Hello again, I changed the name and I like it so, yay. Anyway, thank you for looking at my story and following, reviewing, favoring and everything else. Here's the new chapter and I hope you all enjoy it, thank you
Ruby stood wide eyed at the huge gates of the city; white stone inlaid with golden and blue designs. She saw jerked out of her wonder by an impatient cough from one of the riders, the last 5 days proved exhausting for the riders, in addition to traveling all day with ruby still talking, even late into the night, they still had to survive the Grimm mountain range.
Miles after miles of steep cliffs and forever red forests, all of them infested with Grimm, when a village wasn't protected by warriors the Grimm would quickly over run the homes. The city was located in a strangely flat area in the center of the ranges, miles on all sides were flat, mostly used for farming and grazing, they were a sharp contrast to the much higher mountains. Warriors patrolled the whole city area and farms, powerful fighter of various weapons, these new warriors were supposed to be the Daimyo's private protectors.
They trotted their horses into the city with ruby following, looking wide eyed at the many shops that littered the streets, food, clothing, book, weapons, stands selling a variety of snacks, she even saw an inn by the entrance.
The crowd parted for the riders, everyone recognizing the royal uniform, usually the riders used their own secret road to get into the city but last week a storm broke a house and that road was blocked, causing them to use the main road. Finally they reached a wide white stone bridge, guards lined the edges, watching the crowds go past the end, stopping any commoners from coming in, they rode onto the bridge, nodding at the guards, telling them that ruby was allowed to go past.
At the end was a wall and entrance even more majestic, the cautiously planned walls held history, from the first warriors fighting off the Grimm, to the first buildings and strong holds, the first expanding empire and lastly the clan founders going off to tame their given areas. Ruby looked at the engravings, filled in once again with a icy blue color, the clan expansion part had inked in lines of their clans, and felt proud, her clan; the silver clan were among the first explorers, quickly claiming the harsh lands to the north.
The riders called her, directing her to a servant, who would show her to her new room, as she walked she felt eyes, still keeping up her atmosphere she scanned the grounds. Noticing a shadowy figure looking out from a shaded balcony, the position didn't allow her to see the figure clearly but she swore she could of seen white hair whipping around. Shrugging it off she entered her room, nodding to the servant she put down her pack and pulled out a picture, the one with the whole family. She held it close, now worried about meeting new people, how would she do it? Sighing she pulled out her scythe; crescent rose, her pride and joy. Baby. Irreplaceable. Her only secure thing in the world now; she hugged the scythe, absentmindedly tracing the blades edge.
Yang arrived several moments after ruby, crossing the bridge just as ruby was leaded away. Reaching the gates she also noticed the icy blue engravings, thinking bitterly about her clan. The sun warriors were one of the first explorers, they claimed the warm and forested southern region, and perfect conditions for prime use of their flame based aura.
But her clan was stubborn; they were all but cut off from the city, made even worse by their strange obsession with being pure blooded, which put yang at a distinct disadvantage. Being born of two clan bloods she was hated in the village, and everyone knew it, even when she was younger the other kids used her as target practice, that is until she nearly burnt them to a crisp.
Smiling at the memory she entered the gate, observing the magnificently planned front court, even if it was a little too clean for her taste. She waved goodbye to the riders, who nodded; thankful they had traveled with her, to get through the Grimm infested lands only the best horses were used, unless you could hire a warrior to help you would be killed in a day.
She walked to the far building, being lead by a servant boy she looked around; annoyed by the pristine white ground, she noticed a black blur on her peripheral vision, turning quickly she just managed to see a black haired girl disappear beyond the roofs. Peering she tried to find her, seeing only the blue white roof glaring at her.
Shaking her head she entered her room, winking at the servant boy as he left, now blushing furiously. She dropped her bag on the floor and flopped onto the bed, laying spread eagle she let go of her self-control only the slightest, feeling calmer she raised the overall temperature of the room, letting off excess heat.
Turning onto her back she looked at the wood paneled ceiling, thinking about her situation, she was away from the clan, Good. Chances of her handling a blaze out? Not very well. Getting up she walked to the connected bathroom, smiling at the tub and shower, both would help during a small blaze out.
Laying back down her thoughts drifted to the black haired girl. From the way she moved and her looks, she seemed to be from either the east or northeast, in any case she was good, usually yang could sense nearly everyone's auras, only the skilled ones could hide from her. Sighing she closed her eyes, opting for some sleep.
Polite knocking echoed through a sizable room, the occupant groaned and turned over "just a moment uncle" she mumbled, still asleep. Another more nervous voice answered her "miss rose, you've been summoned" ruby woke up, panicking a little when she realized she didn't know were she was, after a few moments of blank staring she finally answered
"O-oh, really? Who summoned me?"
"His majesty, the Daimyo, has called you to the throne room" the small voice said, sounding slightly disappointed at ruby's responses.
Ruby jumped up "okay, I'm coming" she called scrambling in her packs to find her clothes, being clad only in a shirt and pants. Finally she got her clothes on properly, barring a few falls from tripping, she clipped on her cloak, grabbed her scythe and ran to the door, and glad she had taken a shower yesterday. She walked after the servant, and deciding she would most definitely be lost if she wasn't being led.
Finally she reached dark wood-paneled double doors, the trims were a deep red, ruby was surprised, and the outside was blinding white but inside was dark and regal, almost cold. Already ruby missed her village, it was nice and she actually knew everyone, even the old hermit that lived between the boundaries.
Bidding the servant goodbye ruby walked in as the doors were opened; her breath was stolen when she walked in. the room was huge, a white rug connected the doorway to the 4 thrones at the end. Surrounding the edges of the room were lines of warriors, their faces cold and unfeeling.
On the thrones three people sat, in the center sat a tall imposing man, his clothing was richly decorated and was a seamless white color, to his right sat a young woman several years older then ruby, nearly an adult. Her clothing was just as richly decorated but she held a more warm, kinder approach different from her father, on the left sat another girl, not much older then ruby, probably a year or two.
Her clothes were less decorated then her sister and fathers, but instead of her fathers imposing figure and her sister's warmish look, she looked…cold, emotionless. Ruby shivered from just looking at her face, which was just as pale as her hair. The only blemish was a crooked scar that crossed her eyes, giving her an even harder look, as she looked at the late comer.
Ruby remembered why she was here; she quickly got into the line with several other people kneeling in the center and hit her respectful tone.
"His majesty, my Daimyo, I apologize for my late coming, the trip was more difficult then originally intended" she said, instantly tapping into her respectful speaking, the way she was taught. He looked at her harshly.
"I will over look it tonight, on account that it is your first day, do not come late again." he said, his deep voice echoing through the hall.
Ruby nodded and kneeled harder, feeling ashamed to have been scolded on the first day. As ruby listened to the Daimyo telling them of their responsibilities and expectations, Ruby's mind wandered and she observed her companions.
Next to her kneeled a young man, his blonde hair glowing as his blue eyes trained on the grounds, his build was quite strong and at his side hung a broad sword, with two arches showing on the scabbard. Next came a black haired girl, her black and white wardrobe showed out, almost as much as her bow and eyes, the golden hues and manner she showed suggested she came from the eastern section of the land, known for being quiet reserved people.
After her were several more people, a red and gold clad girl with deep red hair, a lighter hues red haired girl, another eastern clansmen with long black hair and a pink streak in it. Then there was…yang! Ruby took a double take, sure enough there she was, she was smiling as she looked down, her long golden hair laid semi flat against her back. She couldn't talk now but she had to see yang, it's been far too long.
After the Daimyo dismissed them and they backed out of the throne room ruby ran up to yang "yang! I can't believe you're here, I missed you so much" ruby squealed and hugged yang that in return gave her a crushing bear hug "oh, hey sis, of course I'd be here" she laughed as ruby started choking from yang's suffocating breasts. Finally as ruby was let go and started breathing correctly again another servant came over, a rabbit Faunus.
Faunus were the original inhabitants of the land of remnant, when the first explorers came to the shores they discovered what they called halflings, strange beings that were half animal and half human.
At first like all new discoveries they were treated with fear but when the halflings started to help and teach them the humans grew used to them, over the century's humans discovered a strange crystal substance. When they questioned the halflings they referred to them as Grimm banes, magical elements that when used correctly can be used to attack and defend a person.
The halflings taught the humans to use them in their most natural form. After several centuries the humans used the banes to drive back the Grimm, dark, soulless creatures, and soon the humans and halflings had grand towns, they had pushed the Grimm to near extinction, that is until things turned sour.
A leader of the humans began to argue with the halflings leaders, getting more and more people locked in until the first action. Over the years humans had started seeing the halflings as true animals, not the same level as them, discrimination began to show, human and halflings only settlement began to pop up. It got worse and worse until the human controlled areas started pushing the halflings territories back, restricting them to only a small area.
Then war started, the halflings were tired of being treated like animals and started fighting back, and at first it was small peaceful boycotts, then protests, until they reached an agreement, to treat each other equally, but that soon fell through. Humans still treated halflings like animals, even changing their name from halflings to Faunus, meaning animals in their native tongue.
Finally a small Faunus group had enough, they elected a new leader to their once peaceful white fang, a bloodthirsty, vicious leader, bent on getting Faunus the respect they deserved. They started fighting, attacking human settlements. It worked well until the humans got so caught up fighting the white fang they forgot about the Grimm.
Grimm, killing hoards of people overran villages once protected by elite warriors. Now the human/faunus fight was forgotten as both of them lost territory to the Grimm, finally what separated the human and faunus were leagues of monsters, thus started the current turn of events, large areas were coveted by the Grimm. As for the Faunus the white fang had slowed their attacks, more worried about the Grimm, Now although the Faunus were treated better many were still discriminated against.
Slight fear was seen on the rabbit girl's face, clearly nervous about the new warriors, finally she relayed to them about a quick training session the generals wanted them to do, to see their fighting skills. They accepted and moved to their rooms to prepare for the sparring.
Soon they were directed to the far end of the courtyard, past all the white stone ground showed another wall, this was the same white as everywhere else, until the servant opened a door. Behind the wall was a much different scene, buildings lined the walls, simple wooden versions like the commoners, racks held all kinds of weapons put down for the time being. Warriors and guards sat around, enjoying off time as others sparred in a large circle with spectators.
Walking in with the rabbit Faunus they noticed the warriors jeering at the young girl and wolf whistling at them. When they walked to the center the two sparring warriors stopped and walked off as two well-dressed men came forward, one had Grey hair and dressed in green while the other dressed in the same white fashion of the court.
Both stood on a raised platform overlooking the sparing ring, they silenced the warriors and explained how the new warriors were going to be sorted into teams depending on their fighting ability and how they interacted with their new companions.
"Any questions"
"Um. Yeah sir"
"Good, prepare yourselves, it's ruby rose against Nora" the blonde swordsman's questions were ignored as ruby and the bounce lighter red haired girl took stage, ruby took out her scythe while Nora folded her hammer out.
They both waited until general ironwood, wearing the white uniform waved his hand, then Nora charged forward laughing, ruby just barely managed to dash away as the hammer smashed right were she had been. Turning she charged forward and slashed with her scythe, Nora blocked it and the battle continued with them exchanging blows Nora's laugh that echoed through the barracks, chilling souls.
Finally after they were both tired and ruby's rose petals had obscured their vision they called the battle off, Nora had been getting more and more vicious with each attack. The fights mostly went like that, they would try their best until the generals called them off, all through the fighting they had been talking, pointing out points of each fighter's style.
The fights went long, but by the end all of the new warriors knew each other a little better and knew how each one fought. General Ozpin stood up and waved his hands for silence, when he had their attention he started speaking
"Well done to our new fighters, and my apologies but because of our odd number the teams will be split. Will Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren please step forwards." Ruby watched as the blonde swordsman, the spear wielding girl, the bouncy hammer user and the quiet eastern clansmen stepped forward.
"From now on you will be team JNPR, the Daimyo's private guards." He said nodding to them before turning to ruby, yang and the black haired girl, Blake.
"And you three shall be young lady Schnee's private guard" ruby raised her brow 'the young lady Schnee was the youngest daughter of the currently alone Daimyo. The young girl seated to the left of her father. Ruby was wondering what the young lady would be like; probably stuck up and cold like everyone else. She thought as her eyes drifted towards the white roofs of the palace.
Unknown to the new guards a person was watching from the tallest tower, looking at them through a telescope "miss Schnee, are you alright?" the girl straitened up, wiping the look of shock off her face she turned to see a servant kneeling down. "Yes, yes I'm fine, just…looking at…birds," she said scrambling for a lie.
She shook herself and tilted her chin up "is there a reason for you to interrupt me?" she said, her voice cold and unfeeling, the servant shivered "y-yes m-y lady, his majesty, the Daimyo requests your presence immediately, my lady".
Weiss internally sighed, she still kept up her appearances and nodded, "tell him I will be right down" she said turning to peer through the telescope again as the servant bowed and backed out. Weiss concentrated her telescope on the red haired spear wielder, internally cheering at the chance to have her as her guard. But once again she pushed her feelings down, willing herself to keep appearances, then she walked down the stairs, dreading to be with her father again.
Yay, another chapter done, thank you for looking at the story and hopefully reviewing over what you liked and didn't like. See ya next chapter