v.3 Beta: ErenJaeger17, Sir Attlich
The voice of Adam Taurus was giving out from all the screaming.
The Faunus tried to moan from his tired throat, gagging as William drove his thumbs deeper into his eye sockets. Blood sprayed onto his visor. He turned his head to see another White Fang mook rushing at him, while screaming, with a sword. William's fist, however, punched right through the blade, embedding itself between his armored knuckles and splitting the White Fang's head in two. The corpse flied to join the thousands upon thousands of more Faunus and Grimm corpses littering in an open, desolate battlefield. Their blood all seeped out into a small red and black lake in which William was standing foot-deep in.
He turned to finish off Adam, but suddenly he found himself stumbling down a fenced road. For the first time in who knows how long, he felt safe. He felt relaxed. He chose this moment to pull his hood back and take off his helmet.
He was then reduced to a quivering mess as he felt to his knees and threw up, coughing and spluttering what was left of the Pinky meat that was still in his stomach, even after lying thousands of years in a sarcophagus. It was the culmination of everything he had been through: the loss of his world of Argent D'Nur, his eternal crusade upon Hell, his eons lasting nightmare of watching his world and everyone he knew burn, and his war resuming on this new world – Remnant.
Remnant of what?
The whinny of a horse drew his attention. He looked up to see a white stallion approaching him, the glare from the rising sun obscuring the rider. He squinted as the Slayer raised his hand to block the glare, before giving up and shutting his eyes, staring down at the ground. This was… stupid, weak, and ultimately, unbecoming of a Praetor of D'Nur. He winced as he heard the rider dismount and step towards him.
William willed himself to open his eyes to see the rider pull back her green hood and was greeted by a brown haired, amber-eyed young woman dressed in simple looking clothes, with a water skin in her hands. She approached him, getting down one knee, and extending it to him. He regarded her wearily, before quickly accepting the skin and greedily downing its content, spluttering lightly as some of it went down the wrong way. He wiped his mouth and exhaled, only to find that the Maiden was now offering him a red apple, with a smile on her face. He moved to snatch the apple, but relented when he saw how relenting her smile was. He gently accepted it, and slowly bit into it. His eyes widened at the taste – something he has not experienced in a long time.
William?
"…" they were both silent all the while, but their actions speaking louder than words.
He finished the apple – spitting the pips into his hand and flicking them into the earth and stood up. The Maiden rose along with him and extended his helmet back to him. Their fingers briefly brushed against each other as he took the helmet put it back on. She then bent over and handed him his chainsaw, her strength intriguing the Slayer. His right hand rested on the handle, putting the chainsaw across his shoulder. He reached around his head and grasped his hood, pulling it back over his head.
Hey William?
The Slayer and the Maiden regarded one another silently. She turned and pointed east.
Time to wake up…
Even in his dreams, even in the presence of a beautiful maiden, there was no peace to be had.
He woke up…
(RWBY)
The New World II:
Sign of Evil, Obscured by Shroud
Treat the beastmen's women delicately. For she is of more sound of mind and reason than the men who easily succumb to the rage that drives them feral. Do not be so quick to judge should one carry a blade in one hand and a gun in the other, for she might very well be the one to redeem the beastmen of their sins long past against D'Nur.
- Corrax Entry 8:6
(RWBY)
"Good morning Will-EEEP!"
Formerly chirpy despite her tired looking face, Ruby winced as she found herself staring down the barrel of William's sawn-off 'Super Shotgun', the first thing he had reached for when Ruby roused him awake as the sun started to rise.
"Uh…were you having a nice dream?" Ruby asked. She heard the Slayer sigh in annoyance and lowered the gun, as he got up and cracked his back before stretching his arms. Ruby giggled - it was so funny that he had slept in his armor, including his helmet. William suddenly turned his head back at Ruby, wiping the smile off her face.
He walked off into the trees close to the lake they had camped out for the night, probably to do his business away from prying eyes, stepping on top of the dozens and dozens of dead Grimm that had attacked them constantly the night before and early morning. Ruby found herself at a complete loss towards William. The way he carried himself as they walked together, almost robotic in nature as if he was weary of the world around him. The way he looked at things like trees, plants, animals, the clouds in the sky, the moon at night, even her; how he held his gaze at them as if he hadn't seen them for an eternity, or if he was afraid they might just suddenly disappear in front of him.
How he refused to show his face to her.
And how he hardly spoke. And whenever he did it was always to the point. No feeling in his voice whatsoever. It wasn't a lack of emotion, it was more like…like…Ruby hummed as she tapped her cheek in thought - she couldn't think of the word.
She couldn't see his Aura, let alone sense if he even had one - the implications of which were unpleasant. As she had explained to him that Aura was manifestation of one's soul, that could be used in combat over a wide range of abilities born to a Huntsman or Huntress. Their most special ability was their Semblance, a talent that was unique only to them. And all of that flew right over William's helmet, so to speak. Not that it made him any less of the powerful Huntsman, since he was probably the only Huntsman who doesn't use Aura. That is if he even was a Huntsman... or even human.
Ruby swallowed. There was no doubt he was the strongest person she had ever met, the way he tore apart all those Grimm that attacked was something to behold. But even that, was William even from around here, from Remnant?
The howling of the Beowolves could be heard coming from the forest and was followed by the sound of one being kicked right out of the trees and landing right in front of Ruby, gagging as it tried to breathe through where it's throat used to be. Ruby sighed and drew Crescent Rose. And there of course were the Grimm attacks which begun last night, and that two of them took shift keeping on the watch as they were attacked no less than five times before the sun had risen, with only about eight hours sleep between them - no wonder she was still feeling a bit tired.
No matter. Another day's walk and they'll be at Vale, and her big sister Yang.
Minutes later they were on the road again, leaving behind another slaughtering ground of dead Grimm. The snow had nearly melted away, revealing all the green in the forest they were travelling through. Ruby keeping some distance behind William, seeing him walk with his helmet under his right arm and his hood pulled over his head. The Reaper mentally prepared herself to press him further on his identity, so caught up in her thoughts she barely noticed the apple core William tossed over his shoulder and barely skimming past her cheek just before he put his helmet back on. Ruby took a deep breath and rejoined William, appearing beside him using her Semblance, with a forced smile threatening to split her face.
"Soooo…" she began. "Picking up from last night. Ummm…where'd you want me to start?"
"Aura." William replied.
"Oh, yeah. So," she cleared he throat as she tried to sound as dignified as possible. "Aura's basically your living force that forms a shield around you, and it protects you from whatever or whoever comes your way. It's a manifestation of your own soul."
"…that's retarded."
Ruby thought she was about to drop to the ground from shock at that statement. She looked that stupefied, "Uh-wha-?"
"Your soul protects your body? Supposed to be the other way around," William turned his head, Ruby feeling like he was staring at her seriously and she shrunk a bit from his gaze. The Slayer recalled those Faunus he fought and him shattering their Auras like punching through glass shields. "And if your 'Aura' breaks?"
"You…you retreat and wait for it to…recharge?" Ruby quietly replied, sounding a bit unsure. William gaze returned to the road. "How do you fight without Aura?" She asked. William cracking his armored knuckles was his answer. Ruby's winced from listening to the bones crack underneath the gauntlets. "Guess you really don't need Aura as long as you got that suit, huh?"
"Yep."
"But… it looks a bit…worn…ish?"
"…"
Suddenly Ruby smiled enthusiastically and asked, "Who built it for you?" Never mind she had noticed that I/O Logistics Manufacturing (a company she never heard of - probably Atlesian) had its logo stamped on the left arm along with the number 8623 on it, but she wanted to hear it from him. Her smile disappeared and her enthusiasm suddenly took a dive when she noticed the way he clenched his left fist and his head dipped a bit.
"…something."
Ruby couldn't hold back any longer. Her promise to explain Aura among other things to a frighteningly proficient (and admittingly awesome) warrior was setting off quite a few warning bells, "You're not from around here, are you?"
"…" William didn't bother to turn his head. "Just figured that one out?" The condescension with that answer and the way the Slayer talked down to her hurt. She raised her eye suddenly when William added, "No."
Ruby's eyes widened, "Oh." Internally she felt gleeful, Finally, getting somewhere. Her smile softened, "So, where do you come from?" William abruptly stopped walking still staring ahead silently. Overtaking him Ruby skidded to a halt and turned, alarmed that she might have hit a sore spot. The Slayer dipped his head a bit pensively. "William?" Ruby squeaked nervously.
"Argent D'Nur." William responded as he resumed walking.
The sound, pronunciation and otherworldliness of William's answer threw her for a loop, "Argent D…D'Nur?" She quietly pronounced it herself. She frowned a bit when it didn't sound like somewhere familiar. Realizing that William was once again walking ahead of her, she squeaked and 'rosewarped' right beside him. "Is that…somewhere outside Sanus?"
"Sanus?"
"Oh, right…it's the continent the Kingdoms of Vale and Vacuo are. Where're we currently standing right now, heh," Ruby explained absentmindedly. "Is it somewhere in Anima or Sol-?"
"No," William cut her off.
"…" Ruby swallowed nervously. "It's…not anywhere on Remnant, is it?" she asked apprehensively. William didn't answer. She recalled what those villagers back at the last village had said about the Armored Huntsman. 'Looking like he wasn't from around here and his armor nowhere near the kind that Atlas or any other Kingdom had developed.' "Um…"
"Yes?" William turned his head as far as his helmet allowed.
"How come you had to leave?"
"…" he held his gaze at her for a few moments. He looked back straight ahead when he answered, "I had to."
"Oh. I'm…sorry?"
"…" William didn't grace her with a response, which was fine with Ruby as she decided to keep silent, realizing that she had gone somewhere dark with the Armored Huntsman. Her eyes widened when William suddenly asked, "You actually fight in that?"
Ruby turned back to him and saw that he was pointing at her skirt. She blushed, before giving an indignant pout and crossing her arms. "It's a combat skirt, thank you very much."
"…right," William drawled.
"Hey! It lets me move around pretty fast."
"Sure."
"I'm serious."
"Uh-huh."
"How are you able to actually move around in that thing?" Ruby scowled as she poked away at the Praetor suit. "I bet it's heavier than that chainsaw you swing around. I bet it's like wearing a tank."
The Slayer brushed her hand away. "Plenty of time to get used to it," William replied. "Saved my ass more than a thousand times." Again, he caught Ruby off guard, not just for his liberal use of the word 'ass' but when his voice took on a humorous edge. "Which is probably more than I can say for a skirt." Ruby frowned and turned her head away from with a huff. She couldn't help but smile when she realized that she had gotten the Slayer to open up, if only briefly. "How long?"
"Hm?"
"Till we hit Vale?" William asked.
"Um…lemme check," she pulled out a large map out of her pack and unfold it, bringing it up so that both she and William could look at it. "If we keep heading north-east it'll just be one more village and then it's the agricultural district of Vale." She cried out excitably with a smile, "And Yang. And Beacon-!"
When Ruby lowered the map William's right hand went for his Energy pistol when he saw a rabbit-eared Faunus stumbling on the road toward them. He stopped when he saw that the Faunus was wearing civilian clothes and was covered in blood from a wound in his stomach. The man desperately tried to staunch the bleeding with his right arm as he limped towards them, his left arm outstretched towards them pleadingly. Ruby's gasped and dropped the map.
"H-help me…" the rabbit Faunus gasped out, his strength giving out and collapsing in Ruby's arms as she ran up to him. William quickly retrieved him from Ruby, laying him on the ground. His arm moving away to reveal the deep slash across his cut deep enough to expose the intestines.
"Oh…oh my…" Ruby cried. Her pupils shrunk when she realized she had gotten the man's blood on her hands. "William? W-what did this-?"
The man coughed up blood before he stuttered. "M-my girls…they took them…f-from our house…" He coughed some more, blood ending up on the Praetor suit. "Gutted me…when I tried to stop them…"
"Where?" William coldly asked.
"Up…up the road…" the Faunus answered. "...please…you have to…"
"D-don't talk, ok?" Ruby exclaimed, panicking as she fumbled for her first aid kit. "We'll get you to the next village and get you all patched up. Right, William?" She looked at the Slayer hopefully. He turned her head toward her, before looking down at the Faunus. Ruby was agape when she saw the he had expired, tears rolling down his cheeks from his dull, lifeless eyes. "W-William?"
"He's dead." William stated. His left eyebrow involuntarily raised itself when he noticed that the Faunus' left arm was bleeding underneath his sleeve. Pulling it back his eyes widened right before narrowing his eyes in a cold glare.
[YOU, YOU WILL BE WORSE]
- DOOM OST -
(0:00 - 0:30)
Noticing how he had frozen, she looked down at where his hand was, and nearly retched as she realized the bleeding symbol was carved into the Faunus' flesh. An inverted five-pointed pentagram... and somehow looking at it caused her to feel a shiver go up and down her spine. The two points at the top of a pentagram gave the impressions as if they were horns of a beast.
"What does this mean?! William?" And looking back at William and how still he looked, she may as well have walked right into a blizzard. "Uh…William?"
"…"
"HEY WILLIIIIAAAAMMMMMMM…. WAIT FOR MEEEEE!"
Ruby panted as she ran to catch up to William, as the Slayer having taken off running straight ahead. She had given up using her Semblance to catch up to him. He didn't tire, nor was he slowing down, as both of them followed the trail of blood. It ran straight up the path, before suddenly deviating towards another path that lead back into the forest and towards a small hill with a log cabin at the top of it. Ruby ran for three minutes with her legs were burning, before she finally stopped to catch her breath as she heard in the distance the shattering of a door.
When she reached the house, and stepped through the splintered wooden door of the cabin she found William standing a few feet away. Right in front of a large puddle of blood and the corpse of a dark-haired human woman lying face first in it. She gasped and looked away, covering her mouth a fresh wave of nausea came over her.
"W-William…" Ruby coughed as she swallowed it back down. "I-I don't-"
Her eyes were like pinpricks when she heard another voice speak in place of the Slayer, ++No signs of forced entry or struggle in the vicinity. The killers were invited in, possibly by this woman. ++ She turned around to see William kneel before the woman's body, nearly gasping when he grabbed her head and lifted it up to reveal that her throat had been cut.++No indications of restraint on the body. She allowed her killer to slice her throat in what appears to be ritualistic killing. Rigor is non-present. Blood has barely begun to coagulate. Estimated time of death: Fifteen to Thirty minutes ago.++
Ruby was bewildered. "William? I…I don't understand…"
++Hello Ruby Rose, I am VEGA.++ the AI cordially identified itself. ++I am an artificial intelligence currently being run off the operating system of William's Praetor suit. I was originally created by the Union Aerospace Corporation, programmed for the purpose of assisting and preserving humanity and its interests in history, technology and, most of all, survival. ++
"Um…uh…" Ruby's eyes were like saucers as she appeared dumbstruck., momentarily forgetting about the still fresh corpse in the room. "O...kay…"
"He's here to help," William cut in. He noticed a framed photo just above the fireplace. Reaching over for it he saw the now deceased rabbit Faunus made beside a human woman, the same dead woman on the floor, and their two children. Two dark-haired girls, one of them a teenager and the other much younger, both with rabbit hairs. And they all had smiles on their face, the photo was obviously taken during much happier times.
"R-right," Ruby shook her head when she got over the shock over the existence of VEGA. She looked at the floor, seeing several bloodied footprints, one of which lead towards the cellar at the other end of the cabin. "We have to find where that man's kids were taken," she stated worriedly. Turning to William she saw him put the photo frame back where it came from, and the way he made sure the photo was facing forward.
William nodded and walked towards the cellar, tearing it open and walking down the steps, leaving Ruby alone. She swallowed loudly, "Okay I'll…look for clues up here and…and…" She glimpsed at the body, it's eyes were open and its pupils rolled up in her eye, almost like it looking at her. "I just need a little air first…"
She stepped back outside.
Her stomach rebelled.
(RWBY)
(Cellar, Forest Cabin)
Drawing his pistol William paused when she heard Ruby coughing as she expelled this morning's rations. He rolled his eyes. He really should have told her to just wait outside, but he figured she had a strong enough stomach. Guess not.
++What Rose is currently experiencing is a normal reaction upon first sighting of the deceased. There is no cause for concern.++
'No shit.', William thought, irritated. Even more so when he saw that the room was pitch black save for the light shining down from above. Fumbling around in the dark his fingers felt a switch on the wall and turned it on, illuminating the spacious looking basement. Guess the cabin runs on generators, probably powered by this Dust stuff that seems to be lifeblood of this world. The same way Argent energy was to the Terran peoples of their dimension. Difference being Dust didn't appear to be demonic in nature.
But there just happened to be demonic cult somewhere operating somewhere around here. And if William didn't have a reason to stick around on this rock - he had one now. Scanning the basement – there were some wooden barrels, tool cabinet above a work desk, and an old cupboard; untouched if the cobwebs dirtying it were any indication. He went straight for the cupboard, unwittingly tearing the door open with his strength alone. He glimpsed at the rotten wood in his hand before crushing it and brushing it off on his right thigh. He grunted, seeing that there was nothing of note in the cupboard. Next, he turned towards the tool cabinet, gently opening it to reveal nothing except for some brand new looking tools and an another photo – of the corpse upstairs. He looked down at the desk and felt the drawer underneath it.
He tried to slide it out, but found out it was locked. He simply just tore it off its hinges and tore it out as the wood splintered. He blinked when he saw that a red animal head with three claw marks in the background was emblazoned on a white and black tunic, a hood and Grimm mask right beside it.
"…"
Obviously, the dead rabbit Faunus they left rotting on the side of the road was a member of this White Fang group. But his mate was a human woman and from their union came two half-breed daughters. If it weren't for the pentagram he and Ruby found carved on his arm he would have guessed they it had to have been a reprisal instead of an obvious cult operating somewhere in the area.
"HEY WILLIAM! I FOUND SOMETHING-!" Ruby calling down for him didn't take his mind off the fact he wasn't alone on the basement, nor did it halt his motions in drawing his pistol and pointing it at the old cupboard. It exploded into splinters as a blackened blur drew its oversized cleaver and thrusted it toward his right shoulder. The force thrust him into the wall, through the desk behind him, his pistol blocking the weapon. Yellow, furious eyes that belonged to the young woman dressed in a black-buttoned vest with a white undershirt complete with stockings and low-heeled boots glared at him behind her weapon. What caught his attention the most was the bowtie on top of her head, which was full of long black hair. Suddenly she drew a grey colored katana from the cleaver-sheathe and pinned his free hand into the wall, the force not enough to pierce through the receptors in his palm but strong enough to immobilize him.
She asked the Slayer in a low, threatening whisper, "Where did you get that chainsa-?"
Not strong enough however. He turned his left hand to an angle as the katana slid down the length of his arm, surprising the intruder as she fell forward and the Slayer slammed his forehead into her, knocking her back. Her cleaver-sheathe no longer pinning him to the wall he lunged forward and grabbed her by the throat and slammed her back through what was left of the cupboard and against the far wall.
Where she promptly turned into a statue of earth and encasing his hands in her throat.
"The fuck?" William couldn't keep his surprise to himself. His hesitation cost him, as the girl swung her weapon, slamming into his helmet and cracked his visor. Gripping a piece of her earth clone he hurled it at her, nailing her in the face and drawing a surprised cry from her. Quickly wiping the dirt from her eyes, they widened at the barrel of a double-barreled shotgun. The blast in such a tight space proved near deafening as the pellets passed through a shadow clone which disappeared in a puff of smoke.
++ Her 'Semblance' allows her to create inanimate duplicates of herself. Variations can depend on the type of Dust she can use,++ VEGA stated. ++ Caution is advised.++
Seeing the intruder head towards the stairs William rushed toward her, grabbing her by the leg as she tried to escape. The cellar door opened to reveal Ruby, "Hey, what's going-? OH!" She nearly fell backwards as the intruder was pulled back down the stairs and flung against the cellar wall by William. The Slayer rounded on her, his fists clenching tightly. He hit her once, which would've usually given someone(or something) a nasty head fracture, but her Aura stopped her from getting killed or getting brain-damaged.
Visibly panicking at the sight of an armored, seemingly invincible monster advancing on her, the intruder switched the magazines in Gambol Shroud to Fire Dust. The highly explosive clone sent William flying upward through the cabin floor, taking Ruby with him as they landed on the grass outside the now burning house. Ruby groaned as she rolled over onto her back.
"Uhhh…?" The Slayer has already backed up on one knee, and shook his head as he turned to Ruby. She squealed in surprise as William tore her cloak off her and threw it to the ground, as his foot stomped on the flames that were caught on the fabric until they were put out. Rubbing her face as she felt a headache brewing, Ruby muttered as she gripped Crescent Rose tightly, "W-what just happened?"
William pointed at the black-haired, bow-tied girl gripping her katana and sheathe as she staggered out the doorway coughing out smoke, the explosion having exhausted most of her Aura. "No way Marlowe would just part with that oversized piece of-" She groaned. The girl looked up to see William reached for pistol; she quickly and desperately transformed her katana into a handgun and leveled it back at him. "Hey!"
"Wait!" Ruby cried as waved her hands about as she jumped between them with their guns drawn. "It doesn't have to be like-!"
William scowled, "You're blocking my shot."
"Mine too," the Shroud replied.
"WILL YOU STOP TRYING TO KILL ONE ANOTHER, PLEASE?!" Ruby screamed, startling the Shroud with her volume. "Please…" Ruby sniffed, the stress nearly bringing her to tears. "No more dead bodies…"
The Shroud blinked, "…I…you didn't kill Marie, then…"
"…" the Slayer felt tempted to lower his pistol, but he saw something that had chilled him to the bone the first time he saw it eons ago, causing him to straighten his aim.
Ruby's eyes bulged in terror as she extended Crescent Rose in its gun mode., "W-what is that-?!"
The Shroud heard feet shuffling behind her and turned to find Marie's corpse on its feet, its head lulled as if trying to hide the fact that it's throat was slit.
The Shroud cried, "Mar-" before the corpse grabbed her by the throat, and brought its head back to reveal a disturbing, literally face-splitting smile with its blood red eyes that were glowing with Hell energy. With its free hand, it tore its dress off to reveal the long-healed scars in the form of glowing demonic runes carved over its breasts and navel.
"I checked her body and I noticed the glowing...marks, and I wanted to show them to you," Ruby made out meekly. She was nearly bowled over as William charged back toward the Shroud being throttled by the possessed corpse of Marie. The Possessed howled as it noticed William. He grabbed her right arm and ripped it straight off her body, the fingers on the hands scrapping painfully against the black-haired girl's throat as it released its grip from her neck. She coughed before emptying the clip in Gambol Shroud into the Possessed's guts. Its other hand wrenched open, freeing her neck, as it gave the Slayer a wide berth. He swung a meaty left hook that caused the corpse's head to explode like a balloon; filled with blood, teeth and grey matter.
And much of it landed on bowtie's face. She paled, wiping the blood of her face with her hand and seeing bits of brain float in her palm. Gritting her teeth, she transformed her handgun back into a sword and thrusted it at William's side. Ruby was on her instantly, her scythe parrying her thrust before following up with a blunt strike to the chest that knocked her some ways out of house's doorway and landing on her ass outside, where she blacked out momentarily.
Seconds later she fought her way back to consciousness, the only thing on her mind was her friend Derrick, the rabbit Faunus that lived here. If he and his daughters were still alive and safe. Ritualistic murderers, armored walking armories and recent increased and erratic Grimm activity be damned. The side of her face was pushed against the grass as said armory had his palm on the side of her head and knee against her back.
"What the hell was that?!" the Shroud exclaimed angrily. "That wasn't Marie!"
"I know," William replied.
"William, do you have to be so rough?" Ruby asked.
"Yep," William deadpanned. Spitting grass out of her mouth the Shroud suddenly froze up when he addressed her. "What were you doing here?" He aimed his pistol down at her face, "Try to stick around."
She didn't doubt that he could put a hole in her head before she could use her Semblance again. "Visiting…friends," the bowtie made out, lacing her voice with anger in an attempt to hide how frightened she was at this moment. "I…I know them, alright?"
"Why were you hiding from us, though?" Ruby asked.
"I thought the people who did this came back! I was planning to get the drop on them, but I didn't count on you!" the Shroud exclaimed. "But it wasn't you that killed Marie, was it?"
"…" the way William shifted himself it appeared he was contemplative. "William."
The Shroud managed to glare over his shoulder at William even as he pinned her to the grass, "Excuse me?"
"His name's William," Ruby said. "My name's Ruby Rose." She and the Slayer exchanged rather dubious glances. She asked, "What's yours?"
Blake grunted as she felt William's grip on her become tighter, "Blake. Blake Belladonna."
'Belladonna? Shit, is naming yourself after plants a thing on this world?' "Ok," William relaxed his hold on her. "I'm going to let go now." He paused before adding, "Don't give me an excuse."
"William!" Ruby exclaimed. "You don't have to-"
"I just want some answers," Blake replied urgently. She added with some dryness to her tone, "Trust me, I know better than to piss you off now."
"Language!" Ruby exclaimed as she covered her ears.
William stared at Ruby curiously. She's seen two dead bodies in varying states of ritualistic mutilation, killing one them a second time, and now she's back to her usual childish self. He would have considered a state of mind like that somewhat frightening if he wasn't so used to seeing corpses – still, walking or otherwise – for nearly all his life. Guess it was something they had in common: They were both insane, but she seemingly didn't know any better.
"Mind getting off of me now?" Blake cut into his thoughts. He let her go, standing up and allowing Blake to sit up and rub her aching arm, his pistol still trained on her. She didn't fail to notice the energized hand cannon inches away from her head. "Really?"
"Really." William repeated. He asked, "Questions?"
Blake stared daggers up at the Armored Huntsman, "How about what happened to the family that lives here? Derrick, Marie and their daughters…if it wasn't you two who did all this-!"
Ruby raised her eyebrows and turned to William, swallowing nervously. "Should we tell her-?"
"Derrick's dead," both Blake and Ruby gasped as William bluntly delivered the news as bluntly as possible. "His body's where we left it."
"L-left it?!" You just left him on the side of the road?!"
"He asked us to save his daughters," Ruby said. "There wasn't any time to-"
"Just his daughters," William added. "Guess he knew what his wife was up to."
"What?" Blake asked. "Up to what?"
"Horrible shit," William replied. "You knew Derrick was in the White Fang?"
"Huh?" Ruby turned to him, surprised. "White Fang?"
++A uniform was found in the basement.++ VEGA clarified. ++Along with what I suspect is White Fang paraphernalia-"++
"WAS in the White Fang, he WAS!" Blake shouted, ignoring the another, synthesized voice came out of the Slayer. Seemingly stunned by her own outburst she quietly added. "I mean... I heard he used to be in it. But…. he…the last time I saw him he said he left the group because he wanted to take care of his family."
'Cause his wife was a human?' William squinted questioningly a bit at the bow-tie wearing young woman. "How come you decided to go see him today?"
Blake frowned, "I was just passing by on my way to Vale if you must know."
"Hey, so are we!" Ruby said. To William she smiled a bit uncertainly, "I think you can lower the gun now, William. This…was a bit of misunderstanding."
Blake rubbed her still aching forehead, "A 'bit'?"
"Tch…" William holstered his pistol as he traced a finger over the crack in his visor. "Before he expired the beas-the Faunus said they took his daughters-"
"So they could be alive, right?" Ruby butted in hopefully. "They might be at the next town."
Blake narrowed her eyes determinedly. "And that's why I'm not stopping for anything!" She then took off towards the forest in the direction of the road towards the next path, leaving the cabin to burn.
"Hey, wa-!" Ruby suddenly found herself being dragged off her feet by her cape as William took off after her. "WILLIAM! WHAT THE...HEY'S GOING ON?!"
"Later!" William gritted his teeth. "There's a place of prayer in the next town? For any religion?"
Unfolding her map Ruby saw that one of the landmarks of the town marked 'Salvation' was a rather ancient looking cathedral in the town center that was dedicated to the worship of the Two Deity Brothers, something that she herself had never paid mind to. "Says here there is. Why?"
William felt coldness in his gut. And suddenly for the Doom Slayer, he realized that he had just stumbled once again onto a world of shit. And these two girls – the Reaper and the Shroud - were along for the ride.
A/N: Hell's already here.
That dream sequence at the start. Doomguy gets bombarded with horrific visions throughout DOOM so the occasional 'peaceful' dream where he meets a certain fair Maiden wouldn't be too much of a stretch.
My original idea for this chapter was that it would begin with Blake escaping from a village filled with cultists and she has hellish runes carved all over her arm and she would be found by Ruby and William, who follow her back to the village. I scraped it when I decided I didn't want to write any of Team RWBY being victimized and instead just went with Blake surprising and blowing up the Doom Slayer. Didn't really want to follow canon where they meet Blake at Beacon, wanted to diverge a little… you know. ^_^
Figured I break the cutie early. I can imagine RWBYverse minds would start snapping like Kit Kats once they see the kind of shit the Doom Slayer's capable of…
While writing William and Ruby's discussion about Aura it occurred to me they may as well have been talking about rejuvenating health in video games…something DOOM will never go near in a thousand years.
And yeah, that was a little experiment in music cues in fan fiction. You can find the track on YouTube. I was thinking of only using them for key moments, but mostly for instances of extreme bloodletting.
Also, if you want updates on my writing each chapter check my profile from time to time. Usually I let everyone know when a chapter is a third, halfway, nearly done or being proofread.