As the Bullhead descended, Qrow had an overhead view of the town closest to the attack. Highwood, it was a fitting name considering how important the logging industry was here and the nearby mountains. From what he could see, the wooden walls encircling the town were in fairly good condition. A hell of a lot better than the deteriorating walls he'd sometimes seen when people got complacent about defending from Grimm.

Although the quality maintenance of these walls probably meant that their last Grimm attack had been fairly recent, not that they were just more cautious.

The pilot landed the Bullhead just outside the town, since there weren't any convenient landing sites within the walls.

"You can leave through that door, sir." The pilot pointed to Qrow's left. "I've been instructed to wait until you need further transportation, although if it takes longer than the day, I'll find a place to stay in town. You can contact me through my scroll." The pilot gave him his scroll number before returning to his tasks at the controls.

Qrow stepped out of the Bullhead and headed toward the walls. The ride from Beacon had only taken a few hours, so the sun shone brightly in the clear, eastern sky. It was still well before noon and fairly warm out, even though it wasn't spring yet.

The area around the town wasn't as densely forested as the surrounding wilderness, but that made sense. They'd probably harvested the trees closest to them first, and the trees for sustainable logging were more evenly spread out. He also gave the walls another quick once-over from the ground and was satisfied.

He reached the gate and tried to open them. They were locked.

"Hey, open up!" He yelled out. Seriously? They should have at least noticed the Bullhead and come down to let in visitors.

He heard someone rush down on wooden stairs that creaked with each step. A man appeared and added with a gruff voice. "Alright, alright. I'm coming."

Qrow saw the large, bearded man stomp up to the door and take out some keys. He unlocked the door, and waved him in.

The moment the huntsman had stepped in, the man spoke. "Name. ID. Reason for your visit." He said in a bored drawl.

"Qrow Branwen." He said and showed the man his scroll for identification, which he barely even glanced at. "I'm a huntsman, and I'm looking for someone."

The man grunted and went back up the wall.

Well, that was someone who put a lot of effort into defending his town. Qrow followed him up, if the guy he was looking for had come by here, the people 'guarding' the wall would be the first to know.

"Hey, wait up, I got a few questions." Qrow directed to the man.

He didn't even slow down. "I'm in the middle of something, you can ask up here."

They entered a room near the top of the ten-meter-high wall. Another man was sitting inside at a round table with cards covering it. There was a lamp in the corner, although they weren't using it. The sunlight from the large window lit up the room pretty well and gave them a good view.

"Who's this?" The man inside asked, pointing at Qrow.

"A huntsman, says he's looking for someone and wants to ask a few questions." The one Qrow had followed up the stairs sat down at a chair and picked up his cards. "By the way, I'm Bob and this is Dave, ask away."

"Alright, this guy I'm looking for. He's supposed to be tall, black-haired, and blue-eyed. He might have been wearing a red jacket and jeans, he sound familiar?"

Dave answered. "Yeah, sounds like the guy who came up to the walls a couple days ago asking to be let in. He seemed real weird, but he's turned out to be alright."

"Weird? Weird how?" asked Qrow.

Dave laughed. "I'll tell you. He asked us where he was, and what kind of guy doesn't even know how he ends up somewhere? But it was like he didn't know anything. Told him this was Highwood, didn't ring any bells. So we tell him we're on the eastern edge of Vale, which still didn't clear up anythingfor him. Then we say, as a joke, that he's on the continent Sanus and he's still clueless. I swear, I wouldn't be surprised if he wouldn't have been able to tell us what planet he was on."

"Anyway, he gives up on asking where he is," continued Dave. "So he asks us for directions to where he wants to go. And he comes up with places I'd never heard of! Hey Bob, didn't he ask us how to get to Can uh-

"It was Can-siz, I think." Bob finished for him. "And someplace else, Um-air-cah or something."

"Yeah, that was it! We even brought him a couple maps, and I swear, the moment he saw them, he was so surprised that it looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head!"

Okay . . . that certainly was weird. Was his mystery man from outside the Kingdoms or something? Who knew what kind of education the people there received? Even so, it was hard to believe that anyone could be that ignorant.

"Is he still in town?" asked Qrow.

Dave answered. "Yeah, I think so. You should probably ask Mary, I think Clark's staying at her inn."

"Clark? That his name?"

"Yeah, Clark Kent."

The huntsman asked for directions to the inn and left once he got them. The two men returned to their card game before he even passed through the door.

According to them, it would only take him about ten minutes to get to Mary's inn. To get there, he walked through the narrow streets that were ever-present through small towns like these. The size of the streets was dictated by the fact that they didn't really need cars here, since it didn't take long to walk to any other part of town.

Qrow checked his scroll, ten-fifteen in the morning. Yang was probably still asleep, nobody could get the trouble-maker up before noon on a school break. Ruby, sweet and kind niece that she was, probably wouldn't be that different. She almost certainly spent her late nights reading comic books or looking online for new weapon upgrades.

Still, that was preferable to fighting dangerous criminals. Qrow hoped that would end next semester, but for some reason he felt that it wouldn't.

He put his thoughts of his reckless nieces aside once he saw the inn. It was actually pretty colorful, painted in green, red, and yellow. Which was a nice change from the wooden brown or gray stone buildings surrounding it. From the sign, he could see that it was primarily a bar. The building wasn't a very large one, there couldn't have been many rooms up there, but he supposed the town probably didn't get many visitors.

Qrow walked in, the bar was empty, he supposed nobody would be drinking at this time. Even he didn't do so often. At least, when he wasn't counting the small sips from his flask.

"Hello?" He called out when he reached the counter. "Is anyone in?"

A blond woman in an apron came out from the back. "Yes, can I help you?' She asked with a pleasant smile. She seemed to be around Qrow's age, maybe a few years older.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Clark. I heard he was staying here, is he in?"

She shook her head. "Nope, I think he's at the library. He seems to spend almost all his time there, at least when he's not helping me."

"Helping you?"

"Oh, we made an arrangement when he first came in a couple days ago." She explained. "He came in without any money, so I offered to give him room and board as long as he helps around."

No money either, that was noteworthy. "So, what's he like?"

"Oh, he's been such a great help." She said proudly. "Always ready to help lift something heavy or reach something from the top shelf, he even offered to help cook and clean. I said no to that, but I did let him fix some pipes. This place has never been running so smoothly."

Well, that was encouraging. Whoever this guy was, he seemed to be friendly. It might not take much to convince him to help in the fight against the Grimm.

"Anything else I should know about him? Have you noticed anything . . ." Qrow paused. "Off about him?"

"Well, he's a nice young man, but he usually keeps to himself." She replied with pity. "Don't know why, he seems awfully friendly."

"I'll keep that in mind." He said. "So where's the library?"

She gave him directions and asked a question of her own. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you looking for Clark? Is he in trouble with the law?" She added worriedly.

"No, no," reassured Qrow. "I'm just looking to make him an offer."

"To be a huntsman?"

"Maybe not a huntsman exactly, but I think we could use his help against the Grimm."

"I'd . . . prefer he not become one. I can tell he has good heart, it would be a terrible loss if he died fighting the Grimm."

Qrow nodded. "I'm sure it would, but I think that's his decision to make."

"Yes, I know." She sighed. "I'm pretty sure he'll say yes, if he thinks he can help, he will."

At that, Qrow thanked her for her help, and headed over to the library.

\\

Powdered Dust is more often used in power generation, as the large surface area of the granules allow for quick energy extraction. However, that is also why powdered Dust is far more volatile than the crystalline form of most natural varieties of Dust.

Clark continued reading the book on Dust, which was what this world called a substance that they used for power and weaponry. He stopped reading when he heard faint footsteps from the front of the building.

Normally he wouldn't have paid it any mind, but he could hear the clinking of metal, and the person seemed to be approaching him.

He looked through the bookshelves to the man coming for him. It was an older man in gray and black and wearing a red cloak. And he had a sword strapped to his waist.

Clark kept his head low on the book. The man didn't look hostile, but Clark couldn't be too careful. He slouched intentionally, but even while looking down at the book, he'd be able to react in time.

The man walked up to him. "Hey, those are some interesting books you've got there."

Clark looked up to him and scanned a few the titles of the impressive amount of books he had at the table. A Summary of World History. Grimm Basics. Dust and How to Use it. Most of this stuff would probably be common knowledge to a person in this world.

"Yeah, just catching up on the basics," answered Clark with a weak smile.

"Okay," the man paused. "I'm Crow spelled with a Q instead of a C, do you mind if I sit here?"

"Not at all." Clark said encouragingly.

Qrow sat down in front of him. "Thanks, mind if I ask you something?"

Clark closed the book and set it aside. "Not at all."

"I'm a huntsman, and I heard that some loggers in the area were attacked by Grimm a few days ago."

So he was a huntsman, one of the people who protected the humans of this world from Grimm. The sword on his side made sense.

He also seemed to think the phantoms had been Grimm. Which was understandable, the phantoms bore a resemblance to a variety of Grimm Clark had seen in these books.

"It was by a couple of Geists." Qrow continued. "Yet these guys were miraculously saved by a stranger who showed up screaming about danger. He saved them, killed the two Grimm, then disappeared. Weird thing is, about half of the workers were found a mile away, with no idea how they got there. According to the ones still in the forest, they'd vanished, one by one. Just like the stranger."

The man leaned forward. "They also said that he was tall, black-haired, and wearing a red jacket and jeans."

Damn it. Clark was even wearing the same outfit. Chloe would have shaken her head at such a mistake, but come on. How could he have known that someone would come looking for him so quickly? Besides, he liked these clothes, Mary had patched them up for him and they were some of the few things he had from home.

"Kid, I'm gonna cut to the chase." Qrow leaned forward. "Is what they said true? Do you have some sort of Semblance that lets you do that sort of stuff?"

"Sorry sir, I don't know what you're talking about." And for once, Clark was somewhat telling the truth. He didn't know what a Semblance was, but this man already knew too much. "Whatever happened during that Grimm attack is interesting, but I'm just a normal person." Clark added with a smile.

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Hmph, you're a bad liar kid. Don't even try it."

The huntsman took out a flask and drank from it.

"You know, I had a friend." Qrow began. "Best person I ever knew, big heart, always with a bright smile on her face, and ready to help anyone in need. She was stubborn, brave, and smart. We were teammates ever since we studied at Beacon. Actually, she was team leader.

"I wasn't the nicest guy around back then. I'm still not, but I don't think I could ever have repaid her for what she did. Always willing to listen to my problems and offering advice, helping me realize I was the one who decided how to live my life. She always kept things light in the team and settled arguments before they got serious. She really helped set me straight, and actually made some progress with my sister too. Who was worse than even I was.

"After we graduated, she married my best friend. He'd already been married and had a kid with someone else, but she accepted that and loved his daughter just as much as the one they had together. That was just the type of person she was. She still went on missions, but she did her best to make up for it by showering her family with love when she was home."

"She died during one of those missions," Qrow said without warning, although Clark had guessed it from how he'd spoken in the past tense. "And left my two nieces motherless. Left her husband broken too, and it was years before he started to get back to himself. I tried to help, but her death hit me hard too."

"I'm sorry." Clark added, trying to show his sympathy. "She sounded like a wonderful person."

"Yeah, she was." Qrow sipped from his flask again. "You know why I'm telling you this?"

". . . No." Clark had wondered, but he felt that it was rude to point out how strange it was to start mourning one's dead friend in front of a random stranger. This man was hurting, he needed the support he could get.

"You see kid, I don't really think you get it." Qrow looked down at the books Clark had gathered. "My story's not that rare. Lots of people have lost loved ones to the Grimm. And even if they haven't, they're the reason people can only live behind walls or natural barriers like rivers and mountains."

"What I just told you is personal, and I sure as hell wouldn't want to share it with just anyone, but I don't think you'll understand otherwise. The headmaster of Beacon Academy wants you to meet with him and make an offer. If you really can do what those people said, then Remnant needs people like you. So that there aren't any more tragedies like Summer."

Summer, so that had been the woman's name.

Clark wasn't sure what to do. This world was harsh, the people here, both humans and a race called faunus, were under constant threat of annihilation from monsters. He could help, he would help, but that didn't mean he had to reveal his abilities to this man.

Beacon, that was one of the huntsmen schools wasn't it? Of course they'd want someone with his abilities.

"I want to," Clark answered. "I really do . . . but I have other responsibilities." The phantoms were still in the area. He'd been checking the news, but they hadn't made any moves. "And I also have to find a way to get back home."

"Home? Where's that?" Qrow asked curiously.

"It's . . . complicated."

"Okay . . . well, Headmaster Ozpin has some political pull. So I'm sure he could help you with that. Besides, you won't have to make any promises. Just meet with him, and if you say no, we won't push. Just know that if you say yes, it'll be worth it. The work won't be easy, but you'll be saving lives."

Normally, Clark wouldn't use his super-hearing to check if someone was lying, but he was in a strange world with someone he'd just met. Even though he seemed sincere, Clark had to make sure.

Qrow was telling the truth. His heartrate was steady, and Clark hadn't spotted any sweat or other signs of nervousness. He'd already scanned the area just in case this was some sort of trap, and it had been all clear.

Helping the people of this world. These Grimm were constantly attacking them and doing far more damage than the phantoms could. Brainiac had needed to put in considerable effort to prepare Lex's body for Zod, while these phantoms would be using normal people. Clark couldn't ignore them, but he couldn't just stay here waiting for them to make a move.

"You said this headmaster might help me get home, I'm going to need some high-tech stuff to do so." From what Clark had read, this world's technology was farther along than Earth's. No mention of traveling to other dimensions, but he needed to try. "Could he help me with that?"

Qrow's confusion was evident. "Um, sure. He's best friends with General Ironwood. The headmaster of Atlas Academy."

Atlas, that was the country with the most advanced technology. Clark had no idea how to use his crystal, so that was probably his best bet to get back home.

"Okay, I'll talk with him." Clark agreed. "When can I meet him?"

"Today, if we hurry." Qrow stood up and motioned for him to follow. "But first, I want to see what you can do."

\\

Qrow leaned against a tree. "This is a good spot. Now show me what you're made of."

He'd brought the kid out into the forest, out of sight of the people in the town. Although Clark still looked around to check.

Qrow had been a bit surprised by how young he was. Clark had to be only a couple years older than Yang at most.

His new prospective ally nodded. "Right." He walked up to a nearby boulder a few meters across. He wrapped his arms around it.

The huntsman looked on curiously.

Clark lifted the boulder without any strain. He easily held it over his head, and turned to look towards Qrow. Who looked on with his mouth wide open.

"Is this enough?" He asked.

"Doesn't that feel the least bit heavy to you?"

He shrugged. He did it effortlessly, while holding a boulder above his head that weighed tons. "A bit," he answered before gently setting it back down in place.

"How did you do that? Strength Semblance?" Even if it was, what kind of semblance let him do things like that?!

"I don't know what that is. But I'm strong, I was . . . born this way." He added uncomfortably.

"So you actually did throw the truck?"

The kid, the freakishly strong kid, nodded.

So the workers hadn't been exaggerating. Qrow had thought there might be another explanation, but Oz had been right to send him to find this guy as soon as possible.

"The workers also said you disappeared and reappeared. So what, you can teleport?" Qrow asked half-jokingly.

"I'm fast."

"How fast?"

Clark paused in thought. "It'll be easier to show you, do you have a gun on you? Since you fight Grimm?"

Qrow took out his weapon and tapped on it. "Yep, right here." With the push of a button, Harbinger mecha-shifted to its gun form.

"Could you shoot a few bullets in that direction?" Clark pointed behind Qrow, the opposite direction from him. "Preferably not too high."

"Sure." Qrow turned around and pressed the trigger, letting a few bullets fly loose into a tree a couple dozen feet away.

At least, they would have gone into the tree. Clark had suddenly appeared in front of him instead. Without even a blur, hell, Qrow could even spot Ruby when she went turbo. How fast wasthis guy? He was way bigger than his niece, so Qrow should have at least seen something.

Clark lifted his hand, he was holding something in it.

Qrow gawked as he realized what. Those were his bullets! He looked back up, but there weren't any holes in the tree he'd aimed at, so this guy had actually intercepted them. Not pickpocketed his rounds or something.

"You . . ." He swallowed nervously. "You caught my bullets?"

"Yeah." And of all things, he looked sheepish. Like he was embarrassed to show off.

Qrow looked down again at Clark's palm. A few of them were deformed.

He picked one up. "Did these bullets hit your hand?"

"A few, it's not easy to catch multiple in succession. I handled most of them though."

"Hold on, don't you feel anything? Even with aura, there should be some pain. After all, you were just hit by bullets."

Clark looked away. "Um, that's another thing. I'm tough. Really tough. And I don't know what you mean by aura."

"What?" If Qrow hadn't just seen him lift a boulder with ease and chase down bullets, he'd have doubted him.

"Hold on a second," Qrow took out his scroll and handed it to him. "Keep this in your hand and hold it so I can see the screen."

Clark did so, and the kid wasn't lying, the scroll read that he had no aura. But maybe he just hadn't activated it yet.

He readied Harbinger. "Can you block this with your bare hands?" asked Qrow.

"Yep."

Qrow swung his weapon with a decent amount of strength, and watched Clark bring his left hand up to block it. The scroll still read no aura, even when the blade bounced off his palm with a loud clang!

Clark put his hand down and returned Qrow's scroll. "So, I think I've proven myself. Is there anything else you'd like me to do?"

Qrow looked him over and considered Clark's claims. Bulletproof skin, even without aura, fast enough to outrace and pluck speeding bullets out of the air, able to carry boulders with ease.

Just to make sure, he continued testing Clark. He couldn't afford to have been tricked. He couldn't see any way he could have faked his strength, but the speed might be exaggerated. Fast enough to appear in front of him definitely, and he had shown up with bullets in his hand, but that didn't definitely mean he was fast enough to go up and grab them.

For example, Ruby's friend Pyrrha had a polarity semblance. If Clark had something similar, maybe he'd actually pulled them into his hand too quickly for Qrow to spot.

But no, his speed was genuine. It took some time, but Qrow left some items out a decent way into the forest. He honestly hadn't even managed to time the kid properly when he went out and brought them back. He couldn't tap his scroll quickly enough.

The invulnerability was real too. They slowly escalated, having Clark punch the ground and smash boulders without a scratch on his fists. Qrow had been uncomfortable at the thought of shooting someone without aura point-blank, but it had certainly been convincing when he'd seen bullets ping off his bare chest. Even the rounds Qrow had brought with fire and electricity didn't affect him.

By the time Qrow had been satisfied, it was one in the afternoon. And he was hungry, so he announced "Okay, that's enough. Let's get back in town."

When Clark and Qrow returned to town, they ate at Mary's inn. She'd had some beef stew and freshly baked bread for them. Qrow paid for his, but Mary didn't charge Clark.

He'd wanted to do some tasks for her in return, but she'd insisted that he'd done enough for her these past couple days.

"So, where you from?" Qrow asked between spoonfuls. Mary had gone out back to restock and the two of them were alone.

Clark paused. "I don't think you'd believe me if I told you."

"Really? I think there's a lot I'd believe considering what I just saw you do."

"It's . . . more unbelievable than that."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Okay then, can you say why you need high tech to get back? What, did you grow up on a deserted island surrounded by super powerful Grimm that you need to fight your way through?" He added with a smirk.

"No," Clark said with a grin. "I'm pretty sure in my case a simple 'punch really hard' would be enough."

"Hmph, by the way, your abilities, have you always been like this?"

Clark nodded. "I was born this way. But, um, Mr. Branwen, can we hold off the questions for now? I'm not used to being so . . . open, and I'd prefer not to lie."

Qrow finished off his food and answered. "Sure kid. I need to make a call anyway. Why don't you pack up so we can go?"

\\

Clark went upstairs and into the room he'd stayed in for the past couple of days. He'd already made the bed in the morning, and he started cleaning. Although it wouldn't take long since he didn't like to make a mess.

As he cleaned, he listened in on Qrow's call with his super-hearing.

"The workers were right Ozpin, he's the real deal. Super-strength, speed, and bullets bounce off his skin without aura. I tested him."

The voice on the phone, no it was a scroll, answered. "You are certain? I'd considered the reports dubious as well. I'd expected something, but it wasn't to this extent."

Clark had finished organizing the room and started packing the belongings he'd gotten in a bag. Which were just the spare clothes Mary had given him.

"Oz, I just saw him toss a boulder and hand me the rounds I shot off at a tree before they hit. I also had him run out about half a mile and bring me back some stuff. He did it instantly."

Clark hadn't even shown him his other powers yet. No heat vision, super-breath, his senses. Qrow seemed like he could be trusted, but they'd just met a few hours ago. And he still didn't know about this headmaster Ozpin, or the general he was friends with, who knew what they would try if they saw what else he could do?

They'd already had an idea about Clark's speed and strength. So he hadn't lost much by confirming those to them, but he'd carelessly shown off his invulnerability.

Qrow had first thought he'd used aura, which the huntsman had explained to him as what protected them and allowed them to fight Grimm. It also powered Semblances, which were special abilities that they had. That was useful information, if Clark had known that, he could have said his abilities were a sort of Semblance.

Qrow finished his call and Clark waited a bit longer before heading back down.

"You all set?" The older man asked as he descended the stairs.

"Yes." Honestly, all he'd had when coming to this world had been the clothes on his back, his phone, and the Kryptonian crystal. Now he also had a backpack with some extra clothes Mary had given him. It must have been strange that he had so little luggage.

"Wait! Wait!" Mary came out from behind the bar and handed him a large covered plastic bowl. "Here, take some stew with you."

"Sure. Thank you ma'am." He said as he accepted it.

"And Clark?"

"Yes?"

"Be safe, okay?" She said with a worried expression.

"Of course. Thank you for letting me stay here for the past few days."

"Oh, it was no big deal." She said with a wave of her hand. "You did more than your fair share of work."

They said their goodbyes, and Qrow brought him out to the Bullhead, the aircraft that the people of this world used. It was a dark gray, and clearly a military vehicle.

Qrow had called the pilot to tell them they were coming so they could leave quickly. Then, he showed Clark to a fridge where he could put the food Mary had given him. Qrow had said the flight would take a few hours, which would be plenty of time for Clark to ask some questions he still had about Remnant.

Although he dreaded the questions Qrow would no doubt have for him.