Chapter 1: Gao Yamamoto
Reincarnation is a funny thing. It's hard to know what it's like after death. How could you? Nobody lives to tell the tale. You die. And that's it. Your life is over. Of course there's several religions and theories on what happens next. Some believe you stop existing entirely and others believe there's an afterlife. Heaven and Hell. The sinners go to the fiery depths, and those with faith ascend to the pearly gates.
I was in the percentage of people that had faith. So that when I croaked, I'd be able to exist for the rest of eternity in peace without being condemned for all of eternity - and I got the exact opposite.
For some reason, someway, I had been reborn. So for a few good long years, I'd been living comfortably in my new life. Not as a human but... as something stronger. I didn't know what at first, but I knew instantly when I was able to first start accidentally punched a hole through my wall.
I stared at my reflection in the river. A boy around 10 years in age with short, spikey gravity-defying black hair and matching black eyes with a pair of shades/goggles fastened on top of his head. Tanned skin from years out in the sun, dressed in a simple grey-shirt with a black haori worn on top, with a golden sash tied around his waist, baggy grey pants and brown sandals. Black wristbands, and finally... the long, brown monkey-tail that swayed behind me.
I'd been reborn as a Saiyan. There was no doubt about it... it felt right. The strength, the speed, my sharp senses. All of it pointed to a Saiyan. Even the energy I used. Initially I thought it to be Ki, but it was different. Because I could use Ki, but this supplementary energy was not it.
Plus, my pod was still around, somewhere. So, y'know, more proof.
I can't tell if I'm in the Dragon Ball world I know. I know I'm certainly in a variant of it... my existence was proof enough of that fact. And I knew about a lot of the threats out there, but wherever I am... it's definitely not Earth.
I'm on a place called Remnant. It has Earthlings, but it also has people known as Faunus, which are essentially Earthlings with animal traits. Hanging below a fractured moon, it's a relatively advanced world inhabited by creatures called Grimm, who are monsters that have preyed on humanity for millions of years. To combat them, Hunters took arms.
Hunters were warriors that fought the Grimm using an energy called Aura, which was basically Ki to an extent, alongside a resource called Dust, which I swear is just straight up magic, even though people say it isn't... I don't believe 'em. You can shoot fire, summon lightning, control water, manipulate gravity, conjure tornados, create earthquakes... it was freakin' magic!
Huffing, I flashed a goofy grin towards my reflection before shooting my hand into the water and wrenching out a thrashing fish with precision. I hummed and tossed it into a basket filled to the brim with loads of other fish I'd caught during the morning. This should definitely be enough for breakfast!
"Alright," I nodded, placing the cover over the basket and grabbing the straps, throwing it onto my shoulders with a beaming smile and dashing forward. "Time to head home!"
I called upon my Ki and bounded into the air. I didn't need to use Ki to jump that high, but utilizing my own inner energy to perform crazy feats like Goku and the Z-Fighters made me feel all giddy inside. And the feeling of my energy coursing through me as I moved at high speeds was exhilarating!
I bounced off various tree branches. The ground below me blurring together into a mixture of greens and browns. I kept my line of sight focused on the road ahead as I broke into the clearing, feeling the sun's rays beam down upon me and kiss my skin made my grin widen even wider as I let out a loud whoop of exhilaration.
My journey led me to an old looking temple high in the mountains, and above the forest. I jogged up the row of stairs without much trouble - which took about a minute on it's own. Truly a testament to those patient enough to climb these steps, because there was no reason for these stairs to be so long.
Despite the temple appearing rather old, it was kept in pristine condition and was quite spacious. I pushed the door opens with a heave and shouted, "Mom, I'm home!"
There was a groan that echoed through the temple. I smiled and walked through the halls, passing by statues depicting several warriors of old. All of which were martial artists that lived and trained in these very temple grounds. Walking into the main hall, I found my Master, caretaker, and surrogate mother lying face first on one of the tables.
She was a white tiger Faunus woman in her mid-to-late twenties with silver hair tinted with pink and smooth pale skin. A pair of ears rested on top of her head, followed by a tail, with the black markings covering her body cementing her heritage. She was curvaceous woman with looks that would send many men and women alike into a frenzy, dressed in silly black and white robes that clung to her frame and curves nicely.
This was Byakuya Yamamoto. As I said before, she was my Master, caretaker, and surrogate mother.
And also very hungover.
"Not... so loud..." Byakuya groaned, trying to bury her face deeper into the wood.
I glanced around and snorted, eyeing the several empty bottles lying around her. My adoptive mother and teacher was known to be a prolific drinker. The scent of alcohol was strong, and I ended up shaking my head with a sigh, pulling the basket off of my shoulders and dropping it on the table to go and grab a glass of water.
Byakuya blearily glanced up and eyed the basket. "Wha... this...?"
"It's our breakfast, you were too clocked out to notice." I responded.
Despite being a drunk, Byakuya was powerful. Exceedingly so. Stronger than I am currently, anyways. I couldn't gauge power levels at all but if I had to make a guess I'd say she'd give characters like Muten Roshi in the early days of Dragon Ball a run from his money, maybe even beat him. Her strength and martial arts were simply that impressive, but maybe I'm gassing her up too much from personal bias.
The Earthlings and Faunus of Remnant just seemed to be naturally stronger than the regular Earthlings I was aware of, and it was probably due to this Aura stuff, and the harsh environment they evolved in for millions of years, constantly fighting for their lives to combat the Creatures of Grimm.
In any case, my mother was born into a long line of powerful warriors and martial artists, and was seemingly the last member remaining member of her family. They'd all either died from old age or out in the field... I think that had an effect on her to some degree, maybe it ran deeper than that.
I remember... when I'd first awoken in this world, she founded me knee deep in the jungle surrounded by countless Grimm. I was a baby at the time, and didn't know what the hell was going on at first. So naturally I couldn't do anything at the time, even if I was a Saiyan. And then she arrived...
When I blinked, all the Grimm were dead, and she was carrying me upside down by my leg. And just like that, I'd been adopted by a drunk tiger woman.
Walking over to her, I handed her a glass of ice cold water. She took it graciously and chugged it down with a groan, droplets of water dripping down her supple lips before she placed the glass on the table and sighed, inhaling calmly through her nose. A magenta light encompassed her body for a moment before she leaned back and opened her eyes, pink irises filled with more clarity and coherencey.
Cool thing about Aura is that it gives you a passive healing factor, and that helps with curing hangovers!
"You didn't have to go out there by yourself..." Byakuya trailed off, pulling the lid off the basket.
I shrugged. "You looked tired, so I decided to go out and stretch my legs! It was fine, you don't have to worry so much."
"I'm your mother, I'm supposed to worry." Byakuya huffed, her tail cracking through the air. "... that's... what Kali says, anyhow."
I laughed sheepishly. I said she was my mother. Not the perfect one.
But that was okay.
"I'll handle cooking these today," Byakuya picked up the basket full of fish, smiling tiredly. "After breakfast, we'll head down to Kuo Kuana."
I grinned. "Alright!"
"YAMAMOTO BYAKUYA! I CHALLENGE YOU!"
Byakuya's expression dropped at the booming voice outside. I ended up bursting out into laughter at her disgruntled Express as she placed the basket back down, stood up, and walked out of the main hall while rolling up her sleeves.
"Getting tired of this shit..."
X-X-X-X-X-X
"Regretting challenging her this time?"
"Shut the hell up..."
We made our trek down the mountain and through the jungle towards Kuo Kuana. However we were accompanied by a third member. He was a boy around my age with spikey red hair and black bull horns and a tail swinging behind him, with pale skin. He was dressed in a black tank top with grey shorts and black sneakers. Strapped to his side was a katana sheathed in a black sheath with a mecha-shift rotary system. A piece of black cloth was also wrapped around the right side of his face.
This was Adam Taurus! He was my sorta-friend, and rival, probably. Maybe. Sure did act like the stereotypical rival for a shonen story.
He was one of the many Faunus refugees from over in Atlas that came to Menagiere seeking sanctuary. Menagiere was a massive piece of land home to the Faunus species. It was given to us after the climax of the Great War... a sign of 'peace' and 'equal rights' between the Humans and Faunus, although personally I think this was just a ploy to ward us off.
Made especially apparent when a majority of the island was comprised of deserts with monsters even more dangerous than other corners of the planet. The only good thing I can say about those parts of the island was that it made for good training, something Byakuya agreed with.
It was a shame, though. That Humans and Faunus were in such a divide, when we weren't that different in the first place. But I guess it was in our nature to always stir up conflict for the stupidest reasons... when we should all be working together to fight the threat right in front of us - the Grimm. But alas, it isn't meant to be.
"If you can't even beat me, then what makes you think you can beat Master?" I snarked at the bull Faunus, who shot me a venomous glower.
"You won once! All of our other spars have been ties." Adam hissed.
"One win is enough to prove I'm better than you~"
"Why you...!"
"Both of you, quiet." Byakuya groaned, nursing her temples. "It's far too early for your petty squabbles... settle your beef later. Preferably when I'm not around..."
Adam huffed and shoved his fists into his pockets while I folded my arms behind my head and laughed.
Adam was a bit of a hothead. An incident in Atlas had ended making him vitriolic with a strong distaste for Earthlings. He was obsessed with obtaining strength, though, and that led to him constantly challenging Byakuya to spars, much to her chagrin. No matter how many times she beat him, he'd kept coming back. I respected his resilience. At some point Byakuya forced us to start sparring each other.
And that's where our budding rivalry began!
Soon we arrived to Kuo Kuana. It was the largest settlement on Menagerie. A bustling town with several markets and residential areas, linking us to the port down that allows us to travel between the other kingdoms. Faunus of varying species mingled about. Despite living here for a majority of my - new - life, I was still mesmerized by how beautiful Menagerie was.
I took in a deep breath, taking in the various smells. Primarily salt water and various food vendors, which made my mouth water. I glanced up at Byakuya and cocked my head to the left. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but why're we coming down here?"
"Idiot, do you not know?" Adam snidely commented, earning a confused look from me.
"Huuuh? Idiot? That's a little uncalled for, don'tcha think?" I mumbled.
"We're going to be attending the White Fang rally today." Adam said, clenching his fists. "How could you NOT know? It's going to be a big event! We'll be traveling to Vale in order to advocate the poor conditions for our people! This is a stepping stone for us in achieving equality!"
I blinked at Adam's empassioned monologue, and chuckled. "You're really passionate about this stuff, huh?"
Adam paused, blinking at me and huffing, glowering to the side. "Should I not be? Don't you find our position in society disheartening? Disgusting? Don't you want to change how we're viewed?"
I hummed, glancing up in thought. Byakuya closed her eyes and tucked her hands into the sleeves of her haori. "I promised Kali that we'd get out of the temple and attend. It should do you some good, at the very least. You've never been outside of Menagerie before, so it could be a good experience for you."
"I guess so." I lowered my arms. Then I smiled. "I wonder if Vale's got any good food over there?"
Adam rolled his eyes. "Of course you'd think about that."
I pouted. "I'm hungry, alright?"
It's not my fault a Saiyan has an appetite equivalent to a blackhole...
"So that's where you ran off to..."
Adam grimaced and I blinked as we turned around. A young woman that appeared to be in her late teens at the cusp of adulthood walked over to us. She was a tiger Faunus with dark skin and sharp amber eyes, with wild black hair swept to the side and a pair of tiger ears on top of her head, alongside a tail. She possessed a curvaceous figure much like Byakuya, with defined muscles hidden under silky black and orange robes with a tinge of red.
"Sienna..." Adam grumbled.
"Hi, Sienna!" I waved with a grin.
"Gao, Ms. Yamamoto, always a pleasure." Sienna smiled coyly.
Byakuya puffed. "I've told you countless times to just call me Byakuya... all that formal crap is not my thing."
"Of course." Sienna smirked at the woman before directing her gaze to Adam. "I was confused when I found Adam outside of his station this morning, I should've known he would have ran off to challenge you again. How badly did he lose this time?"
"HEY!"
"He didn't lose nearly as quick this time, surprisingly." Byakuya shrugged her shoulders lazily.
"I'M RIGHT HERE?!"
"Ouch, scathing~" I grinned impishly at Adam.
"Your track record is just as bad as mine!" Adam barked at me.
I whistled. "Some of us beg to differ..."
"Adaaaam! Gao!"
We swiveled around to see a pale-skinned girl with short black hair and big amber eyes jog over to us, a pair of cat ears resting atop her head, alongside a tail. Alongside her was a woman that looked like an older version of her with tanned skin, and a giant of a man with rippling muscles and sharp, wise golden eyes. Both of which had feline features as well.
The girl was Blake, and the two adults were her parents, Kali and Ghira Belladonna. They were the founders of the White Fang movement and the reason we were all meeting up today apparently.
Blake beamed brightly as she caught up to the two of us, huffing. "Today's the day! Are you excited?"
"Uh - Y-Yeah." Adam stammered, flustered. "Definitely."
Adam also seemed to have a crush on Blake, too. Cute~
"I wouldn't say I'm excited..." I scratched my cheek sheepishly when Blake looked at me with shock. "I mean, I'm just finding out about this rally stuff. To be honest, I'd rather spend my day trainin'."
"Or drinking..." Byakuya muttered under her breath. Sienna must have heard her, because she snorted.
"Byakuya, Gao! Good to see you both~!" Kali beamed, pulling the white tigress into a warm embrace before crouching down to ruffle my unruly black hair. "You two are always holed up in that shoddy temple, why, if I didn't know any better, I would have thought the Grimm had eaten you!"
Blake gasped in horror while Adam rolled his eyes.
"As if they could." Byakuya and I scoffed.
"If some Grimm were able to take Byakuya out, I fear we'd all be done for." Ghira muttered in amusement, shaking his head.
"A Grimm as strong as Mom would be AWESOME!" I grinned, my Saiyan blood singing at the prospect, yet saddened that'd it'd never come. "Maybe then they won't die in one punch!"
"Why would you want that?" Blake shuddered, staring at me in confusion.
"Because he's an absolute freak of nature, he's always got fighting on the brain." Adam huffed.
"I think about other stuff, too!" I whined. "It's not my fault I was born this way!"
Seriously! You put me in the body of an alien super warrior and then dropped me in a world full of monsters with super warriors! And you expect my instincts to NOT run wild?!
X-X-X-X-X-X
I hate boats.
"Kill me nooooooow..."
"Quit whining you big baby!" I heard Blake chastise me.
"Same guy that punch through solid stone walls effortlessly, but is done in by motion sickness." Adam scoffed. "That is beyond me."
"Shut up... Adam...!" I wheezed.
Dying, I could cope with. Being stripped of my humanity and becoming a Saiyan? Yeah, alright, sure. By why the hell do I still have to endure motion sickness, damn it?! One of the most inconvenient things EVER...!
"Don't bully the poor boy, you two." Kali scolded the other two kids while rubbing comforting circles around my back.
What an angel...!
"It seems someone's been slacking on their Aura training." Byakuya mused, giving me the side-eye.
GAH! NOW THE DEVIL IS HERE!
"Well, lucky enough for him, there's Vale up ahead." Sienna pointed off into the distance.
FREEDOM!
Through half-lidded eyes, I peered up past the rails to see the pier of the Kingdom of Vale. My eyes widened in awe as I stared at the bustling city off in the distance. If I had to make any comparisons, it was like a futuristic New York. Tall skyscrapers, big flashy lights, and near the pier was a small island, where a statue of a King stood proudly, watching over the kingdom.
I pointed at it, my sickness temporarily forgotten. "What's that?"
Blake looked at me blankly. "Haven't you ever paid attention to the classes in school? That's the King of Vale, Arthur Raregroove."
I smiled sheepishly. "I might have fallen asleep during one of those classes..."
Blake stared at me in disappointment. "The fact you still get high grades despite barely paying attention baffles me, yet you're still a doofus in regards to everything else.
"I have selective intelligence!" I grinned proudly.
Plus, it helps I'd already went through highschool in my previous life. Although I never even got past my senior year before kicking the bucket...
"...I'm like... 90% sure that's not something to be proud of..."
Arriving at the pier, our boat had finally docked and the board was dropped. Many of our fellow Faunus began to spill out. Some were here for the rally, like us. Others were here to move to Vale, and then there were those that came to visit family in this kingdom. Everyone was here for their own reasons. I slowly staggered off the boat... and as soon as I stepped onto solid ground, my motion sickness had vanished.
I grinned, leaping to my feet and thrusting my fists into the air as I ran off. "HUZZAH! FREEDOM! SUCK IT, BOAT! YOU HINDER ME NO LONGER! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"GAO! Hold on, you - ugh..." Byakuya palmed her face, groaning. "That boy...!"
"Now, now. There's no need to worry, Byakuya." Ghira laughed. "I'm sure he'll be fine."
"It's not him I'm worried about." Byakuya dryly muttered. 'It's the city.'
"I'm more worried about the city than the kid," Sienna quipped, unknowingly voicing Byakuya's thoughts.
"Still, he's never been to Vale before, right?" Kali frowned in concern. "We don't want him get into any unnecessary trouble... Blake, Adam, can you go after him? It will take us some time to set things up for the rally."
Fishing into her pockets, she offered them a few stacks of lien. "Take these. Knowing Gao, he'll probably end up getting hungry."
Blake took the money and nodded. "Yes, Mom."
Adam nodded silently, pocketing his share of the money and walking off without another word. Blake quickly followed after him. Clapping her hands, Kali beamed at the three other adults. "Now~! How's about we get ourselves a drink."
Byakuya's eyes lit up. "Yes."
Ghira sweat-dropped. "Don't we have a rally to prepare?"
"One drink wouldn't hurt~!"
Sienna shook her head. "I have a distinct feeling things are going to get messy today..."
X-X-X-X-X-X
Jogging through the city of Vale, I looked around with sparkling eyes and an elated grin. This was amazing! So much cooler up close... tons of pretty lights, towering buildings, diverse districts and people... this totally looked like something straight out of a cyberpunk series. Everytime I saw a new thing about Remnant, they continued to surprise me with something else!
"Should be a while before the rally or whatever starts, so that means I've got plenty of time to explore~!" I snickered, rubbing the bottom of my nose.
I wasn't particularly interested in the rally to begin with... but I was going in respect for everyone else. The Faunus had been facing tons of discrimination and prejudice, much like the minority on Earth. Having been one myself in my old life and now in this one again, I understand their sentiment more than anyone, honestly. But I just... never cared about what people thought about. Skin color? An extra set of ears? A tail? Who cares?
The only thing I was interested in was learning about this new world and improving on my skills. If assholes wanted to be racist just because I've got a tail, then it's their fault when they get their noses broken! And in any case, I shouldn't have to worry about too much...
Vale was considered one of the better kingdoms for Faunus. It wasn't perfect, of course, but from what I heard about places like Mistral and Atlas, Vale seemed like a safe haven in comparison-
"Damned brat, get back here!"
I slowed down and looked around, spotting a flash of green in the crowd, followed by several grown men in ripped up clothes. Homeless people, maybe? The crowd around me seemed to ignore the commotion. Some watched on but didn't seem to make any moves. My brows creased and I slowly began to follow after them. It wasn't that difficult.
I turned the corner to see three grown men - homeless, as I'd thought - cornering a young girl around my age... maybe a year younger. With dirty, short green hair, chocolate-colored skin, red eyes, and dressed in a tattered dress. In her hand was what seemed to be a moldy piece of bread.
"You're gonna give us that damned food!"
"No! I got it first!" the girl scowled, hugging the bread against her chest. "... j-just leave me alone!"
One of the homeless men flashed a rusty knife, gritting their yellowed teeth. "You stole that from us! You aren't the only one that's hungry!"
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be!" the third shouted.
So they were fighting over food? I could understand but this was just... pitiful. I mean, even if she gave up that bread, what were they gonna do? It was hardly enough to fill up three grown men, even if they split it. This was just unnecessary.
I slipped my hands into my pockets and stepped forward. "Hey, guys. Why don't you leave her alone?"
The three men whirled around to see me standing there. Whatever fear that was present in their eyes had vanished upon seeing me. The leader of their little posse scoffed lightly. "Oh, it's just a kid..."
"Bug off, why don'tcha?"
"Yeah. Just run along to your mommy or whatever."
"You're picking on a little girl over some expired bread." I dryly muttered, squinting at the men. "What're you gonna do if she even gave it to you? Fight each other over it? That's not gonna be enough for either of you."
I waved my hand through the air. "You're doing unnecessary stuff for no reason. So just walk way and be a reasonable adult already!"
I know I'm stupid, but even I could see blatant ignorance when it was happening right in front of me. This whole situation looked like something straight out of some cheesy gritty comic or something. Like this was something that'd happen in Gotham City...
"Gh... s-shut up, brat!" the leader stammered, pointing his knife at me. "You don't know what we have to go through just to survive out here! If we have to hassle a kid for food, then that's what we gotta do!"
One of his lackies, a big, bulky looking dude, blinked. "... uh, doesn't have a point though, Boss? That isn't enough for all three of us. We'd have to fight for it!"
The skinny one nodded quickly. "Yeah! What'll we do then?"
"Obviously you give it to me, idiots!"
"But... then what do we eat?"
I blankly stared at them.
"J-Just scare that brat off already!"
The two lackies exchanged a look before giving me their best menacing stare. They slowly stalked towards me and began popping their knuckles. The only thing I could muster was a sigh. These guys were needlessly stubborn...
Oh well!
"I warned you!" I shrugged, grinning at them.
In a burst of motion, I launched myself towards the skinny lackey, driving my foot into his stomach. The man howled in pain as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. I took a casual step back as he dropped to the floor, and turned to the bigger man. He took an involuntary step back as I stepped forward.
"S-So fast...!"
"It's just one little kid! Get him!" his leader barked.
Stamping down his fear, the bigger goon growled and threw a wild haymaker at me. I instantly noted how sloppy his punch was. It was rather basic and telegraphed - and it was rather obvious he was used to using his big size and natural strength to overpower whoever he fought. Unfortunately he was just a regular human, homeless, with no training, and was currently starving.
I was an alien bred for combat, trained in martial arts since I could walk and speak, and was properly fed and nourished.
I casually batted his fist to the side, subsequently knocking him to the left with my strength. In the same motion, I stomped forward and thrusted my elbow into his gut, driving him into the wall. The man gasped in pain, but unlike the skinny guy, he didn't go down in one hit; even if I was holding back.
A clean leg sweep and jab to the face knocked him out cold. I turned around to the remaining vagabond, who trembled in fear as I began walking towards him. "S-Stay back! Don't come any c-closer!"
He pointed his dirty knife at me. Unphased, I continued walking towards him. The man shivered and fell onto his backside, dropping his knife. Huffing, I blurred in front of him and threw my fist forward, stopping it just before it struck him in the nose. A gust of wind slapped him in the face, and I heard a fearful wheeze as he collapsed onto his back.
I blinked. I didn't hit him, so why-? Oh.
He passed out. And he pissed himself... gross.
I sighed, dusting my hands off and staring at the dismantled vagabonds remorsefully. This wasn't a fight at all... I'd just beat up a bunch of homeless guys trying to make it by. They were just hungry - but they were picking on a little girl, and might have even shanked her if I hadn't stepped in... so even if I felt bad for their situation, I didn't regret beating them up. I just wish they didn't have to resort to something like this...
!
Oh, right! The girl!
"Hey, are you oka-?" I blinked, staring at the spot where that green haired girl had been.
... she's gone.
My face scrunched up in confusion and I scratched the back of my head, frowning. Huh. That was weird... she was right there a few seconds ago. There was no way she could have gotten away that fast? I mean, where would she even go? This was a dead end...
I looked around for a second before shrugging and folding my arms behind my head. Ah, well... wherever she is, hopefully she's alright. As far as I'm concerned, my work here is done!
As I stepped out of the alleyway, I ended up bumping into someone. I grunted in surprise, stumbling back. "Oh, my bad! I wasn't watching where I was - oh! Adam! Blake!"
Standing there were indeed Adam and Blake. The cat girl placed her hands on her waist and glowered at me. "Gao! We've been looking everywhere for you. You can't be running off like that!"
I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I was so excited about getting off the boat I kind of forgot about everything else."
"Honestly..." Blake palmed her face with a sigh.
Adam gave a bored glance towards the alley I just walked out of. "What the hell were you doing back there in an alleyway?"
I grinned. "I beat up some homeless guys!"
...
Wait, that didn't come out right.
As Blake stared at me in horror, Adam simply blinked. "Huh. They must've done something bad to piss you off."
"ADAM!"
"What?! I'm just saying!"
"Well, they were picking on a little girl..."
"See?"
"... s-still! You shouldn't go punching people you don't like!"
Adam and I stared at her in confusion. "... why not?"
Blake stared at us in shock. "You-! I- just- ugh..." she groaned, turning around as her ears flattened against her head. "Let's just go... the rally should be starting soon and we need to be there."
Adam and I shared a shrug. As we moved to follow, my stomach roared loudly and I clutched it with a groan. Blake slowly turned around and regarded me with a dull look in her eyes. I laughed nervously and scratched the back of my head.
"... can we grab a bite to eat, first?"
X-X-X-X-X-X
Back in the alley, the air shimmered like water, and Emerald slowly reappeared where she'd stood previously. She had used her Semblance to warp the perception of the boy and those three vagabonds to make it so that she was invisible to them. It was useful for getting herself what she wanted... but she had gotten sloppy and slipped up when stealing some food. She was far too weak from hunger to sustain her Aura and Semblance for very long which led her to getting caught.
She glowered at the three unconscious men and carefully stepped around them. It'd be best for her to find a new spot to hide before they woke up and tried to hassle her again. She made her way out the alley and peeked around the corner, spotting the monkey boy's spikey black hair amongst the crowd. He was talking to two other Faunus children.
A part of Emerald thought of revealing herself to him. But in the end, she refused. She may have been thankful for him dispatching those jerks for her, but she still didn't trust him. She couldn't trust anyone. One moment, they'd act nice to you, and then the next they'd stab you in the back... either because they no longer found any use for you or because they got bored.
Her crimson eyes watched as the three children walked away. But her eyes remained on the back of the monkey boy. Although she didn't trust him... she admired one thing. And that was his power. He couldn't be any older than herself, and yet he'd dispatched those three grown men effortlessly without so much as breaking a sweat! All she could do was run and hide...
He must be the son of a Hunter or something. There was no other explanation for that speed and strength. And that admiration came with a hint of jealously... and desire. A desire for strength.
She had to be stronger. Strong enough so that nobody could mess with her again, and then she could go further and use that acquired power to live a long and comfortable life, instead of struggling in the slums.
As Emerald bit into the stale, moldy bread, she swallowed the disgusting food and began to slink away into the crowd. Nobody paid attention to her, which was fine and dandy. She didn't like attention on her anyways... it just led to trouble.
She wouldn't forget about what that boy did. And she'd use the memory of his skills to drive herself into getting stronger. And then she'd be able to get a boatload of money and live a life of luxury!
A/N.
The impulsive thoughts in my brain won me over and I ended up writing this. Mainly to see how receptive people are to the idea...
As if I don't have a lot of stories to write as is. But a wise man once said that spontaneous creativity is the bane of all writers!
So yes, an OC/Self-Insert reincarnated as a Saiyan on Remnant. Not as original as one might think, but~ I'm hoping what happens later down the line spices things up for everyone.
... if I end up putting focus on the story.
This the only time you'll be seeing Emerald in this story until after a timeskip, by the way. Just thought it'd be a fun little reference~
Gao isn't aware of RWBY because the show never existed on his Earth. So he's going into everything completely blind. He is however still knowledgeable on pretty much everything Dragon Ball. So it'll be fun to see what chaos he brings! Also yes, there are AU elements in this continuity if you haven't figured it out already. - Most - Faunus having two traits instead of one is one of them. More'll be showcased later down the line!
Anyways, toodles. Got more stuff to write... just needed to vomit this plot bunny out.