-Hello. Writer and creator of Yang-Dere here. Some of you may be wondering why there hasn't been a new chapter as of yet. Well two days after my last upload, a member of my family passed in an car accident. It took me some time to get over it, but I've dealt with it and I'm okay now. Anyway from here on out in the story, it'll mostly go how I want it to and I wont be following RWBY scene for scene as much. I'll use the same characters but it'll be a lot more original from here on. Thank you for your support and I hope you all like this new installment.-
Yang woke from her slumber and jolted. It took her a moment to remember where she was and what they were doing. She realized they were on the outskirts of the forest of Anima, where they had set up camp a yard away from the dirt road. The fire they made earlier had died to near nothing. If not for the moonlight, it would be pitch black out. Yang rubbed her eyes then quickly pulled her right arm away. She hated how cold her cyborg arm was. The only good thing about it was how durable it was. It had been a week since her father had it implanted within her, and she still wasn't quite used to it yet. She had to give credit where it was due, though, it really did feel like it was her arm.
Speaking of her father, the only reason they're out here in the woods is because Ren suggested it to him. Apparently Ren and Nora promised these villagers they'd clear the area around their village of Geist Grimm days before Beacon was destroyed. It was Rens way of honoring her, Yang supposed. Her dad was always brash when it came to helping people. For example he deemed himself the new administrator of their team, which he named team JYLR (Jailor). She sighed as she pulled her sleeping bag up to her chest. She looked over at Jaune. He was soundly sleeping a few feet from her and she had a good view of his face. The way the moonlight just barely fell on his features was quite the sight and Yang had watched him sleep for many countless nights for many countless hours. She had noticed that after everything that had happened, now when Jaune slept, he would periodically twitch and mumble with the most distraught look. Yang knew why. She hated it but she knew. That girl was gone, and until Jaune eventually learned to deal with it, Yang would have to deal with him being depressed about it.
Yang wiggled in her sleeping bag like a worm. She quietly sidled until her sleeping bag was right up against Jaunes. Her nose was centimeters from his and she could feel his breath on her lips. Then, Yang nearly had a heart attack when Jaune leaned into her and wrapped his left arm around her hip. His forehead sat against her nose. She realized, to her dismay, that he wasn't making a move on her. She wasn't going to complain about it though. The embrace, whilst was basically Jaune using her as a large teddy bear, was welcome.
Yang realized she had fallen asleep and she panicked. She was ready to make up an excuse as to why she was in close quarters but Jaune was still asleep. Morning dew had settled and it was just becoming daylight. Yang looked down and met Jaunes closed eyes with her own. She smiled. Suddenly, she had the strangest feeling she was being watched. She slowly and softly turned her head, trying not to disturb Jaunes sleep. A large rock Geist Grimm stared down at her. Yangs eyes widened. She didn't make a sound. It stood there unmoving, just... staring. Yang cupped her metal hand around Jaunes mouth and nostrils. Unable to breathe, this startled him and woke him up.
"Jaune... don't... talk..." Yang whispered while her eyes never moved away from the creatures large yellow glowing orb where its eye should be for even a millisecond.
Jaune rapidly blinked the morning fuzz from his eyes. He noticed the disturbed look on Yangs face and followed her line of sight up to the monster looming above nearly choked. Rock Geist Grimm are very very big. And very very intimidating.
"Um.. Yang... WhatTheActualFuck?"
"I dont know..." She whispered quickly in response.
The large rock beast slowly turned its head to looked down at a soundly sleeping Ruby. Yang knew, for some reason, that if her or Jaune made any sudden moves, this thing would rampage and with how close they all were, it could probably slam its fists on the ground and kill them all. Yang turned er head slowly to look at Ren, but he wasn't in his sleeping bag. Yang started to panic, thinking he might come back and startle it, which would spell their demise for sure. A glint of light nearly blinded Yang. She looked up and saw Ren perched on a tree branch above the beast. They made eye contact and Ren held a finger up to his lips. Yang figured, if worst came to worst, Ren could just surprise attack it from above and maybe he'd kill it.
The monster turned and started walking away. Jaune and Yangs breathing began to steady. With how big the monster is, It made surprisingly little to no sound. As it left Ren quietly dropped from the tree next to Yang. It disappeared across the road into the tree line.
After they calmed down, Ruby finally woke up and Ren explained what happened to her.
"Don't they usually just attack humans just to cause distress. Y'know to like, alert other Grimm and stuff?.." Ruby asked.
"I dunno maybe it just didn't see me as a threat or something. It stared right at us so it must've known what we were. Or maybe it thought we were dead." Jaune guessed.
"Either way we're lucky the situation didn't escalate." Ren replied.
"Let's just get to that village as fast as we can, so we can be done with this mission and move on." Yang added.
"Actually Yang." Jaune said, scratching the back of his head. "We have to make a quick stop on the way." Yang, Ren, and Ruby looked at Jaune acquisitively. Jaune sighed. "Well since my shield and armor broke back at Beacon Taiyang has been pressing me to get new ones." Yang cringed at the thought of her dad giving Jaune advice. "Anyway there's a BlackSmith on the way. I already ordered my stuff a couple days ago. Should be done by now and it will only take a bit to grab it." Jaune looked at Ren, as though he needed his approval. Ren responded by softly nodding.
"Well let's pack up and cover some ground then." Ruby stated.
After that, the group packed up camp and made their way down the road. They were on high alert all morning. Eventually, the group came up to a clearing with what they supposed was the BlackSmiths house, considering there was a huge kiln right next to it with a pluming pillar of smoke coming from it.
Jaune went ahead to the door and knocked.
"Hold on a friggin sec!" A loud and harsh male voice called out from behind the door. "I done told yalls time and time again I aint payin no taxes-" The man jerked the door open. He was a little taller than Jaune and had a long scraggly beard that matched his equally rough brown hair. He wore exactly the getup you would expect a BlackSmith to be wearing with the apron and heat resistant gloves and all. "Aint' Yall lil young to be tax collectors?.." The man asked propping himself against his door frame.
Jaune cleared his throat. "Um... Actually, I'm the one that put in that armor order a few days back. I sent you the metal?.. "
The Man tussled his beard acquisitively. Then he suddenly jumped, "Ah! Right! I got yer stuff ready in the back." Yang sighed as the man led them to the back of his workshop, where he had Jaunes new armor and shield bundled up and packaged. He handed it to Jaune, who then handed it to Ren. Jaune pulled out his wallet.
"How much do I owe you?.." Jaune asked.
"Didn't he tell ya? Yer Pa already paid for the order in full."
"Wait what? My dad?"
"Tall feller with the short blonde hair. Tai-Something or other." Yang facepalmed. Why was Taiyang bothering to help Jaune out so much? The whole situation seemed fishy.
As they were leaving, The crew waved goodbye to the BlackSmith and Jaune strapped the bundled armor to his hiking pack.
"Not gonna put it on?" Ruby asked.
Jaune shook his head. "No.. I'm gonna wait until we get there."
After walking for what seemed like hours. They came to a clearing next to the road where they could rest for a bit. Ren explained that the village was still half a day away. Even though they all wanted to get there as fast as they could, they also couldn't overwork themselves. They drank their water and ate their rations as they rested in the shade. Yang slid down against a tree and exhaled deeply. She watched Jaune as he reinforced the armor and shields straps to his pack. Since they left the BlackSmith, Yang had been keeping a close eye on Jaune. She didn't really know why. It wasn't really because of her dad, even though his sudden interest in Jaune was peculiar to her. He wasn't treating Ren the same way and it was like he singled Jaune out. Anyway, Yangs gut feelings were usually accurate, and today her gut was telling her someone, somewhere, was watching them. Yang looked up at the sunlight leaking through the hundreds of leaved branches that topped the tree. Yangs eyes snapped wide open and she propped herself up and blinked rapidly. It looked as if a person was perched on a branch above her. Looking down at Jaune. But they were... Invisible? No, More like, blended in with the tree. You wouldn't be able to see it if you weren't looking for it. Yang shook her head and rubbed her eyes, and the silhouette was gone.
"Let's go." Ruby said as she slapped her sisters shoulder.
Yang looked at her and school her head again. "R-Right..."
The group made their way down the road once more. Nearly four or so hours later, about two miles from the village, according to Ren, they found a toppled veo-wagon. The owners and/or driver were long gone, and it looked as though someone scrapped it from top to bottom. It seemed an actual highway robbery occurred here. Jaune got up close to the damaged cart and peered inside. The only remaining evidence was a singular rice bag that had been torn open and picked at by what they assumed was animals.
"I got a bad feeling about this." Ren said with a sour look on his face as he grabbed his stomach like it was turning or something. He took off running down the road. This made Jaune jump and he hit his head on the frame of the cart.
"Ah, Dammit! REN! Wait! You're not actually going to run two miles?!" Ren didn't respond to Jaune, he just kept going. Jaune steadied his pack and went after him. Yang groaned and followed after. Ruby shrugged as she used her semblance to easily catch up. The group sprinted all the way to the entrance of the village. A huge metal gate, a large stone pillar on each side. It was too tall to jump or climb over, so they'd have to break the large padlock connecting the chains that held the gate closed.
"Step back.." Jaune said. Ren, Ruby, and Yang took a step back as Jaune drew Crocea Mors, his infamous sword. He held it over his head and took a breath.
"HA!" Jaune smacked the lockpad with the sharp of his sword. Jaunes blade bounced off the lock and the shockwave vibrated and shook his arms. The lock was not only not cut, but for that matter it didn't even budge. Jaune scratched the back of his head.
"You tried." Yang said as she smiled at Jaune. "Let me show you how its done there, hun." Yang took a deep breath as she cocked her gauntlet. She punched the pad and pulled the trigger. The impact blew the entire gate off its hinges that were embedded in the stone pillars. The gate slid forward then toppled, making a loud clang as it hit the ground.
"That works..." Jaune stated, sullen.
"C'mon." Ren said signaling for them to follow. He led the group to the closest house to the gate, which Ren explained to them a day ago was the mayor of the village's house. Ren knocked loudly and pressed his ear against the door waiting for any kind of response, but got none.
"Hey guys..." Ruby said, standing in the back of the group. She pointed down the street. "Isn't it a little... y'know... empty.. for a village?.." Jaune crossed his arms.
"They might just be hiding." Jaune guessed.
"No. Somethings wrong." Ren stated. He kicked the door open to the house, startling the other three. Ren dropped his hiking sack there and rushed in.
"Ren.. you can't just-" Jaune pleaded.
"Mayor Laumberdawn?" Ren called out. He ran to the kitchen. Everything was in shambles. It looked like every cupboard and drawer was raided. Like The Mayor grabbed what he could and just up and left. Ren ran upstairs to the Mayors room. He shoulder rushed the door, and it crashed open. Jaune stumbled up stairs as fast as he could. He came up behind a frozen Ren. Jaune pushed past him and what he saw almost made him puke. Estimated by pictures next to their bed and above their mantle, was the body of the mayors wife. It looked as though someone took a sledge hammer to her face until mushy blood was the only thing left. You could tell by the smell and coagulated blood that the body had sat there for some time.
"Hey!" Ruby called from downstairs. Jaune and Ren rushed down to see Ruby and Yang standing in front of the open Pantry. It looked as though someone had locked it and either Ruby or Yang broke the lock to see what was inside. And what was inside... was all to horrifying. The Mayors daughters corpse, leaned against the corner, grasping a teddy bear. She must've been maybe four or five at the oldest. It seemed she was locked in and starved to death in there or something of the caliber. Ren backed against the wall and grasped his head with both hands.
"What the fuck is going on.." Ren whispered to himself. Last he heard, they were having problems with Geist Grimm. But not even Grimm do things like this.
"Upstairs?.." Yang asked.
Jaune shook his head and sighed. "The wife... dead..."
Ren swallowed and rushed out of the house. He ran to the home across the street. The three followed him and what they found inside was very similar. They checked every house on the block and each was nearly identical to the other. Each was ransacked, with either wives daughters or both murdered within, the males nowhere to be found. After vigorously searching through each house for about an hour, the team regrouped in the village square, next to the well. Each of them shared their findings, which, besides bodies, was little to nothing.
"H-Hello?.." A young, feminine voice startled the group and they all began looking around, searching for the origin of the voice.
"Down.. here *cough*.." The voice called out. They realized it was echoing and pinpointed it was coming from the well they were up against. They quickly turned and looked down into the hole. At the bottom sat a girl around their age. She held her hand in front of her face to block the sunlight.
"Hold On, we'll get you out of there!" Ren exclaimed. Ruby tossed him her hiking sack and he quickly pulled a long emergency rope from it. He tied one end tight to the the severed rope that once was tied to a well bucket. He tossed the other end down the well and it landed in a coil in front of her. She looked dazed and confused.
"I.. don't think I can.. pull myself up. I don't have the strength." She whimpered.
"One of us has to go down and help her out of there." Ren stated. He looked at Yang and Yang waved her hands in front of her and shook her head.
"I Don't do wells." Yang stated. Frankly she didn't care enough to want to help the girl, but, that's just typical Yang.
"I don't think I'd be strong enough.." Ruby claimed.
"I'm brains I'm not brawn.." Ren said. They all looked at Jaune. Jaune met each of their eyes and sighed.
"Fine.." Jaune groaned.
Jaune wrapped one of his arms tightly around the rope and handed his sword in sheathe to Ruby. Jaune swallowed as he began slowly inching down the huge well. He slowly but surely made it to the bottom. He kneeled next to the girl and their conversation echoed loud enough for the group to hear.
"I'm going to need you to hold on to me. I'm gonna have my friends pull us up. Yang was pretty sure, based on the fact Ren and Ruby both just announced their weakness, by 'my friends' Jaune meant Yang. Jaune helped the girl to her feet and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. He wrapped their legs together with the bottom of the rope and grabbed higher up on it and tugged it twice, signaling they were ready. The two of them together didn't weigh nearly as much as Yang thought. As Jaune began to army climb the rope one handed to the best of his ability, Yang and Ren pulled on the rope slowly. After a lot of effort, they finally got Jaune and the girl to the top, and they could get a good look at her in the light. She was about the same height as Jaune and had hair that went down her back in a long, dark red ponytail that curled at the end like an Iguanas tail. She had what appeared to be large freckles up and down her arms. Her grey eyes were sunken and sullen. Who knows how long she'd been down there, but she looked pale and sickly, so it must've been a while.
"What's your name." Ren asked, handing her a premade wrapped up sandwich and bottle of water.
"Ilian.." She mumbled.
Jaune patted her shoulder slowly to try to comfort her or something. She leaned into Jaunes chest as she sobbed while nibbling on the sandwich. This irritated Yang.
"Can you tell us what happened?.." Ren asked softly.
"It all started three days ago. A scraggly guy came into town... with a rock Geist and a very strong man. My father saw them coming and pushed me down the well. I.. suppose they wouldn't think to look down there... and I heard them talking. They gathered all the men and took them somewhere, then came back and murdered all the women and girls..." This girl, which they now knew as Ilian, sunk her head into Jaune's chest and cried.
Jaune and Ren shared a concerned look. The Stone Geist from that morning may be the one she was talking about. That one was no normal Grimm. And no normal Grimm would just follow a guy around and do what he says.
"We have to save them..." She whimpered.
Yang found something awfully suspicious about this girl. Usually she'd just chalk it down to she'd up close and personal with Jaune and Yang hated that. But, it felt like she had, as weird as it sounded, felt this girls presence before. Something in Yangs head was screaming that she was lying, At least about part of her story. However, Ren and Jaune apparently believed it. They were all for a rescue mission. After what they saw in those houses, it was inevitable... Someone needed to pay.
Alright. Well, First off her name is pronounced {ILL-EE-AHN} and, I know this chapter isn't much content wise, but it's basically an introduction to where the story is going from here. Btw FORESHADOWING MUCH. Anyway see you guys next time. As always, thank you all so much for your support.
(Send me stuff on Twitter. dj_boxman Send Fanart. Send Waifus. Send Messages. ETC ETC ) Bye~