RWBY: Son of Salem
Mist's POV
We had finally arrived at the next village, Higanbana. I wanted to rip Tyrian's head off his shoulders each time he opened his mouth!
"Hello." he greeted a girl that was cleaning the floors. "We are...looking for someone." he started to laugh as I walked over and leaned against the bar.
Marek's POV
"Another day, another adventure!" Nora yelled.
"What's on the agenda today?" Ruby asked.
"Walking!" Jaune said.
"With a side of...?" Nora asked.
"Walking." Ren said.
I ran a hand down my face as I listened to their conversation.
"Haven is a lot farther away than I thought." Ruby said with a sigh.
"Ruby...how long did you think this journey was going to take?" Pyrrha asked.
"I don't know!" Ruby replied. "I grew up in a small area; I've never been this far away from home."
"Right but...how long?" Jaune asked.
"Maybe like, uh...2 weeks?" Ruby replied.
"What?!" I asked her.
"Okay fine, 3 or something!" Ruby yelled. "Look, whatever."
"What's that?" Pyrrha asked.
I followed her gaze to see another village.
"That's strange." Jaune said, looking back down to the map. "I didn't think we'd be hitting another village for a few days."
"Are those buildings...damaged?" Nora asked as she looked at them.
"We should search for survivors!"
We ran through the entrance gates and started to look around.
We all started to look in different directions as I walked towards the center of the village. A small sign stood in the middle. I pushed the vines out of the way.
"Oniyuri?" I read.
"Never heard of it." Nora said as she joined me.
"Me neither." Jaune added.
"I have." Ren said. "You might think of it as Anima's Mountain Glenn, had it never been completed." he told us. "Years ago, the richest members of Mistral were unhappy with how the kingdom was being run. Frustrated with the council, they pooled their resources together to build their own city. With their own laws. They hoped that one day, it could maybe even become its own kingdom. Many thought that it would be the future." he walked away and stopped at a small stone curb. "I know my parents did."
"What happened?" Ruby asked.
"What always happens." Ren replied.
"Grimm." I said softly.
"Not just any one." Ren said, clenching his fists.
"One?" Ruby asked.
"Let's keep moving." Pyrrha said.
We continued our way through the unfinished village. As we approached the other end, Ren stopped and held out his hand to us.
Ren reached for his weapon as we did the same.
A few moments of silence passed before some guy in a brown trench coat jumped in front of us with a crazed smile, rushing towards Ruby.
Ren attacked, causing the man's attention focus on him as I rushed forward.
I brought my sword down as the man easily dodged the attack, kicking me away and running towards Ruby.
I regained my balance and rushed towards the man, clashing against his wrist blades.
He pushed me away with ease as Jaune swung at him. The man dodged the attack and grabbed Jaune's shield, looking at the boy before jumping on Nora's hammer and leaping towards a building, smashing through the wall.
"We're not looking for a fight!" Jaune yelled.
"Who are you?" Pyrrha asked.
The man fell down and landed in front of us all.
"Who I am matters not to you." he pointed to Ren. "Or you." he pointed to Nora. "Or you." he pointed to Pyrrha. "Or...well you do interest me." he pointed to Jaune. "No, I matter only to you." he pointed to Ruby.
"Me?" Ruby cocked her head in confusion.
The man started to laugh maniacally.
"You-you haven't the slightest clue, do you?" he asked. "Oh, how exciting this must be!"
"What do you want?" Ruby growled.
"Oh, the rose has thorns!" he said. "My little flower, I'm here to whisk you away with me!"
"Well, what if she doesn't want to go with you?" Nora growled, stepping in front of Ruby.
"Well...I'll take her."
"We're not going to let you do that." I growled as I stepped in front of Ruby.
"I don't have to worry about you." he said, pointing at me. "You'll be quite preoccupied."
As he finished that sentence, I felt something slam into my side, pushing me away from everyone else.
"Marek!" Pyrrha yelled before the clash of metal could be heard.
I got to my feet as something slammed into me again, pushing me further from my friends.
I got to my feet and watched as a fireball was sent flying at me.
I ducked under the tiny inferno as someone jumped down in front of me, blocking my way to my friends.
My eyes widened as I noticed her pale skin, red veins, black hair, and red and blue eyes.
I shook my head and readied my weapon. "Who are you?" I growled at the girl.
She smirked as her eyes lit up with black fire.
(I read somewhere that the fire around the maiden's eyes is the same color as their aura, if not, then I apologize)
"You have got to be kidding me!" I growled. "A fucking maiden?!"
"The Fall Maiden...to be exact." the girl replied before throwing a fireball at me.
I rolled to the side and stood up as the girl pulled her sword off her back.
"So, you were in Cinder's last thoughts?" I asked as the girl readied herself.
"Salem taught the girl well." she smirked. "It's a shame she lost to someone as pathetic as you."
"If you know Salem, then you know who I am." I replied. "You don't want to fuck with her son!" I said this for two reasons, a scare tactic and to see if she is who I suspected.
She started to laugh. "You may be the offspring to Salem and Ozpin." she glared into my eyes. "But so am I."
"Thought so." I said softly. "You don't have to listen to her." I continued. "You can live your own life."
"No!" she yelled. "This is personal!"
"Personal?!" I repeated. "How could you have anything against me when I found out you existed literally 5 seconds ago?!"
"Because you were her favorite!" she yelled, rushing me. We locked swords and started pushing against each other's strength.
"She tortured me!" I told her.
"She cared about you!" she yelled.
"She doesn't care about anyone!" I yelled back. "Only herself!"
"Enough!" she yelled, pushing me back.
"You don't have to listen to her." I held my hand out towards her. "Please."
She looked at me then my hand. She slowly reached forward before a fireball formed in her hand, launching towards me and knocking me off my feet.
She swung downwards as I held my sword in front of me, blocking the attack.
"You're a failure!" she growled as she pushed harder against my blade. "I won't be!"
I pushed her back and kicked her leg out from beneath her, knocking her to the ground.
I got to my feet and swung my sword down at her.
She rolled out of the way and launched another fireball at me, knocking me into an unfinished building.
Dust filled the room as another ball of flame rushed towards me.
I ducked under it and jumped up, grabbing a low hanging beam and climbing towards the top.
Once I reached the top, I burst out of the building and slammed into my sister, knocking us both off our feet.
I slowly climbed to my feet as she did the same.
"I won't fail here!" she yelled as she launched a column of flame at me.
I put my hands in front of me as the fire quickly depleted my aura, burning away my hoodie.
The fire stopped and I fell to the ground.
My sister walked up to me and stood above me, smiling. "It's time we end this."
She brought her sword down as I put my hands up, grabbing the blade.
I felt my aura break and smirked as I felt a thick liquid drip down my hands.
I pushed myself to my feet and kicked the girl back.
She kept her balance as my blue eye darkened and my red eye started to glow. The veins on my body started to spread as I stood up and glared at the girl.
My fingernails grew and sharpened, turning into claws as I fell to my knees. Blood trickled down my right eye as I placed my hands on the ground. My teeth sharpened as I held back yells of pain.
The girl launched another column of fire at me as I lept to the side on all fours.
I started dashing back in forth in a zig-zag as I made my way towards her.
As I reached her I swung my right hand, slashing across her chest as I swung my left, slashing her leg.
I jumped over her and slashed her back as I landed.
She jumped back and started to shoot more fireballs at me as I ducked, dodged or blocked them.
She glared at me as she floated into the air, a bunch of lightning bolts striking next to me as I ran in a circle around her.
I rolled to the side as a lightning bolt struck right next to me, sending a few jolts up my right arm.
I jumped at my sister, knocking her out of the air as we rolled across the ground.
We rolled across the ground and slid a few feet away from each other.
I rolled over as a sharp pain rushed up my side. I glanced down to see an open wound on my side, just above my waist.
I winced in pain as I turned to my sister.
She looked at me with pure hatred and a murderous glare.
I tried to stand but fell to one knee, holding my side.
I felt a sharp pain rush up my back as the man in the brown trench coat rushed passed me and knelt down next to the maiden.
He turned to me with a smile as I noticed blood drip from his wrist blades.
"We need to leave, Mist!" he said as he helped her up. "Qrow Branwen is here!"
I tried to stand again as another sharp pain rushed up my back and side. I fell to the ground and fought to stay awake.
"We can kill them, Tyrian!" Mist growled.
"Not with Qrow here!" he told the girl as he dragged her away.
As he turned around I noticed a tail with the tip cut off. I tried to stand again but fell to the ground, clutching my side.
"Marek!" Ruby yelled as she rushed to my side.
"Hey, Ruby." I smirked. "Glad to see you're-"
"Marek?" Ruby shook me as I felt myself slowly fade into unconsciousness. "Marek? Marek!"
End of chapter 22