There was a charm to this place, this small dust mining town of Proverbs. I was fond of its charm; a rustic village of townhouses and mining facilities that were populated by man and faunus alike. No one really cared that much about who they were, almost as if it was the dust that brought them together. I couldn't blame them, especially since the dust that once populated this place no longer exists. Many tried to figure out the cause of its sudden disappearance, with rumors and old wives tales being put in place of the mystery surrounding it.
"It was the curse of the Ispera People! They came to punish us for desecrating their beautiful land!" said one villager.
"No, you fool, the dust disappeared because they were unstable," said another villager. "Perhaps it was overstaying its welcome in this land. We should be blessed that we could profit from this rare dust when we could."
That rare dust, Shade, was described as this dark bluish-purple that illuminated the mines with ethereal allure. What made it such a rare dust was its property: nullification. Add onto the fact of the abundance of energy that it came with compared to other dust in raw form, it was too good not to ignore as a power source. With that property, it attracted all kinds of attention, some of it good, some of it bad. Many sought Shade to use it for science and engineering, others for weapons development and self-defense. But with access to such rare dust came a caveat. Perhaps it was the curse of the Ispera People because of the constant invasion of Grimm that plagued Proverbs.
The Grimm attacked Proverbs nearly every time the village mined out Shade dust every month. Before, we had local Huntsmen and Huntresses that protected us when the Grimm attacked, but the moment the Shade disappeared, they disappeared as well. It was on a scorching hot day that a large pack of Grimm invaded us and ransacked the village town. Many of the villagers were killed trying to defend the town, leaving women and children at the mercy of the voracious beasts.
In an attempt to protect Proverbs, I took anything I could to fight back against the Grimm hordes. I had little combat training along with the Huntsmen when they were in the village, and my semblance was useful in restoring anything that I touched, so I could always bring myself back into the fight. However, I, along with some other villagers were powerless against the many Grimm that invaded Proverbs.
"Gabriel, try to cut them off," said the village headmaster. "Me and Mar will try to evacuate the rest of the villagers from here!
"Gotcha!" I said. "I'll put my impromptu Huntsman skills to the test and hold them off."
"Don't die on me, kid. This place is your home after all.
The last thing I remembered was being tackled down to the ground by dog-like Grimm, being bitten and feeling nothing but searing pain radiate throughout my body. I fought some of them off of me, but their vicious attack continued as I started to see more of my flesh being torn with their razor-sharp teeth. As my consciousness was slowly fading, a group of soldiers stormed in the village. Fighting off the Grimm with all their might, there was one person that came to me, a catlike faunus wearing a lab coat. I reached out my hand, hoping that someone would grab it and hold me tight before I pass out.
That was the last time I could remember that day they attacked… and the day that I was still human.