Author's notes: Hello, I'm new to the site as a writer. This fic Oc is about the MINT team and the challenges they will face in the new college of heaven. Maw is the main character and despite having a tag from the rwby team and etc., we will see them only in a few chapters ahead. The first chapter takes place before the Vale attack.

Chapter 1

So let's start.

My name is Maw , Maw Wald. It seems that I am writing a diary when I have to introduce myself like this, but the answer is no, I am not. I just have the habit of talking to myself and you can thank my uncle Koda for that. According to him, talking to myself in my head could help me with the "little socialization problem" I have. Which most of the time doesn't help, because the other person I'm talking to is hypothetically speaking is myself.

I looked at the leaves of the tree swaying outside my window.

Anyway, here I am, because I'm about to start a new adventure. My current location? Town of Wald. A small village built on top of trees in a forest 75km from Shion, on the continent of Anima . How did I get here? I was born here.

The village was not large, there were 22 people living there and about 18 houses built and connected to each other by means of stairs made of wood and ropes. It was a good place to live, high enough to avoid terrestrial grimms , and hidden enough to avoid nevermores , sphinx or manticores . And as that area didn't have the seasons so well defined, we didn't have many problems during the year.

Wald had 3 Hunters and 5 pupils to protect the place, I am included in that. The three hunters were responsible for starting that village in the middle of the forest and even after 25 years of creation, the place has remained intact. This is due to the fact of our location that few knew, training the population to remain calm in dangerous situations and of course the team of hunters who lived there.

We didn't have many contacts with the outside world and our education was basic education, where we knew how to read and write. The most we could get close to a city was when we had to go to Shion to buy some supplies, like seeds, dust and maintain the weapons. And after discovering my semblance, trips to Shion were reduced for a few years.

I got up and sat on the edge of the bed in my room. I looked at my black bag that had put some clothes and supplies in there, next to it was my gun, the Black Tip , leaning on the wall, she was a half-speared staff that turned into a rifle, caliber 38, all black that had some gray details, which looked like branches of a tree crossing. Koda who had helped me create those details and according to him, the tree branches were silver in color. So my gun was black with silver details.

- Maw it 's time for us to go - Tod said, knocking on my bedroom door and interrupting my thoughts.

- Ok, I'm going - I replied and took my gun and unlocked a small lock that was at the opposite end of the spear tip. The staff withdrew and stayed in a tube shape, I fitted it on my waist belt, behind my back, so that the tube was in a horizontal position and gave me more balance during the runs and climbs. I left the room and went into the hallway, I could see Tod standing at the kitchen door drinking water.

- Ready? - Asked, I nodded. We left the house and entered the small wooden porch that was around all the houses there. A cool breeze passed through the pulps of the trees making our hair sway. I looked around at the other houses, they were all made of wood, ropes and some metal parts, the lights were on indicating that it was actually night. We walked to the elevator, the floor and handrail were made of wood, we got into it and Tod waved one of the guards on duty to bring us down to the floor.

Upon reaching the ground, we met with Koda and Jean, the other two hunters from the village. Koda was tall, about six feet, with broad shoulders and black hair, he was 52 years old, and he wore a bow and arrow as weapons, a dark gray headband tied to his forehead, which prevented his bangs from falling over his eyes, his clothes were a pair of shabby jeans that he wouldn't change for anything, a black dress shirt and a dark green jacket with a high collar. He was the leader of our village, Tod and Jean were his childhood friends, and together they decided to leave Mistral's comfort and problems to start a new life here.

Tod was Jean's twin brother, they both had redhead hair, light brown eyes and were 48 years old. Tod was tall like Koda, he wore a black tank top under a dark green jacket and jeans, his weapon was a katana. Jean already had short hair, wore black pants, a dark red shirt and a black hooded coat, she did not like to wear green clothes, but oddly enough she managed to hide in the forest very well and her weapons was a pistol dagger and a shield.

The real reason they left Mistral 25 years ago, was that Tod had been framed for a murder he hadn't committed, but all the evidence claimed he was the guilty. Before the police arrived at their home, Tod and Jean run away with Koda's help . Not long after, Koda's wife died of a terminal illness and he decided to leave Mistral and start his life elsewhere, he met Jean and Tod in a village and introduced them to the idea of starting a new place. And here we are.

- Tod and Jean stay with the South and West region. Maw stays with the East and I go to the North. We have to find and eliminate the group of ursas that are prowling the area in 1 hour - Koda said , we nodded and each one went in the direction indicated. I ran through the forest in silence and looked back over my shoulder, just in time to see Koda activate the defense and camouflage shield around the village.

- A cheer for Atlas technology - I commented quietly.

I ran for a few more minutes and stopped when I heard the sound of a branch breaking. I pulled my gun from my belt and activated the black tip , looked around at a set of trees and waited for something to come up, but nothing happened. I sighed and started walking through the forest again, there was nothing but the trees and the sounds of owls.

I stopped walking when I saw a fox chasing a rabbit in front of me, the fox completely ignored me and continued to follow the rabbit that was desperately trying to escape. I watched the two run for a long time, until the fox managed to grab one of the rabbit's legs. In nature there was always someone stronger at the top of the food chain.

After that I started walking again and covering a larger space of land, the ursa group should be somewhere. I took a bored sigh and pulled the hood off my head, letting my long blond hair fall over my shoulders, looked up and watched the white dots in the sky. Koda always commented on how beautiful the night sky was there, but I couldn't see what he saw.

When I was 6, my parents took me to Mistral to do some eye exams. They were worried when the village teacher said that I had problems with the colors, that I always spoke the names of the wrong colors and that basically everything was black, white or some shade of gray. After several tests, they came to the conclusion that I had genetic achromatopsia, which was an abnormality in the retinal cones that were responsible for color recognition, preventing me from identifying colors other than black, white and gray.

In addition to not being able to see the colors, my vision during the day was horrible, I could barely see the palm of my hand in front of me due to sensitivity to light. So during the day, if it was necessary to do any activity, I used to wear dark and closed goggles on the sides. In contrast, my night vision was great, as good as any night animal, and because of that I was responsible for doing most of the work at night.

So that was why Koda described the colors to me, even though I had no idea how they could be. A human only know what is blue, cause he see the color and someone said it was called blue. Now when you see everything in shades of gray, things get more complicated. But it didn't bother me when they described the colors of something, it was fun to see them talking with excitement and also trying to imagine what they saw, even if I couldn't.

I had learned that the sky was blue during the day and the sun was yellow, the leaves on the trees were green and sometimes orange, the grass and bushes were also green, the wood was brown. That my hair color was yellow or blond and that my eyes were light green, that Jean and Tod were redheads. I couldn't see the original colors, but I could learn the names and try to associate them with some shades of gray. For example, Tod's hair was darker than the wood used to build our houses.

The only living things that were totally black were the grimms, which according to the hunters were evil beings that had to be destroyed before they could destroy humanity, and that was the reason that exists hunters and academies.

I saw a flashing light and looked at my left wrist, it was the communicator. I pressed the button to hear the message.

- Mission accomplished guys, I just eliminated a group with 5 ursas, 4km to the west - said Jean.

"Good job, Jean," Koda replied

- You could have left one for me - I said putting black tip in my belt.

- Looks like someone wanted to kill something before leaving - Tod said laughing.

- Maybe in the next, blondy - Jean said giving a laugh with his brother.

- Let's go home - said Koda .

- Okay - We all answered together.

I went back the way I had come and arrived at the village's location after a few minutes, and I was looking at the big, dense trees in front of me. The defense and camouflage equipment was activated, so that it looked like the place had nothing but trees for several and several meters, which in fact was true. I heard the sound of footsteps to my left and saw Jean and Tod smiling.

- As always the first to arrive - said Jean, patting my shoulder.

- No Koda? - Asked Tod looking around, when I was about to say no, Koda appeared between the branches of a tree and landed on the ground.

- Im here - Said standing up. - All good?

- Yes - Jean and Tod said at the same time and I nodded.

- Great - He took the scroll out of his pocket and looked at the time - It took us 40 minute. We were faster than expected.

- At least we can have dinner early and leave Maw in Shion without hurrying - Tod said, putting his hand on his waist.

- So let's prepare the goodbye dinner - Koda said, winking at Tod and pressing a button on the scroll, which made the defense device deactivate. The device was like an invisible wall that surrounded the entire village, its area was like a square, and each side of that square could be activated or deactivated individually.

The camouflage wall flashed blue and then the forest with the hanging houses appeared. The village, as I said, was small, with 18 wooden houses. Each had a porch around, and most had two bedrooms, kitchen and bathroom. There were 2 houses that had one more floor, and were in opposite positions and that served as an observation post of the forest and the lake.

In the middle of the smaller houses, there was a central house, which was in the densest trees and which had the largest trunk of all there. The house had 3 bedrooms, which belonged to Tod , Jean and Koda , but Koda's was empty, cause he was living with me in one of the smaller houses. In addition it had a large kitchen with cabinets, refrigerator and electric stove. We lived in the forest, but that doesn't mean we weren't civilized. We had power generation engines and a communication tower, which were used to turn on our electronic devices, house lights and keep in touch with the outside world.

The kitchen was large and had a part that joined with a porch, where it had a long table, chairs and benches, to accommodate everyone in the village. The main house was used for some meetings, birthdays and special dates. Today, we would have a special goodbye dinner. My goodbye.

Wald village had some characteristics different from other places. Here everyone knew each other and had duties to perform. They had people responsible for food, water, energy and technology and defense of the place. Of the 22 people who lived there, none were children, the youngest like me had just turned 16, and the oldest was 52 who was Koda. Everyone knew how to shoot and kill grimms, even if they weren't hunters. The only professional hunters were Koda , Tod and Jean, and they taught everyone how to defend and fight.

The village was made up of people who did not want to live in the cities, who had poor salaries or were treated badly by society because they were different color or race. We had a family of faunus, a family of carpenters, an atlas engineer, a teacher, a former arms merchant and ordinary people, such as fishermen, food merchants, pilots and a street artist, all of whom had their aura unlocked and only some had semblance.

My mother was an ordinary person, she worked in a bookshop in Mistral before moving here, while my father was a former Atlas soldier. My father was tired of living under the strict laws of the atlas army and forged his death in an accident during a mistral mission. Months later, with a new identity, he met my mother and they were soon married. They opened a dust and magazines store, and met Koda when he went to buy dust to go on a mission. After that, Koda and my parents became friends, and when Tod was framed for the crime he didn't commit, my parents contacted Koda and decided to leave for the small town they were building, since the store's business was not so good and some people recognized my father's identity.

Koda was a Vacuo hunter, who graduated 33 years ago from Shade Academia, while Jean and Tod were from Mistral and graduated from Heaven academy 29 years ago, my father was a former Atlas soldier and had graduated from atlas academy. My father helped to train the rest of the people along with Koda and the others. Thus, due to the different style of each, they taught the way of fighting and fighting techniques of each kingdom.

Another interesting thing about our village was that everyone had the same last name, no matter if you had come from Atlas or Vale, everyone was called Wald, which was the name of our village. Just as everyone had the village tattooed on some part of the body, it was usually on the arms or back, mine was on the top of the right shoulder.

- Maw , come on - Tod said, drawing my attention, I realized that I was staring at the houses for a few minutes and that they were already standing in the elevator waiting for me. I walked quickly over to them and got on the elevator - Already missing us?

- No - I said crossing my arms and looking at the ground as the elevator rose.

- How about you go check if you packed everything and etc. while we prepare dinner? - Koda said putting his hand on my shoulder. I nodded and he smiled. - Okay, we gonna take care of the food.

The elevator reached the top, we greeted the guard who was nearby and I went to my house. I took one of the wooden bridges and then another, until I got home. My house was small, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a small living room. One of the bedrooms was mine and the other was my parents', but Koda was using it. It was a simple place to compare with the houses of the cities, the living room had a TV on a rack table, a bookcase, with several books ranging from primary to modern atlas technology, a sofa made of wood and bamboo, with cushions to make it softer. The kitchen was simple, with a refrigerator, stove, sink and a table for 4 people.

I went through the living room, went into the kitchen and got a glass of water from the fridge, started drinking the water until I got to the bedroom. My room was small to say the least, on the right side there was the bed made of wood and a mattress on top, on the left there was my study table, with some books on top and my parents' picture in a frame, there was a window that faced a bridge and also the pulps of a tree. In the other corner of the room there was a small closet, where I kept my clothes, dust and other equipment.

I drank all the water from the glass and put it on the table. I picked up the bag from the floor and placed it on the bed. Koda had told me to check if I took everything, so I was going to check if I did. I started to take things out of the bag and put them on the bed. I was taking 2 pairs of clothes, a blanket, a towel, the personal hygiene materials, scroll loader, two books, one about grimm and another about kingdoms and cities, a map, a photo of my parents and one with everyone from village, dust , black tip bullets and some spare parts in case any part broke. All things considered, the suitcase had little, but it had everything I needed.

I took the picture of my parents, which was the same picture on the table. In the picture was my father with a white shirt folded up to the elbow and jeans, short military hair , Koda said that his hair was the same as mine, blond, and his eyes as well as my mother's were green. My mom was wearing shorts and a dark gray short-sleeved shirt, which Koda said was blue, her hair was tied up in a ponytail and in the middle of them I was standing at the age of 5, wearing black shorts, a white tank top, with short hair that reached to the shoulders.

I looked at the picture of the village, they were all happy, with a glass of drink or a piece of food in their hands. The photo had been taken in the new year of last year, when I was 15 years old. I was on Koda and Tod's side, with Koda hugging me. It had been a good year, we had a lot of supplies, the lake had a lot of fish, there were few air grimm attacks, no one had set fire in the forest, and we also managed to eliminate a tribe of bandits who discovered our location.

I kept the two photos inside the grim book and looked at things on the bed. Yeah, I think I took everything. I started to organize things in the bag and after putting everything back in place, I lay on the bed and stared at the bedroom ceiling.

It had been difficult to get Koda and the others to let me out of the village, due to my semblance and also my personality. At 6 years old, during a trip to mistral for another eye exam with my parents, to do more tests on my genetic condition, achromatopsia , our ship was attacked by an ancient nevermore . My father, a former hunter, was unable to kill the nevermore, and as a result our ship crashed.

During the fall, my mother tried to protect me by trying to put the seat belt on me, but there was an explosion on the side of the ship, causing us to be thrown to the opposite side of the ship. I hit my head in the process, saw iron debris coming my way and remember wishing that something could protect me from that before I passed out. The next thing I remember was being in a hospital room.

When I woke up and managed to call a nurse, the doctors came running, said that I had been in a coma for 3 months due to head trauma and a brain injury, and that my parents and the pilot had not survived. My injuries on the body had not been as serious as the head, because miraculously during the impact of the ship on the ground, a part of the bodywork of the ship had protected me against larger debris. But I had broken a few ribs, an arm and a leg.

In the first few weeks after I woke up, the doctors and my uncles (Koda, Tod and Jean) realized that I wasn't showing many emotions, like laughing at a simple joke or even crying or being sad about the death of my parents. With that they decided to do more exams and tests with neurologists, psychologists and other specialists, in the end they found that the damage to my brain had affected my personality and also emotions.

So where there used to be a child who was extroverted, empathetic and expressed various emotions, now there was an introverted child, who did not speak much, with difficulties in trusting and understanding personal and other people's feelings, as well as a certain degree of aggressiveness.

Needless to say, the years that followed after the accident were difficult for everyone in the village. I had to do psychological counseling for many months and also learn to live in society. Over time I was taught how I should act in different situations, what was morally wrong and right in society and also how to control my aggression. They found out over time that I didn't like taking orders from people who didn't have the same skill level as me or who didn't have a higher position, so in the village I was only ordered by my uncles, because I had a image in the head that they were the superiors of that place.

After a while after leaving the hospital, I discovered my semblance, which was materialization, that is, I could make an object appear out of nowhere from my thought. However, this power had some limitations, one of which was that I couldn't create life, so any animals and plants I tried to materialize they ended being dead. I couldn't too materialize things that didn't exist and I only could use my power as long as I touched my left hand on some part of my body, I didn't know why, but since the accident, a mark similar to a burn in the shape of a triangle appeared on the palm and back of my left hand, the triangles had their points pointed in opposite directions.

By asking doctors how this could have happened, they also didnt have idea. In my mind, the gods had given me that semblance unintentionally, but as it was a very great skill, they decided to make me lose my personality and emotional capacity to have a balance in the universe and show that nothing in the world could be perfect. I didn't know if this decision had been wise, after all, now I didn't care about anything and I might as well use my power for evil.

However, Koda, the doctors and the rest of the village did a good job in raising me, so although I was not the most morally existing person in the world, they had managed to make me a relatively good person and with some principles. Some of these principles were: not to kill unless the person does something wrong, not to steal (I wouldn't need it anyway), not to commit any kind of racism or prejudice, not to harass anyone, respect the elders (except if they are assholes), protect women and children, and use materialization only if necessary and only for good things.

Over time my uncles realized that I was very easy to learn and decided to invest in my skills. I was taught hand-to-hand combat, medium and long-range combat, as well as how to use a pistol, bow and arrow, swords, katanas , daggers and rifles. Koda helped me train my semblance, he bought magazines of equipment and weapons, books of architectural and engineering, he said that i needed to have as much knowledge about things that exist and how to create them.

I was taught to always protect my left hand and also to avoid as much as possible that other people knew how my semblance worked. To help disguise the marks on my hand, we decided to cover them with a tattoo and wear gloves, so even if someone saw my left hand, they would think it was just a normal tattoo without creativity. Another detail of my semblance was that she takes a lot of aura depending how big the object was. For example, if it were something big like a car or a ship, my aura would drop to 75%, now if it were small objects like several water bottles, my aura would drop to 94 %.

My uncles told several stories about when they lived in a vacuo and in mistral, and how their high school assignments were. Because of this, I started to enjoy life as a hunter and after a while I decided that I wanted to join one of the schools too. It took a long time to get their permission, but they accepted when they saw for the first time that I had a desire and excitement for something. So, as I had not decided which school to enter, I decided that I should know the kingdoms and the colleges before submitting any application. And that was the reason why I was leaving the village and receiving a goodbye dinner.

Someone knocked on my bedroom door, making me return to the real world and I sat on the bed.

-Yes?

- Dinner is ready - Koda said opening the door, looked at the bag next to me on the bed - Did you take everything? After dinner we will take the ship to Shion.

- Yes, I took everything I needed - I replied getting up and going towards the door.

- Okay then, let's go.

We went to the main house, everyone from the village was there. I greeted the adults and other teenagers in the group, we talked about how the day had been, the teacher and Koda lectured me about how I should behave in the cities and avoid problems, they remembered some good times we had spent during the last few days, Ross, the group's street artist, played a song on his guitar and with that we ate and drank during the calm night.

After dinner I took my suitcase and said goodbye to everyone, Koda took me to Shion on the ship we had (which I had materialized). I sighed when I saw the trees that Wald was disappearing as we moved away, most likely I wouldn't be back there so soon and I have to say that deep down I would miss that place.