Breaking Remnant: Bound by Shadows
Rating: T/M
Series: RWBY
Pairing:
Volume 1: Spring
Summary: Aganju came to Beacon wanting to be treated as equal. Pyrrha wanted to be viewed as a normal girl. Neither of them expected to be that fate would have them meet. Now, they navigate the academy grounds and beyond, with secrets and danger awaiting them at every corner. The alternate timeline takes place just before the start of RWBY volume 1 and AU in the Breaking Remnant series. (Rewrite of RWBY: Shadows of Destiny)
Author's Note:
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to RWBY... that honor belongs to Rooster Teeth. I do own the rights to my OCs.
Chapter 2
Today was the day.
Initiation day.
The upperclassmen gathered in the amphitheater, each one savoring the moment when the headmaster launched the new crop of would-be huntsmen and huntresses. Their wait was rewarded when a panicked wail erupted on screen, courtesy of a blond boy; they literally debated that part. Throughout the moments shown via the camera feeds, the auditorium was abuzz with various conversations about the newest crop of incoming students.
First was the aforementioned blond boy who didn't appear to be anything special. In fact, many wondered how he even got this far due to Beacons' rigid selection process. The same could be said for a certain red-hooded girl, though not for the same reason. Unlike the taller boy, she was a capable warrior in her own right, though her age and inexperience proved to raise a few eyebrows. There was also a certain orange-haired girl who appeared to be hopped up on caffeine and sugar who appeared to be partnered up with a dark-haired boy with a pink streak. There was also another blond who appeared to be extremely carefree, if not short-tempered.
Out of the various groups, Aganju felt drawn to three, in particular, his focus silently rotating between the various screens.
The first was a small girl with snow-white hair that was tied in an asymmetrical ponytail. Amidst the chatter and noise, he managed to pick up the girl's last name; one that was famous to some but infamous to him and other faunus. Schnee. It was a name that either struck fear or hatred in the hearts of the faunus. It wasn't that uncommon due to their controversial practices with faunus labor. Still, he felt more curiosity than anger upon seeing her, mainly asking himself why she was even in Vale in the first place.
The second was a raven-haired girl with amber eyes. She carried an air of mystery to her, one notably being when he noticed just the slightest hint of her black bow twitch at times. One could be forgiven for missing such minute detail, but Aganju was considered to be one of the best in-training huntsmen currently and details were his specialty.
Finally, he noticed a rather tall girl with scarlet red hair. Like the Schnee girl, this huntress kept her hair in a ponytail though she was adorned in armor that gave off the impression she was a capable warrior in her own right. He kept his focus mainly on her as she helped the incompetent blond out with his aura. Even when there were far more interesting and noteworthy moments to pay attention to, the dual-trait faunus kept finding his gaze being pulled to whatever the red-head was doing.
"See something you like, Aganju?"
"What?" he blinked several times, finding himself face to face with his partner, Roxanne. The ram was eyeing him, her lips lifting slyly as the vulpine's face began to heat up.
"Don't play dumb with me," she winked smugly, snickering. "I know when you're checking out a girl and you've definitely had your eyes on that tall drink of water there."
Aganju was not amused at his partner's antics. He turned away, letting his wild black hair shield his features.
"Whatever... I'm just scouting the talent pool."
"Yeah. Between the mysterious girl in black, the strong yet caring warrior, and the forbidden royal, I'm sure you'll find time for 'sparring'.
His reason was shoddy, at best, but it was enough to get Roxanne to leave him alone... if only for a moment. Still, he'd be lying if Roxanne's words didn't carry some weight as he returned to the many monitors. That didn't mean the fox would concede to the teasing girl's jabs either. In fact, he thought he caught her stealing glances at the monitor that showed the dark-haired mystery girl but, it was the buxom blond who would be the recipient of her attention.
But, seeing the batch of new blood go toe to toe against many different forms of Grimm. From a King Taijitu to a Nevermore to a Death Stalker, he couldn't help but recall his own initiation where he and his team were forced to deal with one of the real dangers that lurked outside of the safety of the school grounds.
[Emerald Forest/1 Year Ago]
It was now time for Aganju to show what he was made of.
Of course, what goes up must always come down and the fox was more than prepared as he drew Ngaungis, his double-sided glaive. As a massive tree drew ever closer, he grinned before slashing at it multiple times. This allowed him to passed through the now smaller logs without so much as a scratch while landing on a branch.
He flipped and parkoured over to each nearby limb until he ended up rolling safely on the ground.
"Solid landing..." he chuckled, dusted himself off.
With the landing strategy taken care of, Aganju wondered who he'd run into.
Clutching Ngaungis, he rushed past the trees while keeping an eye on his surroundings. Remembering his previous encounter near Argus, the last thing he wanted was to be caught off guard by Grimm again. The sounds of the ground crunching under his boots were the only sounds that accompanied him until a roar caught his attention followed by a low grunt that forced him to stop dead in his tracks.
"Great..." he rolled his eyes. I hope I don't regret this.
While his mind told him to go on down the path, that nagging feeling in his gut was pulling him to check out the source of that noise. As expected of himself, he followed the sensation in his gut. Rushing past the various bushes and trees, he found a clearing coming into view. It was there that he found a girl with Auburn pigtails fending off a small group of Beowolfs by herself.
From his position, he could tell that she was rather short but, no less capable of handling herself as she landed a solid straight left on a lunging beast, sending it flying into a nearby rock face. Whoever she was, she was pretty adept at combat as she continued to bounce on her toes, ducking and side-stepping plenty of the monsters with expert timing. However, what really caught the attention of Aganju was when one of the Beowolfs tried to swipe at her only to land on its face.
Instead of just stepping to the side, the girl spun around, and with the momentum, she punched it on the top of its head smashing it into the ground.
"Whoa!"
"Huh?" she suddenly turned around to finally notice the faunus behind her. This left her wide open for a joint attack from the Grimm who didn't want to waste the opportunity for a potential meal. By the time she could react, she knew it was too late. Two of the evil creatures were already descending on her with little time to defend herself.
Thankfully, the boy was able to slash at the Beowolf before it could take a bit out of her arm. With his blade drawn, he proceeded to slash away at them repeatedly until they fell back in a heap. Another one tried its hand at attacking from the left side only to wind up getting skewered on the end of his blade before being sliced in two when he managed to split the big weapon into two halves.
"Hey! I had it under control!" she yelled at him.
"Doesn't mean I can't help..." he looked back over his shoulder at her indignant expression.
Soon another group of the wolf Grimm began to emerge from the brush and surrounded the two. The girl bumped against him and took her boxer's stance. Aganju, hearing the growls behind them, pressed his back to hers ready to strike.
"Think you can handle them?"
"Prubly..." she replied dryly. "Can you?"
"Did you not just see me?"
"I softened 'em up for ya."
The fox rolled his eyes and returned his focus to the ravenous Grimm around them. The snarling creatures stalked closer yet, neither Aganju nor the shorter girl showed any signs of being intimidated. Quite the opposite, as they stared at their foes with a focused gaze before leaping at their enemies.
They dispatched the monsters rather easily, each one trying to outdo the other.
"Not bad..." the vulpine stretched, taking in a deep breath. "Um... I never got your name."
Roxanne Octane. You can call me Roxie though."
"Aganju Umbrae. Nice to meet you."
The girl held out a hand to Aganju who shook it out of respect.
Surrounding them were the disappearing carcasses of the Beowolfs that failed to defeat them. They each put away their weapons and made their way toward the temple where the relics awaited. It was a rather uneventful trek, but they managed to make it with no other issues unless you'd count the awkward silence between the pair.
"By the way, sorry for throwing you off and... What are you doing?"
The question came as a result of the girl staring at him for an uncomfortably long amount of time. His cheeks became flush at the sudden invasion of privacy yet, it did little to affect Roxanne. This went on for another few seconds before she finally looked away as if she had suddenly realized what she was doing. Those big fiery orbs peered through his Emeralds, threatening to burn past his defenses had she not looked away when she had.
"Sorry."
"No problem...?" he replied. "That was just unexpected."
"I didn't mean to stare..." she averted her gaze. "Guess it's 'prubly obvious that I don't get out much. I just remembered that we were s'posed to make eye contact if we're gonna be partners. It's pretty neat to meet another Faunus too, especially one with two traits instead of one.
Aganju took note of her explanation and squinted his eyes when his own cognizance hit him.
"You're a faunus too?"
"Of course! Ain't it obvious?" she replied, annoyed when he shook his head. "How on earth can't you..."
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"
As she was readying to berate him, Roxanne watched as a large amount of her hair flowing in front of her thanks to the wind. Her hair must've come undone during the fight with the Grimm and she was just now noticing it. She quickly grabbed the tufts of hair and, using a tie, regained her pigtails and revealing partially severed ram horns.
Sensing the fox's thoughts, Roxanne just started toward the temple, hiding the shame on her face. Thankfully, Aganju didn't press the issue; something more important awaited them. Heading down the makeshift path, the pair stared at the collection of 'relics', both intrigued by the 'artifacts' resting on the pedestal. To say that it wasn't expected would be an understatement.
They both would have to discuss the oddities later.
They rushed through the forest in hopes of avoiding any more issues. That was wishful thinking as the pair wound up running into a King Taijitu, and running FROM said King Taijitu. Aganju and Roxie gasped for any amount of air as they hacked and slashed their way through various parts of the forest with two large reptile heads snapping at them every few seconds. The former had tried to blast the creature with Nguangus in its bow form, but it only served to infuriate the monster.
After that failed attempt at slowing it down, the two settled on avoiding and outrunning the King Taijitu.
Their efforts brought them to a clearing. With enough space to move around effectively, Aganju chose that moment to morph his weapon back into its glaive form. He then pivoted on the balls of his feet, he shoved the blade into the ground, sending a large amount of dirt and dust into the serpent's eyes. Seeing this, Roxanne used her semblance to make the dust ignite after mixing in fire dust with it, sparking all around the Grimm's unprotected eyes.
With it temporarily blinded, they turned to run again only to wind running into someone.
"Ouch..." the girl groaned while clutching her head. Whatever it was that she ran into, it was sturdy yet, comfortable. It was only when she placed her hand down that she realized something was off. Instead of the hard ground underneath her, she felt strong pectoral muscles underneath soft fabric. Royal sickly green eyes finally opened to find a dark-skinned boy with fox ears dazed from the impact. "Watch where you're going!"
Aganju managed to shake off the effects, clearly miffed by the girl's rudeness.
"Uh... You ran into me."
A tint of pink adorned the orange-haired girl upon his rebuttal.
"W-well, you shouldn't have been standing in the way!"
"Whatever. Would you mind getting off of my chest now?" He shuffled under her. "We're trying not to get eaten here."
That's when the girl saw that she was straddling the male. With wide eyes, she hopped off of the boy as if he'd burned her and began dusting herself off. Meanwhile, Roxanne was busy helping a boy, whom she bumped into, to his feet. Unlike the green-eyed girl, he was more grateful for her assistance.
"What had you both runnin' for the hills like that?" the ram asked before noticing the boy's scales and reptilian tail. "You're a faunus too! Like us!"
"We both are!" the girl protested with a smile, after reaching her feet, giving an animated peace sign. "Esu's a dragon. I'm Scylla and I'm a cobra."
With a smirk, Esu nodded only to remember the big issue that brought them here. His silver eyes shifted back to terror once the ground began to rumble slightly. Sure enough, their pursuers rushed toward them, a partially blinded King Taijitu. It was hardly alone though. It was accompanied by a vicious snarl from one of three Beowolf that drew the attention of the four.
"Oh great!" Scylla slumped in disbelief. "Does the universe want to add anything to the melting pot?"
Unknown to them, another Grimm would take that invitation. It was on the small side, one of its advantages as it slithers along the back of the King Taijitu. It was a small skull-like creature, with three pairs of eyes, a pair of horns, and several tentacles. Soon, it began to extend its tentacles, landing on and freezing the trio of remaining Beowolf. Instantly, they froze in place, their growls soon turning into whimpers as they were drug toward the serpent.
Aganju and the others watched with a mix of shock and disgust as the four hellacious beings suddenly started melding into one another. Their twisted howls and hisses echoed throughout the forest region. Notwithstanding, none of the would-be huntsmans dropped their guard.
"I swear I was just kidding..." the serpent clamped a hand over her mouth, her stomach churning as the grotesque transformation began to reach its conclusion.
"Um... Should we run?" Roxanne backed away.
Silver, violet, orange, and green eyes looked on in horror at the results of the transformation, worry gripping their very souls. No longer were they facing three Beowolf and a King Taijitu. Now they were face to face with something far worse. Three pairs of bloody eyes narrowed at the four students. Three heavily armored heads rested on one body, each snarling or licking its lips in anticipation of their impending meal. Its tail was now split into two snakeheads that swayed with a mind of its own.
Whatever it is, it had just made running no longer an option.
The Emerald Forest shook with a mighty roar. The ground shook with each step the ferocious Grimm took. A trio of heads lunged and snapped at the foursome who tried to dodge its hungry attempts. Esu and Roxanne did their best to slow the beast down using the latter's dust gauntlets to keep it's attention while the former would rush it with his buster sword. Aganju and Scylla took to the trees as they tried to figure out a way to capitalize on the moment, aiming to land on one of its heads.
They were both stopped midair when the Cerberus Grimm spun on its heel, lashing its serpentine tail at them. The brunt of the blow forced them into the trees, snapping one in half, courtesy of the vulpine faunus. A horrifying shriek bellowed from the monster as a result before turning its attention to the remaining two.
"Got anything in that bag of tricks of yours, Roxie?" Esu allowed a nervous grin to appear.
"Keep trying to wear it down..."
It wasn't the best plan, but it was better than nothing. The chimera beast began to stalk forward only to freeze in its tracks unexpectantly. Confused, Esu and Roxanne found a recovering Scylla focusing her gaze on the Grimm. Her pale green orbs turned into serpentine slits as she hissed. This was her semblance with she dubbed as Medusa's Glare. However, it took a massive toll on her as she slowly limped to her allies.
"Scylla?"
"Hurry up and attack it!" she strained, wincing at the throbbing in her skull. "I can't hold this forever!"
The two heavy hitters agreed and rushed at the beast, each charging up their most devastating assault in hopes of ending things. Unfortunately, being inexperienced in using her ability on such a large creature, the effects would be reduced to slowing the monster's advances. This was all it would need as while it was unable to move away from the attack, the chimera could still use its tails to whip the duo away, sending them crashing into the cobra faunus, effectively knocking them all unconscious in the process.
Meanwhile, Aganju began to stir, his breaths labored. The fox clutched at his head, trying to shake off the cobwebs as the pain dulled. His vision was still a little blurred but he could make out the fallen forms of both Roxanne & Esu as well as an unconscious Scylla. With the Grimm stalking closer to the injured girl, he felt an all too familiar heat build-up inside of his body.
Normally, he'd hear the voices taunting and pushing him to that dark place. This time, he didn't hear that but rather, a soft melody playing. It was like the sound of a music box, creepy and eerie in its tune. He pulled himself up to his feet, struggling to get his legs back underneath him again.
"HEY!" he called out to the Grimm, pulling its gaze upon himself. "We have unfinished business."
As if understanding the boy, the chimera began to threaten him, a low growl rumbling from its belly. Aganju wasn't afraid though, that familiar power within him beginning to shroud his body in a bloody coat. He didn't resist it, allowing the aura to take over his body while the beast began to pick up the pace. Single steps turned from a jog to a full out sprint as it sought only to devour the first of its many meals. Little did it know, that's what he wanted.
Aganju opened his eyes, a dark sneer stretching his lips as the beautiful violet gems were replaced with red surrounded by the dark abyss glaring back at the rushing monster. He easily leaped back to avoid the first attack then ducked under the second swipe.
He then ran to his weapon with the creature following close behind. The pain in his head began to subside completely just as he clutched his hands around the hilt of Ngaungis and with bloodlust oozing from him, he sprung at the abomination, slashing its right head off in one swipe.
Then another.
and another.
Another.
Each blow from his glaive seemed to cause increasing pain, fueled by the faunus' rage. In the midst of his wild assault, his blade happened to strike the smaller Grimm that was attached to it, leaving behind the wounded remains of the separated Grimm that made up its former massive form. Soon, he launched one final strike to completely decimate the snake and wolf Grimm.
It was only a few moments after, but Roxanne managed to snap out of her unwelcome nap feeling like she'd been hit by a bus. That was a pretty accurate comparison once she remembered being hit by the Grimm. Her eyes then immediately shot open upon recalling the current situation. Picking herself up, Roxanne saw her partner standing over the vanishing smoke that showed the sinister beast was no longer alive.
Aganju stood over the fading ashes, triumphant but it came at a price as his figure now held a foreboding spirit. His burning aura slowly began to fade leaving behind a lingering feral presence in the wind. Is this his semblance? She wondered. Or is this something completely different?
Whatever it was that aided, it was enough to stop their toughest enemy to date which meant they were successful in battle, though the price of such power would ring true when the faunus dropped to one knee in exhaustion. Roxanne rushed over to this side, concern adorning her features.
"Are you okay?" she draped his arm over her shoulder.
He turned his head toward her, flashing a tired yet positive smile. Relief washed over the worry, Roxanne smiling back.
"Didn't know you cared so much..."
"Whatever! I just don't want to explain to the others why you died or nothin'." she rolled her eyes playfully.
They both shared a gentle laugh while two groans from behind them drew the pair's attention.
"Did we win?" Esu rubbed his sore neck.
The air around the four began to lift when Aganju nodded.
"Yeah... It's over."
Back in the present, Aganju continued to watch as two of the final teams began to return with their relics. A ghost of a grin would form as he began to make his exit. There wasn't much left for him to see with things wrapping up, and after spending half the day between 'scouting' and reminiscing, he needed a break. After so much action, he needed some food and a nap.
Said break would cost him the remainder of the day as the fox sat alongside the cliffside over the Emerald Forest. By now, it was sunset so all of the first years were either moving into their dorms or partying. He didn't mind taking time to himself as his tail swayed with the breeze. As he gazed upon the scene that lay before him, Aganju found himself lost in thought as he inhaled the sweet air.
"It's very beautiful, isn't it?"
Aganju tensed for a moment, cursing his moment of vulnerability, hearing a soft and cheerful voice as he turned around.
The owner of the voice was a girl with scarlet red hair tied in a waist-length ponytail and green eyes with the most innocent smile he'd ever seen. he noticed that she wore a brown overbust corset with a vertical strip of lighter brown in the center. Additionally, she wore an elastic, black, A-line mini skirt and brown opera-length gloves on both arms. She wore a red ankle-length sash that wrapped around her skirt. Underneath her hair, she always wore a brown circlet adorned with a pair of small, green, teardrop-shaped emeralds on thin chains. She also sported a large bronze gorget around her neck and a bronze bracelet on the upper half of her left arm.
If one were to glance at her, they'd find themselves rather intimidated by the armored style of dress. However, it was her soft and innocent smile that put such notions to rest.
"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you!"
"N-No! It's alright..." he tried to comfort, chuckling nervously. Wait. Why was he nervous? "I just wasn't paying attention."
"It still doesn't excuse my abruptness. I could've said something earlier."
He watched as she blushed, sparking something in his chest.
"Seriously, it's alright. No harm."
The girl finally smiled again, much to his gratitude.
"Would you mind if I stood here?"
"Sure. I don't mind at all."
As she stood next to him, the vulpine spared a glance and found that she was truly beautiful as she looked at the scenery, captivated by mother nature's natural appearance. If it weren't for the faunus chocolate complexion, the burning shade of red that surfaced would've been as clear at the skies. Thankfully, he managed to regain his former self before she turned to him.
"Might I ask your name?"
"Huh?" she stared blankly at the sudden request.
"You name. I'd like to thank you for sharing this moment in time with me."
Though it was an odd request, the fox didn't protest.
"I'm Aganju Umbrae. The leader of Team ASRE."
"Pyrrha Nikos. Member of Team JNPR."
The pair began to spark a conversation, starting with their teammates, highlighted by the faunus' shock at who her leader was. This earned a hysterical laugh from the girl that sounded adorable to him. They'd carry on with his time at Beacon, him being upperclassmen and typical teenager things, though that was a grey area given their lack of social interactions. Still, despite being strangers, there was a sense of familiarity that neither was brave enough to mention...
...at least not yet.
"It's nice to meet you, Pyrrha. You're one of the first years aren't you?" She nodded with a small giggle. "Well, I might not be the first, but, welcome to Beacon Academy. I'm sure we'll be seeing each other around a lot."
"I wouldn't mind that. I actually saw you earlier after returning from the forest and..."
Aganju frowned softly.
"And what?"
"It's nothing. I just thought that maybe we could be friends."
Outside of CFVY and his own team, Aganju didn't really have friends, given his reserved nature. Pyrrha would pick this up when his ears splayed down and his gaze shifted away for a moment. This brought a frown of regret on the amazon's face as she averted her eyes to the ground below.
"I'm sorry... I made you uncomfortable."
"No need to apologize," he cut her off, eager to avoid plunging deeper in despair. "I just wasn't expecting that just now."
"B-Because, I'm a celebrity." The nerves turned to bewilderment as the foxes' head tilted slightly. When Pyrrha saw this, she wondered what could've caused this response. "What?"
"You're a celebrity?"
"You... haven't heard of me?" she raised a skeptical brow. He shook his head. "Pumpkin Petes? Winner of the Sanctum battle tournament? Argus?"
"You're from Argus?!" he shouted, his violet orbs lighting up as she nodded. "Me too! I graduated from Sanctum a year before you did!"
Once again, the duo would get lost in deep conversation, each one sharing stories about their time there. It was a wonder that neither knew about the other until now. Maybe this was another example of Anima's rigid system. It mattered little to them at this point, but it was nice to find some strong connections that link them closer. They were so caught up in their dialogue, neither human nor faunus realized that they'd spent the remainder of the sunlight talking, leaving them in mostly darkness aside from the shattered moon above.
"I guess we should head back" Pyrrha uttered. "Though it may prove difficult with there being little light."
"Take my hand."
"What?"
"I can see in the dark; faunus trait. I can lead us back to campus."
Pyrrha obliged and placed her palm into his own. It didn't take long before they arrived back on campus and not a moment too soon as they arrived just before the final curfew. Interestingly they both lived in the same dorm hall, though Aganju stayed a few floors up.
They arrived at the room of Team JNPR, both still trying to know more about the other. Only when they officially did they notice that they were still holding hands. Quickly, they pulled away, clearing their throats and not making eye contact.
"I... appreciate you escorting me to my room."
"It was nothing. I was just being friendly..." he blushed. "I was happy to help."
"Thank you very much" she bowed respectfully before reaching for the door.
"W-Wait..."
"Is everything alright, Aganju?"
"Yes..." She eyed him questionably, uncertain of what he meant. "I mean... I'd like to be your friend."
If at all possible, Pyrrha's smile grew wide and bright at his response. She then wrapped the faunus in a hug, much to his hesitation. Even with his uneasiness, Aganju found his cover blown when his tail wagged happily as a result, further cementing his inexperience with this kind of display. He didn't have to feel too bad though as Pyrrha pulled away, blushing.
"Um... Goodnight, Aganju."
"G-Goodnight Pyrrha," he waved while trying to stop his tail from wagging before heading off to his floor.
When she entered the room, she was greeted by her team, each one carrying a different expression for their own reasons. Jaune Arc, her leader, and her partner was just happy that she was safe and sound before returning to his comic. Unknown why initially, Lie Ren (or just Ren for short) had a look of disdain directed at a certain energetic teammate of hers. Nora Valkyrie was the only one who had a smug grin, clearly showing that she'd been listening in on the conversation, much to Ren's woes.
Pyrrha chose to ignore the line of questions that came after, choosing to get ready in her casual brown pajamas before settling in for bed. She still ended up being bombarded by a slew of inquiries, deciding to share only his name and the fact that he was a faunus before refusing any others. Soon, they all retired for the night, but a single question continued to swirl within the girl's dreams, one that would prove to be typical for her.
Do you believe in destiny?
