Edit* A chapter was missing from the story so I added it back in. I also put an author's note after the last chapter if people are interested in reading that.
Chapter 1
Once upon a time there was a wizard.
The wizard was a kind man who had amassed power, wealth and land over the course of his long life. However, he did not keep these things to himself. The Wizard used his money to build a city upon his land, one that held no allegiance to any other kingdom.
It was a place where those who could find no other home could go and these poor souls loved the Wizard because he was a benevolent ruler. The kingdoms around the Wizard's own were all ruled by his friends so there was no threat from invasion.
The people of the Emerald city lived in peace and prosperity.
However, the Wizard had one enemy. A spiteful old croon of a witch. She was powerful, yes, but also cruel and blood thirsty.
She was once thought to be a beautiful and kind enchantress. But the Wizard had seen through that illusion and defeated her. Leaving her disfigured and hate filled.
She decided in return would take his lands by any means necessary. Even if that meant she had to kill every man, woman and child and then salt the earth so nothing could grow.
This is the tale of the kind Wizard, the cruel Witch and the brave adventurers that saved the citizens of the Emerald City.
The blond girl stared down at the book. She really had no will to continue reading the collection of fairy tales.
The book in truth belonged to her sister, the blond had started reading it for comfort but in the end that seemed pointless.
With a sigh she reached for the cup of water on the table next to her.
But on instinct she tried to use her right hand… she no longer had a right hand.
Throwing herself back on her bed her eyes turned from lilac to red. She was frustrated with herself for making that mistake, so many months after the fact.
The girl's name was Yang Xiao Long and she was home alone tonight, waiting for her father to return from searching for her little sister.
Ruby Rose had disappeared two days ago, leaving only a note saying the cliché "don't go looking for me." And "I'm sorry." Yang could see it was killing her father, he had already lost so much and now Ruby was gone.
And it was killing Yang too.
At the start of this year she and her sister had been admitted into Beacon Academy (her sister having been bumped up a few grades.) A school that trained young adults to fight the monsters known as the creatures of Grimm. Black monsters covered in bone white armour.
Yang had always wanted an adventure and being a huntress seemed like the perfect way to get it. So she had been raring to go when initiation started at Beacon. During initiation she had been teamed up with another girl by the name of Blake Belladonna, the girl who was supposed to be her partner for the next four years.
But then… The battle for Beacon happened. During the Vital Festival, a festival created to celebrate the coming together of all the people of Remnant. Grimm and the White Fang had attacked Beacon.
People had died, Beacon had been overrun with Grimm… Yang had lost her arm to a bastard called Adam Taurus. She had thought the worst thing was waking up in a hospital bed to find herself without her right arm, that she had lost friends and that Ruby was in a coma. After using some sort of power that stopped the massive dragon like Grimm in place on top of Beacon's tower like… well some sort of grim gargoyle.
That was until Blake ran off. At the time Yang had wondered if it was because the Faunus girl had thought she wasn't worth it any more. Another side hoped it was because Blake didn't want her friend to be in danger. Blake had once been a member of the White Fang; she had been a terrorist fighting (in the worst possible way) for her race, the Faunus, to be equal.
If it at least was the second one… Yang would be pissed but at least she knew Blake cared.
The girl did seem to think she had to carry the world on her back.
Yang let out a frustrated noise.
The other member of their little group had been Weiss Schnee. She was the heiress to the Schnee Dust company and had been sent home after all it was safer there. Weiss was Ruby's partner and she was taken away while the girl slumbered. There was nothing Yang could do.
And now Ruby was gone too.
This annoyed Yang the most. She couldn't stop the other two but Ruby could have at least said to her sister's face that she didn't want to take a cripple with her.
And Yang could tell her back that while Ruby wasn't looking Yang was learning how to fight. She was channelling her anger into something useful while she waited for a new arm and so that when she finally did get a replacement she could track down Blake and Ruby and give them a piece of her mind. Weiss was okay. At least she didn't have a choice about leaving.
Not long after the Xiao Long family found the note and Yang's comment that she wasn't sure if she was going to hug Ruby when she saw her or punch her. Yang's uncle Qrow (a hunter) left too. Yang's father, Taiyang assumed he was following Ruby.
With her father still out there, Yang was alone in the house. She had decided to read fairy tales since TV was out of the question. With the Beacon CCT tower that allowed them to communicate across all four kingdoms down, things like the TV was also not working.
So Yang was left with things like reading. Most of the books in the house were fighting manuals (which happens when everyone in the house either taught fighting or was training), and Ruby's vast collection of myths and fairy tales. These were the stories Yang used to read Ruby after Ruby's mother Summer Rose died. The stories that inspired Ruby down the path of a huntress - to be a hero.
It was all Yang could do while she waited alone in the house.
"Don't worry, a prosthetic should be here any day now!"
Her father promised every day. But they both knew it was bullshit. With the previously mentioned CCT out the hospitals couldn't call specialists about it. Then there were the Grimm attacks that had left the hospitals scrambling to care for everyone.
As much as she spent her time preparing for when she had one, she also had to recognise that she was not at the top of people's priorities list at the moment.
Out there in the world there was a war going on and the worst part of all this was that the people she cared about were fighting in it. She needed to get out there and help.
She looked up to see the moon.
Yang frowned.
For a moment it looked like the moon was whole. But that was impossible. One side of the moon was shattered and it always had been.
She pulled herself up and looked outside. It seemed to flicker between the snow storm that had been raging for the last few hours and clear skies.
The thing was that clear sky belonged to a different place. It was not what outside her childhood home looked like in any season.
The longer Yang looked the more the scene outside changed. The forest seemed to come back to life, green but the trees were different.
The clouds disappeared completely replaced by a clear night sky with more stars then Yang had ever seen.
She pulled on shoes, a jacket and grabbed the left gauntlet from her pair of weapons as quickly as possible and ran out of the house.
The second she was out the front door though she was thrown backwards by an unknown force. She hit the ground with a thud and was out like a light.
/
She heard someone mutter something, she wasn't sure if it was gibberish or another language. Suddenly though it stopped being gibberish.
"Hello?"
Something poked her, it was cool against her thin t-shirt. Yang let out a moan and blinked her eyes.
It took her a second to get used to the light, it was apparently morning. At first she thought her father had found her lying in the doorway, however, the birds chirping and warm weather made her question that theory.
"Hello?" the voice asked again, definitely not her father. It was male though, he sounded not much older than her. His voice sounded proper… like someone had clearly trained him how to say "hello" in just the right way.
Her eyes adjusted she finally got a good look at him.
The boy looked to be around nineteen, he had messy black hair (that clearly wanted to sit in his face) and brown eyes hidden behind round glasses. He smiled and pressed a button on the metal bow staff he had. The staff shrank in size and he held his hand out to her.
"Good, you are awake." She took the hand and stood up shakily. She clung to the arm of his pale green shirt. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah… I think…" Yang looked around herself. She was in a forest clearing and it was nearing sundown. She pulled away from the boy and he began to straighten out his green shirt and vest. "Where am I?" The boy looked at her in surprise.
"Well… you are on the Ozpin estate. Within the Western Woods specifically."
"Ozpin…?" as in the head master of Beacon who had gone missing? She hadn't known he had some estate thing… Had he just run off here?
"Yes Ozpin. They are well respected practitioners of magic and advisors to the king of Vaqueoh" the boy said proudly.
"Vacuo?" how in the world had she ended up in Vacuo? She had been home in Patch and Patch was an island off of Vale.
She was on the other side of the continent from Vacuo… Or at least she had been! She was starting to feel nauseous.
"No, VA-QUE-OH" he said it slower for her. "Vaqueoh." He repeated. Yang just stared, feeling sicker. "I'm going to assume that you are from another kingdom then?" He raised his eyebrow. "A far off one."
Yang was about to reply when the nausea got the best of her. She held her self against a tree and threw up on the ground.
"Uagh…" She said as she heaved. Looking at the ground she didn't see her dinner but instead she saw some sort of green goo. "Ew…"
Suddenly the boy next to her pulled a small vial out of his bag and crouched down.
"What are you doing?" She panted. The boy began to poke some of the goo into the vial with a stick. "Are you seriously going to keep that?"
"This is not normal, correct?" He asked looking up at her, clearly having ignored her reaction. She shook her head. "If you are not aware. This is a common symptom of a curse." He put the cork on the vial and stood up, dusting himself off. "I may be able to understand what kind of curse via some tests."
"Wait… You aren't joking? You are talking about a real curse?" Unless curse was the name of someone's semblance. The boy gave a nod; Yang was starting to think he was insane. Then again earlier he had been talking about magic right? Maybe she was on some small island somewhere, where they didn't know about… anything?
Maybe her headmaster ran away from this place.
"How are you feeling?" the boy rubbed her back slightly. He also helped her up from her position.
"I'm… Okay…" She shrugged. "I'm Yang Xiao Long by the way." Since she hadn't managed to introduce herself this whole time.
"Clark Ozpin, pleasure to meet you Miss Xiao Long." Okay so this guy was definitely related to Ozpin then. Maybe he had a way of contacting him? No one knew where Ozpin ran off to after the Battle for Beacon but hey maybe he told his family?
Before Yang could speak Clark pulled out a pocket watch and looked at the time.
"Miss Xiao Long, since I found you out in the woods I am going to assume you have no place to stay tonight?"
"Oh…" Yang hadn't thought about that.
"It's just… A woman in your condition should not be left alone." She was about to retort when she realized he was right. She was lost, alone and was in no condition to defend herself against any wild Grimm.
"Yeah… I mean no… I" Yang shook her head. Clark seemed to understand, he smiled and gestured for her to follow him.
"You may stay at the house at least for tonight. I will look into the curse. However, and I mean this without any insult-"
"Will you just spit it out!" Yang growled. Clark seemed surprised by this and after a moment continued.
"Your current outfit is not suited." He stated.
Yang blinked and looked down at herself. She was wearing an old leather jacket over a stained t-shirt (she hadn't bothered to change after she threw some juice on herself at dinner), some pyjama shorts and a pair of sneakers. She was also dirty from the forest floor. From what she had gathered Clark's family was important, so she guessed this would be similar to showing up at Weiss's house in this. That would not go over well.
"So… What do we do about it?" the boy seemed relieved that Yang wasn't offended.
"I have a friend who lives nearby. She should be able to assist us." He turned. "Please follow me and if you need any help just ask."
"Oh come on! I'm missing a hand, not both my legs!" he gave her an apologetic look before they started walking.
The two of them moved through the forest at a quick pace, it was clear Clark knew it well. Yang got a good look at it as they walked. The trees were thick and green, giving them cool shade against the heat as they walked.
Clark glanced back at Yang every once in a while, but otherwise didn't pay her much mind as they made their way through the woods.
It was starting to get dark as they came to a small cottage hidden under a cliff. Yang could hear a river nearby. She could also see the area around the old cottage had been cleared away and used for garden beds.
The place smelt of herbs and a quick look showed her very few flowers in the garden.
"It used to be a hunter's lodge, it lay unused for a few years." Clark explained.
"A few?" Yang blinked and turned. A girl around the same age as her little sister stood behind her. However, this girl was… different.
Her hair was tied back in a braid and was almost the same shade of white as her skin. Her clothing only drew more attention to the colour, a black top with red vertical stripes, a black skirt and black shoes with ribbons that went up her legs.
But it was her eyes that disturbed Yang the most, she was trying so hard not to look at them. The sclera of her eyes was black. Her iris was red and almost seemed to glow.
The young girl smiled at them, like a lion looking at her next meal. She held her basket in front of her.
"Salem, I apologise for bothering you." Clark smiled at the girl. "I assume you have been out collecting ingredients?" the girl gave a shrug.
"Ozpin, who's this?" She turned to look at Yang directly. It was a challenge and Yang knew it. Never one to step down from one of those, Yang spoke before Clark could.
"Yang Xiao Long." She went to shake Salem's hand but quickly shuffled herself since she had tried to do it with her right. The girl took her hand but instead of shaking it she pulled it closer and looked over Yang's hand.
"You are a fighter… Explains the arm. That's recent. I can tell by how you still try to use it. I wouldn't be surprised if you were a fist fighter." Yang pulled her arm away from the strange girl and gave a nod.
"Ummm yeah…" She replied.
"What is a fighter doing here?" the girl frowned. "If you're after money-"
"Salem, stop it!" Clark interrupted the girl. She glanced at him. "We are here because Miss Xiao Long needs something to ware to be presentable at the house." The girl gave him a look; Yang didn't know what it meant but Clark clearly did. "It's that or she stays with you."
"I'd kick her out." The strange girl walked up to the cottage. Clark turned to Yang and gestured for her to follow. The blond obeyed, questioning what in the world had just happened.
Inside the cottage it was more comfortable looking then Yang had expected. The place was bathed in warm light by a fire. Something was cooking away on it.
The furniture was pretty limited. A pair of chairs by the fire, basic cooking utensils. Most of the living space seemed to be taken up by some sort of workshop.
There was a hall leading away. Yang guessed that was where the bedrooms and the like were.
Suddenly she noticed Salem looking at her.
"Ozpin." She called out. The boy who had been looking over the overstuffed bookshelf glanced at the pair. "Anything in particular in mind?" He shook his head.
"Presentable to my father." Salem muttered something under her breath. With a click of her fingers suddenly tap measures were flying around Yang and taking her measurements. Salem wasn't even looking; she was off pulling fabric from a storage closet.
"You have any thoughts there sweetheart?" Clark threw the girl a look which she returned.
"Something which I can move in, precious." Salem stopped and looked back at Yang for a moment. Then she went back to her work like nothing had happened. A quick glance at Clark showed he was smiling now.
After a few minutes of looking Salem pulled out a long roll of yellow. After a moment of thought she also pulled out some brown.
"I can't do anything about the shoes, Ozpin."
"Whatever you can do Salem is appreciated." The blond was surprised at the flippant reply. Clark had only ever been polite. Suddenly he was nose deep in a book and acting more like a guy she'd meet at Beacon.
After another mutter of words and a click of her fingers the scissors started cutting the fabric and the needle started to sow.
"How are you doing all this?" Yang finally asked. She had thought maybe Salem's semblance had been telekinetic like Goodwitch's had been but this was ridiculous. The girl looked at her.
"Magic." She said bluntly. "Seriously you look like you've never seen a spell." The blond just stared at the scissors moving across the material. "Have you ever seen a spell?"
That seemed to get Clark's attention, he closed his book. They both stared at her.
"No! Look, seriously? Magic? That's just stupid fairy tale nonsense!" Yang had a feeling her eyes had changed to red from how frustrated she was. They were acting like she was the fool when they were talking about magic. "Magic isn't real!"
Salem gave a snort and started to talk in a language Yang didn't know.
"SALEM!" Clark's voice stopped the girl. She pouted at him and he shook his head. "Miss Xiao Long, magic is in fact real. I do not know how you could doubt it."
The blond looked between the two and shook her head. They were insane, clearly insane.
She walked out of the cottage, she could hear Clark following her.
"Miss Xiao Long!" He called.
But by then Yang had stopped. She was looking up at the moon. It was still light but it was still visible.
It was also completely whole.
She stared at it - this wasn't possible. The moon had been shattered as far back as history could go. Was she not in Remnant?
"Clark…" She turned to look at him. "Any chance you know a Professor Ozpin? He's the head master at Beacon Academy." She asked almost shakenly.
"I do not know of a 'Beacon Academy'… Is it a school for magicians?" Yang stared at him.
"No… it's a school for Hunters."
"You mean where you come from there are whole schools to teach people how to hunt for food?"
Yang didn't understand. Where was she? How could someone not know what a hunter was?
"Hunters as in Huntsman and Huntresses! People who kill Grimm!" his expression told her he was trying to find the politest way to say he had no clue what she was talking about. "You know the big black monsters with red eyes? Sense all of humanity's worst emotions? Want to kill every man, woman and child? Does none of this ring a bell?"
"Interesting idea." Salem said from the door way. Clark threw her a look. "What? You still don't get it yet Clark?"
"Get what?" Yang yelled looking between the pair.
"She's not mad, she's been thrown." His eyes widened. Salem seemed to decide that Yang deserved a break on this one and explained. "Throwing someone or something is sending them somewhere else. Sort of like teleportation. Except that's only possible with a semblance. Someone very powerful clearly wanted you here." For once Salem gave Yang a gentle smile. "It's why nothing's the same. You've been thrown somewhere else."
"It's alright Miss Xiao Long! I'll test that goo and it should give us an idea of where you were thrown from. For now, though, why don't we get you that dress and then we can head to the main house…"
Yang looked at both of them and just let out a sigh. Her eyes returned to lilac. The situation defused Salem returned to her work.
"I have to get home." She told Clark. "It's… My dad doesn't have anyone else!" Without her arm the only person Yang could help was her father. She could be there for him. The boy gave a nod.
"I understand Yang. You have no need to worry, I will find you a way home."
"Hey Ozpin! The dress is ready!" Salem called from within the cottage. Clark gestured for Yang to enter first.