WNTR: A RWBY Fanfiction

One

It hadn't rained that day, not from the sky anyway, as the girl stood by the grave. Her blonde hair hung by her chin, no wind to ruffle it like he used to.

Hugh Thyme- Hunter:

Beloved son, husband, brother,

And father.

Died nobly in battle on the 23rd of August.

'Everyone is entitled to their own sorrow, for the heart has no form of measure. And all of it... irreplaceable.'

He didn't have to die, it should have been just a routine patrol, but none of them could have predicted the swarm of Grimm that came flooding out of that forest. They were ambushed, and with no time to react. The other soldiers in his patrol told her that he had given himself up to save them, and she understood, he had joined the hunters in the first place for that very reason. He wanted to help others, to save them from the darkness. She only wished he could have saved himself too.

She was only 12, she was at the beginning of her life, and 12 years with him would have been short enough, but he hadn't even been there for half of it. She'd had so little time with him, and that precious time would serve as her only memories of him for the rest of her life.

She wiped her eyes carefully, gave a final nod to her father, and left the graves side.

"Poor kid, no one should lose a father that young."

"She's probably going to need counselling."

The words felt heavy in her ears, anyone else her age would have, should have broken down then and there, but not her.

She was a Thyme, and it would take a heck of a lot more to break her.

That night her mother had confronted her, told her that if she wanted to continue with training, that she would support her. She saw the heartbreak in her mother's soft green eyes, it was one of the only traits she hadn't received from her father, those beautiful jade eyes that seemed to withhold ancient knowledge. She felt unbearably guilty for leaving her mother, but this was her destiny, she had to uphold the reputation that came with the name she was so proud of.

Her father's death would not be in vain, she would continue where he had left off, she would make it to Beacon, she would become a huntress.

Then maybe he would smile down upon her, wherever he was.

***

Five years later, she was stood at the docks with a mass of other people her age, waiting to board the huge grey airships that sat before them. She silently observed those around her, boys and girls, with every colour of hair under the sun, and elaborate outfits of which she spent a good few minutes trying to figure out just how they held together.

She passed her gaze over a girl with vibrant blue hair, and eyes that matched; she was stood by an incredibly tall girl with deep purple hair kept in a neat bun, and a few loose strands that framed her face which held a stoic expression. The blue eyed one managed to catch her gaze as it went by, and offered her an excitable smile accompanied by a wave, and she gladly waved back, relieved to know that not everyone in the crowd of people was arrogant or stuck up.

Her eyes narrowed in the direction of a girl with long white hair who was busy scolding another student. She hadn't meant to bump into her, and she'd apologised, but she was still given a lecture about how 'The heiress of the Schnee dust company deserves the utmost respect from the likes of her'. Some people needed to get off their high horses once in a while and walk amongst the rest of them.