Weiss walked across the courtyard that lead to the front halls of Beacon Academy. The sun shone high in the sky, but most of the other students were in class. The ones that were out though, were stunned to see Weiss there at all. Weiss heard the whispers as they passed through the air around her, a mixed feeling of shock, curiosity and a hint of fear hung in their midst. Yet despite the strange attention that she got, Weiss reveled in it, their reactions pushing her forward even closer towards Beacon's halls.

'Things still look the same here,' She thought to herself. 'Then again, it has only been three months since I was gone. I'm sure that my team will be glad to see me since my departure wasn't under the best of circumstances. Hopefully they missed me as much as I did them.'

In the time that she had been gone much about Weiss had changed. She now wore pants instead of her skirt, as well as a jacket that covered her entire front, as well as wrapped tightly around her arms. She wore a white scarf which she currently had lifted partially over her face, with the two ends draped across her back, covering the two holes in the back of her jacket and shirt. She still had her hair in an off center ponytail, but her eyes seemed to give off a dark glare when others looked upon them.

As Weiss walked back through the front archway of Beacon Academy, only one thought crossed her mind.

'I'm back.'

3 Months Ago

It was a typical mission to the Emerald Forest, travel with one of the professors on a supervised field trip. Weiss couldn't understand just why they had to come out to the forest to do some studying on the Grimm, but Professor Port insisted that it happen, and there was no escaping it. Weiss just waited for the trip to be over, but they were going to spend the day out there, so it wouldn't be likely for a few hours at least.

By the time they reached lunch, Weiss was wishing that she was back in the dorm studying instead of being out in the jungle. She was tired, sweaty, and her legs were starting to ache from all of the walking they had done in the day. Even though she started her day gung ho and enthusiastic about how the trip was going to go, despite her concerns for it, now she had lost all motivation to keep excited about it.

As if by some random act, the company of students saw a swarm of young nevermore fly out of a nearby cave, passing in between them as they flew. As the students reacted, they pulled out weapons and started to take aim at the creatures when they were out of the crowd of students, dropping the beasts with quick resolve.

During this commotion however, Weiss felt a sharp pain in her arm. Looking down at the cause, she saw one of the nevermore had sunk its teeth into her arm. Shaking it off, she watched as it flew off, managing to dodge every bullet sent in its direction. After it got away, Weiss took a bandage out and wrapped up her arm to keep it from bleeding, and once she was done, she paid no mind to it.

'I'm a huntress, well, training to become one,' She thought to herself. 'A simple bite shouldn't be cause for concern. It'd just slow me down.'

And so she continued on her way, not bothering to mention her injury to anyone.

Present Time

'In hindsight, I should have probably said something to Professor Port about it,' Weiss thought as she continued to walk along the academy grounds. 'Maybe something could have been done if we had been fast enough to notice it.'

After Weiss had been bitten by the young nevermore, she became sick. It was then that she found out that being bitten by a Grimm turned you into one yourself. Ozpin explained that while no one that they new of who had been bitten was alive, that didn't mean that Weiss was doomed. She was given a choice, stay in a medical facility and be turned into a scientific pin cushion, or take her chances in the emerald forest and let the bite run its course in the hopes that she would come out of it alright.

For Weiss though, she managed to make it through, but she came out of it changed. A dark presence remained inside of her, blended in with the light. It became a part of her, one that she learned how to control and utilize whenever she needed it.

Weiss was now a human/Grimm hybrid.

The change hadn't been entirely bad for Weiss, her natural skill set growing as a result of this new aspect of her life. She had increased strength from her Grimm side, and she could utilize the Grimm's ability to sense negative emotion. It acted almost like a radar for her, telling her who was mad, depressed, or even just feeling sad about something. And when she herself got mad, she was sure to utilize that Grimm side of her in a fight.

Since it was nearly lunch time when she arrived, she walked over to the cafeteria, where she knew the rest of her team would be. She wanted to meet with them first and foremost to bask in the warmth of her teammates care, especially her own partners, who happened to be a giant ball of positivity. She wouldn't say it out loud, but Weiss had to thank Ruby for getting her through the past three months, even if it was just the thought of her partner that kept her going.

Feeling a cadre of different emotions coming from the other side of the door, Weiss opened it up and saw something she didn't expect to see.

'You've got to be kidding me.'

5 Minutes Earlier

Ruby was feeling down, she had been feeling upset for the past few months, ever since Weiss went away. Extended Medical Leave, that's what they had all said it was. Ruby however, was one of the very few people who knew the truth behind Weiss' disappearance, with Blake, Yang and Ozpin being the rest who knew. Whenever someone had asked her about what happened to Weiss, Ruby would just clam up and refuse to talk with anyone about what was going on.

She hated how some people just couldn't see that she wasn't interested in telling them about it. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't tell them the truth under authority from Ozpin. She assumed it was to keep the rest of the students under the guise that they would all be ok, but that wasn't entirely the case. After talking about the issue with Blake, Ruby realized that another reason for the secrecy was because of who it was that had been affected by this terrible demise.

Because of the nature of Weiss' life, she was someone who had the eyes of the world on her. If people knew that she had been bitten by a Grimm, her father would most likely bring the academy down, curse the name of anyone who wanted to become a Huntsman, and force her teammates to become fugitives of the law, if he didn't already call for their executions. Add onto that the field day the media would have, and the potential for disaster was ever so present to Ruby.

Once she had grabbed her food, and avoided the gaze of most of the student body, she plopped down next to Yang at the table and began to pick at her food. While Yang and Blake were saddened by Weiss' departure, Ruby took it the worst. She didn't eat as much, and she slept most of her free time away, no longer enjoying the things she used to enjoy while Weiss was around.

Noticing Ruby's saddened expression didn't put a surprise on Yang's face, but she wouldn't let that stop her from trying to help her sister.

"Hey, so you want to go out into Vale with me tomorrow Rubes?" Yang asked, trying to sound cheerful. Even if she didn't want to sound happy right then and there, she needed to try and be a positive influence on Ruby. "I hear they're having that new movie you've been looking forward to seeing in theaters."

"Not interested, Yang," Ruby deadpanned.

Yang let her head droop a little bit. "Ruby come on, you've haven't been the same in months and we're all worried about you." She started to rub Ruby's back in the hopes that it would help. "I know these past few months have been tough, but you are really scaring me with how you have been dealing with this."

Ruby shook off Yang's hand after she finished speaking. "Well, I'm sorry that my own partner has been gone for months, and that I'm not sure if and when she'll be getting back." Shaking her head, Ruby let the volume of her tone drop from where it was earlier so that others didn't pay any mind to them. "So please, don't try and make me feel better when you know that I won't."

Before Yang or Blake could continue to speak up, they noticed an unwanted presence at their table. There, standing over them, appeared the school bully, Cardin Winchester. He had a smirk plastered over his face that gave Yang a bad feeling, a feeling that had Blake wishing that she had her weapon on hand, and cursing herself for being careless and leaving it in her locker.

"Well well well, if it isn't all of team RWBY," Cardin mocked. "Though I suppose since you're one person short, they should change the name of your team to something more appropriate." Yang could start to feel her blood boil at the sound of Cardin's continued speech. "Speaking of which, it's been three months since Ice Queen decided to up and leave, and yet we still don't know why that happened. So," Cardin said venomously as he leaned in uncomfortably close to Ruby. "Why did she really leave?"

"Cardin, why don't you just buzz off," Blake interjected, trying her hardest to keep him from talking.

"I wasn't talking to you, so do me a favor and let the leaders do the talking, would ya?" Cardin turned his head towards the black and yellow duo of team RWBY, looking behind them in a subversive way. Before Yang and Blake could do anything though, they felt the grips of Cardin's teammates holding them back, Russel taking Blake in a choke hold, and Yang having her arms held tightly by Dove and Sky.

"Let go of them Cardin!" Ruby shouted when she saw her teammates being held captive.

"Not until you tell me what I want to know," Cardin replied. The maleficent look in his eyes was enough to force Ruby into shelling up again. "Now, what really happened to Weiss?"

"You already know, she's on medical leave," Ruby explained. After she finished, she felt Cardin's fist connect with her face.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, wrong answer red," Cardin chastised. "Let's try this again. What happened to her?"

Rubbing her face where Cardin's fist connected with it, Ruby continued where she left off earlier. "I just told you, she's on medi-" Cardin didn't even let her finish what she was going to say before throwing his fist at her face.

"You know, this would go a lot easier on you if you just cooperated with me," Cardin grumbled. "Now for the last time, what the hell happened to Weiss? Is she even alive?"

Yang and Blake could only watch and struggle as they saw Ruby, who had a cut on her lip and a bloody mouth, pit in Cardin's face. Some of the blood landed on him, and they could see the anger in his eyes. "Go to hell Cardin," Ruby growled. Now it was her turn to get upset with the way she had been treated.

With fury in his eyes, Cardin raised his fist and prepared to strike Ruby with all of his strength. Bracing herself for the hit, Ruby was somewhat surprised when it didn't come. Looking at the fist, she saw an all too familiar glyph appear around it, holding Cardin's fist in place. Her gaze then turned towards the door, the form of her partner Weiss bringing a smile to her face for the first time in a while.

"Cardin, care to explain to me why my partner has a bloody lip, and why you're teammates are holding Blake and Yang back against their will?" Weiss asked as she walked forward towards the group. Every step she took every inch closer sent a cold chill running down everyone's spine. As Weiss reached them, Ruby knew one thing, Weiss had changed.

"No reason," Cardin groaned, motioning for his teammates to release Blake and Yang. "We were just asking about you, but I guess that isn't necessary anymore."

Weiss looked at him with a stare that could freeze a forest fire. "Good, then you should have no problem walking away before I make you leave."

"Heh, fine," Cardin conceded. As he walked away, he passed Weiss and left one last remark before he left. "I think you should be looking for a new partner though, the one you have now seems to be useless."

In an instant everyone felt the room grow darker, even though nothing physically changed. Yang was ready to deck Cardin in the face, Ruby looked at the ground, but Blake saw something that froze her in place.

She saw the look in Weiss' eyes, and how her eyes started to turn gold in a blink.

Before Cardin could get too far away, Weiss was right behind him, grabbing his shoulder and twisting him around. While he spun, she swung her fist right into his face and sent him flying into the wall, resulting in a sickening crack when his body made contact. The force of the fist she threw broke his jaw, and the resulting collision had broken more than a few ribs in his body. End result, he wasn't going to be doing much for the near foreseeable future.

Eyes shut, Weiss could feel the fear in the rest of team CRDL, thanks to her Grimm half. "Leave my teammates alone, or you'll be next," She whispered menacingly to them. They got the message she was sending and ran over to Cardin's body to drag him away. Weiss, with her eyes now back to their natural color, returned to her teammates, who all looked shocked at what they just saw.

"So," Weiss called out to them, snapping them out of their reverie. "Miss me much?"

"Oh my god I can't believe what you just did back there, that was absolutely incredible!" Ruby could barely contain her excitement at seeing Weiss again. Now that she had her partner back, the leader of team RWBY became the little red ball of energy that everyone remembered her as. It had put a bright smile on Weiss' face to see her partner as excited as she was at the white haired girls return. Weiss had felt a hand on her shoulders, and turned to see Yang smiling brightly.

"Ruby's right, that was insane," Yang interjected. "That hit looked like it hurt quite a bit."

Chuckling, Weiss pushed some of her hair behind the ear. "Thanks guys, you have no idea how much I missed you all." Weiss was telling the truth with that, she had missed her teammates the most during her time away from Beacon. "In any case, I should probably go see Professor Ozpin to let him know that I've returned."

"Oh oh, we'll go with you!" Ruby proclaimed, with Yang agreeing wholeheartedly. While Blake agreed to go, she still had a nagging thought in the back of her mind after seeing Weiss' eyes change in a heartbeat. She decided to keep a closer eye on Weiss to ensure that she wasn't a threat to any of them. Despite her concern about Weiss, Blake was still relieved to have her back with them.

"Well then, we should probably make our way over there now," Weiss said. Leading the others to Ozpin's office, Weiss felt Blake's concern in the emotion and aura she gave off, something Ruby or Yang wouldn't be able to notice. She could tell that Blake was worried about what she had seen, most likely something to do with her, but she decided that she would ask Blake about it at a later time. 'It's not like she doesn't have a reason to be concerned if you ask me, she probably has good reason to be wary with me being back after what just happened.'

During the walk up to Ozpin's office, Ruby kept ranting on and on about how she missed Weiss and how when she came back, she seemed incredible. Weiss couldn't help but enjoy the pure glee that Ruby was exhuming. Her Grimm senses could tell when someone was happy, only because there would be a lack of a presence in the air that Weiss used to tell what the emotion of someone was. It was one of those moments where Weiss actually glad that she could see them through her Grimm sense, and the thought that Ruby was in such a good mood made smile even brighter.

Soon they reached the elevator to Ozpin's office. After waiting for it to reach them, the climbed in and rode up to the top. It was a long ride up, but with how Ruby was bouncing, Weiss couldn't tell one way or the other. As the elevator reached the top, she put her hands on Ruby's shoulders, and smiled. Silently though, she was sending a message to let her handle things with Ozpin as best she could, to which Ruby nodded in agreement.

As the door opened, Ozpin spoke before looking at who it was that had come in. "I hope you understand that I'm busy so what can I..." After finally seeing Weiss standing before him, his eyes went wide with shock. "It can't be...you're..."

"Alive and kicking," Weiss responded calmly. "Though it was touch and go there on a few occasions."

"Weiss, I can't believe you're here," Ozpin uttered. "You're supposed to be dead."

"Told you I'd come back," Weiss said.

Ozpin smiled at the thought. "So it would seem." Turning his attention to the rest of Weiss' team, she spoke to them next. "As much as it must be exciting to have your teammate back, there are a few things that I wish to discuss with Miss Schnee in private. I hope you understand."

Ruby gave Weiss a curious look, only to be received with a comforting smile from the white haired girl. "We'll be back at the dorm when you finish up, ok Weiss?" Ruby called out.

"Of course, I'll meet you guys there," Weiss replied. She watched her team head back to the elevator, noticing the subtle hint of sadness from Ruby before the doors shut.

After a moment of pause, Weiss' attention was drawn back to Ozpin. "So, the last time we spoke, you told me how you would rather die a free person rather than become a feeble experiment. Looking at you now, I believe you certainly made the best choice for yourself." Ozpin stood up and walked over to the window, taking a sip of his coffee as he did so. "Since we don't know what exactly happens when one suffers a Grimm bite, I hope you would be willing to explain as much as you can, so that others who experience what you did may know how to stop whatever it is that tried to kill you."

Weiss just sighed and shook her head. He didn't know what it was that she went through, she was the first person to survive a Grimm bite after all so how could he know. Looking down at her arms, she figured that she needed to tell him as much as she could. Her mind filled with memories of her experience being transformed into what she was, how she felt the worst pain in her entire life. She needed to tell someone about this, she needed her partner to hear what she had to say.

"Who says that I managed to stop the effects?"

When he heard Weiss speak, Ozpin felt his coffee grow cold to the touch, the very air around them both dropping in temperature. "What do you mean by that Weiss?"

She had control over the Grimm side of her, so she decided to let him see a little taste of what it was that happened to her. Weiss was fortunate that she had a shirt on underneath her jacket, for she let it slide off of her, revealing the Grimm markings on her arms, bloody red and terrifying. When she looked at Ozpin, her eyes were gold, much like they were earlier.

"Weiss, what happened to you?" Ozpin asked as he saw Weiss' change.

Weiss was tempted to let even more of herself become known to Ozpin, however, she stopped herself from going any further, letting her eyes return to their normal color. "The Grimm bite doesn't kill those who it affects, but rather changes them," She began to explain. "They are infused with the essence of the Grimm that bit them and gain attributes of the Grimm itself, transforming them into a human Grimm hybrid of sorts."

"What?" Ozpin didn't know what to think, the very idea of someone being half Grimm was unheard off, yet there was the proof, standing right in front of him.

"That's what actually happened to me, while I was away in the Emerald Forest for three months," Weiss continued. "The fusion of Grimm essence into my body was, painful, but I somehow managed to make it through, after I finally accepted that it was a part of me now." As she explained herself, she placed her jacket back on and covered herself up again. "So here I am, a half Grimm, half human person, and I'm back at Beacon to continue my training to become a Huntress."

"You mean to tell me that despite being part Grimm, the very creatures that we are sworn to oppose, you wish to continue becoming a Huntress?" Ozpin questioned. "Under what pretenses do you believe that I should allow that?"

Weiss almost knew that something like this would happen, so she was already prepared for the inevitable. "First, I have control over the Grimm half of me, in fact if you didn't already know about it, then it would be impossible to tell," Weiss listed. "Second, the reason that I managed to survive, is because I had a strong will, and a reason to live on. I'm not about to give up on that while I'm still alive. Third, despite being half Grimm, I can assure you that I will not let that affect my cause to protect the people, they come first after all."

Ozpin was skeptical, Weiss could tell that much, but she could also see that he was understanding her points. "If I allow you to return to this school, there must be a few steps that will be taken to keep the entire student body safe. As headmaster, it is my duty to see that ALL of my students are safe from harm, so this is something that I cannot be lenient on."

"Of course," Weiss said, comprehending what he meant by that. "I may be half Grimm, but I'm still the same person I was when I went into the forest three months ago. I'm willing to work with you on this as much as I can."

Ozpin smiled, he was glad that Weiss was back, and that she understood the position he was in with her return. "Good, the first thing, all the professors must know about your condition, and be able to pick up on any signs that you may be unleashing your Grimm half. I do believe that you have control over it, however, you must understand that I still need to take the precaution that your Grimm half will lose control and I need to be able to contain it enough that you can regain control over yourself. Do you understand?"

"Completely."

Ozpin returned to his chair and faced Weiss. "Second thing is that anything you know about the Grimm should be explained, so that we can understand them in better detail. This information will only be known by the professors, and if they share any of it with the student body, you will not be mentioned as the source of said information."

Weiss smirked. "Good, I would prefer it if people didn't know about this."

"Then you will be happy to know that we managed to keep this our little secret here between myself and your team while you were away," Ozpin responded.

"I'm glad to hear it," Weiss admitted. "I do have one question though."

"Go ahead."

"Back while I was in the forest, someone kept dropping off supplies to me, enough to keep me well nourished and strengthened," Weiss began. "You wouldn't happen to know who it was that was sending those supplies to me every week in the same place."

Ozpin let out a sigh. "I may have asked Miss Xiao Long to drop off supplies to you for extra credit since she needed the help with a grade or two," Ozpin conceded. "I'm glad that they were put to good use."

Now that their business was done, Weiss stood up and started to walk away, but was stopped when she heard Ozpin continue to talk. "Weiss, believe me when I say this, but it truly is wonderful to have you back with us. I hope you manage to reconnect with your team after all that has happened."

"I hope so too," Weiss whispered to herself as she walked into the elevator.

As she returned to her room, Weiss couldn't help but revel in the sights of Beacon Academy's walls. She was more than happy to be back home, and the smile on her face showed just how happy she was. Weiss felt a warmth inside of her as she thought on memories of her time at Beacon before her departure. An especially strong feeling popped up whenever she thought of her partner. The halls seemed to be a bit brighter now that she knew her partner was feeling wonderful with her around.

She felt the gazes of the students as they were surprised to see Weiss. Many of them had heard about her being back already, most of them having heard about what she did to Cardin after he was picking on her teammates. She could sense the nervousness of many, the excitement of some for the way she stood up to Cardin, as well as fear from a few.

Weiss walked up to the room and opened the door. To her surprise, she not only saw her own teammates waiting for her, but the members of team JNPR waiting to see Weiss for themselves. Upon seeing their teammate return, Ruby jumped up and ran over to her side. "Weiss! How did it go with Ozpin?" She asked.

"Everything went well Ruby," Weiss said as she looked out at the crowd of people standing before her. She could see the excitement on Ruby, Nora and Jaune's faces. Yang looked satisfied that Weiss made it, especially with Weiss knowing what Yang did for her. Ren smiled, glad to see that Weiss had returned as well. When she looked at Blake and Pyrrha though, she could tell that they were skeptical about one thing or another, but decided that she would address the issue at a later time. Right now, she wanted to enjoy being around her friends now that she was home.

"I can't believe that you're back, Weiss," Jaune said next. "When Ruby told us that you were going away on medical leave, we were all concerned about you."

"Right," Ren said next. "We heard what Cardin did earlier today, and I feel bad that we weren't there this time to put a stop to his bullying."

Nora bounced over to Weiss and threw her arms around the white haired girl. "Don't worry though, we managed to keep him off of Ruby's back as much as we could while you were gone."

Smiling back at the orange haired girl, Weiss showed a strange new side of her, and returned the hug that she was caught in. "I appreciate that Nora, as well as the rest of you." Weiss decided to turn her gaze to Pyrrha, who hadn't said anything up to that point. "What about you Pyrrha? You've been awfully quiet so far."

Hearing her name, Pyrrha rubbed the back of her neck and giggled. "Sorry, just got some things on my mind I guess," Pyrrha retorted. "It really is great to see that you're back safe and sound."

After hearing Pyrrha sound off, Weiss began to hear tales from Ruby and Nora about all that she missed during her long absence.

AN: Alright, so I got this idea while I was up in Boston last week for PAX East, after reading TechnoSkittles Hybrid. This story is based off of that and weissrabbit's Grimmdark AU, but with my own creative spin on it. Hopefully it's up to your satisfaction, and that this story is overall what you hope it would be.

To be warned now, there will be scenes of violence, gore, and there will be a lemon involved as well, and this story won't be long. Just be aware of that, and enjoy as much as you want to. I figure I'll have this be around 7-9 chapters by the end of it, and updates will be when I get to them, so no set schedule to work with.

Hope you enjoy reading this, and I'll see you in the next chapter.

-Noble