All I could see was deep darkness. All I could feel was biting cold. All I could hear was howling wind. Time felt irrelevant. Had it been one day? A thousand? Where was I? I tried to move, but felt nothing at all. I tried to speak, but found I could not. All I could do was think, and feel. Where was I? What happened? Vague memories filled my mind, as though I was looking at a movie through a smoke screen. Blurred, like a piece of abstract art, all I could know were distant feelings that felt as though they belonged to someone else, but they were mine. A small, prefab building? Snow, and more cold? Two people, a man and a woman. Who are they, what were their names? I tried to know, but the more I tried the further away I was. What happened? All I could feel was cold, stark, burning cold. Most of all I felt tired. So very tired. Nothing seemed real anymore, nothing but the howling winds and the freezing cold. Perhaps I should lay down and stop thinking so hard. It was tough to do so anyway, and what was the point?

I heard something in the wind, something faint. What was it? I heard it again, what is it? A name? Someone shouting in the distance. It sounds like “Ezekiel.” Clouds of colors depicted someone marching across a vast expanse of snow and ice. I think I'll see where this goes, before going to sleep. They trudged across the snow, yelling, over and over. There was someone else, too, doing the same. “Ezekiel,” they called. Must be someone they lost, I thought. Then one of them fell to their knees, and started digging in the snow. How horrible, my heart went out to them. Whoever this Ezekiel fellow was, he certainly had some good friends. Oh well. The person grabbed the corpse in the snow, and I felt hands grab my shoulders.

Who's there? I tried to say, tried to speak, but I found I could not. What is this place? Nothing but cold and wind, I wish it would all stop. Perhaps if I laid down for a little bit, I might find a break from it all. Just as I was about to rest, I saw a faint light. I thought to move closer, but I remembered I could feel nothing at all. What a strange, funny thing to happen, to want to move but not be able to. Suddenly, I found myself closer to the light. How did that happen? No matter. The flickering light constantly fought back the darkness in its own strange dance. It looked almost like fire. It was warm near it. The cold still stung, but the fire helped. Who's fire was this? I felt like someone else was here, though I could neither see nor hear them. If I could call out to them I would. Did they light this fire?

Now that I see it closer, there's no base, no fuel. Just the fire, floating, in the air. Though it flickered, it did not seem affected by this accursed howling wind. Where did it come from anyways, the wind? What a silly question, it came from... What? I thought I knew, but the idea of even knowing evades me. I thought to follow or chase the wind, but the fire here was warm, and the rest of this place, cold. If only there was some sort of shelter, to hide against this wind, with this fire in it, to fight off the cold, then maybe this place wouldn't be so bad. I suppose I'll just have to make do. There was never anything else but this howling and cold, this fire itself is a respite from that. Wait, no, that's not right. Some obscure feeling tugged at the back of my mind, that there was more than this, but that's not possible. That thought too quickly slipped from my mind. The fire was just a bit warmer, I thought. Did someone throw in some wood? What even was wood? The fire was nice and warm, but I couldn't stop thinking of this incessant howling. It seemed to be coming from somewhere, it must be. I should leave this fire and find out, but I could not move.

Then, suddenly, the fire was further away, shrinking until even the light was gone. Just darkness and cold again. The howling grew louder, louder, and louder, but no matter how loud it grew I could never find the source. It was now a scream with how loud it was. It sounded like a familiar scream. A wisp of a face crossed my mind. Who was that? It sounded as though I knew them. Did I ever know anything but this cold and darkness? Ideas and thoughts drifted across my mind, but it was like trying to see something in the way the light bounced across the bottom of a murky canal. This was all that ever existed, and yet I felt that at some time, some point, something else did. How long had I been here? Minutes? Hours? Years? It did not matter. I was cold and tired and the wind was howling. I ought to close my eyes and sleep. Perhaps then I can forget about the dark, the cold, the wind, and the pain.

Made a post on a shitjustworks community some time ago; from what I can see on this account, it got no attention at all. However, recently I saw from a different account on a different instance that said post did get attention, including upvotes and answers. I'm a little confused now on what's happening. Is this instance not federated with sh.itjustworks?

On a tangentially related but irrelevant to this thread note, I originally made this account because I thought it'd be apt to keep my authorial things and contributions to this instance's communities in this instance; should I continue to do so or just keep everything on my main account?

The atmosphere was heavy as the students followed the headmaster out of the cafeteria. A good chunk straight up refused to follow, taking Sky’s advice to leave. On the walk towards the bullheads, a few had changed their minds and turned around to leave. By the time they reached the landing platform where the large, rectangular airships were, there were less than half of the students who rode up here on the platforms. 

The headmaster and Sky stood near the two bullheads, looking over the crowd. A brief conversation cropped up between the headmaster and Sky, but Haru was too far to hear it. Eventually, Professor Lionheart stepped forward to address the crowd. He gave a brief thanks for staying, and told the remaining students to board the bullheads as they prepared to go to the next part of the initiation. 

Haru got on the one on the left. She was joined by a number of other students, and then Sky boarded as well, walking towards the front of the craft just behind the pilots, and gripping a handle on the ceiling. Strangely, there were no seatbelts on the seats, something nobody questioned. As the doors closed, a few hushed conversations cropped up between the students. Some kept their eyes on Sky, expecting him to silence them or yell again, but it seems their fears were unfounded. Sky simply stared out of the window, watching Haven shrink beneath and water replace it. Haru, for her part, did the same. Her seat neighbor, a person in a teal coat, orange vest, and brown fedora, thankfully didn’t feel the need to start conversation either. 

The din grew a bit louder, until eventually, someone directly asked Sky why the academy thought it’d be a good idea to throw Grimm at the students in the cafeteria no less. They wondered if it wasn’t dangerous to keep that many Grimm at the academy instead of just killing them, and questioned the ethics of risking the student’s lives. Everyone fell silent to listen to the answer.

Sky considered the student for a while, before giving their answer. 

“Life isn’t easy, and being a huntsman is even harder. That’s the first lesson drilled into you at Shade Academy, and they’re right. The desert is harsh, unforgiving, deadly, and so is Shade. That’s how it should be, and it’s why Shade produces the best huntsmen in Remnant. Haven’s coddled its students and people for too long, and I’m here to whip you people into shape. Every Shade student is stronger and better than you are now. By the end of the year, I’ll make sure you’re better than they are. Hell, by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be better than the Grim Reaper.”

“Who’s the Grim Reaper?” Haru asked, curious about the name she hadn’t heard before. 

“Best huntswoman in history,” Sky replied, yawning. “She came out of Mistral, though the academies were in their infancy back then. She’s a legend, I’m surprised you don’t know about her, given she’s from your country. Hell, we’ve heard of her all the way in Vacuo.”

“Why are you here if you’re a Shade graduate?” someone else asked. 

“Transfer. Apparently that old head thinks I need to ‘diversify myself’ and ‘learn to teach all kinds of people’ before I can become a professor, so I’m here for a while.”

The one thing Haru picked up on was that Sky was a professor in training. 

Just then, the intercoms kicked on. Professor Lionheart came on the mic and began explaining the rest of the initiation to them. Apparently, they would be dropped off on the small island in the middle of Lake Matsu, the lake in the middle of the continent of Anima. There, they would have to find banners scattered throughout the island, find the person with the matching banner, and combine the attached key pieces. There are boats stationed on the westernmost part of the island; each boat needs two keys to power, but all the keys are the same and work on all the boats. They’ll have to cross the small channel separating the mainland from the island, and then their initiation will be over. 

“That seems… A little complex,” Haru said. 

Sky shrugged. “It’s how it is.” He reached towards the wall separating the pilots from the interior and strapped something to his belts. Then, he gripped a handle on the ceiling. Strangely, it was the only one. “We’re almost at our destination. You heard Lionheart. Any last questions?”

Someone asked where they’re going to be dropped off at.

“That’s up to you, but you better figure it out quick. Not much time to prepare your landing strategy,” Sky replied. 

“Landing strategy?” someone asked.

Sky grinned. The rear doors of the bullhead opened up. They could feel the wind slapping their faces and the students in the rear shimmied further in. 

“We’re landing, right?” someone asked the thought everyone had. “We have to be, right?? The doors opened because we’re landing, right??”

“Nope,” Sky replied.

The bullhead suddenly pitched upwards. The students tumbled out of the back like cargo dumped from a ship. Most of them screamed, some out of fear, some out of joy.

For her part, Haru managed to grip one of the seats as the bullhead pitched. She gripped it with her life, pleading with Sky to pull her up. She was the only one left in the cabin. He was still standing on the floor, which had become the wall now. Sky offered her an apologetic shrug, pulled out his key blade, and fired a single shot at her hands. 

A heartbeat later, Haru was tumbling through the sky without a parachute. Somewhere in the depths of her mind, she recalled Sky’s words about a landing strategy. 

Unfortunately for her, the only thoughts in her head was: oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit.

Eyes wide, she stared at the ground rapidly flying at her, the pounding of her heart in her ears. In her peripherals, she could see the other students falling through the air, many of them already firing their weapons to the ground and preparing for landing. Haru flailed, trying to change the ammo in her swords while they were in the sheath, and failing. 

“Come on, come on, fuck, come on!” she screamed desperately. Finally, she managed to unsheathe the sword, changed the ammo with a swiftness she never demonstrated before, and pointed them at the ground. 

She dumped both her magazines into the ground only twenty feet from it, blowing a crater into the dirt below her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to kill all her momentum. She slammed into the ground, her aura immediately flickering as all the air left her lungs. A sharp pain blossomed from her chest; she thought she might have a broken rib. 

She crawled out of the crater, face contorted with pain, and looked up at the bullhead flying away. Her head spun suddenly, and she turned to the ground and threw up, clutching a tree and whispering obscenities at herself. Eventually, she collapsed and laid against the tree, trying with the last of her mental faculties to avoid the vomit on the ground. She had no idea what happened. Before, she didn’t have a problem with heights; she’s flown in bullheads and stood at the top of a mountain before. Nothing. But that. She swore to herself she would never let anyone else toss her out into the sky. 

With shaky hands, she checked her aura level on her scroll. Like she thought, it was in the red.

“We just started,” she complained, staring up at the sky.

Or rather, at the Grimm staring down at her from the tree top. 

A strange, simian creature was staring down at her with blood red eyes. Its arms were abnormally long, and its tail slung around a thick branch, holding it steady. White plates of bone covered its chest and shoulders, and a thick plate covered the crown of its head. 

Haru stared into its eyes for a moment. It stared back, and then it grinned. White, sharp, teeth filled its mouth like spikes, and a drop of Grimm slime leaked out and slapped Haru on the face. 

“Fuck!” 

She jumped to her feet, rolling away just in time. One of its long arms slapped the ground where she was just sitting with an audible thud. She tumbled into the crater, and then crawled up the other side. She sprinted for the trees but tripped over a rock. She felt something whoosh through the air over her head, and when she glanced upwards, she saw the simian hanging from a tree branch above her, its tail holding it up. It made some loud screeching noises in a strange rhythm, and for a brief moment, Haru wondered if it was calling more Grimm. She wouldn’t wait around to find out. She took off through the forest, the sound of the simian swinging through the vines and branches above her sending shivers down her spine. With her semblance off to conserve aura, she had no idea where the next blow might come from, or if she was surrounded, or where she was even going. Instead, she just ran. 

Time passed. Haru’s mad scramble through the forest turned into a mad scramble over the hill side, still being chased, though this time by other Grimm. Without a moment’s rest, she managed to evade a few more Grimm and duck into a cave carved into the face of a cliff. She half expected to find even more Grimm, judging by the way this day was turning out. She was right on that part, but the giant Ursa laying dead on the ground was of little consequence. Another student must have taken it down, or perhaps a group of students, probably very recently. Heaving hot breaths, Haru crawled past it, watching the Grimm’s body disappear into ash as she sat on the cold hard stone floor of the cave. Her side felt stitched, her head spun and black spots filled her vision. For a moment, she wondered why she had been running so much. Wasn’t she a huntress? She should be facing down these Grimm without fear. Except, the landing had been particularly rough on her. She blamed that, along with the lack of rest to recover her aura. It  certainly had nothing to do with her skill as a huntress. She just needed a few moments, and then she’ll be on her way. With weary eyes, she scanned the rest of the cave, spotting a small strip of cloth in the far back, near where the cave ended, tucked between two rocks. She squinted at it, then stood and walked over in halting steps. She reached up and pulled the cloth free. 

Half of a key rolled out. 

Haru stared at it for a while. Then she sighed. Luck was a form of skill, she guessed, but she couldn’t help but feel like she robbed whoever’s banner this was supposed to be, since they did the killing. She shrugged. All’s fair in love and war, she guessed, and pocketed the key and the banner. She stretched out a bit, and prepared to leave the cave. Her aura hasn’t fully recovered yet, but the time she spent in the cave was enough for her to catch her breath and recuperate somewhat. She performed a cursory check of her health; it seemed her rib was merely bruised, not broken, which she was rather thankful for. It still hurt like a bitch and a half, but a bruise she could push through. Broken ribs would put her out of commission for a while. 

Haru took a sip from a small water bottle she mercifully brought with her into the bullhead, then stepped out of the cave, shielding her eyes to the sunlight. She gave a glance around, and, finding no one and more importantly no Grimm, she set out to find the other half of her banner.

Jaes spun his keys in his hands, the metal rattling as it ran circles. He whistled in tune with his steps, forming a sort of funky blues rhythm. He liked blues. That centuries old slow paced music was something to appreciate, a real stop and smell the roses type of thing that these younger folk didn't appreciate. He slid into his rumbling truck, soft jazz already playing through the speakers in the back. These younger folk didn't appreciate a lot of things, sound especially. Like a good saxophone solo, or a good pair of tires running over hard asphalt. Gas engines like his were a thing of the past; he'd even gotten offers from museums, believe it or not! Now it was all about them liquid mercury engines, and floating cars, and loud fast music, and he didn't understand a lick of it.

Now, Jaes was a hard working man, just like his father. So when his boss told him, "Hey Jaes, go pick up that Cardillolac over on seventy third and a quarter street," Jaes said "On it boss," and went on his way. Didn't matter to him much when somebody flew past him on the latest and greatest, blasting the loudest and proudest, shouting something about oldest and slowest. He did his work, and did it good, whether it was towing some old abandoned beater or some rich kid's daddy's car.

The job had its moments though. He turned the corner, looking up at the big ol' hunk of metal docked next to a building in an alleyway, and immediately knew this would be one of them. He jumped out of the seat and into the bed. With a sigh, Jaes flicked a switch, and just like that his old girl was a floating hunk of metal too. Just as he was about to hook and hauling, some young blood came strutting down the street, hoot and hollering.

"Ay yo! Fuck you doing with my ride, grandpa?"

"You ain't make your payments, boy," Jaes replied. "It ain't your ride no more."

It was then that Jaes realized the mistake he had made. This boy wasn't a real boy. He was more machine than he was human. The cyborg stretched out the limbs he gave himself and clambered up both walls on either side, fire shooting out of the joints. He came up real close to Jaes, face to face with the old timer, so close Jaes would have seen the pores in his skin, if the boy had any.

"Say that again," the robot said.

"My bad," Jaes replied, moving some levers on his truck. "I seem to have made a mistake."

"God damned right you have. Fucking dumb ass."

"You ain't no boy," Jaes said, "You just a fancy little toaster."

The toaster pounded the wall like a boy throwing a tantrum. "I suggest you take your old ass and get the fuck out of here, before I give you an early cremation, you sack of wrinkly shit."

"I'm on my way," said Jaes, pushing a button on his truck. And it was true. He was indeed on his way, and so was the souped up rusted luxury car. The truck flew through the legs of the toaster, the car behind it knocking some of them off their grip. Jaes slung himself through the back window and into the front seat of the car. Behind him, he heard shouts and bursts of flame. In front, he heard the jazz grow louder as he turned up the dial. He turned another corner and merged back onto city streets, settling back into his seat, enjoying the soft sax and bass combo. His windows shattered as a red blast of light darted through the truck cab from the back.

"Shit," he said, reaching for his six gun in the center console.

Blaring loud music pulled up next to him, red bolts of light flying through his windows and into his doors. Jaes stuck his gun out, pumping two quick rounds out at the other flying hunk of metal.

"You're fucking dead old man!" the kid hanging out the window yelled, laser pistol pointing in Jaes' general direction. They were always so caught up in the speed and thrill. That loud music and fast car, it didn't do any favors for him, just made life harder, and his aim worse. The third ringing pop of the pistol turned the kid into a corpse. He heard cussing from the driver seat of that car and clicked his teeth. Always so caught up in the moment, he thought to himself as he ran a light and dove the car into an underground garage. It's always got to be better, faster, louder, something new and exciting. They never take the time to enjoy the little things, like having a stable job, the smell of gunpowder, or a good saxophone solo. Sure, the work wasn't always easy, but Jaes was a hard working man. He got it done, and he got it done good.

---

I'm very bad at titles. Also, my contributions thus far to this community may imply that I'm a primarily a cyberpunk author, which is not the case.

Liox sat up on the metal table as the surgeon stepped back. He examined his body, all the stiff metals coated with fresh blood, but for once all was his own. His metal eyes shone bright as he tested the new augments. Data flooded into his brain in a pounding rush, and yet he felt great. He felt better than great. Liox slid off the table, a bubbling chuckle blooming into a black hearted laugh that echoed around the dinky back room. He was unstoppable now. No one can survive even three augments, and yet here he was with a full eight, and he felt wonderful. Where would he go now? Who would be his next victim? So many options; Liox mulled it over as he played music with the surgeon’s screams.

Detective Marcius pursed his lips tight as he bent over. The breakfast he shoveled down squirmed in his stomach as he looked the room over, the stench of fresh blood and flesh assaulting his nose. This was the third murder this week alone, and they were getting worse. He stepped into the room, latex gloved and masked up. Hours passed searching the room over and over, and not a single clue. Whatever grisly monster tore these bodies apart left no traces; they never did. The trail was always cold. Besides the blood and flesh everywhere, the room was always left exactly as it was. He tried to play the scene out in his head, and shivered. He couldn’t imagine it. Whoever had done this wasn’t human anymore. He was dealing with a genuine monster.

Liox smiled. He was perfect. There was a beauty to his metallic flesh, a certain artistry to the way the augments operated together. Every time he moved, he created art. Crude art, though; he needed subjects to truly create art. They should be grateful; their raw, untainted meat will be the paint on the brush that is his body, as the canvas he worked on will remain untouched. And yet, there were those who envied him, those who pushed their bodies to the limit as he had and mimicked his art. Unworthy copycats, all of them! How dare they try to approach perfection like him? How dare they attempt to transcend their own weakness, and thus taint their flesh? No, this would not stand. The smile wilted on his face. They will suffer, all of them. He would have to deal with it.

Marcius frowned. Another day, another murder. The city was falling apart, and worse yet, he had grown accustomed to it. New cases kept springing up faster than his department could handle them, and the media let everyone know about it. Fear was spreading fast. More and more illegal augments made their way onto the streets as people took extreme measures to protect themselves and their homes. At the same time, more and more good cops were leaving the city. Sometimes, it felt like Marcius was the only detective left trying to stop the madness. He remembered an old story from his childhood. Something about a knight being the last one to stand against an evil barbarian’s rampage, and giving his life to defeat him. Despite it all, Marcius couldn’t help but smile.

---

A very old short story of mine. Originally written in middle school, I believe, then redone later in high school. This is the second draft.

So I'm writing a fanfic. Big deal, whatever, yeah I lack imagination and need to rip off other people's works and shove my friend's OCs in there, so what?

Anyways I might as well put this community to good use and post my strange otherworldly and shoddy attempts at longer fiction on here in a piecemeal style because I have no where else to do it and no one else is going to read that shit. Which, is actually kind of sad honestly. I love to write, but it's lonely writing stuff no one will ever read. Like building a Minecraft world in singleplayer. No one's gonna look at it, or appreciate it. It's yours, and no one else's.

Anyways enough senseless rambling. Here's Hydrangeas in Bloom, a RWBY yuri fanfiction taking place in Haven Academy, featuring Haru Goro and Yusha Bestial, my two friend's characters from FFXIV. Don't ask. I got paid to write about them and they became my OCs now. Here's chapter 1, Grimm Meal.

---

Haru stood at the base of a sheer cliff, staring, awestruck, at the buildings on the top. This wasn't a scene she hadn't seen before. She saw it plenty, and every time she did, she couldn't help but stare. Haven Academy, perched at the very peak of the mountain Mistral was built on, had always been her dream. Now, it was finally coming true. It still felt like a dream; so much so, she almost missed the chaperone's call to get on the platform. She joined the rest of the some 70 odd people who would serve as her classmates for the next few years of training.

She didn't know how to feel. Nervous? Shy? Afraid? Perhaps all of those emotions tumbled in her like laundry in a machine. She clutched her purse and watched as the city carved into the forests and rocks fell away below her. Her hard work and dedication was finally paying off.

Briefly, she wondered who she could get along with. While looking out over the rail, she halfheartedly listened in to the chaperone, a professor named Haubergeon apparently, prattle on about the school or whatever. What she also heard were the muttered conversations about her.

"Wow look at that weirdo, what are those horns on the side of her head?"

"Freaky! Does she even have ears?"

"Oh man, you think she's deaf? That would be hilarious! She's not gonna make the cut here, I guarantee it."

She was used to the jibes and jeers. She's faced them all her life. She tried to put them out of her mind. Almost unconsciously, she held a hand to the horns that served as her ears.

"Hey horn girl! Are you deaf?"

She turned to see another student, a girl with blond hair and twin buns with a cruel smile splattered on her lips.

"Well, are you gonna say something?" she asked, waving her hand in front of her face.

Haru sighed and ignored her, instead staring out over the city again and waiting until the lift ride was over.

"Hey, I'm talking to you, horn girl! What are you, deaf and dumb?" The girl reached over and yanked on Haru's horn.

Haru cried out, and almost in reflex shoved the girl away.

"Bitch! Don't fucking touch me, you creep!" She went to slap Haru.

Haru watched the hand sail through the air almost in slow motion. She stepped back just enough for the slap to hit nothing but air, eyeing the girl the entire time.

When she hit nothing, the mean girl just stared at Haru for a brief moment. Then she clicked her teeth, flicked her off, and went back to her laughing clique.

Haru sighed. She was glad it hadn’t escalated. She eyed the chaperone, who was supposed to stop matters like this, but he was still preoccupied delivering speeches that hardly anyone was listening to. Briefly, Haru wondered if this was the kind of professor she would have to deal with for the next four years as she trained. She certainly hoped not. Most of the students were tuned out. They broke the tension of a new beginning with jokes and chatter all around the lift.

One piece of the crowd, though, turned quite a bit louder than the rest; it crescendoed into shouts and arguments. The commotion tore Haru’s attention away from the gorgeous forested mountainsides. It drew a lot of other students in too, though the professor was still enthralled in his own speeches.

The crowd quickly thickened around the argument, clearing a small space around the four involved. Three of them were human, two of which were standing back. Really, the argument was between the scrawny mohawk man with a mischievous grin plastered stupidly on his face, and… someone else. She could scarcely see through the crowd, but on her tippy toes she was able to see at least the back of the other person. Like Haru, she was a faunus. Unlike Haru, she had cat ears on the top of her head and red hair. That was about all she could make out, before the scrawny human said some witty remark she couldn’t hear. Apparently, it was impressive, because it drew oohs, aahs, and chuckles from the crowd. The faunus girl though, didn’t take it as well, and Haru knew what happened next before it happened. A fist flew, crashing into the boy’s face and sending him flying into the two lackeys behind him. That got the professor’s attention.

“Why, I say, what in the world is happening here? Roughhousing already, and we haven’t even gotten through orientation! Calm yourselves! There will be plenty of time for fighting later. Move aside students!” Professor Haubergeon shuffled and siddled his way through the crowd of students, all authority in his voice lost under the nasally accent. Still, he managed to cut deep enough, and break up the fight before it got any worse. Another wave of chittering ran through the crowd, and Haru caught rumors of what had been said.

“I can’t believe he called her a tuna sniffing stray! Can you believe that?!”

“Well it’s probably true…”

“Aw, come on, isn’t that a bit much?”

“Well it’s probably true…”

“I heard she called him a nepo baby who couldn’t hack it without daddy’s money, and so he called her flea ridden idiot and told her to go chase butterflies.”

“What’s a nepo baby?”

“Well it’s probably true…”

At this point, Haru wished someone would punch the student who kept repeating themself. Putting that aside, if what that scrawny boy said was even half as bad as the rumors, he deserved what was coming to him. Still though, despite her semblance giving her the heads up on what was about to happen, she hadn’t expected the boy’s aura to drop that quickly. His aura was supposed to protect him but even now it was flickering as the professor was helping him up. Either that boy was weak, or that faunus lady was incredibly strong…

She only had a few moments longer to wonder if the faunus girl would be ok, before the edge of the cliff cut past them and they got their first view of the Haven school grounds. Haru’s jaw dropped. Up here, the air was crisp and cool, tasting of dew drops and smelling of grass. Which made sense, considering the massive sprawling lawn before them, cut in half by a path leading forward. At the end of that path, was the collection of fancy wooden buildings that would serve as their home and study grounds for the next four years. Sprinkled on the lawns were trees offering shade and a smattering of current students, their seniors, waving in the new arrivals. Professor Haubergeon pushed his way to the front of the pack, and led the students down the sanctimonious path, through the dormitories, and towards the much larger building at the very end. That, he explained, was the academy’s grand hall, and was where they would spend the foreseeable future honing their skills and learning everything they would need to know as Huntsmen.

The next few hours were a blur to Haru. They went through orientation, where they were introduced to the school and its staff, were taken on a tour of the grounds and shown the big spacious area in front of the great hall that they called the quad, and then they broke for lunch. She sat by herself, a little separated from everyone else at the food hall, picking at her food and waiting for the next part of the day.

She wasn’t sure what she had expected when she came to Haven for the first time. Perhaps she thought the school would throw all the students into a forest full of Grimm with 0 preparation, or maybe she thought it’d be more like Sanctum academy, where they started with basic combat trials to get an idea of everyone’s abilities and form teams. So far, though… things have been mostly normal. Like any regular college, really. Mostly paperwork and meetings and speeches. And racism, but that’s just Mistral.

She also hadn’t expected anyone to sit down with her. A girl with bright red hair done up in drill-shaped pigtails approached her. In addition to the school uniform, she wore two long, black, thigh high socks. “Hey!” She yelled as she slammed both palms on the table.

Haru was mid-glass of water the moment that happened. She coughed and spluttered in surprise, the piece of food in her mouth jumping down her throat a bit too far. She coughed more, pounding the table with a fist while her face turned blue.

“Holy shit are you ok??” The strange girl asked.

Haru shook her head, one hand gripping the table firmly and the other trying to massage the food down her throat. It didn’t work.

Eventually the girl leapt over the table, grasped her stomach, and performed the Ozlich maneuver on her, getting her to spit a piece of chewed up meat out.

Haru choked and sputtered, struggling to compose herself as she grabbed the glass of water with a shaky hand.

“Whoa, I think I just saved your life!” the girl said.

Haru gulped down the rest of the water, and glared at the girl. “Yeah after you almost took it from me,” she replied.

The girl shrugged, picking up the piece of meat and popping it into her mouth.

Haru just stared, disgusted.

“Oh, by the way, my name is Kasane! Kasane Teto, but you can call me Teto. You’re welcome for saving your life!” Teto put her hands on her hips and puffed out her chest with pride.

“Right. Thanks. Um, why are you here?” Haru asked. This strange creature was being… particularly odd.

“You looked lonely and I wanted to say hi!”

Haru blinked. “Oh, um… Thanks.” She didn’t know quite what to say, or quite where to look, so she just let her gaze drift back downwards to the food.

“What do you think of the orientation so far?” Teto asked.

“Well, it’s been kind of boring, in all honesty,” Haru replied.

“Yeah, I thought something more exciting would have happened. Like, doesn’t Beacon have-”

Just then, the windows shattered. Grimm poured in from the windows and through the doors, pouncing on the unexpecting students.

“What the fuck?!” Haru yelled out.

Yells and screams could be heard from around the cafeteria. No one was expecting a completely random Grimm attack to occur, much less on campus.

Even so, everyone present was a Huntsman in training, and huntsmen don’t go anywhere without their weapons.

The sudden shock quickly abided; the students who were caught in the initial assault were freed from the grasp of Grimm by those who were more quick to the fight than the others. Soon, the sound of weapons unsheathing and transforming mingled with the growls and snarls of the various Grimm. For Haru’s part, she jumped on to the table and unsheathed the twin blades on her hips, just in time to slice apart a wolf-like Grimm lunging at her; a Beowulf, Haru briefly noted, before hearing a snarl behind her. She turned, but she was too late.

Another Beowulf was charging at her. Mid lunge, though, two powerful drills jutted into it from underneath. The drills, rotating in different directions, tore apart the Grimm in a matter of seconds. Teto stood up, covered in the black slick of a dead Grimm, all smiles, a drill attached to each hand. Her pigtails were missing.

“Hah! Now that’s more like it!”

Haru sensed something coming from the side, and dodged just in time for another Grimm to appear. She ran backwards along the tables, firing back at the Grimm as Teto tore it apart. Then, her semblance kicked in again. She jerked herself to the left to avoid someone else doing the same as her. Another Faunus was running backwards on the tables too, firing a bow with hardlight arrows at the Grimm around the cafeteria. A Grimm crawling along the ceiling had several arrows sprout from its back and neck before it fell off, disappearing mid-air.

“Whoa!” they said, shocked to see Haru there. “Careful!”

“You too!” Haru shot back, and then literally shot back, firing the pistols attached to her swords at a Grimm pouncing towards the Faunus. She briefly noticed the cat ears on the other Faunus’s head before combining her two swords into a double-ended sword she called a twinblade. She twirled it in the air, slicing through two more Grimm that came flying through her and changing the ammunition on her guns at the same time, the cartridges popping out of the blades and being replaced.

“Name’s J'atoh! Pleasure!” The cat Faunus said.

Haru responded in kind, before firing one of the swords on her twinblade away and straight into a Grimm crawling over top of a crying student. Haru briefly noted it was the same blonde girl with twin buns from earlier. She sprinted in her direction, adding to her momentum by firing the extreme power bullets that she used for movement and thrusting her other blade into the same Grimm’s side. It fell over and died, disappearing within moments.

“Th-thank you!” the girl said, but Haru ignored her. She leapt away, sheathing her swords on either side of her and firing the guns to launch herself up and over, towards the far end of the cafeteria. Mid-air, she stabbed into a leaping Grimm. She planted her feet on the Grimm and used the momentum to surf along the table, turning around and firing more ammo backwards to support the other students. She lost balance just as her semblance rang again. She kicked off the Grimm as it snapped at her heels, just barely missing. She tried to flip around and land on her feet, but she couldn’t recover in time. She fell on the table and rolled for a bit, somehow managing to stumble to her feet. Just then her semblance triggered again; she was too slow and still trying to catch her footing just as another Grimm tackled her. Suddenly, a massive hole exploded in its side, in time with a huge ear splitting blast. Then, a massive axe went flying head over handle through the cafeteria, splitting two more Grimm in half before a red blur ran past her vision. She barely had time to register what just happened before a whistle rang throughout the hall. Rising to her feet and clutching her head, she checked the rest of the room to see it had been fully cleared.

The students were in various states; some were panting for breath, eyes darting around the room. Others were standing confidently, chit chatting amongst themselves. Some were crying and sobbing, or emerging from hiding spots. Some of them were bleeding, or unconscious, and she wondered if they would be ok. For her part, Haru checked her own aura levels on her scroll. She was mostly ok, though the surprise attack from the last two Grimm left her a bit unsteady.

The whistle blew again, and this time all the students in the cafeteria turned their focus towards the sound. Two people were walking into the cafeteria. An older gentleman with grey hair like a lion’s mane, and by his side, a bored looking human about Haru’s own age, a giant key behind their head and their arms hanging around it.

“Greetings, students, and congratulations on getting through the first part of your initiation!” The older gentleman said.

Immediately, someone complained. “Initiation?! Those were Grimm! Here, in the school!”

“Calm down, calm down. I’m sure you have many questions,” the gentleman said. “My name is Leonardo Lionheart, I’m the headmaster here at Haven academy. Those Grimm you just fought were ones we had captured and prepared specifically for this challenge. As hunstmen-”

Someone else interrupted. “Are you crazy?! We could have died! What are you doing holding Grimm at the academy? This is madness, there’s people in the city just below, what if the Grimm got out?”

“Now-” the headmaster began to say, but he was quickly interrupted again.

“Our initiation?! My best friend got hurt! He could have died!”

“We were fighting for our lives here! There wasn’t even a warning!”

“How could you-”

Then the younger person by the headmaster’s side strode forward and yelled, their voice booming throughout the cafeteria. “Shut up!” they yelled. “You’re huntsmen in training. You will be fighting Grimm. You will find yourself in do or die situations, and you won’t always know what’s coming. If you’ve got a problem with this, then quit now!” They pointed at the doors, their voice still booming throughout the room. “The doors are right over there, we won’t stop you if you can’t handle it. Hell, we won’t even blame you. Matter of fact, do it! I’d rather know that you can’t hack it now, than trust my life to you in the field and watch you fail me. This is the life you subscribed to, so get with the program or go do something else!”

They finished their speech, meeting everyone’s eyes in turn. They had managed to cow everyone here into a total silence that was only broken by the headmaster clearing their throat.

“Thank you very much, Sky. To the rest of you, I’m sure you’re upset, but what Sky said is correct. Rest assured, we had professionally licensed huntsmen on standby, ready to swoop in if they felt anyone was in real danger of death, as well as medics waiting just outside.” As he said that, more people walking in with stretchers and plus symbols marking their clothing. “At the end of the day, however, you are planning on being Huntsmen. The life you chose won’t be easy. It’ll be fraught with danger every minute of your lives, and it’s here at this academy that you’ll learn to hold your own and in teams. But, it starts with an understanding of how difficult things will be for you going forward. You’ll be given every opportunity to succeed, don’t worry, but the cadre of this academy decided on this… rather unconventional method of hammering that into you. For now, I ask that you accompany me to the landing strips. We’ll be taking Bullheads to the location of the next part of your initiation.”

Leonardo turned and strode towards the exit, Sky snarling at the students as they turned and walked with him. Haru spoke out the question on everyone’s mind.

“Wait, we don’t even get a break?”

Leonardo turned towards the students. “No.”

---

Aaand that's chapter 1. Bit rough around the edges, beginnings are always hard. Chapter 2, 3, and 4 are pretty much already done at time of posting this, but I'll pace out the releases so they don't flood all.

Edit: Oh god the formatting didn't carry over, someone kill me now.

Edit: Ok drafted a (not so quick) script that appends fucking new line characters at the end of every line to make it play nice with lemmy. I think it fixes it for the most part? Italic characters I'll probably have to do manually.

Currently writing a RWBY fanfic off and on. Would like to post it up somewhere but I don't know if it'd be weird/allowed to post it here.

Edit: Nvm I just started posting it elsewhere.