A RWBY OC Fan-fiction

Prologue 2 - "Ghosts"

"Where are you off to, Rosie?" A voice amidst the shadows spoke. Rosanna, upon recognizing it, froze like a statue, her fist clenching around the grip of her bag. The alley was empty, save for a cloud of black smoke fuming from behind a stack of wooden boxes.

"It seems our dear sister is leaving us, without even saying goodbye," another voice chipped in. Without a moment of hesitation, she run off.

This part of the city of Mistral was empty at this late hour. The main concern of the blonde girl, however, was not to not be seen by anyone, but to manage to make it to the skyport in time, before the airship took off. She steered into narrow roads and garbage-ridden alleyways, climbed atop of roofs, jumped over carts, wagons, whatever she could use to hinder them, but her brothers were still able to keep up, despite the obstacles she made them go through. But the semblances of all three siblings were almost similar, and perfect for evading -or maybe, going through- such obstacles. The cloud of black smoke was hot on her heels, morphing every few seconds into the muscular figure of Alban, the youngest twin. The other, Russ, was teleporting closer and closer to her.

Since none of them knew the city well, Rosanna was deciding her route on the spot, and the only thing her brothers could do was to follow her, until they could catch her. She spotted an outdoors market stationed in a wide, empty road between two buildings, and led them there, an idea shaping in her head. She unsheathed her axes and aimed a powerful swing at her two pursuers, who immediately tried to dodge it. To her advantage, the twins had no idea how her weapons work. The axe grips stayed in her hands, while the shoulder of the handles disconnected, revealing the long iron chains, which sent the sharp axe blades flying towards her brothers. The blades cut through the pillars of the stands and kiosks along the wide road, spilling wooden and metallic debris, as well as remains of merchandise onto the road. Without missing a second, Rosanna holstered her weapons and resumed her sprint.

In the distance she could see a field showered in light, with a tall communications tower in its middle; the skyport! Her little trick had given her a small lead, but Russ's and Alban's slurs became louder and louder as they kept on running after her. She couldn't use her weapons to fight in these narrow alleyways and streets, but her semblance was ideal; she was like a ghost, transparent and invulnerable. Unfortunately for her, Alban's smoke and Russ' teleportation granted them the same immunity to attacks. She had no way to tell how long it was until her destination. She'd be free the moment she set her foot on the ship. Her freedom was within her reach, so long as she kept running. She sped up, only to be met with a dead-end.

With a loud gasp, she used her semblance to avoid the two knives Alban sent flying at her, but Russ' whip coiled around her ankles as soon as its effects faded. She lost her balance and fell onto the ground, and Alban quickly immobilized her before she could reach for her weapons. "Gotcha, Rosie!" he cackled. "Got our little ghost!"

While Alban forced her on her knees, Russ grabbed her bag and yanked it away. The straps came loose, and the grey backpack hung from his hand. After giving it a quick inspection, he tossed it back at her. "So, you're going to become a Huntress, huh? That why you're in such a hurry?"

Her expression of shock and confusion must have seemed hilarious to her brothers, who guffawed at the sight of it, their laughter echoing in the vacant alley. "You thought we wouldn't find out, you moron?" Alban sneered, tightening his grip on her wrists. "Did ya forget what we are? What we do? Need me to remind ya?"

"Still, though, I'm surprised. You did a pretty good job hiding it from us, ya know. You've been studying and practicing so hard, Rosie, that you got yourself into a nice Huntsmen academy. Our little Rosie is going to Beacon Academy! Don't think it doesn't make me proud," Russ said, putting his whip away. "I just didn't know they accept thieves."

"I'm not a thief! I'm not like you!" Rosanna shouted back, struggling to hold back tears. "N-not anymore..." she added, almost inaudibly. The twins exchanged a blank glance, before breaking into a roaring fit of laughter again.

"Not like us? Not like us?" Russ repeated. "Did you hit your head or something? Or are you just this dumb? You mean to tell me you've been a lawful citizen all this time? A good little girl? Aw, Rosie, you're suck a joke!"

"Shut up!" she screamed, trying to break away from Alban's grasp, but with no success. Having used her semblance constantly to lose her pursuers, she was now unable to activate it. "Shut up!" she continued, her voice now a whine. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"

"It's that stupid excuse of an officer, right? She put all those crazy ideas into your head, making you believe that you can actually do it," Russ continued. "I should have taken you away from her from the start, but I figured it'd be good for us and the gang if she taught you how to fight. And it was useful. Don't you think you helped us?" Rosanna turned her head away, avoiding his piercing glance. "Fine, whatever. It's not like it matters what you think."

"You can't leave us all behind, Rosie," Alban joined in. "What will Mom and Dad say? What about the gang? And the Captain? Captain's gonna be sad if you leave. You are one of our best thieves, after all." His hand squeezed her cheeks, but she didn't bother fighting him away. "Be careful, Rosie. You aren't supposed to be doing such things. There are so many people who're gonna get angry at you if you do this, ya know. They're gonna come after you."

"And why do you go to that academy? S'far as I know, you never wanted to become a Huntress. You wanna be a hero? A fighter for humanity? Please..." Russ scoffed.

"I... I wanna get away from you," Rosanna muttered in a shaky voice. "From you two... From Mom and D-dad..." Alban laughed once more, but Russ stared down at her, deadpan serious. He knelt down in front of her and put his hand under her chin.

"And then... what?" he asked, his voice and face completely blank. Her pink eyes widened in fear. "You think you're going to be able to survive on your own? You think you're clever and strong enough to make it? You and I know very well that you're not very smart; that's why Alban and I have to tell you what to do. You always relied on us for everything, you're no good on your own. Do you really think you can make it?"

Tears rolling down her cheeks, Rosanna shook her head trying to make his words disappear from her head. "I can... Akane says that I can.. do it..."

"You aren't going to last a month," Russ went on, blatantly ignoring her. "Once you realize just what you got yourself into, you'll come running back to us. You'll come back to us, you hear me? Let her go, Alban." The youngest twin protested, but soon enough obeyed. "If you're stupid enough to believe what that woman has told you, then go ahead. Do what you wanna do. But we know you're gonna come back to us once you realize your mistake. We and the gang will be waiting for you, okay?" Smiling widely, he helped his sister up her feet and shoved her backpack into her hands. "Or you can save us the trouble and come back to Kuchinashi now."

Rosanna stood silent for a few minutes, her eyes staring at her boots, before she climbed on top of the wall behind her and run off towards the skyport, not looking back even for an instant. She was still crying, but there was no time to stop and calm down. The airship wasn't going to wait for her, and Akane would not forgive her if she missed it. "It's your dream," she used to tell her. "You have to fight hard for it. You can't let it go. It's what you really, really want, right?" Somewhere to her left, she heard a loud snorting sound, and turned to find a single Boarbatusk ready to charge at her. It must have strayed away from the pack. She was now out of the city, in the middle of a barren field, and her freedom was just a few more minutes away. Sniffling softly, she unsheathed her axes once more. A minute later, the Grimm had vanished into smoke, and she had resumed her running.

/ / /

Outside of the enormous airship waited Akane, looking more agitated than ever. "There you are! I was so worried! Where were you? What were you doing? Are you alright?" the red-haired officer asked frantically, gesturing vividly.

"I just got lost. I'm okay," Rosanna replied softly. There was no attempt on her behalf to make herself sound believable, but Akane didn't seem to notice, and if she did, she paid zero attention to it. She ushered her on the airship. Several other new recruits had settled in inside the cabin. Some were already asleep, while others were chatting in small groups.

"Go now! Remember everything I've said, and you're going to be fine!" she told her, grinning. "You're finally doing this! I couldn't be happier for you!" Rosanna couldn't hear the next sentence over the roaring engines, but caught the last bit. "...your dream!" Akane screamed, waving her student goodbye.

Rosanna waved back just as the gate was shut. She let her shoulders drop, and moved further into the cabin, trying to keep balance as the airship took flight. She found the observation deck on the front of the hull, and looked on until the lights of the city of Mistral were miniscule, like hundreds of tiny fireflies. Eventually, the city disappeared into the night, and the only thing visible was the pitch-black sea underneath them. Putting her bag down, Rosanna let out a heavy sigh.

Becoming a Huntress was never her dream; it was the dream Akane had for her. All the training and studying she'd done was for Akane, not for herself. But Rosanna felt like she did have something to win in all that; freedom from her abusers. Akane had told her that going to Beacon meant that she'd get to stay away from them. And now she had succeeded in doing so. From now on, she was starting a new life, in a new continent, with a new name. She had taken extra care to make sure no-one would recognize her, even though, thanks to her mentor, authorities in Kuchinashi still didn't know her face. She'd leave everything behind, in hopes that nothing would come after her to haunt her.

She jumped up when she felt a pat on her shoulder, and turned around, swiftly grabbing the hand that had just touched her. "Woah, sorry, I didn't wanna startle you!" Immediately, Rosanna let go of the hand of the blue-haired girl who was standing beside her. "I didn't wanna scare you. My friends and I are playing a board game, but we need one more person and most people here wanna sleep. Would you like to play with us?" The girl didn't wait for her to respond, and pulled her along towards her group of friends. "Oh, I'm Nila, by the way. You are...?"

She hesitated for a moment. The other people in the group had yet to notice the newcomer, but Nila was looking at her intensely, grinning. Eventually, she gave her a small, forced smile. "My name is Rosanna Gunt- Err, Alcmene. Rosanna Alcmene."