Immolation

By: GolasGames

Chapter 1: The Journey Begins

A/N:

Before we begin here I would like to let you all know that this is my first work at all that wasn't school related, so bear in mind I may not be the greatest and very well may have room for improvement. That being said, any constructive criticism will be taken with respect and I would like to hear how you all think of this story.

Also, this story is taking place at what I have been predicting what Volume 4 will start like, which my theory is that Ruby and [VOLUME 3 SPOILER] the remaining members of Team JNPR (Juane, Ren, and Nora) are attempting to find Blake and Weiss to get Team RWBY back together as best as possible. From there I'll have to come up with more for the storyline. I do have a general overview of what the plot will be like, along with a few arcs, and I also have the ending planned out, so no worries there, except for how I will deliver and fill the empty space. I don't really think it's necessary to give a spoiler warning considering I already said this takes place after Volume 3, but here it is: [VOLUME 3 SPOILER ALERT].

And lastly I know this may anger many people, but I'm using a couple OCs in this story, one of my creation, the other is one of my friends'. The friend is also my head editor, so I'll give him a shout-out if he's comfortable with me doing so. And I know I may be considered trash by many due to using OCs, but this story revolves around my OC and is about him and his quest that will be revealed throughout the story. I have a deep and, in my opinion, interesting backstory for him that will be show through his dreams, flashbacks, and chats with the other characters. My friend's OC is included because he and I thought it would be interesting if we included our OCs in each other's stories because they will fill in some lore that would otherwise not work without us saying "Because I said so," and of course it also lets us give each other some shout-outs. If anyone here hates OCs to the point that all you're going to do is complain about the fact that I use them and have them interact with the main cast, then you have no need to read any further. This IS a story about an OC, so don't torture yourself any further. And for those who are willing to give it a chance, I thank you.

P.S. I do plan on introducing some Bumblebee in here at the moment and a hint of White Rose (WR however will be very brief). Hopefully this can compensate for some of the hate I will likely receive for the whole OC thing.

[Edit] This story was started before RTX 2016, so my story may now be diverging from the canon lore sadly.

Now, without further ado, I give you: Immolation.

These were usually happy walks through the woods during the winter on the island of Patch, but recent events do not give Ruby Rose that luxury. With all of the events of Ruby's recent memories there is so much anarchy, so much chaos, and worst of all, so much sadness and loss. Two of her teammates are gone, her sister isn't the same anymore after having lost a limb, an as a cruel cherry on top of this demented cake, one of her friends was killed directly in front of her.

Nonetheless of the atrocities that had occurred recently, or at least as recent as a coma can make it feel, Ruby is determined to get Team RWBY back together and mend the breaks they had. 'Banzai' was a thought that came to mind whenever Ruby thought of her mission, reminiscent of the good ol' days.

The others seemed to catch on to the young leader's distress when Juane began to strike up a conversation. "So, uh Ruby. Have any fond memories of the winters here with Yang?" He asked trying to help ease her feelings.

Ruby turned her thoughts to her friends she was walking with and immediately felt sorry for bringing an awkward vibe in the first place, but appreciating her friend's effort to lighten the mood. "Yeah." A smile formed on her face There were plenty of times where we built snowmen, had sled rides, and one specific event I remember is this one time where me and Yang had this huge~ epic snowball fight. A bunch of our friends got involved and it ended up turning more into an all-out war pretty soon."

This earned a laugh from the entire group.

"Sounds like fun times." Juane said after he was finished laughing about the story of the 'Great Snow War of Patch.'

"War never changes." Ren spoke up for the first time since they left from Ruby's home, being his usual quiet self. His comment brought up even more laughter from the crowd. Juane's attempt at lightening the mood was certainly working out.

From there the group shared stories about their experiences of previous winters throughout their childhoods. This made their journey, along with the time, go by much faster, and soon enough the sun was beginning to set.

"We should probably set up camp for the night." Juane suggested, sadly interrupting one of Nora's stories of a past snowman building competition she and Ren had entered. Everyone nodded in agreement, all knowing well it would be dangerous to travel in the wilderness at night without sleep. "Who's got first shift on guard duty?"

"Yo." Ruby jumped at the job almost immediately, which elicited a memory of a familiar setup during one of her adventures in, or rather, outside of Beacon.

"Actually Ruby, you look pretty tired. How about I take first watch, since I don't feel weary at all yet?" Ren suggested. He was right, Ruby was pretty tired. She wondered how, but then immediately remembered she'd only recently come out of a coma.

"Alright, thanks Ren." Ruby replied with a smile, feeling grateful for the opportunity of rest.

The group sat around the campfire Juane made continuing their stories and bringing up new ones, all while feasting on some of the food they had prepared. Although the canned beans weren't the fanciest meal, they got the job done, and were honestly pretty tasty.

Slowly one by one the members started getting into their sleeping bags and nodding off into sound sleep under the stars. Ren kept watch for about two and a half hours before he began feeling tired himself. He woke up Juane to trade places, in which Juane happily obliged after a minute to wake up fully.

At around one in the morning Juane felt tired again and decided to trade places with Nora. After a long yawn she got up and set Magnhild to its grenade launcher state, deciding ranged combat would be better for a first strike if there was to be a battle.

The guarding didn't seem required for the night at this point, but it was always better to be safe. It's a good thing Nora knew this, because soon enough a beowolf could be heard near the camp.

Nora readied Magnhild as the sounds grew closer, knowing the creature wasn't changing its meandering course. She eventually saw its glowing red eyes a good few meters away, thus deciding it was time to do her job.

Nora fired a grenade at the Grimm severely wounding it, but not killing it. The beowolf let out a pained howl, not only expressing the pain it felt as it had its legs blown off from the explosion, but also calling to the pack it came from to its position.

At this point everyone else was jolted awake from the sound of an impending battle and were preparing their weapons.

"What's going on?" Ruby questioned, still a little drowsy while loading a fresh magazine into Crescent Rose.

"A beowolf came up on the camp and I shot it, but it survived and called for more I think." Nora said hastily, hoping she hadn't screwed them over.

"Alright guys, sleepy time's over. Get ready for a good fight." Juane said readying himself for battle, getting into a defensive stance. He has changed into a stringer man and began thinking more tactically in battle ever since Phyrra had fallen at Cinder Fall's hand.

Ruby was surprised seeing Juane changing from the awkward, unskilled fighter to a more confident and capable combatant. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Grimm coming their way.

"Get ready guys, this is gonna get interesting." She said with a smirk as the horde of beowolves came into view.

There was a much larger concentration of beowolves than usual here. Where there would normally be a pack of up to twenty at most, the amount approaching Ruby and her friends were well over eighty.

This wouldn't be as much of a problem if it wasn't for the team being drowsy and that they were almost completely surrounded.

Ruby and the others began opening fire on the massive group of Grimm coming towards them before they had to switch to melee combat.

Ruby switched Crescent Rose into its scythe form and made quick work of five more beowolves, their corpses already beginning to evaporate by the time she made her next charge.

She looked to her team to check on their status. Ren and Nora were working together to fight of a group of about ten of the beasts circling them, while Juane was left on his own to fight off three.

Ruby was surprised at how well Juane was fighting now, he hadn't even taken a single blow yet, already better than usual, and had already decapitated two beowolves. 'Maybe Phyrra's death made him a stronger man.' She thought to herself as she blasted a hole through a beowolf's chest, leaving a large open cavity, then slicing another in half from the force sending her backwards.

The group was fighting well, but they soon began feeling weary from the battle and lack of proper sleep throughout the night. And to make matters worse there only seemed to be more Grimm pouring in from the woods.

Juane was now surrounded and guaranteed a death sentence from the beasts until a shotgun blast blew the brains of one of the creatures all over the poor kid, along with the beast's brethren.

The Grimm surrounding him looked at where the sound came from only to be met with a sword piercing them together like a kabob.

Ruby immediately recognized the newcomer and shouted out in both glee and surprise. "Uncle Qrow! What are you doing here?!"

Qrow pulled his sword from the two beowolves he had just killed and turned to his niece. "Well I noticed you all looked ready to go on a nice little field trip and thought I'd tag along to make sure you didn't get yourselves into any trouble." He smirked at the end of his statement. "Looks like it's a good thing I did."

His weapon began its transformation from its sword form into its scythe form, with the sword extending and curving as the gears turned. He now moved on to attacking more of the wolf-like abominations and the others followed suit.

With the help of the drunkard spy the group managed to take down a large portion of the Grimm attack. But at this point the group have been taking hits and their aura was depleting.

Qrow was too busy focusing on protecting the kids to notice a beowolf coming up behind him. Ruby saw the beast take a leap at her uncle and cried out to him. "Uncle Qrow look out!" But it was too late for her to do anything.

However, a gust of wind and a blood splatter on Qrow's uniform later, the beast that was going to dig its claws into Qrow was now split in two and soaring through the air only to hit the ground with a crunch of the snow under each half of the former threat.

Everyone was in a daze as they knew none of them had attacked the creature, then they noticed another figure fighting off the Grimm with them.

He was wearing dark clothing that looked like some kind of a military uniform. There were two small circular metal plates resting on his thighs that had a light blue ring around them and another single plate, similar to them but larger, on his back.

His hair was light brown and his eyes were a steel grey. He had a fairly attractive face with the slight stubble of a beard. He was a teenager about the age of everyone in Team RWBY but their younger leader.

He had a sword that much resembled a katana in his left hand, the culprit of the now evaporating two halves of a beowolf, and a high caliber pistol in his right hand, firing it into the heads and chests of the Grimm while slicing through any other with his sword. He moved around the battlefield swiftly, and clearly had more years of combat training than the other teens that were present.

After slaying more beowolves he positioned his hands to his sides where the plates on his thighs opened up as the weapons dissipated into particles that flowed into the capsules before they closed once more. He then reached his right hand to the disc on his back which was open as well. The blue ring around the disc shot out a light that created the wire frame of what looked to be an assault rifle. The same particles as before flowed out from the disc and into the wire frame, forming a fully functioning high tech model if the iconic AK-47. He immediately opened fire onto more Grimm charging at him the moment the light forming the wire frame disappeared and the device on his back closed.

He held his ground as more and more bodies piled in front of him. Now the rest of the group regained their senses and returned to fighting themselves.

After a few minutes of fighting a loud roar was heard from behind the group as an ursa major made its way into view. The group opened fire on it considering it was the only creature of Grimm left.

It absorbed the hits from the bullets like a sponge absorbs water. There was no way they could take this thing down without either much higher caliber weaponry or specialty dust ammunition, like the types Weiss uses.

It was at this point that the mysterious teen stored his rifle in the strange device on his back and in its place was a strange looking gun that looked like something out of a sci-fi film or game.

He took aim at the ursa's left arm and charged the strange weapon. It glowed as it seemed that lightning was beginning to shape around it. At this point Ruby came to the conclusion that the stranger had just equipped himself with a railgun.

The young stranger fired a shot at the ursa's arm he had targeted, ripping it clean off like a hot knife through butter. As blood poured from the wound while the beast cried out in pain, another rail was being loaded into one of the most powerful weapons known to be made in all of Remnant.

He shot off the ursa's remaining arm and stored the weapon in the plate on his back and retrieving a grenade launcher that looked similar to Nora's, but more advanced and in factory colors rather than pink and silver.

He leapt and fired a grenade at the ground beneath him, the explosion launching him higher into the air. While airborne he traded the grenade launcher for a large two-handed sword and plummeted towards the ursa, decapitating it on the way to the ground.

As the ursa's head rolled on the ground and its corpse toppled to the soil, everyone stood in shock at the sight before them. Well, everyone but Qrow.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" Ruby ended up breaking the silence when she awoke from her stupor.

The stranger merely turned towards the group and bowed. "Thank you for the compliment," He replied with a deep voice. "You weren't all that bad yourselves out there, that is," He turned to Qrow "until my old friend here needed me to save his ass." He let out a playful smirk at this, earning a glare from Qrow and questioning looks from everyone else.

"He only snuck up on me because I was focusing on protecting the others." Qrow let out a small grin as he held out his hand towards the stranger and pulled him into the standard hug that a sports team would perform, clapping the teen's back a few times. "So what brings you out here kid?"

The stranger opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Nora. "Excuse me! I don't mean to be rude but who are you anyway?"

Ruby piped up as well. "Yeah, and how do you know my uncle?"

The stranger and Qrow exchanged a quick glance which Qrow ended with a nod. The stranger began to speak again. "The name's Harkness Valenwood. And as to how I know Qrow here, he's kinda been a godfather to me."

This statement earned even more questioning looks towards the stranger named Harkness.

"Again, what are you doing here Harkness?" Qrow inquired from the teen.

"I've been doing some research on what's been going on recently and in that research discovered some secrets you and Ozpin have been hiding. Some secrets of someone who is no longer present here." At this he looked towards Juane and his remaining teammates. "I am dreadfully sorry for your loss." There was a sad look on his face when he mentioned Phyrra's death, knowing that the loss of a teammate, more so the loss of a friend, was nothing to be taken lightly.

"Thanks." Juane replied scratching the back of his head and looking away.

"And that brings you Patch because~...?" Qrow prodded.

"Because I knew you would be here to see the recovery of your beloved niece. Plus, you're not the only one who knows how to track people down y'know?" Harkness's voice was calm, then playful, but now is taking on a serious tone as his face grew stern. "And I want some answers as to what the hell happened at Beacon those few weeks ago."

"Alright kid, I'll explain it to ya over the trip we're taking."

"What do you mean by that?" Harkness asked, confused.

"I mean that if you want answers, you're gonna have to join us to wherever these kids are heading." Qrow answered, his taunting smirk growing.

"Qrow, you do realize that I'm still not the most social guy right? What makes you think that I would take a hike with a bunch of people I just met?" Harkness retorted, angered at the dick move that Qrow had pulled on him, knowing full well and why Harkness wasn't a social bug.

"The fact that you need information that I have. Not to mention that you can't be the lone soldier all the damn time, that you've got to be a human being sometimes." Qrow leaned in closer to Harkness and whispered into his ear. "Plus you get to spend some time with my niece. I've seen how you looked at her during her private training sessions with me." Qrow gave a wink as he drew away.

Harkness was flustered for a moment but quickly regained his composure. "First off, the whole 'being a human being' means a whole lot coming from you," Sarcasm was clear in the teen's voice. "Secondly, you really are an asshole, you know that?"

"Believe me I've been called a lot worse than that in my days kid." Qrow smirked at his remark. "So, you comin' with or not?"

After a long moment of silence and a sigh from Harkness, the teen finally spoke up. "Alright. But you owe me later on for this Qrow."

The older man smirked. "Kid, I owe you more than I could ever possibly repay."

"Then I guess you'll have to put in some overtime eventually." For the first time since the conversation made a turn, Harkness smirked once more.

A/N:

First off, what do you guys think? I would love to continue my work on this story and probably will regardless if I get a large following or not, but if you guys do like it be sure to let me know! Also give me advice on things I should or shouldn't do, any constructive criticism will be appreciated.

Second, earlier I mentioned that there will be some Bumblebee in here down the road. Considering this is my first story I haven't planned on including the more "intimate" scenes because I'd like to have a story to brag about to about to friends and family that isn't a porno. However, if I get enough requests I may be willing to change that (for those who really want them citrusy fruits).

Thirdly, I'd like to say that I am planning on giving this story bi-weekly updates. An author of one of my favorite fanfics on here mentioned that doing it worked out really well for them so I'm gonna try the same. Bear in mind that is the plan at the moment. I have a lot going on in life right now so chapters may be delayed on occasion, and I apologize in advanced for that.

And lastly, I want to thank you all for giving my story a chance. As I said before, I know that the whole OC thing gets the goat of a lot of people, so I really appreciate you all sticking through it all. Thanks for reading, feel free to write a review, favorite, and/or follow. I hope to see you all soon!

Peace out.

-GG

Edit: Regarding the second paragraph mentioning changing my mind on adding "intimate" scenes, if you guys want that at least, there will be a separate fic I'll be uploading eventually that will feature extras for this fic. It will essentially be like bloopers, deleted scenes (essentially my original plans that I may have changed while editing), and yes, the more touchy feely scenes. There will definitely be bloopers and deleted scenes for sure, but the final extras are up to you guys, so let me know what you all want!