Hello! This is my first story in this fandom. I also posted it on Archive Of Our Own, but I figured that I should post it here as well.

The alarm buzzed, but I was already awake. From my window I could see the sky, the shattered moon shining faintly above. I moved to get ready, quickly, silently. If my parents found out I was doing this… My room was a mess, the desk covered in spare servos and wiring, dirty clothes strewn across the floor. My bag was at the foot of my bed, as I had prepared it the night before.

I grabbed the sword from under the bed. It was sheathed, but when I gripped the handle I could feel the flow of electricity, power flowing through the mechanisms I designed. I cracked open the window. Sword, check. Bag, check. I was good to go. My room was on the second floor, and my gut clenched as I looked down. If I did fall my aura would take the blow, but wouldn't muffle the sound. I grabbed a rope from my bag, securing it to the knob on my closet door. I took a deep breath, then began to descend.

I moved with confidence through the town, the hood on my jacket down. It looked less suspicious that way, I figured. The streets were mostly empty, only a few others out at this hour. The town wasn't that large, but it was large enough to survive the grimm attacks that came hand in hand with distance from the city.

I made it to the walls, old wooden structures that mostly served as a lookout post. Standing atop them, right above the exit, was a man in a light gray tunic. My mentor and the town's greatest huntsman, Slade. He glanced down at me and gave a thin smile, his sharp features and crooked nose illuminated by a lamp that hung from his belt. "Your parents know you're out tonight?" he asked, his deep voice hushed.

I shook my head. "Not at all."

Slade's grin widened. "Good. You've finished your sword, I take it? Then I'll let you fight alone tonight, but I'll be watching." He didn't give me a chance confirm about my weapon. I had long suspected that he had a way of observing me without my knowledge, but I had never asked out of respect.

I glanced up at him again. He gave no indication of providing direction, so I set out into the fields, fingers loosely curled around the hilt of my sword. The long grass brushed against the legs of my jeans, rustling as I moved.

It didn't take long to find a grimm. A seemingly lone beowulf, silhouetted against the starry sky as it stood on its hind legs. I pressed the pommel of my sword with my thumb. I had remembered to load it, thankfully. The beowulf had spotted me. It howled, likely alerting an entire pack to my presence. It dropped to all fours, and began to run at me, mouth open.

My sword sang as I slipped it from the sheath, pointing it tip first at the charging grimm. I focused on the electricity flowing through the circuits inside the blade, diverting the flow of electrons with a thought. The blade split in half along an invisible seam, revealing the encased barrel. I fired one round, the recoil blowing me back an entire foot. If not for my aura it would have broken my arm, I had to figure out a way around that. The grimm stopped in its tracks as the bullet pierced an eye, dissolving into black mist as it began to slump over.

I reverted the flow of energy, and the blades retracted back to their resting position. I took up a defensive stance, my sword gripped with one hand, my weight resting on the balls of my feet. The rest of the pack had arrived.

The moved en mass, a rolling wave of black, red, and white bone threatening to engulf me. I thought back to Slade's teachings. A weapon is not to a toy. It is a tool to be mastered, and if you do it will never fail you when you need it. I stepped to the side as my blade bit down, it's razor edge splitting the skull-like mask of the lead grimm, cutting through the flesh beneath.

A warrior's weapon is nothing without a way to hold it, one must always watch their hands. I flicked my blade out with my left, cutting another's mouth into a bloody grin. I reached out with my right, the metal plating of my glove conducting an electric shock to the grimm I grabbed. I leapt sideways to dodge another charging beowulf, lopping off it's head with an upward strike. I struck again and again, my blade trailing black smoke from slain grimm.

Sometimes you can't avoid everything, but learn to roll with the punches. A tree that cannot bend will break in a light storm, but one that can will weather a hurricane. A grimm took a heavy swipe at me from behind, catching me off guard. My aura protected me from injury, but that didn't stop it from hurting. I gritted my teeth, and used the momentum from the blow to propel myself into a roll, slicing open the stomach of another beowulf in passing. Only the one who had struck me remained, and I turned to face it. It was much larger than any of the others, and had spikes of bone along its body. I was facing an alpha, I realized, as it began to charge.

I had no clue if what I was about to do would actually work. My blade split open again, and I activated another servo before firing straight. There was a flash of purple as I shot upwards, the alpha barreling past where I had been moments before. In the air I fired two shots at the alpha, which only seemed to make it angrier. That was the entire clip. As I began to fall, I ejected the cylindrical clip from the pommel of the sword, pulling one marked yellow out of my bag and jamming it in. I hit the ground, flattening the grass around me. The alpha turned towards me and roared, a sound of pure hatred.

It charged again, thirty feet away, twenty, ten. I sidestepped, jamming my sword into it's side as it passed. I was pulled forward with it, my sword thoroughly stuck. It whipped around, and I lost my grip on the handle. I fell to the ground, and it pounced on me, the strike throwing me backwards. I saw the crackle of blue-white energy around me as I struggled to my feet. My aura had given out.

The massive Grim had not let up. It was stalking towards me, my sword gleaming in the moonlight, contrasted with the matte black fur. It tried to pounce at me again. I jumped over the strike, kicking it in the head as it went under me. I slipped on its fur as I landed, grabbing my sword as I fell. This time, I didn't waste my chance. I opened up the blades, widening the puncture in the beast's side. I fired all four shots into the wound, and at the same time unleashed a dust-charged electric blast. There was a crack of thunder and my vision went white.

The blowback threw me several yards away, my sword still in hand. I could see the grass through the smouldering hole in the grimm's side, it's monstrous form slow to dissolve. I turned towards the town. I hadn't realized just how close the fight had been. I could just barely make out the silhouette of Slade against the light of his lantern.

I sheathed my sword, and began to make my way back towards town, adrenaline still pumping through my veins. Was it my eyes fooling me or were there a lot of lights on in the city. The moon was still up, I hadn't been out that long.

As I got closer, I could see that there were in fact lights on in the city. I heard Slade call out to me from above. "Good job kid! I think that weapon of yours might be a bit on the loud side, though." My eyes widened, and my heart dropped. I approached the gate, my eyes adjusting to the harsh light. It seemed like half the town was there. They had formed a semicircle around the entrance way, and I could feel their eyes upon me.

Slade jumped down from the platform he stood on, landing silently on the paved road. He clapped me on the back. "You're a hero, kid. Now go get some sleep." I began to move forward, the crowd parting before me, eyes still watching. I made my way back home, glancing back occasionally to see if anyone had followed. No one did.

All the lights were on in the house. The rope was gone from the window, there was no way to avoid this confrontation. I sighed, and opened the door. My parents were there, sitting at the dining room table. They didn't say anything as I entered, but my mom ran up to me and gave me a hug. I hugged her back. "How long have you known?" I asked.

"I didn't." She replied, hugging me tighter.

My dad was still at the table. "Slade told me around the beginning. I should have told you, Amber. I'm sorry." He said, looking down at the hardwood table. "You always said he took after my dad, I guess you were right." He still didn't look up. My grandfather had been a huntsman. He never accomplished much but our family was unnoteworthy to the point where I had heard stories of him a thousand times.

My mom sighed, still refusing to let me go. "We'll talk about that later." We were silent for a few seconds. My mom finally released me, gazing at me. I couldn't bring myself to meet it. "You must be exhausted, go get some sleep." It was an order, not a question.

I went up to my room, dropping my sword and bag by the door. The rope had been neatly rolled back up and placed in a loop on the closet door handle. I turned out the light, and flopped down onto the bed. The adrenaline had vanished from my system, and it was not long before sleep took me.

I awoke the next morning to my normal alarm, still exhausted. I dragged myself out of bed, put on the first set of clean clothes I could find, and headed downstairs. Sunlight was streaming in through the windows, the open floor plan allowing light to illuminate most of the first floor. Slade was there, chatting animatedly with my dad at the table. My mom would be out for her morning run around this time. My dad must have heard me coming down the stairs, as he spoke before looking. "Good morning, you sleep ok?"

I nodded, and walked to the kitchen, grabbing a bowl from the shelf as I went. I filled the bowl with cereal and milk, pausing to look out towards the street beyond the window over the sink. I moved back into the dining room, having to double back to grab a spoon after realizing I forgot one. "-seem shocked. Not many would have pegged him as a fighter." , I heard Slade saying.

I sat down at my normal seat at the table, next to my dad. Slade was seated across from him. He glanced up at me. "No offense, but you don't really look like one." Slade said, with a light chuckle. I grimaced but said nothing. He was right, after all. I wasn't particularly strong or fast; I had learned to rely heavily on technique with my fighting style. When most people envisioned a huntsman, they thought fast, mysterious, tall, with some ridiculous weapon larger than they were. I was… tall.

"So what are we going to do?" My dad asked, turning to Slade. "He's tasted the thrill of battle, there's no way we could prevent him from going off to become a huntsman forever, is there?"

Slade glanced at me. "Not in the slightest."

My dad nodded thoughtfully. "Beacon should still be accepting, right?" I almost choked on my cereal. Beacon? As in the greatest combat school in the nation?

"Yeah," Slade replied. "And I happen to have the headmaster's number. Enough of that talk now though, I want to talk with your son." My dad nodded, and left the room, heading to his study upstairs presumably. Slade peered at me. "How are you holding up?" He asked.

"Bit overwhelmed." I mumbled, looking down at my half-empty bowl. I suddenly wasn't feeling all that hungry.

"That's forgivable." He said, nodding. "Go grab your sword, we're going for a walk."

We walked down the street, silent. I felt self conscious; the sheath was very visible hanging by my side. I couldn't help but notice the people stopping to stare, and I saw a young girl pointing at me, tugging at her mother's arm.

We walked a few blocks before we reached Slade's workshop, a massive building that took a third if the block. I had been here many times before, but only at night. We went inside, Slade shutting the door behind us.

Slade ran a small small smithy in order to maintain his weapon, which he constantly improved upon, a living project that would die only with him. There were tool cabinets lining an entire wall, and storage cabinets lining another. The middle of the area was clear, as we commonly used it as an arena to spar.

"So, let's see this sword if yours." He said, grinning. My eyes lit up, and I handed it to him by the hilt. He pulled it out, leaving me with the sheath.

The double edged blade was three and a half feet long, with a hand-and-a-half length hilt. The end of the sword tapered off to a point, intended for stabbing. Near the base the sword was thicker than overtly necessary to accommodate the gun barrel inside.

"I used the dimensions from the sword you had me train with as a starting point." I said. "There's several other features, though."

Slade was looking it over. "This opens up, doesn't it? I can't find any switch, how does it work?" He mimed a cut with the sword, slashing downwards.

"There's circuitry inside of it. I can force different things to activate us-" I began, but he cut me off before I could stop.

"Using your semblance. That's impressive, I must say." He said. He tossed the sword back to me, and I caught it in both hands. "Let's see it then."

I pulled the sword out of the sheath, feeling the flow of energy as I grasped the hilt with my bare hand. I willed electrons to move, and they did. The blade split along the middle, the barrel gleaming in the light.

Slade whistled, eyes widening. "That's quite the noisemaker you have on there. Kick must be rough."

"Yeah," I replied. "I need to do something about that. I'm afraid that it'll kill me if I fire it while my aura is low. There's no real way to brace for the impact either."

"Any other tricks up your sleeve with this?" Slade asked.

"The entire outside is conductive, so if I'm clashing weapons with someone I can shock them." I said. "Against grimm it can help to annoy anything I can't cut into, I guess." I closed up the blade, sheathing my sword.

Slade sat down on the ground, cross legged, and motioned for me to join him. I sat down across from him. "I know you're overwhelmed with everything that's happening. Once you're at Beacon, things move fast. It's not like it is here. You're gonna need to learn to keep up." Slade said. I noted he said once instead of if. I had no objection, but it still didn't feel great to have it be all but decided for me.

Slade sighed, suddenly looking very, very tired. "You're gonna go far, kid." He said.