Chapter 1 - The Lost Man

For Derek the awakening wasn't pleasant at all. Waking up with a strong headache is never a good sign, especially when you notice that some of your rips seem to be broken and one of your legs feels twisted.

He just laid on the hard ground, not knowing how he got into such a bad shape. When he tried to open his eyes the sunlight seemed to burn them, as if he hadn't been using them for month. After some time the pain stopped and he was able to look up towards the sky only to find it being blocked by emerald green trees. 'How did I get into this forest?' He tried to move his head around, happily noticing that his neck wasn't injured at all, and hoped to find himself near civilization.

Fortunate for him his still weak eyes could make out something in the distant that looked like a small house. And even though his left leg seemed to scream at him in pain he tried to stand up with the goal to get as close to the house as his condition would allow him. He hoped that someone would be there who would notice and help him.

After standing up proved to be a long and painful act he began to make his way to the house. He limped weakly towards his destination, each step increased the pain more and more and leaving him with less and less energy. And after what felt to him like hours of torment he finally was close enough to the house to be able to notice a human figure. Even though his vision became more blurry the longer he forced himself to ignore the pain he is in he was sure that the person he was seeing was a women.

And then he lost all strength. Derek was certain that he heard a female voice yelling, but he wasn't able to understand anything as his world turned into a black void once again.

Once again Derek did awake from his slumber. But unlike doing so while lying outside on the not-so-soft forest ground like the last time he instead found himself in a warm room, feeling a soft bed beneath him. As he opened his eyes the first thing to notice was a small and spartanic furnished room. It was lit in a lightly orange light, which suggested that it had to be around evening.

Wondering how he got here, Derek tried to set himself onto the bed to fully wake up. When he succeeded he was happy to notice his headache to be gone. He also realized that neither his chest nor his leg hurt nearly as badly as before he went unconscious. Which reminds him off how he must have ended up here. 'That woman in front of the house must have carried me into here.'

He put away his blanked and examined his chest only to find his shirt being replaced by bandages. They seemed to have been applied quite thickly as his muscles weren't visible. Upon observing his legs he saw that he still was wearing his own pants but the left pant leg was rolled up and he found the same bandages again. With a weak sigh Derek tried to figure out what he should do now.

Should he just continue to lie here while waiting for somebody to enter his room? Should he stand up and walk around the house until he found someone? Debating about what would be the right course of actions in his situation, he decided that it would be polite to notify someone that he is awake and alright. And thus he moved himself into a position which allowed him to stand up.

In the first moment after doing so he began to feel a little bit light-headed but he ignored that feeling, simply putting it as a side effect of standing up so soon after waking up. After his first step didn't seem to increase that effect he carried on walking towards the door.

It took him five more steps to make him regret his decision of standing up as his legs suddenly began to feel like pudding, unable to carry him any further. And thus he made contact with the wooden floor.

Alex was preparing dinner when the foreigner came back into her mind once again. She was angry. Not at him, but about herself as she felt like the little, naive girl she has been one year prior once again. She was angry to realize that she didn't seem to have grown up in any way. And she would have carried on being angry at herself if her thoughts wouldn't have gotten interrupted by a strange noise coming from her guest room.

*thump*

Being alarmed by the sound she knew what must have happened. In a fast and calculated motion she put everything she worked on into a safe place, turned her oven off and moved with quick steps towards the room.

Right after opening the door she noticed her guest lying on the floor. She was worried if he went unconscious again. 'He shouldn't have stood up on his own…' But luckily her mood became lighter as soon as she heard what sounded like an angry mumble coming from the boy lying on the ground. Happy that he is awake she helped him up and back into the bed once again.

"Are you okay? You shouldn't have tried to move on your own yet," Alex said slightly nervously, as she wasn't used to talk to people she didn't knew. As an answer the foreign guy started to chuckle slightly, which managed to relax her a little bit. "You don't say. Thanks for picking me up … again," the boy said with a weak smile on his face. She blushed a little bit. Never before has a male besides her father chuckled about anything she has said. But then again, she hadn't met that many boys…

"N…No problem. At least you are awake now. How are you feeling besides having fallen on the ground?" "Well, my injured chest and leg don't feel as worse as they had back in the forest. I guess you were the one who treated my wounds?" Derek, who now was lying back in his bed, was looking directly in her face and he took a moment to take a good look at her appearance.

She was wearing a simple, light green summer dress which reached towards her knees. Her skin lightly tanned by the sun and fit well with her chestnut colored eyes. The long, dark brown hair of hers was bound to a pony-tail. There were two strange bulges on her head but Derek didn't put much thought in them.

Alex, who by now was sitting on the side of the bed, did blush under his stare and smiled back at him. "Y… Yes, I did. I am happy to hear that I was able to help you. By the way, my name is Alex. Alex Orchid. And what is yours?" 'Was that too much to ask for his name? … Come on Alex, calm down! This is just a normal question!' Man, she really wasn't used to talk to strangers at all.

Alex was relieved to see him smile again. "My name is Derek...," he seemed puzzled and stopped talking. "What is wrong?" "I… I can't remember what my last name is," he confessed her with a sad expression. He then began to touch his head with his right hand in different places. She quickly understood what he was trying to do. "I haven't found any visible wounds on your head when I was treating your wounds, so I doubt that there should be any now." 'Wow, I really can sound somewhat confident when I want to.' Alex smiled at her thoughts.

Derek looked at her once again and his expression suddenly changed from a confused to a shocked one. At first Alex thought it was about his lack of wounds on his head but when she noticed that she still was smiling. 'Great, now I look like a douche to him!' She was ready to become depressed when Alex noticed another thing about his face.

His eyes didn't seem to be looking on her mouth, or even her face at all. His gaze seemed to be focused on her hair. Her face now became red in the instant of a second. 'Is something wrong with my hair?' Derek opened his mouth but couldn't bring himself to say anything. After another two tries he finally was able to express what was shocking him so much. "You… you have wolf ears on your head!"

At first, Alex was confused about his statement. Then her face became filled with sadness as she began to remember why she and her father had to move out from her prior home in the first place. "Oh, that... I'll leave you alone, if you prefer it." But before she even could stand up from the bed she was stopped by a hand grabbing her arm. "No! I didn't mean to insult you! In fact, your ears are quite … cute."

This time, both of them started to blush at the same time about his words. "So, you are not one of these anti faunus guys?" Derek tilted his head slightly. "Faunus? What is a faunus?"

"How could someone NOT know about faunus? Especially after all the revolutions and wars between them and humans?" She sighed as her words only seemed to confuse Derek more and more. She thought that if would be necessary for her to explain anyone what a faunus is. 'Maybe he has lost more than just the memories of his name?'

She began explaining. "To put it simple faunus could be described as humans who possess animal features. These features could reach from something non-visible, like increased speed or a finer sense of smell, to something visible, like a tail or, in my case, ears. Many faunus own more than one feature but these always come from the same kind of animal. It all depends on which kind of 'animal blood', as humans tend to call it, runs in our veins. My mother was a wolf faunus and I inherited her blood and with that her ears and increased agility." She told him everything he needed to know about her species while watching his face becoming even more puzzled.

"And what is the deal with these 'anti faunus guys'?" This time Alex hesitated to tell him. She hated to waste her thoughts on the people who used to make her life a living hell. "Well, there are humans who hate us. People think that their hate comes from our animal like features, but that is just a theory. In fact, nobody really does remember what had started their hate. And I doubt any 'hater', who lives today, really has got any reason for hating my kind. Or at least they used to have no reason."

Derek watches her expression growing darker and more hurt as she continued. "Things started to change many years ago. Out of nowhere appeared the White Fang – a faunus only organisation whose goal is to create a world where human and faunus can live together in peace. Or at least they wanted to achieve this by peace."

"They tried as hard as they could to prove humanity that faunus aren't something to be afraid of. But nobody seemed to be interested in listening and everyone was provoking the White Fang by calling it a 'terrorist organisation'. And after some years the White Fang decided to stop trying to show the world that faunus are peaceful. They replaced their peaceful protests with assassination and robbery. They decided to become the monsters humanity has seem them as. And sadly this worked more than their protests. Now some people began to at least respect Faunus out of fear. But on the other hand they just gave every human a very good reason to hate and fight our species." A little tear formed on one of her eyes. But before Derek was able to think about anything to say she wiped it away with a small motion and put on a weak smile.

"There are still humans who willingly risk their own identities, their own safety, for a species that the majority of the humanity wouldn't think twice of getting rid of. Even though they get attacked for believing in a peaceful coexistence they don't stop." Her view wandered towards the window, where she watched the forest as the last rays of light were passing through the trees. While she was still smiling, her eyes did express how sad she was. 'At least until they get killed for helping like me…' ,

She looked back at Derek, only to find him watching the same weakly lit forest. His face wore once again a puzzled expression and she knew why. "Nothing of what I told you did ring any bells for you, did it?" Alex said slightly disappointed. She did hope that a well known name like 'White Fang' would be somewhat familiar to him. He turned his head towards her and started to stare at her. She blushed, wondering why he wasn't answering her.

'Maybe he is debating whether he can trust my story? Now as I think of it, it might be a little too much to wake up, not being able to remember anything, just to find to be rescued by a girl with wolf ears.' But her train of thoughts was abruptly stopped by a hand touching one of her wolf ears. She jumped in surprise with a loud scream, her hands now covering her ears.

Derek pulled his hand back as soon as he touched one of Alex's ears. He felt guilty for not asking her for permission to touch her wolf ear. But he seemed to have lost any ability to communicate. His head was filled with many questions but one of them was bothering him more as any other.

"They… They really are real, right?" Alex just was sitting on the other end of the bed and watched him. She was unsure whether the question deserves an answer or not. "I should have asked, sorry." His gaze wondered out of the windows once again.

She felt bad for making him feel guilty. Thus, right when he wasn't able to see her face anymore, she put on a mean grin. She closed the distance between them as fast as she could and pulled on one of his ears.

Now it was his turn to jump in surprise. She found it fascinating that a guy like him was able to scream like a ten year old girl. Alex couldn't resist her laughter. "Now we are even, you little girl." She said with a huge grin on her face. 'Man, after all this time I really forgot how good it feels to laugh again.'

Derek was still confused about her action but soon decided to join her laughter. They both enjoyed the good mood they were experiencing. Alex was able to forget about her past for a moment while Derek was able to ignore his lack memories about his own past for a moment. And to fire up Alex's laughter even more, Derek's stomach seemed to wish to join their fun, as it started to growl as loud as a wild animal. For him it was kind of embarrassing to make such noises. But Alex just found it hilarious, which resulted in her laughing from the bottom of her lungs while she unavoidable rolled off the bet onto the much harder floor, where the sound of laughter got replaced with one single, muffled "Ouch!" coming from her. Derek chuckled while offering the young wolf lady a hand which she gratefully took.

"Well, that surely lightened the mood. Now what do you think about getting something to eat? I was preparing some stew when you were still asleep," she said while giving a smile. "I would love something to eat. Can I be off any help for you?" Alex simply waved him off. "You are my guest. The stew already was done, it only needs to be reheated. And after all, you shouldn't even think about walking for today. Just relax until I come back." And without any further words she turned to leave the room, leaving Derek alone with himself once again. Not knowing what he should do until dinner he simply decided to close his eyes and began to listen to the sound of the wind blowing through the forest.

Derek was happy when Alex joined him again after several minutes, this time carrying a bowl with stew in each of her hands. "I thought you might get lonely while eating alone. But since you should stay in bed at least till tomorrow, I decided to eat here with you. As long as it is okay for you?" "Of course it is! Food always tastes better with somebody there to share." He moved himself on the side of the bed into a sitting position and offered her a place next to him. She happily sat down and gave him his bowl with hot stew. He observed the steam coming from it and took his spoon into his hand.

After the first spoon found its way into Derek's mouth his eyes instantaneously widened. The feeling of warm food in his empty stomach and the smooth taste of the stew itself make him feel comfortable. He rushed spoon after spoon into mouth without noticing that Alex was watching him. She chuckled lightly, happy that he seemed to like her food. "Wow, you are quite a black hole when it comes to food." Derek's arm stopped midmotion and he blushed, about which Alex chuckled once again. "Sorry, I just forgot my manners." In response Alex began to eat as well. "Well, you are excused. After all, my stew always tastes great." And thus the two ate their food in silence, enjoying he warm dinner as well as the silent company of each other.

When the two finished their bowl simultaneously they continued sitting on the bed while listening to the peaceful sounds of nature coming through the opened window.

"Thank you," Derek said out of the sudden with an unsecure smile. Alex looked at him, unsure about what she should say. "Thank you for this dinner. And thank you for saving me." He put his bowl on the floor and closed his eyes.

"Is everything okay?" Alex asked him in a worried tone. Derek sighted, his eyes still closed. "To be honest, I am scared." He opened his eyes again, but simply stared at the door. "While you were preparing dinner one single memory returned," he explained.

Alex watched him. She felt happy for him but at the same time was confused. 'Why was he sad about being able to remember something?' "And… what did you remember?" she asked carefully. She watched him while she waited for an answer. But after he didn't say anything for at least a minute she guessed that he didn't want to tell her. "Sorry for asking. You don't have to tell …" "I did remember getting into a fight with my father," he interrupted her. Alex couldn't help her but stare at him. "I can't remember the exact words we said to each other. I only know that they were ugly, mean, and that we did hurt each other with them quite bad. And I know that it was the last time I spoke to him."

"Was that before you lost your consciousness and ended up here?" she asked curiously. But all he did was nod lightly, almost invisible for her to notice. Derek then slowly turned his head towards Alex and their eyes met. She saw tears running down his face. Without thinking twice she laid a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. "Do you think he is searching for me?"

Alex couldn't help herself and give him a warm smile. "Of course. Even when you two were insulting each other, he still is your father." She pulled Derek closer and hugged him, surprised about her own action. Normally she would be unable to do such a thing without asking, especially with a stranger, but right now it felt like the right thing to do. "I am sure he already is searching for you. If you want I can bring you to the town as soon as you feel well enough."

Alex ended the hug to make eye contact with him once again. "And for as long as you are not able to find him or remember anything you are welcome to stay here, understood?" Derek simply nodded. He wanted to thank her again, but before he even could have opened his mouth, Alex already had put on a grin. "After all, I could need someone who can clean the house so I don't have to do it on my own."

Derek began to laugh, his mood having grown brighter from her words. Alex was glad that she was able to help him. "You really are going to exploit me, aren't you?" "Sure, why else would I have made sure that you are getting well?" she said with the evilest grin on her face. "Fair enough," he answered with a heavy nod, followed by a heavy yawn. "Well, someone is getting sleepy," she mocked him while she grabbed his bowl and stood up. "You should sleep now. It has been a long day for you." "Yea, you are right. After all I have to get well as soon as I can," Derek answered, his voice now sounded as if he was already falling asleep.

When Alex stood in front of the door she stopped and turned back to Derek once again. "Good night, sleep well." As the only answer coming from him was a quiet snoring she left the room smiling. She put the bowls on the kitchen table, put the leftovers into the fridge and decided that she could clean up the next day.

But before she made her way into her own room her gaze got stuck on the guest room that had been empty the same morning. Even though she was happy that she was able to help him, she also was still disappointed.

Alex wasn't sure why she was feeling like this. Maybe she felt it because she had mistaken Derek for her own father when she found him lying on the forest ground? Or was she disappointed about herself because she realized how naive she still is to still believe her father would come back to her one day?

While she laid in her bed, waiting for her sleep to arrive, she had to remember how good felt to laugh once again after almost a year. And thus she decided with her last thoughts, before her dreams took over her, that she was happy to have a guest like Derek in her house.

I welcome you to my first story and thus also my first RWBY-Fanfiction!

After enjoying other people's fan fictions (mostly about RWBY) I finally decided to try to write one on my own. I wanted to write a story mostly about OC's in the world of Remnant (because of several reason, but they'll stay a secret for now ;P) And after some trial and error I finally got a first chapter I can be happy with.

I have got many plans and ideas waiting to be implemented in this story and thus it will most likely become quite long. I haven't decided yet whether I should post everything in one story or if I should split everything into volumes, that is going to be decided on the fly.

I really do hope that you (as the reader) did enjoy this little chapter and it would be awesome if you would take your time to honour me with a small review about what you did or didn't like. In the end I want to know how to improve myself :D

Thanks again for reading, and I hope I will see you next time :)

/Erxio