The Guardian
11 Years before the events of RWBY
Screaming was all she could remember.
Screaming and running as fast as she could.
It was a stormy night in the small island of Patch and the forest was near pitch black for those that resided there.
She wanted to stay, she wanted to help, but there was nothing this 6 year old little girl could do.
Out of breath. She stopped running and hid underneath the roots of a tree.
She sat down, pulled her legs into her chest and started to cry silently.
This was a terrible idea.
See, the beasts that had attacked her and her father were drawn to negative emotions like sharks to blood. It was only a matter of time before they found her.
Willow wiped away her tears and listened intently using her vixen ears. All she could hear was the wind softly whistling amongst the trees and the splashing of heavy rain.
She was cold, wet and hungry. The latter being of no concern to her right now.
She hugged her knees and adjusted her blue blazer to shield herself from the cold, quietly whimpering due to how terrified she was.
It wasn't over yet.
Suddenly, she heard a branch snapping behind her and covered her mouth.
One of them had found her.
She listened to it sniff the area trying to track her down.
An Alpha Beowulf was truly a force to be reckoned with.
The beast took some steps toward her, growling lowly.
This caused Willow to silently panic. Her eyes darting around and her ears twitching nervously.
The Beowulf came closer and closer towards her and the growling had turned to snarling.
It peered over the root and began to sniff once more.
The little girl held her breath in anticipation and fear. She looked directly upwards to see the beast staring right at her and in that moment she suffered a small heart attack.
She went to scramble and run but it swiftly pounced in front of her, trying to play with its prey.
Without warning, a sword soon found itself lodged in the trunk of the tree, separating the girl and the Beowulf.
The creature had no time to brace itself before a man in knight's armour threw himself at the Beowulf and tackled it to the ground.
The beast tried clawing at this aggressor but received a mouthful of armoured gauntlet and got thrown into a nearby tree.
Willow took this opportunity to get up and run for her life. Her mind was racing and she kept looking behind her to witness this brawl between man and monster.
She quickly hid behind a bush and watched this man fight with a balanced art of brute strength and surgical precision.
The Beowulf made a leap towards him and he immediately grappled it and slammed it into the ground right in front of Willow.
Whilst it was trying to recover, he grabbed his sword and yanked it out of the tree.
Willow stayed dead still as its burning red eyes bore into her. Slowly, it began to rise and she turned around in an effort to run away.
However, she slipped on the muddy ground and hit her head on something hard. She cried out in pain and tried desperately to crawl away from the soulless creature but it was no use.
She was done for.
Before she had any chance to move the beast leapt at her, but stopped mere inches from her small frame.
The knight had grabbed it by the tail and yanked it away from the girl. It roared in pain and clawed at the ground, trying to get just that little bit closer so it could finally kill her.
But this man had denied it that opportunity so it viciously lashed out, attempting to slash and bite at him. Despite this, the man calmly swung his sword and rid the beast of its right arm.
It took two steps backwards and roared in agony.
The knight readjusted his stance and waited for the foul beast to make its move.
It made another attempt at going for the girl but the man once more swung his sword, only this time, he had skewered the Beowulf right through the chest, finishing the monster.
Willow at this point, had become dizzy and very tired from her head wound. Her vision becoming blurred and darker.
The last thing she saw is images of her mysterious guardian lifting her off of the ground.
The Knight picked the little girl up. "I've got you, kid." He mumbled in a soothing nature.
To him, she weighed next to nothing. So carrying her was effortless.
"Such a terrible thing to have happened." He thought to himself. He was just glad to have prevented her from dying, but she wasn't out of the woods yet, quite literally in fact.
He had noticed the gash on her forehead and knew she'd need medical attention, so he wasted no time in getting back to the camp he had set up.
It wasn't far from their location, but he still had quite a ways to go.
He had heard of the growing number of Grimm sightings on Patch and had taken it upon himself to investigate.
When he had set up, he had begun to observe their movements, which was what led him to this incident and the small faunus child he carried in his arms.
His sword was placed in its scabbard on his left hip and his kite shield was mounted on his back.
He looked down at the girl and wiped the mud off of her face before once more cradling her and pulling her closer in an attempt to warm her up.
It didn't take a genius to notice how cold she was. He could feel her shivering through his gauntlets.
The Knight then removed his cape and wrapped it around her. It wouldn't do a lot, but he had to try to warm her up or else she'd get sick.
"C'mon kid, hang in there." He said whilst breaking into a jog.
The camp they were headed to wasn't too far from their location, a few kilometres at most, but he had to give her immediate medical attention.
Hell, the man just took out an Alpha Beowulf to save her and he'll be damned if she dies of hypothermia instead.
He noticed that she had gone completely limp, which he recognised as a bad sign. He began to pick up the pace and started accelerating into a full blown sprint.
He weaved through the trees with incredible speed for someone of his build. Easily clearing a kilometre in a short amount of time.
He shielded the girl with his arms and held a firm grip on her as to protect her from any stray branches.
As he started to run out of breath, the clearing where'd the camp was set up was just in the distance.
He could see the fire burning brightly and decided to push himself to get there quicker.
Once he burst through the treeline, he skidded to a stop where the tents of his and a couple of other huntsmen that had joined him were.
He walked inside his tent and gently placed down the small girl.
"Oh man, what happened?" A man in a trenchcoat asked as he kneeled down beside the girl.
"Alpha Beowulf, had to fight it hand-to-hand." He replied as he picked up a first aid kit.
"She's not looking too well, dude. You might have to unlock her aura. She freezing cold and that head wound looks fatal." He stated with concern.
"Shit." The knight cursed. He pulled out a gauze and poured some antiseptic into it before wiping her head clean.
He sighed. He didn't want to have to resort to this, but her unlocked aura might be the only thing capable of saving her life.
He looked at the trenchcoat wearing huntsmen and received a nod in response.
Carefully, he placed his hands on the side of the girl's head and chest. Then proceeded to speak the mantra. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee."
The Knight felt his glowing red aura seep into the girl and release her soul. The sensation felt akin to cracking the seal on a shaken soda can.
Almost immediately the girl started to glow a midnight blue colour and the gash on the top of her head sealed.
"It worked." The trenchcoat donned man sighed in relief.
"Thank the Gods for that, Murphy." He said as he took off his helmet, revealing a young chiselled face with steel eyes and slicked back brown hair.
"She'll be fine, I'll grab a spare blanket from my tent and wrap her up in it. Once the rain stops, I recommend placing her near the fire, it'll warm her up quicker. Two seconds." He said as he stood up and walked towards his tent.
The Knight gave a sigh of relief before sitting down in the small camping chair. "Well, Sam, you've really outdone yourself this time." He sardonically commented to himself.
He wiped his face with his hands before Murphy came back with the blanket he promised.
"Here. Lift her up whilst I lay it on the bed." He instructed. Sam stood up and lifted the girl. Murphy then laid the blanket out on the camping bed and Sam placed her back down again.
"Here you go, kiddo." Murphy soothed as he wrapped her up and tucked her in.
"This'll keep her warm enough til the rain stops, or til Marina returns. The blanket has dust weaved into it so it's naturally warmer than a standard blanket." Murphy then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a cigar.
"Want one?" He asked. Sam reached over and took the Mistralian cigar and bit the end off before spitting it outside the tent.
Murphy offered a light and Sam took it before taking a puff.
"This isn't half bad, didn't you buy them from that travelling salesman?" He asked.
Murphy nodded before exhaling.
"C'mon, we shouldn't smoke in here with her."
They both stepped out side and sat down underneath the tarp cover.
"Where'd you find her anyway?" Murphy asked.
"As soon as I left, I spotted a pack of Beowulves running north so I followed them. I soon came to another clearing but I was too late to stop them from killing this man, who I assume to be her father. I engaged them and it was nothing too difficult. However, I noticed the alpha was nowhere to be seen, but I saw its footprints heading off into a dense part of the forest. The bastard was quick though, he ran quite a distance and it was at least a ten minute run. Once I finally caught up with it he had found the girl hiding underneath an outgrown tree root and well... The rest is history." Sam explained before taking another pull of his cigar.
Murphy nodded his head in understanding and they both sat there enjoying eachother's silent company and the sound of rain hitting the tarp.
"You mentioned the girl's father might be dead earlier. What does this mean for the girl? What if she has no other family?" Murphy asked, concern in his voice.
"It's too soon to say. We could let Ozpin know, he's resourceful enough to know what to do. Yet, it doesn't feel right... It's was almost as if fate wanted us to meet. Why else would this have happened? It's not everyday you go out into a Grimm infested forest for a walk." Sam rambled.
"What if you took her on Sam? Raised her as if she was your own? Assuming she has no other relatives." Murphy suggested.
"I don't think I can do that Murph." Sam said shaking his head.
"Really Sam? I saw the way you look at her, the amount of concern you have for her wellbeing. Not only did you take it upon yourself to kill an Alpha Beowulf for her protection, you literally gave a piece of yourself to stop her from dying of disease. So please, continue to tell me about how you can't look after her."
Sam sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
"Look, you unlocked her aura, that is not something to be taken lightly, man. A little piece of you lives inside her now, protecting her from harm. And assuming you let her go, one way or another she will remember you and she will find you. That little girl in there, I can tell from the way she looks that she's a fighter, and she's going to stick to you like glue. Whether you like it or not." Murphy patted Sam's shoulder before sticking his arm out to feel for rain.
"You know, he's right Sam." A voice called out from behind them.
Sam turned around to see a woman leaning against the tent.
"She's lost now, she's going to need someone to look after her, and you know from experience how bad orphanages are. Don't you?"
He nodded and sighed for what could possibly be the 50th time.
"Alright alright, you've both made your point, but all we know is that her father is dead. What about her mother? Surely she's still around, right?" Sam asked.
Marina put on a grim face and shook her head.
"No, she's not."
"When I was out exploring the area I came across a wrecked log cabin. It was clearly Grimm that did it so I investigated." She began, sitting down in front of both men and rummaging in her pockets before pulling out a picture frame and handing it to Sam.
The picture was of a young blonde woman and her husband, holding the girl that Sam saved.
"I found a body of a woman inside, identical to the one in this photo." She explained.
"You're all she's got, Sam."
Sam turned around and looked at the sleeping girl, the colour had returned to her face and she no longer had a pained expression.
"You're right." Sam said in defeat.
"But we live dangerous lives, I live a dangerous life. Surely she would be safer in an orphanage?" He asked.
"While that is true, she would be safer. Orphanages in Vale are awful places and the faunus there have it even worse. You'd be sending her to hell." Marina replied.
Sam stood up and walked towards the sleeping girl. He kneeled beside her and stroked her blonde hair out of her face.
"We'll need to teach her how to defend herself." He proposed.
"I just went through hell to rescue her. I refuse to put her through the same misfortune I went through." He stated.
Marina smiled. "Of course, Sam, you can teach her how to use melee weapons and hand-to-hand combat, Murphy can give her marksman training and I'll teach her the proper applications of dust." She suggested.
Murphy smirked and twirled one of his revolvers. "In a years time she'll be able to shoot a bottle cap from ten feet away. In midair and blindfolded."
Sam grinned
"Now all we have to do is introduce ourselves."
Author's note:
I'm sorry for my lack of updates, I've been having writer's block like a bitch. Plus trying to balance this around work is a pain in the ass. I'll be setting up a poll on my page for you all to vote on which story I should update next. DMNO has a chapter that's currently in the works. Same for Redd and Blu and PFIMM. A Purple Vengeance is probably getting rewritten as I don't like where the story is going so don't expect an update for that. But the other stories will be getting updated, you can be sure of that.
Have a good one!
-Hydra