Hey guys I'm ahead of schedule again so another chapter to celebrate. Also sad news Monty Oum is apparently hospitalized, give him and his family your best wishes and hope for a speedy recovery.
I don't own RWBY it belongs to Roosterteeth.
Red yawned and stretched in a cat-like fashion as she got up from her sleeping bag, blinking as the sun's rays glinted of the metal structures surrounding them. Looking out at the ruins glowing in the morning light she felt a smile spread across her face, she didn't know why but this place just felt right to her. It was like finding a hidden playground as a kid, lots of nice high places to climb and hide in, where she could ambush her prey from above. Red blinked in confusion, 'where did that come from? What prey would I hunt? Grimm maybe?'
Shaking the thoughts from her head she grabbed Crescent Rose and headed outside while the others got ready, flaring her aura once she was out of sight to make sure the area was safe. Keeping her scythe at the ready she pushed the remnants of the front door opened and searched the area for possible threats. Not seeing anything even remotely dangerous nearby she turned back to the door way when her eyes widened and she gripped her weapon tighter. There on the door were five jagged claw marks cut deep into the metal and they certainly weren't there when they went to sleep last night.
Instantly her body was on high alert as she spun around, her eyes peeled for danger when a blur of motion above her caught the reaper's attention. Glancing up she saw the same humanoid figure from before staring down at her. As the staring contest continued Red failed to notice the black outline surrounding her body as her hair and eyes began to change, signalling the involuntary activation of her Earth aura.
"Ruby I know you're impatient but at least wait for us to get out of the building," scolded Yang playfully from inside, snapping Red out of her trance as her aura outline faded.
Quickly returning her attention to the figure above them Red's eyes narrowed and a frown crossed her face, the figure was gone, vanished without a trace.
"Ruby? You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," asked Yang as the rest of team RWBY plus Oobleck emerged from the ruined building.
In response Red just pointed at the door, causing them all to jump back as they stared at the carnage. Oobleck looked extremely worried as he examined the claw marks before getting his thermos out of his bag and turning to face them.
"We're leaving this area immediately. There is no chance that the White Fang are based in this particular area," he informed them as he turned and walked down the streets, caution evident in his every step.
Team RWBY just shared a look before running after him, surprised at the professor's sudden change in attitude. "Hold on Professor, what do you mean 'no chance?' What do those claw marks have to with it?" questioned Weiss.
"They were from a creature that we do not want taking an interest in us Miss Schnee. The staff had hoped that after all these years that it had moved on, it would seem we were wrong," answered Oobleck, his eyes darting from corner to corner.
"But how does that prove the White Fang aren't there?" she continued.
The professor opened his mouth to replay when Red beat him to it, "those were territorial marks Weiss, a warning."
Oobleck gave her a suspicious look before he nodded, "correct Ruby, it is good to see Peter's lessons are still as effective as ever."
"Peter's lessons? Oh right, yeah they're really interesting," she lied with a sheepish grin.
Oobleck's eyes narrowed but thankfully before he could interrogate Red on her new found knowledge Blake interrupted. "But I don't understand, how do territorial markings mean the White Fang aren't there?" she asked, getting nods from Yang and Weiss.
The professor sighed as he came to a stop and turned to face them, "you're misunderstanding me. Those markings don't mean that they were never there, they just mean it is useless to search there because either the White Fang never set up there or they did and aren't a problem anymore."
They were all silent as they digested his words, "is the creature really that dangerous?" said Weiss, a tremor in her voice.
"It managed to sneak up on a party of trained hunters, carve a marking into a metal door and get away without anyone of us knowing. It could have killed us last night, in fact most that cross into their territories die that night," replied Oobleck.
"Then why didn't it?" asked Red.
"I don't know, maybe it had a bigger threat to deal with and simply didn't believe we were worth the effort or…" the professor's voice trailed off as a thoughtful expression crossed his face.
"Or what professor?" replied Red.
He just turned to look her in the eye, "or perhaps something happened last night that made it weary of approaching us."
Red swallowed loudly as Oobleck's eyes bore into her's, 'does he know? No I made sure no one was around when I used it.' She continued squirming under his gaze until Yang walked between them, blocking her from his view.
"So what's the plan then?" she said, snapping them both back to the present.
"We get as far away from here as we can before continuing our search, hopefully we can leave its territory before it comes back for us," he ordered, getting nods from everyone present.
It watched as the newborn and the prey left the building, making sure to keep itself hidden as they walked off. The newborn was arrogant, she dared to try and claim its territory as her own, to claim its favourite hunting grounds. As it watched the party walk off it became confused, why was the newborn walking with the prey? It didn't like confusion, confusion meant unknowns and unknowns could cost it the hunt. Suddenly images began flashing through its head; walking with the prey, laughing with the prey, playing with the prey. It growled as a strange feeling came over it as it stared at the newborn, while it couldn't recognize the feeling any person would know it as envy.
Perhaps the newborn was part of a larger pack that was encroaching on its territory, that's why it had boldly claimed part of its territory. This left only one option, it had to stop the newborn before it alerted the rest of its pack. Following the party it noted that they were heading to where the large number of prey had gathered and were nearing the edge of its territory. This could not be allowed, the newborn would not leave its territory alive.
'Something's not right here,' thought Red as she matched pace with Oobleck, keeping a hand on Crescent Rose. Every single instinct was warning her that something was wrong but no matter how hard she tried Red couldn't spot anything. Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there. Instincts have never been wrong yet, why doubt them now? She frowned but found that she couldn't deny the logic behind that choice.
"Professor, I think we're being watched," she announced, causing the professor to frown.
"Is it the creature?" he asked, not even questioning her judgment.
Red shook her head, "I don't know, I can't tell. It could be the creature or it could be just a random Grimm," she replied.
Oobleck sighed, "we're nearly out of its territory, just keep an eye on it Ruby."
Red nodded and kept trying to spot their hidden observer but to no avail, causing her to growl in frustration. However her growl quickly turned into a coughing fit as Yang rubbed her back and gave Red a concerned look. The reaper just waved it off and her eyes narrowed as they approached the town square. The space was wide open with high buildings all around it that overlooked the square and hid anything from sight. Perfect to ambush prey.
Eyes widening Red rushed towards Oobleck just as the professor walked into the open. Red called out to him as she saw a shadow appear above the professor. Realizing what was about to happen she tried to use her Semblance only for it to cut out, sending the reaper careening into Oobleck and the two skidded across the pavement just as the shadow descended to the ground where he had been moments before.
Red and Oobleck quickly scrambled to their feet and joined the rest of team RWBY as the examined the humanoid figure before them. It was relatively small for a Grimm, reaching just higher than most people. But it was covered in interlocking bone armour, leaving only its joints and the bottom half of its face visible and its large claws and teeth certainly weren't there for show. What sent alarm bells ringing however was the black smoky outline that surrounded it and the familiar red glowing markings that covered the armour and mask.
"No sir, I don't even remember seeing it in the first place. Why? What is it? I mean it looks like a Grimm mask maybe I saw it when I was fighting them or something?" she replied curiously.
"No you definitely didn't seen it while fighting Grimm," stated the teacher with a shake of his head.
"How can you be so sure?" asked a frowning Red.
"Because you'd be dead," answered the teacher coldly.
Running her fingers along her own bandaged arms she flinch, remembering what lay beneath those bandages. The creature ignored the rest of the party and kept its gaze focused solely on Red before giving a low threatening growl as it approached. Red felt her heart beginning to pound faster and her legs trembling as it came closer, letting her see the disturbingly human like bottom half of its face. She had to run, she had to flee, she had to stand her ground! Do not show any weakness!
Instantly Red's pupils narrowed to cat-like slits as she was surrounded in the same smoky black outline as the creature, causing everyone to stare at her as she gave a low animalistic growl. Her eyes began glowing red and her hair grew before turning the same black as her aura, they all watched as her tattoos began glowing visibly under her bandages and started growing up her arm. The humanoid Grimm stopped in its tracks and gave Red a weary look as it released its own beast-like snarl. It's testing me, show it my real strength!
Red felt something building up in gut and rumbling as it made its way up her throat, begging for a release. She took a deep breath and released it, instantly every living thing present heard a loud roar echo across the ruins. The rest of the party just turned to look at Red in shock as she release another bellow, causing the creature to back up slightly. Seeing this Oobleck's eyes widened as he walked forward and leaned towards her ear.
"Ruby call for help," whispered the professor.
Red frowned, how was she supposed to call for help when she couldn't even get her scroll out? Plus what good would it do them? They'd be dead long before reinforcements got here. But it doesn't know that. It wouldn't understand what she was doing though. So do it in a way that it would. Suddenly her brain clicked as she figured out what Oobleck meant. Taking a deep breath she released an inhuman cry, sounding like a cross between a cough and a screech. The humanoid Grimm backed away slightly before glancing around in a panic, obviously now looking for threats. Seeing it was working Red released another call, this one much louder than the previous.
The creature just stared at them, weighing the pros and cons of staying before it gave a long growl of frustration and leapt onto the roof of a nearby building and disappeared. The party was silent as they wearily watched it go and didn't stow their weapons until it was long gone. They all breathed a sigh of relief and turned to congratulate Red when the reaper suddenly felt pain erupting throughout her body.
"Ruby!" cried Yang as she watched her sister collapse to the ground.
They all rushed over to the collapsed reaper, "Yang? Is that you? I can't see very well," asked Red, coughing up blood.
"Yeah it's me Ruby, you're going to be okay," reassured the blonde.
"You're a terrible liar sis," grinned Red and her eyelids closed as drowsiness overwhelmed her.
"We have to get her somewhere safe, quickly!" came Oobleck's faint voice before she dropped into the void of unconsciousness.
The group of hunters had carefully dragged Ruby to a nearby building and immediately Oobleck had waste no time getting out his emergency medical kit. Yang glanced to look at her sister's unconscious form in worry, noting that her hair and tattoos had yet to return to normal, before returning her attention back to Oobleck who was treating Ruby's condition.
"What wrong with her?" she asked as he stood up.
Oobleck's face turned sombre as he walked over to the rest of team RWBY, "she's dying," he concluded sadly.
They all froze and stared at the professor in shock, waiting for him to tell them it was all a joke. But seeing his expression remain unchanged they all felt the cold weight of his words hit home as reality set in. Yang walked up to him and grabbed Oobleck by the collar, her eyes now a fierce red as they bore into his.
"What do you mean dying? She wasn't even injured!" screamed the blonde.
"Yang calm down! You're only putting Ruby in more danger at this rate!" cried Blake, yanking the brawler off him.
Yang sighed and took a deep breath as her eyes returned to their normal lilac colour before she knelt down beside her sister's pale form. "What's wrong with her?" she said, looking up at the professor.
"Her body's haemorrhaging from most of her internal organs and the ones that aren't appear to be malfunctioning, it's like her entire body is going into shut down. I've never seen anything like it before," he informed them, causing all the conscious members of team RWBY to exchange looks of understanding.
"We might know what's causing it," replied Weiss, drawing an amazed look from Oobleck.
"What do you mean Miss Schnee?" asked the professor.
Weiss just shared a look with her teammates who nodded in return before holding her scroll out to him. "A while back we broke into an Earth organization's compound and downloaded everything they knew on Earth aura," she answered, causing Oobleck's eyes to widen.
"While we were there we found out about the dangers of Earth aura. There are five stages of aura development and the more they use it the greater the danger becomes. When we found out we made her promise to never use it again, it appears she didn't listen," concluded the heiress.
"What dangers are you talking about Miss Schnee?" interrogated Oobleck as he grabbed her scroll before flicking through it.
Yang got up from Ruby's body and answered for the heiress, "Earth aura kills its host. At stage four most bodies die from the effects of it by internal bleeding before shutting down entirely."
The professor's eyes narrowed as his brain digested this new information, "stage five is if she survives, isn't it?" he asked in a quiet voice.
The blonde nodded and began sobbing quietly, unable to respond. Seeing this Blake walked forward and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder before turning back to Oobleck.
"Stage five is when she loses her humanity and becomes little more than a violent monster, killing anything that gets in her way. They called this state, Feral," replied the Faunus.
Oobleck was silent as he stared at the scroll in his hand and a frustrated look crossed his face, "and none of you thought to turn this data over to the staff!" he shouted.
The three members of RWBY backed away slightly at his raised voice, realizing that this was the first time they'd ever heard him shout. The professor in question just sighed as he rubbed his temples and returned to skimming through the scroll's data.
The huntresses in training shared a guilty look before Yang spoke up, "we were scared of what you'd do to Ruby if you knew."
"Putting aside your obvious lack of trust in your teachers, all of Beacon's faculty already knew about this 'Feral' situation Yang," he informed them, causing their jaws to drop.
"But we had no idea how it worked, all we assumed was that their aura was very hard to control. If we had known we would have stopped her practise sessions immediately before placing her in a medical facility, however this does explain how she has lived this long," he concluded.
"What are you talking about? She's unconscious and dying at our feet!" exclaimed Yang.
Oobleck glanced up from the scroll, "indeed and it's a miracle she has lasted this long. Tell me do any of you remember her using her aura or Semblance even once since we arrived?" he asked.
They all paused before shaking their heads, "I thought so, what's left of her Remnant aura is trying to heal the damage caused by her Earth one and so isn't able to function normally. That's what's been keeping her alive up to this point, each aura has been counteracting the other" informed the professor.
"Then why isn't it working? Why isn't it healing her?" raged the brawler.
"I don't know," admitted Oobleck with a frown. "But Ruby had been sneaking out to practice using her Earth aura and the Headmaster reported that her Earth aura has been shutting down her Remnant one. It's possible this has been accelerating the damage to the point where her Remnant aura could no longer effectively heal it."
"From there it became a snowball effect, getting worse and worse the more she used it. This would explain her behaviour, tattoos and her inability to use her Semblance," he concluded.
Seeing the team's sad expression Oobleck gave them a reassuring smile, "don't grieve just yet. Once we get this data in for proper analysis we may yet find a way to save her. With this data and our own observations I am sure that we can stop this."
Shutting down Weiss' scroll and placing it in his backpack the professor turned to face the rest of the team, "this mission is being aborted until further notice. I will signal for an emergency pickup and get Ruby to the nearest medical facility."
They all nodded and turned to leave when Yang's eyes widened and she rushed past them to where Ruby had been left, only to find Crescent Rose wrapped in Ruby's red cloak. Yang picked up the cloak wrapped scythe with shaky hands before standing up and rushing to the doorway, unfortunately her sister was long gone.
"What happened? Why'd she leave?" questioned a fearful Yang.
"You don't think she overheard us talking, do you?" replied Weiss, causing them all to flinch.
"This is not good, we have to find her quickly there's no telling how much time she's got left," stated Oobleck as he began rummaging through his pack.
"Ruby? Ruby?!" called the blonde in a panic as she rushed out of the building, only to be grabbed and slapped by Blake.
Rounding on the Faunus with red eyes, she met Blake's own furious gaze. "Yang you need to calm down! Running around like a headless Nevermore won't get us anywhere."
If looks could kill Blake would be dead on the floor from the glare Yang sent her, "if you think I'm just going to sit here and do nothing while Ruby's out there-"
"I didn't say that!" shot back Blake. "We need to think things through before we start searching, she can't have gone far."
"Blake is right we don't have the luxury to lose our heads now Yang. All of you follow me, we are going to save your teammate," ordered Oobleck as his thermos mechshifted into a mace.
Sneak peak at next chapter: Borrowed Time
"You know what Roman? Maybe you're right, maybe that me from the tower is my true nature," Red informed him, causing the crook to turn to look at her.
Roman took a couple of step backwards as she opened her eyes to reveal them glowing a baleful red, "because right now all I can think about, is how I'm going to tear you limb from bloody limb."
You didn't think I had Port mention Mount Glen for nothing did you? Hope you enjoyed the sneak peak at the next chapter. Anyway hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and don't worry the next one is nearly done, it should be up in a couple of days a week at the most.