Another chapter to the story, hopefully this one is a bit more organized than the last one. This part really came to mind so it made it easier to blitz the 6k+ words that this part has in it. Also to the advice of MercenaryGrok I have attempted to make the paragraphs a bit less blocky and easier to read for the viewer. I do apologize for that, it's a nitpick of mine and I should have corrected it. Guess nerves got to me when I was writing that first chapter and wasn't thinking clearly. But the nerves are most certainly lessened now and hopefully, this next part is better organized than the first. Now onto the next chapter, oh and reviews are asked and well appreciated.
Ending his short rest Zet stood to his full height in his constructed form taking in all that he had made of it. His old flesh and bones would take some time to recover, along with most likely all the runes he had embedded into it. So for now he had this shadowy form to take and use, so now that the shadow werewolf spawns were dealt with he got into a runner's mark and decided to test it out fully. A ruffle of some twigs marked his start as he ran his padded feet helped him speed through the underbrush of the forest. His skull mask protected him from whatever wayward branch would try and smack his face, his running pace was good as he could already tell he was quite far away from where he had started.
So it was time to test his arms, grabbing onto one of the larger branches in front of him he used his momentum to swing himself onto one of the taller trees gripping onto a solid branch he began his quick climb up the tree reaching its top. Now free from the forest cover Zet could look out to the surrounding area. He focused his eyes to see some endpoint using the tree's top as a focal point to turn around to get the lay of the land, to his north, east, and south all it was, was forest though to his west he could see an end to the forest and the opening of plains leading up to water. So there was a coast in one direction and trees to every other one.
He would test his swimming capabilities at a later date, for now time to embrace the ways of his ancestors and swing through the forest without a care in the world.
Bracing his legs against the top of the tree Zet leapt off of it breaking its top and causing the rest of the tree to shake against his force. Hearing the wind whip past him Zet reached out with his elongated arms using the bone mass he had acquired from the bone werewolf spawn to strengthen them as he gripped a sturdy branch and swung, his momentum carried him past the tree tops once more letting wind soar past him, he had seemed to overestimate his speed as sped over the tree below him.
He let himself chuckle a bit as his situation only moments ago he was within the council chambers of Elysium his plan in full motion and now here he was flying through the air and swinging from tree to tree like a monkey. He was most certain if Lucy and Rebeca could see him they would lambast him for not trying to find an immediate way back. But what was he supposed to do? His runes were all but gone, and the transportation sigil more likely than not got overcharged and sent him to a realm farther than he wished to be. It would take decades hells maybe centuries for him to recover enough magic to try and and transport himself back. For now, those two would handle the rest of the plan as they had prepared for, and by the time he returned, he would be back to leading the uprising and breaking open the gates with his brother by his side.
Stopping himself as he descended back into the forest canopy Zet stopped himself as he thought back. His brother, he was shattered at the council chambers, he came to his aid once more to protect him. Zet wondered if he was alright, that much magic overloading would. No, no his brother was crafted by Blova to be the next generation of gods the two of them had empowered themselves to peaks never before seen with how many gods they had slain and absorbed. He would be fine, he would most likely lambast him for allowing him to get shattered but after killing Thor and the rest of the council Zet was sure that little mistake would be put under the rug.
It was strange though Zet reached down to his waist, and his mind to where his brother would be. Spending thousands of years with him around it did feel so quiet with him gone. But he would endure he had been separated from him multiple times before he would reach back to him and have a grand celebration with the war over. Recovering from his short period of doubts Zet swung forth again moving ever onward to wherever his fate would take him.
Zet looked out once more to the area around him, a smile behind his mask. He had a whole new realm to explore and he was set back to the start of his whole life, of course without his brother there. But this would be a good way to stretch some aspects of his body and soul he hadn't tested in a long time. Well no rest for the weary time to keep moving, exploring, and taking some time to himself.
Those thoughts halted though when he heard a scream. His head rapidly turned to where he heard the sound. It was a high-pitched scream, not a roar, a grumble but a scream. A human scream, he had heard them enough through his life to know the scream of a human, and scared by memories to know the scream of a child. Without a second thought, he lept through the trees he would not let a child die. Not again, not when he can stop it now.
It hungered for the first time since it crawled out of the primordial spawns it felt starved. The prey it saw fall from the great darkness, it thought it would be easy, its ichor to be fed on, its strength to become its pack's. Yet the prey smelled wrong, it moved without flesh or organs crawled out of the pit it had crashed into and grabbed one of it's pack.
They were confused to see one of their prey move after being dead, yet they were confused about the primordial hate within them. One of the older members of his pack the one the dead prey was touching threw the corpse around seeing what was with it. It had prepared to feast on the body to feast on its ichor, yet it had gone wrong. The corpse had grabbed onto its pack mate taking its flesh and body for its own.
It had lived long on this island, escaping the prey that hunted its kind for years it had never seen the prey use their cursed powers like that. As its packmate died it saw the prey open the eyes he had stolen from its kin, red orbs glowing and staring back at him. More confusion came through his pack but with his order they attacked. The prey proved to be, an incorrect hunt to take. Its pack is now gone and hunger fills through its weakened form. It felt something wet fill his mouth, feeling it drip from his maw as he sniffed for easier prey something to take the ichor from, something to feast on. He could fill his body ache and turn, it needed the Ichor to feast. So it ran, ran through the forests closer to the packs of prey that lived on the center of the island.
Then it smelled it, it stopped in its tracks and felt the wetness in its maw grow. Ichor, that of young prey. It could already feel its body strengthen the prey was bleeding ichor out the sweet scent of desperation, of need. If it fed on the spawn of the prey it could stay close to the village and feast upon the ichor that would come from the spawn dying. It's maw wet, it used what strength it had to rush through the woods to its prey it could smell them getting closer, and smell they were heading to another pack. It wouldn't let his prey fall to another it would feast on flesh and ichor grow stronger, and stronger. Till it could find the prey that had done this to it, and its pack and feast on its ichor and its stolen flesh. The scent grew stronger the water from its mouth dripping onto the forest floor below it, jumping onto the forest path it had to correct itself as its slipped a bit to a halt in front of its prey. Standing tall over the prey spawn it could feel the ichor grow denser, its mouth flowed like a fountain now. Its feast was sure to fill it, and the scream that the yellow-haired prey let out only made for a great appetizer.
Yang wanted to learn more about her mother, her true mother. She had found a picture of another woman with her father, in the arms of the woman was her. She was a baby her yellow hair, and lilac eyes staring at the cameraman. On the backdrop of the picture, she saw the building she was going to try and find clues. She knew this building not personally but from some of the kids that she were friends with, an old building on the outside of town where a ghost of a bandit was. Who would come down and take children away to join her bandit crew. She learned enough from her friends to take the path to the old abandoned home, and with hope in her heart, she made her way to it.
Now though, Yang knew she made a mistake, she shouldn't have left home, and she should have had the guts to come to her dad and ask him the questions. Ask for her mother's name, and find out why she left. Now, now she didn't know if she would be even able to ask those questions, her throat sore from the scream she let out as she tried to run away from the grim in front of her. Dragging the little red wagon behind with her sister Ruby in it, she used as much of the little strength she had to get away. The wagon rocking behind her on the rough terrain, Ruby now waking up and letting out a cry of confusion as to what was going on. Then a real cry as Ruby looked back and saw the drooling Grim coming after them.
She shouldn't have brought Ruby why did she bring Ruby? To see if her mom was at a building long abandoned to show what she had missed, to show that now without Summer they needed her more than ever. Tears ran down her face as she lambasted herself, she was going to get her and her sister killed all over a little bit of hope, of wanting a mother's embrace.
She heard a loud crash and a tug behind her as one of the wheels of the wagon had fallen off, her sister crying her eyes out and babbling for help. Without hesitation, Yang grabbed her heavy sister and tried to run with her away from the Grim. She was losing hope but by the brothers, she would at least keep Ruby safe. She ran, and ran but eventually, she couldn't run anymore, with even more scrapes and bruises covering her body and fresh cuts that bled, she tripped over something and landed hard into the dirt. She held onto Ruby what little prayers she knew were slipping by her lips as she crawled to a tree.
Holding her sister as close to her body as she could she watched as the Grim got closer and closer, its thin body strolling towards them. Drool fell from its mouth, as it was soon over them its drool fell onto her. She held Ruby close her thoughts about her family, her super mom, her dad. If only she could go back if only she just didn't leave. She stared at the Grim it's claw hand raising into the air about to cut them down. She closed her eyes holding onto her crying sister prepared for the strike.
A loud thud rocked through her ears followed by a crash, Yang opened her eyes and saw the Grim was no longer above them. She turned to where she heard the crashing noise, there was another Grim taller than the other one above it, two white horns jutting from the front of its head. It grabbed the other Grim and lifted it to stare into its eyes. The other Grim seemed to recover and looked back at the Grim that had grabbed it, and it yelped, yelped in fear as it tried to claw free from the other Grim's grasp it beginning to whine as its arms grabbed onto anything its claws tearing into the other Grim's flesh. But the Horned Grim just stared at it before rearing its head back and slamming it into the gripped Grim. Again and again it slammed its head against the Grim until its movement stopped and its limbs fell to it's side.
With the Grim dead the Horned Grim dropped the lifeless body on the ground. It stared at the body again before kicking it into the underbrush of some nearby trees. It then looked at Yang and Ruby, and now she could see it fully. A white flat mask stared back at them, the two horns she saw jutting out of its head, leaves, and branches forming from the base of the horns. It moved to them casting away what looked to be a cloak made of Grim fur and plant foliage, beneath the cloak she could see a long thing humanoid body covered in bone plates, tree bark, and leaves. As strange-looking Grim approached her she closed her eyes again and waited. She heard the Grim stop and start walking away, she opened her eyes and saw the Grim walking back down the path, she had ran down. With its long leg it seemed to pass the distance she traveled much easier than her as it stopped at the red trailer she had dragged Ruby with.
The Grim crouched down and looked at it, lifting it up and seeing on of the wheels broken, it seemed to look around for something before stopping at the wheel that had fallen off and grabbing it. Then the Grim did something Yang was not expecting. It grabbed the wheel and held it against where it had fallen off. From its arms, she saw branches and bone move from it onto the wheel and then onto the red trailer. Once the branches and bone stopped, and moved one of its long fingers and spun it, it did make a creaking noise but it stayed in place. Yang had to blink again cause she swore even at this distance the Grim. Laughed. Grim could laugh? How why?
Her tired body could only process so much as she looked down at her sister whom she was still holding onto with a death grip. She was also staring at this whole thing going down. The grim grabbed onto the red trailer with only one of its hands lifting it up and bringing it to them. Yang couldn't close her eyes, some part of her wanted to see what happened next, and what happened next was the Grim crouching down and placing the Red trailer in front of them, the broken wheel fixed up with branches and Grim bones. She stared up at the Grim that had crouched and looked at them. She looked, into the red eyes that her dad told her only hated people. But as she stared into the red glowing eyes. She didn't see hate, she saw jubilation, the Grim was worried about them. She didn't know what to say, or what to do so her brain just deflated to what her father always told her to say when someone helped you. "Thank you." The Grim tilted its head sideways but seemed to nod in some level of understanding. It looked at them before reaching a hand out towards her. She saw the sharp nails and bones on its hands and arms fold back soft fur taking it place.
It was about to touch her head before she heard a loud yell and the hand of the grim falling to the floor. She blinked her eyes getting cleared as she saw the cape of her uncle attacking the Grim. Without a hand it backed away fighting back, the two of them fought going further and further away from them until the Grim was able to strike her uncle and knock him back to where they were. Her uncle turned back at them, still keeping an eye on the Grim and spoke. "Stay behind me, I'll keep you safe." She wanted to speak up, say that this Grim was different. But she was tired her body weak, all she could do was watch.
The Grim stood tall its form standing strong even with the lost of one of its hands. Yang saw movement to her side and looked and went wide-eyed as she saw the hand that was cut off move towards the Grim. Uncle Qrow saw it move as well, a bit of shock on his face but crushing that emotion and using his blade's shotgun to turn the hand into mist. The Grim seemed to have been taken back for a moment staring at the sword and where its hand once was. It seemed to shrug as it grabbed onto the stump of his arm with his good hand and seemed to wrench another one from it. It flexed its new hand the bone, furs, and claws moving over the new skin to reinforce it. It then looked at Qrow who leaned back turning his sword into a scythe preparing to strike. Yet the Grim just looked at Yang past her uncle and waved kindness in its eyes as it did so. Then it walked into the trees and bushes, keeping eyes on her uncle before running away.
Her Uncle seemed stunned for a moment, maybe because of how strange the grim was, but a quick shake of his head he looked down on Yang and Ruby. Worry on his face and a smile on his lips. "Let's get you back home kids. Your dad is worried sick for you two." Yang could only nod as her Uncle picked her up giving her a piggyback ride and putting Ruby on the red trailer. He seemed to stop and notice the repaired wheel with the branches and bone on it. But a shake of his head he simply took the two back towards town. As Yang placed her head against her Uncle's shoulder her thoughts went to what happened. She had messed up, messed up more than she should have. She wouldn't let her mission to find her mother put others in harm's way, she wouldn't let her stubbornness to find out why consume her. Her mother had left her, she had a family that stood by her and protected her. Looking down at her awake sister she made two promises to herself, she would never put Ruby in harm's way, protect her with her life and become the best big sister she could be. But following where her sister was looking back into the wood where the strange Grim had gone she made another promise. She would find that Grim again, and learn what made it save them.
After running far enough away from the children's ward, and his very fucking strange sword, scythe, and shotgun fricking combo weapon. Zet had time to process what he had seen.
Number one, there were humans on this planet, so that marked another realm with the gods having no originality at all and putting more humans across the infinite realms they once held power over. Seriously infinite realms, and all the ones he has gone to, rallied help for his cause or even kicked the gods out of. There were always humans. ALWAYS. Getting side tracked though onto the next point.
Number two, his translation runes were also caput he couldn't understand a single thing the kid was saying or their protector. So he would most likely have to do things the old-fashioned way and try to figure out what tongue they were speaking. Though he could understand the meaning behind what the child said, thanked him for protecting them and for repairing their little wagon. Though he could only get so far with understanding the meaning behind words he couldn't understand. Which meant observing a group of people to follow their speaking patterns to find out what languages he knew could match up with them. Them being human in hindsight made this part a bit easier, there were only so many sounds the human body could make through the movement of lips, tongue, and vocal cords. This was either going to be the easiest part or the hardest part of the little work list he was making. So next.
Number three, the people here were fairly advanced in their tech if some drunk-smelling protector was able to make a bastardization of a weapon that couldn't choose which one it wanted to be. They also had some magic potential as well, when he struck the protector he could feel the familiar magic of a protection ward dampening his strike. That meant magic was here which meant possible academies of scholars, which possibly meant a quicker way to get back to Elysium. He would need to gauge out the magic of this realm see how powerful the people were here in the arcane arts.
Number four, the werewolf spawns hunted humans, and by the look of things not primarily for food. On his approach, he saw the werewolf take pleasure in its prey running away, and seeing it salivate as the children were cornered disgusted him. He should have killed it, not let it run away. But he couldn't change the past now, now he knew these things were not afraid of humans, and would kill them. And their young which made his final point all the more clear.
Number five, he would hunt these creatures down whatever has black fur, reds eyes and hunts people he would kill them. He would kill them all and take their strength for his own, grow powerful enough so no family on this island would fear losing their child. He would not allow that to happen to anyone, he wouldn't let that happen again. Not when he had the power to stop that loss that pain from infesting someone's heart.
He stopped his note-taking, promise-making, and movement as he looked down from the treetops he was moving through. Looking down onto the forest floor he saw a pack of those werewolves standing next to another shadow spawn. From this far up he could see that it seemed to be a shadow spawn of a bear, a very large bear. With a smile on his lips he jumped from the tree diving onto the back of the shadow bear plunging his claws through the thick skull of the shadow bear. Then lifting high ripping the top of the skull of the shadow bear off letting the body drop limp to the forest floor. He could feel the power of said beast flow through his legs as he began to feed. His smile grew wider making his blank mask split open from his glee.
The shadow werewolves seem to be taken aback by his appearance, and his kill. He just stared them down and started to laugh as he looked at their confused faces. He stared them down his mask broken into a wide smile. "Let the hunt begin." With a loud war cry, he leaped at the closest shadow werewolf cutting its body in twine by his claws before jumping onto the next one. Throughout the night, he would find packs like this cutting them down and taking what he wanted from them. Some he left bare, even if their bodies disappeared he knew the presence of battle might scare some off. He had started his hunt this night, and the creatures of darkness would know what it was like to be the prey.
Qrow was having a shitty day, there's a lot of things that made it shitty due to his bad luck always messing something up for him. But Tai calling him and telling him that the kids were gone really put the cherry on this shit day. He was able to find their tracks transforming into a bird and following them. Finding them with a strange-looking Grim that was reaching out for them. Qrow shook his head and shook his flask again, there was still some in it, and he had only emptied it three times today. He was not drunk, what that grim did happened it rebuilt the arm he had cut off and waved.
WAVED! What fucking Grim waves? What grim even knows what waving is, or how do to it, or fix a damn wheel on a kid trailer. Cause as far as the oh-so-great wizard Oz has told him no Grim can understand or copy what people do. So how could it understand what a wheel was, or do what he saw. Qrow smacked the side of his head, he had other things to focus on. He felt the little dragon raise her little yellow-haired head in concern he just smiled and patted her head with his free hand. "Mosquito bit me, I think I got it, lay your head back down we're almost back home." He felt Yang place her head once more against his back, the little tike was always a talkative one even when in trouble. Qrow guessed this time around she knew she messed up and went quiet.
As Qrow approached Tai's house he saw him outside on his phone screaming bloody murder to some poor bastard on the other side of his scroll. From the sounds of things he was cussing out some of the local guards for not finding his girls yet, and how he would shove, okay that's colorful language the kids don't need to hear. "Hey Tai found them!" Tai stopped his ass chewing to the poor soul on the other side quickly saying some final words to the person on the other side of his scroll. Tai rushed to them quickly looking over the girls. "Where did you go yang I was worried sick, you better have been kidnapped cause if you ran away with Ruby I swear you are grounded young lady." Before Tai could chew out his children Qrow raised his free hand. "Tai lets get them to bed first its been a long day for all of us, and there's something I'd like to talk to you about."
There was some anger in Tai's eyes as he was going to be the single parent who disciplined his childern as soon as they messed up. But seeing Qrow give him his serious look he relented. "Alright let's get them cleaned up and to bed." Very few words were spoken as the kids were cleaned up and Yang bandaged, after the two were put to bed they were both out like a light as soon as they hit the mattress.
Qrow sat in the living room as Tai brought them drinks, putting a glass of whiskey in front of Qrow and another in front of himself as he took the lounge chair in front of Qrow. "What do you want to talk about." Qrow prepared for the next part. "Now before you get angry, the kids as you've seen are alright. So I'm going to cut to the chase, a Grim nearly got them." Tai did a spit take his eyes filled with anger and about to scream bloody murder once more but Qrow quickly pointed up to the room the kids were resting in as Tai let out a sigh as his anger subsided. But he made dam sure his anger came through his whispered voice. "A Grim, there shouldn't be any grim near the town." Qrow took a sip of his drink as he prepared for the next part. "They were near your old home Tai." Tai blinked before her muttered under his breath. "Shit, you think Yang knows?"
"The kid is smart, and takes after her mom. She most likely started to put some pieces together after summer… Disappeared plus." Qrow takes a picture out of his pocket and hands it over to Tai. Tai smiles for a moment at the photo before sighing and setting it on the table. "She does take after her mom. Hopefully, she doesn't take fully after her. But I'll have to have a talk with her, come up with something. But that's a talk for another day, did you get rid of that Grim."
"I didn't it was a different Tai it was smart. It, just come outside and I'll show you." The two took their drinks as they walked outside and Qrow pointed to the repaired wheel on the trailer. Tai kneeled down his hand moving over the Grim bones, branches and vines that were keeping it on. Tai lifted the trailer up and spun the wheel, it did make a bit of noise but worked perfectly fine. A quick look back at Qrow the question he was about to say, Qrow answered. "My thoughts were the Grim did that. It was reaching for your kids and I cut its hands off. Forced it back away from them, thing fought back, fought like an actual fight and not like an animal. When it did get a hit in, thing hit like a truck for the thin arms it had. Forced me back to the kids, we stared at each other for a bit and Tai. Hand on heart I've only had three drinks today. It looked past me at the kids and waved."
Tai gave a skeptic look at Qrow. "It waved." Qrow put a hand on his cross holding it on. "On the name of the savior and the brothers, I swear it waved at me." Tai looked to be thinking things over, most likely the same thoughts he had on his way here, before looking back at Qrow. "What did it look like." Qrow looked around for something, finding a small metal fence post to use as an improvised writing tool before he began to draw. "Well you remember those classes we took under Professor Huss in Grim Studies, remember that one grim he talked about, how after the great war it was hunted to extinction because of what it could do." Tai nods. "Yeah wasn't it called a wendigo or something?" Qrow nodded, as he continued to draw what he saw into the dirt. "Yeah had that thing's body, but it wasn't it, mostly cause those things were only found in the north with concentrations in Mantle and northern Mistral, none were even found on Patch. And also because its body had foliage on it, bark on its skin, and branches growing off of it. It was like it was a merger of nature and the grim."
Finishing the quick dirt drawing of what he saw the two Huntsmen of Path looked at the picture of the painting, in this situation Tai let out a chuckle as he looked at the drawing. "Always told you, you should have a hobby as an artist." Qrow just rolled his eyes. "Oh shove it up your ass. So we take this to Oz." Tai nodded as he looked at the dirt drawing, taking his scroll out and taking a picture of it. Then turning to the trailer with the fixed wheel, and taking another one. "He knows more about Grim than anyone on Remant, hopefully, he knows about whatever this thing is. As for how we should deal with it." Tai looked at Qrow making him let out a sigh. "Yeah, yeah I'll try to look for it. I'll start my search for tomorrow." As Qrow began to walk back into the house to the guest room Tai grabbed his shoulder, Qrow looked back seeing Tai locking eyes with his pretty damn accurate dirt picture. "Do you think she sent this here to go after the girls?"
Qrow knew what he was asking, a question all of them had in the back of their head after they learned about her. Fought in the little shadow war between Ozpin and Salem. That one day, she would have the guts to send someone after them, with Summer gone more than likely dead. That thought Qrow knew was at the forefront of all of team STRQ's minds. Placing a hand on the one Tai had on his shoulder he gave it a reassuring pat. "I don't know, but I do know if that Salem sent it, it wouldn't have repaired that wheel, and it wouldn't have run away when it had the chance to take three of us down. Whatever that Grim is Tai, it isn't after your kids."
Tai seemed to feel better after those words nodding his head as he sent a text and the pictures to Ozpin. "Your right Qrow, lets get some sleep, its been a long day and tomorrow will only be a longer one." Qrow let out a sigh as he finished his whiskey placing it the clothing counter at the front door. "That it has Tai, and that it will be." The two closed the door behind them returning to their beds to sleep the night away. Yet across the waters in his tower, a wizard looked at the messages sent by one of his retired huntsmen and began to worry.
Ozpin looked at the photo that Taiyang has sent him. A new type of grim that Qrow had found on Patch. One that by the sound of things was intelligent enough to fix a broken wheel on a children's toy, and to wave at apparently the children of Raven, and Summer rose. This was concerning what was Salem doing sending a Grim like that to Patch. Was it sent there to kill Ruby at a young age to make sure the power of the sliver eyes never flourished, no then why wouldn't it have attacked? The other concerning part was the other information sent the fact that it had some ability to control its body to repair itself, and with limps separated. How Qrow was able to describe how its cut-off hand seemed to try and move back to the Grim, then recounting how the grim seemed to pull another hand out of its stump.
Ozpin tapped his fingers against the desk in his private chambers as he thought over everything. Standing up from his desk he opened the door from his room into one of his private studies. Grabbing a collection of old books he brought them to the table in the center of the room and began his work. He already knew by hand which types of grim were commonly found on Patch Beowolves, Creeps, and in the past Beringels. So this was a new Grim to the region, but it didn't mean it was a new Grim overall. Opening the first Volume he found familiar text and art of his own. In a previous life he had started to catalog all the Grim he encountered throughout the world, and while the modern Grim Encyclopedia covered much of modern and ancient Grim, it did not cover all of them.
Looking through the first volume he scoured the pages for anything similar to what Qrow had seen. Skinwalkers were put to the sword in Northern Vale, the last one seen ten of his lifetimes ago, and they were more cunning than smart. Apathies were out, they were mostly found in Anima and only further north, there wasn't a way for them to get all the way to patch. Scouring through the first volume he found nothing, through the other ones he found nothing, the ones close to what Qrow had shown him were all extinct and no place close to Patch. He looked at the last page of his last Volume.
A shapeshifter, a Grim of true myth something that was intelligent and cunning, in his lifetimes he had only heard stories of them. Of a grim who could look like anything, copy the appearance and emotions of a human. Most importantly of all have a soul, all he had on a shapeshifter were stories second or third-hand tales of something that could have been a shapeshifter. But Ozipin knew enough about tales and stories to know there was some truth to them. Classes were still on break at Beacon, he could go to Patch and see this creature for himself. He looked out the window of his study towards his academy and towards the city beyond it.
He rapped his fingers against the paper of the book his eyes staring out into the night. Letting out a sigh he grabbed his phone and sent a message to Qrow. "Unknown Grim investigate further, Queen might be in play. If problem I will come, don't act alone if engaged fall back and get a team to support you. If critical I will come to Patch to aid you." It was a simple message but it hopefully got the point across to him. Letting out a tired sigh, he looked at his book, flipped to the next page of it, and began to write another entry into his own personal Grim records.
So decided to place this story a few years before the mainline start of the story. I originally was going to have it set a thousand years before the story have Zet build up a little kingdom where he would be a third side between the overly dramatic martial dispute between Ozama and Salem. Then I took a second to remember all the stories that have themselves set long before the start of the show and I never really liked them. They just really became their own thing set in the RWBY verse and not really set in the story. So a few years before get me to have our main guy get accustomed to the world of Remnant and change a few things around.
Also with now the Ozpin side knowing that there's something fishy going on Patch and finding a new type of Grim, one has to wonder how long it is before the Salem side finds out about this rouge Grim on Patch. Its, its gonna be a while do need to think up a way for that interaction to happen. Anywho good day readers!
Edit: I forgot to add the lines cuts was literally thinking about the next chapter than remembered that I had forgot to do that. Sincere apologies for that!