So, if you came here from my DxD fic, you will know that this's a side project that somehow is born during the writing of PDE. Compared to PDE, this fic is so heavily AU that you might be confused on the plot, especially with the characters appearing in this prologue, so I will say that this chapter takes place a few days before Ruby and others get into Beacon, but the canon divergence happened years before canon. Anyway, that's all I have to say now. Happy Reading.
P.S. I own nothing except the plot and OCs. And try to guess who the our MC's mom is before the second line break.
The Beast Beneath The Falling Leaves
Prologue
I lied on my back on the plains of grass outside of my home. Soft breeze ran along the plains as the sun shined brightly on the clear sky above. Sighing to myself, I closed my eyes as my breath relaxed and quietened. As I started to slip into sleep's embrace though, a stern voice sounded out and snapped me out of my sleep.
"Get up, Speir. Pick up your weapons. We will continue your training."
"Ugh, but, Mom...," I whined.
"Speir...," Mom's tone turned ominous at the end, which meant I should comply with her wish, now.
"Alright, alright! Geez, Mom, relax. There's no news on Grimm's infestation near here, right?" I tried to placate my mother.
"Just grab your weapons and come to the training field," Mom ordered.
"Wait, we're using real weapons?" I asked.
"Just do it, Speir..."
"Alright, alright," I lifted my hands up as a sign that I would do as ordered.
To be honest, the training field that Mom mentioned before was just a field of grass that had been trimmed down. Both Mom and I lived alone, in the middle of nowhere, just the two of us. Our house, if you could say it that, was made using wooden logs from the trees that had been cut down from the forest near here.
Walking into the house, I quickly went up to my rooms and grabbed my gears. It's very rare that Mom and I would spare using our real weapons and not the wooden one, but even then I made sure to always wear my armor. Always treat every battle like a life-death situation, Mom always said. One of the very few of Mom's sayings that Dad actually approved. Heh, I wonder what he would say if he could see us now, hiding here like a bunch of scared cats. I was sure he would say, "We're wolves, damn it! Not some goddamn pussy cats! We do not hide!" Sigh, looks like another thing that I disappointed my father in. I was a Faunus, a wolf Faunus, to be specific, well, a half-Faunus since my mother was a human.
Arriving at the training field already clad in my gears, I looked towards my mother. Like me, she also wore her full gears. Her blood-red gauntlets-clad hands were already resting on her odachi. With her legs put slightly apart, it's clear that she's already in her battle stance. Gulping, I knew right then and there that whatever made Mom like this was probably quite serious in nature.
Readying my weapons and slipping into my own battle stance, I released a breath to steady myself. And then I said, "I am ready."
12 years, alright, maybe not that long, I had sparred with Mom, yet I never won even once. I knew Mom would give nothing except her best, but still. Even after all of the life and death battles that I had experienced so far in my 17 years of life, the fact that I still couldn't defeat my mother sucked.
"*sigh* As much as I hate to admit it, Qrow is right. You'll need more than this," Mom sighed as she shook her head to throw off the sweat that had gathered in her wild raven-colored hair from our sparring. I also had the same hair color as my mother, except that she had red highlights on her raven hair while my black hair turned into dark royal blue color near the tips.
Realizing that Mom had just spoken the name of my estranged uncle, I quickly sat up from my lying position.
"Wait, Uncle Qrow?! Since when you managed to get in contact with him?!" I asked surprised.
"You should know that I still have my sources of information on the outside even though we're in the middle of nowhere, Speir. Keeping an eye on my stupid brother is probably the easiest thing I can do with them. I thought I have taught you better," Mom said with displeased face as she folded her arms.
Damn, she's pissed. Better rectify it now.
"S-sorry, I just, never expected it," I reasoned.
"I taught you to always expect the unexpected."
"*gulp* R-right..."
"*sigh* Just go back to home and clean yourself, Speir. We have a guest coming soon," Mom just waved her hand.
"Alright," I immediately got up and went to our house.
You might think that my mother was too strict to me, but that had always been the case since I'm little. Mom was the strict parent, Dad was the fun one. But with what befell Dad, I guessed I should understand Mom more. Even with her strict and hard exterior, I knew she still love both of us dearly.
After cleaning myself, I went down to the living room. Just like Mom said, we had a guest. Sitting in front of Mom at the dining table, I could see Mom's displeased expression, a real one compared to what she gave me, and how her hands clenched hard. I didn't know the man, but it's clear Mom didn't like his presence here one bit, evident from the way the two of them staring at each other, or glaring in Mom's case.
The man seemed to be middle-aged with tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes. He had a light complexion, like Mom and I, and sharp facial features. Interestingly, the man had black eyebrows, suggesting that he might have black hair when he was younger.
He wore shaded glass spectacles and a small, purple, cross-shaped pin on the cowl around his neck. His clothes consisted of unzipped black suit over a buttoned vest and green shirt. He also wore black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants. There's also a cane leaning on the table, his, I presumed.
"Ah, it seems this is the young Speir. You truly looked like your father when he was your age if he has black hair. It's nice to see you also in good health, Raven. It seemed time doesn't manage to reduce your beauty," the man said while sipping what seemed to be hot coffee. Wait, where did he get that? I swore he didn't have that a moment ago.
It's true, even after the years, Mom still stayed beautiful. There're already age lines under her glaring red eyes on her pale face, but she still stayed the same from when I was but a kid.
"Stop with the pleasantries, Ozpin. Just get to the point. Why are you here? No, how you even managed to find this location? From what I heard from Qrow, it's not from him," Mom demanded with a biting tone.
"You know I also have my own source of information, Mrs. Branwen-" the man, Ozpin, said.
"It's Ulster, Ozpin. Mrs. Ulster," Mom cut in. Even though she didn't look like it, Mom's terrifyingly proud of her marriage with my father. If it were the usual occurrence, Mom would punch the person first before she corrected it.
"My mistake, Mrs. Ulster, but you know what I meant. Even if Qrow and you don't get along, Qrow will never sell his family out. No matter the circumstances," Ozpin said as he sipped his drink again.
"And...? Your purpose here...?" Mom raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, I suppose we should get to it. Speir, I want you to join the Beacon Academy," Ozpin declared. From the way Mom's hand clenched harder, I guessed this was what she was the most displeased with. You might not expect it, but my mother was actually quite overprotective in her own way.
"Beacon Academy? Wait, are you saying that you're that Ozpin?! The headmaster of Beacon?!" I exclaimed, surprised.
"Yes, I'm that Ozpin. It seems you have heard about me, Speir," Ozpin sipped his drink again.
"*scoff* I may be not as meticulous and disciplined as my mother. But you should know I'm still my mother, Raven Ulster's son, Mr. Ozpin," I said with a tone not unlike my mother. At that statement Mom gave me a look of approval.
"Yes, I guess it's true. You're truly the perfect combination of your father and your mother, Speir. I should know, I taught them both, no matter how brief it's with your father," Ozpin said.
"... And what will give me in exchange, Mr. Ozpin? You should know that I won't accept this offer without a good reason from you," I replied, dropping all honorifics and pleasantries with the man. I could now guess why Mom was so displeased with the man. He just, rubbed me the wrong way.
"... I will give you the information on the whereabouts of your father, Aimsir Ulster," Ozpin calmly dropped the bomb on us.
"W-what...?" I stuttered. Meanwhile, my mother hit the table with her palms, almost breaking the wooden structure in the process. Ozpin, on the other side, managed to save his drink before it's thrown off the table.
"Ozpin...," Mom growled with a threatening tone.
"Believe me, Raven, I was also surprised when I received the information. I even checked it at least six times and yet it still stood, the information is valid. Here, if you don't believe me," Ozpin said with firm expression as he handed a photo to my mother.
I could clearly see the face of the man in the photo, and I could say for sure that he's Dad. His dark blue hair was longer and messier, and his face also far more rugged than usual. His ponytail, the one that I also had, was none to be found. His hair was instead let loose down to his waist. His sky blue eyes, the same one as mine, shone with an unbending resolve behind them. There's also another person beside my father. A man, from his tall stature. But since he wore a cloak, we couldn't see who it was.
"Aimsir...," Mom whispered as she held the photo.
"And then why has he not come back yet? Surely if he's still alive he would find us in an instant," I said.
"Yes, that might be true, if he didn't have anyone chasing him. I'm sure you know that your father is being hunted by the White Fang. Returning to you is not an option," Ozpin reasoned. Hearing the name White Fang, Mom and I couldn't help but remembering what happened to our family 12 years ago, and the repercussions it caused for the next 9 years because of it. Even now, we couldn't manage to erase the problem completely, without exterminating the White Fang.
"Aimsir, you stupid hound..."
"... I agree that's a good incentive, Mr. Ozpin, but that's not enough. If you can get a scent on my father, we can also do the same," I replied.
"Yes, but by coming with me to Beacon, I'll make sure to also share my findings with the both of you. Like what they said, two heads are better than one. Oh, and if you need to know, Mr. Ulster, your best friend is also coming to Beacon," Ozpin then back to his usual expression, sipping his coffee. How the hell he hadn't finished it, anyway?!
Surprised that 'he' was coming to Beacon, I replied, "Really... The White Knight actually managed to get into Beacon? That's a pleasant surprise."
"So... How is it?" Ozpin asked, finally finishing his coffee.
Looking towards Mom, she said, "It's up to you. I don't like the place, but I have to agree that you can learn some useful thing there. All chicks, or pups, in this case, have to leave their nest in the end, after all."
"Mom... *sigh* Alright, I'll accept your offer, Mr. Ozpin. But... I have my own conditions. Is it alright with you?" I asked after contemplating it for a while, changing my tone to be a bit more respectful. After all, if this worked, he's going to be my teacher. So better not angering him too much.
"As long as I deem it acceptable."
"First, I want my team to only be consisted of Faunus. I know that not all humans are racist, but better be safe than sorry. Sorry if that offends you," I said.
"Already work on it. Do not worry."
"Eh, really? Uh, okay. Um, second... I want to have full access the kitchen there before 6 A.M. In the case I want to cook very early breakfast," I said.
"... I see... I guess I can accept it. But you will have to clean it after you're done, alright, Mr. Ulster?" Ozpin asked. I just nodded to answer.
"And last, well. If it's alright, can I just skip the initiation test? You know, the one where the students are thrown down to the forest," I said.
"I presume Raven is the one who told you about this," Ozpin said, as I nodded. "But of course you should know the purpose of the initiation test, don't you?"
"Yeah, I know. Teamwork and building trust. It's just... getting thrown off to a forest brings back bad memories, you know...," I said as I rubbed my hands, reminiscing the time when I basically had to survive in a forest alone for two years.
"Hm... Now that's difficult. How about this, after the initiation, I'll prepare a series of duels, and maybe a team battle, under a specified time duration as a special kind of test for you. Of course, I might extend the duration if I deem you not meeting my expectation. And I'll tell you now, my expectation of you is quite... high," Ozpin elaborated.
Thinking about it for a while, I weighted the pros and cons of what Ozpin had offered me. To be honest, it seemed fair enough seeing I might be asking too much of the man.
"Alright, sure. I'll accept your condition. Thank you very much for accommodating my weird requests, Mr. Ozpin," I said.
"Well, with that out of the way, I guess we're done here. Welcome to Beacon Academy, Speir Ulster," Ozpin said to me as we shook hands.
That's the prologue, and yes the OC's mother is Raven. Now before you start throwing those javelins on me, in this fic, Yang is not Raven's daughter, but Summer's, meaning she and Ruby are full sisters. But like I said, the canon's divergence happened years before canon, one of them being Ozpin inviting Speir's father, Aimsir, another OC, as a student in Beacon. Other canon divergences will be told in the following chapters, so please bear with me.
Another thing would be something I want to address now, which is how Speir treats Ozpin. You might think Speir is very... rude towards Ozpin, but Ozpin just rubs Speir the really wrong way. Speir is a wolf, he doesn't really like plotting and intrigues and other behind the scenes work. He can stay silent and sneak better than most, but that doesn't mean he likes outright deceiving, withholding information, and using other people like pawns, like a snake, and yes, this's a hint on plot progression.
If any of you wonders how Speir looks like, he is based on Proto-Lancer from Fate series, except with the aforementioned colors. And I know characters in RWBY are based on either historical figures, mythical, or even from fairy tales, so I will say now that no, Speir isn't based on Cu Chulainn, that's Aimsir. But I guess with that info, many of you can guess who Raven is based on in this fic, and she's not Scathach.
Anyway, that's all I have to say. If any of you have questions, feel free to PM me or leave a review.
May We Meet Again.