A/N: So I had an idea for this fanfic while I was at work a few days ago and thought I might as well see where it goes.
Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or anything else that may end up in the story, I can only take credit for the idea.
Prologue:
The world of Remnant was a shattered world, a world with an extremely long history, much of which had been forgotten over the passage of time. Kingdom's had come and gone, tyrants and saints in the hundreds whose reach once covered continets now naught but ash and whispers on the wind, only able to be heard by those who had spent their life looking back. Remnant had been known by many names throughout it's history, but none fit more than it's current, for it truly was now just a remnant, a broken memory of a better time.
Where once humanity stretched it's reach to the stars, it now sat, confined to a collection of continents that covered but half the world, not knowing what existed beyond their borders. Many different events had had a hand in the slow downfall of humanity, but two specific events had played the largest part in recent history, these were a disaster that caused the mutation of roughly 30% of the human race to take on animal traits, these became known as faunus, and the rise of a new race, the race of Grimm. Dark creatures that fed on hatred and depression, anger and jelousy, destroying everything in their path. Created as a weapon in a war millenia ago, they had quickly turned on their creators and pushed humanity to the brink of extinction. This would have been the end dor humanity but for the discovery of two things, the first, the ability to unlock accesd to their very soul, protecting them and giving each a special ability of their own, these became known as a persons Aura ans Semblance, and the second, the ability to utilise and long thought useless crystal through exertion of a persons aura, these crystal, naturally forming and existing in a multitude of colours, became known as dust. Now the creatures of Grimm roamed the land, preying on all unfortunate enough to cross they path and ensuring that humanity never got the chance to spread once more, the origins of both forgotten to all but a few.
It is in this broken and battered world, on a small island known as patch, that a woman, a mother of just four months, had gone to show her child to her oldest friend, and in doing so had travelled out into the wilderness of the island. For you see, her the friend could not visit, much as she wished she could, due to her occupation and position. Normally, taking a child out into the wilds of remnant would be considered madness, however unlike most of Remnant, Patch had always been well protected and very rarely were Grimm of any significant size encountered. On the off chance that they did encounter any Grimm, neither of the women were particularly worried, for they were Huntresses, people who had dedicated their lives to fighting the Grimm in defense of humanity. The mother was a woman born to the name Summer Rose, more recently known as Branwen, and the other was her sister-in-law, a woman born to the name Raven Branwen, though officially now Xiao-Long. The two of them had trained as Huntresses together on a team of four with their respective husbands, Ravens brother Qrow Branwen and a man by the name of Taiyang Xiao-Long. The child was a girl by the name of Ruby Branwen, an active and curious girl from the moment she was born, she had been gifted with the same black hair, silver eyes and wolf ears that her mother had. Though Summer and Raven were not related by blood, they had called each other sister since almost the moment they had met, being partnered together in training had allowed the two to quickly for a strong bond.
Over the years since Raven had been forced to leave, the two women had met many times in the forests of Patch, keeping each other up to date on the goings on within their lives and often times sharing a laugh at their husbands expense. Summer would also keep Raven informed on the growth of her own daughter, a girl by the name of Yang Xiao-Long, that Raven had been forced to abandon naught two months after her birth, Summer had stepped in at this point to take care of Yang at the Ravens behest. Throughout their many meetings, the two women had indeed on occasion encountered the creatures of Grimm, these times allowed them to do their part in ensurring that Patch remained, for the most part, Grimm free. However, recent incidents between the humans and the faunus had caused a great deal of hate to begin spreading throughout Remnant, and rhe Grimm had been groeing fat on the feast. As it was, neither of them would have expected, that what they would encounter today, would be far worse than anything they had previously faced.
Their meeting had begun as normal, with the obvious exception of Raven being introduced to Ruby, and the two women spent the noon hours exchanging news and babying the child. Twas as the hour was nearing one in the afternoon however, that a Grimm, far larger than any that had been seen on Patch in centuries, lumbered out of the trees towards the three of them, a roar ripping from it's throat as many other Grimm of all sizes and types began to seep out of the wilds, quickly surrounding the trio.
Though Raven requested they leave, better to protect Ruby and fight another day, but Summer, concerned with the number of Grimm so close to a populated area, bid her stay, that they might cull what they could before retreating. An hour they stood and fought, Grimm uncountable falling to their blades, but for every one they slaughtered, ten more it seemed stepped foreward to take it's place. Sering no end in sight, Summer came to a realisation, for no horde of Grimm this size had ever gathered without purpose, and to the silver eyed warrior, the purpose of this horde was clear.
Pushing the Grimm back to give the two a brief moment of respite, Summer turned unto Raven and, taking Ruby from her sling, quickly begged her take the child and go. Raven, bewildrered at her close friends attitude, refused to abandon her to fight such an enemy alone, but Summer was insistent, pleading to her as the two held the Grimm back. Understanding that Raven would not leave without enough reason, Summer explained, the Grimm had come for her, they had banded together for the sole purpose of hunting her down, and no amount of running or fortifying would hold back this horde for long.
With tears staining her eyes, Raven accepted, promising Summer that she would deliver Ruby back to her father, that she might grow up knowing Raven's own daughter Yang as a sister. But to this Summer quickly denied, bidding her take Ruby back with her, to live the life that Raven lead, at Raven's shock, Summer once again explained, Raven had chosen the life Yang would lead without her, and now Summer was doing the same for Ruby. Promising to take care of Ruby, Raven left, her semblance creating a portal through which she escaped, bitterly leaving her best friend and sister-in-law to her fate.
As Raven left however, knowing that her fate was sealed regardless, Summer took her weapons, Scythes attached to the end of long chains that she had forged herself upon her 16th birthday, and cast them through the portal, a gift for her daughter, that they might not rust forgotten on the forest floor after her death. Knowing now that her daughter, friend, and weapons were safe, Summer charged the Grimm, her aura and semblance utilised to their full extent to prove to these mostly mindless creatures that she would indeed rage against the dying of the light.
On the other side of the portal, Raven stood in the centre of the bandit camp that she and her followers called home, without the adrenaline of the fight leaving her system, Raven began to fully accept what she had just done, a feeling of overwhelming grief beginning to enshroud her, this was only compounded when she saw the scythes, sans their owner, land at her feet. Gingerling picking them up, and ensuring Ruby was safely in her arms, Raven quickly called for one of her more skilled fighters, a woman by the name of Scathatch that had recently lost a child of her own during birth. Knowing that she would be unable to care properly for a child and lead the clan on her own, Raven bid Scathatch take Ruby and raise her as her own, that she might remain an aunt to Ruby during her development.
Thus came to pass that Summer Branwen was slain, and her daughter, instead of being raised by her uncle and father, as she perhaps would have been otherwise, was taken in by her aunt, and raised under a far different set of codes. Though it would take a few years, the effects of this shift of chance would be felt by all for years to come and for better or worse, a Reaper would once again walk Remnant.
A/N: Well there's the prologue done. I'll hopefully have chapter 1 up sometimes this week, and if you found this style a little clunky or difficult to read, don't worry, only the prologue is intended to be like it was almost part of a history book. Reviews are always welcome and very much appreciated.
Thanks for atleast giving this a read.