I do not own RWBY or any of the works Rooster Teeth produces.

Beta: Noble4259

What makes something human?

Is it something one was born as? Or was it something one develops when they are alive?

Is it to have a certain physiological structure? Is it to have deep, complex emotions and intellect to process them, and be able to temporarily suppress one's instinct? Is it to understand the concept of life and death? Is it to follow a set of genetically passed instructions called nature? Or is there no meaning to it at all?

If the answer is yes to any of the questions, then what truly distinguishes humans from other sentient species?

People sometimes speak about the 'bestial' cruelty of humans, but that is unjust and offensive to beasts. No animal could ever be so cruel as humans, so artful, so artistically cruel as humans.

What makes it interesting is that humans could be much worse than the most primitive and savaged of animals. For homo sapiens are the only known animal species that cruelly kills its species, not for survival, but for any noticeable difference from each other.

Then wouldn't it be appropriate to say that humans are the true monsters of this world? A single-minded monster that all living creatures should fear as they destroy and take everything they want. That all creatures should flee and hide so that they could never be found by humans, or else be guaranteed their enslavement or extinction. The apex predator.

If only it were that simple.

Once upon a time, in a land far far away. A small village called Shion, which is part of Mistral territory, had a decently large population of both Valeian and Vacuonian within its borders. It was known throughout Remnant as a beautiful and peaceful place to spend a holiday or a celebration. With its beautiful hot bath lakes to its exotic wild Mistralian flowers, one could easily fall in love with the scenery. As well as lose themselves to the enchanting songs of small animals native of Shion.

"AAAHHHHH!"

"RUNNNNN!"

"GET THEM OUT OF HERE!"

Screams and curses could be heard vividly in every corner of a small village of Shion as it was being assaulted by large groups of Mistral foot soldiers. However, the soldiers were not attacking indiscriminately but were purging the place of people from Valean and Vacuonian ancestry.

They were checking each home to identify the residence and would instantly execute or capture the occupants when it is confirmed that they are not from Mistral or Vale. Gunshots could be heard from different sections of the village as many retaliated against the opposing force.

Due to the mountainous terrain of Shion, the Mistralian forces were not able to bring their tanks or armored vehicles with them. They had to rely on ground troops to chase down their targets, which was proven to be difficult due to the lack of lighting as it was 1 am in the morning.

This allowed time for some of the occupants in the village to plan a counter attack as well to escape to the forest.

A large man with short blond hair slammed the door with utmost urgency. From an outsider's point of view, he looked like a giant bodybuilder wearing casual clothing, frantically trying to enter the large metal door with a large sword firmly gripped in his right hand.

He shouted Isabelle repeatedly while trying to break the door down. After his 12 attempts, the hinges that held the door broke, and he quickly went inside the mansion.

"ISABELLE! ISABELLE! ISABELLE!" He called as he desperately searched the large estate.

"Jacques?" called a feminine voice hiding in an underground hatch. A look of worry and relief was present in her expression as she tightly held a baby wrapped in cloth to her chest. The baby was crying and was only three weeks old.

"Isabelle." Called the man out in relief as he quickly ran towards her to engulf her in a tight hug.

"Jacques, what's happening? The screams out.."

"There's no time. We have to get out of here quickly." Jacques quickly let go of the hug and grabbed her hand to drag her. When he heard a gunshot close by, he immediately stopped and looked outside through the window.

"Are we being attacked?" asked the concerned mother.

Jacques quickly looked over Isabelle if she was alright then immediately looked at the window. "Yes. Those Mistral bastards are here to purge this place of anyone from Vale or Vacuo." He informed with venom in his voice.

"What? Why?!" exclaimed Isabelle.

"A war broke out just yesterday. "

"How?"

"The transmission from the capital said that Mistral was attacked by Vacuo. It was not a normal attack, but an attack that killed many civilians and a member of the nobility." Seeing the close looked clear from the window, he approached the door and slowly peaked to see if anyone was near the house. "Mistral stated that this was in direct violation of the treaty of Vytal, resulting in a declaration of war between Vacuo and Mistral.

With the additional information, Isabelle was able to easily fit the dots together. She looked at Jacques with both gravity and shock. "And due to our alliance with Vacuo, Vale must aid Vacuo in war conflicts."

"Yes, Vale declared war on Mistral this morning and I heard from a reliable source that Atlas declared war as well against both Vacuo and Vale this afternoon. By the alliance between Atlas and Mistral."

"This can't be happening. Not now!" She held the baby even tighter as she understood the danger that was currently present to her new born baby.

"This the start of The Second Great War." Informed Jacques

"The Great War." Stated Isabelle. There have been many wars throughout the years, but there has not been a great war for over 100 years. A war of multiple magnitudes with all the largest kingdoms of Remnant participating.

"What should we do?"

"Follow our training and experiences Isabelle. We are huntsmen; we must survive no matter what. Quickly we must go now!" Jacques stated as he quickly ran out of the house with his wife behind him.

They used the houses, buildings, and alleyways as cover to hide from the Mistral forces scouting around the village. There were numerous of them, and they could identify that many of them were huntsmen and huntresses.

"We need to go to the forest Jacques. That's the only way for us to lose them" whispered Isabelle as she guarded her husband's back while following him to prevent a surprise attack from behind.

"I know, but we can't use the main path. It's heavily patrolled right now." He peaked at one of the corners and could see dozens of soldiers guarding the main roads. However, when he was peeking, one of the huntresses immediately looked towards his location. As if she sensed something.

Jacques instantly hid behind the corner. "Shit!" Realizing that the huntress that spotted them must have a detection type semblance. "We need to run!"

The baby on her arms started to cry due to the sudden sound and movement. Alarmed and in a state of panic due to the sudden demand from her husband and the baby crying, Isabelle quickly began running with her husband.

She could hear the footsteps of a large group of infantries behind them but were able to lose them after getting lost in several street corners. The blonde woman also forcefully put her hand on her babies mouth the stop the sound of crying. It pained her to see her son struggling and in pain for what she's doing to him, but she reasoned herself that she had no choice.

After ten minutes of constant panic running, both stopped and leaned themselves on the nearest walls. Both were out of breath and are trying to gather as much oxygen as possible.

"Jacques…." Isabelle leaned her back on the wall and slowly fell to a sitting position on it. She held the baby tight as he continued to desperately cry in pain as her mother kept forcing her hand to cover his mouth. She looked at the pained and struggling infant in her hand with both pain and guilt for what she was doing. "Jaune…" Isabelle called as she cried in agony but was muffled by using the cloth to hold the baby on her face.

"Isabelle, we have to go now. We can't stay here much longer."

"Jacques?" She asked as she kept her eyes on her struggling baby with tears. "Do y-you really think we can s-survive this?"

Seeing her in such pain, Jacques doesn't know what to say. The chances of them surviving this with no proper equipment and reinforcement was very slim. But they still got to try. No matter what, they should try. Even if it means that only the baby would survive. "We will survive this. We are Arcs, and Arcs are always survivors." He stated with as much confidence and truth as he could mutter as he kneeled to hug his loving wife.

Getting herself in control again by controlling her breathing, she looked at her husband with a sad smile. "I know we can do it." She knows that they won't survive this, it was more for her husband than herself. Even if they escaped to the forest, there was no guarantee they could live as there as there were huntsmen and huntresses with detection type semblance everywhere.

Steeling himself for what he believes as his duty, Jacques helped his wife stand up. "We can do this."

She nodded and loosened the pressure she was putting on her son. After which they both continued to sneak their way to various corners in the streets of Shion.

When Jacques turned to one of the many corridors they sneaked through, he saw a sudden flash a few hundred meters away. Realizing what it was, he quickly raised his sword to block the incoming sniper bullet.

However, the projectile was much faster than an assault rifle or pistol projectile. It penetrated the center of his belly.

Due to the extreme force of the projectile as well as it being shot downward from a tall house, the veteran huntsman was slammed to the ground and slid backward with dangerous speed. He slammed to the wall of the building on the opposite side of the corner and formed a large crater on it.

The wall that was heavily damaged was made of 8 inches of solid concrete with 6 inches of heavy reinforced steel. Combined with the small crater formed on the floor where he slammed and a line of destroyed cement that lead to the nearly penetrated wall, the impact shocked Jacques entire body.

Realizing that he was shot, Jacques quickly rolled back to hid behind the corridor. He knew that he had a large aura reserve, enough for even four average huntsmen, but what shot him was an anti-aura penetration sniper. A weapon powerful enough to penetrate the aura's of huntsmen or destroy it completely.

The attack dealt a significant amount of damage to his aura reserve, but he was fortunate that it didn't penetrate it due to his large reserve. What it did though was create a large wound on his belly that began to bleed heavily. Aura might be able to absorb enormous amounts of kinetic energy, but it could only block about 97% of it. So, the more powerful an attack is, the more damage the one receiving it would acquire. It's even more dangerous if the attack was very concentrated as all the force would be directed to a single point, thus increasing the damage done in that area.

Jacques cursed himself for his thoughtlessness of not checking the corridors before moving. He now lost more than three-quarters of his entire aura reserve; another attack would surely kill him.

"Damn it!" He hissed in pain as blood continued to flow out of his stomach. From experience, he knew that some of his internal organs were damaged and were bleeding inside. His aura is trying to heal it, but the damage was too intensive and requires immediately medical help.

Isabelle quickly kneeled beside Jacques and tore a part of her shirt to cover the wound. Fear was evident in both her and Jacques's eyes due to the severity of the damage. She didn't say anything to him, her years of experience as a veteran huntress means that she knew the implications of the damage that her husband has taken. "Jacques? Could you stand?" she asked worriedly

The blonde man nodded with pain as he gritted his teeth hard from the pain. He slowly tried to stand up and instantly fell.

Fear and worried as she could hear troops coming to their location. "We need to go now!" she informed with urgency as she quickly used her free arm to shoulder carry her husband.

They both tried to run as fast as they can but was quickly caught up by a large group of huntsmen and huntresses that were chasing them.

There were three huntsmen and three huntresses that appeared to be in their early 20s that found them. Each with their own unique weapons and armor. They all looked at the couple with careful observation and caution.

"ARCS! WE FOUND ARCS!" Shouted one of the female huntresses with surprise when she recognized their appearance. The Arc family is one of the most prominent, riches and most powerful family from Vale. They were known for producing great warriors and leaders for many generations and had won multitudes of battles. This made them very popular as well as targeted by many of their enemies. Especially the other kingdoms of Remnant.

Due to the information that was stated by their teammate, the Mistralian huntsmen and Huntress all looked shocked. They never expected to fight against an Arc and were now very cautious in their actions. Their movements became more precise and focused as they all kept their guards up incase of any sudden attack from the couple.

Jacques and Isabelle both observed the movements and could tell that their opponents were highly trained as well as highly coordinated with each others. They must have been on the same team when they were in their academies.

This was bad news for the couple as it means they would not be able to escape from them.

Jacques removed himself Isabelle and raised his long sword to a vertical defensive position. Isabelle used her free arm that was not carrying the baby and brought out her short sword to defend the back of her husband as the huntsmen continued to surround them in a circle.

The Mistralian huntsmen surround the couple and cautiously watching their every move with trained focus.

"What are our orders Petra?" asked one of the huntsman with a confused expression while pointing his curved spear gun at Jacques.

The female leader name Petra, who had long green hair and sharp brown eyes, brought up her left hand to press a communication device on her ear. "Sir, we have found Arcs. The male is critically injured, and the female is currently holding an infant."

There was a minute of pure silence as Petra listened to the orders of her superior officer.

Petra nodded with a small frown. "Understood sir." She slowly brought down the hand on her head as well as disarmed her one-handed axe gun. "Command has ordered us to capture them."

Even though the large group of huntsmen and huntresses were speaking Mistralian, Jacques and Isabelle were able to understand their conversations. It was part of their training in the academy to learn all the main languages of Remnant for both military and diplomatic purposes.

Petra slowly approached the couple with a sigh while two of her teammates guard her, the other three aiming at the Arcs with their weapons. "Mr. and Mrs. Arc, would you please come with us to our nearby base. We promise you that none of you will get hurt." She said in an accented Valeian with a soft voice while putting her hands up as a peaceful gesture.

Still in agonizing pain from the wound and angry with his current situation, Jacques glared at the leader. "Like fuck!.. You are!.. You're just going to!. Torture us for information!.. And use us as a political!.. Tool!" Jacques shouted in broken sentences as he still couldn't breath properly as the painful pressure in his chest and stomach continued to grow every second.

"I promise you that we will do no such thing. Please join us; you are currently critically injured Mr. Arc. There are medical supplies in our bases that would save your life." She looked at the wife that was still holding tightly to the baby. There was pity and sadness in her eyes when she saw the cloth wrapped around the baby. "Please, at least do it for your child." Her eyes stayed on the baby as she begged.

Jacques slowly looked at his stomach and could see gushes of blood still coming out. He could feel his strength weakening as the sword that he often bragged that it weights nothing felt a lot heavier and continues to get even heavier.

He then slowly turned his head to look at his wife. She wasn't looking at him as she was too preoccupied protecting his back from two of the huntsman aiming their guns at them. He could tell she is terrified but was doing her best to remain strong to protect him. She always was stronger than he was in every way, and no words could ever describe how much he loves her. She would also never be able to realize how she saved her from all the guilt and that he felt when he did his job.

Killing people was something he never wanted but was forced on him by his family as a member of the Arcs. His parents only wanted a weapon, and he always thought of himself like that. He never imagined or thought that he deserved to be loved and to love so deeply. But now that he had, he couldn't help but cry painfully.

He was so happy to have a loving family. Not a family built on establishing power, but one filled with compassion and care. That made it more painful knowing that he would lose it all.

Maybe because he was currently close to dying that he started to imagine his life. He then looked at the son covered by the cloth. The child's birth had some problems, but it was nothing too serious. More tears of sorrow continued to flow his eyes as he looked at his son. His son. The son that was supposed to have a life together with them.

Oh, how much he wanted to have a son. That didn't mean he didn't love his daughters; he loved them all dearly. Even if he had a son, he would still love them all equally. Call it selfish; he wanted a son to live on to and to teach things that his father never did. To have a life he never had and the freedom he could never achieve. To live through him what his father could not and would not provide. He would have never allowed him to be a huntsman.

Isabelle knew he wanted a son even though he never said it, so it came with a surprise when she announced that she was pregnant with a boy. He was so excited that he thought he could die happy right there. His daughters were all excited to have a younger brother as well.

He was so happy when Jaune was born, and that made it all more painful of what's happening now.

He gripped his sword tighter as anger and sorrow accumulated in him. He was a father of seven daughters, and it was his duty to protect his family. If they capture him, his wife, and Jaune, they would be likely tortured, used as a political tool, or made an example of. His daughters would be in grave danger.

He knows what he had to do. For his country and family. But knowing that he would never be able to see his children grow again made it even more difficult. But if there is even a slight chance of escape…. He will take it.

"Isabelle.." He whispered weakly to his loving wife.

Isabelle turned her head to see the sad tear covered face of her husband. She looked at him with worry and confusion. Before she could say a word, Jacques quickly activated the rifle from his long sword at used it to fire at the two huntsmen in front of Isabelle.

Shocked by the sudden unexpected movement, the two Mistralian huntsmen were not quick enough to dodge or block the projectile. They were both hit by a swarm of bullets, but due to their aura and armor, it did not penetrate them. However, the force from it was able to knock them to the floor, leaving an opening.

"RUN ISABELLE!"

"No Jacques!" she begged while tightly hugging him. "Please No!"

"RUN!" He shouted at her and pushed her as hard as he can while using his body to cover her from the bullets that are being shot at them.

She resisted but was pushed again with even greater force due to Jacques short force burst semblance. The force was enough to push her over 40 feet, and she used her body to cover the baby. She quickly got up and could see her husband being impaled by a spear in his stomach.

"RUN!" He continued to shout as blood continued to flow out of his mouth.

Not being able to bear watching, she instantly closed her eyes with tears and ran to the exposed alleyway while the two huntsmen were still recovering.

"RUN!"

She ran. Trying her best to block the sound of her husband shouting and screaming in pain.

"RUUNNN!"

She ran. Desperately thinking of nothing else but the child that she was holding. Tears continued to flow uncontrollably on her face.

"RUU…!" The shout was suddenly cut off, and all that remained was a deafening silence that haunted Isabelle's every step.

Isabelle continued to run as fast as she could. The shouts of her husband that could no longer be heard pained her heart as if it was ripped from her. The silence and its implications were so much more painful that it made her want to scream.

But she tried her best to keep herself together and ran. Trying not to care about anything but escape and their survival.

She then reached the outskirts of the village where large numbers of trees began to appear in front of her. When she looked behind, there were two huntsmen chasing behind her. They were gaining on her quickly.

Normally, she would be able to outrun most huntsmen and huntresses. However, she was still weak from giving birth just barely four weeks ago, thus was still recovering. As well as the child she is carrying prevented her from doing any strenuous maneuvers.

Multiple gunshots were being fired, and Isabelle could feel the pain of the impacts on her back.

She fell multiple times from the force of the bullet that impacted her. From the strength of the force, the huntsmen were using rifles as it was much more powerful than a pistol. Her aura protected her from severe damages, but she could quickly feel her aura decreasing rapidly as they continued to shoot her rapidly as she tried to run away.

Fear, anxiety, and desperation continued to grow each time a bullet shot her and as her aura decreases. Each time a bullet shot her, she would fall on her hands and knees but would continue to run. Each time she fell, she would do her best to cushion the fall so her baby won't get hurt.

The mother prayed and begged to reach the forest but fell each time.

She didn't reach far when she suddenly felt an intense stinging pain at her back, a few centimeters above her waist.

The pain was so intense that she couldn't stand back up properly again. The moment she tried to stand, she would feel more pain and would be forced to lie on the floor.

She screamed and cried in agony at how helpless she was on the ground. The fear, anger, frustration, anxiety, desperation, and self-pity all came out with raw power to the point that she could no longer control herself at all.

She cried and cursed. Cried for all that she lost and cursed to everything that happened to her tonight.

Blood flowed out from her back as the two huntsmen approached her.

It felt different, the feeling of being hunted. She killed people, hunted them down and eliminated them for what she believed, her family, and for her country. She even killed children like so many experienced huntsmen and huntresses during the wars. It felt so different. The acts that she committed all looked more horrifying than she could never have imagined before.

Now, watching her son in front of her crying for her comfort and love made it even more unbearably so. Knowing that they might both die right there, and not able to protect him.

All her daughters back home in Vale would never get the chance to meet their younger brother. Nor would they ever see their parents again. It's so cruel… It was too cruel…

All seven of them; Jasmine, Janice, Irene, Jade, Iris, Ivy, and Joan.

"I'm s-o sorry. I'm s-o ve-ry so-rry..." tears and mucous covered her face while thinking of them.

She held her new baby even tighter as if it was the only thing that kept all her pain at bay. "Ja-une…." She looked at him painfully and covered her face with the cloth that surrounded her baby "My Ja-une."

Isabelle slowly turned her head to see two huntsmen approached her carefully. Cautious of any possible actions she might take. She could only see two of them, and they were different from the ones she encountered with Jacques.

There were only two of them, but she was sure more would be on their way soon.

In a panic, multiple thought swarms to her head on what Mistral or Atlas would do to them. They might kill her son, use him as leverage, or worse, brainwash him to fight against Vale and her family.

She doesn't want her son to die, but she also can't let the enemy get their hands on him. If they took him, he would suffer. That thought pained her even more than any wound that was inflicted on her. But if she could just kill those two huntsmen before reinforcements arrive, there could be a chance that she could escape with her son. It's sounded impossible considering her damaged state, but anything was better than the alternative.

They would never take him! They would never take him from her!

She slowly placed the baby on the soft grassy ground and stood up sloppily as the intense pain made it difficult. If she can make her son survive this… If Jaune could survive…

While her back still turned from the huntsmen that stopped behind her. She quickly took out a short sword from her waist and used its pistol form to shoot at the huntsmen.

Seeing the sudden movement, the huntsmen began to shoot at her. However, knowing this, Isabelle dashed to the side with short, blinding speed to dodge them. She was still shot in the leg because she was not fast enough due to her injury. But her aura was able to block it.

Using her wind semblance, she flew with incredible speed towards the two huntsmen. The dead leaves and dirt around her followed her as well due to the sudden difference in pressure.

This distracted the two huntsmen as large swarms of dirt and leaves covered their vision. Instinctively, they both quickly transform their guns to their melee weapon form. One was a sharp whip while the other was a Luwuk.

Isabelle used their distraction and her flying momentum to attack the one with the Luwuk with tremendous force. A powerful diagonal slash was performed on the huntsman's head. The powerful force was enough to cause massive head trauma even with his aura's protection as he slammed on the ground with tremendous force. A large amount of dirt and smoke exploded from the ground impact.

Seeing the huntsman she attacked no longer moving; she quickly turned to the other one. The other huntsman looked at his teammate with concern. "Kalos!"

Trying to end the fight quickly, she ran towards the other huntsman. Seeing her getting closer, the whip wilder grabbed the other end of the whip and used it to block the slash attacks from the female Arc.

When he blocked a diagonal slash, Isabelle took advantage of the young huntsman's inexperience and kicked him at his side. This threw him to the side, and he rolled to recover.

Transforming her sword into its pistol mode, she began to shoot the young boy. Seeing this, the boy quickly jumped and perform side flip while expanding his whip to vertically slash the mother.

She jumped to her side to dodge it. When he landed on the ground, he performed multiple slashes while rolling to his sides to constantly change his position and angle. Circling her to keeping her at the center and taking full advantage of the whip's range. He would switch from whip mode and gun mode while rolling to trap her.

He intended to weaken her out as blood continued to flow out above her waist. Her movement was getting slower and her defense weaker.

The female Arc constantly dodged by rolling, dodging, flipping as the attacks continued with no stop. Her breath became more hectic, and her vision began to fade rapidly. She couldn't focus properly as everything around her began to blacken out.

This caused her to be unable to dodge one of the young huntsman's attacks on her leg. The whip wrapped around her left shin and ground it with thousands of small blades that surrounded the whip.

Shouting from the pain, she quickly tried to let it loose. However, the Huntsman pulled her leg and rotated the whip to his surroundings. She was sent flying while followed the movement of the whip. Smashing through multiple trees and solid structures.

Transforming her sword to its pistol form again, she shot the huntsman in mid-air while he was too occupied crashing her to various trees.

This made the huntsman to lose his rotational momentum and go in the defensive.

Released from the whip, she vertically landed on a tree and used her powerful leg to push herself to the boy. The tree shattered from the force as she traveled towards the huntsman and thrust her sword towards his chest.

Due to the unexpected speed of her movement, the young huntsman was not able to dodge properly and was stabbed at the left side of his shoulder and penetrated it.

Grunting in pain, he quickly used Isabelle's momentum to throw him behind him.

Isabelle rolled back to her standing position behind the young huntsman and began to run again to get closer for another attack.

The huntsman rotated himself to increase the momentum of his whip and performed a horizontal attack.

Isabelle used her sword to block the whip, but it only wrapped around her weapon. Falling for his trap, he jumped and stepped on his whip which pulled Isabelle's sword. Making her lose her balance.

Seeing an opening, the edge of the whip handle formed a dagger-like shape and he used it to stab her while her weapons were restrained.

Sensing the attack, she grabbed his hand with the dagger and head bumped him. She quickly stabbed her sword to the ground and elbowed the boy.

Knowing close quarters was suicide, he tried to get away from her but was grabbed at the neck and kneed multiple times at his diaphragm. He vomited due to the pressure excreted to his stomach.

However, the vomit was able to temporarily stop the mother's attack as some of it went to her eyes. Not allowing her opponent to escape, she impulsively bit the nose of the Huntsman.

The Huntsman used his fist to consecutively punch her temple at her temple as he screamed in pain. Each punch made her more disoriented as blood began to flow from her head. With all her strength, she ripped the nose off from her opponent.

As he screamed in pain and fear, Isabelle used this opportunity to make the final blow. About to thrust her sword into the huntsman's chest, the whip wilder activated his flexibility semblance which allowed him to escape her grip.

Shocked by the unexpected semblance. This gave the Huntsman an opening to use his whip to entangle her hand with her weapon and circled it around her neck by rotating behind her. When he was back to back with her, he pulled his whip from his shoulder as hard as he could while screaming in pain from the damage he took.

The whip around her neck suffocated Isabelle and at the same time pulled her weapon close to her own throat. He resisted in panic, but the lack of oxygen was slowly weakening her strength until her blade penetrated the right side of her neck.

Blood kept coming out of her neck as she desperately tried to put pressure on it while trying to keep fighting. Her last opponent was kneeling and screaming in pain just a few feet behind her. Desperation and unable to think properly, all she could do was walk limply towards him with her free hand outstretched towards him. The sound of one choking on fluids could be heard.

However, before she could even travel two steps, a swarm of bullets shot at her from her left. Dozens of bullets penetrated her flesh everywhere. The force of all of them pushed her many feet away from her initial position and fell lifeless to the ground.

The mother didn't stay still though, as she slowly crawled to her baby in desperation. Her eyes dull, like she was not thinking of what she was doing.

She crawled to her baby in desperation, life being quickly lost in her eyes as a trail of blood followed her every move.

The crying sound of the baby was the only noise that was able to drown down the screaming pain of the Huntsman and the disturbed, broken breathing of collapsed lungs.

When she reached her baby, she used her weak, bloody hands and placed it around her baby's neck.

She was trying to kill him.

Her pain and damaged state made her unable to think properly. Only trying to desperately not allow them to take her baby.

Using as much strength as she could muster to strangle him, she squeezed with all her might.

The baby's screams began to get weaker.

However, her strength gave in, and the pressure around her son's throat was gone as her hand slowly fell and stoked her baby's face.

Her lifeless eyes, still opened wide with tears, watching her baby as he continued to cry for need. Ignorant of what's happening around him.

Her last thoughts…. To kill her son.

The huntsmen and huntresses that shot her quickly gathered around the deceased mother and the injured Mistral huntsman. It was the same team that killed Jacques.

"We need a medic now!" shouted one of the huntress as she ran towards the bleeding huntsman kneeling on the ground.

Another one quickly went to the huntsman that lie still on the floor to check his pulse. "This one's still alive!"

"What a god damn fucking waste! We could have gotten an Arc alive! Do you know how valuable that would be?!" asked another commanding huntsman as he looked down on the injured soldier.

"No! But I can fucking tell you how strong they are!" said Petra with blood all around her.

A tall blonde huntsman named Erik slowly approached the laying mother while pointing his spear rifle at her. He used his rifle to poke her to check if there are any reactions. Seeing no response, he signaled another male huntsman behind him to cover him as he checks her.

Erik kneeled and began checking her pulses. After observing for 30 seconds, he concluded she was dead. "She's gone Petra". He then began to check if the infant that the deceased mother was approaching was alright. However, the moment he opened the cloth. "Ahhh! What the hell is that thing?!" Surprised by what he saw, he back away and fell on his rear.

Curious as to what could shock their teammate, the group of huntsmen and huntresses quickly approached the baby. When they opened the cloth completely, they were surprised to see a very hairy looking creature that was crying.

"What in Remnant is that?!"

"Is that some kind of monkey?

Thick dirty blond hair completely covered the baby and made it look like a small ape.

The medic huntsman of the team knelt to observe the infant and carried him to get a closer look. "No, he's human. Based on the symptoms, he most likely suffering from Hypertrichosis." He stated after a few seconds of observation.

"Hyper-what?"

"Hypertrichosis, also known as Werewolf Syndrome. It's not a severe problem per se because it doesn't affect the physical body in any way besides excessive hair growth and irritation. There are many possible treatments for this, so it's not too big of a problem."

Erik glanced at Petra as she slowly took the baby from the medic. "So, what do we do now?"

"Isn't it obvious? We were told to take the Arcs to our base. Two of them are dead now, so that leaves us with the infant." Stated another huntsman.

"Yeah, I know that! It's just… What do you think they might do to him?"

Their leader, Petra looked to be contemplating about something as she watched the baby continue to cry on the floor. Mesmerized by the innocence, ignorance, and pain of his clear blue eyes. She gave him a small, sad smile to try to ease him while rocking her arm.

"Petra?"

Still, in deep thought, she did not look away. "I honestly don't know. Normally I would say that he would be returned to Vale, but these are not normal times."

"Do you think that they might use him as leverage against Vale?" asked Erik.

"I don't know. But yes, there is a high chance that could happen."

"Isn't that just too cruel for someone so young?

Petra could not deny that she didn't want any harm to come to the child. The choice of turning the child in might give Mistral small leverage against Vale. Her kingdom might use him as an exchange for another important Mistral noble in the future. If Vale didn't allow an exchange, then there would be little political use for the boy realistically. Her kingdom might just throw him at an orphanage or use him as a propaganda tool. It was the second part that she was most worried about.

What she wanted was to bring the infant back to his remaining family. The child was way too young to be taken advantage of, and there were too many uncertainties on what a baby of the Arcs could provide. No relevant information could be gathered from the infant as he was still a baby.

Petra's thought process was disturbed when a large explosion occurred just near the other edge of the village.

"What the hell is going on over there?!" exclaimed one of the huntress under Petra's command.

The green haired ax wielder quickly brought her left hand to her hear to activate her ear piece. "Team KEMP is in urgent need of reinforcement. They are facing against a group of huntsmen."

"What about the infant?" Erik looked at the baby. "We can't take him with us or just leave him here."

Not having enough time to decide on what to do with the infant. Whether to give him to her superior officer or try to find a way to get him back to Vale safely. She picked the temporary neutral choice. "Hedi, keep the baby safe here while we are gone. Contact me if anything happens."

Confused with the order, Hedi hesitantly took the baby from Petra. "Are you sure Petra? We could get in a lot of trouble for this."

"I'll worry about that later. Just watch over him."

Hedi looked conflicted but nodded. "Okay, just get back here quickly."

Petra and the rest of her team promptly ran to their designation while the medic huntsman took his two-injured teammates to the nearest base.

Hedi held the boy and carefully wrapped the cloth around him. "It's okay baby. It's okay."

She waited there for five minutes when an order was given to her earpiece. "Everyone near the east side of Shion, there is a large number of possible Valean and Vacuonian running towards your location. Assist in their capture immediately."

"What?!" she exclaimed and quickly looked at the edge of the village. As stated, a large number of people were running away from the village.

She looked at the escaping group and then looked at the baby she was ordered to look after. This continued a couple of times "Fuck!" She looked at the baby with indecision and went to a nearby branch to hide the baby. "Stay here for a little bit okay. I'll be back real quick." The huntress quickly ran to chase the escaping group with the huntsman.

Jaune was all alone when the huntress left and cried as he continued to hear more explosions and shouts from the village.

This continued for a couple of minutes, and he cried even harder as the frosty night pained every inch of his skin.

As if hearing and sensing the distress, a large dark figure began to slowly come out from the darkness of the forest.

The figure was huge, being nine feet tall in fours and would most likely be way over 20 feet when standing up. It's muscles and bone structures were dense, indicated by how the thick branches of the tree didn't even temporarily dented the figure's skin.

The creature looked like it had a mass close to two US tons due to the massiveness of its body.

Its entire body was colored pitch black which gave it an effect that it was an extension of the shadows from the forest. The only thing that indicated that it wasn't just a shadow was its glowing dark crimson eyes. Looking with inhuman intensity to the crying baby.

The dark creature slowly approached the distressed infant while carefully observing his environment to make sure that there was no one around.

Still crying when the creature was looming on top of the infant, the wolf-like creature leaned in closer to observe closely.

Sensing someone near him, the baby opened his eyes slowly see what it was. Dark glowing crimson eyes looked directly at the deep bright blue eyes.

Seeing something so mesmerizing, the baby's cries began to lower. Not knowing what the baby was doing, the beowolf continued to get closer.

It sniffed the baby everywhere and slightly recalled back its head when it reached the lower part of the baby. Curiosity and confusion evident on its large wide eyes, as if not sure of what kind of creature that was in front of it.

While continuing its observations, the baby hugged the giant nose of the wolf while keeping his eyes closed.

The unexpected movement made the giant wolf inclined back a bit, but slowly lowered himself even more towards the baby a second later.

Sensing the warmth near him, the child continued to try to get even closer to the wolf as a source of shelter.

As if sensing the emotions and needs of the child, the shadowy creature opened its mouth and breathed slowly with it. Engulfing the child with a much-needed warmth from the frosty night.

This continued for a or two minutes till the boy slept. Looking uncertain and thinking of the strange furry creature in front of him. It looked around itself to see where the baby might have come from. However, it instinctively lowered its body in a protective manner around Jaune when it heard a small sound near it. Its eyes focused on the source and found out that it was just the wind.

It then looked back at the forest with hesitation and then back to the child that was hugging its fur while sleeping. It continued to look at the child as if it was the only thing that existed near him.

The black wolf lunged forward and completely engulfed the baby with its mouth. It carried the baby by using its mouth as a protective crib by not closing it. It was also used to keep the baby warm from the frosty night by the creatures hot breathing.

It then quickly ran towards the forest, moving with a speed that made it look like a moving blurred shadow. Merging with the pitch-black shadows that concealed the inner workings of the deep woods.

Author:

The names of Jaune's parents are Jacques and Isabelle. This is because Joan d'Arc's parents are named Jacques and Isabelle.

The Grimms in this fanfic are far stronger, faster, and more intelligent than the Grimm in the RWBY series. Like a single normal Beowolf could kill a dozen of huntsmen and huntresses, especially because in this universe the huntsmen does not have any experience fighting them. Think of it like a normal soldier fighting against a super werewolf on steroids. The huntsmen in this fic are basically elite highly trained military soldiers of their respective kingdom.

I also want to inform you that in this fic, the Grimm have not been seen or heard of for thousands of years. They have been gone even before the time the humans have been able to use Dust. That is why in this fanfic, the humans no longer believe the Grimms really existed. That they only existed in legends and fairytales.

Remnant in this fic is very different from the series, as there were no wars against the grimms. This fic is more centered around the human's war against themselves from different kingdom. The four kingdoms have been at war with each other's for generations and the improvements of technology and industrialization have escalated the war greatly. Also, when reading this fic, you must imagine that each kingdom speaks their own language. That mean that when two of the kingdoms are fighting each other in the battlefield, they will not be able to understand each other's. To make it easier to visualize; Vale speaks English, Vacuo speaks French, Atlas speaks German, Mistral speaks Hungarian.

Also, I don't know who made the picture that I selected for this fic. If anyone knows the creator, please PM me his name so I can contact him for about it. If he doesn't want it here, I will remove it immediately. :D