Taking his time stalking toward the hut he looked to the top left of his helmet and spotted two blips of life on his radar- no, now three.
"What now" he whine quietly.
Grabbing his night vision goggles he spotted a ashen haired woman and smirked deviously as he pulled out a dart and lined his shot up then shot the dart into her neck putting her to sleep.
"Nighty night bitch" he said as he came to a literal crawl in the sand to check for his next targets on his list and saw jaune and Pyrrha asleep in a small hut made up of shrubs and pieces of burnt debris from a bullhead's hull covering the twigs and rocks 'you people make it too easy for me' he thought as he pushed the vines to the side and knelt down next to them, swiped their weapons and he flexed his hand causing the needle blade to come out without a sound, so he felt the need and flared his lightning in the other arm waking the both of them.
Sheathing his blade and stopped his light show he smiled at them but they couldn't see it "good evening" he said grabbing them by their necks choking them.
"I'd love to drag this out but I will ask both of you yes or no questions got it?" he asked clenching tighter on their necks making them nod in agreement.
Loosening up he added "speak and you both die" and let them at least breath but not by much.
"is ironwood dead?"
They both nodded, but they didn't actually know so they just said yes.
"do you know where I can find raven and Qrow branwen"
At this jaune rasped out "you mean Ruby's da- *ACK*"
"did I give you permission to speak?" he asked gripping his neck tight.
Pyrrha nodded in reaper's grip "y-yes we know where…they are"
Reaper growled and slammed them both to the sand tightening his grip on their necks "I told you just to nod yes or no, not to speak"
Jaune tried and failed as he clawed and kicked in this monstrous grip while Pyrrha simply tried using her semblance but nothing happened, she panicked all the more out when her vison began to fade 'why isn't my semblance...working….this….doesn't'
The moment jaune felt Pyrrha go limp beside him he kicked reaper in the face sending him crashing through the wall of the hut and hoped he used enough aura to buy them time. Free of his grip he grabbed Pyrrha and dragged her out of the debris making sure they were far away from the wet sand.
From the noise alone jaune was shocked no one came running to help them but when he looked around he saw just how far off they were from everyone, and even if he wanted to yell for help he was in too much pain to talk.
Taking a look around he spotted neither reaper nor anyone resembling him…but then again the area was completely shrouded in darkness from the lack of moonlight but that didn't matter when he felt something impact his chin by what felt like the force of a fright train and sent him to the ground hard.
"thank the gods for aura" he strained as he got up feeling disorientation and nauseous.
"good to see your still able to speak let alone stand after that…oh riiiight, your aura is like a vast lake isn't it?" reaper said sarcastically. He watched jaune stand up and recover with a bit of difficulty but after a moment he righted himself enough to get in a boxing stance.
Reaper chuckled at him as he picked up a branch that looked somewhat like a club and tossed it to the blonde knight. "with a large aura you got this'll be so much more delightful to pick you apart in the meantime" he said chuckling.
"your serious?" jaune asked in disbelief as he caught the blunt object.
"dead serious arc, I want you to give me everything you got" reaper chuckled noticing jaune glare daggers at him.
"you and I BOTH know im not a arc any longer" he seethed as the two of them began circling each other jaune stared reaper down and got impatient with the white haired man and rushed in, knowing that Jaune mainly hid behind his shield reaper took pleasure in knowing he was practically defenseless against him, but even still, jaune was surprised when reaper stopped sparking leaving him powerless. jaune didn't stop and took a large swing at him.
"oh im sorry jaune your right…you're a fake and a liar; you're a nobody" reaper mocked as he ducked under the swing and kicked jaune in the knee with his heel. Jaune's knee gave out, but recovered with a backhanded swing before reaper could do anything else. he skipped backward, easily dodging the mace and got into a mma fighting stance. "not even worthy enough for cole's rivalry"
jaune stopped as he noticed the knee strike hurt more than a kick should have been able to inflict, but reaper merely taunted him, making a 'come here' move with two fingers.
For all his bluster however, jaune wasn't stupid when it came to combat. He ran over and made smaller, less telegraphed swipes but each one is dodged. Finally, he lost patience and made a large swing for reaper's left shoulder, which he ducked and retaliated with a liver shot with his knee, a left elbow to the face and a push kick almost tossing jaune to the ground.
jaune stumbled backward, breathe hitching, side and face stinging from the blows but not badly hurt, once reaper showed that he wasn't going down as quickly jaune had to think fast.
Jaune came back swinging, each miss being met with a quick jab to the face or low kick to the knees and ankles.
"damn, he's merciless." Jaune said quietly
"What do you mean Jaune, im just fighting the way you beacon children do." Reaper mocked as he kicked jaune's left kidney. With everyone he's fought jaune couldn't place the fighting style nor who used it seeing as he never fought with the normal flashiness that a hunter normally would. Instead, it was all powerful, small, controlled movements and precise strikes. he'd never seen anything like it in so long he'd probably forgotten who fought like it.
Reaper let out a grunt in exertion as he tossed Jaune over his shoulder onto the floor, where he punched him in the face three times before jumping back to dodge an awkward swing from the 'Mace'. jaune staggered back onto his feet, face bleeding and breathing heavily.
"I see now, you're not fighting like this is a spar. You're fighting like you're going to break me."
"What do you mean?" reaper asked feigning innocence and started bashing him in the face with quick jabs and a haymaker to the gut sending him sliding back clutching the assaulted area. "I'm just a lion playing with a little gazelle"
'how is this guy is such a powerhouse compared to me?!' he thought feeling drained, dizzy and sick. "you aren't human" he shakenly said hoping not to puke up food he couldn't fathom tasted any better coming out than going in.
flashback: cole and jaune's 1st spar*
"Well," Yang, said tapping her chin with a pen as she tried to think of how to explain the situation, "you see where cole has been striking jaune?"
They turn just as the man in question hit jaune in the chin by the top of cole's boot, pushing the blonde boy backwards then used his lightning to knock the wind out of him.. "Yeah, just like that. Every hit cole has landed has been to the temple, eyes, jaw, liver, kidney, knee or ankle."
"All valid targets" Weiss added
"I'm not saying they're not, but each location is where you hit to either disorient or disable someone. What im getting at is whoever it was that taught him to always hit those places likely let him fight like he plays for keeps. Also, a few of those spots I was told never to hit during a spar, as they could be crippling or even fatal blows."
"What?" Pyrrha , nora and Ren exclaimed in surprise.
"Temple and jaw strikes shake the brain and disorients the person on the receiving end," Yang listed each point with her fingers, "hits to the eye puff up the skin and slowly shrinks your field of vision to nothing, liver and kidney strikes make it hard to breathe and sap your strength, knee and ankle strikes lower mobility until you can't even properly stand. It's the last two I was warned about, cause if you hit them too hard the other person isn't going to walk correctly or ever again. cole is picking jaune apart piece by piece. If he keeps this up, -despite his aura reserves- I'd be surprised if jaune can speak his own name at the end, much less stand or even walk straight" They watched as cole rolled behind the knight and sent another kick to the back of one of jaune's knees forcing him to stumble, but he didn't fall down and swung again wildly.
"cole is a multi-martial arts fighter why abandon it for a more merciless fighting style like he's a beast?" Ruby asked but didn't get an answer.
Not letting anyone know her actions, weiss had been recording the entire fight using a small drone the size of a beetle.
end of flashback*
"after all these months hearing about him we never should have forgotten that reaper wasn't taught how to fight, he was taught how to destroy; to break someone so thoroughly..." Jaune thought as he caught a glimpse of Pyrrha on the ground still unconscious.
A few more hits to the head and jaune had lost any sort of patience he once had. He came in swinging more wildly, hitting air or blowing sand aside with each miss.
reaper dodged everything by a hair's breath until he got clipped in the arm and sent spinning to the floor. but recovered by rolling backwards to his feet, and dodged a downward strike and sent him flying a few feet away.
Emboldened by his first successful attack of the fight, jaune rushed toward reaper with wild, powerful swings. reaper decided to end the fight and dropped to one knee to dodge the swing. and jabbed jaune on the inside of the right thigh, striking a nerve and locking jaune up for a moment. Reaper uppercut him in the diaphragm, eliciting a strangled gasp as jaune doubled over, reaper quickly took the chance to grab the top his head and brought it down into a rising knee breaking his nose.
jaune stumbled backwards, arms flailing and off balance but reaper didn't give him time to recover, jumping on to him like an angry monkey he began wailing on his face with his metal fist, riding jaune to the ground where he continued to punch him. Jaune tried to ward him off with his mace, but reaper grabbed his right arm and spun him around into an arm lock, back on the floor, hands around the wrist and legs around the arm below the elbow.
He arched his back and jaune screamed out loud, fingers loosened until he dropped his makeshift mace. Reaper tossed the wood club out of the way and rolled both of them until he was sitting on jaune's back. He then wrapped his left leg around his neck, tucking the left foot under his right arm which he still had a hold of. Reaper then arched his back once more, forcing jaune to choke himself while trying to stop reaper from breaking his arm.
jaune's attempts at escaping slowly diminished as his blows became weaker and weaker and was left gasping for air. reaper let him go and quickly rolled to his feet and electrocuted jaune's arm and legs leaving him temporarily paralyzed making jaune cry out in pain he'd never felt before.
"now…let's see if we can start this again….from the top shall we?" he said grabbing jaune and dragged him toward Pyrrha and sat him up against the debris of the hut he kicked reaper out of.
Reaper then grabbed Pyrrha's body and in front of jaune stabbed her in the stomach waking her up with a scream that reaper muffled by shoving a wadded up ball of cloth in her mouth and said "answer honestly with a nod or shake of your heads and I'll decide if you both deserve to live"
They both nodded frantically while jaune quietly cried watching Pyrrha hold her wound. "please don't kill her" he muttered "please reaper- kill me. take my life but don't hurt her I'm begging you, don't do this"
To shut him up reaper shot the needle blade past her eyes and replied "then answer yes or no" he smiled and retracted the blade and put his hand to her temple "can she handle all 6 inches- why am I asking you?"
Jaune froze at that and blushed "ask your questions I'll give you the whole truth"
Reaper snickered patting Pyrrha on her face "have you stopped letting your ego dictate your actions?"
"yes" he said tearing up.
"did you follow Ruby because you were ordered to?"
"yes, but to be honest I didn't have a choice"
"we all have a choice in this like jaune" reaper said pulling his hand back and sprang the blade out. "last question"
Jaune flinched at the sight of that needle and went into panic mode, "please reaper, I cant lose her- she's all I have!"
reaper stabbed Pyrrha in the shoulder forcing her to scream and cry in pain and growled "you have seven sisters, two HEALTHY and loving parents, a woman who loves you, and-" he froze feeling her shudder and immediately pushed her aside and looked at her stomach holding her down by her shoulders. Letting his eyes flash with a gold shine, and for a fraction of a second he saw something he never expected.
Looking up at him he let out a low chuckle "you don't know about this did you?" he asked putting his metallic hand on her stomach, he missed it completely the first time but now that it was known he pulled back and chuckled more.
"what are you talking about" jaune asked forcing himself to his stomach and tried crawling toward them but lied there on his stomach in pain.
Reaper smiled devilishly, stomped over to him, grabbed jaune and dragged him toward Pyrrha by his hair and put his ear to her stomach "listen and you'll find out" he quietly said ominously.
Jaune listened intently for something but there was nothing. Then his eyes went wide, heart stopped and blood rand cold with dread. *bumbum bumbum bum-* "no…it cant be" he said shaking with a newfound terror and possible happiness of what they now had.
Hearing what he needed he threw jaune into the debris and decided to break the façade "you haven't suffered like I have…the people I lost, the amount of pain I endured to get to this moment…" he trailed off watching Pyrrha bleed out and cried hoping she'd live.
"please don't kill them, please reaper IMBEGGINGYOU!" he wailed tearing up in desperation. Then he heard a bone chilling, quiet and reserved laughter, "hehehe….ha ha hahaha…..HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA yo- you really think you can beg death to spare life on a timer?!" he grabbed the cloth out of her mouth and sat her on her knees.
Arms limp, throat dry as the desert of vacuo and shaking like a leaf in the wind Pyrrha looked at jaune and said "Jaune, please look at me!"
He stopped shaking long enough to look her in the eye before he noticed reaper behind her waiting patiently, he choked on a gasp and teared up again "it's going to be alright….i promise we'll get through this togeth-"
"not before you suffer jaune, you said I lied to garner everyone's sympathy; you never had to suffer so I understand that much I really do….but now you will" he said bringing out all six inches of the dust infused needle blade.
"jaune, I love you today and forevermore my heart is yours to hol-" she struggled out between breaths and hiccups.
"but what I want to know is, how come armies would move heaven and remnant for you huntsman but not a broken boy, a lost family, a village, and a mentor….hehehe, that's funny isn't it? i was just like everyone else on this planet; innocent, loving, naïve…..and oh so stupid! yet I was tossed aside-" he knelt down on one knee and put the tip to the back of her neck right at the bone "but the people I lost? WHO CAME FOR US!" he roared pressing it to her skin puncturing skin making her go wide eyed and cried. "No one! Easier to sweep it all under the rug then to put the same effort in that you all will for her- Why!?" he demanded.
"I don't know man, I swear to the gods I don't know- let me pay the price not her" he begged as he stood up, forcing his aching body to protest against his movements, but it was already too late. reaper shot him in the gut burning his stomach but nothing lethal, he paused to say one last thing "tell me something jaune, what do you see when you looked into my eyes… a demon, a monster, or A broken man with nothing left to lose" his voice went back to the bass-y voice for a moment of rage and gripped Pyrrha's shoulder tight.
"whatever happens here jaune, just remember you made me the happiest-!"
"I said I'd make you suffer, just like. I. had." he paused and looked at Pyrrha and smiled under his mask. "reaper. Please for the love of gods, don't do this im begging you" jaune exclaimed frozen in place too scared to move.
"Your world took something from me." His eyes flared behind the protective lenses revealing a familiar pair of blue and green eyes mixed with arcs of colorful lightning "so let me take something from yours."
Ignoring the pain jaune tried to rush reaper but was far too slow when a six inch needle protruding from the other side of her throat choking and coughing on blood, lots of it sprayed out onto his face, neck and chest.
Getting out of the way with his speed reaper watched jaune frantically try to stop the bleeding "NOOOO, PYRRHA….NO. please don't leave me, your my world…..I can't… lose you too" his voice broken and faltered. She looked into his eyes and gently touched his cheek and ran her thumb over his lips "I…*cough*…lug yo…"she choked out before fading in his arms.
Reaper stood behind jaune and growled "how does it feel to know no one is running when you hit the ground!" he said before knocking him out with a side kick to the head burying half his face in sand with a crunching sound akin to a sledgehammer to a side of beef.
Taking a moment to calm himself he looked over to see no one coming to their aid just yet, and looking down he decided instead of blood he felt it best to just write the death poem in burning embers of their little hut then left in a thunderous blast waking the others.
In the distance atop a tall rock grimm peer watched reaper callously and easily kill Pyrrha Nikos and left the knight to mourn for her.
"hmm, interesting" a feminine voice said holding the other seer in between her hands.
Heavy double doors crashed closed announced the arrival of psychotic snickering and tapping of dress boots. "my lady, I have failed to deal with the human named castus" his voice flipped around taking on a deep sadness and said "she'll forgive you- please forgive me….b-but hope is not lost, I managed to poison him…he fought hard but he was old and moved slow" he bowed sounding happy with his actions but shook if fear hoping she'd spare him of her wrath, but knew better to do so in his goddess's presence.
"you've done well Tyrian" she said walking towards him from her table and stopped in front of him "but I need you to take watts with you and find this…red baron and reaper of remnant…" Tyrian shot to his feet and cackled with a childlike glee and hope in his eyes.
"and bring him to me, I wish to speak with him" she said ignoring his discontentment.
Bowing to her he made his way out the doors when he froze mid push "pardon me your darkness, may I ask something of you?" trepidation squirmed in his stomach until she sighed gently sitting in her seat, "ask your questions then"
Rushing over to her side his eyes danced across her figure "is it true that the reaper was gifted your divine blood when he lost his left arm?"
Salem gave him a smirk and put a hand under his chin gently caressing it with her razor sharp nails "and where would be the fun in telling about that?"
He smiled and internally jumped for joy at her touch, and flicked his tail behind him with excitement.
"I understand m'lady I-"
"we will have him here by the end of this month" watts interrupted setting down his maps and extra notes on the table in a neat and orderly place "and he'll join with us willingly"
Tyrian grew furious with the doctor and seethed with rage, "how DARE you interrupt us human"
Watts stared blankly at him and looked at salem "he may have lost the arm your blood gifted him but your blood still runs deep in him. its why his skin is tougher, he fights longer, he's stronger than before….but he doesn't possess an aura yet he has a semblance"
smirking at watts she stood up with the seer on her side and said "I'm happy to hear that, but I know for a fact he doesn't possess a semblance either"
"what does that mean your grace?" watts asked straightening up
"I had cinder look into him and she found that the boy cole was a test subject at birth but since he didn't show signs of their initial tests and were far too impatient his 'mother' stole him from the facility and raised him as her own. Unfortunately for him raven's interference with his life threw him off my radar so you can imagine my surprise when watts found him with the taurus boy and his pet fang members, but I want to know why didn't you collect him when you were done giving him my divine essence?!" she asked suddenly enraged as the castle windows blackened and the darkness crept around them like a shroud.
"if I may be blunt your grace" watts began as he took a stepped forward and bowed putting a hand over his heart, "but I wished to see the results of your gift on him, but in terms of Roman torchwick, He killed cinder and her posse in an explosion after confessing his separation from her employment" grimm hands crept up them both as he talked but it was not slow enough even in Tyrian's opinion.
Salem let the spells go and said "then it seems that she was a failure from inception…" she pushed the door slightly open and looked back at them "and I suppose this means that you two need to bring me her replacement" she turned to watts and said "and I want that ridiculous metal arm taken off him"
Leaving them in the room she felt like a bath would be what she needed right now.
For a few minutes watts and Tyrian exchanged information about the plan and quietly left through the large double doors in silence to find salem's prize.
"I hope this one is promising" she said stripping out of her clothes and walked into the bathroom off to the left in her bedroom and sighed in pleasure at the cold water in her large tub filled with lavender and honeymoon tulips, relaxing her head on a towel she brought the seer close to her side and watched with rapt interest with the reaper and smirked at the poem he wrote in flames that burnt into the sand near a mourning knight and his dying mate.
Arrogance bred in ignorance
Two lives lost one heart shatters
Ash to ashes dust to dust
A lesson learned a warning ignored
-The Reaper-
She read the poem over and over as a smile crept on her lips but realized that the knight was trying to bring the girl back but it was all in vain and soon she'd be dead in minutes.
"it seems that the reaper is more cold blooded towards his new friends than I thought" she said grabbing a bar of soap and gently washed herself.
The seer with reaper showed no intention of looking away from the man that was inside a cave training his combat movements without his metallic arm on and when salem looked into the seer she caught the image of reaper in nothing but his black knee high briefs and a matching muscle shirt soaked and dripping in sweat.
She let out a stifled shudder and climbed out of the tub to let it drain while she dried off to get dressed for bed wearing a black silk robe lined red with her emblem on the back.
"maybe I should use that lotion watts recommend for me" she said walking into a closet and grabbed one of her many bottles of vacuian lotion and walked over to her mirror gently opening her robe revealing her flawless pearly white skin lined with vein-like patterns all over her body. Smiling with admiration at herself she began spreading the lotion on her chest and worked it into her flesh and further down, after an hour her entire body was lotioned up and sensitive to the air in her room.
shivers ran all over her body while she ran her fingers over her skin before wrapping her robe over herself again.
Climbing into bed she let out a deep sigh with content loving the feeing of her entire body wrapped in silk and hairless all over, hair flowed freely around her as she quickly drifted off to sleep with one thought on her mind: reaper and desperately wanting to know who he was since he only just a year ago appeared on her radar, and supposedly he had her blood in his veins when cole was the one injected with it and he only became more noticeable when he kept racking up more kills under his belt in such a short time.
"he may be an assassin but executing that redhead the way he did is surprising to say the least" she whispered in the dark of her room just as she fell asleep smiling with excitement for reaper's arrival.
Another chapter down, im getting excited to write the more grizzly parts and I hope ya'll like it
Like always send your opinions to my reddit that's been listed numerous times so I won't post its name anymore.
High hopes that this story evolves more but the difference between the makers of rwby and me is that I'll kill off characters I a way that makes it mean something, not for shock value.
If I did that let me know cause I can't fix what's not broken.