Prologue

The sound of the Bullhead and the sharp howl of wind fights to take priority in your ears. You stare out the side, staring out at the terrain as you fly past it.

"Alright kiddos," you shout, looking back in the Bullhead. There are two teams staring at you, team RWBY, consisting of Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long, as well as team CMNE, consisting of Cinder Mercury Black, Neo, and Emerald Sustrai. You always thought it was strange that it was pronounced "Carmine" yet didn't have an "R," but you're not the one who makes up the team names. "You're all first years so we, the lovely and experienced team GRAE, will be guiding you through your first mission."

"Don't hype us up that much, (Y/N)," a female voice says in your ear.

"We have an intercom. Why are you using your Semblance?" You shout.

"And why do you get to sit with all those ladies? It's not fair," a separate voice asks.

You look to the right, checking out the second Bullhead flying parallel to yours. In there are three other students that you know too well. Robin, the sole girl of your team. She's extremely pretty and slender, though a tad tall. She constantly complains about it, but you always try to cheer her up. She's not taller than any of the guys in your team, but some of the others... well, she tries to hold it with pride now. Her long, gray, red, and white hair flows down onto her flowing gray coat that falls to her ankles. That coat covers her white shirt and orange tights. On her back is her two crossbows that're locked in place.

To her left is Azure, your big boy. He's in full armour, like a knight, and has a giant hammer on his back that can't even be retracted. He's not wearing his helmet this time around, letting everyone see his short blue hair and slightly chubby cheeks.

To the right is Eton, the "Prince Charming" of your little entourage, but with brown hair. It works either way. He's always described as the guy straight out of fairy tales, which gave him somewhat of an ego. Probably why he competes with you a lot. Despite this nickname, his clothing is likely the plainest of you all – donning only a blue hoodie and darker blue jeans. On his hands are his weapons, two blades that are currently in resting mode.

"Shut up, Eton," you wave. "You know I had to. Besides, good ol' Mercury is here to keep an eye on me," you place a hand on his shoulder. "Right?"

"As if," he chuckles, brushing you off.

"So, lets recap," you stand in place so everyone can look at you. "It's a basic seek and destroy. There's a ton of Grimm converging on this cave so we're going to clear them out and figure out what's attracting them. It could be some scared civies running from the Grimm, and if so we have to get them out of there. They'll be our top priority, got it?"

"Got it," everyone answers.

"Perfect. We'll keep the channel clear until we sit down. And NO CHIRPING, ROBIN!"

"Okay!" She whispers.

"Stop it!" You wail.

The two teams in your Bullhead chuckle.

"I don't know why you referred to this as our first mission," Cinder says, moving to your side and placing a hand on your shoulder. "We've done... a lot of things together."

"Yeah... but I haven't done those same things with everyone else," you joke, wrapping your hand around her waist. "I know you've all been on missions before, but they were practice ones. This is YOUR mission that we're providing back up on. You eight have been my teams for months now. I've got an investment, you know," you end with a smile.

"We won't let you down!" Ruby says with determination.

"Yeah, we're gonna kick some Beo-butt!" Yang slams her fists together.

"What happens if there are no Beowolves?" Emerald poses.

"Usai-as-"

"Hey! No swearing on the job," you wag your finger.

"But you do it all the time."

"That's because my teammates undermine me," you look over your shoulder and squint at your devious allies. "They'll be the death of me, one day, I swear."

"We'll be landing soon!" The pilot says over the intercom.

"Right, everyone get ready! We'll be back in no time!"

The two Bullheads find a clearing a short distance away from the cave. The three teams exit the Bullheads, all taking our their weapons except for you. Your blade remains on your back, just below your ribs on the right side. Your arms are completely exposed thanks to the gray, hard leather vest your don. Aside from that, you have gray combat pants with matching boots. Your final accessory is a small piece of material that's stuck between your left shoulder and the innards of the vest.

The bullheads take off, whipping everyone's hair and clothes around.

"No signs of Grimm," Cinder states, scanning the area with her bow.

"Same on this side," Robin replies, doing the same but with her two crossbows.

"Keep your guards up. We were told there were plenty of Grimm in the area. Team GRAE, try to leave as many Grimm as you can for RWBY and CMNE! It's their mission."

"Got it, boss," Azure replies.

"You're just scared I'll kill more," Eton teases. "Kill more than the first years, yeah. Alright, you two take the lead. We're your back up."

"Right," Ruby nods. "Cinder, let's move forward while keeping everyone watching."

"A 360-degree field of view," the other leader nods. "We'll keep this up until the cave."

Your group of nine marches their way through the forest, encountering no resistance. Even as you enter the clearing and spot the cave there are no Grimm around. You cross your arms and look around.

"There was supposed to be Grimm all over the place... what's going on?" You whisper to yourself. "I don't like this."

"Hey, (Y/N), there's no Grimm. What do we do?" Ruby asks.

"Does that mean the civilians hiding in the cave..." Weiss brings up.

"I don't know," you shake your head. "We should investigate anyway. They could be all hiding in the cave."

"To ambush us?" Eton proposes.

"Maybe," you shrug. "But they won't get a drop on us. Just keep calm and stick together."

Your group slowly approaches the group. You take the lead and enter the cave before anyone else. You take a brief look around, not hearing or seeing any Grimm. Yet something is calling you. It's a quiet, subtle call.

"Come closer. Come closer. There's something for everyone here."

"Robin, are you talking?" You turn back.

"What? No," Robin shakes her head as she marches past the others. "Why..." She stops, looking around.

"You'll enjoy it. My company is favourable."

"What is that?"

"Yeah, you hear it too. It's almost creepy, to be honest. This isn't Grimm," you cross your arms and look past Robin to the others.

"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Ruby shouts. "Grimm are coming! A lot of Grimm! A LOT!" She shouts, jamming her scythe into the ground and firing at the massive wave of Beowolves, Usai, Creeps, and more.

You run past Robin and gander at the overwhelming black and white wave approaches. "Tsk... everyone in the cave! It'll be easier to mow them down!"

Robin runs past you and starts firing at the Grimm. "Cinder, help me hold them off! Everyone else, get in the cave!"

With no arguments, the others run into the cave and pass you, all taking positions for when the Grimm inevitably enter.

"Go farther! Look for any civilians!" You shout, running out of the cave. "Cinder, Robin, follow them. I'll hold the Grimm here."

"What?" They both look to you.

"It's fine. I'll catch up in a minute," you smirk at them. "Trust me, I'm no pushover."

The two reluctantly start running backward, eyes locked on you, before turning around and joining with the others. You grab hold of the hilt with your right hand whilst raising your left.

"It's been a while since I fought a hoard of Grimm. Too many bandits and-"

"Now they're mine."

You stop mid-thought and look back at the cave. "They're... yours?" Your eyes shake as they stare into the dark, shadowed cave. You can feel something gnawing at you, tugging at your heart, shaking your soul. "W-What's in that cave?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The eight men and women run deeper into the cave in a scattered pattern.

"Are we really leaving him to fight them all?" Yang asks, clearly concerned.

"(Y/N) will be fine. He's our leader for a reason," Robin answers.

"I could've done it too," Eton comments.

"No," Azure replies. "I don't think he can beat them either. I don't know what his plan is."

"Come closer. Come closer. There's something I want to show you."

The eight run further and further into the cave, passing by small, makeshift, empty rooms. They completely ignore the carvings on the wall, the ancient warnings left by those who once inhabited this cave. The farther they get, the louder and more frequent the whispers become. A light, faint and white, gets brighter and brighter as they close in.

"What is that?" Weiss points forward. "Is that a beacon?"

"We'll have to see," Ruby replies.

The eight get closer and closer until the light overwhelms them. They all stop in a large, circular room. There are red engravings all along the wall, but the easiest thing to spot is a red orb, seeping with powers. It's placed on a pedestal in the middle of the room, attracting everyone's eye.

"What..?" Eton asks aloud.

Everyone surrounds the object, but Cinder's the one who gets the closest. "It... you guys can feel that, right? Something's in here... or..."

Neo places her hand on Cinder's arm and shakes her head.

"You feel something?"

Neo looks down at the orb and furrows her brow. She turns away and heads for the cave.

"Neo..." Cinder whispers before looking back at the orb.

"I have everything you all want. Just touch it. Just touch it. You'll have everything."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You flip over a Beowolf, decapitating in in a flash before turning around and slashing an Ursa's stomach a dozen times. You look behind you and throw your hand towards the stone wall behind you. The material on your left hand extends and sticks onto the rock, quickly retracting and pulling you out of the hoard. You bring it back to your shoulder before flipping a few times and landing in front of the cave.

"Thirty of you and still..."

"Become mine... like they are."

"They..." You turn back to the cave. "I have to find them!" You sheathe your weapon and run in, ignoring the Grimm behind you. "I'll have to deal with them later. I need to find my team! Something's not right... I shouldn't have let them go in alone," you shake your head.

You run as fast as you can, not letting yourself slow down for even a second. You can see a glowing light, changing colours from red, to green, to blue, always shifting.

"What the hell is going on?"

You approach the entrance where Neo stands. Behind her, Cinder grabs the ball. A blinding flash erupts and a dark power surges out. It takes control of Cinder first, then flows to every person in the room. The cave shakes, the planet wheeps at this development. Seeing what's happening, Neo pushes you back the moment you reach her. This dark, flaming power overwhelms her. Rocks from the ceiling start falling between you and Neo. Your eyes flick between each of your friends, shrouded by dust and rock. Each of them are riling in pain, contorting and weeping.

"NO!" You scream throwing your hand out to grab Neo, though the rocks prevent that.

The dark power attempts to reach you as well, but with all the chaos it only manages to take hold of your hand. The moment it envelops it, you feel a burning sensation unrivaled. You fall on your butt and grab your hand, wincing, muscles tightening.

"Kk... no... what is..." You look back at the room, now completely cut off by rocks. "No! NO!" You get up and grab your sword in an attempt to cut through it, but more of the cave starts falling. You barely jump back in time to dodge getting crushed, and more of it starts falling. "I..." With no other option, you squeeze your eyes shut and start to run out of the cave. You keep your right hand on your left in a pointless attempt to dwell the pain. The mysterious power circles your hand, changing its colour and remaking your limb.

With rocks falling all around you, it's a miracle you managed to get out. However, the small army of Grimm are still there. You sneer, unsure what to do. The cave has caved in, your back is against the wall, and you're in a compromised spot.

"What's happening? We've lost connection with the others! (Y/N) Gray, are you there?"

You look up at the two Bullheads circling the area. With no other option, you throw your left hand up and extend the material to grab hold of the Bullhead. It whips you up and into the Bullhead, scaring the pilot.

"We're... leaving..." You painfully say.

"But the others."

You tighten your right fist. "They're gone... They're all gone..." Tears fall on your burning hand. "I... gah," you squeeze your hand. "How could I fail... so badly..?"

"You... are mine."

So this one is gonna be a somewhat short story. Maybe 10 or so chapters and shorter than my normal ones. Probably 3-6 thousand words when I normally do over 6 thousand. Either way, this is more of a fun little project than anything else... and it's still RWBY... yeah, I'll do something not RWBY soon. Gotta make sure I don't burn myself out with it like Frozen. Anyhow, if you haven't noticed already, this is totally AU. So characters being different, either in personality or age, or backstory changes, it's all meant to be this way. It's a different take and a new story that'll be told. Again, it'll be a fun project to work on in my spare time since I can't really work on Limitless or Crimson Shadow at the moment. I'll probably be putting out another story soon too. Not sure. This is a short story and the other will be a full one. We'll see. I'll stick with this for now.

I hope you all enjoyed and are excited for the rest. I know this chapter is fairly short, but... it's a prologue. It's not meant to be huge. This just gives context and sets everything up for the future. But you smart readers know that. I'll see you next time!

Want to keep up with me? Know what chapter's coming out next and the progress of them? Follow me on Twitter! Twitter . com (slash) Chinsangan

I recently revamped my Patreon to include a few more rewards with a steadier donation price. Things like one-shots, short stories, and full stories are a thing now! Plus there's a Discord reward for a dollar, so that's sort of neat. You can check it out yourself if you're interested. It's completely optional, of course! Pat reon . com (slash) Chinsangan

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Advice? Send me a message! See ya!

A special thank you to Patreon supporters: Manuel Garcia, James Tubbs, MazMan, MTX and Sassylemons

Extra special thanks to Ride The Lightning!

And finally, thank you to the Beta Reader: Nobody cause I'm a lonely pleb