New chapter, lads.

Nothing much to really add here, other than things that are non-related to the story

(I've been building up a Chaos army alongside my Adeptas Sororitas army recently. Specifically the Word Bearers legion. I might of played too much DOW, but they look cool af so who cares? I'm pretty much new to the actual tabletop game, so I've been winging it in terms of what armies I want. Tyranids or Space Wolves might be next. Also, I've beaten VTMB again, and my Gangrel ass got blown up at the end. Fun stuff.)

Without further ado, let's get this show on the road!

It was the evening, and the students of Beacon were getting ready for their first day of school. The teachers were no doubt getting prepared for their classes, while other staff worked on planning out field trips and supply runs back to Vale.

As the world rose from it's slumber, a man sat alone in his office, high up in the central tower of the academy.

Ozpin nursed a cup of coffee as he gazed out of the window in his office towards the rising sun. An orange light shone over the grounds of Beacon, giving the entire place an orange hue in contrast to the shadows and the white buildings.

He had lived an uncountable number of millennia, and had woken to see a thousand dawns. Where most people would probably grow bored of such a sight, even in there short lifespans, he had not. It was one of the few constants in his life, and one of the few things he was always glad to see.

One day, perhaps, he'd be free of his, and Salem's, curse. One day, he'd see the sun rise one final time before bidding the world farewell.

He could hope that human and faunuskind could see that new dawn, and be able to live in a world where the Grimm weren't such a threat, and the shadow war between him and the Queen of the Grimm would finally come to end.

He could dream, but sometimes… sometimes, his hopes, prayers and dreams all fell on deaf ears. Sometimes, his hope would fade, and he'd wonder, briefly, if he would win. If this war would come to an end.

He wondered, briefly, if he fought this war out of genuine love for humanity… or out of habit, and boredom.

His thoughts were interrupted as he heard something pecking on the window. He turned around and there, standing outside the window, was a crow. A dusty, old one. Ozpin walked over to the window, then opened it up.

The bird flew right inside, before sitting down on a chair on the opposite side of his own. Before Ozpin's eyes the crow transformed into a man. That man being Qrow Branwen. His black hair was ruffled, and he still had a stubble beard. Ozpin had told the man a while ago that his beard was a bit… shit, to put it crudely. Qrow, in his drunken state, said something about it being attractive to the ladies before falling into a stupor. The man really needed to get off the drink, but Ozpin rarely ever pushed on the topic. He took a swig from his flask of alcohol, a memoir from Summer before her untimely demise.

"Qrow… You do know I have an elevator, right?"

"Eh, flying through the window is more fun."

"It's annoying, and I've had to come up with one to many explanations for why a crow is sitting on my desk every time a person comes up at the worst moment."

"Heh, remember that time that one kid tried to pet me." He took another swig. "Funniest shit I've ever seen."

"To you, perhaps." Ozpin sighed. "So… I assume you've found some news about our dear friend's acquaintances?"

"To be honest, I've found nothing. Nada. At least in Vale. Maybe there's something in Vacuo or Mistral, but… I don't know. It's like trying to find a needle in a stack of bodies." The man took yet another swig of his drink, before wiping away the remnants on his mouth with his arm. "I checked up on that crashed ship as well, like you said. Couldn't find anything, though, on account of getting nearly shot out of the sky." Qrow pinched the bridge of his nose. "Damned aliens… and it was damned cold, too. Next time you send me up to the mountains, remind me to pack a coat."

"Hmmm, I see…" Ozpin paused for a moment. No news, then. Selena's allies could of hid away in the crashed ship along with their cybernetic friend, but he couldn't be too sure. Another possibility is that the girl was possibly misremembering things. It happened a lot when going through a stressful situation, but perhaps a little bit of waiting could make things clearer for her, and for them.

"Keep looking, then." Ozpin remembered something. "Oh, and did you find anything out about the murders?"

Qrow's face soured at his question. "Yeah, I did… It was down in the run down areas of Vale." He paused, before taking yet another swig of his drink. "I've seen some serious shit, Ozpin, but… fuck, even my jaded ass couldn't help but vomit when I saw the crime scene. It was either a really fucked up art piece or some kind of ritual… In all honesty, I don't know which is worse."

"Ritual? Explain."

"There were these weird symbols everywhere. Eight pointed stars, same as last time."

"Hmmm, it could be some kind of, and I apologise if the way I put this is crude, trademark. Serial killers marking their art."

"God, I fuckin' hope not. There were some homeless folks in a nearby building, they said they heard muffled screams inside the building for an hour or two before it all went silent. They didn't see anyone enter or leave, though."

Ozpin pinched the bridge of his nose. The fact that someone was capable of this kind of atrocity lowered his hope in humanity. "I see…"

"...It could be some fucked up Grimm cult trying to attract the fuckers through suffering. I've seen it before. You don't think that, uh, you know who was behind it, do you?"

"...No. Salem has… well, I want to say morals but that's being too kind to her. She has a line that she refuses to cross, just like me. This, though… It could be a Grimm Cult, but it's not her motif. If she wanted the Grimm to come to Vale, she'd command them here herself."

"Are your really betting on her having some boundaries? She wants humanity dead, you told me so yourself. Do you really think she's not going to cross every line imaginable?"

Ozpin couldn't believe the next words that came out of his own mouth. "...Yes, yes I do."

Qrow sighed, and then he took another sip of his trusty flask. "Fine then, that rules out Salem. What do we do about it, then?"

"The same thing we've always been doing. Keep the symbols and goriness out of the public eye. We don't want the people to be in a constant state of fear. That's probably what these cultists want. Keep the Vale PD and any local huntsman on high alert. The council already know of the murders, and when we next convene I'll tell them to raise the police's budget." Ozpin paused. "I'll meet with the chief, as well. I hear they want the funds to start upgrading their force. Riot gear, grenade launchers, assault rifles, those kinds of things. An officer I met, Sgt Mul Berry, is quite keen on the idea."

"Sounds like you want to give Vale a small army."

"I both want to and don't want to. You know what happened last time Vale had a standing army."

"Yeah, you kicked Mantle's ass with it."

Ozpin let out a chuckle. "True. Still, I wouldn't be entirely opposed to the idea of Vale having a small force on standby. A couple thousand or so."

"You say 'couple thousand' like that's not going to require half the cities budget."

"With the current funds at the Council's disposal, yes, but I'm sure I can raise taxes a little. Enough to offset the costs of said army."

"Oof, you really don't know much about the public's opinion on taxes, do you?"

"I know that people are willing to pay whatever price necessary for safety. Atlas is proof of that. And anyway, there's nothing wrong with raising corporate tax by a little. The SDC can live with it."

"...God, when did this conversation go from ritualistic murders to taxation?"

"Two things are certain in life: death… and taxes. Raising an army is going to require more money, no matter what."

Qrow groaned, then took yet another swig of his sweet nectar. "Fair enough." He looked at his wrist. "Well, would you look at the time! Work calls!

"You mean the bar calls?"

"Yeah, as I said, work. Gotta work the bartender to death." Qrow transformed back into his bird form, before flying out the window.

"...I swear to the Brother Gods, I'm investing in a bird cage." Ozpin paused, then chuckled. "I wonder if I can pass it off as a work expense."

As he walked back to his desk, a part of him mulled over the conversation. The ritualistic murders were frequent, and covering up the details, bar the actual murders themselves, was becoming harder and harder. They were frequent, too. 7 deaths in total, and the murders started about a week ago.

He wondered, briefly, if it really was Salem at work. He knew that she was capable of going incredibly low in order to eke out a victory or two, no matter how small. She had boundaries, though. There were things that sickened even her. It wasn't much, but it was proof that some of her humanity yet remained.

Ozpin picked up his cup and took a sip of his coffee. The sun had risen, and a new day had come.

He was certain that it was going to be an interesting one.

Ashes. Gunfire. Screams. Blood. Death. An indescribable world of horror surrounded her. Brave soldiers were reduced to whimpering messes as their limbs were blown apart by stray rounds. Insane guardsman cried out in pain as daemons overtook them.

The world was dark and above her a red, ashen sky stood above it all. Vague shapes, ships perhaps, danced their dance of death in the air, vying for supremacy over the charred land below.

Her sisters faired no better. The blood of a fallen sister, one that she once called a friend but could not remember the name of, covered her hands. Mounds of corpses, topped with loyalist and heretic alike filled the battlefield.

Cries came from the trenches as the sound of falling shells accompanied the shrieks and battle cries of daemons and heretical cultists. Fallen angels ripped men in half as they called out chants and prayers to their dark gods.

The world was hazy, and she couldn't see much. Only vague shapes and horrific sounds.

The world changed. She was running, running as fast as she could. More screams and shouts filled the air as loyalist and heretic alike were cut down. Insults filled her head. Coward. Fool. Heretic. How dare she run away as her sisters and brothers were brutalised by the hordes of daemons and heretics.

Then, she saw something that shook her to her core. A fallen astartes, his armour red with silver trimmings, approached her with malice plain on his face and a bloodied chain sword at his side. He was going to enjoy tearing her apart, she just knew it.

Then, something leapt at him. He turned around, just in time to find a strange creature attacking him. It was a vague shape, utterly alien to her. She could discern nothing of it's features, the creature as blurry as her surroundings. It was black, that much she was certain of.

The astartes cut through creature after creature as they hounded him. He fought frantically as more and more appeared, overwhelming him and finally putting him to death. She ran. She ran as fast as she could. Towards what, she couldn't tell.

Suffering surrounded her as the dark creatures attacked heretic and loyalist alike. It was as if the world itself was fighting them all off, like they were some kind of infection.

The world changed once more. She was in a cave, deep below the surface. Above, the battle came to a close as both sides lost to the invading hordes. She ran as fast as she could through the dark depths, searching for something, anything, that could help her survive.

She was surrounded by strange ruins. She couldn't make heads or tails of what they were, and she could not care less for them.

A green light caught her eye. It was strange. An oddity. She approached it.

And her world faded to white.

Selena groaned as she slowly awoke, the night's dream still etched into her mind. It was a mess, a blurry stream of disconnected scenes that she only vaguely remembered. There was a battle, death, misery and the feeling of… dread. Like something was utterly wrong with this world.

The bed she was in was soft, and warm. Of all of her memories, the memory of her stuffy bunk bed from back home still lay in her mind. It was weird how she could remember something so mundane, but she couldn't remember how she got to this world.

"Hey, sleepyhead, ready for school?" Yang, the daemon made flesh, decided to joke around at the worst moment possible. Some would think that an exaggeration, but some people didn't know Yang Xiao-Fucking-Long.

Selena groaned again, then put the sheets over her head. Yang, being the asshole that she was, yanked them back. The battle sister turned to face her tormentor. The daemon was now in her school uniform, which consisted of a red plaid skirt, stockings, and a brown jacket with a tan vest and a white shirt underneath. The white shirt had a red ribbon tied at the collar.

"So, gonna get out of bed?"

"...No."

"Ah well, guess that's a detention for you."

"As if you haven't earned a thousand detentions just by existing."

"Oh come on!" She grinned. "It's more like ten thousand detentions. Give me some credit, at least."

Selena buried her head into the pillow. Yang, with the grace of a drunken Ogryn, snatched it away. "Will you give me peace, you wretched daemon!"

"It's demon, actually."

"I need no corrections, heretic!"

"Hmmm, say, would you be more pissed off if I became a pagan?"

"Worship your false God's all you want, there will be no peace in the end for you. There is no peace for those that blaspheme against the God-Emperor!"

"Are you two children done yet?" Weiss groaned, the girl still in her pyjamas and sitting on her bed. Selena quickly checked for Blake, but she realised that the woman was probably in the bathroom.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Yes, mom."

Selena sighed, then mustered what little willpower she had, using it to push herself up off the bed. She was still a little bit tired, but some cold water from the sink would wake her up fully. She got up just in time, too, as Blake exited the bathroom, now in her school uniform.

Yang tossed over the set of school clothes to Selena. Every room had the school clothes already hung up in the clothes drawer. "There ya go." Yang winked, earning a sigh from the battle sister.

Selena gave a nod to Blake before heading into the bathroom. It was clean, sterile and somewhat devoid of any decorations, only having the toilet, sink, mirror, a table, medicine drawer and shower. It was still fairly large, though, and certainly beat having to use a communal shower. Having to share a shower with a bunch of other people wasn't uncomfortable, per say, but a bit of privacy was appreciated.

She lay the clothes on the table, then walked over to the sink. She looked into the mirror, and then sighed. This world was… odd. It had some very strange people on it. It had those abhumans, or the Faunus as they called them. It had the Grimm. It had Yang. And it had this thing called Aura.

The Grimm were not daemons, that much she had gathered from her time here. She had originally thought that the beasts were just wild animals, but conversations she overheard in the locker rooms and in the hallways suggested otherwise. Apparently, they did not act like normal animals. Instead, their sole goal in this world was to kill any human or abhuman they came across. The telltale signs of the warp's influence were not present within them.

She splashed some water on her face, the cold water refreshing on her skin. Unlike the recycled trash that the Imperium called water, this stuff was fresh.

There was something else that bothered her. Something was… wrong here. Like there was something missing. It was faint, but it was noticeable. She had no idea how to exactly describe it, but it felt weird. Not wrong, not right, but weird.

It was another one of the many oddities this world had to offer. She had this feeling that the more time she spent here, the more noticeable that missing piece of her was going to be.

A knock came on the door. "We're gonna be late! When are you done in there?" It was Weiss, and Selena immediately remembered why she came in here in the first place. She put on her school uniform as quickly as she could, before leaving the room.

Breakfast was an odd affair. Team WSBY (Wispy, as Ozpin had put it. Led by none other than Weiss Schnee) sat in the food hall with Team JNPR. Selena had no idea why Jaune and his teammates would want to stick with their half dysfunctional team (All of which was in no small part due to Yang's mere existence), but they did so anyway.

Selena had a cup of recaf, or coffee as Yang called it, along with a bowl of some nondescript flaky cereal. Compared to the protein gel she was forced to consume on a daily basis, her breakfast was surprisingly nice.

"-and then I took down fifty Grimm! I went like 'boom' and 'pow' and-" Selena was immediately ripped away from her thoughts by Nora's boasting. The girl had a plate of pancakes in front of her, with something called 'maple syrup' on top.

"It was four Grimm, Nora." Ren corrected the ecstatic girl.

"But it was still cool!"

"I only got one…" Jaune butted into the conversation.

"Awww, babies first kill." Yang teased.

"Hey, I've f-fought Grimm before!"

"Sure buddy. I think I've killed twenty-two since I joined Signal."

"I've only killed about fifteen. Then again, I got a lot of my experience from tournaments." Pyrrha joined in.

They all turned to Weiss, mostly to see what her killed count was. "Well, I've taken down about twenty."

Rookie numbers. "Fourty-two." Selena joined in.

Everyone looked at her in shock. "Damn, girl, no wonder you took down that deathstalker so easily. You must have been fighting the Grimm for awhile now." Yang said.

"Fourty-two in the last week."

Yang went wide eyed. Weiss spat out her drink. Blake looked shocked. Jaune had his mouth agape. Nora looked ecstatic, and even Ren had a look of shock on his face. Pyrrha remained silent.

"...Holy shit." Yang finally spoke. "How!?"

"The God Emperor guided me to victory. I will slay a thousand more of those creatures if I must."

"Damn, we've got some A-grade huntsman material over here."

"It's good that you know when to praise your betters."

"And you've lost me."

Before Selena could retort, the bell rang out over the hall. Classes were about to began.

Her, a sister of battle, going to classes again. It was almost funny. Almost.

"Monsters, demons, prowlers of the night. Yes, the creatures of the Grimm have many names." Professor Port, the schools resident expert on all things Grimm, spoke to the whole class. He was a, uh, portly man, with gray hair and gray moustache. "But I merely refer to them as prey." The man was either skilled or arrogant, and Selena leaned into the latter.

The class was silent, nobody bothering to ask any questions or engage in the class. Someone coughed, and that was about it. "Uhhh…" Port clear his throat. "And you shall too upon graduating from this prestigious academy!" The class was not in any way captivated, and Selena couldn't blame them. She hated the awkwardness, though, and she realised that this was the perfect opportunity. She raised her hand, and the professor noticed. "Ah, an eager student! What do you need to know, Miss Lethyra?"

"Sir, what exactly are the Grimm? Are they truly demons?" A few murmurs came from her classmates. To them, it might have been a strange question to ask, but knowledge was power.

"An interesting question, but I'm afraid to say that nobody has the answers. Many have tried to discover the true nature of those beasts. Theists and atheists, men of religion and men of science, have tried to better understand the inner nature of the Grimm, but only one thing is certain. Thyey come from the shadows, and they have it out for us." Port said with dramatic flare. "And judging by the people here, we have it out for them!"

"Where do they come from?"

"Yet another good question. Keep this up, and you might be one of the lucky few to truly find out." Selena took the praise to heart. The man was boisterous, but his words were genuine. "We haven't actually discovered where the Grimm truly come from. Occasionally, the odd huntsman might come across strange pools of darkness, from which the Grimm tend to emerge, but they have sometimes been reported to emerge from the shadows, appearing as if from nowhere." A few people in the class started taking notes. Even Yang wrote down some notes, to the shock of Selena.

"Thank you, sir."

"Your welcome! As much as I'd like to talk about the origins of the Grimm, that is something we can discuss as a class in depth another day. Now then, where was I? Oh, yes! Beowolves!" Port pointed to a picture of the aforementioned creature. Selena had experience with them, and she would no doubt fight more of them in the near future. "The most basic creature you'll encounter. The white bread of the Grimm. Basic, numerous… but deadly."

"Implying white bread is dangerous." Yang joked. The class laughed, and to Selena's surprise Port did too.

"Ha! True. But still, they are a threat, at least to huntsman in training. They are no threat to me, of course." Port said ecstatically. "In a couple of weeks time, you will be sent on a field trip. I can't give any details, of course, but I can say this. Quite a few beowolf packs have made their nest there, so beware!"

The class went on as normal, with Port giving out some vital information on the weaknesses of the Grimm. It was stuff that Selena had already partially gleamed from her time fighting the Grimm, but it was good to have some more info to work with. Knowledge is power, after all.

The slums were quiet. Too quiet. Officer Jacobin of the Vale PD drove through the slums with his partner, Officer Danone. There were reports of another murder in this part of town, and their job was simple: Find out what happened, then report back to HQ.

"Hey, Jack, you don't think it's another one of… those murders, do you?" Danone asked, his voice filled with concern.

"I fuckin' hope it isn't. Did you see the last murder scene? Shit looked like it came straight out of a horror movie."

"I bet it was some kind of cult."

"Oh, really? And what makes you think that?"

"All the murders looked… ritualistic, I guess. And, Gods… some of the homeless folks reported hearing someone screaming for a good few hours."

"Shit's fucked, man." Jacobin patted his pistol. "But we're coming packing. If we meet those guys, we pop 'em like cherries."

"Yeah, I guess your right. It could just be a few crazies. They all go down easily enough."

"Damn straight." Jacobin paused as he saw their destination up ahead. "Shut up now. This is it."

The police cruiser came to a halt near the building. It was old, decrepit and looked a lot like your average crack house. The windows were busted, and the door looked like it was about to fall off at any minute.

"Some fine real estate they've got here." Jacobin joked.

"They must be living it up in here."

Jacobin pulled out his torch with his left hand, and Danone did the same. Their hands remained by their sides, just in case they needed to pull out their pistols.

Jacobin entered the building first, and was immediately assaulted with the smell of iron. The smell of blood. He pulled out his pistol, and his fellow officer did the same. "This is the place."

They walked through the building, the smell of blood growing stronger and stronger. As they approached a wooden door, they could smell the blood inside. Danone braced himself as he opened the door. He braced himself, then he opened it.

Only to find a rusted metal chair and a table full of rusty old tools. The chair was empty, but etched into the chair he could see an eight pointed star. The one that appeared in all the previous crime scenes.

"Ah, our entertainment has arrived!" A voice called from behind him, and he turned around, just in time to meet the bolter round heading straight for his head. He died instantly. Danone screamed, and he tried to fire his weapon, only to meet with a tire iron slamming into his head.

He did not have the luxury of dying instantly that night.

And that's that, folks. Another chapter gone by, with Selena starting her first day proper at the academy. Oh yeah, and there's a bunch of ritualistic murders, but that's not as important, right?

There's really nothing to add here, so… till next time!

And if I don't write again, then good afternoon, good evening and goodnight!