RWBY: The Son of Salem (Volume 6-7)

Prologue: Hunting a Huntress

The forest surrounding Mistral was usually very quiet during the night as the various birds and other woodland creatures returned to their burrows, warrens, and nests and slept. The nighttime noise consisting of the chirping of crickets, and the various calls of bats or owls.

But tonight, the forest was unusually silent, and the chill of winter began setting in. But this wasn't what caused the forest to go still. It only went silent due to one thing.

Grimm.

The silence was soon broken as Raven ran through, breathing heavily as she did. Very little scared the Spring Maiden into running away from a fight. The only thing that did had been Salem when she and Summer tried and failed to stop her.

But that thing... That thing was no ordinary Grimm.

A normal Grimm wasn't capable of manipulating Dust. A normal Grimm wasn't capable of shrugging off a sustained assault from literally every gun in the camp.

A normal Grimm didn't revel in the slaughter or laugh as it killed hundreds with terrifying and practiced ease, or ride another Grimm like it was a horse.

No. That thing wasn't a normal Grimm by any stretch of the word.

So Raven, wounded by the Grimm before she could even get her Aura up, ran while her tribesmen fought to protect her, and heard all of their screams as they were butchered.

She could still hear its laughter as she hid behind a redwood tree to catch her breath and inspect her wound.

Her Aura hadn't healed it at all. In fact it hadn't even started to. It was almost like whatever that thing's weapons were made of, they left wounds that Aura couldn't heal, which was a terrifying thought. Raven let out a sigh. She was dead, she knew that the moment that thing cut her side open. She had groomed Vernal to become the new Spring Maiden and leader of the Branwen Tribe if she died.

But Vernal had died during the Assault on Haven, this limiting her already slim options even further.

She would have chosen Yang to get her power, but she was the Summer Maiden. She couldn't give it to Ruby, she was the Fall Maiden, and she definitely didn't want to give it to that Schnee brat. Then her thoughts drifted to the Cat Faunus that seemed very close to Yang. Now if only she knew her name.

Her train of thought was detailed when she heard a loud roar as a massive Grimm flew overhead. It knew she was here. And so, with a grunt of effort, Raven forced herself to move. She continued to run before reaching the edge of the forest. Dangerous ground with that thing's pet prowling the sky and not much in the way of cover, but it was also close to Mistral.

Before she left the forest, the Wyvern that had accompanied the Grimm who killed her tribe landed in front of her before roaring at her, forcing the Spring Maiden to turn the other way.

Suddenly, a sharp pain in her chest ripped through her, causing her to start gasping for a breath that would never come as she was lifted off the ground by the sword that impaled her.

"You never possessed the mettle for this, Branwen." The Hunter stated as it laughed. "You've... Failed."

Raven's response was to spit in its face as blood mixed with her saliva. Her last act of defiance, and it only amused the monster who had killed her. Her thoughts turned back to the Cat Faunus, before remembering her name.