This is a reimaging/rewrite of the Fanfiction story 'Grimm Heir' written by DeadRich18. Highly recommend you read the story, it's really good and detailed for an AU story about RWBY. While I was a co-writer on the original story myself, I was also slightly upset at some missed opportunities and chances to really add more character to the characters of the story. On top of that after all the information they dropped on us during Volume 6, I think a reimaging/rewrite is in order. Now I'll try to update this when ever I can, but with me getting a job soon, don't expect a monthly update schedule.
Anyway, here's the first chapter of the story. I hope you all enjoy.
~Prologue I: The Promise~
'Almost there, we're almost there Ruby!'
That was the one thought that kept running through Yang's mind as she pulled on the red wagon which had a three year old Ruby resting within it.
She was exhausted and was covered in scraps and small cuts from head to toe, but she pushed onward. She will reach their destination no matter what it took. Yang could almost feel it, they were so close and have way too far to just up and quit now.
Not after waiting so long for their father to leave so she could sneak out of the house and come all this way.
Yang could not call it quits now.
She glances down at the map once more to make sure they were going in the right direction.
She had found it last night after she accidentally broke a picture frame of their family. On the back of the map was a note from her mother. Her birth mother.
Her dad didn't tell her everything, but apparently before he got together with their New mother, there was someone else. She was on the same team as he was, but she left for some reason shortly after she was born. Other then that, her father wouldn't tell her anything else about her birth mother.
This infuriated the young blonde.
Why won't he tell her anything else about her long lost mother? Did he think that she'll come to reject her New mother? Did he think that she would come to hate her little sister Ruby.
There's no way that would happen. Yang cared deeply for Summer Rose and she loved her little sister so much. She was the perfect mom and she would never come to reject her not in a million years. And Ruby was the idel little sister that every big sister would want to have.
But now Summer was gone, just like her birth mother.
Only this time Yang knew why.
Summer had taken a job to take care of some monsters out in the wilds of Sanus. But unlike all the other jobs she took and returned from, their number one mom in the world didn't come back.
Even a kid like Yang could understand what happened.
Their father, Taiyang, was hit the hardest by it. Barely eating, rearly sleeping, and only until recently, not leaving the house. Meanwhile Ruby kept asking where was her mother, not fully understanding what happened. All their father told her was that Summer was not coming back ever again. From that point on, Ruby constantly slept with Yang. Both for comfort and out of a childish fear that she would disappear like her their mother.
That's the main reason why Yang brought her with her. She could only imagine how scared and terrified her little sister would be if she were to wake up and find her big sister suddenly gone. That and she wanted her sister there when they finally arrive at their destination.
Hours had past since they left the house, yet the toddle still slept peacefully in the red wagon. Mumbling in her sleep about her mother and cookies.
So Yang pressed onward, pushing her body to its limit and beyond, determined to reach the end no matter what.
She could just see it now. Their mother would be waiting for them and would give them a big hug. She would take them back home and Yang will make it up with their dad for leaving the house. They'll have a happy ever after. They'll be a family again and Ruby wouldn't be lonely anymore.
'Just a little further.' she thought to herself as she almost tripped again, but caught herself 'We're going to make it Ruby. And we'll be a happy family again.'
Another cold breeze reminded Yang just how harsh it was and how underdressed she was for this. She feared that it would wake her sleeping cargo up, but thanks to Summer's last gift to her, Ruby was nice and warm in her handmade red cloak.
So Yang pushed on, now running on pure determination to reach their goal. Not about to let some cold slow her down.
Finally, after hours upon hours of walking, they had made it.
It was a rundown old barn, its roof caving in, windows boarded up, run down and long since abandoned. But Yang didn't care how it looked, they had made it. A small, weak smile former upon her lips.
They had reached their destination.
'We're here, we made it Ruby. I can't wait to meet mom after all this time. We'll be together again and-.'
Deep growls made the girl's blood run cold and silenced her mental celebration. The sound filled with anger and hunger. Like and enraged beast ready to strike. The noise confused the little blonde, removing the smile from her face.
From out of the darkness of the barn, five sets of red eyes glowed like fire and stared at the child. They were filled with hatred and hunger, burning like inhuman, crimson fire.
Yang completely froze with fear. She wanted to run, to take her sister and flee, or at the very least cry out for aid from anyone. But the sheer exhaustion and fear she was feeling had rendered her unable to even move a finger.
The eyes moved from the shadows out into the open, revealing to be four Beowolves. They crept around the two toddlers and surrounded them into a ring. Drool dripping from their maws and snarling like dogs, ready to strike at any moment.
But, strangely, they didn't.
Instead, their heads shifted back doorway of the barn, to the last pair of red eyes.
Then, with terrifying slowness, the last owner of the pair of eyes moved out from the barn.
And Yang felt her lilac eyes shrink with total fear.
The figure stood over seven to eight feet tall at the shoulder. The appearance was that of a man, but that were the similarities ended.
The man wore a black, tattered cloak that covered almost his entire body, just barely touching the ground beneath it. Only leaving the head to be revealed by it. And each step it took toward Yang made her start to doubt that it was a man at all.
From what she could see it had a face of a human, but Yang knew without a doubt in her mind that this thing was far from human. His skin was far too white to be natural and his face was lined with black veins like roots of a tree. Twisting and winding there way down from the edges of his face and down his neck where they disappeared beneath the cloak. His hair was long, messy, and jet black. And resting atop of his forehead were a pair of white horns.
But it was his eyes that were what truly captivated Yang. They were inhuman eyes, black with the irises a deep bloody red. They had the look of one that was full of hatred, of anger, of loathing, with a single gash going down and over his left eye. Within the eyes themselves was a single black slit, like the eyes of a feline. Not only that, but it had the look of age in them as well, as if he was hundred of years older then he looked. And most terrifying of all, they had something the wolves lacked… intelligence.
As the figure came to a stop no more than three feet away from her, he glared down at her. Looking at her as if she was nothing more than an insect, that she was far beneath him. And it was here that Yang realized something else was in these eyes.
Power…
Whoever, or whatever, this guy is, he is very powerful. Like something they talk about in old horror stories about all powerful monsters that could rival the gods themselves. Stories like about monsters that could destroy entire cities overnight. Like something taken from the pages of a book that Summer used to read to them before bed. Only this time, Yang didn't think a superhero was going to show up and save them.
He continued to glare down at her, judging her with hateful eyes. The eyes boring into her and it felt as if she had been paralyzed by its powerful gaze.
"Mmmhmm… Mama… I want cookies…"
The man's head snapped toward the wagon and Yang sucked in a much needed breath, she didn't even realize she needed it. Walking passed her, the unknown man now looked within the wagon, its gaze fixed on the three year old Ruby. Totally unaware of the situation, the toddler continued her sleep as the man looked her over.
Yang couldn't do anything but stand there and watch as he looked at her sister, tears began to pool at the corners of her eyes. Her body still too exhausted to move a muscle and protect her sister.
'No, please don't hurt her.' she thought as the man knelt down to get a closer look at the child in the wagon 'Please don't hurt Ruby!'
As if sensing her dread, the man glances back at Yang and narrows his eyes at her. Then he returns is gaze to the child in the wagon and just stares.
After what felt like an eternity of staring, the man moves his right hand out from beneath his cloak. His hand was covered in more of those black veins and his fingernails were pitch black as well. Slowly he stretches his hand out and just hovering above the girl's face and Yang worried that he might do something horrible to her baby sister.
But instead he turns his finder about and gently crests the little girl's cheek, receiving a joyful sigh from Ruby in response.
Yang is surprised by the tender action. But her surprise quickly turns to horror as the man reaches into the wagon and picks up Ruby. Cradling her close to his chest, before standing to leave.
'No, no, nononononononono!' Yang began to panic, fearful of what will happen to her sister.
Calling upon the last reserves of her strength, the blonde grabbed ahold of nearby stick and charged the man. Intent on hitting him as hard as she cou-.
There was a swift motion and suddenly Yang found herself looking at the cloudy, grey sky. She didn't fully know what had happened, but she was now flying through the air, and her whole body felt numb. As she continued to soar through the air, something came into view from her right periphery. And the young child felt complete horror grip her very soul.
With terrifying slowness, as if the whole world had gone into slow motion, Yang's right arm spun through the air. Blood spraying everywhere, like someone had shaken up a soda can and opened it.
As the realization that her arm had been cut off dawned on her, Yang's back hit the ground with a muffled thud. Trembling in both shock and fear, she looked back at the man that just attacked her.
He was now holding a long sword, like the ones the knights in shiny armor would use against the evil monster to kill it. Its blade was covered in chips, dents, and thanks to Yang, was now covered in blood. The red liquid ran down the length the sword and dripped to the ground. His gaze was sharp and fixed on her, anger and deep rooted hatred clear in them.
Then, as suddenly as the sword had appeared, it vanished. Just gone, like it had evaporated to nothing, turning into just a plum of ashes.
With Yang taken care of, the man shifts his gaze back to the toddler resting within his arms. After a moment of staring at the child, he brought Ruby close to him and… something began to happen that Yang couldn't fully understand.
It appeared as if black smoke had manifested around the two of them. More and more smoke began forming into a large column or pillar of black. Robbing Yang any chance of seeing the two of them.
Finally the smoke cleared… and the young blonde felt her eyes drift upward in fear.
In place of the man now stood a terrifying beast, like something pulled out of the pages of a fairy tale, except the truth was much more horrifying.
It stood at least twenty feet tall at the shoulder, a long spiked tail whipping to and fro. Black miasma seeped from its maw along with smoke that came from the fire in its belly. Vicious looking claws embedded into the earth beneath it under its great weight. Large mighty wings began flapping, kicking up dust and dead leaves from the ground. And long mandibles arced from the back of its jaw all the way past its snout, twitching and flexing with a deep snarl that escaped its maw that made Yang recoil in fear. It's hide was tar black and the eyes were a soulless, glowing crimson.
Only one word could be used to describe the creature before her…
Something that was supposed to be a myth… exsistanting only in stories and fairy tales…
A Dragon…
Then Yang spotted her sister. Ruby was within the clutches of the dragon's left forearm, still completely out of it. And judging by how its wings were started to flap, the dragon was preparing to leave.
'No…' Yang thought as she reached out in a vain attempt to stop them, but it was pointless. She could only watch as the dragon gained altitude and, with her sister still in its possession, flew away into the cloudy grey sky.
What had she done?
Tears began streaming down her cheeks as her sister's kidnapper flew further and further away until they were totally out of sight.
This was all her fault. If only she had left Ruby home in bed. If she hadn't been so stubborn to find out the truth. If she hadn't found that stupid map, none of this would have happened.
With the dragon-man-thing now long gone, the wolves started growling and move in to finish her off.
Her body began shutting down from the sheer exhaustion and blood she has lost. But she didn't care about that anymore.
She won't feel a thing at least.
And as the monsters lunged at her, she passed out.
~o0o~
Thirteen Years Later…
"... And then, I woke up in a hospital bed with my dad and uncle sitting next to me. Apparently, our uncle Qrow showed up right after I passed out." Yang says with self loathing, as she looked at her robotic arm before finishing the drawing of the dragon on the chalkboard "My stubbornness coast me both my arm and my baby sister…" she closed her eyes, fighting back the tears that wanted to fall, not allowing her friend to see her like this.
"Yang… I am so sorry that happened to you and I understand what you're trying to tell me… but this is different. I'm not a child, and this is not a search for answers! I-" Blake tried to reason, only for a frustrated Yang to interrupt.
"I told you! I'm not telling you to stop!" Yang said as she gripped the chalkboard edge tightly in aggression "I haven't! To this day I'm still want to know what happened to my mother and why that… that thing took Ruby. But I won't let either search control me, trust me… I learned that the hard way…" she took a shaky breath to calm herself down and spoke in a softer tone "We're going to find the answers we're looking for Blake, but if we destroy ourselves and the ones we care about around us… then what good are we?"
"You don't understand!" Blake yells back angrily "I'm the only one who can do this!"
Yang was done with this. She had tried to be calm with her partner, but the faunus girl was still not listening to her. With fiery red eyes, she turns to Blake with frustration etched on her face "No, you don't understand! If Roman Torchwick walked through that door, what would you do?!"
"I'd fight him!" Black exclaims, anger clear in her voice.
"You'd lose!" Yang corrects, pushing Blake onto the desk behind her. Only for her exhausted friend to throw a weak punch to the arm.
"I can stop him!" the black haired girl yells, not wanting to let her exhaustion take hold.
"You can't even stop me!" the blonde roars back, again shoving her partner back onto the desk.
Blake glares back at Yang with anger, frustration, and dismay. For a moment, they simply glare at each other. Finally, much to Blake's surprise, Yang pulls her into a gentle embrace. The blonde resting her chin on the faunus's shoulder.
"I'm not asking you to stop… just please…" Yang said as her eyes return to their normal, lilac color "Get some rest okay? I don't want to lose anyone else I care about…"
They both stand there like this for what must feel like hours. Then, Blake returns the hug and nods her head "Okay…" she answers.
"Thank you." is all her partner says.
They end their embrace to look at each other.
"Don't think this means you can skip out on the dance." Yang says with a little grin.
Blake shakes her head while chuckling "Of course not." she replies.
With that done, Yang leaves the classroom to head back to their dorm to get her dress ready for the dance.
As she walked down the grounds of Beacon Academy, the sun begins to sink further and further into the horizon, casting large shadows across the corryard. Yang turns her head to the setting ball of fire, seeing the sky turn to many shades of yellow orange and… red. The last color makes her think of her little sister and wonder if she's even alive out there somewhere. And if she is, where was she right now?
Yang shakes her head and continues walking ahead.
"If you are still out there Ruby, I swear that one day I will find you." she whispers to herself with eyes burning with determination.
"I promise you."
And that the starts of my first part of Grimm Heir: Rising. Please leave a review at the bottom to tell me what you think. Any words of advice and feed back is welcome.
Feel free to leave some ideas on how I should go about this as well. And be sure to check out the original 'Grimm Heir' also, its good.
Peace out.