Hey guys/gals, Archemedies here, with the next chapter of this story. I don't really have anything to say, so: Reviews!
crilleyh.p: Thank you!
Yolo Mofo: Yeah, I guess she is. And yes, it will have weapons like Crescent Rose. I tried to make it so that's what she's basically carrying. More weapons on the way though.
Guest: Thank you!
Brony143: Well. I did it? Is this soon? Thanks for the review.
Second guest: Once again, thank you!
Pax guy: Thank you for all the support. And, by the way, I was wondering if you could make a fanfiction account? That way, we can speak through PMs, rather than the authors note. I would quite like to speak to you :)
Anyway, fav, follow, and review if you want to. They really help me to stay motivated. Stay Jammy, and, as allways.
Peace.
Chapter 3: A Broken City.
Ruby stepped over to Yang, who was still watching her in concern.
"OK Yang...Where now?"
Yang snapped out of her trance, before saying:
"Well...I guess we could go home...You're cured now, right?"
Ruby was about to agree, before a searing pain coursed through her mind.
Hunter...Hunter...Hunter...We need you...Stay with us...This city is dying, it needs fresh blood...But first, all that is old, and dead, must be destroyed, cleansed, in steel and blood. Cleanse this city Ruby. And you will have your absolution.
"Ruby? Ruby? Ruby! Speak to me!"
Ruby opened her eyes as the agony dispersed, finding herself lying on the ground, weapons still clasped in her hands, and Yang leaning over her as she blinked the fuzzyness out of her thoughts.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. Just...I can't leave"
Yang's eyes widened.
"What? Why?"
"I don't...Look. I can't explain it, but...There's something I need to do. Something that needs to be done"
"What? What needs to be done?"
"I don't know. I just know we need to be the ones who do it"
Yang stared at her for a few moments, before sighing, and standing, before grasping Ruby's wrist, and pulling her to her feet.
"Fine...We can stay here. Until you've done...Whatever it is you need to do. Summer asked me to look after you. And that's what I'm going to do. Although you don't exactly seem defensless"
Her unspoken question hung in the air, amidst a pregnant pause.
"Well, I...Found these weapons, in the doctors room. As for how I can use them...It just came to me"
Yang glanced at her skeptecllay, before looking away, obviously unconvinced.
"Well, we lucked out then, didn't we. Shall we continue this...Journey? Quest? Romp? Hell, I don't even know what to call this"
Ruby nodded.
"OK. I guess...We should just check out the town. We'll know what we're looking for. When we find it. I think"
Yang shook her head, and Ruby tried to push open the door they'd come in through, but it remained resolutly shut. Ruby turned, seening another door, on the other side of the room. They walked over, and Ruby opened it, with a great deal of effort. It led into a small chamber, wiht another door at the far end, up a small set of stairs, and a body, hsitting against one wall. From the lack of movement, they assumed the worst, and carried on, going up the stairs, and opening the door. It led out into a circuler courtyard, surrounded witha high stone wall, and what seemed to be several gravestones around the edge. There was a large gate set into the wall, and Yang and Ruby walked over to it. Yang turned to Ruby.
"You think we can open it?"
"If we work together"
Ruby lowered her weapons, and pushed her shoulder against one half of the gate. Yang kept hold of her sword with one hand, and pushed with the other, and the gate opened, after much squeling of hinges. It led out onto a path, with a ste of stairs leading down to another, and beyond that platform, a massive drop. A sign post read:
CeNTraL YhArNAm.
The words were badly carved, but still dechipherable. On one side of the path, was a carrige, that was very effectivly blocking that way. The other path was unblocked, another carrige, and a second dead horse, nearby.
They continued past it, and soon, a distinct groaning could be heard. Ruby edged around another cart, and had to leap back, to avoid a swinging axe. She dodged it, and it struck the ground, striking up sparks on the cobbles. Ruby backed up until she was shoulder to shoulder with Yang, and the wielder of the axe came into view, walking around the cart. The axe was carried by a tall man, painfully thin and scariliy pale. He wore a simple set of trousers and a shirt, along with a pair of threadbare suspenders, and a battered tophat. He shambled towards them, dragging his axe along the ground. In his other hand, he held aloft a flaming torch. He muttered as he drew closer.
"Damn travellers. Carrying disease, and bloodshed. Gotta kill them, gotta stop it from spreading. Kill them. Kill the outsiders. Kill!"
He rushed forward, swinging the axe in a horizontal strike, aimed at Ruby's neck. She danced backwards, Yang rolling to the side, and raised her weapons.
He swung again, and Ruby fired her rifle, striking him in the leg, and hoping to immobilize him. The bullet blasted straight through his knee, and he dropped into a crouch. Ruby took a few steps towards him, and swung her sword. She knocked the axe out of his hand, and pressed her blade against his throat.
"Look, we don't want to spread anything. I'm cured, OK? No need to worry. I'm gonna back away now, slowly"
Ruby did as such, backing away from him, sword held at the ready. She'd gotten a few steps from him, before he began muttering.
"Sorry, what was that?"
She walked back to him, wary for another attack, as he kept muttering.
"Look, you're gonna have to speak louder-"
"NO CURE!"
He leapt forward, his broken knee holding for a second, before collapsing. A second, however, was enough for him to swing his torch, slamming Ruby's sword out of her hand. His knee gave a final snap, before bending the wrong way, and he collapsed back to his knees, before jabbong the torch directly at Ruby's face. She didn't think, she just reacted, swiping her rifle to knock the torch away, before forming a stiff fingered point with her right hand, feeling her arm fill with strange, frightening power, and she jabbed forward, spearing her hand into his chest. She grabbed something, that pulsed beneath her grip, and wrenched her hand out, taking the beating heart with it. She looked at it for a second, as it quivered in her grip, and the villager dropped his torch, blood spraying from the gaping hole in his chest, and slumped backwards, falling to the cobbles with a final huff of breath.
Ruby screamed, dropped the heart, and staggered backwards, eyes fixed on her red stained hand. She dropped to her knees, and stopped screaming, Yang running up, and crouching next to her.
"Ruby! Ruby! Are you...Ok? Oh God. You killed him!"
"I know! I...He...He attacked me, and I didn't think, I just...Oh God. I did kill him"
"Listen! Listen Ruby! You killed him. Yeah, you definitly killed him. But you said it yourself, he was attacking you. You did what you had to, OK? Don't worry Rubes. It...It was necessary "
Ruby shook her head, and stood, trying her best to flick the blood from her hand, before spotting her sword, lying on the ground. She walked over, and picked it up from the ground, her wet hand dampening the wrapped grip. She turned, giving Yang a blank stare, with dead eyes.
"Yeah, yeah. Necessary. Let's...Just keep going. Find what we're looking for. And then...I don't know. I'll thnk of something"
"Yeah. That's the spirit!"
Yang called enthusiasticly, but on the inside, she was worried. Without any doubt, she was scared of Ruby. She'd just slammed her hand, into a grown mans rib cage, and torn out his heart. Yang glanced at the body, and shuddered, before she followed Ruby, who'd started walking over to a lever. Ruby set down her weapons, and pulled the lever, causing a ladder to drop down from the massive wall, that loomed over them. The grinding of the mechanisms, was joined by a few coughs. Ruby and Yang looked over, to find two men, huddled against a carrige, and several stacks of boxes. They stood. One of them held a torch, and a curved sword, flecked with rust, but still glinting evilly. The other clasped a pitch fork in bony hands. They advanced, glaring malicously at the two girls, and Ruby and Yang stood ready. Yang spoke up, whispering:
"I'll take the one with the pitch fork, you get the other one, OK?"
Ruby nodded grimley, as Yang readied her sword.
The two men rushed forward, and the two girls ran to meet them. Ruby danced across to the sabre wielding madman, and Yang leapt towards the other. She raised the sword above her head, and brought it down, in a powerfull swing, that was blocked bu the shaft of the pitchfork, the villager raising it above his head at the last second. The impact sent shockwaves up her arms, and she stepped backwards, the man following her. He thrust the pitchfork forward, and Yang stpped to the side, swiping the sword downwards, the blade cleaving into the mans chest, snapping his collarbone. He shuddered, and dropped the pitchfork, raising his hands to the jagged wound. Yang yanked on the blade, ripping it out of him, and swung again, slashing across his chest, scoring across his ribs with enough force to collapse them inwards. He toppled backwards, and closed his eyes.
All the while this was happening, Ruby was stepping up to her opponent. She raised her weapons, and the man swung his sabre, a move she dodged by stepping backwards. She moved forward to strike, but was forced to leap sideways, when he swung his torch from side to side, the blaze spewing sparks. Ruby raised her rifle, and fired, striking him in the chest, and staggering him. She lunged, slashing at him, and sending blood spraying from his stomach. She raised her blade, and plunged it into him, embedding it in him up to the hilt, and splattering the cobblestones with blood. He dropped to his knees, and she pushed the barrel of her rifle against his shoulder, bracing herself, and pulled her sword free from his body. She turned, just as Yang's assailant fell to the ground, dead. She and Yang shared a look, full of pain, and indecision, before Ruby started walking, leaving the bodies behind. Ruby began climbing the ladder, and Yang followed, and they both ended up atop a platform, that held a strange lantern. Ruby recognised it as the same one from her dream, and walked over to it. She lay a hand on it, and it burst into life. Ruby stepped back from it, and Yang gave her a quizical glance. Ruby shook her head.
"Don't worry about it. But if you see any lanterns like this, just let me know, OK?"
"Yeah. Sure. If it'll make you happy..."
"Thanks"
The left hand path was blocked, but the right one was open. Yang and Ru y walked down it, finding a set of stairs leading down to street level. They followed them, and came to a low road. Yang was about to storm of down the road, but Ruby grabbed her wrist, stopping her.
"Wait"
Yang was about to ask what she'd heard, but she soon heard it for herself. What sounded like a crowd, chanting one thing, over and over.
"Kill the beast"
"Kill the beast!"
"KILL THE BEAST!"
A figure, dressed in white and black, covered in small cuts and bruises, and splattered with blood, sprinted down the street, a cleaver like weapon in one hand, a foreign looking sword in the other. The sword in quiestion had a strange mechanism in the hilt. These were not the most notable thing about her. That place of honor was taken by the...Cat ears? Yes, there was no doubt about it. She had a set of cat ears, popping out the top of her head, what remained of a bow hanging off them, flapping in the wind.
As she ran, she turned, and pulled a trigger on her sword, firing a pistol, seemingly hidden within the hilt of the sword. There was a cry of pain from the far end of the street, and a small crowd of people, all of them wielding somekind of makeshift weapon, came into view, one of them staggering a few steps, before stopping, and toppling backwards, revealing a small hole, punched straight into his forehead. He lay still on the ground, as the girl ran off out of view, the crowd screeching in rage, before running after her, resuming their chant, albeit louder now.
"KILL THE BEAST!"
"KILL THE BEAST!"
One man ran ahead of the others, carrying a rifle in one hand, and a torch in the other.
"Kill it with fire! Burn it clean, before it spreads the disease!"
The crowd screamed in agreement, and sped up, full on sprinting now. The man with the rifle raised it, supporting the rifle with the forearm of the hand that held the torch. He stopped for a second, before firing. A feminine cry of pain echoed out into the night.
"Hah! I've wounded the animal! Now, we shall cleanse its filth from our fair city!"
Ruby sprinted down the stairs, chasing after the crowd, as they ran onwards. Yang followed her, until they reached the mob's destination.
The girl was standing in the middle of a wide street, with her back to a massive bonfire, in the middle of which was a giant wooden cross, to which had been tied one of the wolf like beasts. The town's-people had formed a rough semi-circle around her, brandishing their farming tools and rusty weapons. There were also tow men with rifles, one of whom stodd on a raised path way, and the other on top of a carrige.
The ringleader stepped forward, waving his torch, and cast aside his empty rifle, before snatching a second torch from on of his fellow...Hunters? No, hunting implied there was a reason for the attack, a need for food, or protection. This was straight up murder. He swung the two torches, sending sparks flying.
"Now, beast, you shall be purged from this hallowed ground!"
The girl grimaced, taking a step back, towards the fire, and almost fell, snarling in pain, dropping her sword and clutching her leg.
Ruby and Yang looked, and saw a bleeding wound, a deep gash, stretching across the width of the girls calf. It seemed the shot had been aimed for the back of her knee, but had missed, instead carving its mark into her thigh. She gave a deep breath, and looked around with darting eyes, searching for a way out of a fate, that seemed inevitable.
And then, her eyes met those of Ruby, and flashed down to the weapons in her hands. She met Ruby's eyes again, and mouthed three words.
Help.
Me.
Please.
Ruby nodded at her, before turning to Yang, who spoke first.
"Ruby, you've got a look in your eye. A scary look, that say's you're about to do something. What it it?"
"Something incredibly irresponsible and foolish. But if it works, it'll save that girls life"
Yang stared at her for a few moments.
"Well, as your carer, and big sister, I can't let you do anything like that..."
Ruby stared at Yang, her mouth open. Was Yang actually going to stop her?
"Without me backing you up. You ready?"
Ruby nodded, full of happiness that her sister was going to help. She turned to the girl in black, and nodded to her. She nodded back, and picked up her sword from where it lay on the ground, as the torch wielding maniac drew closer.
"Now, foul beast, dark creature of the night, it is time, for you to burn, and be cleansed! I sentance you, to death!"
The boom of a shot echoed out, and the man collapsed to his knees, blood streaming from the bullet hole in his back. Ruby lowered her smoking rifle and stepped forward.
"If that's her sentance, then you can consider that...My objection"
The town's-people screamed, and Yang and Ruby sprinted forward, the black clad girl readying her weapons and limping into the fray as well, as the battle began in earnest.
Ruby dodged the clumsy swingn of a cleaver wielding man, and stabbed her sword into his stomach. She pulled the blade out, and slashed, cutting him down where he stood. Yang and the other girl were fighting as well, both dealing with several of the towns-people. Three of them surounded Ruby, and the leader stood up as well, groaning, and stepping forward, staying behind the others.
"Kill her!"
The three others rushed into action, two of them wielding curved swords, and the other a cleaver.
The swordsmen went first, and she parried several cuts, before striking out, and slashing one of them across the arm. He backed off, and a rifle shot to the stomach sent the other staggering back. While they both assessed their wounds, Ruby slammed the handle of her sword into the barrel of her rifle, combining them into the scythe.
The men gasped, and one of them whispered:
"A hunter?"
Ruby leapt forward, slashing at one of them's leg, and cutting deep. The other luched forward, still bleeding from the hole in his stomach, and she lashed the scythe around again, cutting into his chest, and seinding him to the ground, dead. The cleaver wielding warrior sprinted forward, as the last sabre wielder got back to his feet, limping heavily. She spun her scythe, swing low, and taking the leg off the sabre wielder. He fell, screaming, and a bullet to the head put an end to him. The cleaver swung towards her, and she raised the handle of her scythe to block it, the impact sending her attacker staggering back. She dropped her scythe level, and fired a shot into his chest, before slashing once more, and cleaving him in two.
The leader backed away, as Yang and the other girl walked up, both splattered with gore. The cat eared girl walked right up to him.
"You...You monsters!"
"You're the only monster here"
He backed away, swinging his torches wildly.
"No...No! You can't kill me! You can't!"
The black haired girl glared at him for a few seconds, before snorting.
"I can. And I will"
He leapt forward, swinging his torches, and she backed away, before she placed her cleaver on her back, and grabbing the point of her sword. She pressed down on it, and it collapsed, forming a strange, right angled blade on a handle. She hurled the weapon, and twirled it, launching several rapid fire strikes, that slashed across his chest. He staggered back, blood sparying, and she dashed forward, connecting a kick to his chest. He hurtled backwards, flying straight into the bonfire. His screams died away in seconds, as the cat eared girl turned to Ruby and Yang. Ruby spoke up.
"That. Was. Awesome. And if you don't mind me asking...Who are you?"
"Blake. Blake Belladonna"
With those last few words, her eyes rolled back in her head, and she fell to the ground, in front of the bonfire, that burnt into the night.
