Darksiders: The Ruby's Shadow

Chapter 2

Ten minutes had passed by since Team RWBY had reached the mysterious man. By this point Blake had gotten in contact with emergency rescuers, while Weiss and Yang were able to treat his bleeding wounds and apply Dust-based emergency burn salve to his face, wrapping it in medical gauze to prevent further damage. So far Ruby did not detect any threats coming towards them but she kept her guard up. She kept an ear open to listen to her teammates while she kept her vision trained on the forest.

"Guys, the paramedics are on their way," Blake said, hanging up her scroll. "They should be here in fifteen minutes."

"Oh, good," Weiss said. "That means he'll get better treatment than what I can do. I'm glad that I got that emergency medical kit."

"Think they'll need help moving him?" Yang asked, setting the stranger's head back down to the ground. "He's pretty heavy, even for a guy his size."

"I'm sure they'll be able to move him," Weiss said. "I mean, it's not like they're going to just carry him to the hospital on foot, right? They'll be getting here in an ambulance."

"She's right," Blake said. "Which just leaves us with keeping him safe until they get here. Any signs of Grimm, Ruby?"

"Nothing, yet," Ruby said, still keeping an eye on their surroundings. "And hopefully we won't have to worry about –"

All of a sudden, Zwei looked towards the forest and began barking, grabbing the girls' attention. Soon they all heard it: the growls and roars of monsters getting closer. Weiss and Blake picked up their swords while Yang readied her fists. Ruby pushed a button and transformed her sniper rifle back into a scythe, still pointing the muzzle towards the forest. As soon as they were ready, Grimm began to emerge from the inner forest, all black with bone-white faces and spikes along their limbs. Ruby could see at least twelve at the moment, but she could tell that there were more behind them. All were bipedal lupines with claws on five-fingered hands and sharp fangs. And all were glaring hungrily at the group. Beowolves.

"Spoke too soon," she said. "Yang, help me thin them out. Everyone else, form up around the stranger. We protect him till help arrives."

Yang nodded before jumping next to her sister and cocking her fists back, a sound akin to a cocked shotgun coming from her gauntlets. Ruby pulled back the hammer of her scythe, ready to shoot once the Grimm made their move. Meanwhile, Blake, Weiss, and Zwei each readied themselves in their own ways. The girl in black and white pulled her sheathe off of her back, revealing its own cutting edge as she did so. The one in white and blue readied two red Glyphs in front of Yang and Ruby, a red aura permeating from the revolving chamber in her sword. The corgi, meanwhile, crouched and began to growl in preparation. The Grimm stayed where they were, growling and assessing the situation. No one moved. No one struck.

For about seven seconds.

The first to move were the Grimm, charging forth with fangs and claws at the ready. As soon as they charged forth, Yang and Ruby made their move. Yang punched the air in front of her, her gauntlets sending out blasts of yellow shockwaves that rocketed towards her targets. Ruby, meanwhile, pulled the trigger and fired off rounds at her targets. Both attacks passed through the red Glyphs, becoming red and gaining fire-like properties. As each attack connected, they would explode with the force and heat of a grenade, killing or disorientating any Grimm that got too close. This tactic prevented any Grimm from getting too close for some time, but soon two or three made it to the two sisters and swiped at them, forcing them to jump back and stop their attacks momentarily. The glyphs disappeared soon after, no longer in use.

Yang and Ruby took to taking the head on approach, punching and slicing at the Grimm as they got closer. The remaining three, meanwhile, surrounded the stranger from different sides to protect him. Yang and Ruby were able to destroy most of the Grimm heading their way, but soon a few made it past them, going straight for the others. The first to approach them ran face first into a white glyph that suddenly appeared, which was soon followed by Weiss' rapier to the neck. The next Beowolf that approached the group was subjected to dual black blades that severed the arms and head from the torso, courtesy of Blake. The third one, meanwhile, was tackled in the groin by Zwei before being knocked upside the head and landing on its back. This one was then decapitated by one of Blake's blades before she resumed the fight.

The fight raged on for five minutes, the girls not letting a single Grimm get past them. Their bodies slowly faded into dust as they fell, leaving no signs of the battle save the damage to the surroundings. Soon, none of the attacking Grimm were left, allowing the girls a reprieve.

"Anyone hurt?" Ruby asked.

"I think we're okay," Blake said, sheathing her smaller blade.

"Of course we're okay," Weiss said. "If anything, this should be our warmup by now."

"That was a warmup?" Yang asked with a smirk. "I didn't even break a sweat!"

"You know, I think this is the first time we've fought Grimm while trying to protect a single target," Ruby said. "I mean, outside of training."

"Yeah, you're right," Yang said, thinking about it. "I think we did pretty good for our first time."

"We're not done yet," Blake said, holding her now sheathed sword at the ready. "We still need to hold out until the ambulance gets here, and with our luck there's bound to be more Grimm heading this way."

"Blake's right," Weiss said, also readying here blade. "Those were just Beowolves, and young ones at that. I just hope that we don't have to –"

"Let's not finish that sentence," Yang said. "As much as I love a good fight, I don't want you jinxing us, not if we have to protect someone in a coma."

As soon as she finished her sentence, the cawing of crows came from farther in the forest, small ones flying above the trees. As they cawed, the stranger began to groan and move his face, catching everyone's attention. Blake and Zwei both knelt next to him to see if he was in pain, but she couldn't find anything. That is until his body suddenly began to glow a pale purple light, the light coming off of him in wisps as he began to murmur something that none there could make out.

"Is…is that his Aura?" Weiss asked cautiously.

"I'm not sure," Blake said. "If it is, then I've never seen Aura shaped like…smoke."

"Whatever it is, he looks like he's in pain," Ruby said. "You think there's anything we can do to help?"

"I don't know. But…hey, does anyone else feel a little…cold?"

"Now that you mention it, I do feel a little chilly," Weiss said, rubbing her arm with her free hand. "How did it get so chilly all of a sudden?"

"Maybe it's this guy's Semblance?" Ruby asked. "I mean, he –"

"Guys?" Yang said, still looking at the forest. "We've got Grimm."

Everyone looked forward…and their eyes widened at what they saw. Though not nearly as many as the last wave they had fought, the Grimm that they saw were much bigger than the last ones, and more diverse. Not only Beowolves twice as big as the last batch, but also bear-like Grimm, two giant snakes connected at the tails with heads as big as cars, one snake black and the other white, and what appeared to be giant boars with mammoth-like tusks. Ursas, a King Taijitu, and Boarbatusks, respectively. All were as big as or bigger than the last batch of Beowolves. And all were glaring that the group with killing intent.

"Well, Yang, you said you didn't 'break a sweat' with that last batch," Weiss said, cocking the revolver-like chamber in her sword. "How's this for a challenge?"

"Yeah, this'll work," Yang said.

"Why aren't they moving?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know," Weiss said. "If I had to guess, they're waiting to see what we'll do. These Grimm must be much older ones. They've learned."

"I count at least twenty-four," Blake said, both blades out. "Which leaves six for each of us, not counting Zwei or any other Grimm that show up."

"No, twelve for two of us," Ruby said, confusing the other three. "Yang, you, Zwei, and Weiss grab the stranger and get him to safety. Blake and I'll hold off the Grimm."

"What?! Ruby, are you insane?!" Yang yelled.

"We're not leaving you here with those things!" Weiss exclaimed.

"I'm not asking you to!" Ruby responded. "Just get him somewhere out of the way and then come back to help. You two are the only ones who can even move him."

Yang clearly wanted to argue against Ruby, but after considering their situation she kept her mouth shut on the matter. Instead of grabbing the stranger, she walked forward a few steps and slammed her fists together; creating a small harmless shockwave.

"Let me get in and take a few hits, first. With my Semblance, it'll make moving his body easier and Weiss'll just have to cover me."

"Alright. Weiss, Blake, get ready to attack in case any get past her."

The girls all nodded, watching as Yang ran into the group of Grimm. The smallest of the monsters, a Boarbatusk the size of a lion, charged forwards to meet and kill her while the rest stayed back to watch. Yang raised her right fist when she was ten feet from it, ready to punch, when the boar suddenly tucked its head in and went into a roll like a tire; its tusks acting like a dull circular saw blade. Yang saw this coming and punched anyways, her fist connecting with the Grimm and creating a yellow shockwave like before. Both were sent backwards from each other, the Grimm having taken less damage from the impact and still spinning. Before Yang could retaliate, she was tackled by the spinning warthog and sent flying into a nearby tree. The impact left an indent into the trunk but Yang got up like it was a minor hit. Yang charged forward to attack the Boarbatusk, this time dodging the monster's tusks and punching straight at its chin and killing it. The monster fell but it was soon followed by one of the Beowolves. She ducked its initial swipe and went for an uppercut. She missed and took a kick from its hind leg to the gut; shoved back five feet before blocking another swipe and counterattacking. This time her punch landed, leaving its arm to dangle at its side. It attempted to bite at her but she dodged left and kneed it in the chin before elbowing its skull. With a loud thump, it collapsed lifelessly onto the ground, beginning to disintegrate. Before any other Grimm could attack; Yang jumped back to the girls, her hair now glowing like a flame.

"That should do it," she said, picking the stranger up and slinging his arm over her neck. "Be back in a minute! C'mon, Weiss!"

"Right!" she exclaimed before following her back into the city, Zwei literally at her heels.

As soon as the three started moving was the moment the Grimm charged as one. Ruby and Blake charged forward to meet them, both girls taking down Grimm as fast as they can. Ruby used the rifle in her scythe to propel herself forward before swinging the blade up into the head of an Ursa; shooting again to both rip the blade out and blast a hole through its chest. Blake, meanwhile, slashed and stabbed an Ursa and a Beowolf respectively. The werewolf dropped but the bear kept slashing at her, forcing her to jump back. To finish it off, she pressed a button on her smaller sword and changed it into a pistol, its blade now at the top of the barrel, pointing backwards. She aimed its sights at the Grimm's left eye and fired, the bullet passing through its skull. As it dropped, Blake took that moment to aim at another Grimm…only to realize that none of the other monsters were even looking at her or Ruby. They had run past them.

"Ruby!" she exclaimed. "They're going after Yang and Weiss!"

"What?!" exclaimed Ruby. "I'll cut them off and slow them down! You pick off as many as you can from the rear!"

"Got it!"

Ruby took off at super speed, rose petals trailing after her as she rushed to intercept the Grimm. When she was approximately one-hundred meters ahead of them, Yang's group not too far, she stopped and changed her scythe back into a rifle picking off as many monsters as she could. On the other side of the Grimm, Blake chased after them and shot them with her pistol having to shoot each one at least three times before they would go down. By the time Ruby had to change back to her scythe, eight Grimm were left standing. This time, because of the immediate threat, the monsters stopped giving chase and stared the two girls down. After a moment of silence, the monsters split into two groups, each group going for a different girl.

Meanwhile, Yang's group, now close to the residential area of Vale, stopped for a moment to see how their teammates were doing.

"Think they're alright?" Weiss asked.

"Well, it looks like they cut down the Grimm by half and we're not being chased anymore," Yang said, Zwei barking in agreement. "I'd say they're good. Now c'mon, let's get this guy somewhere safe."

Suddenly, the man in her arms groaned, grabbing their attention. He lifted his head a bit, eyes slowly opening.

"…wh...where…what…?"

"Easy, big guy," Yang said. "You took a heavy hit from the meteor. We're getting you somewhere safe."

"Safe? I…I don't…"

"Maybe we should put him down for a bit," Weiss suggested.

Yang nodded before approaching a nearby tree, gently sitting him down. He was obviously dazed and confused but at least he was conscious.

"Alright, let's make this simple," Yang said. "Weiss and I, we'll be right back. We gotta kill some monsters. You stay here with Zwei, the dog."

"Mon…monsters?"

"Yeah, monsters. The ones back there. My sister and friend, they're both holding them back but Weis and I –"

She was interrupted by a familiar scream, pulling everyone's attention. Ruby had been sent flying and landed a hundred or so meters away from them. She stood back up but from the way her shoulder was positioned and how gingerly she was holding her arm it was obvious she had dislocated it. The worst part, however, was the fast approaching Grimm; two Beowolves and the King Taijitu. Yang and Weiss responded, the former shooting shockwaves at the Beowolves and the latter using a glyph to send balls of fire at the two snakes. The smaller Grimm were stunned and knocked onto their backs but the two snakes kept moving despite the flames. And they were heading straight for Ruby.

"RUBY!" exclaimed Yang, running towards her.

As soon as Yang and Weiss had moved forward by a meter, something rushed past them; something that made a grab for the scythe and kept running. Yang saw that it was the stranger, running straight for the King Taijitu with Ruby's scythe in his right hand. He jumped in the air before hurling it at the beasts, the weapon spinning like a thrown knife. That was the last that Yang paid attention to him before she and Weiss made it to Ruby, assessing her damage.

"How bad is it?" Ruby asked.

"It's just dislocated," Yang said. "Weiss, make some ice. I'll pop it back in. Relax for a bit, Rubes."

Ruby took in a deep breath, and as soon as she exhaled, Yang popped her shoulder back into place; Ruby yelping in pain. Weiss, meanwhile, activated the Dust in her sword before stabbing at the ground, sprouting a small circle of ice. She cut a piece of it off before handing it to Yang, who placed it on Ruby's shoulder and tied it down with Ruby's cloak. Zwei, meanwhile, walked up to Ruby and rubbed against her leg in comfort.

"Keep that there," Yang said. "Stay here for a bit, Weiss and I'll go slay those snakes."

"Yang, I don't think that will be necessary," Weiss said in bewilderment.

"What?" Yang asked, looking at her in confusion. "Why not?"

"It seems our guest has more than taken care of them."

She pointed forward, prompting both girls to look and drop their jaws. What they saw were the many disintegrating pieces of the black snake strewn all over the road, the white snake wounded and actually trying to get away. But before it could, the stranger swung the scythe down into the King Taijitu's neck, pinning it down. He left it there as the monster struggled, walking up to the creature's head as it hissed and snapped at him. After staring into its red eyes for a few seconds, he drove his fist down on its head, the impact cracking the ground underneath and silencing it for good. After killing it he looked towards his right, where the sounds of another battle could be heard. With that he picked up Ruby's scythe and looked at the girls for a moment.

"I need to borrow this," he said before running off.

"Well, that was a thing," Yang said, still awestruck.

"Yes, that was, brutal," Weiss said.

"Wait a minute," Ruby said. "HE JUST TOOK CRESCENT ROSE!"

Ruby rushed off in a Semblance-enhanced rush leaving the others to chase after her once they realized what had happened. They caught up to her after almost a minute of running, Ruby standing and staring. The others looked and stared, Yang awestruck and Weiss horrified.

Between a battle-worn Blake and the stranger were the fading bodies of the Grimm, save for one. The stranger, in a similar manner to the King Taijitu, had slammed the scythe down onto the remaining Beowolf's back. But this time, he had propped the scythe up on its small bladed end, propping the Grimm like a scarecrow. As it glared hatefully at the man, weakly trying to kill him, the stranger merely stared back without so much as blinking. Then, in a smooth motion, he grabbed its bottom jaw and ripped it out. The action had elicited horrified yelps from all others present, each too stunned momentarily to respond. The stranger, meanwhile, pulled the corpse off of the scythe before grabbing the weapon and turning towards the three girls. Just as he was about to walk towards them, however, he found a black blade at his neck.

"What are you doing?"he asked.

"Protecting my friends," Blake said. "You just showed a monstrous brutality and I have to know: do you intend on hurting any of us at all? And don't bother lying or I'll cut you down where you stand."

"Blake?" Ruby asked uncertain. "What –"

"Answer me."

"…your two friends, the ones with yellow and white hair, told me that all four of you rescued me," he said calmly. "For that, you have my word: I will never bring harm to you or your friends. I swear it."

Blake looked into his orange eyes for any signs of deceit but all she saw was a steely resolve and honesty. Satisfied, she lowered her blade before sheathing it. The others took that as the que to approach her.

"Blake, are you alright?!" Ruby asked, looking her scratches and cuts over.

"Me?" Blake asked. "Ruby, what happened to your shoulder? You've got a piece of ice on it."

"King Taijitu, which this guy slew. You should have seen it! After he killed the black one, he was all fwap, and shwing, and then BAM!"

"…what?"

"He killed the black Taijitu," Yang said, "and then he pinned the white one down before killing it with a punch."

"A punch? He killed it with a punch?"

"Well, he did just rip off a Beowolf's bottom jaw easily," Weiss said. "it's not that hard to imagine –"

"Ahem!" coughed the stranger. "I'm right here. Don't talk like I'm not."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Weiss said. "We just –"

"Got caught up in the moment," Yang said. "It happens a lot with us. Oh, and thank you."

"For what?" he asked.

"For helping us out."

"You're welcome. And by the way, I believe this belongs to you, Miss…Ruby, was it?"

He held out the scythe to her in one hand, waiting for Ruby to grab it. She held out her hands to receive it; just when a piece of the blade's point fell off and pinged off the ground. Everyone present saw it, and for two seconds no one reacted. After that, Ruby screamed and snatched both scythe and piece before inspecting the weapon while muttering in a panicked state.

"It's okay, sweetheart, Mommy's here!" she muttered. "I'll get you fixed up at Beacon, don't worry! You'll be alright!"

"Is the scythe alive?" the stranger asked, confused. "She speaks like it's her child."

"Well, she did make it from scratch a few years ago," Yang said. "So in a way, it is her child. Kinda like how every artist feels some connection to their art pieces."

"Oh," he said. "I wouldn't know. I'm no artist."

"Alright, then what are you?" Weiss asked.

"I…I…I'm not sure, to be honest. I…can't seem to recall what I am."

This caused worry to pass through everyone except Ruby, who was still looking over her weapon. Yang, Weiss, and Blake looked at each other for a moment, Zwei tilting his head confusedly at the stranger.

"Do…do you know who you are? Do you know your name?"

"…I…don't know."

(Author's notes: Hey, guys. Guardian here. I read the comments, and yes, I know that I put a lot of detail descriptions into the first chapter. That was mostly to set up the characters and setting. I will try to keep stuff like that to a minimum, but it will still happen. That's just my current writing style. On that note, sometime in the future I will try to go back to each chapter and rewrite them in a better, smoother style.

Also, about the second chapter ending...yeah, taking a risk with that, as far as how people will react to it. But hey, great ideas and moments take great risks, right? And there's a reason for it happening...but hopefully you'll understand when it happens several chapters from now.

Please be sure to comment what you thought and suggestions in how I can improve my writing...and I will say this right now to nip it in the bud: don't ask me to take the plot in any certain direction unless I ask you guys to. I already know the key points of this story and how it will end. Small stuff, sure. I wouldn't mind a few suggestions. In fact, I may take ideas that you guys suggest for minor events in the story. Many stories need minor events so as to give the readers and plot a breather. But only if I ask for ideas in advance, and I will try to be specific in what I ask for. And so you know, I know what big events will take place. Those aren't changing. I'm sorry if I come off as offensive and demanding, but it's the only way I know how to say it.

Other than that, I hope you guys enjoy the story! And that ends the notes for now!)