So that didn't take as long as last update! Yay!
Just a heads-up, this doesn't immediately take place after last chapter. This was originally going to be a brief explanation as to who Onyx is and what happened to him, before coming right back to Ozpin explaining it to Ruby, Yang, and Qrow. But as it sometimes goes with me, things run a bit too long. So this became it's own chapter, and next one will be Oz explaining things!
Now onto the chapter! Oh! and something at the bottom A/n!
Chapter 29: Onyx
*Schink*
A giant obsidian sword hacked into the trunk of a tree, somewhere east of the city of Vale. The gleaming blade went straight through, cleaving the lumber in twain, as a gravelly voice called out a warning.
"Timber!"
The tree sank to the earth with a clatter at the giant man's feet as others stumbled back, narrowly avoiding getting crushed by the fully grown tree now fallen.
"That should do it for a while." The black haired man said, towering over the rest, as he wiped his brow with his forearm, resting his blade over his shoulder while the others got to work hacking away at the firewood to be used for the next few nights.
The nearing 50 year old man wore a black leather sleeveless vest, covered by silver half-plate, which covered his chest, left shoulder, left bicep, and the left side of his neck to end in a half collar, favoring his sword arm.
"Onyx! Le-…Jasmine! Slow down!" A woman, wearing a thin white dress with black highlights along the arms and skirt line, called out to him before interrupting herself with a laugh as she rushed after a smaller girl, around six years old, running full tilt after the big swordsman named Onyx.
"Diamond?! It's not safe away from camp! What is it?" Onyx warned, worried for the two girls as he kneeled down to pick up the smaller one named Jasmine.
"Leo told mommy to come get you, and I came along!" The little girl with bleach blonde hair, identical to the older woman, chirped gleefully as she hugged her arms around the man's neck, giggling as his scruffy beard tickled her cheek, not perturbed in the slightest at how his sweat soaked through his clothes getting on her as well.
"Leo? What happened…? Grimm attack?!" Onyx asked his love as his left hand clenched the hilt of his sword and the right gripped his daughter protectively to his chest, jumping to the worst conclusion.
"No, no! He just asked me to come get you to see what to do about a group wanting to join us! Honestly dear, you're going to give yourself a heart attack with how jumpy you are!" Diamond hastily corrected before a scowl grew on her face, nagging him for his paranoid mannerisms.
"You can never drop your guard out here, Diamond. You know that." Onyx reminded, walking closer to the woman who crossed her arms as a sign that she wasn't happy with the answer.
He slid Obsidian Abyss into the scabbard on his back as he smiled down at the smaller woman, before suddenly picking her up to join in the hug with his daughter, hoping to quell her worries for his health.
"O-Onyx!?" Diamond shrieked in surprise as her feet left the ground.
"I don't seem so unhealthy now, I suppose?" The black haired man sarcastically questioned with a bellowing laugh before Diamond gave him a damning glare, not amused, as she was now covered in sweat from his recent manual labor too.
Onyx's eyes widened at the daggers in her pale blue orbs and immediately set her down, a gentle sorry uttered from his lips as he felt like he might now be stuck in the metaphorical dog house.
Diamond's eyes dulled from their striking glare to a fretting gaze as she heard his apology. She then took Jasmine from his arms and set her down gently, offering a small smile to the girl. "Jasmine, can you go on ahead? We'll be right behind you, little flower." The blonde woman gave the child a nudge on the back, leading the little girl back to the encampment only a short distance away.
Jasmine glanced at the both of them with a blank, almost quizzical expression, before giving a small nod, running off towards where they made their temporary home as nomads.
Once their child was well out of hearing distance, Diamond turned back around to her love, the same troubled expression across her face from before. "You know what I meant…I have enough to worry about with you being the only huntsman protecting all of us. Do you have any idea how stressful it is to not know if you're alright every time you leave for something…? I can't help but worry over you! We'd be so lost without you…I'd be lost without you…" She buried her face in his masculine chest, hugging him tightly to assure herself that he would always be there, the thought of his sweat no longer there.
"My Diamond…" Onyx muttered as he wrapped his arms protectively around her, pulling her closer. "No Grimm could ever keep me from you two… That's a promise…" He sealed it with a kiss to the top of her long blonde locks, resting his chin atop her head as they relished each other's embrace.
"I know. I believe you…I just wish you could take the time to relax once in a complete moon. No one works as hard as you do…" Diamond muttered, a small bit of heat at no one in particular, into his leather vest before popping back to send him a serene smile, complete faith in his words.
"Try telling Leo that…" Onyx said with humor in his voice, trying to cheer her up. "That does sound nice, though…" He sent her a loving smile back, tucking a few strands of wind tossed blonde back behind her ear before delivering a gentle kiss to her lips.
The family of three made it back to camp together, only minutes after their conversation, to find a familiar face with two new ones enjoying idle chatter.
"Onyx! 'Bout time! What took ya?!" A man of average height and build, with shoulder length mixed red and light brown hair, called out to the family with a smirk behind his similarly colored full beard and goatee.
"I'll see you back at our tent." Onyx said to Diamond, kissing both her and his daughter before making his way over to see what the man wanted.
"Doing actual work around here takes time, Leo!" Onyx jabbed at the man as he arrived to size up the two, previously discussed, unfamiliar faces. From what he could tell in the way they held themselves, they both seemed pretty used to combat, possibly from a fair amount of time ruffing it outside a kingdom like the group he was with did. Although, the group he was with had no official training or well-made weapons like he hoped these two new people had.
"Bah! Whatever! While you're playing lumberjack out there, I'm keeping things moving around here!" The man named Leo spat playfully as he pointed to the ground below them.
"If by, moving, you mean we have to move locations every week cause someone can't organize a scouting perimeter correctly, then yes, you keep things moving." Onyx traded back, with a smirk of his own, as Leo turned red in the face, embarrassed as his latest blunder was brought up in front of the new man and woman.
"Oh, are you guys having trouble finding a safe place? We may be able to help." The dark skinned girl of the two foreign people put forth, wanting to prove their worth to the group.
Leo's eyes lit up after the girl talked, as if remembering their presence after being distracted by the banter with his friend. "That's right! Onyx, Red and Lazulite happened upon these two while out hunting earlier. They're apparently huntsmen from Mistral. They say they want to join us!" The excitement was palpable in Leo's voice as he explained the reasoning behind wanting Onyx to come meet him in the first place.
"Mistral, huh? How long have you been full-fledged huntsmen?" Onyx asked with a raised brow, scanning them up and down as he determined them to be in their very early 20's, if even that. He offered his hand to shake and the woman took it instantly with a delicate, but not limp, hand. The man next to her was more reluctant, as he kept his arms crossed before getting a jab to the ribs by the green haired girl next to him. Seeing her glare directed at him, the young man relented and accepted the handshake before his partner answered Onyx's question next.
"Yeah, about that…We're not actually fully huntsmen…We never completed out training. I couldn't handle living in that place for one more second, and he decided to tag along like a lost puppy." The girl nodded in her friend's direction with a smirk as he sent her a glare, but said nothing.
She was apparently the speaker of the two, as the young man had yet to utter a word as he stood impatiently next to his partner, biting his tongue after the insult.
"I see…So what was that about being able to help?" Onyx questioned further as his earlier skepticism was put to rest since their young age matched the title of huntsmen-in-training. At least for now, anyways…
Onyx's green eyes scanned into their red during the conversation. He didn't give off that he was cautious of their color's implications, as red eyes weren't all that uncommon within Remnant, but he was never one to give a stranger the benefit of the doubt out here. Especially if the strangers could be members of the undead…
"It just sounded like your group could use a nice, vacant place to make camp. My friend and I just came across such a place, actually. An abandoned city of rubble. When we passed by it, there was no sign of any Grimm within the area and the place is up against a mountain, so you don't have to worry about being ambushed from that side. We would be happy to show you the way… As long as we get to stay as well, of course..." The girl answered with a very practiced smile, one that Onyx neglected to pick up on as the area in question sounded familiar.
"This place wouldn't happen to be further east…would it?" The black haired man asked slowly, remembering the catastrophe he saw take place within the city on his mind when he was part of the response force sent to aid against its fall. The Mt. Glenn expansion was the darkest memory of Onyx's career as a huntsman, and it stuck with him even now.
"It is…I take it you know the place?" The girl asked a question she already knew the answer to by the tone of his voice. There was a hint of sympathy in her words and it drew out the answer from the broad shouldered man.
"Mt. Glenn…You say it's completely empty, Ms. …?" Onyx drew out, with a hand beckoning for her to finally introduce herself.
"Oh! Right! It's Emerald. And this is my partner from Haven Academy, Mercury. You'll have to excuse him. The only thing worse than his attitude is his mouth." The green haired girl introduced the two of them, smirking as Mercury almost snapped, but let out an angered huff instead, turning away from her.
"And yes, it was empty a few days ago at least. Who knows now, though? It could already be reclaimed…" The secret ghoul, Emerald, continued, wanting them to chomp at the bit.
"We haven't found a decent place to make camp in months! This even sounds like it could be permanent, Onyx!" Leo exclaimed, thinking it was too good to be true. Not only did they find a couple of new huntsmen to help protect the group, but also a new place to make camp, void of all threats.
"Could be…" Onyx muttered to himself, finding something off about this, unaware, as Emerald let out a small smile at seeing them contemplate her offer. He then turned to the secret ghouls, a smile on his own face, devoid of any mistrust or skepticism. "…We'll have to think it over a bit. For now though, you're welcome to stay with us for the time being…Right Leo?" He turned to the red and brown haired man beside him, a grin directed at his friend, already aware of what Leo thought on this.
"Y-Yes! Of course!" Leo stumbled, surprised that Onyx agreed to let them stay so easily. The retired huntsman never trusted anyone new, but he apparently still had trust in other huntsmen. At least, the mock leader, Leo, was lead to believe so.
"Thank you! We'll do our fair share. I'll make sure of it!" Emerald then glanced over at Mercury with a smirk. Meeting her gaze, he sent a quick nod, but nothing more as he turned away, still upset with her for the mockery. She rolled her eyes as she carried on after him, getting ready to hear a mouthful from the ghoulish assassin once they made it out of ear shot of the others.
As Emerald and Mercury left the two friends by themselves, Onyx pulled Leo into the tent, ready to talk about what he really thought about the new huntsman and huntress.
"Look, Leo. I know you're set on these two, but I just want you to be cautious around them, Ok? Something's not right…" Onyx whispered conspiratorially, not able to let the ominous color of the foreign pair's eyes go. He knew that it didn't mean that they were definitely ghouls, but he had a disturbing gut feeling, and that was enough for the veteran huntsman.
Leo let out a long groan and slid his hand down his face dramatically, having realized what this was about. He should have known that it wasn't going to be that easy with Onyx...
"Of course! Nothing's ever right with you! Why can't you ever just accept good things when they finally appear, huh?" The smaller man shook his head at his friend's ridiculousness, not understanding how he could live his life doubting everything. "Don't trust them all you want, Onyx, I don't care. Just don't run them off! We need them, alright?" Leo pointed to him with a stern gaze, wanting to make his request clear.
"I was never planning on it. How can I watch them when they're nowhere near me?" Onyx returned with a wry smile on the corner of his mouth, before settling on a more somber expression. "I gave you my warning though, Leo. Be careful around them."
"Yeah, yeah…" Leo brushed off the warning, returning to his duties for the day as Onyx took his leave having finished giving his peace.
It had only been three days since the two huntsmen from Mistral joined the large group of nomads, and already Leo had decided to take them upon their offer to be led to Mt. Glenn in search of a new place to make residence. Onyx had tried again to talk some sense into Leo, but he was dead set on making the journey to this promised paradise.
During the trip, Onyx had spent as much time watching the mysterious pair as possible like he promised. As they journeyed closer, the group could now just make out the mountain range that kept the wasteland known as Mt. Glenn at its base beyond the forests.
The two red eyed huntsmen had yet to draw any further suspicion from the giant man, only occasional bickering between them that seemed to occur too commonly for partners as they claimed they were. They wouldn't be the first pair of partners to get into frequent fights, though…
'I wonder how those kids are doing these days…' Onyx thought, reminiscing from his time teaching at Beacon Academy so long ago.
His thoughts of the past were stopped as Diamond gave a squeeze of his hand to gain his attention.
"Dear, it appears we stopped for the rest of the day…" Her blue orbs pierced into his green as she sensed his thoughts drifting into the nether more than usual lately. "…What's wrong?"
He smiled to her softly as he noticed her worrying over him again. "…Nothing's wrong. Just…Reminiscing…" He ran his hand down their horses mane beside him as they stopped, looking up to a cheery Jasmine riding on top of the animal, his smile growing wider as he witnessed his daughter bouncing in the saddle. Onyx's gaze then transferred over to Emerald and Mercury across the camp talking to Leo by a campfire in the process of being set up.
"I'll…Be right back to help set up camp. I need to see Leo for a moment…" Onyx informed Diamond, not taking his eyes off of the two foreigners.
"What about, Onyx?" Diamond asked as he already started walking towards his destination.
"It will just take a second. No need to be worried…" He muttered, continuing toward the three's conversation without pause.
"-Camp for the night to get their midday tomorrow-Oh! Hey, Onyx. What brought you over?" Onyx caught some of their conversation before he halted Emerald discussing with Leo, who noticed the tall man approaching them.
"Just wondering why we stopped for the day. We still have some daylight left, why not use it to get their earlier tomorrow?" Onyx eyed them all independently. Mercury seemed as bored as usual, his arms crossed as he kicked a rock into the fire pit. Onyx didn't think he had ever seen the young man expressing anything other than boredom, disdain, or anxiousness. The latter getting more frequent as they traveled together for some reason. Emerald held the same subtle, happy, mood she always did, only dropping it when addressing her partner's unpleasant attitude towards others.
Leo however, was glaring at the tall, dark haired, man, having enough of his issues with every decision he made recently. And it wasn't even his idea fully. Emerald suggested they stay put here for the day. It would help having the forests as cover for their camp before the tree line ended and all that was left was plains to cross to Mt. Glenn, just asking for a potential Nevermore flock to carry them off to be devoured.
"What now, Onyx? Come to criticize more of my decisions?" Leo bit harshly, tired of Onyx thinking he knew what was best for everyone more so than he did.
Sighing away his first instinct to bite back at the irritable fool, Onyx shook off the aggression from his friend. "No. I simply want to know why we stopped and to know if I can help. Is someone hurt?"
"Everyone is fine. Emerald just thought it would be best to stay within the cover of the forest instead of out in the clearing where there is none. Now if your curiosity is sated, then can we please get back to making plans for the new camp within Mt. Glenn?" Leo impatiently asked, wanting no more distractions.
Onyx locked eyes with Merc and Em one last time before leaving them be. "Fine. Fine. Enjoy your meeting…" He shrugged with his hands up level with his shoulders, showing his disinterest as he turned to leave. The plan seemed fine to him anyways. As long as they had watchmen around the perimeter of the camp during the night to alert an attack of Grimm, they would be fine. The monsters weren't generally very sneaky, with the exception of a few classes, but those beasts shouldn't be found on Sanus. He hated to admit it, but maybe his original intuition was wrong about the two half-baked huntsmen that wandered upon their group, maybe they could help...
Onyx woke in his tent with a start, having heard a woman scream in horror before being immediately silenced with a sickening slice followed by a thud of something heavy hitting the forest floor. He reached over to the other side of his bed pelt, fearing the worst, until he clenched soft flesh that jerked upwards from his touch, a pained yelp issuing from his love beside him.
"The hell, Onyx!? That h-mmmhmm…?!" Diamond started to berate him for being rough, but soon all that came from her was muffled mumbles as he covered her mouth and put a finger up to his own mouth, signaling for her to be quiet.
He looked around the dark tent for his daughter and saw her sleeping peacefully in her sleeping bag a few feet away. Nervousness was expelled from his body as he let out a breath, knowing his family was still safe with him, before hearing another struggle outside the tent, and then several shouts as more and more nomads were alerted to something foreboding happening just outside.
"Get Jasmine up and hide until I come back. I'll see what's happening, just stay as quiet as possible." Onyx whispered to his love, getting up to retrieve his blade after receiving a quick nod from her.
He crouched down and made his way to the opening flap of his family's tent, formulating plans for each possibility of what could be going wrong. 'That was definitely a blade I heard, no way is this Grimm…Bandits?'
It had to be. A group that was used to ambushing could very well slip through their guard. If their numbers were low enough, he could maybe fight them off, but if not…
As he peaked outside, he saw another nomad in his group almost make it to the darkness of the tree line, before getting a throwing dagger to the back of her neck, falling limp into the dirt. His fist grasped tighter on the leather opening of his temporary home, enraged by his own uselessness to save a member of his charge. He would not blindly charge his enemy, though. Onyx had seen enough combat in his lifetime to know what that got you. First, he had to know what he was dealing with.
The assailant was wearing all black except a white and red Grimm mask. Maybe a tribal identification of their group? He had never seen it before, but as he scanned around, they all were wearing the same masks and stealthy clothing, so they must be well organized.
'These are no run-of-the-mill bandits…' Onyx thought as he learned that he most likely couldn't fight them all off, not without risking his family's safety. With this in mind, the man glanced to the side of his tent, eyeing his horse still tied to the stake keeping it nearby. He carefully ducked back into his tent, an idea having formed in his mind.
"Diamond...!" Onyx whisper yelled, trying to be heard over the chaos of shrieks and panic, but not picked up by the men and women outside causing all of this.
"Onyx, what's happening!?" Diamond answered his call with a frightened question, holding a groggy Jasmine in her arms tightly.
"Our camp is under attack." His voice was grim, and dripping with dread as he told his love, who was holding his child, that they were in danger.
She knew the answer already, by the horrid squeals of people trying to escape only to be cut down outside, but hearing it confirmed by her lover and seeing the worry, the anguish, on his face made her tremble with Jasmine tucked tightly in her arms.
"The horse is still right outside the tent, though. If you're fast enough, you should be able to get out of here before being spotted. You will be just fine…" Onyx's voice cut through her mind filled with panic, a plan having already been thought of. It relieved her, knowing there was a way out of this hell they were suddenly thrust into, but something worried her even more after hearing his decision.
"Y-You sound like you're not coming with us…Onyx!?" Diamond grasped for her love with her voice, begging him to answer and that he would be coming with them.
"They would notice all three of us getting on the horse before we could get away. And even if they didn't, the horse would be too slow with all of us to get out before someone noticed…I'll draw their attention away and then we'll meet up in that clearing we found yesterday. I will be there, Diamond." Onyx stroked her cheek as he brought them both into his broad chest.
"I-If you can't win…Don't fight, Onyx. Come back to us, please." She sobbed into his chest, clenching at his back, not ready for him to go. She didn't think she would ever be ready for him to leave right now, but after receiving one last reassuring squeeze in his arms, Onyx pried himself away from her. He had to make sure his family would be safe.
"I will. Now wait until I have their attention…" Onyx explained as he rose up and headed back to the tent flap to peak out, eyeing the intruders that were visible within his line of sight.
There were 6 that he could see so far, but most likely more as their camp covered quite a large area. Almost 80 members presided within his group, including his family, so for this ambush party to feel confident enough to attack them, there would be many more around, he was sure.
As he sized each of the attackers up, planning how he was going to get their attention, his formulations were halted as one of them hauled a man out of a separate tent. The masked man put a blade to his throat and barked out an order towards the tent as if already knowing someone else was inside. That was when Onyx noticed the Lynx ears atop the threatening man's head. He must have heard someone inside the tent with his faunus senses, and unless Onyx was wrong, the rest of the masked intruders also had varying faunus qualities.
'A faunus only bandit tribe?' He had no time to ponder this further as a woman hesitantly came out of the tent, causing the restrained man to start struggling against the hold, fearing for her safety. His struggling was stunted as the Lynx faunus stabbed him in the shoulder with the knife for trying to get away. A pained cry issued forth from the helpless man, and soon, the frightened woman, as she shrieked for the faunus to stop hurting him.
"Then fall in line, and no more har-…" The sound of a blade cutting through flesh and sinew halted the Lynx faunus' ultimatum as Onyx had charged him quietly, putting an end to this. His body fell limp at Onyx's feet just as the woman caught the injured man newly released, crying over his arm.
"Go! Run! Before more show up and corner us!" Onyx shouted at the couple, getting ready for a fight as he purposely elevated his voice to ensure all in the area would be drawn to him.
He glanced over at his tent and saw that Diamond had received his signal like he hoped, quickly untying the horse and placing Jasmine on first before herself. She barked an order to the steed and the mother and child quickly bolted off towards the forest, tears and determination in her eyes as she didn't dare look back at Onyx as she knew she wouldn't be able to stop herself from turning around completely to go back for him.
Onyx felt ten times better now that he knew his family had made it out safe and sound. Now all that was left was to try and save as many of the others as he could before making it out himself.
Giving a quick nod to Onyx, the huntsman that saved them, the frightened woman helped the bleeding man to his feet, letting him lean on her as they rushed off towards the closest tree line. "Come on!" She yelled to the grimacing man who was having trouble just standing, as they started moving, only for two shots to ring out and both silvery orbs to tag each of them in the back. The couple didn't even have time to release a cry of pain as they immediately fell to the ground, dead. Gaping holes in their chests from the rounds that ripped right through their aura-less bodies.
"No!" Onyx called out in futility, watching them drop as their lifeblood splattered across the cold ground.
"Aww, so close, too! What a shame…" A mocking voice rang out from just around the corner of a tent, before someone stepped out, making their presence, and the origin of the mockery, known.
"Mercury!? Why?!" Onyx shouted at the smirking young man, demanding an answer as he clenched Obsidian Abyss in his left at his side, while the other created a tight fist, shaking with fury.
"Orders are orders…" The smug, silver haired man, shrugged as he explained, acting as if he was bored of the whole ordeal. "…Emerald wanted me to make sure you didn't cause too much trouble while she handled your boss. But there's not going to be any trouble, right Onyx? Oh, I hope you say yes…" Mercury smirked as he got into a loose fighting stance, sensing the older man's rage from across the way.
"Damn right, there's going to be trouble!" Onyx roared after giving an enraged growl, gritting his teeth, even tasting blood in his mouth as he bit down on the inside of his cheek.
His body was moving on its own before he even gave it the command, charging towards Mercury. It didn't matter anymore if he was right about something being off about him and Emerald. It didn't matter if they were ghouls like he thought they could be. Mercury was a murderer of the innocent. He saw it with his own eyes, and he even had the gall to smile afterwards! It was unforgivable. He could meet up with his family later. After he ground this monster's bones into dust with his great-sword.
"Rrrrrr-aagh!" As Onyx made it to the ghoul assassin, he slammed his sword down where he once was, just missing the agile undead who leapt to the side. A cloud of rock and dust kicked up from the impact, obscuring the veteran huntsman's vision as he was consumed by the back-blast.
A silvery orb comes at the black haired swordsman through the dust and he just manages to bring up Obsidian in time to deflect it, the round glancing off and soaring upwards into nothing.
"Mercury! You'll pay for what you've done!" Onyx bellowed at the assassin as he looked around himself, planning for the ghoul's next move.
He leapt backwards, out of the dust cloud, as he figured his odds would be better if he could actually see his opponent. Just as he landed though, Mercury came done on him with a jumping axe kick.
Mercury figured that Onyx was way past his prime as a huntsman, and while that may have been true, that didn't mean he was weak and rusty. With lightning speed, Onyx raised his sword up and put his off hand against the flat of the blade, bracing himself against the might of the ghoul's kick as he saw him coming from the corner of his eye.
As the boot came down on his blade, Onyx sank into the ground by a foot and a half. It looked like an earthquake had manifested beneath himself and Mercury, the very force of such an attack shaking the ground as a crater scarred the landscape around them.
The ghoulish assassin back flipped off of his blade, sending down two more shots, trying to shake up the old huntsman. It didn't work as Onyx batted one away and dodged the other, charging forth with another battle cry.
As the battle raged on, Onyx realized that he couldn't touch Mercury. He was too quick for such a large weapon, and eventually he was going to tire out much sooner than the ghoul who had back-up, no doubt, on its way.
"Ah, man! I can't tell you how good it feels to finally be able to let loose! I've been itching for a good fight ever since we were put on this stupid mission!" Mercury rolled his arms one after the other as he grinned at the veteran huntsman, actually grateful for the fight he has been aching for, for days.
Paying him no mind, Onyx took another swing at the assassin, just barely missing as Mercury did a backwards summersault to avoid it.
'If I could just get a hold of him once…' Onyx thought irritably as Mercury ran up his sunken blade, flipping over the black haired man to rain down fire from above before landing perfectly behind him, continuing the barrage.
A few of the assassin's shots had made it through at this point, but with Onyx's experience with his own aura reserves, he knew he was in no immediate danger. That being said, he was being chipped away, little-by-little, and soon enough this fight would come to an end much in the same way that that couple's lives had come to an end previously. He had to come up with something fast before he had no way out of this massacre.
"You dead yet, old man?" Mercury taunted with his signature smirk as he noticed that Onyx was starting to breathe a little hard.
'Such a cocky prick…' Onyx thought bitterly, before the same thought lead to an idea.
"…Who are you calling old!?" The retired huntsman roared out after a short pause to come up with a strategy, seemingly outraged at the disrespect. He charged Mercury with his sword raised to his left, leaving himself completely open to a frontal attack.
Mercury's smirk grew larger as Onyx charged, seeing the opening. He raised his leg to take a shot at Onyx's chest, and as soon as the shot was triggered, Onyx slid to the ground, rolling under the deadly silver orb.
Coming to a knee directly in front of an exposed and overextended Mercury, Onyx swung his great-sword horizontally, cleaving through the young man's planted leg. At least, that's what the old huntsman had planned, before Mercury flickered out of existence just as the sword passed through him…
*BANG*
"Aaaaaargh!" Onyx screamed out in pain and confusion as the back of his forward knee was shot out from behind. It smashed through his remaining aura like dry wall, taking out his remaining support as he collapsed to his hands and what remained of his knees, his left hand still clasping Obsidian Abyss like a pain-relieving vice.
"I had it, Em. Why do you have to spoil my fun like that?" Mercury called out to someone Onyx couldn't see from his perspective, but the voice that followed, answered the older man's unasked question.
"Bull shit! He would have chopped your damn leg off had I not warned you it was coming!" Emerald chastised as she walked over to her partner, a glare directed at him for being so clueless and forcing her to step in with her semblance.
"I said, I had it! What about your end? How was Leo?" Mercury asked as he walked around Onyx, still on the ground, paying him no mind as he made his way over to Emerald.
"Leo was a piece of cake. The moron didn't even have a weapon in his tent…" Emerald explained with a look of boredom on her face that said this wasn't the first life she had taken.
"Well, now what? Everyone's about rounded up, right?" Mercury asked as he glanced around at a few White Fang dragging the beaten and bound to a central location.
"Just about…'Cept him and a few that made it out…" Emerald explained, as she glance around Mercury, and at Onyx, gesturing to him as she said 'him'.
"Eh, we didn't need all of 'em anyways…" Mercury shrugged, not wanting to go after a few stragglers. That could take hours to find them…
As the two were discussing their plans, Onyx was losing a lot of blood from the hole in his left leg. He wouldn't make it much longer, even if by some miracle they decided to leave him here.
'I'm sorry, Diamond…Jasmine...Please be Ok…' Onyx prayed as he let go of his sword and reached into his pocket to pull out his scroll. He quickly flicked it on and typed in his password required to activate the beacon that all scrolls are given to send out a distress signal.
'Well, Ozpin…I'm glad you made me keep this thing…Please find them, old friend…' He activated it and the device sent out an audible ping as the beacon was sent to its one directed location. The academy's headmaster of which this scroll was assigned.
"True. So what do you want to do with him? He can't exactly resi-…" Emerald was cut off as she heard the small ping. They both turned to Onyx as he was lying in a small pool of his own blood, a soft smile on his face and a scroll in his hand. "…Mother bitch!" The green haired girl irritably shouted, as she ran over and kicked the scroll out of his hand, quickly stomping it into the ground, breaking the device.
"Hehe…Too late. The beacon sends the message instantly upon being activated, Ozpin no doubt already received it. You're both fools…" Onyx chuckled weakly as he rubbed their faces in their own mistake.
"Damnit, Mercury! Why can't you ever finish your job?!" Emerald yelled in rage, furious at being made a fool of. "Ugggh…I'll do it! Just go make sure that the White Fang have the rest under control! We're moving to Mt. Glenn immediately!" She groaned as she picked Onyx up by the throat, easily lifting the giant man to her height with her ghoulish power.
"You're the one that-…! Ughh, whatever!" Mercury blew up, ready to blame her for interrupting the fight in the first place, but dropped it as he stormed off to do what was asked.
"Kill me, but it won't change the fact that you've been found out, you monsters…" Onyx choked out as her grip tightened once he started talking. A smile was still on his face as he knew that his family had gotten away and his old friend would be on his murderer's trail, soon enough.
"That hurts~. How hypocritical of you, though…" Emerald returned, a smirk on her face as the confusion filled his eyes. She didn't give him time to voice his ponderings though, as she pulled him closer, ripping out his throat in one vicious bite, her red eyes flaring as she swallowed her raw meal.
His spasms slowed to nothing in her grasp as Onyx suffocated on his own blood, forced to watch her eat his own flesh.
Emerald spat out a chunk of tissue as she threw Onyx to the ground, done with him. She wiped the blood from her mouth before grimacing at the after taste. "Egh…I hate old people…"
The screams and panic had all but been silenced at this point, as the female ghoul made her way to the rounded up survivors and White Fang scouts, ready for the next step of their plan…
Wow that got dark...But you know that was always the plan. This was never going to be a sappy love story with a touch of vampire stuff. So now you know!
There are a few things I can explain here that you might not understand in this chapter, that I won't really have a chance to explain within the story. Like the "Once in a complete moon" phrase used by Diamond. It basically is the Remnant equivalent of "Once in a blue moon". There's no telling how common it is to see a complete moon in the series, canonically, so I'm taking my own liberties in saying that it's fairly uncommon, maybe not as uncommon as our blue moon, but I liked the phrase so I'm using it!
Also, Onyx didn't recognize the White Fang because as you will learn later, he wasn't around to keep up on social events during the change that occurred within the "New" White Fang. He's basically a mountain man. XD
So the reason I mentioned more in the bottom a/n is because I recently added The Panther Sinks Her Claws to my AO3 profile. It's been re-edited and it even includes the lemon scene that was originally taken down on here. And for the people that liked that story or for those that haven't had a chance to read it on here, I also updated it on this site as well. So check it out in all it's polished, shiny, glory!
I look forward to hearing some speculation from you guys on what Merc and Em are taking these people for. And what Oz is going to end up doing now that he knows that an old friend is in trouble. So please send me a review! I love hearing all that you have to say. Peace!
