AN:
Disclaimer: I do not own the RWBY franchise or any of its affiliated characters, branding, etcetera, etcetera, save for the OCs.
"Now, Abseil, let's not be rash. I understand you are very protective over Miss Akatsuki. However, this--" The Headmaster gestured to Reiya's flailing form, "--is not our intention ." Ozpin and Goodwitch simultaneously gave the bonded duo some distance, the latter's riding crop emitting a dangerous purple glow. "We only wish to help her. Please understand, neither of us have the faintest of an idea why she's reacting in this way."
Abseil had already begun curling himself around Rei despite her current panic, immovable despite her struggling. "STOP IT! GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed, clawing and even biting at Abseil's form to no avail. Her eyes have completely dilated by this point, seeing something the rest of the party could not.
"I am here, partner mine..." Abseil tried to comfort her all he could, but he fell on deaf ears. Reiya... The spectre redirected his gaze to Ozpin and Goodwitch, sanguine orbs narrowed and suspicious. His skeletal mask seemed to morph into an alarmingly aggressive expression, a far cry from its usually neutral appearance. "Tell me how I can help her. Speak with haste."
Goodwitch spoke up, the spark of an idea flitting across her eyes. "Perhaps... Considering we are inside her mind, we can delve further and attempt to... troubleshoot, for lack of better term, the cause of this."
"You are not to dig any deeper than you already have. While you seem to be genuine in claiming that this is not premeditated, I will take no further risks." Abseil rumbled, peering down to a now sobbing Rei. "However, I do believe your proposal holds merit. My bondmate and I have long since been of intimate mind and heart with our time together, and due to our pact... Perhaps, I can..." Abseil turned his narrowed eyes on Ozpin and Goodwitch again with a growl of warning. "I shall attempt to stabilise my bondmate. Leave."
"Would it be wise attempting on your lonesome?" Ozpin asked before Goodwitch can voice her dismay, the latter only wishing to help Rei as well. "While I understand you have no reason to trust us with her wellbeing, Miss Goodwitch is one of the best at what she does. If Miss Akatsuki is experiencing an unstable mental state, we would be able to lend you assistance with fewer risks of damage."
"I am certain. I know her mind best, and I am confident my efforts will yield solely success." Abseil's eyes flashed once. "Now, leave us be."
"As you wish." Ozpin conceded, brows furrowing in concern as Goodwitch took his hand in her own. "We will be just outside."
With an odd blur to their forms, the Headmaster and combat professor disappeared in a purple flash, leaving Abseil alone with Rei. For a moment, the spectre felt a heavy pang of the likes he'd never felt so deeply before as he looked into her frightened, unseeing eyes. Abseil's fearsome visage shifted to a much softer expression, the glow of his eyes dimming significantly. Carefully, he tightened their embrace and brought his tail up and around, forcing her head to rest against it.
"I may be Grimm in origin, and we may have come together in questionable circumstances, but I do know I was once human, dear Reiya." Abseil said. "And I have come far enough to know for certain that I can and do feel, even if I am a creature born with the sole purpose of devouring negativity...However, I am reborn. I am more. That creature is no more. Here, I stand as your eternal pactmate, and I cherish you dearly. Make no mistake, partner mine, I shall bring you back to proper order."
With that, Abseil rested his head upon Rei's.
Tears rapidly falling from her eyes, hiccups wracking her body as her sobs joined the cacophony of pure discord that enveloped the entirety of her home. At last, she frantically covered her eyes to offer herself what little protection she could as the deathstalker reared its stinger to strike.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!"
The next thing to grace her ears was the dying screech of the deathstalker as carapace crunched, innards making an awful squelch and vacating their owner. Fear yielding to relief, the girl opened her teary eyes, nearly breaking out into a new crying fit as she watched a burly man procure a worn sword from the dissolving corpse of the grimm. Immediately, she made her way to him, crying out as the man dropped to his knees and scooped her up into his arms.
"Thank the Brothers, I've made it to you in time." her father whispered shakily, red eyes glossy with tears. "Your mother and I were scared to death once we realised you haven't come home from school..."
"Dad, everyone is dying..." she sniffed, nightmarish memories of recent coming to mind. Images of her former friends and neighbours being slaughtered by the grimm left and right without any mercy. Her "school", that being a small collection of children gathered at Elder Izanami's home for basic lessons, razed to the ground and her teacher devoured whole by the King Taijitu. Oh, how she ached, running all this time, barely avoiding the grimm.
"Don't think about that, Rei. Just keep your eyes closed for me, okay? We're going to meet up with Mom." her father assured, Rei nodding and immediately burying her face into his chest. Expression drawn into a determined frown, the retired huntsman kept his sword at the ready as he brought them off the main road of the village where most residents were occupying, either doing their best to fend off the incursion or falling victim to their panic. Reo Akatsuki had only one goal in mind now. And that was to reach his wife and get his family to safety.
The clan be damned. To Reo, nothing was more important than his wife and daughter.
The wizened warrior was hard pressed finding the sweet spot between the horde of grimm invading from outside the village and the densest areas of activity, doing his best to not draw too much attention. A stray beowolf or two along with a few creeps hindered his path, but so far, it was nothing he couldn't handle. And Rei did her best to stay strong through it all, trusting her father to keep her safe despite his mobility being limited because of her. However, not one journey was complete without a massive hurdle to overcome.
Brothers, preserve us. Reo inwardly cursed as a beringel blocked his path. Resembling nature's own gorilla, the beringel had a relatively simple make-up than most grimm, possessing armoured plates on its front and a plain human skull-like mask on its face. And it was massive, being taller than Reo's own 6'2" on all fours.
"Rei, hold on tight, okay?" Reo felt her nod and grip his shirt like a vice. He tightened his hold on her in return, free hand readjusting his grip on his sword. And as the beringel charged, spittle flying from its maw and gleaming fangs, Reo's bronze sword had shifted to a rather large shotgun within a fraction of a second.
He pulled the trigger just as the beringel lumbered within effective range, which was still too close to his daughter for his liking. A powerful slug of a round igniting from within the barrel and breaking the sound barrier with ease. A dim red glow emanated from the slug as it buried itself the torso of the approaching grimm.
Effectively halted from the devastating shot, the beringel roared in fury as it tried to regain its footing, having been knocked back some ways, only to frantically claw at its own chest when the wound caught fire. With this new development, the beast was much too preoccupied on its worsening injury to notice its prey running past. The flames died before long, however, and the beringel quickly charged at their heels, crossing the distance much faster than father and daughter could as they were.
Lamenting that his initial shot did very little to slow the beringel down, as powerful as it had seemed to be, Reo kept his eyes forward as he aimed around his side, firing off several more slugs at the grimm. While a few connected, they only seemed to enrage the beringel even more, hardly doing anything to slow it down. It was as if the beast's rage mounted more and more with each injury it sustain. It was relentless.
Reo cursed when he felt a mighty slap threatening to break his back, the force knocking the man off his feet.
"DAD!" he heard his daughter cry out as the two separated mid flight, crashing and tumbling across dirt and cobblestone in opposite directions. As he made to get back onto his feet, Reo's immediate thought was of his daughter in the beringel's vicinity, but fortunately, in a grim sort of way, a great backhand across his face confirmed that the grimm considered him the priority target.
Crashing into one of the village's outer walls, Reo could feel his aura drop to an uncomfortably low level. A soft orange glow flared around his form before waning, reminding him that he didn't possess the vitality he once had. Blinking away the spots in his vision, Reo glared up at the approaching beringel, noting his horrified daughter seemingly trying to keep herself as small of a target as possible behind the grimm.
Sighing wearily, Reo stirred his innermost true power. His semblance. Eyes flaring orange, the man felt some years of his life slip away and collect in a pool of unbridled purity at the palm of his hand. The beringel flinched as it came one step too close while Reo grinned like a madman.
A couple of years of his life traded away for pure anti-grimm power.
Seemed fair enough.
The pool of purity then condensed into a single, focused point at the tip of his index finger. With that, Reo smirked at the cowed beringel and imitated a finger gun at its mask.
"Bang-bang."
"She's still stable. That's good. Still, I wish he had accepted our support." Ozpin tsk'ed, frowning while Goodwitch expressed her own concern over their student. "All there is left to do now is to be patient."
"I still don't like it, Headmaster." Goodwitch stated as she looked Reiya Akatsuki up and down, the latter tossing and turning in her suspended state. The most unnerving thing was what exactly kept her suspended in the first place. "She has a living, sentient grimm for a semblance."
"So it seems, but his words intrigue me nevertheless, Glynda." The headmaster stroked the handle of his cane with a thumb. "'Abseil', was it? He claimed he was more than a mere grimm. That he no longer existed with the baseline urge to bend the knee to Salem's will. That's not to mention his rather evident loyalty to Miss Akatsuki. I believe we can safely assume she is not our enemy and therefore, neither is her semblance of a partner. For now, at least. We do not know all the details."
"Are we really risking the safety of the rest of the students for them, Headmaster? Forgive me for my harsh words, but I would much rather be safe than sorry."
"What do you suggest we do, Glynda? Turn them over to Atlas for study? No, that'd be a life sentence for imprisonment." Ozpin sighed. "I'd rather not isolate her within the Academy either. For now, I believe the best thing to do is to keep a close eye on the two of them--well, on Miss Akatsuki, at least, for I have no idea how to go about seeing her partner in any traditional method. Should they step out of line... We shall do what's necessary." He glanced at his deputy headmistress. "Were you able to glean anything from their entrance exams?"
Goodwitch cleared her throat. "Not very much, unfortunately. Obviously, there was nothing that suggested Abseil was present during the written evaluation--I suppose she may have drawn information from him for certain questions revolving the grimm, but none of her answers implied any knowledge she shouldn't have. Our short meeting with her earlier aside.
"As for the practical portion of her exams, Miss Akatsuki was pitted against the SDC heiress herself."
Ozpin chuckled. "I can't imagine the latter was very pleased throughout."
"From what I saw, she was still very much displeased about having to actually take part in the exams. Miss Schnee made no retorts, however, and fell in line with the rest." Goodwitch adjusted her glasses. "Anyway, as you know from my reports, their match was... one sided, for the most part."
"You made it a point to describe Akatsuki's method of combat as very unorthodox."
"Indeed, Headmaster. It was wild. Feral. But it held a grace the likes of a professional dancer. You would watch her fight and see an opening, or counter, in her advance. But she would floor your expectations and instead of falling to a counter, she covers her bases at the very last moment. It is as if she fights with improvisation, and at the same time, she contradicts her own style with sudden predetermined commitments."
"An unpredictable, adaptable fighter." Ozpin hummed. "One might say, she fights with her instincts, rather than with a coordinated plan."
Goodwitch rolled her fingers across her clipboard. "Instincts... Yes, that would be a good way to describe it."
"It would make the most sense, considering her partner." They paused as a lone tear escaped from Reiya. Her eyes were still clenched tight, her body tense and struggling against her suspended state. "It would not be too much of a stretch to say she has adapted Abseil's beowolf nature into her style. If they are as bonded as they say, such an adaptation would not be very difficult to manage."
"Ah!" Goodwitch held up her pen in an epiphany, startling Ozpin mid-sip from his coffee. She didn't bother questioning where he'd gotten another mug. "Schnee's summons!"
"What of them, Glynda?" Ozpin muttered, trying his very best to wipe off the coffee droplets from his suit.
"Schnee attempted to attack Akatsuki through the use of her summons. Nevermore, specifically. But they were banished almost instantly and ultimately ineffective for the remainder of their match. But Akatsuki hadn't done anything." Goodwitch thumbed her chin. "When Akatsuki signed in for her exams, she'd submitted that her semblance was 'Umbra'."
"Shadow, or a complete lack of light." Ozpin nodded. "We know that Abseil is, or at least, a part of her semblance, and he is invisible to the naked eye. He must have been the one to dispatch Schnee's summons, the 'Umbra'."
"He must be." Goodwitch made a note on her clipboard. "It would explain how she was able free herself from Schnee's prison of vines without the usage of her limbs. All the peculiarities during their match can be chalked up to Abseil..."
Ozpin allowed his deputy to gather her thoughts while he collected his own. How dangerous are you, Abseil? He redirected his attention to the last Akatsuki, suspended just in front of his lift. And you, Miss Akatsuki? Are you two truly on our side? Is Abseil merely manipulating you under Salem's will? Are you meant to be allies, or defectors? Is there enough cream in my coffee?
"Aside from the brutality of her combat prowess," Goodwitch eventually began, ignoring Ozpin's concerned glare at his coffee, "I can't say there's much for us to work with in terms of their intentions. Although, that is also not even considering the fact Branwen practically raised her."
"Raven Branwen detests me, that much is true." Ozpin nodded, setting his coffee aside for now. "But she knows fully well of the war between myself and Salem. She does not want to be involved. It's why she went rogue, and it's a factor in why she allowed Miss Akatsuki to be under our supervision." He tapped his cane against the floor once, eyes settling on Reiya again. "Raven now knows how similar her signature is to Salem's. Why that is, we do not know. Yet. It's very likely due to her peculiar bond with Abseil. Or something much more sinister. Either way, despite the camaraderie, or dare I say it, maternal affection she may hold with Akatsuki, she also values her tribe and survival above all else. Having Akatsuki stay would pose a risk too great for Raven to overlook."
Goodwitch sighed and nodded, eyes skimming through her notes though she hardly absorbed the information. "She must be suffering, Headmaster. If she held any sort of affection for Miss Akatsuki, it would be the second time."
"We may never know, Glynda. Though, I would imagine she feels something of the sort. After all, she checks on her daughter from time to time, if Qrow's reports are accurate. Otherwise..." Ozpin peered out of his tower towards the horizon, precisely in the direction of the Grimmlands where his eternal enemy sat upon her throne, possibly watching. Waiting. With a sneer. "As powerful love can be, it can also be very frail and unsuspecting. Take that from me, Glynda, who'd know that very well over the course of thousands of years."
Abseil expected many things to happen from his excursion to the deeper recesses of Reiya's mind. After all, they were bonded, and he knew her in and out like the back of his ha--paw, and she, him. But of all the things to happen as he stood there on a very fragile plane of his partner's mind, this was hugely unpredicted.
"Hello, darling. It's lovely to see you again, though, domestication is quite the surprise to see from you."
"Why are you here." Abseil asked, monotone and ignoring his instincts to attack the Queen of the Grimm outright.
Salem smiled, almost serene, the black of her sclera threatening to drown out her scarlet irises. "What, I can't check up on you?... Hm, no, that was too cliché. Allow me to reiterate." Salem cleared her throat, and the next thing Abseil knew, she was right in front of him. He hadn't even seen her move, his only warning had been his instincts screaming for him to move, but he held fast even as she stroked the underside of his chin."I mean, I've come to see how one of my most valuable of soldiers are doing. And from what I see, you have been doing... nothing. Why? Where's your loyalty to me, hm?"
"You speak of a farce, not of loyalty. From a mindless, vacant creature whose purpose was to fulfill your every will without failure." Abseil retorted calmly. "That creature has long since been dead, False One."
Salem didn't seem to be bothered by his words, though the last words he had uttered seemed to pique her curiosity. "Oh? What a terribly negative name to give me. What have I done to deserve such disdain?"
"Many things deserving a name of the worst degree, mark my words." Abseil huffed, as if amused. "You sit on a false throne, commanding with false authority, existing with a false humanity and skin. No, your very existence is a farce." Salem was no longer smiling, only adopting a neutral expression that Abseil caught and capitalised on. "You bask yourself with talk of power and control. But what of it? You have walked these lands for thousands of years and yet, you remain rooted exactly where you have always been since the day of your resurrection. Even now, you are here only by projection, sat protected behind your crumbling walls on a crumbling throne with an army of mindless puppets, for coining them 'soldiers' would be much too generous for what they are. Should they ever regain their identities, they would return to the original task, and leave you to wallow alone in dust."
"You must've grown addled in your time away, darling." Salem tsk'ed. "And here I thought we would reconnect and perhaps utilise your new development to our advantage."
"You must be addled, False One, for you speak as if our one sided cooperation still holds."
"Watch your tongue." Salem hissed, stepping away, roughly letting go of him. "Look at you. You're pathetic. You're domesticated, and deluded to think you can challenge me without consequence." She sneered. "You're more of a rebellious house pet than a proper soldier under my care. Size, mind, and all."
Abseil nonchalantly regarded his current form, having chosen his smaller dog-like size and appearance. "How I chose to appear is of my own reasons. In this case, you see, this form is symbolic of my loyalty for her. She has saved me from your illusion of existence, and more, and so, I shall express my gratitude and loyalty to her in way of looking up to her very character. Damaged as she may be, reckless as she loves to be, and lost in the world as she certainly is, I know deep within what little remains of my original soul that Reiya Akatsuki is the one I wish to serve and support for the rest of my time." Abseil's ears flitted to and fro, before he settled his eyes in the direction where Reiya's consciousness seemed to be."That her soul completes my own. You need not belittle yourself even further, False One, expressing something so infantile as envy."
"How dare you?! To have the utter gall to speak to me in such a way." Abseil noted her her porcelain-like skin seemed to crack, pushing black veins spiderwebbing across her visage and into her eyes. Her equally pale hair seemed to whip about in a frenzy, while her dark nails resembled claws more than anything. Objectively, Abseil would admit, the False One possessed an attractive appearance that would force even the slowest of humans to appreciate. But as she stood now, furious with the corrupted, diluted power of the Brother God of Darkness actively flaring within, she was rather atrocious for the eyes to digest.
"Should our stalling be over with, I would largely prefer you release my bondmate from whatever torture you are putting her through." Abseil continued smoothly. "Thereafter, we need not interact any further."
"And what makes you think I have anything to do with it?" Salem sneered cruelly, calming herself while she slowly transitioned back into her original appearance. "It's as you've said. The girl is damaged. She is merely having what one may call a night terror, darling. What with your bond," Salem soured at the word, "you alone ought to be enough to free her."
"Am I to believe your presence is purely for a social call, False One?" Abseil almost growled. "Forgive my skepticism, but your timing is rather suspect."
"I've nothing to do with her current plight."
"Perhaps, not directly. You speak half-truths. Why then, does she share a signature similar to your own?"
Salem allowed her surprise to show. "I'm impressed, darling. While your senses are bounds beyond your brethren, I did not expect you to be able to see the connection between our souls so clearly."
"If only through the barest of a window." Abseil conceded, his eyes narrowed. "I was not too certain before, though Ozma confirmed my suspicions. Answer."
Salem only smiled that serene smile again, fully calm and in control of her temper once more. "Now, I can't just spill the beans, now can I? Tut, tut, no. If you want to know why the girl's soul shares a connection to my own, catch up on some history and find out for yourself." Her image flickered for a moment, earning a snort from the spectre.
"Your strength is failing you being so far. Perhaps, a rest against your poorly throne would do you some good."
Salem was unimpressed. "You may have had some time within my ranks, darling, but I find it amusing that you think to know me so well. You know how much power I hold, weakened as it is over the years notwithstanding." The False One clapped her hands with mocking glee. "I can easily snuff out this girl's life with but a snap of my fingers. Mock me all you'd like, but my patience is not infinite."
"I know you well enough to be certain that would rather preserve what strength you have. That you have been waiting for the proper moment to strike throughout all these many years." Abseil supplied, not backing down. "As much as you threaten to kill her, you are merely bluffing. If you wished to, you would have done so long before now. You have been watching us, clearly. We must hold some value to you still, despite my defection. I know that even now, you stall your shadow war with Ozma. You hide your hesitation behind your motives. Pain for his betrayal some millennia ago. Envy for his place in society amongst your people while you are stuck in a wasteland. Resentment towards the Brothers cursing you with immortality so very laced with irony. Revenge? For what exactly? You do not even know yourself. For your children, even as you both are equally responsible for their deaths? For your curse? Ozma already suffers through endless, restless reincarnations until you truly die, False One... Hm, or perhaps, you seek the Relics in order to undo what your actions have brought to the modern day and to bring back what you used to have.. A proper life, magic, even your children.. I may not know what you want, False One, but I can certainly weed out your indecision deep within your intentions."
Salem simply scoffed, but it was clear his words had irked her. Turning around, Salem lazily waved towards the deeper end of Reiya's consciousness."Your words changes nothing, darling. My own motives clearly don't matter so much to you as they are a source of amusement, apparently. If I am reading you properly, then I can safely assume you will not interfere with my plans in the future for now... Go on then. Save your partner from her nightmares." Her image flickered again.
"That has been my intention all along at any rate." Abseil remarked as he walked past, taking a moment to glance at her. "Of all things, you allow me passage without issue. You may say that is solely based on my apathy towards your petty war, but what is to stop her from wishing to be involved? What then?"
Salem craned her head back and laughed, seemingly manic. Abseil said nothing in all that time and before long, Salem merely gave him the most amused of expressions.
"When you've lived as long as I have, with so many of your desires being just out of reach, you tend to grasp at anything to spice things up, let's say. To be clear, I will still be watching you two. After all, time is all that's needed for even the smallest of changes, and a small change can lead to an overwhelming transformation."
"You are curious."
"And you are far more clever than I had ever expected you to be from the day you were reborn. Twice over, now."
The two shared a stare off, neither moving with the occasional flicker in Salem's image that grew more rapid until she could not ignore it any longer. As her image faded away, Abseil turned back around, focusing his attention on relieving Reiya once more.
"Do take care of your future, darling. I may have lost one of most valued units to your partner, but you still have much to lose and risk whilst maintaining your eternal pact."
"Begone, False One. We shan't converse any further." Abseil didn't bother turning around as her voice began to fade away.
"You were always the blaise one. But so clever, and oh-so loyal. It makes me wonder just how much you will change tied to her side."
"Leave."
"Farewell. Savour the fact that you are not alone anymore, my darling Elias."
Abseil froze.
Cold as harsh as the most powerful of ice dust bit his bones.
Abseil turned around, fangs bared and his tattered wings unfurled in a menacing display of pure unadulterated aggression.
But he was... alone.
... No. He wasn't.
"REI! THANK THE BROTHERS!"
Another sobbing fit threatened to burst from Reiya as she allowed herself to be brought up in her mother's embrace, the two holding each other tight and never wanting to let go. Reo smiled wearily with a relieved sigh, joining in and completing the family of three. "How are the others?" Reo whispered, looking his wife in the eyes over the top of Reiya's head. His beloved Yuna brushed her fingers across her daughter's hair. Her own platinum hair was dirtied with soot and blood, but not her own, thankfully. Reo's heart squeezed rather painfully as he noted the lack of light behind his wife's amethyst eyes as the latter sighed.
"Everyone else here are all that's left.. The rest are either fighting the grimm, or.. gone."
"Fuck." Reo sighed. His daughter jumped, but that was to be expected. He had noticed some time ago that she would always be startled by his cursing, which was fair since he'd always made it known that cursing was prohibited within their family. He supposed it only told her how truly bad things were.
"Reinforcements won't be here in time, there aren't any deployed Huntsmen nearby save our own..." Yuna muttered. "For now, all we have are you and the others fighting out there."
"Please don't go, Dad."
Reo lowered his head to kiss his daughter on the forehead, hugging her and his wife even tighter. "No, I'm not going anywhere, Rei." Looking up, Reo counted a little over two dozen others huddled in their own corners within their temporary safe haven, the dust storage room at the eastern border of the village. They were hidden underneath several metres of earth, the reason being that constructing the dust storage underground would avoid the attention of bandits and the likes. Thankfully, it seemed they were doing well in hiding from the grimm as well. But for how long? Reo was certain that the negativity they were emanating will be more than enough to attract the grimm to their very location. And at that rate, they'd all be trapped inside with no way out but through the grimm.
"We can't stay down here for too long. It'll only be a matter of time..." Reo warned. Scowling, he raised his voice. "Show of hands, Huntsmen!"
Reo blanched at the absence of hands.
"Can... Can any of you lot fight?" More sweat accumulated across his brow. A few rivulets managed to gather at his eyes and he had to blink them away after a quick swipe of his thumb. "I do not expect nor do I demand your help. This attack... is of the likes we've never dealt with before, and-"
Reo was met with pleasant surprise, and an overwhelming sense of pride as most of their party were at their feet, with mostly makeshift weapons at the ready. An odd sort of chuckle escaped from the wizened man. Somber, yet reverberating with no small amount of pride.
"All right then. Gather 'round, we don't have much time so listen well and memorise what I say three times." He faintly heard his daughter try calling out to him, but she was quickly hushed to silence by his beloved. "I will not sugarcoat our situation here. Our home is lost. Whatever remains of it is burning to ash as we speak. As for our chances?" He chucked without mirth at their worrying expressions. "Several King Taijutsu, Ursae Major... and I am pretty sure I heard the call of a Nuckaleeve not too far away from the village limits. That's not to begin considering the countless number of fodder grimm in between."
As if the fact most of the grimm out there were fodder-tier soothed any. They were outnumbered. And outgunned, so to speak.
"So.. what are we going to do?" Ah, one of the more promising lads, Reo hummed as the speaker stepped forth. Given plenty of training, the sandy blonde would make a fine Huntsman. Easily, up to the likes of an elite given enough experience in the field. But as it stands, the boy was merely one of the blacksmiths of their village. A very capable one, albeit, but a blacksmith with hardly any hand in combat nonetheless. "We're up to our necks, we can't possibly manage an all out assault..."
"That is why I propose something more akin to guerilla warfare, Citrine." Reo waggled a finger. He withdrew a knife from a sheath clasped around his thigh, dragging the point across the floor to depict the general layout of their home and their exact position."From what I saw out there, most of the grimm and our Huntsmen were centralised here." He'd indicated a point somewhere near the western end of the village. It made sense, he'd only just realised at that moment. The village gates were at the western border, and most of their Huntsmen were lodged in that area whereas the opposite of the village was unreachable for the most part. And even if they were approached by naval means, any and all outsiders would quickly be seen crossing the massive lake.
"We can use the tunnels to make some rounds around the village." he continued, indicating another set of thick steel doors on the other end of the room. "Our current plight warrants enough reason to make use of our last resort contingency--there are several powerful dust bombs carefully stored along the tunnels. We will all go to arm them along the borders of the village, rendezvous back here, and bring the grimm down with it."
"You're asking us to destroy our home!" Someone else had shrieked at him, but Reo never looked up from his makeshift map. He only focused on keeping track of what little time they had left to act.
"I am asking you all to put in the effort to survive. The few of you much younger than the likes of me and your other elders--I understand that you are afraid, and that this seems entirely wrong, but the rest of us knows what's at stake. Your friends and loved ones out there fighting do as well. They know fully well what can happen in the next few minutes. They are content to sacrifice themselves for the good of the village, even if only a few of us make it out of this nightmare."
"I don't want to do this." that same person argued, stamping their feet in a futile display of finality.
"Then you can sit this out while the rest of us fight." Reo snapped. While he should know better than to lose his temper, especially to someone who barely looked to be in their early twenties, maybe even late teens, they were losing more and more time with every word spoken."This area should be well buffered from the bombs. Once we return and set them off, we will pick off any stragglers that find themselves in the resulting crater. Be mindful of Nevermore overhead and the possibility of the Nuckaleeve surviving the blast. If anyone spots a Nuckaleeve, we haul ass out of here and make for the lake. Hopefully, we still have a few boats intact. They should be enough to outrun most of the grimm."
Sighing, Reo met each and every one of their eyes. Trepidation, restrained fear, even doubt littered every other member of their small party. But flitters of hope sparked to life all the same. They just had to do their best and stick to the plan. Maybe, just maybe, they would be able to walk away from this shit-show and live another day.
"Aside from you," he pointedly dismissed the upstart, "who else wants to sit out? Again, you will not be shamed, nor will anything be held against you. This last ditch effort.." He resisted wincing again. He had already failed in staying confident for them all to rally behind his words. He didn't want to falter again. Not when everything was on a very thin line now. "Well, you must be ready to give your life. To acknowledge you may lose a loved one apart from the brave men and women fighting up there." Reo dipped his head in respect for those mentioned. "Make your decision now. We will advance in two minutes."
Without another word, Reo turned to face his wife and daughter. Immediately, they fell into his embrace. Tears were to be expected, but Reo would be proud to admit that the tears he was shedding were in the name of protecting his family. His two priceless lights in the darkness that was the world around them.
"Reo..." Yuna sobbed, cradling her husband's head to her own.
"Stay here with Rei, dear...Protect her." Reo did his best to smile for them. He knew fully well that they saw right through him, but damn it all if he didn't try. "I will be back. You'll hardly notice my little trip."
"Ever the dork I'd fallen in love with since that night you tried to serenade me." Yuna laughed, albeit with sobs wracking her voice.
"Hey, I'm no singer. But you know damned well I played that violin like a pro." He grinned, eyes bright with mirth and loving. Yuna only gave another weak laugh and held her husband's hand in a death grip. Reo easily saw her contemplating not letting him go.
Looking down, he met eyes with his little Rei. "Hey there, my sweet little Moonlight, I'm going to go for just a little bit, okay?"
...
Rei struggled to get her words out. "D-D-Dad--" a hiccup, and a rather painful one at that, only encouraged the girl shed more tears. "You always s-say that it's not-t-t--it's not okay to lie..."
Her father smiled, and she hated how obvious her father was trying his best not to break down in front of her. Her father was the strongest man she knew. He shouldn't be crying. It was the scariest thing she'd ever seen. Scarier than the monsters they had barely escaped from not too long ago above ground.
She almost wanted to hide behind her mother when her father gave a laugh as he wiped a tear that managed to escape his eyes. "And why are you bringing that up all of a sudden, hm?"
"I... I can.. I can hear it in your voice." Rei tried. "You're going away." She'd meant those words in way of death, but she couldn't bring herself to say such a thing. Not with her father. Not him.
"I know it's scary, baby, I know.." He drew her in for a hug again and Rei held him as tight as she could muster with her small frame. Her father was strong. He was strong. He wasn't weak.
Not like her.
They were going to die. All of them.
"Let me promise you, Rei, okay? I promise that I'll see you again, in no time at all."
Whether that'd be alive, or in the afterlife, Rei knew was what he tried to say. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't want to turn her into a complete mess either. Rei sometimes wished she was stupid. She'd be able to easily digest his words and be happily oblivious. She really wished she was stupid.
"Okay.. Dad?"
"I love you, Moonlight."
"Love you t-too, Dad..."
Rei felt her father plant a kiss to her cheek, along with a loving ruffle of her hair from his rough hand. She also heard her parents kiss above her, whilst trying to ignore the hot droplets of tears they leaked onto the top of her head.
They will die.
"Protect her, my love." she heard her father whisper.
"I will. Come back to me, Reo. Please."
"I'll always be with you, my beautiful cresce--"
Then, it happened. Like she knew it would. Again. It was never different, no matter how many times she suffered through it.
First, came the tremors. Then, came the scream. It was the same as always. Bloodcurdling, threatening to shatter her eardrums. Her entire world felt like it was shaking, like some sick case of tinnitus. The distinct, visceral sound of gore splattering about across the room. She felt those same droplets pepper her arm and her father's back.
The unshakeable grip of fear returned. It was the same as always, like the rest, but she'd never be used to it. It held her like a frosty vice, threatening to suck out whatever air she had in her lungs. Her eyes, wide and frantic, tracked the dark form of the scorpion-like grimm that was the massive deathstalker. It was halfway burrowed into what was supposed to be their safe room. It's latest victim lay in two areas of the room at the same time, bisected and organs splayed around in a gory, gruesome manner.
She used to talk to that boy every day. He was a good friend, the blacksmith apprentice. His eyes had always been filled with a warm excitement, eager for all of his little projects scattered around in the smithy. His eyes were dull now. Staring at nothing with hardly any evidence that he had seen what was coming.
Once her parents fully recognised the threat in the room, another deathstalker burrowed its way inside, but from the opposite angle. It had impaled one of the older women in the group on its way to surfacing, the stinger easily making short work of the bloody mess that used to be her skull.
Their auras weren't roused in time. Pity. Such a fatal flaw in trying to stay undetectable from the grimm.
It was probably her fault, Rei slowly registered as the rest of the party scrambled to action. Everyone had been doing their best to stay calm, but she? She had been crying her eyes out the entire time like a big, big baby. She had probably been pouring out negativity like a fountain.
Another shock of ice gripped her heart as two more villagers fell victim to the deathstalkers. Her father was shouting for everyone to group up and attack, but in the panic of the situation, no one could manage anything.
They died so easily. But painfully. You couldn't do anything.
They were dropping like flies. Her father managed a to slice off the stinger of the first deathstalker, but the second one was making short work of the other villagers while he was preoccupied. Their makeshift weapons did nothing to the grimm's natural armour. It was her second reality check. The first being, that people died all the time in the world. The second... They were all ill-equipped in their fight against the monsters Remnant had to offer.
Such a hopeless endeavour to survive.
Hopeless, it was. Rei faintly registered the ache at the base of her throat. It was an odd thing, to realise that you had been screaming your lungs out the entire time and yet, you couldn't hear yourself at all. Her world was so muffled, and the shaking never subsided. If anything, it got worse, and she felt like she was going to fall over and throw up everywhere.
You'd drown in your own puddle of vomit if you do that, stupid girl.
The whispers were always there. They never gave her a break. She couldn't exactly tell the differences among them. Whether they were human or inhuman. Whether they vaguely resembled a man's voice, or a woman's, or a child's, or an animal's. She just couldn't tell. But they were always loud. So loud. It hurt her head. Like the time she fell from the porch and gave herself a concussion, but worse.
Her father managed to block a deadly swipe of pincers, but the deathstalker managed to force him into the wall. Screeching, it made to end him, but her father--oh, her father, the strong man that he was, managed to roll out of the way of its sharp legs. Scrambling to his feet, he screamed for assistance, but he would receive none.
He glowed that orange glow that Rei had only ever seen once before, and that was earlier above ground. He had explained it was his aura. His semblance, being, its unique weapon. His superpower. Rei had wondered if having aura truly made a difference. By the looks of things, and what was to come, it probably didn't that much.
She faintly heard her mother scream for her.
No... How could she have forgotten? Or maybe, this time, she could finally bring herself to look away?
Alas, she couldn't. Her vision flooded with tears, her world bathed in a haunting, suffocating red, Rei turned around to see her mother standing tall, albeit shakily, with her facing away with arms out wide in a protective manner.
Even as she knew what was coming, nothing stopped the eruption of blood dousing her entire front. Some made it into her eyes, and Rei frantically wiped at them to clear her vision. But by the time she managed it, her mother was already on the ground, spread-eagle and lifeless.
Her image would forever haunt Rei's memories. Blood leaking in droves from her mother's mouth and from the gaping hole in her middle, eyes frozen wide and fearful, and her favourite dress permanently stained with viscera, Yuna Akatsuki ceased to breathe without giving her daughter the chance to say goodbye. Or that she loved her.
Rei would forever miss the sound of her mother's voice.
What a weak woman. Even with aura and having served the kingdoms all those years ago, she couldn't even fight and defend her daughter.
"NO! YUNA!"
Rei fell to her knees, tasting the saltiness of her tears as she let out a hoarse, near silent wail . She wished she could do something. She wished she could change this chain of events, even just slightly. She just wanted her parents back. But Rei know that she wouldn't. It was pointless. Her own wishes were irrelevant to the world.
As the deathstalker before her chittered and readied its stinger to claim her as its newest victim, her mind's eye saw Reo desperately rushing to her rescue only to be impeded by the other two deathstalkers in the room. She remembered someone screaming for her to move, but Rei was frozen. Her legs had lost all feeling, and the girl couldn't bring herself to look away from her mother's corpse.
So cowardly when faced with danger. Your fellow villagers really were weak, weren't they? Look at them.
Time slowed to a crawl, but Rei didn't take heed of any of it. Her only focus was her mother, noting the stray lock of hair in front of her mother's left eye. Rei idly wondered if she should fix it out of the way.
LOOK AT THEM.
Rei winced. The voices' demands painfully bounced back and forth in her mind. Biting her lip, she turned her eyes to the scene behind her, again wishing things had played out differently. And the more she did, the more she chided herself. Such childish wishes did nothing for her.
Whatever was left of the villagers all lay in bleeding shambles in every corner of the room. A fresh new wave of tears threatened to overwhelm her vision as she noted all the blood, the dismembered limbs, the gaping holes that peppered every other body. Some of the villagers were still alive, if barely, though they were more horrifying to watch--croaking or moaning in agony as they were. One was trying to crawl towards their severed leg, another lay screaming to the heavens as they had been reduced to a mere torso without arms, one trying to gasp for air only to choke on their own blood as the gash across their neck threatened to drain them of their life force in seconds.
Useless. Useless. Useless. All of them.
A couple dozen lives lost just like that. And your father? A disgrace of a Huntsman. He couldn't protect any of you even with his strength. Useless.
You're weak and useless.
Rei pleaded for it all to end. She already knew how the rest of the hellish nightmare would unfold. She wished she wasn't just a little girl. Big girls never don't get nightmares. They're brave. They're strong.
You are neither of those things. Don't kid yourself.
By the sounds of things, time had resumed its normal pace, but Rei managed to keep her eyes shut. Fat lot of good that did, as she could still see everything happen in her mind's eye. Her father would land a killing blow on one of the deathstalkers, but the other had circled around him, readying its wicked stinger. The one behind her lay in a heap of disintegrating grimmflesh, a smoking crater in the place of where its head should be. Rei assumed her father had utilised his semblance to kill it from afar like he had with the beringel.
Oh, how it felt like her brain was turning to mush. Hot, churning mush. Rei wanted to scream it all out, but her vocal cords refused to function anymore. Her eyes felt dried out from all the crying, yet her cheeks felt raw from all the tears. Everything hurt, but everything felt far away at the same time.
Your father is about to die.
She refused to look this time.
He was far too weakened from the use of his semblance. Pity.
She tried blocking her ears from everything that came next, but the ugly sounds would still pervade her mind.
Right though the stomach. The venom would have made it a slow, painful death, but pincers are sharp, see? Decapitations work faster.
It wanted to get to its meal. Look, Reiya, it's coming for you.
She hated this part too, even though she knew it wasn't how things ended. Her father had died taking down the last deathstalker with him, and she would later stumble her out of the storage room. She would find that the village eerily quiet save for the sounds of feeding grimm. The girl would then sneak her way to the boats and by dumb luck, sped her way across the lake to begin her new life as a travelling thief making ends meet for herself.
But the voices always changed the memory at the very end. They always tortured her in one way or another. This time, it seemed, she'd be eaten alive by the deathstalker and though she knew very well that was not to be her fate, she would experience it as if it were real. The pincers would be real. The mandibles would be real. The stinger and its venom would be real.
She felt invisible hands forcing her eyes open. Rei was helpless as the grimm closed the distance between the two. In that moment, Rei thought of the last time this had happened to her. It had been a giant nevermore, right? She had been kept alive as it picked her bones clean of flesh. Its beak had been so sharp.
Then, Rei heard something, and it wasn't the voices. Nor was it the cries of the twisted deathstalker in front of her. She likened the noise to cracking glass, especially as the noise turned into an ear-splitting cacophony of something violently shattering.
"Ah, there you are, bondmate mine."
Who was that? It didn't sound like the voices. No, it was too to distinguish, but it was unreadable at the same time. Then Rei saw its owner, that being a great shadow emerging from an odd void that stretched across her field of vision. The shadow was merely that. A shadow, with no clear features she could make out save for the two pinpricks of white she assumed to be its eyes.
"Get away from me..." Rei rasped, scooting back some. The shadow didn't make to approach her. Only, it tilted its head as if curious. "Go. Away."
"As much as I would normally adhere to your wishes, I must refuse just this once. I am here to bring you home, partner mine."
"I don't know you." Rei said carefully. "You're making the nightmare stop, so thank you. But you're scary too. Really scary."
A snort. "Am I? Forgive me, Reiya, it was not my intention to intimidate you." She didn't attempt to respond to that, and the shadow continued. "You seem to have forgotten me. How worrying."
"You feel like that." Rei pointed to the deathstalker.
"I am much more than this pathetic excuse of a grimm."
"But..you are one..?"
"I am more. Nevertheless, we must return to the matter at hand. Please, partner mine, return to the waking world with me."
Rei was startled. "You can take me away from here, sir?"
"And more. I will protect you. I will provide consul. You have my loyalty."
"...How do I know you're not lying to me, sir? You can be like the voices. They want me to hurt. A lot."
"I do not wish you harm, Reiya. Heed my words, as they are a promise."
"...You feel a little different too." Rei managed to get to her feet, mindful of her late mother behind her. She tried not to pay the image any mind, nor the image behind the shadow. "You feel like the monster, but you feel a little like... us."
"Human, you mean?"
"I... guess so?" That was the best she could describe it. The shadow felt dangerous, very dangerous. But she somehow knew it felt like.. like it was alive. Not like the grimm. But it was also like the grimm. Everything was so confusing. So, so confusing.
"Another mark of growth, I would reckon. That aside, we must depart, Reiya. You need not suffer this nightmare any further."
"...Okay. I'll go with you. But... if you hurt me, please make it quick. I'm really tired..."
Her words seem to stall the entity. Though, only for a moment. It slowly closed the distance between the two of them and lowered itself to her eye-level. Rei looked away at first, but something urged her to look again. And when she did, she was immediately filled with a sense of warmth and sanctuary. Without another word, she felt her strength failing her, and fell.
She felt the shadow catch and hold her close. Her eyes struggled to stay open, especially with the warmth pervading her body.
"I would sooner reduce myself to one of the False Queen's mindless puppets before harming you. You are safe with me."
"Can... Can you bring Mom and Dad with me? Please?"
The shadow paused and looked at her mother's corpse, then behind it at her father. The shadow then looked at her once more with a slow shake of its head. "I cannot. Forgive me, Reiya."
She started to cry again.
"You cannot return from the meeting with Death. Nor can you avoid Death altogether. Allow me to soothe your heart, Reiya. Although I know very little of your parents, I speak with the utmost confidence that they are watching over you with the greatest of pride. Their daughter has come very far from this day, and they would wish only for her to use her strength and courage to make the best of her life."
She cried harder. Much more than before, even. Rei didn't register the shadow resting its muzzle on the top of her head.
"We must leave now.."
"O-Okay...Bye Mom.. Bye Dad... I love you.."
She felt her word grow dark, all sense of feeling slowly filtering away to nothing. But it was comforting. It was an escape, she knew.
"Thank you.."
Rei had to get that out before anything else. She didn't want to leave without letting the shadow know what he had done for her. It wouldn't sit well with her.
"Naturally, little one."
Rei saw black.
..
AN: I was on such a good roll when I started this chapter! Like you would not believe. I'll admit, it came out later than intended, my physical fatigue and writer's block rearing it's ugly head again, but here it is.
I also spent a good amount of time doing my best to proofread this one. Not like I didn't with past chapter's mind you, but this one felt extra special to me for whatever reason--
Nah, just joking. All to your responses made this chapter special to me. They truly did. I know it's not the longest chapter I've had (actually, do you all prefer shorter or longer chapters? Let me know!), around 8/9k compared to the 10-12/13k, but I wanted to set a pace for myself again. Especially since I'll finally be headed home soon, I don't want to be burned out between this special project of mine and trying to accustom myself to my flat again, and everyone with it.
I've noticed on my initial write up of this chapter that it's actually difficult to gauge the effectiveness of aura within the RWBY universe. In the show, it sometimes worked like a healing factor. Injury-heal, provided you had enough in your reserves. Sometimes, it was an outright shield like the lore depicts it to be--like some of the fights between the main cast, or during the spars in Beacon. Shield potential injury, especially with large aura reserves. But there's at least one consistency I've noticed when it comes to aura. Inertia still exists. Sure, you can outright deflect a bullet to the face, but I imagine the inertia would still follow through and give your brain a good shake, wouldn't it? Would be a nasty headache, that. I also don't understand why the characters don't keep their auras up all the time. Not full blast, but just enough to ward off surprise attacks leading to sustaining injury. It's supposed to be a shield, an extension of their souls. It seems so much like an unnecessary risk to mind the fact you'd have to reactivate your aura time and time again on the fly.
Anyway, hope you all find this chapter satisfying, haha. I'll be getting started on the next one tomorrow, I think, hopefully without writer's block.
Thank you all for taking the time to give this story a shot, and those of you who have left me both kind words and helpful criticism.
-sinsofone
P.S. I fucking hate how every time I edit or upload a chapter, the fanfiction's mobile app does something like get rid of spaces between words or add gaps between paragraphs. Or how it undos some of the italics and bold I've got going. Annoying, annoying. Need to replace my laptop already.