Oh boy, time for a new chapter of Silver Spectre. This was orignially meant to be a shorter chapter, but that idea was quickly scraped when I realized I hadn't written a fight scene in at least two chapters and felt the urge to write one. So yeah, this chapter which was meant to be maybe three thousand words is now over eight thousand words. Oops.
Whatever. Just a heads up, there's been a slight time skip since the end of the last major chapter. I wasn't about to write eight chapters worth of Weiss and Ruby traveling by boat to Anima before traveling across the continent. That would be boring. I just wanted to give that heads up because I know that when I read stories sometimes I get annoyed when it skips over a part that I thought would be interesting. Trust me, it wouldn't be.
This chapter is more character based then story based, but it does a nice job of summing up their journey across the continent so far. At least I hope it does. That's for you readers to decide. Please feel free to leave review, and I hope you enjoy this newest chapter:
The pounding of footsteps behind them spurred Weiss and Ruby to quicken their pace as they rushed through the woods. The Atlesian girl didn't bother looking back, simply weaving past trees and jumping over roots. Her enchanted armor protected her from any bushes or twigs that would've scrapped her legs, but her face had no such protection. Several sticks had snapped across her face, leaving angry red marks across her pale skin.
Ruby didn't need to worry about any of this as she phased through the bushes and trees in her way, partially dissolving into silver flame to help her pass through them unhindered. The spectral girl did lag behind a bit to check on their pursuers, who were following close behind. The forest did little to slow them down and only hindered Weiss instead.
Eventually, the duo came across a large clearing in the shape of a rough circle. A few boulders were scattered along the edges and the ground was rough dirt, but there were no twigs or logs to trip over. It would do. Ruby saw Weiss slide to a stop halfway into the clearing and whirl around, drawing her sword as she did so. She adopted a fighting stance and waited for their foes to follow them.
They didn't have to wait long.
A pack of snarling Beowolves broke through the tree line and rushed towards the girl. Numbering around a dozen, these creatures had chased them off of the path they'd been traveling and needed to be dealt with. Ruby watched Weiss breath deeply before lunging forward to meet the first Grimm, who rose to stand on two legs and swipe at her.
Her friend ducked under the clumsy attack and brought her sword up in a vertical slash, severing the arm in a single motion. The creature howled in pain, but Weiss paid it no mind as she rolled out of the way of another Beowolf that had tried to bite her. Landing in a crouch, Weiss shot forward and pierced the monster's glaring red eye. As the Grimm dissolved into darkness, the injured one erratically lunged towards her, only to end up impaled on her blade.
"Behind you, left!" Ruby cried out from above as one of the more cunning creatures tried finding her blind spot. Weiss slightly nodded to acknowledge her warning before pivoting around to avoid the creatures charge and driving her sword into its chest. The Grimm slumped over and began to dissolve like its brethren.
"Two from the right!" Ruby warned suddenly as a pair of Grimm began to close the distance. Weiss rolled forward to avoid the first one's swipe then stumbled backwards to dodge the second's attempt to grasp her in its jaws. The swordswoman let loose a flurry of thrusts into the two creatures before making a sweeping slash that removed both of their snarling heads.
Ruby noticed another Grimm behind Weiss tense up for a lunge, but based on the slight glance she cast over her shoulder she'd noticed it too. There was no point calling that one out if she'd already seen it. The monster's fate was sealed when it leapt forward, soaring through the air towards her.
Weiss charged forward to meet it before dropping into a slide. The Beowolf made a confused noise as Weiss lifted her sword above her. The rapier tore a jagged red gash through the Beowolf as it jumped over her. Black mist poured from the wound like blood before the beast let out one last pained snarl and vanished.
Another Beowolf took its place and charged towards Weiss. The girl scoffed before dancing to the side and countering with a strike to its side. Another Beowolf tried to sneak up behind her, but Ruby called a warning in time for Weiss to stab blindly over her shoulder, puncturing its throat and killing it. The Beowolf who'd charged them tried to avenge it but failed when Weiss slashed across its stomach, dying like all the rest.
That had been eight. Just four left. Weiss realized this too, and backpedaled closer to the edge of the clearing. The Beowolves blindly followed, rushing towards her without wondering why she wanted to gain distance. This worked against them when Weiss quickly drew a glyph in the air in a matter of seconds before activating it with the tip of Myrtenaster.
The simple-looking glowed light blue as it spun in the air, gathering droplets of water that coalesced into large orbs. The obs suddenly elongated into spikes that jetted outwards, ripping through Grimm flesh with ease. The two unfortunate Beowolves in front were torn apart by the water spikes, while the third had its arm broken when one hit it. The last one received only a few scrapes, as the two in front had taken the brunt of the attack.
Weiss channeled both aura and Dust into her blade, wreathing it in fire. She lunged towards the monster whose arm she'd broken and sliced it cleanly in two. The final Beowolf cautiously backed up when Weiss whirled to face him before its instincts got the better of it and it rushed forwards, ignoring its small amount of intelligence that told it running would be the smarter option.
Ruby almost felt bad for the Grimm as it leapt into the air and tried to tackle Weiss. The girl had simply smirked and flicked her blade up in a wide slash, sending an arc of fire flying towards it. The Beowolf let out a fearful whimper as the flames connected with its body, bisecting it vertically. The two halves of the Beowolf began to dissolve at the same time, quickly vanishing from the clearing.
As dark smoke drifted lazily into the clear blue sky, Weiss and Ruby shared a relieved look. The ex-heiress twirled her sword and made to sheath it, but stopped when a sudden thud echoed around them. The pair began to look around, trying to find where the sound had come from, only for another thud to sound out across the forest, startling birds from the trees. It was much closer now.
More thuds drew closer and closer rhythmically. Ruby was able to pinpoint the direction they were coming from and turned to face it. She couldn't go out into the forest to find whatever made the noise, and trying to see from above was impossible with the dense canopy. She was as blind as Weiss was, and even more helpless. She could only watch as her friend turned to face the same direction and braced herself for whatever was coming.
A massive black shape hurtled out of the woods with a bestial roar, startling Weiss. The blue-eyed woman threw herself to the side to avoid the Grimm that had burst out from the forest and slammed into the spot she'd just been standing in. Ruby instantly recognized it from the books about Mistralian Grimm she and Weiss had read.
With arms as thick as a person and short stubby legs, the creature held itself up and rose to its full height, beating its arms against its chest. A Beringel. Ruby had never seen one in person before, but she'd heard how deadly they could be. Their strength and durability was obvious just looking at one, but they were also surprisingly agile and able to leap great distances.
The Beringel didn't give them a chance to recover, immediately swiping its arm out at them. Weiss managed to duck under it but was forced to sidestep a powerful uppercut. She countered with two rapid strikes on the monster's arm, but they didn't cut very deep. The ape-like monster roared again and raised its hands to crush her, forcing her to dive between its legs.
As the creature slammed its fists into the ground, Weiss rose to her feet and stabbed its knee from the side. She had clearly used enhancement magic to strengthen herself, as the blade pierced all the way through and stuck out the other side. The Grimm grunted in pain as it fell to the ground, but managed to lash out with its injured leg and kick Weiss away.
Ruby cried out in fear when she saw the pale girl fly backwards before sliding to a stop. That kick had easily launched her over ten feet. Fortunately, it seemed her armor had taken most of the force of the blow, sending her backwards but not shattering her bones. Though she did clutch her arm in pain, Ruby could tell it wasn't broken or fractured. Weiss probably just had a bruise.
"Damn it! A Beringel? They didn't warn us about this," Weiss complained as the Beringel struggled to rise to its feet using its powerful arms,
"Maybe they didn't know it was here?" Ruby offered without really believing it. Weiss clearly didn't believe it either, given the disbelieving look on her face.
Neither girl had any more time to say anything else, as the Beringel had gotten back up and quickly leapt towards them. Weiss rolled to the side to avoid a quick jab and responded with a series of thrusts into its unguarded side. Her rapier's tip only sank an inch at most into the creature's flesh each time, but it still felt the pain given the angry roar it made.
Weiss danced out of the way of an arm that swung at her, but Ruby didn't bother trying to move out of the way. The arm passed through her as she dissolved into silver flames before reforming in time to see Weiss dodge another slam and slash the Grimm's stomach a few times before she was forced to fall back.
Despite what it may have seemed, Weiss wasn't doing so well against this Grimm. She'd only managed to land one meaningful hit when she'd pierced its knee. Everything else had been surface-level scratches that only caused it pain. She, however, had been pouring aura into her legs to help her dodge its attacks. In a battle of attrition, the Beringel would win.
Weiss knew this too, which is why she stopped countering its attacks and instead focused on just dodging. She sidestepped punches and evaded kicks, dancing away from slams and pivoting to avoid being grabbed. The Beringel was growing annoyed, which meant it was getting sloppy. Eventually, one of them was bound to make a critical error.
Fortunately for them, the Grimm did first. Ruby and Weiss saw it at the exact same time as the dark monster stepped forward on its bad leg to try and smack her with its broad arms. Weiss pushed her aura into her legs and leapt over the attack, landing in a crouch before darting around to its blindspot. Once she was behind the creature, she channeled both aura and Dust into Myrtenaster.
Glowing yellow electricity ran along the blade as the Lightning Dust stored within filled the sword and was activated by her aura. Weiss swung her sword in a horizontal slash at the back of the Beringel's knee, cutting deep and leaving a deep wound that leaked black mist into the air. The Grimm roared in agony as electricity coursed throughout its body. Suddenly forced to bear its own weight entirely on its previously injured legs, the creature toppled to the ground in a heap.
Weiss quickly put some distance between it and her, running about halfway across the clearing before coming to a stop. She drew several glyphs Ruby recognized in the air with practiced ease and activated them one by one, launching a barrage of magical attacks at the Grimm.
Streaks of multicolored light shot from one glyph towards the Grimm before exploding in bright colors, while another glyph created glowing yellow chains that wrapped around its arm and restrained it. A third glyph spun in the air, slowly creating fist-sized rocks that shot towards the downed Grimm and broke against its shoulder. The last glyph spun in the air rapidly as a cyclone of wind shot from it, kicking up a cloud of dirt that blinded it.
Despite the magical bombardment, the Grimm was still alive and didn't seem to be grievously injured. The Beringel turned its head to glare balefully at Weiss, and Ruby saw the muscles on its restrained arm tense up as it jerked its arm forward. The chains strained to hold the arm back, but after several more tugs the magic snapped and the glyph disappeared.
Weiss scowled and began to create a much larger and more complex glyph. Ruby recognized it as one that would launch arrows made of white light out to pierce whatever was in front of them. But the glyph never had the chance to be finished. Ruby turned to look at the Beringel and barely had time to scream out a warning.
"Weiss, move!" She panicked as one of the boulders that had been in the clearing hurtled towards them. Roughly twice the size of a person, the boulder gracelessly twisted through the air before slamming into the spot Weiss had just been in, cutting off Ruby's view of her. The ghostly girl felt her heart stop. But when she heard the familiar sound of Weiss panting in exhaustion, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Only for that panic to return in full force when she noticed the incomplete glyph next to her. Weiss had once explained that glyphs that weren't drawn correctly or were incomplete did one of three things when activated. Either they vanished and did nothing, they backfired on the mage who activated it, or they exploded. Only one of those options sounded good.
The gods must have been looking out for them, though, because the glyph simply began to break apart and dissolve into the air without a flow of magic sustaining it. Weiss struggled to her feet, only to yelp in surprise as yet another boulder was thrown towards them. This one's trajectory was slightly off, crushing Ruby instead. The spectre simply dissolved and reformed herself out from underneath the rock.
The Beringel beat its chest angrily and hobbled over to the third and final boulder in the clearing. It shuffled awkwardly as it moved, dragging itself along with its arms while its legs mostly hung limply, only occasionally supporting it for a brief second. Weiss really had done a number on it.
"It's still alive?" Weiss said in a mix of annoyance and surprise. "Those books weren't kidding. Beringels just don't know when to give up."
Ruby shrugged. "Well it's not like we haven't been trying. But this is starting to look bad. You may have only gotten hit once, but that one hit managed to send you flying. And from how much you've been dodging, you can't have much Aura left," She surmised, to which Weiss gave a nod in agreement.
"Then it looks like there's only one thing left to do," The noble declared as she turned to her friend with a small smile. "Why don't we see if this thing can withstand our little trick?" She smugly suggested as Ruby's eyes widened. She really wanted to try using that?
"Are you sure? It hasn't exactly been consistent. It'd be bad if you used up the last of your Aura and ended up not even hurting it," Ruby warned, but Weiss just gave her a smile, confident that it would work. How could Ruby say no to that look?
"Fine. Let's do this!"
With that cry, Ruby dissolved once more into amorphous silver flames as Weiss reached out one hand towards her. The Beringel finally managed to limp over to the last boulder, but its attention was drawn away from the rock as bright silver light filled the clearing, radiating off of Weiss.
Ruby couldn't really describe the feeling of merging her Aura with Weiss's. The only word she could think to explain it was intimate. Not intimate in the sense of what two people got up to in their bedroom, but deeper than that. She was quite literally sharing her soul with her friend, allowing her to draw on her unused power to help her.
Their connection was built on the emotions they felt towards each other. Ruby's trust in her friend, her simple and childish admiration for her own knight straight out of a fairytale. Weiss's gratitude for her friend and her determination to help her no matter what. It was these emotions that fueled the silver flames that lit the clearing brighter than the midday sun.
But something held the connection back. No matter how many times they'd tried this, Weiss got no better at controlling Ruby's Aura. The ghostly girl couldn't exactly use it and required Weiss to direct it where to go, but for whatever reason they had never quite been able to figure out how to do so. Rather than the smooth and fluid way Weiss used her own Aura to enhance herself, using Ruby's Aura was like water pouring out of a dam. She couldn't control the amount, only the direction it went, and even then only barely.
Despite their inability to control this power well, Ruby and Weiss knew that this was their best chance at ending this fight quickly. Trying to finish off the creature with her dwindling Aura might result in Weiss being injured or killed, and Ruby wasn't willing to risk that. Even if they couldn't control the amount of power they used, it was still extremely effective against Grimm; their dark hides melted like butter before Ruby's Aura.
The Beringel had clearly had enough of waiting for them to move, as it seized the boulder lying next to it in two hands and hurled it towards them with both hands. Without its arms to support its wounded legs, the Grimm fell onto its back. Not that they could capitalize on the opening. They were too busy jumping to the left to avoid the rock that shattered against the ground beside them.
A few chunks of stone hit Weiss in the side, but Ruby could tell she was fine. She felt through Weiss's Aura that there was a brief pain before she managed to shrug it off. The ex-heiress corrected her stance and leveled Myrtenaster at her opponent, Ruby's Aura engulfing the blade as she felt more and more of her energy being pulled into the blade.
The Beringel roared in response to the obvious challenge but made no move to approach. Its legs were too injured for it to charge forward recklessly, and the Grimm was ancient enough to realize that doing so would guarantee its death. Instead, it waited for them to close the distance, throwing its arm out in a wide arc as soon as they got close.
Ruby, seeing through Weiss's eyes, knew that they were much too far away for that to have been an attempt to hit them. They'd been a good ten feet away when it had swung, so why had it attacked so early?
The answer came to her when she saw a wave of dust and dirt hurtle towards them, kicked up by the Beringel's swipe. Weiss held out an arm to cover her eyes, blocking her view from the foe ahead of her. She didn't even notice as the Grimm winded up for a punch. But Ruby did. She didn't need to view the world through Weiss's eyes. While she may not be able to see without them, she could still sense her surroundings.
"Weiss, dodge right!" Ruby called out within her soul as a black fist the size of her torso flew towards Weiss. The ex-heiress jerked to the side to avoid the attack at the last second and brought her blade up to slash at the arm that had nearly shattered her ribcage. The silver sword tore through the oozing black flesh like it was paper.
The Grimm stumbled back, its feral face twisted in agony as the deep wound poured out black mist like blood from an artery. Weiss didn't let up, however. Ruby could feel the confidence she felt as the Beringel backpedaled to get away. The rapier in Weiss's left hand sliced through its chest in a vertical slash with ease. The Beringel let out one last grunt of pain before Weiss ended its suffering with a flourish of her sword, decapitating it.
"Weiss, that was incredible!" Ruby exclaimed, still merged with Weiss as she did so. The white-haired girl looked around warily before breathing deeply, sheathing her sword and bending down to catch her breath.
"You really think so?" She asked unsurely even as Ruby excitedly chirped within her Aura.
"Of course I do!" Ruby explained as she began to separate her soul from her friend's. As the silver flames left Weiss's body, they coalesced into the shape of a young girl. "You were so cool! Dodging those punches like that, and taking out the Beringel's legs! You didn't mess up at all during that fight!"
"But I got hit, didn't I?"
"Well yeah, but think about the trade-off. You got a few bruises, maybe a broken rib, while the Beringel lost its leg. And how many other people can say they've survived being hit by a Beringel? Not many."
Weiss frowned. "I got distracted during the fight. I spent too much time complaining, and was nearly crushed because of that. I should've paid more attention."
"Nope. You did fine. No matter how much you try to be hard on yourself, I won't let you. There's no point beating yourself up about it," Ruby encouraged her, but Weiss just frowned.
"I can't just ignore the mistakes I made. I have to improve. That wasn't the last Grimm we're going to have to face on this journey. How will I ever get better if I refuse to acknowledge my mistakes?"
Ruby shook her head passionately. "That's not the problem. You can acknowledge your mistakes without sulking over them. You did fine Weiss. Yeah, you could've done better, but that doesn't mean you weren't cool. There's no need to be so harsh on yourself."
"Let's agree to disagree," Ruby frowned at her words. Weiss needed to see that she was holding herself to too high of a standard. Did she expect to have killed that Beringel as easily as she did a single Beowolf? "Besides, I only won thanks to your help. I'd never have won without you lending me your Aura," She countered, to which Ruby smiled.
"Anytime, Weiss. I'll always be willing to help you out however I can," She said with a smile, drawing a small one from Weiss as well. That was good. She wasn't being as gloomy as she usually was.
Unfortunately, frowny Weiss returned quickly. "I just wish I wasn't so bad at actually using this power," She murmured to herself. Ruby winced, but Weiss didn't notice. "It just doesn't make sense to me. Not to brag, but most forms of magic come naturally to me, so it's surprising I'm struggling so much with this."
"Maybe you aren't the one who's struggling," Ruby mumbled to herself. In truth, she knew that she was the one holding Weiss back from using her Aura to its full potential. It made sense. Their connection was tied to emotion. Whenever they felt the same way about something, the connection was stronger. Like back in Vale, when they'd used this power to save Blake. They'd both wanted to protect her, so it had given them the power to do that.
But it went both ways. When they weren't on the same page about something the connection was weaker and harder to control. And with the lingering guilt Ruby felt about forcing Weiss onto this quest, their Auras would never merge properly like they did back in Vale. They'd come close a few times whenever Weiss needed the power to protect herself, but the guilt always lurking in Ruby's soul held them back.
"But you're right. Dwelling on my failures doesn't bring us any closer to the next town," Weiss declared, breaking Ruby out of her self-deprecation. "What did you say its name was again?" The pale girl asked with a teasing smirk on her face. Ruby blushed at her words. It wasn't her fault she couldn't pronounce the name. She was from the island of Patch in the Kingdom of Vale. She wasn't used to Mistralian names.
"Higa- Higanaba? Higabana? Wait, no. Higanbannana!" Ruby cried out with the utmost confidence, wilting when she saw the mirth in Weiss's eyes. The white-haired girl tried to hide her snicker, but failed and burst into giggles.
"Do you mean Higanbana?"
Ruby blushed deeper. "That's what I said."
Weiss laughed harder. "It's not even that hard to remember. It's not a complicated name at all,"
"It's still longer than that last village. I liked that one better. Shion Village rolls off the tongue a lot better than Higa-whatever!" As Ruby defended herself, she felt her chest tighten and her heart soar at the melodic sound of Weiss's laughter. The simple joy in her voice made the silver spectre brighten just a bit. Literally. The flames that made up her body got brighter.
It was nice to see Weiss so... relaxed. Ironic given where they were, but she seemed so much calmer these past few weeks than she had ever seemed in Vale. There, the tense anticipation of meeting Ruby's family and the stress of finding the book had gotten to her. Now she was free to take her time to reach Kuroyuri before continuing her search. It wasn't like the book was going anywhere. It was either there or it wasn't.
"Well, I quite like the sound of Higanbana. It sounds nice, and according to the map, it's quite a large village. More of a town, really. It has a wall to keep out Grimm and a nice inn for us to spend the night in. Why don't we find where Snowpea ran off to and head there now?" Weiss suggested with a brilliant smile. Ruby nodded, happy that things were finally going easy for them.
The village of Higanbana was fairly large, easily twice the size of the previous settlement they'd stopped in, Shion. A wall wrapped around the village, only about eight feet tall. It didn't have any walkways atop it, and it was made of terracotta, meaning it was more decorative than functional. Still, it kept the smaller Grimm out, and bigger Grimm would still struggle to break through.
Weiss rode up to the town as Ruby floated lazily behind her. A pair of guards stood at the gate to the town, their eyes widening when they saw a traveler. They glanced at Weiss up and down, taking note of the gleaming silver armor, razor-sharp sword, and green cloak wrapped around her shoulders. Ruby knew they were trying to size her up and see whether or not they'd be able to stop her if she tried anything.
All four of them knew that there was nothing this duo of guards would be able to do to stop her. Fortunately, Weiss and Ruby had no intentions of causing any trouble. Still, as soon as they reached the gate of the town one of the guards held out a hand and gestured for her to stop. Weiss did so without complaint, and the guards let out a relieved sigh.
"What's your business in Higanbana?" One of the guards asked, to which Weiss rolled her eyes.
"I'm simply passing through, and was hoping to spend the night at an inn. Will that be a problem?"
The guards shook their heads. "No, it shouldn't be. Still, one of us will need to go get the captain. He'll want to speak with you," The other guard explained. Weiss simply shrugged her shoulders and dismounted from her horse. The guards flinched at the action, but one quickly took off into the town to go get their superior.
Ruby could understand their caution. With the armor and weapons Weiss had, there wasn't much in this village that'd be able to put up a fight against her if the need arose. Sure, the town guard could band together to try and fight her, but their normal steel and iron weapons wouldn't do much against her silver platemail. They needed to inform their commander that such a threat had appeared.
Most villages had at least one or two enchanted weapons that would be passed down through the generations in order to help kill powerful Grimm or dangerous bandits, but nothing too special. She doubted they had anything stronger than Jaune's sword, Crocea Mors. Probably just a silver or bronze blade enchanted to be slightly harder and more durable, as well as to be sharper.
It made sense that seeing someone wearing armor they couldn't even scratch and a sword that would rip through steel like it was cloth would frighten the guards. So neither Weiss nor Ruby were all that upset that they were stopped before entering the town. Someone had to be alerted to their presence to keep an eye on them. It was just the way the world worked.
Eventually, the guard returned with his superior officer in tow. The captain of Higanbana's guard was a middle-aged man with a rough-looking face. He was rather tall and somewhat muscular, and wore leather armor that fit his form tightly. He wore no shield, and had a sheathed katana at his waist that both Weiss and Ruby could tell was enchanted.
"Apologies for the wait. I was surprised to hear that a traveler had appeared at the western gate at all, let alone wearing such high-quality armor. Might I ask what your business in Higanbana is?" The man spoke politely, albeit tensely. It was understandable. You didn't want to piss off the person who could kill half your town guard before being stopped.
"As I told your subordinates," Weiss said with a glance to the guards. "I am simply passing through. I was hoping to get both a good night's rest and some information at your local inn before heading on my way tomorrow morning."
The man seemed visibly relieved at her words. No one wanted such a dangerous individual in their home when they had no real way of stopping her. "Very well. There's an inn just along the main road, right across from a tavern. You're welcome to stay there, but please avoid trying to cause any trouble."
Weiss nodded respectfully. "I don't intend to." At her words, the man raised a brow and glanced at her sword on her hip. Weiss made no move to hide the sword, rather shifting her cloak to give him a better view of it without moving quickly to avoid startling him. The man gulped before turning to look at her.
"How'd you manage to get here? I thought the road to Shion was covered in Grimm?"
Weiss just shrugged. "I took care of them. The villagers there told me it was just Beowolves and Ursa, so I decided I would risk it."
At that, the captain of the guard raised a brow. "Beowolves and Ursa? They told us there was a Beringel nesting just off the path as well," He explained.
"Well, they failed to mention that to me. Fortunately, I was able to kill it," If the man had been afraid of her friend before, then he was even more terrified now. It was one thing for a warrior to show up wearing enchanted armor that must've cost more than the entire town did, but it was another to hear that that warrior actually knew how to fight and could take down one of the more dangerous Grimm on her own.
"I... I see. I apologize for that, then. After Shion village sent us a message, we agreed to temporarily redirect travelers in different directions to avoid the Beringel nest until we could either muster up enough mercenaries and guards to kill it or have the Mistralian army take care of it for us. But it seems they decided to trick you into killing it instead."
Weiss waved off his complaint, much to Ruby's delight. "It wasn't an issue. I was able to kill it without major injury, and the journey saved me time. So while I might've chosen a different path had I known it was there, I ended up saving time and helping those in need," The blue-eyed woman replied exactly like the knights from Summer's stories would.
The captain of the guard nodded and stepped back to allow her to enter the town, pulling her steed behind her. Ruby followed after them, though not before pausing to take a look at the katana sheathed on the man's belt. It seemed to be a simple weapon, like she'd expected. She'd heard of some towns having much stronger weapons to help ward off Grimm, such as spears that froze what they pierced or bows that could control the winds, but the sword on the man's belt was simply a slightly sharper and stronger katana than what his men wielded.
The ghostly girl quickly hurried after Weiss once she felt the familiar tug telling her she'd gotten too far away, taking in the town as she did. It seemed to be built around one main road that cut straight through, with a few smaller roads leading off of it. Like many villages they'd passed through, this one was built as a resting point along the road to Mistral.
A variety of shops were set up along the main street, with houses being hidden behind them. The stores had anything a traveler might need to stock up on for whatever journey they were on, proudly displaying their wares to anyone walking down the road. Weiss paid no attention to either the shops or the shoppers, making her way through the crowd with purpose.
She eventually came upon the inn just as the sun was starting to get low in the sky. Right next to the in was a small stable for travelers to put their horses in. Weiss and Ruby glanced at each other and nodded, guiding the white-haired girl's horse into an open stall and paying the small fee to a stablehand.
Snowpea was a pure white mare with a black mane that had been lent to her by the Kingdom of Vale to help her on her journey. It had been invaluable to them, turning a journey that would've taken several months into a three-week affair. Snowpea was bred to be able to travel long distances quickly and didn't need to rest as much as a person would, and it could even help them kill smaller Grimm like Beowolves.
"You've been a big help today," Weiss said softly, stroking Snowpea's mane as the horse whinnied. "You deserve this," The noble produced an apple from one of the bags the horse had on its saddle and fed it to the animal. Snowpea's eyes twinkled at the sight of the treat and quickly ate the offered fruit in a few bites.
Once she'd taken care of her horse, Weiss stepped back out into the street and entered the inn, Ruby right behind her. As soon as she stepped into the warmly lit interior of the inn, every eye in the building turned to watch her. Ruby could recognize based on the slight way she tensed her shoulders that she was nervous, but her friend quickly hid it by shifting her cloak aside to reveal the glint of her silver rapier. Many eyes wisely turned away.
Weiss nodded to herself and walked up to the front desk, ignoring the many tables that patrons of the inn sat at eating. The man behind the counter was older, with greying hair. He wore glasses and had a gentle look to his face. Not what Ruby would expect from the innkeeper in a frontier town like this, but she wasn't exactly an expert. He just didn't look like the rough men who ran the inns in Uncle Qrow's stories.
"What can I do for you missy?" The man questioned kindly. Weiss quirked a brow at his strange dialect but didn't question it.
"I was hoping to book a room, but I would also like to ask a few questions. If you don't mind, that is," Weiss explained. The man nodded to her with a smile.
"A single-bed room is gonna cost you forty lien for a night. Food's gonna be another ten lien. And you're free to ask whatever questions you want. I just might not be able to answer all of them."
Weiss nodded at her words before reaching a hand into her cloak and pulling out a bag of coins. She dug around through the bag, pulling out a mix of Atlesian, Mistralian, and Valean lien and handing them to the man, who looked mildly interested in the foreign coins before shrugging his shoulders and counting out the coins.
"Alright, seems to be good. I'll get your meal ready, so feel free to ask whatever questions you want," The man said as he picked the coins up and pocketed them. He turned around to a large pot that bubbled over an open fireplace, pulling out a bowl and dipping it into the pot. Passing Weiss the bowl of broth, he pulled up a chair and sat down. Ruby could tell based on the steam coming off the broth that it was still hot, so Weiss didn't bother eating any yet.
"I was wondering if you knew anything about the town of Kuroyuri?" Weiss asked the man, whose eyes widened in surprise.
"Kuroyuri? Now, where have I heard that before?" The man asked himself. "Kuroyuri. Kuroyuri. Hmm. Isn't that the old town up in the mountains near the capital?"
Weiss nodded. "Yes. I have business to attend there, but it would help if I knew whether or not the town is still even there," She explained.
The man just shrugged his shoulders. "Can't say I've heard anything 'bout it. It's always been a pretty isolated community. The people there were very traditional and self-sufficient, didn't bother much with trading. So it's not like I've had many merchants or mercenaries comin' from there passin' through. I haven't even heard anything about it in years," The man apologetically answered.
"Nothing? You don't even know if it's been destroyed or not?" Weiss asked incredulously, but the man just shrugged.
"It's never been somethin' I've needed to care about. But from what I remember hearin' about it, they've got a pretty big wall and plenty of fighters. It's a hunting village with a nearby iron mine, so they've got plenty of men and women capable of protecting their home. It'd take a pretty big bandit group or Grimm horde to wipe 'em out."
"Like the one ten years ago," Weiss countered, to which every head in the room snapped over to look at her. The innkeeper's eyes went wide at her words, and Ruby glanced around the room to see a mix of shocked and offended expressions on the patron's faces.
"H-hey now, don't ya know it's bad luck to talk about... that?" The man behind the counter said with a gulp. "Talking about that day just makes people upset, and upset people means... well, you've gotta know what that means."
Ruby breathed one word. "Grimm."
Weiss nodded, both to her and to the man who didn't hear her. "Well, do you know anyone who could tell me anything about Kuroyuri?"
The man shook his head. "No one around here, that's for sure. Merchants don't bother going there; it's too out of the way to be worth it. And people who live there don't tend to leave. There's not a lot of reasons to go to Kuroyuri, and there ain't many to leave. 'Sides, what's so important that you need to go there for?"
"I'm looking for a person who can help me," Weiss responded.
"I could help you!" A rough-looking blonde man called out from across the room, clearly drunk. A few laughs rang out across the room, but Weiss didn't react to the man's words. She didn't need to. Despite his inappropriate jokes, no one here would risk trying anything against a warrior like her. But Ruby could tell based on the way her forehead slightly crinkled that Weiss was annoyed.
"Sorry 'bout him. He's been bothering us for a while. He don't mean anything by it though. No need to get upset," The innkeeper panicked, treating her like she was a nest of rapier wasps that would attack at the slightest annoyance. Ruby didn't like it, but she understood why people in these far-out villages felt so anxious.
"It's fine."
The man looked unsure, but accepted her terse reply. "Well, the fastest way to find out about Kuroyuri would be to check it out yourself. It's a few days ride from here, assuming you give Oniyuri a wide berth, as you should. But if you wanna talk to someone about it, there's only two groups that could tell you whether or not it's still standing."
"And those would be?"
"Well, the Rebellion has a detailed list of all the villages that were lost after... well, they'll know. They're demanding the king pay reparations for each one that was destroyed thanks to his negligence," The man explained. "Or you could try your luck trying to track down the Branwen tribe. They know what villages are worth hitting and what ones are wastes of time. But I wouldn't recomend that."
Neither would Ruby. Tracking down the Branwen tribe? Hell no. Weiss Schnee, former heir to and member of one of the wealthiest families in all or Remnant walking into the camp of the most notorious bandit in the world? No one was dumb enough to think that was a good idea. And the Oniyuri Rebels didn't exactly want to be found, so it wouldn't be easy to track them down.
"Then it seems I'll just have to see it for myself," Weiss declared, reaching the same conclusion as Ruby. If it's only a few days from here, it shouldn't be too bad."
The innkeeper just shook his head. "Well, I can't stop ya. But be careful, you hear? Even with that fancy armor, you'd best be careful around here. There are still some pretty dangerous Grimm 'round these parts from back then."
"Yeah, like the Scourge!" A drunken man sitting at a nearby table shouted out with a slurred voice. The innkeeper winced along with many other patrons, but others just laughed harder at the reaction. Weiss's face remained impassive.
Ruby frowned. The Scourge of Mistral was a legend. According to rumours, it was the Grimm that had been primarily responsible for the fall of Oniyuri. But it wasn't a normal Grimm, instead being a completely unique kind that was unlike anything else. Many people in western Mistral didn't believe it really existed, while others swore it was real.
Many of the books Weiss and she had researched contained folk tales about the creature. Rumours about how the Scourge would drag away misbehaving children or devour unfaithful husbands. But despite this, they'd only been able to come across one report of someone who'd actually seen the creature. The lone Mistralian warrior's report described it as a twisted amalgamation that relentlessly chased its prey, screaming horribly as it did so. Ruby probably wouldn't have believed it if her own mother hadn't died fighting a different Grimm no one had ever seen before.
"The Scourge, huh?" Weiss murmured, before turning her attention to her food, which had finally cooled off if the lack of steam rising from the broth was anything to go by. "Well, thank you for answering my questions. I'll stop bothering you now."
With that, Weiss quickly went about eating her meal. A few patrons of the inn, including the rough-looking blonde who'd cat-called at her, tried striking up a conversation but wilted when they saw she wasn't interested. A few meek merchants tried to ask if she'd travel with them, but those who'd overheard where she was going didn't bother. It seemed there really was no money to be made in Kuroyuri.
As soon as she'd finished, Weiss pushed her bowl across the counter and requested her room key. The innkeeper had given it to her nervously, and Weiss hurried up the stairs and entered her room, crashing down on the bed. Ruby had tried to beat her there by slipping through the cracks in the floorboards but had accidentally ended up in the wrong room.
Embarrassedly, she slipped under the door and into Weiss's room, saying nothing as the girl looked at her with a bemused expression. Weiss had slipped out of her armor and was wearing her nightclothes, but still held her sword in her hand. The white-haired girl nodded to Ruby and got into her bed, pulling the sheets over her body and closing her eyes.
"Goodnight, Ruby. We've got a long few days ahead of us, so I'm going to try and get a lot of rest tonight," The blue-eyed girl said as her breathing began to slow and sleep overtook her. Ruby smiled in response and decided to try and entertain herself by going down into the bottom floor and eavesdropping on the patrons.
That kept her busy for a few hours before everyone either went to bed or went across the street to the tavern to get some actual alcohol. Ruby frowned when her source of entertainment left her, leaving her alone with nothing but her thoughts.
She tried to distract herself by exploring what she could of the inn without getting too far from Weiss, but even that got boring after a while. She tried anything to keep herself from thinking about the issues that had been plaguing her mind. She didn't like thinking about them. She didn't like the creeping dread she felt regarding Weiss and this journey.
At first, it hadn't seemed too bad. Sure, necromancy was illegal, but Weiss wasn't and wouldn't use it for wrong. And sure, they'd injured people, but they'd been criminals who'd ambushed or attacked them. But when Weiss had killed Bane, that hadn't been self-defense. Weiss had gone out of her way to break into that building and ambush Torchwick, and hadn't even hesitated to pick a fight with the man.
It wasn't like with Torchwick or Neo, who'd been directly opposing their goal. Bane had a grudge with Weiss, but he wasn't the one who had the book. He hadn't deserved to be tortured with ghosts of his past before being run through with Weiss's sword just for being slightly in the way of her goals.
If Weiss was willing to kill someone who stood in her way to help her, then what else was she willing to do? Ruby was beginning to doubt whether or not this was a good idea. Weiss learning necromancy was one thing, but killing people was wrong. Even when Mom or Dad had been forced to kill someone, it had been for the greater good and not just because they were in the way of their goal. It was... wrong.
"So much for avoiding thinking about all this," Ruby thought to herself. These thoughts had been plaguing her mind more and more these past few weeks. As they drew closer and closer to Kuroyuri, they got stronger and stronger. For whatever reason, Ruby felt a sense of dread whenever she thought about the town. Would it still be there? How would Weiss react if it wasn't? What would they do?
And more importantly, would they even reach it? As they drew closer and closer to Oniyuri there were more and more powerful Grimm. The great horde that once destroyed the city had dispersed and been picked off, but many of the monsters from that day lingered, hiding off the beaten paths and within the deep forests.
That Beringel from earlier today hadn't been an outlier. The only reason they'd run into it was because the Beowolves that had made their den right by the path had chased them near its nest, according to the captain of the guard. This region was dangerous, and as they got closer and closer to the unoccupied area around what used to be Oniyuri they became more likely to run into ancient Grimm.
This wouldn't be nearly as bad if Ruby could just figure out how to use those stupid silver flames. Even a small amount of them would make Myrtenaster cut through Grimm twice as easily. But she just couldn't figure out how to do it. She knew deep down that it was her hesitation regarding their goal and the guilt she carried that was holding them back, but it wasn't like she could just solve these issues on her own.
But she couldn't just tell Weiss about all of the issues she'd been having. She couldn't tell Weiss that the face Bane had made, so filled with pain and hate, still haunted her. She couldn't tell her that she felt the crushing weight of guilt weighing her down and that was why they couldn't fully use their power. She couldn't tell Weiss that she wasn't sure they were doing the right thing anymore.
She just had to hope she wouldn't end up regretting not talking to her about it.
So there's a lot to talk about with this chapter. For one, I'd like to say that Weiss and Ruby have been traveling for around three weeks now, like I mentioned in the chapter itself. That means they've had plenty of time to practice using the silver flames trick from a few chapters ago. I know some people may be dissappointed that they've "mastered" it so quickly, but they really haven't. They've just been able to replicate it, and only as a last resort. Weiss barely understands it and Ruby is actively holding Weiss back when they use that power, so they still have a lot of room to improve.
Also, the lack of defensive Aura in this story is really fun to write. In RWBY proper, anyone could take at least one kick from a Beringel and be realtively fine. Even Ruby, who doesn't seem to have all that much Aura compared to others, was able to take a few hits from one. But in this story it only takes a single good punch to break Weiss's arms or shatter her ribs. That makes the stakes higher.
It also gives me more opportunites for worldbuilding. In this world, villagers and guards could take down a Beowolf without too much trouble if they gang up on it, and could probably deal with a pack of them or a few Ursai without too many casualties. But unlike in RWBY, there isn't defensive aura here, so any Grimm bigger than that is basically an instant kill without magical armor to help negate the damage. And even then, it doesn't save Weiss from all damage. The Beringel's leg was injured and it still nearly broke her ribs. Imagine what a punch would've done.
This also lets me ask the question of how do villages deal with bigger Grimm? Again, in RWBY they have it easy. They can just call a huntsman or huntress to kill it for them. But here, there aren't scrolls or huntsman and huntresses. There's knights and warriors and mages, yeah, but they work for the Kingdoms. Depending on where you live, the King might not bother sending his best men to kill a Goliath trampling a village in the middle of nowhere.
So the solution to that is that each town has at least one enchanted weapon that's passed down. It makes sense in-universe. Its a good investment for a village to equip its best fighter with a weapon that can hurt Grimm easier. Even Beowolves are hard to kill with steel and iron, but an enchanted weapon would make short work of them and hurt even bigger Grimm like Deathstalkers.
There's all kinds of cultural things I can do with the 'village weapon' thing as well. Do some villages make a big deal out of their weapons? Are they treated as a cultural thing or just a tool? Is it a big honor in smaller villages to be the one chosen to wield the enchanted weapon? Do villages trade or buy new weapons? What do they do if it breaks?
These are all fun worldbuilding questions, but it also poses another question. What happens when a traveller walks by wearing a fully enchanted outfit, from the tips of her armored soles to her breastplate. What do you do when she has a sword worth more than your entire village? It be like being a small town sheriff with a handgun when all of a sudden a Marine armed to the teeth strolls into town. Regardless of their intention, your going to be on edge.
And that's not even getting into magic. Sure, Weiss has enchanted stuff, but she can also use glyphs extremely well. The average person isn't going to be very comfortable knowing that someone capable of burning down the entire town without being stopped is just chilling in the inn. Things would be... stressful to say the least. Sure, they could hope whoever's got the enchanted weapon could take them, or they could try overwhelming her with numbers, but they'd all but be guarenteed to lose a few men and women.
Another thing I want to elaborate on from in this chapter is why Kuroyuri's fate is unknown. There aren't scrolls or airships to see the destruction from above, there are lots of powerful Grimm in the area drawn by the lingering negativity in Oniyuri like at Mountain Glenn, and there's no real reason to go to Kuroyuri. They're a hunting village with a small iron mine. They don't have anything to sell, and anything they need they could grow or get themselves. It's not out of place for them to not be heard from in years.
Anyways, expect another chapter in a week or two. I've been enjoying writing, and as I've said I'm excited for this arc. This chapter was only the first part of it, but I'm already excited after writing it. Feel free to leave a review, and have a great day!
(Also yeah I totally named Weiss's new horse after her Volume 2 alternate outfit.)