Ruination Chapter 1, a rwby fanfic

It all started with a cough.

The walls of Ruby's throat clashed roughly, creating a painful friction which made her eyes water. She expelled the breath from her lungs in a sudden burst, as if the air itself were poison. Her chest heaved, each new breath she took feeling like someone had shoved a thousand tiny needles down her throat. It was then she heard it – the crude words emerging from the back of her mind, the hiss resembling the sound of acid on metal.

Join us

We will be one

'What was that?' Startled, Ruby looked around frantically in search of the mysterious words. Dread settled in her gut, and the temperature of the air around her had dropped so much that it made her shudder. An uneasy feeling washed over her and she spun around to survey her surroundings. Gripping her red cloak with one hand, she chanced a look behind her and–

"Ruby!" Yang grabbed her shoulder, whirring her around. The girl yelped in surprise and tilted her head up to meet the burning gaze fixated on her. The blonde frowned when she saw a fearful gleam in Ruby's eyes, the diluted pupils constantly skittering left and right; searching for something that wasn't there. Slightly freaked herself, she slapped the small of Ruby's back, making the girl cough again.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She asked with worry. "You've been acting weird since we entered the forest."

"I-I'm fine sis." The cloaked student insisted weakly. "But I think that I'm coming down something. My throat feels really scratchy and stuff."

"That's not 'fine'." Yang said, quoting the word with her fingers. "No wonder you were so distracted. C'mon let's get you back before whatever you caught gets worse."

"But we're in the middle of a mission!" Ruby declined the offer with a firm grimace. She tried to adopt a stern expression, but Yang's unamused gaze didn't waver for a second. "And as the leader, I think that we should–"

"And as your older sister." The blonde growled, keeping a firm grip on her shoulder, "I think that you are gonna have to go back to beacon alright? This isn't a suggestion Ruby. I'll drag you back there if I have to."

"What about Blake and Weiss?" She shot back.

"They'll be fine." Came the dismissive reply. "We were only supposed to kill a couple of Ursa's. Even Jaune could do it. And he's Jaune."

"That was kinda mean."

"Whatever! The point is, we're going back to Beacon and that's that."

Ruby pouted but nodded in defeat. There was no stopping Yang once she made up her mind. But inwardly, she was glad that they were heading back. Forever falls felt…off today. It was as if a thick veil had fallen over the forest, snuffing out all manners of life. The air was dead and the atmosphere was unusually heavy. Plus, she kept hearing these weird voices in her head…

She shivered at the reminder. But her head was completely silent now, save for the nagging presence at the back of her mind. She wondered what it was; but when Yang abruptly threw lifted and threw her across her shoulder, her attention was turned elsewhere.

It must have been her imagination.

Ruby tossed and turned. The bed squeaked under the pressure, wooden beams shrieking in torment. It was already past midnight, but unfortunately, she couldn't fall asleep. She'd already drank three cups of warm milk, and for some reason, the delicious drink wasn't working its magic tonight.

Back to the soft mattress and eyes on the ceiling, Ruby shut her eyes in hopes that the sandman would spare some of his precious sand. The darkness around her seemed to be pressing in on all sides, surrounding her, closing in on her. Her nerves were on edge, and she couldn't stop looking around; expecting something to be staring back at her. And not to mention that they were back–

You will join us

The time has come

We will be one

The voices mocked, swirling around in the confines of her mind. The dull throb of her head made her groan, bearing the weight of an unseen battle taking place right under team RWBY's noses. 'Shut up!' Her mind screamed, and she curled into herself all the while shivering like a panicked new-born. The voices wouldn't leave her alone, and Ruby thought that she was going insane. Nobody heard voices in their head. And she didn't dare to tell anyone, because the people that usually did were sent somewhere, far far away. 'Stop it! Stop it! Why are you doing this? Who are you?' She pleaded. And like before, they didn't answer. Her cries met with a dry hiss, followed by an odd sound which resembled laughter before they disappeared completely.

Silence reigned again but their words replayed like a broken record in her mind. Forcing down a sob, a terrified Ruby spent the rest of the night shaking under her covers. She didn't dare look out of her blanket till morning.

You will become one of us.

There is no escape.

We are the creatures of shadows, of darkness, of despair.

Make us whole.

The three members of team RWBY shuffled nervously in their seats. The wizened old man peered at them as he spoke, trying to calm their nerves lest they implode on the spot. It was easy to see how reluctant they were to be here, but regardless, they didn't have any choice in the matter. "I see. And this has been going on for about a week or so?" He asked, tapping the expensive fountain tipped pen against the soft grain of his desk.

Yang nodded. "Rubes was told me that she was sick during of our missions. So I brought her back and made her take some medicine and stuff."

"What did you give her?" The man sat little straighter at this. "It may be possible that she's allergic to something she's taken."

She shook her head. "That's impossible doc. She's been taking this since…I dunno, forever. Our dad even swears by this stuff."

"Hmm. What else has she been doing? Anything out of the ordinary?"

Weiss was the one who spoke up this time. "She's not doing anything unusual. In fact, she's doing the same thing she does every day. The only thing strange about her is the fact that she couldn't get any sleep for the past week."

Blake nodded in agreement. "Although, she has been spacing out a lot recently." She added in her two cents. "Ruby can't seem to concentrate during class. She even nearly sliced her own head off during a spar today."

The man bobbed his head and frowned. It sounded strange indeed. He'd seen people exhibiting such symptoms before but he doubted it was merely a mild case of insomnia, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a look. It didn't hurt that the Headmaster himself had arranged this. Usually, the professors just directed students to the nurse's office, but if they had taken the trouble to send for him, it must have been quite serious.

He sighed, writing down a few more of his observations. Then, he shut his leather bound book with a snap before addressing the three huntress's in training. "I'll see what I can do. I'm not sure that I can help much though, other than administering her sleeping pills." He said.

Yang paled at that, and Weiss growled lowly under her breath. Looking at him apologetically, Blake nodded in understanding before turning to comfort her partner. Slipping his fountain pen into the coat of his breast pocket, the doctor stood from his seat and made his way towards the door adjacent to his desk, the door leading to another room where his patient was waiting.

Ruby looked up tiredly, her body swaying from side to side. Dark bags hung under her abnormally dead eyes, and she gazed at the foreign man who had just entered the office. "Good afternoon miss Rose." He greeted amicably. "Let's be quick about this shall we?"

"O-Okay." She replied nervously.

They ran through a series of tests and with each passing moment, the man was becoming more and more convinced that this was just your typical case of sleep depravity. Sighing inwardly, he looked down at his notes once again. Nothing looked out of the ordinary. The only symptoms she had was a bad cough, and even that was no grounds for suspicion.

Thoroughly bewildered but relived, he leaned back into his chair with a pleasant smile on his face. "Well, it seems that you're completely fine Miss Rose." He said. "I'll administer some medicine for that nasty cough of yours, and perhaps some pills for your insomnia. Now if you would kindly be patient for a little longer, allow me to check your aura using my semblance. I assure you that nothing extreme will occur, I was trained to carry out the procedure safely after all."

Ruby grunted, nails digging painfully into her palm. 'Why do I suddenly feel…?' Her thoughts were derailed when the doctor began to blab on about what would happen and stuff but she couldn't seem to keep her focus on him. A whirlpool of thoughts pounded in her head, flashes of demonic red eyes flickering in and out of existence. The room seemed to be getting hotter, and a strange feeling had settled in the pit of her stomach. Something in her chest stirred, her heart palpitating wildly. She glanced at the man weakly, hoping that he had noticed her distress.

"…I feel weird." She wheezed, followed by a hacking cough that made her vision whirl. "C-Can you take a look again after this aura reading thing?"

"Of course. And also, do let me know if you feel any discomfort during the process." He answered. With steady hands, he motioned for her to extend her hands forward. She did so reluctantly and flinched when he suddenly moved, placing his hands atop hers. Noticing her reaction, he smiled apologetically. Not wasting anymore time, the doctor shut his eyes and began. He took in a deep breath and called forth his aura, the feeling of raw energy rippling from somewhere deep inside him and bursting forth. It spilled from his hands, overflowing, and it was then that he activated his semblance.

Ruby shuddered when the doctor's aura mingled with hers. It didn't exactly mix with her own, in actuality it ghosted over her skin; rapidly expanding over her small frame and encasing her in a brilliant green glow. Beads of sweat forming at his temples, the man was finally able to get a clear reading of her aura. What he found though, made him frown in confusion, his eyebrows furrowing in distress. According to her medical reports, the girl's aura was describe as gentle, transient and felt more like a thin membrane spreading across her body unlike the thick gel like aura protection most people had. They theorized that her speed semblance was partly what influenced its structure.

But this aura…it did not even remotely feel gentle. It was more like a thick mass of goo, the tendrils of red and black spilling from her pores. When he tried to push some of his aura into hers, it was repelled. Violently. The strain made his head throb, and he wondered if the report had indeed been accurate. And then– he felt it. A foreign presence within her aura. It was easily discernible from the girl's. Through his scan, he could feel that it was emitting…something. What it was, he didn't know.

But he was going to find out.

Against his better judgement, he concentrated his aura on that particular area where it resided. He didn't want to panic the already jittery girl so he gave no clue whatsoever to what he was doing. Carefully, he suddenly directed his aura into that particular area in one fell swoop. Ruby gasped when her head throbbed painfully. Something was pressing against the base of her skull, and she could feel the doctor trying to break through the thin coat of aura covering her entire being. For some reason, the nagging feeling in her mind grew stronger and stronger. And then she could hear the voices reverberating throughout her head like looped record, just going on and on and on.

"S-Stop" She whimpered.

You cannot delay the inevitable.

"Please stop!"

It is time to take your place among us.

"Plea–" Her cries fell upon deaf ears as the men felt his mind drift away with his aura. He felt himself reach for the foreign matter, his aura fighting its way through the girl's. The black mass writhed under his scrutiny and shied away from him; but he was upon it in seconds. He would've tried to separate it, cleanse it, or tried anything he could to examine it, but unfortunately he would never get the chance.

The man watched as the world around him tilted, taking note of the sudden weird feeling of numbness below his neck. "Oh…" He whispered, face impassive as he watched a fountain of cherry red liquid spurt from the bloody stump that had once been his neck. There was a faint feeling of gravity working on him as his head plummeted towards the carpeted floor of the room. And then his gaze shifted again. This time, he was staring at the dull beige surface of the ceiling.

Ruby stared at his corpse. Silver eyes briefly flickered with emotion, the guilt of his death grasping at her poor little heart. And then the feeling was suddenly…gone. In its place was exaltation, the joy at what she had done pumping through her veins. Shakily bending down, she groaned breathlessly as the smell of wet, bloody meat filled her nostrils. Stalking forward, the girl plunged her rapidly changing teeth into the sinfully delicious smelling arm; her molars grinding against bone, tongue drifting over the ivory whites while canines sliced through sinewy tendons as easily they would butter.

As she revelled in the newfound emotions, her body began to transform. Pale, porcelain like skin dulled into an ashen grey. The grey soon begin to darken rapidly as small pinpricks of fur sprang up from somewhere beneath her skin. Her gasp contorted into a wail as her bones started to expand.

Her small, lithe body grew at a startling speed and soon, Ruby towered over his ghastly remains. Opposing thumbs and fingers sharpened, the fragile human nail morphing into the thick stuff that made an animal's claws. Her jaws extended forward, a burning sensation spread throughout her body. Her bones crackled with unbridled joy and her skin was made and torn, and made and torn over and over again. Silver pupils soon felt their vision melting away into oblivion, and Ruby was plunged into the abyss.

Rise.

They chanted.

Rise.

They chanted.

And then Ruby stopped being Ruby.

What was left of her humanity had finally been eroded, and so she ceased to exist whileit came into world of the living.

"Oh my god – RUBY!" Yang busted the door down with one blast from Ember Celica. The finely crafted door hadn't stood a chance against her, and so the three members of team RWBY found themselves standing at the demolished door way, staring at the horrifying scene before them. There stood a large hulking grim in the centre of the room, crimson cape billowing eerily behind it. Too intelligent eyes tracked their every move, its mask pulsing and glowing red.

Weiss was the first to put two and two together.

'"Ruby?"She mouthed at the creature, blue irises fixated against the dots of red against marble white. She took a tentative step forward, ignorant to her friend's cries, moving ever more closely to the still monster. "It's me. Weiss, your partner." When it made no sign of aggressive behaviour she had come to expect from Grimm, the heiress heaved a sigh of relief when it made no outward sign that it was furious at her presence. A smug smile playing on her lips, Weiss turned to beckon the other two forward when she was abruptly lifted into the air.

"Hm?" She said in confusion as she looked down. Her blood gleamed under the brightness of the fluorescent lighting, and she watched in surprising detaches as a droplets of red began to stain her pristine dress. She breathed. "Oh no...Father is going to kill me." Was the last thing that escaped her lips before two large canines ruptured the blood vessels in her neck. A thick syrupy liquid was expunged from her mouth as she sputtered and wheezed when her throat was being uncooperative. She felt pieces of herself being taken away, but was too late to stop it.

Manicured fingers hanging limply by her sides, Weiss met the horrified gaze of Blake and Yang, the disgust and fear shining through their normally vibrant eyes as they watched Ruby take large bites from the heiress's neck, soon trailing down to her shoulders.

Desperate blue eyes met theirs and it did not take a genius to know what she was trying to tell them.

'Run' she mouthed.

And then all hell then broke loose when the monster let out an ear splitting howl and a loud crunch; the bone separating from the spine as it swallowing her entire head.