Sorry about this releasing a few hours later than usual people I've had a friend visiting and as much as I love writing this I love hanging out with them more. Not much of a AN up here since I want to get this out so I hope that you enjoy the story folks.
Disclaimer I do not own RWBY or Bloodborne both pieces are owned by there respective publishers.
"So I was thinking that maybe I could be called Ruby the Reaper it sounds fine and works with me carrying around Crescent Rose." The lack of killing on their trip had certainly done wonders for Ruby's sanity keeping her mostly the same while she tried to suppress any thoughts of her previous kills.
"That's not how titles work, you have to earn them or have them bestowed upon you by another of higher rank." Dunstan said trying to hold the conversation with Ruby to keep her mind distracted from her past acts.
"You get a cool title like 'Hunter of Hunters' and I'm still called a Huntress in training can't you give me something cool to go by." Ruby didn't know that Dunstan possessed a plethora of titles due to his collecting of Hunters badges and killing of certain beasts. He even got the attire associated with each title simply so he could further study each ones order or workshop.
"If you truly wish for a fitting title then how about this 'Ruby the Little Reaper' quite fitting don't you think?" Dunstan jokingly suggested as Ruby puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.
"A real title not something that makes fun of my height besides I won't be little forever eventually I'd grow out of the title."
"Like I said earlier you have to earn them sometimes it takes years of work. One of my teachers Eileen the Crow earned hers after performing so many hunts while wearing a cloak of crow feathers and a bird mask. It will come in time as do most things in life just be patient and continue to move towards your goal."
"Sounds like you just don't want anyone to have a better title than yours."
"Once again something you have no proof of nor can you prove so let's just agree to have this conversation after this is over." Dunstan said as they rounded the corner and came face to face with a small group. "And we were having such a nice chat too."
"Who says we have to stop talking I can multitask." Ruby grinned as she readied her weapon.
"Alright then just don't let it distract you from the task at hand." Dunstan said as the stake extended from the device giving him a medium length spear strapped to his arm. Leaping forward he brought the spear head down on one of the men slamming him into the ground as the spear crushed the man's ribs.
"What's with the show of strength I thought you were all about skill and elegance?" Ruby said as she spun her scythe catching a sword mid strike and sending it into the air with a twirl. Hooking the blade into her opponent Ruby lined up her shot hitting one of the town's people behind the man her scythe just cleaved through.
"Are you saying my weapon isn't elegant?" Dunstan drew his fist back letting the pressure build in the device as the stake was slowly drawn back like a bow string ready to fire. As soon as his fist landed on the man's chest the stake shot forward with an explosion causing the victim to fly away from Dunstan and become embedded in a nearby wall.
"When you're throwing around the equivalent of a rocket powered punch it tends to lose the elegance that your cane had." Ruby was almost dancing between her opponents striking being a mortal blow against either the neck or chest of each person she passed.
"This weapon may lack grace, but it does pack quite the punch." Dunstan pulled his arm back priming the stake for another shot.
"And I can't help but feel that you're not taking this seriously." Ruby said as Dunstan continuously throw right jabs at his opponent knocking it back until its face was a cut and disfigured mess. Bringing his arm back he had the spear head connect to the man's head before an explosion disintegrated anything from the neck up of the man.
"I'm enjoying myself I haven't had a chance to hunt anything entertaining in those woods and these barely even count as prey with them being so freshly taken by the scourge. We take on something worthy and I'll drop the Stake Driver and bring out the Threaded Cane." Dunstan's current weapon did have the ability to punch holes clean through most adversaries, but it did so with strength and the kills seemed less clean when death was brought on by having a bowling ball sized hole in their chest.
"Are you really telling that you do this to have fun?"
"It's actually relaxing once you get used to it. While you currently do it for the rush eventually it will become a calming exercise like walking through the woods or reading a book by the"- Dunstan was tackled by a large mass of black fur throwing him to the ground as the large wolf snapped its jaw in an attempt get to his face- "Scourge Beast GET. IT. OFF!"
Ruby fired off three rounds into the beast's side just causing it to flinch as each bullet hammered into it. With a lack of response from her bullets Ruby used Crescent Rose to fly towards it dragging her scythe across it as she passed by. Blood was clearly drawn with a layer covering the blade, but the beast seemed barely phased and continued trying to get at Dunstan.
Ruby readied herself for another attack when a gun shot went off and a burst of blood came from the beast's head. The beast felt whatever it was just it with and jumped off Dunstan who had a pistol in his left hand. The creature looked similar to a Beowolf except that the fur looked more like hair, seemed to move almost exclusively on all fours, and the eyes glowed white. Ruby heard something fall to the ground with a loud thud looking to Dunstan she saw that he had dropped his weapon and drawn the cane at his side in its place.
Dunstan held up his hand in a flat palm signally to Ruby to stay back from the fight. Nodding she started to slowly back a way her weapon kept leveled at the beast in case it decided it didn't agree with one of its opponents leaving the battle. A safe distance away Ruby watched as Dunstan slowly walked towards the beast completely relaxed with both weapons loosely griped in his hands. The sight was terrifying as he continued his advance while the beast snarled waiting for the perfect moment to strike and devour the approaching man. Every twitch and motion the beast made was giving signals to Dunstan to make the first move, but he held his instincts in place and waited for the beast to begin.
Like a flash of lightening the beast sprang forward its claws ready to dig into the man before it only for the Dunstan to bring his pistol up just as quickly as the beast had attacked. Dunstan knew that if the beast landed its attack Ruby wouldn't make it in time to free him and the beast could feel the sudden shift in appearance in the prey it was fighting. The bullet flew out of the gun as the beast's claws were merely inches from Dunstan's face when it collided with the beast. Like a puppet with its strings cut all the moment came to a jarring halt and it could barely hold itself up off the ground. Plunging his hand into the hole he just made Dunstan wrapped his hand around the beasts beating heart ripping it from the cavity.
"Now this is what a hunt should be." Dunstan said throwing the heart to the side without a care.
"Dunstan what was that thing?" Ruby was looking over the lifeless body of beast with blood still pooling beneath it.
"That is what happens when the plague is given too much time and the infected has decent potential. Although I am surprised we haven't run into any beasts that are between the stages of these towns people and the scourge beasts."
"There's more than this?" Ruby nearly yelled in worry after her weapon had little effect on the new beast.
"It's an evolutionary process the people in town being the first stage and them getting more beast like until you have one of these or worse." Dunstan said stabbing his cane into the already dead monster.
"Does this happen to Hunters?" Ruby said stepping away from the puddle of infectious blood.
"Occasionally, though they tend to become things much worse though if they're not handled quickly. That's where the Hunter of Hunters step in it's my job to minimize damage and keep everyone on the right track."
"Got it I'll try my best to stay away from blood and killing these things."
"Well don't go that far. As Hunters it's our duty to kill these pests before they turn into monsters and the blood shouldn't be too much of a problem once you get that body of yours strengthened especially after a night like this." Dunstan said as he looked up at the moon seeing it continue to glow the same ghostly white color it usually gave off. "Oh no."
"What do you mean 'oh no'?"
"Just slowly walk towards me and on my signal run to the nearest open area." Dunstan said as began to slowly take a few steps back while his eyes were intensely focused on something behind Ruby.
Fighting the urge to look Ruby heard the ground behind her begin to crack under something just coming around the corner. She could hear the faint crackle of electricity as the thing behind her ceased all movement along with Dunstan who froze. Ruby could feel her heart pounding in her chest the blood pumping through her as the rest of the world seemed to freeze until a single word broke her from the trance.
"Run!" Dunstan yelled quickly turning as he began sprinting down the alley with Ruby right behind him.
The thing behind her was tearing the area apart as it was chasing after them the pavement being shredded beneath its claws as it tried to catch up with them. Quickly turning her head Ruby saw what was chasing them. She could see the human origin it held with a face still resembling the man it once was with protruding canines and black fur encroaching around the face. Its large upper body had two elongated arms that had a claw coming out of each finger. The fur that covered it like a shroud appeared to freely float upwards as electricity sparked between each of the hairs. Ruby's thoughts were interrupted when a knife flew out of her peripherals and embedded itself into the beast who continued to charge towards them.
"What was that supposed to do!?" She yelled at Dunstan as the entered what Ruby had to guess was a small fenced off park.
"Just trying to weaken the prey before we fight it." Dunstan said standing his ground with his cane at the ready.
"Well I think you just made it mad." Ruby replied as the beast jumped the fence and continued to charge them.
"Take your shots when you can eventually he's going to fall." Dunstan said as Ruby and he leaped out of the way of a claw swipe.
Dunstan fired his pistol to little effect with the beast shrugging off the bullet while it continued to attack him. Dunstan continued to back step each attack until the beast slammed its fists into the ground in a final attempt to injure him. As the beast looked up at Dunstan it felt a blade run across its face with two consecutive attacks causing it to blindly flail on arm to bat away the Hunter.
Three rounds hammered into its side causing the beast to avert its attention to the girl in red who continued to fire round after round at it. Raising its right claw it continued forward as each round slammed into the hardened flesh. The arms sparked with electricity as the claw grazed Ruby letting her experience the electricity coursing over the beast. Leaping up and firing another round propelled her away from the threat as Dunstan slashed its right leg causing it stumble to the ground.
Dunstan began slashing away at the beasts exposed back trying to inflict as much damage as possible before it regained its footing. Ruby reloaded her weapon and prepared for the inevitable backlash the beast would give them after being hurt so much. Taking another swing Dunstan failed to notice the beast taking in a large gasp of air before it roared to the sky sending out a small shock wave throwing him backwards.
Ruby watched as the electricity surrounding the beast seemed to increase in intensity with the sparks now looking more like lightning bolts jumping around the back of the monster. With that much jumping around the beast Ruby wondered if she or Dunstan could even attack it without feeling some repercussion from their attacks when another knife flew towards the beast sticking into its chest before it ran at Dunstan again.
"What is with you and knives!?" Ruby yelled as she tried to regain the beast's attention by firing more rounds at it.
"It will work just trust me." Dunstan replied as gusts of air blew past him with each of the beast's strikes.
"Really because it seems like you're just making it madder." Ruby replied as she took a swipe at it back and jumped away before it could swing at her.
"I'm not sure it can get much angrier than this." The claw slammed into the ground and a multiple lightning bolts shot skyward from the impact. The blinding light prevented Dunstan from seeing the next strike which managed to go across his entire chest causing a splatter of blood across the ground.
"Stick to the plan!" Dunstan yelled as the beast landed two more strikes against the now off balance Hunter.
The wounds certainly appeared serious with Ruby certain that she could see some of his bones behind the gashes. Dunstan pulled out a vial contain a crimson concoction before slamming it into his thigh and letting the contents be injected into his body. The beast leaped towards him only for Dunstan to duck the claw and get behind the beast slashing its other leg in passing. As the beast tried to stand up again Ruby saw the wounds covering Dunstan to boil with blood as flesh began to rise around the exposed bones as it filled in the gaps of missing muscle and skin.
The image was almost sickening as Ruby watched flesh knit itself together like a sea of living mass before it settled back down to reveal that the wound looked like it had never occurred. Ruby was awestruck though when Dunstan threw another knife into the beasts back as it whipped around to kill the annoying pest that had continued to throw the sharp projectiles into it.
Leaping backwards Dunstan sat down on the ground cross-legged as the beast roared once again in anger. Running at the Hunter the beast had its claw raised to strike when its world went dark and it felt all strength leave its body forcing it to stumble to the ground. The frantic beating the beast could ear echoing through its body came to a halt as its last thoughts ended.
Ruby cautiously approached Dunstan as he stood up. "I always wanted to try that." He said with what Ruby has to figure was happiness in his voice.
"What did you just do was that some awesome technique were you use a strike so fast its invisible to the naked eye?" Ruby said with her eyes nearly twinkling at the prospect of learning some amazing Hunter technique.
"I wish it was something as impressive as that take a look at this." Dunstan pulled out one the knives he had been using during the fight and noticed a purple liquid that dripped from the blade. "These knives are coated in poison. Usually they don't do much, but they do eventually do the trick if the victim is injured enough."
"That's actually really disappointing." Ruby said with a slight frown.
"Well you don't have to use them if you don't want to they do have their uses in some situations." Dunstan began thinking of all the Hunters he fought and how his first move was almost always poisoning the victim so the fight would be easier.
"The comm tower isn't much further from here if we run we can get there in a couple of minutes." Ruby suggested as they heard twigs snapping around them.
Looking around they saw a small group of towns people and two scourge beasts walking towards them. The beasts looked at Ruby before letting out a howl causing the people to raise their weapons and charge at them.
"Want to just run the rest of the way?" Dunstan suggested as they avoided the first strike of each person.
"Sounds good to me." Ruby answered as her and Dunstan turned and ran out of the park towards their goal. Ruby would occasionally swing her scythe at passing targets taking off a leg to prevent them from following as Dunstan slashed their throats hoping that it would be enough to allow them to pass on.
Seeing the building in front of them Ruby and Dunstan saw the large crowd of people that managed to pursue them and none of them seemed to be turning back around. The numbers may have been impressive and Ruby knew that if they came through the building with her and Dunstan the damage they caused may turn the entire inoperable. Time was something she didn't have and she knew that every second counted when it came to getting rescued.
"Go on ahead I can hold them off!" Dunstan yelled as he stopped dead in his tracks and turned around the face the approaching enemy. Pressing a button the cane's blade separated into the serrated whip as he gave it a practice swing.
Ruby nodded in agreement and continued running towards the small 2 story building located at the base of the tower. Climbing the stairs she busted through the doors leading to where the relay equipment was stored. Looking around the room she saw that it was completely void if life and sound. As she looked at the state of the equipment she was filled with a dread. Claw marks ran across most if not all of the casings making the dials and buttons unworkable. Using Crescent Rose she popped off the case and began to look over the damage to the interior.
A good deal of the wires had been severed by whatever clawing at the exterior, but most of the inner workings appeared fine. Setting the back pack down Ruby began repairing any damaged wire she came across. She began reconnecting each one to its matching partner while listening to the howls of beasts coming from the fight happening right outside the building.
Patching up the last wire Ruby walked over to one of the last operational transmission stations and began inputting the distress signal. All Ruby could hear coming from the receiver was a deafening static. Trying again and again was met with the same result causing Ruby to start panicking at the thought of being stranded in the town.
Killing the signal and instead trying Beacon's Ruby heard a screech of static only for a voice to finally be heard on the other end of the line. "This is Beacon academy how may I be of assistance?"
"This is Ruby Rose leader of team RWBY from Beacon academy we are currently stranded in the city of Asylum we need immediate evac. The town has been overrun I repeat the town has been overrun and we need immediate evac." Ruby yelled into the microphone hopping that she could be heard.
"One moment please." The voice responded as the line started playing what could best be described as elevator music.
The static was interrupted when another voice came through the line. "This is Beacons dispatch we read you Ruby Rose. A Bullhead is being diverted to your location tell us where you need them to land."
"Do not land whatever you do don't land that aircraft. My team and I will be in separate locations on the roof for pick up."
"Are you under attack from the Grimm?" The operator asked with some fear in her voice at the thought of Grimm claiming another outlying city.
"Our locations are secure for now. When we fall back our defenses will be breached and we'll need an escape route."
"The craft will come in low and have the hatch open for a quick retrieval what are your locations?"
Ruby looked over at the map of the city on the wall and picked out the locations before typing them in. "Sending you the coordinates now."
"We're sending the locations to our pilot in the sky ETA is 1 hour. Any other instructions for the pilot?"
"Tell him to go the locations in the order I gave them and if it gets too hot for them to pullout immediately no matter what the occupants say or threaten. This town has become a graveyard I don't want to add anymore to it."
"Will do Miss Rose and Good luck." The woman ended the call and all Ruby could do was hope that when day finally broke over the horizon everyone would be safely outside of the city.
"Think we can hold out for one more hour?" Ruby asked as Dunstan walked back into the room his cane dripping blood.
"With your help we might be able to keep them on the first floor before we make our retreat." Ruby gave a slight smile at hearing this and began walking back down the stairs anticipating quite the bloodbath while they waited for rescue to come.
"Our Line has been restored to the city Sir our eyes are functional again." A soldier wearing a gray uniform said as the monitors flashed to scenes around the blood soaked city.
"Patch me through to Eiswand." A man decorated with a multitude of badges commanded to the other officers.
The screen flickered for a moment before the image of older man with piercing light blue eyes and white hair became clear. "What have you found?" he said with authority resonating from his voice.
"The town has been infected Sir. Whoever reconnected the lines tried to send out a distress signal to Vale before it cutout." An almost visible line a sweat had formed on the commander's brow while talking to Eiswand.
"Then contact the General and tell him to level the city. That fleet of his is the closest to the location at the moment."
"What do I tell him Sir? What if he doesn't want to perform such an action after all there could still be people down there."
"Anything down there is far from human and needs to be purged. Tell him to follow the order or we'll find someone else who will." The call ended and the screen turned black as the commander looked around the room a sense of dread filling him. Pressing some buttons on the device in front of him the screen lit up again this time with the image of a brown haired woman.
"Hello how may I help you Sir." She happily answered the call.
"I need to speak to General Ironwood."
"I'm sorry but the General is a very busy man and he is-"
"Override code O.O.D.L.G.D."
"- patching you through immediately."
The image flickered and a Man wearing a white overcoat with a red tie taking a sip of coffee. Facing the monitor the man in the room saw his black hair that had grayed around the side and a single strip of metal just above his right eyebrow. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"General Ironwood you are being given orders directly from the council to purge a town north of your location that has fallen to the Grimm."
"Why wasn't I informed of this town earlier? We are here to protect Vale so why didn't I receive any orders to protect the town?"
"The town fell out of contact and we thought it was merely a communication problem. Now that we know its true fate we are going to level the city to prevent it from becoming a nest of Grimm."
"And the citizens?"
"It has been two weeks everyone in the town is now considered dead. We must perform our tasks for the greater good even if it means dooming a few to save the rest."
"I understand, my fleet will move into position and begin bombardment as soon as we are within range."
"Good, report to Atlas Council upon completion."
With that the monitor turned off and Ironwood walked over to his chair and prepared himself to face another tragedy to mark the kingdom of Vale. The fleet hovering above Vale began to move that day and everyone turned to the sky wonder what could have caused the slumbering goliaths to finally stir. Holding both fear and excitement the fleet began to move out towards its target.
For those of you wondering what the title of this chapter is it's SOS or · · · – – – · · · in Morse code thought it was appropriate with this being the chapter they finally reach the Comm tower. One more chapter to go before we hopefully return to Beacon for a few chapters.
Since the Asylum arc is basically done besides the getaway I want to ask all of you what your thoughts are on the presentation of the plague and the infected so far. This is what it's going to be like the next time a city is hit unless I get some feedback or suggestions on this.