Hello, readers! WaterDragonMaverick here with a new RWBY story! I've actually been coming up with a few RWBY Original Characters and you can see their profiles on my Tumblr blog, sullivantwissarcana, if you want to know about who I have written down so far.
I wanted to make my own story for RWBY that takes place during the first few Volumes and even during the weeks and months between them (like how the Grimm Eclipse game is supposed to take place between Volumes 2 and 3). There will be a couple of original villains as well, so this new set of heroes will have their own adventures while Team RWBY has theirs with Cinder and Torchwick. I even plan on adding in Grimm ideas, so there's going to be some pretty cool enemies to fight.
Alright! Be prepared for the story and if you have any helpful ideas or advice, be sure to say something.
OPEN THE GAME!
I do not own RWBY. It is owned by Rooster Teeth and was created by Monty Oum. R.I.P
The only things I do own are my Original Characters for this story.
It was morning at Vale's skyport and it was crowded with people that were ready to attend Beacon Academy for their first year at the Huntsman Academy. Several teenagers were excitedly chatting with each other or looking over their belongings as they boarded the airship. However, there was one girl that was hesitantly getting on the vehicle as she rubbed her arm and cautiously looked around.
She was 17 years old like most of the others on the ship, was 5'7" tall, and had healthy tanned skin from working outside constantly at home. She had vibrant green eyes, three freckles on each cheek, and reddish-brown hair that reached her chest. The girl had a curvaceous and toned hourglass figure that she hid with a baggy green sweater, blue jeans, and work boots. Underneath her sweater, she also wore a flannel shirt and white tank top. She also wore a black choker around her neck and bandana on her head in a way that covered the top of her hair, but let her bangs fall naturally over her forehead. Her name was Azalea Calla Holstein, and she was nervously awaiting the ship to leave for Beacon.
Finding a seat away from most of the other teenagers aboard, Azalea set her bags aside and sighed heavily. It was a major development for her to go to Beacon like her father did, but she was nervous because of multiple reasons. First, she had never left the continent of Anima before and making the journey west to Sanus had given her some feelings of homesickness. Second, Azalea had a few issues with other kids her age while growing up. When she hit puberty, her figure developed rather quickly and the other students in her combat classes were always taunting her or calling her mean nicknames. And third, Beacon Academy was her father's choice of school when he became a Huntsman, so she wanted to make him proud and do well in her training.
Looking around at the moving airship, Azalea saw a few faces that stood out to her. A blue-haired girl reading a book, a wolf Faunus checking his weapon, and even a boy that looked like he was previously trekking through the desert territories of Vacuo. But, a few more faces seemed to scare Azalea into shifting around in her seat. A tall girl with glasses and two different colored eyes looked at her Scroll, a smaller girl with a skull hair clip that seemed to be scowling at the window, and a girl in a leather jacket with fiery red hair that had gold highlights who seemed to be investigating the cabin and everyone in it.
Too busy looking at the three tough-looking girls, Azalea didn't notice somebody sit next to her until she felt a bag lean against her leg. Turning around to her right, she saw a girl measuring at 5'5" with neon blue hair nodding her head to music on her white headphones. The new girl wore sunglasses with amethyst-colored lenses, a white jacket with a gold trim, a matching skirt, purple arm warmers that resembled fingerless gloves, purple leggings, and a pair of blue sneakers. Her blue hair had her bangs styled so that they fell near her right eye and as she moved to the beat of her tunes, Azalea saw that her headphones and skirt had an emblem of a record with three scratches across it.
The blue-haired girl saw Azalea and waved hello to the apparent wallflower. Shyly waving back, Azalea got the impression that this girl was either really into her music to not say anything or that she was the quiet type who let actions speak louder than words. Soon, the girl took off her headphones and held them out to Azalea. Cautious about what she was doing, the girl from Anima slowly took the headphones and put them on. After a few seconds of silence, a song began to play and Azalea listened to the lyrics.
"Day and night my mind is running~, Reaching out 'cause I want more~ That I've never had before~," a male singer started the song as a guitar and drums slowly joined in. As the song's tempo sped up, Azalea was getting into the song and the white-clad girl smiled at her. "When I become my own enemy~ I don't understand what you see in me~ 'Cause I'm just another story~ -That's not worth a reading- Now you've got me pinned against a wall~ Why aren't you afraid that I'll take a fall~ There's more that came before me~ Am I worth believing?~ I'm not so sure~," the chorus rang out in Azalea's ears and she started dancing in place to the beat.
After the song ended, Azalea carefully removed the headphones from her head, being careful with the bandana covering her hair, and gave them back to the girl. Soon, she pulled out a Scroll and typed something before showing it to Azalea. Looking at the device, Azalea saw that it was a social media account belonging to the girl in front of her. The profile pic showed the girl with her sunglasses on her forehead to reveal cerise-colored eyes and had her arm around an older boy that looked like her brother. Taking a look at the name underneath the photo, Azalea learned her new acquantince's name was 'Vinyl Aurum'.
"Hello, Vinyl," Azalea shyly said to her. "I'm Azalea. I guess we'll be starting our first year at Beacon together?" Vinyl nodded with a smile and the two turned their heads towards a commotion. It appeared that a blonde girl in a brown jacket was hugging a silver-eyed girl in a gothic dress who apparently was her younger sister that was going to Beacon with them. As their conversation continued, Azalea thought that they looked familiar, but the girls were too far from where she was to immediately confirm her thoughts.
After the girls stopped talking about each other and how the gothic girl was skipping two years in combat school to attend Beacon, a news report showed a mugshot from the Vale Police Department. An orange-haired man named Roman Torchwick was stated to be at large after a robbery earlier in the week. Azalea got a good look at the man and knew that he seemed like trouble because of the smirk he had in his photo.
The news then moved onto the topic of the recent activity of the White Fang and something caught her attention. The wolf Faunus who was fixing up his weapon earlier seemed to be growling at the report. Either he didn't like news about his kind, or the White Fang brought up some unpleasant memories in the kid. Before the woman on the news could continue, the screen turned off and a hologram of a tall blonde woman replaced it. "Hello, and welcome to Beacon! My name is Glynda Goodwitch," the woman greeted the passengers. As she continued speaking about Beacon Academy, Azalea looked out the window to see an aerial view of the city of Vale. It was breathtaking and Vinyl agreed by adjusting her sunglasses to get a clear look at the city.
After a bit of time looking at the sight, Azalea and Vinyl heard something running towards them. A tall blond boy in armor looked like he was going to throw up as he passed the two girls. Getting out of the way, Azalea moved away from Vinyl and the door. However, she also bumped into somebody as she dodged the nauseous boy. "Oh no, I'm sorry," Azalea apologized as she moved back next to Vinyl. As she turned around, Azalea's face filled with dread as she noticed that it was the girl she saw earlier before Vinyl showed up.
The girl in the leather jacket was about Azalea's height and was also wearing a purple halter top, a pair of leggings, a layered skirt with an ammo belt, and a pair of black knee-high boots with flame-like markings. Her long red and gold hair was wavy and reached down to her waist and hips. The edgy looking girl also had light skin and a modest hourglass figure that looked like she kept in great physical shape. Teal eyes looked at Azalea and seemed to judge the poor girl before Vinyl stepped in and spoke up.
"Hey. It was an accident," Vinyl said shortly and clearly.
The tough-looking girl took a deep breath and sighed like she was focusing on something. "It's no problem. They happen," she said. Placing a hand on her hip, the redhead seemed to give off an aura of confidence. But, it also seemed like she was a bit nervous about something as well. "I'm Sunset Blaze. And you two are," the girl introduced herself and inquired.
Collecting herself, Azalea answered the question. "I'm Azalea and that's Vinyl," she said quickly. Honestly, Azalea was a bit more nervous about interacting with Sunset because she looked like a bully with her fashion style.
Seeing the tension between herself and Azalea, Sunset tried to reassure the timid girl's safety. "Relax. I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, my teacher wants me to actually make friends with students my age. Especially since we're going to be assigned teams to work with."
"R-really," Azalea stuttered at the info as Vinyl placed her headphones around her neck.
"Yeah," Sunset began to explain. "Teams of four are set up together based on initiation results. I don't know the full details, but my teacher was a graduate of Beacon herself. So, I'm trusting what she said to me about this."
Azalea was working up a nervous sweat at the idea of being teamed up with three random people she barely knew. But if her father could do it, so could she. The freckled girl just hoped that it wouldn't be too bad. The worst that she thought could happen would be if she was teamed up with somebody who was just like the kids back in her combat classes in Sanctuary Academy in Anima. Eventually, the airship landed and the new first year students exited the vehicle.
As the crowded cabin started to empty, Azalea stayed behind to not get caught up in the sea of people. Looking at her Scroll, she stared at a picture of her hometown, Mirabelle. Sighing and collecting her stuff, Azalea walked out and saw the Beacon Academy grounds. Amazed at the building in front of her, she didn't notice a few lecherous looks she got from a few boys. Taking a quick walk around the campus, Azalea tried to get her bearings around the new environment.
A few minutes of exploring later, Azalea saw a few upperclassmen hanging out near the school gardens. However, she also saw the look in their eyes when they noticed her. As she walked past them, they cornered her and spoke up. "Hey, freshman. Where are you going," one of the three boys said.
Trying to avoid their gaze, Azalea looked down and crossed her arms to have a feeling of safety. "Come on," another boy said. "We're just asking a question."
"Yeah. It's our job to help the underclassmen get around," the third male said as he kept looking at Azalea like she was a piece of meat.
Looking around for somebody to help, Azalea was feeling anxious to leave the three men behind and head for safety. It was either that or fight them off with her weapon. But, she thought it wouldn't be a good idea for several reasons. Luckily, a large explosion at the front of the school caught the trio's attention.
"What was that!? The hell? Holy-," the three reacted to the sound and turned towards the source. After a few seconds, they just assumed it was somebody that had unstable Dust and caused the explosion by accident. As they went back to Azalea, they were surprised to see nobody was there. Paying no attention to it, the boys headed back to their classes and left the area.
After a minute of isolation and silence, Azalea faded back into view. Taking a deep breath to calm down, she sat down on the walkway and moaned sadly. Using her Semblance allowed her to bend light around herself to become invisible for short periods of time. Azalea always used this to escape from bullies and mean girls back home, but having to use her special power reminded her that things are still the same when it came to her appearance. Thinking back to all the times that she ran back home after escaping ridicule, Azalea slowly remembered that she wasn't back on the farm with her mother and father.
Removing her bandana from her head, Azalea dried her eyes with the cloth. As she did, it revealed two cow horns on the top of her skull. Being alone, Azalea thought that she could let her Faunus trait show without being judged. But, a new voice sounded out as she was wiping her tears away. "You okay," a worried feminine voice asked.
Gasping in shock and covering her head, Azalea saw the girl who spoke to her. She had olive skin, blue eyes, a long purple ponytail, and looked like she was the same height as Vinyl. She wore an outfit that didn't look suitable for combat, but more for an act as a dancing girl or a genie, which would be appropriate with her slender and fit hourglass figure. The girl's 'attire' consisted of a pair of red harem pants, a red bra-like top, black boots, and an unbuttoned purple vest. She also wore several pieces of gold jewelry like bracelets with red gems, a simple pair of earrings, and a gold circlet with a blue gem in the center. "Need some help," she asked as she held out her hand for Azalea.
Seeing the kind look in her eyes and the gentle smile put Azalea at ease, so she took the girl's hand and stood up. After standing, Azalea looked down at her boots and rubbed her arm before speaking to the new girl. "Thanks... I didn't think someone would do that for somebody like me," Azalea said as she placed her bandana back on her head.
"Why's that," the purple-haired girl asked with her head tilted.
"Well... It's just... You see... I've had a tough time growing up because of my looks," Azalea said with difficulty.
The red-clad girl looked over Azalea to see what she was implying. "Is it your freckles, your figure, or your horns," she asked.
The cow Faunus twiddled her fingers before speaking up again. "The last two. I really take after my mother," Azalea admitted.
Giggling a bit, the 'genie' girl smiled at Azalea again. "Well, it's not a problem for me because I grew up in Vacuo. If you can survive there, you're welcome there. You're at Beacon! I'm sure that you belong here," she said placing a comforting hand on Azalea's shoulder. "I'm Layla Carbuncle. What's your name?"
"Azalea," the Faunus girl answered with a smile at Layla's words. "Thanks for that, Layla."
"Just doing my job," Layla remarked. "Maybe we should head to the auditorium now. Don't want to be late for what we're supposed to do next." When she turned around and Azalea followed, the Faunus noticed that her vest had a symbol of an oil lamp emitting smoke on the back.
As the two girls headed off, they passed the silver-eyed girl and the blonde boy from the airship. As he went on about motion sickness being a common problem, Azalea looked back at the girl and tried to remember where she had seen her before. Putting it aside for the moment, Azalea noticed that she and Layla reached the auditorium's front doors. Seeing it crowded with people, Azalea tried to calm herself down by taking deep breaths.
"Come on. Let's find a spot," Layla said as she and Azalea found an empty area to stop at. Looking around, Azalea saw the same faces she noticed on the airship along with a few others. She saw a Fox Faunus girl with a bushy tail and kimono-like outfit, a boy with long black hair that had a pink streak in it, and an energetic redhead next to him that was bouncing around on her feet. Seeing all the numerous people that were ready to become Huntsmen and Huntresses, Azalea realized that the next few years would be interesting for her.
Suddenly, Azalea heard a loud noise coming from next to her. Looking to her side, she saw that Vinyl Aurum was listening to her headphones while waiting for the assembly to start. Turning her head, the blue-haired girl saw Azalea and acknowledged her presence with a smile. Glad to have two friends that she made on her first day at Beacon, Azalea smiled as she pulled out her Scroll. Looking at a picture of her family home, Plum Blossom Farms, the Faunus girl kept her eyes on the device until a voice at the stage caught everyone's attention.
The headmaster of Beacon, Professor Ozpin, cleared his throat and spoke to everyone in the room at the time. "I'll... keep this brief," he started. As he spoke about how the students came to train to defend mankind, Ozpin also mentioned that the first year students were unguided and had wasted energy. Confused by this, most of the room broke into whispers about what he was talking about. "Your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to make the first step," he ended his speech before Glynda Goodwitch approached the microphone and explained that the students would be sleeping in the ballroom and initiation began tomorrow.
"That was strange," said a familiar voice. Looking behind them, Azalea and the girls saw Sunset was the one who spoke. "He seemed out of it a little," she mentioned before going into thought about it.
"Well, we should just go and find the ballroom," Layla said with a smile. "I'm so excited for tomorrow!"
Vinyl followed Layla's lead and the two girls left the room first, leaving Sunset and Azalea alone together as they walked at their own pace. Rubbing the back of her head, Sunset spoke to Azalea. "Look, I'm sorry if I made you nervous on the ride here. I know I look like a bully, but I'm not," she explained. "I was more into my training and studies rather than dealing with my classmates back at Garrison Academy."
Sunset frowned a little and rubbed her arm before she continued. "But, something happened a while before I graduated from there," she reluctantly admitted. "I was attacked and defenseless because I was too cocky. Grimm cornered me and I was about to die because I didn't listen to my teacher about staying with my group. I didn't even have my Semblance yet, so I couldn't use it to defend myself before getting struck down to the ground."
Azalea's green eyes widened at the story as Sunset explained everything. "Lucky for me, my teacher found where I was and took out every single Grimm near me," the fiery-haired girl told. "After that, she said that I shouldn't do everything by myself. Otherwise... Let's just say I wouldn't be here today if she didn't save me like she did," Sunset finished her story.
"Wow. That's quite a story," Azalea commented. "I just wanted to be a Huntress because my dad is one. He keeps dealing with Grimm that get to close to the farm and I wanted to be just like him."
Sunset laughed a little at the girl's reasons for attending Beacon. "That's actually pretty sweet," she said with a smile. "I hope that you make him proud. I'm doing the same for my teacher. She's like a mother to me," Sunset added while looking up at the sky. "I'm also hoping that I get my Semblance soon as well."
"You mean you don't have one yet," Azalea asked in surprise.
"No. I just haven't figured it out yet, Farm Girl," Sunset retorted back with a playful smile as she poked Azalea's forehead. As the two continued on their way, they found Vinyl and Layla at the entrance to the ballroom. The girls all enjoyed themselves and looked around Beacon before night fell.
In the ballroom, most students were in their sleepwear and had sleeping bags sprawled out on the floor. The majority of the teenagers either relaxed or messed around with each other. A few were attempting to be alone in the crowded room like Azalea was. Being a Faunus, she could easily see in the dark and saw several students in the darker areas. Seeing Sunset and Layla walking over towards her, Azalea wasn't surprised when the two sat down next to the Faunus.
Layla had changed her clothes for a simple white tank top and a pair of white sleeping pants with pink drawstrings. Sunset had changed into a set of purple pajamas with an emblem of a phoenix-winged sun on the shirt. Azalea was dressed in a set of flannel pajamas, but she had to leave the top buttons loose to let her chest breathe. With the way she had to wear her shirt, it revealed more freckles on the top of her breasts. Azalea was still cautious about what others would say about her horns, so she kept her bandana on with her pajamas.
"Lea, I'm sure that people won't mind your looks when we get to work tomorrow," Layla assured as she undid her hair from its ponytail and let it fall free to her hips.
As Azalea thought this over, Vinyl was listening to her headphones as she literally danced over to the Faunus girl and her new friends. Vinyl wore a black t-shirt with a pattern of white musical notes decorating it and a pair of blue shorts. Sitting down with the others, the four enjoyed the company of each other before they began to fall asleep.
Azalea slowly nodded off and was let to her thoughts before sleep took over her mind. 'This is it, Daddy. I'm going to become a Huntress,' she thought as she drifted off. 'I just hope all of the training you taught me pays off. I feel like I'm going to need it.' Soon, the Faunus girl was sound asleep and awaited the next day of her time at Beacon Academy.
OKAY! I hope you all liked this first chapter of "Sideline: Another Story". Please leave a review and if you do, say what your favorite part of this chapter was or your favorite OC that was introduced.
As you can tell from most of this chapter, it was focused on Azalea (who will be the main viewpoint character for most of the story). She is my favorite student OC and I love her because of all the effort I put into her creation! I have so many plans for her growth as a character, so I hope you stick around to see what happens.
I will focus on other characters, too. So, don't just ignore some of the descriptions I gave a few background characters.
The song I used for Vinyl and Azalea's scene on the airship was "StopRewind" by NateWantsToBattle (who I will make reference to in the story possibly by calling him by a RWBY character name. I like "Nathan Stark" for the Color Naming Rule). I also use that song as Azalea's own personal theme song, like Ruby and "Red Like Roses" or Yang and "I Burn".
The next chapter will begin Azalea's initiation in the Emerald Forest with Sunset, Layla, Vinyl, and a few other characters. You will see just how they can fight and what their landing strategies are. Be sure to stay tuned. And don't worry, I'm still writing RWBY Rangers. This idea has just been in my head for TOO LONG and I wanted to share it.
WaterDragonMaverick, signing out!