>>5778682
Despite all the tragedy, man does not give up. Together they united with the goal of protecting their own from the darkness.

Huntsmen and huntresses are the paragons of this ideal, young men and women who dedicate their lives to fighting the ever present threat of the Grimm. Beyond any kingdom, they fight only for the light.

You, young one, aspire to become one.

I won’t lie, the path will be arduous, painful and most of all full of hardship, so heed this advice above any other, what makes a true huntsman are 3 main things: Their strength in combat, their sharp minds and, above all else, their sense of duty to the defenseless.

During your short life you’ve encountered three distinct people who pushed you into this journey, but the one who left the biggest impact was…
>Your grandmother, a retired huntress who lost her eyesight tragically but still taught you how to defend against evil
>A little girl from Vale with brunette hair and a sense of style you made friend with during childhood and went to school together who encouraged you into making your mind as sharp as a blade
>A young bull Faunus boy, driven to extremes for his kind who showed you the meaning of heroism

>>5778682
>a boy

>>5778683
>Your grandmother, a retired huntress who lost her eyesight tragically but still taught you how to defend against evil

>>5778682
>a boy
>Your grandmother, a retired huntress who lost her eyesight tragically but still taught you how to defend against evil

>>5778682
>a boy
>Your grandmother, a retired huntress who lost her eyesight tragically but still taught you how to defend against evil

Grand-maman knows best.

>>5778682
>a boy

>>5778683
>Your grandmother, a retired huntress who lost her eyesight tragically but still taught you how to defend against evil
Maria, Coco and Adam?

>>5778738
Yeah you got it.

>>5778683
>a boy
>Your grandmother, a retired huntress who lost her eyesight tragically but still taught you how to defend against evil

Closing the vote in 20 minutes, although the result is a given.
I am pleasantly surprised by two things! One the amount of interest this has gotten, I assumed like two or three of people would care about a quest based on a semi-popular web series, five votes in less than two hours is quite a bit. I gotta ask to see how much exposition I have to do, do you all know RWBY prior or did you just decide to hop in a quest from a series you know nothing about I've done this with 40k stuff.
And two, you actually picked the mentor instead of the childhood friend or the brooding rival, when did you guys develop taste?
And before anyone asks, the choice wasn't about which one happened, they all did, this was to determine which person left the bigger mark and see which of the three stats will get a boost and other things we'll see later on. The three mystery people will all play a big role.

>>5778682
>a girl
>>5778683
>Your grandmother, a retired huntress who lost her eyesight tragically but still taught you how to defend against evil

>>5778788
>did you just decide to hop in a quest from a series you know nothing about
Yes
Grandma seems cool, so it has to be grandma. Simple as.

>>5778693
>>5778709
>>5778716
>>5778738
>>5778756
>>5778793
Locked in for boy and Gram-Gram.
Writing.

>>5778788
I’m personally fairly familiar with the setting, don’t know about the others. RWBY is fairly popular, fanfic/quest wise.

>>5778788
>did you all know RWBY prior or did you just decide to hop in a quest from a series you know nothing about
I've watched seasons 1-3 RIP, Oum, the rest I know tangentially through memes, fanfics and shitposting https://youtu.be/BOoghw_I8J4?feature=shared

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You can’t quite place when, perhaps it wasn’t even your idea and instead concern from your family, but since you have memory you have been wielding a weapon. Some may call it barbaric, you on the other hand thank your grandmother for imparting her years of experience upon you. The blisters in your hands and the soreness of your muscles are a small price to pay when compared to what could have happened to a small boy in the vast deserts of Vacuo.

Your grandmother is a retired huntress who goes by the name Maria Calavera, one of the best some say, though she doesn’t talk about it, often referring to your late grandpa - who sadly passed away a long time before your birth - as a way better warrior. Her eyesight is gone but not in the usual way for elders, rather where her eyes should be is a bandage looping around the circumference of her head, when and why she lost her eyes is something she, too, doesn’t talk about. How tragic for a grandmother to never see the faces of her own grandchildren, but such is the fate for most huntsmen.

Her training methods were very Vacuan in nature, ever since you were a small child she wouldn’t mince words and believed in tough love, going as far as leaving you alone in the desert and making you find your way back blindfolded to force you stop relying on your sight. But in truth, she never left you alone and only used the blindfold so you would believe you were alone and truly develop your survival instinct while she culled the path from any danger. Funnily enough that didn’t make your parents any less mad and she stopped leaving you alone after what happened years ago.

Her training tempered you into a truly outstanding warrior and at the tender age of 17 you can stand among some professional huntsmen and even gave you a special advantage.

When a huntsman has fulfilled a rigorous deed they come out stronger than ever. They get a [Feat].

[Sharpened Instincts]: Obtained from years of training under special handicaps. Gain a bonus to your non-sight senses and are only affected half as much to low visibility.

Despite what one might think seeing her methods, she is a wonderful woman who puts her family above all else and doesn’t let her blindness slow her down one bit. She can cook better than your mother, knows exactly what to say in any situation and is never afraid to step in and deal with issues, the issue often being a giant Grimm who had the misfortune of wandering too close to your town. She can also tell exactly who is walking around based on their footsteps alone, something your older brother found horrible when trying to sneak out.

She is your hero and the reason you are leaving for Shade academy today. You plan to graduate and become a certified huntsman to honor her legacy, whatever it may be.

But be warned child, out there no one will cull the monsters when wandering alone.

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>>5778978
Coquina is the biggest and most advanced settlement in Vacuo besides the city of Vacuo itself, close enough to it so the settlement can reap the benefits of protection and unity from the crown jewel of the kingdom.

Your hometown since you were a baby and - barring a period during teenagehood - the place you lived your entire life, up until today that is, as you will embark on a journey to the first of the day of the rest of your life, studying at the crown jewel of the crown jewel, Shade academy!

But as every first day for every future hero starts, you must wake up.

And you do so without much issue thanks to Maria imparting the habit of waking early. Apart from the obvious benefits, there is also the added bonus of getting out of bed before the sun can fully rise, avoiding the heat. Vacuo as a desert area has cold nights and hot days, the upper class can get temperature regulating devices to not be bothered by it, but most Vacuans just have to deal with the soaked covers.

You untangle yourself from the thick covers and take a look at the clock in your scroll, reading just past 5 am.

You slowly get up from your bed and carefully maneuver through your dark room. You share the room with your sister and your brother when he returns from missions. Again, you thank your grandma for teaching you how to move unnoticed to avoid waking the beast.

No Grimm is scarier than a cranky young lady getting woken up out of the blue. Even if they are 12 years old.

“Especially if they are 12 years old…” you mutter under your breath.

You avoid death and go to the adjacent room to the left, the remarkably clean bathroom.

You look at the mirror and the face that stares back is that of Picaro Calavera, future huntsman!

You start your morning routine which includes practicing normal emotions. You may be a skilled warrior, but you struggle in other areas and find it difficult to relate to new people. Feeling satisfied with your ‘game face’ you exit the bath.

“Well, well, finally someone wakes up!” comes a shout from the kitchen from someone who clearly doesn’t care about the early hour. “Buncha lazy bones in this house except me, and I’m the one whose bones hurt! Come over here and keep your old yaya company Piqui! I promise to not do a surprise test!”

You walk the short distance to the kitchen and sitting on the small table is Maria Calavera, drinking what your father describes as ‘hot leaf water’.

You…
>sit down beside her and say “good morning.” You respect her a great deal
>look at her annoyed. “Yaya, it’s 5 am, people are trying to sleep!” You find her antics somewhat annoying
>”I’m surprised you woke up at all you old hag!” You engage her and give as much as you take

>>5778978
Image from mariacxlavera on X. I can't believe I found a somewhat appropriate pic, just imagine her older.

>>5778979
>”I’m surprised you woke up at all you old hag!” You engage her and give as much as you take
>Then hug her and sit down
Just some friendly family ribbing

>>5778979
>sit down beside her and say “good morning.” You respect her a great deal

>>5778788
>I gotta ask to see how much exposition I have to do, do you all know RWBY prior or did you just decide to hop in a quest from a series you know nothing about.
the later, but I know the gist of it thanks to memes, videos about the "fall" of rwby and people shitting on rt
>And two, you actually picked the mentor instead of the childhood friend or the brooding rival, when did you guys develop taste?
I know that the woman had ui when younger so I was inclined to pick her.
>>5778979
>sit down beside her and say “good morning.” You respect her a great deal

>>5778794
Either way I was gonna have to do some exposition regarding Vacuo. Nobody knows Vacuo except me and the two other fools who read the books.
>>5778842
Really? I've never seen a RWBY quest... then again, I'm not exactly OG.
>>5778910
This quest chronologically happens some years before the start of RWBY, so if you get to Patch you can interact with Ruby during her formative years, ensuring the existence of Ruby(Forma Homofoba).

>>5778979
>”I’m surprised you woke up at all you old hag!” You engage her and give as much as you take
Hot damn, a RWBY quest. Been a while since we've had one.
>>5779019
>Nobody knows Vacuo except me and the two other fools who read the books.
Unfucking RWBY world building is half the fun of writing in the setting. And don't be afraid to diverge from the official setting as you see fit. RT did some stupid shit with the series in the last few seasons.

>>5778979
>>”I’m surprised you woke up at all you old hag!” You engage her and give as much as you take

>>5778788
>I watched RWBY since it first started, and dropped it around volume 5. It's a shame too, I loved this series as a kid, but man has it gone to shit since the fall. Anything past 5 I learned second hand.
>And before anyone asks, the choice wasn't about which one happened, they all did, this was to determine which person left the bigger mark and see which of the three stats will get a boost
Neat, I'm hoping we end up taking dual scythes in honor of Grandma. Also potential Coco waifu.
>>5778979
>sit down beside her and say “good morning.” You respect her a great deal

>>5778986
>>5779054
>>5779058
Sassy.
>>5778995
>>5778997
>>5779066
Respectful.
Three to three. Gonna leave it for 30 more minutes then see if anyone breaks the stalemate.

>>5778979
>sit down beside her and say “good morning.” You respect her a great deal

Alright locking in for respecting your elders. Gonna write one more and call it for today.

You sigh a bit at your grandma’s foolishness. “Good morning Yaya.” You lower your cheek to her mouth and she gives you your usual smooch, before you sit down beside her and she pours you a cup of tea which you graciously accept.

A pregnant silence envelops the room, only broken by the clings and clangs of cups and plates. Clearly, none of you wish to discuss the elephant in the room.

“So…” Maria breaks it first, knowing too well you’d never speak first trying to avoid disrupting her peace. “Picaro…”

“Yes Yaya?” You put down your cup and give her your attention.

“Today’s the day…” Despite not having eyes, you could tell her phantom gaze was looking down.

Your eyes also find themselves on the table. “Yeah…” and an equal silence once more attacks for a second, yet feeling like forever. A part of you wishes it could last forever to avoid what comes next, but alas, “I’ll be fine I promise! You trained me all my life for this!”

“I trained you to protect yourself…” she mutters.

“What?” You couldn’t quite catch that.

“I mean-” she suddenly stops mid-sentence, the reason why becomes apparent as thirty seconds later a door opens.

Down the hallway come your parents.

“Good - yawn - morning…” Akihime Calavera said, your mother. She is a woman with a lightly tanned skin, hinting at former fair skin darkened by the Vacuo sun, she is of average height and sports a delicate princess-like build. The most striking part of her is the overly long head of golden hair which, even messy from having just woken up, amazes. Combined with her blue eyes, anyone can tell she is not your average Vacuan lady.

“Mornin’” Devadas Calavera on the contrary resembles much more the Vacuan phenotype. Dark hair and olive skin similar to his mother, alongside a tall height and strong build cuts an intimidating figure. Unlike your mother, delicate is the last word one would use to describe the man, calloused hands, scars marring his skin and a five o’clock shadow give him a rough appearance. He has brown eyes.

How disappointing, right?

Maria and you exchange greetings with the married duo before they sit.

“Are you sure about this?” Not even ten words into conversation Akihime asks you the same thing as last time. And all the other times ever since you told her your dream.

You groan in frustration. “Yes mom.” You sharply say.

“Do you know how much danger you’ll be in?!” You roll your eyes. It seems almost like a joke at this point how often you two would have this discussion.

Before you can do the same tired retort, a deep voice cuts in. “Your mother’s right.”

(1\?)

You are stunned at the voice of your father, who is usually happy to let his wife do all the talking, looking straight into your eyes and uttering his opinion. Akihime nods. “You see Piqui? Come on, let me call Theo- the headmaster and tell him you aren’t going, okay?” She adopts a more understanding, letting the stern to your father for once.

You feel ambushed by the two prong assault and can’t respond, however…

“Agh, shaddap you two crybabies!” Maria buries her earlier doubt for your sake and comes to your aid. “It’s his dream and you know it. If you deny a young man his dream he’ll just go out on his own and do it, right son?” She directs her gaze to Devadas.

“Even so, as his parents we need to make him understand how foolish putting yourself out there like that is, right honey?” She, too, looks at Devadas.

Ozma

Having to choose between obeying his mother or his wife? He is the one who needs a group of strangers helping him!

Salem

At last, he speaks. “I guess you are right ma…” He didn’t dare look to his side and meet the glare. “I-I mean, when I was his age-”

“Yeah, yeah you ran away.” Maria interrupts and dismisses what he was going to say, satisfied merely with his support.

“But Maria-!”

“But nothing Akihime. I am just as upset as you are about Picaro leaving to Shade, the same way I was when his brother did, but it’s his dream. If I know my own grandson and, I like to believe I do, he will chase it whether we like it or not. Now, we can either support him and give him the best shot at coming home, or not and he dies in the desert.” Such cold and unfiltered reasoning is common among Vacuans, even after all these years Akihime finds it hard to not be shocked. The reasoning, however, was solid.

Akihime lowers her head and stares at her tea in silence. Any semblance of maturity now evaporated as she mopes.

And like that, you four spend your last breakfast before going to Shade, were it not for Maria doing her best to fill the silence alone.

Sooner than you’d like, the clock hits 7. Initiation is at 9 but you need to go pick up someone, so you should be leaving soon.

Like clockwork, your mother breaks from her silence once you realize you have to leave and begins desperately trying to converse with you.

“Aki…” Your father puts a hand on her shoulder. Your mother simmers down.

“Time to go…” you somberly say.

“Yeah…” your father is the only one to talk before you all silently go to the front door.

When you reach the door, you turn around to say the final goodbyes.

(2\?)

You are unable as your mother crushes you into a hug that she knows might be the last. You hug her back with just as many unsaid words, unkept promises and time that may never be yours. You don’t know how long you hugged, maybe 2 minutes or maybe an hour, it was still too short for a mother and her child.

Once you untangle yourself, your mother remains at arms’ length and looks at you with her teary eyes. “Be safe. Promise y-you’ll be safe.”

You however, needed to remain strong and stoic. “Yes mom. I promise I’ll come back.”

“And promise you will put your safety first.”

You look down. “Mom I-”

“I know, I know… you can’t make that promise.” Your mother sighs and closes her eyes, once she looks back now with a smile and renewed hope. “You wanna help people. You wanna become a hero, it's who you have always been. Just… one final promise and I won’t bother you again, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Promise you’ll remain like that. Being a huntsman… usually isn’t all helping people and…” she stops for a moment. “Don’t let it get to you, understand?”

You have no idea who ‘it’ is but. “Yes, I promise.”

“Son I…” Devadas finally speaks up. Your mother walks aside so you can speak to him directly.

“Dad…” Well, speak as much as you both can manage. Two men of action are not usually men of conversation.

“I-I just wanna say that I-” his voice breaks, “I’m proud of you, I always have and I always will.” Devadas lets tears roll down his face.

The sight of the beast of a man that is your father crying stuns you. Never in your life have you seen him like that, not even the time he broke both his legs.

You find it hard not to cry, but you must remain strong. “Thank you dad!” You rush him and give him a big hug which he reciprocates. You have never been hugged this strongly before, were it not from your training you might have fainted.

“Charisa!” You hear Maria scream from somewhere. Where and when did she go? “Come say goodbye to your brother right now!”

“…”

“I know you are awake!”

“I don’t wanna see him!” Finally a childish voice responds. “He can go die for all I care!”

“Charisa Calavera you will go there right now or so help me Brothers!”

You look down the hallways after Devadas finally lets you go at a stomping young girl.

“Bye!” She quickly says. Charisa Calavera, your younger sister. She looks almost like the spitting image of your father with the figure of your mother, dark hair and perfect olive skin on the body of a budding young girl who everyone can see will grow up to be a gorgeous lady. Some would describe her as perfect, were it not for her very impaired eyesight which forces her to use big round spectacle glasses which in turn cover her beautiful eyes. Although now she is thankful for the way her glasses hide her eyes. Nothing can hide the tear tracks however.

After saying her quick bye, she turns around to lock herself in her room, but a strong force compels her to turn around again and walk towards her brother.

You feel kinda scared, believing she will hit you. Instead she buries herself in your chest and tightly wraps her arms to never let you go.

She cries there, staining your shirt. You look down at her and find ever harder to keep strong.

Soon, your whole family joins for a final group hug.

Shade academy accepts nearly 200 students every year. Only 50 ever return from initiation.

And let’s not talk about how many make it to graduation.

There is a reason why Vacuan huntsman are considered the best of the best.

Even after all the tearful goodbyes you remain strong and more importantly brave. You trust your grandmother’s training, the same training that allowed your own brother to make it.

With that hope in your heart, you untangle yourself.

“Hey, hey that’s enough, alright?” you say in a calm tone. “You are all gonna look real silly once I come back alive and well in a couple of months for spring break. I don’t want you guys embarrassing me in front of my new cute huntress gf.”

“HA, as if!” Charisa says, easily cheering up. “What kinda girl would want your scrawny ass. Oh wait I know, lesbians will want you, hihi.” she giggles.

You roll your eyes. “I take it you don’t want me to bring Coco over any more then?”

“You can bring HER over. In fact, why don’t you stay over there and she can be my new sister!”

“Wow sis, I never knew you swing that way.”

“If anyone swings that way it’s you!”

“Yes I do in fact like women, thanks for not calling me gay.”

You both engage in your usual sibling bickering while your parents watch with nostalgic joy.

However, time marches ever on and the clock hits 7:30.

“Okay, okay listen…” You raise your palms. “I have to go right now or Coco is gonna be pissed. I’ll come back for spring break, I swear.”

“Swear on your life!”

“I swear on my life.”

“Swear on your dick!”

“Charisa!” Akihime chides her.

You are gonna return to them. You know it.

(4\?)

You reach to the side of the door where you usually keep your trusty staff, only to find it’s not there.

“Picaro.” The voice from someone you utterly forgot calls out from seemingly out of nowhere.

“Yaya!” You turn around to find Maria holding something long covered in silk.

“That old thing won’t do you any good in the real world!” Maria laughs at her own joke before getting serious for once. “When you and your brother were little after the… thing happened, I used all the best materials I could get thanks to all my years in service to craft a weapon that will always protect you both. Once he was ready, I gave one half to him and now…” she unveils the weapon. “You are ready.”

The thing is a long, wicked looking staff. It resembles a pure black tree branch with purple accents all around. In the middle there is a split, hinting at a dual wielding function. Once you touch it, the purple accents glow up especially the ends which you now see have been sharpened.

“That is gravity dust in its purest form. And I mean it. It is THE most pure ever found deep underneath the Grimmlands during Nicholas Schnee’s final expedition. No one can explain how it came to be and it breaks every known law of, well, everything!” Maria laughs at your astonished faces. “Pretty cool, huh?”

“How did you get this?” Akihime asks.

“Let’s just say, someone in the upper management of the SDC owed me big time.”

“W-what can it do?” Excitement fills your body.

“Dunno, never used it. Here.” She throws you the priceless artifact and you are way too distracted to catch it properly. Even with your sloppy catch which should have made you drop it, the weapon lands perfectly in your hands. “Ask your brother, he’s got the other half.”

The staff fits snugly in your hands. Despite this being your first time holding it, you feel as though you’ve used it all your life; the weight, the balance, it all seems like second nature. You watch the faintly glowing purple accents and feel a strange sense of longing, like staring at it reminds you of something lost.

“And remember!” Maria said. “D-don’t d-d-die-” It’s curious how one can cry without eyes.

And that.

That is your limit.

The dam breaks and you let all the held back tears free.

You will be late.

After another round of goodbyes, finally you walk out of your house and into your journey. Knowing deep down you may never see them again.

Actually, spring break is soon, so you will probably-

“WAIT!” Charisa shouts when you are already out.

“What?”

“You need to name it!”

What will you name your weapon?
>Write-in

>>5779497
>>Write-in
Promised Return

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>>5779491
God fucking damn it! I left the Ozma and Salem reminders there!
So yeah, in case you didn't realize by now, the quest is narrated by those two lunatics.

Anyways, ended up writing a bit more than I originilally intended, I just wanted to get it out of the way so we can move on from family stuff into what you actually want to see in a Vacuo quest.
Gonna pick back up tomorrow between 12 and 13 utc and go all day.

Some facts about Picaro to help name the weapon, his inspiration is Icarus, the color naming rule is that picaro is Spanish for rogue and rogue->???->purple, so his color is purple. You can name it from many angles, the sun, hubris, gravity, death, grab whatever you may want and go for it.

Now I will pass out. I wanted to end this three hours ago.

>>5779509
Feels like we are setting up for tragedy like that. Also one of the staff's main ability is coming back when being thrown so that's pretty good.

>>5779497
>Write-in
Promised Return sounds good.

>>5779514
Honestly I just wanted to reference the heartfelt promise to not die, so that feels like a fantastic bonus pun.

>>5779497>>5779497
>It resembles a pure black tree branch with purple accents all around. In the middle there is a split, hinting at a dual wielding function. Once you touch it, the purple accents glow up especially the ends which you now see have been sharpened.
>Yer a wizard, Picaro
Anyway,
>name: Promised Return

Alrighty. Almost missed the last possible time I promised, but I'm back.
Gonna start in about an hour(14 utc), I gotta eat and I wanna let some more folks take a stab at naming the thing. That said, if I had thought of Promised Return I would have named it that. The names on the other paths were Bitter Release and BiJeiBiDeath.
Confession time, out of all the possible starts I imagined, the Maria start was the less developed in my head. I one hundred percent thought you guys would pick the cute childhood friend but you pleasantly surprised me.

What are you thoughts so far about the quest, I know it's just starting out but I do love feedback, and thanks for reading 10k words about OC family tearjerkers, I promise I didn't intend for it to get so long, hehe...

>>5779509
Sounds good. Support

>>5779714
It’s pretty good so far, I’m happy to stick around for Picaro’s wild ride.

>>5779714
What does Picaro look like btw? What traits does he get from his mother/father other relatives?

>>5779714
>I one hundred percent thought you guys would pick the cute childhood friend but you pleasantly surprised me
Rivals and childhood friends always lose, but mentor-pupil relations are some of the most based in fiction. By the law of the Hero's Journey, Picaro must take up the mantle of Grimm Reaper from Maria.

Alrighty, gonna go with Promised Return, lemme go ahead and reread a bit to get in the groove and I'll start.
>>5779716
He's got very fair skin like his mom's former tone. He maintains this skin in spite of the Vacuo weather thanks to a rigorous skincare routine.
His hair is very dark, pretty much black that fade to dark purple in the tips (he claims it's natural). It is shoulder length and resembles a lion's mane in volume. He is very embarassed of his hair so he hides it under hood. His hood it's actually part of his long scarf which reaches almost to the ground. It's dark purple and on the inside something like veins can be seen where you can weave dust, currently wind and gravity. The scarf is very wide at the bottom allowing Picaro to completely covers his body and when not doing that they resembles wings. It doubles as mouth covering, something crucial when hit by Vacuo's sandstorms, this mouth covering when put on has a skeleton mouth print.
He was very weak at birth, which now translates into a shorter stature, weaker build and small Aura reserves. He looks somewhat androgynus and can look like a girl if the situation calls for it.
He has purple eyes.

How disappointing...

>>5779714
Well, since you asked for feedback, I'll ask this||: Why do you use formatting on everything? Normally QMs use formatting to highlight special words, or only in dialogue to differentiate who is talking, instead of the other way around.
I'm finding it very distracting to read this way

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This weapon will protect you, but your biggest protection and strength is not in steel and dust.

Your biggest strength is right in front of you. Your family and the love you all share will give you strength and the power to return.

“Promised Return.” The name comes to you, it calls to you.

Your family is stunned in silence.

“Snrk.” Charisa snickers before breaking into laughter. “That is sooo gay, oh my gods!”

“C-Charisa, that’s not very nice - hehe.” Akihime tries her hardest to not laugh and make you feel bad. “It’s a-a good name sweetie.”

Devadas and his mom look amused. “Really went hard on the melodrama, eh?” Maria says. “Normally people use cool names like Death Sentence or something.”

“Or Soaring Rise.”

“Sand Demise.”

“Something Not Gay.”

“Okay, okay I get it!” you cross your arms. “Well I like it and it’s my weapon so I’ll name it whatever I want!” You huff and turn to walk away. Philistines. Don’t have respect for the dramatic. you think.

“Good luck sweetie, stay safe!” Akihime shouts at you as you walk away. “We’ll be waiting for you here, always!”

Suddenly, a vision floods your brain.

Your vision is hazy and almost distant, but you can make some things out.

You find yourself kneeling helplessly on the ground. In front of you lay the lifeless bodies of your family. You wanna believe they are just unconscious, but a part of you tells you otherwise.

Standing over them with their back turned towards you, a dark featureless figure. It turns their head a bit so that you can see half their face.

Wicked smile and an eye of fire.

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Image by Sunnyteea

You come back to the real world and hastily turn back around. As always, nothing happened, your family is right there waving you goodbye.

With practiced ease, you pretend nothing happened and walk away finally.

You’ve been having these visions for years now, sometimes clearer, sometimes with different things, but they usually involve the figure with a wicked smile and eye of fire. It haunts your dreams and waking visions.

You assume it’s your semblance - the unique skill everyone has from birth - but you’ve never told anyone about it. You wish to figure out what it means first.

Shaking off all the bad thoughts, you move on at a hastened pace to the transport station near the edge of Coquina.

Dread fills you as you see a passenger transport leaving, implying that it just dropped off its load and you weren’t there to receive it.

Like you feared, you reach the platform and a fuming figure approaches you. “You dick! You said you were gonna wait for me with flowers and chocolates!”

“I said I was gonna wait for you with a sign with your name spelled wrong.”

“In that case, where’s the sign saying ‘Coco Addell’?”

You chuckle. “Good to see you Cuqui.”

“Number one, don’t try to sweet talk me, you WILL get me those chocolates. Number two, I missed you so much Piqui, come ‘ere!”

“Oh. More hugs.” You dryly say as you resign yourself to the soft embrace of your childhood friend.

Now, my boy, Coco Adel is a very tall girl and you are on the shorter side. You could reasonably lower your head a bit and enjoy an even softer embrace…
>you just hug her. You may be a young man but that doesn’t mean you are a hormonal monkey
>you feel the temptation but resist. Even though she wouldn’t mind, you feel there is a time and a place
>you nuzzle a bit. Some soft goodness never hurts, and besides, you have taken baths together already
>you bury yourself. A lesbian childhood is probably the only chance you’ll get of feeling something like this without repercussion
>you also cop a feel of her behind. You touch her butt sometimes, she touches your butt sometimes, it’s just that kinda relationship

>>5779871
>you feel the temptation but resist. Even though she wouldn’t mind, you feel there is a time and a place

>>5779871
>>you just hug her. You may be a young man but that doesn’t mean you are a hormonal monkey

>>5779869
>>5779871
Sorry for the delay. Got distracted.

Finally the woman of the hour! This choice isn't to determine your realtionship with Coco, she always will touch your butt unnuanced, this is to determine how much interest our boy has on that kinda stuff.
It goes from only when in a commited relationship to horny monkey. Choice is yours.

>>5779788
The formatting is to differentiate the two narrators, in RWBY it's like that so I wanted to reference that.

>>5779877
I see. Like I said before, I've never seen RWBY so I didn't know that.
I guess I'll just eventually get used to the whiplash of this quest doing things differently

>>5779871
>you bury yourself. A lesbian childhood is probably the only chance you’ll get of feeling something like this without repercussion

>>5779873
>>5779874
Are you guys sure about your votes. I feel like you are misunderstanding, Coco doesn't mind that kinda of things and this won't change your relationship jut yet, this is to determine Picaro's attitude.
If you did intend that, then disregard this.

>>5779892
Yes, time and place for everything.

>>5779873
>you just hug her. You may be a young man but that doesn’t mean you are a hormonal monkey

30 more minutes and closing.

>>5779871
>you nuzzle a bit. Some soft goodness never hurts, and besides, you have taken baths together already
Nice middle ground

>>5779873
Temptation
>>5779874
>>5779905
Demure
>>5779885
Bury
>>5779914
Indulge
Looks like Picaro is a good boy who will wait 'till marriage let's just hope his lucky partner can as well.

>>5779937
Just watch, Weiss is gonna be blushing at our gentlemanly ways unexpected from a Vacuo sand rat. And it sounds like Yang would be out of the running, if Picaro isn't interested in even a little bit of messing around.

>>5779967
Vascuo seems to be mexican, and we are gentlemanly and respectful to our elder.
Are we going to be Zorro?

>>5779871
Voting anyway to give my 2 pennies
>you just hug her. You may be a young man but that doesn’t mean you are a hormonal monkey
I just want to kill grimm.
Also, nobody is going to comment about our "semblance" showing us Cinder?

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Unlike other boys your age you can, to be crude, keep it in your pants and think with your smart head.

You don’t ruin the tender moment, choosing to hug her back after two years of being apart.

“I missed you so much Piqui.”

“Eh, I’ve been okay.” You cheekily remark, which earns you a somewhat hard hit on the shoulder. You finally separate.

“Haven’t seen your ugly mug since Lady Browning’s burned down and that’s how you treat me? You’ll break a girl’s heart like that, and that’s my brand.”

“Funny how all them girls are never around when I’m around.”

“That’s cause they can smell you a mile away. You a radioactive fuck.”

You both give good natured laughs, regaining the usual banter only best friends can have as if not a second had passed.

You met Coco Adel during childhood. A string of kidnappings had occurred and you were both tragic victims. But hardship forges the strongest bonds and after you were all rescued by Maria, you had earned a friend for life.

And a bitter rival, but that is for another time.

Coco and you became inseparable, demanding every holiday to be either Vale or Vacuo, never spending more than 6 months apart. Once you heard she was terrified of starting highschool, you traveled all the way to Vale and became her classmate. Two years ago was the last time you’ve seen her in person after your school mysteriously burned down.

But that is all in the past, now you both walk together to your futures, and Coco does so with poise and confidence. You warned her Vacuans aren’t keen on outsiders and if they smell a bit of ‘Valeness’ in her they’ll never respect her. This won’t discourage her, as she walks head held up high!

“Cuqui, Vacuo is that way.”

(1\2)

Finally you reach the city of Vacuo after the, comparatively, short trek through the sand. Halfway through Coco got very quiet, trying to hide how annoyed and tired she was.

“Winded?”

“You wish, this is nothing.” She said in a single breath before turning her head to hide her panting.

You believe she’ll get used to it eventually.

The walls of the city of Vacuo stand strong before you both, made up of sandstone blocks, tall enough to whether the fiercest of sandstorms and leave the citizens inside sheltered and oblivious. Massive turrets adorn the top, ready to shred even a massive Blind Wurm.

Your gawking gets soiled by the sight of a man sitting at the base of the walls. He is sleeping covered by a raggedy blanket. He looks to be old, but the wrinkles might be from sun exposure, his hair is dirty and he has a couple of ram horns atop of them.

A homeless Faunus. Under any circumstances you’ll help someone in need, but besides that, how do you feel about the Faunus in particular…
>You really feel for them. No one should be discriminated against just for paltry animal features
>You feel pity. You cannot comprehend why someone would treat a person badly for being a Faunus
>You feel neutral. Faunus, humans, at the end of the day you are all the same, all trying to survive the Grimm
>You feel annoyed at him. You are in Vacuo, not Atlas or Mistral. Discrimination against Fuanus doesn’t exist around here, he is on the streets because he couldn’t make it. All the activism seems regressive and unnecessary in this day and age
>You distrust Faunus. The White Fang has caused countless misery and only serves to help the Grimm. You have no idea whether someone with cat ears will put on a mask behind your back. Besides, no matter all the policies they can introduce, humans and Faunus can never be the same

>>5779967
Those two girls should be around 14 by now. Since Adam is our rival we will fight him with our very own teen girl!
>>5779969
Vacuo is indeed based around Latin America at least in my quest. You can choose to be Zorro if the votes are right.
>>5779994
Maybe.

Also for anyone not familiar, Faunus are a secondary race of sentient beings with animal features who were enslaved in the past liberated themselves through a war some decades ago. They are discriminated against in the modern world in some parts of Remnant, but Vacuo is chill with them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_h4CKLOqj8&list=PL2vBnPCQT4WJY7wlcNZgKjZGvGF-R0yCE&index=14
For further context.

>>5779999
>You feel neutral. Faunus, humans, at the end of the day you are all the same, all trying to survive the Grimm

>>5779999
>>checked
>You feel neutral. Faunus, humans, at the end of the day you are all the same, all trying to survive the Grimm
No shitty kitty for us.

>>5779999
>You really feel for them. No one should be discriminated against just for paltry animal features

>>5779999
>>You feel neutral. Faunus, humans, at the end of the day you are all the same, all trying to survive the Grimm

>>5779999
>You feel neutral. Faunus, humans, at the end of the day you are all the same, all trying to survive the Grimm
Hardship has a way to bring people together

>>5780031
>Hardship has a way to bring people together
>>5779997
>But hardship forges the strongest bonds
Oz? What are you doing on a Vacuan sand cleaning forum?

>>5780035
I'm not a wizard and I don't live at the end of a yellow brick road.

Closing the vote in 30.

Question QM: Do some people in Vacuo practice eugenics, and is it common for people in Vacuo to discriminate against individuals with mental or physical (Ableism, Sanism) disabilities, and is it considered norm in some parts of Vacuo to abandon weak or sick infants or even straight up kill an infant for being weak or sick? Since social Darwinism and survival of the fittest seem to be popular in Vacuo,

How much is the Vacuo a social Darwinism nightmare hellhole where weaks deserve to be cleansed and left to die, or straight up kill weaks for simply being disabled or weak?

>>5780048
In the second book a huntresses in training uses a child as Grimm bait, but that is really the height of cruelty.
Saying that Vacuan culture is all about protecting you and your people above else, home is where the tribe is and shit, so no, I don't believe Vacuo practices social Darwinism on the micro scale - Fox Allistar is a prominent Vacuan huntsman in training who is blind and our own mc was born frail - because your people will protect you, but on the macro scale, a Vacuan will not look twice at someone who is not from his family\tribe\town suffering or dying on the street.
However, Vacuans are extremely
isolationist towards non-Vacuans and will look down on foreigners or even try to sabotage them.
If you have any more Vacuo questions feel free, my cheat sheet is open.

>>5780009
>>5780012
>>5780028
>>5780031
Slam dunk neutral

Maintining bedroom matter on the bedroom and taking the middle road? Mr. Calavera is shaping up to be a sensible young man.

If we were sensible, he wouldn't be marching towards a foolhardy mission.

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Maybe it’s foolishness, maybe it’s naivety, but you just don’t see a difference with the Faunus. If people won’t harass you for having a tail, they’ll do so for being fat, or dumb, or weak, or thinking a certain way. It all just seems so dumb to you.

Why can’t people just focus on killing Grimm and protecting each other? Is a thought that always crosses your mind when the Faunus issue gets brought up.

Your philosophy is Vacuan in nature. Man or woman, human or Faunus, straight or gay, if you can make it and aren’t needlessly cruel for no reason, you are welcome.

You realize such thinking is unbecoming of an aspiring hero, but you guess that’s why you are going to study.

“Poor guy…” Coco says.

“It is what it is.”

“I’m gonna give him some Lien.” Coco rummages through her expensive looking purse.

You grab her wrist. “You high? Don’t do that.”

“W-what? Why?”

“That aint how things work around here.”

She forcefully frees herself. “What the hell is wrong with you man! What damage is it gonna do buying that poor dude lunch?”

“Vacuo is way different than Vale. Here you look out for your people and only them. That Lien you give him can be used to save my life, or the lives of our future team.”

Coco balks at the concept. “What kinda bull is that? That’s psychotic!”

You shrug. “Maybe, I dunno. Just the way it is. The way the desert taught us.” You repeat the saying you were taught since birth.

While Vale has the luxury of natural borders, strong walls and an alliance with the technological capital of Remnant, Atlas, Vacuo has to make do with nothing but surprise sandstorms, sudden sinkholes, local fauna just as dangerous as Grimm and banditry.

Vacuans, do in fact, make do. From a young age they understand just how fragile life is and how little the desert cares for you and all you ever accomplish.

When a child loses both his parents to a sandstorm, he is given a couple of minutes to mourn before being scooped up and placed in a caravan to reallocate the tribe. Vacuans don’t care about possessions or houses or money beyond how those can be used to protect your people and only your people.

They, however, don’t find the desert cruel. They know it is just the way it is, the same way Vacuans in their apparent coldness are just they are. Some will live, others will die and there’s nothing to do about it. No point spilling tears, the water is too precious to waste like that.

Such thinking is not necessary in the city of Vacuo and to a lesser extent in Coquina, but the elders understand that all it takes is a single bad day for their walls and their lives to fall apart. It happened before, so they prepare their young for that.

The desert is like that.

So, despite what morality or Coco may say, you move on into the city. Praying the Faunus may survive another day.

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The clearest vision you’ve ever had assaults your mind. In it the man lays dead, bones visible from the skin, starved to death.

Standing atop him is a man, looking solemnly down at the corpse. He is almost featureless like the usual one but you can still see the eyes of fire.

You lose your balance and almost fall were it not for Coco’s fast reaction. That vision felt more real than the others.

“What happened? Are you hurt?” Coco asks in naked concern.

You…
>Tell her
If so, how much.
>Lie
If so, what do you say?

>>5780137
>>5780139
Had to ditch the formatting quirk, post wouldn't fit. Salem is narrating.

>>5780139
>>Tell her
That sometimes you see things, you think it's your semblance. No idea how it works or how to control it.

Coco is aware something just happened, and I actually don't want to lie to her face. Though I will concede telling her we think it's the future is uuuuh possibly a bit much right off the bat.

>>5780139
>Tell her

>>5780149
>>5780150
>>5780156
But do you tell her what you saw, or that you have visions sometimes?

>>5780167
I guess tell her what we saw, be kinda sketchy to hide that one detail after everything else.

If you can't trust your childhood friend with secrets you hide from your family, who can you trust?

>>5780139
>Tell her
>"It's my semblance, I think. It sometimes shows me things and it can get... dizzy."

>>5780139
>Tell her

20 more minutes. If you've already voted, you can add whether to tell her what you saw or that you just have visions sometimes.

>>5780167
Both

>>5780149
>>5780156
>>5780171
>>5780181
>>5780186
Honesty it is then!

>>5779877
>The formatting is to differentiate the two narrators, in RWBY it's like that so I wanted to reference that.
didn't know rwby had narrators, seems interesting

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You never told anyone before, a semblance to see the future seems too far fetched after all, but seeing your oldest, closest friend with such concern painted on her…

You could never lie.

“It’s, uh, my semblance.”

“Semblance? You never told me you unlocked it!” Coco’s concern gets replaced by childish glee. As far as she knew, neither of you had unlocked it. The combination of happiness for you and excitement for the possibilities galvanizes her.

Feeling the barrage of questions coming, you say, “Coco, you can let me go now.”

Coco’s face reddens a bit. “Ah! Yeah, sure!” She lets go of you and fixes your misplaced clothes. “There, all better! Now-tell-me-everything!” She blurts out that last part at the speed of light.

You put your palms up to temper her expectations. “Down girl. It’s not as cool or glamorous as you think, it’s… complicated.”

Her expression grows concerned. “Complicated? What does complicated mean exactly?” Even in the least worrying way possible you put it, she still saw right through you and assessed how bad the situation actually was.

“It allows me to… hum, see things sometimes.”

“What kind of things?”

“Nothing bad, just nonsense most of the time, sometimes I get dizzy but it’s cool.”

“What do you mean it’s cool? What if you get dizzy during a mission? Does Yaya know about this?”

“Wow, wow, calm down, that was the one time I got dizzy-”

“Then why did you say sometimes?”

“I misspoke.”

“Y-you misspoke.”

“Yeah, you know me, you put me in the spot and I don’t know what to say. I promise it was just this one time, you can ask Yaya!”

Coco sighs and gives it up, she knows you DO find it hard to speak correctly when pressured. “Since when can you do this?”

“‘Bout since Lady Browning’s burnt downed.”

“What did you see then?”

“Can’t remember…”

“And what did you see now?!”

“I, uh, saw that dude out there…” You point lazily to the gate.

“Uh huh.”

“And another dude was standing over him.”

“Go on.”

“The dude was dead.”

“Which dude?”

“The one out there.”

“Are you kidding?! We need to check on him right now!”

(1\2)

>>5780282
“Yeh, you are probably right.”

You both rush out though the gate again, to find the man in the exact same place he was.

“Do you have more details?”

“No. All I saw was a man looking over him while he was dead.”

“How did he die?”

“Dunno.”

“Let’s go warn him then!” Coco begins walking towards the man.

You stop her. “What are we gonna tell him? Two strangers he doesn’t know walk up to him and tell him to ‘be careful’? The Grimm will get him!”

Coco stops. You are right, Grimm are attracted to negative emotions and although the turrets work well with big Grimm, all it’d take was a single Komodo and he’d be doomed.

“Look Coco, we don’t have the time to deal with this right now, we are running late to initiation. Let’s just go there, finish it real quick, and we come back and figure out what to do, okay?”

Coco wants to say no, but she understands missing initiation would mean waiting an entire year. “Okay… but we come RIGHT back.”

“Absolutely,” you answer with resolution.

--------

How do characters work?! In the program it said it was under 3k!

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And so, you two rush through the crowded streets of Vacuo toward the towering pyramid in the middle of the city, doubt clouding your hearts. You can only hope Grimm won’t be attracted to you now.

As you near the grand entrance to the academy out of the breath, you can’t help but be amazed. Standing tallest and proudest, Shade Academy is a marvel of architecture.

A giant pyramid with four distinct tiers, each one taller than the last and at the top of it all lay the Cross Continental Transmit tower - CCT for short - the essential piece of hardware which allows communication and cooperation between the four kingdoms, alongside the office of headmaster Theodore, one of the top huntsman in all of Remnant. A low wall surrounds the building, denoting its borders.

You are starstruck. Everytime you’d visit the city, no matter where you stood, you could marvel at the sight of Shade academy, and to finally go inside for the first time is magical.

You are taken out of your stupor by a girl rudely pushing into you. You, for the second time today, would have fallen were it not for the ever-loyal Coco.

“Watch where you are walking!” She screams at the rushing figure who never looks back. “Bitch.”

“Damn, I am off today!”

“It’s not your fault, that is quite a sight!” she says, looking to the academy.

“Did you see who that was?” you say as Coco lets go of you.

“Nah, just some Faunus girl with some black appendages coming out of her back. Some kinda bug I imagine.”

“Well, the moment’s ruined. Let’s just go inside.”

“Agreed.” You two cross the gates and are met with Shade’s courtyard.

It looks remarkably alive when comparing the arid sights common in Vacuo, there is even a big fountain adorning the middle of it. You heard it’s meant to represent the many oases which gave life to Vacuans during tough times.

More than a hundred aspiring huntsmen litter the yard. That number would be absurd to the other three academies, but Shade’s minimum qualifications are the most lax, bringing in applicants from even outside of Vacuo to try their luck. One of the reasons why the mortality rate is so high at initiation.

Those low requirements make Shade, paradoxically, the most culturally varied school in all the kingdoms.

The clash of Vacuan ideals and the reality of Shade is apparent at a glance. Two distincts groups can be seen, Vacuans and non-Vacuans.

On one side, one can easily spot youngsters from Atlas to Mistral to Vale to even one or two from Menagerie, the other occupied by Vacuo applicants giving the outsiders wary looks.

You approach…
>the mixed group, gotta give the newbies a nice Vacuan face to know
>the Vacuo group, if Coco is gonna live here for 4 years at least, better get her used to Vacuans
>avoid the crowds, they are a bother and you are not exactly a socialite

I think I'm ditching the formatting for good, it bloats the character limit uselessly. Salem and Oz still narrate though, if you guess which one narrated which post I'll give you a cookie.
>>5780272
It has narrators in like two scenes.

>>5780286
>>the Vacuo group, if Coco is gonna live here for 4 years at least, better get her used to Vacuans

Sink or swim baby, no time to babysit foreigners that aren't Coco.

>>5780286
>the mixed group, gotta give the newbies a nice Vacuan face to know

>>5780286
>the mixed group, gotta give the newbies a nice Vacuan face to know

Gonna cook myself some nice juicy burgers and then call it, do one more and that's it for today.
Probably gonna be along one like last time so don't wait and tune in tomorrow at 13 utc!

>>5780349
Damn I wrote that one badly. I meant the update is gonna be long and to not wait up.

>>5780286
>the mixed group, gotta give the newbies a nice Vacuan face to know

>>5780316
>>5780322
>>5780375
The mixed group it is.

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Swiftly deciding to go with the friendlier of the two groups, you lead Coco to the culturally rich gathering.

There is an even amount of individuals in each part, which leaves the one you decided at almost a hundred different, colorful aspiring huntsmen to meet.

In retrospect, just walking up to a giant group of people without a plan wasn’t the best idea to socialize.

Thankfully, your blight is short lived as a Faunus with ram horns approaches you with a smile. “Isaac Thyme! Mantle!” he says with a lot of energy.

You are left stunned for a second before Coco rises to the challenge. “Coco Adel! Vale!”

“Picaro Calavera! Coquina!”

“…”

“…”

“Vacuo!”

“That’s better! Sorry I’m new here, hehe.” The boy, who boisterously claimed was named Isaac, gave a good natured laugh.

“What’s up with all that energy?” Coco cheerfully asked, finding his own cheer highly contagious.

“Figured we’d streamline the introductions, I don’t know about you, but I’m sick and tired of them already!”

You can’t help but agree that they can be tiring, but you never were one to like meeting new people anyway.

“Mantle, eh? That’s a trip,” Coco asked.

“Yeah, wasn’t smart enough to get a fancy scholarship for Atlas. But I am plenty strong! So I went with Vacuo.”

“Well… that will sure help around here, heh.” You awkwardly enter the conversation.

“Picaro, right? As a red-blooded desert dweller, what advice can you give a tundra boy?” Isaac graciously ignored your social skills and tried to engage you in the conversation.

“… avoid staying out in the sun?”

Isaac looks up at the sun. “Oh, that’s gonna be a problem, one sec.” He moves one step to the left, entering a tree’s shadow. He claps and gives you a thumbs up. “There we go. You are a lifesaver desert man!”

“You are welcome tundra boy.” His attitude helps you out of your shell.

“What about me? What’s my nickname?” Coco says.

“City girl.” You both say.

“I said I was from Vale! I could be from one of the settlements, you know?” You gave her a flat look alongside Isaac’s amused one. “I like city girl anyway, I am civilized unlike you two, plus it sounds cool.”

“No, tundra boy is cool,” Isaac says.

“It’s hot then.”

“Desert man,” you say.

“Well screw you both sasquatch and… sand sasquatch!”

Inspiration shines upon you. “Sandquatch.”

Isaac laughs loudly and Coco, caught off guard, snickers.

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Your banter gets interrupted by a loud booming noise coming from the center of the courtyard.

You see everyone around you reach for their weapon, but you, alongside the Vacuo group, know exactly what that is.

“GOOD MORNING ASPIRING HUNTSMEN AND HUNTRESSES!!!” Roared the powerful voice of the headmaster of Shade academy, Theodore.

While all the students from around Remnant watch baffled, the ones from Vacuo explode into cheers and applause at the sight of him, including you. Theodore rides the energy like a champion, holding his arms up high.


The authorities are incompetent, the council is non-existent, but headmaster Theodore holds Vacuo together on his lonesome. When there is a problem in the city, the people rest easy knowing there is a man out there looking out, untethered by bureaucratic tape or malicious intent.

Headmaster Theodore is the spirit of Vacuo personified. Rough, unfiltered and always dealing with issues in the most straightforward way possible. But above all, he embodies the main Vacuan principle, always protect your people.

His people are every man, woman and child in his kingdom.

Theodore began circling the space the crowd had made for him, shadow-boxing with his bright red gauntlets and daring anyone to go fight him. You were tempted to do so, luckily his assistant came to remind him about initiation before you can make such a foolish choice.

He stood tall in the middle and raised his voice to a more sensible level. “As those who know me are already aware, words are not my strong suit, so I’ll make this brief.”

“Welcome everyone to what I hope is the first day of the rest of your lives. A life of heroism, of chivalry, of justice here at Shade academy!” Some cheers can be heard. “But before that, you must prove your worth! You will all be separated in groups of eight and flown different directions 250 kilometers into the desert, where you must make your way back on foot. I am assuming you all brought water, if you didn’t, you better walk out of here before you walk out there!” You pat your hip where a bottle is safely secured around your belt, you see Isaac and Coco also brought theirs. Isaac even has a backpack, how Atlesian of him.

“But water won’t help you against every other danger, sandstorms, sinkholes and deadly Grimm! With those you will have to rely on your wits, your hits and your group if you wanna make it home for dinnertime!”

He drops the hyper attitude for a second. “There is no shame in walking away right now. It’s your last chance.” He looks almost disappointed no one reconsidered.

“Once you reach within a 100 meters of the wall, and only once then, will you pass and become an official student.”

Faculty members begin separating the crowd into groups. Coco, Isaac and you end up together thanks to being next to each other.

>>5780640
“One last thing. Remember what your goal is, above all else, you must make it back here alive. All else doesn’t matter.” Theodore says with a hint of melancholy before wishing everyone good luck and entering the academy.

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Flying above the desert there is a heavy atmosphere inside the bullhead. The words of the headmaster resonate in the head of all eight aspiring huntsmen.

You have it worse than everyone. Ever since you’ve decided to go to Shade, you’ve pestered your brother to tell you about initiation and he would brush it off by repeating obvious advice like ‘drink water’ or ‘don’t let the Grimm kill you’.

One night was different. He had come home drunk and collapsed on the couch. You brought him a glass of water.

”What happens during initiation?” you asked.

He appeared to instantly sober up. “What happens in initiation, stays in initiation.” He then passed out in the soft cushion while muttering “‘s all luck in the end…”

A million possibilities race in your mind. You don’t like any of them.

All of your brooding gets interrupted by a loud clap and a cheery voice. “Come on guys! Is that all it takes to beat us?” Isaac Thyme stands up.

“What?” a boy with blue hair you don’t recognize, asks.

“See guys, River is talking! Which makes him like ten times better than all of you!” River looks scandalized and the rest offended.

“Screw you!”

“Yes Coco! Keep that energy! You all need to get energy! What, after some scary speech we are all gonna just give up? Are you giving up Kou?”

“I- No.”

“You Plati?”

“N-no.”

And on he went, singling every person out until. “Desert man, are you with me?”

You remember that day, one after your father’s birthday, the day you decided to become a huntsman.

You were ten years old and trying to sneak around the house past your bedtime to get some sweet treats. A foolish endeavor in your household, but that night was different.

Instead of your grandma appearing out of nowhere and sending you back to bed, you managed to get the candy from the jar without issue.

Curious as to why that was, you quietly moved to the kitchen where you heard two women talking.

Your mother and grandmother were sitting there, Akihime had an arm wrapped around Maria’s shoulder. The older woman was sobbing.

”Maria… you can’t say that…”

”But it’s true! The world is getting worse by the day and I didn't do anything to stop it!”

”You did more than plenty, more than anyone.”

”But I’m not just anyone and you know it!”

”…”

”My gift was wasted on me, I should have done more, helped more people I just…” Maria broke down into sobs.

”There, there.” Akihime gently hugged and comforted her.

”I’ll get to experience my grandchildren growing up, but will Grant? Picaro? Charisa?”

You stand up. “I’ll make it.”

“As will I.” Coco stands beside you.

“We’ll all make it,” Isaac addresses the crowd. “TOGETHER!”

Roars of hope sound at the same time as the alarm denoting the floors are about to open and you will all have to jump.

You prepare yourself. You’ve weaved wind and gravity dust to your scarf which will allow for a soft landing and then some to spare, you double check your trusty revolver Burden is loaded with gravity dust and lastly take out Promised Return, the new staff that somehow feels familiar, but more importantly it represents your mission.

“New toy?” Coco asks as she fiddles with her high impact machine gun.

“And you? Same, boring old gun?”

“I just haven’t found the perfect fit yet. Also how much gravity do you have in you?”

“I have a signature style.”

The floors begin to open.

“To victory!” Isaac screams and jumps, followed by all of you.

The drop wasn’t very far in honesty, the easy way would probably be to just use your aura to absorb the damage and let it regenerate. But you spent all night weaving and damn it you are gonna use it!

You wait until the last possible second before spreading the ends of your scarf with your arms, making it look like you have wings, and pumping aura into the veins of dust in your scarf making it glow purple and light green. The gravity slows your falls, and flapping your ‘wings’ downwards helps counteract the momentum.

You graciously land on the sand.

Coco drops next to you, throwing up sand all over you. She took the easy way.

You look around you and count five other people, but where’s Isaac?

“And here!” You hear someone up in the sky. Isaac is slowly drifting down in a parachute. “Is the value of being prepa-”

All at once, images appear before your eyes. They look so real they might as well be happening right now.

You see Isaac getting snatched out of the sky by a dark creature that suddenly jumped out of the sand. It grabs the ram Faunus and destroys his aura by crushing him in one claw, only to grip the upper part of his body with one claw and the lower part-

“ISAAC-!” you try to warn him, but it’s far too late.

In less than a second, your prophetic vision comes true down to every minor detail.

Isaac Thyme’s lower body gets thrown in front of you, while his upper gets tossed away like garbage.

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You have only one second lead on everyone else thanks to your vision and you use it.

You talked to this man, you knew where he was from, where he was headed, you were his friend.

And now he is carrion for the vultures.

You focus all your aura - the manifestation of your soul, your emotions, your ideals - into the magical weapon your grandmother made to always protect you.

You aim at the black, lizard-like beast. A Komodo Grimm, one way too big. Normally they only grow to reach the shins of an adult man and rely on ambushes and their powerful venom which prevents blood coagulation, making even a single small bite into a death sentence if gone untreated. This one had the size of a bear and developed boneplates, denoting its ancient age. You notice how it doesn’t appear to have the usual red accents common among every Grimm.

After its gruesome entrance, it just stood there, perhaps savoring your reactions or daring someone to avenge your bisected friend.

You intend to do so. With a powerful roar, you throw Promised Return and it flies faster than it should have given the strength you gave it. Its gravity shines bright as it appears to warp space around it in its path.

The Komodo flicks its tail, redirecting Promised Return away like nothing.

Though it was folly, your first attack was a call to action to your comrades. River Yomi and Kou Lite rush the Grimm.

A foolish idea, as the Grimm buries itself in an instant and emerges just as fast right in front of River. In a flash it bites his head clean off.

[River Yomi has died!]

Kou never had the chance to react before the Komodo slashes its massive claw at her and opens up her torso diagonally, letting her internal organs fall alongside her deceased body.

[Kou Lite has died!]

Your last three companions get out of their stupor and begin running away. You think they know each other, as one of them uses his semblance to envelop the others in a bubble and speeds off.

The Komodo takes a quick look at Coco and you, but decides to chase the three terrified runners rather than kill you two.

Grimm often prefer the larger pool of negativity.

The Komodo runs off faster than you have ever seen any living being do outside of semblances. It is almost as fast as a race car.

And like that, a deafening silence envelops you two.

Coco is in shock after what happened and you need to think carefully what to do next. Remember all you have learned so far.

What do you do?
>Write in

Done and done. Tomorrow we will FINALLY start with the quest proper as you guide Picaro though the cruel sands of Vacuo! G'night.
Also, yes, that same Thyme.

>>5780644
>Write in
Coco's semblance increases the effect of dust, so grab unto her, have her power up our gravity staff and then warp ourself as far towards the city as we can achieve.

>>5780703
Going with this idea. Shit went south real fast.

>>5780645
so he was from the same family of the goat girl ?

>>5780703
>As far as she knew, neither of you had unlocked it.
From a couple of posts ago. I don't think she unlocked it yet. Good idea though.

>>5780707
Yep. If you ever decide to go to Mantle instead of Altlas for some reason you can have a very funny interaction now!

>>5780815
Agh, meant to reply this one >>5780708, it's 8 am around where I live and I just woke up, hehe...

RWBY quests are always a treat to find, you can do practically whatever with the world building, going with >>5780703

I remember there were some royalists in Vacuo right? Also we gotta charm Best Girl Weiss

>>5780808
Then warp using regular gravity dust, just enough to get us out of the immediate vicinity.

>>5780916
>Weiss
>Best girl
To the dust mines with you.

Question, we didn't see a notification saying Isaac died. Is it because we didn't see him die or...

>>5780644
>Use the gravity dust to help us and Coco (and anyone else we're reasonably able to) get out of the immediate vicinity.
>Try using lessons from granny to clutch, don't just trust your eyes and use your Sharpened Instincs.
I don't know anything about RWBY or how their combat system works so bear with me.

btw this has been a fun read so far, am looking forward to potentially becoming Zorro.

>>5780975
You can't stop the SDC-Vacuo Axis anon

>>5781002
I don't know too, so that's why I'm skipping this vote.
But it's good to see someone else like the Zorro idea

>>5781011
The fact that this is a write-in is a bit intimidating, makes me worried we'll immediately die if we overlook something I'm personally worried about not noticing something obvious in RWBY combat/warping or Grimm behavior.
Also yeah, Zorro sounds kino.

>>5781002
There isn't anyone else in the immediate vicinity. We were sent out in a team of 8. Isaac, River, and Kou are all dead. The other 3 have already fucked off, and are currently being chased by the giant Grimm. Coco is the only other person we need to worry about, unless we want to try chasing the others down.
>I don't know anything about RWBY
The basics of the RWBY combat is that every human (and most animals) have something called Aura, which is supposed to passively coat their body and protect them from harm, to a point. Everyone has a different amount, and the speed at which aura regenerates also varies based on the individual. In contrast, creatures of Grimm do not have any aura, but are physically more resilient, and naturally grow stronger, and obtain more natural defenses with age. Most people fight using weapons and equipment imbued with a substance called Dust-- a volatile magical mineral that can produce various effects depending on the type and its application. For example, Picaro used Wind and Gravity Dust infused into his clothing to land safely, and also loads his firearm with it to propel bullets. Every individual also has what is called a Semblance, which is a superpower that is unique to them (which I think also pulls from their Aura, but I'm not sure) . My best bet is that Picaro has a variant or evolved form of Maria's semblance. Whereas grandma has reflexes so good that she basically has limited precognition, Picaro might just straight-up have Future-sight.

>>5781041
Thank you for the rundown anon, it's helpful.
Does Dust have some sort of cooldown?

>>5781072
Dust doesn't have a cooldown exactly, so much as a finite quantity-- and it usually needs to be processed in some form to be used, unless you just want it to explode in your face. However much you have is limited, like any other resource-- but you can just buy more at the store, like how you could buy groceries in this world. Most technology in the world of RWBY runs on Dust in some fashion, IIRC.

>>5781091
So it's like magic oil? Are there a bunch of dust wells in Vacuo?

>>5781096
Kind of, except it usually comes in solid, crystal form. Funnily enough, Vacuo used to be extremely rich in natural resources, Dust included-- but war and exploitation by foreign nations caused Vacuo to turn into the wasteland it is today. This is why a lot of Vacuans are suspicious of foreigners, but have a generally pragmatic outlook; if you're good enough to survive and carry your own weight, you're welcome, regardless of background, because day-to-day life is harsh enough that most people have better things to do than pick fights.

You know, I was an hour late for the start but I saw how so many more people were coming on so I just let it sit and I'm happy I did!
From this point on, quest will start at this time (18utc) to allow for more time.
>>5780916
The Crown, yes. Fun crew. Also, if you wanna get the Schnee, you are gonna have to justify a trip all the way to Atlas, cause lil' miss prim and proper sure as hell ain't coming to bumfuck nowhere Vacuo Weiss is still best girl, it is explicitly stated in the show!
>>5781041
Nice rundown, some extra facts relevant to the quest, Grimm deal extreme damage to Aura due to being soulless, it's not that the Komodo is super strong or anything (it still is but not absurd). Aura can easily shrug off bullets, explosions, slashs, but a couple bad swipes and it's game over. The amount of Aura you have is determined at birth and it's mostly hereditary, but they rate at which it regenerates can be trained, Coco has a large Aura pool but low regen while Picaro has a small Aura but, thanks to picking combat at the start, has stellar regen. Aura can not only protect from hits, it can also serve with harsh weather. People need to have their Auras unlocked, but that is a risk as manifesting your soul makes your emotions much easier to track for the Grimm. It needs to be turned on, but with experience one can engage it by instinct. Having it turned on for long periods it's exhausting and it slows regeneration.
Regarding the semblance, notice the common subject of the visions and the clarity of them for some hints ;).
Oh, and going with booking it with dust and catatonic Coco.
You guys understood the Vacuan way. Not completely, if you did you would have scavenged the two dead for water, but hey, baby steps.
Thanks for playing so far, pumped to run and 20 more minutes for anything more as usual.

>>5781154
>lil' miss prim and proper sure as hell ain't coming to bumfuck nowhere
Not with that attitude! I'm sure there is some Vacuan tradition that if you manage to kidnap the girl you can marry her, we just need to survive the aftermath

>>5781000
Oh crap, I just noticed this too.

>>5781154
>notice the common subject of the visions and the clarity of them
Death and future-sight? Death prevention? Predicting how people get hurt?

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Look out for your people. That’s the tenet with which you were raised and to this day live by.

“Sorry.” You give a silent prayer to those three unknown huntsmen never-to-be so that they may find peace.

First, you need to snap Coco out of her shock. Every second is crucial, no time for half-measures.

SLAP. You give her one hard dose of reality in her left cheek, making her drop her sunglasses. “We need to move. NOW!”

Coco’s face remains in the position you left her in. “So… so fast… how do we-”

“I have a plan. Hold onto me and don’t let go. Not for any reason, okay?” Coco nods and wraps her arms beneath yours like you are a lifesaver. And you are in a way.

Your fascination with gravity Dust, among many things, was inherited from Maria. One of the moves she taught you was to charge your staff’s crystals and throw it, then charge your scarf. Both would attract each other, allowing you to soar as long as you had Aura and Dust.

Sadly, the only Dust you have available to throw are the six bullets in Burden’s chamber, plus the extra 24 in your pouch. The small amount of Dust will make this a small fly, but it’ll have to do.

Not even 6 hours and I already lost Yaya’s gift. It would be so much easier if Promised Return were he-

Your lamenting gets interrupted by a foreign object flying and landing perfectly in your right hand. Promised Return made honor to its name.

Without skipping a beat. “New plan. Coco, I want you to throw this as far and as fast as you can.”

“Why-”

You don’t hear what she said, as another clear as day vision assaults your brain. The Komodo Grimm catches up with the bubble and-

“JUST DO IT!”

Coco heeds your urgency and grabs Promised Return. She takes a running start and heaves the staff like her life depends on it. Like earlier, it flies fast and warps space around it.

[Plati Suga has died!]

You urge her to grab a hold of you like last time and wait for the staff to slow down.

[Oros First has died!]

You wrap your arm on one of the ends of your scarf and wait for the staff to slow down.

[Ze Tella has died!]

You wait for the staff to slow down.

[Sharpened Instincts]: You can hear something fast approaching.

“NOW!”

You charge your scarf and launch off at the speed of sound.

Flying isn’t something one can get used to easily, Coco didn’t and would have fallen off were you not prepared to use your free arm to hold her by the waist.

Your other arm is covered in the scarf, extended forward being rapidly attracted to Promised Return.

You meet halfway, about three hundred meters away from the scene of tragedy - farther than you’ve ever flown before. It lands in your hand and you both fall down in the sand.

But you are not out of the woods yet. If you want to survive, you must avoid the Komodo at all cost, that means calming yourself and Coco down-

Your pondering gets interrupted by loud moaning coming from nearby to your left.

>>5781253
Isaac Thyme’s upper half lay there. Alive still.

The life of a huntsman it’s filled with situations that challenge his humanity.

Does he leave a small child behind to surely save a town, or does he try and save them all, possibly risking everyone.

Pragmatism versus morality are at an endless war.

Isaac Thyme is in unimaginable pain, but neither help nor death will come to him swift enough. Will you give him the final kindness and end his suffering, or leave him be and let his negativity attract the Grimm, guaranteeing yours and Coco’s survival.

If you choose to help him, you will have to maintain Coco’s emotions in a good state, otherwise the Komodo will kill you both.

If you leave him, you won’t have to worry about the Komodo for a while, but ‘it’ will start to get to you.

‘It’ is the darkness, the tragedy, the tough choices that accumulate during a huntsman’s life. The more ‘it’ you collect, the bleaker you’ll become, at high levels you may even make bad choices out of your control and hurt the people you swore to protect. Critical ‘it’ is one hundred.

‘It’ can be removed by doing activities that remind you of what your ideals are, or it can be forgotten and compartmentalized to make it easier to deal with. One option is easier than the other.

‘It’ cannot be removed during missions such as now, you’ll have to wait until you are in Shade.

So, what will you do, young huntsman? Are you confident in your ability to calm Coco down, or do you not risk it?
>Put him out of his misery
>Leave him as bait (+10 ‘it)

>>5781253
>>5781254
First gameplay mechanic, 'it'. This is here as way to make you guys think twice about always making the objectively correct choice, as most of the time it's the cruel one.
'It' can also affect rolls, specifically the ones regarding heroism.
And remember the promise you made to mom!

Well, does he looks ready to drop dead at any second? Or is he full on screaming?

>>5781262
A quirk of Aura I forgot to mention. It regenerates you, even if there is no hope for survival.
Isaac can lay there in pain for days or until the Komodo gets him.

>>5781266
Jesus Christ, how horrifying.
Talking about that, what do they believe in?
>>5781254
>Put him out of his misery

>>5781254
>tell Coco to watch our back
>Loot him
>Put him out of his misery

Then we gtfo, Coco is a mess right now so I think she won't make a fuss, the man is already dead anyway

>>5781254
>Take his backpack and then put him out of his misery.
Look, QM, we're learning!

>>5781254
>Put him out of his misery.
>THEN take his backpack.

Not only will having him draw Grimm towards us while we loot him be bad, it's also the moral thing to do.

>>5781268
Theology in RWBY is not well explained. People often say gods in general, but some characters wear crosses.
For our purposes, the religion is that of the Brother Gods.
A pair of Brothers who created humanity. It's not super important for you to know right now.
And they do believe in an afterlife, as Picaro prayed for the three running folks.

>>5781262
In light of >>5781266...
>Write-in: Knock Isaac the fuck out so his negative emotions don't attract Grimm, scoop up his torso, and take him with us.
If we have to ditch him later, so be it-- but as long as he's still alive, there's a chance he might pull through if we can get him medical attention. I, for one, liked our Ram-boy, and robotics are outright confirmed to exist in-setting.

>>5781268
>>5781270
>>5781272
>>5781274
Locking right now, let's speed this up now that some peeps are around.
Also, fun fact, I always intended to use Isaac as a sacrificial lamb (geddit) to teach both 'it' and looting people, but I realized that you guys wouldn't be able to loot the water if he had it in his belt, so I slapped in the backpack, good on you all for noticing!

>>5781283
>I, for one, liked our Ram-boy
Oh shucks, I am so sorry for this then. In my defense, I made it pretty obvious he was going to die by giving him ram horns and naming him Isaac.

You are both paralyzed at seeing the bisected body of Isaac, moaning in the sand. Vultures can be seen circling overhead, clearly knowing his fate.

“Hey Cuqui.” You calmly say.

“Y-yeah…” Coco slowly looks at you.

You don’t look at her, still looking at the horizon. “Why don’t you scout ahead, I’ll catch up.”

“What-?”

“Scout ahead,” you sternly interrupt. “Scout ahead, please.”

Understanding dawns on her now naked brown eyes. She hesitates for a second, perhaps thinking of offering to do it herself, but she knows better.

She isn’t strong enough for this yet.

Wordlessly she walks away.

You steel your resolve and walk toward the dying Faunus, taking out Burden. Its name, like Promised Return, more fitting than ever.

Isaac calms down at the sight of you, and puts on his happy smile you’ve gotten used to by now. “D-d-d-desse-ert m-m-man.” He struggles to speak any words. “I-i-it g-got m-m-me g-g-goo-od.”

“Y-y-you m-ma-ade it-!” His rising voice gets brought down by a cough. “G-goo-od!”

What do you say to the dying young man?
>Write in

>>5781298
Fast update. I just thought it'd more fun if you guys chose what to say to him.

>>5781283
The real question is if we could get Isacc any. The only people I can think of having any were either important, related to someone important, or got them as a favor from someone important.

If we can get a reasonable confirmation that he can maybe get some, I'd swap vote for yours.

>>5781298
Oh, guess I was a little late. Anyway.

>"I'm sorry. I wasn't fast enough."

>>5781302
>>5781304
I mean, if you all wanna change your votes, you can still, Picaro hasn't pulled the trigger yet.
The problem won't be prostetics, he is related to a happy huntress, a group with influence in Atlas. All it'll take is sis calling in a couple favors.
That said, the issue will be carrying so much literal deadweight 250 km though the desert.

>>5781298
>Ask him if he has any close relatives or relationships
>Crack a joke about the legs, or something
>tell him to close his eyes and kill him, silently if possible

I have no idea how to comfort a dying teenager oh well

>>5781302
>>5781304
>>5781274

>>5781307
Given that...

>>5781254
>>5781298
>"Think you're gonna make it?"
>"Do you want to try and make it?"
If he says yes:
>Pick him up, tie some rope to him and drag him, carry him between the two of us anything. We're taking him with us, as far as we can.
Hope staves off the grimm... or so we hope.

Sorry for the confusing voting QM, but carrying the top half of our new bro through the desert over 250km has me INVESTED

>>5781298
>"Yeah, the bastard got you good."
>"Do you have any family Issac? Anything I can tell them?"
>"I'm sorry man, Vacuo is a hardplace but I never done this before. How would you prefer to go out?"

Closing in 20.
Last chance to change the vote to try and save him.

>>5781298
>"Sorry tundra boy."

>>5781298
Fuck it, we going for wasteland legend status.

>"Stay awake, tundra boy, you ain't dead yet."
>IF possible, break one of our bullets and use the gravity dust to keep the blood from pouring out of his body, put it on his guts or something to keep them together.
>regardless, knock him out.
>put a spare cloth from his backpack over his head to keep him from suffering a sunstroke then tie him up with rope to better carry him.
>Then launch yourselves again.

>>5781307
Wait, they have prosthetics advanced enough to let someone that was cut in half walk around?

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>>5781336

>>5781341
Oh shit, that's rad.
>>5781318
I'm going to
>"Unless you want me to carry you. It will be dangerous for all three of us, but I'll do it."
>"It's your choice tundraboy."

>>5781298
Seconding >>>5781315. If the Brothers will it, we can save him.

>>5781343
to add to my vote*

I hope we are not making a mistake here, we did promise to our family that we would return.

Writing.

“Hey tundra boy.”

“Y-y-ye-es?”

“Do you have people?”

“M-m-my Sis-”

“Mantle, right?” You interrupt him, not wanting to force him to talk too much.

“Y-y-yes.”

“She goes by Thyme?”

“F-F-Fi-iona T-T-Thy-”

“Good.”

“…”

“…”

The words elude you. What does one say to a man - no - a boy at death’s door? How does one make it okay for his life, his dreams, his everything to be snuffed out too soon.

But perhaps you don’t have to say anything at all. “S-s-so pr-rett-ty.” As even dying, Isaac senses your difficulty to speak and solves the issue for you.

He looks away from you, to the golden mountains of Vacuo shining in the strong sands.

“Yeah…” you say, thinking about the desert. The desert takes, and today it takes Isaac Thyme before his time.

It is what it is.

You point Burden to his head and cock the hammer. If he heard, he doesn’t show it, as he peacefully looks on.

It’s what he wants. It’s what needs to be done.

For Coco.

For you.

For your promise. Your promise…

Your family. You think about each of them. This is for them too.

A memory of your precious family plays back in your head.

Your muscles burned, you were covered in sweat and there was sand in your butt. That didn’t stop you from plopping down at the table.

”Picaro!” Your mother chastised you.

”Eh, get the sand out your snatch girl.” Maria plopped down on another chair, significantly less dirty. “Any strong man needs food and that can’t wait until after bathtime!”

Your mother resigned herself with a sigh and put a delicious bowl of meaty stew in front of you, which you promptly devoured.

”Ugh!” Charisa made a gagging noise at your weird lack of manners.

The rest of your family’s reactions ranged from disappointment to naked amusement.

”Remember bro.” Your brother, Grant, called for your attention. “Us huntsmen can only get away with eating like that after a mission. Don’t wanna scare the ladies.”

”You aren’t one yet!” Charisa didn’t let that fly.

”Oh come on Chari, I’m in my last semester! I can get away with saying I am a huntsman!”

”You’ve been bragging about that particular line since you passed initiation.” Devadas gave his one piece to add to dinnertime. As usual, it was brutal.

”I can’t wait to become a full on pro!” Grant tried to steer the conversation away. “I’ll get to get paid to kill Grimm, it’ll be awesome- OUCH!”

(1\2)

>>5781422
He got interrupted by Maria’s cane bonking his head. “What are those rascals teaching the youth?! Four damn years and you still know nothing about being a huntsman!”

”Being a huntsman isn’t about killing Grimm, it’s about being hope. Being the hope that holds a village together on an attack, the hope that fills a merchant walking through the woods. Hope in the future, in life.”

”Life is beautiful, it is precious. And it must be protected.”

”You’ll understand not when you kill a hundred Grimm, but when you save one life.”

“…”

Status screen:
Current group: 3\8 remain.
Picaro Calavera, aspiring huntsman.
>Body fatigue 0 (+5 bonus to rolls involving physical action)
>Mind fatigue 0 (+0 bonus to rolls involving mental action)
>Soul fatigue 0 (+0 bonus to rolls involving leadership and inspiration actions)
Current ‘it’: 0

Coco Adel, aspiring Huntress.
>Body fatigue 0 (+1 bonus to rolls involving physical action)
>Mind fatigue 0 (+3 bonus to rolls involving mental action)
>Soul fatigue 0 (+2 bonus to rolls involving leadership and inspiration actions)
Current mood: red]GRIM[/red] (high chance to attract Grimm; -5 in any roll)

Isaac Thyme, dying person.
>Body fatigue red]-99[/red] (-98 bonus to rolls involving physical action)
>Mind fatigue red]-99[/red] (-96 bonus to rolls involving mental action)
>Soul fatigue red]-99[/red] (-96 bonus to rolls involving leadership and inspiration actions)
Current mood: red]DYING[/red] (will die unless intensive care is administered)

Saving one life…

Since the start of the day, the day you are supposed to become a hero, you’ve done nothing but let people die.

The homeless Faunus…

All the others from your group…

Isaac…

“No…”

“W-w-wha-at?” Isaac looks back at you.

“Not you.” You holster Burden. “Coco!” And call out for your friend. You are gonna need help.

Coco rushes to you. “What happened?” She looks at you and at the dying man highly confused.

“No one else is dying today.” You say, full of resolution.

[+1 soul!]

“I-I-I-” Isaac tries to object, but you shush him.

“Save your strength. Coco,” you look at the dumbfounded girl, “what are you doing? Help me!”

“B-but what are we gonna do? Carry him all the way to Vacuo?”

You look at her with the most seriousness she’s ever seen on you. “Yes.”

Coco’s eyes light up.

[Coco’s mood has changed to Amazing]

“N-n-no-” Isaac once again tries to deter you.

“You,” you point to Coco, “get down here. You,” you point at Isaac, “shut up and let me save you.” You knock him out with a swift hit.

Before Coco can come to help you out, you both spot a small pack of juvenile Deathstalkers approaching!

[Medium difficulty, DC to beat 5, DC to come out unscathed 10, DC 20+ to avoid fatigue.]

When presented with a challenge, a huntsman must use one of the three attributes to beat it. However, once an attribute is used, it adds fatigue. Fatigue adds a -1 to rolls until treated outside of missions. You can choose to use the best man for the job but make their fatigue rise, or use a less qualified one and save the bonus for later.

Who does what job?
>Treat Isaac, roll mind d20 (the higher the roll the longer he’ll survive.)
>Fight the Grimm, roll body d20

>>5781428
First choose who does what job, then we roll.
Former status: It is what it is...
Current status: FUCK IT WE BALL!!!

>>5781428
We fight, Coco treats Issac

>>5781428
>>Treat Isaac, roll mind d20 (the higher the roll the longer he’ll survive.) COCO HEAL
>>Fight the Grimm, roll body d20 PICARO SMASH

>>5781428
>Coco Treats Isaac
>Picaro Fights the Grimm
By the way, QM, what are the rules for rolls? Is it best of three? And are we rolling, or are you rolling based on our choice?

>>5781428
>Fight the Grimm, roll body d20
It's all we're good at
>Treat Isaac, roll mind d20 (the higher the roll the longer he’ll survive.)
She can do that, and is more likely to keep him alive longer.

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>>5781428
>Coco Treats Isaac
>Picaro Fights the Grimm

Well, this one was an easy one, but initiation is the tutorial. Don't expect the same later on, muahaha!
>>5781435
Three rolls would make it too easy, the point of the system is that you'll have to rely on your teammates to get good rolls. Also you guys roll.
>1d20+5 for Picaro smashing
>1d20+3 for Coco unsmashing
I'm gonna go have dinner, I expect critical successes when I come back.

Rolled 4 (1d20)

>>5781463
Picaro

Rolled 12 + 3 (1d20 + 3)

>>5781463
Coco unsmashing

>>5781463
>>5781467
We should totally get a reroll on Picaro's smashing, the roll didn't have a mod.

Rolled 11 + 5 (1d20 + 5)

>>5781463

Rolled 9 + 3 (1d10 + 3)

>>5781463

Writing.
>>5781470
A 15? Someone is gonna get plenty more time.
>>5781471
>>5781473
I'll allow it because it's the first one and getting a low roll would be a lame way to start, but even without the addition I could have just added 5 and gotten 9. Anyways, 16, didn't make the 20+.

>>5781499
No Bo3? That's harsh.

>>5781502
He already said that'd make it too easy. Up here.
>>5781463

>>5781502
Hopefully the DCs are adjusted to match.
Like 10 being an average DC instead of 15

>>5781518
... The DC was 10. Different degrees of success for different performance with the roll. There was no way (barring crit override) to fail the DC5, unlikely (but very possible) to fail the DC 10 to come out unharmed, and the DC 20 was to beat them without breaking a sweat.

File: Scorps.png (710 KB, 838x797)

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“Coco, take care of Isaac, try to stabilize him as much as possible. I’ll deal with the pests.”

Maybe it was your earlier resolution, but Coco follows your command without question and kneels down to Isaac’s unconscious form. “We’ll get you through this Isaac, we promise.”

With your individual missions set, you assess the situation.

9 juvenile Deathstalkers, roughly the size of dogs. Fodder.

You call Promised Return to your hand before throwing it straight at one of the Grimm. It obviously sees it coming and deflects it upwards with one of its pincers. That’s okay, since that wasn’t your attack.

It was your entrance. You attract yourself to the flying staff and meet above the clueless beast. You carry your momentum in a downwards arc and impale its head through, killing the Grimm in one fell swoop.

“One.” You needed to get the action as far away from the injured as possible, that’s why you jumped straight into the belly of the beast. Eight scorpion monsters begin closing in on you.

You charge the pure gravity stored in your weapon and hit the ground with one of its ends, making a purple shockwave that sends flying back three of your assailants and buying yourself precious seconds.

You turn around and rush the other side of the pincer - heh - attack before it can close on you. The leading Deathstalker tries to impale you with its golden stinger but you sidestep and let it hit the sand where you keep it trapped by stepping on it.

A second one tries to claw at you, you respond by deflecting it with Promised Return before breaking it off in two and stabbing one in the eye of each Grimm.

“Three.”

The remaining two Deathclaw from that side come to the aid of their fallen comrades. They swipe at you in unison. You weave the combined assault and wait for your chance.

You don’t wait long, as they are young and foolish. One overextends its swipe and you snipe at the soft flesh before the pincer with one half of your staff and deflects its partner’s attack with the other.

While the maimed scorpion reeled back, you reunite the halves and twirl the now whole Promised Return to the underside of the other Grimm. You lift, throwing it on its back and leaving it helpless.

The hurt one regains its sense and rushes you from behind, but you turn around and slice the pointed end of your staff, completely severing the pincer, before planting your foot on its faceplate and stabbing it clean through.

“Four.”

You turn slightly and throw Promised Return through the soft underbelly of the remaining Grimm.

“Five.”

You look at the last remaining Deathstalker you blew away, rapidly approaching.

With a cocky look, you twirl Promised Return and prepare to face the mob.

As if punishing your hubris, sand erupts from underneath the scorpions, and a familiar black beast emerges, utterly destroying the three.

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>>5781556
The Komodo stands before you, just as deadly as when you saw it massacring your group and ripping Isaac in twain.

[Hopeless, DC to survive 99]

Before you can ask how it found you all or how it snuck up on you despite your senses, it races forward in a flash and swipes at you.

Surprisingly, despite your small Aura and how unprepared you were, you don’t end up disemboweled. It merely breaks your Aura.

The force throws you back and you skid in the sand.

“PICARO!!!” Coco screams before unleashing a barrage of firepower right in the Grimm's face, which it easily deflects by using his prehensile bone plated tail to act as a shield, all the while still slowly stalking toward you.

You manage to stand up with a lot of strain. Your muscles are burning, your arms are all scratched up and you are sure at least one rib is broken.

The Komodo appears almost amused at the sight of you struggling to stand up, slowing his steps even more to give you a shot at stabilizing yourself.

You do so by using Promised Return, but you can’t stay stable without it supporting you.

You think this is it. This is how you die. Of all the ways you imagined, dying because you tried to save someone’s life is definitely the most noble. Maria would be proud if you ignore how now you are a liar who can’t keep a promise.

You chuckle and look at the Grimm with an amused face. “So… you gonna do this or what?” you say to it in a mocking tone.

The Grimm suddenly stops and looks at you, its expression turning foul. You chuckle, assuming it wanted you to die with soiled pants, you remain calm however.

It’s your time, nothing to cry about. It is what it is.

You take a look to Coco-

Coco!

The Grimm notices the realization dawning in your face and looks to the defenseless people. Only one of them is cut in half, but that won’t make a difference in the end.

The Komodo appears to sneer and turns slowly to them.

A vision, clear as day, The Komodo-

No! I need to stop it!

You can’t, you are beaten.

I don’t care!

“Hey!”

You foolishly decide to fight it. Roll 1d20+99

>>5781555
I think I somehow glanced over the DC explanation that QM put in brackets like an idiot.
But thanks for telling me even though it's was right there.

>>5781518
Don't worry, it's all about the bonuses. If I gave three times on top of +5? Way too easy!

Rolled 17 + 99 (1d20 + 99)

>>5781506
>>5781518
Actually yeah that's a good point since multiple rolls with bonuses are easier I'm just being silly.

>>5781558
Rolling.

>>5781564
Nice roll.

>>5781558
I'm now hyped to see what gave us that +99
Is it some secondary power from our semblance?

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“Hey!” You scream to get the Komodo’s attention. It turns to you, angry you’d dare your voice at it.

Grimm strike fear in the hearts of all humans and Faunus. Not because they are cowardly, but just because that’s what they do. No one knows why, it defies every law of reason and astounds every researcher, but even the best most seasoned huntsmen are afraid of Grimm, they just learn to fight despite it.

It’s like magic.

You, however, stand defenseless face to face with the most deadly Grimm in the sands of Vacuo, [Indomitable].

The strange Grimm with no accents on his plates, looks you down, trying to assert its dominance. You meet its glare with your own.

You stand stoic, knowing even the tiniest hint of doubt will be your doom. Or perhaps you don’t know, and are instead acting by instinct. Even I’m not sure.

The Komodo tries to look at Coco and Isaac. “Don’t look at them!” It snaps back to you. “Look at me.”

“I’m your problem.”

You take a step forward, now testing IT’S resolve. The Grimm answers by unleashing a deafening roar in your face, the first one you’ve seen it use. Before, it was silent, cold and calculating.

You take another step forward.

The Komodo takes one back.

You take your first good look at it. It must be thousands of years old considering its plating, aside from its clear intelligence. You just can’t shake the question though, why are his bone plating completely clear?

And another thing, was this thing living in Vacuo this whole time? What if it attacks Coquina-

Detecting the hint of fear for your family, the Komodo lunges with the intent to kill you swiftly.

“STOP!” You fearlessly extend your palm towards the beast. It desperately skids on the sand, trying to bleed all the momentum and not end in front of you.

It fails and stops right in front of your palm. You can feel its breath coming from its snout.

I am beat. What will you do now?
>Write in

And that's a wrap folks. See you tomorrow at around 18 utc!

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>>5781592
Getsuga Tenshou!!!... now seriously, I'll do the King stare to make the beast submit 'coz we don't have much else

>>5781592
>>Write in
Promised Return down the eye and into the fucking brain. Fuck this Grimm.

>>5781592
>>Write in
>stick the pointiest end of our staff in in it's eye and activate the gravity dust.
WE ARE SO BACK!

>>5781592
This >>5781636 while making this face >>5781629

How much desire for violence.

Quest starts at 18, but I'll be around. If you have any question about mechanics, the setting or RWBY in general, now' your chance to ask.

>>5781629
Supporting. Give it the Zorro lightskin stare.

>>5781993
So what's up with the clans hunters go in? Are they just organizations? Are Grimm completely evil?

>>5781999
>So what's up with the clans hunters go in? Are they just organizations?
I'm not sure if you mean bandit or clans, so I'll explain both.
Bandit crews roam the desert looking for easy prey.
Clans are the second type of Vacuan. There are those who live in Coquina or the City and those who live in nomadic tribes. They are the most traditional Vacuan, as living out in the open desert teaches you the Vacuan way harshly and swiftly. They often lose members, but their attitude is like Picaro's, it is what it is.

Grimm are soulless beings, they may not be technically alive, as they don't eat or sleep and when they die the turn into black smoke. They are cruel beings whose one goal is to kill humans, they'll even ignore animals unless threatened.
No one knows where they come from and why no matter how many they kill, they just keep coming.

Gameplay mechanic explanation time!

Grimm attraction chance: Every post during a mission I’ll roll a d32, if the result is lower than the current Grimm attraction rate, Grimm will come. Higher numbers denote harder battles.
Trivial: 1-4
Very easy: 5-8
Easy: 9-12
Medium: 13-16
Hard: 17-20
Very hard: 21-24
Grim: 25-28

Attraction rate: Mood affects the chance of Grimm. The higher the number, well… You need to add all the current party's moods to get the final attraction rate.
Amazing: -2
Good: -1
Neutral: +1
Bad: +2
Terrible: +4
Grim: +8

Current Status screen:
Current group: 3\8 remain.
Picaro Calavera, aspiring huntsman.
>Body fatigue 1 (+4 bonus to rolls involving physical action)
>Mind fatigue 0 (+0 bonus to rolls involving mental action)
>Soul fatigue 0 (+1 bonus to rolls involving leadership and inspiration actions)
Current ‘it’: 0
Feats:
[Sharpened Instinct]: Obtained from years of training under special handicaps. Gain a bonus to your non-sight senses and are only affected half as much to low visibility.
[Indomitable]: Keep moving forward. Can avoid fatigue with exceptional rolls. Fatigue can’t lower bonuses beyond 0.

Coco Adel, aspiring Huntress.
>Body fatigue 0 (+1 bonus to rolls involving physical action)
>Mind fatigue 1 (+2 bonus to rolls involving mental action)
>Soul fatigue 0 (+2 bonus to rolls involving inspiration actions)
Current mood: Amazing (low chance to attract Grimm; +20% every roll)
Quirks:
[Childhood Friend]: Always follows Picaro’s instruction with zero doubt. Finds it easier to get out of a bad mood when he is around. All attempts at a love confession will fly over Picaro’s head unless it’s a critical success.
[Diligent]: Perform jobs at not lower than 80% efficiency.

Isaac Thyme, dying person.
>Body fatigue -99 (-98 bonus to rolls involving physical action)
>Mind fatigue -99 (-96 bonus to rolls involving mental action)
>Soul fatigue -99 (-96 bonus to rolls involving inspiration actions)
Current mood: DYING (will die unless intensive care is administered)
Quirks:
[Optimism]: Always start a mission in a good mood and doesn’t deteriorate over time. Every time a tragic event happens, roll a d20, if the result is 5 or lower, drop the mood to the lowest. Each tragic event adds a -1 to the final result of the roll, even if the roll is successful. To snap out of the lowest mood, one must roll a d20 and get 15 or higher.

>>5782060
I changed the mood modifier to be percentage based, that way it'll always be useful and can keep up with power creep.
Feedbacks and questions are appreciated.

>>5782060
>All attempts at a love confession will fly over Picaro’s head unless it’s a critical success.
Lmao

>>5781999
In the cosmology of RWBY, the world was created by two brother-gods with opposing alignments fighting/competing with one another. Grimm were created by the God of Darkness exclusively to destroy his brother's creations, but the brothers eventually made peace when they created something that they could both be proud of: humans. Although the Grimm have the capacity for intelligence, they are shown to always be Chaotic Evil towards humans, even if certain evil characters have been shown to be able to manipulate them. Despite this, the God of Light is arguably more of an asshole, and is directly responsible for the creation of the series' main villain. The God of Darkness mostly just wants acknowledgement and respect for his role in creation, and used to live among the Grimm because he didn't want to kill them off for outliving their initial purpose.

>>5781993
Not sure if this counts as a spoiler, but Salem is the bbeg right? And Ozma is some sort of good deity?

>>5782062
Yeah power creep can get the best of us.

>>5781994
based

>>5782077
This explanation it's a little outdated now. The brothers aren't the highest beings anymore, rather it was revealed that it exists a world beyond Remnant where a higher god, The Tree, resides. The Tree created the brothers to help clean and beautify its own world, the Ever After.
I also believe, and this is my own theory, there is something more to the Grimm than what we know. The only source regarding their creation is characters giving their best guess, but when beings who actually KNOW what happened talk, they never mention the GoD creating Grimm.
In the Vacuo books, there is a Grimm called the Jackalope, and in the Ever After there is also a similar being called the same thing. Narratively speaking, the writers and Monty planned the crew to go to the Ever After before reaching Vacuo, this tells me that there was a larger plan and we'll find out more about the Grimm in the next volumes... if they ever get greenlit.

>>5782081
>Not sure if this counts as a spoiler, but Salem is the bbeg right? And Ozma is some sort of good deity?
I'd say darker and lighter shades of grey. You could ask their opinions as they are narrating some kid's journey for some reason, but I wouldn't trust a word they say.

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We start... right now!

---------------

You maintain him there, at arm’s reach. A hair breath away, close enough that if it decides to attack, it’d kill you without you even realizing.

But you need to keep it there for a bit longer, for your Aura to regenerate just enough to charge Promised Return, impale the Komodo through the eye and explode its brains from the inside. Or what Grimm have in the head that’s close enough to a brain.

The longest seconds in the history of Remnant tick away, and a standoff most unusual continues on. The purple eyes of a 17 year old aspiring huntsman, meet their match with the red eyes of the Komodo.

You can faintly see through the corner of your eye Coco and Isaac on the ground. She has her machine gun aimed at the beast with shaky hands. You can’t quite make her expression, but you can take a guess.

You chuckle. The last time you both saw a Grimm together was on that fateful day of your meeting. The little brunette girl had soiled herself at the sight of the monster. You wonder if she still does so.

You shake your mind of distractions and focus on regenerating your Aura, while giving your full attention to the Komodo.

Giving it your all to two things proves challenging, but slowly and surely you get enough.

You grip Promised Return on your other hand - you can’t even remember calling it, but that doesn’t matter right now - and subtly charge it.

Your plan is to very slowly charge it around halfway to avoid having the Komodo notice the shift in color, before swiftly impaling it and charging it all the way inside its head.

A solid plan, were it not for the Komodo instantly noticing you pumping Aura to the dangerous looking stick.

It hisses at you, turns around, almost hits you with its tail and escapes. Unlike the proud and dangerous looking sprint it did before, it scurries away like a - well - a scared lizard. In a blink, it moves a hundred meters away before burrowing.

“…”

“…”

“…” At some point Isaac woke up. He fainted again.

“What the-”

No one will ever believe you.

“-fuck!” Coco finishes your sentence. You are woken from your shock and hurry over to the two.

“How’s Isaac?”

“Nuh uh, no siree!” Coco wags her finger. “We are NOT just going to glide past THAT.”

“…” Coco gets catty when upset. You know to just let her run out of steam.

“I mean, you fucking stood there and stared that bitch DOWN!”

“…”

“Fucking two years apart and you become fucking HuntsMan! What about me?”

“…” You let silence hang on for a second. “You done?”

“Yeah. We still need to discuss it.”

“And we will, but we can walk and talk. And there is a WALK ahead of us.”

“You are right… obviously you are right, Piqui.” She massages her temple and sighs. “Just cool it with the surprises, gonna give me a heart attack.”

“I’ll try.” Coco doesn’t seem amused, but you move on. “Hum, about Isaac…”

“I did what I could. Cauterized the bleeding internals with some of my fire Dust bullets, and that would have been it, had tundra boy here, not come prepared.” Coco lifts Isaac's big backpack. “Disinfected and bandaged. He’s still, you know, cut in half but…” you see a small smile appear, “I think he can hold on for two or three days.”

You can’t help but smile as well. “Enough to reach Vacuo.”

With regained hope that was once lost, you cover Isaac’s head with a rag, tie some rope to his body and have new decisions to make.

Will you carry the backpack? The medical supplies are spent, but there are still some food rations. However, the bag weighs too much to just be carrying food and water. Examining closely, you see some mechanisms you aren’t sure what they do.

Isaac hails from the most technologically advanced kingdom in Remnant, who knows what tricks the backpack hides.

>Just take the supplies you need
>Carry the whole backpack (Roll 1d2 to determine how much body fatigue you gain. This is a one time roll for the whole journey. [Indomitable] doesn’t apply.)

If you don’t carry the bag, you two can carry Isaac, only adding 1 fatigue each. If not, roll 1d3 to determine body fatigue gain. One roll for the whole journey. [Indomitable] doesn’t apply. And choose who carries Isaac and who carries the bag.

Lastly, choose your approach to the trek.
>Soar with Dust. Fastest way, highly tiring and resource consuming.
>Walk. Conservatively walk the desert, if you start now, you can reach Vacuo before it gets too cold, granted nothing happens.
>Slow and safe. Look for shelter and only travel during sunrise and sunset, avoiding both the scorching sun and freezing nights. It’ll take you a day or two to reach Vacuo, but it’s the least demanding way.

>>5782245
As usual, we pick who does what job and then we roll.

>>5782245
>Just take the supplies you need
>Soar with Dust. Fastest way, highly tiring and resource consuming.
Surely he can't be that heavy, he's half the man he used to be.

>>5782245
>Just take the supplies you need
>Soar with Dust. Fastest way, highly tiring and resource consuming.
We must maintain the momentum while that lizard is still scared(?). Question QM, can we shoot Promised Return out of Coco's gun? That thing doesn't seem low calibre, our shaft should fit well enough.

>>5782245
>Just take the supplies you need
>Walk. Conservatively walk the desert, if you start now, you can reach Vacuo before it gets too cold, granted nothing happens

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. This a marathon, not a race.

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>>5782259
Coco's machinegun is indeed a very high caliber, imagine something like picrel.
You COULD try that, but who knows what'll happen, better save that for an emergency. Our shaft definitely can fit Coco's hole though.
Roll 1d10 for penis length, starts at two inches, every number is an extra inch.

Rolled 4 (1d10)

>>5782269

>>5782272
A respectable size.

>>5782245
>Carry the whole backpack (Roll 1d2 to determine how much body fatigue you gain. This is a one time roll for the whole journey. [Indomitable] doesn’t apply.)
>Walk. Conservatively walk the desert, if you start now, you can reach Vacuo before it gets too cold, granted nothing happens.

Closing in thirty.
>>5782272
How unfortunate. I wanted to do the joke that "All the missing inches went somewhere else!" but alas, fortune said otherwise.
At least it looks quite big on our short king.

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>5782269
I always forget how to use dice in this formosian weaving forum

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>purple eyes
>weak constitution
>androgynus
>black hair
shiet is the MC a Lelouch´s expy?

>>5782269
A Negev mg-7 has a muzzel velocity of 860 m/s, even assuming our staf goes half as fast that still a lot of land to traverse in a single burst.
Speaking of, I think we can actually traverse the desert by air in case we need to. By using gravity dust to attract and compress air at the tip of Promised Return, we should be able to be pushed by the air pressure the moment we stop keeping it together. There's no way we could do that now with 1.5 teamates with us and grimm birds in the area but solo "flights" should be doable in future missions.
>>5782272
>>5782299
Poor guy is a frail child living in SuperSonora, cut him some slack.
>>5782319
>"If I told you to kill all Faunus, it wouldn't matter how you felt about it"

>>5782319
No idea who that is. Would you kindly drop a pic, it might prove useful to give an idea as to how he looks like to you all, if the character looks like Picaro enough.
Regardless, I designed the character on my own. Since no one picked up the reason why I made him androgynous, look up in RWBY wiki what Lady Browning's is.

Also there is a tie between fast and walk, ten more minute before I flip a coin.

>>5782328
When we escaped the Komodo, we traveled at supersonic speed covering 300 meters in a second, but that feat is very difficult as Picaro needs to not only super charge the Dust in his scarf, but also use Aura to protect himself from the velocity.
If he takes it slow and is well rested, he can traverse the entire Vacuo desert in a flight with only a couple short breaks to regenerate.

>"If I told you to kill all Faunus, it wouldn't matter how you felt about it"
High 'it' Picaro's nicest dialogue.

>>5782328
Actually, we're pretty swole for someone so small. We probably weigh twice as much as we look like we should.

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>>5782329
here ya go, the anime is called Code Guess, if you like intrigue, geopolitics and war crimes I recommend it.

Rolled 2 (1d2)

1 we flyin'
2 we walkin'

>>5782382
We walkin'
>>5782361
So that's that what he's called. Yeah I know him, a buddy of mine went through a phase in highschool where he said he was literally him.
But not quite Picaro.
Anyway, writing.

>>5782329
Ok, I'll take a look
>Lady Browning's Preparatory Academy For Girls
Did Picaro cross dress to be able to go to the same high school as Coco?

>>5782329
>look up in RWBY wiki
Huh, someone really needs to buy the rights to RWBY and then animate all the extra content once zoomer nostalgia sets in in 2040-2050.

>>5782337
I see, but what about my idea of gravity-powered short bursts of air?

>>High 'it' Picaro's nicest dialogue.
>"I'm just saying Oz, think how many grimm would starve without the hate to and from that small group of critters."

Current Status screen:
Current group: 3\8 remain.
Picaro Calavera, aspiring huntsman.
>Body fatigue 2 (+3 bonus to rolls involving physical action)
>Mind fatigue 0 (+0 bonus to rolls involving mental action)
>Soul fatigue 0 (+1 bonus to rolls involving leadership and inspiration actions)
Current ‘it’: 0
Feats:
[Sharpened Instinct]: Obtained from years of training under special handicaps. Gain a bonus to your non-sight senses and are only affected half as much to low visibility.
[Indomitable]: Keep moving forward. Can avoid fatigue with exceptional rolls. Fatigue can’t lower bonuses beyond 0.

Coco Adel, aspiring Huntress.
>Body fatigue 1 (+0 bonus to rolls involving physical action)
>Mind fatigue 1 (+2 bonus to rolls involving mental action)
>Soul fatigue 0 (+2 bonus to rolls involving inspiration actions)
Current mood: Amazing (low chance to attract Grimm; +20% every roll)
Quirks:
[Childhood Friend]: Always follows Picaro’s instruction with zero doubt. Finds it easier to get out of a bad mood when he is around. All attempts at a love confession will fly over Picaro’s head unless it’s a critical success.
[Diligent]: Perform jobs at not lower than 80% efficiency.

Isaac Thyme, dying person.
>Body fatigue -99 (-98 bonus to rolls involving physical action)
>Mind fatigue -99 (-96 bonus to rolls involving mental action)
>Soul fatigue -99 (-96 bonus to rolls involving inspiration actions)
Current mood: DYING (will die unless intensive care is administered)
Quirks:
[Optimism]: Always start a mission in a good mood and doesn’t deteriorate over time. Every time a tragic event happens, roll a d20, if the result is 5 or lower, drop the mood to the lowest. Each tragic event adds a -1 to the final result of the roll, even if the roll is successful. To snap out of the lowest mood, one must roll a d20 and get 15 or higher.