? POV
In my life I was a horrible person well if you define horrible by not lying, some probably thought i was an ass, couldn't even blame them since i couldn't keep my mouth shut.
Then again i might have been an ass but i would actually help people in need, i absolutely hate people who looked for validation from others, those who preach about the moral high ground generally lack it.
People who think they're self righteous are dangerous, especially if they believe in the ends justify the means idea, the road to hell is paved in good intentions after all.
Anyway I might have pissed of the wrong person honestly why would anyone be angry at me for speaking the truth I just said that his father was an abusive asshole that beat him like a bad owner a dog, really I don't understand people I was just stating a fact why was he so pissed anyway I didn't have a chance to ask him as he pushed me off the bridge… what a dick!
As I opened my eyes I was surprised to see nothing… I can only think of 3 possible options on the table since I didn't just stop existing.
A. There isn't a god an ill simply stop existing.
B. There is a god and I did something to piss him off and I'm going to hell.
C. There is a god and for a bullshit crime of not believing a two thousand year book written by some desert husks, I'm going to hell.
And since there literally was nothing here, like really nothing just a white space i was hopping that my existence wouldn't just be existing in nothing.
And suddenly a message appeared before me it read "Welcome you have been chosen to be thrown into the word of RWBY".
My eye twitched, yep definitely hell humanity on the brink of destruction from an evil horde of giant monsters, while I would know the future I wouldn't have an incentive (I'm not suicidal! Just because I'm good at fighting on earth doesn't mean I'm good with superhuman powers like in Remmant) to change it and really people like Ruby just shouldn't exist, children should be naive but Ruby is literally 15! and come on i knew more about how the real world worked When I was 10, her sister protectiveness is abuse at this point.
And the world of RWBY is a fucked up place also I'll probably survive a week and then somehow piss of a group of Faunus saying that the white fang are terrorists at this point, what is with people who don't want to look at the truth, I know I'm not perfect, nobody is but I'm not going to start claiming that I am actually a good friend, I won't betray you but if you think you're a hard worker but really you're lazy I'll simply say that to your face, I won't lie to make you happier, repairing your own faults should be satisfaction for your own self not living in an imaginary world where you're perfect.
Another message appeared after I stopped thinking.
"Due to the strength of some elements in remnant you can chose a special power".
Can I turn into general Grievous from Star Wars? pls, pretty pls I started begging in my mind, general Grievous was my favorite Star Wars character honestly people call him a coward yet he is the only competent commander in the CIS (if he died the CIS would lose quickly), also he was the only guy able to go head to head with Obi Wan Kenobi for minutes and that guy had enough layers of plot armor he could have been shot in the head and walking the next day.
"Very well you will be able to turn into Grievous" read another message .
Sweet I have a lot of training when it goes about swords, but I'll have to learn how to fight using four arms, and when I do I will be a badass, just imagine someone trying to rob me and bam 4 arms out of nowhere…
Hopefully i wont have to actually use my Grievous body in battle…
I'm also an expert at hand to hand (got forced to learn some martial arts because father didn't want me to become a 'human noodle'), you might be asking how that idiot pushed me of the bridge well it was because I was standing with my back towards him, so the next thing I saw and thought was "Oh shit" as I was flying through the air about to crack my spine.
"You will be dropped of on the continent of Anima that houses Mistral".
Not in Vale that's good I will be far away from that place when shit hits the fan also there wasn't any talks about any big terrorist attacks there so all will be good though I have a feeling that I forgot about something why am I thinking of Qrow ehh it's probably not important.
As I closed my Eyes I felt ground beneath me, when I opened them I saw that I had a black cloak on? And some black clothes with leather reinforcement and combat boots, and two swords they were both long swords both had red blades, I noticed that I felt lighter.
I took my first breath… ugh the fucking air is soooo clean, i hated change, and my city didn't have clean air.
As I was walking trough the forest I came up upon a town it had a wall that was six meters tall, and some buildings made of wood and stone when I entered the city I suddenly heard a scream, while I might not feel anything towards people I don't know I still did help out when I could, I immediately ran towards the area I her the scream as I was passing the buildings some of them looked like a monster wrecked their doors… yea definitely beowolve (Ursas are simply to big and would have left holes instead of broken doors) having a snack time, as I continued running way faster than I could ever before, I got to the place where i heard the scream someone was laying down on the ground, I didn't know what she or he looked like nor did I care,right now the only thing i cared about was the beowolve on top of them, it was heavily armored… shit didn't I say tragedies went in pairs.
Not only was the werewolf lookalike about to probably kill someone, if that person wasn't already dead, but it just had to be a elder Grimm… just great!
I quickly took out my swords and yelled to it "Hey you big ugly fucker did Salem make you particularly ugly or did she try to create a look alike like her" I knew that the best way to piss of a stupid animal was to insult it… especially its mother though everyone would get pissed is their mother got insulted.
The elder Grimm turned towards me very slowly and then it jumped, I tried to block unused to fighting something faster and stronger then a swordsman from earth, it threw us into the ground, I thanked whatever deity existed that it unlocked my Aura or I'd be paste, and then it started hitting and clawing at me, while I deflected those attacks that I could, the Grimm was making good progress into my Aura, if I didn't think of a way to kill it and fast my Grievous cloak will be painted red with my organs as decorations.
Wait Grievous that's it I'll turn into him! but how? maybe some code ah fuck it I'll start saying random things from his life maybe I'll get lucky.
Droid general…Cyborg…Kaleesh at this my body morphed it was an unpleasant feeling but not painful, still definitely beat being mauled by a Beowolve.
To be honest i had no idea what i expected it to feel like, since my body just got changed from a 1.9 meter tall body made of flesh into a 2.17 meter body made of steel.
I felt getting stronger and taller as well as the Grimm looked a bit slower, if I got Grievous's reflexes this will be over soon, hopefully I'll also get his battle experience which would be the most valuable thing i could ever get.
The Grimm wolf tried to punch my new body and I caught it's arm, and then the second one, heh I was stronger then an elder Beowolve, then I tried thinking of having four arms and man did it feel uncomfortable, more than the transformation before it didn't hurt but the feeling was really weird, the two arms were still held by my hands in place I took the other two and picked my swords from the ground and stabbed where I knew there wasn't armor, after all for the beowolve to retain its mobility it doesn't have armor between its body and its limbs it was probably its only weak point where attacks actually mattered, I cut of its arms clean of, the Grimm roared and fell on its back, it being the stupid beast it was trying to get up and attack me again.
I quickly got up on my now claws and cut of its legs, and then I took both of my swords and started cutting the flesh under the armor, after cutting out pieces of the Grimm the armor on those pieces deteriorated into thin air leaving its insides to cut up, after cutting and the body deteriorating, I got up my new steel like body doing loud clangs as I moved after all Grievous build his body to be as intimidating as possible there was some kind of way to move quietly but I'll have to discover it.
I had to admit that Grimm fur looked good… if only those monsters bodies didn't disappear on their death i could have had an awesome cloak.
When I looked around I noticed that the empty street was now filled with people who were looking at me, suddenly a man came he dressed in richer clothes so I guessed that he was the leader of this town.
Leader:"Welcome stranger and thank you for saving little Alice" at this he made a hand movement towards a little girl, I guessed she was the one screaming and being attacked by beowolve.
The girl wasn't tall I would guess she's six years old she had black hair and beautiful orange eyes, she was dressed in a black dress.
Leader:"Can we please talk in private for a moment?" His face had a serious expression.
Hmm… I guess I have time to spare since I didn't have anything else to do so I said "very well lead the way" then he started moving through the streets I followed closely, after placing my now named swords 'cutters' into their sheathes.
After a while we came to a house that defines looked richer compared to the others it wasn't even that the others were made of dirt this house was simply bigger and had more decorations as well as having a much nicer architecture, he opened the door after looking for the right key and invited me inside, we then came to what I guessed was his office after all who needs ten bookcases filled with books in one room, after changing into a man again I sat on the chair and we started talking.
Leader:"That elder Grimm killed our guard before he could raise the alarm, then it proceeded to sneak into the towns walls, it killed four people including him, as well as the girls mother".
Elder Grimm were smarter, they do gain knowledge and strength the older they get so I'm not that surprised, I wondered though why he was telling me this after all the problem was dealt with I wasn't needed here.
Leader:"Anyway the girl doesn't have any parents anymore since her father left the village years ago to hunt this beowolve, i know it is the one that attacked the town because the Grimm he hunted had a scar running across the beasts bone plate forehead".
Hmm… I'll take his word even if i find this extremely unlikely, Grimm armor is highly irregular, Grimm armor isn't produced in a factory, it literally grows on the body.
Its like with trees, they might be similar but they're not identical.
Leader:"anyway the man had blond hair and yellow eyes like you…"
I blocked everything out and quickly looked towards the closest mirror and to my surprise my face changed, my hair was blond instead of black, and my eyes were no longer they're original color.
I could get used to this look even if it'll feel a bit weird getting used to.
Leader:"So… I have a deal for you, the child was too young to remember her father, so you can take his place you will get ownership of anything that he owned as well as what his wife owned, and you'll take custody of the child and work isn't a problem he was a known hunter before his… unfortunate disappearance".
The man grimaced during the last part of his sentence and I could see why, the man was hunting this Grimm… it was here while the hunter isn't, guy probably got mauled by it or some other one.
Maybe he got ganged up by Grimm… young Grimm generally listen to elder Grimm, its a possibility it used the younger ones as cannon fodder and then striked itself once the hunter got tired of fighting a pack of them.
Then again he could have been led into a huge gathering of Grimm… Hunters are tough, so a single pack shouldn't have been able to kill him unless he wasn't a academy trained hunter.
Anyway… i always did want a daughter and I might help raise and shape a new woman, while I never went out of my way to help anyone, if I was near I helped people generally liked me for that… and Ido need something to occupy myself in this new life, training to be a badass 24/7 doesn't sound exciting.
"Very well I accept your contract, so what's my new name?" I said a sad smile on my face, on one hand i was getting a kid… on the other the kid was probably traumatized… i just hope it didn't witness its mothers death.
Leader: he had a grateful smile as he replied "Your new name will be John Shadow, don't worry about her asking questions, the villagers know the deal I'm giving you and are wiling to support my story, they think that it's for the best that someone took care of her".
Time skip
It was years since I came to Remmant, life was good, my work was simply patrolling a certain radius around our town every day and exterminating the Grimm, there wasn't another attack since I started my job, the Grimm population was low and weak around here since no negative emotion was made here, after all it was a small community too small for any violence to occur as everyone knew each other and were friends.
There were disagreements but none big enough to attract the attention of any bigger Grimm, the biggest violence that happened here since that day was during an arm wrestling competition in the tavern.
I trained my Grievous body and was happy to say that I could fight using four hands as well as two even better sometimes, I learned how to walk stealthily which would probably look creepy if looking from someone else's perspective, and I became a legend as many people witnessed a 'spirit' destroying elder Grimm near the town, only the town folk knew of my power which most thought of as a semblance and kept a tight mouth when visitors asked about the 'spirit guardian'.
Cyborgs didn't exist, there were some good mechanical body parts replacers but nobody had bigger injuries than losing arms or legs so i was special in my lack of flesh as Grievous, not to mention that Mistral wasn't known for their technological supremacy… if i was in Atlas some might have thought i was a robot or that i simply had a mechanical body, but i was in Mistral in what basically constituted as a backwater village area.
Magic and spirits is the more realistic explanation to people than Mistral having a high tech machine.
So my weapons wouldn't be recognizable I asked the blacksmith to forge me four identical longswords which I wore under my cloak all four of them were deep red, my two cutters on my hips, I wondered how was it that nobody recognized my cloak as the cape that the 'guardian spirit' had on it but then again some people weren't the brightest.
Alice Shadow my daughter I had to console her after becoming her 'father' I had to say things like "mommy is in a better place" and "she never left you she is still here" at that I pointed to her heart… what? I might dislike naivety but a child that is six should be carefree and happy not depressed unlike Ruby who somehow is still innocent at the age of fifteen somehow (I call abuse, it's impossible to have that level of naivety without being locked up in some area where the only people that come near you were nice to you).
After spending so many years with her I grew into my role as her father and I began to see her as my daughter, I taught her how to wield a sword, so that she could protect herself if she were without me in danger or simply wanted to become a huntress her sword is called Light Shadow for it is half white and half black it was a long sword too, anyway the only real changes from those years ago are that she stopped wearing dresses and started wearing what I called adventure armor basically black clothes with reinforced leather padding and she adopted a black cloak from me as well, I don't know if she sees me as a hero and wants to be like me.
Though I have to snicker at the thought… imagine a Jedi hearing a little kid calling Grievious a hero…
Pfffff… hahahaha ha haha!
Still she was growing into a woman and i couldn't be prouder, admittedly it wasn't my genes that were in her but i consider biology a unimportant matter in family… family is those who support you regardless of how much you fuck up.
I taught her how to act, it is a useful skill and it can be helpful in almost ever situation, theres nothing more dangerous than not knowing what you're facing, a skilled man acting like a berserker is more dangerous than many might realize, you expect one thing and get hit with another.
Time skip
As I was sitting in my house which was at the same time a town bunker should a Grimm sneak by me, prepare for the worst but hope for the best mentality works really well, when I got a message from one of my town friends who left for the big city, that the person of interest was coming to the village and with him three other people, I cursed my own rotten luck I knew ever since the legend of the 'guardian spirit' began that somewhere down the line Ozpin the headmaster of Beacon would either send Qrow or go himself here, after all one weird occurrence people might have made up but there are tens of people who witnessed me as Grievous kill 'elder' Grimm cementing that I was in fact real.
I didn't even need to read their description I already knew who was coming here Jack said that Qrow didn't use the name Branwen and for a good reason the Branwen clan is infamous and people specifically those who were lucky or unlucky to survive considering they were alone wanted their blood, a bunch of thieves and murderers, their stupidity astounds me if civilization falls they won't survive a year while they are stronger and more militant than the other tribes they started living off of what they can pillage meaning that if there is no one left to kill they'll turn on themselves or die from hunger.
I have a few days until they get here more than plenty of time to prepare, I'll make sure that our town looks poor but strong so that Raven when she leaves her life now will decide that this place isn't worth attacking, also I'll have Alice look at Raven and tell her to memorize as much as she can, knowing how one of the top Branwens looks might save her life in the future.
She does look close enough that it wouldn't be far fetched for her to be Ravens kid, and nobody wants to mess with the Branwen.
Time skip
The town no longer looked as rich as before, and the people dressed in older clothes, they all heard who was coming and they didn't like the fact that a Branwen of all people would be allowed into the town, when I told them this they looked at me like I told them that I released a Grimm into the town, so I explained how we would pretend to be poor so they won't remember us… bloody Branwens nobody liked them, and I explained that the only real danger would be Raven as her brother likes a hunters life and doesn't want to go back to being a killer, they will also be in the presence of two teammates that were definitely on the good side of the law.
Now just to wait for them I can guess what questions they'll ask but assuming makes and ass out of you and me doesn't it.
Time skip
Qrow Branwen POV
Damm I miss Beacon the man at the docks recognized me as a Branwen, while he didn't say anything after we locked eyes and i looked away while still keeping him in my line of sight, his eyes narrowed like he saw something evil, great! here we are on day one and were already disliked for having red eyes, while sure red eyed people do live in other kingdoms, in Mistral a majority of them are in the Branwen clan doing so that if you were born with red eyes and just came to town everyone would be on high alert expecting an attack or would be simply distrustful of you rude even.
Can't even blame them my people did some bad things to put it lightly.
Summer was having a blast as she was running around in her white cloak asking Tai who was just as us from Mistral… when we learned that me and Raven were to be placed on the same team as another Mistralian we got worried, Branwen were used as monsters alongside Grimm in bedtime stories.
Raven was watching the hills outside the city with longing… I couldn't understand her, why did she feel such a connection to those monsters after living in Beacon i finally saw that my 'family' really was a bunch of thief's and murderers and monsters.
Time skip
We had been walking for hours since our last break alongside the road to the town in the center of where this 'Guardian Spirit' was that Ozpin told us to investigate, after all one or three people can lie but tens of them detailing the same monster to the detail and his fights with elder Grimm, anyway what I do know is that the parts here are being hunted by a self trained hunter… heh I wonder how strong he is, its likely Summer could beat him alone without any trouble, after all the Grimm he gets to kill are simple beowolves with the occasional Ursa, no we're here to look for the big fish himself the so called 'spirit'.
As we finally arrived we didn't expect a almost desolate town to great us, sure they did have a wall and buildings made of wood and stone but there were no decorations that were famous in Mistral, hmm guess this really is a poor town.
We suddenly heard movement and when we turned towards it, we saw a small girl in a black cloak with orange eyes glowing from under it, she turned away and started to run, while she wasn't as fast as us she was still damm fast and we all knew that innocents didn't run at the sight of hunters, (plus we needed a local to interrogate, so might as well get a kid that won't be able to convincingly lie) after that we were running behind her, though she was smarter than I thought, she knew she didn't have a chance at outrunning hunters so she dodged into an alleyway, when we found our way there we saw her climbing on crates and jumping on a roof.
I had to give it to her she was smart and agile as she ran away from us, after some time we were able to finally corner her in an alleyway while we were a little winded from that the girl was panting and fell to the floor her back supporting the wall behind her.
"Okay… so why did you run on our sight?" I said wondering if she noticed mine and Ravens eyes.
Black cloak girl:"and why wouldn't I run on your sight? your kind is trouble" she said a bit defensively and was that fear in her eyes?
Summer:"But were hunters from Beacon" she very likely couldn't understand the girl, after all at her age which was probably somewhere about ten from her size she wanted to be a huntress and people of Vale were happy to see hunters this was her first time where hunters weren't welcome where they came.
Black cloak girl:"Don't make me laugh" she snarked at us "A Branwen a hunter? maybe you accept Grimm at Beacon too" she had mirth in her eyes as she continued "Why don't you just start accepting them it's just as well thought out!".
The girl fell over and started laughing… meanwhile Summer was a bit confused but Tai placed his hand on her shoulder to reassure her.
I made sure to keep an eye on Raven who's Hand was shaking a bit, she does have a temper and i wouldn't want to leave Mistral as a wanted fugitive with a child's death on my conscience.
Black cloak girl:"why did you come here anyway it's quiet in these parts of Mistral" her face had a bit of confusion and mistrust on it.
"We're trying to find the guardian spirit" I said wanting to handle this in case Summer were to ask why here Branwens are equaled to Grimm.
Unknown black cloak girl:"and why do you need to find him?" She asked wonder on her face.
The speed at which she changed emotions was interesting… someone had to teach her how to act and that means to believe the role you're playing after all the eyes never lie… unless the person beliefs the lie himself… or he lies to himself.
Still didn't change the fact that whatever came out of her mouth might be a lie.
"We've been told to simply find and confirm his existence" I said looking for any signs of body language from her, I knew I wouldn't get a read on her face.
Unknown black cloak girl:"he's just a myth nothing but legends and stories people make up, there aren't any elder Grimm in this area the normal ones are being taken down by my father, and civilians never seeing a fight exaggerate his appearance in his black cloak and the Grimms strength" said the girl not a hint of a lie in her voice or body movements.
That was actually a good explanation a normal civilian doesn't see a lot of Grimm so they must've confused the weaker ones with elder types, so it seems our mission is done… finally back to Beacon.
Time skip
After returning to Beacon and reporting to Ozpin that its nothing but exaggerations of saved civilians, Ozpin accepted our explanation, and left us to our own devices.
Meanwhile
John Shadow POV
I'm proud of my daughter she was able to lie to Qrow of all people and he bought it, even if she wasn't really lying after all those reports were exaggerations of me, I don't have eight arms after all so she was telling a half truth the best kind of lie, but still I think I forgot about something.
Time skip
It's been years since that visit I was running around the forest in which the town is I've eliminated thirty Grimm already which was worrisome there aren't a lot of negative emotions here so something had to happen I quickly started going towards the town hoping that it wasn't anything big, but then I noticed smoke lots of smoke I quickly transformed into Grievous and ran as fast as I could towards the town my fear rising each second after all tragedies loved to strike twice after a full ten minute sprint I was there and my horror was unimaginable, the once beautiful town lay in ruins the buildings were burned and there were bodies laying everywhere I quickly ran towards the sound of fighting and when I got there my heart stopped there stood Alice under her four bodies of the… the Branwen clans members laying on the floor cut open, I was about to ran and hug her thanking whatever deity existed for her being safe when I noticed something…
A deep red blade was sticking out where the heart was suddenly it was taken out and her body fell to the ground first on her knees and then her face fell and hit the dirt behind her stood her my anger flared there in all her glory stood Raven Branwen a mask on her face, I without thinking took out all of my swords and charged, she was spooked by my sudden appearance and terrifying armor, I took all of my swords in the air and with all my might took them down, Raven tried to block but her blade exploded into pieces from the force of all four of my arms, I wasn't even thinking straight at this moment the only thoughts of mine were "kill kill kill her" and I continued my onslaught slashing and hitting her all over the body.
By now the rest of her tribesmen came seeing their leader in need of help they charged with battle cries.
I changed my target and immediately started slashing and parrying weapons from eight people (Grievous at his max can make twelve attacks a second) I continued slashing breaking right through their Aura like a tank hitting a stone wall, they're bodies flied into the air as their eyes were wide with surprise when I cut them in half at the hip, I cut of one other heads and then I cut of a man arm making him scream I destroyed another's weapon, I took and crushed the neck of another by catching him in my claws embrace and squeezing, this continued and after some time I was standing in an empty street covered in blood from claw to head, bodies lay all around me some the tribesmen and others people I used to know their eyes full of fear and their bodies cut and shot in different places, I looked around and saw that I have killed ten tribesmen in my mad rage, while Raven escaped the pathetic coward, I looked around the only building not burning being the mayors home, I quickly got in the door was open and ran towards his office when I opened it the mayor sat on his chair a bullet wound in the middle of his forehead fear and shock on his face.
I left the building and the town I sat down on the floor not even changing back, I took my phone made a picture of my home for the last few years and sent it to all of my 'agents' my only remaining friends from the city, and something I didn't knew could happen happened… tears real tears left my eyes, and now that I was alone after seeing my child's death I weeped… I cried into the moon sky.