RWBY: Destiny of Two

Prologue: Beginning of the End

"Ruby, no!"

Ruby's eyes were widened with shock. For a moment, she felt no pain, but time around her seemed to slow. When she looked down at her chest, the young huntress saw an arrow stuck inside of her. Her right hand made feeble attempts to wrap around it. She could not hear Jaune crying out for her, the sounds around her were muffled and vague. It was then did the pain set it and weakened her. She dropped Crescent Rose onto the floor and fell to her knees while tears streamed from her eyes and blood trickled from her mouth.

"Save her quickly!"

She saw General Ironwood run past her with his revolver blazing. While his shots were dead on, Cinder had blocked all of them. Nevertheless, it did not deter him and he reloaded his weapon and fired some more. The Fall Maiden closed in and gripped Ironwood by the neck and blasted him back in a fiery explosion. His Aura took the brunt of the damage but the concussion he suffered as he hit against the wall rendered him dizzy. Blake and Yang had rushed to his defence. The cat Faunus had tied Cinder up with Gambol Shroud while Ruby's sister dashed forward with her mechanical arm cocked back. Yang's hair was ablaze and her eyes were red with anger.

Cinder managed to free an arm and pulled Blake in before tossing her at Yang. The two tumbled backwards. Emerald and Mercury managed to reach to Cinder the same time Qrow and a veteran hunter burst into the ruined chamber. Salem's entire mansion was a mess with Salem's followers and the creatures of Grimm clashing with hunters and huntresses from all across Remnant. Qrow paused for a moment with a look of horror on his face when he saw Ruby wounded. He shouted something at Jaune, and the blonde teen rushed over to prop her up.

"C'mon Ruby, stay with me! You'll be fine!"

An alpha Beowulf pounced at Jaune and separated him from Ruby. Though her vision was getting blurry and her eyelids getting heavier, she saw Salem approach after she impaled Weiss with her own weapon and casually tossed the wounded Schnee aside. Some of the other hunters tried to stop her, but all of them were batted aside as if they were merely insects. When she was right in front of her, Salem kneeled down and smiled softly at Ruby. She placed a hand on Ruby's cold and sweaty cheek.

"Do you believe in destiny, Ruby Rose?"

Ruby was too weak to answer, but it did not matter to her. Salem snapped her finger, and the Beowulf that pinned Jaune down began clawing at his face. He responded by swinging Crocea Mors at his attacker.

"My destiny is to destroy mankind, and by extension, that means you too. You were never destined for greatness. Like many silver-eyed warriors of the past, your destiny is to die. Accept it, embrace it."

She held up a relic which glowed a deathly light. It was the Relic of Destruction. Ruby let off a soft and weak gasp, and Salem chuckled before dropping her unceremoniously. When she let go of the Relic, it floated up and orbited around her. She took out 2 more relics, and they too orbited around her. There was one more orb missing but it did not seem to faze Salem one bit. In fact, she had a knowing look on her face.

"As I am the ultimate form of the Grimm, by the powers of these Relics, I shall be the ultimate form on Remnant, a goddess among Mankind! All shall weep and despair!"

Ruby had already passed out from her injury, and Jaune had his Aura depleted after Tyrian decided to join in and gave him a thrashing. The other hunters and huntresses were slowly being beaten back by Cinder and the other 3 girls who had stolen powers from the rest of the Maidens. In the end, only Qrow and Yang were conscious enough to see what Salem did next. Whatever the Relics did to her, it did not change her physical appearance, but they felt a power surge coming from her.

There was thunder and lightning outside as the dark purple sky turned total black. With a wave of a hand, Salem created a swirling rift in the sky outside that grew larger by the second. Qrow turned around to see Emerald and Mercury showing signs of fear. Emerald's knees were literally quaking while Mercury looked around frantically as if looking for a way to escape. Cinder and the other Maidens, on the other hand, looked relatively calm, though one of them had a look of concern on her face. Unable to handle what was going on, Emerald fled the chamber with Mercury calling her to come back. Cinder made no attempts to stop them.

The rift eventually engulfed the moon, and a great shadow fell across the land. The mansion was shaking so bad that pieces of the ceiling started raining down on the occupants below. They merely bounced off of Salem and the Maiden, but Qrow and Yang did not want to stick around to see if their Auras had returned or not. They picked themselves up from the ground just as Blake and General Ironwood came too as well. With a hasty beckoning from Qrow, they hurried to rescue their injured comrades. Cinder wanted to stop them, her burning hatred for Ruby causing her to charge up a fireball in her hand. Salem held up her hand to stop her, and while the Fall Maiden gritted her teeth, she complied and dissipated the pre-formed fireball.

"I will take the pleasure of hunting each and every one of you down. You cannot hide from me."

Yang was the last to leave as she carried Ruby in her arms. She turned around to glare at Cinder, her eyes red with the fires of vengeance burning in them. Her father once told her that her temper would be her downfall, but this was one act that was unforgivable. Summer died because of the potential power she wielded, killed by the very people who stood in this room. There was no way she would let Ruby suffer the same fate. Cinder and her ilk will pay.

"This isn't over. Mark my words, Cinder Fall."

With that, Yang ran. The rift in the sky soon became the only thing the inhabitants of Remnant saw. The purple tinge of chaos energy shone across the planet, and the sun disappeared, replaced by a ghostly spectre of a star that gave off a baleful light. In just 10 minutes, the planet of Remnant was swallowed into another dimension, never to be seen again in the material plane.

Even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die. And when they are gone...darkness will return.

A/N: While I did post a story for RWBY earlier in Feb, it was to gauge interest. I appreciate the comments there, and I do not intend to leave that story unfinished. I, however, have vested interest in this one, so I'll be finishing first before continuing the other story. This is basically a 'what-if' scenario, so this fic is an AU where Ruby and her allies failed to stop Salem from destroying mankind. Of course, she could not destroy all of them. Otherwise, there would be no story. Note: this story will contain elements of other media, most notably Warhammer 40k, but not enough to warrant a crossover. Anyway, here's an end to this prologue. Hope you guys like it. Comments and suggestions are highly appreciated.