Unraveling the Knight
The Ghoul just stared down at the corpse of his latest victim with that twisted smirk still on his face. Blake's dead eyes just stared up into the night sky as his Kagune still ran her through. He pulled it free as he pulled the other three tails into his body. He moved the last tail in front of his face again and licked her blood off of it. He wasn't lying before when he told her she had an interesting taste. Although it would be hard to explain how flesh tasted different to people so he'd never actually bothered to try to figure out how. All he knew for sure was that her flavor was way better than CRDL, Watts and Tyrian.
When he had tasted enough of her blood, he pulled the last of his Kagune back into his body. He then looked down at the cat Faunus one more time. His eyes trailed down to her bare legs. He had a contemplating look before he started to speak out loud. "I don't really need to eat. But it would be nice to taste something better than those pieces of shit." He stared for a bit before he shrugged, "Why not? A few bites won't hurt."
He crouched down beside her and took a bite from her exposed thigh. As he chewed, her flavor flooded his mouth but much richer than what he got from just her blood. He swallowed before taking a second and third bite. He was about to take his fourth bite, this time from her other leg but his ears picked up a distant sound. He stopped to focused and quickly realize that it sounded like shotguns. He stood up and turned towards the direction of the sound. He narrowed his eyes and could see familiar flashes of red and yellow. He just smirked and waited a few extra seconds to see Yang Xiao Long flying through the air in her pajamas. She was using Ember Celica to propel herself forwards along with kicking off trees towards him. He just smirked at his luck, "Two in one night? How very convenient."
Yang had woken up around midnight. It was weird because she usually slept like a rock most nights. She sat up and looked around to see that Ruby and Weiss were still asleep. She leant over the side of her bed and saw that Blake was missing. She looked to their en suite bathroom but the door was open and the light was off. That's when she realize that Blake may've gone for a late night walk. She had told them all she did that when she couldn't sleep.
She would've gone back to bed, but with the unknown Grimm running around, it made her worried. She gently hopped off her bed and was about to go out her door but stopped when she saw Ember Celica sitting on her nightstand. After a few seconds, she pulled them over her hands and onto her wrists as a precaution. She then left their dorm room and started looking for her partner.
After several minutes of walking around aimlessly, she realized she had no idea on where to look. That's when she facepalmed. 'I could've just called her.' She thought with a huff. She pulled out her scroll and was about to call her. But she saw that she had an alert and when she selected it, saw that Blake's aura was being lowered.
That made her panic. The only reason for that would be if she was fighting. And there was only one thing she would be fighting. Yang wanted to find her but none of them ever had their GPSs active when they were still at Beacon. That's when she heard a loud racket. She looked up to see a rocket locker flying towards the Emerald Forest. It had to be Blake's, all the fourth-years on patrol had their weapons already on them. Yang took off in a sprint to try to keep up with it.
She reached the cliffs that overlooked the forest and stopped to regain her breath while trying to see where the locker would land, that way she'd have some idea on where Blake would be. She saw it land a good fifty or so yards away from the cliffs. She nodded and took a few steps back as her weapon switched to its active mode. She then ran and jumped off the cliffs while firing off her weapons. She flew a good distance before she fired again. As she neared the trees, she started to kick off them and only firing when she needed the extra speed to conserve some ammo. She soon saw a clearing not much further in front of her and with one last shot from her guns, broke into the clearing.
Yang quickly took in the sight before her. She noticed someone standing in front of her partner but as her eyes settled on Blake, they widened exponentially. Seeing her partner just staring up and not moving made her snapped. Her eyes narrowed and they turned crimson. She then yelled at the top of her lungs as she flew towards the one responsible. As she was about to make contact, he jumped back and cleared a good twelve feet backwards. She landed fist first and shattered the ground below her with ease.
She quickly crouched next to Blake and looked her over. She had a massive hole near her stomach and she had what look like chunks bitten out of her legs. Not to mention all the blood that was under her body. She slowly reached her shaky hand to her neck and gently placed her fingers there to feel her pulse. She waited for what felt like an eternity before she had to accept the reality. She had no pulse. Blake Belladonna was dead.
Tears started to pour from her eyes as she started to shake. She then reached her hand up to gently close her partners eyes. She then pulled her close and held her tight as she shook like crazy. "I'm sorry, Blake. I'm so sorry!" That's when she gave out a heartbreaking wail as she cradled her body closure.
After an unknown amount of time, she slowly pulled her head away from her partner and turned to the one responsible with blood red eyes. She gently settled Blake on the ground before she stood and turned to him, taking in his appearance. He was wearing sneakers, jeans and a hoodie. The hoodie looked like the sleeves were torn off and there was a massive cut across the front, revealing some of his toned body. He was in a relaxed stance with his hands in his pockets. His hood was up, hiding the top half of his face. But what stood out was the black and red glowing right eye and that smirk on his face. It was so unsettling, especially with the blood around his mouth and chin. This was no Grimm. It had to be a human or Faunus. Her fists tightened and she spoke in a deathly tone, "You did this."
He just tilted his head and brought his left hand to his mouth to wipe away the blood. "Brilliant deduction, Sherlock." He answered in a distorted voice that sounded somewhat familiar to her. That's when he made a show of licking the blood off his fingers.
She just grit her teeth, "I'm going to kill you." Her voice filled with venom and finality.
He pulled his left hand away and started to chuckle. When he was done he popped his left index finger. "You can try, Xiao Long." He challenged as he released all four tails of his Kagune. He wasn't going to pull his punches with a murderous Yang.
That caused her to pause. She knew that wasn't a normal weapon but could it be a Semblance? She shook those thoughts away and was about to charge him when growling started to fill the air. She glanced around to see half a dozen Beowolves enter their clearing. 'Great. Now I have to deal with them and this guy.' She thought angrily.
Right as she thought that, he looked around. "Hmmm. With my bloodlust, Blake's fear and your anger, I would've thought more would come." He shrugged, "Oh well, this will be easy to deal with." With that, his lower tails shot backwards and impaled the two Grimm through their heads. While the two upper ones swung to the right and left, decapitating the ones closer to Yang and bisecting the ones between them. With that done, they moved back to swaying slowly behind him.
Yang, in her right mind, probably would've reconsidered fighting him after that. But she was no where close to being in her right mind, anger and guilt were swirling throughout her mind. So, with a shout and a burst from her weapons, she shot towards him. His smirk just grew as he slammed his tails on the ground behind him, sending him flying towards her. She went for a right hook but he caught her forearm with his left hand before it could reach him. He was about to give her his own right hook but she fired her weapon while he was holding her, catching him in the face and sending him flying towards the her left.
He corrected himself and stuck all four of his tails into the ground, stopping him before he used them to fling himself at her again. She charged him again, so he flipped for an axe kick. She crossed her arms to block it but the force behind his attack cracked the ground below her. 'He's strong.' Was all she thought before she grabbed his leg in a death grip, she could hear his ankle crack from her grip. "I'm not letting you go now, you bastard!"
In response, he just spun his body, his capture leg twisting and breaking it severally. She was shocked but was sent flying from the roundhouse kick he delivered from the spin. She smashed through a tree as he landed on his feet. She stood up and was shocked to see his leg just spin rapidly in the other direction, before setting back in its original orientation and healed. He just smirked and popped his left middle finger, "After everything I've been through, that was nothing to me."
He charged her at his top speed, enough to shatter the ground beneath him and send the debris flying. As he was flying through the air, he wrapped his Kagune around his body and had the tips connect together above his head. He then spun rapidly, turning himself into a glowing red drill towards her. Not willing to tank that, Yang used Ember Celica to launch herself from it. She turned to see him shred through the ground and trees around where she just was. After ten feet or so, the tails unfurled and he extended them and his arms outwards to catch a drag on the wind to slow himself down.
Before he could do anything, she send a series of shots at his back. Two caught his upper back before his tails started to whip them away with little issue. He looked over his shoulder with that twisted smirk before he charged her, running instead of clearing the distance between them. She kept firing but his tails never stopped knocking them away. When she was sure he was close enough, she charged forwards again with her patented right. It would've met his face or chest. But his upper tails looped over his shoulders and crossed to stop it. That's when his other two tails smashed into her stomach and sent her flying again.
As soon as she hit the ground, he jumped into the air again. As he was coming down on her, he coiled his right tails together to make them stronger. He then swung them at her. He was shocked when she stood and stopped them with her left hand. He raised an eyebrow as she looked up at him with shining hair and red eyes. By that point, he was low enough for her to deal a devastating combo to his stomach and chest. His hoodie was actually catching fire from her blows. With her mouth set in a snarl and her eyes holding nothing but bloodlust, she pulled her right fist back and punch him as hard as she could in his chest. For extra insurance, she fired a shot from Ember Celica at point blank range. She heard the distinct sound of bones breaking as he flew away and through several tree. His tails disappeared as the trees fell onto him.
She rested her hands on her knees as she started to pant. She was trying to calm herself down. "Well…I did it. I killed him.' She thought to herself. But now, with the adrenaline and volatile emotions leaving her, that didn't sit with her as well as she thought it would. She slowly looked over to Blake and a question formed, 'Would she have wanted me to do that?'
She was pulled from those thoughts as she noticed the trees in her peripherals, start to move. She looked over in shock as the one on top was pushed into a vertical position by the guy she was sure she killed. He just stood there and pushed it over in the other direction. He then slowly walked over the lumber in front of him until he was back on the ground. He seemed fine besides his left elbow popped in the opposite direction and his hoodie had burns all over it, a particular nasty one where her last punch was. She just stared in shock, "How are you alive?"
He just popped his neck and looked to the ground to spit up a lot of blood. "Because you didn't destroy me heart or brain." When he stood up straight, the hood fell off his head and her eyes nearly popped out of her head from the familiar blonde hair and blue eye.
Her mouth opened but no words came out. Her mind was just too jumbled to even think right now. "Jaune?" she asked just above a whisper.
He just smirked, "Close but no." He brought his right hand up to his head and tapped the side of it with his knuckles. "Let's just say, he's not the only occupant up here."
"W-what?" was all she could reply with.
His smirk turned more malicious, "It seems after all the times you teased him and made him the butt of your jokes, you still don't know a damn thing about Jaune Arc, huh?" His left elbow finally popped back into place and he started to flex his left hand and fingers. "Long story short, Jauney has been through utter hell and has no family left in this world. But even with all that, he tries to just smile and take it all in stride. All that trauma broke a piece of him and created me though."
"I do the things that fool can't stomach, so he can survive. And I'm sick of him throwing away all those chances I give him for you seven." He chuckled, "My mistake. Six now."
That caught her off guard, "Us? What do you mean by that?"
He just stared at her for a few seconds before he looked up and laughed like a crazed maniac. He looked back at her with that smirk, "True, you wouldn't get it. I mean why would you ever think about pathetic, weak, stupid, little Vomit Boy. If he isn't making a fool of himself, why should you?"
She narrowed her eyes at him, "That's not-"
"True?" He finished for her. "Oh but it is. You know nothing about him. If you did, you'd at least know his opinion on you, right?" He held his right hand out to her, "Well, come on. What is it then?"
Yang just stared at him for a while before she looked away in shame. "Case and point. But I see no point in not telling you." He slowly started to pace but made sure his red eye was always on her. "He sees you as the closest of his friends to be a real Huntress." She looked up at him in shock. "You have strength, compassion and the confidence to get you through anything. If he even had a portion of everything you had, maybe he'd be able to make his dreams come to fruition. Honestly, that admiration may've led to him actually falling for you. But he's at least smart enough to know just how far out of his league you are."
That shocked Yang. Out of all of them, Pyrrha included, he thought she was closest to be a true Huntress. The person she made a joke of most had that kind of opinion of her. 'Well, can't say I don't feel like an ass now.'
His smirk turned vicious next, "Now, just imagine what'll happen when he wakes up tomorrow and finds that two people he respected most and cared for, have died. And by his hands no less."
She instinctively took a step back, "That would-" her eyes widened, "Why would you do that to him? I thought you wanted to protect him?"
He snorted, "Honestly, you don't need to know. All you do need to know: Is that you will either have to kill me, along with Jaune. I already told you how." He reached up and ripped the remains of his hoodie off and threw it to the side, revealing his toned upper body. That's when his Kagune erupted from his body. His upper-right tail went over his right shoulder across his chest and around the left side of his waist. It went back up to his shoulder before wrapping around his right arm down to his hand. The tip of the tail split into fire to cover each finger to end in claws. His upper-left tail did the same with left shoulder, right side of his waist and left arm. Meanwhile, his lower tails crossed over his waist and stomach before wrapping around their respective legs. He then popped his left ring finger. "Or you will die here."
Yang reluctantly started to get into her boxing stance. But how was she supposed to fight him when her mind and heart were being twisted in so many directions. The two charged at each other and started to trade blows with each other. Although, Yang was subconsciously holding back. Her shots and punches just kept hitting his impromptu-Kagune armor. And luckily for her, she was blocking his claws with her weapons but his kicks kept getting past her guard.
After another of said kicks, she was pushed backwards. When she skidded to a stop, she tried to regain her breath as she reeled from her aura shattering. She caught something in the corner of her eye and saw that she was now next to Blake again. Tears started to gather in her eyes again. She turned back to 'Jaune' when he started to chuckle. "Don't worry. You'll be with her soon." His smirk took on a vicious edge once again. "And soon, your sister will as well."
That was just the push needed to send her over the edge. Her eyes turned red and her Semblance activated again. She flew towards 'Jaune' with a scream. He just smirked and charged her as well. He waited for the right time and weaved out of the way, delivering two slashes to her as he passed. Both skidded to a stop with their backs to each other.
Yang stood there with her arm extended and breathing raggedly. The adrenaline was dulling it but she could feel pain coming from her arm. She looked and her eyes widened. Her right arm, from the elbow down was missing. She didn't want to believe it but the blood falling from it was proof enough. She quickly grabbed the remains of her arm as she screamed in a mix of anguish and pain.
The Ghoul chuckled as he turned back to her, "Missing this?" She turned to him and saw him holding her severed arm in his left hand. He then activated the switch that turned Ember Celica into its compact form. He then brought it to his mouth and took a bite out of it, like you would a drumstick. Her blood went cold at that and she wanted to vomit. When he swallowed he spoke again. "Mmm. You've probably already heard this from other guys, but you taste amazing."
She took a step forward but felt a lot of warmth starting from her stomach and going down her legs. She looked down in horror and saw a deep cut across her exposed stomach and a lot of blood leaving her body. Her legs started to shake before they crumpled underneath her. She looked back at 'Jaune'. He apparently had finished with her arm because he tossed it to the side as his Kagune started to retreat back into his body. "Well, this will be it. Thank you for the bite and entertainment. You'll be seeing your Partner soon." His hand gently cupped his chin, "But I wonder just Xiao Long until the others do too."
Those words and him standing there with that horrible smirk, were the last things Yang heard and saw. Her world went dark and she fell forwards into the puddle of her own blood.
The Ghoul just stood there for a few seconds. He was hearing the sounds of people running towards them. He smirked, "Must be the Professors and the fourth years."
He made his way over to his hoodie. He ripped off a segment of it and wrapped it around his head, only letting his right eye to be shown. He then took one of Yang's fire dust bullets and set the rest of his hoodie on fire. "No evidence."
That was when Port and a team of fourth-years broke into the clearing. They quickly saw the two students then the masked person. Port aimed his gun at him, "Don't move!" he shouted.
The Ghoul just stared at him with his glowing eye before he jumped towards the trees. Port fired and he managed to swing from a branch to avoid it. He kept jumping from branch to branch as the other students fired as well.
After a few minutes of him running, he managed to lose his pursuers. He climbed to the top of the tree he was in and stared up at the fracture moon. He then started to chuckle then laugh.
A/N- And here it is! I'm kinda shocked on how quickly I put this one out. Again, Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh and Jauneforever were the Betas for this chapter. And, again, check them out. I hoped you all are enjoying this chapter and the rest of the story. I'll see ya all in the next update!