1. Stranded
The Beacon Academy - a testimony of strength and hope. One of the schools producing generations of the finest Huntsmen and Huntresses the world of Remnant has ever known. Situated on a cliff overlooking the City of Vale, people could look up and know they were safe - safe from the Grimm.
Yet in this dark and starless night, due to orchestrated manipulations the black monsters attracted to negative emotions were running rampant across the city, its defending soldiers, police and guards in disarray and chaos from the sudden attack that breached old walls of the great city. They were trying to secure whatever area they could and navigate evacuation efforts to any ship that could haul civilians. But there were no ships for lift-off. Panicked people, unintentionally luring even more grimm onto their backs were herded away into shelters - some never to reach their destination, broken, maimed and devoured among the numerous streets of their home.
The students of the Beacon Academy were fighting in the city, far away from the shattered tower of their school - destroyed by a passing gigantic Grimm creature, resembling a dragon. Down below the tower on a plaza of gray stone and green decorations of grass and short, well-trimmed bushes; a couple of students, aspiring Huntresses were fighting a black tide of ravenous monsters of various shapes and sizes - all with but one goal. Too many for them to focus on anything, but this draining fight.
At the plaza of the Beacon Academy, no moment of respite awaited Ruby Rose, as she jumped backwards into a backflip, digging her scythe, the 'Crescent Rose' into a throat of a wolf-like monstrosity. With a hissing groan, the creature soon evaporated into a cloud of black smoke that simply ceased to exist.
"Save her!" she heard in her mind over and over again. A voice of her friend, Jaune Arc. His voice was broken, desperate. He was somewhere down there in the City of Vale, too far away to reach the Beacon Academy in time to save her.
"Up!" Ruby suddenly heard and without a second thought jumped up, all the wiser not to ask for reasons. The reason was another Grimm - slender in its grotesque shape of a malformed humanoid, tilting the long skull atop its neck in a cricketing, ticking manner. Ruby's red cloak enveloped her arm as her feet stopped on a floating white glyph so similar to a snowflake. Within a blink of an eye the girl dashed down again to decapitate the beast, and while its corpse was dissolving into nothingness, Ruby's silver eyes opened wide in terror. Her friend, the one that shouted out the warning - Weiss Schnee, an Atlasian heiress to the famous Schnee Dust Company was unaware of a bearlike Grimm looming over her at her back, ready to strike.
There was no time to rush in for aid. Barely enough to give out a warning.
"Behind you!" Ruby screamed, her high-pitched, usually soft voice tainted with panic and desperation. She slammed the 'Crescent Rose's' tip into the ground, revealing the weapon's secondary purpose - a sniper rifle.
And just as Weiss jumped forward, barrelling herself in air to land on her back and activated a protective glyph to absorb a devastating strike from the infernal beast. A moment later Ruby released her shot - hastily aimed, but surely enough to find a purchase within the body of the Ursa.
The 'Crescent Rose' was a powerful weapon, designed for shooting heavier types of ammunition, dangerous to all, but the biggest of Grimm.
And yet, it was not nearly enough to slay the even more enraged black creature.
The situation was dire, Weiss was pinned down by a barrage of Grimm strikes, weathered by a single circular glyph that ate away her Aura with each consecutive hit. If this kept up, the girl would be left defenseless in a matter of minutes, with nothing to protect her from harm.
Ruby had no time to think nor strategize. A swarm of various enemies of all life hungrily chasing after her relentlessly.
It was mere luck that allowed the dark-haired girl to use her Semblance - a personal ability all can have and use, no two identical - and soar, through a forest of jaws and claws as a crimson ball of petals, towards Weiss. As Ruby returned to her form atop the glyph, she jumped up, her scythe braced backwards, as if to hook the Ursa away. The beast resisted with a mighty roar, the body about eight times the size of the Huntress in a red cloak.
Ruby gritted her teeth with determination, her small hand pulling the trigger of the 'Crescent Rose' mercilessly.
The kick of the weapon was enough to give her enough force to indeed pull the beast away, a glancing shot bounced off of Weiss' shield catching a Beowulf Grimm into its open maw. Unplanned, but welcome nonetheless, since it was enough to get rid of yet another Grimm.
And as the younger girl did all she could to pull attention from Weiss, to allow her some sort of reaction - her feet fighting against the back of the Ursa, arms pulling on her weapon, aided by recoil of all these fired shots - seventh one did the trick. A dying roar of the bearlike monster released Ruby from her struggle, which she used to make a slash around her - fight off some incoming assaulters.
Weiss jumped to her feet quickly, her gray combat skirt - as she loved to name it - stained with dirt and dust of the plaza. Now with backs against each other, the two girls were facing their enemies carefully, hoping for their indecisiveness for as long as it was possible - they both desperately needed to catch a breath.
Similar scenes could be seen all across the City of Vale - young Huntsmen and Huntresses fighting off hordes of Grimm.
While Nora Valkyrie was happily slamming away the invaders, a vicious grin everlasting on her lips, she felt an uneasiness climbing up her stomach into her throat. She was dripping with sweat, the 'Magnhild' - a hammer of great power and an ability to turn into a grenade launcher - started to weigh heavy in her hands. Her turquoise eyes for a moment focused over on her old friend and team member - Lie Ren. She wanted to confirm her feelings. This man was the embodiment of calmness and composure. If something would bother him, then it certainly was a bad sign.
And even though he hid it behind his determination, his well-practiced stoic attitude, Nora knew him long enough to simply know. And she saw what she hoped to never see. There was no time to spare, though. Refocusing on combat, the girl jumped up with a shot from her hammer and laid it down onto a monster of Grimm, chasing a group of defenseless civilians. She used this maneuver to try and spare some of her own strength of swinging the weapon, letting the recoil do it for her. For now it worked.
In the other part of the city, a scream pierced through the night - a scream unlike the panicked voices of horrified people. It was a scream of pain so horrendous, imagining the agony the person in question was going through could frighten the most grizzled veterans. The scream ended abruptly, cut down dead.
"NOOOOOOOOOO!" screamed another voice in a desperate reply to the previous one. A voice of a girl, a young one. Her long brown hair cascaded on the ground, oddly decorated by a pair of brown rabbit ears growing from her skull. Velvet stretched out her hand in a hopeless attempt to grab a hold of her friend. A friend crushed beneath a heavy foot of a black elephant with long, jagged tusks decorating its white skull, eyes glowing with red hatred.
She stared in disbelief at the unmoving face of Coco Adel, her teammate. A face twisted by blinding pain - the last thing she felt in her life. Tears and blood decorating cheeks and lips, reminder that nothing below the shoulders exists anymore.
Velvet was pulled up by her friend, a dark-skinned man with bladed tonfas braced in his hands - the 'Sharp Retribution'.
"Get up, Velvet! We must move!" he yelled at his Faunus friend, pulling her away from the scene and the Grimm monstrosities now chasing after them. Fox didn't see what Velvet saw - he was blind. But he has heard enough. Felt it in the marrow of his bones. Coco was dead.
With a vicious roar, their teammate Yatsuhashi dropped onto the elephant from the sky, his greatsword slamming into the skull of the Grimm being. It wouldn't be enough to harm the beast, but just enough to stop it.
"FIRE!" A voice roared, announcing a salvo of small caliber cannons of the Vale military force. The attack was committed from the sides, shells finding an easy purchase between the ribs of the behemoth. The creature recoiled with a pained roar - enough for Velvet to strike.
With tears streaming from her eyes and fury on her face, the girl held what looked like an illusionary version of Nora's hammer. with uncanny resemblance to the original wielder's style and prowess, the Faunus rushed the weapon upwards, striking against the jaw of the Grimm. The force was staggering - enough to lift its front legs from the ground. Then with a reckless abandon she repeated the strike to the side of the skull, staggering it further - enough to lay the beast on its side, squealing in agony. Yet, it was not dead.
"Velvet!" Yatsuhashi cried, jumping to his friend's aid - his greatsword slicing a Beowulf in two with ease. He heard the painfully furious scream of Velvet, now standing atop the gigantic monster, her illusionary weapon shifted into a minigun. A minigun pouring an endless stream of bullets into the elephant's eye - Coco's minigun. He grabbed her clothes, stabbing the beast with his own weapon, to give both of them some stability.
After what felt like eternity, but were mere seconds of relentless firing, the Grimm gave in to the attack and with a twitching motion stopped moving at all, slowly dissolving into smoke. But there was no time to celebrate or rest.
While Velvet's weapon disappeared, the girl started trembling. Her hands were shaky and more and more tears fought their way onto her cheeks. The Faunus didn't even hear her friends calling her to move, so Yatsuhashi took it upon himself to grab the girl and run away, while the military laid a covering fire.
The City of Vale was full of such scenes. Scenes of panic, scenes of rage, of death. The city burned into the night, a symphony of this cruel, sudden and unexpected assault not allowing anything in hundreds of miles to rest.
And it was drawing even more Grimm into the city.
The sky burned just like the ground beneath it. The gargantuan dragon of Grimm effortlessly pierced one of the flying warships of Atlas. They were brought to the City of Vale as security for the tournament, a sign of good will from the Kingdom of Atlas. But no actual help could come. Mechanized weapons were nowhere to be heard of in Vale. The ships were floating aimlessly, an easy pick for not only the dragon, but also swarms of smaller, flying Grimm.
Atlassian soldiers of steel, robots made with only one purpose in mind - to fearlessly face the ancient enemy of civilization - were aiming their weapons at those, who were supposed to be protected by them.
General James Ironwood himself, the leader of the military force sent to Vale was bewildered, shocked. He was supposed to protect them all - yet had to fight his own army in a desperate attempt to save not only the defenseless, but also his homeland. He had to protect it from the backlash of this event.
"Escort these civilians to two-point-oh-twelve. There is a squad awaiting you for further evacuation!" he barked an order to one of his actual soldiers. With a sharp salute, the soldier clad in white armor pressed his gun firmly against his shoulder and shouted further instructions to four other men, who were looking around the plaza for a sign of any other ambush. Happily enough, the attack was focused at a makeshift barricade Ironwood ordered to create, where a dozen more soldiers were shooting across the street to the Grimm and machines alike.
As the civilians were told to go, some kept glancing at the general. With fear, with hope. With a sliver of uncanny disgust.
General's white uniform was torn, ripped to shreds by - most probably - some Grimm. But there were no scars, no malformed tissue or disgusting tattoos on his body, that could provoke such a reaction. It was something else - arguably, worse.
Right half of this man's body was no flesh at all. A set of masterfully crafted alloys shaped Ironwood's silhouette into a mirror image of his flesh side, mechanic joints eerily silent, as he moved about his business of commanding his troops and shooting anything beyond the barricade with his heavy revolver, the 'Due Process'. With a sharp thunder, the bullets found their mark exactly, where the man intended them to, his aim inhumanly steady, thanks to the bionic enhancement of his body.
With cold indifference on his face, he kept shooting, kept fighting. He wanted to show all the people that he was there for them all. That his own sacrifices meant nothing, if it was to save the Remnant from threats. It was his Semblancethat kept him level-headed, sharp and strong. It helped his soldiers, in a way. Seeing their leader keeping his composure in face of such a threat, such a tragedy and death allowed them to suck up their own worries enough, to make themselves as useful as possible.
The tower of the Beacon Academy saw it all. Seeing the whole scale of this attack, it could count all the deaths that occurred among the streets, on the walls - everywhere. The tower bore witness to yet another struggle unknown by all, but Jaune, Ruby and Weiss.
The top of the tower was destroyed - debris of walls and clockwork mechanisms lying in a chaotic battlefield between two warriors.
A sinister smile of one of them decorated the beautiful face of the person that orchestrated it all. She stepped to the side calmly, proudly. Her amber eyes were giving life to tongues of a living fire that caressed her temples and raven black hair. She eyed her opponent with ravenous glee, already sipping the intoxicating taste of victory. It was a moment of her triumph, a flash of her destiny. Cinder Fall didn't simply command the power of her Semblance - her newfound power was something else, than just a manifestation of one's soul.
It was true and pure magic. One, that the people of Remnant knew only from stories.
The woman held the powers of one of the Four Maidens - the legendary, fabled even women that were bestowed powers of the seasons by a knight. Or so the fairy tale says. Through careful planning and the assault on Vale, Cinder murdered the previous Fall Maiden and absorbed all that she was. After all, having this power was her destiny. And cities whole will burn in the wake of her ambition and desire - her destiny.
The sound of Cinder's heels against the stone floor sounded otherworldly. This was once the office of professor Ozpin, the headmaster of this academy. Now only muffled sounds of what was happening down below the school reached the scene. As if it was just some playful, eerie wind.
New Maiden's opponent was a girl slightly younger than herself. A prodigy of this academy, ever victorious in any duel, with a humble attitude defeating any obstacle set before her.
It was Pyrrha Nikos.
Her long, red hair was tied in a ponytail, decorated by a laurel-like piece of bronze metal circlet, now blackened with a charr from flames that Cinder kept lashing out during their fight.
Leather attire with ornaments of equal bronze color as Pyrrha's circlet bore signs of the prolonged fight, the leather burnt - somewhere cracking black.
She stood, laying most of her weight on one foot - the other one was pierced by an arrow.
She was a tall woman, well-built too. Yet all glory of her training and accomplishments was smeared by bruises and burns - a testimony to her looming defeat.
Pyrrha panted heavily, struggling to have any room to breathe, while also fighting the pain of all the injuries. Her emerald eyes, worn and tired, were locked on her vicious and merciless opponent. She knew that she could not win. But Pyrrha also believed in destiny. A destiny one had to fight for, to forge it. Nothing was set in stone, but Pyrrha always wanted to be the Huntress. It was her destiny to fight for those, who cannot fight for themselves. She knew that one day she might not return. But she stood tall in the face of doom.
With a growl of power, Cinder threw another wave of flames at Pyrrha, who protected herself with her bronze, round shield. The only thing that stood between her and the new Fall Maiden. The force of the strike pushed the already exhausted and pained student against the shattered wall.
Pyrrha yelped painfully, her trusty shield unwillingly leaving her side. She landed onto her knees, supporting herself with burnt hands, desperately holding against the stone floor. It was over.
The villainess approached her adversary, gently lifting Pyrrah's chin with her slender hand. A total victory.
"Do… Do you believe in destiny…?" Pyrrha asked weakly. Her eyes were looking for something inside or past Cinder.
The black-haired woman straightened herself ever so proudly, preparing a reply - and a killing blow.
Yet, before she could enact her judgment, she heard a weird thunder accompanied with a flash of purple lightning behind her back. turning around sharply, Cinder saw a small, glimmering light tearing itself like a wound on the reality itself. With a thunderous explosion, the phenomenon spat out a being unlike anything she, or Pyrrha ever saw or imagined.
It was a person clad in a black, heavy armor - too heavy for any normal person to ever wear. Its thick plates were highly decorated by golden ornaments, equally golden chains or red ropes, from which various tokens and medallions hung loose. Enormous pauldrons of the being were different. The right one was black, adorned by a golden sculpture of a beautiful cross, four skulls engraved into the pauldron hugging it. The other one was silver - along with the rest of the arm. It bore a different, more gallant style of decoration, the entire surface itself was etched with numerous thick letters, forming words of the Litany Xenomortis. Over these words was an equally silver, big and thick letter "I", with a skull and crossbones engraved in its center.
The being looked at its left hand, the fingers moved oddly, as if there was something supposed to be inside the giant palm. It lasted but for a second, before it looked up - a grim silver helmet in the shape of a skull looked at the two women, eyes glowed with faint red, squinted in a hostile manner. It saw Cinder, growing increasingly worried and angry at the man. It saw the beaten and defeated Pyrrha.
A moment of dead silence stretched across the shattered tower, broken only by humm of the power pack on the giant's back.
"And what are you supposed to be?" Cinder hissed hatefully, igniting her eyes anew, readying herself for a possible combat. The display of her fiery powers was enough to bring motion to the intruder.
The being rose up, mechanical joints of the armor whining silently at his heavy moves. As he stood, the Space Marine was visible in his full glory. A towering humanoid standing about 9 feet tall. On the surface of his black, thick and decorated plates of bulky armor, prayers were painted in some places with white paint. His chestplate was adorned with sculptures of golden gothic windows, the center one holding a jeweled cross within it, two on the sides sculptures of skulls. On his backpack - clearly a power source - a black sculpture of a gothic arch, hosting yet another skull within it - this one most probably of human origin. The whole structure was adorned with a golden half halo with seven equally golden rays stretching out of it.
The motive of the skulls seemed overwhelming, nearly screaming of the inevitability of death.
"Your doom, witch." answered the man, his voice very low, deep and booming. Hateful. Almost inhuman, even more so slightly distorted by the microphone built in the helmet.
Cinder roared in retaliation, sending a wave of burning fire to the super-soldier. Slightly cowering himself from the heat, the Space Marine seemed unfazed by the assault. The next second he brought his boltgun up, aimed straight at the Fall Maiden. The weapon roared once, a thunder deafening and uncompromising.
Cinder was struck in her chest, the shell exploding on impact and staggering her heavily against the wall behind her. She coughed badly, trying to regain her composure. This shell normally would have torn a person into pieces in an explosion of gore. But before she could do anything about her state, a giant hand grabbed her left arm and pulled away from the wall - from Pyrrha.
The Space Marine said something in a language foreign to the present women. It was a calm, reciting voice as if he was praying.
In another hand he held a mace in the shape of a very thick, golden cross, a skull sculpted in the center. Ominous, hostile skull. With a quick and powerful swing he struck the woman with his weapon, a flash of blue and purple energy blasted from the left side of her face.
She screamed painfully, before her body hit the ground and rolled away a few meters, leaving a trail of blood on the floor. Her Aura spent in a matter of two hits was glittering away on her body.
The Black Knight tossed away what remained in his hand - her left arm. An arch of blood trailed the trajectory of the severed, dead limb, as it fell down from the tower.
And as he made another, heavy step towards Cinder, the Fall Maiden screamed again - this time not in pain. It was a scream of fear and desperation. A scream engulfed in a nova of fire, setting the tower alight in this dark night.
Even with the superior filters of his helmet, even with the Rosarius etched into his breastplate to protect him from harm, the Space Marine needed to shield himself from the light and heat.
But more than himself, he jumped before the battered and bewildered Pyrrha to protect her from the blast as much as he could.
The girl looked up at the man towering above her, kneeling at her side, arms stretched around her. She looked into the red eyes of her dark savior. She looked and saw nothing. Nothing, except the full visage of the Death itself. Death, that was now guarding her from harm.
When the eruption died away along with the voice of his enemy, the Space Marine rose and looked around. She was nowhere to be seen anymore, a trail of fire left in the night sky.
Pyrrha didn't have time to say anything to him though, for before she could even draw another breath, she heard a menacing scream in the sky. It was the dragon. The black shape soared through the sky quickly - straight towards them, agitated by the previous display.
The Space Marine looked at it, then around the area. He effortlessly pushed one of the big clockwork cogs towards Pyrrha. It was so big and heavy, that even ten men would have struggled to move it as quickly, as her savior just did with a shove of a heavy leg. The iron slammed against the wall next to her, releasing a cloud of wall dust and some tiny chunks of concrete and bricks that fell onto Pyrrha's head and shoulders - too small to cause any harm.
"Hide." he commanded, the low and booming voice echoing in the girl's mind, yet not alarming. He turned around towards the flying beast, stepping closer to the edge of the tower. He hung his mace - a Crozius - at his side and drew the enormous boltgun again. Every move the Space Marine made was purposeful, short.
The prodigy did, as she was told, crawling inside one of the empty spaces within the thick disk of iron, curling herself as much as she could. She was so tired, so hurt. Barely enough strength left to stay conscious, not to mention questioning the sudden arrival.
"Thank you." Pyrrha said with a broken voice. The girl was at the limit of all her strengths. Yet the man did not reply - Pyrrha expected him to not even hear her silent voice. She would be surprised.
A second passed and the Huntress heard more thunders of the Space Marine's gun. It was followed by a deafening shriek of the dragon, a shriek that grew ever closer to the tower. And within another three seconds something crashed, the Knight roared, jaws clapped and the dragon flew away.
Now only silence surrounded Pyrrha.
She looked up from her cover and saw the Grimm Dragon fly away, but… something was not quite right. It was struggling, bright flashes rapidly escaping its jaws that desperately tried to keep themselves closed shut.
A sudden shriek of the beast was cut short by an eruption of black miasma from its throat, followed by red tracer shells and trails of smoke. The dragon stopped flapping its wings, ceased to struggle and fell to the ground - to the plaza right before the Beacon Academy.
Ruby pulled the trigger for what felt like a hundredth time by now. This time though no shot was fired, as the girl was met with a silent click announcing an empty magazine. Her last one.
"No ammo!" she shouted to her white-haired friend and flourished her scythe into a defensive grip.
Weiss rolled the drum barrel within her rapier to check how much Dust she'd got left - it was almost completely empty. She licked the blood from her lips, one crimson droplet ran lazily down from her right eye. She couldn't see with it and the Heiress was hoping dearly it was a temporary state.
"No Dust left." Weiss replied, steadying her hand into a combat stance. One could notice that the girl was left-handed.
They both were so very tired. And while efforts of the two friends were nothing short of heroism - the Grimm clearly were decimated by the combat dance of the aspiring Huntresses, there were still enough of them to cut their lives.
With a focused, careful stare, they eyed down every remaining Grimm before them. The flow of the fight pushed the girls into a defensive position, taking their stance on the stairs leading inside the Beacon Academy. About a dozen monstrosities were standing between them and the city, growling and hissing hatefully, eyeing down their prey.
What was worse, thoughts of saving Pyrrha were now far away, clouded by their own survival.
"Uh, any ideas?" Ruby asked nervously, stepping back onto another step of the stairs, her silver eyes running between numerous targets ahead of her. She was the leader of team RWBY, while being two years younger than her peers. But even she ran out of ideas, that until now kept her and Weiss alive here.
"None." her friend replied, mirroring her leader's movements.
"The corridors of the academy aren't so wide… We could use them!S I would try to bait them out and you-..." brunette started explaining her last ditch effort at saving their lives.
"Are you out of your mind, Ruby?!" the Heiress lashed back, looking briefly at her friend. "What if they get you? I saw you a while ago! your Aura is almost spent!" Weiss protested.
"And yours is any better?" Ruby cried out desperately in response.
The girls could not see the flash of fire atop the tower, for they were trying to find their ground right beneath it - focused on the Grimm ahead.
But they could hear the ear-piercing shriek of the dragon. Both them and the smaller monsters on the plaza looked to the sky. Numerous thunders of gunfire pierced the gigantic monster and it started to fall down. In mere seconds the heavy, black body hit the ground behind the pack of Grimm, cracking the ash-gray stone under its weight.
A moment of silence filled the air, pushing away the echo of the thundering impact. Neither Weiss nor Ruby could make sense of what was happening. And then the silver eyes of the young leader widened in a fearful assumption.
"PYRRHA!" she screamed desperately, hoping for her friend to hear her cry.
The dragon started evaporating into the air, black smoke engulfing a being that was inside it - the cause of this havoc. For a moment Ruby smiled, her heart calling out to Pyrrha that stood triumphant once again. But something was not right. The shape was too large - way too large. The movements were coated with a mechanical humm. It was not Pyrrha.
To the eyes of two friends came a white skull with red, glowing eyes shaped in a rageful manner. The creature's bulky, heavy body was black, just like that of a Grimm. This being looked so similar to the blasted monsters and never before discovered fear seeped into the minds of the students. Fear of the unknown horror that stood before them.
Black clouds overtook Weiss' mind. Could it be some sort of another Grimm, that was born out of the carcass of its predecessor? The menacing shape clearly was no Huntsman, who - assuming that they would survive such an event - would already jump into the fray.
But there was something odd about this. The Grimm were eyeing up the standing up creature just as well in what could be described as a puzzled confusion.
"Ruby… I don't like this…" Weiss said, her voice trembling with fear she never knew she had.
But before the reply could come, loud shots came from this mysterious entity. A symphony of war and death. All four shots found their purchase within the Grimm - the closest ones to the girls. The Grimm literally exploded, black smoke quickly dissolving into the air.
The shape moved so fast, one could assume its Semblance was increasing their speed - there were many such Semblances, Ruby's one of them. On the run, another two shots were fired, this time to the closest ones. Explosions evaporating another two monsters from existence.
And only then Ruby and Weiss could see who that was. The hulking black knight with a skull helmet and devastating weapons jumped amidst the Grimm with hateful fervor. Drawing a cross-shaped Crozius from his side, the Space Marine swung the weapon, his movement but a blur to mortal eyes.
"PURGA DAEMONEM!" the knight roared with his deep, thunderous voice.
Shades of blue and purple erupted from the impact with still confused Ursa Major, as the white skull of the beast shattered into millions of tiny fragments.
The rest of the Grimm immediately jumped onto the assailant, trying to end his life. None could even hit him - he was unbelievably quick for all this bulkiness. As if such heavy armor did not slow him down at all.
Releasing a bolt shell into one of the Beowulfs, he looked to the other side to slam his mace down onto another one. As the weapon fell down, another gorilla-like monster jumped to grab a hold of the Space Marine's arm that held the boltgun. The warrior retreated his hand quickly and jabbed the creature with an elbow to the chin, followed by a wide swing of the Crozius into Grimm's head.
To Ruby and Weiss, it looked almost magical. Their savior seemed to effortlessly deal with his enemies, roaring in the language they knew nothing about. Each one seemed to be a spiteful prayer for the damnation of his foes. A hateful hymn to their imminent destruction.
Before they knew, it was almost over. The Space Marine swung down onto one of the two remaining Grimm monsters, killing it instantly and like water he shifted into a shoulder bash against the last one.
The spindly grotesque of a humanoid rolled onto the ground and recoiled painfully. The man approached it with grim determination, pure intent in every motion. As he stood above the still dazed black monster, the Space Marine lifted his enormous foot and stomped it down onto Grimm's head, cutting short its growling shrieks with a loud rumble of cracking stone. Both Weiss and Ruby seemed to feel a slim earthquake beneath their feet - the prospect of such brutality twisted their stomachs. Now only silence reigned on the plaza of the academy.
As the battle came to its abrupt end, the skull visage of the knight looked up - directly at Ruby and Weiss.
The girls shivered, unknowingly taking a step back.
The man noticed it, gently lowering his weapons.
"Fear not, I mean you no harm." he started. As the deep voice boomed out of the skull helmet, it tried to sound soothing, but it could not. Too sharp was it with countless decades of war. Too strong was it after years of prayers, litanies and hymns to Him on Holy Terra.
"I see your fatigue. You fought these daemons valiantly." The man finished, making a single step forward, to test the girls, their reaction.
"Who are you?" the smaller one asked quickly and weakly, fear evident in her voice, on her face. The red cloak around the brunette's neck danced softly in the night breeze. While she did not abandon her defensive stance, her hands were trembling.
The other girl swallowed heavily, putting up her act with equal effort as her peer.
He stopped. A moment of silence filled the air and only then the Huntresses could see seemingly ancient scriptures written on his black armor, decorated by golden chains. Some were attached to the armor by round stamps of lacquer, hanging on strings of thick paper or fabric - purity seals. One was hanging from his waist down to his knees - a thick sheet of fabric filled with intricately scribed text, decorated by iconography of death and knights.
"I am Chaplain Gerhard of the White Knights Chapter of the Space Marines. I am the Angel of Death of the God-Emperor." he explained with a stoic voice, yet with pious weight behind every word. What he was saying made little sense to Ruby and Weiss, but they were better than to question somebody, who effortlessly killed so many Grimm - including that dragon. "You have fought bravely in the face of such a foe. What planet is this, child?" the Space Marine asked calmly.
The girls were taken aback with the question. They looked at each other briefly, quick to return their scared gaze at the Chaplain. The bewildered confusion on their faces worried the Space Marine.
"R-Remnant. This is Remnant." Ruby replied, as if afraid the answer would anger the man before her.
The man blinked - not, that anybody could see him doing so.
"What sector is this? Which of the Imperial Segmentum is this planet a part of? Can you lead me to the local Administratum office?" He asked again. These were a bit quicker - worry slowly making way into his mind, though he never had shown it.
And again his questions were met with an ever deepening confusion. A frightful worry showed on the faces of the mortal children. It did not bode well for the Space Marine's attempts to locate himself.
"I-I'm sorry… but we have no idea, what are you talking about… sir…" The brunette answered again.
"Are you telling me you have no knowledge about the Imperium, and yet you speak Low Gothic with such fluency?" Gerhard growled.
"No, we don't! And I don't know what "Low Gothic" is!" Weiss growled back, immediately regretting her decision, as the glowing red eyes of the skull visage focused on her.
The Space Marine stood in silence, looking at the girls, his thoughts a spiral of questions.
In his mind, there was only one answer, that would fall into this scenario: He was somehow transported into a civilized world yet beyond the Light of the Imperium.
That was terrible news for him.
These children were injured and tired. They fought daemons unlike any he himself ever saw - and his Duty to the Emperor reached over two hundred standard years, the weight of experience heavy upon his shoulders. He wanted to scare them no more, than they already were. While most of the chapters of the Space Marines showed a cold indifference to the mortals, there were also those, who thought very little of them - slaves at best, cattle at the worst.
But Gerhard was not one of his cousins. While hatred and zeal ran thick in his veins, gifts of his Primarch's Gene-seed, he was a White Knight - a Bulwark Against Terror, the Defender of Humanity. All humans loyal to the Emperor were precious, their lives worthy of mighty work and duty for the Master of Mankind.
And while obviously this planet was far away from the Emperor, they fought the daemons just like the Imperium did. Reuniting them would be a matter of time - its inhabitants deserved no righteous fury from his side.
"A girl of your age fought a fire witch atop this tower. Somebody you know?" Gerhard asked from under his mask. He assumed enemies of the daemons were no friends to psykers - cursed humans with an ability to draw power from the Warp itself, allowing them inhuman feats and abilities. Feats so very much alike those of Cinder.
Hearing this, the faces of both Ruby and Weiss returned some vitality to them. It was a relief to Gerhard, as it seemed that his initial judgment was correct - that witch probably caused this daemon incursion.
But what he saw next would shatter his belief and endanger both girls.
"Pyrrha!" Ruby called out with a victorious relief and looked with a determined smile at Weiss. The white-haired girl dabbed her sleeve against her cheek, wiping more blood from face, the crimson liquid smeared thick on the gray fabric.
And tired though they were, the students ran down the stairs, now only about five yards away from Gerhard.
Confused, he saw the girls nodding at each other and then noticed Weiss raising her rapier, the 'Myrtenaster' up towards the tower. She took a deep breath and spinned the cylinder inside the weapon and as it clicked she focused her sight on the stone wall of the Beacon Academy, creating a trail of round glyphs, beaming with a soft, white light.
Before Ruby could jump up to use her way upstairs however, she heard the mechanical joints of Gerhard's power armor come to life with haste, followed by a readying click of his boltgun.
She looked around and stared down the barrel that could fit her fist inside. She knew that in their current state one shot would be enough to kill them.
"What is the meaning of this?" The Chaplain growled, steadying himself. "You too are witches." He seethed spitefully.
Ruby felt her blood freezing inside her veins. Never before death seemed so close. She was trembling softly, but she could not move. She realized any sudden movements might provoke the Chaplain into action.
Weiss stood frozen, only her head turned to her left, to look over her shoulder with the eye that could yet see.
"I…" Ruby stuttered, completely taken off-guard by the question.
"What do you mean, "witches"?" Weiss quickly interrupted. Hearing her friend, the Atlassian girl mustered all the courage she could possibly find within her to speak up, to delay what was coming. There had to be a way around.
The gun switched the target towards her. It was large, painted black. The thick forend and hand guard that enveloped the high-caliber barrel had a string of ancient paper with intricately written prayers wrapped around itself, bound together by a metal pin in the shape of a shield. It was red, a golden cross painted on its surface. Boltgun's magazine was large, and seemed to be two separate ones linked together - a fire selector.
"Your witchcraft. Psykery." Gerhard spat out. "Minds of the Warp-tainted are dangerous, yet another gate for daemons to assault the Imperium." He explained finally, never wavering his hand. The man didn't shoot these children outright only for one reason - they were fighting these black beasts just like he did. Could they be sanctioned psykers in their own way? Though without the Imperial authority, such practices were gravely dangerous - outside its natural risks.
The Space Marine felt his index finger stiffen on the trigger. He saw no madness in the eyes of these girls. No signs of mutation or otherwise signs of the Warp seemed to plague them.
"We… really don't know what you are talking about… sir." Weiss replied. Her hand felt tired from holding up her weapon and lowered it.
"Don't move." Gerhard warned her, his booming voice cold and relentless. Regardless of his wary stance, something must've been done. Weiss swallowed heavily.
"We don't know who you are, or what you want. We saw you fight these Grimm, so you are no ally to these beasts." She continued slowly, making sure her words were clear and audible.
"The city is swarming with the Grimm…" Ruby interjected, her head hung low "There are countless people who need our aid!" she continued, almost barking and after a pause, the brunette added silently "Our friend needs our aid." She seemed desperate. As she lifted her silver eyes up to the man, a steely determination was beaming from them.
Gerhard watched Ruby carefully. His inquisitive sight tried to strip every layer of the girl's attitude to find a lie, to find corruption. He was a Chaplain of the Space Marines - to see weakness was his sacred duty to the Chapter and the Emperor.
Suddenly, muffled sounds of the battle below the academy reached his ears. Anguished cries, bestial roars, gunfire. Only then he realized that these… The Grimm were launching a full assault on the city.
"Go." He said finally, still looking at the smaller girl. Then his gaze shifted to Weiss. "You stay here. I have questions. If I sense anything suspicious" He added, once again looking towards the younger student "She dies. And so will you." It was a carefully said threat. A declaration and a promise, even.
The girls looked at each other briefly and the Heiress nodded with grim determination. She steeled her resolve to face the dark knight on her own. This man was clearly lost. No part of his being matched anything Remnant ever knew, save for his eerie resemblance to the Grimm by the color of his armor and deathly skull mask.
If somebody could take up the task to explain everything to the Chaplain, it was her.
Then Ruby turned into a ball of red petals that soared through the air right onto the white path laid on the surface of the tower. As she emerged back into herself, she ran up as fast as she could. It was all so weird and scary - but at least Pyrrha lived. She must've defeated Cinder! But… did she? The Space Marine knew about her. So many questions - questions that mattered little. With every running step towards the top of the tower they seemed smaller and smaller - replaced by a worried hope for Pyrrha.
Gerhard looked at the display with mild disgust, though he never moved his gun from Weiss' head. Once he acknowledged the red child's departure to save her friend, he refocused on the remaining girl, who slowly turned around.
"I will sheathe my weapon now." She announced. Her hand slowly raised the 'Myrtenaster' and stowed it in its place. The Chaplain allowed it, ever vigilant though he was.
Pyrrha had no strength to use her own Semblance - not to the point of getting out of this place. She could manipulate the gravitational polarity of any object she desired, though the heavier it was, the harder it became. For now she was trapped on the tower, with a hurt foot, now wrapped with her red scarf, usually adorning her waist. She managed to pull out the arrow with as little damage to herself as it was possible - but it did not change the fact that it hurt.
The girl sat with her back leaned against the wall - it's cold stone soothing her heated and hurt body. She wanted to sleep, though she knew she could not. Just a little bit of rest and Pyrrha would be ready to get down. To fight, to save people… to meet Jaune.
She remembered the last moments they were together. How she forced the blonde man into safety by pushing him into a weapon transport capsule. She remembered the kiss they shared, her own declaration of feelings for not so insightful, but ever honest and kind boy.
The girl smiled to herself pitifully, against her pained body's staunch protest. She was so stupid.
Now she lived and would clearly meet him. Could she even look into his eyes?
She lived. To her mind again came the weird giant that had saved her. Otherworldly creature, so brutal, grim and efficient. Inhuman, yet so much a human. Who was it? How did he get here? What did he want? Pyrrha simply didn't know, but if she ever met him again…
She wished deep down she would never meet him again.
"Pyrrha!" called a familiar voice of Ruby. The girl blinked, tilting her head to the side. Her emerald eyes laid upon a dirty, tired and scared leader of Team RWBY. To greet the younger girl, Pyrrha's lips curled into a soft smile - so oddly reassuring.
The girl in a black skirt and red cloak dashed towards her friend, sliding down onto the floor. Her knees alone carried Ruby to Pyrrha - she was crying. Tears of relief, or released fear that gripped her heart a moment ago ran down the pale cheeks of the younger student.
As she stopped right before Pyrrha, Ruby's arms flung towards the red-haired girl into a yearning embrace.
"I'm so happy… Pyrrha, I'm so happy…" The brunette sobbed softly into her friend's shoulder. The weight of these words pulled at Pyrrha's heart. A wave of guilt washed over her. The prodigal student was willing to sacrifice her life in pursuit of her destiny of being the Huntress. She was ready to throw away everybody, sinking their hearts in grief. Ruby's tears, her broken voice helped in realizing that.
And it hurt so much more, than the bruises, the burns - even the pierced foot.
"I'm alright, Ruby. I'm here." Soft words came out from Pyrrha's lips, caressing the tattered senses of her friend. She reached her hand up and ran her fingers through dark hair with red ends on Ruby's head. She wanted to let her know it was alright, now. She was alright.
A statement Pyrrha herself did not really believe.
"What are you doing here?"
Ruby broke the embrace suddenly, the silver eyes locking with the emerald ones of the Mistralian prodigy. Something was not right.
"Weiss and I, we tried to save you. But there were so many Grimm…" Ruby started, turning her gaze away. Memories of their fight weighed heavily, the prospect of death at such time. "W-We couldn't get here in time, we tried - we really did!" She continued.
"Shhh, shhh. It's alright, Ruby. You made it… What is wrong?" Pyrrha replied, her hand landing gently on Ruby's shoulder. She tried to reassure the younger leader, grim thoughts of what happened down there storming her mind.
"We… That dragon. It fell from the sky, dead. In-Inside it, there was this, this…"
"Giant…" Pyrrha finished, shock and fear plastered across her face. But Ruby was here, so Weiss was alive, too.
The brunette froze for a moment and nodded sharpy, almost in a panicked manner.
"He saved us. Killed all the Grimm. Then, as we wanted to come and save you…" She paused. Pyrrha's heart seemed to jump right into her throat. This man spared no mercy for Cinder the moment he saw her using Semblance. If he saw Weiss with her glyphs…
"Ruby!" Pyrrha called out, both hands on her friend's shoulders. She shook them, trying to keep the girl focused. And Ruby never saw Pyrrha so agitated. It was scary in its own way. "What happened to Weiss? Is she okay?"
"Y-Yes… He pointed a big gun at us. I could come to save you, but she stayed. He said he had questions."
Without any delay, Pyrrha forced herself to her feet. A sharp pain pierced her foot, atop other injuries, stinging her body. She saw just as well as Ruby did, what the man was capable of. He nearly killed the Fall Maiden in two hits. Such terrifying power combined with his dreadful aura - he seemed to live only for fighting and killing.
It was a horrifying prospect, to live like that - to have somebody like that on Remnant.
"Quickly, we must get down to her." The athlete said and hissed painfully.
Ruby jumped up to aid her friend. She wanted to stop her, to tell her to take it easy - but she knew why Pyrrha was in such a hurry. And she shared her concerns. After wrapping the hurt girl's arm around shoulder for support, Ruby pulled out her Scroll - a device used for communication. She had to call Weiss, let her know they could go down.
"It is called Aura. Soul in the form of energy. This energy can heal wounds, protect from harm - can be used by a Semblance. Semblance is a manifestation of the soul - of the Aura. It is exactly who the person in question is. You saw my friend turn into a ball of red petals - it is exactly that in her case." Weiss explained as calmly, as she possibly could - standing stiffly before the Space Marin twice her height, who still pointed his gun at her. Unmoving, no signs of tiredness in his big arm.
Blood dripped down her cheek lazily, painting red the gray tunic on her chest. She dared not even to wipe the blood before him - he could take literally any motion as a hostile action and kill her in the process.
The white-haired girl didn't comprehend how anybody could not know about Auras or Semblances - unless they were really ignorant or stupid. But this man was neither. He was simply… out of this world.
"And you say it has no connection to your mind?" Gerhard tried to pry further. He was no Space Marine Librarian - he knew nothing about the malicious nature of the Warp - not in a way that could prove useful in such interrogation.
"No. I mean I control it somehow with my thoughts, but it is similar to using my hand or leg. A muscle of the soul, if you will."
It all was so confusing. What the young girl was saying seemed nowhere near anything the Chaplain ever learned about the psykers, the Warp. She was no liar either. He could see that clearly. But how could he trust… this? It was foreign, inhuman. Disgusting by its very nature.
"The daemons. What are they?" He asked again. His voice was calm, although a note of sharpness could be heard, displaying the knight's vigilance.
"Those are the Grimm. Monsters that inhabit this world. Nobody knows exactly where they came from, but they are here and prey upon people. They are drawn towards negative emotions - fear, anger, sadness, hatred. Their only purpose is to destroy."
"This sounds very much like daemons. Your… Aura. Are you able to summon them?"
"No, Aura has nothing to do with the Grimm. They simply are. Just like any other wildlife." Weiss shook her head gently, bewildered by the idea.
Another explosion in the distance, inside the city. Gerhard's head tilted ever so slightly at the sound. Should he be concerned? There was a high possibility all people on this planet were witches… of sorts.
Emperor, what should I do? He prayed in his mind. Why was he here? The last thing he remembered was snatching an ancient artifact of xeno origin from its vault chamber. He was hasty in his movements, time of the essence for him and the entire Kill Team. Then… he was here. Could others be here? It certainly was a possibility.
With careful blinks of his eyes, he navigated the HUD inside his helmet to the vox communication. Only the personal range worked and there was no response from his brothers. They could be far away, or Gerhard could be here all by himself. Once again he thought of the city behind his back. If there is war, the Adeptus Astartes answer the call.
He refocused on Weiss.
"And who are you?" He asked.
The girl stood proudly, allowing her hand to wipe the blood from her cheek. It was no hasty action, so the Space Marine did nothing. He saw however, how the girl wanted to present herself.
Her right eye was closed, blood covering it. Weiss was afraid of rubbing it now, for she could damage it further. But otherwise her face was as clean as possible, a cold grimace of pride and determination plastered on her features.
For the first time she looked straight into the eyes of the Space Marine. Now he saw a small scar crossing her left eye.
"I am Weiss Schnee, the youngest daughter of the Schnee family and the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company of the Kingdom of Atlas. I am a student of the Beacon Academy, one of the four prestigious schools training Huntsmen and Huntresses to protect this world and its people from the Grimm."
It was then that Gerhard's hand wavered for the first time. By an inch the barrel tilted lower.
This young woman presented herself so proudly in the face of the Emperor's Angel of Death.
It was… admirable. Beautiful in its own way. She was proud and noble - Gerhard could see that. Virtues of a true warrior.
And if what she said was true, these Huntsmen were a strong force - and these so called Grimm a very serious threat to this world.
Who would he be, if he decided to kill this world's defenders? Be it as it may, they fought true horrors by any means they could. They were no sanctioned psykers, but according to what this girl said… No psyker has ever caused a daemon incursion.
Gerhard started very slowly lowering his mighty boltgun. This sight was a shock to Weiss, who thought her either doomed or at least a prisoner of sorts to the inhuman knight.
And then her Scroll beeped loudly.
"Wait!" Weiss called quickly, raising her hands. Just as the Space Marine's gun refocused on her face. "It's just my Scroll - a communication device. This is probably my friends on top of the Beacon tower." She explained quickly, a finger pointed upwards.
After a moment of dead silence, broken only by the relentless beeping, the skull helmet nodded in approval. Gun held high.
Weiss reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, card-like device of steely color. With a click on a yellow button in the middle, the device expanded, revealing a glowing blue, slim panel that displayed a picture of Ruby. After one more reassuring glance at the Chaplain, she clicked a button, picking up the call.
"Weiss, are you alright?" Ruby nearly screamed into her own Scroll.
"I'm fine, Ruby. What about Pyrrha?" Weiss asked, looking up at the Space Marine, who observed her carefully.
Gently, she lifted her hand with the Scroll to present it to him. He did not react.
"I'll live. I'm… I'm so glad you're alright, Weiss." Pyrrha responded. Her voice was very tired, clearly suppressing something.
A heavy weight dropped down from the Heiress' heart. She smiled in relief, which she did not notice, but Gerhard noted silently - ever observant, ever vigilant.
"Hold on a minute. I will help you down." Weiss replied and abruptly cut the call. She looked at Gerhard with steel resolve. "I need to use the Dust in my weapon to help my friends." she explained.
After another careful second of consideration, the Chaplain nodded. The boltgun still locked on Weiss intently.
She nodded her thanks and slowly turned around. She grabbed the silver hilt of her rapier and pulled out her weapon.
It was this time that Gerhard paid more attention to this weapon. To the drum barrel with empty glass vials inside. Only one contained some of this Dust.
Pointing the weapon up, Weiss pulled at her Aura, mustering what was left of it to manifest a white glyph at the top of the tower.
The White Knight looked up. Visor of his helmet zoomed in, showing Ruby and Pyrrha stumbling onto the dimly glowing platform. It looked so wrong, felt nigh heretical to aid in such endeavor.
But Gerhard knew all too well that the Emperor had a plan for every soul within the Imperium. A lowly manufactorum worker, an Astra Militarum conscript - everybody had a role to play. So did psykers, though dangerous they were.
The glyph lowered itself slowly and the Space Marine could see the faces of those tired, scared children. They were scared of him. Scared for their friend.
He has finally lowered his weapon, pressed its side against his breastplate.
The glyph disappeared from below the rescued girls the moment it touched the ground and Weiss sighed heavily. Tired. Seeing that Pyrrha required assistance, she rushed forward against her own body's staunch refusal. She helped her friend on the opposite side of Ruby, serving with her shoulder as a support.
A few shared looks at each other, reassuring nods and some whispers - most probably informing, that they were all fine, coated with salty tears of relief - and then they all looked at Gerhard, waiting.
The man thought carefully on his next move. The Space Marine saw the pure bond between these girls. The true worry and their noble intentions. He saw them, for what they truly were - humans, doing their very best to live and fight.
And there were so many more people, like them. And countless more defenseless ones, who were meant to be protected by Huntsmen and huntresses such as these three.
The Chaplain closed his eyes in a pious focus.
They are my Bulwark against Terror.
They are the Defenders of Humanity.
They are my Space Marines,
And they shall know no fear.
He cited words of the God-Emperor of Mankind upon His creation of the Adeptus Astartes. The White Knights stood by these words for over seven thousand years, defending humanity from the heretic, the mutant, the alien.
Gerhard thought of the Chapter heroes - the noblest among his brothers, who gave their life in glory of their sacred duty of defending the Imperium and its people.
The White Knights donned armors of pure white color, adorned with intricate golden iconography - so they could be seen, so they could inspire. Their Primarch bestowed upon them the gift of voice deep and powerful - every White Knight had their voice mutate into low bellows, pure of sound and never raspy - so all could listen well to the voice of Rogal Dorn Himself. They were the beacons of Strength, Hope and Redemption. An unyielding force of vengeance and reckoning for all, that seeked to lay waste to the Emperor's Domain, to harm His people.
And who would have Gerhard be, if the core principles of his being, etched in his blood were tossed away here? Just because these people were not yet introduced to the Imperium, it did not mean they were outside of the Emperor's vision for Mankind.
Would Gerhard be the one to taint that vision? To give them reason to resent the Imperium, broken and corrupt it was?
Gerahrd was the Emperor's Will-made-manifest. He would not be merciless to those, who do not deserve his wrath. And these younglings were not corrupt, as far as Gerhard could tell.
"You are in no shape to make it into the city. Let alone fight those… Grimm." He started. Then, he took one step back, turning himself side towards the tired and injured girls, as if letting them pass. They could see the odd, silver pauldron and arm - so contrasting with the rest of his black armor. "I shall escort you to your kin. I will aid in the fight."
Each of the girls suddenly wore a very surprised, confused grimace on their faces. It clearly was not a response they have been expecting - and honestly, they had no idea what to do with it. Could he be trusted inside the City of Vale? If the Space Marine was brought there, he could help as much as bring harm to everybody inside.
They gave each other an understanding look.
"And what would stop you from killing any other "witches" you could come across in the city?" Ruby asked warily. They wanted to get back, but if they were leading something even worse than the Grimm right into the city, it could be a disaster - and all their fault. So even now, the three friends took the risk of opposing the giant soldier - all for the people they wanted to protect.
This question was insulting. But Gerhard was no youngling, his years as the battle-brother still full of youthful pride and with many lessons of the Chapters' way ahead of him were long gone. He understood these concerns. It was no cold indifference that shaped the man's face. And although none of the girls could see him, still hidden behind the silver skull mask, Gerhard's face was more of a polite calmness.
The wind blew once again and all on the plaza could smell charcoal. Only Gerhard smelled blood.
"You."
A few words from the author:
Hello!
I'd like you to know, that this is my very first fanfic ever. And this being said I would love to hear any and all feedback you could share with me! I know that I have probably a lot of issues with stuff of whatever issue - starting from the text technicalities, such as formatting, with how it all is written ending.
And this being said - I do sicerely and wholeheartedly hope you enjoyed it! I will try to upload new chapters every month - although planning and scheduling is the bane of my life.
Have a great day and until next time!