Slash! Splat!
She didn't know when it started.
Thump! Crack! Splat!
She didn't know what caused it.
"Hyaaah!" Tsing!
All she knew was one day Grimm disappeared from Remnant, and was replaced by these…these creatures.
Silver streak cleaved through mounds of black flesh, yet as her enemy lay dead it didn't turn to dust despite how similar it looked to Grimm.
Ruby Rose dropped Crescent Rose and fell to her knees. heaving for breath, her silver eyes scanned the battlefield. Tentacles, limbs, and body parts of unknown terrors strewn about, their blood painting the earth blue. Then, as thunders roared above her, Ruby propped herself up against her trusty weapon, ignoring the pain in her legs and the tremble in her hands. She didn't have time to relax.
The silver-eyed girl forced her legs to walk away from the battlefield. There was a slight limp on her steps and a stinging sensation on her left ankle, but she persevered. She then reached for her pocket, fumbling as she reached for her scroll. The device's screen was cracked in some places from either her falls or dropped when she ran for her life she didn't know but not that mattered to her. All that mattered to her was that it was still usable, and the signal on the corner of the screen meant those creatures didn't attack the CCT towers. Yet.
She opened the messaging app, grimacing at how Blake and Yang left her on read. She began to worry. What took them so long? Did they encounter more of those creatures on their way?
Ruby could do nothing but pray for their safety.
◆◆◆◆XvX◆◆◆◆
Ruby collapsed, her back resting against a tree. Her destination was near now, it wasn't long before she was home.
She lifted her hands, her trembling hands drenched in the blood of those creatures. Clutching her hands, she forced them to calm down to little success. She looked up, the slight opening of the foliage showed a darkened sky with flashes of thunder. Strangely there were no sounds, but she wouldn't be surprised if she just had gone deaf from all the booming sounds of her rifle. Closing her eyes a little bit, she recalled the day these creatures popped into existence.
The news of the mass Grimm disappearance had shaken the world with kingdoms celebrating the demise of the predator of mankind for a full month. They even agreed to mark the day as an international holiday. Yet, none were the wiser that it was calm before the storm.
One day, the kingdoms lost contact with the settlements on the shores one by one. Then, after the settlements, Argus was the first to fall in a whisper. Huntsmen were dispatched to investigate and reestablish contact, yet none returned.
This caused unrest in some places there were riots. yet no matter how bad the situation was, no Grimm came to capitalize on the explosion of negativity. The eerie silence made it feel more threatening than an outright Grimm attack. It took some time, but Atlas finally decided to send their best Knights and Personnel.
Yet they were also taken by whatever lurking in the shadow.
Then one day, the day of what was supposed to be the Vytal Festival, monstrous creatures with skin as black as night and white shells on their bodies akin to Grimm attacked Vale and Mistral. Humanity finally got to see their new adversary, they also watched as two kingdoms fell to the might of these creatures. Furthermore, they were very adaptable and unlike Grimm, they had an aura that protected them. Whoever survived the attack fled from the kingdom with whatever they got. Ruby and her team fled Vale after team JNPR and CVFY sacrificed themselves to ward off the creatures besieging Vale.
That day, the world realized that these were no ordinary Grimm. They also realized that these creatures were the ones responsible for the Silence that befell the shoreline cities. And thus people began to call them Sea Demon, or Seaborn.
The fight against the Sea Demon was even harder than the Grimm. Their survivability, adaptability, and intelligence, surpass even alpha Grimm. Not to mention their Semblance-like ability. Hell, if the online rumor was to be believed, Vacuo was in the middle of a siege against these creatures.
The situation across the kingdoms was so bad that whatever was left of Remnant's internet began to believe that humanity had reached its final phase.
◆◆◆◆XvX◆◆◆◆
Ruby was woken up by a droplet on her nose. Checking the time, she was asleep for about an hour.
"Shit!" she cursed. She thanked whatever gods were watching over her, but she needed to be hurry.
Pushing herself up, Ruby continued her journey deeper into the forest. As she walked, she checked herself and her equipment. Her crescent rose was unable to fold now, too much of its mechanism had been chipped when she had to fight after her aura breaks. The fact that she didn't have the time nor the tools necessary wasn't helping the matter. The only thing she could do was to sharpen the blade and fix small dents with whatever she had in hand. Her clothing also almost didn't survive with tears and rips in places because of the Seaborns' spiky tendrils or acidic spits. She also already ran out of ammo.
Hopefully, Yang and Blake would be able to get more ammo from the White Fang camp Blake had told them about. And some help.
It was a quiet journey that was accompanied at times by rumbling thunder, but she finally arrived at her destination safe and sound. The sky had started to rain during her walk and she was now drenched from head to toe. The rain helped wash the blood on her hands. Anything that helped her to avoid any bodies of water was a plus for her.
Her boots splashed on the mud as she approached a hut in the middle of a small clearing with an old stone well. Ruby opened the door after fishing out a set of keys. Pushing the door open, Ruby was greeted by a faint light and a waft of salty air. She walked inside the hut and locked the door behind her.
"Hey Weiss, I'm back." she greeted the only person in the hut, her teammate, Weiss Schnee.
"Glad…to see you…okay…" the white-haired heiress replied between labored breaths, wearing a smile that barely concealed the pain behind it. She didn't move from where Ruby last saw her, the bed near a small window with a small table holding a candle on top of it.
Ruby immediately went to her side and rummaged through her pocket. "Here, I got you some painkillers. Let me get you some water."
"Thank…you, Ruby…"
Ruby propped Weiss up against some pillows. She then took out a small packet of painkiller she had… liberated from…
She shook her head to banish the thoughts and began to administer the medicine to her teammate. The effect was almost instantaneous. Weiss' breath became less shallow and her expression eased. The girl shot Ruby a small, self-deprecating smile.
"Thank you… Ruby. I'm sorry, I–"
"Don't say that!" Ruby cuts her off. She knew what she was going to say, Weiss had said it ever since she was wounded by those things. Ruby took Weiss's hand and then rested it over her stomach. With a reassuring squeeze, she said to her partner, "Don't worry, everything will be fine. Blake and Yang going to return shortly with help, just wait. Now get some rest.
The white-haired girl nodded slowly and closed her eyes. Ruby frowned and checked her messages on her scroll. Her eyes zeroed in on the many missed calls to Yang. a pit forming in her gut as her brain came up with scenario after scenario, not one of them was good.
Ruby sighed heavily and watched as her partner slept. There was still a pained expression from time and time again. her eyes went to the source of Weiss' pain; her left hand, or more precisely, her half-transforming hand. The view still horrified her no matter how many times she saw it. Her left hand had transformed into a tree-like tentacle, folded into a twisted mockery of a hand, and ended on just under her elbow. The implication was clear to her the day Weiss developed this affliction; Those Seaborn, they were people at one point.
That was why some of them were able to use Semblances, because they were the huntsmen that were sent to the settlement on the coastlines. She didn't like it. She didn't want her partner to become one of those monsters. The problem was there was nothing she could do for her short of killing her. She had tried everything, from amputation to immolation, yet all they did was hurt Weiss even though the girl didn't show it.
Ruby prayed, she prayed that her sister and Blake were okay, that they didn't answer because they were hiding away from the rain.
Sounds of skittering reached her ears. Ruby, who had fought against the seaborns for months, recognized the noise coming from the outside.
The young huntress stood up and went to the door. She gave Weiss one last look before walking out from the hut with her crescent rose drawn, ready to strike.
"I'm sorry…for being such a burden…"
Weiss' low murmur caused her to stop for a second. Ruby gritted her teeth. her hold on her weapon tightened. She wiped away a stray tear from her cheek and went out of the door.
Once she was outside, she almost froze up.
Surrounding her was a small army of seaborns. Some were new, like the bipedal with their cloak-like membranes and metallic heads. others she recognized, like the ones with pointy beaks that had slippery skin. There were roughly hundreds of them, circling around the hut.
But the small army wasn't what shocked her to the core.
No, it was the two seaborns that led the ambush.
After all, Even if there were no semblance of human form anymore, Ruby would never not recognize Yang's emblem on the body of one of the bipedal seaborn with flower-like tentacles for a head, nor the catlike appearance of the quadrupedal monster beside it.
"Don't worry, Ruby. we're going to be okay! Those shitheads won't get a taste of me other than my fists!" Yang flashed her a brave smile.
"I'll make sure that your sister comes back okay. Promise." Blake said with a serious nod right before they began their venture outside.
A small laugh escaped her lips, and soon it grew, becoming more unstable and hysteric.
This was the fate that awaited Weiss. This fate awaited her. This was the future of Remnant.
It was truly the end.
These thoughts again and again echoed in her mind. Her hands now clutching her head, Crescent Rose lay forgotten on the ground.
The horde of Seaborn came closer and closer. Yet Ruby didn't move nor stop cackling. Thunders booming in the sky was the last thing Ruby heard before dark filled her vision.
Hymn of the deep sea welcomed Ruby as her mind went to sleep, forever.
Bad End - Day of the Abyss.
(A/N: planned to release this during Halloween, but I think today might be more appropriate.)
