This is my first fanfic, but not the first thing I've ever written. Let me know what you guys think.
Chapter One
Time.
Time is a funny thing. We, as people, believe ourselves to be masters of it. But, what kind of master is inevitably killed by their subordinate? The human kind. Time cannot be controlled. It cannot be tamed. It cannot be forced into submission. Not by anyone.
Well, almost anyone.
Ozpin had gathered all the first year students into the main hall. The large room abuzz with comotion. The headmaster stood alone atop the podium at the end of the room. Ms. Goodwitch too busy with a third year team that decided it would be a good idea to graffiti a poorly drawn Beowolf onto the side of the school.
With a microphone in front of him and his signature cup of coffee and cane in hand, Ozpin cleared his throat loudly so as to catch the attention of the rowdy teenagers. When everyone had quieted down, he began. "Students, the teachers at this school have so much to offer you in the way of knowledge. But, unfortunately for most, it has been… rather long since many of them have been out on the field. So, that is why I would like to announce the Senior Shadow Program." The room filled with the low murmurs of confusion. It quickly died down when the headmaster resumed speaking. "You, and your team, will be paired with a team that has had sufficient experience in fighting the creatures of Grimm. You will be reassigned to new, larger rooms, where you will live with these veteran teams for the remainder of the school year. You will be assigned these teams… today." The murmurs resumed, this time louder than before. But, they quieted down all the same as a large screen behind Ozpin lit up.
Team after team was paired up with their more seasoned counterparts. Sixteen had been called out before the headmaster mentioned, "Team RWBY and Team CMSN (Crimson)." Pictures of the four members of the all-female team lit up on the screen one by one. Below them were the pictures of Team CMSN. A young man with shaggy brown hair. A young woman with bright purple hair hanging straight down. Another woman with bright red hair pulled up into a ponytail. And a younger-ish man with ocean blue hair, cropped close to his head, but grown out a bit.
Team RWBY didn't know what to expect from this new team. But, whatever ideas they had about what would come next were wrong.
Dead wrong.
Their new dorm was brimming with anticipation. Or rather, Ruby Rose was brimming with anticipation. As her energy is enough for all four members of Team RWBY. But, anticipation was not the only emotion felt at that time. Among the others was frustration.
Weiss was pacing in between the newly made bunk beds that the four had jerry-rigged in the last thirty minutes. The Schnee obsessed with punctuality, and Team CMSN only two minutes away from being late. But, her fear was never founded as a knock on the door marked the arrival of their new roommates.
"Finally! We've been waiting for twelv-" Weiss had thrown open the door, her train of thought stopping dead in its tracks as they were met with not four huntsmen, but only one.
The one hunstmen that did show up was the leader of Team CMSN. A tall teen that towered over Weiss at six-foot-one, eighteen years of age. Strapped on his belt was a curved katana stowed safely in its scabbard. He wore business casual attire, khaki pants, sneakers, a white t-shirt, and a crisp, black blazer. Certainly not something that one should wear in combat. And a duffle bag full of, most likely, his clothes and other essentials slung over his shoulder. "Hey," he said. "You must be Team RWBY. Nice to meet you." Clearly, he hadn't heard Weiss' through the door.
Ignoring the heiress and breezing past her, the lone hunter stepped into the room. The blonde of the team leapt off of the top bunk, landing with a hollow thunk.
Ugh! He just completely ignored me. And, where is the rest of his team? They're late.
The Schnee's thoughts interrupted by her team leader's high pitched squeals of excitement. "EEEEEEE! NEW ROOMMATES!"
The new arrival was, obviously, taken aback by the red brunette's abundance of energy. "Right then… Let's see… bubbly personality, youngest here, red hood," He looked up and down at Ruby. "You must be Ms. Rose."
The formality of him addressing her caught her off guard. "Uhhhh, yeah. That's me."
The brunette's older sister walked up to the new boy, holding her hand out to shake his. "Name's Yang Xiao-Long. The quiet one up on the bunk is Blake." She pointed up at the silent one sitting up on her bed. As the boy shook Yang's hand, his gaze wandered up to the faunus, her ears undone by the bow that normally sits upon her head. Clearly, the girl hasn't noticed him enter the room at all. Too engrossed in her book. "What's your name?"
"Crimson. Crimson Harrison. Nice to meet you, Ms. Xiao-Long."
'Ms. Rose?' 'Ms. Xiao-Long?' Hmph, seems like he has some sense of formality. Best to introduce myself.
It was at this point that the faunus had become aware that there was another person in their dorm. And that her ears were out in the open. Blake jumped up in surprise, hitting her head on the ceiling, before clumsily falling to the floor. "Ow," they heard her murmur.
As she began to pick herself back up, a hand shot out, offering to help her up. It was Crimson's. "You okay? That looked like it hurt," he asked, a look of concern creeping on his face.
Blake had gingerly accepted his hand, but upon clasping her fingers around his, Crimson quickly, and rather unceremoniously, hoisted the faunus to her feet.
A gentleman, as well. Clearly not caring of the fact that Blake is a faunus. Well, that's good.
"Y-yeah. I'm… I'm good. Wait-" her hands shot up in a vain attempt to find her bow. To no avail. "Oh crap!"
Crimson was clearly out of the loop. "What's wrong? Are you bleeding?"
He actually doesn't care?
Blake's panic was slowly suppressed by the realization that their new roommate didn't care. "You can see my ears, yeah?"
"... yes? I mean, I'd have to be blind not to. Seriously though, are you okay?" She just nodded. "Okay, that's good to hear. Giving someone a concussion is not the best first impression I've given." Both Yang and Ruby giggled at this.
The heiress inserted herself in the conversation that had begun to take place between the rest of the team and this Crimson. "And I'm Wei-"
Crimson's head whipped around to face her. "I know who you are, Schnee."
Everyone was taken aback by his sudden shift in attitude. Especially Weiss. "Excuse me?!" She began to shout, anger overcoming her. This affront cannot go without reprimand. Why the heiress thought she had seniority over the more seasoned huntsman was beyond anyone. "What have I ever done to you to deserve that kind of response?!" Her face contorting with offense and ire.
Crimson was unaffected by her shouting. But instead of returning with more anger, he instead began to laugh. A boisterous, light laugh that filled the room with energy. "Jeez, your face! OH IT'S PRICELESS! Oh, you're too easy! I… I'm sorry… uh, Weiss. Can I call you Weiss? Or do you prefer 'Ms. Schnee?'"
Normally, being made a fool of in front of people would cause the heiress to take drastic measures. But, considering how quickly he apologized, and the fact that the only audience to her ridicule was her team, Weiss decided to take the high road. "Weiss is fine."
"Well, now that we're all introduced, and we've got the rest of the day to ourselves, we should take the time to get to know each other, yeah?" Crimson said, with a small smile on his face. He walked over to the second quad of beds on the other end of the room and tossed his bag onto a vacant one.
Ruby was quick to agree to this. Weiss was not. "What about the rest of your team?"
The small smile fell away. Clearly, something was wrong. "They… they're not coming. It's just me."
What? What is he talking about?
"What do you mean?"
"What do you think I mean? They're not coming," Crimson snapped.
"I mean why aren't they coming. Where are they?"
He didn't say anything, he just walked over to the window on the other side of the room, his footsteps quiet. Opening it up, he revealed the amazing view that they had over the Emerald Forest. They could even see the launch pads that Ozpin had used to send them flying into the Grimm infested woods on their first day. But, this huntsman didn't care about that. His eyes searching. He knew where they were, but he didn't quite know where they were in relation to where HE was. Until… THERE!
"HEY! Answer me, you lumbering brute!" The shouting heiress following close behind him.
The hunstman spoke, his voice smooth, but harsh. "Hey, princess! You want to know where my team is?" Weiss turned back to still unknown huntsman. "Well, they're about ninety feet that way," he pointed out the window. "And thirty six down." His finger dropped at an angle, resting on a trio of graves that sat at the edge of the Emerald Forest.
The other members of Team RWBY managed to all catch a glimpse of what Crimson was pointing at, quickly putting two and two together.
And all four of them said at once, "Oh."
