RWBY: Team CRML
Chapter 46
Team CRML
Waking up next to the fireplace, Liam stretched his arms before looking around a bit. Everyone else was already up, but still pretty tired, and moving around. Heading outside, Weiss glanced back from her seat on the steps of the porch. "Hey, Liam." the way she said it sounded like she didn't really care, only saying it as a courtesy instead of an actual greeting.
He was going to say something but instead let it go since he was, also, too tired. Sitting down next to Weiss, she gently rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes nearly shut.
"Can we just go back to bed?" Nicci asked while yawning. She was leaning against the porch railing with Marek next to her. Marek seemed to be more awake than everyone else, his eyes wide open and scanning the trees for Grimm.
"If we're all so tired, maybe we should make breakfast?" Blake suggested.
"You wanna make it?" Oscar asked, glancing at Blake.
"Not really."
Ruby and Qrow push a flatbed trailer behind Bumblebee. Once it was in position, Ruby walked up to Yang.
"You guys got the bike ready?" Ruby asked her sister.
Yang just gestured to it in reply.
"Well, it's done now. So let's hook this thing up and-" as Qrow rest his foot on the side of the trailer, the tire on the opposite side went flat. He groaned in frustration before checking on the tire.
"You people are just beacons for bad luck, aren't you?" an old woman asked. She had mechanical eyes and was also an ex-huntress. This woman's name is Maria Calavera.
Chrome, who had been leaning next to the door, was curious about the old woman but didn't say anything. Everyone was just so tired.
Frustrated, Qrow walked over to a nearby fence post and sat on the ground. Yang also sat on the ground by the well in the center of the street.
"I'm starting to think the universe just doesn't want us getting to Atlas."
"It's just a flat tire, I'm sure there's a spare." Ruby said with a sigh.
"It's not just that, it's everything. Storms, crashes, monsters..." Yang sighed. "I'm so tired..."
"Me too. It feels like we're always having to fight to get by." Blake agreed.
"Yeah. But that's what we signed up for." Ruby told them.
"We signed up to try and save the world, not just... delay the inevitable." Oscar chimed in.
Weiss suddenly sat up. "Last night, I... I couldn't stop thinking - why are we even going to Atlas?"
"Weiss, we have to."
"Why?" Yang asked as she stood back up. "Ozpin hid the Relics behind giant doors under enormous schools, but... how long would it take Salem to find a lamp in the middle of nowhere?"
"What? The Grimm might-"
"They'd find it eventually, sure, but bury it or just throw it down the well, it would take years. It might not even happen in our lifetime. But we could be done with it now." Yang told her younger sister.
Ruby detached the Relic of Knowledge from her belt, glancing at it before looking up at her teammates, who appear to all have dazed looks as if they were in a trance. Ruby stares at the Relic one more time before walking over to the well.
"I am... really... tired..." Ruby held the Relic out over the well.
Noticing what was happening, Marek spoke up. "Alright, what the hell is wrong with you guys?!" everyone glanced at him. "Yesterday, you were all ready to help stop Salem!"
"That was before." Blake said.
Ignoring her, Marek turned to Ruby. "You even came with me to help! If you're all going to just give up, then hand over the Relic! I'll finish it myself." Marek walked up behind Ruby, holding his hand out for the Relic.
Ruby looked from Marek to the Relic. Instead of dropping it, Ruby hesitates for a bit before composing herself. She began to pull the Relic back, but suddenly screamed and dropped the Relic down the well.
"No!" Marek rushed over and looked in the well but couldn't see the Relic.
"No! No! No! I didn't mean to!" Ruby shouted as she ran her hands through her hair.
"Ruby, it's okay." Weiss said softly.
"No! No, there's something down there! I saw it, it was looking at me!" Ruby told them. She looked back in the well.
"Hey, it's okay. You just said you're tired. It's probably nothing. Now let's go." Yang said, placing a hand on Ruby's shoulder.
"What's wrong with you?! We can't just leave, we have to go down there! We have to get the lamp back! Oh, what was I thinking?!"
"All we have to do is fix this trailer. Hey, farm boy, check the shed for a spare." Qrow told Oscar.
"I'm not leaving without the lamp!"
Instead of waiting for them to argue more, Marek vaulted over the well and fell into the darkness below. Landing in ankle high water, he began to look around for the Relic.
After a second passed, a half dozen more splashes echoed through the sewers as team RWBY, Chrome, Nicci and Liam hopped down the well. Taking out their scrolls, Ruby and Yang turned on the flashlights.
Seeing the Relic nowhere near, Yang spoke. "Maybe the current carried it away?"
As the eight looked around for it, Ruby sighed in frustration. "Oh, come on, where is it?"
"Turn off your lights and just look for the glow?" Blake suggested.
"Okay..." Ruby said nervously as she and Yang did as suggested.
As they walked, the soft glow from the Relic shined a bit further down the tunnel. "There." Blake pointed at it.
Ruby ran ahead to grab the Relic as Marek followed. Reaching it, Ruby picked it up. "Guys, I-" looking up from the Relic, Ruby froze as she saw multiple humanoid-looking Grimm of different sizes bunched together. They turned their heads toward Ruby, reaching their arms out to her. Ruby let out a terrified scream, snapping her teammates and Marek's snap out of their trance-like states.
"Ruby?!" Yang shouted.
Quick to react, Marek grabbed Ruby and pulled her away from the Grimm. "Go! Now!"
Running back out of the tunnel, Yang, Weiss, Blake and Marek's team go to meet them.
"What is it?" Chrome asked.
As the Grimm slowly trudge out of the tunnel, Ruby took out Crescent Rose and fired multiple rounds at them. "It won't work!" Marek told her. "Now run!"
Suddenly, one of the Grimm let out an ear-piercing scream, causing Team RWBY and Marek's team to struggle to stand. "What is this...?"
"My weapon... feels heavy..." Nicci said.
"Run!" looking back at the new voice, Maria was rushing towards them. "Now!"
"Go, go!" Liam shouted.
They all turn around and run, catching up with Maria. Seeing daylight coming from the well, more of the Grimm appear and block their path. Another ear-piercing scream is heard, affecting all of them but Marek. Ruby noticed another tunnel entrance.
"This way!"
The nine of them hurry down the tunnel. As they ran, Nicci tripped and fell into the water. Marek quickly helped her up and they continued to run through the complex underground passages while avoiding more of the Grimm's kind along the way. Making their way to an underground room, they notice a much larger group of the Grimm at one end of the room. They make a beeline toward the other way, but one of the Grimm lets out another scream, causing Team RWBY, Chrome, Nicci, Liam and Maria to collapse on all fours.
"I can't... do this... I can't..." Nicci said softly. Marek tried to help them to their feet but they just fell back to the floor. Liam and Chrome crawled to the bottom of the stairs before losing their strength.
"An exit. An exit!" Maria shouted, looking up a set of stairs.
"Marek!" Ruby shouted, pointing to the stairs.
"On it!" rushing up the stairs, Marek was met with a set of locked doors. "Damnit!" pushing against them, they didn't budge.
Hearing a weapon drop, Ruby looked back as Blake laid on her side. "Blake... get... up!"
"It's fine..."
As the Grimm got closer, Blake continued to lay still. Reaching out to the cat Faunus, Ruby's eyes suddenly shined bright, filling the room with white light. "BLAAAAAKE!" as the light engulfed Marek, a sharp pain rushed through his body. Falling to one knee, he placed a hand over his mouth as he began coughing.
Snapping out of the trance, Ruby helped Blake up and they rushed to the trapdoor. "I've got her!"
"What just happened?" Maria asked.
Weiss rushed next to Marek and tried opening the doors. "They're locked!"
"Out of my way!" Yang shouted as she ran up the steps. The Grimm recover from their incapacitation, and another scream is let out, causing everyone to fall to the ground again.
"No... No...!"
"Ruby... what color are your eyes?" Maria asked as she knelt over Ruby.
"They're... silver..."
Maria gasped. "You have a family? Friends?"
"What?"
Ruby tried to look at the Grimm but Maria had her lay back down. "Don't think about them. Think about the people who love you. Focus on the thought of them, the way they make you feel. Focus!"
Taking Maria's advice, Ruby closed her eyes and concentrated. While Maria spoke, Weiss tries to budge the doors open, as Yang reached out in desperation before falling under a trance, her eyes even more blank than before.
"Life... is beautiful. It is precious. And it must... be protected."
After focusing, Ruby opened her eyes, the silver gleaming. She sat up and her eyes glew bright once again. The Grimm were stunned but it wasn't enough to finish them off.
Sitting up, Liam looked from the Grimm to his half-sister. "You have the power to kill Grimm with just a single look." Raven's voice echoed in his head. "I'm not sure how, but I've seen Summer do it before."
Looking to Maria, her words repeated in his head. "Focus on the people who care about you..." he said softly. Instantly, he thought about his team, Raven, Qrow and Weiss. Once he did, his silver eye flashed bright, filling the room with white light for a third time, but this time disintegrating the Grimm.
Recovering from the trance, Yang rushed up the stairs and used her mechanical arm to punch open the trapdoor. Everyone quickly rushed through the door. "We're back in the house?"
Looking to the bar, Qrow was passed out. Liam ran over and began shaking his shoulder. "Qrow, get up!"
"Hey! Get off me! What are you doing here?" Qrow shouted.
"We're leaving, you idiot! Come on!"
Back in the cellar, Marek continued to cough. Running up the stairs, Ruby stopped to check on him. "You okay?"
Looking at his hand, Marek hesitated before nodding. "Yeah." placing his hand on the step as he got up, Ruby ran ahead.
"Then let's go!" What she failed to see as she ran out however, was the bloody handprint Marek had left on the step.
Back upstairs, everyone had rushed outside but Weiss and Liam. "What are you doing?" Liam asked as he watched Weiss through bottle after bottle of alcohol at the trapdoor. Using her glyphs, she shot fire at the liquid to ignite it.
Turning around, the two rushed outside and hopped on the trailer attatched to Yang's motorcycle. Quickly leaving the farm, they could see the Grimm burning back in the house.
End of chapter 46
