AN: Hello and welcome to this adventure that was spawned one night from not being able to sleep. It's something I've worked a few months with and I'm proud that I actually did it. All on my iPod too. Hopefully you guys that do read it will enjoy it. I've tried to avoid many things like making my characters seem too powerful or edgy. Also, with the release of Volume 4, none of the new characters will be in this. Some of the details of the World of Remnant videos will be though. I have this story finished out already, And new characters would take a lot more work. It does have minor things from it though, like outfits. It will go alongside canon up until the finale of Volume 3, then it goes from there. There will be small things that change to make them sync up together, but nothing major.
And concerning romance… There will be absolutely no OCxCanon ships. Only OCxOC and CanonxCanon. I'm not sailing those waters. It'll only go to friendship and that's it. I promise.
But, with that being said, welcome to The Brave and the Bold.
XxXxX
New pieces
Location: Residential District of Vale
In her home in Vale, a young Faunus girl by the name of Alyssia Wystar was relaxing in her living room. She wore a simple purple shirt and light gray jeans on her legs. Her hair was ash blonde, the bangs on the right side naturally colored black, extending halfway down her back and was hanging freely over her shoulders. The black of her hair extended up to the right side of her head where her right cat ear was, covering it in black fur while the other was blonde fur. She sighed and stood up, wondering where her mother, Lilith Wystar, was. She was supposed to return with groceries thirty minutes ago.
"She must've got held up by traffic." She thought to herself as she stretched out her slender form.
Her mother always said she was naturally athletic. At five feet and seven inches in height, her legs were long and toned, her arms were slender and firm, her stomach was flat but toned. Her breasts were a C cup that, with the right bra, never got in her way when training. Her hands had a decently strong grip to them after training so much with her weapon, her glaive, which doubled as a good walking stick for if she needed it. She trained with different attacks, thrusts, swings, and turns mostly, and tried to improve more. But she was only in the second rank of combat in Vacuo's combat school.
They had been in Vale since Alyss was allowed to advance to a Huntsman Academy, which had been about a year. Her ex-boyfriend was doing well from the message she received before. She was glad they could still be friends after they decided to break up. Long distance relationships hardly ever worked for anyone and they both decided they didn't want the stress.
Ever since her mother told her one thing when Alyss was ten, she had trained herself with her weapon. Because as Lilith had said, 'A weapon in your hands is the only thing that can protect you in this world.' Alyss took that to heart and trained harder in combat. That was until she discovered her semblance. When training at thirteen years old, she twisted her ankle badly and fell over. It was painful for her, as it was by complete surprise, and her aura couldn't help it for several moments. Before her mother could help, Alyss placed her hands on it and, to both their surprise, her hands glowed purple and the pain went away. Ever since then, along with adopting purple as a color she always wore, she had trained more with her healing semblance. But with nothing bad happening and no one getting injured, that was difficult. It definitely wasn't a bad thing. She hated to see people hurt.
Alyss raised up from where she was bent over in a stretch and walked to the kitchen. She found a cherry flavored water and started to drink it. The flavor of cherry was her absolute favorite thing. The water had taken the taste of the cherry down considerably, but with the enhanced senses from her heritage, she could taste every bit of it. She went back to the living room and sat down. She changed the channel of the television from one of those cheesy romance shows and flipped through them, eventually finding the Vale News Network.
What she saw made her heterochromatic emerald and sapphire eyes go wide in shock and fear. She saw a horrible looking crash where a car was T-boned on the driver's side by a delivery truck. The worst part was that she recognized the car. When the camera went to view the driver of the car, she gasped in horror and her cat ears pressed against her head. It was her mother. Alyss stared in shock as she was put into an ambulance. She heard her scroll buzz on the table next to the couch and rushed to answer it.
"H-hello?"
"Alyssia Wystar?" A man asked.
Alyssia gulped and slowly answered. "Yes…"
"Your mother has been in an accident." He said, and Alyss rushed to leave the house.
She called a cab quickly and waited. After an excruciating amount of time, one arrived and she directed the driver to the hospital in the district.
"Excuse me, but is something wrong?" The woman asked her, keeping her eyes on the road easily.
"M-my mom was hurt. She was taken to the hospital." She said quietly and with fear in her quivering voice.
The driver nodded and stayed silent. She drove as fast as the speed limit would allow, hoping to get the girl there without much hassle.
In thirty minutes, they had arrived. Alyss paid the driver what she owed and rushed inside the hospital. At the front desk, the man looked at her fearful expression, then to the top of her head and only assumed who she was there for. "She is in surgery at the moment. You will have to wait." He told her and led her to the waiting area.
There, she sat alone. All she could do was wait and hope her mother was going to be alright.
Location: Outskirts of Mistral City
"Shouldn't you be gettin' to bed, Auron?" Auron's father asked as his son was sitting in the living room, honing the edge of the long weapon he had just recently put together. He worked as he wore a pair of well-worn jeans and a dark red tank top. And on the table in front of him were his two double barrel revolvers he had bought for himself three months prior. One was black and gray, and the other black and lavender. He had already finished cleaning them before. They were purchased using the lien he made by searching for and selling dust and scrap metal in the swampy forests surrounding their property, a large clearing in the middle of the forest south of Mistral with their house in the center.
"I'm too excited to be goin' to Haven." Auron answered with a grin, then took a bite of his midnight snack, a few pieces of deer jerky that his mother had finished fixing earlier that day. The way his mother always prepared it has it overtaking fried chicken as his favorite food. It was heavily marinated in multiple sauces. Teriyaki and Worcestershire being the most heavily used. She let it soak for three days before dehydrating it and when it was finished, Auron could hardly help himself. His mother knew to compensate for his appetite for it and made plenty to last for a long while for everyone. She had taught him how to make it himself, but he always preferred hers more.
His father, Smoke Karmine, grinned and shook his head. "You still got a couple months to wait. An' you still gotta get your transcripts in order." He said and caused the young boy to groan.
"Why do I gotta do the paperwork? Shouldn't they have got it done in Sanctum?"
"Well, Mistral's different like that. Hell of a lot better than Vacuo I think. Just don't forget."
"Makes no sense. But I guess I'll have to do stuff like that sooner or later." Auron answered as he made sure the his weapon changed from sword to lever-action rifle as smoothly as it should.
He sighed and stood up, finishing off the last piece of jerky as he went. His form easily towered over most people he met, being nearly seven feet tall like he was. He was muscular and broad shouldered, which made his life a bit easier at Sanctum. Not that he was any type of bully, he was just an imposing sight that just kept anyone from messing with him the wrong way. A few of his friends knew to steer clear of him if someone made him angry enough, but one always rationalized with him and calmed him down, telling him that he didn't want to get suspended or expelled. That person was his closest friend and rival. Pyrrha Nikos.
In the regional tournaments, they had both made it to the final round each time. Pyrrha always got the better of him greatly though. She was just so fluid in her movements and she could avoid and dance around most of his attacks, striking at any opening she saw. The first fight caused Auron to respect her, and to train harder to win the next year. The second brought them together as friends. The third brought both of them the respect of others, but Pyrrha more so than Auron. The fourth was what caused them to drift apart. Not due to any bad blood between them, but because that was when companies started to become Pyrrha's sponsors. From Atlas Research and Development, Century Arms, Savage Arms, and S&S Munitions, every company wanted her on their side. Conventions and meetings kept them from spending time together to train and they haven't seen each other in a long while. People started to view Auron as the one who 'couldn't get the job done.' He didn't care. He never cared. He just wanted a good fight and Pyrrha brought that to him every single tournament. The lien was just a bonus. She was one person he would fight back to back with if she ever needed the help. From her skill level, that was a big if.
"I guess I should get to bed." Auron admitted and walked toward the stairs with his weapons.
"Damn right you should." Smoke said and laughed.
"I heard that, Jeff!" Smoke's wife, and Auron's mother, Katherine called through the house from other room. She was not any fan of cursing. The last time Auron had cursed around her, which was in a scroll conversation with his father a few months prior while Smoke and Kathy were in the city, she had come back and smacked Auron's arm so hard he yelled out. He had refrained from cursing around her since.
"Sorry Kathy!" Jeff, or Smoke as he went by, called back to her.
A crack of sound rang through the silence of the night. It sounded like a gunshot.
"Dad, you hear that?" Auron asked. His bright auburn eyes were wide and alert now, even though it was nearly midnight. He turned and held his rifle ready, glaring out the closed window.
"Hell if I know, Auron. But I don't like it." Smoke answered lowly. He brought up his revolver-rifle and followed his son's gaze.
Auron crept forward and slowly opened the front door. He peered out into the darkness, feeling the wind blow through his light-black hair. Several dust rounds slammed into the wall and the boy recoiled back. One round bit into his cheek and burned. The surprise of it completely bypassed his aura.
"Damn!" He yelled and slammed the door shut. The heat of the burn dust round seared the wound shut immediately and he brought his hand up to feel it.
"Jeff, Auron, what's going on?" He heard his mother ask as she stepped into the room.
"Kathy, get down!" Smoke yelled. She complied immediately and crouched. "I don't know, but there's some people shootin' at the house." He continued and looked out the window again. More shots hit the wall and broke the windows, allowing the two to return fire.
After expending the ammunition in their weapons, Auron brought his palm to the ground. He pulsed his aura through it and brought up two dust-metal walls outside and in front of the windows. The porch was fixed specifically for this reason at the suggestion of a family friend. Two long spots of earth were left exposed on the mostly wooden porch of the house, letting Auron bring up temporary protection in the event they would need it. This was such an event.
Auron and Smoke were too distracted to notice something move on the other side of the living room.
They heard Kathy scream and turned around, pulling their guns up but not in time. The snake Faunus quickly bit into Kathy's shoulder, pumping her with venom before Smoke shot the Faunus off of her. He didn't stop with one shot to the head to stun him, he continued to fire all of the rounds in his rifle into the man's chest, completely draining his weak aura and killing him.
"Damn it! Kathy!" Smoke yelled and ran to his wife's side, who was now laying on the floor, already unconscious from the shock. "God damn it! Auron, go get the damn truck!" He ordered and Auron quickly ran through the door, going as fast as he could. It looked to him like the attackers had backed off since they saw gunfire within the house. He ran toward where his father's truck was parked, hoping to run into one of their attackers to pay them back.
As Auron brought the truck to the front of the house, Smoke held his wife closely as his jowls shook uncontrollably in anger with how hard he clenched his teeth together. He tore his glare of anger and worry from Kathy and looked over to the now-dead snake Faunus. He noticed his outfit and the emblem displayed on it. In the lighting, he couldn't tell much, but he saw enough of it to know who they were.
White Fang.
Location: Border of Vale and Vacuo
"It is an honor to have two Rangers accompanying this hunt!" Professor Port exclaimed as the small group walked through the forest. They were searching for an Alpha Ursa, nearly three times as large as a normal Major. It had been terrorising a small village near the border of the deserted Vacuo and the forested Vale, on the southernmost edge of Saunas. Professor Port had arrived at the village and called for the assistance of two local Rangers. His words were addressed to them, two Faunus. One older man and a young girl. Their facial features were masked by the shadows the hood of their cloaks cast, but two spots on the top of each of their heads poked up against their hoods. The garment in question made it seem like the two blended in and out of reality. A Ranger specialty.
Rangers
There were few of them on Remnant. Four to seven in each Kingdom, plus apprentices. Their numbers added up to fifty in total. They were the 'Silent Huntsmen.' They trained themselves mostly, with the apprentices attending combat schools or Huntsmen academies along with that training. Two were assigned to each council, keeping their watch over everything and helping keep the peace, watching over the councils, combat schools, and academies along with the rest of whichever Kingdom they were assigned. Multiple other Rangers spread throughout a Kingdom, taking missions as any Hunter would, but sometimes they are tasked with information gathering on any criminal activity. Their skills as fighters were renown, as well as their skills at stealth. It was said that just one Ranger could ghost into a Grimm infested area and clear them completely before they realized what hit them. They had a need for silenced weapons most of the time, so they either had dust bows and crossbows, or silenced firearms.
Their skills made them well respected. Their independent status from the Kingdoms made many people wary of them. They obeyed the laws of a Kingdom down to the letter, but the leader of a council could not order them to do anything they had objections with. An arrangement that had been made at the end of the Great War. Their founding was instrumental in the end of it as well. They came from all Kingdoms, tired of the fighting and killing, and worked in secret to smooth things over. They were present at the signing of the peace treaty on the island of Vytal, and they had gained their status as a force not to be trifled with. Ever since then, they had evolved into an organization that was a force for themselves first, and the Kingdoms second.
"It's a pleasure to be hunting with a teacher from Beacon," The older Ranger said, then turned to his youngest daughter. "If you impress him, you may be accepted into Beacon, Raine." He tugged experimentally on the string of his longbow, making sure it was undamaged.
"Ah yes, Halt. It would be a pleasure to teach another Ranger-in-training. Emowyn was a fine student." Port said to the man.
"And what would I have to do, exactly?" Raine asked as she took her own longbow from her back. She decided against unslinging her sniper rifle from her back. "It would be more impressive to use my bow." She thought to herself. Her family was the only one that she knew of that used the archaic weapons. They even made their own arrows for them. Her father, sister, and herself all had their muscles built in their arms from practicing and training with their bows. Raine less-so since she had only been training for a year with hers, considering her sister had gifted it to her.
"Just be calm, handle yourself well, and watch our backs," Her father replied with a nod to her. "Go up in the trees and scout out up ahead."
Raine nodded and went up into the highest branches of the nearest tree and looked around the area. With her small, five feet and four inch frame, she easily scaled the tree. Her build made it easy for her to accomplish certain tasks in her training, such as staying hidden for an extended amount of time. Her strategy for that was to climb into the nearest tree and stay still. She learned that when people are searching for an intruder or a student, they rarely look up. A bonus from her small frame, to her at least, was that her breasts were between A and B cup. She didn't have to fool around with getting them to stay in place as much as her older sister did. And when she climbed a tree, they didn't press up too much against the bark. Perfect for her.
From her perch, she looked in every direction for any movement. Then, she saw trees rustling a mile away.
She re-focused her eyes and went back down the tree quickly, then addressed the group. "North," she stated simply and the hunting party moved out.
"How has Emowyn been, Halt?" Port asked the Ranger.
"She's well. She was assigned to Mistral at the last Gathering." He answered with a small grin. The Ranger Gathering was an event held once a year in a secretive location on Remnant. Every Ranger from every Kingdom, apprentices included, gathered to meet with friends, receive a new assignment, switch who watched the councils, and have a moment to relax and talk. It spanned over the course of three days, giving them ample time to talk or do anything else. Their next Gathering would take place the next month. Halt and Raine had been making preparations for travel, but had taken this mission at the last minute.
Port nodded and smiled under this large mustache. "Good to hear. I'm sure she'll keep them in line." The two shared a chuckle as Raine followed close behind them.
She had an arrow on her bowstring and one in her right hand as she held the shaft. She had to impress Port here. It would do a great deal for her if he took a good word back to Ozpin, as she missed the deadline to submit her transcripts to Beacon. She was in the middle of a training session in the forest near their house and lost track of time. She had scolded herself constantly for that slip-up ever since her father had told her.
"What is your semblance, Raine? How did you find out which direction to go?" Port asked the girl, bringing her from her thoughts.
"Oh, my semblance? It's in my eyes. I can magnify them to the range of the longest range scope," Raine grinned a bit under the shadow of her hood, "I saw trees rustling a bit. It was further than what my eyes can go to clearly, but it was enough."
"That is very impressive." The Huntsman replied to her, then laughed loudly as he remembered the girl's sister. "I'm glad it is nothing like Emowyn's. That girl gave many students the scare of their lives."
"Really now?" Halt questioned him curiously, "I'll have to talk with her about that."
They walked for thirty more minutes and stopped for another break. "I'm gonna head up and scout out again." Raine said and quickly climbed up to the top of the nearest tree. She sat in a branch and peered in all directions, using her semblance to magnify her sight to different ranges. She was startled wen she saw a tree violently shaking just over one hundred yards away. She jumped straight down and used her aura to break the fall, landing a few feet from the two older men.
"Hundred yards. That way." She said and pointed toward the direction of the movement. They quickly moved out and ceased speaking.
Then, they heard the Grimm's loud roar.
Location: Forest outside Atlas
On the outskirts of the kingdom of Atlas, two young men worked slowly to prepare a camp. It was small and simple, as they would move on first thing in the morning. They were out roaming the forest to find different materials to use in crafting a weapon for the younger of the two, who just carried a simple claymore on his back in a sheath. He was six feet and three inches in height.
On the outside, he didn't look extremely muscular, but had definition in his his body for certain. Underneath his clothes, his body was toned and taken care of, and underneath the skin were the powerful muscles he worked with for a long time, training in preparation for Atlas Academy. He had medium length dark brown hair, a very short beard, and his eyes were a deep brown color. He wore simple dark brown boots, dark grey jeans, burn dust laced gloves, and a thick, black leather jacket over a red shirt to help keep the cold from him. The burn dust in the gloves helped keep his hands from freezing as well. The last piece to his attire was a metal shoulder guard covering the outside of his upper-right arm, emblazoned with a cross with a snake around the top of it, a gift from their father. He joked constantly with the other boy and laughed at any jokes made toward himself.
The other boy stood just a couple of inches taller than his companion. He was also two years older than him. He carried a very large greatsword, significantly larger than the claymore the younger boy wielded, only a foot in length separating the tip from the ground when set on his back. It was single edged and the tip was centered with edges on both sides, almost looking like a giant knife blade. It was held by a strong magnetic plate connected to a harness he wore on his back. He wore black boots, black pants, a white shirt under a metal chest plate, and a long, sleeveless dark red duster over that. The bottom of the coat extended down to his knees and ended in two points on both sides, below the waist of it was split in the front, back and sides, with the front middle split apart above his waist. It could be zipped up to cover his chest, but he had it open fully to show the cross on the chestplate, with a snake's body wrapped around the top of it. It was gifted to him by their father as well.
He had no facial hair and his hair was a very dark shade of red, almost black in color with one streak of lighter red going down both sides. It was a bit longer than the younger boy's hair, but held back in a ponytail, unlike the other boy's who had his loose over his shoulders. His eyes were the color of sapphires at the moment, but changed to a deep emerald colored every few hours.
He was less muscular than his companion, but only by a little. They often tested each others' abilities with random sparring matches, almost mirroring each other. From when they were young children they had always done this, except with branches of small trees instead of actual swords. Their father always watched them from the porch of their house, correcting them in stance and posture when he saw a small flaw or weakness, but otherwise let them discover their own stance. For them, it always ended with bruised knuckles and shins, sore arms and backs, and bloodied heads. The older boy even kept himself from moving up through Atlas' combat school in order to stay with his brother, to keep from getting more advanced training and never having that advantage, only leaving it to personal skill. They improved in time and never seemed to one-up each other, always matching the skill of the other but never surpassing.
Their father in question was Haile Reznor, a now-retired Huntsman that found them both in the streets of Atlas separately, years ago. The older boy's name is Genesis Galloway, Haile found him when he was ten years old, sitting on the side of the street his parents had died when the hearing pipes under their home exploded and destroyed the house. Genesis was the only survivor. A few months later, Haile came across Jace Storm, alone in an alley with a makeshift bandage around his head and holding a ruined pistol. His parents had just abandoned him. Jace was eight at the time when Haile offered him a hand. From the moment the boy's met, they were almost inseparable. They trained against each other, attended the combat school, switched to Atlas' Huntsman Academy recently, and defended themselves against any who tried to bully them for their origins.
Now, Haile only took missions rarely, only if he was heavily needed and made visits to other Kingdoms' Huntsman academies to offer any advice he could give. He always seemed to be sifting through papers, whether they were mission reports, mail, old notes or a newspaper. He always wanted to see mission reports to keep up to date on the Huntsman activities, he felt it kept him occupied also.
Just as Jace hadn't created his own weapon, Genesis hadn't given his a name yet. They've both been racking their brains for weeks before Jace suggested they go out into the forest, to both search and think about what to do.
It also did them some good to be away from their team, two others that never seemed serious about training. They have been out for three days since March the fifth, this was the last day they would be out before they returned home.
"Damn, no luck finding much of anything. Just a few pieces of scrap," Jace crossed his arms in annoyance, trying to warm himself up while his brother started the fire, "You'd think that we would be able to find some stuff in the city pretty easily. Why the hell are they short on materials?" He had been really hoping that they could find something. He hoped that their father had more luck, he was supposed to go into Atlas to see if he could buy anything for them while they were out in the forest.
Genesis lit the campfire before he replied. "I don't know, but at least we have something to do something with when we get back."
"Maybe we should've brought your cards, that'd help pass the time."
"I'm not setting my cards on this wet snow." Genesis replied.
They were sitting on logs now, both honing the edges of their already razor-sharp swords, the rasping sound carrying through the trees.
"Hey Jace, you have any idea what your semblance is yet?" Genesis asked, trying to start a conversation to pass the time in place of a card game.
"No idea, I wouldn't even know how to activate it yet. I guess it'll happen when it happens." Jace replied, frowning slightly. Another issue the young boy had to deal with was the fact that his semblance was unknown to him. Genesis's semblance was called 'Inferno' by Jace two years ago when his brother discovered it as they were being pushed around by a boy in combat school. It gave Genesis the power of fire, giving him the ability to launch fireballs and flamethrowers from his palms. His appearance also changed with it, making the veins of his forearms and hands look like they ran with lava. If he was really pushed, he could coat his whole body in blue flame. No one ever stayed close enough to see how high the temperature went. A passive ability of his semblance that he had discovered was that his body stayed warm at all times, so he didn't need any thick clothing to keep him warm in Solitos' freezing climate.
"For now, I'd just like to make my own weapon. Speaking of that, you remember that gun you made a long time ago? Atronach, you called it?" Jace said and drew a smile from his brother.
"Yeah, I keep it in my box. I still love it to death, especially the lights when you load different shells into it and cock the hammer," Genesis replied and thought of the revolver. "Maybe I should bring it back out and modify it some."
"You did pretty good with it, especially since it was the first thing you made." Jace said, remembering how Genesis was so proud of himself when he made that pistol.
"And when the hell are you gonna take Titan out of the garage?" Jace asked, referring to the motorcycle Genesis restored and built on to.
"I figured that when we get back, we could go into Atlas and get a few drinks. Atlas' drinking laws are pretty relaxed. Weird, considering it's the world's main military power," Genesis replied, "Plus I think it would do us some good to cut loose."
"That's another thing you did a good job with. We probably could use that after having to deal with Michael and Liza," Jace said with a frown on his face, "I mean, why couldn't we have been paired with Tyr or Ashe? They seem like they're doing pretty good."
Michael Slater and Liza Flair were their teammates. The two were slackers, only getting by because of the two brothers. As Jace had put it a week after they were paired with them, they were 'two completely incompetent fucks,' that wouldn't take any orders from Genesis, the team leader.
"Yeah yeah, whatever. Those two can fail for all I care. We tried to tell them and help, but they don't care. They're just… so bad." Genesis shook his head and finished sharpening his sword.
"Oh, there's this drink you should try when we go, it's damn amazing. Double-chocolate vodka," Genesis suggested with a grin, "A few years ago I snuck a drink of it when we were all in the city."
"They make Double-chocolate vodka? That sounds really good. How'd you get away from me and dad to get it?" Jace asked and crossed his arms.
"Uh… yeah…" Genesis started and rubbed the back of his neck, "When dad was meeting with a friend when we were there, you were looking at a small weapons show and I was with dad. I saw a bottle on the counter, it said 'Double-chocolate,' I didn't think anything of it and just took a big drink of it. It tasted weird but really good, then I looked at the smaller letters on it and almost broke out laughing before I put the bottle down. I don't know if dad saw me or not, but he never said anything." Genesis almost broke out laughing again at remembering his first drink.
"So no one saw you just steal a drink from someone? That's a hell of a first drink." Jace responded and shook his head with a smile.
"I always wondered how Tyr lost his right hand." Jace said and leaned back against a tree.
"I heard it had something to do with his semblance when he first activated it," Genesis replied as he thought on it as well, "It's something I'd like to ask sometime if I get the chance."
"Isn't it rude to ask someone how they got a prosthetic though?"
"Is it rude to ask when he first used his semblance?"
"No, I guess not."
"Then that's what I'll ask."
Nearly a minute after they relaxed, they heard something in the forest.