Ajax awoke to the chilling Solitas air. It flowed through his orange hair, tickling him in a way that made him want to sneeze. He held it in. It was nothing he wasn't used to, but some movement could certainly help ease the cold. That, or vodka, but they ran out last week and wouldn't be resupplied for another two. He rose, stretched, and got out of bed. The sun had yet to peak over the horizon, so he lit a small oil lamp shaped like a whale that he recieved for his 8th birthday. The flame came from a horn on its forhead.

Stretching, a gentle and very cold breeze brushed his back. He noticed the window was still left open from last night. He shut it, then got dressed quickly.

Once dressed, he went about setting the table for breakfast, as well as attempting to cook it. It was tedious after years of doing it, but it was necessary to get all of his chores done. Especial if it was something his mom usually ended up doing. No missing work meant no nagging mother. No nagging mother meant he could go fishing. He hurried in his chores. He only finished the first task before Tonia met him in their kitchen.

"Morning, Ajax. I see you're trying to burn my food. If you don't mind me intruding too much, how 'bout you let me handle it"

"...fine"

This was the siblings' morning ritual since Ajax had woken one morning and cooked breakfast. For some unknown reason, his family didn't like charred eggs and burnt toast. He never got any opportunity to practice, seeing as his sister stopped him every morning.

Without the opportunity to cook for his family of five, he set out to his favorite activity: Ice fishing. Ajax used to go with his father, until money got tight and his father left for Huntsman duties. Pole and bore in hand, he set out to the lake to catch some fish.

Ajax bored out the hole of his favorite fishing spot- about a ten minute walk from the house across the lake- then he dropped the line in. He had about an hour to catch a fish, and that included his travel time.

His lucky spot, during the summer, was a depth of water right at the mouth of a river. It was at one of the corners of the delta, where it was deep and water swirled fiercely. Nobody in his small village of Morepesok knew of this secret hole. Jigging his lure up and down, he prepared for a hit. No fish came to bite his line. He reeled up, getting impatient. Very quickly, he grabbed another bait and ripped off the old one. The icy water coated his fingers, but he simply wiped it on his coat. In goes the lure. Again, no fish bit the line. Cursing, Ajax towed the line in. With another twenty minutes to spare, he packed his stuff and went to the shore closer to the house.

Now at his second favorite spot (also known as Lady Luck's Fishin' Hole to the villagers), he dropped his line in. Within ten seconds, he got a bite. he wrestled the fish in and up through the hole. Upon retrieval, he held a decent sized bream. Ten minutes later, Ajax had three more. Carrying his fish on a stringer tied to his belt, he set off for the house. The first rays of sun peaked over the trees, shedding light on the surroundings.

The house, now much livelier, had a nice aroma to it. It smelled of breakfast. On the way in, Ajax saw the smokestack above the kitchen puffing. The wall of warmth at the doorway almost made him ignore his sister approaching him. Tonia stopped him to collect the catch.

"Not bad AJ. Now go, Mom's looking for you"

And thus, his quiet morning ended.

"Ajax, you turned 14 six months ago. You need to help out around the house more"

The boy in question stared at his shoes, unwilling to meet his mother's glare. He was trying his best not to scowl at the injustice of the whole situation.

"You can start helping your sister with breakfast. You need to learn at some point. I refuse to allow you make a fool of yourself and our family when you meet someone important and don't know how to cook. More over, you can't just spend your life fishing. Your father works very hard to put food on the table so you better make his contribution worth it"

Ajax was about to protest, but caught his words; instead he nodded, then went to clean the fish he caught. Fishing is useful, or else we would be eating the rest of this week's eggs. His inside thoughts ultimately did nothing, however. If his mother doesn't care, he won't either.

Blue eyes scanned the kitchen countertops. To his surprise, delight, and dismay, Tonia had alread cleaned the fish. Breakfast was quite nearly served even. His mother would kill him. To try and ease whatever hell she had planned or switch she was carving, the 14 year old ginger cleaned up the kitchen, washing all the dishes in the basin. It was dirty, monotonous work, but he would do his best.

Satisfied, and ready for food, he sat down.

He had no idea how he could stay in this house for any longer. The last time he'd been fishing was a month ago, and his father had only been home from his Huntsman duties once, and Tonia still wouldn't teach him how to cook breakfast. All he ever did was clean an already pristine house, shovel snow during Solitas's seemingly unending blizzard, and watch the animals shiver in the barn. He needed out.

Once again, before morning light, Ajax woke, stretched, and got dressed.

Instead of getting breakfast ready, though, Ajax grabbed an old sword of his father's before he switched to Dust, as well as a rucksack. Extra clothes, extra boots, a decent length of rope, all in the bag. Ajax packed a satchel with a few hygiene products. Water canteen, and check. All packed. Food would have to come from outside the house. As much as he hated this life, starving the rest of his family was not something he could possibly allow himself to do.

Sneaking out his window, he ran through the chilling snowstorm until he reached the bakery. The lock and chain were so cold, trying to pick them would probably get his hand frozen to them. He did the next best thing, and swung his sword. The civilian-grade iron sheared from the Huntsman-grade weapon.

Grabbing 8 loaves and leaving an IOU, Ajax fled the building.

Destination: Atlas

He didn't know how to get to Atlas's main city, but he would get there. From the stories he was told, it would be very hard to miss. Atlas should prove exceptionally easy to find, considering it is a giant floating island dotted with stars.

Setting off, he ventured into the woods.

It took about an hour to realize this was a terrible idea. A small pack of Grimm chased him from behind. Beowulves, Ursai, and more tailed him as Ajax darted through the wood. The hills here made it difficult to traverse, especially at the breakneck pace he was holding, but it also provided a means to lose his pursuers. A small cliff face, about ten feet tall, revealed itself before Ajax. Without a second thought, he jumped down and hid behind a rock. He held his breath.

Seconds passed. The Grimm jumped over head and rushed forward. A minute passed. Ajax began to hear his heart, beating in a rhythm of blood. Ten seconds later he gasped like a fish. He peaked from behind his rock to reveal no Grimm. He got up, and began walking beneath the cliff face. From what he had seen near his house, formations like this were always near flowing water. A brief look into the canteen suggested finding it was a good idea. Now to do so. Ajax walked for a few minutes down toward the suspected stream until he noticed another set of footfalls behind him. A glance back showed no immediate threat: something was stalking him.

He sped up. Finding an ideal location to remove the stalker by any means necessary had highest priority. The stream would only cut off an escape route, and could take a backseat for now. Sometimes, though, luck defies all logic, and he found his water first. A deep and fast moving river plowed its way forward in his path. Turning around again, he saw it. A beast Grimm of some kind. It had four legs and a nasty jaw, so it could be an Ursa, Beowulf, or other uncommon variant. It hid upon being spotted by ducking beneath the ridge cliff face.

Ajax's blue eyes scanned the nearby wood. The area had a decent open space, but two opposite sides, the river and the cliff face, were cut off for retreating. He could run either direction, but would inevitably be caught by the Grimm. Fight or Die, he supposed.

The next time the Grimm peaked over the ridge, a stone hit it square between the eyes. It reacted violently, and jumped off the ridge. Hidden in a tree, Ajax pounced with a battle cry. His sword dug into the shoulder of this creature, which looked much larger up close. It faced him while he was clinging on, and flung him off. Ajax threw his sword onto the ground, far enough he wouldn't hit it, but close enough to grab upon standing up. He rolled when he touched ground, and went for his sword. To his dismay, where his sword was, the Grimm stood. The beast then kicked it into the river. With no weapon, and no chance of survival if he entered the rapids, he ran.

The beast was much faster, and much more versatile in movement. It was hindered by its injury, but not enough to stop it from killing Ajax. He ran along the river, hoping for the beast to slip up and drown itself in its depths. No such luck, sadly, and the Grimm caught up to him. With a swipe of its paw, Ajax was knocked onto his face. He flipped around, only to find himself being breathed on by a Grimm. A paw stepped on his chest, and a claw began to dig into his skin.

He had come to far to fall, however.

Desperately, he punched at it. His strength began to fail as he struggled to breath. Slowly... the light faded... and darkness came... until. A bright light filled the wood.

Ajax felt renewed. Like he was hooked up the house's power line. He punched the Grimm again. This time, however, a jet of water punched with him. It cut into the flesh of the black monster on top of him. Ajax wasted no time; hammering away at the beast's paw and maw. The jaw became slack and its leg began deteriorating. Soon, enough pressure was relieved, and he rolled out. The Grimm was now missing its previously injured leg. Then, he employed a secret tactic from a show his older brother watches: running away.

As he ran, the Grimm limped after him. Ajax was gaining ground though, and ran as far as his lungs would allow. Unfortunately, it was a straight path between the cliff and the river, so the Grimm would catch him when he inevitably exhausted himself.

Whatever power he found was keeping him running for a long time though. Perhaps he would find some way over and run from the beast.

After what he judged was a long enough time, he stopped for a rest. Idly, he noticed he still had his rucksack tied to his belt. Inside he found a few loaves of soggy bread, damp clothes, and... wet socks. Ajax felt phantom Athlete's foot already. Without any other food, he sorted through and grabbed the driest bits of the loaves he had left. It wasn't terrible, especially giver his hunger, but seriously. It's soggy bread.

Once finished, he looked back to the path he just ran through. He couldn't believe his eyes. It was there, limping after him on its stub of a regrown leg. Ajax resolved himself to killing this thing before it fully regenerated.

At the rate it was tracking him, he had maybe five minutes to put together a plan. Less if it kept getting faster as its leg regrew. He thought about his situation. Best case scenario, it falls into the water and dies a cold and painful death. Worst case... he does.

The boy grabbed a stick and attempted to recreate his water effect. Nothing. With his bare hands, nothing as well. There was something about the thrill of battle that made it come out. He swung his stick at a tree. It hit with a splash. Ajax recreated this a few more times, and then checked back on his pursuer. It was gone.

Great, it now had enough mobility to disappear. He still should have some time before it could get to him. He tried another thing: throwing the stick. To his great surprise, throwing the branch at the tree kept the water with it. Quickly, he gathered a few pebbles to do his magic.

Ajax glanced one last time down the path. Unsurprisingly, it was hidden. So he tiptoed careful upstream. His senses were on high alert, and he was prepared to hurl his stones and anything that moved. Suddenly, a snap from a tree branch above revealed the Grimm pouncing onto him. It recreated my move. Intelligent Grimm... Tonia will never believe me.

He rolled off to his left, and chucked a rock at its other leg. It struck, and water slashed at the beast's leg. It tripped for the second he needed to. With a kick, he struck its head and forced it towards the thunderous river. It seemed to understand what was happening.

Ajax wouldn't let it run.

He hurled another watery grenade at it. It struck its hindleg with greater force than he thought possible. He found the water's cutting waves to be more potent the more he focused on it. Sure enough, the leg gave out, and the Grimm fell into the river.

With a sigh, he went back to retrieve his gear. As he picked it up, he slipped in a puddle. But, when he fell, he hit no ground, and simply continued to fall into another world.

"Well boy, I must say, you do show great promise"

Blue eyes slowly opened as Ajax regained conscious. He focused on the speaker. It was a strange outline at the moment though.

"You bested a truly remarkable Grimm. With no weapon I may add"

Ajax sat up slightly more. His eyes focused on two silver ones before him.

"Well then, I'm Summer. I'll be your tour guide for the Grimmlands while you're here"

Grimmlands? Offering tours? It was too much for Ajax's brain to compute. He fell down onto the makeshift bed once again.

Edit: thank you to nameless guest who pointed out a small wording issue concerning cooking families. It has been taken care of.

Am I a Childe simp? Possibly. Do I care? No. This here concludes the first chapter prelude of Tartaglia's foul legacy. As shown via RWBY. There will be more familiar faces, especially from RWBY, but expect to see some Genshin friends appear as well. This is kinda a passion project more than anything, and likely won't have a very good story behind it. I'm doing this more to test the waters of a crossover, as well as be happy I can finally whale out on getting Jean. For those of you who don't play Genshin, I will try and make this understandable.

The rest of this A/N, and the rest of the A/N's after it, will be talking about my reasoning behind certain aspects of this work. Things like power scaling, ability usage, ect. Have fun, and don't take life too seriously.

Onto other important aspects that you will notice. Visions aren't a thing. We use RWBY's crappy power system here. Elemental reactions aren't going to be factored into the outcome of fights, the use of abilities is tied to Aura levels, Maiden powers give a fraction of Godly power to the Maidens, ect. The power scaling for them roughly equal to that of Childe's foul legacy transformation. Sorry to say, but I won't be featuring it. The in canon way for this universe to do that would be through Grimm, and we have just recently seen on RWBY Volume 8 that silver eyes are required for whole body Grimm control. Cinder's arms don't exactly fit the bill for the form, so sorry to anyone who wanted to see Childe form 3 clap Cinder.

As for the rest of the powers, Visions and Delusion users, normal ones at least, are factored at about your regular Huntsman level strength. The Harbingers and other equivocally powerful beings, such as the traveler (who will probably not be featured), the upcoming Abyss Herald, and minor gods (four winds and adepti) are at the relative strength of the Maidens. Gods are at Salem level scaling, but won't be featured probably.

Like in both series/game, there is some level of social mobility and intermediaries between the castes.