• !!! SPOILER !!! ALERT !!!

    IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ALL OF RWBY THROUGH SEASON 3'S FINALE, DO NOT READ THIS OR SAVE THIS PAGE FOR LATER

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    Asmund Gainsborough was relaxing at home after a long day of classes at Haven Academy in the kingdom of Mistral. he decided not to take part in the Vytal festival tournament but was still planning on routing for his old classmate and childhood friend, Pyrrha Nikos. He had occasional contact with her every now and then since she left for Beacon. Not that they ever went out with each other. In fact, their relationship was more brother and sister-like without any biological relation. They were even sparring partners in Sanctum where they graduated together.

    However, in the beginning days of the tournament, his last contact with her was with her in seemingly great distress. She only told him she was having trouble making a decision that was greatly important, but wouldn't tell him anything about the decision. Feeling concerned for his old friend, He took the first airship out of Haven to the Vytal Festival, telling her he would meet her at beacon the night of his arrival.

    During the ride, he witnessed her fight in which she accidentally dismembered her opponent Penny, who turned out to be a robot of some sort. He started to question the army led by Ironwood and the Schee corporations involvement in it but decided to out it off until he was sure Pyrrha wasn't too distraught from what she did. However, it was immediately after, while the ship was just within the city's airspace, the Grimm attacked. A nevermore flew in and brought the ship down. Asmund took to the hull of the ship to fight off the Grimm, the ship making a rough landing instead of a crash landing on one of the main highways of Vale. While the local military evacuated the ship and nearby people to shelters, Asmund wasted no time in fighting his way to Beacon.

    As he made his way to the academy, he frantically tried to contact his friend but no response came. Did she even have her scroll? He was desperately hoping to get there in time but the damned Grimm kept getting in the way, attacking him and others trying to fight for their lives. Trying to survive with the aid of his weapons, Huginn and Muninn - a pair of tonfas with ranged capability as two small submarine guns or combined into a mid-ranged rifle, often taking his tonfas into their sword forms to finish some Grimm - he battled swiftly and strongly, exhausting himself by the time he finally arrived at Beacon grounds only to find it overwhelmed with Grimm and White Fang.

    The White Fang's presence enraged him, recalling a time in his childhood when a close faunus friend of his was killed in a faunus protest when the White Fang came in. Reliving the moment in which his faunus friend died in his arms that day, Asmund's semblance kicked in, being Shadowmeld. He switched to the swords of Huginn and Muninn. and almost literally disappeared into the shadows of the burning school. While the White Fang attacked, attempting to kill him, he was almost nowhere to be seen until he appeared for a brief second to impale them on his tonfas though their hearts. Once he finished them, he ran off to find Pyrrha, hearing other students say she was heading up the main tower.

    He used his semblance to move as fast as possible up the tower's elevator shaft, showing signs of destruction. He was certain Pyrrha used her semblance here to make haste up the elevator to the top of the demolished tower with a dragon Grimm atop it. unfortunately, as soon as he rematerialized from the shadows, he was struck by a massive gear, slamming him into a wall.

    The gear had him pinned to the wall between a couple of the teeth jammed into the wall. He wasn't even able to grab his weapons beside him. But a moment later, he saw Pyrrha still attempting to fight the mysterious woman in a red dress. "What kind of power did this woman have?" Asmund thought to himself as he helplessly watched his friend get beaten and taken down by this woman. "She is the strongest, most capable fighter I know. How is this possible?"

    He tried frantically to get out and call to her, seeing she wasn't able to pay attention in the fight as she seemed to have the world tuned out. He was sure her shield had stopped the arrow launched by the woman. But when he saw the arrow disintegrate and materialize past the shield, striking Pyrrha in the ankle, Asmund screamed to her. She was still unable to hear him. He had no voice left when she was struck in the chest with another arrow.

    The moment he saw Pyrrha disintegrate at the hands of the woman, his entire world stopped and his heart sunk practically to his feet. He watched the end of his oldest and most cherished friend with his own eyes, still unable to escape the gear and no shadows able to give him the use of his semblance thanks to the moon and flames, lighting even under the gear pinning him. The last thing he remembered was an intense white light blinding him and then everything going dark.

    After a while, he awoke to the cold, quiet early morning. With the flames died out and the sun creating a shadow under the gear for him to use his semblance, he shadowmelded out of the gear's teeth and collected his weapons, his aura still depleted and his legs weak from the memory of Pyrrha's death repeating in his head. He stumbled over slowly past the frozen dragon Grimm and to Pyrrha's headpiece that lay on the ground. He collapsed to his knees, taking the headpiece into his hands.

    He couldn't believe his oldest friend was gone. He didn't want to believe it. He refused to believe it. He was hoping to see her finally go somewhere with that Jaune fellow she kept talking about and to help her with this big decision she had been stressing over the past few days. He was hoping so badly to see her once again and have another sparring match. The woman he called his "other sister" being damn near family to him... Gone.

    He was unable to feel anything but grief for his best friend, feeling tears running from his eyes and onto the dried blood on his hands holding the headpiece. After what seemed like days, really being hours, he finally wrapped the heapiece in his scarf, carefully placing it into his pack and turning to the frozen dragon Grimm. It seemed unable to do anything. But looking past it, Grimm were swarming in. Grimm of all types. He knew he couldn't stay here anymore. With what little energy he had left, he shadowmelded down the elevator shaft and stealthily made his way out of the academy grounds and out of Vale, hiking his way all the way back to Mistral.

    When he finally arrived in the city, beaten, exhausted and weak from the long travel and intense fighting along the way, he was quickly taken to a nearby hospital where he was treated for malnutrition and other conditions. After a quick recovery, he wasted no time in leaving to Sanctum where the rest of his old group of friends that he and Pyrrha were in were gathered. Upon seeing him, they asked him if he was alright and what had happened in Vale.

    He was silent to his friends the entire time they barraged him with questions. When they finally stopped, he took out Pyrrha's headpiece, rendering the rest of the group silent, a few even shedding tears at the realization of what had happened to their old friend from Sanctum. Through gritted teeth, Asmund swore he would have revenge. He swore he would find the woman responsible for the death of his oldest friend and make her pay for what she did to Pyrrha.

    In the following days, he learned that all communication from Vale was gone. No news reports, no radio channels, even messengers were scarce if around at all. The most he could recall was hearing something about a girl taken from the academy grounds to safety, as well as a Schnee taken from Vale. But he almost immediately brushed it off, continuing his investigation to find the woman in red so he could bring justice for Pyrrha.

    His friends were concerned for him now, even his girlfriend, who was just as close a friend to Pyrrha as Asmund was. She was afraid not for any relationship with them, but for where his path would take him. She had seen another close to her follow the same path only to meet their end in a horrible manner. She didn't want that for him. But Asmund wouldn't listen. He simply stocked up on as much dust and ammo as he could, working tirelessly to find the woman in red.