Knox: ...

King: Knox?

Knox: She scares me.

King: She scares us all, buddy.

Knox: Seriously, though... Yikes.

King: Take it to heart, my friend.

Knox: ... I hate you.

Inspiration: For Honor's Shaman (RWBY)

/\

The screen chose to open on the next world. And this one… it'll be fun to see how they take it.

The screen opened to an old bar out in the badlands away from the kingdoms. It was an old tavern inn near an old settlement, long since destroyed by bandits and Grimm. The bar, itself, was decrepit and empty, save for the sound of light footsteps. The camera moved along as the door to the back area opened to reveal a woman in a suit of form-fitting leather and fur armor. Her arms and legs weren't covered by the armor, but instead had leather bracers and shin guards. Various items hung from her belt including various horns, pouches, some claws, a kukri, and a hatchet. Her blonde hair, which was tied back in a sleek ponytail, and blue eyes betrayed her identity to the audience as Jeanne.

Jaune exhaled with a sigh, "It's kind of weird to see me as a girl."

Yang shrugged, "At least you got lucky in the genetic lottery, if you catch my drift." She motioned to reference Jeanne's figure.

Weiss felt her eye twitch but chose to ignore it for now.

Jeanne moved through the bar and shook various alcohol bottles. Any that didn't have too much left inside, she shattered against the walls and bar. Those that still had at least half of the booze inside, she placed aside for later.

Ruby looked around to the group, "What's she doing?"

Qrow shrugged, "Wasting booze for one. But also raiding any that's left? Not sure."

Jeanne grabbed the handful of bottles deemed worthy and took them back outside. When she was done she turned, lit a match, and tossed the spark into the alcohol soaked wooden building, causing it to erupt into flames faster than it would otherwise.

"Oh…" Qrow's head tilted back in realization as it spoke. He'd seen similar actions when he was still affiliated with the old tribe. "Okay, explains that at least. Question is, why keep some of the booze? She going to try to sell it off?"

Jeanne nodded and turned back away from the fire, squatting down over her spoils. She picked up a bottle from the bunch, a high-class brandy bottle with a gold colored label.

Roman whistled at the sight of the bottle, "Damn! That's high-end stuff. The price tag is ludicrous, but it is definitely worth it."

Qrow raised a brow with a grin on his face, "Oh yeah? Might have to track some of that down."

"Good luck…" Roman's mood fell almost instantly, "Stuff's damn near impossible to get for anyone outside of Atlassian elitists. They get first picks and only so much is made each year. We're lucky to get an empty bottle at this point."

Qrow sighed, his head tilting back in frustration, "That's bullshit."

Jeanne pulled the cork from the top with her kukri and took a whiff. After a moment, she tossed it over her shoulder, "Trash." The bottle shattered and the drink spilled onto the ground.

Roman and Qrow were stock still with a look of utter heartbreak on their faces. That was a disgusting waste of such good drink.

Jeanne continued to go through each of the bottles, only to toss them. "Trash. No. Terrible. Blah. Waste. Boring."

With each shattered bottle, Qrow and Roman just looked more pained. Every bottle that shattered was good alcohol thrown to the grass and dirt.

Jeanne took a whiff from another bottle and paused. "Ooh~! Looks like the bar tender expected trouble." Inside the bottle was a mix of petroleum and powdered Dust.

Emerald, who had no experience with such items, could only ask, "Why would anyone do that? What's the point?"

Most didn't know. Those with a taste for alcohol were more confused since it seemed like a dumb idea. But, one person did actually know what it was.

Sun sighed, "It's a nasty weapon from Vacuo. It's an improvised fire bomb designed to ignite fires wherever they hit."

Blake turned to the monkey faunas to ask, "Why would they need that?"

"Because Vacuo is a desert with next to nothing around us. We tend to have to improvise with our weapons to protect ourselves."

Jeanne shook her head, "But it doesn't help me." She tossed this one into the fire to rid herself of it. The last bottle flew over her shoulder but didn't hit the ground. She turned around, confused by the lack of shattering glass, and found she wasn't alone anymore.

Three faunas were standing nearby, all with white Grimm-like masks on their faces. Two were dressed in the standard garb of the White Fang while the lead was in a black stealth suit. The lead had a long ponytail that reach down her back before curling back into a spiral. Said lead was the one that caught the bottle.

Ilia nodded taking in the situation, "Okay. So, I'm there for some reason…"

Jeanne jumped back up and spun around to address the three. "What do you want?"

Ilia took a step closer, "We've heard that you have the ability to find anyone no matter where they are on all of Remnant. We just so happen to need someone found."

Jeanne nodded a bit before motioning for them to approach, "You got a name and a face? Can't work from nothing."

Ilia nodded and walked over, handing her a picture. "Her name is Blake Belladonna."

Jeanne took the photo and tilted her head. "Oh yeah?" Jeanne looked back up toward Ilia. She looked over the chameleon-faunas's face, or what she could see with the mask on, and determined expression. "How badly do you want her found?"

Blake's eyes narrowed, "I feel like I'd feel better if I knew why."

Ilia turned slightly, unable to bring herself to look toward Blake. She took a breath to calm herself before looking back up to the screen.

Ilia didn't move from her spot or waver, "Whatever it takes."

Jeanne chuckled a little, "So, what? What'd she do to piss you off that badly? Old feud? Power struggle? Steal a boyfriend? Was she the girlfriend that ran out on you? What?"

Ilia felt her body tense up, but she let out a breath to calm herself down, with little results, "Doesn't matter, right?"

Jeanne nodded, "Right. All that matters is what you're willing to give. You want something, you give something. That's the law of life."

Roman nodded with a puff of his cigar, "He's not wrong."

"Says the thief." Cinder snarked.

"I give time and work, get loot. It's no different than working in a cubical for a small wage. You give and take. That's just life."

One of the Fang turned indignant, "You think you can just demand something from the White F-"

Ilia placed a hand up in front of him to keep him back. "What do you want?"

Jeanne grinned and held her hand out toward her. "Your hand."

This confused Ilia so much she dropped her determined demeanor, "Wait. What?"

"Your hand." Jeanne gestured with her outstretched hand to pull Ilia in, "Come on. Hand over mine. Come on."

Yang took in a sharp breath, seeing something behind the words, "She's going to cut off her hand, isn't she?"

Ilia went stiff. "She… wanted my hand… Oh no…"

The Ilia on screen didn't catch yet and walked forward, taking Jeanne's hand with her own. Jeanne flipped the hand around to ensure it was palm up. Jeanne nodded with a grin, "Now, don't move." Jeanne drew her kukri in her other hand.

The other two White Fang moved forward in defense of Ilia, only for Jeanne to point the blade at them, "And you two! Don't interrupt! Got it?!"

Ilia looked to the two and nodded, "It's fine." She looked back to Jeanne, not quite sure if she could believe herself. "Just get it over with."

Jeanne slowly motioned bac toward Ilia, her kukri digging into Ilia's cheek, slightly, causing her to bleed. But she didn't move. Jeanne nodded happily, "Good. Just stay like that."

Everyone braced themselves for what was to come, the likelihood being that Ilia was about to lose a hand.

Jeanne lightly pressed the blade against Ilia's palm, just enough to draw blood. As the blood pooled, Jeanne placed her blade away and tipped Ilia's hand, pouring the blood into a small vial. When it filled, she tilted Ilia's hand back up and corked the vial, holding it up to look at the contents within, "That's a good girl."

One of the faunas took this as an indirect insult, as if Jeanne was treating Ilia like a pet or something. "Hey!" She pushed passed and stormed toward Jeanne. "Just what the hell do you think you're…" She placed a threatening hand onto Jeanne's shoulders. Before she could finish speaking, she recoiled in pain, clutching her hand as blood seeped through her fingers.

The camera returned to Jeanne, showing that she had one of the faunas's fingers in her mouth, having bit it off.

Everyone jumped at the scene.

Yang lurched forward before catching herself on the chair in front of her, "What the hell?!"

Ilia felt a shiver run up her spine. This woman was a monster. Not only because she bit someone's finger off, but because she did so without so much as flinching. Oh! And there was also the fact that SHE JUST BIT SOMEONE'S FINGER OFF!

Jeanne spat the finger onto the ground and looked back to Ilia, who was now frozen out of fear instead of some level of determination. Jeanne just grinned at her expression, "That's quite the look." When Ilia tried to step back out of a sense of fear, Jeanne gripped her hand around the faunas's wrist. "I said… don't move. You want her found you hold still." Jeanne looked down to Ilia's hand and placed her other hand on top of hers. After that, she placed the bloody hand onto her captive's forearm. After pressing the hand onto the skin, she removed her hand and revealed the blood around her palm had formed into an X.

Blake blinked in shock at the scene, "What? But… how did… What?!"

Jeanne looked at the blood before shaking her head and letting go of Ilia.

Ilia took in a frightened breath, "What does that mean?"

"Means she's dead."

Blake blinked again, "I'm what?"

Ilia had a similar reaction, "She's what?"

The Ilia on screen was having a hard time processing that. "What?"

"She's dead. No longer of the living. Her soul has left her body. Take your pick."

"That doesn't make any sense! How could she just up and die?!"

"How should I know?" Jeanne walked back over toward the building, watching its roof collapse in the fires. "That's a bit out of my range. More importantly, it's time for your payment."

Ilia was too in shock to reply, so the non-bleeding associate yelled toward her, "I thought her blood was that payment!"

"It would have been if you knew how to follow instructions. Now, I need something else."

Roman shrugged, "She's not wrong, if you think about it. Definitely off her rocker, but not wrong."

Ironwood nodded, "You break a rule," he turned his gaze toward Roman, "you get punished accordingly."

Roman caught his underlying intention and waved it off, "If you get caught, sure."

The White Fang grunt pulled his weapon, a handgun, from his side and pointed it toward Jeanne. "You think you can just…" before he could finish he was tackled by Jeanne.

Jeanne pinned him to the ground, holding his arms down against the ground and with her feet planted on either side of his waist. Jeanne's stance seemed more bestial than human. After a moment, she lunged down toward him as the camera pulled away. The White Fang grunt was screaming as the other two went from shock, to near vomiting, to an indignant rage. The other grunt drew a sword only to find a kukri tossed into her gut. Jeanne spun off the grounded grunt and onto her new prey. Jeanne grabbed the knife, pushing it further up into the grunt's body. After she got far enough, Jeanne actually reached into the grunt and ripped her heart clean from the body.

This scene put everyone through the ringer. From shock, to sick, to fear. A few of them even ended up vomiting at the sight before them. Thank goodness for extra dimensional clean up.

As the grunt died, Jeanne tossed the heart up and down in her hand. She turned to Ilia, clutching the organ tightly as it returned to her hand again. "You going to try to fight me now, too?"

Ilia's hand shook in fear. This woman is insane! She stepped back, away from her, as her self-preservation instincts took over.

"Good. I need to get to Menagerie and you're going to take me there."

Kali groaned a bit to herself, "I'm a little concerned why she'd need to go there…"

Ilia's shock shifted enough to allow her to speak, "What? Why would you want to go there?"

"I have business with someone there. Someone who wronged me and needs to be dealt with. Now," Jeanne held the heart up to her mouth and ripped into it with her teeth.

Those that didn't vomit before kind of had to now. Those who already had heaved with nothing left to give.

The camera panned along Jeanne's body as various marks appeared on her. Her arms and legs covered in blood red stripes and red seemed to flow down from and around her eyes. When the organ was drained of what she needed, she tossed the husk away and smiled toward Ilia, blood still running from her mouth, "Shall we get going?"

King popped back and cut the feed. "I think it might be best to end it there…"

Knox appeared with a nervous chuckle, "That's for the best. Trust me, you don't want to see that…"