Disclaimer: RWBY is rightfully owned by Rooster Teeth and its Creator Monty Oum, Any other characters who are not part of the RWBY Franchise are either References of things I do not own, or part of my OC Cast.
Please R&R
Chapter 2: Fortuna To those who lose all
A/N: Thank you if you read this, thank you if you even take a glance at this FanFic. Hopefully I started this FanFic off with a Bang. Otherwise I'm going to have to try even harder. Anyway if you haven't already guessed, this is going to be a FF will follow but may add or remove certain parts of the original to keep it within plot. Yes it's a romance, yes it's a OCx Cinder Fall, and yes there are many OCx Cinder Fall FFs. But this one will hopefully stand above the rest. Thank you if you read this, more to you if you review because I could sure use all the help I can.
Memories Faded Away Upon Branches
A Single Ring to Hold Me Sane, Scarred and Broken
Fall Follows Nobody
Remnant, Modern Day
Your name?
"_ _!" Shouted a voice, it's tone filled with resistance and anger.
Suddenly the voice screams out in pain.
What is your name?
"M-Masamune…" Whimpered the voice, now broken and weak, the voice's body weakened by the ministrations of the loud voice inside his head – too weak to fight back any longer, too weak to hold on to any memories of the past.
Good. Your name is Masamune, the last apprentice to Masamune Alonne. Your only job is to create weapons of the same caliber as your master. Your mind may forget, but your body will never let his teachings pass on. You must pass Alonne, for when you do, that is when you may be free. Eventually.
"…" The voice was silent, its will broken and perverted from its original flame. No longer was _, All that remains is Masamune. The only things that lay unbroken were his weapons and armor. And the ring, the ring that Masamune holds so precious. He kept it safe from the voice in his head. The voice that caused him pain and kept him locked in this Oum forsaken room. The Ring promised him peace and happiness, if only he could find its twin. The ring whispered hope to Masamune. Maybe if he could escape.
Masamune was dressed in all white gauze, the bandages were said to help with cellular regeneration. From what Masamune saw from underneath the bandages he only hoped that the Voice that told him that was speaking true. He could move his legs but the Voice said that he should not leave the wheelchair, for it protected him from the dangers that the ground would present to him.
But the ring, that ring that told him everything would be safe. The ring that kept Masamune sane, the ring that promised him to find the woman who plagued his sleep and all shall be right and just in the world. The Ring promised him many of things, perhaps Masamune went insane and he had humanized the ring as something to help him cope with the futility of resisting. But in reality it was his own past that continued to fight back, to bring back the man that preceded Masamune.
Then the Darkness took him. His body tired and worn from the many tortures the Voice gave to him. But in the darkness lay light, light arced with lightning. Something that gave him peace instead of pain, something that was uncovered from the layers of pain the Voice had piled on to keep it buried.
Memories.
Beacon, 3 months later
Ruby Rose examined her Crescent Rose's blade was damaged beyond all recognition, a recent encounter with a Grimm that was a bit stronger for the blade to handle. As a result the blade was chipped and had caved in several places. The blade itself appeared to be close to breaking, as if the second Ruby swung the scythe, it will shatter.
Ruby looked at the Forge's entrance, it was larger than the one in Signal, but it was larger. Much, much larger, and the amount of metal and destroyed weapons and armor was astounding. Being a Weapons fanatic Ruby was amazed by the quality and the uniqueness of each weapon. Ranging from Khopeshs, Long-Swords, Halberds, Pikes, Rifles, Pistols, and even a Half made hand held Cannon-Hammer. Ruby jaw-dropped at the amount of demolished weapons that lay outside, even the half-finished weapons were of extremely high quality and even though they were uncompleted-the basic frame of the weapon was still usable.
The RWBY's weapons expert was still gaping at the assortment of weapons that lay in front of the Forge. She peered around the pile of metal into the forge where her eyes widened to the extremes. Inside the Forge were racks upon racks of weapons categorized byeach design and traits. Cannon type ranged weapons in one area, Chain gun types in another, and all meticulously organized to the letter. There was even an area of organized metals ranging from raw ore to super alloys, again meticulously organized to the letter.
Ruby continued to walk around the Forge, the outside seemed to be very misleading with the Forge being several times larger inside and not out.
Of course, that's not if you consider the forge has a staircase at the entrance that leads down. Hey what's that noise? Ruby thought to herself as she followed the sound of voices arguing.
"I'm willing to offer you a private workplace, over three billion lien, and a small mining village if you will work for me in Atlas, Mr. Masamune! Now what do you say to that offer?" The voice that belonged a rather large in the hips and belly person, the figure was obviously offering to pay the three billion lien up front as he had a large suitcase opened up on the table.
Who the figure was talking to was a mummy in a wheel chair. The person was completely covered in white medical gauze as he –from the Mr. that the fat man had stated earlier- promptly closed the suitcase and handed it back to the fat business man.
"Thank you. But no, these hunters and huntresses need me to fix, refurbish, and help them create weapons. Now please leave, there is a student here to see me now." The mummy man said as he turned his head to Ruby, his voice strong but gentle at the same time. The Fat man huffed loudly and left, almost shoving Ruby into a rack of armor as his body took up most of the room.
"Now, do you need anything? As you can see I am quite busy working on something." The mummy man stated as he wheeled around to work on something that he had laid upon the table earlier. A blueprint of a new type of armor that combined functionality with aesthetics quite well, it was a mixture of a Knight's plate armor and a Assassin's Robes. The mummy man quietly drew on the blue planning paper as Ruby stood there and watched.
Finally gathering her wits around herself, Ruby brought out Crescent Rose and presented it to the Master Smith. The mummy man examined the weapon and extended his hands so that he may hold the weapon. Ruby feuded within herself whether or not she should hand over her baby to this mysterious blacksmith, she could always make the replacement blade herself but that would take time –and perhaps the Blacksmith may make a much more stronger version if she asked politely-. The Mummy man continued to examine Crescent Rose, making clicking noises if he was pleased and hmms if he was bothered by something. Ruby was quite nervous during his examination.
"I believe all you need is just a new Scythe Blade and that's it. Nothing else seems to be the problem. Do you need me to make a new blade for you or do you think you can make one yourself?" The Mummy Blacksmith asked.
Ruby nodded, she wanted to see how the blacksmith worked and from that she hoped to learn through indirect means through how the blacksmith treated his metal. The Mummy nodded and said politely "My name is Masamune, if that pleases you Ms. Huntress."
Masamune? As in The MASAMUNE, the master blacksmith whose weapons are considered super high-class works of art? Ruby thought excitedly, a blacksmith of the highest caliber had looked at her Crescent Rose and had no complaints about it! She hopped up and down as Masamune tried to calm the Reaper down.
"Woah! Calm down! If you keep jumping up and down you might hurt yourself. This is a forge after all." Masamune said calmly.
After Ruby stopped hopping up and down, he wheeled over to a massive furnace where there lay piles of coal and several shovels. Masamune examined Crescent Rose in its scythe form and nodded silently. Ruby on the other hand was as nervous as one could expect when faced with her particular circumstances. Most people would kill to be in her position but right now with the Blacksmith scrutinizing every little detail on Crescent Rose, she hoped that he didn't find any true fault in it. Though the Blacksmith himself didn't really look for any faults, but rather he was examining something that a few smiths can do, examining the soul of the weapon.
Crescent Rose contained every detail he needed to know about the girl that was nervously staring at him, he knew and he didn't care. Such things were beyond him at this point as he let old habits take over. Masamune wheeled over to the ores and began to dig through the ordered piles and drawers, stopping only to take out a few select pieces of ore at a time. When he had a pile of around ten to twelve pieces of ore he wheeled back to the Furnace.
Masamune then chucked his pile of ore into the furnace and sat there. After a few minutes and the sound of the coal already inside of the furnace beginning to crackle and hiss, did the Blacksmith take up the shovel and began to shovel coal into it. The fires inside of the furnace grew hotter and brighter as the furnace flared with each new shovelful of coal. Masamune stopped shoveling in coal, much to the bewilderment of Ruby who had watched a man in a wheel-chair shovel coal into a furnace.
Taking out a pair of tongs now, Masamune brought out a large slab of metal and began to work on it, refining it, shaping it, cutting it, reheating it, and repeated the process in a total of fourteen times. Ruby had to go get cookies at one point but she returned to watch Masamune fit the blade onto Crescent Rose. The new blade looked exactly like the old one except for the wavy edge on the blade and the point. The Blade looked much more dangerous than the old one and Masamune once again read the soul of the weapon feeling its memories not changed during the refitting. He was pleased with what he saw and handed it back to the girl.
"Now, don't go trying to kill things that have too much plating on them. The blade may be stronger, sharper, and more durable than the last but it still isn't made for slicing through extremely thick plating. However you may be pleased that your weapon is in tip top shape and ready for combat."
Ruby squealed happily as she received Crescent Rose and bowed a quick thank you before leaving in a trail of rose petals. Masamune smiled kindly as he moved to clean up the small mess the girl had made. It was no consequence though, such things as semblances differed from person to person. Even Masamune had one, though he could not remember how to use it.
He leaned back on his wheel chair and twisted the hidden ring on his left hand. He closed his eyes and prayed he could at least remember something if not anything from his past. Somewhere else in Beacon was Cinder Fall doing the same thing, only she was trying to remember happier times than what was now her present.
Cinder stared out of the window; she was taking in the breathtaking view of Beacon Academy for Combat training of Huntresses and Hunters. Beacon was a prominent academy to those who wished to fight Grimm on equal terms, to not rely on the help of others and to protect the ones they held dear. But Cinder wasn't here for that last part; she only wanted to get away from her family and with the help of her already advanced Semblance and Aura she rose to the top of her combat school rather quickly. Though by doing so she had socially isolated herself from her fellow peers, some of whom could have offered her help in improving rather than allowing Cinder to experience great amounts of trial and error, but Cinder persevered and here she was.
Cinder brought her sweater up a few inches. She was proud of her Aura and Semblance but the cost of having such a powerful and unique one was more than what she wanted. A large tattoo, that would become her emblem later in life, adorned her back causing the girl grief in more ways than one in some cases. Because of her embarrassment over such a small thing had lead to an avalanche of others. Her dress was mainly composed of light but durable clothing that covered every single inch of her body that wasn't part of her face or neck. She even wore fake glasses in order to stand out less, though they did make her seem smarter at random points of time. All in all she was more inclined to be inept at social interactions than one would expect but regardless of her introvert personality, Cinder had a problem with making lasting friends with people in general. Her usual way of dealing with annoying people was to ignore them until they left her alone, and it worked for the most part.
Near Cinder was a boy her age wearing a straw hat that covered most of his face, it was very wanderer-ish in her eyes. Even his clothing was something that wasn't often seen, only in the more traditional eastern cultures of Mistrial. It was a set of black, white, red and gold robes, if she could call it that, which was underneath a set of armor that suggested that the boy was a front line fighter. But the most intriguing part was his left arm, it was covered in armor that looked very heavy and was segmented throughout the armguard, it was even colored in red and gold as well. His weapons consisted of a shortsword looking weapon on his right hip and a rifle-type weapon on his back, a medium sized pack that she believed carried spare ammo and specialized dust bullets. Cinder examined the boy for an emblem or a symbol but found none as he turned to look at her now. His bright storm-grey eyes suggesting he was examining something of interest or even something new.
Cinder blushed lightly as the boy continued to stare into her amber eyes, she wasn't used to this kind of scrutiny, as she turned her head away from the boy-this causing him to chuckle quietly and turn his attention back to the windows of the transport. His arms crossed over his chest and he muttered something about flowers or something.
Is he okay? I don't think normal people mutter something about flowers to themselves. Maybe if I ask what is up with him, then he may answer me. Though he seems a bit scary, I wonder what's up with his hat. Is that like a thing people wear in Mistrial? Ugh, Should I ask him his name? I wonder wha- Cinder's thoughts were interrupted as a beautiful blonde woman appeared on the nearby glass pillar.
"Hello and welcome to Beacon. My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world. As that will be your call after graduating Beacon. And once again, Welcome to Beacon." Was all that Glynda said as her image faded out of the pillar.
Cinder smiled briefly causing the boy next to her to chuckle, albeit in a rather loud manner.
"What's so funny?" Cinder asked, her face blushing brightly as she stuck her hands out to the sides.
"Nothing, other than you look cute when you smile." The boy said with a smile and a twinkle in his eyes. "By the way, my name is Nemo. What's yours if I have the permission to ask?"
"C-Cinder." Was all she managed to stutter out.
