Hello again! How are you all doing! I hope as well as possible!
Chapter 57 is here and as always I hope you enjoy it!
Thanks once more for keeping up with the story everyone! I will see you next week and wish you all the best until then!
Three figures ran on top of the warehouse, as the growling sounds of Beowolves from below filled their ears. "Why" Wenge was at a loss for words "why would you ever help us?"
"Ask her" Kendrick grumbled. "I simply trusted her to be less stupid than she sounded when she dragged me to do so" he added in a half joking, half serious manner.
Night had started falling upon them and only the facility lights helped them not stumble while moving. "Do you intend to hold me hostage?" "Nothing of that sort; you are not talking to your Boss, Mr. Knight."
The tone behind that answer was more surprising than the answer itself. It had an air of absolution and honesty in it, quite unlike how the pale girl had been acting since he first saw her at the ball.
They reached the edge and she stepped quite ferociously, jumping and landing at the roof of the main building. "Will you come? Or will you wait for the wolves to find a way up?" she asked.
As both men landed next to her, the CC chief of personnel turned back at her "then why would you ever help us? It makes no sense!" Weiss exhaled deeply- her exhaustion was quite evident.
"It is because of him" she pointed at Kendrick. "Me? I told you it was a bad idea!" he protested. "You did, yes" the huntress solemnly replied "but before that, you reminded me something really important- how much value my life has."
"That makes even less sense!" both of them complained, while following her to the ventilation shaft's hatch. "That would have to make you want to survive; you are clearly in no condition to fight!"
"I AM A HUNTRESS!" she shouted at Wenge, making both men flinch. "Like Ruby, Yang, Blake and Winter are! I am sworn to protect people from monsters; be that Grimm or even other people!"
"Weiss…" Kendrick whispered. "If I am to die, then so be it! BUT I WILL DIE FIGHTING! I WILL DIE PROTECTING MY WAY OF LIFE! I WILL LEAVE MY LAST BREATH ON TOP OF A PILE OF GRIMM CORPSES, EVEN IF I HAVE TO HIT THEM WITH A POINTED STICK!
I WILL UPHOLD MY HONOR AS WEISS SCHNEE- THE HUNTRESS! AND WHEN I GET KILLED, BE IT TODAY OR IN A FEW YEARS, I WILL GREET MY BELOVED ONES UP IN HEAVEN WITH MY BEST, MOST IDIOTIC SMILE!"
She took a deep breath "this is the way of life I chose to live; not the pathetic display of self-pity I exerted last month. So Kendrick, to quote your own words, are you with me…" she held out her hand and smiled "…my friend?"
"Well" still holding the gun to the other man, the faunus replied "I couldn't say no to a friend now, could I?" he shook her thin palm "You are both crazy… but thank you" Wenge nodded in approval.
"Yes, whatever" the komodo man glared at him. "Wait till we have saved your people and escaped to thank us; we may actually be condemning you to a fate as bad as getting eaten here."
"Less talking- more action" Weiss reprimanded them; making both men stare at her in surprise. "Also, I would love you to give me all the dust you have in that belt of yours, if you would be so kind, Mr. Knight."
-o—
The horrible sounds of something feasting filled the empty halls of the facility. The gunshots and human screams of terror that preceded them let no room for doubt about the nature of the feast.
The unforeseen avalanche and Grimm attack had destroyed most of the recently repaired communication systems. Only the independent power plant below worked, still supplying the facility with light in the middle of the night.
For the three CC armed guards, it was a situation out of their worst fears. They were trained and well-equipped enough to suppress human and average Grimm attacks, but not something like this.
Slowly retreating, guns at hand, listening to their colleagues getting eaten alive by a monster of unknown form, was nothing short of a nightmare. That much was sure.
"Any news from the others?" the first asked as they entered the second part of the long tunnel-shaped corridor and closed the door behind them.
"Ms. Carmel and team 3 are on the first floor. Team 1 is still underground" the other replied, lowering his radio. "Teams 4-5 are unaccounted for, as is Mr. Knight" he finished his report.
"That leaves ten of us alive, including Ms. Carmel" the third one commented. "Let's retreat to the control room- the stairs are on our left." The others nodded and quickly moved away from the barricade.
They rushed down the stairs and turned to their left towards the control room. They stepped inside- and froze on spot.
Team 4 was there, or rather the remains of two of its members. The first one was gutted and thrown on the wall with such force that it had left a humongous bloodstain.
The second one was so badly eaten; the mere implicated brutality of what had happened made the men shivered. "Where is the third one?" one of the men asked.
"Doesn't matter! We have to-" "Found him" the reply came, and was quite emotionless. "Wait! What are you doing? We have to go!" he screamed as their third companion stood over the man, gasping.
The final corpse was in the floor-literally. Something had pushed the corpse so much inside the wooden floor, it had been flattened. A mass of fiber, flesh and blood was the only thing indicating it once was alive.
"What the hell?" "GUYS! WILL YOU-" his voice cut short as a burst of wind whirled behind him. "Did the window break?" he turned around- and came face to face with a pair of pitch black eyes staring at him.
The other two men didn't even manage to warn him; Morkvind, the stag-headed woodland Grimm, grabbed his head with a clawed hand.
Before he could even realize the impeding horror, it easily raised the man and swung him around like a rag doll made of flesh and blood.
The disgusting sound of bones snapping and the blood marks the man left on the surfaces the monster struck him on, made the others snap out of their shock.
They made a mad dash for the corridor, uninterrupted by the vicious monster that seemed to care more about playing with its victim.
Their luck didn't last long, however. As soon as they stepped out, a small group of white Beowolves charged at them from the other side of the corridor.
"NO! NOOO!" they shot while falling back and screaming at the monstrosities. A couple wolves fell down, then a few more. But the pack was advancing on them- just a few more meters to reach them.
A large glyph on the floor created a huge slab of stone. It totally sealed the opening, crushing one wolf that got caught in its path. Both men turned around and were met with a gleaming cyan eye.
And not only that. "Mr. Knight! You are alive!" they said, trying to raise their weapons. "I wouldn't do that" Kendrick, pointing a gun at the handsome man's head, responded.
"Neither would I" Weiss, standing between the two groups, raised her hand. "Unless you want me to dispel the barrier and let the Beowolves feed on you."
Of course she both couldn't and wouldn't do that, but she hoped they were not that bright. "Let's get out of here before everything goes to hell- the generator won't last long and neither will we" Wenge, still pretending to be captured, explained.
"We need your assistance so that we all may leave this place alive" Weiss added. "And I don't have much time to spare- are you with us?"
Both men nodded in acceptance and started moving. "Where is Ms. Carmel?" Wenge asked as they ran through the passage. "I think she is somewhere on that floor- she was alive a while ago."
"We checked the entire wing; she can't be here" Weiss shot them down. "Then they moved below- possibly to the underground passage" the man replied to her.
"What are we waiting for then?" the girl said. "We should go with them! They might need help!" "WEISS! WATCH OU-" the gunshot filled her ears, and a green figure filled her vision.
Weiss' eye opened wide. In front of her, bleeding on the floor with a hole in his chest was Kendrick. On the other side of the corridor, next to the staircase leading below, was Sophia Carmel, gun in hand.
"Madam!" all three men ran towards her. "Get them, you fools! They are armed and potentially dangerous!" she screamed, making the guards raise their weapons at them.
"KENDRICK!" Weiss ran next to her friend. "What are you doing; we are here to help you!" the woman said, as she positioned her body between the groaning faunus and the enemies.
The wind suddenly grew wind and an eerie howl echoed from behind the stone slab. "I know; I heard you" Sophia glared at her as loud bangs started being heard from the barricade.
"And help us is what you will do; by staying here and acting as our decoy, that is" her eyes narrowed. "How low can you fall?" Weiss hissed. "Tch; let's go, you three. We have wasted enough time here."
All three of them sent a sad look towards the huntress, who bit her lip in fury. "You…should be ashamed of yourselves…" Kendrick said trying to get up. "You are just mindless thralls; nothing more…"
"Don't move! You will open your wound!" the alabaster girl knelt next to him, as the others escorted Sophia down to the exit, sparing a few worried glances at the pair.
-o—
"Team 3 is dead to the Beowolves" the woman explained as they rushed down the stairs. "Team 1 has repaired one of the jeeps and are outside, waiting for us. We should get moving as quickly as possible."
"That was a cruel thing we did back there; they came here to help us instead of letting us die, Boss" Wenge said. "You are free to join them if you suddenly decided to develop conscience, Mr. Knight" she replied.
"That… I am sorry Madam. It just feels kind of bad." She didn't reply. "We are almost outside, Madam!" the guards told them. "Good; if Beowolves didn't attack them, the vehicle should be already-"
As they all stepped out, Sophia's breath got caught in her throat. Team 1 was lying on the ground, motionless, next to the jeep. There were no Beowolves around them, no.
What stood in front of them was far deadlier and far more frightening. Sophia barely reacted and the men didn't even manage to open fire before they were all tossed around like puppets dancing on strings.
-o—
The sound of claws and fangs slowly tearing down the wall was nerve-wracking. Weiss pressed her hands on top of the wound. Her fingers got bloody, but she didn't mind.
"You should run away…you have a couple minutes before the wall gives in… I know you used all your dust in the fights we had coming here…" he whispered. "I am leaving, yes… and you are coming with me!"
Despite the man's weak protests, she tore off a piece of her uniform and removed her eye patch to tie the fabric in place. One cyan and one pure white eye looked at him as she finished.
"There we go…" "Weiss no!" "HYAMPH!" she let a totally unladylike sound, picking him up in a bridal-carry style. "Weiss, this is stupid…" he protested again, as the girl slowly started running away.
"There is nothing stupid in helping a friend" she replied. "You will die for sure!" A hole opened in the wall, allowing a series of hungry growls to pass through, as the monsters slowly started tearing in open.
"I know…" she whispered. "I will die." The wall gave in, and half a dozen ferocious white Grimm ran towards them. "But it will be alongside a friend- I was really happy to meet you, Kendrick."
"Weiss…you fool" the man's pained reply came. "You are such a-" before he finished, energy surrounded them. "What is this?" he asked as a large glyph appeared in front of them.
"I told you" the petite girl exclaimed under a strained breath "when I die, it shall be on top of a pile of Grimm corpses!" she unleashed her suppressed feelings, and the circle roared.
This time, it was different; she knew it. Weiss ignored the mass of salivating and rampaging monsters charging her. She focused on totally different things.
Ruby, the adorable little idiot who would be soon dead by the hands of Carmel's men. She was smiling while playing games with Jaune.
Blake, the prideful little faunus who showed her how two different people could be victims of the same cause, napping on Sun's lap.
Ren, Nora, team LEAD, Neptune, Velvet… even the lab staff were there, smiling at her for the birthday she would never spend again with them.
Kendrick's body, hurt taking a bullet intended for her… how she wished she could have talked more with the man who supported her like that.
Yang… was smiling. Just that. Yang always did that, smiled. Even when she was hurt or anxious, even when she was angry or acting like a little bitch, Yang was smiling at her.
That smile was all she needed. Not her left eye or her status. Her legacy and her name were meaningless. All she needed was for Yang to smile at her and go on missions together with team RWBY.
It took losing you, for me to understand that… such a fool…. The circle roared and a large spiked tail rose from it. I hope you are watching me, my Smiling Fiery Dragon. I will greet you in the afterlife with the same smile you always did.
"Before that, I will pummel you all! GO!" all of Weiss' suppressed fury, sorrow and pain erupted. A large Grimm burst out of the circle and immediately stopped the wolves' advance.
Made of pure energy and fueled by Weiss' remaining semblance, the Valkraghast towered over the lesser summons. A Beowolf charged it- and got skewered by the spear-like stinger.
Two more ran towards it. Left and right, move. It grabbed them both with its claws and thrashed them with each other, destroying them at once.
The fourth bit at the Valkraghast's leg and dragged it forward. The fifth and sixth jumped on the summoned monster and started ferociously biting its arms.
Tail. Under Weiss' mental command, its tail shot like a whip and threw the wolf attacking its leg. Bite…ah… them… she was starting to lose stamina, but this mattered little. She was still alive, damn it!
The skeleton-like Grimm bit the neck of the fifth wolf and snapped it, destroying the monster. The fourth one charged it and bit its back, but the battle was already won.
The Valkraghast impaled the wolf occupying its arm and turned around. With a swift motion, it tore the last remaining enemy in half, allowing it to dissipate in dust.
"Amazing, Weiss…" Kendrick was speechless. The amount of power the petite girl had just showcased was truly phenomenal! "This is not over yet; here it comes" the emotionless reply came.
The corridor suddenly got filled with strong, cold wind. To Weiss, it smelled of death. The lights trembled and sizzled, adding even more shadows to its pitch-black body.
Dead wind whispers in the trees,
The lullaby came again to her mind.
Spirit of ancient spite it brings…
Was it made by someone who had somehow managed to meet this thing and survived? She would probably never know.
Tall as a house and made of night,
Hunting with sinister delight…
The tall figure, easily reaching up to the ceiling, showed itself. The emotionless, stag-shaped head focused on the pure white summoned enemy.
Send the kids to go sleep tight,
Shadows whisper tonight…
The Valkraghast attacked first. With immense speed, it jumped on the ceiling. It ran straight to the monster's head and used its tail to impale it-
Weiss felt her heart stop. The stag head didn't even turn to stare at the attacker. The Morkvind simply swung its claw and sliced the tail off, like butter cut by a sharp knife.
Before she could pull herself together, the towering monstrosity opened its mouth, revealing a series of large and not very sharp teeth. That didn't stop it from biting half her servant's torso off, however.
As the Valkraghast faded and her last remaining traces of aura left her, Weiss felt her legs give off. The amount of energy it exerted in tearing her summoned Grimm apart was minuscule- like toying with it!
Heart of darkness, flesh of cold…
Wicked, voracious, hundred years old…
It moved forward, so slowly. More Beowolves accompanied it, but remained behind their leader. Their eyes glared at them in raw, inhuman hatred.
She had to move; she knew she did. But she was practically exhausted and besides she was fully aware it could easily get her if needed. So, she gripped Kendrick's fingers.
"It was my pleasure, Weiss" the man was trembling from cold and blood loss.
Nothing matters when it stares…
"The pleasure was all mine; I am sorry I couldn't save you" she whimpered, trying to steel her mind for what was coming.
All shall die and nobody cares…
She finished reciting the first lines of the rhyme in her mind, the exact moment it stopped in front of them. Up close, its smell wasn't that bad. In fact, it smelled of… cookie dough?
"Let the brave huntsmen fight…
Their souls blessed in the night…"
Her lips moved as soon as the smell reached her. Why did she choose these as her last words? The wolves moved around the Morkvind.
"I missed your beautiful voice" a powerful blast of wind filled the room. Unlike the dead wind the Grimm carried, however, it was fresh and full of life- and filled in rose petals.
The white-colored Beowolves got annihilated before Crescent Rose's tip touched the floor. A red cape stood before Weiss. Its owner smiled- Weiss was sure she could see her smile despite staring at her back.
Ruby Rose's silver eyes stared deeply into Morkvind's dark pits as the huntress grinned deeper. "Payback, round 2; Grimm whooping!"