RWBY: Rising Shadow
(This story will start with a narration by an unknown woman)
Space, a vast, endless sea of stars can normally be seen when the bright light of the sun dies away. For the people of Remnant, this is the "untapped frontier", as some unknown force or aspect of their planet denies them the chance to set sail through it. And so, they must make do with what they have on the surface of their world. But life is not made of sunshine and rainbows, as humanity and the race known as the Faunus have a sinister threat that breathes down their necks and sits at their doors. For millennia, They have been at war with the Creatures of Grimm, a vast and seemingly endless stream of monsters that prey on the negative emotions that both species produce. But the creatures that are humans and Faunus are crafty, and found ways to push back against the darkness and with dust at their side, civilization rose up and shined light across the world. But, their hearts are fragile and delicate gems, and one tragedy will change their world forever...
(Story begins)
Blazing through space, at incredible speed, a comet soared towards the shattered moon of Remnant with no signs of slowing down. It was massive in size, roughly four times the size of the largest mountain. As it soared past the moon and caused small shards of itself to impact on the lunar surface, several of the moon's broken pieces that varied in their size and mass, were violently dragged from the gravitational orbit of the moon. Some were obliterated by the fast moving comet, but a large cluster of pieces that had a few the size of a football field among them, began to drift away and towards the only thing with a strong enough gravitational pull; the planet itself.
SDC Offices
Coastal City of Appomattox, Atlas
5:00 am
At one of the many offices that were owned by the branches of the SDC, a lone office worker arrived early to get some last minute work for the company taken care of. He was a human man with a slight muscular build and a unique scar on the left side of his face, hinting towards a different career before being employed by the SDC. He approached the security guard at the desk, who was a portly fellow in his mid 40's, who was snacking on a donut...
"Yo, Franklin." The guard said.
"Hey Tony, how are you doing?" Franklin said.
"I'm doing alright, surprised to see you here this early." Tony responded.
"Forgot to grab some important papers on my way out last night, so I decided to come in early to get them." Franklin explained.
"Well, let me walk you up, standard protocol." Tony said.
"Alright man." Franklin said casually.
Tony got up from behind the desk, and followed Franklin over to the elevators where they proceeded to take the elevator up to the 32nd floor where Franklin worked. The 32nd floor was filled with cubicles and corner offices. They stepped out of the elevator, and walked through the Cubicle rows to look for Franklin's...
"You got to understand why I got to walk with you, right?" Tony asked.
"Yeah, new policy that old man Jacques put in place after the Rochelle fiasco. Security has to accompany any employees that arrive before work schedule hours to avoid espionage." Franklin said.
"Yeah, After Rochelle got busted for corporate espionage, Jacques took every measure possible to avoid further incidents." Tony said as they arrived at Franklin's cubicle.
"Well, what ever happened to Rochelle?" Franklin said.
"Trust me, you-" Tony said before being interrupted.
The two men were surprised by a loud, roaring sound that completely caught them both off guard and by surprise. They were surprised to see a large fireball blazing towards the bay after they ran to the windows. It impacted just outside the bay of the city, igniting in a bright light and sending a shockwave that shattered the windows...
"What the hell?" Tony exclaimed.
"Looks like a meteorite impact." Franklin said.
"I thought those couldn't happen." Tony said before noticing something off about Franklin.
He then looked in the direction that Franklin was, the direction of the shoreline, in which he saw a startling sight. The water of the shores began to retreat with tremendous speed, out towards the area where the impact was...
"Is there anyone else in this building?" Franklin asked.
"Just me, you, Ronnie, Billy, and a couple of janitors." Tony explained.
"Tell Ronnie and Billy to tell those janitors to haul it to the 45th floor." Franklin ordered.
"What? Why?" Tony asked.
"Because water retreating like that means that whatever just impacted was the prelude to a massive tsunami!" Franklin exclaimed as the ground began to shake.
Large waves began to crash against the shore, in which Franklin began to rush several workers upstairs to the 45th floor of the building. They watched in horror as a massive wave engulfed the city and began to destroy everything in its path. But as the waters receded, a strange black sarcophagus emerged within the ruins of the city among the debris that washed up because of the wave.
"Is this the end of the world?" Tony asked in a scared tone.
"Maybe, look." Franklin said.
The group watched in horror as a large cluster of lights began to fall heavily towards the surface at high speed...
(Narration resumes)
The human heart is a fragile gem, but the soul is where the humans are at their strongest. It allows them to endure whatever hardship befalls them, and it delivers them their hope. But there is another spot of their hope; Family. You damage that, then hope will diminish from existence within the human to the point of disappearance. Because of this, humanity has only one weak point in their core. When that weakness is accidentally exploited by tragedy, this moment triggers a single question that becomes the most important lesson for life. Will you endure?
City Of Vale
7:30 am
Ruby and Weiss were walking down the street early the morning as a package from home came for Weiss. So Ruby decided to accompany her to the city, since they had some free time today due to it being a day off.
"Thanks for helping me out today, Ruby." Weiss said.
"Not a problem, we're teammates after all." Ruby responded.
"Yeah, plus you owe me one for covering for you yesterday in science class." Weiss said.
"You still holding that over my head?" Ruby said in an annoyed tone.
Flashback
Dr. Ian Couldry, a well-known Aletian scientist on cryogenics, was a human man in his mid-40's with chiseled looks and a well-trimmed beard. He was known for his research into cryogenic studies and their applications to the field of emergency rescue as he believed that cryogenic pods could be utilized in the field as a means to transport critically wounded patients. Weiss and Ruby were in the fourth row with Yang and Blake, with Weiss getting irritated by Ruby's constant snickering every time he said a word that sounded dirty...
"Alright, who's been snickering every time?" Professor Peach demanded.
"Sylvia passed gas so Cardin found that it was funny." Weiss immediately said.
The two students who Weiss mentioned immediately were shocked by the accusation, in which Peach responded appropriately by reminding Sylvia to hold it in til the class was over, while scolding Cardin for being disrespectful.
Present Day
As the two girls walked towards the end of the sidewalk, they passed by a television store that was about to play a breaking news story...
"Umm, Weiss?" Ruby said, getting her teammate's attention.
"Hmm?" Weiss asked.
"We halt your regularly scheduled broadcast to bring you a breaking news story out of the Kingdom of Mantle. A massive tsunami has struck off the eastern seaboard of the Kingdom and has decimated three separate cities along the coast. Reports state that fatalities stand in the ten thousands, and damage estimates total approximately over 3 billion lien. Authorities are calling this tragedy "the worst of the decade." Lisa Lavender explained.
"Oh my God." Ruby said in a shocked tone.
"How on earth did it happen?" Weiss inquired.
"Eye witness reports state that a series of unidentified objects impacted off the edge of the coast, with a recorded force that was difficult to register. Wait, we've just receiving reports of similar impacts have occurred in Vacuo and Haven." Lisa Lavender said.
"Vacuo and Haven? Just what is going on?" Weiss demanded.
"Umm...Weiss?" Ruby said.
"What?" Weiss asked.
"Do you hear that?" Ruby asked, referring to the loud, roaring sound.
Picking up on what Ruby was saying, Weiss began to hear a loud, roaring sound that seemed to be getting closer until the two girls saw a bright, fireball strike a nearby building just across the way. Then, the roaring sound continued as multiple, similar fireballs began to pelt the city in a barrage of destruction...
"ATTENTION, ALL VALE CITIZENS, AN OMEGA RED SITUATION IS IN PROGRESS, PROCEED TO YOUR DESIGNATED SHELTERS IMMEDIATELY." The Emergency PA said.
"Come on, run!" Weiss exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Ruby shouted.
"The nearest shelter if I remember correctly is on Clifford street. If we keep moving, we can make it." Weiss said as the two turned the corner.
As the two ran for their lives, Blake and Yang were having a difficult time as well back on the Campus...
Beacon Academy
7:35 am
The campus of Beacon Academy was in total chaos as the fast-moving meteors bombarded both the city and the campus grounds. Ozpin's voice blared over the intercom, telling all students and staff to get to the on-campus shelters immediately...
"What the heck is going on?" Nora asked.
"It's some kind of meteor shower." Ren said in a surprised tone.
"I'm sure meteors are not supposed to be this scary!" Jaune shouted.
"We have to get to the shelters, hurry!" Yang shouted.
As Yang, Blake, and Team JNPR ran towards the shelters, Blake immediately noticed a student was trapped underneath a thrown bench near one of the impacted meteors, which still radiated with heat from its arrival. Blake immediately ran over to the student to assist...
"Hey, are you alright?" Blake asked.
"My leg's pinned down and I can't really feel it right now." The student explained.
"Means its probably broken. Let me try to get this bench off." Blake said as Nora rushed over to help.
"Let me give you a hand." Nora said.
Nora lifted the bench off the student while Blake pulled them away from the bench as Nora dropped it. Afterwards, Nora carried the student on her back towards the shelters while Blake followed behind them. As the group neared the shelters, Yang turned back to how they were doing in which she saw a meteor heading towards the area just behind them...
"Come on! Hurry!" Yang shouted.
Blake immediately noticed the incoming meteor, and realized that Nora has been slowing down due to the fact that she had been carrying the injured student. Realizing the dangerous situation that they were in, Blake immediately jumped into the student's back and sent the two flying forward as the meteor hit the ground and exploded in a bright light...
"BLAKE!" Yang shouted in horror.
Back in Vale
Ruby and Weiss ran through the streets, desperately trying to reach the shelter and avoid getting hit by the massive meteors that were bombarding the city. Burning cars flew through the air, stone and debris fell from buildings that were hit, and some areas had massive explosions occurring.
"Why does the next shelter have to be so far?!" Ruby exclaimed in annoyance.
"How was I supposed to know that the shelter I knew of would be filled?!" Weiss responded as she was panting and out of breath.
As the two turned the corner, a meteor impacted in a nearby dust shop, starting a fire which Ruby immediately noticed but Weiss didn't notice because she was distracted by her lack of breath...
"Weiss, look out!" Ruby shouted.
"Ruby?" Weiss said in a confused tone.
Ruby immediately pulled her teammate back far enough before the shop exploded in a ball of fire and sent shards flying everywhere, and hit Ruby so fast that Weiss could hear through the loud sound of the explosion was a loud, tearing sound...
This concludes the first chapter of RWBY: Rising Shadow, a story centered around Team RWBY as they are divided as a great tragedy had befallen the World of Remnant in the form of the Moonfall, an event in which pieces of Remnant's broken moon have been thrown into the gravitational pull of Remnant and have bombarded the surface of the planet. The fates of Blake, Weiss, and Ruby are currently unknown as Vale is under bombardment by a violent shower of moon pieces and Atlas has suffered from a violent tsunami. The next chapter will pick up with Weiss making a serious decision when a life is in her hands, the event gets even worse, and a new character is introduced as Weiss has a task for them...
WAIT AND SEE...