Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY
Beacon Of The Dead - Chapter 1 - Bloody Beginnings
Weiss was rudely awoken by a violent shaking. With a frustrated cry she waved her hand wildly to knock away whoever was disturbing her from her peaceful slumber, kicking her blanket and bed sheet madly into the air in the process.
"UUUUH! What is it?!"
She yelled as she pulls herself upright from the bed, her normally neat white hair in a completely dishevelled mess, with some strands of her silvery hair sticking up pointing skywards. Ruby quickly backed away from the fuming heiress while she stretched herself awake tiredly. Fiddling nervously with the brim of her rose coloured cloak, Ruby explained to the sleepy Weiss.
"So…we're kinda late for class today….."
Weiss's icy blue eyes popped open in panic.
"What?! We're late? Why didn't you wake me up sooner!?"
She scolded the younger huntress-in-training as she threw herself off the bed and scrabbled up to her feet, rushing to grab her usual ensemble off a coat rack which hung on the adjacent wall.
"Well you looked so cute when you were asleep so I didn't want to distu-."
Ruby was quickly interrupted by a pillow that impacts her face with a surprisingly monstrous force, knocking the scythe wielder onto the bed.
"Where's Blake and Yang?"
Weiss asked as she hopped up and down, trying to put on her boots and jacket as quickly as possible. Her question was quickly answered as the two larger members of their team emerged from the bathroom, already dressed, with the exception of the comp sticking out of Yang's luscious golden hair which was kept as her usual wavy mane which stretched the length of her back. Blake, with a light smile swiftly dislodged the comb from the blonde's hair and threw it haphazardly back into the bathroom. The Faunus made a quick check to see if her bow was in order before turning her attention back to the fuming Ice Princess.
"You are all insufferable…"
Weiss sighed as she tied up her hair into her signature sideways ponytail and prepared to leave the dorm.
After sprinting halfway through the expansive academy they barged into the lecture hall panting.
"We're…here…professor!"
Ruby declared between the heavy breaths she was taking, hunching over as she pressed her hands against her knees.
"Ah…nice of you ladies to finally join us, please take a seat."
Came the hearty booming voice of Professor Port from the front of the hall, his thick grey moustache twitching as he talked.
As the class dragged on the group noticed something odd sitting on the front desk: A large white sheet that covered something on the front table. They exchanged curious looks , they were all thinking the same thing, of course Weiss tried her best to ignore it but it got harder as the minutes went by with the mystery of whatever it was that was hidden not to mention the constant nudging from Yang that always seemed to bring out the worst in the heiress, bring her normally short temper even shorter.
At the ring of the bell the students soon got up to exit the hall. With the exception of the group who got up simultaneously and approached the plumb professor.
"Girls? Is there something you need?"
Professor Port asked, raising his eyebrow is interest.
"Well…"
Weiss, much to the surprise to the rest of her group was the first to speak up.
"We were curious about what was underneath that cloth…"
She asked politely as she pointed at the sheet that covered the mystery object on the table.
"Ah…..well…."
He said as he grabbed onto a corner of the cloth and pulled it down to the ground. It revealed a small cylindrical glass container sat a small, strange looking jet black liquid sitting at the bottom of it. The substance seemed to churn and swirl inconsistently at the base of its container. The four girls quickly went up close to examine the peculiar element.
"Cool…..What is it?"
Yang asked, looking extremely underwhelmed.
"That's exactly what I'm going to find out. You see, we found a large amount of this splattered on a couple trees in the Forever Fall early this morning. We took a sample to try and figure out what is was, so far we don't have a definitive answer but..."
The plumb professor walked in between the group and placed his finger on the glass container. Immediately, the liquid, with a life of its own leapt towards the direction of the finger only to splat itself against the glass wall, slowly dripping back to bottom of its glass cage. The four huntresses-in-training jumped back in surprise.
"As you can see it demonstrates more characteristics of an animal rather than a liquid."
"Is it Grimm?"
Blake questioned, slightly concerned. The worry was quickly shared by the rest of the group as well. It was a fairly sound speculation given its black colour and its fondness of trying to hit any living creatures within it's grasp.
"I can't say for sure….."
Professor Port quickly replied
"But, if it was Grimm, it means they are getting far more advanced then we have could have ever imagined."
A terrifying silence loomed over the room as the girls looked at each other in worry. It was unexpectedly broken by a faint tapping sound.
"Um…girls."
Weiss muttered with shakiness to her voice not commonly heard as she backed away from the desk, pointing at the glass container. The rest turned to look at the glass vessel as the black goo rammed itself against the side of the container, minute cracks began to form on the area it was impacting. Instinctively, they all drew their weapons and took aim at the vile liquid as it knocked harder and harder against the glass. Raising his arm to push the girls back he advanced closer to the living liquid, his Blunderaxe raised as he inched closer. Suddenly, the liquid broke free of its glass cage with a deafening shatter. The now free creature pounced right onto Professor Ports face. With a blood-curdling yell he knelt down onto the ground, coughing and gagging violently. The dark fluid nowhere to be seen.
"Professor!"
The girls all shouted in unison. Ruby was the first to rush over to the incapacitated professor.
"Are you alright? What happened?!"
She asked as she reached over to the professor's shoulder. To everyone's shock the professor let out an animalistic snarl as he turned around to face the girls. His moustache stained crimson with blood and foam. His eyes glowed bright red between his slit eyelids as he growled at the youngest of the group.
"P-Professor?"
Ruby turned pale with fear as she looked directly at the professor, Crescent Rose slipping from the dumbfounded girl and landing on the floor. With a roar, Professor Port gripped onto the scythe wielder and pinned her to the ground, his jaws biting down millimetres from the petrified Ruby. A bright flash of light was instantly followed by the crackling of gun fire as the confrontation was quickly brought to a bloody halt as the now mostly headless Port tumbled lifelessly off the blood covered fifteen year old. Everyone froze is pure horror. Yang's outreached arm locked in place, the barrel of Ember Celica smoking after the fresh discharge of rounds, while Blake and Weiss stared, stunned at the decapitated corpse of their lecturer. Ruby lay motionless on the ground, her silver eyes vacant as she gazed at her shaky, blood covered hands. The thud of Yang dropping to her knees as the reality of what she just did sank in broke the quietness. Blake brought Yang back to her feet while Weiss rushed to Ruby's side. Pulling the still scared-stiff Ruby upright before trying to shake her awake.
"Ruby. Ruby! Listen to me!"
She tried to break the younger member of her team out of her trance while she tried to deal with the shock herself.
"Wh-What happened…?"
She asked softly, barely able to move.
"I….I…."
Weiss was unable to answer her as she helped Ruby to her feet. Blake was able to get Yang to sit down on a chair as the blonde stared at the person she had just ended.
"What have I done? I-I killed him!"
She ran her hands though her sweat-slick hair.
"Calm down!"
Blake was quick to try to knock sense into her teammate. She stared painfully at the dead instructor, dark red blood oozing out of the body's neck and forming a disgusting pool beneath it, a large splatter of blood and brain-matter on the side of the table.
"What made him do it?"
Ruby finally spoke, her outfit smeared with crimson, dotting her cloak with drops of dark red that was still very visible on the red cloth.
"It must've been that liquid inside the container. It must have driven him insane."
Blake deduced coldly, turning her attention back to Yang, who had since calmed down but was far from recovered.
"What do we do now?"
The blonde muttered flatly, her face still noticeably pale.
"I suppose we report this to Professor Ozpin…."
Blake was interrupted by Weiss who had just let Ruby sit beside her sister. The two siblings cuddling up next to each other for support.
"Wait, there's more of whatever that stuff was in the Forever Fall isn't there?"
She had recalled what the late Professor had said about the existence of more of the hellish sludge.
"I-If there's more of that…thing outside doesn't that mean…."
Ruby's voice quickly tapered off as it became apparent that the issue was far larger.
A violent commotion was soon heard from outside the room. Tensing up, they all turned to the door. Blake unsheathed her blade as she signalled with a movement of her head for Weiss to follow. With a silent nod she cast a quick glance at still slightly spaced out sisters as she held onto each other, considering what just happened and what they did she didn't blame them. Weiss drew out Myrtenaster and clicked one of its cylinders in place. Standing on either side of the door they gripped the handles of their weapons tighter, exchanging nervous stares the two prospective huntresses pressed their ears against the door, the incoherent noise in the hall got clearer as they listened. Yelling, screaming, weapons firing, the gruesome sounds of blades and blunt objects impacting seemed to echo through the halls outside.
"What do we do now?"
Weiss mouthed, not wanting to make any unnecessary racket. The Faunus shrugged her shoulders as she turned to check on Ruby and Yang. The sister had since stood up and began walking up to the rest of their group. Blake and Weiss backed away from the doors to meet the siblings halfway.
"You two alright?"
Blake whispered.
"Y-Yeah."
Yang was able to answer. Ruby only nodded hesitantly, fresh blood still speared on her face and clothes. They were jolted when a something smashed against the door, pushing the door slightly inwards as its lock tried desperately to resist.
End Of Chapter 1.
A.N: Thanks for reading any suggestions on how to improve my work would be great. I know, the title of this series is blatantly taking from High School Of the Dead but I don't really care (I'm not creative enough.). I will be updating the stories weekly (hopefully) any change in schedule will be addressed in the next chapter or edited in the current one. I'll do my darnedest to keep the update time table up and I'll be sure to include as many zombie story cliches as possible.