This is the first of a multi-chapter fic set in dashingicecream's Fairy and Beast AU. You can check her blog and tags for art of this adorable AU. A lot of what I've written is my own interpretations of what goes on in the AU, but future chapters will relate back to some of Dash's artwork.

This first chapter is mainly world-building, so sorry that it isn't much. But I want to dedicate it all to dashingicecream herself for her birthday! Thanks for all you do, Dash!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

Chapter 1. The Forest At War

In the deep, green, woods - where sunlight dappled every leaf in-discriminatorily and bathed every blade of grass in golden rays - resided a hidden world.

Unseen to the human eye, and unexplored by their feet, it had gone unnoticed for countless eons.

The most that had ever been discovered by a mortal eye or shared in oral tales were nothing more than a few uncertain glimpses of flitting wings, or tidbits that had been passed down through word of mouth in order to eventually create fantastical legends.

It was a kingdom like no other.

The trees were humungous, enough to dwarf other, more commonly-exploited forests. Within the bark of the massive trees had been carved houses, complete with windows to peer out of and doors to fit wings through.

But it wasn't birds or animals that resided in these houses – at least not all of them.

The fairies were about the size of humans themselves, if not a bit smaller. But the size of the untouched forests they lived in were generous enough to accommodate them, the trees strong enough to support the weight of dozens of fairies at a time.

Given their magics, they were rather lightweight beings, weighing only half the amount one might expect upon first glance. That was one of the many reasons why it was crucial for them to stay inside their homes during storms and windy days – a particularly strong breeze could easily bowl a fairy out of the sky and take them miles away from familiar lands.

They had constructed their homes to be big enough to house several fairies, a bit higher up in the treetops, close to the trucks to prevent them from swaying in harsh winter blizzards or summer thunderstorms.

The smaller houses they'd constructed a little ways below had been created out of goodwill and love for the animals and birds they shared the forest with.

Fairies were a species who lived to demonstrate their appreciation for the world around them. They knew all too well that this forest was by no means their own.

The birds and bats who lived in the treetops alongside them had few means by which to construct nests and roosts for themselves. And so, the fairies took the tasks on for themselves, charitable projects to partake in during their copious amounts free time once daily chores were finished.

Using tools they could hold in their hands and fingers, they would set to work in doing what their winged companions couldn't; carving the wood of the trees, pulling and tying branches together, and constructing the final products.

It was an everyday task for the selfless fairies. There were always new birds moving into the forest in the daytime, or new bats flitting in at dusk. Some only used the houses for a brief period of time in-passing, but permanent residents for the season would stake their claims early-on.

In return for building them safe havens up in the treetops, the birds rewarded the fairies in various ways. Sometimes, a mother bird would allow the fairies to peek into her nest to observe her eggs and hatchlings. Sometimes the birds would lead the fairies to the most berry-abundant bushes in the forest to help them gather food.

It was the same for the bats as well – in exchange for the fairies building them protected roosts in the trees, the bats were always certain to gobble up every pesky mosquito and insect that could potentially harm a fairy.

The winged creatures of the forest all shared symbiotic relationships.

The only enemies they all shared were hawks – monstrous, silent shadows that promised chaos and death. Though full-grown fairies were far too large to be considered targets for the predatory birds, hawks did still post threats from time to time. When the birds had eluded their detection, they'd gone so far as to attack young fairies in the past, and had damaged many wings with their sharp, merciless talons.

Luckily, the fairies' weight was a bit too much for the birds, and help was always nearby. The worst a hawk had ever done to a fairy was tear wings, but it was very much preferred over the fates that unlucky birds were met with.

But even the horrible thoughts of a fairy getting their wings ripped by a hawk were past legends. No recent tragedies could be remembered first-hand by any present residences of the forest.

Nowadays, the fairies had means by which to stay safe during a hawk attack, and would often follow the warning calls of the crows in order to locate the raptors and spook them off.

Other than hawks, the birds and fairies were safe from any conscious forms of danger in the vast treetops, although the occasional storm did sweep by to shake their trees from time to time.

A fallen tree was a devastating toll on the entire community.

Aside from outliving their numerous decades on the planet, falling trees had used to be the number one fairy-killers in ancient times.

But as of the present time, a new threat had arisen.

The fairies called them beasts, simply because that was what they were.

They appeared to be humans and were the same sizes as them – perhaps a bit larger than fairies were.

But they all sported some kind of foreign ears and tails – the ears and tails of animals.

And yet, they weren't animals, nor were they humans.

And so, the fairies called them beasts.

They were an invasive species who had prowled into the forest only in very recent years.

With the same hands and thumbs that the fairies adorned, the beasts were able to construct weapons as well. But unlike the fairies who only used them for self-defense, the beasts used them for hunting and for killing.

Fairies lived their lives on a vegetarian lifestyle, never bringing harm to the forest or its creatures. Their diets consisted only of fruits, nuts, seeds, and the occasional vegetable found growing on vines. They flew to the forest floor daily to collect these foods, and enjoyed the freedom of gliding through the fields or tall grasses where the berries grew.

However, since the vicious, bloodthirsty beasts had arrived in the forest, the fairies had more or less confined themselves to the treetops, only to graze on the highest-growing nuts, berries, and other fruits that were found out of the beasts' territories.

The spacious flower valleys and clearings below were now under seize of the beasts; the only flowers the fairies ever got to see now were from a few thousand feet up.

The two species had come to a silent, unanimous agreement; that the forests midway up each tree and above belonged to the fairies, and the forests midway down each tree to the ground belonged to the beasts.

The fairies were disgusted and appalled by the beasts' diets and tendencies to kill animals as big as the weight of a full-grown deer.

That had been the first reason as to why the members of the different species never associated with one another on friendly terms.

Another reason was the seemingly-animalistic tendencies of the beasts. They spoke the same language as the fairies, but they behaved more like foxes or wolves.

The fairies spent most of their time in the air and in the treetops, out of the beasts' territories. But it was inevitable that they'd need to land occasionally by the riverbed to drink and fill their bowls and buckets with water.

Even when the fairies traveled in numbers and were armed, the beasts would ambush them nearly half the time as the fairies were getting their water.

The beasts would utilize their animal-like stalking skills to conceal their presences, hiding in the nearby bushes around the pond or gentle-flowing areas of the river where they knew the fairies preferred to land. They'd wait until the right moment, when the fairy guards were turned the other way, and then pounce.

The beasts were selfish in their attacks, never intentionally harming the fairies.

But they certainly weren't above stealing.

They'd steal the fairies' precious jewelry, and rare stones that adorned their earrings, bracelets, and necklaces.

Fairies toiled through days upon days of hard labor in order to locate and mine these rare gems. They'd enchant them and have the stones hold small portions of their magics.

As the finders of the stones and the hard-earned workers, they liked to wear their prizes, or add them to secret collections in the treetops.

And the beasts only had interests in stealing, jumping the fairies and taking their prizes.

Many times, mother and father and older sibling fairies had flown home dejectedly, only to tell their young children there would be no gems for a while now.

The fairies began storing their gems in tree trunks and hiding them away rather than adorning them and flaunting their gorgeous, shining colors in the sunlight.

Ever since the beasts had arrived, the fairies hadn't felt safe in their own homes, not even in the daytime. The beasts weren't necessarily nocturnal, but they were often active at night as well as particular hours at dawn or dusk. They'd climb up the trees, invade the sleeping fairies' home, and steal all the gems and stones they could.

It soon came to the point of war.

The fairies would position guards to keep watch at night, and if the beasts were to invade, the guards had full permission granted by the Fairy King himself to fire their bows and arrows at will.

It had only been a few years since the beasts had come into their part of the forests, but since then, there hadn't been very many peaceful days on either side.

Arrows would get shot into the fairies' wings, immobilizing some of them for months to come. Fairies with injured wings were forbidden from leaving the treetops until they were fully recuperated and cleared by the healers; a downed fairy was as good as dead.

On rarer occasions, fairies would be mortally wounded by the beasts' weapons. The fairies ended up killing a few of the beasts as well, though it was never entirely intentional.

They'd been a peaceful species until the beasts had invaded.

The once-tranquil forest that had reigned as a safe haven for all species for many centuries was now a war zone where the soil ran a little redder with each passing day...

A/N: Each chapter will be about this long, so expect shorter lengths for this fic. But there will be a large amount of chapters, short as they may be. Everything will come together in the end, so don't worry about asking too many questions! I hope it can do Dash's art and AU a bit of justice somehow.

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