Well, after months of overwhelmingly, horridly, crushing depression I am back and not dead. I practically forced myself to complete this and even now I have thousands of other things to do and I'm battling internally with just about everything from trying not to drink myself to death, to getting out of bed, to trying to excel in school. So just so you know how much of a struggle this was, please enjoy.
Chapter 5- Prisoners and Executioners
The Hunter Exam is past it's first phase and Ruby and her companions embarked upon a race through the dangerous Emerald Forest to reach the end of the first phase and immediately embarked on the second. A dive into the darkness left them confronted with the Blood Gulch Prison, and the serial inmates brought here because of offenses against humanity.
"So." Ruby said her voice trailing off, "Who's going to open the door?"
As she said this, Newt walked towards the door and kicked one of them open, the hinges vibrating from the impact a few of them cracking under the strain as everyone filed into the large chamber before them with a multitude of branching paths of varying sizes all blocked by metal doors with screens above them. Just then, Glynda's voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "The following doors will open in correspondence to your badges, please flip them over and consult them. Each of you will have a number and a color, the number is the amount of people in your group and your color decides who you are capable of teaming up with." Glynda stated.
Ruby and her friends looked to one another and flipped over their badges carefully and gazed at the results. "Um, well," Ruby started staring at her own badge, "What were the results?"
Jaune and Pyrrha flipped over their badge to reveal they had the color blue and the size requirement for their group was four, Jaune chuckled and sighed as he and Pyrrha left to find other members. Yang's badge had the color yellow and the number three, while Blake's was blue with the number one, and Pyron and Newt's was green with the number two. Ruby looked at hers and frowned, the color red and the number three, she would be paired with people she didn't know and she'd be separated from Yang for real this time. "Yo!" Knives said as he approached their group with his typical casual demeanor, "So I got Red 3, any of you got that?"
"Um, I did." Ruby stated as she showed off her badge.
"Cool! Now we just need one more and we'll be good!" He grinned as she frowned and looked at her sister who tried to give her a reassuring look.
"Yo, Yang!" Caradin said as he approached dragging Luxus in tow, "You've got Yellow 3 right?"
"How'd you know!?" She said taken aback.
"I was just chilling with a group of others keeping an eye on y'all when this kids face changed when you spoke, so I confiscated,"
"Stole." Luxus corrected.
"Borrowed his badge, and saw he had Yellow 3 like me so I was guessing that you did too." Caradin said, "And your reaction just let me know."
"You there, commoners!" Weiss declared as she strode towards them with her butler nowhere to be seen. "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation and I was wondering if any of you possessed a Red 3?"
"Yo." Knives said raising his left hand and pointing at Ruby with his right, as Weiss' face dropped.
"A vagrant and a child, terrific." She said as she turned to look somewhere else.
"Oi, Ice Queen." Knives called as she wheeled on him with a furious expression, "You can either keep looking for a team with an open spot, or you can settle for us. But just to let you know in case you didn't notice, everyone else has basically found their pairs." He said blankly as she turned to confirm his statement, Ruby had noticed it too and Knives was right; everyone was no longer nervous and were grouped in various small circles.
"I-you-argh!" She declared in frustration and stormed over to them and set her foot down with a huff, "Very well, but if you ruin my chances of becoming a Hunter we're going to have problems."
"Oh you should be worrying about yourself, because I'm not going to be the one to slow us down and neither is she." Knives said as he pointed to Ruby. "So keep up princess, I don't plan on stopping for anything." He said coldly as the loudspeakers buzzed again.
"I've synchronized your badges and you will enter the gate with your team's pictures on them. The challenges ahead will be perilous, if you wish to turn back, now is the time." She called, as no one stirred. "Well then, proceed."
The pictures flashed over the doors and everyone ran to their corridors quickly, because the race was on!
Blue 4, Team Jaune
"Okay, we've got this guys, the first challenge will be nothing!" Jaune declared with confidence to his team that stood before him. He looked out at Pyrrha who smiled and gave him a thumbs-up as he looked over to his other teammates, Ren and Nora. Ren looked around lazily and walked right past him while Nora stood there picking her nose.
"Cool speech bro! Hey Ren, when do I get to smash stuff!?" She said chasing after him as she skipped across the ground. Jaune sighed and followed them through the large stone tunnel until it opened up into a small room full of armored individuals wearing various gear and carrying strange weapons. They saw the kids at the end of the tunnel and they chuckled.
"Looks like the Warden is being cruel today, it's just a couple of punk kids!" The Leader declared, "Pyro, take care of this."
The man bore a shark style helmet and heavy armor with a flame thrower as he walked forward and started up his weapon. Jaune opened his mouth to cry out a warning, but it was Ren who spoke first. "Nora, go smash him."
"You got it!" She said with a sing song voice as she skipped towards him and Pyrrha watched in fear as the man bathed her in fire.
"Nora!" Jaune cried out as Ren held him back.
"Just watch." Ren stated simply as Nora walked through the flames unharmed and grabbed his flamethrower crushing the industrial steel in her hands like paper. The men looked in horror as she drew back her fist to punch the flame soldier, and as her fist collided with his torso, his limbs and head exploded outward as his torso was reduced to chunks of bone and flesh and a lot of red mist.
"Ren, he didn't put up a fight!" Nora complained as Jaune shook with fear before vomiting next to Ren, as Pyrrha stood shocked.
"Aura." She said looking at Ren who simply nodded.
"Nora, play with the others some." Ren said as he walked towards the door the mercenaries were guarding. The other seven looked on in fear.
"Kill her!" Their leader cried as two people with chainguns began to open fire and Nora ran towards them evading their bullets before spin kicking both of their heads into nothing but crumpled helmets oozing red and pink matter. Their sniper tried to fire and Ren simply pointed at him and his head was crushed by an unseen force. A sleeveless male and his buddy ran towards Ren and he swept his hands outward as they were both ripped violently in half, and the female of the group ran towards Nora in a flurry of blades as Nora simply danced around the knives before kicking her head clean off as it fell into the lap of the leader as he looked up at his executioners with fear. "Please, have mercy!"
"Hmmm, nope!" Nora said as she gripped his head and made a permanent dent in the steel door as the man's head shattered on impact with a sickening crunch. Jaune stood in awe and terror of these two people he had teamed up with, what was that terrifying power he just witnessed, and how could they kill so easily without a second thought?
"You used Nen." Pyrrha said as she walked towards them.
"Even if we hadn't the end results would have been the same, it just made things move faster." Ren stated as he walked towards the door and one of four green lights came on, as Nora and Pyrrha approached the door two more lights activated. Jaune trembled as Ren called out to him, "Oi, come on I want to hurry up to the next section." He called as Jaune still shook.
"How, how can you kill so easily!? How is it you can just take a life and act like it's a game or that it doesn't even matter!?" He shouted at them through tears, "What on earth was that power just now!? And why on earth, are you standing there Pyrrha!?"
She looked at the ground, "Jaune, life and death are a part of this, and if you didn't want to kill then these men surely would have ended your life. If you just continue with us and please bear with it all, I will explain everything about their powers as well as how to become just as strong."
He looked at the floor and walked forward and as the green light came on the door opened and they walked silently into the pitch black abyss.
Green 2, Team Pyron
Pyron and Newt walked through the winding labyrinth of caves and tunnels hearing the screams of their fellow Hunter Hopefuls as well as their victims. "This is really fucked up." Newt said as she walked with her hammer on her shoulder.
"But it's not like we're completely unused to death." Pyron said as he kept walking, "Remember your father and my village." He said as they walked through the darkness.
"Seems like everywhere we go we're at the epicenter of death." Newt said as she looked at the door before them and at the end of the hall guarding the door was a beast the likes of which neither of them had ever seen.
"What is that?" Pyron asked as he got closer and it lashed out. It was humanoid in shape, but it's feet and hands were claws covered in scales and it's face had scales on it's cheeks and forehead as it barred it's razor sharp teeth, and it's lizard tail twitched violently as it hissed. "Jesus!"
"Leave!" It roared at them, "You are not the King, you aren't Pyra either, now go away!" The beast walked back to the door and sat down.
"We need to get past that door." Newt said as she walked towards him and he didn't strike.
"You smell like the swamp, like home." He hissed as he ruffled his bark brown hair and flashed his emerald slit eyes, "Are you a Swamp Witch?"
She grimaced at the term and her hand tightened on her hammer, "I was called one, yeah."
He chuckled, a horrible gravely rasping of a laugh, "They called my mother that too, weighted her by her ankles just beneath the water's surface so she could see freedom but never reach. All because we were different, all because I killed that imposter."
"What are you?" Pyron asked again.
"It speaks, so annoying as it is. It looks like Pyra but it is a smelly male, it should just shut up." The monster replied, "I am Chimera Ant or so they call me. I was created by my King Meruem, and stolen from the Rat by the Warden. She gave me a job, guard the gate, if anyone tries to escape, kill them. I do a good job and she calls my name and gives me yummy things to eat."
"Well may we pass?" Newt asked him as he growled in frustration.
"Too many questions, go away." He said as he lay on his side and got ready to take a nap.
"If you let us pass, the Warden won't get mad at you and you won't have to hear our questions." Pyron bargained.
At this the monster sat up straight, "Warden won't yell, and you go away?"
"Yeah, just let us pass and we'll leave you alone." Newt said.
The monster pondered this for a while before grinning and nodding, "Go away now smelly man and swamp girl."
"It's Pyron, and this is my sister Newt." He said as he motioned to her as they walked towards the door as the creature laughed even more.
"World is weird, fate is funny." The monster laughed as he looked at Newt, "Do not let your bird escape, because they will always try to leave."
"Who are you?" She asked as he chuckled more.
"I am Newton, monster of the New Gorteau's Swamps!" He cackled, "Now go swamp girl, go and cage your bird!" He cackled as she walked away disgusted and afraid.
With the Second Phase of the Hunter Exam underway, two teams have passed their first trial and proceeded further into the dungeon. What dark beasts await within, and what is this mysterious power called Nen? As Jaune and Pyron near their goals the spotlight shifts to a different group of heroes next chapter, as Ruby and Knives trials with Weiss have only just begun. The remaining number of candidates is 332.'
Okay, depressing shit aside I honestly hope you've enjoyed this chapter and I will desperately try to finish off my other RWBY fic so I can focus on this one for a while. I'm really struggling here, so prayers and reviews please, as I try to make it through the next two months.