880A/N: As the summary credits suggest, flying solo on this one. A story I can write and edit myself so we can get updates out when the editing process gets bogged down. A measuring stick for my own individual growth. The next update of A: TPP and another short story are in the editing stages. Enjoy
Beacon Academy, Vale
The sun tickled her face as she slowly cracked open her eyes. She'd been awake for a little while, as she tried to eke out every last bit of sleep possible before the sun rose. However, as alarms finally blared out their cacophonous melodies, the three other occupants of the dorm stirred awake. After they blinked the sleep from their eyes, the gazes of the four young women met each other.
Which prompted from the four members of Team RWBY a long, weary sigh..
The end of the semester was as boring as they feared it would be.
The morning passed on as mornings usually did; fights for the bathroom, hurried runs for the dining hall to get something in their stomachs before the long day, tired hellos exchanged with their sister team JNPR and finally a mad dash as they tried to make it to Professor Port's lecture early. After all, if they didn't hurry, the best seats would be taken; the seats in the back row, where those of them inclined to just sleep through the verbose lecture could do so without being noticed.
Ruby Rose had never necessarily liked that she and most of her friends and family found Professor Port so dreadfully boring. Hunter stories had been some of her favorites, and the ones Qrow had told as part of his class were always exciting. Port's, on the other hand, just went on for entirely too long and didn't really seem to have much of a point. The man seemed more interested in his own adventures than in being sure they were taught anything Sure, if you pierced through the endless rambling mess his inflated ego would toss their way, you could have possibly produced a good gem of knowledge from time to time, but more often than not he just sat there and spun stories that may very well not have been true.
She, and the rest of the team, had gladly left it to Weiss to scrape out what was actually good from bad. Ruby smiled slightly as she yawned, while Port's lecture tried its hardest to lull her back to sleep. Her entire team owed her partner for being the only one of them with the patience to stand Port's rambles. It was especially important if they expected to make it through the end of semester exams, after all.
The day bled by much the same as previous days had. Oobleck had always done better with their attention, if only because you needed to keep absolute focus in order to have any hopes that you had understood him in the first place. Goodwitch's sparring classes were probably the highlight of the day, but even these had lost their luster after an entire semester. It wasn't just that the matches had become repetitive as people set into patterns of who they could and couldn't beat. When you stopped an armed robbery before even having been accepted into Beacon and then stopped another huge robbery in the middle of the semester, it just made these spars feel less meaningful in comparison.
It reminded Ruby of what she was here to learn to do; she wanted to be a huntress, to be a hero. She appreciated that she needed to go through her time at Beacon in order to get there, but when she had been constantly thrown into the adventure she knew had waited for her outside the school, she couldn't help but feel like the busy work and the day to day grind of Beacon was just hollow in comparison.
Not that she'd ever say that to any of the staff, mind.
Her friends, on the other hand?
"Finally, thought that this day was gonna go on forever." Ruby nodded at Yang's outburst as they sat around for dinner, as the blond bombshell ran a hand across her face in exasperation. "I swear, Port's classes just feel like they're getting longer and longer."
"Maybe that's his semblance; the more he talks, the more time slows to a crawl around him." Blake said softly, while a small grin formed at the corner of her lips. Ever since the dock incident, she'd been closer to the team and slowly became an integral part of it. Heck, she even started to throw in quips like this more and more often. It was a small miracle that Ruby had been thankful for.
"OH MY GOSH! It all makes sense now, how he was able to beat all those crazy Grimm in his stories: he just spoke so much that time froze around him and he was all 'Hee-yah, wah-cha'!" The group of eight shared a laugh at Nora's excited proclamation, Lie Ren just shook his head slightly at his partner's antics as the rest of the group recovered.
"That would certainly explain how he earned his place at Beacon. A time-stopping semblance would be quite the tool for any hunter." Pyrrha spoke next, a slightly ring of laughter still remained in her voice
"It would be. Sadly, I think we just have to chalk up the drag on time to the fact that Professor Port seems to be running out of material… I swear, his stories are starting to run together at this point. It's all becoming a blur of bravado, wrestling and mustaches" Weiss gave an annoyed whine as she lightly banged her head on the table.
"Don't worry Weiss-cream, we appreciate your sacrifice." Yang said with a wide grin as she continued to dig into her food. "We'll find a way to pay you back. Promise."
"Oooh, a promise. That and about five lien will get me a cup of coffee. Then again, that would help with staying awake." The group shared another laugh before they continued to eat, the silence broken up by some small talk here and there between the two teams.
"Oh, before I forget, we're heading out to the Emerald Forest for some more hands on training here in a couple days." Jaune's sudden interjecttion had drawn Team RWBY's attention to him. "Nora's been getting a little stir-crazy with all this studying and exam prep, being cooped up in classes, the dining hall and our doom room just… well, it hasn't been good for her."
"Or any of us for that matter. Every time I look I swear we're losing a little bit more of our luster to this crushing monotony! Our youthful and unbreakable spirits are slowly being corroded by this endless nightmare of lectures and bookwork!" Nora waved her hands in an exaggerated manner towards her team, all the while she poured on the melodrama, to great effect. Ruby had to admit, Team JNPR did look a lot worse for wear after two solid weeks of exam-prep. Though, if Ruby had been honest, her own team probably wouldn't have taken home any prizes for youthful vigor either.
"So I figured that some live training in the forest might do us some good. Some fresh air, some Grimm to slay, some time away from Beacon, some time away from textbooks…" The last was muttered under Jaune's breath, just low enough for those at the table to hear him. "I thought that we'd ask if you all wanted to come; we haven't had much chance to hang out these past two weeks, and we figured you all'd jump at the chance to get out." The blond-haired knight offered with a friendly grin, one which was readily returned by Ruby and her entire team.
"Ah you know us too well, Vomit Boy!" Yang exclaimed as she reached over and punched Jaune on the arm, the blond laughing good-naturedly as he tried to play it off, before he rubbed his arm to sooth the pain. "You all already know I'm up for it." The blond immediately turned her lilac eyes to the rest of the team, a pleading look in them as she stared down the rest of Team RWBY.
"Hmmm… well, I did have a book I wanted to read… but I guess I could put an earmark in it for later. Yang would probably throttle me if I said otherwise." Blake rolled her eyes slightly as she looked towards her partner, a sly grin formed on her face as the blond nodded.
"Ah, one semester as partners and you can already read my mind Blakey." Yang turned his gaze to Weiss and just leaned forward slightly. "Let's see if you can figure out what Rubes' is thinking, Weiss." Yang was met with a sigh as Weiss just shook her head.
"I would prefer if we spent some more time studying for these exams, but I imagine I'm about to be outvoted." Weiss did her best to look annoyed, and to her credit, the Schnee-heiress certainly put up a good front. However, as the team looked to Ruby, her gaze out towards the Emerald Forest, they all grinned.
For Ruby, the answer was clear. An afternoon spent out in the sun and fresh air, while they fought the monsters that posed the worst threat to humanity surrounded by her closest friends and family? Ruby's mind was made up before the question itself was even fully asked.
To go out and fight, to be a hero, to make a difference in the world. That's what Ruby Rose lived for.
"You all can count on us to be there." With that, the group turned back to their food and continued their small conversations, although all a little more upbeat than they had been previously.
The Frontier, Grimmlands
The sun tickled his face as he turned his gaze to meet it. He'd been awake for a while now, having drawn the short straw and so he'd gotten stuck with the last watch for tonight, or last night, he supposed. As the sun rose he released a slight yawn as he jumped down from his perch in the tree, his two friends, brothers really, slowly but surely stirred thanks to warmth of the rising sun. With slight yawns, they turned their gazes towards him, and their eyes met.
He smiled at the two of them, which they returned in equal measure..
The night had been as quiet as they had hoped it would be.
The morning passed as it usually did; they'd take it in turns to run off to a nearby river or stream to do their business while the other two would work on clearing out the campsite They dug through their bags and pulled out their supplies and tried their best to have a good meal; they had some small talk and generally did their best to keep their spirits up in the middle of the Grimmlands. After all, if they allowed something as small as a poor morning or an empty stomach affect their mood, they'd might as well have asked the Grimm to show up..
Higashikata Josuke fell into the motions along with his friends. He had quickly fixed any nicks or bumps that the other two had left over, Koichi scouted out fifty meters above and around them to keep an eye out for any others or the Grimm and Okuyasu removed any trace that they'd even been in this particular spot in short order.
They had been set to be picked up and replaced sometime that day, so the three young men took their seats around their former campsite. Before boredom set in, Okuyasu pulled out a deck of cards and Koichi quickly shuffled them.
"You'd best not cheat this time Josuke, I'll be keeping my eye on you." Okuyasu said, his gravelly voice was playfully suspicious as Koichi dealt out the hands.
"What? Me? Cheat? Come on Okuyasu, when have you ever known me to do something like that?" Josuke said with a knowing smile as he lifted his cards. "After all, we both know that Koichi's the one who'd pull something like that, isn't that right Koichi?" Before Koichi could defend himself, Okuyasu just nodded his head in grim agreement.
"I suppose you're right. You know what I heard; I heard Koichi stole some food from the supply train and ate it by himself, even while his family was famished." Okuyasu said with a disappointed sigh as he shook his head.
"No dignity, that kid." The pompadoured teen spoke with a shake of his head, Koichi's face red as a beet.
"Come on you guys, cut it out…" The two had a laugh at Koichi's expense, though the two apologized before they continued their game.
"Anyway, I'm just saying Josuke. You always seem to have just the cards you need when you need them, and you and I both know how you get them." Okuyasu just smiled as he looked at the cards he had in hand, a slight snicker escaped his lips
The corners of Josuke's mouth had crept up into a small grin as he placed two cards down. "Well, even if what you were insinuating was true, you're just jealous because if you tried something similar, you'd just end up losing cards all-together."
"Oh-ho, keep that talk up Josuke, and you'll see if I don't reach over and scrape that big, ugly, stupid-looking…" The scarred young man held the last word slightly, a wide grin on his face as Josuke's expression had taken a dark turn, which in turn had Koichi's expression twisted into one of panic and worry. "... grin off your face."
Okuyasu barked out a laugh as Koichi sighed in relief while Josuke just laughed and patted his pompadour slightly.
"Okuyasu, do you really have to go and do stuff like that? You nearly gave me a heart attack." Koichi whined slightly as he threw three cards down into the pile, while the scarred teen shrugged his shoulders..
"Come on Koichi, we're huntsmen. Gotta have a little thrill and danger in our lives, don't we?" A wide grin stretched across his face, even as Koichi's expression had taken a turn towards disbelief.
"What, are the Grimm not enough for you?" Koichi muttered under his breath, to which Okuyasu barked out another laugh.
"I guess that's a good point. Though, that doesn't mean as much with how quiet this trip was." Okuyasu took his turn, while Josuke just nodded his head slightly.
"Yeah. I'm honestly kind of surprised; we're pretty far out from Morioh, you'd think we'd have seen a few Grimm running about." A smile had spread across the teen's features as he looked around. "It's pretty great."
It was a sign of progress, or at least, the three huntsmen hoped it was. They'd have to wait and listen in back at town for how other trips went to know for certain. However, if everyone else ended up like they did...
The three young men snapped their heads to the sky as a shrill noise reached their ears, a shadow of a beast swooped through the trees. It reached Koichi and, with a small shower of dust, disappeared into his back.
"Echoes must've spotted our pickup."
"Even more good news, then." Okuyasu said with a wide grin as he looked over at Koichi. "We can finish up this hand and then we'll be ready to go-"
"Royal flush."
"WHAT?!"
Okuyasu and Koichi snapped their heads back to the card game and, sure enough, Josuke had set out a royal flush right in front of him, a cheeky grin on the young man's face. "I take it that neither of you two have something to match that then?" He asked, the surprised looks on their faces told him as much. "Ah well, looks like I win." He quickly gathered up the cards, including the ones in their hands, as he reshuffled the deck.
"NOW YOU WAIT JUST ONE DUST-DAMNED MINUTE, JOSUKE!" Okuyasu roughly grabbed the cards from Josuke's grasp before he quickly looked through all the cards in the deck. One of each, no extras and no missing cards. Okuyasu just grumbled a bit as he handed the deck back into his pack. "This is why I don't gamble with you Josuke." He muttered under his breath as Josuke just smiled at the scarred teen.
"Okuyasu, like I'd cheat a friend out of their stuff like that. You know me better." Josuke stood up and patted the dust and dirt off of himself as he offered a hand to help Okuyasu up. The teen just looked at the proffered hand warily for a moment, before he took a firm hold of it. "Besides, I never cheat, I'm just this good."
"Yeah, yeah." Okuyasu rolled his eyes, while Koichi sat off to the side, a warm smile on his face as he watched his two, relatively, new friends. "Hey, you can't miss out on this moment here Koichi, go on, tell Josuke off for being a filthy cheater." Okuyasu grabbed up Koichi, the smaller boy yelping slightly as Okuyasu stood him up.
"Uh, uh, I dunno Okuyasu, we've technically never caught him doing anything like that…" Koichi muttered slightly, which earned him a laugh from Josuke and a betrayed look from Okuyasu.
"See, Koichi's not a sore loser like you are, Okuyasu."
"... Traitor." Okuyasu muttered under his breath, while Koichi just mewled out nervous laughter. It hadn't been long before the sounds of hoof beats reached their ears and, not long after that, six people on horseback rode into the clearing.
"Alright then; Higashikata Josuke, Nijimura Okuyasu, Hirose Koichi, your replacements are here. Let 'em get their supplies out and ready and then the rest of us can head back to Morioh." The four who jumped from the horses were a bit older than the trio, the two groups just exchanged quick hellos as Josuke's team helped them unload their horses.
Before long, Josuke's team had loaded up and had ridden off from the forest, a serene smile on Josuke's face as they rode out from the Grimmlands and back towards Morioh.
This was what Josuke had been looking forward to for most of their mission. A warm bed, a hot bath, and a good home cooked meal with his friends… provided Koichi's folks weren't back in and his own mother was, of course. Otherwise, it'd just be him, Okuyasu and whatever the two could manage to not burn. Even then, Josuke would have felt content.
To live with his friends and family, safe in their homes as his grandfather had dreamed? That was what Higashikata Josuke fought for.
"This is going to be great." Despite it being whispered under his breath, Koichi and Okuyasu couldn't help but share a smile with their leader, as they all rode back in comfortable silence.
The Unknown Continent. The Frontier. Morioh. A town of a little over 10,000 souls, the continent Morioh stands on is one shrouded in rumor and death. Once the limits of civilization's expansion against the Grimm, it was the home to members of all races and to the citizens of all kingdoms. These people fought bitterly against one another as the human nations of Remnant warred and clashed in order to secure their right to humanity's new home in the Grimmlands.
Then came "The Reckoning". Hordes of Grimm, tens of thousands strong, stormed through The Frontier, destroying all in its wake. Whispers were sounded of a horrifying demon at the front of this army of monsters, who could command the Grimm as a general could command soldiers. The Four Kingdoms of Remnant assumed that the people of The Frontier were doomed, as no scouting parties could make it back through to the cities. Any cities they had found were destroyed, right down to their foundations and not a trace of human life, save for blood stained stone, remained. The Grimmlands had ended humanity's expansion and, thus, began humanity's slow decline in the face of the Grimm..
Or so it was thought.
With the strength of their souls, forged into powerful visions, the men and women of The Frontier fought against the Grimm threat. Lead by William Zeppeli, Robert Speedwagon and Jonathan Joestar, these stalwart men of their day, humanity had once again fought for its survival and won. It was to be in a small town, situated by the mouth of a river, that humanity would make its stand.
Morioh has stood proud the last human city of The Frontier, and no man, woman or faunus has been denied, no citizen of any Kingdom turned away from this bastion of hope that Joestar, Zeppeli and Speedwagon sought to give them.
Now, One Hundred Years later, Morioh still stands. The lines between Mantlean, Valean, Vacuoan and Mistrali, between human and faunus, have faded and its people now stand united and strong, ready to tackle the challenges of this new century.
Joseph Joestar, grandson of Jonathan Joestar, has moved forward with a plan that will accomplish his grandfather's sole dream; the reunification of the Frontier with the rest of humanity.
His efforts will result in the most bizarre adventures yet seen by Remnant.
Remnant's Bizarre Adventure: Beacon is Unbreakable
-To Be Continued- Welcome to Vale (Act 1)