Author's Notes to follow the chapter this time around due to some updated news.

Yang, Emerald, and Weiss all looked on in confusion and worry at what they had walked into. Between Neo on the floor in tears, and Frost lying motionless on the bed, their minds quickly began to twist to dark places they'd rather not go to.

"But…all I did was freeze him and tell Penny to incapacitate him…how could he…" Weiss thought to herself as she looked to her hands as though they were venomous snakes.

"He's not….dead…is he?" Emerald asked, her bluntness cutting through the silence like a warm knife through butter.

Taiyang's face jolted up at the sound of other people in the room, his eyes wide with surprise even though he should have known they would show up eventually. For a moment his mouth was stuck open until he caught on to what was asked and snapped himself out of his brief stupor.

"No…no, he's fine…I think." Taiyang stated, hesitation evident in his voice while Neo's body continued to convulse as tears continued falling down her face while Penny knelt beside her in silence, a hand rested on her shoulder in the hopes of comforting the grief-stricken girl.

"But then…why's she in tears if he's not dead?" Yang asked as she gestured to Frost's body for a moment. "What happened?"

"It…may have been something I said that did this." His voice was filled with regret as he hung his head in shame and walked over to the window to look outside in silence. His eyes flickered to something only he could see for a moment before returning to the group in the room. "I asked her if she might know anything about what's different about him now, with him acting the way he did after they arrived. I don't know what's gone on, but whatever is she's broken up inside about it."

"…It's the Grimm, isn't it." Weiss spoke for the first time since walking into the house, her expression turning to steel to hide her own doubts and fears for the time being.

"Grimm? Yang, what's she talking about?" Taiyang asked with confusion in his voice as he turned back to face the group after hearing what Weiss had said.

"It's not good, dad. Turns out that at some point a number of months ago, even before we had run into him in Vale and learned about everything that had happened, he and Neo had been dosed with some sort of drug that hadn't seemed to affect Frost. We all thought it was some sort of mind control drug, but it turns out that it was some sort of Grimm essence that would make a person stronger but also more savage. Frost was able to remove it from Neo's system using his Semblance somehow, but ever since then he's been showing more and more signs of the same drug according to Emerald, here. None of them know how to remove it since he can't funnel his own Semblance back into himself in the same way, so he's just been dealing with it and trying to keep it contained in the hopes they can find a cure." Yang replied as she finished relaying everything that had been explained to her and Weiss back in the yard before they had gone back to the house.

"A person with a Grimm inside of them?" Taiyang spoke with an unsure tone as he looked over to the sleeping boy on the bed. "It couldn't be…"

"Mr. Xiao Long, do you know something we don't?" Weiss asked as she took a small step forward.

"It's just a guess, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same case…" He spoke to himself as he put a hand to his chin in thought. "The signs are all there, and it's just too convenient for it not to be…"

"Dad! What is it?" Yang exploded in frustration, her hands balled into fists as she took rapid steps in her father's direction. She stopped however when he put up a hand in front of her and turned to face the group with a serious expression.

"Neo." The smaller girl moved her head to look at the man, her face still wet with tears though they had since stopped falling as she simply knelt on the floor taking everything in. "I'm only going to talk about this if it's okay with you to hear it. I don't know how you'll react so I need to know if you're okay with hearing the truth."

"The truth?" Her voice was hoarse, likely due to the crying and gasping she had just recently finished doing. "The truth…about what?"

"The truth behind what happened to your village when you were children." Qrow stated as he walked into the room from behind everyone.

Frost felt his body pounce towards the group of three in front of him, already severely weakened since one was without a weapon and another was badly injured even though they could still fight. His body quickly moved across the damp grass beneath him, his one arm swinging back as he brought up the sword he had stolen from the man holding up the bleeding woman towards the one person still uninjured and armed with a weapon. He had never taken the chance to really notice what type of weapon it was as his mind and eyes had been primarily focused on the people in front of him, but it was at this moment that he caught the glimmer of steel as a massive battle-axe began to fill his vision. The next moment he felt his body fly back across the ground and return to where he had roughly been only moments ago. He looked down to see a sizable wound on his abdomen over the preexisting wound from the sword that had been stabbed into him, a large gash across his chest that left his body feeling warm, but not unable to fight.

"Well…I guess that proves that. He's definitely got more than one Semblance in there." The woman stated calmly as she continued to hold the axe in front of her while speaking to the people off to her side. "I used my own power to try and stop something, and he definitely slowed down compared to when he got you before, Collette. Looks like he's still able to take some nasty hits and keep going though. I should be fine though, as long as I can keep his speed locked up, then I can just whittle him down with my own weapon. I'll try to get your sword back for you the next time he comes at us, alright Will?"

"Just be careful. You know what happens if you get too cocky." The man responded plainly as he stood beside his wife as a bolt of energy began to form along her bowstring. Moments later, a shot arched forth from it as hit Frost's chest, his body once again lurching slightly as he felt the warm bolt slam into him and then dissipate moments later, leaving a sizable burn mark on his chest just above his heart.

"He's durable. I can't get at his vital spots if his body will just resist my attacks like that." The woman with the bow stated as she wobbled on her feet for a moment before collecting herself and standing firm once again before nocking another pair of arrows from out of nowhere.

The man looked back and forth between the two of them before shrugging his shoulders and taking a deep breath. "Aw, fuck it."

"Will, what are you talking abo-" The woman with the axe started before the man started sprinting forward with a yell straight towards Frost as he held up the sword in defense of himself. When he took a swing to try and decapitate the man however, his body simply shimmered once again as the blade passed harmlessly through him before he then grabbed into the pommel of the blade in Frost's hand and began to struggle for control of it. "You idiot! What are trying to prove after what you just said about Logan?!"

"I'm giving you an open shot, you dunce! I can just phase your axe through me when you swing it while I hold back the weapon so that you can get a solid hit in! Did you seriously forget about that trick, already?!"

The woman with the axe blinked for a moment before slapping herself on the face in shame for a moment before reaching her other hand down to grip the handle of her axe before sprinting forward. With a mighty yell of her own, the weapon came arching down from her right side, intent on carving open a hoe in Frost's chest so that they could reach the heart of this monstrosity in front of them. The man's body shimmered once again for a moment as the weapon slid smoothly through his torso and directly towards Frost's torso. What the two of them failed to notice however, was that when he had activated his Semblance to allow the weapon to pass through him, Frost had let go of the sword in his hand before bringing his arm back with a vicious look on his face.

A gush of blood few through the air as the attack hit its mark.

"I don't understand." Neo stated plainly as she slowly got to her feet with Penny's help. "What are you doing here, Qrow? And what do mean by the truth about what happened? It was attacked by Grimm and we were forced to evacuate. That was the day that Frost and I both lost our parents as they defended villagers trying to escape to safety."

"While that's not wrong about what happened…it's not the entire set of facts." Qrow stated as he crossed his arm over his chest. "There were Grimm there, but there was also….something else. Calling them bandits wouldn't be right, even though that's what it was thought at first as to what they were when the reports came back. They were…abominations, to put it simply."

"Abominations? What are you talking about?" Weiss asked for the group as she gave the drunk a confused a hesitant look at his sudden appearance.

"There were people there as well. People…that were merged with Grimm."

Frost's chest bled freely as the axe sat upon the ground, an open gash visibly showing some of his innards to the outside world. His body wobbled slightly as it tried to stay upright, but the loss of blood had become too much and his form fell to the ground with a wet splat as he landed in a puddle of mud that had formed from the sheer amount of rain that had been falling. As he did so, he felt his arm slide away from something warm before falling limp beside him. He looked over to see why it felt warm, only for his mind to reel back in shock at the sight he bore witness to.

A claw like that of a Beowolf, clutching two hearts and coated in blood.

He then looked over to the people he had been fighting, only to witness their bodies slowly fall as well, a large gaping hole in each of their chests as the life began to leave their eyes. The moment their forms hit the ground, he could hear a shrill sound coming from off to the side, his head slowly turning to face the one woman still badly wounded as her knees gave out and she slowly began sliding across the ground towards the two bodies motionless in front of her. Her eyes briefly looked in his direction before a look of malice filled her eyes and a large ball of burning energy filled one hand, smoke rising from it as any rain that hit it rapidly evaporated. The next thing he knew, his vision was heavily distorted as he felt the energy slam into one side of his face, likely destroying one side of his face from the sheer intensity of the attack. Her body then slowly moved to lean over the two dead people lying on the grass her chest heaving with sobs of despair as she prayed for something to bring them back to life. Her head turned to face something as though she noticed something, though Frost was unable to move his own body to see what it was as well.

Her mouth opened to speak as she began talking to whoever had just arrived. "You'll never get away with this you bastard. They won't let you live after what you've done this time."

"That's so sweet of you to claim, Mrs. Frost. Or is that Miss Frost now, since your husband appears to be dead. Perhaps you'll even go back to your maiden name in the time you have left. Hmm?"

The woman spat in the direction of the male voice that had spoken to her. "Go to hell, you monster."

"Oh, my dear. I've been living it ever since I realized how foolish I used to be. One day I may be free of it however. As for you, give your husband and friend my regards if you see them again."

And then a long blade pierced her chest, stabbing clean through her heart as she choked on her own blood before falling limp next to the forms of her companions. A slight whisper left her voice as the light left her eyes.

"Cobalt…please be safe…wherever…you are…"

"Wait…how does she know my name…no…nononono…" Frost's mind began to race as the last words she'd spoken and everything else they'd said now rushed back through his mind as the adrenaline and bloodlust from the fight wore off.

"Hmm? Didn't catch that I'm afraid." The male voice went silent as though awaiting a response before footsteps began moving in Frost's direction. "Oh well. No matter. I've collected enough data from this little test that should allow us to complete our research very soon. It's a shame what happened to our test subjects though. At least the heart is undamaged."

An outline stepped into Frost's view as his vision began to darken, his awareness slowly fading into the deep as a hand reached down towards his chest and he felt a pulling sensation before his mind went blank.

Everyone was silent as they continued to sit around Frost's silent form as Neo replaced the damp cloth resting on his forehead while Taiyang and Qrow spoke in the next room.

"Why now of all times, Qrow? Haven't they been through enough?" The blonde man asked in a frustrated tone as he gestured to the wall that separated them from the next room. "Did they really need this information now of all times?"

"Tai, look. I get that you don't like this. I'm not a fan of it, either. But they need to know what they could be up against if the rumors I've heard are true."

"What rumors, Qrow? All everyone seems to be talking about lately is what happened to Vale, and who's next to be attacked."

"That's what most of the people are talking about. But I've also heard stories of new types of Grimm appearing from nowhere, and in some cases people disappearing without a trace. If it's anything like what happened the last time…it won't end well. And if it is the same person…then we all need to be on our guard for what's to come."

Frost's eyes slowly opened as he awoke in the next room. Everyone turned to face him when those that were looking visibly reacted to him waking up. They all stepped towards him out of concern as he looked around to see who was there, only for his eyes to stop on Neo's face, taking note of the puffiness of her eyes and the tear trails still lingering on her face. His mouth opened to tell her about what he'd seen, but he instead held back, for fear of how she might react to the truth of how their parents had died that night.

At that moment, he decided. Even if his soul was unable to be saved from this point on, he wouldn't stop until he felt the life of the man who had stabbed his mother end…by his own hands.

Alright, so that is the end of that part of the story. More of the past has come to light, and things are beginning to form into the final arc of this story. For those that have been sticking with it to this point, I hope you've enjoyed it despite the occasional grammar mistake that I've had happen in my writing. Anyways, on to other news.

For those that have read the update I posted last week, I will be doing a much tighter schedule going forward to get myself into a full-on routine for how I do this i the future. From now on, I will be posting this story around the same time every two weeks, with the posts hopefully going up around each Thursday or Friday. Given how inconsistent my work schedule can be sometimes, it may have some slight variations from time to time, but I'll try my best to keep it relatively similar.

The main reason for this is that I will be writing another story that will be having it's first chapter released next week around the same time. It will not be focused on RWBY however, as it will be written for the universe of My Hero Academia (for those that may have seen/heard of the show/manga). I have found myself just as invested in the continuation of that show as I am with RWBY, and so I want to throw my hat in the ring at writing in that universe as well. For those that may be interested, keep an eye out as next Thursday rolls around since it'll be getting posted around the same time on the weeks I'm not writing RWBY.

And with that, I bid you all a good day.