Disclaimer: RWBY Characters, places and terminologies with the exception of the Original Characters, belongs to Rooster Teeth Productions.
A time before "The Fall," long ago when such tragedy occurred, and the horrors of the Great War began to slowly strain people's memories. Remnant slowly tried to recover after unaccountable battles, and the four kingdoms recently founded the Huntsman Academies. Institutions that trained people to fight the Creatures of Grimm and save lives. However, not every soul could adapt to such a new system in their governments. Whether they were old soldiers, mercenaries, bandits, or survivors, not everyone would be called a Huntsman despite having the skills to be one.
Among the Unofficial Huntsman around the world, one was shrouded in mystery for her tenacity and hidden face.
A woman wearing a blue hood, long skirt, and a cape was sitting by herself while traveling to Vale's Kingdom for some business. She never looked up with folded arms and crossed legs as her hood covered most of her face except the mouth. Quiet and reserved, she acted cold as passengers kept walking or asking to sit next to her. She never replied but with a side glance, which was enough to prompt them to not getting closer to her. She traveled from the kingdom's coast town, the border between Vale and Atlas, to the capital for two hours. The trip would be long and tedious as the fastest train she could get was a day and a half worth of travel.
As the door connected between train cars opened, a man with a black hat, long coat, and gruff appearance walked as he looked for an available seat. Much to his dismay, there wasn't any that didn't already occupy by either families or aristocrats. His options were narrowed down to two: one where the mysterious hooded woman was sitting or the gentleman carrying a massive metallic case next to him.
"Hey, may I sit here?" the man with the black cowboy hat asked the hooded woman, but there was no response. She didn't bother to look at him before she pulled a bag of cashews and began to eat them. The noise she made as she chewed the cashews was obnoxious that the man didn't bother to ask again. Rude, he thought.
"Is this seat available?" he asked the gentleman with the case.
"Certainly, my good fellow," the gentleman replied with a smile.
"Thanks," the man said as he sat and pulled a box of cigarettes. "Mind if I take a smoke?"
"Go ahead," the gentleman did a gesture that he let the other passenger lit his cigarette and slightly opened the window. They sat on opposite sides, and both minded their own businesses. The gentleman was in his 50's as he had grey hair, a purple vest, yellow tie, and pinstriped grey shirt. His mannerisms and tone were from someone well-educated. It was easy for the man with the black hat to assume that the gentleman was from either Atlas or Mistral. The thing that caught his attention was the other seat's metallic case. "Something wrong?" the gentleman asked.
"Sorry, it's nothing," the passenger said, turning his head and looking at the view from the window.
The gentleman was curious too about the other man. His appearance seemed rugged as his coat looked worn out, and his black cowboy hat had tiny stitches and patched up holes. Was he a Huntsman? The gentleman asked himself. "Excuse me," he said. "Are you an active Huntsman?"
"Why the question?" the other passenger asked.
"I couldn't help myself from noticing that you might need a new set of clothes, my good man."
"Are you fashion police or something? I'm okay with what I got," the passenger replied, still smoking his cigarette. "I just need to take them to a tailor once I get to Vale."
"I see."
"And no, I'm not a Huntsman with your question."
"Then what are your profession, if you don't mind satisfying my curiosity," the gentleman said. He seemed a little tense.
"I'm a deputy in Vale, or better say, I became one not too long ago," the passenger replied. He finished up smoking as he put the cigarette butt on the ashtray.
"Deputy, huh? That sounds interesting. What's your name, good sir?"
"Ennea Spades, yours?"
"Oswald Tomberry, at your service." The gentleman known as Oswald extended his right hand to shake it with the would-be Deputy. The other passenger returned the gesture.
"Now that you are asking me, it would be fair to ask you questions too," Ennea said.
"I would agree so."
"Then what's your business in Vale?"
"I'm about to see a friend there."
"Is that why you are carrying that thing?" Ennea pointed at the metallic case.
"Very perceptive you are, Mr. Spades," Oswald complemented. He looked at the case, not letting it be away from his sight. "Yeah, you could say it is a favor for him."
"Mind if I take a look at what's inside?" Ennea asked, but Oswald shook his head.
"I'm afraid that's a private matter. Hope you can understand it."
"No problem. I can believe that case is important for your friend." The passenger lit another cigarette. He offered one to the gentleman, but he politely rejected it. There was dead silence for a couple of minutes. Oswald pulled a pocket watch from his vest to look at the hour: Three hours already passed.
"Are you familiar with the city of Vale?" Oswald broke the silence between both men.
"I was born there," Ennea replied, nonchalant as he didn't stop looking at the window.
"Oh? Then what were you doing out of there?"
"I was doing some training and other formalities for the Sheriff's office in Vale. It was cut short because Kogane wouldn't stop calling for me at the police department," the rookie deputy sighed. He seemed embarrassed as he tipped his hat to the point of covering his face.
"Kogane?" Oswald asked.
"My girlfriend. Her family owns Ito Textiles."
"Ito Textiles? Ah, that's the shop I got my suit in back in Mistral! I didn't know they expanded to Vale."
"They didn't expand. They moved," Ennea said, lamented. "Her family business didn't go so well as there was some fierce competition at her former home. The Ito Family moved to Vale when she was 13."
"That sounds quite pitiful. No wonder I couldn't find the store the last time I was at Mistral," Oswald said. With the story he kept hearing, one should wonder why honest people would still get in financial trouble. As far as that kingdom was known for, there should be no surprise that there was more than what Ennea was telling. The gentleman could only find contempt at such a tragic situation. "I'm sorry to hear it. Perhaps I can buy a new three-piece suit when we arrive."
"Their store is at the shopping center. Maybe I can get you a
discount if you mention my name."
"That sounds genuinely nice. Thank you," both men chuckled. The trip was long, probably for the best to get along with some people on the train until reaching Vale. The chatter began to be louder, that the hooded woman began to get annoyed by them. She kept eating her cashews, hoping that could be enough to obstruct their conversation. A few seconds later, the cowboy stood from his seat and moved to the next train car. The moment he left, a little box fell out from his coat. No one but the mysterious woman saw it. She looked both ways before slowly extending her hand and picking it up. It appeared to be a jewelry case.
At her hand, she shook it up a little next to her ear; no sound, but she still could feel something inside. Before she could try to open it, the woman quickly stored it inside her pocket as soon as she looked at the rookie deputy coming back. Ennea carried two bottles of beer in each hand. He gave one to Oswald before taking his respective seat. They cheered before clanking bottles and drink. The conversation turned even more lively as these two men could only exchange small anecdotes or jokes during the trip. The hooded woman just found them boring and irritating. She wondered if they would continue like that for the rest of the journey. Fortunately, or better said, unfortunately for the rest of the passengers, she began to sense something coming up.
The train started to shake, and sounds of stomps could be heard through the ceiling. Something heavy and repudiate was lashing outside their train car. Everyone began to hear horrendous shrieks until the gentleman peeked through the window to see closer what was going on. And much to his dismay, a flock of Grimm Griffons was lunging against the train. Ennea noticed the situation as he hastily stood up from his seat and went towards the conductor. "Hey!" the rookie deputy asked with a pressured tone. "We have a situation! Where's security!?"
"They are on the back!" the conductor replied, not letting the situation lose his composure.
"That's not enough! We need to fend them off now!" Ennea wasted no time as he went ahead to the next car while pulling off a baton and a strange pole from his coat.
"Wait a moment!" the conductor said while trying to stop Ennea from going outside. "You must remain in your seat while security handles the situation!"
"No need, I'm capable of this," Ennea showed his badge to the conductor, who had no more complaints after confirming it. He climbed the ladder until he was finally on top of the never-stopping train. The strange pole transformed into a lever-action shotgun; its barrel was short and had no stock. He aimed at the first Griffon that dived at him with sharp talons. He pulled the trigger at a quicker reaction by blasting off the Grimm's wing and legs. Ennea had the advantage of dealing with them with precise long-range attacks. Still, when he had to deal with the dark creatures up-close, he used the baton in his left hand to strike on their heads or other vital points in their resilient bodies. He felt confidant enough fighting the flock by himself but more came towards him; the rookie deputy began to regret the decision of going out without back-up. As he tried to shoot more in the sky, one flew behind him and knocked him down. Ennea was at the Griffon's mercy when it had its talons holding him from the arms, not letting him retaliate while its beak was ready to eat his head. Was that his end already? May his memory only be known as the rookie who fought valiantly to protect the train from Grimm alone. Alas, that could be the outcome if it wasn't that the very second the creature had its beak close to his face, its head fell off as if a sharp blade went through its neck, beheading it clean. The Griffon's corpse began to vanish into black smoke, revealing a figure behind it. Ennea tried to get up again while looking at the hooded woman wielding two short scythes on each hand. The rookie deputy was confused about his sudden savior.
Who was she? Was she a Huntress? Those questions had to wait as their eyes focused on the upcoming wave of fierce Grimm. Even without speaking any words, the way the hooded woman looked Ennea in the eyes, pointing him out where and how to deal while she took matters on her end. Ennea understood the wordless instructions by shooting the flying enemies that wanted to get closer to the train. The hooded woman covered his back by slaying anything that dared to come near them. Her style and technique were more graceful and professional compared to his. She dodged with ease as her scythes cut limbs of every Grimm that tried to land a blow on her. The hooded woman carefully pushed those attacks aside while going through its defenses. When one chose to go after Ennea instead of her, she threw one of her weapons at the Grimm. It got stuck on the creature's back. The hooded woman pressed a small button on her other scythe, letting a purple glow manifest around her weapon. The other one still stuck at the Grimm began to glow as well, and in a matter of seconds, began to pull it with magnanimous force towards its twin weapon. The distance between the creature and the rookie deputy was few. On his side, Ennea stood his line while dodging any attack while crippling more wings with accurate and deadly shots. The flock of Griffons fell like flies one after another until no more showed up. They were still standing on top of the train, keeping themselves from falling off against wind and height.
"Thought they wouldn't stop coming, but I appreciate the back-up," Ennea said while holding his hat from flying off. "What's your name?" The young Deputy asked the hooded woman, but she didn't bother to exchange any words or making eye contact. "Not very talkative, huh? Well, not that it matters anyhow." The air started getting cold. Both of them decided to go back to the train before any of them slip and fall. The day turned to dusk as Ennea admired the scenery. After one second from looking away, the woman was already gone. Ennea sighed in disbelief as she already got on his nerves. He returned to the car train before entering a tunnel. It got dim in few seconds while transversing through the tunnel with only light bulbs illuminating the interior.
However, dealing with Grimm made Ennea lose track of his seat as he was on a different car train. He only remembered that he was at the fourth one before going up. Ennea walked while looking for some hint of his location. The only remarkable thing that he noticed were the private cabins. Was it the sixth or seventh? He got too far than expected. As for now, he wanted to go to sleep. Ennea headed towards his respective seat, but an odd feeling went through his body while walking, not a single passenger at sight. There were supposed to be people around, but each private cabin was empty. Where did everyone go? Was special dinner for this trip? Unlikely, he thought.
Whether you call it intuition or a hunch, Ennea slowly realized that something was going on until the train began to reduce speed. Things didn't help until the lights got cut off on the next second. The young Deputy quickly drew his baton while keeping his guard up. Little by little, he could feel the cold air going through his neck. It gave him the chill that made him duck out of instinct until the window shattered by an axe. Ennea kicked whoever tried to kill him from behind. The assailant kept swinging his weapon at the Deputy. He tried to deflect the attacks with his baton, but every step he took was getting closer to being cornered. Things wouldn't get any better as another person appeared and began shooting with a withered handgun at Ennea while still struggling. He did the best to avoid the gunshots by opening doors from private cavins and pushing the attacker with the axe. A swift punch in the chin was enough to get an advantage, and quickly using the door from the private cavin, hitting the attacker and taking cover from the shooter at the same time. A very slim upper hand, but he barely could do much. The moment the shooter stopped to reload, he gets kicked in the face without warning from another person.
That person was nimble and accurate; the shooter was knocked out with two strikes. Ennea only looked behind the cover to see what happened. There wasn't much to see, but he never stopped being wary as he pulled his rifle and aimed at whoever was there. The Deputy left the cover and slowly approached there while having his eye on the iron sight. Across the train car, someone walked casually with peaceful footsteps. The figure was the same woman from before, but she wore a white mask while her hood was off. Ennea couldn't stop asking himself about who that mysterious woman really was. "I don't know how many times you're going to save my butt in the same day," Ennea said with some tension in his voice. " But do you have any idea what is going on in this train!?" Before he could say anything else, the mysterious woman rushed towards him. She covered his mouth with her right hand while hiding. They began hearing more voices coming. Ennea stood still while not making any noises despite the position alongside the woman.
Three more thugs appeared and looked at their unconscious friends on the floor. They took action as one of them asked another to search the next car while taking the bodies away from the scene. The Deputy was lost. More questions surged while seeing the situation worsening. The only thing he could ask was how the other passengers were doing.
Moments ago, Oswald was still in his seat, looking from the window at the flock of Grimm flying over the train and fighting Ennea and the hooded woman. He could barely see anything from such an angle where he was. He should feel secured, but he couldn't; there was an oddity as some of the passengers from other sections moved to the same the old gentleman was sitting. They acted calmly despite the situation. Nothing good was coming out of it. Oswald moved his metallic case underneath his seat. He held something with his right hand, concealing it with his jacket. His eyes began to wander on each passenger until it stopped. The gentleman saw an unusual character standing behind the conductor: she had green skin with black spots, yellow eyes, and white, sharp fangs as she slowly smiled with devious intent. The only thing that concealed her appearance was a ragged cloak while barely exposing her face. A horrid, vile grin that could bring despair to the weakest of heart alongside those manic eyes. Oswald was getting ready, but his body began to fail as his fingers began to ache, losing his grip. The opportunity was already lost after hearing two whistles from the train. The loud noise prompted the terrifying figure to draw her swords underneath the cloak by knocking out the conductor with the handles while cutting the ceiling's cables. The worst of all: She wasn't alone.
Men wearing worn-out clothes, dirty boots, and rusty weapons began unleashing mayhem across the train by dispatching any means of defense and had their guns aimed at the passengers. Oswald was bitter, ashamed of not reacting correctly, while Ennea and the hooded woman were absent dealing with the Grimm. With no soul to oppose the band of rouges, the savage woman threw away her cloak, revealing her appearance to the hostages. Her mohawk, black scales, and an alarm clock hanging on her hip were enough to get everyone wary. ''Coast's clear!'' she yelled while having both swords on the distressed conductor's neck. It wasn't long until everyone began hearing stomps coming from the next car. Each stomp got louder the closer they got to the door. One of the assailants opened the door, letting someone coming in.
A man holding two crutches on each arm, no left leg, and a bird-like toy in his right shoulder appeared with a calm yet uneasy smile as he looked at the hostages. His mere presence brought curiosity for Oswald and terror for the passengers. ''Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,'' he spoke with a humorous tone. ''My name is Grant Jon Airgead, and what you are experiencing is a Hold-up! Don't worry, I know this looks scary, and probably it is the worst thing you could ever live right now, but I want to assure you that this won't take long. Why? Well, we didn't come for your jewels or pocket change, although we wouldn't mind such a kind donation if you will. We came for one specific, peculiar, unique package that one of you might be carrying, which is of great interest for my comrades and me.''
''Whatever you are looking for, we ain't giving you a damn thing!'' One of the passengers yelled at the leader of the rouges. The Faunus woman stopped holding the conductor and walked towards the hostage. She kicked him on the face before having her swords at the man's face. The distance between blades and his eyes was short enough that by the moment he blinked, some of his eyelashes were gone. The hostage was sweating and crying as he looked eye-to-eye at the maniac Faunus.
''My apologies, my good fellow,'' Airgead said with sincerity. ''As you can notice, my associate has some sort of 'tic' where she began kicking people who are very uncooperative to either of us. And trust me, I prefer to save myself the troubles of letting her loose and cause a mess this instant. Now that you all understand your situation, I would like to be civil and ask politely where the package is. Of course, it is not fun saying what exactly we are looking for because none of you would know. Only one of you can understand what it is.'' Airgead walked towards a window, opening it with one arm while the strong wind began to enter the train. ''As I said before, only one of you have the package, but if no one speaks, I might be obliged to ask my comrades to choose someone and throw you through the window. It will break my heart if we have to go such lengths.''
''I doubt you have a heart in the first place,'' Oswald said, not losing his cool while leaning against his seat. The band of rouges began looking at the old gentleman with groans and malice. Airgead seemed more intrigued by Oswald's unfazed expression. He closed the window before walking towards the gentleman. Slowly approaching, Airgead headed towards him without losing the rhythm of his steps. When they were face-to-face, the leader put the crutches next to the seat while one of the rouges helped Airgead sit.
''I have to apologize for not asking first,'' Airgead said. ''Standing in one leg is a chore, especially to this age when my knee begins to fail me. But I'm sure you and I can agree, isn't it?" Despite the leader's serene demeanor, Oswald wouldn't lower his guard or act impulsively while innocents were present. The best he could do was to play along. "Also, fancy case you have there, fella," Airgead's eyes were right under Oswald's seat. "Mind if I see it?" The old gentleman complied as he pulled the case out of his chair and put it on his lap. The heavy, metallic container was enough to pique curiosity to the assailants. Airgead could only see the combination lock in it. "I must admit, you genuinely don't miss the beat, aren't you? Would you mind open it for me? Well, in case you aren't in the mood, we have our own ways." Done speaking, the leader snapped his fingers to signal the woman to pick the box. "Miss Tock, if you please."
"Aye, piece of cake as it only requires one chop," Tock said as she had both swords on the lock. She pushed with a rather forceful manner until she could hear the gears breaking. She assumed it would take her two minutes at most. Airgead could do nothing but giving a satisfactory expression before picking the beer bottle next to him.
"I say, being very supportive is a good thing—that's how one keeps being alive for long. What are your thoughts in that matter?"
"If you want my opinion," Oswald said with a fierce look despite not letting his calm go. "I can say that you and I are getting too old for this sort of stuff."
Airgead began to laugh. "You think!? You are too funny! I wonder why we never crossed paths from all these years!"
"And you know what is the bright side of getting old?"
"Enlighten me, pal."
"You get enough experience in my line of work than any person in this room." That calm, rigid expression from the old gentleman turned into a smile as his eyes fixed on the metallic case. Airgead took him one second to realize until he saw Tock finally breaking the lock, but there was nothing but a grimace from the leader of the rouges. The container did two beeps before unleashing a smokescreen through the whole car. Coughs and grunts were the only things everyone could hear. "Open windows or something, you numbnuts!" Airgead's voice was louder. His thugs followed his instruction, but someone got the bright idea of breaking one window instead of opening it in a civilized manner. The smoke began to disappearing until the area was clean. All hostages except Oswald were present. Among confusion and bitterness, Airgead began to laugh uncontrollably as the adrenaline ran through his old veins. An excitement that he hadn't see in a long time. "This guy is good, but I also learned a couple of things over the years. Miss Tock, would you lead the hunting while I look for the real package he is hiding somewhere in this train?"
"Aye! I was hoping for some fun!" The vicious Faunus took both swords while she and two more thugs followed went to the next car. Airgead stood up and went in the opposite direction while leaving someone to watch over the hostages. The unavoidable battle in the Sanus Express just began.