So, now, with the trailers and profile sheet out of the way, we can begin this for real! This may seem like the original episode 1 with my own twist, but either way, it's underway.
I only own my OCs, RWBY is property of Roosterteeth Productions.
Chapter 1: Blue Meets Red
Title Song: This Will Be The Day - RWBY OST
… A few years later.
… Legends. Stories scattered throughout time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easy that we are remnants, byproducts of a forgotten past. Man, born from dust, was strong, wise and resourceful. But he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness, creatures of destruction: the Creatures of Grimm, set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void. However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change. And in time, man's passion, resourcefulness and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. This power was appropriately named: Dust. Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness, and in shadow's absence came strength, civilisation, but more importantly, life. But even the most brilliant of lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone, darkness will return. So you may prepare your guardians, build your monuments to a so-called free world, but take heed. There will be no victory in strength…
… But perhaps victory is in the simpler things that you've long forgotten-things that require a smaller, more honest soul...
Late evening. The kingdom of Vale. Most people had gone home, returned to their families and comforting homes while others still roamed the streets. Lots of shops and businesses were shut, but there were some occasions where shops stayed open at a time like this.
One shop was 'From Dust 'til Dawn', a dust shop in downtown Vale. In the back of the store was a small security room, with a few monitors that flickered between different cameras in the store, and a couple outside the front door. A young man was leaning back in the chair, his feet on the desk, his eyes lazily scanning each camera.
This young man was wearing a blue open jacket with silver trims over a dark grey shirt, with a pendant around his neck which had a lightning bolt under a boomerang, both of which were on a shield. Waist down, he wore black pants and boots. Hung on the chair behind him was a pair of boomerangs, magnetised to holsters which he clipped to his belt.
"Don't worry Jas, this job is just something to earn some lien before I apply for Beacon Academy," He said into a microphone. It was wired up to his scroll, which was on a dock on the desk.
A message popped up on screen, from Jasmine Diali, the person he was talking to. 'Just be careful if anything does happen, ok? I'd hate for something to happen to you while I wasn't there.'
"Jasmine… I'll be fine, just focus on finishing your homework for tomorrow," The teen said.
'Alright Koa, see you at the weekend,' Jasmine texted to him, before the call ended.
Koa sighed, leaning back in his chair. He then spotted a young girl in a red hood walking into the store, and move to the magazines section in the back. He blinked, recognising the girl as Ruby Rose, Jasmine's classmate at Signal Academy.
Ruby wore a red cloak with a hood covering most of her face, along with a metal contraption under the cloak at her waist. She was dressed in a black blouse, a black waist cincher with red lacing and a black skirt with red trimmings. She had cross shaped pins holding her cloak to her shirt. Around her waist is a belt holding several large cartridges in individual loops and a magazine pouch. Finally, on her belt is a silver rose emblem, and she was wearing black leggings and black boots with red laces.
Noting she pulled out a weapons magazine, Koa chuckled, looking at the other screens. His face showed a frown when he noticed several men in black clothing with red ties, sunglasses and black bowler hats. They were being led by a man wearing a red-lined white suit and a small grey scarf along with black gloves with rounded sleeves, black pants and shoes. On his neat and tidy orange hair, he wore a black bowler hat with a red band and a small feather. His eyes were slanted, and were dark green, and had black eyeliner on.
"This could be bad…" Koa observed. "That's Roman Torchwick if I'm not wrong…"
Standing up, he clipped his weapons to his belt, before heading out of the small security room, just as Roman and his men entered the store. He stuck his head out slightly from behind an isle, and grit his teeth, counting Roman, plus maybe seven or eight henchmen.
Roman removed his cigar, looking at the cashier, and Koa's temporary boss. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a dust shop open this late?" He asked. As he spoke, one of his goons raised a pistol, aiming it at the man's face.
"Please, just take my lien and leave," The old man begged.
"Ssshhh. We're not here for your money…" Roman assured the cashier. "Grab the dust," He ordered his men.
They take canisters and move to extract dust from the dispensers while another has the cashier load dust crystals into a case. "Crystals. Burnt, uncut," He instructed, having the man get said dust from under the glass case.
As another henchman moves to begin extracting some dust, he heard music coming from the corner, and turned to see Ruby, completely oblivious to the situation.
"Alright kid, hands where I can see them," he said, pulling out a red sword and advancing on her. "Hey! I said hands in the air now! You got a death wish or something?" He demanded.
He grabbed her shoulder, causing her hood to drop, revealing a pale face with silver eyes and short black hair with red tips.
"Huh?" She asked. The henchman points to his own ear, signifying her to take off her headphones. The girl takes them off, before speaking.
"Yes?" She asked calmly.
"I said, put your hands in the air! Now!" The thug growled.
"Are… you robbing me?" She asked him.
"YES!" The thug roared back.
"Ohhhhh…" Ruby said, smirking slightly.
Koa blinked as he watched her kick him to the front of the store. Hey… that's my job… He complained in his head.
Meanwhile Roman nods with his head to another henchman to go after her. He runs up, pulling out his gun. "Freeze!" He ordered.
A moment later, Ruby kicked him out the store, through the window, the girl using him as a board. All the other goons look out to see her in the street, the metal contraption on her back now extending into a powerful looking sniper/scythe fusion. She gave a smirk, before twirling her weapon off her shoulder, slamming it into the ground, while turning off her headphones.
Koa blinked, then chuckled. So this is the infamous Crescent Rose that Jasmine doesn't stop telling me about. He thought. As he did, he gripped his weapons, ready to join in.
"O…kay…" Roman said, almost uncertain. "Get her," He ordered his men.
Three charge out immediately, running at the girl. Ruby dodged a swing from the first goon's sword, then swings her body around on her scythe and lands a double kick to the thug's face, knocking him out. She then pulled a trigger, firing the sniper rifle within and spinning her around as one end of her weapon collides with him. The third is taken down by Ruby slamming the back end of the blade down onto him. A fourth runs outside, firing a sub-machine gun at her. Ruby dodges by firing her weapon behind her, shooting over to him and sweeping her opponent's feet out from him, she shoves her blade into the ground, stopping her and letting her spin around to slam her weapon into her last foe.
Three more rush out of the store, but before they can do anything, a metal boomerang flies across them, hitting one of them in the knee, sending him to the ground. The boomerang spun around, back through the window and into the open hand of Koa, who holds it, and the other in his hands.
"Sorry, but the store is now closed," He said, tossing a boomerang out the window, before leaping through it himself, catching the blade of one thug with the curve of his other. He then yanked the sword out of the man's grip, before driving the metal object into his gut. Meanwhile, the first boomerang slammed into the other's face, causing him to fall back, unconscious, at Roman's feet.
The man took out his cigar, stomping it with his cane. "Well, Red and Blue, I think I can say this has an eventful evening. And as much as I would love to stick around," He said, raising his cane, pointing the end at them, "I'm afraid this… is where we part ways," He said, a reticle popping up off the bottom, he then fired a dust shot at them.
Koa was quick to raise a domed shield, protecting himself and Ruby from danger, but when the smoke cleared, Roman was gone. The two teens looked around, and Koa pointed to the older man, climbing up a ladder to a rooftop.
"You going to be alright?" Koa asked the owner.
"Alright for us to go after him?" Ruby added.
"Uh huh," The man nodded.
Ruby pointed her scythe at the ground and fired, letting the recoil from the shot lift her up to the roof, while Koa created a slanted path of blue light with his semblance, and quickly ascended after her.
"Leaving so soon?" They both asked.
"Jinx," Koa added. Ruby pouted at that.
"Persistent…" Roman muttered. Suddenly, a Bullhead-Class VTOL airship lifted up from the street below, and Roman clambered into the open passenger bay.
He pulled out a red dust crystal, "End of the line blue and red!" He called down, throwing the crystal, then firing his cane at it.
Koa was about to raise a shield, before he could, someone else shielded them from the blast. He and Ruby blinked as a blonde woman stood with a calm attitude, despite the fact she was in combat. She was wearing a white long-sleeved suit that exposed part of her chest, and puffy sleeves that tighten at the wrist before folding back on themselves just before her hands. Waist down, she was wearing a black business skirt with buttons that run down in a vertical line of it and lighter black-brown stockings. She had on a pair of black boots with brown heels and had a cape on, that was purple inside and black on the outside, decorated by a row of diamond-shaped brown beads horizontally along her cape. Above the beads is an emblem of a tiara. She had in her hand some kind of riding crop.
The method she used to protect Koa and Ruby was a large purple glyph of some sort. It faded, and the woman adjusted her glasses before releasing a series of purple blasts at the ship, hitting the side. Roman struggled to keep his balance, before heading up to the cockpit.
As he did so, the woman launched another bolt of purple energy over the ship, which formed a cloud. She lowered her crop, and icicle shards rain down upon the ship, almost skewering Roman in the cockpit, but causing no solid damage to the ship.
Koa noted a woman now standing where Roman had been, who promptly began launching a salvo of fireballs at the trio. The woman was about to block, but Koa stood up, catching the attack with his semblance. The blonde blinked, not expecting such a thing, but quickly recovered as the fire splatters off his shield and onto the ground. The woman on the ship raised her hands, causing columns of fire to shoot up. Koa leaps back, while the blonde grabbed Ruby, leaping back herself.
The huntress then gathers up the debris from that attack, forming a spear and launching it at the bullhead. The red-dressed woman on the ship blocked with a couple of bolts of fire, but the blonde woman reconfigured the spear, continuing her attack.
Roman tilted the ship into the attack, dampening the blow. The blonde takes the remains of her attack and turns it into smaller projectiles that dance around the ship. Koa decided to twist his boomerangs at their centre, activating the lightning dust inside.
Swiping across in front of him, he lets off six crescent shaped arcs of lightning energy, which close in on the bullhead.
The woman in the ship noticed the two different attacks, releasing a heat wave that destroyed both the purple projectiles and Koa's lightning arcs.
Ruby folds Crescent Rose into a compact form, aiming and firing at the woman, but she raised her hand, calmly blocking the rounds with her hand, before waving said hand, causing more explosions under their feet. Koa grabs Ruby and kicks off the ground with his semblance, while the woman flips away.
It seemed that Roman and his accomplice were done, the door closing and the Bullhead flying off into the night. Koa sighed, holstering his boomerangs. "Well… this was definitely the most exciting shift of my life. Wait 'til Jas hears about this, she'll freak."
Ruby looks at the older woman, a big grin on her face and her eyes as big as golf balls. "You're a huntress," She observed. "Can I have your autograph!?"
The woman glanced at Koa, who just shrugged, "Don't look at me."
Why am I here? I was doing my job… Koa frowned. The woman had practically dragged him and Ruby down to a nearby police station and thrown into an interrogation room.
"I hope you realise that your actions tonight will not be taken lightly young lady. You put yourself and others in great danger," The woman said to Ruby. Earlier, she had stated her name was Glynda Goodwitch.
"They started it!" Ruby defended herself.
"And you," Goodwitch turns on Koa. "What exactly were you thinking, charging in like that."
"Please… those minions were cannon fodder, a piece of cake. Plus, it was my job to deal with the threats to Dust 'til Dawn, and if possible, return any stolen wares. Roman made off with a few crystals he had gotten, and I wanted to get them back," Koa explained.
"If it were up to me. You'd both be sent home. With a pat on the back…" Goodwitch sighed, to which Ruby started to smile.
Wait for it… Koa observed.
"… And a slap on the wrist," The blonde finished, slamming her crop down on the table, causing Ruby to flinch and Koa to blink.
"But, there is someone here who would like to meet you," Goodwitch finished, then stepped aside.
A man walked through the darkened door, with a coffee mug in one hand and a plate of cookies in the other. The man is middle-aged with tousle grey hair, black eyebrows and thin brown eyes. He was wearing shaded glass spectacles and a dark-green scarf with a small, purple, cross shaped emblem on it. He was wearing an unzipped black suit over a buttoned vest and green undershirt, along with black trouser shoes and long, dark-green pants.
"Ruby Rose…" He began, looking her in the eye, "You… have silver eyes," He says out of nowhere.
"U-um…" Ruby blinked, feeling odd at the strange observation.
"So! Where did you learn to do this?" The man asked, Goodwitch bringing up a video recording of Ruby's fight with the criminals earlier.
Koa frowned, only staff of Dust 'Til Dawn can access that footage.
"S-Signal Academy," Ruby nervously answered.
"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" The man asked.
"Well… one teacher in particular…" Ruby replied.
"It's true sir," Koa spoke up. "All students at Signal learn how to use the weapons they crafted themselves. I don't know her personally, but one of my friends can tell you she's very skilled."
"Please Mr. Maru, I'd like to hear it from Miss Rose," The man said. Koa bowed his head, knowing he spoke out of line. Meanwhile, he had put down the cookies, and Ruby began wolfing them down, after offering some to Koa, who takes two, before letting them get inhaled.
"It's just… I've only ever seen one other scythe-wielder of that skill before. A dusty old crow…" He said, glancing up as he recalled such a thought.
Ruby was about to answer with a mouthful of cookie, but Koa put a hand on her shoulder. "Swallow. Then speak," He reminded her.
She did so, then spoke up, "That's my Uncle Qrow. He's a teacher at Signal. I was complete garbage before he took me under his wing. Now, I'm all like waaaa! Watchaaa!" Ruby almost made a full explanation, before she had to go into making karate noises and chops.
The man makes a small smile, "So I've noticed," He said, before turning to Koa.
"Koa Maru is it?" He asked, causing the young man to nod calmly. "Could you explain how you learnt such skill with such a unique weapon?" He asked.
"Ever since I was four years old, I had a boomerang, loved the thing to bits. I would take it to the local park when it was quiet and throw it around, always amazed at how it would return to me no matter what. When I applied at Signal, and got to forging my weapon, I decided to continue my love for the Boomerang, and made my weapon, Return to Sender," Koa said.
"A toy inspired you to make one into a weapon?" The old man gave a smile. "That's good, I have said before that those early years can define a person's path," He chuckled. He then turned back to Ruby.
"Back to you. Why would an adorable girl such as yourself be at a school designed to train warriors?" He asked her.
"Well… I want to be a huntress," She replied firmly.
"You want to slay monsters?" The old man asked.
Yeah. I only have two more years of training left at Signal, and then I'm going to apply at Beacon. See, my sister's starting there this year and she's trying to become a huntress and I'm trying to become a huntress 'cuz I want to help people. My parents always taught us to help others so I thought, 'Uh you know, might as well make a career out of it' heh. I mean, the police are alright, byt huntsmen and huntresses are just so much more romantic and exciting and cool, just-just gosh-uh-you know," Ruby said, her speech becoming faster as she spoke.
"Gosh… All in a single breath. Impressive," Koa chuckled.
"Ruby Rose. Koa Maru. Do you know who I am?" The man asked.
"You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster of Beacon," Both said at the same time.
"Jinx," Koa said again.
"Aw man…" Ruby pouted.
"Hm. Hello," Ozpin smiled.
"Nice to meet you," Ruby said.
"You want to come to my school?" Ozpin asked Ruby first.
"More than anything," She replied without hesitation.
Ozpin glances back at Goodwitch, who rolled her eyes and grunts, before the two turn to Koa.
"And you?" He asked.
Koa paused, frowning a little bit, "It's not that simple for me…" He said.
"Explain," Ozpin prompted him.
"It's because of Jasmine," Both older folks turn to Ruby.
"Jasmine?" Ozpin asked.
"Jas is in Ruby's class at Signal, but is really timid around people she doesn't know very well," Koa said. "I was planning to enrol at Beacon, knowing she'd be safe with Ruby, but with her getting advanced two years early, I'm concerned about her."
Goodwitch seemed to tap away at her scroll, and a moment later, a profile with the picture of a young woman with two fox ears above blonde hair popped up on screen.
Ozpin took the scroll, "Mute before starting at Signal?" He asked, intrigued.
"It's a long and very painful story sir. I really don't want to bring it up," Koa sighed. Ozpin nodded, and glanced back down.
"It says here that she's a very capable fighter," Ozpin read more of the file. "Koa Maru, I have a proposition for you."
Koa sat at the window of an airship, looking down at the city of Vale below him. "Wonder if the view from Beacon will be better than this one?" He muttered, before turning to the smaller person sat next to him.
She was younger than him, at fifteen of age. She had soft, golden blonde hair that covered her left eye partially, pretty pale complexion and dark red eyes. A pair of fox ears were poking out of her hair, twitching occasionally at different noises around them.
She was wearing a light-yellow combat dress under an open white cardigan. White leggings come out of her dress, down to light-yellow and white sneakers. A white hairband was tucked in front of her ears, preventing any stray locks from itching her ears. A white ribbon was wrapped around a long, golden fluffy tail with a white tip, which right now was wrapped around to her side.
The girl pulled out a pen, pressing the button on the end. 'I can't believe you agreed to his idea!' She wrote out the words in the air using the light dust in her pen. As she wrote, it was made evident she was extremely nervous, as shown by her shaky handwriting.
"Jas, you'll be fine!" Koa told her, putting a hand around her onto her far shoulder. "You've already shown much greater proficiency with combat than most of your classmates, Professors Branwen and Brick have both admitted that your grades were top notch, and let's never forget your field experience."
Jasmine Diali exhaled, and nodded, 'Right… I think Beacon should be coming up soon,' She wrote with her pen, glancing out the window.
Koa noticed the news report, which had an image of Roman Torchwick posing for a mugshot.
"… The robbery was led by notorious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa."
"Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus civil rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organisation has now disrupted…" The broadcast shuts off, and a hologram of Glynda Goodwitch takes its place.
"Hello, and welcome to Beacon." The hologram began. "My name is Glynda Goodwitch.
"You are among the privileged few who have received the honour of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsmen and huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world," Goodwitch's hologram said, before turning off.
Koa felt his shoulder poked by Jasmine, and followed her finger, seeing Ruby talking with a taller, blonde girl.
She wore a tan jacket that bares her lower stomach, with golden brown piping and short, puffy sleeves with black cuffs that feature two gold buttons. Underneath this, she wore a low cut yellow crop top with her emblem on the left breast in black.
She also wore a brown belt covered by a pleated brown piece of material reaching from hip to hip around the back of her waist, with her emblem, a heart shaped flame, emblazoned on the right-most pleat in gold. Underneath this is a longer, white, asymmetrical piece of material reaching to her knee on the right side, as well as a pair of black mini-shorts. She wore a pair of brown, knee-high boots and orange over-the-knee socks, with the right sock pushed down just below the knee. A lavender bandana is tied around her left knee. An orange infinity scarf and black fingerless gloves complete her outfit.
Koa smiled, "You wanna go over and say hi?" He asked. The fox Faunus nodded, so the two friends went over to the red and yellow clothed girls.
"Yo," Koa waved, as they approached.
The blonde was first to notice them, "Koa," She smiled, putting an arm out.
Koa took it, and they gripped tight. "Been a while since we last saw each other," He said with a grin.
"Indeed, it has," Yang nodded.
"You know each other?" Ruby asked.
"We were in the forge at the same time when we forged our weapons. We then saw each other quite often when we did training," Yang explained.
"Formal introduction time, I'm Koa Maru," The teen in blue said.
"I'm Yang Xiao Long," The busty blonde said.
"I'm Ruby Rose, Yang's sister," The red hooded girl smiled.
Jasmine pulled out her pen, and wrote in the air, 'I am Jasmine Diali.'
Yang was puzzled, "What's with the pen?" She asked.
Ruby answered, "Jasmine is mute, sis," She told her.
Yang's mouth formed a perfect 'O', "I'm sorry to hear that kid," She said.
Ruby suddenly pointed down out the window, "Look, you can see Signal from here!" She said.
True enough, the four warriors-in-training glanced down, seeing the spires of their former academy below. "I guess home isn't that far away after all," Ruby sighed, Jasmine putting a knowing hand on her shoulder.
"Beacon is our home now," Yang said.
"Right, look to the future you two," Koa nodded.
A blonde boy nearby suddenly gagged, and ran past the four, trying to hold in his lunch, "Guess the view isn't for everyone," Yang observed.
"Looked like motion sickness, Jasmine used to have that, but she got over it," Koa chuckled.
Jasmine's enhanced sense of smell then picked up a foul scent from the floor, and glanced down, pointing to Yang's shoe.
Ruby followed the girl's finger, "Ew! Yang, you have puke on your shoe!" She told the blonde, who glanced down.
"Gross, gross, gross, gross," She muttered.
"Get away from me, get away from me, get away from me!" Ruby wailed, running away as Yang ran after her, trying to wipe off the unpleasant mess from her shoe.
Koa and Jasmine laughed, although Jasmine just made the gesture, she couldn't make sounds of course. "Looks like things are going to be interesting for the next four years, and we haven't even met any new people yet."
Koa: So, it's begun.
Jasmine: 'So, let's see what happens next!'
Koa: Well, I think it should be obvious.
Both: Next Time: Welcome to Beacon!