Chapter 14:

3 days past since Ruby's infection

Sebastian Ferrum walked in the shade of the trees. In the middle of the forest path stretched open ground. Not that anyone was around to see him at the moment; Sebastian just didn't like moving away from the safety of the shadows, he preferred to stay hidden. He stopped, another Grim was coming toward him.

The approaching Grim was a particularly rabid looking Boarbatusk. Sebastian brought out his weapon, which resembled a crossbow, and blew the Boarbatusk's head clean off with an explosive bolt. Sebastian then stepped over the body and kept moving. A line of bodies stretched for miles behind him. Apparently Roman didn't want Sebastian getting anywhere near him. This became more evident as time passed, the creatures looked really strange, seemingly thrown together in a rush. Also the Grims knew exactly where to find Sebastian.

Clearly Roman wanted to steer him away from the ruins, however Sebastian wasn't the type of person to quit on a paying client. Sebastian was after all a mercenary. And when you're a mercenary you never quit an assignment, as long as you get paid the right amount.

Sebastian hadn't faced a super Grim yet. That fact soon became irrelevant. Sebastian saw, at least from this distance, a 15 feet tall Beowulf. The massive and agile monster was clearly a super Grim. Seeing its target the Beowulf charged forward.

The light of day wasn't going to last much longer; Sebastian didn't have time to avoid this creature. Dodging to the middle of the path, Sebastian brought out his weapon, this time transforming it into a powerful longbow. Pulling the string back the mercenary shot an arrow into the Beowulf's thigh. The Beowulf howled, clearly not expecting the sudden pain that came with the arrowhead piercing its leg. Snarling, the Beowulf lunged swiping at the mercenary. Sebastian dodged to the side getting off another shot; this time it hit the Beowulf's wrist, disabling the creature's hand. Once nightfall came all of the Beowulf's injuries would heal. Sebastian needed to inflict as much damage before then. Aiming higher than before, he shot and lodged another arrow in the crook of the Beowulf's arm. Now furious with rage the Grim charged forward, trying to pick up Sebastian, who simply sidestepped the Grim's charges. Sebastian shot more and more arrows into the creature as he sidestepped the furious attacks.

Unfortunately for the mercenary nightfall came. Sebastian Ferrum, in his last moments got to witness a super Grim get infected with the Darkness Plague. The process was frightening to behold.

A great mist of darkness seemed to rise from the forest floor; all of it was converging on the Beowulf. The particles of the Darkness Plague entered into the body of the Beowulf, giving it new and renewed life. With the added vitality, the Beowulf then began to extract the arrows from his body, and the wounds inflicted by them healing of their own accord. Sebastian realized with horror that he himself was now in grave danger. Taking the necessary action he placed his satchel containing the drug LHD*13, which would be used to remove the pain from the experience of being infected, behind him so it wouldn't be harmed when the creature attacked. The Beowulf, now recovered, swooped upon the mercenary and killed him. The Beowulf then walked off towards the cliffs of MaArr, the ancient Faunus king who once ruled the land. The pack of vitally important drugs was clutched of the Beowulf's hand.

Team RWBY's encampment

"Do you feel any different?" Weiss asked Ruby. They were both standing, along with Yang and Blake in what used to be their campsite. They had taken it down in preparation for the coming battle with the super Grims.

"I feel like I have a lot more aura than I'm supposed to. The aura inside me seems dark yet abundant." Ruby replied, it was now nighttime.

"You shouldn't worry too much. I once read somewhere, 'the power inside man doesn't make them good or evil, how they choose to use it decides their morals.' So just try and use this new aura for good not evil, and you should be fine." Blake said.

Ruby nodded understanding her teammates advice, sighing Ruby said, "The only thing that I could think for using this would be to use it to coat my bullets with aura."

Team RWBY then agreed to go hunting. Weiss brought the last three vials of LHD*13 along just in case. They walked along the same path they used to get to the clearing, the one that lead back to the cliff. As they walked the remaining clouds in the night sky vanished. The half mood shone bright, providing just enough light to illuminate the path ahead. Coming upon the cliffs, the teammates spotted a Grim weaving through the trees a distance off. This particular Grim was a Beowulf. Ruby got into a snipers position at the edge of the cliff. Taking out a rarely used scope, Ruby attached it to her rifle. Zooming in on the creature Ruby could see that it was indeed a Beowulf. Charging up her first shot with tainted aura, Ruby sighted the creature's torso and fired.

The resulting blast propelled a dark streak of energy that hit the Beowulf in the side. Although the shot being fired was silent, the creature still saw it coming and twisted to avoid getting hit in the heart. It was however not fast enough to avoid it completely, a certain area of fur was burned off, and the skin was raw. The Beowulf screamed and rushed towards the 100-foot high cliffs. Ruby suspected that she was the only one who heard anything. The night seemed to afford her some Faunus like senses, only they were greatly enhanced and amplified. The Beowulf now a short distance away from the cliffs Jumped. Ruby shot an aura bullet into the creature's side. Despite the painful agony the Beowulf must be in, it still managed to land on the cliff face, digging its claws in for solid purchase.

Ruby, taking aim, shot two more aura bullets at the Beowulf. They both went into the left eye, which upon impact the eyelid merely covered up the eye. That was until Ruby, coating the next bullet with her darker aura, fired another shot into the Beowulf's face right between the eyes. The shot, more penetrating and explosive, sank half an inch into the hide and tissue of the Beowulf. An explosion detonated. After the smoke dissipated Ruby could see the Beowulf was now blind, yet it was still climbing the cliff. Standing up she aimed down the cliff. Ruby fired several shots; one caught the creature about half way up the cliff. The resulting impact should have taken off the creature's arm.

And yet the Beowulf kept advancing, realizing what she had to do Ruby called to her teammates to come find her afterwards. Ruby taking a few brave steps walked forward and fell off the cliff hurling herself towards the Beowulf. With one final leap the Grim launched himself toward Ruby. A giant hand caught Ruby enclosing her in a tight grip. After several agonizing seconds, in which time Ruby thought about all that was left undone and unsaid in her life, then after a painful squeezing pressure her world abruptly faded to black.

The Beowulf now that it accomplished its mission, fled. It had been sent with specific instructions; Find the 48 vials of LHD*13 and the girl Ruby. Bring them both back to where I am hiding. The one who had sent the creature was Roman Torchwick. Who had planned and perfectly executed a scheme that would get Ruby to him and thanks to the vials he would be able to genetically engineer a more serious and deadly Darkness Plague.

Team RWBY stared down the cliffs into the forest, plans of rescue running through their heads. They needed to get their leader back. Apparently when Ruby fought Grims during the night she couldn't kill them, that or this one just couldn't be defeated at all. Blake, Yang, and Weiss were all in agreement to go after Ruby and save her, no matter what the cost may be.

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Thank you for reading Chapter 14. Fell free to leave your honest reviews, telling me what I should/shouldn't change about the story.