Author's Notes: This is the first fanfic I have put up for others to see. I have written others but I was not as satisfied with them. This story will mostly focus on my OC but I'm just sticking him in the RWBY storyline. Another OC team that has already graduated from Beacon will show up later. I hope my OC doesn't come off as a Marty Stu but being a new writer I can't make any guarantees. I also have to warn you all that I have a poor understanding of grammar so there will probably be tons of bad sentences. I have pairings in mind but they may or may not happen. Now that I'm rambling I think I should just get started.
Disclaimer for the whole story: I do not own RWBY. It would be neat to, but I do not.
Chapter One: The Anniversary
Ozpin took a sip from his mug as he watched the first years soar through the air after their launch. He looked over at the figure in the dark gray cloak standing on the edge as it stared down at the forest. The students had hardly even noticed the figure that had been shadowing him. Ozpin made sure that the person underneath that cloak was always somewhere where he could be monitored. That person's name was Alexei Seryy.
"Why did you bring me here?" asked Alexei. "You know it's the anniversary."
"Yes." replied Ozpin. "And that's why I brought you."
"To make sure I never forget what I did?" asked Alexei with anger in its voice.
"No, Alexei." said Ozpin as Glynda's hand twitched towards her wand. "To make sure you always remember why we are trying to fix the problem that you are having."
Alexei squatted down and scooped up some dirt with his hand and let it trickle over the edge of the cliff. Most of the first years had finally gone below the tree line and Professor Goodwitch set up her scroll to watch the students from the cameras positioned throughout the forest.
"Then couldn't you have just shown me some recordings from last year?" asked Alexei. "I'd much rather stay in my cell than be here again."
Ozpin took another sip from his mug and replied. "I think you'll find that you can't always run and hide from all of your problems Alexei."
Alexei looked out at some of the first years. He spotted a long mess of wild blonde hair as well as a red cloak, Yang, and her younger sister, Ruby. He had been close friends with both of them in his time at Signal. That had made him make sure that his own gray cloak kept his identity a mystery.
"You know some of them, don't you?" asked Ozpin.
"Yeah," said Alexei. "I went to Signal. I knew Yang and Ruby. Remember?"
"Ah, yes." said Ozpin. "I almost forgot, weren't you friends with them?"
"Once upon a time." said Alexei. "But that was then. Now I know what's inside of me. I can't let anyone get close to me ever again."
Glynda gave Ozpin a serious look, Ozpin responded with another look that made her nod and go back to her scroll.
Alexei simply continued to stare out at the Emerald Forest. He gave a side glance at the platforms that had thrown the students forward and he slowly remembered how his first day had gone.
-One year ago-
Alexei had a smile on his face as he looked at the others around him. They were standing on metal platforms on the edge of a cliff. Ozpin had just told them their objective and the students were being flung towards the forest one by one. His best friend Marcus Growly stood next to him.
"How the hell are we gonna meet up?" asked Alexei.
"I'll be right next to the giant tree." said Marcus, sarcasm thick in his voice.
"Thanks man." said Alexei, "Now I know where to look for you in the forest filled with giant trees."
Marcus smiled as he pulled out his special kusarigama. The scythe end was also a machine pistol while the ball on the end of the ten-foot chain was designed to release different dust capsules on impact.
Alexei pulled his own weapon off of his back. It was a gray rectangle which began unfolding to reveal a five foot long, heavily modified rifle. It could shoot high caliber ammunition on semi-auto. On the end of the barrel was a two-foot long, razor sharp bayonet. A button next to the trigger caused two axe blades to fold out of the stock. He had been working on the thing for years and he was proud of it. He called it Gray Death due to its gray coloring. The whole weapon was thanks to help from Ruby and her uncle Qrow.
"Hey um…Alexei?"
Alexei turned his head towards the small voice and saw Jessica Finrick standing on the platform to his right. She had always been a quiet and somewhat timid girl even if she was an excellent fighter. Her favorite color was green which was why it was almost the only color she was wearing which gave a nice contrast to her bright red hair. She was staring down at the ground as she played with some string on her green sleeves. Alexei always thought she acted odd around him.
"If there's any room left on your team with Marcus then I think I would like to join." she looked up from the ground and into his eyes. It almost looked like she was pleading with him.
Next to him Alexei could hear Marcus groan before his platform flung him into the woods.
Alexei smiled to her before he spoke, "I think I'd like having you on my team."
Jessica looked overjoyed and Alexei forgot what he was doing as he just realized how beautiful the girl in front of him was. He paid for it dearly as he was flung through the air with no preparation. He had almost dropped Gray Death as well.
As he flew through the air he attempted to calm himself and stop flailing his arms. He noticed the trees below him getting closer and swung Gray Death around in front of him and began firing off shots in an attempt to slow his momentum at least some. He noticed that one giant tree in particular seemed to be getting closer to him and all he could do was strengthen his aura towards his front and brace for impact.
Hitting the tree had been painful but he had managed to stab Gray Death's bayonet into the tree to stop from sliding. He breathed in and out without strain meaning that he hadn't broken any ribs. It would probably just be some bruising.
He looked below him and cursed to see that he was halfway up the enormous oak. He would have some climbing to do. As he began doing his best not to fall down the tree he heard someone land on a branch above him. He looked up to see Jessica looking into his eyes with her spear in her hands.
For a moment complete silence passed between the two as they stared into each other's eyes. Alexei knew that they were partners now and would be for the next four years. He was going over the pros and cons in his mind. On one hand Jessica was a great fighter, both him and her were fairly high on the leaderboards at Signal, so the two of them could kick some serious ass. On the other hand she always seemed awkward around him, alternating between trying to talk to him and just running away. She was a complete mystery to him.
Suddenly her face turned bright red to match her hair color as her green eyes looked away, "Alexei! Does this mean? You haven't seen anyone else have you?"
"Nope." he said, "We're partners now." He gave her a smile as she blushed again and turned away. "Do you know a way out of this tree though?" he asked.
"You remember my semblance?" she asked.
"Gravity manipulation, right?"
"Yes." she said, "I could get us down but we would to be…touching."
"Alright." he said.
He climbed up to the branch and grabbed her hand. Her face turned even redder as she changed their source of gravity to the tree. Hand in hand they walked down the tree towards the ground.
"This is weird." he said, "Cool though."
They made it to the ground and she let go of his hand causing him to fall onto his stomach.
"I'm sorry!" she said as she changed her gravity back to the ground.
"It's alright." he said as he got to his feet and began brushing dirt off his grey jeans and black t-shirt, "Ozpin said that we need to get to the ruins in the northern part of the forest, didn't he?" Alexei asked.
Jessica gave a nod in reply. Alexei chose a direction at random and started walking with Jessica right behind him.
They walked in silence. Every time Alexei looked back at Jessica she would immediately look down and start playing with her sleeves. Alexei still couldn't figure out what her problem was.
"Anyone else you like to have on our team?" Alexei was trying to make the walk less uncomfortable.
"There's Olivia Grimore." she said, "I've known her for awhile."
"As in the Grimore family?" Alexei asked. The Grimore family was one of the most powerful families in Vale, second only to the Schnee family.
"Yes." she said in her quiet voice, "My father works as a butler in their household so I spent a lot of time with her as a kid."
"She didn't go to Signal did she?"
"No. She was privately tutored from a young age." said Jessica.
"Well I'm guessing you know that I want my friend Marcus with us." said Alexei.
"I figured."
Alexei reached for Gray Death as soon as he heard some rustling in bushes near them. He lowered his hand when he also heard some incredibly sarcastic remarks.
"Sure I'll go find you a powder room princess. Why don't I just call up a taxi to take us?"
Marcus walked through the bushes and looked at Alexei and Jessica in silence.
"Well I can't help it that I'm used to a life of high class unlike peasants like you."
As luck would have it, Olivia walked in right behind Marcus. Like Jessica she wore almost one color exclusively, only she wore purple, the color of the Grimore family. A decorated long sword hung in a scabbard at her side. Despite the fact that her dress was wrinkled and she had dirt on her legs, she still carried herself as a noble.
"Well it looks like we were both a little late to become each other's partners." said Marcus.
"She fell on a branch above me." said Alexei, "What's your excuse?"
"She fell on top of me." said Marcus as he jabbed his thumb in Olivia's direction, "She's been explaining to me how big of an honor it was for me ever since."
"Well I guess we should team up." said Alexei, "The four of us could make it there a lot easier. What do you think Jessica?"
"I agree." she said quietly.
"How about you princess?" asked Marcus.
"Well at least I won't have to put up with all boys like I thought I would, and I'll get to be with Jessica." said Olivia, "And would you stop calling me that!"
"Not if you keep acting like a princess, princess." said Marcus.
They started moving towards where Alexei thought the ruins had been. Olivia and Jessica were a few yards behind them, talking about something. Marcus looked back at them before speaking, "You know she's been staring at you this whole time."
"I know." said Alexei, "It's kind of weird."
"Are you retarded?" asked Marcus, "Or were you more into Yang and Ruby than I thought?"
"What do you mean?" Alexei asked with pure confusion in his voice.
"She's obviously into you." said Marcus, "Don't you find her attractive?"
"I guess." said Alexei, "Are you sure?"
"Dude, she's staring at you like a fat kid stares at the last piece of candy." said Marcus, "Either she wants you, or she wants to kill you and eat you."
"Why are you so messed up?" asked Alexei.
"Blame my parents." said Marcus with a shrug.
They came to a clearing and stopped in the center. A loud growl erupted from the woods.
"Should I go get some caviar princess?" asked Marcus.
"That was not my stomach!"
A beowolf entered the clearing and crouched low before standing on both hind legs to release a loud howl. Beowolves started running out of the forest towards them. Each member of the group drew their weapons and attacked.
Marcus flung the ball of his kusarigama at one beowolf. When it collided an explosion erupted from the ball, killing the beowolf and setting others near it aflame.
Jessica leaped high through the air and came back down hard on a beowolf, using her gravity manipulation to crush the thing.
Olivia drew her sword and cut the head off of one beowolf and then used a glyph to shoot a fireball at another.
Alexei used Gray Death to shoot several beowolves before they could even reach him. Before one could attack him from behind he swung the rifle around to cut open the things face with the bayonet. He pushed the button next the trigger which popped out the axe blades. He swung the weapon around and used some recoil from the rifle to slash open another beowolf's chest.
"Doesn't this seem like a lot of Beowolves?" shouted Marcus as he buried the scythe into ones head, "They usually travel in packs, not hordes."
Alexei found it odd as well, but that thought left his mind as he heard deep squeals and roars also erupting from the forest. Ursa majors and minors as well as boarbatusks all came charging into the clearing.
"Why are there so many?" screamed Olivia as she barely avoided the massive claw of an ursa major.
Alexei fought without thinking, his own movements became too quick for his mind to process. He could feel his aura draining from the many hits he was taking.
"Why aren't you two using your semblances?" yelled Olivia.
"I have been!" shouted Marcus. His semblance was his ability to manipulate the dust in his kusarigama.
"Then what about you Alexei?"
"I don't have a semblance!" he shouted back.
"No semblance!" Olivia stopped before she stabbed a boarbatusk in its belly, "Wonderful!"
"Why are they all going after Alexei?" shouted Jessica.
The rest paused as Alexei continued to fight and realized that the monsters would only attack them if they provoked them. It seemed as though the creatures were all focused entirely on Alexei.
Alexei barely brought up Gray Death in time before an ursa major brought its paw down on him. He had somehow blocked the strike, but he could feel his aura fading. He felt a sharp pain as a beowolf struck at his back. Alexei collapsed but Jessica stabbed the ursa in the head before it could crush him. She ran up to him. He was on his knees, his head facing the ground, his weapon sat next to him. She could feel that his aura was gone. She lifted his head with her hand and gasped at his facial expression.
He looked almost nothing like the boy she had a huge crush on. His eyes had gone from dark gray to entirely black. His mouth had twisted into a demonic smile which showed off all of his teeth which turned into sharp fangs with elongated canines. Suddenly she could feel his aura surge. It grew to ridiculously high levels, far exceeding what they had been at. Its color had changed from its dark grey to a pitch black.
He rose to his feet. He looked at Jessica's face, finding it odd that she was staring at him in shock. He shrugged it off and was amazed at how great he felt. He no longer felt the wound on his back and his aura felt infinite. The Creatures of Grimm around them had simply stopped and were all staring at him, just like his teammates. He picked Gray Death off of the ground and charged straight into nearest pack of Grimm.
The creatures awoke from their trance and began attacking him in turn, but not a single strike made it through his aura. Beowolves fell left and right to his swings and he continually kicked over boarbatusks to get at their bellies. Another ursa struck at him, but he leaped through the air to cut though its huge neck in one swing, not even needing any added recoil to do so. Within seconds the field and Alexei were covered in Grimm blood and body parts. The whole time the crazy smile and look in Alexei's eyes had never left his face.
"I think you just found your semblance man." said Marcus.
Alexei turned to face Marcus. His expression didn't change one bit as he jumped the gap in between them and buried Gray Death's axe in his chest.
On the cliff's edge a mug hit the ground as Ozpin stared into the large scroll he had been using to watch the students.
Glynda Goodwitch looked at him to see what was the matter. She moved closer to the screen that he was looking at in disbelief. Then she saw the reason for his shock. The screen was fixed on the team they had been watching the most. It was made up of four members that had all graduated very high on their previous school's leaderboard. The biggest surprise on the team had been one Alexei Seryy, a boy who had no known semblance, yet was highly skilled with both his weapon and aura manipulation. Glynda saw that their team was hopelessly surrounded by Creatures of Grimm, but that was not the most unnerving thing on the screen, that would be Alexei.
Her usually stoic and professional demeanor faltered as she let out a gasp upon seeing the boy. Three nasty gashes on his back were sealing shut while pure pitch black aura glowed through them. The boy now had a black aura that was so strong it could be seen through the camera lens. The boy's face had also changed; his eyes, pupils and all, were now solid black, like that of a shark. His mouth had contorted into a terrifying smile and it seemed as though his teeth had changed as well. The canines had grown in length and the rest looked visibly sharper.
"That semblance." she muttered.
"We need to send in all available staff." said Ozpin, attempting to maintain his calm, "They need to remove any students near him. How many have completed already?"
Glynda checked her scroll, "A little more than half the teams have returned with their relics."
Ozpin put on a face of displeasure, "We need to evacuate them." he repeated, he sent out a group call to his entire staff, all of which answered immediately, "We must commit a full evacuation of all students in the Emerald Forest immediately, the situation has become code black."
All gave acknowledgement and hung up, except for Bartholomew Oobleck.
"You have never ordered an evacuation during an initiation in all your years as headmaster." he said, through the scroll, "Might I ask what deserves a code black?"
"One student, Alexei Seryy, possesses the Semblance of Death." Ozpin responded back.
Oobleck was silent for a second before responding, "Interesting." was all Ozpin heard before the man on the other end hung up.
Ozpin turned back to the screen to see that Alexei's fight had greatly changed in his favor. The Grimm creatures were falling left and right to his attacks. His strength, speed, and aura were all off any charts Ozpin possessed.
"With all of the positives to this semblance it is a true shame that it has such harsh negatives." said Ozpin.
"Do you wish for me to assist in the evacuation sir?" asked Glynda.
"That won't be necessary." he said as he picked up off the ground and began cleaning it, "The rest of the staff will be more than enough to get the rest of the students out. It seems as though the only two teams did not make it to the ruins, one of which was Alexei's."
"Won't we have to restrain him?" she asked.
Ozpin shook his head, "Such a thing would be incredibly dangerous to attempt, just look at him." Ozpin gestured to the screen as Alexei beheaded another ursa major, "Every teacher here was or still is a master hunter, and yet I doubt any of them could beat him in his current state. No, we will have to wait until he runs out of strength."
"How long could that take?"
"Hard to say." said Ozpin, "Only a handful in history have been cursed with the Death Semblance. Only one other on record currently has it. Eventually, however, it will become too much of a strain on his body, and he will black out. The Grimm are also attracted to his immense aura. That should help."
On screen Alexei had finished with the remainder of the Grimm. The boy was covered head to toe in blood and still had that smile. One of his friends spoke to him and Alexei responded by closing the distance between the two in a split second before he plunged the axe head deep into the other boy's chest.
"And that is the major hindrance of the Semblance of Death. The user is put into a state of bloodlust so deep that they have no control over their actions once the Semblance is activated." said Ozpin grimly, "He wasn't even able to willingly activate it. Of the six dozen or so on record who gained the power of the semblance, less than a quarter managed to control it."
Alexei ripped Gray Death out of Marcus' chest, his ribcage snapped wide open.
What the fuck am I doing? Alexei had no control as he swung Gray Death around and stabbed the bayonet straight into Marcus' eye socket. The look on his friend's face before he died was forever embedded in his mind.
Alexei heard the two girls scream. He turned to Olivia who attempted to form a glyph but Alexei shot from his hip and the bullet pierced straight through Olivia's stomach.
Have I been out of control this whole time?
He turned to Jessica who was shaking violently as he slowly approached her. She fell to her knees as she stared into the terrifying face of the monster that had replaced the boy she had a crush on.
"Alexei, why…" her voice was tiny and pleading. Tears rolled down her face as Alexei slowly walked to her.
Alexei tried to do anything to stop himself, but he was powerless as he retracted the bayonet and put the barrel of the rifle to Jessica's right thigh before pulling the trigger. Her leg was completely blown off as she screamed in pain and horror. All she could do was watch as Alexei turned away and walked into the forest.
She clutched at the stump that used to be her leg. She had been so full of fear that she hadn't been able to even reinforce her aura around her leg. She looked over to her two fallen comrades. She quickly looked away from the mutilated corpse of Marcus and crawled towards Olivia.
The other girl was still breathing, but faintly, and the wound in her stomach was bleeding quickly. She attempted to apply pressure but found that she couldn't do it with her own wound. Her vision began to darken as she saw her own leg lying at the end of the bloody trail she had left along the ground.
She heard movement and reached for her spear. A man with messy green hair and glasses leapt down from a tree and rushed over to her with incredible speed.
He quickly studied the situation and opened up his scroll to report on his position to any nearby staff members. He closed the scroll and removed the belt from his pants to wrap around Jessica's leg. Not her leg, her stump. He then began to apply pressure to Olivia's stomach wound.
"Why would he do this?" Jessica asked with a weak voice and tears in her eyes.
"Please do not speak." the man spoke softly.
Jessica stared at the sky above her as her vision faded. The last thing she felt before blacking out was a pair of strong arms lifting her into a stretcher.
Alexei had continued through the forest, annihilating anything with a pulse. He had stopped at another team and made quick work of them. The unfortunate team had not anticipated an attack from a human and had gone done in under a minute.
He stood above the final one. A faunus girl with dog ears. She was still breathing. Her leg and arm were broken and her weapon lay next to a large human boy who had lost his head protecting her. She was up against a tree and was breathing fast and heavily. Alexei felt the smile disappear off of his face.
Alexei looked down at the girl. Fear was dominating her eyes. She was quietly pleading with him. She was very beautiful, but the blood running down the side of her face gave her a much darker appearance.
Still having no control over his actions Alexei bent down to the girl and used a finger to move some stray hair out of her face. The girl was quiet now, unsure of what he would do. Alexei ran his finger into the blood and pulled it away to examine it. It looked the exact same as human blood, but also different. It looked delicious. Alexei licked the blood off the end of his finger to both his own disgust and the disgust of the girl below him. What shocked Alexei even more however was just how sweet the blood tasted.
With no control he got closer to the girl who tried to shuffle away. Gently, like a lover he took her chin with a few fingers and brought his lips to hers. He stuck his tongue into her mouth to taste her. The girl made no moves, perhaps completely shocked by this turn of events, but she was clearly not enjoying it. Alexei pulled out of the kiss and looked into her eyes. She looked at him with such a blend of emotions he couldn't tell what she was feeling, but none of it was positive.
He went back in, but this time he bit her lip and added some of the sweet tasting blood to the mix. The kiss was rougher this time and she began to struggle as he began to suck the blood from her lip. He pulled back once again and lifted up her chin to expose her pale neck. She gave him one last pleading look of fear before he put his mouth on her neck and seeped his fangs into the flesh to start sucking the blood from her veins. It was sweet and to his own horror he loved the taste. Soon enough the girl stopped struggling and the blood stopped flowing as strongly as it had when he started.
He backed away and looked at his work. The girl had died with her eyes wide open and a look of terror and agony adorned her face. Her neck was covered in blood and the flesh was ripped open in a bloody lump where he had drunk from.
He fell backwards and stared at the sky. He could feel the massive aura disappear. His face muscles ached from maintaining that smile for so long. He was overjoyed to find that he could control own body, which he proved by twitching his right index finger, but that one movement alone took all his strength. He was barely able to breathe. The only sounds were the wind moving in the trees above him and his own slowly beating heart. The blood in his mouth no longer tasted sweet, but like normal blood. It felt like days had passed before his eyes closed and listened. He fell asleep as he was lifted by strong arms and placed onto a stretcher.
-Now-
Alexei shook his head, waking up from his daydream and stood up. Down below was the forest that he had left completely soaked in blood just a year ago.
"Why don't you come watch Alexei?" asked Ozpin who was standing at the large wall sized scroll he used for observing initiation.
Alexei moved to stand behind him. He could feel Professor Goodwitch watching him, waiting for him to make some violent move on Ozpin. He knew that she was fiercely dedicated to the man who was slightly older than her, but she was on high alert whenever Alexei was in close proximity to him.
They watched on as the new first years displayed great skill. He was impressed with how far along Ruby and Yang had come within the year that he had spent in hiding.
"It seems as though your classmates this year have extraordinary talent." Ozpin remarked before he took a drink from his mug.
"Classmates? I'm a second year." said Alexei.
"You spent the whole year mostly inside a cell." said Ozpin, "You didn't make it to a single class. You may be eighteen, but according to your credits, you're still a first year."
"I can't let them recognize me." said Alexei.
"You already took to wearing the cloak and bandana over your face." said Ozpin, "They might recognize your voice, but remember, they also think you're dead, it's not as though they'll be looking for you."
"I hope so." said Alexei as he watched Ruby organize an attack with her team that resulted in them taking out a Nevermore, "They sure have come a long way."
"Indeed." said Ozpin, "I do believe they did the best out of all the teams, followed closely by the one which killed the Deathstalker. This is shaping up to be an interesting year." a smile began to spread on his face.
"Sir," said Professor Goodwitch behind them, "They are the last group to arrive. We can now begin the initiation ceremony."
"Yes, I believe this will be an interesting year." said Ozpin once again.
AN: Well now that I've finished there might be some explaining to do. I chose Alexei's first name because I think it's a cool name. I know, rather shallow of me. Since his first name is Russian I decided to make his last name the Russian word for gray which is his color if you didn't notice.
I went with gray because it represents depression, emotional numbness, and moral complexity all of which kind of sum up Alexei.
I had the idea for Alexei's semblance much earlier than I even had a name for him. It's similar to Yang's in that the user gains large amounts of strength and undergoes a slight physical change, but the Death Semblance is not only more deadly, it is also so much harder to control than Yang's that the user can only watch as they kill anything within the immediate area. The user will also experience a fatigue so dramatic that if the Semblance is used for too long they will become completely immobile. It is possible to control but that will be shown later on.
I guess I should stop now before I reveal the entire story. As for when I'll update it will most likely be a random occurrence.