Authors Note- Hey everyone! It's been awhile! I apologize for the extreme lateness, Lots of work I had to do before I could work on this. Anyways I hope you all like this chapter. Only 2-3 more to go until the end. Or maybe not. We'll see.
-Chapter 6-
-Death is Like my Shadow, Always by my Side: Part two.-
-Directly after Part 1-
Kai
It had been hours since the group had saved the two people. Ren had woken up which was good but he seemed off. Probably a emotional problem due to the horrid things the challenges presented. But that wasn't his concern at the moment. It was night over the red forest. They had decided to spend the night at the temple, which was the only shelter in the area. It was no longer a gloomy place. Or rather it wasn't as gloomy and dark, the gates had closed and the guardian had disappeared. The Sundowner's bones now lay just outside the bridge. Now Kai meditated under the dark night sky, his back to the outer pillars of the temple. He heard footsteps closing in towards him. He sighed, this was his time to mull over thoughts. Who wanted to bother him now? It was probably past three In the morning. The footsteps came closer still. Kai wondered if they were just getting wood to tend to the fire they had built inside the towering temple. It was naive hope. Finally the footsteps stopped a few feet behind him. He waited for the person to speak but whoever it was didn't. The person shuffled on his or her feet, probably trying to think of how to start the conversation. Kai waited silently unknown to the person. Whoever it was started turning around.
"If you walked all the way over here to tell me something why turn back?" Kai asked.
The person was obviously startled. "It wasn't that important..." The person said in a quiet voice. It was definitely a girl but the voice was too high to be Blake or Yang but too quiet to be Ruby or Nora and it wasn't formal like Weiss or Pyrrha.
"It was important enough to walk all the way over here at this time of day. So tell me. I promise I won't bite." Kai said with a slight grin.
"Please don't make me..." Sarah pleaded.
"I'm making you." Kai replied now with a smile.
"Fine..." She sighed as she walked around the closest pillar.
"So what's up?" Kai said as he got into a more relaxed position.
"So... the offer or well... the order. To come to Vale. Will me and my brother be safe?" Sarah asked.
"Well, not immediately. The grimm are probably past Vale's walls. But if we succeed in killing every last creature of grimm there you will be safer than anyone has been for years." Kai answered.
"That's not very appealing." Sarah admitted.
"Would you rather die out here in the woods?" Kai replied.
"It's not that simple. Me and my brother signed up as mercenaries right after the guild disbanded because the prince had run away after his father died." This made Kai wonder, did she know who he was? Who he really was? "So we got a contract to kill those assassins. I don't think they'd take it well that we abandoned the job. They gave us a lot of money..." Sarah explained. "So would we be safe?"
"After the grimm are repelled you would be surrounded by the highest skilled warriors in Vytal. I can't guarantee we can defeat the grimm though. But even if that doesn't work out I don't forsee any of the twelve people here passing away anytime soon."
"Why not?" She asked
"Because we look after each other. Every person in this group watches out for each other." Kai replied
"How would that help if a group of assassins slit your throat while you slept? Even if they encountered you when you were awake? Then what would you be?" Sarah uttered with a scowl.
"You underestimate these kids. These nine extraordinary prodigies took down the vary source of the grimm, I don't see a few assassins making quick work of us." Kai said confidently.
"It's not just a few. There's more than a hundred of them." She said.
"Well we extended the offer and we keep our word the group will make sure you and your brother are as safe as you can be." Kai assured.
Sarah said nothing as she mulled the option over.
"This is something you should talk to your brother about. It's his decision too." Kai stated.
"Right" sarah mumbled to herself. She gazed up at the stars, deep in thought.
"The stars are beautiful today arn't they?"
"Yeah..." She said, still gazing at the specks of light.
Kai finally got a good look at Sarah. To which he was suprised that she was a faunus. She had shoulder length purplish-blue hair with two small strands braided on each side of her face. Her purplish-blue fox like ears were pressed against her head. She had pale skin without a visible flaw on it. She had a black cloak on, it didnt have a hood like Kai's though and it only wrapped around her sides, along with that she wore a light blue top with black pants. Her shoes were simple black boots with a short heel. Her eyes were a light blue color that seemed to be as cold as ice. It made Kai shiver, he wasn't sure if it was a good shiver or a bad one. She looked over at Kai, seeing that he was staring at her she blushed slightly and looked away. Kai did the same.
"So... uh... the... uh... moons not looking to good huh?" Kai said awkardly scratching the back of his neck.
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked hesitantly.
"Well since the moon breaks apart more and more due to the amount of "evil" in the world and vice versa so since the moon is nearly torn apart right now it's kinda unsettling." Kai was able to studder out.
"Ah... right." Sarah said in a light, kind voice "so what exactly is this group?"
"Well we're from Beacon academy, they were training to become huntresses and hunters and each have an amazing track record. They each have some crazy history even though they're so young. Well I say that like I'm not, but anyways, each of my teammates have interesting aspects in their own way. Their semblances and abilities still amaze me with the amount of raw power each of them have. It's crazy thinking about it but these people can change the course of a battle just by lifting a finger. Of course they'd have to learn how to first. And that's where I come in, I teach them, guide them, and they in turn guide me and then they teach me more. It's insane how amazing they are. They're all so good hearted and trustworthy, but the reason we're out in god knows where is because the headmaster at beacon sent us to close the Gates of Grimm or something like that to slow the grimm's invasion on Vale. I can't explain it... but what about you and your brother? What's your place in the world." Kai asked.
"Well we originally thought we belonged at the guild but obviously that's not an option anymore. So lately we've been lost... we became mercenaries to get our lives back but it hasn't been good. Most of our jobs involved personal revenge where we went around killing people who shouldn't have been killed. It was... horrible... we had to kill people who were mothers... fathers... husbands... wifes... sons and daughters. Sen got me through it but I've begun thinking that he... well that he wasn't in the right place in his head..." Sarah got a little chocked up on the last part.
"He's fine. He was just a bit lost and under pressure, probably worried about how you and him would end up in the morning. It's something I can relate to." Kai said.
"How so?" Sarah asked.
"Like I said. My father was actually assassinated. I was alone in this vast city where I wouldn't know where my next meal was or if someone would kill me in my sleep just to take my stuff. Sound familiar?" Kai asked in reply.
"Yeah. Close to it." Sarah replied dimly "So do you have an answer for everything?" She then said in a sarcastic tone.
"Oh hell no! You just keep hitting up topics I know about." He admitted.
"So what do you NOT know about?" She asked
"Anything to do with social activity..." Kai reluctantly admitted.
"What do you mean? You seem fine to me." Sarah said with a giggle.
"God that was cute" Kai thought then quickly shook his head to get rid of the thought, he couldn't be doing that. "Thanks, but thats because you're easy to talk to..." Kai then said.
"Oh really? My brother always says it's hard to talk to me." She said
"Why?" Kai asked.
"I'm not really sure. Maybe its because I'm quiet at first. But apparently after awhile I talk too much and then it gets all awkward because I won't actually stop... I still don't believe him but maybe he's right." Sarah replied.
"Well we'll see won't we?" Kai said.
"Yeah I guess." She said with a smile. "So you said something about a sister, is she with you?"
"Yeah it's Blake, the one with the long black hair." Kai explained.
"Really? She looks nothing like you." Sarah said.
"Well she's not blood related but she's my sister non the less." Kai told
"So why does she wear that bow anyway?" Sarah asked
"She's a cat faunus, but she hid her ears so she would fit in better." Kai said. It was a half lie but he couldn't tell them she was once with the white fang. That was up to her.
"Awww I hear cat faunus ears are really cute." Sarah said in an adoring voice.
"Yeah, they are. I wouldn't say they're any better than yours though."
"Oh... thanks" Sarah said shyly with that smile. Oh gods that smile.
"So you're a fighter right?" Kai asked
"Yeah. Isn't that obvious?" She said a bit offensively
"I'm just making sure. So do you have a weapon?" Kai said.
"Of course! I would be dead without it! Wanna see?" Sarah asked excitedly.
"I'd love to." Kai replied.
Sarah scurried off towards the middle of the temple, where everyone else was sleeping. Kai heard her footsteps grow farther away and then closing in on him once again. She peaked her head around the pillar with a smile.
"Here it is!" She held out a sheathed sword, the thing was a white color with a light blue handle. It almost looked as of it were made of marble columns. The light blue lines swirled and curved along the sheath.
"I see you have an appreciation for blue." Kai said
"It's my sort of color." She replied.
"Let's see..." Kai said under his voice. "A white blade... same patterns as the sheath, about the right size, lightweight, double edged, a very thin blade... you're a fast fighter, using agility to you're advantage, and on top of that you're a deulist. That seems to be the style these days."
"Yeah, thats me!" Sarah said cheerily "Hey, what's that?" Sarah asked, she was pointing towards the moon. A formation of some sort of flying creatures came up.
"The hell?" Kai said, squinting his eyes.
A roar was heard thundering across the valley.
"Shit! Lets wake the others!" Kai cursed
"As if their not up already" replied sarcastically.
They ran back towards the middle of the temple. The campfire a glowing beacon, guiding them through the darkness. The roar seemed to have woken most of the group up. As Kai and Sarah approached the sleepy eyes became wide.
"Get up!" Kai and Sarah yelled. "We gotta move!"
"Wha... why!?" Jaune asked in a tired voice.
"There's more of them..." Kai replied dismally.
"More of who?" Jaune asked as he pulled his armor over his head.
"Sundowners. A thunder of Sundowners. Looked like 12 of them." Kai said hastily
"TWELVE MORE!?" "We can't even deal with one of them at this point!" Romeo blurted out sleepily.
"And that's why we're running you dunce!" Weiss stated.
"Gather everything! We have to move NOW" Jaune yelled.
Another roar. Closer, much closer.
"Let's move people!" Jaune said yet again.
The group began gathering their things in the fastest manner possible. Quite a feat when you've just woken up and been shaken into battle again.
"I swear one of these days im gonna get a good nights rest." Kai said sarcasticly.
"Heh we'll see once we make it out of this won't we?" Romeo replied as he pulled his bag over his shoulder. "C'mon lets go, or am I getting too fast for you?"
"Faster than me. You wish." Kai replied with a smile.
Another roar blasted through the air.
"Leave everything else! We have to go!" Jaune ordered as he jogged over to Kai. "Hey how are we gonna get back to Vale?" He asked.
"I have a beacon in my pack. Once I activate it a ship will come our way as soon as possible." Kai explained. "But we need a large area for the ship to set down."
"Alright we'll head to where we got dropped off in the first place." Jaune said
"Sounds good to me." Kai said as he dropped something from his pack.
Ruby had made sure that everyone had gotten ready, now the group started running towards the entrance of the temple.
A thunder of roars blast through the air, the group stopped, clutching their ears.
"Shit they're close!" Yang cursed after the wave of sound passed.
The group kept running, they crossed the river without incident but now the Sundowners were descending towards the massive skeleton that layed in the clearing. They didn't seem happy about the Sundowners corpse being there.
"He is dead. He failed us once again!" One of the Sundowners said in human tounge and then said some harsh sounding sounds, probably curses.
At this point the group had hidden themselves behind the trees, to scared to move in case the twelve dragons heard the crunch of leaves and branches, especially now that there was twelve pairs of feet to easily step on a twig or worse, who knows how well these Sundowners hear.
"The weakest of us! We should have feasted on his flesh long ago." Another said in a darker tone.
"Disappointing." Another said.
"The gates are sealed!" Said a quivering voice.
"WHAT." A powerful voice rang out. The voice was dark and sent chills down everyones spine. The other sundowners seemed to cringe at it. "HE IS LUCKY THAT HE IS DEAD ALREADY!" It yelled.
"This means we must aid our pawns in battle. How despicable, fighting puny humans."
"It's been awhile since I've tasted human blood~" The quivering voice said.
"Yes... parhaps it is time we remake our mark in the minds of those puny creatures." The powerful voice said.
There was a pause.
"What is it Death?" The quivering voice said.
"I sense a dark presence mingled with one that is pure light. Hmmm" The powerful dragon said.
"It seems like they think they can sneak up on a legend!" The dark powerfull voice yelled as it poked its head through the tree line.
"Oh man run!" Jaune said quickly.
The twelve began sprinting instantly towards where they came from. Kai caught up to Jaune to tell him something. As the sundowners started to chase after them, the thundering roars and earthquake like vibrations they gave off were incredible.
"Jaune, I planted the beacon at the temple." Kai said.
"What! Why!?" Jaune said in suprise.
"Because, think Jaune we're not going to get on a ship and take off without these sundowners tearing it up before that." Kai explained.
"Ok so what do we do?" Jaune asked.
"we lead them as far as possible and then disappear." Kai suggested.
"How do we do that" Jaune said as he hurdled over a log.
"We could use my semblence for a short while and hide until they leave." Kai said.
"Do you think you can do it?" Jaune asked.
"I don't know" kai answered.
"Then what else can we do?" Jaune asked again.
"No idea, arn't you the leader? Think of something." Kai said, putting faith into Jaune.
After a slight pause Jaune's eyes lit up. "Ok I've got it, we're going to the field where we were dropped off, then we'll use Romeo and you to first send the sundowners out of control, then you can block there vision for as long as you can.
"Whatever you say." Kai "but im going to have to meditate while doing that. So ill block them and then escape myself, dont wait for me at the ship if I'm not there."
"Alright. Now get Romeo up here I have to explain something to him."
Romeo
As Kai lead Romeo to the front of the group he wondered what was going on, he was still half asleep. Finally getting up to Jaune who had some sort of plan. Soon enough he caught up to Jaune.
"Alright Romeo what we're about to try is going to be very very dangerous. But I think it's our only shot at an escape from these things."
"Ok so what am I doing?" Romeo asked.
"I need you to use your semblence to flip the Sundowners while Kai blocks their vision so they're disoriented long enough for us to make a break for it back to the temple where Kai placed the pick up beacon."
"Why the hell would he put it back there?" Romeo asked.
"Thats not important, can you do it or not?" Jaune said.
"I don't fucking know, I just learned my semblence today!" Romeo said agitated
"Can you do it." Jaune said as cold as steel.
"I think so. I'll give it a shot. Whats plan B though?" Romeo said.
"We fight untill the last one." Jaune said.
"Wonderful." Romeo said sarcastically.
It was another few minutes before the trees began to clear and just in time, the sundowners seemed to stop wanting to play with their "food".
As the group ran into the large clearing, most of them didn't know of any plan but all that mattered was Romeo's ability to flip the massive beings with a gust of wind.
Jaune stopped and so did Kai and Romeo, Kai instantly began meditating while Romeo's began bracing himself for the massive aura use he was about to go through. The rest of the group seemed to notice their actions and were wondering if anyone knew what was going on. Jaune yelled "follow my lead" as he drew his sword.
"So they wish to fight? So be it!" The largest Sundowner said in a demonic bloodthirsty voice. His hide was completely black, almost blending in with the sky. His eyes were blood red and he looked jagged and wicked with barbs and sharp points all over his body. "I will incinerate you!" He belowed as the twelve humongous Sundowners began channeling fire through their bodies.
"Now! Jaune said as the group charged forward, Kai darkened the area around each Sundowners eyes and then Romeo leaped up, his smokey blue aura around him, he drew his hands in an upward sweeping motion. The rest of the group at this time were past the sundowners and were heading towards the falls where the temple was. The sundowners flailed uncontrollably and they hit the dirt disoriented and confused by how they had fallen from their precious sky. Romeo fell down to the ground, exhausted. He saw a white figure dashing towards the downed grimm and then there was a huge casing of ice on each one. Weiss had stayed back with them. From his spot on the ground Romeo saw Kai open his eyes and run over to him.
"Let's go! They wont be held much longer!" Kai yelled.
"I can't... too tired. Leave me." Romeo said.
"What about Ruby, what about all the people who'll be slaughtered because you feel like dieing now? Get up." Kai pulled on his arm.
"What are you doing! Lets go you idiots!" Weiss hissed.
"I'm sorry..." Romeo said befor he blacked out.
Kai
"I'm gonna have to carry him." Kai said.
"Alright hurry!" Weiss pleaded.
The sundowners began stiring.
Kai picked Romeo up and began running as fast as he could back to where they had come from.
"At least he's light." Kai said.
"I hope you can carry him the whole way." Weiss said.
"I hope so." Kai stated.
A thundering Roar of pure anger came from behind them, a few hundred meters away.
"I hope he doesn't chase us." Kai said hopefully.
"He's gonnna chase us, what else would he do?" Weiss said, putting an end to the optimism.
"Right..." Kai muttered.
The ground shudered with great force as if a sundowner fell from the sky.
"We might live." Weiss commented sarcastically
"Might" Kai corrected
At this point Weiss and Kai we're almost at the falls.
"I haven't heard anything for awhile. I think we're gonna get out of this." Kai said.
"Well that's a relief..." Weiss said with a sigh.
They continued running.
"There they are!" A squimish voice said.
"Oh for fucks sake let us go!" Kai yelled back.
"Keep going we're almost there!" Weiss encouraged.
There were shadows above the two running figures, before they could look up the ground seemed to leave them as they were thrust high into the air as all twelve sundonwers slammed into the ground. Kai landed and blacked out.
Romeo
"Romeo!" Something distant called.
"Romeo!" It called again.
"Romeo!" His eyes shot open, flames and burnt wood were strewn apon the ground.
"Thank god you can carry your own weight! Lets go!" Kai said, he was knealing in front of him.
"Ooooh my head..." Romeo complained as he started getting up.
"Come on, they'll leave without us soon if we don't hurry." Kai said, ushering him forward.
"What about the Sundowners? Did we escape from them?" He asked
"You could say that..." Kai said as he danced around the subject.
"Explain" Romeo stated as they began walking.
"I can't right now." Kai said, clutching his side.
"How far do we have to go? And where's Weiss?" Romeo asked as they began jogging.
"We have about three hundred yards to go. The temple is over that way.."
"Weiss had to do something... It's the only reason we are running now."
The temple stood ahead of them, shrouded by trees and their branches. An airship would sit next to the bridge.
Another roar.
"Shit, Weiss is back." Kai cursed under his breath
"How is that bad!?" Romeo asked
"She lead the Sundowners away from us by acting like she was running to the ship while we were knocked out." Kai explained as the two began sprinting forward despite the pain surging through them. Weiss burst out of the brush behind them, out of breath and scared. Some dark colored teeth nipped at her skirt, only to miss and get caught on some tree trunks.
"Run!" Was all she uttered.
Kai and Romeo willed themselves to surge forward.
Kai
"Lets go! Lets go! We got to get to the falls!" Kai yelled back to his teammates as they jumped, rolled, dodged, and weaved through the red forest. The sounds of things breaking through the trees kept coming closer and closer. "Oh no... we're not gonna make it..." he thought...
The three jumped through the brush that was at the edge of the forest, several sundowners on their tail. The ship was reved up, a red flag at its ramp, the ramp hovered above the canyon. Ruby waved them forward.
Weiss was using all the dust and glyphs she had in her power to propel them forward, They were so close. Sundowners nipped at their feet, crawling on the ground. God he was exhausted. With a final push he leaped off the cliff and landed on the airship as it was just lifting off. Romeo and Weiss were already on before him. He held onto the ramps hydrolics like a death grip, the ship was already at full speed. It had nosedived down the canyon to dodge the sundowners that still chased. Now it leveled out and they began the treck home.
"Almost thought we were dead meat." Romeo panted exhaustedly.
"I know..." Kai started but was cut off.
A sundowner slammed into the side of the airship just before the airship whizzed by sending Ruby, Romeo, Weiss, and Kai tumbling uncontrollably off the edge of the ramp which was almost closed.
Kai held on just barely to the hydrolics while ruby had hooked herself onto the edge with cresent rose. Weiss had used a glyph to jump back inside and now grabbed ruby just as the scythe came loose. Kai grabbed onto Romeo with one hand and they now hung over a deadly drop.
"Romeo im going to boost you! Get ready!" Kai yelled over the roar of the wind
"What about you!?" Romeo yelled back.
"Don't worry about me just do it or we're both dead!" Kai said with a begging look in his eyes.
"Ok!" Romeo shouted.
"On three!" Kai was starting to struggle with his grip.
"1"
"2"
"3"
Kai hoisted Romeo upwards into the bay of the airship. His energy spent, he dropped. He felt the air whistle around him as he just let go. At least everyone else was alive.
Romeo
He lunged, grabbed a hold of Kai's hand as he let go. His feet hooked onto the hydrolics, Ruby and Weiss both grabbed his feet. Good thing his boots were tight.
"You're not going anywhere! Some people still need you alive!" Romeo stated as he pulled him aboard.
"You're insane you know that?" Kai panted as the ramp closed and he layed on the floor and breathed deeply.
"Yeah, I get that a lot" Romeo said with a smile as he stretched but whinced as his scratches and bruises were flexed.
Are you guys ok!?" Ruby asked frantically "because we were fine a minute ago but now everyone almost died and I don't..." Ruby was stopped with a sudden Kiss from her new partner.
"Guys get a room. Some of us still don't have someone they can makeout with in front of everyone." Kai said sarcastically.
The two broke apart and giggled a little. Romeo wanted to ignore Kai and all his "wisdom" but decided it best to tend to his cuts.
Weiss was sitting with her back to the wall, checking her damaged skirt, rapier, and body.
The entire rest of the group rushed through the door along with medical crew and the headmaster's assistant, Glynda Goodwitch.
As the group pestered the three battered people with questions and concerns the medical crew tended to there wounds. Romeo and Weiss were surrounded by most of the group excluding Sarah, Renao or "Sen", and Blake who were checking in on Kai.
Romeo took Ruby's hand as the medical group left the room and everyone settled down.
"May I have everyones attention?" Mrs. Goodwitch asked. Everyone looked over.
"I have been informed that the mission was a success, am I correct?" She asked.
Murmers of agreement were sounded throughout the room.
She sighed with relief and took a seat and took a deep breath before smiling a very flashy bright smile.
"Then we have a chance..." Romeo heard her mutter.
"I suppose it is time for you to be filled in on the events at Vale." She said as she stood from her previous position, back to business.
"Sadly the walls around Vale have fallen, most of the city has been ransacked and a good number of people have perished but the good news is thay there are still 12 strongpoints left out of the original twenty. We are doing our best to defend them but our remaining soldiers are young, inexperienced, and scared. But you will give them hope, the head councilors of Vale wants you to lead them into battle. Thankfully we can send pairs of you to each strongpoint if you choose to lead them since I see we have two newcomers, we still have a few active teams that can defend the other strong points. I wasn't supposed to say this but... please do this. If you don't I'm afraid we won't live for much longer." Her eyes showed true fear, a characteristic she almost never exposed.
"So will you help us?" She asked, a few tears forming in her eyes.
Instantly most of the hands were raised. Except for Kai's. Eveyone stared at him.
"I said I wanted to be done with beacon after this Goodwitch... I do this on my own cause not yours. As far as I'm concerned I am out of the system, but yes I'll do this for the people in this room."
"Very well." She said as she quickly exited the room.
The odd stares cast his way made Kai sick. It was time to end them.
"So I haven't exactly been truthful to you all..." Kai began, this the third time he had done this.
Authors Note- I hope you all enjoyed, if there's any criticisms or advice or just simple pat on the backs that you would like to give then Review or PM me please! Otherwise I'll try to make the next chapter come out quickly. See you- Symph