RWBY 1. The Mauler

Prologue: Silver Trailer

"_The stars shine on as hopes and dreams to some, but for others…they shine as so much more."_

A silver jacket swayed in the breeze, covering a kneeling figure in the graveyard. One didn't have to be next to the brown-haired young man to know he was saying perhaps his last goodbye to loved ones. With a final sob he rose up to his feet, breathing in the cool breeze around him and feeling it blow over his round, furry ears. With the wind calming, his jacket rested to show a symbol of a bear paw and two ax-blades connected by a three-dotted line. Underneath it was nothing but a simple black wife-beater, partly exposing two tattoos on his chest. Today was the day the airships arrived to pick up the next wave of Beacon students, so he began his trek through the gold-hued forest to get to the docks.

Every step rang of crunching leaves and twigs, a giveaway to any Grimm. That's when he noticed a tree up ahead scarred with markings and raced to get a closer look; some Grimm in these woods were very territorial, especially the owl-like Strix or devilish Leedsons. He shuddered at the thought of the latter and readied his gauntlets, just in case. Looking around as he continued pushing through the forestry, he saw that the marking continued its presence for several acres until finally there were none. His ears continued to hear the crunching of the underbrush until he heard the unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked.

"That's far enough, mate," a deep, cockney voice called out from behind him as it continued, "Well look over here gents; we got ourselves another catch today!"

The jacketed young man then saw people making their way out from behind the trees in front of him. He counted at least twenty men, all armed with various weapons. 'Oh joy, thieves,' the loner thought flatly. One of the other men, a rat faunus armed with what looked like a machete/shotgun, piped up.

"Check his pockets for anything valuable, boss. Who knows what he's got in there?"

"Peter, do you always have to think small? He's got Dust around his belt, and he's armed. Those weapons would fetch a mighty nice price!" The leader scolded. His crew then started arguing about how much they were worth, and that's when the fuzzy pair of ears on the young man's head flattened. He slowly turned towards the thief-in-charge…he'd had enough.

"You guys want my gauntlets, eh?" he asked calmly.

The boss, a gorilla faunus holding a bulky assault rifle, simply nodded with the enthusiasm of a child, big grin and everything, He wasn't grinning for long though, as the bear-boy in front of him clocked him in the gut with an uppercut that sent him straight into the trees above. Turning his head, he could see the others charging at him with their weapons at the ready and he simply smirked.

"Well that's just too damned bad!" he smirked as he cracked his neck and ran towards the marauders. As the nearest one swung his broadsword, the shorter man parried with the blade on his gauntlet and planted the other in his jaw, satisfied with the crunching sound of shattered bone. Grabbing the agonized man, he threw him into two of his cohorts and delivered hooks and crosses to their exposed midsections before grabbing them by the skulls and slamming them face-first into the nearest tree. Turning to his left, he saw a pair of sai aiming towards his head and ducked as he kicked the goon's knee in, sending him flying into his companions with a second kick to the ribs.

Another squad of goons charged in behind one with a lance. Raising and aiming his fists at the lancer, he pressed on the exposed buttons under his index fingers, firing the cable-attached blades from their polls on his gauntlets and catching the lancer around the legs. With a tug of his arms he dragged the man down and began swinging him around like a meat flail at his fellow thieves. Swinging and hearing satisfying cracks after thuds after yelps, he released one cable and reeled in the other to land a vicious left hook and knock the lancer out. Reeling the second blade in, he looked around the area for signs of any more of the group. Nothing but twitching or unconscious would-be-thieves scattered amongst the forest.

"Are we done here?" he mocked, spreading his arms out with an air of irritation. He got his reply in the form of gunfire from the leaves above, dodging out of the cloud of bullets behind another tree.

"Ah, so you wanna play that game, eh?" he continued to jest as brought his gauntlets together, combining them into a bladed-crossbow, "Alright, let's play!"

The loner peeked around the corner and was quickly greeted with a hail of bullets. He hit the dust-cycle trigger and selected fire dust. 'They want to play hide-and-seek? That's adorable!' he thought in amusement. Leaping from cover, he went for automatic and sprayed the trees ahead of him with the explosive Dust-headed bolts. One by one the trees and surrounding bushes blew apart and scattered the band of thieves. He couldn't help but notice that someone was miss-

Chu-chunk-POW!

Leave it to the rat to sneak his way away from the fight and attempt to shoot the young traveler in the back. But the second his hand slid the shotgun's pump, the bear faunus dived for cover. Poking his head out, he could see the one named Pete was downright terrified.

"So Peter, how's your guys' health plans?" he asked, storming from cover to pulverize the bandit. The rat faunus yelled a mixedcry of desperation and ire as he unloaded every Dust-shell he could with terrible accuracy, either being blocked by the crossbow's bladed limbs or shot down by responding, semblance-aided bolts as the bear neared with cruel intent.

"Apparently it's great!" he shouted, swinging the front of his weapon to smack down the now-machete and simultaneously ramming the stock into the coward's face. But he didn't stop there as he threw an elbow into the rat's skull and dropped him like a stone. Bringing the butt-stock back up, the bear repeatedly slammed it into his face until he was a swollen, bruised lump with eyes. He felt himself getting deeply angered, both because of this "hold-up" and because this fight definitely grabbed the unwanted attention of any local Grimm.

Taking a moment to compose himself, he mused aloud to himself, "Now where was I? Oh right, the airship docks! Hopefully I'm not too-"

WHACK

The bear faunus had been blindsided, his aura thankfully dulling most of the damage but it still hurt like hell. Looking in the direction the hit came from, he could see now that it was the ringleader, a morning star spinning in his hand for a second strike that connected as the bear was hazing in and out of control of his growing anger; now was not a good time to lose it and have his semblance ineffective.

"You're going to pay for this, you little shit-stain!" he roared as he began his assault swinging and connecting once more. But he didn't notice the silver gleam radiating from the young man's raging eyes. Thanks to his semblance, the young man refocused and could see that his hulking enemy was going for a backhand followed by another downward swipe of his morning-star by the way his feet and arms were positioning and the way the weapon was held …and he had just the counter. He hit the form-shift trigger, his crossbow changing into the form of a mighty ax; the Arktouros of his father's days.

As the chain began its arc, so did the effect of his hyperkinetic semblance. He pressed the trigger above the upper grip and spun the cylinder to Lightning Dust. He caught the man's bulky wrist, squeezing to hear him shout in pain swept before spinning him towards him and knocking the poorly-held weapons from his hand. Without a second's thought, he swept the brute's legs from underneath him and slammed his weapon down on his chest to plant him firmly into to the ground…all in almost one fluid movement.

But it was too late for the loner; the anger he had tried penning up had burst forth from his control and his eyes hazed with silver. As his foe twitched with sparks of electricity dancing around his body, the bear pounced on him, bringing Arktouros back to gauntlet form and pounding the giant thief into a screaming, bloody pulp. After a few seconds, his ears twitched at the sound of rustling wings and a very pungent smell, bringing him back from his malicious frenzy. He knew what was here, and he needed to leave yesterday.

"Why don't you just kill me?" coughed up the leader.

"Because I have an airship to catch, and you lot have a new guest who's _starving_ for your attention," he growled in regained composure, and quickly dashed from the scene.

All his ears could hear were the scream-like roars of the Leedson, and the howls of terror from the bandit leader. Their echoes and the tombstones of his brother and mother reminded him of one thing as he tore through the golden forest: what comes around goes around, and when the time comes, he'll be ready for it.

**Introducing the Mauler**


	2. The Guardian

Maroon Trailer

"_The past molds us into who we become in the future. But sometimes in the process it leaves a scar that can't always be healed."_

Cannon fire, deathly screams, vicious growls, and the clangs of claws meeting weapons….

That was all the armor-clad girl could hear, her eyes cloudy as she came to; an explosion had hit the wall she was resting on, sending her flying out the window. Looking around, she could see Beowolves, Ursae, and a small herd of Boarbatusks tearing through the town as her people fought back as best as they could. Grabbing her flame-painted rifle The Rapid Fire amidst all of the glass and debris, she stormed to the nearest Grimm and made her presence known.

The black, werewolf-like Beowolf never stood a chance; she leaped onto its shoulders and brought her weapon up to its skull, peppering the white armor around its head with holes. As the Beowolf fell with a final howl, she slammed her rifle into the face of the next attacker, a Boarbatusk, and shot it in the eyes. The armored beast didn't know what hit it, as the next second it was flipped on its back and exposing the now shot-to-hell underbelly. Her attention then turned to a tussle between one of the town guards and an Ursa Minor.

"Marian! Take their attention away from the people and kill as many as you can! Beacon's sending team JSPR to give us a hand!" shouted the guardsman, swinging his pudao and slicing a deep wound in the monster's chest. The monstrous, bear-shaped Grimm swiped the man down with renewed fury, paying little attention to the muzzle thrust up in its jaw. With a pull of the trigger, she decapitated the beast as a flurry of rounds severed separated its skull from the neck.

"ON IT!" she yelled, eyeing the shelter that was slowly becoming targeted by the nightmarish beasts as she leapt down into the fray. She ran through the street peppering some of the Grimm in bullets and smothering the others in her rifle's flamethrower. But she needed to put these bastards down faster, and her comrades needed help keeping the shelter secure. Marian hit the shift trigger, splitting The Rapid Fire into two halves; one half being a black shield with a gun muzzle sticking out from under her symbol, and the other half being a fiery machete. Any Grimm on the straight road to the haven were either cut down mercilessly or blown apart by her shield-gun until she joined her fellow defenders at the shelter.

"All fighters form a line on both sides of the doorway; funnel the civilians in to the shelter, and hold the Grimm at the line. Those of you at the front, guard the street. Let none live!" she barked, her machete at the ready as all fighters rallied together for the fight. As if on cue, a slew of Grimm rushed the locals from both sides, bodies seen crumpled and mangled behind them. The protective girl made a leaping save for a woman on her left who was occupied with a Boarbatusk, bisecting a large Beowolf in midair. The grateful woman next to her finally hooked her falx around the warthog-like beast's neck and sliced it's head clean off.

She was about thank the defender for the save until she shouted, "Watch out!", bringing the girl's attention to a stray Ursa Minor charging from behind her. Swinging Rapid Fire's shield, the young woman slammed it into her foe's face, dazing the now-pissed Grimm before it backhanded her down. Swinging the fiery machete, she caught its paw and swiftly amputated it before firing her gun through its roaring maw, a smoking hole giving her a view behind the Ursa.

The sounds of battle raged on around her, many a Grimm and guard falling, However, She could see through the haze emanating from Grimm's dissipating corpses that they were winning. But they were also exhausted and some were low on ammo and dust.

"'Where's JSPR at?" she growled, hacking and blasting into another Beowolf. They could only keep this up for so long. That's when she saw the Bullhead flying full-throttle over to their war-torn town, flashes of gunfire from both sides taking down what Grimm they could. But as fate would have it, their VTOL never got a proper landing as a Nevermore slammed into it, it's face and neck getting blasted apart by the occupants as a strange flail stabbed it in the throat to keep it there. The warring students inside managed to kill the giant raven-creature, but not before the Bullhead lost control and spiraled into the rooftops.

But then she and her fellow fighters heard it in the aftermath; the bellowing roar of an Ursa Major. Sure enough the enormous, armored beast was rounding the corner and eyeing her from the other side of the road. But this wasn't any other Ursa Major by any stretch, at least to her. She recognized this one by its missing eye and shattered back spikes, a storm of memories and emotion surging within…

_The bakery shattered, her lifeless body crumpled in the street, those beautiful golden eyes devoid of her ever-present sparkle_ …her lovely golden eyes...Natalie's eyes. The guardswoman felt her eyes swell with water, and fought back her tears as she gripped her weapons. _All those plans we had…the adventures, the sights, come whatever may_…She could hear her captain's voice in the hospital ringing in her head, when she felt like a part of her died.

"_She's gone Marian. What are you going to do now? Give up and mope for the rest of your days? No; you need to use it." …the memory of an injured Ursa Major retreating back to the woodland as she held her love in her arms, eyes burning like wildfire._

"You," she snarled venomously through gritted teeth, then turned to her comrades and said, "You guys stay here and keep the shelter secured… the Major is mine."

"_Use it."_

"Are you sure-"a boy no older than her asked astounded, only for a piercing glare to cut him off. "Alright, alright, I get it! Everyone keep your positions; do not break off to engage the Ursa Major! We need to keep this shelter secured!" he hastily ordered the others, reloading the magazines to his tonfa-guns.

Walking down the beaten and bloody path, the armored girl clenched her weapons tighter and tighter as she and her enemy got closer and closer until both broke into a full charge. At the last second, she slid under the leaping beast, engaging her semblance and becoming encased in an almost fiery, aura-enhanced armor. Turning to face each other once more, the Major stood full upright, towering over her in dark menace and stabbed an armored paw forward only for it glance off her shield and disembowel the road. The beast was quick though, and batted her down with its free paw as she jumped off its other arm for a strike.

The Red Knight leapt to her feet, her machete now blazing like an inferno as she slashed it across the neck and chest, earning howls of pain from the Ursa. The enraged Grimm and the Red Knight charged and collided into each other, the latter thrusting her shield into its gut and emptying her entire clip into its chest, blowing holes threw its back and scattering bone-white armor and spikes everywhere. With a roar of agony, the Ursa Major slammed both paws down on the warrior and planted her into the ground. Before she could get back to her feet, another set of claws smashed into her side and batted her across the street. Struggling to a knee, Marian could see her wounded adversary grunting as it charged to her position.

"_USE IT!"_

"You took her from me, everything I ever wanted…everything I'd hoped for in life… gone," she seethed as Marian turned up the heat on her machete and the Major made one final, roaring bound at her.

"Allow me to return the favor!" she continued, shouting in fury as her blade cut through its left arm and dug itself into the thick-plated skull, the impact spiking the beast to the ground.

"Impressive kill there, young lady," called voice from behind her. Pulling her blade free, Marian turned to see five individuals standing no more than a few yards away, 4 young men armed to the teeth, and an older, silver-haired man with a cane. One of who she assumed was team JSPR, a tall boy clad in formal clothing, walked up to her and greeted her with a nod before sauntering to the Ursa Major's corpse saying something about 'checking for a pulse.' She made her way for the older man, disengaging her semblance and holstering The Rapid Fire.

"Hello sir, my name is Marian Alexander. I just wanted to say thank you to you and JSPR for aiding us, "she said with fatigue.

"Marian Alexander," he seemed to echo, "Your captain spoke very highly of you and your skills on our way here. He actually recommended you to my school in our conversation."

Marian was taken slightly aback. "He did…Wait, _your_ school?" she paused in realization of who she was talking to. "You're Professor Ozpin!"

The man smiled and continued. "Yes, and after what I had just witnessed, I can see why…Miss Alexander, do you want to come to Beacon?"

BOOM-BOOM

Everyone turned to look over at the uniformed boy named Jameson to see his weapon smoking and and giant chunks blown out of the dissolving Ursa Major's body. The marksman simply shrugged.

"No pulse."

**Introducing the Guardian**


End file.
