Sangokuden x RWBY: Hunt of the Armored War Gods

Written By: GKoh

Chapter 2: Stray

A Year Earlier

Stories have existed after, during and even before mankind was created. It can range from a multitude of events such as the time when a child succeeded on the first time walking or the time when the child, now grown up was finally able to graduate. Indeed, stories have always been part of man's life and culture. However, what do you call a story that was grander among the rest? Legends.

Stories scattered through time. Many legends told of heartbreaking tragedies but there were also ones detailing of miracles where the impossible became possible like when two different species who drowned so long in each other's blood, united against a common enemy they both shared and as they fought together, they stumbled together into peace. While a few of these legends may be fakes but the impact they brought to those who read it were very much real. These readers were inspired and they ventured to places where some even found their true calling.

Another thing about legends was that they are unpredictable. They can come out of nowhere and it just so happens that right now, a new legend was about to be born.

XXX

For eons, the mantle of ruler has been passed on to many creatures. Arthropods were the first to hold it but the mantle would later be passed on to the amphibians, then the reptiles, then the birds and finally, mammals.

The mammals were unique compared to the others. One particular species of mammal, mankind was strong, wise and resourceful. Joining hand to hand, they united as one and did many astounding feats. They build massive cities, made devices that let them see in the night and invented things that allowed them to travel through land, air and sea. Thus, they wielded the mantle and were the dominant species of their planet.

That was true in other worlds but in this world, the mantle was given to another.

Mankind, born from dust entered this world like so many before but it was an unforgiving world. During the dawn of mankind's time, a great darkness revealed itself who not only took mankind's role as rulers but they threatened mankind's very existence, the creatures of Grimm.

The Grimm were beasts with monstrous savagery and an uncontrollable hunger for destruction. There were many questions about the Grimm but one thing was certain. They were bent on wiping out mankind and all of their creations. While mankind fought back valiantly, they were no matched against the Grimm's brutal might.

It seemed that their time was near and mankind will had no choice but to return back into the void. That it was until their passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would helped even the odds, Dust.

Nature's wrath in hand, mankind's faith and hope were restored. They marched forth, lighting their way through the darkness. In the shadow's absence came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life.

However while mankind succeeded in building safe havens to populate and grow, they are still under threat by the Grimm who are waiting for the right opportunity to strike. Thus, they must always be on the lookout. Unfortunately, the story took place far away from civilization.

Beyond the walls and far away from the kingdoms, there was a forest. The land was filled with healthy green trees that stood tall as the wind blew against them. Below them, grass and flowers flourished. Deer and boars grazed in the forest while at the same time on the lookout for predators. Birds soared through the skies without a care in the world.

A beautiful sight it was. Then came the humans who were traversing through it. Humans could venture out of the walls but they must face the consequences that came with it. Many attempted and many never returned. Today, a new group dared. While the group comprised mostly of brutish folk, one was different among them.

He was Roman Torchwick, notorious criminal mastermind. He may looked like a gentleman but he was far from an actual one. He has a ten giraffe neck long rap sheet that may need another update as his latest ill deed was horrible fashion wear. It was not his fault entirely. Trekking through this forest has attracted the mud and twigs to stick on his nice clothes.

Roman mumbled like a disgruntled dog, seeing his clothes like this. Two days ago, his friend contacted him. He asked the criminal to journey outside the walls because he discovered something. Roman obviously refused at first but somehow his friend managed to talked him into it.

A big regret for Roman. Getting to where he was now was not a pretty sight. Roman was then thinking of something black hearted. He hoped that his friend's discovery was a good one or else he was going to kill him.

After about almost eighteen hours of walking, Roman and his men exited out of the forest and into a very thick mist. Thankfully, Roman's friend told him about this. He said to get through, they must followed a series of lights that were set up. They found them and continued on until they found the friend and his team.

"Roman!" The friend went in to give Roman a hug until Roman raised his hand in front of him.

Roman cried out, "No! No more messing of the suit."

Deciding to go topic, Roman's friend asked, "Okay, so how was your flight to here?"

"Well let's see," Roman sarcastically explained, "After flying passed the borders, we got attacked by a Nevermore whose big sharp feathers wrecked the wings of our ships and we crashed down, forcing us to go by foot."

"That's bad," the friend frowned while Roman rolled his eyes.

Roman continued, "Along the way to here, we accidentally entered a long grass and got ambushed by a pack of Beowolves. Sure it was easy taking them out but one of them tackled me into a mud pit. After that, we got caught in a landslide messing up my suit even more and I lost my hat in the process."

"That's really bad," replied Roman's friend.

Roman shook his fist in anger. "This was my favorite suit."

Roman's friend decided to change topic again. "Well, look on the bright side. At least you exercised and exercise is the key to a healthy body and flawless good looks."

Frustrated enough, Roman grabbed his friend's shirt and forcefully pulled him closer. "You better have a damn good explanation for making me come here or I'll…"

It was because of this that Roman's friend held his hands defensively. "Okay, I get it."

"Let me ask you a question," questioned the friend. "What do you see?"

"You infuriating me." Roman glared at his friend.

"Suppress your rage and extend your range, what do you see?"

Roman looked around. There was nothing. It took a while before it hit him. "There's…no Grimm."

The friend cheered, "Exactly, no teeth, no red eyes, nothing. That's why I called you here."

"The Grimm more or less ruled the entire world. I would have expected some Death Stalkers lurking about here."

"But they aren't," The friend replied. "The Grimm are keeping themselves far away from this place. It's like they're afraid of something."

'That's impossible,' Roman thought to himself. The Grimm were monsters of darkness. They have no souls. Thus, they cannot fear anything.

The friend escorted Roman who asked, "What do you think it is?"

"The boys and I are still theorizing but most likely it has to do with that." Roman's friend pointed what could be the reason. A huge mountain that towered above them all. The mountain was dark green-gray in color and deadly jagged all over giving it a sinister appearance but that was not the strange part. The strange part was that a complex of some sort was wedged against the mountain's side.

When they got close, Roman commented on the complex, "Looks like a…really old fort?"

"BOOM!"

Roman and his friend jumped when they heard a loud voice shouting boom. They turned around and saw a man with a punk hairstyle and twitchy eyes.

Roman's friend growled. "God damn it, Boom Boom! Don't sneak up like that!"

"Boom Boom?" Roman questioned.

The friend rubbed his neck as he explained, "Yeah, Boom Boom. He's our demolition expert."

Roman guessed what was next. "And let me guess. He got such a charming name because of the Semblance that matches?"

"No, because he always say 'Boom Boom'. Here, let me show you." The friend called his lackey, "Hey Boom Boom, what's our secure codeword?"

"Boom Boom!" shouted Boom Boom.

"See." the friend then whispered to Roman's ear, "By the way, the secure codeword is codeword."

"Cute," Roman sarcastically replied.

"Anyway, Boom Boom here just finished setting up the explosives on the fort's doors so that we can get inside."

Roman asked, "Why don't you just open the doors? It's that simple."

"You think we didn't try that? We tried pushing that damn thing and it won't budge. So, we went with the alternative," The friend smiled. "Beside, blowing shit up is awesome."

"Won't that explosion cause a rockslide?"

"You can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs." The friend persuaded Roman, "Imagine Roman, some kind of anomaly is repelling the Grimm. Think of the benefits we could give to mankind and plus, the fame and the fortune. And all we need to do is blow these doors opened and find out what it is."

"Okay, you had me at fortune." Roman couldn't argue with that. He always loved money.

Soon, everyone began to back away from the mountain. Once they were at a safe distance, Roman's friend turned to Boom Boom who smiled deviously while holding the triggering device.

"Alright," the countdown commenced, "10, 9, 8..."

The men covered their ears.

"7, 6, 5..."

Roman was looking at his watch in boredom.

"4, 3…"

Boom Boom was ready, playing with his finger around the trigger.

"2…"

Suddenly before the man could finish the countdown, a loud creaking noise was heard. Roman's friend stopped counting and he and the others wondered where that was. They found it and it shocked them. At the mountain, the fort's doors has been mysteriously opened.

"I think we should hold off on the fireworks," Roman suggested.

The friend agreed. He turned to Boom Boom who wanted to know whether he could pressed it. "Sorry Boom Boom."

The friend gave Boom Boom a pat on the shoulder before taking the device from his hand.

He then gave the triggering device to Roman. "Take it. I don't want him to hold it."

Despite this, Roman reluctantly agreed before staring at the old fort. At first, he was filled with greed but now, he had this feeling something bad was about to happen.

XXX

Hours passed and silence reigned the area but before the silence, screams of horror filled the area.

Roman, his friend and their teams entered the fortress to find out what caused the Grimm to go away from the mountain but they found something much more.

Inside the fortress, black columns while aged were the only ones that supported the halls. The red carpets stretched far across. Portraits and drapes were hung on the walls with the portraits having blank images.

Then, Roman appeared. He was running. Sweat was all over him and he was breathing very heavily showing that he was using up a lot of his energy. As he ran, he held onto his flashlight and a brown sack that contained something.

His friends entered the fortress and for the past few hours, they found nothing. It seemed like this whole thing was a complete waste of time until they head up to the throne room where they found something of value. Alas, that was when things turned for the worst.

Their disturbance has awakened someone or something that had been slumbering inside the fortress for a very long time. They attacked the ones who intruded into their domain, picked them off one by one and mercilessly tore them to pieces. Only Roman was left. Left to be pursued by these killers.

Roman ran for his life for hours and he was unable to find the exit. He knew that the fort was big but he did not expect the inside to be bigger than the outside and not to mention, the inside was like a maze. "Who designed this place?" He wondered.

Hearing growling noises, he turned his head and saw his pursuers. Their glowing red eyes lacked jadedness and their snarls had no fatigue as they ran along the walls using their powerful claws. Seeing them, he ran faster.

Seeing the intruder further away, one of the pursuers leapt towards Roman and tackled the criminal to the ground. Roman gasped as the monster tried to bite his head off. Using what's left of his strength, he pushed the slimy beast away.

The monster's friends were not far behind, Roman took something out of his pocket. It was a vial of Dust. He kept a few just in case he encountered cops but this could apply to here as well.

Once they were close, Roman threw the vial towards them. He pointed his cane at it and fired. The shot hit the vial and an explosion occurred. The monsters were blown back and Roman smirked for a brief moment. The explosion had somehow destabilize the floor with cracks forming until it collapsed and Roman screamed as he fell.

Clouds were formed and disappeared minutes after. When they did, Roman was shown alive. He got up and made sure none of his body parts were disjointed. That fall was painful. He then finally noticed the light shining on him. He turned and found the exit.

A joy it was but it was cut short when Roman heard rumbling. He turned and not far away, noticed a pile of debris starting to move. Roman grimaced, realizing his pursuers were digging their way out of the rubble.

He need to think of something or else he's dead. He remembered something. His friend gave him Boom Boom's trigger. He now had an idea. Roman rushed to the exit just as their claws began to pop up from the pile.

Roman got out of the fortress and halted when he was sure he was far away. He saw the monsters exited out of the doors and they roared at him in anger. It did not worked as they saw Roman showing a dark smirk along with a trigger on his hand. They wondered why until one of them noticed the explosives attached near the doors.

The man pressed the trigger and snarled. "Eat rubble, freaks!"

BOOM!

A bigger explosion occurred consuming the monsters and the fortress. Next came the rock slide that began covering the fortress. When the dust cloud died down, Roman lowered his arms. The fortress could not be seen anymore. Only the tons of rocks that took their place.

The criminal sighed in relief. He thought he was goner. Sure, his friend and his men met their untimely deaths but he could get new friends and new henchmen. All that matters was that he got out of that place alive.

RUMBLE!

Roman heard rumbling. He stared at the mountain. Boulders were rolling down as the mountain began to fell apart. It was not the only one. The ground he was standing on was also shaking. Roman gulped in fright. It was time to run again.

XXX

Present Day

The first thing I saw was darkness. I hated the dark because it was what the Grimm represents. Fortunately, I was strong which means I can overcome it. Finally, I did.

I groaned as I opened my eyes. The next thing I saw was light shining on my face. A little too bright for me. So, I pulled myself up. After sweeping the dust out of my clothes, I stretched my muscles.

It was weird that the lights were on. I could have sworn that they were off. That was when I looked around and learned why. It wasn't the lights of my dorm room that shine on me, it was the light from the moon. And I'm not in my room, I'm outside in a forest...during the night.

Before I could think about this more, I heard a loud boom. I got curious and I went to find it. It didn't take long as there was a clear path. I got out of the forest and stopped at the edge of the cliff. Below, I saw something terrible.

A huge army was attacking a village. The village did have a huge wall to protect them but it won't last long. A bad time that I didn't have my Crescent Rose with me. But it didn't matter. I'm a Huntress and my job was to protect the innocent above all else.

I jumped down and rushed to confront the bad guys. I attacked one of them but when I did, I phased right through him.

"What," I gasped. "How?"

I went to hit another bad guy and I had the same thing. I couldn't touch any of them. What should I do? How can I fight the army if I can't even touch them? The village was doomed.

But just when I was about to lose hope, I saw the biggest of the attackers being tossed into the air and slammed against his pals. I paused for a while before I turned around. That's when I saw him.

It was that swordsman from my other dreams which can only mean one thing, I'm dreaming. It all made sense now.

I focused on the armored swordsman who rushed into battle. The swordsman looked like a samurai from those old books I read. While his armor was threatening, the colors of orange and blue gave him a heroic feel. When the bad guys charged at him with their weapons, he took out his two swords and sliced the weapons up before using several kicks that sent the wielders to the ground.

More were approaching the swordsman. So, he pressed a lever on his belt which caused one of his weapons to give an orange glow. When they were near, he swung and released a wave of energy that destroyed them.

"Wow." My mouth was wide opened.

Luckily, he wasn't fighting alone. More fighters entered the battle. Most of them were women. I smiled very big.

I saw a black haired woman swinging her green spear down and taking out as many baddies she could find. She was cool. I love her black hair and that gorgeous spear of hers.

I saw a blue haired woman leaping off the roof and smacking her feet against one of the bad guy's face. That's gotta hurt.

I also saw a girl, shorter than me I might add, just plowed through an entire horde and boastfully shouted, "Who else wants to fight Rinrin!". It was awesome. Cheers for the short people.

"KILL THOSE BASTARDS!"

Next thing that happened were archers lining up and ready to fire but only to receive arrows on their arms. I looked up and saw a purple haired woman stationed at a tower, using her own bow and arrows to give those archers a taste of their own medicine.

The men in robes then climbed up the village walls but they didn't get far as purple shots hit them and they exploded into dust. Those shots belong to an armored gunslinger. Unlike the swordsman, the gunslinger's armor was purple and green and had a design that made me be reminded of Yang.

Two more arrived to help. One had brown hair and rode a horse while the other was an armored lancer who rode a motorcycle. His armor, resembling a knight was red and yellow. The lancer leapt off his bike and plunged his lance into the ground. Then, giant bananas burst out and hit the evil people.

Wait a minute? Giant Bananas?

When that was done, the three armored warriors and the women converged to one another and they assembled. I was grinning through the entire thing. It was so super cool. It's just like the stories I read where the great heroes united to fight a great evil.

After seeing these heroes kicking butts for a while, I turned my attention to the swordsman. Many of these dreams showed these masked riders but I had more dreams focused on him. To be honest while the swordsman's armor and weapons were something I would swoon over, I was strangely focused solely on the swordsman himself. There was something about him. I felt…connected with him.

Before I could think about this more, things got weirder. After the armored swordsman defeated a few enemies, he then turned to stare at...me? That never happened before. I turned around just to be sure there wasn't anyone behind me but there was no one. Could he...see me?

I got my answer when he walked towards me. I was getting a little scared. Did he think I was in league with those bad guys? My mind was swirling from this development. I took a few steps back but he was getting closer.

He arrived and looked at me.

How did I respond? I nervously waved my hand and said, "Hi."

The armored swordsman then slowly lifted his arms and reached out to me. He touched my face which kinda made me blushed.

Then, the warrior pinched me.

"OW!"

XXX

"OW!" Ruby yelled as she opened her eyes. She still felt her cheeks being pinched. Her vision began to clear and revealed the one who was pinching her was her older sister, Yang.

Ruby glared at Yang. "Yang, why are you pinching me?"

Yang admitted, "You were so cute at the moment, I couldn't resist."

Ruby's face puffed as she continued rubbing her cheeks.

Yang asked, "Had a good nap, sis?"

Ruby replied, "Well, yes but no at the same time. I had a really weird dream."

"Was it the dream with the giant cookies?" Yang smirked.

"No!" Ruby quickly objected. "It was that dream with the masked riders again."

Yang knew about that dream because Ruby regaled about it so many times. Men who masked themselves in armor and rode on high-tech motorcycles. They defended the weak and fought evil monsters and defeating them with their powerful kicks. Attacks also included punches and more depending on the situation. Yang honestly thought it sounded like something from a show she and Ruby watched when they were little. It had lots of explosions.

Yang said, "You know Ruby, you've been getting these dreams for a while now. Was it something you ate?"

Ruby thought about it and replied, "I don't think so. I ate the usual. Although I did had this sandwich. It had strawberry, chocolate and sheep stomach."

"Wait a minute, you had a sandwich with sheep stomach?" That last part had weirded the blonde girl out.

Ruby just shrugged. She thought it sounded like good food.

"I think there's another reason you were dreaming that?"

"Really? What is it?" Ruby wanted her sister's answer.

"You were thinking about boys." Yang gave a cheeky smile and Ruby blushed bright red hearing that.

Ruby cried out, "I wasn't thinking about boys! I'm pretty sure I wasn't thinking about the boy's sweat, the chest hairs or their third-"

"Ruby," Yang shushed her sister quietly. "You are a fifteen year old girl. Fifteen is the stage where a girl develops interests like the opposite sex. It's natural for you. Besides, don't you want to have kids one day?"

Ruby then jumped up out of bed. "Okay, let's not go to that?"

Yang laughed happily. She always loved to play with her sister.

Before any of this continued further, the door suddenly slammed open, surprising the two sisters and entering was their roommate/teammate Weiss Schnee who wore a white and light blue tracksuit.

Weiss shifted her eyes looking at Ruby and Yang to looking at Blake who was lying on her bed, reading a book and then returning to Ruby and Yang. "Ruby! Why are you still in bed?"

"I just got up…" Ruby didn't finish her sentence as Weiss threw the girl her red and black tracksuit. "Hey!"

"We're losing daylight here," Weiss claimed before she threw two more tracksuits to Yang and Blake.

"Okay, we lost one hour but fortunately, I prepared a list just in case of this situation." Weiss took out her 'list' and explained the plan, "At 9:15, we'll commence our daily training routine. We have to complete it in 40 minutes. So, we're just going to have to do the basics; push-ups and laps."

Ruby, Yang and Blake raised their eyebrows, the three were wondering whether Weiss was actually serious.

"At 9:55, we'll have our breakfast. To maintain our figures and health, we'll only take the basic food groups. None of that junk food like Marshmallow Flakes or Grandma Heyman's Famous Pies." Weiss continued discussing her plan to her team while her three teammates maintained their reactions when they first heard it.

Weiss resumed, "At 10:15, we'll do our homework. No need to worry about going to the library because I took the liberty in acquiring all the books necessary for our task. If everything goes as planned by 12:30, we will have completed 65% of our work."

"Wow Weiss, that's very nice of you." the confused Ruby scratched her head.

"Yeah, that's very cool." Yang tried her best to praise her roommate.

Blake just remained silent.

"Thank you," Weiss accepted the 'compliments'. "And with that done, that means we have the afternoon off to head to Vale."

The last part attracted their attention since they had their own plans on going to the city. Thinking about this further if they do what Weiss has planned out, they would have finished more than half of their homework and that meant extra relaxation time on the weekend once they fully completed the homework. Suddenly, they were more appreciative.

"Cool, I'm in," said Yang.

"I'm also in," Ruby positively agreed.

Blake said nothing.

XXX

After completing their exercise, had their breakfast and took their showers which annoyed Yang and Blake since they took their baths before the exercise and had to take another one, Ruby and her team were doing their homework. Ruby, Yang and Blake had to admit that Weiss' initiative in acquiring the books early really paid off. Weiss managed to finished her work at 65% but the others were not yet there.

After managing to finish 32% according to Weiss, Ruby decided to take a break from doing her homework and draw the weapons she saw from her dream and update her journal since she was very tired yesterday. Weiss objected it but Yang and Blake were able to convince her since after all, Ruby was the leader.

The word, leader mused Ruby. She never thought that she would be one but here she was leading a team and for months now.

Ruby remembered how it began. It all started at that one night. Although Vale was humanity's safe haven from the creatures of Grimm, it was never safe from humans' own violence. A criminal element popped up, began scaring away the citizens before attempting to rob a shop of Remnant's most important resource; Dust.

Fortunately when there was a villain, there was always a hero that stopped them. And who was that hero? Ruby Rose.

She intervened and stopped the criminals from succeeding on their evil deeds. Her actions had not gone unnoticed. Professor Ozpin, famed Huntsman and headmaster of Beacon Academy appeared before her. He saw what Ruby did and was impressed by her strength and courage. So impressed that he invited her to go to his school two years ahead. Her family was very proud of her, including her older sister, Yang, who was also going to Beacon.

It was there that Ruby and Yang got to meet their new teammates; the proud and elegant Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company and the quiet and mysterious Blake Belladonna. When the Initiation began, these four girls encountered many Grimm until they fought the ones of titanic proportions. It was there that these four came together.

When none of their attacks had any effect on the Nevermore, Ruby had a plan which was carried out most splendidly. Yang's strength brought the Nevermore to the ground. With that, Weiss used this opportunity to freeze the Nevermore's tail preventing it from escaping. Then, Blake proceeded to use her Gambol Shroud where she and Yang tied the weapon to two supports turning them into one big slingshot and Ruby was the one being slinged. Using Weiss' Semblance of glyphs, Ruby flew to the Nevermore like a missile. Having caught the avian with her Crescent Rose, Ruby ran up the cliff thanks to Weiss' glyphs where she fatally decapitated the beast.

Since then, the team composed of Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang became Team RWBY and their leader would be Ruby herself.

There were a few problems such as Weiss' initial refusal to accept Ruby as her leader, but all that was resolved and everything turned for the better.

Ruby loved weapons and she herself designed Crescent Rose, so she knew how to draw weapons in great detail. After each of the dreams she had, she couldn't help but draw them and in great detail. The drawings were kept in a folder in her desk drawer. Her most recent drawings were a staff, an axe and a cannon. Today, these were her latest drawings.

The women all wielded weapons ranging from bows and polearms but they weren't so simple. They were well-made and beautiful in their own way. Ruby couldn't help but admire them after she drew them. They were just so beautiful and looked like they would be at home at a museum like pieces of art.

The masked riders' weapons were no less amazing. A gun that fired dragons made of energy, a lance that could unleash energy projections to strike at opponents, and then there's the orange one who wielded two swords, one was an orange scimitar with an orange blade and a long sword that doubled as a gun.

Ruby sighed looking at them. She hopefully wished that the weapons she drew would one day actually be real so that she can study them and use them in combat since they were so cool to use.

XXX

After completing the tasks set up by Weiss or close to an acceptable level, the girls were walking down the hall to head out to Vale. They could see the hall was full of students.

"Man, this hall is packed," Yang commented.

"The Vytal Festival is coming soon," Blake replied. "I guess everyone wants to be ready for the tournament."

"Okay, Team RWBY, here's the plan," Weiss spoke once more taking out her list again. "When we arrived at the city, we'll head to the docks and-"

"Whoa," Yang butted in, "I am not going to the docks. I'm heading to the repair shop to check on my Bumblebee."

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. "I want to buy my favorite sweets. They all going to be sold out when the Vytal Festival arrived."

Blake then gave what she wanted to say, "And I need to go to the bookstore. The new novel I've been waiting for is finally out."

Ruby turned to Blake. "Is it the one about the cat in the boots?"

"Yes," Blake confirmed.

"What are you up to Weiss?" Yang further questioned her teammate but before there could be an answer to this, a shout was heard.

"Hey!"

They turned. It was Team JNPR. They were a team comprised of two boys and two girls. Team JNPR were great friends to Team RWBY. They know each other ever since the Initiation. It was led by Jaune Arc and the rest of the members were Pyrrha Nikos, Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren.

"Hey Ruby, Blake, Yang," Jaune smiled when he saw Weiss, "And hello Snow Angel."

Weiss muttered angrily, "You're in my atmosphere."

Ruby unknowingly interrupted. "How are you guys? We hadn't seen you for about a week."

Pyrrha explained, "That could be explained. We had to take the Rhodes training course."

When heard the name of the course, Jaune and Ren were already placing hands on either the shoulders or stomachs. The Rhodes training course was the most brutal training they had ever went through. There were rings of fire, giant stone fists, arrows, sharks and cheeseburgers with the latter made the two boys shudder. They could never look at another burger again. It made the battle against the Death Stalker look like washing a car.

"By Trainer Phil?" Ruby inquired. She heard that he was the one supervising this specific course. She don't know a lot about him and the only information she got was that Trainer Phil resolved the avocado problem.

"The one and only," Pyrrha replied.

Nora was next to ask, "So where are you four going?"

Weiss explained, "We are going to Vale to head to the docks."

Yang was about to butt in until Weiss continued, "And once that is done, we will separate and do our own personal activities."

After that, everyone was quiet. The silent breeze blew past them. That was all they had to say. Nora was the one who broke it, "Well if that's it, we should go."

"Yeah."

"Good idea."

"Thank you."

When Team RWBY left, Jaune asked his team, "Is it just me or does Team RWBY have a lot more stuff to do than us?"

"Pretty much," Ren answered.

"Most definitely," Nora added.

Pyrrha touched Jaune's shoulder to get his attention. "Speaking of stuff, let's go Jaune."

"Where are you two going?" Ren asked the two.

Jaune answered, "Pyrrha and I are going to do some more training. I'm totally sure I saw more hair popping up on my chest after the last one. Few more and I'll be a total hunk. Weiss will be so totally into me."

"Come on, lover boy," Pyrrha joked as she grabbed Jaune's arm.

After Jaune and Pyrrha left, Nora was about to leave next only to be grabbed by Ren who glared at her. "And just where do you think you're going?"

Nora smiled nervously. "Just going to head back to my room of course silly."

"We have cleaning duty," Ren reminded his childhood friend as he pulled a mop completely out of nowhere.

"Oh man!" Nora grumbled. She wished she had the other stuff that Team RWBY had.

XXX

Team RWBY continued walking. Weiss was happy that it was over which meant they can continue to Vale until Ruby stopped to notice a certain Rabbit Faunus who was talking to the new professor.

Faunus were a race similar to humans. However there was one critical difference, the Faunus possessed animal traits. They could have horns, claws, animal ears alongside the normal ones or tails. Relations between humans and Faunus were stable but due to the latter's increasing desire for equality, numerous revolts were reported. Thankfully, those who were not part of the revolts were getting along well with humans. Velvet was among them.

Ruby waved to the teenager. "Hi Velvet!"

Velvet greeted in return. "Team RWBY, how pleasant to meet you all."

"You're looking very chirpy," Yang commented. "Cardin and his team didn't bother you today?"

Velvet replied, "Actually, they haven't bothered me for some time."

"Really?" Ruby questioned. "When did that happened?"

Velvet thought, placing her finger on her chin. "Hmmm. Well if I remembered correctly, I believed it was the day after I told my team about the bullying."

Months ago

"A little higher, a little higher," Coco ordered Fox and Yatsuhashi who were pulling a rope. "Okay, stop."

The two did and with that, their masterpiece was complete. Hanging and tied up to the ceilings, wearing nothing but their undershorts were Cardin Winchester and his team.

"Perfect," Coco smirked. When Velvet told them about Cardin's non-stop bullying on her, Coco had to take action and deliver rightful retribution. No one messed with her friends.

Cardin tried to shout at them but the duct tape that covered his mouth left him unable to.

"What's that?" Coco held her hand behind her ear to try to hear. "I can't hear you, speak up."

XXX

The professor was next to speak, "As long as they hang around somewhere else instead of you and any other student, the problem is resolved."

"You're quite right Miss Tenmaru," Velvet agreed.

"Miss Tenmaru, how are you doing in Beacon?" Ruby turned to Miss Tenmaru.

"Well I have to admit, I would have never thought I would have such an honor to teach here but here I am," admitted Tenmaru.

"Oh, that reminds me." Ruby was about to ask until Tenmaru spoke up.

"Yes Ruby, the class on the plasma gun is still on next week."

Hearing that, Ruby was grinning wide like crazy. Ran Tenmaru was a new professor who joined Beacon a few weeks ago. Her field was on weapon designs and the history of weapons development. Ruby loved going to her class and so did everyone in Beacon. Ever since she came, many of the students developed either admiration or affection towards her with the latter having the most majority due to her looks.

"Can I have extra classes with you?" For some reason, Ruby turned into a small, chibi version of herself and her eyes turned into hearts. Yang watched and sighed at Ruby. Her little sister was too passionate on weapons.

Ran giggled as she patted the young girl's head. "You're such a sweet girl Ruby. You know, you remind me of a student of mine back in the school I once teached. He was hardworking and has this passion for heroes from the old tales much like you are. You two would have gotten along so well."

Before this could go on any further, Weiss coughed and showed her watch. "That's truly interesting Miss Tenmaru but as much as I loved to hear more, we regrettably have another matter of interest to attend to. So, we need to head out as quickly as possible.

"I see," Ran said. "In that case, go posthaste."

"Bye Miss Tenmaru. Bye Velvet." Team RWBY waved bye to the two and left.

"Oh, Ruby. If you want, I could arrange a meeting between you and my student." When the girls were out of range, Ran gave a mysterious smile before turning her attention to Velvet once more.

XXX

"Weiss, that was very rude," Yang angrily voiced out.

"We are losing light here," Weiss defended herself. It was true that it was wrong to do that but this was important for Weiss.

"It's only 12:45," Blake revealed but Weiss did not pay attention to it.

As they walk, something was happening with Ruby. She felt like she was carrying more than usual. She checked around herself and finally touched something that was on her belt. She grabbed it and examined it. It looked like some sort of padlock. It was blank, dull and grey and the only intriguing feature about it was that it had a seed like design with the words L.S.-? on the front.

Yang soon noticed the small item her sister was holding. "Hey Ruby, what do you got there?"

"I don't know." Ruby didn't remember taking this with her. However, that will have to wait since Weiss was urging them to keep moving. Ruby attached the padlock to her belt and continued forward.

Finally, they exited out of the school. Outside, students were also present but there were adults as well. Team RWBY took the time to look at them. They're strong build and the advanced weapons they were carrying confirmed they were Huntsmen and Huntresses. Among them was the professor, Glynda Goodwitch. The next thing the girls saw was the experienced warriors entering the Bullheads that were on the landing pads before the aircrafts took off with their passengers.

"What do you think was all that about?" Ruby talked to her team. Yang and Weiss raised their shoulders, don't have the answers.

The team left. Blake was the last as she took one glance showing a worried look on her face. Wherever or whatever was happening, it can't be good.

XXX

The city of Vale was a sight to behold. The western like city was vibrant in bright colors alongside a modern appearance. The large presence of people that were seen outside basically confirmed how much life there was.

Among these people were Team RWBY who were walking down the streets. They examined their surroundings. They saw many decorations were set up. Streamers and balloons were hung above them. Ruby saw one of the normal day citizens who was helping in the decorations was the old shopkeeper she helped long ago setting up a large banner titled, "Welcome to Vale". The people were joyful. Of course they were. The Vytal Festival was almost near.

After humanity pushed back the Grimm, four kingdoms were created from the aftermath: Vale, Vacuo, Atlas and Sanctum. After that came the birth of the festivals. Once a year, there was a festival in Vale where people from the four kingdoms come together and celebrate the various cultures of the world. That festival was the Vytal Festival.

Much can be experienced at the Vytal Festival. There will be parades, dances, feasts and even a combat tournament which Team RWBY were most excited about since they intend on entering it.

"The Vytal Festival! Oh, this is absolutely wonderful!" smiled Weiss as she placed both her hands on her chest.

"I don't think I've ever seen you smile this much, Weiss," Ruby noted. "It's kinda weirding me out..."

Weiss stared at Ruby. "How could you not smile? A festival dedicated to the cultures of the world! There will be dances! Parades! A tournament! Oh, the amount of planning and organization that goes into this event is simply breathtaking!"

Yang sighed dull upon hearing this. "You really know how to take a good thing and make it sound boring."

"Quiet, you!" Weiss moved her head a bit to glare.

After all the obstacles they went through, Team RWBY finally arrived at the docks. The birds were flying around, getting their lunch and the ships blaring like crazy. Weiss was obviously joyed but her teammates on the other hand had a negative response.

In Yang's opinion, this was not the idea of having fun. "Remind me again why we're spending our Friday afternoon visiting the stupid docks?"

Ruby smelled the air and covered her nose to spare it from the stench. "Ugh, they smell like fish!"

Weiss informed, "I've heard that students visiting from Vacuo will be arriving by ship today. And, as a representative of Beacon, I feel as though it is my solemn duty to welcome them to this fine kingdom!"

Since Weiss was not telling, Blake explained to Yang and Ruby the real reason, "She wants to spy on them so she'll have the upper hand in the tournament."

"You can't prove that!" Weiss defended but Yang and Ruby could tell it was true.

As they continued walking, Ruby halted, having to see something that got her attention. "Whoa."

The other team members turned to Ruby's direction and saw it. Down the street, a building's window was shattered and the entrance was lined with the yellow tape. Two men were near the window. They were presumably officers of the Vale Police Force.

Curious, they walked towards the area to learn more. They walked towards the officer with the beard and Ruby asked, "What happened here?"

"Robbery," the detective answered. "Second Dust shop to be hit this week. This place is turning into a jungle."

"That's terrible," muttered Yang.

"They left all the money again," said the other cop which caught Ruby's attention.

"Huh?" The silver eyed girl voiced. Didn't take money? That sounded familiar.

"Yeah, just doesn't make a lick of sense. Who needs that much Dust?" the detective asked his partner.

"I don't know, an army?" the other detective guessed lightheartedly.

"You thinking the White Fang?"

"Yeah, I'm thinking we don't get paid enough."

"Hmm! The White Fang." The three girls looked at their white haired companion who crossed her arms showing a face of disgust. "What an awful bunch of degenerates!"

Blake narrowed her eyes hearing those words. "What's your problem?"

"My problem?" Weiss calmly explained, "I simply don't care for the criminally insane."

Blake retorted, "The White Fang is hardly a bunch of psychopaths. They're a collection of misguided Faunus."

"Misguided?" Weiss gasped. "They want to wipe Humanity off the face of the planet!"

"So then they're very misguided," Blake followed up. "Either way, it doesn't explain why they would rob a Dust shop in the middle of downtown Vale!"

Ruby thought about it and Blake's statement made sense. "Hmm...Blake's got a point. Besides, the police never caught that Torchwick guy I ran into a few months ago...Maybe it was him."

"That still doesn't change the fact that the White Fang are a bunch of scum. Those Faunus only know how to lie, cheat, and steal," Weiss voiced out her opinions. However unknown to Weiss, Blake was gritting her teeth.

"That's not necessarily true..." Yang was about to tell what she thought until a yell was heard.

"Hey, stop that Faunus!"

The shout attracted Team RWBY who deduced that the shout came from the docks. They rushed back to the site and witness the commotion. On a ship, two sailors were chasing after the Faunus. The Faunus they were seeing was tan, has spiky blonde hair, wore an open loosed collared jacket and blue cargo pants and has a tail of a monkey.

The Faunus leapt onto the edge. He turned to his pursuers and smirked. "Thanks for the ride, guys!"

He jumped off the boat and to the docks, bolting away so that he can leap and used his tail to hang himself upside down on a lamp post. He then casually took out a banana from his pocket and peeled it.

"You no-good stowaway!" one of the mad sailors shouted.

"Hey! A no-good stowaway would've been caught! I'm a great stowaway!" the monkey Faunus rebutted before avoiding a rock. He saw the two detectives heading towards him.

The bearded detective demanded, "Hey! Get down from there this instant!"

The response, he threw a banana peel at the man's face much to his anger.

The Faunus laughed before jumping once more and escaped with the detectives on his tail, figuratively. The blonde went up to the city and he passed by Team RWBY.

Just as he passed them, he made eye contact with Blake and all of sudden, he winked at her. This made Blake confused.

The Faunus and the detectives were further away, leaving everyone to process this event.

Yang smiled. "Well, Weiss, you wanted to see the competition, and there it goes."

Realizing Yang was right, Weiss hurriedly said, "Quick! We have to observe him!"

Weiss, Yang and Ruby chased after them with Blake being last. Her mind was still in thought about the monkey Faunus who winked at her. Thankfully, it was a short while as she shook it off and followed her companions.

As they ran, they finally saw the detectives and the Faunus. The three ran around a corner and just as they were about to catch up, Weiss suddenly fell down.

Ruby, Yang and Blake saw this and halted.

Weiss turned her head up and saw the Faunus escaping. "No, he got away!"

"Uhh...Weiss?" Weiss looked to Yang who pointed something near her.

Weiss looked down and saw a smiling girl. The heiress jumped back up in fright. The girl on the other hand still smiled. She had short, curly orange hair with a pink bow on the back of her head. She wore an old styled blouse and short overalls.

"Sal-u-ta-tions!" the girl waved her hand despite she was on the ground.

"Um...hello," Ruby responded.

Yang followed with, "Are you...okay?"

The girl, still lying on the ground replied, "I'm wonderful! Thank you for asking."

Team RWBY looked at each other, very, incredibly confused at this girl's behavior and they've seen many strange people like Dr. Oobleck and Nora.

Yang calmly asked, "Do you...wanna get up?"

The girl thought about it and nodded. "Yes!"

She jumped back to her feet. The others took one step back away allowing her to introduce herself, "My name is Penny! It's a pleasure to meet you!"

Ruby greeted without hesitation, "Hi Penny. I'm Ruby."

"I'm Weiss," Weiss boasted.

"Blake," Blake said.

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" Yang wondered until Blake hit her to regain her common sense. "Oh, I'm Yang."

Penny responded nicely, "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"You already said that," Weiss informed the girl.

Penny realized this and admitted, "So I did!"

"Well, sorry for running into you!" Weiss said and with that, the team walked away...from Penny. They knew enough that she was a little…

Ruby happily waved her hand to Penny. "Take care, friend!"

As Team RWBY distanced themselves away from Penny, Penny opened her eyes wide in amazement.

After getting some distance, Yang stated, "She was...weird..."

"Now, where did that Faunus riff-raff run off to?" Weiss said before looking at something that shocked her.

Standing in front of them was Penny. They looked back and forth. Wasn't she where she was? How did she get here so fast?

"What did you call me?" Penny asked.

Yang apologized to her. "Oh, I'm really sorry, I definitely didn't think you heard me!"

"No, not you." Penny walked through the group so that she could asked Ruby, "You!"

"Me? I-I don't know. I, what I, um, uh..." Ruby was startled. This was starting to look like her dream again. Fortunately, the one closing in on her was a girl and not a boy.

"You called me 'friend'!" Penny leaned further to Ruby. "Am I really your friend?"

"Uuuum..." Ruby noticed her friends and sister motioning their hands to not say anything. They can tell this girl was super weird. Unfortunately, Ruby's heart wouldn't allow it and thus, the next thing she said was, "Y-Yeah, sure! Why not?"

That left the team to be in utter shock and fell to the ground, spontaneously but Penny was filled with untold amounts of happiness.

"Sensational!" Penny raised her hands high. "We can paint our nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys!"

Ruby noticed Weiss near her and whispered to her, "Oh, is this what it was like when you met me?"

Weiss replied, "No-she seems far more coordinated."

Yang rolled her eyes before turning to Penny. "So...what are you doing in Vale?"

The girl turned to Yang and explained, "I'm here to fight in the tournament."

Weiss gasped when she heard that. "Wait, you're fighting in the tournament?"

Penny saluted. "I'm combat ready!"

Weiss inspected Penny but so far she hasn't found any quality about her that made her a participant. "Forgive me, but you hardly look the part."

"Says the girl wearing a dress?" Blake sarcastically remarked.

Weiss countered, "It's a combat skirt!"

Ruby rushed to Weiss' side and they gave low-fives. "Yeah!"

"Wait a minute." Weiss realized something and asked Penny, "If you're here for the tournament, does that mean you know that monkey-tailed rapscallion?"

"The who...?" Penny had no idea what she was talking about.

"The filthy Faunus from the boat!" Weiss showed a drawing of the stowaway, a poor drawn one at that.

Weiss did not receive Penny's answer because Blake suddenly interrupted. "Why do you keep saying that?!"

"Huh?" Weiss turned to Blake in confusion.

The black haired teen pressed on, "Stop calling him a rapscallion! Stop calling him a degenerate! He's a person!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," Weiss said sarcastically as she moved her hands on various objects, "Would you like me to stop referring to the trash can as a trash can? Or this lamp post as a lamp post?"

"Stop it!" Blake shouted louder as the words infuriated her more.

"Stop what?" Weiss questioned. "He clearly broke the law. Give him time; he'll probably join up with those other Faunus in the White Fang!"

Blake clenched her fists and hissed. "You ignorant little brat!"

With that, Blake left. The others remained where they were, silent until Weiss voiced out, outraged at what Blake said, "How dare you talk to me like that! I am your teammate!"

Weiss followed Blake who stopped to yell once more, "You are a judgmental little girl."

"What in the world makes you say that?"

"The mere fact that you would sort that Faunus boy with a terrorist group solely based on his species makes you just as much of a scoundrel as you believe him to be!"

While Blake and Weiss argued, Yang and Ruby joined together and continued to stare at them worriedly. Yang whispered to her younger sister. "Um, I think we should probably go..."

"Where are we going?" Penny popped up, oblivious to what was happening in front of her.

It was nighttime. Team RWBY returned to Beacon while Penny left to somewhere else. The mission to observe the arriving students from the other kingdoms has ceased because of Blake and Weiss' heated argument which still continued right now. Yang and Ruby tried to stop it but it was in vain as Weiss and Blake continued throwing harsh words at one another and the two sisters had no choice but to watch it unfold.

"So you admit it! The White Fang is just a radical group of terrorists!"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

"I don't understand why this is causing such a problem!" Weiss cried out.

"That is the problem!" Blake pointed it out.

Weiss then stated, "You realize you are defending an organization that hates Humanity, don't you? The Faunus of the White Fang are pure evil!"

Blake retorted, "There's no such thing as pure evil! Why do you think they hate Humanity so much? It's because of people like Cardin, people like you, that force the White Fang to take such drastic measures!"

"People like me?"

"You're discriminatory!" Blake accused Weiss.

Weiss finally having lost her composure, furiously shouted, "I'M A VICTIM!"

Those three words stunned everyone, including Blake.

"You want to know why I despise the White Fang? Why I don't particularly trust the Faunus?" Weiss walked towards the window and leaned on it. She took a deep breath and explained to Blake, "It's because they've been in war with my family for years. War, as in actual bloodshed. My grandfather's company has had a target painted across its back for as long as I can remember. And ever since I was a child, I've watched family friends disappear; board members executed. An entire train car full of Dust, stolen. And every day, my father would come home, furious. And that made for a very difficult childhood."

The others saw this. They had known Weiss for months. She was a girl who was hardworking and skilled but also spoiled and proud. However at this night, they saw another side of Weiss, a young woman filled with sadness and grief. Ruby silently walked towards Weiss. "Weiss, I-"

"No!" Weiss glared at Blake and yelled, "You want to know why I despise the White Fang? It's because they're a bunch of liars, thieves, and murderers!"

With those last sentences, the boiling point has reached. Blake gritted her teeth. She couldn't take this anymore. The rage. The racism. She hated it. It all led to her screaming these words that truly shocked them all, "WELL MAYBE WE WERE JUST TIRED OF BEING PUSHED AROUND!"

Silence was next. Ruby, Yang and Weiss were loss of words. What Blake just said…echoed around this room. Blake gasped in horror, realizing what she has just said. "I...I..."

Blake took a step back. She saw the eyes of her team. They were all staring at her. The next thing she did was…head to the door and fled out of the room.

Ruby finally returned to reality and followed Blake, shouting, "Blake, wait! Come back!"

However when she exited out of the room, she saw Blake was gone. Yang sat on her chair and looked at Weiss who just remained quiet.

XXX

Unbeknownst to Team RWBY, their friend Blake had already ran outside of the academy. She would have continued only to stop all of a sudden. Blake stopped to lift her head up and see the statue of the great heroes.

Looking at it however only caused the sadness within her to grew even more. Tears were dropping from the girl's beautiful amber eyes while her nose sniffed sorrowfully. Her only goal in life was to go to Beacon and become a Huntress. However, the recent events had led to this. What she had done cannot be undone.

What came after was her slowly grabbing the bow on her head. She slowly pulled the strings and it dropped, revealing…a pair of pure black cat ears. That was her true self; a Faunus.

"I knew you would look better without the bow," Came a voice and Blake turned to the source.

XXX

Meanwhile at the southeast of Vale, at the abandoned city of Mountain Glenn, the team of Hunters were continuing their investigation. This morning at the central part of Vale, citizens exited out of their homes to begin a new day but when they did, they discovered a huge hole.

It was later reported to the police who immediately sent officers and a construction crew to the location. When learning anomalies like this, that could mean one thing, the Grimm had breached into Vale.

Luckily, patrols searched the city and so far, no Grimm were sighted. The construction crew plugged the hole which led to bigger relief.

Not long after the police heard about the hole, they sent the information to Professor Ozpin who became curious as well. He was further informed that before the construction crew sealed the hole, a few of them entered it and discovered train tracks.

Discussing with Dr. Oobleck, he and Ozpin realized that the tracks led straight back to Mountain Glenn. The headmaster sent out a team to investigate.

"Miss Goodwitch! We found something!" the professor, Glynda Goodwitch heard one of the Huntsmen calling her and went to him. The Huntsman led her deep underground and discovered another city. The people that lived in Glenn went deep underground in response to the number of Grimm. Unfortunately, even this place was not safe from the Grimm.

"My God," Glynda whispered. She saw corpses. On the ground, mangled bodies lay motionless with torn out limbs scattered everywhere and pools of blood made from them and they were fresh when she examined them. Upon further examining, she discovered that all of the dead wore symbols of the White Fang.

Although the White Fang committed terrible acts, Glynda honestly felt that they did not deserved such a fate. Due to her examination, Glynda soon found bloodied tracks. She and her team followed the footprints made of red and found out it lead to the train tracks.

One question was solved but new ones emerged. Who or what did all of this and were they in Vale?

XXX

Back at the city of Vale, everyone were sleeping soundly at night. Hence, they were completely unaware of the new figures that were standing on top of a building.

These figures looked at the city and the streets below. From the cars to the bridges, the environment was completely alien to them. They growled like animals in response to it.

"Is it here, my Lord?" one with a feminine voice asked.

The leader of this unknown group smelled the air and then growled.

"Yes," the leading figure said. "I can smell it."

They had traveled very far, killing those who got in their way but they finally arrived. With that, the dark figures leapt off the building they stood and begun their search for what they seek.

XXX

Hunt of the Armored War Gods Bios:

Ichika Date (AU counterpart of Ichika Orimura from Infinite Stratos): Ichika Date is the biological father of Marcus Date. Belonging to a long line of warriors dating back to the Sengoku period, Ichika and his older sister, Chifuyu were the next generation to uphold it. While his combat skills were not up to par with today's standards, he made up for it in other fields such as survival. He was quite handsome in his younger days earning many girls' attention but he was too oblivious at the time which earned him the nicknames 'Dense Oaf' or 'Clueless Hero'. In his teen years, he tagged along with Chifuyu to a military academy for a special presentation. It was there that he met his future wife, Charlotte.

Charlotte Date (AU counterpart of Charlotte Dunois from Infinite Stratos): Charlotte Date is the biological mother of Marcus Date. Charlotte was born as a daughter of a mistress to the CEO of a prestigious corporation. However, the CEO was not present much and rarely interacted, isolating Charlotte and her mother. One day, the corporation went into bankruptcy and her father went into hiding, cutting ties to everyone close to him. Her mother soon married to a German who was the father of three children. Charlotte and her mother led a very happy life after that with Charlotte having a close relationship to her step-sister, Laura. With her step-father having connections to the military, Charlotte would meet her future husband, Ichika Date.