"Congratulations, You Passed."

As I turned... I saw him. Dull red eyes, spiky black hair, wearing a white dress shirt and a red cloak, standing out from all the other intructors at camp who were more dignified and...sober. Most people who were in Signal knew about the rumors, he was Beacon's best and worst combat instructor all at the same time - best when it comes to fighting, worse when it came to anything else. Even when slouching and probab...definately hungover, I couldn't help but be happy once I saw him.

"One of the best Huntsmen in the continent." I remembered my mother's praise for him.

"Uncle Qrow!"

He stepped towards me, and gave me a pat on the head. "You got me worried there for a second kid, not many kids your age could take out that many Grimm by themselves."

"It's not that big of a deal." I brushed off his praise with a smile on my face. I haven't seen him for nearly a year now, he was probably busy with training the students at Beacon Academy, meanwhile I was still in Signal trying to learn how to fight, and training in all the other more boring skills needed in order to hunt Grimm.

Beacon Academy, one of the only places in the world that produced Huntsman - Great warriors strong enough to fight Grimm - and researched about the mysteries of Grimm. Located at the edge of Vytal, the great city at the southern tip of civilization, it was the only Huntsmen Academy that was near the borders, and was in constant threat of Grimm attacks, because of this, those who graduated were very few in numbers, but those who did were some of the strongest fighters in the continent.

"Why? How?  What are you doing here?" I barrage him with questions as I peeked behind him, looking for any other of my fellow Signal students, but once again found no one my age.

The camp was on the edge of the island, and was questionably place on a cliff that was more than three-thousand feet above the blistering cold sea whose waves crashed down the rocky bottom. The grassy medows were covered with at least a foot of snow, and even some of the teachers were having a hard time getting around as they seemed to be in disarray as they went about camp. Keeping aware of my surroundings, I was only able to hear a few mutters here and there as they were discussing something I assumed was important, and had nothing to do with the graduation exam.

I started getting worried. What had happened while I was gone? Had the other students already complete the exam and left already, am I really the last one to complete such a simple test? I began to panic internally for my incompetence as I started to make an akward smile and began concocting some strange noises that could be interpreted as some weird laugh.

A sudden hard slap on my shoulders then made me stop. "Kid, you got skills, but your sense of direction is way off," He looked at me with a face more serious than I had ever saw before. "You passed, but barely."

"Huh?" My only response was I tried to compose myself.

"We've evacuated all the other students in the island, you're the only one left."

"But the exam only started -"

"Twelve hours ago," He too his flask out from under his cloak, and began taking a small sip - or what anyone else would call 'chugging half the booze in the container.' "Look the other students left the island hours ago, and your the last one."

"Now way....am I really the only one who..." I stopped myself before I could finish, If say it out loud, than it would only make me feel worse. "Well I guess there's no surprise there." My mood just turned from great to terrible. Am I even good enough to become a Huntress?

I felt a warm hand pat my head. "You're not doing anyone any favors talking like that," He tried to reassure me, and it worked, but only slightly. "Besides, I'd say you're pretty amazing, being the only one who actually passed this exam." He romoved his hand from my head, and gave me a smile to replace it.

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"The only one?..." I was confused, happy, but very confused.

"A report," He showed to me some documets he pulled from his cloak - How much could he fit in there? - and I couldn't believe what I read. "A Dreadnought-class Grimm had been detected not too long ago," He quickly stashed away the parchments back into his cloak. "Since it was an emergency, they couldn't find anyone else, so they sent me along with these losers," He gestured at the men in Signal's teacher uniforms who were panicking behind him, and fiddling with some high-tech gear.

I chuckled a bit as he said that. "So the exams were cancelled?" I asked him with the most serious look I could muster.

"Technically they weren't, we just evacuated all the students on the island," He took a sip from his flask, and fixed his posture a bit. "All except one, the only one student who took a detour from the main path, and was assumed dead," He looked at me with a grin.

The exam was to get from one side of the island to another without any help from teachers and especially the fellow students who were taking the exam. They gave us maps of what routes to take, and some amminution for our weapons, if we were to encounter Grimm. We were to complete the exam in under twenty-four hours. It would be an easy task, except that I had lost my map, and I sorta forgot to take some ammo, thinking about it know, I definitely forgot to take some ammo with me. Thus I spent half a day traversing through the cold woods infested with Grimm...But hey I got lucky, and Uncle Qrow said I passed, so it wasn't too bad.

"Did I make you worry?" I asked apologetically.

"I looked for you for hours," He sighed as he finished his liquor, and hid the flask back in his cloack. "Luckily you didn't run into the Dreadnought-class Grimm, your father would have never let me hear the end of it if you got hurt."

"How is he by the way?"

"How's who?"

"My dad."

"I wouldn't worry about your old-man, he--"

The sound of beeping interrupted our conversation. The camp was soon filled with alarms that were so loud that I'm surprised that the surrounding Grimm hadn't spooted and attacked our camp yet. The noise carried on for some very..very painful seconds before my ears stopped suffering.

"Okay! Who was the smart guy that turned the alarms of max volume!" Qrow angrily yelled out as his ears were in much pain than mine were. His vision and hearing prowess were much higher than a normal person's, you'd normally call it a gift, but it was also a curse, as extremely bright light and loud noises were very painful for him.

A Huntsman wearing a cozy brown jacket approached him - Honestly, we were taught how to resist the cold and other extreme environmental conditions in the first day of class, he must not be able to use his aura well. "Apologies Sir! But the Dreadnought--"

A tree was then thrown at our direction, I didn't even see where it came from, or even realized what had happened, but I was already at the other side of the camp, and my Uncle was carrying me. "Ruby, you might want to run now." He let me down, and as he did, the monster appeared before us.

Skin black as coal, it's four-legged body was massive, measuring up to what I could estimate would be five horses, but it's head..or heads is what stood out most, serpent-like in nature, resembling that of a cobra, and they were five of them! It quickly cause all the chaos it could as it sprayed this acidic liquid from its mouth, melting the surrounding tents, and some poor Huntsmen as well.

"A Hydra!" I shouted. I was taught about it's existence inside a classroom. It's said that that the poisonous liquid that it can spray from its mouth can even melt through thick iron, its jaws could bite through anything, and its heads would regrow if they were cut-off - Biology class in Signal was really detailed!

"Amatures." he looked at the remains of the Huntsmen that fell victim to the Hydra. I sensed he was sad - frustrated that he couldn't save them - but the look on his face, I only saw anger. "Ruby get back, I might cut you up too if you get too close."

With his command, I obediently followed. I stood back, and saw how strong my Uncle really was. He drew his sword, and charged at the Hydra.

I heard rumors that Huntsmen - real Huntsmen were faster than a bullet. I was told that they were strong enough to lift a boulder, and I was told that they were the only one capable of killing the most dangerous of Grimm. Seeing him face that Grimm, I instantly knew that those rumors were true.

As I saw Uncle Qrow rush the beast with his giant sword. The attacks were all precise, and he made them effortlessly as if his hands were empty. He slashed the creature with the greatsword endlessly, severing its legs. He moved so fast that the heads weren't able to react  at all before he finished his assault. 

I stared at the battle with amazement, the Grimm he was fighting should've took a team of Huntsmen to kill, but in a few minutes, my Uncle had came out of the battle without a single scratch on him. Before me was a Huntsman unlike any other, and I saw his skills of a Huntsman - one of the best - first-hand for the first time.

Can I really become strong enough to be a Huntress?