Please enjoy, and constructive criticism is appreciated. (I do not own RWBY, but I do own all the OCs except three, Nick and Isabel, which belong to my real life friend, although I did design them; and Shade, who belongs to my online friend The Burning Ruler)
Blood of Grimm: Chapter 11
In Salem's land of darkness, a buzz sounds out in an isolated room. A non-descript White Fang henchman is holding a heavy electrified wire with the casing stripped off a large portion of it. He swings and another buzz sounds as it hits Valke's back. Valke is kneeling on the ground with his shirt pulled up to his shoulders. Salem stands behind the White Fang member watching. Another flick of the wrist and a shock on par with a lightning bolt hits Valke again. Combined with the weight of the wire, it's painful even for Valke, who has a lust for pain.
"This is for failing to secure the objective of the mission, but killing some of the Ghouls, revealing yourself to two people from your previous life. This is a major failure and a breach of conduct." A smile tugs at the corner of Salem's mouth.
Valke remains silent. Another five lashes hit him before Salem stops the White Fang lackey. Freed from Salem's influence, he walks outside. When he exits, a dull thud sounds out from the hallway.
"That was amusing." Salem turns to find Altaea emerging from a hidden passage.
Dismissing the White Fang member, Salem replies: "You really do hate him, don't you?"
"Of course! He's not good for anything but killing with brutal, raw power." Altaea laughs: a beautiful, yet disturbing sound. "once your done with him, I'm going to kill him a second time."
"He would kill you if you tried." Salem replies frowning.
"HAH! As if. He's ,much too sentimental. But all that aside, my mission was a success. Lucas is presumed dead and the data for the Ghouls is destroyed.
Salem sighs. "Good enough." They both exit the room.
Valke stumbles into his room and collapses on the bed. Selyn, who had been in front of the TV sitting in a chair, stands up and gasps. "Valke, are you okay?" She touches his back causing him to groan in pain. She takes his shirt off carefully, revealing his torso.
Valke's back is covered in bruises from the impact of the heavy wire and long, feathery scars from the electricity. His right arm is shiny black from the shoulder down, but still shaped normally. Selyn begins rummaging around in a box next to the door of the room. She returns to Valke's side holding an ointment. She applies this lightly to Valke's back. This initially increases the pain, but soon Valke goes numb as the pain seeps away. He falls asleep quickly, exhausted from the torture and travel. Selyn drags the chair next to the bed and watches him.
Valke wakes up to a dull pain in his back, no longer anywhere near as bad as previously. He turns over and sits up, rolling his shoulders one by one to loosen the muscles. He sees Selyn sitting next to the bed asleep. Smiling, he carefully gets out of the bed and enters the bathroom. In the pitch darkness, he stares at the mirror, seeing his crimson eyes glaring back at him. He turns the shower on and hops in, and begins to wash himself.
Selyn begins wakes up as he finishes. By the time she is conscious enough to notice anything, Valke is dry and dressed in his custom clothes. She looks at him groggily. "Eclipse?" She shakes her head and begins to look alarmed. "Are you okay? Where did those injuries come from?"
She looks about to go on until she's out of breath, so he silences her with a kiss. Hugging her, he breaks the kiss. "And to answer your questions, I'm fine. I just failed the mission for Salem, so she decided to punish me. I killed the… experiments I was supposed to bring back, and I met a few people I knew." He leaves out the part about meeting his father, figuring he wouldn't have to worry about it. Just then, his stomach growls. "I'm starving. How long was I out?"
She checks a watch on the underside of her left wrist. "Almost a day. It's about five in the morning."
"Sounds about right. I need some food, now, before I run out of energy." Holding hands, they walk to the cafeteria-like place.
Isabelle is alone… again. After the fall of Beacon, the city was put on lockdown, so she decided to return to her home in southern Mistral. The area around it is nearly entirely uninhabited though, so she had to walk most of the way. She's in a forest, walking an overgrown path, surrounded by huge trees. About ten minutes later, she begins seeing younger trees, only a few years old. Ahead is a burnt area, with only small saplings growing, and the burnt ruins of a large cabin.
Isabel approaches the burnt house and digs around in the rubble, uncovering a large panel. She heaves it open, revealing a dark tunnel with a ladder going down. She climbs down the ladder.
Inside is a bunker/shelter with three areas: a living area, a large storeroom, and a bathroom. Knowing the bunker by heart, she sets her stuff down and walks over to the light switch. The lights fail to come on when she slips the switch. "Damn generator." She walks over to another side of the room and kicks the generator, instantly causing the lights to go on with a groan from the generator. Inside the shelter is messy. The walls and ceiling are slightly cracked, cobwebs are in the corners, and the metal is coated with a fine layer of rust. "Home sweet home." She sighs and rolls out a sleeping bag.
She has nightmares, both new and old. Her parents, mauled by Grimm amidst an inferno, her sister leading her to the bunker, away from her their brother's screams, Pyrrha dying atop Beacon tower, Valke being overwhelmed by a horde of enemies, and Nick getting run through by a sword.
Isabel awakes with a start, having heard a loud thud. She sees a golden Deathstalker stinger as big as her head crawling toward her from the ladder, where a glimmer of light from the moon shines down. Suddenly, it disappears, dissolving. Something scurries up the ladder as she rushes to the light. Too slow, she misses her protector. Remembering to close the hatch this time, she falls back asleep.
"Confound it, where is that boy?!" A man in an expensive grey suit with white hair appearing to be in his mid-thirties slams his fist on an expensive wooden and marble desk. Outside the window behind is a stunning view. Obviously on the third floor of a building, one can see above the trees, revealing a blinding sunrise as birds fly from tree to tree, and a waterfall is in the distance. The man stands up and storms out of the room. A butler walks up to him. "Get me some wine. I need to do something."
As he walks across the building, one can see that it's an extremely large mansion. There are statues and fine artworks all around, and bodyguards are everywhere. "I told Nick to come back here as soon as possible. He agreed but he hasn't returned yet. I didn't raise him to be defiant! I've given him anything he's ever wanted. I even let him go to that damned school. I knew I shouldn't have let him go. I'm never letting him make choices from now. Once the state of the world goes back to normal, he's going to a business school and learning how to manage the family company." He enters a door made of plain wood. Inside are several men with scars, all dressed in battle gear. He beckons one of them from the back. "Take as many men as you need. Go find Nick and bring him back here. Start at the city of Vale, that's where he last was. And don't you dare fail, or there will be consequences."
The man, who is heavily muscled and has a scarred eye with short black hair, nods. "Yes sir." Nick's father simply turns away and walks back to his study. The mercenary gestures to two others, who stand up. They grab their weapons: one has an assault rifle like the ones used by Atlas, another has a sniper rifle, and the leader grabs an espada y daga weapon set.
A woman in her early thirties with light blue eyes and brown hair walks into the study. "Richard? Where is Nick? He's supposed to be here already, isn't he?" She looks very concerned, in the way only mothers can be. She wears an expensive dress with high quality jewelry.
"I don't know where he is, but I'm having Drender look for him. He was closest to the boy and is also the best tracker out of those mercenaries. Just calm down Portia."
"You're getting drunk aren't you? Whatever. Just don't get distracted from the meeting you have in an hour." She walks out of the room.
Isabel wakes up the next day to an empty stomach. "Wait… I didn't bring any food and there's no stores for miles… Dammit, guess I'll have to set some traps… if I remember how to do it from what Nick showed me." She grabs several lengths of rope from her bags and climbs up the ladder. The sun is high in the sky and the birds are singing.
She walks into the forest and tries to set up a snare at a narrow game trail, but can't seem to get the knots and tension right. "Oh, forget it. I'm not trained to do this. I wish Nick was here. Or somebody who can hunt. Not specifically Nick. Of course not. That would be weird."
"Oh, that's fine. I guess I'll just leave, since it's weird." Isabel turns around in surprise to see Nick hanging upside down from a tree branch. "You called?" His eyes are bright with laughter, and you can see he's grinning despite the mask hiding most of his face.
"Nick! What are you doing here?" Her stomach grumbles. "Wait. First, can you help me set up some snares? I really need to eat."
"Already got it covered." He holds up a rabbit and a small pheasant. "I figured you'd be hungry. I also figured you would have forgotten to bring food." He jumps down from the tree, flipping in midair.
Isabel punches him lightly. "You jerk." A smile is on her face.
Nick just chuckles. "I wasn't wrong. It's not my fault that you're so predictable."
"Excuse me. Have you seen this boy?" The terrified man in who happened to be on shift at the airship docks just shakes his head. "Can you check the security footage or flight records please? We'll wait for as long we need to. Just don't stall." The man scurries away from the three muscular men.
An hour later, a security guard approaches the three men. Drender appears to be sleeping, and the other two are checking their weapons. "Excuse me sirs, I'm afraid I can't disclose private information without some form of identification and legal reason."
Drender snaps his eyes open and stands up, grabbing the guard. "I don't care about legal excuses! I've killed people for less than this! You will give us that information, or we will kill you! Understood?!"
The man nods, so Drender releases him. Fifteen minutes later, the men have boarded an airship heading to Mistral. Drender closes his eyes to actually sleep.
A fire made out of old, dead wood and small, fresher leaves from the bushes and such as tinder. A ring of stones is around it and buried in the dirt next to the fire are two stick impaled in the bird and the rabbit. Both are roasted and more than slightly burnt.
"I can't believe you burnt the food!" Isabel laughs, biting into a leg from the pheasant.
"You distracted me! It's not my fault we both have ADHD! We ended up talking about nonsense for a good half hour or so!" Nick grumbles indignantly. He's eating the organs of the rabbit, which he had cooked by placing a flat rock above the fire.
An hour later, the fire is out and the food eaten, the scraps buried to prevent animals from searching for them. Their inside the bunker and sitting next to each other against the wall. "So… what happened here? Why is that house outside burnt? Was that your old home? I… I want to know more about you. As a friend." Nick actually seems nervous, which is odd, as he's normally confident, to the point of being a jerk on occasion.
"Well, it's a long story, and it's quite sad. But it hasn't bothered me in years…"
It was Isabel's fifth birthday today, and she had the few friends from nearby cabins and houses over to celebrate. The adults are talking, and the children are playing in the forest right next to the house. The food had been eaten, and the presents opened. The sun had sun about fifteen minutes prior, and it the light of the stars is covered by the tall trees. Suddenly, one of the children scream, and everyone, kids and adults, go to investigate.
Isabel is the first to reach it, and is horrified to see a pack of juvenile Beowolves feasting on one of the children. The face is unrecognizable, but the clothes show that is was her best friend. Terrified, she freezes up as one of the Grimm look at her and starts moving toward her, until a shot rings out and takes the Grimm's head clean off. Her father is holding his weapon, a shotgun-axe hybrid, and pumps the gun, loading a new shell. The Grimm look at him as he scoops up Isabel and runs towards the house. "Grimm!" he shouts. "Everyone get to the house!"
Mass terror ensues, and more Grimm, attracted by the sudden fear and horror, begin emerging from the woods. Parents who can fight begin fighting, while children and noncombatant adults flee towards the house. Her father gives her to her sister, who is age thirteen. He turns to fight the Grimm as Isabel is carried away to the house. She can see that there are too many Grimm, and her father starts backing away.
Isabel and her sister are at the entrance to the house when a torch used to light up the lawn is knocked over, setting the house on fire. The wood is old, and it hadn't rained recently, making it great for fire to devour. People rush outside who notice it, but the house collapses in minutes, killing almost half. Suddenly, her brother appears. Age eighteen, he already has his own weapon, and can fight well. "Mom and dad were overwhelmed. There are too many Grimm. We need to get out to the bunker. We'll be safe there. Come on!" He leads them around the house.
In the distance, Isabel can see her parent's corpses, the ribs sticking out where the Grimm ate through their stomachs. Their lifeless eyes seem to stare at her. She shivers involuntarily. "No, no! Mama! Papa! Come back!"
"Quiet!" Her sister whispers. Too late, a large Ursa appears around the corner and roars. Her brother brings up his revolvers and shoots, but the generic weapons don't do much. His breathing heavy, he brings up his revolvers, changing them into electrified knives. He jabs them into the Ursa and pushes his sisters away.
Isabel watches as the Ursa shakes off the electricity and slams her brother to the ground. As she turns the corner, it raises its paw. A second later, her brother screams, a terrifying, pleading yell for help. Her sister reaches the bunker and tells Isabel to start climbing. She does so, and just before her sister is about to start descending, an unknown Grimm pulls her away. She manages to slam the hatch shut before her screams ring out, silenced a few seconds later to be replaced by the sound of tearing flesh.
"Since then I've lived alone, until I moved to the city of Mistral. There, I joined the primary level combat school at age fourteen. Before then I had lived off of canned goods we had stored in here. Looking back on it, it was pretty traumatizing, huh?" She starts crying. "I haven't cried about this in years…"
Nick simply puts one arm around her. "It's okay. You have me, Sara… and probably Valke, I doubt he's dead. He probably just vanished… And team RWBY, and team JNPR, except Pyrrha, and team CFVY. And I would welcome you my family, but my parent's would hate you. They hate everyone. They spoiled me just to keep me quiet and obedient. So I did everything in my power to rebel against them. I hid, skipped classes, and even forced one of the bodyguards to train me in combat and survival."
Isabel leans on Nick's shoulder and he leans his head towards her. She falls asleep a few minutes later. "Speaking of which, I wonder how Drender's doing? Probably bashing the skulls of some gang members or something who threatened father, huh?" Chuckling, Nick falls asleep.
In the city of Mistral, Drender and his two followers step off the airship and go to threaten the security guards for Nick's whereabouts. They set off to find a car rental for the long journey, leaving behind very frightened staff and two bleeding, unconscious guards.
"Drender, what's the plan? How are we going to bring him back, especially if he's with the girl those people are telling us about?"
"We kill the girl, if it's going to be a problem. I now you're cold-blooded enough to do that at least, Cole."
The man with the sniper rifle cackles. "Hear that Donald? We get to kill a little girl! I'm almost trembling with excitement."
"Just be quiet. You're annoying. Besides, I'll probably get to her first, like always. You're really not a great sniper when it comes to speed you know."
"That's because I'm a stalker! I hunt the prey, track them down, then kill them when they least expect it. It's so satisfying!"
"Quiet the both of you. I don't want to listen to either of your psychotic rambling too much on this trip. I want to see if the boy's improved or not."
A few days later, Nick and Isabel manage to set up an electric stove inside the bunker, and find a nearby stream for water. They even manage to start a garden for fruits and vegetables. "This isn't so bad. This food is better than any food the chefs my parents hire could make. And I'm happy to be living a simple life, although not having a computer is hard."
"I'm enjoying this life too. It's nice to spend time with you, despite your arrogance. I-"
"Shh! I hear something." Nick closes his eyes before opening them quickly. "How thick are these walls? And the door?"
"The walls are about three feet thick, the door about half a foot. Why?" The sound of marching feet can be heard overhead. A few seconds later, an explosion knocks the trap door down.
"Run, go hide, and whatever you do, do NOT come out. These men will kill you without hesitation." She seems hesitant, so Nick adds: "It sounds cheesy, but it's me they want. GO!"
No sooner does she hide in the pantry than Drender and Donald drop down the stairs, weapons at the ready. "Hey there little guy. You're coming with us. Where's the girl?" Drender is grinning, his good eye focused on Nick.
"Who? Oh, her. I don't know. She ran off when I appeared. I think I scared her, especially since this was her home. She probably went to some town a few miles away or something. Also, I'm not going without a fight. You've got a sniper outside, right? Signal him off. Then we can fight topside, where we have room."
Chuckling, Drender sends Donald to give the signal to Cole to do just that. "You're just as rebellious as I remember. Let's go." They both climb up the ladder. "Donald, stand down. I can take him, and we want him alive anyways."
"Go ahead and try old man! I'm a lot better now. And I've actually met someone who's killed more than you have. He was probably twice as strong as you."
Drender laughs. "Okay, then come at me!" He draws his weapons, putting the sword behind his back and holding the dagger out in front of him, crouching down slightly.
Nick draws his karambit style knife and holds it out in front of him, bracing his right arm with his left and leaning back, also crouching slightly. Suddenly, his eyesight zooms in on his peripheral vision, where he sees a man shifting around in the trees. "That's the sniper." Shifting back to reality, he holds his knife up to block Drender's sword, pushing it to the side, then puts his knife down to deflect the uppercut with the man's knife. Nick attempts to wrap his arm around Drender's to cut the tendon at the elbow, but is stopped by the long knife, only cutting two thirds of the way up the forearm. Ducking to avoid the overhead circling slash, he is hit by a roundhouse kick following the slash.
"Still have a hard time keeping watch of your surroundings, huh? Some thing never change." Drender proceeds to slice at Nick, but only actually hits him with blunt attacks: pommel strikes, kicks, and similar moves.
Nick recoils from a head-butt to his face as Drender smiles. "Damn it. Looks like I need help. But I can't let Isabel come out. She needs to stay safe. I need to do this alone!" Nick throws a needle at Drender, who catches the needle's string on his knife. Nick shoots his hidden gun but Drender deflects it off his sword and advances in.
"Honestly, I expected better. This killer must not be very good… Or did you have help taking him down?" Drender catches Nick looking at the entrance to the bunker. "Ah! So there is somebody in there!" He's just about to tell Donald to search the bunker when a gunshot rings out.
Nick turns and sees Isabel, a look of surprise on her face. He turns his head to see the sniper grinning, loading another bullet into his rifle by bringing the bolt back. Nick turns back to see Isabel collapse. "NO!"
Yo! It's Valkerix here. Honestly, this chapter wasn't supposed to come out until volume four of RWBY, then I listened to the full version of When it Falls form volume three… I just had to write more. Then it was supposed to come out a week ago. Sorry, but it's not all my fault. My friend who owns Nick and Isabel kept forgetting to make backstories and semblances for them… So I forced her to during a class.
Nick: His original design was an asymmetrical leather vest with a wing pattern on it and a wasp symbol, but my friend wanted a snake. He was originally an experienced survivalist, but then my friend made his family rich… So I drew a lot of inspiration from The House of the Scorpion.
Isabel: She didn't have much of a personality before, but now she's protective of her friends, yet shy.
These two were originally designed as twins… before my friend scrapped that. And then forgot she did that… Yeah, she's bad at that kind of stuff. Also, it took me longer to get her to finish everything I need (I think) than it did for me to make Valke, Sara, Selyn, and Connor combined.
Also, I swear that SAO fic is coming soon. I'm just too lazy to watch the SAO episodes I need.