Drastic, it was the only word I could use to describe my current situation.

 

My head was akin to a bag of bricks, my arms were useless ropes of flesh that mocked me as they flailed around, and most of my first few months of this new life were spent doing literally nothing. 

 

Sleep came easily to me, as there were times where I would close my eyes for just a moment, then jolt awake to what I guessed was hours later by the amount of sunlight trickling through the open window next to my crib.

 

I quickly came to realize that being a baby was a great humbling experience.

 

The fact I needed to be breastfed, bathed, dressed, and moved by another person contributed to it a lot. The sheer amount of trust I had to have in those taking care of me was a hard pill to swallow, and everyday I wished for my own will to do the things I wanted.

 

At the start of my new life, I noticed there was no more dampening of negative emotions this time around. No, every one of them came to me, sometimes in quick bursts or as a simmering heat to keep me awake at ungodly hours into the night till I passed out from exhaustion.

 

Struggling from this, I did my best to focus on the future, to hope for something else; something more. I was given a second chance, one to continue my stream of consciousness in a world of my choosing with powers of untold potential.

 

I had picked Remnant, or more specifically RWBY, and after getting the Ten Shadows Technique from Jujutsu Kaisen to aid me, I was abruptly put here without so much as a second to process my decision.

 

Thankfully, time was not a scarce resource while being a newborn, and with it I came to accept a lot of who I was and how crappy my life had been. 

 

I had little choice, and the time spent stuck within my wooden prison of soft blankets left me with nothing but the white ceiling to accompany me, making me constantly fall into a trance which caused my mind to wander back to my old life.

 

The cuts which had been so visible and bleeding, had healed and began to turn to scars. For once, the things that haunted me, that whispered in my ear for every decision I made, now seemed to no longer be so persistent anymore.

 

Even so, on some occasions as I was changed or breastfed, or as I watched my world slowly become clearer by the day;  I would sometimes see glimpses of what had caused them so many years ago.

 

The memory of when my parents died when I was young. The sheer whiplash of it, the emptiness after, and how I had been an only child with no one to go to once the shock wore off. 

 

I was suddenly alone, and old enough to be given a pat on the back with the not so subtle words “get over it”.

 

Although, there had been my Grandma—bless her old heart—and every once in a while I would stay with her when not in the dorms of my college. 

 

She had done her best to reach out to me, but our sixty year age gap was hard to cross. 

 

Plus, she had taken the loss of her daughter just as hard as I did.

 

The funeral for my parents had been a blur for both of us, the tears had dried quickly enough, and all was seemingly good as we did our best to continue on.

 

However, I hadn’t noticed what they had taken from me when they died, a part of me that I always wanted gone as a child but did not realize I needed as an teenager.

 

Everything I had done was to impress my parents, to meet their expectations, to prove that they had done right by having and believing in me.

 

When they disappeared, I had no more things to weigh me down, and many would have called it blissful freedom.

 

Honestly though, this so-called freedom sucked, and I came to hate the feeling rather quickly.

 

I had plenty of my parent’s money to spend without so much as a thought, I was not beholden to anyone to finish college, most days were spent within my dorm doom scrolling, sleeping, masturbating, drinking, or arguing in forums that would not matter in the grand scheme of things.

 

I didn’t save any of the previous money, I didn’t really care about what the future would bring me, and only by some ounce of discipline engraved inside me from when I was a kid did I manage to finish my studies and graduate college.

 

Then, as I was handed my diploma and thrown out the doors to meet reality, the freedom I had come to loathe so much fully reared its ugly head in my direction.

 

No family, no girlfriend, no real friends, no pets, no parents, no expectations, no reasons, and no real wants.

 

Consume entertainment, go to a job I hated till I got hired to one I would like slightly more, stew within my apartment like a barely walking corpse; rinse and repeat.

 

Over and over again.

 

Then, life had changed, meaning suddenly flooded back to me in a wave of people I cared about.

 

The first were the visits to my Grandma which became weekly ordeals as I was finally able to enjoy her rambling stories and understand her advice.

 

Secondly, came a chance encounter with a woman at my gym, which then spiraled into long calls and lengthy texts, dates to places in my city I only ever went to alone, and having genuine fun times again; something which I thought had been lost to my childhood.

 

Lastly, and as if to celebrate the close of my stagnant four years of laziness and being lost, I received a phone call which would kickstart my career.

 

It felt like all the puzzle pieces were going to fit together, and things were finally looking up. Inside me a spark to try to better myself was lit, and soon it had become a raging fire which propelled me to try even harder.

 

However, as if catching up with an old friend I had almost forgotten about, my luck had abruptly reunited with me in the shape of a man who opened his trench coat to reveal he had bombs strapped to his chest.

 

An explosion, a quick feeling of overwhelming heat, intense pain, then utter calmness as I woke up within the cosmic expanse of what I now called simply ‘the between’.

 

Next, with little to no time to stomach how my life just ended and what I truly lost, a second chance was thrust in my arms and I was forced to deal with it.

 

Begrudgingly, and though I was tired of it all, I knew it was a way for me to find people I could care about again.

 

To try for one last time to get things right.

 

And so, as I opened eyes I knew were bright pink to the slight snoring of my Mother beside me; I made a promise to myself then and there.

 

‘Keep trying Daniel, even if hell freezes over or the world is turned to ash; just keep trying to live a better life.’

 

In a blur, one year as a baby passed by, and along with it my dignity as well. It was no well kept secret that babies wore diapers and were breastfed for food, two subjects best not elaborated on for my own peace of mind. 

 

However, slowly but surely, I got over all the complications of not controlling what my body did.

 

Although, I did confirm to myself that being reborn was only one step worse then dying to a suicide bomber.

 

It was utter torture.

 

In the meantime though, while wallowing in total misery, I focused my attention on the two people I knew I would cherish sooner rather than later.

 

Li Ren, a stoic man, and one who refused to hold me yet would always insist upon changing or bathing me.

 

Affection was almost a sickness to him, as he was a man of duty, so anything that ‘needed’ to be done would be by his hands with little wiggle room to argue. 

 

Li Ren was tall, calm, and always had his black hair pulled back and groomed to be formal. He cared a lot about his looks, had the roaming eyes of a warrior watching a tree line for enemies, and thin lips that only ever moved to frown upon his wife’s teasing. 

 

On the other hand, and where the ‘wants’ of my new life came from, was my new Mother An Ren. A woman with enough snark to hand out, caring hands as soft as clouds, and a voice so beautiful I would always fall asleep as she sang soft lullabies to me.

 

Her eyes shone the same pink as mine too, and her distinctive short rose pink hair was usually left to the whims of the world, ignorant to my Father’s ever twitching eyes.

 

Life, and dare I say it, was good.

 

Another three years had passed in this blissful bout of simplicity, and now at the age of four I had finally had enough motor control and freedom to explore Kuroyuri for all it had to offer. 

 

A breathtakingly clean village with cobbled streets, blooming flora, pure white walls with shingled roofs, and festivals held every month to keep everyone as happy as possible.

 

It was a beautiful slice of humanity, but I knew what would become of this place, and not a day went by that I did not remind myself to cherish it for as long as possible.

 

I would only be maybe five or possibly eight at the latest when It came to destroy everything. And currently I had no aura, no semblance, and even if I picked up a sword right now and trained while trying to somehow fight Grimm; no amount of battle experience could help me win against that.

 

So, I stomached the guilt bubbling in my gut, knowing sacrifices had to be made for the people I cared about.

 

I would make up for it, I would stop the fall of Beacon, I would make sure to give more than I took when I became stronger.

 

I made a promise to stay a good person.

 

However, right now my promises were just empty words, but one day I would reclaim Kuroyuri; both for my parents and the people I knew I would fail to save.

 

Moving on from depressing thoughts, my days began to set in the rhythm of a normal life. And like this, more months passed without much to mention.

 

However, not all things were so simple, and like any life complications did arise.

 

Especially as I currently sat on my rear, gulping and glancing upwards to see the branch I had been lazing about on had snapped at its base not but a few moments ago.

 

“Lie Ren!” My Mother was at my side quickly, her gentle hands grasping my shirt and pulling it up to check for injuries. “I told you not to climb-”

 

She stopped, and I waited for her to hug me like she always did, but instead her pink eyes turned wide as dinner plates as she froze still.

 

It took me only a moment to realize what had happened, and slowly I looked inward to see just what was broken as any four year old falling down from a tree should have been.

 

Bizarrely enough, I found myself to be completely fine, no pain to speak of present whatsoever.

 

Then, my Mother whispered a single word, and everything suddenly made sense.

 

“Aura.”

 

I met my Mother’s eyes, and I could see the slideshow of emotions slide across her face before she exhaled heavily, “Come on, we must see your Father.”

 

She easily picked me up, turning quickly and heading in the direction of our house. 

 

“Mother?” I asked in a whisper, so used to playing the clueless child it became second nature at this point. 

 

“Quiet Lie Ren.”

 

I nodded, looking back to see the branch I had fallen from drifting down the water channels that went throughout Kuroyuri.

 

“I’m sorry Mother.” I spoke in an innocent tone. 

 

“It will be okay, now be quiet.”

 

I nodded again, and I knew I put on this childish act for one reason only.  I believed my parents deserved a normal kid for however long until the Nuckelavee came, then I would do everything in my power to make them leave in time.

 

I saw their lives as more important than trying to keep who and what I was hidden.

 

That was plan Z however, and as I just came to learn I now had aura apparently, most of my plans with varying degrees of possible death were shifting around with better chances.

 

And as my Mother took me through the clean streets of the village, I took the time to try and feel my aura, one of the most important things in the entirety of RWBY. 

 

The manifestation of my soul, something which would protect me, would safeguard me on my journey through this world and give me strength to change it.

 

I noticed it almost immediately, a soft yet hard shell around my body, both cold and warm, quickly flowing yet painfully sluggish all at the same time.

 

Aura felt neutral, a cog without a purpose, a silent and emotionless soldier waiting for a command.

 

I would need to explore more of it later, but right now, I had to deal with how my parents would react to a four year old with aura, or honestly how the world thought about it.

 

Things like this were never mentioned, and if it was, it slipped my mind, because what age should someone exactly unlock their aura if they were able to?

 

Our quaint house came into view, stopping me from thinking further on it, and from the bow and quiver left against the side of the door, I might be getting my answers soon enough.

 

My mother pushed open the door harshly, “Li Ren.” she called breathlessly as if still in disbelief.

 

My Father, in his usual green and gold tang suit with a pink apron on, was dicing vegetables silently, almost like a machine with how precise he was.

 

However, the finesse was thrown out the window as he turned, seeing the look on my Mother’s face and dropping everything and rushing forward to hold her.

 

“What happened, are the Grimm attacking the village, have the village guard been notified?” My Father was already starting to untie his apron, eyes hardening for a possible future battle.

 

“No Father.” I spoke, hoping to help the situation I caused, even if it was not purposely.

 

“Then-” He was cut off by my Mother.

 

“Lie Ren has an aura.”

 

The silence that came after was deafening, and my Father’s yellow eyes scanned my Mother’s face for confirmation, then they immediately turned to meet my own.

 

“Were you attacked son, did someone try to hurt you?” He spoke calmly, but it did little to hide his bubbling anger.

 

I lightly shook my head, “No Father, I fell from a tree.”

 

For the first time that I could remember since I was born, My Father Li Ren laughed aloud, hand coming up and patting my head of black hair as he did so.

 

“Aura, it is the manifestation of one’s soul,” He stopped laughing abruptly, looking at me with a stern yet caring face. “The embodiment of choice, a gift everyone can be given, but also a burden to carry as well. Most never awaken it, because to unlock aura one must go through perils and survive, have someone with such a mastery of aura only headmasters of the academies or highly ranked Hunters can do it, or have a strong enough will to bring it forth.”

 

My Mother turned to observe how I was reacting, then furrowed her brows , “He is just a child husband, he won’t be able to understand all of that.”

 

My Father gave the faintest smirk, “You underestimate our son An, he is smart, strong, and wise. You did understood every part of what I just said, correct Lie Ren?”

 

I nodded, thankful that this wasn’t as drastic or troublesome as it could be, well until my Mother hugged me so hard any thought of breathing fled me like startled birds.

 

“I was so worried.” She said while still crushing me.

 

For the second time, the stoic exterior melted away as my Father chuckled, standing up and donning his apron once again.

 

“Dinner will be ready soon, would you like to join me in preparing son?”

 

“Yes Father,” I answered, finally released from my Mother’s grip and promptly placed on the floor as I caught my breath. 

 

I then fixed the wrinkles in my white and green tang suit, immediately scurrying over to start helping my Father.

 

With a glance back, my Mother gave a warm smile, saying she needed to use the restroom and leaving me alone with the warrior currently in a pink apron.

 

Most of the time passed in silence, though there was an abrupt instruction here and there, but only as the broth began to boil and everything was poured in did my Father finally speak in a full sentence.

 

“I know you practice with my daggers at night in your room.”

 

My body froze up, and the dishes I was washing sunk into the soapy water as I turned in surprise.

 

“Now, I am proud you are interested in something your Father does, but Ren, you must be careful. You have an aura now, holding a weapon has a deeper meaning than you could ever imagine. What will you use them for in the future son? To learn, to hurt, to save?”

 

Was this a question you were supposed to ask a four year old?

 

I looked back at the sink made of bamboo, staring at my own reflection on the surface of the water inside and watched as a cup let bubbles out as it sank to the bottom. A face I knew all too well stared back, one of a fictional character in a show I watched years ago, and also in a life vastly different from the one I lived now. 

 

Long black hair with a single lock of pink, bizarre yet stunning just as pink irises, a young and innocent face, though one currently holding a deep frown.

 

“To be a Hunter.” I said with a firm tone.

 

My Father nodded, “Like every boy your age does, I will ask another time, when you are older.”

 

With that, dinner was done, my Mother came back, and the Ren family enjoyed a quiet meal together like always.

 

The hiccup of having my aura changed little, though my Mother was a bit more rough when she punished me, especially as she learned of my escapades with very sharp curved daggers at night.

 

My Father was a traitor it seemed.

 

However, I knew that with aura, came something else that would give me the edge I needed in this world.

 

A semblance, my semblance, and one that I eagerly wanted to use.

 

A week passed of me being grounded, but once it was lifted I found myself in the poorer districts of Kuroyuri. And with a small population of only three thousand, the place was still better compared to bigger cities back on Earth. The buildings were just more worn, a few even with cracked walls, but most of it with a day's worth of cleaning would be suitable to live in again.

 

Currently, I stood within the most dilapidated home, glancing around to see the fallen wooden beams, cracked stones with grass or weeds peeking through, and spider webs sitting snugly in every crevice.

 

It was perfect.

 

And so, with a long inhale and exhale, I made the sign for what I knew to be the first summoning of the Ten Shadows Technique should be. 

 

This one was apparently special, as Divine Dogs were the first shikigami, and also integral part for later when summoning the tenth shikigami of the technique.

 

Mahoraga.

 

Anticipation rose in me, but when my hands clasped together in a familiar gesture, the anticipation turned to shock as a pink sheen of color washed over me and I took a staggering step backwards.

 

My aura was depleted completely, and thankfully I seemed to just have enough as I hadn't blacked out or got hit with a wave of exhaustion.

 

Blinking rapidly, and turning my attention back to my surroundings, I was met with two figures sitting before me in the midst of the home.

 

The first thing I realized was that they were both black, had white masks covering the upper part of their face, and also the red eyes resembling Grimm.

 

The second more tantalizing detail, they were puppies, so small it took every part of my manliness not to scream at how cute they were.

 

Then, with a jolt of energy through my body, something in me moved forward. I almost puked because of it, but after a few moments of closing my eyes and fighting past the nausea, I soon felt whatever had happened to me settle down.

 

Next, I revealed my eyes, however I did not need them open to understand the connection I now had with the two Divine Dogs before me. I could feel them, their location, their thoughts, their emotions, but most importantly their energy.

 

Cursed Energy to be exact.

 

For the last week of being grounded, I had plenty of time to sit within my small room and mediaite on the feeling aura gave off. It was neutral, like a calm lake with no channels to flow to.

 

The feeling of the two Grimm pups before me felt heavy, strong, and gave off a cold feeling like winter.

 

It was definitely Cursed Energy, and I honestly had no idea how to feel about it. Experimentation was most likely the next step, but for now I focused on walking forward and squatting down.

 

Without hesitation, one careful hand was stretched out to pet the one on the left, and the pulse of satisfaction that I felt through the connection told me she enjoyed it.

 

She?

 

How did I know that?

 

Then, another feeling came through our shared link, one of jealousy and wanting for comfort. 

 

I glanced to my right, meeting the pleading red orbs of what I knew now was a male, and he was soon happily sending signals of joy as I stroked right between his eyes to the middle of his back.

 

Alright, this was probably the greatest moment of my combined lives besides losing my virginity and graduating college. 

 

I always wanted a dog, but some part of me thought the idea stupid, the fear that I would neglect them, not treat them right, or just ruin it somehow always stopping me from going through with it.

 

Now, I was forced to have two, and I all but flipped in joy as I came to terms with it after petting them for another thirty seconds.

 

“Okay,” I said aloud, “We need names.”

 

I focused on the link, and noticed they agreed with me, which meant they understood what I was saying. Although, as I explored the weird feeling between us, I noted how much was just missing from them. It made sense, they had technically just been born a minute ago, so with the thought I backpedaled.

 

“We can do names later, I want you guys to develop a personality before doing it, First let’s…”

 

Let's what?

 

I was limited in what I can do, my best guess was that the small amounts of aura from being so young was the cause for their size, as with Sukuna he was able to amp up how big they were because of his massive amounts of cursed energy. Although maybe it was due to mixing in Great Serpent?

 

Damnit Gege, way to make things clear.

 

I exhaled slowly, pulling away my hands and ignoring the sadness that washed through our link. Taking a good look around the home I was in, I began to think of important questions I would need answers to.

 

First, how does one increase aura, is it like any other story where you exhaust yourself everyday and it will grow, or is it hard capped?

 

Second, why do Divine Dogs work with Cursed Energy, and how will it affect the technique going forth?

 

Thirdly, why don’t they use aura like me?

 

Fourthly, why the hell do they look like Grimm?

 

The last part was troubling, because the panic my semblance might bring if I randomly brought it out at critical times might be annoying to deal with.

 

“I’ll figure it out.” 

 

I glanced at my Divine Dogs still sitting, smiling at them as their tails wagged back and forth ceaselessly, knowing that in time everything would fall into place.

 

I still had two or three years before Kuroyuri was attacked, and in that time I needed to atleast get Nue, the second shikigami—or I guess Grimm now— to stand a chance at the ideas which swirled around in my head.

 

Now though, I had to figure out how to unsummon them, but as something started to happen to the connection which I assumed would dematerialize the Divine Dogs, I stopped the process as eagerness flooded through the link I had with them.

 

“What is it?” I asked in slight confusion.

 

The two black pups got up from their haunches, trotting over side by side before doing a slight hop in unison and disappearing into my shadow.

 

 

I grinned ear to ear.

 

“Now,” I turned to leave. “How do I convince my Father to train me…”