RWBY 1: The Dead Mountain

Part 12 - The Dead Mountain

Rowan and Raven ran down the stairs with purpose.

All the friends they had lost - Denim, Lime, Cassy, Plum and Ebony. They would avenge them all.

"So... how are we gonna find this thing?" Rowan asked tentatively.

"We're not -" Raven's despair and fear had gone - leaving only anger. "It's going to find us."

The hunters reached the ground floor and ran towards the exit. Raven screamed as she jumped out and hit her sword against the metal door of the tower, trying to make as much noise as possible.

Rowan smiled, he understood her plan. He fired wildly into the air and directed the bullets through nearby windows - shattering them.

The noise they were making was not going unnoticed. Grimm across the city screamed in delight - they had found their food.

"So now we've got the attention of every grimm in the city what's the plan?" Rowan turned to Raven expectantly.

The sound of grimm swarming over each other grew louder then groups of grimm erupted from buildings in the distance - leaping out of windows and heading towards the hunters.

"BRING IT ON ASSHOLES!" Raven screeched at the top of her lungs, straining her voice as it echoed through the streets.

Luckily her plan worked. The rhino grimm was infinitely faster than the other grimm - it could teleport - and it had heard the racket too.

Raven turned to Rowan. The air behind him shivered for a moment, turning darker. Then the rhino appeared. It's teeth sunk into Rowan's neck and shoulder. The menacing smile widened. The rhino wouldn't let the other grimm claim its food.

Rowan was always considered an oddball at the academy. Wearing his rimmed hat and blue scarf in all weather. The girls often joked that he slept in it and even washed in it. But Rowan always laughed it off.

When he was kid, he was obsessed with the stories of a desperado hunter - a lone wolf who went from settlement to settlement across Remnant, killing grimm with style and always getting the ladies. He spent hours pouring over story books would run around the neighbourhood pretending he was that hunter. He wasn't stupid. He knew it was just a story - that kind of hunter couldn't exist in real life. In real life hunters worked in teams and riding across the world on horseback was a quick way to end up in a grimm's stomach. But that wasn't the point. Rowan dreamed of being a hero... and perhaps one day to even inspire other children with stories of his bravery.

When Rowan joined Signal the other kids laughed at him. One day it was too much and he ran out of the academy, wandering the streets until dark.

He found himself on a hill overlooking the city of Vale when the sun set.

Then he saw him. A man with a wide brimmed hat. A hunter.

"Hey! Mister!" Rowan ran towards the man, wiping tears from his eyes. The hat. The scarf. The boots. Could it be?

The hunter was an old man, his hair white, his face wrinkled, his eyes tired. He stood in front of a grave, one that had been there for a long time - even the name had been worn off. He crouched down and laid some flowers on the grave.

"Hey! Are... are you-" Rowan's eyes widened with disbelief - this man was dressed just as his hero in the stories was.

The old man turned to face the child. He looked at the makeshift cowboy outfit young Rowan wore and laughed.