Chapter 61: The Killing Blow

Author's Notes

It appears there was some distaste expressed on my previous chapter. Forgive me for upsetting any who disapproved.

Will there be more of the BS that turned so many against me? No, not for a while. In terms of death, there shan't be any more main character death for a while. In terms of twists, we shall hold off on twists for a while. In terms of out of character behavior, only Dove will be out of character from here on out, mainly because he didn't have a character in the show (hence the change).

In terms of blindness...

(she still blind, sorry)

Happy rats, and don't do crime!

Volume 3 Short - In which Amber comes face to face with a monster.

Amber flew through the forest, lighting the trees around her on fire as she moved. That…That thing was chasing after her equally fast. It didn't make sense. Grimm, with their limited sense of self-preservation, were supposed to flee from fire. Why was this Beowolf chasing her?

She'd killed tens of thousands of Grimm before. Oz had sent her across the globe in search of the relic of destruction, but every lead she'd found ended up being a trap with armies of Salem's monstrosities lying in wait. None of them had ever been a match for her. She'd slaughtered Sea Feilongs, massacred Megoliaths, and laid waste to Leviathans. So why am I running from a Beowolf?

She felt stupid looking back, but she had let it get close without doing anything to defend herself. It wasn't every day you came across a mutated Beowolf with a cobra's hood, flying squirrel glidey arms, and a clubbed tail. And those eyes, with the goopy goo? This thing was metal as fuck! It would've been weirder if she hadn't used her scroll to t̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶e̶l̶f̶i̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶document a mutated Beowolf variant for research purposes.

Now, her staff was in splinters, her clothes and armor were scratched up, and she was fleeing. To be fair, she wasn't fleeing out of fear. If she wanted to escape, she could simply fly straight up. She planned to destroy this Grimm, but maiden powers were best used in an area like an open field where she could line up a shot not a dense forest full of trees and cover. Once she got to a more suitable arena, she'd turn around and flatten this bastard.

Weirdly enough, it was swinging across the branches of the trees like a monkey. Amber had clocked out at 55 kilometers per hour when flying, but it was hot on her heels.

Leaves around her froze and shot at the Grimm, but none seemed to pierce its skin. Amber re-aimed the leaves towards the branch it was swinging on. The wood snapped, and the Grimm dropped down to the forest floor. Amber pressed forward, but a sound from behind her indicated that it was still in hot pursuit. She spared a glance backwards and saw a sphere of black rolling after her.

It curls into a ball like an armadillo? That's so coooooool! Now I want one!

The thing hit a downed tree and bounced into the air, where it unfurled its body and spit a yellowish liquid at her. The acidic spew came into contact with her corset and began to burn away at it, so Amber tore it off. The Grimm gurgled up more venom, but Amber blasted it with air.

This was getting to be too much. Amber could escape, keep an eye on the Grimm from afar, and call Qrow on her scroll. She shot straight upwards, knocking aside tree branches as she burst through the canopy. Acid trailed behind her, but she kept rising until she was entirely out of its range. Unless this thing could fly, she was safe.

A log flew upwards, thrown from below, and Amber just barely floated out of the way to miss it. That was too close. She'd have to be more careful in the future. Pulling out her scroll, she began to call for help while keeping her eyes trained on the forest below for projectiles.

The log that had been thrown fell back down, and a black and white shape jumped from it onto her. Amber pounded her arms at it, but three red stingers pierced at her aura. The points where they made contact stung like gunshot wounds but didn't break through her skin. The disruption in her concentration sent her falling out of the sky, and by the time she'd dislodged the mini-Deathstalker, she was lying on the forest floor.

"Sulfuh Fish. Native tuh Vacuo. Had tuh carry it with me all the way in me pouch. I hate working with lowuh Grimm, but they serve theyuh purpose."

The Sulfur Fish advanced toward her menacingly, but the Beowolf crushed it with its clubbed tail.

"Sorry, lil one. Huh life isn't yuhs tuh take."

Acid spit towards her, but Amber rolled out of the way. The ground beneath the Grimm's feet turned to mud, and it sunk downwards waist-deep. Amber kicked backwards and struck at it with lightning. She hadn't wanted to fight here, but there was no choice. The time for escaping or calling for backup was gone.

The Grimm roared in agony, but it didn't die. Amber saw a rich wine-red aura take the bolt. She'd fought many a foe with aura, and she'd fought many Grimm. Never before had those two categories overlapped, but she would have to be shocked later. Amber was a warrior, and warriors couldn't afford to be distracted on the battlefield.

The Grimm's paw disappeared into its stomach. Amber hadn't even seen the pocket there before, likely due to the fact that there was no contrast between the black exterior or the black interior. Another Sulfur Fish flew at her, but this time she was prepared. A swift kick with her greaves made the tiny Grimm explode into a flurry of dark specks.

The Beowolf was trying to drag itself out of the hole it was sinking into, but Amber didn't give it the chance. Grabbing a branch from a nearby tree to use as a makeshift staff, she froze it solid and swung it across the Grimm's head. Its aura held, but she swung again and again until the branch snapped in two.

Its mouth opened and acid shot at her once more, but she pushed it right back onto the Grimm's body with a burst of wind. The maroon aura shattered, and the flap of skin on its stomach patch began to dissolve as the acid dripped down. Sulfur Fish poured out, but they turned on their ally and began to gore it with their pincers.

The Grimm roared and roared until it could roar no more.

The Sulfur Fish fixed their tiny attentions on her, but she incinerated them all with a single swipe of her hand. Amber didn't have time to waste on any more Grimm. She needed to get back to Ozpin at once and let him know that there was a Grimm who spoke and had aura and–

"HELP!"

Her head shot backwards to locate the source of the plea.

"PLEASE, SOMEONE! ANYONE!"

As much as she wanted to be done with this, she was the Fall maiden. With that power came a responsibility to help the people of Remnant. Amber groaned and jogged deeper into the forest.

She came across a small pond where four Faunus and the decomposing husk of a single Beowolf were found. Around them were the tattered remains of a campsite. Only one of the Faunus was conscious. The other three were bleeding from wounds all across their bodies.

"Please, help me! It attacked us! My friends, they're dying!"

Amber rushed to the Faunus' side, but there were too many wounds. She didn't have anything to patch them up with or disinfect the cuts. Even if she had a full roll of bandages, they'd be dead by blood loss before she could tend to them.

There was no other way.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by death, I release your soul and by my shoulder, protect thee."

To the next, she turned and placed a hand. "For it is in passing that we achieve immortality…"

She hurried the words up as she got to the second Faunus. Every moment was critical for these Faunus. There was no way to heal them, but they could still heal themselves with aura. Her own was low, but she had enough to help these good people and see them to safety.

By the last Faunus, she was choking the words out. Her fight with the Grimm had taken its toll, as did unlocking three separate peoples' auras. Such was the burden of a maiden. Her aura broke, but she just barely managed to get all three. As she watched the three Faunus' cuts close up, she began to feel lightheaded. Maybe…Maybe she'd overdone it a little today. Just a tad.

"Blake Belladonna."

"What?" Amber wobbled slightly as the conscious Faunus spoke at her.

"My name is Blake Belladonna."

"O…kay? Nice to meet you, Blake."

"My name is Blake Belladonna."

"Yeah, I heard you the first ti–"

Next Chapter: Leftovers – In which the people who survived get to pick up the pieces.

Author's Notes

There will be a timeskip in our next chapter, heralding the start of Volume 4. As I said before, we're going to be changing up POV characters and setting as we enter the second half of the tale.

Happy rats, and don't do crime!