The hardest part about losing an arm is losing your hand. But they never tell you about all the equally hard parts.

Like losing your balance.

Or picking yourself up after losing your balance.

Do you have any idea how humiliating it is, needing to be picked up off the floor at three forty-eight am because you slipped on your way from the bathroom?

The worst part?

How alone I felt.

Ruby and dad were great. Helpful. Gave me space when I needed it. Were there for me when I did. Zwei almost never left my side- which was more comforting than I'd realized.

But I'd gotten so used to the dorm. To Weiss' gentle whispers in her sleep. To Ruby's snoring. To Blake's…

Another hard thing about losing an arm? Only ever being able to wipe the tears from your eyes with one hand.

Professor Goodwitch was an incredibly persuasive individual. She knew exactly what to say to get me to agree to what she needed. However she was also kind, understanding, and flexible in the tasks she assigned me.

Those tasks were usually relatively simple; make an example out of a group of bandits that'd been hindering the reconstruction effort, clear out some old warehouses of invading Grimm; finding missing people in dangerous parts of the kingdom. All jobs that came easily to me considering my skill set.

That didn't make working in Vale any easier on my conscience.

I'd grown so familiar with this kingdom- something that I hadn't had the chance to do anywhere but home in Menagerie. The White Fang were always on the move- or on the run- constantly moving from place to place before the locals could recognize us. One step ahead of the law. One step ahead of those who sought to harm Faunus.

A dozen steps ahead of any potential community we could've formed.

But here, in Vale, things had gone differently for me. Team RWBY and I had left Beacon's campus hundreds of times. To explore, to go shopping, for ice cream…

Ice cream.

Professor Goodwitch had sent me on a scouting mission. This part of the kingdom was near one of the border walls that'd been heavily damaged by a herd of Goliaths during The Fall. That's what everyone was calling it "The Fall." How poetic… The wall still hadn't been sufficiently repaired, and hundreds of Grimm tried to break through into the kingdom every day. A dozen teams of Hunters were stationed here, but they looked exhausted. Haggard. As if they hadn't had any good rest in days. The occasional Nevermore chick or Beowolf pup managed to get through, and the group were often far too tired to raise a blade against them, forced to conserve their energy for greater threats.

A chain link fence had been erected surrounding a twelve square block area. No one was allowed in, much to the dismay of the few dozen families locked outside, desperately begging to be let in for their valuables. I did my best to not cause a stir as I made my way to the Huntress guarding the entrance.

"Look kid, I'm sorry but I can't let you in," the Huntress explained, not even looking up from her Scroll as she spoke to me. Her accent was gruff and distinctly Vacuan. There was an array of bite marks down her shoulder, disrupting her even and lightly tanned skin. She'd probably gotten into a rough fight on the border wall and this was the lowest effort job she could take while she healed. Her long red hair was a mess, but clearly as well kept as she could maintain given the circumstance. It barely hid a pair of feline ears underneath. Lion Faunus?

"Professor Goodwitch sent me to scout the area," I told her, placing my finger on her Scroll to get her attention. She finally looked up at me, her blue eyes meeting mine. I noticed the fresh scars on her angular face and a chipped tooth fully on display. She'd clearly been through a lot in the past couple of days.

"Oh, that's you? They sent a kid? Of course… I'll call someone from the wall and be ready in a sec," she explained before sending a quick text.

"That… won't be necessary. I work better alone-"

"That's what my partner said three days ago," the woman said sharply, cutting her eyes at me as if daring me to argue. The Huntress rose to her feet before grabbing her weapons- a pair of vermillion gauntlets designed to look like flaming paws. We waited a few moments until someone came to relieve her- a broad man with a slight limp- before quickly making our way inside the fence before the gathered crowd could desperately beg to let them come with us.

It was a scouting mission, but we had a purpose. We had to survey the Grimm in the area to plan a proper extermination. Reclaiming this part of the kingdom was incredibly important- a residential neighborhood, clearing this area of Grimm would get thousands of families off the street and into their homes, boosting morale and easing those negative emotions that were drawing Grimm hordes to the kingdom. Unfortunately, for now, it was a ghost town. From what Mereoleona had said, there was something in here powerful enough to take down a seasoned Hunter, yet small enough to hide among the buildings without being seen. People were far more easily frightened of things they couldn't see than those they could.

"Hey… what's your name, kid?"

The question startled me, shocking me out of my concentration. I'd have been upset if I wasn't already feeling sorry for the woman.

"Blake… my name's Blake."

"Vermillion. Mereoleona Vermillion." Mereoleona followed me as quietly as she could, keeping up with me despite the obvious effort it took for her to do so. She definitely wasn't a stealthy person- more likely a bruiser by the looks of her muscles, frame, and attitude. But she was here anyway, and I couldn't exactly discount her persistence.

A sleeping Beringel forced us from the ground to the rooftops. A fight against a Grimm like that would be noisy and alert every Grimm in the area.

"I hate crawlin' around like this. I've got enough height up here, I could dust 'em between the armor plating and-"

"And get us swarmed. And potentially send the Grimm that come after us into another part of the city. This is a scouting mission," I reminded her, my words barely a hiss as I tried to get her to quiet down.

"Yeah, yeah… I know. Just hate letting the fuckers live…" She flipped open her Scroll for a quick moment, looking at some picture in her messages before tucking it back into her pocket. After readjusting her gauntlets, she kept about a dozen feet behind me as I jumped to the next rooftop to put some distance between us and the Beringel.

"Hey… you a Beacon kid," Mereoleona asked, breaking the silence yet again. Another question I hadn't been ready for.

"Former. Beacon isn't exactly open to students at the moment." I kept my voice low, making sure not to alert a small Manticore pack that seemed to be picking apart a fresh kill. Probably a looter that'd grown far too daring.

"You lose anyone?"

The question nearly made me stop in my tracks. It was hard to answer. Hard to relive what'd happened that night. Especially when I was trying to stay focused on the mission. The memories were all far too fresh. "I lost everyone."

"Yeah… me too." Mereoleona kept silent after that, opening her Scroll again and staring at the picture for another few moments before focusing on the mission.

We did three laps around the perimeter, closing in the radius each time. There were dozens of Grimm just lounging around, using the buildings to rest and recoup their energy. They knew as long as they stayed here they'd be safe from trained Hunters, and could hunt the occasional unlucky fool that tried to loot or recover their own possessions. They were living the life of luxury as far as they were concerned.

But despite all of this, something was missing!

"There's nothing here!" We were starting our fourth lap, but she was right. There wasn't anything distinctly dangerous about the Grimm that'd moved in. Mereoleona swore just a little too loudly for my comfort before looking down at her Scroll. "What were you trying to tell me?"

"Mereoleona? What aren't you telling me," I asked pointedly, using the quietest voice I could in hopes she'd follow suit.

"My partner! They… they came in here alone. Small, fast, stealthy-like you! They were looking for a kid. They said they'd be able to scout the place and find them! I've seen them work in way worse than this in hours! They texted me nineteen minutes into the mission. Just one picture." Mereoleona showed me her Scroll. It was an incredibly close up image of the limb of some kind of Grimm, motion blur distorting any identifiable feature. "You gotta understand, they wouldn't let themselves just get got! Not by a fucking Beringel or Lancer or Beowolf. They… something else must have got them. And we gotta find out what it is so I can fucking- … so… so it won't hurt anyone else…" Mereoleona was from Vacuo. The people there were tougher than the desert they grew up in. But even this Crimson Lion couldn't hold back the tears that welled up in her eyes.

I looked at the picture again, using what little information it gave me to work out a plan. Wherever it'd been taken, it was dark. But the picture was timestamped 3:49pm- daylight hours. It was likely taken from inside a building, but I couldn't be sure where or which one.

"What Hunter would take a picture of a Grimm instead of fighting back or running away," I asked, my breath low so Mereoleona wouldn't hear it and take offense. Something was wrong. But I couldn't tell what. Why take a picture when running away was an easier, safer option? One that'd take less time! "You said they were looking for a child?"

"Yeah… parents were begging anyone who'd listen to go past the fence and find them. Forget the name. Soju? Something like that," Mereoleona explained, arms crossed over her chest.

"Okay… your partner would've checked all the obvious places a child would hide first… Almost twenty minutes into the search… we can probably exclude the child's home… and there's no school in this area…"

I didn't know Vale that well, but I did know this area of the kingdom. There was one place a child might run to if they had the chance.

"Follow me!" I headed north towards a large, wooded park. The fence cut through the park, sectioning off everything south of a lake. That didn't matter. The target was just a few blocks away, easily seen from the rooftops with a hundred yard clearing in between us and it.

"What… an ice cream store," Mereoleona asked confusedly.

"It's a possibility we have to eliminate. Your partner might have gone there expecting a child would've done the same while searching for somewhere familiar and safe to them. It's also about an eight minute jog from the entrance. It makes sense they'd have checked here after checking the child's home."

"Yeah… that sounds like something they'd do… You two must be cut from the same damn cloth," she commented before tightening her gauntlets around her fists, clearly readying herself for a fight.

"Not yet! I might be wrong about this," I said quickly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah… maybe… but we either go in now or we don't. And I didn't come all this way to not find out." She nodded once before she bolted, jumping from the roof to the ground below with a soft crash. She didn't even stop moving as she hit the ground, her feet surging her forward at an unrelenting pace.

"Dammit." I sighed before following, making a bit less noise in my landing than she did. Mereoleona was fast- a cargo train that no obstacle in its path could stop. She simply ran through two Beowolves that hadn't turned to meet us yet, and grabbed a Beringel by the armored faceplate and dragged it along the asphalt on its back until it stopped kicking.

"She fights just like her."

I pushed the thought from my mind and decapitated a Creep before making it to the door of the ice cream parlour. I held a hand out for Mereoleona to stop- she clearly hadn't considered any other option than just barreling through the front door. "Let me scout ahead, I-"

"Nightingale!" I hadn't even noticed it- an intricately designed dagger buried about halfway into the brick wall of the parlour. It seemed to be part of a pair. The way it blended into the shadows around it was… unnatural, to say the least. Probably thanks to some kind of Dust. Mereoleona quickly slid it out of its resting place, shaky hands tucking it into her belt. There was evidence of a slain Grimm near where the dagger had been. Some of the black tar residue that was always left behind was dried up on the grass beneath Nightingale. "They've gotta be in there."

They and whatever they'd been running from.

"We'll go in through the back. Keep your guard up," I instructed, directing the taller woman to a small window on the far side of the building.

"Yeah, yeah… I… I just wanna kill the fucker and… say goodbye, you know," Mereoleona explained, readying her weapons again.

I nodded and readied Gambol Shroud. I understood.

Mereoleona went in first- I knew better than to try and stop her from doing so. The window was high up- clearly just meant for ventilation. Probably led to a closet or back room. She climbed in first, easily jumping a couple feet above the window in one leap and sliding into the building feet-first. I followed close behind, safety off just in case things got physical quickly.

I wasn't ready for what I saw.

We'd landed into a walk-in freezer. It was cold- barely above freezing. Hundreds of gallons of melting ice cream lined the shelves. It was just one long hallway that ended at a thick glass door, reinforced with a metal grating.

The glass had been shattered, laying in a diamond dusting on the ground inside the freezer. The metal grating was beaten down and falling apart, but not yet broken.

A group of withered, emaciated Apathy were on the other side of the door, and had taken interest in the two arrivals.

Their scream was deafening.

The effects were immediate.

I slumped to my knees, using Gambol Shroud in a desperate attempt to stay upright. It hit too hard. Far too hard. It felt like someone had torn away at my soul. Mereoleona though… She was still standing. Standing and staring at a small lump in between the shelves.

"... ₕₑₗₚ." The voice was barely audible, yet clearly straining with every ounce of energy its speaker had left. A Hunter with deep purple hair and jet black eyes was shivering from their hiding place. Their Scroll was right beside them, 46 Missed Calls on its display screen. The Apathy had drained them so thoroughly, they'd been unable to even answer their Scroll.

"Kivuli?"

Only then did I notice the child. Red hair and small, sharp fangs. He was hardly shivering, barely enough energy in his small body to do so. The Hunter had wrapped their cloak around him and had clearly been clinging to him to keep them both warm.

"Sorrel!"

The Apathy screamed again, belting their debilitating chorus. I could barely keep kneeling. It was impossible. Any action was too much action. Far more than I could possibly perform on my own. Even breathing was laborious.

"M-Mereo… We… we need to-"

They shouted again, and finally it seemed to affect the Lion Faunus. She staggered for just a moment. But… no… she was reaching down. Reaching down to take her partner's hand.

I watched them share a kiss.

Then the Apathy shouted again, the metal grating groaning under their sustained assault. It wasn't going to hold much longer.

They shouted again and I slumped to the ground, unable to keep upright.

I watched Mereoleona stand up tall, her gauntlets glowing red hot like Ember Dust. She took a deep breath, shouted, and barreled through the freezer door.

"Mom! Dad!" Sorrel limped as fast as his dehydrated body could towards his parents, crying as he wrapped his arms around them both. The entire family broke down, sobbing as they were reunited.

"Thank you! Thank you for finding my son," the woman cried, reaching out for the Hunters that'd saved her child.

"Hey… don't I know you," the father asked, wiping tears from his eyes as he took Sorrel's hand and brought the boy back over to Kivuli, Mereoleona and myself. He was looking at me, and I knew he recognized me.

"N-no… sorry… You're mistaken."

I left before they could ask me anything else.

I didn't deserve their praise.