Please read Author's Note at the end!!!
{With Logan}
Logan: 'How long have I been fighting?' Logan asked himself as he struck down a Beowolf, but several more took its place. 'Several hours maybe? I'm not too sure.' Logan's breath coming in ragged as he continued to fight.
Logan had reached Vale's wall not even two minutes after he left the coliseum. And as soon as he saw a Grimm, he attacked with all that he had. Using his ash to make a faux arm, Logan hacked, slash, and shot his way through the thousands of Grimm that gathered at the walls. All of the drawn here due to Attila's murders at the coliseum, causing panic throughout Vale.
He had already lost his severed arm due to a Grimm wolf getting the jump on Logan. Yet, Logan didn't stop moving. As soon as the Grimm seemed to move to overwhelm Logan, he took flight and attack at a different part of the wall. Each time putting more and more stress on his body that had yet to recover from his fight with Attila. The hole in his chest still covered by his golden flames, yet if one were to see them they would notice that they were slowly going out.
Logan's mind slowly dimmed as the fourth hour of fighting began. As Logan's mind dimmed, his attacks became smoother, more refined. It was as if he was loosing himself in the mindless slaughter of Grimm, each strike becoming the death of any that came in contact with it. Every strike, stab, or shot was aimed at a vital point of whatever Grimm it was.
Logan: 'I'm getting tired.' Logan thought as his thoughts slowed down, before he finally past out. Yet as his mind was gone, his body still moved.
Logan had awoken inside a vast, empty back space with nothing around him. Up, down, left, right, front, and behind there was nothing but inky blackness. When Logan tried to walk, it was as if he was walking through liquid. And each foot fall resulted in the blackness under him to ripple like water. Logan walked for what seem for hours, yet it seemed he never moved.
Logan: "Where am I?" Logan asked himself as he still walked. "Did I die again?"
???: "No, you didn't. I brought you here to talk." A voice spoke from behind Logan.
{A/N: Rowe is Logan's last name from his Earth}
Logan whipped around to find a man that would fit right in with British high society. The man wore a fitted three piece suit with well made leather boots that were dyed black. Instead of a suit jacket, an old leather coat with numerous metals adorning the left breast and a bronze pad on his right. The man had light brown hair with streaks of grey and a full beard with chromatic eyes and a strong jaw.
{A/N: This}
But there was one thing that Logan noticed right away about the man, he had traces of Grimm inside him. Enough for Logan to sense it, yet it didn't appear to be corrupting him and messing with his head. And his eyes held wisdom far beyond his apparent age, maybe even centuries.
???: "My name is unimportant, but I know of you Logan Scarlett, or rather Logan Rowe." The man said calmly to a now shocked Logan.
{With RWBY and Qrow}
Currently, Qrow sat at the top of Vale's wall with Team RWBY as they watched as Logan tore through the horde of Grimm by himself; getting there about thirty minutes after Logan got there. Qrow was busy commanding those that were stationed at the wall on what to do while Team RWBY helped Logan with their limited ranged abilities. Ruby sniped as many as she could and Yang fired into them with her magnum revolver she carried. Weiss shot ice spikes where it would do the most damage while Blake mounted a gun on the wall and shot into where the horde was the most densely packed. Each and everyone trying their best to give Logan some breathing room.
Qrow did his best to organize the teams there and have them copy Team RWBY's efforts. He had many issues with a few of the Huntsmen and Huntresses running away from the horde due to its shear size. But thankfully those that stayed either knew or saw Logan fighting by himself down below and did all they could to provide backup. While Qrow organized what he could, he also worked with other parts of the wall to make sure that they all would see it through to the end.
By the time the fourth hour came, Qrow had co-operated with Ironwood to get a portion of the Atlas bots to the wall and help deal with the horde. Team RWBY had switched off with others due to being mentally tired or out of ammo or Dust. They finally dropped to the ground unable to move against a wall nearby Qrow who had just got off of his scroll with Ironwood.
Qrow: "Ugh... I need a drink." Qrow groaned as he sat down on a metal chair that fell apart so after. "A nice stiff drink strong enough to knock me out..." He said as he lay on the ground.
Ruby: "Hey, Uncle Qrow." Ruby called to him. "Do you know about that town that girl was talking about?" She asked quietly, yet Qrow and the rest of Team RWBY heard her clearly.
Qrow: "Yea... Yea, I do." Qrow answered her. "What happened wasn't pretty." He said as his eyes glazed over for a second.
Yang: "How do you know about it?" Yang asked, her voice uneven.
Qrow: "I was the one who found the aftermath after Logan fought the entire town by himself." Qrow answered. "Out of everyone in that town, bar Attila and Logan, no one survived."
Weiss: "What did Logan mean he failed to save a girl?" Weiss asked, hoping that Logan became more 'human' in her eyes.
Qrow: "The girl was a recent kidnapping victim earlier that day. By the time Logan found out, he was too far away to get rid of the flames that burned the poor girl alive." Qrow told them out right, not even bothering to sugar coat it for them. "It was all in the name of that town's cannibalistic God 'Cronus' something or other. I honestly can't remember all the details from back then, too many missions."
Blake: "How long ago was this?" Blake asked, her voice steady and yet her eyes were wavering.
Qrow: "About four years now... Hard to believe that the kid is 18 already..." Qrow spoke.
Ruby: "It happened during that time when Logan was gone for three months, wasn't it?" Ruby asked, even though she already knew the answer.
Qrow: "Bingo, squirt." Qrow answered anyway. "After that day, Logan asked for as many missions he could take, with or without me with him. He needed to take his mind off of it somehow and that's what he chose." He said then chuckled. "It's also thanks to that he can drink me under the table with ease."
Weiss: "That doesn't make it okay." Weiss spoke sternly to Qrow. "And weren't there better things he could have done?"
Qrow: "Girls, there are things you will not be able to understand until you go through them yourself." Qrow told Team RWBY harshly before sighing. "For Logan, he needed to do something or it would have eaten him alive. And I'm sure it still does. Why do you think he's so harsh with all that training you did under him? He doesn't want you girls, or anyone for that matter, to feel what he did. That feeling of uselessness and the feeling of worthlessness that comes with it. I know that feeling all too well myself."
The group soon then relapsed into an uncomfortable silence after Qrow stopped talking. The girls each figuring out their emotions and their opinions on who Logan was. Weiss understood that there are things that one must do, not to just survive but to make the world a better place. Blake managed to understand that the town Logan burned down wasn't where his first kill was; it was at Menagerie and he had to do it for the good of Remnant. Ruby and Yang thoughts were similar. They both finally understood what it took for Logan to get to where his is today and what he had to do to get there. They already understood that being a Huntress was dangerous and they could die at anytime, it was something they excepted. But now they both understood what it means to be a hunter/Huntress, even if they didn't like it.
As they mulled over their thoughts, a random Hunter came running in. His face had several small, fresh cuts and he had been sweating heavily. His body had numerous cuts and burns that were bandaged up, but he seemed frantic.
R.H: "Hey! That kid from the coliseum just erupted into flames!" He shouted at Qrow who jumped to his feet along with Team RWBY.
Qrow: "Tell me what happened now!" Qrow demanded.
{With Ozpin and Salem}
Ozpin: "I'm worried..." Ozpin said as he stared out the massive floor to ceiling window of his office.
Salem: "About what dear?" Salem asked as she sipped on tea
Ozpin: "Weather or not I'm back at square one." Ozpin answered. "It seems that everything is just three steps forwards and two steps back lately."
Salem: "That's the way life is at times." Salem said as she set her cup down. "Right now, it's best to worry about what's happening in front of you."
Ozpin: "Yes, I know." Ozpin said, sounding defeated. "First, we have to handle the Grimm at the walls. Second is to figure out how this 'Attila' got through Vale's defenses. Third is to make sure Logan is okay." Ozpin spoke his thoughts out loud. "And as much as I hate to say it, Logan is the least of our worries right now."
Salem: "I'm sure he'll underst-"
As Salem was speaking, a massive flaming pillar shot up from the other side of Vale's walls, which could be seen from anywhere in Vale. Both Salem and Ozpin could sense the dense mana that erupted from it all the way from Beacon. The eruption was multicolored and had so much mana condense into it that it felt divine. And as suddenly as it appeared, it vanish just as fast. As the two of them were stunned by it, Ozpin's scroll went off.
Ozpin: "Qrow? What's going on?" Ozpin asked as he saw the caller id.
Qrow (On Speaker): "Oz, it's Logan." Qrow said huffing and puffing. "A hunter came running when Logan was bathed in fire. By the time I got there, that pillar erupted. I'm trying to get the finer details with Team RWBY as we speak."
Salem: "What was Logan doing when you got there?" Salem asked, hoping there was something to make note of before it happened.
Qrow: "From what I gathered personally, he was on the ground fighting by himself." Qrow answered without pause. "From the way he was moving and fighting, I couldn't get close enough to get him out. That was four hours ago. When me and Team RWBY got here, Team RWBY did their best to support him from range while I took command as things were bleak upon arrival. We had Hunters running away and trying to get to shelter, too afraid to die if the wall broke."
Ozpin: "I see." Ozpin said as he heard what sounded like Ruby Rose hurriedly talking with Qrow. "Qrow, put us on speaker!"
Qrow: "Done! Ruby, repeat what you said!" Qrow shouted once he switched on his scroll's speaker.
Ruby (On speaker): "I managed to find out about some of what happened." Ruby spoke quickly. According to a hunter, they spotted a weird Geist with a mask that resembled a human skull wrapped around it's head in pieces instead of their normal Grimm mask." Ruby informed them. "And, this is their words, they witnessed it pull other Grimm towards it and forcibly fused them together into one, giant Grimm hybrid. Logan engaged it and fought it for a few minutes. After which it managed to strike Logan and that's when the pillar erupted."
Ozpin: "Miss Rose, are you absolutely positive about that description?" Ozpin asked, hoping it was false.
Ruby: "I'm sure, I got three other Hunters and a Huntress that saw it." Ruby confirmed. "What was that Geist Professor?"
Salem: "That would be a Geist Herr." Salem said seriously. "A Baron class version of a Geist. Besides the normal abilities of a Geist, they can forcibly take control of other Grimms and fuse them into one body for it to take over. The last one seen was close to a hundred years ago."
Qrow: "Shit!" Qrow swore. "And the kid fought that alone?"
Ozpin: "If Mr Scarlett did, he must have gone all out." Ozpin reasoned. "That pillar of fire must have been his doing too."
As soon as Ozpin said this, a random Hunter in the background started shouting. From what Ozpin and Salem could hear, it was about the Grimm. A few seconds later, Qrow said what was going on for them to hear.
Qrow: "The Grimm are retreating! Whatever Logan did, he forced them to flee!" Qrow shouted happily at them through his scroll. "Hahaha! Great, now all we gotta do is handle any stragglers that are left behind!"
Ozpin: "Get on it now Qrow!" Ozpin ordered. "And when your done, find Mr Scarlett and tell him I want to talk to him as soon as possible!"
Qrow: "On it! Come on Ruby! Get your team, we got work to do!" Qrow said then hung up his scroll.
[Word count: 2297]
A/N: This is just MY ranking system for Grimm and Hunter ranks and will be posted in an Aux chapter later!
Grimm (Strongest to Weakest):
King/Queen- Cannon Salem: only can be beaten by main characters
Duke/Duchess- Monstra: Types that require SSS Hunters in teams of ten to destroy, at least only survivor after the fight.
Prince/Princess: Grimm that had lived for hundreds of years: Requires at least SSS, SS, or S ranked Hunters to combat.
Count/Countess-Leviathan, Wyvern, etc. :Requires at least several SS, S, or a ranked Hunters to combat
Viscount/Viscountess- The Hound, Blind worm, and Sulfur Fish swarms: Requires at least S, A, B ranks Hunters to combat.
Baron/Baroness- Manticore, Nevermores, Sphinxs, etc. :Requires at least A or B ranked Hunters to combat.
Knight/Dame- Lancers, King Taijitus, Griffions, etc. :Requires at least B rank and up Hunters to combat.
Lord/Lady- Geist, Death Stalkers, Sea Feilongs, etc. :Requires at least C rank and up Hunters to combat.
Pawns- Small types of Grimm that are either freshly spawned or are easy to combat. Requires C rank and below to combat.
Hunters/Huntress (Strongest to weakest):
SSS: All kingdoms recognized these Hunters/Huntress for their combat prowess or their contributions to the Kingdoms.
SS: Hunters/Huntresses that have been recognized by at least two of the four kingdoms for their combat prowess or their contributions to the kingdoms.
S: Hunters/Huntresses that are sponsored by a kingdom to stay and protect it or have been recognized by the kingdom.
A: Hunter/Huntress that have exceptional combat prowess, years of experience, and have taken hundreds of missions.
B: Hunters/Huntress that have exceptional combat prowess and have many years of experience
C: Hunters/Huntress that have several years of experience.
D: Hunters/Huntress that have at least a year of experience.
E: Students who have graduated from a Huntsmen Academy just recently.
F: Civilians that have little to no training whatsoever.