Ren, Nora, Qrow and Summer continued their journey through the Grimm infested territory, making sure to stay hidden as they moved. Eventually they finally came to a large cliff, which Qrow immediately began to scale with his scythe.

'Wait here, I'm going to go take a look around. I'll be back soon.'

As he climbed, there was an unnerving silence surrounding the group, one which Nora was keen to break.

'How strong are the X-Class Grimm? I mean, you've fought them before, haven't you?'

Summer looked at her, unsure of how to respond.

'Stronger than anything you've ever seen. I'm not really sure how to describe it other than that. But that doesn't mean we're going to let them carry on living and killing as they please. Even if it takes our lives to do it, me and Qrow will destroy them.'

Nora realised Summer's personal vendetta against the X-Class was part of the motive for wanting to kill them, however she also carried an air of redemption about her, like she wanted to make up for something that she had done in the past. She chose not to question her about it though, as after the outburst a few days ago she seemed to have some skeletons in her closet that she'd rather others not know about.

'What about you? What do you want to do?'

Thinking for a moment, Nora gave her an answer that pleased her.

'I want to help. Even if it's only one Grimm, if it could potentially be the Grimm that kills a person in future I want to do all I can to keep other people alive.'

'You're a strong girl,' Summer told her with a smile. 'One day I'm sure you'll surpass even me and Qrow. That determination of yours will drive you to success if you continue to follow it. And you, Ren?' she asked, his motive differing from Nora's but still bringing a smile to both of their faces.

'I want to protect Nora,' he answered, blushing ever so slightly.

A few minutes later, they saw Qrow descending the cliff and patiently waited for his arrival.

'All clear,' he said, panting slightly. 'Also, I saw something up there that could be where one of the X-Class lives,' he informed them, Summer's face growing more stern at the news.

'Let's go then,' she answered, taking charge of the group once more. Approaching what appeared to be a large cave structure, Summer turned to Qrow, who simply nodded in confirmation that this was the place he mentioned.

'Ugh, it stinks in here,' Qrow commented, a horrific scent drifting through the cave, realising immediately that they had definitely stumbled upon a Grimm-infested cave network.

'Is this smell what I think it is?' Ren asked, to which Summer responded; 'Yes. But that's a good thing. It tells us we're in the right place.'

Trying to ignore the foul odour, the group slowly made their way into the ever darkening caves until it got to the point where they could barely even see each other through the darkness, even when stood mere feet from each other.

'Damn, this light is impossible to deal with!' Qrow complained, annoyed at himself for not bringing a torch of some kind.

'It'll be fine,' Summer butted in. 'I'm not leaving here until I find and kill that Grimm. How are the two of you holding up back there?' she called out to Ren and Nora.

'I'm fine,' Ren said, only just realising that something was very wrong. When had Nora let go of his arm...? They were inseparable previously, so why would she let go of him in here? He couldn't believe he didn't notice before now.

'Nora...?' he quietly called out, not receiving a response.

'Nora?'

Still nothing.

'NORA!'

Summer quickly hushed Ren, attempting to calm his panicked state somewhat.

'Do you want the entire cave to be hunting us?' she harshly spat, 'because if you keep that up we're going to have every Grimm for miles around trying to kill us, and in case you haven't realised, we aren't exactly in the most lit up place on Remnant!'

Taking deep breaths to calm himself, Ren decided to go find her.

'I'm going to go search for her on my own. You guys go deal with whatever you came here to do,' he told them. 'Don't worry about me. I'm not as strong as you guys, but I'm still a Hunter.'

'Are you sure?' Qrow nervously asked, 'there are some Grimm in here that if they catch even the slightest whiff of you will we wanting to serve you for dinner. It's dangerous to go alone.'

'Just go,' Ren said confidently. 'I'll find Nora and then we'll find a way to figure out where you are, OK?'

'If you're sure,' he replied, 'good luck.'

Wandering off on his own into the darkness, Ren desperately backtracked, hoping he would be able to find something, anything that would lead him to Nora. As he carried on walking, a terrifying thought popped into his head.

What if she was killed by a Grimm?

It was definitely a possibility. After all, Qrow and Summer did say this cave would be filled with them, so someone falling victim to them would almost be expected.

No, she couldn't have. Summer and Qrow would have noticed immediately when she disappeared. But if she isn't dead... where is she?

Deeply confused, he decided to take a moment to think, resting against one of the cold, jagged walls. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but it was better than standing. She must have disappeared when they entered the pitch black area, that much he was certain of. It was just a matter of where. He didn't even realise she was gone. He was angry at himself, but more than that he was worried for Nora. Beginning to search again, his foot collided with a strangely solid object on the ground. It felt like a large rock of some kind, but the sound it made was completely hollow. Kneeling down to feel it, his hands gently brushed over it. He immediately knew what it was. The strangely symmetrical shape, the holes that were lined up, and the fact that a small part of it was bumpy... it was a human skull. Jumping back in shock, he fell backwards, his foot falling straight through the floor, dragging the rest of his body down with it. He fell around 6 meters before landing hard on his back, his whole body aching from the impact. Strangely enough though, while still extremely dark it was possible to make out the outlines of the walls. It seemed to be a tunnel network that navigated underneath the cave above.

'Nora... are you down here?' he whispered to himself, anxious to find her.

With that, he began walking once more, his legs still thumping from the fall.

Nora woke with a groan. She found herself lying in the dirt, and looking up saw the incriminating hole she fell from. Still groggy from being knocked unconscious, she stumbled to her feet, clutching Magnhild close to her chest.

'R-Ren...? Qrow? Summer? Are you there?'

Nora was surprised at how frightened she sounded. Sure, she was alone, and at this point she was very familiar with her friends dying, but she realised just how much she relied on the others to survive. She was so used to having people there to help there that she honestly didn't know whether she could overcome threats by herself. Nevertheless, she had no choice but to trudge onwards, scared or not. Cowering in the corner would not get her out of this dusty prison she found herself in, after all.

'Where are you guys...?'

'You think those two are alright?' Qrow said to Summer, who shrugged in response, even though she knew he couldn't see.

'I don't know. I hope so, but in a place like this...'

'Yeah, I know what you mean. Not exactly Hunter friendly. I've been getting the same feeling myself. If they find each other then-'

'Shh,' Summer interrupted, instantly coming to a halt. After a few seconds, they both heard a faint rumbling sound, like something charging towards them.

'What the hell is that?' Qrow whispered, Summer turning around to try and see what it was that was coming. Her efforts were in vain however, as the two of them were enveloped in dirt and dust as the floor beneath them caved in on itself, dropping the two into the lower shaft that Nora and Ren were also stuck in somewhere. Their expertise in handling unexpected situations allowed them to land on their feet, relatively unharmed.

'We can see again,' Summer pointed out, 'not very well, but we can see.'

'Four of them, huh?'

Somewhere else in the cave network, the Grimm's glowing red eyes gave off a fierce, intimidating atmosphere as she smiled viciously to herself. 'I hope they're better than the last humans who ventured into my territory. I do wish for some good entertainment this time.'

Unlike Ren and Nora who wound up in enclosed rooms, Qrow and Summer seemed to be in a long corridor.

'Which way?' Qrow asked Summer, seeing as she was the one who was in charge of the expedition.

'This way,' she said, pointing to the left of them. This is the direction we were heading upstairs. We keep going this way and we're bound to find something,' she said. Following her lead, they walked for what seemed like forever, but in reality it was probably closer to around 30 minutes.

'Ugh, does this corridor ever end?' Qrow complained, Summer shooting him an annoyed look to tell him to be quiet.

'Is it just me, or do you feel like we're being watched?' Summer said to him, carefully evaluating the surroundings.

'I've been thinking it since we dropped down here,' Qrow said, a much more serious tone to his voice now.

Walking for a few minutes more, they came to a large set of double doors.

'Do you think...?' Qrow began, before being interrupted by Summer.

'Yes. It's here.'

Opening the doors, a large fully lit room greeted them, and in the center a single Grimm said, head resting on her hands as she awaited their arrival. It was not a normal Grimm, however. This one did not have a mask.

'I've been waiting for you,' the Grimm spoke, 'you sure took your time getting here.'

Summer's face lit up in fury as she realised who it was that sat in front of her, and through clenched teeth, she spoke her name.

'Granberia...'