RWBY: Revenant

By Endbeats

Chapter 1: After - Companions

Funny how facing despair didn't create fear. It didn't make you run. All you could do was shut off.

A group of travelers understood this after being mugged by bandits. Before the shattered moon came from the horizon, the three had been held at gun point and forced to remove their inventory. All they could do now was sit on the side of the dirt road and stare at the trees that stood across from them. Whether it was out of shock for losing their food and water supply fifty miles away from civilization, or whether it was the dread of their vulnerability to the wild grimm, the three travelers continued to stare across the road, into the bushy area that surely held a beast. Finally, Aaron, the tallest one of the group, came to his senses.

"That happened," he spoke. He wore a t-shirt in the relatively nippy weather, something people would be surprised to see if they didn't know about the mugging.

"Yep." The somewhat tall girl, Judith, had the same treatment. Her bushy hair provided some protection against the wind, but in the end proved useless against a grimm attack.

"They took our weapons." The shortest and stockiest of the group, Cyrus, took to drawing in the dirt. "We're grimm food now."

The two others took silence to this statement. Being faced with the reality of the fact shut them down once more into a catatonic state. So, they continued their staring contest with the shrubbery on the other side of the road. Aaron looked at the thin leaves, shaking from the simple pushes of the wind. He looked at the flowers that dotted the top of each bush. He looked at the four red berries-

Wait, Aaron thought. In the past thirty minutes, he had known with certainty that the bush didn't have red berries on it. He squinted and looked closer.

The red moved.

Suddenly, two wolf-like grimm jumped out of the bush and landed right in front of the trio. Perhaps it was because of the lack of excitement from their prey, but the grimm seemed almost perplexed at the fearless, yet despairing, group of travelers. The two pairs of red eyes looked at one another as if to communicate, then looked back at the team. Soon, their puzzlement morphed into excitement, and the two wolf-grimm began circling around the three.

At this moment, Cyrus' despair receded as he started to get up. His breathing became heavy, his movements frantic, and nothing stopped him from attempting to run. However, one of the grimm cut him off and forced him back into the circle with a growl. He back stepped and took to the back of his taller friends, then laid down and covered his head. If he couldn't see, he couldn't feel, Aaron assumed. He himself was almost tempted to do the same, but the feelings of uselessness came over him again, and he continued to stare at the grimm who made their approach. At the very least, he could close his eyes and accept what would happen.

Many scholars hypothesized about what happens after death. Maybe his aura will get absorbed back into the planet. Perhaps he would be in the second life. Aaron was unsure, but in preparation, he said a quick prayer to whatever lived beyond, and waited.

And waited.

And waited some more.

His ears indicated no sort of movement or lunge towards him. He opened his eyes to find the grimm distracted, looking past the group. Did they hear something? With this sudden stop, hope overcame his despair. If the grimm were distracted, perhaps they could sneak away. It was a long shot, but if they had the chance, it would be best to take it. He started to make his move, shaking his friends to get their attention. Judith looked over, and Cyrus uncovered his head to see.

Aaron whispered faintly, "We need to run."

He could see it. The two started to feel what he himself felt. They nodded and slowly started to get up while the grimm stared into the forest. The few seconds felt like an eternity, which itself felt way longer due to their sloth-paced movements. The second they got into a standing position, however, time reverted back to normal and the trio abruptly sprinted down the dirt road, towards the fifty mile distance to their homes. It would take days to reach home, and the group didn't think at all about hunger or thirst. All they could think about was the present, and that meant to survive another day.

The grimm were always unpredictable, however, and one of the wolf grimm immediately cut off their escape. Unlike before, however, this grimm was not so patient. Rather than move them back into the previous position, the grimm leapt towards the tallest prey.

It was almost as if time was slowing down, and while this would be good in any other circumstance, Aaron's own movements were slowed down significantly. Is this what it's like when you die? He wondered as he watched the grimm inch towards him closer and closer. But, something caught his eye as he remained frozen in time: a scarf inching at a faster rate towards the grimm's neck. The scarf masterfully wrapped around the grimm's neck, fast enough that the grimm hadn't even had time to react. Time slowly reverted back to normal as the grimm shot out of view, into the group of foliage the trio had not too long ago stared at.

Snap! The tall trees broke with the force of the grimm and fell between the group and the second grimm.

"Quite a strange time to be wearing t-shirts, wouldn't you say?" A voice rang out from the wreckage and surprised the travelers. Out from behind the torn trunk came an individual with black and scruffy hair. The scarf that had strangled the grimm retreated back into the newcomer's large, white sleeves, though Aaron did notice a second, black undershirt inside the sweater, the same color as the long pants he wore. Attached to the back of him were two sheaths that hung down to his waist, the hilts of his swords at the level of his arm length. Who was this man, Aaron thought. Was he another bandit? Or was he…

"You're a hunter."

The black-haired man smiled and nodded. "Bingo!"

Without any second's notice, the second grimm jumped over the fallen trees with the intent of tackling the hunter. In a single moment, the hunter stepped to the side and drew his left sword, a single-edged straight blade. As if it were as simple as breathing, he swung his sword down and cut the head clean off the wolf grimm. As per usual, the grimm dropped no blood as its body disintegrated into nothingness. The hunter then sheathed his weapon and turned to the three, all of whom were flabbergasted at the turn of events.

"So, care to explain to me why you all are out here scantily-clad?"

"You guys are lucky. No one else would have as much supplies as me," the hunter said as he took four thin, cushioned sleeping bags out of his small backpack, an astonishing size for the amount of camping material he took out.

The sun had just started to trade places with the broken moon as the hunter made a small camping ground for the three others. Just a few miles from their previous location, the camping site wasn't too shabby. The trees were at just the right distance to keep them from feeling claustrophobic, and the bushes kept behind the trunks from the travelers' sights. The dirt road was just within looking distance as well, if an escape was needed. Inside their little circle, the hunter put down all the items of interest in a small pile, next to the curvature of the sleeping bags. Lamps, lighters, spray repellent, jackets, and boxes of what looked like rations. The sight of the food made Aaron's stomach growl, and he could have sworn he heard his friends sucking up their drool. All the panic had made them hungry, it seemed. Once he finished pulling out the camping equipment, the hunter looked at his entourage and smiled.

"Here you guys go. Make sure to chew before you swallow," he said while he tossed the rations at each one of the group. Immediately, the three sat down in the grass and pulled out the food. It seemed to be a simple country-side meal: a mixture of chicken with a variety of vegetables. But to the trio, this was a five star meal. It didn't take long for them all to start devouring the platter set before them. However, while his two friends kept their faces in the food, Aaron instead kept his eyes on the hunter while eating, watching him pile up dried grass and weeks between all the sleeping bags. He then put a few logs on top, and sat back down across the group, rubbing his hands together vigorously.

"Uh… sir?" Aaron asked.

The hunter smiled. "Call me Soul."

The friends were nearing the end of their food. "So, Soul, what are you doing?"

Soul spoke without stopping his hands. "Ah, well, you'll see in a bit."

Cyrus spoke up behind Aaron. "So, you're actually a hunter, huh?"

Soul nodded. "Yep, it's been my dream since I was a kid."

"You look really young for a hunter, though," Cyrus continued, his cheeks stuffed with the food he shoveled into his mouth.

"Well, I guess you could say we had a new influx of hunters after what happened at Beacon." The hunter looked at the ground, his face grim.

"Oh… Sorry about that," Aaron said.

Soul smiled again. "No, don't worry about it. All I can do is keep on going. Becoming a hunter early on just helps find the perpetrators faster." He continued to rub his palms. "So, I've told you about me. What about you guys?"

"My name is Aaron."

"I'm Judith."

"Cyrus."

"Good to meet you all." He stopped rubbing his hands. "Well, looks like the fire is ready."

Soul scooted towards the mesh of wood, and put one of his hands towards the logs. Out from his hand came a quick spark of blue light that very nearly blinded Aaron. But, once the light disappeared, a small ember took its place, gradually growing in size as it engulfed the dead twigs and leaves around it. The three jumped back at the sight.

"What was that? Is that some new Atlas technology?" Cyrus asked in surprise.

The hunter rubbed the center of his palm. "No, actually. It's my semblance." Soul smiled while he showed his hand, pulsating with a blue-ish electricity. "I can make lightning. Only issue is that it's tough to come out of my body. I need to produce some static electricity before I can do that, so it takes a while."

"That sounds unfortunate," Judith spoke with an apathetic tone. Aaron could tell her fear and hunger were now replaced with her typical callous expression. Luckily, Soul didn't seem to take it to heart as he scooted back onto his own sleeping bag area, adjacent from the three.

"Yeah, it is, isn't it?" he joked in response. "But it's what I have in the end. Can't really complain about it if I can make fires, right?" There was a small chuckle from Soul to show he didn't take offense.

He then continued speaking. "Anyways, you're all from Autumn village, right? I think we can make it back there tomorrow if we leave early morning."

Arron, for the first time, smiled back. "We haven't said it yet, but thank you! If it wasn't for you, we'd be grimm food."

Soul was taken aback at the sudden, loud gratitude. "Well, there's finally something from one of you! I was afraid the experience left you numb!"

"I guess we're normalizing. It was… shocking to say the least. I have to ask though, why are you helping us this much?"

Soul took a stick and started poking the bright fire. The sun had fully dropped below the horizon now, and the campfire became the only source of light for the group. "I'm a hunter, so we're supposed to help those in trouble, but there's definitely more to it. I don't like to see good or innocent people die, I guess. I just had to help."

Cyrus, fully recovered from his fear as well it seems, as he interrupted the conversation. "Man, hunters are so cool! I wish I had gone to a hunter academy!"

"Why didn't you? I think that's a great wish," Soul responded.

"Err… well, I had to stay and help my family financially during that time."

Judith snickered. "Please, that wasn't the real reason."

"Judith, don't be like that," Aaron chastised.

Cyrus scratched his head awkwardly. "No, it's fine. To be honest, Mr. Hunter, I'm frightened of grimm. I can't help but run the instant I see one. Fighting just doesn't seem to be in my system."

Soul chuckled in a friendly way. "I knew someone at Beacon who was exactly like you. He couldn't really fight when he first came to the school either, but by the time of… it, he could fight bear grimm with no difficulty. Besides, nothing is stopping you from learning your semblance or unlocking your aura."

Cyrus smiled. "Ah, Mr. Hunter, you're too kind. I thank you as well for what you've done. We owe you big time for this. Just let us know what you want, and we'll help!"

"Actually, if you can, could you let me know if you've seen these people recently?" With that, Soul took a set of three photographs out from his bag and handed them over the fire. Aaron, seated in the middle, grabbed them and leaned back to give the two others room to look. The first was a woman with black, shorter hair and yellow eyes with a red dress. Her hair covered one of her eyes, but what mainly caught their attention was her black arm, a shade completely different from the rest of her body, with claws instead of fingernails. It was rather unsettling looking at her. Next to her in the picture were two people, a scantily-clad, dark-skinned woman with green hair, and a man with grey hair and what looked like metallic legs. None of the three knew who this was. The second picture was another woman, this time with pink and brown hair, and eyes that followed suit. She was wearing a suit, held an umbrella, and wore a fancy-looking hat. Again, no one knew who she was, though the impression she left was a bit nicer than the previous picture. The group finally moved onto the third picture, which had a red-haired man. He wore a red and black mask that completely covered his eyes, and held a sheathed katana on his hip, though Aaron could tell the sheath itself was a weapon too. Aaron had no clue as to who this was, but that didn't stop Judith from answering.

"That's Adam, isn't it? The leader of the White Fang. Why are you looking for him?"

Soul, while smiling still, had the hint of some dark emotion in his eyes that chilled Aaron to his core. "Just some bounty hunter work. It's nothing as dangerous as fighting him, I just need to get some information on him."

"Then maybe you should find those bandits that robbed us," Cyrus brought up. "There were two White Fang members with them. Maybe the bandit gangs are working with the White Fang?"

Soul himself was in thought. "It's a good guess." He then stood up, walked over, and took the photographs back. "It's getting late. If we want to leave early, you guys should go to sleep."

"What about you?" Aaron asked.

"I'm going to keep watch to make sure more grimm don't attack us." Soul smiled again. "Don't worry about me. I'll go to sleep once I'm sure grimm aren't nearby. Have a good night, guys." Soul then jumped onto a tree branch above and disappeared through the green leaves.

Taking heed of Soul's words, Aaron tucked himself into his sleeping bag. Though it was incredibly thin, the material in the bag kept him from feeling uncomfortable. It was such a great gift from Soul, so much so that Aaron felt required to pay back this favor. In the care of Soul's watch, Aaron had little difficulty falling into a deep sleep.

"Finally we have a lead!" Soul was sitting on the tallest branch of a tree a good distance away from the campsite. He was looking around, scanning the horizon for smoke or light, excluding the one where the three others were at.

Be careful, bandits can be tough, especially if some of them unlocked their auras. A voice rang in Soul's head, clear as day.

"It'll be fine. I handled the last group of bandits and they had someone who could use aura."

It's a miracle you survived that fight. Just… keep your wits about you. If these bandits are with the White Fang, they could be very strong.

"Well, they haven't met me yet."

Haven't met us, The Voice corrected.

"Right, right," Soul muttered. After looking around several times, he decided to use his semblance.

Judith had called his semblance unfortunate, but that was far from the truth. Sure, Soul couldn't shoot lightning from his hand at any given time or control the weather, but electricity limited to his body gave him other opportunities. He could stimulate his muscles, of course, but when he moved the electricity to his head…

Like a powerful gust of wind, his senses became drastically enhanced. The horizon grew in distance as the stars in the night sky became as bright as the sun. The rustle of the trees in the air sounded like a multitude of waterfalls. The touch of the bark on his fingers felt so rough that Soul was almost afraid his skin would tear if he moved. But, that wasn't the end of it. Soul increased the electricity in his head a bit more, and suddenly he could "feel" every bit of life for miles. He could feel the static electricity of his three friends a walking distance away. He could feel a group of grimm walking down the dirt road ten miles away. And slightly further away was his goal: a large crowd of people. He could sense the metal in the weapons they held as well. There was no way a regular village would have so many guns and blades as they did. Soul turned towards the direction and released the electricity from his head. As always, a tough headache struck him afterwards.

I HATE when you do that. Soul heard a groan after The Voice spoke.

"I can't help it. At least with your semblance, the pain goes away pretty fast."

With that, the hunter made the scarf in his sweater wrap around the trunk of the tree. He then jumped in the opposite direction of where the bandits were, and with a simple push from his semblance, the scarf constricted immediately and shot Soul over the thick forest. His scarf uncoiled from the tree and followed behind its host, being led by Soul's grip. As soon as he started to lose momentum, however, the hunter threw his metal scarf to the furthest tree it could reach, and did the same process. This was another thing that Soul appreciated about his semblance. Sure, he couldn't blast grimm from a distance, but in touching range, that was another story. As long as something was metal, he could use it to conduct his electricity, and if it could move, it became a part of his own body, like the scarf, a long pattern of rubbery, interconnected rings of metal. It became his third limb, and helped him travel much faster than on foot. It wouldn't take long until he would reach his destination then.

It wouldn't take long until he got closer to his revenge.

"I tell you, bein' the leader of a group of bandits like y'all really makes my heart warm!"

Arnie drank to his heart's content, sitting at one of the three tables that sat his underlings. They, in response, took a long gulp from their own mugs. Only a few weeks ago, they were a small bandit group that could rarely manage to take a purse from an old lady. Their base, or rather the lack thereof, consisted of a couple of tents with holes in the roof. Since their joint venture with the White Fang, however, hunters feared to reprimand them and their bounty, as a response, had increased drastically. Of course, many of their numbers were hesitant with such a union, especially when the representatives refused to set their tents outside of the walls, but the pay back by gaining strong warriors made Arnie feel like a fool for thinking against it. So, he couldn't be any happier with his current situation.

With their notoriety expanded, their numbers grew as well, giving Arnie and his gang the ability to raid a small village last week. The village had a wooden, 10 foot fence surrounding the square shape that the houses had made. In the center of the square stood one slightly larger wooden cabin, where Arnie assumed the village's leader lived. Regardless, he took it as his own, while the other houses were given to his gang. However, the bandits had risen in number, so much so that tents were still used. Thus, tents lined the area between, in front, and behind of the houses. Indeed, Arnie was truly the leader of a group to be feared.

As he sat on the moldy, wooden chair on the side of his wooden abode, one of the night watchmen ran to Arnie's location. Once he arrived, he could barely speak.

"In…truder…," the kid managed out in-between breaths.

Arnie raised an eyebrow. "Speak louder, boy!"

"Intruder!"

From the corner of the shoddy cabin, towards the only entrance of the bandit village, flew one of the bandits, as if he had been thrown by a grimm. His fainted body landed on a wooden table adjacent from Arnie's, its hosts jumping back in surprise. Those from the other tables sprung out of their seats as well and immediately dashed towards the action, out of sight from Arnie's position.

"Heh, just a grimm, is it? We can handle this no problem." He started walking towards the corner. "Sheesh, didn't think I had such weak members watching our gates."

The younger bandit, his panting subdued, spoke up again and stopped Arnie. "No, sir. It's not a grimm. It's a hunter!"

The clamor grew louder and louder as the fighting came closer to their position, still hidden from view behind the cabin. "Oh, for the love of… here! Take this, I'm going to wake up the faunus."

Arnie handed him a gun and gave him a push, the kid hesitantly walking. He then walked in the opposite direction of the fighting, towards the only open corner of the village where two white tents resided. If anyone could handle hunters, it would be other hunters. Even if they were faunus.

"Hey," Arnie yelled as he reached the White Fang tents. "Rise and shine! We have an emergency!"

Slowly, a deer faunus was short antlers came out of his tent. "What a nice surprise," he said sarcastically, his gaze as bothered as possible. "And to what do I owe this honor?"

"There's a hunter attacking us. Wake up your friend and get out there."

The fauness gave Arnie a discerning look. "Arnie, I don't think you understand. We aren't here to help you. We're here for you to help us. If this isn't a part of our mission, then we won't take part of it." He climbed back into his tent.

Arnie was furious. "What?! You think I'm gonna let you ignore me like that?! I thought we had a contract!"

The fauness spoke through the tent fabric "Yes, we did. But like bandits, we're breaking the rules."

Arnie took the revolver from his holster and aimed at the tent. "Alright, then. Take-"

Before he finished, the second faunus, a horse faunus with hooves below her knee, came out of her tent in a flash and slammed her fist into the bandit's gut, sending him staggering backwards. In the same vein, she returned into her tent within the second. Arnie, in contrast, struggled to breathe as his diaphragm spasmed at the punch he received.

"But… if the hunter finds you… they'll attack you… too," the bandit leader struggled out. The sounds of the fighting grew closer and closer.

"No, they'll only attack you. You're the leader, aren't you? Get out there and start fighting. If you survive, then maybe we'll stay. Now, please, quiet it down."

Arnie, finally, stood up and walked off, muttering racist remarks as he came to the conflict. Rather than walk towards the drinking area where the battle had changed to, however, the leader turned tail and started running. The pathway was rather close to the fight, but he could manage to get out if the hunter was distracted enough. On the way down the dirt road, Arnie caught the sight of the hunter. His fighting was unlike others the bandits had seen: he was almost wild in his movements. It wasn't that he didn't fight with grace, but his grace was complimented with a tenacity and unpredictability that was only seen in grimm. He would jump over the slash of an attack and then counterattack from above, yet other times he would actually take the shots of a bullet if it meant he could attack the gunner. The combination of his weapons confounded Arnie as well: a leaf-shaped sword and a longer, single-bladed straight sword. Arnie could have sworn he saw a third, longer blade shoot out of the hunter's sleeve, so fast that the bandits were stunned when they found themselves disarmed or thrown,

The bandit leader had to pull himself from the devastating warfare and sprinted towards the gate, now in sight. Yet when he had very nearly made it past the guard post, he suddenly felt a heaviness to his right leg that gradually increased in weight until he found it immovable. Arnie looked down and found a strange cloth as the culprit, encircling his shin. He tried to shake it off, yet each movement only made it tighter, like it had a mind of its own. This was when he noticed it wasn't simply a stray cloth, but rather a scarf-like object that originated from behind him. Unexpectedly, the cloth pulled Arnie back with a force unlike anything he had felt. Arnie yelled as the cloth pulled him towards the hunter, who had just finished off the last of the bandits courageous enough to approach him. The cloth twisted him over and finally let go, dropping him within five feet of the hunter. The hunter, Arnie noticed, was just barely over the age of eighteen. His black hair and blue eyes weren't exactly striking to the bandit, though his oversized sweater made Arnie chuckle a bit, despite the situation. Perhaps it was out of mercy that the hunter kept his blade aside, though he was noticeably disgruntled at the laughter.

"You have someone. White Fang. Where are they," the hunter spoke in a gruff voice, his eyes devoid of passion.

"T-there." Arnie pointed towards the corner where the two faunus had set up their tents. The hunter turned away from the bandit leader towards the White Fang representatives. Arnie, at the same time, got back up and slowed his breath, relieved he was spared. While the bandit leader should have been completely relieved, however, anger slowly filtered into his emotions. He saw his friends, and even those whom he would call family, laying about the area surrounding him. Many were injured horribly, knocked out, or simply beaten into submission. Though he felt regret for a brief moment in his cowardly retreat, hatred for the hunter pushed him towards action. With the hunter's back towards him, Arnie took the revolver from his holster and took aim.

He struggled to stand straight, but managed and called out for the hunter. "Hey! Don't you dare mess with my family, hunter!"

The leader then pulled the trigger multiple times as the hunter turned back. Arnie was even pleased when he saw all of the bullets, save for one, strike him directly in the chest, one even piercing his neck. The hunter stepped backwards, eyes-wide in surprise. Arnie laughed and took a knife out from his knife sheathe, then walked closer to the hunter. Those that still were conscious cheered in support, and some of the lesser injured got up in awe of their leader who had just beaten a hunter.

"What do you know? We could kill a hunter without those filthy faunus getting in our business!" Arnie made it face to face with the hunter, expecting to see fear in his expression. Instead, the eyes of the hunter had reverted back into dulled ones, lacking the same surprise it had before. Arnie got a small chill, but continued his onslaught, sticking the small knife into the hunters gut and forcing himself to laugh. He laughed as if the fear had been misplaced in him previously.

The hunter joined with him.

Arnie quickly stopped as the hunter's laughter grew in volume. "You think you can kill me? You seriously think you can kill me?" The hunter growled. He shoved Arnie back.

Arnie noticed that the bullets in the hunter slid out from their holes and dropped onto the grassy ground. Almost immediately, the wounds that Arnie caused healed with little difficulty. Even the skin visibly torn apart from the stab wound now laced itself together until all that was left were the holes in the clothing. The bullet wounds, as well, closed as if a surgeon had sewn the skin back together, all in a matter of seconds. A horrified Arnie looked back up at the hunter's face, a horrifying grin growing on his face.

"No one can kill me. Not since Beacon."

(Author note: Hey! If you got to this point, then thanks for reading through the first chapter of my first fan fiction! I really enjoy writing, but it definitely is a skill that needs to be developed. So, if you can provide it, I would really appreciate some constructive criticism! Similarly, if you enjoy the first chapter of RWBY: Revenant, why don't you stick around for the other chapters? If I keep writing, I can assure you my grammatical ability will slowly, but surely, increase. I have some great ideas for Revenant that I have yet to produce. Also, I don't know too much about the RWBY fan fiction scene, so if this kind of story is a bit generic, then sorry! It's a plot, separate from the main RWBY story, that I had created so long ago and just had to put onto paper. I hope the future chapters will manage to make it distinct. So, thanks again for reading!)