The Grimm readied itself to strike. It was an Ursa Minor, a bear like Grimm, not the most threatening, but still a Grimm nonetheless. Ash black with blood orange eyes, and markings, it was destruction and death incarnate. This one had not yet reached full maturity, being only an Ursa Minor. Still, it was capable of violently ending a huntsman's life if sorely underestimated. It had been sizing its opponent up, a huntsman, now on guard as they had just killed an immature Beowolf and Sabyr before its eyes. After one final moment of watching the warrior, who was glowing a red hue, it made a loud roar. It rushed towards the huntsman with surprising speed. Nearing the huntsman it attacked with a vicious right swipe. The huntsman anticipating the blow leapt just outside its range, untouched. Quickly turning and rearing on its heels, the Ursa launched a brutal left swipe, capable of killing a normal human. Still no significant damage had been achieved, as the huntsman had ducked right under it, only slightly grazed. This time the huntsman launched an attack of their own. With their red blade, they slashed vertically up along the Grimm's midsection. The beast to staggered backwards and bellowed with great pain and anguish, causing the huntsman to flinch. The Grimm off of pure instinct seized this moment and led in with a strong shoulder charge, finally catching the huntsman. The glowing red warrior flew backwards tumbling along the dusty ground, but not for long. Recovering, they readied themselves into a fighting stance, blade held out in front of them. Shifting their weight onto their feet the huntsman then leapt forwards with speed towards the Ursa. The monster was still reeling from its former injury and was slow to react. The beast again launched a strike with its left paw, but that was a grave mistake. The huntsman easily dodged this and launched a clean strike, slicing its left arm in half. Quickly rounding the monster, they then proceeded to slice off one of the Ursa's hind legs. The beast crashed onto its side with an exhausted roar that turned into a pitiful whimper. Thrashing about, it watched as the huntsman maneuvered towards its own head. With a quick strike the glowing red warrior buried their red blade into its neck. The Ursa died, slowly fading into nothing but ashes, leaving a black residue on the ground. The huntsman, now tired from the ordeal, fell onto the ground in a sitting position. As they looked into the blue sky watching the few clouds, they turned to the left hearing a figure in the distance shouting their name.
"Lucia…Allucia… ALLUCIA!"
Just then Allucia Rose-Arc, quickly awoke, rising up to a seated position and looked to the left. Only to see her mother, Ruby Rose-Arc, arms folded, leaning against her room's door frame. Staring at her quite disapprovingly with her lone right silver eye. Her left eye was covered with a black eye sash with her rose symbol in red. She was already dressed for work. A black wife beater, with olive green cargo pants and her work goggles hanging around her neck. Her dark red hair combed, short in the back with two thick strands falling upon her upper chest. She had her custom lab coat on: rose red, with white rose petals scattered around it. On it was an embroidered name tag: R. Rose-Arc, Master Weapons-Smith&Engineer. It had the Valian symbol, two axes, embroidered on it as well. Her work gloves were hanging from one of the coats pockets. For being 47, her mother looked remarkably well, barely a gray hair in sight. The only thing she didn't have on was her black work boots, in their place were beowolf slippers. Her favorite pair she thought, but then Ruby spoke, breaking her initial concentration.
"You're 18 years old and still can't manage to not sleep through your alarm? How did you come to make this your bad habit?" she asked, sounding slightly annoyed.
Allucia stretched her arms and tried to rub the sleep from her eyes, before replying to her mom.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to, I was up late last working on the Trailblazer's stabilizers," she said with a sheepish grin. Her eyes were still half-closed from her abrupt awakening.
Ruby only shook her head with frustration, but did so with a slight smile, finding the situation a little amusing.
"Well, Ms. Trailblazer, if you don't get up now you'll be late for Eos Academy's opening ceremony. You know, Vale's best academy, my renewed alma mater. I hear late huntsmen have to wait a year before being allowed entry again. They take punctuality very seriously." she said with a light mocking tone.
Allucia shot from her bed, Ruby's words seeming to do the trick.
" Mom! Why didn't you ever tell me that? Give me 15 minutes and I'll be down!" she said with urgency. The tiredness drained from her body, now replaced with worry.
" See you downstairs sweetie, me and your father will be in the dining room." Ruby replied as she moved away and closed the door.
After a brisk shower, Allucia rushed into her closet and grabbed her outfit for today. A red button down blouse(silver crosses as the top two collar buttons), charcoal gray pleated combat skirt, and black leggings. She really liked the blouse for its simple design and black accents. She put her clothes on, cuffed her sleeves just at the elbow, grabbed her scroll from her nightstand and rushed to the downstairs of her home. It was an old, but recently renovated two story, four room house in Vale. It even had a garage that was converted into a weaponsmithing workshop. The house was situated in the Special Residents District due to her parents' occupation. After making it down, she went into the dining room and saw her mom sitting at the table drinking coffee. She was reading the news on her scroll.
"Hey, sorry but I got no time to waste, so I'll see you-"
"Come take a seat and eat, you're not going to be late." Ruby said.
'But you said late students-"
" I was joking and also you'd be early. I set your alarm clock two hours earlier." Ruby said while still looking at the news. Allucia's alarm clock was an old digital one, a hand me down from her grandfather, Qrow, so it was possible. Though they weren't blood related she still called him that because he still felt like one to her.
Allucia looked outside and then checked her scroll, seeing it was only 9:03 am.
"Mom, how could you do that, you almost gave me a heart attack." Allucia said out of breath from her prior rushing. Still, she made her way over to take a seat at the dining table.
" Anything for my precious daughter," Ruby said, glancing at her, giving a quick smile.
Allucia gave a light sigh and sat down at the table, her father just about finished making breakfast.
" Delicious pancakes! Ready to be eaten at your pleasure." he said from the kitchen.
Allucia turned to see none other than her dad, Jaune Rose-Arc, 50, wearing a white t-shirt, blue shorts, and a pink apron coming over with a plate of hot fluffy pancakes. His blonde hair was fashioned how it was when he was a student at Beacon. Long in the back, but he had the front pulled away from his eyes with a red hairband. One of Ruby's. She stared at him as he brought them over.
" What's up sweetheart? Are you recognizing how your father is quite the looker!," Jaune said as he placed the pancakes on the table. After taking the apron off and sitting it on top of a countertop, he struck a pose. A side shot flexing his arms and curling his bicep, this caused Allucia to laugh.
" No dad, you're the furthest thing from being, 'a looker'," she said while snickering.
Jaune merely shrugged and proceeded to make plates of pancakes for each of them before sitting down and eating.
" Oh, don't be mean to your father. I, for one, think you're the dreamiest man in Vale honey. Who wouldn't love a tall, blond, goofball?" Ruby said after finishing her plate and downing the last of her coffee. Getting up from her seat she walked over and planted a kiss on his cheek.
" Aw, thanks my lovely rose," Jaune said as he returned the favor and grabbed Ruby's waist pulling her in for a full kiss.
" Mom, Dad, please. Do you have to be the dorkiest parents alive?" Allucia said. Cringing at the egregious display of affection.
Pulling away from their lip lock Ruby responded, " Please. One day you'll have this and never want to live a day without it."
"Very true, a bonus is it'll taste like hazelnut coffee" Jaune chimed in. Commenting on the taste of Ruby's mouth from their kiss.
" And you taste like maple syrup," Ruby said before continuing the kiss.
"Whatever, I'm done eating, so I'm gonna finish getting ready for today's ceremony in my room." Allucia said while getting up from the table. Taking her half eaten plate of pancakes she scraped off what was left and placed it into the sink. She went upstairs to her room, ignoring the sound of her parents engaging in a light make out session.
After entering her room and closing the door she proceeded to finish what she needed to do, now that she had a bit of time. Grabbing a brush she sorted out her egregious bed head in the mirror of her vanity. While brushing her hair she observed herself a little. Her hair was dark red, with white highlights. Short like her mother's, and she had blue-silver eyes. She looked nearly identical to her Mom when she was 18, but had slightly longer features due to being 5'7. Finished with brushing her hair, she looked at herself and gave a small smile. Her hair looked just like Ruby's when she was in Atlas. She knew this from a photo she saw. Having really liked it, she asked the stylist she went to, to make her hair look just the same. Moving on, she went through a mental checklist of what she needed to grab before heading out.
Gloves, goggles, boots, carrying pack, Red Charity and Trailblazer. That should be everything.
Making her way around her room she grabbed her items. She put her boots on first, black, calve-high, with red laces and a red bottom. A gift from her parents. Her gloves were multi-utility gloves, also red with small black holes for airflow. The palms of the gloves were black. It was also a gift from her parents. Grabbing her carrying pack , it went around her waist like a utility belt, black with red accents. It held various components she would need and also be useful in a pinch. Placing her goggles, red with blue tinted lens, atop her head and she went to grab her board and weapon. Trailblazer was her own hoverboard that used gravity dust to levitate, with a propulsion system that utilized weight distribution sensors to tell it where to go and how fast. She had given it a custom black and red paint job with her father's help. To commemorate that she placed his crest, two arcs, on the upside of the board. It was a gift from Qrow for her 15th birthday. Though it was functional it still required some tinkering to make it perfect. As she was trying to increase the limit of its max speed beyond the stock configurations. After crossing it off her mental list she went and grabbed her last item, her weapon and magnum opus, Red Charity.
Allucia was a born mechanist and weaponsmith nut like her mother. Ecstatic to disassemble anything and construct anything born from her imagination. Red Charity was the greatest product of that, with only a little bit of guidance from Ruby. It was a medium length, curved, single edge, flat back, black and red blade. It could transform into a close to mid range shotgun, with a built-in small drum magazine. Capable of firing dust bullets either semi automatically or in burst, and could even fire while in sword mode, but only semi-auto. On the end of its handle was a charm, a white maiden, praying. While Allucia wasn't exactly super religious herself, she'd catch her mother praying to some deity she heard her speak about before. So inspired by that she added it to her weapon, a good luck charm she thought. Finished grabbing everything she needed, it was almost time to go, but she heard a knock at her door.
Knock, Knock.
" Allucia, when you finish preparing, come see me and your father in the garden." It was Ruby.
" Okay," she replied.
Taking one final look at her room, she reminisced over the years she spent in it. The room itself wasn't anything grand, kind of generic, but it was filled with the memories of her life so far. The many posters of weapon schematics, conventions, and bands she listened to. Some were jazz, but many were various forms of rock and punk. A bookshelf with not only fiction novels, but historic events, and many manuals. Pictures of the places she'd been to like her aunt Yang's farm in the rural district of Vale. Or even though not blood related, aunt Blake's estate in Menagerie and aunt Weiss's villa in Mistral. A picture of her mother's and father's team, as well as one with Qrow and her when he was Eos's acting headmaster. Some other pictures were of her as a little girl. Her favorite however, was the one when she graduated from Pharos academy. Both the entirety of teams RWBY and ORNJ(formerly JNPR), Qrow, Glynda, and even Raven showed up to congratulate her. It was the first time she got to meet some of her parents' acquaintances. So they took a picture, them on the sides with her in the center, holding a bouquet of roses from her parents. She looked at it for a minute, then closed her eyes, breathed in and gave a light sigh simply thinking.
Today's the day, the day I've been working towards, she thought to herself.
Truth be told, Allucia was a little frightened of going to Eos Academy and enrolling as a huntsman. How so? Well, her parents and grandfather were revered as legendary huntsmen. Her mother was a former maiden, and father the current knight, titles reserved for the "strongest" huntsman in a given nation. Her Father was even the general of the Valian Defense Force. However, her mother had retired from being an active duty huntsman. Choosing to be placed on reserve after suffering a severe injury. Her left leg needed to be replaced just below the knee with a cybernetic leg. That clearly indicated just how dangerous it was to be a huntsman. The threat of death and disabling injury were always present. Her parents always said she didn't have to be a huntsman, and at times she felt they really didn't want her to be one. Yet, this was something she dreamed of, sometimes literally, like this morning. Remnant was a perilous place to live, with danger everywhere from both Grimm and non-Grimm. People needed someone to stand up for them where they couldn't. She believed as a huntsman she could use her powers to be a force of change unlike any other. So, putting aside her fears for now and opening her eyes, she exited her room, making her way down to the garden.
The garden was quaint, not grand, with just enough space to grow a small selection of plants her mother liked. Located outside in their small backyard, enclosed by a fence Jaune had installed. It felt good outside as it was the middle of spring when the rainy days were dwindling. Jaune and Ruby were both watering some plants when she made it outside. Looking at a white pot on her left Allucia noticed some rose buds had produced. They'd likely be grown right before summer, she estimated. Noticing her mother setting down the watering can, she made her way towards them and spoke.
"So, what did you want from me before I head out?" she asked curiously, eyebrows cocked.
Both Jaune and Ruby stood together looking at their daughter with eyes full of love, but also with a shadow of concern. Ruby spoke first.
"I just want to ask you this one final time. Are you 100% positive this is the life you want to lead? There are many different ways you could make a difference besides being a huntsman. You don't have to become one." Ruby said with a serious tone. " You could even do what I do and become a Vale weaponsmith and engineer. With your passion and talent I have no doubt you'd become a senior engineer in a few years."
Jaune spoke next with a tone matching Ruby's.
" It's not that we don't want you to follow what you think to be your purpose in life. Yet, being a huntsman is a dangerous job. You know that me and your mother have seen our share of deaths, and suffered our own injuries, some life-threatening." he said this while taking a quick glance at Ruby's left leg. Even though he still had all his original limbs and no scars on his face, they were present in other areas. Most being on his arms, back, and chest.
" Listen, sweetheart, we just don't want you to make a choice you might regret. I'm only saying this because I love you and my mother was never able to speak to me like this." Ruby said interjecting. Her face and tone softened at the mention of mother, Summer Rose. She had died when Ruby was just a little girl, a photo of her sat on top of a side table in the living room.
Allucia looked at them both, in silence, and then moved in with a hug. Burying her face between them. After a brief moment she looked at both of them and spoke.
" I know you guys want me to be safe and not make a regrettable decision, but this is what I want. As a huntsman I'll be able to learn about the world in ways that I couldn't if I was stuck in a lab or workshop somewhere. I want to use my gifts to help people as a huntsman, trust me. I am your daughter after all."
There was a resolve in her voice that Jaune and Ruby recognized from when they were younger. They glanced at each other, gave a quick nod, and then returned the hug Allucia had given them. After hugging for a moment, they all broke off and then Ruby spoke.
" All right if this is the choice you've made for yourself then me and your father will respect and support it fully. However, before you leave, come and look at these flower buds over here so I can show you something." she said, motioning Allucia towards the white pot with the budding flowers.
Jaune stepped towards the side so Allucia could get next to Ruby. She bent down next to her mother and listened.
"Right now you're like these budding roses, not yet complete, still growing. As you follow this path in life you'll have to always do your best to become a beautiful flower. Making new friends and meeting experts you can trust who'll advise you with the best intentions. Meeting your future team who'll treat you with care, but also unafraid to be a little rough with you if you stray from the proper path. Doing their best to help and teach you with sincerity, so you can bloom beautifully. But you must also return that kindness as well, understand?" After saying this she looked at Allucia and locked eyes.
Allucia looked at her mother and gave a simple nod and smiled. Ruby smiled in return and gave her a kiss on the forehead. With both standing up from the pot, Ruby spoke once more.
" Okay, then you get going and do your best." she said.
" Of course." Allucia replied. After which she went over to her father who had been standing on the side quietly, not interfering with the two. Gave him one last hug and made her way to the entrance of their home. Opening the door and closing it behind her, now on her way to Eos Academy. Ready to see what the world had to offer, and more importantly, what kind of huntsman she'd become.
Jaune and Ruby simply stood together alone, holding each other in the garden after Allucia had left. Ruby rested her head on his shoulder and let out a sigh. After a brief moment Jaune spoke.
" And off our future huntsman goes, but don't worry, I know she'll be fine. She'll make some great friends and Eos has some amazing teachers. Not to mention you DO teach there." he said, nudging her side at the end of his sentence.
Ruby lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him.
" Oh yeah, I do, I totally forgot that. I guess I was caught in the moment." she said. Now chuckling at the thought their conversation sounded like a final farewell.
" You dork," Jaune said.
" Yes, but whose dork am I, goofball?" She said leaning into Jaune to kiss him. Thoughts of worry vanishing as they embraced.
Allucia at this point in time was halfway to Eos thanks to Trailblazer. Her home resided in the Special Residents District so she was already close enough to the school as is. Checking her scroll she realized she'd be early, so she decided to take a detour and stop at her favorite breakfast spot, a shoppe called Morning Rush. Hopping off her board and tucking it under her arm, she opened the door and saw it was packed! She didn't even want to sit down and eat, only here to snag one of their signature Brulan Berry muffins. Groaning, she begrudgingly made her way into line and waited. After waiting for what seemed like forever, but it really wasn't as the line was moving pretty fast and she passed the time on her scroll. She walked in front of one of the registers, overlooking a display case of goodies.
" What would you like?" the attending male cashier asked her.
She briefly thought to herself, he's kinda cute, before speaking.
" One Brulan Berry Muffin please." she replied.
" Oh, I'm very sorry Ms. But a customer just bought the last two." he said politely.
She was not happy with the news and with a hint of disappointment responded, " Oh? Well then, nevermind."
" Sorry to inconvenience you Ms." the cashier replied.
" No, don't worry about it, I'll just get going." she said. With that she exited the shoppe and was just about to continue, a now sad journey to Eos, when she heard somebody shout at her.
" Hey! Grease Monkey!"
Her ears pricked at the sound of that, and quickly deduced only one person she knew would call her that. So turning around, she faced the person in question. He was a tall, dark, and roguish looking young man. With messy kept thick dark blue dreads tied back that touched his mid-back. He was wearing an unzipped, ocean blue jacket with a collar and a white shirt underneath. The jacket had a cuff above his forearms secured with a button exposing its grey inside. He also had matching grey pants on and black boots that stopped at the bottom of his calves. On the back of his pants were what seemed to be two black holsters clipped on. Around his pants on the right side was a blue sash, with the neo white fang emblem on it. She also saw the collage of beaded and thread bracelets on his left wrist. The young man had a blue monkey tail with a gold tip and dark gold eyes, and on his back was a weapon in a blue sheath with three white streaks around it. Allucia eyed the man before responding with a shout of her own.
"Renok!?"