Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside of us while we live. Most people will relate to such a statement. Others are yet to experience their greatest loss. Their greatest defeat.
The sight of Atlas was a relieving one. A sight for sore eyes. It was time to move into a new chapter of their mission, and for others, a new chapter of their life entirely. Blake sat weakly against the inner wall of the ship, looking down in deep silence, her yellow eyes still slightly red after… letting tears fall. She was glad that it was all over and that they had finally arrived to their destination, but it was still difficult to believe that she had put him down for good. Sure, he was after her head looking to slam it into the blade of his sword, but there was still some sort of friend in him that she grieved after. She grieved after the past him, perhaps.
Yang's lavender eyes glanced down at the black-haired faunus, as if about to try and ask her a question, but perhaps this wasn't the time. Maybe when they're left with a bit more privacy. She had to know more about Adam.
Weiss' nervousness wasn't exactly easy to spot, but it was there. What will she do when her family finds out that she's back in Atlas? What will Winter think of her? What will the entirety of Atlas think of her? It was all she could think about as they neared the huge city more and more. The other ships around their little ship didn't put her at ease either.
Ruby was looking at the city with her big, silver eyes in admiration. She had heard stories of the city's beauty, but… this was breathtaking. She looked down at her uncle silently, not saying anything as she eyed him, turning around afterwards and looking at all the other passengers that were currently present in the vessel with her. Weiss, Blake, Yang, Jaune, Nora, Ren, Qrow, Oscar, Maria… they were all in this together, but it's evident that the journey so far has been nothing short of incredibly exhausting. They really needed to rest soon.
"Weiss?" Ruby rested her hand on Weiss' shoulder, looking at her with a faint smile. "Uhm… Would your family mind us… uhh, sleeping over at your place just for one night?" She asked, raising an eyebrow very slightly as she looked at the blue-eyed girl. Fuck. The former heiress of the vastly influential Schnee Dust Company held her breath when she heard the question, her eyes widening lightly as she did so. This… was going to be difficult to explain.
"Ruby, I…"
The others looked at her, the tension already rising as they waited for an answer. This… could be problematic.
"I'm… not really an heiress anymore…" Weiss looked down and held her arm nervously as she answered Ruby's question with a distinct shaky tone of voice, as Yang stood up behind the white-haired young woman, unable to really… comprehend that.
"What?" Yang was visibly getting furious, clenching her hand into a fist.
"I-I said, I'm not an heiress anymore!" Weiss turned around to face Yang, almost aggressively. "How do you think I got here? They sure didn't let me!" Weiss yelled out, meanwhile Yang stepped forward gritting her teeth, her lavender eyes now crimson in color. Suddenly, Qrow got up and stepped between the two girls keeping them apart from each other.
"Ey, why don't we calm down right this instant?" He responded to both of their actions, as his valentine-red eyes glanced at Yang, to which she responded with a rather aggressive growl. "You couldn't have told us this sooner, Princess?" Qrow's eyes switched over to Weiss as she looked away, crossing her arms. "I thought it was obvious." She simply retorted while Qrow rolled his eyes at her answer. "It's not too difficult to find a simple hotel in Atlas, I'm sure of it." He told the two as Yang huffed and sat back down on the floor of the ship with a loud thud, her lavender eyes looking up at Weiss with a combative, yet ashamed demeanor. Ruby silently watched the exchange with slight worry.
"Well, that's true…" Weiss nodded, before she looked up at Qrow again. "…but what will be difficult is getting around in the city with what's basically a criminal with you." She spoke, meanwhile Ruby hummed as she began thinking, looking at Weiss. Qrow certainly took note of this, figuring she probably had an idea.
"Weiss." Ruby called out.
"What is it, Ru-…" Weiss faced Ruby, before realizing, seeing Ruby taking her own cape off.
"C'mere." Ruby snickered as she walked towards Weiss with intent to make Weiss wear the said cape, meanwhile a mad blush covered Weiss' face.
Meanwhile, somewhere else…
A seemingly lifeless body floated down a river, a red sword floating next to it as the river carried them softly. Adam.
Soon enough, the body would find itself ashore, laying there motionless and pale as the sword laid next to it. The sheath for the sword seems to be lost, though. Footsteps could be heard approaching the body, as two individuals walked towards the almost lifeless Adam.
"Why would she need this worthless pile of garbage?" One of the two figures asked. It had gunmetal hair, along with familiar robotic legs. Mercury. Next to him? Of course. Emerald.
"I dunno, she probably wants to finish the job herself. I just hate that we have to carry him." She sighed, looking at Mercury, before looking back down at Adam, noticing his eyes slightly fluttering. Just what was Salem going to do to this poor guy?
"Ugh." Mercury rolled his eyes, slowly picking Adam's motionless body off the ground, carrying it on his shoulder. For someone who preferred to use their legs as a means to fight, he had a strong upper body. Emerald looked at the sword that laid amidst the sand with curiosity, before shrugging, picking it up and taking it with her. Might as well keep it as a trophy of sorts.
As the two arrived at Salem's… castle of sorts with Adam's body and sword in tow, they approached the door of where Salem silently sat at a big table with the rest of her accomplices, her soulless eyes watching the door, waiting for them to come through. They slowly opened the door, Mercury groaning as he did so. "We've got the bastard right here. I think he's probably dead already." He heavily breathed as Emerald looked at Salem, meanwhile Salem's frown grew.
"What do we do now, your grace?" Emerald nervously asked, as Salem glanced at Hazel, receiving a silent nod from him in return, before getting up. "Would rather remain silent if I was you, Emerald my dear." Salem looked at the dark-skinned girl with malicious eyes, meanwhile Hazel picked Adam's 'corpse' up and carried it out of the chamber as Emerald shut her mouth. "I'll show you what will happen if you let me down so heavily, if you're so curious." Salem added in as Tyrian weakly tried to hold back his giggles, looking at Emerald and Mercury. "She… She's so unnerved, your grace!" He laughed at Emerald, twitching violently, meanwhile Salem looked at Emerald with her unnatural eyes, subtly smirking as she did so. Chills went up Emerald's spine as she caught glimpse of the smirk and looked at Mercury, who seemed uneasy, but more calm than Emerald.
Whatever Salem was going to do with Adam, it won't be pleasing to look at, that's for sure.
Well, hello there. I'd like to say a few things right now. First off, shoutout to Dishwasher1910 for the artwork this fanfiction has, and also basically for the idea of Grimmified Team RWBY. His artwork really inspired me and I decided to start this thing as a result of it. Go check out his artwork, it's wild. However, the story I have planned is entirely my idea, with a few recommendations by other here and there, so I don't think I'm exactly… ripping them off in any sort of way. Anyhow, thank you for reading, I hope you've enjoyed what you have read so far, criticism is welcome, and once again, shoutout to Dishwasher1910. I'll see you in the next chapter. Also, this is just basically a what-if scenario. I doubt this is how volume 7 will turn out.