Hello everyone! How are you doing? Chapter 38 is up and as always I hope you enjoy it!
Thank you all so much for supporting my story! I will see you next week!
Nightfall parried the powerful thrust. Blake tried to slide her blade towards Cherry's body, but the fox girl swung hard. Like, really hard; the immense power of the blow sent her a few meters away.
Yang jumped on their enemy from behind, punching her defenseless back. Without even looking, the girl hit her with the Naginata's shaft.
The force wasn't so much, but the strong gravitational blast accompanying it, threw Yang away as well. She landed on her feet and braced for what she knew was coming.
Cherry rushed at her and attacked with a star-patterned series of cuts, aiming to severe her legs and arms.
Assuming her boxing stance, Yang punched away with her fists all the powerful blows, allowing just a few slices to fuel her upcoming retaliation.
Nightfall's slices surrounded the kimono-clad woman. A storm of steel descended- their enemy stomped the ground, throwing the unclasped blade off-rhythm with a gravity wave.
Exactly as the brawler expected her to do. Yang kicked at Cherry's midriff with her left leg, allowing her to block with her weapon.
She immediately used her left hand to grab the faunus' kimono and punched with her right one, using both her semblance and Ember Celica to add to the impact.
Cherry immediately used her gravity blast to throw Yang away, but she was too close to her. The only thing she managed to do was break free from the blonde's grip and jump back to reduce the impact.
The sound of bone splinter as Yang's metal arm crashed the fox woman's mask made the huntress scream in triumph. Their enemy flew backwards, throwing white pieces of her broken headgear along the way.
She immediately activated her powers and prevented her body from crashing on the rocks. She stood up, mouth and left eye visible through the remains of the Nuckelavee face.
And here was I, thinking Xiao Long and Schnee were strong! Those two are on a different scale! They are not that versatile, but their fundamental coordination and tactics are unreal, even by my standards!
Yang and Blake stood next to each other, eyes slightly widening in surprise as their enemy tossed away the mask and looked at them in a serious manner.
They found themselves face to face with a young woman, with feral green eyes and pink thin lips. She had fair skin, despite her entire face and body brimming with energy.
"Wow, she is cute" Yang blurted. "That's the first thing that came to your mind!?" Blake chastised her.
"Why thanks" she smiled softly "and goodbye." Shooting her semblance backwards, Cherry propelled her body forward with immense speed.
She arrived before them at a moment's notice, her blade whirling like a windmill, aiming to severe Yang's head. The slice was empowered by her gravity manipulation and was so powerful, even guarding against it would guarantee the loss of an arm of a weapon against it.
That would be the case, if not for Blake being one of her enemies.
Those who didn't know the faunus of team RWBY well, would only hear stories about her war traumas. About the horrible images of her slaughtering her fiancé during combat any time her mind wavered a little.
About the sleeping pills she had been forced to take the first months until his discharge from the hospital. About how she had been suspended from missions for two months because of her lack of self-control.
But her close people, her comrades and friends knew better. They knew how much Blake had trained to get past the horrible hallucinations.
They knew how much she had fought to finally be able to reduce their appearances and learn to accept their existence, despite how hard it was on her nerves.
They knew how she had managed to train her body and mind to react faster. How much she had used them as driving force; so that she could become skilled enough to prevent them from appearing.
So, the moment she realized their enemy attacking them and the sound of Sun's screaming filled her ears, Blake Belladonna whirled her blade and captured her partner's leg.
Yang got double confused, first by suddenly losing her balance and falling down and second by seeing a silver line of death passing by the place where her neck should have been.
"Shoot her!" Thankfully, having to work with Blake could easily make one ready for on-spot weird improvisations; something Yang Xiao Long excelled in.
A missile launched at the faunus' stomach. Almost instinctively, she deflected it away with her powers- sending it to blow on their feet.
The blast engulfed them all and threw them away. Rock shards shot towards every direction and the thick cloud of dust that rose was accompanied by three sets of gasps and coughs.
A few seconds later, the dust settled down, revealing the three women, with minor burn marks and bruises all over their bodies. All of them had their auras broken as well.
"Are you sure you are not some kind of battle-forged robot or something?" Yang shouted. "You deflected a missile shot from point blank!"
"Your maneuver was most impressive as well- if I didn't know I would believe your semblance is foresight Ms. Belladonna" Cherry solemnly answered.
The black-haired girl didn't even reply. She only drew Envelop and showered her fellow faunus with bullets. Briefly surprised, the warrior ducked to the left and charged forward.
She parried and deflected most of the bullets Blake continued to shoot at her, closing the distance between them to attack with her Naginata.
As soon as Blake stopped to reload, Yang jumped between them. Cherry thrust at her head, but the brawler deflected the slice with her metal arm.
The faunus swapped her gun for her sword. Taking advantage of the situation, she tumbled forward and flanked her enemy.
To the surprise of no one, Cherry didn't even budge. A horizontal slash gave Yang a cut in the arm. The bumblebee pair retaliated by punching and cutting towards the girl's left arm.
Blake attacked the girl's calf. Nightfall got deflected by the Naginata's shaft. Yang tried to punch her face, her arm meeting the weapon's blade.
Yang pressed on, forcing Cherry to parry the attacks. Blake thrust at her back, forcing her to sidestep- a powerful kick from the blonde girl made her fall on her knee.
Yang raised her fist to- even while kneeling, Cherry swiped her legs with the polearm, throwing her on the ground. "GAH!" taking advantage of that, Blake unclasped Nightfall and whirled it around the fox girl's stomach.
The wires entangled their enemy, and Blake tightened the grip, allowing the blade parts to slightly cut off the woman's skin. The green-eyed girl flipped her weapon to try and cut them off-
Yang jumped at her and tossed it away. She then raised her fist and stood next to Blake in front of their adversary. Both of them were significantly injured, with cuts, bruises and caked blood all over their skin.
Their captive exhaled deeply and both of them stared at her as she nodded. "It was a great fight; this is your victory." Yang wiped her bloodied nose "it barely feels like that. But anyway; where are the others?"
"Up ahead. And I suggest you hurry- there is barely any time left for the ritual to end." Blake raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean by that?"
A soft smile graced the faunus' thin lips. "From the moment we captured your friends, there has been a ritual going on in the place. Judging from the position of the moon, it should be close to it end."
"A ritual about what?" Yang asked, as she pulled a rope out of Weiss' backpack and started tying her up to allow Blake retract her weapon.
"It is a ritual to sacrifice all of you and awaken Avyssos; the Eldergrimm that sleeps sealed below the island" she nonchalantly replied.
The pair exchanged a horrified stare. Yang made a motion to run forward, but Blake motioned her to stop. She turned to her fellow faunus and asked "why are you telling us this?"
"Lying is simply not my style. Besides, it changes nothing; there is no way you would ever flee and abandon your friends to be fed to the God below, is it?"
"Well, you are right. But it pisses me off that you are so sure about it." Cherry chuckled. "It is an admirable trait. I really think very high of you four, you know."
"Well, for what's worth, you are one of the toughest enemies I have ever faced; Grimm and maidens included" the huntress replied. "But there is no time for chit-chat."
Blake nodded and both of them ran forward, leaving the tied-up girl behind. A few moments afterwards, Cherry started whispering.
The slow, rhythmic chanting of the girl got louder, as her talisman shone. She felt her body hair stand as the green hue surrounded her, slowly closing her wounds.
She felt the energy pulsing around the place. The pillar of green light slowly resonated with the darkness around it, dying the air in its sickening color.
She stopped her prayer, and immediately looked up towards the ritual site. "I did my part in stalling them; time to do yours, you fool." She then turned her eyes towards her waist. "Now, for those ropes…"
-o—
A glyph burst below it and the monster charged. As expected, it thrust at her left side, aiming for her blind spot. Weiss expected it of course and conjured a wall of frost to absorb the impact.
Grimm Winter used her other arm and conjured a pulsing red glyph. Through it, a flock of deep black Nevermore chicks rushed to attack Weiss
She somersaulted backwards, skating on ice and then spread her arms open wide. A large pair of frost glyphs created a frost wave that annihilated the flock to the last animated Grimm.
"A waste of energy"
The enemy rushed at her and used another red glyph to accelerate he attacks. Weiss barely managed to react and conjured a hemisphere-like shield that trapped her inside, absorbing all of the ferocious attacks.
"This is what Winter Schnee died for? Pathetic!"
"This is it!" she heard her sister screaming from the outside. She continued hammering the icy globe with inhuman speed, the sound from her strikes echoing in Weiss' ears.
"Keep defending! I only have to make you run out of Dust and then- you are finished! You are nothing compared to what She was!"
Weiss held a pained gasp. Both of her enemies were taunting her; she knew that. She knew none of them cared about her sister's demise- they were only trying to weaken her by mentioning Win.
Still… the situation was dire. Losing her eye and being unable to properly aim was a real problem that made her consume her last resources way too fast.
The ice had started cracking, as 'Winter' started laughing maniacally in a delirious fit of frenzy. And she didn't have enough time to perform a serious summon. DARN!
"You are a stain. Your only value lies in your blood and flesh. Begone!"
What a joke… I always prided myself for being the one to never end weaponless in combat. Fate has a sick sense of humor.
She exhaled deeply to focus. The layer protecting her had nearly given in. Weiss closed both eyes and held her arm out. If Ruby could see me right now she would die of laughter… and Yang would die of anxiety.
The Grimm finally cracked the shell open and let out a triumphant shriek- followed by a scream of pain as a large stalagmite made of ice impaled it in the stomach.
The shell crashed and fell apart, revealing Weiss, who opened her good eye and ran forward towards the impaled enemy.
"So pathetic. So worthless. See the true power of my blood!"
It used a glyph and propelled itself away, thrashing the edge of the stalagmite and a huge part of its body. It landed on the ground, away from Weiss- and immediately started reforming and closing its colossal wounds, black-red goo dripping off its form.
The pale girl stopped midway, a mixed expression of disgust and frustration visible on her face. Her throbbing eye was splitting her skull in two.
"So, you can even reform at will. How much more must you disgrace her? At least take your true form, will you?"
"There is no need for that. The memories you have of her are a perfect vessel. And an amusing sight it is, seeing you suffering like that. Or you thought I wouldn't notice? I can smell your anger, huntress."
She licked her lips "and it feels delicious! I haven't hunted for myself in eons, depending only on what my servants fetched for me! I can barely control myself from simply devouring you right her and right now!"
Weiss' eyebrow rose. There was something really off about the way she was- oh. Could it be?
She inhaled deeply once more. She then exhaled even deeper. And again. A battle of attrition is only bringing me closer to death. And any wounds inflicted to it, are simply going to vanish, huh?
"Exactly. There is no survival. There is no hope. Only suffering and death. This is your fate, huntress. Just give up."
Weiss smiled. She fondly recalled a distant memory from the depths of her mind. She and Winter were standing on top of SDC tower, just a few days before Watts had hacked Atlas' defenses and everything had gone to hell.
"There is always hope, Weiss. Because when you give up, there is nothing left to live for. Better kill yourself right there, spare you the pain."
The Grimm Winter stared in confusion as Weiss raised her head and stretched her arms, taking a pose of surrender. "You are right. I can't defeat you this way. Let's end this now."
"What game are you playing, huntress?"
It is no game, you monster. I am just doing what I should have done from the beginning- face her will all my might. Right now, it's the best option! She smirked. Unless of course you are afraid.
"Afraid? ME?!" The ferocious masked visage in front of her screamed furiously. "Prepare to DIE!" it whirled its blades and a glyph appeared right behind it.
It spun and readied its swords just like Winter did. Of course. The huntress close her fists, hands still open wide. You only get one chance, Schnee. Don't waste it. Yang will kill you if you die.
"What are you-"
Before the monster managed to finish its question, Grimm Winter charged. It closed the distance between them in less than three seconds and went straight for her left lung.
As expected. Weiss moved her hands towards the blade just a second before it skewered her. Channeling as much dust as possible, she grabbed the blade with both arms and unleashed a blue glyph at it.
The face under the mask didn't realize what she was trying to do and immediately stabbed at her with its other arm. Weiss jumped back and rapidly moved her bloodied hands in an amazingly fast set of gestures.
It was sloppy and messy and totally inelegant. But at this range, it was also nearly impossible to miss.
The glyph split in four pieces and engulfed all of her enemy's limbs. A guttural sound of shock and horror came out of her adversary's mouth as she finally realized what the pale girl's plan was.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Its legs and arms froze at a moment's notice, the power from Weiss' dust climbing on top of its skin. "NONOONONO! NOOOOOO! STOP IT NOOOOOO-"
"That's great. Please scream more" she stared at it with her good eye, blood dripping all over her shoulders and fingers. "You will remain here trapped. Until I find a way to utterly destroy you."
She bent over its horrified, screaming face, now slowly being consumed by the layer of frost. "And I promise I will." She turned around, away from the now frozen solid Grimm and looked at the trapped mass of darkness.
"The same goes for you. I will leave this place and some day, I promise, I will come here and erase you! You will never hurt anyone again!" That was so cheesy; guess Yang is rubbing off to me, huh?
"HAHAHAHAAAAAAAHAHA"
The laughter chilled the girl to her bone. The mass pulsed once more, its energy roaring. Weiss raised an eyebrow. Her eye was truly hurting.
"Stupid girl! Do you really think you can stop me? Some day? Are you so foolish? Have you forgotten? The ritual has already been completed!"
"What? How can this be?" The light shone once more and Weiss stared at the walls. The green runes covering the walls were slightly illuminated by viscous black goo. Her eye throbbed once more.
"You performed splendidly. But this artificial substance mortals created will be more than enough for now. After I awaken, I will make sure to properly have my offering. It would be a waste to ignore such a glorious feast."
Weiss looked upwards in awe. If this monster was truly able to do that, the situation was even worse than she expected to. The pulse grew steadier and stronger, the light turning blackish and slowly ascending.
She looked at her fists, still covered in blood. She looked at the statue, the sickly light reflected on its frozen mask. And then, just for a second, her eye fell on the stack of treasures piled just next to her.
She stopped. Her gaze fell on a small box, with beautiful ornaments. She knelt and picked it up. Her entire head hurt like hell, but she had seen something familiar.
Among the dance of green, black and blue reflected on the ice-covered terrain, she had noticed one thing. This box was covered in a familiar, albeit slightly primal coating. A weird choice for a jewelry or gem case.
"Please let it not be an illusion" she whispered as she rubbed the frost off of it. She opened it- and a deep smile spread on her face.
"Covet as much as you want. You will soon belong to me!"
Weiss held the object whose shock-resistant plating had caught her attention. She silently thanked whoever ancient priest had sent a box filled with unrefined dust as an offering to this God-forsaken pit.
"Not if I can help it!"