Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions
Co-Authored with ToxicExotic
The Worst Of Days
It had been a nice night. Despite the rainstorm the night before, the chill had once again been replaced with a nice cool breeze that rustled the trees. The sound was nice, and Ruby had been happily enjoying letting the peaceful atmosphere wash over her as she sat against her girlfriend's lap. That was until a loud, agonising scream ripped through the quiet forest. The moment instantly shattered, and both she and Blake leapt to their feet and jumped down from the porch.
"Where wa-"
She began to ask Blake, whose ears were already twisting back and forth to locate the direction of the sound. Before she could even finish her question, there was a rustling in the treeline ahead of them and two people came tumbling out. Prince and Petilly, their bright red hair shone under the moonlight as the former hunched over the latter. In his hand was a knife, the gleaming silver metal being brought down in repeated, frantic slashing motions, each one earning a short howl of pain as the young girl tried her best to protect her face with her arms. Desperately trying to crawl away from him, the girl's foot landed in his face and sent him reeling backwards, though he quickly recovered and began to advance again.
"NO!"
The yell that left her was instinctual, and before she could register anymore information her semblance had activated and she was rushing towards the man. She didn't know what had happened, or why the man would be attacking his little sister, but those answers could come later; all that mattered was making sure the girl was safe. The world turned to a blur and she covered the small garden in the blink of an eye. However, despite her speed, his eyes locked onto her and the hand holding the knife shot jerkily towards her chest causing her to activate her aura to block it.
Pain shot through her entire body at the sheer power of the man's strike, and she was forced off course and into a nearby tree. Confused at how he could have reacted so fast, she looked up at him and saw that his usually cheerful eyes were dull and lifeless. A stomach churning, deformed grin was plastered on his face in a poor imitation of a human smile, blood gently flowing into it from the bent nose that Petily had no doubt broken.
"Prince?"
She was confused. Why was he attacking his sister? Why had he not used his aura to protect himself? Why did he not even look human anymore?
There was only one answer. A Grimm had done something to him. But what Grimm? She didn't know of anything that could do something so vile.
She watched in horror as his muscles flexed and his shape contorted to comply with whatever was forcing him to act in such a way. Twisting around to face Blake, who had begun to rush in herself, with such jarring speed that his head was still left facing the other direction for a second, his hand holding the knife pitched backwards before jutting forward to throw the weapon.
Once again, Ruby found herself surprised. Just like Prince had with her, he also predicted Blake's movement. At the same time that the shadow formed around her and she leapt into the air, Prince released the blade and sent it whirling through the air. It hit its mark, clipping her in the shoulder and sending her spinning back to the ground.
"What's going on?" Ruby heard a hurried voice call from the cabin as the door was ripped open to reveal Yang.
"It's Prince." She called back, pushing herself to her feet. "Something wro-"
"Beeeans."
The voice cut her off and made bile rise to her throat. It was unmistakably Prince's, but it was wrong. It sounded painful, as if his vocal chords had been replaced with glass. A spray of saliva and blood billowed out in front of him as the word was uttered, and she could hear the hatred within it. On the floor, the girl scurried away with a terrified look as blood leaked down her arm and face.
"Blake, get Petilly." Ruby called, wanting the girl out of the way since she was clearly the one it wanted. "Yan- WAIT!"
Too late. Yang had already slammed her fist forward releasing one of her shells that screamed towards the man. With his aura down, there was no doubt in her mind that it would be a fatal shot, so jumped in front of him to deflect it. As she did, she felt a heavy fist slam into the back of her head. It was nowhere near as strong as the earlier attack, but there was enough force to send her tumbling forward.
"What the hell, Ruby?" Yang called as more people began to leave the cabin to see what was happening.
"His aura's down." She replied, springing to her feet and rounding on Prince. The horrible grin was still on his face as he lunged at Petilly as Blake moved to grab her. "We have to restrain him."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw some guards emerge from the woods and rush in to help Blake, but just as Ruby was about to join them, a hand closed tightly around her wrist. Feeling herself be spun around, she found herself face to face with her sister. While they were still their usual soft lilac, there was a hardness to them.
"There's no point." The girl said with a firm tone, though there was definitely regret there. "He's already gone."
"What?" Ruby questioned. "No he's not. He just needs he-"
"He's a Grimm Child." Yang interrupted her.
Ruby's eyes widened. She hated that story. Hated the idea of a Grimm that could possess a loved one and make them into monsters. Yang had only ever read it to her once, and it had given her such a bad nightmare that the blonde had immediately removed all traces of it from the house. But she had never once believed they were real. The closest she'd ever head of was Geists, but they couldn't even possess dead bodies, let alone living people.
"That's a sto-"
"Look at him, Ruby!" Yang demanded.
What had been an easy action mere moments ago suddenly felt so much more difficult. Turning her head to look at the man, she saw he was already stumbling. His face was white as paper, and his movements were slower; so much so that he was unable to even block the kick that Blake delivered to his midsection. It was his turn to tumble backward, but unlike Ruby, he didn't get up. Instead, he merely began to drag his way towards his target. The sight of his knees scraping deep lines into the muddy ground and his hand reaching for his sister caused a memory to spark in her head.
They have no marks. No scratches, no bites, no puncture wounds; nothing. They're just dead, and always with their hands reaching for the wall.
"No…" She breathed, realising that whatever had possessed Prince had been trying to get into Zelen for months. Yang had said that the marks looked like the victims had crawled from the dead zone.
"He's gone, Ruby." Yang repeated as Rodentia moved towards the downed man and drew his sword.
"No." She muttered again and watched him raise the curved blade.
The blade fell and Ruby twisted her arm free of her sister's grip.
"NO!"
"RUBY!"
Too late, she already put everything she had into her semblance and boosted off. Petals erupted from her, blanketing the area in a sea of crimson as she charged at Rodentia. She reached him just in time. The blade was less than half a meter away from Prince's neck, but being mid-attack and too preoccupied with the threat, Saber didn't notice her until her shoulder slammed into his side, causing him to drop the sword and skid a few meters along the ground sending rose petals and mud everywhere.
She heard the gasp from everyone around her, but ignored it and drew her scythe. Holding it at the ready, she prepared to defend anyone who dared to try and approach the struggling boy.
"I won't let you kill him!" She declared, kicking the fallen scimitar away.
"He's already dead." Saber retorted, pushing himself to his feet and drawing his gun. "Now you're just defending a Grimm."
"He's a person!" She spat.
"He's a Chill." Rodentia replied and raised his gun. "Now let me finish this."
He didn't even flinch as he pulled the trigger, but Ruby spun Crescent Rose with ease and deflected the bullet. All around her, the guard raised their own guns. Behind her she heard the telltale sound of a glyph being formed, and the sound of scraping mud stopped. Turning her head ever so slightly, she saw that Weiss had produced a black glyph underneath Prince to stop him from going anywhere.
Looking was a mistake. The second her eyes left Saber, another shot rang out, quickly followed by four more. Thankfully, Blake stepped in and deflected them.
"Stop!" Blake ordered, stepping between them with her hands out. "What is a Chill?"
"I don't take orders from you."
"But you do from me." Ghira's deep voice came from the cabin porch and Saber faltered. "Explain."
The man's eyes filled with annoyance. "A possession Grimm. Almost nobody surviv-"
"Almost?" Ruby asked, a spark of hope igniting in her chest. "Then he ca-"
"Surviving a Chill does not mean living!" Saber growled angrily. "The Chill needs to be extracted within the first minute. If not, the host is rendered brain dead. His legs have already shut down. He's as good as dead! We need to kill it while it's inside of him."
"But there's still a chance." She pleaded. She refused to believe there was nothing she could do, that there was no way to save him. "If we just wai-"
"Wait for what, girl!" He half shouted at her. "He is gone! I know that, your sister knows that, even your girlfriend knows that." Ruby looked at Blake, but the girl only looked away. "All you're doing is prolonging his suffering."
Ruby felt her hand slack against her scythe. She didn't want that, she didn't want Prince to suffer. But he was still alive, she knew he was. Saber had said it himself.
"Beee-eans." Prince called out, his voice weak.
No, Ruby thought and shook her head. A life was a life, no matter its condition. And she had sworn to protect all of them.
"I am doing what I swore to do!" She countered, a tear falling down her cheek. "I won't move."
"Then I will move you myself." Saber snarled and began to move forward.
"Stand down." It wasn't a shout, but Ghira's voice boomed through the area. "The both of you."
He stepped down from the porch, his heavy boots splashing mud around him and disturbing the petals and causing them to turn to smoke. Striding over, he put a hand on his guards' shoulder and gave him a stern look.
"We are not killers, Saber." He said in a much softer tone. "If there is a chance he can survive, then it is our responsibility to give him that chance."
Ghira siding with her should have given her more confidence, but it didn't. If anything, it only gave her new doubts about her actions. She'd seen first hand the damage his passiveness could do in how his inaction had left Blake haunted for life.
"But sir…"
"No buts." Ghira commanded. "You are a huntsman, not an executioner. We will handle the Grimm once it leaves Mr Protodio."
With a disgruntled sigh and a dirty look in her direction, the man lowered his gun and moved away to pick up his sword. He didn't holster it though, merely extending it into the naginata form and held it at the ready.
"Auras up." He ordered, a dark brown light shimmering around him. "Weapons ready."
Meeting Ghira's eye, the chieftain gave her a small nod of acknowledgement before moving out of the way. Though the renewed doubts were still racking around in her head, she at least felt reassured knowing that the guards were no longer going to try and kill Prince the second she turned her back.
One by one, everyone in the area activated their aura. A myriad of colours lit up the dark garden and cast warm glow over everything. The only person who didn't activate their aura however, was Petilly. Ruby wasn't even sure that the girl knew how to activate it, so as she stepped next to Weiss and prepared to fight whatever came out of the boy, she turned to her girlfriend and pointed to the crying girl.
"Protect Petilly." She instructed her, gaining a nod in return.
Watching the girl move over to guard the child, Ruby extended her scythe and turned her gaze to the boy that had been so playful less than ten minutes ago.
They didn't have to wait long, less than a full minute, but it felt like hours. Hours of watching the boy writhe and squirm in his attempt to get himself free of Weiss' glyph. It was pointless though. While he might have had the strength to free himself a few minutes ago, that strength was clearly gone. All he could do was drag the wet, sticky mud around and call out his sister's name.
"Be-" He choked, unable to finish the word.
Feeling more tears fall down her cheek, she took a shaky breath and pulled the bolt back. And then it happened.
With one last incoherent groan, the man's head fell into the mud with a sickening squelch. Nobody breathed, or even moved; nobody except Petilly who had begun to struggle against Blake's grip in an attempt to get to her brother. That quickly came to a stop though as black smoke began to rise from his back. It was slow, and almost like the usual smoke that Grimm turned into when they died; but instead of evaporating, it gathered into a small ball that hovered off the ground, menacingly bobbing up and down. Two red orbs the size of marbles blinked to life within it, and Ruby felt the familiar sensation of being watched wash over her as the area grew cold.
"Fire!" Saber called.
The guard opened fire at the creature, the flash of their shots lighting up the sky as the Dust was discharged. However, their hopes quickly vanished. The Dust did nothing but glide through it as the red orbs danced out of the way of the incoming projectiles. It was too agile, and too small a target to hit. Realising bullets wouldn't work, Ruby rushed forward and lashed out with her scythe.
Just like with the bullets, the orbs moved apart and allowed the blade to slip between them. She tried again, and again, but it didn't work. Growing desperate, she thrust a hand into the smoke in an attempt to grab the orb, but immediately regretted it. It felt like her hand had been thrust into an ice bath, and the sensation quickly tore through her body and forced her to her knees beside Prince. Shivering, she wrapped her arms around herself and dropped her weapon, unable to do anything as she watched the Grimm begin to drift away towards Petilly.
"N-N-No." She stuttered, struggling to take a breath.
She couldn't stop it. There was nothing to stop. It had no body, and even touching it was enough to incapacitate her through her aura. She'd made a mistake, the very one Qrow had warned her about, and her failure had only left others in danger. If she couldn't kill it, how was Blake going to stop it from taking Petilly?
Turning towards the aforementioned pair, she watched in surprise as Blake stood her ground. Not even flinching as the ball of gas approached her, she hooked an arm under Petilly's struggling shoulder and dragged her up. The girl looked awful. While none of them looked fatal, deep cuts covered her face and arms. Blood flowed freely from most of them, matting her long ginger hair and causing her to be as pale as her brother. Blake's amber eyes closed for a second, and Ruby saw the girl take a deep breath. Once they opened again, they were filled with a steely resolve and she raised her sword to Petilly's throat.
The Grimm paused to survey her, its red orbs drifting lazily to avoid a bullet that was fired from a guards gun.
"Do it and she dies." Blake said, her voice void of any emotion.
Ruby knew Blake. She'd spend nearly a whole year growing closer and learning more about her. Every new thing she learned had only shown her just how good of a person she was, and only made her fall deeper in love with her. However, if anyone asked her if she could say with absolute certainty that what Blake had just said was a bluff, she knew the answer would have been no.
The emotionless visage. The cold and heartless tone of her voice. The hard, unflinching amber eyes. The ease in which it came to her, it was clear that it was not the first time she had looked such a way. Unfortunately, the Grimm didn't get the same impression, and slowly began to inch forward. In response, Blake twisted the blade, its razor sharp edge drawing blood and making the girl gasp in pain and squirm even more.
The Grimm paused again, little more than a metre away from them. The two orbs stopped their dancing and surveyed the pair. Clearly it was beginning to take her seriously.
"Yang, now!"
The blonde emerged from behind her partner, her eyes a deeper scarlet than Ruby had ever seen them. Stepping forward she cocked her fist backward as her hair ignited sending flames licking up arm before thrusting it forward towards the Grimm. A shot rang through the air and Yang's hand burst into flames, flames that rained down in front of her and blanketed the ball of smoke.
"How's that taste, asshole?" The girl spat, the sound of cracking greeting everyone's ears.
As the Grimm emerged from the billowing flames, Ruby saw that there was only one orb left. The smoke ball that surrounded it also seemed thinner and smaller, and as Yang reared her fist back again to finish it, the Chill backed off and began to retreat towards the treeline. Unfortunately, while the guards fired off a few more shots, it disappeared from sight seconds later and Saber swore in frustration.
"Kali." Ghira said quietly, walking back over to Saber, who had already begun to pace angrily back and forth. "Check on the boy."
Turning back to look at Prince, Ruby was met by his green eyes staring blankly at her. There was nothing there. No life, no soul. Nothing. She didn't even need to wait for Kali to arrive and check him to know the truth. Her entire life she had been preparing herself for death, understanding that it would be an inevitability in the line of work she wished to go into. But seeing it in person was something else entirely. It took all of her energy to not throw up.
"Rubes." She heard her sister's voice say in her ear as a pair of warm arms wrapped around her. "Come on. We've gotta get ready to go."
With great difficulty, she pulled her eyes away from Prince's lifeless form and allowed her sister to pull her to her feet and forced herself even closer to the heat that was folding off of the woman. As Yang held her close, Ruby looked around the garden and saw Blake still standing where she had been holding Petilly, her hands shaking as she looked at the girl's blood on her blade. Her eyes were no longer cold and unflinching, but filled with tears and regret.
"Blake?" Ruby heard Weiss say. The heiress walked over and gently pried the weapon from the faunus' hands and dropped it to the floor. "It's okay."
"What did I do?" She muttered, knowing that was her fault too.
Not only had she allowed the Grimm to escape, she'd forced her friend to relive and become something she hated. After all the effort the girl had home through just to get to the point where she could begin to forgive herself and stop blaming herself, Ruby had thrust those memories and feelings back onto her. She'd done that. To the girl she loved.
"Don't worry abou-"
"You helped it get away." Saber's voice was angry as he stepped away from Ghira despite the taller man's attempts to stop him.
"Fuck off." Yang spat in response.
"Had she let me do what needed to be done, that thing wouldn't still be out there." Saber replied and stepped towards Yang. "She defended it, she stopped us from doing our job, and now anyone that thing kills is on her. I'm right and you know it."
"But you don't get to talk to her that way!" Yang growled, her eyes turning red and her hair beginning to glow dangerously. "Now get the fuck outta my way."
Ruby definitely didn't miss the fact that Yang hadn't disagreed with him.
"You think your attitude hasn't been a hindrance to this mission too?" Saber snapped, showing no sign of fear at Yang's rising anger. "From the moment we left the village you have been full of anger and resentment because we didn't have the time to stay and help them, and all that has done has brought more Grimm to us."
"Saber, tha…"
He shrugged Ghira's arm away from his shoulder.
"Not to mention bringing a Schnee into our fold and setting the entire guard on edge."
"Now that's too far." Ghira said, stepping in front of the man. "The Schnee girl has been nothing but good to us. We cannot hold such prejudices or we are not better than those who treat us in such a manner."
"HOW CAN I NOT?" The man roared at his chieftain. "We were attacked. You! The leader of our people. And yet when I called for help, they sent no adults, nobody who understood the necessities of being a Hunter. Instead they sent children. Just like every time we ask for aid, we are sent the bar-"
"You've gotten more help from the council than any town out here gets!" Yang spat back at him.
"That is enough."
There was no malice in the words. No anger or frustration. Instead they were calm and considerate. But it was likely for that reason that everybody stopped and turned to look at Kali. The small woman knelt beside Prince, folding his arms over his chest and closing his eyes.
"It is disrespectful to argue in the presence of the dead."
"No…"
It was barely a whisper, but Petilly's voice felt like a knife to Ruby's heart.
"I understand you are angry, Saber." Kali continued, pushing herself to her feet and walking over to the man. "And we shall hear your concerns once…
"No…"
"... we are safe, but that time is not now. The Grimm will be here soon, so we must move."
"I…"
He was cut off as an orange blur flew past him. Skidding to her knees at her brother's side, she slowly began to shake his lifeless body as tears dripped from her face.
"Prince?" She cried, her bloody fingers clutching the torn shirt for dear life as he continued what could have easily passed as a deep sleep. "P-Please wa-wake up."
The urge to throw up was growing stronger, and Ruby knew that if she didn't look away then it was going to overtake her.
"I will have us ready in five minutes, Chieftess." Saver nodded.
"Good." The woman said, turning back to Prince's body and kneeling beside the crying child.
Giving them one last annoyed look, the man took off towards the guard and began to issue instructions.
"Fucking asshole." Yang growled, pulling her towards the cabin steps where Weiss was comforting Blake. "Come on, Rubes."
Allowing herself to be pulled past Blake's dad and towards the steps, she took one last look at the scene behind her. What had been a peaceful garden only minutes ago looked unrecognisable. The lush green had been replaced with a sea of red smoke as her petals began to disintegrate, guards rushed around getting everything back into the cart, and in the centre of it all was a girl crying over the corpse of the only family she'd had left.
And it's all my fault.
Raalm's Note
Hello there. So a much darker chapter this time. This is actually a canon Grimm that was revealed in the Fairytales of Remnant book, and the moment I read it I knew I wanted to use it. As you've probably been able to tell, I've loved creating Grimm like the Beaviles and the Termights that use more insidious means to kill off humanity, so The Chill being something that you can't fight was very interesting to me. Because of that, I wanted to mostly focus not on fighting the Grimm, but instead how it causes people to react in response. What it brings out of them and what it forces them to do. It was very fun to work around those elements and show just how evil some Grimm are.
Thankfully Toxic allowed me free reign with this one to work it... though I will say that he was actually unable to edit parts of this chapter due to its content, which is a first. But yeah, I hope you... uhhh... enjoyed? Or at the very least found it engaging xD And we will see you next time.
Chapter 62 will be uploaded on the 3rd of June :)