Hello there. Author here. This is my first story on this site and my first time I'm using the system. I hope you enjoy my story.
The world of Remnant...A land where mankind has been pushed to the brink of extinction. Grimm, horrendous creatures with countless numbers are the grand nemesis of the remainder of humanity and the Faunus. Despite the advancements of mankind with well-developed weaponry, advanced technology, and a growing force of hunters and huntresses, the situation does not seem to become better, even if there is peace.
That peace, does not stay forever.
Since the beginning of mankind walking the earth, there were Grimm. Though the people were weak, dust is what saved them all from truly dying out. After so long, how many of the original Grimm do you think survives to this day?...Such a frightening thought, no? As Grimm age, their strength and wisdom broadens. How would an ancient Grimm's power be against the hunters of today, I wonder? And what about the moon...How did it shatter? And dust...If early man obtained dust so easily, why would there be such a large, single mining company obtaining dust? Production? Efficiency? Technological advancement? Greed?...Dust may be a natural resource...But is it really an infinite resource?...
Ah, I think I'm looking far beyond my own insight...
Heh, heh, heh...I wouldn't know all the answers, but I do know this. We, human and Faunus, have to prepare for the worst, and work together.
Otherwise...We all finally die...but...To what?
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In a place, not of the 4 grand kingdoms of remnant, there was a young, small child peacefully sleeping in the middle of a vast black wood forest that was blanketed by white snow. This child had ghostly white pale skin and wore a knee-length black dress that seemingly devours light itself, long black socks, black long gloves, black buckle-strap shoes, and she had on a partial mask which resembles a Grimm that only covers the left side of her face. Her hair was pitch black and was long enough for it to run down her back and her bangs grew out over her left eye as well. She was covered lightly in snow and the weapon she wielded was stuck into the ground by the bottom of it. This weapon was a long black scythe type weapon with a long beak on the opposing side of the blade and a long triangular spike at the end of it. It had no other attachments other than the broad pyramid spike the the other end of the shaft, which is holding up the scythe.
Somehow, despite the forest being infested with Grimm, particularly werewolf-like Grimm, none of them attacked her. If anything, some did come close to her, but then ran off quickly in a fright. As if some mysterious force was about to lay hell upon their being. From time to time, this woman would twist, turn, and move around in her sleep. It is quite surprising how long this person slept, it would be considered a world record breaker.
Eventually, a random stranger was walking through the woods, in curiosity of the odd behavior of the Grimm. This man donned on a long gray cloak and what was visible were his gray boots made for the winter land, gray cargo pants, gray long sleeve shirt, thick-looking dark Gray gloves and he had on a light-brown wooden mask that had thin slits from where he could barely see through. Even though he entered on account of odd Grimm behavior, there was a powerful presence that branched out quite a ways around the entire forest. He wanted to know what it was, on account of foolish curiosity.
After wandering around the area, glancing around the treeline and eyeing the predators. He wondered, 'Why aren't they attacking?' The man held his head down a little further 'Typically, they would all rush in and overwhelm me with pure brute force and numbers' As he continued walking, he followed the concentration of the presence he felt until he made it to the small woman.
He knelled down and did a search around her body with his aura. Though the mask covered his eyes, his pupils widened far as he retracted his whole body back "I can't feel this person's aura" Under the impression that it was an unfortunate soul who fell victim to Grimm, despite his own observation of no visible battle wounds or even blood, he was cleaning off the snow off of her when she suddenly sprang up from her dead slumber, completely catching the man off guard and forcing him into the snow. "What in the seven hells?" Typically, a person would have a more surprised tone, but this person had a bit of a controlled, lackluster speech pattern...With a colorful choice of wording.
This mysterious female turned on her heels, leaned in forward, and pulled out her hand "Hi there mister~" In a sweet tone and a cute smile, the man responded by grabbed her hand in which he noticed the difference in size between him and the little lady...She was quite short, the man wasn't even that tall. He breathed in and out heavily before he spoke out,
"Why in the name of Remnant are you sleeping in a forest of Grimm?" The child looked at him, still smiling, contemplating an answer, before...
"Because I can~" She said playfully as she grabbed her scythe and slung it over her shoulder "I thank you for arriving, I was waiting for someone strong enough to come by this place for quite a while" The man was confused,
"For what purpose could you possibly have the need to sleep in a Grimm forest?!" The girl turned around and was just haphazardly walking in a seemingly random direction in the path. She turned her head back,
"I wanted to have interesting people on my merry band of adventurers!" She childishly stated as she continued onward with a now exaggerated march...Until she stopped doing so on account of how awkward it was to walk like that. The man followed the woman merely on his interest on her lack of aura, plus the seemingly high aversion other Grimm have of her.
"Oh right!" She clapped her hands together and turned around "What is your name?"
"...My name is Lloyd Brenin, what is yours little lady?" Her night-sky black eye seemed to have a tint suddenly flash on them as she moved her left arm across her small chest and her right hand pressed against her chin.
"Calling me little lady, I feel so...Elegant and classy" She imagined herself as some sort of royal princess...That carried a scythe around with her. Then her mind returned back to reality "Oh, my name is Ciara...Just Ciara...Now..." She pointed her scythe in a random direction, straight to the air, and yelled out "To adventure!" Lloyd was absolute appalled by the girl's lack of and sense of danger, her personality, and her wishes to traverse the world. He wondered, as he followed the small lady, 'Who is she exactly?' He returned his gaze at the scythe, the Grimm around, and his own experiences in the past. 'How powerful is this child?' He recalled the mask she wore 'Is there something under that mask?' Without any question, Lloyd willing followed the little girl.
The both of them had gone out of the forest and into the open, dangerous, yet beautiful world...
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While wandering around on foot from the forest, the area had now turned a bit flat and hilly, with trees strewn about here and there and a forest was in their current view. Somehow, the both of them weren't even remotely fatigued from walking the entire time. Ciara especially, considering she was humming some sort of high-spirited tune. The girl turned her head around while still walking, "What do you do for a living?" She questioned as Lloyd cracked his neck,
"In a way, a scientist and a wanderer..." Lloyd was now contemplating what question to ask Ciara, "Ah, what would you have done if I hadn't come along?" The well-dressed female shrugged her shoulders and continued on her merry tune. '...Wait are you telling me that she actually-'
"Maybe..." Ciara broke the gray-man's thinking process "I would have moved somewhere else to get an ally" She put both her hands behind her head "A bar is a place where you can get mercenaries, right?" Lloyd stared at her blankly,
'What kind of novels have you been reading?' Then he corrected part of his thought process 'Well...Actually, you probably can, but who can take you seriously?...That is unless you beat them down...' At one point, he said part of his thoughts out loud, though under his breath, it was still audible to Ciara, "Who would want to follow you?" This caused her to stopped immediately and turn around 'This better not end up as-'
"Said the man who is following a little girl~" She quipped and slightly grinned as she continued on walking towards some destination.
"Do you even know where we are going?" The masked man questioned and the girl looked up at him,
"We're going to vale"
"Ah okay" After a bit of time has gone passed, the black dressed female said,
"Do you know where vale is?" She innocently questioned which made Lloyd completely stop in his tracks and face palm himself
'Oh this is just fantastic...' Then he realized something himself 'I got lost as well and didn't notice'
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Eventually, after back tracking, retracing, and looking at the broken moon and stars above, the unlikely traveling pair had somehow made it to Vale in one piece, with extra equipment to boot. And by extra equipment, I mean that Lloyd is carrying a huge backpack on his back which looked like it could cause instant spine realignment. He breathed in heavily and took in the air of civilization and basked in the sound pollution that came with it...Which wasn't that significant, but it was still somewhat enjoyable if the only sounds one heard was silence, wind, and Grimm.
Though in comparison, Ciara's clear-cut interest in the city itself was very apparent in her eye...and the fact she was running around the entirety of the city just to take in the sights alone. Unfortunately for Lloyd, this meant that he had to lug around a backpack that counted as 2 people while trying to keep up with a hyper-active child with seemingly unlimited stamina.
At one point, the half-masked girl had finally stopped her sight-seeing and was now interested in indulging in one of Vale's establishments. While she looking around the immediate area, Lloyd had barely caught of with her while completely in a daze and falling over due to exhaustion. With the weight of the 2 person backpack on him, the cloaked man was practically crushed against the pavement.
When Ciara was looking at nearby buildings, she saw one which resembled that of a bar with the sign above it reading out, 'Errante Bar' "Ah! It's a bar" She began to skip over there when she quickly turned around, "If you don't mind Lloyd, I'll be trying out the drinks!" Immediately knocking him out of his daze, this sudden proclamation caused him to immediately stand up and run after Ciara. Unfortunately for him this was real life and he couldn't have just gotten an instant stamina boost, unless it were adrenaline. He was practically staggering after the girl when she made her loud entrance into the bar.
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"Hey, can I tell you a tale I've heard?" Inside the tavern, there was a white wolf female faunus sitting in the corner of the room with another man who looked about as reliable as a person named "honest tom". This woman wore a wander/ duster type clothing with a worn brown duster coat, brown loose pants and boots, black fingerless gloves and tricorn hat. She also had a sturdy-looking black backpack at her side along with a somewhat long black metal quarter staff she held at all times. With this equipment, her pure short white hair and pale green-blue tinted eyes popped out very well. Another thing to note was her seemingly lack of breasts.
This woman was leaning back against the chair and cracked her neck,
"Is it a load of bullshit?" The woman roughly said and the man shaked his head,
"No no no, trust me, this is the real deal" The woman pulled out what appeared to be wheat from the pockets of her coat and inserted it into her mouth,
"Ya' sure? Last time ya told me info, I almost died" She said threateningly as she leaned in, the man to sweat bullets and to raise his hands close to him in defense and for space,
"Okay, I swear!" Then he noticed what her sentence said last "Wait, almost die? Now I know that-"
"Don't change the subject"
"Alrighty, sorry for wasting time (Jeez, how am I supposed to know there were supposed to be several armies worth of enemies there)...Now you wanted to know someone strong you can fight?"
"Yes" The man had to research his mind for any people strong enough to fight the wolf faunus. He didn't want to have this person accidentally kill off someone particularly famous or in power, god knows how much hell that would bring for mankind...Then an idea popped into his mind, indicated by his fingers snapping "Have you ever fought a master of dust?" The woman's ears perked up and she leaned in forward
"A master of dust?" The man leaned in forward for effect
"Aye, the king of Gray, the man who is a living dust conduit and is said to manipulate the weather itself...His name- oh wait I should give you a picture of-" Then suddenly, someone bust through the doors. An energetic looking black dressed young lady holding a scythe came in.
"Hello everyone!" Everyone looked at the child dumfoundedly, wondering who in the world she was and where her parents are. "Is there any strong people here?! And can I get a d-" Then a taller gentlemen in a gray cloak with huge backpack came limping behind her, breathing heavily.
"Hah-Hah...You...You are too young to drink alcohol!" Then he was seen dragging her out by the arms, though poorly due to his condition "Now let's go somewhere else"
"But I'm older than you!" Lloyd looked back at her
"You don't even know how old I am!"
"I know I'm older than you!"
"That's physically impossible!" 'Unless you're some immortal, but I have never heard of someone like that before' Lloyd thought. The pair were fully out of view of the bar patrons and peace had returned to the establishment.
'Okay...' The faunus thought 'That was unusual' That was when she noticed the way her partner was staring. The man who was talking with the white wolf faunus had his eyes widened and mouth agape. The man he was talking about came through the door with a little girl...Out of all of the people who had to arrive like a deux machina, it had to be that man. Unfortunately, he was bad at that moment of containing his shock as the woman looked at the man with a toothy grin
"It's that man eh?" She jumped up from her chair, and in a blaze of newfound energy, she ran to catch up to the dust user. The man just sat there, mouth still agape and eyes still widened, he dug his face into his hands as he cried out
"We are all going to die!" All of the bar patrons looked at the man, wondering what is going on this time "Alva Adalwolfa The Winter Hunter is on the hunt!" Everyone who even knew her stared in shock as they all prepared for the worst that may drag them into the mix "She's fighting Gray King Lloyd!" Everyone then proceeded to evacuate the area in record time.
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A man was working on a weapon project on his anvil and worktable in a rustic styled weapons shop. The shelves were filled with various types of trick weaponry, dust ammunition, dust infused armors and standard armors, and pure dust lined up everywhere possible without cluttering the place and somehow maintaining an organized shop. This smith was a good sized man with an impressive build on him. His skin is tanned, he has short silver hair and eyes, of course, he is in his work outfit, a thick and sturdy garb of a brown blacksmith apron, long sleeved loose tan shirt, and sturdy jeans along with black boots and work gloves, along with the welding mask.
He was doing precise, delicate work, while alternating between the worktable and anvil, when a panicked civilian slammed through his door, panting and out of breathe, and peeving off the blacksmith 'Damn, I forgot to lock the door'
"Nuada-!" Before he could even begin, Nuada threw a wrench that barely missed the man's skull and went across the street and was stuck into the opposite wall. The blacksmith cracked his head several times as he did an intimidating and absurd head tilt while looking at the man,
"You better have a good explanation for interrupting me" His voice was that of a demon and the man practically pooped his pants and wore it as a badge of honor for not dying.
"N-n-n-nu-" Nuada slammed his fist into the anvil, breaking it slightly, and then he realized he had hit the anvil. He held his hands to his temples,
"Crap crap crap! Wrong object!" The civilian cleared his throat, and with no fear, he declared,
"Alva is on the hunt!" The blacksmith looked at him confused,
"Who the hell is Alva?"
"And she is about to fight Lloyd, the gray king!"
"Who the hell is Lloyd?! And king?! Is he a royal?!" He contemplated on how he can do business with a king, and then he realized what kind of king would exist in the world he resides in. In which case, he disappointed himself. The civilian stood there for a tiny bit before exclaiming,
"We will give you compensation for-" The word compensation was the magic word as the blacksmith immediately went to his back room and came out carrying a giant cross, bigger than the man himself, that was wrapped in thick tan cloth and some sort of buckle straps.
"Where are these children who are all over the shop!" He had said this statement in some sort of...Irish accent, for some reason.
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Slowly but surely, Lloyd had gotten Ciara to a sweets shop. Both of them sat down with Lloyd's overbearing backpack hitting the ground with a loud resonating thud. As part the usual, the orders were taken and Lloyd was resting his entire body due to the strenuous carrying he had to do. While he was resting, Alva the hunter was nearby watching the two of them, 'I wonder how strong that dust user is...Wait who's that little girl? She seems...A bit off' Then somewhere hidden in an alley which is nearby the others, the civilian who had gotten Nuada had led him to the possible fighting area that may occur. Then he scampered off somewhere far away as Nuada just sat in the alley awaiting the fight to begin,
'Do these people have radar? How did that man manage to properly lead me to my targets?...Well, no matter' The welding-masked man adjusted the dust ammunition in his cross. 'When the battle starts, I will show those known, unknown famous people my dear dust'
Incoming battle sequence next chapter. Will I be consistent with this story? Hopefully so. But if I'm not...I blame life.