I know this isn't the first next-gen RWBY fic to exist, but this idea's been kicking around in my head for a while, so I decided to put it out there. I hope you enjoy! This fic will be canon-compliant as of Volume 5, but I will continue it even if events of Volume 6 change things.
I own nothing you recognize (i. e., Team RWBY, Beacon Academy, etc.).
Beacon Beginnings
Indigo Amitola-Rose paused to take in her room one last time. Her bed was made, her floor was clean, her books were stacked neatly on the shelf, and her Huntsman and Grimm figurines were placed in careful rows on her desk. There were empty spaces on both the bookshelf and the desk, though—Indie was taking several of her books and figurines with her.
She wouldn't be living here full-time anymore. Boarding school for the next four years, and when she graduated, she'd be grown up, an adult making her living as a Huntress. But she wanted everything to be perfect for when she was visiting—and really, the school wasn't that far away.
Indie slowly walked through the house, taking in the only home she could remember one more time. Dining room, kitchen, living room…
She stopped in front of the full-length mirror in the hallway to take stock of her appearance before leaving. Dark blue hair—her namesake—bluntly cut to her chin with ragged edges? Check. Turquoise eyes that sparkled with quiet humor? Check. Long hooded cape in the same color as her hair? Check. Long-sleeved shirt in dark navy with red and gold detailing on the cuffs and hem? Check. Two belts, worn loose around her waist so that they formed an X underneath her belly button? Check. Navy skinny jeans with a rose silhouetted against a triangle painted on the pocket? Check. Low-heeled navy ankle boots? Check. She stepped back, satisfied, and turned around.
Her parents stood there, waiting. Mama Ruby held a fat duffel bag and had a smile on her face. She was wearing her combat outfit for the occasion, and had her weapon, Crescent Rose, in its holster on her back. Mama Ilia was dressed simply, in a white blouse and dark jeans, although her sword was tucked into its holster on her hip. She held a quiver full of arrows in one hand, and a bow—Indie's beloved Crescent Ranger—in the other.
Ruby spoke quietly. "Are you ready for your first day at Beacon?"
xxxxx
Aurum Belladonna had not been happy at having to surrender her weapons for the trip. Seriously, they were going to a combat school! Everybody had weapons except her. Apparently, she wasn't to be trusted with her golden tessen fans, Aurora Blaze, until the bullhead was on the ground.
She glared resentfully at her mom, who was sitting next to her. Blake was absorbed in a book, but Aurum knew full well that that didn't mean she was in the clear—Mom was freakishly good at multitasking.
Aurum got up and started pacing restlessly.
It had never made sense to her that she and her mom could be so different when they looked so much alike. Both of them had long black hair, black cat ears, and dark golden eyes. They even had a similar fashion sense, although Aurum preferred a black and gold color scheme over Blake's black and white. Right now, she was wearing a gold ribbon in her hair, positioned right behind her cat ears as though to draw attention to them. Her cropped black tank top had gold trim and a belladonna lily emblazoned in gold on the back; it also exposed her midriff and showed off her muscles. Fingerless black gloves reached her elbows and had gold bands around the wrists. She wore a tutu-style gold skirt over black leggings, and black ankle boots with gold buckles rounded out her combat outfit.
"Aurum!" Blake ordered sharply. "Sit down, now!"
Aurum rolled her eyes as she headed for her seat. She stuck her tongue out at Aqua as she passed. Her twin brother didn't even notice; he was holding a book in front of his face and was oblivious to everything else. She sighed. This is gonna be a long ride…
xxxxx
Skye Schnee looked out the window of her family's private airship at the ocean far below, as she contemplated the next four years of her life. She'd never spent more than a day or two away from her mom before—how was she going to manage being half a world away, not seeing each other for weeks at a time? Still, she was seventeen; it had to happen sometime. And it wasn't like she'd be alone among the other students; she'd have her team, too.
She didn't allow her inner turmoil to show on her face. Weiss would undoubtedly notice and ask her about it. Skye had learned that the hard way years ago, and she didn't want Mom to start thinking that it would be better to keep her little girl close to home at Atlas Academy instead of Beacon.
On the outside, Skye looked every bit the heiress that she was. She had her mom's white hair, but it was interspersed with strands of light blue, and she kept the mass of hair braided and coiled around her head like a crown. Her eyes were the same shade of pale blue as her mother's, and her outfit was just as elegant: a light blue sleeveless dress with a high-low skirt; it fell to her knees in the back but only to mid-thigh in the front. For practicality's sake, she wore a pair of shorts in the same color underneath it. The rest of her outfit was silver: ballet-flat-style shoes and simple scarf worn as a belt. Sapphire earrings and a necklace with a twelve-pointed snowflake pendant were her only jewelry. The scarf-belt also acted as a holster for Gladiola, her multi-action Dust saber.
She turned back to the window, forcing herself to take in the scenery. They hadn't even made it to Beacon yet; she had no reason to be homesick already.
xxxxx
Jade Xiao Long hopped off the back of the motorcycle and carefully removed her helmet. Popping open the under-seat compartment, she took out the backpack that was inside, replaced it with the helmet, and pressed it closed. Before she could turn around, a hand had lifted the pack from her arm. She turned and smiled at her mom.
"Let's go," Mom told her.
Jade followed her down the academy's wide pathways. Several students were relaxing in the courtyard; school hours were over, and it was a nice day. As they passed, almost every student stopped to stare. Jade wasn't surprised. Even at forty years old and with a metal arm, Yang Xiao Long was hot, and she knew it.
Jade was surprised to see that a few of them were staring at her instead. She knew she looked enough like her mom to be considered gorgeous, but she lacked the confidence that Yang exuded. She self-consciously ran a hand through her leaf-green hair; usually she tied her shoulder-length locks into a short ponytail, but today she hadn't bothered. Her amethyst-colored eyes were serious behind black-framed glasses. Her combat outfit was simple: a violet jacket over a tank top and shorts that were the same color as her hair. A black belt-purse hung around her waist, with a dragon coiled into the shape of a heart painted on the flap. Her two green tonfa sticks, Lu Xise, hung from the back of the belt. Her shoes were green high-top sneakers with violet laces.
Lost in thought, Jade followed her mom as they made their way toward the front door of the school. They'd made it halfway across the courtyard when a voice shouted, "Yang! Jade!"
Yang spun around, searching for the source of the voice. When she found it, she grinned and waved. "Sun!"
The blond monkey Faunus crossed the yard to join them. Yang hugged him. "I thought we'd be the first ones here! You and Blake beat us?"
Sun grinned and shook his head. "Nah, I'm the only one here so far. You know how they bring in guest speakers for the older students while the first years go through initiation? Well, guess who they asked this year?" He made a dorky face and jabbed a thumb at himself. "Blake should be getting here with Aurum and Aqua in…" He pulled out his scroll and checked the time. "…About twenty minutes."
Yang stared at him. "Aqua is enrolling at Beacon?"
"No, just Aurum. But we're staying in Vale for a few days, so Blake didn't think leaving him home alone was a great idea."
"You left Blake at home… with Aurum… to get ready to leave for Beacon?" Yang shook her head. "She's gonna kill you when she gets here."
"Meh, she knew what she was getting into…"
Jade started tuning out their conversation. She looked around the campus with new eyes; she'd been here before, of course, but only ever as a tagalong when Mom was a guest speaker. Jade had never attended an actual school in her life. Yang had refused to give up her livelihood as a Huntress after her daughter was born, and had instead adjusted her lifestyle to accommodate a child, only accepting low-risk missions and sometimes leaving Jade with Ruby and Ilia for a few days. As Jade had gotten older, she had usually stayed with Mom on missions, and as a result, had learned combat skills from an early age.
The teenage girl was shaken out of her thoughts by the low roar of an approaching bullhead. It also distracted Yang from her conversation with Sun.
"Finally! I thought they'd never get here," Yang declared dramatically. Jade snorted, but then, Yang had never been known for her patience.
The bullhead touched down, and a split second later, a blur of black and gold practically teleported over to them. It settled into a girl Jade's age hanging off of Sun. "Daddy! Did'ja miss me?!"
"Aurum!" an exasperated voice shouted. "You're getting a little old to be such a daddy's girl." Blake approached towing Aqua by the arm. He had refused to put down his book.
Yang snorted, eyeing Aurum dangling off the ground. "Don't listen to her, Aurum. You're never too old to be a daddy's girl."
Blake rolled her eyes at her friend. "Not helping, Yang." She was hiding a smile as she spoke, though, and immediately hugged the blonde woman tightly.
"Hey… no hug for me?" Sun protested. Blake's next eye roll was directed at him.
"You left home to speak here at Beacon a week ago. Less than a week ago. I haven't seen Yang in months—and do I need to remind you that I've known her longer?"
"Also, you have a child hanging off you," Yang pointed out.
Sun laughed as he carefully let Aurum tumble to the ground. She landed gracefully on her feet and immediately vanished, only to reappear next to Blake.
"Mom, I can't start at a combat school without a weapon. Give me back Aurora Blaze," Aurum insisted.
Blake sighed. "I suppose you're right." She reached into her bag and pulled out the folded tessen, handing them to Aurum with the warning, "Don't hit your brother."
The teenage cat girl attached the weapons to her gloves and disappeared into shadow again. Her wild spins were interrupted as Yang reached out, seemingly at random, and ended up with the girl's arm in her hand. Aurum stared at her aunt, wide-eyed. "You can still do that?"
"Please," Yang scoffed. "Your semblance is just like Ruby's, only with shadows instead of rose petals—and I've been halting her charges since I was six."
As though saying her name had summoned her, Yang's sister appeared behind her in a burst of red and black. Though she was in her late thirties, her face still held the childish enthusiasm she was known for.
"I heard that, Yang," Ruby declared.
"What are you gonna do about it?" Yang taunted, grinning.
Ruby tackled her older sister in a hug without warning. Yang laughed cheerfully.
Blake looked around. "Where's the rest of your family?"
Ruby pointed over toward the ground shuttle, where Ilia and Indigo could be seen approaching at a more dignified pace. Indie waved to her cousins. Aurum and Jade waved back; Aqua was still engrossed in the book he was reading.
"So we're only waiting on Weiss and Skye now!" Ruby was saying as her wife and daughter joined them.
"Are you sure about that?" Blake asked. She pointed at the horizon where an airship was just coming into view. The aircraft was much quieter than a bullhead, which explained why nobody else had heard it, and from the shape, it was clearly privately owned and not for commercial use. As it drew closer, they could all make out the snowflake emblem on the side.
As they waited, Indie turned to ask Jade, "Have you read anything good lately?"
Jade smiled slightly. "You know I like literature more than textbooks. I'm not a nerd like you. I've been looking out for Heroes of the Past, though; last time I was in a bookstore, that's what they recommended, but they didn't have it in stock."
"I bet Skye knows someplace you could get a copy," Aurum volunteered. "Let's ask her!"
"Oh, no. Give them time to breathe first." As the craft landed, Blake reached out and pinched Aurum's left ear in a death grip, to keep the excitable teenager from rushing the last members to join their party.
"Mom, quit yoinking my ear!" Aurum protested. Blake paid her no attention until Weiss and Skye were only fifteen feet away, then released her hold. Aurum immediately reached up, patting her head to make sure her bow hadn't been dislodged.
"Team RWBY group hug!" shouted Ruby. Blake walked over to join her best friends. The four of them hadn't been all together for almost a year. Sun and Ilia subtly made the five teenagers take a few steps back as Team RWBY flung their arms around each other. They stood like that for more than a minute, until the gongs of the clock tower made Yang look up in a panic.
"It's five o'clock already?! Jade and I have a meeting with the headmistress at five fifteen!" Yang quickly extricated herself from her friends. "Jade, we have to go now. Hurry; your cousins will still be here later."
Jade walked behind her mom as they made for the main office. This was it: the beginning of a new adventure.
My first fic in a new fandom! What do you think so far? Some things I'll explain in the next chapter, but first, here's some notes on this one:
When coming up with a name for Yang's daughter, I first considered yu, the Chinese word for jade, but decided that even Yang wouldn't appreciate puns enough to address her daughter as "Hey, you." I spent a lot of time on Google Translate coming up with names to use in this fic. The name of Jade's weapon, Lu Xise, is what came up when I plugged in the words "green purple."
Skye, Jade, and Indigo are all fairly self-explanatory when it comes to the RWBY color naming tradition. However, I'm not sure how many people know that aurum is the Latin word for gold. (This is why the chemical symbol for gold is "Au" on the periodic table. Fun fact of the day, people; impress your friends.) My characters Aurum and Aqua were named after their eye color instead of their hair color since they're twins and that's their only distinguishing feature.
If you've read some of my other fics and you think Indie's description sounds familiar, you win a cookie! (Not really.) I based her appearance off Zarya Moonwolf of Mysticons. It wasn't deliberate, and when I realized it, I tried to swap out her weapon for something else. It didn't work, and then I came up with the name "Crescent Ranger" for the bow, so I decided I might as well go the whole nine yards and give credit where it's due.
Rule number one: No hating on my ships. Rule number two: Just kidding! There's only one rule.
Please read, review, and enjoy this new adventure!