RWBY: The Great War
Prologue 1: Verde
High noon, and the sun shone brilliantly – some might say punishingly – upon the forests of Vytal. It had indeed been particularly warm this past week, and this day seemed especially so. Even life in the forest seemed to come to a standstill; only a few predators seemed out on the hunt today, and their prey seemed perfectly content to stay in their dens. The various birdsongs could be heard echoing through the forest, carried by the high winds these parts were famous for.
A tiger sniffed hopefully at the air, seeking out the scent of prey. It had been a few days since her last kill – a deer which had had a curious wound on its hind leg which made it easy to chase down – and soon she would need another. There was no deer-scent in this gust of wind, but there was something else. Blood.
The tiger followed the scent trail. She had hunted here often and knew that direction would take her near a south-flowing stream. She sensed she was getting nearer, and slowed her pace. The smell of blood meant that whatever she was tracking may be wounded, but that also meant whatever caused that wound could be lurking about. A skirmish with another predator would be bad; she had been getting fewer kills as of late, as if the animals she hunted had fled the forest itself.
She reached the edge of the treeline and stopped, still hidden in the shadows. The stream meant that there were plenty of trees and bushes for cover. There was indeed something wounded by the stream. It was unmoving, either resting or dying from its wounds. The tiger bent low and began circling towards it, still hidden by the forest.
"Shit, what now?" said the cloaked figure by the riverbank. She had been running through the woods all of last night and had just come to rest here before daybreak. After tending to her wounds (most of them, anyway) she couldn't hold back her exhaustion and fell asleep. Her mistake, as she now realized, was not making sure how safe she was from the forest inhabitants.
"That's what I get, then. Lesson learned, right?" She reached behind her for her blades, reliable companions that have never failed her. "Not yet, at least." She could feel that whatever was stalking her was taking its time getting closer. If she made any sudden movement, she might spur whatever beast it was to chase her. Any other day, she knew she could outrun the beast, but the state she was in now…
Fighting the beast wasn't something she was too fond of either, but if it came to that… well, she'd think about that when she had to. For now, though, she got to her feet, her wounds preventing her from moving as freely.
She had hung her bag in one of the branches above her (at least I remembered that much), but luckily what she needed was in a pouch tied to her belt.
"I need to time this just right." She muttered under her breath. She reached in the pouch with her gloved hand and pulled out a handful of fine, brownish powder. She then willed the curved blades to their places on her glove. The blades glowed for a moment, absorbing the Dust in her hand until it was gone. She repeated this with her other hand.
Just then, the tiger jumped out of the trees. She had just enough time to shout a curse and dodge to her side. The tiger was already circling around to her. She threw one of her knives, but the sting in her shoulder caused her to miss her mark. As the tiger pounced she cast her Aura and instead of having a tiger's paw in her stomach she was knocked back instead. The tiger seemed surprised that its claws didn't tear meat from bone and took a few seconds to regain its momentum.
Those seconds were all she needed. Wincing at the pain in one shoulder, she swiped both arms down. The blades flew from her gloves and moved in arcs toward the tiger. The tiger, responding to her sudden motion, veered left as one of the blades cut its ear and another its foreleg. Some of the other blades then curved and changed course, following the tiger. Within an instant the blades caught up with the tiger and embedded themselves in the ground in front of it. The moment they struck, the ground exploded, sending dust and pebbles flying everywhere. Startled, the tiger fled back into the forest, with less energy than it had started with and no kills to show for it.
As the dust cleared, the girl straightened up and summoned her blades back to her.
"Sorry about that," she said, "but cats really shouldn't fight each other." She pulled back her hair to reveal bright green hair, and equally green cat ears which ended in black tips.