Chapter 4: Altercation
"We start, by ensuring the safety of the relic of knowledge."
Death heard Oscar, or rather Ozpin, from around the corner. He was professing that he had the unwanted ability to reincarnate in that of a soul not unlike his own. He had no doubts that he was capable of this, but it was how he acquired this curse that bothered him. Oz said that it was bestowed upon him by 'the gods' for not having stopped Salem. This didn't sound like the Charred Council.
Even as humanity was now, they still aren't ready to handle the anticipated apocalypse. Although Death had written the wrongs of the one responsible for framing War, the Council would never interfere with humanity under any circumstance that didn't involve another party. Assigning a human such as Ozpin to put an end to a threat like Salem; to water it down, seemed incredibly out of character.
The Creator very well could, but he prefered to work subtly, and wouldn't force any humans or angels to proceed if they didn't want to. The Destroyer is the complete opposite. With his tongue of silver, he would convince humans to do whatever he pleased, but he could not force anything onto them. Not from Hell.
As it stands, Ozpin is at the very least misinterpreting the 'gods' for who they are, at its worst, the Council has really changed since he left to free War.
"These 'gods', how did they come to you?" Death asked as he joined everyone else in the living room.
"I wondered when you would be joining us. Now then, who might you be?" Ozpin retorted as the pale rider came to stand in front of him.
"Trouble if you don't start talking." The rider threatened.
"A bit trigger happy here aren't we?"
"Quit your yapping. You have a better chance of dodging a bullet than you do my question."
"So it seems. Seeing as how you likely overheard what the children and I were discussing a moment ago and Qrow hadn't stopped you, I trust that I can put my faith in you. But don't think for a moment you can avoid explaining yourself."
"I see no problem in that."
"Now then, I'll try to keep this brief. Once I was a huntsman, not of any especially high caliber, but I had asked the questions no one else had. Questions they were too afraid to. Having grown fascinated with the grimm I had all but made it my life's mission to discover their secrets. My findings had lead to me to Salem. I had survived our first encounter, and knew enough to know I should put an end to her. In our next confrontation I wasn't so lucky. I suffered my first death of thousands yet to come. I would say they came to me in my dying breath, but it rather it happened the moment after."
"They?"
"Yes. Voices. Though their figures I have yet to see, their voices were rather vivid. Three of them. They had told me of how they watched me, as well as Salem. They told me that the duty to finish Salem for good had fallen on me. That it was bound to me. I had to follow it through. I had asked questions as to why, to which they told me that the fairy tales I had found when studying the grimm were not as fictional as they were made out to be."
"And those would be?"
"The tale of two brothers, and the four maidens. I assume Qrow has told you." Oz said, though it sounded more like a question.
"He has. Might I add, you were wrong."
"Excuse me?" Death had broken Ozpin's composure with that one, albeit slightly.
"You may have met these voices, though they have lied to you. Or rather, skewed the facts."
"Now seems like a fitting time for me to return to my original question. Who are you?"
"Death."
"A name, not a title."
"That is his name." Ruby sheepishly chimed in. Ozpin glanced at Ruby skeptically before looking back at Death carefully.
"When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, 'Come' I looked, and there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him." Ozpin said to no one in particular.
"Death of the four horsemen of the apocalypse?" Ozpin questioned the kinslayer.
"Though not perfect, that would be the most accurate interpretation of reality. Your 'two brothers' aren't too far off either, with a few exceptions."
"I, see… though I suppose that your presence her is possible, what troubles me is why now? Is the end of the world upon us?"
"It has already come. Milenia before even you, though it shouldn't have. My brother, at the mercy of the three voices, the Charred Council, was sentenced to eternal imprisonment. But I knew they were wrong. To erase the crime I sought the well of souls, where I brought life back to the desolate Eden that you call 'Remnant'. Why I was brought back to Eden is beyond me but to be frank it's irrelevant. What's important now is that we kill Salem, I return to my station, and see my brother done justice."
"So be it." Oz said, contemplating everything the reaper told him.
"You seem to care an awful lot about your brother, would I know his name?" He asked Death.
"War."
"Another one of the four. And what of the other two?"
"What do they matter to you?"
"I simply want to wish them all the best. Though something tells me they don't need my blessings."
"You are right to think so. That aside, it would be wise for us to retrieve the relic of knowledge immediately, and I assume you know where it is safeguarded?"
"Yeah, we do." Qrow joined the conversation.
"It's held beneath the foundation of Haven."
"So what are we waiting for?" Death asked aggressively.
"Only the spring maiden can open gates that shield it from intruders, and I doubt even you can break it down with brute force."
"You knew this yet we came all this way. I doubt you planned on leading us to a dead end, so you must know where she resides."
"We do, but it's not as simple as show up and take her."
"And why would that be?"
"I'm not certain if she's being held hostage or if she joined, but I've tracked her down to a camp owned by the Branwen tribe. And my sister is top dog.
"I still don't see how that complicates anything."
"My sister, Raven, isn't exactly a push over, and neither is anyone else in her tribe. If we were to all move out tonight and take them by storm, I'm not certain we'd win, even with your help. If we fail, I have no doubt they'd evacuate to somewhere where we won't find them. Then, we'll hit a dead end."
"If Raven is anything comparable to you, I doubt we'd have any trouble. I'm more than enough to handle everyone in this room why not the bandits?"
"Me and Oz call the shots here, and even if you're confident, we still don't know you enough to know what you're capable of. We're not willing to take that kind of risk."
"That you must understand. However," Ozpin said to Death before turning to the drunk.
"you still haven't told me what our current course of action is, and now would be a good time to enlighten us." He requested of Qrow.
"Well, as it stands now our best bet is to assemble a team of experienced huntsmen and rush the place. Only problem is that with all the commotion going around since the fall of Beacon, huntsmen are scarce so it'll take some time for us to find enough." Qrow explained.
"So all we do is stand aside and twiddle our thumbs?" Death exclaimed, clearly not a fan of the plan.
"I don't know about you, but this won't be easy for everyone else involved. So yes, we'll wait. But we'll sharpening our skills for when the time comes. Which Leo says will be in a few weeks, but even I don't want to wait that long."
"Then let's not." Death was done discussing this and began walking towards the door.
"And where do you think you're going?" Qrow called out to the rider.
"To take the spring maiden back." Two large purple arms materialized over Death and slammed open the front door.
"Death, do not walk away from us. You stayed for a reason, so why leave now." Ozpin said, getting out of his chair and trying to catch up to the reaper.
"Now you all choose to hide."
"Don't confuse what we do for cowardice."
"Then it is foolishness."
"We have to stick together. We will fail any other way." Oz wasn't going let him go this easily.
"If you fail-"
"I'm coming with." Ruby declared.
Silence filled the room. Death stood still. Everyone turned their heads towards the young rose.
"Ruby what are you…" Jaune didn't finish his sentence, but he didn't have to.
"Hey kid, now isn't-" Qrow tried handling his words carefully but they were cut short.
"I know I'm being rash, and I don't think that we should jump the gun, but Death is leaving whether we like it or not. The best thing we can make of the situation right now is make sure that he succeeds." Ruby looked around and saw that everyone was looking at her with concerned eyes.
"If you can wait a little bit longer," Ruby looked at Death.
"I'd like to grab my things."
"If anyone would like to join us, I suggest you do the same." The reaper said from the open door frame.
Ruby looked to the remaining members of team JNPR.
"Any of you?" They all had mixed expressions on their faces.
"It's okay to stay if you want to. I'll be safe with him. And it's not like we won't see each other again, after all the entire point is to not waste time. I just... I don't want to leave you all again."She was beginning to tear up.
"I think… it's best we stay here." Jaune said, but it was obvious he wasn't certain.
"Alright." Ruby said, her voice steadying.
Ruby left the living room and went to her's. Spotting Crescent Rose leaning next to her bed she quickly picked it up and placed it on her lower back. She grabbed her backpack and looked inside. Plenty of dust rounds, a water bottle, and some food rations she hadn't gone through yet.
She was about to close it but she wanted to pack one last thing. She reached under her pillow and pulled out her diary. End of the world or not, she wasn't about to let anyone look at her secrets. She placed the book in her backpack, closed it, and put it on.
Emerging from her room she saw Ozpin talking to Death but she couldn't make out his words. She took a few steps towards the door, everyone still looking at her with the same shocked expressions as before. As she walked past Qrow, he placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to him to see a face that said 'choose very carefully' to her. Ruby looked back at the rider, and continued her way out. Qrows hand letting go as she did so.
She walked up to Death's side and turned around to see everyone inside. Jaune, Nora, and Ren all looked worried. Qrow's expression was a mixture of frustration and fear. And Ozpin was jumping from contemplation and disapproval.
"Uhh, after you." Ruby said to Death sheepishly.
Death turned and started down the path, supposedly leading out of the kingdom, with Ruby following just a little behind him and to his right side.
Inside everyone watched as the two disappeared from view. Jaune walked over to the open doors and looked around them, the reaper and the rose nowhere to be seen. He closed the doors before hanging his head in thought. Ren and Nora walked to his side.
"Did we, make the right choice?" Nora asked the team leader.
"I… don't know. I'm going to bed." He answered truthfully.
"Good idea…" Ren said, no more certain of the call than Jaune.
"I guess I should have asked sooner, but where are we going. I don't remember Qrow telling you where she actually is." Ruby asked.
"Dust knows the land of nearly every realm. Finding a bandit camp won't be difficult. Regardless, he already seems to know where to go." He looked up to see the crow flying overhead.
"I recommend wearing your hood up. From what I could tell your silver eyes might draw unwanted attention."
"Gotcha." She hastily pulled the hood of her cloak over her head to partially hide her eyes but not impair her vision.
"Hey, I understand you might not want to talk about it, but if it's not too much to ask, I'd like to know more about your family." She asked the horseman.
"Why do you ask?"
"Well, I'd just like to know more about you in general. Just knowing your brother is another horseman can open a lot of doors for conversation to say the least. And I don't think you're all that interested in me. So if you're open to the idea, can you tell me more about you?" She asked timidly, but she knew she'd have to get comfortable with talking to him at some point. After all, she's not as outgoing as Nora and Yang are.
Death continued walking, thinking about her request. In the past he never had the time to hold a conversation or no one to have it with. Not that he ever cared to. Going into personal territory, he could very easily get defensive. But with Ruby, he knew he didn't have to worry so much. She didn't seem like one to openly object to his ideals. And even if she did, he knew humans rarely even lived to century. Exposing himself couldn't cost him much.
"Once we're out of the kingdom. Any unwanted listeners overhear us and I'll have to do something no one would want."
"Deal." Ruby said, gradually growing less timid around him.
A/N: I am so sorry for being as late as I am with this chapter. It's only about two thirds the length I was shooting for but I didn't want to keep you all waiting any longer. I've been dealing with some family issues these past four days so I wasn't able to put in the daily work I've been trying to stay true to. Should everything go smoothly from here on out, the next chapter should be up between 20 and 24 days.