Sometimes the most certain thing in the world is the most painful one.

In this very moment Ruby Rose knew—for certain—that her mother had died.

The girl just kept walking through the woods. She's tired, really tired and scared until instead of feeling sad about her mother, she felt empty.

Run, Ruby. Don't look back. Don't let them catch you.

Nobody wants to be born as a werewolf. Ruby was just one unfortunate child that born as one. She grew up without ever have a single friend. She didn't even know who's her father. The villagers didn't hesitate to tell her that her father left them because he didn't want a beast as his daughter.

Ruby couldn't understand their hatred. She was fully conscious during transformation days. Her body transformed into a beast, but her mind was still human. She would never hurt anyone (except the Grimm creatures from the deep parts of the forest; Ruby mauled, killed and ate them to satisfy her hunger during transformation).

Ruby heard low growl from the darkness besides her.

She stopped.

The Beowolves.

Ruby tried to see where the creatures lurked, but in her normal human form, her senses were just the same as normal human. She couldn't smell their scent nor hear slight movement sound. She didn't have the fangs nor the claws to rip them open like usual. What she got was an old hunting rifle that's too big for her to use. Today was actually that day. The day when Ruby would transform, but it's not time yet. If the Beowolves didn't attack until Ruby changed, she would be alright. She could handle several Beowolves—

Creak—

Ruby turned around. She saw moving shadow. Red eyes glowed in the darkness. She jumped back and instead of shoot her rifle, she tried to hit anything that approach her with the weapon.

A heavy thumping sound followed by a painful whine. Loud roar and growl could be heard from the surroundings. Ruby tried to put on the rifle properly, but before she could shoot any bullet, another creature leaped on her.

A bang interrupted the attack. Another bang. And something landed in front of Ruby.

"Don't move, girl."

The man dropped a small glowing ball, provided them with light. Ruby immediately saw a hunter stood in front of her, facing the Beowolves surrounding them.

"Well, you've got a nice rifle," said the hunter. "But it ain't save you if you can't use it properly."

"I know …," Ruby replied with a hoarse voice. "I know."

The hunter held a broadsword. He swung it easily, sliced one Beowolf into two like nothing.

"Oh, the moon," said the hunter, when the clouds moved away and showed the moon hiding behind them. His comment sounded calm, almost cheerful and more like a mock for the Beowolves surrounding him.

Ruby felt a familiar sensation on her nape. It's the sign.

No. No, no, no, no! Why now? The hunter will see me and—

The burning chill on Ruby's nape burst into pain, spread to her entire body. She let out a mix of coughing sound and short howl.

"What the hell—?"

Fully transformed, Ruby leaped on the nearest Beowolf. She ripped the creature's neck with a bite. With her vision enhanced, she could see how many Beowolves there. She also noticed the Alpha Beowolf, crept silently behind the hunter.

Behind you! Ruby tried to warn the hunter, but the only sound she produced was a grunt.

Other than heightened senses, Ruby's movement in her werewolf form was faster than normal. In a blink of eye, she already leap towards the Alpha Beowolf. They both fell to the ground, struggling to bite and claw one another.

"Arrooo!"

The Alpha outmaneuvered Ruby. Its teeth sunk deep in Ruby's leg. Ruby countered by clawing the Alpha's face. It released Ruby, drawing back and the hunter slashed the Alpha with his sword.

Ruby pinned down another Beowolf that tried to attack her. This Beowolf was nothing like the Alpha. Ruby killed it with a single bite on its neck.

The other Beowolves ran away.

"Hey."

Ruby twitched. If the wound in her leg didn't stop her, she'd already run as fast as possible to the woods. But the hunter sheathed his broadsword, showed no mean to harm her, so she stayed in her place.

"You saved me," said the hunter. "Thanks."

Ruby nodded.

"You can understand me?"

Another nod.

"Wow. This is my first time seeing a genuine werewolf. And I never know werewolf keep their sanity in their wolf form."

Ruby amazed.

This was the first time someone saw her and instead of scared, he looked interested.

"The name's Qrow." The hunter nodded to Ruby's leg. "I see you healed fast. Are you going to eat that? That's Beowolf, for God's sake, and no man could eat that."

Well, I can, Ruby replied in her wolf speech. And I like it. Only seconded to cookies.

"Finish up and we can go to my place." Qrow shrugged. "You'll need clothes when you turn back to human."

-x-

Qrow's house was in the forest, near a path lead to the nearby mountain. He lived alone for most time, but in Ruby's second day stayed there, a woman came over.

The woman had jet black hair like Qrow. She's tall, held a longsword in a royal-knight-like manner, and had a pair of eyes that's red like blood. From the overheard conversation, Ruby believed the woman name was "Raven" and she's Qrow's sister. Despite of their family ties, they constantly disagree on many things.

One thing they debated on was about Ruby.

"You're not supposed to give cookies to dogs, Qrow," said Raven. "It'd make them sick and die."

"How many times I told you she's not a dog!" Qrow replied. "She's a werewolf. A wolf. Half wolf and half man. That's not even close to a dog!"

"And kindly tell me, my dear brother, what's a dog derived from?"

"… Wolf."

"Might as well ask the cub herself, don't you think?" Raven turned to Ruby, who was chewing her tenth cookies for the day.

"Mom baked cookies for me from time to time," said Ruby. "I'm fine. Really, really fine."

"Your mom, huh?" Raven raised her eyebrow.

"I see you actually have what looks like 'mother's instinct' after all, Sis." Qrow let out a sarcastic comment.

Ignoring Qrow's remark, Raven asked, "Are you … running away from your family?"

"No." As memories came back on Ruby's mind, the sweetness of cookies in her mouth fade into bland taste. Grief and sadness overcame the numbness and confusion that kept Ruby's alive for the last two days.

"She … died." Ruby continued in a whisper. Tears flowed from her silver eyes. "They … try to capture me. And bring me to the city. For … I don't know. The new Reverend told people that I must go. That I … Could be healed if brought to the city …"

"That's a lie." Raven shook her head in disagreement.

"Total bullshit." Qrow added. "You're from the Kingdom, right? That place where holy priests get their hands on politic? They know nothing. They kill anything that could change into something less human. If they don't kill, they tried to 'purify' the poor thing, which I heard never succeed."

"Your mother died while delaying the Reverend and the villagers?" Raven guessed.

Ruby rubbed tears from her face and nodded.

"Tough."

Unsuspectingly, Raven put her hands on Ruby's head and patted the young werewolf.

"You're really lucky," said Raven. "Your village was located near the border between the Empire and the Kingdom. The Empire don't share similar beliefs with your Kingdom, so you will mostly safe here."

"At least we don't try to 'purify' every werewolf we met." Qrow added. "Don't misunderstand, cub, we still shoot mad berserkers, but the Empire think instead of simply hunting them, why don't use them for … purposes."

Ruby had heard stories about berserkers. It said that they're men (and women, eventhough it's rare) who use anger to become more powerful. But the more powerful they became, the more unstable their mind and, in the end, when they became mad beyond help, they'd transform into a dangerous bear.

"Are berserkers real?" Ruby asked, surprised by the fact that a mere story she heard when she was young was actually true.

"As true as werewolf in your Kingdom. Now … back to topic." Qrow crossed his arms. "You're against me about taking care of this cub."

"Exactly."

"Well, are you going to take care of her then?"

Raven's expression turned stern almost looked filled with pain. "No."

"See?"

"It doesn't make me believe that you're capable taking care of her." Raven sighed. "Take her to Tai Yang."

"What? Why?" Qrow objected, "You already burdened him with a kid and you want to add another one? What the heck, Sis?"

At this rate, Ruby had grown uneasy about their conversation. She raised her hand to interrupt.

"I … I think I will be fine alone," said Ruby. "Don't worry about me. I know a bit about hunting and as long as I don't get near villages or towns, I'll be fine." Ruby gulped, unsure of herself. "Really. I'm fine."

"No, you're not fine."

Both Qrow and Raven said the exact same sentence at the same time, despite all disagreement they had a second before.

"What do you think you're going to use for hunting?" asked Qrow. "That oversize rifle of yours? Do you ever remember how do you get bullets for your rifle?"

She would need to purchase the bullet from the village or city. Ruby forgot about the bullets. And the money to buy some.

"And what if some newbie hunters mistook you as a Beowolf?" Raven shook her head in disagreement. "The Bureau won't recognize you if you're not registered and wear identification."

"Now that you mention it …" Qrow pointed his index finger towards his sister. "I forgot about the Bureau thing."

Raven sighed.

"What is the Bureau?" asked Ruby.

"It's …" Qrow looked trying hard to remember something. "It's … the Bureau. A place where they manage list of berserkers and hunters. They manage the bounties for a certain area."

Raven sighed again. "I'm tired with your lack of reliability, brother. I'll accompany both of you to the town tomorrow. Let Tai Yang take care of her. Deal?"

Qrow laughed a bit. "You just need excuses to meet them, right?" He walked to the kitchen. "I'll get a drink."

Raven patted Ruby's head once more, surprised her.

"Don't worry." Raven said. "I think you're going to get along with Yang, Tai Yang's daughter." She smiled. "Yang is a bit older than you. She's a berserker, but she's a good girl. A sweet and kind girl."

Ruby just nodded. She's uncertain about what and how she should answer.

"Hey, Raven." Qrow peeked from the kitchen. "I give your clothes to the cub, is that okay?"

"I notice."

"So, is that okay?"

"I don't really care." Raven looked at Ruby and–for the first time of the day—smiled. "You look good in red and black."

-not the end-