Chapter 1: A Strange Wake up Call
"To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour." - Winston Churchill
I slowly stirred myself awake as I usually had done every morning. Given by the sunlight that was hitting my shut eyes it was shortly after sunrise. As I had opened my eyes I started stretching to get ready for the day. However, I had noticed that something was off, very off. The fact I was not in my bedroom, but a very nice looking hotel room. I sat up quickly and scanned the room but found nothing out of the norm for hotel rooms. I did notice something on the night stand next to the bed: a pair of Colt 1851 Navy Richards-Mason revolvers with dark mahogany wood grips and a dual tone finish with the cylinder, trigger, and hammer being brass and the frame and barrel in a matte black. Next to them was a pistol belt that had two dark brown leather holsters for the revolvers that seemed to be placed at the hips. There were individual loops for the bullets for the revolvers on the front part of the belt and the back part. One thing that seemed odd was that some of the bullets in the loops were a myriad of colors, ranging from red to blue to yellow and everything in between.
As I got out of the bed I noticed that colors seemed to be sharper and my general senses appeared to be finely tuned. Namely, my sight and smell seemed to be better than normal which had given me pause. This whole ordeal was far too odd for my liking and was bugging me. Granted, I didn't wake up in the bathtub filled with ice and a scare or two on my abdomen, but waking up in a hotel room with no memories of how I got here are very concerning. I quickly grabbed one of the revolvers and slowly walked around the room with my thumb on the hammer and finger on the trigger, searching for any evidence of anyone else being in the room. The room was a normal and mostly empty hotel room save one large suitcase, and some clothes hanging in the closet. I returned to the bedroom and placed the hand cannon back on the nightstand.
I then decided to put some new clothes on as I was currently wearing a pair of gray shorts and a black tank top. I walked over to the closet I found clothes hanging in and put those on. The outfit I was now wearing consisted of a pair of tan combat boots, a pair of worn navy blue jeans with a black belt and a black button down shirt under a light gray vest with a dark red tie. Finally a pair of black gloves with the thumb, index and the middle fingers cut off on the right glove. I left the shirt tucked in with the sleeves rolled up to just under my elbows because it looked good with the vest and tie. As I had put the vest on, I noticed something in the right pocket and pulled out a strange device. The object opened and a screen flickered to life between the two halves and a message popped up on the screen.
Dear, Jakob Liath
I'm sure you are very curious as to why you have woken up in a hotel room surrounded by objects you are not familiar with and not where you had went to sleep last night. Let's just say it is for the best if you don't question it too much. All that you need to know is that you are of use here and can lead a life of significance. We will be in touch soon.
P.S. Don't forget you have a cab to catch at 8:40 and a flight at 9:00.
-Your benefactor, Wednesday
While the note was odd, given the fact I'm not missing vital organs and I'm armed so I think that I am not in any danger. I figured I'll play along for now and see what in the hell have I found myself in. I placed the guns in their holsters, grabbed the belt and walked over to the suitcase and rummaged through it to make sure their wasn't anything shady in it, then repacked it. There was enough space that I put the belt and revolvers in because I didn't want to walk out of a hotel with two guns on my hips. I looked at the clock to see it was 8:30 and out of instinct I ran my hand through my hair and felt something odd on the top of my head while a foreign sensation emanated from the top of my head as well.
I walked over to the bathroom to find out what the hell was resting on the top of my head. Upon entering the bathroom, I was greeted with my hair in a bedhead fashion and under my dark brown eyes was a slight darkness from lack of sleep. Upon closer inspection, I had noticed something sticking out of my unruly hair more specifically, there were two things sticking out; a pair of brown coyote ears that matched the color of my hair. I tentatively felt the new additions, feeling a sensation in the new set of ears as well only confirmed that they were real.
"What the actual fuck?" I asked myself as I looked at the animal ears.
Hurriedly, I fixed my hair into something decent and akin to Clint Eastwood's hair from 'A Fistful of Dollars'. On the topic of younger, I noticed several other things that were off. One, I was lacking the short beard that I had been growing for the past month; two, my hair was shorter and thirdly, my facial features seemed to be more youthful which also confused the hell out of me. Thankfully, I still had a nice light five o'clock shadow, although, the last time I had one was a few years back. Realizing what time it was, I quickly gathered my stuff and exited the room and made my way to the main floor.
After fully checking out of the hotel, I found the cab outside that was supposed to take me to an airport in the town, named "Luna Regional Airport". As we drove, I noticed that building in the city were very familiar designs, yet I could not find any recognizable landmarks. Signs were still written in English and the general architecture was western, yet so many things were off. However, the more I had thought about the more one idea had came to my head as to what was going on, but I clearly purged that idea from my mind for being too outlandish. The next logical idea was that this was one strange fever dream and that was an idea that I could understand and believe.
After all, how else can you explain animal ears and being somewhere else instead of being at home? Also other people walking the streets had other forms of animal parts which seemed to convince me even more that this was a dream. Combined with the fact I am armed with antique firearms that predate my home state's statehood by thirty years. After a couple minutes I had came to my destination and as I had reached into my other vest pocket for a wallet, the driver told me that I had already paid for the ride in advance. I had assumed that whoever this 'Wednesday' person had paid for the cab and the hotel before I 'woke' up...where ever here is. I entered the airport just as the device in my vest had gone off.
I hope you made it to the airport on time. You'll need the files attached to not only to board you flight, but to also be allowed to stay at your destination. We'll be in touch.
-Wednesday
I opened the first file that was sent to me to see it was a ticket for the flight and the second one was a form of identification. Almost everything on it was accurate, from date of birth, to eye color, to name, to weight and height. However, there was one thing that was different which was my age was no longer 20, it was 17. Somebody must have screwed up royally with the date on this thing because it displayed August 5th as the current date instead of November 5th. However, when I opened up the final document attached I nearly couldn't believe what the title read.
'Beacon Academy Student Identification'
Suddenly, it all had came to me at once. The oddly colored bullets, the animal ears, being armed with antique guns; I was having a dream I was in the RWBY universe?
Right...?
This is a dream, right...?
"Son of a bitch!" I muttered to myself.
'This has to be a dream, right?! People don't just wake up in a whole different reality...universe...dimension...whatever the hell you wanna call it!' My mind screamed.
I took a deep breathe and let myself calm down. If anyone knew how I got here it had to be this Wednesday person and I would wring the answers out of them. Then, I'm going to make him send me back home, because I do not want to be involved in this shit.
Right now, I still had to catch the flight to Beacon which is were Wednesday most likely is. I quickly got through the lines and found myself waiting at a lounge near the gate that my flight was waiting at. While I waited, I had removed the pistol belt and put it on. I'm sure it looked shady as shit but nobody seemed to notice or cared. I knew that the students going to Beacon were allowed to have their weapons out and I found no need to hide it anyway.
Other people waiting around had crazy-ass weapons on them and I could never understand why anyone who just found themselves in this universe would settle for those kinds of overly complex weapons. Nor could I abide by people who don't seem to have any experience with larger and heavier weapons like battle-axes or claymores can use them properly, let alone carry them.
There are so many things to nit-pick about self insert stories that I'll just keep it simple: Don't ever tell anyone you are from another world, because you'll most likely get tossed into a loony bin and also keep the weapons simple so you can use them efficiently. And these two points are ones I plan to follow to the letter, if I can't get back. It will make things so much easier. Chances are, no matter how cool your weapon is, if it takes too long to transform, reload or is too heavy, you'll end up as Grimm chow. Especially in the first few encounters with the Grimm, although I don't know how much damage a .45 will do to them either.
On another note, I felt like the epitome of the Engineer's statement of 'Use a gun and if that doesn't work, use more guns' as I had two hand-cannons on me. As well as a large quantity of bullets to feed said weapons in the belt.
"Now boarding, Flight Blue to Beacon Academy." The intercom announced and people started to walk towards the gate.
I snapped out of my internal argument over fanfics and got up and also headed over to the gate. As I approached the nice lady that was at the desk near the gate, I pulled up the ticket on the device... I guess its a scroll, but she held up her hand.
"Just place it on here." She said politely.
I smiled kindly and did as instructed and entered the gateway afterwards. After boarding the airship they took my suitcase for me and I found a seat, sat down and waited for the ship to take off. Looking around, I couldn't make out any familiar faces, but knew that I was one of the first people on and most of the people were still boarding.
After a moment or two, I thought I had noticed a familiar shaggy blonde haired boy that goes by the name of Jaune Arc. However, the more I looked at this man I came to realize that it wasn't the future leader of Team JNPR because this man had green eyes and wore different clothing. Tall people, people with similar hair color and the seer amount of bodies walking through it made it difficult to spot anyone else. There was a good amount of people currently on the airship that had very unique hair colors and styles which made it that much tougher to find anyone. It wasn't long before the ship seemed to be at full capacity and I could feel the inertia of the ship taking off.
I also tried to listen for the very recognizable voices of the main cast too, since I had superior hearing. However, it was still a difficult task because there were many conversations going on at the same time. Also, only having the new ears for less than thirty minutes doesn't mean I know how to use the superior hearing that comes with them. Although, since they are a part of my anatomy I should be able... I snapped myself out of that train of thought remembering that I don't plan on staying around so it shouldn't matter.
After, I find this "Wednesday" I'm going to politely ask them to take me back to Earth and then get more aggressive if they refuse. I really don't want to stay here because it will be very easy to get myself killed by Grimm or getting wrapped up in the plot. My chances of completely avoiding the plot are next to none due to my odds of interacting with the main cast and I am stupid enough to try to prevent or advert the Fall of Beacon. Either way, I'm going to have a hopefully nice conversation with this "Wednesday".
I decided to open my scroll and have a small little conversation with them before I had one face-to-face.
Made it on time and currently on a ship heading to Beacon, Wednesday.
I put the device away and closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Regardless of how this will all turn out, today is going to be a long day.
"Hello, and welcome to Beacon! My name is Glynda Goodwitch." A hologram of the professor states just after it flickers to life further down the room of the airship. "You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world." The projection finished and flicked off just as quickly as it appeared. What was odd was the news report about Torchwick's attempted robbery didn't appear before the speech. Chances are I just missed it while scanning the crowd.
As the hologram dissipated, the horde of people started to converge near the windows of the airship which is where I was sitting. They all took in the sights of the large city below us and I used this time to look through the crowd to try to find some familiar faces. As I scanned the people, my scroll then went off and I opened up to see a new message.
I'm glad to hear that you have made it, it would be a shame if you slept in and missed your first day at Beacon.
-Wednesday
'At least whoever this 'Wednesday' is, they either do or are very good at pretending to care about my well being.' I thought as I put my scroll away. 'Either way, its not going to stop me from beating them in to a bloody-' My thoughts were interrupted by a commotion further up the room.
As the airship continued on its course, I saw Beacon come into view out of the corner of my eye. Suddenly, I found myself gazing out the window to see that we were hundreds of feet in the air. I felt my body tense up slightly as I realize how high we are and how close I was to a window. I let myself calm and got up from my seat and stood near the center of the room as we began to approach Beacon. I could feel the airship beginning to descend which had caused my footing to be a little rough. Then, the airship came to a mildly sudden stop and everyone rocked with the motion of the ship. People began to funnel towards the doors and I followed suit and found myself at the exit of the airship.
I found myself at the exit of the airship and as I took my first step back on to real ground, I felt my legs turn to jello for a second then give out. In the span of a second, I went from standing up and looking like a badass, to being face first on the ground looking like a newborn deer trying to walk.
"I guess I'll just die here." I muttered to myself before I got off of the floor.
Thankfully, there wasn't anyone around to notice because I must have been the last person off of the airship, so my pride remains intact.
"Are you alright?" A voice behind me inquires.
Or maybe not.
I quickly dusted myself off, trying to look better before turning to face the new arrival. Standing in front of me was a young woman who stood about 6' tall, which was an inch or two taller than me. She had short dark brown hair that had caramel colored locks that were longer with a black beret. Her eyes were covered by a pair of aviator sunglasses, her outfit consisted of a long light brown shirt, dark brown waist cincher, a pair of black gloves without the index fingers, dark brown pants with a brown belt that had a crosshair buckle with a black quarter skirt and bullets attached. Finally, she wore a pair of black high heels and had a hand bag slung over her shoulder with a massive quantity of bullets attached along the strap.
The young woman who was standing in front of me was none other than the fashion oriented leader of Team CVFY, Coco Adel. However, my brain ceased functioning for a second to admire her beauty before my brain regained control. I had mastered controlling my hormones when I was... well the last time I was seventeen.
"Y-yeah, just not used to flying on airships I guess." However, that didn't stop me from feeling embarrassed from eating shit in front of an attractive girl.
"Are you sure you're not used to walking?" Coco teased, sliding down her glasses.
"Funny." I muttered before continuing to walk towards the academy.
As I walked, I heard the clicking of heels as Coco caught up with me. "I didn't bruise your ego too much, did I?"
"No, my ego has been non-existent for a while." I joked, to which Coco let out a small chuckle.
"At least, you're a good sport... with moderate fashion senses." She stated pulling her shades down again. "Anyways, I'm Coco."
"Jakob Liath." I responded, extending my hand out for a handshake. "And I'll ignore the fashion comment."
She returned the handshake. "Don't be jealous of my superior taste, cowboy. Either way, I'll see you around." Coco then continued past me and towards the academy.
'Do the second, third and fourth years also take the airship back each year?' I thought as I watched Coco walk away. 'They have to. After all, she is wearing the same outfit in Volume 2 and 3.'
I then started to walk towards the academy. As I did, I took in the sheer size of Beacon and was in awe at the castle-like layout of it. The closest thing to a castle that I've personally been to was Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California and that wasn't as large and grandiose as Beacon appears to be. The whole area had to be at least be close to a square mile with some of the buildings being five or six stories and the architecture had to be at least several decades old.
Finally, after walking while admiring Beacon I had arrived at the amphitheater where the other students were waiting for Ozpin to give his speech. I quickly found a spot in the crowd and also waited for the Headmaster. I then took the time to send a message to "Wednesday".
We need to have a face-to-face talk, soon.
I then closed my scroll and waited for a response or for Ozpin to come up. A few moments later, I felt the scroll buzz and I quickly retrieved it and opened the device.
Yes we do, and we will after the speech.
-Wednesday
'I'm glad we see things eye to eye at least.' I dryly thought to myself. The crowd of students slowly got thicker as more and more entered the auditorium and waited for the opening speech. There was a huge influx of students as I soon found myself shoulder to shoulder with others and people were trying to worm their way though. It thankfully wasn't long before someone tapped on the microphone and the room quieted down.
Ozpin then gave an opening speech, but I was too busy having a revelation. Out of all the possible people to bring my ass across dimensions, it had to be either Ozpin or Salem and since I ended up with papers admitting me to Beacon I knew who was responsible. Of course that gray haired bastard is behind all of this, which means he definitely has the means to bring me back to Earth. Even if he's a powerful, centuries old wizard I still intend on making him send me back by any means necessary.
The speech had finished and the crowd started to disperse. While this was happening, I pulled out my scroll and sent another message to 'Wednesday'.
It's time we had that chat.
It didn't take to long before I got a reply.
Yes it is, I'll be out by the statues in the courtyard.
However, before I received the message, I had been watching Ozpin walk down from the stage and he never seemed to have pulled out his scroll. Also, Ozpin didn't seem to be walking in the direction of the courtyard.
'Well, fuck, there goes my guess.' I cynically thought to myself as I walked back towards the courtyard.
It didn't take long before I found myself at the statues and waited for 'Wednesday' to show up. I quickly looked around the area and found no one else outside; neither teacher nor student.
"It's nice to finally talk face to face, Jakob Liath." An older voice called out from behind me.
Quickly, I spun around startled with both of my hands on my sidearms. No less then five feet in front of me was an elderly man, dressed in a sharp black suit, with a white dress shirt and red tie as well as a black wide brim hat. He had grayed hair with a long grayed beard, one blue with an eye-patch over the other eye. In his right hand he had a staff that had two bird heads at the top.
"You and I have a lot to discuss." The old man stated.
"I couldn't agree more." I said through my teeth.
"Being hostile will get you nowhere. I understand this isn't an ideal situation, but at least listen to what I have to say first."
"And why should I?!" I asked, feeling my patience running thin already.
"I have the offer you have been looking for all your life: a meaningful purpose."
I couldn't formulate an appropriate response, so I stood quietly and let myself calm down.
"From a young age you've been searching for something to make your life more meaningful. You still have ambitions to join the military in the hopes to help others, even if it cost you your life. You have been trying to find a calling that gives you a chance to help or save others. Are you not?" The old man asked, cocking his eyebrow.
I couldn't deny what he said without being a liar. I wanted to have done something with my life that I could look back on and feel that I may have made a difference.
"Now, here you are with an opportunity that you will never find again in your life. However, that isn't the only reason I have brought you here. As you are aware, there is a secret war waging between Ozpin, professor of this academy and Salem that has mainly been fought between proxies. So there lies the reason why you are here; help Ozpin by eliminating Salem's proxies." Wednesday explained.
"You brought me here to kill?"
"Don't tell me that breaks a rule of your moral code. You of all people here on Remnant understand how vile those people are. You know what they are planning and the ramifications of their actions, after all sometimes the best way to save lives it to take them."
Again, Wednesday's reasoning wasn't too off from mine and I agreed with what he had to say. However, even with the solid reasoning this wasn't an easy choice and it took a minute or two of weighing the options.
"Alright, I'll help, but once I've dealt with them I want you to take me back to when I left." I stated, after letting out a long sigh.
"I can't guarantee that you'll kill all of her associates or you'll want to go back. Either way, you have a deal." He stated as he reached his hand out for a handshake.
"Good." I returned his handshake.
"Now, I believe you have a tour to take. However, the next time we talk, you'll have to refer to me as Professor Wednesday." He said as he walked away.
'Of course, he is a professor here. What else did I expect.' I spoke to myself as I returned to the auditorium.
