New story alongside Everyday RWBY. This is a complete AU of RWBY with Adam Taurus as the main character. I'll get into what sort of differences there are as we continue through the story. Disclaimer: I don't own RWBY or Thief.
Chapter 1: The Worst Night
Some miles from the city of Vale, a medium-sized Nevermore swooped across the sky. It soon reached its destination, the city of Mountain Glenn, a recent expansion of Vale Kingdom. The raven Grimm's piercing yellow eyes narrowed as thoughts of raking its claws against unsuspecting humans filled its primitive mind. It would never get the chance. A portion of Mountain Glenn's wall opened up to reveal an automated turret. The Nevermore was cut down by the barrage of Dust pellets. It still got into the city, but rather than cause terror, it unceremoniously smacked against a townhouse along the edge of the wall before dissolving into smoke.
A young man dressed in black leather shook his head at the sight as he peered out from the nearby window. His suit was designed for maximum stealth, including thick boots with soft soles, fingerless gloves that covered the back of his hands, a face mask that left his blue eyes uncovered, and a large black hood that prevented light from gleaming off of said eyes and also kept his auburn hair from standing out. If one looked closely, one could see a pair of short bull horns, slanted back to blend in with his hair. Clipped to his belt was a katana, the hilt bearing a trigger. And on his back was a collapsible archery bow. His name was Adam Taurus, and he was in that house for one reason. To rob it.
He tapped the side of his head, revealing a head-mounted communicator, much less conspicuous than a scroll. "Any Huntsmen out tonight Roman?" 'A few token ones for the festival,' came the voice of a more middle-aged man, 'But nothing you can't sneak past. The Primal Stone is said to be a relic from the Old World, carved from pure magicite. That stuff's not easy to come by, so it could be worth a fortune.' "You can put a price on anything in this city," Adam noted, "Secrets, reputation... A life. Even trust, though if you have to ask you can't afford it."
Roman laughed. 'Since when do you pay for anything?' Adam smirked as he cut the communication. As he left the townhouse, he swiped a few trinkets made from silver, then slipped out an open window. Right now he was in Auldale Bridge, and Mountain Glenn was in the middle of a festival celebrating the anniversary of the city's founding. Just ten years ago Adam had moved from his home in Kuo Kuana on the continent of Menagerie to Vale, even graduating from Beacon Academy a few years later. And ten years ago Mountain Glenn had been successfully founded. Quite the coincidence, and unlike most people Adam loved coincidences.
However, he never felt quite at home as a Huntsman, instead becoming a thief who steals from those who torment others. Whether it be humans torment Faunus, Faunus tormenting humans, humans tormenting humans, or Faunus tormenting Faunus. Adam slipped into another house on Auldale Bridge, and silently moved past a set of curtains. He chuckled, seeing so many birdcages. Unlike humans, he had to be extra careful around animals and Faunus. Their senses were far sharper. Just behind them on the wall was a painting, the kind that had been reprinted endlessly and was of no value on its own.
But Adam had been a thief for long enough to know people loved to hide things behind paintings. Carefully he ran his fingers along the frame, soon finding a switch hidden behind it. Pressing the switch caused the painting to lift up, revealing a wall safe. Adam reached into his greaves, revealing a set of lockpicks. Carefully he worked on the lock on the safe, soon cracking it open. Opening the safe revealed a beautiful necklace laden with rubies. "Ah, the Glittering Plumage," Adam noted, "Lady Christina's last keepsake. To think I would stumble across it here."
The sound of footsteps running across the roof got Adam's attention, as well as spooking all the birds. "Speaking of stumbling... Looks like someone's taking the Thieves' Highway. I wonder if that's who I think it is." He stepped out of the attic and looked up to see a beam high above his position. He got out his bow, which he called Cogsworth, and loaded a special type of arrow into it, one designed with an anchor and connected to a length of rope. He fired this arrow into the beam, giving him a way up. Once there, he saw a young woman dressed like him, only her shoulders were bare and she wore a short skirt over her leather pants. She had gorgeous amber eyes and short black hair.
"Cinder Fall," Adam said, shaking his head, "Care to make more noise next time?" "Well I'm sorry if I can't be as stealthy as your precious apprentice," Cinder said with a smirk, "Seriously, is there any way I outdo her?" "I dunno," Adam retorted, "I've never had the hammers to try getting her in bed. Not with her overprotective father still alive at any rate. Besides, Blake is working to become a Huntress now, not a thief like me. What are you even doing here?" "Didn't Roman tell you?," Cinder said, "We're supposed to be working together on this."
"Right," Adam noted, "Well, let's get moving then. Quietly. Just because it's festival season doesn't mean the guards won't be paying attention." Sure enough, lower down were a couple of guards in Atlas-grade military gear. "Somehow I'm not surprised," Cinder said, "After all, old Baron Watts used to be an Atlesian scientist. He must have brought his tech with him. Speaking of tech." She got out what looked like a large club with retractable spikes on it, which she used to climb up a nearby grating. Rather noisily, Adam noticed.
He climbed up his own way, grabbing a few pieces of loot before reaching where Cinder was. "Nice tool," he said sarcastically, "I'm sure the City Watch will be impressed with it. They'll certainly hear you coming." Cinder smirked. "Only if they catch me. Come on, let's see what we can grab while we're here." She headed up a nearby wall using her Claw, while Adam moved over to a nearby winch holding up a ladder. He drew his katana, Wilt, and struck the blade against the winch, slicing the guard chain off and knocking down the ladder.
Inside a nearby apartment, he checked to make sure no one was inside before picking the door open. The place had a few interesting items, including a gilded telescope, and a diary page that suggested the apartment's owner was a voyeur. The next apartment looked like Cinder had gone through it, but Adam smirked when he saw a hidden switch in the brickwork, revealing a moving wall. After grabbing the pieces inside, Adam carefully moved up the stairs to find Cinder reading a note. "So I'm at 145 lien," she said, "What about you?" "Including from before I ran into you?," Adam said, "271. By the way, you missed a hidden wall safe. This is why you should always take it slow. Sometimes you miss things rushing through."
Cinder smiled. "Well, you are the Master Thief. Anyway, according to this the Primal Stone that Roman wants can be found at Watts' manor. The one he purchased from the Northcrest family five years ago after the last Baron was found to be infertile." "Sneaking in won't be easy," Adam noted. "You worried?," Cinder asked. "Of course I am," Adam replied, "I'd be a fool not to be. Watts is bound to have several Atlesian Knights patrolling the grounds. Those aren't as easy to distract as human or Faunus guards." Cinder smirked. "We'll be fine. Come on, let's go." Adam sighed as he followed Cinder out the nearby window.
As Adam suspected, the manor grounds were crawling with guards. "Looks like most of them are focused around the electric lights Watts has been working on," Cinder noted. "He's been trying to move power sources away from Dust so Huntsmen can have more resources to hunt the Grimm," Adam pointed out, "Which may explain what he wants he wants with the Primal Stone. Roman said it's made of magicite, which is heavily linked to the magics used in the Old World." "There are still traces of the Old World?," Cinder asked.
"Sure, just ask Professor Ozpin at Beacon," Adam pointed out, "Back when I was a student he shared a lot of secrets about the Old World with me. Anyway, let's hurry and find out where the Primal Stone is." As they made their way through, Cinder taking the higher route, Adam noticed a glowing Fire Dust crystal being used near a water way. Adam prepped Cogsworth, using an arrow tipped with a Water Dust crystal and a small powder charge, designed to douse flames and nullify Fire Dust, the Dust crystal shattering when the powder charge ignited on contact to avoid leaving traces.
Nearby, two guards were trying to light a fire basket. Cinder knocked out one guard with the flat of her twin obsidian blades known as Midnight, while Adam used Wilt's scabbard, called Blush, to knock out the other guard. Cinder quickly combined Midnight into a bow to fire a water arrow at the fire basket. "What happened to the normal metals you used to use?," Adam asked. "I've found obsidian lighter to carry," Cinder explained, "It's essentially volcanic glass, after all." Adam nodded. The reason he could afford to carry around a heavy steel blade was because he was as strong as he was fast. Cinder had no such advantage.
Adam spotted another guard not far away, and took out a hollow glass bauble from his belt, which he threw to smash against the wall just in front of the guard, into the shadows. That got the guard's attention, letting the duo slip through. Cinder knocked out a guard on the roof and looked at the insignia. "Take a look at this. Seems Watts has hired Tyrian Callows as his Guard General." Adam spit on the ground. "That psychopath gives the rest of us Faunus a bad reputation. It's because of people like him that the White Fang is necessary. Anyway, the Primal Stone should be up ahead."
They soon reached a large atrium, where many robed men were standing around a ritual alter. "I think getting the Primal Stone may be more complicated than we thought," Cinder noted. Adam nodded. "Yeah. Robes are always a bad sign." Down below, Watts was speaking to the crowd. "Now, Brothers of the Awakened! We shall commence the channeling of the Primal! Brothers Hazel, Merlot. Present the keys." Two robed men came in with a large book and a ring shaped like a cog. The ring was placed into the books seal.
"I think we should get out of here," Adam said, "This job just got too dangerous." "Yeah, I agree," Cinder said, "I've read enough fairy tales to know the place is going to come down fast once that book opens." Unfortunately, they heard several guards coming up, led by a scorpion Faunus with long brown hair tied into a ponytail. "Crap, that's Tyrian!," Cinder said, "Now what!?" That's when the entire building started to shake, sending Cinder into the glass roof of the aviary, dropping the Claw as she did. Adam grabbed it and tried to get it to her, only for both of them to fall.
Cinder landed right on the alter with the Primal Stone, energy coursing through her. Meanwhile Adam managed to hook the claw onto the edge of the roof, catching Tyrian's leg as he did. Adam heard bones snapping as he saw the room start to crumble. A large column coming down on him was the last thing he saw before he blacked out. Meanwhile in Beacon, Professor Ozpin could see a brilliant blue light erupt from Mountain Glenn. A woman his own age with bright green hair and wearing a business suit walked up to him. "Something wrong?" "Something's very wrong Elphaba," Ozpin said, "Very wrong indeed."
You're probably wondering who Elphaba is. Well, truth be told, she's Ozpin's lover. We'll get more into here later. I can't reveal everything at once, after all. Read and review.