Dark Reflections
The only people who fear death are those with regrets. - Anon.
Optional Music - Liar Mask [Piano Cover] by Tehishter
The sky was particularly cloudy tonight.
By Travis's calculations, they should arrive at one of the entryways for the Sanctuary by nightfall tomorrow. He told her what she needed to know about the underground city. Faunus are still resentful to humans, so unless a human have a vital skill they need, they are not welcome. Even then, those who stay still face discrimination and mockery. Some guy called Wyvern was opposed to humans in the Sanctuary entirely. He would certainly try to stop her from entering, but with Roy backing her there's nothing he could do about it.
That said.. she doesn't understand the leopard faunus's eagerness for her to come with him.
It reminded her of a conversation they had earlier that night.
"What could I do that you want me there so badly?" she asked. The two of them were lying by the campfire, trying to ignore Malcolm's snoring, a routine they shared over the past week of travel. How Travis endured the sound night after night is beyond her.
"You're a Huntress." Travis replied instantly.
"Not anymore."
"You could help teach us how to fight like you."
"You have enough warriors who can do that. Stop lying. Tell me why."
Silence.
"I could ask you why you decided to come with us."
"The cookies, of course."
"Now who's lying?"
He smiled. She didn't push any further. She stood up, brushed off the snow and headed for the nearest pine to sleep.
Now that she's comfortably ensconced in her makeshift hammock, she pondered his question.
Why did she come?
She never cared for the better part of a decade and evidently they don't like her either (Travis is an exception - maybe even Malcolm, if she stopped spiking his water canteen with sour berries). Sure, she missed company and the occasional cookie, but that's not enough of a reason to leave the home she's built for herself for years.
She tossed and turned. She could feel something weigh her down, something compelling her to come south. Closing her eyes, she found what it is.
It's guilt.
She had abandoned the people she swore to protect in their darkest hour. There's no other way to put it - no euphemism is can describe She never regretted ditching the assholes who make up the so called Council of Remnant. In fact, she relished the feeling when she heard the news that their airship were shot down on their way to Atlas. Unlike her teammates, Ruby assumes good in everyone she meets, and is more than willing to give people a second chance. But what they did was unforgivable, even for her.
But even then there were people who needed her, people who deserved her protection. Had she stayed she could have saved thousands of lives. There was no boasting in the thought. She was one of the last Huntsmen who survived the Cataclysm. Atlas wouldn't spare a single combat to help anyone outside their kingdom and whatever forces are left in Vytal are in shambles.
She ran. It was the cold, hard truth.
It would be best if they hated her. The faunus. She hoped they would. Because if they're anything like her companions, she could run away like she always did. She could come back to her cozy little home in the mountains, hunt by day and cry by night. She could let her memories fade, live alone, fight alone…
Die alone.
Yet now, seeing the sleeping forms of the leopard faunus who had saved her miserable life below, her desire to run faded. He believed that she could help, and more than the debt she owed him, it was the debt she owed humanity. She had to redeem herself, and he had given her the opportunity to do so. It's not a chance she'd miss.
Ruby Rose is done with running away.
She awoke with a start.
Through her years as a Huntress she had honed an instinctive sense of Grimm - their beastly smell and how the air becomes colder and drier, as if they were absorbing the life wherever they trod. She felt something akin to that instinct this moment - but it wasn't Grimm.
Glancing down, she realized her companions weren't there.
The camp was a mess. The campfire was dead, pieces of ash and coal scattered everywhere like black spots marring the snow. Their sleeping bags were torn apart, and their supplies ransacked.
Ruby untied her hammock and grabbed Crescent Rose. Standing on a sturdy branch, she scanned the area.
They were far enough south that the trees were green and patches of grass rose above the shallow snow. There were footsteps everywhere - no, paw prints. Faunus?
She jumped fifteen meters to the ground, crashing to a snow bank. Her aura flared, protecting her from the brunt of the damage. Crescent Rose deployed silently, and Ruby surveyed the remains of their campsite. Now that she looked closely, there were darts strewn across the campsite.
She picked on up and inspected it. It was an old casing, something people would use to subdue Grimm years ago. They pack a punch - she's seen professor Port use one on a Boarbatusk and it collapsed within seconds, unconscious. Whoever the intruders were, they wanted to keep things silent.
They didn't notice her sleeping above the trees.
The snow was full of paw marks and footsteps. She'd guess that they came in from the thicket of trees north of the camp and caught Travis and Malcolm off guard. They seem to be capable warriors, but the darts slowed them down enough that they could be subdued. That means they're not dead, and their captors wanted something from them. No, scratch that, Ruby thought. She'd been in enough hostage situations with Roman and Cinder to know that it's never about the hostage - it's about the people close to them.
Roy. They got Travis to get to Roy.
Travis would want her to get away, escape to the mountains and away from the hostilities. But she'd never been one to follow the rules anyway.
She mentally kicked herself for becoming so complacent she didn't notice the small skirmish that took place below. Blake would be ashamed of her detection skills. But no matter.
Crescent Rose collapsed to case size and she tucked it behind her. Cloak whirling in the wind, she leapt to the trees and followed the paw prints on the ground. Leaping from branch to branch, she used controlled bursts of her semblance to catch up to her prey. She grinned in the thrill of the chase, something she had not experienced for years. Whoever they are, it's not their lucky day.
She was a Huntress.
And they are her prey.
"Wake up, cupcake."
Travis woke up with his face slamming to the ground. He groaned in pain.
"There you go. Alive and well."
"Excellent. Go to the next room, someone's got your money."
"Always a pleasure, Wyvern."
Footsteps led away from him. The shadow of a person appeared above.
His eyesight was impaired, blurred and unfocused.
"A little dizzy, Travis? I apologize. The sedative we used was quite powerful, but you're a faunus. We always pull through." The man smiled maliciously.
"Wyvern?" he said. His voice was coarse and hoarse, his throat felt drier than the Vacuon desert.
"Always quick, aren't you? Yes, it's Wyvern. Overseer Wyvern to you."
"Overseer? My brother's overseer, you feathered prick."
Wyvern punched him in the stomach so hard he doubled down, wheezing. He continued as if nothing had happened.
"Ah, yes. Unfortunately, our illustrious leader is taking a vacation. Bad weather all around, but we sorely miss him."
Travis laughed. "He got away didn't he? You really are in incompetent piece of-"
Another sucker punch had him puking blood on the stone floor.
"Watch it, cupcake. We'll find him soon enough..
The door to his cell slammed shut, leaving him alone in the dark.
Ruby hid within the thick of trees, watching the entryway to the Sanctuary.
It was bustling with faunus. They were everywhere, carrying chopped wood, ore, quarries and mining equipment. The entrance is located within a deep valley. She could see the vestiges of a forested ravine, but it seemed that the faunus had cleared the valley of any greenery in a two kilometer radius. The quarry was filled with crates of dust, ammunition and small barricades. Dozens of faunus stood guard along the perimeter.
Getting in won't be easy.
She had spent the better part of the day slipping past faunus patrols, travelling through the shadows and leaping through treetops to avoid detection. Considering that Travis mentioned that the faunus usually wouldn't risk leaving the safety of the Sanctuary, she can assume something is wrong in the city for so many of them to be out here.
Seeing how they carried themselves. Ruby understood how the faunus managed to survive for such a long time. They were armed to the teeth with top notch Atlasian weaponry. The small army before her are equipped to go toe to toe with thousands of Grimm.
But the enemy, it seems, wasn't the black and white monsters this time.
She observed the guards' movements for an hour, unmoving in the trees. Infiltration was Blake's specialty, and the cat faunus had taught her much of her skill set. She established the patrol rotations, armaments and
They were using Reaper rifles, advanced versions of the Atlasian Guards' standard weaponry. Where they found such high grade weapons were beyond her. They are problematic - they are equipped with laser optic scanners, detection devices that constantly fire small beams of lasers that detect even the smallest movements in the area. Not even her semblance could get past that unnoticed.
But she noticed one of the guard's did not have his scanner on. He was a cat faunus, and he looked bored. He scratched his butt nonchalantly and yawned.
A newbie.
Perfect.
She waited until he arrived the furthest edge of the perimeter closest to her. When he turned his back she used a burst of semblance to dash behind him. She struck his head from behind with the blunt edge of Crescent Rose. He dropped like a rock. She used her semblance once more to pull the unconscious body into the thicket of trees she hid behind, right at the edge of the valley. Her eyes darted around, watching for any signs of the patrol. No one seemed to have noticed the missing guard.
Taking a piece of rag from her pockets, she gagged him. It was the cloth she used to clean Crescent Rose and she was loathe to dirty it with some idiot's mouth, but it will have to do. Tying him up to a tree with a spare piece of rope, she stepped back to appraise her handiwork.
She slapped him. Hard.
He woke up, eyes bulging. He immediately started to struggle against the rope, but it held. She slapped him again, harder. His struggling intensified.
"Shush." she whispered, holding her middle finger to her mouth.
"Mmmhmmm MHHEHMMMMM!" he tried to yell.
Ruby punched him in the face with an aura-boosted fist. He crumpled, wheezing.
"This is how it's gonna work." she said. "I ask you questions. You answer them."
"FCKKKK YYYYY." he mumbled through the cloth.
A short slice later and the cat faunus was screaming through the cloth, clutching a bloodied finger. His pinkie was lying on the ground, a short spray of blood spatter tainting the snow.
"And for every time you refuse, I take a finger." she gave him a twisted smile. "Got it?"
Her captive nodded furiously.
"Just so you know, I can cut your head off the moment you think of shouting." she threatened warmly.
"Okay, just don't hurt me. Fuck, I didn't ask for this shit-"
"Shhh.." Ruby whispered, twirling Crescent Rose close enough to his neck to draw blood.
He froze immediately. A wet stain spread in his groin.
"Now you're going to tell me all you know about the Sanctuary. Your weapons, where you got them, how to get inside.. but most of all." she placed her hand on his throat and stared at the faunus with all the fury she had within.
"You're going to tell me where Travis is."
A/N: I have no excuse.
It's the typical author rant about life and getting busy, but hey, what can you do about it?
I think an update schedule should help. Let's see if I could get a chapter done twice a week. That sounds reasonable, right? With all the exams coming up and all the mandatory writing I've been doing, about four thousand words a week should be manageable.
I hope you like it! Oh, and I haven't answered any of your reviews yet so I will do that right now:
xHeliwolfx - thanks! Your review is extremely helpful and motivating. I am relatively new to the world of fanfiction and am pleased that you enjoyed it.
Mistic Shadow - I hope it continues to be interesting.
SilverstormXD - If you want Roman, you can make him a story yourself. Ranting about story trends doesn't help at all.
Peoples - I've had some writer's block recently so I slowed down considerably, but I intend to speed up in time. It takes some time adjusting writing to my daily grind so please be patient. In addition, I don't think my Ruby is super strong. She got her eye gouged out by a Beowulf, after all.
Sharon1234 - Lovely review! I got the idea of this story when I considered how a young and idealistic Ruby would react to losing her teammates and betrayed by those she thought she could trust.
Anonemuss14 - You pointed out an intriguing detail. Now you know that it's not, but who knows.. I'm glad you enjoyed my story so far!
UnkownSoul - thank you! keep reading and more to come!
Reviews are always appreciated! I'll answer them, too!
Have a nice day!
-Deathwhisperer.