Here we are at Chapter 101. Time for the fated duel between Khazhak Rairyu and his older brother, Kamir'ahk Shiryu. So you know, Kamir'ahk's blade is called Death Bringer. I do not own RWBY. They belong to Roosterteeth. I only own my OCs. Here's chapter 101. Enjoy. Happy New Year!
Chapter 101: The Dragon of Death
"KAMIR'AHK!" Khazhak shouts in rage.
His sudden outburst scares his friends, Ruby most of all.
"Hello... little brother..." Kamir'ahk mutters with a smirk.
"Khazhak, who is this guy?" Porphyrius asks.
Khazhak says nothing, instead launching himself at Kamir'ahk. Kamir'ahk draws out his blade, wielding it in his left hand. Khazhak swings his sword at him in mid-air, but Kamir'ahk blocks it with his sword, swinging it around to send Khazhak flying back. Khazhak lands on his feet and charges again at his older brother. Kamir'ahk smirks and meets the charge. Both combatants swing their blades, clashing in a massive shockwave that blows the others back a bit. Khazhak charges lightning into his sword, but a dark aura emits from Kamir'ahk's blade. They both jump back and Khazhak swings his blade, sending out his Lightning Slash technique, but Kamir'ahk raises his blade up and swings it down, sending out a slash technique of his own. The attack cuts through Khazhak's technique, forcing him to jump to the side to evade it. The others jump out of the way as well, and they see the technique slash through a tree. But what surprises them more than seeing the tree get slashed down the middle, is seeing the tree suddenly, and quickly, rotting away, as if it's quickly dying.
"What the Hell?" Lloyd mutters.
Back in the fight, Khazhak fires off some spark shots, but Kamir'ahk swings his blade to deflect them all. Khazhak jumps into the air, his left fist reeled back and charged up, but Kamir'ahk swings around and kicks Khazhak in the chest when he gets close. Khazhak hits the ground and rolls back onto his feet.
"I see you're still full of energy, Khazhak. Either that, or you must really want to kill me. I'm not surprised, considering you already killed our father," Kamir'ahk taunts him.
"Shut up!" Khazhak yells and charges his blade, swinging it wide in his Lightning Devastation technique.
Kamir'ahk flips over the technique and a dark aura appears around his blade again. He twirls it around and then stabs it into the ground, sending out plumes of dark, black energy at Khazhak. Khazhak jumps and rolls around them, but one plume nearly gets him, the edge of it skimming his right leg. Khazhak feels something for just a second, but it felt like the strength in his leg had weakened for a moment. Khazhak growls at Kamir'ahk, and charges at him again.
"Come on guys, we have to help him!" Ruby says.
"Yeah, let's go Voshkie- Voshkie'ahk what's wrong?" Qrow asks as he looks to his pupil.
Voshkie'ahk has fallen onto her knees, holding her head and shaking profusely, and not because of the cold.
"This isn't real... this isn't real... this isn't real..." Voshkie'ahk keeps repeating like a mantra, her expression full of terror and and eyes full of fear.
"Voshkie'ahk, what's wrong?" Yang asks as she and Weiss kneel by her sides.
"I think she's having some kind of panic attack," Weiss says.
"You must calm yourself, my child. You need to stand up and fight this," Tiamat tries to soothe her.
"Hey, Kid!" Qrow yells. But just then, a number of Manticore Grimm appear in the sky and land in between them and Khazhak. "Oh, that's just great," Qrow mutters.
"Listen guys, we need to get out of this mess and help Brother. Weiss, you and Reaper protect Voshkie'ahk, the rest of us will deal with the Grimm," Lloyd says.
"You got it. They won't come near her," Reaper says, readying his twin scythe.
The rest nod in agreement and make their move. The Manticores roar at them, but one gets punched in the face by Yang, followed by Porphyrius jumping up and slamming his gauntlet into its skull, into the ground. Qrow swings his scythe around at another Manticore, blocking its claws and then making quick work of beheading it. Ruby fires off her sniper scythe, with Lloyd firing off his gauntlets. Meanwhile, Weiss and Reaper stay next to Voshkie'ahk, who's still having her panic attack, no matter how much they try to snap her out of it.
"She won't listen to me. What's gotten into her?!" Weiss asks.
"I bet it has something to do with that person Khazhak is fighting. She said he was the one that killed their mother. If she saw that, of course it would leave her traumatized. But, I never thought it would be this mad. There must be more to it. But, we'll have to worry about that later!" Reaper says, sending out a few of his skull phantoms to bash their heads into a Manticore that tries to get too close to them.
Weiss creates a few glyphs and sends out some ice shards to skewer another Manticore on her side. She looks up, seeing more Manticore enter the area from the sky. This is not looking good. Backn in the main fight, Khazhak thrusts his sword forth as he runs at Kamir'ahk. Kamir'ahk parries the strike, making Khazhak run behind him, but he quickly swings his sword back, deflecting a strike from Kamir'ahk, and spinning around to through a kick to his chest. Kamir'ahk blocks with his blade, but can't block a close up spark shot that hits his chest. Kamir'ahk staggers slightly, but can still block another sword strike from Khazhak.
"Ah, you've improved a bit since the last time we sparred. But I wonder, will it be enough, or will you fail just like last time," Kamir'ahk says.
"I said shut up!" Khazhak roars and throws a side kick into Kamir'ahk's ribs. Kamir'ahk flies back a bit, but lands on his feet. Khazhak charges up his blade again. "EXPLOSIVE THUNDER DRAGON WAVE!" Khazhak roars and smashes his blade onto the ground, sending out a surge of blue lightning at Kamir'ahk.
Kamir'ahk smirks as dark energy pools around his sword, "DECAYED DEATH DRAGON SLASH!" he yells and swings his blade, sending out a large arch slash of black energy that collides with Khazhak's technique.
Khazhak gets knocked back from the collision. He gets onto one knee, but when he looks up, he sees Kamir'ahk running away through the trees.
"Get back here, you bastard!" Khazhak yells and gives chase.
"Khazhak, you must calm down. You're not fighting like you usually do," Bahamut tries to calm him down.
"Shut up!" Khazhak yells as he keeps running.
Ruby sees Khazhak run off, "Khazhak!" she calls out, but he doesn't listen.
Lloyd smashes his steel fist into the ground, sending out steel spikes into a pair of Manticores, skewering them. Lloyd looks back to see another Manticore attack his rear, only for Porphyrius to use his semblance to force it to the ground. Lloyd then uses the chance to encase is right foot in steel and smashes it down on the Grimm's head, crushing it. Blake throws her chain-scythe, the blade stabbing into one Manticore. Yang runs in and punches it in its chest, knocking it into the air, allowing Blake to swing it around into another Manticore. Yang then lets loose by firing some shots off at both of them, leaving them in pieces.
"Why did all of these Grimm show up now of all times and places?" Yang says.
"I don't know, but we have to finish things here fast so we can go and help Khazhak," Blake replies.
Back with Khazhak, he runs after Kamir'ahk. Kamir'ahk looks back and fires off the gun mechanism in his sword back at him. Khazhak deflects the bullets with his sword, retaliating with a few more spark shots. Kamir'ahk weaves through the shots before coming up on a clearing, and stops and turns around to face his younger brother. Khazhak charges up his semblance and spins around to swing his sword, unleashing his Lightning Oblivion technique. Kamir'ahk's sword emits another black aura and he swings it wide, unleashing a black cloud of thick miasma around him. When the lightning bolts make contact with the miasma, they dissipate into nothing.
"Ah, so close and yet so far. Just like when you were so close to saving your mother and sister... and failed to reach them in time," Kamir'ahk taunts him again.
"I won't fail to reach you and rip your heart out!" Khazhak yells and charges at him.
Kamir'ahk waits for him to approach and then swings his blade down on him. Khazhak meets the attack with his sword and their blades clash. Khazhak throws a punch with his left hand at Kamir'ahk's face, but he leans back to evade it. However, in slow motion, Khazhak's arm blade comes out and he pulls his arm down, slashing across the face of Kamir'ahk. In normal motion, Khazhak kicks Kamir'ahk back, but Kamir'ahk only smiles before attacking again. Kamir'ahk twirls his blade against Khazhak's moving it out of the way and angling his blade to get a shot off, but Khazhak blocks it with his left arm. However, Kamir'ahk jumps up and kicks Khazhak in the face, followed by a spinning slash of his blade. Khazhak blocks it, but slides back across the snow. Kamir'ahk runs at him, but Khazhak stops him by smashing his left fist into the snow, sending up snow into the air. Khazhak throws a punch at Kamir'ahk's face through the snow, only for something to stop it. When the snow settles, Khazhak's eyes widen when he sees what stopped his attack. It is Kamir'ahk's right arm, but it's not human.
The cloak from earlier has been removed, revealing an inhuman right arm with black scales like the night. Larger, sharper scales form around his forearm like a gauntlet, and a few more are seen on his right shoulder, like armor. Sharp claws line his fingers as they grip his fist.
"What?" Khahak mutters.
"Surprise," Kamir'ahk mutters, chuckling.
Kamir'ahk pulls Khazhak in for a head-butt, and then swings his sword upwards, slashing across Khazhak's chest and sending him flying back to the ground. Khazhak gets back on his feet and fires off another spark shot, but Kamir'ahk blocks it with his right arm, unscathed.
"It has aura, so it's not Grimm, but then what is it?" Khazhak wonders.
"It cannot be..." Bahamut mutters.
"Bahamut, I may need your help here," Khazhak asks.
"...Very well. I give you my consent," Bahamut says, and activates the Dragon Spirit.
Lightning surges around Khazhak as he gets stronger, blue dragonic scales covering half of his face, neck, part of his chest, and part of his right arm like before at Haven. His right eye glows red, and a small curved horn appears on his jawline, and another small horn appears on his forehead. Khazhak roars at Kamir'ahk, who only smirks. Back with the others, Ruby looks up into the sky when she sees a momentary glimpse of blue lightning erupt from the ground.
"Khazhak..." Ruby mutters.
Back in the fight, Khazhak gets ready for round two.
Kamir'ahk, just laughs, "Hahahaha! So, you unlocked the Dragon Spirit. No wonder you've made it this long. However... NIDHOGG!" Kamir'ahk yells, surprising Khazhak and Bahamut.
Suddenly, a dark blast of energy erupts from Kamir'ahk, shooting up into the sky, causing the rest of the group to look up in worry. Over half of Kamir'ahk's face changes, with black scales forming along the left side of his face, and a single horn coming out from the center of his forehead. A long, dragon tail erupts from the back of his waste, several spikes littered around the end of it. Though he can't see it, more black scales spread across the left side of his body, and some appear halfway down his left arm. His left eye has also turned from red to a deathly black. Kamir'ahk roars into the sky, sounding monstrous for a second, before smiling back at Khazhak.
"Did you really think you were the only one that possessed the Dragon Spirit? How else did Salem know about your gift?" Kamir'ahk asks.
"You're working for Salem?" Khazhak mutters in shock.
"Don't look so surprised, little brother. After all, you and the rest of our 'family' cast me out long ago. And now, it's just you and me," Kamir'ahk says.
"Don't forget about Voshkie'ahk, or what you did to her so long ago!" Khazhak retorts.
"Oh please, Voshkie'ahk is nothing to me. Don't go bringing her into this. You are all I want, little brother," Kamir'ahk says.
The spirit of Bahamut appears next to Khazhak, while the spirit of a black dragon with single horn on his head, followed by two more on the back of his head appears next to Kamir'ahk. His wings appear a little scarred at the ends, and he has a spiked tail and bony spines along his back. Deathly black eyes meet red.
"Nidhogg... You're alive? I thought you had perished long ago," Bahamut says.
"Of course you did, brother. But, I'm not so easy to kill. You of all dragons should know that," Nidhogg roars.
"Why help Salem? Why help the ruler of the race that destroyed our kind?!" Bahamut roars back.
"Self-preservation, brother. We performed the ritual to keep our race from dying, and I am doing exactly that. Look around you, Bahamut. Humans and Faunus are constantly fighting amongst themselves, that they don't even pay attention to the Grimm. Our race was united against them, our race was stronger, wiser, but we couldn't win. So how can they? They will fall, and I do not intend to join them. I'll keep our race alive, but you won't be around to see it," Nidhogg says, roaring back at his brother.
"Brother, what has happened to you?" Bahamut mutters.
Back with the others, Tiamat feels Nidhogg's presence surface.
"Nidhogg... How is this possible?" Tiamat mutters.
The others are almost done with the Grimm. Qrow slays another monster, and sees where Khazhak ran off to.
"Ruby, go on ahead and help Khazhak. We'll finish things here and catch up with you as soon as we can!" Qrow calls out.
"Alright, just be careful," Ruby says and uses her semblance to fly around a few Manticore before running off to help Khazhak.
Meanwhile, Weiss and Reaper continue to protect Voshkie'ahk, who hasn't once moved from her spot.
"Voshkie'ahk, you have to snap out of it, please," Weiss says, but gets no response.
Voshkie'ahk continues to shake and hold her head, lost in her own terror. Qrow grits his teeth and kneels down in front of her. Then, out of nowhere, he slaps her across the face, stunning Weiss and Reaper. It seems to work as Voshkie'ahk looks back at Qrow, seemingly out of her stupor.
Qrow rests his hands on her shoulders, "Look kid, I know you're scared, but you need to get your head in the game. Do you want Khazhak to die?" he asks her calmly.
"K-Khazhak... die? No, no I don't want to lose him. Not again," Voshkie'ahk finally speaks.
"Then help us here, so you can help him there," Qrow says.
This seems to give Voshkie'ahk the encouragement she needs, wiping her face and getting back on her feet. She looks ahead to see Blake fighting against a pair of Manticore. She draws out a few of her cards and sharpens and hardens them with her semblance. She throws the cards, and they slice off the heads of both beasts, making Blake look back and nod to her while the cards return to her hand.
"That's the Voshkie'ahk I know," Qrow notes.
"We're just about done here. Let's hurry up and finish this!" Lloyd yells out.
Back with Khazhak, Khazhak falls onto the ground and then rolls back onto his feet. Kamir'ahk comes in, swinging his sword. Khazhak deflects the attack, but then Kamir'ahk grabs his left arm, pulling it up so he can strike Khazhak's ribs with a side kick. Khazhak grits his teeth and throws a kick of his own, but Kamir'ahk block it with his left knee. He then swings his tail around to knock Khazhak into the air, followed by grabbing his left ankle and slamming him onto the ground before throwing him to the side. Khazhak gets back on his feet and charges up his semblance.
"RAIRYU ROAR!" Khazhak roars with his breath attack.
Dark energy pools around Kamir'ahk, "SHIRYU... ROAR!" he fires his own blackish, red breath attack to meet Khazhak's.
The two attacks push against one another for a few moments, but Kamir'ahk's proves to be stronger and pushes through, nailing Khazhak and sending him back to the ground. Khazhak slowly rises back to his feet and charges at Kamir'ahk again, both of their powers coursing around them. Their blades clash several times, and then Khazhak does a roundhouse kick that Kamir'ahk leans back to evade, followed by another slash of his blade. Khazhak jumps back to dodge it, and throws his left fist at him. Kamir'ahk blocks with his right arm, and then his tail comes up from below, hitting Khazhak in his exposed side. Each time he hits Khazhak though, his limbs have that same black aura around them.
"Khazhak, something isn't right... Perhaps we should fall back and regroup with the others," Bahamut says, sounding less like himself now.
"I'm not letting him get away!" Khazhak argues.
More energy pools around Kamir'ahk's right arm, "CORRUPTED DEATH DRAGON CRUSHER!" he roars and smashes his right fist into the ground, sending out a large blackish red mist across the area.
The shockwave nails Khazhak, sending him to the ground once again, but the attack also hits the trees around him. Khazhak sees the trees suddenly rot and die so quickly. Like the attack just sucked the life out of them. Khazhak gets onto his feet, only to fall onto one knee.
"My strength... what's-," Khazhak mutters.
"Oh, you're looking a little tired there, little brother. Here, let me give you a hand," Kamir'ahk taunts him, and then grabs Khazhak's face before slamming him onto the ground.
He then picks him back up and kicks him away. Khazhak gets back onto one knee and charges up his semblance again. He swings his sword and releases his Lightning Tornado Crusher technique at Kamir'ahk. Kamir'ahk simply raises his sword up high, more energy forming around it, and then swings it down when the attack gets close, slicing right through it.
"Khazhak, we're running out of time. Whatever power he's using, it's sapping my strength. It seems like it's draining our own power. We need to retreat!" Bahamut pleads now.
"I'm not done yet!" Khazhak yells.
"Oh, poor brother, you still don't understand the full power of the Dragon Spirit. You haven't even unlocked any of its secret techniques," Kamir'ahk notes, his tail swinging behind him.
"I'll show you a technique!" Khazhak argues and charges up more lightning into his left fist.
Kamir'ahk charges up more energy into his blade, ready to meet the attack.
Khazhak jumps into the air, falling towards him, "APOCALYPTIC THUNDER DRAGON BURST!" Khazhak roars.
"Let me show you the true difference in our power," Kamir'ahk smiles wickedly, "DARK ABYSS, FINAL END SLASH!" He yells and swings his sword, sending out a massive wave of energy at Khazhak.
Their attack meet, but Khazhak's is beaten and he takes massive damage as he gets blown back... and his prosthetic left arm completely shatters into pieces as he falls onto the ground, his aura depleted.
"Khazhak, I can't keep the Dragon Spirit going anymore. You have to get up and get out of here!" Bahamut yells.
His Dragon Spirit depleted, Khazhak pukes out blood as he struggles onto his remaining hand and knees, his strength barely holding on.
Kamir'ahk slowly walks up to his younger brother, "Oh, what a shame. You know, Salem really wanted you dead, but at least she gets her wish now. Now do you see? This is the difference between you and I. Our father taught us to protect the weak, to fight with honor and protect our family and comrades. But that is nothing more than useless noise. I survived because I cast aside those pathetic ideals. He held onto them, and he's dead because of it. Honor doesn't save anyone, Khazhak, and there is no such thing as justice. Only when you cast aside these pathetic ideals and let your inner monster out, can you truly succeed and survive. You never could beat me, because I have nothing holding me back, unlike you," Kamir'ahk says as he stands before Khazhak. "Any last words, little brother?" he asks, but Khazhak just glares at him. "Didn't think so," he says and raises his sword.
Khazhak barely manages to raise his sword to block the impending attack, but Kamir'ahk strikes hard and breaks his sword in two, barely missing Khazhak. The collision causes the handle to fly out of Khazhak's hand, the remnants of his sword landing next to his grandfather's weapon.
"Oh, you found Grandpa's old weapon. I'm surprised it hasn't rusted out yet. That further's my point. He also fought for honor, but was taken out by a simple illness. Had he simply cast aside those ideals, maybe he would've been strong enough to survive a while longer," Kamir'ahk says offhandedly.
"Go screw yourself," Khazhak manages to blurt out in between some rough coughing.
Kamir'ahk smirks and raises his blade again, ready to finish Khazhak off once and for all.
"Get away from him!" they hear and look back to see Ruby appear, swinging her scythe at Kamir'ahk.
Kamir'ahk catches her scythe by its blade and swings her around and tosses her to the side. Ruby lands on her feet and looks up, only to see Kamir'ahk right in front of her face.
"Don't interfere with our family business!" Kamir'ahk yells, actually angry now.
He throws a hard right punch into her stomach, followed by a swing of his tail across her face. He then unleashes another breath attack close up, blasting her to the ground and making her lose her weapon.
"Ruby!" Khazhak shouts, and finds the strength to get back on his feet.
Ruby looks up from the ground as Kamir'ahk stands over her. He readies his sword and thrusts it at her as she closes her eyes. However, nothing happens and she slowly opens her eyes and looks up, only to gasp in horror. There stands Khazhak, in between them, with Kamir'ahk's blade impaled through his chest.
"K-Khazhak..." Ruby mutters in horror.
Blood leaks out of Khazhak's mouth and his wound, "R-Ruby...R-Run..." Khazhak gasps weakly
"Compassion... was always your weakness, little brother," Kamir'ahk notes, looking unamused, and then swings his sword wide to toss Khazhak off and into the snow.
"KHAZHAK!" Ruby shouts fearfully.
Kamir'ahk turns back to her, but before he can do anything, a shot rings out and hits him in the chest, knocking him back. He looks up to see the rest of the group coming into the clearing, with several of them firing their weapons at him.
"We're low on time. We need to leave, now," Nidhogg says.
"Ugh, fine. I did what I was supposed to do anyway," Kamir'ahk says, and then a pair of large, black dragon wings erupt from his back.
He quickly takes off into the air, flying away as the group fire at him, but fail to land a blow. Kamir'ahk disappears into the clouds, ending the battle.
"Khazhak!" Ruby screams and runs over to him, finding him lying on his back in the snow as blood leaks out of his wounds. "Khazhak, come on, please talk to me! Please, Khazhak, PLEASE!" Ruby cries as tears fall down her face.
"Brother... no..." Lloyd mutters in horror.
"Khazhak..." Voshkie'ahk says, just as distraught, as she falls onto her knees.
"Bahamut... I can't sense him," Tiamat mutters.
The group form around Khazhak, trying to work on his injury and get him to wake up, but he makes no response.
And that's the chapter. Quite a way to kick off the new year, huh. Khazhak fails to defeat Kamir'ahk, suffering severe injuries, and he might very well have fought his last battle. Meanwhile, Kamir'ahk reveals that he has been working for Salem, and that he, too, possesses the Dragon Spirit, with his own dragon partner, Nidhogg. Also, so you know, Kamir'ahk's semblance is called Decay; it eats away the life force of any living thing it touches, and for people with auras, it drains their aura, making it weaker with each attack than when it would normally drain, and weakens a person's soul upon contact. That's why it had such an effect on Khazhak and Bahamut. Will Khazhak survive this defeat? Will the others be able to help him get back on his feet if he does? Until then, please Read and Review.