Prologue
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Outskirts of Mantle, Atlas.
August 1st.
6:00 AM.
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One of the things that every single Atlesian grows accustomed to, one of the very first things, would be the frigid temperatures. When you spend your entire life where it's always cold and the air is always thin, your body adapts to it. It understands what it has to do differently to cater to the way you live your life. As such, it wasn't uncommon to see a citizen of Atlas or Mantle walking around in short sleeved clothes in the middle of winter. Provided the weather wasn't too severe, anyways. That wasn't to say that they didn't get cold. Everyone had their limits. However, more often than not, the average citizen really didn't care about the cold. Not to the extent that a citizen of Vacuo or Mistral might, but it did happen. And while Atlas may not have the temperatures of all four seasons, the temperatures went up ever so slightly during the summer months. It wasn't much, but it did make it the slightest bit more tolerable.
All of this said, it made no sense to Chase Meer why he was shivering. As he walked alongside his father, out into the bitter cold and the area where his father typically took him to train, he found himself covered in goosebumps and shivering every time the wind picked up. He'd been shivering all morning, and for this reason his mother had told him to bring his coat. He didn't normally wear it, and even now it didn't do much good. Chase let out a sigh, bringing his hand down to where his weapon hung at his side. He glanced down at his weapon, then towards his father and the weapon that his father wielded. Part of him wanted to shudder, and he slowly realized that the chills and shivering was due to nerves.
He had spent his entire life training with his father, but today was different. And he knew why. Chase had received a response to his application to Atlas Academy, and to little to no surprise to anyone, he had been accepted to the school. He was following in the footsteps of everyone in his family, at last. The Meer family originated in an insignificant village on the edge of the continent, near the coast. It was a fishing village, but somewhere along the line, one of the early Meer men chose to join the military. When the academies were established, their family all went there and moved on to the Special Operatives Unit from there. They weren't famous or important. They were well known, but not on the level of a family like the Schnees. Compared to them, they were nobodies.
In spite of that, Chase grew up with an understanding that one day he would follow in the footsteps of his ancestors. His father trained him and his entire life it was all he wanted. That was perhaps the most important catch to it all. Their family didn't expect it of them. The decision to do this had to be theirs. Chase found it a little silly whenever he looked in on it from the outside, but he realized he was probably lucky compared to some. It didn't change that he was still nervous, and he realized that it was probably best to fix that before he ended up drawing any Grimm or anything to their location. Living out here, it was often a wild card, though. Usually it was pretty safe, though. Usually.
After what felt like forever, his father stopped and Chase was quick to follow suit. The crunching of snow beneath their feet had stopped. Finally, they took a real good look at their surroundings. Chase, for the first time, really took notice of the shift in weather as the sun was starting to come up. The entire area was colored a mix of different blues. He probably looked out of place with the light greens he preferred to wear. His father had roughly the same aesthetic going, but with more gray hues to it. Thankfully, if they were trying to blend in and hide, there was a light fog that hung over them. It would probably be gone before long, but for now it was enough for some temporary color.
Chase's father said nothing for a while. He was always cryptic when it came to this. Another sigh from Chase. "How long are we planning on standing here and doing nothing? Because I'd like to be home for breakfast."
His father looked over his shoulder at him with comedic annoyance. "Just once do you think you could show a bit of patience?"
"I just want to know how long we're planning on dragging this on," Chase said, almost lazily, as he shifted his weight off of one leg. He tilted his head to one side. "You know, under normal circumstances I wouldn't mind this. But it's my last month off before I head to the academy, and I have a lot to get ready for. More training is...pretty redundant at this point."
"That's exactly why we're out here, Chase," his father said, turning around to face him. "It's because you're heading to the academy. You need to prepare. You have a standard to live up to, and you may have met it in most places, but you still have a long way to go." He began to circle, walking around Chase like he was preparing for a fight. Green-gray eyes practically gleamed as they looked Chase over, but his expression remained the same. "You need to prove to me that you really are ready."
Chase snorted, finding it ridiculous. Sure, he took his goals and training seriously, but sometimes he wanted a break. "I got accepted into Atlas. I think I've proven it."
A hand smacked the back of his head. Not hard enough to hurt, but enough to get his attention. "You haven't proven it to me. Not just yet," his father said as he stopped his circling, at last standing in front of him once more. A small smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, and Chase furrowed his brow in confusion. Truth be told, he was still waking up. His father was confusing enough on his own, without adding to that with whatever this was. He looked around, crossing his arms. "You're good, but I want one final fight. For real. Practice in the living room all you'd like, but it means nothing if you can't use it practically. And you will need to use it practically."
"Alright, then." Chase grinned, feeling his confidence build and excitement creeping up. He unsheathed his longsword, which seemed normal enough on the outside. It had a few tricks up its sleeve, though. Just had to know when to use them. He readied himself in a battle stance, but it didn't take long for him to notice that his father remained in the same position with an amused look on his face. Chase frowned. "Are you...not going to fight? At all?"
"When did I ever say that you'd be fighting me?" his father asked, chuckling. Heavy footsteps sounded nearby, and a dull growling could be heard. Chase recognized the sound anywhere, and his confidence began to ebb away. Not by too much, but he wasn't mentally prepared to face a Grimm instead of his father. His dad looked in the direction the sound came from, and began to walk away. The fog was starting to fade and he could make out the shadowy figure of a sabyr. It hadn't noticed them. Yet. His father patted his shoulder as he walked past him. "I've been tracking that lone sabyr for a while, now. He's not big, but he's still young and pretty reckless. You two have a lot in common."
"Oh, haha..." Chase sarcastically responded, finding himself shivering again. Dammit.
His father continued in a surprisingly light tone. "He's still fierce. You'll probably have to put some effort into it. I'll be nearby, making sure that you don't get too ripped up."
"You're...not helping me. At all."
"Relax, you'll do fine. I just want to be 100% sure. I'm proud of you either way, but y'know how it is," his father said, waving a hand dismissively. "Remember: semblance as a last resort. Weapon is an extension of your body. Trust your instincts, and think on your feet."
"I remember," Chase answered flatly, narrowing his eyes. He had to squint slightly to fully make out the shape. He noticed that his father had stopped and looked over at him, raising an eyebrow. "Is that it?"
"No, there's one more thing." He paused and looked Chase over. Chase merely searched his expression for any indication of what he was doing, but he found none. At last, his father sighed, shoving his hands into his coat pocket. He gave a small smile. "Good luck."
With that, his father walked a safe distance away. Chase found his lack of concern a bit troubling, but his father had always been a bit aloof. In a way, Chase found that his father was less serious about his work than Chase was. Sure, after a while it probably didn't seem like a big deal, but Chase couldn't wait to actually get out in the field. But if he wanted to do that then he at least wanted his father to believe in his abilities. So he readied himself for a fight, setting his sights on the sabyr. The creature of Grimm was as disinterested as Chase's father, and almost completely unaware of their presence a couple of yards away. That could easily change.
The sabyr let out a confused, disgruntled huff, its breath visible in a puff of mist. Chase took a deep breath and a couple of steps forward. He'd faced Grimm before. Smaller ones. The sabyr, at a glance, didn't look that big, so Chase wasn't too concerned about it. As he approached, the sabyr was still not the most concerned with him. It was probably looking for its pack, likely having been separated for sometime. But if it made it to Mantle then they had other problems. Their defenses were adequate — some of the best, actually — but you can never trust a Grimm. They may be more or less blind and inept, but they fed off of negative emotions, so one hanging around too close and scaring people could easily bring more. It'd find its pack before long.
Another sound came from it, an almost experimental roar. As Chase got closer, trying to keep his emotions in check, either positive or none at all, he could see it was a bit bigger than he'd actually expected. A couple of small bone shards stuck out along its shoulders, back, and haunches and some of the areas along its body looked frozen or frostbit. A typical sabyr appearance, which was good for him. It meant he shouldn't expect too many surprises. The only thing missing was a pair of tusks, which looked like they had either not come in or had somehow already been ripped off in a fight. As he came to a halt a relatively safe distance away, the sabyr stopped what it was doing and looked towards him in a curious manner, bright red eyes gleaming as Chase assumed that it observed him.
The two of them stared each other down for a bit until Chase decided to make the first move. Get angry. Get negative. Rile it up and draw it in. He was honestly surprised that it hadn't attacked sooner. "What are you waiting for, kitty cat?" Chase sneered, taunting it. Not like it would make any difference. The sabyr snarled, spinning on its feet and readying itself to charge. Its bone tail lashed from side to side and it let out a furious roar. Perfect. Chase smirked, then figured he'd go ahead and get the show on the road. "Yeah, that's it. Show me what you've got, you stupid monster. COME ON!"
As if it was waiting for an invitation, the creature chose that shout to rush forward. It was easy enough to avoid the blow. Chase sidestepped and swiped at the sabyr's side with his sword, and in the same motion the sabyr tried to claw at him as it jumped by. Unfortunately for both of them, neither attempt at a strike was successful. The sabyr overshot, realized its mistake and skidded to a halt, wheeling around with even more fury than before. Chase and the Grimm both charged at each other this time, claws and sword ready to hit anything they could. The sabyr leapt into the air, planning to tackle him to the ground, but Chase realized this soon enough and made a tiny hop, bracing himself for the impact with the snow and ice beneath him.
Just as he had planned, he landed on his back and slid underneath the sabyr. The breath was knocked out of him a bit and he grunted in pain, but was able to swipe at the sabyr's belly with his longsword. It didn't do much damage, but he did puncture the skin. The belly and neck were the best weak spots, and he managed to give the Grimm a good sized cut on its left side. The sabyr let out a pained shriek and stumbled into its landing, digging its claws into the ice so it didn't lose balance. Blood spattered onto the snow, some droplets hitting Chase in the face as he came to a stop himself. Okay, not what I was wanting, but it gets the job done.
Grunting, listening to the Grimm continue its shrieking, Chase rose to his feet. Some of the snow than lined his back fell off, but some of it stuck. He could brush it off later, right now he had more pressing matters to attend to. The sabyr let out a few more agonized shrieks, blood still dripping down. When it realized that Chase had recovered, it let out a snarl that was a mix of anger and pain. Maybe even frustration. The pair charged each other once again. Chase went to strike its face, but it stupidly grabbed the blade of his sword in its mouth and drug him off his feet. He let out a surprised and startled yelp and tugged and moved his sword as much as he could. Blood was seeping from the creatures mouth and it was in obvious pain, but it didn't let go.
"Alright, fine. You wanna play dirty? Well, two can play at that game!" Chase pushed on the handle of his sword as much as he could, scraping the roof of the sabyr's mouth. It stubbornly held on, but it started to toss its head and shake him back and forth like a house cat that had caught a mouse or bird. Having to think fast, Chase quickly ran through his options. Stay here by its mouth and risk sword's position being replaced with his arm, or try and get creative. He managed to get a quick glimpse of his father, standing in the same position and out of the fight, but his weapon at the ready. Chase wasn't going to make him interfere. "Okay, let's see how you like this."
As the sabyr flung him to the left, Chase braced himself and gripped tightly to his sword handle, swinging himself in the same direction and forcing the Grimm's head to follow. With as much force as he could manage, he slammed his boot into the sabyr's side, right where he'd cut it. Immediately after, there followed an ear piercing cry and Chase found himself flying through the air. He finally collided shoulder first with the ground, his aura being the only thing protecting him from a nasty injury. Chase's sword clattered to the ground a few inches away from him and he slowly pulled himself to a sitting position, reaching for his weapon as his senses came back to him.
His opponent was recoiling and pawing at its face while hopping to the side as if it could escape the pain. Chase still hadn't gotten to his feet, not having enjoyed the experience of being tossed several feet into the air and then landing like he had. The Grimm, as expected, had not enjoyed the experience it had gone through either, and quickly looked back at him, its tail lashing even more than it had before. It made a deafening roar and charged at him, and Chase knew that he didn't have enough time to make it back to his feet and properly fight. There was one thing he could do. He made it this far without his semblance, but he figured he should use it before his aura ended up completely depleted. That was the only flaw in his father's 'last resort' rule.
Showing no signs of slowing its charge, the sabyr continued towards him. Taking a deep breath, he made eye contact with the Grimm and focused as hard as he could. Just in case, he absentmindedly curled his fist around his sword's handle and pulled it towards him. The thundering footsteps of the sabyr as it ran suddenly came to a halt, its angry roars turning to confused and disoriented ones as his semblance took affect. He needed to recover fast and be ready to fight, though, since it would only last a short while before he would start to get disoriented. Maybe even pass out, as it had happened before. But right now, the Grimm likely felt as though it had been thrown underwater suddenly.
The way his father had described his semblance the first time he successfully used it for a prolonged period of time, was that sound and light seemed to fade out. Sound was muffled and confusing, light was darkened slightly, especially in the peripheral vision, and movements were disorienting. He even felt slight pressure, but he could still breathe. Either way, it was all distorted. Like being underwater. Unfortunately for Chase, he could only keep it up for a few seconds. His record was thirty seconds, after which he'd experienced some of the affects himself, and had been stuck with a headache all day after. When his father had him try and push past that, he had passed out and been sensitive to light and sound all day. It had its perks, but it also had obvious drawbacks.
In his head, he counted down as he leapt to his feet and raced forward. Chase didn't want to push past twenty seconds. It was enough and it was the 'safe' number. As far as he could tell, anyways. The sabyr began to dance around and made a confused, guttural chattering. Its teeth clattered slightly as it did, and Chase only had a few seconds before he planned on stopping. It had to work, otherwise he was out of better options and would be stuck to rely on his reflexes. And hope that his dad could get to him in time to keep him from being ripped to shreds.
The Grimm was starting to recover, and Chase had no choice but to stop so he didn't strain himself. The sabyr panted, shuddering slightly, and turned his head up slowly and growled as Chase continued to run towards the creature. Both of them readied themselves for the inevitable attack and Chase reached his target right as the creature lifted his forepaw to slash at him. Chase spun to the side, his chest grazed by the claws but his aura keeping it from doing any real damage. As he was off to the side of the creature, he slammed his sword down on the bone armor on its face just to get it mad. The blade made a satisfying CLANK! as it hit and Chase grinned as the sabyr snarled and went to turn.
Chase turned with it, stepping away from its head as it snapped at him and tried to get a bite out of his arm. "Nice try," he said with an out of breath laugh. The sabyr shook itself and reared onto its back legs, trying to slam its front paws down onto his shoulders and force him to the ground. Chase pulled his sword over his face and pushed as hard as he could as the sabyr's paws hit the blade. It was at such an angle that it wouldn't cut its paws, it would, however, hold it off for a short time. Not for very long, though. He felt his feet sliding back and his balance starting to get thrown off. It was a poor excuse for a shield, considering how thin the damn thing was.
Grunting, Chase knew he had to start making his last moves against this thing or they really would be his last moves. He pulled his sword down, ducking under the Grimm's legs and rolling underneath its belly. Right as the sabyr came back down onto the ground, Chase had a perfect place to strike. As the sabyr turned to look at him, he rushed forward and drove the blade into the sabyr's side, right into the soft spot between its ribs. The blade went in, making a soft sound as it did so. The sabyr took a shuddering breath, trying only once to move away from the blade before it screamed in pain. The two made eye contact and both of them knew that the creature had to face his defeat.
This was where his sword's tricks would come in handy. He had designed it in such a way that he could implement a bit of dust usage. Nothing fancy, just enough to work in his favor. The edge of the blade made use of fire dust. Chase guessed it could probably work with other types, but fire was what he preferred. So with a simple press of a button on his sword, the edge of it didn't catch fire but it did produce the same level of heat that a regular fire would. The heat allowed for ease of movement, and Chase pulled the sword out of the creature's ribcage. It didn't bleed, and its only reaction was a pitiful moan as it staggered slightly. Already feeling himself sweating from the sudden rise in temperature, Chase prepared for the final blow.
With one swift movement, he slipped the blade underneath the spot where he'd stabbed and quickly brought the blade up with as much speed and force as he could. It split the monster's body into two pieces and both fell to the snow with a dull thud. Out of breath, Chase straightened up and let his sword hang loosely in his hand, by his side. He looked over the body of the sabyr and just stared at it until the body disintegrated and rose into the sky, drifting to nothingness on the wind. Chase closed his eyes and took as deep a breath as he could, opening his eyes again and making a soft chuckle and allowing a smug smile to creep onto his face.
Exhausted, he trudged across the rather wide space between him and his father, having sheathed his weapon once it had cooled off. As he reached his father, he found him smiling and took it as a good sign. He didn't know what else it would be. Chase ran a hand through his brown hair, which was a little disheveled after his fight, and looked expectantly at his father. For a minute, he thought they were just going to stay in silence like they had the entire walk out here. His father glanced over Chase's shoulder, looking out where a couple of bloodstains had set in, then looked over Chase. He was still smiling and his eyes were shining a bit with pride.
"Well?" Chase prompted with a small smile of his own.
"Alright, kid. I guess you'll do okay," his father answered at last. "By my standards...you're ready."
Chase smiled, still tired from his fight, and followed his father as they began their walk back to Mantle. He had no idea why his father had insisted upon walking, and by now he really wished they had taken a truck out here instead, but there wasn't any point in complaining now. Besides, it was always nice to earn his father's approval, even if he didn't not have it to begin with. As they continued the walk, though, he became aware of one fact. Even if he was ready in the fighting department, he was still going to be on his own once he was in school and once he was done. He was ready to fight and ready to go on to the military, but what he wasn't ready for was the schooling and human interaction that would follow. He'd be stuck with a team and probably meet a variety of different kinds of people, some he may not even get along with.
And that was one thing that he wasn't ready for.
Atlas City, Atlas.
7:00 AM.
Two figures stood atop a balcony, looking out over the city. It was an impressive view, especially with the sun rising, but neither of them seemed very interested in it. After all, once you've seen it enough times it becomes insignificant. You take it for granted. Both the man and woman that stood overlooking the city did just that, interested only in themselves and their ongoing conversation and not in the display that they were fortunate enough to witness that morning.
It was the man who spoke first, calm and collected. "Yet another Meer has been accepted into the academy, right?" he asked, and his companion nodded without a word. Crossing his arms, the man went on, blue eyes flicking over the city as he looked over it. He still wasn't impressed. "Of course. Their family may not be famous but they are skilled, and I think that's what they want. With a family like the Schnee family, you can't really hide all the dirt on your past and name. But with a family like the Meer family, it's easy to go unnoticed and hide all the shady shit that you're up to."
The woman sighed, brushing a strand of red hair out of her face. "We've been over this before. You don't need to keep driving in the same point, I get the idea."
"If you want to get any sort of share in this then you're going to have to play along, and that means putting up with my monologuing," the man shot back, but there was surprisingly little venom in his voice. He continued as though she'd never complained. "I want everything to go according to plan. I want to get exactly what I want, and there's only three things I want. One of them is seeing the Meer family finally fall, but to do that I'm going to need your cooperation."
"Look, I'll do what I can, but I've been iffy about this since you asked for my help. I want you to know that I'm not in agreement with everything you're doing," the woman answered in a heavy tone. She received a pointed look and dismissed it, giving a defeated shrug and leaning forward on the balcony railing, looking down. She made sure to avoid eye contact with him, out of distaste and annoyance. "Like I said, I'll do what I can. I'm not going to promise you anything. What do you want me to do first?"
"Just keep an eye on the kid once he gets to school. I'm sure you have ways of doing that, no?" He raised an eyebrow and looked at her, waiting for an answer.
She looked him over and scowled, returning to staring at the buildings below. "I have plenty," she answered at last, then pulled up the sleeve on her shirt to check her watch. Sighing, she pushed herself away from the railing and started to head for the door. "Just like I have plenty of responsibilities. So, if that's all, I need to go and start getting ready for the day. Ugh, I have enough on my plate without this, too...you're lucky I'm helping you." She heard him chuckle, but he didn't say anything. Before she reached the door that led inside, she paused and looked over her shoulder at him. He hadn't moved. "While I'm doing all of this, what will you be doing?"
He turned to look at her, then smirked and looked back out at the city. It looked as though he was thinking over his answer, and the woman impatiently tapped her foot on the ground as she waited for him to reply. At last, he decided on an answer and opted for the simple, sinister route. "Isn't it obvious? I'll be doing what I've always done best." He paused, much to his companion's annoyance, and chuckled before he finally finished with, "I'll be waiting."
Author's Note: Hello out there! Newcomer to the fandom, here with my first fanfic for RWBY! I finished the show a couple of weeks ago and I really wanted to try writing a story with my own original team of characters, sooooo here we are! Just as a heads up, the rating is for some more extreme language (never gonna drop the F bomb, though) and violence.
Here's a brief explanation to start out with and go over some things really quickly. Number one, the story is set (obviously) in Atlas and doesn't interfere with the show's storyline. The team's story takes place sometime after Team STRQ's time at Beacon and several years before the actual show. Number two, I'm using real life month and times to set location and whatnot. No year, though, since I...I don't know how they number their years. Number three, in case anyone is wondering what color Chase's name is, everything that I can find says Chase means huntsman or hunter and hunter is a shade of green. Meer is German for 'sea' and could also be considered a shade of green if you wanted to call it such (sea green). I just...really like green. Four, the story will probably contain a lot of headcanon since so little is shown about Atlas. Atlas got done dirty. I'm gonna fix that.
And that's about it! We'll start meeting the rest of the team in the next chapter! One other thing is that this is a side project that I'll be working on whenever I feel like it/get inspiration for it, as I already have an ongoing fanfic that takes top priority. That isn't to say that this story won't get a decent amount of love, as I still plan to update it. Right now, I'm dropping this prologue to kinda test the waters a little bit and see what everyone thinks! So, please let me know what you think and leave a review! Constructive criticism is more than welcome, but please be polite about it!
Alright, now I'm done. Hope everyone enjoyed this prologue and please let me know what you thought!