It all happened so quickly…
"RUBY!" Summer shouted across the dark stormy forest, everything was supposed to be fine today. She just got back from one of Ozpin's missions and she along with Qrow decided to celebrate the occasion. While they were celebrating, a pack of beowolves suddenly burst into their home and stole Ruby before running away into the night.
"Summer, did you find her?!" Qrow shouted on Summer's scroll. Given his abilities navigating the forest should be no issue, yet with the current weather, it's been proving more daunting. "No, no no! But I think I have a path! I'll contact Ozpin while trying to reach Ruby. Just try to see if you can cut them off!"
She closed the call and quickly tries to contact Ozpin, multitasking between the call and navigating the forest to save her daughter. She nearly hit her head on a fallen trunk due to the mud. "Ozpin here" The wizened old wizard's voice is heard on her scroll, bringing her some tiny relief "what seems to be the issue-" "SHE'S TRYING TO TAKE MY CHILD!"
Summer twists her scythe into gun form, before using the recoil to move swiftly across the trees. She can hear the crying of a 3-year-old in the distance, Ruby. "Silver eyes, beowolves burst into my home. She's trying to take Ruby Ozpin!" There was a deafening pause from the scroll before Ozpin spoke once again.
"Try to reach her as soon as you can, I'll get on a bullhead and reach you as soon as possible!" The call ended, good. She can hear Ruby's crying over the storm, a feeling of focused rage enters Summer as she tracks the beowolves to a glade in the forest.
Landing on the floor, she planned to rush in and quickly snatch away Ruby. However, she saw something, or rather a strange never before seen kind of Grimm.
It was a humanoid wearing heavy armor, or rather some kind of natural armor similar to the borbatusks and ursas. It had a tattered, long flowing red cape that slightly glows in the night, it has no face, only a winged helmet with two red glowing slits for eyes. It stood what she can guess at around 12-14 feet tall. But the most strange thing about it was its right arm, or rather the lack of an arm. Instead was some sort of advanced, ancient-looking prosthetic that would make Atlas' look like peg legs, not to mention the blade attached to it. It was flanked by two alphas, with strange blue eyes and markings instead of the typical red.
One of the beowolves dropped a crying ruby in front of the unknown Grimm, who proceeded to kneel in front of her and offer her prosthetic Grimm hand. This was an opportunity for Summer. Quickly taking aim, she takes out three beowolves before sprinting towards Ruby. However, the two alphas jump in front of her, forcing her to backstep to avoid collision.
"Let. My. Child. Go." she said with barely restrained anger, however trying to concentrate in order to use her silver eyes against the Grimm.
"...Why?" The tall Grimm suddenly spoke, surprising and slightly scaring Summer. She never heard a Grimm speak before, does this mean this is one of Salem's projects? "...Why seek... child?" It asks again, it sounds like a woman dying while having her lungs being crushed while also having a lung infection.
Before Summer could even respond, it look at summer directly in the eyes. "You... huntress... hunters... die." It then looks at Ruby, who is huddling in the mud in fear. "... Death... hurts... child... I... take, you... unshackled... Mercy."
"Mercy?" Summer spoke, rage replacing all fear she had. "You think sending your wolves at the dead of night. To break into my home! And steal my child! AND YOU CALL THAT MERCY?!" Summer twists her scythe back into scythe mode. "Mummy, I'm scared." Ruby called out, Summer quickly shifting her focus to Ruby. "It's ok sweetie! This will all just be a bad memory, just close your eyes and don't listen to anything!"
Her gaze focused back on the Grimm, her eyes glowing with silver. "I'll die before you even get your hands on Ruby!" With a flash of bright white light, all of the beowolves were turned to stone. The humanoid Grimm screams in pain as Summer goes in for a swift decapitation, the fact that it didn't turn to stone surprised, but didn't faze summer. However, the Grimm unfurled the prosthetic blade at an inhuman speed, clashing with Summer's scythe. Having a closer look at the blade, Summer sees that it's an extremely ancient katana, with strange runes written on the spine of the blade.
The Grimm, grimminoid? She'll have to come up with a name for it later, backsteps away, and snatches Ruby with its left arm. Terrifying the little girl as it clutches her tightly to its chest. This Grimm has forced Summer into a precarious situation, she can't go all out on it lest she ends up hurting Ruby. The two circle around each other, glaring as the storm begins to calm down.
Summer switches to gun mode and shoots at the Grimm, careful not to hurt Ruby. The dust bullets didn't hurt it as much on account of its heavy armor, but the Grimm didn't account for her to go on the offensive so quickly. She slashed the Grimm twice before its prosthetic blade parried the 3rd slash, and the 4th and 5th.
Summer switched to gun mode and shot at the Grimm. Using the recoil to gain distance, she sees Ruby clutching her kidnapper tightly, She needs to end this quickly. A quick flash of her silver eyes, a slash of its left arm followed by decapitation would bring this nightmare to an end.
The Grimm went on the offensive, using some sort of mechanism in the prosthetic to lock the blade, it quickly slashed Summer 3 times before unlocking and moving towards a heavy attack. She brought her scythe just in time, but the blow caused her to slide across the mud.
This also gave Summer a realization, one that she thought would be impossible for a Grimm to do.
It was holding back.
But not in a menacing, sadistic way that might be more aligned with older Grimm. But this was in a calm, calculated way, "You're not worth my time. Give up." is what it would be saying. A Grimm with this level of intelligence would require the Atlesian Military to bring their full might to kill, and then blow up the area with several airships just to be sure. A Grimm with this intelligence can plot the downfall of the kingdoms on a whim.
It was do or die, if she fail here she could cost not only Ruby but the kingdoms as well. She charged at the Grimm, striking easily parried attacks. It's all but a faint though, as the Grimm's confidence grew. Summer decided that now is now. Being so focused on the killing blow, Summer failed to notice that Ruby's grip on the Grimm was getting weaker and weaker.
Summer shot the Grimm twice, before feinting an attack. The Grimm fell for it, and with a smug grin and silver light emerging from her eyes. She flashed the Grimm. As expected, it didn't turn to stone like the beowolves, but it howled in pain, its prosthetic hand covering its eyes. Moving her scythe into position, she enacted her plan and swung. In a moment this will all be over.
However, the Grimm twisted its body to the right. Blinded, yet it knew an attack would follow after Summer's flash. But Ruby, who was struggling to hold on, lost her grip on her right arm.
Time slowed to a crawl. Summer saw where her blade was heading and instantly tried to pull back. But she can't. She pulls and struggles as every agonizing millisecond counts down. But she can't. She put too much force, too much weight in a slash meant to cut through the Grimm's heavy armor. She pleaded and cried, just begging for anything to magically reflect her scythe. But nothing came, all she can do is watch as her scythe comes down towards her daughter's arm.
And what came next would forever haunt Summer in her dreams.
Qrow struggled to get his breath, his clothes are soaking wet due to the now calming storm. Gods, he should have expected this coming. That's how his semblance always gets him, but a day of good luck to be followed by this? Now that was just cruel, even for someone like Her. He stands up, dawn is soon breaking and with the storm calling, he should be able to reach Summer in bird form.
Suddenly, a high-pitched scream echoed throughout the forest. He wonder for a second about who would ditch their kids in the forest. Until he realized whose voice made that scream.
"Oh shit!" He switches to bird form and flew towards Ruby as fast as he can. He just hopes that it isn't too late to save his niece.
Ruby was lying on the ground, screaming and crying in pain, while the Grimm was clutching the wound Summer inflicted. The arm was still attached. She missed, no she did not miss, rather her attack did what it was intended. It's just that she never thought Ruby would be the one to lose the arm.
Summer collapsed to the ground, in shock at what she has done. Everything just went numb for her, Ruby's screaming filled her ears as the rain began to die down. A monster, that's what she is. Despite having no blood on her hands, her mind paints a different picture. So transfixed on what she had done, that she didn't hear the sound of the prosthetic blade locking.
Only the sudden pain in her right side and the shattering of aura snapped her out of her trance.
The prosthetic blade just sliced through her, not even depleted, aura like a knife through hot butter. The Grimm lifted her off the ground with the blade and then threw her away. Summer does not know whether to be horrified, amazed, or intrigued by this sentient Grimm. Managing enough energy to lift herself off the ground, she sees the Grimm looking at the sky. Clutching a now 3 limbed Ruby with the arm she failed to slice off.
The Grimm looked at her, and she knew it was judging her. Despite its "helmet", Summer felt it had proper eyes underneath it, and those eyes were the kind you give to a child that did something extremely wrong. She wanted to chuckle, given the extreme irony. But she's filled with nothing but failure and despair. The Grimm averted its eyes away from her and ran into the trees. Taking with it her daughter.
Her vision started going dark, everything is going numb. She sees a crow flying towards her, before transforming into Qrow. His face is full of worry, he starts speaking and shouting at her while checking the wound on her right side, but it's all muffled. A bullhead flew into the clearing, Ozpin jumping off from it, and ran towards her. Speaking but is too muffled.
Summer started crying. Crying at herself, at Ruby for what she's done to her. She failed, she muttered those two words as she cried, despite not being able to hear anything. She failed, and now her daughter is going to be a part of Salem's machinations.
And then everything went dark.
The Grimm sighed as it ran through the forest. While it did expect the parents to chase after their child, it had underestimated the silver one's determination to rescue their child. Granted at the conditions of the time, even the Shadowblades would have assumed they'll give up shortly after the child was taken.
The Grimm looked at the silver one's child, a girl with silver eyes of their own. It always wondered how they spread, silver ones were always an unexpected threat that it could never factor in. Before noticing that the wound its mother inflicted on her on accident was on top of the wound it had received. Panicking, it puts away its blade into a sheathe and carried the young girl with its prosthetic arm. Using a bit of grimmomancy, a black web covered the child's wound, preventing it from dying of blood loss.
It sighed once again. The wound will have to be quickly disinfected as soon as they return, less all this pain will be for naught. But this child, pure and innocent to its core, will be saved from this cycle of bloodshed and pain that plagues this world. It whistled, and a large nevermore emerged from hiding in a few seconds. Like the alpha beowolves, it contains blue eyes and strange markings. The nevermore chirps at the sight of its master.
Right before the Grimm gets on the nevermore, the child stirs in its arm. The Grimm looked at it and gently stroked it to calm it down. It…" it" too dehumanizing considering the plans the Grimm has for this child. Maybe it would keep her lightborn's name as a middle name, or her actual name if she can come up with anything. Ruby was the name of this child if she remember right.
"...mummy." a barely awake Ruby said as the Grimm stroked her. The Grimm looked at her and would give a comforting smile had the mask wasn't in the way.
"Worry not child." It then stops itself, the only things around that could hear it is the nevermore and Ruby, so keeping with this Grimm speak is pointless. The Grimm took a deep breath and looked directly at Ruby in the eyes.
"Thoust will be thy new caretaker, my little Lusus."
AN: This is my first attempt at a story, specifically a RWBY fanfic. I hope that Abyssal Rose will become a good story in the end, and that you the reader will enjoy it.
