STRQ: Tales of the Old Huntsmen
AN: Rewrite. STRQ: Tales of the Old Huntsmen has been rewritten. The basics are the same but the focus is now just on brief stories about the various going ons in this story. So I'd like for you to read from the beginning because there are changes to make this fit better with what I've done in RWBYond Vale, which as of the upload of this rewrite, will end in 2 and a half hours.
Chapter 1: Arthur Arc: The Tiresome War.
Arthur Arc was a man born in the heat of war. The Great War had swept through all of Remnant and stayed there for centuries. No one knew why the war started. Maybe it was because of a simple border dispute. Maybe it was the assassination of a prince. Maybe it was a rebel incursion in Mantle that was bankrolled by the now nameless Lost Kingdom. A nation that was wiped off the face of the planet when Mantle found out. But all the records were lost. All knowledge from before the war was lost. All hope was lost.
Arthur was just the latest in a long line of Arcs. They were all warriors. But they all failed to live a long life. Arthur had lost his father when he was only ten years old. His father too had been orphaned at a similar age for the same reason. No one was safe from this war. It had gone on to the point where no one could even remember the reason. Now all there was, was the hatred at those that perpetuated the violence.
Arthur's first battle was against an invading Mantle fleet. He had unlocked his semblance that day. And with it, managed to put up a shield strong enough to block a canon shot. The people he saved that day had thanked him and paraded him around like a hero. "The Indomitable Arthur Arc" they called him. "Hero of Vale."
It was soon afterwards that Arthur became a captain. He led his men to numerous victories…and countless defeats. It was clear that Vale was struggling. The people lived in poverty while those in the capital lived in luxury. But the soldiers…the fact that Arthur was quickly becoming one of the strongest fighters in Vale did not bode well. They didn't have the seemingly endless dust resources and advanced dust-based firearms of Mantle. They didn't have the great strategists and military precision that the Mistral Spartans had. None of them…no, even the hundred strongest men in Vale couldn't stand up to the Vacuo Raiders. Any attempt to infiltrate the desert kingdom ended in disaster.
One day, a temporary truce was signed between Vale and Mistral. Arthur, who had just been promoted to General, teamed with the Mistral General Orion Nikos. 600 men in total marched through the desert pass in an attempt to apprehend the Vacuo guardian Allister Mordred. Mordred had come alone, brandishing his mace. The fight lasted less than an hour. Mordred's semblance controlled gravity, one of the fundamental forces on the planet. The invaders never stood a chance. Even with Nikos' magnetism and Arthur's hard light semblances. Nikos was scarred across the eye with his own spear. Arthur's shoulder was dislocated by a blow from Mordred's mace. In the end, the three leaders were the only ones still breathing. And Mordred had sparred them. He told them to go back home, and fight him when they believed they were a threat.
While Arthur recovered from the brutal beating, he met a beautiful nurse. She cared for him, even long after his bones had mended. And they got married and had a son. But Arthur was tired. He was tired of this war. He refused to let his son be orphaned too. He refused to have his son suffer his fate. So he pleaded with King Charles to take a more defensive approach. Charles initially refused, but upon counseling with the wizard Ozpin, he put Arthur in charge of Vale's security. Arthur Arc had officially become a guardian.
Arthur felt as though this was what was always meant to be. The downside was that he spent most of his time on the border, far away from his family. But his mind and semblance were much better suited for defense than offense. He heard word that General Nikos had taken a similar position in Mistral. Though the two were at war, Arthur had a grudging respect for the Spartan Commander. Just as he had a fear of Allister Mordred and the other raiders. General Thurston, who left nothing but black ash in his wake. No one could ever confirm what Thruston looked like or if he even existed. Hayan Wukong, who had single handedly beaten a thousand Mantle Stormtroopers in less than an hour. Arthur had seen the footage, Wukong could summon an entire army with his semblance. Lastly, May Long, who could split a mountain with her fist, so the legends said.
But then one day, Arthur was reminded of the real threat. The Grimm had been mankind's greatest enemy since the beginning of time. But with the advancement of weaponry, it was believed the Grimm were no longer a threat. Even the mightiest of Grimm would fall to the new dust rounds. But, as Arthur imagined must have happened before, the Grimm were back. They were back with a vengeance. And they were stronger than they ever had been before.
The papers called it a deathstalker after the fact. A strange new, scorpion type Grimm. One stink from its tail could shatter a man's aura. Arthur had never fought anything like it before. He had no idea how to fight such a primal beast. He could match it blow for blow. But the same could not be said for his men. And the more the panicked, the more Grimm came. In the end, Arthur was the only one left. He had barely beaten the deathstalker, his sword shattering on its armor, and the Grimm that followed it. But he suffered a massive wound to his stomach.
He had been rescued by a scouting party. They brought him to a tent to be healed. While he was there he was approached by the wizard and his aid. They told him that this new Grimm was only the beginning. There were Grimm more powerful than he could possibly imagine. And in just a few years' time, they would gather and wipe out humanity. But there were people who could combat this threat if only the kingdoms could unite. Or at least their greatest warriors. Among them were four maidens. Each had power over the elements as well as the power of a season. One of them was in Mantle, and already working with Ozpin. Two others were unaccounted for. But the other, the spring maiden, was on the island of Patch.
Ozpin tasked him with convincing this maiden to help him combat this threat. Her power and prestige would be a unifying factor in gathering the forces of humanity. Because, as he explained, the threat of extinction is more than enough for even the most spiteful people to set aside their differences. Even if the peace was only temporary, this threat needed to be dealt with immediately.
AN: So that's the rewrite of the first chapter. Next chapter is skipping ahead to Summer Rose. Among other things, this rewrite is going to be more consistent with the back and forth narrative. It's also a good chance to write in a more fairy tale style than RWBYond Vale. Which if you read, then you know how this ends. Still, be sure to review.