Chapter 38 — Hook, Line & Sinker

"When she was just a girl

She expected the world

But it flew away from her reach

And the bullets catch in her teeth

Life goes on, it gets so heavy

The wheel breaks the butterfly

Every tear a waterfall"

— Coldplay,

Paradise

The forest was strangely quiet as Ruby made her way along the familiar path. The air had a strange feeling to itself, one of tension. It was as if a fight was imminent. The leaves on the trees appeared redder, bloodier. A sense of violence lay in the air, and Ruby could feel her muscles tensing of their own accord. Her hand periodically clasped the handle of Crescent Rose, as if something was going to jump out at her any second. And even though she knew the Grimm were familiar with her, there was a new feeling of apprehension in her heart.

"Serena?" The girl carefully announced her presence. The complete silence that lay over the forest was unnerving. There were no birds singing, not even a breeze of wind would rustle the leaves. It was as if all life had left the place.

"Serena?" Ruby called again as she broke through the bushes, faced with the dark mouth of the cave. "Are you home?"

Something was not right.

The cave was completely cast in darkness. The fire that was always burning was absent, and Ruby felt her heart jump at the discovery. The fire was never out. Sneaking inside, she took stock of the rest of the home. Everything was at its place; the pans and pots were neatly stacked in their corner, the clothes lay folded in their designated spots. Nothing seemed to be out of place.

Walking over to the dead fire, Ruby put her hand in the embers. They were cold, and had been so for some time. It would have been normal if the fire had gone out while Serena was out with the Grimm or hunting. But these embers were stone cold, some already having been blown out of the small circle of rocks that limited the fireplace.

Fear seized her heart as Ruby looked back outside. There were no visible footsteps leading away from the cave, no sign of anyone having recently passed by here. Her eyes automatically swiped over to the corner where Serena kept her weapons. The bow and arrows were gone, but her spear was still there. Something in her made her grab the collapsible stick and put it in the holster next to Crescent Rose.

The cracking of branches made her whip back around, silver eyes narrowed as they scrutinized the bushes. Something big was approaching, and fast. Letting Crescent Rose unfold, Ruby exited the cave, ready to confront whatever it was that was coming. A deep breath later, a dark shape jumped out.

Giving a short yelp, Ruby leapt to the side, Crescent Rose barely slicing past the middle of Ajax as he landed at the entrance of the cave. Turning around, she watched as the Grimm took position, the cave to its back, and bared its teeth at her.

"Ajax?"

The Grimm did not seem to hear her, standing up on its hind legs, showing off its impressive row of teeth and deadly red eyes. His claws clinked together ominously, ready to tear into her. Taken aback by this strange behavior, Ruby kept a firm hold on Crescent Rose, ready in case the Grimm would attack her.

"Ajax, it's me."

As if waking up from a trance, the Grimm suddenly dropped back down, claws burying into the soft earth as his canines were once more covered by black lips. His previously menacing red eyes took on a hint of relief as he recognized the human in front of him. Giving a short whine, he trotted over to the raven-haired girl, pressing his head to her chest in greeting, simultaneously apologizing for the attack. Ruby returned the gesture with a rub of his head, letting him know that his apology had been accepted.

"Ajax, what happened? Where's Serena?"

At the question, the beast almost went into a frenzy. Ruby had never before heard him howl in such a sad tune, the sound moving her to the core. Before anything more could be asked, the Grimm grabbed hold of her cloak with his teeth before pulling her along.

"Hey, wai- Hold on!" Ruby could only stumble helplessly as the creature dragged her away from the cave and deeper into the forest. No matter how often she told him to slow down, let go of her cape, he did not listen.

"Wah!" Ruby yelped as she plopped to the ground rear first. Pushing her cloak off her head in order to see something, she glared at the Grimm's back. "What in the Maidens' names…" she mumbled, clambering back to her feet, one hand rubbing at her bruised behind.

Eyes scanning her surroundings, she took note of the scenery. Ajax started sniffing the ground, every so often letting out a whine as his nose scurried the ground for any kind of trace. Making her own way around the clearing, she spotted an arrow sticking out of the ground. Ruby carefully plucked the projectile free, taking note of the faint traces of blood that bordered the sharp edge.

"Blood…" Ajax joined her and she held the object out for him to sniff. The ensuing growl let her know that it was not the blood of her friend. "She must have fought with someone. Let's see… One, two… Three. There were three people."

Ruby carefully scanned the ground, taking note of the numerous tracks and footsteps, as well as signs of a rather harsh fight. There were cracked branches in the trees, patches of grass trampled down, and she carefully followed the trail. It suddenly came to an end, and all Ruby could deduce was that Serena must have been ambushed here. There was almost no disturbance here, and the girl guessed that her friend had been attacked from behind, granting her no time to defend herself.

Ready to leave and inform Professor Ozpin of this dangerous development, she made to head back to Beacon when something caught her eyes. Stopping dead in her tracks, she stooped down and analyzed the letters. They had been carefully carved into the soft earth, and it was a miracle that the wind had not disturbed them.

"WF… Whoever this WF is, they took Serena," Ruby concluded, somber. Standing back up, she went back to Ajax. Laying a calming hand on the Grimm's head, she spoke quietly to the distressed creature. "Listen Ajax. Serena's been captured. I don't know by whom, but I promise that we'll find her and bring her back to you guys. But I need you to do me a favor."

The Grimm pressed his snout to her chin, letting her know that he was all ears.

"I need you guys to stay here. I know how worried you are, but you cannot go to the city. Don't leave this forest until either I come back, or Serena does. We don't want a repeat of what happened a few months ago, do we?"

A low rumble in his throat let her know that he agreed to her terms. Kissing his ears quickly, she left with a wink, heart sinking at this despondent form growing smaller and smaller until it was hidden by trees and brushes.

Team RWBY lazily lounged outside the little ice cream parlor they liked to visit on hot days. Today being one such day, each of the members sat at the blue table, cups of ice cream resting in front of them and absentmindedly picking at the colorful balls.

"Hey, has anyone seen Ruby? She didn't show up for lunch and I can't reach her scroll," Yang asked, looking to the screen of her own scroll for the sixth time in a row.

"I thought she said she'd join us at around two o'clock?" Weiss answered, scooping up another mouthful of the vanilla ice cream. Her eyelids closed in pleasure as the cool treat hit her tastebuds, its iciness sending a pleasant shiver through her body.

"It's almost three o'clock," Blake interjected, casting a glance at the clock that hung across the street on one of the towers that lined the little plaza. Her own tuna and strawberry flavored ice cream was almost entirely gone.

"You don't think that something happened? She was acting strange the past couple weeks," Yang worried, taking a chomp of her own banana and mint combo.

"Aren't you just being a little overprotective, Yang?" Weiss countered. Everyone knew how protective the blonde was of her little sister, so the question wasn't that misplaced.

"I don't know. Maybe… But something's telling me that there's something going on. Can you honestly say that Ruby's been acting normal since then?"

"Then? You mean the attack on Beacon?" Blake questioned.

"Yeah. Ever since then, she's been disappearing a lot. And remember that girl she told us about. What do we know of her? How do we know she's not a threat? What if something happened to Ruby and that girl is at fault?!"

"Whoa, calm down," Blake urged the girl, laying a hand atop hers and motioning for her to sit back down.

"Sorry," Yang apologized sheepishly. "But I'm just so worried. So many things happened in the past, can you honestly blame me."

"I understand your worry, but-"

"There she is!" Weiss suddenly interrupted, jumping up from her own seat, a finger pointing at the quickly disappearing figure of their missing teammate. "Where is she going? I thought she would meet us."

"I say we find out."

Following the blonde's words, the team quickly paid for their snack before rushing off after the hooded girl. Keeping a safe enough distance, they were surprised to see her heading straight for Professor Ozpin's office. Exchanging equally perplexed looks, they stealthily snuck into the ventilation shafts, dropping down atop the elevator just as it opened its doors to let Ruby in. They quietly waited for the machine to reach the top floor, watching Ruby exit before dropping down from the small hatch in the ceiling of the elevator.

"Miss Rose, what a pleasant surprise," Ozpin greeted the student as she entered the grand room, granting the others a chance to hide behind one of the many pillars that surrounded the open space. "What brings you to my office?"

"I'm sorry for the sudden interruption, Professor, but I fear we're in deep trouble."

The girls couldn't see their headmaster, but they imagined that he looked just as perplexed as they felt. Carefully leaning to the side, they spied on the duo, eyes primarily trained on their young team leader.

"What would make you say such a thing, Miss Rose? There have been no alarms going off and the Grimm are nowhere near the city."

"Well, the thing is-"

Before she could launch into an explanation, the professor suddenly held up a hand before looking to the side. "You might as well come out."

Cringing at the way they had been so easily detected, the three girls stepped out from behind their cover.

"Guys? What are you doing here?" Ruby asked, face puzzled.

"What do you mean, what are we doing here? We followed you here because you've been acting bonkers and-"

Yang was interrupted by Blake who laid a hand atop her shoulder. "What she means to say, is that you've been acting odd these past days. We were worried about you, and when we saw you sprinting for Professor Ozpin's office, we got suspicious."

"What are you hiding from us, Ruby?" Weiss demanded, haughty tone in place, ice blue eyes staring down her teammate.

"I'm sorry, but this has nothing to do with you."

They were shocked by Ruby's blunt response. Even Ozpin drew an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic behavior of his student.

"What do you mean, this has nothing to do with us?! We're your team, you can count on us! Or have you forgotten that?" Yang raged, lilac eyes taking on a red hue with the amount of frustration she felt at the younger girl's atypical behavior.

"Now, now, Miss Xiao Long, calm down. I'm sure Miss Rose has a good enough reason for her recent attitude," Ozpin tried to mediate. Turning to the girl in question, he asked, "Perhaps you would be willing to share your concern with us? You know you can speak openly not only in front of your team, but also in front of me."

Ruby seemed to hesitate for a moment before finally giving in with a heavy sigh. "Alright then…" Steeling her resolve, she launched into her tale.

"I fear that Beacon is about to be attacked. Before you ask, I don't know by whom. I haven't been able to figure out who kidnapped her yet."

"Who got kidnapped?" Weiss inquired.

"This might take a while to explain, but do you remember when the attack on Vale happened?"

"Yeah, hard to forget that one," Yang replied sarcastically. "What are you getting on?"

"That day, there was a girl there. She's the one who stopped the attack and kept the Grimm at bay ever since. I told you about her, remember?" A couple of nods allowed her to continue. "Anyway, I periodically visited her and we became friends. She even taught me how to get along with Grimm."

"Whoa, whoa, hold up! Get along with Grimm? As in, tame them?" Yang asked, face full of confusion and disbelief.

"Actually, it's more like getting them to like you, but that's beside the point. Anyway, I usually visit her once every two weeks if I can and we've become good friends. She's the main reason there have been no Grimm incidents for the last months."

"I did wonder about that," Blake muttered to herself.

"Miss Rose, you said we were under the threat of being attacked?" Ozpin interjected, trying to get the girl back on track.

"Right, sorry. Well, when I went to visit her today, she wasn't there. I looked all over, and at first, I thought that maybe she was out hunting or in the city buying supplies. But then Ajax suddenly came charging at me. He seemed pretty shaken up; even attacked me although we've become best buds in these past weeks. But, the thing is, when I asked him where Serena was, he got all crazed and dragged me deeper into the forest."

Ruby took a quick breath, trying to fill her lungs with much needed oxygen after the lengthy explanation, before continuing, "We got to a clearing. There were obvious signs of a fight there. I can only assume that Serena was ambushed and forced to fight. She doesn't like fighting, but these guys were obviously after her. I followed the tracks, but they came to an end pretty soon… I fear that she's been abducted by whomever she was fighting," she finished with worry shining brightly in her silver eyes.

"Did you find any leads? Any clues as to whom might have been the attacker?" Ozpin inquired, mind on full alert with the news he's just received.

"None. But there were two letters drawn into the ground. W and F. I don't know what it stands for-"

"White Fang." All eyes switched to Blake. "WF is the insignia of the White Fang. They are the ones who kidnapped her. And it would make sense. If this girl really can tame, for a lack of a better word, the Grimm, then Desde would be all over it."

"Desde?" Weiss' voice had turned rather meek and her eyes now held the same amount of worry that the others' did.

"The new leader of the White Fang. He took over when the old leader died and has revolutionized the organisation completely. He's the main reason I left; his plan was to subjugate all of human kind to the Faunus, and he wouldn't stop at anything. If he has her…"

"We are at severe risk of his plan coming true. If this girl really possesses the power that you say she does, Miss Rose, then we would be no challenge for him," Ozpin concluded before heading for his desk, pushing a button. In a matter of seconds, Glynda Goodwitch entered the room.

"Glynda, I need you to set the entire school on red alert. All teachers are to ready themselves for combat. The students that feel confident enough in their abilities are to get ready, as well. Those that do not are to help evacuate the city and remain with the citizens. Inform General Ironwood of the situation," he ordered.

"Sir, General Ironwood won't be able to render assistance. He has yet to finish rebuilding the base that was attacked two months ago, and won't be able to leave before that is done," Glynda informed her superior.

"We'll have to do this on our own then. As of now, we are on red alert. Begin evacuation immediately."

"Understood," the older woman answered without a beat of hesitation, marching out to relay the orders.

"Sir, does this mean…"

"I'm afraid so. Their first target would be us, as you correctly assumed, Miss Rose. We are the only line of defence Vale has at the moment. If we fall…"

"…Then so does the entire kingdom."

Nodding at the girl, he motioned for the team to get ready as well, dismissing them. Of all the times to launch an attack…

Serena gritted her teeth as she felt the man prodding around in her mind. Rattling the metal binds that kept her in place, she fought to expunge him from her mind.

"Oh, what a tragic death. Drowning in such a pitiable way; a shame you must be to your parents," his voice rumbled as he stood in front of her chair.

"Shut up," Serena growled, anger surging through her body. How dare he talk like that about her parents? About her family!

"You think they miss you? Nonsense. Why would they miss you, a daughter that was nothing but trouble?"

Suddenly, images flitted through her mind, showing her scenes she had no memory of. They showed her fighting with her parents, her sister, showed the disdain they held for her.

It's not real. This isn't real and you know it. He's playing with you! she kept telling herself.

"Do you not see how they hated you. They are happy to be rid of you. One less disappointment they have to face on a daily basis."

"Shut up." She could feel the tears brimming at the corners of her eyes, barely held back by whatever strength she had left. But she could feel that she was nearing her limit. The weeks of torture had broken her down physically, and now he was aiming to destroy her mentally, as well.

"Don't fool yourself; they never loved you! There is no going back to them. There is nothing left for you here but to become my tool! You will bring me victory at any cost. You're alone, so give up already!"

"Shut up!"

But she couldn't fight anymore. She had reached her limit, as long as it had taken, and was finally broken. He had succeeded. There was no fighting spirit left to keep herself strong, sane. His manipulation had done what he had aimed for. She was his.

"Prepare the bullheads. We have a school to destroy and a kingdom to conquer."

"Yes, sir!"

EDITED 19/05/2019

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of its characters. All I do own are my OC and the idea and plot of the non-canon parts of the story.