So, here it is. My first RWBY fic for this site. Honestly this is an idea I've had in my mind since Volume 2 and I've been fixing little details here and there ever since. Now this is HUGE in the AU department because while it does have Cinder and company, there is a different main villain. Now that that's out of the way, hopefully you guys enjoy. Read and review. RWBY is owned by Roosterteeth and only the OC characters are mine.
Chapter 1: Wilderness
Somewhere on the island of Patch, just off the coast of Vale, there were four young huntsmen and huntresses resting at the camp they had made for the night. Their weapons were placed next to a nearby tree for easy access when the time came for their watch. Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie, and Jaune Arc were all still fast asleep; they had been for hours. Ruby Rose was sitting by the fire the four of them had made and watched the embers and smoke rise into the sky. Ruby had actually decided to let her friends sleep, even though it was almost time for Nora to take watch. She wanted this time to think, mainly on the motives of the girl responsible for their current situation. Why would Cinder, seemingly a fellow huntress, want to destroy the city? Why would she let the Grimm in, knowing hundreds if not thousands or millions would die? Revenge? Power? Ruby didn't know the answers but she hoped that she and her new team would find them once they reached Mistral. If Cinder really did attend Haven, then someone there might be able to help. Hopefully anyway.
As she watched the fire, she heard something move in behind her. With Crescent Rose at the ready, the young huntress turned around to see what was hiding in the foliage. "Please don't be a Grimm," she said softly under her breath. Fortunately, that wasn't the case; it was just a raccoon that decided to investigate the campsite. Ruby let out a sigh of relief and lowered her scythe. "Don't scare me like that little guy," she said smiling at the raccoon. The small creature then ran off back into the wilderness surrounding the huntsmen after staring at Ruby for a few seconds. "At least it wasn't a Grimm. Would hate to wake the others up right now," she pauses for a moment, "Oh I hope I didn't just jinx things…". As luck would have it, there no interruptions till morning.
Several hours later, Ruby had finally gotten some sleep and Jaune took over till morning. Unfortunately for him however, Ruby's luck went unshared. He too heard something behind him in the foliage and as soon as he drew his sword, a Creep came charging out of the bushes. Jaune quickly brought his shield up to block the Creep's charge and then slashed at it's neck with his sword. The blade sliced through the monster's neck cleanly, its head hitting the dirt with a low thud. "I'm getting better at this," Jaune said proudly as the Creep's body vanished before him. "Hope you saw that...Pyrrha," he said with a weak smile. When he first heard the news, Jaune blamed himself and fell into a state of mourning and depression. Ren and Nora were there to help him out of it, of course, and he took a certain piece of advice to heart, more so than others. Nora tried to comfort him during that time of mourning by saying Pyrrha was a guardian angel now, HIS guardian angel. She would always be watching him, protecting him and giving him strength, strength he would need on the journey ahead(Of course, Ren was the one to add all the details to Nora's statement). Besides always keeping Pyrrha in mind, Jaune had another thought on his mind: what to do with her killer. Cinder Fall had escaped after Ruby froze the Dragon to the top of Beacon Tower. How she got away instead of being frozen is just another question added to the list that just kept getting longer. But, Jaune couldn't decide if he should get revenge, resulting in Cinder's death, or if he should just toss her into a cell and let her serve out a prison sentence. Either way, Pyrrha would be avenged. Ruby smiled when she saw Jaune kill the Grimm before she even got to grab Crescent Rose. "You really are getting better Jaune," she said beaming.
"Thanks. I've...been practicing on my own. Glad to see it's all paying off," Jaune replied.
"She'd be proud Jaune. I know she would be."
Jaune smiled at her and put his blade back into the sheathe part of his shield. "I know she would be proud too. She'd be ecstatic when we find Cinder and take her down."
"And Emerald, Mercury, and that Faunus guy, Adam. We have to."
"We will Ruby. We will. For everyone they hurt. For Penny, Pyrrha, Yang, all of them. "
"Speaking of Yang...I hope she's doing ok. It's just...not like her to be that way. Broken...I mean. "
"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure she's getting better. She won't stay that way for long."
"Heh...yeah you're right. She's probably up and training by now. Come on. We need to take a look at the map before Nora and Ren wake up. See if there are any villages between us and the coast."
A/U: Short chapter yes but trust me, they'll get long. I plan to update at least weekly if not twice a week.