DISCLAIMER: I don't own RWBY, the universe it's set in, or anything of that sort, that's all Rooster Teeth. But then again, I'm sure you already knew that.
If you are a returning reader, the start of new content will be marked in the chapter name. This way it can be easier to jump back into the story at the beginning of an update since I post multiple chapters at a time. (Current start of new content is Chapter 37/38)
Prologue: A Light Snuffed Out
Somewhere in the Kingdom of Mistral
The moonlight still trickling through the forest canopy above gave her hope. It was not too late, not yet. But he was more than a few steps ahead of her in the race to their mutual destination.
"Do you even have a plan?" shouted her companion from far behind her, trying to keep up despite lacking the same speed.
"Stop him, save her, that's the only plan there is!" Why he was doing this, she had no clue. It didn't matter though, as long as the huntress could reach her old friend before-the forest suddenly lit up, beams of light blazing into the sky above.
Star was too late; he had reached her.
Faster and faster she urged her legs to move, leaving her teammate in the dust. The lights continued to flash, quicker and more frequently. Closer and closer she came, finally bursting into a clearing where the battle raged.
"Mare!" she screamed. Suddenly, a flash brighter than any she had ever seen forced her eyes shut lest she go blind. Tumbling to the ground, the light still glared through her eyelids as heat washed over her skin. Then darkness. When she reopened them, she wished she never had.
The clearing was now dark, but an illuminated figure stood over a body. White teeth smiled as he looked down at the fallen figure, before a flash of light appeared and disappeared, taking him with it. Holding back her tears, the huntress slowly rose, stumbling forward to confirm if her worst fears had come to pass. Clicking on a light from her scroll to see the body before her finally forced a tear to be shed.
He got her. He actually did it.
"Is she…?" a trembling voice asked. Celestia caught up to her.
"She's going to be nothing but ash soon" The beams of light had charred her body, but ultimately, him absorbing all the light from within her was what would wipe her from Remnant for good. Tears now flowed openly from her eyes. Why did this have to happen? A hand was placed on her shoulder.
"She's at peace now," her partner whispered, although her eyes were watering now too, "She won't suffer anymore."
"I'll kill him, Ce" Star swore through the tears, "I'll find him and end him for what he did."
"No! He'll be coming for you next and if he gets you too-"
"I don't care, let him come! He'll pay for…" Her voice failed her as she watched her friend's still warm body begin to blow away with the wind. That's when Star, even through blurry tears, saw something.
"Ce, her markings."
"What?"
"They're still there."
"But that means…he failed?"
"She passed her light onto the next Aspect before he even got here," she whispered in shock "He was too late."
"But when he realizes that, he'll start searching every trace of where she's been. He won't stop-"
"-then we'll have to keep him focused on finding me instead. We owe Mare that much."
The wind picked up, accelerating the disintegration of their former teammate's body. Star reached out, feeling her friend's body flow through her fingertips as it rose into the air around them. The ash was illuminated by the stars and the shattered moon above, before vanishing into the darkness that engulfed all that the light could not reach.