Hello everyone! How are you doing? I hope you are all doing fine!
Chapter 74 is here and as always, I hope you enjoy it.
Once more showcasing my originality, I want to thank you all for following/favoring/ simply reading the story. Also, thanks a lot for your comments and opinions; they make me want to improve this even more.
I will see you all next week with Ch. 85. Until then, be well and have fun!
The large wooden doors creaked, resounding through the deep dark night, as Ruby opened them wide, her light accompanying Blake's eyes in checking the interior.
Said interior was filled in milling machinery. Two large belts that passed through an opening in the wall were connected to a towering column that occupied the middle of the floor, reaching up to the upper one.
A massive millstone was on its base. "This is the milling system; it must be connected to the huge mill outside via those belts" Blake explained.
Silver orbs narrowed as they carefully took in the other objects inside the room- nothing more than a few very old sacks of flour, some barrels and an abandoned, run-down tractor, motor still inside the husk.
The brunette passed her fingers by the tractor's wheel. "Except for the dust and dirt, this place is in very good shape" she noted. "There is even some gasoline left inside the tank."
Blake's ears perked on top of her head "gasoline? Just how old is this place? I thought oil and gas were only used for lamps nowadays."
Ruby's shoulders shrugged. "Yang may have heard when gas-powered vehicles stopped being used- we can ask her later. For now, I want to take a look at this" she pointed towards a small door at the back.
The cat girl, being closer to it, took a few steps towards it, her yellow catlike eyes slowly opening as they noticed a small, distinct pattern on the doorknob. A small, red, hand-like pattern.
"I have a bloody handprint on the door, Ruby" she sniffed her nose and wrinkled it in disgust "and a very sweet, sickening smell of decay" her ears dropped in sadness, matching her friend's expression.
Blake's gaze fell on the ground, followed by Ruby's light. A series of tiny little red stains formed a bloody trail from the entrance to the door. It was a testament to their exhaustion the fact they had missed them.
The faunus took a deep breath and opened the door. Or at least she tried to. "It's barricaded from the inside." "Step aside" a quick slash from Thorn was more than enough to deal with the barricade.
The cat girl pushed the door leaf in, while Ruby stood back, ready to intercept any possible assault. But, as the interior was revealed, they didn't encounter anything unexpected, not at all.
The young girl's corpse down on the floor, placed among a series of hastily-made bandages and piles of cloth dyed red due to being soaked in now dried-up blood was totally expected after all.
The rest of the room was occupied by rotten barrels and crates filled in moldy flour. It was rather small, probably used as a storeroom for the unfinished products. The huntresses moved and knelt next to the body.
"Janet Fish" Ruby took her ID card from the girl's pocket and gently rubbed her short, brown hair. "She was younger than me" she added in wet eyes.
"There is a fatal slash in her stomach. Probably escaped the attack and ran here, but succumbed to her wound" Blake explained in a deep and monotonous voice.
"The body is in really good condition, most likely due to the very dry weather. She has her camping clothes on." "Do you think those things got her?" Ruby asked, sending a small shiver run down Blake's spine.
The cat faunus closed her eyes, trying to fight off the horrid images of moving scarecrows slashing down the hapless students while they were trying to escape their imminent doom.
"Possibly. Their claws could have caused this, for all I know, and we saw blood on one of them." The images returned, this time having Ruby, Weiss and Yang being torn apart inside the field, limbs entangled in the green stalks as their blood splattered all over the place.
Blake took a few deep breaths and managed to throw those visions away. She then stood up and took off her gloves. "Are you ok?" Ruby asked her in concern. "The usual" she replied "what about you?"
The reaper's shoulders sagged; she couldn't even bring herself imagine how it must have been for this poor girl, slowly bleeding out, alone and helpless in this dark, gloomy place…
"Hey, Blake" she sheepishly said "I know it may be too much to ask, but do you think we could spare some time to bury her? I don't want us to leave her like this here."
"Sure- just let me upload everything in the EOL before we do that." The cat girl picked up her scroll- and narrowed her eyes. "It's dead" she said while showing it to Ruby. "It doesn't even open- I am sure I charged it."
"Maybe it got damaged while we were running" Ruby took out her own one, only to see it was dead as well "or maybe something else is going on" she corrected her previous statement.
"Let's go back to the others and check theirs while we inform them of our findings. Then, we can return and give her a proper burial" the yellow-eyed beauty proposed, her friend totally agreeing with her.
Both girls stepped out of the warehouse and made one last check of the floor. "It seems safe enough" Ruby commented. "A pity the ladder is outside, but at least it allows us to check the perimeter-"
Her voice got cut off and she froze as soon as she stepped out, instincts making her draw her weapon. That reaction didn't pass unnoticed by Blake, who immediately took Nightfall out and rushed to her.
Six scarecrows stood in front of them, having appeared unnoticed like before. Their capes billowed furiously and their hats cast huge shadows on their forms, disrupted only by their gleaming sinister eyes.
What they didn't manage to see, however, was the other two who rose slowly and menacingly from the ground beneath them, sharp claws at once going after their legs before they even fully materialized.
-o—
The top floor, probably a former office, was empty and dusty. Four bedrolls- correction; three bedrolls and the mass of cloth Ruby called her own one- were neatly placed on the floor, forming a circle.
In the middle of the circle, a dust-powered lamp shed a fickle light in the small rectangle, illuminating Yang's figure, currently tasked with being the window lookout.
What a weird day this has been the blond thought. On second thought she narrowed her eyes those last few days have been weird as well. This freaking circus has started getting me all crazy.
She rubbed her head with her metal arm. "Here you are" Weiss' cool voice interrupted her thought process, as the pale girl sat down next to her, holding two cups of hot tea. She smiled and gave one to Yang.
"Slightly hot is better cure for thirst than cold and you could use some warmth for your shift" she said. Yang smiled back and accepted the tea, but as she leaned back, Weiss lashed forth and captured her lips.
The kiss was nothing more than a quick peck, but warmed the blonde much more than any sort of tea would ever manage. Weiss finished by pecking her lower lips a couple more times before breaking contact.
"Not that I complain" Yang sipped her tea, enjoying the aftertaste of her fiancée's lips in it "but what brought the sudden affection on top of the tea?" she asked.
Cyan mismatched eyes narrowed in mirth as Weiss fiddled with her braids in a cute manner "consider it a token of gratitude for saving us from the scarecrows back then" she replied, taking a small sip as well.
"Baby, you of all people should know there is no need to thank me like this" Yang protested weakly. "And you of all people should know how much I enjoy thanking you like this" Weiss smirked, making the brawler start feeling lightheaded- and hot. Smirking Weiss was criminally hot.
So, taking into account both where they are and why, she cleared her throat "speaking of those scarecrows" she commented "Ruby and Blake didn't figure out why they acted like that back there. Do you?"
"I wouldn't say so" Weiss spared a gaze outside the window. "All I can remember is that being afraid at this point felt so natural to me, like I should be afraid of those things for some reason" she explained.
"That makes it different from when Nyctos and Avyssos messed with our minds, doesn't it?" the alabaster girl licked her lips and pointed her index finger in acknowledgement of Yang's words.
"Yes. In Nyctos' case, we could easily understand when it stared affect us. As for Avyssos, Ruby said she could realize it all being a dream; she just felt that overwhelmed by it."
"Maybe then, we have an Eldergrimm with subtler powers" Yang said. "Or someone harnessing its power more effectively than Alizar did" the counter reply came "I have something else I noticed as well, however."
"Oh?" "You weren't affected by any of those abilities, Yang. The only time was when Nyctos aggravated you and you had already been angry to half meltdown point at the time."
"Hmm… maybe I have some sort of natural resistance? Or am I just that awesome" she grinned, aiming to lift Weiss' spirits up with the usual bad joke trope.
What she didn't expect though, was the serious reply she received "you may not be far from the truth here, actually." "Say what?"
"It is just a theory that Blake and I discussed after the incident. I think the Eldergrimm powers mostly affect people who are anxious, insecure and have their heart and mind heavy with doubt and disbelief."
Weiss flashed a small smile again "thus, they affect people like you who are focused and determined on what they have to do and how to act, much less that Ruby, Blake and I" she winked.
Yang's cheeks turned a pale pink color. Damn, how does she manage to make me act like a love struck schoolgirl that easily? She thought and sipped some more tea to clear her parched throat.
"You are giving me too much credit, baby. Not that I mind it, but I wish I were a little less stubborn and much more flexible, like you. And I don't mean in an erotic manner."
"If you are referring to the incident with Lumia, then yes I do agree." A pair of lavender eyes closed in acknowledgement.
"But I also think that wearing your emotions on your sleeve makes you the wonderful, always reliable person we love. Among us, you are the one who is always true to herself Yang. And despite the obvious trouble it creates, it also is an admirable trait I am so happy to see on you."
"Weiss…" the brawler's voice trembled. "How in the heck can you say things like that without batting an eye? I have to tell Ruby she is a bad influence to you, bab-"
"CODE BLACK! WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" Ruby's voice cut the tender moment off. Yang and Weiss jumped up and ran to the back window, staring at the opening below where the scream came from.
Eight scarecrows stood in front of Blake and Ruby, slightly illuminated by the moonlight and Ruby's torch. "Let's go!" Weiss didn't even need to hear twice and formed a stepping glyph outside of the window.
Using that as a foothold, both huntresses landed on the ground next to their friends, weapons ready. "Are you ok?!" Yang asked in a worried voice, noticing a few scratches on their clothes.
"They tried to ambush us but Blake sniffed them out and we forced them back" Ruby replied. "It seems like they can meld into the ground" Blake added, making Weiss narrow her eyes.
"Oh, I will meld them to the ground, that's for sure" Yang cracked her knuckles and stepped forward. The figures slightly tilted their heads on the side, one by one and stared at the advancing blonde.
"Cover Yang!" Ruby raised her weapon to assist her sister's advance but, to her surprise, none of her teammates followed suit. "Weiss? Blake? What are you-"
The leader of RWBY stifled a scream of surprise, as she saw the black and white girls drop to their knees, bodies shivering in a never-seen-before surge of fear.
Their eyes were open wide in shock and their shaking fingers dropped their weapons on the ground. So that was what Yang was talking about she thought, gritting her teeth.
"Rubes, can you cover me on your own?" Yang kept moving forward, no hesitation in her steps. Her eyes had changed to a light red and her face had none of her usual warmth or kindness.
"Wait, Yang! You can't deal with them on your own!" Ruby felt Crescent Rose tremble in her grasp. Her fingers nearly dropped her prized rifle as fear gripped her very being.
Her beloved sister, her very own sun, moved ahead to fight the deadly foes, sure to be ripped to shreds. "No…" she could hear Weiss whisper in fear. "Sun… help me… please…" Blake's breath was becoming rasped.
The gleaming sinister red orbs shone bright, their sickening light hiding her sister's image from the brunette. She wanted to help her, but how could she fight the very essence of death herself?
"Sun…please…" the sound of Blake, body trembling in horror, made her heart stop. The faunus' face was tense and frozen white. She was having a seizure. She was having a seizure! She was-
Crescent Rose fell on the ground. "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING?" Yang's voice was filled in fury, but not directed to her. Or was it? Ruby had no idea; she couldn't see her under the pulsing red lights. She could only hear her voice.
"HOW DARE YOU TOY WITH MY FAMILY LIKE THAT, YOU SONS OF A BITCH? I WILL BURY YOU WITH MY OWN HANDS!" her roar made Ruby flinch, her vision clearing as her eyes finally saw the figure of her sister.
She stood in front of the eight scarecrows, her proud back protecting all of team RWBY as she burst with power. A shard of yellow lightning dust protruded from her left shoulder, as the figures moved towards her.
"Blake… Blake, listen to me!" Ruby's silver eyes opened wide at the sound of Weiss' concerned voice. She made a motion to assist her best friend, but stopped.
For a brief moment, silver and cyan locked at each other, the former understanding the message the latter wanted to convey.
Meanwhile, lighting shot to the heavens as Yang's semblance activated the second the first enemy approached. She ducked, avoiding a slice, and delivered a lightning-fast punch at his body.
Quite surprisingly, her left fist didn't meet wood or metal, but a rock-hard surface. The thunder running down her body tore the monster's cloak, sparks flying high all over the field, but its body persisted.
"Tch!" without looking at her back, she jumped high to avoid the attack coming from the ground in the form of a materializing scarecrow just beneath her.
It truly burst out of the ground! Yang shot a lightning-powered missile at the two of them, using the recoil to regain her momentum and land on the ground, skidding backwards- to the claws of a third one. Shit!
A loud 'clank' reached her ears, instead of the sharp blades, however, courtesy of Ruby's scythe blade parrying them. The brunette spun her weapon hardly, trying to severe its head and arms with one strike.
Unfortunately her attack was proved pointless as the monster quickly dematerialized and vanished into the ground. Meanwhile, five more ran- or more accurately floated- towards them in a head-on attack.
Ruby and Yang stood ready, shoulder to shoulder, waiting to intercept the attack, before a giant slab of ice burst out of the ground between the attackers and the two huntresses.
Simultaneously a furious Blake appeared on their right, Nightfall's whip-like blade blocking the other three as they tried to advance, forcing them back instead.
Losing no time, she blinked twice around the field, maneuvering the cascade of steel in a horizontal and three sets of vertical slashes. Weiss' summoned ice broke, scattering shards all over the place.
Ruby and Yang started acting before their teammates had even finished their preparations. The brunette bust at once into a flurry of petals and used a wind shard to amplify its kinetic force.
The Ruby-centered whirlwind hit the three scarecrows Blake repelled before they managed to vanish again and picked them up, the brunette having to muster significant force in order to effectively move them.
Yang's fingers cracked. She unleashed a little less than half the full force her semblance had stored, as a quick flick of Weiss' wrist created a time dilation glyph from beneath her.
Powered by the dust, her semblance and the glyph, Yang's arms and legs ran around the field, punching all the ice dust shards with enough force to rival a small range canon.
Ruby's twister threw her captives towards the rest of their kin and the huntress burst away a split second before a Yang-powered barrage of thunder and ice engulfed them in a hailstorm of destructive energy.
After a few tense minutes of anticipation with their weapons at hand, team RWBY saw the dust from the explosions finally settle down and reveal no trace of their enemies or their remains, ice and charred earth the only things they could perceive in the small crater in front on them.
"It seems they escaped" Blake said after a few minutes of searching the area. "What the heck were those things? Grimm? Or something else?" Yang asked as Weiss helped her pull out the shard from her shoulder.
"I think I have a theory" the alabaster woman exclaimed. Everyone's eyes turned at her in surprise. "Let us show you what we found first and then you call tell us" Ruby replied, stowing Crescent Rose away.
-o—
"Gargoyles, you say?" Blake asked Weiss while they stood guard close to the hastily-made grave the sisters were making for Janet's body. "I thought those were Grimm of medieval legends and bedtime stories."
A pair of mismatched blue eyes narrowed at Blake, followed by Weiss' thin, white eyebrows.
"We studied in a school founded by The Man with Two Souls, fought in a 5-year war against The Girl in The Tower along with two of the four Maidens; the third one was Yang's mother and the fourth a close friend of ours, and you have trouble accepting the existence of Gargoyles?"
Yellow orbs blinked for a few moments "point taken." "Blake, I implore you; as the only other reasonable person of the group. Don't go all mad on me all of a sudden."
"You have to work on your jokes, Weissy" Ruby commented while she shoveled. "Hush, you" the quick reply came. "More important, baby; what do you know of these Gargoyles?" Yang cut the bickering off.
"If you believe the stories, they are predatory Grimm with the ability to take the form of statues in order to stalk their prey" she replied. "Those could simply have chosen to look like scarecrows to fit in this place."
"Many stories have them taking the forms of church statues and ambush people at night. They are supposed to be able to turn their bodies to stone or even fuse with it and travel through walls."
"Or ground" Blake completed. "Their bodies were really hard like she punched granite, Yang told us" Weiss explained. "This could explain everything, from their teleporting skill to their immense endurance."
"It doesn't explain the fear aura" Yang commented, making everyone shiver. The brawler carefully carried Janet's corpse and let it inside the hole, covered in an old piece of cloth they had found in the storeroom.
All four huntresses clapped their hands together and gave a solemn farewell to the poor girl. "We wish you peace; and hope you will forgive us for making this your burial ground" Ruby's voice said.
"As soon as we are done with all that happens around here, we will inform your people and bring your body back to Lakkard for you to rest properly; please bear with it until then" Yang completed.
"Farewell" all of them said together, before leaving. "Once more, innocent people are getting killed" Blake said. "This world is so cruel."
"This is why we are doing this, and why we will keep doing this until the day we die" Ruby replied, her silver eyes gleaming as she stared at the magnificent moon above them.
"As for the fear effect, I am almost certain it is due to an Eldergrimm" she replied, still gazing at the night sky. "It is a very high possibility, I must admit" her partner agreed.
"It may be for the best, then" Yang commented. "Sooner or later, we must take on one of those bastards and find out as much as we can, am I right?"
"Mhm" her sister replied "you are reading my mind, sis." Ruby's gaze lowered and her eyes hardened. Her expression made her teammates faces turn serious as well.
"I will say this now just to be clear; we have to find Azure and make him tell us how to stop the Eldergrimm, no matter what. We owe it to all who died and who may die if those things are left to roam unchecked."
"It goes without saying" Weiss replied. "We will carry our duty to the world" Blake nodded. "To protect all we care for" Yang emphasized.
"Good" Ruby smiled. "Let's go get some rest then. I have the feeling tomorrow is going to be a very long day."