As he walked through the streets of the city he couldn't help but notice how advanced Remnant is, who would have known that a world without the Undead curse could thrive?
The unkindled wandered aimlessly down sidewalks, through alleyways and even climbed a few short ladders in his exploration, his features painted with a look of wonder and excitement.
Lanterns, but without flame? And it's certainly not a miracle or sorcery..
As he turned the corner of a street, he saw a small group of men entering a store, all of them clad in black suits and fancy hats. Except for the man in white, he wore a sort of trench coat with high collars.
Uniforms, shady looking attire, and a presumed leader... Definitely an organized crime group.
The unkindled stuck to a nearby wall, creeping closer to the front of the store and looking in the stylized window.
The group of men stood infront of a counter, their leader speaking with an elderly man tending to the business. They seemed to be verbally threatening him, judging on how nervous the elderly man seemed.
Robbery? I'll stop them on their way out, I wouldn't want to damage the owner's things.. But I guess it can't be helped if they draw any weapons.
After a few more exchanged words the men in black suits split from the leader and began collecting some substance from dispensers.
The unkindled ducked below the windowsill as one of the thieves got closer to his position, he also removed his tall pointed hat so he wasn't compromised.
Not gonna make the same mistake of letting my headpiece give me away again.
The Ashen One waited for the group to leave the building, but his plans were upturned when one of the men came flying out of the window with a girl dressed in all black propelling him forwards.
The girl leapt off the man as he hit the ground, landing and slowly rising up as an unusually large mechanical scythe unfolded it's blade.
That is.. a stupidly large scythe for such a small girl.
He set his hat back upon his head and drew his greatsword from his back, crouching down behind a metal cylinder on the side of the road.
The girl lifted her weapon, twirling it all around her body like a circus performer, before slamming the mechanized blade into the ground infront of her.
"Okay..." The man in white looked around at the members of his group before rolling his eyes "Get her!"
The men in dark suits rushed out of the doorway to meet the girl in combat, only to be bludgeoned with the blunt end of the girl's scythe as they approached her one by one.
The girl made a small movement with her hand, and a loud blast came out of the end of her scythe accompanied by a speeding projectile that launched her backwards, several more loud sounds and the girl was moving all around the street.
The young warrior plunged her scythe's blade into the ground below and swung herself around in a circle, building up momentum before freeing her blade and shooting forwards, intercepting a leaping attack and batting him to the ground.
The man in white looked to a fallen criminal with a sigh. He muttered with annoyance, before striding forwards almost cockily and extinguishing a dropped cigar with the bottom of his cane.
"Well, Red, I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around..." The man raised his cane towards the girl, the grey cap of his walking aid flipping upwards above the main body.
Maybe it's time to intervene..
"I'm afraid this is where we part ways." A brilliant flaming red projectile shot out of the hole in his cane with the intention to turn the girl into mincemeat.
The unkindled shot out from his hiding place and intercepted the projectile with the flat of his blade, his eyes screwing shut to avoid a temporary blindness and small wave of flame rushing over his gauntlets.
When he opened his eyes to analyze his opponent's next move, said opponent was nowhere to be found. He turned to the girl behind him who was pointing up at the side of a nearby building, where the well dressed man was hastily climbing up an iron ladder.
"He's getting away!" She turned to the Ashen One urgently, before leaning to the side to look at the elderly man who was hunched over in the doorway "You okay if we go after him?"
The man mumbled his agreement, and the girl ran forwards before another bang came from her scythe and she was shot into the air, easily reaching the roof in a few seconds. Looks like he'd have to take the damnnable ladder.
He panted semi-tiredly as he reached the top, before turning away and shielding his face with his sword as a violent explosion rocked the center of the roof. As he uncovered his eyes there was another woman standing infront of the scythe wielding girl, pointing out with a riding crop as a spectral purple shield defended both of them from the explosion.
The blonde woman took a moment to adjust her glasses, then flicking her wrist and calling forth several pursuing beams of purple energy that rocked and pushed back a flying iron machine.
The machine slowly started to fly off, but the woman in a black and purple cloak waved her crop once more, black electric clouds appearing just above the flying object.
The woman swiftly pulled down her crop in a vertical swipe, the raging electricity in the summoned clouds solidifying and shooting off in the form of icicles that speared themselves into the metal hull.
An unidentified female stepped out of the interior nose of the machine, before waving her arms mystically and shooting a ball of explosive fire from her bare hands, being blocked by a manifested shield from the blonde woman's crop.
The shadowed figure flattened her hand and then brought it upwards, a pillar of flame shooting out from the previous position of the person wielding a riding crop. The blonde female waved her crop in a spiral pattern, debris upturned from the pillar of fire being enveloped in a purple gleam, then moving together to form a floating spear of rubble
I think I'm out of my league here, in more ways than one..
The woman waved her crop for what seemed like the hundredth time, the spear shooting forwards towards the mysterious lady, who shot several smaller beams of flame that disintegrated a portion of the spear with controlled explosions.
The remaining debris continued forwards, scraping itself up against the top of the machine before splitting off into three different bodies, of which all began to coil closer and closer towards the vessel.
The darkened woman thrust her arms to the side, a bubble of protective fire instantly dissipating the attacking circles of rubble, the machine moving to make an escape.
The young girl with the scythe mechanically collapsed the main blade of weapon into a sort of rectangular shape, before pulling back on a black rod and beckoning several speeding objects to assault the fleeing vehicle.
The woman who previously summoned the flames defended the flying metal carriage effortlessly, who then waved her left arm and beckoned several pillars of flame to start rising from below.
The Ashen One broke out into a sprint, dropping his sword as he rushed to sweep up the girl, moving the both of them out of the way of the explosion and falling on his rear from the shockwave.
The girl blinked once, then twice, and then scrambled to free herself from his grasp.
"Hey!" She shouted while clambering away from him in embarrassment
He dusted himself off as he rose to his feet while observing the fleeing vessel, sighing in defeat and putting away his dagger.
Wait! I dropped my sword!
He looked around frantically as his eyes widened in shock, before spotting his discarded blade covered in debris and soot.
He rushed over to his greatsword, frantically digging it out of the rubble and angrily scrubbing at the blade with the end of his cape in hand.
"You're a Huntress!" The girl exclaimed, now turning to speak with the blonde woman.
"Can I have your autograph?" She excitedly asked, a hopeful look upon her face.
The woman turned to the girl with an annoyed expression on her face.
"You're in big trouble." She said angrily
"The both of you!" She shouted over to the Ashen One, who was still furiously tending to his precious sword.
He sighed as his head fell in shame.
"Not even been a week and I've already gotten myself into trouble.. " He mumbled to himself, as he sheathed his greatsword.
...
Could have atleast let me keep my dagger..
He was thoroughly annoyed at the moment, his sword had been defaced, then it had been confiscated, and he hadn't even been able to keep his dagger!
The armored man crossed his arms angrily and huffed as he sat in the uncomfortable metal chair.
The woman with the riding crop paced around the table where he and the girl dressed in black sat side by side.
"I hope you realize that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly, young lady." The Huntress scolded the girl sharply
"The both of you put yourselves and others in great danger." Said the Huntress
"They started it!" The younger girl protested
The Ashen One slumped in his chair in annoyance, face obscured by the rim of his hat and his tall leather collar.
The Huntress walked around to the front of the table holding a rectangular tablet of sorts as she continued to scold the girl.
"If it were up to me, the both of you would be sent home... with a pat on the back..." She continued
The both of them perked up immediately, the girl smilingly proudly and the Ashen One straightening in his seat as he placed his hands on the table.
The Huntress sharply turned her head to look at them both with a disapproving nature "And a slap on the wrist."
She slapped her crop at both of their hands, the girl pulling back with a small yelp of fright as she narrowly missed having sore hands.
He was not so lucky.
The Huntress continued on with a defeated tone "But... There is someone here who would like to meet you... both of you."
The woman stepped to the side as a man dressed in black and green stepped through the doorway, a mug in his hand and a plate of food in his other.
"Ruby Rose..." The man leaned in to get a better look at her.
Those glasses must not be very good.
The Ashen One quietly laughed to at his own joke, despite it being delivered completely in his own head. His laughing was quickly put to a stop as he yelped and pulled back his hands as the woman slapped them with her riding crop.
"You... Have silver eyes." He absently commented, completely ignoring the disrespect from the man with the pointed hat.
"So! Where did you learn to do this?" The man gestured towards the object in the woman's hands, which appeared to be projecting a miniature version of the girl wielding her unorthodox scythe.
"S-Signal Academy." She answered nervously
"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" He asked the nervous girl with a tone of disbelief in his voice.
The Ashen One quietly chuckled again, only to be silenced by a borderline murderous glare from the Huntress.
"Well, one teacher in particular."
"I see..." The man set down a plate of disc shaped treats infront of the girl, who warily took one and ate it, before quickly continuing to eat the rest of them.
"It's just that I've only seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before... A dusty, old crow." He finished with a glance at the ceiling, as if deeply in thought.
The girl stopped eating, holding a half eaten treat in one hand, and an untouched in the other. "Mmm! Thash muh unkul!" She said, not bothering to swallow her food as she spoke with her mouth full.
The Ashen One looked at the girl with a brow raised as the girl sheepishly swallowing. "Sorry, that's my Uncle Qrow!"
She looked at the uneaten morsel in her hand as she spoke, and offered it to the armored man with an awkward laugh.
"He's a teacher at Signal!" She finished, the Ashen One taking the offered food from her hand and inspecting it closely.
"I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. And now I'm all like-- Hooowaaah!" The girl mimicked swinging a scythe as she made heavily exaggerated noises of some sort.
The Ashen One warily slipped the food item over his high collar and into his mouth, before relaxing in his seat and savoring the taste of it, ignoring the confused look that the Huntress was giving him.
"So I've noticed. And what is an adorable girl such as yourself doing at a school designed to train warriors?" He asked the eccentric scythe-wielder sarcastically.
"And you. What are you doing in Vale, fighting criminals with no Aura, and zero record of your existence?" He turned to interrogate the man in armor.
The Ashen One gave a moment of thought before shrugging and speaking in a scratchy voice. "It's complicated.."
Everyone in the room began to stare at him, before the girl started to ease the tension. "Well... I want to be a Huntress.."
"You want to slay monsters?" The man inquired, his hands folded infront of him.
"Yeah! I only have two more years of training left at Signal! And then I'm going to apply to Beacon." She explained enthusiastically.
"You see, my sister's starting there this year, and she's trying to become a Huntress, and I'm trying to become a Huntress 'cause I wanna help people."
"My parents always taught us to help others, so I thought, 'Hey, I might as well make a career out of it!' I mean the police are alright, but Huntsman and Huntresses are so much more romantic and exciting and really, gosh, you know!" She squealed excitedly as she finished her hyperactive explanation.
Everyone in the room stared at her with a deadpan expression as she practically vibrated with excitement.
"...Do you two know who I am?" The man finally spoke
The Ashen One shook his head
"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster of Beacon Academy."
Big deal, can I leave yet?
"Hello." The man jokingly greeted the both of them
The unkindled nodded in acknowledgement
"Nice to meet you." Said Ruby with a smile.
The man placed his hands on his table and slightly leaned forwards with an intriguing look in his eye.
"You want to come to my school?" Asked Ozpin
"More than anything." The girl agreed sincerely.
Ozpin leaned back in his seat and angled his head to look at the woman to his side with an amused expression upon his face.
The Huntress rolled her eyes and huffed, as if she already knew that her input would not matter.
"Well okay." He smiled as the girl grew and extremely large grin upon her face.
...
With the woman and the girl gone the Ashen One visibly relaxed, atleast it would be a one-on-one if things somehow got physical.
The gray haired man across from him took a long drink from his cup of hot liquid before sighing and setting it down on the desk.
"I will reiterate upon my earlier question... What are you doing in Vale, with absolutely no trace of your existence?" The man raised a brow as he stared at the armored figure
The Ashen One shook his head "I cannot tell you, Professor Ozpin." He answered formally
"Hmm.. Well, atleast tell me your name."
"I... My name..." He furrowed his brow, thinking deeply as to what it could be, before giving up and deciding to think of a new one.
"Ash Cinerous"
The man nodded and took another drink.
"So, Mr. Cinerous... How would you like to attend Beacon Academy?"
...
