Alrighty then, let me try to keep this brief and to the point. This series occurs before RWBY airs and will not feature anything more than cameos/brief interactions with the older RWBY cast. It is written purely to explore the dynamics of the main team and how they respond to events and trials.I will try to keep it as close to RWBY canon as possible(future episodes may ruin this), and have the characters as grounded as possible. Enjoy.
Introductions
Yonsa Chén Zhuáng De
Yonsa marvelled at the airship that he was currently in. If they had had such things back in Anima, it would have been a lot easier travelling from town to town without needing to fear the Grimm. Then again, if such devices had been common, he likely would not have had a job to keep him fed.
The thought of the long treks between the towns of Anima made him reach for the pocket inside his cloak where he kept his supply of edible roots. It wasn't that he was particularly hungry, but he had always liked chewing on stuff while he travelled from place to place, though he did suppose that the habit might have developed from trying to stave off actual hunger.
The cloak was an old and ragged thing that had only recently begun to fit him properly. It had plenty of internal pockets to store items that could not be in his backpack, and its brown colour made it easy to hide in the vegetation if Grimm was nearby, though he supposed its original colour might have done the same thing. Who knew, perhaps the laundry machines of Beacon could accomplish what dozens of washes in the rivers of Anima could not and turn it back to its original green colour.
"We are now approaching Beacon Academy. Please gather your things and prepare to exit", the speakers announced.
Yonsa already had everything he owned with him. His extra clothes and supplies were in his backpack and his spear was tied to it, so as to not seem armed. Had he been on the road in Anima, he would have used the spear as a walking cane, in part to provide easy testing of treacherous terrain, but more importantly, to be ready for any sudden Grimm attacks.
His spear was like the rest of his clothes, unassuming and there to fulfil a purpose. Its dark oak shaft had broken and been replaced over the years, as had everything else on it aside from the metal head. It was good durable metal, and the only thing that he really valued on the spear. Well, he supposed he also gave some value to the red sash tied around the metal head to protect it from the elements, and which was fastened at the connections between the shaft and the head. It had been a gift.
The airship soon came to a halt and everyone began departing. Yonsa followed them without further ado. His gnawing on a root did attract some curious glances initially, but they were soon bored with it. Just as well. It was much easier to study people when they didn't pay attention to you.
Yonsa knew that he would have to find a partner and team for the duration of his education, and like when you picked out trade caravans, it was necessary to know which ones could be useful and which ones could not. Everyone travelling between the towns of Anima would either quickly learn that or die somewhere on the road. Whether it was from a bandit attack, Grimm or the trade caravan robbing and leaving you, the end would be all the same.
There were a few characters that stood out amongst the crowd. One was from Anima, like him, as evidenced by her style of attire. She had a light chest plate with sharp shoulder pads that was mostly black, except for the golden edges. Underneath it, she had red clothing that looked to be of very good quality. Her black shoulder-length hair was pulled behind her ears, exposing more of her pale neck than otherwise would have been visible from the side. With no baggage or weapon visible on her, Yonsa guessed that she had had someone take care of them for her. There was no doubt in his mind that she was amongst Mistral's upper class, though he could not fathom why she would not just attend Haven. Her parents' influence was unlikely to reach all the way to Vale after all.
She could be a good meal ticket, Yonsa mused unfazed, then again, her family might very well just make me disappear to save the family name.
He quickly decided that it would be better just to stay clear of her, though not to any extent that she might think he was actively avoiding her. Who knew if she might take offense and have her family do it anyway?
Yonsa had not met anyone from Mistral's upper class, but from the stories that he had heard, the best way to survive them was to bow your head, stay out of their way and pretend that you were not there. If you did that, they were more likely to pretend that too, and then everyone would be happy.
The others that sprang to attention were mostly Faunus, though that had more to do with them being easily identifiable from the crowd. Still, even if the bear Faunus had not had brown bear ears, he would still have been easily identifiable by his enormous size.
Yonsa considered himself average of height, and this guy easily towered over him with at least a head or two, and he was practically as wide as two Yonsas standing side by side. It wasn't just size either, as the well-defined muscles underneath his clothes were only too visible.
He could break me in half with one hand, Yonsa mused with trepidation, might be potential for a teammate. I could use him for anything that requires raw power, and opponents would be more likely to notice him in a fight than me.
Provided that he was not all show, Yonsa could definitely see potential uses for him. Him being a faunus would have subtracted from his overall rating, if not for his size making it unlikely for anyone to try and discriminate against him openly. Plus, that size intimidation would transfer to his companions as well.
Mentally noting to keep a closer eye on bear guy, Yonsa continued studying the other initiates for possible advantages and disadvantages. He managed to also keep an eye on where they were going while he was studying the others, as always keeping one eye on the environment was a necessary skill to survive in the wilderness beyond the walls.
Sooner than later, they were in a grand hall with a stage had been set up for the opening speech at the end. A somewhat middle-aged guy with glasses, silver hair and a cane soon took the stage.
"Hello, my name is Professor Ozpin. I am the headmaster of Beacon", he started saying, quickly quieting down everyone, "Many of you have come here for one reason or another. Whether to find fame, become the best, gain wealth or some other reason, I tell you now that your reason for being here will be challenged during your stay here. You will find little fame and less wealth. There will always be someone better than you, and you may very well die before ever seeing your other goals completed."
Chipper fellow, Yonsa mused sarcastically as he continued scanning the crowd for reactions. Their reactions to his speech might show some of who they were and why they were here.
One girl with red hair, a long green formal dress and a katana strapped to her side looked like she couldn't believe what the headmaster had just told them. Then again, Yonsa could not imagine what she thought she was signing up for if that was her fighting attire. A long dress like that would only get in the way of her feet, except of course if it was in the style usually employed by the common people of Anima, where there was a slit all the way down to allow leg movement.
Yonsa himself had a traditional Anima working dress on that only went to his thighs, and which had pants underneath and a whitish sash acting as a belt. Unlike his cloak, his inner attire had faded to a lighter dusty brown from the darker brown that they had originally been in.
The headmaster soon finished up and they were told further instructions about where to sleep until they were properly initiated on the morrow. The others were still chatting about what he had meant by his sombre speech.
Yonsa assumed that it was meant to gauge reactions and separate the wheat from the chaff. Not that he really cared. Beacon was simply the place that would provide him with a necessary set of skills, so whatever reasons its headmaster deemed necessary to act as a Huntsman was of no real concern to him.
After being led to a large room, where they were told to spend the night, Yonsa started to make a nest in one of the corners. Luckily, sleeping bags had been provided for them, or else he would have had to sleep in his cloak.
There were a few tussles and other shenanigans between the other initiates, but nothing that overly added or subtracted any points in his evaluation of them. The one thing he did find odd was that the boys and girls had been told to share the room, though then again, from the instructions earlier, it sounded like teams were sharing rooms, so they might just not have cared if it started one night earlier.
Still, it was quite a bold policy to have for co-eds to be sharing rooms. Yonsa briefly wondered how they had managed to get that past the parents, and upon thinking of that, he wondered what would happen to the roommates of the rich girl from earlier. If she didn't just buy her own room, then her parents were likely to severely threaten any males in her team.
Oh well, it would not be his problem, as he was very unlikely to pick her as a teammate, and she likely didn't even know that he existed. A fact that Yonsa would work to keep that way.
The next morning was fairly uneventful. They had breakfast and then prepared for their initiation. In Yonsa's case, that simply meant dumping his travelling cloak with the rest of his stuff and removing the red sash that protected his spearhead from the elements.
As he understood it, it was supposed to be a relatively short mission to gauge their skills, so he was unlikely to need anything from the pockets in his cloak, and it would only get in the way if there was heavy undergrowth in the forest.
With no new information about the others, he supposed that the initiation mission would provide him with valuable info about the others in real world situations. If possible, he would like to study bear guy further.
They were led out to the edge of a cliff overlooking a forest and told to stand on some platforms that did not look like they belonged in the scenery. Some careful prodding indicated that there was some sort of spring supporting them underneath.
"Hello again", the assistant teacher said, "in a few moments, you will be launched from these platforms and down to the forest below. You will be expected to form your own landing strategy."
Could have used the cloak now, Yonsa mused slightly annoyed, it would have made for a decent parachute to lessen the fall.
"Once there, you will be assigned the partner that you will spend the rest of your team at Beacon with", she continued, "that partner will be the first that you make eye contact with-"
Wait what!?, Yonsa suddenly thought alarmed, and leave it to chance? No freaking way!
"- you and your partner will head to the ruins in the northern end of the forest and retrieve a relic, which you are to bring back to this cliff", she continued like she had not just dropped a bombshell on everyone, "you will be graded for both your interactions with the Grimm and your fellow students. That is all. Prepare to be launched."
Alright, I can still influence this, Yonsa rationalized, I just have to treat the others as Grimm and only engage if I at least approve of the match. Since everyone will be headed towards the same direction, I just have to head there without anyone noticing and wait for a suitable candidate.
The launching off had already begun, and aside from the bear guy being thrown significantly shorter than the ones before him, they went off without a hitch.
Sooner than he would have liked, it became Yonsa's turn to get catapulted off. He still had no definitive landing strategy, only a general idea that he needed to convert as much vertical speed into horizontal speed as possible. If he could do that and avoid ramming into something, air resistance would take care of the rest.
He angled his body to get as close to 45 degrees as he could and aimed for the branches of a suitable tree. As he hit it, he momentarily upped his strength by a bit to provide the necessary push with his legs to mostly convert his remaining vertical speed into horizontal. From there, it was a much simpler task of simply not hitting anything as he decelerated.
So far so good, he mused, now all I have to do is not get noticed. The treetops ought to suffice.
He quickly jumped up into one of the trees and tested its strength. Good, it didn't rustle too much. He hadn't expected it to, as he did not weigh that much. From up here, there was a decent view of the shrubbery below, and the trees seemed dense enough to allow him to traverse them without having to get down.
He quickly headed northwards, passing a few Huntsmen and Huntresses on the way. A lot of them were already paired up, and those that were still single didn't appear promising. Well, rich girl had seemed quite a formidable fighter, even without a visible weapon, and he suspected that she had also noticed him passing, but he was not getting involved with her. He also dearly hoped that she either hadn't recognized him or wouldn't take offense to being passed over.
Another that he passed over was the girl with the long dress, though her performance had not exactly improved his opinion of her. Unfortunately, he had not seen bear guy yet. With the situation as it was, he would have to chance it, unless the guy proved useless beforehand.
As he continued making his way to the ruins, he briefly wondered if he should up his speed to get there faster. In the end, he decided against it, as his aura might be needed elsewhere. Besides, it was not like he had to fight Grimm on the way, like all the people on the ground had to.
His time in Anima had taught him many things about how to avoid Grimm, but one of the most important lessons was that the Grimm were practically endless. Unless you had a specific reason to engage them, it was better to pass them over 9 out of 10 times.
When he finally reached the edge of the forest, he was able to spot the ruins with the relics. They were empty at the moment, but he still checked his surroundings to make sure that no one was near. It wouldn't do to get sloppy near the end.
Confident that there was no one near, he proceeded to examine the ruins. There was a circle of pedestals with a small stone idol on each, except for a few that had obviously already been taken. Each idol seemed different at first, but upon closer inspection, there were a pair of each kind.
Ah, so that is how it is, Yonsa realized.
If they had not said that they would be keeping an eye on them, he would have taken a number of idols from the untouched pairs and waited to see which other pair seemed the most compatible. As it was, he merely returned to his hiding spot in the treetops and waited for a suitable partner to arrive. Someone had to arrive sooner or later.
While he waited, a few pairs came and went. He made sure to note down which idol each one took as a reference. Eventually, rich girl appeared and was still without a partner.
Should he take her anyway? From what he had seen of her fighting earlier, she would certainly be a boost in that area.
The sound of gunfire from the nearby forest broke his thoughts. Hoping for a second choice, he immediately headed towards the sounds. He heard rich girl follow his example somewhat behind him, so he used his Semblance to boost his speed in an effort to get there faster than rich girl.
Upon arriving at the scene, he noted a blue-haired wolf faunus girl in a tight-fitting one-piece jumpsuit with a grey front, black sides and red lines marking the edge between the black and grey. Strangely, her hair was coloured lapis lazuli colour, but her voluminous tail was red with a splash of white at the end.
On her hands, there were metal hand claws with 4 claws each and a gun-like device protruding from the back of her hand that had a line connecting them to ammo chambers on her forearms.
She was surrounded by at least a dozen beowolves and looked like she was somewhat exhausted, but otherwise in good condition.
Should I let rich girl get her?, he wondered.
It wasn't that he had anything against Faunus. In fact, their abilities often made them valuable allies, provided that you could trust them to not turn you over to the White Fang. If he recalled correctly, wolves had good night vision, and her tail looked like it would be make for an excellent pillow to keep warm with, though its owner might object if it was still attached to her.
No, the problem was that other people discriminated against them, which he would have to also deal with if he was on a team with one. Bear guy was different due to his imposing size, but this one would be an easy target…was what he thought until she chewed through the dozen Grimm with hardly any effort.
She'll do, he thought with awe as he dropped down with enough rustling to attract her attention. She immediately assumed it was another Grimm and promptly pointed her wrist-guns at him. He waved at her in a non-threatening manner, though without smiling.
Upon closer inspection, he could see that she had red eyes and looked a little taller than himself. Behind him, the rustling of leaves indicated that rich girl had just arrived at the scene. He really didn't want to turn around and face the rich girl that he had not only passed over, but also stolen a possible partner from.
"Are you two partnered?", wolf girl asked curiously.
"No", Yonsa answered in what he hoped would be a non-offensive voice to rich girl.
"Alright, then I suppose we two are then", wolf girl answered with a nod, before a large rustling sound from behind her alerted everyone. By the sound of it, its size had to be that of an ursa.
Wolf girl had her wrist-guns trained on the sound, rich girl had taken up a defensive martial arts stance, though still without a weapon visible, and Yonsa had gripped his spear and prepared to lunge if necessary. It would probably be best to follow the more trigger happy people's lead until they got a proper set of rules of engagement up and running.
It turned out to be another disappointment for wolf girl, as bear guy emerged from the shrubbery. Yonsa supposed that he would be the only one large enough to make that much noise. He was wearing a brown and yellow set of heavy armour with a matching warhammer.
"Well, I guess you've got your partner too now", wolf girl commented to rich girl with what Yonsa believed to be a bit of annoyance in her voice. It was fine though, he would have preferred bear guy too, "now, how about some introductions? I'm Lafiel Lamprose."
"Yonsa Chén Zhuáng De", Yonsa continued with a small wave to everyone.
"My name is Seishin Kuma", bear guy said, before turning to rich girl, "and you are to be my partner?"
"It appears so", rich girl agreed, "and for the record, my name is Pandora of the Azura family. I'm from Mistral."
"Menagerie, born and raised", wolf girl answered.
"Vale, likewise", bear guy followed.
"Anima", Yonsa answered without specifying further. Considering he had only been to Mistral a select few times, he couldn't exactly claim that as his place of origin, and anything more specific would have been lost on anyone here anyways.
"Good, now that we have introduced ourselves, how about the four of us form a team? If anyone knows how to do that, that is", wolf girl questioned, though it did not look like she was expecting any rebuttals.
The other two quickly agreed to it, and Yonsa followed suit, so as to not create any tensions between them already. With the situation already unfolding, he would just have to change and adapt to it. With this team, he simply had to not antagonize rich girl, and then her parents would likely focus more on the two faunus on her team than him.
"By the way, to form a team, I just think we need both pairs to pick the same idol from the ruins over there", Yonsa added with a gesture towards where they had come from, resigned to this pairing definitely happening. At least he wouldn't be the shortest of the group.
"Alright, then let's go get this mission finished already", wolf girl said and lead the way.
And that was how team LPYS was founded.
So, that was the introduction to how team LPYS(Lapis) was formed from the POV of one of its members.
If you want to know more, feel free to make a review, and I will get back to you. Unlike some of my previous work, I don't plan on having many secrets about the characters that the readers cannot know until a big Aha! moment, so you can ask me about them as well(though I will detail everyone's Semblances more in the near future's chapters, so much of it will probably be filled out there, but feel free to hit me up for further clarifications).
Also different from my previous works is that I don't plan on having a upload schedule, as this work is mostly a way for me to toy around with these characters and explore them. As such, I currently only have plans for how the introduction period will occur(that will take a while) and what happens to the characters after they graduate. Everything in between those two can be added later on in a non-chronological order on an idea-by-idea basis.
P.S. I originally envisioned Lafiel to have red wolf ears too, but then I found the rule that Faunus could only have 1 animal trait.