🎵From the shadows, we shall descend upon the world.
We will reclaim what was stolen from us.
From the shadows, we shall seize back our destiny,
And set our future free.
Then we shall rise.
We shall rise.🎵
······
🎵Taking everything we desire,
And we will rise.
We will rise.
We will rise.🎵
---
The opening song rose with lyrics about descending from the shadows, taking back what had been stolen, reclaiming destiny, freeing the future, and rising.
Red maple leaves covered the mountains and plains, lifted by the autumn wind. The crimson world seemed restless and frenzied amid the intense singing.
Boom!
A deafening explosion came from the high-speed train. In an instant, the rear half of the carriages snapped apart, derailing under enormous momentum and tumbling into the valley, crushing countless red maple trees along the way.
"Damn it!"
Adam looked back at the tragic scene behind him and cursed harshly. The spear in his hand shot out like a venomous dragon emerging from the sea. As his body flickered, several automated guard machines around him were sliced into pieces.
Yet the culprit that had split the train apart, and also the most troublesome enemy, was firmly locking onto him from the front of the train: a uniquely shaped, pure-white giant robot, the crystallization of all the Schnee Dust Company's cutting-edge technology, named the White Peace.
"White Peace? Developed to fight Grimm? How much Faunus blood will a weapon like this end up stained with?"
Noticing the surging laser gathering at the chest of the giant white robot, Adam steeled himself and held the black-and-red spear horizontally before his chest. The space around him seemed to darken abruptly with his movement. Eerie red lines of light spread from his hand across the entire spear, then covered his body.
Adam glanced toward the distant mountaintop and muttered inwardly:
"The rest is up to you, Blake."
Whoosh!
A laser thick enough for several people to wrap their arms around blasted out. It struck before Adam's spear shaft, only to be blocked by a red energy shield that appeared there. The eerie red glow and surging white light intertwined. The powerful impact forced Adam back step by step, leaving a deep furrow across the steel roof of the train.
On a distant mountaintop, Blake, who had already been knocked off the train earlier, held the iaitō in her hand horizontally.
When she pulled the blade free with a heavy expression, hundreds of inverted-triangle white glimmers appeared along the scabbard. Each glimmer represented a separated segment of the scabbard, forming the structure of a steel sword-whip.
Only this time, the sword-whip did not extend. Instead, it curved and contracted to the extreme, transforming into a longbow. When Blake placed the iaitō before the bow, a white bowstring automatically appeared.
Across the distance of several mountains, the sword-arrow in Blake's hand locked onto the giant white machine atop the speeding train.
The arrow was released, blooming like a flower of annihilation.
Maple leaves fell, swept into thousands of crimson waves by the wild wind.
One arrow crossed the sky, like white lightning piercing through the giant white machine's chest.
Boom!
This explosion from the train swept away all the surrounding maple leaves. Whether it was the train or that strange giant guard robot, both were reduced to ashes in the blast.
"Hmph, nothing more than that!"
Adam walked out of the flames unharmed and let out a disdainful snort at the wrecked train. Yet when he turned his head, his expression stiffened. He stared straight at the distant mountaintop, though the strange mask covering his eyes made his gaze impossible to see.
"Adam, goodbye."
On the mountaintop, Blake looked sorrowfully at the train burning with raging flames. Without hesitation, she turned and disappeared into the red maple forest.
······
"This is our work!"
Matsuoka Taira stared intently at the video playback demonstration on the computer, his breathing growing rapid from excitement.
Majima Hana walked over and placed two bottles of drinks on his and Miyauchi Ema's desks, smiling.
"Good work. The president said this is the final version and doesn't need any revisions. Barring any accidents, it should be officially uploaded to Fakebook this afternoon."
After taking a sip of her drink, Miyauchi Ema looked at Matsuoka Taira's excited expression and asked, strangely:
"Are you crying, Matsuoka?"
"Of course! I'm really moved. As a 3D production staff member, this is the first time I've felt like I was truly making a work. And on top of that, it's such an outstanding work."
Matsuoka Taira wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and spoke excitedly. Ever since he had come into contact with the 'RWBY' series, he had become deeply absorbed in it. Now that he was part of the 'RWBY' production team, how could he not be excited?
Miyauchi Ema put down her drink and said speechlessly:
"You're clearly the only man in our group. Forget it~ I can more or less understand how you feel now."
Majima Hana watched the video on the screen come to an end. When she found their names in the creator list, she immediately smiled.
"It feels a little hard to believe. After all, we made such an excellent short animation in such a short time."
Sitting in her office chair, Miyauchi Ema smiled.
"Less than ten days, excluding the initial practice stage."
······
On January 20th, the third character trailer in the 'RWBY' series, 'Black—Leaping Shadow', was officially released on Fakebook.
Because the name 'RWBY' had already become famous, hundreds of thousands of viewers from all over the world watched it simultaneously the moment it was released. The data traffic was so heavy that the video playback page crashed several times that day and had to undergo emergency repairs.
'Black—Leaping Shadow' maintained a high level of quality while possessing a style completely different from the first two works. With the same art style and basic elements, 'Black—Leaping Shadow' not only brought viewers a visual feast of action, but its automated guard machine designs also received unanimous praise.
Viewers developed a deep interest in the worldbuilding of 'RWBY'. Just what kind of world setting could give birth to shadow wolf packs, modern gangs, and even science-fiction-style transforming machines?
These seemingly mixed-together elements did not feel out of place at all under 'RWBY's art style and foundation. Interesting and varied settings, exquisite and unique visuals, gorgeous action with real impact—these shared elements of the 'RWBY' trailers always brought surprises to the audience, and in turn generated even more discussion.
This kind of discussion was especially important to a work's "lifespan." The broader the discussion, the greater its fame would become.
On Fakebook's animation board, the three 'RWBY' character trailers had already become a phenomenon-level topic. Out of every ten thread titles, at least one would inevitably be related to 'RWBY'. It would not be an exaggeration to call the 'RWBY' series the treasure of Fakebook's animation board.