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RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth, Salt and Sanctuary belongs to SKA studios.
EPI: The End
A pair of armored boots stepped softly into the water. A bottle floated ashore, carried by the lapping waves. A heavy gauntleted hand plucked the bottle out of the water. A message lay inside the bottle. The man smiled and removed the helm that had once belonged to a nameless god. He unrolled the letter and read it.
Spectre,
It has been six months now… I've come to terms with the fact that you aren't coming back. I miss you… Weiss misses you… everyone misses you. Second year classes have started up. A lot of Vale is livable again. The kingdoms are still pretty ruined, but we're making do. Beacon has been, somewhat, repaired; our team is back. Pyrrha and Blake came back. No clue where Blake was, but she's here now. We are still team SSBRN… though I guess it's just SBRN now. It doesn't feel the same without you.
Professor Goodwitch was made into Headmistress, which is kinda cool. I was made sole team leader. The Darkened are being accepted into most of the academies, though there's a lot of hostility towards them. Ren and Nora have returned. Apparently, they were among the first to be converted to Darkened. With Azredak gone, they have their minds back. Their abilities have changed, but they're still the same people as before. Except Nora. Nora has a craving for flesh for some reason. Ren refuses to explain. Nora just says its tasty.
The Darkborn dissolve now. It seems with Azredak's power this far removed that they are acting more like Grimm again. The Darkborn are still numerous, but their numbers are falling. The Inquisitor hasn't been found yet. Though, some Huntsmen did find the unfinished construction of his church.
With my and Weiss's help, we charted a course to Aurum. No one, not even professor Goodwitch, has seen Professor Oobleck since. I think he quit teaching to study Remnant's past. Can't say I blame him. After the adventure we had, it's kinda hard to return to normal life. There have been rumors going around that Aurum may become a new settlement for Vale, but I haven't seen any hard facts about that yet.
Francis hasn't been seen either, although Weiss tells me that there have been rumors outside Atlas of a 'hulking black night and brown-haired girl laying waste to any Grimm near the settlements.' Her words, not mine.
Our team is officially the number one team in the school. Goodwitch thinks we can make number one in Remnant by the end of next year, if we work hard.
Oh, there is one other thing. You remember the statue that once stood in the courtyard of Beacon? Weiss was able to convince her father to commission a statue of you to replace it. But the sculptors couldn't get your face right, so Weiss had them carve your pumpkin helm instead of your head. She actually still has that helm. She keeps it because of the memories it evokes… and because it smells delightfully of pumpkin.
Weiss says hi, by the way.
I don't even know if these messages are getting through. I know if you got them and could respond you would, but
But I'm still going to send them. If you are getting them, and can't send anything back, at least you know you aren't forgotten. We miss you Spectre. Come back someday. Remnant will always have a place for you.
Your friend,
Ruby Rose
Spectre chuckled as he rolled up the paper and put it back in the bottle. Nothing could return. The well was a one-way street. He had tried. He had only woken up on the Shivering Shore once again. That didn't stop Ruby from faithfully sending him a message every month on Remnant's time.
Spectre sighed and began walking back to the Still Palace.
The island was so lonely. Without the Nameless God being there, life had died out. Nothing lived on the island, save for the plants. Not even the guardians, guides, and service men of the sanctuaries had survived.
The only noises ever heard on the island were distant storms, the dripping of water in the caves, the lapping of waves on the beach and the occasional sounds of Spectre, the Last Darkborn. It had been so long since he had seen Remnant.
He chuckled mirthlessly as he reminisced on his last sixty years of isolation.
"Even if I wanted to return, little Rose, I couldn't." Spectre sighed.
He walked back to the well, an old light blue bottle in hand. He had long ago given up hope that anything would make it out of the island. Ironic, it was his dominion now. He had no delusions of godhood; he had no wishes for power. The only thing Spectre wanted was a companion. The corpses and plants were only good for decoration.
He dropped the bottle through the well, praying to every deity of Salis, every deity he could think of in the hopes that one heard his plea and sent the message through. He prayed that Ruby would get this message, so at least she knew hers were being read.
With one more silent plea, Spectre dropped the message in a bottle.
His hope burned a little stronger when he didn't hear it splash into the waters below. Spectre sat on the edge of the well. Perfectly content to sit and wait. Patience was a virtue, and he had nothing but time to pass.
"I don't think we'll ever meet again." Spectre whispered melancholically, to the dark. "Remnant and Salis should never have met in the first place. It's just a fundamental difference between the two of us. You are creatures of good, born of dust, mortal. I am not. I am a creature of this island.
Bound by sanctuary.
Born of Salt.
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Data Log BoS 041
Thus, ends Born of Salt. It's always so bittersweet reaching this point. As I said two chapters ago, I simply ran out of ideas for how to continue this. However, in the future, I may return for a sequel. It is unlikely, but I may. Actually, with this note I wanted to tell a funny little story about this story.
The first draft of CH1: The Saltborn was written about 2 years before I posted it to this site. It underwent a near complete revision when I decided to actually turn the idea into a full-fledged story. However, the basic premise remained unchanged. It all started with "What if the Saltborn found their way to Remnant?" The nameless god following along came about because I realized that I needed a villain who could handily match the Saltborn and justify bringing through more characters from Salt and Sanctuary.
As for why I had the first draft of the first chapter just sitting in a folder on my computer? A piece of writing advice. If you go and read some of my older stories, you'll quickly notice that the writing is crap. An issue that was told to me in much more constructive words than that. So, to get better at writing, I looked up some tips to improve my writing. The only thing I remember is this:
A half-baked idea written down is worth infinitely more than a fully formed idea that never leaves your head.
Anyways, thanks to all who have read this, your feedback was much appreciated. I thank you all for joining in this journey.
Goodbye viewer; Fare thee well.
End Log S.T.K.