Domremy was burning.
The small but well-known town was located on the continent of Anima, a long distance from Mistral. This town was one of the main sources of many types of food products for the Kingdom of Mistral.
Yet, this bustling town was now in ruins as flames engulfed the structures, killing the residents. Those that were unfortunate enough to survive the flames, faced an even worse fate.
Grimm swarmed the town, attracted by the staggering amount of negative emotions emanating from the town.
Beowulves crashed through doors and windows, tearing apart those who tried to seek shelter in the few untouched buildings as Goliaths started breaking through the walls and tearing through fortified structures, bringing down those who tried to regroup and push back against the Grimm despite the town burning around them.
And one of those brave yet unfortunate souls, was the only huntsman in the town, Nicholas Arc. The middle-aged man desperately fended off the herd of Goliaths with the family sword and shield, hoping to buy time for the civilians who were evacuating through the bullheads.
He hoped that one of those Bullheads had his family aboard, at least, those that were left alive.
He tried hard to avoid remembering the corpse of his wife holding the dead bodies of his youngest three girls under the rubble that used to be the Arc home.
"Nick! Look-"
Before the militia member could complete his sentence, he was turned into a pincushion by feathers that rained from the sky.
Nicholas immediately realized that another threat had arrived on the battlefield. But this one was the greatest threat to the civilians who were escaping the town.
Without hesitation, Nicholas flared his white Aura and shot through the winding streets of the town, heading straight for the landing pad.
"Dad!"
Nicholas looked up at the Bullhead that had just taken off, spotting his children among the civilians.
He also spotted three Nevermore heading straight for the Bullhead.
Flooding most of his Aura into the ancestral blade of the Arc family, Nicholas swung the blade while activating his semblance, causing a solid pillar of Aura to shoot out of the sword, cleaving through two of the Nevermore.
Unfortunately, he was too late.
The third Nevermore, much older than other Grimm, realized that the greatest threat on the battlefield was Nicholas Arc, and headed towards easier prey, the Bullhead.
Its talons piers through the civilian-grade steel easily, separating the turbines from the main body.
Many civilians fell from the great height, killing them instantly.
The spinning Bullhead finally crashed on the ground, throwing people about before the Dust in its fuel tank ignited and the machine exploded.
That night, the grief-filled cries of Nicholas Arc rang out in the smoke-filled night sky as the town of Domremy perished.
"This is a shit show, Oz."
"..I knew she was far gone, but to commit such acts? This is just inhuman, even for her. What about-"
"He tried to defend it, to his dying breath, surrounded by the dead bodies of his town's men and his family. But it was pretty clear that someone searched through his body, so she must have taken it."
Ozpin gripped his cane, the Long Memory, in agony as he imagined the anguish the Arc patriarch must have felt before his death.
He gently ran his hand over the blackened blade that he once helped forge for one of his greatest Knights and dearest friends.
Crocea Mors, the Yellow Death, was found with the dead body of Nicholas Arc who still had a firm grip on the handle even in death, showing what a true Huntsman is supposed to be.
"…Oz, what about the boy? Mistral has refused to hand him over to our custody. They say that they cannot entrust the last survivor of the Arc house to foreign nationals."
Ozpin snorted at that statement. Everyone knew that the Arcs were originally a very influential Knight family of Vale which later became nobility before the Great War. After the war, the Arc patriarch of that time left Vale for unknown reasons and became an influential family of Mistral before they degraded over time and became an unknown family living in a frontier town.
Jaune Arc is a Valean citizen by blood and Ozpin would be damned if he allowed the poor boy to fall into the hands of those snakes in Mistral's higher society.
"Who are the ones that are opposed to our custody?"
"A few of the old nobility, and two Councilmen."
"…..Looks like Leo has failed to remind those fools in Mistral of who we really are. Qrow, I want the boy under our custody within two days."
"…Got it."
"Where the fuck did he go?"
"Boss will have our heads if he escapes."
"Stop talking and spread out, all of you."
Many people dressed in black suits spread around the clearing in the forest, searching for the boy that they had kidnapped from the hospital in the upper district of Mistral.
The plan was originally conceived by their boss. To kidnap this boy who was left unsupervised except for a few visits from a nurse regularly. Judging by the VIP room allocated to the boy in the Hospital, they deduced that they could make some decent Lien through ransom from either his parents or whoever else was looking for him.
Later, the boss suddenly changed the plan and ordered his underlings to bring the boy, unharmed, to their main branch.
Unfortunately, the ten-year-old boy proved to be anything but cooperative and proved to be more than they could handle, especially with his Aura unlocked, which allowed him to outpace his pursuers.
Unaware that their hostage had already cleared the forest in its entirety and was already several kilometers away from the area, despite having difficulty balancing with one of his limbs missing, thanks to his massive Aura reserves augmenting his body beyond its limits.
On this day, Jaune Arc disappeared into the forests of Mistral.