To hunt Grimm and protect people, to prove one's worth and earn respect, to make up for past mistakes, to search for what is missing. There are infinite reasons one becomes a Huntsman, but becoming the kind of Huntsman one wants to be takes more than just dreaming.
Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna and Yang Xaio Long will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. But first they must learn who they are, what it truly means to be a Huntress, and their place in the world of Remnant.
Volume One
RWBY
Chapter One
Weaving Paths
Roman loves the night life in Vale the most out of any kingdom. All the residents stay confined in clubs and bars, none of them interested in roaming the streets in fear of getting mugged. Which gives him free range to make a heist!
He saunters down the road at a leisurely pace, his cane resting on his shoulder. The hired thugs from Junior's follow obediently, which is so much easier than dealing with a constantly back-talking minion.
With the thugs, he kicks the door open to an adorable little Dust shop and smiles at the owner, who flinches and panics upon seeing his grand entrance. He backs away, back bumping into his counter as Roman struts in.
"What, not gonna help a customer?" he asks, walking up to the display case and leaning on it, eyeing the Dust crystals inside. He taps the glass, smirking and raising just his eyes to look at the old man. "Well I suppose we can help ourselves." He flicks his hand and the thugs line up at the ground Dust stations, storing it all in containers as Roman uses his cane to shatter the top of the display case.
"Ah," he says as he takes a Fire crystal, "I wouldn't call for any Huntsmen if I were you. It could get...messy," he smirks when the old man visibly stiffens, then raises his hands into view. Stuffing the crystal into his pocket, he grabs more in high spirits.
This job is easier than he thou-
The sound of several shelves getting knocked over, followed by shattering glass, cuts through his thoughts. The legs of a thug dangle from the windowsill, the guy groaning loudly on the pavement. Roman's eyes follow the trail of destruction to find a rather bizarre sight.
A short teenage girl with brown skin wearing a red-hooded cloak, wielding an honest-to-Elder's giant scythe in her hands. It stands twice her height as she narrows silver eyes at Roman, which on anyone else might have been a glare but only comes off as a pout on her freckled face.
"Well?" Roman prompts the minions, stuffing the gathered crystals into his pockets. "Shoot her."
Bullets fly, but the girl suddenly bursts forward in a red blur to the closest thug, slamming her scythe into his stomach. But only with the blunt side, which sends the guy into the wall to break his aura and leave him mercifully alive.
Okay first of all! Are these seriously Junior's best or did Roman get scammed? Secondly how do those twig-lookin' arms carry such a massive weapon and why does this child have it at all. And thirdly, she's made a mistake being afraid to draw blood outta thieves attacking her.
Overall, Roman rolls his eyes and twirls his cane to hold the handle, shooting at the girl and blasting the ground at her feet. The impact sends her out the already broken window and into the street. Wow, little light-weight went far! Seriously how does she hold that weapon?
"Keep collecting, I'll handle Little Red," Roman stalks out of the store, finding the girl's dug her scythe into the pavement to stop herself. Tearing up the street in the process. Roman clicks his tongue, leaning on his cane to imitate a scolding old man as he shakes his head. "Tsk tsk. Don't do more collateral damage then us, now."
She actually smiles sheepishly at him as she picks her scythe up. Roman shoots her, but a loud bang from her scythe jerks her out of the way. Of course the over-sized garden tool is also a gun, because why the Barren Hills not? His shot flies past her into the side of a building.
She aims the head of the scythe at him and fires rapid shots from the snath, propelling herself forward with the recoil. As she gets closer he keeps shooting, but she always dodges with that blur of red and he ends up missing.
"Brother's Grimm, this kid is annoying!" Roman groans, half-looking over his shoulder at the rest of the thugs who are just standing there. "Oi! Guys I hired! Swat the gnat!"
The guys finally come out and start firing at the girl and oh come on! She's still dodging them? This girl isn't old enough to be a Huntress, so how the Hills is she so good in a fight?
Roman then manages to hit her in the torso by sheer luck, which he'll take because she should now be knocked down and-
"Oh I hate you," Roman deadpans blankly as the smoke clears and a shimmering red aura surrounds the girl's skin. It fades as she shakes herself off, her black dress only mildly singed, and starts running at them. Roman aims and fires, but hears a feeble click. "Older-damn it! Now?!"
Little Red leaps into the air and comes down on the surrounding thugs as Roman steps back into the store. The impact sends up dust and rubble, obscuring his vision so he only sees the shadows of the thugs getting their asses beat.
Yeah, he got scammed.
The dust cloud is cleared by a whirlwind and Little Red stands among a bunch of knocked out and groaning thugs. Roman sighs, rolling his head in a circle before fixing her with an irritated glare.
"Way to ruin a guy's night on the town, Little Red," he feels a hand press against his back and smirks. The girl bursts forward and Roman offers a sarcastic salute before it feels like he's falling, but up. The feeling passes and he only stumbles a little, watching from the rooftops as Little Red looks around in confused alarm, unaware of the shards of glass left in his place.
"Ugh. I hate Huntresses."
0o0o0
Wait, where did he go?! Ruby looks around the quiet and ruined street frantically, but the main robber guy just vanished! She turns to the old man shivering behind his counter, bunching up her shoulders bashfully.
"U-um, sorry I couldn't stop him! I'll call a Huntsman-"
"There will be no need for that."
Ruby lets out a startled 'eep!' and whirls around. A blonde and green-eyed woman standing among the debris with a stern frown directed at her. Ruby gulps, quickly looking down to stare at her feet as she clenches Crescent Rose.
"Care to explain what happened?" Ruby flinches when the rubble around her glows, then rises. She then blinks and raises her gaze. The woman is using a riding crop to guide the pieces back into the surrounding road and buildings. Ruby gasps, recognizing a trained Huntress when she sees one.
"Um! I was here waiting for my sister to come back from an, um, errand-" Because 'she went to blackmail somebody and possibly-definitely cause property damage' isn't something you say to a Huntress "-and when I was in this shop these thugs came in and started taking the Dust and I was here so I figured I'd stop them but one got away and I'm really sorry and hey are you a Huntress?"
The woman seems undaunted by Ruby's single-breathed ramble and nods. "I am a Huntress, yes, and I will be taking you to the police station."
Any of Ruby's enthusiasm dies as she shrinks in on herself.
Now sitting in an interrogation room, Ruby drums her knuckles on the table. The scary lady, who introduced herself as Glynda Goodwitch, stands silently by the door after she had called somebody so now they're waiting for them. And it's low-key killing her to keep so still for so long.
But at least she has her thoughts to occupy the time! Like how mad Dad is going to be when she gets home. Or worse that Yang will probably be proud.
The door finally opens and in walks an old man, hair all grey and thick glasses over green eyes. His cane clacks against the floor as he makes his way to the opposite side of the table, folding both hands over the handle and leaning forward a bit to look her in the eye.
"You have silver eyes," he notes, face a calm mask.
What an odd thing to say to someone you just met. But Ruby is too awed to care because she recognizes the man. He seems to notice, as he smiles the smallest amount.
"So I'm told you stopped a robbery lead by Roman Torchwick," he sits down and Ruby's eyes widen. "Most impressive for one so young."
"I didn't know it was him!" Ruby's voice borderlines on panic. He's the most infamous criminal in all four kingdoms, he's evaded police and Huntsmen alike for years, how did she chase him off?
"If you had, would you have acted differently?"
"No. The old man was in trouble, I had to help!"
"And you did," he smiles. "May I ask what academy you attend?"
"Signal Academy, on Patch."
"They don't often teach such advanced combat there, from my understanding. Where did you learn?"
"My uncle Qrow taught me everything he knows! He's part of the reason I wanted to become a Huntress!" Despite how nervous she feels, Ruby bounces in her seat as she beams.
He nods. "Do you know who I am?"
She stills, turning bashful again. "You're Professor Ozpin, headmaster of Beacon. It's where I want to go in a couple years."
Ozpin smiles, leaning back in his chair as he lets his hands fall into his lap. "What if I told you I would let you enter Beacon sooner?" There's a bit of a glint in his eyes, but Ruby can't read it over her own shock.
0o0o0
This is a dream. It has to be. There's no possible way Ruby is sitting on a seat in a shuttle heading towards one of the best Hunting schools on Remnant. There can't be any other reason why she's surrounded by other, older students also heading to Beacon.
She pinches herself, but it still stings like the last dozen times she's tried to wake herself up. Her leg, previously still, blurs as petals drift off it and onto the floor. An anxious pit in her stomach grows as she glances around, watching groups of people either talking or playing with their scrolls. No one is really paying any attention to her, but she still feels like everyone is secretly staring at her or talking about her. About how obviously out of place she is amongst so many older teens.
She suddenly meets someone else's eyes. She swears she sees a smirk on their face before a body blocks her view, and she blinks as a water bottle bops her on the nose.
"Here, drink this and breathe," Yang has a half-smirk on her face, sitting next to Ruby and opening her own bottle. "Before you leave a slipping hazard on the floor."
Ruby flushes, even as the petals by her foot are already disappearing. She sneaks a glance back to where she had eye contact, but the other girl is just nonchalantly on her scroll, paying no mind to the world. Ruby opens her bottle and takes a sip, already feeling a little calmer.
Beside her, Yang chugs her drink, then tosses it into a nearby bin before turning to Ruby, leaning forward to put her elbows on her knees. "Why are you freaking out, Rubes? I thought you'd be more excited than this."
"Well," Ruby rolls the bottle between her hands, "it's just...I don't think I really belong here?" She waits a second, to see if Yang will say anything, but her sister just nods at her to continue. "Well, everyone here is so much older and have had more experiences, and I just know that people will look at me and think I'm something that I'm not. Something...I dunno, special."
"You are special, Ruby," Yang sits up and throws an arm around Ruby's shoulders, giving her a smile. "And who cares if people recognize that?"
"I do! I don't want to be special, Yang. I just want to be normal."
"Well, if it's normal you want, it's not exactly uncommon for people to be admitted into an academy early. Heck, wasn't there that one lady who was fourteen when she entered Haven?" Yang smiles, shaking Ruby and ruffling her hair with her free hand. "So, special or not, you're here because you earned it."
"Yeah, but she took down so many Grimm in a village, I just...beat up a guy."
Yang scoffs, ruffling Ruby's head a bit rougher before backing off. "Yeah, 'just'. Like you didn't fight the most wanted criminal on Remnant with nothing but a bruise on your chest from the whole thing. You need to stop worrying so much about what other people think. If you don't, you'll never be able to branch out and actually meet people."
"Not this again, Yang," Ruby whines, knowing full-well it's childish but not caring.
"Ruby, you need friends. Not just your best, big ol' sister, but actual friends. And not because of their weapons, or their semblances, or whatever. Because you are here, and you will be spending the next four years like anybody else. Okay? So when I get off this shuttle and meet up with my friends, I want you to at least talk to one person. Can you promise me that?" Yang says it all very kindly, but Ruby still feels a pressure on her back.
"...Fine, I can at least try. A little," Ruby emphasizes by pinching her fingers close together.
Yang rolls her eyes, but laughs and lightly pats Ruby's shoulder. "Well if that's the best I'm gonna get."
Interrupting their conversation, a hologram appears on a big window on the side of the shuttle. Glynda Goodwitch appears. "Welcome, future students. Soon you will arrive on our school grounds and begin your lives here. Orientation will begin shortly upon arrival, so we ask that you don't dally. Tonight will be spent resting before initiation starts tomorrow. Welcome, future Hunters and Huntresses, to Beacon Academy."
A soft collection of gasps escape several people, Ruby included, when the hologram fades to reveal the school. Sat atop a towering cliff, with waterfalls flowing underneath, the tall tower of Beacon gleams in the daylight. The campus holds several large buildings, each varying in size and shape, but all sharing the same brownish-red colour pallet. The soft browns and red is offset but the vibrant green and white courtyards scattered about, almost randomly but made incredibly pleasing to the eye.
Surrounding the edges of the school are two forests. On one side is a dark forest of evergreens, and the other is a wood of red, orange and yellow leaves on the birch-like trees. The contrasting trees blend with each other, a few of the birch trees sporting green leaves and a few of the evergreens housing splashes of autumn.
Ruby had always heard descriptions of Beacon, but none of them hold up to actually seeing the academy with her own eyes.
"...We made it, Yang," Ruby whispers softly, her earlier anxiety almost non-existent as awed excitement gets her heart pumping. Yang doesn't say anything, but does chuckle lowly with a nod, breath-taken as well.
The shuttle slowly comes to a stop, and the students file out in a rather calm manner. Ruby makes herself smaller, even though nobody is close enough to touch her, and steps out alongside Yang. She grins as she cranes her head up, trying to see the top of Beacon tower.
She feels a small nudge from Yang, who nods her chin forward. Ruby sees the blurred, distant shape of Yang's friends and feels her earlier nerves return. Yang gives her a small side-hug. "Relax, and remember your little promise, 'kay? I'll meet you in the entrance hall."
With a fond hair ruffle, which Ruby huffs at to try and fix her tangled hair, Yang runs off while waving at her friends.
Gulping, Ruby walks forward. There are many meandering older students around her, some already forming groups or meeting up with old friends like Yang. So obviously she can't interrupt them, that would be rude. And the people walking alone probably want to keep walking on their own.
So, it looks like there's no one she can talk to! It's not her fault if they're too busy or would rather be by themselves, right? Yang will understand that, right? She can stay in the safety of her mind and not ever, ever interact with random strangers-
Ruby feels something hook on her ankle, and before she can stop herself she's tripping forward. She instinctively reaches her hand out to grab something to stop her fall, but ends up grabbing the sleeve of a passing girl and bringing her down with her. Ruby's forehead smacks onto the pavement, leaving a smarting bruise since she couldn't call her aura fast enough to take the hit. She sits up on her knees and rubs her forehead, accidentally breathing in a small cloud of Dust that tickles her nose.
Ruby never knew the term 'explosive sneeze' could be literal, as the different Dusts combust around her.
After coughing the smoke out of her face and lungs, she waves some of the cloud away and freezes when she's met with a pair if very angry eyes, the right an icy blue and the left a dull milky grey. A long, centimeter-thick scar runs over the blinded eye, reaching from above the girl's eyebrow and ending at the bottom of her jaw, the red colour standing out against her extremely pale skin. The snow-white hair framing her face covers a portion of it, the rest tied up in a tight braid on the side of her head.
"Just what do you think you're doing?" the girl she pulled down, face and the front of her white-to-blue battleskirt (See Yang? Other people wear them!) singed from the explosion, rises to her feet and glowers down at Ruby, brushing the side-braid over her shoulder. Ruby quickly stands, finding the girl is only a centimeter or so taller than her. But wow does she use that bit of height advantage to strike absolute fear into Ruby's heart.
"I-I'm sorry!" Ruby waves her hands in front of her in a half-apologetic, half-surrender pose. "Something grabbed my ankle and I accidentally grabbed you for balance!" When Ruby looks down to see what tripped her, she finds that there isn't anything that could have. Which is really confusing.
A sharp tapping sound alerts her to the girl again and she shrinks in on herself at the glare she's getting, even as the girl sorts through a suitcase balanced on her inner elbow, her boot clicking with every tap of her foot. "If you're going to cause chaos and disrupt others over your own clumsiness, why are you even here? This Dust is highly reactive and we're lucky you didn't just blow us off the cliff."
"I said I'm sorry!" Ruby apologizes again. "And I'm here to be a Huntress, just like you."
"Some Huntress you'll be, tripping over yourself and being careless around Dust. You know, the same Dust that is capable of killing Grimm entirely on their own if used correctly? Which is dangerous and volatile at the best of times? You know, the stuff Huntresses need to stay alive?"
Ruby puffs out her cheeks as she gives her best glare, which she frustratingly knows doesn't look in any way intimidating. "I already apologized! What more do you want, princess?"
"It's heiress, actually," a third, neutral voice chimes in. Standing a few feet away is a tall and skinny girl with dark brown skin, back-length kinky black hair with a deep purple headscarf, and wearing a black jacket over a white shirt and black leggings. Her bright gold eyes are narrowed at the other girl.
"And how would you know that?" she asks, her foot tapping quicker as she places a hand on her hip.
"You're Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company which is known for its unsafe working conditions and exploitation of faunus miners," the new girl glowers, eyes dangerous slits.
"I see my reputation proceeds me," Weiss rolls her eyes. "I assure you, I know what it's like down there. But despite what the rumours say, they are given proper safety equipment and paid well for their work."
"Oh really? They have equipment that isn't cheaply made? They're given a paycheck that covers food and rent?"
"Of course."
"So all those reports of deaths and cave ins are just rumours, too?" she challenges.
"Cave ins are an occupational hazard, but there haven't been deaths for many years due to rising safety standards."
"Now I know you're talking out of your ass, because I know for a fact someone died recently," the girl walks up and stares the apparent heiress down. Ruby herself withers under the glare, even though it isn't directed at her, but Weiss just calmly looks back. Almost dangerously calm.
"You can say whatever you'd like, but it won't change anything," Weiss says, then turns on her heel. Awkward silence is left in the wake of the interaction and Ruby wheezes out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding in.
"Um, thank...you..."
The stranger is gone, like a puff of smoke in the wind. Ruby fruitlessly looks for her, bouncing on her heels, getting stares from random students passing by.
...
Well that's enough social interaction for today!
Ruby briskly walks towards the orientation building, using some of the reflective parts of Crescent Rose to clean all the smudges off her face. At least it blends well into her dress, so she won't have to worry about it before she washes it tonight. She makes it into the building with a large stage and quickly spots Yang. She shuffles to her sister's side, embarrassed about having to explain what happened.
"Hey, Rubes, any progress?" Ruby sees movement out of the corner of her eye and makes eye contact with Weiss across the hall, the girl narrowing her eyes when they do. She flinches into Yang.
"I tripped and accidentally pulled another girl down and I exploded and she got really angry and another girl came to tell her off and I couldn't thank her and now I think she hates me," she talks rapid-fire, Yang nodding along with a frown as she follows Ruby's gaze.
"Well, forget her then," Yang wraps her arms over Ruby's shoulders to give her a side-hug. "It's a big school, you'll probably never even see her again."
Ruby hopes so.
Any conversation settles when Headmaster Ozpin walks up to the microphone on the stage. "Welcome one and all to Beacon Academy. You have all passed evaluation to be here, and soon your new lives will begin. Tonight you shall rest in the dining hall, and tomorrow you will face your first trial as Huntsmen, where you will form teams and bonds that will last a lifetime. The people you meet here will be your family.
All of you have different reasons for being here, and it is my hope that you will hold fast to your convictions and never waver. Be strong, but willing to bend. Make mistakes, but learn from them," he pauses with a smile. "Now, rest up from your long journeys. Do not fear for your luggage, it is safely secure and will be moved to your new dorms upon tomorrow evening."
With a dismissal wave, the headmaster walks off and Glynda Goodwitch takes his place. "Follow me to our dining hall."
Loud footsteps and chatter fills the air, and Ruby almost clings to Yang as they walk with the crowd. Yang keeps a firm, gentle grip on her as they walk through the crowd, looking ready to push anyone who gets too close. Ruby's heart thuds loudly in her ears as anxiety coils in her stomach.
It only slows down again when she suddenly finds herself laying in a sleeping bag, hundreds of teenagers spread out across the floor. She hugs her pillow to herself, legs crossed as Yang stretches out and rolls onto her side, propping her head up on her elbow.
"Well, now that things have settled, why not take another crack at the whole 'make a friend' thing? Look, there's plenty of people around and almost nothing to trip on, so it should be fine!"
"Yeah, but..." Ruby trails off, looking around. Nobody is watching her, but she still feels eyes on her from everywhere. Even from the shadows- Oh wait, no it just looks like that because the black-clad girl from before has a candle that's reflecting her eyes a bit as she reads a book. Curious, and wanting to properly thank her for helping her, Ruby stands up and carefully makes her way over.
"Go, Rubes!" Yang whispers, cupping her hand by her mouth with a grin.
Ruby reaches the other girl, hesitating for a second before speaking up. "Um!" Sharp amber eyes flick up to her face and she falters, gulping. "T-thank you for, um, earlier with the whole...thing," Ruby feels her face grow hot as she looks down and fiddles with her hands. "Um, could I...get your name, please?" she looks up through her bangs, seeing the other girl looking back with a blank face.
Just when Ruby is about to combust, the girl says, "Bella," in a calm and quiet voice. She offers nothing else.
"W-what book are you reading?" Ruby tries before all her bravado leaves her, fidgeting when Bella's eyes furrow a fraction in...annoyance? Maybe confusion? Ruby doesn't know, this girl is impossible to read! She must be annoyed though. Like, here comes Ruby out of nowhere interrupting her reading-
"It's called The War Within, it's about a man with two souls," Bella's voice breaks through the panic. Ruby blinks and tilts her head, eyes shining as she recognizes the title from their course books. "It goes over how the two souls fight for control of the body, and the inevitability of one of them becoming nothing but a memory. It's going to be covered next semester, but I found the premise too interesting to wait."
"Ooh, that sounds so cool! Do you know what the theme of that might be?" Ruby asks curiously.
Bella's eyes flick down to the pages. "So far my theory is that it's a metaphor of him fighting his own guilt," Bella's eyes harden as she speaks, a lilt of passion rising in her voice. "One soul is determined to only look to the future and follow a certain path, but the other constantly whispers in his ear about his past."
"Hmm. Well! I hope he's happy, in the end," Ruby smiles softly.
Bella looks back up, raising an eyebrow. "Even if he had done something unforgivable?"
"Mmm," Ruby rocks on her heels, biting her lip as she thinks. "That kinda depends. Is he working on making up for what he did?"
Bella brushes the pages with her fingers wistfully. "I haven't gotten that far yet."
"Then I'd say wait and see! Since it's still early on, maybe he will surprise you! Everyone deserves the chance to change, but only if they are willing to actually do it, y'know?"
Bella tilts her head and Ruby realizes she rambled a bit. "Oh, sorry! I just...I've always loved stories and fairy tales, ever since I was a little kid."
"The real world doesn't exactly work like they do," Bella's voice grows both harder and a bit sad. "Not everyone can get a happy ending."
"No, of course not," Ruby whispers softly, the flash of a white cape going through her mind. "But there's so much to learn from the stories and, well it might seem silly, but being a Huntress gives me the chance to make those happy endings come true. Make the world a bit brighter for everyone."
Bella gives a tiny, thoughtful nod. "You should go to sleep," her eyes glance to the side and Ruby follows, blushing when several people are glaring at them, an icy eye chief among them. "Good luck tomorrow," Bella says, putting her book down and blowing out the candles.
Ruby carefully makes her way back to the sleeping bag, getting a feather-light punch on the arm from Yang. Ruby can't help the little smile on her face as she settles into her bed, glancing up through the skylight to gaze at the shattered moon before closing her eyes.
Maybe this won't be so bad after all.
A/N: It shouldn't be too long before the chapters become less re-hashy, but I wanted to take the time to reestablish the characters and show their new designs! Yang also has a redesign, but I've found I really enjoy having characters not describe the appearance of somebody they already know unless they're admiring those aspects, so hers will be highlighted next chapter.
Constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged! Thank you for reading!