A/N: Hello. I'll give you a fair warning and let you know that this is where Ruby continues her fall and becomes more unhinged and dangerous each minute that passes while at Salem's side. For those of you who prefer her to be pure, it's not for the faint of heart. And there will be a flashback of Kuroyuri, but I couldn't come up with a proper moment between Li Ren and one of my characters in time. And the younger version of him will be voiced by Nolan North. Enjoy the story. :)

Chapter 10: "Kuroyuri"

Far away in the early morning, Oscar was walking out of the barn after having talked with his aunt. At first, she was initially against it, but she also knew how much work he had done recently, asking for nothing in return. Besides, he'd read about Haven Academy and always wanted to go there when he was little. That made his aunt all the more willing to let her nephew go on his own. Moments before he walked out, his aunt gave him a hug and to let her know if he's made it to Haven once he got there, a promise he intended to keep. As he walked deeper into the woods, Ozpin spoke to the boy, feeling bad for pressuring him to go on this journey when he was content to stay at the barn.

"I'm sorry."

"Y'know... the weirdest part is how it feels. Leaving home is crazy. Going to the city is crazy. Everything you've told me is completely crazy. But it doesn't feel crazy anymore. It feels like I'm doing the right thing."

"Well... I suppose that's good."

"No. It's scary."

Then, he heard thunder crackle ahead of him, urging him to pick up the pace before the rain could start. However, he was too late and had to use a backpack to hold it above his head as an umbrella. When he'd gotten to the station, he tried to pay for his ticket, only for it to give an error alert due to insufficient funding.

"Stupid thing. I'm assuming whatever weird magic this is doesn't come with an infinite supply of money?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to solve this one on your own—"

Then, Ozpin immediately piped up, catching Oscar's notice.

"Huh?"

"Be on your guard."

"What do you mean?"

Unknown to him, Hazel was walking to Oscar before he spoke.

"Here."

As he walked toward him, Hazel banged his first on the machine, causing it to produce a ticket for him before he walked onward. After a moment, though, he stopped and turned to him.

"Don't let such a small obstacle block your path."

He then walked toward the train before Oscar spoke to Ozpin.

"That man... I felt... Who is he?"

"Someone from my past. Someone who should not be taken lightly."

Just then, a train arrived at the station at high speed by Oscar.

At Kuroyuri, an outstanding number of Grimm, hybrid or otherwise, occupied the village as if it was a haven for them. As Ruby looked around while walking beside Salem, she was astounded by how well they interacted with each other: like the way people do. An example of this is demonstrated when a hybrid was brought some meat from a Beowulf before he petted it. That made her all the more inclined to ask.

"Hey, Salem? How can these people be so... content with the way they are?"

"Well, they're not monsters. Even the dark has its own rules of living."

Ruby thought it had one rule, but with what she's been introduced, it could carry a hidden meaning.

"Like Raven's rule?"

"No. That rule is savage. We don't kill them for being weak. We help to empower them, as does the Tenebris Comet."

That made another question pop up in her mind as she spoke.

"Is that where the Grimm came from?"

"Yes. But it didn't create them out of thin air. It had to work with any living material. Do you know about the story of the two brothers?"

Ruby tried to answer, but couldn't find any memory of that story being told to her before she answered.

"No."

"You don't? I thought Ozpin would've told you?"

"Yeah... I tend to doze off every once in a while."

"Perhaps I can remedy that. And be sure to pay attention now. A very long time ago, there were two brothers. The god of light, the creator, and the god of darkness, the destroyer. By day, he would create plants and wildlife. But by night, the younger brother would find his land being littered and tried to destroy as much life as he could in Remnant. As the cycle continued, one day, he had an idea to guarantee its imminent destruction. Of course, all he knew was to destroy any living being, but that didn't stop him from creating an entity that could corrupt anything within it and point their path the other way: the Tenebris Comet. That's how the Grimm came to be. They were once animals with souls and auras like you, but due to its effects, they can't come back as easily as life itself could. So, they had to return either via the comet or special pools that would reconstruct them. When the Elder saw this, he had enough and struck back. But after he came to realize how futile this conflict really was, he made a proposal: that they make one last creation together. Something they would both be proud of. In other words, humanity. That's how we're given knowledge, free will, and a choice. The Grimm are given that same choice, too. That is why the Tenebris Comet acts as a beacon for the fallen Grimm."

As she spoke dark clouds went inside the comet before it produced more docile Grimm creatures as they lined up.

"Better yet, it re-educates them into more peaceful beings."

Ruby, seeing the docile Grimm, grew more and more impressed as the story made more sense to her.

"Wow. I never thought of the Grimm like that before."

"No one ever does. But, they also serve another function."

"Like what?"

Far away, Ruby heard Cinder's grunting as she was fending off the Grimm as Salem spoke.

"Training. Ever since the Fall of Beacon, she's still recovering from the Fall Maiden's powers, but... she's shown little improvement as of late."

Then, Salem walked toward Cinder as Ruby followed her and the both of them saw how tired she was becoming. Though, it's safe to say Salem was displeased.

"Enough. I thought you were the girl that wanted power. Did you lie to me?!"

Ruby could see the hurt in Cinder's eyes, feeling bad for her in spite of what she'd done, as she replied weakly.

"No..."

"Then stop holding back. If you wish to master your new powers, you must—"

Then, Ruby spoke up to Salem.

"Permission to speak, Salem?"

"You're free to speak. There's no need for pleasantries."

"What if I sparred with her?"

Cinder widened her eyes to hear this as she and Salem grew surprised.

"And why would you suggest that?"

"Well, the way I see it, we both want the same thing. We want to be stronger. Maybe us training together would fix that. Besides, I was looking for a bit of payback for what happened to Penny."

Salem began to smile at her balance of looking out for someone in need and her own need for retribution.

"Hmm. Not a bad thought. You know, you're not the first to show kindness to her."

"I can imagine. You did take her in."

"I wasn't referring to myself. Another showed her kindness once, too."

"Really? Was it her boyfriend?"

Cinder rolled her eye at this before Salem answered.

"More like her partner. Unfortunately, their ideals conflicted with each other, and he lashed out at her. You were there for that."

Ruby immediately got the sense that the lashing out happened at Beacon when it fell as she recalled a bright light and spoke to her.

"You mean... her partner was...?"

"Yes."

Ruby then looked to Cinder, seeing her scarred eye blocked by her hair and spoke to Salem again.

"And... he really did that to her? How?"

"Believe it or not, that's part of the reason you're here. You carry that same trait as well. The silver eyes. It stirs the Grimm with worry because of their power."

"But I would never hurt them."

"You have in the past."

"Not anymore. Especially not now that I know what they really are."

"I know you feel that way. But the savage Grimm won't have the same sentiment. That's where the comet comes in. Once they're defeated, they go to the comet and are rehabilitated."

The more she got out of the story, the more she began to think about the possible effects it could have on her if she used it. If she's still pure of heart when she uses it, she could be monstrous, but if she's monstrous when using it, she could be pure of heart again. The Grimm were fine examples for her indeed.

"Hmm. Is that why you had her training against the savage Grimm? Because you used the comet as a homing beacon for them?"

"They do seem to thrive on negativity, don't they?"

Just then, they heard a snarl of a Beowulf behind them before it lunged at Ruby. However, she was prepared for that as she swiftly summoned her Crescent Rose and impaled it through its head from underneath before slicing upwards to split its head apart in two. Cinder watched in surprise as Ruby started enjoying this, beginning to bear a wicked smile.

"I say bring them on. We could both use them."

As Cinder stood up in shock of Ruby's sudden change, one of the petals that came from her summoning the scythe turned silver as it flew by Dexus who watched as it landed by a dried up flower on the river.

"Be grateful that we own this village, Rose. The way to obtain it was... difficult to say the least."

Many years prior, a little boy went up to a flower in the river before a feminine voice giggled.

"Why hello, little Lie. Are we trying to catch a fish?"

"I found a flower in the water!"

"Ah, I see."

Then, Lie went up to his mother before he asked her.

"Can we take it home and plant it in the garden?"

The mother spoke to her son solemnly.

"Oh, no, sweetheart. That flower lives here."

Lie was very sad about that before his mother patted him on the shoulder before taking out a green bill.

"But I'll tell you what you can do. Take this Lien and go find something nice for your father's return. He's been hunting for quite some time. I bet the journey's been very tiring, don't you?"

The young lad took the alien from his mother's hand as he answered.

"Yes."

"Do you think you'll know what he wants?"

Then, Lie thought about what he wanted before answering.

"I think... he wants a water flower in the garden!"

That made her giggle a bit.

"Why did you have to inherit my sass?"

She then playfully pushed him before he ran over the bridge as she smiled.

In the village, Lie went to a blacksmith and asked him as he showed a Lien to him.

"What can I buy with this?"

The blacksmith smiled as he got out a small wooden sword.

"Well, something just your size."

Lie hung his head down before he went to another store selling food before he got to move up and speak to him.

"Sake, please."

As the owner took a look at the size of the young lad, he shook his head, earning a groan from the boy before Lie moved on. Then, he noticed a bakery and smiled at its confectionaries before he heard a voice.

"Hey, come back here!"

He grew very confused before becoming determined to find out what was going on. He followed the source of the laughter before he found a little girl being made fun of by three other boys.

"Where'd you get that bread? I didn't see you pay for it, thief!"

"No, look, it's all moldy!"

"I think she got it from the trash!"

"Lemme see!"

The little girl, however, saw through their ruse and tried to protect it by biting one of the boys' finger.

"Ah! She bit me!"

When they were in shock, the one that was bitten retaliated by shoving her, angering Lie before he slowly walked forward as the commotion got worse.

"Where'd she come from? She's dressed all weird!"

"I bet she's abandoned! Like a dog or something!"

"Does that mean I have rabies?"

As they began to laugh even more, Lie couldn't hold back his anger anymore before shouting at them.

"Enough!"

The boys looked at him in surprise before he spoke onward.

"If you don't leave that girl alone, I'll... I'll make you pay!"

The boys began backing up in fear as he spoke onward, his confidence replacing his fear more and more by the second.

"Yeah! So leave her alone and mind your own business!"

However, he began to feel a tall presence behind him and discovered the true reason for their fear: his father.

"Father?"

And he wasn't alone, either. He was accompanied by a figure with spiky hair and green armor.

"What is happening here?"

His companion made a guess.

"It would appear your son was sticking up for that young girl, Li. A penchant for having a bleeding heart."

Li was getting annoyed with his pessimistic outlook.

"I get the concept, Dexus."

Then, the little girl began to panic and run before Lie spoke up.

"Wait! Don't leave! It's okay. You're safe."

Then, Dexus grew angry at the boys.

"But that's more than he can say for you three."

Dexus took out his whip from his side and got it ready.

"Those who would abuse weary travelers are unforgivable and must be punished."

As Dexus tried to walk toward them, Li stopped him.

"No, Dexus. They're just children."

"Since when did the rule exclude children from the punishment, Li?"

"Since the beginning. We are not savages."

As the two argued, the boys ran off, leaving Nora and Lie alone.

"Those street rats have no right to linger here! They need discipline!"

"Discipline and harassment are two different things, Dexus."

Dexus growled at him as Lie ran over to the girl and comforted her with a hug before he asked her.

"What's your name?"

She was hesitant to answer before she finally opened up to him.

"Nora."

"My name's Lie Ren."

As he comforted her, he turned to his father and asked him.

"Can we keep her, father?"

Dexus leaned in to whisper in Li's ear.

"If I were you, I'd say no."

"Good thing I'm not you. Bring her over."

Lie grew happy with that as he took her arm and walked Nora over to his father, not noticing that she's trying to get loose. However, Li did and cleared his throat, causing her to look up to him in worry before he spoke.

"Do you wish to run with the rest of them?"

Nora tried to figure the answer out for herself, but was unable to as she only held her head down, waiting for whatever fate is waiting for her before he crouched down and spoke to her.

"No need to be afraid. Kuroyuri will always be open to you. Even if the people there don't understand you. But we will. Always."

Then, Nora felt so touched by his kind words that she hugged him as if he was her father before he returned the favor, much to Dexus' dismay as he scoffed and walked away, catching Lie's notice.

"What is wrong with him, Father?"

Li sighed reverently before he answered.

"He's... lost his way."

Back at the present, Dexus watched as Ruby stood in front of Cinder, the two of them circling each other as Mercury, Emerald, Salem, Gath, and Whitley watched as well. Cinder made the first move as she sent a blast of fire at Ruby. However, Ruby deflected it with her scythe, neutralizing it before she moved in towards Cinder with a diagonal slash, of which she was able to evade before glaring at her. However, her glare was met with a deadly smile from Ruby before she used the momentum to toss her scythe at her, the point of it piercing through her sleeve and trapping her on a nearby building before she lunged at her and gripped her neck, to Emerald's worry and Whitley and Mercury's shock while Salem, Dexus, and Gath grew intrigued as Ruby spoke to Cinder with a deadly smirk.

"I can't believe how weak you are. Looks like Salem will get rid of you after all..."

That made Cinder angry as her eye flamed up in anger before she fired a blast at Ruby, knocking her away before Cinder growled as she prepared two orange orbs on her hand before forging them into a giant orange sword, much to the opponent and the crowd's surprise. Then, as Cinder lunged at Ruby to strike, she reached her scythe before pointing it forward, the point now straight at her before an explosion of dust engulfed the area. After a moment, Ruby was found at the tipping point of her sword while Cinder was at the mercy of her scythe, the both of them waiting for another to make a move. However, Salem has seen all she needed to see.

"That's enough."

Then, Ruby and Cinder withdrew their weapons before turning to her as the former spoke up.

"How did we do?"

"You've both performed wonderfully. I'm really starting to see improvement from you, Cinder. Perhaps Ruby had just the motivation you needed."

Cinder grew surprised and proud to hear that before looking over to Ruby, who nodded to her with a smile before Salem spoke up.

"As for you, Ruby, it's impressive that you were able to hold your own against a Maiden, even if she wasn't at full strength. But if you're going to make Raven suffer, you can't just attack blindly. The cunning warrior doesn't attack the body nor does he attack the mind. You have to strike her where it hurts most. You must attack her heart."

Ruby got the sense in what she's talking about. But... the closest thing to her heart is... her sister. Of course, she hates Yang now, but still... that was a tall order on her part. And Salem spoke to Ruby again to remind her of it.

"Are we clear?"

Ruby sighed before answering.

"Yes. But how am I going to do it?"

As if to answer, Dexus walked up to her before he answered.

"I know better than anyone how to strike at the heart. It is how this village houses us today."

In Lie's home, Nora slept beside Lie as they only had one bed before they heard a Grimm roaring in the distance before An arrived in desperation.

"Lie, Nora, get up. We have to go."

"Mother?"

"What's going on?"

"Now, right now, okay? Let's go!"

In her rush, An took the children's hands before they stormed off. Just then, the front door opened up to reveal Li, panting out of breath before his wife noticed his tiredness.

"Li!"

"An, What are you doing?! We need to hurry!"

"We can go to the safehouse!"

"No. I saw the beast. We need a Huntsman. And you three need to leave."

"What?"

Then, the roar came again, scaring Lie and Nora before he spoke to her.

"Mother..."

An knelt down to him trying to calm them down.

"It's ok, darling. Everything's ok."

However, Dexus' voice spoke to her.

"You are a terrible liar, An."

With that, Dexus impaled her with his sword, earning a shocked look from Lie and Nora before Li shouted.

"No!"

Then, Dexus glared at Li before he spoke.

"You brought this desolation to Kuroyuri, Li. She got what she deserved. And so will you..."

At that moment, the building collapsed as the unknown Grimm roared.

When Lie woke up next, he saw himself and Nora being carried by Li to head outside of the village.

"Father? What... where's Mother?"

He didn't bother answering as he continued to run, a mark of blood on his left eye, concerning him even more.

"What's going on?! Where's Mother?!"

Far away, Dexus saw him running amidst the panicked people before preparing a dark purple orb and firing it at him, causing him to drop the children as he tripped.

"Father!"

Then, Dexus approached him shouting in anger.

"Stand up and fight, coward!"

His father turned toward Lie before he spoke to him.

"Lie, you have to take Nora and run."

He only crawled to his father's side before he spoke to him out of fear.

"No. Don't. Please. Get up!"

Then, Dexus shouted again.

"If you don't fight me, I'll end your children's lives!"

Li spoke to his son one more time to convince him.

"Listen to me, son. You have to be brave now. Do you understand?"

"No, please. Please, we can't!"

As Dexus walked closer, Nora started to wake before Li handed his son the dagger.

"Yes, you can!"

He then shoved him away before Nora got jolted back awake to see Dexus angrily glaring at Li as he spoke to his son.

"Sometimes the worst action to take... is no action at all. Take action, son."

Lie just watched as he stood up on his feet before his father spoke.

"Your mother and I love you."

Lie didn't want him to go away so soon before he began to plead.

"Father..."

Just then, a giant Knuckelavee Grimm stomped near them beside Dexus before he spoke.

"It's about time you've decided to show your spine."

Lie prepared to fire his arrows at the beast while he shouted to the children.

"Run!"

Then, they were forced to take off as Li shouted in vain to stop it before he was stomped on and trapped by its hoof as he looked up to Dexus.

"How could you...? I took you in... we were brothers..."

Dexus flouted his words as he spoke darkly.

"No. We were never blood. You should've killed me when you had the chance."

Then, Dexus fired a dark purple blast at Li, earning his final scream of agony as the children ran.

"I hit that coward where it hurt him, and in the end I took his life and his village, securing this desolate place as our main haven."

Ruby would've been frightened to hear this tale, but seeing how it turned out for the Grimm and the hybrids, she felt uplifted by it.

"Wow. I never thought... that I'd ever be happy to hear that. I would've been scared out of my mind, but... I'm not."

Salem spoke next to Ruby as she put her hand on her cheek.

"That's because you are where you are meant to be, my rose. You're finally home."

Far away at the mountains, Ren and Nora found a cave up ahead before he spoke.

"We never get the easy path, do we?"

"Easy's no fun anyway."

Then, she noticed Ren's worries look before she spoke to him.

"You okay?"

He only looked back to her and nodded in response.

"And you?"

"I've got you here, don't I? Come on. There's more than one way up a mountain."

And she couldn't be more right as she found a strange detail about a cave before Ren heard thunder from far away and Nora pointed out said detail to Ren.

"Hey! There's wind blowing out of this cave! Think it might lead to the peak?"

"I suppose there's only one way to find—"

Suddenly, a flag flew into Ren's face before Nora giggled, much to his slight annoyance.

"Yes, yes. Very funny."

Then, he took a closer look at the flag that hit him before Nora spoke to him.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"This is the symbol for Shion village."

"Shion? But that's... that's the village where we found the Huntsman. It's weeks away from here!"

Then, a familiar voice spoke to her.

"Perhaps to you."

Then, they turned to see Abraham and two of the prisoners that were infected before beside him, except their eyes and skin color had now returned to a decent color.

"But for us, it takes nary a day's journey from there to here."

Ren and Nora recognized him from Oniyuri and were, believe it or not, surprised to see him.

"Abraham?!"

"But I thought you were staying behind."

"That was the plan. I'll explain on the way. Come."

As they followed him, Abraham gave the news of what had happened as they went deeper.

"Since we last met, I've managed to awaken these two to their senses. Since then, we've been spying on Salem and her spies for intel. In the process, we heard the news of your friend's capture from Salem's beast. He called himself Gath."

Nora grew confused at the name.

"Gath?"

"The first Grimm to evolve since it landed here. We've been trying to rescue as many prisoners as we could, but we were only able to save a handful from Salem's spell."

When they got in the cave, they noticed a whole space crowded with purified Grimm hybrids as they looked on in amazement. The hybrids were scanning the environment, however, rather than taking shelter, causing Abraham to notice their confusion.

"What are they doing?"

"They're just scouting the area to determine what occurred here. Other than the black sludge left over, all we found was this arrow, countless weapons laid to rest, and those hoofprints."

He then noticed a few trees shaking before Ren grew concerned.

"Judging from its contents, and the trees trembling, they are most recent."

"No..."

Noticing his fear, Nora held his hand before she spoke to Abraham.

"So, what exactly is your plan?"

"As you know, we've been spying on Salem for intel. At this very moment, we're waiting for the right time to strike."

Just then, a sentry came in to speak to him.

"General! General!"

Ren and Nora grew surprised about his title.

"General?"

"For real?"

"Yes, soldier. What is it?"

"We have some bad news."

He presented him a scroll, depicting how Ruby has now begun to act on Salem's behalf as he grew aghast at this.

"No... It can't be!"

Ren grew concerned at what news he'd received.

"What's going on?"

"Your friend... is acting on Salem's side. She's one of them now."

That made Ren and Nora widen their eyes in fear before the Nuckelavee roared in the background.