This was not very a cooperative chapter, even though it's another chapter I looked forward to working on. Good grief it would not stop causing me problems no matter how hard I tried. So close, and yet one after other, small little things got in my way and wrecked with my ability to reach it! I've cleaned things up as much as I could!
My beta EmperorLuffy is such a champion for helping me through it as much as I'm able. According to him my drafts have been improving drastically. I'm not sure if I can sustain that accomplishment at all, but I remain ever grateful and appreciative of his help smoothing them out as we progress. I've had chinks in the armor, stumbles here and there, fallen on my face even, but I've managed to finally find a breakthrough on this chapter and get it done!
Here's hoping the next chapter doesn't take that much longer to do when focused, but my luck isn't that gracious to me. And my handling of luck is even worse. Ah well, it'll all be fine.
Time to start!
Ruby was still trying to adjust to her new appearance, as well as everything that's come with it. Namely, how she was sure, down to her soul, that she was a Grimm being. She wasn't completely aware of how this happened, but as her double teased, her grandmother might have had something to do with it. And thinking about it, it did sound like something she would do, if only for Ruby to have an extra asset to her arsenal for her own sake.
She doesn't really recall when it might have happened. Through this sensation, the shadows attach themselves to her and hug her, keeping vigilant but just as well keeping calm. It was a strange juxtaposing sensation, just as much as the fact that she's only now discovered that she's been a Grimm hybrid this entire time.
No. That didn't sound right. Digging deep into her soul, it was more that she had a developing potential to become a Grimm Hybrid and had only ever just seen the realization of that potential now, after seeing Pandora become an envisioning of what that would be like for her. It was as if a mini-Grimm Pool was hiding within the shadows of her soul her entire life, and in that moment of stress and intense emotion, it finally sprang free and transformed her from the inside out. In some form of esoteric metamorphosis that lasted her whole life. Not only that, but there were a few other things that gathered her notice, as she gently pushed a giant leaf out of her way.
I can't change back. Looks like I'm stuck like this.
It wasn't that the change itself was permanent, but more so that it felt like she was 'locked' in this Grimm state for the time being. Instinctively, she felt like this might be for the best. Trying to get the hang of her newly manifested Grimm powers while simultaneously trying to use her Silver Eye powers-something she also senses is still within her but cannot access-would have been a potential self-harming idea. She had a gut feeling that this was the case, even if she couldn't refine the minute details of it all.
Which led her to her final thought on the matter for now.
Grandma's definitely behind this. But for how long?
She looked back, as much as her memory could allow. For a split-second blink or she'll miss it moment, Ruby recalled something attaching itself to her shadow when she made her promise to Salem when she was four years. Meaning that Salem had given her granddaughter something that would help her with her goals further along in her life. Meaning that this Grimm power of hers, this darkness, has been shaping itself and gestating within her for seventeen years. And only now did it become ripe enough for her to finally manifest and use it for herself. It felt like a part of her that's always been there, but she was never made aware of until the moment felt proper. She wondered if the very nature of Ever After was also a factor in this, especially right after she was faced with Pandora.
No matter what, she was certain that her grandmother was responsible for this. For her benefit, that much she could sense from her heart. But she made a mental note to ask her more about it, just so that she wasn't more confused than she already was. She could tell without a single shadow of doubt that gift came from a place of love, but she also wanted to know how she managed to do it, the actual process.
She was taken out of her thoughts as Jaune lightly squeezed her hand, which made her turn towards him. He locked eyes with her while lightly caressing her hand. "Hey. What's on your mind? Are you doing alright?"
mate was here with her. Jaune was here, whom she slid her arms around and hugged briefly. Answers and questions from and to her grandmother could wait for later, when she's back home on Remnant. For now, she squeezed Jaune's hand back, her tail calmly swaying side to side as she shifted closer to him and leaned her head contently on his shoulder.
"I'm fine, and also slightly not fine, I guess. I'm just thinking about all this and what it might mean for me." Ruby wondered, holding softly onto Jaune's hand while gazing at her paw, which shifted to that of a Beowolf, then an Ursa, and the claws of a Griffon. All of them belong to various Grimm that she's seen and fought before, before seamlessly shifting back to normal, her hand and arm being pale white. "I'm not sure what this means yet, but it's a part of me now. I'm going to have to get a handle on this power; to make good use out of it." Ruby sighed while pushing her hand through her hair. "Although I don't exactly have a lot of room to do some practice with it; got to stop the other me from making a mess of everything. And there's the entire situation back home…"
Jaune winced slightly as he scratched the back of his head, observing Zwei's lifeless body within Ruby's protective arms. The sight of it was difficult for him to gaze upon; he didn't want to see the poor corgi like that. He did absolutely nothing to deserve it, he was just trying his damndest to protect Ruby. And he ended up dying for it, in a matter that dogs like him didn't deserve in the slightest. If only he had been able to stop Juno right then, Ruby wouldn't have to carry her dead canine companion in her arms like this. If he were only better at fending Juno off, Ruby wouldn't have to grapple with the guilt of seeing him die and being unable to do a thing about it. He should have been better.
The only thing he can do for certain was help Ruby right now, with whatever she needed. And even then, his eyes lowered uncertainty at being able to live up to such a promise to himself. He held her hand securely, while her other arm was focused on carrying Zwei's body, not wanting to drop him or shift him around too much. It was an unconscious gesture; there'd be no way for Zwei to be uncomfortable since he had no way to display that now. But that would be a cruel thing to mention, so the thought was quashed and never materializes again. Which of course, left one other thing that he could do.
Jaune shook his head with a soft sigh. His hold on Ruby nearly relaxed enough for him to let go, and he nearly stepped away; but her hold tightened, and he stayed in place. Fair, he supposed looking her in the eye beats trying to avoid the subject, in terms of honesty. "Ruby, I'm so sorry about Zwei. It's not going to help him, but I have to say it. I really screwed up."
Ruby readily shook her head with a soft sigh. "Jaune, don't."
"But it's true! I should have done better. Somehow, someway, I don't know! I just…I should have-" Jaune shook his head as he ran his hands through his hair. But his spiral is stopped as Ruby placed a paw on his chest. She looked up towards him, the height difference between them apparent. Even so, she regardless pulled him down into a hug, his head resting against her bosom.
"I don't blame you at all. I know you probably think that I should, but I don't, and I won't. And do you remember why?" Ruby lightly caressed the back of his head, tousled his hair slightly. "Because we both promised each other to never to play the blame game seriously. Whether towards each other or towards ourselves. Neither of us ever wins. It's a stupid game to play because it keeps people from actually dealing with the problem at hand, instead it just keeps everybody fighting."
"...I know…"
"Besides, I messed up pretty badly too. Am I allowed to devalue myself over it?" Ruby questioned, which had Jaune stand attentively.
"W-What? No, you shouldn't! This isn't your fault!"
"Well, if I'm not allowed to take blame for it, why are you the only one allowed to?" Jaune couldn't come up with a good retort that she wouldn't immediately strike down with her accursed logic. Ruby hummed while lightly pulling back, cupping his cheeks with her palms, getting Jaune to look her in the eyes. Her eyes were Grimmlike, yet the silver of her pupils still glimmered brightly. "We both share a bit of blame for what happened, so we both have to work to do something about it."
"...Yeah, I know. " Jaune relented with a sigh, slightly placing his hand over hers, caressing them and getting a gentle feel for the warmth they emitted. "I'm kind of terrible at this, aren't I?"
"Oh, you hush, you're doing fine." Ruby emphasized, lightly wagging her tail while maintaining eye contact, before resting her head against his chest, eyes lowering. "Meanwhile there's me. I wasn't able to do much for either of them…"
"They wouldn't have blamed you. Especially not Zwei. Not a chance." Jaune rubbed her shoulder as she nuzzled his chest slightly. Her tail gently wagged in a gentle sway while listening intently to him, her wolfish ears twitching at his voice. "Juno won't get away with what she did to him. Use that promise to yourself to keep your head high until you deal with her for good. It'll add to your strength, so use it well until you seize that time again."
Ruby softly nodded, as she lightly pulled her head back, enough to wipe her eyes with the back of her paw. "Y-Yeah…yeah. That's a good idea." Ruby nodded to herself, and then to Jaune. They both nodded to each other, their support for one another pulling them both out of each other's downwards spirals. With this understanding reverberating between them, they closed the distance for a moment and shared a silent kiss.
Jaune's arms slid around Ruby's waist in the process, getting a feel for the plumpness of her hips, whilst Ruby played with the locks in his hair, her tail wagging back and forth. It felt different to Jaune, kissing Ruby while she was in this Grimm form. Once again, not a bad difference. A sort of exotic kind of difference that he could definitely appreciate but would need a bit of time to get used to. Ruby was always spectacular and striking in her own way than Cinder, and now she's embodying that in an entirely new way.
They soon separated from each other with a gentle smack of their lips, smiling softly at one another. Though Jaune couldn't help but still spot the twinkle of frustration dwelling behind her eyes. He wondered what it was for…then it hit him.
"Uh…are you also mad that Juno sat on me right in front of you?"
He must have gotten it in one, instantly seeing how Ruby's face angrily twisted and growled.
"That damn hussy did that on purpose just to set me off, and it fucking worked!" Ruby growled as she stomped the ground a few times with a truly heated glare. "She's got another thing coming if she thinks I'll let her get away with that! I'll kick her ass up and down Remnant once I get back there! She doesn't get to do that to you and NOT pay for it!"
Jaune couldn't help but smile and chuckle in exasperation. Seeing Ruby all worked up to the point where she starts easing more into swearing, it was always quite a sight. To him, sometimes it was adorable. More seriously, it means that she still had huge chunks of pluck left in her, and that can go a long way for someone like her. And a part of him did feel a bit honored at how utterly offended she was on his behalf.
Jaune wouldn't exactly call himself a champion of self-respect, but Ruby getting that worked up for his sake? It made him feel better. Not completely there, but a decent start. It gave him a slight bit of appreciation for the quieter days they would have, when they take a breather from the hysterical and hectic aspects of the world, and just relax with each other, doing what they both liked. He was a comfort that only a significant other could provide for Ruby. She had specific comforts that only her family could provide, and comforts that only her best friends provided.
But she was near neither right now; he was the only one. So, he had to be strong and be the comforting, reenergizing pillar that she could feel safe around at her lowest points, until she could regain her resolution to stand once more and become the powerful and courageous Ruby Rose that many knew and admired. It was yet one more reason why Ruby strongly attached herself to Jaune; she trusted him enough to be that reliable pillar.
Holding Ruby's hand, he felt himself get lost in the past, just for a moment…
Beacon has a dedicated farm within its area, where many sorts of animals, mundane and supernatural, tend to be nurtured and taken care of. Mostly, it's filled with animals that have little chance of surviving on their own in the wild, so within Beacon, they're brought here to 'retire in peace', so to speak.
Jaune came to Beacon, riding atop of Juniper. He went through the gates without much fanfare, before sliding off of her and giving her side a few pats. He turned to see his girlfriend Ruby, and her loyal canine companion Zwei. They were both dashing up to greet them, only for the latter's eyes to widen at Juniper.
"Jaune, is this Juniper? The Jackalope you told me about?! She's so beautiful!"
"Yup, one in the same." Jaune nods affirmatively, smiling as Zwei ran around him with several barks, before stopping and rolling over with a carefree smiling face. Jaune knelt down and gave the corgi several scratches, which had the pup kicking his small leg about. "Hey there, buddy. Good to see you too."
Ruby gasps as she slowly approaches the jackalope, eyes sparkling. "Hi, Juniper. My name's Ruby. Did Jaune tell you about me, too?" Ruby reached out her hand. Juniper briefly sniffed her hand for a moment, before nudging her head against it with closed eyes. Ruby's eyes sparkled, her mouth wide open as she quickly stared at Jaune in shock, then back to Juniper. She collects herself and smiles, petting and hugging the Jackalope's head. "What a friendly girl you are..."
Jaune couldn't help but feel relieved that Juniper liked Ruby from the get-go, even when she was a werewolf. Juniper had a knack for sensing the hearts within people; he was glad to have confirmation that she understood that Ruby's heart was a good one.
"Good to see everyone is getting along." An elderly medical practitioner, Madame Mallari, smiled while clasping her hands, her prosthetic legs whirring and glowing slightly. "I do appreciate a bit of extra hands. It makes it a lot easier to get through the tasks for the day.
With this, Ruby and Jaune got to work, with Zwei and Juniper on the sides beginning to herd the pigs and cows to their dedicated areas, where they could be fed at their appropriate times. Ruby would nod to Jaune as he held a bucket, with Ruby taking out and spreading chicken feed, chuckling as the chickens came running and were quick to eat the feed set for them. Jaune would soothe a cow nearby petting her head while Ruby was milking her, giving her a bit of a comforting presence to be near since she was a bit of a skittish one.
Though it got especially eccentric when Jaune gazed up, eyes widened as he was standing before a majestic griffin. Not the Grimm griffon, but a well and natural griffin, and it was sharply glaring at him and Juniper. Jaune was slightly nervous at this, but Ruby got her attention with a few calls, lightly scratching at her neck. The griffin was slightly resistant at first, before it closed her eyes with a soft trill, then slowly laid down.
Ruby soon smiles as she takes Jaune's hands and places them against the soft feathers. She soon removed it, leaving Jaune lightly petting and scratching the griffin's side as well, and the trills continued. This gave the opening for Ruby to get about and groom her feathers uninterrupted. She's well and good enough to groom her, so Ruby got the harder to reach places she couldn't handle herself.
They take a brief break, letting their hair run as Madame Mallari poured some lemonade for them. They both downed their glasses at the same time, sighing in unison as they watched their companions herding Pegasi. Juniper was hopping on magic platforms she generated with every hop, with Zwei on her back barking at the trotting Pegasi to safely return to their stables before they could fly away unguarded.
After a long day of work, Ruby and Jaune took a much longer, yet well-deserved break. They were sitting close to one another in peaceful silence, with Juniper laying down leaning next to Jaune while being scratched under her chin, while Zwei was cuddled in Ruby's lap on his back, being given soothing belly scratches.
Every now and then, they would casually switch, their companions not minding at all. Juniper laid her head against Ruby while she was being pet across her head and back, as well as under her chin and ears. The content and soothing expression on the jackalope's face was content and majestic, fully embracing her trust in Ruby, with her species not even being a concern. Meanwhile Zwei would be the one cuddled in Jaune's lap, squirming a little bit before laying on his back belly up, gazing goofily at Jaune with his tongue lolling out. It was a look begging for tummy rubs, so Jaune laughed and provided, his hands circling the corgi's belly, which had the pup kicking again.
After sufficient care, both Zwei and Juniper would hop away from their companions and play with one another, Zwei barking cheerfully while being at the ready. Both of them committed to the play, beginning with their heads low and rears in the air, before they began dashing around the farm, playfully trying to catch one another, with no worries over who was 'it' or not. Ruby and Jaune would both laugh at their companions playing to their heart's content, as well as seeing how their care of the animals here, be they mundane or mythical, have made things a bit brighter and cheerier for the farm to be in. They soon relaxed well into the day, the sun beaming down on them and the winds blowing through their hair.
"This is nice. Coming here to just relax, away from all the noise. I really like it here." Ruby beamed as her tail wagged delightfully behind her. Jaune couldn't help but find the motion endearingly cute,
"Yeah. Originally, I wouldn't have even bothered with this kind of thing. Thought it'd be boring."
Ruby snapped her head towards him as if she had been slapped. "Boring? BORING?! Jaune, how could you decry the absolute amazingness that is farm work?! You get to feed and take care of and play with all the animals! That's nowhere near boring!"
Jaune rubbed his chin in pretend thought. "...You think the animals mostly listen to you because you can turn into a big bad wolf that will gobble them up if they act out?" That was the wrong thing to say, evident in how Ruby's cheeks puffed in annoyance as she began pounding her fists against her chest. She didn't put her back into it, but they definitely felt heavy enough to take a bit of breath out of him. "Oof! Alright, I'm sorry! Uncalled for, uncalled for!"
"Meanie. You're a big, stupidly tall meanie, Jaune." Ignoring that even in her normal sized werewolf form she'd be much taller than he was.
"How is being tall my fault?"
"It just is!"
"Pfft, sure. That makes it all logical, does it?"
"It does! Don't you laugh at me!" Ruby insisted, but Jaune did indeed laugh at her, and she puffed her cheeks and punched his chest again, making him slightly regret provoking her so. But only slightly. Ruby eventually had enough and just turned away with folded arms and a huff. "You're the worst."
"I thought that was Yang."
"...You're the second worst."
"Ouch. I've been demoted instantly. And here I thought you cared." That only made her growl more, but it was more along the lines of the growl from a cute puppy trying to be scary. Not the actually scary, savagely snarling, giant werewolf that he saw when they first meant. It was quite impressive how she could switch between the two.
"Dummy. Maybe I'll just gobble YOU up instead…" Ruby uttered with a pout, even going as far as to harmlessly bite his shoulder with the most adorable 'nom' he's heard from her so far.
"You could, but I'm probably not very good for you."
"You are!" Ruby immediately backpedaled, though calmed once they both realized she meant something else. "I mean, you ARE good for me. Er, but not in the 'Rrrrrawwwwr Imma eat you up!' way. More in the, uh, being with you makes me feel nice and content…way."
"...That seemed to have come from somewhere else." Ruby quietly turned away without answering, but her wolfish ears folded back against her head, which was all the answer he needed. "Okay, what's up? Did I go too far?"
"No! No…you're fine. I'm just being a dummy myself. I don't even know where that came from. Somewhere stupid." She muttered, unable to convince herself. Jaune gently reached out and held her hand but didn't speak. They stayed like this for a minute, neither of them making the move to let go; Jaune just wanted her to be certain of his presence. Sure, she could easily smell him, but the touch added a layer that only that specific sense could provide. Soon enough, Ruby sighed. "…You know how I used to live on Patch?"
"Patch? That small little island close to Vale? Yeah, I've heard of it, but this is the first time you mentioned living there once."
"Mhm. So did Madame Mallari. Me and Yang used to come visit her farm on Patch when we were little, and she would teach us how to take care of the farm animals. It was nice, and fun."
Jaune sensed a very ominous 'but' to that little recollection, as he immediately remembered that during those times, the Dark Ages haven't officially ended yet, which already made him anxious to hear this story through. Ruby sighed softly, before she slowly turned her head to meet his eyes, and even took his other hand on her own. He didn't interrupt, letting her go at her own pace.
"We were having another quiet farm day. But then, across Patch, a cult of Salem worshippers attacked the farm. They began a wide, fear-spreading massacre and kidnapped those they saw as potential servants and tools for their beloved empress. They also made sure the Grimm followed after them, killing anyone who managed to escape their wake." Ruby shook her head. They were the sort that fully believed in her previous position as the world's 'Dark Queen'. They wanted to restore her to what they believed was her rightful place." Ruby's ears folded back slightly, grimacing. "Since I was a werewolf, I was considered a potential weapon for their cause. Madame Mallari tried to fight back and protect me, but they forcibly restrained her and had her legs sliced off for it. They were preparing to carry me off and kill Yang…"
Ruby's eyes dulled at the memory; the scent of blood from the cruelly slain animals, the yelp of agony as Madame Mallari lost her legs, the crying fury from Yang as she pounded her fist against the oppressors, and how they nearly took Ruby away no matter how much she protested and howled.
Jaune couldn't help but wince; looking at Madame Mallari walking with her prosthetic legs now felt significantly more harrowing with that retrospect now in his mind. And the thought of something like that happening to Ruby nearly blinded him with sheer fury. They must have sensed Salem's subtle bond influence on her and wanted to know how they could use it to serve their Queen. But he still felt there was more, because Madame Mallari was still alive and well, as was Ruby and Yang.
And now that he thought about it, Ruby probably blamed herself for Madame Mallari losing her legs, even though it absolutely wasn't her fault that happened. But telling her that wouldn't help her at all at this moment, so he kept it to himself.
"...When Mom and Raven eventually showed up, they ended up killing all of the cult members on the island." Ruby uttered quietly, which only added to how harrowing the experience must have been for Ruby and Yang. Ruby visualizes the memory of herself and Yang crying against their respective mother's legs, both of their eyes cold. Raven's sword was slick with blood, Summer's wolfish claws just as bloodied, surrounded by the bodies of the slain knights that dared to try and kill their daughters. "Mom decided that Patch was no longer safe. We haven't been on that island ever since."
Jaune could feel the sheer heaviness that came with the recollection. He waited for Ruby to collect her bearings. She looked back towards him, and he softly nodded attentively to her. Ruby smiles as her ears perked back upwards.
"So, uh, yeah. There are a lot of people out there who would prefer it if Grandma came back in the spotlight to be her old evil self, and others who hate her for being her evil self. None of them understand her at all, which would mean that nobody would understand why I stay with her if they ever found out the real truth. So, I was glad that I met you, a knight who didn't buy into that stuff. After all, you can't say that you love or hate someone or something if you never really got to know them." Ruby quietly confirmed, lightly caressing Jaune's hands while looking him in the eyes, her posture relaxing as her tails wagged happily. "I was so relieved!"
Jaune sighed as he pulled one hand back to run his hand through his hair, before he looked onwards while scooting next to Ruby until their legs touched, sitting side by side. She didn't mind the closeness, her tail thumping the ground as she continued to hold the remaining hand within her own. "Man. It looks like you've got quite a family history."
"It is a MESS. But…it's my mess, and it got me to my current self. And it eventually led me to you." Ruby gently leaned her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes. "So, I wouldn't want to trade this life for anything. Thanks for listening."
"...Sure thing." Jaune reassured with a smile, glad that Ruby felt comfortable enough to open up more like this.
It was strange how fate worked. At any other time, the past Salem would have eagerly welcomed having so many followers worshiping her and her glory. But now she couldn't care less about that kind of attention, now that she gained a second chance at family.
With this kind of context surrounding Ruby, along with more explicit meanings behind her belief in him, Jaune wanted to keep validating her. To be its greatest representation of it, to make up for how she's been thoroughly disappointed yet resolutely hoping, for years. Someone like her didn't deserve to be rebuked so harshly over and over.
Sensing that she was finally done, Jaune lightened the mood; "Well, of course you wouldn't trade this life, it's the one where I make food for you, and you get to stuff yourself silly."
"Jaune, I'm a healthy growing werewolf. I can't help it if your food makes my tummy super happy." Ruby cheerfully explained away as if that answered everything.
"They should call you Ruby the Ravenous."
Ruby puffed her cheeks at his absolutely correct label for her. "How dare you say something so right?!" She wasn't able to keep the pout up for long, and they both ended up laughing merrily together. The cozy atmosphere returned to them once more, as they watched Juniper and Zwei continue to play and frolic to their heart's content.
"I do appreciate you two lending an extra hand around here. The company is nice." Madame Mallari smiles while pouring them more lemonade. "Much of Beacon's faculty tend to lend their support now and then, but you know how those busy bodies tend to be."
"No problem, Madame Mallari. We're more than happy to stop by." Jaune calmly reassured with a smile and nod. "Besides, I think I've gained a little bit of appreciation for farm work."
"I should hope so! You do realize who grows your greens and grains, right? And the vegetables!" Madame Mallari playfully sassed, harmlessly whacking Jaune across the head. "What, does the shining, gallant knight consider himself above farm labor?"
"I know, right?!" Ruby exclaimed with her paws outwards, while Jaune laughed, taking it all in stride. She soon joined in on the laughter, and both of them basked in the sound of each other's sheer merriment, simply being free of any burdens for the day. To take a well-earned break; to just live.
Usually, the both of them couldn't wait to go on the next adventure, be it a heroic one or an exploration one. But right now? They were content with this, the peace and quiet, talking about nothing in particular as Zwei and Juniper frolicked through the fields. As much as they enjoyed adventuring, they managed to softly surprise each other by how much they also enjoyed the quiet times afterwards, almost just as much. It felt like taking a long-deserved breath after such a trying time of fighting tooth and nail against many threats to this world, and to themselves.
The amazing vistas before them, the simple comforts that bring contentment. They basked in it together with the softest of smiles and found themselves connecting over the prospect of simply enjoying the scenery every once in a while. It reminded them that they tend to go out to face the threats that tend to threaten many, so that places like these can thrive, and that they can return to and rest.
Never would either of them have imagined before this day, a simple off day to spend their free time together, that one of their favorite shared aspects of adventuring would be the simple quiet time afterwards. Comforts they could enjoy in peace that would feel even more well-earned after having been through eventful times of fighting and exploring. It was one of the most uneventful and uncomplicated days they've ever had ever since they got together. It was because of this that it became one of their most cherished times, and one they wanted to make more common whenever they could.
Ruby and Jaune ended up coming back to the farm every now and then, working with the animals, and letting Zwei and Juniper play and enjoy their newfound friendship.
These were days that made their efforts all the more worthwhile.
Jaune managed to pull himself away from the memories as he gazed towards Ruby, who simultaneously looked back at him. A twinkle of understanding flashed between their eyes, quietly reminiscing over the same thing. Jaune winces at the memories, being made aware of the fact that Zwei being dead means that Juniper lost one of her closest friends, one she really connected with outside of his immediate family.
How was he supposed to break it to the poor Jackalope that her dear canine friend was dead? He wouldn't be able to hide it from her; she's vastly wiser than she appears. Even so, he couldn't imagine how she would feel. But Ruby probably could, and it likely contributed to her rebuilding her own resolve. Zwei being dead means, not only was a beloved friend of hers lost, but that a core aspect of one of her and Jaune's favorite bonding activities has been culled as well. She was outraged on Zwei's behalf for him being killed for no reason, on Jaune's behalf from how Juno completely and utterly disrespected him, and on Juniper's behalf because one of her favorite playmates has been lost.
Ruby couldn't let Juno get away with any of that. Not a single one.
It was just then, that Curious Cat slowly stirred from unconsciousness. When they realized what had happened, their eyes widened significantly, and they vanished in a flash of blue light. They reappeared several feet away from the group, landing on all fours and hissing at them all. Jaune and Shion both became defensive, and Little jumped and hid behind Ruby's hood. Ruby herself simply watched the Afteran feline with inquisitive intent.
"Hey, what's going on?! Did you do anything to me while I was unconscious?!"
"What, no!" Jaune shook his head as he held up his shield, with the colored feline hissing defiantly at the group in front of them, with Shion also carefully gripping Dream Catcher with their hands, prepared to engage Curious Cat in case they went on the attack.
"They look pretty dangerous, Ruby…" Little muttered close to Ruby while keeping their eyes locked on Curious Cat, just in case they lost sight of them. Ruby remained relaxed, lightly lifting her hand to pet Little's head to soothe and relax them, sensing their fear beginning to rise from their placement on her. "What are we going to do…?"
Ruby simply gazes at Curious Cat as her cloak flutters with the wind. "Hold on, kitty. Do you really want to fight? You said you wanted to watch and observe me, right? Do you really need to attack us to do that? I don't think we're enemies anymore."
"What do you mean? Of course, I'm your enemy! You're the one who opposed my Mistress!"
"And yet you're also the one who brought us to this place, instead of letting her kill me right then and there." Ruby pointed out, which had Curious Cat pondering over the response. "So, you didn't want me to die, because you wanted to know more about me and how I lived. Badly enough that you'd go against the wishes of your master." She continued as her eyes glimmered under her hood. Ruby slowly stepped up to the colored feline and knelt before them, tilting her head with her twitching wolf ears. "Are you sure you don't want to ask me some things?"
Jaune cautiously stood next to Ruby, watching Curious Cat with a firmly steeled glare. Though he noticed that the cat's eyes shifted several times as they were contemplating their options. And to his surprise, he watched as Curious Cat took on a less hostile stance and simply sat down on their haunches, their eyes blinking to a more balanced expression. Shion's eyes simply gazed at the feline as they slowly lowered their Dream Catcher.
"They actually listened to her…"
Ruby nodded as she stood up, still being able to sense the apprehension within the feline. But their curiosity was overriding their apprehension. In most cases, that very curiosity, when left unchecked very well could get them killed. But she wasn't about to let any of that happen. Not on her watch.
"Now, whaddya wanna know first?"
The feline was unsure of what to think, but after Ruby already began moving on once she sensed they weren't a threat, they recovered from their shock and hurried after her. Jaune and Shion watched the feline carefully, prepared to act at any moment.
"Ruby Rose. You are the granddaughter of Salem. At least by virtue of being Summer Rose's daughter." Curious Cat utters while levitating around Ruby, their arms lazily hanging while hovering around her. "How do you really feel about that? What is it about this relationship that feels fulfilling to you, being the granddaughter of the 'Worst Witch in the World'? Are you really content with loving and being loved by her, despite knowing all that she's done? Why do you stay by her side?"
Talk about hitting it close and personal. Does this cat not have a filter? Jaune uttered in annoyance and was about to suggest to Ruby that she didn't need to answer, but she raised a hand before he could say anything.
"It's alright, Jaune. I'm fine answering."
Jaune blinked at this and scratched the back of his neck with a sigh. "Man, I'm really not going to be able to hide much from you at this rate, will I?"
"I'll try to put on a handicap." Ruby collected herself enough to joke, before turning back towards Curious Cat. "Now, about Grandma…how do I put it…pfft, there's actually many ways I can put it." Ruby closed her eyes with a mild shrug. "But I can promise you this; I love Grandma with all of my heart. So long as she's a part of my life, nothing in her past will ever change that for me. It never changed a bit for Mom, throughout the entire time she was raised by her."
"Never?"
"Not once. There's not a lot of people who want to understand the grandma that I know, or how lonely she was. That loneliness went away when Mom came into her life, and then I came into her life too."
"They never felt alone again once they had each other?" Curious Cat wondered while tilting their head and flicking their tail. "Did life for the both of them really feel that empty before you all had each other?"
"For more than one reason…yes." Ruby's ears flicked slightly as she turned her head to the side, her eyes glimmering. She sighed as she could see the stream leading to a waterfall, one that was brimming with various colors. "Oh, that looks nice. After everything, I think I could use…hm, yeah." Ruby turned to Jaune, holding Zwei's body. "...I'm sorry, could you please…"
"Of course." Jaune reassures her, gently taking Zwei into his own arms, wincing. Ruby turned to Shion, who quietly nodded.
"It should be safe. I'll keep guard."
"Thank you." Ruby sighed as she turned towards the stream and the waterfall, lightly slipping out of her dress and skirt, with Curious Cat and Little tilting their heads at this. Soon enough Ruby neatly folded her clothes on the side, before she stepped into the stream, and lowered herself into it, feeling a great refreshing wave of content washing over her. It wasn't a complete fix after everything that happened, but it helped in her finding emotional stability for now. "Mmm…this is nice. This feels great…"
"Oh, so you don't need to wear clothes?" Curious Cat tilted their head. "It seems like a bit of a hassle to have even more things in your body, doesn't it?"
"Modesty differs from person to person. And species to species…and culture to culture…feelings about clothes are weird." Ruby eventually shrugged, then stretched her arms upwards with a small grunt, sighing after a few cracks in her joints.
She then lays back, her hair flowing outwards as she allows the water to carry her, the splashing of the nearby waterfall relaxing her further, stretching her arms and flicking her tail, water dripping and sliding down her muscled yet womanly figure, tensing and relaxing with soothing, calm sighs. Jaune has seen the sight many times and he couldn't get enough of it, though he visibly flinched once he briefly saw the scarring wound in the center of her chest, left behind by Juno running Ruby through with his own sword. A constant reminder of his failure, embedded right through his wife's chest. He didn't know if he'd ever be able to fully forgive himself for letting that happen.
"Say. Let's play a game." Ruby requested while stretching her arms, water running down her chest. "We'll each ask each other questions about anything, and the other person answers to the best of their ability. If the other person runs out of things to ask, the game ends."
Curious Cat blinked, tilting their head, then leaned their head on their paws in anticipation. "I think I'll like that game."
"Great! We'll play right now. I'll go first since I offered the idea." Ruby washed her arm, dragging her hand across as she was getting undue dirt and grime off of her. "How old are you?"
Curious Cat hummed, their paw lightly touching their chin. "I don't quite know how old I am exactly. But to put it into perspective for you, I'm older than Remnant itself."
"What the…" Jaune uttered in complete disbelief, and Shion nodded in confirmation of this.
"My turn." Curious Cat hummed while their tail flicked back and forth behind them, their eyes twinkling. "What does it feel like to be a werewolf? I heard they're the kind of werebeast that is most likely to gain a boost of power under the full moon."
Ruby lightly washed the top of her head, water splashing as she had her eyes closed for the time being. She lays back and allowed the water to carry her again, her long luscious hair managing to cover her breasts. "Being a werewolf feels pretty liberating if I'm being honest. I don't like appearing as a full human, so I'm usually in my hybrid form with my ears and tail. It's different from Faunus because they can't hide those features in instinct the way we werebeasts can." Ruby shook some water off her head as she was up next. "So, you've been on Remnant for a long while. How do you feel about it?"
Curious Cat wondered, placing their paw on their mouth. "It feels like a world that's been broken, and then put back together. A few components are missing from the previous form that it had, but it still feels complete because they've been replaced with much better parts of this new whole. The world is functioning in an entirely new way, and that's fascinating to experience." They soon landed back on the ground, their honor and lower halves separating-to Jaune's startled gasp-and beginning to walk away from one another. You hear the Silver Eyes, a signature feature that belongs to all Celestians. How is it that you didn't have any of their core beliefs?"
"That's mostly because my mom, Summer Rose, didn't really have the nature or nurture to follow those beliefs, so when she found herself away from them, I wasn't raised with those beliefs either." Ruby raised a leg, lightly running her hands along it to wash them as well, sighing at how nice the water felt on her skin. She soon turned towards Curious Cat with a more inquisitive gaze. "Do you know anything about why Juno feels the need to do what she's doing?"
Curious Cat hummed as their two halves came back together, with them hopping into a nearby tree and beginning to walk along the branches. "From what I observed during my time with her, Juno feels like nobody loves the world more than she does." Curious Cat hopped onto another branch, lightly moving upwards. "The ones worthy of living in the world she sees as beautiful are herself, and the ones who are willing to protect it for her sake. Anyone else who didn't share this perspective of hers was killed without remorse."
Jaune grimaced at this, turning briskly to the side as he thought about how firmly Juno has taken to her stance, and how much strength she's gained from enforcing it. Ruby was completely helpless against her when she relentlessly attacked her while attacking and devaluing her perspective and worldview. Ruby had no idea what to do, rendered helpless against her onslaught.
And he couldn't do anything to help or protect her from those attacks, when that was his role. That was his failure to protect her from these things. But he already knew she wouldn't want to hear that, so for now he kept it to himself.
"Here's another one. I smell your scent on this fellow, and the scent of the dragon on him as well. Are you both mates with him?" Curious Cat wondered, with Jaune snapping out of his thoughts and glaring at Curious Cat almost instantly. Before he could scold them on how that was none of their business, Ruby helped answer anyway.
"Yes, we're both mates sharing Jaune. Cinder has joined us fairly recently, while I've been an official mate with him for three to four years." Jaune sputtered slightly as Ruby answered honestly, slightly in disbelief how comfortable she was in talking about it. But then again, she's always had self-confidence in herself regarding this subject, so it probably isn't that big of a shock. "What kind of powers do you have?"
"Hm. Well, I can do things like this." Curious Cat levitated in place, their paws hanging limp and lazy for the moment. "Also, this." They then vanished completely from view, becoming invisible. They then blinked several times before appearing before Jaune with a taunting 'BOO!' which startled him enough to be knocked on his rear. The feline laughed at him, while Jaune could only growl at their instigation. Soon Curious Cat turned about face and blasted a stream of blue lightning from its mouth, shooting into the sky with various sparks. "And there's also that."
"Ooh, pretty nifty."
"Yup." Curious Cat twirled midair as Ruby rolled about a bit in the water, her tail waving about a bit as water flicked off of it in numerous drops. They tilted their head, before rolling over on their back, paws in the air. "Why is it that you resist Juno's plans and desires for a better world?"
"I don't agree with her plans, they're so horrifically wrong." Ruby shook her head firmly. 'I don't want to live in a world where there's only positive emotions. Because both positive and negative emotions are important parts of making us who we are." Ruby placed a hand over her chest. "I never would have come as far as I have if I didn't have negative emotions in my life, especially when they're connected to important memories. I can't just discard that because some of them are more painful than others."
"But still, wouldn't it be better to have those important memories without having those negative emotions tainting them?"
"Feeling negative emotions have led to some of the best moments of my life. Because after managing to work through them and figuring out why I was feeling this certain way, I was able to keep improving myself." Ruby gazed towards Curious Cat while her wolf ears flicked upwards. "I don't want these feelings to disappear, and I don't want that for anyone else, either. They're an important part of what makes each of us who we are."
Curious Cat blinked owlishly at this. "You would willingly choose to hold onto negative emotions even though they would cause you anguish? That choice is so strange to me."
Ruby huffed as she slightly stretched again, her legs rising from the water. "If you really thought that Juno's path was the right one, then tell me; did she ever give off the idea that she would allow herself to be one of those altered people?"
Curious Cat tilted their head in confusion. "I don't think she ever provided that kind of perspective, no. What does that matter to you?"
"Because I've found a pretty good chink in her perspective that will tear it all apart. Does she really expect people to serve the world by silencing their sense of self?"
"I…believe so. People tend to be most corrupted by their sense of self, which is why she wants to silence that sense of self. So that aspect of them can't ruin the world she loves any further." Curious Cat leaned closer to Ruby. "Why are you being so resistant to this? Grief, rage, and pain. They are emotions that hurt. And at a high enough level of power, they are emotions that destroy wherever they touch. Juno wants to get rid of those things. Why is that bad?"
Ruby paused at that, her eyes narrowing slightly as she almost answered instantly and with venom. But she took a breath to stop and calm herself, sighing and looking towards the feline. "Because her wanting to do all that doesn't make her a good person. All she's showing is that she has absolutely no faith in the endurance and potential of the people of this world."
"How do you figure?"
"She wants to render everyone unable to feel negative emotions or perceive darkness. She's ignoring all the benefits they bring to one's life simply because she couldn't handle them. Acknowledging and working through those emotions is what helps people progress." Ruby shook her head furiously, her hands wading through the water. "She threw away her heart a long time ago and denies darkness and negativity. She then decided that since she did, now everyone else has to, or she'll consider them evil that must be destroyed. Does that sound fair to you at all?"
Curious Cat paused for a good long while, placing a paw on their own and found themselves unable to answer, having been exposed to a perspective that they haven't considered before. Ruby noticed that for the moment, they had no more questions to ask, meaning the question session has ended. Just as well, Ruby rose back out of the water, stretching her arms and her tail, shaking most of the water off like a wolf would, as she stepped out and began getting dressed.
Little, for one, asked their own question once the silence lasted uncomfortably long: "You can throw away your own heart?"
"Sometimes that can be quite literal." Shion noted, as Ruby eventually shimmied back into her clothes, snug and dry. "Some people can make it seem like they don't have hearts, by being completely apathetic to the feelings and suffering of others."
Ruby's eyes dimmed slightly as several thoughts continued to course through. "Pandora is supposed to be a manifestation of myself, simultaneously at my potential best abilities and my worst personality wise. She realized this means she has a purpose and threw it away almost immediately. How did the Ever After allow something like that to manifest when I came here?"
Shion stands up, their Dream Catcher in hand. "Something of this extreme has not happened for the time that I've been here. Though it is possible that something is happening now because of something more deep-rooted." They turned towards the skies, holding the brim of their hat. "The Light Brother's tampering with this realm after he returned more powerful than ever…it might have something to do with it."
Jaune took note of how Ruby's posture suddenly became very measured. She turned towards Shion, her eyes narrowing slightly, yet suspiciously. "What do you mean he 'tampered' with this place? What did he do?"
A wave of malevolence soon washed over them all, and Shion gripped their Dream Catcher. "A subject for later. Pandora has reappeared!"
Ruby narrowed her eyes further at this but decided to pin the issue for now. Little hopped on her shoulder, and Curious Cat levitated in front of her. Shion looked towards how Ruby eyed Zwei's body again while Jaune was holding him. They raised their hand slightly, and Zwei's body was soon encased in a cozy dog carrier, reinforced with protective energy.
"I figure this will allow you more space to focus, if you're afraid that his body will be damaged."
"...Thank you." Ruby nodded. She turned to Jaune, who was at the ready, and everyone moved towards the source of the commotion.
In due time, they were able to reach one of the other Acres, and immediately, they could sense that something was terribly wrong. Shion guided them to the Garden, where they feared that Pandora had already emerged. They were unfortunately correct. But not in the way they expected. Because before then it was something Shion had not seen in a long while.
"Grimm…" Shion noted with deepened urgency. The red lights in their eyes were hard to miss, and the skeletal bones surrounding their shadowy forms were equally as vicious as they remembered. They were crawling about in the Garden, and have just begun sensing the groups approach, growling towards them. "But how can there be so many so quickly? The Ever After isn't an environment that can be used by Grimm. The only being that could be-" Shion's eyes narrowed. "Wait. She couldn't have."
"Oh, but I did!"
Everyone immediately looked upwards, to see Pandora gently descending in front of them, surrounded by rose petals. She smiled sweetly towards them, but it was graced with an unmistakably sinister atmosphere, impossible to miss.
"Pandora. What have you done to this place? Where are all the Afterans?"
Pandora tilted her head. "Whatever do you mean? You're looking right at them." She placed a finger on her chin once she saw the surprise in most of their eyes, aside from Shion's. "Well, more so how I improved after I gave them a little makeover. They look so much cooler like this, don't you think?"
"Then it is as I feared…" Shion briefly jumped back as one of the Grimmified Afterans slashed at them, forcing them to jump back. Off to the side, one Afteran, a hawk, was hiding amongst their wares, until they ended up being knocked aside as more Grimm were charging towards them.
"Oh no…!"
"Hi there, birdie." Pandora appeared beside them, rose petals surrounding her. The Afteran was too afraid to turn around and look at her, as she took off their hat and patted their head. "Gee, it seems I missed one, huh?"
Ruby attempted to move, but sudden massive Grimm hands cut off her progress, forcing her to jump back as they tried to claw and smash her. She skids across the ground, while Curious Cat gazes at the townsfolk in shock, realizing what they've been turned into.
"You see, being born in this world tends to give you a bit of instinct, like you exist in a different form. You feel it too, don't you?" Pandora hummed, as the Afteran fell to the ground and their feathers began to darken, whilst other features began to pale. "This place connects strongly to one's heart. The desires that dwell within a truly indomitable heart can change its entire landscape. And everything inside of it." The Afteran soon wailed in agony as bony spikes erupted from its back, along with several more bone plates that emerged painfully from underneath as it also began grotesquely growing in size. "So, imagine the fun little effects that can happen when you're able to manipulate the heart of something else, and shape it however you want." The wailing Afteran soon began snarling and cawing as its wings expanded and flapped with an ethereal dark energy surrounding them. "Which means, with the kind of heart that I have, I can touch and shape the forms of these Afterans to whatever I want, especially in the shape of a Grimm." Pandora clapped her hands. "Like this!"
The Afteran turned Grimm released a bellowing caw/roar that nearly devastated the remains of the town around them, flapping its wings as multiple feathers shot towards the group. Jaune stood in front of Ruby and shielded her from the onslaught, empowering his shield with Aura, expanding it outwards to increase the coverage.
"She's…manipulating their hearts to forcibly shapeshift their bodies…?" Curious Cat uttered, eyes widened and ears folding. "That's almost like my power…how did she…?!" They weren't given much more to act on, as they were suddenly attacked by something they're familiar with but can't recognize in their current form. Their eyes widened. "...Wait, how are you-?! You didn't have this form before…!"
Shion narrowed their eyes, seeing the dark and sinister form across its body, the white bony scales across its reptilian form, hulking and pulsing with malefic power. Its purple and yellow striped horns were so far the only notable feature that stayed intact through the transformation. "The Jabberwalker certainly didn't look like this before Pandora appeared…she altered its form as well…?"
"Doesn't the birdie look even cooler now? I definitely think so! Anywaayyy." Pandora hummed, before turning towards Jaune with a cheerful point. "Kill that one."
It didn't need to be asked twice; it cawed and charged towards Jaune with a tackle, nearly knocking him off his feet as it crashed into his shield. He held strong, though was smashed through one of the stands for his troubles. Ruby turned her head towards him, but it was enough of a delay for Pandora to manifest in a spiral of rose petals and attempt to claw at her from above. Ruby parried the claw strikes with her own, before slashing Pandora across the chest. She landed on her feet away from her, highly alert. With her eyes narrowed, Ruby dashes towards Pandora while surrounded by petals, and their respective petals clash with one another several times, each being like a miniature blade attempting to tear each other apart.
It wasn't long before the clash intensified, and Ruby was forced on the back foot once Pandora flashed her eyes, and a blade of silver coated in malefic red energy nearly flashed her across her chest, extending into a scythe. She twirls it and attempts to slash Ruby with a blurring swipe; Ruby dodged under it and kicked Pandora in the chest, forcing her to slide back and stop herself with said scythe.
"Salem had the right idea before; she just couldn't commit to it." Pandora smiles while locking hands with Ruby, their rose petals constantly crashing against each other, shredding everything around them. "Whatever it took, it was her own actions that led to the beginning of the Dark Ages being possible via Lilith kickstarting things. She proved herself the instigator of a dark world. Could have smothered Remnant in darkness for as long as she wanted, and nobody would have been capable of stopping her." Pandora cooed as her eyes flashed Silver, and Ruby shielded herself from the blast with a swirl of her cloak, before dash tackling into Pandora and sending her skidding across the ground. "Now why would she go ahead and give something like that up?"
"You're supposed to be an alternate manifestation of me. And yet hearing you speak; you clearly can't understand Grandma at all!" Ruby narrowed her eyes as both of them shifted and swirled about, appearing in more beastlike forms, with Ruby's werewolf form having more Grimm features including plating and malefic energy surrounding her. "What Grandma wanted and why she wanted it is far away from something like that."
"I dunno, there's something amazing about ruling over all monsters and bringing nightmares into manifest. Maybe she just wasn't putting her all into it." Pandora gleamed as the white bone mask formed over her face as she shifted, and her maw showed her fangs as she appeared in her Hound form. "That's precisely why someone has to step in and show how it's done. Someone like me!"
Ruby answered this simply by headbutting Pandora, briefly taking her off balance, following up with a slash of rose petals along her claws, numerous slashing petals cutting at Pandora and forcing her to jump back. "You won't be ruling anything; I'll destroy you long before you can try!"
Jaune, off to the side, blocked the empowered charge from the hawk-like Grimm; his shield blocked and reduced a; good chunk of the shockwave resulting from it. Gritting his teeth, he held out his hand as a blade of Aura formed and channeled within it, and he slashed away at the Afteran Grimm to force it back. He sighed as it took a bit out of him, but he was able to stand his ground well enough that he was back to attacking.
"Sorry about this, but I'm not going to let any of you interfere with Ruby." Jaune insists as he pushes back against the hawk Grimm, and parries away multiple feather blades that it launched towards him, shielding himself from the rest of them. More Aura channeled into the blade after he amped his concentration, and he slashed downwards, a cutting wave of Aura slicing into the best and driving it back until it crashed. "She's got too much to deal with as is without you all stalling her."
Shion narrowed their eyes slightly as they held their Dream Catcher, energy swirling around them while various Grimm Afterans attempted to attack them from all sides. A spiral of energy surrounded them, colored akin to a stream of rainbows, before they raised their Dream Catcher and expanded the ring; the wave spread outwards and ignited into a wave of flames infused with lightning, blasting them into the shattered debris around them.
"This isn't good. It's already begun." Shion held and tapped their Dream Catcher to the ground as several spirals appeared around them, and spinning spirals launched outwards to blast the oncoming Afteran Grimm away. They looked up towards the skies as they began to darken…and crack like glass. "Ever After is beginning to destabilize under Pandora's immense presence and power. It will gradually worsen the longer she's alive." Several colorful blasts of energy spiral outwards and attach themselves to their targets before detonating and sending them across the landscape.
Curious Cat was still face to face when the Jabberwalker, their ears folding against their head while slowly stepping back in terror. The beast slammed its paws down, to which the feline hastily dodged out of the way, tumbling across the ground and trying to run. The next smash ended up tending the ground and sending them flying through the air, before letting them crash into the ground; so close to landing on their feet, but a flying piece of debris slammed into their stomach and knocked off their balance at the last moment.
The feline grunted and hissed as they tried to move, running along as the Jabberwalker breathed a plume of violet and yellow flames towards them, burning down the constructs around them. It similarly torched everything inside the structures in the same breath, before exploding from within in a violent blast that sent Curious Cat crashing along the ground once more. They shook their heads, staggering back to their feet, in time for the Jabberwalker to eat and kill any fleeing Afterans that managed to escape Pandora's touch or its flames. Tearing apart another with its jaws while it was screaming from something unseen, it turned towards Curious Cat.
"You're a feeble feline. How many times has that curiosity of yours gotten you or someone that you cherished into trouble? More than you can count." It uttered, staring down at the shivering feline. "You actually had the boldness to come back here, after what happened last time. That means you came back to die for certain."
"N-No!" The feline attempted to dash around it, but the beast's claws slammed into them, tumbling them across the ground. "I'm not…here to…I didn't…"
"You came here to die, so that you won't have to live with your mistake anymore. I can help you with that." Curious Cat hissed in agony as their paws covered their ears, then their arms folded over their head, collapsing into the ground. "It'd be better if I just eat you now and save you the suffering."
"G-G-Get away from me!" The feline begged, only for the Jabberwalker to forcibly pick up the cat in its claws. Various images flashed before their eyes as they hissed and writhed, increasingly panicking, "S-Stop! STOP!"
"The last time Alyx saw you off, she held the line so that I couldn't kill you or Lewis. Aren't you curious about what happened to her? Or is it already obvious to you?" The creature's jaws parted, black strands attached to the top and bottom halves. "If so, then that means you've returned to pay your respects!"
"NO!"
The feline suddenly found itself falling for a moment, briefly surprised, before they spotted something tackling right into the Jabberwalker's chest. It took seconds for them to realize that Ruby was the one who tackled the beast, while also catching Curious Cat in her arms for good measure. She landed across the ground, skidding into it and coming to a stop. The feline gazed at her in shock, while her own eyes remained trained on the Jabberwalker.
"You know, I'm not a fan of anybody or anything that bullies small animals like this." Ruby declared, before dashing in a spiral of rose petals and kicking the Jabberwalker across the face, sending it crashing along the ground and slamming facedown. She lands gracefully on her feet, cape billowing due to the rose whirlwind.
"Hmm. Weak. I don't think you stand a chance against her as you are now." Pandora clicked her tongue in disappointment.
"Tch." Jabberwalker stood up and shook off the shock that it endured from the force behind Ruby's impactful blow. "No matter. By the time that I'm done, and Pandora kills that insufferable Blacksmith, I won't have to put up with the Afteran's nonsense anymore."
"This callousness can't go unanswered." Shion narrowed their eyes as energy shimmered around their body.
"Isn't this your home?!" Jaune exclaimed in disbelief.
"This is not my home, it's a dimension sized cage. One that I intend to leave, after I've wiped out all life within it. Then I will be transferred over to Remnant, where I will truly thrive." It breathed a blast of fire and lightning towards Ruby, which she dashed out of the way of, swirling rose petals managing to assist in deflecting most of the damage. "Devouring humans should prove more worthwhile than Afterans. Alyx helped me discover that part of myself; now I will see it indulged."
"That's only if I don't kill you first." Ruby declared while extending her claws, rose petals swirling around her. "Neither of you are setting foot on Remnant."
"Try and stop us if you can! Talk will only get you so far!" Pandora exclaimed, more Afteran Grimm jumping in-between her and Ruby. Ruby irritably growls at her predicament.
She patted Curious Cat's head as she enlarged herself in her werewolf beast form, then securely tucked it between her fluffier and larger breasts. They popped their head out from her cleavage slightly, as she dashed and smashed right into the remaining Grimm Afterans, sending them all flying in different directions from the sheer momentum of her dash. She kicked one to the right and punched another to the left. She turned about and caught one nearly clawing at her, and she was about to throw them away from her as well.
"...Hurts…"
Ruby's eyes widened.
"It hurts…it hurts…!" The Grimm Afteran uttered in an agonized echo, and Ruby felt her heart clench as she saw tears filling up in the eyes and running down their faces. "...Kill…me…please…!"
Ruby narrowed her eyes, wincing sadly at this, then closed them fully as she sharpened her claws and stabbed them right through their head. She pulled back and opened her eyes again as the Grimm Afteran fell to the ground, lifeless. Ruby gazed at their body as it began vanishing. And then, through the resounding negative emotions around her, she could sense more suffering around her.
Sa…ve…me…!
Hel…p…!
I don't...w..hy…?
Le…t…me…d…ie…!
Every voice she could hear, made even clearer due to her Grimmlike senses picking up on the surges of negative emotions from the victims, made Ruby quieter, yet more and more furious.
Ruby clenched her fists until she drew blood, a vein beginning to pulse on her head, and a malefic aura surrounding her. She turned towards Pandora with a sharp glare, who smiled and simply waved as she vanished with the Jabberwalker in a spiral of rose petals. Is that supposed to be a manifestation of me? Even if I wanted to grit my teeth and accept that, I'll NEVER allow her to set foot on Remnant!
Elsewhere, Jaune parried more of the feather blades launched his way, as Shion encircled them both in a strengthened barrier. They both soon sent slashing attacks towards the surrounding Afteran Grimm, keeping them on the back foot. Eventually, with their ringleaders long gone, they began to retreat. Once they were all gone from the area, Jaune sighed and took a moment to sit down and rest, while Shion held themselves up with their Dream Catcher and took a breath themselves.
"Well, she's got that Jabberwalker thing on her side. How worried should we be?" Jaune asked Shion, who was glaring in the direction their targets went in with urgency.
"The Jabberwalker's purpose here was to terrorize the Afterans here. This was to keep them from straying away from their own purposes. Whenever an Afteran shifts away from their designated purpose, the Jabberwalker would hunt them down and devour them, as a sort of cleansing." Shion narrowed their eyes while tilting their head downwards. "But things are vastly different. The Jabberwalker itself has strayed from its original purpose, ever since the Curious Cat decided to escape from this dimension all those years ago. Now it no longer feels the need to stay within this confined realm; they'll wish to reach Remnant so that they can spread their violence even further."
Curious Cat gazed at the ground once Ruby rejoined the others, with Little hopping onto her shoulder. Curious Cat shook its head. "Anything killed or eaten by the Jabberwalker has their 'essence' erased. It is a complete obliteration of existence, if it is deemed you were being disruptive of the Ever After…"
"Pandora just gave it a motivation to kill every Afteran in retaliation for being forced to deal with them for so long." Shion clenched their Dream Catcher. "And with the alterations to Ever After, that kind of damage may become permanent. If Pandora succeeds in killing Blacksmith, there may truly be no fixing any of it, not to mention the chaos she'll bring upon Remnant in the process."
"All the more reason that we have to destroy them both before they have the chance." Ruby declared while adjusting her cloak. "Let's catch our breath before going after them."
"That might be best…"
Jaune sighed as he sat down on a piece of debris, running his hand through his hair. Shion did a bit of the same, Jaune's Aura extending to them and healing their wounds. Little has fallen asleep for a moment in Ruby's hood, snoring away. Curious Cat landed on the ground on all fours, shaking their head and their tail, before they turned towards Ruby, their eyes more inquisitive than ever.
"...Why did you save me?" Curious Cat muttered while sitting on their haunches. Ruby tilted her head a bit as she sat down on another piece of debris. "I was your enemy back on Remnant. You could have just let the Jabberwalker eat me."
"Yeah, probably. But that wouldn't have been right. Especially not when you look so small and helpless." Ruby smiled softly towards the confused feline, her tail flicking and her ears twitching.
Curious Cat turned to the side with a sigh. "...My special friend. Alyx. And her brother, Lewis. They were human residents here, once. Hailing from the era that you all call the Dark Ages; they ended up here from mystical machinations. I grew close to Alyx as I tried to guide her through the Ever After." Curious Cat lowered their head with a shudder. "Then the Jabberwalker sensed that she couldn't find her purpose here, so it wanted to kill her. Lewis tried his best to protect her, but he was severely hurt." Curious Cat shuddered even more.
"...You're safe with me." Ruby ensured, with such a serene gentleness that soothed them.
"...My power manifested for Alyx's sake. My heart was strengthened by this desire, because I didn't want her to die. But then she gave herself up and helped Lewis and me escape. The Jabberwalker ended up killing and eating her…" The feline shook their head softly. "I ended up lost on Remnant for centuries. Lewis managed to live on and tell the story he wishes would have played out between the three of us…and I ended up outliving him. I was no longer sure what my purpose was, and I was too scared to go back to Ever After. The Jabberwalker would surely come to kill me next. So, I wandered…and that is when Juno found me. I've served her ever since."
Jaune shook his head. "So, she happened upon you when you had absolutely no idea what to do, with such guilt weighing heavily on you. It's no wonder."
"...But then I met Ruby. I see her, I watch her…and I grew so curious about her, and how the elements around her came about, and my curiosity outweighed my fear…and I brought us all here before Juno could kill her. But look at what that led to." Curious Cat closed their eyes. "I ended up failing my initial purpose, and I turned my back on my second one out of curiosity. I'm no longer sure what my purpose even is anymore…or if I deserve one."
Ruby took a moment to collect herself and think through the information provided. Jaune and Shion watched her closely, wondering what she'll have to say. Her eyes twinkled, as she stood up and moved up to Curious Cat. And to its surprise, she picked them up by the sides, her hands under their arms, and pulled them into her arms, carrying them in a cuddle. They blinked at her in sheer disbelief.
"...What…what is this?"
"Everyone has a purpose" Ruby briefly crossed her legs, taking the feline closer to her. "No one ever took the time to guide you through your own purpose or tried to reach out to you. And the one person who did, was taken away from you. Which left you with a toxic influence like Juno. That didn't do wonders for your perspective." Ruby lightly began petting the Cat's head.
"...I've always had a feeling she didn't truly have a place for me in her heart. But I didn't mind that. I had a purpose again; I had a reason to exist…and then I turned my back on that. So now I'm asking myself what the point of all of that was…what is the point of me?" Curious Cat shook their head. "...I still don't know what to do."
Ruby softly smiles. "Well, maybe I can give you a hand there. And we can help each other." Her eyes twinkle at Curious Cat gazing at her in sheer disbelief and surprise. "That is, of course, if you'll let me."
Curious Cat blinked softly, as Ruby gently snuggled him closer, their head gently resting against her plush bust, where her heart softly and peacefully beat. "I have seen into and been inside many hearts…why is yours so warm?"
Ruby scratched her cheek with a cheery smile. "I've always had a really soft spot for small animals, be they natural or supernatural."
Curious Cat took a moment to allow this to sink in and couldn't help but feel shrouded by the sheer warmth that was surrounding it, coming from Ruby's heart. Far warmer and cozier than Juno's has ever been when they were with her. As such, they briefly lost themselves in their comfort, as they closed their eyes to nestle further into this warmth…and began purring.
"Awww, look at them, Jaune!" Ruby squealed while turning to the flabbergasted Jaune and equally surprised Shion to show them the purring Afteran cat.
"I don't believe it…she was able to pacify them." Shion utters quietly at the scene.
"There's no way…" Jaune walked up to the feline and reached out his hand…only for Curious Cat to sense him, hiss, and scratch at the hand, making him reel back with a flinch. "Ow! Hey, what gives?!" Jaune grits his teeth, to point accusingly, only to quickly pull back again when Curious Cat attempts to bite him. "Stupid Cat!"
"Your heart is the one that's stupid, I don't like it." Curious Cat stuck their tongue out at him. "Also, you stink."
"Why you little-!"
"Be nice, both of you." Ruby sternly told both of them, a fist on her hip. They each huffed and turned away from each other. "Anyway, we'd better get going."
"...I might know a way." Curious Cat began, which got everyone's attention. "Your friend Zwei. I might know a way to save him." Now they really had Ruby's attention in particular, while Shion knew full well what they were likely up to. "We might be able to bring him back. His heart still lingers on within the Ever After. The Blacksmith might be able to remake him into something new. But he'll be changed. Ascending to a new form." They slowly tilted their head. "Is that okay?"
Ruby gently clutched onto Curious Cat. "...If there's a way to help Zwei that I have access to, then I'll take it for sure." Ruby had to try. She had to. Zwei dying like that was not something he deserved in the slightest. And if she could find a way to undo that, then she would take it. Of course, she also was mindful of the fact that this very drive was similar to the one that her Grandmother Salem had a long time ago.
And she's been made painfully aware of how terribly wrong that whole ordeal went. Ruby had no interest in repeating history in that manner. No one would ever be able to understand her grandmother if that happens. She had to be better than that.
"Okay. I can help you get there. But we have to lend each other's power. As I am now, I'm too weak. And as you currently are now, it won't let you through." Curious Cat hops onto the ground, sitting as they look up to Ruby. "Make a Heart Link with me. Being my new Master, you'll be able to command and make the fullest use out of me this way."
"Command? While it would definitely be super helpful to have you around, I would like to think of you as a partner or a friend." Ruby placed her hand over her heart. "I'll fully offer my heart to you. Let's help each other through this mess."
Curious Cat blinked, particularly shocked at the sincerity that Ruby was displaying at the moment. There was no deceit or lies in her heart. She was fully prepared to offer her heart as their new sanctuary, and to be their friend.
"You can use my heart. I trust that we can get each other out of this mess in one piece!"
Alyx… Curious Cat thought, as they shook their head. "Alright, let's begin." Curious Cat offered their paw, and Ruby offered her hand. They held each other, and a light circled around them and began to pulse.
"Ruby?!" Jaune nearly intervenes, but Shion held him back by placing their Dream Catcher in front of him, shaking their head. Jaune looked towards the duo still, unable to help his concerns about the arrangement considering how much Curious Cat was against them before.
The light around Ruby and Curious Cat grew brighter, their hearts shining within their chests. On Curious Cat's side, they could actually feel their broken heart beginning to slowly mend itself together, as they felt a newfound purpose to redeem themselves for failing to save Alyx from the Jabberwalker, by helping Ruby and defeating the Jabberwalker. Ruby could feel these desires linking to her, and her own heart pulsed with a resolution to help them fulfill them.
"There's just one teeny tiny thing that I would like to do." Ruby says as the light continues circling around them. "Calling you Curious Cat or just 'Cat' is a little bit awkward. Do you mind if I call you Checkers?"
The feline blinked. "Checkers?"
"Yeah! Checkers the Curious Cat! Y'know, because of your fur pattern looking like a colorful checkerboard! It's really cute!"
"...Checkers. I've been given a name. I have a true name…!" Curious Cat felt its heart swell up and mend even further, and during the Heart Linking Pact, a cat collar shined and glittered around its neck, with the glittering name 'Checkers' imprinted onto it. With that little addition, the Pact was strengthened, and the Link was completed.
The light dies down, and Ruby and Curious Cat, now named Checkers, felt more complete than before. The two of them looked at each other a bit more, as Checkers hopped back into Ruby's arms, gently purring.
"The link is established. We're both connected now."
"Cool! What do we do next?"
"I'll be able to share my knowledge on where to go with you directly, now. Along with some of my powers." Checkers sighed, their fur color changing from blue and purple to black and white. "I'm feeling weakened after making the pact, however. I'll need to rest. Will you allow me to take refuge inside your heart for the time being?"
Ruby smiles softly. "As much as you need."
With the approval given, Curious Cat gently pawed at her bust, which Jaune looked initially affronted by, before it began pushing further as if digging, before the feline slowly phased fully into Ruby, vanishing inside her chest with a bright light, until only Ruby was visible.
"Ruby? Are you alright?"
"I'm alright. Being a living safe haven for a little furry friend is something I can handle." She looked at her claws, and noticed they briefly clashed with Checkers blue light and claws, before turning back to normal. Her eyes briefly flashed blue, before similarly returning to being a Grimmlike black and red, with her hereditary silver being right in the center. Her wolf ears and tail also briefly glowed purple and blue, before similarly changing to normal. "It feels like our powers merged with one another. They're empowering me with their abilities, and vice versa."
"Usually whenever I possess someone, they're more shifted to take my shape. But since our Heart Link is mutual, my features are simply imprinted onto some of yours, rather than overtaking you. Juno never trusted me enough to do this." Checker's voice resonated within her mind. "It feels so warm…so very warm…"
"Glad you feel nice and cozy."
"We can also trade control of the body, just in case we need to rest our mental capacities."
"Oh, really? That's pretty cool. Lemme try." Ruby closed her eyes for a brief moment. Seconds later, they reopened again, but blue eyes with white pupils were now in place.
RubyCat flexed their muscles and swayed their black and white tail briefly, which they took a look at while curving their paw around the body's cutely plump rear. "Such a powerful and strange body. It's that of a werewolf, as well as a Celestian. And now it's also that of a Grimm…and while I'm here, an Afteran." Their claws extended and increased in size, infused with purple and blue lightning, before the crackles died down. "Yes, this feels right, and it feels nice. We're in sync with one another." RubyCat soon gazed downwards to their generous bust, and lightly began pawing at them, briefly cupping them with their paws and lifting them upwards slightly from underneath. "How peculiar. These are slightly heavy, but this body is strong enough to hold them up quite well."
"HEY! Paws off!" Jaune exclaimed with an aggravated pointed finger towards RubyCat.
"It's fine, Jaune. They're just being curious and exploring a bit." Ruby's voice echoed slightly.
"Yes, do 'calm down' for a moment, Jaune." RubyCat levitated in front of him, while cheekily sticking their tongue out at him. Jaune grew further incensed at their taunting, but with them currently inhabiting Ruby's body he couldn't retaliate as he currently wanted to. RubyCat pulled back and handed control back to Ruby, which Jaune was able to tell by how the eyes returned to being Grimmlike with silver pupils.
"I'm not too sure about them being linked with you like this."
"There's no need to worry. We're able to synchronize our desires, and they don't have any intentions on betraying us." Ruby ensured while lightly getting on her toes and rustling Jaune's hair. "I'm sorry about that; you've been working so hard for my sake, and I'm not giving you enough recognition for it, am I?"
Jaune scoffed and turned away. "It's not that."
"I think it is. Your negative emotions are definitely pointing in that direction."
"...Well, now there's even less things I can hide from you." Jaune chuckled.
"But that's alright. Because now I can help you work through them, so to speak." She reassured while placing her hands on his shoulders, before sliding around him and giving him a hug. "You'll let me help you like you've been helping me, right? I can't have you collapsing on me trying to help me and not let me return the favor."
"Heh, sure. I think we can work that out."
"There. You know I appreciate your dedication to me, right? Everyone must be fighting tooth and nail back on Remnant. Let's help each other get back so we lend them a hand."
"Well, we first got to get past Pandora and that Jabberwalker, and take them down. Seems to be our biggest obstacle to getting back home. Wouldn't you say that's the proper order to do things as they are now?"
Ruby nods while nestling his chest briefly. "Yeah, I agree. I'm going to need your help on this, Jaune. Will you support me again? Through all this, to taking those two down, to getting back home…to potentially revive Zwei?"
Jaune lightly caressed her shoulders and back. "Absolutely. You just say the word and I'll be ready."
"Mm. Good. I'm glad you're with me." Ruby nodded, then pulled him closer for an encouraging kiss. Jaune leans into it while holding her up around her back, her tail wagging behind her while her ample chest gently smooshes against his own. It was still a somewhat new feeling for Jaune, with Ruby currently being locked in this Grimmlike state, but now he was sure that something about it drew him to her in a different, new way. Exotic was probably the word, even when he remembers he was the one who decided to be involved with a werewolfess. And a dragon. Ruby was remarkable to Jaune. Sensational even, as Penny would enthusiastically say. Her even adjusting to her current Grimm condition was amazing to him. Eventually Ruby pulls away, her tail wagging slowly. "You're amazing, you know that?"
"With how much you keep telling me, it's hard to forget. You're amazing too, you know."
"It helps that we know these things about ourselves, but hearing it always feels nice." Ruby soon pulled back, not fully, as she kept holding his hand with a fiercely determined look in her eyes. "Come on. We have a copy and her partner in crime to kill."
"Yeesh, kind of aggressive there, huh?"
"I'm in an aggressive mood. And this Grimm body is helping me channel and focus it even more." She held her hand upwards, as they were both enveloped in a bright flash of light. "Now, let's go."
With the light enveloping them all, the group had vanished from the destroyed town, their pursuit of Pandora and the Jabberwalker continuing.
Droplets of water ran down Juno's sultry figure, eyes closed in near perfect serenity. The roaring waterfall didn't even cause her to wince, the pressure barely moved anything aside from her luscious long hair. Various weights were surrounding her, each to a sizable extent. She took deep breaths as she lifted each of them up, occasionally with only one hand, and holding her position there while water washes over her. She lifts more in both of her hands, lifting and lowering them in an unhurried motion, without adjusting her position too much. Her muscles pulsed slightly whenever she exerted a more balanced effort, carrying the weights on her back as she pushed herself upwards, and walked for several spaces within the water at an even pace.
She took a breath, her muscles briefly tensing and flexing, before relaxing then with a sigh as she dropped the weights, which cracked the ground upon impact. Throughout her workout, she slowly stands up, pushing her slick white hair behind her head, her defined biceps pulsing slightly from the movement, as well as the subtle sway of her breasts. She looks forward and stretches her arm to the side one way, then turns to the other away, then upwards. Water slides down her toned midriff and sculpted yet feminine abs, broad shoulders rolling to shake off some of the fatigue, and well-developed strong legs stretched outwards and inwards.
She turns towards the horizon, looking in the direction of the setting sun. Currently she was completely bare to the world, but she paid no heed. For she loved herself beyond feeling shame for such a meaningless thing. She pushed her hair away from her eyes, revealing their glittery silver glow. Eyes with such majestic radiance and unmatched beauty yet carried such a distant and uncaring atmosphere towards the world around her. The world itself was her beloved canvas; the lives currently inhabiting it do not even register. The worthy ones could uphold and guard upon the era she'd lead.
All lives aside from those chosen individuals, are ultimately unnecessary. Mistral will be the first to experience this process, and it certainly won't be the last. She's been at this for a long enough time and has committed enough time and effort, to not hesitate in the slightest. If she were to falter it would be like she's never loved the world at all, which was untrue. Thus, her stride remains unrelenting.
Juno eventually steps out from the waterfall, water dripping from her hair and down her robust shoulders. Her Aura shimmers around her. Her bathrobes eventually levitated to her, and snugly wrapped around her as she began to dry off. She adjusted them with a relaxed sigh as she passed by some of her graced followers, who each greeted her, with more than a few in awe at her majestic stride. Many of them are entranced with the subtle sway of her hips, how her robes hugged her so that her shapely and lush sightly rear was delicately prominent.
She passed by Celimene, watching her move as her current gathering of followers, with haunting serenity, declared 'I belong to Celimene, now.' Several paces next to her, Orella was meditating and honing her psychic power, her Silver Eyes calmly glowing as she levitated. At the end of the row, Themis was being served dinner by some of her own followers, as she was watching over something on her Scroll.
"They found new ways to entertain themselves, haven't they?" Themis muttered while having her head tilted at the various images passing by. "It would seem that singing is more of an art form than ever before. I never would have figured it still had value here in this era."
"There's bound to be a few surprises every once in a while." Celimene hums while gently taking one of her followers by the hand, helping them stand as she takes them to her chambers. "Come along. I can help you relax…" She beckoned them with a softly echoing whisper. Her voice resonated within their hearts and then their souls, until her peaceful voice was all they could hear in her mind. Thus, they followed obediently, in no mindset to deny her.
"Tea making is such a lovely pastime." Orella cheerily declares while sipping a cup of jasmine tea, nicely warm and heated for herself. She turns to Juno as she passes by. "Have a nice bath/workout? You have the most eccentric ways of going about both."
"Toning your body is a type of self-love, and I must keep mine strong for what's to come." Juno answers simply as she stretches her arms.
"Had I not called upon you in your mind, you would have been there all day."
"Self-care is not to be rushed, Orella." Juno declares, which made Orella roll her eyes. "Now then, we already have our next objective in sight. If I'm not mistaken, the town is known as Kuroyuri." Juno adjusted her robes slightly as she gazed downwards towards the town in question. "Wasn't this settlement previously destroyed by a powerful Grimm?"
"A Nuckelavee, it seems. It tore the town apart and never looked back." Orella answered while delicately sipping more of her tea. "It recovered quite well from that attack, eventually. People have decided to settle there once more after its previous destruction. As if Mistral loved it so much that they couldn't bear to not give it a second chance."
"Oh, now isn't that sweet?" Juno hummed as her Silver Eyes began glowing. She held her hands upwards for a moment, as a radiant silver bow and arrow manifested in her hands. She got herself into position and pulled on the arrow brimming with sacredness, her target in sight. "Good for them."
She fired.
The sacred arrow multiplied from one to dozens in seconds, and they rained down upon Kuroyuri. No one expected the onslaught from the sky, as multiple light arrows pierced the inhabitants all over. Through their heads, through their hearts, pinning them by piercing through their legs, incapacitating them by shooting through their arms and hands. The devastating rain of light went on for about twenty seconds, until it eventually died down, dissipating when Juno willed it to.
There were only a few dozen survivors left from the onslaught, not counting the various warriors that managed to evade it to deflect the arrows. They desperately tried to protect as many people as they could.
"Oh, Kuroyuri. Always cursed to be destroyed when it least expects it." Juno insincerely laments, before she holds her hands together, a silver light enveloping her being. The same was done for Celimene, Orella, and Themis, who each mimicked her gesture. Before long, various manifestations of strange and distorted creatures with glowing silver wings came into being, hovering over each of them and being bathed in a bright silvery light. "We've already taken the chosen followers from this settlement. Cull the rest of the rabble that managed to survive." The manifested angels soon swooped forth, flapping their wings with distorted roars/caws/cries of recognition. As she rubbed her chin, she turned about to get situated into her proper clothes. "Perhaps I shall accompany you, just to be sure…"
On the ground, whoever was left alive from the onslaught were on the run from the angels descending upon them, as they were currently using beams of silver light to pierce them through their chests, killing them instantly one at a time. Whenever they were in sight, they would panic briefly before being killed swiftly and with little to no room to retaliate. They were struck down with no mercy, no quarter, and no room to resist.
At least, until they all started being pulled into shadows and away from the danger. The angels were left wandering for a moment after that, confused as to where the rest of their targets had disappeared to. Someone slowly rises from the shadows, climbing up from them before pulling themselves completely out of the ground.
"Tch. We're too late." Blake uttered with an infuriated click of her tongue. Emerging from the shadows with her were Ren, Weiss, and Oscar, each of them surveying the destruction around them with horrified eyes, particularly Ren's.
"This senseless act of cruelty can't go unpunished." Weiss deduced with a glare, two glowing fingers sliding up Myrtenaster and channeling it with ice.
"You interfere with me again, Blake?" Juno questioned quietly as she descended to the ground, clad in her dress and cloak flowing and rippling around her. "I'm growing weary of you."
"That's sad to hear, but I don't remember asking." Blake deadpans, holding Gambol Shroud in front of her.
Ren stepped forward, briefly stopped by Weiss. "Why? Why attack Kuroyuri?! What purpose did it serve?!"
"Do you really wish to know why? It was because the people here did an unsatisfactory job when it came to what I expected of them. I decided they were to be culled." Juno tilted her head. "The other reason is because it was your home."
"What?" Ren's eyes sharpened at this, as an orb of light hovered over Juno's palm.
"Is it not ideal to completely erase the source of your pain?" Juno hummed inquisitively. "If your hometown is obliterated beyond chances of recovery, it cannot give you bad memories anymore. Is that not logical?"
"That's no way to erase someone's pain." Oscar uttered while gripping tightly onto the Long Memory. "And Ren didn't ask for your kind of 'help'!"
Ren narrowed his eyes as Aura channeled to his hands, a soft glowing pink surrounding his fists. "I would never submit to any of you."
Juno clicked her tongue and shook her head. "That is unfortunate, because the only other option would be for you to die. Which is not a difficult option to settle for; your life is inconsequential."
"We'll see how long that perspective lasts…" Blake uttered, her eyes narrowing with animalistic ferocity, before she reappeared in front of Juno while slashing using Gambol Shroud.
Juno leaned back to dodge the slash, blasting a slicing wave of silvery glowing energy towards her. Blake shifted out of the way, leaving a shadowy clone behind to take the blow for her as she rolled to a stop. Juno turned her head to the side as Weiss attempted to stab her with Mrytenaster, her momentum increasing with her Glyphs; Juno dodged to the side before she made contact, a bolt of lightning shooting towards her. Weiss turned and deflected the bolt with her rapier channeled with Aura.
Oscar already had multiple clock Glyphs formed, which began to stack over the Time Dilation Glyphs that Weiss was setting down ahead of time, in various places on the field. The increase of her momentum helped her move even faster each time she stepped on one, each giving her a boost of speed that had her zipping all over Kuroyuri as she chased down Juno, who so far was dodging and weaving around every attack. The sight didn't surprise Oscar, but it still made him uneasy about their progress.
Meanwhile, Ren stepped on one of the Glyphs and was launched far towards Juno while Weiss was in the midst of another attack. Weiss saw him coming and stepped back, holding another Glyph in front of her as Ren bounced off of it, immediately ricocheting him into Juno with an open palm strike to the gut. Juno was briefly forced back by this, skidding back several feet before stopping in place, looking towards the ones rebelling against her.
"Already feeling winded?" Weiss declares while the tip of Myrtenaster glitters with glowing snow.
"Hardly. You're really not going to bring the rest of your little band to help you?"
"We won't need them; the four of us are more than enough for what we're trying to accomplish here." Blake declared while holding Gambol Shroud up to her chest, her eyes sharpening towards Juno, who shakes her head at their antics.
"Such unearned confidence. Very well. Then I suppose you'll make do to force them all out into the open." Juno lifted her head as glowing golden antlers/horns slowly manifested on her head, sacred energy and silver lightning crackling around her. "You'll submit soon enough."
Blake had already braced for it, her Aura tensing to where she expected the blow to land; yet still she grunted from the force behind it as Juno struck her hard enough to immediately send her launching into the air, spinning out of control to a degree. Juno then reappears slightly above her, shooting downwards diagonally to kick her in the chest, making her crash into the ground and creating a brief trench while she was sliding through it.
Immediately afterwards she turned towards Weiss, whose multiple Glyphs were glimmering with magic, as she launched herself towards Juno, Myrtenaster attempting to pierce through her. Juno deflected the blade with one of her own made of solid lightning, before she kicked Weiss downwards, causing her to crash into the ground on her back. She grunted from the impact, but immediately rolled out of the way when Juno stomped the ground where she was lying, lightning surging through the ground and causing it to erupt.
Juno turned to Ren, whose fists were imbued with Aura. Juno held out her hand as multiple orbs of lightning manifested around her, and she launched each and every one of them towards Ren. Clenching his fists, he deflected most of them by parrying, pushing, redirecting, and slamming them out of his way, leaving room for him to dodge and weave through others. Unfortunately, with two of them detonating right before him as he prepared to counter him too, his vision was compromised in a flash of light. By inches, he was able to dodge out of the way of the lightning arrow that nearly pierced through his chest, but Juno simply kicked him straight in the head mid-dodge, launching him through the following houses.
Juno calmly descended to the ground, seeing Oscar clutch the Long Memory in preparation for her attack. "Why do any of this? There's no way this is going to lead to any sort of better world!"
"There's no sense in arguing with the latest contribution to a millennium long legacy of failures." Juno tilted her head dismissively at what she saw as a paltry continuation of Ozma's legacy, as she moved to immediately pierce him with a blade of lightning.
She narrowed her eyes as sparks flew due to her blade being parried; Blake intercepted her, a shadowy Aura surrounding Gambol Shroud. Her eyes remained trained on Juno, even though blood was spilling from her forehead and running down her face. "We're not through."
It was then that Juno noticed the ice encasing her feet, briefly holding her in place. She turned towards Weiss, who had Myrtenaster implanted in the ground and caused a line of ice to spread towards and encase Juno to keep her from moving. "Neither are we!" Off to the side, empowered by both Weiss and Oscar's Glyphs, Ren was launched towards her, his fist imbued with Aura, and struck Juno right towards her face. Her Aura briefly defended against the blow, but it still blew her off her feet and sent her quite a way away. She stopped in midair and adjusted herself, landing on the ground once more.
But it proved to be too hasty a choice, as the ground beneath her had an even larger Glyph sitting under her, causing her to slow briefly. Slowed down enough for where the ice that soon erupted from underneath managed to cut her in a few places. Her eyes glazed towards Oscar and Weiss, who were both exerting themselves to use their glyphs to slow her down. Her eyes narrowed and shined with malevolent intent, as she pulled back and fired a larger arrow of lightning towards them. Weiss's eyes widened as she generated another Glyph to serve as their barrier to defend from the incoming attack, resulting in a thunderous explosion that was surging with powerful lightning.
The smoke cleared, and both of them were struck down. Oscar grunted as he was lying on his side with various electric burns. Weiss didn't seem finished yet, stabbing her sword into the ground and using it to pull herself up, her hair coming undone, her breaths becoming misty from the cold surrounding her. "Not yet…!"
"Pointless." Juno mutters, then immediately turns to where Ren was attacking her from a shadow, transferring through one with Blake's help. She immediately dodged the blow and struck his back, launching him across the field until he tumbled to a stop in a lightning burned heap.
Once more, Blake attacked with slashes of Gambol Shroud, this time with multiple shadow clones imitating her actions while surrounding Juno. She pulls her arms inwards and then immediately spreads them outwards, a blast of sacred energy and lightning expanding outwards in a stream, dispersing the clones and sending Blake tumbling back to the ground, various lightning burns on her body. She spasms slightly from the blasts, before she grunts and pulls herself up, breathing heavily, blood dripping from her chin. She was about to collect herself, but Juno struck her again with a lightning-infused kick, sending her across town until she crashed into a wall, splintering and shattering it.
"There's nothing you can do, Belladonna. You're completely helpless." Juno utters irritably, sacred energy surging around her as she condescendingly stares down Blake. "Nothing you do or say can ever make a difference here, so there's no use in trying. "Just lie down and die, like the unloved beast that you are."
Blake heard her condescending declaration, though with the severity of injuries she sustained, for just a moment, she blacked out…
…
The Dark Ages were in their final dying stages, but this did not mean that they would disappear quietly.
Young Blake grunted as she fell to the ground, grimacing as a foot stomped on her head. She growled as she tried to push back against them.
"Know your place, beast! You're not in any position to be mouthing off!" Were the harsh voices of the humans that struck her with chain whips. She hissed and snapped at them, only to be kicked across the face for it. "Damn Faunus brat!" In the background, Faunus were forcibly being dragged along in chains while whimpering from the harshness and pain, while some of them begging were immediately executed via shots through their heads.
Several were pleading desperately against their captors before they were immediately silenced again as their captors allowed for Grimm to pounce upon them and horrifically maul them, blood and kills flying about in all directions. All while the human spectators on the sidelines applauded and laughed.
Blake growled as she moved on all fours and pounced at her tormentor.
"Hey, I said-!"
She dodged the chain whip and straight clawed right into the man's throat and tearing it apart, her eyes unrelenting and cold as their dying chokes were the last sounds they ever made. Making sure they were dead, she sighed as she managed to move on and take the satchel of food that they carried with them. She handed a hefty bag over to another Faunus, as they were both making their escape from the chaotic area.
"Here, Ilia. You should be fine with this." Blake uttered to her fellow Faunus, a chameleon Faunus, who hesitantly takes the food rations and hugs Blake tightly, which she returns.
"T-Thank you for saving me, Blake. Please get home safe…and say hi to Mrs. Belladonna for me!"
Blake softly smiles, tired as she was. "Will do."
Blake returned to her assigned section, carrying a tattered bag in her hands. Her own attire was in an even worse state, tattered and ripped in various places. Her tail quietly swished behind her, her golden eyes slightly dulled and darkened. Bloody scratches adorned her body, several were still bleeding from how recent the wounds were.
She passed by more Faunus, some coughing and wheezing, Others could be seen trying to help each other to their huts, with some of them collapsing on the spot from the attempt. Covered in dirt and filth, flies buzzing around many of them, they simply focused on making sure they made it to their assigned homes in time.
At last, Blake made it to her hut, pushing the curtains to the side. A pair of ears flicked upwards, and a familiar face turned towards Blake with a soft and tired smile. Blake nodded politely.
"I made it back, Mom."
"Blake, you're safe. Thank goodness." Blake tiredly held the bag she carried to her as she moved towards Kali Belladonna, the motherly Faunus having seen better days. She could hardly stand up as she currently was, looking terribly malnourished. Her ribs could be seen from the terribly tattered rags that barely passed as a dress, her sleeves barely hanging on. Even her feline ears looked terribly dirty, and even slightly chipped in a few places.
Yet for the terrible and starving state she was in, Kali greeted her daughter with the warmest of smiles.
"I managed to find some food…" Blake uttered while holding the bag in her bloodied hands, which Kali immediately took note of for a brief moment. Blake had killed someone once again. A tired yet warm look of understanding graced Kali's eyes, as she gently slid her arms around her daughter and pulled her into a hug. "...They were going to kill Ilia. I had to protect her, Mom."
"Oh, Kitten. You've been fighting so hard, and I can only sit here and pray you come home to me." Kali utters while caressing the back of her daughter's head, both of them softly purring in the midst of each other's comfort. "I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you."
"I'm alright, Mom. Really. This isn't a problem for me at all." Blake briefly pulled back, but still let herself be held in her mother's arms. "I'm pretty strong, aren't I?"
"Of course, Kitten. But you shouldn't have to be for my sake. I wish I was able to do more for you."
While they were still comforting one another, they heard a loud blast outside. Both their ears flicked up in alarm. Blake pulled out a dagger from a battered table nearby and went to see the commotion, with Kali hastily telling her to be careful. Blake pulled back the curtains to see what was going on.
Her eyes widened at the sight and sounds.
"They're here, men! Gather everyone together!" A loud and commanding voice sounded out throughout the area, one that demanded to be obeyed. Blake saw what the person was wearing, a sort of blue cloak that had the insignia of a white beast on the back of it. The person turned towards Blake the moment she noticed her, and she landed in front of her with a far jump, as various Faunus wearing white masks began gathering the downtrodden Faunus and handing them rations and clothes to wear. "You. What's your name?"
"Blake Belladonna." She responded firmly, refusing to give into her shock too soon. The tiger Faunus nodded, before turning to the back and calling out for someone. Someone immediately revealed their heads from the caravan, and Blake's eyes widened as she dropped her dagger. "Daddy!"
"Blake!" Ghira Belladonna exclaimed with relief as he wrapped his strong yet nurturing arms around his daughter in a warm hug. He looked towards the hut, where Kali was crawling to see what was going on, and their eyes met with one another. "Kali..."
"Ghira…!" Kali did her best to reach for him, so Ghira temporarily set Blake to the side so he could go over and help up his beloved wife. No sooner after she was in his arms that they shared a relieved kiss with one another, Kali hanging on tightly as she still couldn't walk at the moment. "I was worried we'd never see you again…"
"I brought help back with me, Kali. Just like I said I would." Ghira smiles, seeing the various white masked Faunus helping the downtrodden from their worn-down homes and being given proper food to eat and water to drink, freshly made and kept so for this kind of operation.
As Blake oversees what she could only describe as a miracle, she turned towards the woman who made it possible, who continued gazing towards her. "Who…are you?"
The tiger Faunus flashed her a fang–toothed smile. "The name's Sienna Khan, cub. The Grand Commander of the White Fang."
"What's…what's the White Fang?"
Sienna Khan got on one knee and placed a nurturing hand atop Blake's head, briefly brushing against the fur on her ears. "Protectors of Faunuskind. We give our fellow Faunus better chances at life, after it seems like the world abandoned them."
Blake's eyes, for the first time in a while, shined with pure amazement and admiration.
…
Blake's eyes snapped open, as she clawed the ground and pushed up her upper half until she was on one knee, even though she was drenched in her own blood. Juno narrowed her eyes at her resistance and decided to simply kill her where she stood. Though by the time she tried blasting her once again, she found herself immobilized.
By her own shadows.
"What is this?!" Juno urged in disbelief as she attempted to force herself free, but found her movements slowed once more as two Glyphs formed underneath her and stacked effects. Weiss and Oscar could be seen off to the sides breathing heavily, whilst Ren helped them focus and channel their Auras by keeping them calm, his own washing over them in a tranquil wave.
This allowed Blake to make her move, as the shadows around Juno gathered; small shadow hands wrapped her entire body, making her even less capable of moving or escaping. The shadowy hands around Juno's neck sharpened into claws. Juno and Blake locked eyes with each other for just a second, but it felt like an eternity.
"You think I'm utterly helpless before you?" Blake uttered with a beastly, savage snarl. "Let's see if you're right."
Blake's were far more merciless.
"Shadow Demon Mauling."
Juno felt it before she could do anything; the shadows binding her pierced her from all over, the shadowy claws puncturing through her body, and the ones around her neck tore her throat open and nearly ripped it to shreds. She gasped from the shock of it all as blood began dripping from her throat in highly increasing amounts.
"Nope…it looks like you were dreadfully wrong…" Blake glared at her for several more seconds, until her eyes rolled to the back of her head, and she falls forward, unconscious. Her shadows dispersing, Weiss and Oscar also ended up collapsing, and Ren was the only one who was able to keep himself conscious, even if he couldn't fight.
"Grrgh…arrrgh…" Juno couldn't speak, her throat was currently badly torn as she had her hands around it, her other wounds were also bleeding profusely.
"Heh! Well look at Miss high and mighty here." Juno turned her head and could see Cinder flapping her wings with a smug smile, with Penny and Pyrrha appearing on either side of her with their weapons trained on her. A barrier formed around Juno, however, Celimene already intervened. "You don't look so good, Juno. Feel like coming out of that barrier for a second round? Or are you going to pathetically crawl away licking your wounds?" Cinder taunted, a fireball hovering over her palm.
Juno glared harshly at Cinder, and then an even more hateful, scornful glare towards Blake, who dealt critical damage to her when she wrote her off as a non-issue compared to Cinder, Penny, Pyrrha, and even Ruby. She was mistaken. Sorely mistaken. A mere Faunus beast was able to bring her to this state when she relaxed her guard just slightly, which was more than enough for Blake to capitalize on. And now Juno was vulnerable to the rest of her allies. Either she was killed right here, or she'd retreat and recover, giving them time to prepare for whatever she would try next.
Either way, Blake has pulled the wool over her.
"...Not…over…" Juno garbled with pained grunts. Her throat was already healing, but she was no longer in any condition to fight. With a flash of silver light, she left the vicinity, taking her troops along with her.
Cinder sighed, gauging the damage. Ren was looking at the shattered remains of his former home having been destroyed for the second time before his eyes. Even more thoroughly than the first. Nora would walk up to him with a gentle hand on his shoulder, as Penny and Pyrrha went to help up Weiss and Oscar respectively. Cinder herself moved over to help Blake, picking her up effortlessly.
"I'll admit, I didn't expect that to work. But you came pretty close to killing her outright, Blake." Cinder smirked at the thought, before shaking her head. "In any case, with their severely incapacitated, that should buy us some time. There's some regrouping to do." Her Scroll beeped; it was Sienna.
"Is she alive?" Was the question on the other end. Cinder confirmed, and Sienna was relieved to hear it. "Alright, regroup with me. We need to collect ourselves and our information in order to decide our next moves."
"And how will we do that?"
Sienna nodded on the Scroll image. "Ever curious about where a majority of Faunus settled after the destruction of Menagerie during the Dark Ages? Well, consider this a formal invitation for a personal tour. We're heading there soon; Blake and the others can recuperate in relative safety. Be sure to bring all your belongings, this won't be a very short stay."
Nodding, Cinder paused for a brief moment, as she gazed at the skies in thought, her dragon wings opening and closing.
The Faunus' new home, huh…?
Yang released a furious yell as she smashed her fist into an offending Grimm, sending it hurtling through the air like a fireball until it smashed into another right behind it, and they both ended up exploding from the impact. Yang landed on her feet with a sigh, her fists still ablaze, her hair emitting a fiery heated glow. She took several breaths before these calmed down, and she turned towards her overseer.
"Yo! That's the last of them in this area! Are we gonna move onto the next?"
Raven rubbed her chin at the thought, closing her eyes, then reopening them as she stood up, her hand on the hilt of her sword. "I suppose that's passable for now."
"Passable?!" Whaddya mean?! I whooped their asses!"
"Maybe, but your approach could still use some work. You have the power needed to see your path through, but your utilization needs more improvements." Raven utters as mother and daughter walk through the streets of Kuchinashi. Normally Grimm couldn't even get into Kuchinashi because of the various barriers and checks keeping most of them out, but all it took was one particularly crafty sentient one to sneak their way inside, and it wouldn't take long for a whole horde to tear everything down from the inside. "If you're going to be of any use against those Silver Eyed wenches and their powers, you need to focus beyond simply defeating them."
"Whazzat mean?"
"Beating them in a fight is one thing, but in order to secure true victory against a foe like this, you need to completely defeat and decimate the reason why they fight and prove that yours is the superior one." Raven stopped in place as she tapped her hand on her sword again. "It doesn't matter how small or grand one's goal is. It doesn't matter one lick if you don't have the power to reach it, or the guts to go for it. If one's compromised grand goal goes against another's meager goal, even if the latter's goal was all they had, they wouldn't lose. They've dedicated the entirety of their power to this goal, and thus their heart strengthened their resolve, and their power enforced it."
Yang blinked as their hair waved in the wind for a moment. She gazed at her hands clenching it into a fist. "Juno walloped me. Was talking a whole lotta shit about how she was going to change the world and stuff."
"Doesn't matter. It's irrelevant." Raven turned towards Yang with a firm glance. "When two opponents of equal power and skill come head-to-head, the winner will be the one who lasts longer, and thus they will have believed more in their reason for fighting. Power without reason is meaningless and worthless, but a firm and strong purpose can change the impossible to the possible." Raven closed her eyes. "You may lose the fight because you were the weaker one, but you're not completely defeated until you've completely surrendered your purpose for fighting in the process.
Yang blinked. "You mean…?"
"Juno had an easy time defeating Ruby because not only was she stronger, but her conviction was firmer. Ruby ended up doubting herself, and that ensured her defeat both times." Raven lightly gripped the handle of her sword, her fingers tightening around it. "Even if you're on the losing side of the battle, you cannot allow your conviction to falter. It won't ensure that you will win the fight, but letting your conviction crumble will only make your defeat even more certain." Raven closed her eyes. "When Ruby returns, she will have learned this. To never falter on the cause she's chosen, if she truly believes in it."
Both of them crossed a street, several glowing lamps hovering over them and lighting the way for them. Soon enough after enough time, Yang lifted her head to ask something else.
"Hey. So…even if your enemy was fighting for the so-called sake of the world…you still would say that their purpose for fighting is inferior to yours?"
"Damn right I will. Someone who preaches over and over about saving the world is never good news." Raven soon turned her head so that one of her eyes met Yang. "Besides. I've already decided that you morons are my world."
Yang blinked in sheer astonishment, and her eyes began shining. "Awww…and here I thought your heart was all nice and frozen. But then you say things like that! That's honestly one of the sweetest things you've ever-OW!" Yang winced when Raven bonked her in the forehead with the hilt of her sword, nearly making her stumble backwards from how rough it was.
"Linger on that longer than necessary and I'll be the one who beats the hell outta you next, you little shit." Raven grumbled half-heartedly. "Let's get moving. The next territory isn't going to clean itself." She utters the next turn and walks onwards without turning back again. "I swear, I say one thing out of the ordinary for myself, and you all latch into it like starving dogs. So damn annoying."
Rolling her eyes, Yang shook her head with a smile as she followed closely behind Raven, her resolution renewed and her inner fire beginning to burn brightly again.
Just hang tight, everyone. Soon I'll be back bigger and brighter than ever. And Ruby, I hope you're okay. I'm gonna redeem myself for letting you down back there. I swear!
Multiple problems going on, both on Remnant and Ever After. Settling them all will prove more difficult than any of the factions really think.
Also clarifying just in case, the Dark Ages ended VERY recently in the current time. As in, Ruby and Blake were still kids, recently. So even though they were around in its dying embers, it's still caused some problems for a majority of the gang here. Menagerie was completely wiped off the face of Remnant by Atlas during the Dark Ages as Fria revealed in Chapter 12, so the Faunus needed a new homeland.
Which we'll see in the next chapter. Both me and my beta worked with and refined the idea behind it and really liked what we came up with, and hopefully we can land the execution.
Until next time!
