1 Chapter 1: The Death and Rebirth

"Try again."

The voice was gruff yet sincere, echoing throughout the small clearing behind a simple log house. A tall man with dark hair, accented by grey, stood still behind a timid boy who had bow clutched in his small hands. The two of them shared little traits of their own, with only their strong noses and deep eyes to attest to their lineage, but the one thing they had in common were their wolf-like ears and long wild tails. The larger of the two knelt down to his son's height, adjusting his arms to properly aim at the target away from him. He gave him a reassuring smile.

"Try not to shake up so much, you'll miss big time okay?" He advised. The boy only gave a simple huff as acknowledgement, going back to focus on the target. He adjusted his stance, lifted up the bow and took in a deep breath. As he exhaled he drew his arm back, fingers gripping on the arrow gingery, with his yellow eyes locking on their target. A timer went of in his head, counting down in a slow agonizing pace before he felt it. His moment. Time sped forward and with a small cry the boy released the arrow, watching it slice through the air like nothing. Twenty feet away the arrow found its home, embedded in the red center of the target: a bullseye. The boy stood there staring in shock.

"I...I did it." He whispered, realizing the accomplishment he made. He whipped around to face his father, with a wide toothy grin on his face. He stared at the man like he was having the time of his life. "Daddy I did it!" He exclaimed.

With happiness for his son's accomplishment the father scooped him up in his big arms, swinging the boy around with glee. The two of them shared a happy laugh before it was interrupted by the opening of a backdoor. Emerging onto the back deck was a petite woman with honey blonde hair. No animal ears to speak of on her head, instead regular human ones that poked out of her long locks. She smiled at the two males with on pale hand on her swelling stomach, she was heavily pregnant and expecting soon.

"Come on you two!" She called out. "Dinner's just about ready!" The small boy perked up at the mention of food and quickly squirmed out of his father's arms. In a flash he was bolting back to the house, leaving a cloud of dust in his wake. The father soon followed behind, meeting his wife with a small peck on her cheek. The two of them watched their five year old son race to the kitchen where the food was being prepared.

"Are you ready sweetie?" The woman asked. The man placed another kiss on her cheek.

"Ready for what." His voice grumbled.

"You know..." The woman rubbed a hand on her extended belly to give her husband a hint. The man stared at her hand for awhile before his ears drooped down to lay flat on his head.

"If you asked me that a few months ago I would've said 'hell yes!', but now I'm not so sure. Too many variables to put into count, and with all the mistakes I've made I'm not sure I can even keep up!" He groans with worry on his face. He pinched his nose for a second, drawing out a long winded sigh. "All of this parenting has turned me into a huge sap." The woman laughed at that, resting her head on the man's chest.

"Even so you're still my sap, Kuno." She smiled. The man growled, rolling his eyes at the sickeningly sweet tone of hers, before eventually giving in. He rubbed the small of her back lighty.

"Love you too Lucy." He smiled.

A crash of pots and pans disturbed them from their heartfelt embrace, jumpstarting them to a run for the kitchen. What came after was a wild mess to clean up, but a fun one all in the same.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Six years later...

The lush forests that surrounded the outskirts of Norton Village were silent as a lone figure sat in the trees. Nestled on top of sturdy branches his yellow eyes quietly tracked any source of movement. He stayed there silently until he saw it, a slender mass of brown and white sticking its head out from the underbrush, antlers proudly on display. A buck, a perfect prize to show off, to show his worth. The young boy took his time, swiping his brunette hair away from his eyes, as he hopped over to another tree without making a sound. The constant hunting with with his father made him nimble, and with his bow work he was widely considered as a village prodigy. However, some wanted to dismiss that claim.

Pushing the thoughts aside the boy quickly got situated, and with a perfect view he drew his bow. He felt the smooth wood of the arrow as he aimed, focusing all of his attention on it, but he almost faltered when the buck turned.

It's head turned directly to face him.

The boy almost faltered, quickly regaining his composure to stare back at the animal. The two of them watched each other in silence, neither making an attempt to move. The deer's tail swished back and forth patiently as if waiting for the boy to strike, and for some reason the boy couldn't do anything. It wasn't like he'd done this before, he killed animals thousands of times! But for some reason, this buck made him falter.

That scared him.

Strange feelings walloped inside of his chest, and after a few seconds, he realized he was shaking. The buck's eyes were getting to him, and he hated that. The boy bowed his head, telling himself that this was for the best, that even if he spared the deer it would only be killed by Grimm anyway. The boy looked back up, realizing that the deer was still there. It took him five deep breaths to calm himself down and two bites of his lip to strengthen his grip. Giving one last sad glance at the deer, he let the arrow go.

"Sorry big guy." He muttered. His aim was true, as it always was, going through the buck's neck like butter. The blood spurted out on the grass as it collapsed, decorating it with a strangely beautiful red. The boy made an effort to scale down the tree he was on, crossing the distance between him and the deer. Seeing the quivering animal before him struck a strange cord, so he unsheathed a small dagger from his hunting belt to finish the job.

"Your sacrifice won't be forgotten." He prayed, as he did the finishing blow.

The trip back home wasn't a long one, but dragging back the deer carcass sure made it felt like it. However, once he passed the line of trees into the clearing the boy left all of his previous emotions behind.

"Aaron where have you been?! Do you know how worried I've been!" A honey blond woman stood on the back deck arms crossed over her dress and white apron. Her pregnant belly was gone, instead was the slight fat from the previous experience of what she tried to work off. Her hair was pulled into a bun, exposing her low cheekbones and dimples frown. Arron smile weakly as he scratched his head, his habit of going off without telling anyone always drove his parents over the edge, his mother mostly. He was surprised she hadn't grown grey hairs yet, even at her young age.

"My bad!" He called back, lifting up the deer carcass by the antlers with his thin hands. "Will this make up for it?" Lucy glanced at the dead buck in her son's hands in shock, surprised at the sheer size of it.

"You caught that all by yourself?!" She albut screeched. Aaron's nod did nothing to dispel the horror in her heart, but the pro's out weight the cons in this case. "You're lucky I'm in a good mood today," She sighed. "That'll do great for the upcoming fall festival."

The fall festival, an event held every November to celebrate the harvest before the upcoming winter. A place for fun, fellowship and good food, or at least it should be. In the recent years human and faunus relations have been on edge. Aaron knew it, as much as his parents tried to hide it, their family was taking the brunt of it. Romantic relations between human and faunus were never really approved on, and being by products of the relationship only gathered unwanted attention. There hadn't been any major backlashes yet, but his father was sure that something of the sort would happen. Aaron didn't want to believe it.

"Aaron! Are you well?"

His mother's voice brought him back to the present.

"Yeah I'm fine!" He called back.

"Well come in! You and your sister can help me with dinner!"

Dinner preparations went smoothly, or as smoothly as tried to be. Lucy would usually have the radio quietly play classical music as she moved from pot too pan. Aaron helped out with chopping the vegetables and preparing the deer. After many kitchen accidents Lucy made an effort in teaching him the proper ways of cooking, so he wouldn't start a fire anymore. Aaron quickly progressed in skill, but still had a ways to go. As Lucy went to work on the stove top, she felt a small hand tug at her dress. She looked down, staring into the yellow eyes of her daughter. Being the newest edition into their family, little Emilia was treasured heavily. Sharing her father's black hair and her almond eyes, Emilia looked like the perfect combination of the two. Emilia's wolf ears perked up with interest as her big eyes bore into her mother's.

"What can I do to help?" She asked with a slight lisp. Not wanting to deny her daughter, Lucy glanced around, before spotting the herbs she layed out to be tended to later.

"Aaron darling could you fetch those herbs and three bowls for Emilia." She asked.

"Aww, but mom!"

"Aaron!"

"On it!" The boy blanched as he sped over to the herbs, not wanting to anger his mother further. Afterwards all of the attention was back on the food, being feverishly prepared for the big festival. The tree of them worked hard, even little Emilia showed some seriousness before it was over. Lucy stepped back and let out a sigh of accomplishment, the festival food was slowly cooking and the night's dinner was nearly done.

"Fantastic work troopers!" She exclaimed, ruffling the heads of her two beloved children. "Now who's ready for dinner?!" The sound of the front door opening, broke the kid's attention.

"I'm home!"

"Papa!" Emilia yelled with excitement. With stumbling feet she ran out of the kitchen to give her father one of her very own hugs. The large lumbering man accepted it gladly, patting her head with a large hand. Emilia looked up at him with a smile, when she noticed something peculiar.

"Papa, your face!" She exclaimed. As Lucy walked out to greet her husband, she too noticed something about her husband. On his face were two gastly cuts, one on the bridge of his nose and the other on his left cheek. Not to mention that purplish bruise was exposed on his exposed arm. Lucy immediately assumed the worst.

"What happened Kuno?" She asked under baited breath. Kuno chucked, picking up Emelia with little effort.

"Nothing for you to worry about." He smiled.

"You sure dad?" Aaron piped in next to his mother. Kuno stared at his son with serious eyes.

"I'm sure Aaron." He finished, ending the conversation. "Now let's eat."

Despite the happy mews of Aaron and Emilia around the dinner table, Lucky and Kuno and ate in silence.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day was the festival and one of the biggest ones that Aaron had seen so far. The whole village has shown up, along with some new faces from out of town. Practically the whole day was dedicated to it with music, dancing, and games. Lucy was over with the other cooks preparing the dinner, while Emilea played with her small group of friends by the piles of leaves. Aaron on the other hand was on front in center of one of the main events: The Archery contest. The goal was to hit as many moving targets as you could, with varying spots labeled for points.

He could feel the eyes of the crowd on him as he stepped up to his spot. He was sure that there were people who wanted him to fail, to mess up in front of everyone. His hands clenched around the bow at the thought. But he wouldn't let that happen, he would show them that a kid like him could be taken seriously.

"Ready?" The game host called out to him. Aaron gave the plump man a short nod.

"Go!"

Targets sprung to life from the ground, before being quickly put down by arrows. Aaron's arms worked like a living gun, springing forth at a high rate that would leave anyone dumbstruck. He moved with grace, bringing out nearly all of his cards on the table, as he made a spectacle of himself. He drew gasps and awes of amazement from the crowd, which only made him grin harder. By the time the time was up and the last arrow was released he straightened from his position, chest heaving, before taking a bow. Soon after the arrows were collected, and the points were tallied.

"300 points!" The announcer exclaimed. "The new record goes to Aaron Wolfe!"

"What?!"

"No way?!"

"Impossible! A kid can't do that!"

"Must be his faunus blood..."

The crowd erupted into murmures as eyes watched Aaron go to claim his prize: a small golden trophy. He was content, happily walking despite the looks. No one was going to ruin this moment for him, not even...

Splat!

An unknown force slapped his wrists, causing the trophy to clatter to the floor. Aaron looked up and frowned, seeing the faces of three kids he knew too well. He glowered at a large boy in front of him, yellow eyes shining dangerously.

"What do you want Devin?" He growled. Devin was one of the many kids in the village that no one particularly liked. He was fair skinned with pale blue hair that fell to the nape of his neck. Being one the larger twelve year olds around he conveyed a certain presence, none of which was good. With the posse around him that consisted of Zack, a pencil thin blonde, and Jake, a snot nosed brat, Devin was sure to draw in the bad crowd. Devin stood before Aaron with a deep frown on his fat lips.

"Saw what you did back there, I'm actually kinda impressed." He began. Aaron's eyes widened in shock. Since when did Devin of all people learn the ability to be humble?!

"Wow Devin, didn't think you had nice things to say in that thick head of yours" Aaron commented with a smile on his lips.

"Shut up! That was probably just some stupid faunus trick!" Devin growled.

"I think you're just jealous of what I can do." Aaron boasted. " You probably couldn't even hit a target if it were a foot away from-" Devin's meaty fist planted itself on Aaron's face before he could finish the sentence. The blow sent Aaron flying backwards onto the ground. Even through the slight pain the blush Aaron saw on Devin's cheeks told him everything.

"It's true." He added with a lopsided smile.

"Shut up!" Devin shouted, kicking Aaron while he was down.

"What's going on here?" A familiar voice appeared, with a question that strained on the edge of calm. Aaron looked up to see Kuno standing tall behind Devin, with his face encased behind the shadows of his hair. Despite Aaron's father's imposing stature, Devin turned around with a defiant expression.

"Teaching your shitty son a lesson!" He barked. The whole area hushed as onlookers waited for Kuno's response. Kuno stayed where he was, not moving an inch as his eyes stared holes into the poor kid's skull.

"Oh really?" He muttered.

"Out of my way! Out of my way! You!" A large skinny man stepped out from the crowd with short blue hair. Even from far away his blue stubble and mismatched clothing stood out, it was Devin's father. "What are you doing with my son?!" He spat.

"Stopping him before he kicked my son's teeth in." He answered as he turned to face him. "You really should teach him how to behave."

"You're animal's the one you should be worrying about! That mouth of his is just a world's worth of trouble!"

"Did you just say animal?"

"So what if I did? What are you going to do about it?!"

The two men were forehead to forehead then, glaring angrily at each other with greater intensity. The festive atmosphere had albut died, leaving an uncomfortable and tense on laced with fear and anger. Aaron looked on with worry, knowing that it could very well get worse from here.

It did.

"GRIMM!"

A scream of bloody murder filled the afternoon air, and what quickly followed was absolute pandemonium. Blurs of red, black, and white ran through crowd as people tried escape. With each scream a table was overturned, sending food and party favors everywhere. In the midst of the chaos aaron found a strong arm lifting him to his feet, before Kuno's face appeared in front of his.

"Go find your mother and sister." He ordered.

"B-But," Aaron stammered.

"GO!" Kuno yelled. Aaron's feet kickstarted from underneath him, sending him running in the direction of the banquet area. As he glanced back he saw his father brandish a pair of swords from under his clothes.

Terrified screams filled the air, and Aaron couldn't help but watch as people on his left and right were being cut down like flies. Bodies and blood covering the ground in a thick coat, as more Grimm looked for other victims. Eventually Aaron made it to the banquet area, only for his stomach to drop.

There wasn't a living person in sight.

Tables and chairs were either broken or overturned, with precious food scattered on the floor without a care in the world. Blood was everywhere, destroying decorations that everyone words so hard for. But what was worse were the bodies. Lifeless eyes staring up to the sky, mouths still open in shock. Their faces would surely haunt him, but he had other matters to attend to.

"Mom?! Mom?!" He called.

No answer.

"Mom?! Mom Please!" He called again, stepping over a severed arm. A small explosion from the distance deterred him for a moment, but he kept going.

"DAMMIT JUST ANSWER ME!"

Tap.

Something hit his foot. A sense of dread filled his stomach, and as much as he wanted to just walk right over it, he knew he had to at least peek. So slowly, Aaron gathered the courage to look down.

He immediately wished he hadn't.

The first thing he noticed was her hair, her beautiful honey blonde hair. It Wasn't held up in a bun any longer, instead spreading out like a web from beneath her. Her skin was deathly white, almost blue, yet her face didn't show any fear. Her eyes were half lidded as if she were falling to sleep, the slightest crack of her lips were the only indication of fear. Aaron stood there for what it felt like years, eons maybe. His yellow eyes drinking every detail before him. Even as his knees gave from underneath him, even as the thick blood splashed onto her lips, he said nothing. All he did was cradle her head into his chest and wept. It didn't matter if a whole massacre was happening around him, the one thing that mattered to him the most was taken away from him.

"Nonononononononono." He sobbed. "This can't-You can't I-"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Aaron's head perked up at the scream. He knew that scream.

"Emilia." He whispered.

His body moved on autopilot, breaking into a dead sprint and leaving his mother's head behind. He whipped around the corner of a building to see a rather large Ursa gaining on a cowering girl. Emilia had the look of terror on her eyes as she desperately scooted away, getting blood all over her new dress that she was so excited to wear.

"EMILIA!" Aaron screamed, running straight towards the Grimm. It was stupid but what could you do? What could you do in this situation? A million emotions flew by in his head as the image of emilia being torn to shreds pierced into his brain. However, one stood out from the rest.

Rage.

Rage at the Grimm, rage at the fact that they would even dare to take away what's close to him. With each thrust of his feet Aaron became more livid, suddenly not caring for the safety of himself any longer. He couldn't think about himself any longer, not when his little sister is about to be killed in front of him. That simply wouldn't happen, he wouldn't let that happen.

"I WON'T! I WON'T!" Aaron let out a guttural yell, feeling the emotion of rage take over him. Everything went cloudy, time slowed, and he could have sworn he felt something dive into him. But it didn't matter because in a matter of seconds he lost himself.

He saw red.