A/N: Okay so I've been inactive for a variety of reasons mainly the lack of interwebs. So this is something I worked on probably since the middle of last year when I was kind of at the height of the Rwby spectrum. I loved the show and the characters so I worked on an AU of sorts. This is the result of a lot of tinkering with ideas and thoughts with the help of my brother Karu. Hope you guys enjoy, this story at the time of writing this already has five chapters ready but I will be posting about one every Wednesday or so. Hope you guys enjoy Reclaiming the Fallen.
Chp 1 – A Knight and his Queen
The night was suffocating as a group of people ran through the burnt remains of a forest. Behind them strange creatures chased them. Among their ranks were wolves, boars, bears and even large snakes. The creatures sped up and continued to chase the group at least until one of the four members turned and stood still. He yelled to his team to continue running as he focused all the energy at his disposal and created a barrier which the beasts could not breach.
The other three continued running until one member tripped causing the other two to help that person up. The three nodded as they sped up as much as they could. The male member grit his teeth as the barrier finally shattered sending him backwards into the ground. He jumped up and reached behind his back drawing two blades which he connected together to form a dual ended halberd.
The shattered moon glowed beautifully as the man sliced through each of the beasts attacking him. His blade dancing in circles as he spun and twirled allowing the momentum to keep him moving and lowering the strain on his own body. With a shout, he launched the rest of the beasts back which gave him time to catch his breath. The massive snakes hissed as they charged forward, their fangs bared. With precise positioning he swung forward and sliced through the first snake easily but was knocked back by the second one.
By the time he regained his footing, the rest of the creatures had gotten back onto their feet. With renewed vigor, the beasts stalked the man before a flash of light caught the attention of the beasts which were then pelted by bolts of silver. A group of cloaked people had appeared and surrounded the horde before unleashing a series of attacks that annihilated it before it even tried to attack once again. The leader of the group stepped forward and held a hand out that the man took and pulled himself up. "It's rare to see a hunter. Even rarer to see a group." The man with the halberd nodded as he knelt down and took a deep breath.
"After Beacon fell, the remaining hunters scattered and started their own makeshift schools. The only exception being Ozpin. The coward gave up and started a regular school. Something about refusing to burden the next generation with our mistakes" He winced as the pain from the multiple cuts was starting to affect him. "Hng. Next time remind me not to face down a horde of Grimm." The leader of the large group chuckled as they removed their hood revealing a female face. She looked at the man then tossed him a pack of pills which he accepted. "Thanks"
She nodded and signaled her allies to disperse. "You should get going. Those soldier pills will replenish your aura but they only last about an hour before they wear off." The man stood up and nodded but he grabbed her wrist before she left. "Yes?"
"Tell me your name stranger. Need to know who saved my ass." She chuckled and turned to face him. Her golden eyes glowed in the dark and her black hair had a strange sheen in the moon light. "The name is Blake Belladonna." She then disappeared in a flash leaving a few words in the air. "Hopefully we meet again." The man nodded as he took one of the pills and felt his aura surge. "Got my behind saved by the white fang. Guess allies are everywhere." He crouched and separated his halberd, attaching both blades to his lower back. His first step caused the ground behind him to rise as he sped off in order to catch up to his team. He increased his jumping power as he jumped up into a tree and then continued to jump from tree to tree in order to keep his pace up.
His team was resting at a cabin which was at the edge of a deserted city. One of the members leaned against the wall and opened a device which had a map on it. "Once we cross this city, we'll be in the clear and back in the confines of the barrier." The person that spoke was wearing a set of armor which was covered by a long coat. His face was covered by a scarf but his blue eyes still managed to shine through an opening in the fabric.
Sitting on the ground was a woman who wore a long coat with the hood up. The shadows making her face unreadable. She was using a couple of tools to work on something attached to her wrist while the last person simply snored as he let his blond hair sway back in forth in the wind. A loud crash caused the two that were awake to turn and stare at their newest arrival. The man was tall and bulky, his dark brown skin helped him blend into his surroundings. His landing caused his dark red dreads to shift as he straightened himself with a small groan.
The woman looked up and stood. She walked over to the sleeping blonde and stomped on his stomach causing him to groan as he pushed himself up. "Ngh… Damnit queen. Didn't need to stomp on me." The crimson haired man simply motioned to begin moving once again. "Well I see Braun is still as stoic as ever." He groaned as he stretched and followed the red head's lead.
Their trek through the city was silent, too silent. They carefully moved through until they made it to a large wall. Braun grit his teeth as he put together his dual ended halberd once more. "Get ready ladies and gents. Grimm ahead!" He spun the weapon then channeled aura into the blade a second later he growled as he swung it forward slicing the wall clean in two. He quickly followed up and sliced once more creating a hole in the wall. Once the wall was down, a horde of Grimm rushed through. "I knew it. QUEEN! You're up!"
The woman dashed forward and pulled back her fist causing the device on her wrist to activate. "Haaa!" Once her fist crashed into the large slab of concrete, the stone exploded creating enough shrapnel to shred through a majority of the beasts. "Done." The leader nodded as they all stepped through the hole and finished clearing out the remainder of the Grimm.
"This city did a good job keeping the Grimm out but they isolated themselves in doing so." The red head put away his weapon once more and tossed a few pills to each of his teammates who took them and quickly ingested them. What they saw on the other side of the wall caused the group to shake their heads. In the streets lay nothing but bones and broken Grimm masks. "This must have happened right after the breach." He muttered a silent prayer then continued walking.
Their footsteps echoed as the silence was amplified by a factor of ten while carefully avoiding any of the bones of the departed. Queen raised her hood slightly as she sniffed the air. "Blood." The other three tensed and looked around. A few seconds later, a pack of Beowolves ran out only to get slaughtered by a man wearing a long coat, white armor and a mask. He sheathed his sword and looked at the other four. "Knight." She mumbled as the rest of the group sighed in relief.
Knight chuckled as he pulled up his hood and pointed forward. "Base is a mile down that path. Was just making the finishing touches on the stray Grimm and I see you took care of the door problem." Queen chuckled as she rubbed her head. "I mean good job and all but I think there was already an opening a block to the left." The whole team seemed to chuckle nervously at least until the masked man signaled them to follow him. "How'd the scouting mission go?"
The blonde male sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Well we made it about a third of the way into the emerald forest. Once we passed the second boundary things got rough." Knight simply nodded as he continued to lead the way. The blonde on the other hand rubbed his stomach from where Queen stomped him. "Ended up on the wrong side of a Grimm nest. Braun and Queen took care of the small ones while me and Blue took on the big ones."
"How'd you guys get out?" The masked man held his arm out and silently drew his sword which he sunk into the ground. The sound of gears turning caught everyone's attention. After a few seconds, the wall next to them opened up, revealing an elevator. "Nice trick and we got out with some quick thinking from Queen." Knight nodded as they all stepped into the elevator and waited for it to go down. "She made her gauntlet overload itself for one attack. It collapsed enough of the trees to block the path and we got out. At least Queen, Blue and Me."
Braun sighed as he remembered being mauled by the horde of Grimm. "I kept the remainder from catching them." He rubbed his arms and winced from the pain at least until he began to use his aura to lessen the damage done. "Once I thought I was out, the White Fang bailed me out. One of their commanders, Blake Belladonna saved me." The blonde snickered which caused the red head to glare. "I would be quiet Sun. I wasn't the one who got stomped on the gut by Queen." The masked man laughed as they all stepped off of the elevator.
The room was dimly lit by makeshift lights and the interior looked like an old run-down apartment. Everyone seemed to relax once the steel doors slammed shut and sealed. The main noise in the room was buzzing from various electronic as well as a fly which was in the room. Knight sat down and pulled off his mask revealing stunning blue eyes and golden hair which leaned to one side. "Phew that mask is too constraining." Queen whistled at his appearance causing the man to flush as he nervously chuckled.
The one called blue removed his scarf and took a deep breath, tossing the cloth onto the table before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pair of red goggles which now rested on his blue hair. Once he did that, he moved on to removing the armor which caused him to sigh in relief as each heavy piece crashed on the floor. "Damn Braun I don't know how you walk in that thing. If I wasn't wearing this I wouldn't have tripped."
"Shut it Vasilias!" The deep voice replied causing the others to either laugh or chuckle at the blue haired man's pain. The sounds of food cooking caused the others to shoot up and run to the kitchen. The sight they saw was enough to make both Sun and Vasilias fall to the floor from laughter. The tall, bulky and threatening Braun was in the kitchen in a pink apron with white frills. He smirked as he continued cooking while the duo kept laughing. Queen on the other hand walked over and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. "So you're making mine extra-large right?" She asked in a sultry tone causing the large man to shiver. "You know it Baby Girl." The response cause the hooded woman to jump for joy before going back to the other room.
Once Sun and Vasilias got back up they stared at Braun when it finally hit them. "Wait if she gets extra-large. What do we get?" The large man simply pointed to the smallest plates on the table which caused them to run over to the man and shake him. "You can't do that!" They yelled together at least until they heard a grunting noise. When they turned, they were staring at a pair of piercing red eyes hidden behind a mask and cowl. Sun looked closer and noticed that it was just Knight. "Geez Knight. That Grimm mask scares the living hell out of us."
The blonde chuckled as he led the other two to the dining room. Once they were all settled knight pulled back his cowl and set down a binder full of papers. "Arc doesn't want any of our information to fall to anyone that can hack so we've been keeping actual paper records." The others nodded as he opened the large binder and stopped at a specific page. "Okay as far as supplies go. We're fine on food, ammunition is below what we want it at. People we always need." He continued skimming through the page until he stopped and looked up at Queen. "Queen you'll be needed to report back to headquarters. I'll be leading the expeditions for now and your replacement will be on their way in a couple of days." She nodded and then smiled as Braun stepped into the room carrying a tray of bowls full of food.
The dark skinned man chuckled as he set down the largest plate in front of the hooded fighter who simply began eating the moment the food was on the table. He then set down food for the others one by one until he reached Sun and Vasilias. "Well if you and Neptune beg then I'll have mercy." Sun cursed under his breath before lowering his head. He then reached over and slammed Neptune's head into the table before they both yelled together. "I'm sorry! Please feed us!" Braun laughed and set down a bowl in front of each before he set down the last one and sat down as they began to eat.
A few hours had passed after their meal and they saw off Queen as she sped off towards the barrier and their headquarters. In the hideout, Knight stood and made sure his armor was well fastened before he opened his scroll and picking a point on the map. "I'm going to be securing another stronghold. Place is yours to do with as you wish." He picked up a messenger bag and slung it across his chest then hit the button that opened the door. "As far as operations here go. Clean up any stray Grimm and keep pushing this area out bit by bit. I'll be outside of the boundary so I'll try to keep daily tabs." The group nodded as Knight left.
Once he was outside, Knight ran towards the direction the four man squad had come from. "If the White Fang is there then we might be able to stabilize Dorme and make it habitable again. It's not too far from Vale and will be able to sustain a barrier of its own soon enough. At least if the Schnees pull through." He continued his trek until his scroll pinged him. "Seems that there's a decent amount of Grimm nearby." He drew his sword and continued moving at least until a Nevermore began to circle him from the sky. He sighed as he sheathed his sword and drew a compact bow which expanded upon being drawn. He notched an arrow then waited as the bird's patterns became apparent to the hunter.
In one fluid motion, the arrow flew forward and pierced the wing of the raven causing it to shriek as the head of the arrow exploded. The flightless bird crashed into the ground causing Knight to charge forward and decapitate the bird with one swift motion from his sword. Once the noise died down, more Grimm erupted from the forest as if attacking a wounded animal. He grinned as he entered a one handed sword stance and moved in and out while taking down the enemy, beast by beast. Once he took care of the small fry he waited for the large species to attack but nothing came, allowing him to continue moving up without much effort. "They're getting smarter that's for sure."
An hour later, he took a deep breath and leaned against a broken tree. He looked around and noticed he reached the area where Queen nearly destroyed one of her gauntlets. "They really did a number here." He looked down at his scroll and sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Damn it. They even blocked the road I was using." He looked around then sighed and opened his scroll which began to reroute him through a side road a mile to the east of his current location. "I would scold them but they had no choice."
With time starting to whittle at his patience, the blonde sped himself up with the use of his aura which would have been wise if he was not in Grimm infested woods. Once he reached the side road he felt a strange sensation. He focused and channeled his aura into his eyes allowing him to see in the darkened corners of the forest. What he saw caused him to rethink his decision to get to the town of Amir which was connected to the ports. Hundreds of red glows caused him to proceed with caution. "Might as well let them know where I am in case I go missing." With the press of a few buttons, the rest of his allies were notified of his location.
He was about to take a step into the darkness when a woman appeared in front of him. Her black hair was stunning but not as stunning as he golden eyes. The pair of cat ears on her head showed proof of her heritage, she was a Faunus. "Don't go in there if you want to step out alive." He gave her a nervous smile as he stepped past her and readied his blade which was itching for a fight. "I'm warning you. The amount of Grimm in there is enough to devour even a team full of expert hunters." He simply nodded at her and closed his eyes as he held his hand out. "what are y-"
"Stay quiet for a little bit please." She hesitated but nodded as she noticed light flow off of his skin and into the air. The light illuminated the forest causing the creatures to snarl and growl. The sudden reactions nearly made the Faunus flinch but she stopped herself. The light soon faded and Knight opened his eyes. "They're all small fries. The large ones are guarding the nest."
"Don't tell me you're still going in?!" She stood on front of him once more but once again he moved around her with ease. "Are you tired of living in a Grimm infested world so you're getting yourself killed?" Knight turned and pointed his sword at her. "I'm retaking Vale piece by piece. What are you doing?" With those words he left and entered the forest where the sounds of battle soon erupted and reached the Faunus' ears. She growled and turned to face the other figures near her. "If this kid is who I think it is then we're helping him get through."
The other members of the white fang got excited at thinking of the potential battle they were getting into. Another shadow landed in front of the woman and looked at the forest before turning to the other soldiers. "We follow Knight's lead. Take out stragglers and we push to Amir." The group all shouted a battle cry as they all rushed into the forest behind the blonde swordsman. Upon entering, they saw nothing but the remains of Grimm until they reached a large clearing where the knight sat regaining his aura.
The group of twelve surrounded the knight and held defensive positions while he meditated. Once the number of people increased, they noticed the eyes of multiple Grimm shining through as they charged through the trees. Blake drew her sheath then gripped a second handle which put her into a dual wielding stance. "Keep Knight safe at all cost!" She screamed as she charged forward and began dispatching the monsters one by one. Around her, her allies slashed, shot, pummeled, and attacked each Grimm that got close enough. On the opposite side of Blake was a man with a white Grimm mask covering his eyes. In his hands was a katana which his was using to cut down all the Grimm that entered his area or reach. He skillfully dissected a larger enemy in three slices then proceeded to wipe out a larger group with one swipe before returning to his spot.
The other members of Blake's group were doing well at least until a death stalker charged at the least protected area which caused the raven headed Faunus to charge forward and meet the Grimm mid charge. The two crashed into each other but she was launched backwards and across the clearing. She winced as she pushed herself up and charged at the beast once more. 'I'm no good against that armor. Adam is busy too… What to do?' She avoided one of its pincers and followed up with an aura infused punch to its face causing the monster to hiss as it reeled back. She shook her hand and hit a button on the side of her second blade. The sounds of shifting metal filled the air as the sword shifted into a throwing scythe which she spun from a ribbon that was wrapped around the hilt.
The death stalker charged forward as Blake spun the ribbon and threw it launching the scythe past the tail. She smirked as she pulled back causing the gun end of the weapon to fire. In response the scythe shifted the direction it went in and wrapped around the tail. She braced herself as she ran forward and jumped up, using the beast's claw to give herself more height. Once she was in the air, the death stalker swung its tail causing her to be flung violently as she hung on for dear life.
At the peak of her flight, she dove downwards and sliced the tail causing the stinger to fall towards the head. She shifted her body and raised her leg which she empowered with aura. "Haaa!" Slamming her heel into the stinger, she grit her teeth as she felt her ankle pop once it impacted the stinger. The stinger's amplified speed allowed it to pierce through the tough armor on the death stalker. She crashed into the ground but looked up and noticed the scorpion was still moving. "Damn too shallow." When she tried to stand she grit her teeth in pain as she realized her ankle was sprained at the least and broken at the most.
The Grimm turned and fueled by anger, it charged at the injured Faunus but got nowhere as a hand shot out and stopped the creature in its tracks. She looked up and Knight stood with his hand keeping the creature away, the Death stalker struggling to get past him. He let go and reached for his sword which he drew and empowered with aura. In one swift motion he slammed the hilt of the blade onto the sunken stinger which caused the scorpion to crash into the ground, lifeless.
The feline took a deep breath before she looked at the masked blonde in front of her who threw her a cheeky grin. "That's eight lives right?" Before she could retort, the sounds of battle stopped and the rest of her team walked over. The ones who were injured nursed their injuries or attempted to keep themselves dignified enough to look like a threat. "How many Grimm were killed?" The man with the katana walked over and stood in front of Knight with a scowl. "Close to a hundred." The swordsman nodded as he looked at his scroll.
"From the looks of it you guys are keeping me alive till we make it to Amir. We can't rest in this forest." He readied himself and sheathed his blade. He then looked at everyone and reached in his bag pulling out a few packets of soldier pills. "The only reason I was meditating was because I needed to gather an overflow of aura to get through this place in half the time." He tossed a packet to everyone then popped one himself. "Gathering Aura worked but I had to burn the overflow on the death stalker." He then closed his eyes for a second before aura was visible around him. "I didn't want to use the pills but we might as well." He looked at his scroll. "Normally it would take us two days to get to Amir but with the overflow we'll be able to get there in a day maybe half a day if we hurry."
The others nodded but Blake winced as she tried to put pressure on her leg. "Go on without me. I'll have to heal my ankle before I can move on." Before she could leave, a pair of arms lifted her up in a bridal carry. "H-huh?!" She looked up and noticed the blonde hair. "L-let me down!" He shook his head as he took a deep breath and looked at everyone before launching himself down the path that led towards Amir. She flushed but she reached around his neck and held on tight as she felt the wind rush past her while she focused her aura into her ankle to help it heal.
The group moved together, taking the path as fast as possible in order to make it to the end before another horde of Grimm ambushed them. The man with the mask and katana simply glanced over at Knight every once in a while which must have been to make sure his Faunus partner was fine. The blonde knight took a quick breath as he steadied himself and sped up due to beginning to fall behind. Noticing this, Blake looked at the pill in her hand then quickly placed one end in her mouth and flushed a bit due to what she was about to do. He heard her murmur a quick apology when she pulled herself up a bit and pressed her lips against his. The shock of the sudden action allowed her to slide the pill into his mouth with no trouble as she swiftly pulled away and continued looking ahead.
"Thanks." He channeled once again and increased his pace in order to lead the pack once more. 'I've gone through seven pills… The daily limit is ten and if I pass that then I'll mess up my ability to channel.' His eyes skimmed through the forest as he looked for any signs of danger but the feeling of her soft lips made him flush in embarrassment. 'Clear your head moron.' He took a deep breath and continued to look around until he noticed something strange. "Hold up!" Once he stopped, he sat Blake down on a tree stump while he looked around. "That tree is perfectly cut through and so are those over there."
The man who became to be known as Adam simply nodded In agreement as they scanned the area. "We're about ten miles away from Amir and if there's anyone who's living there then they would obviously be looking for supplies. If they're low on dust crystals then they'll be using fire wood instead." He continued looking around until he found a bag. "Found something." When they looked in the bag, they noticed a couple of things. One, there was multiple vials of dust in the bag and two, the owner was from another kingdom.
Hope you enjoyed. I'll see if I decide to upload another chapter tomorrow but for sure the release day is every Wednesday or every other Wednesday. Whichever I'm feelin. Have a nice day :3