Dead By Roselight

Chapter 23: Careful Steps

Yang and Eloy were quietly and carefully making their way through the mining area, heading towards the water tower that supposedly held a clue that was left by Ruby. Even though the blonde wanted to get there as fast as she could, it wasn't possible because of all the bear traps laying around. Even with the help of someone who had made their way through this realm before, the journey was a slow one, as they could never anticipate where a trap was hidden. Thanks to this, what should have been a quick trip had turned into a long journey that felt like it took an eternity.

"Geeze, this is taking forever!" Yang hissed out of frustration, doing her best to keep her voice low. "Are we even getting anywhere close to the tower!?"

"Yeah, we should be," Eloy answered quietly. "The water tower isn't all that far from here. We just can't get there all that fast because of the traps."

"This is frustrating as all hell," the blonde grumbled. "Why can't we just put even a bit more speed to this!? It couldn't do any harm!"

"That's because The Trapper's got some good ears on him. He can hear most sounds from far away and get there real fast. It's best for us to stay quiet," the donkey faunus explained. "Besides, even when we've been going around this carefully, you've almost stepped on a trap twice now, remember?"

"...Good point."

After what felt like an eternity to Yang, the two survivors eventually saw the water tower in the distance. It wouldn't take much longer until they had finally reached the location for the clue on Ruby. The brawler had to held back her excitement, as she almost dashed to the tower. Luckily, she had learned just how dangerous that would have been and managed to calm herself down.

As they were making their way to the now visible tower, the two survivors heard a sudden scream from the direction of their destination. Both Yang and Eloy wasted no time in hiding in the nearest bushes, hoping that they would not be detected by the killer.

However, as the duo waited in their hiding spot, they never heard the killer approach from anywhere. The only thing they heard were the cries of whoever had just screamed, which made them wonder what had happened.

Before Eloy could stop his partner, Yang had made her way from the bushes and had started to head towards the direction the cries were coming from. What she found was a teenage girl who had her leg trapped in a bear trap right next to the water tower. The girl was crying in pain and begging anyone who was nearby to come help her, as she struggled to free herself from the trap.

Yang was about to dash to the girl and help her, but a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her. She looked behind her and saw Eloy shake his head with a sad look on his face. The brawler was about to ask why her attempt at rescuing the teenager was denied, but the donkey faunus pointed at the reason. Yang turned to look at what her partner was pointing at and saw The Trapper.

The Trapper was a huge man, easily the biggest the blonde had ever seen in her life. As his clothes, the killer was wearing dark brown overalls with black boots. In his right hand The Trapper was holding a rusty cleaver, and he had several bear traps hanging from a belt around his waist. The killer also had what seemed like metal spikes sticking out from his shoulders.

However, the most horrifying thing about The Trapper was his mask. At first glance, Yang thought it was a white hockey mask, but it turned out to be something that sent chills down her spine. The mask was made from a human skull with the mouth twisted into a wicked grin.

The trapped girl cried, begged and pleaded to the killer, hoping to have her life spared. Her wishes fell upon deaf ears, as The Trapper simply grabbed his newest victim and carried her away to be sacrificed to The Entity.

"Let me guess. That guy was The Trapper?" Yang said.

"Pretty much," Eloy replied. "We should be fine for now, since he got his victim from here. He'll most likely go check out some other area that he has laid a lot of traps on, so this will be our chance to get whatever Ruby left here."

The blonde nodded and the two survivors started to make their way to the water tower. There were still some bear traps laying around, so they still needed to be careful, but they managed to reach their goal without too much trouble.

As soon as they reached the water tower, Yang and Eloy began to look for any type of a clue as to where Ruby might have left a note. After looking around a bit, Yang spotted something bright red out of the corner of her eye. Upon a closer look, she realized that it was a piece of Ruby's cloak that had been tied around one of the water tower's support beams.

When she saw the piece of red cloth, the blonde immediately walked up to it and saw that there was something else attached there as well. The piece of fabric was holding a piece of paper there, which had to be Ruby's note.

Yang wasted no time in taking out the note and opening it. Eloy quickly went up to her to see what his former leader had written.

If you've made it here, I'm assuming that you've followed the message I left in the realm of The Nurse. I feel that I need to be perfectly clear and tell you that what I am doing here is based purely on speculation and instinct, but it's all I've got now. Uncle Qrow once taught me that sometimes it's best to listen to your instincts, even if it doesn't make sense. Sometimes you just have to go with what you feel and that is the only thing I can go with at the moment.

I can't describe in words how grateful I am to the ones who are still following me. After we got separated from the others by The Nurse, I was left with only four of my comrades. At first, I was afraid of how they would react, once I told them about my plan. Luckily for me, they have decided to trust and support me. I will be forever thankful to Jonathan, Zoey, Francis and Louis.

Anyways, the reason I came to this realm specifically was because of one thing this realm has, the mining shafts. When I've been in realms that have areas that go beyond ground level, I've had this strange feeling wash over me. I can't properly describe it, other than saying it felt like a missing part of me was returning.

As soon as I got here, I went to the first mining shaft I found and made my way as deep as I could. Unfortunately, I couldn't go all that deep, because the way had been blocked with boulders. There was no way I was going to even attempt trying to clear the way, as not only I didn't have the strength to move the rocks, but The Trapper would have most likely got me.

However, I did managed to confirm the thing I came to investigate. Once I had gone as deep as I could, I felt that strange feeling again. I concentrated on it and realized that it was the feeling of my Aura coming back. I don't know why, but there is something deep underground that could give me answers regarding this world.

As much as I wish that I had discovered a way out, I doubt that's what it is. When I was in that tunnel, I didn't just feel my Aura coming back, but also something else. I don't know what it was, but I could feel a dark presence come from deep within the ground, which gave me chills. I fear what might lay below ground.

My next stop is going to be the realm of The Huntress. I once had a person traveling with my group that had been sort of researching this world. He explained that he was going to do his best to understand this world, so that others could hopefully have a better chance at surviving here. It's a shame that he lost his life to The Huntress.

If you decide to continue following me, my next note will be inside a small shack that The Huntress uses to smoke meat. The building is much smaller than the cottage the killer lives in and there should be smoke coming out of it. Go there to find my next note.

Ruby Rose, leader of team RWBY in Beacon Academy.

"Well, that certainly sounded... neat, I guess," Eloy said after both he and Yang had read the note from Ruby. "Any idea what she was talking about? I'm not a Huntsman, so I couldn't really understand all the talk about Aura stuff."

"Not really... This whole world taking away your Aura is kind of a new experience for me, so anything related to it is bound to be new to me as well," Yang answered. "I can't help but wonder about what she's trying to do. Ruby has always had a bit of a bad habit of trying her best to be a hero, so I can't help but worry about her."

"Isn't that kind of a good thing about her?" the donkey faunus asked. "I mean, thanks to her acting the way she did, she saved our lives quite a few times and is now trying to find a way out of here. How is that bad?"

"I was mostly referring to that "dark thing" she said she sensed coming from underground," the blonde explained. "I can't help but feel that she may try to go and investigate it for some reason."

"Now why would she do that?"

"I don't know, but-"

The rest of what Yang tried to say was cut off, as she noticed a certain someone standing not too far from them. Eloy turned around to see what his partner was looking at and his face turned pale immediately, as he saw The Trapper looking at them not too far away.

"ELOY, RUN!" Yang yelled and the two survivors immediately began to sprint as fast as they could.

Right as Yang and Eloy began to run, The Trapper went after them right away. The killer was tightly clutching his cleaver, ready to cut down his next prey.

Luckily for the two survivors, they somehow managed to avoid the traps that had been left in the nearby area, allowing them to get away from the water tower unharmed. However, they were far from safe, as The Trapper was quickly gaining on them. Something needed to be done or else they would both become new sacrifices for The Entity.

"Let's split up! That way at least one of us can get away!" Yang yelled to which Eloy nodded. The two of them then ran to different directions, hoping to throw off the killer that was chasing them.

Much to the brawler's horror, The Trapper had decided to go and chase after her. While the killer didn't look like he would be all that fast, The Trapper proved to be quite quick on his feet, as he once again started to get closer and closer to his prey. Seeing how her pursuer was gaining on her, Yang tried to run even faster, but it was no use. Unless a miracle saved her somehow, it was very likely that she was going to end up as a sacrifice.

However, the blonde's miracle did come and save her, and in a way that she couldn't have expected at all. As she was running, Yang made her way to a small area that had some rather tall grass. She wasn't really looking at where she was going, as her mind was occupied with the thought of getting away from the killer as fast as possible. This also meant that she wasn't looking at where she was stepping, which could have been very dangerous for her.

Much to the brawler's surprise and fortune, her feet managed to just miss a bear trap that had been set up in the grass. But while she had been lucky enough to avoid it, her pursuer wasn't. A loud, metallic snapping sound echoed through the air, as The Trapper accidentally stepped into one of his own traps and was forced to free himself from it.

After hearing the sudden snap of a bear trap, Yang gave a quick look behind her and saw what had happened. A wide smile made its way to her face, as she realized that she had possibly just been saved. The blonde used this opportunity to make a mad dash from the killer, disappearing from his view and giving her a chance to hide.

Yang frantically looked for a good place to hide and soon found a small building. She climbed through the open window and hid herself, hoping that The Trapper wouldn't find her. It didn't take long for the killer to come near, still looking for her. The brawler even managed to peek through the window and see The Trapper standing there, looking around for her. The killer walked around for a bit, trying to find some sort of a clue as to where his prey had gone to. Upon not finding anything, he seemed to give up and leave, most likely deciding to look for some other helpless victim.

Once The Trapper had left, Yang let out a breath of relief. It had only been thanks to pure luck that she had managed to escape and she hoped that she wouldn't have to go through it again. Ruby had mentioned that one of the ways to deal with The Trapper was to trick him into walking into one of his own traps, but the blonde was certain it wasn't something one should rely on.

Now that she was safe for the time being, Yang started to get ready to leave, as she still needed to find Eloy and the others. The donkey faunus must have been able to escape safely, since The Trapper had gone after her, leaving her partner alone.

However, just as she was about to leave, Yang noticed something. The building she had entered wasn't just any normal building. In fact, it was the entrance to a mining shaft. The moment she realized this, the brawler remembered what Ruby had said in her note about what she had discovered in one of the mines. With her curiosity getting the best of her, Yang decided to go and see for herself just what her sister had been talking about.

With slow and careful steps the blonde began to descend down the mine shaft. There were a couple of bear traps set up there as well, but they were easy to notice and evade, so they didn't really pose a threat. The real obstacle came in the form of rocks that blocked the tunnel, preventing Yang from going deeper in. The brawler guessed that The Trapper would sometimes try to chase his victims down here in order to corner them. With no way to run, the helpless victim would have to somehow get past the killer, but would most likely get caught in one of the traps.

Seeing how dangerous this area was if The Trapper came down there, Yang was about to leave the tunnel. Just as she was about to turn around and walk away, the blonde felt something strange happening. Instead of leaving, she decided to walk up to the wall of rocks and see what would happen. She put one of her hands against the rocks and stood still. Just like Ruby had said in her note, Yang started to feel her Aura return to her. It was a very slow process that wouldn't put her in her full power anytime soon, but it was such a great feeling that the brawler couldn't help but let a small smile spread over her face.

However, her joy soon disappeared after taking in her Aura for some time, as she began to feel something different. Suddenly, the warm and comforting feel of her Aura turned into something cold and terrifying. Yang could still feel her Aura come back to her, but it was now being accompanied by something much more sinister. Something that honestly scared the blonde.

She didn't know what it was, but there was something down there. Something that was pure evil and should never be released.

Having been completely freaked out by what she had felt, Yang quickly pulled her hand away from the rocks and took a step back. She was relieved when she couldn't feel that dark presence washing over her anymore. It was then that the brawler realized that her whole body was shaking and covered in cold sweat. Whatever she had felt had terrified her down to her very soul.

Seeing as there wasn't anything else she could do, Yang turned around and was about to leave, but there was someone standing before her, blocking the exit.

The Trapper had found her.

Meanwhile, Eloy was walking around the realm of The Trapper, trying his best to find Yang. After he managed to escape from the killer, the donkey faunus had immediately gone back in the hopes of finding his partner. While he knew that The Trapper had gone after the blonde girl, Eloy was not going to simply assume that she had been caught. He knew that if their roles were reversed, Yang would look for him as well. Not to mention, Ruby would have done the same.

As he was making his way around the place, Eloy heard something that immediately made him stop in his tracks. Using his big donkey ears to listen carefully, he managed to pick up the sound again. It was the sound of a footstep.

Not knowing whether it was The Trapper or someone else, Eloy hid behind a large boulder and waited for the person to walk by. After a bit of waiting, a girl with white hair came into view.

"Hey! You there!" the donkey faunus whispered to the girl, getting her attention. "Hi, I'm Eloy. I'm a friend, so no need to worry about me. Who are you?"

"...Weiss Schnee," the girl answered.

Author's notes: In this chapter I'm kind of starting to show my own version of this world. Before anyone says anything, I know that I am not following the actual lore of Dead by Daylight correctly, which I've been doing all throughout the story. This is because I kind of want to make my own version that suits the story I'm writing. There will be more revealed in the later chapters, so I hope you can give it a chance.

Next chapter will have Yang and Weiss reunite. Care to guess if they are going to have problems with each other?

Also, did any of you recognize the names of the people Ruby mentioned in her letter? Jonathan is obviously just an OC I made for this story that appeared at the very beginning, but the other three are actual characters. I had Bill mention them in an earlier chapter, but I forgot to name them until now.

Until next time.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth and Dead by Daylight belongs to Behaviour Interactive.