Softness, cold and breeze.

Those were the feelings that touched Shinji Ikari's body as his eyes slowly fluttered open, being greeted with the sight of shaking leaves, swinging branches and the clear night sky above him. Beneath his body were soft grass and cool soil, the dew staining his polo shirt and jeans and chilling his skin.

Yet it all felt so peaceful… So pleasant.

His mind drifted to his last conscious thought. What had he been doing before…

Third Impact.

Yes… Third Impact had been started.

Shinji immediately shot up in a panic, eyes wide as they scanned his surroundings. He expected this all to be a trick, a cruel illusion made by the EVA or whatever tool his father had used, that at any moment the forest would fade away and instead put him back inside the entry plug, with the massive orange wings of Unit 01 surrounded by the mass-produced Evangelions crucifying themselves and the massive form of Rei-Lilith peering towards him…

But it did not.

The forest breeze still brushed against his skin, the leaves still shook and fluttered, and the sky remained clean and starry.

Peace… He had… peace, after so long.

The relief flooded out through his entire body like the LCL he submerged himself so many times into in the name of fighting the Angels, tears welling in the corner of his eyes. How he longed for this… And yet, it had cost so much.

Asuka. Misato. Rei. Toji. Kaji. Ritsuko. Maya. Kensuke. Hikari.

Kaworu...

How much had been taken from him for this? Was this some sort of reward by the world for everything the Impacts and the Angels had taken from him? Peace… At the price of everything he knew? Was it worth it?

The sound of a grunt to the side pulled his mind from the increasingly depressing thoughts that threatened to overtake his mind. Shinji quickly turned towards the direction of the noise, spotting another body laying upon the grass just a few meters from him. Quickly, the Third Child crawled towards the person, the grass crunching softly under his hands and shins. He made to call the person, voice any word whatsoever to see if they replied.

But the intent died on his throat. Instead, Shinji stopped, one hand in the air trembling as his eyes once more widened in shock and his mouth hung agape.

Because once more, the impossible stared back at him. Because right here, in this unknown place where he now found himself, Shinji could fully see who it was upon the ground.

Clad in a yellow blouse, red jacket and cargo pants, a black eyepatch over her left eye and looking older than what he remembered, laid the Second Child.

In front of him, laid Asuka Langley Soryuu.

"A… A-Asuka…" mumbled the boy, his hand reaching down towards the girl's face. Her remaining eye slowly fluttered open, a heavy-lidded stare aimed at the sky at first, circling around her surroundings before settling upon the Third Child. "Asuka, I'm… I'm so happy to see you…"

There was a brief pause, the girl simply staring at the boy over her.

Then her eye shot open, and suddenly Shinji was once more with his back on the ground. Only this time, Asuka laid atop him, a hand clamped tightly around his neck and an expression of pure feral anger upon her face. His windpipe closed as her fingers tightened and what little air he could drag in seemed to cut into his airways. Shinji weakly reached up, grasping the girl's wrist as he stared into her hate-filled eye. "A-Asuka… What…"

"You… You idiot… Stupid…" she growled beneath her breath, her single blue eye seeming to glow as she spoke. Her grip tightened, drawing a gasp from Shinji as another sharp pang of pain hit him, eyes filled with fear and shock. His mouth opened again, a wordless cry welling inside him, when his eyes shifted to the right and widened even further. Asuka saw his shift in focus and quickly turned just in time to pull back her arm and stop a shoe-clad foot from smashing straight into her cheek. The Second Child was thrown to the side from the force of the attack, rolling twice before righting herself to glare at her attacker, only to feel her own shock rise.

Her assailant stood over Shinji's body as the boy gasped for breath with a hand gingerly over his own neck. She wore skin-tight black pants, a long-sleeved purple shirt and a white short coat.

Standing protectively over Shinji Ikari, with an icy glare directed solely at Asuka, stood the defiant First Child.

Rei Ayanami.

Her bright red eyes glared bloody murder at Asuka, fists clenched tightly at her sides and hair waving with the breeze. For what felt as eternity, they held gaze with one another, before Rei broke it off and kneeled onto the ground.

"Ikari-kun…" she said softly, grasping his wrist softly and lowering it away from his neck. The boy looked at girl in shock, before suddenly throwing himself bodily at her, wrapping his arms tightly around her torso and pulling the First Child onto his embrace. She made no sound, nor any overt reaction as Shinji buried his face on her shoulder, tears staining her clothes and hiccups shaking his head as the boy felt his panic wash away.

"R-Rei… Asuka… You're both alive…" he mumbled low, digging his fingers onto Rei's coat. Slowly, she raised her own arms and wrapped them around his torso, both simply holding one close to the other, even as Asuka watched from aside with a scowl. Hissing a low tsk, the Second Child rose to her full height, just in time to catch glimpse of yet another newcomer to their group.

"Well, isn't this a cheerful little sight" cooed a far-too-calm voice dripping with amusement, emanating from yet another girl. Red glasses contrasting her blue hairband, a blue jacket over a white shirt, pink pants and heavy-duty boots, a catty smile upon her lips and one hand on her hips. Shinji and Rei turned to the newcomer with confusion and suspicion, respectively.

Asuka merely glared at her, however. "What are you doing here, four-eyed favorite?" asked the red-head.

"Oh, princess, no need to show your fangs like that" replied the girl with just as much cheek as before. "We're all children of the EVA here… Though those two aren't the ones we know" she added, pointing lazily at Rei and Shinji. Asuka turned to face the duo, scrutinizing Shinji even further than before. The boy gulped under her glare and inched away ever so slightly, yet Rei's hand upon his shoulder managed to rein in his nerves enough.

"What the hell are you saying?"

"It means, Ms. Shikinami… That we find ourselves in a very curious situation"

And from behind the Fifth Child, Mari Illustrious Makinami, walked one more figure. Wearing a white polo shirt with a purple t-shirt under it, black jeans and white sneakers, the white-haired boy smiled warmly at all the gathered children, ignoring the shocked stares that both Rei and Shinji gave him.

"Hello, Shinji-kun" said the Thirteen Angel, Tabris.

"… Kaworu?"

-O-

A few minutes later, a small campfire crackled as the circle of four teenagers and one immortal alien huddled close to it, staring at the bright red-and-orange flames that pushed away the chill of the night. The silence that held its grasp on them all was like a thick aura, smothering any words that they tried to bring up, even as Mari bobbed her head side to side with that unnatural cheer she seemed to hold.

The reason for this had been the revelations Kaworu had brought to them all.

From Asuka's changed surname, to the bespectacled pilot Shinji had never met before, the death of Rei and an apparently different Third and Fourth Impact that were the cause for the Second Child's anger and Kaworu's suicide…

Both of which were caused by Shinji.

Or at least, in an apparently different timeline.

The shock of it had hit like a sledgehammer upon the original pilots. It was only exacerbated by the fact that for all intents and purposes, they were not upon Earth anymore. This was not a post-Impact world, or even a pre-Impact one. According to Kaworu, they were in a world unknown even to him.

The shattered moon hovering in space, lacking any blood marks as they all knew it to have, only served to cement such a conclusion.

And they didn't even know if humans or any life existed here.

For all intents and purposes, the Children of Adam and Eva were the last humans in existence. NERV, Tokyo-3, Angels, SEELE, their school, friends and duty to humanity… All left behind, as it had never happened.

Shinji pulled his knees closer to his chest, eyes half-closed as he eyed the burning flames. Honestly, he didn't know how to feel about all of this. On one hand, all the torment of his life was finally lifted from his shoulders, and he had company in the other pilots, even if their relationships seemed… Strained, to put it mildly.

On the other… Even if it was a hellish existence, even with all he had to endure… Earth had been his home. And he had friends that he had left behind in all the chaos and destruction of the Third Impact.

Third Impact…

When Asuka, Kaworu and Mari told him and Rei about how he had caused Third Impact due to what Asuka called "stupid, selfish reasons", the Third Child felt like his heart would have stopped then and there. He, the boy made to fight against monstrosities for the sake of saving humanity had instead caused their end, or at the very least another near-Armageddon.

Followed by his own father tricking him into almost starting Fourth Impact.

Gendo Ikari… A man who he never understood the reason was still his father.

Shunting these thoughts to the deepest corner of his mind, Shinji instead pulled his wrist closer and examined the one article of clothing that seemed to have escaped his initial moments in this unknown strange world. It was a deep-blue bracelet, with a bright orange button on its side, not unlike the cuff of his old plugsuit. Shifting his eyes slightly to the side, he saw that each of them had similar bracelets on, each looking exactly like his in form, but colored like their plugsuits. Ayanami's was black and red, however, and he could have sworn Kaworu's did not have blue on it…

His curiosity increasing with every second, Shinji prodded the button experimentally, and to his surprise and elation, the orange button sunk down with the small pressure applied to it. Rising to his full height, the boy eyed the bracelet one more time before pressing down on the button harder.

The other children watched in surprise as from the inside of the diminutive bracelet exploded out a wave of cloth that immediately wrapped itself around Shinji's body and then tightly compressed around his body, followed by a metal pod appearing in his back and expanding to cover his entire chest and shoulders.

Where once stood Shinji clad in civilian clothes, now he stood fully clad in his old Unit 01 blue-and-white plugsuit, lacking only the small units atop his hair.

Asuka was the first to stand up, eyeing the Third Child head to toe. "W-was in der... How did you do do that?" she asked in both suspicion and curiosity. The boy in return gave her a warm smile and raised his hand to eye-level.

"These apparently work just like our old plugsuits. Just press on them and they appear" he replied with as much cheerfulness as he could muster at the moment, slowly stretching his limbs around and feeling the familiar tug of the fabric against his body. Each of the children eyed their own bracelets before standing up and pressing down on the buttons, with their corresponding suits enclosing around their bodies. Yet Shinji was surprised by how… Different they were from his own.

Mari and Kaworu's, rather than having metal plating like own instead had rib-like pieces upon each side, and far more latex material than his own. The life support unit on the back also seemed smaller, and integrated directly into the suit itself.

Instead of a fully red piece, Asuka's had white upon her upper arms and purple legs, and metal ribs only just short of her armpits. It seemed far more… lithe than the one he knew belonged to her, or at least to the Asuka he knew.

Yet the most striking change had been to Rei's. Gone was her white plugsuit that he remembered from all the battles they fought alongside one another. In its place was a black, sleek one not unlike the one Kaworu wore, but with no metal parts and red accents around her shoulders.

The way Asuka stared at the suit did not put him at ease.

Ayanami looked down at her changed clothes, gently spinning around to gaze at the black uniform that she now wore. "… I do not remember this suit being used by NERV…"

"That's because it's from our NERV, dear friend" said Mari with a smirk as she stretched herself out. "Our Ayanami looked great in that, and so do you~"

"I see…" was all the First Child replied, leaving the Fifth to hum to herself in approval at her restored piloting uniform. The children remained as that, dressed upon their uniforms of time past, until Asuka let out a huff and started walking at in a random direction.

"A-Asuka, where are you going?!" asked Shinji nervously.

"I'm not waiting here for nothing to happen" she yelled back in return. "I'm going out there to find SOME civilization!". And with that, the red-head disappeared into the foliage, leaving only swinging branches and leaves in her wake. The others watched with varied expressions, followed by Mari letting out a shrug and following with her hands behind her back.

"Well, might as well help the princess in her little quest. Adieu, folks~" and with that, the Fifth Child left as well, disappearing on the same direction.

Not a moment later, Rei walked off without a word, leaving only the Third Child and Thirteen Angel standing beside the crackling fire. Shinji stared at the place the girls had left, before shifting his gaze down, his brow furrowing and fist clenching in anger.

"… What should I do… What am I supposed to do?" muttered the boy, when he felt something fall upon his shoulder, and when Shinji turned, he saw Kaworu's hand resting upon him, the boy giving him a wide, cheerful smile.

"I've told you before, didn't you, Shinji-kun?" asked the angel, inching closer to the boy and staring deep onto his eyes with his own bright red ones. "If you want to live well, you have to change and try new things". Kaworu drew his hand away from Shinji's shoulder and walked towards the same direction as the others, but then turned back to face the Third Child once more. "Maybe, this will be where we find your happiness, don't you agree?". And with that, he left, leaving Shinji alone with the crackling fire behind him.

What should I do…

…

No… What shouldn't I do?

Run away

I mustn't run away

I mustn't

-O-

Stupid Shinji.

Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Asuka grumbled as she made her way through the forest, pushing aside any branch in her path with a grimace, the plugsuit's material mercifully slick enough that it never caught onto anything nor ripped.

Yet that was the least of the things currently occupied her mind.

No, it was stupid Third Child.

This Shinji Ikari.

It wasn't enough that after all that happened she couldn't cram some sense into his head, it turned out it'd be useless. This Ikari instead was even more clueless and had no idea of anything she had went through, what everyone at WILLE had to face.

Instead, he told her how the Asuka he knew ran away, went insane then died at the hands of the Mass Production Evas sent by SEELE.

How could… she… have ended up so weak? Mama always taught her to be strong.

But she'd prove them all. Asuka Langley Soryu might have lost. But Asuka Langley Shikinami had survived Third and Fourth Impact. She'd survive this, no matter what.

"Have something in your mind, princess?" pipped up that annoyingly familiar voice as her most recent co-pilot caught up.

"Hmph. Nothing at all" replied the redhead, keeping her eyes up-front. "But that idiot continues to surprise me with every moment"

"Hoh? Well, he is kinda lost when it comes to us, isn't he?"

"Still, the fact he still finds in himself to be so weak-willed. Honestly, how did he even become an Eva pilot…"

"Oh, don't be like that. The pup does his best, just like us… Well, this pup does".

The reply elicited a scoff from Asuka. "Doing his best", right… Then again, from what he had said, he tried his most to protect his Asuka. And Third Impact hadn't been his fault. Instead, he had been like the whole of WILLE's staff: a tool that had been tricked and used by those above them.

Seems after all that the life of a Child of Eva indeed was suffering… No matter the parallel timeline.

The last thought did draw a chuckle from the Second Child, and really, how could it not? After fighting alien creatures hell-bent on causing the apocalypse for the Lilin, having said apocalypse almost end them all, twice so, and now being found dumped in some nowhere world with three other pilots and a demoted Angel. Whatever came next, it would be hard-pressed to surprise her.

Grooooowl…

In hindsight, she probably should not have tried her luck so soon.

Both Asuka and Mari immediately jumped back-to-back when they heard the bestial sound echoing from the trees around them. Their eyes, trained and accustomed to the erratic and impressive speed of Angels and other inhuman enemies, darted from point to point seeking the source of the animalistic growl, yet in the darkness of the night and with the moonlight blocked by the treetops, it proved a very much difficult task.

But not impossible.

In the umbra of the forest, they saw them. Shapes, moving stealthily to encircle them, and they were large. Very large. With glowing yellow eyes that appeared and vanished into the foliage.

"Seems we have company after all" chuckled Mari, her eyes darting between the shapes. "And they really want our blood". Asuka response was merely to growl in annoyance and raise her fists, her gaze held firmly up and forward. If these things wanted her blood so badly, they were in for the fight of their lives. She hadn't survived two apocalypses just to die now.

Yet as the creatures finally emerged from the foliage, even the Second Child realized things would be… Complicated.

The animals looked very similar to the wolves she had seen pictures of back on Earth, but that was as far as the comparison went. These were much larger, almost the size of a car, and with pitch-black fur. Large white bone spikes covered its limbs and back and a skull-like mask marked with red patterns covered its head, with vicious fangs lining its maw.

Five such creatures snarled at the Second and Fifth Children, their hate-filled eyes seeming to glow brighter still as they trudged towards the two girls, who both took a step back in the face of the animals.

The irony was not lost to them here. Inside an Evangelion, they were near invincible. But out of it, they were just Lilin.

It did not mean she wouldn't fight.

"Well well, aren't you all adorable pups?" teased the Fifth Child, lowering her body to the ground. "Let's hope we can tire them out a little bit at least, shall we captain?". And as if in response, the two closest creatures roared and leapt forward, claws outstretched and maws wide open, ready to tear them apart. Asuka's entire body tensed, and she could near feel the adrenalin flood her body, when another sound hit her ears.

"ASUKA!"

Followed by something far more physical hitting her body and pushing her aside from the path of the massive animal as it sailed over her prone form, crashing down onto the ground and tearing gouges onto the dirt with its claws. A loud yelp confirmed Mari had the same happen to her, the pink-clad girl falling in a heap with a weight atop her. It took quite a few blinks of her eye before she managed to properly see her "savior": a blue-clad boy gasping for breath that held her pinned to the ground. Beside her, Mari stared up

"Brat Shinji?! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she screamed, wriggling her arms under his grasp, only for the Third Child to slam them against the ground and stare her straight in the eye.

"I'm not letting you die here, Asuka! I already lost you once, I won't lose you again!" he yelled back, shaking her shoulders as tears fell from his eyes. "I don't care if you're the Asuka I knew, you're still Asuka!". The boy then stood and faced the snarling black wolf and wiped away the tears in his face. "I ran away before… And I won't now… Not anymore!".

Seeing easier prey in front of it, the wolf let out another roar and rushed forward, leaping into the air once more with claws outstretched.

"I mustn't run away…"

"YOU BRAT, GET OUT OF THERE!"

"Ikari-kun!"

"O-Oi, pup!"

"I mustn't..."

ROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAR

"AND I WON'T!"

A bright light erupted from his chest, blinding the three children and forcing the wolves to look away. The one still in the air, however, could do nothing more than fall forward, jaw wide open and aimed at the child's head…

And from the blinding light, two hands shot forward and grasped the creature's jaws, forcing them apart and away from the intended prey. And as the light subsided, the children stared in shock at the snarling, imposing form standing between Shinji and the beast.

Clad in purple, green and black, two pylons resting on its shoulders, glowing white eyes and dull-red teeth, with a katana on its left shoulder and rifle on its right, stood the savior and destroyer of humanity, who caused Third Impact and brought ruin to Earth. And Shinji could only watch stupefied as once again, it appeared to aid him.

"Unit… 01…"

With a mighty roar, the Eva hoisted the wolf into the air and tossed it over itself and its pilot, the creature landing atop one of its pack members in a heap, a mass of fur and limbs squirming as they tried to right themselves. The other children stared dumbfounded at the Evangelion standing in front of Shinji protectively, arms outstretched and ready to fight before it turned back to its chosen pilot, its mouth closing and posture straightening before offering one hand to him.

Shinji stared at the Evangelion with an uncertain eye, then steeled himself and took the outstretched hand with his own. Almost immediately, the Third Child's body turned into the same light and flew into the machine. Its eyes flickered for one moment, followed by the Eva jerking slightly and turning to face the monstrous creatures that were once more on their feet, drawing the sword from its shoulder.

"Shinji Ikari, Evangelion Unit 01! Launching!"

The wolves glared even more furiously at the new threat, their eyes glowing even brighter as they howled as one and charged, yet only two charged the purple humanoid. The other four decided instead to chase the more defenseless looking prey.

Namely, the other children.

Their mistake was proven when as soon as the three girls shot up from the floor and readied themselves, similar lights burst from their chests, enveloping all three children in a blinding white flash. Just as the wolves were to reach their previously easy prey, three shapes rushed forward to meet them, brandishing a spear, a fork-shaped lance and a rifle with a glowing purple bayonet.

"Evangelion Unit 02, coming through!"

"Evangelion Unit 00, commencing attack"

"Eva Unit 08, locked and loaded!~"

Unit 02 quickly swung its spear upwards, catching one of the wolves on the chin with it. Asuka screamed as she pushed the blade with all the strength the Eva could muster, before finally flesh gave way to the vibrating edge and the spear split the creature's skull in two, black ichor flying into the air and coating the ground and weapon.

Mari leapt forward with a cheerful yell, kicking the wolf monster's head and forcing it into a backflip, exposing its far more vulnerable belly to attack. The Fifth Child wasted no time, making a backflip herself before using her AT-Field to booster forward and impale the Thunder Spear all the way to "barrel" on the creature's torso. The wolf squirmed as it tried to writhe the blade out of its body, yet it was for naught as Mari spun and tossed the wounded creature at the final Eva. Unit 00 quickly hoisted its Spear of Longinus up and thrust it forward, impaling the wolf on its prong and swinging it around before slamming the dying creature into the final living one, both bodies being launched onto a tree hard enough to split it in two and leave both creatures unmoving upon the ground.

Shinji grit his teeth as he watched both wolves rush him, one on each side, both wishing to tear into him and his Eva. It was the one on the left that showed far more eagerness in its blood lust, rushing faster while low on the ground before throwing itself at its intended prey, jaws snapping and ready to bite down on armor and flesh. Yet it did not get far before Shinji raised an open palm at the creature, and the animal found itself slamming against a shimmering orange octagon that materialized in thin air. With one target occupied, Shinji turned to the second monster just as it neared him and lashed out with the Magorox sword, slashing horizontally at the threat.

The creature, to its credit, reacted quickly and bit down on the blade with all the intent to stop it. Its action only led to it clamping down its fangs onto the high-frequency blade, something it only had seconds to regret before the rapidly vibrating sword broke its fangs and drove through its cheeks and head, cleanly slicing the monster in two as the creature's own momentum carried it forward. Both halves sailed past the Eva, splattering it with black sludge before falling onto the ground.

Shinji quickly turned to face the remaining wolf still clawing at the AT-Field uselessly, when a melodic whistle slowly reached his ears. Before he could even question the source of the sound, it revealed itself as a red blur shot from the foliage and impaled the last wolf, dragging it off and forcing through several trees, kicking up dust and toppling barks as the body was near from the sheer speed of the impact.

And as the red blur shot back from where it had landed, it flew back into the hands of its owner who calmly walked from within the forest.

"It would appear we've found ourselves with a very pleasant surprise" said Kaworu from within the Evangelion Mark 06, holding upon its hand the Spear of Cassius.

And as the children stared at one another from within the confines of their Evangelions, then at the bodies of the creatures that slowly disappearing into black smoke, they could certainly agree. Yet one thing seemed obvious.

That even in this mysterious new world, cut away from their previous lives…

The Evangelions remained by their side. Whether they wished for it, or not.

And so, under a shattered moon, the Children of Eva begun their new tale.

-O-

On the topmost room of Beacon Academy, staring at the image on his scroll of the surveillance system meticulously placed and maintained on the forests that surrounded the city of Vale, Ozpin sipped from his cup as his eyes scrutinized the five armored figures standing amidst the vanishing remains of a pack of Beowolves that had made the poor choice of attacking these unknown children.

Without taking his eyes off the screen, the headmaster of Beacon Academy shifted the camera feed to the side and opened the call function, quickly calling up two contacts marked as "Q" and "G". It took only a few seconds for both to pick up, and Ozpin gave them no time to question.

"Glynda, Qrow, please come to my office immediately" he said in a low, serious tone. "We have found something… Most interesting"

~O~

Heyo folks!

So umm… Yeah… This is the reason the next chapter of Discarded Blade got delayed.

Heheh…

So, I'll be very frank. I've never watched RWBY. At all. My first contact and interest on it have been solely due to reading fics ABOUT the series here in this site, and truth be told I found myself interested.

I maaaaaaay or may not have been in a big Evangelion mood at the same time and also realized that no one had tried making something quite like this, soooooooo…

Yeah, I made the thing.

For anyone that's confused, here's the pointers: Shinji belongs to the prime Eva timeline (that is, the anime), while the others belong to the Rebuild timeline.

I wrote this mostly so I could get an introduction done for it at the very least. Truth be told, I feel it is kinda rushed, but at the same time stretching it out too much would feel artificial to me, especially since it began with the Children in the middle of nowhere.

Yet worry not folks, I'll have plenty of time to write now, because I got fired from work! *crab rave dance*

So yeah, big delays to writing due to work being ultra-chaotic, but now plenty of free time because I'm unemployed. Plus my graphics card fried so I can't plays games on my computer and I gotta go after the warranty. Overall, start of the year has been hectic.

I'll do my best to finish the next chapter of Discarded Blade, but for now, I leave you all with this.

Stay safe and healthy, folks!