YEAR 1
It's my birthday again. September 9th.
Also the same day that I died on Earth. Isn't that a great example of poetic irony?
Of course, the birthday party is less for the one year olds and more for the parents. What are one year olds going to do anyway?
Desiree and I have been playing together a lot. Well, she has been. I try to keep myself entertained with whatever Mom and Dad give me. Building blocks, play-doh that isn't play-doh, and the books.
I don't remember children's books being hard to read. The words, while small and easy to digest, seem to blend together. Some letters of some words seem out of order, but when I look again they're not.
I do remember reading a metric shitton of fanfiction. There are a lot of fics that put normal people from Earth straight into the conflict that it makes it seem like nothing before the events told matter. I can see why too; you have to write all about a person growing into what they were. There's one fic I know that does a fantastic job of that, but the author hadn't updated in a long time. I don't blame them. Writing now is especially hard too; my fingers are too weak to even just hold a small rubber ball in one hand.
Are these the rigors that a new body must face? Probably.
I at least retained the alphabet, though I have to sing it like Desiree. Us singing together is funny though. I lead and she kind of just pitches in. Our parents think it's cute and funny.
Honestly, we have made some good progress to being functional humans. So far.
I haven't thought about what I wanted to do in Remnant. Risk my life changing things or take it easy and be a background character? Normally, I would like to stay out of the spotlight, but the circumstances are different. RWBY is a great show, at least in my opinion. Seeing it happen in real time would be an entirely different story, both figuratively and literally.
This also begs the question: How old are the main cast? Am I too late or too early?
I resolved myself to know that no matter what I choose, life would be different. I'm going into this world with questions and no answers.
YEAR 3
First off, three major updates:
Me and Desiree are going to preschool now.
Desiree and I have our own room, though its halved between us.
I know the limits of my new, toddler body.
Speaking of which, I have gray hair and eyes like Dad. Not much of a surprise.
Desiree has excessively dark red hair. It borders on being black. Her eyes are much brighter than that though.
Why am I noting this? Well in RWBY, a character's defining traits in terms of appearance are their outfit, hair, and eyes.
I mean, it's the first thing that you see.
That and their weapon. The coolest part of any character easily goes to how they fight and what fights they have been involved in.
I really liked weaponry on Earth. I really want a weapon now.
At 3 years old, though, I would be pushing my luck very far. I'm sure Mom and Dad would just chalk it up to wanting to be a Huntsman with all the stories of heroes and such.
When Desiree asked if she could be one on one particular evening before bed, both Mom and Dad blanched. I'm sure they don't want either of us to be Hunstmen.
I'm not sure I want to be one either. A terrifying thought occured to me when Desiree and I started preschool.
What if the show already accounted for my being there? What if no matter what I do, Beacon still falls?
What if no matter what I do, I change nothing?
These are haunting thoughts. They have even kept me sleepless sometimes. Even though I have the body and boundless energy of a child, I am kept up for days on end that my life might amount to nothing.
These are dangerous thoughts. What if I died on Earth only to die again worthlessly on Remnant?
I refuse to accept whatever destiny lies at the end for me if so.
YEAR 4
There's this one kid at the school that Desiree and I go to.
He's a dog faunus. I would have expected to see him get ostracized and bullied, but that hasn't happened. He makes plenty of friends.
There was one incident where some girl in our class called his ears ugly and he started crying, but our teacher quickly resolved that and made them do the whole, "Say you're sorry," spiel.
It was nicer knowing that before the White Fang became extremist, faunus were actually treated somewhat decently.
I knew that this would be changing soon. First, a wave of hostilities from humans escalates into an attempted assassination, which leads to Adam killing a human, which leads to even more hostility... It will all culminate into the terrorist group that it will become.
I ignored the feeling of disgust and smiled, knowing that this might not happen again.
YEAR 5
I can't believe I forgot to ask my parents what they did to keep a roof over our heads. For five whole years.
The idea occurred to me when Desiree and I celebrated our fifth birthdays. I (secretly) wondered what budget they had for buying our gifts and asked them.
"Your daddy works hard for a really big dust company," Mom said to me. I wanted to know what he did.
"What does he do for the company?" I asked simply. I scratched my arm and tilted my head, trying to look as innocent as I sounded.
"He has a job where he keeps track of numbers, writes letters to other companies, and just helps his boss do stuff." So he's a secretary or advisor or something then.
"For what company?" I pushed. Mom cocked her head back just a little and blinked. She wasn't expecting me to care past that.
"For the SDC. The Schnee Dust Company," she replied.
Well, that changes things. I remembered that the White Fang stepped up their violence about 5 years before the events of the show took place. I could use that as reference for when things kick off.
I asked Mom what she did before she married Dad and she said that she owned a small dust refinery before it was bought out by the Schnees, where she met Dad.
That's a sweet story I guess.
YEAR 9
This year I got my first bit of information on how to become a huntsman. An actual huntsman came to the private elementary school that Desiree and I go to.
I asked him when he started and he said that you choose to start when you graduate from what essentially equates to middle school. Basically, finish year 8 of primary school and find a junior huntsman academy.
I let the other kids, including Desiree, ask other questions like his Grimm kill count, how many people he's saved, and if he went to Beacon.
My family lives in a rather large apartment in Vale and the school Desiree and I go to is a walk's distance. We'd heard about Beacon and huntsmen long ago.
He's killed many Grimm, did go to Beacon, and saved most people. I caught him trying to play off saying "most" as "the most" but didn't say anything. Trying to save the ones you know can't be saved is heartbreaking.
Anyways, I asked Dad if I could study up on the dust books he had in his office. He was ecstatic, to say the least.
He was recently promoted to refinery supervisor and had met Jacques Schnee himself. He had been talking to Mom about how Jacques was beginning to expand the SDC aggressively now that he had wrested control from Alice Schnee, Winter's, Weiss's, and Whitley's mother.
He probably misinterpreted my interest in dust for wanting to get a job in the SDC.
I'm studying so that I stay top of my class like Desiree and I already am.
You might call it cheating to use past knowledge of school to be highest scorer, but I died. There is no fucking way in hell I am making the same mistake as I did on Earth. I'm going to get good grades.
Dust is the lifeblood of a huntsman. I want to live, so I'm going to learn all the properties of dust. Dad brings back a small case of dust whenever he says there has been an excess, so I might be able to make use of that when I'm a little bit older.
YEAR 10
14 books, over 1000 pages, and private schoolwork?
Easy. I blew through the books daily, and occupied about 4 notebooks with little notes and comments on dust and how it could synergize. We're learning easy stuff in our 5th yearof school anyway.
Desiree is completely bewildered by my diligence. She thought I would have been lazy since I didn't talk as much, but the quiet ones are the ones you look out for. I've managed to convince her to think about a career as a huntress. If I want to change things, I'm going to need a lot of help. Plans, countermeasures, contingencies... all of those can be made by one person. Successfully pulling them off? That takes either one flawless person or a lot of good people.
Mom and Dad made the decision to unlock Desiree and I's aura if we become valedictorian and/or salutatorian and are completely dead set on becoming huntsmen.
Valedictorian and salutatorian? I can do valedictorian. I'm sure since what I'm being taught I have already learnt. I have a lot of "friends" since I help a lot of people with their work. Desiree has a lot of friends because she's just so damn nice. I think.
I can't believe how fortunate I am now.
My life on Earth ended on my 17th birthday and then I get reincarnated on Remnant? I couldn't ask for better.
On top of that, I am given a rich family, a younger twin sibling, and an education I've already had? I think God is trying to apologize to me.
A funny thought. I used to believe there wasn't one.
I have this impending feeling that I might not be as fortunate as I think, but I want to believe that my life really has improved from my life on Earth.
I'll know when I grow up, as always.
YEAR 13
The graduation ceremony for us was just grand.
I still have stage fright, and stuttered a few times during my valedictory.
Desiree, though... she powered through.
Oh yeah, she made salutatorian. I beat her by 1 point in our algebra class.
Yeah. Algebra on Remnant. Logical mathematics on Remnant.
Expectations of such a class aside, she delivered the salutatory like a champion. A lot of parents, including ours, were moved to tears.
It's ironic that she didn't write the speech, but delivered it so much better than I could have.
On that note, she intimidates me. I learned everything that was being taught at our school. She didn't. She was a better student than I was, and I got valedictorian.
The road there was harder than I thought. Puberty is striking again. I get really tired. So does she, but my ambitions involve me staying active for months on end.
Aura supposedly helps out with that.
Mom and Dad brought us home to a pleasant surprise: a family party with Cinna.
She had graduated from the boarding school she had chosen the year before. She wrapped both of us in a huge hug when we got into our home.
"You two! Oh my gods, Junior! You're taller than me now!" Junior is my nickname because I got called Grey quite often. "And Dez! You're big too!"
Huh. All this time I didn't know her nickname.
Desiree sniffled and I saw, in the moment, a single tear fall from her eye.
"I missed you, Cin."
In that moment, I realized how detached I was from this world. I had almost ignored my sisters for 13 years. The guilt from all those times where she tried to break me out of my shell instantly mounted upon me and I once more found myself doing the thing I hated most: crying.
Cin sobbed shortly after me and we turned into a loose pile of crying teenagers.
The 13 years I have been on Remnant I convinced myself that the people I knew from the show were the ones that mattered. I untangled myself from my sisters' arms and looked Desir- Dez in the eyes. Hers were still puffy and bloodshot, but so were mine.
"I'm so sorry, Dez. We've known each other since we were born and I..." wrapping my arms around her left her shocked and speechless. Instead of crying, she reciprocated the hug gently.
"I... Please don't blame yourself," she said.
Our parents beheld the sight awkwardly. They stood at the door and hadn't expected surprising their youngest 2 would cause a such a reaction.
Later that day, Mom brought Dez and I to our shared and split room. Sitting down on my bed, Mom asked both of us a question.
"Are you 2 sure you want to be huntsmen?" she asked. She would be unlocking our auras.
I looked to Dez who looked back to me. I shrugged and she answered Mom.
"I am." I answered likewise.
"I am too."
Mom sighed and casted a dejected glance to the ground.
"If you two are sure," she said pointing to the middle of the room, where my half was split from Dez's half, "kneel there." Dez and I did as instructed. I knelt on my side and Dez on hers.
We watched Mom circle around us slowly as she rook deep, labored breaths. "Aura is the manifestation of your soul. I know you have learned about it in school, but aura is more than what they taught you." She stood right in front of us and pulled my desk's chair in front of us. "When your aura breaks, you lose more than just your strengths and defenses. Your very resolve is tested. When your aura breaks, you will endure the most emotional and spiritual pain you have ever experienced. True huntsmen can fight through it, but the junior huntsman academies test if an aspiring student will make it or not."
Dez and I looked between us again. We were both uneasy. However, I steeled myself; things needed to be done. I would make a difference. Dez saw my face harden and in turn nodded.
"Are you ready?" Mom asked.
Dez and I nodded.
"Close your eyes and focus," Mom said as she placed a hand on my forehead, likely mirroring the same on Dez's. She began an incantation of sorts.
"For it is through the fire that we are tempered. Through this, we become a shield for the weak and a sword for the righteous to advance justice. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your souls, and by your light, protect all."
I felt my mother's hand grow warm as she recited the incantation. Inside my core, I could feel my body strengthen and my mind clear. Then, despite trying to open my eyes, I saw nothing.
It wasn't just a pitch blackness. It was a swirl of energy, moving across an empty canvas. A helix of pure lifeforce hung in front of me. I reached out and felt a familiar sensation.
Rains pelted my hand relentlessly and winds forced it back out. I recoiled my hand away from the spiral, and stared into the gray abyss. 2 white eyes stared back. Then, in a whispy, ethereal voice, I heard,
"He is the interloper... He is the foreigner."
At this, I opened my mouth to hear a squall blow through my ears. Howling winds ate at my sanity, punishment for trying to converse with this being.
Inside the spiral, 2 black eyes emerged. This time, an echoing, infernal voice spoke out.
"He is the interloper. He does not belong."
"He does not belong... But he will," the first voice, which I could only describe as light, responded.
"He does not belong. He will not belong," the second, darker voice corrected.
Again, at this point I tried to speak, but felt my lungs fill with water. A discharge of something ran up my body. I found the words I thought up to be choked out of me.
"He tries to speak... He wants to talk."
"He tries to speak. He will die trying."
A sudden wave of anguish and guilt washed through me. This would kill me? After the 13 years, I would die again? I wanted to fight back, but my ears were deafened by a gust of nothingness and my other senses were submerged in a pool of void. My eyes were filled with this vision, of which I knew now.
It was a storm. A cyclone of memories, of pain filled my mind.
I needed to get out of here.
"He is in pain... He will die."
"He is in pain. He will die."
I stared into the eye of the storm, the calm in the middle. The 2 pairs of monochrome eyes regarded me as I reached out once again.
My hand reached forward.
"He fights back... He will win."
"He fights back. I will not let him."
In the clouds of the storm, red eyes emerged. These new beings ate at my soul with sharp fangs and claws.
"You will not let him..?
I will."
My hand disappeared into the center of the storm and I felt something. It was soft and easy to grasp. In my ear, over the roar of winds and pattering of rain, I heard a whisper.
"Take it. Hold it. Use it. Thrive in it."
I firmly grabbed the object in my hand and sensed my senses become unhindered. The eyes in the storm disappeared and the void turned white.
The storm shrunk in my hand until it was roughly the size of a tennis ball. One of Nature's most powerful phenomena was in the palm of my hand.
"Go."
I had the overwhelming urge to crush it. And I did. A soothing fire washed over me and clung to my skin, giving me a light gray sheen.
Looking at my hands in astonishment, my vision cleared.
My mom looked winded in the chair she sat in as she leaned back with her eyes wide. To my right, Dez was looking at her hands too. She was enveloped in a bright red film of aura.
Our life as civilians were ending.
And with it, all of my pertinent knowledge from another world.
I smiled to myself. Time to make a difference.