Hello everyone- how are you doing? I wanted to apologize in advance, since next week I will be away for personal matters and therefore I will not be uploading a chapter. The next one will probably be up on October 16th- I will try to make it a double chapter if I manage to.
Thanks a lot for keeping up with it; I can't properly express how happy I am for this little story of mine to have you interested in it.
As always I hope you enjoy the chapter. Have fun till the next time!
"This is seriously bad" Blake complained as both women ran on the grey-colored beach. The heavy rain that had been pouring for a few minutes already had made her drenched- a feeling the cat faunus hated.
In addition to making her soaking wet, it had also turned the already muddy ground into a literal moving swamp; even Ruby was silently groaning as her boots had slipped on the ground more times she would have liked to.
"The bright side is, the fog is gone at least" the brunette exclaimed in a totally non-humorous manner.
Well, in that aspect she was right. Not that what they were now able to see made the faunus feel better, but any sort of information was welcome at this point.
The beach was really vast, expanding for a good amount of meters towards the inside. Large black granite masses, tall enough to be climbed, seemed to be scattered around the coast.
The sea was as dark and threatening as she expected it to be and despite the rain the thick fog curtain still seemed to separate the island from the outside world.
If one would walk away from the ocean, the sand seemed to turn into solid ground that gradually climbed to form a high, black-colored mountain.
She was sure that at some point the slope was covered in some sort of exotic flora, but that wasn't the case right now.
Huge, dead-looking tree barks stood far away where the forest one should have been, like silent black statues, monitoring the perimeter of the island.
Despite the heavy rain, she could still see traces of fog moving up and down the slope, walking through the dead plants' remains. She remembered the old sailor's words and shivered.
She removed the piece of cloth she had put to cover her ears- it was soaked as well. "Ruby, we have to find shelter! It's pointless to go on like this, and I am sure they would think the same thing!"
"I know" the reply came, followed by Ruby pointing towards a large rock that seemed to block their path up ahead. "Let's climb this one and see if there is anything suitable behind it."
Climbing up turned out to be a simple feat and a few minutes later, both girls found themselves staring towards the other side of the obstacle- and they were really satisfied with the result.
The muddy beach continued for about a hundred more meters, but then stopped to give way to a village. A surprisingly large one, all things considered.
Ruby was sure she couldn't count the amount of small houses that were scattered around the area. This place must have been occupied by quite a lot of people in its prime.
A shipyard and a few docks were located in the south of the city, right next to the coast. A long boardwalk stretched all over the coastline, running north up to a point where Blake's excellent vision could see the outline of a tower-like building; possibly a lighthouse.
It could have been a very scenic image if everything wasn't so devastated. The docks and boardwalk were filled in shipwrecks and any sort of barricades were torn apart.
Signs of battle around the area were visible even from where the two of them were standing, and the level of ruin the village seemed to be was too extreme for the small amount of years it had been abandoned.
What drew their attention more than anything else, however, was not inside the village. On the slope, located just a little below the peak, a huge mansion stood, as if holding the island under total surveillance.
"That must be Red Manor" Blake said. "It would be a good place to start from." Ruby nodded "yes. But not now."
The faunus turned her dripping face at her leader. "I thought you wanted to-" "We are both in bad shape and it is at least one day away on foot. Besides, we should try regroup with Yang and Weiss before we go on the offensive."
The faunus shot Ruby an appreciating smile "well said." "Thanks" the silver-eyed girl tugged her heavily soaked cape "let's get down and try to find a dry place in that shipyard- it's far closer than anything else."
They climbed down as easily as they got up and then made haste towards the mentioned building- a large rectangle made of stone next to the docks.
An iron fence, battered and broken in many places, welcomed them in the establishment. Ruby stepped in, and quickly walked through the front yard, avoiding the murky, wet wreckage of abandoned boats and moldy barrels.
She had nearly reached the front door when her silver eyes fell upon something. A pile of scattered white objects of various sizes…
She heard Blake stifle a gasp the moment she realized that in front of them was a pile of bones. There were too few to belong to more than one human, but this mess couldn't be even called a skeleton any more.
The faunus stood right behind her, taking in the scene. A battered skull, broken and chewed arms and legs, torn apart ribs…she pointed to her companion a severed skeletal hand hanging from the door handle.
"There is no wondering what happened to this poor fellow- he got eaten alive while reaching for the door" the red-caped girl gulped, reflexively drawing her weapon.
Blake mimicked her, taking Nightfall out. "I didn't see any other one around here, however. Maybe he was the only one?"
Instead of replying, Ruby attached her flashlight to her rifle and checked the door- it was open. "I hope so, but I don't expect it" she let the light fall into the vast interior "like Weiss says, I hate it when I am right."
Blake's eyes narrowed in sadness. The inside of the shipyard was vast, filled in junk and rubble. A large part of the ceiling had been destroyed, allowing the rain to pour into the building, falling on top of an old, moldy barrel pile.
Spread all over the place, were the remains of at least one dozen fungus-covered skeletons, in different states and stances, the few white spots glistening under Ruby's light.
"This is not a good place to be" Blake said "we should go, maybe find some remote place in the village- we are very vulnerable standing in this wreckage."
As the little reaper next to her nodded, a small shifting in the shadows of the walls behind the barrels was reflected in the faunus' eyes.
"Something is here" she said, without raising her voice. "Where?" Ruby replied in the same monotonous manner. "Behind the barrels, in the other side of the room, below the caved ceiling."
The crimson-tipped girl slowly moved sideways, allowing her and Blake's formation to open, her light focused on the mentioned area.
The shadows shifted again and this time, Ruby saw it too. A slow, moving sound, followed by a low-toned hissing. Blake drew Envelop with her left hand and aimed at whatever was behind the pile.
Another hiss was heard, followed by a smashing sound and the barrels fell. The pile collapsed, allowing the creature to come into plain sight.
"What in the name of Remnant is this?" Blake heard her friend whisper. As her own mind processed the thing standing in front of them, highlighted by the flashlight, rain running all over its body, she was forced to agree.
What in the name of Remnant was that?
-ο-
"I was pretty sure the lighthouse seemed closer than that" Weiss groaned under her umbrella, happy for the umpteenth time she had chosen to take her boots instead of lighter footwear for this mission.
"Looks can be deceiving" Yang was walking next to her, holding the blue umbrella above their heads. A curtain of rain poured down to the earth around them as they struggled to reach the abandoned building.
"But man" she continued "who would have thought Rubes' crazy idea of dressing you up like Neo would actually come in handy."
"It is truly amazing; there are times that I believe this dolt has some sort of premonition or sixth sense" Weiss replied humorously.
Yang looked around at the wet terrain, as they left the muddy sand and climbed the solid rock where their destination had been.
"You are worried about them, aren't you?" the ex-heiress asked. "You mean you are not? They may have been hurt or worse."
"Remember that one year in Vacuo? When we got separated and had to fight in different fronts?" she asked back.
"Yeah. Every single night I would call all of you to ask if you were all right. I even disrupted Ruby and Jaune's first date while at it."
Weiss rolled her eyes "back then Ruby had told us only one thing; believe in our team. Believe that we will make it and see each other again."
She bit the inside of her cheek, as Yang stopped and stared down at her. A few drops ran down the petite girl's forehead, making her walk back under the cover.
"I chose to do so; believe in Ruby, Blake- you" she continued "and I intend to keep on doing so, no matter how tough it is. That's why I hope, no, I know that Blake and Ruby are fine right now and possibly looking for a shelter- which is exactly what we should be doing!"
Yang smiled tenderly- that last prissy outburst was so Weiss-like, it took all her doubts away. "You are right- that was stupid of me." Weiss looked away, blushing "as long as you get it, its fine."
They continued walking until they reached the lighthouse. Easily the tallest building in the area, it rose more than 30 meters from the ground, even without counting the rock upon which it was built.
It was a simple cylindrical tower, with a glass-covered light room on its top, covered by a cone-shaped roof. A small set of stairs on the ground lead to the tower's entrance.
Next to it was a pile of stones and wreckage that at some point should have been the keeper's quarters. Yang clicked her tongue as she closed the umbrella "no luck here."
"Let's get inside then- at least it will be drier. I hope" Weiss replied before they both walked up the stairs and entered the broken, mold-covered door.
The inside was far from warm and far from dry- water dripped all over the tower, forming pools on the rotten floor. An iron ladder twisted all around the wall, leading upwards to the supply room.
Other than that, however, the place was empty. "Should we go upstairs? Maybe we can find anything to put over our heads. Grab some sleep for an hour or something" Yang said.
Weiss looked at her, eyes narrowed. "I can see your breath." Yang rubbed her shoulder "now that you mention it, it is kinda cold in here."
"Let's go up. If the supplies were properly sealed, there might be something we could use as fuel. I will gladly sacrifice some fire dust for us to get warm."
"Come to think of it" Yang asked while they were climbing the stairs "how did your provisions and dust survive the explosion and sea water?"
Weiss smirked, sending a haughty side glance at her lover. Without turning, she drew out of her bag a small metal box. "Atlesian Special Forces provision kits. Durable enough to survive a Goliath rampage."
"That's really cool. Why don't I have this?" Cyan eyes narrowed; something Yang knew even without Weiss turning around.
"Because when Ruby and I splurged for supplies, Blake got the cheap ones in order to buy a couple novels and you wanted new tires for Bumblebee, that's why."
"Ooooh… right. It was that day." Weiss reached the end of the staircase "yes it was that day. Now…" she looked around the storage room.
A small ladder seemed to be connecting this place with the light room above them. A few sealed barrels were stacked on the wall behind it, along with some broken lamps and rotten sacks of food.
The entire room seemed to be in good shape, save for the immense amount of water running down from the ceiling, drenching the floor.
"I am going up to see if the leak can be plugged" Weiss said. "I will check if there is anything in the barrels to use" Yang replied. They both stopped and looked at each other.
"Your breath has become a literal cloud at this point, baby." Weiss looked at her, rubbing her arms "so has yours, sweetie."
Yang narrowed her eyes "I am not the one going out." "It will only be for a minute- if I can't seal it I will be back at once." Not waiting for a reply, Weiss climbed up the ladder.
She stepped down and made a quick check, covered in her coat to try and resist the freezing cold. Why did it become so cold all of a sudden? Am I getting sick?
The light room was not in such a bad shape. Sure, the large dust powered beacon was destroyed and the glass panels protecting it were in really bad shape, shattered and cracked in various places.
But the ceiling was intact, save for a couple holes that let the rain come through. They were large holes, true, but nothing a little earth dust couldn't fix.
A quick flicker of Crown and a couple glyphs later, she was proudly admiring her handiwork. She had to make the rest of the roof thinner, of course, but it would pose no problem-
"OOOOOOOOOOOO!"
The sound came quickly and caught her off-guard, as did the sudden rush of cold that crawled up her spine. Weiss turned around, sword ready to cast a defending glyph.
And saw nothing. Fog, dense and thick the likes of which she had never seen before, covered her vision. She felt her skin freeze, as the grey mist surrounded her.
Weiss flicked Crown, activating her propelling glyph to shoot her away. She landed with a heavy thud on the floor, gasping and trying to make her frozen brain work.
Then, the mist swirled around the glasses, poured through the cracks and looked at her with hungry red eyes. She felt her throat dry and cold, as she inhaled deeply and shouted with all her might.
The first two barrels had proven to be a disappointment for Yang- the oil inside had gotten enough humidity to be considered worthless at this point.
She heard the distinct sound of Weiss' glyphs activate, smiling. She didn't want to admit it, but she loved when the petite girl was acting stubborn- it was part of what made her so hot.
She opened the third barrel. And came face to face with a face. Holding her half-visible breath, Yang looked at the inside of the container.
A man's corpse was there, curled into a ball, trying to seemingly protect himself from something.
The only thing the hapless guy had managed to do, however, was to freeze to death. The entire liquid inside the barrel had somehow got frozen, as well as the person hiding inside it.
Poor guy- just what happened to you? She averted her eyes from the agonized, still face in sadness and confusion.
She knew from Patch Island that Lighthouse lamp oil was usually a special mixture, designed to not freeze under the coldest environment possible.
Which meant two things- either dust use, or an- "YANG! HELP ME!"
The scream wiped every thought process away from her mind. Yang activated her bracers and literally jumped the ladder, they only thought in her mind being to annihilate anything that dared threaten her Princess.
The cold reached out to her, and she screamed in anger as her semblance flared, its light spreading from the tower all across the shore.