It was a calm, starry night. Cardin stared upwards into the night, the cool air brushing against his face. The rest of his team were resting in a small cave they'd found, but Cardin couldn't sleep so he decided to stay outside and stargaze instead. Despite his rough exterior, he actually quite liked a few of the gentler things in life. Heaven forbid his team find out about it, though. They'd never let him hear the end of it if they found out their leader was such a wuss. After around half an hour, he felt his eyes slowly begin to close, and letting sleep take over he passed out right there on the grass.

'NO!'

Waking with a shout, Cardin was sweating heavily. It was a recurring trauma from his childhood. He occasionally had these nightmares, memories of a man who beat him and scared him half to death as a young child.

'What's up, Cardin?'

Looking over to the cave entrance, Dove was walking over to him.

'It's nothing.' He tried to brush it off, but Dove knew much better than that. He wasn't an idiot.

'Seriously, what's wrong? I won't tell the others.'

Contemplating, Cardin decided to tell him.

'I've had this nightmare for years,' he started, a defeated look on his face. 'When I was a kid, there was this guy. He used to threaten and hurt me. Take stuff from me, stuff like that. Anyway, this guy used to beat the shit out of me. I still don't know why he did it, but he must have had some reason. Then one day, he just vanished. He was a Hunter so everyone assumed he must have died on a mission, but I don't buy it. He was way stronger than any Hunter I knew. He's alive, somewhere.'

'Is that why you became a Hunter? For revenge?'

'Yeah,' Cardin sorrowfully responded. 'I want payback for what that asshole did to me.'

Just as their conversation was coming to an end, they heard a terrified scream coming from within the cave. Seconds later, Sky came running out, a look of horror on his face.

'IN THE CAVE! THERE'S AN-'

He was interrupted by a thick feather piercing his stomach, before quietly stuttering his last words.

'There's... an SSS-Class...'

Cardin and Dove were shocked. They immediately got to their feet, and saw the terrifying presence of a woman with the faint appearance of a Nevermore. Sure enough, an SSS-Class Grimm. Dove and Cardin ran like hell, but the Grimm easily out-paced the two of them. Cardin kept running, only stopping when he heard Dove's pained scream.

'Don't stop! Just keep going!'

Cardin slowly turned around, and even through the mask he saw the look in the Grimm's eyes. It was borderline psychotic. It sent chills up his spine. Frozen in fear, he helplessly watched as the Grimm ripped Dove's head off with a single hand, before proceeding to start eating his body right in front of him.

'He's good... but he's a little too tender,' the Grimm snarled, a strange distorted voice ringing through the air, as they looked up, her eyes meeting with Cardin's once more. He tried to slowly back away, but it was no use. Almost instantaneously, the Grimm was on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

No... it can't end like this! I still haven't paid that Taiyang bastard back for what he did to me as a child!

A flurry of thoughts raced through his mind as the Grimm leant in ever closer, not even granting him the dignity of dying first before she sank her teeth into one of his eyes. His agonizing scream rang through the night as blood poured down his face, the Grimm ravenously tearing his flesh off his face, barely chewing before swallowing. Minutes later, the only thing remaining was a skeletal pile where Cardin had once lay.

'Not enough...' the Grimm said to herself, searching out into the wilderness for more prey. She shivered in delight at the thought of the next game she would 'play' with her victims. Soon after, she overheard voices talking, and heading towards them saw a group of seven people. They soon stopped at a small house, and headed inside. The Grimm waited around four hours to ensure they were asleep before making her move.

'I found youuuuuuu...'

'Let's play a little game, shall we?'

She quietly snuck into the house, using her aura to place them all in a state of hypnosis so they wouldn't wake unless she wanted them to, and one by one she carried them all to the place she lived. It was practically a labyrinth, deep in the heart of Grimm territory so Hunter's had a very hard time just reaching the place, let alone mapping it out or escaping. She playfully wrote them all a note, each one reading the same thing;

'You have one hour to escape! If you can't find the exit by then, too bad! You'll be my food! Have fun!'

Once the seven of them were all placed in separate locations in the labyrinth, she removed the hypnosis.

'AAH!'

Ruby woke with a jolt, relieved that she had woken from her nightmare. She soon realised, however, that she was neither in the house she had fallen asleep, nor anywhere near her friends. Panicking she fumbled around the pitch blackness before catching her hand on the note.

'What the...?'

Squinting, just barely able to make out the words, her expression went from one of confusion to horror in an instant.

'One hour?' She immediately got up and tried to scale the wall with Crescent Rose before realising it wasn't with her. It must have still been behind at the house, so she carefully crept through the labyrinth, desperately searching for the exit. Time was running out.

Of the seven in the labyrinth, Pyrrha found herself outside with extraordinary speed, escaping in just 9 minutes.

'Oh wow, I didn't expect anyone to even make it outside, let alone this fast! You're pretty good,' the feminine voice taunted.

'Who's there?' Pyrrha shouted out, worried for her friends but at the same time wary of the mysterious voice.

'Don't worry, I won't kill you. You did earn your freedom after all. The door on the left will be your way out,' the voice told her. Wondering what she meant, Pyrrha then noticed there were two doors in front of her, and the left one was open. She saw all of their weapons in a pile next to the exit, and grabbing Miló and Akoúo̱ she cautiously headed through it.

A pair of watchful golden eyes monitored both the Grimm's and Pyrrha's movements from close by, managing to hide from even the Grimm.

'What the hell?'

That was all Pyrrha could say as she found herself back where this nightmare had began – Beacon Academy.

The next person to escape was Ren, being his calm, collected self he made it out in 22 minutes. The Grimm grunted in discontent as she pointed him towards the right hand door, taking Storm Flower with him. However, he found himself not at Beacon, but instead he turned up on the outskirts of Vale, an area the Grimm had a lot of control over. He decided to wait just in case anyone else came through his door, readying his weapon for any Grimm encounter he might have.

One by one, the group found themselves heading through the doors, weapons in hand. Left, then right, then left, then right, until finally –

'DIIIIIING DOOOOOONG!'

The female Grimm's voice rang through the labyrinth, and Jaune may have been an idiot, but even he knew what that meant.

'Time's up, huh?'

He sank to his knees as he reached the exit, just out of time. Looking up, he saw the Nevermore Grimm slowly walking towards him before accepting defeat.

'There's no way I can beat an SSS-Class,' he said to himself, knowing exactly what was coming.

'Dinner time,' the Grimm said as she got ever closer to him. Jaune closed his eyes in anticipation for his inevitable doom, but it never came. He looked up, and what he saw made him want to cry in happiness, but also shocked him beyond belief. What he saw...

'...Weiss?'

He was lost for words. He had so many questions. It was most definitely her standing before him, but he didn't know how. The Grimm dropped to the floor, dead.

'It's me, Jaune,' she said, her eyes full of sadness and happiness all at the same time.

'But we... we burned your body... how are you...?'

'I was watching you while I was dead,' she calmly stated, slowly approaching him. 'You said it yourself. A semblance that can bring the dead back. A person died to bring me back. My body was rebuilt using their cells. The fact my original body was cremated didn't matter. I don't need that one,' she informed him. 'This new body of mine is much stronger, faster and better than the one I had anyway. In a way, it's a blessing.'

Jaune was surprised at how calm she was. The shock of being brought back to life would be one thing, but she didn't even seem to care that a person gave their life for her.

'Are you... are you really Weiss Schnee?'

'Of course I am, you idiot! Geez, you really know how to get on my nerves, don't you?' she answered playfully, handing him Crocea Mors.

'Come here, you doofus.'

With that, she gave him a heart-warming hug before he felt something stab him in the stomach.

'What...?'

Jaune stared in surprise, as Weiss began to change right before his eyes.

'A semblance that can bring the dead back? Please, don't make me laugh! And as if anyone would give their life for that bitch in the first place!'

A tear streaked down his face as she changed into a Saberfang. An SSS-Class Grimm.

'I thought it was too good to be true,' he said as his aura attempted to counteract the wounds the Grimm was dealing him, but to no avail.

'This really is the end, isn't it?'

'Don't worry,' the Grimm mockingly comforted, 'you'll see your friends soon enough. You were ready to be harvested. Once your friends have reached that state, I'll make sure to claim them too. You can all be together in your land of make-believe where everything is possible and everything is fine. Jaune started to lose consciousness, his body unable to sustain itself for much longer as his aura wore thin.

I'm sorry, guys. I'm really just a stupid idiot after all. Just... make sure you live on. Don't you dare follow me to the grave!

His final thoughts were filled with some comfort, as the image of being able to see and speak to Weiss again ran through his mind.

I'll be there soon, Weiss. Wait for me. You don't have to be alone any longer.

With that, his heart came to a final beat, before he finally ceased to be.

Meanwhile, Ruby, Pyrrha and Yang at Beacon, and Nora, Ren and Blake on the outskirts of Vale, not knowing which of the others survived, if any, set out again, certain that nobody else was coming.