RWBY Fanfiction

Faolan was having difficulty sitting still during class. He tried listening to the lecture, but it took too much of his will to keep from moving too much and drawing the teacher's attention. The school uniforms were too itchy; Faolan had no idea what it was made of, but it just bothered his skin so much. He'd complained about the uniform before, to his parents and the school, but the school wouldn't change it for the sake of one student. Instead, he got a special lotion that soothed the itch, but he ran out last week and didn't have the chance to get more over the weekend.

For half the day he'd been successful at ignoring the itch, but no more. His breath was sharp as he tried to focus on anything but the unrelenting itch. The teacher continued his lecture on some silly equation. The rest of the class took notes, looked bored or were talking amongst themselves. The teacher paid no attention as he spoke, continuing the lecture like a drone.

The torture was getting worse by the second. He twisted in his seat, tapping his hand and feet until finally Faolan couldn't stand it any longer. His hand shot up in the air and he spoke before the teacher actually noticed. "Sir, may I go to the bathroom?" he called loudly.

The teacher turned to see who interrupted him. His eyes locked on Faolan for a second before he answered. "Fine, but be quick."

It took all the self-control Faolan had left to not run out of the room. A few eyes watched as he left, but as soon as he was out in the hallway he broke into a run. The nearest bathroom was just around the corner, but Faolan had to get there now. He burst into the bathroom and was relieved to find it empty. He quickly took his jacket off, hung it on a hook, untucked and unbuttoned his shirt at the same time and scratched his chest fervently.

The relief was instantaneous as Faolan let out an audible sigh. He sank along the wall as his clawed hands fell into a steady rhythm back and forth across his body. He soon felt much better, and allowed his arms the rest they deserved. He didn't move from his spot on the bathroom floor, staring at his feet, and the bushy wolf's tail sweep back and forth between them.

The bell rang, and Faolan quickly stood up. He could already hear students pouring into the hallway, and they'd be wanting to relieve themselves before their next classes. Faolan quickly fixed his appearance; as a Faunus, people already thought of him as an animal, so it was best to try and not look like one, too. He was smoothing himself out in the mirror by the time the first boys joined him in the bathroom, not really caring about him. Faolan made a point of washing his hands, even though he didn't actually use a toilet, before grabbing his jacket and heading out of the bathroom.

He slipped his jacket back on and made his way back to his previous classroom for his things. He had to hurry because he didn't want to be caught in the hallway by...

He stood face to face with Victor and Kai, his personal tormentors. They were typical bullies, the biggest guys at the school with the attitudes and egos to match. They stood blocking his path, with no intention of letting him get past them. Faolan tried blending and navigating around them, but it was too late. They had him in their sights and moved to block him no matter what he did.

"Hey, Doggie," Victor called out. Faolan ignored him and tried slipping past him again. This time Victor just nudged him into the wall and both of them stared him down.

"Guys, can we not do this?" Faolan pleaded. "I have class and I know you guys do, too."

Both of them just laughed. "We just had a question," Kai said. "My brother told me your older brother got accepted at Beacon Academy. Is it true?"

"Yeah," Faolan answered quickly, wanting to just get out of there. "Can I go now?"

"Just hold on, Doggie," Victor requested. "We just want to say we're happy for him." He and Kai exchanged a look. "It's great that he's moved out of town and going to be busy with school. It'll be a while before we see him again." Victor moved in closer, forcing Faolan to flatten himself against the wall. "No one to protect you anymore, Faunus. Remember that the next time we meet outside of school," Victor whispered to him. With that, they moved on.

That evening when Faolan got home there was a letter waiting for him from his brother. He sat in his room and read it over and over.

Dear Faolan,

I hope you're doing well, little brother. I hope your classes are going well. I've moved into Beacon today, and tomorrow will be the "initiation", whatever that is. Heard plenty of rumors about what to expect, but you can't be sure until it starts, right? Between you and me, I'm legitimately nervous. Most of the guys, and most of the girls, too, seem pretty tough. Some are kind of scary. I think I'm ready, though. Good luck the rest of the year, bro. I'll write often if you write back.

Love and Best,

Delpho

There was a knock at his door. Faolan set the letter down next to him and called back, "Hello?"

His mother poked her head into his room. "Hey, I found the prescription slip for your ointment if you want to run to the store to get some more."

Not even an hour later Faolan stood in the checkout line at the small store that provided his medicine. He got to the counter and set the bottle of medicine down with the prescription slip, as well as a few snacks. He paid and walked out of the store as it was getting dark.

About a mile from his house he took a short cut through an alley, and about half way through the alley he spotted a figure standing at the other end. A breeze wafted the figure's scent to Faolan, which he recognized as Kai's. Faolan turned around to go the other way, but Victor was blocking his way back.

"Hi, Doggie," he called playfully. "We saw you leaving the store."

They both started closing in on him. "Guys, you can't," Faolan pleaded. They kept moving closer, and Faolan saw the looks in their eyes and was getting nervous.

Then something started to rumble inside of him. A protective instinct started taking over. A snarl formed on his face as the rumbling visibly shook his whole body. Then he began shifting. He grew to twice his original size, his face grew longer, claws grew from his fingers and hair grew from everywhere. Soon he was a huge black wolf, at full height over nine feet tall.

Faolan looked back and forth between the two bullies, both stopped dead in their tracks, eyes locked on the huge beast that now stood in front of them. Faolan knew he could easily kill both in this alley, but he reminded himself he was not an animal. Lightning fast, he slashed in Kai's direction, deliberately missing him only by a foot. Kai bolted, screaming like a little girl, but Faolan then turned to Victor, snapping his teeth in the bully's direction. Victor panicked and tripped over his own feet, falling on his back. In an instant Faolan stood over him, huge yellows eyes staring into the fear of the small human. Killing him would be easy, but scaring him would be more fun.

A single word escaped past the low snarl in Faolan's throat. "Run." The voice was deeper than Faolan's, but you could still hear his inside it.

One word was all Victor needed to be gone in less than a second. As soon as Victor was gone, Faolan shrunk and morphed back into his regular Faunus form. He gathered his bag and headed home, confident that he no longer needed his older brother to protect him.

(Fanfiction inspired by the series RWBY on Roosterteeth.com. Check it out and check out their other shows.)