Season 1: Second Chance | Act 1: On Time
Hey, guys! Sorta new here, I have two other accounts: RustedFanfictions and FanfictionRush! Go check 'em out!
Though, I do recommend you try this story or any other story I already have, hope you love 'em!
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, that belongs to Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth, extensively. I do not own Diablo 3 or Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls, they belong to Blizzard Entertainment or any other company affiliated in the making. I do, however, own any and all OCs as well as twisted plot/Canon.
Now, for the love of God, let this Fanfiction begin!
-= *Magic* =-
Needless to say, it was a bad day for Cinder. Today, she had to go and fly Roman out of that stupid shop, From Dust 'Till Dawn because he went and got himself caught by- What did he say? she thought annoyed. Little Red Riding Hood? What a dumbass…
Starting the engines quietly in the alleyway where the damn Bullhead barely fit, she could hear several sniper shots go off. She didn't give the men high caliber weapons, did she? She remembers they only had a few katanas and the usual pistol, not high caliber sniper rifles. Whoever it was, it wasn't friendly.
"I'm on the roof, Cindy," Roman said over the communicator.
She groaned. She hated that nickname. "I'm ready to fly up at the signal. What was the problem again?"
"Damn, Red is on my tail, she has a giant scythe that has a bolt action, customizable, high caliber sniper rifle."
Cinder was quiet for but a moment. "What?"
"Some girl has a freaking scythe with a sniper rifle!"
"Okay," Cinder snapped back to reality. "I'll be up when you're ready."
She heard another voice on the communicator, and Roman muttered, "Persistent," as she flew up in the Bullhead, revealing herself. Roman made good work of getting in quickly, turning around towards the persistence.
"End of the line, Red!" he called out before throwing down a Red Dust Crystal. Cinder took a good look at the small girl, black and red clothing that somehow mixed well with a red cloak, not to mention the hoodie. No wonder why he called her Little Red Riding Hood. Or Red, for that matter.
He took a shot at Ruby with his gun and she looked ahead again, smirking at how well this had still gone down despite his getting caught. After she heard the explosion, she awaited his confirmation of her destruction, only to hear-
"We have a Huntress!"
"Dammit," Cinder cursed, switching out of the pilot's seat with him. He quickly took over as she emerged, ready to attack. She looked on as the white, black and purple clad Huntress launched a purple light above them. A magic circle appeared by the same color in the sky for a moment before being replaced by dark storm clouds. Ice shards began to launch out at them at high speeds, pelting the craft as Roman piloted it to divert them more than get speared by them.
An ice shard came crashing into the cockpit, and Roman dodged it barely as it struck into the seat beside him.
Cinder, walking out into view for them, but shadows still obscuring her face. A surge of heat coursed through her veins as they reached down her left arm. A spout of heat exploded quietly from the palm of her hand, rushing out as she doused her other arm in it. The runes in her dress glew as she traced her hand over them, the tingly sensation coming to her face as her eyes eerily began to glow orange themselves.
Her hand slid past her right arm and nabbed some energies, sending them at the Huntress who simply used a ward to hold them off.
The remnants of the yellow-orange attack splattered at the Huntress' feet, leaving Cinder to narrow her eyes at the display. This Huntress was more annoying than the rest she'd fought. Cinder's still outstretched left hand pulled up, sending the sparks at the feet of the Huntress to go mad with power. The Huntress noticed this, however, and jumped back before a large beam of light erupted and exploded upwards.
The debris that formed off the rooftop's once concrete flooring were but embers from the mass attack. Though flying, they stopped at the command of the Huntress' riding crop, turning to purple from their once burning states and becoming one, large spear. The pieces spun around and around before the Huntress set them towards the Bullhead.
Cinder shot her hands out every strike, sending a ball of fire that destroyed pieces of the makeshift spear. The spear was destroyed, but reincarnated into three different spears that instantly became serpent-like, coiling around nothing and readying for the strike. Cinder almost felt a tingle run down her back at imagining them actual King Taijitsae, but that was all but imagination.
Roman sent the Bullhead at an angle to deflect one that raged above it, sending it into a different direction. Cinder looked about frantically, realizing herself in a bad position and intricately weaved her arms around themselves, heating up the runes that laced her dress, and creating runes midair. They encircled her, a large ring in the center, smaller ones above or beneath it. Realizing at the last second that it was the wrong spell, Cinder couldn't stop it. Her arms shot out before she could stop them and the spread out, destroying the three serpents from whence they flew.
"Wrong spell!" she screamed at Roman who looked back instantly. "Get us out of here before-" and like that, Cinder was toppling around as the ship blew out an engine, one of the spell's side effects. "Get us out of-"
Cinder was cut off yet again as a blinding blue light engulfed her, taking some of the ship with her in her wake and destroying the rest of the ship. With the Bullhead down, the Huntress was able to apprehend Roman and Red was able to enter Beacon Academy two years earlier than she should have. There, Roman would be given a chance, redemption, or prison for the rest of his unnatural life.
-= *line break* =-
Cinder woke up with a start, smelling ash and feeling heat around her. She lifted her head but only to feel pain shoot up through her spine. She couldn't deal with this. She had to get out of the city as fast as she could.
She looked around herself and saw anything but city. She was in a jungle somehow, and the thick canopy above made it difficult to tell day from night, but the fire blurred her sight and sent her stomach nauseating from the smell. She coughed twice, looking around some more and noticing more things. Anything past fire was either bark or darkness, the usual glinting trees far in the back that the light barely licked off to.
Cinder changed her plans from escaping city, to escaping the jungle. Honestly, anyone would've, but it was something to get started on faster than most people.
With her hyper awareness in motion, she took notice of multiple exits. Upon realizing on how the terrain was sloped and how the large pieces of metal wreckage lay on the lower half, she took the higher route, opting to get some good sights and mapping out what was below.
Burning logs, trees, leaves and grass stood in her way, but with her body, she was able to maneuver in and out between each. From dodging falling branches and weaving in and out between trees, she was pretty certain she would make it.
Oh, but the amount of awareness in her stretches as far as feeling the nauseating rumble in her stomach from the smell of ash, sweating at the mere proximity of fire, the headache from the random teleportation. She was always told never to use that spell, even if it was an accidental activation. She never wanted to teleport, but she moved too fast to stop herself.
Now she was stuck somewhere and was absolutely pissed. She couldn't have just used the right spell to protect the ship, and now she was stuck here, forced to survive. Also, a dress? Really? Is that going to keep her alive?
She rolled her eyes at her own pitiful joke as she left the area. Her augmented, Dust-infused eyes (it's a long story, will be explained later) allowed her a better look at the forest she was in.
Two or three different plants didn't look common or exactly real in any case, she tilted her head slightly, but watching the oncoming fire spreading from behind her, she had to move, and fast.
She looked ahead to see green change to gray. Stone. There must have been some sort of temple nearby that she could take shelter in, and if she had enough time, try to figure out where she was.
She made do for the right side, seeing it the faster away around the vast temple. By the time she got around it, she was thankful to God in heaven that the stairs snaked around to just where she stood. Above her, no trees to speak of, no canopy but the night sky itself and the moon greeting her. What confused her the most is exactly the the damn mood wasn't as shattered as it always was.
Taking priority in getting to shelter over curiosity, she left the moon's state at the back of her mind as she began to trudge up the temple steps, snaking around to the courtyard.
The courtyard was large enough, big for a small base, but she could work it out. There were a few crumbling pillars off the in the corner that could provide as a small shelter until she could make it to the top of wherever she was.
She took one good look up and saw a skinny staircase reaching up to the edge of the slope before snaking around the area itself. Looking further up and noticing the tip of the hill made her rethink the entire description. Some sort of jungle mountain or something? This couldn't have been right, maybe to some degree. But not possible to have large trees reaching to the top.
She reset her priorities. Shelter first, weapons second, food third, questions last. She couldn't see anyone around that could make sense of her words, or any intelligent life for that matter, so she would have to map out the below before heading down there. She wanted to stay here for a bit and rest up until her Aura healed her entirely. She used quite the lot, even for her.
She came up to a pillar and sat down next to it with a huff and sigh, hoping by morning that the fires would die down and wouldn't attract much. Tired out of her mind, aching at the forefront of her mind, still smelling the ashes and lucky she could feel the cold, she slowed down her breathing and heart rate and fell asleep.
-= *line break* =-
Being the early bird she always was, even as a kid - sparking old memories - she scoffed at the time. Looking at the harsh sun above her, the heat beating down on her lightly, she could see that it was easily midday. Few clouds to speak of, they could act as a shade if they ever passed the sun. But now wasn't the time to think how much she could actually alter weather and worry more about the shelter she could create.
Four stone pillars, pairs as it seemed from the horizontal pillars that rested on them. She could probably drape something over it to protect her from rain. Across the courtyard lay a lower platform of two steps downward, sort of like an inverted pyramid.
She walked over to it with growing curiosity, walking down both steps to find a square like pedestal barely reaching out, an indented hollow semi-sphere in the center going in and subtle lines extending from two sides, like some sort of door. With that in mind, Cinder began to let her imagination run with what was inside and what kind of shelter it could provide. Cinder nodded dumbly towards the pedestal-like object before looking around more. She spotted the staircase that wound around the mountain to the tip. Noticing the small tip seemed to end at an edge, she wondered if there was a viewing platform up there, about as flat as the stone courtyard she now stood upon.
Then, she retired into the wooded slope beneath her, setting tracks that would allow her safe passage back to the temple-like courtyard, weaving between tree and branch as she searched high and low. The usual fox would stoop about, or the rare wolf, and every last one of them fell to her every whim.
Dragging the carcasses behind her, she finally made it back to the courtyard. She found wooden supplies for a campfire, rags that she could needle together to tarp the top of the stone pillars and beams, and of course, the dead animals foodstuffs.
It was now dark outside, raining threatening to downpour over her, no doubt to soak her thoroughly. As much as she had dreaded rain because of how annoying it was, she could use some to wipe and clean all of the dirt and grime accumulated on her from her little outing.
After ten minutes of profuse work on everything the rain, beckoned for the past few hours the clouds were aroused, finally fell upon her, and she was glad she had finished her work in time as her fire magic spread across the campfire.
She had gathered many stones and using her Altering Semblance to smelt them into one. It made for a good two or three inches off the ground, giving the place a homely feeling to her, not only that but also the fact that rain would have a hard time getting in. Along the edges of the courtyard were guardrails, so she had bore holes into the feet into the areas which held no post above it. It served to create small waterfalls off the side when the rain went over the desired limit, that of a stone mopboard.
When it was obvious the stone would not cool fast enough, she altered the temperature around it with her Semblance in order to cool it off quickly, which it had done so. Once that was completed, she gathered loose rocks and pebbles, setting them around a few volleys of dry grass and leaves. Over the top, she had gathered for hours, were stacked firewood. With that complete, the light drizzle from the rain began to trickle from the sky. Happy with her work that kept the rain from her feet and head dry, she sparked the fire with her Semblance.
It was small at first, but with a few breaths, she finally got it brimming with warmth against the cold, crisp air.
After sewing for about an hour, she had another tarp-like material from rags she found along the woods, leaves and grass for insulation, she slumped over on the recently man-made pedestal, draped herself in the rags and fell asleep.
-= *line break* =-
A whistle in the sky awoke the criminal, and her eyes stalked to the sky, realizing that it had been several hours later, what with the fire out and clouds missing. She searched until the whistling stopped, soon narrowing her eyes at the idea of delusion. That was, until the flaming ball of fire whisked over the mountain, just barely missing the tip. She turned her head over to follow the quickly descending meteor and saw three small bits break away before disappearing behind the horizon of which were but trees to her. Behind the trees came the eerie glow of dusk. She got up quickly, deciding it was as good time as any to get up.
After rekindling the fire, she took to creating some meaty goodness for breakfast, soon devouring a little more than she should've. Okay, more that what she was okay with considering the situation, but she had not eaten in a day and a half and she had been absolutely starving. She doused the fire in Altered Water before looking to the top of the mountain, creating that as her first goal and order. Speaking to herself, she added, "And see if anyone else was stirred…"
As she ran up the mountain she felt the crisp breeze of morning fill her sense of smell, the quickly brightening sky filling the atmosphere and giving it a calming effect on her. Just at first sight, no one would've realized the intentions of the girl in red, simply seeing her as another pedestrian until she striked. When she would find a town today, she will rob their bank blind. She needed currency anyways. Maybe she'll kill a few Grimm, here and there, get some money, some more than anyone really intended, and then move on to the next city. She was always the sphinx.
When she reached the top, finding a courtyard several times smaller than the one below but still a beaut when it came to any kind of viewing platform, she took in a breath of surprise, horror and complete confusion when she had reached the top.
She was terrified at the revelation.
Down below was not the city of Vale, but medieval version of them, small, some destroyed and rotten. But not without brimming light as they all dimmed in the rising sun. If anything, these people had no technology. Either she was a woman out of time, or she was in a completely different place on Remnant, she had no clue. She pulled out her binoculars from her Arcane Space (as she was so fond of calling it).
Her search seemed to dredge up good finds, seeing as the towns were small and little people to speak of, she decided to keep low on her identity in one town she spotted. Seemingly the closest to the largest of the meteor shards and one of the more that could be easily besieged if need be. But she wasn't aiming for that. First, figure out where she was, then figure out where to go and costs. Steal and be done with whatever infernal place she had been teleported to by accident.
Noting the large cathedral near what looks like a destroyed town - with further down being a brimming town that was heavily fortified but not without people or light - she noticed a certain rotten smell reaching up to the tip of the mountain, wondering what would cause such a disgusting smell.
Believing that civilization would be better than a stinking mountain, she hurried down the steps, gathered few items like food, some water from a nearby river she missed the other day and finally headed down the fortress.
She hadn't the faintest idea why she craved civilization. Was it her innate need to steal? Was it instinct? Was it simply to gain company as she had been lonely for a bit? She didn't know any of these answers. Maybe she'd do all three.
Soon exiting the prolonged jungle, she saw that it was now midday, the sweltering sun soon beginning to wane down the sky. She quickly used glass to turn into Ice Dust for a moment and stuck it into her Dust pouch.
She wore her black infiltration outfit that she had recently sewn together. It consisted of a sleeveless jacket, long gloves, stiletto heel boots, a black glass mask, and several straps with containers of powdered Dust lined across her pants.
Soon making it to the foot of the mountain, she took notice of a much smaller forest. During her earlier search, she realized there would be several obstacles along the way, meaning a 7 day trip.
This would be a long evening for her.
-= *line break* =-
Day One, wrote Cinder in a small leather-backed notebook she kept on herself. I'm stuck in this Medieval world with jungle mountains, unusual creatures that somewhat have a greater and sweeter taste than that of home and I'm stuck to walking through several forests and other obstacles that prove a seven day journey.
I started on this mountain, flames and wreckage of a Bullhead I teleported with me. Roman knew the consequences himself about that spell and was originally the one to tell me. But now, he is probably rotting in jail because of me. Honestly, I'm not perfect myself.
In this new world I trudge through or whatever, I have noticed strange plants and trees. I have not seen a single Grimm as of late and I feel a heavy negative emotion on the air, though nothing is being attracted to it. I have smelled this overly rotten smell for the past few hours and it only grows as I near this town I spotted from the top of the mountain.
[Note to Self: Remember to see what is in that temple-like place in the mountain temple thing.]
Soon stuffing it in her back pocket, she hurried through the forest, hoping to at least lessen the seven day journey.
-= *line break* =-
Day Two, Cinder wrote now. I'm trudging through this damnable swamp in the middle of the forest. God seems to be unreachable as of now, but I'll keep praying for that support.
Anyways, I am unable to hurry through these obstacles that was obscured from my view atop the mountain due to this infiltration suit unable to take much more. If there is a smithy in that town, I will require using it right away.
The rotting seems to have increased, reaching far out here in the musky smell of the swamp and still overpowering it! Whatever that meteor I have seen earlier has done it has surely pissed off a lot of corpses. Anyways, that's what the stories say.
Let's hope that's not true here.
-= *line break* =-
Day Five, Cinder continued. This place is far too strange to be Remnant, and I'm talking about Remnant here.
I swear that stupid teleportation spell I accidentally activated really put a hurt on me. This probably isn't even the same universe. Few have the ability to return when they have this affliction of a Magic similar Semblance.
Wherever I am, there are far dangerous beasts than the one I have just recently killed. I don't even know if necromancers even exist nowadays. Whoever has disturbed this walking corpse of their rest will surely pay.
If I do this, will I be recognized as a criminal? Will I even get past the gate without the guard trying to arrest me? If they do, I must be completely discreet about my identity.
But this is a different place, is it not? Perhaps they do not know about my criminal past, but to avenge the corpses I have destroyed and the ones most likely ahead, I may have to put my criminal past behind.
Maybe I'll steal every once in awhile, but that's just me.
-= *line break* =-
It was day Seven now and she finally made it from the forest, the dark expanse of sky greeting her. Though she walked to the edge of a ridge, she looked over it, down at the town. A rotted sign stood near.
New Tristram.
"What happened to the old one?" she asked herself, though she had no idea why.
Soon hurrying down the road, she noticed a corpse eating another hungrily. She weaved her right hand around her left, activating the orange runes on that sleeve. After a moment, she launched her left hand out and fired a ball at it, disintegrating the corpse.
Attracted to the magic, five more walking dead stood up and slowly walked towards her. She fired a few torrents of fire at them, burning them or scorching them.
Soon reaching the gate at the bottom, she noted the man standing right outside of the gate in heavy medieval armor, two others like him behind him and two leather armored men with bows and arrows in the towers either side of the gate.
She approached him. "I have seen the fallen star crash near here. Do you know of its whereabouts?"
The man finally looked at her. His eyes were deep and dark, almost as if staring at her soul impassively. It made her cringe a little. "It fell on the old cathedral," he said slowly. "There was only one survivor - Leah. You should speak with her."
Soon, a guard from above yelled "Captain! More dead are coming!"
"We can't open the gate until we drive them back!" he yelled, charging in with a sword as two arrows flew next to him and killed two of three walking dead, the third run through by the man.
The two other guards charged in as well after their own targets.
A rather bloated corpse was cut in half, the torso crawling to her with oncoming volition.
Cinder jumped and did a rather quick backflip, creating a bow and three arrows from nothing, already having it pulled back. By the time the arrows escaped their stringy prison, the bloated torso was blown back in three pieces, sending three corpses behind it back into the forest and saving the first man.
"They keep coming!" another guard yelled, corpses already unburying themselves from the ground.
The dead were overwhelming the people, so she pinpointed them in her mind, weaving her hands together and crossing one leg over the other, a slight bend in the knee. She slammed her hands out, palm open and legs uncrossed, sending three magic cylinders out and scorching the dead entirely.
"...I've never seen anyone fight like that before!" the man yelled, with a much happier aura about him. "Guards! Open the gates!" The gates swung open as he turned to her, reguarding the gate. "Speak with Leah. She is in the Slaughtered Calf Inn!"
Cinder had a smile on her face as she ran through the gates into New Tristram.
-= *End of Chapter 1* =-
Been awhile since I've done a Diablo 3 Fanfiction, so here's a crossover with RWBY!
I hope you liked the first chapter! The skips in the seven day hike were kind of unsatisfying, I know, even with me, but I didn't have time for that. Sorry.
And now, for the love of God, let the next Fanfiction begin!