Prologue
8 months before the Fall
Outskirts of Vale
Theodore Coombs was, in his own eyes and in the eyes of many of his peers, an above average huntsman.
He had slain countless Grimm, captured dozens of bandits, and had almost unmatched skills as a marksman thanks to his semblance, Deadeye.
What was not on his official record, however, was much less praiseworthy.
He had killed and maimed many Faunus who had done nothing to deserve it.
He did it simply out of spite.
He continued to do so, right up until I took the ability away from him.
I watched as he staggered out of the bar he had been in for several hours; his greasy, matted blond hair reflected the light of a nearby streetlamp. He began to make his way down the sidewalk.
I waited until he was almost out of sight before I began to trail him. I knew where he was going, because I had been watching him for a week, and for all of his skill as a huntsman, he was as predictable as a grandfather clock.
Every night, he had done the same thing: he went to the bar, stayed for an indecent amount of time, then stumbled drunkenly back to his apartment, kicking any Faunus unlucky enough to be in his path.
I let out a small smile, thinking of the plan my apprentice and I had concocted.
As with most wrongdoing, his would be his downfall.
I spot a teen-aged Faunus girl who was walking towards the man.
Not surprisingly, he lashed out.
"What's trash like doin' walkin' 'round with us normal folk?" He slurred.
"Go back to the zoo where you belong!"
His foot lashed out as he said this, catching the girl in the hip.
I watched with satisfaction as something the man could not have expected occurred.
The girl shattered like glass, the shards dissipating even as they hit the ground.
"What the-"
His sentence was cut short when something hooked around his ankle and yanked forcefully.
He hit the ground hard, his aura took most of the damage, but the fall still knocked the breath out of him.
I blinked, and almost instantly I was upon him, palm against his face, pressing his head into the concrete.
Time seemed to stop.
A small breeze caused my black cloak to swirl around my knees. It blew my hair out so the streetlamp's light could play across it, the orange contrasting sharply with the black.
The huntsman's eyes widened in fear as he gazed at my trademark appearance.
"No, please, no, anything but that, please!"
His voice trembled as he spoke.
"You know who I am?"
I asked in an emotionless tone.
"Yeah, You're the Hunters Corp's personal attack dog! You attack and steal the aura from any huntsman who doesn't live up to the Corp's unreasonably high standards!"
He said this last with in a tone of contempt, as if I were the one in the wrong.
He was right, in a way. Just not the way he thought.
I sighed.
"A stubborn idiot to the end. Consistency is a good quality, perhaps you can nurture it once you are forced into early retirement."
The man began to writhe, using every bit of his power as he tried to get away.
I simply exerted my will, and I felt his power flow into me.
He screamed.
I let him.
After only a few seconds, it is done. The man passed out from exhaustion, the body's natural reaction to aura being completely depleted.
After his body got used to it, he was as right as rain.
In as much as that was possible, given the circumstances.
"Excellent job, Neo. You have come a long way."
I told my apprentice as she walked out of the alleyway that she had hidden in.
She smiled and bowed dramatically.
As she did so I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end in response to an unseen threat.
I whipped around to see a man wearing a white suit and a black bowler hat stride purposefully towards us.
"Bravo, bravo. I must say, I am impressed. I happen to be recruiting people just like you. Care to join me?"
***Author's Note:***
Hello! Been trying to work up the nerve to actually publish this for a while...
As you can see, this chapter is not very long, and I know that might bother some people. (It bothers me, come on.)
But this is just a prologue. The actual chapters should be at least a bit longer.
And I will warn you straight off the bat, this is planned to be an Original-Character heavy fanfiction. If you are not into that sort of thing, I totally understand.
With all of that out of the way, feel free to leave any questions or comments you may have in the 'Review' section.
Cheers.