Rogueoftime89: The game series known as Fire Emblem is owned by Nintendo Entertain and RWBY is the rightful property of Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth Productions – I write this purely out of creative fun. Flames shall be ignored while constructive criticism and recommendations will be considered.
Prologue: Story of Creation
Legends
Stories scattered through time.
Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of Heroes and Villains, forgetting so easily that we are Remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past.
More than that, the convenient lie of forgetting the mistakes committed in the name of what man calls Good and Evil.
Before Dust and before Man there were two dragons that held shared dominion over the world – one light and one dark.
The gods of old left them charge of the realm and all the creatures therein, to safeguard until their return.
To assist them with their task, the dragons combined their strength and each created a race to help them with this task as custodians of the world.
Naga, The Light Dragon, took a handful of dust and breathed life into it, creating a race wise, strong and resourceful – a race known as Man.
Grima, the Dark Dragon, took up the creatures of the earth and blessed them with knowledge and form to rival men and that race would come to call themselves Faunus.
For a time the races of Men and Faunus coexisted in harmony under the watchful eyes of their draconic benefactors, learning and building together and creating a ripe and fruitful civilization.
But then came the folly of choice.
Men and Faunus slowly began to grow closer to Naga and further away from Grima, worshipping her in large grand temples and calling her the true benefactor of all races.
Naga, who held influence over the spheres of Life, Nature, and Creation, was associated by both races to represent all of the happiness and peace they would desire.
In contrast was Grima, who held dominion over the dead and who brought destruction to those withering and dying to cleanse the world, and was thought of as Vile and Foul, with his appearance inspiring great fear in the hearts of the mortal races.
Grima, in jealous spite, began to entice the races with promises of longevity, power, and of a paradise that would await them after death. For a short while this promise brought the races back into balance.
But even promise spoken could not hold sway over men, for their hearts learned the sin of Pride and Greed.
They took their gifts and returned to Naga once more, further angering Grima. Naga saw them and spoke thus
"Be wary, o youthful mortals, for your actions spite the one who keeps this world clean and pure."
"But it is you who keeps world clean, for you are happiness and life and light. It is you who holds this world in light, o Divine Dragon." Man spoke. "Foul Grima of the dark can only taint that which you create, for he is but a monster – a devil who deals for the souls of your flock."
"And so have ye race of mortal men learned of deception, both of self and others. Be warned, my children, that such actions can only have dire consequences."
Thus rang true, for as time moved on and only the most devoted of Grima remained the dark dragons jealousy and spite only grew until one day he gave in to destructive temptation and, in a fit of madness, broke the moon high above.
Men and Faunus alike then knew fear and hid in Her temples, pleading and begging Naga to speak with Grima and to calm the dragon of death. So thus she complied and went to sooth the maddened dragon.
"Hail, Fell Dragon" she spoke "Please collect yourself and be calm, for mortal eyes have witnessed your deeds and now they refuse to wander the world for fear of your rage. They have learned what it truly means to anger thee, so please cull thy needless vindication and purge thyself before such becomes naught but hatred in your heart." The fell dragon turned and replied with voice full of venom and malice.
"Yet of course it would be you who would speak to me and not the cowards who hide in your temples and your sanctuaries. It would be you who deem to chastise me for inconveniencing the sermons and praises to you. They have forgotten it was I who brought life into the world, same as you, and that it is I who hold the darkness at bay from swallowing the world. They refute me and abscond with my gifts of friendship and my teachings to lay them thus at your feet, divine dragon! Just to claim that it was thee who gave those gifts to the mortals! Nay I shall not – will not – stop! If Men claim me a monster, then it shall be so!" And with that the Fell Dragon struck a grievous wound upon Naga, forcing the Divine Dragon to flee with a heart full of sorrow and loss for her kin forever lost to madness and hate.
At Grimas command the dead began to rise and walk the earth to wage war upon the living, their bodies surrounded by the vile magic of un-life wrought by the dragon of death. They could not feel pain, hunger or exhaustion and were a relentless enemy without mercy or pity.
For many a generation mortals fought against the tide of the risen dead and valiantly they have kept the hordes from overwhelming them yet for as many that they struck down would two rise in their place. It is the realm of death the fell dragon held influence and those mortals who fell in battle were fated to serve the very enemy they swore to defend against.
Naga, weak from her wounds, could not assist men directly and she would not clash herself against the foul dragon lest the world be broken in twain from that meeting. Thus she decided instead to call upon Nature to assist her. She took rocks from the earth and blessed them with her light and her power and taught men to use it.
"This shall help thee to Ward the fell dragons armies, for they are Natures Wrath Incarnate. It is only fitting that the very Dust which gave thee life shall also be thy greatest weapon." And thus with Dust Man began to reclaim lost ground and push back the hordes of walking dead.
Learning of the existence of dust, the mad yet cunning dragon ingrained knowledge of Dust to his walking dead and they too began to use Dust against Men. Men once more asked Naga for aid from the Fell Dragon's latest machinations, and Naga spoke thus.
"The Fell dragon holds no influence over life and thus shall it be a gift of life I give. Your souls shall be your sword and shield – it shall protect you from fatal blows for as long as your will stands strong and your sword shall grant thee strength greater than mortal men – each as unique as the snowflakes are to one another." Thus mortals held now the Aura to shield themselves and the Semblance of power to strike back.
Grima now could only watch in rage and frustration as the deathless armies were vanquished, driven back until only the Dragons Table remained in control. While Men were strong, none could hope to best the Fell Dragon in combat no matter their numbers.
It was then that Naga took a fang and a scale from herself. She took five of the purest orbs of Dust and granted them each a small shard of her own soul. She then took her scale and forged from it a great shield and placed the five orbs of power into it, giving it to a chosen mortal anointed with her blood – the one known as Ylisse.
"So long as you hold this Fire Emblem- this Shield of Seals - you shall feel naught but a scratch from the Fell Dragon." She then took the fang and fashioned from it a great sword wreathed in holy flame of the Divine Dragon herself – The Exalt Falchion – and gave it thus to her champion.
"This sword shall pierce the invincible hide of the Fell Dragon and cast him into the realm of death to slumber. Be wary, for even my power may not hold forever against the Fell Dragons influence. Strike fast and true and you shall prevail."
And so her champion Ylisse marched forth with a great many strong and capable companions to meet the Fell Dragon in one last battle at the Dragons Table. Many of his companions were slain and raised as foul Dead Lords in the ensuing battle, with the Fell Dragon and the Great Hero clashing in the middle of the field until – at last – the final blow was struck and the fell dragon crashed from the heavens like a great black star, sealed into death by the combined powers of Mortal and Immortal through the Exalt Falchion and the Fire Emblem.
Men cheered for the fall of their enemy, the armies of undead following their master back into death all around, and mourned for their fallen comrades.
But this was not the end of mans struggles.
Where the fell dragons' body began to decay into shadow, this darkness took new life and form as one last curse given fruit.
These creatures were a malevolent perversion of the creatures of nature and whose very life and purpose revolved around their one desire – the destruction of Man and the Divine Dragon who protected them.
These creatures were called the Grimm – The remnants of Grima.
Still tired from war and having had little warning of their approach, Men were quickly forced back and beaten by the Grimm - hunted down without mercy. No place was safe to hide for they could smell the weakness of men's hearts to find them without fail.
It was then Naga realized her last duty. Taking the fire Emblem in hand, she removed four of the orbs of Dust from the shield and gave them to four of the closest and most trusted heroes who had accompanied her champion.
"I must depart from this Plane of existence lest I follow my kin into madness, for these years of conflict have made me weak. Fear not for I shall endeavor in slumber to protect thee. Go forth with these gems and they shall ward away the Grimm. Keep the gems safe for as long as the Fire Emblem remains incomplete and the gems out of evil hands shall the Fell Dragon never return." With that the Divine Dragon vanished, falling into deep slumber.
Thus began the Schism – the dividing of men – all over Remnant.
The red jewel, Gules, was given to Mantle who went north.
The blue jewel, Azure, was given to Mistral to carry east
The green jewel, Vert, was given to Vale who would remain in the central island
And lastly the violet gem, Sable, was given to Vacuo in the west.
Ylisse remained behind to guard the silver gem, Argent, as well as the Fire Emblem by his right as Champion of Naga – a tradition that all of his descendants would carry from then onward to the end of time.
And thus it was that the fell Dragon remains asleep, doomed to do so perpetually while his Grimm hunts the races of Men. And so Men learned to defend themselves and stand valiant to this day in a harsh and unforgiving world forever changed by the folly of mortal choice and immortal rage.
Rodueoftime89: Just a little something I thought up. Obviously the game we're going for here is Fire Emblem: Awakening. As reviewers I'd like to ask your opinion on how this story should proceed from here. Should I stick with the Gen 1 characters from FE:A? (IE Robin, chrom, lissa, Frederick, etc.) or should I go with Generation 2? (Lucina, morgan/marc, owain, severa, etc.).
*Going with generation 1 will make for an easier to write and more cohesive story, as one can simply modify events form both RWBY and Awakening to fit in together and thusly make a 'volume 4+' as it were. HOWEVER a lot of the gen 1 characters look to be about Taiyang/Qrows age and that can be a bit… daunting. Not to mention this would bring in a HUGE cast as it would mean gen 2 would eventually come along.
*Going generation 2 will make for a more difficult to write story yet will also make more sense for the gen 2 kids to be the main characters as hunter/resses in training, plus could create unique opportunities for each of the canon RWBY characters. Neptune/Lucina anyone? On top of this, not a lot of stories have the gen 2 characters as the stars.
So decide which route I should go – I can go either way – and leave your answer in the review! Oh yes, and before I forget there won't be 'classes' per se in this fanfic. Instead I'll try and keep the weapon choices based on the original/advanced classes of each character or based on personality style. (for example, Lucina's parallel falchion can turn into a lance and utilize dust crystals for 'blade waves' as her long range option, as Great lords can use both swords and lances. In contrast, inigo/laslow would feel better with either a Killer sword/not!a katana or a rapier.) Semblances will follow a similar pattern as well.
Enough rambling for now, see you next time!
-Rogueoftime