Broken Branches
Previously in Broken Branches: With yet more of Armis' past being revealed, as well as where he has came from, Ruby seems to be getting through to the many armed man. The Vytal fairgrounds is perhaps not the most romantic destinations for a date, but its certainly not the worst either. What shenanigans could possibly transpire?
Nemris: Once again thank you for your support.
Polarpwnage: Im saddened that you think so. I hope you continue reading and tell me if my writing improves in later chapters. Advice would be greatly appreciated. (Also for some reason your review wont show up on this site. Have it on my email, but not here. Anyone have any idea why this is the case?)
Edit: Nevermind, the problem solved itself.
'Thoughts'
"Speech"
I do not own either RWBY or Warhammer 40,000. They are each owned by their respective companies. This story is for fun only, no copyright infringements intended.
The Vytal festival was most commonly associated with the combat tournament between budding huntsmen and huntswomen in training. It was the festival's main attraction and where most of the funding went. The spectacle of combat always stirred something in the hearts of humanity. To be able to feel the adrenaline, the thrill and the closeness to death. But at the same time, to not be affected by the outcome of the battle. That's what people enjoyed.
But the Vytal festival also held several other smaller events and fairs, allowing the people of the kingdoms of Remenant to mingle with one another and have a taste of each other's cultures. Venders and entertainers both local and foreign were competing in their own way. The winner was the one with the most profits of course. And sometimes, there was no better reward than bragging rights. And at a certain fair, on the outskirts of Vale, close to the forever falls, a man walked that was a foreigner to it all. He was not from this kingdom or any of their counterparts. He was not from any village, or from any part of this world. To him everything here was strange. To him, food only served the purpose of fuel. To him, a shooting range was only a place to hone your skills. And to this man, the idea of fun and to relax was simply peace and quiet, alone in a room away from the noise and cruelty of the world.
All this, was something his companion hoped to change.
"I don't believe you."
"After all I've said about the imperium, this is what you don't believe?"
"It just defies all logic. Aliens, Psykers, demons-
"Daemons."
"Whatever. All that I can believe because it all comes from something living. But all machinery has a soul? No."
Two people casually walked and talked around one of Vales' fairgrounds, passing food stalls and shops lining their path. One was a small girl, clad in her usual attire, a black corset with a skirt and a red cloak. The cloak was hooded and a number of 50. Calibre bullets lined her belt. A silver cross clinked against them as she turned to her companion, flicking her black hair to the side.
"Then would you explain to me Ruby, how I calmed the spirit of the plasma gun, your moronic ginger haired friend angered?" The man replied.
He was tall, much taller than Ruby and had a shaven head. A black tattoo was slightly hidden beneath his small amount of hair, and if anyone looked closely enough they would see a two headed eagle. He was much broader too, and squarely built, if the shape of the dark suit he wore was anything to go by. He stopped and crossed his arms waiting for his companion to speak.
"You must have done something while I wasn't looking. Or it was coincidence. Or perhaps Nora didn't damage the weapon as much as you thought. Either way praying can not fix a gun. And guns do not have spirits living inside of them Armis!" Ruby pouted, waving her arms to emphasise her point. "I talk to Crescent Rose all the time, but she never talks back to me. Machines are just pieces of metal that have been assembled to serve a purpose. They can't choose not to do them because their not happy with it."
Armis chuckled knowingly. "I remember a time when I thought the same. Perhaps you would like a demonstration then? If I can prove that my weapons act on their own accord without my aid, will you admit that there are machine spirits and shout your praise for the Omnissiah?"
Ruby thought on this and nodded. "Yeah sure. Not sure how you can prove it though."
Armis' smile widened. "This fair has a shooting range doesn't it?"
"Yes. But we haven't seen it yet." Ruby told him, slightly confused.
"Exactly. Pass me that piece of cloth."
John Doe was your average, run of the mill stall owner. Usually he spent his days helping to run a dust and weapon store made specifically for huntsmen and women, but he couldn't say he was any good at it. Not bad either but bad enough that he had been given the job of manning the fairgrounds stall. It was a shooting challenge meant to help huntsmen and women warm up for the tournament. He had to set up targets all day and count the scores of participants in the shooting gallery all day. It was a thankless task, but John didn't complain. It gave him something to do.
"Hello mister!" Someone called to him.
John looked up from sorting through the cash register. A black haired girl with a red cloak was waving at him. He looked further and saw that she was leading a rather smartly dressed fellow by the hand towards his shop. And that man was blindfolded with a length of cloth.
"H- hello!" He managed to say, his eyes glancing from smiling girl to the taller man. "Would you like to have a try of our huntsman and woman shooting challenge?"
"Yes please! But not for me. It's for my friend here. He's from... Atlas." She hesitated at that last word, but John ignored it. "Just checking, but you've never seen this guy before have you?"
"Errrr no, I don't believe so." John scratched his head. "I recognise you though. Your Ruby right? You're going to be fighting team ABRN in the next tournament fight aren't you?"
"Yep that's me!"
John smiled, but then looked back to the blind man.
"Is he going to take that blindfold off?" He asked.
"No." The man spoke up. "Ruby could you please place my hand over where most people would shoot from?"
"Sure." Ruby smiled and placed his hand ontop of the wooden counter, in front of the bullseye targets. She looked at the stall owner. "He's trying to prove a point. He says that he has never been here before, or memorised the targets locations."
"Would you like me to move the targets just to be sure?"
"Is that ok Armis?"
The man shrugged. "Go ahead. I need a moment to prepare as well." Armis put a hand within his jacket and pulled out a long blocky SMG, and laid it on the table. He turned his head, to look in the direction of the stall owner. "May I use my own choice of weapon."
"Yep sure. Huntsmen do it all the time." John replied, beginning to move the targets around.
There were five of them, usually arranged as a square with the fifth in the centre, but now he made sure to spread them randomly, with no sort of pattern noticeable.
"My thanks." Armis nodded, pulling out the magazine for his gun.
"Stubcarbine?" Ruby asked.
"Stubcarbine." Armis nodded. "Now hush."
Armis began to adjust and go over the weapon, almost like he was drawing symbols and petting the gun like a tamed animal. After a second he began to pray.
"The soul of the Machine God surrounds thee.
The power of the Machine God invests thee.
The hate of the Machine God drives thee.
The Machine God endows thee with life.
Live!"
Armis bowed his head and then picked up the gun, holding it up in the air. He put his other hand on the counter.
"How many paces am I from the targets."
John looked at Ruby and shrugged, holding up his hand with all fingers spread. He wasn't sure if Armis was allowed to know that information.
"About five." Ruby said, shrugging back at John.
Armis nodded and then turned around, taking five more deliberate steps away from the targets. While he walked, John leaned over to Ruby.
"You trust this guy right? He's not gonna just spray and pray down range right."
Ruby realised where they were standing as well and nodded. "Yes, of course I trust him..." Ruby glanced at Armis, who had stopped walking and was aiming his gun at the targets. And in their direction. "But just to be sure..."
Once John and Ruby were safely at Armis' side, ten paces from the target, Armis mumbled something under his breath.
"What?" John asked.
The blindfolded man sighed. "How much do I owe you for using the range?"
John laughed. He had completely forgotten about getting payment.
"Tell you what. If you can hit all those targets from here, you don't own me a thing."
"I best not miss then." Armis deadpanned
A few seconds went by. Ruby waited with anticipation, and John held his breath. A few passerby saw the three standing there and decided to watch, thinking that it was some event of the fairground.
"Oh Machine spirit." Armis spoke, loud enough for only the three to hear.
"Lend me your strength, just as I lend my strength to you.
Oh Machine God.
Focus your wrath, giving proof of your dominance.
Oh Omnissiah.
Bless these spirits of both flesh and machine so they may become one.
For the Emperor."
The moment the prayer ended, and the last word passed through Armis' lips, the Stubcarbine opened fire.
Ruby paid attention to the weapon and Armis' hand. She had activated her semblance the moment the first shot had be fired, perceiving the smallest adjustments a dozen times faster than any normal person. What she saw astonished her.
The gun had moved!
The weapon had jumped and bucked with recoil and Armis had done nothing to control it. She could see none of the usual muscles moving in his hand, it was completely relaxed. But instead of the expected result of recoil, the weapon moved diagonally after one shot, then as another bullet left the barrel, the recoil caused it to move sideways. It happened five consecutive times, the gun moved apparently on its own, with no explanation as to how.
"Holy shit that was loud!" Someone shouted from the crowd.
'Imperial weaponry is not known for its subtlety' Armis thought, removing the blindfold. "Shall we check the targets?"
John, Ruby and Armis, as well as a few of the spectators, moved towards the targets. As they grew closer and saw the targets, their mouths, bar Armis', fell open. A solid hole, the size of a tennis ball, had been blown into each of the targets. Not dead on the bullseye, but all were at least within the first ring. Armis holstered his weapon back into his jacket and turned to face a flabbergasted Ruby.
"Well?" He asked. "Satisfied?"
A cheer went up from the crowd and a round of applause, but Armis ignored them, focusing on Ruby.
Ruby tapped her index fingers together in awkwardness. "Perhaps... There are machine spirits. Sorry for doubting you..."
Armis waited arms folded.
"I'll hear you say it Ruby."
Ruby sighed, defeated. "Praise the Omnissiah."
"I'll hear you 'shout' it Ruby!" Armis repeated.
"Praise the Omnissiah!" Ruby shouted.
"LOUDER I SAID!"
"PRAISE THE OMNISSIAH!" Ruby all but screamed, pumping her fist in the air.
A few people around them looked at them funny, but then a few chuckled and joined in.
"Praise the Omnissiah!" A man shouted, raising his fist, just like Ruby had.
"Praise the Omnissiah!" A woman joined in, and soon all her friends did as well.
"Praise the Omnissiah! Praise the Omnissiah! Praise the Omnissiah!" The crowd cried.
Armis looked around surprised at his unknowing handy work. He felt John tap him on the shoulder, and then he pointed at Ruby, who looked scared and uncomfortable surrounded by so many tall intimidating people. Armis read his thoughts immediately. Not literally.
Ruby felt someone grab her arm, and struggled briefly as another hand grabbed her other side and lifted her in the air. She stopped when she realised that it was Armis. He hoisted her up onto his shoulders, so that she could see the large crowd of chanting men and women that had formed around them. The noise washed over her and it seemed to ignite some unknown emotion inside her. Beneath her Armis raised on of his fists and shouted with the crowd.
"Omnissiah!"
Ruby laughed as the crowd repeated what he said.
"Omnissiah!" They cheered.
Ruby felt something scratching at her mind. She blinked and shook her head to clear it. But when she opened her eyes she could feel, 'see' all of the people's emotions rise from the crowd, brilliant hues of Green, Red, Pink and Blue. She laughed all the harder as this strange colour swirled around her and filled her body with emotion. She could see it flowing into both her and Armis, turning a brilliant Gold. She couldn't tell if the golden light was coming from Armis or her, but the shock of feeling and inspiration got her shouting and kept her shouting.
"Omnissiah! Omnissiah! Omnissiah!" She roared, and the crowd roared back ever louder.
Armis was holding her ever higher, and shouted with her, giving her more confidence to stand upon his shoulders. He was smiling and roaring. He laughed to himself as the noise rose higher and higher.
'Well it's not devotion to the Emperor.' He thought. 'But it's a start.'
"That was super crazy." Ruby said in between panting breaths. "What was that? That feeling?"
They had escaped the crowd and were now in a quieter area of the fairground, standing in a small clearing. Ruby was bent over and had her hands against his legs, breathing heavily.
"I believe that was the closest thing I've seen to faith since I got here." Armis replied.
Ruby stood back up and frowned at him.
"You're religious?" She said after a while.
"Aye. That I am." He nodded in response. "Is it strange for me to be religious?"
"Errrm no... Nothing really wrong with it, it's just that I never thought you to be the religious type." Ruby shrugged, and then put her hand to her chin. "Thinking on it, you have been saying those prayers to gun's and using that smokey incense. I just expected robes and constant religious quotes."
"I consider myself very religious. I pray when I can or when I need to. I just do so in private. Why would I need robes to pray?"
"I dunno?" Ruby shrugged. "So who do you worship? The machine spirits?"
Armis laughed and pulled out his Stubcarbine. "Technically. To tell you the truth, most machine spirits are quiet docile. Only the larger machines exhibit... Unpredictable behaviour. This here however, is an example of Cognis weaponry. It has had its spirit awakened and for that, I am extremely grateful for its service."
Ruby looked at the weapon adoringly. She could imagine all the benefits of having the Cresent Rose move on its own to strike down Grimm.
"So it doesn't actually talk to you?"
"No of course not. Machine's can't talk like you and I. Some of the strongest machine spirits can convey feelings, but only in exceptional circumstances."
"Wow!" Ruby gasped.
With the snap and flash of a camera, Armis froze. Ruby blinked in surprise and turned around to see Velvet smiling and waving at her, one eye covered by a old fashioned camera. As a rabbit Faunus, two large bunny ears extended from the top of her head.
"Say cheese!" Velvet laughed, and made to press the camera again.
"No Velvet don't-" Ruby tried to wave at the Faunus girl, trying to dissuade her, but had to cover her eyes as the flash blinded her.
She heard a yelp and reopened her eyes. Armis was speeding forward, towards the girl, finger still half on the trigger of the carbine in his hand. Ruby, luckily reacted quickly and sped forward, red petals whirling behind her in a horizontal tornado. She stopped in front of the now cowering Velvet, and held her hands up, pushing against Armis' chest.
"Hey wait! Wait Armis, please don't do anything... Stupid." Ruby pleaded.
Armis' grip whitened around the grip of his gun and Ruby saw his suit stretch and grow taut, as his arms strained against the fabric. He glared at the newcomer who had taken his picture.
"Give me that camera." He growled.
"What? I'm sorry I can't do that." Velvet said meekly.
Armis advanced on her, effortlessly moving Ruby aside. A menacing aura permeated around the man as he towered over the faunus. Velvet suddenly felt so small under his accusing gaze.
"Give me." He repeated, his hand like talons, reaching to snatch the device from her grasp. "The camera. Or else."
Petrified, Velvet could do nothing as Armis' hand descended. But at the last second a hand slapped it away, and a shadow passed over Velvet.
"Back off." Grunted the huge Yatsuhashi
Velvet looked up and saw the seven foot tall boy's armoured back separating her from the scary suited man.
"You ok Velvet?" She heard Coco say from beside her, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Get out of my way." Armis deadpanned.
Yatsuhashi simply folded his arms and remained in his path. A red haired boy, in a equally red vest revealed himself behind the giant and stood beside him.
"What's your problem? Back off." He warned.
"An abhuman just took my picture without my consent to do so. I want that picture destroyed. The camera as well, if necessary." Armis answered, folding his arms in a parody of those that faced him.
"That ain't gonna happen. No one bullies Velvet and gets away with it."
As the tension rose, Ruby once again got in the way of both team CFVY and Armis. "Look guys, please calm down!" She begged.
"What the hells up with your friend Rubes? What did Velvet ever do to him?" Coco asked angrily.
"He just doesn't like people taking pictures of him. And he's not used to Faunus. He's just came to Vale from Atlas." Ruby half lied.
The red headed Fox scoffed. "Oh so that's how it is. Atlas racist." He growled menacingly.
"Hypercritical cowards" Armis grunted back.
Fox bawled his fists. "Bastard. You don't know us!"
Armis chuckled maliciously. "Oh I'm sorry, so if any other person was to 'bully' Velvet, you would step in, yes?"
"Yes we-"
"Cardin Winchester." Armis stated.
Yatsuhashi and Coco looked down at the floor guiltily. Fox just looked more incensed.
"Go ahead. Tell me it's not true. Tell me that you have always protected Velvet from those who would attack her. Or perhaps that only applies for strangers, when there is no obvious consequence."
Fox roared in anger and ran at him, arm blades slipping onto his hands. Velvet shouted for him to stop, but in the blink of an eye, Armis had dodged to the side, grabbed a hold of his fist and kicked him in the gut. An arm now wrapped around his neck, Fox was forced to his knees. His team stepped forward to help, but Armis snapped the sights of his gun on them.
"Go ahead. Make. My. Day."
Coco and Yatsuhashi hands twitched towards their guns, and their feet shifted forward. Armis twisted the boy's arm further towards its breaking point. The kneeling boy let out a pained gasp, and his team froze in place. A few seconds passed with tense silence.
"STOP IT!" Ruby screamed, her voice almost bursting everyone's eardrums.
Everyone flinched and looked surprised at Ruby. She held her head down and her clenched fist to her side. She was shaking as she took a step towards Armis.
"Let go of him!"
Armis' eyes widened, but did nothing, uncooperative.
"Armis look, I know you hate being around people and especially people taking your picture, but you cannot stay like that forever!" Ruby shouted. "Velvet is a good friend, I doubt she would use that picture for her own gain."
Hidden behind Yatsuhashi, Velvet looked down at her camera guiltily.
"So will you please let go of Fox before I really lose it and kick your ass like I did in the arena!" Ruby paused, but seeing Armis looking reluctant, she spoke up again. "Twice! You owe me that much."
'There's the little Red Reaper.' Armis would have chuckled in his head in any other circumstance.
Instead he only grunted in frustration. He released the boy he had restrained and
Armis kicked him to the floor. He shot a murderous look at Velvet and then stalked away, back towards the fair. Team CFVY breathed a sigh of relief. Coco smiled at Ruby.
"Thanks a lot Rubes. Way to channel your inner Yang! You should stay away from a guy like that." Coco advised, still smiling.
Ruby turned around and glared at Team CFVY with the same enraged look she had given Armis. Their smiles all dropped at that.
"Armis is not 'a guy like that.' If you have a problem with him, you can tell it to his face, not behind his back."
Coco flinched away from the angry girl. Yatsuhashi opened his mouth to defend his team leader, but Ruby kept talking.
"Frankly I don't like how Armis treated Velvet, but I know that he didn't do it specifically because she was a Faunus. He also made a fair point. I don't know which I'm more disgusted with. The fact that I do nothing to stop Cardin bullying Velvet, or that her own team isn't there to defend her!" Ruby raged.
The entire team looked downtrodden, unable to contradict what Ruby was saying.
"I swear Coco, if you don't do something about Cardin, the next time I see him teasing Velvet, I'm going to castrate him! With a scythe!" Ruby finally finished her rant and took a deep breath. "Now excuse me. I have to go catch up with my date."
Ruby span around and disappeared in a cloud of petals.
Team CFVY stood there in shocked silence, contemplating what exactly had just happened.
"Ive never seen Ruby get that... Mad before." Yatsuhashi said.
Velvet looked down at her hands to see that they were shaking, her camera rattling.
"Did we just ruin Ruby's first date?" The rabbit Faunus asked to a suddenly guilt ridden Team CFVY.
Ruby was angry. Angry at Team CFVY. Angry at Armis. Angry at herself for losing her temper. Which coincidentally pissed herself off more. She blurred around the fairground looking for Armis. After a while, with not result she stopped and began walking aimlessly. Paranoid thoughts ran through her head as she wandered.
'Will Armis hate me? It was his first date too wasn't it? He'll never talk to be ever again! At best! He might disappear again or give everyone the silent treatment again or- or-"
"Ahhhh!" Came a unladylike scream from directly behind her.
"Do you want to lose that hand woman?" The familiar angry voice of Armis asked.
Ruby span around.
'Yay Armis!' Was her first train of thought. 'Ahhhh! He's holding a green haired girl in the air by just her hand and she looks like she's in pain!' Was her second.
"Woah Armis! Please don't grapple with another person!" Ruby put her had on Armis' shoulder trying to dissuade him.
The green haired girl gritted her teeth. "Hey Ruby." She tried to say nonchalantly. "Please let me go."
Ruby finally remembered who this girl was. She was one of the students that was participating in the Vytal tournament.
"Emerald?" Ruby frowned and nudged Armis. "Please let her go, she hasn't done anything wrong.
Armis clenched his fist around her wrist, and shook her in the air.
"Confess."
The girl grunted again in discomfort and a small leather wallet fell from her hand, landing on the floor. Ruby's frown deepened and she picked up the wallet. Opening it she saw her own ID card in one of the pouches. Ruby gave out a small yelp and searched her own pockets for where that wallet should have been.
"Hey this is mine!" She cried in dismay.
Emerald smiled innocently. "I found it on the floor. I was giving it back."
"Ruby do you know this woman?" Armis turned his head to the girl in question.
"Yeah, she's a huntress-in-training like us. I think she was from Haven?"
Armis stared back at Emerald. The girl quickly capitulated after Armis continued to crush her wrist.
"Ok ok! Dust you win, yes I tried to steal your wallet." Emerald whined.
"Why?" Ruby asked, shaking her head in disbelief.
Emerald shrugged as best she could when suspended in the air. She had to admit this Armis fellow was pretty strong to be able to hold her like this for so long.
"Old habits die hard I guess."
Armis growled angrily and shook the woman again, taking his anger out on not-so-innocent victim.
Ruby sighed. "Let her go."
Armis looked at her strangely and the shrugged. He lifted Emerald to eye level and she could have sworn she saw his eyes begin to glow a menacing red.
"Don't bother Ruby ever again. Or you'll have me to deal with." He warned, before throwing her a good few metres away.
Mumbling both thank you's and curses alike, Emerald scampered off. That just left Ruby and Armis alone, both shaking their heads. Ruby blushed as she realised how protective Armis had been towards her.
"Thanks for that." Ruby said, clasping her hands together and twisting her body back and forth. "I was worried you were too mad at me to come back."
Armis raised an eyebrow. "Why would I be mad at you?"
Ruby blinked rapidly. "Because of the picture and Team CFVY and-"
"Oh I'm mad at them of course." Armis interrupted. "But no matter how begrudgingly, I let it go because you trusted them. And I trust you enough to follow your lead."
"Awwww thanks Armis, that means a lot." Ruby blushed further.
"Plus I would have done something stupid and likely ruined my relationship with yet another Beacon hunter in training team."
Ruby chortled. A moment of content silence followed.
"Huntsman and huntress in training." Ruby suddenly said.
Now it was Armis' turn to blink.
"What?"
"Huntsman and huntress in training. You have to make the designation. Some people get really annoyed when you just say hunter, or just huntsman or huntswoman. You have to say both."
Armis shook his head quite rapidly in disbelief.
"Why? It takes so long to say, or write for that matter!"
"You just have to say both." Ruby smiled sweetly, tilting her head to the side.
Armis could only sigh. Remnant was weird.
And so the date continued on. After visiting a few stalls, talking more about Beacon, Remnant and the Imperium, Ruby suddenly realised how much knowledge and experience Armis seemed to have. He picked up everything she said with ease, except for a few of the quirkier matters, usually regarding Ozpin and Beacon. She had wanted to ask the question for a while, but now her curiosity had finally gotten the better of her.
"How old are you?" Ruby asked, as they passed yet another stall.
A few people had arrived at the fair and were wandering all around them. She always noticed Armis glancing at them, as though he was accessing a threat. He even stepped deliberately in front of her once, when a rather large man cut into their path. Just thinking about it made her head all steamy.
"I'm not sure." Armis frowned.
"What?" Ruby almost shouted in surprise. "You don't know? Like, at all?"
"The first thing I remember was waking up strapped to a table. I was told that this was just before I hit puberty." Armis frowned and put his hand to his chin in thought. "The last time I checked I had a service record with the Inquisition that states thirty standard Terran years of service."
Ruby's mouth fell wide open. Armis looked back at her.
"So I'm around forty three years old." Armis answered. "Not factoring in the complications of warp travel."
Steam seemed to be pouring out of Ruby's head. Armis looked at her genuinely concerned for her health.
"How is that possible?! You can't be over forty!" Ruby exclaimed.
"Why? What age do I look like?" Armis faced Ruby so she could get a good look at his face.
Ruby stared at it intently.
"You look at the very least a mature nineteen." Ruby held her hands to her head. "There's no way you can be forty three."
"You're probably right with that assumption." Armis shrugged. "Don't take it to heart. Remember when I talked about warp travel?"
Ruby nodded. "Yes the imperium uses it to travel the stars."
"Well warp travel is unpredictable in that it distorts time. One example I can remember is when the Lord inquisitor's ship entered the warp, heading for one planet that had just recently been discovered. We spent five months in the warp with no difficulty. But when we arrived, the entire planet had been plunged into war."
"What's so strange about that?" She asked.
"You said the imperium was always like that."
"For five years."
Ruby's eyes widened and her mouth formed a perfect O.
"My service record was updated to add five years, while I myself had only technically served five months. So my standard Terran age is misleading. But it also means my actual age can't be pinpointed."
Ruby nodded understanding. "So how do you celebrate your birthday?"
Armis frowned in confusion. "Why would I celebrate the day I was born? I don't remember it."
'Ahhhhh, he's missed so much!' Ruby's mind screamed. 'I just wanna hug him and throw him around and wrap him in a comfy blanket and feed him chocolate!'
"Hey!" Came a cry from ahead of them, interrupting Ruby's train of thought.
Nora was waving at them from a wooden bench, along with the rest of Team JNPR. They were waiting just outside a stall that sold large quantities of confectionaries for consumption. Ruby smiled and waved back, laughing when she saw the industrial size pancake making machine dominating the stall behind the team. They approached together and Ruby gave another wave of greeting and a hey.
"Greetings." Ren replied.
"Nice to see you." Pyrrha said. "Where's the rest of your team? They are usually with you."
"Oh wait, you were supposed to be on a date with Armis weren't you?" Jaune added. "How's that going?"
"Ohhhh!" Nora jumped up and stared intently at Ruby, her grinning face just a nose away from her own. "What happened? Did he run away? Did you kick him away? Or perhaps he's waiting for you back in your dorm room huh?"
"Errr Armis is right here." Ruby gestured to Armis who was standing at her side, bewildered.
"Where?" Nora said looking past Ruby, her face still so unchangingly enthusiastic.
The rest of the team seemed to notice the person standing next to Ruby for the first time. They exchanged glances, and then stared more intently at the man. A few whispers were exchanged.
"Is that really Armis?"
"His face does bare a resemblance."
"I think it actually is."
Nora turned to her team and they all pointed at the suited man to her right. She finished a two hundred and seventy degree turn to face him. And then looked up at him. She smiled. And looked at Ruby, who was pointing at him as well.
"Oh don't be silly. The Armis we know is a scary dark fellow, who wears a really big, thick cloak and has glowing red eyes." Nora's face lit up with false realisation, and she looked to Armis. "Oh! You haven't seen him have you?"
Ruby and Team JPR face palmed, and Armis just folded his arms and shook his head in disbelief.
"Nora, I propose a challenge. Pancakes." Ren spoke up suddenly.
Nora instantly forgot all other concerns.
"Ooooooo! What sort of challenge?"
"Armis- errrm I mean this man in the suit here, has never had pancakes before. If you can eat more pancakes than him, he will buy us even more pancakes. If you lose-"
"*Unlikely.*" Jaune coughed.
"Then you will have to buy all of us more pancakes."
"Deal!" Nora shouted and ran to order pancakes from the stall.
"Armis- I mean, strange man in a suit I have never met before, do you accept the conditions."
Armis shrugged his shoulders, and walked to sit down on the bench.
"Does Ruby get pancakes if either of us win?" He asked.
Pyrrha let out a cute 'awwww.' Ruby tried to hide her blush.
"Of course." Ren nodded.
"Ready?" Nora shouted, slamming a huge stack of pancakes and golden syrup, in front of both her and Armis.
"Go!"
"Kill me..."
Ruby snapped awake from her small daydream. She looked around quickly, expecting another dream or nightmare or worse.
"My body betrays me." Came a moan from beneath her. "Stomachs are not supposed to be so full, but my mind begs for more pancakes. Just fething end me."
Ruby looked underneath the table to see Armis, curled into a ball, and slowly rocking from side to side.
"It's not fair..." He mumbled.
Ruby looked up at Jaune and Ren who were suppressing laughter. Pyrrha sat at the bench keeping an eye on Nora, who was lain out on the table, every so often burping and whispering; "Beat Armis... At something."
"What the hell happened?" Ruby asked.
"Well..." Jaune started. "Armis and Nora started eating. Then they kept eating. And then you went to sleep."
"And they kept on eating." Ren shook his head. "Nora won... But it was horrifyingly close."
"Wow. Armis wasn't lying when he said he had never eaten pancakes. And figuring out that he liked it resulted in..."
The three looked under the table, to a incapacitated Armis.
"A gargantuan pancake binge." Ren finished. "Like you wouldn't believe."
"Why are they so good?!" Armis groaned, clutching his stomach. "Emperors bones! I feel like I've been poisoned. I'm- I'm gonna sleep. Wake me up for the next mission Red Reaper."
"And now he's delirious." Jaune said. "I say we draw on his face."
Ruby, Ren and Pyrrha gave him a funny look.
"Yeah you're right. He'll probably kill me when he found out."
After cleaning up, and paying an extortionate amount for the sheer quantity of pancakes they had ordered, they managed to wake up Nora who commenced bragging about beating Armis. It took them significantly longer to try to drag Armis from under the table and prop him up in a chair. He was weighed down by ten extra arms and ten times the amount of pancakes that a human was supposed to consume. He also had the unpredictable habit of striking out at people who were trying to grab him, except, strangely, when Ruby held him. After Armis continued to try and recover from the pancake challenge, Team JNPR said their farewells and wandered off again, leaving Ruby and Armis to their own devices.
Ruby sighed. If she had to admit it, their date had gone better than expected. No one had died for one, and Armis seemed to have opened up to her considerable. The realisation that he was technically forty three years old was at first disconcerting, but if what he said about warp travel was true, he was still a young adult. Just a young adult with twelve arms, a tragic past of war and cruelty, and a virtual arsenal of cool, awesome, amazing firearms. Don't forget the guns. Especially the guns.
But Ruby still felt as though she needed to do something. Something to help Armis, make up for all the horrible things he had to go though. She needed to prove that people would not turn him away for his appearance and would accept him. But she just didn't know how.
A glint of metal caught her eye and she looked up from her thoughts, to see Emerald disappear just out of sight around a stall, weapons drawn. Ruby frowned.
'Why was Emerald sneaking around with weapons.'
She shook and called for Armis to wake up.
"Leave me alone..." He mumbled in his sleep. "Solve your own damn problems."
Ruby knew that he wasn't really speaking to her. He was in some sort of vivid dream, probably from his past. But something he said got to her and while it at first saddened her, that emotion propelled her to get up and follow Emerald. To solve the problem herself. She rounded a bend and once again saw Emerald disappear around a corner. Ruby blurred to the same corner and looked around it. Somehow Emerald was just as far away as before, walking away from the fairgrounds and into the forest. Ruby saw the back of her head disappear behind the long grass.
'Where the hell is she going?'
Ruby didn't know for how long she followed Emerald. The green haired girl seemed to be able to stay ahead of her, no matter how fast she moved. Ruby was now in a heavily forested area, and had no idea where she was or why she was continuing to follow Emerald. Was it because she had tried to steal her wallet? Was it because of what Armis had said? Or was it simply because she remained just out of her reach, and Ruby needed an explanation for her own irrational actions? She didn't know.
Finally as Ruby pushed through another growth of shrubbery, she entered into a clearing in the forest. Emerald was standing right there with her back turned.
"There you are!" Ruby exclaimed. "I've been following you for ages. What are you doing out here?
Emerald said nothing, a pale light shining down, breaching the trees. Ruby looked up to see the full moon high in the sky.
'How long has it been dark for?' Ruby hadn't noticed.
Darkness now surrounded them and the air grew cold. Ruby could see her breath as mist in front of her. There was no such mist for Emerald.
"Emerald. What's going on?"
The girl slowly turned to Ruby. She recognised her features, but what scared her the most was Emeralds expression. A malicious smile split her face, and her eyes were small black dots, betraying a psychotic intent. She began walking backwards, until she was almost enveloped in shadows.
"A feast." She hissed, her voice picked up by dozens of other surrounding her.
Emeralds eyes became red and started to writhe in the blackness that permeated around her. He body became absorbed in it, and it twisted and expanded until something completely different remained.
"That's not Emerald." Ruby whispered in fear, as dozens of red Grimm eyes made themselves known around her.
Beowolves and Ursas, both major and minor variants, began to appear all around her surrounding her. Ruby looked around for an escape, but there was none, more eyes burnt around her, too many to count. A rumble of earth and the crack of broken trees got her to turn around again, seeing a titanic Deathstalker Major topple the trees at the edge of the clearing and bare its claws at her.
There was no escape. Ruby quickly reached into her pocket for her scroll.
'A weapon. A weapon. I need a-'
A Beowolf snuck up behind her and slashed the glass device in two, the bits clinking to the floor. It howled at her and aimed to bite her head clean off, but Ruby jumped backwards with a yelp, avoiding it. She jumped too close to a Ursa which clawed at her back, sending her crashing to the floor. Two more Beowolves jumped upon her, clawing her her body, her Aura barely holding up. She was trapped under the weight of their attacks. Ruby screamed and activated her severance. disappearing in a cloud of rose petals. The circle was closing and she had to kick back a wolf Grimm that tried its luck. A Ursa charged at her from behind, which she jumped over. Another was waiting for her as she landed, and punched her, sending her rolling across the ground. A Grimm pounced on her again, and clawed at her face. The things talons breeched through her aura and opened three bleeding cuts deep into her cheek. Another burst of semblance allowed her to escape, but she held one hand to her face and hissed in pain. Tears threatening to join the blood running down the side of her face.
The shaking of earth alerted her to the Deathstalker that had joined the fray. She raised her head to see its bulbous stinger descend and she had no time to dodge, or activate her semblance. She raised her hands and used the last of her aura to stop the stinger, but the force of the blow brought her to her knees. The pointed end pushed ever closer, and Ruby cried out in effort to stop its advance. However the giant scorpion Grimm had other tools at its disposal. It's twin pincers grabbed Ruby by the arms, enticing another scream of pain from Ruby as the sharp edges cut into the skin above her elbow. The Deathstalker retracted its stinger, and raised Ruby up to its eye level, her feet far from the ground.
Ruby looked up to see its six yellow, emotionless eyes, and came to a realisation. It was playing with her. Tears finally did pour from her eyes. She screamed for help and tried her best to free herself, but every second the pincers applied more and more pressure on her arms. Ruby could feel the last of her aura break and blood began to leak from her right arm, dripping to the floor below. Ruby screamed, her mind afire with images and events, her life flashing before her. She closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable.
But the pressure on her arms suddenly stopped. The pain was still there, but she couldn't feel anything cutting her. She opened her eyes, full of hope. The Deathstalker stared at her silently. It released its hold over her left arm and left her hanging by her right bleeding one. There was excruciating silence for a moment and Ruby could stand it no longer.
"What-"
SNAP
All hope was crushed in an instant. Ruby began falling to the floor, Grimm below her howling and baying for her blood, ending the silence with their roars. The Grimm had been toying with their food. And now, they hungered.
Armis seems to acting more carefree, but just as usual at the same time. The date can be considered a success, but the aftermath will perhaps, result in far reaching consequences that no one could predict. A strange power seems to be surrounding Ruby, effecting her, but now she is lost, bleeding and falling to her demise. How shall this play out? And how will it effect the Vytal tournament as a whole?
Reviews and criticism is welcome.
Signed by Imperial Decree
BluePanedGasMask