Team SHDW Information

Short Story: Help from an Unlikely Source

Before the events of RWBY Volume 5

When Professor Lionheart assigned her team to this mission, Sapphire Drey's suspicions about something bigger at hand began. Something was... off about the guy when he informed her of it. Leo was never that much of a confident talker, sure, but the nervous stuttering made her raise an eyebrow.

But nevertheless, she and her team headed towards the western border of Mistral, preparing to help defend it from constant Grimm attacks. But they arrived just a little too late. They got to the scene just as the last border soldiers fell and the Grimm started to pour in. Sapphire turned to her teammates, who all nodded before they all charged into the fray, their leader draining a bit of energy from Taven Elysian's pack and charging up her sword, Fukushū.

Grimm after Grimm fell, from Beowolves to Ursai to Nevermores. Rin leaped at a Deathstalker and started to hack away at its body, cutting through pretty easily with the obsidian her blades, named Yaban & Hito, were made from. A swarm of Creepers charged Taven, who simply shot them down with Yasui & Desu, unloading round after round of energy bullets into the group, destroying them as quickly as they ran. Axel Coving blocked an rolling attack from a Boarbatusk with Furīzu in its ice shield form, before grabbing it by one of the horns, freezing it solid with his Semblance, and smashing it with his weapon's spear form.

All was going well, until Sapphire spotted a more... humanoid figure in the back. As she cut down a Goliath, she tried to get a good look at it. It was standing upright on two legs, had a tail that was flickering about, its feet and hands had nasty looking claws, and its face... well, it was covered up completely by a mask, similar to other Grimm, but the mask seemed to move in two pieces when it breathed, the split where its mouth was. She then gasped in fear as she realized what it was that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her: The Demon of Grimm. She then understood why the border's defenses fell so easily.

Then it looked directly at her, its head twitching. It then spread its arms, looked to the sky, and let out a loud scream/roar. At once, all the Grimm stopped their charge, turning their attention to the Demon, confusing the rest of Team STAR as the humans/Faunus covered their ears at the noise. Then the creature began to stalk towards Sapphire as her team regrouped, and then it broke out into a run, charging at the Mistralian team.

"Axel!!" Sapphire commanded, "Shield!!"

Axel got in front of the group and, with a combination of Furīzu and his Semblance, created an ice wall to try and halt the Demon's advance. But mere seconds later, the wall collapsed, busted through by the Grimm, about to land on top of Rin. The reptilian Faunus growled and raised her blades in defense, but they did little to stop its tail from smashing into her stomach and sending her flying back. Taven shot at it, but the bullets just seemed to harmlessly glance off its body, only succeeding in getting its attention.

"Taven, you know what to do!" Sapphire told her boyfriend, who nodded and jumped to her, the Demon following.

As soon as he landed, STAR's leader sapped more energy from his energy core with her Semblance and powered up her sword to fifty percent. The Demon, currently still in the air after it pounced, didn't even see it coming. Sapphire slashed in its direction, not even hitting it, but the shockwave alone blasted him back, orange light slightly crackling crackling over its body-wait, what? Sapphire blinked, certain that she had seen things. Because if she didn't know any better, she could've sworn that that was an Aura. But Grimm didn't possess Aura, so that was impossible. But if it was, what on Remnant was this thing?

The Demon landed on its feet, letting out another roar before pouncing at Sapphire again, but this time, Rin stepped in front of it. It switched targets and swung its tail at her, but Rin managed to counter by swinging both of her blades into the tail, sending it in a small retreat. The Demon assessed the situation, only confusing Sapphire more. She knew Grimm weren't mindless, but this was something more. This Demon seemed more... human than the others.