Mirror, mirror, on the wall
How far can I push before I fall.
The Cliffside Alter was a silent, sombre memorial to Summer Rose, a fallen star taken from Vytal too early. To those that saw it, and the stark valley beyond the cliffs on which it sat, it was a mournful reminder of the frailty of life.
For Ruby Rose, it was the place she felt closest to her mother. After all, she was the daughter of Summer. Considering her dream, and the events of the past few days, it was only right that she come here to let them go. She fell to her knees in the snow before the stone, and ran a hand against the monument to her mother's life.
"Hi, Mum." It was how she would always start, even before she went to Beacon. "I know, it's been a while since I last came out here. And I miss you so much." The teenager sniffled, trying to avoid the inevitable tears as she spoke. "I've been having dreams. Nightmares. And I'm afraid they're coming real. There's this boy I like, Jaune. A blonde, just like Dad. He…he took a bullet from a teammate to save me. They say it was an accident, but while I was asleep I had this dream, and he wasn't shot by chance. Four of our so-called friends had plotted his death, and shot him in the same place that he was shot in real life, but then again into his heart. And then I killed them." Now the tears started to flow, and as Ruby recounted the moments of her dream to the void of the cliff, the terror caused by her dream-self's actions hit her.
"I cut them to pieces, and I enjoyed it. Avenging him felt good, but the fact that I did it made everyone hate me. Even you." Her tears were a waterfall against her face, and it just wouldn't stop. "I wasn't human any more. I had become a monster. I was a Grimm, with the mask and everything. Then, I woke up in hospital. Yang told me he'd been shot, and I just couldn't cope with the chance my dream was real. I ran until I found him, and there he was. Alive. He was laughing with his girlfriend, and I just ran in there. Oh, and I was naked." Ruby couldn't help herself, and she giggled.
"I guess it's pretty funny to think about now, but it's sooo embarrassing, and I don't know how to face him. He doesn't even know how I feel, and his girlfriend is awesome. I don't want to be in the way of them. And now, coming here to see you, all I can remember is that last night we were together. The night you made Yang promise to protect me." The tears were still streaming down her face, even as Ruby smiled. "It just reminded me how much I miss those times we spent together. You, Yang, and me."
"Well isn't that sweet. Looks like the boss was right, Red really does know the dead one at Suicide Peak." Ruby froze completely still. Four sets of crunching, squelching footsteps behind her, and one of the sickos was laughing. It wasn't Torchwick, or Cardin. The voice was unfamiliar to her, and yet they used the insulting nickname that the criminal had given her.
"You can stand up, kid, and look at us. You aren't old enough for us to bother killing you, and the boss would prefer you alive. Something about you being a perfect example to sacrifice." With a shaky palm, Ruby pushed herself to her feet. As she stood, she made sure one hand was pressed against Crescent Rose, ready for the inevitable fight.
"Don't… don't treat me like a kid. I drink milk." He laughed at her pathetic retort, and she could finally put a face to the obnoxious voice – a dusky-gray haired wolf Faunus, wearing the mask of a White Fang member. He couldn't wear the traditional hood, though, thanks to his ears protruding, even though his thick hair. Nor was he dressed quite the same as his teammates, clad in a tailored black jacket and slacks. There was a sulphurous yellow crack design along the edge of the jacket, and his laugh was a guttural growl from deep within his throat.
"Really? Well, it hasn't done you very much good, short stuff. I've seen taller mice, and bustier men. How old are you, twelve?" One of the silent faunus, seemingly a rat by his hairless tail, licked his lips, and she shuddered.
"I'm seventeen, and you aren't taking me anywhere." As she made that comment, she pulled Crescent Rose from where it hung at her back, and let it shift into its full scythe form. And yet, while his buddies looked uneasy, the wolf simply smirked.
"Really? You have a scythe? It's been a while since I got to face off against a majestic weapon like that." With one hand, he pulled his mask off, and Ruby got the feeling he wasn't quite as weak as she had first thought. His right eye were a molten orange, the left hidden behind an eyepatch. From the top left to the bottom right of his face, directly over his hidden eye, there was the scar from a rather vicious slash. He noticed her eyes, and laughed.
"Oh, you noticed the little cut. That was from a Huntress we trapped six months ago. Vicious little thing. Seemed to think that her skill meant that she could take on four of us at once. She was wrong. But, even with that, she got lucky. Before she was killed, she managed to get her dagger through my guard and cut my face from temple to cheek." As the wolf spoke, he paced. His magma eye watched Ruby with the eyes of a predator.
"Even before I got my esteemed place in the Dusk, I was a killer of man and machine. Back then, they knew me as Crucible. You, shrimp, can call me by my name. You look upon the face of Cain." Ruby wasn't sure what a crucible was, but it was obvious that this man wasn't going to be easy to beat. She spun her scythe, an attempt to prepare. He growled, and gestured to his trio of thugs.
"Take her down." Instantly, the rat-man charged her, his weapons obvious on his fists – knuckledusters, with what looked like needles or razors attached to his knuckles. He never even got close. Just as he reached the edge of Crescent Rose's reach, Ruby flicked the scythe in a forward rising slice, leaving the blade of her scythe to penetrate directly through her assailant's groin. As he whimpered, not quite dead, she continued the swing over her head, taking him with it, and as the blade pointed towards the cliff, she stopped. Inertia carried the body off the end of Crescent Rose, and the rat sailed off the cliff.
A flicker of movement was the first she knew of the next thug. Sword in hand, he charged at the girl. Crescent Rose swung in an arc, and she caught the blade against the steel of her handle. A burst of her Semblance flicked the girl around the fighter, using the blade to guide her path. Her boot slammed into his chin, and he slammed into the ground. Bullets whizzed past the girl. Her silver eyes flew up to see the final Faunus standing closer to the trees, a semi-automatic in each hand. A flash of rose-petals, and she was above him. He rolled to the side, and took a moment to rise. Ruby followed with a two-handed swing with the back of the scythe. The faunus stumbled into his teammate, and it was a perfect shot. She grinned as she hit the trigger. Both bodies launched off the side of the cliff, leaving Cain alone. To Ruby's surprise, he didn't seem bothered at all. Instead, he had a carnivorous grin across his face.
"Well, the boss didn't lie. You really are highly skilled. I haven't looked forward to a fight so much in a long time." Ruby felt the chill, and she could see the bloodlust in his eye and smile. He reached over his left shoulder, and with a single, smooth motion, pulled a broadsword from its sheath. The weapon had the same yellow markings as his jacket painted onto the steel, although in numerous places the marking were tinted orange by old bloodstains. Ruby's inner weapons geek noted the thickness of the centre of the blade, and then she spied the tip had what looked like a hinge embedded in it. He noticed her eyes, and the growling laugh started once again as he spun the large weapon in practiced spirals, passing it from hand to hand. As he did, the edges folded inwards, and within moments he held an antique bolt-action rifle, expertly aimed at her chest.
"I see you have an eye for weapons. I made this sword back before I killed my first man, and that, girl, was before you were even capable of lifting that scythe." The Faunus pressed a button on the stock of the rifle, and it once again unfurled into its sword form. Ruby used that moment to strike. Crescent Rose spun in her hands, and she darted forward. Overhand cut, aimed for his neck, but the wolf dodged it. Right-hand slash, to bisect. He blocked. Suddenly, he was behind her. Her left arm tingled. She peeked. Blood dripped from her arm along a rather deep cut.
"Did I forget to mention my blade's other trait? You have three minutes, Red. After that point, the coating on my blade will render you unconscious." Cain smirked at her. "And then, the Grimm will have you. Pity, I thought you'd be more of a challenge." The petite teen simply frowned. Her left arm hurt. The blood was warm against her skin. She narrowed her eyes, and her Aura rippled into life around the blade of her scythe. Her slices took on a frantic note. The red of her scythe blurred into solid lines around her. Then it stopped. With his sickly yellow aura coating his sword, Cain stopped Crescent Rose with just one hand on the hilt. His left hand reached forward, as if trying to touch the blade. Then the scythe vanished in a burst of petals. Ruby reappeared with her back to the cliff, the scythe behind her. It was clear, she was getting tired. Her arm ached. Her hair was sticky with sweat. But her eyes were determined. She was closer to the forest than he was, but escape was pointless. She wasn't going to let some creep beat her. She pulled the trigger, and the recoil launched her forwards. In mid-air, she twisted. A pinwheel of pain, she spun. She fired again for her momentum and altitude. Cain shifted his left hand back to the hilt of his sword. Then, as Ruby got close, he swung. The collision between sword and scythe crashed, and the girl was thrown from her weapon. She was on her knees at the foot of a tree, and as she watched, Cain approached her scythe. He sheathed his sword, and placed both hands against the blade of Crescent Rose.
Ruby felt her heart break as the scythe's blade started to melt around his fingers. The wolf laughed.
"You should have listened to me, girl. You're not ready to be killed, but I never said I was going to let you keep your scythe." Indeed, either through his Semblance or unseen dust, he was melting the blade of her scythe with his bare hand. Ruby went limp as she collapsed, defeated. He snorted, and released Crescent Rose. The blade was twisted and warped, with pieces missing where he'd melted them to oblivion. Ruby's vision started to gray, and she realized that he was right. She couldn't make it out of this. Cain left her massive weapon where it lay, for all intents and purposes useless. Her vision swam. The last thing she saw was the back of the wolf, his sword slung over his shoulders and a yellow crack-like pattern down his jacket. Then, all there was to see was darkness.
"C'mon, don't do this Ruby!" Her eyes fluttered, and she found herself staring into a pair of black sunglasses and dark hair. Barely visible was two cat ears, but she knew this Faunus.
"N…Noir…" she stammered. Her mouth was dry.
"Don't worry, Ruby. It'll be ok. You've got a friend here." The cat looked at her, and it was clear that he was stressed. "We've got Grimm filling the forest, and I don't think you're in any condition to fight, but I'll figure something out." Everything the girl could see was fuzzy, and she felt like vomiting. Her eyes shifted to Crescent Rose, and felt worse. The edge was misshapen and brutal. Her beloved scythe was twisted and ruined, which described how she felt inside. Noir returned to talking.
"I was distracted by Grimm. One second I look, and you're at the memorial. Then I got harassed by Ursa, and the next thing I knew, you were passed out here, bleeding. Whatever attacked you is gone, and I can't see any tracks. But you're the important thing here." He was already knelt in the snow next to her, but she wasn't expecting him to roll her onto his back. Her vision swam once again, fading into gray for a moment. When she could see again, her arms were around his neck. He held Crescent Rose in its gun form. A set of bandages and belts held her in place against his back, while his swords rested against her sides.
"Don't know how well my arms will hold out without the bandages, but I don't care. I'm going to get you to help." His voice was muffled by the awkward position she was in, but she didn't care. Her strength was gone. Whatever the chemical was Cain had slashed her with, it was strong. She felt movement. Noir was walking, silent once again as he carried her. An hour passed, or a minute. She wasn't sure how time was passing. Noir was talking, but she only heard a few little pieces.
"Blake's coming for us. Trust in her. You'll be getting out of this." There was a shot, and an Ursa roared in pain. "Hell, I can't use my swords or bracers with you on my back, and they're coming from everywhere." Ruby was slowly becoming more aware. She could feel the agony of her arm, and the slight warm trickle still leaking down it over Noir, but he made no comment. Instead, he fired Crescent Rose again. Ruby managed to lift her head far enough to see, and there was a wall of Grimm bursting into the clearing. Part of her wished Noir would leave. Her scythe was ruined, and he was risking his life for her against more beasts than her addled brain could count. But, a new sound burst into her consciousness – a familiar, rhythmic banging, and a voice shouting at the top of its lungs.
"Hey, Ursa! Step away from my baby sister!" In a flaming blur, Yang burst through from behind a rather large bear-like beast. Her fists flew in rapid punches, faster and faster as she shouted out her fury. In a silent blur, Ruby could have sworn she saw four Blake racing around both sides of a King Taijitu, tearing into it with Gambol Shroud, while Sun shredded a group of Beowolves with his gunchucks. It was, to her eyes, the most unexpected and beautiful sight she could have seen. She could feel movement again, and she realized Noir was on his knees.
"Yang! I need a hand here!" Strong hands gripped Ruby's shoulders, and she could feel the pressure of the bandages tying her to her Faunus carrier slip away. A new pressure emerged around her, joined by wordless sobbing, and as she slipped from consciousness, she knew that in her sister's arms, nothing could hurt her.
Maybe everything would be alright after all.
A/N: Finally, some action! Aaand... now it's gone. Ruby really doesn't have the best luck in this fanfic, does she? I mean, first there was the naked-in-front-of-crush thing, then this... what next? What possible torment could she be subjected to next? A vicious tsundere assault from Weiss? (Hmm, tempting.)
Cain was fun to write, and I'm looking forward to the action scenes ahead, now that I've found my combat pacing. (Hint: The RWBY soundtrack is great for writing to, but when looking for epic sword vs. scythe action, try some Coheed & Cambria instrumentals. Or, y'know, something with a heavy beat you can mentally sync your fight to, of which I have plenty)
Hopefully, I'll be able to keep on giving you a chapter every day, but I've got projects starting to pop up. Cosplay costumes to make (specifically, Jaune and Sun, alongside two One Piece characters). Video games. Hunting for a job. (OK, the last one was happening before I started this). So, really, if you're enjoying it, I'll say you might want to follow it - my schedule will most likely get a little bit more irregular from now on.
Next chapter includes: Yang's fury. Noir's history. Weiss's... now THAT would be ruining the surprise. ;D I'll give you a hint, though. Last chapter she appeared in, I dropped a hint. Try to find it, then tell me. If you're right, I'll give you... um... well, I would say cookie but Ruby ate them all.