Greetings All,
It has been a while. I've been working on this shared universe multi story project with a couple friends of mine for a while now. Each story is set in a different kingdom in the same time period and the characters in each story may have small cameos in the others. Go to my profile and you can find links to all the stories in our shared universe. As well as the forum with is an central hub for all the character submissions. This story is indeed an SYOC story so go to the forum and post it there, also feel free to swing by and have a chat with us. Now onto the world setting itself.
The story is set in a time, many years since the fall of Beacon, roughly a 100 years. Beacon and the city of Vale have been lost and after countless failed attempt, the Citizens of Vale are still unable to reclaim it and were forced to rebuild their city and the Beacon Academy more to the south east coastline of the continent Sanus. Remnant herself is an extremely dangerous place with even deadlier Grimm freely removing the lands. To make matters worse internal conflicts plague all of the kingdoms besides Vale, they are still trying to recover what was lost.
The white fang are still a large threat as well as the Grimm, The new City of Vale known as Vala to the young people of Vale is surviving showing the world that Kingdom of Vale will live on. This story follows life of the new generation of huntsmen and huntresses being trained at the new Beacon Academy. As they take training lessons in the remnants of the fallen city.
It also follows the life of a pair of identical twins known as the Empathy Twins as they find a place for them to call home in the grounds of this new academy, the rebuilt Beacon.
I hope you enjoy this story...
Quake.
Prologue Part 1 - Ride of the Valkyries
They say time heals all wounds but ever since a certain group made themselves known to the world of Remnant. The world has been scarred and is now on the brink of destruction from tearing itself apart. The first kingdom to be affected by that group's conquest was Vale. With the fall of Beacon, marking an new era of fear, sorrow, anxiety, grief that quickly engulfed the world like a wildfire.
Even though those events that shook the world occurred a hundred years ago, Remnant still hasn't recovered, in fact the tension between the kingdoms has only gotten worse. Plagued with internal conflicts that blind themselves to the rest of the world. The social hierarchy of Atlas is tearing apart the kingdom that once was proud in itself for its technological and military discipline.
Like Atlas, Vacuo is also plagued with internal conflict amongst the populace due to influx of Faunus refugees. With the destruction of Menagerie causing all the Faunus to seek a new safe haven, Vacuo being the only viable option when compared to the other kingdoms.
After experiencing a similar fate to Vale, the darkness of Mistral's Underground decided to engulf the city and take full control of it. The Underground's hold on Mistral is so strong, nothing happens in the city without the Underground knowing about it. However the majority of populace seem to be obvious about their shadowy overlords.
Despite the internal conflicts the other Kingdoms have been facing, The kingdom of Vale has been struggling to rebuild and reclaim the land they have lost. After countless failed attempts to reclaim the city of Vale, the citizens of the kingdom were forced to rebuild to their city and it's academy on the south east coastline of Sanus.
The citizens of Vale are determined to show the world that they are overcome anything and survive any great adversity while rebuilding their nation to be stronger than before. While the new city of Vale is being constructed, the task of learning from the past mistakes falls on the next generation with previous generations guiding their way.
With the sounds of footsteps filling an empty hallway of an establishment that is meant to resemble the great academy and its halls that was lost so long ago. A young woman, who appeared to be a lot younger than she actually was. Her name is Anya Fiore aged 35 with light brown wavy hair, stag horns, creamy skin and green eyes.
Anya stood 5'8" tall with a voluptuous figure, she was wearing a light green blouse, lavender gloves, blue pants and brown boots. Resting on her hip and connected to her belt was a fancy rapier with dust crystals embedded into the hilt. As she was walking through the hallways, the gaze of the sun started to appear through the windows. It was early on in the morning when she was asked to meet the person behind the door that was now in front of her.
Right in front of her was an large wooden door, made from an some elegant timber like mahogany with the nameplate on it stating the name 'Bernhard Sturm' however the title of person had seemed to be worn off. Anya gave the large wooden door some solid knocks and then waited, a few moments passed and there was no response. "Is he even there?" She wondered with a sigh. Deciding to open the door "Excuse me" Anya called out as she peered into the room.
"Headmaster? Are you in here?" she asked, the room was rather large and quiet befitting of an Headmaster with an excellent of the academy itself. However there was a few things that seemed rather out of place. Like to the right of the room as an bookshelf with all the shelves broken in the middle and a giant sword resting on the remnants of that bookshelf.
To the left of the room was few broken coffee machines and a dozen empty and near empty sacks of coffee beans. In the middle of the room where she could hear some papers rustling. However it came from behind a mountain of books and papers surrounding the desk there.
As she walked closer, she could see some of the books referred to the 'Myths & Legends of Remnant', others about celestial events and even more on the outlandish theories and tales. However one book caught her attention, it was a fairytale "The Story of the Seasons... Huh... I remember reading that to Crimson every night" She chuckled as the mountain of books started to move.
Also like someone raising from the grave, a man standing 5'10" with a muscular build, shaggy medium length brown hair. He was dressed in a cool coloured tropical floral button up shirt and black shorts with black and white trimmed sneakers. He also had an blue tie loosely tied around his neck and mug of coffee in his hand.
"Now where did I put that blasted... ah there it is" He said while reaching for a book that a fallen on the pile and laid on the floor, along with the rest for a while now. Noticing the extra person in the room, he looked up at her "And you are?" he enquired.
"Umm are you alright Headmaster? You called for me... Don't you remember" Anya replied with an worried expression.
The headmaster looked at her with a puzzled expression as he tried to recall if he did or not. "Ahh yes... You're Anya Fiore... Good good... Do come in, don't mind the mess" He said cheerfully before taking a sip of his coffee and walking over to the window. Gazing over the academy as the raising sun slowly illuminates it.
"Umm... Headmaster... I'm already standing in the room... Is everything..." Anya asks before noticing all the empty and near empty sacks of coffee beans. "Headmaster, when was the time take you had gotten some sleep?"
The Headmaster turns around to face her "Irrelevant question..." He places the now empty mug on a small clearing on his desk. "Now Anya do you believe in fairy tales such like the book you are holding?"
Anya was surprised that he could clearly identify the book she was holding considering that he looks like he hasn't slept in a week and has been using coffee to function properly. "Well I believe these stories are based from truth" She relies with little thought and was more worried about the man who stood in front of her.
"Precisely... A tale is born from some fact before it becomes a legend" he said proudly before noticing the time. After clearing his throat "Now as for why I have called you here... I need your assistance in finding some people" He added, surprisingly enough in his sleep deprived state. He found an moment of clarity which made him remember why he had summoned her in the first place.
"Finding some people?... I don't how I can be any assistance... After all I am bit on the retired side of my huntress life" Anya relied, feeling slightly shocked at the headmaster's request. She was no tracker nor did she specialise in finding people, which made her think why did he ask her for something like this.
Bernhard just laughed at her response "You just have an way with people and I believe that will be needed for this mission"
Anya looked even more confused "Mission?... Can you provide any further information?" she enquired.
"I can not since time is of the essence... So I will let my associates fill you in on the way" Bernhard said as he heard someone knock on the door to his office "Ah right on time... Come in" he called out.
As a woman a year younger than Anya, standing 5'9" tall with an very athletic build and toned thighs. Her breasts are on the higher end of a B cup. She has chin length black hair in a Bob style haircut with the ends dyed purple and dark blue eyes. She is wearing a tight red v cut shirt and an brown short jacket over the top with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows.
With tight black pants and brown combat boots, she also had an short barrelled lever action rifle sitting in an brown leather sheath sitting on her back and leaning towards her right shoulder. "Good Morning Headmaster... This is the one who will be accompanying us?" she asked as she bowed.
"Yes she is Vee" Bernhard replies, turning to Anya "Anya this is Violet Skywood, an member of Huntress Guild called 'The Valkyries', she and her fellow guild members will be companying you for the mission".
"W-w-wa...wait a second, I haven't agreed to anything" Anya said but was only greeted with big puppy dog eyes from Violet. She sighed "Fine, but if I do this for you... Will you agree to look after my son when he joins the academy?"
"We discussed this earlier didn't we?" Bernhard enquires which Anya nods in return "Very well, consider it done"
Violet smiled "Awesome... Nice to meet you Anya, feel free to call me Vee..." She said while shaking Anya hand as they hear and feel the rumblings of an aircraft flying extremely low like it's going to land right outside. "Look at that, our ride is here... Time is against us so let's get move on" Violet said dragging Anya towards the door.
Before they reached the door, Violet turned back to the headmaster "Oh yeah I have a message from Iris... Get some rest you idiot" the way she said the last bit and glared at the headmaster sent shivers down his spine and leaving Anya with an puzzled expression.
As Anya and Violet exit the building, Anya sees an bullhead with the engines still warm. Parked right in the courtyard, there was barely enough room for one to fit but there is was. With the back ramp down waiting for them to enter. Violet guides onto the vessel and sits her down, securing her to the seat "We are good to go Rosie" she called out.
Anya hears the rear hatch close up and the engines fire up again. Looking around she sees that there are 2 other people, both females in the personnel hold of the bullhead. Sitting next to her was an female cat Faunus who was happily enjoying an cup of refreshing tea. She look rather small compared to than the others in the bullhead, she couldn't be any taller than 5'1" with an lean petite build.
The Faunus has shoulder length black hair that is silky smooth and done up in a neat ponytail with two braided strains on the right side of her head tied up in the ponytail. Her bangs sit on the left side of her face, slight obstructing the vision of her left eye. She has green eyes with a pair of black cat ears on the top of her head.
She was dressed in a modified purple Furisode style kimono dress with a pink floral pattern. The swinging sleeves are large enough to hide her hands yet it didn't seem to bother her one bit. The bottom section was designed more like a skirt than a traditional Kimono allowing her to move freely while still maintaining that elegant look. She also wore a pair of black gladiator sandals with the ribbons crisscrossing up to her calfs.
Her name was Azura Knightley, aged 32 which meant she was also the youngest out of all of them in the bullhead. She held up a mug of the tea that she was drinking "tea?" she asked looking curiously at Anya.
Anya smiled as she took the mug from the Faunus as she notice Violet sit down on the other side with a mug of tea in her hand. "Good choice Anya" Violet smiled "Oh that's right Anya I like you to meet Azura Knightley" she gestures to the Cat Faunus who nods back while enjoying her tea.
"And this one is Guinevere Hawkins" Violet gestures to the woman sitting next to her. She look about the same height as Anya with an athletic build, and an C cup bust. She has long wavy blonde hair that is done up in a loose braid style. Her bangs sit from left to right, with some strains slightly framing her face and light brown eyes. She also appeared to be the same age as Anya.
Dressed in a brown leather sleeveless shirt and an blue sleeveless jacket with black and white tribal designs that is ankle-length and splits into two ends past her thigh. Black knee-length trousers with white ribbon ties and black sneakers with white trimming. Around her waist was a blue sash, tied to the right side. She was wearing pair of black leather gloves with a metallic plate on the back side of the hand.
Another interesting note about her entire was the armoured vest that over the top, on the back was an holder for two bladed discs and an unique circlet like headpiece that was hidden underneath her hair. As Gwen raised her hand up and press the headpiece around her temple. A pair of metal rods appeared on either side of her head and moved across her face like a pair of sunglass rims. As they connected, black lens appear as words and numbers light up in the lens.
While the numbers and icons flash across the sunglasses like headpiece, Gwen reaches behind her hand and grabbed those bladed discs. They were a pair of chakrams with an triple spoke center with a spiral design. The centerpiece had an shutter design similar to an camera. Each spoke contain an dust crystal, one being fire, one being ice and the other being lightning. Anya noticed the dust crystals started to rotate.
"Hey Gwen how are we looking? All synced up?" A voice appears over the intercoms.
Gwen smiles "Yeah Rosie everything is all green" she replies as she puts her weapons away and greets Anya with an smile. The voice on the intercoms seem pleased and a worried at the same time. As they travelled through the sky, Anya was a little surprised about the way they acted. They were on a mission which she had little to no information about but Violet and Gwen were too busy gossiping about their conquests at the local tavern the weekend before as Azura just listened happily.
Anya expected something more from the famous huntress guild 'The Valkyries'. She let out a sigh as the voice over the intercom appeared again "Ok ladies were are outside the city limits with the radio wares clear... We are good to go... 15 minutes to the first drop point"
The mood suddenly changed as Anya noticed a person walk in from the cockpit of the bullhead. This woman stood 5'8" tall with an hourglass figure and double d size bust, dressed in light metal armour that is befitting of an knight in the tales of old. She had long smooth purple hair tied up in an high sitting ponytail.
Anya was stunned by her beauty, but the most intriguing feature about her was her silver eyes. "Good Morning Ladies... You must be Anya... I am Iris Remington, nice to meet Anya... now Rosie... load up an visual map of the area"
"Righteo Iris, with the data that the headmaster has managed to collect, we are a looking at search area of roughly 10 kilometers in diameter with an error of a couple kilometers" Rosie's voice said over the intercom as a table raises up in the centre of the personnel hold. Covered in an holographic 3d image of the area of Vale that they will be searching.
"10km... That's an awfully large area to search, especially for such an small group" Anya says while looking at the map in front of her. Anya notice that Gwen had gotten up from her seat and was explaining the map closely.
"Well considering all the information that the headmaster had to go on was rumours, local news, official reports, eye witness statements... both false and legit... Recent legends and myths... Then cross examine every thing for anything that stood out or seem to be common amongst all sources." Rosie replied over the intercom
Anya was shocked, but it all made sense about the condition that she saw the headmaster in and the message that Violet passed on. The headmaster was known to pull crazy all nighters once he had set his mind to it. "Where there any common links?" she asked.
"A few, most sources mention a pair of girls in the late teens... Possibly around 18 years old... The frequency of these reports hinted to the direction of these girls... Plus there is an statement from an valuable associate of his in Vacuo stating that these girls might have some sort of empathic ability" Rosie adds while the hologram shows the reports and data that she was talking about.
"An empath... Huh... look at the descriptions of these girls... Don't they sound familiar hey Iris?" Violet says as those details seem to spark something in her mind.
"It does... Estelle Valliere... It might be a coincidence but these girls might be connected to her disappearance" Iris states, Estelle Valliere was one of the financial backers for the rebuild and relocation of the City of Vale. She inspired a lot of people including Iris and the Headmaster Bernhard, however 20 years ago she mysteriously disappeared and after countless search efforts turning up nothing she was assumed dead and her fortune went into cause of rebuilding the City.
"Estelle Valliere... That name does sounds familiar..." Anya said, the name did sound familiar but she had never met the person.
"Estelle was a visionary, she had the ability to sense and understand people's emotions, then use that to her benefit" Iris informed Anya about the woman. "Now back to the mission at hand, Gwen any idea's on an place to start?"
Gwen took a moment to think "Well these ranges here are known for their cave systems, so that would be an ideal place for resting while on the run" Gwen points out the southern section of map "Rosie can you add that to the calculations and see if it reduces the estimated search any further?"
"Will do Gwen... give me a sec" Rosie says over the intercom as the search radius on the holographic map starts to shift "Argh... for a low traffic region... I'm getting a lot of chatter coming from the north western sector... It's making it hard to concentrate"
"Well keep us in the air Rosie... Vee you're up... go scout ahead and find out the source this chatter" Iris orders while opening the hatch to bullhead.
Anya watched in horror as Violet smiled "Yes ma'am" Vee replied before running and jumping out the bullhead mid flight.
With the hatch closing again Anya said "she... Didn't have a parachute... Will she be alright?"
Iris smiles "Don't worry this is just what Vee does... Rosie how long until we reach to the drop off point?"
"10 minutes Iris... but we have an issue... I've identified the chatter... The source is coming from a couple of mechanised platoons" Rosie responds "Atlesian Knights... The AK-300 models to be precise..."
Thank you for reading the first part of the prologue, if you want to submit an character please do to the forum, the link can be found on my profile page. As well as an link to another forum that I had an idea for a while ago but never seemed to get any traction. So if you are stuck with an story idea or just need another to help solidify that idea into an actual story, swing by the Tale Forge. I'm happy to help out and hopefully get that forge running like i had visioned.
Last thing, if you enjoy this story please drop an review. It really helps to see that feedback and know that people enjoy this tale and its shared universe.