The Grimm Knight

Not as Bad

The bullhead finally touched ground after long hours of silence from the faunus with me. Most had kept to themselves grieving over their lost comrades while the others were receiving aid. I only leaned against the wall with my legs curled up against me to give them more room. Whatever my Queen has done made me bigger and more intimidating. That's what the Faunus had murmured to each other once they were comfortable around me and certain I wouldn't attack.

I only huffed and turned to the hatch slowly opening to reveal a crowd of White Fang members eyeing the survivors. The shock look on their faces showed the disbelief clear. They expected a lot more bullheads and their own kind to walk away from the mission. Instead there were only a handful left and a large Grimm inside the ship.

The remaining members started helping each other out of the bullhead with the help of various Faunus that volunteered to help. The misery in the air was stronger than I anticipated forcing me to keep still to avoid causing any problems. My Grimm side howled in excitement but my intelligent side scorned the bloodthirsty part and focused on remaining still. The different parts of me raged on until a soft voice was heard causing me to open my eyes that I hadn't realized were closed.

"W-what happened? Why are there so few?" The familiar rabbit Faunus stood in front of with her mask still covering her face. From the sound of her voice it sounded like she was on the brink of tears.

My first reaction was to break the news to her in the worst way possible to cause her to break. To make all of them lose hope and grow angry. But I held myself back and slowly reached a hand out to play on her shoulder. Though it was big enough to clamp around her upper torso, "humans attacked too soon. Forced the plan early. They were the only ones... I could find. The rest were blocked off." By the end of it her tears rolled down her face with her hands balled up.

She shook her head in disbelief and took a few steps backwards mumbling "no". I could have easily reached my arm out to touch her again but I refrained from doing so. That was until she ripped her mask from her face and threw it down on the floor before her knees hit them. Her gaze was glued to the floor as the tears dripped down leaving small puddles on the floor. "Ash..." She mumbled closing her eyes and letting out a low wail. It sounded lost and broken. Like she didn't have a purpose anymore.

I hummed and walked past her allowing the Taijitu tail to wrap around and drag her with me. She yelped and looked towards me but didn't struggle in the grip. Though hundreds of eyes were on the both of us as I led us outside and deep within the forest. Being inside and surrounded by Faunus wouldn't have been the best place for us to talk about what happened.

I stopped once we were deep in the forest and night was starting to fall upon us. The Taijitu released her against the tree and I took a seat in front of her. Right now, she looked vulnerable and weak to me with her brown orbs staring at me. The sadness was still apparent but curiosity was also held there. "Why did you bring me here?"

I stayed silent for a moment to figure out the best way to ask my question but just went with it, "who is Ash?"

That caused her body to freeze and another stream of tears to go down her cheeks. But she, surprising, answered faster than I thought, "she was my best friend... She helped me take care of my little brother when our parents died." She wiped away her tears with her forearm, "why do you care?"

"I want to know why... You're so interested... With me." I narrowed my eyes and leaned closer to her, "are you not afraid? I can eat you anytime."

At that, she let out a chuckle which caused me to huff, "I am afraid of you. In fact, you don't understand how much you terrify me, but," she stopped and a small smile appeared on her face, "I somehow trust you."

"I am evil incarnate. Trusting me will be... Your doom."

Her eyes scanned my body once more before they closed, "I know that as well. You're more-or-less blunt and you make things very clear. You push past the boundaries humans and Faunus were told about Grimm. You're unique and interesting. Do much so that I was a bit too curious and got closer than most. I guess you were curious of me too which is why you didn't kill me."

I'd say I was much more surprised and caught off guard initially. But curiosity came close by. She went up to me with her own free will and risked her life to touch me. Up to this point, she's much braver than the others but has a weak body. "I won't deny it... But I was also surprised. You are silent."

Her smile grew and she tilted her head, "thank you. I'm kind of known for sneaking up on people. Ash told me if I put more work into it I could be an assassin, but that doesn't suit me."

"It will," I said catching her attention, "you should listen... To her. Especially now." I stood up hovering over her to the point I needed to take steps back to see her fully. "I'll even help you. I need an... Assassin. I'm too large now." I motioned to my body showing how my muscles increased in size and the bone plates felt heavier but stronger. When I rolled my shoulders I could feel the plates bumping against each other. I turned to look back at my wings to see them much bigger and stronger but still not good enough to support my new weight.

I hadn't notice the rabbit stand up and circle around me examining each new improvement closely. A few times her hand pressed against the scattered places where fur had poked through to feel it's course texture. Once she ran a finger along the Taijitu's scale, she stood in front of me again with a large smile on her face, "are you sure you're willing to help me? If you are then I'll happily accept it."

I hummed in thought and walked around until I was behind her, "I have to make sure... If you're truly ready. Close your eyes... And don't open them... Until I say so." I waited for her eyes to close before walking away from her.

I didn't get too far when she called out for me, "hey, where are you going? Are you going to leave me here?"

I ignored both of her questions and turned to a pair of glowing red eyes slowly getting closer to her form to reveal a snarling Ursa. Her body tensed up hearing it but surprisingly kept her eyes closed. I had to admit, even when danger was near she was still listening to me. I wonder what her limit will be. "Keep your eyes closed."

I nodded to the Grimm and watch it take off towards the faunus. Her body was shaking in fear before her shoulders started to relax with a small smile appearing, "I will."

My sword sailed through the air until it impaled the Ursa forcing it's movements to stop, "you may open them now."

She opened her eyes to be met with the tip of my sword dripping blood and nearly touching her nose. Her eyes shifted up to the Grimm watching it's eyes dim before falling towards the ground revealing me walking towards her. By the time I got there, it's body had nearly deteriorated allowing me to pick up my weapon and sling it over my shoulder before ripping off the Ursa mask before it went away.

She opened her mouth to say something but I cut her off, "what is your name?"

The question caught her off guard that she stood there for almost a minute before responding, "it's Kate. Since you asked me first, what is your name? Unless you don't want to tell me or don't have one."

"I am Hellion." I placed the large mask over her face which slipped off a bit before she corrected it. "Your mentor and ally." I lightly shoved her in the direction of the base to start walking, "what I can't do... You'll do for me. And now you will... Avenge your friend. I will make you strong... And feared by humans."

A bit of a shorter chapter but I didn't want to combine many different ideas and the things that happened were important. And now Hellion has a name and a little minion. 2-3 more to go