Pre-fic Disclaimer: As with most people who write RWBY Fan Fic, I do not own the IP behind RWBY, and have no intention to make a profit off this. Now, a few warnings so that you know what you're getting into. The M rating is due to the violence; I kick the crap out of one of the characters a fair bit. He can take it, but I won't hide the damage from you. Better safe than sorry. In addition, a few notes on my writing style:
1) This story is meant to be told in separate acts (made of multiple chapters) and each act will have a complete 'ending'. That being said, each act will be progressively more serious in terms of tone. As such, if you're not looking to read something that gets progressively darker over time, you can safely assume that with each new 'Act', it will. We're going to start with goofy hijinks, but eventually we'll get into world ending battles and potentially tragic overtones.
2) Shipping. I know I will not be able to please everyone all the time, so I issue this warning now: This is NOT a ship fic. I apologize if I don't follow your idea of each character's One True Partner, or that I'm not spending a lot of time focusing on it. There will be NO erotic content. There WILL be romance, but it will be handled tastefully.
3) If you don't like OCs, jump ship now. For all those who didn't just run for the hills, I will not be making any one character omnipotent, nor will their abilities drastically change from what the show gave them. This rule applies to OCs and official characters. Conflict isn't interesting if a character can wave a magic wand and solve all the problems. I don't believe in Mary Sues. Everyone gets their day in the limelight.
That should be all the pre-show house cleaning. I recommend watching Episode 1 of Volume 1 before reading further. Enjoy!
Act 1
Crimson strobes flashed across his pain streaked visage, warning klaxons screaming in his ears. The indicators on his visor flickered wildly, unintelligible for the sheer interference that distorted his damaged suit systems. A scythe of energy tore through the plating on his back, short circuiting a dozen subsystems in a shower of sparks and shattering plating.
Agony flooded through his lower back, and he struggled to maintain his stance within his protective field. It shuddered under the terrible energies playing across its surface, weakening further as more strips peeled off the shell surrounding him.
The voices returned.
"Are you robbing me?"
"Yes!"
"Oh."
In the back of his mind, strength fading, he barely registered the calm voice of the AI, counting down with damnable precision what little power the ravaged suit still contained. Twelve percent. Eleven. Ten. Critical system failure of subsystems 54 through junction 42, switching to backups.
His visor screen cracked, the right eyepiece shattering inwards. He screamed as sizzling fragments struck his eye. Falling to his knees, he looked up as a ghostly afterimage darted across his vision.
"You alright if I go after him?"
A crimson shadow ascended up the side of a ghostly building with the crack of a rifle. Despite the insistent throbbing of his wounds, he grinned tightly. Someone in this new world had his kind of attitude. The smile was short lived as another warning flashed across what was left of his suit's visor. Internal overload; power at six percent. Nano-machine failure imminent.
Another ream of energy wrapped itself around his shielding, crushing it inwards like an egg shell. He wasn't going to last. More figures appeared from the mist; a girl at a table, jerking backwards as a riding crop was snapped at her hand.
"…and a slap on the wrist. But, there is someone here who wants to meet you."
A tall man entered the room, bearing a cup and plate. The details were becoming clearer; the traveler felt fear rise in his throat. He was already manifesting. If he appeared there, it would happen again. His appearance would be questioned. His nature, interrogated. It must not be this way. Rolling explosions worked their way from right shoulder to left hip, breastplate cracking open to reveal charring circuitry beneath.
The girl leaned back in her chair. "You're Professor Ozpin. You're the headmaster at Beacon."
Something arose within his memory. An ancient chant, one he had nearly forgotten. For Justice Cause, By Beacon's light…
The readout fizzled, the power systems reading empty, his health tracking dangerously below the black line. The gigantic hole in his abdomen continued to bleed out, staining the azure plate red. Somewhere deep within him, somewhere he hadn't felt in so long, it stirred. The power. The rage. The source of his oath. His duty. He had to hold on; without the suppressants, everyone would die.
"You want to come to my school?"
"More than anything."
"Well… ok."
The final strands of power went dull, and the shield collapsed. With a resigned, agonized exhalation, he laid the imprint. The Headmaster would have to do. He only hoped his target would be alone when he arrived, and that when he did, he'd live long enough to speak.
Glynda's heels clicked stridently against the marble floor as she approached, each step ringing out above the echoing advancement of the clockwork above. Ozpin slowly took his seat in his steel-backed chair, ignoring the sudden twinge in his leg. She wasn't happy.
"I don't like this." She stopped a short distance from his desk, tapping her thigh with her riding crop. "She's too young."
The headmaster sighed, leaning back in the chair. "She's Qrow's niece, and you cannot deny her skill."
"Her skill is not my worry." Glynda's eyes flashed, and she started pacing. She liked pacing.
"What then."
"Ozpin, Ruby Rose is an excitable girl, now elevated beyond her peers based off the reckless actions of one night." The good witch paused at the green, crystalline window, gazing out on the Beacon presidium. "She very nearly got herself killed."
Ozpin raised his cup, felt the tingle of the brandy beneath the coffee. "She took action where others would have frozen. That is something lacking in the Huntsmen and Huntresses of today."
"Today's Huntsmen and Huntresses are being born into a world of peace, completely different from that which we grew up in." Glynda's voice softened, and next came the slow tattoo of her heels again as she approached the Headmaster's seat. "And yet, you recruit as though we were in wartime."
Turning slightly in his seat, the headmaster gave his companion a sidelong glance. "How so?"
Glynda produced a scroll, flicking it on with practiced ease; Ozpin didn't need to look closely to distinguish student transcript and applications arranged in orderly rows and columns. Two pictures in particular jumped out at him; Jaune Arc and Blake Belladonna.
"I've been analysing the student records-"
"No." Ozpin straightened, his voice sharpening into a blade that cut off Glynda's next statement. "I understand your concerns, old friend, but I will not begin a witch hunt based off of transcript irregularities." The other straightened, her eyes narrowing. He paused mid thought, then relaxed; he turned the charm back on, smiling mischievously. "Perhaps witch hunt was a poor choice of words."
A pair of fingers pushed Goodwitch's glasses back into place, and she frowned. "Perhaps." Her stern expression wavered, and her shoulders sank an inch. The unbending steel of her resolve winding back on itself, just like the clockwork that surrounded them. "James has been talking about expanding Atlas' influence."
She turned back to the window. "I just worry that we're heading in the same direction."
Ozpin laughed, joining her at the window, cane in hand. "James Ironwood is one of the most capable men I have ever met. The difference between us is that while he believes in strength through duty, I look for the smaller things."
Beacon was quiet, the darkness cloaking the presidium like a cool blanket. Soon, the next year would begin, bringing new potential, new energy to be tempered into the forces that would protect the people. A thin smile traced his lips; the entrance speech could use a line like that. Temper the children's expectations in preparation for their own forging.
"Ruby Rose is a smaller, more honest soul than any of us." He nodded thoughtfully. If she was anything like her mother, and if that dusty Qrow hadn't exaggerated, she was a perfect choice to join Beacon's elite, even if she was two years short of the entrance age. "I believe in her, as you have so often believed in me."
Glynda made to speak, but was cut off at a chime from his desk terminal. Something shot through Ozpin then; a thrill of adrenaline, brought on by the urgent tone of the warning siren. He spun back towards the terminal, slinging himself into his chair without concern for the pain it caused his leg.
"An Intruder?!" Glynda's tone was incredulous. There hadn't been a security breach the entire length of his tenure as Headmaster, aside from the antics of the students. Ozpin didn't respond, bringing up the warning code. Aura burst, growing stronger by the moment. A brief flash of red cascaded across the far wall, and the lights dimmed.
A finger stabbed the intercom switch. "Professor's Oobleck and Port to my office, immediately." Ozpin's voice was level, despite the sudden feeling in his spine. Glynda straightened behind him, strafing wide of his table, riding crop raised in a defensive stance. "Code 17; intruder in my office."
Oobleck would be there in fourteen seconds. Port wasn't as fast as he once was, so Ozpin would have to stand without him at first. The headmaster levered himself out of the chair as another brilliant flash of crimson lit the room, this time followed by a deep rumble. He took up position to Glynda's left, shooting her a warning glance. She nodded.
The far door shot open, and a green blur tore through the room, resolving in Oobleck's form in a low stance, his weapon sizzling with fire within moments. The professor hadn't even changed out of his emerald pyjamas. "Headmaster, we seem to have an anomalous energy reading in this room! Excellent! A most wondrous chance to study-"
"Bart?" Oobleck turned. "Later."
Another flash, followed by an ear-splitting roar. Ozpin threw up a hand to block out the light, as did the others. The roar continued for longer than he expected, and as he looked on, the crimson flash resolved into a ring of light, darkness forming within the center. A portal.
Glynda straightened. "Professor, you don't think-"
"Raven." Ozpin recognized that energy, and with her name the others all tensed further. No one seemed willing to approach, rooted to the spot.
"If it isn't-"
"If it isn't, we could be in just as much trouble. Look sharp."
The light intensified, flooding the room to the edges, blocking out even Peter's rotund form as he came huffing through the front door, his battle axe held high. The crash and roar shook the clockwork above, rattling even the mighty cogs rooted into Beacon's very infrastructure.
A figure emerged, large and dark against the swirling portal. Port spun his axe, raised to fire, freezing as Ozpin's hand shot out. The old ways still rang true with his team; both Oobleck and Glynda had assumed attack positions just as the old days, but none would strike until he gave the word.
The light shifted, the portal growing smaller by the instant, and the flickering lights rose to full illumination again. The figure resolved, a man in a full suit of armor, staggering forward. A single twitch of Ozpin's cane and his team lowered their weapons, albeit hesitantly. A moment later, they saw what their headmaster had noticed.
Blood. It streamed from multiple ruptures in the suit of full plate. Secondary explosions, malfunctions perhaps, played across the entire length of his body as the circuitry failed inside. The knight took three steps before dropping to one knee, the portal closing amidst the clatter of falling steel.
Every movement was accompanied by the sound of grinding servos, the mechanical suit clearly unable to move under its own power any longer. A tattered cloak of crimson, barely more than a scrap of material now, fluttered at his shoulders.
"He-Headmaster…" The intruder's voice was interspersed with electronic glitches, one lens of his winged helmet sparking uncontrollably, the other blown out, leaving a long gash of torn metal stained with the sanguine tinge of blood. His breathing, harsh, coupled with the tortured heaving of his body with each gasp. "We… need to talk."
With that said, the intruder pitched forward, his armored bulk shaking the room as he collapsed in the growing puddle of his life fluids. His helmet knocked loose by the impact, it skittered across the floor to strike one of Ozpin's shoes. The surface was scarred and pitted, covered in burns such that the blue plate was nearly completely obscured. What fires it had seen, the headmaster could only guess.
He motioned twice, short movements that set Port and Glynda into action; Oobleck was gone from the room before he completed the action. Striding purposefully around his desk, Ozpin struck the intercom button again, clearing his throat.
"Professor Peach, please report to the medical bay. Medical bay, send a stretcher and medics to my office." He spared the body on the floor a glance, his frown deepening. "Get them here yesterday."
"- it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and training to protect our world."
The hologram winked out, and the excited murmur of conversation returned to the airship as it banked slightly. Nora spun around, too close, tiptoeing to within inches of Ren's face. "So exciting! Well, a little exciting. She could have done a little more on her delivery, like, maybe having fireworks going in the background, or, y'know, smiling. You think-"
"Nora?" Ren took a step back, and she dropped back on her heels, head cocked to the side. Even when she wasn't speaking, she was wiggling. He sighed. "I don't think the point was to get us over excited."
The orange haired girl's eyes twitched back and forth across his face for a moment before a giant grin split her face. "Well too late, stick in the mud!"
She turned and ran, leaning forward into the observation window until her nose pressed against the glass. For the briefest moment, she struck a pose, like a pinup girl, one leg raised behind her as she looked down on the scenery below. Beacon had come into view, a mighty spire thrusting upwards into the sky, and even from their high vantage, they could see the small dots moving amongst the buildings below.
"It's hard to imagine," she murmured, her levity fading slightly. "Someday, it'll be our job to look after everyone down there."
Ren cautiously joined her, careful to stay at arm's length. Her enthusiasm was contagious though, and he cleared his throat. "It is. We're privileged to be a part of it all."
Nora sidled over, popping up on her toes once more. She slyly ran a hand up his arm, dragging him down to her level sharply, and causing his shoulder to pop in protest. The Valkyrie didn't know her own strength.
"You know who I saw?" Ren shook his head, and his companion gave a little squeal of delight. "Pyrrha Nikos! She's on the ship with us!"
Searching his memory, something clicked. "The girl on the Pumpkin Pete's box?"
Nora nodded so hard it shook him, his head rattling back and forth in time with her own. "Yessssss! We need to go say hi! We have a real, live celebrity going to school with us!"
The Valkyrie turned to dash into the back, tripping headlong over another traveler, one bent double. Ren made to call out, then thought better of it as the blonde stranger vomited, covering his friend completely in brown. He sighed again; only Nora. Only… Nora.
The other youth's eyes widened as he realized what he did, and he shriveled as he spotted the taller student looking on. He muttered a nearly silent, "Sorry!" and took off running as the airship shuddered under docking pressure.
Ren's bouncy companion's eyes opened beneath the layer of vomit, and she grimaced. "Euwwwwwwwwwwww-"
"Oh, Yang, Gross! You have puke on your shoe!"
A short girl in a black and red outfit was dancing around another, taller one with golden hair, pointing at her boot and waving her arms like a windmill. Her hyperactive cries got her friend's attention, and she shrunk back as well, trying to scrape it from her foot.
As he helped Nora up from the floor, Ren sighed once more. Surely, it wouldn't always be like this. Across the cabin, another traveler was watching the scene intently; taller than Ren, he wore a coal coloured coat, almost to the floor. His icy eyes twinkled with poorly disguised mirth. As they noticed each other, the stranger gave a small shrug and shook his head, smile widening as he turned away.
Ren felt the smallest of smiles tug at the corners of his own mouth as he offered Nora his handkerchief. Already, his oldest friend had made her own impression.
And there you have it, Chapter 1 finished.
So, going forward, the tone will be more 'vomit incident', and less 'mysterious blood soaked figure appearing from portals'. We'll get there eventually, but I need to set the stage and get a few of my OCs established within the universe, and indicate where they were when certain key events occurred for everyone we love.
Responses welcome, the more constructive the better as I'm constantly trying to evolve my style. My main concern is the viewpoints feeling too similar; I intentionally chose the mystery character, Ozpin and Ren for the first chapter because they felt similar in terms of temperament, but this won't always be the way of it. I also want to make sure chapter length is solid, but not so long it drags. You may find them longer or shorter depending on the formatting; we're at about 3,000 words currently, give or take. If you felt it was too long/short, please let me know and I will adjust myself.
At this time, I would recommend re-watching both parts of "The Shining Beacon" before you read chapter 2. See you soon!