A/N: Hello. This is my first RWBY story. BTW, Akame-No-Senshi got me very interested in the series and I feel she should get a mention for this. Anyway, my OC in this story will be voiced by Josh Keaton. If this happens to be non-story content, please let me know so I can fix it. If you don't have any problems, enjoy. :)

Prologue: End of the Beginning

At the hill outside Vale, a huntsman with a red and white mask that covered only above his left blue eye while covering completely around the red eye among black skin, a dark grey cloak held up by three buckles on the chest, black pants, and a black claw with sharp silver fingernails oversaw the Beacon Tower, recently being occupied by Cinder and a Grimm Dragon. He glared at the scene taking place between her and the dragon as it roared at her before she shushed it softly.

"You belong here now."

The dragon cooed at her words, clearly angering the figure as he scowled at Cinder. For he knew what the dragon was really thinking. Contrary to everyone's beliefs, the Grimm actually weren't all that heartless. The duration of their existence was based on instinct. Nothing more. He of all huntsmen should know. He is one of them.


His name was Raider Serose. From a young age, he was born with a semblance that can mimic the abilities of anyone he comes into eye contact with, thanks in part to his mother, Cynthia. With her and his father, Samuel, they were a wholesome family. When the White Fang attacked on his 15th birthday, however, his parents didn't survive, leaving him alone in this world. He resented them with great vengeance since then. As he wandered alone, he came across several Grimm creatures over the years. Yet, for whatever reason, not one of them attacked him. He knew very well why they wouldn't. His mother always told him that his father was a special case. He previously worked for Salem before he met his mother. She helped him to reform and got married to her. Before then, he was high Commander of the Grimm and attended to their needs. As he grew older, his Grimm side of his genes began to show physically and internally. One of his perfect blue eyes was forever shifted to red before his right arm and leg turned black and he ended up growing a long black tail behind him. Eventually, half of his entire body became Grimm-based while the other half remained uncorrupted. He was aghast at his appearance at first, but as he wandered for 10 years, he'd grown accustomed to it. Despite this, Raider remembered that he always wanted to be a huntsman since he was a kid. He didn't get to graduate from Beacon Academy because of the White Fang, or at least he felt that way. He was planning on going back to graduate. And then this happened...


As he glared at Cinder, he then noticed an elevator door shaking before a sword came at her and missed. It then swirled back to its holder as she held a sword and shield. Raider grew surprised to see this and wanted to know who exactly she was. Thanks to his travels, he now possessed an ability to glimpse their lives with but a stare. As he eyed her, he caught glimpses of her past up to now, ranging from her birth, to her childhood, to her training at the academy, to the tournament where she inadvertently dismantled Penny in horror, and to this very moment. From the information he gained, he'd known it was clear who she was.

"She's a huntress... named Pyrrha Nikos."

Once his vision was over, he noticed the Grimm dragon flying away before he telepathically communicated to it.

"Hey, you mind giving me a ride to that tower?!"

The Grimm Dragon noticed Raider before it swerved by him, allowing the huntsman to jump onto its back and ride it as it smashed into the tower, at which point Raider would jump off and land in the tower. However, during the crash, the debris tore away at his right sleeve, revealing his Grimm arm and claw.

"Oh, perfect."

Then, he'd turned to Cinder to see her get whacked by her shield and trapped by the cogs left over from the wreckage, only for Cinder to counter and break Pyrrha's aura in the process as her body had red cracks before they disappeared. As he watched this go on, Raider was in a bind.

"I have to go help! But... how am I gonna do that without her seeing me like this?"

To make matters worse, Pyrrha hurtled her shield at Cinder's aura which turned to ash around it before reconstructing itself and piercing her leg, earning her pained shout as she tried to stand up, but couldn't as she rolled around while breaking the arrow's base in the process until she was bowing down. Raider couldn't take it anymore as Cinder walked around her before holding Pyrrha's face towards her.

"It's unfortunate you were promised a power that wasn't truly yours. But take comfort in knowing that I will use it in ways you can never imagine."

That confirmed what Raider saw when he witnessed a flashback of Amber's death at the hands of Cinder.

"So it's true. Pyrrha was meant to be the Fall Maiden. And then that witch showed up."

Then, Pyrrha glared at Cinder before she spoke.

"Do you believe in destiny?"

Cinder glared back at her before she answered sternly.

"Yes."

As she prepared her arrow and bow out of ash, Raider grew tense.

"I guess I don't have a choice."

The instinct came to him just in time before Cinder launched it at point blank range, only for him to catch it with a copy of Pyrrha's semblance, surprising both parties before the arrow flew into his Grimm hand. Raider calmly walked into the light, his hood over his head before he spoke.

"Hello, Cinder."

Pyrrha was surprised to see him as she grew frightened back a bit before Cinder smiled.

"Well, well, well. Raider. Look who's back from the dead. I'm afraid you've come at a wrong time."

"Actually, I came just in time."

Pyrrha grew worried on where the situation would lead before Raider noticed a girl in a black dress with a red hood, dark colored hair, and silver eyes and immediately knew who she was due to his gazing semblance.

"Ruby."

Ruby staggered back in awe before she asked.

"Uh, yeah?"

"Get Pyrrha out of here and back to Jaune. Cinder is mine."

Raider then splintered Cinder's arrow before he tossed it off of the building. Ruby nodded to him before she got to Pyrrha while Cinder was occupied with Raider. When they got down, a silver-haired girl with blue eyes noticed them as Ruby got to her.

"Weiss, I got her! Let's get out of here!"

"Okay!"

As they left, Pyrrha looked to the stranger and grew intrigued as she slowly lost consciousness.

"Who... are you?"


At the tower, as Raider turned to her, Cinder glared at him with such venom she could be at the verge of breaking her teeth.

"Do you know why I'm here, Raider?"

"Hard not to. I can tell just by looking at you. You were trying to take all the power of the four maidens for yourself."

Cinder was unimpressed with his detective skills.

"Well, of course I was. You didn't need the gazing semblance for that."

"You should know why I'm here, Cinder. Remember that promise I made you? If you ever showed your face in any huntsman academy, you'll be six feet under."

Cinder only laughed at his threat.

"And what if you did? Even with all the power, you never tried to kill me before because you wanted to be a huntsman. What makes you think you can do it now?"

Raider clenched his Grimm hand before he answered.

"You're right. I did want to be a huntsman. But if you killing more people is where it leads... I'm done with it."

Then, Cinder grew angry before she drew her arrow and fired it, only for Raider to grab it before it struck his head and then chucked it to her left eye swiftly before it pierced it, earning her scream of agony before he got out his sword and mobilized against her, only for Cinder's remaining eye to ignite in flames as she sent out a barrier of fire around her and knocked Raider back. However, as a result, the arrow that impaled her began to get caught in the flames and burn her face, thus cutting the barrier short before she was forced to extract it out of her eye and toss it aside. Then, with her wound coincidentally cauterized, Cinder panted heavily as she held her hand over her damaged face and growled at Raider before he spoke.

"That look suits you, Cinder. Now your outside is exactly the same as you were inside: a monster."

"SHUT UP!"

In her burst of anger, Cinder fired a blast of fire at him, forcing him to summon his sword again, blocking the flames that licked at his Grimm side. However, in doing so, Raider's Grimm side began to burn away, earning his own scream as well before he slammed his sword to the ground, causing a crack to creep near Cinder, to which she dodged before an upright burst of air from where she was previously standing exploded from the crack. With the fire having burned his Grimm arm, Raider panted heavily. Cinder knew she'd hit her mark as she walked toward him and laughed as she walked to him.

"How sad. Even with all that power, your Grimm side has robbed you completely of any aura you once had. You really think you've made a difference? The Fall Maiden is still vulnerable, and sooner or later, I will have her power. After that, you'll end up going to the worst place you can't even begin to think of."

As he looked at Cinder, he remembered how dear she used to be to him, only to remember how she turned her back on him and slaughter innocent people. Not only did the Huntsmen pay the price at her hands, but countless civilians as well. Even... children. Remembering how she destroyed the very lives she swore to protect, Raider only flared his red and blue eyes before they turned silver.

"You... you never deserved it... you turned your back on me... on doing what's right...! So many people have DIED because of you! After what you've done... I... am not going anywhere... But you... YOU'RE GOING TO BURN!"

Then, as he shouted with tears in his eyes over her past betrayal, his back grew angel wings and a bright light overtook the area and petrified the Grimm Dragon, causing it to shriek as his shout echoed.

"What?!"

Then, he moved in toward the blinded Cinder before he slashed her arm off with his claw, earning her angry yell of pain before Raider used the momentum of the slice to turn around and break her larynx with his backfist strike to the neck. When the light had diminished, only the wounded Cinder remained. She staggered back up to her feet only to lose her footing and slip before Cinder looked to the horizon and attempted to call out his name, only to have no success as her voice had gone silent. Not long after realizing this, Cinder began to shed tears, left in a moment of weakness as she began to tense her hand and flared her good eye in an orange flame.


Back at Vale, Ruby and Weiss made it to Jaune Arc and the others with Pyrrha in her arms.

"Jaune! We got her!"

The stressed and worried Jaune ran over to them in a flash.

"Pyrrha!"

As he took Pyrrha into his arms, he inadvertently jolted her awake.

"J-Jaune...?"

"Don't ever do that to me again! Do you have any idea how scared I was for you?!"

Pyrrha only looked to the distance as she remembered what happened. She was going to die and accepted it. But then, the arrow went into a Grimm hand and the figure that owned the arm walked into the light as Cinder said his name.

"Raider."

Jaune was confused by what she was saying.

"What?"

"Raider. He.. saved me..."

Jaune turned to Ruby before she nodded to confirm what she said. Jaune and Pyrrha looked out toward the distance as he spoke.

"Remind me to thank him if we find him, whoever he is."


Far away, Raider was having his own wounds as well. Apparently, the blinding light was enough to damage the Grimm side of him, ironically, Cinder's fire of the Fall Maiden even more so, as smoke emanated from his dark half before it showed some of it dissolving.

"Huh. So, apparently, silver light is bad for my Grimm side. Go figure. Either that, or Cinder took advantage of that. Just to be safe, maybe I'll put that one on the Last Resort list."

He then limped away with a groan into the distance on a trail, not certain where it'll take him next. All the same, he felt more ashamed of the fact that he didn't deliver on his word. How he's going to compensate for this, he had no clue. One thing he did know was that this pattern will continue on till he fulfills it or the end of time. Whichever comes first, whatever it takes...