Greeting everyone! Chapter 10 is out. Nothing to add besides my thanks for still keeping up with the story; hope you can continue enjoying it!
November 30, 85
"This makes no sense" Weiss exclaimed as she eyed the rock in front of her. She turned around, eyes falling upon her teammates who wore a similar frustrated expression while looking at the dead end they had stumbled upon.
After resting and waking up early in the morning, they had immediately rushed towards the Mayor's office to discuss Ruby's plans, all while getting prepared to force some common sense in his mind.
Pleasantly surprising them, the man not only agreed to her ideas but he also ordered Cyril and two more villagers to escort them to the tunnel. He claimed that they should try on their own, in case his people had missed something yesterday.
"It's as Mr. Abbey said" Cyril's annoyed voice sounded from the tunnel entrance behind them. "We got that, pal. You have told us five times already!" Yang groaned. "How about you let us work?"
The man bit a response and turned around to walk away "I will be at the trapdoor- use the wire to call me" he only said, pointing at the large wire they had drawn all across the tunnel.
"What a freaking jerk" the blonde hissed. "Yang, focus" Ruby cut her off. "I am, Rubes. I really am. But searching for hidden passages is not my forte and you know it- Alex would be very helpful right now."
Blake rolled her eyes "The girl can see everything in a radius around her via echolocation, Yang. She is not an x-ray machine." The blonde chuckled "sorry, my bad. I will apologize to her when we get back."
"You are rambling again…" Blake deadpanned. "I get it Yang; you are bored. But couldn't you-" she suddenly stopped, her eyes falling on a small, unusual edge on the wall. "I think I found something here."
As her teammates walked closer to her, she picked the edge and moved it out- releasing a small, well hidden lever. "How in dust did they manage to miss that?" Weiss' voice was heard.
"They didn't have me" Blake winked before raising the lever.
A low-key mechanical sound spread around in the tunnel, as team RWBY stepped back. The wall in front of them moved, slowly splitting in half as a pair of mechanical doors opened wide.
"This is way more advanced than what I expected" the Atlesian girl added. They all looked inside, but the pair of torches put on the wall by the locals barely managed to pierce the darkness.
Ruby picked out and opened her flashlight but, next to her, Blake's ears dropped flat before her leader managed to point it inside the opening. The faunus had been the first one to notice the sickening sweet smell of iron.
She had also been the first one to see that behind the moving walls was a circular room, totally sealed save for a small metal door on the opposing side of them. But that was not what caused her ears to fall- or her eyes to close in a sad expression.
In the middle of the room, briskly illuminated by Ruby's light, was the body of a girl, face down in a pool of nearly-dried blood. She had honey blonde hair and wore elegant-looking green clothes, all smeared with caked blood. A silver long sword was on the ground next to her.
"No…" Ruby rushed inside and knelt next to the girl, as Weiss and Yang followed, hanging another pair of torches to the walls. "She is dead" the team leader said.
"Quite some time already" her partner replied as she checked the girl's body "possibly even before we arrived- though I can't be sure."
"Poor girl- and poor Mr. and Ms. Pale..." Yang knelt next to her sister. "I have a clean piece of cloth with me; think you can help me cover her, Rubes?" Her sister complied and they both tenderly wrapped it around Melia Pale.
Ruby then turned to the monochrome pair. "We are taking her to the healer's office and then we will return this" she grabbed the sword "to the Pales. I want you two to start investigating the place."
"Don't you want me to go with Yang?" Blake said. "No. I want the smartest two of our team to work in here. Try to find out anything you can about this place and how Melia ended up this way."
"I agree with Rubes" Yang said. "We will be back as soon as possible. If you see of feel anything weird, contact the jerk and get out of here immediately."
Weiss and Blake exchanged stares and nodded, just before Yang gently picked up the girl's body and started walking behind Ruby towards the tunnel's entrance.
-o—
Ruby Rose loved being a huntress. She had been wanting this since she was a young girl listening to her sister's stories about huntsmen's and huntresses' heroic deeds.
Even during the Salem War, she loved every single time she wrecked a Grimm, either with her beloved Crescent Rose or, during the War's latest years, with her silver eyes. She loved everything about her job.
There was, however one thing Ruby never managed to take well about being a huntress. Sure, she had been continuously exposed to it, especially when she returned home after the Grimmlands' expedition, but it never stopped hurting her.
She had always hated returning to a fallen huntsman's home with his/her weapon wrapped inside a bloodstained piece of fabric.
She had always hated seeing people cry over the loss of their loved ones while she could only whisper a trembled 'I am sorry.'
As she stepped inside the Pale Mansion, she felt Pullman's eyes wander on her. Yang gently squeezed her shoulder and whispered encouraging words- as usual. She was grateful her sister was with her.
Because, like every other time, she knew that she couldn't have endured Ms. Pale's cries of agony if her sister hadn't been there with her.
-o—
"There is definitely some human involved in this" Blake deadpanned. "I agree" her teammate nodded "Grimm do not use secret doors; nor they utilize modern security locks" she pointed towards the metal door and the fancy-looking locking system on it.
"Which brings us to the second question- why would anyone want to drag this girl in here only to kill her?" the faunus questioned. "The most possible explanation would be for the girl to have seen something she shouldn't" Weiss replied.
"What would that be?" Blake bit her lips. "What could this door be hiding that it would be important enough to kill for?"
Weiss turned her head around, examining the lock "there are very few things worth killing for and I doubt one of them is behind this piece of metal."
"Hm…" Blake pondered "you are possibly right…" before Weiss could dignify her with a response, Blake felt a sharp pain in her head "Agh!" Her friend shot up, turning around.
"Are you ok, Blake?" Weiss asked, concern lacing her voice. "Yes, why?" she asked in confusion. "Well, you just seemed like you were in pain right now, did you hit your head somewhere?"
The black-haired girl turned to face the ex-heiress "I told you I am fine; besides since when do I need your help?"
Weiss got taken aback and carefully lowered her left arm. It was not the anger in Blake's voice, or the absurdity of her words, no. What made her grab Myrtenaster's hilt was something different.
"Blake…your eyes are red" she calmly stated.
"So what? Are you afraid?" Blake moved towards Weiss, who stepped back, matching the faunus' rhythm. The petite woman stopped right next to the emergency wire and gave two fierce tugs.
"You are afraid…unbelievable. To think I actually look up to you…" Before Weiss could register what Blake said, the faunus' sword shot at her. Drawing Myrtenaster, Weiss conjured a shielding glyph just in time.
Nightfall's blade crashed the glyph, but it gave her enough time to dodge the attack. Weiss put Crown on the ground, lightning surging around her as she used the dime dilation Glyph, while Myrtenaster quickly spread an array of platforms all over the tunnel's surface.
Moving with lightning-fast speed from her double glyph activation, Weiss moved around like a blur, the only sound echoing through the passage coming from the occasional clash of the two girl's weapons, as Blake utilized her clones to keep on par with the white girl.
"Blake, please! Snap out of it!" she cried, as her two swords came in front of her, forming an X- shape to block Nightfall's thrust.
The weapon skidded on her blades and Weiss slammed at it with her elbow plating to throw Blake's balance off. She thrust forward, but sliced through a shadow clone.
Blake teleported behind her and used her sword's wires to entangle her left leg. She then pulled with all he force she could muster, before her target could properly react.
Weiss spun around, performing a pirouette as she felt Blake dragging her leg up, kicking the katana away. She was too late, however, to keep her balance.
Blake grabbed her left arm and twisted it, earning a pained gasp as Weiss dropped Myrtenaster. She then tossed her on the ground. "Blake! Please! I know you can do it! I don't want to fight you!"
The faunus laughed; a cold, chilling laughter that froze Weiss' blood. She recognized it- the same as possessed Ruby's. "Did you say the same thing to Winter before you killed her?"
The girl gasped. Even considering that Blake was possessed, it was a low blow. It took her two seconds to compose herself and stand up again. As much as the shadow lurking right behind Weiss needed.
"Agh!" she only felt a slight pain at the back of her brain. She shook her head; it was fine, that pain was nothing. Compared to what she was going to do to Blake for bringing that up, that pain was nothing.
"Decided to fight after all?" she smiled smugly. "Stroke a nerve with Win didn't I?" Weiss' red eyes gleamed "Don't talk about my sister like that, you second-rate huntress who nearly killed her fiancé with her own hands."
"He lives, unlike-" "I SAID SHUT UP! DON'T PUT MY SISTER IN YOUR FILTHY ANIMAL MOUTH!" Weiss tackled Blake, eyes gleaming in hatred. "DIE!"
The black-haired girl punched her away and drew Envelop. She shot twice, but the ex-heiress was very close. Surprising her opponent, Blake didn't use her semblance to avoid Crown's thrust, the short sword slicing her arm and forcing her to lose her second weapon as well.
Blake head butted Weiss, causing her aura to rattle, while the alabaster girl kicked her calf, forcing her to fall on her knees. She answered with a punch to Weiss' stomach, who tossed Crown at her in a desperate attempt to stab her.
Easily avoiding the improvised projectile, Blake tackled Weiss sending her crash to the wall, before pouncing on her. All caution, tactics and training both girls had got thrown out of the window.
Common sense was the next one to leave them.
Both girls now were on each other, punching, biting, kicking and slamming. They didn't even speak; the only sound was of pained gasping and angry screaming.
Their auras finally gave in and blood splattered all around the place from the scratches and wounds they inflicted on each other, mingling with Melia's pool.
Finally, Blake managed to climb on top of Weiss, sitting on her torso as the white girl tried to claw her face. The faunus gripped her neck and started to squeeze her pale skin hardly, chocking her.
Dread overcame Weiss, as she moved her hands to Blake's, failing however to pry them away, as her body struggled to move.
Blake grinned triumphantly. A few more seconds…and she would do it. She would kill Weiss. She would kill Weiss! She would kill Weiss… She would…kill Weiss? Her hands left the pale, slender neck, earning a pained gasp for breath.
Yellow met pale blue, as both girls locked gazes with each other. "Weiss?" "Blake?" Blake started trembling- her entire body trembled, dripping blood all over her friend's face.
Her face had turned white, her ponytail, soaked in red, trailing all over her bruised cheek and neck. "Weiss- Aaah…"
"Aaaahh…" the images came back at her, as realization dawned on the faunus' mind. She had nearly killed Weiss! She had almost choked her teammate, her beloved friend, to death!
"AAAHHHH!" Panic overcame the faunus, threatening to overcome all forms of self-control she had developed so far. She felt bad; she was sure she would have vomited in Weiss was not in front of her at the moment.
A pair of elegant hands gently cupped her head, as Weiss sat in front of her, blood running from her nose and cheeks.
"Breathe. Slowly… gently. That's it, keep on. I am here, Blake. I am alive… calm down. Breathe. That's it…" the faunus felt her teammate's cool skin on her burning face. It was soothing; as much as her friend's caring voice.
Carefully she cupped Weiss' hands with her own, glove-covered ones. "Thank you…" she whispered. "Do you feel any better?" a pair of calm blue eyes looked at her- one heavily swollen.
"I almost killed you, Weiss" she finally said. The girl removed her hands from Blake's cheeks. "In case you didn't notice" she pointed at Blake's bruised leg and bleeding hand "I tried to kill you as well."
"We have to get out of here, and return with some sort of plan" Weiss stood up. "Do you need help walking?" Blake tried her leg "it stings a little bit, but it shouldn't be a problem."
They walked towards the tunnel exit, slowly and steadily, continuously checking over their backs for any trace of the weird shadow. "I now understand how Ruby felt; I feel like shit."
"Yang, get out of Weiss' body please." Weiss chuckled "no jokes about possession if you would be so kind" she then sighed deeply "I understand what you mean, however. After I felt that pain, suddenly everything became-"
"You felt a pain at the back of your head, too?" the faunus interrupted. "Yes, I assume it is when that thing tries to possess one's mind. The thing is I felt so angry. And I didn't even realize the absurdity of the situation! Like…"
"A child throwing a tantrum" Blake finished for her. "A very dangerous child throwing a potentially lethal tantrum, but I agree with the explanation."
Carefully, they climbed up the stairs and reached the totally vacant church interior. There was no sign of Cyril or the others around. "Guess this is why they never backed us up" Blake exclaimed.
"Do you think something happened to them?" Weiss asked her. Despite her lower-than-Cardin opinion for the villagers of Yugure, she still had some consideration about their well-being.
Blake looked around and finally saw through the windows Cyril and the two other men walking from the village towards the church, a fuming Yang and Ruby with them.
"No, they are fine. For the next minute, at most." She looked at two pairs of silver and lilac eyes that opened wide as they took in the state of their teammates, covered in bruises and dripping blood.
Then Yang's eyes turned red and Blake was sure it was not due to possession.