Warning: This work is rated T for a reason: there is Violence, Blood, Angst, and the mention of serious topics like Racism and Mental Illness that remit this rating. this work of Fanfiction will never have any material that would send it over the edge like Lemons or highly descriptive scenes of violence.

Beta: This chapter was Beta Read by the wonderful eretein.

UPDATE 1/15/21:Dialogue Update.

Salutations everybody!

Welcome to REwrite: Maya's first episode!

This work is my second attempt at this project. RWBY is a show that, although I don't consider perfect, I still hold as one of my dearests. The world of Remnant and the people that live in it are some of the stories I am more fascinated with, especially one Faunus in particular.

Adam is a character that I loved through Vol 1 to 3 but then he seemed to be transformed into a new character entirely, and I was left craving more of that morally grey warrior of the Faunus.

Initially, I tried to write this story from a SIOC Adam's point of view, but I think that approach missed the mark of the whole thing. I wanted to redeem Adam, not replace him, which is what I did. This is the reason why I decided to remake this work and start from the start with a new OC protagonist

Maya!

This is Maya's story, but this is also Adam's.

But I won't spoil it for you...

Without further ado, here is the first episode of REwrite: Maya.

I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I love writing it.

Oh, and I don't own RWBY!

Enjoy!

[][][][][][][][][][]

Season 1:

Episode 1: Old Soul, Baby Girl

Unknown – Unknown – Unknown

Could a life be rewritten? Could a tragedy have a happy ending?

It bloomed like a flower in the dawn—a red-tinted spiral that drove itself beneath the flesh and inside the bone.

Into my mind.

Into my brain.

Pain was its name.

The confusion came along for the ride— a puncturing, aching sensation in the back of a head that didn't feel quite like mine. Lungs unknown breathed air touched by the fragrant of pine trees and cooled blood that wasn't mine.

An alien body.

Mine, yet not.

Blades of grass grazed the back of my ears while some tickled my nape. I was laying down on the ground, paralyzed by the utter dissociation slithering inside this flesh that was mine—yet it felt wrong, small, delicate.

The aching pain came back in force. It stabbed the back of my head. A particularly sharp stone kept digging into my flesh. It was the pain that finally made me move, even if I was terrified of doing so.

My arms were wrong—so short and weak—my legs so chubby and hard to command. I sat on the ground as I gawked at the short, shoeless feet I couldn't recognize. One of my oh so small hands went behind me and touched the spot where it hurt. I winced at the sting. When the fingers came back, they were drenched in a warm, crimson liquid.

Blood.

Blood was dripping off the hand.

From my hand.

"You are finally awake, old friend," a man behind me said. His voice was like the scraping of leaves against stone.

I turned around and felt disoriented. My body was so alien it was hard to gauge movement. I lost my balance, and I tilted to the side. Bony fingers wrapped around my waist and hauled me up the air.

Before I knew it, they deposited me onto a bench. A man sat beside me, and he looked older than history itself. His body had atrophied, leaving only pale, leathery flesh on old bones covered by a crumpled shirt and khaki pants. He was ashen and marred as if the rivers of life had carved all its stories through his face.

He wore a gentle smile, and his eyes were closed as if the wrinkles had sewed them shut.

But they were looking at me.

And I couldn't hold his gaze.

Instead, my eyes darted to anywhere else but him. We sat on a bench in what appeared to be the backyard of a small, one-floor wooden cabin with a chimney spewing little puffs of smoke now and then. A square fence surrounded us with only a pine tree casting its shadow over the bench

"You must be rather confused right now," the old man said.

I finally braved his gaze to look at him.

His gentle smile disappeared.

His eyes opened, showing a pair of black holes glaring back at me. My body trembled like a leaf.

"I have been waiting for you to awaken for the last five years," he said.

"A- awaken?" I asked, with a voice that didn't sound like mine but rather like a child's. Adrenaline rushed through my veins, and it was like there were two minds inside my head, trying to take over the other. A child wailed at the back of my skull. A woman panted at the forefront of my mind.

"You died five years ago," the old man said. "After a lifetime of unpunished sin, you went away on a peaceful night… old age took you, and you had a grin on your face thinking I wouldn't punish you."

My shoulders sagged, my heart skipping a beat.

I wished to run. I pushed myself off the bench and leaped. But the ground wasn't as close as I imagined. I fell into the grass and bit the dirt with my limbs tangled with each other.

"It will take you some time before you become accustomed to your new body. I recommend you try to do it fast. This new life won't be like your last one."

I held my chest up and looked at him.

"W— who are you?" I asked.

"I'm the god of the world you came from. You can call me Keeper," he said, his eyes filled with disgust as he watched me. He sighed and looked at the sky. "This new life is both your punishment and your chance to redeem yourself, old friend."

"I don't understand, w— what do you mean?" It was hard to think with the aching pain in the back of my head screaming at me. My stomach grumbled, and my bowels demanded I went to the bathroom. My vision clouded, and I blinked to try and clear it out, only to discover that tears were trailing down my cheeks.

I sobbed, rubbing my knuckles against my face but achieving little with the action.

"This is not the world either of us came from." Keeper clutched a leaf in his hand. "It is broken, abandoned… A Remnant. Yet, it is still filled with hope. I have given you a new life, one destined with pain, suffering, and early death. It will be your choice if you will accept the path written for you, or if you will deny it and surpass it."

I peed my dress as my heart pounded harder and harder, my lungs couldn't keep a lungful of air, and whimpers kept slipping through my lips. "W— wh— why!"

Keeper chuckled. "How far have the mighty fallen." Poison dripped from his words as he spoke. "You are a sinner, but one I believe could redeem herself. It will be you that decides if you will allow the darkness of this world to shape you into a monster again, or if you will rise above it."

"I don't want to!" I yelled.

"You do not have a choice," he stated, making me cringe. He groaned and stood up from the bench, dusting the back of his pants and stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Now that you are finally awake, it is time for me to leave for now. Remember that this world's story is already written, but you came from outside it—you control your destiny. You are not the same soul as the one that should have lived and died in that body. Do not make the same mistakes it would have."

He walked around me, going to the pine tree, but I held him back by his pants with one pleading hand. "P—please don't leave! I don't understand!"

He gazed at me with something akin to pity, dancing for the first time in his wrinkled eyes. "Good luck, One that is not, yet it is… Maya."

As he said the name, Keeper's body and clothes turned gray like stone. He crumbled into dust. A breeze swept him away — a wind that wasn't even there seconds ago.

Only a piece of his khaki pants remained between my clenched fingers.

I stared at the tree, clutching that piece for dear life. I cried, letting my voice out with so many emotions known to my soul but alien to my young body that I only felt more confused and scared as I wept.

"Maya!?" a woman's voice called out the name from the cabin's door. Its hinges whined open as someone ran toward me. "Baby, what's wrong?"

Calloused hands grasped my wrists and pulled my arms away from my face. I tried resisting by pushing my hands against my head, but the woman quickly overpowered me and moved them out. I couldn't recognize her, but she felt familiar.

My body relaxed under the gaze of her blue eyes—so unknown yet so familiar. The beating of my heart slowed, the gulp of air stuck in my throat fell to my starved lungs, and I could do nothing else but watch her.

I didn't know if she would be considered beautiful, but she was an angel to my eyes.

Her face was too circular for her slim neck. It was crowned by curls of long, sky blue hair falling around her shoulders and grazing hair pale skin. She towered over me—even as she sat there—yet the hands around my wrist were almost as slim as mine. A brush with her fingers was almost like she was scratching my skin.

I didn't know this woman, but her appearance was enough to calm me down and let the childish portion of my brain stop panicking long enough for my older mind to take over.

She glanced at my stained and dripping dress and smiled. "Oh, baby, you are too big to be doing this, don't ya think?" She chuckled and hugged me, her arms pressing my head against her chest.

Her hand brushed the injury on my head. I whimpered.

"What?" she said before she pressed her palm against my wound, making me wince, and a sob burst out my mouth. The woman raised her hand and gasped. It was coated with blood. "Oh gods, Maya, baby!"

She scooped me up in her arms, smothering my face with her shoulder lovingly to the point that I couldn't see where we ran, but I didn't care.

Her clothes smelled of burnt wood and her skin like sugar cane—such a conflicting mixture of scents, yet so…

Enticing.

I didn't know if it was either the blood loss or the sense of comfort, but it didn't matter. Not a second after we crossed the portal to the woman's home, I lost the battle for my consciousness and closed my eyes.

[][][][][][][][][][]

Unknown – Unknown – Home?

I was having trouble thinking.

Although my mind seemed to be much older than my body might suggest, my brain didn't seem capable of working at the same speed—like trying to run a sophisticated program on a computer not up the standards required for the job.

Headaches were frequent, but they weren't my current issue.

The real issue was the swinging of the strange thing protruding from the woman's butt.

We were in the cabin's little kitchen. A stew boiled in a pot the woman attended to with one hand. Her other held me over her chest.

I knew this woman, Caprile, was my body's mother, but it was hard to think of her as my own.

Even if my body craved every opportunity to remain close to her.

I had awakened in this new world for a total of two days, which I spent mostly in bed, with my head covered with bandages and the woman loitering around me like a crow staring down carrion.

I hadn't noticed the thing before but now…

The woman had a tail.

At first, I thought it was some sort of clothing or decoration that would give me insight into this world's culture. But then, as Caprile hummed, her tail swung side-to-side to the beat of her song.

It was a long feathery tail like a bird's, the same color as Caprile's hair.

I rested my cheek on Caprile's shoulder and fingered my maya-blue hair, the strands reaching just below my ears. I traced the roots of my hair, searching until I found another oddity that should have bothered me more.

I had feathers.

Tiny, slim feathers hid between my locks. The feathers bore the same color as my hair, poking out of it like little blue trees.

I pinched the root of one of my feathers, touching and prodding the skin around it. I tugged at the feather.

I pulled at it, the root tugging under my scalp.

Playing with my feathers became a thing I regularly did since I woke up. My older mind was worried about it becoming an unhealthy habit, yet my young brain couldn't care less.

"Maya," Caprile said. She grabbed my hand ."Stop it, baby."

"Mama?"

"Mmhm?" She pulled our hands away and grabbed the ladle, stirring the stew.

"Why Maya have feathers?" I asked, and she chuckled—like the answer should have been obvious.

"Because ya're a faunus, baby. Just like Mama has a tail, ya got those cute feathers like ya grandma had."

"What ta 'Faunus?'" I glanced at her over the edge of my vision. She was occupied stirring the pot. I promptly went back to pulling on one of my feathers.

"Well, it's hard to explain, hmm." She left the spoon in the pot and tapped her chin, "We're people like the doctor that healed ya head, right? But we faunus are a tad more special."

"Special?"

"Yeh, baby, since ya're a blue macaw faunus like Mama, that's why we have blue hair and feathers… though those cute little apple red eyes of ya come from ya Papa and that nose too!" Caprile laughed and poked my nose—and made me giggle. She grabbed a piece of cloth resting to the kitchen side and used it to hold the pot's handle and drag it out of the fire.

We left the kitchen and went to the tiny living room of our home. The cabin wasn't big. We had a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom Caprile and I shared—with only a large bed and a small bathroom.

Although our home was small, it was well maintained—we were not poor… I think?

The living room was barren, with only a chimney and a sofa in front of it. Caprile placed me on the couch then sat beside me, bringing me closer with her arm around me as she continued talking. "Faunus have characteristics from certain animals. Ya, Maya, are a blue macaw."

"Macaw?" I repeated, and she nodded.

"Yes, they are a type of bird, Maya, we are fast, beautiful, and the best cli—"

A banging noise startled us both.

Caprile covered me with her arms and searched the room with her eyes before the noise repeated itself more loudly.

Smothered by Caprile, there was only a small crevice between her arm and her chest from which I could watch the front door tremble as someone knocked at it from the outside. "Mama, the door."

Caprile's face whipped, looking at it. Her mouth hung open as her skin paled. She sucked in a breath.

Her chest trembled against mine.

"Stay here, baby. I'll get it, okay?" Caprile said with a shaky breath, then went towards the door.

But before she reached it, a final bang blew it open. The poor, wooden door nearly came off its hinges as it banged against the side of the wall.

"Hello!" a man screamed. His voice sounded like he inhaled helium.

Three men barged into our house.

They were dressed in clean, white suits with red ties and had black stars with twelve points on their breasts. The two men at the back were muscular and much taller than Caprile, but the one in the lead was a short blonde—thin as a twig.

"Capri, dearie! I haven't come to collect in years! How you doing on this fine day?" the blonde asked.

Caprile gulped. "Ya were not supposed to come 'til the end of the month."

"Change of plans, dear. We're running on a tight schedule, see." The man giggled. He tried to come further into the home, but Caprile stood her ground in front of him, seemingly surprising him as he took a step back and his bodyguards one forward.

"I don't have the money, come at the end of the month, and I'll pay ya." Caprile crossed her arms. Her tail shuddered.

"Ah, that would be quite, quite complicated." The man laced his fingers and turned to the kitchen. "Mmm, it smells delicious! Quite… like chicken too, I didn't know birds could eat each other… Anyway, you see, it's tough for us at the company to always protect everyone in the community without money. How could we defend you from the Grimm, Capri, if you can't pay for said service?"

"Grimm?" my younger brain asked out loud. I smacked my hand over my mouth, but the damage was already done.

In an instant, all eyes were on me, I had the attention of all the adults in the room, and I cowered on the couch. Caprile frowned in worry, and the bodyguards' expressions seemed disinterested, but the blonde man…

He was beaming.

"Capri, dear! I didn't know you had a girl, and she looks just like you! Congratulations!"

Caprile covered his view of me with her hand. "Stay away from my child."

"But Capri, dear!" He went to walk around her, but Caprile got on his way again, and he groaned. "You know well what the company would do for you if you gave her to us, just use your damn head for a second, no more protection fees, and a steady income!"

"Maya," Caprile said.

Although she wasn't looking, I still nodded like an obedient daughter.

"Fetch me my bag," she said.

I leaped off the couch and ran toward our room, where Caprile's leather purse hung from the bathroom door's handle. I grabbed it and tried to go back, but the bag's strap clung to the doorknob and threw me to the floor.

"Maya?" Caprile called

I got back up. This time I was careful to dislodge the bag off the door before I went to Caprile. She still towered over the blonde man while she held a palm towards me.

I put her purse in her hand.

Caprile took it and searched it before she pulled out a stack of plastic cards held together by a rubber band and handed it to the blonde man.

"So, you did have it," he said, giggling.

"Take it, and get out."

"Hold on, hold on, I got to make sure you're paying the right amount, of course." He snickered and began counting the money before his eyes turned toward me again. "Think about it, Capri, dear. The benefits are pretty good."

Caprile pushed me behind her and out of his view.

He sighed and continued to count the money.

It was fifteen seconds before he said, "You gave me more of what is due, Capri."

Caprile didn't want the man to look at me, but I still leaned to the side of her dress and watched as the man pulled a pair of the cards from the stack and gave them back to Caprile, who snatched them out his hand.

The blonde man gave the rest of the money to one of his bodyguards, who pocketed it. "We of the company are proud to always be fair in all our transactions. I'll see you next month." He glanced at me with his smile and said, "And I'll see you soon too, Little Maya."

The man left, closing the door.

Caprile didn't say a single word the rest of the day after that. She served me stew but didn't eat, bathed me without joining me, and when she tucked me in on my side of the bed for the night, she didn't join me.

She kissed my forehead, put out the candle, and went to leave the room.

"Mama?" I called for her, worried.

Caprile flinched, turned to look at me, and smiled. "I'm… going to make a call. How would ya feel about seeing papa earlier this year?"

I had yet to recall any memories of the man that was my father, but I wouldn't mind meeting him.

"I want papa," I said and hugged my pillow.

Caprile smiled. "I'll be right back."

It took me hours before I could fall asleep, but when I did, she had yet to return.

[][][][][][][][][][]

Mistral – Northern Zone – Home

For the following two weeks, Caprile and I never spoke about the blonde man incident. We went about our life as if it didn't happen at all. Caprile was all smiles and hugs while I let my younger brain take control so I could act more like the child she expected me to be.

It was starting to be hard to refer to Caprile by her name instead of Mama in the back of my head. I had tried to remember anything from my previous life, but nothing more came of it than headaches.

Instead, glimpses of the past five years slowly crept inside my head, solidifying my presence as the owner of this body. My new childhood memories flooded my mind and only made my bond with the woman fiercer.

But the only thing my brain seemed to remember of my new father was an echo of his laugh…

It was as if I had two personalities sharing my head at once. They were my child's brain and my adult's mind. One bubbly and innocent, the other more pragmatic but fading.

I wanted to know more about my new world, and I was thankful that curiosity was something kids were known for. Mama was cooking dinner now. I watched her use something akin to a red crystal to start the fire earlier. The crystal now laid next to her, high on the countertop where no kid could reach it.

"Mama, what that?" I asked, pointing at it until she glanced at me, her eyes following my finger back to the crystal.

"Oh, that's a piece of fire dust," she said.

"Dust?" I asked, and she giggled.

"Ya're so full of questions, baby. Dust is like a source of energy. Okay, now…" She turned away from the kitchen and took me into her arms, where I snuggled further into her embrace as she walked me out the kitchen and out the back door. "Why don't ya go play outside for a tad? Just be careful, 'kay? Don't wanna see another accident."

"Okay!~" I said in a sing-song voice to make her laugh.

I ran to the bench.

I sat there, taking advantage of my free time to ponder over things.

My new name was Maya, and I was a blue macaw faunus. Unlike Mama's long, curly blue hair, my hair was short, reaching only up to my ears, and it was much more voluminous than Mama, making me look like a tiny blue shroom.

I had the same pale skin Mama had and pale red eyes from my yet unknown father, and I also had skinny feathers, the color of my hair intertwined within it. Their tips peaked out my head here and there.

I was five years old, and my birthday would be in three months.

We lived in a continent called Anima. If I understood Mama correctly, the country we lived in was called Mistral. I didn't know precisely how the planet was shaped or where we were located accurately since I had yet to see a map, but I could at least discern we were up north since it wasn't winter, but the air was still chilly.

The old man… no, what had he called himself again? Keeper? He had called himself a god…

I sighed. I had been panicking, and my head had been so overloaded with all the new sensations I could barely remember what he said to me. I remembered his words about me being a sinner in my previous world, but I couldn't recall anything from that life, so I didn't know a thing about what I had done.

It was…terrifying.

What had the old me done to attract the attention of a god? Had I been a murderer? A greedy politician? Did I overcook his dinner?

I raised my fists and clenched them, my chubby fingers digging into my palms.

I had nothing from my previous life that could help me—no memories and no knowledge. This body of mine was still somewhat alien, and I tripped over my own feet at least twice a day. Besides my adult's mind to help my child's brain understand things more clearly, I had nothing.

I didn't know if I should be worried I didn't mind at all.

Various wooden toys lay on the grass, and I glanced at a car. I snorted as I felt the mental pull towards it, and my legs moved on their own. I leaped off the bench and ran to get the toy.

Time passed without me noticing until Mama came to pick me up for dinner. I ate in her lap as she spoon-fed me the stew, then we took a bath together before she tugged me into bed.

She got into the bed beside me, pulled me close, and kissed the top of my head. "Good night, my sweet Maya."

"Good night, mama." I closed my eyes, a smile creeping on my face as I snuggled even closer to her.

I didn't know what I had done in the past, and I didn't care. I may have just come to live here, but I was content with this life, and I have come to wish for only one thing. I wanted this life never to end. I wanted to become Mama's girl. Maybe it was pathetic for someone with the maturity of an adult, but there was an empty spot inside my heart only Caprile seemed capable of filling. I wanted to be her daughter and nothing more, live this new life for this woman that plagued my body's every waking memory.

I couldn't remember my first childhood. I didn't know if it was better or worse.

And I didn't care.

[][][][][][][][][][]

Mistral – Northern Zone – Home

It was warm. Then cold.

Safe. Then not.

The nothingness woke me.

There wasn't anything that should have done so, no strange sounds, only Mama's breathing tickling my hair as I laid nestled between her arms. Yet, a chill crawled up my spine. I felt watched, and my eyes roved over the endless darkness of the room, trying to find anything in the void, but nothing.

My limbs buzzed with energy, but I couldn't move.

I held my breath.

Listening.

A whistle came…

Fingers dug into my left arm.

I cried and grasped at Mama, but I was wrenched backward. "Mama!"

Mama woke up screaming my name, "Maya!" she caught my hand and pulled me in.

I screamed. My arms were getting wrenched to opposite sides, my left arm was twisted back painfully, and I shook it to no avail.

"Let go!" I screamed, but whatever held my left arm tugged harder

A shadow loomed over Mama.

Eyes shone in the dark.

A long-shaped weapon rose with arms poised to bring it down on her.

"Mama!" I kicked back.

The shadow holding me cursed and let go. Mama pulled me back.

"Maya?! Ya're okay, ya're—"

"Mama!" I said again, but my call came too late, and Mama shrieked and let go of me as she was struck in the head and fell back into the bed.

"The bitch is out. Get the kid!"

Clawed fingers caught my feet and threw me out of bed. I hit the floor on my back with a cry when they seized my leg, and the shadowed figure hauled me up in the air. I kicked and thrashed like a wild animal and struck the shadow in the groin.

It cursed and dropped me headfirst into the wooden floor.

I fell on my head. A sharp pain blinded me and filled my vision with patchy bright dots, but adrenaline kept me going, and I crawled away until a boot smashed right on my stomach and sent me flying across the ground.

I crashed against another pair of shoes, and hands soon came and tried getting a hold of me.

My throat clogged, and I couldn't close my mouth.

My lungs felt empty as my hands clawed blindly, and my feet kicked wildly.

It took me a second to realize that I was screaming.

"Shut her up already!" said the figure that had tried to catch me first at the other side of the room. "Take her, and let's go!"

No, I couldn't let them take me!

No!

No!

They couldn't take me away from Mama.

She needs me!

The one holding the weapon loomed over me, his unarmed hand came to grasp me, and I caught two of his fingers between my hands and pushed forward.

The cracking sound as one of his fingers gave in and snapped backward filled me with a macabre sense of joy as the shadow screamed before he closed the rest of his fingers and caught both of my hands in his fist.

He pressed hard enough to pop all of my hand's bones and make me cry, but before I could do anything else, the shadow's boot smashed against my side and sent me sprawling over the floor.

"Animal broke ma finger!"

My legs wouldn't move, my five-year-old body way over its limit.

"It ain't broken, relax."

I dragged my head out off the wood and forced my hand to move, to claw at the ground and drag me even if only an inch toward the bed.

Toward Mama.

"Is broken!"

I couldn't let them take me.

I wanted to stay, and this was my home! I only found this home and didn't want to lose it!

A foot smashed me on the center of my back,

I cried out and dropped to the floor.

Unresponsive.

"Shit, you don't think you overdid it?" came the gurgling voice of one of the two shadows, the one without a weapon. A knee landed next to my head before a hand pulled my hair up, and I was staring right at the face of my attacker.

One of the blonde's bodyguards smiled as I blinked. "Nah, she's still alive."

"Then let's go," said the other, and I was hauled over the bodyguard's shoulder like a sack of soggy rice.

No.

No.

No!

I didn't have much fight left in me, but I fisted my hand over his clothes and tried dragging myself out of his grasp.

Mama's unconscious body remained in the bed.

"Ma—" I tried to cry for her, but I was caught in a fit of coughs that shook me to my core.

I didn't want to go.

Please don't take me away.

You can't take me away from her!

I only found you. I only started to love you, Caprile! Caprile!

I won't let them take me away.

"Shit, she is scratching me."

I will come back, Mamam, I will come back home.

I promise!

I promi—

"So feisty." The bodyguard not holding me chuckled.

The one holding me bounced me on his shoulder, smashing my stomach against it and taking away whatever air I had left with a strangled wail.

I dropped, hanging off him with no more energy to fight.

The adrenaline had worn off from my veins.

Yet my hand still rose, my head tilted sideways so I could see.

So I could see her.

"Mama…" I said— a whisper and a prayer left unsaid.

… I will come back home, I will go back home, Mama, Caprile. I will come back to you, I promise.

For you…

My last sight of our room was of her blue curly mane, concealing her face.

The two bodyguards went out the front door. I couldn't see where we were going, but a car's motor rumbled.

The bodyguard holding me walked along the side of a black truck's trailer while his comrade went to the front and got inside. He took me to the back and struggled with the door's lock for a moment before the metal thing wailed open.

He threw me inside like a corpse. I landed on my back, hitting my head against the metal floor.

I got up slightly with the help of my elbow.

The bodyguard gave me a lecherous smirk and licked his lips like a predator savoring the moment before ripping apart its prey.

The blonde man walked into view as the bodyguard moved away to give him space. His grin was so broad it almost appeared as if it were cutting his cheeks apart.

The blonde man grabbed the trailer's door and nodded.

"She broke my finger, boss," said one of the bodyguards, holding his hand.

"Just twisted wrong, Tom. I'ma fix it," said the other.

"You've been very naughty." The blonde man chuckled. "Not to worry, you and I are going to have a lot of fun very soon. You're going to love working for us,"

I will come back home.

You won't take me away.

I spit, completely missing him.

He came closer.

I recoiled and crawled farther away with my limbs shaking, into the trailer's guts. The blonde man snickered. "Welcome to the Schnee Dust Company, dearie, your new home."

I couldn't do more than stare at the man—like a frightened deer.

My last vision of him was of that smiling visage; the doors of the trailer closed and left me in utter darkness.

Alone in the void, with the blonde man's laughter echoing around me.

[][][][][][][][][][]

Mistral – Northern Zone – Outside Caprile's Home

The truck left down the dirt road, lifting dust that took shape.

Keeper took a step from the dust cloud.

Keeper crossed his aging arms behind his back. He exhaled the night breeze that made the nearby trees' leaves flutter and watched the vehicle take a turn and disappear with the girl.

"I wonder how you will act, old friend. That body of yours has been destined to die. Your actions will choose the path and the way it happens… or will you surprise me and write a new path?" Keeper chuckled, the gravel around his feet leaping off the ground with each of his laughs.

"No matter… all of your paths lead to that boy, the bull boy… and he will kill you when your body turns eighteen…"

He smiled.

His body was beginning to fade as it turned to dust.

"Good luck, One that is not, yet it is… Maya."

[][][][][][][][][][]

We have reached the end of the chapter.

As I stated earlier this is my second attempt at this story. I will try to improve and correct the mistakes I made in the first run and I hope you guys will stay with me as I retake this road. You may be asking where is Adam? Worry not, I promise he will reappear in this story in the next chapter!

For the people that already know me from my previous stories, you will probably already be familiar with specific rules I like to follow with my works, I will apply those same here as well.

Maya, Caprile, and the Keeper will be the only three named OCs in this story, any other OC that I put in the story (Like mean blondie here) will remain unnamed and unimportant.

Maya's reincarnation will be an important plot point that will be explored in the future.

I also want to thank three beautiful people here.

eretein, thank you for your guidance and your patience. You have taught me so much and corrected my mistakes so many times that I have no idea how I haven't driven you to strangle me. Thank you.

curry-llama, thank you for your honest feedback. You opened my eyes to new opportunities with my ideas that I could not see. Thank you.

and RoyalBlueRoses, thank you for supporting me with your words and your efforts while my doubts had me paralyzed and running in circles, and thank you for letting me be your friend. ^^

also for everyone reading my story, if you enjoy it. Plz go read the works made by these three amazing people, they are much better writers than I am!

Now, something I like to do to meet the beautiful people that take their precious time to read my story is put questions at the bottom of each chapter, so that you can answer it together with your review, I will put my answer at the end of the next episode and make a new question.

If you liked the first episode of this story (or not,) please leave a review! I would love to know what you think so far.

Question of the week: Which Volume of RWBY has your Favorite opening theme?