A/N: Hi guys, It's me again. I've finally finished the first chapter of CDAR's Tale's replacement: Team RWGBY (pronounced as Rugby). Those of you who read and actually remember CDAR's Tale will recognise the name Cade Greyclaw, but for those that don't, don't worry. I have rewritten Cade completely, giving him a new Semblance, outfit and weapons. No other OC's from CDAR's Tale are scheduled to appear as of yet. If you haven't already, check out my other story, The Wizard's Saga, which introduces several changes to the Canon Lore which will feature in this story. Anyways, Enjoy, and please leave a review. Cheers!
"In order to defeat your enemies, you must first know them better than you know yourself"
Vale City, 10:06 pm
The street lights flickered as a large group of men walked down the street. The few citizens still out at this hour made sure to give the group a large berth as they stopped outside of a well-known Dust shop. The group's leader, dressed in a white jacket and black bowler hat, glanced momentarily at the sign, making sure that they were in the right location. Flicking some ash from the end of his cigar, he led the men inside.
Aside from the shady group who had just entered, the store was empty, save for the manager, an elderly man wearing an apron, and two customers. Signalling for two of his lackeys to handle the customers, the man in the white jacket turned his attention to the manager standing behind the counter.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?" he asked rhetorically. The manager was about to reply when one of the black-suited henchmen pointed his gun at him.
"P-please," the manager stammered out. "Just t-take my Lien and leave!"
"Calm down," the leader replied with a slight smirk. "We're not here to take your money." Turning to one of his goons, he continued. "Grab the Dust."
In the back of the store, the two goons sent to deal with the witnesses walked up to their respective targets, weapons drawn. The first came across a young girl in a red hood, whilst the other focused on a taller man in a grey cloak. Raising their weapons, the two goons were not prepared for what happened next.
Both hooded customers sprang into action, sending their would-be attackers flying through the front window. The girl in the red hood followed the goons outside, reaching for a boxy red object slung across her back. The remaining thieves dropped what it was they were doing and stared at the unfolding scythe in the girl's hands. As a result, none of them noticed the other customer reach for the katana leaning against the wall to his right.
Having retrieved his sword, Cade Greyclaw calmly walked over to the counter and paid for the Dust ammunition that he had planned on purchasing before he was so rudely interrupted. It was then that the thieves' leader broke the awkward silence that had grown.
"Okayyy," he drawled, glancing at the two would-be vigilantes. "Get 'em!"
The remaining henchmen ran towards the pair of teens, weapons drawn. Cade watched as the girl planted her scythe into the road, using the blade as a pivot point to swing out and meet her attackers feet-first. As several goons rushed towards him, Cade swept his cloak back off his shoulder, revealing several knife handles. Ignoring the knives, he drew the sword slung across his back, just as the first goon came near. Sidestepping the clumsy blow meant for his head, Cade took advantage of his attacker's position. Swinging the hilt of his sword into the back of the man's head, Cade instantly rendered him unconscious.
Activating his semblance, Cade drew on the nearby shadows, forming them into spears of darkness which he directed at the remaining three henchmen with a wave of his hand. All three spears left their targets slumped against the wall or on the footpath, clearly unable to fight. Cade turned back to the rest of the goons, only to see the scythe girl send the final goon sliding to a stop at his boss' feet. The boss, who Cade now recognised as none other than notorious criminal Roman Torchwick, looked at his hired help with disgust.
"Well, you were worth every cent," he was saying as he dropped his cigar. "Truly, you were." Torchwick turned to face the two teens, slowly walking towards them. "Well, the two of you have certainly made this an eventful evening, and as much as I would love to stick around," he said, slowly raising his cane. "I'm afraid that this is where we part ways!"
Torchwick's words were accompanied by the sound of an explosive flare being shot at the two teens. Cade barely managed to raise a wall of shadows to contain the blast, as he saw the red-hooded girl somehow use her scythe to jump into the air. Lowering his barrier, he looked around and saw Torchwick trying to climb a fire escape on a nearby building. Indicating as much to his new battle-buddy, Cade heard her ask the store manager something, before once again using her scythe to jump up to the roof. Cade followed suit, using his semblance to step into the shadows and emerge on top of the roof, just as the girl landed.
"Going somewhere?" he called out to Torchwick. The teens watched as the thief slowed to a stop at the edge of the roof. Cade heard him mutter something before a Bullhead-class airship appeared in front of Torchwick. Sheathing his sword, Cade watched as the thief clambered on board the airship. He caught a glimpse of something glowing red as Torchwick turned to face them once more.
"End of the line, Kids!" he yelled, hurling what tuned out to be a Burn Dust crystal at the roof. Cade drew his sword again and channelled his semblance into the blade. Swinging it like a golf club, Cade used the shadows to flick the Dust crystal back towards Torchwick, who had just let off another explosive shot from his cane. Cade dropped to the ground, not seeing a white and purple figure drop onto the roof in front of them.
As the smoke cleared, the first thing Cade noticed was a glowing purple Glyph floating in the air. He quickly spotted the source of the glyph: a blonde woman wearing a purple cape. He figured that the newcomer was probably a Huntress, considering the Police usually wear riot gear in situations like this. Cade and the other girl watched as the Huntress flicked her riding crop, firing off several beams of purple light towards the bullhead. Waving her crop again, the Huntress then summoned a massive Ice storm, causing Torchwick to flee to the cockpit.
Cade glimpsed a woman in a red dress walk towards the bay door before firing off several large blasts of fire. Only one fireball made it anywhere near the Huntress, causing her to summon another glyph to shield herself. Dropping his sword on the roof, Cade reached under his cloak for one of his two guns and grabbed the red-hooded teen's attention.
"Red, we need to buy the Huntress some time," he told her whilst checking his ammunition. "Give her some covering fire until she can counterattack!"
With that, Cade raised his pistol and opened fire on the bullhead. After a few seconds, he heard the girl join in, firing off sniper rounds as fast as she could operate her rifle's bolt. Soon, Cade was forced to switch to his other pistol, having exhausted the clip in his first gun and not having the time to reload. By the time he emptied the second gun, the Huntress was thrusting her crop forward once more, sending a spear formed from rubble towards the aircraft. The woman inside the bullhead fired off several fire blasts at the spear, attempting to destroy it, but the spear reformed each time until it collided with the craft. Cade took the time to reload both of his guns, never taking his eyes off the unfolding scene.
The woman in the bullhead had managed to dispel the rubble spear and was once again sending fireballs down onto the roof, forcing Cade and his allies to scatter. Having bought the pilot time to escape, the woman smirked as the bay doors closed. The Huntress was an unexpected development, but one that was easily taken care of. Neither she nor the other occupants of the bullhead realised that Cade had caught a glimpse of her face as they pulled away.
Back on the roof, Cade had reclaimed his sword from where he had dropped it during the battle. Walking back over to the Huntress and the girl, he found an interesting scene.
"Pleasepleaseplease can I have your autograph?!" the girl was yelling, having sunk to her knees in front of the Huntress.
Vale Police Department, 11:19 pm
Cade had just finished giving his statement to the police, when the Huntress dragged him and the red-hooded girl, who he now knew as Ruby Rose, into an interview room. The Huntress was pacing around the table that they were seated at, holding her Scroll in Tablet form.
"I hope the two of you realise that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly," she was saying. "You both put yourselves and others in great danger." Cade scoffed at that.
"We put people in great danger? All we did was break a window whilst fending off a gang of Dust Thieves. Not to call you a hypocrite, but that Icicle storm and debris spear that you used on the roof? That probably put people in more danger than what Red and I did on the street! Did you have any idea if there were civilians on the street below the bullhead?"
The Huntress looked at him sternly, before his words kicked in. She let out a small sigh, before continuing to speak.
"Nevertheless, there is someone here who would like to meet you both." She stepped aside, as a grey-haired man dressed in green walked into the room with a platter of cookies and a mug in his hands.
"Ruby Rose," he said, placing the cookies on the table. "You… have Silver Eyes," he finished, leaning in close.
Ruby stared at him, not comprehending the significance of her eye colour to her current situation.
"So," the man continued. "Where did you learn to do this?" he asked, gesturing to the Scroll in the Huntress' hands. Cade could see Security camera footage of the fight playing, showcasing Ruby's skills with her scythe.
"S-Signal Academy?" she stammered out, not quite sure of herself. The man raised his eyebrow slightly at that.
"They taught you how to wield one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" he asked, appearing not to believe her.
"Well, one teacher in particular, really." The man glanced over at the Huntress, before replying.
"It's just that I have only ever seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill level before," he said. "A dusty old crow…" Ruby perked up at that.
"Thash mah Unkurul!" she said over a mouthful of cookies. Cade elbowed her softly, forcing her to swallow. "Sorry. That's my Uncle Qrow! I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing, but now, well, you saw what I can do." The man sipped at his drink, nodding.
"Indeed. So, what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?' he asked, smiling.
"Well," Ruby started, "I want to be a Huntress!"
The man raised his eyebrow again.
"You want to slay Monsters?" he asked. Ruby looked at him for a second before replying.
"I wanna help people," she said. "I've only got two more years left at Signal, then I'm gonna apply to Beacon Academy!"
The man looked at the blonde Huntress, who glared at him as if knowing exactly what he was planning to do. Turning back to Ruby, he looked at her with interest.
"Do you know who I am?" he asked her. Ruby nodded.
"Yeah," she said. "You're Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon."
"Hello," Ozpin introduced himself, smiling. Turning to Cade, he began questioning him.
"And what about you, young man? Where did you learn to fight like that?"
Cade looked back at Ozpin, choosing his words carefully.
"Self-taught, mostly," he replied. "I grew up outside of Vale. My father taught me how to shoot and wield a sword before he died. I never went to an Academy, like Ruby did."
"But you applied to my school. Why?" Ozpin asked.
"My father had several sayings, Professor," Cade began. "One of his favourites went something like this: 'In order to defeat your enemies, you must first know them better than you know yourself'. That's why I applied to attend Beacon. I want to learn everything I can about the monsters out there so that I can protect people from them. Becoming a Huntsman is just a bonus."
Ozpin absorbed this information, deciding upon the course of action he would take. Finally, he stood up.
"Do you want to attend my school?" he asked, looking over at the pair. Ruby's eyes lit up at that.
"More than anything!" she said, beaming. Cade simply grunted an affirmative. Ozpin nodded in response.
"Well, alright then. Welcome to Beacon."