MAKING SENSE OF IT ALL

AN. Feel like its important to mention that the story starts about two years before the start of the school year when RWBY and JNPR start.

People. Well, at least the one on the left is a person, the guy on the right has fox ears on the top of his head. Well, at least that confirms I'm not on Earth anymore, interesting. They seem vaguely solider-esque, but those guns are not for killing men, too big. Kevlar is not a thing around here it seems, or these guys are not expecting to be shot at anyway. Their stuff looks like riot gear from back home, only thicker. They appear to be on patrol, idle chatter about the fox guys failed romantic prospects, they are speaking English but the accent makes them sound Greek, or maybe Italian. Their guns are at the ready, appears they are expecting a fight, these two must have seen a lot of combat if they are this casual about it. Which kind of brings me to my question, what have I've been sharing this forest with for the past 8 hours if these guys need those, well, canons almost, to take them down? No matter, if they are going the opposite way it can't be too bad. Let's hope I'm right and they are going on patrol instead of coming back from it.

So, that is what a medieval city would look like if it was built in the 21th century. A two layered, approximately 6 and 12-meter, wall with a steel gate. And enough stationary guns on in to send the entire red army to hell and back. There is about a kilometer between the forests end and the wall… these guys are certainly not fighting humans, the position could be easily shelled out of existence, but if the enemy is not smart enough to do that, I have no idea how much heavy machinery you would need to cobble up to pierce that.

They appear to let anyone through the gates, merchants and travelers mostly, those two guys have returned from their patrol, and airships that have no business being in the air have been flying overhead. Everyone is armed, though the stuff the merchants carry pales in comparison. I've seen people with very, very big melee weapons, swords, spears, and hammers, they looked impractically large, but those guys were swinging them like they were hollow. This stalling is not getting me anywhere, time to go in.

"Hey!" Well, that's a start. "Give me a sec to get the gates open." Oh, how I love it when I'm right and a plan comes together. "T-Thanks." Pathetic, I could eat this guy if I wanted to and I'm scared of him?! "Give me a name so I can log you." Well shit, this guy most likely can't pronounce my name, let alone write it down, hmm… his name is Basil, the fox guys name was Oak, so they seem to have, at least it sounds like, English sounding names so "Galven Star." should work. A quick "Done and done, have a nice day." and with that I'm no longer wanted, best to turn and be one my way. What is my way anyhow?

Well, you know what they say, when you are penniless in Rome, do as the Roman beggars do, but not in these clothes, my black and yellow striped adidas trainers look far too new for a beggar to wear. So only one real option, let's go to a poor district and clean some clothes lines!

A few dark green sheets, a brown fishing hat, some slightly torn brown trousers and a small box for the money. There we go, I'm now Galven, beggar supreme. Thanks to my usual laziness I have the beginnings of a scraggly beard going on, just need a bit of caked on dust and mud to complete the look, but since the road is made of it that shouldn't be too hard. Sigh, well, let's get this over with.

"Please sir, *cough* I'm starving." There was this thing I use to have, it was called honor, wonder where that went? …It's important to sell it, but not oversell it. You have to get him or her to a state that he wants to give you the money to feed his or her ego, you have to convince him that he is doing noble work so he would willingly give you the money without feeling robbed. A market is a perfect place to beg, full to the brim with people and kind grannies to help a poor boy out. It's also an excellent place to see prices and figure out how much money you actually got. I get a "Don't spend it on booze." before he drops something plastic in to my box.

All their money is in cards, what in the actual hell? Within an hour I had a bunch of ones and twos in my box, you need a damn bag just to carry it if you have any decent amount! Looking at the card yielded little info, no bank name, no country name, and no year. The currency is called Lien, there is a security stripe on one side, and there is a united treasury insignia, whatever that is. Let's just hope that one is a decent amount.

164 lien, from what I was able to gather, not a bad day, for a beggar. Plain white bread is 3 liens, a kilo of carrots is 5, a night in an actual video game style inn is 60(or if the place is full the highest bidder gets the room, shower not included), and warm meal costs 50. Get both of those and they let you one the local… well I don't know what it is, looks like a computer, except that there is only a screen and a keyboard (that functions like a trackpad) and everything is made of glass, no wiring as far as I can see, it looks like it was made by Apple, slick design with form over function in mind. Let's just hope these guys have a Wikipedia equivalent.

I'm in Mistral, on the continent of Anima, the second biggest continent in the world, the date is the 19 of august 78(according to the new 'post war' calendar), Mistral is a quazi-parliamentary monarchy, with the government consisting of the council and the ministries. Though it would appear that this Haven academy also has a lot of political sway since it's a hunter academy, also, the creatures of Grimm are a thing in this world.

The creatures of Grimm, well, that explains the size of the guards' guns. Monsters of living shadow driven to hunt humans and Faunus-kind. They don't need to eat or sleep and they get stronger the older they are… wonderful. But, at least human and the Faunus have the huntsmen, using 'Aura' and 'Semblances' and 'Dust' these mighty warriors are capable of fighting even the biggest Grimm, whatever those things were.

Also, Faunus, human looking humanoids with animal 'parts', that function. They look like something out of sci-fi, some scientist got bored and mix human and animal DNA. But, according to this, they have existed long before that kind of tech existed, maybe it has something to do with those Auras or something.

"When I told yah that you can use the computer, I didn't think you were gonna use it the whole night." Has it really been that long? I barely felt it. "Is that a problem, sir?" last thing I need is this guy price gauging me. "No, no, I'm happy to help, but I could use a favor." Oh, boy. There it is, a favor. "A favor, sir?" at least he is to the point "Yes, if you could just take this box to the lost and found up the street" a box of lost and unaccounted-for things, you say? Sigh me right up! "Sure, no problem." I grab the box and walk out, and then promptly in to the left into an ally. Let's see: a few of those super-phone things they call scrolls, a few keys, some books, a note pad, wallet(empty) and something wrapped in tin foil. Let's hope that at least one of these scrolls doesn't have a password. Why, thank you Miss Willow Winters, for your carelessness, your scroll will be put to good use, there is no sim card and everything is account based so the problem is solved by a simple wipe a creation of a new account. The keys are useless, and the books are fiction so right now they are only good as kindling. The notepad is almost empty and, provided that I can find a pen, could be pretty useful, same for the wallet.

The tinfoil contained two crystals that are light blue in color, both about the size of an egg. This must be the 'dust' I read about. From what I gathered, this dust can be used as an energy source. Through the application of a small amount of aura it can be activated to release a massive amount of energy. Like an aura triggered miniature nuclear reactor. The potential for such a power source is almost infinite. Yet, until the aura is applied it's pretty stable. What does aura do to it on an atomic level to illicit such a reaction?

I need to find a place to stay, preferably somewhere where I don't have to pay rent. And where no one too nosy will come snooping. Something old and abandoned. The weather is fine so it being waterproof is not something that matters.

I shove the door to the police station with my shoulder, looking around the room in front of me: some chairs by the windows on both of my sides, two desks with clerks sitting in the chairs behind them, some pictures on the walls and a dead plant in the right corner by the window. But what catches my eye is a board with a bunch of people around it covering almost the entire left wall. The people around the board are a unique bunch, some in full armor, others with guns and with swords at the hip, hunters. That must be a bulletin board of some kind, well, that's none of my business, at least for now.

A quick "Hello." To get the clerks attention, "Hello, sir. How can I help you?", "The nearby drinking establishment has asked me to give you these lost items in case their owners are looking for them." A forehead crease is the first thing I see, "No problem, give them to me and I will see to it, thank you, kind citizen." For a second I was worried, but it seems all is fine. I hand over the box and turn to leave, before feeling something bumping into me. A quick "Ahh!" fallowed by a bump and a "Watch it, you giant!" gets an eyebrow rise from me. "I don't think the problem is in my 1.9 meters, I think the problem is in your 1.5.", the girl with amethyst colored hair sputters for a second before giving me a "It's 1.55 goddammit!", now what happens next, I think equally surprised both me and her, when this girl three head shorter then me and most likely half my weight threw me on the floor. Well, don't judge a book by its cover I guess. The girls blue eye went wide, not unlike what I assumed happened to my brown ones, "I'm so so sorry, I thought you were a huntsman too." She yell-whispered, "No problem, don't worry about it." I quickly tried to defuse the tension. Why was I the one trying to calm her down? "No, no, I'm supposed to be the protector of the land, and I'm so careless. Let me make it up to you somehow, please." Damn they really started these hunters young, the girl couldn't be older then my own 17 years. "But I don't need anything right now." "That's not a problem. You do have a scroll, right?" Well that's convenient, "Yea. Why?" I said pulling out my scroll, before it was promptly pulled out of my hands. "Here is my number, call when you come up with some way of me repaying you, my name is Aster by the way." Before giving me my scroll back and prancing away and out of the police station. Leaving me with only one question: did she forget to do what she came in here to do? But, hey, I'll take any favor I can get.

Well, that's all folks *queue music*, for the first chapter anyway of the first story I've ever written though it most likely shows. Reviews in the reviews and I will try to answer them all. Any and all comments welcome: critics, memes, glowing praises and demands to kill myself. There will be a second chapter up relatively soon so just follow and stay tuned.