The idea for this story originally came from my sister, Star of Fate, who had created the characters for another story she is working on (which I recommend you go seeing), but made no plans to continue with these characters once her story was finished. I thought it would be a waste to let such interesting characters to just be shelved and never used again, so I asked if I could have them for a story of my own.

Now this doesn't mean I'm cancelling the Kingdom RWBY story (especially not since I only just started that), but I'm sure that the readers can understand that trying to mold characters and plot lines from different media into an preset story can be difficult, so I thought this would be a fun little side project I could work on when I am having a creative slump, and will hopefully help me write the next chapter faster.

Right now, these are only "Trailers" to test the waters a little and see what you think about them. As always, any constructive criticism is welcomed.

A/N: Takes place three years before RWBY Vol. 1.

"Stratos" Trailer

The arid desert winds blew harshly through the Colorless Desert, one of the largest and harshest bodies of barren land in Vacuo – and that was saying something. The terrain was plagued with constant sandstorms and hidden monster colonies, making any attempt to expand civilized life into the area a pointless and wasted effort. That was all the more reason why she wanted to explore the Colorless Desert. A massive body of uncharted territory had to hold some secrets that no one else had discovered, some hidden treasures that had been buried for centuries. And after a week of planning, studying, and searching, she had finally found it: the crown jewel of her research.

There was a plateau deep in the Colorless Desert that stood over four hundred meters in height and was the constant center of the sandstorms, making travel to the area nearly impossible by most conventional means. That's how she knew there had to be something there; it was the biggest question mark on Vacuo's map. And after many days of travel, enduring blistering winds and scorching sunlight, she had finally reached her destination in the eye of the storm. As her eyes traveled up the plateau, she let out a huge sigh of relief, finally coming to realize that her theory had proven true.

Carved into the side of the plateau was a well-crafted building where the large, open entrance was guarded by pair of large stone statues; the statues themselves were missing several pieces including their heads, no doubt from years of nonstop sandstorms. She looked over building's entrance. It looked to be a shrine or a temple built by a civilization that predated the four Kingdoms. Excitement welled up in her chest; this was exactly the kind of historical discovery that she had been looking for. And so, adjusting the large bag she carried on her back and pulling down the hood of her weather-beaten cloak, she climbed the small flight of stone steps into the temple.

Now inside the temple and out of the storm, she reached underneath the cloak into her pocket, pulling out a small cylindrical canister. She twisted the top off and exposed the red crystal inside, which created a warm glow much like a flame. She pulled down her hood and her face was illuminated by the glow of the Dust crystal. A young woman, very late in her teenage years, though remarkably short for someone of her age. Her midnight-blue hair was tied up in a pair of short, choppy pigtails in the back of her head; her fringes softly brushing over her sky-blue eyes.

The intrepid explorer raised the Dust canister above her head to spread the light of the crystal as she cautiously tiptoed down the darkened corridor. Her footsteps echoed unendingly in the corridor; it was a little unnerving if she was to admit it. But she didn't travel an entire week without hellish deserts and sandstorms just to be scared off by a dark hall and a little noise.

She started noticing things on the walls as she wandered further into the temple and held the Dust crystal up against it. They were painted pictures – murals – of men and women dressed in ancient tribal clothing that, she could say for certain, was no longer in style on Remnant. As she walked further along the hall, there were more murals that followed, showing different portraits of people performing mundane actions such as farming crops and collecting water from the river. These murals seemed to tell the culture of the people who once lived there. One thing that she noticed about the portraits was that all the painted people had some animal feature such as dog ears or rat tails – they were Faunus. Strangely enough, she didn't see any murals depicting the Grimm yet.

She approached one of the murals – a gathering a villagers praying – and gently brushed her fingers across the painted wall when –

"This will be the day we've waited for! This will be the day we open up the door!"

She yelped and dropped the crystal on the ground; thank Oum it didn't crack. She fumbled around with her cloak, trying to locate the source of the loud – but very catchy – music, finally whipping out her scroll from underneath the tattered fabric. She looked at the name on the screen and glared in annoyance. She hit the answer button, held the scroll to her ear, and said:

"Oum, Nebula, you almost gave me a heart attack!"

"Lovely to hear you too, Stella," Nebula replied over the scroll. "So in what neck of the world are you in now, half-pint?"

"Who are you calling a tiny speck of dust that only be seen with a microscope?!" screeched Stella.

"That's not what I said at all," said Nebula exasperatedly.

"Well, if you must know, I'm out in the Colorless Desert," said Stella, resting the scroll in the crook of her shoulder and picking up the Dust canister. "I followed my dad's research notes and found an old temple hidden inside the sandstorm territory. It looks like the temple used to belong to a Faunus civilization that predates the establishment of the Four Kingdoms."

"Uh-huh, great," said Nebula absently. "Hey, do you think I should pack my purple coat or the indigo one? I like the purple coat because it compliments my hair, but I think the indigo one would bring out my eyes. What do you think?"

"I'm am about to make a discovery that could potentially rewrite history," said Stella stupefied, "and you're worried about what to pack?"

"Of course I am; we're leaving for Shade in two weeks, you know," said Nebula. "We're not going to be able to go back home for months, so I'd like to know there isn't anything that I might want or need while I'm there. Have you even started packing? I don't imagine you've gotten a lot done wandering through the desert like that."

"I ask my dad to prepare the essentials," said Stella. "I take care of things like clothes and other stuff when I get back. Don't worry; I'll have plenty of time."

"Where have I heard that before?" said Nebula. Stella could practically feel the eye-roll. "So in other words, you want me to go over to your house and pack your things so that you can pick them up at the last minutes?"

"If you don't mind," said Stella sheepishly.

"Remind me why we're friends again," said Nebula.

"Because you love me," said Stella jokingly.

"Right, how could I forget," said Nebula sarcastically. "So, miss archaeologist, find anything good this time?"

"Not yet," Stella admitted, "but I have found some interesting murals that depict the culture of tribe that lived here. For the most part, it seems like they were farmers and worshipers – they probably had their own religion and deity that they prayed to. I have noticed that there hasn't been a single mention of the Grimm since I've been here. This temple might have been constructed before the Grimm came into existence."

"I thought the Grimm existed since the dawn of mankind," said Nebula, sounding interested for a change.

"That's what all the legends say," said Stella, stopping for a moment to examine another mural – it looked like a chieftain and his children. "But I don't really believe that. The Grimm had to have come from somewhere, just like human and Faunus. Old legends say that humans and Faunus were born from dust and the Grimm were created from the darkness, but that doesn't make any sense. If humans were made from dust, then who created us? Who created the Grimm? The Grimm are incapable of reproducing, so how do they outnumber us ten-to-one? And if every living soul has aura, how come only fifteen percent of Remnant's population can actually use it? There're just so many holes."

"That's why I'm going to be a huntress; so that I don't have to think about all that heavy stuff," said Nebula, sounding strangely exhausted. "I'll kill the Grimm while you have a cuppa and an interview with 'em."

"That would be something to see," said Stella teasingly. As she turned the darkened corner, she saw a small ray of light shining through an open entryway. "Ooh, wait, I think I see something up ahead. Hold on a moment."

Before Nebula could say anything – no doubt a retort – Stella pulled the scroll from her ear and dashed down the corridor with her Dust Crystal ahead of her. She slid to a stop in front of the room's threshold and cautiously stepped over, dropping her duffle bag near the entrance and capping her Dust crystal.

The light was poking through the eight open windows in the upper level of the room; Stella could hear the rush of the sandstorms as she was still outside. The chamber was a very large open area that was supported by the twelve stone pillars, thought it looked like two of them had broken off since the temple was last occupied. Stella believed that the chamber must have been a place for village gathers or a place of worship, but it was impossible to tell now as the area was half buried due to years of sand piling in through the open windows.

Stella waded in a full circle around the chamber through the sea of sand, inwardly hoping to find something more substantial about this temple than a couple of paintings on the walls. Her first find was a few pieces of carved stones that might have been part of ancient cultural statues, but they were too fragmented to be discerned from common rocks. Find a handful of bones on the right side wall wasn't much help either; they could have just been the remains of another explorer who wasn't so lucky. Stella thought she finally caught a lucky break when she saw an old, weather-beaten leather book half buried in a pile of sand, but the blast thing disintegrated the moment she touched it. Stella pounded her fist into the sand in frustration.

"Oum damn it!" yelled Stella.

"Uh-oh, that doesn't sound good," said Nebula through the scroll, making Stella jump. She had nearly forgotten they were still on call. "I take it you didn't find any treasure or old dusty artifacts that would have made us fabulously rich."

"Nothing worth taking," said Stella, sighing heavily. She walked over to the middle of the room and plopped herself on a gray bed of rock. "Everything in here is either too damaged to decipher or completely eroded from years of wear and tear. I might be able to get a few snapshots of the murals back in the hall, but it's nothing concrete to tell us when the temple was built."

"So it's a bust?" asked Nebula.

"It's a bust," groaned Stella, falling back on the rock. "This was supposed to be the archaeological find that would put me in the history books! All that research and traveling for nothing! Can't imagine how this could be any worse!" she yelled, banging her heels down in a mini tantrum.

All of a sudden, a hissing screech echoed in the chamber and the ground began to shake. Stella shot up in a panic, fearing that she may have unintentionally collapsed the temple (it wouldn't be the first time it happened). But looked around the chamber, it quickly dawned on her that the temple wasn't shaking – she was. And she was…getting taller? (She could only dream). With a brow raised, Stella spread her legs and stared at the rock…and the rock was staring back at her…with all ten yellow eyes. A pair of mandible rose from the sand in front, the pincers on either side, and, oh yeah, who could forget the oh-so subtle stinger from behind.

You guess it – she was sitting on a Death Stalker.

"Hey, I'm gonna have to call you back," said Stella mechanically.

Stella hit the end call button. The Death Stalker stabbed its tail at the girl. Stella leaned forward and jumped off the Death Stalker's head just before the striker could hit, but the stinger did manage to catch the edge of her tattered cloak, ripping the very thin fabric from her body. But the would-be archaeologist did not notice or care as she flipped in midair and landed across the chamber, sliding several feet through the sand in a bended position with one hand to the ground to stop her motion. Stella snapped her head up and glared at the Death Stalker as she stood, illuminated by the light of the windows.

She wore a midnight-blue bomber jacket with a large white star stamped on the back and a matching emblem on her lighter-blue shirt. Her hands were covered by a pair of midnight-blue fingerless gloves with the same embalms stamped on the back and a black choker on her with a blue crystal dangling from the metal ring. Her dark-blue shorts were held up by a pair of intersecting leather belts, and underneath were light-and-dark blue striped leggings that reach down to her midnight-blue boots. And as Stella raised the sleeves of her jackets, she showed off a pair of metallic bracelets on each wrist that had a row of lights around the edges.

The Death Stalker hissed at Stella, snapping its claws threateningly. The scorpion-like Grimm, Stella noticed, did not take up as much room of the chamber are it should have – counting the raised stinger, the Death Stalker was at least a head taller than her.

"Okay, so it's not full grown," said Stella, taking a step back. "I can totally handle this…I think."

The Death Stalker screeched in a raspy sort of way before leaning its head forward and scuttling across the sand on its spindly eight legs, which Stella found to be very creepy. The dark-haired archaeologist threw out her arm and the light on her left bracelet turned black as an invisible pulse rippled from the jewelry. The duffle bag that she had dropped by the entrance earlier rattled and ripped open; a black blur shot across the chamber to Stella's waiting hand. The Death Stalker was right on top of the young archaeologist with its pincers ready to snap when Stella caught the flying object, spun it around to the Grimm's face, and pulled the trigger. The Death Stalker screeched as the force of the shot the Grimm backwards into the far side wall; dust shook free from the ceiling.

Stella raised her weapon to the sand dwelling Grimm as it shook its wide head. Her choice of weapons was an odd style compared to most other hunters. An arm cannon made from a dark metal that stretched two-thirds the length of her body and weigh twice as much; there was definitely a lot of upper body strength involved in carrying it. Six narrow chambers ran down the length on the revolving cylinder, storing within them six different types of Dust. And, of course, Stella went ahead and branded her emblem on the cannon head. Just because it was meant to kill monsters didn't mean it couldn't look cool.

The Death Stalker tilted its wide head skyward and let out an enraged screeched before scuttling across the chamber. Stella shot a bullet of fire Dust at the Grimm coming towards her, the cylinder of her cannon revolved so that the white chamber was facing up, and Stella pulled the trigger again for a bullet of ice Dust. The Death Stalker did not flinch as the flames licked over its body or when the ball of ice cracked against its face; the scorpion Grimm just kept moving forward. Regardless, Stella shot bullet after bullet of each different type of Dust her cannon stored. Earth had the same effects as the ice, and all the wind Dust did was give the Grimm a gentle breeze.

The Death Stalker reared its tail and jabbed at the young archaeologist. Stella thankfully rolled out of the way as the tail stabbed into the sand, then had to jump when the Grimm's pincer came around from the side. Stella turned around, sliding across the sand backwards, and shot off the remaining two types of Dust she had left. Predictably, the water Dust did little more than cool the Death Stalker off, but the lightning Dust had a much more desirable effect. Arcs of electricity glided over the Death Stalker's body; the Grimm shrieked in pain and flailed its head, smashing through one of the support beams. A massive chuck of the ceiling broke off and smashed on top of the Death Stalker's head; the Grimm merely shook it off.

The initial paralysis wore off and the Death Stalker turned on Stella. The hissing meant it as angry, right?

"Don't like that, huh?" said Stella, grinning mischievously. "Then how about this? And this! And this!"

One – two – three shots of lightning Dust. The Death Stalker took each bullet to the face and spasmed from each jolt shot through its body; the second time it's claw shot outward and smashed through another support pillar, dropping a large chunk of ceiling near Stella's feet. But the Grimm still kept moving, scuttling toward her in that creepy fashion. Stella raised her cannon again, this time aiming for the eyes, and pulled the trigger –

Click.

Stella blinked. Nothing came out. She pulled the trigger again.

Click. Click.

Stella blinked again. She tried again.

Click. Click. Click. Click.

The young archaeologist looked down at the top chamber of the cannon, where here lightning Dust should have been stored, but the chamber was empty.

"Damn," Stella cursed.

The Death Stalker swiped its claw across while Stella was looking down, flinging her across the chamber and through two more support pillars; more of the ceiling started to crack. Somewhere in the somersaulting flight, Stella lost her grip on her weapon and the cannon landed barrel first in the sand. Stella's back hit the far wall – she could feel her bones rattling – and fell forward to the ground on her face. Though disoriented, Stella pushed herself up to her hands and knee until she felt a sharp flare of pain shoot up in her right leg. The young archaeologist flipped around so that she was sitting up and looked down at her leg; the limb was bending forward instead of back right at the kneecap. Most people would have been rolling around, screaming in bloody murder at a dislocated limb, but Stella only grimaced at the aforementioned injury with an annoyed grimace.

"Not again," groaned Stella. Gingerly, she grabbed her leg by the knee with one hand and her ankle with the other. "Okay, this is no problem. Deep breath. One…two…."

Stella forced her leg back into its original position before she could reach three; the young archaeologist let out a brief yelp, but it quickly subsided. She then dropped on her back and kicked her legs forward in the air, throwing herself back up to her feet. Her leg, despite having only been dislocated seconds ago, showed no sign of injury or pain, as if nothing had happened.

"That wasn't so bad," said Stella.

The Death Stalker reared again with its angry hiss and scuttled across the chamber, snapping its claws threateningly. Stella looked around for her weapon and found the cannon halfway across the room, way too far for her to grab before the Death Stalker would be on top of her. But that wasn't a problem for her. The young archaeologist threw out both her arms and the lights of each metal bracelet flashed a different color; the left white and the right red. The six chambers of her cannon extended outwards from the main cylinder and six black handles with triggers on the hilts became exposed. They were Dust Swords.

The white sword was drawn out first, followed by the red sword, and both flew across the chamber, past the startled Death Stalker and into Stella's awaiting hands. Stella did a little pirouette when the blades reached her hand, following in their momentum, and sliced the white Dust Sword to meet the Death Stalker's stinger in the air. When they clashed, there was a flash of white light and the Death Stalker's tail was suddenly cocooned in a ball of ice. While the Death Stalker jumped back in shock, Stella pulled back the trigger of her red Dust Sword and sliced across the Grimm's face. A whip of flame lashed against the Death Stalkers, leaving a redish-orange trail across its mask. The Grimm scuttled backwards and rubbed its claws tenderly across the mark, giving Stella ample opportunity for a strategic withdraw.

Stella made a mad dash for one of the few remaining pillars and slid behind it, resting her back against the stone. She looked down at her Dust Swords. While the blade made from red Dust was the same length of an average sword, her white Dust blade had only about a foot of material left to it. Aside from using it as ammunition for her cannon, Stella had been using the white and blue Dust to keep herself cool in the desert heat.

"Okay, so this isn't looking good for me," muttered Stella, peeking around the pillar. The Death Stalker was scuttling in circles looking for her. "Thing's tougher than I though. I can beat it if I have to fight in up close. Gonna need another way."

As she said that, a tiny chunk of rock fell to the ground in front of her. Blinking, Stella looked toward the ceiling. She had noticed it as much because she was fighting off the Death Stalker, but a spider web of cracks were ripping through the stone, originating from the points that were once supported by the columns. An idea started to form in Stella's head as she poked her head around. Combined with the Death Stalker, they had destroyed half of the support pillars and the roof was just about ready to give. Just needed a couple more….

She stepped up and backed away from the pillar, her finger on the trigger of the white Dust Sword. She sliced the tiny blade through the pillar and the stone was quickly flash frozen in a thick layer of ice; the effort had, unfortunately, diminished the last of her Ice Dust. The Death Stalker noticed and lowered its head charge with its stinger raised. Stella held the trigger of her Fire Sword and whipped it against the frozen column, shattering the structure like glass. The effect was instant – the chamber began to rattle as the largest piece of rubble yet fell from the ceiling and dropped in the path of the Death Stalker, startling it back while Stella made a run for the next pillar.

She pocketed the now empty sword hilt and held out her left arm; the light of her metal bracelet flashed brown. The Earth Dust Sword flew from her cannon into her hand as she jumped toward the next pillar and slashed across it. The column broke so easily – more chunks of rock started to fall from the ceiling. Stella looked up at the mess of a roof. One more ought to do it, she thought.

Stella faced the last column only several feet away, readying her Earth Sword. But before she could make her move toward it, the Death Stalker suddenly jumped over a large pile of rubble and landed in front of the young archeologist, cutting her off. The Death Stalker snapped its claws and jabbed its tail; Stella assumed it was irritated that it had taken this long to catch one tiny (she's not tiny!) human. Hissing furiously, the Death Stalker lashed its stinger at Stella. The aspiring archeologist, however, was quicker. She narrowed her two eyes with the Grimm's ten, taking a single step towards the beast and clashing her edges of her Dust Swords together. From their collision, a ball of molten rock suddenly took shape, hurtling across the air, and splashing all over the Grimm's face.

The Death Stalker screeched as the magma burned against its natural armor, melting the top layer of the bone mask, its ten eyes bursting like pimples. Stella pressed herself against the wall when the Death Stalker's stinger flailed around; it was the one time she was grateful for having a small chest. The Grimm's tail smashed into the pillar behind it and almost immediately, exactly as Stella planned (or it was just really dumb luck).

With that last pillar now gone, the ceiling no longer had the means to support itself and began to cave in under its own weight. Chunks of rocks the size of cars broke away, crashing into the ground and throwing waves of sand in every direction. Stella managed to tuck herself away safely in a corner of the chamber and huddled down with her arms over her head. But the Death Stalker, with its wide body and limited mobility, was shorty trapped underneath the avalanche. Stella could hear the snapping of its bones beneath the rocks and its high-pitched wailing until a particularly loud crack echoed in the chamber and then it went silent.

It was only a couple minutes before the rumbling subsided and Stella felt safe enough to lift her head. The chamber was completely destroyed; a mountain of stone and dirt reached from the floor to the ceiling, burying most of the sand. Stella only saw the Death Stalker's stinger hanging limply; the rest of it was buried underneath a pile of boulders.

Stella sighed, taking a seat on one of the rocks (she doubled checked that it wasn't a Grimm this time), and buried her face in her hands. This trip had been a complete disaster. No artifacts, no evidence, nothing worth taking back with her, she had used up all her ice and lightning Dust, and she had destroyed what could have been a centuries old archeological discovery…again! She honestly didn't know how this day could get any worse.

"This will be the day we've waited for! This will be the day we open up the door!"

Stella didn't even check the caller ID, pressing the answer button and putting the scroll to her ear.

"Yeah?" said Stella tiredly.

"So, purple coat, or indigo?" asked Nebula.

"…indigo," said Stella, falling back.

STRATOS

Remnant Bio-Card

Name: Stella Stratos
- Note: Stratos derives from the dark-blue color (#000741)
Age: 17
Kingdom of Origin: Vacuo
Occupation: Shade Academy Student
Team: Team SHDO
Partner: Honey Malaya
Relatives: (Unnamed Father)
Semblance: Regeneration
- The ability to repair damaged or destroyed tissue at a hyper accelerated rate and full immunization to all known diseases.
- Possesses capacity to restore missing limb, but requires lengthy periods of time due to bone materialization. (Note: milk is found to accelerate bone regrowth)
- Due to the nature of semblance, subject possesses no protective aura shielding.
- Important Notice: Subject is not immortal. Damage to the brain can cause temporary or permanent loss of semblance.
Weapon: Void Gear
- Revolving arm cannon with six Dust chambers
- Possesses six hidden swords forged from Dust. Commonly used types of Dust are: Fire, Water, Earth, Lightning, Air, and Ice
- Cannon chips off Dust Swords for ammunition. Must reforge swords regularly.
- Subject wears magnetized bracelets to attract weapons.
Characteristics:
- Aspiring archaeologist
- Prone to violence at mention of short stature and small chest size.
- Prejudice against people from Atlas.