This story is the second of the NEOCROSS origins. This one is Keith's. It takes place after RWBY Volume 3.
Ruby sat on her bed, staring at the black bag that sat in front of her. the way she sat expressed sadness while her facial expression displayed guilt. How could she not feel guilty? It was by her own hand that someone else was lying at Death's door.
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Three days ago
Flashes of blue and silver illuminated the dark cavern as the scythe and twin swords clashed. Ruby, completely encompassed by her own silver aura, kept striking at her black haired opponent, who was already at enough of a disadvantage with a second soul, and by extension half his power, being extracted from his body to keep him from turning into a monster.
The other soul was being placed into a female body with red hair, as well as wolf ears and a wolf tail. The one extracting the soul was an old man that held the air of a leader. Standing with him were Ruby's friends, Jaune, Nora and Ren. With them was another boy who wore a black vest and white scarf over a white shirt. He had brown pants and black shoes. his hair was brown while his eyes were green. On his back rested a traditional scythe with the blade folded in to the handle.
"Keith!" the boy called, "Fall back, the transfer is making you weak. If you keep this up, you'll be killed!"
"I don't care Takeru!" Keith called back, his blue eyes burning with determination, "If I don't break her defenses now, we'll never get another chance! I'd rather die saving her than live knowing I let her down!"
"He wouldn't be fighting at all if he hadn't run off in the first place," Takeru said quietly, looking at the body now glowing with red aura, "Why do I get the feeling you already know how much pain you've caused him."
A burst of Keith's blue aura snapped Takeru's attention back to the fight. Keith tried to push Crescent Rose to the ground, but had one of his swords flung from his hands as a result. Keith dodged swing after swing of the scythe. He took the closest chance he had to save her from her own power, lunging in as she pulled Crescent Rose back for another strike. He reached for her with his free hand as she pushed Crescent Rose forward. The dispersal of silver aura temporarily blinded everyone.
Ruby opened her eyes to see Keith's face. His eyes were wide, the colour darkening.
"Keith?" she asked.
She received no response, except for the sound of his other sword clanging on the ground. His body lurched forward as she looked down to see Crescent Rose's blade deep in his chest.
"No," Ruby sobbed, pure panic in her voice as she pulled her blood stained weapon out, "please, no."
Everyone else's vision returned in time for them to see Ruby cradling Keith's lifeless body in her arms, sobbing at the thought of losing another friend. Blood and tears soaked into the dirt as footsteps echoed in the cavern. The sound made the wolf ears on the transfer body twitch. The girl opened her eyes and attacked the newcomer, pinning him to the cave wall. He looked like a high class man with a short beard.
"Coward!" the wolf snapped at him, tightening her grip on his throat, "You did this! He's dead because you're too afraid to fix your own mistakes!"
"You can't kill me," the man said with feigned confidence, "My resources are too valuable to the world."
"It'll heal."
With one squeeze of her hand, she snapped his neck. Now that she had shown that the transfer was a success, the old man could truly appreciate his handiwork. Not a single part of her body drooped or sagged, everything was held firmly in place by her slightly muscular frame. She made her way to Ruby, backhanding anyone who gazed lower than her face. When the wolf stood over her, Ruby held Keith closer, looking up in fear.
"I didn't mean it," she sobbed, "I wasn't in control."
"I know you weren't," the wolf crouched down, "I have already dealt with the issue." She began to reach for Keith, but Ruby pulled away, "Don't worry. The last thing I want is to bring him any more pain." She held her hand over his wound, which closed under the red glow of her aura. She then sent a surge of aura into his chest, jump starting his heart, "I'm still not used to this body, so he's still in danger of dying," she explained as Keith began breathing again, though only barely, "If I am to heal him completely, I must bring him back to Earth. Immediately."
The wolf picked Keith up and looked at the old man, who pulled out a device and used it to open a portal. The wolf turned to enter the portal when Keith grabbed Ruby's hand. The two girls looked at him.
"My bag," he said weakly, "back at camp. It's yours now."
Keith dropped his hand and the wolf made her way to the portal. She stopped to look at Takeru.
"You're not coming?" She asked.
"Someone needs to keep his swords safe while he's recovering." He responded, "Besides, I have more to do here." He tapped Keith's hand with his own, "Get well soon buddy."
The wolf entered the portal, followed by the old man, and it closed behind them.
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Present
Ruby hesitantly opened Keith's bag and carefully pulled the contents out. First was a video camera and a box of recorded discs. Second was a small sword wrapped in a tattered brown cloak. Third, an orange and gold dress. Fourth, a black tuxedo. Lastly, a photo album. Ruby opened the box of discs and noticed one on top labelled "Play me first". She put the disc in the camera and opened up the area with the screen. She closed her curtains, sat down, and pressed play. Keith popped up on the screen.
"Ruby," he began, "at the time I'm recording this, we've only just met. But I can tell that if anything happens to me while I'm here, I want you to gain possession of my belongings. What you're watching this on is the camera I used to make a video diary for the last six years of my life. The discs in the box are the previous entries. The cloak and sword are my childhood possessions. The dress was my mom's, the tux my dad's. The photo album is my family's. It holds memories from my parent's time at Nairen Academy and mine. Nairen is a school for warriors spanning from the third grade to the twelfth. You'll learn more about it as you view my diary. Please note that these are only my entries. My first year at the academy was covered by my trainer, so you're missing a year from the collection."
The video ended and Ruby looked at the items on her bed. She picked up the photo album and opened it to the front page. At first she thought she was looking at pictures of Keith, then she saw the heading.
Heads of the Jaquobes(Jacobs) Family
Judging from the pictures, Keith's messy hair wasn't due to him being in constant battle, it was a family trait. She followed the line with her finger until she arrived on Keith's grandfather. Bernard Archamedes Jacobs, 10/11/1956- . Since there was no death date, Ruby could only guess that Keith's grandfather was still alive. She moved one spot down the line, to Keith's father. Darryll Rasputin Jacobs, 06/12/1987-13/11/2001. Of all of Keith's family, his father looked the most like him. The only difference between them was that Keith's eyes were blue and his father's were brown. She looked at the last picture in the line. Keith Undella Jacobs, 15/07/2001- . Ruby looked back and forth between Keith's birth date and his father's death date. She couldn't believe that anyone could lose their family so soon after being born. She wanted answers, but she didn't want to look into Keith's diary just yet. She left her room, taking the photo album with her, hoping that the one person who could answer her questions was still here for his visit.
She was in luck. Takeru was still sitting at the table drinking coffee with her dad. Keith's swords leaned against the wall by the back door, tied together by the blades with Takeru's white scarf. Takeru looked up and noticed the album in Ruby's arms.
"I'm gonna need a lot more coffee," he muttered, then spoke up, "Sit down Ruby. If you want to talk about what I think you want to talk about, then we're gonna be here a while."
Ruby sat down and placed the album on the table. Takeru flipped through it before finding the right page.
"Keith's story starts here," Takeru explained, turning the album over so Ruby could get a proper look at it.
It was a newspaper clipping dated only one day after Keith's father's death. The headline told Ruby that Keith's life was anything but ordinary, even by her standards.
Nairen's Strongest Dead! Infant Child Orphaned!
And so begins the second of the NEOCROSS origins. If you have any questions regarding Keith, ask them and I will see if they can be answered in this story, if not, I could probably tell you personally.