Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions
Edited by ToxicExotic
Prologue
It was never easy to watch the city burn. To have to stand idly by as a familiar store or apartment building went up in flames, the thick tendrils of black smoke always quick to blot out the stars and fill the back of her throat with the taste of ash. But that had been Robyn's life; and the saddest thing of all was that she was used to it.
She'd been a child the first time it had happened. Like most days, that afternoon had been spent in the fairy tale section of the local library where her father worked. His shift had almost finished when the ground beneath the small building had erupted, spewing out large black centipedes. Thick plates of white bone with red lines covered their bodies, and green slime drizzled from their open mouths as they looked at the scared patrons, each drop sizzling menacingly as they hit the floor.
She'd known of the creatures of Grimm by that point already of course. Foul creatures attracted to negative emotions. Often resembling animals or insects, they were intent on doing whatever they could to put an end to any human that inhabited the world of Remnant; but that had been her first encounter with them. And it would have been her last, had her father not intervened.
Unfortunately, while they both escaped, the Grimm had succeeded in burning the small building to a crisp before the city Huntsman, specialists in fighting the creatures of Grimm, arrived to destroy them. The whole event had lasted no more than ten minutes, but in those few minutes, what had felt like a second home to her home was reduced to a pile of sodden ash.
Fire and ice. Snow and ash. From their earliest memory, to their latest, that was the life of everyone in Mantle. That was why she'd chosen to attend Atlas Academy. To train to become a Huntress and protect her city; but it had been nine years since graduating, and she was beginning to fear that her efforts were in vain. Despite her best efforts, the fires and the Grimm attacks were more common than ever. Tensions ran high, and the neighboring city of Atlas was hardly helping matters; not that Atlas' council had ever cared about the people of Mantle.
"Robyn?" She gave a small start, pulled from her thoughts by a gentle voice issuing from the active Scroll tablet on her desk. "East Sector, Thirteen is almost under control."
Robyn breathed a small sigh of relief. Behind a desk had not been where she'd seen herself. She wished she could be out there fighting with her friends, but somebody needed to coordinate the group that Mantle had begun to lovingly call the Happy Huntresses.
"Good work, Fi. Clean up there and we'll all head out to Garlands. My treat."
"Sounds great," Robyn could hear the smile on the young woman's face. "May and Joanna are jus- huh, what's th-"
She flinched as the woman's words were cut short by what sounded like a large explosion. From the other end of the line, she could hear the familiar sounds of brick and mortar slamming into buildings, and a cacophony of screams quickly followed.
"Fiona!" She rushed over to her device and picked it up. "What just happened? Fiona!"
A small cough came from the tablet.
"I'm f-fine," the Huntress replied. "I don't… Oh no!"
"What?" She felt her heart drop at the dread in her friend's voice.
"The wall… Robyn, East Thirteen's wall's been destroyed. A Megoliath tore through it."
"I…"
She paused, her mind racing. As bad as life was in Mantle, the wall that surrounded the city had always kept the worst of it at bay. A few minor Grimm were easily handled, but with the wall down nothing was stopping the large hordes of much more dangerous Grimm that lived outside the city from invading. Well, almost nothing.
"All available Huntresses," she said, composing herself and pressing a button to connect to all of her teams. "Converge on East Thirteen. The wall is down and back up is needed. I will meet you there."
Not wasting a moment of precious time, she slipped the tablet into the inner pocket of her red vest and hurried over to the door. Ripping it open, she hurled herself out into the red-tinted road and took off at a sprint towards what would no doubt be a long battle.
It didn't take long to arrive at the location. Having spent much of her teen years exploring the city, there was not a single shortcut or alleyway that she wasn't familiar with. Still, by the time she'd arrived, the Grimm had already begun to pour in. A small horde of Sabyrs, large feline Grimm with elongated fangs as sharp as their claws, filled the street. At one end of the road were May Marigold and Joanna Greenleaf, two of her closest friends, doing their best to hold the line and stop the horrifying beasts from escaping into the city, and on the other was the wall that kept the city safe. Or at least it had kept it safe.
What little hope she'd had that a quick repair could be made vanished on the spot. Fiona was right. It was gone. From top to bottom, the giant tower of stone had been completely ripped apart. The once sturdy mass of rock spilled out over the street, cracked and shattered beyond recognition. Metal supports poked out of the windows of nearby apartment buildings and dangled from their roofs. Underneath all the rubble lay the adult Megoliath, a giant elephant Grimm. Though it still clung to life, the snapped tusks and numerous pieces of metal sticking out of its body told her that it was definitely not getting back up again.
That was good, at least. Sabyrs were relatively minor, but even young Megoliaths were a pain to take down, let alone a fully grown adult. She just had to hope that that large herd she'd received reports about wandering just beyond the city walls would not be drawn in by the civilians' fear. Fortunately, the people of Mantle were a hardy bunch, and panic did not come easily to them. In fact, if any emotion was likely to attract Grimm to the city, it would be anger. Mantle certainly had a lot of that.
"Get back!" She heard a male voice call from a nearby building. "Get back, you stupid cat!"
Turning to face the shouting, she saw an elderly man throwing debris that had crashed through his window at a Sabyr as it stalked towards him. Knowing the man was in more danger than he realised, Robyn raised her arm. Extending the bladed wings of her arm-mounted crossbow, she took aim and let loose a bolt. It struck the large slab of stone out of his hand, the projectile ricocheting off of the surface and lodging itself between the armor of the Grimm. With a small yelp of pain, it fell to the floor and slowly began to turn into smoke, just as all Grimm did when they died.
"Get away from the window, gramps," she called, striding out into the street with a practised air of confidence. "We've got this."
His reply was drowned out as two Sabyrs snarled and leapt at her. Though she could have dodged with ease, she felt a familiar presence beside her, followed by two clicks of metal and the twanging of taut strings. Two small bolts entered her vision, sailing through the air and lodging themselves in the beasts' sides. With them knocked off balance, Robyn extended the wings of her crossbow further until they clasped together to form a circular fan and swung her arm in a clean, sideways arc, severing both of their heads.
"S-Sorry."
With both Grimm dead, she looked towards the girl that had saved her and saw her best friend, Fiona. Her usually pure white hair was caked in dirt and soot. The long green coat she wore was torn in a few places, and she seemed to be shivering slightly. Most telling of all though was the drooping sheep ears that poked out from under her hair. She knew her friend well enough to know that meant her aura, a protective barrier that kept all who had unlocked it safe from harm, was low.
"It's fine," she reassured her. "But you're not."
"I can still…"
Robyn shook her head. "Nuh uh. The last thing we want is your aura breaking while we're fighting. I need you to get the people in these buildings to safety."
For as sweet and compassionate as the woman was, Robyn knew that Fiona had just as much drive as she did herself when it came to fighting to protect people. As such, she was unsurprised when she saw a hint of defiance behind her friend's eyes. Thankfully though, the faunus glanced down at her hand and let out a sad sigh, clearly realising that Robyn's words were true.
"Alright," she said, clasping her two crossbows together into a bladed polearm. "Just stay safe, okay?"
"Don't worry," Robyn grinned and walked past her. "I'm not one to play the hero." A small amount of hope was restored to her as the soft sound of Fiona's knowing chuckle caught her ears. "Take them to Brian's in East Sixteen. It was clear when I ran through."
"I'll see them safe."
The woman gave a nod and ran off into the building that she'd seen the elderly man in. As stubborn as Atlesian's tended to be, Robyn trusted Fiona, of all people, to encourage them to move to a safer area. And with the area clear, she didn't have to worry so much about civilians getting caught in the crossfire.
It was at that moment however that she heard a shrill screech from above her, and looked up just in time to see a winged Grimm swooping at her. Rolling out of the way as the Teryx slammed into the ground where she had been only a second ago, she sprung up from her knelt position to avoid the swipe of its spiked tail. Sensing a Sabyr lunging at her from behind, she fired off a bolt at the Teryx's armored face. The raptor-like Grimm was unfazed, but she heard a wet thud as the bolt sank into the feline.
Unfortunately, the lesser Grimm's momentum carried it's disintegrating body through the air and Robyn felt herself knocked off balance as it struck her back. Unable to gather her footing in time, she was forced to perform a sloppy block. Though her aura protected her from the physical damage, the same could not be said for the pain, which surged through her as a set of large talons tore across her face. Despite the pain, she ducked under the following swipe and took off towards the nearby building.
As she dashed over the sea of rubble, she heard the Teryx behind her smacking metal and stone aside as it gave chase. Upon reaching the wall, she planted a foot on the dark brown stone and pushed off. Soaring over the beast, she held out her arm in anticipation. Sure enough, just as she passed over its head, the creature extended its wings and let out another shrill roar, attempting to stretch its neck in order to reach her. Seeing her chance, she let a bolt loose, the thin metal rod slipping down the raptors throat and causing it to recoil.
Landing on her knees behind it, she gave her thumb a small flick, triggering the remote explosive in the bolt. A soft boom issued through the area, and chunks of black flesh and white armor flew past her face.
"Show off," she heard a gruff voice say. Glancing up, she saw Joanna holding out a helping hand.
She accepted, pulling herself to her feet.
"I was sitting behind a desk all day," Robyn replied in a strained voice. "Just shaking off the rust."
"Could use a little more shaking, if you ask me," The tall woman remarked, pushing the short, dark green hair out of her face and back into its usual spiky style.
"Are you two done chatting?"
The voice came from their fourth friend, May. Only a few feet away, the woman stood twirling her own bladed staff, expertly blocking each Sabyr that attempted to lunge at her. Just like Fiona and Joanna she wore a long coat, and a blue ponytail reached down the length of her back, the majority of which was wrapped in white fabric leaving only a small tuft visible at the end.
"Not really, but I suppose we can give you a hand."
Robyn smirked slightly as the woman clicked her tongue in annoyance.
Just as Robyn thought, the fight had been a long one. She wasn't sure just how long, but enough time had passed for the previously grey sky to darken into a deep black. Red light from the breach sirens highlighted the street, the garish glow their only means of seeing the sea of dead Grimm that were slowly turning into a black haze that gathered around their knees. For a while, they'd almost felt endless, no doubt numerous hordes of Sabyrs, Manticores, and Teryx that lived outside of the wall attempting to seize the opportunity. But with the arrival of the rest of her group, they'd managed to drive off the vicious beasts.
Still, a thick layer of sweat clung to her brow and her heavy breaths produced a thin mist that mingled with the black haze. She wasn't quite sure what would happen if she breathed it in, but was certainly not interested in finding out so pulled her scarf to cover her mouth. Rising to her feet as the last few Sabyrs fled out into the frozen tundra that lay beyond Mantle's wall, she looked around the battlefield to assess the damage.
Thankfully, though the wall was definitely going to take some time to fix, all of the surrounding houses had avoided any real damage. As soon as repairs were made, people would at least be able to return to their homes.
"Everyone doing okay?"
Relieved to hear all of the Happy Huntresses respond in turn, Robyn slowly began to stroll through the street. Pushing aside rocks with her foot, she cautiously checked for any civilians that may have been caught in the initial collapse. However, while her search didn't turn up any bodies, it did reveal a gleaming white piece of metal buried underneath the rubble. Picking it up, she turned it around to see the broken faceplate of an AK-200.
The autonomous robots that comprised the bulk of Atlas' army had become more and more prevalent in the city over the past few months. Unfortunately, the useless piles of scrap were more of a nuisance to the people rather than a deterrent for the Grimm. Despite all of General Ironwood's promises, they had proven to be even more inefficient in battle than their previous models. Still, they provided some use as distractions, and they did at least alert nearby soldiers to incursions.
Or at least, they should have. Looking back across the street, she once again registered that no bodies had been found and felt a scowl pull at her brow.
"May?" She called, turning to her friend and holding up the broken metal. "When did the botherbots get here?"
"They were here when we arrived," May replied, walking over and brushing off her coat. "Didn't last too much longer afterwards, though."
"So if they had enough time to send out an alert, where are the military?"
"East Nine," Robyn turned to see one of the Huntresses, Crystelle, walking towards her. "Me and Melon saw a bunch of 'em gathered by the depot when we ran through."
"What were they doing?"
"Taking supplies into trucks by the look of it."
"What?" A sliver of anger ignited within her. "How many trucks?"
"Four."
"Four?" She repeated incedulously.
Robyn couldn't believe what she was hearing. Mantle barely had enough supplies as it was, especially with all the new restrictions that had been placed on them after a Huntsman academy in a neighboring kingdom had fallen to Grimm. The three depots within each sector held what little the city was able to muster, and every scrap of material in them was invaluable to keep the city running.
"What's happening?" She heard Joanna asking as she approached, Crystelle walking away with a nervous look on her face.
"Atlas took four trucks worth of supplies from Nine's depot. Supplies we need to fix this hole."
"Hmm, I've been hearing talk about them siphoning supplies lately, but not that much at once."
"Sounds like Atlas." May scoffed. "Take whatever they want, all those beneath them be damned."
May's description was hardly wrong. Though the city offered them some minor protection, it was merely that. Minor. A few useless robots and regular soldiers that were more concerned with policing the people than protecting them.
"Assholes." She swore, knowing that the supplies were probably already long gone. "Fine. You two gather some people and head to the depots. See if they left anything behind we can use to patch up this stupid hole. I'll get in touch with Fi and see if she can't organise a place for the evacuees to stay; since they can't exactly come back here."
"On it." They both replied, taking off immediately.
"Crystelle!" She called over to the ghostly pale girl. "Are you, Melon, and Almond okay to stay here and stand guard tonight?" The three women gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks. And kill that Megoliath, will you."
Taking a deep breath and feeling her hands clench into fists, she turned away from the wall and looked up to the sky. There floated Atlas, or Atlas Proper as its residents liked to call it. A shining white city sat upon a large mass of rock that had once been a part of Mantle itself. A city of comfort and extravagance. A city where the wealthy lived and partied, free from the worry of Grimm attacks as they hid behind their forcefields and heavy artillery.
All of which had come at Mantle's expense. It was the labor of Mantle's citizens that allowed the people of Atlas to live such lives. Their work in the mines that provided the Dust crystals that powered their machines, their work in the factories that provided their clothes and appliances, their work in the farms that provided their food. It was a bitter thing to acknowledge that it was their job to create an idyllic life for someone else; but even worse was that if they stopped, then people would no longer be able to put food on their own table, or have roofs over their heads. And if that happened, then there was no doubt in Robyn's mind that the resulting negative energy would bring the Grimm.
It was a vicious cycle, one that most in Mantle were too scared to break. But she wasn't. They had taken so much from Mantle, put the city through so much hell merely to fuel their own greedy lifestyle, but for the military that was supposed to be protecting them to pillage the city's supplies during their hour of need?
She was tired of it. And she certainly was not going to allow it to continue; not when Mantle needed them far more than Atlas ever would. So, standing there surrounded by a mess that her so-called protectors had allowed to happen, Robyn made a silent promise. If they wanted to continue taking from them, they were going to have to go through her, and her team, to do so.
A/N
Hello all. Welcome to this new story.
So this is a story I have had in the back of my mind for a while, and I finally decided to sit down and work on it. I bet you didn't expect a Robyn fic from me, huh? Well, surprise xD
So, as you can probably tell, this story aims to cover the period of Robyn's life before where we first met her in V7. I want to take a look at what brought her to that point, but I want to keep it true to her character and the show. As such, nothing about her or the story will be changed. This is merely my attempt to contextualize the Robyn that we already know, much like the books written by E.C Myers. You will also notice that the sotry is formatted and structured rather differently to my other works, such as no line breaks and stuff; and that is because this fic is also being used to practice for my own original works which would obviously need to be written in standard novel format.
So yeah, hopefully this is something you are all interested in, and I hope you enjoyed this prologue. Please let me know what you thought, and any constructive criticisms are welcome :)
