(Wow. I did not expect this much attention for a first chapter that was, in a sense, half-assed compared to my other stories, but I would still like to thank you for reading.)
"The Holy Grail. Many have spent their entire lives in search of this magnificent artifact in the hopes of obtaining wealth, power, immortality or even just comfort; knowing that the Grail can grant the wish of anyone who held it within their grasp. However, their attempts to obtain the Grail have been in vain, as they were unworthy to hold it, but you; although you have proven yourselves worthy in life, you must now prove you have what it takes to win the Grail by proving yourselves through glorious combat.
"However, the rules have been broken; someone did not like the outcome, but the war must be fought all the same. The rules have been changed, and now instead of the Masters choosing you, your masters have been chosen for you, instead. The most ambitious, and worthy among the populace, but whether or not they mean well is up for you to discover, and it will be up to them to delve deep into their minds to find the knowledge to summon you; and to find the mettle within themselves to fight alongside you for the most sought-out prize.
"The pieces have been set, and the first Servant has already been summoned and the chain of events have now been set in motion.
"Let the first 'Remnant' Holy Grail War… begin."
The air was now clear, and Team RWBY can finally see with perfect clarity, the woman who stood dauntingly in the center of their dorm, her arm outstretched and her hand curled into a fist as if she held an invisible object in her hand; her eyes were still glued to Weiss with fiery determination which left the rest of RWBY on edge while Weiss looked up in fear, as well as confusion.
"W – What?" Weiss asked, unsure of what the woman had asked her.
"Were you the one that summoned me?" The blonde woman asked, and it reminded Weiss a little bit of her sister, Winter, but this woman held much more regality than her, while also a more staunching air of authority, which to her was frightening.
"I – I guess?" Weiss answered as she slowly stood up and was surprised to see that the woman then lowered her arm and let it rest at her side.
"So I ask you again: are you worthy of being my master?" The woman asked again, her eyes narrowed towards Weiss with determination to receive an answer.
"What do you mean? Who are you?" Weiss yelled and stepped forward with a sense of courage; however little there was.
"I am your Saber class servant. However, for now, you may call me 'Saber'," the woman named Saber responded. Team RWBY watched in silence, but still couldn't help but be surprised that this woman would call Weiss her master, and would refer to herself as a servant.
"Weiss? What's going on?" Yang asked, her body set to jump in and fight, but held herself back out of curiosity; her eyes darting back and forth between Saber and Weiss and noticed that Weiss was now pacing back in forth.
"No, no. No!" Weiss exclaimed and turned to Saber, who just stood with a calm expression, her mind collected. "I was just trying to summon a familiar, not a person! How did this even happen?!"
"Are you saying that you summoning me was an accident?" Saber asked.
"No! I mean – yes but…" Weiss said and stomped her foot on the floor in frustration.
"I see. In any case, you have summoned me, Master; the Command Seal on your hand is proof of that," Saber responded, and Weiss looked down at her hand and scanned the markings that Saber referred to as the 'Command Seal'. Saber then got down onto her knee and placed a hand over her chest, which made Weiss's attention snap back to her. "I am your sworn sword, I will fight at your side and as my word is my bond, I will continue to do so until we have achieved victory, or until I draw my last breath."
"Woah," Ruby responded, which was a reflection as to how the rest of her team were reacting. Yang stood with her head tilted to one side, stunned and almost petrified by how this woman was acting, and upon realizing she was not a threat, Blake eased up but still kept her gaze on the woman.
"Now that you know my name, may I ask for yours?" Saber asked as she finally looked up, and when Weiss finally managed to regain control of her senses, she swallowed and looked down at Saber.
"My name is Weiss," she replied, her response a little reserved.
"Weiss…" Saber repeated, the name now cemented into her mind. "Where I come from, we had a neighboring country in whose language that translated to 'White'."
The girls turned to one another at the mention of 'country', as the Kingdoms have not been labeled as countries for as long as a few hundred years until they unified into the four kingdoms.
"Speaking of where you came from," Blake remarked, and everyone, including Saber, turned their attention towards her. "Where did you come from?"
Just as Saber opened her mouth to respond, she froze, as she tried to think of the words to formulate a response her eyes widened when she realized that she had no answer. Every attempt to think of where she came from, only resulted in a blank. However, her mind reverted back to reality, and into a fighting mindset, as someone burst through the door and turned on the lights to the dorm.
"Guys!" Yelled Jaune, as he stood inside RWBY's dorm room and stopped as he noticed Saber.
"Who are you?" Saber demanded as she placed her foot back, ready to charge, and Weiss noticed how she placed her hands together as if she an invisible object with both hands.
"I think that is a better question to ask you," Jaune remarked with the tilt of his head, and all of JNPR suddenly pushed through into the room. As she scanned the faces of each member, she lowered her weapon as she realized, with the help of the light, that each occupant was merely a child.
"Is everything okay?" Pyrrha asked, and she looked down at the floor and her eyes widened as she saw that the floor was charred; there was a giant black mark on the floor in the shape of circle.
"We're fine, Pyrrha," Yang replied, and Saber turned back towards her, and immediately made the connection that they must know each other, and lowered her invisible blade, confident that they were not a threat.
"You sure?" Pyrrha asked. "There was a –"
"Enough. Team JNPR, head back into your dorm room," Glynda Goodwitch said, as she directed them back across the hall with her riding crop. Just as they closed the door, she immediately turned and stared at each individual member of Team RWBY, before her gaze froze onto Saber as she scanned every detail about her. The details that stuck out the most was the garb she wore, how her dress was fitted with armor and her hair was made into a neat bun; as if she was ready for battle.
"Students, who is this?" Glynda asked and as Weiss stammered to find the right words to formulate a response, Saber stepped forward.
"My name is Saber, Servant to Mistress Weiss," Saber answered which caught Glynda off guard for just a moment. The sincerity and conviction in the woman's voice surprised her, and while Glynda did look over to Weiss for an answer, she saw that she seemed just as surprised by the answer, and was only able to respond with a sheepish smile.
"Miss Schnee, I believe its best that you bring it up with the Headmaster before you bring in some of your family's servants to the school," Glynda remarked, with a perturbed expression and couldn't help but glance over at Saber warily.
"Of course, Professor Goodwitch," Weiss replied and bowed respectively, and upon seeing this, Saber likewise bowed. "Have a good night."
Without so much as a word, Glynda waved her riding crop and repaired the damaged floor in their dorm, before shutting the door closed and walked down the hallway; leaving RWBY unaware of the fact, that the moment she closed the door, she waved her riding crop again and repaired every window within a five dorm room radius.
All eyes were on Saber now, as she turned around and faced Weiss.
"It is late Mistress, you should get some rest," Saber commented.
"Ummm yeah," Weiss said, as she eyed the rest of her team, their facial expression conveyed their concern about the situation. Thanks to Glynda, their makeshift bunkbeds had been arranged again, and they all climbed into their beds; just as Ruby was about to shut her eyes, she turned to Yang to say goodnight but not before noticing how Saber stood protectively in front of the doorway.
"Ummm, what about you?" Ruby asked.
"Hmmm?" Saber hummed, and turned her head slightly to see that Ruby was looking at her, which meant that the question was directed at her. "I will stand guard during the night to watch my Mistress."
Unbeknownst to her, Saber couldn't see how much Weiss was gritting her teeth.
"How could I have messed up?" Weiss thought, and her memories reverted to all the times that she watched her sister summon her familiar, and this one looked nothing like it; but as the night wore on into the wee hours of the morning, she let go of the thoughts and softly drifted to sleep. A few hours into the night, Saber still kept guard, but then a strange feeling came over her, a feeling she hadn't felt in a long time, not once since she became a Servant, and never when she served under other Masters. However, everything in her mind was jumbled and disorganized, as images flashed in and out of her mind before it suddenly went dark.
"Why can't I…" Saber thought, and her eyelids began to feel heavy and the confusion and surprise was what jolted her awake. "Fatigue? Impossible, a Servant can stay awake indefinitely through their Master's supply of mana."
But as the night went on, she found it harder to keep herself awake, and when she saw the first slivers of light through the horizon, she thought it would be best to take pull up a chair and to try her best to stay awake until Weiss arose.
Atlesian soldiers scrambled all over the schools courtyard, and scanned every hallway to find the source of the explosion that caused at least several lights to break, and a lot more windows to be blown out.
"Were we attacked?" General James Ironwood asked through his communications system to one of the nearby scouts.
"I don't see any signs of anyone sir. Not coming or going," replied one of the soldiers.
"Keep looking, an explosion like that does not come out of thin air!" Ironwood finished and disconnected the communications on his Scroll as he turned to Ozpin.
"Nothing. They say it's almost as if it was a ghost," Ironwood remarked towards his friend, Ozpin, however, Ozpin kept silent as he stared at Ironwood. Thinking it would be best to hold off from any comments until something has been found.
"Good job, 'General'," Qrow said drunkenly, as he took a swig from his flask.
"Not now, Qrow. Give the soldiers a chance to find out what has happened," Ozpin retorted.
"Yeah, yeah," Qrow muttered, and at that moment, all eyes diverted to Glynda, as she stepped in through the doors and into the office.
"Are the students alright?" Ozpin asked, with a hint of concern in his voice.
"The students are fine, and I may have found the source of our 'explosion'," Glynda said, and everyone stood straightened and were now fully attending her.
"And you couldn't report this earlier?" Ironwood said, seemingly with a growl, as he was the Vytal Festival's head of security, and something like this could have been a big deal.
"I dealt with the damage, so there is no trace of it left behind," Glynda responded, but she kept a harsh gaze on Ironwood, who finally stepped down from a potential argument. "I am not one of your toy soldiers, James. Do not think you can command me like one."
"Glynda," Ozpin said, and she took a deep breath and walked over to Ozpin's desk.
"Well?" Qrow asked and shrugged his shoulders. "Where did it come from?"
"I am unsure of it myself," Glynda said, she was curious when she noticed the spot on the floor of RWBY's dorm but it did seem to be at the center of the damage. "But I believe it to be RWBY's doing."
Ozpin quirked a brow at the idea while Qrow seemingly chuckled to himself; from what he knew of his two nieces, the idea didn't seem so farfetched.
"Is there a problem at your school, Oz?" Ironwood asked abruptly. "Your students seem to be out of control!"
"Glynda, what makes you think that it was Team RWBY?" Ozpin asked, while not ignoring Ironwood's comment, he still needed more information.
"When I came in to investigate, I saw that in the center of their room was a large scorch mark," Glynda continued, however, there was a slight quiver in her voice that made Ozpin suggest that even she couldn't figure out the situation.
"Is that all?" Ozpin asked.
"Yes sir," Glynda replied with a nod. Ironwood shook his head and turned to Ozpin.
"I ask that you at least teach your student's to not do… whatever it is they do," Ironwood said with a huff. "Now I have to make a report to the Council that it was just some students who were playing around too much."
Everyone watched as Ironwood then left the office, Especially Qrow, as he glared at Ironwood while he made his exit. Once he had left, Qrow pushed himself off the column in the office and turned to Ozpin.
"He needs to learn when to lighten up," Qrow commented, and pointed back at the door Ironwood exited from with his thumb.
"It's his job to make sure everything was alright during the Festival. His reaction to this was warranted," Ozpin replied, as he acted is a mediator for the two. However, Qrow's only responded with a roll of his eyes and took a final swig from his flask before he began to make his way out of the office.
"Well, if you need me, Oz, you know where to find me," Qrow said just as he turned his back to Ozpin.
"The nearest bar," Ozpin said with a gentle smile, a thought lingered in his mind on whether or not he should share a drink with him some time; but then he noticed a glance from Glynda which caught his attention as she seemed rather confused by something.
"What's on your mind, Glynda?" Ozpin asked.
"It's strange," Glynda murmured, which piqued Ozpin's curiosity, as he has never seen her this confused before. "Sir, have you ever seen Miss Schnee with a servant before?"
"I don't believe I have, aside from the ones that delivered her luggage at the beginning of the semester; otherwise, she has always managed by herself," Ozpin replied, referring not just to Weiss' ability to fight.
"When I came to investigate, there was a woman in their dorm who claimed to be her servant, and Weiss seemed just as surprised by it," Glynda continued, and Ozpin's eyes narrowed as he thought on this. An explosion in RWBY's in dorm, and now a woman who claimed to be her servant.
"And do you believe this woman?" Ozpin said, as he slowly rose from his seat, ready to head over to RWBY's dorm room in case she was a threat.
"As strange as it is, I do," Glynda replied, and the way her voice heightened in pitch suggested that she too, was surprised by this.
Ozpin thought long on this and a silence had crept into the office; since Glynda's return, there had been no further commotion and seemingly no more trouble. However, a strange feeling came over Ozpin, as the feeling he felt before, the explosion and then a mysterious woman. It all seemed strange, even coincidental, however, he didn't have enough to go on.
"I guess the only choice we have left now is to watch and see what happens, Glynda. However, I would like to speak to Ms. Schnee, and this woman as soon as I can before the next round of the tournament," Ozpin said and was just about to dismiss Glynda until he remembered something.
"Oh, did she say what her name was?" Ozpin asked, quizzically.
"She said that her name was 'Saber'," Glynda replied, however, with a quirked brow, as she never heard of such a strange name.
"Hmmm," Ozpin hummed to himself, and turned towards the window to peer down into Vale, while Glynda bowed and left the office.
"Could this be what I was feeling before?" Ozpin thought, and a worrisome feeling flooded him, but even when there was no one watching, he made sure to not show his concern as well as any other emotion.
(DISCLAIMER: Since this is the first crossover story I have ever written, I decided to play it safe and make the chapters short for now so as not to make it look like a huge information dump at the start of the story.)