Hello again, and welcome to Chapter 9 of Awake in Remnant! This one will feature our red-haired Amazon, and me. Also, vote on the polls! Who am I gonna follow, and what ship am I gonna include. Bumblebee, Checkmate, or Frost Bee. Don't forget to be awesome, and stay creative!
It was bad. I used telepathy more often than I should, and I did have that regeneration fluke happen again. I dealt a few blows in return, and so far I'm at half way, and she's still full. I send another hail of LMG fire. She blocks with her shield, then swings with Akous in xiphos mode. I block, then roll away.
Great. With only 50 LMG rounds, how in hell am I gonna take her out? I take out my LMG, reload, and aim at her. Pyrrha raises her shield to block, careful not to let her vision be obscured. I aim at the part of her not protected by her shield, the left boob. I fire a three round burst, which she expected, but not where they were aimed. All three rounds hit her, dropping her Aura 5%. She tumbles backwards and to the right, straight into the hail of bullet fire I had prepared. Round after round pummeled her, and she manages to regain control about halfway.
I stop shooting, and Pyrrha lifts herself off the ground, and leaps in the air. I knew the same trick wouldn't work twice, so I turn my rifle into a battleaxe, and leap to engage her. We struggle to gain control, and I'm trying to not let her break my weapons, as one more hit and I'm gone. I put a well-placed blow here and there, but otherwise placing my trust in the armor to protect me. I dodge blow after blow, blocking when necessary. I finally above her in the air, then send her flying to the earth with as well. I watch her land, then unleash a hail of bullets. She blocks some, but most hit her. I hear Crimson Reaper click empty, then turn it into Zanpaku-to. I see her Aura at 25%. I whirl my blade in fury, and Pyrrha is caught under the fire. I land blow after blow, and Pyrrha takes each of them to her shield or weapon. I eventually have an opening. I plunge my blade with all my might and main, and send her careening into the ground. Her Aura is at 5%. I stand, dumbfounded, and realized I had won. I beat the invincible girl. Everyone was sitting, stunned, wondering how a no-name fighter like myself could possibly beat The Pyrrha Nikos.
After my win, there was a big thing, a ceremony where I got a trophy, and other some such. Everyone wanted to be my buddy. I went off the grounds, and went back to Beacon, where everything would soon change for me.
Much later…
It had been a couple months since the Vytal festival, and everything was back to normal. Well, as normal as Remnant could get. Teams from Haven left back to Mistral. We all forgave all misgivings. And Cinder's faction had left. They would be back, I knew. I had an assignment from Ozpin to gain fighting experience. I could take one other person. I thought of all the people I wanted to take, and selected Ruby Rose.
I decided to ask her in person.
"Me! You want me to come on a mission with you?" Ruby asked me.
"Sure, as soon as I get the final touches on Crimson Reaper." I replied.
On the way, Ruby asks "So why did you pick me, of all people? I think you can handle a Grimm?"
"Truth is, other than the combat matches, I have absolutely no fighting experience." I reply.
"Really?" Her eyes widen. "But you beat Pyrrha in the Vytal festival!"
"Yup, that is true. I don't know how to fight."
"Wow. So why me in particular?"
"Well, tell ya the truth, I just like your personality. You're the kind of girl I'd ask out, if I wasn't so antisocial."
"Oh. Well, we're here." The workshop was the least ornamental building of Beacon. A standard building, uniform and military. I swing open the door, and pick up my project. I do a quick look over, admiring the help of Beacon's best. I tighten the last few bolts, then turn Crimson Reaper into inactive mode.
I say "I know there probably aren't, but are there any boys that interest you? Just wondering." I try to make small talk on our way back.
"Well, there is one. He's only been here recently, but I feel like I've known him for years. He's talented, noble, and isn't willing to stand by as people are hurt." Ruby's reply left her a tad red in the face, which complimented her hood.
"And there's a girl. She's got a heart of gold, and she's got a bunch of ideas of the world that may not be true, but still, she's got talent, I mean, her weapon is one of the least wielded. But she'll make a huntress yet. The bullhorn is in three hours. We should pack."I turn, my fown face slightly red, and I only know it will get redder.
I ready my equipment, and nab my bag. I ready the bullhorn, with Ruby in tow, and off we go. I stand next to her, furiously concocting a way to confess my feelings. She looks at me, and I look inside her mind.
Hmm, I wonder if he's pieced together who I like. Maybe he's reading my mind, but I don't care. How do I confess my feelings about him? Maybe just straight up tell him?
Ruby's thoughts befuddle me.
Oh, she likes me? Hmm, with that knowledge, that makes confessing my feelings a whole lot easier. I'll wait until the right moment. I think.
The flight went on with neither of us talking, each in our own private thoughts.
When we landed, I told Ruby "Ok, here's the plan. We should find a good place to fight, then lure the Grimm in.
I see a stone in the distance, similar to the one in the Red trailer and in Season 3. "Wait, anything looks or sound familiar?"
Ruby gives a quick look around. "Yes. This is where I go to visit my mother's grave. Why would they bring you here?"
"I don't know. Something's fishy. Our drop site was supposed to be a few miles north."
"Maybe they go lost."
"Or they wanted us to find something, or they were expecting me to pick you and…" My voice trails off.
"What?"
I hear a low growl in front of us.
"Hold up. We got bogies."
"Bogies?"
"Short for enemies."
"Oh."
I ready Crimson Reaper, and turn it into anti-mat form. I aim the scope, and scout for the Grimm. A snout and familiar Grimm mask tells me this is a Beowolf. I aim the crosshairs, and pull the trigger. The shot rang through the woods, cracking right through the Beowolf's skull, blowing off a portion of it and sending the rest of it flying. Ruby turns Crescent Rose into sniper form, and scans the area for enemies. I hear howls hungry for blood as we ready for more combat. I see mass amounts of Beowolves racing towards us, seeking our flesh and blood. I fire into the crowd, blowing holes in skulls and bodies, with the occasional dismemberment of an arm or leg. I reload on occasion, getting better at hitting the head or chest and less striking less lethal points. Although we are killing the monsters in droves, their mass in numbers were slowly driving us back. I ran out of ammo in the sniper, so I switched to my shotgun, blowing off heads and taking out two or three at once. We were about halfway to Summer Rose's grave when I ran out of ammo in that too. I switch to LMG mode, and raze the Grimm. We are still being driven back, but at a slower pace. Ruby ran out of ammunition, and was slaying Beowolves with Crescent Rose as a scythe. I keep my gun lined up and firing. We are nearly at Summer's grave when I'm fully out of ammunition. I turn Crimson Reaper into Zanpaku-to mode, and slice away. My giant sword slices straight through the Grimm, but our situation is still bad. We are near to the cliff face, and I have a crazy, but workable idea.
"Ruby, now may not be a good time, but I have something to tell you!" I shout over the din of battle.
"What?" Ruby's reply came.
"In case my plan fails, I wanted to tell you that you were the girl I was talking about in the workshop?"
"What?" Even in battle, a look of befuddlement crosses her face.
"I said!" Getting closer to her was really difficult when you are fighting a mass amount of Beowolves.
"I'm in love with you, Ruby Rose!"
We are right next to each other when I said that. Ruby looks at me with confusion.
"You love me? Here I was trying to confess to you."
"Really?"
"Yep."
I knew it was now or never, so I pull her in for a kiss and jump off the cliff. Her lips are feather soft, and they were a little stiff at first, but she gave in and went with me. Our moment was broken when my back came into contact with the cliff face. The armor helped to soften the blow, but we're still jarred apart as we begin a slide down the cliff face. After a minute or two, I begin a free fall. Now, I'm afraid of heights. Very much so. Mainly due to my poor eyesight on earth, but since I have 20/20 vision, it's much less. But still, I'm afraid. I free fall for a couple minutes, trying not to scream, then I see a tree we are quickly descending towards.
"Oh, no." I say before we crash into the tree, tumbling over branches and getting scratches all over. I hear an"Auugh!" from Ruby, and we descend to Earth, and my vision fades to black.
?, Third person view:
The woman heard the crash of the tree as she was baking cookies in her log cabin. She rushed out, and saw two people, each knocked unconscious. Or maybe they were dead. The girl had a strange sense of familiarity, but the boy she had never seen before. She felt the boy's pulse, and was satisfied to feel blood moving. When she went to check the girl's pulse, memories flew back to her. Images of going to school, meeting a boy, falling in love, and having a child.
"Oh, God, how do I make this up?"
She picks up the boy and girl, and races over to her cabin, thinking about what to do
Me, First person view:
I wake up in a log cabin, with the aroma of cookies in the air. I turn my head to find a plate of chocolate chip cookies, served by a warm face.
"It's okay, they aren't poisoned. If I wanted you dead, I would've left you to be eaten by the Grimm." The mysterious face said.
"So why save me?" I ask as I take a cookie.
"Because I don't think you deserve that fate."
I take a bite of the cookie. It's delicious like only a mother's recipe can be.
"Oh my God, this is good! What's your secret? Love?"
"Lard."
"Oh. Wait, where's Ruby?"
"She's still unconscious. I think you should take it slow, though. You've cracked a couple ribs, and maybe your collarbone."
I activate my Aura, what little there was left, and heal my ribs and collarbone as much as I can. I slowly get up to a sitting position, and then to a standing position. I give a look around, and see Ruby resting on the table.
"By the way, I never got a name."
"Out here, you don't need one. But now that you mention it, I think my name is Summer Rose."
My jaw drops. Summer Rose is dead. How could she survive that sheer drop? Well, look who's talking.
I walk over to her and ask "Summer Rose? That's your name?"
"Yes. Why, is something wrong with it?" Her eyes narrow.
"No, just, everyone thinks you died."
It's her turn to be surprised.
"What? Everyone thinks that?"
"Well, yes. I mean, Ruby, Yang, Taiyang, and Qrow. And a whole lot of other people." That to mention the fans of RWBY as well as the people of Remnant.
"I… don't get it."
"Neither do many people who are alive and the world thinks they're dead."
I walk over to Ruby, and see a tree branch in her right thigh. My eyes widen in surprise, and I set about to wake her. I snap my fingers next to her ear, and give her a pat on the shoulder.
"Hey, get up." I say as gently as I can.
"Mmm?" Ruby's eyes struggle to open.
She asks "Where are we?"
"We're in a log cabin, and that's the extent of my knowledge. But there are cookies. They aren't poisoned, I had one myself." I answer, holding out the plate of cookies Summer offered me.
She takes one, then tentatively takes a bite.
Her eyes widen, and she asks "Wait, this is my mother's recipe! How did…?"
"That's not important right now. You have a tree branch in your thigh." I interrupt her.
She looks down, and her eyes widen.
"Oh, my. There is. I need to get that out before it can heal." Ruby says.
"It's all right. Allow me. You may not enjoy this, but know I won't either." I say.
"Just do it. I don't care what you need to do."
"Ok, suit yourself."
I take the tree branch with my right hand, and my left hand I shoot out, and before she can react, I latch onto one of her breasts, giving it a squeeze for good measure as I yank the branch out.
"Kya! How dare you, you perv! I'll… Oh." She shouts as I hold the branch for her to see.
"I told you, you wouldn't enjoy it." I sigh.
"And how did you learn that trick?"
"Something I read. Except the guy did it with an arrow and not a branch."
"Oh. So, whose log cabin is this?"
"I think I better let the owner of this cabin tell you."
I step aside so Sumer is completely unobscured from her view.
Her face contorts in a weird fashion, and she says "It can't be. You're supposed to be…"
"Dead? I suppose so, but then again, you survived the drop like I did. Well, not exactly like I did, but that's not the point. The point is Ruby, I have a lot of time I need to make up. With you and your sister." Summer is right next to Ruby, and I step back, not wanting to ruin the moment.
Ruby has a face on like most people have when another proposes to them. She embraces her long lost mother, tears streaming down her eyes. I stand in the corner, wiping a small droplet from my own eye. The embrace lasts a while, and finally let go.
"Oh, you've grown so much! Did you get into Signal? Are you following the path to being a Huntress?" Summer asks.
"Actually, I'm in Beacon right now." Ruby says.
"Really? Oh, I'm so proud of my baby girl!" Summer exclaims, embracing Ruby a second time.
"Mom, please stop. It's a little annoying."
"Oh, come on. And I see you're being a little more social. And you're gaining interest in boys! Who's the strapping young lad there?"
"That's Tyler, my…boyfriend? It's hard to explain at the moment. I mean, before we were KO'd, we had a first kiss. Before that, we were friends, and before that, he appeared in our room one day, fully armed and armored and no idea how he got here."
"Wow, that's got to be harsh for you, isn't it, Tyler?"
"Yes, it is. Although with the help of Ruby and her team, I'm adjusting well. Did you know Yang is also on her team?" I say quickly.
"Well, no. Ruby failed to mention that. Also, how did you get to be here?" Summer said.
"Long story actually. Basically, I'm on a mission with Ruby to gain battle experience, and we were dropped here instead of a few miles north. So we decided to battle here, because it's as good as any, until a mass amount of Beowolves showed up. We fought to the face of the cliff, where we confessed feelings for each other, and we shared a kiss as I jumped off the cliff. It was a huge gamble, but I usually am pretty lucky about it. And that's how I got here." I say.
"Well, I'm surprised."
"Yup. Now I need to figure out a way to get back up. Maybe I need to stay a day or two, wait for my Aura to regenerate, then try to scale the cliff." I think out loud.
We talk for the rest of the day, breaking for lunch and dinner. Summer has a very warm personality, like Masaki Kurosaki from Bleach. Strange, how all the nice people are gone too soon. When it's time for bed, Ruby and I offer to sleep on the floor, and we stop for the day, tired to the bone.
And, that's a wrap! Plot twist, am I right? Even I didn't see that coming. Also vote on my poll, and apply for beta reader! Don't forget to be awesome, and stay creative!