Lone Wolf

Chapter 1: "The Inn"

The city of Herot was just beginning to settle down as the clock tower struck ten. The only real noise to speak of was coming from the town's inn as its drunken patrons interacted with one another. This was a typical night for Herot. It was a small town located about a day's drive outside of Mistral. The inn was always a place where both locals and travelers alike would have drinks and share stories to pass the time, especially now that communication between kingdoms was so scarce. The town was fairly safe, considering its size. Its walls were armed with lots of heavy turrets in case of a grimm attack, and there was usually a huntsman or two passing by. The citizen's had nothing to worry about, or so they thought.

Inside the inn, the latest traveler was just getting her key and ordering a drink, "Strawberry sunrise, please." Although she looked young, the bartender didn't question her. One look at her robotic arm told him that this girl was probably older than her age would dictate. Plus, she was hot and tipped well.

As Yang sat at the bar, she couldn't help but think back to the past year and the rollercoaster of emotions it had been. Everything was fine. I was starting my second year at Beacon Academy, looking forward to the Vytal Festival Tournament. Then, suddenly, everything spiraled out of control. One second I was on top of the world, and the next, I had lost everything. I had no idea who that masked man was attacking Blake. Then I see him on TV months later. Apparently the man who cut off my arm was notorious for doing that sort of thing. Guess I should count myself lucky, or as lucky as I can be, considering. I'm not that mad about the arm. That I can handle. What kills me is that she just ran. No goodbye, no explanation, she just ran. I wish I knew where she was. I just just hope that she isn't going after him just so she can get herself... Yang stopped herself before she lost control. While she had managed to get back on her feet, due in no small part to her dad's help, she still had nightmares about that night, and she knew, deep down, that she always would. Stay positive Yang. Everything is going to be fine. Just breathe and relax.

She tried to clear her mind and took a long sip from her drink. Turning in her chair, she decided to take a look around the tavern. Everyone was having a good time, talking and playing games while downing beer after beer. As she continued to scan the room, she noticed a table of faunus near the far wall of the room playing some card game while sharing stories. The sight reminded Yang of Blake and how much she missed her. As she tried to think back to some of her happy memories, one of the faunus got up and started walking towards her.

He was a medium built cat faunus wearing a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt under a black jacket. He had his eye on Yang from the moment she entered the room. In truth, the whole table had their eye on Yang, but she didn't really notice, being so preoccupied with her thoughts. The faunus smiled at her as he approached, making Yang blush. I guess I must have been starring, she though.

"So I noticed you looking over in our direction. What's you're name gorgeous?" Yang blushed a little harder as she noticed that the rest of the table was watching the conversation intently.

"Oh, sorry about that. I guess I was kinda starring wasn't I. I'm Yang." She smiled, trying to hold back her embarrassment.

"Oh, it's alright. You looked kinda lonely. Would you like to come join us?"

"Sure, I'd love to."

"Great, my name is Ben by the way. Ben Royal."

"Nice to meet you, Ben"

"The pleasure's all mine. Here, let me buy you a drink," he offered noticing her glass was empty. "Bartender, could you bring her another, please?" Ben asked. He pulled out some lien and placed it on the counter.

"My pleasure," the bartender smiled. Moments later he placed another strawberry sunrise next to Yang and took her dirty glass away.

"Thank you!" Yang said.

"No problem," the bartender call back as he went back to his job.

"Alright, are you ready to head over?" Ben asked, holding out his arm

"What a gentleman, haha," Yang laughed. She took his hand and got up. They walked over to the table of faunus and started making introductions.

"Hey guys, this is Yang. Yang this group of gentlemen is Forest, Sterling, Dodger, and Steel." Each faunus waived hello as Ben introduced them.

"Hey, nice to meet you all," Yang replied.

Ben's friends smiled and laughed as they returned to their game. "So what brings you way out here?" Ben asked.

"Oh, I'm just passing through," Yang replied. She didn't want to reveal too much to the stranger, despite how nice he seemed to be. "I'm on my way to visit some family in Mistral."

"Really? We're on our way to Mistral as well. Would you like to travel with us? We're going to be catching a train in the next town over."

"I'd love to, really, but I've been traveling on my motorcycle for about a month now. I don't want to just abandon it. Plus, I think it should only be another day or so of driving."

"Aww, oh well. I guess we'll just have to meet up in Mistral then. I'd give you my number, but that obviously won't do any good anymore."

"Yeah, too bad," Yang blushed. She was enjoying Ben's flattery but trying not to let it get to her head. She only had one goal in mind. Get to Mistral, find Ruby.

The group continued to play cards over the next couple hours. As midnight came and went, the group started to head to bed, one by one, until Yang and Ben were the only two left.

"I'm tired," Ben yawned.

"Me too," Yang replied.

"Want to have breakfast with us tomorrow morning before you head out?"

"Sure, I'd love too."

"Excellent! Maybe we can figure out a good place to meet up at in Mistral."

"Yeah that sounds nice."

"Well, I'm heading up."

"Yeah, me too." Yang got up and followed Ben upstairs to the inn's bedrooms. Once they got to Yang's room, Ben said goodnight and went on the his. Once she got inside, Yang's sleepiness finally started to overtake her. As she laid her head down, she thought to herself about how her journey had been going so far and hoped for a smooth drive tomorrow. Everything should be fine from here. I'll find RWBY, make sure she's safe, apologize for shutting her out. Maybe I'll even talk to Ben some more. She started smiling as she began to drift off. Yeah, everything is going ot work out just fine.

Outside, everything was silent. All of the citizens had gone to bed, and the only people still up were the guards. However, unbeknownst to them, there was another. She stood at the top of the clock tower just watching, waiting for something. She wore a grimm skull as a mask, and her red eyes intimidatingly through the holes in it. Her hair had a great tail of feathers that made her look more like her namesake. Raven's appearance was certainly intimidating, and her presence usually brought death and destruction along with it.

Suddenly, a wolf cried out in the distance, unsettling the guards around the wall. Although they were ready for a grimm attack, they still didn't want to see a pack of beowolves come charging towards the wall. Raven looked up. "So nice of you to join us," she said, as if answering the wolf's call. She then calmly jumped off the clocktower and landed gracefully onto the sidewalk below. Walking into the streets, Raven drew her katana from her hip and swished the blade through the air, slicing a blood-red portal into existence. A moment later, dozens of masked warriors emerged, ready for blood. "Alright, let's go to work."

A/N: Hey, so this is my first story, so we'll see how it goes. I have a general idea in mind, but who knows how I'll get there. I don't really have a writing schedule, so I'm just going to publish whenever I can/feel like it. Sorry, I'm in the middle of college and don't always have a ton of free time. Hope you enjoy. Write a review if you want to. Thanks!