BLOOD AND GORE WARNING. IT GETS KINDA CRAZY SORRY
Third Person POV
It was a quiet night in Vacuo. Then again, it's usually quiet in the vast desert. However, tonight the silence was broken by the whining of a bullhead engine.
A high-class nonmilitary vessel hovered over the sandy wastelands, as the side door slid open, revealing the dark silhouette of man, his features indistinguishable. In his arms was a tiny bundle of joy. A healthy baby boy, giggled in the man's arms and tried to reach out to his face playfully. His hair a strange shining silver color, as if each strand was spun from the metal itself, and eyes a brilliant purple. He was truly an extraordinary boy.
The man dropped him from the bullhead, letting him fall to the desert ground below before signaling the driver to fly away.
As the bullhead flew back to wherever it came from. The baby continued to fly towards the earth below, blissfully ignorant of its imminent demise. As it enjoyed the weightless feeling it was experiencing.
Closer and closer he came to the ground, until finally, right as he was about to hit the ground…nothing happened.
The baby hit the sand with a wet crunch, somehow by some horrific miracle managing not to turn into a pile of red mush, and opting instead to turn into a fleshy sack of shattered bones somehow still breathing.
This child couldn't have been more than a few months old, yet already it knew, pain most grown men couldn't possibly imagine. It could do nothing but lay there, not even developed enough to wish for death.
This continued for a couple hours, somehow the baby continued its shattered, agonizing existence until the sun rose, and with it, the creatures of Grimm that ruled the Desert.
Namely, King Taijitu. This desert was filled with a unique breed that while much smaller in size, made up for it with much deadlier venom, and mind-blowing speed. They usually rested just under the sand in a hibernation like state until creatures of light came a long for them to prey on.
Unfortunately for the few that rose to inspect the new scent of prey, they were met by a dying heap of a child, now blessedly unconscious as its life trickled away. Never had they seen a creature so pathetic, they almost wanted to kill him out of mercy, but you know mostly fun.
They didn't get the chance however, as the child suddenly let out a long exhale, its final breath. The Grimm could tell it was dead, and started burrowing back into the sand to wait for the next prey. However, their attention was recaptured by a strange squishing sound.
They looked back at the body to see that it was somehow moving again, or rather, something inside it was moving. None of the serpents moved as the watched a small silver claw suddenly erupt from the chest of the infant body. it was followed by nine others before the two clawed hands began pulling apart the skin.
The serpents watched with horrified interest as something crawled out of the child's corpse. It ripped and tore through the body until it was able to free itself, resulting in a lot of blood, both on the ground and covering the creature. When it finally pulled itself completely out of the body, the Grimm were to surprise to see a young Beowolf. Only, instead of a white and red mask, it was silver and purple, with the same black fur. It was about the size of the infant it crawled out of.
It shook itself off, splattering blood everywhere, even on a few of the Grimm, but they didn't mind. They were extremely curious about this new creature. It smelled like one of them but with a little something extra added.
One of them cautiously slithered forward, hoping to get a better look. This was a mistake. The Beowolf suddenly lashed out, catching the stunned Taijitu by the neck before snapping it in its jaws.
As the silver faced Grimm began snacking on the snake, the others quickly fled, not knowing what to do in that situation. Grimm don't eat another Grimm, it just didn't happen.
Soon the creature was full and alone once again. It sniffed around for something. Apparently not finding it, it took off in a run away from the horrific scene, out across the barren desert, it's destination: not even known by it.
Several Days Later
Ryo Belladonna was trudging through the Vacuon desert, cat ears flat against his now shaggy head. In his right hand was his coat folded up. A purple leather trench coat wasn't exactly something you wore in such sweltering heat. He was left in a simple pair of pants and a t-shirt. His Katana rested on his side, hopefully sending a clear message to any potential bandits.
Ryo was having a bad week. Up until recently, he had served with his sister and her Fiancé in the White Fang, serving predominately as a bodyguard for the couple against any particularly rowdy anti Faunus individuals. He was really good at it too. The Belladonna family traditionally trains each man (with the exception of Ghira, but the big softy married in to the name. he just can't say no to Khali) in martial arts, weapons expertise, and above all aura control. He was trained to be one with the shadows, protecting others without them ever knowing he was there.
He used these skills to protect his family, that was until a few days ago, he received a note on his door step. It held a picture of his favorite niece Blake playing on some swings, and in dark red letter read Leave Menagerie, or she will pay the price.
Of course, he didn't think much of it. He didn't think it was fake or anything, but surely anyone who tried to hurt her wouldn't get past him right? With that thought in mind he stayed extra close to Blake for a few days, not that she minded, as she loved playing with her Uncle Ryo, only for nothing to happen. Until two days ago. He was watching her on the playground, laughing gleefully, when she suddenly froze. All of Ryo's senses screamed danger, but he couldn't tell where.
Until the bullet wound on Blake's shoulder started seeping blood.
After he drove her to the hospital and her parents arrived, he hurried back to his home, as far from her as possible. Whoever shot her shot far enough away that Ryo couldn't detect them and used a silencer. When he arrived at home he found another note on his doorstep. With a picture of Blake in her hospital room. She doesn't have to die. Leave and never return, or the next shot goes through her skull.
That settled it for Ryo. The next day, he was on a Bullhead heading as far away from Menagerie as possible.
He set down in Vale and started the journey to the settlement of Vacuo. He hoped it was true what he heard about it. Apparently, they welcomed anyone who survived the journey.
He was making good time, despite the constant attacks form the Taijitu. He dealt with them all with ease. His reflexes were trained to be faster than any Grimm.
It was while he was trudging through the sand, almost panting from the heat that he heard it. A howl of a young Beowolf, more specifically a very small Beowolf.
He sped up towards the noise. Beowolves were not native to the desert of Vacuo, there shouldn't be any, if anything he would take care of it for any other travelers in the future.
What he didn't expect to find was a Beowolf no larger than a child laying on its side. It looked… starved. Which didn't make sense, Grimm fed on negative emotions, they didn't need physical food, they never starved. Yet this one looked like its body had begun to digest itself, its bones were practically sticking out.
As he drew closer he noticed other things, instead of the regular white bone mask, it seemed to be colored silver, with purple eyes instead of red. As he looked even closer at this fascinating discovery, the creature let out a final breath, it had starved to death.
Unfortunately for it, the Taijitu had quickly wizened up to its presence, and avoided it where ever it went, offering it no food. Ryo didn't know its eating preferences however. He was more interested in what was happening before his eyes.
Like all Grimm, it was dissolving after death. But unlike others. This one was leaving something behind. It was a small pale child, with silver hair just like the creature's mask, and it was not happy.
It was crying loudly like any baby would, but what Ryo noticed was that it was shivering violently as if it were cold. How could anything be cold in this desert?
Now, Ryo was no fool. This child was not simply eaten by the Grimm, he had emerged from its decaying corpse. That was not natural. A small part of Ryo's brain was telling him to end the obviously unholy being in front of him. However, the rest of it was doing the same thing every other brain does when they see a baby such as him: falling head over heels in love with his adorable face.
He gently reached down to touch the shivering child, who instinctively wrapped his arms around the warm hand in front of him. Ryo felt any animosity towards the baby fall away.
He scooped the child up in his arm. "Hey there little guy. What are you doing out here? And why the fuck did you come out of a Grimm?" he made sure to keep his smile as he said that last part, not wanting the child to detect any negative thoughts. The child opened his eyes to reveal brilliant purple irises looking at him curiously, it was official. Ryo was going to take care of this child for as long as he needed him.
However, the child's shivering still remained, despite being wrapped in Ryo's arms. NOT KNOWING WHAT ELSE TO DO, Ryo tried wrapping the child in the only fabric he wasn't wearing. As soon as the leather coat was wrapped around the boy, his tears ended and he smiled contentedly, soon drifting to sleep. As Ryo held him.
Ryo stood up, looking around him and seemingly realizing once again where he was.
"I have to get you out of this desert"
He had planned on conserving his aura on the trip across the desert, not knowing if he will have a friendly welcome, but now he knew that the child wouldn't last that long.
He held the baby securely to his chest, he got in a running stance taking deep breaths as he reached internally for his aura. He then took advantage of the skills he was taught to channel his aura into his legs, before taking off in a blaze of speed.
He tore across the dessert, reaching speeds even Creeps couldn't hope to reach. As he blew by, a couple Taijitu raised their heads out of the sands to see what happened, but none were fast enough to launch an attack.
He ran for several hours, his stamina not dropping in the slightest as he used his own aura to power his legs.
He soon caught a glimpse of stonework in the distance. There was the city. There was this child's salvation. And there was Ryo's new life.
He looked down at the child in his arm. No, this was his new life. And he needed a name. as he looked at the adorable face in his arms, the child's eyes opened again. And Ryo new his name.
"Good morning, Royal."
6 years later.
Ryo and his new charge were accepted into Vacuo, thankfully enough. Soon after entering the city, Ryo used what little Lien he had to rent a room. He wanted the child to experience at least one night of comfort before what was inevitably to come.
He couldn't put him in an orphanage. Not just because of some silly connection he feels though, whatever it was that caused the child to emerge from the Grimm, it might follow him in life. If something happened, no one would understand, hell Ryo doesn't understand, so he needed to keep him close.
Unfortunately, after he spent the money for the hotel, he had none left. He was in too much in a hurry to get out of Menagerie. His first instinct was to take to the woods, he could survive there easily. But this was a fucking desert. All the foliage resided in the city. He was forced to take care of the child on the streets until he could make enough money for something better.
He took care of him mainly via begging, an act that his pride did not escape unblemished, but he kept in mind who it was for. Many were gracious enough to help out the man and child. Enough to feed them both for a few months.
Eventually though the child grew into a toddler, and the toddler grew into a boy. This was both a blessing and a curse. It was bad because Ryo lost his best asset in begging, but it was mostly good, as Ryo was finally able to go through with his original plan to make money: Hunter jobs.
Now that Royal was big enough to run, jump and call for help intelligently, he was ready to accompany Ryo on the jobs. Of course, Ryo didn't trust him enough to leave him on his own.
Royal, having grown up in a less than wealthy lack of household, was quite slim, but in no way scrawny. Ryo already had him doing daily exercises to stay in shape, whether he liked it or not. His originally pale skin had tanned quite a bit from the sun. His brilliant silver was now long and shaggy, hanging below his ears. It was a bit too brilliant for life on the streets, as other homeless would eye it as if they could sell it as real silver. However, as soon as he had mobility, Royal would run away from every haircut. He either couldn't or wouldn't explain why he hated them so much, but eventually Ryo compromised and had him hide his hair in a sun hat he found., His face was for lack of a better word, mischievous. He had an unending sense of humor, despite his situation, but Ryo figured it was because it's all he ever knew. A feature most wouldn't notice though, was the slight elongation of his canines. Ryo was a bit disconcerted by this, but never mentioned anything.
A problem however, was that his shivering never ceased. Even today as a six-year-old, if he wasn't wearing two or more layers he claimed he felt too exposed, like he was missing a layer of skin. Ryo went out of his way to clothe him, skipping a few meals every now in then to buy jackets. However, he noticed Royal always had an eye for Ryo's beloved purple Coat, despite the obvious size difference. He'd even steal it during the night occasionally and wrap himself up in it. Ryo found it adorable.
Today Ryo held Royal up on his shoulders as he walked to a residence on the edge of town. He had gotten a job to clear out a taijitu infestation, which was practically all there ever was in Vacuo. And whenever something that paid better came around, someone always got it first. However, Ryo didn't complain, he was now making a lot more Lien then he had with begging.
Royal was happy as well, but for different reasons. "You'll see Ryo! I'm going to kill twice as many Taijitu as you! then I'll start getting my own jobs!"
Ryo chuckled, "As much as I would enjoy double the income, you're still way too young for hunting, you're going to sit outside and wait patiently, and more importantly, safely. Understood?"
Royal pouted, "I would be ready if you would start training me…"
Ryo groaned, "We are not starting this again! First of all, you don't even know if you really want to do this for the rest of your life, you can't you're six! Second of all: I'm not putting you through what I was put through, especially at your age!"
Royal whined "Why noooot? I want to be strong like you! you and I both know there isn't a hunter in this town that could beat you in a fight!"
Ryo smirked, "Maybe, but its best they don't know that Roy. Look we're here. Stay out here, and if you're good, I might start teaching you knife throwing soon."
Royal's eyes widened comically, "Really?"
"Maybe. Now stay put." The man ordered. He set the boy down under a tree in front of his client's house. The boy eagerly sat down in a rigid manner, making Ryo chuckle as he turned away with a swish of his coat.
Ryo opened the door to his house to reveal several dozen Taijitu on the floor, all of whom looked at him at once. He grinned, choosing to go for his second favorite weapon, a kunai knife he kept hidden in his coat.
"Let's dance."
He suddenly shot out his hand, throwing the weapon at one of the snakes. It flew like a bullet, instantly separating the head from the body. the others didn't worry too much about this however. The human had just deprived itself of its weapon. Several lunged at once, confident one of them would make the killing strike.
To their surprise however, before they could reach him, he suddenly yanked back his hand, as the knife seemingly flew out the Grimm corpse, back to his hand, just in time for him to become a blur of movement, resulting in several sliced up Taijitu to hit the ground behind him.
This was a special Aura technique that Ryo had perfected in his youth, called Aura String. He sends out a thread of his aura to attach to the knife, and with it he pulls back the knife to his hand. Due to the size of the thread, most people can't even see it.
Using this technique, he beheaded one serpent after another, pulling back the knife and throwing again. Occasionally some would get close but they didn't last long.
He eventually cleared the room. Nothing remained…. except for the one that escaped out the front door behind him, only to spot a young boy, sitting straight, with barely contained excitement.
Ryo exited the house just in time to see the serpents head rearing back behind Royal, who, bless his heart, was sitting exactly where Ryo told him to.
Royal was looking at him with pride, he only just realized the alarm in Ryo's face before he felt the Taijitu's fangs sink into his neck.
Ryo was there in an instant, a knife in the snake, and a mouth on the boy's neck, desperately trying to suck out the poison. But it was useless, taijitu venom spreads almost instantly. A boy of Royals size had no chance of survival.
Ryo eventually realized this and stopped his desperate attempts to revive the boy, opting instead for holding him in his arms, trying to make him as comfortable as possible as the light faded from his eyes.
Without even a final word to his surrogate father, Royal sighed a final breath. The life was gone for him, as Ryo wept bitterly over his corpse.
That's when things got weird.
As Ryo wept over Royals body, he heard unpleasant sounds from inside his body. he lifted his head to see Royals body growing… no swelling as something inside threatened to pop out of him. Ryo's mind flashed back to when he found Royal. He quickly drew his knife, forcing his stomach down at what he was about to do.
He stabbed down into the chest of his beloved friend, and drew the knife back down to his stomach. As he did this, he revealed exactly what he was hoping he was wrong about.
A small Beowolf, covered in Royals blood, emerged, revealing its silver bone mask and glowing purple eyes. This one was still small, but still larger than the one Ryo found Royal in. the creature looked around, apparently very confused, until its eyes met with Ryo's.
Ryo cautiously asked, "Royal? Is that you?"
The creature cocked its head to the side curiously and opened its mouth to speak, but all that came out was a gravelly growly noise, making it shake its head in confusion.
Ryo sighed in relief, "Alright, now Roy, I need you to focus here. Without looking down I need you to step towards me, no matter what happens keep your eyes on me."
Like any other six-year-old told not to look down, Royal looked down. He didn't like what he saw.
The Beowolf boy yelped pitifully as it realized it was standing in its own former body. he quickly jumped away from it, scampering behind the tree awkwardly, as he wasn't sure whether he should run on two feet or four.
Ryo sighed and let him run. He figured he wouldn't be much better given the circumstances. He calmly walked behind the tree to find Royal inspecting himself sorrowfully. He looked at me, unable to talk, but the look in his eyes spoke volume: I'm a monster
He knelt down to his level and wrapped him up in a hug, struggling to keep him still. "Roy, I know this is scary. I don't even know what's happening, but when I found you, you were in a Beowolf form just like this one, and you reverted back to human."
He pulled back and looked at Ryo with wide eyes, Unbeknownst to him, his tail started wagging in excitement, "I'm not sure how you reverted but for now just try to relax and think about your own form."
Royal rested his head on Ryo's shoulder trying to do as he was told while Ryo stroked his head repetitively, while secretly activating his semblance.
You see, Ryo's semblance sends out an "aura" of calmness than can make even the most determined enemy docile and ready to talk. It was a powerful move, but ate up Aura like a motherfucker.
Soon, Royals incessant whining stopped and his breathing slowed. Then he went still. Too still.
Ryo looked down in horror to see that the purple light of his eyes were gone. He was now holding a lifeless husk of a Beowolf, he hoped this would work.
With a wince, he once again dug his knife into Royals body, worried that it wouldn't dissolve fast enough.
To his relief, he opened up the creature's chest to reveal the silver head of Royal, back in human form. He quickly pulled him out of the corpse and held him to his chest.
Royal slowly opened his eyes. He held up a hand to see it back to human form. He sighed in quiet relief, "Ryo…"
"Yeah buddy?"
"What the fuck?"
"Normally I'd tell you not to swear, but I'll give you that one."
"Seriously! What the hell am I? Why did you never tell me how you found me?"
Ryo sighed and leaned back, letting his back-fall rest on the tree, "I don't know, and honestly I didn't know what to think of how I found you. You're only six, how do you think you would have reacted?"
"…Probably like I am now."
Ryo chuckled at that and looked down at his, let's face it now, son.
Royal noticed this, "What?"
Ryo shook his head, "Nothing, I'm just thinking."
"About how I'm a horrific monster and that my own corpse is still sitting over there?"
Ryo made a note to take care of that. "No, I'm thinking… that it's time we started getting you trained. "
Royal, despite all that happened, widened his eyes at this "Really?"
Ryo nodded, trying his best to hide the smirk on his face. "It would probably be in both our best interests."
At that time, all over the city of Vacuo, you could hear the almost howl like yell: "WOOOOO!"
9 years later
It was late in the evening in the city of vale. The streets were remarkably calm for a city. One of the few signs of life was the popular shop: From Dust till Dawn. Inside shopped a girl named Ruby Rose. She looked through her favorite weapons magazines as she bobbed her head to her favorite singer. She was completely oblivious to the CRIME happening behind her, until one of the goons walked up to her and tapped her on the shoulder, she turned toward him and he pointed to his ear, signaling for her to pull out her head phones.
She complied, curious, "Yes?"
"I said: put your hands in the air. Now!"
"Are you… robbing me?" She asked genuinely.
"Yes!" The grunt grunted.
"Ohhhhh…" Ruby drawled,
Next thing anyone knew, said grunt flying against the wall of the store, while another is kicked through the stores window.
The bowler hat wearing leader and his remaining goons stared in awe as the girl unfolded an enormous red scythe, before looking at them with silver eyes that only conveyed one thing: bring it.
"Okayyyy" The bowler hat guy said, before turning to his goons in annoyance, "Get her!"
And get her they did… not. Not even close really. She mopped the floor with them in an amazing display of acrobatics, speed, and strange recoil maneuvers with her scythe that just so happened to be a high-powered sniper rifle.
As the last guy fell to the boss' feet, he muttered angrily, "You were worth every scent, truly you were."
He strutted forward toward Ruby, before leveling his cane at her, "Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd like to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we part ways." As he spoke, a small sight popped up from the bottom of the cane, showing that it doubled as a projectile weapon.
However, as he pulled the trigger, something small and fast shot itself into the muzzle, blocking the exit and effectively blowing up the weapon as it tried to fire.
The man swore loudly before looking around for the offender, finding none, "Who THE HELL did that?"
A low chuckle echoed through the street, seemingly coming from every direction at once. "Are you the one called Roman Torchwick.
Said criminal was now slightly freaked out. While Ruby, instead of taking the opportunity to take out her opponent, was also looking for the source of the voice. That's why they have schools for these situations. Roman answered hesitantly, "Depends… who is asking?"
His answer came in the form of a kick to the back of the head, knocking him forward to the ground. He scrambled to turn and get a look at this new enemy, what he saw was not what…. Well he wasn't really sure what he expected, but this want it.
A kid, looking slightly older than Ruby stood over him. Unlike Ruby however, there was no glint of innocence in his, mesmerizingly purple, eye, no shred of mercy. He wore a tattered shirt and pants, underneath a leather purple trench coat, that unlike the rest of his clothes was in perfect condition. Somehow that wasn't his most striking feature. Flowing down his back almost past his waist was a brilliant mane of silver hair, shining almost as if it were made of the real metal. It was slightly wild and untamed similar to a certain blonde berserker, but it included bangs to frame the guys forehead. Ruby gazed at this in wonder, unknown even to her was the slight blush on her cheeks.
He grinned evilly down at the now slightly less hipster criminal in front of him, revealing elongated canines that made both Roman and Ruby wonder if he was Faunus of some kind. "I'm just gonna assume you're him. Now, I hear you know a little something about everything.
Roman shrugged nervously, "I get a round."
The boy leaned forward, "In that case, tell me everything you know about Ryo Belladonna,"
Roman's eyes widened, he had heard the name, in the sense one hears about bigfoot or the boogeyman. "Uh… anything in particular?"
"Yeah…. The name of the guy that killed him.
Chapter 1!
Wow, I haven't written a chapter this fast in ages. It took me like a one and a quarter days. Nothing like new inspiration to get the brain juices flowing.
For any who also read my other fanfic Perseus the Conqueror, my motivation for that story was so low that I had to do something. I've heard that having something to switch to can break a rut like that so here we are, plus I really wanted to write a RWBY fic. I'm definitely not stopping PTC.
For any who are interested, should this be a Harem or a monotonous deal? A RWBY harem is very tempting, but I do wonder what it would be like to do something else for a change. I'd love to hear your thoughts.