Dead Men's Tales


Alrighty then, this will be my first official foray into the world of Fanfiction! So don't go easy on me in the reviews, I'll need all the constructive criticism I can get. I've been reading other people's stories for a couple years now, and have had several ideas of my own, but this one is the first to really get me to start writing. So let's get right to it then!

I do not own RWBY, it belongs to Rooster Teeth and was originally conceived by Monty Oum. May he rest in peace.

"Dialogue"

Thoughts

'Quotes'

Flashbacks


If someone was your average everyday individual, they might have described the village of Alaala as a peaceful place, an ideal location to raise a family, or a pleasant little hub where travelers could rest their weary hearts.

Jakob wasn't feeling too 'average' today, so he felt he was just going to stick with 'boring'.

At the age of 13, Jakob felt he had seen more than enough of his hometown to last a lifetime. Each day began and ended with the same old routine over and over again. Even attacks from the Grimm were relatively boring events, given that they would be killed by automatic defense turrets before the villagers would even see them. Anyone who desired nothing more than a peaceful existence would have been right at home here. Is it too much to ask for a little bit of excitement around here? He thought crossly to himself as he prepared himself for bed.

There wasn't even the option of surfing the web in the evenings on his scroll anymore. Jakob didn't really understand why, but rumor had it that they were having some technical issues on the mainland in Vale. Apparently it had been that way since the Vital Festival. Honestly, you think they would be more careful about that sort of thing.

Even after brushing his teeth and changing into his pajamas, Jakob didn't feel ready to go to sleep just yet. Sighing, he quietly walked down the stairs of his house, careful not to wake his parents, and grabbed his coat. Jakob walked outside, sat on the porch, and looked up at the shattered moon. Grimm attacks were not unheard of on this part of Patch, but they were infrequent, and the village had some automated defense systems in the case that one occurred.

Looking around, Jakob noticed someone else was walking around and enjoying the evening. Mrs. Levinson was several hundred yards away, and she seemed even more troubled than he was. Although Jakob was not necessarily anti-social, he didn't currently feel the need to chat with his older neighbor. Every conversation seemed to loop back to how he was doing in homeschooling, and what his plans for the future were.

At his age, Jakob did not feel obligated to plan so far ahead just yet, although he did sometimes dream of applying to Signal to become a Huntsman.

Suddenly, Mrs. Levinson gasped. Jakob jerked his head up in alarm, but she didn't seem frightened. She was looking at something which was just obscured by the walls of another house.

"John?" Mrs. Levinson called out in disbelief. She began walking as quickly as she was able until she walked past where Jakob could see. Curiously, he ran over to the house and stuck his head around the corner.

He couldn't believe his eyes! Old Mr. Levinson was standing there, with the same old smile he always seemed to have. Mrs. Levinson had tears in her eyes, and seemed to be at a loss for words.

Mr. Levinson stepped forward and held out his arms "Hello Victoria". Mrs. Levinson immediately surged forward and gave him a hug so fierce that Jakob almost ran forward to check if she had cracked any ribs.

"John...oh John where have you been? You've been gone for more than a year!"

"Shhhh...we wouldn't want to wake up our neighbors this late." Mr. Levinson stated reasonably. Mrs. Levinson nodded.

I'd be surprised if they already hadn't woken anyone up yet. Although Jakob was a little confused here. From what he had heard...

"Don't worry dear, I was simply held up later than I had thought on the way home from work".

Mrs. Levinson simply continued to cry into Mr. Levinson's shoulders. But Jakob was even more confused. That answer doesn't make any sense! Mr. Levinson had worked at the farm down the road. There was no way he could be gone for a year because he was late from work! Not to mention...

A sickening noise suddenly filled the night air. Jakob looked up, and everything in the world seemed to stop all at once.

Sticking out of Mrs. Levinson's back was the blade of a knife.

Falling to the ground, she struggled to stand back up. "J-John..." With this, she collapsed, and did not get back up. 'John' straightened up, and began to walk into the nearby woods.

At this moment, the reality of the situation fully hit Jakob. A wave of nausea washed over him, and had he eaten recently, he was certain he would have thrown up. Just before Jacob ducked behind the house, he saw Mr. Levinson turn suddenly. The footsteps which had been getting farther away suddenly started coming closer! Jakob's heart leapt into his throat. His own house was on the other side of the road, and he would be seen for sure if he ran there.

In his panic, Jakob ran to the open door of Mrs. Levinson's home and quickly made his way inside, reverently thanking the almighty Oum that she always oiled the hinges on her front door. Looking between the shutters of the nearest window, he saw Mr. Levinson looking around the yard. For a moment, his eyes rested on the house, and Jakob ducked his head quickly.

After several minutes, he brought up the courage to look outside. No one was in sight. This made Jakob even more terrified rather than relieved. Where did he go? Oh Oum, he could be anywhere! Quickly, he went to the nearby closet and hid inside, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't found.

It wasn't until the first rays of sunlight began to peek under the door that Jakob worked up the courage to leave and run straight home, crying out for help. Everyone was shocked and horrified to find Mrs. Levinson had been murdered. But the news was even more chilling when Jakob told them he saw Mr. Levinson was the one who did it.

After all, Mr. Levinson had been dead for over a year now.


Around a week later on another part of the island...

A lone black and white Corgi trotted down a small dirt path in the woods. Leaves of red and gold spiraled down from the trees around it as a soft breeze jostled the branches. It was such a tranquil fall afternoon, and the dog couldn't help but lie down on the ground and stretch out for a nice long nap...

At that moment, something zoomed by, and red petals joined the falling leaves. Rather than be startled, like any normal animal (or human, for that matter) the corgi leapt to its feet and attempted to chase the disturbance, barking the whole time. A few hundred meters ahead, a blur of red and black settled in a clearing.

Briefly glancing back at the dog, Ruby Rose drew Crescent Rose from its holster on her lower back. A flick of a switch caused several gears to turn, transforming the rifle into its large, intimidating scythe form.

Lowering into a defensive position, Ruby began to weave through several complicated maneuvers and attacks. An overhead slash was followed by blocking an imaginary opponent's attack, and counter attacking with a horizontal strike. She dodged to the right and sliced low with the blade, following up by jamming the blade into the earth to position it for sniper fire. Several swings with the blunt part of the blade impacted into a group of imaginary non-aura using combatants. A series of swipes were used to disable an imaginary mech by taking out its sensors and more dangerous weaponry. A high slice cut off the tail of an imaginary Death Stalker.

Then the corgi tackled Ruby and took her down, licking her face enthusiastically.

"Zweeeeeei!" Ruby tried to sound as reproachful as possible, but it was hard to be serious when a small dog is licking your face, so it came out with a slight giggle as well. Zwei barked and leapt off onto the ground.

Ruby stood, and put her foot down "Zwei, you shouldn't just interrupt me when I'm practicing! Don't you understand how dangerous that could be?"

Zwei answered this by barking once again, and then stood there panting expectantly, which wasn't much a real answer. As expected of any dog, no matter how clever (and nigh indestructible) they may be.

Ruby sighed, and quickly checked her scroll, startled to learn that it had been several hours since she had begun. Perhaps it would be best to call it a day anyways. Her dad wouldn't appreciate it if she missed dinner after all. "Well, I guess we can head back. Come on Zwei!"

Without so much as changing the expression on his face, Zwei turned and began to lead the way back. Ruby transformed Crescent Rose into its compacted form, and strode along after Zwei. It had been several weeks since she had woken up after the Battle of Beacon. At this point, Ruby felt mostly back in physical form. On the first day after she had woken up, it had hurt to swing her scythe even once. Now, she felt just as comfortable with it as before, although she still ached more than usual afterwards.

It wouldn't do to head out to Haven without being in top form after all. Ruby would need every bit of training possible before she felt ready to begin investigating...

Ruby was so lost in thought that she didn't see that Zwei had stopped until she almost tripped over him. "Woaaah!" At the last second, she caught herself on...a railing? Looking up, she was surprised to see she was already back at the house.

Opening the door, Ruby stepped inside along with Zwei. Already, the house smelled like something delicious was on the stove...and possibly getting a bit burnt.

"Ahhhh, not again!" Ruby quickly moved to the kitchen and shut the stove off, just as her father ran through the other door.

Taiyang moved to the stove and exhaled deeply. "Whew! Looks like you were just in time Ruby! Only the bottom part of the stew was...somewhat burnt." Pouring the stew into a large bowl, it was clear that the entire bottom part of the pot was covered in charred food.

Ruby groaned "Daaaad, how hard can it be to cook stew without burning it! I mean, come on, it's like burning water!"

"I just walked away for a moment, that's all! Besides, there's more than just water in there! There's meat, and veggies, and..."

Ruby sighed. It was often hard to remember that her father was a seasoned huntsman when he acted like such a goof around the house. I guess you could say the same as Uncle Qrow, but somehow he still seems pretty awesome. Maybe it's because my Dad is, well you know...Dad.

Taiyang began to scoop a serving into three small bowls on the table "In any case, there's plenty that wasn't burnt. We won't have to worry about going hungry tonight!" Picking up one of the bowls, he handed it to Ruby "Could you take this to your sister? Watch out, it's still pretty hot."

Ruby nodded and carefully walked down the hall with the bowl. Ever since the Battle of Beacon, Yang had rarely set foot outside of her room, and usually took meals by herself. On numerous occasions, Ruby had attempted to get Yang to open up again, but to no avail. I can't really blame her, but I just wish I could help somehow.

Opening the door to the guest room, Ruby walked in and silently placed the bowl on the dresser. A mumble which might have been "thanks" was all she heard before leaving the room. Maybe it's true what Uncle Qrow said about not being able to help everyone...


Next morning...

Having woken up earlier than the rest of her family (for once!), Ruby walked down one of the paths leading down to a small nearby village. Although, calling it a village would be a bit of a stretch, given how it only consisted of a single tavern, a small post office, a convenience store, and a series of market stalls from nearby farms. It was really more of a small hub, since no one lived there except for the owners of the tavern, convenience store, and the manager of the post office.

Ruby walked into the post office, clutching an envelope in her hand. The clerk behind the counter smiled. "Good morning Miss Rose! How may I help you today?"

"Hello! I'd like to send a letter to a friend!" Ruby placed the envelope on the counter.

After glancing at the address, the clerk responded "It looks like you have the wrong stamp on here. Since this letter is going to the mainland, you'll need a Vale Emblem stamp, not the Patch one."

Flustered, Ruby exclaimed "Oh! Sorry! I guess I forgot about that! It's been a while since I really sent a letter..."

The clerk laughed easily "No problem, we have that stamp in stock, although it costs a bit more than the Patch stamp."

After paying for the new stamp and posting the letter, Ruby went back outside. The letter she had just sent was addressed to Jaune, who was currently staying in what was left of Vale with the other Beacon students. From what Uncle Qrow said, the people behind the attack on Beacon's trail leads to Haven. It'd be nice to have some backup for when I head over there to investigate. Although Jaune wasn't one of the strongest fighters, he was pretty smart, and Ruby trusted him to watch her back. Nora and Ren would also be a lot of help if things got ugly.

I hope they're doing all right... She could only imagine how Jaune felt after the death of his partner, and Nora and Ren couldn't be much better off. Guilt worked its way into Ruby's thoughts. I promised to bring Pyrrha and Jaune back, but I wasn't able to save her...Maybe they won't want to have anything to do with me after that. In an attempt to distract herself from these thoughts, Ruby turned and began to examine the nearby board of posted Hunter missions.

On this part of Patch, it was common for families to live in lone cabins in the woods, and to come here for supplies. These families often had at least one or two full time Huntsmen or Huntresses, given that normal families rarely felt secure living in the woods where Grimm could often be found. Because of this, Bullheads landing to pick up and drop off Hunters in this location used to be a common occurrence. However, with the loss of the CCT, it had become necessary for Hunters to make the trek down to the shoreline village, where the Bullhead hangar was located. For the same reason, Hunter requests, which had previously been accessible online via scroll, were now posted on a cork board by the tavern, shipped in via mail.

There were many requests from Vale concerning Grimm extermination, but there were also a few jobs here and there regarding escorts and bounty missions. I wish I could take one of these, but Dad probably wouldn't want me to go so far. Although maybe she could get Qrow to take her...?

One of the posters near the bottom caught her eye. It was the only one with a job located on Patch. It was a relatively low reward compared to the rest however. Investigation: Strange Deaths in the Village of Alaala, huh. It wasn't the sort of mission Ruby would normally have liked to go on (Search and Destroy was easily her favorite type), so she passed it over.

However, upon second thought, Ruby began studying the poster again. An investigation mission...maybe this would be good practice for when I'm trying to find the bad guys in Haven!

Immediately, she took the poster, taking note of the location of Alaala on her scroll map. It'll probably take about half a day to reach by walking there. Faster if I run.

For the first time in a while, Ruby began to feel excited. A mission was just what she needed to get back in action!


And so it begins! I'm going to try and update this on a weekly basis, or at least every other week. I have a lot of other obligations, and this is more of a hobby compared to my normal work. Regardless, I have most of the story, including the ending, already planned out, so I intend to finish this project. Like I said above, feel free to give any sort of constructive criticism on my writing style or story. It can only help to make the rest of the story run more smoothly.

Hope you'll enjoy Dead Men's Tales!