went a left arm! Swish, a right leg! Bang, a Beo suddenly missing its head! In all the chaos I noticed the Alpha about to jump him from behind and tried to call out, but I didn't get the chance when a lightning bolt struck a nearby tree and suddenly half of it fell and crushed the Alpha. I felt like I was watching a scene from a movie play out in front of me."

One of the nearby drunks who had heard the tale before called out: "Come on, get to the good part!"

The man just threw his empty mug at the guy, "Quiet Loden! I'm getting there! Now… where was I? Oh! The Geist was just pushing itself back up when the guy with the sword finished off the Beos. I got to my feet and was goin' help take the thing down when I saw the guy turn his sword into a fuckin' scythe and that when I knew who it was: Qrow Branwen, the Qrow Branwen! And then he went and—"

Kura listened more passively once his suspicion was confirmed. His thoughts turned inward as he speculated: So Mr. Branwen was recently in this region, that would mean the search for Spring is still alive and well. Leonardo may have supplied the Madam with what he knew of Ms. Lente Primrose, but unfortunately she'd already been missing for several years before he betrayed Ozpin. Considering it's been several more since then, any number of things could have occured to Spring.

She could very well not be who I'm even looking for by this point. Though if that were the case then it would have to be in the hands of someone who knows at least something about the Madam. To go years without so much as a rumor, a trace of a slipup of use of magic. Neither Fall or Summer have managed that. For Spring to do that without Ozpin's involvement means someone else is doing it for her, or for themselves.

Well I've managed to gather some useful information, news about Mr. Branwen is important to some degree. At the very least, I don't hear anything suggesting he wasn't alone. I'll need to let things settle down after the tale and get some finer details out of the drunkard when he doesn't have so much attention on him. Just going to need to make sure he doesn't pass out before th—!

All thoughts screeched to an icy stop; Kura's attention was sharply focused on the tv screen that sat across the room over the bar, or more exactly at the headline scrolling across the bottom of the news channel it was set to:

"BREAKING: Long-time supporters of the White Fang and parents to current High Leader Sienna Khan; Shir and Tora Khan murdered during today's Faunus Equality rally in lower rungs of Mistral. Four assailants still at large."

… Spring can wait. I need to make a call.

The man continued to ramble. "We came back r-right to here and shared a whooooole~ thing of whi-whiskey. Sp-speaking of, I need another round." He turned around slightly and started to call out: "Hey Mr. Fancy Cloak, order an-nother… where'd he go?"

Ears twitched upon her head nervously as she peeked out at the sunset-lit plateau, and her eyes caught the figure of the person standing at its edge. Worry filled her as she pushed open the door and crept forward, silently approaching without knowing what she could possibly say. She was about halfway across the plateau when she was frozen by the voice of the figure calling out to her:

"Blake… wearing perfume doesn't make you very sneaky when dealing with another faunus."

Sienna Khan turned around to find the young girl scuffing a boot in the dirt as she embarrassedly stared at the ground. The sight brought her some slight amusement as she turned around fully to ask:

"Is there something wrong, Blake? It isn't for many reasons you come to me over Adam nowadays."

Blake looked up, yellow eyes meeting golden as she asked in reply: "Are you ok, Sienna? It's… it's been a year after all. Since… since they—"

Sienna's sharp tone cut through the younger girl's hesitance: "Since my parents were murdered. You don't need to dance around the subject, Blake. I appreciate you asking about how I'm feeling. This entire day has been nothing but silent apologies in every little thing people did for me."

Blake watched her turn back around as she stared off at the sunset. Walking up beside her, the young cat faunus replied: "You didn't answer the question, Sienna. Are you doing ok?"

A deep sigh was the only answer she received for a few moments; Blake just joined the older woman who had been much like a sister to her in looking out at the horizon as she waited for more. A peaceful breeze gave the moment a serene atmosphere, but it only lasted for a short moment before Sienna finally spoke:

"No Blake, I don't think I can say I'm ok. Time and again, just as I begin to see a way forward for the faunus, something precious is taken from me. In the last four years I've managed to lose my entire family, and all of it feels like I'm to blame."

Blake turned towards her: "Sienna that's ridiculous, you can't do that to yoursel—"

Sienna's words were soft but fierce: "My parents were killed because the White Fang's presence is being noticed more and more, and someone wanted to hurt me. Someone wanted me to, in my grief, declare war against the humans to give them the excuse they want to wipe faunus off the face of Remnant."

Blake interjected: "But you didn't let them do that, and Kura is still out there, I'm sure he—"

"Ran away because I made him feel like he was to be used as a weapon." Sienna replied forcefully, as her voice cracked just slightly. "I did discover who took him to Atlas, Blake. The transport he took… crashed. It crashed, Blake. With no record of what happened afterwards because the investigation was done privately. He could be dead, buried somewhere in the tundra of Solitas, for all I know. Even if he did somehow survive, I guarantee he wants nothing to do with me; and honestly, I don't know which is more painful to consider."

Blake was shocked to see Sienna—the strong, willful, determined woman she idolized in many respects—had tears running down her cheeks as the walls she had inside her started to crumble. Blake was at a loss for words as Sienna continued to vent at her:

"I don't even have anywhere to direct this fury towards. Do you know, Blake, what happened to the monsters that butchered my parents? There were four that evaded arrest, two that were captured at the scene, and one that my father killed before he succumbed to his wounds. Of the six that survived, do you know how many I was able to address personally? Zero."

Blake couldn't help backing away a step at the burning anger that played across Sienna's face as her voice rose with each statement: "The two that were captured were murdered while in custody. The incompetence of the Mistralian police to let that happen baffles me to this day. Then the rest…!" All the emotion seemed to just flood out of her, leaving Sienna just a tired husk as she sighed. "Do you remember the 'riots' that occurred in the weeks after my parent's murder, Blake?"

Nodding slightly she replied: "Of course, there was even a curfew for a while. I had never seen tensions between humans and faunus so strained in Mistral. Then, almost just as suddenly as it happened, everything seemed to just melt away and things continued on like before, for the most part."

A breeze tussled at her hair as Sienna watched the sun finally cross the horizon: "Yes, and while I say 'riots' it was more accurate to call it a crusade. The murderers were all part of a notorious faunus hate group, they weren't just random criminals. Some to this day still claim that what followed was a gang war, and improperly blame the White Fang for being part of it; however, the truth is stranger than the lie that was peddled. The 'riots' were not the actions of any group or organization, but by all accounts my informants have collected, it was done by a single person. Someone, to this day I know next to nothing about, took it upon themselves to hunt down and butcher whoever they could find related to my parent's murder; with special prejudice towards those four who had escaped arrest."

Blake could barely believe what she was being told: "Just one person? But Sienna, if that's true then how could you know nothing about them? Surely someone would know about who went after the murdering bastards. How could someone go on a 'crusade' as you called it and remain so obscure?"

Stars began to sparkle as the sky slowly darkened into twilight, the air around Sienna seemed to equally darken as she explained: "The answer is honestly a simple one, Blake. Fear. Whoever was responsible instilled such a degree of fear into any who dealt with them directly that they wouldn't dare cross them, and eventually their reputation grew to the point no one would." She turned towards Blake and spoke in an almost soulless monotone: "Each, and every one, of those that escaped arrest were found, Blake. Eventually… Usually it took a couple weeks after a body was found before it could be pieced back together to be identified. Well, of the body parts that could even be recovered."

Blake cursed her imagination as it worked with Sienna's implications to the point she felt ill: "That's… horrifying."

Sienna turned back towards the now starry horizon, yet contrary to her tone Blake noticed her clenched fist: "Indeed. Whoever—whatever—was responsible, was such a presence that no one has to this day dared reveal anything about them. I've only been told of a single rumor that in any way relates to the one responsible; supposedly because of a mask, which is why the White Fang often seemed to get dragged into the conversation since Adam made it popular to wear. The rumor went: 'A grimm walked the streets back then, and it was impossible to tell if it even attempted to hide what it was.'"

A shudder ran down Blake's spine, part of her wishing it was because of the night air: "Is there even a name, or a title, for this 'grimm'? Surely there has to be something, right?"

Sienna stared up at the stars for a moment: "There were a few labels, some were very hyperbolic: Shadow of Death, Black Reaper, Grim Butcher. Though none of those really say anything about the individual themself. There was only one that wasn't otherwise generic, yet it would also mean…"

No, the evidence doesn't even match up. It couldn't be him. The way those monsters were dealt with were too… savage. My mind is just trying to make connections that aren't there. Nothing more than coincidence. It's just… ahhhg! No, I'm not going down that rabbit hole. It will only bring me—

"Sienna?" Blake's voice broke her from her thoughts.

Shaking her head clear, Sienna turned around: "It's nothing, Blake. Just a bit more tired than I first thought. Let's go back inside, I think I've had enough fresh air."

Blake followed behind her with a worried look as she called out again: "Sienna. Sienna! What's wrong? What is it about the name that has you so distraught?"

She paused with her hand on the door, letting out a sigh as she leaned her forehead against the cold metal: "It's the name of a long extinct grimm, which just so happens to make me think of… Kura."

Like an epiphany, Blake finally understood: "You think it might have actually been—?"

"No!" Sienna whipped around with a growl, Blake flinching backwards. Seeing the fear in the younger girl, Sienna apologized: "I'm sorry, Blake. It's just… whoever went after the ones that killed my parents, with how brutalized the remains were, I can't imagine it being him. It's just a coincidence."

Blake wasn't sure how much of her own words Sienna herself believed, but was compelled to ask: "You never did say, what was the name, Sienna?"

Sienna turned around and opened the door, just as Blake expected to be ignored again she heard Sienna reply:

"Tengu."

Icy drops of rain stung as tips of branches scratched at her face, aura long since broken as she desperately fled. Each racing step through the mud trying its best to pull her back, closer to the danger she sought to escape. Any adrenaline she had left was the only thing blocking out the pain of her muscles from crippling her outright. With the darkness that surrounded her, she was forced to act almost entirely on instinct to not run dead into a tree as she focused on moving her feet as fast as she still could.

Bringing up her scroll, she cried out to an open channel she had set for only the most dire of emergencies:

"Mayday, Mayday, Mayday! This is huntress Heather Shields requesting immediate assistance! I'm being pursued by—by a goddamn nightmare! Please, help! Help me! I'm—"

She was given no more time as the hairs rising on the back of her neck were her only warning as she spun around to desperately defend against the attack she knew to be coming. A blast cracked the air and she felt her feet leave the ground as she was thrown back, the shield on her left arm ripped away as it just barely managed to deflect the projectile that tore through the tempered metal to where it missed her skull.

Any breath still in her lungs was quickly expelled as her back slammed into the trunk of a tree. Her vision swam as she rolled to one side and stumbled before continuing to flee. Doing all she could to not trip over her own feet, she bobbed between trees in a vain hope it might in some way slow down the monster that pursued her. All the while muttering curses between each breath she could manage as she thought back to how she arrived at her current situation:

This has to be a setup! 'There are low records of grimm in the area, check out the reason why' he said. It will be just 'A simple scouting mission'. No such fucking thing! I never should have listened to that lion bastard!

Heather could feel a trickle of blood fall down her forehead, the heat like fire against her skin.

Stupid Heather, why did you go alone? Who's going to help you out here? Bandits? Only ones out here might be the Branwen tribe, and honestly I don't know which would be worse to be dealing with right now; this demon or them.

Her left arm flopped limply at her side, at best only dislocated. It was probably the only blessing of the situation she had that she couldn't feel the pain.

This is what I get for going on a mission for the council. Penny-pinching pricks probably won't even give my family a single lien if I die out here. Thought the lion might be somewhat better but look where believing in things has got you, Heather! A fucking monster on your heels, both your shields scrapped, a gimp arm, and damn head-spliting concussion that probably will get your head split open!

A crack of thunder boomed around her, the sound causing her to flinch as she instinctively threw herself to the right, only to grunt as she was stopped short by running into a tree trunk and glancing off it.

Where the hell am I even running to!? I'm miles away from the nearest town, and even if a village were nearby there's no way they'd have someone capable of standing up to this—this thing! It's like something straight out of a fairy tale, the kind where everyone dies to the monster to scare children into listening to their parents!

Every step was a struggle, the mud sticking as though she were wading through quicksand. Her panting was near deafening in her own ears that the pouring rain sounded like a faint drizzle.

What god did I piss off to deserve this!? Because this feels like something straight out of the legends I heard as a kid! 'Blackened wings that summon storms', 'Cracks of thunder that can shatter bones', 'Reaping talons to harvest souls', is this thing what they were describing!? A demon with weapons forged from those damn ichor pits of grimm!? Because that honestly feels like what's chasing me right now! It's definitely not human!

Wait… is this what appeared in the kingdom a couple years ago? Is this thing the—!?

She was thrust back into reality as she felt her foot sink deep into a mudhole as her momentum carried her forward, only able to bring up her right arm as she fell. Her midsection fell over a root and forcefully expelled any breath in her lungs she had, leaving her with no air to scream as she felt her limp left arm twist unnaturally and heard a sickening crack. She could only whimper as she propped herself up and pulled herself forward, her foot pulling away from the sunken boot that had caused her collapse.

Fuck! I'm dead, just dead! I never stood a chance! Why did I even run!? Just to die in crippled, bloody, mud-soaked agony!?

She pulled herself up to prop her back against the trunk of a nearby tree as she stared back into the darkness she had been running from. Distantly she could see pale blue energy jump out from a winged figure, each arc casting a sea of shadows that lasted for a fraction of a second, making it seemed as though the shadows writhed with an army of hidden demons. The pouring rain seemed to ignore the shade as instead with each glimpse she could see a heavy fog continuously flow off the wings, like a cape of pale miasma.

A crackle became audible in the air, each moment the snap of energy and hiss of steam increasingly jarred her nerves as she took in the specter of her imminent demise in every detail. Glints of silver and deep blues could be seen across his clothing, its style distinctly Mistrilian. In its hands it held matching sickles with a black avian skull adorning the tops of each shaft, while the blades themselves were like polished moonlight. The outstretched wings the color of a starless night sky, save for the energy that sparked across the feathers. Yet most of all was the head of the being: the mask of a grimm, one she could not place, where instead of glowing red orbs of destruction and malice, were cold glowing sockets of pale energy which felt as though they stared into her very soul.

Suddenly the figure froze, a mere ten paces from where she lay, just as darkness started to creep around the edges of her vision. She finally noticed how ragged her breathing felt as she thought to herself:

Heh, how ironic, I'm dead either way now. My arm might be numb, but I can tell that it's bleeding. I probably would bleed out before any help might find me. I just hope… Lavy will forgive her mother for not coming home.

Spitting towards the monster in front of her, she called out: "Do it!"

As though answering her, the forest went dark. The sudden absence of light made her blind, startling her but she quickly realized the creature had simply stopped producing energy. Her breathing rose in suspense, each lingering moment making her wonder if she had somehow actually been left to die.

Heather's thoughts were so jumbled she failed to notice at first that she could no longer feel the rain falling. A chill shot down her spine as she noticed the presence that now stood just behind her, to her left. It felt as though her blood itself froze in her veins as she heard a dark voice utter to her:

"You don't get to die today."

"Wha? I don't—"

The sound of tearing cloth silenced her as she felt a pressure on her left arm.

"But there will be a cost."

She was given no opportunity to even question the meaning behind the words as searing pain exploded through her, she felt steel rend through her dislocated arm directly at the shoulder. She fell to the side with a scream in her throat, but was silenced before it could be uttered by a crack of thunder as her body erupted in agony. With a feeling she thought must be akin to being struck by lightning, she convulsed as the former location of her left arm burned like hellfire and spread through her chest.

After what felt like an eternity, the pain dulled and she could breathe somewhat evenly again. She cautiously reached to where her arm used to be, and as her fingers grazed the spot all she could feel was char. Gingerly, her fingers confirmed that the wound was cauterized, but she still could not understand why.

The forest had gone dark again. Crawling to her knees, she coughed as she tried to speak. The words felt like fire in her throat, but she did manage to ask: "Why? What's one more life to your blood-soaked hands?"

Her head swam as she listened. The voice responded, but from where she couldn't tell:

"Not everything you might believe… is truth."

"Bull—Cgh! Cgh!—bullshit! I—haah~—I know of the people you've—Cgh!—butchered!"

"No… you don't."

She felt the presence reappear just before her. She had to blink through bleary eyes as light flashed before her, as she heard the rustling of wings her eyes began to focus and at eye level was the mask of the creature with its glowing eyes just a breath from her face. Startled, Heather threw herself back into the mud as she scrambled back on her one arm.

In a clap of thunder, the creature disappeared as it extinguished its energy once again. Heather tried to scramble back further but bumped into what she thought was the trunk of another tree… until it moved.

Her short hair was grasped and she was drawn up by its roots until forced up on her legs that shook like a newborn fawn's.

And in her ear she heard:

"If I had truly been the one to deal with the putridity you speak of. Their ends would have been too mercifully swift… and only ash would have been left of their remains."

The icy words she certainly believed, she had experienced enough in her fleeing to know that the creature had no need for deceit. With no energy to resist, she instead asked:

"Cgh!—what do you—Cgh!—want from me?"

"You were chosen to know of me, of my true nature. So that you would not needlessly waste blood in the future. Though there is a toll that must first be paid."

She was firmly held in place as she felt the point of a blade slowly drag across her cheek, just lightly enough as to not break the skin. Following the sensations she could visualize the blade of the sickle coming to rest just in front of her face. With an almost familiar-to-her-now crackle, light shone just frequently enough for her to see that the edge of the blade was aligned with her eyes.

Wheezing out, she asked: "What—Cgh!—toll!?"

The blade pressed against the bridge of her nose.

"Your ability to be a huntress."

…

"AAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Hey everyone, WRW here. It will just be me in this ending note as I have a few things I need to say that concern both me and my stories.

First off let me soothe any worries: I am definitely NOT abandoning my stories.

That being said I am going to be putting them on a one year posting hiatus until 2023. That is not to say chapter won't necessarily be written in that time, it does mean that any that happen to be made will not be revealed and shared until next year.

This decision is not one I am making easily and was done after months of consideration. I'm a person that has many different interests in so many places that I simply don't have time to pursue everything I want to know about and learn to do. Unfortunately with changes to my life I anticipate in the coming months, I had to make the hard choice of putting aside writing so I could accomplish another goal.

Writing is a highly time consuming task, but also isn't an exact science. It is very hard to put it in a schedule because of that, and without being able to do that it leaves me with a sort of all or nothing choice. One where, at least for the time being, I have to choose the 'nothing' option so I can make sure other things get done.

For anyone that reads my other story Fallen Snow, know that one chapter of it will be put out before it follows suit. However, other than that I will not be posting any chapters that will potentially be made until next year.

I do sincerely apologize that I'm having to go to these lengths. If I felt I had a better option I'd certainly would take it, but unfortunately I'm not in any way rich enough to ignore working IRL to purely pursue hobbies so concessions have to be made instead.

I hope that when I do come back I get to unload a whole bunch of chapters off on everyone, but we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Sorry for the long ramble, I'll see everyone in a while.

Stay awesome everyone, WRW out.