"A million voices across Remnant, shouting out in united defiance, was a shiver up my spine. But now that million has been reduced piece by piece down to a few thousands. That small and shrinking noise, being stamped out before me, is the signal of victory.

For now, across this ruined world, where once a proud race stood instead stands the savage burning hunger and rage of the Grimm. Billions of claws and jaws snapping, roars loosed to the sky, and more terrible things crawling out of sight. They gather now, directed towards Vale, to vanquish that long thorn in my side once and for all. Their vanguard comes to meet us. They will be met with horrors they have never imagined."

Tsuruya sat on the top step leading from the on-board barracks to the Paladin hangar, looking out over the large compartment meant to hold the mecha. She, of course, had to wonder if anyone on the Atlesian Airship actually knew how to drive such a vehicle. They wouldn't help much just sitting around on their own.

"Winter says they have limited A.I. that allows them to essentially drive themselves."

Tsuruya turned to look over her shoulder. "Pyrrha, hi. Uh, oh… really? That's pretty cool. That means we don't have to worry about driving them ourselves, right?"

Pyrrha nodded. "That about sums it up."

An awkward silence hung over them for several seconds too long before Tsuruya managed to find something more to say.

"When we were on the street, when I heard the Grimm voices. I think I saw the humanoid Grimm. It told me something… 'You can save us,' it said. What do you think that means?"

Leaning idly against the wall, Pyrrha fixed her eyes on the deck. "Listen, Tsuruya. I don't know what you thought you heard, but I know what I heard. I was right there with you. I wasn't sure I wanted to say this before, but I think you should at least understand. I thought I heard the voices too."

Turning all the way and standing up, Tsuruya stood in front of Pyrrha and grabbed her shoulders. "Wait, hold up. You heard it too? That's what you're telling me? Then what was with all that creepy talk? You made me feel like you thought I was a Grimm."

Pyrrha brushed Tsuruya's hands off her. "Trust me, that possibility hasn't escaped me. But seeing as we both heard those voices, I have to consider that it was either a byproduct of your aura, possibly your semblance, which precludes you being a Grimm, or the cause was something else that was present. Now, you say you think you saw the humanoid Grimm. That may be the source. Who knows what it's really capable of?"

"You thinking telepathy?"

"What?" Pyrrha shook her head and started walking away from the hangar. "The voices we heard were from the Grimm right in front of us. They were talking. Something, maybe the humanoid Grimm, translated for us."

"Okay, wait." Tsuruya skirted around Pyrrha and stopped her. "What if… now, hear me out on this, but what if Grimm could speak all along and just never had any reason to?"

Pyrrha closed her eyes. "I don't think so. That just doesn't make sense."

"No, I'm serious." She took a deep breath. "Okay, what if they were looking for someone in particular and they just weren't going to talk to anyone else."

"What, you think it's just because of you? You think the Grimm were capable of talking through all of Human history, but they chose to wait until you showed up? What makes you so special, Tsuruya?"

The shorter girl took a step back, rubbing the back of her head self-consciously. "Um… well, I'm… I'm not from around here."

Pyrrha thought through everything she knew about Grimm, and about Tsuruya. "Is… is it possible that the Grimm… originally came from your world? Would that help explain it?"

"Uh…" Tsuruya shrugged. "It might explain it, but I don't think they come from Earth. There would be some record of it. That is, of course, if Humanity could survive the Grimm to begin with, which I don't think we were capable of for the majority of our history."

"Yes, but what about before recorded history? Perhaps they haven't been in your world for thousands of years."

"It would have to be, like, four thousand years at least. That's when our recorded history starts getting a bit fuzzy. I think there would be some very distinct records of them if they'd been on Earth six or even eight thousand years ago. Plus, they would definitely have killed all of us back then." Tsuruya just offered another shrug. "Unless some people with super powers came and defended us from the Grimm, that is. My point is, I don't think the Grimm are from Earth."

"Remnant's recorded history isn't remotely that long. Beyond maybe a thousand years, everything is just lost." Pyrrha paused, then walked around Tsuruya and continued on her way. "I think it would be nice to learn more about your world. What can you tell me?"

Tsuruya followed the redheaded warrior, happy to talk about home. "Well, aside from thousands of history, which we learn more about every day, and there being no Grimm preventing us from exploring everywhere, Earth is seven continents, close to seven billion people, and almost two hundred countries."

"Sounds over-crowded."

"Well, there are a lot of places that are really crowded. Tokyo City, for example, though Paris isn't any better. China and India are pretty bad too, and those are big countries. The oceans are huge, and a lot of the land is deserts and mountains and forests."

Pyrrha stopped in front of the door that led to the bridge. She didn't turn around when she spoke. "And there's no Grimm anywhere on Earth? It sounds wonderful. Paradise, even."

"I don't know if I would say that, exactly." Tsuruya sheepishly scratched at her neck. It felt kind of like a betrayal to tell someone all the bad things about her planet. "I mean, sure there are no Grimm, but that just means we can focus on fighting with each other more. Just in the past hundred years, there were two wars, we call them the World Wars. Not many countries managed to stay out of those. People divide themselves by country, skin color, religion, or whatever else, and use those things as excuses for genocide."

Pyrrha looked confused. "Color? People in your world kill each other over… skin color?"

"It's a long story. It's… kind of like the deal with the Faunus, but… not really."

The door opened, and a tall girl with sandy blonde hair ushered them in. "Good, you're here. We're about to reach our destination."

Pyrrha nodded and walked past the girl. "So we hit the ground and spread out, clearing every Grimm we find. Right?"

Tsuruya stopped and held her hand out to the girl. "Hi. We haven't met yet. I'm Tsuruya."

The girl accepted, shaking her hand. "Dew Gayl. My team is over there." She nodded towards three other girls. "Team NDGO."

"You guys look ready for anything."

"I hope we are, but I hope we don't let it get to our heads. Nebula has that problem sometimes." She shook her head. "If we stick together, we'll be fine."

They joined the rest of the group, who were standing around a holographic display of the city of Vale. It wasn't nearly big enough to show smaller Grimm, but there were large red splotches in the air above it, showing the massive Grimm up in the clouds. They could also just make out a few of the giant Grimm they'd already fought and destroyed. Tsuruya felt like she could take on a Hydra with just a little help, but the Doom Worms were a bit much.

Jaune pointed at the side of the display closest to him. "So we're going to drop off here and spread out. Teams converge on the big ones nearest to that point. JNPR will head after this Charlottain, Emerald, Mercury, and Neo will hit this Goliath, Sun's team and Qrow will go after that Hydra, and NDGO will take out this… um… thing."

Winter looked closer at the 'thing'. "I'll be going with Emerald's team. And I believe that's Raivern."

Qrow chuckled. "Raivern. Who named these? Good luck with that, girls."

Nebula smiled. "We'll go easy on him." There was an audible groan from one of her teammates, though when she looked she couldn't figure out which one it was.

Tsuruya spoke up. "That leaves me with May… and who?"

Doctor Oobleck patted a young redheaded girl on the shoulder. "Myself and Miss Polendina. We'll be heading up the middle of the pack. There doesn't appear to be any large enemies in that path, but no doubt they've made up for that with numbers."

Roman called back from the cockpit. "We've got incoming! Nevermores, Griffons, and some big dragon thing! Everyone to the exit ramp!" He looked over the incoming Grimm. "I don't think there will be a return flight."

The rush to the back of the airship was orderly, but fast. The ramp opened, and a Griffon immediately stuffed itself in, tearing at the Paladin's and throwing them out the back. Pyrrha hit the beast first, slicing off one of its front legs before continuing on to the ramp. Nora hit it next, smashing its head against the ceiling with her hammer. Team JNPR was the first out. Tsuruya had to wait and watch everyone else jump out before she could see where her team was. May and Oobleck jumped out without a moment's notice.

Penny turned to Tsuruya and saluted. "Let's go, teammate Tsuruya! Victory awaits!"

"Sure it does."

Penny grabbed her hand and hauled her out. They fell out of the sky and landed on the roof of a three-story building. Tsuruya drew her sword as she scanned the rooftops around her. She could only spot Nora and May, both of which quickly jumped down out of sight. It was clear why they disappeared.

Two Griffons swooped down after her and Penny, screeching as they dived. Penny ducked under the claws of one Griffon as it soared by, and Tsuruya cleaved the wing off the other, causing it to crash into the roof and tumble over the edge.

Penny stood up and pointed overhead. "The airship isn't going to last."

They watched as a pair of Nevermores tore one of the wings off the airship. A Griffon got in through the ramp, and the rest of the Paladins were thrown out behind it. Nevermore feathers pummeled the top, and several of the giant black birds landed on it to force it down. It keeled to one side just as Roman smashed his way out the front of the cockpit and leaped out. He disappeared as the ship crashed down around him and exploded into flames.

Penny turned and nodded to Tsuruya. "We should find our teammates. I believe Miss May was this way."

"Yeah…" Tsuruya didn't know how to take how Penny seemed completely unaffected by Roman's death. The best she could figure was that she saw something Tsuruya had missed. "Are we going to try and find Roman?"

Penny shook her head. "I would not advise it. If he survived, he can handle himself. He is an adult, after all."

They jumped down to the street, and Tsuruya had to ask. "Are you even an adult?"

Penny turned around and smiled innocently. "Nope!" She saluted again. "I can definitely handle myself, though."

A Boarbatusk crashed into the building across the street and collapsed. Immediately after, the heads of several Beowolves further down the street were blasted apart. Doctor Oobleck appeared like a hurricane, stopping in front of them. May jogged up behind him and shouldered her rifle.

The tall professor took a drink out of his ridiculous weapon, then fixed the three girls with a serious look from behind his reflective glasses. "Class is in session. You will be graded on a combination of your Grimm kill count and ability to survive the mission. Good luck."

Author's Note: You won't have to wait so long for updates anymore. It's gonna be hard work, but I'm getting this back on track and moving.

The next few chapters will be almost entirely fighting Grimm, which will certainly be a lot of fun for me.