AN: Well, lets get started. This story is a prequel to Phoenix Rose by Phoenix Commander (Hereby referred to as the Commander). I have been given his permission to write up a backstory for the OCs he using for Team DRAB, specifically my Dracul Rex and Azure Raptor aka Dagger. This story still takes place in the Phoenix-verse (as it shall henceforth be referred to in this story) and will involve characters coming from both my OC list and those that have shown up or will in his story.

Disclaimer: I Don't own RWBY, otherwise we would know CRMSN's semblances. Or at least Cinder's.

Chapter one: Introduction, Azure Trailer

Azure POV

8 years ago

"Please, can you spare some Lien?" I beg at the feet of the man wallking past.

I am greeted with a boot to my gut. "Out of my way you damn bird. I have no time for you or any other begger."

As I lay there, clutching my stomach, I notice an albino boy bump into the man. "Sorry sir, I wasn't looking where I was going."

The man storms off, and the boy hands me a wallet. "Here. Jerks like that don't deserve to keep their things. He's pretty stupid, if he couldn't feel me lift this off him."

"I can't accept this, it's stolen."

"Stolen Lien is worth as much as regular Lien. Besides, YOU didn't steal it. I'm Tueur. What's your name?"

"Azure. At least that's what people call me when not calling me bird or freak."

"Azure it is then. Come with me, I can help you out." He reaches out his hand.

I hesitantly take it in my own.

...

1 year later

Tueur saved my life that day. He taught me letters and numbers, as well as the types of animals. He explained that my neck feathers were specific to the plumage of a hawk, finally giving a label for my animal half. He also taught my sleight of hand and how to support myself. Sure, it was theft, but I was desperate. I was his apprentice, and he was my only friend. Everything was fine, until yesterday, when his father found out about us. I could hear the shouting.

"TUEUR YIN, HOW DARE YOU BECOME FRIENDS WITH THAT FAUNUS TRASH?"

"She was starving on the streets and abused by passerby, I couldn't do nothing."

"NO SON OF MINE WILL ASSOCIATE WITH THOSE BEASTS! NOW STAY HERE!"

"Wha-what are you going to do to her?"

"FINISHING HER OFF!"

Panicked, I run, only for Tueur's father to burst out the front door, tossing a knife into my shoulder.

"COME BACK HERE YOU FILTHY ANIMAL!"

I remove the blade from my shoulder and escape into a crowd, slipping away from the madman following me. I end up in an alleyway before breaking down in tears.

'I'll show them. I am not a beast. I will become a master thief and thrive in this world. I swear on this dagger.'

...

Present day

"So you will pay me the full 87 thousand for turning in Dagger, right? I'm risking a lot dealing with this psycho."

"Willow, its only been two weeks. The last one waited a month before backstabbing me." I catch her fumbling with her scroll as I walk through the doorway.

"Dagger, what makes you think I'm backstabbing you?"

"I could hear you. I'm not surprised. The first time I considered it a bad decision to trust them. The second, bad luck. But the third straight betrayal? I realized that I couldn't trust anyone. You're the thirteenth one. Maybe I should stop having partners." I draw a dagger, the same one I made my oath on all those years ago.

"Wait, we can work this out." Willow was panicking, looking for any way out of her inevitable doom.

"Fine, you leave, and pray I never see you again." I turn my back on my now former partner.

Predictably, Willow charged me. I reverse my grip on the blade, and stab backwards. I take the blade out of her gut and turn to watch her collapse. That's my 8th kill.

"You think you won, Dagger? You will always be hunted for that bounty on your head. Someone will get you." She's right. There's too much heat for me here. I need to leave.

"Maybe, but it won't be you. Goodbye." I bring my blade across Willow's throat, silencing her permanently.

I pick up her scroll. The call is still going. A worried voice comes through the speaker, "Are you still here?"

"This is Dagger." I give the man the location of the building I've been living in, a old shanty house on the border of the slums of Vaccuo. "There is a body to pick up here. I'm leaving Vaccuo, where no one will find me. Dagger, out."

WN: This little bit here at the end of the chapters will be a sort of behind the scenes thing, talking about some of the little stuff I want to mention, as well as highlight any OCs that show up.

Here we have a lot of Azure's past. First off, Azure Raptor is not her birth name, if she has one to begin with. She was abandoned when she was young. Azure comes from her feathers being the color, Raptor because she found out hawks are classified as them. She's roughly 15, but she doesn't know her own age. She had no reason to celebrate birthdays, or even knows when hers is. She considers the day she made that oath to be her honorary birthday.

OC viewing

Tueur and his father Enkeli Yin are a pair of OCs who were originally designed to play a part in VKS Beacon, the Commander's other story. Tueur is not really a bad person, he's just too loyal to his father, who is a racist A-hole. They are unlikely to show up again.

Poor Willow Sakura here was a member of one of my OC teams, SWRD. she was the group's scout, having a cursed with awesome semblance that drastically improved her senses, to the point she needed special earplugs and glasses to handle day2day life. I feel sorry for ending her, but it really sets the tone for this fic. and for the record, Azure did not like needing to kill her.

As a final note, I cannot stress enough that this story showcases Villain Protagonists. THEY WILL DO THINGS THAT WARRANT A M-RATING!