"Morning Daud!" Ruby exclaimed as she barged through the door.
"Mmmmm...morning". I offered weakly.
"Come on, my friends are eager to meet you after I told them everything about you!" Her cheerful voice hinted how excited she really was.
"What time is it anyway?" Rubbing my eyes and letting out a quick yawn.
"Hehehe, 12 pm". Ruby responded sheepishly.
With that, I sat upright and looked at the girl. "I thought you said you guys we're heading out early?" A confused look sported on my face.
"Oh, I kinda slept in for a bit". She rubbed the back of her head. Her eyes however still sported a tired look.
"Your eyes tell me you still need sleep". Pointing a finger at her and waving it around for a bit.
"I'll be waiting for you downstairs then". She waved before closing the door.
As I sat in silence inside the empty room, I let out a huge sigh and ran my fingers through my hair. I silently commented on when I last took a bath. As I was about to move, I felt my mind being suck back and darkness enveloped me.
Feeling like I was falling, I yelled on my descent only to be stopped in my tracks. Landing on my feet by a mysterious force, a blue light appeared in front of me and Stormblood materialized to life.
"Ah! Daud my friend!" He said happily.
"Friend?" I stared at him sceptically.
"Am I not? We are both one so I figured we may get along" he laughed heartily.
"Why did you bring me here?" I asked him.
"I summoned you because I think it's about time you received your first weapon". He answered.
"So am I just going to receive like the last weapon you gave me?" I shrugged my shoulders.
"No, you're going to do it the same way everyone in Remnant does it". His voice suddenly shifted to a mischievous tone. "You're going to make your weapon, and learn how to use it, and find you're true fighting prowess".
"Are you kidding me? I have adequate knowledge on smithing". I glared at him.
"Trust me, you'll find it very interesting when you make it. Perhaps the girl Ruby would find delight in helping you". He put a big emphasis on the last line.
"Fine". I rolled my eyes. "Where are the plans then?"
"Here". He said before tapping his finger on my forehead and my mind felt like it was going to explode with the sudden rush of information.
Feeling my mind being dragged out of the secret realm, I returned to the real world with the sound of my name being yelled from afar.
"DAUD!" Ruby's child like voice filled my ears.
With that, I scrambled to my feet with somewhat newfound energy and motivation and darted for my equipment. Wearing my belt and securing my weapons, I threw the door open and stampede down the stairs and straight into the bright afternoon.
As my vision adjusted to the bright light, I looked around and found Ruby in front of me, a smile formed on my face as I was glad to finally see her. However, the same couldn't be said for her as her face sported a frown.
"Um...sorry?" I said softly.
"What took you so long!" She demanded.
"I was just getting ready". I replied with all honesty.
"Well, you took your sweet time. My friends decided to have lunch without me!" She pouted angrily.
Letting out a small chuckle, I realized I had a soft spot for young people. "Tell you what, why don't we try to find them. If we can't then let's have lunch?"
With that, Ruby's face lit up and her frown turned into a smiling fit.
"Yippee!" Throwing a fist into the air.
"But first-' derailing her happiness. '-is there a blacksmith around here? I need to make myself a weapon".
Seeing the smile on Ruby's face turned into an even bigger one, she put her hands together and giggled like a child about receive their first gift.
"OMG YES!" She exclaimed wildly. "Can I help? Can I? Can I? Eating can wait! I sooooo wanna see this!".
"Actually, I was just about to ask if you could help me make it, but I presumed you would've agreed after we ate". I chuckled.
"No, let's go! Lets go right now! I know a shop!" She exclaimed while tugging on my sleeve.
With that, she dragged me off with her own strength and pulled me down the busy streets and made sharp turns here and there before stopping in front of a shop. Before I could even look at the sign, Ruby burst through the door with me and began chatting away with the owner.
Within a few minutes, a small but rather spacious work shop was given to us in exchange for a few credits. By surprise, Ruby opted to pay for it but I refused to let her pay, instead, I traded in an unused arc mine and the owner was rather pleased with the bargain.
As Ruby and I began preparing the workshop, she fired up the furnace using the magic dust which allowed the furnace to reach high temperatures. While Ruby went ahead an prepared the other materials, I grabbed a few design papers and began to draw out the weapon Stormblood gave me.
Although it was my first time doing such a thing, I wrote down the plans from what was given to me and labelled them just the way Stormblood wrote it out. Within twenty minutes, three large papers had detailed drawings and designs for the weapon.
At first, Ruby and I looked at the weapon sceptically as it had only one form.
"Are you sure this is what you want to make?" Ruby asked me.
"Sure looks like it" I nodded my head.
"Seems very complicated" She said.
"It'll be Fine". I clambered.
Moving over to the steel blocks of metal like objects, I began cutting them down to half their sizes and heated them in the furnace. With the help of Ruby using dust, we managed to heat the steel like objects to a high temperature. Removing and beating the hot metal with a hammer, I began to shape the giant weapon.
At first, the odd shape of the metal we worked with didn't seem to produce the desired results. But after a few more tries, we managed to get it right. With the two main blades of the weapon forged, it was time to move on to the next part.
Following the rest of the blueprints, I began working on the power core while Ruby worked on the rotating mechanism for the blade. Using a bit of magic, I siphoned small amount of power from Stormblood and into a small tiny power generator that would bring the weapon to life.
Inserting the core at the end of the handle, I enclosed it in a reinforced box and wired it to the to the distributor board. As the energy linked up and powered up the energy rod, a surprised look formed on my face as I didn't think it would've worked.
"Ready?" I asked Ruby.
"As I'll ever be!" She nodded her head.
Attaching the different joints together, we bolted it down and drilled the rest of the pieces together with little to no effort. As Ruby drilled the remaining screws in, I made sure that no sensitive components were exposed. As I applied the finishing touches, I took a step back and gazed in awe at our creation.
"It's-It's wonderful..." Ruby said, star struck.
"Well, it did turn out to be great after all!" I exclaimed.
"This is so exciting!" She squealed in joy. "I can't wait to see you test it out on some Grimm!"
"Don't worry kid, you'll soon see it in action". I assured her.
"So, what kind of weapon is it anyway?" She asked.
"It's a Hingeblade". I replied.
"Does it shoot?" her voice piqued with curiosity.
"No, I wouldn't say it shoots something, but, we'll just have to see won't we?" I stroked my chin.
"I'm soooo hungryyyy!" Ruby groaned.
"Oh yeah, I think I may need to eat too". I patted my stomach.
Moving over to the bench top, I wrapped my hand around the handle and picked up the fairly giant weapon. Feeling a surge of great energy, a bright blue hue engulfed my body and the new weapon for a brief second. Feeling a bond between me and the weapon, I felt as if it though it possessed It's own spirit.
Turning around, I looked at Ruby's shocked face as she stared in awe with what just transpired.
"That was...awesome!" Her face lit up.
"You think so?" I asked her.
She simply nodded her head at me.
"Come on, let's get something to eat. I think we should reward ourselves for the hard work". I gestured her to follow.
As I clipped the weapon to the belt holster on my back, I gave my thanks to the blacksmith and headed back outside. As me and Ruby stepped out into the cool evening night, I realized we spent the entire just to make one thing.
"So, where do you want to get food?" My voice filled the lonesome street.
"Probably at the night markets". Ruby said.
With that, we took off on our pace. As we passed by silent and empty houses, faint noises in the distance grew louder and louder as we approached the heart of the town. As we rounded another corner, chatter filled the air as people moved to and fro between stalls. Steam and smoke rose into the air and street lights dangled from above giving off a pleasant vibe.
"What do you want to get?" Ruby's voice derailed my train of thoughts.
"I am currently unsure". I rubbed the back of my head. "Do you perhaps have a recommendation?".
By telling her such a thing, Ruby tugged at my sleeves and ragged me to a stall deep within the food market. As we stopped at one of them, the man was making some sort of noodles.
"Looks delicious". I said while my mouth watered.
"I'll have two of those please". Ruby pointed at two bowls full of food.
The stall man simply nodded and passed us the two bowls on the counter. As he each handed us utensils, I sat on the wooden chair and began stirring my dish up. Watching Ruby dig right in, she ate and ate like as if it was her first time eating.
As I promptly followed suite, I twirled the noodles around my fork and placed it in my mouth. At first, I tasted nothing, but after a few moments, the overwhelming flavours hit me like a bullet leaving me wanting for more. As I shovelled in the food after every second or So, I stuffed my mouth until I couldn't fit anymore in. Within the first few minutes, I finished every single content inside the bowl.
As me and Ruby ordered seconds, we both burned through our meals within minutes. Seeing as we both need more to satisfy our hunger, Ruby looked at me giggled for a bit for reasons unknown to me.
"You wanna try the other stalls?" She asked me.
"Is this a challenge to who can eat the most?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe". She giggled.
As we both paid for our respective meals, I followed Ruby from stall to stall tasting all kinds of meals. The food varied from large plates to small snacks in packets or skewered on sticks. We drank various drinks and in some cases, made Ruby go hyper.
At the end of the day, we burned through nearly every stall of food and ate anything we could get our hands on. It was late in the night and the people began to head home while the rest packed up. As Ruby and I stumbled to get back to the inn, I knew today was worth it.
"I'm soooooo full!" Ruby groaned.
"You can say that again". I patted my stomach.
"I guess I'll have to do a lot of explaining to my friends when I get back. We were supposed to leave today but Nora actually wanted to explore the rest of the town". Ruby said while stretching her arms.
"I still haven't met your friends yet". I chuckled.
"I can't wait for you too meet Jaune and Lie, you three would get along well. Nora too, she likes talking too new people". She said happily.
"I guess we'll have to see then". I told her.
Noticing Ruby's pace slowed a bit, I had to adjust my pace so she didn't fall behind. Looking at her face, her eyes were tired and her face looked weary. Her movements slowly became erratic, like she would fall over any minute.
"I'm sle-' she paused to yawn. ''-py
"Come on, the inn isn't a few more metres from here". I said, hoping to keep her going.
"I'm tired, can I sleep on the ground right here?" She asked tiredly.
"No Ruby". I laughed at her words. "There's a bed waiting for you".
"Fine". She groaned unhappily.
As we slowly trekked towards the inn, I looked back and found Ruby about to collapse to the floor. Diving towards her with my arms outstretched, I caught her frail body in the nick of time before she hit the ground. As her hair flew all over her face, I cleared it away and found her eyes completely shut.
"Ruby?" I called out to her. "Ruby! Wake up!" Raising my voice in an attempt to wake her. "Ruby?" I nudged her body.
No response from the red head girl, as I sighed to myself, I gently stood up with her in my arms and began to walk into the inn. As I passed the doors and into the warm building, Ruby shuffled around in my arms to curl up like a kitten. While it may seem cute, it made it harder for me to carry her.
As I made my way up the flight of stairs, I didn't know which room Ruby and her friends stayed in. Knowing that majority of my powers from the Outsider has been stripped, I listened intensively instead for any chatter that would indicate they were Ruby's friend.
Making my way down the hall, I heard numerous soft chatter but none that I could recognize. As I kept on passing room after room, I stopped as I heard Ruby's name being mentioned.
"When is she going to get back? We've been looking for her all day!" a girl clambered.
"Knowing Ruby, she probably must be with her new friend". A guy spoke up.
"Is this friend to be even trusted though?" Another voice with an accent said.
"Look, Ruby seems to trust this new friend of hers very fondly. I think we can trust her judgement". The girl assured the two.
As I stood outside their door, I looked at the sleeping girl in my arms and wondered what their reaction would be if they saw me. Nevertheless, I took a deep breath and knocked on the door with my foot. As the sounds of a lock came undone, the door knob jiggled and I was greeted by the girl.
Eying Ruby's friend, she was the same girl I saw the other night. The short orange hair and that pink skirt she wore. Her top however, I got a better understanding of. It seemed she wore a white top with a heart cut out in the centre and jacket over it.
"You!" She pointed at me in surprise.
"Shhhhhh!" I indicated at her.
As the girl, presumably Nora, looked at the sleeping Ruby in my arms; she covered her mouth and let out a soft gasp.
As she stepped out of the way to let me in, I slowly walked into the room with the three individuals locked onto me. Seeing four separate beds, I guessed which one's was Ruby's as the only bed that stood out was one that wasn't even made properly.
As I lay the sleeping read head on the bed, she stretched and curled up into a ball. Smiling at the sight, I withdrew and began making my way out of the room. Feeling a light tap on my shoulder, I turned around to find Nora looking at me.
"Thanks for looking after our friend". She said softly.
"I'm just doing my job". I told her.
Seeing the guys in the room stare at me, one of them gazed at me in a calm and revered manner while the other stared with a sceptical look. Waving at the two, I bid them good night and left. As I made my way towards my room, I opened the door and trudged inside. Removing my belt and my other equipment, I lay to one side and tested my newly forged Hingeblade against the wall.
As I lay on the hard wooden floor, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep. Today was a good day at least. Fun and exciting, but good nonetheless.
"So Daud, is your world anything like ours?" Nora asked while trekked through the dirt path.
"No; my world is completely different than yours. Yours is marvellous I should say. Better than mine". I said with full honesty.
"Would go back to it if you had the chance?" She asked.
As I processed the question in my head, I looked at Nora's curious face before staring ahead. "I honestly don't know". I shook my head.
As Nora stretched her arms out into the air, she smiled gleefully. "Another day, another adventure!".
"So what did you do for a living in your world?" Jaune asked me.
"I did odd jobs. My hands were dirty to begin to with". I answered.
"So you killed people?" He said grimly.
"Not just any sort of people". I corrected him. "I got paid to eliminate those who decided to change the way we live. Sometimes I did out for the greater good of the people".
"Did you ever take innocent lives?" He asked.
"No, not that I remember. I only kill my main target. If not kill, persuade". I heavily emphasised the last part.
"Right..." The boy trailed off, his voice still filled with distrust.
"Did you ever do anything good in your life?" Lie Ren asked me.
"Yes, I have done my share of good and bad throughout my life". I nodded at him.
"Such as?" He prompted me to elaborate.
"I used to fight for the rights of the citizens and defend the poor from gangs and street thugs. I would speak out against abuse and make a stand on what's right and wrong". I told him, hoping that would satisfy his curiosity.
"You don't seem like that type of person. But you're full of surprises". He shrugged his shoulders.
"What's on the agenda today?" Ruby piped in.
"Walking". Jaune said while blindly looking at the map.
"Followed by?" Nora asked.
"More walking". He followed up.
Ruby let out a sigh before speaking. "Jeez, Haven is farther than I thought".
"Hang on Ruby, how long did you think this journey was going to take?" Ren asked.
"I haven't the slightest clue okay? This is the farthest I've been from home; I grew up in a small town you know!"
"Yeah, but how long did you think...?" Jaune asked, returning to the question.
"Uh..I thought maybe like two weeks?" Ruby said in the most unsure voice.
"What?" Jaune glared at her.
"Okay fine! Three or something. I don't know!" Ruby said without making eye contact.
Looking at the three, I simply laughed inside. They surely were young that's for sure. As we continued down the path, Nora dashed ahead to view the path.
"Hey guys-' she trailed off as she stared into the distance. "What's that?" She pointed.
Jaune stared at the map with a confused look. "That's odd' he looked up and back down again. "I didn't think we'd be hitting another village again".
"Those buildings-' Nora pointed. "They look damaged". She said in concern.
"Quick! There may be survivors!". Jaune exclaimed.
As he dropped his map, everyone else in the group took off towards the entrance of the wall. As I sprinted together with them, we burst through the crumbling entrance and split up. As we scoured around for any survivors, none of us came up with any findings.
"I got nothing". I yelled out.
"Me either". Ruby reported.
"I got nothing". Nora said in a disappointed tone.
"This town seems...it has to be abandoned". Ren spoke.
Catching up next to Ruby, I saw an uneasy look in her face as wind blew through the town.
"You all right?" I asked with a concerned look.
"Yeah, just, creeped out that's all". She said to me.
Ruby wasn't the only one feeling uneasy today, even I felt it. Something just didn't feel right.
"Guys! I think I found something!" Nora's voice filled the air, garnering me and Ruby's attention.
As I made my way over to where the group began to assemble, I saw that we were huddled around a sign covered in vines and moss. Nora moved a hand and brushed away the moss covering the sign revealing a name.
"Oniyuri? Never heard of it". Nora said.
"Me neither". Jaune said.
As well all eyed the sign with curiosity, silence enveloped us all as we pieced together our own conclusions.
"I do". Ren's voice broke the silence.
We all turned to Ren in complete surprise as to how he knew this.
"This village, think of it as Anima Mountain Glenn. Never completed. The rich people of Mistral grew tired of how the kingdom was being run and set off to build their own city. They hoped it would even become it's own kingdom. Many hoped it would be the future". Ren said before breaking away from us.
"What happened?" Jaune asked.
As we watched Ren crouch low near a boulder, brushed off the dirt resting on it to reveal a claw mark. "What always happens". He said grimly.
"The Grimm". Jaune said in an angered tone.
Ren tightened his fist at the mention of the Grimm. "Not just any, one".
Looking at Ruby, I caught her staring at Nora, who, didn't avert her gaze away from Ren. As Ruby turned to face me, she formed a puzzled look and faced Ren again.
"One?" Ruby said.
As a flock of birds took to the skies, the mood overcoming the town began to grow darker.
"Come on, let's just leave. This place is giving me the creeps". Jaune shuddered.
"I agree with Jaune". I said, nodding towards the blonde man.
As Jaune took off, Nora followed suite shortly after. Looking at Ren, he lingered around for a moment before following. Noticing Ruby not moving, I walked up to her to get her attention. Seeing as she was gazing around the town, I tapped her shoulder which startled her.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you". I raised my hands.
"It's fine". She assured me.
"Troubled?" I furrowed an eyebrow.
"No, just thinking that's all". She shook her head.
Doubting her words, her face said a different opinion otherwise. "Come on, let's keep moving".
As we both trailed behind the group, we made our way through the desolate town. The buildings were clearly besieged by fires and signs of serious fighting could be seen. Although what kind of sick twisted creature could cause such a thing was beyond me.
While we casually made our ways through the town, I heard soft faint whispers in my head. Ignoring the whispers, I brushed it aside as it must've been old memories of Delilah. As the whispers drove on however, I began to suspect it maybe wasn't from my head.
"Do you hear that?" Ruby asked the others.
Nora turned back to look at us. "No". She shrugged her shoulders.
"Daud?". She turned to look at me.
Looking at her, I nodded slightly and mouthed a "yes" to her.
"What's that Daud?" Ruby asked me.
"I don't know, a sign perhaps?" I replied with a confused look.
"What are you guys talking about? I don't hear anything". Jaune said to us with an unamused look as if though it was a joke.
"HE COMES FOR YOU!" The voice filled the air.
Stunned by the words, we all halted and looked around. Realizing something, I unclipped my Hingeblade and held it in my right hand. Glaring at the weapon, blue mists began to emerge from it.
"THE AWOKEN WARRIOR COMES. HE COMES FOR YOU. FOR THE GIRL". The weapon spoke.
"Daud, what does that mean?" Jaune demanded.
"I don't know. I have no clue". I looked at the young man.
"Someone's coming Daud. And he has a friend. A very old and dangerous friend". Stormblood's voice suddenly filled my head.
As I gasped at the words, I looked down at my weapon to find the blue mists had disappeared to find the weapon simply pulsing with energy as it should.
"Daud, what's wrong?" Ruby asked me.
"Shhh!". Ren silenced us.
Turning to him, he held up his hand as he listened carefully. As Ren reached for his weapons, he drew them in a swift manner. As the rest of the group drew their weapons at the ready, I watched as Nora held her hammer, Ruby with her scythe and Jaune with his sword and shield.
As I firmly gripped my newly forged weapon, I anticipated an attack any second now. As time dragged on around us, I heard faint footsteps before I spotted a faint shadow. Sensing the enemy was from above, I looked up and saw figure descending towards Ruby.
As a loud clang filled the air, I stood back and watched as Ruby engaged a man wearing a brown coat coupled with white pants. He laughed in a cynical manner as he fought Ruby. As Ren intervened, he broke the contact between the stranger and Ruby. As the mysterious enemy duelled with Ren, Ren's weapons clashed with the enemy's wrist blade. As Ren tried to kick and shoot the man, he dodged Ren's attack with ease.
As the two attacked and parried each other, the man proved to be more experienced and kicked Ren away. Watching Ren fly several feet away, the man charged towards Ruby again. Stepping forward to enter the fray, I stopped in my tracks as I watched Ruby engage the perpetrator. Seeing as how I wouldn't fare in such a match, I kept back and waited.
As the man let out another laugh, he giggled in joy while fighting Ruby. As Ruby rushed forward to meet him, the man used his blades to block Ruby's scythe. Kicking Ruby backwards, Ruby maintained her form and they clashed again. As the madman landed a hit on Ruby's right arm, Ruby let out a pained cry which caused her opponent to laugh.
However, Ruby didn't break her stride and struck back with here Scythe. The man dodged the blow and kicked the body of the scythe causing a red glow to cross around Ruby's body. Jaune stepped the next moment and he found the maniac on his shield. Watching Nora leap in to smash the enemy with her hammer, the maniac leapt off the shield and soared towards me.
Raising my Hingeblade, I blocked the enemies switch blade. However, my weapon gave off a short electric burst and electrocuted the man. As the electricity sent him flying back, he yelled in pain as he crashed onto the ground.
Watching the man stand up, he clutched his head and glared at me. Seeing a sinister smile form on his face. He looked at Ruby and then at me.
"I wasn't expecting a 5 party members! But I guess he was right afterall". He snickered. Watching him put his fingers in his mouth, He let loose a whistle. "Here comes my friend".
Reacting to the new threat, I yelled at the group. "Scatter!" Rushing to one side, the others did the same.
Moments later, a loud crash filled our ears and dust flew into the air. Fanning the dust away, I gripped my weapon and looked at the new threat. There standing in the centre, was a man who stood twice my height. Looking at his attire, the giant figure adorned black armour plates and had red tattered cloths on his head and neck followed down near his waist. It resembled a Knight who had been resurrected from the dead.
"Fuck!" I whispered underneath my breath.
As the giant figure looked at it's surroundings, it grabbed it's large greatsword from the ground and rested it on it's shoulder. The weapon itself was something no mere mortal would wield. The figure itself had no face even though it wore a helm, it simply just showed a black void for where it's face would be.
The giant's weapon seemed to be worn out as evident with the broken hilt and dark slime oozing around it. His body gave off small black mists and every inch of his armour and cloth had been tainted by something sinister.
"Stop staring and get the girl!" The man yelled at the giant figure.
As the giant figure turned to look at the man, it looked around at us and stopped at Ruby. Shifting it's sword, it gripped it by it's left hand and kept it's right free.
Within the next instant, I realized what it was going to do, looking at Ruby, I yelled at her. "Ruby! Get away!".
As Ruby reacted to my words, she jumped out of the way just as the giant leapt forward in the blink of an eye and thrust his greatsword forward. As a rush of wind ploughed forward from the attack, it smashed into the building and blew a pile of wood over.
As Ruby processed what just happened, Jaune charged forward an aimed for the figure's legs. As the giant spun around, he thrust his right arm forward and grabbed Jaune. As Jaune hacked away at it's arms, it's grip loosened and dropped him.
Watching Ren charge forward, he squeezed off a few burst shots garnering the giant's attention. As the figure swung his sword at the ground, it missed Ren by a mere inches and smashed into the ground. As the shockwave blasted Ren forward, he rolled forward and recovered.
As Ruby and Nora leapt towards the giant, stepped towards Nora's direction with immense speeds and leapt into the air above her. Swinging his arm, it swatted Nora aside like a fly. As Nora crashed towards the ground, Ruby swung her scythe and the next moment, her weapon was found to be stopped by the figures hands.
As Ruby gasped at the sight, the figure yanked her scythe away together with her and threw her towards the ground. As the giant figure watched the little girl tumble and crash, it dashed forward to yank it's objective away.
"Ruby!" I yelled in both anger and fear.
Feeling the sudden burst of outrage and fear fuelling mg strength, I felt a great surge of energy run through me. Accepting this newfound power, I activated it and blue hues and flames engulfed my body and weapon.
Bursting forward, I left only dust in my wake as I soared towards Ruby. Shifting my body, I swung my Hingeblade upwards and smashed the giant figure's hand away. As I came to a stop in front of Ruby, the only sound that could be heard was the echo or metal meeting metal.
As the giant somersaulted away from me, it landed next to the tiny figure. As it placed it's sword on it's shoulder, it simply stood and waited. Hearing footsteps, Jaune, Nora and Ren joined up and formed a defensive stance.
Looking back, Ruby picked herself up with her scythe and smiled at me. Nodding at her, I looked forward and dropped my weapon at the ready.
"We don't want to fight!". Jaune yelled at the two.
"Who are you?" Ren asked.
As the figure leaned forward, he let out a visible smile and shook his head. "Who am I matters not to you-' he points to Ren. '-or you-' he points at Nora. '-and...well, you do interest me-' he told Jaune. '-and you of all the people. You definitely have garnered some dangerous enemies" he snickered at me. "No, I am here for you" He pointed in our direction.
Knowing full well who he was pointing at, I turned around and found Ruby posing a confused look.
"Me?" She pointed slowly to herself.
Watching the man drop his finger and broke into an uncontrollable laughter. His companion however, stood in silence. "You-hhhhhh-You haven't the slightest clue do you?" He struggled to maintain his laughter. "This just makes it more so fun".
"What do you want?" Ruby demanded.
"Oh, so the Rose has thorns now?". He cuckolded. "My little flower, I'm here to whisk you away".
As Nora stood forward, she held her hammer in a blocking manner. "And what if she doesn't want to go?".
"We'll I'll take her then". He glared.
"We're not going to let you do that". Jaune stood forward with his shield and sword.
As the man closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, he leaned his head back and looked forward again. This time, sporting a dark smile. "Good". He declared. Looking at the giant figure, he looked at me and back at the figure and said. "Take care of the new threat, I'll get girl".
Feeling a chill run down my spine, I gripped my weapon ever so tightly. As I blinked for a brief second, the giant figure had disappeared completely. Seeing the giant descending upon us the next second, we broke form and scattered.
As a loud crash erupted behind me, I spun around and the giant dashed forth from the clouds of dust. Raising my weapon, I parried the first attack. Feeling the blow ripple throughout my weapon, this was a do or die battle.
Thinking my opponent was mute, I was proven wrong as the black mists around him grew larger and loud growls were uttered with every attack. Lunging forward, I raised my Hingeblade and brought it down on it's chest. As my weapon was blocked, a loud clang pierced my eardrums while a loud cackle of electricity was emitted from my weapon.
Breaking contact, I glanced back at Ruby and her friends and saw that they weren't faring too well. Focusing on my fight, I realised I would be dead if I didn't focus. Swinging my sword upwards, I attempted to slash at it's right arm but missed.
As the giant dashed forward again, our weapons met and sparks flew wildly. Electricity called wildly as our weapons clashed together every time followed by sparks. Blocking a blow, the giant stepped back swiftly and dashed forward with the opening it created.
Gasping at the error I made, I quickly imagined myself behind the figure and transversed behind it. Seeing as it bought me only a fraction of a second, the Knight knew I was going to do it and spun around and executed an overhead slash.
Sidestepping, the weapon crashed into the ground for a brief second. Attempting to rush forward, the Knight leapt back with it's sword and pointed the tip of the blade at me. The once proud sword now covered in black slime, it was a shame.
As the Knight crouched low, it leapt forward into the air and brought it's sword down on me. Raising my weapon, I stopped the attack. As a shockwave protruded from the impact, I pushed back with my strength and swung at it's body. Missing by a few inches, the Knight stepped back and charged forward.
Seeing the sword come up for a powerful thrust, I readied my Hingeblade at an angle and waited to execute the movement. As the Knight dashed forward, I stepped to the side and angled my blade so that it's sword would bounce right off.
As the weapon was deflected, I brought my weapon up and spun a fuller 360 before slamming my weapon into the body of Knight. With a loud bang and cackle of lightning, the Knight was sent flying several metres before it crashed into a house.
Realizing the true might of my weapon, I knew the fight was far from over. As a loud monstrous roar filled the air, the Knight burst forth from the rubble and landed on the ground. Seeing as it was gathering it's power, more black mists surrounded it.
As the Knight took off into the air, it executed a somersault and slammed the sword down on me.
Dashing to one side, I avoided the attack and watched as the Knight wasted no time in recovering and charged me. Blocking a high and low blow, I returned the same attacks and both were blocked. Slashing at it's feet, I rolled to one side and jumped away as the ground was pummelled by the Knight's greatsword.
As the Knight growled with every attack, it's voice sounded like that if an animal rather than a human. Keeping up with it's attack, I didn't foresee the use of it's right hand as it punched me towards a house.
Leaping forward, I dashed quickly and brought my weapon down on it. As my attack was blocked, I leapt back and transversed behind it. Bringing my sword to bear, the figure disappeared from view and behind me.
Feeling the greatsword crash into my back, I was propelled forward and sent tumbling towards the ground in great pain. Feeling blood in my mouth, I was surprised I wasn't dead yet. Recovering from the attack, I spat blood on the ground and wiped my mouth. Eying the beast if a warrior, I gripped my weapon and gestured it to attack.
As it understood my motion, it stopped wielding it's sword with one hand and held it with both. Doing the same with mine, I watched as the Knight leapt dashed forward and performed an overhead slash. Blocking the blow, I pushed back and smashed at his thighs only for the weapon to be blocked.
Pulling my sword back, I slashed again and the blow was blocked only for the shock to stagger the giant. Using this as an opportunity, I leapt into the air brought the weapon down on it. As the Knight side stepped, I crashed my weapon into the ground ploughing up the cemented road.
Jumping back, the Knight stepped forward and executed a full revolutionary. Raising my sword to block the mad hit, I withstood the blows. As the Knight jumped back, it lunged forward and executed a full horizontal slash.
Jumping over the sword like a skipping rope, the Knight left it self open and I charged forward. Raising my Hingeblade, I leapt into the air and came down on the giant's right shoulder. As the Knight spun around, it raised it's greatsword into the air and smashed into my sword throwing me off.
As I landed back down, I glanced in the general direction of Ruby's team to see that Ruby was now fighting the man, who now has a scorpion tail, by herself. Switching my attention back, I blocked an attack and was pushed back by the blow. As our weapons remained locked together, I stared into the black pit of where the Knight's face should be.
Breaking away, I ducked low and swung mg weapon up and the hilt of the sword. Smashing into the weapon, I forced the Knight's hand to move upwards. Not realizing that if was using only one hand to grip it's sword, I was grabbed and thrown to the floor.
Landing with a roll, I leapt back up and somersaulted towards the Knight and brought my weapon down. Missing and smashing into the ground again, I recovered and blocked a wide thrust. Jumping back, I heard Ruby yell in pain.
Turning my head around, I saw Ruby fly a few metres before crashing onto the ground together with her scythe.
"Ruby!" I yelled.
Turning back around, I raised my Hingeblade in a split second to counter the spinning slash. But I was tricked into doing that and the Knight only slashed once and darted forward. Realizing mg mistake, I stepped to one side but was too late. The tip of the Knight's greatsword pierced my clothing and cut across my abdomen.
The tip of the sword may be small, but in comparison to a normal being, the tip of the greatsword was far sharper and bigger than any and therefore made a deep cut on the right side of my stomach.
As I yelled out in pain, I clenched the side of my abdomen as blood gushed out and covered my fingers. Collapsing to the ground, I used my weapon as a makeshift support. Gritting my teeth, I felt weak and my arms were tired. Glancing at Ruby, I froze in fear as the madman with the scorpion tail was about to sting her.
Horrified, I was too weak to move and remained as I was while muttering "sorry" under my breath.
Hearing a loud clang however, I looked again and watched as another man joined the fray, this time shielding Ruby from the stinger with his sword.
Hello readers! I present thee another chapter. Now then I know I'm terrible at making weapons in stories, so if anyone wishes to view what Daud's new sword looks like, just search up 'Hingeblade Sword' in Google and it's the first image you see.
So, I hope you enjoyed this one helluva intense chapter (I guess). If anyone wondered who the Knight was, it's a reference to Knight Astoria from Dark Souls. Just legitimately the same look and all, but different coloured armour and name.
Do drop a review, I do appreciate feedback. Tell me if the story is goingood.
Anyway, see you all next time!
Sorry for the errors.