A/N: First off, I just wanna say... Wow... This story kind of blew up, at least for my standards. In under a week, this story racked up 70 favorites and over 115 follows. That's a lot more than my other stories got when I posted the prologues for those. It's even more surprising considering I didn't really expect this story to do so well, what with how out of nowhere the idea was.
So yeah... To those of you who decided to spend your time reading this story, I thank you. I hope this next chapter, and those that follow it, can live up to your expectations.
With that said, I hope all of you enjoy.
Chapter One: Baleful Shadows
Never in her life had she ever witnessed such… terror.
Even now, she could hear them. Amidst the sharp cracks of guns, they cut through the chaos and filled her ears. Horror filled screams and agonized wails full of fear.
Ranni's gaze flicked towards the window, just barely catching sight of… something passing by. Even if she focused, the only detail she could ascertain was that whatever it was, it was large. Worryingly so. The darkness of the night obscured her vision, leaving nothing but a vague shadow with hellish eyes that promised no less than eternal torment for any it looked upon.
What foul creature of the dark could hold such evil in its gaze?
"Look out!" A voice in another compartment caught her attention, before a whistling sound akin of something cutting through the air filled her with dread.
"Take cover!"
"Brace for impact!"
"Incoming!"
It was instinct and reflex alone that saved her life. She threw herself to the floor and covered her head with her hands right before something crashed into the airship, throwing objects around the cabin akin to a whirlwind. The screams of the other passengers increased in volume and pitch.
Several were cut short prematurely, leaving naught but chilling silence in their wake, accompanied by the horrid sound of metal twisting and tearing from the force.
Her hands rushed to cover her ears as a shriek, one so bone-chilling she couldn't suppress the shiver that wracked her body, tore through the air. Metal warped once more as a projectile she couldn't identify tore through the wall of her cabin. The armored hull of the airship did little to halt the attack, leaving gaping holes in the wall which allowed the night's chill to seep through the cracks.
A whimper forced itself out from between her lips as she shivered once more. The relative warmth inside the airship was already fading away.
To tear through steel like one would tear paper… The thought worried her. How much strength would a creature need to accomplish such a feat?
There! On the opposite side of the cabin, lodged into the wall like an arrow, stood… nothing more than a mere feather… several of them… But that couldn't have been possible… Surely, she was mistaken!
Even as the airship continued to shudder, battered again and again by a relentless onslaught, all as screams of pure terror continued to fill the air, growing louder and louder with each passing minute, she crawled across the floor. Her frail limbs struggled for each inch of ground she crossed, her endeavor made no less difficult as the airship flew frantically in an effort to avoid further damage.
Finally, she reached the other side of the cabin. Her hand reached out and brushed against the black plume, only to pull away as a hiss tore out of her throat. She twisted her arm to gaze upon her hand, only for her eyes to widen as blood trickled from a long, though shallow, cut across her palm. How could something that seemed so soft be so sharp?!
She pushed the question out of her mind. It could be dealt with later. The present came first and right now, she was in danger.
She was proven right when another shriek tore through the air, the sound clearer now due to the holes in the airship. Ranni peered between them, only to gasp as two burning red eyes, growing ever larger as the creature sped towards her, gazed into her own.
With a blood-curdling shriek, a torrent of feathers flew towards her.
Despite the strain, her magic surged forth. A field of magic with a cyan hue materialized just as the hull warped inward from the impact. The creature's feathers bounced off of the Barrier as it surged forth, leaving her unharmed.
A relieved sigh fell from her lips, even as her body sagged with fatigue. She was brought back to her senses as a burst of freezing air chilled her very bones. She wasn't safe here, certainly not with the gaping holes in the walls on either side of her.
She forced herself to her feet, taking great care in order to keep her footing lest she fall to her doom. Her hand latched onto a wayward handle near the door with a vice grip as a tremor reverberated throughout the airship. Her legs were thrown out from under her but her hand refused to release its grip.
Her body fell forward, crashing into the door before her as she yelped in pain. Surprisingly, however, the door was torn off its hinges from the impact. She had little time to figure out how someone as light as her had managed accomplish such a feat due to her face smashing against the ground.
There was a quiet crack as pain surged in her veins. She pushed herself up as a hand snapped to her nose, only to flinch away as pain flared anew.
"What the hell?!"
The voice caught her attention and despite her injuries, she angled her head to gaze into bright yellow eyes. A man stood before her, fair skinned, rugged and with stubble on his chin. Short, dark purple hair sat atop his head. A weapon was held in his grasp, one too complicated to immediately discern besides the fact that it was a rifle of some kind.
"Get back, kid! It's not safe!" he shouted, his tone filled with fear and worry.
She couldn't so much as nod her head before a black feather tore through his chest.
A sound reminiscent of shattering glass pierced the shocked silence as the purple barrier that had surrounded him seconds prior disintegrated. Blood sprayed like a fountain as the man collapsed to the floor, coating her form in the scarlet ichor from head to toe.
"Shit! Man down!" a voice called out as the screams picked up once more.
"Move your ass, kid!" Before she knew it, she was swept off of her feet into the arms of someone she couldn't see.
She might have protested but she had not the strength to struggle against the arms carrying her. They made haste and within seconds, she was placed with a small group of people, most likely the other passengers, numbering at a few dozen.
The man who carried her gripped her shoulders and turned her around. When they locked eyes, he spoke. "Stay here, kid. Don't move a muscle." he said sternly, though not without kindness. "Just let us do our job and you'll all be alright."
She could see the doubt in his eyes.
Before he left, the man turned towards one of the passengers behind her. "I know you've got your hands full, but I need you to watch her! Make sure she stays put!" He was already moving before he finished his sentence.
She watched him rejoin the fray, shouting something she couldn't hear to the others fighting the monsters, before she turned around, only for warm, shining blue eyes to gaze into her own.
"Mother…?" The words escaped her before she could stop them.
While the woman before her did hold dark hair that could rival the night with its beauty, blue eyes that held the sky within them and skin nearly as fair as her own, there were differences that were all too apparent after a second look.
The woman's eyes filled with sorrow and her smile that only seconds prior beamed with reassurance, now held a sadness to it.
"I'm sorry, dear. I'm not your mother." she said. "But…" she continued as her smile forced itself to widen. "I'm sure she's just fine. We'll make sure you get back to her, okay?"
Ranni nodded. What else could she do? She had not the heart to admit such was an impossibility.
"Here… Let's get you cleaned up." The woman said before a rag found itself pressed against her cheek. It was oddly comforting, she supposed. It didn't take long for the pressure to ease as the woman pulled the rag away. Though she tried to hide it, Ranni could see the deep red stains all over it.
"My name is Celia." the woman said, before her eyes drifted down towards a young girl entangled in her grasp. "This little one here is Livia." The girl didn't respond, too stricken with fear as she was, Ranni didn't blame her. Even as she buried her face into her mother's side, she could hear the sniffles and see the patches of wetness on Celia's blouse.
"What's yours?"
.
..
...What…?
The question startled her, evident by the slight widening of her eyes. It was a question she hadn't been expecting, though, in hindsight, it was foolish not to. When was the last time someone had asked for her name in this life? How could she even answer that question when this body had no name?
So, she simply stared into those azure orbs that reminded her so much of her mother, Rennala. Any response that appeared in her head was dismissed, deemed inefficient or unsuitable.
Eventually, Celia's smile dropped slightly at her lack of response as a comforting hand fell upon her shoulder. "There's no need to be afraid, dear." She whispered softly. "Everything will be alright."
Ranni turned her head away, back towards the men and women fighting to protect them. A few were dead, several were injured, only a handful were in fighting shape, but nevertheless they all pushed themselves to their limits.
"Incoming! Get down!" one of them shouted. Cries of panic burst from the crowd as they all threw themselves to the floor. Ranni was too slow to do so, evident as Celia roughly grabbed her and pulled her close before a tremor rocked the airship.
Someone screamed.
It grew fainter…
…and fainter…
…and then Ranni couldn't hear it anymore.
"DUNCAN!" a man yelled.
Even as her hair obscured her vision, Ranni peered through her snow-white locks, only to see one of the guards with an anguished expression on his face. His arm was outstretched, towards the open airship door where the guards had rained fire down upon their adversaries.
It was more than large enough for a man to fall through.
"God dammit! We're dropping like flies!" another guard shouted. "We have to take out those Nevermore before they destroy the airship! How many more are there?!"
"If only I knew the answer to that!" came the reply. There was a sharp crack as a bullet cut through the air. When no shriek of pain met his ears, the guard swore. "I can't see shit out there! It's too dark!"
Ranni's eyes widened. If they did nothing, it would only be a matter of time. She looked down at her bloodied hands as a spark of magic danced across her palms.
After all the trouble she went through to leave Mantle, she refused to die now. If that meant revealing her magic, then it was a price she was more than willing to pay.
With Celia's grip absent on her, Ranni pushed herself to her legs and wobbled forth, taking care not to stumble and fall. She could hear the woman calling out for her, but she did not try to reach out and grab her. She was most likely preoccupied with her own daughter.
When she reached the opening, she latched onto a guards leg to keep herself steady.
"What the- Oy, kid! Get back!" Before the man could try to dislodge her, she reached out and focused.
Magic surged in her veins and a glow common across all glintstone sorceries built up in her palms. Her injuries throbbed with pain, earning a wince that almost ruined her concentration, but nevertheless, she pushed through.
With a silent cry of effort, a cyan bolt of magic hurdled into the clouds like a flare, before it exploded, illuminating the sky with shining Starlight.
When the monsters shrieked again, she could finally see them.
Large, towering avians with feathers darker than the blackest night. Their eyes, red, lifeless and burning with hatred, seemed to gaze into her very soul. Their heads, lacking in feathers and skin, leaving their skulls visible, were the very image of terror.
They reminded her of Monstrous Crows, those horrid birds that resided wherever death was thick in the air, feasting on the corpses of the fallen. The differences were there, yet the resemblance was uncanny.
Yet, any fear that threatened to creep into her heart was pushed aside as exhaustion surged forth. Her grip slackened and she would have most assuredly fallen, had it not been for the guard who's leg she had latched onto having grabbed her before she could.
"What the hell just happened…?" she heard one of them ask with disbelief in their tone.
"Was that a semblance? But… she's so young…" another breathed.
"Doesn't matter! Whatever she did helped! We can see em, so we can kill em!" a third yelled out with a hint of triumph in his voice. "GIVE EM HELL!"
The shout knocked the rest out of their stupor. Triggers were pulled and bullets flew through the air. The result was almost immediate.
Ranni could see the guards tear holes through one of the monsters, -Nevermore, she recalled- as it screeched in pain. The sound grated her ears and she winced, yet she forced her eyes to stay open.
The Nevermore flapped its wings as its feathers seemed to stiffen, ready to be hurled at its prey, before a particularly large bullet tore through the base of its wing in a small, yet fiery explosion. Gravity took hold immediately and the creature began to plummet. A cheer went off behind her, but it was cut short when a barrage of feathers pierced the airship once more.
"There's more! Take em down!"
Although the Nevermore remained troublesome foes, the guards had little difficulty dispatching the rest. Their guns sang like a symphony as their bullets flew in unison. With each barrage, another Nevermore fell, either killed in the air, leaving their disintegrating corpses to fall to the earth, or with their wings torn off, allowing them to plummet when there was nothing to keep them in the sky.
The airship has sustained considerable damage but was still in condition to fly for a while longer. As the last Nevermore dropped from the sky, Ranni breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's it! We're clear!" a guard shouted as cheers from the guards and the passengers cut through the silence.
They laughed and they cried as the passengers embraced one another, releasing tears of joy. Ranni couldn't help but smile slightly at the sight.
"That was some fine work." a guard said as the magical light in the sky began to fade away. She turned, only to meet bright orange eyes staring at her with gratitude.
"What you did was dangerous, reckless and downright stupid…" he said. "But we might have been in trouble without it. So thanks, kid."
"'Twas a pleasure." she said softly, earning an amused chuckle from the man.
"Ain't that interesting." he said. "Haven't heard someone talk all fancily like that in a long while…"
Ranni opened her mouth to respond, but a shriek tearing through the air made the guard and her both freeze.
"Hey kid, you mind using that light again?" he asked as the grip on his weapon tightened.
She shook her head as she latched onto his leg once more. Once again her magic flowed through her and a bolt of Starlight shot into the sky.
There, hiding among the clouds, was a stray Nevermore. It was larger and more ferocious looking than its brethren. Its cries reminiscent of a bringer of death.
"There's another! Looks like an Alpha!" a voice cut through the air. "Shoot it out of the sky!"
Once more did the guards raise their weapons, but before they could fire, an ear-piercing shriek met theirs ears, causing more than a few to cry out in pain as they clutched at their ears in a desperate attempt to block out the noise.
Then a flash of blinding light, accompanied by a thunderous roar and a tremor that reverberated throughout the airship, filled her with a sense of dread. Even with her eyes sealed shut, her other senses were unobstructed. Her hair flapped around as a feeling reminiscent of her stomach rising into the air built up within her while a foul smell of something burning filled her nose.
Wait… Burning?
"What was that?!" She could barely make out the voices through the sudden chorale of screams.
"One of the engines was hit! We're going down!"
'Ah… So this is where this life of mine shall end…'
She felt strong arms wrap around her as they plummeted, clutching her close, filling her with warmth.
Then a single word cut through the chaos.
"BRACE!"
They collided with the ground a moment later… and Ranni's world went dark.
"I… I'm sorry…"
"You're sorry? That's all you have to say? After what you've done?"
"…"
"We were meant to be wed. Everything has been arranged, our special day is fast approaching… and all this time you had hidden… this… from me. Could you at least tell me why? I had thought that you loved me just as I loved you… To think…"
"No! No, I… I do love you, I promise, my dear! Nothing could keep us apart!"
"Then how do you explain the child in your arms?"
"It… A moment of weakness, of doubt… nothing more…"
"Do you truly despise me so?"
"Honey, please! I-"
"I had hoped that our union could be more than just a business agreement. I did all I could to make you happy, to make this as pleasant as possible for you despite it all… I… Perhaps it was never meant to be."
"What are you…?"
"I'll speak with your father… If you truly loathe me as much as your actions suggest, then you'll have no issues annulling our engagement."
"Honey, wait! Brothers be my witness, I swear to you, I love you with all of my heart!"
"How can I hold faith in your words when your actions suggest otherwise?"
"Because you opened my eyes! Over the course of our time together you have been nothing but kind and caring. The child in my arms was a product of spite, solely because I was forced into a situation I had no control over. When we first met, I despised you, but you've long since rid my mind of those notions and now my heart flutters with joy whenever your eyes meet my own…
Please, if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, to earn your trust once more… Please, tell me…"
"…"
"…"
"…Very well… If you truly feel as you say… then do away with the child."
"What?!"
"Should any find out about her heritage, her status as a bastard, your family, our family, will be torn apart by the vultures within Atlesian high society. As cruel as it is, this is something that must be done."
"But… I… I can't…"
"Then I will. Have no fear, my dear. I promise you, she will have a fine home with wonderful caretakers. I will make sure she has her entire life ahead of her…
…This I swear."
She awoke with a gasp.
Ranni's blue eyes snapped open as she sputtered and coughed. She choked and retched as saliva dribbled down her chin. Her lungs burned, having been devoid of oxygen for a considerable amount of time. Her head throbbed and her left hand clutched at her brow, desperate for any form of respite. Eventually, the pain began to alleviate, slowly, with each rasping breath she took.
In time, her coughing subsided, her vision cleared and her breaths steadied. When she finally deemed herself fit, her frail arms pushed her to her knees.
A loose sheet of metal collapsed underneath her, making her slip, sending her tumbling to the floor once more. Her head thrashed against the ground with a dull sound, followed by a moan of pain.
She laid there for several minutes before she tried again. Slowly, ever so slowly, she rose once more, taking extra care as to where she placed her feet.
Then, once she finally stood upon her frail legs, she froze.
Fire.
All around her, there was fire.
A raging inferno that sought to swallow all in its wake. Within the flames, she could see them. The dead, their corpses scorched and blackened as their clothes burned to ash upon their forms, and the dying, too weak to scream any longer despite the suffering they endured, trapped as they were within the wreckage.
She could see one of them reach out to her with a blackened hand, a charred face with familiar sky blue eyes wordlessly pleading for her to save them…
…But what could a frail little girl like her even hope to accomplish?
The airship was completely destroyed. Little more than a shell, unfit even to salvage. Once the blaze would die out, she imagined nothing more would be done save for scrapping the warped and charred metal.
Something brushed against her leg, catching her attention.
.
..
…Oh…
Bright orange eyes stared back at her once more. Where once, they were full of concern, awe, gratitude, and most importantly; life, now they were nothing more than empty husks that stared into the void. Her gaze trailed down his length, only to stop at his midsection, where a stray metal sheet had severed his body in half.
Only then did she register the feeling of warm liquid clinging to her form.
Her entire body was dyed dark red…
A sudden feeling of dread welled up inside her. She turned and opened her mouth, ready to call for any that could still be saved, only for a hacking cough to burst from her throat as she tried. She collapsed to her knees again, barely saving herself from crashing to the floor once more with a trembling hand as the other clawed at her neck.
She felt so weak…
But she couldn't stay here.
And so, with shaking legs that threatened to give out under the slightest pressure, she turned.
"I'm sorry…"
And then, she walked into the wilderness … without looking back.
Ignoring those pleading eyes that reminded her of her mother so…
…It was agonizing.
Ranni walked for hours.
Until the dark of the night gave way to the day, until the shattered moon fell below to allow room for the blazing sun to rise in the morn, she walked. Step after step, her feet carried her forward. Even as her breaths escaped her raspy and labored, even as sweat poured down her brow, even as her body ached from the struggle.
She didn't dare stop, for she knew, should she rest, she would drop and should she drop, she wouldn't have the strength to stand back up.
Oh how tempting the notion was… To ease the burning ache in her legs or the fire in her lungs that only burned hotter with every passing minute… Still, she persevered… She resisted.
For if she rested, it would only be a matter of time… before the monsters found her again, before they slaughtered her just as they did the others. Those eyes… blue… orange… and burning red… all were burned into her memory.
They mocked her…
She shook her head, desperate to keep herself away from such thoughts. Her gaze wanders away from the uneven dirt path she had stumbled upon, into the green forests filled with life. Birds chirped within the canopy, squirrels scurried up the barks of trees and rabbits frolicked upon the forest floor.
It was a warm sight… A pleasant sight, one that brought about fond memories…
Yet, even as a smile, small as it was, formed on her face, it did nothing to keep her eyes from growing heavier and heavier, or to keep her thoughts from growing more and more sluggish.
…She was so tired…
Yet still, she walked, step after step… until her feet would lift no more.
And so, there she stood, in the center of the woods with her body refusing to cooperate… Though her arms, as weak as they were, could still move.
Her right arm raised above her head ever so slowly as magic, in stark contrast to her physical fatigue, surged with vigor. She very nearly collapsed from the rush of energy, exhausted as she was, she could barely hold it together.
Nevertheless, she tried to concentrate as hard as she could. A dark blue glow encased her hand as a rune, one depicting the Carian Royal crest, formed below her feet.
The change was instant.
One moment, she could barely remain standing as she threatened to collapse. The next, her clouded, sleep addled mind refocused as Lucidity surged forth. Her vision cleared and her fatigue, though still present, lessened considerably in the sorceries wake.
With her clarity restored, the shade falling upon the forest caught her attention. Her gaze swept toward the horizon, only to witness the flaming sun falling away from the heavens once more as the sky, once a bright, heavenly blue, was painted with reds, yellows and pinks.
It wouldn't be long before night fell once more.
And so, she walked, step after step, towards her destination, wherever that may be…
With luck, she'd find someplace to rest throughout the night. A refuge, safe from anything that would wish her harm.
…If only luck was on her side…
"Dead… All of them…? Bloody hell…"
His eyes were wide at the sight. Bodies… Dozens… Some were armed, most weren't. The states of the corpses varied as well. Some were torn apart, as if a wild animal had gorged upon them. Some were crushed, buried among the rubble of collapsed houses with an odd, twisted limb sticking out from underneath. A few were burned, evident by the ruined building nearby that was blown apart from the inside.
"A Dust store, hmm? What poor luck… I wonder how many lives were snuffed out in an instant…" He muttered. "Suppose it's a better way to go than most." He said as his eyes drifted to a corpse beneath his feet.
Dull green eyes that were wide with fear gazed into his own, attached to a pale face frozen in an expression of terror. The corpse was missing its lower half with its entrails strewn across the ground, torn open by teeth and claws. What remained of the whole now lay in a pool of dried blood.
"Better than that at any rate…"
His eyes narrowed at the sight. His gaze wandered up and down the buildings, scanning the village for any sign, any hint as to his quarry. He found nothing. He grit his teeth at the realization that his prey had escaped, that he'd been too late... Again.
A growl escaped his throat, animalistic, wolfish in nature. "How many more will die before I find you? How many notches will I carve into your flesh as recompense for those you've murdered?"
His grip tightened around the handle of his sword, his knuckles turning white from the pressure and the strain.
A moment later, his anger dissipated. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, catching a familiar scent upon his nose. His head swiveled to the side before his eyes snapped open. His gaze fell upon a large indent in the ground a small distance away.
There, pressed into freshly formed mud, was a large, familiar paw print.
He couldn't help but smirk triumphantly.
"Got you…!" he chuckled as he took off in a sprint.
With luck… no more souls would be lost to this monster.
…He just hoped luck would be on his side for once…
A/N: Huzzah! Another chapter finished!
+10 Social Credits to anyone who can correctly guess who's POV the last section is from. I left plenty of clues (some were pretty obvious) so it shouldn't be hard.
Once more, I'd like to thank all of you who read this chapter from start to finish. It really means a lot.
I'm not gonna lie, this chapter was pretty fun to write, although I did alternate between mashing my keyboard at a mile a minute and just staring at my screen because my brain just refused to work. I managed to finish it up eventually though, so it's all good!
When writing this one, I really wanted to remedy the problem RWBY has in the actual show, that being that the Grimm are... more or less glorified punching bags. After Volume One, they didn't really bring much to the table, minus a few exceptions. The Nuckelavee, the Hound and the Apathy (Especially the Apathy) were really cool concepts but genuinely terrifying Grimm like that almost never showed up in the show outside of those mentions. I don't know how well I did personally, but I really wanted to make the more generic types of Grimm (And the Grimm as a whole) feel scarier and more threatening, though it was mostly to serve as setup for stuff later. I'm awaiting feedback on that front.
There was also that little vague snippet of Ranni recalling a forgotten memory of her infancy in this life. A review asked if Ranni was actually a Schnee or if people were just assuming she was, so I decided to add that bit to make it a bit more clear. I hope the dialogue between (You get zero Social Credits for guessing who was talking) Jacques and Willow felt natural and believable, considering Jacques' manipulativeness. I'm pretty sure it was stated in RWBY proper that it was revealed he only married Willow for the family name and nothing more after Weiss' tenth birthday. So, I felt it was fitting for him to act loving and caring before he actually got married. Nevertheless, your thoughts are welcome.
I think that's all I want to say this time around. If you enjoyed this chapter, I kindly ask that you leave a favorite, follow and/or a review. All of those things help motivate me as they let me know I'm making content that people enjoy. That goes double so for any criticism that anyone has. If anyone has anything to say to me about this fanfic, whether good or bad, I'd love to hear it. My PM's are also always open and I'll be sure to respond to any messages I get. That being said, I'll see you all next time.
Edit: Retconned the bullhead and made it into a larger airship so it makes more sense to have more people on it + made some minor edits to text to make the last section of the chapter a bit less confusing in correlation with the rest of the chapter.