The Shadow of Fire
Chapter 30: Wilting of a Rose
A/N: Hey all of you guys! Good to see you again. A nice long chapter for you all, with a quick warning of OOC Ruby throughout it, just a heads up.
Quick shout-out to Dravyn LeCrux for small elements of his in this chapter, and for future chapters. Go look at his work too!
Another for ElfCollaborator and G.N. Over-Kite for all their support, and for Elf's Weiss Reacts featuring this story! I can't thank you two enough.
To redRWBYhood: Make an account, friend; you seem awfully invested into this story as it is.
See you at the end A/N.
Blake and Yang's still sleeping forms laid in each other's arms, passed out on the hanger floor in exhaustion. The shadow of an airship covered them as they slept, un-aware of the crafts intrusion.
Meanwhile
Several minutes earlier...
"Hiiiiiyaaaaa!" Ruby shouted out, slicing Crescent Rose deep into a drone, splitting the mech in half before charging after the others.
Weiss worked in quick motions, utilizing Myrtenaster's sharpness to cut clean arcs into several drones as they rushed her. Weiss's jabs and arcs were executed flawlessly, cutting down the drone forces numbers.
However, the number of the drones was far too great, and Weiss and Ruby were back to back, now on the defensive.
As Ruby brought down Crescent Rose on a drone, splitting it in half, another delivered a harsh jab with its blade hand, cutting into the gauntlets metal. Ruby cried out in pain, dropping her scythe and clutching her slightly bleeding arm.
Weiss dropped her guard for a moment, looking at Ruby to see if she was hurt when a drone slammed a fist into her stomach, causing her to fall to her knees before it kneed her in the jaw.
"Well, this has been fun and all, but it's gone on long enough." Saturn said, snapping his fingers. The drones lined up, guns at the ready, waiting to execute the girls.
"Ready, fire!" Saturn shouted, grinning like a mad man.
Weiss and Ruby closed their eyes tightly, holding each other close.
...
Nothing happened.
The drones stood absolutely still, not making a move as their machine gun barrels stared down the pair of teens. Saturn raised an eyebrow, sitting up in his throne.
"What?" He asked the drones, who remained still as stone. "Shoot them! I order you to!"
Nothing.
The collective drones ignored his orders, humming quietly before a muffled ding echoed around the room.
"NEW TARGET ACQUIRED: TARGET: BLAKE BELLADONNA: DISENGAGING PREVIOUS TARGETS." The drones spoke all at once, as if they were all one voice. They lowered their weapons and departed, leaving a confused Ruby and Weiss, and an angry Saturn.
"My GODS do I have to do EVERYTHING myself?!" He exclaimed, letting out a slow yawn as he stumbled from his throne, shaking his head quickly to wake himself up. He clicked his golden pen, causing his golden katana to spring to life, the blade glowing fiercely in the light.
"I will rip your very soul from your bodies if I have to!" Saturn announced to his prey, his snakes hissing in a rhythmic pattern; almost as if they were laughing at the two teens.
Weiss slowly stood back up, using Myrtenaster's blade to stand while Ruby struggled up, her arm bleeding slowly. The look of fear adorned her pale face, mixed with a tad bit of hope.
"Predicted the outcome yet, Ruby?" Weiss asked, turning Myrtenaster's Dust chamber to its Red setting.
"A win, I hope." Ruby responded, elongating her scythe.
"For who?"
Ruby didn't answer.
Saturn stood 15 feet from the pair of Huntresses, cackling evilly as he ran his index finger down the flat end of his blade.
"This would be a glorious death for you two girls, which I can assume will go down in history as a historical battle of epic proportions! Don't worry, I'll see that a whole chapter highlights your very cause of death." He said menacingly, slashing his blade in the air, now fully awake.
"Now!" He shouted, his Guardians morphing back into ghostly hands. "En garde!"
Ruby and Weiss took the moment to begin the first attack, working in synchronization to combat the crime lord. Ruby spun Crescent Rose in a few circles before jabbing the blades tip into the marble floor, the barrel of the sniper pointed directly at the man. Weiss spawned several Glyphs behind the man, randomized locations, leaving the crime lord distracted for a moment, examining the objects.
"Quite the magical spell..." He commented under his breath, poking one with his blade.
Ruby fired several quick shots at the man, not taking time to aim, focusing on firing as many rounds at the man as possible. The bullets soared past the man, none coming in contact with Saturn, who was still messing with a Glyph. The other Glyphs rotated around the man, catching the shots that Ruby had randomly fired off, each being deflected back at the man at increased speed.
Saturn dodged the bullets with ease, weaving in and out of their way as he hummed a song to himself, not taking the attack very seriously. When a bullet would miss the man, another Glyph would move to its spot and catch it, sending it back to continue the assault.
Weiss raced forward to the man, running along a long grey pipe that traveled across the room while Ruby continued to fire more and more shots at the man. Weiss leaped up and spun her rapier with ease, sending a blast of arcing red energy towards the man.
Saturn took notice and forced his Guardians forward, who managed to grip onto the arc of energy, holding it in place as it attempted to keep moving forward. He spun the ghostly hands in the air and sent the arc flying back at Weiss, who managed to spawn a Glyph just in time to dodge it.
The massive arc of energy crashed into its new target, which happened to be one of the support ropes that held the floor up, causing the ground to shake for a moment before it stabilized. Saturn looked furious, letting out a battle cry before he slashed forward, destroying the Glyphs around him and charging towards Ruby, who was still firing.
The bullets dinged harmlessly off Saturn's golden katana as he advanced forward, slicing in the air. Weiss was following behind him, activating a Glyph at her heels to send her forward.
As Weiss soared across the room to strike at Saturn, the man turned and noticed her at the last second, managing to deflect the impalement and send the girl to the floor with a thud. His Guardians held off the bullets fired by Ruby, and he attempted to stab down at the heiress.
Weiss rolled out of the way, spinning on her back and delivering a swift kick to the mans right knee. He buckled down in pain, hissing at the girl as he forced his Guardian's forward at both teens, lifting the duo up in the air with their weapons, both struggling.
"You two are starting to piss me off!" He roared, slamming the pair into the large dinner table, which promptly broke as they connected with it. Weiss rolled onto the other side while Ruby stayed stuck in the table, her signature cloak stuck between a broken metal and wood chunks.
Saturn moved forward and held her throat down with his Guardians, choking her as she struggled with her scythe to try and attack the man. The crime boss knocked the scythe from her grip, sending it across the floor, forcing her deeper into the rubble of the table.
Weiss jumped out of nowhere with a battle cry, slicing in flawless arcs at the man as he held down Ruby. Saturn deflected the blows easily, executing a back flip which caused his right foot to connect with Weiss's jaw, delivering a painful sounding crunch in response. As he moved, so did his Guardians, pulling Ruby out of the broken table and sending her into Weiss, the duo flying across the room to the floor.
Weiss's head felt horrible, her jaw possibly fractured in several places. However, her mind forced the pain away, the girl slowly rising up before getting smacked away by a Guardian. She rolled across the floor and plucked up her rapier, spinning it and sending a blast of light-green energy at the man.
The Dust blast tore into his right shoulder, stunning him for a moment as his body went numb, allowing Weiss to bolt forward, spawning several Glyphs up his body. Weiss raced up them in a back flip; as her boots connected, the Glyphs would push forward at the man, breaking a few ribs in the process.
Saturn was sent flying across the room, only to have Ruby appear out of nowhere, smacking him back over to Weiss with the newly re-acquainted Crescent Rose, cutting into his back before he neared Weiss.
The heiress stabbed forward with her blade, cutting deep through his chest and out the back, causing him to groan in pain as fresh blood dripped from his back. The crime lord regained his body controls, punching Weiss in the face before throwing her aside, then pulling out the blade from his chest.
"You know you can't win! Orion knew it, and so do I!" He called out, throwing Myrtenaster down to the floor before stomping on the blade, breaking it in half.
Weiss felt her heart plummet down; her prized weapon: gone. Weiss glared at the man, putting a finger to her right ear ring and tapping a small button.
A defense mechanism activated, used in case her prized rapier was ever stolen or lost to Grimm. Myrtenaster's remains began glowing red, drawing the crime lord's attention downward. Ruby raced forward and grabbed Weiss's hands, taking her with her as they soared toward Saturn. When he looked up, he was greeted with Weiss's boot and Ruby's fist, the boot connecting with his upper chest after the fist hit his face.
He tumbled down to the floor, groaning in pain as the girls seemingly teleported across the room, Myrtenaster beeping quickly before exploding in a shower of sparks, sending Saturn across the room and into his throne.
Weiss and Ruby stalked up to the defeated man, who was still groaning in pain from the cuts and kicks. Ruby held her scythe to his neck, her gauntlet still bleeding heavily onto the floor as Weiss glared downward, taking deep breaths.
"It's over." Weiss said, her hurt jaw making it hard to talk, but her voice still sounding the same.
"No..." Saturn said quietly, laughing slowly between coughs. "It's only just begun!" He shouted out, gripping Crescent Rose with his left Guardian, cackling while ripping off the blade before sending it into Weiss, who received several cuts from the metal as it collapsed onto her, pinning her to the floor. Saturn lifted Ruby up with his other Guardian, kneeing her in the stomach before grabbing her gauntlet, ripping it from her very body.
"NO!" Weiss cried out, trying to free herself.
Ruby began growing pale, her arm was like it was back at Beacons Hospital area, still showing damage from the battle on the ship. Blood was everywhere as she whimpered in pain.
Saturn slammed her into the ground, dragging her along the broken marble before he held her up in the air.
Saturn gripped her with both of his Guardians, holding her at the chest as she cried out in pain. He quickly closed them into a fist, breaking her rips and sending bone chunks throughout her body. A lone shard of bone, sharp as a knife, pierced into her heart, causing her whole body to twitch a few times as her nerves began failing and relaxing.
Ruby's lifeless head tilled to her side, seemingly looking at Weiss as her soul left her body, her silver eyes, once filled with joy and happiness, now void of emotion. Her little black wolf ears fell to her mop of red and black hair, motionless. Her tail hung in the air like her arms and legs, their owner gone.
"One down..." He said, tossing the girls dead body to the side. Ruby's body collided with the long metal pipe that ran throughout the room, busting into it due to the added weight. Her body was still leaking blood, now surrounded by a golden liquid substance. "One to go."
"Ruby..." Weiss spoke under her breath, tears running down her face as the lifeless Faunus refused to respond, the golden liquid flowing around her as if she were an island.
"Your turn, Schnee." Saturn spoke calmly, taking a few deep breaths. Saturn threw Crescent Rose's blade from her body across the room, lifting Weiss up and throwing her to the floor once more, several feet from the man.
"Any last words, Schnee?" Saturn asked the girl as he slowly stalked over, his golden katana dragging across the floor, creating a shower of sparks.
Weiss put her left hand to her back, trying to find some Dust to save herself, and possibly Ruby, when she felt a large metal object. Memories flooded back to her as she recalled the dagger that she had claimed from Gales dead body, the blade warm to the touch. Weiss gripped it at the tip of the blade like a throwing knife, knowing that she only had one chance.
"None? Well, it's all over now. Soon you will be reunited with your dead friend, and I'll be much more wealthy." He said, glancing off at Ruby's dead body. "Pity that she had to die at such a young age." He commented, ignoring Weiss.
"You..." Weiss said, her icy blue eyes now red from crying. She quickly stood up, leveling the dagger in her left hand before she flung it across the room.
Saturn turned to ask what she had said, when he was greeted with a sharp piece of steel. The dagger sunk into his stomach, causing him to stumble back in a mix of pain and surprise.
Weiss teleported across the room thanks to her Glyphs, rocketing into the crime lord. She grabbed the dagger and yanked it out with force.
"You ignorant-" The heiress shouted, stabbing the blade into his right knee, causing the man to wail in pain.
"Condescending-" She added, pulling it out and forcing it into his upper hip.
"Arrogant-" She continued, jabbing him over and over in the chest.
"Bastard!" She finished, forcing the blade into his right arm before she was thrown off by a Guardian, landing a few feet from Ruby's dead body.
"Agh..." The crime lord groaned, stumbling back into the broken table, blood oozing from his wounds.
Weiss crawled over to Ruby's still form, ignoring the coldness of the golden liquid, holding her head in her hands.
"Ruby! Speak to me!" Weiss demanded, tears rolling down her face. "It's over now; we've won. Wake up!" Weiss cried out, hugging the girl to her chest.
No response.
"Ruby, please wake up! We are going to get out, and you're going to be as lively and as cheerful as ever! Please... Don't leave me..."
Droplets of water adorned Ruby's signature cloak and combat attire as Weiss sobbed into her leader still form, lifeless eyes looked back at her.
Weiss wiped her tears away, an odd feeling emanating from her chest. Weiss glanced down and noticed that her wounds from Crescent Roses broken blade were closing up, small remains of the golden liquid from Ruby's hair dotting her chest.
Weiss's mind went straight to work, kissing Ruby's forehead before dunking her face into the liquid.
"Come on... Come on..." Weiss urged the magical liquid on, when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. As she turned to face the owner, she was punched directly in the face, rolling to the side as a golden katana missed her by an inch.
"I'm gonna... frame your head... for that... Schnee..." Saturn hissed out in slow and off sounding breaths.
Weiss laid still on the floor, her face void of emotions as she glanced back over at Ruby's dead body. Weiss could have sworn that she heard muffled growling, but she couldn't care any less. Ruby was dead, and with that, was her spirit. A firm hand yanked Weiss's face from Ruby, forcing her to look up at the crime lord.
"Time to end this." Saturn said, standing above Weiss with his katana aimed at her chest.
"Goodbye miss Schnee."
Saturn plunged the katana deep into Weiss's chest, impaling her into the marble floor.
Weiss wanted to say that she felt something when that katana entered her body, but she was already too far gone inside to feel any pain. Even as Saturn twisted the blade to further the pain, she couldn't feel a thing.
Weiss looked up at her would-be killer, who loomed over her, adorning a vile grin.
"Sleep well." He said, laughing to himself as Weiss began bleeding out, her world turning to black and white.
What happened next was something so horrible, so vile, and so inhumane, that Weiss Schnee knew that she would never be able to remove it from her mind as long as she lived.
A flash of red, to Weiss it would be black, flung itself at Saturn, knocking him off of Weiss. He stumbled back, wearing a look of horror as he looked on at his attacker.
Ruby Rose stood before him, her eyes flashing with total anger and complete darkness as she hissed at the man with a monstrous and animalistic sounding tone, akin to a wolf cornering its prey.
Ruby lashed out at Saturn, climbing onto his back as he struggled to throw her off of him. She growled and sank her teeth into his neck, chomping down hard as he thrashed around.
Weiss looked towards her right as a object suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She reached for it and slowly but surely, managed to drag it over with her slender fingers. As she held it to her side, she became aware of its usage.
A black pistol, Saturn's own that had fallen when Ruby knocked him over in their struggle.
Ruby then head-butted the man, knocking him off balance and back towards the edge railing. She raced forward and gripped his left arm, firmly placing her right leg on his hip and pulled as hard as she could. In as split second, Saturn's left arm was ripped from his body at the shoulder, bone and all, which Ruby proceeded to use to smack him around before throwing it over the railing with a roar.
Saturn's Guardians jabbed forward; Ruby began grabbing onto one while the other punched her in the chest, sending her across the room into a pile of rubble from the table.
As Saturn looked over at Weiss, expecting her to have bled out at this point, he noticed the metal object in her hand as she raised it up. Realization of what it was caused his good eye to widen, as Weiss aimed at the man with a shaky left hand.
Weiss pulled the trigger.
A lone bullet traveled across the room at incredible speeds, right towards its target. The metal shell entered Saturn's left eye, tearing through him as his vision went dark.
The crime lord stumbled backwards at the impact, and tumbled off of the edge railing of his throne room. He fell straight to the bottom of the pit, letting out one final scream in utter horror as he fell to his death.
Weiss dropped the heavy pistol, her vision growing much blacker as Ruby maneuvered over to Weiss's body. Weiss knew that in this state of animalistic tendencies, Ruby couldn't think logically, not knowing that Weiss was bleeding out.
"Ruby..." Weiss made out, the girl turning her head in a quizzical look, blood dripping from her teeth.
"I know you can't understand me... But, Ruby... I want you to know that I-" Weiss broke into a coughing fit. "I- I love you... Never forget that..." Weiss said slowly before her throat ran dry, her eyes drooping before they finally closed.
The animalistic Ruby howled in despair, growling as she looked over Weiss's still form.
"W... i..." Ruby sounded out, tilting her head. Her mind wasn't working like a human, more like a wolf than anything.
"W... ei... s?" Ruby made out, eyebrows scrunched in confusion as she looked at the katana, yanking it out of the girl before it collapsed into its pen form, the girl pocketing it without thought. She shifted around Weiss, poking the girl a few times: no response.
"W... eiss? Weis... s...?" The red head girl asked aloud, picking the girls body up from the floor, looking around quickly.
"We... iss... Wei... ss..." She kept sounding the girls name out as she struggled to remember anything. She looked over at the golden liquid, tilting her head as her ears flipped upward, looking down at Weiss.
A soft voice echoed in her ears, drawing her attention up to the second floor area.
"Come to me child. I can make it all better." The voice spoke, summoning her.
Ruby followed the sound, and eventually reached the chained form of Orion on the second floor, who was being electrocuted.
"Ruby." He said, demanding her attention. "I can help. Free me, and Weiss can be saved." He spoke truthfully, knowing not much time was left.
Ruby didn't know who this was, and couldn't recall anything past five minutes ago, but she could sense how much good was in him, how superior he was to her. He, like Weiss, was an Alpha, better than her; more important.
Ruby gently placed Weiss's dead body down on the ground, ripping off the locks to the chains and freeing Orion.
"Thank you, child." Orion said, petting her head. He rubbed his wrist before he poked Ruby's chest, his hand phasing into her body. He moved his hand around for a moment, eventually grasping what he was looking for.
He pulled out a shard of bone, which had been impaled into her heart. How she survived the wound, he wasn't sure. The God simply tossed it aside, and then looked down at Weiss.
Orion quickly got to work, magically repairing Weiss's wounds with bits of his blood, hoping that she wasn't too far gone.
Weiss was healed, her cuts and bruises all but forgotten as they faded into oblivion, her still form unmoving.
Ruby growled in worry, un-able to stay calm in the situation. Orion put a firm hand on her shoulder, causing the Faunus to look upward.
"Relax, my dear. She should recover from this soon." He said with a false smile, trying to appease the girls anger.
A firm hand gripped his throat in response, causing his eye to widen.
'Uh oh.' He thought, Ruby's eyes narrowing at the man as he chuckled awkwardly, holding him up in the air by his throat. Ruby glared at the man before letting him go, deciding to obey and follow his rule.
"Ruby? Is something amiss?" Orion asked the usually bubbly girl, who looked in pain.
A feminine voice echoed around in Ruby's mind, the sound coming from all directions it seemed.
'Kill...' The voice demanded, sounding awfully familiar to Ruby's own voice.
'Who are you?' Ruby managed to think out, asking the entity in her mind.
A rush of adrenalin shook Ruby violently for a moment, the girl falling to her knees before enveloping into a coughing fit. Ruby brought her left hand to her chest, rapid hitting it as a chunk of while flesh came out from her throat, landing a few feet away. Ruby groaned and slumped over, weakly cheering to herself as she realized that she was back in control of her body at last.
"Ruby?" Orion asked, standing above the young Faunas with confusion adorning his face.
"I'm... I'm good." She said weakly, coughing a few times before looking back over at Weiss's still form. "Is she...?" Ruby asked, not daring to finish out of sheer fear.
"She'll be fine, kiddo." Orion said with a small, warm smile. His expression grew into one of concern mixed with awe after a few moments, looking incredibly worried for a God, his golden eyes glowing like a lighthouse spotlight.
"What's wrong, Orion?" Ruby asked, the ground to the room shaking, panic in her tone of voice.
"I can't believe it... He has recognized you two..." Orion said in utter awe, the God and Weiss glowing a white, consistent, flickering color.
Ruby was about to ask why they were glowing when she looked at herself and noticed she was too.
In a sudden and bright flash of light, the two teens and the God of Fate vanished into thin air, the world around acting as if they were never there to begin with.
A/N: Hey again! SORRY for worrying you about Ruby, so don't be too mad. Okay?
Just another heads up that we will be seeing some new friends in the story, some old locations, and new enemies as well. SORRY FOR THE HYPE IT'S SO HARD TO NOT SPOIL THIS STUFF! Still taking a few OC's, need one or two more for my master plan.
Talk soon guys.