"Emerald?" Weiss asked, helping the green-haired girl stand up "What happened?"

Emerald looked up at Weiss and then glanced at Pyrrha and Ren, both busy looking around. "I was at the arena. Then there was this black liquid, or it felt like that, and then…" She suddenly jumped up, looking around "Where are we? My fight is supposed to start in just ten minutes!"

"Is what we are trying to figure out too…" Ren said, then suddenly perked up, pointing down the road. The three girls looked down to see a great, hulking figure. A long snout and a single, ivory horn emerged from his blue body covered in weird symbols. The creature was holding a makeshift spear, apparently made of wood and bone, and a metallic shield covered in sharp spikes. It was also wearing a ruined pelt around his hip.

"Is that a Grimm?" Asked Emerald.

"Maybe? I don't know what else it could be. Though I have never heard of a Grimm using weapons and clothes." Pyrrha replied.

"An Arma Gigas can wield a sword if it has one." Weiss pointed out, touching her scar with a finger in reflex "Is not impossible to imagine other Grimm doing that." She replied, "I guess the question is if we should take it out or try to avoid it." At that moment, they noticed a second one further ahead, armed in the same way. "Well, them."

"I don't think we have a choice." Pyrrha replied, "The only path seems to go that way, and if we want to find other people we probably don't want to just wander aimlessly." She explained this pointing to the pathway that extended from the temple where they had appeared and continued westward. It was barely visible, and at times disappeared outright, but they could manage to follow it.

"Ok then." Weiss replied "Ren, Emerald, you two distract them with your gunfire. I will take the closest down. Pyrrha, can you take the furthest one?"

The invincible girl nodded, followed by Ren. Emerald hesitated a moment "Are you sure it's wise to move from here? We don't know what brought us all to this place. If we stay here…"

"I doubt that whoever did this is going to just bring us back," Weiss replied. Emerald glared at her, and she continued "I mean only that it's very unlikely. If someone took the trouble of bringing us here, why would they then just bring us back without any reason?"

Emerald nodded at that, then looked at the two monsters "Fine, I'll take them from the right. You take them from the left." She said, pointing at the cliff above the path. Ren nodded, and the two started to quietly move in position.

At her signal, they unleashed a storm of ammo on the best. The creatures quickly rose its shield to cover from the respective enemy's barrage, but that left them open when at unison they switched target. 'So they aren't that smart.' Weiss thought as she jumped forward. She dodged a blow of the lance using a Glyph, stabbed the creature multiple times in the gut with quick thrusts, and with a second Glyph used as a platform she hit at the monster's neck. The creature gurgled as Myrtenstar pierced its throat from side to side, and fell to the ground, quickly beginning to disappear.

Weiss looked at Pyrrha to prepare herself to help her fight the second one, but the Javelin form of Miló wal already embedded through the enemy's head, the creature falling backward and disappearing. The Invincible Girl really was amazing. Weiss took a step forward… and something squished under her heels. She looked down to see what looked like a grey liver and shrieked taking a step back.

"What is it?" Emerald asked. Then, both she and Ren followed her gaze. They both moved closer, before recoiling at the reeking smell. "Is that… its guts?"

"But that's impossible." Ren replied, "Grimm never leave anything behind."

"How do you explain the horn and tooth then?" The green-haired girl replied, pointing at the two other objects in the grass she had just noticed.

"I…" Ren begun, then noticed Pyrrha moving closer, holding a similar tooth and horn in her hands.

"So it wasn't just me." She said, putting them down "I left the other thing there, I doubt anyone minds." She said, and everyone shook their head. Looking around, they also noticed the spears and shields. The spear was roughly made, a pointed stick barely worth a glance. On the other hand, the shield, although battered and scratched, was still a decent work of craftsmanship, if rough.

"So, any chance we just ran into an unknown Grimm?" Emerald asked, though it was clear she doubted it.

"The color was completely wrong, it was using weapons and left those behind." Pyrrha replied, putting the objects in her pockets "If a Grimm like this existed, it would be revolutionary."

"So we all agree this thing wasn't a Grimm, despite vanishing like one." Weiss said, "I guess we can add it to the list of mysteries of the whole situation."

Everyone nodded, moving to continue on the road, only to look in surprise at what appeared to be a hastily built wooden fortress on a great dead tree. Two tall guard towers, crudely constructed with wood and cloth, were around it, with a group of what looked like giant chameleons manning it. They hadn't noticed them yet, but it was only a matter of time. A quick scan revealed to Weiss and the others that they were wielding weapons, including bows.

"Do we take them on too?" Ren asked, preparing StormFlower "Bandits can be nasty, but I don't know if we can avoid them."

Emerald shook her head "I think we can sneak by."

"Can we? The road is pretty open."

"There are bushes over there. We can probably sneak quietly down the road. I don't think they will come after us even if they spot us from far away. By the looks of it, they are defending this place rather than ambushing people. It's the only reason to have a fort like that this far away from any road worth watching." She said while pointing to the vegetation on the right side of the road "We just move quietly, and stay ready to react if things go wrong."

Weiss and Pyrrha looked at each other for a moment, then nodded "Lead the way." Pyrrha said, and Emerald started sneaking. The other three followed her silently, taking careful steps to cover themselves at best with the vegetation.

Then, Weiss stepped on a tree branch. For a second, she was sure that the chameleon on guard duty had noticed her, because he looked right at her, and silently prepared Myrtenstar. Just then, however, the chameleon looked in confusion her way for a second, then returned his attention to the pathway. Weiss silently thanked the Brothers and continued walking. She heard Emerald sigh in relief as well.

With that, the group made it past the fort.

_x_

"Do we have anything, Glynda?" Ozpin asked, deep in thought, his hands on his face. He moved them and looked at Jaune Arc and Nora Valkyrie. The two remaining members of Team JNPR were still understandably in shock. To be honest, so was he. Three students had disappeared right before his eyes as they entered his office in a burst of light. That was not a sight he had appreciated.

"Miss Rose never left her room from the door," Glynda explained. He looked at the Huntress. For most people, she might have looked calm, but Ozpin knew she was worried and tense just by her tone "The cameras in the corridors never filmed her doing so."

"So she disappeared while in her room." Ozpin said, deep in thought "And no one entered that same room, I assume."

"Once again, not from the door. Someone might have made it in or out from the window, though I doubt her teammates wouldn't have noticed."

Ozpin nodded "I doubt it. If this required someone's presence, miss Nikos, Weiss Schnee and Lie Ren would still be here. What about miss Xiao Long, miss Belladonna and miss Sustrai?" He thought of how worried Leo was going to be once he found out. Emerald Sustrai, one of the students from Haven Academy, had never shown up to her team's fight, which had meant a disqualification despite her team leader's insistence they could make it even without her. Ozpin had rarely seen someone so angry and could understand the reason. After all, there were only two chances to take part in the Vytal Festival during someone's career.

"Miss Xiao Long disappeared in a way similar to what we saw. She turns a corner, a camera filmed her, but the camera on the other side only filmed a blur of red light, like that of a fire, and she never shows up again." Glynda quietly explained, showing him the images. Ozpin noticed mister Arc's grip on his sword grow tighter. Of course, knowing his friends were disappearing was hitting him. Miss Valkyrie looked lost, a shadow of her usual confidence. That worried him even more. "What about miss Belladonna?"

"Blake Belladonna disappeared at the fair, and so far, we haven't located any image of the moment." A tall, black-haired man said entering the room. Ozpin smiled seeing James Ironwood, headmaster of Atlas Academy and General of the Atlesian Army. Glynda's expression, on the other hand, turned sour, even more than it was already. "We are scouting social media and any public video we can find to see if anyone posted a picture of it, but the chance seems slim."

"I thought you were going to search Amity's cameras for information on miss Sustrai, James." Ozpin said, "I take you found something?"

That was when he noticed a change in James' expression. He seemed to become uneasy, something the Headmaster of Beacon had rarely seen from him. "Yes." The Huntsman replied almost in a whisper, after a moment, "But I believe it would be best to keep it between us." He added, glancing at the two Huntsmen-in-training sittings nearby.

Ozpin was almost going to tell them to leave when mister Arc stood up "I want to see." He said. The Headmasters and Glynda all looked at him in surprise. Before Ozpin could respond, Nora Valkyrie shook herself back up and nodded "I'd like to see it too." She said.

"I would advise against it." James replied, but Ozpin raised his hand.

"If they have made their decision, I will not stop them."

"Ozpin…"

"That's final James." He said. The Headmaster of Atlas sighed and put his Scroll on the desk. A video showing miss Sustrai appeared. She was walking alone to the Arena, probably to reach her teammates. Then, under her feet, what appeared to be a large blob of pure darkness started to, for lack of a better term, absorb her. Before she could react, her legs were already trapped. She launched one of her weapons, the chain scythe lodging itself in the wall, but the blob just pulled her in more and more. A large red eye with a slit pupil emerged from the darkness, and miss Sustrai kept disappearing steadily. In desperation she pulled so hard her weapon got free from the walls, then it was sucked in along with everything else. After a moment, the blob and the eye disappeared.

Ozpin had to admit that, in his long existence, not many things had shaken him quite as much. He glanced at James, now understanding his unease. Glynda wasn't even trying to hide her real emotions, a look of terror in her usually composed face. Miss Valkyrie and Mister Arc were both hyperventilating, and after a moment they both fell to their knees. Mister Arc was crying, he noticed.

"Glynda, take miss Valkyrie and mister Arc back to their rooms and make sure all the students and Professors are accounted for. Make sure also to inform miss Sustrai's team of what happened to her, in… kinder terms than this video would. James, you should inform the Council. Possibly miss Schnee's sister too."

"Yes, of course." James said, taking back his Scroll "What about you Oz?"

"I have my own calls to make. Their parents and caretakers need to know." He said. Informing Qrow was going to be hard, but what he really dreaded was informing Taiyang. The man had left his group after losing his second wife, miss Rose's mother, and now he had to inform him his daughters were missing too. That was a kind of call he did not like to make. Especially because of the monster one of those had created.

_x_

Ruby Rose sliced at the blue pig-like monster with Crescent Rose. The Scythe cut the creature cleanly in half, leaving behind, as she had come to understand, what all the Grimm of that bizarre region did: a horn, a tooth, and sometimes what looked like their heart.

Her experience so far had not been the best. She had found out that there wasn't a single giant Grimm on the mountain, but all kinds of them. Besides another giant sleeping, she had also found the smaller bipedal pigs. Judging by their look, they were the 'living' version of the ones she had fought before.

Defeating them had given her a few horns and teeth. The reason for why they were left behind when the rest of the body vanished was still unclear to her, but she happily put them back in her pack. She did not pick up the beating hearts though, she wasn't that desperate for a trophy. After a while she found a large, isolated tree in the center of a pond. 'Probably my best choice for a bed tonight.' She thought 'Good enough to hide me from most Grimm.' She quickly inspected it to make sure there were no Nevermore Chicks in sight, and then used her hood as a cover to protect herself from the cold. She looked up at the sky, but the clouds were covering it completely now. 'It will probably rain tomorrow.' She thought, before falling asleep.

The following day, she woke up at noon. It wasn't that surprising, considering how tired she had been, but she had still admonished herself. It was one thing to sleep in Professor Port's class once in a while, another to oversleep while alone in Grimm territory. Still, nothing had happened, except for her hunger growing after hours without food. She jumped down the tree, looking at the sky carefully. It was still covered in clouds, but no rain. No Nevermore Chicks in sight either, which was slightly unnerving. There was something that didn't add up about her situation, even if she was trying to not think about it. She hadn't met a single Grimm she could recognize or found any tracks of their presence. She had not seen a Beowolf, a Nevermore, or any other of the kind of Grimm she knew were supposed to exist everywhere. The only Grimm were those weird ones that were distinctly of the wrong color and had weapons. If they didn't disappear, she would have doubted they were Grimm at all. And yet, they also didn't disappear right, leaving behind pieces of their body.

At that moment, a gut-wrenching scream interrupted her thought. A quick look down the southern slope showed her a dirt road she had not noticed the night before, and near it a man screaming for help while another of the blue pig Grimm attacked him. He was running desperately, but it was clear it was only a matter of time before the mace of the creature found purchase in his back or worse in his head. Even if he had Aura unlocked, which she doubted, she had noticed that the attacks could pack quite a punch.

She quickly aimed her sniper rifle. It really was that guy's lucky day, since she couldn't imagine anyone else coming to help. She fired a single shot. The bullet found its way through the creature's skull, launching it backward. As she expected, it did not dissolve, but before it could stand back up she fired a second shot that took it out. She then jumped down the slope, using Crescent Rose's recoil to stop her fall, and ran to the startled man, now calming down.

The first thing she noticed was the pointed ears that made him look like an elf from Maze&Monsters. His chin was quite long, and his temples were evident due to his thin physique. He was wearing a shirt and shorts and had long black hair, similar to Ren. The men took a deep breath and sat down "Than you, that Bokoblin hunts around here periodically, but I usually notice it. This time I was caught by surprise."

"Don't worry." Ruby said with a bright smile, making a note of the name 'Bokoblin' "That's just a Huntress' job."

The man looked at her in confusion for a moment, then shook his head "Quite a brave huntress, to hunt down monsters. But yes, thank you. I am Regan." He took out a small box and smiled "I don't have much to offer, but here, have this." He said, handing her what looked like three rice balls with meat. Ruby knew about that kind of food. It was a common Mistral dish. 'Maybe I am somewhere in Anima after all.' She thought as she took a couple bites. Suddenly, she felt her Aura grow. She had lost a bit in her fight with the Bokoblin, but she could swear it was coming back far faster than it should have.

"Uh, what…" She looked at the rice ball and realized she had eaten it entirely without thinking. Her grumbling stomach reminded her of why. She had not eaten in a long time and was starting to get seriously hungry. She looked back at Regan, who was studying her. "Did you know that your Rice Balls recharge Aura? Is this a Semblance?"

"Aura? Semblance?" The man seemed surprised "What's that?"

'Oh, so it's THAT kind of far off village.' She thought. Her father and uncle had told her of how many villages were so isolated the concept of Aura and Semblances was fully unknown. Thinking about it, Jaune had mentioned he came from one of those places. "Well, it doesn't really matter. Anyway, know any village nearby? I'll need a guide to Mistral or at least to a village with an airship."

Regan seemed confused for a moment "Well, Lurelin Village is not that far off. They have a lot of fishing boats, though no 'air-ships' I have ever heard of."

Ruby sighed. Of course, it wasn't going to be that easy. Whoever had sent her there wanted her to stay "Can you lead the way? I'm not the best when it comes to directions."

The black-haired man pondered the question for a moment, then nodded "Well, you saved me. This is the least I can do." He replied, "Not that my main job is giving me much luck anyway."

"What's that?" Ruby asked as they started walking, curious.

"Oh, it's actually a pretty recent idea I've had. See, after the Great Calamity, a lot of wreckage has been lying around. I search through it to find anything precious to sell." He pointed at the broken cart on the side of the road "I swear there must be something useful around here, but I can't find anything."

She nodded, though she really didn't understand the reasoning behind it. The 'Great Calamity' was probably the Great War, but she doubted anything worth scavenging was left from it. "And what's with the Bokoblin? Are they common Grimm? I never heard of one that uses weapons and shields."

"Bokoblins are problematic monsters around here. They ambush travelers and merchants, and either kill them or make them pay a fee. There is a big base of theirs west of here, from where the ones in the Plain come."

"Wait, they are intelligent enough to run a toll?" She asked, confused. That did not align with Grimm at all. They had no desire except to kill and destroy. They would never bother with a tax.

"Oh yeah. They can't speak, but they can make up for it. Their boss is a Black Bokoblin, and he is the one that calls all the shots. Once he finds out you have killed one of his kind, he will probably hunt you down. Though that will have to wait. The Blood Moon was just a week ago, the Bokoblin you killed won't return before another one comes."

Ruby tried hard to rationalize it in some way. Was this a set of folklore? But the more she thought about it, the less she could find a logical explanation on what the guy was saying. 'Where in Remnant am I?' She wondered as they continued on the road towards the village. There, she would finally put to rest the doubt she did not have the bravery to voice.

_x_

"What do you mean you have no idea what a Grimm is? A Beowolf, An Ursa, a Boarbatusk, a Nevermore?"

"Mh… Doesn't really ring a bell." Teli replied "I don't understand all this stuff. You keep asking about Dust, Aura, Semblances, and I have just no idea what you are even talking about. Old Hytopia must be a land of wonders if all humans have this kind of thing."

"Just… I…" Yang had almost no idea what to say. Sure, backwater villages with no concept of Aura or Semblance existed. But to not even know Dust or a Grimm was absurd. "How did you survive so long without Dust?"

"Well, so long as Calamity Ganon is sealed in the Castle, the monsters will keep returning, but they won't have orders to take us out. Is why everyone is thankful for the Seal."

Yang continued thinking. The guy had no idea what Remnant was. No concept of Dust. The Grimm were called just 'monster'. And apparently believed in some religion about a monster closed in a castle she had never heard about. All this was ridiculous.

Then Teli stopped her with a small movement of his arm, pointing to their left. They had just passed a small stone bridge and were now next to a boulder and a tree. And beyond them were two pig-like Grimm, one blue and one red, armed with farming tools. The man took a few steps back "I forgot the Blood Moon was just the other day, the road wasn't cleaned yet."

"Not sure what a Blood Moon is, but I can take care of those two." Yang replied, Ember Celica sliding in position. The two creatures charged forward, and she punched. The smaller, red one was sent flying backward, tumbling on the ground and disappearing in a pop of black smoke. She dodged under the Farming Hoe of the blue one, now clearly enraged, and went for an uppercut. The creature recoiled in pain but brought down the Farming Hoe. Yang's Aura took the hit and she smiled when her follow-up punch, powered by her damaged Aura, sent the blue foe fly into the rock and disappear as well.

Teli clapped "Wow. I guess there is a reason you have made it all the way here. Those weapons of yours look pretty interesting."

"I designed Ember Celica to take care of far stronger Grimm. Those two were no match." She replied cockily, as the gauntlets retracted back in their resting form as bracelets. "Now let's go. How long before we make it to this Hateno?"

"Probably a day or so. A bit less if we sleep only a few hours." Teli replied with a grin "If we had a horse we could go a lot faster, but I never found the appeal and I suppose you don't have one."

"Yeah. So one day it is." She replied. 'One day and I can find my way home.' She thought. But she also felt that idea in the back of the head. That idea that something was wrong. That this didn't look like the world she knew.

_x_

Cinder heard the door opening and prepared herself to slap Emerald. She had cost him the match and possibly her entire plan. However, the person that came into the room wasn't her. Professor Glynda Goodwitch walked in with a serious look. Cinder quickly retracted her hand, wondering if she had noticed.

"Miss Fall, Mister Black. What about your other teammate?" She asked.

"She is out looking for Emerald. Peon was very worried." Cinder explained, trying to appear as innocent as possible. In truth, she was the one that had ordered Neopolitan to find Emerald and drag her back, even by force if necessary. Neo had obliged more than happily.

"I see. Please, call her back. I fear she won't find miss Sustrai anywhere near Beacon." The Professor replied.

"That means… You know what happened to her?" Cinder asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"It's… classified. Suffice to say, we have had several disappearances on campus we are investigating."

"I heard Ruby… I mean, Ruby Rose was gone too."

"Yes, we fear miss Rose was just the first of a series."

"Who else... Who else is gone?" Cinder asked, worried.

Glynda looked at her, and luckily she mistook her worry for her plan with worry for other people. Or at least that was why Cinder thought she said her next line "I can only say Team RWBY and part of Team JNPR have disappeared, in a similar way to Emerald Sustrai."

Cinder gritted her teeth. She knew of course about team RWBY and team JNPR both being removed from the roster at the last moment, but she was surprised to hear that so many of them were gone. Last time Emerald spoke to her, she had informed the half-Maiden that only three members of team RWBY were missing. She had hoped Team JNPR was just going to be added back once the search was done.

"Well, as I said, please call back miss Tolian as soon as possible. We are worried about students moving alone." Glynda continued. There was an unspoken hesitation when she said alone. As soon as the professor left the room, Cinder grabbed her head and sat on the bed.

"So… What's the next move?"

"You go find Neopolitan. I will take care of something else. Knock when you come back." She replied, venom in her voice, and he immediately jumped up and left the room.

She closed the window, locked the door, and opened her scroll. Accessing the relevant files from Ironwood's Scroll was a matter of minutes, and she found the video of Emerald's disappearance. It was… disturbing, even for her. 'Was it Salem? No, if she had this kind of power she would have already used it on someone else.' The other videos in the folder were about the disappearances of Yang Xiao Long, Weiss Schnee, Lie Ren, and Pyrrha Nikos. Both videos were of little use, aside from the fact they made it clear there was a difference between Emerald and the others. They vanished in a flash of light, not absorbed by pure darkness.

Cinder shook her head. With Xiao Long gone, she needed a new plan. One that could be used without Emerald's Semblance, her trump card. Now denied her best asset, her only choice was to do with Neopolitan and Mercury Black.

At that moment, she felt something move under her bed, and a chill moved down her spine. She took out her bag, and she opened it. The Seer burst out and Salem's voice came in.

"Cinder, my dear Maiden. I hear there is a problem in Beacon."

"How…"

"A new associate of mine has informed me he had to borrow one of your. Which was it?"

"Emerald has disappeared if that is what you mean."

Salem's eyes narrowed "Ah, so she has. A pity, she could have been useful. I have already informed him I will not allow such actions anymore."

"If I might ask, what happened to her?" She asked. She didn't truly care about Emerald, but the idea a new member of Salem's inner circle had just stomped over her plans was angering her deeply.

"She was brought to a different place. I believe eventually she will be returned if she survives, but until then you will have to do without her. I'm… displeased too. Unfortunately, this new associate offers enough to me to make it worth keeping our connection going. Speaking of which…" The Queen of Grimm smiled, sending another shiver down Cinder's back. Ally or not, Salem was terrifying "I will send to Beacon some new pawns to help you. While they won't make up for losing your Emerald, they should be valuable. Expect them tomorrow, or the day after. Depends on the Nevermores carrying them making it to Forever Fall."

Cinder nodded, and the Seer went quiet, before returning to its place in the bag. She quickly closed it and put it back under the bed, just in time for someone to knock on the door. She opened it, thinking she would find Mercury and Neopolitan. Instead, behind the door were Nora Valkyrie and Jaune Arc.

_x_

"So, how long for this Zora's Domain?" Blake asked as they passed under the bridge, looking at the first rising stars. She had to admire the strength of the Prince. If she had taken the road, she had noticed many more Grimm of the same weird kind, the ones Sidon insisted on calling monster. Instead, they had just taken the river, with her perched on the back of the Zora. They only met Octorocks on that pat, weird water Grimm that was able to launch rocks of her size like cannonballs. Luckily, Sidon was far too fast for them to aim properly. They easily sailed up and down the river, sometimes running in rapids he easily jumped like a salmon.

Speaking of which, Blake could see the waters were filled with so many fishes. Salmons and trout were the main ones, and she couldn't help but hope the Zora had a few. 'If they even take Liens. Otherwise, I might have to fish and cook them on my own.' She thought. There was something decidedly odd about the entire situation. None of the monsters looked like Grimm should. They were colored, for one, and wielding weapons. They also didn't just mindlessly attack villages like normal. Sidon had made a sad laugh when she had mentioned that Grimm were attracted by negative emotions. His response to her confused expression had been that if that was true, Zora's Domain would have been long gone.

"Not much, we just need to pass the waterfall. Grab on tight." He replied. She was surprised for a moment, then saw the Waterfall rapidly approaching. She wondered if there was some sort of passage behind it or something, but that was when she understood why the Prince had told her to grab tight. The red Zora kept going, speeding up, and once he reached the waterfall he just swam vertically. Panicking, Blake did as he had said and grabbed his head-tail in a tight grip, hoping it didn't bother him too much.

When they made it to the top, she could not help but feel relieved. She looked up at the sky… and saw the full moon, freezing on the spot. If she wasn't holding herself, she would have probably fallen backward then and there.