Chapter 3: The Shattering

After David had left Ruby and her team, he began to wander around the city. He just had to think about everything, especially the dream he had the night before. 'What is going on? I told myself I would leave my past behind a long time ago, so why do I keep remembering it all?' As if on instinct his feet dragged him out to the one place he never wanted to go to. The cemetery. When he realized what was going on around him, he conceded and entered the cemetery. There was a reason he dreaded this cemetery, for it held all ties to his former life.

'It was so simple back then, everything had order to it. There was none of this madness, none of the lying, none of this bullshit was there,' as he wandered the cemetery he recalled his childhood, a time of happiness and friendship, love and kindness. He had all those things back then, but above all he had family. At the thought of his family his mind backlashed, causing a blinding headache to erupt in his mind. His vision blurred and his knees buckled causing him to kneel down. He clutched his forehead, trying to force the pain away. But the memories were too strong, too persistent. As he looked up, he noticed two gravestones in front of him. Each one had a name etched into it, both names he knew well. 'Gregory Smith' and 'Martha Smith' were emblazoned onto the markers.

As he read the names, he realized he couldn't contain the despair inside any more. So, he began to weep. It started as a slight trickle, then a steady stream formed and his tears flowed from his eyes. "I'm so sorry," he began to talk, as if the spirits of his mother and father were there, listening to him, "You must be ashamed of me, what I've done. I'm sorry I couldn't be the son you thought I'd be, but now that all changes. I'm going to do good for others, just like you did."

And so, he let his mind travel back. Back to the times when he knew what happiness was. Back to when he had a family. But most importantly, back to the day his life had been torn apart.

It was one year ago, he was 17 years and was attending Signal academy at the time, being in the last few days of school until he would head to Beacon. He however was a nobody at school, keeping to himself most of the time and rarely talking to others. He did know a few others though, he had especially admired a young girl, her hair black with red streaks on the ends. He admired her because she was always so energetic and light hearted, always looking on the brighter side of life. She tried to be friends with him, but he didn't seem to notice or he just didn't want friends, no one could tell. However, he was an excellent student, diligent at school work and an expert at sparing practice.

But, that's not what David was trying to remember. He was trying to remember that one night that everything changed. It was late one spring evening, he was waiting in his family's living room for his parents. His parents, hunting partners since their graduation from Beacon Academy, were out that night after they had been called out to deal with a pack of beowolves who had been attacking any travellers that crossed their path. But as the clock winded down till it was a few minutes till midnight, he began to worry. 'They must be late,' he reasoned, 'maybe there were more than they had anticipated or maybe they were out helping somewhere else.' That would be very much like them as they were very caring individuals. So, the optimist he was, decided to go to bed and not worry about them. But, he tossed and turned, wondering where they were. However, he managed to fall asleep.

The next morning when he rose from his sleep, they were nowhere to be seen. 'They must be out on another mission, that usually happens,' he told himself, calming his nerves. He went about his day, but throughout it there was a constant sense of dread in his heart. As he returned home, this dread was put to rest. But, in its place new emotions emerged. It all began when he saw the strange man in front of his house's door. He appeared very official, his gray hair seemed to turn silver in the shine of the moon. He stood there, a cane, pressed to the ground, in one hand and a mug of coffee in the other.

"Why hello there," the man said, as David approached, "how are you?"

"Just fine, but I might I ask who you are?" he asked quizzically.

"Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon Academy," he answered, "but I already know who you are David."

"So, why are you here any ways? If you are a headmaster you must have important responsibilities."

Ozpin sighed, "This is important business, business that involves you."

That caught David's attention, the way he said it, the way he didn't look straight at David, that's what made him worried. "What do you mean it involves me?"

"It pains me deeply to tell you this," he said with a grave tone to his voice, "your parents aren't coming back."

This statement worried David, the dread welling in his mind, "W-what do you mean they aren't coming back."

"They're gone, David, they're dead."

Those words broke David, his heart shattered, as did the world he knew. The only thing that he had in his life was gone, ripped away in an instant. 'How could that be? There's no way, he's lying. They aren't dead, they're just missing. There's no way, no way…' No matter how much he forced himself not to believe, he knew deep down, that it was true. He just didn't want to believe.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but we had to let you know," that was all David heard him say. He stopped listening and walked past him into his house, leaving him standing at the door.

David sat on the floor, head in hands, tears rolling down his face. There was nothing left for David. He had lost his family and there was no one he could turn to for comfort. 'What is there left? What could I possibly do? There's nothing left in my life but sadness and despair.' That night he had much difficulty falling to sleep. But when he did, his mind was plagued with memories of his parents and them dying, holding on and then, leaving him alone in the world.

After that day David became a shell of his former self. Where before he secluded himself, he now was almost non-existent except for going to classes. After a few days he became used to it, except for the attention he was receiving. He red haired girl was always wondering what was happening and seemed worried for him. But one day she left, he didn't know why she had but the next day a letter came in. It was from her.

'Hello everyone, this first day at Beacon was really strange. I met a lot of people, but some were nicer than others. After my sister left me for her friends I tripped over a girl's luggage. Apparently her name is Weiss Schnee and she's apparently really important. She yelled at me for tripping over her luggage and she was really mean about it. Then the craziest thing happened where I pretty much blew up a hole in front of the school. I don't know how it happened but then the mean girl yelled at me some more because of it. Then someone else came and defended me but left before I could ask what her name was. Then I met a really nice guy. His name is Jaune. He's nice but he seems nervous. Anyway that's what's been happening to me this first day at Beacon. I'll keep telling you what's going on over the next weeks.

Wish you were here with me,

Ruby Rose'

After that he didn't talk to anyone, even those he did talk to on occasion. He focused on his school work. Because he had an idea. 'I'll go to Beacon, train to become a hunter and find those Grimm that killed them. Then, I'll show no mercy. I will avenge them.' This is what drove him forward, day by day. He would constantly remind himself what he was striving for.

Five days after what he always called The Shattering, David lay in bed, forcing himself to sleep, he thought to himself, 'If I wait to graduate from Beacon, those beowolves might already be dead. Then it will all have been in vain. They must die from my hand.' So he got up, adorned himself in his combat armor, grabbed his father's bolt-action rifle, loaded the weapon and set out into the wilderness surrounding the city of Vale. After that day he wasn't seen again for three months. People worried, but eventually he was forgotten.

"That was a different time. I thought I had a purpose in life, but all I wanted was vengeance. I was blinded by hate and stricken with grief," he told the gravestones of his parents, "I was ambitious and short-sighted. But now I have purpose. To honor your memory I won't seek destruction and vengeance. Instead I will be like you, helping others by doing what's right. That's all you wanted from me and that's what I'll do. I've tainted our name so much, but I'll build it back up. I hope you two can forgive me for what I've done."

He stood up slowly, took one last look at the grave markers and left his parents to rest. But as he walked away, he thought he heard someone whisper 'I love you always' into his ear. It was a voice that was one he hadn't heard for months, but knew it was one of genuine love and compassion. For it was the voice of his mother.

And so he walked off, his head held high and pride returning to his heart, after one year of absence. With nowhere specifically to go, he went to the docks, found a bench, and sat, staring out into the waters, watching the stars' reflections in the water.

A.N. So there's chapter 3. For those who couldn't tell, this is designed to close one pothole while inadvertently making an existing one larger. Don't blame me, I mostly ad-lib these chapters, while having a definite goal in mind. Also, I would like to inform all of you that read this that I found a loop hole and can avoid the process of needing to make more OCs. However, that doesn't mean specifically that David is the only one. You all will just have to wait and see. Also, any constructive criticism is greatly appreciated considering I don't write stories very often. But I feel that this will be a great story. Remember, all criticism is good criticism. It helps to improve the criticised. Also, I am a very open-minded and imaginative person. So there's some hope that this will be good. But, until the next chapter, goodbye and have a fantastic day.