Hello and welcome back to another chapter of Creeping Shadows (previously named Grimm Shadows).

So Team RWBY is in this chapter. Team JNPR also makes a brief appearance. It's still pretty OC centric though. But please, give it a chance. And if you get to the end and decide that you hated it, leave a review and let me know why so that I can improve it.

POV shifts throughout this. It's all third-person, but in some sections it's third-person limited (as in, you only know what one character is thinking). The first two sections are third-limited, the third section is kind of not really anybody's (so just regular third-person/ third-person unlimited), fourth section is mostly third-limited and the last section switches back and forth (so basically third-unlimited). You should be able to tell who is thinking what.

Ownership? Don't look at me. Do I look like Rooster Teeth or Monty Oum to you?

Chapter One: The New Team on the Block

"Attention class!" Professor Port's booming voice pulled his students away from their conversations, turning all eyes to him.

Ruby Rose lifted her head from her arms and looked over at her teacher curiously, wondering what he was going to announce. As she did so, she was surprised to see a group of four unfamiliar boys in Beacon uniform standing beside the teacher. She immediately straightened in anticipation. Were they getting new classmates?

"We will be welcoming new students to Beacon academy today," the professor continued, gesturing towards the boys beside him. "This is Team BSTN; Nathaniel Rome, Taka Kaneshiro, Silas Fenrir and team leader Bastion Frode."

As soon as the words 'team leader' registered, the class was filled with murmurs of shock.

"That boy has crutches," Weiss whispered in disbelief. "How can he be a huntsman at all, let alone a team leader?"

Ruby had to admit that she shared her partner's bewilderment. While she was all for the boy pursuing what she assumed was his dream, she honestly couldn't see how he would be much good when fighting the creatures of Grimm. Oh well, she shrugged, maybe he had a really strong semblance that made up for his lack of manoeuvrability.

"I hope you will welcome them all." Port completed, heedless of the whispers that now plagued his students, and gestured for the four boys to take their seats.

As soon as the teacher was done, Weiss exploded back into incredulity. "A boy with crutches as team leader! A cripple! What good could he possibly be in a fight?"

From the heiress's other side, Yang shrugged and echoed Ruby's earlier thoughts. "Well, maybe he has other skills."

Weiss scoffed haughtily. "What other skills would make up for being an invalid? He…" She cut herself short as the new team drew near.

The two humans didn't glance their way once as they passed by. The two Faunus boys bringing up the rear, however, turned their heads and looked directly at Weiss. The Faunus with lion ears and a tail, his head partially covered in a purple hood that vanished under his uniform, shot Weiss a dirty look. The other Faunus merely glanced at the Schnee heiress, blank-faced, and then looked away again.

When they had passed, Ruby glanced over at her partner. The heiress crossed her arms and huffed haughtily, her cheeks touched with pink from being caught out. Ruby glanced back at the boys, who were now taking seats across the aisle two rows above them, just in time to see the lion-Faunus boy glare openly at Cardin Winchester and clench his fists. Before he could do or say anything, the boy with crutches laid a calm hand on his friend's shoulder. After a moment the Faunus sighed and allowed himself to sink into his seat, still shooting dirty looks at Cardin and his team. Ruby couldn't hear what the leader of Team CRDL was muttering to his friends but, knowing Cardin, it wouldn't be pleasant.

Professor Port began his lecture and Ruby turned her attention away from the boys and tried to focus on the teacher; a difficult feat to accomplish. Soon Port was off on another of his rambling tales and Ruby's head began to droop.

Nathaniel was doing his level best not to leap from his seat, march over to the obnoxious boy sitting across the room and punch him in the face. Sensing his best friend's anger, Bastion had not removed his hand from Nathaniel's shoulder once since the lesson had begun. Silas could also sense his adoptive brother's rage, and whenever Nathaniel looked like he might disregard Bastion and leap up anyway, the wolf-Faunus placed his own firm hand on the lion-boy's other shoulder. Were it not for those hands, Nathaniel would have lost it and torn across the room several minutes ago.

Ever since the professor had introduced Team BSTN, and Bastion as its leader, incredulous muttering had run rife through the classroom. Though the other students didn't know it, Nathaniel could hear every word. And no words were more anger-inducing than the ones coming from the mouth of the brown-haired boy across the room.

Most of the students in the class had exhibited the expected amounts of incredulity; Nathaniel had to admit that it was both unexpected and unlikely for a boy with crutches to become a huntsman. However this boy, whose friends were calling him 'Cardin', seemed hell-bent on making derogatory comments on everything related to Nathaniel's partner; everything from his crutches to his glasses to his hair had been made spiteful fun of. And as if that weren't enough, he had made several mocking comments on Silas and Nathaniel himself. The insults to his own person Nathaniel could shrug off. The insults to his friend and adopted brother however, he could not. The disparaging statements concerning Faunus-kind in general only made it worse. Nathaniel had officially decided that he hated this boy.

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as he heard his adopted brother referred to as a 'filthy mongrel'. Bastion's hand on his shoulder was the only thing keeping him down when he heard the hated boy call his partner an 'invalid.'

He cursed under his breath. They all hated that word; invalid. Cripple they didn't like, but could ignore if they had to. Invalid, however, was never taken well with any of them. The word invalid implied that Bastion was inferior, that he was not as good, not as 'valid' as the next person. And all three of Bastion's team-mates knew for a fact that he was a much better person than most of those he encountered. He was certainly far superior to the boy called Cardin.

Ever since the mutterings began, only one other person had uttered the word 'invalid.' Nathaniel's eyes shifted away from Cardin and instead sought out the pale, princess-like girl with the silver-white hair sitting in the front row.

Like most of the class, she was whispering furiously to her team-mates. "Even if he does have an incredible aura or some such ability, he would still probably have to rely on his team for protection and he would still slow them down. It's just a fact; if you can't defend yourself in battle, you're nothing more than a liability."

Nathaniel scowled. Little did they know that Bastion was perfectly capable of taking care of himself in a fight. His intelligence made up for his weak legs a hundredfold. His semblance was nothing to scoff at either.

A small girl with a red cloak and hood, who was seated beside the pale princess, frowned. "Weiss, you don't know for sure that he can't defend himself."

"Of course I do," the princess girl scoffed. "Everyone in class knows it. Even if he can fight with those crutches, he'd still be too slow and clumsy to be of any real use in a battle."

Nathaniel's expression morphed into a smirk as he pictured the pale girl's face when she realised how wrong she was.

The girl crossed her arms arrogantly. "To be a successful huntsman or huntress you have to be the best. There is simply no place for an invalid in a job like this."

And there it was again. Invalid. Nathaniel's eyes narrowed and he glowered at the girl so intensely that he was half-hoping her uniform would catch fire.

If the girl could feel his glare boring into her, she gave no indication of it. One of her friends did, however. The dark-haired girl sitting two seats away frowned. Nathaniel's attention was briefly distracted by the sight of the bow on her head twitching. He smirked internally as he returned his focus to the prim princess. Another Faunus, huh? That made six in the room, including a girl with bunny ears that he had seen earlier as well as a couple of others.

The Faunus girl glanced around, her gaze finally settling on him. She leaned over to her friend. "Call me crazy, Weiss, but I think one of the new guys can hear you."

The alabaster-haired girl whipped around in her seat, her eyes meeting his. For a second she blanched under the force of his glare. Then she collected herself and straightened in her seat, glaring back haughtily.

The golden-haired girl seated between her and the Faunus with the bow looked up. "How can he hear you whispering from way over there? Especially with this much noise in the class. Even Blake's ears aren't that sharp."

The girl with the bow narrowed her eyes at her friend in warning, which the blonde promptly ignored.

"He probably can't," the princess girl, Weiss, scoffed. "He glared at me when he went past. He probably just hasn't stopped."

Nathaniel raised an eyebrow and then rolled his eyes pointedly. The girl in the red cloak chuckled. "I think he can hear you alright."

"Well, he shouldn't be listening in on other peoples' private conversations," the pale girl huffed, shooting Nathaniel a pointed scowl. He scowled right back. She had been dissing his partner!

"You were just talking smack about his team leader," the blonde girl pointed out, echoing Nathaniel's sentiments.

Princess floundered for a moment, searching for a good retort. When she found none, she huffed again and turned back to the front of the class.

Satisfied that his point had been made, Nathaniel also turned his attention back to the professor, who had noticed nothing of what had just transpired. Within seconds, he felt his eyelids start to droop.

When the lecture finally drew to a close, Team RWBY was one of the first to leave the classroom. By unspoken consensus, Team BSTN remained in their seats until the last of their classmates had dispersed.

When the last boy vanished out the door, Nathaniel exploded to his feet. "I'm gonna shoot that Cardin guy! I swear, I'm gonna bust out Neptune's Law and just –" He took a shot with a finger gun and mimed a loud explosion.

"Neptune's Law doesn't blow things up," Bastion laughed, pulling himself to his feet and tucking his crutches under his arms. "And you're going to have to tell me who 'that Cardin guy' is, since we don't all have ears sharper than a bat's."

"I'm assuming he was the cocky-looking one you kept sending glares at," Taka commented, slipping his notes into his book bag.

Nathaniel nodded.

"What were you doing using your semblance in class anyway?" Silas asked as he slung his bag over his shoulder. "It would have been a lot easier for you without it."

"I didn't at first," Nathaniel shrugged. "But I couldn't bear knowing they were all talking about Bastion, and even you, and not hearing it all for myself. I had to hear it to know exactly what I was going to beat them up for."

Silas flicked his ears, slightly amused. "You mean to tell me you plan to beat up every single person in this class?"

Nathaniel scratched his head as they stepped out into the aisle one by one. "Probably not I guess. Maybe just that Cardin guy and his team. Though that Weiss girl in the front row is pissing me off pretty good too."

At that Silas's eyes narrowed. "The princess girl?"

Nathaniel nodded. "That's the one."

Silas's eyebrows angled into a sharp 'v' as they moved towards the doors. He too had heard the first 'invalid' comment. Suffice to say he was not amused.

Taka laughed as they stepped out into the corridor. "I hope we won't be hearing of you two attempting to lay hands on a lady. Especially not that particular lady. I doubt Weiss Schnee is a person you want to mess with."

Silas's eyebrows shot up. "Schnee? As in the Schnee Dust Company?"

"You know her?" Nathaniel asked, surprised.

Taka shook his head. "No, but I know of her. My father is a big client of Schnee Dust. It would be… unpleasant if the daughter of the company's CEO were to file a lawsuit against our team. Not to mention that assault and battery can result in criminal charges."

Nathaniel sighed. "Okay, okay, I get it. No hitting girls, no hurting the prissy heiress."

Taka nodded. "Exactly."

As they approached the dining hall, Bastion turned to his partner. "Nate, please promise me you won't go beating anyone up today. Or tomorrow, for that matter."

Nathaniel sighed regretfully. "Fine. But what if I go up against one of them in combat class?"

Bastion chuckled. "Fine. It's not like I could do much about that anyway. But nothing out of class, okay? We haven't even been here a day yet, and we're getting enough attention as it is," he added with an uncomfortable shift of his shoulders.

Nathaniel softened at his partner's discomfort. "I promise."

"Hey, look! That boy has crutches!"

Nora's excited chirp made Weiss glance up. Looking in the direction the other girl was pointing, she saw the new team, Team BSTN, step into the cafeteria and merge onto the end of the lunch line with the rest of the late-comers.

"They're new," Yang explained. "They were in our Grimm Studies class last period. The boy with crutches is their leader."

Pyrrha raised her eyebrows. "A huntsman with crutches is the team leader?"

"There, you see?" Weiss huffed. "I'm not the only one who finds that unbelievable."

The scarlet-haired girl shook her head. "I am surprised, but I wouldn't say it was unbelievable. Everyone has different strengths that they can bring to the battlefield."

Weiss snorted. No matter what her friends said, she still found the notion of a cripple as team leader utterly preposterous. Surely one of his team-mates was better suited to the role. Then again, that was what she had originally thought of Jaune and Ruby, and she had eventually had to concede that Ruby did, in fact, have the potential to become a great leader and had probably been the best choice to lead Team RWBY. Jaune she was still unsure of, though he seemed to be doing better recently.

But that wasn't the point, she berated herself. There was a difference between a goofball like Jaune; who could, with a lot of work, improve, and a boy like that; who would always be crippled and physically inferior. It was a miracle that someone like him could have ever become a huntsman in the first place.

Weiss broke from her thoughts as Team BSTN approached. As if detecting her presence, the lion-Faunus boy met her eyes and glared, his eyes flicking pointedly between his team leader and her. The wolf-Faunus, who Weiss noticed was carrying his leader's tray as well as his own, glanced over as well. His blank face betrayed no emotion whatsoever as he met her eyes coolly. The black-haired boy looked her way as well. Though his face displayed only calm curiosity, his dark, calculating eyes made her shiver, feeling as if she had suddenly been placed under a microscope to be analysed and evaluated. The blue-haired leader was the only one who seemed indifferent to her presence.

All three boys' eyes were forced to the front when Cardin Winchester stepped into their path, the rest of Team CRDL right behind him.

"Well, well," Cardin sneered. "Look at the trash the cat dragged in."

The blue-haired boy laughed. "Believe it or not, I've actually heard that one before."

The brown-haired bully scowled and leaned in towards the shorter boy. "You think you're funny, huh?"

"Not particularly," the smaller boy shrugged.

Cardin growled and made as if to grab one of the boy's crutches when the black-haired boy stepped forward. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could make a sound he seemed to trip and stumble forward, his heel somehow smashing down onto Cardin's toes. As he did so, his lunch tray slipped from his hands. The apple slid over the edge and went tumbling to the ground, while the sandwich and glass of water tipped forward and, pinned from behind by the tray, splattered all over the front of Cardin's uniform.

The boy jerked back in apparent mortification. "Ah! I'm sorry about that."

Cardin cursed as he hopped on one foot, clutching his injured toes. "I'll get you for this." Then he turned and limped away, the rest of his team in tow.

Everything was silent for a moment. Then, as soon as Team CRDL had left the lunchroom, the rest of Team BSTN burst into laughter.

The lion-eared boy grinned at his team-mate, chuckles shaking his body. "Taka, you are my new hero."

The black-haired boy grinned back and, with one smooth motion of his shoe, flicked the apple back up into his hand, brushing it off against his sleeve. "Thanks, Nate, but somehow I feel like Bastion still holds that title." He frowned at the remnants of his sandwich and then shrugged. "Apple for lunch it is."

It had been a long day.

Bastion sighed to himself as he ambled down the paved stone pathway through the school grounds. He'd gone to his locker after class had ended for the day, telling his friends to go back to the dorm without him (after extracting a promise from Silas to keep Nathaniel from hitting anybody). Now, rather than go through the corridors, he had opted instead to take the scenic route. It was quiet down here, away from the crowds of students who would stare and judge him, disbelieving and derisive. It was always like this whenever he announced his dream to be a huntsman to anyone, except this time, instead of one or two people, there were hundreds of students in there ready to judge him at a glance. Tomorrow he'd brave the crowds, but today he just wanted a quick breather before diving back in fully.

A breeze ruffled his hair and he stopped to smile at the sky. It was too beautiful a day to stay cooped up inside. He watched the clouds drift lazily across the blue and a feeling of calm settled over him. He'd have to go back inside sooner or later; the others were waiting for him. But for just a moment everything faded away and the world was at peace.

His tranquillity was shattered when a red blur sped around the corner behind him and emitted a jarring shriek. "Look out!"

The blur, which was, of course, Ruby Rose, cursed frantically as she dug her heels into the ground and tried to stop, to no avail. She had too much momentum; she'd never be able to stop in time.

Startled by the suddenly imminent danger, Bastion's fingers automatically sought out the buttons on the handles of his crutches, particularly the triggers under his index fingers. With no time to think, he acted purely on instinct. Just before the blur smashed into him, he slid his fingers onto the triggers and pulled.

There was a loud bang as the rounds inside the chambers fired and detonated against the ground. The recoil, combined with the force of the blast, sent him shooting into the air just in the nick of time.

Ruby's eyes widened as a cloud of flame and smoke blossomed at the bottom of the new boy's crutches and sent him rocketing skyward. She just had time to think, cool, before her motion sent her right into the middle of it. She burst through, gagging and blinded by the acrid smoke, and her foot caught on the edge of the pavement, her momentum sending her flying. She hit green and skidded the next few grassy metres flat on her face before finally coming to a stop.

Bastion's landing was infinitely more graceful. Nearly three years of constant training made the now-familiar motions completely effortless. He barely even needed to think as he shifted in mid-air, lining his crutches up perfectly with the approaching ground. There was a soft clack as he landed, perfectly balanced, his crutches taking the brunt of the impact and his feet never brushing the ground once.

Instantly he swung around and ran towards the girl lying sprawled on the ground (or rather, the variation of running that one does with crutches). As he drew near, she sat up, spitting grass and rubbing smoky grit from her eyes. He winced. It wasn't really his fault, but he couldn't help but feel just the tiniest bit guilty.

Ruby looked up as a voice sounded above her.

"Are you okay?"

She looked up to see the new boy with the crutches, who she had nearly barrelled into, standing over her with a concerned look on his face.

Flushing in embarrassment, she stumbled to her feet and frantically dusted herself off. "Fine! I'm fine! I'm okay."

He watched anxiously. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yeah, of course. I've had worse."

He let a relieved smile slide onto his face. "Thank goodness." He paused and tilted his head at her. "Weren't you in a rush to get somewhere?"

The girl shrugged. "Well…not really. I was just going back to my dorm room. I'm not exactly in a rush, but I said I'd be back quickly, so…"

He laughed. "Understandable. I'm headed back to the dorms too. First time for me, actually."

Ruby perked up. "I can show you the way if you want."

"Thanks," he smiled. "You don't need to though. I think I can find it okay."

"Then I'll keep you company," she chirped, leading him back onto the pathway. "My name is Ruby, by the way. Ruby Rose, leader of Team RWBY."

"Bastion. Bastion Frode, leader of Team BSTN."

She glanced first at him then down at his crutches, taking note of the buttons beneath his fingers. "Soooo…are those your weapons?"

He nodded and traced the blue metal fondly. "Yup. They're designed to function as high-impact rifles mostly, though they have a rapid-fire setting as well. They also have blades." To demonstrate, he stopped walking and lifted one off the ground, sliding some kind of switch on the top of the handle open with his thumb. The he clicked one of the buttons and a large blade unfolded from the back of the rod into a triangular, almost fin-like shape with a smaller section spiking forward, extending beyond the end of the crutch.

Ruby gasped and oohed in appreciation. It was quite impressive, to her at least. Smiling in amusement at her enthusiasm, Bastion clicked the button and slid the switch shut again. The blade folded up and retracted, leaving the rod as plain and unassuming as before.

"Sorry about that explosion before, by the way," Bastion said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I forgot I had smoke rounds in the barrel."

"It's okay," Ruby smiled as they. "It's my fault for almost bumping into you."

"We'll call it even, then," he grinned.

"Yup," she nodded. Then, after a pause, she said, "My weapon is a scythe. Crescent Rose. She's also a customisable, high-impact sniper rifle. I don't have her here now though."

Bastion looked at her in surprise. "A scythe? Scythe wielders are rare. You must be pretty good." He paused and scrutinised her. "You know, now that I think about it, you do look a little young to be attending Beacon."

Ruby shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant. "Well…I was moved up a couple of years."

Bastion's eyes widened in amazement. "Wow. And you're team leader too. Forget good, you must be incredible."

Ruby laughed sheepishly. "I don't know if I'd say 'incredible'."

The boy shook his head adamantly. "Doesn't matter what you say. You're here. That speaks for itself. It's not every day you see a fifteen-year-old at a school like Beacon. You are fifteen, right?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, well, it's not every day you see a guy with crutches at a school like Beacon either." Then she gasped softly and her eyes widened. Should she have said that? What if he was offended?

To her relief, he didn't seem to take offence and laughed instead. "True, true."

Before either of them could think of anything to say, the dorm building came into view.

"Well, there it is," Ruby smiled. "Where are you headed?"

In answer he pulled out his and showed her the directions he had been given. As she followed them in her head, her eyebrows rose. "This is basically right across the hall from my room."

He quirked a brow. "Say what?"

She nodded. "Yeah, you guys are right next to Team JNPR. They're the team right across the hall from us, so you guys are across the hall and a door down."

She handed him back the scroll and he pocketed it with a surprised, "Huh." Then he frowned. "Wait a sec. That Schnee girl is in your team, yeah? What's her name? Weiss?"

Ruby nodded, unsure where he was going with this. "Um, yes?"

He sighed. "I hope Nathaniel hasn't seen her then. I don't know what she said, but one of my team-mates really seems to hate her at the moment."

Comprehension dawned on Ruby's face. "Oh, you mean that lion-Faunus boy, right? Yeah, he's been glaring at her all day. I guess I can sort of see why. She kind of…" She scratched her neck awkwardly. "Weiss kind of said some things…"

"Don't tell me," Bastion interjected. "I don't need to know."

"Okay then…" She looked at him curiously.

"I don't need to know what she said. The only thing that'll do is give me pre-conceptions, and I don't need those. I'd rather just form my own opinion when I meet her myself, if I can," he explained.

Understanding, Ruby nodded. "Okay then. I guess I'll show you to the rooms."

"Thanks," he chuckled.

"So what are your team-mates like?" Ruby asked as she led him through the halls.

Bastion tilted his head musingly. "Where to begin. Nathaniel's been my best friend for years. He's almost like an over-protective brother. He's quite…impetuous. He's a hot-head, and he jumps head-on into things a lot. I guess that's why I'm his partner; someone needs to balance him out." He shook his head fondly.

"Then there's Taka. I don't know if you've ever heard of KaneshiroCorp, the big weapons and engineering corporation? His dad is the CEO. He's a nice guy, though he can be a little manipulative when he wants to be. Then there's Silas. He's usually the quietest one, but he's not shy. He's just not the type to waste words. He can be a little rash every now and again, but on the whole he's got a pretty level head."

Ruby smiled. "They sound like a good team."

"They are."

"So what are their weapons like?" Ruby tried, and failed, to hide the sudden gleam that sprang to her eyes as she asked this.

Bastion laughed. "I get the feeling you love weapons." He frowned in thought. "We have a field lesson in a couple of days, right?"

"Um, yeah."

Bastion nodded his head decisively. "Then you'll probably find out then. I'm guessing we're here?"

They had stopped outside the door to Team RWBY's room. Ruby nodded. "Yup. This is where my team and I stay. Your room is right there." She pointed to the room in question.

Bastion nodded. "Thanks."

"No problem," she grinned.

She lifted her scroll to the lock and then paused. She glanced over her shoulder. "Hey, Bastion?"

The boy paused in the act of swiping his own scroll across the lock and looked back at her. "Yes?"

"I forgot to ask before, what are your weapons called?"

Bastion was silent for a moment. Then he said, "They're called Resolution."

Ruby grinned. "Cool name. Anyhoo, see ya around."

He grinned back. "See you around."

Then he swiped his scroll across the lock and entered his new room, letting the door swing shut behind him.

So, how'd it go? Did you like it? Hate it? Somewhere in-between?

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