DISCLAIMER:
The following is a fan-based short story. RWBY is owned by Roosterteeth and Monty Oum. Please support the official release.
NOTE:
This is a short story that actually takes place before the Shadow of Grimm and after the team CRMS, so in a way it does connect. You'll see when you read it.
Destiny wake up! Please, please open your eyes!
… Pyra?
Her vision was a blur as she slowly came to. She let out a yawn, going to rub her eye, though she was quick to realize that her space was confined. She couldn't help but wonder as to why. That's when she realized she was laying in a glass coffin, like the princess in one of her bedtime stories. She placed both of her hands on the glass and immediately tried to push it off, desperate to get out of it's confines. Though to her surprise the glass had suddenly disappeared.
She sat herself up, groaning as she did, but when she did her eyes had widened.
She saw before her was a land covered in red, crystals she assumed were of Dust.
"Wha-what?" Destiny had stammered, "What is this place? How did I get here?"
It was strange for Destiny, being in an unfamiliar surrounding such as this. All these questions came to the top of her head; Where am I, she thought, how did I get here, she asked, what happened?
Wait, what did happen?
Destiny couldn't remember. What had happened exactly? She didn't know. Her memory was all hazy; as she tried to remember her head had ached. She groaned as she rubbed her head; that's when she finally noticed something in her hand. She removed her hand from her head, and saw that it was a beaded bracelet. Two of each beads were red but one bead after every two there was a golden bead. What had connected all of the beads was a logo that was of a spear and a shield, which she couldn't help but find familiar.
It was not a second later that her memories had suddenly come flowing in her head like a flood.
"Nice to meet you Destiny, my name is Ruby, this is Weiss, Blake and my older sister Yang."
"You don't have to be afraid of any of us. You're safe as long as your with us."
"You can't look sad at a sleepover! Like they say, no one likes a party pooper!"
"This is perfect. Thank you Destiny."
"We'll be here for you, we always will."
"You come back no matter what. Just make sure you come back in one peace."
"We'll be here defending this place. Just know you'll want to come back when the dust settles."
"Because you'll want to be here for the celebration!"
"As always, I'll be right here."
"Destiny… Thank you…"
Destiny lightly gasped, from the familiar faces that appeared in her memory, up till the last moment. She took her face in her hand, as she let the bracelet rest on her lap.
"My friends…That's right, how can I forget them? Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang, they helped me. They took care of me, and Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora and Ren too. Than there was the Vytal Festival… Beacon and Vale was attacked by the Grimm and the White Fang. I left for the mountain, Cristal followed me there but something happened before I could calm the Grimm… And than Pyrrha… Pyra… She…"
Destiny's words trailed off; tears came to her eyes at the last memory. She saw her, saw her dear friend Pyrrha die before her very eyes; after she saved her she saw her die. The lady that kidnapped her, the one that took her away from her father, the one called Cinder was the one responsible for it. She looked at the bracelet in the palm of her hand. Tears fell from her eyes and onto the palm and bracelet. She held the bracelet close to her.
Cinder killed her and left nothing; only her crown and the bracelet she now held.
Destiny sniffled and sobbed for a few moments before wiping away her tears.
"You'll take care of her now… Won't you mommy?"
Destiny picked up her head once more to look at her surroundings still wondering exactly where she was.
"How did I even get here anyway? How long was I asleep?"
Destiny had than looked to the side of the coffin; she slightly jumped by what she saw. They were both creatures of Grimm, but they weren't like what she had seen before. One had resembled a large cat, with the same masks like the other creatures, and the other resembled a deer, with it's body slightly boney. Both of them appeared to be sleeping, and she saw black vapor come out of their bodies.
"What…" She said, putting her hand through the black vapor, "What is this?"
Destiny still had no knowledge to where she was or how she had gotten there, though one thing was for sure; she had to find her way out. It was going to be difficult since Cristal wasn't with her, but she had to try nonetheless. Even if it would cause huge amounts of pain in her body, everytime she walked, she would try.
Slowly she moved out of the coffin, being very careful not to wake the Grimm up. Once both of her feet were on the ground, she tip toed over the giant paw of the large Grimm cat, and maneuvered the the antler of the Grimm deer. After she was clear of them she quickly and quietly ran down the steps, and quickly hid behind one of the large purple crystals.
She took deep breaths from running; however she noticed something missing. There was no pain in her body. In fact she didn't feel anything at all. She felt… Fine.
"The pain is gone. But I don't have my medicine with me, that shouldn't be possible. What is going on?"
Just than she heard footsteps coming towards to where she was, as well as voices. Destiny quickly hid deeper into the crystals and sat perfectly still. She placed her hands over her mouth, hoping that whoever was coming up the stairs wouldn't hear her breath.
"...And the test proved to be successful?" She heard one of them say.
"Yes." She heard the other reply, "Orpheus was able to perform remarkably well on the field. He listened to my orders and followed through."
"The Mistress must've been pleased about that, seeing as how she gave him to you as to be your new Grimm Partner, makes me jealous considering…"
"Grimm Partner?" Destiny whispered to herself, "Mistress…?"
She remembered hearing the term before; Cristal told her a little bit about it. People like her, that understand Grimm are able to connect with one another, mentally wise anyway. She had told her that the Grimm partner would stay with the person, until either the bond is severed, or the Grimm's partner dies.
Than there was Mistress they just mentioned. Cristal didn't tell her much about her, but there was one thing she said… All she told her was that she was one of the most dangerous people to exist. The reason for this? She only gave her one. She told her the reason for this was that no one knew that she even exists, and those that do… Let's just say that dead men don't talk.
Destiny had decided to take a closer look at them; Though she had to be careful not to get spotted. Without the pain in her chest, it would make it easier for her in case she had to run.
She moved closer and quietly peeking her head from the crystals to take a closer at the people that were there. She saw two teenage girls; one with shoulder length dark gray hair, and a girl with a long black ponytail. She found something peculiar about the girl with dark gray hair.
Destiny placed her hand on her face, surprised to see a girl like her. Like Cristal.
"... What do you think she plans on doing with the girl Sinn?" She heard her the girl with black hair.
"Who knows? What matters is that she stays asleep until she needs her. And as long as she's asleep, she won't-"
Suddenly she heard the girl sniff the air. "Do you smell that?"
"Yeah." The girl with the ponytail said, "This scent though… It can't be…"
The both of them looked around the area and Destiny knew that she had been had; since it was the same thing that Cristal could do whenever she played hide-and-seek with her.
"Is that you Princess?" The girl with shoulder length hair named Sinn said, "Honestly, I didn't think you would be wide awake yet, considering what you went through at Beacon."
Destiny had said nothing, and just backed up as far as she could.
"We know your out here little one. There's no point in hiding." The girl with the ponytail said, "We have orders, that we are not to bring harm to you. And you should know we follow her orders. Make this easier for yourself."
Destiny decided that it was now or never; she started to make a run for it.
"THERE!" Sinn exclaimed having spotted her, "Elise, go after her! Bring her back here! I'll tell the others!"
"Right." The girl named Elise said.
Destiny saw from a distance that the girl, Elise, started to run after her. Destiny continued to run and she had tried to use her semblance. But the semblance surprisingly didn't work.
"It's not working!?" Destiny exclaimed, desperately trying to get it to work, "Why isn't it working!?"
She stopped in her tracks when Elise had jumped in front of her. Destiny stopped running, but was stunned when she saw the familiar vivid green eye.
"I don't want you hurt you." Elise said to her, slowly walking towards her, "Please… Don't make this harder than this needs to be."
Destiny gulped when she looked at her with a shocked expression, which left Elise confused. "What's wrong?" Elise asked honestly concerned; she kneeled down. "No way…" Destiny said reaching out to her to Elise's face, actually touching her cheek; Elise flinched slightly "It's you… But I know that's impossible but, you have her face… Just like Cristal…"
This had confused Elise to what the little girl was saying, but that was when her eyes wandered to the bracelet that was in her hand. That was when something suddenly snapped in her head.
"AAAGGH!" Elise started screaming clenching her head when she heard a loud painful ring.
Destiny jumped when she started screaming, "H-hey?" Destiny said expressing worrying for the girl who was in pain, "Are you okay? What's-"
"ELISE!" The child heard someone yell. Destiny looked back to the girl named Elise, and than to where she heard the voice. Than she looked to the path ahead.
"I'm sorry." Destiny said to Elise honestly, before she started to run again.
Elise looked and watched as Destiny ran. "N-no…" Elise said reaching to where Destiny ran, "Come… Back…" Just like that Elise fell to the ground passing out. Another girl with white and gray hair tied into a bun, a Grimm mask covering her mouth, and a red eye tattoo was seen on her right shoulder ran to Elise's side.
"Elise?" She said trying to shake her awake, "Elise!? Wake up! Gah damn it!"
Sinn soon came running to them. "Diamond!" Sinn said to the girl with her hair tied back into a bun, "What happened to Elise?!"
"I don't know." The girl named Diamond replied, "I just found her like this."
"The girl!" Sinn said, "Did you see where she went?!"
"No, I just got here." Diamond replied, "Should we go find her?"
Sinn looked to Elise and soon replied to Diamond, "No."
"No?" Diamond said with disbelief, "Are you serious?"
"You heard me, and as your leader I said no."
"Did you ever think about what would happen if she were to escape?"
"I'm already aware of that. But for now we have to tend to our comrade. Besides… I already had Azure notify her about what's happened."
Diamond's eyes in realization, "Oh. If that's the case… She's not going to get very far."
"Damn right she isn't." Sinn said, "Help me get Elise back to base."
Diamond nodded and helped Sinn get Elise up off the floor.
Destiny ran down every pathway she could find, not knowing where exactly she was going. She didn't even know what she was going yet she didn't care. All she wanted to do was get out of wherever she was, and get back home. She wanted to see her friends again, and more importantly she wanted to see her father again.
That's all she wanted right now, she just wants to get back home. If there really is a home to go back to.
She looked back and started to slow down, when she realized that she wasn't being followed anymore.
"I really hope that girl is okay…" Destiny said to herself rubbing her arm, "I feel really bad for leaving her like that…"
Destiny looked around the area again, looking at the crystals closely. "What kind of Dust crystals are these…? They're nothing like I've seen before, or at least in the books I've read."
Destiny soon saw the cliffside in the distance.
"Maybe I can see where I am from there."
Destiny made her way out of the forest of crystals, and towards the edge. As she exited the forest of crystals, she didn't know what she expected to find; she found more of the same land covered in red, and mist and fog.
Everything was as red as blood she had realized, even the sky was in the same shade of red; the moon shattered high above the sky.
Destiny slowly sat down on the ground, trying to think of what to do, trying to think of a way out. She even began to wonder at one point, that if her friends were out there somewhere in Remnant, looking for her. She wondered if her dad made it out safely of Beacon and Vale; if Ruby had gotten to him in time.
Were they looking for her, she wondered. Did they miss her, she thought.
"No, don't be silly Destiny." She said to herself, "Of course they're thinking about me. Of course they miss me, of course they're looking for me, of course they're okay… I hope…"
She buried her head in her knees and she clenched the bracelet in her hand tighter. She had all the thoughts of the people she loved and cared about in her head. She really did miss them, and she was scared.
She still had no idea where she was, she didn't even know if she was even Remnant. All she thought about was them. She wanted to see them again, but she didn't know how, she just wanted to see them. She hoped that they were safe.
"Daddy… Everyone… Please… Please for the love of God, be safe…" Destiny said to herself.
It wasn't long till she heard something cracking.
"Huh?"
All of a sudden, she found herself falling from where she sat; she couldn't help but scream. Before she could hit the rocks and topple onto the sharp rocks she grabbed onto a small ledge on the rock, and tried desperately to climb back up.
"Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!" She said as she panicked. She tried and tried again to climb up, but no matter what she kept slipping further.
"S-Someone!" She called desperately, "Please help! Someone help me! Dad! Ruby! Pyra! Anyone!? Please!"
Than the small ledge she held onto, finally broke. She felt everything pull her down when she started to fall. She shut her eyes, just waiting for the inevitable to happen. But than… Strangely enough she stopped falling.
She opened her eyes slowly as she saw herself floating in the air as she felt the wind blow. She looked up and lightly gasped, when she saw that what had grabbed her was a person with black veins with pale white skin. The woman wore nothing but black and she had white hair.
A woman stared down at her, with orange eyes with black surrounding it; just like her very own. She felt her pull her up with only one hand and she gently placed her on the ground.
"You should be more careful little one." The woman said to her, "It took me a long time to find a person like you. If you were to die now, I would have to start over from scratch. Of course it would be nearly impossible considering everything that's happened."
Destiny couldn't help but back up from the lady before her. She noticed this from the child.
"Your afraid of me?" She said to the child, "Good. You have every right to fear my presence child."
Destiny looked at her eyes, before placing her hand over her right eye. "Y… Your like me…" Destiny said with a whisper.
She heard the woman slightly chuckle at this, "I'm more than like you my child." She said putting her fingers under the little ones chin, "I am the first of our kind to ever exists in this world. And you… Are my only creation."
Destiny gulped, and removed herself from the woman's fingers, "Who… Are you?" The child asked her voice still trembled.
"I am Salem." The woman replied, "And you… Are Destiny Torchwick are the daughter of Roman, and Trinity Torchwick."
Destiny eyes widened at this, "You know my name? And the name of my parents?"
"There are a lot of things I know." The woman named Salem said, "I even know more than mankind itself."
Destiny even know what to say at this point. She didn't even know what to do. What to say her. What do you say to a person like her anyway?
"Truth be told…" Salem said, "I didn't expect for you to wake up, at least on your on own anyway. I wonder if it's because of the one called the invincible girl?" Salem looked over at Destiny face to face; Destiny flinched at this.
"No… It's more than that." Salem said, "It because of you… Isn't it Cristal?"
"Cristal?" Destiny said, "What do-?"
"As much as I hate to do this when you just woke up…" Salem said, "... Your gonna have to sleep a little while longer." Before Destiny could say anything, a simple wave of her hand Destiny felt her energy leave her and she grew tired. The world around her became blurry, and she fell on her knees. "Sleepy… I feel sleepy…" Was all Destiny could say. Right before she could fall to the ground Salem caught her. She picked her up off the ground, putting her arm under the child's knees and held her in her arms.
That's when Sinn, and her partner, a girl with long gray hair with her face covered with a hood in the shape of a King Taijitu.
"Please forgive us Mistress." Sinn said to the girl on one knee, "We had almost let her escape. If I had just eliminated that pest-"
"No Sinn." Salem said to her, "It's fine. What matters is that this child is back in my hands."
"Do you think Cristal will be able to find us here?" The girl, most likely her partner named Azure had said, "She saw through her eyes…"
"If she did. Than let her come." Salem said. She stood up holding the child in her arms, "It won't matter in the end anyway. She'll just meet the same fate as others have before her."
Cristal had opened her eyes, leaning against a tree by a cliffside; her Grimm Griffon by her side. She turned to the night sky and looked at the shattered moon above the clouds. "She's keeping her alive." Cristal said, "She doesn't even want to hurt her. But why…?"
"You know I still find it hard to believe that you have a Grimm as a pet."
Cristal turned and saw that it was her partner, Rosario.
"Oh hey Rosario." Cristal said.
"Hey to you to." Rosario said, "Hope you did your thing, because we're all ready to go."
Cristal stood up and stretched, "Yeah, let's get moving. Come on Senka."
The Griffon, named Senka stood up from the ground and walked beside Cristal. They met up with there other teammates, Melody and Scout and they started to walk along the dirt road. Cristal lagged behind from the rest of her teammates which is what she usually did whenever they walked.
From her pockets she took out the three pictures that she had held onto since Beacon and Vale. She looked over the three pictures eyeing the little girl with magenta hair, and green eye.
"Just hang on Princess…" Cristal said, "I'll find you wherever she's keeping you… I promise."
Scouts fox ears and nose twitched; she stopped in her tracks as the rest of the team did the same. "Scout?" Melody said to her partner, "Is something wrong?"
"I… I smell smoke." Scout said, "And I hear people screaming."
Frosty on Melody's shoulder began to growl, and Senka began to act strangely; he turned to Cristal and growled. "What's he saying?" Rosario asked, knowing that Cristal could understand him.
"He's saying that there large amounts of Grimm attacking a town nearby." Cristal said, "It's not far from where we're standing."
"Is it them?" Melody asked.
Cristal listened to Senka as he let out a growl, "He said he's not sure, it's hard to tell."
"If they're Grimm attacking a town than we've gotta go see what we can do about it." Rosario said.
"It might be a trap but you're right." Melody said, "We can't leave innocent people to get slaughtered."
"What are we waiting for?" Scout said, "Let's get to saving."
Cristal jumped onto the back of her Grimm partner Senka and said to her teammates, "Team CRMS! MOVE OUT!"
To Be Continued...