So, this is a thing.

PLEASE READ THIS

To my followers, this is the reason my other stories have been on the back burner. Dragonoid is still being worked on and inch at a time, and if the stars align I might get it done by the end of the year.

In the meantime, this is another project I've been working on.

I go into greater detail in the forum thread on RT's site, to which there is a link on my profile, but the long of the short of it is: I want to write novelized versions of the RWBY series. As in properly published, actual books you might find on the RT Store. I think it's a good idea (again, as detailed in the forum link on my profile), but right now I'm trying to gauge what other people think, specifically you the fans and maybe even the people at Rooster Teeth if I'm lucky.

So that is why I'm uploading this; a demo fic of my latest draft. Throughout July, I'm going to upload the prologue, the first five chapters of the eleven I've already drafted plus Ren's fight with the King Taijitu to try and show you what I'm trying to achieve, what my writing style is like, and so on. Any feedback you can give, be it in reviews, on the poll I've set up on my profile, and/or, perhaps most importantly, on the RT forum thread, would be really appreciated.

As I said, this is still a draft. I've been told there are parts where it's overly descriptive, for example, even for a story I'm expecting people who haven't even heard of RWBY to read just as much as people who have, and I am working on trying to tone that down. Right now I'm trying to gauge public interest, and maybe even the interest of the guys at RT.

As I said, for the full story on the hows and whys of this project, and what I've done thus far to try and get it off the ground, please visit this Forum thread, the link to which can be found on my profile.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy.

EDIT: For some reason, the link wasn't showing up on my profile. Sorry about that.

roosterteeth dot com / forum / books / topic / 2261025

PROLOGUE

THE BEAST AND THE GENTLEMAN THIEF

Goodbye.
That was how she had ended it. A soft word barely heard over the clatter of the train as it took her away from him.
The White Fang would not be pleased. On the one hand, the objective had been completed. On the other, one of their own had tried to walk away from them.
The key word being 'tried', when the higher ups got their way.
Adam Taurus sent the call; mission completed, one complication, need pickup. It would be another half hour before he heard the roar of a Bullhead's engines in the quiet skies over the Forever Fall forest and felt their power thrum through his chest and the bone of his horns. In that time, he had sifted through his memories, every mission he and his partner had gone through together, trying to find any inkling he might have overlooked that may have that would have made her betrayal so obvious if he had seen it.
"What about the crewmembers?"
The reluctance to take life was all he could think of. A soft heart wasn't becoming of a soldier loyal to the cause. Adam had warned her about it before. Perhaps he should have done more to make her understand.
"Well, this is a fine little mess you've made. Shouldn't it be a little…bigger?"
Adam closed his eyes behind his mask, trying to block out the sound of approaching footsteps and a walking stick poking through the wreckage of the spider droid that littered the flatbed train car. The last person he wanted to talk to right now was Roman Torchwick. He moved towards the parked Bullhead, only to be stopped by the end of the grey cane poking into his chest.
"Up bup bup! Explain first, then you get a ride home."
Adam scowled at the cane's owner, a look only partially seen behind his mask. Roman was a tall and lean, a sharp dresser in his long white coat and red rimmed bowler hat, his flame red hair worn long and swept across the right side of his face. He wasn't a soldier, he wasn't even really with the White Fang. Adam had watched him flee from any fight he'd found himself in at the earliest possible moment, although admittedly Melodic Cudgel, the cane currently aimed at his heart, had given Roman's enemies much to think about (and a few new holes in their bodies) before the inevitable retreat. That said, if given the chance Adam knew he could break this grinning Human in two. The higher ups of the White Fang had firmly asked him not too.
"We got what you wanted," he said tersely, pushing the cane away. "We were about to move on to the next car when we were attacked…again."
"So I see," Roman looked around the flatbed with no interest, prodding a nearby severed spidery mechanical leg with the edge of his shoe, then grimacing when it left an oil stain on the leather. "And where is the next car? Or the rest of the train for that matter?"
Adam looked away, up the tracks. "My partner didn't agree with the mission. She cut the line while I was distracted. I don't think she's coming back."
"Obviously." Torchwick gave an annoyed sigh. "Yet another mess that needs cleaning up by yours truly. But alas, it will have to wait-"
"It cannot wait," Adam growled. "One of our own has gone rogue. The White Fang will not allow it."
"Oh, don't worry your pretty horned head about it." The Human rolled his eyes. "I've said I'll handle it, so I'm going to handle it! But our 'arrangement' hangs on a few more important things than finding your lost kittens. So," something hard hook itself around Adam's neck, the handle of the Melodic Cudgel wrenching him down to come nose to nose with the now humorless face of Roman Torchwick, "It can wait. I will handle it, and you will not tell me how to run my business again. Am I understood?"
Adam stared him down, not intimidated. It took all of his willpower to just nod his head, and not snap Torchwick's neck like a twig.

"There's a good boy." The grin returned, and came with a pat on the head, the offending hand quickly moving away before Adam could slice it off with his sword Wilt's blade. "Now come along, you can help the other mongrels load up the cargo. There's only so much time before Mr. Schnee will start looking for his train…or the Grimm start thinking about inviting us to lunch."
Adam watched him go, reluctantly following on behind. That was what angered him the most about Roman Torchwick. Because no matter how 'helpful' the White Fang thought he might be to the cause, it was plain to see that this Human was no friend to the Faunus.