As they walked over the past few days, Ruby noticed that Fenrir seemed to be agitated over something.

'What's up?' she asked, her high-pitched voice not matching her looks.

'I don't know,' Fenrir replied, obviously troubled by something. 'I just feel like something isn't right, like something has just dropped out of my life all of a sudden.'

'Yeah, I get what you mean. I get the same feeling. I felt like that a lot when I lost one of my friends. It leaves you with a big empty void thinking about how different things could have been. How different they should have been.' Giving him an endearing smile, she probed him with a question that he never would have expected of an X-Class.

'You'll never leave me, right Fenrir?'

'Not really like I have a choice in the matter,' he replied sourly.

'Ouch. That hurts, Fenrir.'

Well, at least she seems to be in good spirits, all things considered.

He constantly worried over her transformation. If she suddenly lost control of her Grimm half then there would be nothing Fenrir could do to stop her, and alternatively attempting to escape would get him killed as well. He tried his best to play along and keep her happy as a form of self-preservation, and he knew that the slightest mistake meant death.

'Where are we even going?' he finally asked, tired of walking endlessly without a clear goal in sight.

'I'm going to find someone. There's just one more thing I want to get off my chest before I'll be happy.'

Her voice had taken a much more serious vibe to it now, something that very much surprised Fenrir. Yes, she had been quite dominating and stoic when they first met but he assumed that was just because she was in combat. It was an attitude that unnerved him somewhat. Noticing that she was staring intently at him, he asked the reason behind it.

'What?'

'Nothing. I just… I feel like I've known you forever, even though we've been together for a couple of days. Do you feel the same?'

'I guess. It's weird. We barely know each other, but for some reason I can talk openly with you as though we were best friends.'

'Maybe we are best friends. I mean, it's not like we have anyone else. Guess that makes us BFF's by default, huh?'

Fenrir couldn't help but laugh at her cutesy tone of voice. Feeling offended, Ruby pouted, demanding an answer.

'What's wrong? Why are you laughing? Tell me!'

'Nothing,' he replied, still stifling laughter, 'it's just the fact that your style of speech really doesn't fit with your appearance. From an outsiders perspective you look like a badass, but hearing you say things like 'BFF' just completely ruins that. I just found it kinda funny, that's all.'

Not saying a word the rest of the journey, Ruby sulked over Fenrir's words, ignoring everything he said afterwards.

'It's getting pretty late, we should probably make camp,' Ruby put forward, cutting a tree down with Crescent Rose as she spoke.

'Most Grimm don't usually sleep, you know,' Fenrir pointed out. 'We don't need it.'

'I'm not most Grimm,' Ruby shot back. 'I'm still partly human, meaning I still need sleep.'

'Fair enough. I guess it would be nice to take a nap for once.'

Laying down next to the makeshift fire Ruby created using her scythe, he basked in the warmth of the flames.

Maybe this isn't so bad. It's nice to have a friend now and then, even if she could flip and kill me without notice. Damn, why do I care? I'm a Grimm, so why do I care about her being around so much…?

His thoughts were soon interrupted by Ruby.

'Hey, Fenrir. Were you a human like me, or were you born as a Grimm?'

'I'm a pure blood Grimm. I wish I used to be human. It'd be nice not having to kill just to stop myself from going nuts. Hey… being human… was it nice?'

'Yeah. For me there's no better feeling in the world than spending time with all of your friends, laughing and having fun without a care in the world.'

Her voice carried a tone of nostalgia through her words, and Fenrir understood that it was an existence she wished she could still have.

'Why did you become a Grimm, then? If you didn't hate being human, why become a Grimm?'

She didn't respond. The only thoughts in her head were those of the days before all this chaos began, and tears rolled down her cheeks at those pleasant memories.

'I get it, it's probably something you're not comfortable talking about. Don't worry abo-'

'I became a Grimm to punish myself.'

Well that wasn't the answer I was expecting.

'What do you mean, "To punish yourself"?'

'My sister… she died, not too long ago. Three months to be exact. She was forcibly turned into a Grimm back at that destroyed facility where we met. I figured if I went back there I'd find information about how to become a Grimm hidden in the rubble or something. I wanted to find that information because I failed as a sister. She was called Yang, by the way. We were fighting an X-Class Grimm called Taiyang, and I was completely useless. During that fight, she had to use the Grimm cells inside her body to win that fight. If I'd just been a little bit stronger… if I wasn't so useless she wouldn't have had to go through that. Soon after that, she left our group, I assume to keep us safe because she didn't know when she'd turn. When I finally found her again, she turned into a Grimm right in front of me, and then with her last bit of strength she took her own life, because I was too pathetic to do it for her. This is the punishment I deserve for letting her suffer like that, all alone. I don't care how hungry I get or how much pain I'm in. I will suffer through this until the day somebody strong enough to kill me comes along and ends my life.'

She's been suffering all this time, but she still managed to stay so happy on the outside… this girl is incredible.

'What about you? Any family or friends of your own?'

A bitter taste welled up in his stomach at the mention of family.

'…No. Grimm aren't the most affectionate creatures. When my mother gave birth to me, I was abandoned, left to fend for myself. As far as Grimm are concerned, if you can't raise yourself you're a failure. Naturally my father left after mating with her. Women are basically just breeding machines in the world of Grimm. As for friends, most of the friendlier Grimm tend to die at young ages. You have to be ruthless to thrive.'

At that moment, it was as though both of their thoughts were in perfect harmony with one another.

'So, we're both alone.' 'So, we're both alone.'

Looking at each other with a surprised smile, they realised that they were wrong.

That's right. We're not alone.

We have each other.

The next morning, the two set off again, feeling much closer to one another after the previous night. It was like they were each other's family now, there to listen to each other and share laughs. They were both weighted by extreme amounts of emotional pain, but that was a pain they were both willing to share, because they had something stronger than that. They had their friendship. An unlikely one born from their rather dangerous meeting, but they realised that even as Grimm with both Grimm and human minds they weren't all that different.

'Stop.'

Ruby immediately realised that Fenrir's excellent smell and hearing must have caught something.

'Well, that's probably not a good thing,' he continued.

'What is it?'

'I can smell it. A Grimm I've had an encounter with in the past that I'd rather not cross again.'

Ruby had a feeling she already knew who he was talking about, but she asked anyway for confirmation.

'Who is it?'

'Yuki.'

She was right. But this wasn't a bad thing as Fenrir had suggested.

'That's good news,' Ruby told him.

'How is that good?! She's an X-Class! She's stronger than me, and equal with you!'

'It's good news because that's who I've been searching for.'

Fenrir shook his head in disbelief.

'You don't seriously mean to challenge her, right?'

'Not challenge, no. I want to speak with her though.'

Her voice was commanding now, as if she had indirectly demanded that Fenrir lead her to Yuki.

'This way,' he reluctantly said, heading in the direction of the X-Class.

I hope she knows what she's doing.

A few moments later, and Yuki came into view, along with two figures next to her which Ruby was able to make out as Neo and Glynda. Approaching them, Ruby ignored Yuki for the time being, choosing to probe the two women beside her instead.

'What are you two doing with her?'

'What are you doing as a Grimm?' Glynda shot back.

'Touché. Answer my question first and I'll answer yours,' she negotiated.

'Simply put, we're being held prisoner.'

Ruby looked at Yuki with an unimpressed expression.

'Wow, those are some seriously cool markings though,' Neo said, admiring Ruby's newfound appearance. She seemed to be getting quite hands on, feeling the texture of her skin which Ruby didn't particularly like, but chose not to say anything. She didn't want to provoke Yuki in any way.

'So, Yuki. Here we are.'

'Hey, what happened to our answer?' Glynda blurted out, annoyed at Ruby's lack of explanation.

'I lied,' she replied without hesitation.

'What is it you wish to speak about?' Yuki asked, seemingly aware of Ruby's reason for approaching. Fenrir figured the conversation wasn't his place to butt in, so decided to step back.

'I want to speak about us.'

'Very well. Glynda, leave us be. You too, Neo.'

Leave her? Neo thought to herself. No chance. She's the one that rallied everyone against Taiyang! She's the reason Roman is dead! That stupid fucking Heart of the Philosopher didn't do jack shit either! No, I don't care if I die here as long as I drag this bitch to hell with me.

She took a step back to give the impression that she was leaving, before drawing her blade.

See you on the other side, bitch!

'RUBY, NO!'

Fenrir saw what Neo was trying to do and immediately pounced on her, the blade just barely missing Ruby's back. As he lay on top of Neo, however, he felt a sharp pain in the left side of his chest. He didn't have to look to know. He knew that Neo's blade, the blade that he had saved Ruby from had found a new victim.

'FENRIR!'

Neo threw the Beowolf off of her, making a dash for the trees, but soon found her feet frozen to the floor.

'Neo, you have killed one of my own. Do not think I will just let you run away from your fate now,' Yuki's harsh voice called out. Fear ran through her body. There were two very pissed off X-Class Grimm that wanted her blood. She knew she wasn't escaping.

'Fenrir… why did you protect me?! I'm an X-Class! I could take a hit like that!'

Fighting back the pain, he answered honestly.

'Because for some stupid reason I care about you, and there's something you're forgetting, Ruby. Grimm may be soulless, but that doesn't mean we don't have hearts. One good hit to the heart and even the strongest of Grimm will go down,' he explained. 'You know, it's strange. Before I met you, I was convinced that humans were nothing more than prey to keep Grimm from going insane. But… you changed that. You showed me that maybe humans aren't so bad after all. For the first time in my life, you gave me a friend, Ruby. And as much as I hated some of the stuff you did to me, deep down I actually kinda liked it. It made me feel like someone genuinely wanted me around. I guess in those few days we spent together I started to fall for you somewhere down the line.'

Seeing that his body was beginning to dissolve, he realised he was running out of time, so he said the final thing that was on his mind.

'You made a dumbass like me feel love for the first time. Thank you, Ruby.'

I guess in the end I really did have a choice about leaving her.

'Fenrir… please don't leave me… please…'

She knew it was hopeless, and even though she had vowed to kill her emotions after Yang's death she realised how much she had actually come to care about Fenrir during the time they had spent together. However, her sorrow soon turned to rage, as her blood red eyes seemed to grow an even more powerful scarlet as she turned to look at Neo.

'You…'

Neo gulped in fear. Whatever Ruby would do to her, she knew it wouldn't be good.

'I'll make you pay for what you've done.'