Author's Note:
Hello dear viewers, and welcome to my first one shot.
The later half takes place during the last halfish of episode 13 and most of episode 14. With the beginning taking place sometime before the events of volume 1.
This came into my mind as a result of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow's The Headless Horseman. Also I'm going to be lying to myself if I didn't say this, it was also inspired from the KH series character concepts of Nobodies in they have a heart too (metaphorically of course).
This is my first concept of the character and serves as an introduction, hopefully, to a new series later down the pipeline.
Anyways, I'll let the story explain what it's about.
Enjoy,
- Lor
Who am I but a monster …
Specters, ghosts, spirits, do you believe them? Cause I do, I'm one of them. But I was different, born back with no memory of who I am besides the name Jack, not even a last name. No one was there to guide me, nobody at all.
I woke up at night while lying in a beautiful, luscious, red forest. I looked at my hands, they were a ghostly pale colour. I flipped them as I examined them, they seemed to be normal. I then noticed the hood on my head and felt my sides I was wearing a cloak of some kind. It was a pitch black colour; I wore a black button less collared vest with a brown shirt underneath. There was a single stitched orange pumpkin, decorating the vest. I was also wearing a pair of black dress pants.
Getting up I began to wander through the forest, I had no idea of who I was, what I was doing here, and for what reason. Where am I? What was I doing here? Why am I wearing this? I stumbled through the forest until I came upon a group of students who seemed to be walking through the forest. There were four of them; I approached them, "Excuse me, could you help me?" I asked.
Their faces became ghostly pale, "G-GHOST!" they exclaimed running away.
"Wait!" I said going after them.
"S-Stay away from us!" One of them said, running away into the forest.
"I just need some help!" I said chasing after them.
"Stay away monster!" One of them yelled while running.
The word stained my mind as I stopped, I seemed to choke, I ran away from the group into the forest. There was nobody in the forest as it was night. I heard crows caw as I walked through. I was distracted and just walked forward. I began to pass through trees, but I didn't notice. I reached a lake and looked down at it, I saw that my face was a ghostly pale colour and seemed to flicker. I felt my head and my hand passed straight through. My throat choked up completely, I looked closer at my face and saw that my skin was translucent looking straight into my skull which was on fire. My eyes also had a flame in them.
"What am I?" I said as I felt my face. I saw my hand pass straight through and I began to tear. "I-I'm a monster!" I shouted, causing for crows to fly out of the forest and into the air. "How could this happen!" I shouted.
I tried to remember the events before I was in this forest but my mind drew blanks. I grew increasingly frustrated until I ran from the lake. I flipped my hood over my head and simply ran. I ran and ran, I didn't care in which direction but I just wanted to escape, but from what? I didn't even know who I am. I ran until I met a mountain, I didn't know if I would pass through it and I didn't know how to control it. I wanted to run up the mountain and that's what I did, I found a cave and walked into it.
I saw a group of Beowolves, there was a mother and a few puppies. They noticed me come in but paid no attention, I sat down with my knees close to my face. One of the pups came close and lied down next to me. It whimpered as if trying to comfort me, I half smiled and petted the Beowolf. It whimpered affectionately and I smiled.
I didn't know what to do; I was alone in this world. I looked outside at the moonlight, all alone.
From that day forward I was left alone. Days, and months, passed on this desolate plain, every single time people walked through the forest it was the same. I would try to greet them and they would run from me like I was the plague. Calling me things like, monster, demon, devil, and every single time it hurt. Eventually I snapped, if people wanted to fear me then they can! I scared every single one of them, every single person that walked into the forest with illusions and images that stained their minds. But, deep down inside, I just wanted someone to treat me as a person. I guess you could say I wanted a friend, someone I could be with besides the darn Beowolves. But that wasn't going to happen, not until that one day.
I was wandering through the brightly lit orange forest one day; I've lost count as the days were all the same to me. It was always just me wandering through the forest alone without rhyme or reason, searching, always searching for something. It was midday as I wandered through the forest. The morning was the same, quiet and lonely, but in the afternoon I could hear people coming in. I decided to go and see what they were doing; I found them in a clearing and saw several teenagers around the same size as me. One of them looked in my direction; I immediately hid behind a tree.
I checked around the corner and found seven teenagers. The one that noticed me was a girl in a black and red blouse and skirt. This was paired with a red hood; this matched her short black and crimson hair. The person next to her was a blonde with long and messy hair. she had a tan vest with a yellow top that showed her chest. She was also in a pair of black shorts and was topped off with a scarf. There was also a girl in black in white; her hair was a black colour. She also had a buttoned vest and long stockings. She had a bow on top of her head which I found kind of odd. Lastly there was a white haired girl; she tied her hair in a side tail. She wore a white jacket with a black top underneath; this was completed with a white dress.
"Something the matter sis?" The blonde asked the black and red haired girl, looking to where I was.
"Oh nothing," She answered with a small smile.
The first group joined a group of three, there were two girls. One was a redhead and was wearing a brown outfit. The other had orange hair and was in a white and pink outfit. The last person was male and had black hair with a single streak of pink hair. He was in a green oriental top paired with a pair of white martial artist pants.
They all seemed to be having fun, smiling and having a fun time in the forest. I wanted to step out and say hi, but I knew what was going to happen and I feared it. They would all run away screaming and I would be left alone again. I stood at a distance and merely watched, they were filling jars up with sap from the trees. It was a purple liquid colour.
The orange haired girl and the guy in green were together. He filled up a jar and handed it to the girl, she smiled, "Mmm!" She said scarfing down the jar of sap.
The green haired guy handed her the other jar and noticed that it was empty; she had a glob of sap on her cheek and smiled sheepishly. The guy growled at her and she smiled innocently. I smiled to myself.
I looked over to where the girl in the red and black dress was at, her friend in white was exclaiming at the top of her lungs. "Ruby! You dropped the sap!"
"Sorry Weiss," She said nervously.
Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves. To say that I admired them was an understatement. I envied them; they had friends and people to be with. People that made them smile, and what did I have? Nothing, but myself in this wretched, lonely landscape.
I heard an Ursa growl, several boys came running into the clearing, "Ursa, Ursa!" they screamed.
The blonde picked up one of them, "Where?"
"Back there, it's got Cardin!" He replied, panicking.
The red head dropped a jar of sap, "Jaune!" she exclaimed.
The black and red haired girl instructed the blonde and black haired girl, "Yang! Go get professor Goodwitch."
"You two, go with them, there could be more," The red head girl instructed the remaining two, rushing into the forest with the black and red haired girl along with the white haired girl.
I heard several more growls from the forest where the four went, I didn't know why I did this but I chased after them. Did I fear for their safety? I didn't know, all I knew was that I was going instinctively. I ran after them, I saw that four Ursa were circling the blonde and black haired girl. The Ursa were huge, towering over them. They were a bit concerned but stood their ground. The first Ursa pinned down the blonde with its sheer size and the black haired girl dodged another one. Her eyes widened in fear, I knew the outcome. They would be overwhelmed. The blonde was down for the count and the remaining girl was up against four huge Ursas. The black haired girl was knocked over onto the ground by an Ursa and they were about to close in on the two.
I jumped in.
A bright blue flame emitted from both of my hands. A long sword appeared in my right hand, the blade was blue like the flames. The guard was curved to cover the top of my hands. The handle was black as it fit comfortably into my hand. A long metal chain appeared in my left hand, it was cloaked in a blue flame.
An Ursa swung it's left claw to deal a finishing blow to the black haired girl. Before it made contact I whipped my chain and the Ursa's neck, it wrapped around and pulled. The chain decapitating the Ursa and causing it to fall limply to the ground.
The three remaining ones turned their attention to me and they charged. I stepped back as the Ursa's approached me. The black haired girl got the blonde girl back on her legs and the two looked at me with interest. "Well, what are you waiting for? Get going!" I ordered.
"Come with us!" The blonde hollered.
"They're coming after me; don't you have to save your friend?" I asked taking steps back.
The black haired girl put her hand on the blonde; she turned to look at her friend. The black haired girl nodded, and the blonde nodded back.
"We'll be back!" The blonde hollered while running.
I whipped my chain at the first that approached me and it stabbed it straight through the heart, instantly killing it. I pulled my chain from the corpse when the second one charged me. I cut its legs with my sword, causing it to fall to the ground. I stabbed its head and immediately threw my sword at the last, it flew towards the Ursa like a boomerang, killing the Ursa and bouncing back to me.
I caught the sword and continued to pursue the two girls. I had no idea why, I guess I was curious. They didn't panic when they saw my form. I wondered what they saw, and what they were thinking when they met me. Did they see a monster, or just a weird person?
The two found an adult; she was blond with a curl at the front. She was also wearing a long sleeved business suit and skirt. I stood at a distance as they reported to the adult. They referred to her as Professor Goodwitch, the blonde was panting as she spoke. "Professor Goodwitch, there's an Ursa! It was after Cardin and his team. We were stopped by a group but a strange guy stopped them."
"A person stopped them? Were they in our group?" The Professor questioned.
"No Professor, he wasn't, but he saved us," the black haired girl said.
Professor Goodwitch thought for a moment, contemplating a plan. "You two are to go and find this mysterious person. I will go after your team," She stated.
"Understood," the black haired girl said leading the blonde away.
They ran off into the forest and I chased after them, I was still unsure as to why I helped them. They reached the same spot that I was at and found four dead Ursa bodies. I hid behind in the shadows of the trees, they searched the surroundings. I peeked around the corner and observed them, "Who was that guy?" The blonde asked.
"I don't know Yang, but he saved us, and that's what matters," The black haired girl answered.
My cloak must've been showing because the blonde pin pointed me after a few minutes. I contemplated my chances of escape from the two.
"We know you're in there," Yang said.
"Tch," I scowled to myself turning to run.
"Wait! We just wanted to talk!" Yang hollered chasing after me.
I went into a wind sprint and dashed through the forest. "Leave me alone!" I yelled. As I began to dash forward, another black figure was chasing after me and gaining speed quickly on the left. I held out my hand and willed for the trees to become illusions, creating a pocket dimension. It was dark; the trees became sinister, making ghastly faces and swinging their branches at the girls. I heard it shatter and the Blonde continued to pursue me.
Why won't you leave me be! I saw a rock and held out my hand, creating an image of a skeletal horse and its ghostly rider, along with crows that would flock her. The area surrounding was still blanketed in darkness as I ran through the forest. I heard the hooves of the horse rider go after the girl, only for it to shatter yet again. I usually didn't do this but I needed to in this situation. I had the ability read another person's mind and find out their greatest fear. I could then recreate it in reality as an illusion and cause the most heart pounding fearful incident ever conceived. Since my body stood over all matter I could create any sight possible.
I turned around and willed for a storm of crows to appear. These were not real crows, of course, but in this pocket dimension anything I wanted was reality. The crows did buy time so that I could read her deepest fears. Hmm, this Ruby girl murdered by Grimm is her greatest fear. I'm sorry, I walked over to two trees and held my palm on each of them. I created an Ursa from the first tree, it growled as it took its place. I looked over at the blonde as she was protecting herself from the massive flock of crows. I flicked hand and blanketed her vision of the surroundings into pitch darkness.
From the second tree an imitation of Ruby was created exactly as Yang envisioned it. This imitation was bloodied for an extra effect, staining her dress with a large gaping hole in the middle. It took its place on the ground. Its voice was exactly as Yang envisioned it which fit perfectly. "Yang! Help me!" She screamed on the ground as she stumbled around.
"Ruby! Why are you here!" She yelled as she tried to push forward to the sound of her voice. "Oh f- it!" She cursed as she ran forward desperately seeking her sister.
The Ursa was in position as it grabbed the Ruby imitation with its claws and stabbed her through the chest right in front of Yang. It fell lifelessly to the ground as it reached out for Yang. Yang crawled over to what she taught was her sister and held Ruby in her arms.
"Ruby, what did you do?" She asked tearing up.
"Yang …" The imitation said, passing out.
Yang pounded her fist on the ground. "Ruby! Why!"
I made my escape back into the forest and exited out of the pocket dimension, stopping it.
I heard the breaking of several trees and a scream in rage. She must've found out the trick, I thought glumly.
As I escaped I couldn't shake the feeling that, deep down inside, I wanted to be caught. That maybe if I was I could have a new life, one that wasn't just hiding from people, one that was devoid of pain and the misery people brought when they met me. I felt like I did something wrong today, even though I knew why I did it.
After all, who could like a monster like me …