A/N: Welcome to my RWBY fanfiction, The Burdened. This fanifc will predominantly follow two teams of Original Characters (OCs) but will take place in the same setting as much of the RWBY story. So expect at least minor interactions between canon characters and my OCs somewhere along the line. That being said the plot line I've been developing for these characters will not alter the main plot of RWBY in any fashion. Due to the long term plot being a work in progress and the fact that the RWBY universe as a whole is relatively unrevealed and seemingly undeveloped, it is safe to assume that eventually this fanfic can be considered Alternate Universe should information be revealed that conflicts with anything written within here. Additionally I'll be attempting to keep this story going about a season behind. As in I will be writing Volume 1 while Volume 2 of RWBY is premiering and after, Volume 2 during Volume 3 of RWBY (or at least after Volume 2 of RWBY). This is so that whatever plot line the series takes doesn't throw off my plans for this fanfic. And finally: Mandatory Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY. I merely created some characters and a story to fit in the amazing universe of it.

Enjoy

Volume 1, Chapter 1: Welcome to Vale

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step"
~Lao Tzu

Vale certainly had its charm as a city. Rot Blitz had been to all the major cities in the kingdoms, but there was simply something with the atmosphere of Vale that made him feel slightly happier than usual. Although that wasn't saying much. Rot rolled his eyes to break himself from following that line of thought again. For the umpteenth time this day. He felt his red eyes drift towards a nearby window, wherein he saw his reflection. The dark red armor he wore barely reflected its color. The black stripes running along his arms and crossing in his back barely distinguished themselves from the rest of the armor. His hair was only a slightly lighter red than his armor. He continued walking along the street in an attempt to distance himself from his thoughts and reflections. A few of the local citizenry cast wary glances at Rot as he walked through. Perhaps it was the scar that ran across his left eye that caused them to take note, or perhaps it was Judgment, his revolver based gunblade whose sheath was nearly clanking against his light leg armor with each measured step he took. More likely than not it was Apocalypse; the gauntlet type weapon that covered his left forearm and parts of his hand and elbow. Rot shrugged the looks off.

Despite those who seemed to be expecting him to harm them at any moment, things still felt relaxing. This could be related to the fact that before he had arrived here he had been journeying through Grimm infested jungles. Leaving a hostile environment and arriving at a safe kingdom with walls created quite a contrast. Chalking it up to the lack of visible enemies; Rot continued along his seemingly random path. He was eighteen years old, just a few months shy of nineteen. Most his age were already attending a school for hunters and huntresses, some at a place called Beacon, others in different parts of the world. He would have been a second year had he started on time. Which would have required him to have attended a normal training system until he was seventeen. He hadn't been able to enjoy that luxury. His early years had been taken from him and, by the time he had reclaimed his life and freedom, all he could do was teach himself how to excel through experience. The ones who took his freedom taught him the concepts of fighting but were not able to truly impart upon him the knowledge that three years of wandering the world and facing a variety of enemies had given him. He had made several friends during his journeys and many enemies. It had also provided him a 'reputation' of sorts. Many did not know his name, but those who did understood he was a foe to not be underestimated. But it was not his foes that he was here to visit, rather a friend.

Inhaling the pleasant night's air, Rot watched a man in a white suit and bowler cap walk down a nearby street, flanked on either side by men in black suits. He turned his attention back to his destination and continued walking. It was only a short journey until he reached the docks. His friend had always been more attached to his ship than anything else. It was his life as he both lived in it and performed questionable actions from it. Even from where he was standing, Rot could see the relatively impressive "fishing" boat with the word Haven painted proudly on the bow. The young man's attention was drawn by the sound of raised voices coming from just outside of the Haven's boarding ramp.

Just outside of the boarding ramp for the Haven several figures stood in a semi-circular fashion around another one. The center figure wore a light brown trenchcoat over some slightly visible body armor; the rest of which was covered by dark cargo pants. His gloved hands were held in a placating gesture while his deeply tanned face held an innocent look. Rot rolled his eyes and began walking towards Bruno Kapila. The men standing around him wielded a variety of guns and blades that matched their black suits with red ties, much like the ones who had been around the man in the white suit. Bruno's voice carried over the distance.

"Now if we all calm down, I'm sure we can reach an agreement that's beneficial to everyone here."

"Not a chance Kapila." One of the thugs ground out, "We gave you an extension, the boss wants a refund for his cargo. Now."

Bruno rolled his brown eyes. "Look fellas, I'd love to help you out and pay Junior back, but to do that I need a certain someone else I know to pay me back first. So why don't we just all relax for a moment."

"No." The lead thug replied. "You pay us now, or we take you to the boss. Your choice."

By the point the leader had said that, Rot had finally reached the outermost point of the group of thugs. Taking a moment to clear his throat, he spoke over the crowd. "My dear friend Bruno, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

"Oh you know the usual." Bruno began with an obvious relief written on his face, "Smuggling deal went south, client sent his goons to intimidate me, you know. Fun times."

"Stay out of this kid." The leader growled menacingly, "This is between us and Kapila."

As he began to gesture towards Bruno, the smuggler made his move. He withdrew a mace-like weapon from within his coat and swung it into the leader's chest. The suited goon flew into one of his own. The other thugs responded near instantly. Two of them moved for Bruno together, swinging their blades at him in tandem. The smuggler deflected one sword blow with his mace while he kicked the other goon in a sensitive spot. Spinning his weapon, he blasted the undamaged goon with the shotgun embedded within the mace. Rot began his attack in the seconds this occurred during. Grasping one thug by the throat, he hurled him off the peer. Three thugs turned towards him, one armed with a gun, the others with blades. The first swung a vicious blade at him that bounced off of the armored plate of Apocalypse. While the blade bounced back and the thugs arms were no longer protecting his center of mass, Rot pressed the advantage. His first pair of blows hit the henchman's solar plexus, shortening his breath. The next two hit his throat which was followed by an uppercut that knocked the thug into his gun wielding buddy. Rounds flew overhead as the thug lost his aim. Rot waited for the miliseconds it took the third thug to attack. As the thug's blade flew towards Rot, his hands grasped the man's arms. Wrenching the blow aside, he shoved into the thug. As his opponent lost his balance, Rot swung his leg under the man. A kick to the head ensured unconsciousness.

Rot glanced up at the gun wielder. Tearing Judgment from its sheathe, he severed the goon's gun in half with the broadsword blade. Smirking at the thug he leveled the barrel of the revolver segment of Judgment at him. "Is this seriously the best you guys can do? I'm almost insulted."

As two more thugs charged Rot with their own blades, Bruno found himself dodging gunshots. Grabbing a dazed thug and throwing him into a pair of his buddies, Bruno turned towards his current sword wielding opponent. The man swung a flurry of vicious, disorderly blows. Bruno easily deflected those before swinging his mace at the henchman. As the suited thug leapt back, Bruno pulled the trigger, blasting him away. A fist slammed into Bruno's face, causing him to fall to the peer's deck. He noticed one of his nearby bottles lying next to his ramp way. Grasping it, he sprang back to his feet and slammed the bottle into the thugs face. The wounded thug was dispatched with a swing of Trouble. He gazed at the last five thugs before turning towards Rot. "Rot my comrade, would you like to do this with a bit of flashiness?"

"With pleasure," Rot smirked as he activated Apocalypse's main function. The gauntlet was embedded deep into Rot's nervous system, which allowed him to control it with his mind. Its primary function was to channel Rot's semblance into an attack. As best Rot could understand his ability, it enhanced the dust fed into him through Apocalypse with his own blood and then fired it from his left palm. He was also acutely aware that the 'surgeries' that had given him Apocalypse had damaged his bone marrow, decreasing the rate at which it produced blood. If he was too reckless with using his self-named blood power, he could pass out from blood loss. Fortunately five throw away thugs required minimum power. The palm of his hand gave off a crimson glow before red lightning sprung from his hand, slamming into the henchmen. They were sent flying across the dock with some slamming into a nearby boathouse. As they slid to the ground Bruno gave a laugh.

"And that's Rot Blitz for you fine gentlemen. Don't you forget it." Bruno gave a hearty grin.

One of the henchmen started moving only to be brought to a halt by Rot's armored boot. Lowering his left arm, he allowed the blade to slide out from the underside of Apocalypse and rest in the air just short of the thug's throat, "Any questions for him?"

Bruno shook his head. "No. I already know who hired them to get me. Let them get up." He raised his voice as the incapacitated thugs began to recover. "And tell your boss to stay the hell away from me if he wants his money. Now Rot, let's get onboard Haven."

Rot followed Bruno up the boarding ramp. Once onboard the two pulled the ramp away from the dock. "Let's hope they don't just cut the tethers while we're out here and strand us."

Bruno shrugged and retorted with some half-hearted sarcasm. "Then we can panic about how scared we are to be drifting at sea in a heavily armored, armed, and supplied ship. Waiting for a pirate or Grimm attack. Man, you remember that pirate attack that one time I was transporting you to… wherever it was?"

"Yeah I recall that." Rot smirked as he began loading new rounds into the chambers of Judgment's cylinder. "They thought they had us because of numbers. 'Lay down your weapons and we'll kill you quickly'. And then we tore through them with such ease."

"Us and that one girl. Cute one, what was her name again?" Bruno questioned.

"What, you mean Lilith?" Rot bit the name out.

"Don't say you didn't have a thing for her." Bruno retorted as he snapped Trouble in half and loaded shotgun shells into it.

Rot made a soft growl in his throat as he glanced at the dust levels in Apocalypse, "Let's just say we had a difference of opinions in terms of what partnership meant."

"She cheat you out of something?" Bruno raised a brow, "I thought she was innocent."

A curt laugh escaped Rot. "As innocent as you are in terms of smuggling."

Bruno raised his hands. "Hey, I'm merely a provider of unique goods and transporter for special clients. An honest business man and law abiding citizen, I swear."

"Honest eh? Hence the reason someone sent some thugs after you, right? Can't believe he paid for that low level quality of a fighter."

"Well they don't expect a smuggler to fight back, let alone have a warrior at his side." Bruno scratched his chin. "Speaking of which. I know you didn't travel all the way to Vale to visit an old friend. Just passing through or something?"

"Actually staying here for a few months this year. A few more the next before a short three month journey. Then back here to do it all over again." Rot gained a very slight grin that seemed to accent the scar crossing his left eye. "I've been offered acceptance into Beacon."

Bruno's brown eyes widened. "Hold on a second. I thought only seventeen years old could go from one of the lower level schools to Beacon, not some vagabond vigilante."

"I appreciate the vigilante compliment. And regardless of their formal training, I'm pretty sure I'm at least a match for the majority of students who will be attending Beacon." Rot countered. "Let's just say the headmaster was sufficiently pleased with a performance of mine that he happened to see to offer me this chance."

"That's great news then." Bruno gave a hearty grin. "I'm glad for you. When does it start?"

"Tomorrow." Rot replied. He paused for a moment before continuing on. "But I need a favor."

"Hold on a second. I know I offered you a favor for helping me protect my ship, but it can't interfere with my own… Operations."

Rot held up his hand. "It won't. All I need is a place to stay after this semester. Two weeks is a short time, not long enough for me to travel too far, but too long to pay for a place to stay with my impoverished funds."

Bruno stared at him thoughtfully. "Although you're not as impoverished as you make yourself out to be, I'll board you. Provided you help me with whatever I need help with."

"Naturally. I already know what you do."

"I suppose you do." Bruno held out his hand. "By the way kid, welcome to Vale."

Rot took it with a grin. "Thanks. I was becoming worried that its hospitality had been worn out."

"Oh no. It's all still here, so long as you know where to look." Bruno opened his fridge and began rummaging through it. "Now let me get you something so we can celebrate your arrival."

Amidst the citizenry of Vale, a figure in dark gray clothing treaded silently through the crowds. Grau Schatten was a seventeen year old huntsman in training preparing for his arrival at Beacon. Any who wondered what his purpose in Vale was would only need to glance at the twin Katana based weapons in their sheathes to wager a guess. Most people parted around him, gazing at his hooded figure warily. Hoods deterred people; caused them to be suspicious. Had they looked underneath the hood, they would have assumed they were staring at the face of a man in his late forties. The disorder that Grau had suffered since birth caused him to look far older than he truly was. The dark grey color that his hair had become spoke testament to this. An alleyway caught Grau's attention which he quickly accepted as an alternate to the crowded street. It was not that he had a problem with people; rather that his semblance made it difficult to deal with many of them. Every motion made a vibration, whether it traveled through the air or the ground. Grau's 'ability' allowed him to sense all of these vibrations. The crowded street had nearly given him a migraine. But he didn't reduce his semblance's influence as he desired to maintain easy situational awareness.

Exhaling slightly, he continued walking down the street. A sudden vibration wove its way to him, informing him that not too far from his position there had been an explosion. The sound reached his ears very shortly afterwards. As he gazed towards the brilliant light flare from the explosion, a subtler vibration caught his attention. He turned his hooded head towards the source carefully so as to not arise suspicion. A young woman slightly taller than him was the cause of the vibrations he had sensed. Dark blue armor with black stripes covered most of her body, reflecting an inverse of her predominantly black hair with blue stripes. A large longsword was slung on her back. Grau could see the twin barrels in the center of the blades, but little else. Her vibrant blue eyes continued to stare at the fading explosion before snapping back towards him. The distant vibrations of a battle began to reach him. "So do you think we should check it out?" The stranger asked.

Grau arched a brow, "I'm pretty sure I've never met you before. So you'll forgive me if I don't quite feel the urge to charge towards an explosion with you."

"Of course." She flashed a grin, "It'd do no good for me not to introduce myself. Nila Feur, huntress in training. And I can tell you're much the same from your twin katana on your hip and the hood you're wearing to try and look cool."

"Grau Schatten." Grau offered his hand. As Nila shook it he tagged on a second comment, "And the hood's not to make me look cool."

"Whatever you say," Nila looked back towards where the explosion had occurred. There were now flashes of battle evident even at this distance. "I still want to know if you think we should check it out."

Grau paused for a moment to feel the vibrations, then shook his head, "No, the battle is ending even now. I can feel the vibrations in the air."

"Oh. Cool Semblance." Nila nodded then hesitated with a slightly comedic expression. "That is your semblance right?"

"Yes." Grau sighed in minute exasperation.

"So you'll be going to Beacon I'm guessing. Seeing as you never denied being a huntsman in training."

"Once again, yes."

"Well I hope to see you there. I need to get back to my dad before he worries. Catch you later." With a second quick grin, Nila was off. Grau remained where he was and felt the vibrations fade away. Then he looked back to where the battle had occurred. An airship had been involved with it, causing him to briefly wonder what kind of battle had just occurred. Shrugging off the paranoid like suspicions of what was occurring; he continued walking to the hotel that he'd be sojourning in for the night.

Ebony Veil stood still, taking in the warm night air. She stood on a landing platform of a mountain top research facility, feeling the cool breeze run along her plain black clothes. The only way any would have identified her as an aspiring huntress would have been the twin Chakram on her hips and the metal covering on her hands. As she remained still, she could feel her father's presence just behind her. Glancing back she looked at the aged frame of a man who looked like he's born the weight of the world. Black and gray hair was slicked back. She had been told that back during his prime it was the same deep black that hers was. His suit conflicted with her incredibly simple clothes. Although she was near six feet tall, he had surpassed that height long ago and rested at six three. His gray eyes met her brown ones. "Are you sure you are prepared for this?"

She nodded. "It's what I've spent all this time training for. You helped me develop most of those regiments yourself."

"I pushed you so far in order to ensure you could protect yourself. If you're not sure you want to go through with this, I can understand." Itzal Veil responded softly.

"I know. But what use is the training you've given me if I don't use it to protect others. Or at least get out of this facility." Ebony returned as she gazed out over the forest.

Itzal smiled softly, "You remind me so much of your mother. Always trying to save people."

"Well it is the family business isn't it? You just like to do it with medicine and healing." Ebony countered. Although others might have said it playfully, it was said in the most serious of senses here.

"I suppose it is. Just be careful, after your mother and sister. I couldn't bear to lose you as well." Itzal placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I will father. You've done a lot to prepare me." Ebony gave a slight smile and walked off towards the waiting airship that would take her to Beacon. Itzal had always preferred to do his research in isolated areas of the world, despite its great risks. It provided a certain ability to remain anonymous and isolated. As such he had several personal airships. While the sleek ship took off, Itzal drifted alone into his thoughts.

"Goodbye Ebony." He muttered silently. As thoughts continued to course through his mind, his smile faded somewhat. "At least there's one person left who doesn't think I'm a villain."

A man came up behind him, "Should we be concerned? If she encounters him, everything is in jeopardy."

"She most likely won't. Even if she does, I think you overestimate how much of a risk he poses. Outside influence would be necessary to create a problem. Though there are plans set up for such an eventuality." Itzal muttered, he then turned and gazed at the emblem gracing the assistant's coat and the wall nearby. A rod, with a serpent entwined upon it, embedded into a wheel was the emblem. "Now, let us go."