Dragons
Something was flying through the sky
It had to be the sky. After all, what other place looks like a sea of stars? The stars became streams of light as it ripped past the air at speeds shattering nature's laws. Tornadoes and hurricanes were being formed by its movement alone. Lightning was frozen in place. The world seemed to be frozen in place. Despite being so unnatural, the view was beautiful.
The way the... monster? Beast? Calamity, no...
The way the Dragon flew across the skies, it was as if it was challenging the Heavens themselves. Hold on, not just the Heavens.
Everything.
It would grasp even the stars in its massive, black claws.
Battlefields enveloped the planet. Dragons ate humans. Dragons killed humans. Dragons helped humans. It did not matter to it. Enemies were enemies. A promise was a promise.
Humans feared dragons. Humans fought dragons. Humans fought alongside dragons. It saw them as sinners as well. They were enemies as well.
Why was this Dragon so harsh? Maybe... he was away from his family. It would be tough for anything to be away from its family.
Or maybe he was just evil.
Other Dragons fought against it- him. Everything fought against him. He won because he was stronger. He'd always be stronger, no matter what. Humans tried fighting against him too. It was an even more tragic attempt than the former. Something else tried to take him down, things that looked like humans but were better. They were stronger, more beautiful, and vastly older.
It did not seem like he cared even then. They may have been able to walk on water, but the Dragon may as well have been the vast sea itself.
After many... (years?), the world was silent. The state of it could be mistaken for peace. Too bad it was just trepidation.
After sleeping for an age, he woke up again. It was not over. An abhorrent smell reached him. Malice and sin suffocated the very planet itself. Something dreadful was about to arise. He growled and stood up from his place of rest, shaking off dirt and foliage.
Crouching down, he leapt into the air with force dwarfing that of a volcanic eruption, shaking the world around him and cracking the tectonic plate. The moment he left the atmosphere and found himself in the inky void of space, he dived straight back down like a meteor formed of obsidian.
Homing in on its latest target, it could make out a golden construct radiating foreign power. A primal hunger grew in his stomach. His jaw opened, revealing razor sharp teeth that could tear apart any lifeform. Blue notes of light gathered in the back of the throat before a beam of raw destruction was blasted from it.
It was the night of a new moon, yet for a minute, it seemed like day again.
Surprisingly, the land was unharmed. A barrier constructed from complex runes and pitch-black symbols defended against his first attack. Almost an impressive feat, but not one worth giving any thought.
There was someone sitting on the mountain with wind rushing through his hair. He sensed nothing from this boy, no hatred, no fear, no sadness, no greed, no joy, no hope. The only smell coming from him was death. It seemed the Black Wizard was trying to twist fate's tale this solemn night.
He flicked his hand and sent arcs of lightning chasing after the dragon as if they were living snakes.
His strategy seemed to succeed as the winged leviathan shifted its course towards himself.
Forming a pitch black orb in the palm of his hand, he hurled at the dragon an attack with enough power to kill the land itself. The dragon made no attempt to evade and to his dismay, began to eat the attack, consuming the death in a mere moment.
The beast broke through the barrier as if it were paper and crashed down into the earth in front of the wizard, creating massive crater and sending clouds of dust into the atmosphere. The sheer speed of its descent created buffeting winds that tore through the surrounding forest. With a swipe of its monstrous claw, it tore through his flesh and ripped him into pieces.
To the Black Dragon's mild surprise, the wizard instantly began to regenerate from his wounds. Muscle and bone stitched themselves back together until the body looked as if it had never even been scratched.
Him as well? Immortal?
Opting to get the dragon as far away from the golden gate as possible, he rapidly drew runes forming an expansive magic circle under their feet. Space itself was warped as the two beings were transported to an archipelago out in the middle of the sea.
Seeing that magic would have neglible effect on the brutal beast, the Black Wizard tried out a new form of attack.
Bringing his arms together in front of him, he formed a dark singularity between his palms before throwing it up into the sky where the dragon was currently hovering. A miniature black hole formed and began to pull the dragon towards it. Not even light could escape it.
The dragon moved to swallow the black hole like he had the previous attack but was interrupted when a mountain sized chunk of rock struck its left wing, ripped up from the ground by the artificial gravity. Dirt, rocks, trees, and water rose from the earth and shot up towards the gravity well, crashing into the monster and stalling it from consuming the magic attack.
Within a few moments, it became trapped beneath mounds of rubble. A satellite had formed over the ocean, casting a shadow across the waters.
Knowing that this would only temporarily trap the dragon, the mage utilized his own branch of magic arts to summon gigantic meteors from the sky, their diameters several kilometers in length, before bringing them crashing down on the dragon, pinning him to the bottom of the ocean.
The man felt every particle of his being tear apart and come back together. His vision blacked out from the pain. Though he was immortal, he was originally mortal. A human trespassing into the divine's domain invites death. There are no exceptions. There shouldn't be any at all.
An exception would be a forbidden contradiction.
Glancing over at handiwork, he didn't even have time to register his spine being torn out when a black shape exploded from the depths.
Not stopping at a mere mutilation, the black dragon crushed the man between its monstrous claws, before blasting him deep into the planet's mantle with a devastating breath attack.
The entire exchange between the two living calamities happened in just a few seconds.
Soaring back to the mountains, the dragon reverted back to carrying out its original intent.
The dragon had fired off his attack. A lethal blast struck the gate, breaking it into millions upon millions of shattered fragments.
The beast typically wouldn't bother with killing such a young thing, but it could sense two presences within it. One was all too familiar, nearly dead but still very powerful. The other anomaly was something foreign and much more sinister.
But it was over now.
At least... it should have been.
An unearthly wail split the sky in two. A hole had burned straight through the atmosphere. Space started to shatter. The world was being distorted and melted apart. The last thing the dragon saw was the world's end. And then-
The world was silent.
?̱̮̥͍͈̝̯̔̅̇̀͋̔͌̉̎͜ń̍̀͌̓̉͞o̶̢̝͉̣̤͒͛̍̓̏̃̍͜͞ģ͚̫̝͉̈̏͌̿̅̈́͌ḁ̵̛̣͕̮̋̀̚͜͠ṟ̴̨͙̼̞͌́̒̀̓͜d̶͔̣͔̭̥̳̪͆͑̓͛͘͞ e͖̮̝̻̬̯̾͗̐̂͋͘͝ͅl̨̨̛̠̺̫̣̽̇̒̈́̈̓͜ţ̴͓̗̬̤̮̻̼͎̾̃̃͂͊̎̃͆̐̈́͜t̢̨̢̗̲͚̳͇̱̯͛̔̆̅͐̎̕̚͝i̜͔̯̹͊̐̀̽͒̿͌̿͒̚͟l̶̝̖͕̣̭̙̲͒̑̀̓͆͢ ,̶̢̜̘̙̣̞͙͛̋̈̄͛̇̑͜͠ͅk̷̨͓̰̞̞̉͊̒̒̒͑̚͠͠ę̲̘͍̪̤́̑̽̒́͘͡͝ę̳͕̙͚̤̳̏́̓̏́ś̵̡̢̙͍̲̣̖̜͔̜̏̌̈͊͠ u͇͙̦͚̹͇̗͓͑̔̿̌̓̉̕͘͢o͕͚͇͚̯̎̐̽̈́͜͡y̵̦͔͇̝͑͆͋͆̅͂̎͟ ơ̶̛͈̣̫̜̙̞̍͑͂̽̏ḑ̛͚͓̱̻̖̲͖̫͈̇́̒͗̓̇̀́̚ t̢̞̖̩̗͊͑̌͑̀͋̋͘̕a̋́̕͞͠͠h̀̍̉͝w̵͚̲͓̪̤̬̘͈͗̀͗̆̂̾
̶̧͇̥͙̰͖̟̐͂̾̽͑ḑ̵̪͇͔͙͚̔̽͂͋̓̚͢͟͢è̡̧̪͇̥͍̿̽̔͛̕͞ṭ̬̳̮̄̾͒̿̑̔̀̔͝͝ͅn̴̫̘͇̭̽͊̌̈́̌͘̕͜ą̨̛̲̜̭͙͇̳̋̌̒̎́͗̕͟r̡̛̘͎̱͍̝̭̼͌̔͆̋͘͞ģ̫̗̤̀͛́͊̏̂̈́͛͒͜͜͝ e̴̡̨͙̗̭̱̝̙̟͒̊̀̐̇̀b̶̨͔̰̩̘͒̄̌̋͋̉̕͜͢͞ l̲͉͖̖̯̮̬̤͒̄͊́̏͟l̷̡̼͇̻̰̯͔̲͌͑̂̍̚͠͠͠ą̬͎̥̣̞̜̠̫̍͂̃̔͝ͅḧ̵̨̛͕̰̪̪̙̂͛̈́̓͐̀̀̚s̢͇̣̹͎̲̑̑̔̂̋̃͒͘̚͘ ḩ̢͈͕͉̟̯̏̽͑͛̔ͅs̷͙̩̯̮̓̿̀̋̂̑̐̋͡ͅi̢̩̠̰̗͎̓͑̐̉̉̇͒ẉ̵͇͙̤͕̗̠̤̟̂̾̆̐͡ r̜̦̠͖̤̲̽͗̆̀͌u̡̡̺͙͓̓͐̅͆͝ö̲̠̥̳̱̙͇̗̉̔̈́̾̂̑̓͛́y̧̝̘̤̣̐̇̀̈́̕
"You really shouldn't waste so much time sleeping."
Her eyes snapped open, a soft pillow cushioning her face. She felt something wet tickling the edge of her lips. Still feeling drowsy in the early morning, her vision drifted downwards towards the culprit. A small puddle of her drool had gathered on her pillow cover.
Releasing a short yelp, the girl recoiled from the stain while also attempting to wipe her mouth and cheeks, not knowing that she had already strayed too close to the edge of her mattress. Her body thumped loudly against the hard floor.
After falling off the cushy bed, onto the wooden surface, she opted to lie there and let out a mix of a groan and angry growl. "Stup- mornphf... alwa- in my-"
"Ruby?" Her sister peeked in from the doorframe, clad in nothing but a loose shirt. She was always rather carefree in nature. "Rise and shine, little Rosebud?"
"I'm not little~" She groaned, rolling back to a curled-up position on the floor and pulling the blanket off the bed, not wanting to be awake. The floor would have to suffice. "Tell the sun to go away."
Letting her lips curl up into a soft smile, her sister walked over to her, crouched down, and spoke again. "Don't be like that. I know you don't like waking up early, but the it'll take while to reach the city, and I don't want to travel at night. You wanted to see the place, right? Just freshen up and get some proper clothes on. Meet me outside in a little bit, kay?"
"Do we have to do that today?" Ruby put her hands on the bed and pushed herself up to a sitting position, slumping back over the mattress. Her body felt sore and groggy. She rubbed her eyes. "Can't we just, ya know, eat breakfast like a normal family?"
Yang rose up and put her hands on her hips, raising an eyebrow. "Why so gloomy? It's a beautiful day."
"You say that about any day." Ruby blew a strand of hair away from her eyes.
After shaking her leg and lightly stomping on the ground to wake up her left foot, she stumbled towards the bathroom, guided by the shoulders. She turned on the faucet. A stream of hot water flowed down.
Alright, it was time to get it over with. She cupped her hands and splashed the water on to her face until her face stopped feeling so numb. Ruby eyed her reflection in the mirror dubiously. Her face was petite or however one would describe a kid's face. Her eye lashes were a bit long, though in a way she liked. Unfortunately, her cheeks were still soft and squishy, extra susceptible to old people pulling at them. The hair... could've been neater. It was black and fluffy for the most part, reaching till her neck as the color turned from black to a dark red.
Her eyes were her favorite feature, they were a bright, gleaming silver. She inherited them from her mother.
Overall, according to her family, she was a ridiculously cute, if a slightly clumsy, young girl.
Ruby alternated between standing on her tippy toes and standing normally to see what it would be like if she was taller while brushing her teeth. Everyone else in her family was tall, so she should probably grow a good bit in the future. She spat into the sink and rinsed her mouth before rushing down the hall back to her room. She put on a black skirt and red hoodie, taking a breath, before disappearing in a burst of wind.
She found herself in her Uncle's 'office'. Papers and empty bottles were scattered all around, but she paid it no mind, grabbing a wooden quarterstaff that was a little over two meters in length.
Walking down wooden stairs, she stretched her arms and legs to get them ready. Ruby yawned once more. She still felt drowsy.
Her sister was waiting outside with the sun shining upon her as if it existed just to do so. Her velvety golden locks were styled into a ponytail that cascaded down past her hips, leaving her bangs to curl down and frame her face. Lots of people around town often said Yang was a rare kind beauty. Her eyes shined like purple sapphires in the light. She had an impressive height, especially in their little region, and an abundantly shapely figure. Her voice was soft and filled with affection, and her smile could always bring out a feeling of warmth.
"Feeling awake, yet? If not, your performance will be dull." She lightly spun a matching staff behind herself with delicate grace before letting it rest against her forearm.
Ruby shifted her grip on her training weapon till it was comfortable. "Don't worry about me. I'll win when I win. So~"
She dashed forward without any warning, leaving sound itself behind. Her weapon swinging down in an arc.
Yang easily sidestepped her attack and tapped her on the head with the end of her staff, sending her tumbling across the grass. "Don't just charge in recklessly. Gauge your opponent, see their openings, and check your range. That's the safest way. You keep making the same mistake," she reminded.
Taking no time to recover, Ruby attacked from the ground, using one stroke to sweep her sisters legs off the ground before pushing herself back up. She succeeded in getting her footing back, but her sister stopped the attack with the sole of her foot before it could do anything.
Yang raised her arm and brought the weapon down as if it were a hammer. Ruby needed to hold up the quarterstaff with both hands to keep the blow back. Her sister proceeded to exert more and more force down upon her. The young girl's body strained with the effort.
Her sister was a lot bigger than she was. The gap between their physical abilities was vast. She only held an advantage in speed.
"Focus more. Your Aura will instinctively protect you, but it needs your will to do anything more. Feel it in your body. Let it-"
Ruby diverted the attack to the side, letting it crash against the ground, before leaping back and getting into a running start. She circled around her older sister in a bid to make her lose track of her position, kicking up dust and wind. When she couldn't feel her sister's gaze on her, she struck at the back of her shoulder.
She felt her attack land, but she couldn't tell where. She landed successive hits afterwards. She could hear the sounds now. Wood was still only striking against wood. She needed more range and slid her grip to the end of the staff before dishing out dozens more thrusts and mock slashes.
Her sister was backpedaling, giving away ground.
Ruby burst forward with inhuman speed and speared the staff forward at the chin, the area taught routinely to her as the area most vulnerable to a knock-out blow.
The girl's silver eyes were completely focused on this singular attack.
At the last fraction of a second, the older sibling let her body fall back to the earth and lifted her leg up, catching Ruby in the stomach.
She felt herself get tossed across the ground like a puffball before her butt thumped against the grass.
"You're getting faster, and your strikes have some more bite behind them, but it seems I'm still a teensy bit stronger for now." Yang gave her a doting smile. Her countenance was the exact same as when she woke up.
Ruby grumbled, finding it difficult to breath, "Why can't I ever beat you?"
Yang crouched down and ruffled her sister's hair, "Don't get too down, Ruby. If you're sincere and put in the work, you'll be rewarded." She jerked a thumb towards her chest. "You can trust me cause I'm older than you after all." As if that explained everything. "Now practice the drills Qrow taught while I make breakfast." She patted her cheek and stood up. With as much effort as one would toss an article of clothing into a laundry basket, Yang threw her quarterstaff into the ground.
Her sister walked back into the house, leaving Ruby on her own.
Ruby took a deep breath and started practicing the basic techniques she had been taught. They were so simple, even a toddler could've figured them out. Despite that, she was told to do it thousands of times daily to ingrain the motions into her body's memory.
It took her half an hour to complete countless swings, each completed with the full force of her body.
She had done them until her blood ran hot and her bones felt like they would melt. A sigh escaped her lips. Despite all the practice and training, she couldn't never feel an improvement in her own strength.
The quarterstaff felt like it weighed a ton. She hurled it into the ground. It bounced off the grass and knocked over a flowerpot, shattering it against the ground.
Her reaction was most like that of a small cat.
She scanned her surroundings to check that there were no witnesses and vanished.
It took less than a tenth of a second to cross the distance even in her tired state. The sound her feet made when running across the floor was like the hum of an electric motor. She reached the kitchen without even realizing it and threw herself into one of the chairs, causing it to skid across the floor towards the oven. Ruby relaxed until before realizing that the chair was starting to tip over. She frantically flapped her hands in front of her to try and regain stability, but the floor was getting closer to her back.
"Help help help-!"
Her sister nudged the chair back with her foot while dealing with the stove. "Ruby, I keep telling you not to use your semblance in the house, at least not without more practice. You'll hurt yourself one of these days if you can't get rid of bad habits." She turned off the flames and cleared the extra bowls on the counter into the sink. "Did ya sleep well?"
She averted her eyes, looking away to the side. "Y-Yeah, sure."
Yang stabbed a kitchen knife into the cutting board, picked up the chair her sister was sitting in, put it back at its original position, and leaned over the table. She rambled through her words while setting breakfast on the table. "Just checking. It's important that-"
"It's important that a girl my age gets enough sleep," Ruby nodded along, doing her best impression of her sister's voice, which basically amounted to making her voice as deep as she could.
"So long as you get the message. Wouldn't want to take after Dad when it comes to sleeping habits."
Ruby poked at breakfast with a fork. Her sister went all out to make the house's favorite foods today. Waffles with powdered sugar and syrup, chicken tenders with honey, fluffy scrambled eggs, breakfast potatoes, and a chicken pot pie were laid across a tablecloth. Ruby was feeling happy and sad at the same time with today's events. She slumped glumly over the table.
Yang would be leaving today. She would only get to see her sister maybe once a week from now on.
She really didn't want that, couldn't even imagine it.
"So, um, w-where's Dad?" Ruby glanced over to the empty chair where her dad usually sat at, his mug was empty and untouched, then out the window to maybe catch a peek of him sitting on the porch.
An apologetic smile crept up Yang's face. Her eyes always narrowed a little whenever she smiled. "Sorry, he called last night. Hunter business. Some nasty Grimm popped up near his route, and the association asked him to deal with it. He'd be here if he could, but those things were only a little ways away from a small town." She poured herself a cup of coffee and added milk and sugar. "On the bright side, the town he's saving is supposed to be famous for their opera cakes. He'll bring some back for you when he's done."
Their father killed monsters. Their entire family killed monsters, or Grimm as they were called. Grimm were the monsters hiding in the woods, the creatures children feared would hide under their beds, the ones that tear people apart and claw away at civilization. The slumbering shadows from monsters of old, giant wolves that could tear the torsos off men, gargantuan spiders that could ensnare entire villages, phantoms that snatch children from their homes and drag them to their deaths. Well, entire family sounds impressive, but her family was pretty small. Now it was just her dad, her uncle, and her sister. No grandparents, no aunts or uncles, no distant cousins. Just them. Though Yang wasn't a huntress yet, Ruby was pretty sure she was already at least as strong as one.
Uncle Qrow called in some favors and got Yang accepted into a famous school known for training the strongest Hunters ever with just his own recommendation.
"Sooo..."
"Hm?"
She balanced her spoon on the table. "How long are you gonna stay in Vale?"
Yang took off the turquoise apron she was wearing and let her hair loose. "I promise it won't be long. Just need to take care of a few things, that's all." She glanced down at her blinking and letting out a laugh. "Oh right! This'll be your first time seeing a city in person! You excited?" Yang grinned at her while ruffling her hair.
Ruby ducked away and flattened her fluffy locks before smiling back. "Well- Yeah! I guess it'll be my first time leaving this place." Her eyebrows scrunched together. "What's the city like there?" She shoveled a plate full of food into her mouth before giving herself another serving, waiting for Yang's response expectantly.
Yang took a seat and sipped her coffee while humming to herself. "It's not that different from downtown, but a lot bigger and noisier. You've seen pictures of it, haven't you?"
"Yeah," she nodded her head. "We had a class about it too."
"Then I'll show you around a little bit." Yang finished with a smile. "In a few years, maybe you'll stay there too. Course, you don't have to, but you have the option."
They finished breakfast in relative silence. The sun was starting to rise above the clouds by the time they started putting on sandals. Yang picked up a heavy suitcase, and Ruby pulled on a backpack with extra clothes stuffed inside. Before stepping outside, she grabbed a red, metallic case the length of her body that was left on the on the living room table and donned a red cloak.
Ruby glanced at their house before stepping out the door. It was more of a large cabin if anything but not quite a lodge. The floors and walls were made from a dark wood while everything else was made from a lighter wood. Their dad built the place from the ground up when he was younger as a perfect place to raise a family in. The common rooms were decorated with comfy couches and useful furniture. The walls had paintings streaked across the borders depicting marvelous stories.
Outside, every sort of flora imaginable was planted around the house. Freshly watered, they bloomed in the sun, making everything seem even brighter.
She let out a small sigh. Leaving this warm place always left her feeling a little colder.
Yang poked her sister's cheek and giggled when her hand was swatted away. "Come on, come on, enough with that. Let's get going. Nothing comes out from dawdling about." She took her sister's hand and began walking along the forest path.
This was the start of Ruby Rose Xiao Long's journey.
Beast
It was said that gods dwelled atop mountains, and demon dwelled beneath them.
It was no place for humans, cold and harsh. Sight is obstructed by intense winds of ice. The subzero temperature makes the skin go numb. Nothing can be heard due to the raging storm above. The muscles of the flesh become weak and vulnerable. Even ordinary predators are a lurking threat.
But in these mountains, were no ordinary predators.
Behemoths broke out from the ground after many millennia, bodies that could dwarf any manmade structure. Their eyes were yellow and without pupils. Black, tendril-like appendages extended from their ghastly faces and flowed about the wind. Jaws filled with needle-like teeth and tongues armed with bony spikes. Their spines wrapped around organic material not their own, stolen from other lives. The bodies were unnaturally assembled masses of flesh and vegetation. Disfigured limbs created paths of devastation. When any of the creatures breathed, the surrounding air dropped a hundred degrees in temperature.
Even more absurd was what was walking towards them.
He strode forth against the wind, his simple clothes rippling and trying to tear away. He had nothing. The shadow he cast extended over the entire mountain. His dull, blue eyes could be seen even through the storm. The monsters stood in place and observed it, studying it, trying to judge what it was.
The smallest and most brash among them split open its vertical jaw and let out its cruel breath of cold, encasing the forest in a layer of solid ice. On edge, the grimm was deathly silent.
A moment later, a broken shard of ice was rammed through its eye and ruptured its brain.
In even less time that it took to break the ice, the man launched off the slain monster's skull towards the neck of the largest grimm in his sights. He plunged his arm through the thick, armor-like hide and gripped the creature's spine. Running along the back, the spine was ripped from the main body. It was particularly jagged where it broke off from the ribs, the bone structure that supported nearly a hundred thousand tons.
Swinging the bone with his mighty arms, he tore away at the rest. The flesh was stripped off from the flesh. The bone was broken off from the bone. When he swung it too hard, the grisly weapon broke, but not before taking the head off one more.
Running forward, he pierced through the snow like an arrow. With a compressed low kick, he destroyed the legs. Tearing off the strange appendages that tried to crush him, he crushed the skull in return with a downward punch. Grabbing the underbelly, consisting of devoured and integrated vegetation, he swung the corpse over his back, spreading his legs out for stability. When the corpse was brought down, it crushed another of its brethren.
He had the monsters' full attention now. They sought to kill and devour him in no particular order. A normal beast would flee, yet these beasts did not possess a proper sanity or instinct. If they did, then why did they not flee?
It was not a mere Hunter. It was not a normal human. It was something more akin to an anomaly. An anomaly that was preventing the world from being flipped upside down, a fickle, wooden dam holding back the flood, the pin stopping a grenade from detonating, that's what it really was.
But these grimm had no way of knowing that. They just wanted to kill and raze. Nearly a hundred more of these grimm, later labeled as Amhuluk by official researchers studying the corpses, were waiting in the mountains. They would endlessly try to tear the man apart. It was not why they awoke, but it was their current purpose now.
In fairness to the grimm, the man had no care as to what they truly were or what their purpose was. He was merely trying to fulfill the dream and wishes of another, as he felt was his responsibility. At the same time, he tried to continue and cherish his own dream. Even if the dream weren't truly real, even if it might one day it may break down and come apart, he would continue living this dream.
Some call it foolish. He called it passion.
An hour later, he sat down beneath a mountain of corpses. Every monster was slain. Yet, even with this labor, the man felt no triumph. His blood did not run hot. His heart did not beat frantically. There was nothing special about this feat. What was important, was this day.
The man rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a phone, nothing fancy, but durable and reliable. He held the phone with one hand and methodically tapped the buttons with the other. Scrolling through his limited contacts list, he selected the name he'd been looking for.
Holding the phone to his ear, he waited. He waited a full two minutes before trying again. Peeking at a red icon at the top corner of the screen, it was apparent that there was no signal out here. Disappointing, but not unexpected and quite a common case for him in fact.
Despite his appearance and clothing, the man wasn't a drifter. He did have a home, a very nice home he built himself. What made it home wasn't really the house itself, but something far more precious.
It was truly an important day, a day when he really wasn't supposed to be here alone in the mountains. Once again, one wish interfered with another. Would he need to fulfill one more to set things right?
He wished being an adult wasn't so hard, though it wasn't as if things were simpler when he was younger.
A small, black cloud of fluff came to his side and licked his hand.
"Oh, was wondering where you went," The man mumbled as his ribs were prodded repeatedly. "You can eat grimm, right?"
Forbidden
Thousands of miles away, where the world had entered night instead of morning, a slaughter occurred.
A man died by having his throat slashed from the front. Rather than an instant death, it was a long painful farewell to life. Several seconds passed after he received the painful wound.
Even so, in spite of the few moments he had left, the man could never see the figure of the attacker. In his last moments, the only thing he was thinking was how to warn the others of the intruder in their midst.
Moonlight reflected off the smooth stroke of the next swing.
Right next to the falling body, the other guard keeping watch, who was a literal arm's length away, was cut in the same manner as the previous. Neither body made a sound louder than the night's natural ambience. It was like a terrible, lucid dream. Absurd events were happening so casually with neither of them being able to react to them.
They've been guarding this place for over ten years. If there was an intruder here, they would not have even let something as minor as a bee pass through. Not a single person had ever gotten passed them without permission, It was their pride and reputation for ten years as their boss's first line of defense.
Now he was dying before he could even notice the lack of breathing from his partner.
Such a massive failure could only be a dream, such an occurrence couldn't possibly be reality.
But it was reality. The shadow blocking the stars continued forward before disappearing. Even though the doors were still closed, the man knew as he died, that the intruder had gotten inside.
The assailant walked on quietly. With a presence that reeked of murder, it continued to slaughter every guard present. The superhumans who equaled even experienced Hunters were as helpless as the corpses outside the gates.
Hundreds of bullets were fired, but none met their target, riddling the walls and columns with holes.
A criminal family lived in this mansion. Their history goes back hundreds of years, wealthy as kings and strong as an army. Even the city it lived in was beneath its heel. Other criminal groups couldn't even step outside without consent and offering to the group. Those who were disgruntled by this didn't live long. Bodies simply disappeared. Its members were simply too powerful.
But the enemy this time was taboo even in the criminal underworld. The head of the ▬▬▬▬▬, a clan of inhuman killers. She had already killed everyone outside, and now she only needed to assassinate her target within. There were twenty-seven people outside the mansion. It was more than she had been informed of. It was an excessive murder, something against her principles.
Killing was the head's profession since she was a child. It was in her blood, and in the blood of her ancestors. It was a history that is going back generations. Surely, in the future, such a job should not exist. Hopefully. Because it is evil. It is neither allowed nor welcomed under the sun. That's why the family has been living in the shadows. Always.
...No. That is not the only reason.
It was a clan obsessed with power, to continue evolving further and further and maintain its position in the world.
Members of this clan possess physical abilities far beyond the reach of modern humans in every way. Strength and speed to rival that of even wild beasts. Tolerance to pain thanks to many abnormal and variable endorphins allow them to continue fighting even when gravely injured. Regenerative abilities let them shrug off otherwise fatal wounds. Selective breeding, introduction of strong blood from outsiders, genetic modifications, bloody rituals, trials, drugs, this "family" had tempered its bloodline to the point where it could be called a new race of hominids specialized solely for combat and bloodshed. They were living weapons.
Many Hunters over the ages have boasted of their ability, but those born into this clan possess that which is beyond human limits. One could even mistake them for demons.
The one who had risen to the peak of this clan, who killed the previous heads to take power...
-was her, ▬▬▬▬ β̶̧̩̖̮͚͍̫́̋ͅΓ̶̱͍̯̳̯̜͍̝͋̽̆̈́͌̕Ᾰ̷̡̡͕̼̳̗̺͙͓̈̂̾̾̃́̽̄͠͝͝ἠ̴̦̟͛Ψ́͋͂̅̑̍͠Έ̋͋͒͝Ν̷͕̞̥̾̈̉̚͠
A smooth echo resounded through the mansion's many halls. It was being ruined by ice and fire. Pillars of earth broke through the floors and walls, the products of their attempts to stop her. Within a few seconds after entering the mansion, she killed a ninth person.
When the clouds finally parted, everyone was dead. Not a single life was spared.
Moonlight reflected off inhuman eyes. Without bothering to clean the blood off her sword, she walked into the dark and disappeared.
Joker
Luck is just an excuse people use to justify other people's success and their own failures.
That is what some people say.
Whether or not a person believes in luck, if they've experienced the world, then they'll know that even the most minor things can alter their lives forever. For better or worse, life is chaotic like that.
Throughout a certain man's life, he had no choice but to believe in luck. He was unlucky since the day he was born.
Taking a sip from his flask, the lanky man continued to make his way through the desert. Hot winds blowing irritating sand into his face. There were no landmarks, no clouds in the sky, not even a cactus to be found in the dunes stretching to the horizon.
He took cautious steps, keeping mind of his footing. Both a figurative and literal slip up could be bad.
A slight shift in the sand caught his attention.
Blazing heat bore down on his back and drew sweat from his skin. A heavy broadsword was hefted over his shoulder. In the spot he was standing on now, he couldn't help but feel a thing down his spine.
Something burst out of the ground, a limb made from flesh and sand. It struck down towards the man before it suddenly burst open.
The Hunter lowered his weapon as if nothing happened. The blade folded back to reveal a shotgun built into the hilt. Smoke was still coming off from the barrel. Peeking over his shoulder, he could see a humanoid figure observing him.
It said nothing. The man didn't even know if things like this even had the ability to do so.
A strange rumbling noise now emanated from its chest, possibly either its heart or lungs. Perhaps it was some other type of organ unknown to humans. It retracted its limb from the ground and seemed to inspect it with pure yellow eyes. Sand wrapped around the blasted apart flesh and pulled it together into a long, curved blade.
It looked up at him and started to slowly move forward through the sand.
Lowering his stance, the Hunter prepared to strike the moment it was in his range. Less than seven meters separated them.
The monster started to take bigger, faster strides. The hunter relaxed his muscles and breathed out.
He identified thirteen weak points.
Sand fired off the ground when the strange creature suddenly burst forward, vine-like limbs elongating. It stretched its sharpened arm forward towards the hunter's throat. A screech resounded from its chest.
His arm became a blur.
Its body was bisected in two. For a moment, the body went limp. Then it shuddered back to life only for the man to stomp on it and blast it to smithereens with his firearm.
Remaining on guard, the man waited. He listened and gazed for any more signs in the sand.
There were none.
Roughly fourteen kilometers away from this area was a small village with little less than a thousand inhabitants. Eight children had disappeared with no trace. Seven women were nowhere to be seen. The corpses of seventeen men were scattered among the dunes, decomposing under the harsh sun.
He was the fifth hunter sent after whatever had done it. The village accounted that two huntsmen and three huntresses had arrived prior to save them from the monster killing people. They were not heard from again. Even now, the man didn't know if the thing he just killed was the true culprit. Many other creatures could be lurking under the sands, biding their time.
Luck and fate cannot be controlled. They cannot even be predicted or prepared for.
All an inconsequential human like him could ever hope to do is try and help his fellow man where and when he could, Hopefully, those people would in turn protect those that they love and cherish.
Regardless of how terrible things get, it's the least they can do.
He emptied his flask and pulled out another from his belt, before taking a long drink.
Devil
Inside a high-rise building in the capital, a canvas of violence was being painted.
A very ominous, old-fashioned tune was being crudely hummed out with no sense of pitch. The lungs from which the sound originated from were better suited to growling than gently humming.
Smoke and ashes swept through the air. The polished, luxurious skyscraper was a wreck on the inside.
Deafening gunfire now rattled the soundproofed walls and shook the expensive decorations.
A man with a savage looking face walked in with a cruel grin stretching his lips.
When the two guards at the reception tried to stop him, the first had his arm snapped and the second had his knee broken.
He carried nothing on him except for the clothes on his back. A piece of paper was shoved into his pocket.
With every step he took, more and more people appeared to stop him.
A man two heads taller than him and twice as heavy slammed down a massive ax on him while his allies fired at him with their guns.
The bullets crumpled and bounced off as if they were striking against a block of steel. It wasn't even a distraction, an attack not even worth notice.
Metal shattered when the man gripped the head of the weapon and kicked the man in the ribs, sending him flying through three walls and a window. He turned back just in time to catch the head of a spear launched at his face. Trenches were dug into the carpeted floors as he was pushed back by the force of the thrust.
Like all the other workers in this particular building, the woman wore a pristine, black suit over a white shirt. She was over a head shorter than the intruder, but her attacks could still pierce through iron walls.
Because in a land of the supernatural, only those that embrace it will survive.
From the dawn of life's conception, nature dictated that the strong would rule over the weak. The creature with greater mass, stronger composition, and adaptable traits would be able to kill and devour anything lacking these advantages.
A human cannot defeat a monster. Their flesh is too soft, and their bones are too brittle, but humanity did not last as long as it did because of luck or mercy.
The strong would protect the weak with power greater than their very flesh. Since their flesh was to weak, they used the power of their souls.
Aura, a miracle of life that flows through all of creation.
The soul can be seen as a reactor that gives life form and nature. Aura is heat produced by that reactor and what life uses to survive against a harsh world. It can grant the skin fortitude to stave off bullets, reinforce muscles to grant speed, and amplify weapons to a new level of effectiveness. It is what allowed the woman to exert so much power.
It is an ability available to all equally, though only a tenth of the population can truly display its potential. And when it comes to strength, not all are equal.
Not even close.
She felt her ribs crack. Every drop of her aura was used to stop her liver from rupturing. She slumped to the ground and dropped her spear.
Her coworkers littered the floor around her shortly after. They were beaten to unconsciousness after being hastily questioned for answers.
The man headed up the stairs, stopping at each floor to take care of business. His fingertips aimlessly dug into the walls and dragged across, leaving rough grooves along the halls. The sound was terribly vexing.
Bones inevitably cracked whenever the sound reached the next floor. It was a good thing that healthcare was free in this continent. If it was Atlas, they'd all have empty pockets.
Looking back on it, this was likely the worst day of their lives. The day everything fell apart like wet sand. They would recover, but the loss would forever taint whatever pride they had.
For the man, it was just another day. There was nothing special or glorious about what he did. Children took more pride in picking their toys off the floor when told to do so by their parents. For him, the job at hand was less important than sweeping a dirty floor.
He allowed anyone who wished to attack him to attack him. He didn't evade or attack preemptively. The blows, strikes, stabs, and gunshots were taken head on.
When they were finished, it was his turn, and on his turn it ended.
It didn't take too long for him to reach the top floor where he was struck across the face with a heavy sword, sending him flying through the walls.
The leader of the group gave him no time to get back up. The man struck down with the tip of his sword dozens of times, ripping apart the floor beneath them. Flesh and bone would be turned to paste by this barrage of strikes delivered with such a level of speed and strength.
Yet, it was the blade that was blunted and shattered.
The leader's arm was seized by a grip. His blood vessels were immediately constricted. Any more pressure and the flesh would explode. With what was left of his shattered weapon, he stabbed it into the intruder's left eye with all his power. It felt like his shoulder dislocated upon impact. Nothing remained of the blade.
He was hurled through the reinforced ceiling. At the moment of impact, his gut was struck by a fist harder than steel.
His mouth wrenched open, attempting to vomit up whatever may come, but nothing came out. All he could do was pathetically gasp as he tried to recover his airway.
The boy grabbed him by the collar and held him up. The attacker's back was to the sun, causing his features to be shadowed.
"Hey, hear anything about dragons?"
Jaws opened wide, showing sharp, glistening teeth that could tear through all flesh. An ominous light appeared at the back of the throat, almost as if a furnace existed back there.
A shock of pain erupted on the left side of the leader's face. and he passed out.
The air pressure atop the building suddenly dropped as a deep breath was taken. A cloud was dispersed when the exhale came.
He stared up at the sun, the star failing to light up his pitch black eyes.
"Hey... Dad, if you're watching right now... I'm bored."
