Don't talk to me this just happened. Welcome to the RWBY AU.
Part I
Welcome to Beacon
The shattered moon was high in the sky above the city of Vale as a man turned out of an alleyway, brushing people aside as he made his way through the crowds of late night shoppers. He and his followers took a right, and there was a soft jingling sound as he pushed open the door of Dust 'Til Dawn, one of the prominent Dust shops in town.
"Do you have any idea," he said conversationally, leaning on the counter, "How hard it is to find a Dust shop open this late?"
At his signal, one of his men pulled out a gun, flipping off the safety as he levelled it at the elderly man behind the counter, who raised his hands in fear.
"Please!" the shopkeeper cried, "Just take my Lin and leave!"
"Shhhh…." The man said, rolling his eyes. "Calm down. We're not here for your money." He shot a sideways look at his men. "Grab the Dust."
The men pulled out various boxes and briefcases, and started packing up the powerful crystals under the glass countertop. A couple of them went over to the powdered dust containers on the walls, where they began syphoning it off into tubes for transportation.
One of them, heading over to t tube near the back, was startled by music coming from the weapons catalogues at the back of the shop. A boy in a red hoodie was standing there, flicking through them.
The man pulled out a sword. "Alright, kid," he said, waving it at their back. "Put your hands where I can see 'em." There was no response. "I said, hands in the air! You deaf or something?"
He pulled the boy around, and his hood fell back, revealing tanned skin, green eyes, messy blonde hair, and a large pair of headphones.
The man rolled his eyes behind his sunglasses, and mimed taking off the headphones. The boy did so.
"Yes?" he said, looking confused.
"I said, put your hands in the air! Now!" the man insisted, glowering. What was the point in being a goon in a Dust heist if no one listened to you?
"Are you…robbing me?" the boy said, looking puzzled for a moment.
"Yes!" the man cried in exasperation.
Puzzlement turned to comprehension. "Ooooh…" the boy said, narrowing his eyes.
Alec Hunter, leader of said heist, looked up as one of his hired goons sailed through the air, landing on the floor heavily. He rolled his eyes, and gestured to a few more of his men to investigate.
-O-
It was a quiet evening in the city of Vale. Shoppers had mainly headed home, and the streets were peaceful and empty.
Then another unfortunate hired goon sailed through the window of a Dust shop, landing in the street with a thud, followed by a boy in a hoodie.
The other goons stared as the boy straightened up, his weapon unfolding as he turned to face them. The green eyed boy stared them down, headphones in hand. He pressed a button, and the blare of music stopped.
"Oooookay…" Alec gritted his teeth. Why did shit like this always happen to him? Part of him wished Ophelia was there to deal with it. Part of him was glad she wasn't so he wouldn't have to see her smug smirk. He sighed, and looked back at his goons. This kid was tall, but he couldn't have been more than what…seventeen? "Get him," he sighed, jerking his head at his men.
They obeyed, rushing out of the door of the shop. And getting dispatched with a few swift kicks, punches and weapon twirling. The boy seemed to know every move they were going to make before they made them.
"You were worth every cent, truly you were…" he muttered to himself, heading out of the shop himself. "Well kid," he said, raising his cane, "I think we can all say it's been an eventful evening. And as much as I'd love to stick around, I'm afraid this is where we part ways." He pressed a button, and a small explosion shook the street as he sent a flaming blast at the boy.
When the smoke cleared, the Steve Cray found himself alone. Looking around, confused, he caught sight of the man climbing a series of rungs set into the side of a nearby building as a fire escape. He turned to look at the elderly shop keeper, who was standing in the doorway of his ransacked shop. "You okay if I go after him?"
The man nodded, and Steve began to chase after the man, launching himself into the air with a powerful shot and landing on the roof just after him. "Hey!" Steve cried, raising his weapon, but the man didn't turn around, merely muttering something rather rude under his breath.
Steve went to move towards him, but was forced to take a step back when he was hit with a gust of wind from the airship that suddenly rose into the air from the cover of another building. A bright light shone down on them, dazzling him as the man climbed into the ship, and turned to smirk at him.
"End of the line, kid," he cried, throwing a glittering dust crystal down from the ship, which landed at Steve's feet, Steve stared at it for a moment, trying to work out why…
And then the man aimed a shot at the extremely explosive crystal.
Steve saw his life flash before his eyes, felt the heat of the explosion, but when he risked a peek, he realised that a) he was still very much alive, and b) a small blonde woman was standing in front of him, a riding crop outstretched in front of her that seemed to have created some kind of shield, protecting him from the blast. She had silvery blonde hair pulled back into an elegant coif, and she was wearing a white blouse and a sensible black skirt. The woman pushed her wire rimed spectacles up her nose, appraising the situation, before flicking her crop and sending a volley of blasts at the ship, which rocked dangerously as it was hit.
Alec swayed, and darted into the cockpit. "We've got a Huntress!" he cried to his companion, who swiftly rose from her seat, heading over to the open side door of the craft.
Steve stared at his saviour as she twisted a mechanism on her weapon, and sent a blast of cold at the ship, shards of ice stabbing into its metal body. He felt like cheering, but didn't want to distract her. As he watched, however, another figure came to the ship door, a woman, whose face was obscured by shadow. All he could see was dark hair, a lithe body and her eyes glowing in the shadows…first green, then…gold?
The woman in the ship flicked her wrist, and a ball of flame hurled towards them. The blonde woman blocked it, like before, but underneath her a strange, golden…circle appeared. Just looking at it made Steve feel sick. The blonde woman didn't seem to notice it, but flipped backwards anyway, just as it exploded, leaving Steve stunned. How had she known the do that? She waved her cane again, twisting the dial, and lightning shot from the end of it, showing that it was obviously powered by Dust. It wasn't enough, however. The woman in the ship waved another hand and a golden shield deflected the electricity. Steve came to his senses, and open fired, but the woman simply raised a hand, deflecting his bullets. How was she doing that? The woman raised her hands again, and more spinning circles appeared under Steve and the blonde woman. Steve barely had time to react before the woman knocked into him, pushing him back across the roof and out of range as the circles exploded. When he looked up, he saw the ship flying off into the distance. Next to him, the blonde woman had climbed to her feet, and was brushing herself down. She gave Steve a glare, but he didn't care.
"You…" his voice was strangely high pitched. "You're a Huntress!"
The woman just raised a pale eyebrow.
"Can…" Steve's voice was practically squeaking by this point. "Can I have your autograph?!"
-O-
"I hope that you realise that your actions here tonight will not be taken lightly, young man!"
Steve sank in his chair as the blonde huntress paced back and forth in front of him, her grey eyes narrowed.
"You put yourself and others in great danger," she continued, and Steve jumped up indignantly.
"They started it!" he said, glowering. And then he realised how childish that sounded and he slowly sank back into his seat. The Huntress continued as if he hadn't even spoken.
"If it were up to me you would be sent home…with a pat on the back…" Steve perked up slightly, grinning. The woman turned to him and her glare intensified. "And a slap on the wrist!"
She smacked the table in front of him with her crop, and he jumped back, his heart sinking again.
"But…" she sighed. "There is someone here who would like to meet you."
She moved aside, and Steve saw a brown skinned woman enter the room, her long black hair tied back into a pony tail. She was taller than her companion, and more muscular, but her brown eyes were kind. Oh, and she was carrying a tray of orange slices.
"Steven Cray…" the new woman said, smiling at him. "My, my…where did you learn to do all of that?"
"Urm…Signal Academy?" Steve said, now feeling very confused.
"They taught you to use one of the most dangerous weapons ever designed?" the woman said, raising an eyebrow.
"Well…one teacher in particular," Steve admitted, his eyes straying to the orange slices.
"I see..." The new woman said, her smile widening slightly. She set the plate down in front of him, and Steve hesitantly took an orange slice. Then another. And another until his mouth was so full he could hardly breathe. "I've only seen one other person use those techniques before…" the woman continued. "A Mr Blaze Damian…"
"Mmmph," Steve managed to say through a mouthful of orange. "Tphs mu uncle…" He chocked slightly, and managed to swallow the orange. "Ahem. Sorry. That's my Uncle Blaze. He's a teacher at signal. I was complete crap until he gave me a few lessons. And now I'm like a ninja or something, you know, like all, hyyyyyyaaaaa! Huuuuuugh! Kapooooow!"
"…So I've noticed," the woman said dryly, sitting down opposite him. "And what is a sweet little boy like yourself doing at a school to train warriors?"
"Well…both my parents were hunters…and my cousin is applying to Beacon this year…so I thought…why not give it a shot?" Steve said, shrugging. "I mean…I'd…like to be Hunter. I wanna help people. And my sister is going to Beacon this year because she wants to be a huntress, and I'd like to help her and the police are okay but come on, a Hunter? It's so much more cool and exciting and the ladies will love it and…" he trailed off, seeing the silvery blonde huntress' face.
"Do you know who I am?" the dark haired woman said, that pleasant smile still on her face.
Steve felt himself go red. He now felt like an idiot. "You're…you're Anandi Kapoor. Headmistress of Beacon. Um. Nice to meet you?"
"You want to come to my school?" Anandi said, tilting her head to the side.
"Well…yeah," Steve said, hoping he hadn't monumentally cocked everything up. The blonde woman was glowering with her arms folded.
"Well, okay!" Anandi said casually, and Steve felt his spirits soar.
-O-
"I can't believe my little cousin is going to Beacon with me!"
Steve gasped as Cillian hugged him for like the third time that day, the older boy squeezing the air out of him and ruffling his hair. He was pretty sure by now he was just doing it to embarrass him, and boy was it working.
"Please…stop…" he gasped, and Cillian finally acquiesced, although not without fluffing hair a bit more.
"Fine, fine…" he said, rolling his eyes. "But seriously Steve. I'm proud of you. Just don't let it go to your head."
Steve stuck his tongue out, and turned back to the TV that was on the main deck of the airship.
"…Nefarious criminal Alec Hunter still avoids capture," a presenter was saying. "If anyone has any clues to his where abouts, please contact the Vale police department. Back to you in the studio, Lisa."
"Thank you Tom. In other news, a Faunus civil rights protest turned dark when members of the terrorist group, The White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organisation has now disrupted…"
The news report was suddenly cut off as the image of the silver haired huntress appeared on the screen.
"Hello and welcome to Beacon," she said, her face just as stern as when Steve had last seen it. "My name is Cassandra Zolnerovich. You are among a privileged few who have received the honour of being selected to attend this prestigious academy. Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as our Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."
The video vanished, leaving behind a view of Vale from above. Steve rushed over to press his nose up against the glass, whilst Cillian followed more sedately.
"Wow!" Steve exclaimed, staring out over the city, and across the river to where Beacon academy sat.
There was a retching sound, and he turned to see another boy running in the direction of the toilets, his face green. He and Cillian exclaimed glances, and he saw that his cousin's lips were twitching.
"Poor bloke," he managed to saw, letting out a snort. "I wonder what kind of people we're going to meet?"
"I hope they're better than vomit boy," Cillian muttered with a grin.
-O-
Steve didn't know how he ended up by himself, but somehow he and Cillian had got separated. He walked down the path towards Beacon anxiously, looking around to see if there was anyone else who looked new he could talk too. Was he supposed to go to the dorms? Did they have dorms? What was he doing? He raised his head to look up at the towering building of the school, turning around to take it all in. He stared in wonder until he smacked straight into someone, falling backwards and landing om something hard.
"What are you doing?!"
He seemed to have knocked a load of cases off of a trolley, as he was now surrounded by them. He looked for the source of the voice, and saw a dark haired girl on the floor in front of him. He had obviously just knocked her over. Oops.
"Do you have any idea of the damage you could have caused?!" the girl cried, scrambling to her feet and dusting herself down.
"Uhhh…" Steve felt himself flushing slightly staring at her. She was very pretty, with silver, monolidded eyes, a dusting of freckled across her fair skin, and a river of thick black hair tied into a ponytail on the side of her head. He reached out and passed her one of the boxes, and she took it from him carefully, opening it to reveal glimmering bottles of Dust.
"This is mined and purified from the Sueng Dust quarries!" she exclaimed.
"Uuuuuh…what?" Steve said, still staring gormlessly at her.
"Did you hit your head or something?" she said, unimpressed, removing one of the bottles and waving it in his face. He must have damaged the cap when he knocked the crate because the container was leaking a little. "You know, Dust? Fire, water, lighting…energy? You could have caused a really nasty accident! What do you have to say for yourself?!"
Yup, that container was definitely leaking. He opened his mouth to tell her, but the Dust tickled his nose, and he let out an enormous sneeze…
There was a blast of flame, a swirl of ice, and when the smoke cleared, the girl with the silver eyes was left covered in soot and looking like she was going to murder him. The glass container went flying, and hit the ground with a clink, rolling away across the pavement.
"Unbelievable!" His attention quickly snapped back to the girl in front of him. "This is exactly the kind of thing I was talking about!"
Oh shit. "I'm really…really sorry!" he said, wilting as she continued to glare at him.
"These kind of mistakes cannot be tolerated!" she exclaimed. "What are you even doing here? This is Beacon, it's not your run of the mill combat school. Mistakes like that could be fatal! It's not just sparring and practise, you know; we're here to fight monsters, so you'll need to be aware of the space around you!"
Steve was stung. Yeah, so maybe he wasn't the best fighter –well, that had always been Cat- but he'd still got into Beacon…Professor Spark had asked him personally!
"Hey, I said I was sorry, Princess," he snapped back, glaring at her.
"It's Heiress, actually," another voice said from behind him. He turned and saw a girl with honey blonde hair and sky blue eyes, walking over to them. She looked pretty cute, wearing a soft pink battle-dress with a big bow in her curly hair. "Aislinn Seung, heiress to the Seung Dust company. The largest producers of energy propellant in the world."
Aislinn sighed, her body relaxing slightly. "Finally, someone who knows something."
"The same company," the blonde girl continued, her eyes narrowing, "famous for its controvertible labour forces and questionable business partners."
Aislinn flushed. "How…how dare…the nerve…" she spluttered. She finally seemed to settle for turning away, her servants coming forwards to help pick up her backs as she stalked off.
"Sorry!" Steve called again as she headed off towards the school, her ponytail swishing. He guessed he wasn't the only one having a stressful first day. But hey, there was the other girl. He turned to her. "So what's your na-"
She was gone, already walking off in the other direction. Steve sighed, and flopped onto a bench. Great. He's lost Cillian, blown shit up, and one girl already hated him. Fab.
"Hey loser." He opened his eyes to see a familiar pair of blue eyes staring at him.
"Cat?"
She flung herself into his arms and ruffled his hair. "Missed you, fuckface!"
-O-
The gardens of Beacon were beautiful. They were ringed by an aqueduct, which carried some of the water which spilled down the cliff which beacon rested on. He'd forgotten how alive Cat was as she chattered away and they discussed different weapons, and the techniques to go with them, and how he'd met Professor Spark. He told her all about the robbery, and she was the perfect audience, enthusiastic, providing questions at all the right moments, and oohing and ahhing.
"That's my brother!" she cried, jumping up so she could ruffle his hair. "Defender of the innocent and kicker of asses!"
"What have you been up too?" he said. "Off with your scholarship to Sanctum, eh?"
She shrugged. "Ah, you know, this and that. Mistral's nice, but I'm glad you be home in Vale! How's Dad?"
Steve paused, and sighed. "Ah, you know. Same old. Cillian and I are old enough to look after ourselves now, and Blaze pops in now and then even if he does always bring a bottle of whisky with him."
"What about Mum?" Cat asked, not meeting his gaze.
"She's alright. I went up and weeded her headstone before I left, so it should be okay for a while. And I think Dad goes up there sometimes, not that he lets us see. Blaze goes to see her now and again as well."
Cat nodded. "Cool. Next time I'm home…I'll…drop by."
He reached out and pulled her into a one armed hug. "I think she'd like that."
"Thanks fuckface."
Steve smirked, before looking around. "So, where we going?"
Cat stopped walking and stared at him in surprise. "Uh…I was just following you."
"Oh."
-O-
Finally, they managed to locate the lecture theatre, and there was Cillian, waving them over. There was a blur, and then Cat had hurled herself at her cousin, hugging him so tightly that Steve was worried his ribs would crack.
"Heya, little cousins," Cillian finally said when she released him. "How's your day been so far guys?"
"You mean since you abandoned my ass and I exploded?" Steve said, raising an eyebrow.
"Wow. Meltdown already Steve?"
"No, I literally exploded hole in front of the school, and there was some fire, and I think some ice?"
"Are you being sarcastic?" Cillian said, raising his eyebrows.
"I wish!", Steve said vehemently, whilst Cat cackled in the background. "I tripped over this girl's luggage, and she was super-hot but so angry and she yelled at me, and then I sneezed and exploded, and then she yelled again and it was really weird and I just wanted her to stop yelling!" He waved his arms to emphasise the point and manage to hit someone in the head. When he turned round to apologise, he came face to face with none other than Aislinn Seung.
"YOU!"
"It's happening again!" Steve cried, and jumped into Cat's arms. She caught him with ease; she'd been stronger than him ever since her Aura was unlocked.
"You were just lucky we weren't blown off the side of the cliff!" Aislinn said, her hands on her hips.
"You actually exploded," Cillian said incredulously, staring between the two of them and shaking his head slowly. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Hey!" Steve said indignantly.
"Shhhh, it's alright, baby bro," Cat said, smirking. "I've got you."
"Hey! I'm ten minutes older than you!"
Aislinn didn't even glance at Cat. She just shoved a leaflet into Cillian's hand. "Get your friend to read that. Maybe then he'll be less of a health hazard."
Steve glanced over at the leaflet. Dust Usage For Dummies. Huh. "I'm sorry," he said again, looking up at her with puppy eyes. "Really. I'll make it up to you."
The girl sighed. "You really want to make it up to me?" Steve nodded eagerly. "Read the leaflet, and don't ever talk to me again."
She turned and swept off, not even bothering to glance back, leaving Steve staring after her, half irritated, half…well. She was pretty even when she was angry.
"Cat?"
"Yeah, loser?"
"You can put me down now."
-O-
They were all sleeping in the ballroom that night. Apparently they would only be assigned dorms after their initiation.
"It's like a biiiig sleepover!" Cat said, jumping on top of Steve.
"Cat you shit!" her brother exclaimed, examining the wonky line that now crossed his letter. "You jogged me!"
"Sorreeeeeeee!"
"I don't think my dad would approve of all the boys, Cat," Cillian said with a smirk from where he was lying next to Steve.
"I know I do," Cat said with a wink, her eyes scanning the half-dressed men around them. "Yum. Although I think he should be more worried about Steve and the ladies." She laughed, rolling off Steve and onto her own sleeping bag.
"What'cha writing anyway?" she asked, peering over Steve's shoulder.
"Letter to Dad. I promised I'd tell him all about it."
Cat felt her stomach twist. "Well…give him my love."
"Will do, Sis."
She perked up, seeing a dark skinned boy walk past. "Hellooooo good looking."
Cillian let out a snort. "Cat, don't tell me you think Vomit Boy is attractive."
"Vomit boy?"
"He barfed his guts out on the airship. And he got some on my shoe."
"Gross!"
"See?"
Steve meanwhile was staring across the room, and when Cat followed his gaze she saw a girl with a pink bow sitting and reading a book in the corner.
"Looks like Steve's found a target."
Cillian raised an eyebrow. "She's pretty. But looks like she wants to be left alone."
"That or she's lonely," Steve said, smirking. "Let's go and say hi."
Cat rolled her eyes. "I'm staying here. Sleepy time for me."
"Fine. Cillian. Wing-man me."
Cillian looked like he'd rather eat pins, but when Steve got to his feet, he followed him.
-O-
Wingman. Right. Cillian rolled his eyes for when felt like the millionth time that day as he followed Steve across the room to the blonde girl. She didn't look up until they were right in front of her, and he suddenly found himself confronted by a pair of sky blue eyes, that made his stomach feel like it had been tied in knots. He inhaled sharply, before getting a hold of himself. Wingman. Right.
"Hey, I'm Steve," his cousin was saying. "And this is my cousin Cillian."
The girl remained silent for a moment, before saying; "Aren't you that guy that exploded this morning?"
Cillian bit his lip and tried to not to burst out laughing as Steve valiantly rebounded. "Yeah, that's me! I make women explode all the time, if you know what I mean!"
What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Cillian rolled his eyes and stepped on Steve's foot. What are you doing? He sent to him.
I DON'T KNOW HELP ME.
"Okay…" the girl said, her eyes flicking back to her book.
"So, what's your name?" Cillian said, giving her a smile.
The girl let out what sounded like an irritated sigh, before replying "Bryony."
"I'm Cillian," he said, "Steve's cousin."
"I like your bow," Steve said, giving her a hopeful smile.
"Thanks."
"it goes great with your…your pyjamas!"
"Riiiight…" the girl was fully focused on her book now, not even looking at them.
"Nice…nice night, don't you think?" Steve said.
"Yes. It's lovely," Bryony replied. "Almost as lovely as this book."
Steve was still smiling hopefully.
"That I will…continue to read."
Steve was still smiling like an idiot. Cillian wanted to facepalm.
"As soon as you leave," Bryony finished, her eyes flicking back to the text.
Okay. Okay she's a lost cause. Steve finally admitted to Cillian, but he hardly heard him.
"What's it about?" The question took even him by surprise.
"Huh?" the girl's suddenly stared at him, those blue eyes meeting his.
"Your book. What's it called?" Cillian continued. His stomach was still twisting strangely.
"Urm…well, it's about a man with two souls. Each fighting for control over his body," Bryony said, looking surprised.
"That's…lovely…" Steve contributed.
"I love books," Cillian didn't understand why he was still talking, but his mouth kept moving. "My Mum…she used to read to me every night before bed when I was little. Stories of heroes and monsters…that kinda stuff."
"Is that why you want to be a hunter?" Bryony asked. "Looking to be a hero?"
"I just…kinda…well. She always said we should fight for what is right and protect people who couldn't protect themselves. So…that's what I wanted to do."
She was looking up from her book now. She smiled, and it lit up her face. "That's very ambitious for a child." The smile was gone as soon as it came, and her eyes were suddenly sad. She looked away, towards the night outside the window. "Unfortunately the real world isn't the same as a fairytale."
"I guess…" he shrugged. "I guess that's why we've got to try and make it better."
"Cillian! That was so deep!" Steve cried, before grabbing him and ruffling his hair. Cillian had the distinct feeling it was revenge for earlier. "You are as deep as an ocean, aren't you? Naaaaw!"
"Steve, cut it out!" he snapped, trying to bat his hand away.
"Guys shut up, some of us are trying to sleep!"
They both turned and saw…
"Oh no, not you again!" Aislinn, Steve and Cillian all found themselves crying unison.
"Seriously, it's nearly midnight," Aislinn said, folding her arms. Cillian raised his eyebrows as he saw Steve, despite his efforts, checking her out.
"She's right," Steve said, nodding. "I supposed people are trying to sleep…"
"Oh, now you're on my side?" Aislinn said, rounding on Steve. Cillian guessed from the way she was tugging down the hem of her nightgown that she'd noticed his cousin's wandering eyes.
"I was always on your side," Steve said. " It was an accident, I promise!"
Cillian turned to look at Bryony, and saw her smiling slightly. She put placed a ribbon in her book, and shut it, before she turned around and blew out the candle.