Chapter 1: Introduction
A/N: Happy New Year Everyone! SageZan here and welcome one and all to my account, appreciate it. First things first, just wanted to say hello fanfic readers of all ages to my very first story. Now this is gonna be a rough start mind you, since this is my first attempt at writing a story here on the site. But I hope to progress my skills through writing this story and others that I will hopefully post soon.
This is something I thought of a while back during my binge marathon of RWBY for the first time of Volume 2 and thought it would be pretty cool to make. And while this was thought of more a year ago, I still had the idea simmering in my brain, since it refused to leave, waiting for me to fucking write it, as it mocks me from within, calling me a lazy piece of shit with no motivation or standards whatsoever... to which I completely agree with. So, here we are.
I don't know how long I'll be able to keep this story going because of the ever-changing mess that is my mind, but hopefully that will get sorted out along the way. Also, I may or may not change the name of this story just to throw it out there, so don't freak out if you can't find it. Read the summary like someone with common sense would do in that sort of situation, so you don't come across as someone who doesn't know shit about the unspoken rules about, well anything worthwhile to just know. Just saying.
But anyway, with that out the way, let's get started with Arcane Forsaker. Enjoy.
When looking at the overhead of Forever Fall during midday, you can see just how truly beautiful it is, especially in a world such as Remnant. With the color of crimson stretching miles from every direction, giving it the appearance of a vast ocean, as the leaves seem to dance as the chilling wind passes by, the serene quiet able to calm anyone when their emotions are stirred. It's pretty much a perfect place for people who enjoy the simplicity, even with the Grimm being there, as they are attracted by the sweet scent the red sap in the trees produce, stalking along the ground, looking for their next victim to assail, it's still preferable than most places near the kingdom of Vale. People have been able to avoid the Grimm by mapping out paths that they would go through so it's a rarity that people will come into contact with the creatures.
Even still, with the dangers the forest possesses, it's a place where you can go and relax and get away from all the distractions in anyone's life, where you would rarely see or hear any acrimony. It's a risk many people would take. So, it will come to anyone's surprise that there would be sounds of a skirmish going on within the tranquil woodland. Growls and snarling can be heard, letting anyone who has a brain know that whatever's over in that general direction is just a bad time, waiting for any unfortunate soul dumb enough to see what the commotion is... (don't know why you would or should anyway, but that's just me).
In a clearing near the tree line, a young man is seen engaging a small pack of Beowolves, five in total, their claws slashing at him in rapid succession, yet always coming up short of actually touching his person.
The young man himself was effortlessly evading each strike, steel blue eyes roaming from one beast to another, all the while looking past them, keeping an eye out towards a cluster of trees nearby. Seeing that the man would sometimes avert his eyes onto another matter entirely, one of the Beowolves jumped in the air and attempted to strike him from above, only for the man to sidestep to the right towards another one, the creature lunging, having aimed its teeth for the back of his throat. The man grabs the one that's still airborne by the arm and twists his body towards the one attacking his back, using the momentum of its descent to slam them both into the ground.
One of the others sprinted in, going for his legs with a low slash of its claw, only for the man to vault over it, making his way towards the two who haven't attacked yet. Seeing him coming their way, both creatures of Grimm rush forward, opting to meet halfway. When they were about seven feet away from each other, the beasts leaped towards him, teeth gnashing and claws flashing, both going for a tackle. The young man predicted this, however, and responded by sliding beneath the Grimm, appearing on the other side as he quickly turns around, ready to engage, but not before grabbing hold of the weapon he had borrowed for any encounter within the forest from his lower back on his right side.
The weapon was a Bolo Machete, a simple design of a 16-inch blade, 22 inches overall with the hilt. While a bit old with slight rust, it's still enough for these current enemies. Rushing forward and using the butt of the weapon, he bashed the Beowolf closest to him in the jaw, causing it to stagger and fall. Then, switching his grip on the handle so that it was reversed, he closed in low on the other one from its side and did an upward slash starting from the front of its neck towards the back, cleaving its head clean off.
The previous three Beowolves, after recovering their bearings, decided to charge the machete-wielding fighter, attacking from three different directions. The man turned towards the closest one and, ducking from the lunge and twisting his body at an angle, he swings his arm, switching his grip once again, and bisected the Beowolf from its abdomen. He then quickly turned and launched himself at the two still going towards him, kicking off the ground, spinning in midair, blade flashing, passing by them swiftly decapitating them, landing in front of the last creature still alive.
After finally having cleared its head from the previous blow to the jaw, the last Beowolf noticed it's fallen brethren, scattered around and turning into the black, eerie mist that many are common with, turning to eye the man, now cautious of its opponent. It circles him, all the while the man is also cautious of the Beowolf, seeing it has stopped randomly attacking, learning from the others' mistakes. He stands his ground, tensing his body slightly, not making a single move that may alert the Grimm into making a move.
The lone Grimm continues to circle the man for a few more seconds, looking for any signs so that it can go in for the kill when it hears a peculiar sound, the sound of metal banging against something. It turns its head towards the cluster of trees the man was eyeing earlier. Noticing the Beowolf looking at the cluster, the man wasted no time in closing the distance between them. The Beowolf had no time to realize the mistake it has made, turning around to face the man again before it was too late, only for the machete to thrust through its head, killing it instantly.
The man pulls out the weapon and returns it to the sheath on his back with the last of the current threat dealt with. He takes one look around the clearing and into the trees around him to make sure no other Grimm will make itself known. Once his sees that it's all clear for now, he then makes his way towards the tree cluster he's been focused on since the start of the fight. From within the cluster, a group of people emerged, making their way towards the man to meet halfway.
Two kids within the group, a boy and a girl both around the age of 11, ran up ahead towards him, buckets filled with red sap in their hands, both grinning from ear to ear.
"That was so awesome, Embrah!" the boy exclaimed, youthful eyes filled with admiration, shaking in place with excitement, "The way you were moving was so fast and cool! How did you do that? Are you a ninja? I want to be a ninja! Can you do sneaky ninja stuff and hide in plain sight? Do you follow people for secret intel? Are you able to-"
"Whoa Dex, calm yourself." The man, now known to be called Embrah, said looking down at the boy with a hand placed on his shoulder, smiling, "To answer your first question, I had a lot of practice going fast and looking cool. As for the second one, no I'm not a ninja. That would be cool though."
While Dex was contemplating the whole fight with admiration on his face, the girl walked up to the young man, setting down the bucket before going for a hug.
"Thank you for helping us with this again." She says, smiling up at him, her face beaming with happiness.
Embrah pats her on the head, smiling and a little surprised from the sudden contact.
"Well, I'm just doing my job, Naomi. It's the least I can do for you for letting me stay in your village." He felt her releasing her hold around him as he went to pick up her bucket. After he does this, he then looks at both of them with an unreadable expression.
"By the way, this is me just being curious, while I was having a mental showdown with my beastly opponent trying to see who would take down the other, I distinctively heard an odd sound. The sound of metal, mind you. Why is it odd? Well, if I remember correctly, there was supposed to be complete silence while I engage the Grimm. Mm, now I just want to know, who was the one to make that little noise that got the attention of my battle buddy, hmm?"
Both kids look at each other, their eyes widening in recognition, a sudden nervousness hung over their heads like a cloud. Dex looking like he might start to think of an excuse as to why that was the case when Naomi just looked up to Embrah with an embarrassed face.
"W-well you see, we wanted to see how you were doing against the monsters and I guess we kinda got a little to… uh…"
"A little curious for your own good I'm guessing?" Embrah finished her sentence with an arched eyebrow.
Naomi blushed and looked away sheepishly, nodding in confirmation.
Embrah sighs and starts to smile as he starts to say something to the both of them, only for Dex to suddenly go up to Embrah with a nervous expression, but then looks up to him before doing a deep breath.
"I'm sorry. We just wanted to see you in action. And we just got carried away and we shoulda just stayed still and waited for you to be done so we could move on to our next stop and so we could get all of this done faster to head back to the village in one piece so everyone wouldn't have to be all worried about any more attacks and to try and map out the forest better for the future. But it was stupid of us to do this and we won't do it again, I promise, so don't blame-"
Before Dex could say any more, Embrah places his hand over his mouth, stopping the rapid-fire coming in, or out in this case. Both kids look at him as he gives a soft expression.
"Dex, ease up on the apology." He says with a smile, "It's fine. Just be careful next time you want to see someone in action, even if it seems they have everything under control. You never know what could happen."
Dex and Naomi look at each other before looking back at Embrah with smiles and determined looks on their faces.
"We promise." They both say.
Embrah rubs both their head with his hands.
"Glad to know that." He looks towards the arriving group, "Well, now it's time to move on I'm guessing."
They both nod in agreement.
The rest of the group met with the three, some holding buckets of the sap, while most of the sap was being pulled in two wagons by some horses. The eldest of the group walks up to Embrah, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Embrah, I can't thank you enough for helping us retrieve the sap. It's been quite difficult to obtain our usual supply of the stuff, with the sudden rise of more Grimm appearing in the area. But, it's to be expected as the summer season closes in, making the sap easily obtainable and gives off sweeter aroma."
Embrah looks at the man, smirking. "You know Bal, you could've asked me for help earlier. I would have been happy to do so. And I doubt that a few Grimm would've been able to make you stop the sap supply run anyway."
True to what Embrah was saying, the man, Balder Green, was by no means just a simple villager. At 6'4'', he has quite a noticeable build, obvious to anyone to see him that he trains his body often. Even with old age catching up to him, he still looks like he can take anything that's thrown at him. Black hair with grey on the sides can tell you that he is well within the age group of 40 and above. His body covered with scars from many years of fighting the Grimm that come near his village, the most noticeable ones on his face, one going from his left temple towards his chin, and the other going from his nose going to his right ears, nearly losing it.
Balder laughs at this, and with weary eyes of someone who has lived through many hardships and overcame many obstacles, stares down at the 5'10'' tall young man.
"You give me too much credit. Nowadays, I'm only good for helping guide my people through safe passageways and helping keep the village together."
"Well, that's still an arduous task many wouldn't take. It is crucial for your village to receive the sap."
Balder smiles and pats Embrah on the shoulder, then turns to motion the rest of the group to follow him back to the village.
"Oh, we're done already?" Embrah asks.
"Trust me, we have more than enough for our needs. And since you helped with the Grimm, we were able to draw safer paths to get to some good spots."
And with that, they all started their trek back towards the village, both Dex and Naomi staying near Embrah, either to ask more questions about his skills or to just to be around for his company.
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Somnium Village, residing in a small, rural area a few miles southwest of Forever Fall, near the kingdom of Vale. A place for people who prefer the simple atmosphere and quiet, rather the bustling of a city lifestyle. The people there are strong spirituality and physically, from all the things they had to go through to get to where they are now, from the few Grimm attacks to sudden bandit raids; low resources from their surroundings to bitter and dried up soil that refused to grow anything that was planted; and little to no help from neighboring villages in the beginning.
Yet, they still strived to build up from the little they had into a place that is thriving with lush vegetation within and throughout the perimeter of the village and businesses with other villages and towns, and even some business transactions with the kingdom of Vale. Which is where the sap comes into play.
Not many people know about this, but the red sap that comes from Forever Fall is very versatile, used in many different ways one couldn't even begin to imagine. One is obviously to make sweet syrup, while another is to make antibiotic gel for medical situations, as is making a bacterial sealant, helping prevent bleeding and stopping unwanted germs from entering open wounds.
The people of Somnium produce as well as export these products to places in Vale and to neighboring villages. They make quite a profit from this, allowing for better imports, helping ease their living as they do try to keep up with modern times and technology, but try not to rely on it too much.
The group had returned with the abundance of sap and the ones responsible for managing and manufacturing came up to collect them from the group.
Embrah, after some time to refresh himself and spending some extra time with the kids, made his way towards the village's central building where the chief resides, along with Balder to report on the supply run for the sap.
Upon entering the large structure, they were greeted by some of the people who worked there as secretaries. After politely returning the greetings, both men made their way up the stairs to the third floor, to where the chief awaits them in his office.
Both of them approach the double wooden doors, as Balder knocks on them.
After hearing the go-ahead, they entered the room. On the left to them was painting of the founding of the village and its founders from many years ago. Next to it was a table covered in papers and files, clustered about, noting that they were recently looked through. To their right was a leather couch for visitors who come for an audience with the man in charge, for any extras. In the center was a large desk filled with paperwork and utilities, along with what looked like leftovers nudged to one of the ends of the desk. Behind the desk was a window, giving anyone who looked through the view of the village. Within the armchair from behind the desk was the village chief.
The man could've looked like he has seen better days, yet at the same time couldn't have looked more in place as a man in charge of an entire settlement. His salt and pepper hair cut short, in a Caesar Cut style. His face revealing some wrinkles forming around his mouth and with crow's feet on his eyes. He is garbed in a black and green flannel shirt, tucked into khaki cargo pants. Brown, worn-out boots protect his feet. A watch on his left wrist, accompanied by a silver ring on his hand. Glasses resting on his forehead as he looks through some documents.
He looks up to see the two men, a smile appearing on his face as he sets down the papers to give them his attention.
"Ah, you've come back so soon. I don't even think it's been more than halfway from your usual time."
"Well, it's all thanks to this guy here." Balder laughs, patting Embrah on his back, "Couldn't have gotten a better haul then we did today without him watching our backs."
Embrah nods his head towards the chief. "It was nothing. I was happy to help you with your sap run."
"Ha, nothing!?" Balder exclaims, "We got 55% more sap than what we usually get thanks to you. And with these new pathways, we could possibly get even more the next time."
Balder laughs. "Hahaha, well isn't that something. We can't thank you enough on this matter, Embrah. If there's anything you want in return…"
Embrah just shakes his head. "As tempting as this sounds, I'll have to refuse on that, Luke."
The chief, known as Luke Durum, snaps his fingers, as he remembered something. "That's right. You're leaving today, yeah?"
"Yes, sir. I just wanted to do this last thing before I left."
Balder looks at him. "It'll be a shame to see you leave, even if you've only been here a few weeks."
"Yeah well, I just like to travel. Besides I can't keep still in one place too long. Need to stretch my legs."
"Haha, I understand" Luke then gets up and walks over to him, patting his shoulder, "At least let us help make your travels a little easier, my boy."
Embrah smiles. "I would appreciate that, thank you."
Luke laughs. "Well, let's get you ready for your departure."
All three goes to leave the room to help Embrah prepare to leave the village.
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There were many people at the gate with Embrah, who was ready to go, with a duffel bags on the floor, nearly filled with some of the stuff he was given to him, along with his personal things, all of them there to say their goodbyes, also as he waits for Balder to return from his home with something of his.
Embrah was more than ready, with a white shirt with a black flame design covering the bottom, leading up to his chest. Black and gray fingerless gauntlets reaching up to his elbows. A black and blue overcoat wrapped around him, reaching down to the back of his knees. Black cargo pants with three white horizontal stripes around the legs with matching leather boots.
While receiving some goodbyes from some people he has come to know during his time in the village, Embrah noticed two figures running towards him quickly. He sees that it's Dex and Naomi, tears in their eyes as they ran into him, almost knocking all three of them to the ground.
"Don't leave yet, Embrah!" Dex cries, a fist balling up his shirt, "You still didn't tell me how you could move so fast and how you got those skills."
Naomi just pushes her face into his shirt, holding on trying to keep him from going.
Embrah looks at them and then goes down one knee, looking at them at eye level.
"Guys, I'm sorry, but it's something that you both knew would happen soon."
Dex sniffs. "We know, but it still isn't something we want."
Naomi looks at Embrah, tears streaming down her face, nodding in agreement.
Embrah sighs and smiles at them. "Look, it's not like I'll be gone forever. I'll come back and visit you someday on the lines of my travels."
"You promise?" Naomi asks.
Embrah puts his right hand over his heart. He uses his left to grasp both their own hands, bringing them to his right, resting them upon it.
"I swear, as my heart still beats now, that I will come back here to see you guys again. And this is a pretty serious promise, mind you. And I don't break my promises."
Dex and Naomi both take their hands back and starts to wipe their eyes free of tears, looking back at him, smiles on both faces.
With a smirk, Embrah rubs both their heads and stands back up.
Balder decides to just arrive at that exact moment with Embrah's last remaining possession.
"All right, here you go. I still don't know why you didn't use this when we were out there instead of that old machete."
Embrah grabs hold of what was in Balder's hands, his sword. With the length of 28 inches and black scabbard. A black and gold crisscross pattern on the hilt with a short chain attached on the end. All in all, while in the scabbard, a regular katana.
Embrah places the weapon within the duffel bag as the last item. "It's just something I don't really use that much. I'll use it when I need to."
Balder ponders over this but quickly shakes those thoughts away. It wasn't something that he needed to think about.
Holding out his hand, Balder then makes his goodbye to the young man.
"Have a safe journey to wherever you go, my friend."
Embrah grabs his hand for a firm shake.
"Thank you, Bal. I hope to see you all soon in the future." He turns over towards the kids, "And I hope to see you guys soon too."
Dex and Naomi both go and give him one last hug before letting him go. With one last wave to the village, Embrah once again sets off to wherever he ends up, wondering how long the next stay would last at his next possible destination.
Little did he know that his next encounter with someone would lead to the events that will question as to where he should be, who should he become, and whether or not he should stop running from his fear that is himself.
Alright then, that was the chapter, also the first chapter of the New Year, so that's something good. So, things will pick up next chapter with Embrah meeting with someone in canon…. Just don't know who yet…
But right now, enjoy the New Year and hoping shit doesn't go down in 2017.
So, to all you guys out there, I'll see you later. Peace out.
