A/N
Diluation:Y'all wondered, y'all got your answer. Also, here's Dustin's late A/N.
Dustin:Greetings fellow readers, me and the others hope Ptabs gets a swift recovery from his ordeal, but until he returns to us, we will do our best to continue this amazing universe he has created. So be gentle with your reviews.
Diluation:Actually don't. I didn't get this lube for nothing…
Raunchy joke aside, we've been reading the reviews and PMs as we do this, so just know we've been listening(as well as contacting Ptabs regarding certain bits in the storyline). We're open to any sort of criticism that you may have, but just know we'll still be staying faithful to Ptabs's setup. Which means we'll not take any suggestions for ships, or anything of the sort.
So, let's start off the responses to reviews.
Riebiele:What are your plans regarding D2 and Forsaken?
Diluation:It's a hot topic of debating among the four of us. I've got ideas for Ghaul that'd change a lot in the Destiny-verse, whilst Dustin and Aquilos have been wanting to stay vanilla story, or at least with less drastic changes.
What are these changes to Ghaul I wanted to make you may ask? Well, stories aren't stories if we spoil, so just sit tight and wait. Though that said, do expect a poll in the near future...
Jagen & Shadow:I love the reference to Byf! He's the best person to go to for Destiny lore!
Diluation:We've actually decided to make him a character. Ptabs originally planned for him to be a one-off, but we like Byf too much to let it happen.
Aquilos: Side note though, don't expect him to be too frequent, but he'll show up every now and then.
Diluation:This all said and done, enjoy the story!
00000
Blam Blam
The sounds of Summer's Thorn echoed throughout the target range. Whenever she was in deep of thought she was either fixing a weapon or shooting a weapon on a target range, using a dummy as the target, or an actual enemy. But since Remnant had a shortage of Dregs, non-living targets was would have to do.
Blam Blam Blam
Glimmer for your thoughts?
Summer shivered slightly and felt the dark presence of her unwanted and uninvited guests in her head, Oryx, the former and deceased Taken King.
A long time ago, she helped her friend Eris Morn crafted a very dangerous weapon called, Touch of Malice, one of the components was the still beating heart and essence of Oryx, or what amounted to a heart for a Hive God. She only handled the weapon for a short time before tossing it away, for the second she placed her hands upon the handle, it whispered dark things to her. So she handed it to Cayde who then placed it in a Vault with an assortment of relics that were deemed too dangerous to keep in the wild and way too dangerous to destroy.
When she fought the Vex Axis Mind, Nihileon, she used a fraction of the knowledge gained from Malice, and used it to unlock Thorns full potential. The only downside was that her brief use of the Darkness opened up her mind to Oryx, who has now taken up residence in her mind.
Get out of my head Oryx.
Oh, don't be like that, you should be thanking me.
Thanking you for what? For the destruction of so many displaced Awoken? For the numerous Taken? For…
For warning you on Patch. If it wasn't for my warning, that bullet from that Guardian would have gone right through your head, splattering your brains all across your darling daughters face. Or worse, the bullet going through her head, Hehehe...
Summer shook with rage, but instead of shouting out loud, she channeled her anger into the form of her Golden Gun and unleashed the energies onto the Target dummies, incinerating them to ash.
The other students, Atlas soldiers and Guardians there noticed the devastation Summer just unleashed and those closest to her packed up quickly and left.
Don't ever mention that ever again...wait, what do you mean Guardian?
You thought what you fought on Patch was a smarter than usual Grimm?! Ha! That was a Guardian, disguised as a meer imitation of one of those dark spawns. And not just any Guardian… a Fallen Guardian, wielding one of the Weapons of Sorrow. I sensed that one long before the bullet left the chamber.
Summer drowned out Oryx, and shifted through the new info she was given. A Guardian shooting at her and her daughter. Why come after her?
Her musings were cut off by a voice. "Mind if I join you?" She turned and saw Shin Malphur unholstering his signature hand-cannon and a box of Tex-Mechanica ammo.
She gestured to the empty spot right next to her,"Not at all." as Shin setup everything. He quickly loaded his weapon and began shooting. Summer smiled at her relative and began joining him. Soon it became a contest between the two of them to see who can do the most trick-shots with their respective hand-cannons. Each one more elaborate and difficult than the last. Summer jumped into the air, did a one-arm handstand, and even did a gangnam style like dance while shooting. While Shin fired from behind, did one blindfold and even made eight headshots while reading the latest X-Ray and Vav comic. After they had their fun, and their bullets ran out, Shin began packing up to leave.
"I went over your video logs on your fight on Patch. The one Team RWBY thought I was responsible for." Summer turned to him, her attention held. "Saw the Hive weapon your opponent held. Recognized it instantly. That was a Weapon of Sorrow, Necrochasm by the looks of it." Summer cocked her head, confused by the name, but Shin continued on. "I only know of one type of Guardian who would wield those weapons… The Shadows of Yor." He said with a sneer and with such disgust it would've made a Hive Knight recoil.
Summer process it. "Yor? As in Dredgen Yor?" Every Guardian out there had heard the stories about him. A Titan who fell to The Darkness due to his exposure to Hive apocrypha and began killing everything in sight, both Guardians and innocent people. His exploits and later demise served as a cautionary tale to Guardians, both new and old as to what happens when you follow the ways of Darkness.
Shin nodded. "The Shadows of Yor are a group of Guardians who follow his exploits, wield Hive Weapons, and get as close to the Darkness without falling to it. I spent the last few years hunting them down, killing them so that another Dredgen Yor never rises."
Summer immediately noticed a caveat in his plan, since they were Guardians, they had Ghosts, Ghosts resurrect their Guardians, so to kill them permanently, Shin must…
Shin noticed the stunned expression on her face. "No, I have never killed any ghosts," he said answering her unsaid question. "The Shadows of Yor's Ghosts either abandon them or are killed by, as a sign of their devotion."
Summer was horrified at what Shin just told her. Ghosts are friends to their Guardians, their ties to the Light. To kill their own Ghost is to kill a part of themselves.
Shin holstered Last Word and faced Summer. "I know about you unlocking Thorn's full potential. And I know why you did it. I already warned you when you first got that weapon what could happen, now you see the consequences of your actions." He said gesturing to her arm. Summer instinctively grabbed the arm with Hive runes with her other hand.
"I won't tell anyone about this, you will. Your fireteam, your new friends, your daughter deserve the right to know what you did and what you're going through."
He turned to leave. "But if you keep using that gun, and you fall, I'll end you. Permanently." There was no hint of hesitation or wavering in his voice with that last statement, and Summer could tell.
As he walked out of the room he faintly heard Summer whisper, "If I do, I won't stop you."
00000
Summer stomped across the grounds to the Beacon dorms, quietly cursing along the way.
Stupid zombie asshat living in my head...like some goddamn freeloader...
I can still hear you, you know.
SHUT UP!
Taking a deep breath, Summer collected herself and decided to focus on what she was planning to do. "Alright time to go be a responsible parent." Right as she got to the doors of the dorm, Drei popped out in front of her.
"Hey, I know you want to go see your girls and all, but I got Prometheus on the line asking to speak to you." Summer sighed,
"Put him through." She tapped her foot impatiently, as Drei projected a video call with Prometheus's face popping up.
"Hello Summer." Prometheus greeted.
"This better be important." The huntress replied. "You're keeping me from something important."
"Well sorry, but this is probably going to keep you away for awhile." He said, sending her the footage of the anomalous Grimm in Mt Glenn. Summer leaned in for a closer look at the footage Pandora took of Prometheus's encounter with the mutant Grimm. Her eyebrows furrowed.
"So we got Cursed Grimm or something." She said as the video ended.
"Pretty much." Prometheus mused, "I know it's a lot to ask but can you go investigate more for me? Recon is more your and Shin's thing; and after getting bombed by one of those things I'm not eager to go back."
"And you thought I'd be ok with it?" Summer asked.
"Look, I'll buy you a cake later if you do."
Summer held back the urge to immediately accept, spiting herself for how much she wanted to dive into one right now. "Look, as tempting as it is, I just can't at the moment. I'll give Shin a call though, let him know the situation."
"Even better then. I gotta report this to Cayde and Ozpin, have fun with whatever you're doing."
00000
Ruby and the others walked back to their room with smiles on their faces. They got to know so much, and Yang was glad that Ruby actually held into the knowledge taught to her other than just the battles, and what weapons in the them were used.
Blake and Weiss, being the lovers of books and knowledge immediately loved Byf's class… and the fact that they didn't have to write at supersonic speeds like with Oobleck.
As they got to there door Blake smelled a scent that was… new.
"Someone's here." Blake noted, and immediately tensed. "It doesn't smell out anyone we know, I think."
"Could be Sun or Neptune. They probably just climbed in from the windows again like last time." Yang replied, casually stretching a bit.
"I don't know Yang. Blake said it was different. This person may have broken in." Weiss said, backing up Blake. A sudden realization then hit her. "Wait, how did you not detect those two last time?"
"They masked their scent." Blake quickly answered. "This one happens to stink."
"Oh, come on guys I'm sure it's fine." Ruby stated as she opened the door.
What they saw was a Hunter. A little shorter than the traditional hunters they've seen around the school. Her armor looked odd to say the least. She wore a black and purple fur lined cloak that trailed down to the floor. A lion's lower jaw formed the brace for the cloak around her neck, split apart so each half of the jaw was pinned to each side of her chestplate.
Her helmet had a thin over gold visor, also painted with black and purple decals. A black metal balaclava shaped mask covered the rest of her face.
Her chest armor resembled more like a stripped down piece of Titan armor than typical hunter gear. A significant number of magazine pouches and clips lined the chestpiece, and a gorget neck protector protruded from the top of it. Going lower carrier belt hung from her waist. It was lined with more magazines, and clipped with grenades along with extra pouches for supplies.
On her right leg was strapped a drop leg holster with a sidearm, and a large gut knife. The other leg had what looked like an emergency trauma kit, with a vial of foul looking red liquid attached to it. She wore greaves that were similarly stylized like her chestpiece, painted black and purple and geometrically shaped.
Her gauntlets were angularly shaped and painted like the rest of her armor, with a scroll built into the forearm of the right one. Plated gloves covered her hands and her left hand had a faint blue glow emitting from under her wrist, most likely a hidden arc blade.
"Do we know you?" Blake said with a raised eyebrow. She let her hand be near her weapon, just in case.
"Oh, sorry for not letting you know, we never met before. I'm Daisy." The girl replied.
Getting to the seals of her helmet. The girl now named Daisy removed her helmet. She had a hairstyle like Ruby's, black bangs and red details. Her hair was based as a purple color, and the other bits of detail is colored white. Her eyes were blue and for some reason, glowed like that of an Awoken's.
"Who are you?" Weiss replied.
"I guess I didn't word it correctly." Daisy thought to herself. "Cayde sent me here to socialize with you. He couldn't make it here though, because..."
00000
Cayde was about to get into his ship when his Ghost appeared. She then sighs as she read through Cayde's Schedule.
"Cayde? Aren't you forgetting something?" Sundance said to him
"Ah ummmmmm. Nope, nothing." Cayde answered back with a shrug.
"The message from Lord Saladin, about two people who you know and hold dear?" Sundance pressed on.
"I have many friends, Sundance." Cayde replied back, before muttering. "And enemies…"
"Look at that memo sent to you!" Sundance said
"Is there a problem, Cayde?" Barloc asked on the radio.
"Ohhhhhhhhh….shit I forgot about those two. Ok, uh, sorry Barloc, but scratch that meeting, have Ghira reschedule the it. I have some… family business to take care of." Cayde said on his radio.
The warlock facepalmed. "Of course; I forgot you also had poor planning skills…"
"Yeah, kinda forgot about a meeting with two people Saladin has his eyes on. We're gonna have to get you out of that ship."
"I will." Barloc replied back. "Right after I incinerate all of the junk in here."
Cayde glared at the warlock inside his ship. "You wouldn't."
"I can and I will, if you do not give a move on. Be glad I haven't started already."
00000
"Barloc?" Ruby asked quizzically. "And he's a warlock?"
"That sounds too good to be true." Yang said gleefully. "Yet at the same time, I so badly want to believe it…"
Daisy nods. "It is his name. Though I wish he wasn't actually serious about burning his stuff."
"Really? Oh boy." Yang thought with a grin on her face. She didn't say anything, but there was a shared feeling that she was thinking up puns involving the warlock.
Daisy shrugs it off. "Its ok, I guess. If anything, Cayde probably has backups for backups."
"Still, it's kind of rude." Weiss commented, crossing her arms. "Why didn't he do it another way? I wouldn't do that just to get my way."
"How did you get in our room, anyway?" Blake asked.
"Cayde's Ghost Sundance quickly gave me something called a scroll, as well as the password. I don't make the orders, just follow them unless they conflict with morality. Besides, I trust Cayde. I just don't like this awkward situation he put me in, by sending me here to this cramped room."
"Also, who's the closet hog with all the white dresses?" Daisy said, mildly annoyed at the inconvenience.
"Hey!" Weiss let out with a pout.
"You seem to have Cayde's witty tongue too." Blake stated as a matter of factly.
"So, how long are you staying with us?" Yang asked, taking a seat on one of the beds and looking at her scroll. She then muttered to herself a little, before typing something.
"Just for the night. Cayde told me he'll get me a better cramped room tomorrow morning." Daisy replied
"Oh, that's not so bad." Ruby said, a frown on her face.
They soon all started to take care of their own business after that brief exchange. Daisy started doing maintenance on her weapons. The other girls took turns taking a shower, while Blake engrossed herself in the latest volume of Ninjas of Love. Ruby read through her weapons magazines and comic books, Weiss was studying, and Yang took her shower first. The silence was awkward and heavy. So awkward and heavy, that Ruby decided to try getting to know the new girl more.
"So Daisy. You wear Guardian armor, yet you have no Ghost. Why is that?" Ruby asked, curious as to why Daisy is wearing such high-grade armor.
"I'm a Guardsman. We're just ordinary people who have their light unlocked, and are trained by a Guardian to use it like them." Daisy replied as she was wiping off excess CLP (Cleaning, Lubricant, Protection) from her hand cannons bolt carrier group.
"Who trained you then?" Blake said while not looking up from her book, uninterested in the newcomer.
"Cayde, and a little bit by Summer Rose." Is all Daisy was able to let out, before Ruby interrupted her.
"Wait you know my mom?" Ruby let out in surprise.
"Wait, Summer's your mom?" Daisy paused, taking the realization in, as she looked at Ruby. "...Well that explains why I almost called you Aunt Summer. You both look way too alike. It's actually kind of odd that the only difference between you two are your heights." Daisy thought, as she noted the differences between the two.
"How did you meet mom?" Yang asked, getting out of the bathroom with her pjs on.
"My Grandmother invited her for dinner." Daisy replied earnestly.
"That's not so bad." Ruby said with a shrug.
"After breaking down our most of the neighborhood doors trying to find my Grandfather."
Blake and Weiss sweatdropped at that.
"Ok, maybe it's kinda bad?" Ruby said sheepishly, not expecting that to have happened.
"How did they meet?" Weiss asked.
"Odd thing is. No one would tell me. Grandfather was silent and never wanted to talk about it, and every time Summer tries to her Ghost cuts her off. Apparently it was so bad that the Vanguards deemed it a top secret. Though it was due to her that a lot of rules were added to the now very long list of 'acceptable behavior'. One of our floors in the tower is still covered in lava apparently."
"Why am I not surprised?" Weiss and Blake thought together in annoyance.
Though as the girls went back to there do own things and get there showers done, Daisy noticed four hive runes glowing on the other side of the wall she was facing. The green sickly energy was radiating off of whomever had the runes grafted to their skin. She then put her hand cannon back together, as her eyes followed the runes while not moving her head. Then it stopped at the door, and a knock was heard.
She loaded a fresh magazine into her weapon as Ruby decided to open the door, only to find Summer standing there. Daisy could see the runes coming through Summer's gauntlet. She started to feel nauseous a bit, but managed to maintain a stoic look as Summer hugged Ruby tightly. She smiled to see Summer hasn't changed one bit. Summer then looked in Daisy direction but she gave Summer a concerned look. Summer sighs as she realized she caught on.
"Hey Daisy, it's been long time since I saw you." Summer said as she got out of the hug she gave Ruby.
Daisy got up from the desk she was at, and holsters her hand cannon, giving a radiant smile.
"Too long apparently." Daisy replied, her eyes flickering towards Summer's right forearm. She then looked at Weiss and Blake.
"Come on girls let's give the three family members some privacy." Daisy said
"What why?" Weiss asked, crossing her arms.
"It seems Summer has something personal to say to her kids. At least give her the courtesy of privacy." Daisy replied back, a stern tone to her voice.
"You'll get no complaints from me." Blake said as she got up, and walked out the door, Weiss following suit.
"Good luck Summer." Daisy said, as she closed the door behind them.
00000
Shin had just gotten aboard his jumpship earlier when Summer's call came in. The veteran hunter would admit he didn't expect to hear from her so soon, which either means the talk did not go well or there was another issue.
"Hello Summer," he answered "I'm gonna be honest this was sooner than I expected. Was it that bad?" Summer shook her head on the other end.
"It's not about that. It's something else. Prometheus found something Mt. Glenn." Shin's expression became stoic at the news.
"Something?" He inquired.
"Here just take a look at this, see what you make of it." Shin watched as a monitor on his ship displayed the same clip Prometheus showed Summer, a hive corrupted creep detonating on death and blowing up in a sickly green flash of light.
"I see." His voice betrayed no emotion, but Summer could tell he was now concerned. "I'll go take a look see what I can dig up."
"You think those Shadows you mentioned are involved with all this?"
"I'd bet Last Word on it they are." Shin replied. "I'll stay in touch, let you know what I find."
"Thank you Shin, good luck."
"Don't need it." Shin replied as he hung up. Clint materialized and punched in new coordinates for the jump ship, towards Mt Glenn, while Shin rubbed his temples in cold contemplation.
Alright you damnable fools, you made your move, my turn now.
00000
"Mom what's this about?" Ruby asked as Summer gazed out the window in the back. Summer gave a sigh. She was not a fan of delivering bad news, and Yang and Ruby being her daughters that she just reconnected with did not help her stress in this situation.
"Ruby, Yang you might want to take a seat for this one." Ruby plopped down on the rug in a cross legged position while Yang pulled up a chair. Summer Rose turned around and knelt down in front of both girls, carefully thinking about her next words. Finally settling on what to say, she unclasped Thorn's holster at her side.
Ruby's eyes widened as Summer held up Thorn to her. Ruby had gotten some glances at the weapon before, but her mom didn't really show the gun properly to her until now.
Yang's response was similar to Ruby's, except she was a bit more thinking about how the gun did not match her stepmother's personality and aesthetic at all.
Both girls, however, could feel the bad vibes the hand cannon was giving off, like a fog that hung over their heads. Ruby thought she could vaguely see a black mist issuing from the gun; and some kind of whispering?
"This is Thorn." Summer began. "I acquired this gun under exceptional circumstances, and it has gotten me out of many sticky situations since."
"Ok, but what is so important about this gun that you needed to tell us?" Yang asked. Summer took another deep breath and continued.
"Because the gun's both a blessing and a curse." Summer replied. "It was created by an infamous guardian after falling to the seduction of darkness. It is a weapon of hate and malice, meant to kill anything it points at." Ruby's mouth went slack jawed. Her mother, someone she had always thought to be a paragon of good and justice was running around with a weapon like this?
"Why would you use that gun then?" Ruby asked. "If it's so evil why keep it?"
"Because if it weren't for this particular gun, I would have not survived many of the fights I've been in, nor would I have been able to defeat the Vex God that attacked Remnant." Summer paused as both girls digested what she just told them. "And now I am paying for the price of my actions." Summer said as she unstrapped her right gauntlet and began rolling up the sleeve. Both Ruby and Yang leaned in as a faint glow from the hive runes in her skin issued out from under the fabric, before the full engraving came into view.
Yang and Ruby's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as they looked at the hive runes carved into their mother's skin.
"Mom what is this?..." Ruby stammered in disbelief as she reached to touch the runes.
"My price…" Summer responded. "The more I use this gun, unrestrained, the more it eats away at my soul and spirit. Eventually it will completely take over me, and I too will fall to the same power that that infamous guardian fell to so long ago."
"Does it hurt?" Ruby asked as she touched the runes on her arms. They felt hot to the touch, not like the warmth of love, more like the searing blade of a knife.
"Not particularly." Summer replied. Yang walked forward to take a closer look as well. The brawler's instincts flared up when she looked at the carvings. Even without any knowledge of what the Hive are, she could feel the malicious aura that emanated from the runes. It was almost enough for her semblance to flare up instinctively in response.
"But why tell us?" Yang asked, "What does any of this mean?" Summer sighed.
"It was Shin's belief, that you two deserved to know more than anyone else about the burden I am carrying with me. I can guess his reasoning too. He wanted me to show both of you what it means to be a protector of humanity, the sacrifices that need to be made for the greater good. Shin never liked fairy tales, saying that real life doesn't always end with a happy ending. The princess and the kingdom may be saved, but the knight in shining armor might not be there to see it. And sometimes even if he is alive at the end, he might arrive just in time to save the corpses." Summer could feel the tears building at the corners of her eyes as she spoke. She could tell this was a lot for her girls to try to process, telling them that the universe is not as kind as they had thought, telling them what it costed to protect everyone else.
"In the end though, I will not regret what I have done." Summer gave a slight smile. "I will know that my actions were for the benefit of so many others, people I might never have seen or known, and they might never know me. But that does not matter because I would have performed my duty to my fullest, and allow my actions to be my legacy." Summer looked up to see tears streaming down Ruby's face and Yang hugging her around the shoulders. Without a word, Ruby threw herself onto Summer, dragging Yang with her making it a giant group hug. Summer felt Ruby rest on her shoulder, and she heard the small sobs that echoed from her mouth. She sighed and gave a slight smile, for she had not felt something like this in a very long time. "There there," she whispered as she patted Ruby on the back. After a bit, Ruby's sobs died down and she pulled back to look at her mom in the face.
"Mom…" Ruby began, her eyes still wet. "Please, promise me that you won't ever resort to this again unless you absolutely have to." Summer suddenly found herself on the receiving end of the puppy eyes she was famous for, albeit a much sadder, wetter, and more irresistible version of it.
Oh god she thought to herself before settling on an answer. How could she say no to that?
"I promise, Ruby." Summer replied.
"Please, I can't lose you again." Ruby stammered.
"I know Ruby, I know." Summer gave her daughter and stepdaughter another hug, feeling a warmth in her heart, a feeling of "home" she hadn't felt in a long time. After a few minutes when all tears were shed and all feelings were expressed Summer got up and stretched her kinked muscles from kneeling for so long.
"You know now that I think about it," Yang began, "mom's pretty badass for going through all this and be able to still be kicking." Summer chuckled.
"What can I say, I try my best." Summer replied with a shrug. "Now I have a suggestion for you girls."
"Hm?" Both Yang and Ruby perked up.
"Let's go kill this downy mood with some cookies!" She announced, pumping her fist in the air.
"Yes!" Ruby exclaimed practically leaping to her feet. "To the kitchens!" She practically disappeared out the door in a shower of red petals as Summer and Yang chased after her.
00000
In the caverns Mt. Glenn, Shin made his way through the empty streets of the cave city, his every footstep echoing off the decaying crumbling buildings. "This place reeks." He thought to himself as he stepped over a skull of some poor unfortunate soul who didn't make it out of here.
"We're almost there." Clint informed Shin as they approached the back wall of the city. Shin rounded a corner and saw the mouth of the cave Summer had sent him coordinates for. Shin's nose wrinkled under his helmet. He could smell the hive energy coming from inside the cave.
"Whatever they got in there, it's potent." With one hand on Last Word and one hand grasping his knife, Shin crept into the cave. After following the narrow tunnels for a bit, he came upon the same area Prometheus had found earlier that day, except there were no Creeps or enemies around. The black pool of mysterious goo still sat undisturbed in the center of the chamber. Clint materialized next to Shin and analyzed the black substance.
"I can't figure out what it is." Clint said as the ghost's fins spun about. "It's almost like a liquid form of Darkness."
"Anything else?" Shin asked kneeling down to inspect the liquid. He carefully dipped the tip of his knife into the pool and pulled it back up. The black viscous liquid dripped slowly down the tip of the blade but did nothing out of the ordinary.
"Shin." called Clint. Shin got up and turned his attention to the Ghost. "I'm detecting something in the middle of the pool, it's giving off strong hive readings. I think that's the source of all this."
"Good to know, let's see what it is then." Shin replied as he took off his gloves.
"Are you gonna-"
"Worth a shot, this is the best idea I have unless you want to go take a swim." Shin furrowed his brow and began channeling light to his palm. A silver glow began to gather and engulf his hand, lighting up the dark chamber. Shin's eyes began to glow under his helmet as well as a ray of silver light extended from his hand to the black pool. When the light made contact, the liquid parted to the sides of the pool as if fleeing from the light.
Slowly, the black substance parted, revealing a glowing green stone in the bottom of the stone pool. The light faded as Shin leaned down and picked up the stone. It was a jagged elongated rock, no bigger than his fist. On it was carved hive runes of indeterminate meaning, glowing orange and sickly green. Clint flew in closer for look.
"This looks like some sort of keyrune, I think it was infecting that pool and the Grimm that were around it."
"Noted." Shin replied as he threw it into the air. In a flash, he drew Last word and fired three shots into the rock, shattering it into pieces.
"So what's next." Clint asked as Shin began to leave.
"What always comes next." Shin replied as he walked back out of the cave. "We hunt."
00000
Meanwhile underneath Salem's fortress in the Grimmlands, a man in a black coat marked with hive runes hunched over a cane of twisted metal as he peered into the glowing orb of a Seer. His prosthetic eye clicked, and whined as it adjusted itself against the images the Seer was showing him. His left hand, a hive acolyte's arm forged from bone and metal, clicked against the cane as he tapped his three clawed fingers against its shaft. "Interesting, very very interesting." he muttered to himself in a raspy voice.
"Something caught your attention, doctor?" came a voice from behind the man. He turned to see Dredgen Vena standing in the doorway of his underground chambers.
"The experiment was a success." Doctor Merlot replied, gesturing at the Seer. "I am amazed by what you have provided me. Its power is beyond anything I could have created in a lifetime."
"So your little toys worked then?" Vena asked as she entered the room.
"As well as I could have expected." Merlot replied. "They were mere lab rats, soon my mistress and I will create a perfect specimen one that will terrify the world to its core." he paused a moment. "There is one complication, however."
"Complication?" Vena asked raising an eyebrow.
"The hunter you informed me of, Shin Malphur. He is onto our trail." Merlot reported as the Seer showed Shin entering the Mt. Glenn cave. Vena simply chuckled.
"Oh good Doctor, fear not. I have known Shin Malphur would find us out eventually, and luckily, I am prepared."
"Prepared?" Merlot inquired, "With what?"
"Don't you worry about that doctor, just see to it that your experiments go well. Shin Malphur is my prize." With that Dredgen Vena turned and left. As she walked away she tapped the side of her helmet, turning on the communicator. "Get in touch with Zyre Orsa." she ordered to whoever was on the other end "Tell him, an old friend is here."
That's it for this week fellow guardians and huntsmen. As usual leave a follow, comment, or straight up DM us with questions. Seriously, we love feedback, at least I do. Anyway, come back next week for the next installment, and we have been Fireteam Nero - Aquilos