Before anything else, I own nothing but the original characters, and content therein related to them. RWBY is owned by RT, and any mentioned creator's work belongs to them, and them alone. Rest in peace Monty, your vision lives on in us all.
VOLUME 1
CHAPTER 1
Ruby and Clayton were out in Vale late one night, school shopping if you'd believe it. The two were on track to enroll at Beacon Academy, and recently they'd expended lots of ammunition that would need to be resupplied before their initiation. The two stopped at what felt like the millionth dust shop of the evening, and browsed through the selection of ammo. Of course there was another reason they'd gone out to Vale. Both Ruby's and Clayton's houses had notoriously thin walls and Taiyang knew the innkeeper for the only hotel on Patch… However what plans they might have had were set aside the moment the notorious Roman Torchwick and a few of Juniors Blackshirt Gang decided to make a show of robbing the establishment the Crimson Couple were in.
The two had overheard Roman's introduction, and gave each other a smirk, while taking their weapons off their backs. Deciding to take the fight outside and away from the shopkeeper, Clayton spun around and rushed at the group of thugs, as Ruby followed up the sides, sweeping the one man sent to scan the isles of the shop right out the window. Clayton swung his axe at a cluster of the men, sending them flying into each other before they tumbled out the door. Looking back at Roman, Clayton attempted to back swing into him, only for the hooked end of the gangster's cane to hit him upside the head before he could activate his semblance.
Avoiding the incoming downswing of the cane, Clayton rolled backwards and outside. Unravelling himself, Clayton stood up, now back to back with Ruby, as the gangster looked at his men with a half open mouth. "Shoot them, you idiots." Roman said, as his men readied their guns. Clayton swept Ruby off her feet, and turned his back to the gunfire, shielding her from the attack. Clayton grunted only slightly as he activated his semblance, building a tolerance to the bullets striking him, until they stopped chipping away at his aura all together. Ruby looked up at her boyfriend, and took hold of his forearm.
When the goons stopped to reload their guns, Clayton spun around, and flung Ruby towards the amassed wall of men, scythe at the ready. In one backwards swing, nearly every one of the criminals was sent hurtling down the street into cars, trash cans or walls, unconscious or injured. Racking his shotgun axe, Clayton held Roman at gunpoint. "Worth every cent, truly." Roman said, as he stepped out of the store, looking at his men, then at Ruby and Clayton. "Well then, Little Red, Stupid Monkey, it's been wonderful-" Roman started, only to be caught off guard by Clayton pumping off a shell into his shoulder, chipping at Roman's aura, and causing him to stumble.
"I'm not a monkey…" Clayton said, tossing his shotgun aside.
"Oh no, here he goes." Ruby muttered, as Clayton stood up tall.
"I'm an APE!" He shouted, before rushing at Roman, who only had just enough time to raise his cane, and fire off an explosive round into Clayton's face, stunning him mid charge, granting Roman enough room to evade being bulldozed, as Clayton fell over.
Ruby ran up to Clayton, shoving his shotgun axe into his arms. "Come on, he's getting away." Ruby said, pointing out the gangster climbing a ladder to roof level. Without warning, Clayton scooped Ruby up with one hand, placed her on his back, and began climbing the nearest exterior wall of the store. Wrapping around the building, Clayton jumped clear across the alleyway and pulled himself and Ruby up to stand on the roof where Roman stopped at the far edge.
"You're a little late hot stuff." Roman said, as a bullhead descended from the sky. Looking back at the two still chasing him, Roman climbed on board the aircraft, as Clayton started sprinting on all fours at it, his weapon slung on his back. The aircraft pulled away, but Clayton managed to get a hand hold on the edge of the open door, only for Roman to stomp on his fingers. "End of the line Monkey Man." Roman said, as he ground his heel into Clayton's knuckle. Roman smirked as he pulled out a fire dust crystal, tossing it onto the roof where Ruby had posted up, trying to take pot shots at the Bullhead. "Say goodbye to your girlfriend." Roman said, pointing his cane at the crystal, preparing to blow Ruby off of the roof. Activating his semblance once again, Clayton reached up with his free hand and grabbed the barrel end of the cane gun, pulling it down and away from Ruby, tanking the blast from the explosive flare, which knocked him off of the Bullhead.
Suddenly, Clayton felt weightless, as a purple hued field of energy surrounded him, slowly pulling him back to the roof. Ruby turned to see Professor Glynda Goodwitch, carrying the semi-quadrupedal boy with her telekinetic semblance. Looking up one final time, the duo turned trio, saw a woman in red, cast in shadows, seemingly marking the roof that they stood on. Acting quickly, Clayton tackled Ruby, as Glynda put a shield between herself and the floor, their respective semblances protecting themselves, and in Clayton's case, Ruby as well, from a large blast of fire. Getting up, Ruby and Clayton looked to the huntress before them. Then at the destroyed property around them. Each sheepishly rubbing their necks.
The two were taken to a small room at the nearest Vale police office, and given a lecture about the dangers of getting into a gunfight in the middle of the street. "They started it." Ruby and Clayton said in unison.
"And I'm not going to argue otherwise. If it were up to me you'd be sent on your way with a pat on the back, and a slap on the wrist." Glynda said, looking at Clayton and Ruby. "However, someone would like to speak to you." She said, as a green suited man came into the room, a plate of cookies and brownies in his hand. Clayton and Ruby stiffened up. They recognized their soon to be headmaster instantly. Professor Ozpin was, as always, maintaining a friendly demeanor.
"Ruby Rose, and Clayton Sanguis… Prospecting students of Beacon Academy, with letters of referral from four teachers at Signal Academy…" He said, setting the plate of sweets on the table. Ruby eyed the cookies on the plate and gingerly took one… One soon became five, and Clayton gave in with a sigh. Peanut butter brownies were his weakness. "Outside of some light property damage, the blame for which, outside of a single broken window, falls onto neither of you, you both did an excellent job attempting to stop a crime in progress." Ozpin said.
"We couldn't just sit there and do nothing." Ruby said with a shrug.
"And it is reasoning exactly like that, of which I want to see among my students… I assume you know who I am?" Professor Ozpin asked, receiving head nods from the Crimson Couple. The professor hummed at that. "So why exactly would a girl like you, and a man of your stature be attending my school?" Ozpin asked.
Ruby and Clayton shared a look. Ruby spoke first. "Well… I want to help people. I've always wanted to be a huntress. It runs in the family I guess. My sister, My dad, uncle… Even My mom." Ruby said, a hint of sadness creeping in.
Ozpin hummed again. "And you Mr. Sanguis? What would motivate a man like you to become a hunter? Surely an apprenticeship under your father would lead to a more secure line of work in criminal prosecution?" He asked. Clayton wiped the brownie crumbs away from his face, and opened his mouth to speak, only to lose his words for a second.
"I… I have a great sense of gratitude for the kingdom of Vale, not many Faunus are lucky enough to be born here, much less be taken in to the kingdom like I was. I wish to express that gratitude by defending it and it's people, my people, from any who wish to do it harm." Clayton said.
Ozpin nodded. "A sentiment not found in many of today's youth I'm afraid… I'll be looking forward to seeing you two at initiation. Run along home now, school starts in a week, and you'll need all your energy, I assure you." Ozpin said, before turning and leaving the room.
The scolding Taiyang had prepared for Ruby about sneaking out to "frolic" with Clayton was set aside when she'd explained that they'd in fact stopped a robbery, much to Clayton's relief. He had no doubt that if they came to blows, Taiyang would get absolutely laid out due to the sheer weight difference, but honestly Clayton rather liked Ruby's father. Taiyang was accepting of his daughter's relationship with him, which surprised Clayton at first with how everyone at Signal treated the couple.
By the end of the week, The Crimson Couple, and Yang had boarded an airship bound for Beacon. "Oh this is so exciting, you two are going to make so many friends." Yang said, only for Ruby to sigh.
"The student body of Signal would lead me to believe otherwise." Clayton said, looking down at his thumbed feet.
"Oh please, there's plenty of faunus students at Beacon, I'm sure you two would fit right in with them." Yang said, trying to remain optimistic, amid an extremely poor timed news bulletin on the White Fang interrupting a peace rally. Truthfully, Yang herself didn't have many friends. Being the sister of a "faunus lover" didn't exactly bode well, especially with the amount of fights that led to. If Yang was forced to pick between her friends, and her family, she'd pick her family every time.
"If they'd let us fit in with them." Ruby said, avoiding giving the doom and gloom of the mainstream media any attention as their airship neared the school.