"Many stories have been lost to time, swallowed up by the Grimm in their relentless drive to wipe Humans and Faunus alike from the surface of Remnant. Some of these stories told of heroes and civilizations, and others told of demons and disasters. Sometimes, these stories come back, though not always in the ways you'd expect."
— FanFiction.Net summary.
Grimmsdottir
is a fanfic written by CorduroyKoala set in the universe of RWBY. Returning from a mission, Oliver and Laurel, a pair of Hunters, find a naked and seemingly amnesiac girl wandering in the desert. After she is taken back to civilization and recovers, the girl, who the Hunters have named Aspen, declares she wants to be a Huntress and challenges Oliver to a duel, who promises to take her to the upcoming Vytal Festival if she wins. Remarkably, she is able to defeat both Hunters, and they follow through on their promise.
The fic is over thirty chapters long.
Grimmsdottir provides examples of:
- Amnesiac Resonance: Aspen's memory of any events before the fic is essentially nonexistent, but she mysteriously retains enough skill to defeat two veteran Huntsmen in combat.
- Ax-Crazy: Aspen's desire to fight and ferocity in combat is anywhere from "surprising" to "disturbing."
- Berserk Button: Aspen's hoodie. During her fight with Oliver and later with Team RWBY, Aspen "loses control" when her hoodie is damaged, even though it's only ever minor cuts.
- Battle Trophy: In Chapter 7, Aspen slays a group of Grimm and takes a Beowolf mask as a trophy.
- Big Bad: Deirean has made it very clear that he desires nothing less than the complete destruction of humanity, viewing them as a pestilence to be wiped out.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Most of Aspen's fight with Team RWBY. Not only does she manage to take down Yang, Blake and Weiss with ease, she does it with nothing more than a cut in her hoodie. At least, until she tries to fight Ruby.
- Dying Race: Aspen is one of the few surviving members of the Rephaim, a race of powerful, sentient precursors to the Grimm.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: Zwei uncharacteristically reacts aggressively to Aspen upon encountering her for the first time.
- Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Aspen qualifies, having been noted to have "incredibly pale skin," even more so than an Atlesian. If Weiss is anything to go by, that says a lot.
- Good Thing You Can Heal: Downplayed at first, Aspen recovers quickly from a sunburn and dehydration, then her heart stopping, before becoming apparent after being impaled by Crescent Rose and walking it off.
- Instant Expert: Aspen learns how to operate transforming weaponry in an instant, despite an apparent lack of official combat training.
- It's All My Fault: Shown in a flashback in Chapter 4, which reveals that Oliver may have been indirectly responsible for a teammate's death in the past.
- Laser-Guided Amnesia: The main character seemingly has no recollection of essential information for function in society, but retains an incredible level of combat prowess.
- Limited Wardrobe: Lampshaded by Emerald in Chapter 8.Emerald: Why do some people seem to only ever have one outfit?
- Made of Iron: Deirean. When Cinder confronts him in the ruins he's hiding in, she blasts him with fire, and while it does burn a decent portion of his skin off, he still has no trouble with running up to Cinder and grabbing her by the neck and choking her. And after THAT, he survives getting shot multiple times by Emerald, ultimately thinking to himself that while he will heal from his wounds, they will not be so fortunate.
- Morph Weapon: Carmine's weapon, a mass of rods that, with proper programming, can dramatically change shape and morph into a variety of weapon types on command.
- Named by Democracy: Oliver and Laurel give Aspen a name after she tells them she doesn't have one.
- Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: Nonverbal example. When Aspen unzips her hoodie, things get serious.
- The Smurfette Principle: Aspen has been placed on a team with three boys, whose original leader got expelled.
- The Speechless: Rhys, who is also the resident Silent Snarker of Aspen's new team.
- The Gunslinger: Oliver Cyprus
- This Is Gonna Suck: Oliver and Laurel in Chapter 4, after Aspen jumps into the arena to fight Team RWBY.Oliver: We are so screwed.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: The banter between Oliver and Laurel qualifies them for this trope.
