Chapter 2
1 Month Later
I groaned while slowly sitting up, popping my spine and arms in the process. I looked up into the sky having to shield my eyes with my hands to block out the sun.
'I don't care if the world needs you to work I swear I'll find a way to block you out. God damn sun.' I vowed in my head before slowly getting up popping my legs in the process. I looked around the forest I was currently staying in for the moment. It was cold and the ground was covered in snow. For some reason I couldn't help but feel like I've seen this forest before.
It's been about a month since I've mysteriously ended up in Remnant as a Beowolf and I still can't remember how or why I'm here. I've been surviving by constantly moving, only stopping to sleep and eat. As for food, I've only eaten some edible berries that I stumbled upon and eating some small wildlife. Fun fact, turns out since Grim don't technically need to eat, sleep, or reproduce they are just masses of muscle that act on instinct. I haven't been able to use my aura since then either, my guess is that since it was never unlocked it only showed up because I was in a life or death situation and since I haven't been in any of those as of yet, I haven't had a need for it. Another thing that has changed is that my reflexes and senses have increased dramatically, from being the kid who was always slow to the Beowolf that can outrun most Grim. Other than the occasional Beowolf and Boarbatusk, which I run away from as soon as I see them, I haven't ran into any other Grim which is fine with me because I'm not sure I would survive.
I continued walking through the snow covered forest until I found myself standing near a cliff overlooking even more snow covered forest. I let out a sigh before I continued to walk along the edge of the cliff until I found myself in front of what looked alike a grave.
'Okay now I know I've seen this before, but where?' I asked myself as I stared down at the grave. I couldn't read what was engraved on the grave due to the snow covering it so I reached down and brushed off the snow to reveal a rose emblem engraved onto the grave and some writing under it.
Summer Rose
Thus Kindly, I Scatter.
'I see, this must be Summer Rose's grave, whoever that is.' I thought to myself as I gazed down at Summer's grave. I stood there for several minutes, just staring at Summer's grave until I heard the crunching of snow come from the forest behind me. I bolted up and ran towards another part of the forest before jumping up and landing on a tree branch. I crouched down and looked towards the part of the forest where the noise came from expecting it to be another Grimm, only for a person wearing a red cloak to walk out of the forest and towards Summer's grave.
'The only people I can think of who would come to Summer's grave would be her family.' I started when the person kneeled down in front of the grave before pulling of their hood to reveal a girl with pale skin and short black hair with red highlights. I slowly stood up on the branch before jumping deeper into the forest and running when I hit the ground.
'She was obviously paying her respects to a lost one, I shouldn't be here.' I thought as I continued to run through the forest. When I got deep enough in the forest I sat down with my back against a tree near an opening. I closed my eyes before trying to focus on something. The same feeling I got when I first used what I assume to be my aura. I've been trying this ever since I arrived in this world, but so far nothing has happened.
I blocked everything else out and focused solely on finding my aura. It took a couple of minute before I felt something, I don't know what it is but it felt like it was pulling me towards it. I allowed myself to get pulled towards what it was and I felt the world around me fall away but I didnt react. When the tug stopped I felt like I was floating in the middle of a dark void. I looked around until I saw a small deep purple orb in the distance, the same color as my eyes. I tried to float over to it but it was like swimming swimming through a thick gel.
When I finally got to the orb my body was tired and sore. I reached for the orb only for my body to lock up and refuse to move. I didn't care, I kept trying to force my arm to move. It hurt, it felt like every nerve in my arm was being burned slowly but I kept trying to reach for the orb. By the time my hand was centimeters away from grasping the orb I could barely feel my arm and I was slowly starting to lose consciousness.
'Come on! I don't know this thing is but I refuse to lose it. Come on! Come On! COME ON! MOVE DAMN IT!' I shouted in my mind before pushing my arm forward with all of my remaining strength. My arm moved the last few centimeters before grasping the orb. The second I grasped the orb a warm feeling spread through my body and the pain vanished. It felt nice, comforting, and protective. I felt safe as I held the orb.
That's when I felt it, the same feeling as when I first used my aura. As I gazed down at the purple orb-no my aura in my hands I felt invincible, like nothing in the world could hurt me, only for that feeling to change into panic as my orb of aura started to shrink into itself, and back into the feeling of invincibility when I saw that my body was covered in a deep purple glow. Eventually the glow started to dim and the feeling of invincibility started to fade and a sense of vertigo overcame me. When the glow was gone I felt myself fall before I jolted up and looked around the forest.
∽BANG∽BANG∽BANG∽BANG∽BANG∽
The sound of gunfire filled the air as I scanned the forest around me to see if I was in any immediate danger. Their wasn't anything near me but if the gunfire was anything to go by then whoevers fighting is nearby, most likely in the clearing I passed. That's where I would want to fight if I was forced to. As I started running towards the clearing, what sounded like the slashing of the blade occupied the gunfire as well as the sound of flesh being cut.
'Whoevers fighting must be pretty good if the noise is anything to go by.' I thought to myself as I got closer to the clearing. When I reached the edge of the clearing I jumped up into another tree before crouching down to get a clear view of what was happening.
'Holy shit.' Was all I could think as I watched what could be described as a reaper clad in red tear through a pack of Beowolves with a mechanical looking black and red scythe. Dismembered limbs and empty shell casings were flying through the air as the little red reaper slashed through them one after the other.
This deadly display of skill continued until one of the Beowolves managed to get close enough to the reaper to attack. The little reaper brought up their scythe to block but the Beowolf's strength was enough to knock them back quite a bit. They dug their scythe into the ground to slow themselves down giving me enough time to actually get a good look at who the little red reaper really is.
'Wait a minute, isn't that the girl who stopped at Summer's grave earlier?' I thought to myself as I looked at the girl who is dressed in a black blouse, a black waist cincher with red lacing and a skirt with red trimmings. She was also wearing some cross-shaped pins holding her cloak to her shirt and around her waist is a belt which holds large cartridges in individual loops, as well as a magazine pouch.
The girl looked up after she came to a stop before pulling out another a magazine for her scythe.
'Why would she need a magazine for a scythe.' I started only for the girl to load the magazine in her scythe and pull back a part of her scythe as if cocking gun. 'Ooooh. That's why, it's also a gun … Oh shit its a gun.' When the girl finished loading the sniper-scythe, scythe-rifle, scyfle? Anyway, when she finished loading her scyfle she held her weapon horizontally with the blade behind her, leaned forward, and … disappeared, no she didn't disappeared. She fired her scyfle and lunged forward. The combined force of those actions launched her forward so fast that she seemed to disappear leaving trail of rose petals in her wake. As the girl sped through the clearing she cleaved through all of the remaining Beowolves adding some more dismembered limbs to the trail of rose petals, only for the Beowolf corpses and limbs to fade away after several seconds like usual.
'Show of.' I thought to myself as the girl finished her high-speed grimm slaughter by landing in a pose while holding her scyfle behind her back.
'Wait, if their was a pack of Beowolf, then where is the Alpha?' I asked myself only for said Alpha to blindside the girl, knocking her weapon out of her hands and sending her into a tree. The girl let out a shout of pain when her back collided with the tree before she fell to the ground. The Alpha slowly walked over to the downed girl, almost as if it was taunting her.
'Alright, stop standing here and do something!' I shouted at myself internally before tensing my legs and jumped at the Grimm.
'Okay on second, this might have been a very bad idea.' I thought to myself as I neared the Large Beowolf. The Alpha let out a howl of pain as I dug my claws into its back before using my right hand to slash at its unprotected neck, hoping to do at least some damage. Apparently having a pair of razor sharp claws repeatedly trying to slash your neck open is frowned upon in grimm society because the Alpha reached back, grabbed my arm and threw me at a nearby tree. I let out a pained howl as I fell to the ground. I must have really pissed the Alpha off because it didn't bother taunting me and settled for running at me. I tried to stand up only to fall over again as a wave of dizziness struck me, leaving my back to the rapidly approaching Alpha. As I fell my hand landed on something hard and metallic. I looked down to find that I had fallen onto the girls scyfle.
'That's it! I just hope the girl won't mind.' I thought to myself as I grasped the deadly weapon with both hands.
'Okay Aura, I could really use some help right about now.' I thought to myself, not caring about the fact that aura can't talk, while trying to bring forth my aura. I continued to frantically try and bring forth my aura as the crunching of snow increased in volume.
'Come on, come on, come on, If you really are my aura then you sure as hell don't want me to die, so hurry the hell up and help me!' I shouted in my head as I waited for the Alpha to get within swinging distance.
'Ah fuck it,' I thought as I tensed up, 'Now!' I spun around and swung the scyfle as hard as I could. Time slowed to a crawl as I was spinning around. I could see the Alpha frozen mid lunge with its arms out and mouth wide up, heading straight for my throat. As I continued to observe the Alpha in front of me, a familiar sensation of uncontrolled power spread through out my arms as a deep purple glow covered my arms as well as the girls scyfle in my hands. Then, without warning, time returned to normal as the back end of the scyfle connected with the Alpha's chest.
∽CRACK∽
A loud cracking noise filled the clearing as what I can only assume was the Alpha's ribcage breaking. The Alpha let out a loud, pained howl as it flew back and smashed through a tree, crashed into the one behind it, and slid down before landing a crumpled heap. I ran towards the downed Alpha and threw the scyfle at its head when it tried getting back up, knocking it back down. Once I was close enough to the grimm I grabbed the scyfle off of the ground, spun around, and plunged the blade into its chest. The Alpha let out a pained whimper as it tried to reach up and grasp the blade only for its arms to go limp as it died.
I stayed their panting while the purple glow of my aura dimmed until it faded away completely along with the feeling of invincibility. I pulled the scyfle out its chest before dropping it on the ground when my legs and arms gave out on me. It was as if all of the energy in my body was drained away.
As I layed on the ground waiting for my strength to return I was struck by an intense hunger as a powerful smell drifted through the air. It didn't take long for me to realise it was the Alpha's corpse that was giving off the smell. Suddenly my limbs began to move, but I wasn't in control. It was like someone had attached strings to my limbs and was pulling them, almost like a marionette. I don't like this feeling, it's … unnatural, like watching someone control your body and you can't do anything but watch. I tried to resist it but I couldn't do any about it. As my body managed to stand up and stumble over to the Alpha's corpse the smell got stronger and soon I couldn't resist it anymore. I stopped resisting and my body lunged forward and started to devour the Alpha.
'Ugh, is this going to happen every time I kill a Grimm? They don't even taste that good. Actually, they don't have a taste to begin with.' I thought to myself as I walked towards the downed girl while carrying her scyfle over my shoulder.
'Wait a second, am I taller or did everything get smaller?' I asked myself as I looked around to find that I was indeed taller, if only a little, then I was before. 'And … are these bone sticking out of my chest?' I questioned again while I ran a hand over my chest to find what six rib like bones sticking out of my chest, three on the left and three on the right.
'Eh, I'll worry about this later.' I continued on my way towards the downed girl. Once I stepped into the clearing where the girl was she tried to back up but her back was already up against the tree. I raised my arms to try and show that I mean no harm, but that plan seemed to backfire when the girl tried to run only to fall down and let out a pained hiss while reaching for her back. I continued to walk towards the girl until I stopped right in front of her as she stared up at me with a fear filled face. I started to bring her scyfle down only for the girl to shut her eyes and bring her arms up to block her face. I let out a sigh while putting her scyfle on the ground in front of her, before taking a couple of steps back and setting on the ground.
'I already knew people were going to see a monster when they look at me, but it still hurts.' I thought to myself sadly while waiting for the girl to calm down. It took a while but eventually the girl moved her hands and slowly opened her eyes. She stared at me in shock before slowly reaching for her weapon and reeling back as quick as she could once she had it.
"You're … different … from the other Grimm." She said cautiously.
'Yeah well no shit.' I thought while giving her a Beowolf's version of a deadpanned.
"Can … can you understand me?" She asked slowly. I gave her a simple slow nod.
"Why did you help me?" She asked while clutching her Scyfle to her chest. I sat still thinking for a couple of minutes before an idea came to mind. I slowly brought up my right hand only to freeze when she tensed up and clutched her weapon tighter. I waited for a couple of minutes before slowly bringing my hand down and writing something in the snow. Once I was finished I slowly backed up so she could see what I wrote. She stared at me for a couple of minutes before slowly standing up, using her scyfle as a makeshift crutch, and walked over towards my message. Not taking her eyes off me the entire time. Only when she was in front of my message did she take her eyes off me.
right thing do
"Right thing do?" She repeated my message aloud, "Oh, you mean right thing to do?" She asked while shifting her focus back to me. I gave her another nod. She stared at me for a couple of minutes before asking another question.
"So, do you have a name?" I was about to start writing my name in the snow when I froze.
'Wh … what's my name?' I asked myself. I tried to think back but nothing was coming to mind, infact most of, if not all, of my memories seem to fragmented and blurry. I started to panic but tried not to show it. Once I managed to calm myself down a little I resumed writing.
dont know
memory gone
This time the girl walked over to my message, not caring that I was still in the same spot as before.
"Oh, well why don't you come up with a new name until you remember your old one?" She suggested after reading my message. I thought about it before reaching down again and writing out my new name.
Paradox
"Paradox? That's a strange name." She said while looking up at me. I just gave her a shrug. Paradox; a situation, person, or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities. Seemed like a fitting name. A Grimm with a soul. The girl was about say something when she was interrupted by a loud howl.
"Oh that doesn't sound good." She said meekly while trying to bring up her scyfle only to let out a pained hiss when she moved her back too much. I scribbled down a quick message before turning around and lowering my self to the ground on all fours.
get on
"Wait, you want me to ride you?" She asked before several louder howls started up, and judging by the sound they were getting closer. I let out an impatient growl while looking over at her.
"Okay fine, but I'm warning you, if you try anything, I'm not afraid to use Crescent Rose on you." She said before climbing onto my back and grabbing hold of the two spikes that came out of my shoulder blades.
'Okay but you might want to hold tight.' I thought before kicking off and running at full speed away from the clearing.
AN: Sorry it took so long but here you go, chapter 2 of Paradox.
No, I;m not dead, just extremely lazy. Again Sorry.