J. Chadwick
6) RWBY: Remnant
The Sixth Day
The team awakes to an earthquake. It started as a low rumble, no one paid it much attention. It grew in magnitude and got closer. Then without warning, silence….
The ground gives way under them. Each falls a foot into the now rising earth. Ruby has her breath knocked out of her lungs and struggles to breathe. The air is full of shouts and commotion and the roar of a speeding freight train.
"Where did it come from," yells Yang.
"It was chasing us from the canyon," yells an unfamiliar voice. Ruby coughs and coughs then fills her lungs with air.
"Look out!" yells another unknown voice. A body collides with Ruby, knocking her back to the ground. The weight of the person on top of her is intense, like a tractor crashing into her. Ruby tries to push herself up, but can feel the other person's essence push her back down.
"I can't breath," Ruby yells. As her vision turns to black, the weight suddenly lifts. Ruby gets to her feet and yells, "WHAT THE FU-!" She ducks, as a large black tail swings over her head. Sharp claws pierce into the earth and a large pincer crushes a tree. In a moment, Ruby takes in her surroundings and realizes what is going on.
A large Grimm the size of a bus thrashes in front of her. Yang, Weiss, and Blake along with another team of Hunters try to keep the monster away from Ruby.
"Get out of here, we have it distracted," yells one of the other hunters.
Yang turns to help Ruby leave.
"Wait I don't have my spear," Ruby says.
"Forget it, there are more at home, " Yang says.
"What about them?" asks Blake.
"Leave them, they have it handled. If we stayed we would just be getting in their way," says Weiss.
"We can't just leave them," yells Yang.
"That thing is called a deathstalker. We don't have a chance on our own, we need to run, they know that too," says Weiss.
"Are you sure about that?" asks Yang.
"What do you want me to do, I'm trying to keep us alive," says Weiss.
The deathstalker tears a tree from the earth and throws it. Ruby and the team have to dodge and find cover. The other team disappears and the deathstalker chases after them. Yang gets to her feet and starts to chase after them.
"Where are you going?" asks Weiss.
"I am going to go after them. They can't take that thing down on their own," says Yang.
"So what makes you think you will make the difference?"
Yand stops and turns around to face Weiss.
"At least I can try, apparently that is too much to ask of you." Yang turns and runs off. Blake chases after Yang.
"I go will her, make sure she doesn't do anything dumb," says Blake.
"Too late," says Weiss under her breath.
Ruby walks back to where their camp used to be. Several trees are torn apart and the ground is plowed from the sharp legs of the deathstalker. Ruby tries to gather some of the supplies that are now strewn across the forest floor. Under a log, Ruby finds her spear. She retrieves it to find it snapped in half. Ruby holds it in both hands in front of her. It will work, but just barely, she will need to get a new one when they get back to the academy.
"Why would she not listen to me?" asks Weiss. Ruby turns around to find Weiss kicking a small stone around the camp.
"That is who Yang is. Once she makes a choice she goes," says Ruby.
"She's gonna get herself killed."
"That doesn't stop her," Ruby says, still able to remember the week she spent in the hospital recovering from the bullet wounds.
"Does she has a death wish?" asks Weiss.
"No, she is an extremely caring person, but it comes at a cost. For her, standing still is more painful that getting hurt. It's what makes her, Yang, but also is her greatest weakness, because she doesn't think. She just feels," says Ruby.
"You seem to know her pretty well?" says Weiss.
"You aren't the only one that gets mad at her."
Ruby finishes cleaning up the camp and gathers what supplies she could. She starts walking in the direction Yang ran towards.
"Hey, Weiss?"
"Ya?"
"Do you think we have a chance against that deathstalker?" asks Ruby.
"No."
"Then neither do they, they need our help."
Weiss follows behind Ruby, and picks up a pack of supplies.
"I hope you know what you are doing," says Weiss.
"I'm going towards the fire." Ruby touches Weiss's shoulder and remembers the Hunters Brand. "Family, Honor, Sacrifice." The two walk through the forest following the trail of destruction. Being a hunter isn't just death, Ruby thought to herself.
Ruby and Weiss walk for several hours. They follow a trail of destruction that look like the movements of the deathstalker. No fighting. Ruby was relieved, but was beginning to feel anxious.
"I don't think they can keep this up for much longer. Even with essance your stamina only lasts so long, they can't keep running" says Weiss.
"What do you think we should do?" asks Ruby.
"I think they are tired, if they were smart they would try to find high ground. It's easier to defend from."
"Should we just follow the trail, eventually it will just lead us to them?"
"Eventually, might not be soon enough. They could be dead by the time we follow every twist and turn."
Ruby folds her arms and thinks. She looks at the trail in front of them and the trail behind them. There seems to be no discernible pattern. Following the trail might lead them to the group, but they might be too late. But walking in a random direction could be just as fatal to the other hunters. Ruby sighs, "this is ridiculous, how are we going to find them in time?"
"There is a technique that we can try," says Weiss. Ruby turns around.
"Really? What is it?"
"It's something that I heard about but haven't really tried. You can use essence to find other hunters," says Weiss.
"Well that sounds super useful, at least right now. Why didn't you mention it before?" asks Ruby.
"Because I am not good at, and it sounds silly," says Weiss.
"I don't care, how do you do it?"
"We have to hold hands first," says Weiss. Ruby walks over to Weiss and holds out her hands.
"Ok, next step," says Ruby.
"Then I extend my essence out as far as I can and search for the others," says Weiss.
"How will you know you found them?" asks Ruby.
"Their essence will resist mine. Like two magnets." Ruby waits. Weiss extendeds her essence. Ruby feels a force gentle push on her, then slips past her like a strong breeze. Weiss has her eyes closed and winces in pain.
"What's wrong?" asks Ruby.
"I can only go so far before I strain myself." Five minutes past, then twenty. Ruby's hands began to sweat, and she hopes Weiss doesn't notice.
"I think I found them, but," benings Weiss.
"But what?" asks Ruby, her voice with mild concern.
"Someone is missing."
"Where are they?" asks Ruby.
"Towards the mountain, I could only make out the direction, but they aren't moving, so let's hurry," says Wiess.
"Right let's go," says Ruby.
The two of them let go of hands and Ruby wipes hers off on her pants. They start running in the direction of the nearest mountain, leaving the trail of destruction behind them. As they run through the forest, using their essence to propel them forward, Ruby asks.
"Where did you learn about that technique?"
"I found it in a book," says Weiss.
"A survival book? Or something about hunters?" asks Ruby.
"Something like that, it was a romance novel," says Weiss. Her face flushes red.
"Oh, great," sighs Ruby.
Twenty minutes later Ruby and Weiss arrive at the scene of a deathstalker stalking its prey. The remaining hunters hang to the side of a cliff, just inches out of the reach of the deathstalker. Its claws tearing at the rock face, throwing shards of rock to the forest floor.
"Where's Yang?" Ruby asks.
"There, and Blake is with her," says Weiss. Ruby sighs a breath of relief.
"What do we do? We can't fight that thing."
"What if we scare it off, that might give us a chance."
"What scares a deathstalker?" asks Ruby.
"Being overwhelmed," says Weiss. Ruby looks in her direction.
"So what do we do?"
"Something stupid."
Weiss runs from their cover and throws a rock past the deathstalker.
"Hey!" She yells at the top of her lungs. The deathstalker turns to look at the rock.
"When that thing turns we all have to attack it." The deathstalker hears Weiss, and whips around. It blinks, then charges. Weiss brandishes her rapier, and gets a stance to face it.
"Twenty years of dueling, my ass," she mutters under her breath.
"Weiss!" Ruby yells and crashes out of her cover.
The deathstalker tears through the gravel and dirt and in a mighty swipe, reaches out for Weiss. She ducks, and the claw crashes into the cliff wall sending a shower of stone into the air. Weiss stands and in a fluid motion slashes the front leg of the deathstalker off. Ruby bolts forward, the smell of cracked rock fills her claw firmly planted in the wall flings back, smacking Ruby into the forest floor. Even with her essence, the blow knocks the air out of her and sends her head spinning. She tries to breathe, but chokes on her own throat. She tries to swallow, but no air. She breathes through her nose, and her lungs fill with air.
The deathstalker and Weiss dance around each other. Weiss tries to stay out of its reach, but the deathstalker steps forward every chance it gets. Ruby gets to her feet and leaps to the deathstalker with her essence. She jabs her broken spear into the creature's tail with such force she buries her weapon and half her arm into the body of the creature. Warm blood douses Ruby's arm as she tries to frantically pull the weapon from the deathstalker. A second later the monster turns and tries to crush Ruby again. With force Ruby is launched to the side, and rolls across the gravel. It takes her a moment to realise Blake had tackled her.
"Get out of here, you are only gonna get in the way."
Blake brandishes her weapon, a curved blade on a chain. She swings the weapon over her head, then Ruby blinks and she is gonna. She spots Blake swinging from the tail of the grimm, her chain wrapped around its tail. She flicks her wrist and the blade cuts a deep gouge into its tail. A claw reaches up to grab Blake, but she disappears before the danger gets close. Another hunter from the other team steps in and lands on top of the deathstalker, riding it like a bucking bronco.
"Ruby help Yang, she's injured, she can't walk." Blake jumps back into the action, and nearly misses a claw.
Ruby runs over to the cliff side and starts to climb up to help Yang.
"Yang you ok?"
"I fractured my foot, I can't put any weight on it."
"I need to get you out of here," says Ruby.
"How?"
"One second."
Ruby grabs Yang under her legs and lifts her off the ground. She turns to the ledge and jumps to the ground. She hits the ground, but uses her essence, to cushion the fall. Ruby is hit with a sudden wave of nausea and almost loses her breath again.
"Thanks," Yang says.
"Ya no problem."
A yell of pain, the deathstalker pins a hunter from the other team against the cliff with its large claw. Its tail strikes narrowly missing the hunters head, a fatal blow, but a miss. Weiss takes the opening and stabs one of the deathstalkers eyes. A screech not from the world pierces the air, causing everyone to cover their ears. The death stalker squirms and bolts into the forest.
"This is our chance," yells Ruby. She helps Yang limp over to the other two.
"We need to get out of here, I'm not sure how much more I can keep this up. I used up half my essence just avoiding it's attacks," says Weiss.
"My lungs are burning, I can't hardly breathe," Blake pants with her hands on her knees.
"And the others?" ask's Yang.
"Go", a hunter from the other team yells, "We got this, you guys go get help."
"We can't just leave you," yells Yang.
"I would rather we don't all die here, you guys leave, fight another day."
"But-" Yang tries to argue.
"Stop, you are in no shape to fight, we are going," cuts in Weiss.
Blake puts an arm under Yang and she and Ruby carry her into the forest.
"We will send help, try to get out of here before it comes back," yells Ruby.
"Got it," replies the other hunter.
The team runs south. Weiss leads the way, her weapon drawn. She stops every hundred feet and looks behind them.
"I don't hear anything, but we need to keep going."
The head towards a clearing they found the day before. Yang swears the entire way, and tears stream down her face. She isn't hurt, but mad. As the team enters the clearing a transport touches down. A squad of troops with rifles exit and run towards them. They help carry Yang to the transport.
"There was another team in there, we were attacked by a deathstalker," yells Ruby over the sound of the transports engines.
"We know, we were monitoring the situation, we will go get them."
Some of the troopers run off towards the forest while the leader stays with the team.
"Take this transport back to the school, the test is over. Report to the infirmary when you get back, get some rest it's been a long day."
"What about the other team?" yells Yang.
"We will get them, another transport is coming, we will exfil with them."
The team gets into the transport, the bay door lifts from the ground. The engines rev up and the transport leaves the ground. As the back door closes, the trooper leader salutes the team, then runs towards the forest.
The ride home was silent, no one looked at each other.
- 11:31 pm (Infirmary) -
Ruby sits next to Yang as the doctors x-ray her foot. The other two were cleared and went back to the apartment. Yang stared at the ceiling, her eyes unblinking. Ruby couldn't tell what emotion was coursing through her body. Yang was mad, sad, angry, frustrated, she couldn't decide which. Ruby sat, waiting in silence, trying to think of what to say. Her heart hurt. Like a cold gripped her soul, crippling her. Yang was tormenting herself, and Ruby knew she couldn't do anything to help it.
"It wasn't your fault," Ruby says. The words wash over Yang like a wave over the beach.
Blake silently walks into the room and stands next to Ruby with her arms folded.
"Hey Blake," says Ruby.
"Has she said anything," she asks.
"No, not yet."
"She might not talk for a bit. One of the hunters from the team stepped in front of her to block a blow, and it killed him. The hit was so strong it broke Yang's foot. He died in her arms. I have never seen someone so mad."
Ruby was shocked, and without words.
"What about the others, are they ok?"
"Weiss is ok, I told her what happened, she is difficult. She brushed it off like yesterday's news. But the other team came back alive, one with minor injuries like Yang, and another in critical condition, but they should recover. I hope."
Blake pulls up a chair and sits.
"How are you?" asks Blake.
"Im ok, just worried."
"Go get some rest, i'll stay with her. I grew up on the streets so this isn't new to me."
"Ok, thanks."
Ruby stands and places a hand on Yang. Yang turns away, but huffs. Her way of acknowledging her. Ruby leaves and goes back to the apartment.
Ruby walks in to see Weiss with her weapon drawn. She is sparing with the air and yelling.
"Oh, sorry," Weiss says. She shealths her weapon. "How is Yang?"
"She still isn't talking," Ruby says.
Weiss shakes her head. "I just don't get that."
"What?"
"Not talking, if something is bothering her, she should talk about it," Weiss draws her rapier and slashes at the air. She jabs and nearly trips. "Damn it," she whispers.
"Something bothering you?"
"No, just practicing."
"Right," Ruby says under her breath.