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Scene 16:
White Washed Lives.
A/n: And I'm back.
This isn't a new Scene
This was Scene 15.
Now it's Scene 16.
Deal with it.
As for music, I'd go back to the Skyfall/What if the Storm Ends? Combo for when the Tornado becomes the primary enemy.
Right now, Fury oh Fury or Beast of America By Nico Vega would be my choice.
But, again, do whatever you want.
Jaune pov
I was running as hard as I could, pushing myself through the fierce winds, struggling to get to Blake before the Death Stalker ended her.
I can't let it take her! I can't let it do it again! I thought, my own desperation driving me beyond the bounds of my fear.
I had already watched this monster kill Pyrrha, I couldn't let it kill Blake. It didn't matter if I had to literally throw myself in the path of its blow, I just couldn't bear to see another person die in front of me.
But I was too slow, and I wasn't going to make it. The howling winds kept pushing me back and holding me down. The Death Stalker was already upon her. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as it loomed over her like death itself.
"BLAKE!" I kept shouting, running my throat ragged as I screamed it over and over again, hoping beyond hope that it would do something.
But my voice was drowned out and stolen by the howling winds. They damped every sound into nothingness, leaving me in a mute world of roaring deafness. But something stood out, something that wasn't just the roaring winds.
It was humming static that sounded in my ears, sounding like it was coming from right next to me. At first, it was a whisper coming from everywhere. But, as it grew in intensity, I noticed it had an origin. An origin that lay to my right.
I slowly turned my eyes over there, glancing in that direction, and found something surprising at its end.
Lilith.
She was standing there, arm outstretched and hand open. Her eyes were closed, and she was murmuring something. With each word, the static grew ever louder, soon surpassing the roaring winds in intensity.
Then, she opened her eyes.
Lilith opened her eyes, and instead of being a hollow silver, now they were a pure, solid, silvery white. There was no white, no iris, and no pupil. Nothing but that disquieting silver white that shook me to my core.
The second she opened her eyes, the entire world grew deathly quiet. No static, no wind, not even a heartbeat, nothing. It's like all sound had been driven from this world, too scared to act.
Then, out of the deadly silence, there was a deafening Snap
Then everything exploded in light.
CRACK!
Just before it did, however, I was treated to an incredible sight.
It was only an instant, a flash, but it would forever be burned into my mind.
A giant crimson bolt of lightning arced down from dark, angry, skies above me. It stuttered its way down, stitching its way through the sky in a jagged pattern. It carved its way down through the air, burning it with its very presence, before it finally ended its journey.
At the Death Stalker's stinger.
The Death Stalker's stinger, raised high into the air, was the target for the massive, blinding, powerful bolt of lightning. The raw power of the sky's wrath poured into the Grimm, surging and burning through its tail, causing some places in its tail to burst open from its power. Several red arcs of lightning shot off from its tail halfway down, shooting to other parts of the scorpion.
It's as if the sky came down to smite the ancient beast, sending power it couldn't hope to handle through its body.
It was beautiful.
But standing so close to such magnificent beauty came with a cost. After the sight, came the blinding, burning light that out shined the sun in both intensity and fury. It burned my eyes, and made my skin tingle with its power and might.
Then, barely an instant later, came the sound. It hit me in a shock wave, rumbling through my body and shaking my being with frightening force. The sheer volume of the sound hurt, if only for an instant.
Unable to stand these things, I flinched violently, instinctively trying to protect myself.
When the light and fury passed, I opened my eyes once more, and lay witness to the scene before me.
The Death Stalker's tail had exploded, and the stump connected to its body was smoldering. There were several large, still smoking, black burn scars all over its alabaster shell. There were several cracks in its armor, as well as a few places were its armor melted. One of its claws looks particularly badly injured, having large cracks, burns, and fractures all over it.
But the Grimm itself had gone dark. Its legs had collapsed under it, and it no longer glowed at all. It lay there, stilled and smoking.
Is it dead? I wondered, looking at its immobile form.
Before I could ponder that any further, I saw a patch of white in the blackened dirt. That's when I remembered someone who had been on the brink of death not two seconds ago.
"Blake!" I shouted again, my voice rough and pained. I could barely hear it over my ringing ears and howling winds.
She lay there, curled up and unmoving in front of the Grimm. Her eyes were closed shut, her skin red, and a burn mark on her arm.
I ran to her, forgetting everything else as I thought one, terrible, pained, thought.
Blake, please don't be dead. Please, God, don't let her be dead.
I ran up, falling down and kneeling on the ground beside her. I grabbed onto her arms, shaking her, trying to rouse her from death. Her skin wasn't just warm, but hot to the touch, but I ignored the pain as I screamed her name.
As I ran my throat ragged shouting at her, I could feel my eyes watering again, already fearing the worst.
Then, she moved.
She stirred, and her eyes cracked open just a bit, giving me a peek of her amber orbs that seemed to shine gold in this light.
She's alive. I thought with relief.
I couldn't help but smile widely as I was hit with this overwhelming relief, to know that something had finally gone right.
"Blake, are you okay?' I asked her, having to yell over the sound of the wind and the ringing in my own ears.
She looked at me blearily, blinking profusely. She said something to me slowly, but I couldn't hear her. She looked dazed, still recovering from the effects of being a few feet from a lightning strike.
I couldn't really blame her, she was much closer than me, and I was still trying to get over the ringing in my ears and the spots in my vision.
I got up, lending a hand down to her to help her up. Shook her head a few times, blinking some more, before she slowly began to take my hand.
Then her eyes shot wide open, and she pulled me down. Not expecting her to do that, I stumbled and fell on top of her. Surprised by this turn of events, I blinked and shook my head, trying to regain my own bearings. I turned to her, a question in my mouth, before I saw the look on her face.
Before I could comprehend it, she turned to me with grit teeth and snarl before pushing me away from her, forcing me to roll to the side over the wet rocks and dirt of Pyrrha's tomb. I looked at her again, bewildered, wondering one thing.
What did I do?
This was answered when a giant, blood stained claw slammed down where I had been laying not a moment ago, cutting off my view of her.
I quickly turned my head back up to see its source, and to my ever increasing horror, the Death Stalker was somehow still alive.
"How the fuck are you still alive?!" I shouted fearfully.
Still, the sound of my voice was almost completely drowned out by ringing in my ears, and the roaring winds. I couldn't even hear the sound of its claw smashing down on the ground right next to me.
It's like the whole world was filled with a loud silence.
Regardless, it was hurt, that was obvious, but somehow it clung to life. Only three of its original ten eyes were alight with hate any more, but that was more than enough to kill the two of us.
The two of us were defenseless, and right in its grasp. We were helpless to its will.
So, as I gazed up into the three, glowing red eyes of my soon-to-be killer, I saw something that threw my heart even further into the pit of despair. There, in the distance, was a funnel cloud. The tornado had almost completely formed. It would only take a handful minutes for it to fully form. In summary:
We were fucked
Completely, utterly, fucked.
If the Death Stalker didn't kill us, then the Tornado would catch us and do the job for it. That said, I didn't really see how we could get out of this.
Well Pyrrha, I guess we'll be joining you after all. I thought slowly beginning to accept that death was inevitable.
No sooner had I thought that, however, than did a few rocks roll down the pile of dirt and stone, and fall on me. Curious despite the situation and my growing despair, I decided to look up at see what caused. I was in no way prepared for the sight that greeted me.
It was a bloody hand, digging its way out of the dirt.
A thousand different thoughts exploded into my mind at once. Ranging from, hopeful to fearful. Most of all I wondered, She's alive?
How could she be? I saw her get pounded into the ground, get turned into little more than a stain in the dirt. The Death Stalker had certainly taken its time making sure she was good and dead, and yet, here she was. Awake and alive.
Pushing a few more stones out of the way, another joined it.
I glanced back to the Death Stalker, only to find it starring at the sight as well. It looked…confused…by this. Not entirely sure how to respond to this.
I saw Blake, looking at the scene with wide eyes and a mouth just slightly opened. Then, seeing another burst of movement out of the corner of my eyes, I turned back to the mound.
And there I saw her, pulling herself out of a hole she had dug in her grave. Her hair had fallen out of the normal ponytail, and instead her dirty, tangled, scarlet locks simply fell from her head.
Her armor and clothes were in tatters, and she was practically naked, her modesty barely intact. Normally, seeing a girl like that would cause me to blush and look away fiercely, and possibly some other, less appropriate things as well, but now?
There was nothing embarrassing or arousing about her appearance.
She was covered from head to toe in a thick, bloody mud that hid her skin from us. She was hunched over, her back arched, and her eyes were closed as she sucked in breath after breath of precious air. Her feet were still in the hole, but I had no doubt that her shoes and greaves had suffered the same fate as her skirt, corset, or bracers.
Then she stood up, stepping out of the hole fully. She stood tall, seeming taller than before, and glared at the Death Stalker.
No, glare doesn't feel like the right word, it feels too…soft.
No, she looked at it with a snarl filled with fury and vengeance. There was no trace of kindness, generosity, of softness in her. She looked at it with a furious, contained, roiling rage that ignored all things.
Her eyes were shadowed by her long hair, but her mouth was pulled into a snarl, exposing her teeth. Teeth she was gritting so hard I could practically feel them grinding together, teeth that looked just a little sharper and more predatory than they should. Her fists were constantly clenching and unclenching, flexing the tight coils of muscle in her hands and arms.
She seemed to…radiate…this dark field of wrath and fury. It was dark, gritty, and filled with rolling fury. This power just rolled off her form, coming off in vague, ghostly whips of obsidian waves.
Then, with a flick of her wrist, something flew into her hand. On closer inspection, it was her javelin which she had dropped when she was first hit by the Death Stalker's claws.
Then, without another word, she lunged at the Grimm. She flew from her former tomb, flying straight toward the Grimm with a snarl of fury and wrath. The Death Stalker retaliated by trying to strike at her with its claw, the more damaged one. A fatal mistake.
In a flash of movement, she threw her javelin arm down, thrusting it toward the claw. Instead of bouncing off its armor, however, like every other attack aimed at them, this one hit right in between the newly formed cracks of it carapace. The spear dug in, and propelled by the force of Pyrrha's wrath, and broke through the chink in its armor.
The spear continued onward, penetrating through the rest of the claw before bursting out the opposite end of the claw. But it didn't stop. It kept going, Pyrrha kept pushing it onward and downward. Eventually she pushed the spear, and the claw it had skewered, deep into the ground, nailing its claw in place.
Fluidly following up, Pyrrha let go of the javelin, and shifted her stance, stepping closer to the Death Stalker's face. As the alabaster scorpion no doubt screeched in agony, she reared back he left hand with an open palm.
Then I saw her left arm become thickly wrapped in bands of her dark aura, bathing it in black. Under the obsidian aura, however, was a disgusting sight. Her skin was writhing and wriggling as something under the surface churned. Then it all pulled back towards the elbow of her arm, building up pressure there.
Then, without another word, she threw her palm forward, slamming it against the head of the pinned scorpion with all the force she could muster. She pushed her entire body into this strike, twisting it and throwing at the alabaster shell. The second her palm touched the "face" of the Death Stalker the bands of dark aura around her arm pulsed, and then-
SPLAT!
The front "face" of the Death stalker exploded in a small fountain of blood, showering the girl in it. The underbelly of the Grimm burst open, dropping its various organs, spilling it all onto the ground beneath it in a small waterfall of gore.
The legs of the Death Stalker quivered as the light in its red eyes began to die. Then, with one last twitch, it fell to the ground dead.
Pyrrha, in response, just stood over its body, starring at it. After a couple seconds, she turned to its claw and pulled her javelin from it in one almighty, if wet, pull. She held it in her right hand, staring at it for a second, looking it over.
Then I saw her raise her left arm, directing my attention to it, and I had to resist the urge to hurl.
Whatever she had done to the Death Stalker had taken its toll on her. Her left arm, up to her elbow, was a mangled mess of twisted flesh. Almost all the skin had been ripped off, exposing the muscles and tendons underneath, twitching in pain. In some places I could even see down to her bones.
Her hand looked even worse. All of her fingers had been bent backward or in odd angles, and they all had been similarly stripped of flesh. Blood constantly dripped from the mangled mess of flesh and bones, before being carried away by the wind.
Despite this, Pyrrha didn't seem to even mind it. She wasn't cradling her arm. Instead she just stared at it, inspecting it.
While she was, I decided to walk up to her, to try and see what I could do to help her, to see if I could comfort her at all. Seeing her again pushed out any and all thoughts of our impending doom by the hands of the sky.
"Pyrrha?" I asked, having to shout, though I no longer had to compete with the ringing in my ears.
The sound of my voice shook her out of her trance. She turned her head towards me, and though it was quick, another strong gust of wind brushed her bloody hair away, giving me a good look at her face. She only glanced at me really, it was only a second. But that's all she needed to stop me dead.
She didn't meet me with soft, kind, caring emerald eyes, nor a smile of recognition or relief. Instead, I was met with something else.
Her face covered in the same dark, dirty, bloody mud as the rest of her body, but that's not what was so unsettling about her, not what was so…frightening.
Instead, it was the cold, dark, unforgiving frown on her face. It held no recognition, it barely held any interest. Like I was interrupting her while she was busy with something. Even worse were her narrowed eyes.
Her cold, dark, and crimson eyes. Not like a fiery scarlet red or anything, no. They were a dark bloody red, so dark that in places they looked black. They didn't rage like a fire, instead they roiled like the ocean.
Yes, that's exactly what they reminded me of, an ocean of blood, tossing and turning, deep, dark, and cold. Unforgiving, and merciless.
And she looked at me with those eyes, with that cold detached look.
I could tell that she wasn't angry at me or anything, just mildly annoyed by my presence. She didn't have that fearsome snarl on her like she did before. That said, given the look she was giving me, I didn't want to take my chances.
I can't say I knew Pyrrha very well, I only actually met her this morning, but for the entire day she had been kind and sweet. She was confident and efficient when fighting Grimm, but was always slightly…shy…when talking with others. Actually, I'm not sure if shy is the right word.
Perhaps…nervous? Inexperienced? I don't know, I couldn't really put my finger on it, but she didn't seem to carry that same confidence when talking to people as she did when slaying Grimm.
Whatever it was, there wasn't even the barest trace of any of that.
Then again, I suppose I can't really blame her. She did get beaten to near death by a Death Stalker. I also supposed that our situation would put anyone in a bad mood. Still, her eyes…
I know they were green before, and yet, I know they're red right now.
Her gaze stopped me in my tracks, making me second guess any decision revolving around approaching her. My position was soon solidified by what she did next.
She looked back away from me, turning towards her hand once again. She stabbed her Javelin deep into the ground, before moving her right hand to her left. Then she grabbed onto one of her twisted fingers and Snapped! It back into position.
She didn't even flinch at the pain.
Instead she just looked it over, making sure it was in the right position, before moving onto the next. It was sickening to look at. Even if Pyrrha didn't mind the pain, I did, and I couldn't stand here watching her do this. It hurt just watching her do it.
"Pyrr-" I began again, trying to convince her to stop, or that she needed medical attention, or something.
It died when she glanced at me again with another frown. She went no further than that, but seeing her bloodstained face giving me a half-hearted glare was more than enough to convince me to stop.
So stop I did, and instead I looked away, unable to bear looking at it any more.
I glanced toward Blake to see what she thought of it. She was looking at Pyrrha warily, her eyes narrowed and her mouth pressed into a firm line. When she caught my eye, she read the look on my face and shook her head, silently telling me to just move on and let her do it.
That's when I remembered Lilith.
Shit! Where is she! Is she okay? I questioned as my eyes shot open in panic.
Looking around frantically, trying to find the red cloaked girl, I finally spotted her to my left. She was on her knees down in the dirt, her face shrouded in shadow, simply hanging there limply.
I ran to her, fearing that she was hurt or injured. She might even be scared, like she was back when she asked me to protect her. So, pushing through he thick winds, I screamed "LILITH!" trying to get her attention.
But she didn't respond, causing my heart to sink.
I kneeled down to her, getting onto her level, and gently grasped her shoulders.
"Lilith!" I shouted again, trying to get her attention.
She stirred slightly, signaling she was alive. I brought a hand up to her chin, raising it up so I could get a good look at her face.
When I did, my heart cracked.
Her face was pale, even more so than before. Blood was steadily streaming from her nose. She was bleeding from her eyes and ears. Her silver eyes were unfocused and distant.
"Lilith!" I said again, my voice cracking in concern
Her head turned slowly toward me, but her eyes seemed to gaze past me somewhat blankly.
"H-hello J-jack? No, I remember, Y-you're…Dean." She managed to stutter out in a slow pained voice, as if she was struggling to talk.
"Dean? I-" I began to say
"Sshh, no, I need to…to tell you…something…important." She began to say before she was wracked by a small coughing fit.
Each hoarse cough flung a spattering of blood onto the ground, staining it red. When she was done, there was a small trickle of blood working its way down the side of her mouth.
"Lilith, you need to just…just calm down, and relax, okay?' I told her, panicking. I had no idea what was happening to her, but even I could tell it wasn't good. It looked like she was falling apart, that she was dying.
"No, no listen." She insisted before hacking up another glob of crimson fluids.
Each time she did I couldn't help but wince at the rough, wet, sound of her coughing, at the sight of her slowly dying.
"J-Dean, there's a-a...thing…further down the…path…" She continued incessantly, her words slow and confused.
"You're not making any sense. Just, stop talking, you need to rest." I insisted, breaking inside at the sight of this.
Of all of them, Lilith had looked like she was the most fine, that she was going to be okay, but now she was falling to pieces. It felt like out of nowhere, she suddenly became the one in danger of dying, and I just wasn't ready for that. I wasn't ready for any of them dying.
Hell, I wasn't ready for any of this. This was hell to me. Everyone was getting hurt and dying around me, and no matter how much I tried I couldn't save them. I was helpless, no matter how hard I tried.
"No, no, it's important, just-just stay to the….left." She insisted, somewhat unsure. She seemed to glance off to the side, considering something with her unfocused gaze, before turning back to me more confident.
"No, I'm sure, just stay left." She responded, her voice growing more hoarse and weak.
"Just stay left for what?" I pleaded, not understanding any of this.
"T-there's a-a-a-" She tried to explain, but ended up stuttering into nothing.
She pulled her hands back, and brought them up to her head, clenching her skull tightly at some unseen pain. She hunched over again in agony and began to moan painfully through grit teeth.
She started to shake violently as more blood started to pour through her teeth, from her eyes, nose, and throat, along with some kind of clear fluid. Her eyes were wide open, and flitting about widely.
Then, her eyes rolled up to the back of her head, and she collapsed into my arms.
"Lilith! LILITH!" I shouted
No no no nonono! She can't be dead! Everyone was fine, we going to make it! This can't be happening! I thought, panicking
But no matter how loud I shouted, she didn't respond. I tried to check for a pulse, for any sign she was okay after that. But I didn't know what I was doing, and I couldn't find anything. She didn't look like she was breathing. She was just lying in my arms, an expression of frozen agony on her face as crimson fluids continued to slowly ooze from her orifices.
"BLAKE!" I shouted with all my might through the storm, turning behind me, seeking her aid in desperation.
Blake turned to me, standing up after looking for something in the dirt. Noting her weapons in her hands, I figured it was them. She had a question on her face as she looked at me with a raised brow. Then she spotted the red cloaked girl in my arms, her eyes shooting open in concern. Without wasting anymore time she ran over to me.
"Jaune! What happened?!" She asked, concern all over her face.
"I-I don't know. She started bleeding from everywhere, saying things about something further down the ravine. Then she started shaking a-and bleeding more and then she just-she just." I frantically said, fear taking hold within me and polluting everything I did.
"Jaune, just calm down, let me take a look." She said, kneeling down to me.
"I-is she dead?" I asked hesitantly, fearing the answer. "She can't be dead."
Blake ignored me, and instead reached down to her neck, and lowered her head down to Lilith's mouth. After a moment of concentration, her concerned frown soften, and she let out a breath.
"Well?" I asked impatiently.
"She has a pulse and she's breathing. Its weak, really weak, but she's alive." She explained, looking back up to me.
I let out a large breath of relief.
Thank god she's alive. She's really alive. We made it. I thought.
Then Blake glanced up again and frowned.
"But we won't be if we don't hurry." She said.
Worried about what await me, I glanced up. To my horror, the funnel cloud had just finished forming, and was now actively tearing the forest apart. In the distance I could see it tearing countless tress from the forest before tossing them into the distance. Worse still, it was moving.
And it was coming toward us.
It didn't look like it was moving fast, but that might have been because it was big and far way.
CRUNCH!
The impact of a dead Ursa, thrown by the cyclone, near us shook that idea from my mind. It hit the ground so hard it splattered slightly, becoming one with the ground. That's all it took to convince me to get the hell out of here.
"I think we should leave. Now." I said, picking up Lilith in my arms, cradling her.
"We won't make it to the evacuation site. It's at least 8 minutes away by foot." She responded darkly.
"We might not have to." I said, recalling what Lilith was saying.
She might have been half out of her mind from…whatever…it was that hit her, but it's not like we have many options.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Before…it happened, Lilith told me there was something further down in the ravine, on the left. She passed out before she could tell me what it was." I told her, looking down at Lilith as I thought of her.
"What makes you think she knows anything?" She asked, raising a brow in skepticism`
"I had already talked with Lilith a bunch yesterday. Apparently she's been staying here, in Beacon, with her aunt for a month or so. She said she's gone into the Emerald forest before. Maybe she knows something about the terrain, some kind of safe spot we can stay in." I explained, rationalizing how she could save us.
Blake thought for a second, before she said, "It's not like we have many other options."
I broke into a small smile, happy that we had a plan now.
"Okay, then we should probably move now. Can you grab my weapons, though? I kinda have my hands full." I asked, shifting Lilith to make my point.
Blake nodded in assent before moving forward towards where they lay. Not wasting time watching her, I shifted Lilith in my arms again until I felt comfortable with her weight in my arms. With that accomplished, I made my way further down the small valley, running through the harsh winds as hard as I could.
Seeing Pyrrha in front of me with her spear and shield enveloped in a black field on her back, digging through the rubble of her former grave, I tried to get her attention.
"Pyrrha! We need to go!" I shouted at her. I didn't know what she was doing, but we didn't have the time to waste standing around.
She glanced up at my with those dark crimson eyes, before standing back up, something bronze now in her undamaged hand. Her left hand looked…better…in a way. It was still devoid of skin, and heavily mangled, but all her fingers were in place and seemed to be moving fine, if stiffly.
She glanced back at the tornado behind me, before looking back toward me silently. Apparently seeing the wisdom in my words, she nodded in assent, before moving. Though I passed her, a quick glance behind me showed me that she was just a few feet behind me. I could also see Blake with my sword and shield quickly gaining ground behind me.
But the tornado loomed dangerously behind her, sending debris flying in every direction as it raged through the forest.
Turning to look back in front of me, I narrowly dodged an incoming tree trunk landing in front of me, stripped of its leaves, limbs, and branches. I couldn't even hear it land, only the tremor it sent through the door.
The storm was raging in my ear even louder than before, howling madly. I could hear the Tornado behind me, slowly gaining ground, as the winds tried harder and harder to carry me off.
Soon, in I could see a divide up ahead. One direction went towards the evac site, heading right. The other, turned left, heading the complete opposite direction.
This must have been what you meant.
Normally, I would have definitely headed right in the possibly foolish hope of arriving at the evac zone.
But Lilith's voice sounded once again in my mind, telling me to go left. So I did.
You had better have been right about this Lilith, or we're all going to die.
So, I ran down the left path, running away from the evacuation zone, and potentially into my death. As I ran harder and harder, trying to push through the rising winds, I could feel my lungs greedily sucking in air, my legs burning from the use.
Lilith was weighing me down, slowing me and making this harder than it would have been without her. That said, I didn't mind the pain. I'd rather feel a burning in my legs than leave her behind.
As I continued to run down the path, I frantically searched left and right, trying to find any sign of what Lilith was telling us about. I tried to find even the tiniest hope of survival, but my hopes were quickly dying.
The tornado kept roaring in my ears, growing ever louder, constantly reminding me of my impending doom. I couldn't find anything that could save us. I was beginning to doubt.
So is this it? Were you wrong Lilith? Are we to die here? I wondered fearfully as despair took hold once more.
I was shaken out of my thoughts by Blake.
"Jaune!" She shouted over the storm, her novice barely audible over the incessant howling.
I turned to her, hoping she found something. I saw her pointing at something to our left.
"Cave!" She shouted, beginning to run toward it.
Following her direction, I saw it. It was a black hole in the grey, stony, wall of the ravine. On the outside were several red and black symbols, though from here I couldn't tell what they meant or said. Nor did I particularly care.
That cave meant shelter, it mean safety, it meant survival.
"Oh Lilith, you brilliant magnificent girl you!" I exclaimed, feeling that glimmer of hope surge back.
Ignoring the increasing pull of the winds, and the deafening howling around me, I ran forward towards the cave. As I approached it, I soon began to have problems breathing. The wind was keeping me from breathing in air. It pulled the air away harder than I could inhale it, making each breath shallower in a time I needed more than ever.
Still, I pushed forward, running towards the cave with all my might. Blake and Pyrrha got there before me, not being encumbered by carrying another person.
As my lungs burned for breath, I could feel my vision begin to dim. I started to feel a sense of weightlessness as I started to lose traction, the wind picking me up. I could see Blake screaming at me, but the roar of the Tornado was too much.
I was so close to safety, to getting out of this alive, but it was too late. I was already in the twister's grasp, and it was pulling me far away.
No No No! Come On! I'm so close! I can do this! Dammit I can do this! I can't let it end now, not when I'm so close! I thought, panic and despair filling my being again as I realized I could do nothing.
The tornado was holding me a few inches above the air. I desperately kicked towards the ground flailing as I continued to lose my breath. The world darkened around me, and I began to lose my strength. I could feel the storm trying to pull Lilith from my grasp, but I tightened my grip.
I curled myself around her. If we were going to be pulled into the twister then the least I could do was try and protect her with my body. I would try to do everything in my power to save her, regardless of how weak I really am.
Then I felt a tingling sensation across my skin. I blinked my eyes open, narrowing them just enough to see what was going on. I was enveloped in the black field, the same one Pyrrha had. Glancing down, I saw her in the cave, enveloped in a similar field with her hand outstretched.
Then she pulled her hand back towards her. An action, by body mirrored. I was pulled through the storm by this field, ripped from the cyclone's grasp, and sent hurtling towards the cave entrance. Closing my eyes once again, curling up around Lilith, I desperately tried to shelter her from the impact.
Not a moment later I collided with the hard, stony, floor inside the cave. The instant I entered, the deafening howling wind relented, leaving my ears and my body.
Then, I hit the ground, and my world went black.
Blake pov
When Jaune got picked up with Lilith in his arms by the twister as it raged just outside the entrance, I felt my heart stop. They was so close, they had almost made it, but now the tornado was going to take them from us.
I considered using my Gambol Shroud's kusarigama form to pull them in somehow, but there was no way I'd be able to in the crazy winds pulling them away. Even worse I'd probably just get pulled in with them. So instead I stood there, looking at them in horror, not knowing what to do.
Then, Jaune and Lilith became enveloped in that black Aura Pyrrha had. It covered the two of them from head to toe, and anchored them in place, keeping the cyclone from pulling them even further away.
I turned my head, looking back at Pyrrha, who was similarly covered in her dark Aura. She had her hand outstretched to them, as if she was reaching out and grabbing them. She had a calm, determined frown on her bloodied face.
Then with one almighty pull, they came hurtling toward us. I stepped out of the way just as they passed by. They soon slammed into the floor, Jaune taking the impact back first, shielding Lilith with his body. Jaune was knocked out on impact, involuntarily uncurling and releasing Lilith from his grasp.
I turned toward Pyrrha, looking at her slightly differently. I wasn't entirely sure what to make of her right now. Ever since she seemed to come back from the dead, she's been different.
Very different.
Whereas before, my instincts would occasionally tell me to beware of her, now they were on constant alert. They were practically screaming at me that she could kill me at any minute. Even stranger was the change in her eye color. The change in demeanor could be easily explained as resulting from the stress of the situation. After all, she did almost die, twice.
But the eye color was something special. They had been emerald green, a very soft and kind emerald green. Now, however, they were a cold and raging dark bloody red. It was like an enhanced version of that look she gave me in the forest, the one of a killer.
Seeing her like this removed all doubt from my mind. Whoever Pyrrha Nikos was, and despite how kind she may appear at times, she was a cold-blooded killer with experience at heart.
So it came to my surprise when she saved Jaune and Lilith. I honestly thought she would have left them to die, given her current demeanor. Perhaps she has some sort of ulterior motive? Lilith is her teammate, and we are a team. Perhaps she sees strategic value in keeping us all alive.
That said, I shouldn't really jump to conclusions. I've only known her for a few hours, and in that time I've seen so many mind-boggling contradictions come from her. I can't really be too sure of anything, other than one, single, absolute fact.
Pyrrha Nikos is dangerous.
But, no matter how dangerous she might be, she is my teammate, and more importantly, she saved them.
"Thank you." I say to her.
She glances in my direction with those cold crimson eyes, just barely inclining her head in acknowledgement, before looking back ahead. She walks forward, grabbing Jaune with her undamaged hand after dropping her bronze headpiece in his lap. She drags him back further into the darkness of the cave.
Seeing her walk into the darkness without hesitation or fear causes me to have another thought.
Is she even human? I considered.
Considering the fact she's walking into near pitch darkness like it's a well-lit room, it's a legitimate question. I can see ahead just fine, but that's thanks to my night-vision granted to me by virtue of my race. If Pyrrha can do the same, perhaps she has night vision herself. While it's not exactly an absolute sign of Faunus heritage, it is a well-known aspect of being a Faunus.
Combined with her teeth I saw earlier when she snarled at the Death Stalker, the idea quickly becomes more legitimate. Her teeth were sharper than a normal human's were. Not exactly at the point where they were rows of razor sharp fangs, but they had a noticeably predatory edge to them.
Most people thought that all Faunus had obvious animal traits. The fact was, most did, but it wasn't unheard of for things to be more...subtle. Sometimes, all that stood out about them was being slightly hairier, or having sharper teeth.
That said, it's not a solid case, just enough to raise my interests.
As she was right now there seemed to be some kind of indistinct primal aspect about her, but I really can't put my finger on it. It's really just one of the many questions I have for her.
Shaking my head, I push these thoughts from my mind. Instead, I pick up Lilith and carry her deeper into the shelter of the cave. I stop near a small underground lake, deep enough into the cave to turn the howling winds into a distant, quiet, dull roar.
Around the lake were some glowing fungus. While I couldn't be sure that they would provide enough light for the two humans, seeing as I could see fine regardless, it was brighter than anywhere else safe.
It seems Pyrrha had the same idea I note, seeing her resting against the wall of the cave, Jaune laying near her side.
Her headpiece hung in her right hand, her javelin was resting on her shoulder and leaning against the wall, and her shield was still on her back. Her eyes were closed, and based on the slow, rhythmic breathing, she was asleep. Considering what she's been through, what we've been through, I couldn't really blame her.
I guess my questions will have to wait
Seeing the futility in pursuing that train of thought any further, I steer away from it.
Instead, I lay Lilith against the wall of the cave. Looking down at her, I can't help but feel bad for the way I've treated her.
Whenever I looked at her, I had to keep myself from shooting her. I don't know what it is, but my instincts constantly kept telling me she was a danger, a threat, an abomination, and a monster.
And yet, right now, they were saying none of that. Right now, she just looked like a prepubescent young girl. One with trails of blood coming from her orifices. She looks so fragile, so delicate. It makes me wonder why I kept seeing her as a threat, when she looks so innocent right now.
It's not like she's done anything to me. Sure, she's given me a few odd looks, but not once has she been openly hostile. Annoyed, yes, but given the circumstances, it's not hard to see why.
Besides, if it wasn't for her, we'd probably all be dead. According to Jaune, she knew this cave was here. If we hadn't taken cover in here, then we would have surely died trying to make out to the evac zone. Plus, there's whatever she did to the Death Stalker.
It looked like she called lightning down on it, but honestly, given the chaos going on at the time, I can't exactly be sure. I'd really have to ask her to be sure. But again, she's not awake.
That said, given her condition, I can't exactly be sure she will wake. I've seen similar injuries on people, bleeding from the ears, nose, eyes, and mouth, and they don't always wake up from it.
Still, the least I can do is clean her up a bit I think, moving toward the lake.
I tear off a scrape of my shirt. Considering the condition it's already in, barely better than rags, I'll have to replace it anyway. I dip it into the lake before walking back over to Lilith. As I slowly wash her face of bloodstains, I notice that when she's not looking at me with those hollow silver eyes, she's kind of…adorable, really.
Had I not just gotten out of a series of near death scenarios, covered in aches, bruises, and cuts, and exhausted, I might have added more to that train of thought. But right now, I was in no way shape or form in the mood for any of that more lighthearted stuff. Sure, a few jokes, jabs, and some wit to ease the tension, but I couldn't truly relax.
Not yet.
After all, what if something lived in here. Given the warnings posted outside, it wasn't a low possibility.
I was torn from these thoughts when I saw a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye. Turning, I saw Jaune slowly getting up and looking around.
Seeing him awake again brought a flood of relief over me. Honestly, I was worried about him. When he hit the ground, he hit it pretty hard. But, all in all he seemed fine.
Since I was done cleaning off Lilith, I decide to walk over to him.
"Blake?" He groggily said, still getting his bearings.
"You're awake, good." I responded, crouching down beside him.
"It'd be pretty bad if you survived a tornado, only to die from the rescue." I remarked
"He he, yeah, that would suck." He chuckled, rubbing his no doubt sore back.
"You okay?" I asked, just double checking.
"Well, considering a tornado almost ate me, yeah, I'd say I'm pretty fucking fine." He responded.
"Can you see okay in here?" I asked, curious.
"Yeah, actually. It's pretty beautiful down here." He commented, looking around in wonder.
It's not hard to see why he would say that. The glowing blue fungus reflected in the pool of water, giving everything a nice, cool atmosphere.
"Here are your weapons." I said as I handed them to him, abruptly changing topics.
"Oh…okay, thanks." He said, turning back to me, widening his eyes a bit in surprise.
"It's no problem." I replied
Then he looked at me quizzically, raising a brow before narrowing his eyes. Then they suddenly shot open in surprise, before he looked down with a grin.
"I am such an idiot." He chuckled, his smile taking a self-deprecating tone.
"I'm not going to deny that." I responded.
"Like, my whole family tells me I'm really dense, and I don't deny it, but it's times like this that I really realize how true it is." He continued, his laughter growing.
It was starting to get infectious, and I couldn't help but grin.
"Times like what?" I ask with a small smile.
"I-I thought…" He tried to say over his laughter.
"I thought your cat ears were a black bow!" He finally forced out before breaking down in laughter.
The second he said that, my blood froze, my eyes shot wide open, and my whole body turned pale.
"What." I whispered, panicking on the inside.
I slowly reached up to touch my bow, and found it gone. My little black bow, my simple disguise, gone.
"Yeah, sorry, this whole time I thought you had a black bow on your head. I didn't realize you were a Faunus." He said, sobering up.
"I feel like such a fucking idiot." He said with one final chuckle.
"I…I did have a black bow." I said in horror, my heart falling into a pit.
I must have lost it during the fight, or in the storm. I realized
And now it's over.
"O-oh." Jaune said, his mood quickly plummeting.
He looked down at the ground, feeling slightly ashamed.
"I'm…sorry you lost your bow. It must have meant a lot to you." He sympathized.
It did, actually. That bow was special, but, as special as it was, it wasn't my major concern.
Now what do I do? I wondered, frozen in panic.
I couldn't hide my heritage from Jaune now. He already knew. Since I didn't have my bow anymore, if any of the others woke up, I couldn't really hide it from them either.
So what do I do now? Do I tell Jaune the truth? The whole truth?
After a moment of consideration, I realized I didn't have to. All he knew was that I was a cat Faunus. He didn't know I was in the White Fang, and he didn't have to. None of them had to.
That's when I realized something else.
Jaune didn't seem to give two shits about me being a Faunus. In fact, he laughed off the confusion, thinking he had just seen things wrong, and that he was at fault for being an idiot.
This might not be as bad as I thought I realized.
"Uh, Blake?" He said, dragging me out of my thoughts.
"Y-yeah?" I responded, trying to regain my composure.
"If you want I can see about patching you up a bit.' He offered, holding up a first aid pack.
I quirked a brow at him
"Where did you get that?" I asked slowly.
"Oh, my mom packed it for me. She thought I might need it. Turns out, surprise! She was right." He answered with another small grin.
"I can do it myself." I said, not wanting to be coddled.
"You sure? Your hands look kind bad." He asked, a concerned frown on his face.
I looked down at my hands to see what he was talking about, and sure enough, they were littered with cuts and even a few burns.
"When did…" I muttered, my eyes widening in surprise.
I honestly hadn't noticed them. Of course, now that I knew they were there, they hurt. A lot.
I grumbled, realizing that he was right now. Trying to treat myself would probably be a long and painful process. My pride might not like it, but it was the most efficient course of action.
"Fine." I relented, scowling.
He seemed to brighten up a bit when I relented, and quickly got to work treating my wounds, starting at my hands.
"This is probably going to hurt a bit, so…" He trailed off as he took out some anti-septic and began to apply it to my wounds.
I winced in pain, but held in any vocal response.
As he continued his work, I decided to ask him some questions.
"So Jaune…you're…okay…with me being a Faunus?" I asked slowly
My question caused him to pop up and give me a strange look.
"Huh?" He asked, his brow raised in confusion
"You seem pretty okay with me being a Faunus." I reiterated.
"Yes…why wouldn't I be?" He responded slowly, not understanding me.
"Well, a lot of people don't like Faunus. I was worried you might be one of them." I explained.
At that he nodded thoughtfully for a second, before a grin sprouted along with a chuckle.
"Well, as Lilith would say, 'most people are idiots.'" He answered cheekily
I couldn't help but give him a small chuckle at that.
"That's certainly an…interesting…viewpoint. One I can certainly agree with." I answered.
After taking a second to wrap some bandages around the burns on my hands, I spoke up again.
"So…does Lilith not care about the Faunus either?" I asked, wonder who I could trust.
He paused, stopping to think about it for a second.
"mmm…I don't think she really cares, no. I remember she showed me this white fang card, asking me what it was about-" He began.
"Wait, a White Fang card?" I interjected, instantly on guard.
"Yeah, she said pulled it off some guy that tried to mug her or something. Anyway, she didn't know much about the White Fang, and was curious about what I knew." He continued.
"And what did you tell her?" I asked growing tense, worried about how his views on them were.
As much as I realized that what the White Fang was doing was wrong, I had still been one of them. More to the point, it would let me know how they may react if they somehow managed to learn about my origins.
"Oh, you know, the basics about them being terrorists and stuff." He said dismissively.
It stung a bit, honestly, to hear him refer to them as terrorists so casually. I knew, logically, he was right, but that didn't make it hurt less.
"Anyway, Lilith's response was something like, 'Oh, so it's just more people killing people'." He finished.
"Wait, what?" I asked, taken off guard by Lilith's apparent dismissal.
"Yeah! That's what I said! I tried to explain there was stuff about race things, and equality and stuff. All she said in response was something like, 'sounds like typical humanity to me.'" He exclaimed.
I stared at him, my eyes wide open. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I had honestly heard such a simplified, detached, or cynical view of the White Fang before. In fact, it seemed that Lilith didn't even seriously distinguish between Faunus and humans, if her "sounds like typical humanity to me" comment is any indication.
I couldn't really be sure, though. Jaune could just be remembering it wrong.
Still it gave me hope that perhaps, blowing this part of my cover wouldn't actually be so bad.
But, they can never know about the White Fang I thought, that fear rising in me again.
I can never let them know about the things I've done.
Ruby pov
After what felt like an eternity asleep, I finally opened my eyes once more. I looked around, realizing I was somewhere much different. There was darkness everywhere, for as far as the eye could see. No, actually.
Not darkness,
Absence.
It was emptiness, darkness so dark it made the darkest night seem little more than shade. Normal, mortal, darkness, is simply the absence of light. A dark closet, or shadowed alley is simply lacking light to allow us to see in it. To call this darkness was to insult it.
It wasn't the absence of light, it was the absence of existence. It was empty, hollow, and hungering. As unforgiving as it was infinite. It consumed everything that dared enter it, and let nothing escape.
It was the Void.
But it wasn't alone.
For behind me, lay the shining, blazing light of creation. I turned, and had to shield my eyes from its majesty. It was a massive sun, so large and so close it took up nearly my entire field of vision. If the Void was the inevitable end, than this was the beginning.
It burned with an eternal intensity, forever defying and fighting against the Void.
It was the forge of existence, it was the spark of life, it was the Light.
And I was right in the middle of it, standing on some, invisible, impossible platform right between two immortal giants, whose existence made mine seem infinitesimal and meaningless. I was in the divide between existences, the space between nothing and everything.
I was in Purgatory.
For some, standing here would be incredibly unsettling. It felt like I was standing on something, and yet, when I looked down, there was nothing but more of that infinite darkness that was the Void. The Void nearly surrounded me with its maddening emptiness, only stopped by the Light, by the massive star I sat in the shadow of.
For some, this would be a foreign and alien experience. It would be terrifying, unnerving, and eye-opening.
For me, it was home.
Every time I closed my eyes I came back to this place. I could never forget it, after all. But this time, I wasn't alone.
He signaled his presence with the loud, clacking sound of his shoes against the immaterial floor. It rang out loudly against the howling darkness. Each step going
Clack
Clack
Clack
As he slowly approached me from behind.
I turned to meet him, and was greeted with a somewhat surprising sight.
It was a man in a dark green suit with glasses, silver hair, a cane in one hand, and a mug of coffee in the other. The tinted glasses hid his eyes, but not his identity. Many people could recognize him on appearance, and he had been known by many names. But I called him by one, a very special one.
"Lucifer." I greeted.
And in response he simply gave me a wide, face-splitting grin.
"My my, what gave me away?"
A/n:
And so, with this Scene, I finish Act I
Fucking finally.
Right, so, in this chap we finally finished up Team ANBL's fight.
And shit went down hard.
So you may be wondering what's up with Pyrrha and Ruby/Lilith?
Well the answer is...
I can't tell you.
Well, I could, but that would be a giant fucking spoiler.
Honestly in the first version of this I planned out, Pyrrha didn't do much. In fact, I'm a little worried about introducing all these things to you this quickly.
That said, they are plot central. I can change when some of this stuff is revealed, but in my story this can totally happen.
So, I could re-write it so it's written better, or delay the reveal of them, but they are part of the story.
At the same time, however, I really like Pyrrha's scene.
I really can't think of too many times where Pyrrha's actually badass or does badass shit in a story. She's often well known as being strong, but rarely do I actually see her do something badass.
That makes me sad.
So, if you came here to read Pyrrha do badass things on occasion while also struggling with sanity, you came to the right place.
Oh, and as for the thing with Blake's bow, that wasn't originally planned. That came about when I had the thought, "Wait...Blake's going through a lot of shit. She got beat up by a giant scorpion, almost tased by lightning, was in a super strong thunderstorm, and almost got eaten by a tornado. The fuck is her bow staying on?"
I figured not even super glue would help her.
So it didn't.
Now it's gone.
Jaune knows the truth...and gives no shits.
I feel like that's a pretty Jaune move.
In any case, as of right now, Team ANBL has passed.
They'll be back in Beacon soon enough, safe-ish and mostly sound.
But again, as of this Scene, the Emerald Forest Arc is over.
You might disagree with me on that, to which I say,
Too bad.
Deal with it.
But up next, the glory of Act II: Monsters.
Enjoy.
