RWBY: Ascend From Shadows
Chapter One: The Shadow Lands
The stars were out as the shattered moon overhead was in its full form, blanketing the world in pristine moon light. The land below was all but quiet save for the wind whistling through the rolling hills of grassy fields, lush forest canopies and the flow of the pure rivers.
This land, however inviting it may seem, is treacherous. It is the expanse of land that separates the kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo and by which all the Grimm of Vytal breed from. It is because of the danger this land poses that the main forms of contact the two kingdoms have now are either by boat, airship or extranet.
The Grimm claim dominion over this land of rich resources which the people of Vytal so apply dubbed the Shadow Lands, for even if the land does not give one the impression of danger it is the shadows of this land that one must fear.
For those shadows are Grimm, and the shadow they cast on this broken world is ever looming, all but ready to devour the remnants back into the void.
However, even as I say this, there're always people fool hearty enough to brave these perils and traverse lands such as these. In fact some people make it their livelihood such as this man resting high above in a makeshift hammock in the trees. Garbed in a dark green cloak and with a lantern above him, the man writes his thoughts down in a leather bound journal.
'It has been three weeks now since I have split off from the Hunters convoy and entered the Shadow Lands.' The man writes. 'To my surprise it was far easier than I had predicted to actually enter the Shadow Lands. In fact I met more resistance from the Grimm horde that had encroached on the outer farmlands of Vales borders then actually in the outer regions of the Shadow Lands. Of course I could have simply attribute the lack of Grimm to being the Grimm from those dreadful hordes that was attacking the kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo's outer settlements, farmlands and Dust mines. However initial reports of the hordes reveal a good number of those Grimm were new and most likely from farther into the Shadow Lan-' "HOOOWWWLLLL!"
Looking up from his journal the man recognized the sound to be an Alpha Beowulf's howl to bring its pack together just on the outskirts of the forest. He knew he was too far away for beast to notice his presents but he was always wary of his surroundings, especially on his expeditions. After a while the man believed the dangers of a confrontation had pass and returned to jotting down his thoughts.
'-ds. What I suspect was the cause of these Grimm hordes were the reported blast wounds observed on the newer species of Grimm that indicate some form of residual Dust residue unlike any the Schnee Company has come across before. This was a startling revelation as not only does this mean there is perhaps a chance of acquire a new type of Dust but it also means there is something capable of using said Dust in the Shadow Lands. The two conclusions I have come up with are both mind boggling.'
'The first and hopefully the truth is that there are people in the Shadow Lands not only hunting the Grimm but driving them out. While the second and more terrifying of the two theories is that through some means some Grimm have develop the ability to use Dust and have driven the less powerful Grimm out of the Shadow Lands. Both of these theories of mine would go against what was thought as established truths, one more so then the other and both being bombshells of revelations.'
'Though these are still theories and I still have much to document of the Shadow Lands as I have only traveled a total of twelve miles in. Perhaps tomorrow I will find more concrete answers and find samples of these Dust crystals as Mr. Baron is expecting me to provide some indication of where we might find these Dust crystals.
199/7/2 AGW'
Once he had dated his journal entry for the day, the man felt the urine he had been holding in for a while and decided to take a leak before bed.
Unsheathing a dagger from its holster on his waist the man spun out of his hammock and letting himself fall. The man aimed the tip of the dagger at a branch and puller a trigger at the base of the cross guard causing the blade attached to a wire to shoot out and embed itself into a branch.
Swinging himself onto the branch the man unzipped his cameo pants and began to take a piss that he had been holding in for awhile.
This man's name is Vicvin Stein, a respected scientist/Hunter from Atlas who has made it his life's work to researching the Grimm and innovations in Dust application in service of his sponsors from the Schnee Dust Company.
The Schnee Company had gotten word of the blast wounds on some of the Grimm and had suspected them to be of a new type of Dust. The company had sent Vicvin to initially help push back the encroaching Grimm hordes attacking the outskirts of the Vale kingdom along with other convoys of Hunters and Huntress and to then break off and travel to the Shadow Lands alone to assess the situation from its source and gain intel about this new form of Dust, as it was assumed that sending in a team would have attracted the unneeded attention of the Grimm in the area and they didn't want other Dust companies to get ahead of them in finding this new Dust.
For most people, an order like this would not have been the best thing to hear from ones boss but for Vicvin it was a welcome surprise. He himself had been planning an expedition to the Shadow Lands to document certain and new Grimm species as well as check population numbers to see if the kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo could expand further. Now he was being paid to do it!
You see Vicvin cares very little of danger so long as there is knowledge to be gained about the Grimm, Dust or the lost history of the world. Three of the world's greatest mysterious, for even though people have know of these subjects for years there is still so much to be learned about the three.
This thirst for knowledge led Vicvin to becoming a Hunter so he could learn to combat the Grimm and anything else that might be in his way as he traveled to the most exotic and remote places of the world in the search of this knowledge with no one but himself, his weapons Lightning Thorn and his special Dust Cloak that he designed.
But besides his training and his search for knowledge Vicvin also liked the fact he would be working alone. He wasn't so much anti-social, he just knew most people weren't as enthusiastic about learning as him and couldn't just put everything they had into research as they had obligations to families and friends.
His parents died of old age around the time he graduated from Beacon Academy in Vale and he had no real friends to speak of. He could work with colleges from both the scientific and Hunters community but he never really got to know anyone. He just put everything he had into learning and ended up with a job as a field researcher for the Schnee Company in Atlas, spending his days traveling the world, making a social life even harder to maintain even if he wanted one.
So here he was, a man of 33 traversing the Shadow Lands, looking for new forms of Dust and researching the Grimm species in the area, about to turn in for the night after reveling himself.
"Odd how taking a piss always gets me think about my life chooses." The man muttered to himself as he finished up. "Looking back, can't say I have many regrets. Can't blame anyone but myself for being impersonal but its weird how it's been starting to bug me that I never talk with anyone. Probably the years catching up I guess." Using the canteen strapped to his waist he washed Vicvin washed his hands and took a quick sip.
"Guess I'm just worried about being forgotten in my old age or something stupid like that. Would be nice to pass on my research to someone, maybe I should take on an apprentice? Not like I'll be having kids any time soon and who knows, might find someone as obsessed as me?"
With that thought Vicvin was about to return to his hammock when suddenly- "AAAAAHHHH!" a scream from deeper into the forest reached his ears. However this was no cry of any Grimm but undoubtedly that of a child.
Remembering his hypothesis and being a Hunter sworn to protect the lives of people Vicvin wasted no time as his body moved on its own. Unsheathing both his daggers he swung in the direction of the scream as fast as he could.
After swing from tree to tree for a few moments Vicvin hear another scream and then saw a Deathstalker fell a nearby tree with its pincer and screeched in front of it. Vicvin could also see what it was screeching at, a boy in ragged cloths trembling before the beast in pure horror as the Deathstalker raised its right pincer to kill the boy.
Seeing this Vicvin wasted no time and got straight to work. Swinging in low to the ground Vicvin grabbed the boy with one arm as the boy closed his eyes most likely thinking that this was his end.
The Deathstalkers pincer slammed the ground but when it saw that it had not squashed the boy it screeched out in confused rage.
The boy soon realized he wasn't dead and opened his eyes to see Vicvin holding him. "Yeah, you ain't dead kid." Vicvin told the dumbstruck boy.
With the boy safely in his arms Vicvin focused back on the Deathstalker. Knowing that it would not simply give up after finding its prey Vicvin needed to get the boy a safe distance away before he could deal with the Deathstalker.
Landing on the ground a good distance away from the Deathstalker Vicvin tried to talk to the boy.
"Kid, you have to listen to me okay?" He said this in haste, not wanting to panic the boy any further but still aware of the immediate danger.
The boy looked up at Vicvin with eyes full of shook. The boy did nothing more as Vicvin continued to talk to him.
"Look I know your scared but you have to trust me if you want to live. I have to kill that thing so stay here and-"
"No! No, I don't want to live!" The boy yelled with tears in his eyes.
Vicvin was shocked to hear this. What person, especially a child, didn't want to live?
"What the hell are you talking about? What do you mean you don't want to live?"
"I don't deserve to live! I am nothing but a burden and I don't want the clan being killed because of me! So just let me die!"
Vicvin didn't know what to say to the boy, but the time for talk was later as he turned his head back and saw the Deathstalker charging towards them.
"This is ridicules!" Yelling this Vicvin grabbed the kid and shot one of his daggers grappling hooks into a nearby tree branch, pulling them towards it.
The boy was struggling in Vicvin's arms, seemingly wanting to fall. "Look kid, I don't know your story but I do know one thing, you don't want to die!"
"Yes I do! I don't want someone dying because of me! So let go-"
"A person that wanted to die wouldn't scream in horror of their executor!" Vicvin yelled at the boy who stopped struggling and looked straight into Vicvin's eyes.
"Like I said I don't know what's happened to in your life but a person who screamed in fear of certain death does not want to die." Vicvin stressed the 'does not'. "Look, I'm going to save you and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
The boy didn't speak and simply nodded in understanding. With that Vicvin landed again and this time got the kid too corporate.
"I'll be back soon okay so don't run away, got it?"
"I couldn't even if I tried." The boy said, making Vicvin look at his legs. They didn't look broken but they did look skinny, unhealthily so. Vicvin started to get a sense of the boy's situation in life a little.
"I see. I'll be back." With that Vicvin aimed a dagger and left to fight the Deathstalker.
Vicvin knew the boy would be safe long enough for him to kill the Grimm and get them somewhere safer. Deathstalkers claimed large territories and were rather powerful Grimm so even the other Grimm stayed away from it and its territory.
Putting all his attention onto the Grimm Vicvin swung in front of the Deathstalker to get its attention. "Hey, rocks for brains! Over here!" He shouted at the Grimm which attacked him in response, slamming its pincer down at the area Vicvin was standing in.
Vicvin rolled out of the way of the attack as the Deathstalkers right set of eyes focused on him and it plunged its pincer towards him.
Vicvin planned for this and aimed for the Deathstalkers other claw and pulled himself towards it.
He then ran up the Deathstalkers arm as it was trying to pull its golden stinger out of the ground.
Vicvin knew one of the few parts of the Deathstalker not covered in its harden carapaces was its eyes and shoot both of his daggers grappling hooks into two of its ten eyes and then activated his daggers namesake ability.
The Deathstalker screech in pain as a thousand watts of electricity was surging through its eyes and in turn going directly into its brain.
Just to seal the deal Vicvin activated his semblance, which just so happened to be electricity.
Charging his Lightning Thorns attack to the fullest and unleashing the power of his lightning Dust augmenting cloak, Vicvin roared as he let loose his most powerful attack.
"Scribe Lightning!"
The Deathstalker let out one last hellish screech as its body, now coursing with electricity, began to glow electric blue, lighting up the night.
After holding his attack for a whole ten seconds just to be sure it was dead Vicvin retracted the grapples back and swung his way back to the boy.
Finding the boy still under the tree he left him at Vicvin landed a few yards away and approached the boy slowly.
"It's dead now; you don't have to be scared now." Vicvin said calmly.
"Why did you save me?" The boy looked up at Vicvin with tears in his eyes.
"Because you didn't want to die." Vicvin replied plainly.
"I may not want to but it would have been better if I had." The boy continued to cry while trying to wipe the tears away.
"Right there, I still don't get why you wanted to die. You said you were a burden to your clan but how."
"I can't fight. My body has been weak ever since I was born. I couldn't train to fight the Grimm and I worried my mom all the time. I thought the least I could do was help around the camp but I couldn't even do that anymore when my legs began to fail. I couldn't even walk by myself and need a crutch to help and I just got sicker from there."
"And let me guess, you thought it be better for everyone if you were dead so they wouldn't have to worry about you, right?"
The boy nodded "I didn't think anyone would miss me so I walked out of the camp and made my way into the forest. I wasn't strong enough to kill myself so I decided to let one of the Grimm inside the forest kill me off. " The boy was still crying letting out everything wrong with his life to the person who saved him.
Vicvin listened to the boy's story, not knowing what to say in response. Though now Vicvin understood the boy's actions better. If he cared some much for his clan that he would be willing to kill himself, even if his body was weak the boy's heart was big and strong.
The boy had stop talking for a while, crying the only sounds coming from him.
Vicvin then notice something odd about the boy as he focused on him and placed a hand on his shoulder. He then closed his eyes and tried to sense the boy's aura. The boy felt Vicvin's hand and looked up at him.
Vicvin's eyes shoot open which surprised the boy a little as Vicvin then asked the boy a question.
"Hey kid, do you know what aura is?"
"Yeah it's the thing that comes from our souls. It's an energy that people can use to protect themselves and stuff. But I don't have one, it's the reason I'm sick and can't walk." The boy looked like he was going to cry again "The Grimm can't use aura either."
"Hey, you're not a Grimm but I do know what's wrong with you and I can fix it."
"Really!?" The boy was shocked "You can fix me!?" The boy's eyes filled with hope at the thought that he could get better, be cured even.
Vicvin was about to answer him when several voice called out in the darkness.
"Ivory!"
"Ivory!"
"Ivory, can you hear use!?"
Vicvin looked in the direction of the voices and saw a few orange-red lights and the shadows that they illuminated on the trees.
"Mom!?" The boy cried as he recognized one of the voices.
"Guess I know your name now huh, Ivory." Vicvin said as he grabbed Ivory with one of his arms and held him in it. "My names Vicvin by the way now let's get you back home and start your treatment. You have a long way to go before you're strong. You want to be strong right?" Vicvin asked rhetorically, as the "Yes!" he expected left the kids lips.
"Right then, off we go." With his free hand Vicvin aimed his daggers at a nearby tree branch and swung off into the direction of the voices and lights while hearing the back and forth between a worried mother and her foolishly kind hearted son.
Vicvin was now traveling to Ivory's camp with Ivory's mother and the other members of his clan that came to look for him.
'And you thought you wouldn't be missed.' Vicvin thought as he carried the now sleeping boy to the camp.
"Can you really help my son or did you just say that for his sack?" Ivory's mother asked, hope and sadness both present in her question.
"Yes Mrs. Ivory, I am sure I can cure him." Vicvin said assuringly "I have seen your son's condition before, but only once. It is a rare disease called Vascular Aura Disease. A mutation caused by excess contact with Grimm essence when one is still in the womb but also genetic circumstances. It affects a person's Aura network causing the Aura limiter everyone is born with to actual siphon Aura continuously from the body. In other words the body is drained of its life force and the person eventually dies." Looking to Ivory's mother Vicvin could see she was starting to blame herself for her son's condition. "It isn't your fault and the last thing this kid needs is his mother blaming herself for his condition. He needs your encouragement, especially during the surgery I will have to perform on him, though Ivory will be doing most of the work."
"What do you mean by that?" Ivory's mother said hesitantly.
"You see to actually cure your son I have to perform surgery not on his body but his soul. This is where aura emanates from and where his problem lies. I will help open his Aura network but he will have to actually will the blockage out himself. But don't worry too much about that part. I know for a fact that he will be able to do it."
"And how can you be so sure?"
"When was it that you or whoever tried to unlock his Aura?"
"I did and when he was around five. He's nine now." She said as she looked back her sons sleeping form and stroked his hair.
"Well that just proves he will survive. You see this disease is fast acting, taking effect as soon as someone tries to unlock the person's Aura, they usually die within hours but your sons been holding on for four years. There's no way he won't pull through." And with that said they reached the camp.
It was rather large, around the size of a normal size village in Vales farmlands but instead of houses there were only tepees.
Vicvin had this nagging urge at the back of his mind to ask Ivory's mother everything about their clan as he it was deifying all logic the people of Remnants thought they knew of the Shadow Lands.
He wanted to, but Ivory came first and there would be a time for questions when Ivory was cured.
Ivory's mother led them to her tepee and Vicvin laid Ivory on a fur rug.
"Alright let us begin the surgery." Vicvin said out of the blue and startling Ivory's mother.
"But he's asleep!" Ivory's mother said with a shriek.
"All the better. He is calm and the surgery needs to be done when the patient is at their calmest so they can better concentrate on removing the blockage and do not worry as I operate on him he will know what to do. He will feel it."
"But how can you be so sure? What if he can't?!"
"Then he will die fighting to live, but if we don't try he will die and soon. I don't even think he will survive another year judging by the deterioration of his legs and the rest of his body."
Dumbstruck; Ivory's mother asked one final question. "Will it hurt?"
"Excruciatingly so, but he has survived this long and like I said before, he won't give up until he is cured and no longer a burden to you all. That is what he told me at least." Vicvin said as he grabbed Ivory's mothers hand and moved it towards Ivory's.
She grabbed Ivory's hand hoping her son will make it. Ivory reflexively grabbed his mother's hand in return; still asleep as a smile crept over his face.
"Hold his hand but do nothing else, he needs to know you're with him but he must do this himself." Nodding her head she held Ivory's hand firmly.
And with that the surgery began.