Prologue; A Stormy Night

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my own OCs and the scenarios I put them through. RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth. Any music whose lyrics are used is property of their respective owners and those who license them. I make no profit from this whatsoever.

Well, here it is; my first piece of Fanfiction. I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that it will never be abandoned, nor will I make any promises about regular updates. Hey, don't look at me like that. I'm a college student who works a full time job. All I really know for sure is that I have this planned out to the end of Volume 2 as of the time I write this. After that, well, who knows? I certainly don't.

Fair warning, this story is going to be OC-centric. It follows along roughly the same timeline as RWBY canon, but starts quite a few years before the canon storyline and follows a different narrative path. Some liberties have been taken with the backgrounds and abilities of several characters.

But you're not here about any of that, so I won't waste any more of your time with the Author's Note.

If you're a returning reader, a few things are going to be a little different. A majority of the names used are being changed, and some other things have been edited because it will make the story better.

Hope you enjoy!

Rose O'Sharon was woken from her sleep by a monstrous thunderclap. Adrenaline surged through her veins, awakening her in a splintered second. The middle-aged woman quickly inhaled several deep breaths in an effort to calm her pounding heart. Rose glanced at the digital clock that sat on her nightstand. Four o'clock in the morning, she read with a slight groan. Wonderful. Just as she managed to relax her tensed muscles, she heard the tell-tale patter of rain beginning to fall. Rose lay back down but a soft sound instantly took away any chance of her returning to sleep anytime soon. It was a sound that she and all the other workers at the orphanage were intimately familiar with.

The sound of an infant crying.

The sound was faint, much more so than it should have been, considering the wards that held the youngest children at Saint Oum's Orphanage were quite close to the rooms the orphanage workers shared. It was very faint, and sounded like it was coming from outside of all places. Her roommate, a younger deer Faunus named Wisteria Vero, had left their window partially open the day before to try and entice a cool breeze to meander through the stuffy rooms. The air conditioning unit had broken down earlier that week during a record setting heat wave. Thankfully, the temperature had gone down somewhat over the past few days but it was a rather uncomfortable experience for all the orphanage's residents, especially the youngest, who were a particular responsibility of her and Wisteria. She had been working at the orphanage for ten years, ever since she had retired from Vale's military, far longer than most of the other staff members, barring the owner, a man by the name of Siarnaq Moon. He, himself, was on the older end of middle aged. Rose had called the unit's manufacturer and, as theirs was still under warranty, it would be repaired sometime soon. Hopefully.

Rose was shaken from her musings by another faint cry. She had no wish to awaken Wisteria, who possessed the remarkable ability to sleep through nearly anything, save for the slight creaking the floor and doors made, so she quietly slipped out of her bed and gingerly picked her way across the wood floor. She paused just long enough by the door to slip her light robe on over her pajamas and slide a pair of worn, but still comfortable, slippers onto her bare feet. After she grabbed her keys from the hook next to the door, Rose eased the heavy door open and cringed a bit when it creaked. Wisteria mumbled something incoherent in her sleep and rolled over. Rose gently closed the door and heaved a gentle sigh of relief as she ran her hand through her light red, nearly pink, hair that was streaked with gray.

Her escape complete, Rose made her way to the front entrance of the orphanage. She briefly paused by the heavy wooden door, just long enough to put her copy of the orphanage key into the lock as the wailing intensified. Rose pulled the door open and looked around. She soon caught sight of a small basket tucked into the corner of the door alcove. Inside the basket, wrapped up in a green blanket was a tiny baby who was currently screaming its little lungs out, obviously terrified by the storm. There was a glass bottle filled with milk tucked in beside the child's right hand and on the other side was a small stuffed fox with dark orange fur. The pink-haired woman quickly dashed over to the basket, crouching down to shield the child from the ice-cold raindrops falling down from overhead. Gently picking up the screaming infant, Rose paid no attention to the water that soaked straight through her clothes, casuign the sodden fabric to cling to her thin frame. Another peal of thunder drew her attention away from the infant, the sound eliciting another cry of terror from the bundle securely in her arms. She glanced down the street just in time to catch a brief glimpse of a figure with light gold hair and wearing a dark cloak swiftly rounding a corner. For a single moment Rose considered braving the worsening storm and following the mysterious figure, but a third thunderclap reminded her of the fearful infant that writhed in her arms. Rose carefully held the child close to her breast with one hand while she bent and retrieved the basket before she went back inside, closing the door behind her with her foot softly so as not to wake any of her charges.

Rose retrieved the still-warm bottle of milk and the stuffed fox from the basket and then put the basket itself by the side of the door where it would be out of the way for now. It required some minor juggling, but she had soon shifted her precious burden to a more secure hold. The fox tucked into the crook of her other arm and the bottle in her hand. Her brow crinkled in sympathy as the baby continued to wail, obviously terrified by the cacophonous noise of the thunderstorm outside. The pink-haired woman gently rocked the writhing child, saying softly, "Poor little thing, you're just afraid of the big noise and the rain, aren't you?" The infant gave another squall in response, so Rose quickly began to sing a soft lullaby that she hoped would help calm the baby.

"Little child, be not afraid
The rain pounds harsh against the glass
Like an unwanted stranger
There is no danger
I am here tonight"

The baby's wails and screams started to taper off while Rose continued to sing. She walked in slow circles, gently rocking back and forth. The little tyke finally opened its eyes, and revealed a pair of dazzling grass-green orbs that looked up at her with guileless innocence and plaintive need. She offered the bottle of warm milk to the baby and breathed a soft sigh of relief when the child latched on and began to nurse.

"Little child
Be not afraid
Though thunder explodes
And lightning flash
Illuminates your tearstained face
I am here tonight

And someday you'll know
That nature is so
This same rain that draws you near me
Falls on rivers and land
And forests and sand
Makes the beautiful world that you see
In the morning"

Rose gently brushed the blanket away from the child's face, revealing a full head of very fine pale gold hair, as well as something she had not expected. Two somethings, in fact. She stifled a surprised gasp when a pair of golden fox ears, tipped with tufts of white fur that graced the top of the child's head were unveiled. A Faunus child? What was one of those doing here in Patch? Rose didn't know of any Faunus families in the area, only one or two individuals, neither of whom were foxes. That ruled out this child being the offspring of a local family. The infant, who was apparently displeased with her unplanned pause, stopped drinking its milk, scrunched up its tiny face and looked about ready to start crying again. Rose quickly picked the tune up where she had dropped off, rocking gently to sooth the child. The bottle was nearly empty anyway, so Rose tucked it next to the stuffed fox under her other arm.

"Little child
Be not afraid
The storm clouds mask your beloved moon
And its candlelight beams
Still keep pleasant dreams
I am here tonight

Little child
Be not afraid
The wind makes creatures of our trees
And the branches to hands
They're not real, understand
And I am here tonight"

As Rose continued the soothing lullaby, she watched with amusement while the baby managed to wriggle one pudgy arm out of the blanket. Tiny fingers grasped a lock of her pink hair and tugged. She smiled in response and gently tapped the baby's nose with her forefinger, receiving a gummy smile and a laugh for her efforts.

"And someday you'll know
That nature is so
This same rain that draws you near me
Falls on rivers and land
And forest and sand
Makes the beautiful world that you see
In the morning"

How could anyone abandon such an innocent little baby, Rose wondered while she gently loosened the blanket that was still wrapped around most of the child in her arms. The end of a long fluffy tail covered with golden fur and a white tip that matched the infant's ears was briefly revealed before she gently wrapped the blanket around both of the baby's chubby arms. A plain white envelope fell out of the blanket's folds, which she caught before it could fall, nearly dropping the empty bottle in the process.

"For you know, once even I
Was a little child
And I was afraid
But a gentle someone always came
To dry all my tears
Trade sweet sleep the fears
And to give a kiss goodnight

Well, now I am grown
And these years have shown
Rain's a part of how life goes
But it's dark and it's late
So I'll hold you and wait
'til your frightened eyes do close"

The infant's eyes slipped shut as she sang the final two verses, mindful of the promise those words gave.

"And I hope that you'll know
That nature is so
This same rain that draws you near me
Falls on rivers and land
And forests and sand
Makes the beautiful world that you see
In the morning

Everything's fine in the morning
The rain will be gone in the morning
But I'll still be here in the morning"

Rose carefully balanced the now-sleeping infant in the crook of one arm while she opened the envelope that had fallen out of the little tyke's blanket. There were two objects inside, a single sheet of plain white paper, folded in thirds, and a small, thin blue gem tied to a strip of leather cord. Rose put the strange necklace back into the envelope before she looked at the folded sheet of paper. A cursory glance showed that it was a letter. Wary of what she might find, but unable to resist her curiosity, Rose unfolded the sheet. The letter was written in an elegant flowing hand, but the intricate words were smudged with what Rose could only assume were tear stains. There were only four lines;

His name is Conway.

His father was a Huntsman.

The necklace belonged to him.

Please tell him not to look for me.

Rose folded the letter and jammed it back in the envelope with the necklace. She nearly wept in sympathy for the tiny baby in her arms as her arms clenched around his fragile body a bit more tightly. From the looks of him, he was barely a week old at most, his father was gone, and his mother either did not want him or felt she couldn't take care of him. Judging from the way he had been abandoned on the doorstep of an orphanage directly before a summer storm set in, the reason was probably the latter.

"I thought I heard someone singing."

Rose turned to look for the one who had spoken, and saw her roommate leaning against the doorway that led to the stairs.

"Whatcha got there?" The deer Faunus asked as she limped over to her pink-haired friend. She was rather cute, Rose admitted to herself, with her large deer ears sticking out from the sides of her nightcap, and long brown hair with bangs that framed her heart-shaped face. The younger woman wore an open dark green robe over her pajamas, which were covered with deer hoofprints and had a picture of a buck with six-pointed antlers on the chest. The younger woman's limp was caused by the injury that had ended her career as a Huntress of Vale. From what little information Rose had been able to coax out of her about the incident, she had taken a young Deathstalker's poison stinger to the leg while covering for a teammate. The poison had rendered her leg lame and nearly crippled her ability to use her Aura offensively.

"Wisty! What are you doing here? How long have you been there? Did I wake you?" Rose fired off, talking softly to try to avoid waking the now-named Conway from his slumber in her arms.

"In order; yes, watching you sing that kid to sleep, long enough to hear most of your lullaby, and yes, you woke me when you closed the door earlier."

"Wait, what?" Rose said incredulously, "How is it you can sleep through thunder loud enough to wake me up, yet you are woken up by a door closing?"

"Perks of being a Deer Faunus. Nature doesn't often wake us up," Wisteria replied in a nonchalant tone while she took a closer look at the baby in Rose's arms. "So, who's the little cutie?"

"His name is Conway, according to this letter that I found in his blanket. I'm afraid I don't know who his family is, but I doubt they're locals, unless more Faunus have moved to the area recently." The former soldier said as she continued to rock the baby.

"I don't think any have, at least not that I know of. I could ask around for ya, if ya like. Can I see the letter?"

Rose carefully passed the envelope to Wisteria, who took it from her carefully, not wishing to disturb the sleeping Conway. Her brown eyes scanned the four lines quickly, before she folded the letter again and slipped it back into the envelope.

"Welp, looks like we have another little faun to take care of," she paused for a moment, one of her ears twitching in what could only be amusement, before she continued with a wry smile, "Though I think in this case, little kit would be more appropriate. Come on, let's put him to bed. We can sort out the rest in the morning."

Rose stifled a yawn. Wisteria looked at her friend, with concern written on her features. "Here, pass him to me. Don't want you falling asleep holding a kid."

Reluctantly, Rose did as the younger woman requested, "What about you?" she asked once Wisteria had the baby Faunus safely in her arms.

"You know me, once I'm up, I'm up for good, or at least the next eight hours. Go get some sleep, Rosie. I know those kids really wore you out earlier. I'll keep an eye or two on little Conway."

Rose hid a yawn with her hand. She knew the deer Faunus was right, the younger children had really run her ragged with their constant need to be corralled. Reluctantly, Rose started walking back to their shared room. She knew Wisteria would take good care of their newest ward, and she was feeling drained after the adrenaline from her abrupt waking had passed. She felt every single one of her forty-odd years of life as she quietly made her way back through the wards of sleeping children and slipped through the door to her own room.

The deer in question watched her roommate disappear back down the hallway before she carried the sleeping infant to a nearby room. The pair was soon settled into a comfortable rocking chair set up for this specific purpose. The orphanage had its fair share of infants and toddlers, mostly the offspring of Huntsmen and Huntresses who had died in the line of duty. Wisteria sighed softly. At least Conway would be in good company, though she did worry about how the little Faunus would be treated by the other children, none of whom were Faunus. She, like almost all Faunus, knew that humans rarely, if ever, accepted those who were different, especially the youngest ones. Like all Faunus who lived with humans, she knew what it was like to be discriminated against and singled out for being different, and she knew in her heart that this little one would not have an easier time.

"I'm sorry, little one, but I'm afraid you're in for a rough time," The infant in her arms squirmed in his sleep, as if in response to her gentle sentence. "But it'll get better. It'll take time, and more than a fair bit of luck, but someday, you'll find people, not just other Faunus, that will accept you as you are. Just like I did."

Conway simply squirmed again in response and settled more comfortably into her arms.

Lullaby lyrics are from 'Lullaby For A Stormy Night' by Vienna Teng.

Admittedly, I don't know a lot about how orphanages work.

If you feel like it, drop a review and let me know what you think!

Coming next: Growing up Faunus

See you then.

TorchPhilosopher

Thanks to my lovely Beta Reader: Alsc Petrelli Winchester Stark

Fun Fact #1: Conway literally means 'yellow hound'

Edited 11/20 Changing names and a few details here and there.