Hey... Been a long time since I last updated this I see. More than a year, I see. Yeah, I was busy with many other stories and I didn't know where to go exactly from where I left off. I know it's not a good reason, but it happens. HOWEVER! At the very least! This story now has a new chapter update! Which means I got to somewhere here! Now then, if we all can just sit back and enjoy this chapter!

Oh! And one last thing. Instead of the opening, I will take a page out of Arrow, the Flash, Supergirl, and Legends of Tomorrow, and put in a little monologue. Which will bring us to a little poll here. After you read the monologue, I'd like to know which one you readers prefer I put in before the story starts. Opening or monologue. Of course, there's also the neither option.

Once again, enjoy~. And remember, I do not own RWBY.

My name is Natalie Palmer. Five years ago, a great tragedy struck and destroyed my village and gave me one goal: vengeance for my home. In order to one day meet the man who ruined my life, I went through a great deal of training. But to me, it wasn't enough. I had to become someone else. I had to become... something else.

It's that dream again. The same dream as always.

Natalie was once again reliving the moment of her childhood. The moment where her whole life changed.

"This isn't what our kind want!"

Eyes snapped open, and Young Natalie found herself in the middle of her destroyed village. Blood everywhere, bodies lying on the floor. Some in pieces, some in ash, some just missing limbs.

"What you want is impossible. Humans can never accept us!" she heard. Looking behind her, she saw her late brother and Adam arguing about peace between humans and faunus.

"It's been this way for decades! You're delusional!" Nathan argued.

"Say what you want. At least I keep my treasure safe." Adam reached for his sword. Just as he was about to take the blade out, the scene around Natalie suddenly changed.

No longer was she in her village. Instead, she had found herself in her hospital room, where she first met Ozpin, strapped and speaking to the man.

"I heard what happened to your home... and to many who lived there," he spoke.

"... How many?" she asked. "Were there other survivors besides me?"

The look in his eyes said everything she needed to know. "Sadly, there didn't seem to be any remaining survivors."

Young Natalie looked away from the headmaster and up at the ceiling above.

"You're lucky to be the only one to survive. Especially with those injuries," Ozpin continued. "A normal child would've died with those wounds."

"Then it's a good thing I seem to have unlocked my aura," Young Natalie said.

"Yes. A feat which is usually impossible to do alone." Looking at the girl in such a state she was in, Ozpin then asked, "Natalie... what do you want to do?"

"What do I want?" she repeated the question. Memories of how her village was eradicated, how her two siblings, the two people important in her life, died before her eyes, came to her. At those memories, a stern look was forming on her face and her one arm was forming a fist. "I want to fight," she spoke at last. "I want to get stronger. I want to make them pay!"

Ozpin looked at Young Natalie in the eyes. Of what he could see, she was quite serious about wanting to get stronger. He wasn't sure about the vengeance, but he was certain that she was serious about wanting to get stronger.

"... All right. I'll make a request to a friend of mine in Atlas about your arm and leg," he spoke, getting the girl's attention. "After you get the time to recover, Glynda and I will take you under our wing and give you as much training as you need."

As he finished saying that, scene changed again.

She was in Emerald Forest, facing off against a small horde of Grimm. Beowolves to be exact. Unlike her present self, Young Natalie wasn't yet proficient wielding a weapon or shooting arrows. She may had killed off the army back at her village, but it was all grief, adrenaline, rush, luck even. She didn't have as much training as she did with her brother, not with a real weapon. But unfortunately, with how she was at that time and how she was desperate to get stronger faster, she wasn't creaming the Grimm as she was in the present day.

Just as a Beowolf jumped to get her, it was suddenly forced back, as did the rest of the group. Before they could recover, they were suddenly crushed by a few boulders.

"I could've had that one, Glynda," Young Natalie told her female guardian.

"No, you didn't," she retorted. "Look at yourself! A week since you've fully recovered, and already, you're here in the Emerald Forest, trying to fight against a horde of Grimm."

"Well, what else would you expect? Ever since I left the hospital, neither you nor Ozpin would give me the training I need! It's always 'stay in bed, Natalie' or 'don't leave this house, Natalie' or, my least favorite, 'put down that weapon, Natalie'!"

"Natalie Goodwitch!" Glynda shouted, silencing the child. "Do not... ever raise your voice to your guardian. Surely N-" Before she could say any more, before she could say what she would regret saying, the professor stopped herself. Unfortunately for her, Young Natalie already caught on to what she was going to say.

"What? Go on, continue. What were you going to say? Something about my brother? My brother, who was the best student Beacon could ever had! Not just in skill, but also in smarts and personality! And what did you do for him? What the hell did you do?!"

Although she knew that she brought this up, Glynda didn't know what to say in response to the demand.

As if taking the silence as an answer, Young Natalie continued, "That's right. You. Did. Nothing. So I might as well move out of your home and train myself. Because obviously, I cannot trust any one outside my home."

*END OF DREAM*

As the dream came to an end, Natalie slowly opened her eyes, finding herself in one of the guest rooms at the inn in Kalas. As she was getting herself up, she felt some pain on her side, reminding her of what happened before she blacked out.

'I... I did it,' she thought. 'I prevented the tragedy from happening again.' Relieved, she flopped back down in bed.

The second she did, the door opened and Team RWBY entered. One look at her awake in her state and smiles formed on their faces.

"You're awake!" Ruby was the first to speak, using her semblance to rush to her bedside.

"I am, indeed," Natalie simply responded.

"You really are a fighter, after all," Yang said. "Jackie was right about you."

The archer knew by 'Jackie', she meant John. Hearing that nickname made her wonder how happy he was to finally have someone call him by that nickname. "I don't die so easily, and there's no way I was going to die now."

"How am I not surprised?" Weiss stated in sarcasm.

"Maybe because the greatest surprise from her was that she was really a female faunus?" Ruby asked, not at all catching the sarcasm.

When Ruby said that, Natalie was then reminded that her secret was finally revealed to the team. And as much as she wanted to cover up her identity, she found that to be pointless since they already knew her face and true species.

"Yeah. Now you all know," she muttered.

"Which brings us to the question of why," Weiss added in. "Why hide who you really are? I would accuse you of being a member of the White Fang, but after seeing how much you hate them, there has to be something more to it."

Blake, who had done the similar thing to Natalie, said, "I don't think she has to tell us if she doesn't want to. I didn't, and I had a good reason for it."

"I'm just saying, even if she revealed to the school that she was a female faunus, after that little self-intro, I still think everyone would be scared of her."

"Be that as it may be, that wasn't my intention," the wolf faunus spoke. "The less people knew about who I am, the better. Especially since I don't want him to know that there's still a survivor. Not until we meet face-to-face."

The girls didn't know who was the 'him' she referred to, except Blake, who took the full-blown truth the day they fought some of the White Fang members at the docks, but they knew better than to question it.

"Enough about me. How's the village?" Natalie changed the subject.

"Everyone's doing great!" Yang answered. "For the most part at least."

"What Yang's trying to say is the village is safe from the White Fang threats, and they're trying to figure out what to do with Morgan after they found out about his betrayal," Blake explained. "Wanda and Pedro are especially taking his betrayal harder than anyone."

'Of course they are. He was their best friend,' Natalie thought.

"Speaking of, now that you're awake, we should probably meet up with them and Jackie. If you're feeling well enough that is," Ruby suggested.

"I'm fine. Don't worry." With that, as soon as Natalie had her mask back on, the group of girls were off to the mayor's place.

As Team RWBY said when they arrived, John, or Jackie, was also there with the mayor and his wife. The three waited until the girls took their seat on a chair or the couch opposite of them.

"We cannot thank you enough for what you've done," Pedro began. "Especially you, Nathan. Or should I call you Natalie now that your friends know?"

"Like it matters now," the wolf faunus simply answered. "Besides, you don't have to thank me. I did what anyone in Harmonia would've done, if they knew this village was in trouble."

"And your brother would be very proud of you," Wanda added in. "As for Morgan... I can't believe he would ever do such a thing."

"All this time of peace, who would've thought one of our own would ever turn on us like so," Pedro said.

"What are you going to do with him?" Jackie asked.

"Remains to be seen. I wish to avoid banishment and execution if at all possible."

At the word 'execution', Team RWBY couldn't help but gasp in shock.

"Execution?! Don't you think that's going a bit too far?!" Weiss asked.

"True as it may be, if we banish him, he'll more than likely go to the White Fang and lead them to our home again," Pedro explained. "That being said, I don't wish for him to die either. He was a dear friend, and this village never had any sort of bloodshed for generations. I wish to spare it from that."

"Couldn't you just sentence him to life in prison?" Yang suggested.

"That's what I'm thinking. But at the same time, there may come a day where another one of our own will turn on us and free him, as well as lead the White Fang to us. Everything about this is risky."

The team of four looked at each other, wondering if there was anything they could do to help.

"There is one other alternative," Natalie spoke. "Give him to me." Everyone looked at her in shock and confusion. "I'll deal with him. I've shed more than enough blood these past five years. I don't mind shedding another."

"Wait a second! You mean you'll kill him?!" Weiss asked. "And you did it more than once?!"

Ignoring the heiress, Natalie continued, "As you said, if he stays, he may turn another one of Kalas against you. Should that happen, they would finish what he had started, go find the White Fang and destroy this village. And assuming that it does exist, let's not forget about this weapon Morgan had spoke of earlier. They get hold of it, and who knows what the White Fang would do. It's best if we get rid of their spy now before it's too late."

"Hang on! Even if what you say is true, killing him would be going a bit too far!" Ruby said.

"Then tell me, Ruby, if not that, what do you propose we do that would result in him never going to the White Fang?"

The young leader was left silent, not knowing how to answer that.

"Exactly as I thought." To Pedro, Natalie added, "For your sake and the sake of everyone here, it's best if you let me take care of him."

The mayor and his wife looked at each other at her proposition, considering taking the offer.

"There is no way those two will-"

Weiss was cut off by Wanda saying, "We leave him in your hands."

The fact that they actually accepted the offer of a murderer was extremely shocking to Team RWBY.

"Wait, are you serious?! There has to be another way that doesn't include death!" Yang said.

"If only it were that easy," Jackie told her. "Sometimes, the only way out of a situation is death." The team couldn't believe they were hearing that from him, the one guy they thought was cool and not as blood-crazy as Natalie.

"Well then, that being said, we should take our leave. The faster we take him, the better," the wolf faunus in question said.

"I'll have a guard send him to the entrance," Pedro informed. "Thank you again for this."

"No need for thanks. I'm just taking the weight off your shoulder." Getting up, Natalie then said, "Well, it's nice to see you both again, Pedro, Wanda."

"As it is for us, Natalie," Wanda responded, bringing the girl in for a hug. "Stay safe out there."

The archer lightly returned the hug. "I'll be fine." After the hug, Natalie went on ahead to the exit.

As soon as she left, Wanda turned to Jackie and Team RWBY. "I'm sure you all know this already, but do take care of Natalie. She was a sweet girl before the tragedy on Harmonia. She'll need some friends to make her life bright again."

Hearing that one detail about Natalie was a surprise for the girls, who couldn't really imagine her being a sweet girl.

"Don't worry. We'll be those friends she needs," Jackie assured. "Well, we better catch up. See you guys around." At that, the five walked out of their home.

The group arrived at the entrance, where Bret was with a bandaged, tied up and gagged Morgan. As soon as the latter saw Natalie, his pupils dilated and his muffled screams were heard from the gag. This caught Bret's attention, as he turned to face the group.

"Guy's all your's," the beaver faunus said. "Whatever you're going to do, do it far from here. And bury his body afterwards. I am going to have nightmares for days after seeing the state you left him in."

Team RWBY shivered at that one piece of information, not wanting to know what Natalie did to the poor guy. Especially with all the bandages on him.

"I assure you. By the time I deal with him, you won't hear a thing of him afterwards," the masked faunus assured.

The team of four girls looked at each other, all having the same thought about what they should do the second they leave the cave and nodded to each other. Jackie noticed their nods and had a feeling about what they were going to do.

'If only they knew,' he thought.

About an hour of walk later, the group was far enough away from Kalas Village's secret entrance. Natalie pushed Morgan down to the ground, and the terrified human looked up at his soon-to-be killer in fear.

"You almost caused the destruction of Kalas. The very same destruction that reduced my home to a cemetery. And for that, Morgan Hartinson, you will face judgement!" Natalie said, taking out an arrow and pointed it at the soon-to-be dead man.

It was here, though, that Team RWBY took action.

"Yang, stop her!" Ruby cried out.

Instantly, the brawler of the team shot herself towards the masked huntress, who used her bow to block the punch. This was then followed up with Weiss coming from behind the blonde to stab the faunus in the leg. Natalie was quick to respond and jumped back.

"What are you girls doing?" she calmly asked.

"It's one thing to torture a guy, but it's a whole other story to kill him!" Yang said, her eyes blazing red.

"I understand what he did was bad, but that doesn't mean he has to die!" Weiss added in.

"You don't seem to understand the reality of the situation here. We let him go, he will go to the White Fang and finish the job," Natalie said.

"No he won't!" Ruby exclaimed. "Look we'll take him to the police! They'll deal with him there if we explain the situation! We don't have to kill him!"

"This coming from a naive teen. You haven't seen the world the way I have, none of you did! You have no right to tell me how to judge a person's fate!"

"Yes we do! Because killing people is not the only way to solve things!" Turning to Jackie, Ruby said, "Jackie, tell her! Tell her she doesn't have to kill him! That we can do this the right way and hand him over to the police."

"Wish I could. If this is the first time I've seen her do this," he answered, crossing his arms with a calm expression on his face.

"You cannot be serious!" Weiss shouted, eyes wide in shock.

"I am, actually. I have seen many, many things myself. Heck, I even tried to convince a group of White Fang, current White Fang members, that there can be peace between two kinds. But they didn't accept it. Instead, they trusted the words of a higher up, the very man that ruined Nat's life, about how two kinds will never be equal, how the humans will always steal the faunus' freedom, and will do whatever it takes to rid a whole village of humans and faunus." At that last piece of info, the girls, minus Natalie, were shocked to hear that. Jackie noticed their shock and added, "Yeah. You heard me. After I told the leader of the group the truth, that the human and the faunus were getting married of their own free will, he declared a massacre on everyone living in that peaceful village."

The girls of Team RWBY just stood in shock, not knowing what to say at this new information. Doing a head count, Natalie noticed one was missing.

'Where's Blake?' she wondered.

She heard something being cut and turned to see the cat faunus freeing Morgan. Instantly pointing her bow and arrow, she demanded, "Stop! Step away from him!"

Blake ignored the warning and told the captive, "Run! Now!"

Unfortunately, as it turned out, they should've let Natalie done the job. As soon as he was free, Morgan snatched Blake's weapon out of her hands, catch her in a headlock, and pointed the blade at her face. "NOBODY MOVES!" Team RWBY was shocked to see this development. The person they were trying to help... was using on of their members as a hostage.

"Wait... What are you doing?!" Blake asked.

Ignoring the question, Morgan demanded, "Make a path for me to escape! Or the girl gets it!"

"Drop the weapon!" Natalie retorted.

"No! You're in no position to make any demands here! If you care so much about this faunus, you will do as I say!" Hearing those words come out of his mouth shocked the RWBY team.

"How did he know Blake's a faunus?" Ruby whispered to her teammates.

As if hearing the question, Morgan said, "You think I wouldn't notice the bow twitching? Bows don't twitch! Now lower your goddamn weapons!"

And lower they did. At least, RWY did.

"Natalie! Drop the bow!" Yang said through gritted teeth.

"You stupid mutt! Didn't you hear me?!" Morgan demanded. "Drop your stupid weapon or so help me!"

Glaring at him for calling her weapon, her brother's weapon, 'stupid', and lowering the bow, Natalie said, "You made your choice." Next thing everyone knew, she pressed something on her prosthetic wrist and Morgan was feeling unbearable pain in his leg. The very leg that she put the fire dust in earlier. It was so painful, he dropped Blake's Gambol Shroud, released his grip on the cat faunus and gripped his legs tight.

"Ah... Ahh! AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" he screamed out, as Blake rushed to her team's side. "What the hell did you do?!"

"Remember when I sprinkled fire dust in that leg? I didn't just sprinkled the dust; in your legs are nanomites that can reactivate the dust it comes in contact with. Usually impossible, but there is always remains of something. Dusts are no exception. And now... Face! Your! Judgement!" Natalie shot her arrow at Morgan. It split and pinned his arms to the ground, spreading them wide as he writhed in pain, especially from his burning left, as a faint glow was seen from the bandage. "You could've died a painless death!" Natalie prepared another arrow. "But you made your choice! Now suffer from the consequences!"

"STOP!" Ruby cried out, bringing everyone's attention to her. "Don't kill him! I know he almost killed Blake, but-!"

"RUBY ROSE!" The young leader flinched at the tone Natalie used. "You have no say in this judgement! You saw for yourselves! He lives, he will not hesitate to do what he feels must be done!"

"But if you do this, you'll be branded a murderer! We're all witnesses and we all know what you look like! W-We'll report you to the police if you do this!"

It was silent for a moment, making it seem as though the girl got through to the faunus. However... "And what makes you think that will stop me from killing you after?" Natalie released the arrow, having it struck Morgan in the chest. The moment it did, though, ice exploded out his back. If the arrow and the ice weren't enough to kill him, the way his back was bent surely did. If not, the blood leaking out of the wound will. How? Due to the fire dust, the moment it made contact with the grass, it bursted into flames, slowly burning Morgan's body to ash.

Seeing how the wolf faunus killed this man, no matter how cruel he was, frightened the teens, minus Jackie, who was used to seeing this part of her.

Acting like nothing was wrong, Natalie turned and said, "The bullhead should be at its landing site. Unless if you girls want to stay, I suggest you pick up the pace. And choose your next move wisely." With those last words, she walked away.

Jackie looked at the group of girls and saw how horrified they were at the scene before them.

"This is the kind of thing Natalie does," he explained. "Her version of justice. This is why she believed it was better to kill rather than arrest people. Of course, she doesn't do it all the time, but she felt that the other option was too merciful and full of holes. Believe me, I tried to get her to stop this little killing spree, but she'll never be convinced. I think, and hope... the only way to stop that spree is if we bring justice to the White Fang. To Adam Taurus. If you guys can't handle seeing her kill more mess up people like him, that's fine. Don't hang around her. I'll bring some part of her old self back myself. Well, me and some others who still believe in her." Jackie followed Natalie to the bullhead.

Team RWBY just stood in shock as they watch Morgan's body burn. They heard what Jackie said, yes. But that didn't mean they weren't horrified with how far Natalie would go. They heard that she had killed some people, and tortured others, but to actually see it? It was very much so different. They started to look on the bright side around her. However, after that brutal murder, they didn't know what to think of any longer.

"We should... get back to Beacon," Ruby said at last.