Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. It is owned by Rooster Teeth.
The City
The fifteen year old boy stumbled along the path to the city. If he looked up, he would see the walls only about a half a mile ahead of him, but it was a choice between moving his head or his feet at this point. He knew he was close. His right foot slipped out from below him as he applied pressure and he would have fallen were it not for the staff he had to brace himself with. As he regained his footing, he finally looked up, stopping for a moment. The wind swept back his charcoal grey hair as he grinned. There would be no giving up now, not this close. He looked down again, taking in all the cuts and bruises he had gained along the way. His clothes were in tatters, and the back of his right leg looked like a rabid dog had his way with it. He could see that his staff was set half off the edge of a rock in front of him, its metal shimmering in the light of the sun.
'Come on now, one foot in front of the other.'
The boy started forward again, moving slowly, painstaking step after painstaking step.
...-...
It took him almost an hour to reach the walls. The bottom of the sun was just touching the peaks of the mountains, throwing long shadows across the ground behind anything that stood tall. Sweat dripped off of the boy's forehead. But here he was. He had reached the gates of Vale. Confidence surged through the boy and he straightened up, lifting his staff off of the ground and positioning it closer to him, more relaxed.
'Oh, that was a bad idea.'
"Hey! Kid? You alright?"
The boy swayed side to side, blood pounding in his ears. He thought he heard a voice call out to him, but couldn't be sure. His right leg gave out on him and he fell to his side, no cry coming from his lips. In the moment that he fell, his world faded to black.
"Kid!"