DISCLAIMER

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. Hollow Knight is owned by Team Cherry. I own NOTHING from either title.

A/N: VERY IMPORTANT A/N PLEASE READ, POLL AT THE END

AAA I FINALLY UPDATED! I am so, VERY sorry for the wait! This chapter took me a long while to write because I...well... I have no other excuse than I procrastinated. Big time. I've always just been very lazy and I'm talking to people to help me be less lazy, and eventually not lazy at all.

I'll try not to let this happen again, but like I said I'm lazy and I'm also irresponsible. I'm trying to do something about it, but it's a habit now.

The quality of this chapter might have gone down a bit. I'm not entirely sure about it, but I want to hear it from YOU guys.

And, I discovered that replacing the chapters does NOT alert you guys, so from now on I'm just going to add new chapters instead of replacing chapters.

I have a question for you guys. Do you prefer if I responded to your reviews in PMs or in the A/Ns?

So, last chapter I left Ghost off with finishing off that King Taijitu like a boss! I decided to end the chapter there because:

1) I think it got too long already.

2) I am having second thoughts about putting Ash Pale, or Ghost, in Team RWBY (or any team, really) waaaay after I already published the last chapter. Throughout Hollow Knight, Ghost has always just overcome every challenge by itself, so I can't really see myself how Ghost would benefit from having a team in the first place. Tiny boi is like a one-man-army. Yes, I did make it look like Team RWBY got a new team member because of the Knight piece and the girls celebrating, I even responded to a review that I will put them in Team RWBY, but that decision is not really set for me yet, so I cut it off before Ozpin made it official.

We will have the usual Student's review up here, and we'll also have SomeGuy's here too! His review is one of the more critical ones , and raises a very good point. First, Student's!

Response to Student (cut off the whole review because it takes up too much space, doing that with all reviews from now on): Oh, the Dream Nail won't be gone or done yet! It will make a return! It will just be in a more secure place, as Ozpin stated. Ghost won't be keeping those clothes on for the rest of the fanfic. Ghost would not like that either, and Ghost does not put on clothes as a habit so it will always forget to. Thankfully, Ghost's cloak is long enough to wrap around its entire upper half, and some of its legs, so most will either assume he is clothed, and everyone will definitely think that Ghost has armor on.

Glad you liked that scene! I took inspiration from the Doom Slayer's brutal Glory Kills in DOOM (2016), and Kratos's creativity in his finishers in the GoW games (I own neither the characters nor franchises).

Team? That will be answered in this chapter. I know I said I will put them up with Team RWBY but I, too, had second thoughts.

Grimmchild will have no control over the Grimm (not even if they are fully developed), but due to the Grimm's intense exposure to negative emotions, Grimmchild just might benefit from killing Grimm alongside Ghost…

Response to SomeGuy: Oh yeah, definitely not a good idea. But knowing Ghost, it definitely would never have guessed that Ozpin is hiding many secrets from it. I mean, it definitely didn't see it coming from Millibelle, so why would Ghost see it coming from someone who's had multiple lifetimes of experience keeping secrets from people?

Okay I've spent enough effort on this A/N. Let's go to the chapter!

What Is Destiny To The Gods?

Ball Room

Silence. That's the only thing that reverberated across the sea of students; Uninterrupted silence.

They just watched Ash deftly dodge two strikes from the King Taijitu, mount one of the heads, shrug off a venomous shot to the chest, rodeo one of the heads, and finished it off with a messed up wedding ceremony.

And to top it all off, Ash used some kind of pink Dust to fly back to the cliff without a single scratch.

"That kid is nuts...AND AWESOME!" someone finally interrupted the silence. It was true, no words could possibly describe the act of savagery they just witnessed. Savage, sure, but the act was awesome. Slowly, but surely, everyone else joined the guy with rounds of applause the occasional holler.

Ruby, being a bit of an airhead, just praised the skill that their new teammate put up for show, fangirling over the gleaming edge and the intricate carvings of that unique sword. Though, come to think of it, the way the sword is shaped is a little off. The blade and crossguard and handle are one and the same. The way it's shaped, it's better off being a lance. But Ash makes it work somehow, and the blade itself is still deadly! Aesthetic-wise has its ups and downs, but practicality-wise, that beautiful sword is going far! Yang is just as ecstatic as her sister.

Nora, as per usual, is just absolutely losing it, being the loudest voice in the crowd, whileRen is just clapping, sighing as his friend yells at the top of her lungs.

Jaune and Pyrrha…are nowhere to be found. She is still with Jaune in the infirmary.

As for Blake, it will appear that she is also simply giving applause. Deep inside, she's troubled with this "Ash" person. She can't really tell for sure, but her instincts are telling her that something's off with this person. Like there is so much more to him than meets the eye. Blake's instincts have never failed her...

Weiss has it a lot worse; her brain is currently going on overdrive trying to make sense of what she saw. During Ghost earlier fights, she thought for sure that Ash's Semblance is sending out piercing, screaming, black fireballs that absolutely decimates anything in its path (a very unnerving quality to the heiress). All of those thoughts are dashes away when he very clearly phases through a snare trap, turns into a shadow that makes him much stronger in terms of strength, and when he finished he literally blasts off using what looks like pink Dust as a propellant.

Pink Dust! Weiss doesn't even know how to create pink Dust, or how it works (all of the employees at the Schnee Dust Company seem so reserved about the subject, why so is beyond her), yet she saw some grow out of the ground around him in a ring like it's natural. Even if it is a Semblance, how would someone go about explaining the black projectiles earlier!? What about the intangibility!? His strength when he pulled the King Taijitu's heads together!? Was… was all that just Aura Manipulation? That's...plausible, but Weiss can't know for certain if she just sticks to speculation.

She's going to have to ask him about this matter when she gets the chance. No doubt the rest of her team is just as curious as her, right?

"Well students," Glynda rose from a seat she took, her fatigue from all the class planning slowly creeping upon her. "That concludes today's assembly. Soon, Mr. Ash Pale will be joining you in your future classes. Thank you for attending, and may you enjoy your next four years at Beacon," she finishes. With a bow, she walks off stage.

The crowd slowly started scattering, trickling out of the doorway and stretching their limbs. It is now midday, and everyone's stomachs are aching for a scrumptious meal to satiate their hunger. Team RWBY are no exception to their own daily needs.

"Sorry girls, Nora and I have to stay," Ren shakes his head as he politely declines Ruby's offer to go to a café. "We have to go check up on Jaune, he still hasn't come back from the infirmary," Ruby's response is to, of course, pout. She's really trying her best to come out of her shell, but it's just so hard! Circumstances like this aren't helping either.

"Okay, see you later then," Ruby turns around, feeling just slightly down. Sure, she has her team to go with, but she is already familiar with them. She has yet to actually get to know Team JNPR. But with all the unpacking, decorating, and rule setting in the dorm room, none of them could find the time to bond with their fellow first years. Oh well, maybe next time.

"Wow, you're breaking out of your shell faster than I thought!" Yang teases as she wraps her arm around Ruby's shoulders. Ruby making friends with other people without her help is a very rare sight for Yang. Inside, it makes her happy that Ruby is slowly growing, but it's also the perfect opportunity to get her all flustered about it!

Just as Yang predicted, Ruby's cheeks suddenly decided to live up to her own last name. "Y-Y-Yaaaaang! Cut it out!" she protests. Yang didn't listen as she brought up her free hand to ruffle her sister's hair. Weiss just scoffs at the sisters' antics, and Blake just watches with her usual poker face look. "I wonder what it's like to have a sibling," she wonders.

Now, Ruby's just peeved about the mess that Yang made out of her hair. It's everywhere! It's in her eyes, straying in the air, there's even some sticking out from the sides of her face making her look like a hedgehog. Maybe it's nowhere near as hard to maintain as her long, golden mane, but she does still need to take the time to take good care of it. Hair's hair.

"Anyway!" Ruby perks up as she finger combs her hair back in place. "Team, we just got a new teammate! We need to give him the warmest welcome possible!"

"Gotta admit, he's pretty strong. I wouldn't mind having him aboard," Yang shrugs. Having a new team member is just going to be like meeting a new friend. They're just going to have to get Ash all caught up with the ground rules of their room, help him get comfy, and Ash should be all set! Granted his attire is going to need serious work, but that can come later!

"Besides that, I've never seen or heard of a Semblance like his before," Blake tilts her head in wonder. "I'm tempted to say it's Aura Manipulation, but something tells me there's more to it…"

"There's definitely more to it," Weiss is still processing everything about Ash's abilities. In a face-to-face encounter with the Grimm he can more than hold his own against the tide making him very reliable in a more hands-on situation, but from what happened with the King Taijitu it is clear that Ash is not so prepared for surprise attacks. His form is very strange to the studious heiress, but that isn't stopping Ash from quickly dispatching of the Grimm. In a fight, he is an agile torrent, quickly sweeping over the battlefield with a highly versatile Semblance granting reach and power. Overall, Ash makes for an extremely powerful teammate.

Besides the question of his capabilities as a thinker (which shouldn't be a problem considering...well, they're in Beacon Academy), what's really dumbfounding Weiss is how she hasn't heard of Ash up until now. With skills like this, surely someone had to have heard of him and spread stories. Ash would be praised and highly respected for his dexterity in the Huntsman community even if he is still just a Huntsman-in-training. And yet, it's as though Ash simply appeared out of thin air. So then where DID he come from?

"Well, there's just one problem," Blake proposes.

"What's that?"

"We barely have enough room for four, how are we supposed to make room for five?"

The rest of the team turn their head to the ravenette, deflating at the sudden realization. They were already forced to make bunk beds out of the standard four beds.

Where's Ash supposed to stay?

What Is Destiny To The Gods?

Beacon Cliff

Ghost finally reaches the top of the cliff. Scaling the cliff is not an exhausting exercise for Ghost (The White Palace sure left an impression on Ghost, especially the infuriating hidden section that explains a lot to Ghost), scaling it just took a while. An annoyingly long while. No challenge, just time-consuming. Ozpin really should consider placing a lift there; normal people can't possibly have any stamina left after dealing with those "Grimm" in the forest. Still, Ghost can't complain; The view more than makes up for the effort.

"Headmaster Ozpin, I return with a Relic!" Ghost announces, triumph filled in its voice. Ozpin, sipping coffee from his favorite mug, turns to see Ghost presenting that it-ironically-unknowingly chose to bring back the Knight piece.

Ozpin smiles at Ghost as he receives the piece and stores it within his suit. Both hands on his cane, he clears his throat and says, "I congratulate you on completing Initiation, Ghost. All on your own as well, might I add," he then motions to a familiar flying object-now identified as a Bullhead-right behind him, doors open and jets powering up.

"Despite the lack of wings, humans and faunus still learned to fly. Marvelous..." Ghost inwardly sighs in admiration of the tenacity of the surface dwellers. Ghost nods to Ozpin, and steps into the open cabin and buckles itself in on one of the seats as the pilot takes off for Beacon.

"Yes, this truly will be an interesting year," Ozpin closes his eyes as the bullhead soars and zooms off into the distance.

Living for as long as he has now, Ghost thoroughly astonishes Ozpin with how much more the world has left in store for him. Before the eldritch god-like entity's appearance, he usually assumes that there isn't anything in the world that he has no knowledge of yet.

Speaking of god-like entity, is it really proper to call Ghost a new pawn on the board? As far as he's aware, Ghost is powerful enough to be on its own side in the war against Salem's forces. In addition to everything he knows about Ghost, Ozpin is sure that Ghost is very unlikely to side with his former lover, and it is still not clear whether it would side with Ozpin or not. Ghost's only real motive for joining the academy is to become a proper child, after all.

His thoughts were interrupted by Ghost's overwhelmed sigh as it lays eyes upon the grandiose academy. The main part of the school consists of a large white tower, green orbs glowing within. Surrounding it are similar smaller spires, each with windows reflecting sunlight and bridges connecting one to the other. In front of it is a large circular plaza with water and street lights surrounding the paved path. The highlight is the impressive statue standing proud and tall at the entrance of the academy. It depicted that of two figures standing triumphantly on top of a rock, one with an axe, and the other a shortsword. Underneath that rock is one of the creatures of Grimm, skulking around in the shadow of the rock.

The majesty of the academy can only be compared to the City of Tears. Though the aesthetics are vastly different, it was a glorious sight to behold.

"Impressed?" asks Ozpin. Ghost turns around to meet the eyes of its new Headmaster, white stars seeming to form in its eyeholes.

"You know what, Headmaster?" Ghost answers. "I think I'm going to like it here," it declares as it takes in the enchanting view. It grips its cloak in anticipation of its new, more colorful life ahead.

When it gets the chance, it's definitely letting the Hollow Knight share this wonder with it.

What Is Destiny To The Gods?

"So no mechashift?" Ruby tilts her head as Ghost explains how it got such surprisingly good steel. Since their first meeting, Ruby has been getting to know Ghost's own weapon, primarily asking questions about how it made it ("Wait, so you just found it all by itself on the floor? What!? Why would someone leave this baby on the floor!?"). Then she discovers that the weapon has no mechashift, making it a "classic" like Jaune's Crocea Mors.

"No, and no one back home knew how it works so it wasn't an option when I had it reforged," Ghost shrugs. Even if the Nailsmith knew mechashift he wouldn't have wanted that because then it wouldn't be a "pure" nail anymore, that and Ghost is perfectly capable of fighting with just the nail. "As for your question Yang, uhhh… let's just say I got confused when I put them on,"

"Normally I wouldn't be so secretive about my nature, but after finding out what such knowledge of my nature could cause...I suppose I have no other choice," Ghost laments the fact that it can't be too honest around its new friends. It doesn't know about how a Remnant being might react to deception at such a scale, Ghost doesn't even fully understand emotions in general. All it can do for now is hope for the best.

"Damn, not even the first day of school and you already had a wardrobe malfunction?" Yang teases Ghost as Team RWBY + A walk down the hall to their dorm room. "Oh, so that's what it's called here," Ghost hums internally.

"Indeed. Luckily, the shirt and pants weren't too inconvenient,". Ghost isn't fond of clothing at all, its nakedness allows it so much more freedom of movement and that is what it values most in a scuffle. Unfortunately, being bare doesn't earn it any social points in Remnant, so at first glance it doesn't seem like an option. Now, Ghost no longer has to worry about that as everyone seems to think that it is wearing some kind of armor. Huh, apparently being vastly different has its perks.

"And this is our room!" Ruby explains as she opens the door and enters with their brand new ally. Ghost slowly swivels its head around, taking in the room that it will be calling home for a while. Inside the decently-sized beige room is a bookshelf filled with books of the Valic language (which Ghost desperately needs to learn from someone, perhaps the owner of all those books?), various wall decors, two other doors, four study tables and- oh dear Wyrm are those beds on top of each other? That...is actually pretty clever, but the one with the tent looks like it's tipping over! "Why don't you settle down and… Hey, where is all your stuff?"

"Oh, I don't have much with me. Just my clothes, my mask, my weapon, and these little shinies," Ghost pulls out a box with a glass top proudly displaying almost every Charm it has collected in its adventure throughout Hallownest. Unbreakable Strength, Mark of Pride, Quick Slash, Sprintmaster, and Nailmaster's Glory are the only ones out of the box and adorning Ghost's cloak. Tiny yet powerful, these trinkets are the key to Ghost's every victory. Admittedly, without these, Ghost is relatively weak in its mortal form, and while the Nail Arts are a solution to the problem, they do not provide immediate effects.

It's surprising what power dying last wishes have. Or, just powerful wills in general, not all of these beauties are a result of death.

"Wait, that's it?" Weiss incredulously raises an eyebrow. "That's all the clothes you've got?"

Ghost slowly realises its blunder and says, "What? No, I've got more! I just...uhhhh..." quickly thinking of a fib, it concludes, "...forgot them in the Bullhead! I'll get it taken care of soon, don't you worry about it!"

Weiss, with half lidded and unimpressed eyes, facepalms. "Whatever," it seems like she's going to have to deal with two airheads this year, if one airhead in question was being honest. Ghost seems to deflate at the comment.

"Oooh, a collector huh?" Yang comments as she ogles at the tiny badges. They all have unique designs on them. Some are based on bugs, others on plants, heck one of them looks like a dreamcatcher. And… "Are those...some kinda pins? Never heard of anything like them before. What about the one on the pillow?"

"That one is a one of a kind gem. Because of its uniqueness, it requires extra special attention,"

"It kinda looks like a Grimm," Ghost's jolted a bit at that statement, then remembers that humans and faunus have a whole different kind of Grimm. "Where do you even get these? They look pretty neat,"

"As far as I know, they can only be found in my village. The folk don't make contact with the outside world much, and whenever they do they usually do so for supplies and nothing else,"

"Speaking of which," Weiss butts in, "Where do you come from?"

"I come from a town called Dirtmouth. It's some distance south-west of Vale,"

"Dirtmouth? That's the name of your town?" Weiss incredulously looks at Ash. No way the town is actually called Dirtmouth, that name just does not sound real.

"Hey, don't look at me! I didn't have a voice in naming my home," Ghost indignantly retorts. Yes, it also agrees that the naming convention of the little settlement isn't exactly glamorous - especially by Remnant's color-themed standards - but the majority of the settlers really do like that name, so what could it do about it?

"Our family lives in Patch, an island west of Vale. How come I've never heard of your town before?" Ruby raises a valid point. Whenever they don't have anything to do, Ruby and Yang have a habit of watching the Huntsman news station to catch up with the latest action-packed scoop (late at night or early in the morning, they would be watching their favorite shows, of whom depends on who gets the remote first). Seeing as the town is in the same region, it is only logical that they would have heard about the place.

"Did I forget to mention that the town is located under a cliff?" No, it wasn't a cliff but in fact a whole cave system, but these people live in a roofless world so it shouldn't take its chances (especially with the observant Blake). "We don't even have our own resident Huntsman either. Then again, the majority of the population in Dirtmouth are seasoned warriors, so protection is not at all a problem," Now THAT wasn't a lie. The only non-fighters in the town were Elderbug, Bretta, and Confessor Jiji (Zote doesn't count because despite his spirit, he can't be counted on to save his own life). If Grimm were to ever discover Dirtmouth, the townsfolk can handle it.

Oh, but two of their best did leave though… Eh, they'll be fine. Besides, Sly is still there, and his skills are still as sharp as ever.

"Well, I guess the ones in training don't quite count yet, but why a cliff?"

"Uh, well… It's easier to fight things head on right?"

"Yeah?"

"So apparently our predecessors decided to build the village there so they only have to deal with the Grimm in front of them instead of behind them!" Ash triumphantly concludes. It does not have much experience lying to people (everytime it tried that, Hornet always catches it lying to her face), so hopefully they believe the bluff?

"O...kay?" Ruby trails off, sounding only half-convinced. "I can see how it works, but I still think that's weird,"

"Success! Probably!" Ash celebrated to itself. "Anyway, I'll just leave this here," Ash walks towards the study table and places it down.

"Could you put that box on the shelf?" Weiss stops Ash from leaving his box at the one place where she really does her best.

"Oops, sorry," Ash lifts up the box to an empty spot on the shelf, taking care to position the box away from the edge.

"And where are you going to sleep for the night?" The black cat faunus finally says something. "We can't exactly go out and get a fifth bed at this hour. And we don't have a spot to place it on either,"

"Uhhhh...ummm," Ghost pauses for a bit, trying to salvage the situation.

Despite the fact that it has been repeatedly told that teams in Huntsmen Academies usually consist of four heads per team, Ghost still hasn't planned for its own personal space in the shared room. Back home, it doesn't take much space, it just took a small bed in a corner and a place to keep its charms, always keeping its nail within arms reach and not even taking any space with his clothes in Hornet's miniature closet (ever since infusing the Mothwing Cloak with Void, it has been pristinely clean no matter what Ghost does).

"What did Hornet say she sleeps in when she has to camp away from home? Something about using silk to make…something about a cocoon… Oh wait!" Ghost has a sudden epiphany and declares, "Oh, well if I can't sleep in a bed, a sleeping BAG will have to do!" it takes off its cloak and stretches it out, and before team RWBY's eyes it actually expands to cover a larger area over the carpet, though not by much. Ghost proceeds to lie down, and wraps the cloak all snuggly around itself. "Tada!"

"What!?" Ruby exclaims, stars in her eyes as she beholds the flexibility of a Mothwing Cloak. "I'm a cloak fan myself, and lemme just say that's so COOL, and it looks like magic!"

"Haha, but it's not actually magic, it's a Dirtmouth secret," Ghost plays off what is clearly a joke. Ruby runs over beside Ghost, and starts examining the, actually not that rare to obtain in Hallownest, fabric, stretching, and feeling, and even inquiring about the fabric to which Ghost simply replies with "secrets".

"First his identity, and now his own clothes? It's just a piece of cloth, why is Ash hiding so much?" Blake narrows her eyes as she watches "Ash" lightly push Ruby back so he can get up.

"Alright, I think it's about time we got some grub," Yang rubs her hands together. "We need to get ready for classes tomorrow too. We're gonna start heading to the cafeteria so we can save a spot for the team. You just drop everything else off here and meet us there. You know where it is, right?"

"I've taken the time to review the map over and over in my free time. Trust me, I know where it is," Ash assures the blonde brawler, giving her a thumbs up.

"Alright, we'll see you there!" The cheerful rose bids him farewell as she skips back to her team, who is already on their way to the cafeteria. "Remember to leave 'Pure Nail' at the locker room!"

"Right, that's apparently mandatory," Ash sweat drops at the reminder. "And apparently people named their weapons here too. That, I was not prepared for, not even with a lie,"

"Oh, and one more thing," Ruby peeks her head through the doorframe. "...Look, I know you're a nice guy because of the night with Torchwick, and thank you for the help. So I'll trust you to really introduce yourself when you're ready, okay?"

"They… I don't know if either of us is ready for that talk yet," Ash slightly lowers its head in slight shame, knowing eventually it really will have to show its brand new allies what's under the mask. Ash clasps its hands together in an apologetic manner and says, "Right, of course. I'm sorry about thi-"

"I-It's okay, it's okay! Just take your time," With that out of the way, Ruby jogs her way back to her team, taking her place next to Weiss.

Yang turns to her sister and asks, "So, what made you go back and check on Ash? Did we forget to tell him something?"

"Aside from apparently needing to teach him how a Scroll works, I think we've filled him in on everything, even the ground rules," Weiss crosses her arms and raises an eyebrow. "Still, couldn't Ash at least show us his face once? I, for one, find it a tad bit insulting and unnerving that one of our own team members couldn't be bother to-"

"Well, he DID say that there was a tragedy at his village when he was younger and that he isn't ready to talk about it. Ash probably isn't ready to show us the scars," Blake shares her thoughts as she steps in from behind the gang. Weiss rubs her chin in deep thought. None of the four can be too sure yet, but Blake's hunch sounds plausible. But how bad can those scars possibly be that he needs a mask to cover his whole head?

Just what was the tragedy anyway? And how come nobody's heard of it?

Now that Blake's thinking about it more, some memories of her time in the White Fang are starting to resurface.

A few weeks before she decided she finally had enough of the pacifist-turned-terrorist faction, she overheard some talk among the grunts. She can't quite recall most of the details, she almost never pays attention to their daily chatter, but it was something about "one hella good soldier", and "wearing black armor". Maybe…?

Blake decides to just leave it a mystery, the only information she has is too vague to be useful anyway.

What Is Destiny To The Gods?

As Ash calmly steps into the arena in his "armor", his clothes left in a free space in one of the girls' closets (Ruby insists that "it's fine", and Ash just sort of looked confused and went along with it), Yang's smirk grows wider.

First day of school, and they are already having Combat class (thankfully they had the extra time to do some arranging otherwise there might have been time-keeping problems). Lo and behold, she and Ash are the first contenders in the ring. And hey, Ash didn't wear his clothes outside his full body armor today!

The dark knight certainly shows promise; fighting that King Taijitu and absolutely dominating it shows just how skilled of a fighter he is. But in the end, it wasn't even an alpha, it was an ordinary King Taijitu, a Grimm, a wild beast. Yang has yet to see how Ash fares against a fellow Huntress. She won't have to wait much longer to find out.

There's no doubt that the blonde still needs years of training to be considered a professional Huntress, but compared to her peers she is excellent in duels, her only rival being Cardin if his placement in Professor Goodwitch's class is anything to go by. There's no denying the boy's prowess with his ornate shortsword. Yang, chambering Fire Dust in her shotgun gauntlets, gets in a stance.

As for Ash, he seems to just be staring her down, his sword drawn to his side, motionless and stoic. "I wouldn't blame Ash if he was staring at something...distracting?" Yang hops in place, causing...other things to bounce. Whether is had any effect on Ash or not is hidden away by the mask.

Glynda then goes up to the two and asks for their Scrolls to register their Aura for the ring. Both surrender their Scrolls and she hooks them up to a machine. As expected, Yang's picture appears along with a green bar to the side, measuring her Aura at 100%. However, Ash's display catches Yang off guard.

Instead of the normal picture and bar, the picture is replaced by an empty circle, with nine bone white masks representing Ash's Aura.

"It looks that way because it is adapted to my Semblance, don't worry about it," Ash quickly explains to Yang, even though she hasn't said anything about it yet. It does, however, clear up some confusion, and nods her head in response.

Professor Goodwitch steps forward between the two, bringing up her arm, signalling the two fighters to get ready. Yang unfurls Ember Celica and chambers a Fire Dust slug each into the receivers as Ghost brandishes its Pure Nail, glinting off the sunlight from its flawless surface like a holy sheen. The air between the two fighters goes still as the silence washes over the arena, the spectators anticipating an extraordinary fight in about...

Now.

Glynda swiftly lowers her hand as the speakers rang with a harsh beep, signaling the start of the duel. Yang makes the first move as she fires her gauntlets behind her, launching her towards Ash. She rears back a fist headed straight for his head. Ash ducks under the swing and pays her back by hacking her across her gut.

"Get him, Yang!" Ruby's high-pitched cheering echoes over the entire arena. Soon after, many students started cheering for either side of the fight, though most seem to be reaching out to the boisterous tanker.

Catching Yang off guard, Ash follows up with a flurry of swipes and stabs, keeping Yang on her toes. Yang goes for an uppercut, but Ash simply sidesteps and begins his assault anew.

Ash isn't just matching Yang blow for blow, for every attack he deflects he quickly thrusts his nail to her exposed areas. As strong as she is, Yang simply can't keep up with the spellsword's dexterity (What else was she to say to describe his adaptive Semblance?).

Ash jumps back and sends a black fireball heading Yang's way. She dodges with a roll, the fireball slamming into the wall behind her, breaking up and leaving a huge web of cracks. She just noticed that said fireballs actually have eyes.

Creepy.

Hopping back in with another blast from Ember Celica, she runs towards Ash and takes up a defensive stance, her gauntlets guarding the sides of her head. The spellsword takes this as an opportunity and lunges forward with a skewer. The boxer adeptly dodges and jabs at his exposed belly, only for him to evade and swing at Yang's knee, bringing her down to a kneel. Ash promptly kicks her over, jumps, and bring the Pure Nail down on her.

Yang rolls out of the way, causing Ash's sword to pierce the stone ground. She then grabs him by his neck and his leg and lifts him over her head, sword still in hand. She then proceeds to jump for momentum, and slams Ash into the ground, horns first.

But Ash isn't having any of that and phases out of her hands, and descending upon Yang in a blast of black and white. He tries to finally land a solid stab into Yang's abdomen, but is proven too slow as Yang shoves Ash away, and regaining her footing.

Eager to turn the tables, Yang jabs at Ash, and as she thought Ash attempts to parry again. It turns out to be a feint as she swats Ash's Pure Nail away and socks him in the gut, lifting Ash off the ground. She then kicks him into the air and blasts Ember Celica right in Ash's face.

"Ouch! So this is what it's like to get shot with a gun," Ash growls under its breath. "And wow, the warriors of Remnant hit so much harder than I'm used to! Or hopefully that's just Yang?" Planning a counter-attack, he gathers energy for a Nail Art, generating an aura around him.

Fortunately for Ash, he dashes out of the way of the scorching round and lunges at Yang, nail held to skewer. She tries to block the charge, only for Ash to feint and dash under her, phasing between her legs. It turns around, stands up, and releases all the energy on Yang's back.

"Gah!" Yang shrieks as the surprising force of the charged attack sends her flying forward. The downward momentum forces her to roll to recover. She stands up and turns to Ash, only to get another slash to the face.

"Damn, how'd he get over here so fast!?" Yang thinks as she staggers back further. She looks back at Ash, only for her eyes to widen like plates when Yang realizes that he is actually still pretty far away.

"So if he's way over there, then how did his sword even…? Either that was Hard-Light, how he used it I don't know, or it could be his wild Semblance," She theorizes as she gets right back up. Checking the aura gauges, she's been lowered to 50% already, and Ash is… oh dang, 60% already? Powerful Semblance, but his Aura isn't holding up too well. What?

She looks back over to Ash, watching him run towards her. Though she could see something floating between the two. Something...shiny.

No he didn't… HE DID!

Yang releases a warcry as flames erupt from her, blowing Ash back and interrupting his charge. "Oh she's furious! What did I do?" Ash actually manages to dodge the speeding fist flying towards his mask, and slashes it away. Using her other hand, she tries to uppercut Ash, but he steps back away from it. Yang quickly follows up with a shotgun blast to Ash's feet, but he jumps up and away from it, hitting Yang on the head and further harming her hair! Before Ash could plant his feet on the ground though, Yang grabs him by the collar of his cloak, bringing Ash's face only inches away from her's, her flaming mane giving her a more intimidating appearance.

"YOU'VE DONE IT NOW!" Barely thinking anymore, she yells and the top of her lungs and brings a hammer fist down on Ash's forehead, sure that she will get him. Ash quickly proves her wrong and seats her strike away from him with a free hand. Noticing that he has enough Soul (though noticeably not as much as he would normally gain), he charges his own fist for an uppercut.

This attack actually finds its mark: Yang's chin, and explosion of Soul and Void sending her flying away, dealing massive damage to her Aura, and extinguishing the blazes of her Semblance. Yang lands on the ground in a heap, and a harsh buzzer sounds off over the whole arena.

"Yang Xiao Long is eliminated at 15% Aura, Ash Pale is the victor!" Professor Goodwitch reveals as Yang looks at her gauge in shock, realizing just how much her Semblance cost her, combined with Ash's Intensive Aura Manipulation. "Ms. Xiao Long, I suggest you refrain from recklessly attacking. That kind of approach in combat leaves more openings all over you than you can find on your opponents. Do try to keep a clear head next time I call you down,

"And Mr. Pale," Ash makes eye contact with her at the call of his name. "Though your form is excellent, your Aura management is questionable. Ms. Xiao Long only managed to hit you a total of two times, and she still managed to bring your aura down to half with just a few blows. I suggest using your free time to enhance it," Professor Goodwitch finishes lecturing the two combatants, one looking at the ground and clenching her fists, and the other rubbing his chin thinking of ways to increase its endurance.

"We still have time for one more spar, you two may return your equipment to your lockers and return to your seats," The riding crop wielding Huntress dismisses the two as she cleans up the mess of the previous battle. "And of course, I have to put away the Pure Nail as well. It's not comfortable being away from my weapon for too long," Snapping out of his thoughts, Ash goes over to check on his teammate to see if she's alright after all, only for Yang to turn away and walk the opposite direction towards the doors, only giving him the eyes of a scowl, like he did something on forgivable.

Seeing nothing wrong, Ash can only help but wonder, "What did I do wrong?"

What Is Destiny To The Gods?

A/N: BEFORE ANYONE ASKS NO! Ghost is not getting Aura. There is no reason for Ghost to have Aura. I simply set it up so that Shade Lord will make an appearance later.

Also, this is the last time I'm writing in present tense. Gosh, that was frustrating.

Keep in mind, however, that besides exploration outside of Hallownest, Ghost ultimately wants everyone to view it like a normal person like the faunus do. Basically, it doesn't want to be a victim of racism (even though it never really experienced it in Hallownest thanks to looking almost like a bug anyway), and to achieve that Ghost has to blend in with the crowd, meaning it has to minimize its reliance on its glorious true form.

I am, however, giving Ghost a new ability thanks to Glynda peering into Ghost's "Soul", which it clearly does not have, and trying to unlock its Aura. I'm going off on the non-canon logic that Void Heart is acting like Ghost's Soul (so like a pseudo-Soul), and that instead of interacting with a soul, Glynda interacts directly with Void Heart, giving Ghost that much more control over the Void. Here it is:

Shadow's Solace: Inspired by the Seal of Binding and the Shade Gate, Ghost unlocked the ability to use a void-based protective barrier, pushing away any enemies and protecting it and any allies inside the circle (Ghost would have to mentally consider who/what is its allies), giving them a short period of time to recover and Ghost a safe space to plan its next move, but as a result severely lowers Ghost's speed and agility to a stride (cannot run anymore, slow walks everywhere as long as the ability is active), and makes it take twice as much damage as usual (reason why at end of entry). It is also not opaque or is partially see-through, and noisy, so it is not a wise decision to cast when trying to lay low. If powerful enough, an attack can penetrate or even shatter the ward, for example Yang's Semblance, and Adam's Moonslice. However, attacks from things like Ren's Stormflower can never penetrate the ward because although the DPS is high, the damage from single bullets are not enough. Continuously drains SOUL until Ghost lowers the ward, or until Ghost runs out of SOUL. With max SOUL, including the 3 extra SOUL Vessels, Ghost can keep the ward up for a maximum of 2 minutes.

For anyone wondering about the Omake that I was supposed to make last chapter: I ended up scrapping the idea. The idea sounded good at first, but then I couldn't think of how to actually execute it right. Sorry about that. :( Maybe next time I'll think of a better Omake. Right now, I think I'm going to put my full focus on writing the main storyline.

If you were wondering about what the Omake would have been, remember that time when Yang told Blake about how when she was young, Yang dragged Ruby into looking for Summer? The Omake will actually take place during this time instead of it being a flashback/story time thing with Blake. Because of this, that means that this occurs waaayy before Ghost wanders back into Hallownest via King's Pass.

Instead of going off on some clues, I would actually have Yang and Ruby following a creature that looks exactly like Summer Rose (Deepnest survivors, I'm sure you know where I'm going with this). They keep following it until it eventually corners them and reveals itself to be another Nosk. Of course, Qrow will end up saving the two. However, because of the nature of Nosk, Qrow will definitely have some questions about this and decides to investigate the matter. This will eventually lead to the discovery of Hallownest, but I wouldn't have included that in the Omake.

If you guys want to make a One-Shot or something out of this idea, go on ahead. I already rejected the idea so... free real estate I guess?

Before I leave, time to address some reviews:

Serpophaga:Argh, I knew something didn't feel right when I was writing that chapter! I should have listened to my gut. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind.

Rider09: Helium voice, huh? Kinda reminds me of an animatic called "If Ghost had a voice" by Mint Ivory, where they took Lucas the Spider's voice and put it over Ghost. You should go check it out, it's good stuff! There's even a part 2 now.

Anon #1:

Honestly, I have no idea what to do with CRDL as a whole. I'm thinking that killing them off (besides Cardin, he's for sure alive if General Ironwood saving him was any indication) would be a good course of action, but I feel like that would be too easy. Another option if to have one of the members of Team CRDL run into a Nightmare Lantern and activating it. That would be the start of the Grimm Troupe arc for Remnant. To anyone reading this, I'm open to suggestions!

Upon further reflection, Hornet will most likely not be making another appearance until the very end of this fanfic due to her being stuck in Pharloom for Silksong. Until I get Silksong and play it to the end, I won't be able to find a good way to bring her back. However, the Hollow Knight is definitely someone I would want Ghost to bring with them to Remnant. Since now that Ghost can confirm there is civilization out of Hallownest (Ghost couldn't be too sure because it forgot to ask Quirrel and Tiso where they came from), it is sure that bringing HK along would be a safe idea. Who knows, maybe this way I'll be able to give HK a prosthetic arm (though I'll have to figure out how to give HK the ability to control it without a nervous system).

Yes, the Pale Dragon was the Pale King. Don't worry about him making an appearance though, he's already dead. PK explored Remnant far before he took the Radiance's followers away from her and created Hallownest. I'm also making it so that PK copied a bunch of ideas from Remnant and implemented it into his kingdom.

I don't think it's a good idea for Ghost to go solo. Yes, it can definitely handle itself far better than any of the Hunters/Huntresses-in-training in Beacon, but keep this in mind: Ghost's goal for staying in Remnant is to become and be treated like a real person (Remember Pinocchio? It's kind of like that with Ghost. Also, yes I'm aware that Ghost was never a victim of racism in Hallownest, but that's only because it looks so much like the bugs of Hallownest that it might as well pass for one, but the same cannot be said for it with humans and faunus alike). To make those first steps, it would have to learn to connect with its peers in a proper school (in this case, Team RWBY in Beacon), and to assimilate to Remnant's culture. It's wearing a mask, so it will have some time to adjust to everything before eventually the ruse will be up, whether Ghost makes it so or not. As a bonus, it will also be learning from the fighting styles of its new friends anyway, so it doesn't necessarily have to be that Ghost will learn from them in a mission because there's plenty of opportunities to do that in Beacon (that isn't to say that it WON'T have any missions with either team).

SoulFire47: Haha, eventually Ghost will discover a real reason to hate Remnant's Grimm.

Ghost will not at all be affected by Ruby's Silver Eyes. Yes, Ghost is an entity of darkness. However, it is not made of the same substance as the Grimm. Since the Silver Eyes is a gift passed down by the Light God, it is only ever a counter against specifically the Grimm. Since Void and whatever ooze is coming out of the Grimm pools are two different things, there's no reason for Void to be affected by the Silver Eyes.

Oh right, no doubt there has to be other Vessels that escaped Hallownest. But if I do include them, that means I have to make OC Vessels, or I might feature existing OC Vessels (with permission, of course) from other Hollow Knight content creators. Either way, it is a detail that I can't ignore. Also uhh, about the Pale Dragon/King... yeah he's as dead as the Radiance at this point. Can't be too sure though, maybe Silksong has something to say about that.

And...right, I will have to make Ghost nurture Grimmchild to adult size if I want to include The Grimm Troupe here. The only way to do that, however, is to have Grimmchild absorb more flames from a fallen kingdom. There's definitely some fallen kingdoms all across Hallownest if Ozpin's back-story has anything to say about that. Though, there is a place where people have fallen. I'm thinking of a particular mountain, I'm sure you can guess exactly which one I'm talking about, right?

VolcanicFlare: Silent protagonists aren't exactly helpful with progressing the story. I had to give Ghost some form of personality if I want to make this story interesting. :/ Yeah, definitely OOC, but you are right it works out!

Anyway, let me know your thoughts on this extremely late chapter! Please criticize me, I really need it.

Boomerito