The first proper chapter of my RWBY rewrite is now up on AO3. This rewrite is not intended to "fix" RWBY but is rather a love letter to a series I adore as I practice my writing.
The world of Remnant has enjoyed a long period of peace between the Four Kingdoms of mankind. Yet this peace buckles and strains beneath the complexities of a futuristic, industrial society.
Ruby Rose, Wesley Schnee, Blake Belladonna, and Yang Xiao Long apply to attend the prestigious huntsman academy: Beacon. Finding themselves on a team together, they will need to learn to work with one another as they learn how to become the defenders of humanity against the soulless monsters known as Grimm. But there are more than monsters who have sinister designs, and these four will need to decide if they will abide by the rules or plunge themselves into danger to do what is right.
The world lies on a knife's edge, but no one would notice. No one sees that the careful peace that has been defended for a hundred years is about to fall. And when it falls, can it be ever remade? Can this Remnant be reforged? Or will it burn away in the crucible of conflict?
You can read chapter 1 here, or read from the beginning, including the four prologues that are based off of the original Red, White, Black, and Yellow trailers here. I highly recommend starting from the start as there is a little bit more set up in these prologues than what the trailers provided for the main show.
Early on, things remain fairly similar to how they happened in the show, but over time the changes I've made will start to compound and the story will take on a different shape entirely.
Here is a little sample of the first chapter:
Roman Torchwick took a long drag from his cigar, leaning his head back against the wall of the van. Its tip burned bright red then dimmed as he exhaled a puff of smoke from his nose. Three broken ribs were excruciating, but there was no time to lay around and wait for them to heal. He glanced across to the man sitting across from him. The man glanced away, withering under Roman’s stare. Riding with him were five suited thugs from the Xiaong group. Well, the formerly Xiaong group, Roman mused. With Junior behind bars, the last of the family had fallen. They were going to need a new name. The Torchwick gang, perhaps? Ugh, how gauche.
The van came to a stop and they all stepped out into the darkened streets of Vale. There were no towering skyscrapers here, just crowded four to five story buildings with sloped shingled roofs crowded against one another. The street was lit by flickering lamps and signs backlit by harsh fluorescent light. The shattered moon was shrouded by the encroachment of clouds and the city was dark. Pedestrians were startled by the gang of criminals as they marched down the street, quickly ducking into alleyways or businesses to avoid being in their path. Roman headed the pack, cigar smoking in his mouth. He came to a stop and blew a cloud of fragrant smoke into the air. They had arrived.
From Dust Till Dawn was the name of a particularly renowned dust shop in the western district of the city. The brick building had an elegance to it that did not belong here in the dingy world of Roman’s domain. The interior was brightly lit, with large tubes of various types of dust lining the walls from which customers could refill their canisters. Behind the glass counter was a brilliant collection of fine dust crystals in all sorts of varieties and colors. The young woman at the counter looked up in fear as Roman approached.
Edit: My synopsis and sample were blank weirdly
Source: r/RWBY · by /u/Theodory777