Hello Everybody! I am The Burning Ruler and I have arrived with the very first chapter of RWBY: A Grey Heart! This story has come about as a request from a girl friend of mine (You know who you are). She found my fanfic page a while back, but didn't know it was me until November 13th. Now that she does know it was me, I'm sure you can figure out the rest for yourself. Anyways. I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1: Black Heart at Beacon
"Ugh. What do you need now?" asked a boy walking into a room with a woman sitting in a chair. He was wearing a grey shirt with blue jeans. He had silver snake eyes and long silver hair. He was wearing two silver gauntlets and had a greatsword strapped to his back.
"Ah Saber. Welcome back. I trust you succeeded in your mission?" asked the woman, looking away from him.
"Of course." Said Saber.
"Good. It appears we need you for another mission immediately. It appears that there is a girl at beacon who needs to be… taken care of." Said the woman turning around.
"Give me a name and a description. That's all I need Cinder." Said Saber.
"Her name is Ruby Rose." said Cinder handing him a picture of her.
"Alright. I assume everything has been prepared already." Said Saber.
"Of course. Everything has already been cleared with Headmaster Ozpin of beacon academy. He has accepted you, despite you joining this late in the semester. He is expecting you. There is an airship ready to take you to beacon outside right now. Happy hunting Saber. When you have finished, return with her weapon." Said Cinder.
"Got it." Said Saber, leaving.
"And I'm sure you don't need a reminder, but the consequence for failure is-" Cinder was interrupted.
"I know. Immediate termination." Said Saber leaving.
As he boarded the airship he took out his greatsword and looked at his reflection in the polished metal before sighing. "This is quite the situation we have gotten ourselves into huh?" said Saber, before putting his sword back in its sheathe and falling asleep.
As he woke up he saw beacon coming into sight. As he landed he stepped off of the airship to see a man who he assumed was headmaster Ozpin waiting for him.
"You must be Saber." said Ozpin.
"That's me." Said Saber.
"Alright. Follow me. I'll show you to your room." Said Ozpin leading him to a dorm building. "Now, we don't have any spare students, so you won't have a team for the time being. I hope that is acceptable."
"Of course. I may even say it is preferable. I've been told I don't work well with others." Said Saber.
"I see. Here we are. You will find everything you need inside. Have a nice day." Said Ozpin.
"Alright." Said Saber, entering the room. Looking around he saw a bed. On the bed were textbooks and a large binder. He sorted through them and saw a uniform. "I hope they don't expect me to wear this." Said Saber. There was also a schedule. He saw that it was break time right now, after which he had grimm studies, then history, then combat class. After he got settled he decided to take a walk around the school to get a feel for the layout. He stepped outside his room and began wandering around the school.
He soon found himself outside a cafeteria, just as his stomach growled. It was then he remembered he hadn't eaten all day. As he walked in he saw that there was only one table without anyone at it. He went to get some food and took it to the table as he scanned the room for Ruby Rose.
He saw her sitting at a table not far from him along with seven others whom he assumed to be her friends.
"Got you. Just need to wait for an opportunity." Whispered Saber.
As Saber was eating he heard laughter coming from another area of the room. He looked to see four boys picking on a bunny faunus. He looked around to see nobody else trying to do anything about it. He saw that many other students had noticed it, but none had tried to stop it. He was about to ignore it as well until he heard the girl cry. Remembering his past he began to focus on one of the boys, who was clearly the leader. Not long after, the boy stopped what he was doing, took on an uncomfortable expression and began to hold his stomach. Seeing it was working, Saber began to focus on the boy harder while smirking. The boy fell to one knee and it was clear to everyone paying attention that he was in pain.
"Cardin? You ok?" asked a short boy with a green mohawk.
"I don't know Russel. Something… something hurts." Said Cardin.
"You know what's going on Dove?" asked a boy with medium length blue hair.
"No clue Sky." Said Dove.
'It's about to get a whole lot worse.' Thought Saber, as he started to focus more energy on Cardin.
Cardin then fell onto his back and began howling in pain, causing Saber to chuckle. After a few more moments Cardin passed out. However Saber still wasn't satisfied. He stopped focusing on Cardin and turned his focus to Russel, putting him through the exact same thing that Cardin was put through, continuing onto Dove and finally Sky.
After all the boys were passed out on the floor, Saber placed one hand on the table he was at, steadied himself and closed his eyes, trying to shake off the dizziness that always accompanied his semblance. After a few minutes the dizziness began to fade.
"Better." Said Saber. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ruby right in front of him on the other side of his table. Shocked, he leaned back, almost falling but was caught by a girl with long blonde hair and lilac eyes.
"You can't just surprise people like that Ruby." Said the girl.
"Ok Yang." Said Ruby.
"Sorry about her. She's a little awkward. Name's Yang. This here's my sister Ruby." Said the girl who caught him.
"Alright." Said Saber, not introducing himself.
"I think we may have just found the ice king." Said Yang, causing Ruby to chuckle for a reason Saber didn't know.
"Hey Weiss? We found your husband!" said Ruby, calling over a girl with white hair and blue eyes, wearing a white dress.
"You dunce. I'm not married." Said Weiss.
"We know. But if you're the ice queen and he's the ice king what would that mean?" asked Ruby.
"I'm not the ice queen. I don't know why you insist on calling me that." said Weiss.
'So that's what that was about.' Thought Saber.
This was when a bell rung, signalling the end of the break.
Saber left without another word, heading back to his room and grabbing his binder, before heading to grimm studies. Once he got to the classroom he went up to the back row and sat down. After some time, class began.
"Hello students. Before we begin, we have a new student joining us today." Said the teacher, whose name was Port, as he called Saber down from the top row. Saber stood up and walked down to the front, scanning the crowd.
"Would you care to introduce yourself to the class?" asked Port.
"No." said Saber.
Port was confused. "Why not?" asked Port.
"Because if I introduce myself, that would be inviting others to want to know me, only leading to more loss." Said Saber, leaving for the top row again.
"I… see. Moving on then." Said Port, beginning the class.
Saber didn't really listen to Port throughout the class, only listening occasionally to hear him ranting about his childhood. Saber nearly fell asleep, but the bell rang just before he did.
After Grimm studies, Saber moved on to History class, which was uneventful for a while, until he heard the professor ask about an advantage faunus had over some war general. Saber knew the answer was night vision, but he wasn't planning on answering. As he waited for someone to answer, he saw Cardin throw a paper airplane at a boy in the front row.
"Hey!" the boy said, which caused Oobleck to go to him for an answer.
The second Oobleck got to him, he knew that he didn't know the answer, but he saw a girl with a red ponytail trying to give him the answer.
Saber thought he might actually get it, until he blurted out "Binoculars!"
'You fucking idiot…' thought Saber.
"Very funny Mr. Arc. Mr. Winchester? Perhaps you would like to venture a guess." Said Oobleck.
"Well, I know its a lot easier to train an animal than a soldier." Said Cardin.
This comment sent Saber over the edge. "You are a pretty closed minded asshole aren't you Cardin?" asked Saber, standing up and taking a step towards Cardin, causing the whole class to start whispering.
"The new kid is standing up to Cardin." He heard one student whisper.
"Oh man. The new kid is getting his ass kicked on his first day." He heard another whisper.
The other whispers were all similar, but he heard one different one.
"He is gonna kick Cardin's ass." He heard one person whisper. He was sure it was Yang.
"I know." Said another voice. He knew that was Ruby.
"You got a problem?" asked Cardin, also standing up, getting to eye level with Saber.
"What if I do? What are you going to do about it?" asked Saber.
"This." Said Cardin, punching Saber in the face, forcing him to take a step back.
'That's a punch.' Thought Saber, cracking his jaw back in place before crossing his arms and chuckling. "You don't want to get on my bad side. I would advise you to sit your ass down real quick. You don't want to be the one to send me over the edge. Don't punch me one more time." said Saber.
"Try and stop me." Said Cardin, punching him again, with more force, almost knocking Saber over, but just making him smile.
"Last warning. One more time. I dare you." Said Saber.
Cardin balled his fist up again and swung at Saber, who ducked out of the way and began to focus on Cardin, forcing him onto one knee.
"Feel familiar?" asked Saber.
"Y-you… it was you…" said Cardin.
"Damn right it was me. What say we… crank it up a notch?" asked Saber, forcing more on Cardin, increasing the pain he was feeling.
"AH!" yelled Cardin.
"Beg for me to stop and I will! Tap out!" yelled Saber.
"NO!" yelled Cardin, tears of pain welling up in his eyes.
"Fine." Said Saber, increasing the pain tenfold, causing Cardin to openly cry in pain, but Saber didn't let him pass out. After only a few more seconds of pain, Cardin gave up, tapping out, and Saber stopped the pain. The second he did however, he nearly passed out, barely managing to steady himself on a desk until the dizziness passed. The second the dizziness passed, the bell rang and Saber left the room.
Team RWBY left to catch up with him on the way to combat class. "Hey! Ice King! Wait up!" said Ruby.
Saber was planning on continuing, but decided that if he was supposed to kill Ruby, he would have to befriend her first. So, reluctantly, he stopped and waited.
"Wow. You actually waited." Said Ruby.
"Yeah." Said Saber. "But you know my name is not 'Ice King' right?" asked Saber.
"Well, yeah, but I don't know your name, so it's not like I have anything else to call you." Said Ruby.
Saber knew he couldn't argue that point. "Alright. Saber." Said Saber.
"Saber?" asked Ruby confused.
"You dunce. He is saying his name is Saber." Said Weiss.
"Oh. Nice to meet you Saber. I'm Ruby Rose." Said Ruby.
"I'm Yang Xiao Long." Said Yang.
"I'm Weiss Schnee." Said Weiss.
"Blake Belladonna." Said Blake.
Saber gulped, but no one noticed it. 'Oh my god. It's her.' thought Saber, somewhat relived that she didn't recognize him.
"Nice to meet you." Said Saber, as they arrived at Combat class. They all walked in and professor Goodwitch noticed Saber not wearing his uniform.
"Excuse me young man. Why aren't you wearing your uniform?" asked Goodwitch.
"Well, because I don't want to, and you can't make me." Said Saber, defiantly.
Goodwitch's face after he said that let him know a lot about this teacher. While the others were difficult, she was easier to read than a book.
"But," Saber eyed Goodwitch up and down, "I might be able to make an exception for you." Said Saber, winking and heading to his seat, already knowing that he was going to enjoy every second of sending her over the edge.
As he sat down, more and more students arrived.
After everyone had arrived, Saber thought the teacher was going to weigh everything against him as a punishment, but when he saw the match he was in he scoffed.
"Saber Solbrig vs Ruby Rose." Said Goodwitch.
After his name was announced heard a whisper, but didn't know who it was or what was said. Soon after he decided to ignore the whisper.
"Pfft. A one on one match? Don't waste my time. At least make this a slight challenge." Said Saber, almost gloatingly.
He swore he could see steam coming from Goodwitch's ears. "Fine. Saber Solbrig vs Team RWBY." Said Goodwitch, smirking.
"Better." Said Saber, getting ready. When he stood in front of Team RWBY they saw that he was wearing gauntlets, but that he also had a greatsword on his back, which he didn't bother drawing.
Goodwitch activated some lights and a ring was lit up on the floor. "If Saber or all members of Team RWBY get down to 20% aura or get sent out of the ring on the ground, they will lose. Ready? Begin!" said Goodwitch starting the match.
"We're stronger than we look." Said Ruby.
"Strength will only get you so far." responded Saber.
As the match started, Saber didn't move at all. He just stood with his arms crossed, waiting for Team RWBY to start. Ruby was first to make a move, as Saber focused on her, she started to wobble a bit, seemingly tired and missed Saber as he stuck out a leg and tripped her, sending her out of the ring.
"Next." Was all Saber said.
Yang charged at Saber as he focused on her, she seemed to get angrier and more wild with her punches as Saber dodged all of them by only a few centimeters, staying focused on her, as she got more unhinged and even more wild with her strikes. After a few minutes, Saber ducked under one, hit Yang with an uppercut, sending her in the air, then kicking her out of the ring as she fell.
"Next." Said Saber again.
Weiss then looked at Saber and he focused on her as she charged him. He dodged her strike and went to trip her as well, but as he did, she created a wall glyph to keep her just inside the circle.
"Phew. Not out yet." Said Weiss, turning into a punch from Saber that sent her out of the circle.
"One left." Said Saber.
Blake almost got blindsided by Saber charging her, but she blocked all his punches and kicks. Saber drew his greatsword and began slashing with great force, forcing Blake back with each swing even though she blocked all his slashes. She saw that she was approaching the edge of the circle when she used her semblance and left a copy, which Saber slashed through.
Expecting this he ducked and spun around, which showed that Blake was trying to send him out of the circle with a slash from behind, but instead he pushed his feet upwards and launched her out of the circle.
"I win." Said Saber, sheathing his sword and going back to his seat.
"You won by outwitting us." Said Blake.
"I said strength wasn't everything. Strength is nothing if you don't have the intellect to know how to use it properly." Said Saber.
Goodwitch was clearly unhappy with the outcome, but she reluctantly congratulated Saber and announced the next match.
After the bell rang, Saber intentionally took longer than everyone else. As he was walking out, he took a quick glance back, to see Goodwitch staring at him, before looking back at her desk.
"Already working." Said Saber.
"Hey Saber? Were you flirting with professor Goodwitch?" asked Yang.
"Maybe I was." Said Saber.
"Why?" asked Blake.
"You want an honest answer?" asked Saber.
"Of course." Said Weiss.
"Well two reasons. First of all, I really want to see what will happen when she gets sent over the edge." Said Saber.
"Ok, but what's the second reason?" asked Yang.
"She's sexy." Said Saber.
"Um…" was all that was said for a few minutes.
"Sorry if that was a little straightforward, but I've never been good at sugar coating anything. That's why if you want a straight answer about anything, come to me." Said Saber.
"Alright then. What about her is sexy to you?" asked Yang.
"That is not the direction I expected this conversation to go, but, well, she has an amazing figure, a beautiful face, and I have always found glasses extremely sexy." Said Saber.
"Hm. I see." Said Yang.
"By the way… I think she was checking me out when I left." Said Saber.
"Why is that?" asked Blake.
"Well, if I have to take a guess, she thinks I'm sexy too." Said Saber.
"Not that! Why do you think she was checking you out?" asked Blake.
"She was staring at me when I left the classroom. I think she loves to watch me leave." Said Saber, arrogantly.
Saber heard a sigh come from Weiss.
"Hey. I said I don't sugar coat anything. I just say it." Said Saber, shrugging.
"You did say that." Said Weiss.
"Actually, I want to know, what did you do to Cardin back in history?" asked Ruby.
"Heh. So you noticed that then?" asked Saber.
"Of course. Someone just starts screaming in pain out of nowhere, you're going to take notice." Said Yang.
"Fair. I used my semblance. My semblance lets me make people… feel… things. Mostly emotions, but I can also make people feel pain, I can also make them tired." Said Saber.
"Is that what you did to me and Ruby?" asked Yang.
"Yep. I made Ruby tired so I could disorient her and trip her, and I made you angry, because when you get angry, your strikes get sloppy, and easy to dodge." Replied Saber.
"But, then why didn't you use it on me or Weiss?" asked Blake.
"Think back to after Cardin gave up in History. What did I do after that?" asked Saber.
Weiss thought. "Well, It looked like you got dizzy and had to steady yourself on a table." Said Weiss.
"That's the weakness of my semblance. If I use it too much, I get dizzy. I couldn't afford to get dizzy in the middle of a fight." Said Saber.
"Oh. Well that makes sense." Said Blake.
"Hey Saber. You said you can make people feel emotions right?" asked Yang.
"Yes. Why?" asked Saber.
"What about romantic love? Can you make people feel romantic love?" asked Yang.
"Um. Romantic love? That one is a little tricky." Said Saber.
"How so?" asked Yang.
"Well, I can only make love where love already exists. So, say I wanted to make… I don't know… Weiss fall in love with… Blake, for example. I couldn't do that, unless, Weiss already had feelings of love for Blake. What it does, is, it makes the feeling of love strong enough for the person to confess. So, in the example, it would give Weiss the courage she needs to confess her feelings for Blake. I wouldn't be able to influence Blake's decision however. That would be her own." Said Saber.
"I see. So, say, for example, I had a friend who had a crush on a guy. She was too scared to tell him though. Could you… do something about that?" asked Yang.
Saber sighed. "I see where this is going. Just bring me to them, I'll see what I can do." Said Saber.
"See you later everybody. I going to make Pyrrha confess." Said Yang, dragging Saber away.
"Of course she is." Said Ruby.
Yang led Saber to a courtyard. They ducked into the bushes and saw two people sitting on a bench. The girl had red hair ted into a ponytail, and the boy had short blonde hair.
"Which one?" Asked Saber, quietly.
"Pyrrha. The girl." Said Yang, whispering as well.
"Alright. Just stay quiet. I need to focus." Said Saber, focusing on Pyrrha.
Nothing happened for a few moments, until the boy turned to Pyrrha to see her blushing.
"Are you Ok Pyrrha?" asked the boy.
"Yeah. I'm fine Jaune." Said Pyrrha.
"Are you sure? Your face looks a bit red. Are you feeling at all sick?" said Jaune, placing a hand on Pyrrha's forehead.
"I promise, I'm fine. Um. Jaune? Can I tell you something?" asked Pyrrha.
"Of course Pyrrha. What's up?" asked Jaune.
"Um, well, I really should have said this sooner, but…" Pyrrha trailed off.
"Whew. This girl is tough. She is keeping these feelings under lock and key. Yang? Can you hold my shoulders and keep me focused on her?" asked Saber. Yang complied without question.
"What is it Pyrrha?" asked Jaune.
"I just need to tell you… I… I-I…" Pyrrha took a deep breath. "I'm falling in love with you. I… I just needed to… tell you that." Said Pyrrha.
Saber stopped focusing and almost fell out of the bushes, but Yang was holding him up, keeping him in the bushes.
"You… really? You're… falling in love with… me?" asked Jaune.
"Y-Yes. I'm falling in love with you Jaune." Said Pyrrha.
Jaune was speechless for a full minute. Yang had laid Saber down on the ground so she could watch the aftermath.
"Come on Jaune. Kiss her." Said Yang, quietly.
After a few more moments, Jaune reached out and took one of Pyrrha's hands in his.
"Oh… Jaune?" said Pyrrha, confused.
"I really wish you had told me earlier. It wasn't easy holding this back." Said Jaune, leaning forward and kissing Pyrrha.
Yang wanted to scream, but instead she stayed crouched and left the courtyard, with Saber following after his dizziness had faded.
Once they got back inside Saber began speaking. "This is going to be a headache tomorrow." Said Saber.
They got back to team RWBY's dorm shortly afterwards.
"Oh. This is my stop. So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Said Yang.
"See you Yang." Said Saber, leaving.
With Yang
"I'm telling you guys. He looked the exact same as Saber." Said Blake.
"We believe you Blake, but you haven't seen this guy in a while. Who's to say he still looks the same?" asked Weiss.
"Who are we talking about?" asked Yang.
"Apparently Saber looks the same as the boy who gave Blake her bow. She thinks it may be the same boy." Said Ruby.
"Hm. Is there anything that makes you think its him other than his looks?" asked Yang.
"A couple things. The way he smiled and laughed while Cardin was in pain lines up with him. The arrogance with Goodwitch. The refusal to wear his uniform is the kind of peaceful rebellion he prides himself on. It all lines up with what he was like." Said Blake.
"Hm. Strange. Well, I'm sure we'll find out soon enough." Said Ruby.
"Yeah. Maybe we should just sleep on it." Said Ruby.
"Agreed." Said Weiss as they all went to sleep.
Back to Saber
Just as he was settling down, he got a call on his scroll.
Answering it, he found out it was Cinder.
"Hello Cinder." Said Saber.
"Have you confirmed your target?" asked Cinder.
"Yes. I have." Said Saber.
"Good. Make sure she is eliminated. By any means necessary." Said Cinder.
"Of course." Said Saber, hanging up.
"This is going to be so easy." Said Saber before laying down to get some sleep.
There we go. Thought I would try out an evil protagonist this time. See how it goes you know? And my friend, if you are reading this, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't worry, I will add it in, just not yet. Anyways, remember to leave a review with your thoughts, and I hope to see you in the next chapter of RWBY: A Grey Heart.