I don't own RWBY, all rights reserved by Monty and Roosterteeth.
~15 Years Ago~
Mountain Glen. A city erected outside the kingdom of Vale in hopes to help relieve the growing population of the city. The city had a massive concrete wall that enclosed the city to protect itself from the dangers of Grimm. Inside the city, mans' technological advances were not completely utilized to build this so called utopia. A large majority of the money allocated for the city's construction was localized to the business area and few large homes that were designated for private investors and company families alike. Passed the commercial area were the suburbs meant to house the citizens. At first glance, all the houses were created equal, multiple stories, paved streets, running electricity, and walls to help distinguish neighborhoods. Outside of these walls, far from the sight of ordinary eyes, lay the rest of the city. So called houses that were no more than glorified huts, streets that were poorly paved or not at all, leaving dirt trails that travel from house to house.
The current government had promised many of the lower middle class and low class citizens of Vale better living conditions, a steady income, and for some, equality. The Faunus War, although it had taken place more than 50 years ago, left lingering resentment from those who still believed that the Faunus were inferior to humans. Unfortunately for the Faunus community, a few of the private investors who had helped with the cities construction also shared this belief and hoped to use Mountain Glen to get rid of the growing Faunus population in the kingdom. Once the construction of the city was finished, quiet operations funded by the investors had taken place to uproot the Faunus community from the kingdom of Vale to the new city of Mountain Glen. The White Fang cried out against the injustice that was taking place of their brethren but without proper representation, their cries were just dismissed as another White Fang rally in the eyes of the masses.
The next targeted group for the Vale government was their overcrowded and still growing lower class citizens. Even those in power didn't wish to forcefully remove the people from their homes, due to the obvious reasons of Grimm out in the wild and the possible hunters and huntresses that can be raised, the city started taking a toll in their resources as their upkeep of the citizens began to exceed their expectations. The solution had finally come from an upcoming and pragmatic young general named James Ironwood. He suggested to the Council in Vale to offer their lower classes citizens two possibilities for a better life, the first is to let the young and able to apply for the Atlassian military. He noted the Atlassian military were beginning to decrease in numbers and he believed that offering people a well paying job and a roof under their heads would make the people flock to Atlas. This idea had resounded well within the Council as they relied on hunters and huntresses for defense and had never kept a large standing army. The other option Ironwood had suggested was giving the citizens the newly built houses of Mountain Glen, to allow them to work off for the house as citizens with comfortable living conditions would not risk their lives outside the defenses of the city. The Council made the final decision of allowing Ironwood to recruit civilians from the city of Vale, not just lower class citizens, in exchange for protection from Grimm attacks for one year while the city was being colonized. The Council had also taken Ironwood's idea of offering houses to the citizens in exchange for labor. With last details finalized, those in power finally set their plans into motion.
"Ooooh, look mom! They're offering houses in the new city of Mountain Glen! They're giving away free houses!" Neopolitan had exclaimed as she waved the flier in front of her mother's face. Neo, as she was called by most of her friends and family, was a very active girl, curious about a life outside the city of Vale and already fantasized of living a life as a huntress. Last year, at the age of 8, she managed to walk to Beacon Academy, somehow avoiding the dangerous Grimm, planning on continuing until she made it outside of the kingdom walls. She was finally stopped by a young huntress wrapped in a white cloak, donning a symbol of a rose on the right side of her belt. She hasn't forgotten that day, mostly because her parents were worried sick and she had gotten in a lot of trouble but it had solidified her dreams of becoming a huntress when the woman in white seemed to dance around the Grimm they encountered on the way back to the city.
"Nothing in this world is free Neo," her mother, Strawberry, had responded. "Its probably just a scam that isn't even related with the government." Her mother was the nicest person in the entire world, as far as Neo was concerned. She always helped those in need, not caring for favors in return but doing kind deeds for the sake of being kind. Her mother was a strong woman with a gentle heart but held a sharp tongue. Neo had learned early on that she never wanted to be on the receiving end of another one of her mothers lecture.
"Yeah honey, remember that this world isn't full of nice people," chimed in her father, Choco. Calling her father a large man was an understatement as he towered over his neighbors and wife. Choco used to be a hunter, vigilantly protecting the city walls from all sorts of Grimm until an encounter with a large pack of Beowolves had turn south when a family of Ursai had come out from their den due to the battle that was taking place outside. He and his team managed to clear out the threat but he was badly injured when an older Ursa had managed to swipe at his right leg and nearly tear it off. He was rushed to the hospital and luckily the doctors were able to patch his leg so that he may walk again but the damages to his ligaments meant that he was forced to hang up his weapon and end his career as a hunter. Neo heard this story many times but her favorite part came after the battle, her parents meeting. Strawberry was assigned as the head nurse to tend to Choco during his physical therapy and the two fell in love. A few years after their marriage, Strawberry gave birth to Neo. Their daughter did not inherit either of their genetics as Neo had snowy white hair and her skin color never turned any darker than a light beige. Her iris were clear, as if she had lacked them and she had dark pupils that contrasted her entire being. They were a small family, but they were happy, or so Neo had thought.
Before Neo was born, Choco had lost his ability to bring in income due to his injury and had to settle working in the Dust mines for low wages and terrible working conditions. While Strawberry was in the process of delivering Neo, she lingered between life and death, but was able to pull through thanks to the support of her husband and the doctors at the hospital but found her body to be weak after the childbirth. For several months she had tried to return to work only to find herself fainting in the middle of operations, mixing up prescriptions and overall a hazard to the workplace. The hospital were forced to let her go, which she had understood but still was still saddened by the news. The unfortunate events that had happened to the couple led to a falling economic standing as they were unable to support their lifestyle and eventually moved to another house, this time much worse than their current. They moved from their apartment in the middle of urban Vale to a single story house near the edge of the city. Although calling it a house was rather extravagant, there were problems with the plumbing, holes in the ceiling and nearly every wall had its paint peeling off. It took a couple of months but the couple had finally fixed their new abode to somewhat respectable living conditions for their newborn daughter.
Neo looked at her parents and smiled, "but that doesn't mean that there aren't nice people!" She didn't know anything about the lifestyle that her parents used to lead aside from the stories she was told, and as far as she was concerned, she wasn't missing out on having a "better life", as her parents often referred it. What mattered to her was that her parents were there with her, and as long as she had them, she was happy.
Her parents had smiled back at her. The naivety that Neo had often expressed reminded them of their younger days, when they were oblivious to the intricate parts of life. "Go to bed young lady, you have to go to school in the morning."
Neo groaned, "But its only eiiiiiigghhhhhtttt!" She whined and gave her best puppy dog face, she knew it worked most of the time, she just wanted to spend more time with her family, that wasn't so bad, right?
"Bed. Now, young lady," her mother had given the final word. Neo shot a pleading looking to her father but only saw the look she was familiar with, it said "sorry, mom said no." With a final grumble, she bid her parents goodnight and went off to her room across the hall.
~A few hours later~
"...do…. think?"
"Its…co….ly...legi…"
Neo's eyes fluttered and she was awakened by whispers coming from the kitchen. It wasn't uncommon for her parents to be awake at this time and normally she just returned to bed, but tonight, her curiosity had gotten the better of her. Slowly she creeped over to the door and opened it ever so slightly so she can hear her parents talking.
"There's absolutely no chance I'm risking what we have now for some promise by the government," her mother had said.
"Honey, one of my old and trusted friend said the program is completely legitimate. They're preferring families to apply for the houses and allowing those who work in the city to commute with a specially built subway system. Don't you see? If we take up the offer and move to Mountain Glen, we can give Neo the better life that she deserves," her father replied.
"And you don't think she has a good life now?"
"You know that's not what I meant."
There was a small pause followed by a sigh, "Yeah I know, I'm just scared of risking what little we have to lose it all."
"Don't worry honey, I promise nothing will happen to us in Mountain Glen. I'll continue working, perhaps you can apply for some shifts at their hospitals, I was told that medical crew was severely lacking applications. Finally, Neo can grow up in a better environment than what we have now."
"I hope so…"
Neo had tuned out the rest of their conversation. We're moving?! Her mind raced with the opportunities and possible adventures that she can have in the new city. It also meant that she had easier access to the Grimm, giving her an easier time to train. Then she thought of her friends. She was never really close to anyone so she figured that moving wouldn't be a big deal. Neo crawled back to her bed, a massive smile plastered on her face.
Mountain Glen, here I come. With that final thought, Neo closed her eyes and waited for sleep to take her.