She could hear them. The Beowolves. Howling and snarling as they chased her through the bloodsoaked and rotting underbrush. Their collective strides rumbling and shaking the ground behind her like a thunderstorm. Their teeth freshly stained with blood and gore. She couldn't remember how long she had been running. Was it an ten minutes? An hour? Two hours? A day? The only thing she knew was that she saw them die…she let them sat and watched as the Beowolves broke through the walls of her home, watched as they tore everyone. Her sister, her uncle, even her father to ribbons. And there was nothing she could do about it.
So she ran, she ran as fast and as far as her legs could carry her. Why aren't I fighting back? she wondered surely she could have done something, anything, thrown rocks in their eyes, stabbed at them with the broken pieces of wall. But no Yang Xiao Long decided to run. She ran through the forest after the monsters disemboweled Ruby in front of her, her screams echoed in her mind as the Beowulf's razor like claws cut a gash across her small body, she ran after hearing Ruby call out to her. She ran after her father was decapitated the blood spraying from his neck like a ran after she saw her uncle ripped in half at the waist by three of the shadowclad wolves. She ran after they turned to her, their blood red eyes matching the light of the shattered moon above as they glared at her through all the bloodshed as the night began to take hold.
And so she continued to run. Her legs carrying her as fast as was humanly possible but no matter how far or fast she ran the beasts were never far behind. The forest around her grew darker and thicker the further she ran. The clover and ivy that clung to the trees and crawled along the ground soon turned to thorns and spider webs. Still they followed, like shadows they drove through the forest melding into every dark corner with eyes as red as blood never looking away from her. She knew what they were after, what they would do if they caught her. And so she ran, she ran until her feet bled. Be it due to the thorns on the ground or just from running for as long as she had through the rough terrain.
She ran and ran until eventually she made her way to a clearing that seemed to come out of nowhere it was devoid of the blood and thorns that seemed to cover the rest of the flowers sprouted from the ground covering the forest floor in a blanket of petals tinted a pale red from the moon overhead. The dark and twisted treeline around the grotto grew quiet as Yang stumbled into the center. Her legs tired and bloodied, her lungs burning as she tried to catch her breath her heart feeling as if it were going to burst out of her chest.
"Why are you running?"she heard a voice say. It sounded young almost like a child's
Yang looked around the seemingly peaceful grotto for the source of the voice only to find nothing. Suddenly she felt a tugging on the back of her bloodied and torn jacket.
"Down here." the voice said again as Yang turned and looked down to where the voice came from. She let out a gasp when she was met with a pair of curious and familiar silver eyes staring back into her now tear-filled lilac. The little girl staring up at her she swore was a picture perfect copy of Ruby when she was three or four her tiny frame topped with a head of raven colored hair with dark red streaks just beginning make themselves known at the ends. But that wasn't possible Ruby was dead, she just watched her die. Right?
"Why were you running?" the young copy of Ruby asked snapping Yang out of the trance she had put herself into. Her mind beginning to feel hazy and clogged.
Yang shook her head and wiping the tears from her eyes. Looking down at the young girl she did her best to give her a reassuring smile
"I-I was running from the Grimm."Yang managed to sputter out. Her voice tired and shaky from the things she had just seen.
The copy of her sister just continued to look at her her silver eyes not changing in their curious expression
"Why?" the child version of Ruby asked. It was a good question. Why did she run? Why did she run when her family needed her most? She had no real answer to that question, Well perhaps one but she did want to admit it.
"Because I had to." Yang instantly. "But that's not what's important here. Why are you here all alone? aren't you scared?" she asked while kneeling down to be at eye level with the small girl. Doing her best to bury the dread and despair that was trying to bubble its way to the surface.
Ruby shook her head and flashed an innocent smile "No my big sister told me to wait here while she went to check on something...b-but she told me that she would be right back. And she never breaks her promises."she said her little face lighting with confidence in her older sister. The same one who probably had been killed by the creatures that lurked in the corrupted forest around them.
"Are you sure she'll come back?" Yang asked her head starting to feel fuzzy. Why was that? she felt fine earlier. Wait, where was she again? Was Ruby here? And why was she a child? Ruby was dead she saw her die in front of her...No that wasn't right either. What was happening?
"Are you okay lady? you don't look so good." The little girl with Ruby's face asked as Yang's bloodstained hands gripped the sides of her head Her eyes shut in pain as her migraine grew worse.
"Y-yeah...I think so. I-I just feel like I'm forgetting something...something important or at least I think think it was." Yang said, shaking her head. Was she forgetting something? She couldn't tell her, head hurt to much.
"Weell whats was the last thing you remember?" the younger girl asked her. "Maybe if you don't try and remember the thing you forgot then you'll remember it better" Ruby continued her voice filled with that sort of perpetual optimism that was common in children when they tried to help with something that "grown-ups" couldn't figure out on their own.
"I-I remember… a forest."Yang said as she opened her eyes to find that the twisted and corrupted woods that had once been surrounding them had shifted to a lush and full of life. She could feel the pressure that had been plaguing the inside of her skull lessen slightly at the recollection.
"Aaaannnd" the child said unphased by the sudden change in the world around her.
"There were...Beowolves? No that's not right what was it? there was a Grimm I know that much, What was it?" The Blonde Brawler wondered out loud. The pain slowly returning as the world around her began to grow darker once more. The trees contorting back into grotesque and twisted versions of themselves as the rot and strands of webbing began to once again set themselves amongst the branches and underbrush.
"What did the monster look like?" The Ruby look alike asked her small silver eyes never leaving Yang's crouched figure.
Yang looked too the young girl and began to list what she remembered about the Grimm that seemed to elude her memory.
"It was big, really big and...and it was angry." Yang said as she struggled to say what was slowly returning to her memory. "It-it was loud. And in pain...every time it shrieked it felt like my ears were going to burst, And its eyes, there were so many of them just
staring at me, staring right through me, like I was just something to be eaten."
As Yang struggled to continue, The young visage of her sister began to pace around the older girl. With each step she took the flowers that she tread upon began to wilt and die, changing to a sick, black with the light from the moon slowly began to converge on where the two of them were situated in the slowly dying grotto shadowing everything but the two of them in a pitch black shadow. As the glowing red eyes of the Beowolves began to appear at the edge of the grotto flickering to life like swarms of crimson fireflies growing in number as the moonlight began to fade.
"Go on." The little girl hissed her voice turning raspy and dry as she began to fade into the shadows around them.
Without hesitation Yang continued, seemingly unaware of the change in the 'safe haven' she had stumbled into.
"Its legs were like barbed tree trunks with spears at the end that dug into the ground with every step it took." She shuttered at the words she was speaking. Had she really encountered something like this? Did she...fight something like this? How many legs did it have again? Seven? No eight.
"But by far the worst thing about it were its fangs, large and sharp like curved daggers dripping with venom attached to its face." She said her head still feeling like it was being put through a hydraulic press.
"Wow lady that does sound scary." said the twisted voice of Ruby as it echoed through the shadow filled grotto." In all honesty I can understand why you would run from such a scary and...powerful creature." the voice purred no longer sounding like the innocent child that it had been just moments ago.
Yang lifted her head and opened her eyes immediately noticing the little girl had vanished. She began looking around trying to find where she could have gone, only for her eyes to be met with the gaze of seemingly endless sea of blood colored eyes staring back at her. Her heart began to beat faster and faster as fear slowly began to creep its way back into her mind.
"Hey! Where did you go?"She shouted hoping the visage of Ruby would answer. She was met only with silence for what seemed like forever before.
"Oh...I'm nearby, not too far away but not as close as you want me to be." came the haunting response the distorted voice seeming to come from different directions with every few words. "But then again I don't think it really matters where I am right now."
"And whys that?"Yang asked nervously, while looking around into the darkness trying to at least see the forms of the Beowolves that she knew hid just beyond the shadow's edge. They made no sound as they slowly crept forward watching her frantically look around the ever growing darkness as the moonlight continued to fade.
"Because silly." said the voice from behind her Yang turned to face the source just as the last of the light faded leaving her in the darkness. The only source of light coming from the monsters around her. There was only one space in the seemingly infinite void that had not been filled by the crimson eyes of the Grimm. However before Yang could say or do anything eight small red dots appeared in the distance not as large and ferocious as the Beowolves but they seemed to be carrying something much more...malicious.
Slowly Yang heard what she could only describe as thunder that seemed to be resonating from the monster in the distance as slowly closed the distance between them. With each step it took the ground beneath her trembled, the shock wave traveling along the forest floor and shooting up her spine sending shocks throughout her body.
As her eyes began to adjust to the darkness around her and she saw them. Eight giant limbs that served as legs attached to large talons that dug into the ground with each thunderous step. As it drew closer she was able to make out more of its disturbing figure. Almost its entire body was covered in what looked like a heavily scarred exoskeleton with shallow cuts and deep gashes strewn about its mangled body. The creature's underbelly from what she could see was heavily charred with the scent of burnt flesh lingering in the air around it, overpowering the now stagnant aroma of blood and decay.
After what seemed like an eternity she saw the Grimm's face and almost immediately the sight before her made her want to vomit. Attached to its face where two rows of dangerously sharp looking fangs, wet and dripping with she could only guess was some sort of venom mixed with saliva. But worst of all were its eyes, red like freshly spilt blood and seemingly lifeless as they remained locked onto her as she stood in the crimson moonlight. As it continued to creep closer and closer towards her the two eyes closest to the left side of its face slowly began to bulge and pulse in a steady rhythm like some sort of demented heartbeat that seemed to grow pace the closer it got to her. As the rhythm grew faster and faster Yang noticed the two eyes began to crack and bleed, the flesh inside the eye socket slowly eroding as the blood flowed from the rotten and dying flesh. Soon all that remained were two bloody and mangled clumps of flesh in the place where its eyes once were.
The grotesque and disfigured form of the Widow stopped in front of Yang its eyes never averting their gaze, the spines on its legs twitching with anticipation as if the Grimm was expecting something to leap out of the shadows and cause it more harm.
"I'm...Right….Here." it hissed before suddenly leaping forward pinning Yang to the ground with its massive legs. She didn't even have a chance to scream in terror before the Widow brought its fangs down upon her throat a flash of white flew by her vision before the world crumbled around her faded once more to black.
"Huaaaa!" Yang gasped as her eyes suddenly snapped open. Her lungs desperate for air, she began coughing as she struggled to catch her breath, her heart feeling like it was beating a hundred miles an hour coupled with the migraine that was slowly growing didn't do anything to calm her down. "Oh thank god...it was just a dream." She said silently to herself.
She couldn't remember the last time she had a dream let alone a nightmare like that. And she wouldn't particularly mind if she didn't ever have one like that ever again. What happened? She wondered, the last thing she remembered clearly was pummeling that overgrown Dust Mite into a fiery pulp after it had the audacity to bleed on her precious golden locks and then well nothing just that horrible nightmare she was honestly surprised that her subconscious was able conjure up something like that. Which also brought up another question. Where on remnant was she? Wherever she was it wasn't very well lit seeing how she couldn't see very well at the moment.
Slowly she sat herself up feeling something fall off of her chest and onto her lap as she did so. Her eyes slowly began adjusting to the darkness around her and she discovered that she was in fact no longer in that twisted part of the Emerald forest but in what looked like a well lived in cave. From what she could see with the sunlight shining from the mouth of the cave various parts of the pale gray stone walls around her looked like they had been chipped away at by tools forming makeshift shelves,a few tanning racks were tucked away into one of the corners as well as what looked like small, crude wood and stone carvings of various types of Grimm resting on some of the makeshift shelves.
An unused fire pit was directly in the center of the cave a little ways away from where she was seated on what felt like a bed made of moss and animal skins. Scattered around the floor were all sorts of random things from discarded animal bones to oddly enough empty wallets and a random assortment of trinkets to weathered and broken to really tell what they were anymore. Maybe this place was some sort of secret make out spot somewhere in the forest where upperclassmen sneak of to or something like that but she highly doubted it given the fact that it was in the middle of a Grimm infested forest but then again horomonal teeneagers aren't exacltly known for their intelligence. In the corner she could make out some sort of pile of what, she wasn't sure she wasn't close enough to get a good look all she could tell was that there was a lot of them and they were colorful.
Everything Yang saw before her only seemed to give her more questions than answers the only logical conclusion she could come to would be that Beo had somehow carried her out of that twisted section of the forest and stumbled upon this cave. What the cave was used for was beyond her maybe Beo had somehow managed to stumble into the lair of that "Man-Grimm" all those people seemed to be gossiping about the night before. Maybe he was the "Man-Grimm"... she had to resist the urge to completely give in to a hysterical fit of laughter due to the sheer absurdity of the thought. She couldn't really picture Beo as anything other than a quiet nice guy if their little stroll through the woods had taught her anything about his personality despite the fact that he had yet to say a single word to her. Let alone as this feral monster that skins Grimm alive and does who knows what to the initiates when they enter the Emerald Forest for initiation every year.
She felt a sudden chill dance down her spine as she looked down at what had fallen onto her lap. She picked it up and held it out to try and get a better look at what it was. Whatever it was it was jet black and surprisingly soft and fluffy, with a smooth black lining made of what felt like a high quality sheepskin blanket. Another chill ran down her spine causing her to shiver. Why was she so cold? She took a look at herself and quickly realized why. Her jacket and scarf was missing as well as her belt and back skirt leaving her in only her yellow crop top, black short shorts and boots. Thankfully Ember Cecilia were still in their rightful place. But what really caught her attention were the bandages or, at least that's what she thought they were.
Wrapped around various places on both her arms and even wrapped around her abdomen were strips of familiar looking brown cloth, layered and tied around her biceps and one of forearms. There were dark,slightly damp spots staining each of the makeshift bandages, most likely it was blood that had bled through and dried, tied over spots that when she moved her arms slightly felt slightly sore and achey. There was even one wrapped around her neck but unlike the ones on her arms and stomach the one that was around her neck felt like it had just been changed. Had Beo not only carried her here but also patched her up? She wondered as she tried to stand but quickly lost her balance caused by a sudden dizzy spell and steadied herself against the wall. Her arms felt like they weighed a ton and her feet felt She wrapped herself in the black fur blanket and slowly made her way forward towards the sunlight emanating from the mouth of the cave not noticing the crude paintings of Gimm and a human looking figure with shades of blue shaded on its head plastered onto the gray stone.
The sunlight bleeding into the cave was blinding as she stumbled her way towards of the mouth of the cave, tripping over everything from miscellaneous pieces well the only word she would use to describe it would be junk to her own feet. That and coupled with the increasing frequency of the dizzy spells caused her to constantly have to steady herself against the cave wall.
"Whatever that thing did to me, it did its job well." She said to herself, her raspy voice echoing through the cave "ugh I feel like I got hit by a bus...or Ruby when she was first learning how to stop, Hehe-ow." she chuckled to herself, her ribs feeling like they were going to collapse onto her lungs at any moment "hurts to laugh...good to know." She said finally making her way to the mouth of the cave the sunlight temporarily blinding her as she stepped out of the cave. Her eyesight adjusted to the outside fairly quickly as she took in the sight in front of her. If the last grotto she had been in came from a nightmare then what she was seeing now seemed like it was pulled straight from a nature preservation ad.
The first two words she would use to describe the area in front of her would be...unnaturally peaceful. Well compared to the last place in the forest she and Beo had had the pleasure of visiting it was. It had what someone would expect to find in a clearing trees filled brimming with life as the sun cast gentle shadows over the forest floor below. Various types of fruits grew on the branches of some of the trees that were closer to the edge where the short and well tread upon grass met the overgrowth of the rest of the forest that surrounded it with some of the larger tree's branches casting shadows over various places in grotto.
The sound of a nearby stream broke the almost unnatural and survival silence that the grotto seemed to be generating. However it was the things inside and around the clearing that seemed out of place At the center of the clearing was a lit campfire put together by Beo no doubt, with what looked like a makeshift cauldron or pot made from what looked like a turtle shell as well more racks like the ones she saw inside the cave, along with what could only be a...hammock? Made of woven together vines, leaves, and moss with another animal skin spread across it like a sheet, hanging above the ground off to the left underneath the shade of the two massive trunks it was strung between swaying slightly in the breeze as it did so. It really was a dokac moment if she ever saw one. To her it seemed more like a campground than an abandoned clearing in the middle of the woods complete with more random objects and clothing strewn about random spots, maybe her theory about the other students wasn't so far crazy after all. She thought as she slowly made her way down the gradual incline that led from the grotto to the mouth of the cave.
Speaking of other students, where the hell was Beo? It seemed like a lifetime ago she had seen the blue haired berserker. He had been the one who brought her here and patched her up right? So its not like he could have gotten far or really gone anywhere besides who would have the nerve to leave her in the middle of the woods anyway. Although she had to admit he certainly did leave an impression when they were fighting the Widow. The way every one of his cuts seemed to connect coupled with his insanely reckless and unpredictable movements made her feel bad for anything that managed to piss off the red eyed huntsmen.
She took a closer look around the clearing, getting a better look at some of the things that were scattered about. What she found was crude looking knives made of stone some were just old pocket knives worn and weathered by either time or excessive use use, rocks tied to sticks making what looked like a VERY primitive axes. Thrown next to a rock that was near the lit fire pit and turtle shell that she could now see was filled with water, was a pile of discarded familiar looking clothing and chest guard, no doubt Beo's as well as...her jacket, she stumbled over to the brown colored coat and held it out, seeing and feeling the numerous amount of holes and tears that littered her beloved jacket. Even one of the sleeves was missing as well as several places where a pocket would be.
"Ahhh damn it, I really liked this one too." She said aloud, even though she had countless other jackets that looked nearly identical to this one there was just, something that felt right about the one that was basically nothing but strips of fabric stitched together forming what used to be a piece of clothing. It was weird, she didn't think that the Widow had done THAT much damage to her clothes considering most of her wounds where on her arms and midsection. Unless… she quickly looked back and forth between the bandages on her arms and the tattered remains of her once favorite coat. Did Beo? Had he? He did didn't! He cannibalized her coat and turned it into bandages! Not that she wasn't grateful that he saved her life or anything, no quite the opposite really but still...why couldn't he have used his own tunic instead of her jacket? Honestly the nerve of some people. Although none of that really answered the question as to where he was.
"Hey Beo you out there buddy?" she shouted her voice still strained and raspy.
No reply.
Maybe Beo was nearby gathering firewood or something. Why he would be she hadn't the foggiest clue but then again they had only met earlier that day so it wasn't really fair of her to pass judgement.
A sudden rustling of leaves and breaking of twigs from above snapped her out of her state of thought. She looked towards the treeline to the right and saw a that familiar mop of dark blue hair and black fur maneuvering through the tree branches with almost no effort at all. Like it was almost second nature. While carrying some sort of sack on his back.
"Beo, hey!" Yang shouted trying to get his attention. Beo stopped for a moment and crouched on one of the thicker branches thirty feet above the ground. He looked confused as he looked around for the source of the voice.
"Ahem...Down here big guy." she said as he looked to her, as soon as he saw her his expression lit up as he flashed a goofy grin. Guess he was glad she was alive and walking.
Beo let out what sounded like a happy grunt? Well that would be the closest thing Yang could use to describe the noise Beo had made as he quickly began making his way through the trees and towards her. Yang knew that Beo was comfortable moving through the woods and trees, but Beo made it look like he was taking a leisurely stroll down the street with how he glided through the treetops and through the ungodly amount of vines that she knew from experience were extremely easy to get tangled up in. Beo leapt onto one of the larger branches that hovered over the edge of the grotto and didn't waste any time simply grabbing onto one of the vines and simply sliding down until his feet touched the ground. Yang managed to get a better look at him as he sauntered over. He was still wearing drinking skin and belt however the black animal skin that had been around his waist was gone leaving him wearing only a pair of brown pants that also looked like hand stitched out of animal skin. He was still wearing the leather shoulder harness portion of his armour only without the shirt and chestplate on underneath. She was about to make some sort of flirtatious comment about how brash he was just walking up to a girl he just met a few hours ago half naked wearing a leather harness, until she saw the scars. There were so many of them scattered all over his torso and parts of his arms, how she didn't notice them before was beyond her. Some looked like simple cuts like one would get by cutting themselves with a knife but some looked like an Ursa had decided to take a good sized chunk of meat out of his lean and muscular body. However there were three in particular that caught her attention.
One that ran from the top of his left collarbone to the underside of his pectoral muscle. It ran deep and was jagged almost like something had just gouged out the flesh that used to be there and did a poor job of sewing it back together. Another was located directly on the right side of his abdomen three horizontal claw marks were clearly visible wrapping around his side from back to front at a slight angle. But the one that caught Yang's focus the most was what could only be a bite mark. At the base of the right side of Beo's neck were teeth marks etched into and around the area of his neck where a good portion of meat once was, replaced now my muscle and scar tissue. How in the name of everything that was good on remnant did Beo manage to survive ANY of these injuries, scratch that why hadn't his aura kicked in and protected him. Granted one's aura was not a cure all for any problem or situation but it was at least supposed to prevent your body from being this badly...damaged. If there was one thing that Yang would say about the boy she called partner was that he had certainly been put through the meat grinder by whoever the hell trained him
It took Beo poking her in the forehead to snap her out of her trance. A slight blush came to her face when she realized that she had spent who knows how long essentially just staring at a boy's well developed muscles even if they were covered in scars that she only saw in movies. She took a few small steps backwards while trying to focus on any other part of him while trying to think of something to say to the ever silent Beo. Her gaze fell on his face, and noticed a few things that seemed...odd. For one he was dipping wet with his long dark blue bangs sticking to his face almost covering his seemingly glowing maroon colored eyes. His facial features also seemed sharper and more pronounced almost like a wolf's, maybe someone in his family was part faunus? It would explain the enhanced speed and strength as well as agility.
"So-ahh Beo watcha got in the bag?" she said Beo's face lit up once again in that goofy smile that he seemed to be accustomed to. As he dropped the brown colored sack onto the ground letting the contents spill onto the grass.
"Fish? You went...fishing while I was sleeping?" She said looking at the pile of river fish he had somehow managed to catch in such a short time and as far as she could tell without any sort of equipment.
Beo simply nodded his head the smile still plastered onto his face. She wanted to ask something like 'Do you know where we are' or 'What made you think leaving an unconscious maidan such as myself alone in the middle of the woods was a good idea!? Don't you watch movies?' but before she said anything a very audible grumbling could be heard coming from her stomach causing her usually silent companion to let out a small snicker. Well at least she knew he had some sort of sense of humor was it on par with her's? Probably not but she could fix that with time.
"Well no sense arguing bout that, let's grill these babies up and chow down then! No use lookin for relics on an empty stomach am I right?-ow." she said enthusiastically while trying to pump her fist into the air only to be met with wave of soreness, Honestly she was a little concerned about the initiation ceremony. Hopefully there was still time left for her and Beo to find a relic and bring it back to Professor Ozpin. She didn't almost get killed by a god forsaken Burrowing Widow for nothing dammit! She and Beo should be admitted for that alone. But no sense in worrying about what's to come now at the moment all she could think off was if Beo actually knew HOW to cook fish.
To her surprise… Beo actually looked like he knew what he was doing. It had taken him less than five minutes to gut, scale and skewer four of the fish he had caught using one of the stone knives that had been close to the fire pit. And set them over the campfire to cook after he moved the strange cauldron off of the open flame and placed it next where she had taken a seat. Beo then sat down across from her, the cauldron filled with water between them. It was quiet save for the crackling of the fire, some light coughing coming from her as her body tried to fix whatever was wrong with it. Along with the occasional gunshot in the distance to remind her that initiation was still going on. If it was up to her she wouldn't want them to stay where they were for any longer than they had too but she knew that she definitely wasn't in the best condition to be moving as much as it needed to in order to be useful during initiation. Even now she could feel her aura doing its best to try and repair whatever damage that had been done in that last fight, with little progress being made.
Beo meanwhile maintained his usual silence while he was tinkering with something on the ground in front of him. Occasionally looking up at her or over to the still cooking fish,sometimes checking those weird vials that he kept in the pouches on the leather guard. She made a mental note to ask what exactly the dark colored liquid was at some point. After another ten minutes of silence Beo looked up at her his hair had since dried and no longer stuck to his face returning once more to the unkempt bed head esque look that he had when they first met. His eyes for some reason kept shifting between the massive turtle shell in front of them and her. Until he pointed at the water filled shell and then gestured to her with his free hand.
"Ummm you want me to drink it?" she asked wondering why he waited as long as he did to just offer her hot water...from a turtle shell...that she still had no idea where it even had come from let alone why Beo had used it to boil water. "No offence Beo but hot water isn't exactly the y'know the most err refreshing thing out there." She said trying not to sound too what would be the best word to describe it? Offensive? Obnoxious? Weisslike? Ungrateful? Yeah that was the word.
Beo's expression went from expecting to slightly confused to playfully amused all in the span of about two seconds. As he let out another snicker and immediately got up and ran into the cave. He returned a minute later and handed her a small round pink object made of plastic. She recognized what it was almost immediately it was a small pocket mirror that some people still carried around with them to do their makeup or to touch up their appearance on the fly even though they could just as easily use the camera on their scroll instead.
"Ooookkkk its a tiny mirror. So what?" She said slightly confused. Although she was someone who took pride in her appearance, she wasn't the type of person to freak out if something looked wrong with her skin or eyebrows, her hair however...was another matter.
Beo just pointed to the top of his own head and then to her as he sat plopped himself back down and continued whatever it was he was doing over there. Where did he even find this? In the cave? Well she supposed he had had more time to look around while she had been unconscious so maybe he just set it aside for whatever reason.
As soon as she opened the small mirror and looked into the slightly cracked reflection she quickly understood why Beo had given her the basin of water. Her face was caked in thin layer of grime and dried blood both hers and what she assumed was the Widow's. That much she didn't bother her too much, she was used to being covered in things like dirt, sweat and mud because of her rather rigorous training routines. What she did mind however was the amount of cracked and crusty blood that had managed to almost solidify in various places in her treasured golden locks.
The dark ichor made her hair look like a toddler had decided to take a paint brush to her hair in an attempt to make her look like some sort of demented bumblebee or spotted caterpillar. Leaving her with a almost dumbfound look on her face. It took almost every bit of self restraint she could muster not to scream and curse bloody murder at the already dead Grimm that had been the cause of all of this. But for whatever reason she found something about all of this oddly funny so much so j she couldn't help but start laughing. Her sudden outburst making Beo almost jump to his feet in surprise, the look on his face riddled with slight terror and confusion as he wondered if the buxom brawler had just snapped and gone mad.
"Ahhahah- oh sorry, sorry its just funny is all" she said in between breaths almost tearing up. Beo gave her another confused look "I just think its funny that you have almost no problem facing down giant demonic spiders and somehow keep cool and in control while seein a girl like me like this." she continued while stretching and removing the fur blanket from around her shoulder letting it fall to the ground behind her, exposing her nearly flawless pale bandaged skin underneath.
"But you are absolutely terrified to touch my hair. Snrk ha its hilarious" she said looking over to see Beo doing his best to hide his embarrassment because of how true her statement as his face slowly turned red while trying not to stare at the more...prominent assets she was currently putting on display. A sly grin coming to her face as Beo's heavily callused hands shakily tried to refocus and continue what he was doing as he grumbled incoherently under his breath.
The next twenty minutes passed in relative silence as Yang did her best to wash the dried blood out of her hair, the water in the turtle shell slowly darkening as the dried blood dispersed itself in the warm water. While every now and then she would try and tell a story that ended in some sort of pun. Beo would pay attention as best he could but she could tell that his mind was elsewhere as his eyes never leaving what he was doing. He did take a small break on his project after some...minor persuasion tactics (guilt trips) to fix the jacket he had decided to use while playing doctor. Using his tunic for the repairs of course. It only took him a few minutes to patch the holes and gashes in the brown coat. She would admit it was odd how quickly the blue haired boy had made the repairs even more so since the only thing he seemed to have on hand was a what looked like a makeshift needle made from small bone with a hole in the top that Beo must have picked up somewhere in the area, and thread that he spliced out of the frays on his now in tatters tunic with her jacket now featuring lighter brown patches in the places where the tears used to be.
"Well that's about the best I can do for now." Yang said as she did a final spot check in the tiny mirror she had managed to as much as she could given what she had to work with. With only one or two places still retaining the discoloration that the Widow's blood had provided. In any other situation she would have kept scrubbing until it was nearly perfect however for some reason her body still felt...off somehow, the sudden waves of nausea and dizziness still coming and going at random times. She looked over to the fish skewered and cooking over the open campfire. The flames dancing just high enough not to turn them into pieces of charcoal on a stick. The growling of her stomach breaking the silence that followed afterward.
Either Beo saw the look on her face as she stared at the skewers or he heard the not so quiet rumblings of her belly because within thirty seconds she had one in her hand and had already made quick work of the first side. It tasted...good surprisingly considering how it was prepared. The skin was crisp and being cooked over an open flame gave the meat a sort of smokey flavor that would be hard for anyone to not enjoy. And not even a minute later she had started on a second, then a third. It was weird, was she really this hungry? It wasn't unusual for her to have an appetite but as she ate that feeling of nausea came and went in varying degrees. Sometimes she would just feel slight discomfort other times it felt like her stomach was turned inside out and doing somersaults.
She looked over to Beo. It looked like he had just finished working on whatever it was he had been doing for the past half hour and was just sitting there, looking at her eat the fish he had so generously caught and prepared for them.
"fuh nrat fravphin mnry?" Yang asked mid chomp. Beo just tilted his head to the side in confusion as she swallowed.
"Your not gonna have any?" She repeated albeit a bit clearer than before.
The cobalt haired boy just shook his head, And offered her the last skewer.
"Umm are you sure? I mean you gotta eat somethin too, wouldn't do either of us any good if one of us just passes out." She said.
Maybe he had already eaten, before she woke up. Then again she shouldn't really be saying things like that considering both her stomach and her head felt like they were being put on a tilt a whirl after eating a four course meal.
"I don't suppose you've been working on some sort of 'miracle cure' for my splitting headache over there? I don't know what that thing did to me earlier but I feel like I might pass out any minute now." Yang said bringing her hand to her head in a vain attempt to ease the pain while her stomach slowly began to settle down a bit.
Beo slowly nodded his head.
"Weeell is it done?" she continued beginning to sound impatient. Beo lifted his hand and gave a 'so-so' gesture while grimacing slightly. "What's left? I mean pretty sure you've been at this for a while. Can't be that hard right?"
Beo shook his head as his grimace grew and his eyes locked on the basin of bloodied water in front of them. She didn't have enough time to ask another question before her partner had drove his head into the darkened water and began...drinking it. Wait what? Yang just stared at the blue haired boy at a loss for words as his aura flared once again. The dark blue light cascading itself around his muscular and heavily scarred frame as his cobalt colored hair seemed to grow a few shades darker and his hands tightened their grip around the sides of the turtle shell. The nails growing slightly in length and coming to a point. She had no idea how much of the revolting liquid he was going to drink or even why he was for that matter. Those along with a million other thoughts were going through her head all at once, making her already agonizing migraine even worse. Thankfully however her thoughts were interrupted when Beo suddenly pulled his head out of the water. His breath short and ragged as the darkened water dripped off of his now soaking wet head.
"Woah! Hey what the hell are you think-" she started to say but the words were caught in her throat the moment she saw his eyes. Nothing had changed in their shape or color, except that the normally soft colored maroon that she had grown accustomed to now seemed to be a glowing crimson almost like a Grimm's.
Beo coughed a bit like he was trying to clear something out of his throat and just looked at the golden haired girl. Before she could ask any questions Beo crawled over to where she was sitting, holding a hollowed out mushroom top with a purple paste plastered to the inside. What was that stuff? Mashed berries maybe? Or maybe medicine he packed before initiation started? Whatever it was it smelled terrible as he placed the it next to her. He said nothing as he began unwrapping one of the bandages around her left arm. Revealing a shallow scratch that ran across her bicep at a slight angle. It was faint and still visible which was strange normally her aura would have already healed something like this or shield her enough so that it would never happen in the first place. Maybe the venom that was in her system still was somehow inhibiting her aura's regenerative properties. Or maybe her aura was just going into overdrive trying to fix whatever damage had been done on the inside first.
Beo meanwhile set about checking her now unbandaged arm, His crimson eyes studying almost every detail. Running his hands down her arm following the vein. If she wasn't sure he had some idea what he was doing Yang in any other situation would have immediately called someone out on just grabbing her arm out of the blue like he had done without saying anything. But given how well the strange boy had been nursing her back to health for the past few hours she believed herself to be safe in the assumption that Beo had some sort of experience with this kind of thing, but the whole drinking the stale blood water thing she was still trying to process what the point to that was. Maybe it had something to do with his semblance? After all Beo's aura did flair almost immediately afterwards, then of course there was the matter if his body changing almost like he was part gri-
"Ow! what the hell was that!" Yang shouted, her thoughts interrupted by a sharp pain the lower part of her forearm. She looked saw a thin line of blood leaking from a shallow scratch on her arm, and Beo holding his ivory colored dagger over her now bleeding arm. Before she could "politely" ask him just what the hell he thought he was doing with that blade of his he did something...unexpected...and slightly disturbing.
Within the fraction of a second that it took for her to register what just happened the blue haired boy had wrapped his lips around the open wound and was...drinking her...blood.
" Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing! Yang shouted as she snatched her arm away. "Ok so I think we need to have a little talk...about...boundaries" She said her eyes widening as she saw Beo clutching his chest like he was in some sort of pain, his breath once again ragged and short as his aura flared once more. She watched as thin streaks of gold begin to bleed into parts of his hair and his eyes shifted into a grotesque mixture of crimson and lilac. And in a single swift motion Beo sliced his palm with his dagger and squeezed the crimson liquid into his little mushroom bowl. And after thirty seconds he wrapped his hand in what was left of his tunic and mixed his blood with the paste on the inside of the bowl. Creating a muddied brown concoction which he proceeded to try and hand it to her.
"Beo, I don't know what you want me to do but I'm not touching whatever that is until you explain to me what the hell you're doing" she said, she would be lying if she didn't find this seemingly constant cycle of the strange boy doing something without consulting her or at least trying to communicate and her having to press answers out of him in an almost painstaking process.
Beo once again tried to hand her the mushroom top only for her to push it away once more.
"Explain first, weird mushroom thing later." she said
Beo put his hand to his chin and thought for a moment his now dark blue and gold hair swaying slightly in the breeze as his eyes suddenly darted to the ground while he began drawing something in the dirt with his dagger. When he finished etched into the ground were five rough stick drawings of the turtle shell with tiny spiders in the water, a stick drawing with long hair and a sad face with its arms over its stomach and little dots floating around its head complete with dizzy squiggles for eyes that she assumed was her, another stick figure that obvious was him, with the final two being a circle that could have been his mushroom...bowl...thing with the last one being another of her this time without the dizzy eyes and sad face. All connected by lines in a reverse pyramid starting with the shell and sick her and ending with the normal her with Beo and the mushroom in the center.
Yang stared at his diagram, trying make out what the Beoglyphics meant and silently hoped that this wouldn't become a recurring theme. And even after studying the diagram there were still a few questions she couldn't help but ask herself. What did all of this have to do with him cutting both her and himself hell what was the deal with him drinking the blood water? Maybe it did have something to do with his semblance. He did have those vials of whatever in his pouches so maybe certain mixtures gave him certain abilities? But how would Beo drinking Grimm blood, her blood then bleeding into mushroom that had...paste in it help her unless...it...was..an...an-ti-dote.
"Ohhh! I get it know your semblance makes cure alls using blood right. That's both really helpful and kinda disturbing considering what you have to do activate it." She exclaimed "Still though that's some pretty weird side effects" she continued while gesturing to his hair and looked at her as if he had no clue what he was talking about.
"I'm gonna trust you on this one. Hopefully it doesn't taste as bad as it looks." She said as she dipped her finger into the mixture and brought it to her mouth.
He honestly didn't know why Yang was mad at him. It wasn't his fault that she just decided to try and drink the mushroom juice. That's why he put it in the mushroom in the first place so she could munch on the mushroom and not have to try and choke down the disgusting concoction alone. Maybe it was because he started laughing when she gagged immediately after licking the sludge of her finger. After she made her um, thoughts known to him he quickly corrected her method of medicine consumption. Even then she still seemed angry. Honestly she didn't know how hard it was for him to even bring her back to his grotto and cave in the first place. Seeing how after she collapsed in the rotting grotto he had to somehow maneuver his way back with her on his back and quickly too before the beasts of the woods decided that they were an easy target. He almost used enough of the wolf blood to trigger that and he really didn't want that to happen it always hurt and everything smelt funny for at least a day afterwards. That and he would have a harder time focusing on getting Yang to safety before the venom took hold of her.
And even after he got back home there was still the issue of the venom which is why he made the cuts in her arms to bleed the venom out. He tried to make antidote while she what still asleep by extracting some of her then tainted blood from a small bite made in her neck but all that accomplished was leaving another place he had to patch up and making him feel sick as well. Which is when he remembered a few seasons ago when a few outsiders were talking about something called "Inoculation?" or something like that basicly things that make poison are immune to their own poison. Luckily there was still a bit of the Widow's blood in her hair the only problem was was, well it was in her hair. And after what he saw her do to the two ton spider earlier for messing up her mane of golden locks. He made the wise decision and left it alone for the time being. He actually didn't think that his makeshift medicine would work. He had tried it once when he got stung by a small scorpion thing and had a vile of his blood when he was using scorpion blood and that seemed to help a bit so why not try it with her. And even after all of the things he had done she still insisted that he fix her coat with his tunic…If it was his Beowulf kilt he wouldn't have minded he had a few of those and granted he did have another tunic similar to that one in his cave but something just felt...right about that one the way the tanned hide felt against his skin when he ran through the trees and fought against the packs that attempted to take his territory. He caved eventually, he thought it was odd how easy it was for her to get him to do things. She didn't even say anything! She just held up the shredded remains of her coat and glance back and forth between it and his tunic.
But thankfully for both him and Yang his medicine trick did work. Although not as quickly or quite in the way that had hoped.
"I'm still mad at you." The blood haired beauty said as she munched on the last of the fish Beo had prepared her appetite slowly returning to her after that...adventure with the mushroom it had definitely worked however there were...side effects. Which she made Beo swear to NEVER share with anyone for as long as he lived.
It had been almost half an hour since what she now mentally dubbed 'the mushroom incident' and in that half hour both she and Beo had changed back into their combat gear with the blue haired boy having returned her scarf to her and changing into an almost identical tunic to the first with the exception that this one had a bluish tint to it while strapping the his two daggers to his belt once more, weird one of them looked different than earlier. She had also learned a bit more about his semblance in the meantime. Ten minutes after the 'incident' his eyes and hair returned to the soft maroon and deep cobalt that she had grown used to. So he had a time limit but something's still didn't make sense. What triggered his semblance? Was making medicine the only thing it was good for? What was in the vials that were in his harness pouches?
Her thoughts were interrupted when Beo suddenly snapped his head to the side and bolted off into the wood. She immediately gave chase trying her best to follow behind Beo as he glided through the underbrush and over fallen trees like he was running down a sidewalk.
"Heeey, Wait…. Was it something I said!?" Yang shouted as she almost tripped over a log "If its about the whole tunic thing umm I'll buy you a new shirt when we get back to Beacon!" she continued, where was he going in such a hurry?
"Wait, is it about the mushroom thing? cause that was your fault not mine!" She said almost losing the blue blur in the process. Looking to the sides she noticed that there were some odd things with the way the forest around her looked as well as with how Beo was moving, it was like he was moving in a set path as if he was avoiding something. She tripped and found her face two inches away from what looked like a deer skeleton caught in a tripwire. Was Beo avoiding traps? How did he know where they were?
She got up and dusted herself off looked around and what she saw past the bush with the decaying deer carcass nearly caused her to empty the contents of her stomach. Beyond the small shrub where at least ten giant holes each with spiked sticks at the bottom, fur, blood and decaying animals lay in a few and even a small Beowulf was in one still alive and writhing in pain at the bottom. What were these? Traps? Who put these here?
"Heelloooo...Is anyone out there!? Heeellppp." she heard a voice shout from the direction Beo had been heading. The traps in front of her would wait for now as she took of in the direction of the voice.
She broke through the tree line to where the voice was coming from and didn't know wether to laugh or gasp at the sight before her. Suspended there upside down in a snare trap was the flustered form of that girl that Ruby had been talking with the night before what was her name again? Bonnie? Betty? No wait Blake that's what it was. And Beo who didn't really look shocked or really surprised that he ran into a person hanging upside down from a tree, if anything she would say he looked...disappointed and she couldn't help but wonder what was going through his head at that exact moment.
This wasn't the rabbit he had hoped for.
A/N: HAAAAA done its finally done hahahahahahahahahahahaah. sorry...this took MUCH MUCH longer than i expected its been what 2 months? honestly this is the longest thing Ive ever written period at almost 30 pages and ten thousand words. I expect reviews on this one! I run on those (please...for me?) I hope the next one doesn't take this long. Honestly the reason why it took so long is because I re wrote it like three times and wanted to make sure Yang didn't seem out of character. how did i do please let me know. also yknow the new semester started and my hours at work got all shuffled around that and ive been helping out another user with there project as well as just procrastinating by playing bloodborne and overwatch. that and sitting down getting ready to write and then...nothing just staring at a screen for 3 hours doing nothing.
And im rambling again aren't I Ok well i promise you the next chapter will end the initiation arc so YAY out of that damn forest just a little sneak peak.
Well i think ive wasted enough time praddling on like this so uhh leave a review and ill catch you all later
this is Amouren signing off