Chapter 1: Dreams of the Past
Pain. Her vision was hazy, and her thoughts muddled as she tried to look around her surroundings. Panic. She was back, the chains, the bars, the grime. Despair. Her thoughts began to race, had they found her? Help... Footsteps echoed down the corridor that lay just beyond the bars. No… The footsteps fell ever closer, the rattling of a keyring sounding distinctly in the silent air. No. The footsteps fell silent as they reached the bars of her cell, the keyring clattering as one of their kin was fitted into the slot. She struggled against her chains, rattling them as she tried to get free. No! The cell door swung open, light pouring in and blinding her as she continues to struggle. Her eyes gazed upon the cruel smile of the one before her as despair and dread filled her. She screamed "NO!"
Kaia rose from her resting place swiftly as the scream tore from her throat. Swiftly looking left and right she took in her surroundings. It was a large open area, an abandoned warehouse in fact, but while it might be dirty, there were no bars nor chains anywhere in sight. Her heartbeat slowed to a normal rate alongside her breath, she was safe, or atleast safer than she had been in a long time. "A nightmare… that's all it was…" She muttered quietly to herself before sighing "Yeah right, nightmares aren't real…" A draft blew in through the numerous holes that riddled the walls of the warehouse, the cold air easily cutting through the rags she wore and sending a shiver up her spine. Still it was better than that cell, anything was really, even death.
Deciding that there was no way she was going to go back to sleep, Kaia rose the rest of the way off the pile of aged cardboard she used as a sleeping mat. Once again taking a look at her surroundings she spotted the ragged bag she used to carry and store her meagre belongings and food. Her stomach grumbled at the thought of the scraps that lay within the bag so she made her way over to retrieve the leftovers of whatever food she was able to scavenge the night before. Swiftly digging through the bag she recovers the containers holding the bounty she sought, and she dug in. Her eyes wandered as she consumed the scraps of various foods, and soon they landed on a grimy piece of what looked to be a large shard of glass resting against the wall nearby. Seeing it, with no windows nearby, Kaia's curiosity got the better of her. Swallowing the final bite of food she wandered over, thankful for the distraction from the still empty feeling in her stomach.
It was evident, upon closer inspection, that it was not a large piece of glass, but the grimy remains of a shattered mirror, caked in untold years of dust and dirt. Kaia picked it up using her claws to scrape off the multitude of layers that caked it's surface. Upon clearing enough of the grime to make out an image past the dirt she stopped, Having not seen her own reflection in years, the sight before her caught her by surprise. In the mirror, reflected in the dirty light that came from the aged, yellow glass and holes that littered every surface of the warehouse, a young girl stared back at Kaia. She looked no older than twelve years old, her once steel grey hard matted and caked with dirt and who knew what else framed her gaunt face, also covered in grime. Steel colored eyes stared back with a worn and caution look, showing a keen intelligence hidden behind tired eyes. Atop her head two triangular shapes poked out of the mess of hair, they were wolf ears, which along with her tail make a very obvious case as to her faunus nature.
Kaia sighed, her faunus heritage the very cause of her situation, and made to set down the mirror before stopping and placing it within her worn bag. Picking the bag up she took one last look around the desolate building. "Time to leave." she stated before turning and stepping through the large hole in the wall that marked the threshold to the rest of Remnant.
Author's Notes:
Greetings everyone, I hope that this new story of mine has caught everyone's attention and that you have found it worth you time to read and maybe, potentially stick with.
This is my first time writing anything that wasn't required by school so please bear with me and feel free to point out any problems or flaws you might see, as constructive criticism is essential to all creative works.
As of right now, I have a good Idea of how this story will progress, as well as the members of Kaia's team mates once she gets to beacon. (Yes she will be attending Beacon, Yes she is said to be young, No she's not *Actually* twelve, and Yes I have a reason and backstory as to why she looks like she is.) All that being said, I welcome any Ideas you desire to share, as well as any advice from more experienced writers, so feel free to speak up.
As it is, thank you for giving this story a shot, I know there haven't been any direct mentions of RWBY as of yet, but that will come next chapter. (Which will be longer, as I will hold myself to the same words per chapter standard I hold for any story I read.) This story was meant as a Hook, as well as a kick to the ass for me to actually do this instead of sitting on this idea for another year.
Anyways, see you next time:
-Lord Erethar.
