Holy crap, holy crap, hoooly crap. It's been a Hell of a long time since I've posted anything here. Last I remember was... what, High School? So 4 years ago at least! But alas. Life happens. Shit hits fans and things take time. But I'm back, and hopefully better than ever. This fic is new, yes. BUT I'm hoping that if this goes over well I'll actually go back and finish the ones I started before. With luck I may actually do this whole thing regularly. No promises though.
But more importantly, current events. This story is about an alternate universe in RWBY where Summer and Raven eventually end up together. I'm really trying not to force this here, so bear with me as I do my best to write a budding romance. Anywho, the obvious issues include the fact that we know so little about both characters in regards to canon lore, but that just means more creative freedom for me! Yay!
But I won't keep you any longer. Please, do me a favor as I struggle my way back into the fold of fanfiction and writing in general.
Step inside and enjoy Chapter One of Y Rhosyn A'r Fwyalchen : The Rose and The Blackbird
Chapter One: Two Petals Meet
Raven Branwen was not someone who people would call warm, loving, caring, compassionate, or at all emotional.
Summer Rose was all of these things.
And somehow these two young Huntresses had ended up as partners. Upon landing in the Emerald Forest after getting launched unceremoniously off of the cliff above, Raven had tried her best to find her twin brother before anyone else. He may be obnoxious, but at least Qrow was someone she knew how to handle. Hell, she would've settled for that bumbling blonde idiot she met on the airship ride to the Academy yesterday. Bad pickup lines could be handled with cold silence or sarcastic remarks.
But this, this incessant flood of one-sided dialogue… Raven had no idea how to handle it.
"What do you think the relics we're looking for are? Do you think they'll be heavy? How would we carry one? Oh! Maybe they're life-sized Grimm statues! That would be cool! I wonder if they'd let me take one home? How would I get it home? I wonder-" the bright white hood over Summer's head bounced along beside the taller girl. Raven had rolled her eyes so many times, she wondered if they might come unscrewed and pop out of her head.
"Or maybe they're just boring rocks…" The Branwen girl muttered. Although her deep voice was low, she may as well have screamed her lungs out by the way Summer jumped, so surprised she was by the sudden reply from her partner.
"Y-yeah… maybe…" the shorter girl visibly slouched, her crimson-tinged hair shading her eyes. Raven hoped she would finally stop talking. "Oh! Look!"
Raven was starting to curse Headmaster Ozpin's name for his idiotic method of team-forming.
"Is that it? Up ahead?" Summer stood on her tip-toes in an attempt to see further. "Those pillars down there!"
Raven looked where the small, pale-toned hand was pointing. Sure enough, through a break in the trees, she could see several tall columns of stone. As the pair stepped closer, the forest thinned out leading up to the edge of a cliff. A stiff wind blew by, ruffling Summer's cloak and Raven's long, feather-strewn hair.
"Those certainly look important," Raven scanned the area, searching for a way down the rock face for them both to descend safely. If she was going to be stuck with this girl, she didn't want to be responsible for her partner getting injured. It would only ruin her own grade. Summer was jogging about, looking for some kind of vine or long branch to climb down with. Raven sighed and adjusted her sword at her hip.
"Hey, c'mere," the Branwen called, her voice flat. Summer glanced up and approached slowly, still glancing side to side to try and find anything useful.
"What's up, Rav?"
Raven cringed. Her new partner seemed intent on driving her sanity into the ground with her happy-go-lucky demeanor.
"Just, c'mere," the black-haired girl sighed, holding out her hand. Summer grasped the limb without hesitation, giving a gentle squeeze. Raven was surprised at the smaller girl's rough hands, expecting such a gentle girl to be softer.
"Hold on tight."
"Huh? EYAHHHH!" Summer gasped and squealed as her partner suddenly swept her into her arms and leapt off the cliff, shooting toward the ground below at frightening speed. The Rose girl shut her eyes tight and waited for the rough impact, but none came.
"You can let go now," Raven muttered. Summer slowly looked up to see the piercing red eyes staring down at her. The cliffside wind tossed the ink-dark hair of her partner around her shoulders, the feathers decorating the locks shimmering softly. A gentle heat made it's way to the Rose girl's cheeks and she realized she stopped breathing.
'Pretty…' Summer thought simply, her brain fuzzy from the heart-pounding fall.
"What are you staring at?" The Branwen huffed, turning her eyes away and finally freeing Summer from the intense gaze. The white-robed girl loosened her grip on Raven's clothes and settled herself on her feet, dusting herself off distractedly.
"Sorry, you just scared me, jumping off that high cliff all the sudden."
"Well it would've taken too long otherwise, and I kept you from getting hurt, so we're still in fighting shape," Raven's matter-of-fact tone eased Summer's still-excited heart and she turned to look at their goal.
"Well we're here, now where are the relics?"
The two partners walked between the tall pillars of stone toward a large structure. A semicircle of columns created a dead end with an ampitheatre-like area in the middle. Several small pedestals dotted the area. Atop of each was a small vase with a glass rose inside. Raven crossed her arms and frowned.
"Seriously?" she walked among the small treasures, her face a mixture of disgust and disappointment. "I'm gonna punch Ozpin for this one."
"Whaaat? I think they're pretty!" Summer was admiring one of the roses that was a soft shade of lavender, the petals seeming to be made of amethyst.
"Summer, just think for a second. If we have to get these back to the entrance of the Forest, how are we going to do that without breaking it?" The ink-haired girl carefully picked a rose out of its vase, examining the stem to see how strong it was. "The petals are made of gemstones, but these stems are all blown glass. And they seem extremely fragile."
The crimson-haired girl pouted and leaned with her hands on her thighs, staring intently at the amethyst rose as if it would help her think more clearly. While she was distracted, a dark shadow loomed behind her. She saw something in a reflection in the glass just before it struck. A loud metallic crash rang out over the clearing.
"Pay attention, you idiot!" Raven shouted. Her back was to Summer, arms raised over her head holding her nodachi sword against the claws of an Ursa. The bear-like Grimm roared and drew back to swing with its other paw, aiming for Raven's side. She dropped to one knee and held her sword to the side, bracing the back of the blade with her forearm. The huge paw clanged against her weapon again, shoving her sideways. Summer unfroze from her shock and reached under her cloak to draw out her own weapon, a long dagger in her hand.
"Hold it there!" the white-robed girl jumped into action, swinging down to slice off the Ursa's arm. It reared up on it's hind legs, intending to body slam the smaller Huntress.
"Summer!" Raven leapt in front, her sword returned to its sheathe. The rotary chamber embedded within spun and clicked into place, swapping out her dust blade. The Branwen took up a stance, hand on her sword hilt as the Grimm bore down on the pair. Just before it landed a hit, Raven's eyes flashed burning red and she struck. Faster than the eye could follow, her blade was drawn, arm stretched at full swing. The gleaming white blade fizzled with energy as the huge Grimm choked and exploded backward, it's body shredded to black ribbons.
Summer was dumbstruck. She hadn't even seen her partner move, but the Ursa looked like it had been sliced at least a dozen times. And she thought she was fast.
"How did you do that?" the white-hooded girl whispered in awe. She had never seen that style of swordsmanship before. It looked awesome. Raven wiped her blade on her sleeve and returned it to its sheathe as the Grimm dispersed into a patch of blackness.
"It's called Iaido. It's a technique I learned back home," she returned to the pedestals holding the relics and picked up a white rose that seemed to be made of diamond. "We'll take this one, it will be the hardest to break."
She casually slipped the treasure into the neck of her shirt, the gemstone blossom resting just above her sternum. Summer kept her dagger at the ready, mentally kicking herself for letting a Grimm get the jump on her so easily.
"So now we just go back? What about the rest of the class? No one else has made it here yet," the crimson-haired Huntress tried to hide her concern, not wanting to upset Raven by slowing her down.
"If they don't make it, they don't make it. The strong succeed, the weak fail. Besides, it's not like that big softie Ozpin will let them die out here," the Branwen shrugged and starting walking back the way they had come, before stopping short. "Shit…"
"What's wrong?" Summer jogged over to stand next to her partner. She followed Raven's gaze up the cliff face they had jumped from earlier. It looked even taller now that they were at the bottom, and she had to wonder again just how Raven had taken the fall so easily.
"Falling is a lot easier than climbing…" the taller girl kicked a rock and looked around with her arms crossed. She walked up to one of the stone pillars and tapped it with the hilt of her sword. "Even if we could knock one of these over, there's no telling it would lean in the right direction."
"I might have an idea…" the Rose tapped her chin before scampering off. Raven sighed as her energetic partner reminded her why she was so infuriating.
'I don't think I've seen that girl think once since I've met her…'
The ink-haired girl was pacing between the columns, trying to measure the angles by eye and see if she could get them to fall and make a bridge. In the middle of counting out her steps, she heard a massive crash as trees were tossed aside and bludgeoned down. She turned rapidly to the source of the sound, hand on the hilt of her nodachi.
When Raven saw what was coming, her mouth fell open and arms slackened at her sides.
"What. The. Hell," The Branwen stared as out of the tree stormed a Deathstalker. The massive scorpion-esque Grimm seemed extremely upset, and no wonder. Summer Rose herself was standing astride the creature's back, a chain from her weapon hooked underneath it's head and it's huge stinger missing, spewing black blood like a fountain.
"Raaavyyy~!" the white-robed Huntress sang out, yanking back on her weapon's grip to urge the creature to a stop. The Grimm shrieked in pain as the blade sank between its armored plates and it skidded to a halt in front of Raven.
"Summer…" the taller girl rubbed the bridge of her nose, eyes closed. "You're not planning what I'm thinking, are you?"
"Well if you're thinking we're gonna climb this cliff on top of a Deathstalker like a couple of insane people, then you'd be right!" she hopped up and down excitedly, only causing the creature more pain and frustration. Summer seemed unconcerned with the state of her mount, and beckoned for Raven to join her. The ink-haired Huntress shook her head.
"I can not believe I'm doing this…" she grabbed hold of her partner's hand and climbed up behind the smaller girl.
"Hang on!" Summer shouted as she stomped down on the Deathstalker's back, causing it to rear up and rush forward. For lack of a better hand hold, Raven latched her arms around Summer's waist and squeezed tight, her concern for harming the girl put on hold as she envisioned her life end in the most ridiculous of ways. Seconds later, the wounded creature hauled itself to the top of the cliff, and the two partners lept off to land on solid ground. The shorter one turned back to her temporary ride and waved.
"Thanks for the trip! Buh-bye~!" Summer smiled, then her face went stoic as she aimed the blade of her weapon at the creatures face. It transformed into a short barrel resembling a pistol and she fired a shot square between the Deathstalker's main eyes, shattering it's white mask and obliterating the black flesh beneath. The corpse collapsed and slid over the edge, dissipating in midair until only black sludge and dust hit the ground.
"I've decided you're insane," Raven's monotone statement broke the silence after the gunshot.
"Sometimes the crazy way is the best way. If you always did what people expect you to, then how will you ever take them by surprise?" the Rose wiped her cheek of black blood and cleaned her weapon with her skirt. "I got us up here, didn't I?"
"I can't argue with that," The ink-haired Huntress walked past her partner towards the trees, stopping beside her to look down and meet her eyes. "I guess I don't hate you."
Summer felt that same heat in her cheeks as she had before. Those piercing red eyes made her heart skip, whether in fear or something else, she wasn't sure. Her breath caught in her throat and she couldn't find her voice. She settled for a nod of understanding and gulped. Raven sighed and bumped the girl on the head with her knuckles.
"Stop staring at me like a puppy, it doesn't suit you," she turned and laced her fingers together behind her head. "Let's go. Even the dumbest in that group of losers should have heard our fight and will be heading here to get their relics. I guess we kinda helped them out. Oh, well. More competition for me to prove myself against, I guess."
The white-robed Huntress just watched her partner's back as she walked away. Could this cold, self-centered young woman actually be… accepting her?
Summer decided it best to not ruin her chances and chased after Raven, jogging to catch up with her shorter legs. She figured if she was going to be stuck with anyone throughout her time at Beacon Academy, it might as well be her.
Thanks for the read! And I do hope you all enjoy this story as it progresses. I'll do my best to live up to expectations and do these characters justice.
I'll see you next time!
~WolframZero