"It's a little funny how it started. Well, not really, considering it started with a gun in my mouth."

(- - -)

Everything was black. Rian felt a slight panic as he tried to figure out what had happened. Taking a deep breath, he focused on what he could feel. He felt sick. Not sick in the sense of wanting to vomit, but just that every fiber of his being ached. There was a slight breeze, taking the edge off an otherwise intense heat washing over him. He was leaning against something hard and uneven. Rough. There was something cold and metallic in his hands and he felt something similar in his mouth. Slowly the pieces came together in his head. As his panic grew, he struggled to open his eyes, as if something was holding them shut.

As his eyelids finally separated, his fears were confirmed. His hands were clutching a rifle, finger pressed on the trigger, and his mouth around the muzzle. Carefully removing his hand from the trigger, he used his other hand to push the rifle away. Rian struggled to get to his feet, finding his movements sluggish, feeling like he had been submerged in water. Propping himself against the rock he had been leaning against, he looked around at his surroundings, confused.

He was in a small clearing at the top of a small tree-covered hill, the sun beating down on him from almost directly above. The gentle wind he had felt tugged red leaves from their perches, carrying them away. All around the hill were similar rose-stained trees, giving the appearance of a sunset trapped in their branches. While the landscape was largely flat, in the distance to what he presumed to be east were a number of jagged mountains. Even further to the south he saw what looked to be a city.

Where the hell am I? And how the hell did I get here? Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Rian calmed his mind, trying to pierce the fog that was preventing him from thinking clearly. It was night, I was driving and then… what? He struggled to put the pieces together, but his memory simply couldn't fill in the blanks.

Reopening his eyes, he looked around again with a more critical eye. Okay, it's the middle of winter. Why haven't the leaves fallen yet? And why is it so damn hot? I'd have to be pretty far south for it to be like this. Looking down at himself, he was greeted by another unusual sight. Where did I get these clothes?

He was wearing a light-weight white turtleneck with light blue accenting on the sides and a similarly blue compression shirt underneath. He also wore a slightly darker blue pair of jeans and a white pair of shoes with more blue accents. Normal enough, if a bit overkill for the current weather, but covering his arms below his elbows and down the sides of his legs was what appeared to be scale mail, all tempered to the same blue as the accents. Slung over his back was a heavy earth-brown leather satchel which, upon inspection, he saw carried several large ammo magazines. Glancing over to the rifle that lay in the dirt a few feet away, he saw a similar magazine loaded into it. And since when do I own a sniper rifle? Rian mused. I mean, it looks cool, but I don't remember getting it. Rian frowned. 'Course, there's a lot of things I'm not remembering…

Pushing the troubling thought aside, Rian walked over to pick up the rifle he had earlier cast away. It was lighter than its design implied. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a normal Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle, albeit marginally larger, and it had obviously been modified. The scope was noticeably different than a normal telescopic sight as well; a little bit longer and a little bit boxier. Rather than the standard magazine-in-front-of-trigger design, the magazine was instead loaded behind the grip in a bullpup configuration. If there had been no magazine loaded, there would simply have been a gap between the grip and the stock. As it was, the pistol grip was actually connected to an oversized trigger guard that protected the entire hand, the bottom tapering off to a sharpened edge that jutted out toward the front. The magazine and stock are like that too, he thought. Almost like a – Lifting the rifle up so that he was holding it from the top, he gave it an experimental swing. From what he could tell, the rifle doubled as a battle-axe. Huh.

Further inspecting the weapon, he noticed the words Midnight Song etched into the metal. That your name, then? As he pondered this, he found the safety and switched it on. Next to it, however, was another switch. Curious, he pressed it. He flinched as the rifle collapsed on itself, the barrel retracting into the receiver. Damn, that's awesome! His awe was short lived as the world around him gave way to blackness. Visions began to flash in his mind, causing him to drop the compacted rifle and driving him to his knees.

Digging through scrap metal, looking for just the right pieces, ignoring cuts and calluses… Laying on dried grass, firing at a piece of sheet metal; four clicks down, three clicks right… Swinging the axe blade as fires burned around him.

Reality snapped back around Rian as sweat poured over his face. This time, he did want to throw up. After he recovered, Rian sat back against the rock as everything began to catch up with him. He was stuck in the middle of a forest he couldn't remember coming to, wearing clothes he'd never seen before and having memories that felt foreign, grafted into his mind. And to top it all off, not ten minutes ago he had been less than a pound of force away from putting a bullet through his brain and he didn't know why. He was scared. Terrified.

Fighting back tears, he took a deep breath to soothe his nerves and pulled himself up. I need to get out of this forest and find people who can help fill in the blanks. Grabbing the rifle, he stared off to the south, straining his eyes. If that was a city out there, it was probably his best bet. Wiping sweat and tears from his eyes, he clipped the collapsed rifle to the strap on his back and set off on his long walk to civilization.

(- -)

Rian reached the outskirts of the city not long after sunset, which had given him plenty of time to consider his situation. He knew that people could have amnesia that only affected part of their memory, and it was often triggered by traumatic events. Considering he was about to kill himself, that could very well be the case. The last memory he could recall was of winter, and based on the trees, it had to be mid-fall at least, so he was missing almost a full year of his memory, if not more.

Wandering through the almost empty streets, Rian desperately looked for any place that would pass for a place to stay the night. He had weighed the gnawing in his stomach and the heaviness on his eyes and had decided that food could wait. Eventually, he stumbled into a rundown building offering cheap rooms on a broken neon sign. Dragging himself up to the worn down but still clean counter, he addressed the man standing behind it. "Uh, excuse me?" The sound of his voice surprised him, as it occurred to him that he hadn't actually spoken since finding himself in the forest.

What surprised him even more was what he saw when the man behind the counter turned around. Protruding from his forehead near his temples were two horns. "Can I help you?"

Rian physically recoiled, which he immediately regretted as the man gave him a nasty glare. "You got a problem with Faunus?" he growled.

"N-no?" Rian stammered. I don't even know what a Faunus is! Just what the hell did I miss?

The horned man kept his icy glare. "Well, what do you want?"

Don't look at the horns, don't look at the horns, don't look at the horns… "H-how much for a room?" Rian asked.

"For one night, fifty lien. For you… a hundred."

Rian was too tired to argue, but he figured he deserved it anyway. Awkwardly searching his pockets, he pulled out a silver metallic device with a gold diamond on it and a piece of slightly crumpled paper before finally pulling a thin wallet from his right pocket. Opening it, Rian found several multi-colored cards inside. "Lien?" he accidentally mumbled, pulling out a card with a 100 on it. Noticing the muttered comment, the desk clerk swiped the card from Rian's hand. "Cut me some slack," he grumbled, "I'm exhausted."

As he stood at the desk, Rian struggled not to fall asleep on his feet. He really didn't want to piss this guy off any more than he had. He almost managed it.

"There you go."

Rian snapped awake as the desk clerk slammed the key and the card on the counter. At least, Rian thought it was the same card. He was sure the one he had given the clerk was red; this one was white. As he reached to take them, however, the clerk pulled them back, looking over Rian's shoulder suspiciously. It was at this point that Rian remembered that he had a rather large weapon on his back, and he suddenly became self-conscious. He's not gonna kick me out, is he? I mean, he already took my money and has the key out.

"You a Hunter?" The question caught him off-guard, and it took Rian's weary mind a good two seconds to come up with a response.

"Y-yes?"

The response came out as more of a question than he would have liked, but the clerk seemed to grudgingly accept it as he handed over the key and card, though he still looked rather irate. Apparently being a "Hunter" made it okay to carry a weapon.

"Second door on the right."

Rian clumsily shoved the card into his pocket and wobbled down the hall, pausing to make sure that the door he'd stopped at was indeed his room. After struggling to unlock the door, he walked in, closed the door and collapsed on the bed. Finall… His thought was interrupted as he drifted off to sleep.

(- -)

Fires burned around him, his entire world was red. Lifting his weapon, he swung it as hard as he could. A scream pierced the air, shattering the world. He could do nothing as the axe blade fell—

Rian's eyes shot open as he woke from his nightmare. Propping himself up from where he slumped into the bed, he wiped the drool from his mouth as he struggled to grasp the details of his dream before they faded away. No luck. Sighing, he looked around the room for the first time. The paper covering the walls was slightly yellowed, and the furniture in the room also showed their age, but much like the front desk, they were in good condition.

Getting up from the bed, he stepped into the small bathroom by the door. Turning on the sink, he cupped his hands under the stream of water. He sniffed it, hoping it was safe to drink before taking in a mouthful and splashing the rest on his face. The water wasn't as cool as he would normally have liked, but considering how thirsty he was, he wasn't picky. It tasted clean and that was all that mattered. Looking up, he inspected himself in the mirror.

From what he could tell, he wasn't much older than he'd remembered, so the idea that a year had passed wasn't too far-fetched. In fact, he could almost say he looked exactly the same. Same black hair, albeit somewhat shorter than he preferred, same sapphire irises, same scar on his chin. The longer Rian looked at himself, however, the more apparent it became that something was off. His eyes looked dull, tired. It wasn't sleepiness, though. Rather, it seemed to him as though he had seen far more darkness than one can see and maintain hope for the future. And if it had been a year, he was only eighteen. Sighing, Rian walked back to the bed to pick up the key where he had dropped it and made his way to the front desk.

There was a young woman behind it this time, probably in her late teens, and while she didn't have horns, she did have a tail. A big, bushy squirrel tail. Taking a deep breath, Rian walked up to the desk and forced a smile as he held out his key. Returning the smile with one far more genuine, the squirrel-tailed woman took it, cheerfully saying, "If you didn't leave anything in the room, you're all set!" Moving her eyes over him she hesitated before asking, "You're the Hunter that came in last night, right?"

Feeling uncomfortable with the unexpected small talk, Rian subconsciously gripped his thumb between his index and middle fingers as he replied. "Yeah, I guess."

"You don't look so bad," she said with a smile.

Rian paused, struggling to mask his growing discomfort as he tried to figure out what she had meant by that. Is… is she coming on to me? No, you're just reading into things, idiot. "Uh, thanks?" he managed to get out.

"Sorry," the squirrel-tailed woman apologized. "It's just that Rudy said that… well, you didn't exactly make the best first impression."

"Yeah, well, in my defense I could say the same about him." The statement came out more hostile than defensive and Rian grimaced internally at his wording.

The desk clerk's smile dropped slightly. "We've just had some… issues with humans who don't look kindly on Faunus."

Oh. Well that explains a lot.

"Sorry, I should really let you go," the woman apologized again, the smile returning to her face. "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Rian gave a reassuring smile. "No, I'm all set, thanks." Walking away, his stomach chose that moment to, rather loudly, remind him of his error. Turning back, he reluctantly asked, "Actually, is there someplace nearby I could get some food?"

(- -)

Rian sat in the corner of the small diner the squirrel-tailed woman had cheerfully directed him to. Looking down at the empty plate in front of him, he returned to the thoughts that had been plaguing him for the past hour. Just how much did I miss? I mean, there are people with… animal parts, Faunus. Is it some sort of trend – people having synthetic parts attached? Rian frowned. No, the two at the hotel didn't exactly seem like they could afford it. Besides, it seems like Faunus face discrimination, so I don't think anyone would willingly do that to themselves. Could they be aliens? Rian chuckled to himself at the thought. They seem awfully well adjusted for that to be the case. Plus it's not like I've seen any spaceships floating about. No, there's something I'm missing.

Rian gave the waitress a smile as she took his plate away, leaving a check in its place. He wasn't quite ready to leave yet, so he ignored it for the time being. It would be lovely if I had my phone on me, but no! All I've got is a wallet with no ID and whatever this 'lien' money is, a piece of paper and some – Rian's hand snapped to his pocket, searching for the mysterious metal device. Flipping it around in his hands, he noticed a seam running down the middle and a button on the diamond. He pressed it and the seam split slightly, allowing him to pull the two halves of the device apart. A panel connected the two hand grips, and he couldn't help but notice that the panel was actually wider than the two handgrips combined. Okay, this is pretty cool, but how the hell does that even work?

The screen automatically turned on and opened what looked to be an email marked as two days old. At the top was a circular symbol adorned with two axes and a pair of laurels. Rian hesitated. He had no real reason to think that this strange device wasn't his, ignoring the fact that he had no idea how he got it, but something deep inside him felt uncomfortable using it. Deciding to ignore the feeling in his gut, he began to read the message.

"Rain"

"Can't even spell my name right." Rian smirked at the thought before continuing.

"I would like to begin by saying that I am sorry that events happened the way they did. While I do not agree with your actions, I understand why you did what you did. It couldn't have been easy, especially for one of your age. While I would have preferred to deliver this message in person, I also understand your desire for solitude. Just know that my invitation to attend Beacon still stands. I hope you will consider it.

-Ozpin"

Rian stared at the message for few minutes, trying to make sense of it. He had no idea who this Ozpin guy was or what events he was referring to, but they didn't sound good. The part that intrigued him the most, however, was the part about Beacon. "Attend" was usually used to refer to a school, and in this case, it was probably safe to assume that Beacon was a college of some sort. Chances were he could get some answers there, especially if this Ozpin guy was there.

Rian stopped to think. He could use the device to try to contact people he knew, but he wasn't entirely sure how it worked. Besides, what would I even say? "Hey, how's the last year been? 'Cause I don't remember any of it. Where am I? Oh, I have no idea; some city." Yeah, probably better to hold off on that until I can get an idea of what's been going on.

Scanning the screen, he located the magnifying glass search icon and tapped it, bringing up a simple screen with a keyboard. Feeling slightly foolish, he typed the words "Where am I." The result that came up simply said "Vale." Thanks, that's SUPER helpful. Typing the word "Vale" turned up a number of results, the first of which read, "Vale is the capital of the kingdom of Vale." Rian stared at the result as if some hidden meaning would pop out. What? Kingdom? Since when? Where the hell am I?

Giving up, he typed in the words "Beacon school," results immediately popping up. He quickly scanned the first result that came up for a Beacon Academy. Bingo. He wasn't particularly concerned about the details at this point, he just wanted to get there. Tapping away at the screen, he modified his search to read "Beacon Academy directions." This time, a map came up, showing his position and detailing a route to what appeared to be an airport. Great, it's not even in the city.

With a sigh of defeat, Rian collapsed the device before pulling himself up and sliding it into his pocket. Reaching under the table, he grabbed the collapsed rifle and slung it onto his back before swiping the check off the table. He walked up to the counter, digging into his other pocket to pull out his wallet.

"You one of the new students?"

"Hmm?" Rian looked up at the waitress who had spoken while ringing him up. "I'm sorry?"

"Beacon," she explained. "You're one of the new students?"

Rian was slightly confused. The directions take me to an airport, but she's talking as if Beacon is in the city. "Uh, yeah." He smiled. Might as well go along with it.

"Well, that's nice! My sister went there; it's the best school in all of Vale to become a Hunter."

There's that word 'Hunter' again. Rian handed her one of the green money cards from his wallet. "Yeah, well, you don't need to sell me on it. I'm already going there."

This elicited a laugh from the waitress as she handed him his card back. "I guess you're right. Good luck at the initiation tomorrow!"

"Yeah, thanks," Rian said distractedly, turning as he looked down at the card in his hands. He was certain it was the same card, but now it was more yellow than green, and the 20 had been replaced by a 12.5.I guess the number and color change as you use them. Smart money. Cool. He really had a lot to catch up on.

Stepping out into the late morning sun, Rian covered his eyes as they adjusted to the sudden increase in light. It was still fairly cool, but it was warm enough that Rian felt uncomfortable in his jeans and turtleneck. As he pulled the device back out of his pocket, his brain finally processed the waitress's parting words. Initiation? What the hell am I getting myself into? With a sigh, he opened the device to consult the map. Well, let's give this a go, shall we?

(- -)

Rian was not at all prepared for what he saw as he neared his destination. As he stared up at the sight before him, only one thought passed through his mind: Well, there's the spaceships. In truth, the massive transports that hovered overhead didn't look like they could actually go into space, but the design was so foreign and so far removed from what he had expected that Rian couldn't help but wonder.

Jogging across the street, Rian entered the terminal, a rush of cool air greeting him. He was thankful for the cooler atmosphere, but looking around he could feel his body temperature rise. He had no idea what to do next. He could count the number of times he'd been in an airport on one hand, and in each case he'd been there to see someone else off. It didn't help that he had no idea where he was supposed to be going. Looking down, he consulted the map on the device. It simply told him to take an airship to Beacon. Great, he grumbled, sliding it back into his pocket. Super helpful.

Deciding to wing it, he began walking through the terminal doing his best to look like he knew what he was doing. He knew it was unlikely that someone would stop him, but the irrational part of his mind was terrified of the conversations that could possibly ensue; not for what they might say, but that he might come off as an idiot. If Rian hadn't been so tense, he would have sighed. He knew his social fears were ridiculous and unfounded, but that that didn't stop them from controlling him at times.

Scanning his surroundings, Rian's eyes were drawn to a board listing departures. "No way," he breathed, relaxing somewhat. There, in white letters, was "Beacon Academy." So, when the thing said to take an airship to Beacon, it meant take an airship TO Beacon! He compared the time with the departure listed on the board; he still had about ten minutes. Memorizing the gate number, he headed off in the direction he had come from to try to make it on time.

Rounding a corner, he finally got eyes on the gate. Rather than a typical security checkpoint, however, there was only a single guard standing next to a small terminal. Before he could take another step, someone rushed past him, clipping his arm in the process. The young girl barely broke stride as she yelled a rushed, "Sorry!" before stopping at the guard. After regaining his balance, Rian looked up to see the hooded girl pull out a device like the one in his pocket and hold it up to the terminal. The guard looked at the terminal for a second before looking at the girl and letting her pass, prompting her to take off down the hallway. She seems a little young to be going to college, Rian mused. But clearly she knows where she's going. And she's in a hurry, which means I should probably get a move on too.

Walking quickly up to the guard, Rian flashed a smile as he fished the device out of his pocket. As he looked down at the terminal, he saw that it still showed the details of the girl who had bumped into him, including her picture. Immediately he noticed three things: her name was Ruby Rose, she had silver eyes, and she was only fifteen. Huh. Interesting girl. Trying not to waste too much time, Rian quickly imitated the action that the girl had performed several moments ago. His information came up on the screen, replacing Ruby's. Curious, Rian took a look while the guard inspected it, and ended up more confused than he'd been before.

Seventeen. He had assumed that he'd lost a year of his memory. If that was the case, then he should have been almost nineteen. But seventeen? There was no way he could be the same age; not if it was the fall. There had to be something wrong, somewhere. It certainly didn't help that the name above his portrait wasn't his. Who the hell is Rain Cobal? Am… am I supposed to be Rain Cobal? Rian's dazed thoughts were interrupted as the guard passed him through the checkpoint.

Looking up as he moved forward, he caught a glimpse of Ruby disappearing around a corner at the end of the hallway. The sight caused the gears in his head to click as he realized that he was running out of time. With a grunt, Rian took off down the hallway, using his long legs to cover as much ground as possible. Rounding the corner that the silver-eyed girl had taken, he ran down another short hallway before finding himself in a cabin with a number of other teens. Rian made his way through the small crowd, hoping to find somewhere secluded, as unlikely as it seemed.

He managed to find a corner far from the door and sat on the bench that lined the room, placing his back against the wall and kicking his leg up onto the bench. He noticed that several students were passing through doors at either end of the room, but was himself content to look out the window. Gradually, the airship came to life, humming with power as the engines lifted them away from the ground. Closing his eyes, Rian relaxed, feeling the vibrations of the ship move through him. After the last day, it was calming.

When he opened his eyes, he was greeted by a fist.

So I got the idea for this story several months ago, and I've rather enjoyed building on it and fleshing my own ideas for the universe out. I hope you enjoyed reading this, but even if you didn't I would love to know why so I can make my writing better. I'm more than happy to answer any questions too, and as it is I would like to take some time to explain my use of hyphens in transition.

The idea is that a single set (-) indicates a change of perspective with little to no time change. Given that I plan on only writing from three characters perspectives, I don't plan on using this one that often. A double set (- -) indicates a time jump forward, and will probably always follow a single character. This one is going to be used most often. Finally, a triple set (- - -) indicates a time jump backwards and may follow one character (such as in the beginning of this chapter) or switch perspective.

Between college, rewrites and general laziness, I'm not sure how long it will take me to write a chapter. As it is, I have two more finished to my liking, but I want to see how long it takes me to finish the next one before I put up the second chapter. So as far as a release schedule goes, nothing's set in stone, but I'll try to shoot for every two to three weeks.

I think that takes care of the first chapter housekeeping. Once again, I hope you enjoyed the beginning of my story and I hope that those of you who stick around enjoy the future chapters!