Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY, RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth and Monty Oum. I do not own any of the OCs here other than Mono Chrome.
REALLY SORRY ABOUT THIS LATE CHAPTER.
But I recently moved houses, and my stupid internet provider had screwed up. Big time. So we went a week without the internet which was fine (except for me shooting past my deadline) but then they said that they might not be able to connect our house until one or two weeks later.
So yeah, we were slightly annoyed.
I had to take advantage of free wifi (Internet Cafes, Hotspot, School wifi) and work on this chapter little by little, and I'm taking advantage of it now to post this chapter for you guys so you don't have to wait an extra week or two. Of course, this means I won't be able to post future chapters until internet returns, and if I do happen to post them, they will be extremely delayed.
But, good news, I was able to smooth out the major plot points for the rest of Generation I.
Enough of me rambling. Enjoy the chapter!
-/-/-
GENERATION I : CHAPTER 3
'... to Dust they return'
-/-/-
Mono woke up earlier than usual, around 6:00 AM if judging by how dark it was and if her internal body clock could be trusted, which she was confident she could trust. Normally if she were still living in Vale, it would mean that she would immediately flop back onto her pillow and get back to sleep, and she did try to only to find out that she couldn't return to her dream of rainbows and sunshine. It turns out that even a good night's rest wasn't enough to kill the butterflies that were fluttering around in her stomach, and after all, who wouldn't be nervous? Especially with what the initiation was like this year.
She pulled herself up from her bedroll, already some students were up and about, diligently doing their morning stretches and quietly checking their weapons. Off to her side, her cousin Monty was still snoring away, occasionally his tail would twitch about and he would mutter quietly.
She stared at him for a bit more before standing up, her red ("You need more colour!") nightgown rustling, and gathering the necessities she needed for her morning routine.
By the time she got back from her 'exciting' journey to the public bathroom, more students were already up and about although the rest remained asleep. Most of the students that were awake were actually faunus with the majority being types of animals that were nocturnal such as a cat faunus like herself. She had noticed that, like in the amphitheatre, that the two races had split once again with the humans occupying the far side of the ballroom, away from the entrance. A noticeable gap could be seen between the faunus and the humans.
She picked her way over to her sleeping area and packed her bedroll up, tying it tightly and stuffing it into her bag, while she was at it, she plucked the scroll that Monty had remembered NOT to return (She was sure he was doing it on purpose) and flicked it on, the time was closer to 6:30 AM now and now most of the students were starting to stir.
She quickly reached into her bag to retrieve Dancing Reaver and examined it quickly.
The elegant looking katana was sheathed inside its counterpart, the hilt was wrapped in grey cloth and had a small chain with a mini cat's paw attached to it, it was a gift her mother had given her when she had left for Beacon yesterday. Her eyes lingered on the charm for a moment longer before she drew Dancing Reaver from its resting place. The edge of the blade was currently blue and made a slight hissing sound as she lightly swung it around, taking extra care not to accidentally chop off her favourite cousin's tail. The sheath of the blade also had a cutting edge to it, it was painted black and the edge was blue, just like the blade.
The black blade gleamed ominously.
Her mother had told her that she disliked black. Black was the colour of death and it was the colour that everyone knew back during the war.
She idly sheathed the blade and shoved it back into her luggage. Maybe a morning jog would help her get rid of these depressing thoughts that seemed to be popping up a lot lately.
-/-/-
By the time she got back from her morning jog, everyone was up and about. It seemed everyone was feeling the same as how she did when she woke up that morning. There was excited chattering but she could read how nervous and tense everyone was, and no doubt people could do to the same to her. She took Dancing Reaver from her bag as well as much Dust and ammunition that she could carry without hindering herself, she would definitely need it.
Monty was sliding in an ammo clip for his weapon, two steel tonfas with gun barrels at the end. She remembered when Monty had upgraded it to become a gatling gun when combined, she remembered drooling a little. He slid the tonfas into his belt and held a thumbs up.
"Ready?"
Mono grimaced, "No. But let's do this."
The two cousins slipped out of the bustling ballroom, following the flow of students towards the amphitheatre. Along the way, she had tried to make casual conversation with her cousin. Key word being tried. He was probably nervous too. ("How's life?" "Fine." "Your family?" "Fine." "... How's my ass?" "Fine. Wait, wha—")
They entered the amphitheatre which was slowly filling with other students. They stood at the edge of the crowd while they waited, they enjoyed keeping to themselves unlike others around them who continued to mingle with each other.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, a man with neatly combed black hair and a black suit — akin to a butler, stepped forward.
Another Professor, like Professor Red. And like Professor Red, he felt powerful. The air in the amphitheatre was heavy and... there was no other word to describe it, it felt electrifying.
"Greetings young apprentices. My name is Gamma Black although those of you who will attend Beacon will refer to me as Professor Black."
His tone was formal and polite which brokered no argument, his posture was upright and practised and his hands clasped behind his back. He was also straight to the point,
"Each and every one of you will be receiving partners through Headmaster Ozpin's brilliant system of selection."
She wasn't sure if he was joking or not.
The butler-professor held up the two hats from yesterday, "You will receive your partners through these hats. Both hats have the exact same pieces of paper. You will select one and find your partner who has the matching piece. As soon as you find your partner, you will make your way over to the cliffs."
The butler-professor inclined his head, "If there are any questions, please speak them now."
He was met with silence.
"Very well then, please come up two at a time and select one piece of paper from a hat."
The process took a while, for collecting the paper and finding the partner considering the number of initiates. Everyone around her shuffled, the nervousness transforming into impatience.
Finally, it was Mono's turn at the hat, she found herself instinctively flinching away from the professor who was waiting patiently, she felt... something from the professor and it was something she didn't like — it crackled and snapped, like lightning. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see another faunus student leaning away from the professor as well.
It was definitely something to watch out for. But back to the present...
She sent a mental prayer to Oum for luck, withdrew a piece of paper and stepped off the stage, anxiety was rearing its ugly head. She knew that some of the human students here were anti-faunus, she hoped she got someone she was compatible with. She opened her piece of paper and looked around but there were only other people around her, even Monty had vanished.
She groaned, her ears twitching in annoyance.
This would take a while.
-/-/-
Mono was sitting against the wall with her head down, most of the students had gotten their pieces of paper and were now in the process of finding their partner. It a tiring and arduous process. She'd probably go as far as to say that this was their initiation exam, it was that boring.
Monty had found his partner a while ago actually, it was a girl with messy brown hair done in a french braid, apparently her name was Calypso. She was quiet and even more socially awkward than Monty himself, and that was saying something. They had already left for their initiation.
She wondered what they were doing right about now. Probably something fun.
-/-/-
Monty ducked underneath the swipes of a large boarbatusk. He was about to jam his tonfas into the Grimm's underside when a sudden sneeze made him unintentionally pull the trigger a bit too early.
The bullet ricocheted off of the Grimm's armour platings and almost hit him where the sun don't shine.
The boarbatusk continued on over him and charged at his partner, Calypso, who leapt above the large Grimm and shot at it with her revolver, like Monty's bullets, they bounced off of the Grimm harmlessly. His partner landed and quickly made his way over to him.
She glared, "Focus."
Monty was too busy gaping at his close shave at his manhood.
-/-/-
She had been actively searching for her partner when she found her.
The crowd had thinned out and she actually found her partner when something drew her attention towards them, like a magnet. It was an irresistible pull and she soon found herself in the middle of a crowd within a crowd.
At the center of the crowd, another familiar sight. It was the golden haired beauty from the Dust Shop, who the Shopkeeper referred to as 'Miss Glaive'. She kept her black beret and her orange shirt seemed to glow with strange markings. The girl's bright blue eyes locked with her own steel gray ones and 'Miss Glaive' somehow managed to flow through the crowd towards her.
"Number forty-two?" The golden girl asked her who blinked at the sudden attention, not just from the girl, but from the crowd around them. It made her uncomfortable until she realised what the golden girl asked. She quickly looked down at her piece of paper and lo and behold, there was a '42' written on it.
"Ah... Yes?" She replied uncertainly,
The golden haired girl rolled her eyes, "Finally."
And all of a sudden, the pull that had tugged Mono towards this girl had vanished into thin air as if it never existed. The mini crowd around them suddenly flew away as if the same magnetic hold on them had also disappeared.
The girl gave Mono a once over before they locked onto her ears., "..."
She squirmed underneath the gaze, "... What?"
"You're a faunus."
She glared back defiantly, "So what if I am?"
The girl blinked and then let out a peal of laughter, "I like you!"
Mono immediately relaxed, it didn't seem that this girl was racist which was good news to her. She had seen some pairs immediately try and bash each other into oblivion once they had met, they would most likely not survive the forest. The thought put a damper in her mood, the system of selection seemed flawed if the pairs they put together were going to possibly die.
The girl stopped laughing although there was the occasional snort, "I'm Oriole Glaive."
She frowned, still frowning from the sudden depressive thought, "Mono Chrome."
Oriole smiled at her, it was infectious because soon she found herself smiling as well. There was something about the girl that drew you to her. Made you want to smile with her. She had a feeling that this connection was going to be a good one.
"Although your fashion sense is terrible. Like... gray? Seriously?"
That bridge burned quickly.
-/-/-
Mono was cowering behind Oriole who was rolling her eyes. The reason? They were up on Beacon Cliffs. They were up REALLY high on Beacon Cliffs. With no safety railings or anything.
And the best part is?
For their initiation, they were being LAUNCHED into the forest. LAUNCHED. She must have missed the memo or something because she could not recall a single moment where they told her they were being literally thrown into a life-or-death situation.
The cliff currently had other initiate pairs standing on different launchpads, they were staring at them strangely. Professor Red was sitting on one of the rocks littering the cliff, he was holding a clipboard and inspecting the duo lazily.
"Come on kitten. I don't have all day. You have to learn how to fly some time."
"You're helping us fly by throwing us out of the proverbial nest!" Mono retorted.
"It's an experience."
"Not a helpful one!"
Oriole sighed and forcibly dragged Mono to a launchpad who was digging her heels and leaving trails in the ground. "No. No. No."
Professor Red would idly watch as this happen before he snapped his fingers, "Oh right, I almost forgot." He rummaged around in his coat pocket before pulling out a chess piece and two strange devices.
"These are for you." He tossed it at Oriole who caught them and examined them, wrinkling her nose.
"A White Pawn?"
Professor Red shrugged, "Now, you see those devices? They're like trackers. Ozpin made them and filled them with his aura, if any of your aura bar drops to below satisfactory levels then the device will activate. It will stop the outside world from interacting with you but will also put you into some sort of... stasis, according to Ozpin."
Everyone frowned at that. Stasis? That was new to them.
"Hey, I don't make these things okay? So don't frown at me." The professor cleared his throat.
"The device will also activate a beacon. The shield will remain active for 48 hours, plenty of time for a Professor to follow the beacon, collect you and return you safely. Now if you'd please step onto your launchpads so I can toss you into the forest filled with man-eating beasts and creatures of Grimm."
They stepped onto their launchpads (Oriole dragged Mono onto the launchpad)
"Remember, you can only take one relic from a pair you've defeated." The Professor glared at the students, "And we'll know if you take more than one. So don't push it. I cannot stress how many students I had to discipline because they didn't listen."
Everyone stared strangely at the red-haired professor.
Professor Red looked back down at his clipboard, "Now a few points of advice..."
The launchpad seemed to hum beneath their feet.
"Number one, everyone is your enemy."
Beneath them, it creaked ominously.
"Number two, you can only continue if both members are able to do so, so for the love of Oum, please stick together if you don't wanna die."
There was the sound of machinery whirring and a click.
"Number three, there are no rules."
The launchpads all activated, flinging all of the initiate pairs in different directions. There was some noticeable screaming coming from a certain pair.
"HAVE FUN!" the Professor called out to them before looking back down at his clipboard.
"Next."
-/-/-
She was currently screaming her head off. They were really high up and there was NO GROUND BENEATH HER FEET. Off to her side, Oriole was having the time of her life, whooping like a maniac, she had one hand holding down her beret and her other hand held the large bladed war fan that glinted with Dust.
"Kitten! Ground's getting closer!" She cackled
That seemed to be enough to snap Mono out of her fear-induced daze, moving quickly she unstrapped Dancing Reaver from her back, sheath and all. Now let it be known that Mono's weapons currently did not have any upgrades or features that would help her break her fall, so far, it was an ordinary (as ordinary as a weapon could be) Dust katana.
It was her semblance that was going to help break her fall.
She drew Dancing Reaver, the blade gleamed in the sunlight. She tapped her hilt before throwing the blade into the trees where she heard a faint thunk, hopefully, that meant it was dug in. To the side, Oriole had unfolded her war fan and swung it, a gust of wind which slowed her fall.
Her mother had stated how poetic her semblance was. Opposites attracted and wasn't she named from the mixing of two opposites?
Her sheath glowed white before she felt it yank in the direction where she threw her katana earlier.
Her semblance was similar to Magnetism. She would tag an object and label it 'Negative' or 'Positive' for attraction or she could tag both objects the same and make them repulse each other. It was great for whenever she accidentally dropped her scroll off a building, not that she ever dropped a scroll off a building...
Although it didn't feel great when it felt like your arm was being yanked out of your socket. She flew parallel to the ground before spotting her katana hurtling towards her, evidently the blade was pulled out from its spot when it was being attracted to her sheath.
In one fluid movement, she twisted and caught her katana with her sheath, it was so precise that it seemed practised. She flipped and planted both feet on the trunk of an approaching tree and pushed off of it, rolling on the ground and dissipating any leftover momentum.
She spun around when she heard the branches rustle and her partner dropped to the ground looking no worse for wear, not a strand of hair was out of place despite being launched through the air in contrast to Mono whose hair was messed up and she was certain there was a twig in it.
Oriole raised an eyebrow, "Apparently, my partner is attracted to trees. Literally." Mono snorted and shook her head.
Oriole hummed thoughtfully, "Well, Mono. We should hurry because I saw—" Oriole's eyes suddenly locked onto something behind Mono, she spun around, unsheathing her katana and—
The young Grimm was blasted away by a small gust of wind. She quickly glanced behind her only to spot Oriole engaging a second beowolf in combat, having most likely just saved Mono's life before leaping into battle herself.
She mentally thanked her partner. It seems that she could be trustworthy after all. She turned her attention back to the dazed beowolf in front of her which was just getting to its feet, it snarled at her before charging at her on all fours. She sprinted at it and slid underneath the Grimm as it pounced at her, she thrust her katana up and sliced the beowolf in two. It fell apart with nary a sound.
Beowolves acted a lot like normal wolves. They hunted in packs, no less than three but no more than twenty and like normal wolves, they often surrounded their prey. So Mono Chrome wasn't surprised when she heard the second growl coming from behind her. She spun around and yelped, ducking under the claws of another young beowolf, she sliced open the legs of the Grimm where it fell with a small whine. Her partner suddenly flipped over Mono's head and finished off the downed Grimm by slicing its throat with the edge of her fan. Several other beowolf carcasses were dissolving several meters away.
These Grimm were relatively weak so it had barely taken them five minutes to finish off the beowolves.
Mono sighed and stood up, sheathing Dancing Reaver, "Barely five minutes in and we've already encountered the local wildlife."
Her partner glanced in her direction before looking back down at her black and white combat skirt in distaste, "Ugh. Grimm blood..."
"It'll just dissolve."
Oriole sighed, "But still..."
Mono glanced over in Oriole and saw her delicately skirting around the other beowolf corpses, "So... What were you saying earlier?"
"Well. While you were screaming your head off-" Mono flushed "-I believe I saw another initiate pair land close by, around..." Oriole gestured vaguely.
"Well... only one way to find out."
Oriole deflated, "But that's going to ruin these designer pumps!"
"Tough luck... Wait, how are you even fighting in these?"
"Secret."
-/-/-
DAY 1:
As it turns out. There had been an initiate pair in the vague general direction that Oriole had waved to. The duo was easily able to take down the initiate pair through clever usage of the environment — Oriole could be surprisingly stealthy whenever she wanted to be, and the element of surprise, they were not prepared to deal with a surprise attack so soon and they were making a lot of noise so it was easy to locate them and then launch an ambush. The duo collected the relic that had been dropped in the scramble, ("A Black Pawn? Seriously?") and moved the course of the entire day, the duo had set more ambushes ("But that'll make my skirt dirty!") and had managed to amass three more relics.
Over the course of the entire day, the duo had set more ambushes ("But that'll make my skirt dirty!") and had managed to amass three more relics. The goal of the exam was to survive and that there were no rules. It had been Oriole to figure it out first after barely escaping from an ambush set by another initiate pair who happened to be particularly smart, unlike the ones that Oriole and Mono had run into so far.
Of course, this did not mean that they managed to subdue them unscathed. They had amassed a small pile of minor wounds, a scrape here, a bruise or a small cut there. So after successfully subduing their third pair, the duo had escaped into the forest to rest and recover for the rest of the day.
By day, it was initiates and predators such as wolves with the occasional Grimm pack here and there. By night, it was the more vicious Grimm that had come out to play. So it was at this moment, the duo were running away from a pack of rather large Creeps, Creeps that were heavily armoured. And there were a lot of them.
"WHY DID YOU POKE IT?!" That was Oriole.
"CURIOSITY?" That was Mono.
Curiosity killed the cat was taken literally here.
Suffice to say, it was a bad night for the both of them. In the end, they had managed to escape from the Creep pack by climbing up a few trees and launching themselves into the forest with the aid of Mono's semblance and Oriole's wind; they did not escape untouched, Oriole had taken a particularly bad hit when one of the Grimm had whacked her with its tail and a quick check later revealed that Oriole's aura was quickly approaching red. Spending all day fighting and using the aura with no rest tends to do that.
So the duo decided a quick rest with two-hour watches. They camped out in a small clearing close to some ruins.
-/-/-
DAY 2:
They didn't feel any difference upon awakening, it been a terrible day and a horrible night but their aura was restored. The plan for today was to QUIETLY seek out other pairs and take them out using the element of surprise. It was the only reason why they didn't take any more damage than what was necessary.
But someone else found them first.
It was thanks to Mono's enhanced hearing that she managed to avoid the large blade that slammed into the ground where she stood. The owner of the blade was massive, he stood up at nearly two meters, he had a particularly nasty sneer on his face and his blonde hair was swept to the side.
"Tch. I missed the animal."
Mono glared at the newcomer and almost hissed before stopping herself. That would only emphasize his point.
Behind Mono, Oriole had deflected several bullets that would have hit her in the back. It was good to know, once again, that she could trust her partner. Her gaze turned back to the big one, who was now resting his massive sword across his shoulders as if it weighed nothing, he still had that nasty sneer on his face.
Oh, this was going to suck.
She leapt back as the massive boy swung his equally massive blade at her, the ground cracked and dirt was sent flying in all directions. As if that move was the signal, everyone blurred into action. She couldn't see anything behind her but she heard gunshots — a lot of them, along with the occasional sound of a bullet being deflected. She continued to backpedal as the boy swung his blade wildly, giving Mono no room to do anything at all.
Oriole was facing the same troubles as her partner right now. The opponent standing in front of her, a young woman with brown hair and an overall boring look, the minigun, however, was not boring at all. The girl was showering her in a rain of bullets. She couldn't advance at all.
Fine. Oriole narrowed her eyes, I don't need to get close to you.
She had wanted to try and conserve as much Dust as possible but there was no choice. The Dust crystals in her war fan glowed and the rain of bullets stopped for just a moment, and a moment was all she needed. She swung her massive fan in a wide arc, a tornado of fire blurring into existence and rushing straight towards her opponent.
Mono ducked underneath a swing that left the boy overextended.
Now!
She unsheathed Dancing Reaver and lunged at the boy while he struggled to maintain his balance. The disadvantages of having a heavy blade, no matter how strong you are, momentum is one that will always defeat you given that enough force has been put into it. The blade gleamed and the edge hissed and she slashed once, twice, three times on the boy's chest plate. She was about to go in for a fourth strike when the boy lifted his foot and kicked her in the chest and sent her flying, her little frame couldn't compare to the boy's gargantuan one.
Oriole's opponent was nimble despite that huge minigun she was carrying, and managed to avoid the first burning tornado of death somehow and was now returning fire. She ducked behind a tree and waited for the rain of bullets to subside again. The tree was being torn apart by the minigun and was showering her with splinters. Oriole's opponent stepped closer and closer.
Mono felt like she was hit by a truck, she was winded and probably lost a fair bit of aura there. The kick was extremely heavy, heavier than it should be. It was if the boy had weights on, but that couldn't be right with what how he seemed to be moving with no trouble at all.
Mono tucked herself in and rolled, springing back up to her feet just in time to see the boy barrelling her way, she raised Dancing Reaver just in time to block another heavy blow from his weapon, the ground around them cracked and she was forced to use a fair bit of her aura to reinforce her arms so that she didn't falter. The boy pressed down on his weapon and her arms flagging. There was a reason why she didn't use her sheath as a weapon, she needed both arms.
Oriole found herself in a tight bind as she couldn't move without getting peppered with bullets, the girl with the minigun was getting closer and closer and her bit of cover wasn't going to last any longer.
These opponents were poor matches for them as Mono's small form and agile strikes couldn't get past the boy's defense and his own strikes were too heavy for Mono to guard against, likewise, Oriole had little defense to block the onslaught of bullets, not to mention her ranged options were severely limited by the amount of Dust she was carrying.
(Speaking of ammo, how was her opponent be able to carry so much of it?)
Both of them were in tight positions. Only a miracle from above would save them now.
-/-/-
Monty and his partner, Calypso Caspian, were travelling through the forest in relative silence. Both of them kept to themselves, and that was fine with Monty. The only person that he'd act so open to was to his cousin, Mono.
They had walked for a few more metres when gunshots suddenly sounded in the distance, the two were immediately alert, weapons out. Calypso turned to him with a silent question,
What do you think?
Monty thought about it. If they stumbled upon two pairs fighting then they could swoop in and take both relics. Easy.
... No-one said anything about fair play.
He nodded his assent and the duo rushed into the forest, heading towards the source of the noise.
The default plan when setting an ambush was to stick to the shadows, wait for his signal before attacking. And that would've been the case if the fight they stumbled onto didn't involve a boy with a huge blade bearing down on Mono who was visibly struggling to keep it at bay, the blade inched closer and closer.
...
He had first met Mono when his father had taken him to visit his brother, Mono's father. He didn't even know his father had a brother nevermind Mono's existence.
The memories of that day were faded but he remembered that they were six at the time, just a year before the War's end. The few things he did remember was that his father was shouting. A lot. His father stomped out and disappeared for most of the day with Mono's father looking less than pleased. There was really nothing to do, so he talked to her.
It was small talk, at first, Mono was the one that had engaged most of the conversations while he responded with the occasional grunt to show that he was listening. His first instinct was to leave. But as time grew on, he started to listen and even replied to her. He allowed himself to open up to her.
A connection was formed. Strangers grew into acquaintances. Acquaintances into friends. Friends to best friends.
They had continued to visit over the course of several years but most of the time, his dad would be shouting at Mono's dad a lot. It eventually got to the point where they stopped visiting altogether and that hurt both of them. They still kept in contact through video and continued to talk.
That best friend bond had effectively transformed into a sibling relationship as they interacted with each other. Monty had admitted to himself that he always wanted a younger sibling and although Mono wasn't directly related to him but she was certainly the closest thing he had to a sister.
And since Mono was the closest thing he had to a younger sister, ("By like one month!"), it made sense that he had a brotherly instinct to protect her.
Monty leapt into the battle with a roar, his tonfas blazing.
-/-/-
A miracle had arrived in the form of her cousin. He leapt down from the trees with a roar like a vengeful spirit, opening fire on the boy that was bearing down on her with the insanely large blade. The bullets hit home and with a grunt, the boy was forced to disengage before his aura could be depleted.
Her cousin stood up beside her, his tail whipping furiously behind him, "Late to the party?"
Mono let out a relieved sigh, "Just in time, brother of mine."
The two cousins stood together, Mono held her katana in front of her, the tip pointed towards the enemy while Monty got into a boxer's stance, gripping his tonfas tightly.
They moved.
The cousins had often sparred together whenever Monty had visited, granted, they weren't able to see each other much after their dads had stopped talking but they fought each often enough that they knew the cores of their style.
Monty went high, Mono went low. His tonfas were barely enough to block the large blade, reinforced steel grinding against each other and emitting sparks. These clashes wouldn't last long as immediately after, Mono would swipe at his legs forcing him to disengage and retreat. Together, they continued pushing him back.
Over on Oriole's side, the gunfire had stopped when another girl with brown hair done in a stylish french braid (Oriole approved) and thin plated armour had interrupted their battle, leaping in above and easily knocking the minigun girl away with a quick slice of her double-edged blade.
Oriole peeked around the tree as soon as the minigun stopped spinning and saw the girl, she got into a defensive stance and was prepared to fight back before the girl raised her hand,
"Calm down, I'm here to help you."
She raised an eyebrow, "Oh yeah? And who are you?"
The girl shuffled awkwardly, "My partner is a friend of your partner and he wanted us to assist you in battle."
Oriole took a moment to observe her, she wielded a double-edged blade with a revolver chamber, it most likely shifted into something else, thin armour with a black and dark blue colour scheme. Stance is confident, grip is strong but if she decided to stab her in the back once all of this was over, she could hold her own.
She grinned confidently, "I guess we can call a truce for now."
The girl inclined her head, "Agreed."
Oriole smirked and held up her war fan in a subtle but threatening gesture, "My name is Oriole, by the way."
The girl saw the gesture and twirled her blade in a circle, so this girl had a backbone. "Calypso."
Calypso and Oriole heard the minigun whirring up and threw themselves in different directions before the onslaught of bullets began once again. Calypso quickly responded by collapsing the blade into a revolver and returning fire which forced the girl to stop firing and take cover behind a nearby rock. The minigun girl folded the minigun into... a hammer? Okay, that was epic.
Oriole burst out from her hiding spot and leapt right into the girl's guard, she was not expecting it. Oriole sliced at the girl's chest with the bladed edge of her fan, making her stumble back, she finished off by launching her into the air using wind Dust from her fan. Calypso ran out, her revolver turning back into the double-edged blade and leapt up into with the intent on slamming her enemy down.
This was not to be, however, as the minigun-hammer girl righted herself in mid-air and saw Calypso approaching. She spun, using the hammerhead to build up momentum and allowed it to pull her out of the way, letting Calypso pass her harmlessly before slamming the hammer down on the girl like how Calypso intended.
Well, that was what should have happened.
Oriole swung her fan and a blast of wind shot out, pushing Calypso out of the way of the deadly hammer. She followed up by swinging her fan again but this time, small ice spikes formed before launching themselves at the girl. They hit their intended mark and once again, the girl was sent flying.
Back on Mono's side, the duo had successfully managed to subdue the boy through a combination of skill and teamwork. He didn't stand a chance against them when they were together and was now lying facedown with that weird shield-stasis thing surrounding him. They reached past the shield which let them by without any problems and took the relic from him.
"Man. I wish I was partnered up with you." Indeed, it would have been beneficial for them if they had paired up as they both knew each other well."
Mono shrugged, "We can't have it all."
"You can, I'm not taking this relic. We already have seven." Monty flicked the relic, a White Knight over at Mono who caught it.
"Seven?! We only have four." She hunched over, dejected.
Monty patted her head fondly, "You have five now."
There was the rustling of foliage behind them, they turned and saw Oriole emerging with a slightly scorched Calypso, who looked somewhat irked.
They quickly explained things. The minigun girl had been sent flying from the ice attack that Oriole had hit her with, Calypso had turned around and slammed her down with her double-edged blade before Oriole combined Fire and Wind again and launched it at the minigun girl while she was still down, the resulting conflagration was glorious (and she MAY have burned down half of the forest) but unfortunately, Calypso hadn't been out of range.
Oriole sent a smirk at Calypso who seemed somewhat confused, probably social awkwardness striking again.
"So what happens now?" Oriole directed the question towards Monty who shrugged and looked at Mono, everyone else turned to stare at her as well.
Mono glanced around, "Why are you looking at me?"
Everyone shrugged, she sighed.
"We may as well stick together. Two heads are better than one."
"Isn't there a rule against teaming up?"
Oriole shook her head, "Remember what Professor Red told us? There are no rules."
Calypso shuffled in place and spoke up, "I... don't have any objections. We... work well together."
Mono nodded, "It's settled then."
Everyone nodded back and as one, the group fled the scene leaving their two opponents behind.
-/-/-
DAY 3:
The group awoke feeling refreshed. Since the duos have become a group, rest became easier since they could sleep longer and different people taking watch at different times meant that everyone could sleep evenly unlike the uneven schedule they had set as a duo.
They quickly set to work planning out the rest of their day,
"Ambushes, all day long."
Everyone groaned.
This day wasn't nearly as exciting as the previous day, all of the weaker pairs must have been picked off because only three had stumbled across their ambushes. If a duo could beat a single opponent than a group could easily beat down a duo. The relics were split, with Mono and Oriole gaining two leaving them at seven while Monty and Calypso got the last one, giving them eight.
Evidently, the students were thinning out. It was only the third day and already the encounter rate had dropped massively.
The group fought small packs of beowolves as they traversed the forest - which improved their overall teamwork and coordination and stopped at a nearby watering hole where animals would gather, this supplied them with the food and water for the day. Although Mono was traumatized at eating the poor Jade Deer, native only to the Emerald Forest.
Their next course of action was to set up around the watering hole and wait as it was bound to be visited by initiate pairs looking to fill their gullets with water. This proved true and was much more reliable then waiting in a random area and hoping for a pair to stumble into them, the chances were pretty low. The only reason why they worked in the first place was because there was a lot of initiates in the forest at the time. They had amassed another three relics using this method, this time, two were given to Monty and Calypso who proved invaluable in ambushes as her semblance allowed her to remain undetected by the enemy.
It was obvious how Monty and Calypso had gotten a lot of relics early on. Calypso did all the work ("Hey!").
-/-/-
DAY 3 (NIGHT):
Circumstances forced them to travel at night, the Grimm were extremely active and the group had found out that there was another group (not a pair, a group) in the area that hunted others during the night, they had a close shave with them earlier when both accidentally stumbled onto each other.
Mono's group were outclassed, they had a lady that was heavily armoured just like the boy from yesterday, the red-haired girl that Mono met, and there was also the giant who, coincidentally, Mono also met.
But the biggest threat had to have been the shirtless faunus whose name that Mono couldn't pronounce. He moved as if he belonged in the forest, the darkness was no hindrance for him and he easily matched them in combat. The only reason they had escaped was because Mono had managed to tag him with her semblance and send him flying with repulsion.
The hunters had become the hunted.
-/-/-
DAY 4:
She was sleep deprived, she was tired, she was low on aura and everything ached. She was sure that the rest of her team felt the same way.
They had been forced to run all night with little to no sleep, paranoia at both the Grimm and the hunter group keeping them awake.
It was agreed that they were to use this day to rest and recover, they had a lot of relics so they could afford to take a small break. They were running low on ammo as well with only Mono being good to go as she rarely used her Dust, her skills with her blade having pulled her through. Since she wasn't using the Dust, she passed it around.
They slept most of the day away, waking up to go find food or water. Food was plentiful if you knew where to look, it was water that was the problem as the Emerald Forest only had a few watering holes. But retracing their footsteps lead them back to the watering hole they had used the previous day, they boiled the water and drank greedily.
The day was almost over, but the night was just beginning.
-/-/-
...
Ah...
I...
...
-/-/-
DAY 4 (NIGHT):
It had taken them quite a while to find any initiate pairs and the pairs they found had not been pairs at all, but groups as well. They found one group near the cliffs which boxed them in, it was both a good move and a bad move. Good because it forced any attacking groups into a frontal assault and thus, they could defend against it. Bad because it had boxed them in. If it had been a live combat situation during the day then the group's chances of winning might have been questionable.
But alas, the exam was to survive, not win.
People fear the unknown. They are afraid of what lies in the dark. They are afraid of what they can't see or explain.
They struck in the cover of darkness, much like the group that had hunted them had. They had woken up in the middle of it as well but they were quickly shut down before they had any chance to strike back. Calypso had once again proven invaluable with her stealth semblance.
Calypso's semblance was basically misdirection, it could mute her presence or dull the enemy's awareness, either option worked as it helped her easily take out the person on guard duty. It was a pity that she couldn't extend this towards her teammates.
The night was going great until the Grimm started to show up, they must have been attracted by the slight fear when the initiate group was attacked, once again, they were very active and very plentiful. It only made sense that the creatures of darkness were empowered by the night. This Grimm horde seemed to be made up of many Creeps, about twenty or so and most of them young with some older Creeps scattered here and there. They were trapped between the cliff face and the Grimm horde, their only option was to fight their way out of it.
Monty glared at the approaching Grimm, "Any plans?"
Oriole pressed several Dust crystal into her fan, the edge of the fan glowed, "We'll fight it out."
Mono nodded, "Oriole will start us off. Calypso follows through. Monty and I will finish."
Both girls nodded. Oriole sprinted at the approaching mass of Grimm, in any other case, one might say it was insane to charge a pack like that but Oriole was best suited for confrontations like these. Her weapon looked unsuited for combat but in the hands of an extremely talented Dust user like Oriole meant that it was capable of decimating entire groups. Like for example, this horde of Grimm that stood in front of her.
Oriole stopped in front of the horde who eyed her hungrily, she smiled, "Now, now. Eyes on me, or you'll miss the show."
She grasped her fan and swung it, a firestorm erupting, the front lines of the Grimm horde crumbled to ash. She swung again, but instead of fire, lightning shot out and it crackled and sparked and bounced from one Grimm to another and they fell to the ground, twitching. As one, the Grimm howled and charged forward, wanting to rip the girl to shreds.
They never got the chance. As soon as Oriole's Dust attacks died out, Calypso rushed forward and swung her blade in a large arc, easily sheering through the Grimm. One of the more elder Creep had snuck up behind Calypso while she was dealing with the younger ones, it was taken out by a shot to the head, the mask of the Grimm breaking in half. It was taken out by Monty who looked like he had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. No-one paid any attention to him despite this, as if Calypso's semblance was active.
Monty suddenly spun around and took a page out of Mono's book, activating his semblance again, he 'snatched' the semblance of the nearest person, his cousin.
His semblance was fitting considering his klepto tendencies. Snatch allowed Monty to use the semblance of another person within the vicinity, and while most people would complain that this seemed to be overpowered. It really wasn't. For one, he had absolutely no training with the semblance he 'snatched' and any semblance he 'snatched' couldn't be used to its full potential, if he tried to use Mono's Attraction and Repulsion then the best he could do was two forces while Mono could do nearly ten of them. In addition, there was a time limit as to how long he could keep a semblance.
But even the bare minimum was enough in this case.
He leapt over one of the Creep, brushing his fingers across the smooth armour of the dark creature. The Grimm glowed black, if Monty remembered right, that was Negative. He landed on the other side, the Grimm turned and roared into his face.
He smirked and tagged Negative on his own body. Both forces repulsed each other and the Grimm was sent flying and knocked over several other Grimm,
"Strike!"
Mono watched this out of the corner of her eye and shook her head, exasperated. She turned to focus on the Grimm at hand. She drew both Dancing Reaver and the sheath (Did she mention the sheath was bladed?) she tagged Dancing Reaver as Negative, and the sheath as Positive, they glowed black and white respectively and already, Mono could feel the pull as both parts of her weapon attempted to come together.
She flung both weapons outwards, the pull from her semblance was making them come together but the momentum of their flight would separate them and force them to continue. This effectively turned them into a something like missiles that would slice through anything. The only Dust currently loaded in her katana or sheath was Magnetic, she had no elemental Dust for offensive maneuvers but despite this, they still performed their job well enough. The weapons returned to her waiting hands with a bit of aid from her Magnetic Dust and her semblance.
Their initial assault had severely crippled the horde, the only remaining Grimm were the elder ones who were already turning tail, they had obviously survived the years because they knew when they were in danger. The Grimm evolved and learned as easily as man did.
Now there's a scary thought. Mono shuddered.
The night raid and the little fight with the Grimm had given them adrenaline, they were all jumpy and felt like they could take on even more enemies.
So Mono thought it was completely understandable that when the bush rustled, she accidentally threw Dancing Reaver at it. There was a yelp and a young woman leapt out of the bush, evidently not a student with how old she was. A Professor then?
"Hey! Watch where you're throwing that thing! Someone could get seriously hurt."
Mono had the decency to look embarrassed. "I'm sorry." The group took a closer look at the woman,
The group took a closer look at the woman,
The first thing that came to mind when regarding the woman was how warm she felt, the feelings associated with home and safety came up to the front of their minds.
Indeed, the woman with long blonde curls that it almost looked white, felt like home. The woman straightened her black jacket, revealing that she was wearing a yellow top with her midriff exposed.
"It's fine! Accidents happen all the time. Speaking of which, did you happen to find any students that were downed around here?" The woman responded with an easy smile,
Oriole winked, "Yes. They're over by the cliffside, by the way, love the jacket."
"Awww. Thanks, sweetie. I hope I'll see you all in Beacon! If you do, don't hesitate to call Evelyn Yellow!" The woman, Evelyn, waved and skipped to the cliffside
"..." Everyone (with the exception of Oriole) was left staring after her,
"... Yellow's a weird surname."
"And Red isn't?"
"She's weird."
"... All teachers in Beacon are weird."
-/-/-
Ah...
I...
...
I Awaken
...
-/-/-
DAY 5:
Day Five. The last day they were all going to spend in this forest. The group had run into several other groups (There were no longer any pairs.) and at times, the fight had been pretty close but a combination of wit, skill and teamwork had enabled them to overpower the others. Two more relics were added to the collection, combined with the two relics from last night. Monty and Calypso now had twelve, while Mono and Oriole had eight.
It was an impressive number. They have to be one of the top teams.
There couldn't have been any more pairs left in the forest, it was decided that today, they would reach a higher vantage point to see if they can spot any more initiates or, if it came down to it, paint targets on their back and lead the enemies to them.
It worked. A little too well.
They had drawn the attention of one group, yes. But it was the same group that had hunted them during the night. They were formidable opponents, completely different from anyone they ever fought.
All of the other groups they had faced had been poorly organized, no coordination or teamwork whatsoever. This group was the opposite of that. They had plans, they covered each others backs and they were good.
At night, both teams had been put at a disadvantage because of the night with the exception of the faunus who had night vision and could see perfectly well in the dark.
During the day, they were completely different. They no longer had anything holding them back and they fought for all they were worth.
Of course, Mono's group also no longer had any disadvantages holding them back either. So far, the clash was even but it was evident that the other team were superior because unlike Mono's team who was all purely offense, their team was well balanced.
The two biggest members of their group, the armoured lady and the giant acted as the shields. They took the brunt of their assault and struck back with heavy blows. The armoured lady's gigantic sword and the boy with geokinetic abilities, was it a semblance?
The red-haired girl supported from a range, her backpack contained... a lot of presents, literally, presents. Initially, they were small but they expanded when taken out despite the lack of mecha shift. And get this, these presents?
They were also bombs.
The presents exploded and scattered them, they couldn't group together or they would all be taken out.
When all of them scattered, the shirtless faunus moved like the wind. It was if he had trained in this forest his entire life - and he was dangerous. His weapon were clawed gauntlets, the tips gleaming dangerously. It was such a simple weapon but he used this to devastating effect, slowly wearing down the group.
This battle was not going in their favour at all.
-/-/-
Somewhere far away, away from the kingdoms of man, there existed darkness. True darkness. The darkness was asleep but it grew more aware every day, its consciousness spreading out and touching every single darkness that was in existence right now.
The darkness smiled as it came into contact with four spectacular voids of pitch black. The darkness stirred. All of the Grimm roared.
-/-/-
BEACON ACADEMY
The man stood alone in his office, holding his cane. Until he felt it. Pulsing out from beyond and stretching all across Vale, across Remnant. He heard the Grimm howl. He heard the darkness awaken.
The gears beneath his feet were spinning away, the clock on his wall was ticking. Ticking down until the end.
The man's grip on his cane tightened, the knuckles going white. His eyes hardened and his lips were pressed into a thin line.
"It's coming."
-/-/-
EMERALD FOREST
Everyone froze when the Grimm of the Emerald Forest roared, the cacophony of noise awakened a primal fear in the hearts of everyone present.
"W-What..?" Mono was about to ask the question that was on everyone's minds but they never got the chance.
A screech filled the air. A terrible screech that turned the sparks of fear into a blaze of terror.
Everyone knew what the Creatures of Grimm were. Embodiments of darkness whose sole intent was to hunt all of mankind into extinction. These Grimm were mindless and reckless, they dove into battle without any care for the consequences. But there were Grimm that evolved, who learned. These Grimm were known as Alphas, they were much larger and deadlier, they learned how man fought, and this knowledge was used to become more efficient killers of man. And what was beyond an Alpha? Grimm that survived for hundreds of years were known as Ancients, massive in size, heavily armoured and very deadly, they had learned over the course of many centuries and the advised strategy was to run when an Ancient was spotted although Ancients were usually dormant.
So what was a Grimm beyond that of an Ancient? Something that has lived for thousands of years, something that has seen the rise and fall of kingdoms and even contributed to it. These Grimm were Legendary. Only ever seen during times of great negativity... which had happened recently.
The Great War. If Grimm were attracted to darkness and despair, then Legendary Grimm were attracted to only the purest darkness, the deepest hatred. The war was filled to the brink with all of this, every battlefield was ravaged by Grimm, in the end, there were no winners. Only darkness remained.
And it was during this Great War that four great darknesses emerged, everyone knew who they were, they were Rakknar the Harbinger, Tartarus the Ravager, Abbaddon of the Abyss and Behzar the Endsinger. They were beings so powerful that when one appeared, both sides had actually joined forces to try and take one of these monstrous beings down.
Noone succeeded. Noone survived.
The Great War was the longest war in Remnant's history, only going for three years. Yes, three years was the longest war in Remnant.
There had been other wars of course, but they had lasted only a year at most. After all, it was hard to keep a war going if the Grimm killed everything.
But there was no war. There was no huge negativity happening on Remnant... right?
So why was a Legendary Grimm here?
Why was Rakknar of One Thousand Birds and Painter of the Bloody Skies descending from the heavens?
OC LIST [IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE, NOT INCLUDING OLD OCs]:
Gamma Black - PinwheelGrizzly and PinwheelGrizzly's sister
Calypso Caspian - Wallflowerpower
Oriole Glaive - ChillyIce
(?) 'Racist bastard' - PinwheelGrizzly's sister
(?) 'Hammer time girl' - PinwheelGrizzly's sister
'Armoured Lady' - Another Generic Gamer
'Red haired girl' - Saint Lake
'Giant' - reven228
Evelyn Yellow - PinwheelGrizzly's sister
[NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE THE LAST CHAPTER FOR GENERATION I OCs, RIVALS/ANTIHEROES AND PROFESSORS WILL STILL BE ACCEPTED.]
WHOOOO. It's done! And for anyone wondering, NO, the OCs will NOT be fighting Rakknar. If they fought Rakknar, then they would all die a terrible death.
Also, remember when I said that Generation I had little plot? I lied. The plot may look like it's advancing fast, but it's not. I think.
I'm not so sure how I do on the fight scenes, I did try to keep the RWBY feel to it though.
I forgot to mention somewhere that the stasis-shield thingies activated fully after a certain time frame.
The Legendary Grimm are well... legendary. They are massive. They are deadly. They are ruthless killers.
Yes, aura reinforcement is a thing in RWBY.
And two more professors have been introduced. As soon as the last member of the team is introduced, I'll post as much information as I can give you regarding them.
Reviews are motivations. Favourites are as well!
-PinwheelGrizzly
Oh, and here're some extras to say I'm sorry.
EXTRA:
An initiate duo who was not important to the story and thus will not be named or described were making their way across the forest, having landed a while ago.
They got lucky when they stumbled across another initiate duo that was already weakened from battling Grimm, it was a simple matter of depleting their remaining aura which was easily done.
The weird shield things activated but they parted when he poked them, that was good enough for them. They quickly searched their enemy and discovered something interesting.
"Dude. They have three relics! Let's take all of them!"
His partner shuffled nervously, "I don't think that's a good idea bro, remember what the Professor said?"
'Bro' scoffed, "Pfft. As if they'll know if we take more than one. They're bluffing. It's all a lie to scare us."
The partner looked nervous, "But-" "Aha!"
'Bro' held up the three relics victoriously, "Success!" before he quickly looked around.
There were five tense seconds.
"See? I told you-"
He was interrupted by a beeping sound. The sound was coming from the relics. Both boys looked at the relics which were now glowing.
"... Bro?"
The relics exploded, their aura was depleted.
-/-/-
Mono and Oriole quickly settled into a defensive stance when they heard an explosion,
"... What was that?"
In the distance, there was a mushroom cloud.
-/-/-
Up on the cliffs, Vesuvius Red smirked, quite smugly if you asked anyone else.
[THIS EXTRA WAS INSPIRED BY RESHUFFLE'S FANFIC, AUTUMN DAYS. IT'S A RUBY GAMER FIC AND I SUGGEST YOU ALL CHECK IT OUT. CHAPTER 7 OF AUTUMN DAYS EXPLAINS EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS EXTRA.]
EXTRA:
Aura. Aura is the manifestation of one's soul, it bears their burdens and shields their hearts. It was their very life. All living things had an aura, plants, animals, people. Everything except for the creatures of Grimm for they have no soul.
How does one go about activating their Aura? An Aura can be activated in times of extreme need or it can be unlocked by someone, there has been no difference observed between an awakened Aura and an unlocked one.
-/-/-
Mono Chrome was staring into the kind and gentle eyes of Mana Chrome,
"Now dear, I want you to focus on me."
She nodded obediently, staring into the steel gray of her mother's eyes.
Her mother took a deep breath and put a hand on her forehead.
-/-/-
Mono Chrome found herself in the dark, yet she was not afraid.
'Child from Dust, unaware of duty, what is your greatest desire?'
Mono Chrome paused, what did she want? She wanted...
'Equality. For everyone. There will be no more hate between the faunus and the humans, there will be no more war'
'You desire a happy ending?'
'Yes.'
'...'
'Child of Man, taken by hopelessness, what is your greatest fear?'
Mono Chrome blinked, momentarily taken aback. What did she fear? She feared...
'Being abandoned... Being left behind... I... I don't want to be left behind... ever again..'
'You fear being left alone in the dark?'
'... Yes.'
'...'
'Child of Remnant, pure light, for what reason do you fight?
Mono Chrome didn't take long to answer this. She fought because...
'I want to change the world! I want equality for the faunus! I want peace! I fight because no-one else wants to!'
'Is that what you truly desire?'
'Yes.'
'...'
'Children of Hope, the next generation, what is your name?'
And suddenly, Mono Chrome found herself surrounded by unfamiliar faces, yet she somehow knew them. That was because...
'We are...'
-/-/-
'For it is our will that drives us to do the impossible, rising up to do what needs to be done, pushing past the brink of despair. An impossible barrier broken by endless determination, the sign of a new beginning in an ever-changing world; With my power, I release your soul and with my will, aid thee.'
Next time, on Generations, Chapter 4...
'The Harbinger'
... Mono Chrome rolled away from the line of fire, the feathers spearing into the ground and sticking upright. Across from her, Oriole was deflecting most of the feathers with her giant fan, blasting wind at the feathers and at the Grimm.
Behind her, Monty and Calypso were firing upon the giant bird but their attacks seemed to do little to it.
Further behind Monty and Calypso, the other initiates stood, their weapons out and ready...