Edit: New and Improved! Enjoy!
~Entryshroud
'What the heck?' I thought as a blinding light overtook my eyes, streaming between spots of shade and forcing a squint onto my eyelids.
"Awake are we?" A voice called out, It sounded masculine; young but still developing. It sounded familiar.
"Just where exactly am I?" I asked the voice, hoarse and my throat felt dry. My vision getting clearer as I see his figure. His body seemed to be covered in a black overcoat and gray shirt, the shirt a little tattered and his face was very handsome. Hazel eyes, a nice tan and his coffee brown hair swept to the left. He wore gray pants and he wore some black slip on canvas shoes. A small smirk adorned his complexion.
'The last thing I remember was dying. Is this heaven? My friends… They got caught also. Is this person my friend?'
"We seem to be in a forest. A man told me that we were transported to the world of RWBY, you remember that much right Crimson?" The voice confirmed, a hint of uncertainty in his tone.
'RWBY… RWBY… isn't that some webshow? I remember my friend showing me it and we became quick fans. He called me Crimson. I think that's my name. Crimson Wake, yeah that's it. Rolls off the tongue.
"Yes I remember. Since you know my name, can you tell me yours?" I asked.
"Forgot already? We were friends for a year already and you straight up forgot? I'm hurt!" The voice dripped sarcasm.
"The name is Jet, Jet Void." He answered.
'I remember now! Jet, Azure and I were walking across the street, but all of a sudden a car swerved towards us. I only remember a sense of fear wash over my body before everything fell silent. I guess that man Jet was talking about gave us a second chance somehow.'
I stood up and surveyed my surroundings. We seemed to be in a clearing, squishy dirt bouncing under the weight of our shoes. The grass was fresh and smelt pure like usual. The trees surrounding the clearing were thick and obstructed my view, their canopy of leaves blocking bits of sunlight. The foliage seemed to be dense beyond this clearing. Looking higher the hills towered above, just as green as the trees around the clearing.
"Here, go check yourself for bruises and crap," Jet grumbled as he tossed me a hand mirror out of nowhere. I gave him a puzzled expression.
"It was in my overcoat." He responded, glancing away as a red shade flushed his cheeks. My mouth made an O.
I surveyed myself. My skin was the same a dark cream. My eyes had changed color from dark brown to a burnt yellow. I still had my large hipster glasses on and my hair shaved at the sides, styled up and a little to the right, colored blood red. I had a yellow casual dress shirt on and a red blazer, faded blue jeans and white Chuck Taylors. I had no cuts or bruises I could see.
"I'm fine in terms of cuts and the like." I replied, tossing him back the mirror. He crammed it back into his overcoat slowly after.
"That's good. We better get going. We gotta get outta here since we got no weapons." He explained, already taking off from his spot as I followed behind him.
"Say, Jet, what kind of weapon are you thinking?" I consulted him, as I had no clue as to what I should choose. After all, there was such a vast variety of choices.
"I'm thinking of a katana and some shurikens."
"Ok Mr. Ninja. Have fun with that." A chuckle escaped my lips.
"Oh really? Ok hotshot, what's your weapon idea?" Jet's mouth curled into a defiant frown.
"A 3 bladed katar and shotgun combination." A smug grin tugged at my cheeks.
"That… Sounds cool!" He admitted almost reluctantly.
"I know."
Suddenly a loud scream rang out, girlish, but I knew who it was already.
"Jaune." Jet and I simultaneously said aloud as we dashed toward the source of the noise, rushing past the trees and swerving other obstacles. The greens blurred as we went faster and faster towards the scream, before abruptly ramming into something and that thing was a human. I'm sure I sent him or her flying back a good amount before landing with an oomph.
"Don't ea- Crimson? Is that you?" The voice said, panicked, as I looked straight at my friends face. Azure was already up and offering his hand to me. He wore a dull cyan shirt which fit snugly, a slim chest piece over said shirt. He also had black gloves on with black track pants. His face had a scar running along the cheekbone and was tan. He kept his vibrant electric blue hair like CJ's but was buzzed at the sides, his eyes were still the same dark brown.
"We gotta go Azure, we should help Jaune out." I explained briefly as I dashed past him but quickly ran out of breath. I'm not the fastest and I don't possess the most endurance, but hell, can I make a punch or kick hurt.
"Take it easy, we can make it on time." Azure assured, hand clutching my shoulder before he walked past me. I attempted to catch up with him but I was too tired from my earlier sprint.
"Hurry up Crimson!" Jet shouted towards me. He stopped as his eyes met Azure's figure. "Since when did you get here?" Jet questioned confusedly.
"When Crimson rammed into me." Azure answered bluntly, crossing his arms in an expression of disapproval.
"Did it hurt?" Jet threw in.
"No, it felt like a massage to me. YES IT HURT!" Azure retorted sarcastically.
"Alright, alright. Calm down now." Jet chuckled, brushing off his behaviour. After all, he was so used to it from everyday life.
I pushed myself off the ground with newfound energy. Jet and Azure seized conversation to head back on route to Jaune. We walked in unison towards the hopeless plea.
"Sorry guys, you know how I am." I stuttered, confidence cracking into pieces and falling to the forest floor.
"It's fine Crim." Azure assured me once more, patting me on the back.
"I was getting tired too" Jet confessed, a reassuring smile spreading onto his face.
I observed my scenery once more. The same trees and bushes seemed to go by as we walked through the Emerald forest. It was as if this same forest could go on forever, their same lush green falling into view over and over again.
'Hopefully we don't have any run-ins with Grimm.' I thought to myself as my friends and I were closing in on where Jaune was. All we could do was follow what limited evidence we had towards his position.
"Jaune!" A feminine voice shouted up a tree, immediately evoking a flight response in the three of us. We tucked ourselves away in a mess of dark green leaves, shielded by the thick brush. I could see them conversing from where I was. The girl was Pyrrha Nikos. She had red hair tied in a ponytail which cascaded down her shoulders to meet her lower back. A bronze chestpiece adorned her torso, just above her breasts, and stopping below the hips. A red sash around a skirt she also donned. On her arms were covered in some sort of glove, stopping at the bicep, her left hand ornamented with a forearm gauntlet. Her boots reached her knees, shield and javelin held on her back. She climbed up the tree and got Jaune down, smiling at him sweetly. But it wasn't too long after that she entered a battle stance, cat-like eyes sweeping the premises and landing on our makeshift hiding spot.
"Stand up whoever you are!" Pyrrha boomed as my blood ran cold. I slowly rose from my perch. I looked over to my friends, signalling for them to follow in similar action.
"Who are you and what is your business here?" Pyrrha asked threateningly. I dug my legs into the soft bed of vegetation, legs locking and freezing my body on the spot.
"Pyrrha, they're obviously here as students of beacon. They're taking the test right now." Jaune interpreted from our appearances and quizzical expressions.
"Yes, We're taking the test as a group of three." I explained, being careful not to make another move.
"Ozpin made an exception for us." Jet covered, recalling a sigh from Azure and me.
"That's nice, say why don't you guys come with us to the mountain?" Jaune offered kindly.
"Sure! The more the merrier right?" I joked as Jet, Azure and I calmly proceeded towards them and up the path, two new companions at our side.
"Jaune are you sure we can trust them?" Pyrrha muttered under her breath, quietly enough that neither Jet, Azure nor I even batted an eyelash to the voice of suspicion, well at least I pretended to.
"We'll be fine. They seem pretty chill and they could protect us from Grimm." Jaune explained as the duo rushed up to meet us.
'Sorry Jaune, but you guys will need to protect us' I thought with a sigh.
"So, why did you guys want to become hunters?" Pyrrha asked, eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"I know this is cheesy but I want to be able to protect my friends and family as I kickbutt alongside them." I answered with a smirk on my face.
"I just want to have fun alongside my friends." Azure added.
"I think fighting is fun," Jet stated plainly.
"I guess those were nice answers. I personally want to be the hero of my own story," Jaune said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.
"To put it simply, to hone my abilities as a huntress." Pyrrha chipped in, giving a determined grin.
We walked along what we assumed was the beaten path towards the ruins, making jokes and learning more about one another. It was a change of scenery, in more ways than one.
*WHAP*
I grunted as I fell over, an unfamiliar feeling flooding my blood. I looked around to see all the guys laying down with me, cuts forming gaping holes on our skin. Pyrrha snickered, that maniacal woman. She offered me a hand and I gratefully accepted. The rest of the guys stood and brushed themselves off, Jet using that oh-so-handy mirror of his. Pyrrha gave us a weird look, somewhere between dumbfounded and questioning.
"Why don't you guys activate your auras?" Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. I shrugged. I guess we didn't really know how, huh?
"What's that?" Jaune asked dumbly, mouth hanging open.
"It's the manifestation of one's soul Jaune, surely you guys know how to use it? Don't you?" Pyrrha asked once more, I gave her a sad shake of the head. We had no clue how to use it. Pyrrha sighed as she put her hand on my face, chanting something. A sense of power rushed through my veins, creating a tingling warmth in my pores. My wound healed, skin tightening over it as if it was some kind of silly putty. I attempted to figure out how to use it, attempted to control it. I punched a tree next to me, of course it didn't move an inch as I cradled my hand.
'I gotta try again!' I told myself, determined to produce results. I couldn't just throw away a chance to get better like this.
I punched the tree again, thinking of shrouding my hand in such aura. I looked above as the tree went sky high. I smirked to myself but quickly wiped it off my face as the log fell down towards me. I rolled out the way and just barely dodged it, panting in terror.
"Careful Crimson, Don't kill yourself before you join beacon." Pyrrha laughed, draping her mouth with the spread of her slender fingers.
"Yeah, yeah. Wipe that stupid smirk off your face." I retorted, smile pinching at the corners of my mouth.
"All right, I unlocked all of your auras, seems like you all have a lot! Especially you!" She complimented, pointing at me.
"Me?" I put on a confused face, invoking yet another giggle.
"Of course you."
"Good for you Crimson!" Azure said, slapping my lower back and causing it to buckle. I groaned and gave him a disapproving look, to which he grinned toothily.
Jet was about to punch my arm, perhaps teasingly, but something clicked. I saw it in slow motion and where it would hit. I swerved out of the way.
"Woah! Nice reflexes man!" Jet admired, retracting his fist.
"Do it again." I demanded, clenching my jaw.
"Why?"
"Just do it, I have a theory." I answered. He raised his fist in response, still looking unsure.
"Alright, here we go!" Jet announced, throwing a solid right hook. Well, it was supposed to be a solid right hook. I saw it again, the line clearer this time. It was more of a ghost of the fist, and this time was faster than the last. I could see it, leaving a trail of mist-like motion, coming towards me at the perfect angle to hit me square in the jaw. I had to react quickly or else this would seriously be bad. I jerked out of the way, just barely missing the power packed in his hit.
I looked at the group, shocked looks on their faces. I gave a cocky smile.
"H-How?" Azure stepped forward, throwing his arms out.
"It was weird, I saw his fist in slow motion, then I saw where he was going to hit and I juked it. I guess this is my semblance?" I answered flatly, shrugging it off as if it was nothing special.
"Way cool man! I wish I had a weapon to go with my semblance, something hip like a bow. Those are popular." Azure wished as I saw a small spark appear before his hands. It transformed into a ball and we all stood bewildered as it unfolded into an azure blue bow. Azure oogled his bow, when he pulled the string an arrow appeared as well. He unloaded his weapon and it disappeared.
"Is this mine?" Azure asked, taken aback.
"I guess so." Jet shrugged before I could answer.
Then Azure summoned another weapon, a battle axe, then another, a scythe. It was as if with each breath a new weapon appeared at his side, soldiers ready to serve him loyally.
"THIS IS SO COOL!" He shouted towards us, gleefully jumping up, basking in the glory of his new found power. However, bags had begun to appear underneath his eyes, vision glazing over in a daze. Pyrrha appeared to take notice of this as she opened her mouth.
"Be careful, your semblance is fueled by aura. It could run out if you overuse it." Pyrrha cautioned.
"Alright alright!" Azure said, summoning his bow. He aimed it at me, I got ready to dodge. He shot, this time it was different, it was much faster but I saw it's path. It was too late however, I got shot in the shoulder. I grunted once more. The arrow disappeared. It hurt like hell but no scarring or anything. I assumed it attacked aura and maybe internal damaging. I still wasn't sure.
"Shoot it again" I gave a half-hearted command as I prepped myself once more.
"Are you sure? It looked like it hurt like hell man!" Azure said pointing his bow at me.
"Don't worry I'm a crazy bugger." I responded as he shot. It was the same speed, different target. As it was about to pierce me once again I tilted it away from my body, just grazing me.
"Just one more!" I shouted, the rest of the group standing by, completely postponed by the discoveries we had made.
"Alright you crazy bastard!" Azure answered back as he shoot, This time it was much slower. Perhaps my mind was adjusting to this speed. I need to get better at using this. This is my power, my strength. I will protect my friends. The target was square at my chest this time. I snagged it mid air, inches away from my chest.
"YES!" I screamed to the world, celebrating internally at my profound success.
"By the way, your aim is getting better," I said sadly shortly after. He gave me a grin.
"Good job, let's practice again later." Azure suggested as I gave him a nod.
"That's cool and all, but what's mine?" Jet groaned, mouth curling into a pout.
Suddenly, I felt an extreme pressure go upon me. It was as if my entire body was being crushed under an immense weight, pulse quickening as I sweat in anxiety. A knee collapsed underneath my body, allowing me to slump over it and breathe.
"What's that pressure?" Jaune asked, eyes wide and glancing around.
"I don't know, stay on guard." Pyrrha responded, taking a protective stance.
I glanced up from the ground, only to find that Jet had gone completely unaffected by the strange pressure in the air.
"You lucky bugger. You can control pressure felt on anything, basically increasing gravity on a person or group." I realized, mouth falling open as I came to understand that this must be his semblance. I crawled, crippled, away from him, and each bit further I moved the pressure became more and more bearable.
"The pressure lessens the farther away they are from the user also!" I shouted towards him, regaining my balance and standing.
"Alright then, what if I do this?" Jet gestured and it felt like the weight of the world was on me. I could still breath but I could barely stay on my knees. I looked up, well the best I could anyways. The group was standing, I guess he released the area pressure and focused on one object, me.
"Alright knock it off," Jaune said as he shoved Jet a little and he fell to the ground. Instantly the pressure was released.
"Dammit! I need intense focus to use this bloody pressure thing" he admitted.
"I guess we all have weaknesses, except for mine." Azure smugly responded.
"Actually, your weapons can only inflict harm upon the user internally and on the aura, which can be both a plus and a minus." I said
"When the arrow had hit me, it seemed to hurt me immensely but as you can see no scarring or big hole. It seems to only attack the aura and the pain could either be internal damage or a side-effect of hurting my aura" I justified.
"We'll just have to see what it does to things without aura, like grimm" He said.
"Looks like we all have to practice our aura and semblance. Jaune any clue what yours is?" I asked.
"No clue and I'm not willing to find out right now." Jaune explained
"Pyrrha, what's yours?" I inquired
"That's a secret." Pyrrha responded. Of course I already know cause I watched the show, but i acted frustrated as we laughed and trudged on.
"Hey! Look over here!" Jaune exclaimed, pointing towards a cave. "I think the relics are in here!"
'Welp, this is where I die again. It was a nice 47 minutes'
We followed Jaune and Pyrrha towards the cave and we slowly saw a faint glow in the dark abyss. I then heard fast footsteps and I assumed Jaune was running towards it.
"Come here relic!" Jaune exclaimed joyfully.
'Here we go again' I internally sighed and braced myself to fight the beast in front of us, my friends also getting stiff and ready to go, the monster shook its tail.
"Stay still relic!" Jaune shouted towards the Deathstalker, his eyes filled with horror as the luminescence of the stinger brought light to the Deathstalker's mask, seeming angered. In a swift motion Jaune was flung out of the cave as the rest of us booked it.
"You gotta be joking me, how are we gonna fight it?" Jet shouted towards us.
"What do you mean? Don't you all have weapons?" Pyrrha inquired, a puzzled look on her face.
"Us? No way! We have never gotten any weapons!" Azure admitted
"We just went to a special academy which focused on martial arts. Lets just say Azure isn't one of the best." I interjected
"Yet you can still be a cocky bag." Azure retorted
"Guys! We still have to fight the bloody deathstalker!" Jet confirmed as we ran into the clearing.
I saw the ruins in sight, Yang, Blake and Ruby all there.
"Help us! Nevermore has Weiss!" Ruby shouted as she readied her weapon,
"KWWAAA!" The Nevermore screeched. Great. More problems.
"We have a deathstalker problem also!" I answered back as she made a sour face.
"Let's help each other out!" Yang suggested.
"Sure!" Jet responded.
"Alright." Blake nonchalantly responded her weapons already out and ready to go.
Azure summoned a bow and attempted to snipe the bird down. The arrow struck it's wing as its flight began to falter, Weiss being dropped. I reacted on impulse as I jumped off some piece of ruin, aura enhanced I leaped and grabbed Weiss in mid-air. I rolled on the ground once I had landed making sure not to harm Weiss too much. I set her down. Jaune had entered the clearing and I could have sworn I heard him muttering something like 'should have been me'.
"There you go princess." I said with a grateful bow.
"Thanks, but you got my dress dirty you dolt!" She scolded. Gee, thanks. The gratitude for a guy who just saved her life is overwhelming.
"I should have just let you drop." I retorted, eyes rolling.
"Is that anyway to talk to a lady like me?" Weiss' hands found their way to her hips almost immediately.
"I dunno, you seemed to switch from 'capable huntress' to 'damsel in distress' real quick."
"Well, you seem like, like…. A dolt!" She 'roasted' me. I had some sleepless nights over that one.
"Man you roasted me real good. Now let's go help out your friends alright?" I suggested as Azure was shooting down the bird.
"They aren't my friends!" Weiss shouted towards me as she ran over to the group.
"I'm hurt Weiss!" Ruby said cutely.
I smiled as the Nevermore dropped, and as if on cue the deathstalker pounced. However, through the power of my semblance, I was luckily able to sense the oncoming pursuit.
"Jet, to your right! Use immense pressure on it to keep it in place!" I commanded, throwing out my arm.
"Alright!" he responded as the deathstalker was nearly instantly grounded.
"You, blondie! I want you to punch the living daylights out that thing, Pyrrha and Jaune attack it's stinger." I commanded once more as they reluctantly listened, poor scorpion thing. Yang was absolutely shattering his/her's dreams and hopes as it got pounded.
"Keep that up!" I shouted towards them as they half nodded.
"Here's Nora!" Nora shouted from above as she smashed the poor deathstalker's skull, killing it nearly instantly.
"Nora, let's not do that again." Ren huffed and puffed behind her.
"Take a break guys. I'll take care of the rest." I assured as they gratefully accepted, albeit Yang attempted to go kick more butt, but Blake kept her in control.
"Alright, the rest of us have to take down the Nevermore. Azure, keep shooting it!" I commanded as Azure skewered the thing. It only seemed to inflict immense pain on it, as the only action it took was making a pained expression.
"KWAAAAA!" All of a sudden, the Nevermore used its will power to fly once more. As its wings billowed above us, I felt a rush of determination crawl through my body.
"Azure, switch to sniper and focus on blinding it. Keep it distracted. Oh, and it's going to the right." I ordered. On command, he switched weapons and attempted to shoot it's eyes out with little success. He seemed to adjust and aim where I said the Nevermore was going.
"Princess, what can you do?" I asked Weiss, but she only let out a halfhearted hmph. At least I tried.
"I can create glyphs. All Schnees can do it." She said proudly, a condescending smirk tugging at her lips.
"Even your last name is pretentious. Anyways, setup a glyph aimed at that cliff and one at the Nevermore. Make sure to follow it as best as you can. I want them to be used to jump." I pleaded as she gave me a glare. Reluctantly, she summoned the glyphs to their proper places and crossed her arms with disapproval. It seemed like that was all she ever did, though, so I guess I was used to it.
"Red, When I hit the Nevermore towards the cliff I want you to use the other glyph and take the Nevermore's head off." I ordered. It felt good, to be a leader.
"Alright chief!" She responded with a broad grin and a salute, evoking a smile on my face.
I hopped on the glyph and got boosted towards the Nevermore. The scenery became a blur of green hues as I went at high speed towards the creature. Finally, it was time to finish this.
'Alright here is my only chance' I said to myself as I readied my aura punch and I was prepared to give it my all. With a confident power surging through me, I managed to knock it towards the cliff. In that moment, Azure was able to snipe one of its eyes out.
"Now Red!" I screamed towards Ruby and Weiss. This is where I made a fatal miscalculation. White mist enveloped my frame as I felt the sureness I had had just moments ago dissipate. The colours seemed to disappear as I heard the pleas from the group come down. All I know is that I'm falling. Falling in love? No, falling to my death. I chuckled slightly at the thought.
*Thud*
Chapter 1, Picking up the Remnants, End
