It was on this day a few months ago that the kingdom of Vale nearly fell to the hands of chaos when the Vytal Festival took a turn for the worst. During the time of the biannual tournament, a group of unnamed terrorists used the event in hopes of spreading panic and causing the greatest Grimm attack in over 80 years. However, the day was won by thanks to the combined strength of the Atlassian military, local Vale forces and the numerous huntsmen and huntresses of the kingdom academies. With their efforts, Vale was saved and the terrorists behind these dark deeds were arrested by a Beacon Academy team. The ladies, who have chosen to remain anonymous, have uncovered a conspiracy involving the White Fang terrorist organization and their plots against the kingdom. Since then, the Vale council has allowed Atlas to assist with the kingdom repairs and restore order and safety by deploying small groups of troops to numerous cities all over the continent. This aid has been heavily criticised by civilians, but so far has led to results. Yet an unnerving tension by some radicals would have us believe we are on the brink of war. But the big question is who are these 4 mysterious ladies...and where are they now?
"SCHOOL AGAIN!" screamed 16-year-old Ruby Rose as she walked off the airship. She had returned to Beacon Academy, a school dedicated to training huntsmen and huntresses from all over the planet.
"Take it easy, sis," said her older sister Yang Xiao Long, "No need to scream about it."
"Sorry, Yang. Just feels good to be back."
"You're telling me. It's about time we got back to kicking ass."
"Did she really have to let the world know we're back here?" said a voice from another airship. It was Ruby's partner, Weiss Schnee.
"Weiss!" Ruby exclaimed. She ran over to her BFF. "It's so good to see you. Did ya miss me? Did ya miss me!?" Ruby held her arms out for a hug.
"Don't touch me," Weiss said, giving a small pout.
"Oh come on, Weiss. What have you got to lose?"
"My self-respect, my dignity, my dust again." She turned, arms crossed.
"Sounds like someone hasn't changed," said Ruby's other teammate, Blake Belladonna, walking down towards the group.
"Hey, Blake!" Ruby turned to her and waved.
"Didn't miss anything important, did I?"
"No, you're just in time for the RWBYunion," Yang said, exchanging a hug with Blake.
"Aw yeah, Team RWBY's is back, baby."
"What are you doing, you dolt?" Weiss asked.
"Cheering that we're back together?"
"It's only been 2 months."
"Yeah, but we're back now! Ready to save the world all over again."
"I doubt we'll have much to save considering everything from last year," said Blake.
"Is it bad I hope some trouble comes our way to give us something to do?" Yang asked.
"Only if it does end up coming," Weiss answered.
"Well, whatever comes our way, we'll take it head on and look good while doing it. Let me hear you say it; Go Team RWBY!" Ruby raised her fist triumphantly, waiting for her team to cheer on with her...waiting...waiting... "Come on guys. Don't leave me hanging."
"Oh alright." Yang walked up to Ruby. "Go Team RWBY!"
"That's the spirit! Blake?"
The catgirl sighed and raised her hand. "Go Team RWBY!" she said with a smile. The three look at Weiss who looks back to see them.
"Weiss?" Ruby said with a grin on her face.
Weiss huffs and joins the group. "Go Team RWBY," she said weakly.
"Weiss, that wasn't loud enough."
"I'm not making a fool of myse-hey!" Ruby suddenly jumped onto Weiss' back, piggyback style. "Ruby, get off."
"I'm not getting off until I hear a 'go Team RWBY!'"
"Ugh...go Team RWBY!"
"I can't hear you, Weiss! Louder!"
"Go Team RWBY!" Weiss said louder.
"Yeah! GOOOOOOO TEAM RWBY!" Ruby raised her hand again. "Now, back to the dorms, horsey Weiss!"
"GET OFF ME, RUBY!"
Cut to Headmaster Ozpin's office...
"Another year," said Professor Ozpin, sipping his cup of coffee.
"With more students than ever," said Professor Goodwitch sounding concerned.
"I'm sure the staff are running around like headless chickens."
"No thanks to you."
"I would've thought you'd be happier considering I lightened your load."
"If I'd known who was replacing me, I would've refused."
"And here I was thinking I'd get a thank you."
"Are you sure about this other student you're bringing here?"
"Given his potential, it'd be a waste if I didn't."
"I just think he might be a little...rough I believe is the word I'm after."
"He'll soon be up to speed. All he needs is time. And a friend." Ozpin sipped his coffee again.
"You don't sound all that confident."
"Given what we know, I doubt he's confident in himself. But there's always a place at Beacon for those willing to walk the path."
"I hope you're right about this."
"As do I."
Cut to Beacon Main Street...
"Oh man, I am so psyched I'm actually here!" said a boy leaving the ship.
"I know right! So exciting!" said a girl jumping up and down on the Beacon lawn. The last student walked off the ship, wearing a blue and gold-stripped hoodie, hood on and sword on his back. He walked down to the academy entrance and looked up, staring a minute at the massive tower before him. Another freshmen student walked up to him.
"Beautiful isn't it?" he said.
"Depends on how you think of it," the hooded boy retorted in a cold manner.
"I suppose. Harvey Slate." He held out his hand offering to shake.
"Go fuck yourself." The hooded child walked off into the Academy. He strolled over to the elevator and pressed the top floor. The elevator went up to the top of Beacon Tower, where the boy waited for entry.
"Come in!" said Professor Ozpin. The elevator doors opened and the boy stepped inside. "Ah, welcome Mr Huynh."
"Professor Ozpin."
"Firstly, I'd like to say welcome to Beacon Academy."
"I don't mean to be rude Professor, but my stuff's downstairs and I'd really like to get back to it ASAP."
"Right, very well. Please sit." Ozpin took a seat in his chair as the boy did with his. "Now you are aware that, while your skills are exceptional, you're one of the youngest people here on Campus."
"Yes, sir."
"I understand recent events have left you...marked, to say the least. I understand your preferences and conditions."
"Is there a problem, sir?"
"Not at all. You are permitted to attend Beacon as a freelancer student like some others, but you may need to join a team during team events and some missions. You may also be deployed as your own team when required however your marks will be treated as a team in some assessments. This may or may not help you depending on the work."
"I can work with that."
"Also, I have a condition for you."
"Oh?"
"I'd like you to attend the following classes." Ozpin handed the boy a piece of paper with times of different classes.
"Sir, this is a second-year timetable."
"I'm aware of that. Your academic skills are quite high even for a new student. As such, I've decided to put you in classes where your abilities and knowledge may be challenged. They're also quite a friendly group overall and should be...more tolerant of your semblance. "
"I'm not that great at making friends, sir."
"Perhaps. But I still think you should give it a chance. You might take a liking to the group."
The boy thought for a couple seconds. "Alright. I'll do it."
"Excellent. That's all I had. Did you have any questions?"
"Not at the moment, no."
"Very well. You may go." The student nodded and walked to the door. "And Cameron..." The boy stopped. "Should you ever need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. My door is always open."
"Thank you, sir." With that, Cameron left the room.
Later that day, cut to dorms...
"So, how was everyone's break?" Ruby asked their teammates as they walked to their dorm.
"Well, I went on a tour with my family," said Weiss.
"That sounded pretty cool."
"It was nice...I would've liked it more if my sister came too."
"What about you Blake?" said Yang.
"I saw some family too," Blake responded. "Had a very overdue reunion, helped my parents out with their work, did a lot of reading. What about you two?"
"Just the usual. Caught up with some friends, went clubbing, did some training and beat up a couple jerks trying to pull the moves on me. Ruby, on the other hand, got fatter and lazier."
"Hey!" said Ruby annoyed. "Reading comics and playing video games is a widely accepted pastime during winter. And I did train, thank you very much!"
"Only because Dad threw you out of the house."
"I was planning on training later that day!"
"Sure you were."
"Hrmmm..." They soon approached their new dorm and opened the door. "Wow." The room was significantly bigger than their first-year dorm, allowing space for a small living room, kitchen and balcony.
"There's actual space in here," Blake said.
"Momma likes what she sees," Yang agreed.
"And we don't have to have to make bunk beds," Weiss added.
"You said you wanted bunk beds as a kid," Ruby pointed out.
"Your bed was hardly safe." The team went to work unpacking their stuff and set the room up to their liking. When they were done, they took a moment to enjoy their work.
"Good work, guys. Objective complete."
"So have any of you looked at our schedule?" Weiss asked.
"Pretty much the same as last year," said Blake. "Classes start tomorrow."
"Alright then. So what can we do today?"
"Freshmen have their entrance exams today," Yang answered. "It's being televised through the school. We could watch them."
"Really?" said Weiss. "Why would we watch freshmen?"
"Because some of them might be hot."
"Really Yang?"
"I'm just saying." A knock interrupted the team's train of thought. Ruby opened the door to find Team JNPR.
"Heya guys," Ruby said with a smile. "You just unpacked?"
"Yeah," said Jaune. "We were gonna watch the freshmen test. You guys going as well?"
"Yeah. We were just talking about it."
"Well don't talk, let's go," Nora said. The two teams walked down the hallway and headed for the cafeteria. Almost immediately after, Cameron came down the opposite end of the hall and walked to his room, located next to team RWBY's. He opened the door and entered to find a room almost identical to the one next to him. He threw his duffle bag onto the nearest bed and walked out to the balcony. He stared at the view of the city he had from his room.
"This is my life now," he whispered to himself. He pulled out his scroll and scanned the new timetable. The timetable loaded onto his tablet-sized screen with the names of everyone in the classes. He read the list of names before switching to the messages section. Two messages appeared. One titled 'Welcome to Beacon' and another titled 'Best of Luck.' He opened up the second message and read it.
Hey Cam
I know it's a little late but I thought I'd just say best of luck at Beacon. I...I know you're still hurting. I am too. But you have to give it your all out there. You're a great fighter and you know it. No matter what, you still got me supporting you here. Train hard and stay safe (and kick some ass for me). Make us proud, I wanna hear good things when you call. ;)
Maggie
"I'll do my best, Mags," He whispered to himself. "I'll make you proud." Cameron closed the scroll pocketed it. He went back inside and collected a cube-shaped object from his bag before leaving his dorm to walk around the school a while.
Later that day, cut to Cafeteria…
"GOOOO!" screamed Ruby as she watched a group of freshmen fight some Grimm on the large cafeteria screen.
"Watch your left! No, your other left!" shouted Yang.
"You do know they can't hear you right?" said Weiss unimpressed.
"Weiss, you're not cheering loud enough," Ruby said.
"I can't believe I missed you people."
"Who would've guessed Ice Queen had a heart," Blake smiled.
"Shut up!"
On the table opposite them, JNPR was having their reunion.
"So how was your guys' break?" Nora asked insistently to Jaune and Pyrrha.
"Well, we met each other's families over the break," Pyrrha explained.
"Ooh, what did they think of you? I bet Jaune's family was really taken back."
"They weren't that taken back...much," Jaune responded.
"You should've seen his baby photos," Pyrrha laughed.
"Pyrrha! Don't encourage her!"
"Ooh, did you guys get frisky after dark?" Nora asked with a devious smirk.
"Nora!" Ren interrupted.
"What? Serious question!"
"You don't ask that in public."
"There's hardly anyone around though."
"W-what about you guys?" Jaune asked, trying to shift the conversation.
"Oh, we journeyed around Sanus. Saw a few towns, killed a few Grimm, broke a few legs-"
"You did what!?"
"Yeah, you should've been there. There was this big army of bandits!"
"There was a dozen of them," Ren corrected.
"Each of them armed to the teeth."
"They had a couple rifles and pistols."
"They thought they could rob town's bank!"
"They were holding up a dust store..."
"But they picked the wrong day...for we came to the rescue in the nick of time!"
"We were across the street at a cafe when we noticed them."
"Then we saved the day and made a boatload of Lien by capturing the bounties on their heads!"
"The police took them away and the store owner gave us a few dust rounds."
"Sounds...eventful," Pyrrha said with a small chuckle.
"Eventful's the word alright," Ren laughed.
"Ohhh, sucks to be him!" Yang said after watching a student get smacked into a tree.
"What was he thinking taking an Ursa like that?" said Weiss, now paying attention to the broadcast.
"Don't give up guys," Ruby cheered. "You got this."
"Hey ladies," said a voice walking up to them. The girls turned towards the voice. "What's shakin'?"
"Sun?" Blake asked.
"The one and only." Sun and his team walked over to RWBY's table.
"And you call me a showoff," said Neptune.
"I learn from the best."
"What are you guys doing here?" Ruby asked. "Aren't you guys supposed to be back at Haven by now?"
"We would be if it weren't for these transcript papers," said Neptune, pulling out his Beacon scroll.
"You all transferred here?" Yang asked.
"Yeah, we figured a bunch of girls would miss us if we suddenly upped and left after saving them a few times," Sun said, walking over to Blake.
"I pretty sure they wouldn't have missed you," Blake retorted with a smirk.
"Don't mind us or anything," Scarlet said. "We just came for the ride."
"Hey, you guys said it was fine!" Sun countered.
"Only because your ass would be mopey if we didn't," Sage smirked.
"Shut up!"
"Well, I wouldn't call it a bad thing having you around," Weiss said as she and Neptune held hands.
"So what are we losers doing?" Neptune asked.
"Watching the first years pummel or get pummeled," Yang answered.
"That sounds about right."
"Oh my god, that's amazing!" Ruby cried as she continued watching.
Later that night...
"Well, that was interesting," said Ruby walking down the halls with her team.
"Lucky that last team made it before in time," Weiss said. "But now we have Port first thing in the morning."
"At least we have combat class at the end of the day," said Blake.
"Thank god for that," Yang sighed. The group went back to their room and readied themselves for bed.
"Alright, lights out," Ruby said. She hit the lights and the team soon fell asleep.
Not too long after, Cameron returned to his room. He changed into his pajamas and set his alarm clock. He then laid on his bed and put some headphones on. He grabbed his scroll and played some music, passing time as he went over his schedule and course overview. A couple minutes passed before he put down his scroll and turned the lights off. He went under the covers and laid ready to sleep. As he drifted off, a single thought circled him.
"Guide me, as you always have..."
End Music: Assassin's Creed 3 Main Theme Metal Version - Dark Pixel Music
AN: Hi there. If you're reading this, you somehow made it to the end of this opening chapter of my fanfic now absurdly long fanfic. I know it's not much but this is my first fanfic so try not to be too harsh. This fic takes place post volume 3 where everyone lived and continued training at Beacon. As such, the story does has its own plot and will revolve mainly around my character, Cameron Huynh. Hopefully, you won't see him as a Mary Sue/Gary Stu or whatever it is, but know he has some weight behind him. Also, characters are in their V3 outfits but can and will swap to V4/5 outfits when I feel like it. Other than that, hope you stick around for the future adventures of RWBY: Peace and Chaos. Safe, I'm out.
PS: If you don't like my music suggestions (which I will have 'cause I can) or have anything better, don't hesitate to say so. I try to get something that captures the chapter and I'm out there to make you guys slightly happier if I can.
2018 Edit: 3 years on and looking back at the first chapter...good god, was I a crappy writer. Nostalgia aside, please note that this fic is undergoing extensive rewrites now that we're 5 volumes in. Rewritten chapters will be noted at latest chapter update so please stay tuned for any rewrites you may have missed. :)