7. Hearts of Darkness
How serene was the horizon. A marvel of beauty, where dark clouds to the far south clashed against the calm sea just below the ship that was assaulted and taken control of by the White Fang. On this vast, nigh endless body of water none could see the plight of the crew and travelers, all held hostage by the Faunus assailants - all too eager to find a single reason to teach them a lesson in obedience.
Especially, since the City of Vale was down there to the south, dying - with the storm as a herald to the doom of the city and its populace. A singer of the funerary dirge for the last breaths of all the humans inside these walls. Well, there were Faunus in there too, but some sacrifices were necessary for the end goal that was the destruction of the humankind on Remnant.
Martyrs always sold well.
Adam Taurus chuckled lightly upon these thoughts. End results always justified the means and who were a couple hundred of his kin against thousands? Sooner or later White Fang would rule supreme over the Kingdoms and humans would pay dearly for everything they have done against the Faunus!
Or something.
He's forsaken the cause of White Fang long ago, twisting it, making use of it for his own gain and pleasure. Being gifted with natural charisma and having a situation that allowed rallying people under one banner was easy enough - a whole board of pawns for his own use.
The man rose from his seat and stretched lazily, a satisfying pop in his shoulders made him grunt softly. He was tall and of a healthy body, with black trousers and black slim long coat covering his body and a simple red shirt below it.
His face was stern and emotionless and he radiated strength and command despite his elegant facial features.
He strode evenly through the deck and nobody looked at him. His prisoners dared not, afforded not - for their guards were looming over their shoulders, eyes hungry with hateful intent. These Faunus needed just a pretense to make an example of another person, just as Adam made an example of their captain.
He looked up to the metal structure resembling a funnel, but in fact was a communication relay. Hanging from it was a devastated, bloodied body. Poor bastard, the captain. All he had to do was to be obedient and nothing would happen to him.
The Faunus chuckled quietly, with a cruel underlining to the tone.
He would be a martyr to his crew's survival. A reminder of what to absolutely never do whilst the White Fang was there.
He entered the bridge and all eyes immediately laid on him. For a moment.
"You made the list?" He asked dryly, with not a hint of care to the outcome of the task.
"Y-Yes. Here." An officer replied, arms shaking. He then quickly averted his eyes from Adam, from his face, from his eye.
Adam's eye. A brand scar of SDC marked Adam's face, his left eye red and unseeing. One of the many cruelties the Humans inflicted upon him, upon the Faunus. At least that's the official story.
~
He was merely a child when he worked in one of the SDC facilities in Atlas. He remembered the pain of his muscles and spine from hauling the crates here and there. He remembered the constant orders barked at him, the insults - he was supposedly slow. What did they know? He was a kid and his supervisors were thrice as large as he was back then! And it was him carrying stuff, not them. They kept their papers, their communications, their hot brands to mark the wooden crates.
"Alright, kid. Hurry up an' we'll be off early. Tyla's makin' the stew again. Oh, Brothers! I can already taste it. She sez ye can 'ave seconds if yer nice today." A bearded man in his late fifties called out to Adam with a wide, confident smile.
They were rushing him!
He wasn't the slowest!
He wasn't a dimwit!
There was no end to the insults! No end to the tasks, no end to the work! He barely returned from his two weeks of time to mourn his parents. Parents that died in a mine collapse, doing their job and all there was for him was work and insults!
This man before him was cruel.
He kept him working, gave him the break he needed and pulled to work again! He was callous, unphased by the child's suffering! He was safe in that damned warehouse, while his parents died in the mine!
It was unfair, unfair, unfair, unfair…
It was wrong. So very, very, very, very wrong!
Did the man smile at him? DARED to mock the child as he barked more tasks? He shouldn't be in charge. He shouldn't tell others what to do. He should be down in these mines, he should be THERE, not HERE! His parents were supposed to be here! With him!
"Ye listenin', boy? Easy there, lad or ye'll harm yerself. Jus' one more haul, ten crates an' ye off ta go ho-HEY! What ar' ye doin'?!"
Adam lunged at the larger Human with a knife he had to cut plastic bonds. His blade found purchase in his thigh, rewarding the strike with a loud scream from his opponent. The man toppled and fell down onto his back and Adam pursued, stabbing and slashing blindly ahead of him.
Blood. So much blood.
The man grunted and gurgled, spitting some of his own blood after a third stab into his belly. Then he grabbed something. It was long, thin. Glowed on one end, too.
Then, Adam felt pain. So much pain. He screamed. His flesh hissed, his eye burned. It hurt so, so much!
This man was cruel. So very cruel. He needed to-
"DIE!" Adam roared, fueled by pain. His remaining eye was watery and full of rage and hatred. "DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!" He repeated, as he stabbed and stabbed, and stabbed again.
Adam blinked and looked at the list of names of all personnel and travelers. He blinked and looked at the officer again, who long ago decided to look at the floor.
The red-haired leader smirked at the list. It was made as a precaution for their travel, an effect of a rather heated discussion with the ship's staff about the food shortage, should they not dock as it was planned in their cruise.
Of course, Adam could not let them dock anywhere before Menagerie, he had a lot of work to do there and so little time, after all.
The list was not excessively long as well. If they rationed food, it would be easier for everybody. It would be even easier if Adam demonstrated his rule on the ship.
"Excellent job, captain." He mocked, handing him the list back, "Now, if we want to survive without a need to dock anywhere in between our jolly trip to Menagerie, we must cut on the mouths we have to feed, don't we?" The Faunus asked innocently, though his cruel words, hissmile betrayed his intentions.
"Wh-what? You can't be serious!" The officer protested quite rudely in Adam's humble opinion.
The Human was struck with a kick to the stomach. He fell to his knees, coughing and groaning painfully. The other officers stood frozen, terrified, while his comrades smiled with satisfaction.
"Pick fifteen from the list." Adam ordered, pointing the sheath of his katana towards the piece of paper lying next to the hurting man.
The Human froze and slowly looked up at Adam with a horrified expression. Exactly, how he wanted it to be. Humans should be groveling before him, not the other way around. They should listen to his cruel orders.
They will listen to his cruel orders.
"N-No… I-I can't. You can't make me!" The officer replied with a shaky voice.
"Can't I?" Adam teased and sighed, "Fine. Goatel, pick thirty." He said evenly and turned around to leave.
And as another Faunus with goat's horns wordlessly approached and reached for the list, the officer jumped onto the piece of paper, as if it was his own child he meant to protect from harm.
"NO!" He yelled. Adam turned around slowly and looked at the Human with contempt, "I'll… I'll do it. Give me an hour…" He said defeated, resting his forehead on the wooden floor.
"Twenty minutes or Goatel will start with his thirty." Adam said and left the room without waiting for any response.
The metal door shut loudly and Adam smiled to himself, full of pride. Truth be told he knew neither the stop, nor the sacrifice was necessary for them to finish the cruise. He was not stupid, he knew how much supplies he had, how ships operated. There had to be enough of everything just in case something happened. He saw the numbers himself and he knew how to operate supplies since he was fighting guerilla warfare with Humans for years now.
None of the humans had to die.
Well, they had. But it was a matter of principle, of proving a point. He would not be fooled by Humans. He would not let them do anything that could possibly jeopardize his mission.
Besides, none of them would reach Menagerie either way.
The Faunus descended under the deck, a familiar and welcome darkness engulfing his face. He had a lot of work ahead of himself if he had to finally unify White Fang under his rule. There were many loose ends that needed to be fixed and for him to take absolute control over the Faunus, everything else had to be eliminated.
He allowed himself a moment of wistful thinking about Blake. Did he miss her? Did he desire her? No, nothing as such. He wasn't even angry at her for leaving him years back. It was for the better he ultimately decided, as ever since then there was nothing that held him back in his mission.
She was weak, corrupted by compassion for Humans and he couldn't thank her enough for showing him that! The Faunus were weak too, it appeared, and Adam would need to purge his own kind, too.
His mind reached to the fateful night at Beacon Academy, where they met. Where some blonde Human dared to interrupt him. It was fun, he mused.
Ultimately, she too would join the ones he removed. She would be an example of what not to ever become as a Faunus - a filthy xenophile with an unhealthy amount of compassion that dulled her sanity.
She would cry and beg for him to kill her. And so he will, after proving his point and having a bit of fun. He deserved this much, no?
Speaking of fun, Adam finally stopped and opened some heavy, large door leading to a room filled with pipes. It wasn't big, but it was cozy, he thought.
At the opposite end of the room there was a single person sitting on the ground, head hung low and arms outstretched widely, tied to the pipes. He wore a not so white anymore open shirt, light-blue loose jeans and had red, armored gauntlets with open fingers.
He was missing one foot, bandages soaked with his own blood. A memento from their encounter at Beacon and while he did put up some serious fight, it was Adam's will that proved stronger.
Fate seemed to favor him and he would do everything to keep it that way.
The man - a monkey Faunus - lifted his head slightly, his blue eyes weakly measuring his oppressor. He was clearly tired, surviving whatever hell was brought upon him by now, mere strands of his strength holding him alive.
"Hello Sun," Adam greeted the tanned Faunus melodically, almost innocently, "Did you miss me~?"
The door shut behind loudly, its echo mixed with the echo of Adam's laughter.
It was another sleepless, so eerie and silent night. The pain in Cinder's stump of an arm and half her face was slowly fading, Aura healing the burns the woman made to herself to cauterize the profoundly bleeding wound on her arm. Her face was scarred, the tissue bearing marks of inhuman even brutalization.
A concussion that followed, the bone ripped off from its joints. It all felt so real, so lingering, etched into every fiber of Cinder's body like a warning to never commit a mistake so grave ever again, for it surely will be her last one.
Whenever she wanted to rest, her body giving in to exhaustion, it wouldn't be long before she woke up again, stirred by anything external inducing a feel of impending doom. Once, she almost burned her follower into a crisp because of such a feeling.
And all that within a single hit. A couple meters paced and the red hue of the silver skull's eyes.
No, it wasn't the pain that kept Cinder wide awake during the nights. While slow, her body did heal thanks to the Aura. It was fear.
Fear.
Fear ruled all her life, it seemed. Abuse of her foster family, slaving her to no end in their hotel with nothing, but scraps as food and barely any peace at night. Fear kept Cinder working tirelessly - through sickness and mockery of her step-sisters. Through injustice her step-mother put the poor girl through.
And it was fear that destroyed her only hope of a better life. Given hope by a Huntsman, it was fear of losing this chance that pushed her to do the unthinkable - murdering her guardian and two girls of her age.
It was… intoxicating. That feeling of control, of power. Surely the Huntsman trained her behind everybody's back to defend herself, to never again be a subject to that terrible, atrociously disgusting feeling. Cinder would never again be afraid, she swore. She would walk with her head high alongside the Huntsman, fight beside him against the horrors of the Grimm. She was so happy.
Yet, when he arrived and witnessed the scene, it was not comfort that was her reward for finally standing up for herself. It was not a praise for being strong. No warm embrace of affection from a person she wanted to call a father.
It was a gleam of cold steel aimed against her.
You will run all your life, Cinder.
His voice echoed inside her head. It was calm, without a hint of outrage - so very cold, too. Did he ever care for Cinder? Or was he merely performing his duty as a Huntsman, feeding false hopes to people around?
His voice was sad. So very sad, she mused. No matter how hard she tried to deny it, she couldn't.
And now, many years later his words were proven true once again. She fought so hard to never run again! To be strong and unbreakable! She murdered, lied, schemed and fought any obstacle to be strong.
Now that Cinder was the Fall Maiden, it seemed that everything would look up. Who in their right mind would challenge true magic? Who could stand against the sheer power of elements at her disposal? What force could stand tall in her presence now?
It did.
A black shape with a skull for head and a pair of glowing, red eyes shaped into a hateful glare.
The woman sat up inside her bedroll, once again forfeiting the blissful rest. The campfire was still burning and around it two other bedrolls were placed - their owners sleeping peacefully through the night.
Oh, how she envied them such comfort. How she despised their peace. Her lackeys were useful though and ever since Beacon, her injury, they stood up to the task, however undignifying it was to Cinder herself. She was tired, she could barely eat, her arm was shaking uncontrollably even though she was neither cold nor in a state of panic. Even her speech was slow, stuttering as if her nerves couldn't figure out how to work properly.
Cinder was miserable and she knew it. She knew that without Emerald and Mercury, her travel back to the Queen would be way harder, if not impossible - at least for the time being.
Her gaze focused on the campfire, the flames slowly losing their power as they already were but a pitiful fraction of their initial might.
It was always so cold in her room, in the hotel. Atlas was a cold kingdom, but even such unforgiving climate held no candle to the cold hearts of her "family". The new Fall Maiden hated the cold and now that the faint chill of the night was crawling its way through her clothes and skin, she reached her hand towards the warm safety of the campfire.
Her shaking, dysfunctional hand.
As her amber eye focused on the open palm of her hand with the fire lighting up its pitiful shape, she felt weak. So, so very weak. Fire was her ally, her Semblance. Flames were always there, when she needed them - to protect her from the world or punish her enemies. And yet it walked through the power of her magic-empowered flames as if they were nothing.
She was nothing.
Her hardships, all her trials and hard work meant nothing.
Cinder's slender fingers curled into a fist slowly, almost as if they were stiff from coldness, unknowing of the motion. Her own body was not her own anymore, torn and devastated by that monster.
The flash of its weapon, the tightening grip on her arm, the sharp and dazing pain. If it wasn't for the Maiden powers, no doubt Cinder would meet her end then and there. Yet, she prevailed. She used her powers to survive the encounter.
She ran away in fear.
A dry stick snapped behind her and the woman turned around sharply. As her senses focused on the treeline, her eyes sought the source and her ear desperately tried to pick up the trace.
And it wouldn't be a moment before Cinder heard a heavy step between the trees. Then another and another. A single being? She couldn't tell by her single ear. But it was coming closer, slowly and steadily.
Her breath leveled down into a silent and steady panting, as she slowly pulled herself up from her spot. It was a little clumsy, for her body still seemed to barely keep up with her. After two more steps, her amber eye made out a shape - a giant and bulky shape stomping towards her.
Was it her mind playing tricks on her? Was she growing insane with her own fear? No. Cinder refused to give credit to the weakness of her mind, whatever this was, it couldn't be…
White skull and glowing red eyes full of hatred.
"STAY BACK!" She screamed, lashing out her arm towards the creature.
A wave of flames appeared from thin air and like a tsunami crashed against the black being and the trees. It roared in agony, recoiling and cowering from the murderous heat.
"Cinder! Cinder, what's wrong!?" Emerald cried out, jumping out of her bedroll and dashing towards the Maiden.
She was a slim girl of dark skin and neck-long, mint colored haircut. Despite her name, Emerald had a pair of beautiful, blood-red eyes.
As she stopped by Cinder's side, she was already prepared for combat, her twin revolvers with kama blades under barrel ready to send death to whoever attacked them. And yet, despite her readiness she couldn't help but look… distressed. Her eyes darted around the burning treeline, sensing no danger.
Was she truly that inept to not sense it?
"Whatever was there, clearly isn't anywhere anymore." Another voice rose from behind, cynical and bemused.
Mercury. Son of an assassin, he murdered his own father for taking away his Semblance. A bitter and bloodthirsty man.
His gray hair and dark eyes spoke volumes about his personality. And unlike Emerald, he didn't even bother to fake being focused.
The man knew his way around people, knew what buttons to push to get the outcome he desired. He was useful and he knew his place, unruly though he was. Many times his ruthless approach had Cinder pull the leash, sometimes violently. He learned his lesson and all that remained of the wrathful hound was his snark. At least around the Fall Maiden.
Regardless of Mercury's usual cynicism though, Cinder paid him no mind, no attention.
Glowing, red eyes of a black giant that kept the woman's breath quick and shallow. The burning treeline that would not damage it. He was coming for her and she felt it. Its breath, the grim intent of massacring her, tearing her limb from limb with not even a blink of an eye, not a sound of effort or care.
Emerald probably called her name, reached her hand out, but Cinder did not care. Her trembling arm hid behind tongues of fire, ready to be unleashed once more, her eye was burning with a living flame of unstoppable defiance. No, she would not die here! She couldn't!
"Cinder, my child. What possessed you to lash out so?"
A voice from everywhere and nowhere creeped its way into the small glade where the trio rested. It was a calm, alluring and slightly amused voice of a woman. Curiosity more than anything else danced upon the echo of these words and Cinder felt her body try to relax and keep the guard up at the same time.
The Queen was here. And while the Fall Maiden was her ally and servant, it was foolish to ever consider one to be more than a pawn in the Queen's hands.
All valuable and handpicked, but pawns all the same.
They all looked around startled, seeking the source of the voice. The treeline around them was dimly lit by the fire that Cinder let out but a moment earlier and suddenly, they all heard thumps of heavy, slow steps. The same steps that alerted the woman - and while she knew it couldn't be that thing, her body instinctively stood on guard.
Like black titans, the creatures emerged from the darkness of night and the fiery blaze of fire as if the scorching heat meant nothing to them.
Four very thick legs with short claws made to stand firm rather than tear and shred carried the black monstrosities. At the front there was no head - there was half-body of a humanoid being, muscular and grim. Two long, jagged horns grew out of the neckless head like tusks of an elephant and their red eyes and gaping open maws were one of unbinded hunger and manic focus on this one task. Yet, it was not this maw that fed. Right below that humanoid half of the body another great and open maw, breathing with a low rumble. Black ooze dripped from between their white and black sharp teeth - every row desperately fighting for a place in the jaws.
Grotesque, terrifying and ever consuming even flames themselves - Devourers. The shield and clenched fist of the Queen. Nigh indestructible, feeding on whatever energy was supposed to harm them.
Cinder felt her knees weaken - for what reason would She bring these beings here in the middle of nowhere? She had not failed in her task at all and a quick run through the list of objectives ensured that. Yet, all the same they were here and Cinder was already planning a route to escape.
But escape where? None could hide from the Queen infinitely - and she herself was both a proof and an enforcer of that rule. This seemed both amusing and tragic at the same time.
Each of Devourers suddenly extended their thick, armored arms and released black orbs that floated gently before them. These orbs squeaked as a sound of ripped flesh tore them open, releasing numbers of red tentacles with jagged, sharp talons at their ends. And then the orbs… opened, like eyes. And all focused on the new Fall Maiden.
"Report." The voice commanded - every orbs speaking with their Mistress' voice simultaneously. It was Salem, the Queen of Grimm.
All three humans fell to their knees instantly in fear and a show of obedience. Cinder briefly shot a glance at Emerald, who understood the message quickly.
"The operation was a success, my Queen," Emerald started, her eyes focusing on a small pebble on the ground, "Cinder secured the power of the Fall Maiden."
"Did she, now?" Salem replied coyly, a note of either amusement or disbelief danced across her words. "Cinder, what happened to you then, my child? Did Ozma hurt you so grievously?" The voice was now inquisitive, unrelenting. The Queen seemed to be more interested in that than the mission itself, Cinder mused.
"No, it w-" Emerald began.
"Silence." The Voice commanded with a voice as cold as the winds of Atlas - or colder even. And for a few seconds the final embers of fire seemed almost too loud to bear. "I want Cinder to speak now."
The woman in question breathed heavily, her amber eye focused on her still shaking hand - a limb forced into submission solely by the strength of her arm pressing it to the ground. To speak in that moment, to be heard like that - it was shameful and disgusting. She lost her fight, she lost her arm and eye. She lost control over her body. She was broken, despite her power - she was weak, despite her power. And now she was to report it to her Queen.
Even clenching her teeth seemed difficult to her, muscle and sinew deterring her will.
And after a couple more seconds of silence and Cinder's heavy breath, she talked.
"N-Nooo-o, my Quee-en…" She said quietly, the sound of her own voice repulsive in her mind and ears, "I haav-have kiiiil-led Ozpin, aaaa-as You co-omma-anded." She finished with effort, focusing on every word.
The blow she received from that thing… It did her much harm. Harm that not even Aura was able to heal.
Another moment of silence reigned over the small glade. A crushing, deafening silence.
"Indeed? Then pray tell, what happened to you? Who could overpower a Maiden if Ozma could not?" The icy voice inquired, a callous curiosity piercing Cinder's mind.
What indeed, Cinder asked herself. She knew not of the being in black armor - not from fairy tales, not from legends, not even from rumors or any form of espionage conducted on Atlas military. This being was so alien and so terrifying, efficient and mechanical. Yet it was conscious - Cinder remembered its words all too well.
And as she opened her mouth again to put her thoughts into words, the Queen dismissed her with her own voice.
"Unnecessary effort, child. Hold still." Salem commanded as two Devourers approached Cinder from either side and one orb floated close to her face. The giant monsters grabbed Cinder by her arm, shoulder and neck and kept her firmly planted to the ground.
What was going to happen to her?
She tried to resist, fear gripping her heart once again - fear of being torn limb from limb by the enormous beings. The Fall Maiden tried to resist, to use her power to free herself - but she couldn't. She yelped, screamed her protests in vain, for she could not overpower these things. Any attempt on engulfing the beasts in flames ended up with the giant maws sucking in their entirety. Relentless in their own right, like statues of stone they held her in place not even trying to harm her further.
Emerald and Mercury watched in horror at the scene. They knew they could do nothing to prevent it, to stop it - so they watched with eyes wide open.
"I said hold still, Cinder. I will not hurt you, child." The Queen repeated in mild annoyance at the woman's antics.
This made the woman freeze in spot, as she realized the source of the voice now came from a singular point - the orb right ahead of her. It simply watched, observed her. Her body, her wounds.
She looked at the black being in fear, but said nothing - did nothing anymore. Her breath was hasty, maybe uneven but it did not matter. Salem demanded of her to be still and she promised not to harm her. And since Cinder fulfilled her orders to the letter, surely there had been no reason to punish her, was there?
No, no. She was the Fall Maiden, now! She commanded the power of elements - she wielded magic itself! She would not - she could not meet her end here. She summoned her strength once again and-
"One more sign of disobedience and you will have to worry about being harmed, Cinder. Do not test my benevolence." The voice replied to an attempt that was not even in motion yet.
And after another short while, Cinder hung her head low, defeated. Again.
She wanted to run from her Queen and her beasts so much…
You will run all your life, Cinder.
The voice of her mentor rang in her head again. The woman clenched her teeth in pain. Not a physical one, not this time. Her heart, her mind, her very soul ached at these words. She went to such lengths to be powerful and all she obtained was a collar and leash of a cruel mistress - not unlike her foster family. Arguably, far worse.
But she would have her last laugh when she gathered the powers of all Maidens.
A meaty sound before her face pulled Cinder from her thoughts. And when she looked up, she saw the bottom of the floating orb now aimed at her face, red tendrils wiggling about her head. The black nothingness parted with the sound of torn flesh and a circular maw with rows of sharp teeth opened before Cinder. But it was not what worried Cinder - it was the abyssal center of that maw that outstretched towards her, thin veins of blackness coiling towards her. Two inches from her face the veins hardened suddenly - enough to reflect the dim light of the moon on their surface.
"It may hurt a bit." The Queen said and before Cinder could voice her protest, the orb launched itself at her face, red tendrils wrapping around her head tightly.
She screamed. She shook her head, bobbed back and forth. She wiggled and tried to incinerate the spawn of nightmares - but nothing worked. Unimaginable to mortal minds, pain pierced her skull, her brain, eyes, her flesh and cerebral system. Cinder felt the black veins coiling inside her skull, licking at her flesh and sending waves upon waves of agony to her entire body.
Death. She wanted to die so much then and there. She wanted to be torn limb from limb if it meant the pain would cease. Seconds felt like millennia and the woman begged whatever force of the cosmos, so it could take her - or at least her minions would end her by a quick stab in her back.
Yet, no salvation came.
The night was pierced only by Cinder's suppressed screams of untold suffering.
After a few moments of gruesome display of torment, the dark thing pulled away from Cinder - surprisingly leaving not a single mark of its assault. Her face was wet with tears and snot running down her chin and onto the ground. Her eye stared blankly into nothingness, tired and unseeing, a net of red veins so terrifyingly visible.
The Devourers released their grip on her and she collapsed onto the ground lifelessly, coughing and groaning.
Emerald saw it all and the moment Cinder was released, she rushed towards her and pulled into an embrace. She could vividly hear Cinder's stuttering pleas to stop, incoherent, primal and so uncharacteristically weak of her.
"Hmm… I see. Intriguing." The voice summarized, as the orb spun around its own axis like it was elevated with joy.
"What have you done? Will she be alright?" Emerald asked, instantly cursing herself for the impudence of acting out of line. Her hand landed on her own lips, holding another curse, this one for her own self.
"Do not worry, child. I merely extracted the information I required without a need to listen to Cinder's pathetic attempts at communication," The Queen replied proudly, with a tone of cruelty coloring every word, "But do not worry. That too will be amended. Bring her to me and I shall heal her. But first…"
Emerald looked up at the monstrosity and waited. What was Salem going to do now?
Suddenly the forest itself rumbled and growled. The Devourers, the orbs - every Grimm in the forests of Vale awoke and gave voice, answered the silent call of their Queen. Even Cinder growled weakly in her unconscious state.
Emerald looked to the dark sky and noticed flying grotesques take flight above her, visible only due to the moonlight. She could hear trees being ripped out of their ancient soil, she felt the shaking ground beneath her legs. So many Grimm…
"What is happening?" Mercury asked, dumbfounded. For the first time in her life, Emerald saw fear on his face.
"A change of plans." Came the proud and bloodthirsty response, "I shall raze Vale to the ground."
And Emerald could hear and feel a march of doom.
Hello guys and Merry Christmas!
I am SO SORRY it took me so long for such a short chapter. I would have released it at the beginning of December if not for... the release of Rogue Trader by Owlcat studio. This game stole my life ;_;
Also, it's ungodly cold at my place since I do not heat up my apartment during winter. I'm not rich enough for that, lol.
Alas, I played my share of it and can write more consistently now. And as you can see, this chapter is a bit different than the others - and I dare say the only chapter of that kind. I wanted to introduce our villains, so to speak and having another RWBY focused chapter earlier I decided to keep the flow.
And this said, tell me: Do you like my versions and portrayals of the villains?
Leave your feedback, commends and whatnot! I read EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM - even if I don't respond to some, because it would means spoilers or something.
Until next time!