To say that Mantle was a withered cesspool of its former self was an understatement. That much was substantial by itself, considering that the city's living conditions were already incredibly poor since the last time Ruby was here. At least, that was what her Grimm self could recall. Mantle was never that well off compared to Atlas, due to Ironwood's Dust embargo among other things. It was still a city, however, and one that focused heavily on industrial development and mining. There were establishments, working pieces of security technology, and of course, people. All of the components of a communion existed in Mantle, despite its setbacks. Emphasis on "existed."
Now, barely a soul remained in the broken remnants of this city. Wandering the fractured streets alone, Grimm Ruby would occasionally cross paths with a distressed soul lamenting how poorly their lives have ended up or a traffic light that flickered in a futile attempt to remain functional. Members of the former barely acknowledged Grimm Ruby's presence, let alone the fact that a Grimm was even walking amongst them. Perhaps they simply didn't care, as they were too busy wallowing in their own problems. Either way, their heartbreak was so pervasive to Grimm Ruby that it could sense each individual person from at least half a mile away.
During this aimless walk, the sentient Grimm came across another traffic light from the sidewalk. Strangely, this one functioned perfectly and didn't seem to share the structural problem of the rest of the city. As it nearly crossed the street, the yellow "hand" light beamed on; a signal telling anyone travelling on foot to stop and let motorized traffic through.
Grimm Ruby looked across both sides of the street. Not a single automotive of any kind obstructed its path; at least, there weren't any moving ones along the street. Perhaps it was out of respect for the laws of the city that once was or the desire to act like the human it could only remember being from Ruby's memories; either way, Grimm Ruby waited patiently for the traffic lights to change before crossing the street.
It wasn't in any hurry to go anywhere. It didn't even have a destination. It was just…outside. That was the appropriate term. That's what Grimm Ruby was; an outsider, feared by most and trusted by few. Depressing as this may be, it already braced itself for a hopeless existence from the moment it freed Ruby from Salem's clutches. Even an ignoble end could have been possible. The whole reason it even traveled with her was because doing otherwise could have doomed the young Huntress to a painful death, alone and unmourned in the bitter cold, with only her friends and family hoping in vain for her return. Grimm Ruby couldn't allow such a thing, and now that the terrible tragedy had been prevented, it was no longer obligated to stay by her.
Grimm Ruby stood by its choice, even after the way her friends feared it. It didn't blame them. It couldn't; not for their reactions, not for its existence, not for anything. As a cruel grimace slowly crept across its face, it knew who was truly to blame. Looking into its own reflection from the pieces of a nearby shattered window, it saw those terrifying red eyes and thought of her. The one who created it to be a weapon, the one who forced it to contend with so much negativity, both on the outside and from within: Salem.
Before Ruby's abduction from Atlas, both it and Mantle were under siege by Salem's forces, including her inner circle and a veritable army of Grimm. As devastating as the end result was in Mantle, it was bound to be much worse in Atlas. After all, it took the combined might of the Atlesian military, the new Winter Maiden, and Ruby's group just to even hold her off for as long as they did, but it was ultimately futile. Both Relics were lost, and of course, Ruby was also abducted. Considering how quiet things are now, Grimm Ruby wondered what could have stopped the invasion.
The Grimm never showed mercy. Even if Salem had gotten everything she wanted, she would certainly have just left Atlas and Mantle at the mercy of the Grimm. They would have ended up like Aisufurawa, yet Grimm Ruby couldn't sense a single one among all the negativity. It's only been a few days, and based off of Ruby's memories, the swarm of Grimm was absolutely enormous. Even if there were still survivors fighting back, including the rest of Ruby's group, there should be more Grimm. It was too quiet.
Once the traffic light gave Grimm Ruby the signal to cross the street, it did so, looking both ways. Of course, there weren't any automotives to worry about. It was still just about pretending to be human. One notable boon to Grimm Ruby's unique physical condition, however, was a tolerance to the cold. It could have been a byproduct of the effort Salem put in to make Grimm Ruby an unstoppable killing machine or a simple trait that all Grimm possess over the humans and Faunus they constantly war against, but the cold simply didn't bother it.
The same couldn't be said for the people of Mantle, however. In fact, the bitter cold was really the most damning thing for those that did their best to survive, as opposed to the destruction and negativity, as one would expect. Mantle used to have a heating grid that kept its inhabitants warm in the frigid temperatures, but it was disabled from an act of treachery that one of Salem's followers orchestrated. Upon witnessing a group of survivors gathered near a pile of wooden debris trying in vain to light it with their stones, their damaged appliances, and even a few flame Dust crystals, an idea sparked in its mind.
The flames that followed Grimm Ruby's every swift movement and burned those that were unfortunate to come in contact were a source of great shame for it. Potent enough to leave everlasting burns and rendering any attempt to shield a person's skin with Aura useless, it was an extremely dangerous thing to possess…but it didn't necessarily have to be a terrible thing. It was just like the moment when it started a small campfire with its flames when it and Ruby first officially met.
Those that were huddled together by the debris, desperate for relief from the bitter cold, paid no attention to Grimm Ruby as it approached. They gave no reaction, even as its claws surged with dark flames. Clamping down upon the debris with both claws, its face contorted into vicious hatred as its red eyes glowed dimly. The people began to turn their attention to the sentient Grimm among them. It sensed their fright immediately; a feeling that only magnified as a long bestial growl left its lips. The people slowly backed away from it, and by extension, the pile of debris. The dark flames spread quickly across the debris. The snow melted, the wood withered, the metal sizzled, and even the stones turned black. All that touched the flames of destruction burned indiscriminately.
The sheer scale of the dark flames left the surrounding people in a state of both fear and awe. Their faces were difficult to see in the night sky, as the flames didn't illuminate its surroundings very well. Their awe-filled voices, though fleeting, were very lucid. They grew more amazed and less fearful with each passing second as the flames evolved into a huge bonfire; furious and unrelenting, yet contained within the spot Grimm Ruby willed it. These flames were a representation of the destructive urges it constantly keeps in check, deep beneath its personality. With a moment to calm itself and close its eyes, it relinquished the debris and stepped back.
"Be careful not to touch the flames," Grimm Ruby said with a quiet kindness contrasting that display of burning rage. "They're…not normal."
And with that, Grimm Ruby walked away. It wouldn't stay to see the faces of those it saved from freezing to death. After Ruby's burn and the terror her friends felt when they found out, too many things could go wrong if it huddled around desperate strangers. That goes double from the simple fact that its entire body was still covered in those very flames; huddling around someone right now was bound to kill them. Even as the people watched it leave patches of scorched ground and melted snow with each step, wondering about their mysterious bringer of much-needed heat, it would let them draw their own conclusions.
Grimm Ruby went back to wondering aimlessly in the cold night, waiting until the flames covering its body went out. It didn't take long, being separate from any debris to keep it alight, and when it did go out, Grimm Ruby didn't acknowledge it for even a moment. This was its normal. All of this was normal. The more it tried to act human, the more ridiculous it all felt. It wasn't human. It could never be human. It would always be Grimm, and it hated that fact with every ounce of its being. It always knew that deep down, but after the events of the past few days, it wondered if there was even a reason to pretend to be human.
On its path, Grimm Ruby discovered another traffic light. Once again, there was no traffic. Once again, the traffic light signaled all passersby to stop and wait. And once again, it did so. Its continued attempts to pretend baffled even itself, but it didn't know how else to act. It couldn't behave like a typical Grimm, running around murdering random people, and there were very few people it could interact with without causing fear or distress. It was lost, both in purpose and in location.
It considered going retracing its steps and going back. There didn't seem to be anything to do out here. That, too, was contrary to what the rest of Ruby's team was doing here. That left the big question: if they weren't fighting Grimm or Salem, what are they doing here? The obvious thing to do would be to move on, head to Shade Academy, and protect the Relic of Destruction. That left another big question: what would happen to the people here, without a government or academy to defend them? Putting the two questions together, it's obvious what was going on.
With nothing left to defend the survivors of Mantle, Ruby's group had to do it themselves. Even if there weren't any Grimm now, the sheer misery of this place could attract more of them anywhere in the city, at any time. It would know. It could sense their misery right now. Glancing back from where it came from, it noticed the smoldering footsteps it left behind. At that moment, a dazzling light shined in its eyes from above. Shielding them from the glare, it could barely make out the Atlesian ship above it. At first, it didn't understand what was going on. It was clearly being tailed, but the purpose was unclear…until it noticed the footsteps and put the pieces together. It just started a huge bonfire mere minutes ago. The pilot of that ship must have noticed such a thing from the sky. That would make more sense than "kill the Grimm on sight." From a distance, it resembled a normal human enough to inconspicuously pass off as one.
As the ship descended closer, Grimm Ruby wondered what the pilot would do if they saw it. If they were affiliated with Maria in any way, it may be possible to just explain what happened. If they were a remnant of Atlas' old military, they may try to arrest it for arson. If it was someone else entirely, there was that lingering concern about what would happen if they realized they were about to confront a Grimm. Regardless, Grimm Ruby showed no outward hostility, but internally steeled itself for the worst.
What it saw, however, was someone it could never have prepared for. Gazing from the interior of the ship was a young boy with tan skin and a faint blush and freckles on his cheeks. He wore a battered olive coat with a red belt and shoulder pads. Underneath the coat, he wore a white collared shirt with bandages around his neck. He also wore black trousers and red boots. Completing this ensemble was a long cane that doubled as a walking stick in his left hand, with small gold-colored gears at the bottom of the handle. When Grimm Ruby got a better look at the boy's black hair and hazel eyes, it stood slack jawed in awe to such an extent that it couldn't register anything else around it.
"Maria, I found the—" the boy said into his Scroll in his left hand, stopping when the light from the ship shined on Grimm Ruby, giving him a clear view of it. "Is that…Ruby?"
"I…I know you," Grimm Ruby said with heartfelt emotion. "Oscar."
It had already had enough of an understanding from the original Ruby's memories and personality to comprehend things beyond destruction and death, but this was something…more. It couldn't quite pinpoint just what feelings surfaced in its black heart when it saw this boy, but there was something about him that filled the original Ruby with such fulfillment and warmth. It was the kind of feeling that made it want to smile and laugh when it looked deep in his eyes.
"Ruby?" Oscar asked. Unlike Grimm Ruby, his face was one of fear and confusion.
Another voice came from his scroll, but the words were inaudible from the ground.
"No! I…I think it's Ruby!" Oscar exclaimed, then left Grimm Ruby's view. He must be the one piloting that ship. That would explain why its altitude lowered immediately afterward. There was more chatter from his Scroll it couldn't decipher from the ground. Once the ship came close enough to the ground, it saw him peek out from the side.
"Ruby! I…" Oscar said cheerfully at first, but grew nervous after hearing Grimm Ruby's distorted voice. "I…you're…not Ruby? Are you—"
"Not quite," Grimm Ruby said. "But…she's okay now. I brought her back here. We're actually, uh…separate people…kinda."
"Ruby's okay?" Oscar asked. A single tear came down from his eye before he collected himself. "I thought, I mean, you…know Ruby?"
"Yeah," Grimm Ruby said. "And she's back at that pharmacy. It's kinda dark out, so she's probably sleeping."
"You have…red eyes," Oscar said with a pause.
"Yeah," Grimm Ruby said, turning its gaze away. "Listen, I'm not sure what I can do to help out here, but there's a lot of people out there freezing without the heating grid. I started this huge fire to keep them warm, but it won't last forever, so maybe we can—"
In a split second, it sensed a dreadful horror come from Oscar. Before it had a chance to respond to this, his eyes briefly flashed gold.
"Oscar?"
"Oh no," an older man's voice came from Oscar lips. "Gods, no."
"Oscar, are you…no, you're not Oscar," Grimm Ruby said with an uncomfortable glare. The original Ruby's memories had information about this phenomenon. Oscar is the latest in a long line of reincarnations of the ancient warrior Ozma. The last incarnation was the professor of the fallen Beacon Academy, Ozpin. His, and the accumulation of every past incarnation, resided within Oscar.
"After all these years," he whispered, "she's finally done it."
"Are you Ozpin?" Grimm Ruby asked innocently. Oscar, or to be more accurate, Ozpin took a step back. He unsheathed his cane and gripped it with both hands. He was visibly terrified, but looked ready to fight…if only for a moment. His arms quivered and his body slacked.
"Ozpin…what are you—" Oscar said to "himself." His voice turned into Ozpin's again. "Listen to me. Salem has done the impossible. That Grimm is more dangerous than any Maiden or warrior alive!"
"That's a Grimm?" Oscar exclaimed. "Do…do we fight?"
"Oscar, wait," Grimm Ruby begged, reaching its claw out. "I just—"
"No, run! You can't face that thing! No living man or creature can!"
Oscar left Grimm Ruby's view, back to the cockpit. The distance between the ship and the ground was still too high to climb normally, and climbing one of the nearby buildings to make a running leap runs the risk of setting the ship ablaze. With no safer alternatives, it let him leave. Even as the ship drifted away, Ozpin's fear was so pervasive that it blotted out the sorrow of everyone else. Grimm Ruby knew it was Ozpin, not Oscar. It was the fear of an immortal being's final end; the kind that no boy could comprehend.
"Does Ozpin…know about me?" it muttered. "But how?"
His actions were strange, even considering the secrets he kept in the past. Based off Ruby's memories, Ozpin was a man that tried to inspire others to overcome their fears, despite his mistakes and weaknesses. Seeing him, or rather, the boy his soul currently inhabits do everything he can to stay away from it, and without so much as a single missile or bullet fired, went against what he stood for. This wasn't like the fear everybody in the pharmacy showed after they found out about Ruby's burn. Oscar, and by extension, Ozpin wasn't present during that situation, and it didn't seem like either of them heard about it. There was more to the story, but Grimm Ruby didn't feel like it had a right to pry. Not now, not when there's so much to deal with.
"Yeah, yeah, okay," Grimm Ruby muttered somberly. "I'll just, uh, help somewhere else."
It glanced at the traffic light, noticing the signal to let traffic through. It just missed its chance to walk.
The single quality that is common across every living creature on this planet, is fear; it's funny then that as common as fear is, we so easily underestimate its power.