Cold, partially windy, clear skies, and the splashing waves against the docks; a common night in Menagerie. Many slept peacefully, others stayed up to enjoy the sight of the moon. On nights such as these, the problems of everyday life could almost be forgotten. Though, in such a world like Remnant, where legends and stories often carry a slither of truth, an old legend, one nearly forgotten to all but a few, awakens. The ground shook, first softly, then, just as quickly as it began, violently. The shaking continued for a few seconds more before eventually stopping almost instantly. In their recovery from the initial shake, a deafening explosion from farther inland echoed across Menagerie. Scouts from villages bordering the desert reported smoke coming from what seemed like the center of their continent.

A small expedition group was assembled quickly in an effort to investigate before the other kingdoms caught wind of this incident. Nearly two hundred Faunus hunters made their way across the desert; their target was a large plummet of smoke, no fire, rising from where the incident occurred. It took two days of rationing and walking, but the small group managed to reach the site of the incident, only to find what looked like the collapse of an entire desert floor. Within the large gaping hole was what seemed like buildings once hidden by the sand, uncovered by...something. The hunters made camp outside the ruins and were quick to explore the site before it became a hotspot for the other kingdoms to send their own scientists to study. As the group continued to explore, they stumbled upon what seemed like a subterranean temple, given the symbols and statues adorned on the entrance, few murmured guesses of a religious now order lost to time. Whatever treasures within this structure might have remained untouched, though it surprised the leader of the group that a civilization existed in this barren desert. Taking into account the wildlife and Grimm; whatever people settled here either lived her for a great number of years or was wiped out shortly after being established. Though, what bothered many, were the sizes of the buildings, the doorways stood taller than an Ursa. As if they were made to house a race of giants. Perhaps it did, and they perished here. There was little information of past settlers in Menagerie, much less an ancient civilization. Yet, if they did perish, where were the remains?

"Listen up!" The chieftain yelled out, catching the attention of his group. "Comb the area, be cautious, stay alert, and take anything of value that you can carry, but don't go too far." The group acknowledged their leader's orders and scrambled to scavenge the area.

"Chief." The chieftain of this group turned one of the huntresses. "We request to take a small group and go explore the larger structure."

"No, we don't know what, if anything could still be in there. It's best we keep our team outside and-" before he could finish, the echoes of multiple howls startled the hunters, forcing their attention to the source of the howls. From the edge of a few hills south of their position, a small pack of Beowulfs trotted slowly into the ruins; behind them were dozens of Ursa Majors. As if here to mark their territory, the Grimm slowly spread out, though, they were seen dashing in and out of buildings, almost as if they were searching for something.

"Temple. Now!" Keeping his voice low, the chieftain ordered the huntress, while tuning his ear piece. "Grimm pack, south entrance to the ruins. All teams meet in the entrance to the temple. Move!"

As luck would have it, the Grimm pack moved slowly enough to allow the majority of the group to gather at the structure's entrance. From what could be seen, at the head of the pack was an Ursa Major with a unique feature to its exoskeletal skull; a crescent moon shaped crest. The creature's gaze was on the Faunus gathering at the structure entrance. In an odd manner, it seemed more preoccupied with the Grimm combing the surrounding buildings rather than the multiple Faunus gathering near the temple. Though, its attention was soon brought to the hunters as multiple shots were fired within the ruins. Now, fully acknowledging the Faunus, it roared as loud as it could, a signal, for a swarm of Grimm to begin flooding from the hills towards the ruins.

"Chief! Spores, to the west!" All eyes were now turned to another entrance to the ruins where large, hulking Grimm shaped as if to resemble humans, but bloated and disgustingly deformed. Their speed was minimal, though, it was not their speed that worried the group of hunters; the Spores proceeded into the ruins, purposely falling one by one, exploding, and within their tar-like residue, more Grimm began to sprout from the remains. The swarm of Grimm was unexpected, and their sheer numbers sparked fear into the hearts of those present. It didn't take long for multiple skirmishes to break out, the chieftain's hunters within the ruins had begun to engage the Grimm, but their immense numbers snuffed out each life one by one. With the large swarm closing in, Ghira and his group, limited on ammunition, ordered charges to be set on the entrance. Any and all who didn't make it to the temple would be left behind. A dozen more arrived just as the charges were set, with a little over one-hundred sixty hunters left.

"Blow the chargers!" The chieftain barked, though, before any switch was flipped, a Dire, an oversized wolf, emerged from within the swarm, its increase in speed allowed the creature to overpass the Grimm swarm and just dash past the hunters as the chargers were detonated, sealing the entrance just as the swarm reached the door. While the dust and rubble settled on the sealed entrance, attention was now focused on the Grimm that made it pass them. Weapons were now drawn and aimed toward the Dire, however, the creature had pinned one of the huntresses, its jaw held her body still, firmly. Rather than rip her to pieces, it growled at the group of Faunus as a beast would to strangers in its territory.

"Joan!" One of the hunters called out, the man was held back by three others as the creature tightened its grip for those who dared move closer to him. The huntress yelped as she could feel the creature's fangs dig into her shoulder.

"Don't get too close to it, snipers, if you have a one-shot kill, take it!" The chieftain wasn't entirely willing to allow one of his own to die if he could prevent it, but Grimm weren't known for showing mercy, or show of thought. That is, until what occurred next.

"Stay your weapons!" The entire room fell silent, widened eyes were seen across the room. Without having to move its jaw too much, the Dire had spoken. Blood from its hostage dripped down its fangs and unto the floor.

A small few turned to their leader, wandering what was to be done next. Ghira gazed at his subordinate, clearly in pain, and losing blood. This beast didn't kill her, but wanted to reason, rather than die killing as many as a Grimm would normally do. He wondered if perhaps this could have something to do with the earthquake, and the ruins being uncovered. He made his way to the head of his group and gestured everyone to lower their weapons. Reluctantly, they did so, though, the creature showed no intention of releasing the captured huntress. The Dire began to back slowly into the inner hall of the structure.

"Wait-" Ghira had hoped to negotiate for his own

"Stay where you are!" The creature showed no intention of wanting to negotiate.

"You have one of mine, and she's injured. Let me help her." The chieftain hoped for reason and compromise, though with a Grimm, he wasn't sure if it was possible to hope for such luxuries.

"There is still time." It whispered to itself.

A sudden rumble, followed by a glowing light coming from the what looked like the main hall behind the Dire distracted it enough to make it ease its grip on the Faunus. She quickly slipped out and tried to run, only to have the creature grab her by the waist and carry her off in its mouth towards the center of the structure.

With little haste, Ghira and a selective few troops followed the creature, leaving the rest to stay behind and guard the entrance. Though as they reached the source of the light they were blinded momentarily before finding themselves in an ancient style altar. They watched as the Dire carried the injured Faunus to the altar. What occurred next, perhaps only mentioned in rumors or fairy tales, but what the group saw; the Dire enveloping itself in black tar and reshaping itself to a figure similar to a human. It remained covered with a hooded coat, a skull mask to keep its identity from being revealed. It picked up the injured Faunus and placed her on a stone altar. Surprisingly, they watched as it also healed her wounds, but not before taking some of her blood. It then began drawing symbols on her skin; some seemed more scribbles than anything else. The group approached slowly, and cautiously. They still couldn't believe what they had seen, but they needed to retrieve their comrade before this unknown could use her as a hostage.

The rumbling continued, dust and bits of rock fell from the ceiling as the unknown began speaking some form of language unknown to those hidden. The scene now played out as a religious ceremony, fears sparked of whether this would lead to some gruesome form of sacrifice.

The small group surrounded the altar, Ghira being the first to spring into action. "Halt, not another move!" He wielded a large battle axe, challenging the unknown creature himself while a few of the others tried to recover their friend.

In response, the unknown used concentrated aura pulses to send those selective few flaying back, his intent focused solely on assuring the Faunus wasn't moved. Taking only one second to face away from the chieftain, the unknown failed to dodge the axe held against its neck.

"This ends now; you will release my subordinate, identify yourself, and explain what is occurring here." The axe pressed closer towards the unknown's neck. "Now."

Before anyone could move an inch, a circular symbol revealed itself next to the altar. Slowly, the circular symbols unlocked…something beneath the floor, as the panels sunk into the floor and moved to opposite sides, another altar arose the pit. A stone coffin now stood alongside the altar, without moving, the unknown dropped the container of blood, allowing it to splatter across the surface of the coffin, it, eerily instant, seeped into the stone. The glowing marks, both on the unconscious huntress and the coffin shone brighter.

"Almost complete. A companion is needed." The unknown commented. As if responding to his words, a portion of the roof to the main hall was destroyed, the first to drop in was the Crescent Ursa Major. Its landing shook the ground, staggering the hunters, and despite its immense size, it moved with great speed. It knocked the chieftain away, injuring the Faunus. The others fired their weapons, to no effect against the large Grimm. Its roar echoed through the chamber.

As Ghira arose, the unknown slowly walk past him and up to the Grimm, the creature showing no hostility towards him.

"Convenient, but you'll do." Placing only a palm on the beast, the hunters watched as the Grimm, rather than strike down the unknown, allow whatever fate was bestowed upon it. In mere moments, it was dissolved into liquid and forced into the folds of the coffin. Upon the last of the liquid being absorbed into the stone, the markings on the coffin began to dim in glow and started to emit an odd aura. Odd in the sense that it was both threatening and comforting. Upon the dying down of the glowing light, the coffin began opening. The Faunus aimed their weapons towards the coffin, fear of whatever ritual was performed, and more so whatever was the outcome. Their fingers ready to press their triggers, the unknown made no sign of effort to cease their actions; rather, it stood and watched. Within mere seconds of the coffin opening, sounds of a crying child filled the ears of the now confused hunters. The unknown walked over to the coffin and reached in, within his palm was a small child, human in anatomy, though, that was before a small tail was seen swinging back and forth from the unknown's fingers. Traces of blond hair and sapphire blue eyes matching the huntress on the altar gave the chieftain an uneasy chill. The huntress began to regain conscious, upon the opening of her eyes; the child in the palms of the unknown was her first sight.

Noticing the awakening of the Faunus, the unknown retrieved from within his coat, a dagger, placing the tip of the blade against the child's back. As it did earlier; it began speaking in an unknown language, the enchantment formed a marking on the upper form of the small one's back. The howls and screeches of Grimm from the open ceiling brought forced all eyes on the Grimm that hovered over the entrance.

The unknown turned back to the child in his hands, a small chuckle made itself past his lips. "Forgive me halfling, you must not be found yet." He then turned to the Faunus on the altar; he walked up to her and offered her the child in his hands. No words were spoken, the huntress, glancing at the child, watching it giggle as its eyes focused on her. Hesitantly, she reached out and accepted the child, holding it closely to her chest. She gazed into its eyes and was unaware of a smile forming on her lips. The child cooed while its arms reached out to touch her face. Almost instantly, she found herself fond of the little one. The unknown backed away, walking to where the Ursa Major landed. It turned to the chieftain, "Do you wish to leave here with your remaining kin?"

Ghira steadied his balance, though, unable to raise his axe. "Do you intend to fight with us?"

"No." the unknown's form was once again covered in black tar; his form began to shift. This time, however, he grew in height, his legs became hinged digitigrade, two large wings sprouted, beneath were two smaller wings. Two horns sprouted from his forehead, deep crimson eyes, and a tail similar to the child in the huntress's arms. Long ebony hair and skin matched that of the Grimm. The hunters whom witnessed this were deeply in shock, an overwhelming sense of fear swelled in them as the beast finalized its transformation with the crackling of bones. "You will not fight; by dawn the Grimm will be gone. You will leave then, and you must never return here." The unknown readied himself; it glanced just once more to the child, sighed irritatingly, and with a forceful thrust; flew towards the open sky.

Ghira walked over to the stone altar to inspect the child in the woman's arms. Upon first sight, it did seem like the child could pass for a Faunus, but having seen the events that followed to this, they would've actually believed this child to be normal. Regardless, the chieftain wouldn't allow this; an unknown took one of his own, performed some form of ceremony, and this child was the result of some form of occult ritual. As he reached for the child, his huntress instinctively shifted away from the chieftain. Her arms held on to the little one tightly as she could sense the intent of her leader.

"Joan…"

"No." When the other hunters approached, she bared her fangs, threatening them to back away. "He's mine. It gave him to me." She referred to the unknown.

"You cannot keep it. We don't know what 'it' is. It is not safe; we cannot allow it near our people."

"He is but a child, Ghira. We can't just leave him here alone." Her argument fell on deaf ears as Ghira attempted once more to take the small one, only for Joan to bite his palm as he reached for the child. The chieftain yelled in pain, startling the little one, forcing him to cry.

"Chieftain…" one of the hunters approached Ghira, cautiously. "What if this child is akin to that creature? Perhaps it is unwise to dispose of it when the one whom created it has the strength to fight a swarm of Grimm, sir. Why not raise him as one of our own, to fight for us?"

"Are you suggesting we raise it to become a weapon?" Ghira's tone showed some slight annoyance, with just a hint of anger.

"Or at the very least, we be civil and not let a child die out here." the hunter argued, receiving nods from the hunters with them.

The chieftain sighed; he never assumed this reconnaissance would end this way. With families awaiting the return of these hunters, and with a modicum of curiosity as to what exactly this child was… "Fine, you may raise him…" as a smile widened across Joan's face, her chieftain added to his words. "But he will be raised in Kuo Kuana, where I will be keeping an eye on him. Should he give me any reason to suspect him as a threat, I won't hesitate to put him, permanently. Understood?" upon the Faunus nodding, the Chieftain gestured his group to head back and rejoin the others, though, not before gesturing them to keep silent of the whole ordeal. Feeling the need to keep this incident, and the boy, a tightly kept secret, he would keep the huntress down here until morning, after the rest of the hunters have gone ahead of them.

To the surviving hunters, this was a mission gone wrong, with many of their brethren lost to the Grimm. To a select few; it was a mission that led to mountains of questions, but with no way of seeking answers. The chieftain had Joan and her family moved to his hometown, allowing him to keep tabs on their new addition. Though, while he did fear whatever was that created him, or what exactly the boy was, he kept a select group of mercs on standby, should the need come.

-6 years later, Kuo Kuana-

Six years following the incident within Menagerie's desert, many kingdoms gave their condolences for the lost hunters, while also offering to lead an investigation. The most annoying and insistent was Atlas, with an entire military and research division awaiting permission to enter the newly discovered ruins. Though, given the events that occurred there, the chieftain remained firm with his stand on branding the ruins off limits, while also declaring it a memorial site. It worked with keeping the other kingdoms out, but their persistence showed no end. Although, for a short period of time it did increase tourism, droves of people came, most were reporters who wanted an interview as to what exactly occurred. While mentions of Grimm swarms and a Dire were reported, none led back to the unknown whom either fought the Grimm and won, or chased them off. Regardless, Ghira felt…hoped he made the right decision in allowing the child to live amongst his people. The chieftain stood on his bedroom balcony, overlooking his home town. As his thoughts drifted from past events, a soft knock from the doorway brought his attention to a pair of ambers eyes looking at him shyly. He chuckled lightly before gesturing the small one to approach. Slowly, the child walked up to him, her eyes glued to the floor.

"Blake, is something wrong?" he asked, to which the little one shook her head. From the corner of the doorway, Ghira spotted a pair of sapphire eyes gazing cautiously over the doorway. It didn't take long for the gears to click, allowing a smile to appear on the man's lips. "Is there someone you want to introduce to me?" with a single nod from his quiet daughter, he laughed wholeheartedly and gestured the child by the doorway to come in. Hesitantly, the child walked in, his blue and white tunic weren't what caught the chieftain's attention, it was his sapphire blue eyes, golden blond hair, and his ebony tail swinging side to side behind him. For a second, Ghira had wondered if this was coincidence, or Oum simply trying to give him a hard time. Either way, he wasn't sure hope to feel about his daughter befriending this boy.

"And…you are?" He asked, keeping his tone at a bare minimum.

"J-Jaune, sir. Jaune Arc." The boy responded. He was intimidated, to say the least, but he kept himself from breaking down or stuttering too often.

"I see." Ghira walked up to the blond, kneeled to his level, he gave the boy a stern expression before eventually grinning. "It's a pleasure to meet you." the boy seemed more relaxed, though, he still showed some fear towards the chieftain. "So, did you meet him at the library?"

Blake nodded while keeping her eyes glued to the floor. In a way, Ghira was glad his daughter found a friend, considering most children left her alone on the account that she was the chieftain's daughter. Adding to that; she rarely socialized, for her to make a friend, and bring him home no less, was an incredible change. While he held some reserves against the boy, if he was to be a stepping stone for his daughter to break out of her shell, he'd at least support it.

"Dad…" Blake's voice, although meek and soft, was heard clearly by her father. "Can we go to your library, there's a book I want to show Jaune?" Ghira gave it a little thought before giving his daughter a small grin and nodding. As his daughter was about to leave while dragging Jaune by his tunic, he decided to make this a little more interesting.

"Blake?"

The small child stopped in her tracks, she glanced to her father who had a sly grin. "Aren't you forgetting someone else to introduce your friend too?"

Almost immediately, she shook her head as quickly as she could, her eyes begging not to bring her up. While Ghira didn't want to willingly sentence his daughter to such embarrassment, he knew he'd get the short end if she found out he hid this from her.

"Kali, guess who brought home a friend?" the Chieftain called out. As his daughter went pale and her friend growing ever more confused, the sound of running footsteps made the little one give her father a betrayed expression that asked the simple question. 'Why?'

"Sorry, kitten." While half apologizing, he couldn't deny the humor that came when his wife appeared in the doorway with a camera in hand. With Blake covering her face most of the time, and Jaune awkwardly smiling, Kali wasted no time gushing over her daughter and her new friend. To say she took 'many' pictures would be an understatement.

After taking her time to get to know her daughter's, Kali took both children with her to the library.

"Go easy on 'em honey." Ghira called out before she disappeared. When the thought of joining them occurred, a small tap on his sliding door brought the old chieftain's attention to an empty balcony. Though, upon glancing down, he noticed a leather book sitting idly outside. Cautiously, he opened the sliding door, retrieved the book. Hesitantly, he opened it, a fresh handwritten message awaited him.

He is growing well; I thank you for that, within this are the only answers I can afford to write down. The rest will be revealed soon, but for now, these are all I can give. There is a greater plan in motion, one that has been ongoing for far too long. In days to come, there will be peace. But nothing lasts forever.

-Didact

Ghira returned inside, assuring his door was closed and locked, his fingers turned the page. One word caught his attention, a word he hadn't heard for a long time; something similar to a fairy tale, or a myth…and to some, even a holy meaning.

"The Oni."

Well, here it is, the revamp of She's me and I'm her. Obviously, it's been changed, drastically, more so to account for all the new info from these new seasons. I spent the better part of this month trying to revamp this story while also keeping to some of the aspects of the old. In short; while the beginning is switched up, the main story I had planned for the old will remain, though, the lore has been changed ever so slightly. Anyway, I'll be sure to have a new chapter up soon, this took a little long on an account of constant rewrites and unpleased with most of the samples I had planned for the revamp. On that note, thank you for reading and I hope you'll enjoy this reworked story.