I stare at the sunset across the sea while leaning on the railing, letting the passing wind play with my hair. 'Such a peaceful scene. You wouldn't guess that Beacon just got destroyed, or that Vale is-'
"And what are you doing out here?" My thoughts are interrupted as a voice sounds right to my left, causing me to jump and turn with a jab that is caught just before making contact with the head of red hair. He lets out a chuckle as I pull my hand back. "Yeah, I guess I deserved that. Shouldn't have come up on your bad side."

He looks down at the water as I slump even more onto the railing, rubbing the bandages that are still wrapped across the left side of my face. "N-no, Adam, you're fine. I should've paid more attention to my surroundings instead of being lost in thought."

"Lien for your thoughts, then, babe?"

"Just..." I scratch the bandages again. "Thinking back. On everything before, well... this." Adam pulls me into a one armed hug and rests his chin on my head without saying another word. We stay like this long after the sun sets and it's not until Blake comes looking for us that we finally separate. "Well, guess I gotta let the doc check up on me again. Talk to ya tomorrow, hun."

He nods, stifling a laugh as Blake groans and almost shouts, "Get a room you two." Though it's obvious with the smile on her face that she's joking. "Come on, Adam, let her rest some more." I smile as I wave them off and head down to the sick bay, not entirely ready for another night of restless sleep.

In a village in the forest far to the south of Vale, a door opens as a young woman hobbles out on a pair of crutches, her left leg bound in a crude yet functional splint and bandages peeking out beneath the hem of her shirt. Through the door, an elderly couple can be seen relaxing in front of a fire.

"Don't push yourself too much, now, dear," the older woman calls out. "And please be back before nightfall."

The young woman turns back with a smile. "Don't worry, I'm just going to stretch for a bit, Granny."

She closes the door behind her and makes her way down the road, stopping a few times to wave and exchange greetings with the people milling about in the midday sun. Some offer to bring food to her later, others offer flowers and medicine, but she politely declines the offers as they come. As the sun starts to reach the treetops in the distance, she starts to make her way back and overhears a couple talking.

"Did you hear? A cargo train was derailed a couple weeks ago not far from here. The Schnees aren't saying what caused it, but-"

"It had to be those terrorists. Who else would do that kind of bullshit, wasting the effort of the true hard workers?"

"Mhm. Damned faunus. Only thing they're good for is doing the extremely dangerous jobs."

"True, true. Oh, hey Red. You heading back to Granny Snow? Could you give her my best for me and that I'll be by for dinner tomorrow, yeah?"

Red just nods with a smile. "Sure thing, Raine. You know she enjoys your company. Haile, you should come as well. They said you haven't visited in a month."

The pair of men laugh as Red hobbles away and makes it back to the elderly couple, closing the door with a heavy sigh.

"Is that you, dear?" Granny Snow's voice rings out from the kitchen as the scent of her homemade roast hangs in the air. "Dinner's about ready. Could you go and let Bass know, Red?" Red perks her ears up as her stomach growls and she tries to quickly make her way to the living room.

Screams ring out in the night as roars and growls echo across the trees and houses, the villagers running away from the beowolves and boarbatusks that were swarming in, leaving dead bodies, both human and grimm, in their wake already. One of the children trips on a pile of kicked up dirt, rolling onto their back as a particularly heavily armored beowolf towers over them. It opens its jaws and lunges down as the kid screams before jerking away with a splash of black blood and taking a few stumbling steps back, Red falling to her knees between the two.

"Go. I've got this," she says over her shoulder to the kid, pulling a box out from the small of her back that quickly unfolds into a large scythe as she stands. "Grandpa Bass is organizing the escape route."

The kid nods as they scramble to get up and runs off towards the house at the end of the village, where the rest of the villagers are huddling. Red holds the scythe behind her with blade towards the ground as the grimm start to surround her, seeming to feed off the anger that almost tangibly radiates from the girl. She closes her eyes as she takes a deep breath, her anger fading as she calms herself down moments before a beowolf leaps at her from behind. She steps to her right, swinging the scythe in a horizontal arc as the grimm sails past, slicing it snout to tail while pulling the trigger in the same motion, a boarbatusk falling mid-charge as the bullet shatters its plating between the eyes. The rest of the grimm start rushing at Red in sync as she rests the weapon on her shoulder and opens her eyes.

"I won't let Grandma Snow down," she says, more to herself than to the beowolves as she pulls the trigger again, sending the scythe in another arc that buries the blade in the wolf's midsection. With another shot providing momentum, she swings the grimm around, knocking its brethren away mid-leap before shifting the momentum downwards and vaulting over the pack.

At the highest point of her vault, something knocks into her side, sending her flying through a window, shards of glass ripping skin and cloth alike. Her path ends abruptly as her back makes contact with the far wall. A guttural roar can be heard while a large shadow fills the window, a single large pincer starting to chip away at the edges of the frame as a deathstalker reaches for the wounded girl. Shouting is heard in the distance just before something shoves the scorpion grimm away from the window, roaring in indignation.

"And I told you, get away from the girl, damned bastard!" A strong voice rings out as an elderly looking man steps in front of the window, blocking any further grimm from approaching. "You will all have to go through me first! So? Come on!"

The girl weakly holds out a hand, not having the strength to move the rest of her body, softly calling out to him, "Gran... Bass... Don't..." He doesn't respond to her, only turning his head, giving a smile, and waving a clawed hand before the deathstalker and a few beowolves pounce on him. As her vision begins to fade, more shouts and cries echo out as more people come running to stop the grimm. The last thing she sees is the familiar face of Granny Snow pulling her to rest in her lap, the last thing she feels being a warmth cover her before it all fades to red.

"-And in other news, we bring an urgent update regarding the grimm wave that Huntsmen have been trying to stop for months. They tracked it through the forests to the south on a northward course before finding nothing but desolation at what is assumed to be where they were stopped. The small logging and fishing, Salmon's Run, was the wall that stopped the wave in its tracks, sadly at the cost of the innocent lives there. We have reports of a retired Huntsman and his family that had moved there, and who sacrificed himself to stop the wave. Bass Dandee and his wife Snow-" The newscaster fades to the background as the customers in the café start talking over it.

"I heard that the wave was stopped a few weeks ago." "Why are they just now reporting on it?" "Maybe there was an investigation?" "An investigation? For a grimm wave?" "I heard from a friend that some of the wounds didn't look like they were from grimm." "I heard that those terrorists were active in that area recently." "You don't think...?"

The chime of the register rings out, mostly drowned out by the crowd, as the cashier hands a drink over to the customer. "Thank you for stopping in. By the way, I love your headphones. Those fake ears make you look so cute~!" The customer, a girl in a red cloak, just smiles and nods silently as she grabs her cup and heads towards the door. As she exits, she bumps into an older gentleman with silver hair who is accompanied by a somewhat younger blonde woman.

"Oh, excuse me, young lady." The man adjusts his glasses with a soft smile, pulling a card out from inside his suit and handing it to the young girl. "I wasn't watching my step. If you ever find yourself in a spot of trouble, give me a call. You don't look like the sort to needlessly cause any." His companion scoffs and makes her way to the counter, distracting him for a brief moment. "Now if you'll excuse... Oh. She's gone already."

During his brief moment of distraction, the young girl quickly ran around the corner and down the road, petals floating through the air behind her. After a few minutes of running and reaching an open bench in a public park, she finally stops and rests, taking a look at the card that lay crumpled in her hand. "Headmaster... Ozpin...?"

The sound of rain and crashing waves yanks me to consciousness as the cot I climbed into last night slams violently against its anchors, almost flipping me onto the hard wood of the sick bay's floor as something more solid crashes into the ship's side. After poking my head out to look around and seeing that everyone else has gone topside, I scramble up and towards the stairs, grabbing a rifle along the way.

'Still weird...' I think before I step out into the storm and see a large serpent-like grimm rear up out of the water with a shriek that forces me to cover up my ears in pain.

"Hey! Don't just stand there!" I see many of the crew and some of my companions trying to shoot it, one of them waving and pointing me to the main heavy cannon. "Help slow it down!"

I nod as I raise the rifle to my shoulder, clicking in a magazine of ice dust in the process, and firing. The rounds strike along its scaled underside, creating patches of crystals that shatter as it moves. After the first magazine is emptied, I could feel the hairs along the back of my neck starting to stand on end with the scent of burning air as the grimm started to open its mouth.

"Everyone, take cover quickly!" I hear someone shout, and not long after I duck back down the stairs do I hear the sound of lightning crackling through the air and striking the deck. When I get back topside, there's a burnt line along the metal and a few people being pulled away by those without proper combat training, either missing limbs or heavily bleeding. I feel a gust of wind almost knock me over as the grimm reveals a pair of wings, flying out of the sea and above the ship as it opens its mouth once more.

"Ruby! Get to the main cannon! Adam and I will slow it down!" I hear Blake from the other side of the ship as a crescent shaped arc of red energy crashes into the side of the grimm's head followed by Gambol Shroud wrapping around the joint with the ribbon.

I nod as I start running towards the bridge, dropping the rifle on the deck behind me unceremoniously. "On it!" I hear the grimm shriek as they slash, stab, and shoot all along its serpentine body while its wings beat the rain and waves towards the ship in an attempt to wash everyone into the sea. I barely jump over a few fish-like grimm that had started leaping onto the deck as the serpent began to get distracted by Adam and Blake's increasing attacks.

I reach the door to the bridge only to find it caved inwards and smoldering, and the navigators and gunners either dead or unconscious with the windows all partially melted from the previous attacks. As I take all this in, a thought runs through my head. 'That might be weak enough to jump through... Won't know without trying...' I take a deep breath to brace myself as I move to face the windows before running as fast as I can and leaping feet first at the glass, arms covering my face.

I can still feel the heat from the glass through my boots as I make contact and it starts to bend under me. I think for a brief second that it wasn't going to work before the window suddenly gives out and I'm sent tumbling with large pieces of glass that slash and scrape across my arms, legs, and what little bandages I forgot to remove the previous night. I hear the wind more clearly as my ear twitches, a steady beep from one of the consoles barely audible over the weather.

I rush over as I hear the serpent let out another burst of electricity, lighting up the inside of the bridge just long enough for me to see the screen reading [READY TO FIRE] as well as the lock next to it missing the key, with a matching lock and key already turned on the next console over. As the Grimm lets out another roar, I see a silhouette next to the door to the bridge.

"Ruby! We can't slow it for much longer!" Adam shouts before the silhouette leaps away as another wave of water crashes into the ship. Hearing this, I start searching around the consoles and bodies for the key, the crewmates groaning as I shift them onto or off of their injuries. As the sounds of the fight grow more fervent, I finally find the key and rush to insert and turn it in the lock with a satisfying 'click'.

The window opening darkens as the cannon's view is projected. I quickly press a few keys on the console, trying to figure out which ones move the cannon, eventually moving it into position. I see the grimm with Gambol Shroud's ribbon wrapped around it, keeping its wings trapped against its body, and Adam and Blake holding the ribbon tight, their feet propped against the railing to keep from falling into the infested waters below. As the grimm's head is about to enter the center of the crosshairs I press the button to fire the cannon and watch as the dust enhanced artillery round pierces right through the grimm's armor and out the back of its head.

Cries of relief and joy ring out across the deck as I feel the adrenaline starting to wear off and my legs begin giving out on me. As the floor starts to grow closer, I feel a pair of arms wrap around me from behind as a familiar voice whispers, "I told ya, I'll always catch you, my little wolf."

I smile and turn to look at Adam. "And I told you that you don't need to. I don't plan to leave your side again, you stubborn bull." I place my right hand on his shoulder to keep me steady as he starts to guide me through the broken window. "How's the crew looking? And what about Blake?"

I feel him brush the hair away from my left eye as he responds, "No one's dead, that's all that matters. Thanks to you, we're being put in a positive light. It's just..."

I nod as I look away and at the ground. "D-don't... You've done enough for me already, and you had your own fight back then. You couldn't have known..."

My throat tightens as he cups my cheek and brings me to face him. "I don't care that you lost Crescent Rose, or that you lost an ear and an eye. I just care that you're still alive. We'll get them back for what they did, this time with our entire force behind us." He smiles before leaning down and planting a brief kiss on my nose. "Cinder, Torchwick, Winchester... Everyone involved in the fall."

A/N Hey everyone! Surprise!

I know it's been a while since I talked about remaking this story, and here it finally is! Hope you all enjoyed this first chapter, because there's more on the way. I hopefully won't take as long as last time getting a chapter out. See you all in the next chapter!