Pre-story notes: This story will be sort of following the RWBY canon from top to bottom until I eventually run out of canon. Next, I'll be introducing my OCs with these prologues, all four of them. Think of it just like the RWBY trailers except much more revealing for each character (There'll be some vague background story for each of them). All of my OC Grimms from Revelations are also here (minus the Ancient Grimms) plus other species which I've cooked up specially for this story. Now that I've explained all the stuff I wanted to, let us begin.
Prologue 1- Johnathan
The darkness surrounded the forest in a blanket of shadows, letting out the shivers that the Creatures of Grimm normally left in their wake. These forests have been a home to the Grimm for as long as people can remember and these creatures have hardly left their comfort zone of the dark forest to raid nearby towns. This has caused increasing amounts of disturbances with people of these towns and they have called the only people who can deal with these monsters and they are the brave men and women who are known as huntsmen and huntresses. Sure the huntsmen and huntresses do their job well, but the problem is that some huntsmen and huntresses just wanted more than cheers and gifts from the people from those towns gave to them.
So, in order to satisfy that problem, a few hunters have created a band of hunters within the legal reaches of the law known as the Grimm Bounty Hunters. As their name suggest, once a town or a person message a Grimm Hunter about an attack, they go through all means to kill their target in whatever place it was sighted. And in return, the hunter is paid for his/her services. Simple, isn't it? The problem with the Grimm Hunters is that they didn't have plenty of members, but they were reliable. These particular hunters have risked their lives to hunt down the most dangerous Grimms in all of Remnant, all for the reward of getting paid huge sums of lien for their services. Some have died just to complete their hunt, but some have survived to retell the tale of their exploits and return with trophies of their kill. But, here in Vale, four of them, whose paths haven't crossed, will have their lives changed after just one of their own hunts.
...
He swiftly moved from tree to tree before he landed a solid three pointer on the ground. He looked behind him to see his partner try to pick up the pace, doing all he can to keep up with him. He moved again, only much quicker this time. He wanted to get this done as fast as possible. His objectives were simple, kill the targeted Grimm, bring back its head and get paid after. Simple, yet deadly at the same time, unless you're an experienced Grimm Bounty Hunter, which he is.
He finally reached the location where his target was. It was nothing more than an abandoned warehouse in the middle of this darkened forest. The silence seemed tolerable to him, but he longed for the sounds of combat and death, all of which are waiting inside the warehouse.
He stood in the light of the moon, illuminating his appearance. He was wearing a black cloak, covering his body in darkness, making him almost unnoticeable in the shadows. The light continued to illuminate him more, revealing more of his attire. He wore a simple black collared shirt, black cargo pants outfitted with steel knee caps and grey boots. Under his hood, he had black eyes and black ruffled hair. He wasted no time to bring out his weapon, a silver whip outfitted with numerous blunt spikes on the whip's body. The tip of his whip resembled the top of a cross with a red gem attached at the center.
He took a look behind him and saw that his partner had finally caught up to him. His partner looked like his total opposite. He wore a white trench coat over a red striped shirt and a pair of khaki pants. He carried a simple pump shotgun with him, suggesting that was his only weapon. He arrived next to him and just placed his head between his knees as he panted.
"Suck it up, Carl." The hooded hunter told him.
"I wish...I could, Johnny." His partner replied, trying to manage his breathing.
"Well, save your strength," he told him, using a very authorative tone, "You're going to need it for this fight."
His partner nodded and straightened himself up. He loaded up his shotgun and the hooded hunter just kept his whip in hand.
"You get its attention first then I'll take it." Johnny told him.
Carl nodded and they entered the warehouse. The sounds of something eating were very much audible to them, so Johnny and Carl hid behind a stack of rusty crates. Johnny peeped up and saw their target; it was an Ursa Major, gorging on the corpse of a dead cow it carried off from a nearby town. It didn't notice the two hunters nosing around its territory and it just continued to eat. Johnny brought his head down back behind the crate and turned to Carl.
"You remember the plan?" he asked.
"You know I do, bro." Carl replied.
Carl stood up and fired off a round at the undisturbed Ursa. It took the Grimm by surprise, sending some pieces of its damaged skin flying from the force of the shot. Carl cocked his weapon and fired again, this time hitting the Ursa Major's head. The shot bounced off and the Grimm lunged forward, smashing through the wall of crates separating it and Carl.
Carl took off with much speed despite the fact he ran all the way here and tired himself out. The Ursa tried to chase after him, but a strong force gripped its right leg. It turned and saw Johnny had snagged his whip on the Ursa's leg, exerting much force to make sure the Grimm won't escape. The Ursa tried to pull his leg out of the whip but Johnny pulled harder, causing the Ursa's leg to snap. The Ursa howled in pain and limped towards Johnny, but all Johnny did was just disappear into the dark yet again. The Ursa looked around for the hunter in black, but Carl got its attention back by firing another round from his shotgun.
The Ursa gave chase again to Carl, limping quickly in order to pick up the pace that Carl kept up. The Ursa grunted with every step but it continued to pursue Carl in the maze of crates. The Ursa lost sight of his target for a while but Carl shot it again, causing the Grimm to pursue him again. The Ursa followed him, but was slowly getting lost in the maze of crates. Carl slowly tried to lure the Ursa out into the center of the warehouse so that Johnny can unleash a full blow on it. Johnny watched the scene of cat and mouse unfold from his vantage point and waited for Carl to draw the beast out. Carl finally escaped the maze but the Ursa bursted through the wall of crates, arriving at the center.
Johnny's queue was up and he activated his semblance, the red gem on his weapon began to glow red as his weapon released a red aura around it. He landed the blow on the Ursa's back, the tip of his whip going deep into the Ursa's hide. The force forced the Ursa to collapse on the ground, but it still didn't die. Carl shot the good left leg of the Grimm and watched it just cave in. He grinned at the injuries the Grimm was suffering and decided to finally end it. He felt that most of these hunts were becoming way too easy than when he started and he was finally given the chance to finish it off.
Johnny removed the tip of his weapon and gestured for Carl to kill the Grimm. Carl simply nodded and took aim at the Ursa Major's head. He moved in closer until he reached the very front of the Grimm's head. Before he could pull the trigger, the Ursa lunged its head forward at Carl's leg and bit it. Carl cried out in pain as the Ursa stood up. It ignored the pain and just focused all of its energy to kill Carl. Carl hanged by his leg from the Ursa's jaw and the beast started to shake him. Johnny rushed forward but the Grimm swung its paw at him, sending the hunter sailing. The Ursa tossed Carl up and caught him with its jaws at Carl's midsection. It sank its teeth deeper into the poor hunter's body and effectively killed him. Johnny glared daggers at the Grimm as the monster tossed away the corpse of his partner. It gave out a roar at Johnny, hoping to intimidate the hunter.
Johnny just continued to glare at the Grimm and cracked his whip. After a loud snap, the whip's body folded into a flat blade, turning the whip into a sword. The Ursa charged forward at Johnny only to have its head meet with the flat portion of his blade. The Ursa flinched and Johnny quickly sliced off the broken leg. The Ursa roared in pain as Johnny swung his sword at the other front leg. Both of the Ursa's front paws were gone, but it tried to get up on its hind legs and stood up tall in front of Johnny. Johnny just struck the flat of his blade onto the Ursa's unarmored stomach, the blunt spikes impaling it. He then pulled the small lever that rested on the knuckle guard of his weapon and placed it at a circle that said "F1".
"Function 1," Johnny mumbled.
Suddenly, the spikes on his weapon enlarged instantly, impaling the Ursa even deeper on the spikes. The spikes retracted and Ursa fell to the ground, dead. The blood poured from the holes Johnny gave it, but the Grim deserved it. Johnny returned the sword back into a whip and concealed it around the Ursa Major's neck. In one swift pull, the head finally came off its body.
Johnny puffed in relief, finally satisfied that his mission was over and he could get the rest he so truly needed. He walked over to his partner's corpse, shedding a tear at the sight of it. Carl was only a humble novice, he just started almost two months ago and his life was brought to a swift end. He went outside and began to dig a hole with his whip using the drill function (Function 4). He went back inside and carried the corpse off to the grave. He laid his friend down gently into the then covered it up with the dirt he dug out. He placed a wooden cross on top of his grave and laid down his shotgun there as well, nesting it next to the cross. He then stood in front of the grave.
"You did well," Johnny said sadly, "You were a great friend, but sadly, your life was cut too short and I'm sorry I wasn't able to help you. Rest in peace, Carl."
And in those words, he left the grave, picked up the Ursa's head and went back to town to where his client lived.
...
Johnny tossed the Ursa Major head on his client's table. His client leaped back in his chair in surprise at once he saw the Ursa head on his table. The chief manager for all Grimm Bounty Hunters, Rinaldo Ceros, was there as well. He too was surprised when Johnny threw down the Ursa head on the table as well as the fact that Johnny returned, alive.
"Were there anymore of them?" the client asked nervously.
"No, just one, but it did put up quite a fight." Johnny answered calmly.
"Oh, thank god!" the client sighed, "You're really worth the pay huh, ."
"Yeah," Johnny said. The client tossed him a pouch full of lien to Johnny which he snagged easily in mid-air and placed the pouch in his pocket. "Thank you." Johnny said.
"No, thank you." The client assured, "We'll message Rinaldo in cas we put up another bounty on as Grimm."
Johnny nodded and left the room while Rinaldo trailed him shortly. As soon as they left, Rinaldo opened up his scroll and began looking around through all the bounties that's coming up. Johnny took a look at Rinaldo and decided not to bother him. Rinaldo was just a well built man with brown hair and eyes along with a stubble on his face. He wore a vest and on it was the symbol of his family: a blue leaf. He also wore a brown checkered shirt under his vest, a pair of hazel jeans and a pair of loafers. Johnny had been working with Rinaldo ever since he started Grimm Bounty hunting and he's been feeding Johnny with info on bounties that came to him. Rinaldo looked around and just noticed something.
"Where's Carl?" Rinaldo asked.
"He..." Johnny paused, unsure of how to break it to his manager but he just decided to tell the 100% truth about it. "He didn't make it."
"Aw, damn." Rinaldo said sadly, "Oh, well, he did do relly well on the first few months."
"Yeah," Johnny told him.
"Looks like we're going to have to get you a new partner." Rinaldo told him. Johnny just gave him a stern look. "Look," Rinaldo began, "I know you love to hunt alone and I know a lot of people don't like this job, but having a partner is important."
"I appreciate the enthusiasm, Rinaldo," Johnny replied, "but I have a lot on my mind that I really need to get off and I can normally accomplish that alone."
Rinaldo nodded at his words, still concerned that his best hunter still took the path of loneliness.
"Did I get any messages lately?" Johnny asked.
"Let me check," Rinaldo replied. He pulled out Johnny's scroll and opened it up. He saw that message was left for Johnny and Johnny alone. He recognized who sent the message but decided to keep quiet about it.
"It's for you." Rinaldo said.
Johnny took the scroll from his hands and read the message. It didn't take him too long to realize what the message sent and just grinned. He set the scroll aside and turned to Rinaldo.
"Well," Johnny said, "it seems that Headmaster Ozpin has invited me to join Beacon."
"I knew it!" Rinaldo cheered. Johnny gave a confused look, but Rinaldo was ready to explain. "Ozpin came to me while you were out yesterday. I told him a lot about you and he seemed interested to invite you to Beacon. And it looks like he did!"
"Thanks, Rinaldo." Johnny smiled, "Anyways, I have to start packing. But, for now, just one question." Rinaldo faced him. "Who'll be taking my place while I'm away?"
"It's still you," Rinaldo answered calmly, "you can go off during weekends and go hunt a few Grimm. I'll just hire a few local hunters during the weekdays. How does that sound?"
Johnny hovered over the deal in his head and quickly made his decision. "Alright," Johnny responded.
Rinaldo cheered. The fact that one of the best Grimm Bounty Hunters was going to the most prestigious hunter training school in all of Remnant mad him joyous. He needed this because it would be a great way to promote the whole Grimm Bounty Hunting job to some of the students, promoting the profession.
"Let's start packing." Rinaldo said.
Johnny nodded and they headed to the inn that Johnny and Rinaldo stayed in. Johnny didn't need to rest anymore since the excitement of going to Beacon was filling up in him (he still managed to look calm about it though). Johnny didn't need to pack much since all he needed was his whip, pajamas and some other things. When he had finished, Johnny checked out of the inn.
"Well," Johnny said, "I'll be leaving now. I can make it to the airship port by dawn tomorrow."
Rinaldo nodded then smiled. "Goodbye for now, Johnny." Rinaldo said.
"See you, Rinaldo." Johnny replied. He walked away, not even wanting to look back now. All he was waiting for was what Beacon will bring for him in the future. It was going to be a long walk though, but it was worth it.
End of Prologue 1
a/n: Starting off short for this prologue, same goes for the others. So one down, three to go. You won't see any of the main cast until I clear all the prologues so you'll just have to be patient and I will apologize for that. Anyways, reviews, questions and other favs and follows are always appreciated.