Hey guys, Gamer here and I finally finished the first chapter of the other challenge story I'll be doing alongside Shattered Darkness. Just like with the other challenge, I have this challenge saved in my favorite stories if you guys wanna go check that out. Anyways guys, I present for your reading pleasure, The Hunter Named Rose.
The broken moon hung high in the sky, casting a dull light onto the streets of Vale. The streets were still slightly packed at this time of night, with commuters and workers going along to various clubs or bars after the day's hard work. Rarely any stores were open by this time, except for a quaint little dust shop with an old sign that said 'From Dust Till Dawn'. Inside, the elderly owner stood quietly behind a counter showcasing dust crystals of all shapes and varieties. Behind him stood several rows of wooden shelves that presented dust bags, carriers, vials and all sorts of other items. Along the walls of the store hung a dozen glass pipes, each one holding a different colored dust and had a small nozzle on the end.
As the man stood there, waiting for customers he knew he probably wasn't going to get, a group of men walked in. Most of the men wore black slacks and shirts, with a red tie and black vests, and almost all of them wore red tinted sunglasses, black fedoras, and held large cases, and all of them were armed. One of the men stepped forward. This man, obviously the leader of the group, had a pale complexion, which greatly contrasted his dark green eyes and bright orange hair. He wore black slacks and a black shirt covered up by a long white coat. He wore black gloves, a grey silken neckerchief, and a black bowler hat with a feather tucked into the red ribbon that ran around the circumference of the hat. In his hand he held a long black cane with a red tip and a curved silver handle.
As he approached the counter, arms crossed, he gave the old man a bored look. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?" As he spoke, another man raised a pistol at the shop keeper, the weapon giving a high pitched whine as it charged up. The old man held up his hands, showing the man that he was unarmed. "Please, just take my lien and leave!" The man smiled at the elderly shop keeper. "Calm down, we're not here for your money." He looked over his shoulder at the men behind him. "Grab the dust."
The men opened up the cases they were carrying and extracted long cylindrical machines, which they attached to the nozzles of the tubes on the walls. With a touch of a button, the tubes began pouring the dust into the canisters, which seemed to hold much more dust than they should have been able too. Another man stepped towards the counter and put a larger case on the display. "Crystals. Firm, uncut." The old man hesitated for only a moment before he reached into the display and began placing dust crystals into the case.
One of the men in black walked over to the far wall, canister in hand to extract the dust that was still in the tubes. Just as he was about to turn the machine on, he heard a faint sound come from the back of the shop. When he turned to look, he saw a young girl in a red hood reading a magazine, completely oblivious to the thugs walking around the store. The man dropped his canister and quickly drew the long red sword at his side, pointing it at the girl. "Alright kid, put your hands where I can see 'em." He waited for the girl to turn around and obey his order, but she simply went on reading her magazine. "Hey! I said hands in the air! You got a death wish or somethin'?" The man moved to stand right behind the girl, and reached to grab her shoulder, spinning her around.
The girl was young, still in her mid-teens, with pale skin and black hair with red tips outlining her bright silver eyes. She wore a black and red short dress, with laces covering the stomach and a belt that held an emblem shaped like a silver rose and a single ammo magazine and a small collection of individual bullets. She wore long black leggings with black and red combat boots that came half way up her shins. On her back was a large red square of metal, almost completely hidden by the long red hooded cape she wore. She looked very much like a darker, more innocent version of Little Red Riding Hood. She also had on a set of black and red headphones, which were blasting music out at full volume, which was the sound the man had originally heard.
Ruby Rose stared at the man in confusion as he pointed to his head, signaling her to take off her headphones, to which she obliged. "Yes?"
"I said, 'Put your hands in the air', now!"
Ruby gave the man an even more confused look. "Are you… robbing me?"
"Yes!" The man answered, his frustration showing in his voice.
"Ohhh."
Three seconds later, everyone in the shop turned in surprise as the man who had been talking to Ruby was thrown across the shop and collided with a wall. The leader, Roman Torchwick, looked up from the red crystal he was studying. He looked at another one of his goons, giving him a small nod as he drew out a cigar from inside his jacket. The man went to the aisle Ruby was in, drawing his gun and pointing it at the young girl.
"Freeze!"
The man was about to fire when a strong hand grabbed his arm. He turned to see a young man, obviously older than the girl, standing next to him. The boy was tall, easily over six feet tall, with long black hair that fell in a single wave down his back with streaks of red spaced randomly throughout. Though he was pale, he was still tanner than the girl was, and his silver eyes seemed just a bit brighter. He wore a tight grey T-shirt and black jeans underneath a long red trench coat with a pattern that seemed to resemble roses with black vines, white petals, and silver thorns all over the back and arms. He wore a pair of armored red gloves that matched his combat boots, which were also armored. Around his ankles and wrists were several small chains. On his right hip hung a small box decorated with crimson and black swirls surrounding a single red rose. On his other hip hung what looked like a black mask. Overall, the man looked like a strangely dressed delinquent.
The boy smiled at the thug. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Before the man could pull his arm away, a pair of black boots slammed into his chest as Ruby's feet hit him with enough force to send both the man and herself out the front window of the shop, the boy following close behind. The rest of the thugs looked out the now broken window, watching the pair slowly draw their weapons, Ruby's being a large red and black scythe named Crescent Rose, that should have been impossible for her to wield with its size, though she proceeded to twirl it around like it weighed nothing and embedded it blade first into the ground. "Your showing off again." Said the boy beside her, who dramatically grabbed the box at his side, which unfolded into a three-foot-long red broad sword called Blood Rose with a small cross guard and black handle. There was a long black tube running up either side of the blade that resembles the barrel of some sort of rifle or shotgun. "And what do you call what you're doing?" Ruby said. Glayceel Rose smiled at his little sister while he drew a second weapon from behind his back, this one being a small hand scythe with a two-foot-long blade that was also black and red called Ash Garden.
"Well when else do I get to do it? Dad doesn't like me using my weapons near the house."
"And whose fault is that?" Ruby quipped, a small smile forming on her lips as she pressed a button on her headphones, which had been playing her music up until now.
"Hey, that wasn't my fault! I didn't know the wall was THAT weak!"
Roman stood in the shop, watching the siblings as they teased each other, him and his men seemingly forgotten. "Okaaay…" He looked at the rest of his men. "Get them."
The men ran out of the shop, all drawing their swords and guns. One of the men swung his sword at Ruby, who deftly dodged by jumping on top of her scythe's handle, the blade still stuck in the ground, and delivered a swift kick to the man's head, throwing him back down the street before she used her momentum to swing up, drawing her weapon out of the street as she flew over the heads of the attackers. Half of them turned to go after her, while the rest ran to attack Glayceel. The young fighter expertly twirled his sword, the red blade making lazy arcs in the air. The first man swung his sword, which Glayceel deflected with Blood Rose before sending his other weapon into the thug's gut, knocking him back into one of his gun wielding friends. The other swordsman in the group ran up and tried to swipe his sword at Glayceel's head, but had his blade stopped by Ash Garden before he was rammed in the side by the other weapon. Glayceel turned to his final opponent, who's hand shook as he pointed his gun at the black haired fighter. Before the man even got a single shot off, Glayceel pointed his sword at the man and pulled the hidden trigger on the handle, firing off a pair of bullets that threw the man back to Roman's feet.
Torchwick stared at the man, a look of disappointment on his face. "You were worth every cent, truly you were." He said, his voice coated in sarcasm. He looked up at Glayceel, pulling the cigar out of his mouth. "Well, boy, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening." Roman dropped his cigar onto the ground by his feet, where he then used the end of his cane to crush the tip and put out the small ember before he pointed it at Glayceel. "And as much as I'd love to stick around." A small circular sight popped up on the top of the cane. "I'm afraid this is where we part ways." And with that he turned his cane to point at Ruby, who had just finished with the last thug and was turning towards them, and fired a small bolt of energy at her. Glayceel's smile instantly vanished. "Ruby!" Ruby quickly pointed her scythe at the ground and pulled the hidden trigger on the handle, firing off a shot from the high powered sniper rifle built into the weapons body and using the recoil to launch herself into the air, safely clearing the resulting explosion from Torchwick's attack before landing back on her feet.
"Ruby! Are you all right?" Glayceel said, running up to his sister.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Where did he go?"
Glayceel looked around the street, searching for the now missing Torchwick. He finally spotted the criminal climbing a ladder that lead to a nearby roof top. Glayceel watched as Roman continued to climb the ladder. He quickly detached the mask hanging at his side, slowly bringing it to his face. "That bastard…" As the mask settled over his face, hiding his features, the black surface was suddenly covered by various crimson swirls and marks, closely resembling the marks found on the masks of the Creatures of Grimm. As the last of the marks appeared, the holes positioned over where his eyes should have been were suddenly filled with a bright silver light that gave the mask an ominous look. "… Is dead." Glayceel crouched down low and, with an explosion of black rose petals, leaped into the air with astounding strength. "Glayceel!" Ruby watched as her brother landed at the bottom of the ladder and, with another leap, leaped towards the top of the building Torchwick had just finished climbing. Ruby looked at the shop keeper, who now stood in the doorway. "You okay if I go after them?" The man gave her a small nod, telling her that he would be okay, and Ruby bolted away with astounding speed, leaving behind a trail of red rose petals.
Glayceel landed on the roof a few feet behind Torchwick, who was running towards the other side of the roof. "Hey" he shouted, causing the criminal to pause at the edge of the roof as Ruby landed next to her brother. The thief glanced over his shoulder at the siblings. "Persistent." The man mumbled. Suddenly, with a mighty roar, an airship rose into view from the alley below, the engines letting out a low whine as a spotlight blazed to life and was directed at the two fighters. As the vehicle drew near the roof, a side door opened, allowing Roman to pull himself into the interior of the ship. He turned to face them, eyes full of confidence and mischief. "End of the line, kids!" Torchwick took a red dust crystal out of his pocket, throwing it back onto the roof near the duo. Before either of them could react, Torchwick shot a bolt of energy from his cane at the rock, causing it to explode and release the fiery energy inside. Glayceel jumped in front of Ruby, determined to protect her from the blast as he braced himself to receive the hit.
But it never came.
Glayceel glanced up, and was surprised to find a woman standing in front of them. She seemed to be in her late thirties, with blonde hair, fair skin, and lime green eyes behind thin spectacles. She wore a white blouse with black leggings that came up past her midriff. Hanging off of her shoulders was a purple and black cape with a ragged design. In her hand she held what looked like an old fashion leather riding crop pointed towards the ship. A few inches away from the tip of her crop floated a large purple glyph that slowly faded away as she lowered her arm. The woman, Glynda Goodwitch, deftly pushed her glasses up her nose before she waved her crop in front of her, releasing a barrage of purple energy, which collided with the ship and caused it to shudder.
As the ship began to become unsteady, Roman made his way into the flight cabin of the aircraft. The blonde Huntress waved her wand again, this time sending a single purple light into the sky above the ship. As Glayceel watched, storm clouds began to fill the sky above the aircraft and, with another wave of the crop, ice shards began raining from the sky, impacting the ship in numerous spots, one even smashing through the cockpit window. Suddenly, a woman walked out of the cockpit. Glayceel was unable to make out any details as she kept most of her body hidden in the shadows of the ship. The only thing he could make about her were her high stilettos, a thin metal ring around her ankle, and the bottom part of a knee length red dress. As Glayceel watched, the woman's arms began to glow with a harsh orange light that failed to illuminate anything else, before the woman sent a fireball hurtling towards the group, which was blocked by another glyph from the Glynda. The fireball seemed to splatter onto the ground around the Huntress, and with another wave of the strange woman's hand, the ground around her began to glow as she quickly leaped back before the spot she had been standing in a moment earlier exploded, sending shards of roof in every direction. With another wave of her crop, Glynda caused the fragments to float into a long spear of debris which she sent flying at the ship. The woman began throwing fireball after fireball, trying to break up the lance of rubble, but it simply reformed no matter how many times she hit it. At the last second, the ship turned, causing the spear to bounce off the armored roof of the ship. As the shards rained down around the ship, Glynda waved her wand yet again, transforming the remaining shards into a trio of thin spears that writhed through the air like serpents. Just before the purple attacks could impact the ship, the woman's dress began to glow again as she released a large pulse of orange energy, effectively incinerating all the debris around the ship.
By then, Ruby had snapped out of her shocked daze, and began firing rounds from Crescent Rose, each of which was blocked by the woman's hands, which seemed to produce force fields. As Glayceel pointed his sword to also shoot at the ship, the woman waved her hand, causing a series of orange lights to appear on the ground around them. Before the silver eyed siblings could do anything, Glynda used her riding crop to push them both forward before jumping out of the way of the explosion herself. As the trio rose from the ground, they watched as the side hatch closed and the ship slowly pulled away and began to build up speed, racing off into the night.
Glayceel watched as the ship shrank into the distance before he reached up and removed his mask, which reverted back to its usual pure black design. He heard Ruby get up behind him and turned to check on his sister, only to find her gazing at the blonde woman. "You're a huntress!" Ruby had gone from a badass fighter to a sixteen-year-old fangirl in a matter of seconds. "Can I have your autograph!"
Half an hour later, Glayceel and Ruby sat side by side in what appeared to be a low budget interrogation room. The only things in this room was a single gray table and three chairs, one of which was empty, all illuminated by a single light the seemed to be focused on the siblings and made it impossible to see anything outside the meager cone of light. Ruby sat in the hard wooden chair, obviously uncomfortable with her environment. Glayceel sat next to her, and seemed to be much more relaxed than his sister, leaning back against the high back of the chair. Glynda paced back and forth behind them, a holographic tablet in hand. The click of her heels on the hard linoleum floor was very pronounced in the dark room, so much so that Glayceel wondered if she was pacing like that on purpose.
"I hope you both realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly. You put yourselves and others in great danger."
"They started it." Ruby said, her weak remark not even earning a reaction from the blonde Huntress.
"If it were up to me, you'd be sent home…with a pat on the back…" Ruby perked up a bit at this. "…And a slap on the wrist." She finished, smacking her riding crop down on the table. Ruby jerked back letting out a small yip of surprise, and Glayceel's hand instinctively dipped towards his sword, an action that was ignored by the older woman as she continued. "But, there is someone here who would like to meet you." Without another word, Glynda moved aside, allowing another man to walk into the light.
He was tall, with messy gray hair and small, somewhat crooked black glasses and light brown eyes. He wore black slacks and dress shoes along with a dark green shirt underneath a black vest with bronze buttons, and a jacket that seemed to be another shade of dark green, almost black. He also wore a green neckerchief tucked into the top of his vest, on which was a silver brooch with a purple stone that resembled a pointed cross. Tucked under his arm was a long black cane with a silver handle. In his hands were a cup of coffee and a large platter of cookies.
"Ruby Rose and Glayceel Rose." The man said walking over to the table. He leaned forward intently studying both of the teenagers faces. "You… have silver eyes." Ruby shot a confused glance at Glayceel, who wore his own mystified look.
"So, where did you learn to do this?" the man asked, motioning towards a video Glynda was playing on her tablet of the fight in front of the shop.
"Umm… Signal Academy?" Ruby said hesitantly.
"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?"
"Well, one teacher in particular."
"… I see." The man said, finally placing the plate of cookies onto the table. Ruby looked at the cookies, hesitantly picking one up with a glance at the man before taking a bite. Confident that she was allowed to eat them, she began stuffing whole cookies into her mouth, managing to cram six more into her mouth before she was forced to stop.
"It's just that I've only seen one other scythe wielder of that skill before. A dusty old crow."
"Mmn, vaks ri mukl gat rizs." Ruby mumbled, mouth still filled to the brim with cookies. She quickly swallowed her snack, cleared her throat and turned back to the strange man.
"Sorry. That's my uncle Qrow. He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing, but now I'm all like huuuaaa hooo hiya!" As Ruby spoke she began waving her hands in the air, badly mimicking some kind of martial art.
"So I've noticed. And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?"
"Well… I want to be a Huntress."
"You want to slay monsters?"
"Well, yeah. I only have two more years of training left at Signal, and then I'm gonna apply to Beacon. See, my sister's starting there this year and she's trying to become a Huntress. And I'm trying to become a Huntress because I wanna help people. And my parents always taught us to help others, so I thought 'Well, I might as well try to make a career out of it.' I mean, the police are alright, but Hunters and Huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool and just (I don't know how to spell this noise(Squeal?)) you know?"
"I see." He then turned to Glayceel. "And you? Are you also a student at Signal?"
"Nope. Never really been interested in going to a combat school."
"Then where did you learn to fight?"
"Our dad is a Hunter, so it's only natural that I'd learn something from him."
"I see." The man quietly set his coffee down on the table. "Do you know who I am?"
"Your Professor Ozpin, the Headmaster at Beacon." Ruby said, having managed to calm down after her little spiel.
Ozpin gave the young girl a grin as he sat down in the last chair. "Hello."
"Nice to meet you" Ruby said.
"Sup." Glayceel added.
He looked at Ruby. "You want to come to my school?"
"More than anything."
The man looked at Glynda, who let out a quick huff. "Well, alright." Ruby's eyes went wide as she realized what Ozpin had just said. Glayceel finally sat up straight in his seat, mouth slightly open in surprise. His expression quickly turned to one of joy as he turned to Ruby, who simply sat there, eyes wide and a grin that seemed far too large for her face.
"Congrats, Rube." He said, slapping a hand onto the young girls back. "Now you need to remember us back home and come visit, okay?"
Ozpin turned to Glayceel, a bemused smile on his face. "Oh no, Mr. Rose, I want you to come to Beacon as well."
Glayceel looked at the headmasters face, searching for any signs that he was joking. "You want me, a boy who's never been in a combat school of any kind his entire life, to come to the most prestigious Hunter training school in Remnant?"
"Yes."
Glayceel studied the Hunter's face for a few more moments, still not quite believing what the man across the table had offered him. It was amazing in itself that Ruby was able to go to Beacon, but for him to go was what some would call a miracle. But still…
"Listen, I'm…" Glayceel began, only to be interrupted by Ruby. "Really? That's great! Now me, you and Yang can all go through training together! This is gonna be awesome and…" As Ruby continued babbling on, Glayceel looked at Ozpin, who once again had a small smile on his face, and after a few moments let out a sigh. "… This is going to be awesome, right?" Ruby finished.
Glayceel looked back at his sister, a small smile on his lips. "Yeah, I guess so."
Alright guys, that's where I'll be ending this chapter. My plan for these challenges is to alternate which one I update, so the next chapter out will be for Shattered Darkness, so keep an eye out for that. I know I said this already, but for you people who skip the first authors note, I keep all challenges in my favorite stories so you guys can check them out and maybe even try them. The title of the challenge for this story is RWBY-Challenge, so go ahead and check it out. Also, a big shout out to Glayceel, who made this challenge. The guy has made some pretty cool OC's for RWBY and I advise checking some of them out. Anyways guys, that's all from me today, so I'll see you all next time. Please review or pm me about what you think of the story. Peace!