aight, chapter 8
yeah, another long ah hell break. believe it or not i actually do have an excuse. im at that age where i gotta think about moving out, so ive been looking around for places to rent. on top of that, i work full time and do college, plus i got friends to hang with so my schedule is mega uber busy. so there, thats my excuse.
i meant to say this in the last authors note, but i wanna just say that i WILL, 100% complete this fic. under no circumstances will i just abandon it and leave it to rot. unless i die or smthn i guess but im planning on not doing that for a couple decades. so yeah, i'll be finishing this fic even if im typing in the retirement home.
this chapter has a lot of comedy in it. couldnt tell ya why. it just flowed outta me as i typed it yknow? even still i tried to bring it back to a more serious note as organically as possible at the end.
enjoy.
"huff… huff…"
Ruby was catching her breath in the middle of a clearing. Her slender build meant she wasn't able to exhibit powerful shows of raw strength, and although the girl on her back had a similarly small frame, Ruby had been running at full speed for quite a while and her fatigue was beginning to show.
Just as she found a spot to sit down, she heard the sound of a branch snap, followed by a low growl. A group of shadows moved from the treeline and into the clearing. 6 Beowolves crept closer.
Instantly Rubv's mind got to work. She couldn't leave Weiss unattended since another Grimm could come up from behind. But using her scythe in its heavy form on top of carrying Weiss would be difficult.
Standing up with Weiss still on her back, Ruby extended Crescent Rose and pressed something near the bottom. Large pieces of metal began to fly off as the scythe shed its armor, returning to its elegant jet-black form. The leftovers combined together once they were shed and assembled into a mostly uniform rectangular block with a handle on the top.
Brandishing her weapon, Ruby walked slowly toward the group of Grimm. Once she got within a meter or so of the first Beowulf, it lunged at her.
With a wave of her arm, she sliced the beast in two while continuing to walk forward. The action itself was without sound. From the movement of the scythe through the air to the severing of the Beowolf's body there was an unnatural lack of noise.
The other Grimm paused for just a moment once their leader was slain, and Ruby took full advantage. She sped past them and cut each of them into pieces. With a sigh, she returned to where the extra pieces of her weapon rested and began to reassemble the scythe into its heavy mode. It was a short exchange, but it served a purpose.
That should work. She thought to herself.
She was aware that Beacon had placed hidden cameras all over the exam area. While defeating those Grimm with her scythe in its heavy form would indeed have been more difficult, that's all it was. Difficult. Not impossible. The real reason she switched to light mode was to make an impression. This was just another step in her plan to make Ozpin invite her into his inner circle.
"Now then" Ruby murmured, "where were the relics located again?"
She tried to summon a mental map of the area but gave up after continuously imagining things like milk and cookies instead. She really should start eating more in the mornings. Ultimately she decided to simply pick a direction and go the complete opposite way. That was the strategy that helped her navigate the many twists and turns of Salem's castle before she had it memorized, and it was remarkably reliable. Whether that meant she was exceptionally good or comically bad with directions was a question for another day.
"Y'think this is the place?" Yang asked. They were standing in front of some ruins in a clearing.
"I would imagine so," Blake replied. "those chess pieces on the pedestals look relic-y enough to me."
"Alright then, I vote for the pony." Yang gestured toward the Knight piece.
"Works for me. I guess we should start making our way back then."
So far their partnership was going well. Yang talked, Blake replied. Yang jumped into swarms of Grimm, Blake assisted with exterminating them. Assisted was definitely the proper term as Yang didn't know how to hold back, it was all or nothing. She'd decimate as many as she could while Blake would finish off any stragglers that ventured outside Yang's kill zone. It was a good system.
A distant scream could be softly heard somewhere well beyond the treeline
"Yeah, sounds good. I hope we run into more Grimm on the way back though, I haven't even been able to warm up!"
The scream grew slightly louder
"If what I saw before was you before warming up, I'd hate to see you in top shape. You're scarier than the Grimm." Blake took a moment to recollect and shivered slightly. "I've never seen anyone rip an Usra's arm off only to beat them to death with it."
"Heh, you ain't seen nothin' yet."
The two began walking back into the forest when Blake suddenly stopped and cocked her head to the side. It almost seemed like her bow moved for a moment.
"Do you hear that?" Blake asked
The distant scream only grew in volume.
After taking a second to listen, Yang replied, "Yeah, sounds like someone's screaming."
"ahhhhhhhhh!"
"And it's getting closer."
"AHHHHHHHHHH"
"A lot closer." Blake nodded
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Suddenly a shadow flew over them. Looking up, Blake and Yang were shocked to see a giant Nevermore fly past them and start to circle back around. Then they were shocked once more to see that two people had seemingly hitched a ride on the creature. One short girl wearing a white and red cloak, and another also wearing white and currently screaming at the top of her lungs.
"Woah…" Yang gazed in awe and confusion for a few seconds before cupping her hands around her mouth and shouting "I CALL NEXT!"
"Seriously?"
"What? I'm a thrillseeker babe. Get used to it."
"Whatever. Looks like they're dropping down." Blake said as she watched the two girls leap off the Nevermore and begin their descent. Yang began a cartoonish whistle and then made a 'Boom!' sound effect when they landed, although it was drowned out by the actual -BOOM!- their landing caused. A few seconds later, two silhouettes dizzily made their way out of the crater they created and lazily fell to the ground. The one in all-white spoke first.
"You…huff…are SO…huff…lucky…wheeze…that my head is too fuzzy to scold you right now."
In response, the one wearing the cloak merely babbled some gibberish and shook her head around. Probably trying to shake off the concussion she just gave herself.
Yang walked up to the two, gave a wild grin, asked "Hey guys. Just dropping in?" and proceeded to cackle at the ensuing groan from the other three girls.
The first time Weiss opened her eyes, finding herself gazing down at a forest that quickly swept past her, she chalked it up to a dream and decided to go back to bed.
Approximately 3 seconds and a few rapid-fire thoughts later, she opened her eyes again to the same sight and then decided to look around. Gazing upward, she saw herself tied to another girl via vines and other greenery, with said girl gripping onto a giant Nevermore with a childish grin on her face. After taking all this new info into careful consideration, Weiss thought to herself: Oh good, it was a dream.
Approximately 8 seconds and a careful peruse through her most recent memories later, Weiss once again opened her eyes, took one last look around, and began to carefully and strategically craft the most optimal course of action for her to take. Taking a deep breath inward to center herself and ensure she was calm, Weiss proceeded with her master plan.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
Later on, while in private and trusted company, Weiss would acknowledge that this was, in fact, not necessarily the most effective course of action. She would also, however, reserve the right to ask: "WHAT THE ACTUAL **** WAS I MEANT TO DO YOU ******* ***** *** ************?!".
"Oh, hey Weiss, good to see you aren't dead."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"
"Yeah, it was my fault for running into you and knocking you out like that. Sorry."
"-AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"
"And I suppose I should have waited for you to wake up before hitching us both to a flying death monster. So again, my bad."
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-"
"But like, I didn't want to fail initiation y'know?"
"AH-"
"Thanks, Weiss. I knew you'd understand. Oh, look! That must be the ruins where the relics are located! Ready?"
"A-"
"Let's go!"
On second thought, maybe jumping off a flying grim and barreling toward the ground with no landing strategy wasn't a good idea. But hey, Ruby was willing to give it a shot anyway.
The immediate regret that comes with smashing into the ground at high speed did a good job of sobering Ruby from the previous feelings of elation and optimism she felt now that she was sure she didn't murder another student on her second day of school.
As she shook away the dizziness in her head and tried to respond to the noises coming from Weiss's mouth, she noticed 2 other girls make their way toward them. Ruby still had her hood on and there was still quite a bit of dust in the air so she couldn't make out who these girls were just yet. Then, the one closest to her spoke.
"Hey guys. Just dropping in?"
Seriously? That sucked.
Letting out a groan to make sure her displeasure was known, Ruby looked toward the terrible pun-slinger in order to-
Oh dear.
That's not good.
Standing before her was Yang Xiao Long. The one person she had been trying to avoid entirely. This had to be some kind of cruel prank. She stood there staring directly into Ruby's eyes with an unidentifiable look on her face.
Thinking fast, faster than her semblance at top speed, Ruby searched the depths of her brain for a solution, but she came up short. Instead, she decided to rely entirely on her instincts and profound social acumen to save her.
"LOOK A DISTRACTION!" She blurted out, pointing over towards a random spot in the treeline.
WHAT KIND OF SOLUTION IS THAT? STUPID DUMB IDIOTIC BRAIN! THERES NOTHING OVER THERE TO DISTRA-oh my god there really was a distraction…
There was. An Usra erupted through the trees, only to fall down in defeat as an orange-haired girl climbed off its corpse and a black-haired boy followed closely behind.
"Nora, please… don't ever do that again."
Nora darted toward the ruins and took the Rook piece before the black-haired boy called her once again.
"Coming Ren!"
Since Yang was distracted, it was easy for Ruby to grab a concussed Weiss, swipe a chess piece, and attempt to leave without drawing any more of Yang's attention. Unfortunately for her, just as she was nearing the treeline, she and Weiss were run over by two familiar faces.
"oof"
"ow"
"hey!"
"Sorry!"
Jaune and Pyrrha had practically tackled them at full speed. After a few seconds of untangling, poor Jaune found himself face to face with an absolutely furious -and probably somewhat delirious- Weiss Schnee.
"WHAT'S THE BIG IDEA HUH?"
"Hang on, hear me out" Jaune pleaded "We were running from a-"
Just then, a Deathstalker burst from the forest and into the clearing.
"A that. We were running from a that"
Chaos. Several different conversations happening at once, 2 giant Grimm attacking indiscriminately, a near-erupting Weiss Schnee, and so, so many questions to be asked by everyone around.
Everything was happening too fast. Everyone was getting overwhelmed. No one could process the situation because there was simply too much. Ruby realized all of this before anyone else and took one deep breath. One long inhale, one slow exhale. Her eyes opened, focused with a set purpose.
"We need to get to the cliffs. We'll be in a better position to fight there." She looked around and, after a small pause, saw a few nodding heads. "I'll scout ahead and try to formulate a plan using the terrain. You guys follow and try to identify any weaknesses those Grimm may have that we can exploit." More nodding heads and words of acknowledgment were traded before Ruby ran off towards the cliffs in a burst of petals.
Things may have gotten out of hand, but the only thing that mattered was her mission. It was the only way she could repay Salem. When she thought of it like that, things were simple. Right now, the only thing she had to do was pass initiation. Ruby's eyes darkened as they gained even more focus. She repeated the same words over and over again in her head like a mantra.
The only thing that matters is the mission.
The only thing that matters… is Salem.
feast your eyes on my AU trivia: The kinds of books our characters partake in:
Ruby: any and all, but mostly informational and historical books, and young adult fiction.
Yang: doesnt read, except maybe Dr Seuss
Blake: smut, duh. If it aint broke don't fix it.
Weiss: Cormac McCarthy books. no, i will not elaborate.