By The Creed

Created by Yuri-Sensei

Proofread by SolidSnake10101

Apologies for the wait.

I would like to give my thanks to everyone who joined the SYOC. Thank you for lending your time to send in your characters and for joining the story. Congratulations to the ones who got in. I apologies for the lateness of this first installment, I've been caught up in my in real life stuff.

Also I'd like to give some special thanks to some people. To Biistrunflaar, a friend of mine on Discord who had helped me throughout the start, one of the few people I have met on RWBY-RP. To SolidSnake10101, for lending their time to proofread the story and help with the assessment along with chronoman323 who wanted to help as well.

Welcome to the Creed, everyone.

Terminologies: Before the story starts, please do read these terminologies if you are not accustomed to knowing these given information below. It should ease your confusion and make it more easier for you to read. These are information I have managed to gather and research on, so if there are any misinformation in one of them, feel free to correct it.

Triskelion - Derived from the Greek word "Triskeles" meaning "three legs". The triskele can be thought to represent motion as all three arms are positioned to make it appear as if it is moving outwards from its centre. Movement, or motion, is believed to signify energies, in particular within this Celtic Symbol the motion of action, cycles, progress, revolution and competition.

The Celtic symbol meaning holds two major components of symbolism: Action and Passive.

Information gathered from Blarney and Whats-Your-Sign.

Solidago - More commonly known as the Goldenrod flower. Goldenrod gets its name from the two Latin words solidus and agere which means "make strong" or "make healthy". The Chippewa Indians called it gizisomukiki, meaning "sun medicine". These bright blooms symbolize encouragement and growth. Another popular meaning is that this flower can bring good luck.

Yellow pigmented; species of flowering plants in the aster family, Asteraceae. Most are herbaceous perennial species found in open areas such as meadows, prairies, and savannas.

Goldenrod - Precaution, Encouragement
Magical Properties: Divination, Money, Prosperity, Prophecy, Encouragement

Information gathered from Vancouverflorist, , Angelfire, Language of Flowers, Wikipedia, and Phsevens Wordpress.

'Thoughts of the character.' (Past)

"Reminiscing past conversations or phrases." (Past)

Reminiscing previous activities or actions. (Past)
"Speaking." (Present)

"Bolded words are amplified emotions." (Present)

Chapter 1: Premonition Of Liberation

Arc I - Beginning

Part I - Awakening Of The New Dawn

When the land turns black,

When the sea turns red,

When the sky turns grey,

And when the world starts to cry,

Thus the sun shall die.

-Xine Arvadeile
(An old quote I had made under this alias.)

17:58 – Whispers in the Wind from 1 Hour of Dark Winter Music & Medieval Fantasy Music by Derek & Brandon Fiechter on Youtube

'Freedom or duty?'

White noise resonated within the confinements of the Guardian's mind. The lone figure stood motionlessly in the middle of the desolated clearing, the signs of life within the foliage of the forest were but an empty space filled with the silence of the night. Words ringing in the head of the beholder, of a proposition that was extended and deftly given to a warrior like her. A decision one must make, one that lay eternal, and the finality of it all shall decide the momentum of their fate.

Of their destiny.

"Do you wish to be free?"

Such words, so freely used. To say the Guardian was not surprised, to hear such words from the mouth of a foreigner would be a great lie.

The promise of freedom was only ever a hopeless wish; a person like her can only ever hope to have.

And something so blissful shouldn't be real, just the mere thought of freedom was punishable. It is but a fleeting dream for a person like her.

'But what is freedom for someone like her?'

Freedom was a word used amongst those who are not bound by duty. Individuals who are not bound by fate nor any chains that may hold them down like an animal to be commanded at its masters' will.

She was the Guardian. Born and bred to be the strongest of all.

Trained to the extremes that mere humans and Faunus alike can and will die from. She is no mere soldier. She is invincible. She is raw power in physical form. She is the storm that thunders it's righteous anger amongst the defilers of their homeland.

And yet, she was no one at the same time.

The Guardian of the Elder Council had never been free.

Never was, never will be.

Duty bound. A living weapon. A puppet.

A Guardian's purpose in life was to follow the Elders commands without complaint. A duty to uphold till one's dying breath.

Defiance will lead to punishment, and punishment shall lead to death, or perhaps a fate far more worse than death itself.

In the end, she owned nothing, including herself, her own humanity.

Thus, she can never be truly herself, her own being. Forced into a facade, forced to use a face of cool indifference.

And in the end, she was nobody.

She was just a tool to be used.

She was a living weapon.

And freedom is a luxury.

Acolyte Emilia Veridian was never ever free.

"Was."

0:00 – Snowland from 1 Hour of Dark Winter Music & Medieval Fantasy Music by Derek & Brandon Fiechter on Youtube

In ancient times, Remnant was a time of shattered peace. It is a land riddled in the suffering of the masses. Whose lands were ravaged by the destruction of its own inhabitants, leaving nothing but the remnants of its past beauty in its wake.

Dying, rotting, lifeless.

Humans fought amongst themselves for the lands they could own for themselves and to the spoils they could acquire in their conquest for power. From the richest to the beggars, hierarchy dictated all and nothing less. Dominion over all was everything to the mundane man, thus lead the unquenchable thirst to dominate their foes, their allies, to venture and rule the unknown.

And when Humans met Faunus, hell was raised upon broken earth.

Faunus fought amongst themselves to survive and towards their oppressors. For the land of the free. For the blood of the few and the many. They fought for their kind and against each other for their own divided beliefs of unity. A Faunus' life is to do or die. Only the fittest can survive as is the cruelty of their everyday life.

And in these times of conflict, monsters from the shadows awoke and fed their hunger from the distraught and hatred that the living had brought forth amongst and against themselves.

Dark, mindless creatures.

Gnarly beings without a soul.

Beasts that imitated the animals of the living world but were much monstrous in nature. They were dark as the cloudless night, pearly white bones and claws, and of crimson eyes and tainted with the markings of death.

The creatures of Grimm.

Whose only purpose is to conquer all that harbors life. To bring forth war amongst kingdoms. To spread the famine and the plague, and to bring forth death among humans and Faunus alike.

They were nothing but monsters caused by the misfortune brought by the beings with life.

Life slowly dwindled away like a fractured glass turned to dust. It was the Grimm's forthcoming that made the people realise their own misgivings. Destruction had cleared their clouded minds, to see the true enemy of man. Faced with the suffocating grips of hardships, ignited the need for unity, and the flames of hope rose above all the hatred that existed inside the hearts of the living.

A union to defeat a common enemy. A treaty to better the lives of all. A light that sparked in the midst of the greatest shadow that covered the light of the sun, awakened the faith of the people in each other.

And in these lands where the unquenchable need to survive rose above everything — gave rise to the kingdoms who prosper and lived by its duty to protect its citizens from the cruelties of the outside world and in the turn gave life to the academies who were destined to train the next generation of hunters and huntresses in defeating the evil that plagued their lands.

Each continent with their own kingdom, their own institution, their own means of protecting those who cannot protect for themselves.

And in those continents therein lies kingdoms and academies who follow certain traits that made them who they were today.

At the heart of Remnant, rose an academy that encompasses the hope of the people. One that showed the people that no matter how dark the skies may be, the sun shall always pierce through the shadow that looms over the lands.

Beacon.

And in the lands where life is ever the rich and ever with the thriving culture, came to be an academy which symbolizes the safety that governs the lives of the many. An academy that showed that safety of all is something to thrive for.

Haven.

And near the heart of Remnant, lies great desert plains where the light of the sun shines brighter than ever on dry sand. In its clear skies flew white clouds whose gentle gloom gives the comfort of security to the masses living in fear of the darkness that haunts them at their every step.

Shade.

Though in the coldest of lands, a kingdom who gave the people of Remnant the direction to move forward and to pave the path to innovation. It gave life to new creations, new methods, new advancements for man and Faunus alike. Thus, in turn an academy of the same name that governs by its rules and prowess was born.

Atlas.

Yet in the wake of the war, rose amongst them in the shadows of devastation. An academy residing in the kingdom of Neith, surrounded by the untameable nature of their continent — the continent of Ladon. A great mass of terrain, shaped and formed similarly to a single-winged dragon. Unfurled, skeletal-like wings, and a dragonic-shaped head. It was an ancient creature of myths and legends, long forgotten by humans and Faunus through the passage of time.

Regardless of its odd structure, the kingdom's continent was a treacherous place to live in, its residents made do with what they have and in turn, it had made them tougher and sturdier to the dangers of the outside world. Its lands were surrounded by seas and filled with abominable glaciers as well as long expanses of rivers and large murky lakes, whilst its soils contained dangerous rock-filled mountains and valleys with scattered desert grounds, and great planes of lush greenery.

The kingdom rose from the ruins of the wreckage caused by the endless fighting that boiled over its bloodied grounds. Both from the destruction that the Grimm had brought, to the warring kingdoms, and to the human-Faunus wars alike.

To live. To survive. To see another day.

In the sorrowed planes of the kingdom of Neith, in their last desperation of hope, came to be an academy like any other academies of the kingdoms of Remnant who had done their job to protect their own people from the hands of death. An academy who followed by its actions, its beliefs, its guidance.

The Academy of Creed.

Resting at the centre of the mountain valleys, houses the academy of Creed. A great castle of stone rest upon its terrain, embedded upon mountains with long bridges and arches connecting to soaring towers. Smooth heavy stones make up for its building with moss and vines crawling up its crevices, a sign of its ancient architecture. Below its massive structure lays other smaller towers and the various amenities adjoined to its body.

It's front, showcases a large, heavy set of dark oaken doors with the metal crest of the academy at the middle of it with a split at the centre, an ornate design to make way in opening the ancient doors for its people. It is a symbol that represents all three of its main faculties — the sword that rests at the middle with the blade facing down and on the centre of its cross-guard rests the image of the Triskelion, the wings of a bird, unfurled wings of freedom — sprouting just behind the cross-guard of the sword, and the last composition of its insignia was the solidago, a golden flower that encircled the whole crest. With the last of the symbol, thus completes the crest the academy of Creed. A crest that represents its actions, its beliefs, and its guidance.

Though even as it may seem worn and damaged, the great castle cast eerie mysteries that lures the most curious of minds, with its glamorous visage and hidden secrets. Its enigma was in contrast to the lushness of its forefront. At its castle grounds, showed cobble pathways and refreshing greenery. Both from the various plants and flowers that was scattered upon fertile earth as well as the large trees surrounding its vast plot of land. In which, even some of its more, sturdier trees were littered and embedded with arrows, others scarred from bladed weaponry, to dummies just hanging by its strong branches, and sometimes even the scattered picnic blankets just underneath the vast shade it gave to whoever may sit underneath it.

An interesting sight as it may be to see such deep and sullied marks upon ancient barks, it could not compare to the view of the castle from afar. It was an impressive sight to behold, mountainous providence, endless greenery, a vast land simply filled with mystery and untouched life. It was a sight that one can only could ever dream of seeing.

But one must not forget that it is still an academy. An institution that is surrounded by dangers untold to many. From Grimms to covert operations. The academy was secretive and selective. Very few of those outside its kingdom are able to enter its grounds when danger lurks in every guise within its walls and outside of it.

Uncertainty is everywhere.

And that is why the people of Creed are those who follow a set of beliefs as guidance. They are those whose skills are unparalleled and use it as their weapon. Their experience became a reminder, a memory, and in turn it became their instincts. With it, comes along the hardships that signifies the tokens of their progress.

And their Creed is their salvation.

For the masses, they are the saviours of life.

For their people, they are the guiding light.

For their land, they are the guardians of tranquility.

For their academy, they are the hunters and huntresses of Grimm.

And by the creed, they bow.

For in salvation...

"We are the Creed."

When the news of a huntress hailing from another land had planned on visiting their homeland to study its culture, the village had bustled with activity. From the scurrying of the villagers to set up shop and clean the dirt pathways, to the children jumping about with energy at the prospect of seeing something new, to the guards making haste and getting everything finished in time for the stranger's arrival, and to the elders confining themselves within the thick walls of the Council Hall discussing in hushed whispers of topics that they only knew of.

A few days had passed since then and when the day came, the village had come alive once more to do one final prepping for their enigmatic visitor. At first, their Elders was cautious to suddenly let a person within the walls of their village, especially of those who did not give any indication of their affiliations other than their objective but sooner said than later, the formal letter of the kingdom of Neith was given through the means of an avian messenger. Indicating the intentions of the Order of The Hunt, simply put they had expressed their wish to study their thriving cultural practices, along with other villages similar to theirs.

Of course, an offering of gifts and produce was made to completely seal the deal. As well as to satiate any prejudice that they may harbour after a sudden parly as that.

It was peculiar to say the least, it was from a kingdom that was unheard of and at the same time no one knew of but perhaps it was of course, because each and every one of them wasn't relatively educated to the various kingdoms or settlements that was not near their own and were simply scattered about in the lands of Remnant. Since, after all, their village was not affiliated with any kingdom. They were free for the taking if they wish to do so. They could pillage them, ransack their homes, and take everything. Though, nonetheless it piqued their interest.

More so for their village Guardian.

'It was suspicious.' Was what she thought at first. It was a natural reaction of course, since the Elder's themselves were being cautious, suspicious, and daresay even, peeved at the notion. Therefore, she too was to be cautious of the stranger. After all, they were a village unaffiliated to any kingdom, anything could happen. But for the young Acolyte, in the end she decided to simply reserve any judgement for a later date. Because how can she not? It was a huntress visiting after all, from what little information she had manage to gather. A visiting huntress was a once in a blue moon thing! And it excited her to the core…

'The prospect of seeing something new…'

When heavy footsteps on cobblestone paths were finally heard by the sentry guards; stationed soldiers immediately made haste, alerting the masses of the huntress nearing her destination by barking orders left and right, and the moment the woman had set foot into the entrance of the large community, old and young alike had greeted the woman with a warm welcome, to the point of swarming even. With the adults giving their greetings, to the children handing in small gifts as per the request of their families, and simply chatting away in merry whilst the guards stayed by their post, eyeing the interaction with hidden interest.

For a person such as her, Acolyte Emilia Viridian was curious of the stranger when she first heard of the news, though she hid her curiosity well enough in front of the Elders when she was tasked to provide a tour for their guest. The Guardian, of course, meekly accepted without any form of complaint, lest she gets punished for her disobedience.

The mere prospect of the punishment for any form of disobedience only made her whimper in fear, though quietly enough that others would not hear but herself.

When it was time to meet the woman, she followed her Elders outside the Council Hall to greet their visitor, watching in curiosity at the billowing cloak of the stranger. Green eyes of the Acolyte observed the woman in front of the Elders, they stood a few feet apart with herself standing besides her Elders, guarding them closely while she waited for their conversation to end and for her to finally start the task assigned to her by her superiors.

Listening in on their conversation was weird, to say the least. If Emilia were to summarize the woman as a whole then Emilia thought she was peculiar. Both from the suddenness of the situation and the woman's actions.

The huntress before them had medium-length hair, ending just around the top of her shoulders with a single braid at the left side of her intricate face, its colour was a rich burgundy as if the god of wine had poured its bittersweet moonshine unto her tresses. Her deep tresses practically absorbed the light and when it came to her eyes. It was a very light shade of azure, its light hue made it look cloudy as if she were blind. The woman had long eyelashes, more often than not, it worked well when the huntress' eyes were often hooded with an emotion Emilia could not place, all the more making her an appealing but mysterious at the same time. She had a sharp nose, prominent cheekbones, and dimples at her cheeks. The woman, in essence was a beauty, yet to contrast her ever gentle beauty was the long scar that crossed from her left cheek over the bridge of her nose and ending at the right of her cheek.

'A bladed injury perhaps?'

It was a clean gash from what she could tell but while it was something to dwell on, in Emilia's opinion, she mused that it made the woman look all the more beautiful. Especially, when it complimented the woman's choice of clothing. As it made her look stronger and not just simply an eye candy, especially from the people of her village, though most of it were from the leering gazes of men being thrown at the huntress.

'Ugh, disgusting…' The mere thought of it almost brought shivers down her spine.

The woman wore comfortably — dark purple cloak, a brown tunic with strings to adjust the tightness of the shirt which was at the area of her chest, a burgundy regency blazer made for adventuring, if Emilia were to go by the look of it, the insides of the blazer were the colour of obsidian, and the huntress merely opted for a similar obsidian leather pants and boots with burgundy laces.

It was a simple yet stylish choice in clothing, compared to Emilia who only wore a set of green robes that ended on her waist, pants that ended on her knees which used the similar theme of green as well with a red ceremonial sash tied around her waist, and opting not to wear any form of shoes. It was easier to move with her feet, especially without those pesky coverings. In addition to this, a pendant made of emerald sat at the base of her collarbone, a reminder of an old memory, something which she kept close to herself at all times. Other than that, she wore white athletic wrappings around her hands which hid her spiraling tattoos. The wrappings were similar to bandages and curling around her hand and ending just below her elbow with her hands itself being covered by fingerless gloves, woven with metal threads and ending just halfway on her forearms.

Emilia was not really the most fashionable type of person nor was she as pretty as the woman before them, that she will admit but it was the only set of clothing she had but even then she had to admit the colours were somewhat clashing, and add up her looks she was as plain as anybody. Dull green eyes and simple brunette hair. Nothing special.

Though, the more Emilia had observed the individual before her, she noticed a keen detail that she may have overlooked from staring too much at the stranger or rather specifically one she must had to admit with guilt, her face. The woman had worn a dark purple cloak which meant it hid most of the woman's clothing or perhaps belongings but if it were not for the woman removing the said article of clothing, Emilia would have thought the woman was trying to kill herself in the god awful heat that was surrounding their village. It was already afternoon after all and the sun was ever blazing its bright and intangible heat unto them. And if it weren't for that as well, Emilia would have not noticed the two weirdly shaped swords, just resting on each sides of her hip.

'Weird looking swords…'

The dark redhead had introduced herself as Enyo Megaera and what made the woman so peculiar was the way she spoke, in companion with her mannerisms as well. The woman would often gesture with her right hand to enunciate her words further whilst her left hand would always be at the handle of her left sword, something Emilia had noticed when she peered besides her companion when Emilia was finally given the go signal to tour their humble but very excitable guest. Something she had taken noted of as well was the way the woman acted towards the sounds of the bushes rustling or towards any sound that seemed out of place, she would twitch or look from left to right as if she was waiting for something to come out. Another thing she noticed was the way she spoke, Enyo would often draw out her words when speaking, the 'R' sounds often pronounced strongly.

Though, these musings of hers were often covered with a cool facade as such. There was no need for her to get into trouble by breaking out of her 'conditioning' or out of what she was forced to become. Though, being tasked with an important duty such as this was in all honesty was a bit tiring, even if it had some merits to it.

It was exciting yes, to see a living huntress up close and be the one to guide them. To see the way they walk, the power they hold by just simply speaking and conversing with the common townsfolk, it was the unbridled confidence that the huntress possessed that made her look up in wonder at the redhead, wishing that she too, had the same amount of confidence in her strides. It made her jittery, made her more excited than she was allowed to be. It was tiring but fun.

"Is that a chicken or a duck?"

To a degree that is.

Emilia was tasked to lead the huntress around their village, from showing the woman the various shops and eatery around the village which sadly included the wine shop where the huntress bought several bottles of wine from. Though judging by the way the woman danced merrily with her purchased goods at hand, Emilia will be dealing the aftermath of Enyo's drinking escapades.

No matter, the huntress still followed dutifully to her role as a scholar for their kingdom. It was an easy start. The Guardian simply answered the questions the woman had with ease, which were often concerned with how they lived and survived outside the kingdom walls, what they do in order to do so, and so on and so forth. It was easy enough, but regardless she was to be careful at the same time, enough not to reveal too much information towards the stranger. Most of the redhead's question centred around their livelihood and their culture, something she can easily answer.

The bottom line of it all was that Emilia was basically staying with the mysterious figure at all times. May it be day or night like a guard dog. As per the orders of the Elder Council.

"Guardian. We are tasking you to keep watch of the huntress at all times, she had come here to learn of our culture but she may have ulterior motives. You are allowed to reveal basic information as such, to placate her curiosity and nothing more. Failing to do so, and we will punish you gravely. Is that understood, Acolyte Emilia?"

The Elders words echoed through Emilia's mind like a broken record. The thought of punishment was enough to make the young girl meek under the gaze of her superiors. She had dealt with enough degradation and punishments in the entirety of her life, thus as much as meeting the huntress excited her, she was still the Guardian of the Elders.

She had a task to complete, and the job was somewhat easy enough as is.

Yet on the third day, she was starting to regret the words that spilled in her mind, saying that it was an easy task when in reality it was not. What Emilia herself had not accounted for was the question the huntress would ask whilst in the open clearing of the forest near her home village.

Or for the lack of better term, Enyo's statement towards the Guardian.

A question that rang within her troubled mind.

The huntress stayed at the local inn near the centre of the village plaza. It was an old, rickety wooden place but it was comfortable enough to stay in. Though, at times it can be loud at night with all the patrons drinking and coming about in the dead of the night. Some after they had finished their jobs for the day or like most, coming in and settling themselves with the other patrons and the jolly atmosphere, and just generally having a good time with a good spot of ale.

Though not everyone is as receptive to the inclination to party their hearts out at midnight. Others such as Emilia and Enyo, a far more surprising decision coming from Enyo who seemed to enjoy drinking and chatting with the villagers. Enyo had thus far rejected every advances given to her which was mostly from the men of her village, to stay out and drink with the merry lot. Every invitation came with a rejection and an excuse. The huntress' excuses being along the lines of being too busy with her mission at hand and being far too tired from all the events that transpired throughout the day.

'Not really far from the truth, I suppose.' The Guardian had mused.

Though that didn't stop the woman from getting drunk on her own in her own little space in the inn. The two women stayed upstairs in one of the many rented rooms of the inn. Where the bellows and racket of the crowd below was merely treated like a white noise to the occupants of the room.

The former took watch on their visitor like the dutiful Guardian she was. She lurked by the darkest corner of the room, emerald eyes looking over the huntress, watching as the moonlight filtered through the open window pane and landed on the woman. Enyo breathed so calmly, not even bothered by the passing wind that entered the cold room nor the shine of the moonlight unto her, or even the noise of the villagers down below.

The woman had drunk several bottles of wine earlier and immediately knocked out after, mumbling about random things that Emilia had no idea of. Most of which were along the lines of drunken slurs and sentences such as 'Who would've thought that chickens and ducks can crossbreed!? Hah! Jacky-boy is going to have a field day about this!' Though Emilia wondered at the back of her mind how the woman was able to speak both clearly and in a slurred fashion at the same time.

'Drunkards…' She thought with the shake of her head. Emilia never understood the appeal of such addiction to alcoholic contents but looking back at the amount of empty wine bottles littering the floor of the room, Emilia wasn't relatively surprised when the woman in front of her was pretty much a dead weight after drinking so much with how excitable and even daresay impulsive. After all, the wine Enyo bought was finely aged and the winery by the village makes and stores them carefully so it would be up to the taste of the Elders. It was the hard stuff from what she can tell. Not that she would know what it tasted like.

'She's sleeping so peacefully too…'

While Emilia herself was stuck within the confines of the wooden room — wide awake, guarding her till her task at hand is finished. That is, whenever the woman will even leave the village. She felt a little envious that the woman could sleep so freely while she had to try her best to stay up for her task. Emilia pouted at the thought, an urge crept along her spine but restrained herself.

'Thinking about it now… She never really mentioned when she'll leave. Maybe the Elders know… Then again it's only the Elders that always know what's happening.'

Resigning herself to her fate, Emilia stood with her back and head against the old wooden structure of the room, her arms crossed just below her chest, and her eyes starting to flutter to a close. She was tired, the woman was as boisterous as her. When she wasn't acting like a cold bastard that is. Hopefully, she wasn't. She wanted to see what more the woman could offer. A fight? A demonstration while she's here?

'Something fun… Something new… Away from everything…'

Even as these thoughts passed by Emilia's mind, the need for a long overdue night of slumbering was calling to her like a siren. Slowly but surely, her eyes closed, and her body relaxed from its frigid posture.

'Might as well take a little break…'

The Guardian slept peacefully, gentle snores resounding within quiet walls. It wasn't the most comfortable position but the brunette had to make do with what she had. In the end, her sleep was filled with nothing but the darkness of her covered vision. No dreams, no disturbance. It was simply tranquil.

The two warriors continued to slumber throughout the night and when morning drew near, Emilia was first to awaken between the two. The sun had yet to rise and shine its light through the window, though the cold breeze flew inside as it pleases. Emilia trembled at the cold bite of the wind. She stretched her limbs and heaved a sigh, cracking her neck and bones as she walked towards the woman on the bed. The soft footfalls of her uncovered feet thumping on the wooden floors of the inn, echoed along with the gentle snores of the huntress.

The ambience had shifted when daylight had finally shone through the panes of the window. It's gentle yellow hued light landing on the sleeping occupant on the bed. From the unbearable noise from the party goers to the calm disposition of the early morning — It was quiet now, entirely different from what it was last night.

'I'm pretty sure she's gonna have a hangover with how much she drank…' Emilia laughed quietly to herself at the thought. The woman across from her was a hopeless cause last night. She kept drinking, and drinking, and drinking; to the point of falling face first unto the floor if weren't for her catching the huntress' flailing body.

"Well, time to rise and shine." Emilia called out, though moderate enough that she wouldn't hurt the huntress if she ever has a hangover, which was highly likely. She stopped besides the bed, her arm reaching forward to rouse the drunkard in front of her. Only for her own hand to be seized by a hand much paler than hers.

"Shine my ass…" A soft yet tired voice called out and azure eyes trailed its sight from the hand that it held, towards their would be 'assailant'. Exhausted eyes stared at green ones. The former showing curiosity behind their clouded coloured eyes whilst the latter showed shock. Though, in the end amusement danced within Enyo's eyes as she watched the brunette's reaction continue to escalate.

The Guardian was to say the least, flabbergasted towards the sudden bodily contact she felt on her hand. Red started to coat her cheeks and thus Emilia tried to pull her hand away to save herself from the embarrassment of being caught off-guard so easily, much less from someone who went unconscious from the excessive alcohol. It was sudden, and it was something she wasn't remotely used to.

"I- Uhm- Can- Can I have my hand back? P-Please?"

Enyo snickered at the blushing Guardian, mirth dancing in her tired eyes. "Awww," She cooed as she gently let the poor lass' hand go, "Looks like you aren't all, calm and cool, and stuff like that." She said as she snickered at her apparent joke, emphasizing even with the jazzing of her hands, from left to right. A grin adorning her face as she looked at the pouting Guardian, who slowly but surely continued to grow more confused as time passed on. "Oh! Lighten up!" She said out loud, ignoring the ringing of her voice, reverberating in the confinements of her skull. Achingly, and painfully so. Enyo ignored it all, in favour of teasing the young woman in front of her.

Sluggishly sitting up and leaving the confinements of her warm bed, Enyo clapped her hand around Emilia's right shoulder, her grin plastered all over her face as mischief crept its way to her eyes. "Lighten up I say! How about this, why don't we do something hunting, aye?"

"Hunting?" Emilia echoed out, head raising to meet the huntress' eyes, there was excitement now reflecting in her companion's azure eyes. The idea of hunting was like a beckoning maiden whispering sweet nothings to her ears, tempting her, lulling her to its bidding and follow its commands to sate its sinful urges.

'Hunting? Which means fighting, right?'

Her eyes lit up with a renewed fire, raging in her emerald eyes. A smile broke through her visage, untameable and unstoppable to the enlightenment she felt. Yes, she was the Guardian and she could be punished for acting the way she did at this very moment but it was a huntress' proposition was it not? It would definitely be rude to decline and to just let her go by herself, huntress or not.

'A suggestion but she still holds power as well. Therefore, it's an order? Right? So that means-'

Not even missing a moment, Emilia stood straighter. A smile gracing her lips, she didn't even let her own thoughts finish itself before she immediately gave her answer to the woman grinning back at her with the same reflected vigour as she, who looked as if she already knew what the Guardian's answer would be.

"Yes!"

With a loud laugh of joy from the brunette, the woman moved passed the Guardian and made her way to a lone chair by the corner, just across from where Emilia herself had dozed off of minutes before. Therein lay Enyo's dark cloak and bladed weaponry, resting by the head and on the base of the chair.

'Looks like I'll be using you two today, my dears.'

Enyo grinned at the thought. Her pale hands moved forward to grab the dark article of clothing before dropping it around her back and clasping it around her shoulders while her other hand made do of slipping the weapons into the loop of her pants. Smiling in satisfaction and ready to face the new day, she turned to face her guide.

"You have a clearing we can go to? I heard from your Elders that you were quite proficient in battle. I want to see it." The huntress spoke, her brow quirking in amusement at the excitable Guardian in front of her.

Gone was the usually stoic Guardian, before the huntress was a teen ready to burst with unbridled energy. Emilia merely nodded eagerly in reply. She was excited, yes. But there was the feeling of trepidation as well in heart. The Guardian was supposed to act cold, stoic at all times, and must practice and show restraint. Yet here she is again, breaking that very rule once more. Fear and anticipation mixed within her mind but she didn't let it disturb her any further. She took action instead to quiet her ever growing thoughts.

"There is one by the west of here."

"Then let's get going!"

With that decision in mind, Emilia nodded as she followed the huntress out of their room with a small bounce in her step. The two had set out on their little journey to the woods after a healthy breakfast, courtesy of one of the cooks in the inn. Greeting, the guards stationed by the entrance as they walked by. They took their time in walking, leisurely talking and making small conversations here and there. Though as time passed on, Emilia had come to learn that the woman besides her was a teacher from an academy, islands away from here.

That information had piqued the Guardian's interest, the lady was a huntress and a teacher at the same time. It didn't take a fool to guess that her companion may perhaps be a professor in an academy, designated to hunt Grimm and evildoers alike. Though what made it interesting was the thoughts that the Guardian entertained in her mind. Of what ifs and how abouts.

'What if she was a student in another life?'

'How about…'

'What if this was a chance to leave?'

'What if…'

"Is this the place?"

Cut off from her thoughts, the Guardian raised her head towards the huntress. Her eyes trailing to and fro of their area. The two warriors stood still on a small hill-like terrain, far below them lay a golden garden of flowers, shining brightly in the morning glow of the sun, glistening with life. The clearing was barren of any sound, save for the mere nearly quiet whisperings of the wind, echoing in the crevices of the foliage of the forest. Great trees of ancient wonder, surrounded them in a circle. Its branches gently swaying with the pattern of the wind, yet what seemed to be a peaceful surrounding filled with the bounties of nature, lacked the usual sounds of the wildlife who come to use it as its dwelling place, and that was what made the Guardian pensive at the oddly noiseless clearing.

There was no sounds of small creatures like the rabbits jumping from place to place, no squirrels climbing up and down, not even the signs of the deers eating grass by the garden of sunflowers, solidagos, and other form of life. No butterflies or bees fluttering and buzzing about, nor even the usual bouts of beautiful singing of the birds were heard.

It was desolated of any form of life.

"Yes, but there is usually… Wildlife scurrying about in this area…" Emilia said carefully. Her words rang true, the quiet disposition of the clearing was awfully too quiet for it to be normal. It was as if time itself has stopped into a standstill. Even the gentle swaying of the leaves from the wind had come to a momentary stop. Green eyes narrowed at the silence permitting the peaceful land they stood on.

It wasn't normal.

It was different.

It was suspicious.

Emilia felt goosebumps erupting on her arms and legs. The hairs on her neck rising in trepidation. The atmosphere felt almost too perilous as if an unknown danger were to sprung up out of nowhere.

'But… where?'

The huntress fared no better. Enyo had lost her all too giddy smile when she was enthralling the young girl besides her with, as she would aptly put out, the magnificent tales of her hunting and of her adventures. Now, it was replaced with a worried frown, the brows of her face scrunching together at the information she was given. Something which she had to agree to, the forest when she had travelled towards the Guardian's village was abundant with the life of mother nature herself. It was filled with the distinct aura of vitality, though now… It reeked of death.

'This aura feels empty… Ominous even… It couldn't be. So far out in the wilderness too… '

Enyo slowly drew her curved blades, its steely exterior reflecting on the rays of the sun. She took a step forward into the opening, her back tense and her gaze hard as she looked through her surroundings. Emilia looked on in curiosity and confusion at the sudden change though even she had an inkling feeling of trepidation but she paid no heed to the warning signs her body told her, rather she looked on at the weaponry that the warrior had unsheathed from her waist. It gleamed under the bright morning sun.

"Enyo?"

"Emilia, when I say run… You need to run."

The ominous feeling Enyo felt slithered like a python, it moved ever so slowly and carefully as if it had a mind of its own, entirely separate from its usual beastial instincts. Its steps were far too measured and even. She could feel the remorseless gaze from the shadows of the foliage, its calculated steps avoiding any forms of noticeable debris that may alert its enemies of its position nor for it to be heard to the trained or untrained ears of a hunter but for someone of her calibre even she had to admit that perhaps this foe they were to face is more than what it seems. Far too intelligent or perhaps far too experienced for it to be something as a newborn monster from the shadows.

A split second, she gazed behind her at the enraptured child to see whether the Guardian was listening.

"Emilia!"

A split second was all it took for the beast to make its first move.

'It's merged?'

Emilia barely listened to the words that flew freely from the huntress' lips nor the underlying tone of warning it held. Her eyes stayed glued to the weapon the woman held. It was as she thought, a weirdly made weapon. Her eyes sparkled with wonder and curiosity, being a child who was raised within the confinements of her homeland, there wasn't many things that she knew of or much less see something new of. Weapons in particular were the same old design given amongst the guards, bland and simply made of metal with having no particular add-ons engraved upon it like the stories she heard from merchants passing by. So when her curiosity finally reached its peaked and was given the moment to witness the irregularity of the huntress' weapon it was an opportunity that she would rather not miss. Her eyes sparkled in wonder, her hand making its way to lightly hold the huntress' arm in awe.

And yet that was also her own grave mistake as a Guardian. Her eyes kept itself trained on the weapon so intently, glazing in awe yet clouded by something else. Something intangible and unknown. She kept her eyes focused on the weapon and nothing else. Emilia heard nothing but the buzzing of static in her ears, drowning out the voices and the sounds around her.

"Emilia- What're you-!?"

The handle at first glance seemed as if it was merged with its own cross-guard but in reality it was connected with but a thin chain, both ends of the cross-guard curling towards the other to meet in the middle like a hook as the chain connected them, and yet when it came to the blade it was something entirely different on its own. Its edge was on both sides, concaving towards the hilt and as it move towards the point of the blade itself, it changed into a convex edge.

"Look this isn't the ti-"

It was weird. She had never seen a sword such as that. Was this what those passing merchants had meant when they told the children of stories to wow them with the wonders of the world?

The unorthodox ways of technology of the outside world.

Lost in the her own little world, the huntress watched in slow motion as their unknown assailant had finally made its presence known. From the shadows it came, prowling and watching. Dark smoke oozing from its silent footsteps, it jumped down from its perch upon the tree branches, its fall soundless. It prowled like a natural predator, two sets of blood red eyes glowing in the dimming day. One clawed paw took a step forward, then another, and another, and it continued. Six limbs made up to its lithe yet nimble body, it resembled a mountain lion. Powerful, fast, and dangerous but it was of course no animal. White plated bones sprouted from its back like razors and covered its face, red markings painted on its mask. The striking features of a dark creature…

It was the Grimm.

"Emilia! Move!"

The feline-shaped Grimm jumped almost as quickly the huntress had pushed the young girl down the small hill. It latched quickly unto her, the beast's claws digging deep on the sides of the huntress' body, her blades pushing back against the fangs of death. It growled in anger and it was equally met with the roar of the huntress. It pushed unto its hind legs and the huntress did the same, she pushed harder against its fangs with her left, her other blade coming from the right to strike down unto its face. The Grimm's lower set of eyes darting to the blade, its furs hackling in warning.

It jumped away quickly before the blade could even have bludger unto its face, its claws raked across the sides of the huntress as it moved away, leaving deeper wounds into the injured warrior. The Grimm licked its lips, the smell of blood arousing its predatory instincts of the kill. Red eyes observed every movement of its prey and it stared into the eyes of the hunter as it moved to and fro, waiting for the opportune moment to retaliate.

"Fuck…" The huntress cursed as she stood tall, holding unto her sides as she bled from her wounds. It stung, the sharp pain making her hiss. She looked unto her left hand, crimson covered the grip of her blade and the paleness of her hand. Her eyes met the Grimms own in challenge, she smirked despite the dull throbbing pain that emitted from her wound. An eerie azure glow enveloped her, deep bleeding wounds came to a stop but her torn flesh only healed ever so slowly from the azure aura that encompassed her whole being.

A heavy feeling settled in her mind, almost clouding her but she ignored it nonetheless. Adrenaline rushed into her veins as she smiled wickedly at the monstrous beast of the forest.

"Bring it, kitty cat."

Get Up by All Good Things on Youtube

Emilia rolled down the small hill like a log, yelping in pain in her descent before finally tumbling and hitting the ground, the air in her lungs leaving her as she wheezed at the electric shock of pain that coursed through her left shoulder which she had landed on prior to her descent.

"Hey-!"

Her angry retort ended shortly the moment her eyes landed on the bleeding huntress, shock rolled off of her body in waves. Scrambling to stand-up on the damp slope of where she rolled as she berated herself for being so caught up in her world to the point she didn't even notice the Grimm that had snuck up on them. She was supposed to be the Guardian, always the protector and never the protected. Emilia cussed at her own failing as she made her way to the huntress.

'Why the hell is this thing damp as hell?! I don't remember it raining here… Bloody fucking luck!"

Her mind was whirling with vicious abandon at her own failing yet she wondered at how she could have failed at something so simple. Even then she wouldn't be so distracted so easily with something as a weapon, even if her curiosity was eating her alive. She wouldn't even let her guard to start with and she reacted faster than any of the stationed guards of her village. Her brows furrowed in contemplation and frustrated anger.

'No time for wandering…'

With gritted teeth she threaded through the slippery slope of the hill, feet and arms caked in mud and sweat. Emilia growled as she continued to slip down, her frustration bleeding through and tiny jolts of electricity danced across her arms and feet.

'I'll beat the living shit out of that bloo-!'

The huntress could hear the faraway grunts and the telltale signs of the Guardian trying to make its way towards her but made no move to tear her eyes away from the monstrous being in front of her. The Grimm stalked on its paws, prowling to and fro in front of her with the same predatory grace it had shown earlier. Without the cover of the dense forest the Grimm was visible for all eyes to see, so similar to the king of the animals that are often present in wooded lands. Yet it gave an ethereal crimson glow around it, a sense of danger enveloped it. Enyo tensed apprehensively at the beast and it looked toward her with something akin to amusement. She sneered at it but continued to watch its every move; the beast's steps far too silent to be normal, and far too different from the common Grimm that would often lurk the outskirts of southern Vale.

'What the hell is this thing?'

The beast stood slowly on its hind legs, its upper body cracking and reforming as a new set of limbs jutted out below the first pair. A slit formed on its forehead before opening into a shape of an eye, crimson veins running along the outer rims of it and connecting through the carvings along its white skulled face. It blinked once, twice, before looking at her and letting out a guttural imitation of a distorted laughter. The huntress grimaced at the odd sound and continued to do so when a heavy feeling of cloudiness descended on her, mind blurring and eyes dazing. She shook her head at an effort to shrug off the weariness that suddenly enveloped her. With gritted teeth she willed herself to move but stumbled at her first step; she peered down, eyes going wide.

'What the?! Since when did the land here become slippery?!'

Her foot slipped on mudded ground that seemed to be sinking her slowly but surely, she cussed at the sudden change in terrain. And the moment her eyes left the lion-like Grimm, it struck its move. Azure eyes watched in slow motion as its right paw rose for a swift and deadly blow to her head. The speed of the beast was inhuman and the huntress far too slow and sluggish, trapped even, and was forced to face her painful fate. Her aura flared in defense for her, hands holding blades trying in vain to deflect it. Eyes dilating and turning black as deep violet veins sprouted from the corners of her eyes. The Grimm roared and she retaliated with her own inhuman roar.

'Oh, fuck me…'

While emerald eyes from below the sidelines widened in alarm.

"No!"

In the end, instincts will always take over.

Thunderous sounds of crackling thunder erupted from the earth they stood on, everything slowed for the Guardian. Lightning tracked her every movement and leaving trails in her wake, arms and legs filled with the hollow markings of yellow lines, glowing with power. Hands raised, a bright yellow light erupted from the centre of her open palms as she aimed at the beast.

"Holy fuck!"

Smoke and dust arose from the broken sounds of tree snapping and from the sounds of lightning snapping on obsidian flesh resounded with a deafening sound; Emilia yelped as the force of her shot rebounded to her. Once more falling down on dried land and rolling down the steep slope, a distance away from the same huntress who jumped away from the blast. She groaned before immediately standing up, panicked green eyes gazing at her surroundings.

'Wait… Dry land…'

Emilia turned her gaze down on the broken earth, confusion setting in her already addled mind. It was dry and different from the damp, muddled ground she had first set on. Her fingers twitched in adrenaline as she moved her gaze away from the ground and to the clearing smoke before slowly slinking away and jogging her way towards the heaving huntress. A frown made its way on her lips, brows furrowed in continued confusion.

"Are you alright?" Emilia asked and the huntress merely waved a hand before coughing into a weathered gloved hand.

"Yeah… Yeah, I am…" Enyo slowly replied back as she brushed the dust off of her pants. Her eyes drifted down and narrowed at the absence of mud from her dark leathered boots. Her dark eyes narrowed further in suspicion, grip tightening around the handles of her blades.

'I wonder…'

Both women raised their heads to the sudden sounds of cracking and snapping of wood, along with the angered distorted yowls of pain that accompanied it. From the burnt broken trees, emerged the Grimm, it limped as it walked and was farring much worse than Enyo had anticipated. She smiled at that. The black lion had burnt marks on its skull and a trail of cracks along it, exposing its thick ichor blood to the air as it hissed in pain, snarling as it did so. Its upper left arm missing, sizzling and disintegrating the opened wound it left as black smoke escaped from it.

'Kid wasn't just for show after all… And looks like this guy lost an arm from the crossfire…'

The Grimm rose its muzzle to the air before swiveling its head down towards them, roaring in anger as it charged towards them. Its ethereal red glow reemerging once more, Enyo raised her blades in front of her whilst Emilia tensed besides her.

"Emilia! Move and wait for my signal!"

Emilia acted on instinct as she dove to her right while the huntress to the left of her. The Grimm ran past, missing them and bulldozing the tree behind them, crashing as it did so. It growled in frustration and merely shook its head as it stood up to turn. The tree behind it falling away, leaves rustling as it fell down with a resounding boom. Enyo looked at it in worry, sweat dripping down her dirtied face and smearing her face with the coarse feeling of damp ashes. Azures stared at the damage the Grimm had caused to the fallen tree.

'Only one Grimm and it can easily break trees in half with just one charge…'

As the Grimm slowly turned from its dizzying charge, the huntress threw a red crystal into the air, its crimson hues reflecting the rays of the sun as it landed by the foot of the black lion with a resounding clack of crystal meeting earth. With her command already at the tip of her tongue, she yelled.

"Now!"

Emilia sprang into action her hands already raised and her reservoir of lightning was at the ready. Her open palm glowed a bright yellow once more, the veins around her body glowing a similar yellow hue as her hands let out another round of raw power. Lightning erupted and struck forward at the standing beast, it roared as white hot flame licked across its body as the electricity danced to and fro on ripped and searing flesh. The electric shock was bigger Emilia hissed as she held her hands to her chest as she heaved in pain, fingers twitching as small jolts escaped from the tips of her fingers. She groaned as she slowly kneeled unto the floor as she cradled her shaking hands.

'Oh boy… That's going- That's definitely going to leave a mark- Fuck! This burns!'

Emilia grimaced at the pain that traveled along her hands to the entirety of her arms and chest, she trembled as she heaved a sigh, trying her best to ignore the electric shocks of pain bouncing around her own flesh. Her nose picked up the smell of burning wood and the sickening smell of roasted flesh; she willed herself to look up, eyes narrowed in pain as she hissed. The Grimm was gurgling with its own blood, a choked snarl forcing its way out of its maws but only managed to sputter out its bloody ichor. Its body was marred with the burning visage of charred flesh, both right of it arms gone and disintegrating on the soil, and Emilia grinned at the damaged she inflicted on the beast, even as sweat dripped down her face but her amusement did not last.

The black lion looked at her in absolute unbridled fury, the entirety of its skull was damaged, broken shards of bones stabbing against its own flesh, and its own third eye was bleeding on top of its head. Without most of its limbs missing and one its hind legs with a limp, it could barely do much to hurt the two and yet the crimson glow was enveloping its being once again, much powerful from before as a line started to emerge from its chest, splitting sputtering its own blood on the charred soil it stood on. A red eye glared at her from the centre of its chest, Emilia's eyes widened as the eye started to glow a dark crimson, growing ever so surely. She closed her eyes as she willed herself to stand but was unable to as her feet started to sink on the muddy soil, breathing in heavily, she braced herself for the incoming new round of pain.

Yet she felt nothing but the piercing howls of distorted anger and agony.

The Grimm roared once more in pain before silence was immediately met. Emilia slowly opened her eyes — watched as a sword jutted out through the expanse of the Grimm's middle eye, ichor blood flooding out as the woman twisted her blade and took it out, leaving a gaping hole at the centre of its chest.

Watched as the beast's head lolled down before falling unto the ground, a resounding thud escaping as it was followed by its own lifeless body. Wispy obsidian smoke trailing and escaping from its rotting carcass, and behind it stood the huntress in all her glory — eyes still in its obsidian colour, popped veins across her face throbbing with adrenaline, clothes coated in the sickly colour of the Grimm's blood, and her own bladed hands covered in the entirety of it with one of the beast's entrails sliding off of one of her blades and disappearing into the wind.

Enyo walked forward, her hands sheathing her bloodied blade, paying no heed to the liquid seeping into the loop of her pants. She heaved a sigh as she kneeled besides the Guardian, a gentle smile breaking through her lips. Her hand resting against the younger girl's head as she patted her with her soaked hand, the huntress chuckled at that as she tainted the girl's head with the disintegrating blood but the Guardian only continued to scowl at the action.

Emilia could feel the sticky liquid seeping into her hair regardless of it turning into smoke, she gave the huntress a glare and it only served to make the woman laugh harder.

"Let's rest here for a while. Take all the time you need."

They both smile at that and Emilia let herself fall unto the grassy floor, heaving out the last vestige of her adrenaline. Finally, letting the sharp spark of pain to appear and disappear — she closed her eyes with gritted teeth and let the darkness of slumber take her.

"Sweet dreams, kid."

When the Guardian awoke, the sky was already dimming into the gentle hues of orange and blue of the setting sun and of the rising moon. Her muscles ached from the strain from moments ago but most of the pain she had felt then was long gone, she was simply tired now — groggy even.

"Sleep well?"

Emilia jolted from the voice, turning around she came to face the huntress just behind her; sat against the trunk of the tree as her head rested against the bark of it. Emilia looked at her in surprise but her shock slowly melted away but the older woman looked back at her passively and the Guardian looked on confused at the inquisitive stare she was being given. Minutes passed and the woman only continued to stare, making the girl queasy at the uncomfortable silence. The woman's stare was perhaps neutral or carefully measured to others eyes but Emilia was if not instinctual than most and she shuffled in her spot at the sudden awkward turn of the huntress. A stagnant silence enveloped the two warriors, each staring at each other before the older of the two narrowed her eyes before letting out a tired sigh.

"You did well out there although reckless. I'll admit, you're powerful but that's it. Just power." Enyo commented and Emilia jumped at that, a 'thank you' was at the tip of her tongue but the inkling feeling of nervousness bit at her heels like a dog and she continued to squirm at that thought, it did not help with the pervasive stare the huntress was giving her — thus she kept her mouth shut.

"I know you're aware. Your so called… 'Elders.' They aren't the most tactful of people in all due honesty." Enyo continued as she let out a sigh, "They sent you on a little mission to watch me, thinking I had some hidden agenda. Well, that's true. I do but my mission here to study other cultures? That's also true…" She paused as she clasped her hands together, watching the Guardian continue to fidget in front of her. Enyo chuckled at that. "Scared? Don't worry. I was merely… assessing you per say."

"What do you mean?" Emilia looked up at that, confusion reflecting in her eyes and the huntress merely smiled in reply. "What I see is a child with irrepressible power, a power she freely let out at her behest, decimating Grimm with such ease yet I see that as wasted potential." And Emilia frowned at that comment but made no move to give her on remark and simply let the huntress continue. "Wasted potential because that is all there is to it. Power. No technique, no style, no thought… You react instinctually while that's good, it's not something you should do always. You're raw power in its purest form who does not know how to release it in a better way. So… Let me give you a choice. I'm not stupid, I can see the weariness in your eyes and the underlying fear you have towards your leaders." At that the Guardian winced, how the huntress noticed that she'll never know. She had made sure she never let herself be noticed to the way she often tensed when they passed by the Council's Hall or when one of them was taking their walk. So Emilia merely wondered.

'How the hell…'

But the rumination of her thoughts were halted at the sound of the very woman herself grunting in discomfort and watched as the huntress stood and padded away the dirt off of her clothes before making her way towards Emilia. She stopped by merely two feet away as Enyo looked down and Emilia up at each other. Older azure's reflecting with fiery determination and younger jade's looking on in confusion with an underlying fear that the huntress took note of but regardless softened at to let the girl ease herself.

"Do you wish to be free?"

The huntress had said it so seriously, her hand raised for the Guardian to grasp. Emilia could not even deny the surprise in her eyes, nor could she stop the hitch in her voice as she looked on in surprise, mouth agape at the sudden question.

"W-What do you m-mean?"

"I'm asking. Do you wish to be free?"

Emilia pursed her lips at that, brows furrowed, and her eyes shone with different flickering emotions — confusion, sadness, frustration, happiness, conflict… Enyo simply looked on, her gentle gaze never leaving hers even as she was lost in her own troubled thoughts.

'Can she be free? Knowing what binds her to this very land.'

'Is freedom even possible?'

'What about the Elders? Her village?'

'Will I just leave that all behind just for a sudden invitation for freedom?'

'Just like that?'

'But if it were real then…'

"Can… I be free?" Finally, she whispered the words she had long to say throughout her life. Her voice quivered with a nervous energy, lips trembling as did her hands but the emotion behind her eyes did not lie and the older woman smiled at that. At last, she saw the true colours of the girl before her.

Enyo knelt and grasped the other's hand as she stood. She could see it now, the reflecting emotions in those green eyes of the girl.

Unchained and free.

The premonition of liberation.

"You always had been."

"Then… Then please… Please set me free!"

The Guardian held the huntress' hand tightly as she said those words and in turn she was pulled up to stand, eye to eye, the older woman smiled and a burning fire arose within the deeps of her azure. An emotion that was reflected from Emilia's own emerald eyes.

The kindling fires of hope.

"Like I said kid, you always had been. It only takes a bit of courage to walk away from the shackles that binds you."

The two smiled at each other as the younger of the two cried silently in the gentle silence of the afternoon glow of the forest. For once the excitable child was finally filled with the breath of life.

'After all, it's a huntsman's' job to help those in need.'

Celtic Music - Ancient Storm by Adrian von Ziegler on Youtube

Sometimes to attain freedom,

One must set themselves away from the things that is often familiar to them.

Familiarity tends to bind the souls of the deprived to their homeland.

An endless chapter of their lives.

A broken melody going in a discorded repeat.

The self-loathing that manifests in the deepest parts of our souls.

The anger. The hatred. The sorrow.

You feel that do you not?
Of chains and commands tying you down like a worthless animal.

No self-worth. No justice. No means of freedom.

A never ending cycle of repetition.

Forced to be the same.

A shell of ourselves.

So when we set ourselves apart from the others, we become different from the dictated norms.
Yet without the novelty of intricate indifference, then what are beings such as we?
Who views the difference as a sin to our own selves or rather, to our own doctrinity.

We evolve, we advance, yet we cannot set aside our own deviations.
Thus, we bound ourselves in chains and orders to sustain and maintain a controlled order of power.

So that they may manipulate what they wish to see.
What they envision the world should be.
That hierarchy is to be followed to maintain order.

That the regime of the interest of the few is the key to prosperity.

It is in that decision that malice is created.

The inferior obeys the bidding of the superior.

The rich getting richer, the poor becoming poorer.

The innocent forsaken and the wicked spared.

It all simply comes down to the tripping of power, the lies told to the people, the blood spilt on homes, the betrayals of the faithful, and the hypocrisy of it all.

What is freedom?

When power ruled.

When power conquered.

When power commanded.

The answer had always been so simple.

More often than not, overlooked by the naked eye.

Freedom is power.

It is what the history of our kingdoms had always fought for.

It is the embodiment, the idea of which our nations had roused from.

The origins of our selfish ideals.

Freedom is power…

Because in the end,

Power had always been everything in this maddened world.

And with freedom comes power,

And with power comes …

Greed.

How ironic.

_ _ E _

GRIMM ARCHIVES

Grimm Archives.

Accessed.

Permission granted.

Welcome huntress, Enyo Megaera.

Grimm Confirmation: Permission granted.

Accessing data.

Data accessed.

— Newly identified Grimm type: Confirmed. —

Identified Grimm: Yet to be decided. [Usama-?]

Records of Descry: 16

Records of Encounter: 1

General Name: Yet to be decided.

Classification: Usama-?

Place of Origin: Tentative - Southwest of Vale, Near the borders of Vacuo.

Threat Level of Grimm: Tentative - Rank of Maahes.

Traits: Currently Unknown. Requires further research.

Strengths: Currently Unknown. Requires further research.

Weaknesses: Currently Unknown. Requires further research.

Biography: Several accounts had been recorded of a lion-like type of Grimm being sighted between Vale and Vacuo. Associated firsthand encounter of the lion-like Grimm was noted from the cultural report of huntress, Enyo Megaera, along with civilian remarks noted from Emilia Viridian of Imoogi village.

Dubbed as Usama for its lion-like appearance. Firsthand encounter had described its distinguishable characteristic to be having a third eye at the middle of its forehead and three sets of limbs with the ability to stand on its hind legs. With the common features found in Grimm: bone-like plating, red eyes with similar crimson carvings on its ornate skull-like mask, and protruding spikes noted to be littering across its shoulders and along its spine which ends in two splitted, spiked tails.

Number of spikes were said to be few, concluding the Grimm to be a juvenile. Whether it runs in pack or alone still needs confirmation.

The huntress and the civilian had described the experience of battling it to be 'distracting'. Researchers have speculated that it had something to do with the Grimm's unique ability or a side-effect caused by the encounter but further data is required in order to give a final assessment.

Based from the evidences of the encounter and the records of the descry, it is tentatively believed that the Grimm's residing origin is within the southwest forest of Vale, nearing the borders of Vacuo.

Furthermore, in depth research is required in order to assess whether the Usama is only one type of Grimm or has an underlying subspecies. Along with further data needed to assess whether if the Grimm is only native to Vale or Vacuo or around the other kingdoms as well.

(Tentative Data. Requires further research for complete overview of newly confirmed Grimm type within the outskirts of Vale and Vacuo.)

End of Chapter.

Preview of the next chapter: "Father… Isn't that a wanted vessel?"
"You can't catch me now, coppers!"

"Yes… I-.. It appears that would be the case."

A/N: Again, I would like to thank everyone for joining the SYOC and for those who tried their best as well! I thank you for waiting for so long for this chapter. I do heavily apologise for the lateness of this.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the series so far. Yes, series. I plan on making a continuation of this in the future. I plan on making a side-story for this in companion to the main one which is the By The Creed, of course but that's just future plans after all. An easier to read version of this is on AO3, it has a better formatting than of FFs. It's under the same title name but author's name is YuriSensei, basically without the dash.

Emilia was the first one to join the SYOC and the first one to appear on the chapter. Coincidence? Well perhaps, out of all the characters I thought she was the best to start the first arc and chapter of the story. I plan on making this story's pacing a slow burn per say, I want to build bonds, build up the tension, the story, and the likes. Just being fast paced with it like everything feels like its just breezing it by, it does not sit well with me. I hope you understand, if I seem quite slow in the coming chapters or the pacing is slow. I'm building a universe here. I just don't want it to be just that like one scene poof! Unto the next arc! No. I really don't want that so I hope for your understanding, I want it to be as detailed as possible. But with how slow it is does this mean it will be really long? Filled with loads of chapters? Who knows. We'll see. In all honesty, I made this story because my mind kept bugging me and I just rolled with it, and I honestly didn't expect that a lot of people wanted to join in on it. So pretty much, I have several ideas here but no concrete planning, well that's a lie I do have plans but they're all scattered at the moment and nothing in line as of yet. We'll see as there are so much situations you can do with the given cast.

I hope I managed to portray Emilia's personality well, you can already guess from here that she's a meek but boisterous little girl and impulsive as well whose kinda forced to act like a stoic and cold kid because of the Elders and I hope I did that well in portraying those emotional characteristics. As the owner of the character did note that she has a minor case of ADHD, to be truthful I had a hard time trying to portray this out of all the parts as I write some scenes based on experiences and from what I have gathered. So I hope I didn't offend anyone if it seemed wrong per say, I just had no one to actually talk to about how I could portray this well as I am not someone who experiences it nor know someone who does. If someone has any advice for me on how to write it better please feel free to do so and perhaps in the future I can revise it into something much better.

The other thing, I really need to improve my writing on the fighting scenes, I managed to write what I had in mind but I think it's not enough? If that makes sense like I want it to be a good chunk more but then again they were only fighting with one Grimm! So hopefully I can improve on that in the future.

On the other note, I am aware that this was long overdue, I apologise for that due to my schedule and some insatisfaction on my part due to some scenes that I had to scrap. If you have kept track of the news, 3.5k words went to 2.8k due to me scrapping that said scene, I didn't realise I wrote a lot but in the end I managed. Then came more scrapping of scenes, courtesy of Snake helping me whether if the given scene was too early to be given away or not. In the end, rinse and repeat, I was not satisfied with a lot of scenes since as said it seemed too early and I felt like I didn't portrayed Emilia's character well there. Thus, a lot of revision was made from a lot of these scenes. I got a huge scrap of backlog right now of crapped scenes, about nine pages worth actually. Writing this was relatively easier for me, compared to my other others stories since if I think about it. I'm somewhat confined to canon aspects when writing a story in a given series as compared to these kinds, I'm relatively free on what I envision what would happen to different events that has a possibility to happen as well as having the cooperation of their respective creators as I'm merely using that series' universe. If this rumbling of mine even makes sense. Also, I'm just generally busy being a science student or in this case a medical student. My internship started on January 3, so my writing time had been affected greatly, coupled with endless family problems that keeps biting on my ass; mostly from my father causing family drama and my graduation that happened mid-April, schedule had been hectic for me. So I apologies in advance for that.

Now to address some reviews. Thanks for those who left some kind messages, as for Rose and new reader, and ChillyIce; I apologise for the delay but I do hope you understand, I've been busy with my life and all that but here you have it the first chapter. As for Muse, I understand your sentiment but please do take note that I'm not relatively fond of being rushed and thus understand why you said you weren't harping and such. To give in further detail; I strive for quality over quantity and if you've read through this long A/N then you would know half of the reasons are from my insatisfaction of some scenes, family, etc. thus causing delays. Now I hope you guys don't equate the delays as a discontinuation. I've seen a lot of people saying they wouldn't abandon a story but actually do while it takes me months, that doesn't really equate to me discontinuing a story or abandoning them if it seemed like that. I'm not like that, I already have future chapters written out with more stories for the RWBY fandom planned out in the backlog, I'm just a relatively slow writer with a busy schedule. I hope you understand, medical school isn't some cake walk and it takes most of my time because while I'm a stranger on the internet, I still do have a rather busy life but nonetheless I thank you for the encouragement and understand your sentiment well, though no worries. While I can't promise for earlier chapters, as I said I strive for quality over quantity for the story, if one compares this stories for example with one of my old ones, Petals Upon Footprints On Snow, you can see the vast improvement I had with this compared to my writing during that time. As during those times I was more focused on the Word Count than the actual quality of my story and since then I've matured and improved from my writing back then.

In any case, I did plan on making side-stories to accompany this to satiate everyone's curiosity but I'm not sure if people were fond of that as it would be deemed as spoilers? In terms of the pairing only anyways, it's not like I'll be actually putting any really heavy stuff there, just like parts in the story that didn't fit within the main story itself like a Christmas special or something but nonetheless I am open to everyone's opinion on that matter.

Now for this part, feel free to ignore it or read it. It is your choice but I had given my warning.

In reply to Ember. Judging by the name you used for yourself, I think we have a good idea as to who you are but I will digress on that idea as it can be anybody after all. So here's my reply to you, 'Ember'. I may say that I am the most passive and calm of people in face of actions like this but if I have to defend myself along with the people who helped me with this and make a point out of it, then I will. "I hope this story will be a failure, for rejecting my oc, no OC will ever reach your high standard and will never satisfy or meet your expectation, because of that i hope people will stop submitting OC on your story." Let's break it down, do you really think that if I set my standards so low, I'd make a great story? No, it'll end up like some random trash ass story filled with edgelords with OP powers running about acting like their character is god or some Mary Sue character or a literal copycat of a RWBY character cause that's what you seem to be pertaining to right? To lower my standards. I set it high for a good reason, to make a well-written and driven story with good characters that can become something more and develop them more as a character, because I want to create a world that's different but still within the universal context of RWBY but of a different timeline and the likes. I don't write a story to make it half-assed, I put effort into it. Do you really think I didn't do any research into making this?

Now next one would be the fact people will never meet our satisfaction or meet our expectation? If we were never satisfied nor were people able to meet our expectations then we wouldn't have any of the cast we have now wouldn't we? I have three people helping me look at the SYOC Applications. We assess whether the character is good or not. We give advices, suggestions, and ideas to the ones we have both accepted and rejected. That includes you, 'Ember' but if our guess as to who you are is correct, then you're one of those few who continually ignore most of our suggestions and advices. Honestly, there are so many other SYOC out there not just this. If you were really not satisfied with how we limit the characters prowess to avoid it turning into a Mary Sue or an OP character or into some god-like being, then you could have just joined a different SYOC or made your own and removed that restriction. Simply put you could have moved on from it. But in the end, it's honestly disappointing that you would stoop so low to add a review that isn't remotely in concerns with constructive criticism or any of the sorts, in which your reasoning is because your character was simply rejected and decided reviewing it with a little petty comment. Other than that, nothing I can do about with what you want. I may have the final decision but if the majority says no, then it is a definite no.

Also, to our dear readers. I apologise if that call out seemed quite harsh but it was something I needed to address. Snake, Chrono, and Biis, the ones helping me were very much made aware of a certain situation concerning an event that transpired about a few months ago, in which that event came to the point it took a toll on me greatly, creatively and time wise. I'll be honest, my time was swamped more in assessing that person's or rather people's characters, if our guess is correct, than me being able to move the first chapter forward. A reason for the delay as well but enough of that little sad stuff! I know this is quite a very long note but...

Belated Happy Halloween, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Valentine's Day, and April Fools Day everyone! I hope you all had a good time during those occasions. In any case, I thank you all for being patient with me on this overdued chapter.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. If you guys noticed any grammatical errors or typos, or any of the sort, heck, even advice to improve my writing. Feel free to tell as I have noticed compared to my old stories, I had come far in terms of writing style! English is just my second language after all. Other than that, I will see you all at a later date. Have a good day everyone.

Thus, I bid you my farewell.

-Keres

TL;DR: Thanks for everyone who joined especially to those who helped. There will be a companion story for this in the future. The story will be a bit slow paced as I want to build the world and of the characters. And yes, the first chapter is late. Apologies for that. Anyways any errors seen in the first chapter, feel free to point it out.

Honestly, still not fond of FF's story format. Just read the better format on AO3 (YuriSensei) it should be easier to read than this cluster of paragraphs.