And here it is. I said it wouldn't take long, didn't I? The last few chapters took me awhile due to some writer anxiety. At the very least it's given me some time to think on where I want to take this fic, it's eventual sequel, and other additions. One of the ideas I play with a few times is What If scenarios. I only hint at a few, maybe two? But I wouldn't start actually coming up with ideas for them unless enough people asked to see them. With how many other things I have ideas for, I wouldn't want to side track myself. From here on out I'll keep things short so until next time, have a good one and stay safe.
Umbra Hart
Waking up covered in sweat and gasping for air, Umbra quickly sat upright. Shaking, he held his head in his hands. Closing his eyes and taking deep breaths, he tried to calm himself. As much as he was trying to avoid it, sleep had overtaken him at some point in the night. Just as he predicted, he had seen things he'd much rather not. Once he had calmed himself down, Umbra stood up and looked out his window. Since he was on the third floor, he had a pretty decent view.
Opening his nightstand, Umbra took out his lighter. Seeing it reminded him that he still had to find a way to get his hands on some Fire Dust. Flipping the lighter open only to immediately close it again, Umbra repeated this action a few times. Breaking him from his trance, there was a knock at his door.
"Umbra! Are you awake!? We gotta go soon!" On the other side was Ruby. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair.
"Give me a minute!" Still in his uniform from yesterday, Umbra had to change and get ready. Once he was in his normal clothes and presentable, he exited his room. Seeing all four members of Team RWBY waiting for him, Umbra scowled. Forgoing any sort of greeting, Umbra wanted to get the day over with already. "Let's not waste anytime." Pushing his way past them, Umbra started making his way towards Glynda's classroom. Following behind him Team RWBY kept pace. Walking up to his side, it was as if she truly were a thorn in his side.
"Umbra, are you okay? After yesterday? Things got kind of scary… Okay, really scary." Still feeling drained from the day before, Umbra didn't have it in him to dance around the topic. So, he decided to be straightforward with Ruby for once.
"I've been through worse. Besides, it's not exactly the first time Silver's tried to kill me." Rubbing the back of his neck, Umbra sighed. "To be honest, I can actually understand why he hates me. He believes with all his heart that I killed his brother. No matter what I say, he'll never believe otherwise." Weiss, with her infinite wisdom, decided to chip in with her brilliant idea.
"If that's the case, then why don't you just prove it to him?" If he had felt any better, Umbra would have snapped back with a snide remark. Instead, he chose to pick the path of least resistance.
"With what evidence? There's nothing I can use to prove I'm innocent. The only people that were around that day are either dead or missing. All I have is my word, which isn't worth anything." Ruby smiled up at Umbra.
"Well, I believe you." Scoffing, Umbra shook his head.
"And what good does that do me? All Silver will say is that I've brainwashed you." Leaning forward, Yang had a smug look on her face. Knowing what that look meant, Umbra sighed.
"If that's the case, consider me brainwashed as well." Umbra knew that Yang wasn't being serious when she said this. Whenever she spoke directly to Umbra it was to push his buttons. At the very least she knew never to take things too far and would even rein her sister in from time to time. Speaking of people who normally knew their limits, Blake was the next to chime in.
"Make that three of us." Unlike the others, Blake and Umbra never really spoke. If it wasn't for their one conversation they had during his time at Beacon, Umbra would actually be able to stand Blake.
Sensing that something was up with Team RWBY today as they were being somehow more annoying than usual, Umbra decided to deny them a reaction. Maybe it was because of the trip they were going on, or maybe they were trying to test how far they could take things. Either way, Umbra didn't care for it.
Walking the rest of the way in silence, at least Umbra did, the five of them collected their gear. Once everyone from each team was geared up and ready, they all followed Glynda to the Bullheads that would take them to the Forever Falls. Teams CRDL and SLVR shared a Bullhead while Teams RWBY and JNPR shared another. Choosing to stand, Umbra put as much space between him and the others as possible.
To Umbra, the ride was long and torturous. The closer they got to their destination, the worse he got. In reality it wasn't that long of a flight and soon enough they arrived.
Being the last one to get off, Umbra kept his gaze to the ground. In the end it didn't do much good. No matter where he looked, there would be red. Keeping his fists in his pockets, Umbra did his best to hide his shaking. Focusing on his breathing, Umbra could barely hear what Glynda was talking about. Doing his best to keep pace, Umbra stuck with the group. At some point everyone broke off into separate groups. Following Team RWBY, Umbra couldn't tell where they were going or for how long they had been walking. At some point Umbra heard Ruby call out to him.
"Umbra, are you there?" She almost sounded like she was muffled. Shaking his head, Umbra was able to hear her better. "Remnant to Umbra. We made it!" Putting on his best scowl, Umbra averted his gaze from Ruby.
"Alright…" Leaving things at that, Umbra had nothing else to say. Standing back, Umbra let the members of Team RWBY do whatever they came to do. Since he wasn't really paying attention, he didn't know what that was exactly. Even if by some miracle he did want to help, he wouldn't be able to.
Taking his sword off of his back, Umbra leaned it up against a nearby tree. Sitting down at the same tree, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. Hearing someone sit down nearby and pull out what sounded like a book, Umbra was pretty sure he knew who it was. Thankfully for him, they chose to read in silence and leave him alone.
Afraid that he might accidentally fall asleep again, Umbra opened his eyes back up. Pulling out his survival lighter, Umbra opened it up and tried to ignite it. He knew that it wouldn't light, but it gave him something else to focus on. Having heard the noise he was making, Umbra distracted Blake from her book.
"You have a lighter?" Knowing what she was going to ask next, Umbra beat her to the chase.
"It's for lighting fires. Nothing else." Turning to face the usually silent member of Team RWBY, Umbra held up his lighter between them. "Out in the wild, you never know when this little thing could mean the difference between life…" Snapping the lighter shut, Umbra put it away. "…and death." Seeing as how Blake had intruded on him, Umbra tried to get a peek at what she was reading. Going off of what little he could make out, it was a romance novel of some kind. "I didn't take you as someone who read fantasy." Quickly closing her book, Blake turned ever so slightly red.
"It's not fantasy, it's romance. There's a difference." Scoffing, Umbra stood up. Stretching on the way up, Umbra needed to find a new way to keep himself busy as his lighter wasn't working. Slinging Ignition onto his back, he set off.
"Romance is fantasy. Believe otherwise, and you're just asking to be hurt in the end." As the other members of Team RWBY were coming over to join him and Blake, Umbra walked past them. "I'm going to scout out the area." Before he could get any farther, Weiss grabbed onto his arm.
"Was that your attempt at a joke, or did you really think that would work? Either way, you aren't going anywhere alone." Being of use for once, Ruby was the one to jump to Umbra's aid.
"I can go with him. Since the sap will attract Grimm, Umbra's idea of scouting the area out isn't that bad." Letting go of Umbra, Weiss gave him a look.
"If you try and escape, I can promise that you won't make it far." Ignoring Weiss, Umbra walked off. With Ruby by his side, the two of them started their mini scouting mission.
The longer Umbra stayed in the Forever Falls, the easier it got. If only slightly. While he still felt sick to his stomach, and had to hide his once more shaking hands in his pockets, Umbra could at least keep his eyes off the ground. In his eyes, no matter how small they were, steps forward were steps forward. Interrupting the peace and quiet, Ruby wasn't able to stay silent any longer.
"I uh, heard what you said to Blake. Were you just trying to be mean, or did you really mean that?" Taking a moment to think on how to respond, Umbra was in a talkative mood for once. It let him focus on something else.
"Let's see… My father was the one responsible for putting my mother in a coma that she'd never wake up from. Not only that, but… Never mind, forget the second example. The point is, no, I don't believe in love or even friendship for that matter. The only person I trust is me and me alone." Wanting to steer towards a different topic, Umbra tried to think of something else to talk about. "Let's talk about something else. Like… uh…" Drawing a blank, Umbra wasn't able to come up with something. As he had spent the past month or so in relative isolation, he didn't have to do much talking. Ruby however didn't have that problem.
"Oh! I know! What about Coco? She was one of your friends from Pharos, right?" While Pharos itself wasn't the best topic, Umbra could make due with Coco.
"Coco is not my friend. Nor was she a friend back then." That wasn't entirely the truth, but it wasn't like Ruby needed to know that. "She's too full of herself. It doesn't help that she's pushy as well. If it wasn't for the fact that she saved me during our time together back at Pharos, I'd rather have nothing to do with her." Slipping back into silence, Umbra didn't have anything else to say about Coco. While he waited for Ruby to come up with another topic, Umbra looked around. If he was being honest, he had been expecting to be attacked by Grimm the moment they touched down. With how horrible Umbra felt, he was most likely a bright shining beacon for the Grimm.
Flinching, Umbra heard what sounded like a scream. Suddenly he felt as though he couldn't breathe. Just like that, any progress Umbra had made was undone in an instant. While at first Umbra thought the scream was only in his head, he was proven otherwise when Ruby readied her weapon.
"That didn't sound good! Someone could be in danger! Come on Umbra, let's go!" As Ruby got ready to go, Umbra held his hand out. He tried to tell her to wait, but he was too late. Using her Semblance, Ruby left Umbra behind. Now alone and on the verge of collapsing, Umbra didn't know what to do.
Putting a hand over his chest, Umbra stumbled his way back to where the group had set everything up. Every step was a chore and every breath felt like it might be his last. By the time Umbra had made it back to the small clearing, he thought he was going to collapse.
Like Ruby, the others must have heard the yell and ran off to help. If he didn't feel alone before, he sure did now.
Hearing a growl from behind him, Umbra's blood ran cold. Slowly turning around, he watched as a pack of Beowolves stalked towards him. They were larger than any Beowolf he had seen in his life. The first thought that came to Umbra's mind was that they were all Alpha's, but he knew that wasn't possible. Shakily, he reached for Ignition. Struggling to unsheathe his weapon, Umbra nearly dropped it when he finally got it out. Assuming a sloppy version of his regular stance, Umbra faced the monsters in front of him.
Rushing forward, Umbra cleaved through the Beowolf directly in front of him. Slashing towards one of the other Beowolves as it clawed at him, Umbra tried to parry the attack. The Beowolf won their brief clash and sent Umbra to the ground. As he was getting back up, Umbra heard someone yell out to him.
"Yo Umbra! You call that fighting!?" From out of the tree line, Silver appeared. Seeing this, Umbra growled. "If you get your ass handed to you by a Beowolf of all Grimm, I'm gonna be pissed ya know." Cracking his knuckles, Silver put on Alpha & Omega. Charging into battle, Silver started taking out Beowolves. Looking over at Umbra, Silver scowled. "C'mon man! Get your head in the game! I know I'm strong, but I also know when I'm outnumbered!" Clutching at his chest again, Umbra felt a sharp pain strike him. Getting back on his feet, Umbra was now gasping for air.
Swinging his weapon around like an amateur, Umbra could barely see anymore. Shapes and colors began to blend together. When he wasn't able to swing his sword around anymore, it took Umbra a while to figure out why that was. Once his vision came back to him, Umbra could see that a Grimm had grabbed his blade. Its claws were covered in red. Looking up at the beast that towered above him, Umbra saw that it was an Ursa Major. Much like its claws, its teeth were also covered in red. Collapsing, Umbra could only watch as the monster crushed his blade. While the hilt still had a small portion of blade attached to it, the majority of the blade was now in pieces on the ground. Backing away from the giant creature, Umbra felt true fear.
As the creature was about to lunge at him, Silver came to Umbra's rescue and punched the Ursa in its face. Not happy about having it's meal interrupted, the Ursa let out a roar. The Ursa grabbed Silver by his neck and slammed him into the ground. Going limp, Silver's Aura had shattered on impact. As the Ursa raised Silver into the air, Umbra watched with wide eyes as Onyx looked down at him, pleading for help. History was repeating itself before Umbra's very eyes. Pushing down his fear with anger, Umbra sprang to his feet.
Letting out a roar of his own, Umbra grabbed both the hilt and the sharpest piece of whatever was left of Ignition's blade. Stabbing the Ursa in the neck with both, Umbra held on as the Ursa tried to toss him off. When it began to turn to dust, the Ursa dropped Silver and fell over backwards, taking Umbra with it. Either not seeing that the Ursa was dead or just not caring, Umbra continued to carve into it. Over and over Umbra stabbed into the Grimm, yelling as he did so.
Stopping him from continuing, someone grabbed onto Umbra's wrists. Whipping his head up to see who it was, Umbra could hardly believe his eyes. Dropping both parts of his broken weapon, Umbra leapt to his feet and quickly pulled her into a hug.
"Carmine! You're alri-" Cutting himself off, Umbra quickly realized that he had made a huge mistake. The person he was hugging was wearing a cape. Carmine hated capes. Just as quickly as he had hugged her, Umbra pushed Ruby away. Turning away from Ruby, Umbra was too embarrassed to look at her. "Don't you dare say a word. If you do, I'll leave for Atlas right now." As the others began to arrive, Umbra heard Yang start talking from somewhere behind him.
"Alright, no more splitting up. That way, if there's another Grimm attack, we're all together." Somewhere else from behind him, Umbra heard as Silver groaned and struggled back up to his feet.
"What were you guys even doing anyway? You all left Umbra alone. You do realize he could've ran off, right?" Letting out a nervous laugh, Ruby told Silver what happened.
"Well, you see, when I heard that scream I just kinda… jumped into action. I really thought Umbra was following right behind me with his Semblance!" Letting her anger known, Weiss snapped at Silver much to Umbra's surprise.
"We know that, thank you. Now if you don't mind telling us what you're doing here, we'd appreciate that even more." Looking over at Silver, Umbra was curious about that as well.
"Umbra, of course. When I heard screaming, I thought that maybe Umbra had something to do with it." Of course. What else was I expecting.
Kneeling down, Umbra looked over his shattered sword. Sighing, Umbra picked up the hilt. After looking it over for awhile, Umbra dropped it to the ground. Considering what memories were attached to Ignition, he didn't want it anymore. In some way, maybe it was a good thing it was gone. Seeing this, Ruby butt in.
"You're not going to take it with you?" Shaking his head, Umbra stood up. "Oh… If that's the case, then…" Keeping her eyes to the ground, Ruby fidgeted with her hands. "I could help you make a new one. It's always hard making a weapon from scratch, so I'd be willing to lend a hand." Crossing his arms, Umbra focused his attention on his broken blade.
"I don't need your help. It's not the first time I've broken a sword, I can easily make a new one." After kicking Ignition's hilt deeper into the forest, Umbra walked away. As he was making his way back to the tree he was sitting at earlier, Umbra locked eyes with Silver. Umbra expected him to have a sly remark ready, but was pleasantly surprised when his tormentor chose to walk away. Waving, Silver left like he didn't just nearly get killed.
"I'm gonna get back to my team. If you ever need my help again Team Ruby, Umbra related or not, just give me a call." Watching Weiss roll her eyes, Umbra found it ironic that she couldn't stand Silver. With how much she hated him, Umbra thought that Weiss and Silver would've easily bonded over their shared hatred of him.
Sitting back down, Umbra leaned his head back against the tree. This time, it wasn't because he was on the verge of a panic attack. His encounter with the Ursa he defeated had left Umbra completely drained. All the adrenaline that had been coursing through his veins had finally worn off. Maybe if he got lucky, Team RWBY would leave him behind if he passed out. Knowing the chances of that were zero, and not wanting to have another nightmare, Umbra chose to stay awake. Looking over at Team RWBY, he watched as they had a fit over the jar of sap they had been collecting. Apparently it had been shattered and its contents had been stolen. Suddenly, the red that had covered the Ursa had made sense. Huh, guess I wasn't hallucinating after all. Well, when it came to the stuff covering the Ursa that is.