Howdy ho, buckos. Welcome to the first chapter of what I hope will be one hell of a long (and entertaining) story. I promised I'd be back after A Multiverse Apart failed and here I am. As you read through this chapter you may notice the inclusion of (and the lack of) a few characters. Some of them died in canon, but I'm going to make it clear now that this world has gone off the deep end and deviated a hell of a lot from canon. Over the course of the story, the lore will be explained through flashbacks on the main characters' part and conversations with new characters. Expect a shit ton of OCs as well, as many of the main cast are, of course, six feet under. If your faint of heart, or have a general aversion to more… darker fics, go read Knight of Salem or some shit.
Anyway, enough with the waffling. Let's get this show on the road!
Smoke and ash covered Ruby's vision. Screams, shouts, clashing metal and gunfire all surrounded her as she raced through the scorched battlefield. Bodies lay to every side as she ran through the worst of the carnage. Nameless soldiers, some Atlesian, some from the SDC, even a few from the Branwen Tribe all lay beneath her as she tried her damnedest to run past them all towards her target. Towards the one thing that would make all their sacrifices worth the trouble of reaching it.
The relic, the one thing that could defeat the monster that lay ahead, bounced up and down on her back. It clanked and brushed with her back as she ran through the castle. Pools of blood littered the ground, along with the casings of discarded rounds and the dismembered limbs of discarded soldiers. Crescent Rose lay firmly in her hands, stuck in it's scythe form and covered in the blood of Grimm and people alike.
Screams and gunfire came from ahead. Ruby looked towards the flashes of light that popped through the smoke. More bodies surrounded her. Some were slumped behind makeshift barricades, hastily made in a last ditch effort to defend what lay behind them. Their White Fang armour was easily recognisable, the blood on their outfits staining the white and gray clothing that they adorned.
More fire came up ahead. More screams and more shouts. Ruby ran as fast as she could, only hindered by the multitude of wounds that covered her entire body. She struggled once more, trying her best to make the final stretch towards the battle. The ash and smoke that once filled her vision cleared, and her eyes darted towards the battle.
Ruby looked towards the battle in shock. Salem stood tall amongst a pile of corpses. Soldiers, huntsman, people she barely knew and people she knew too well lay amongst the pile. Ruby looked towards Salem, and what lay in her hand.
Yang's neck was firmly grasped by Salem's hand. She punched and kicked Salem's arm as best she could, trying her best to escape from the monster's grasp, but it was no use. Ruby screamed at the sight and charged towards Salem, Crescent Rose firmly in hand.
A cracking sound echoed through the room. Ruby's eyes darted towards the cause of the sound, and her heart sank. Yang's limbs fell to her side, and her eyes stopped moving. Her lifeless body fell to the floor as Salem let her grip go.
Ruby's mind began to race. Her eyes began to shake, tears began to form, and her legs failed her, making her fall to the floor. Her breathing became heavier and heavier, the sounds of battle becoming more and more faded as the ringing in her ears took hold. Her eyes started to twitch, and slowly she turned towards the monster moving towards her.
She was met with a face more pale than the lifeless corpses of those that lay next to her. A pale white hand touched her chin, lifting her gaze up towards the monster that lay before her.
"Is this the victory you fought for? One where all your friends are dead?" Salem spoke, with a clear sense of disdain in her voice. "Ozma sacrificed you all, and for what? Your laying here, broken, defeated, alone" The emphasis In the last word hurt Ruby to her core. "And I'm still standing. Your just another sacrifice on the board in a war that will rage on for another thousand years." Salem came in closer to Ruby's face. "Goodbye, Ruby Rose." Salem came closer once more.
Salem's eyes stared into Ruby's own. Tears struck her reddened checks, her eyes shook once more at the sight of Salem. A voice in her mind called her weak. A voice from within called her a coward.
A voice from the darkest parts of her mind told her to give in. To accept defeat. Salem picked up a discarded weapon from beside her, and raised it up high. Another voice told her to give up.
The hero within told her to fight on.
A flash of light covered her eyes. Pain surged through her head. The tears that once covered her face were felt no more. A scream came from in front of her. It was horrid and wretched, sending shivers down Ruby's spine. She forced those feelings down. Her mind, for just a mere moment, stopped thinking about all the horrors that lay around her. She pushed herself off the floor and opened her eyes. She gripped Crescent Rose with both hands and looked towards Salem.
Salem was shaking on the floor, body still writhing in pain from Ruby's silver eyes. She tried to get up off the ground, but before she could, Crescent Rose came crashing down towards her. The blade impaled her, forcing her to the ground.
Ruby pulled the relic out of the sack on her back. The blue crystals that dotted the weapon shone brightly as it was pulled out of it's sheathe. Both of her hands gripped the relic as she ran towards Salem. The monster was still trying to remove Crescent Rose from her chest as Ruby approached.
Ruby screamed as she charged in. Her mind was filled with rage, tears striking her face once more. Salem turned to face the oncoming attack, but was too late. The relic came down, implanting itself in Salem's backside. Salem screamed as the Relic began to glow. Her body started to shake, and her eyes darted towards Ruby. The relic became brighter and brighter, and a bluish-white light began to engulf the room.
Salem screamed as the relic did it's work. Ruby's eyes began to sting as the light engulfed her vision. She looked away from it, closed her eyes and ducked behind one of the nearest corpses.
One final scream echoed through the room. Ruby didn't dare to look at the relic as the light burned through the room. Ruby curled up in a ball behind a small barricade and suffered through the pain caused by the relic's accursed light. Fresh tears fell down her face but she paid no mind to them. The light slowly began to dim, and soon, it faded entirely. The pain faded with it.
Ruby opened her eyes and looked around her surroundings. The corpses around her had burn marks on them. The walls and the barricades that littered the room all had scorch marks on them. Even her own clothes looked fairly burned.
She pushed herself up off the ground, the wounds that covered her were nothing but a minor nuisance now that her aura kicked in. Ash and smoke covered her vision as she walked through the room. Salem was nowhere to be found. All that stood in her place was the relic, now broken and powerless.
They won. They actually won. Ruby's mood lifted a little. After so many sacrifices, after so many deaths, they finally won. Ruby cheered at the thought, but only for a moment.
A body caught her eye. A few meters away from the relic, Yang's lifeless corpse remained. Her clothes were bloodstained, and a massive pool of blood congregated around her chest and neck. Ruby looked at the body of her sister in shock. Her eyes were glued to the lifeless corpse of her only remaining family.
She slowly walked towards Yang, tears forming in her eyes. The second she reached Yang, she fell to her knees and moved her hand over Yang's face. There was no response. There was no witty pun or comforting remark from her sister. There was nothing left but a broken body.
"Yang….." Ruby's voice was not but a whimper. "Yang….. No" Her voice went lower and lower.
"This…. No…..You can't...You can't be dead" The tears in her eyes fell to her cheeks before bursting out like a dam. "No….. No… NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Her scream echoed through the room. No matter how hard she begged, no matter how much she prayed, Yang didn't wake up.
"Ruby!" A voice came from behind her, but she paid no attention to it. She was too wracked with pain to care for anyone other than Yang. She heard footsteps and the sound of metal clanking against the floor approach her. Her hand reached for Crescent Rose, but the person behind her spoke again. "Ruby! We have to go. Now!"
A hand touched her shoulder, shocking her and causing her to turn around and face the man behind her, Crescent Rose still in hand. Her eyes were still watery, messing with her vision, but the person in front of her was still recognisable. She loosened her grip off Crescent Rose and looked into the eyes of the blonde haired man in front of her.
"Ruby, are you okay?" Jaune said, his eyes looking worryingly towards her, and the corpse that still lay behind her. He looked towards Yang's body and walked over, using Crocea Mors as a shoddy crutch. He knelt down beside her and put his hand to her neck.
He turned to face Ruby and shook his head. She looked at him, practically begging him to be incorrect. "I'm sorry Ruby. She's…. gone" He lowered his head downwards, but soon raised it back up. He pushed himself up using his sword and extended his hand towards Ruby. "We can't stay here forever, Ruby." Ruby grabbed his hand and lifted herself up.
Her face was still red and covered in tears. Jaune began to walk towards the exit, and Ruby followed with reluctance. The ash and smoke from the battle cleared from the room, and the bodies that were once unrecognizable became all too clear.
Too her right, the body of Blake Belladonna lay sprawled across the floor. Blood dripped from her mouth and covered her white and black outfit. A massive wound was visible on her chest, and the man that inflicted it stood dead nearby
Tyrian Callows' corpse lay in plain view. A hundred bullet holes littered his body, blood dripping from each new hole. Even in death, the man had a mad smile on his face. He would rather die that live to see his Goddess fall. Ruby silently hoped that he was burning in hell with his master. The thought of him suffering comforted her for a brief moment, but her eye locked on to another corpse nearby.
Weiss Schnee's body laid mangled on the floor. Blood and wounds covered her from head to toe, and her outfit was stained with both her enemies blood and her own. Her weapon was still within her hand, yet said hand was detached a metre or two away from her arm.
Not too far away, Sienna Khan lay sprawled across the floor. Her left arm was nowhere to be found, and her right leg was located a good few meters away from where it should be. She lay face first in a pool of her own blood with a massive sword wound going straight through her heart.
To her left, the corpses of Ren and Nora stood nearby. Ren lay slumped near a wall, blood coming out of his mouth and his left eye. Nora's arms were wrapped around him, but a dozen bullet holes dotted her back. They both died together against the horde of Grimm and White Fang that assaulted them.
More corpses lay around them. SDC guards, Atlesian soldiers and Branwen Tribe warriors lay dead side by side. White Fang terrorists, Grimm monsters and cultists lay dead opposite them.
Jaune and Ruby moved past them all, trying their best not to look at the carnage that lay all around them. They approached the door that paved way to the outside. Light shone through the cracks and bullet holes that covered the ancient door. Voices and shouts came from outside, and the occasional sound of gunfire rang through the air.
Jaune and Ruby went through the door. Bright light engulfed their vision, and the sound of gunfire became ever clearer. Shouts and voices came from the distance. Ruby's eyes finally adjusted her eyes to the sun's light, and she looked around the sprawling battlefield. Atlesian airships flew high in the sky, their guns lighting up the Grimm that still remained on the ground and in the air. Soldiers held their ground, barking orders left and right and firing their guns into the swarms of Grimm that approached.
A man came towards Ruby and Jaune. His SDC uniform was bloodied and torn, with bullet holes covering his arm. He ran towards them with a radio in hand and spoke into it. He put it into his pocket and finally came up to them.
"Jaune! We have the evacuation zone secured." The soldier spoke, his attention focused on Jaune. He glanced towards Ruby before turning back to Jaune. "Damn, she all that's left?"
"Yeah…. I wouldn't recommend going to check yourself. It's…. Bad" Jaune spoke.
"I can tell. Come on, follow me. Evac is this way." He motioned for them to follow and slowly began to walk towards the evacuation point. He kept his gun up at all times. His eyes darted from area to area, looking for any survivors or, more likely, Grimm.
A voice came from the soldier's radio. He took a hand off his gun and reached for it, pulling it up to his ear and listening in. "Reporting in, sir!" A garbled message came from the other end. "He found one survivor, sir." Another message came. "No, it's too dangerous to go back." The voice spoke again, the soldier nodded his head. "Understood. We'll head out at once." The message ended and the soldier put the thing back on his hip. He turned towards Jaune and spoke again. "We've got plenty of time to get to the site. Let's pray to whatever Gods are out there that Ironwood and his boys can actually hold that place."
Ruby and Jaune followed the man through the battlefield. Smoke rose up from the distance, and more gunfire and screams came with it. Ruby tried her best to ignore the sight, and focused on the task at hand.
In the distance, the landing site was easy to spot. Bullheads flew to and from the evac zone, ferrying troops up towards the airships in the sky. Grimm assaulted the site from every side, and the soldiers that lay behind the makeshift barricades held them off.
Ruby, Jaune and the soldier struggled towards the base, trudging past the occasional pile of corpses that littered the area. They came closer and closer, until the barricades of the base became clear. Luckily, they came when the site was having a temporary reprieve from the onslaught of Grimm attacks. An Atlesian soldier guided them towards one of the bullheads.
Injured soldiers lay on the floor as they walked through the camp. Field medics and other soldiers tried their best to help them, but Ruby knew that most of them were doomed.
"You lot go on ahead. We'll stay behind and await the next wave of transports." The Atlesian that guided them there spoke.
"Good luck out there." The SDC soldier did a small salute and went onboard the bullhead. Ruby and Jaune followed suit, climbing on to the transport. A few other soldiers, most of them injured, were inside the aircraft. Most of them looked like they'd been to hell and back.
Considering where they were, it probably was hell.
The bullhead began to shake as the engines went to full power. The craft lifted off the ground, blowing away the dust that lay on the ground below. The ground below went further and further out of view as the bullhead made it's journey towards the fleet of airships that lay above.
Ruby looked out towards Salem's tower. What was once a grand, imposing tower was now little more than a hole-ridden wreck. What once held a monster beyond all comprehension now lay as a grave for hundreds of brave souls. Friends, allies and enemies alike lay dead within it's halls. They would be left behind without anyone to bury them.
They were sacrificed like they were nothing more than pieces on a board in Ozpin's eternal conflict with Salem. He may have died, yet he won the war. The same could not be said for everyone else.
Tears began to form in Ruby's eyes once more, and soon they fell like rain down her cheeks and towards the floor. A pair of arms embraced her suddenly, and Ruby looked to their owner. Jaune looked down towards her, his eyes locked on to hers.
Ruby shifted closer towards him and embraced him in a hug. The tears in her eyes fell once more, but she ignored them. She prayed, silently, that all the sacrifices would be worth it in the end.
The bullhead flew through the sky towards the fleet and Ruby was left to her thoughts. She hoped that the world they were returning to wasn't too far gone.
And here ends Chapter 1. Forgive me for saying this, but I am complete dogshit at finding good ways to start stories. Anyway, that's this chapter done. Expect the next chapter in a few days. Chapter releases will be sporadic as some are longer than others, but at the very, very least expect one every week. At my best I might push out two or three a week, since I'll only do one story at a time (Sorry Coeur Al'Aram, but doing multiple stories at once is going a bit too far). See you for the next one!