Apocrypha: Tainted Innocence
Grey clouds hung above, high in the sky. Ren frowned as he hung his head out of the van's window, the wind blowing through his hair. He went to put his head back in but for a moment, he stole a glimpse of something hiding in the greenery. He kept his head out for a moment, fruitlessly looking at the spot that they passed. He hummed nervously, a foreboding feeling clouding the insides of his brain.
"I don't like these clouds," he mumbled as he brought his head back in.
Pyrrha leaned to her teammate, lending an ear to his worries.
"Something wrong?"
Ren took a moment of pause before shaking his head.
"Nothing, I just... It feels like something's wrong." he sighed. "Maybe I'm just nervous."
Nora's everpresent smile disappeared, looking at her lover with sweet concern through the rearview mirror.
"You good, baby-boo?"
Ren nodded, ignoring the stupid but cute pet name. Jaune tapped his fingers rhythmically on the outside of the van's door, the steering wheel in his other hand. He stopped tapping once he noticed a CCT Relay Station's reception tower in the near distance. He glanced at Ruby from the rearview mirror.
"Hey, Rubes?"
Ruby snapped to attention, herself immersed in her old headphones. She shrugged them off, looking at her fellow team captain from the back of the van.
"Whassup?"
"Does the map still not work?"
The red reaper took out her scroll and stretched it into a tablet. She frowned once met with a 'No Signal' notification.
"Ok, something's wrong here," Ruby complained.
Jaune stopped the van and put it on park before twisting around and glancing at Ruby curiously.
"Still no signal?"
She shook her head definitively.
"None whatsoever."
Jaune frowned as he looked back at the tower, the same bad feeling Ren was feeling spreading to him.
"I've got a really bad feeling about this..." he warned. "We're gonna go see if something's wrong at the relay station. With some luck, it's just on the fritz."
The paladin's travel companion nodded but Ren felt as if the grey clouds were more than just an omen of ill weather.
...
An eerie silence welcomed the neophyte Huntsmen into the small yard in front of the relay station. The chain-linked fencing that protected the staff of the station from the outside still stood, if covered in dry vines and a thin layer of patina. The gate was unlocked but no guard stood vigilant.
Jaune and Ruby looked at each other nervously, the abnormality of the situation filling their hearts with unease.
"Something's wrong here," Jaune stated. "Let's go check it out."
The front gate was bypassed easily, the lock on the gate hanging open on one of the rings that connected the door to the gate. The yard was devoid of life but there were no signs of fighting, no sign of any kind of struggle. It was as if everyone who worked at the relay just up and left.
The group continued until they reached the station itself. It was a small, two-story-high building with only a couple of rooms on each level.
The team stood at the entrance, bearing witness to their dead surroundings. The air itself was stagnant like a sealed-off basement room, musky and thick with the scent of rotting furniture. A proximity sensor activated the lights, the newfound brightness uncovering a small reception area caked in dust
"Well, power's still on," Pyrrha commented.
Jaune frowned and turned his head towards his friends, nodding a silent command. His team nodded back and all unholstered their weapon. Ruby followed suit, propping up the rear as Nora joined Pyrrha in the middle and Ren joined Jaune to take point. Beyond the reception area lay a stairwell leading to the relay room, with the living area on the first floor.
"We sweep the place then we regroup at the stairwell," Jaune ordered.
All nodded as they spread apart, each going to a different room. Nora and Pyrrha left towards the chow hall and kitchen as the other three checked the dorms, the lounge and the bathroom.
"Nothing here!" Shouted Ruby from the bathroom.
"Same!" Confirmed Jaune from the dorm.
Ren shook his head to himself as he came up with nothing at the lounge. Nora looked under each and every table as Pyrrha left for the kitchen.
"Where is everyone?" Nora pondered before taking a deep breath. "HELLO?! ANYONE HOME?!"
The gladiatrix groaned with disgust as she followed her nose to the back of the kitchen. The smell coming from the large fridge told her that something meaty was being devoured by maggots. Bracing herself, she opened the fridge door and a waft of putrefied meat made her heave. She backed away in revulsion as she was met with liquefied vegetables, rancid and curdled dairy products and what may have once been a big chunk of pork butt. She fled the kitchen, away from the worst stew in the whole wide world. The gang gathered back at the stairwell, welcoming their last fleeing member and her new green tint. Jaune gave his partner a gentle rub on the back.
"You good?" He asked with worry. "Did you find something?"
Pyrrha shook her head with a disgusted cough.
"I'm fine, I just found the fridge." She explained. "It looks like it's been left out for years."
Ren hummed.
"Yeah, looks like the place was completely abandoned."
Ruby rubbed her head, her nervousness evaporating into just simple confusion.
"But why?" She asked. "If there's a relay station then doesn't that mean that there should be a settlement nearby?"
Ren nodded, agreeing with his shorter friend.
"If we find a terminal, we might find out."
The neophytes climbed the stairs and once more were met with silence and isolation. The top floor was covered from ceiling to floor with dormant communication equipment and computers. Nora was the first to hop on one of the few office chairs, spinning around absentmindedly.
"Wheeeeee!"
The rest of the group smiled at her attempt at levity, the earlier tension slowly easing. Pyrrha approached one of the consoles and tapped the space bar, waking up the dormant machine. After a few keystrokes and a lot of guessing, she came across a user directory. A few mouse clicks and a system reset later, their scrolls all loudly pinged as they began receiving signals.
"Finally!" Ruby whined as she took out her scroll. "We'll be able to navigate again! We won't be lost anymore!"
Despite her friend's returned enthusiasm, Pyrrha squinted at the screen as she received a faint router signal close by.
"Looks like you were right, Ruby." She said as she opened up her own scroll. "I'm receiving a signal a few kilometres away here."
"A town?" Jaune asked.
"Looks like it at least. It doesn't say the name, which is weird, but it looks like their local public router is still functioning." She paused, the clicking of keys stopping along with her. "And if this place is any indication..."
The group grew quiet. Jaune was the first out of his morass.
"Well, it's worth a shot. Even if it's a ghost town, we'll be able to better orient ourselves once we learn its name."
Despite their own reservations, JNPRR all agreed that it wouldn't hurt to check. They quickly left the forsaken station and returned to the road, to check if there was still someone alive in this seemingly barren land. They were greeted by a crow sitting on top of their van, cawing a greeting at them. Nora grabbed a stone and tossed it at the corvid, one he dodged with an expletive caw.
"DON'T YOU DARE CRAP ON MY VAN, YOU FLYING RAT!"
Out of spite, the crow flapped up and dropped a hot load of guano at her feet. Enraged, Nora pulled out her Magnhildr in its grenade launcher form and began rapid firing stun grenades at the departing bird. In a panic, Pyrrha and Jaune tried almost fruitlessly to hold her back from chasing the bird that soiled her boots. Ren sighed deeply as he walked towards the van with Ruby.
Before they piled back in their ride, Ruby felt a cold breezy caress on her neck. She whipped her head around with a cautious shiver. For a moment, she made out a pair of piercing eyes.
It's gaze aimed right at her.
As soon as she blinked, it was gone. Her sight lingered on the spot where she saw those eyes, its bestial focus frightening her. She felt Ren's hand on her shoulder, his eyes exactly where hers were.
"You saw it too, right?" She asked, almost begging him to confirm she wasn't seeing things.
"No, but I felt it." He confirmed. "Something, or someone, is stalking us."
She nodded.
"Something wicked this way comes." She quickly glanced at the Wuxia. "Let's keep our eyes peeled."
"Roger."
She and Ren glared one last time at where those savage eyes once were before piling into the van.
The candy-coloured van halted before a large gateway connected to tall but decrepit walls, what may have once been masonry was now overrun by greenery and burrows for critters and insects. beyond the decrepit rampart laid a familiar sight of devastation. Ruined buildings, and ancient signs of struggles like old bloodstains close to sun-bleached bones, all reclaimed by Mother Nature. Ruby's face hardened, the picture set before her all too familiar.
"This place looks like Mount Glenn..." she commented quietly. "Explains why the station was deserted..."
A caw gathered their attention as a crow stood on top of a large plaque in front of a building, framed by the gateway and covered in moss. The Valkyrie and the Paladin rudimentarily scrubbed with their hands over what looked like a welcome sign. Once mostly cleaned, the bold lettering welcomed them into what was once home to ten thousand souls.
WELCOME TO ONIYURI, GEM AMONGST GEMS IN THE ANIMAN CONTINENT.
"Oniyuri?" Ruby questioned. "Never heard of it."
"I have." Ren sighed.
He scowled grimly.
"You weren't far off when you said that this place was like Mount Glenn."
He glanced around at the devastation.
"Though to be fair, they weren't the only ones," he explained. "Corruptions, tax hikes, cronyism and general incompetence led a lot of powerful people and gods know how many others in Mistral to pack up their things and try to carve out an existence for themselves."
He smiled sadly, all too empathetic to those poor soul's plights
"A fresh start, a new town, with their own council and their own laws. A new home where they would be in charge, not some corrupt councilman."
He looked at the empty streets, easily seeing how wonderful it once was. He saw the bathhouse where people came in dirty and came out squeaky clean, the general store where anything and everything could be found. The butchers, the barbers, the grocers...
All lost to nature.
He sighed sadly.
"It looks like Oniyuri was pretty successful compared to a lot of others, considering it's not just half-finished buildings."
"What happened?" Ruby queried.
Ren crouched next to a poor woman's skeleton. He gave a short prayer and an apology before taking hold of her skull. Deep claw marks went all the way through the frontal bone, most likely having lobotomized her on the spot if she hadn't immediately died. Ren stared at the skull with glassy, glazed-over eyes.
"What always happen. They drowned in the Darkness."
Ruby frowned sadly.
"Grimms..."
Ren shook his head, shocking all but Nora, who held his hand supportively.
"No, not Grimms. Grimm. Singular."
Ruby blinked in confusion before remembering what Hope had told Ren all those weeks back, what had spurned him to accept this journey back to his ruined home.
"The Pale Rider."
The Wuxia nodded.
"Nuckelavee, a rare and dangerous type of Grimm. A mockery of the human form fused to a Nightmare."
"The horse Grimm?" Jaune questioned. "How'd that happen?"
"A mystery I'm not keen to discover. Not that it matters." He scowled. "All that matters is that just one can wipe out a town. And it did... many times."
Nora squeezed his hand gently, easing his scowl into a soft, mournful frown.
"Mistral was never an easy place to live in... and when people who just wanted to live a good life, this is what they get."
He sighed.
"Mistral's failures led these people to their unwitting ruin."
Ruby flinched at the statement, the echo of Hope's voice overlapping with Ren.
"A Scorpion is going to hide in the ruins of Mistral's failures." Hope once foretold.
Her head lifted slightly and she walked a few steps ahead of JNPR, to their confusion. The crow followed her, hovering around her in a circle. She closed her eyes and let the dead silence fill her ears. She held her breath, her mind redirecting all of its power to her ears. She heard the flapping of wings as the lone crow landed on a nearby roof. She tuned out the flapping wings and focused on something else, of a cold heart thumping slowly, of quiet, controlled breath of a predator hiding in the shadows. She opened her eyes and looked into a dead building's torn-off front door, glaring at the darkness.
"I know you're there, Scorpion," she growled.
For a moment, nothing happened but before her friends could wonder if she had gone crazy,
A small chuckle came from the front door, and those same eyes that glared at her back at the station stared her in the eyes once more.
Hidden in the darkness stood a man with a permanent smile on his face. his leathery heels rhythmically hit the pavement with nary a sound as he walked into the midday sun. The man was tall, taller than everyone in the vicinity with lanky but wiry limbs. Attached to his hands were gun gauntlets with pincer-like foldable blades. his thick leather coat hid countless scars, just as his purple piercing eyes hid a nihilism so profound that no light could enter them for fear of eradication. The scorpion-man's thin, braided brown ponytail swung behind him like an arm clock. The man stood unnaturally still once he was in the light, that same hollow but sinister smile on his face as when he was in the dark.
"Greetings." the man enunciated elegantly.
Ruby clutched her scythe close as JNPR rushed to her side. Ren immediately felt a chill go down his spine, an early premonition of what might happen.
"Who are you?" Ren demanded to know.
The disturbing man didn't even glance at the Wuxia, his eyes solely focused on Ruby. His head tilted and his smile widened.
"Silver-Eyes," he stated. "I have been looking for you."
Ruby wanted to look away, but a cold wind foretold her that if she did, she might miss his first strike. She felt a cold sweat drip from her back and brow.
"Who are you?" Ruby echoed.
The man blinked dumbly before sighing to himself, his face twisting into a disdainful grimace.
"Oh, but of course!" he growled to himself. "How rude of you to not introduce yourself! Have you not been taught how to present yourself in front of honoured guests?!"
He uncrooked his neck and entered a dignified bow, his hand over his heart.
"I am Tyrian Callows. A humble servant of Lord Nox, the dark master." He raised his head with a creepy smile. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."
Pyrrha unconsciously gritted her teeth, her own dogma showing. The leader of JNPR stood in front of Ruby, his shield unfurled. Pyrrha moved to match her crush.
"What do you want?" Jaune demanded to know.
Tyrian's eyes twitched angrily, the paladin's radiating disposition already getting on his nerves.
"What I want does not matter to any of you!" he scornfully spat before looking back at Ruby with an ominous leer. "No, what I want matters only to the daughter of the White Rose."
Ruby gasped.
"Y-You knew my mother?"
The man's grin widened but it bore no mirth, only barely contained hatred and fury.
"Yeeeeees!" he drolled, "She's the murderous burglar who broke into my mistress's home!"
His face contorted further into a cartoonishly hateful scowl, his palms glowing a sinister purple as his nails dug into his skin. he began trembling uncontrollably, inadvertently sliding his coat off his shoulder, revealing a large X-shaped scar on his chest.
"The rude rube she was! She kicked down the front door and broke so many guards, we had to replace them all!" he complained. "She even assaulted and scarred me!"
He threw his hands in the air with impotent rage.
"SHE EVEN LAUGHED AS SHE TIPPED OVER EVERY VASE IN THE ENTRANCE HALLWAY!" He screamed in outrage. "DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY DAYS OF CLEANING IT TOOK UNTIL THE HALL WAS SAFE WALK BAREFOOT IN?!"
Ruby blinked dumbly before sighing, rubbing her temple. From what Tai said about Summer and her mischievous streak, that's totally something she would do. In the nearby distance, the crow cawed out a laugh.
"That has nothing to do with me if it's revenge you want." Ruby declared as she looked down sadly. "Besides... Mama isn't here anymore..."
The man grinned widely, barring his teeth predatorily.
"Oh, I am all too aware of Summer Rose's deserved demise."
Ruby flinched.
"W-what?"
"Indeed!" he confirmed sadistically. "It took weeks before she finally broke and by that time, there wasn't much going on that already hollow head of hers!"
Ruby gripped her weapon tightly, her eyes trembling with animosity and grief as she glared the bastard down. He held his hand out, as if he wanted her to take it.
"But, enough about the past for now," he said in a calm and detached manner. "Come now, my mistress has been dying to meet you."
Nora and Ren joined Ruby's side as Jaune and Pyrrha had previously, their weapons drawn.
"And if I told you to go to hell?" Ruby challenged angrily.
His sinister smile faltered and he tilted his head, shadows hid his face save the silhouette of his eyes and mouth, twisted into a disturbing angry smile.
"Then that makes my job needlessly difficult. and I hate needlessly hard work."
Ruby unfurled her scythe.
"And I hate being threatened by creeps like you. So hard pass."
Tyrian inhaled slowly before growling, his smile completely gone.
"So be it."
In a blink, the Dark Servant disappeared from his previous spot and appeared next to Jaune. The Paladin caught a glimpse too late, only able to make out Tyrion's Queen's Servant as its wickedly sharp pincers rocketed towards his carotid. Luckily, his partner's reflexes saved him as Pyrrha swept Jaune's legs, forcing him to dodge the strike at the cost of falling to the floor and hitting his head. With a lightning-quick jab of her spear, the Gladiatrix had hoped to force a space between them but to her shock, the man did not care for the point that would have skewered him had he no Aura. Tyrian took the hit and fired point balk at Pyrrha's face, momentarily blinding her in a flash of gunpowder and a lead slug punching her throat. Just as she staggered back, she held her shield out to block a bladed punch. Jaune shot to his feet and glared daggers at Tyrion. His eyes shot to Ruby and he smirked once he realized that Tyrion and Pyrrha were between him and his sister team's leader. The madman took hold of the gladiatrix's shield, trying with impressive strength to wrench her weapon free. He gritted his teeth furiously as he forced Pyrrha's shield away but before he could punch her again, his instinct told him to dodge. He cartwheeled off of Pyrrha, kicking her to the ground in the process, as he dodged Ruby's sniper fire. Not as soon as he hit the ground, a pirouette saved hit from an attempted ricochet of Ruby's shot on Jaune's shield. Nora charged but as she jumped to smash the servant with her hammer, he swept widely with his leg and kicked her out of the air. Jaune put himself between the Valkyrie and the Assassin but as demonstrated by Nora earlier, a boneheaded assault led to him getting grabbed by the throat. Jaune groaned with confusion as he saw his Aura shimmer around his throat until the Assassin began rapidly punching him in the ribs. Jaune began to cough and with a shocked gasp, realized that his Aura was not protecting him. Ren began shooting at Tyrion, forcing him to let go of his friend and leader and reposition. Ren helped Jaune back up and Pyrrha rushed to his side.
"Are you ok?!" she fretted.
Jaune grabbed his side as he hurriedly looked at his scroll to check his Aura.
It wasn't even in the Yellow yet.
he was still in the green.
"The heck?" He exclaimed, wondering why his Aura didn't protect him from Tyrion's punches.
Seeing that his boss was fine, Ren ran to engage their foe. His every strike was constantly parried and blocked with exact motions as fluid as water. Despite his own mastery of martial arts, Ren was faced with someone twice his age and three times as skilled. Tyrion dropped to the floor and slithered between Ren's legs and from his prone position behind the Wuxia, springboarded himself off the ground and kicked Ren to the floor. His gaze turned to Ruby and he ran to her in a dash. The red reaper gritted her teeth but an idea came when she saw her position in relation to Nora. She swiftly loaded an Electric Dust slug into her rifle and took a seemingly panicked shot that flew over Tyrion's shoulder and hit Nora square in the chest. Tyrion took a moment of pause to chuckle at his target's misfortune.
"How embarrassing!"
Nora spasmed as her body was shaken with lightning but to the Assassin's shock,
Nora grinned.
The yellow crackling energy turned a sweet pink as Nora momentarily became-
"SUPER CHARGED!"
Quicker than greased lightning, a pink glowing bulldozer of a woman appeared in front of Tyrian and batted him away like a baseball. Just as the head of her hammer made contact with Tyrian's chest, a concussion grenade detonated, causing a blinding flash and a pressure blast that kicked up a cloud of dust. From the thick earthy haze, Nora dashed out with a cough. Ren tapped her on the back as the rest of the team regrouped.
"Did we get him?" Jaune asked cautiously.
The dust slowly cleared and they looked on in shock as Tyrian still stood with nothing less than a disdainful sneer, with only his coat looking even remotely worse for wear.
"I..." he paused to dust his shoulder. "Almost felt that."
Ruby and JNPR felt a cold sweat go down their backs.
"What the heck are you made out of?!" Nora exclaimed.
The Zealous Scorpion smirked proudly.
"My body was forged for decades in the most gruelling of gauntlets to better serve my master's chosen one."
Ruby blinked nervously.
"Cinder?" She asked tentatively.
The assassin sneered.
"A mere pawn, she's hardly my equal. No, I serve a far greater being with a much more..." he smiled sinisterly. "Noble... Disposition."
A memory from before the Fall came to Ruby on a cold breeze, and with it, the image of a photograph of a woman pinned to the very top of a board. Pale as the moon but hidden in shadows and despite not knowing her face, Ruby could never forget her horrible soulless eyes through that picture.
"The Dark Witch-Queen."
Tyrian smiled.
"Why, what a fitting eponym!" He exclaimed. "Yes! I am my god's chosen Queen of Darkness's humble servant."
His smile disappeared.
"And she must be feeling quite impatient by now. Therefore, I will speed this up."
The Zealous Scorpion lunged at the Red Reaper, almost knocking her Crescent Rose out of her hands with a swipe of his leg. Ruby managed to duck a dodge away from his swift attacks despite the initial attempt at disarming her. Tyrian's pace quickened but Jaune charged Tyrion again. The Assassin groaned.
"When will you learn?"
Tyrion suddenly bitchslapped Ruby, sending her on the back foot with a red handprint on her face. The Scorpion went to kick Jaune away for the third but finally, Jaune remembered that he had a shield and held it up to block. Tyrion sighed tiredly as his foot rested on top of Jaune's shield, the latter buckling under the shocking strength of the Scorpion.
"I'm quite tired of your stupidly straightforward approach."
He smiled sinisterly, something moving unnaturally under his coat just out of view of Jaune. just then, Tyrion kicked Jaune's shield out of his hand and punched him in the stomach hard enough to make the Paladin keel over and vomit. The Zealous Scorpion grabbed Jaune by the hair and smiled cruelly. His Aura shimmered and dissipated around his head, spreading all the way to his lower torso.
"I'll be rid of you now."
Suddenly, a massive scorpion tail erupted from his coat, tearing it to pieces and revealing his bare, heavily scarred arms. The tail's stinger glinted in the dim light, its polished chitin tip oozing softly with a sickly yellow venom. Jaune only had the time to gasp before the needle-like stinger zipped toward his unarmoured neck.
"NO!" Pyrrha screamed as she threw her hands forward.
Tyrion's entire being froze and his vision blurred, his skin becoming pale. He stumbled away as his head thumped and spun for a moment, giving Pyrrha the opportunity to shield bash her beloved's would-be murderer.
Jaune glanced at Pyrrha as she stood over him protectively, her face veiled in shadows as her emerald eyes glowed violently.
"Don't. Touch. Him." she spat through her teeth.
Tyrion shook his head before glaring at Pyrrha.
"You... are interesting."
He smiled sinisterly.
"Looks like I'll have another gift for my lady on top of the little rose."
Pyrrha gripped her weapon tightly, her stance scarily still like a gargoyle as the other half of JNPR came to help their battered leader. Jaune just looked down, defeated.
"Damnit..."
The battle resumed as Ruby sped around Tyrion, filling his view with a whirlwind of rose petals. He smirked evilly.
"I've fallen for that trick once."
He thrust his arm back, grabbing Creasent Rose by the shaft just as Ruby tried to flank him.
"I won't fall for it ever again!"
Ruby tried to wrench her scythe free, only for the Scorpion's iron grip to hold her still.
"Let go, you creepy scumbag!"
He chuckled mockingly.
"No! Why would I?"
He ripped his arm back, forcing her face to face with him. he leered with that honest, cruel smile on his sick face.
"Your voice... it's just like hers!" he said.
Ruby flinched.
"The way she sang for days!" He taunted "So sweet as she screamed your name and your father's!"
Rudy's teeth gritted as tears of light licked her face but just as her muscles crisped up to push Tyrion back, a pair of massive shotgun slugs flew from the rooftops towards the Slave to Darkness. With a triple backflip and an elegant twirl, Tyrian dodged the shot with ease. As he rose up from a crouch, he glanced up at the roof where his attacker stood. Tyrian grinned sadistically at his attacker. On the rooftop stood a familiar face, holding his Harbinger out as its two smoking barrels were aimed at the servant.
Qrow glared disdainfully at Tyrian.
"Shut your damned trap, Callows."
Tyrian feigned surprise.
"Gasp, Qrow Branwen!" he grinned as he waved his arms invitingly. "It's been so long! How are you, brother?"
Ruby's mentor jumped down, denting the old pavement as he landed. He spat in the servant's direction.
"I have one brother and his last name is Xiao-Long."
Tyrian snarled in disgust, making out chunks of phlems in Qrow's spit.
"As uncouth as ever!"
He cleared his throat and his face straightened.
"In any case, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he drolled sarcastically
Qrow glared at the Assassin as he pointed back to his niece with his thumb.
"You're trying to kidnap my niece, what did you expect me to do except send your ass packing like last time."
Tyrion glared in confusion at Qrow before looking at Ruby again. An incredulous chuckle left his mouth.
"Oh dear me! I should have guessed, considering how you ran away and left the missy to fend for herself."
Qrow's grip around Harbinger tightened. Tyrion smiled cruelly.
"You really are a coward, in every sense of the term."
Harbinger's blade went to meet Tyrian's throat but the Assassin punched the flat of the sword upward as he tumbled backward, narrowly avoiding its sharp edge. JNPR and Ruby stood in awe as the two veteran warriors fought, twirling, flipping, dodging and ducking like some sort of violent and deadly dance. Jaune stared long and hard as the Corvid swung his sword with almost complete mastery. He only knew the man with second-hand information, that he was a drunken buffoon with a bad temper when sober.
He was anything but sober at the current.
His hand was steady and few movements were wasted, although he did have a few close calls, a result of the alcohol still in his system. Flurries of leaden death spewed from their respective weapons just as their blades sang in the wind with each swing. Sparks flew with every parry and the earth split with every blocked downward attack. No one dared interfere for fear of being caught in their dangerous performance.
Ruby blinked, still processing that Qrow was there but as she did, her heart was gripped with dread as Hope's omen was seemingly realizing right before her eyes.
The Zeal-Mad Scorpion and the Crow she knows and loves.
"He'll try to take you, only to poison a Crow you know and love." Hope once predicted.
Her grip tightened as her eyes focused on Tyrion's tail.
"No..." she whispered.
She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
'Focus. Don't rush.'
The Crow twirled his sword to bat away Tyrian's stinger but just as he went for a stab, the Scorpion let his opponent's blade glide against his pincers and delivered a mighty kick to create a space between them. Relentless, Qrow took hold of a rock on the ground and charged. Just as he was about to slash, Qrow feinted, dashing to the side, and threw the rock at Tyrion's face. The Scorpion felt its sharp corners hit his eye and yelled in pain.
"You godsdamned caveman-" he tried to insult as he held his eye.
Qrow stabbed at the Assassin's side, only for Tyrion to growl as he dodged the triple stab. Tired of being in the drunkard's zone of control, Tyrian sprung away on his tail like a chitinous spring, gaining a shocking amount of air. As he flew up, the Scorpion let his Queen's Servants talk for him, barking lead at Ruby's mentor. Qrow blocked each shot expertly, using the large flat of Harbinger's blade like a shield.
Jaune stood back up with Pyrrha's help. JNPR stood back and watched in awe as the master worked.
"Geez," the leader exclaimed. "Ruby's uncle is awesome! We barely put a scratch on that guy and he's going toe to toe with him!"
A sudden feint from Tyrion left Qrow with no weapon, his Harbinger now stuck inside a wall. Seeing her family on the back foot, Ruby sprung into action, turning a cloud of rose petals. Just as she reached the Assassin, she threw her whole weight forward and the cloud of petals turned into a flying kick going at sonic speed. Tyrion turned to bat away the interloper but Qrow was not the type to give up when his weapon was away. With an unexpected drunken punch, Tyrian was thrown off balance for just long enough. Qrow reeled back his foot and with a mighty stomp-kick, joined by Ruby's flying kick, sent the Assassin flying. The Scorpion landed in a heap, a small trickle of blood flowing from his reddened nose. He staggered back up to his feet, grimacing furiously as Qrow casually went to retrieve his weapon.
"I didn't ask for an assist." Qrow blithered, the alcohol in his system purging from all of the adrenaline.
Ruby walked backward, her back to her uncle.
"I know," she said definitively. "That guy's bad news."
Qrow scoffed.
"I kicked that guy's ass before," His expression and tone softened. "Let me handle it. It's too dangerous for you."
Ruby held up her scythe, her eyes set on Tyrion's tail.
"No," she commanded quietly as she racked Crescent Rose's bolt. "I'm not letting anyone else get hurt for me ever again."
Qrow blinked as he stared at Ruby's back, a familiar warmth hurting his heart. He sighed in resignation, pulling Harbinger out of the wall.
"I get it," he said, standing side by side with the Red Reaper. "Still, try to avoid that tail."
He gritted his teeth, holding his side for a reason he didn't understand. It was as if he had experienced it firsthand in another life.
"I feel like it'll hurt."
Ruby noticed her mentor's discomfort and her eyes narrowed back on the venomous appendage.
"Don't worry."
She held up her scythe in an aggressive low stance.
"I won't miss it."
Qrow smirked as he mecha-shifted his Harbinger into its scythe form.
"Like we practiced," he ordered as he entered the same stance, except mirrored.
Ruby nodded silently as the two of them charged the Scorpion. Tyrion wiped his nose as he entered a low crouch. Qrow and Ruby switched positions, jumping side to side, before making a wide slash with their scythes, horizontally and vertically respectively. Tyrion sprung into the air, contorting his body in mid-air to avoid the strike. As he landed, both scythe-wielders spun in place, catching him with the back of their weapons. the sharp backblades of their scythe took hold of his clothes and with a mighty swing, launched him into the air. The Crow followed the Rose as she flew into the air on a cloud of petals, using his high recoil gun to keep up. the pair honed in on Tyrion as he gritted his teeth. Using the same recoil trick as them, he used his gauntlet guns to propel himself away and landed on an old building. Most of the roof was in tatters, with the support beams exposed and holes leading to the story below. Ruby flew over Tyrion and landed behind him, locking his in between her and Qrow. He glanced at them both, growling in frustration.
"I'm going to tear you apart." he spat at Qrow before glancing behind himself. "And you..."
He squinted sinisterly.
"I'm going to enjoy watching you being broken, just like your mother!"
The intended Intimidation didn't seem to work this time as she stood still like a statue, waiting for Qrow to make the first move. The Crow stuck first, forcing the Scorpion's attention on him but leaving his back open to the Rose's attacks. Tyrion remained on the back foot for the duration of the fight. He could take on Qrow and be on even ground, even with Ruby's interferences but she was smart, only ever engaging in hit-and-run. She had assessed correctly that trying to fight alongside Qrow was a bad idea, as she would only drag him down. Instead, she would keep their adversary off kilter to ensure that Qrow always had the advantage and punish every mistake Tyrion made.
Tyrion yelled angrily as he felt an exhausted sweat drip from his brow.
"This is asinine!" he yelled in frustration. "Drop dead already!"
Qrow snorted.
"Not happening."
Tyrion charged with an impatient roar but Qrow simply taunted him with his arms wide open. Tyrion went to strike but as he made contact, Ruby's mentor disappeared in a cloud of black feathers, a crow flying away on a trickster wind. The Assassin stumbled forward and the old roof cracked beneath his feet. Ruby took and shot at his feet and the roof crumbled. With a shocked scream, Tyrion fell through the collapsing ground and was dragged down into the dusty darkness below. The Crow landed on Ruby's shoulder as she glared into the dust below.
"He's still alive."
The crow cawed in agreement.
"Let's regroup and get away from this place."
Once more the crow cawed before taking flight beside a cloud of petals. In the dust below, a pair of purple eyes seethed in silence.
...
Ruby landed on the pavement with a tired sigh, holding her chest as her heart pumped wearily. JNPR rushed to her as Qrow returned in a puff of feathers, landing right next to his niece.
"Are you ok!?" Jaune and Pyrrha fretted in unison.
Ruby shook her head.
"It's not over." She warned direly. "Stay on your guard."
Ren and Nora nodded solemnly as they stood guard, their weapons in hand. Qrow rubbed her back softly as she glared at the building where they last saw Tyrion.
"C'mon, let's get out of here before-"
A wall fell down with a startling crash and from the dust, a steel beam shot out like a lance. Nora stepped forward and batted the beam away. Ren fired his StormFlowers into the dust where the beam emerged. The dust cleared but nothing stood where the cloud dispersed.
"Where the heck is he?!" Nora exclaimed.
Ruby's eyes shot around but soon, an echo reminded her of a possible future.
He'll poison the Crow she knew and loved.
"Kill him." Hope once counselled coldly. "If you can."
With a singular warning roar, Ruby swung her scythe at her Mentor. Acting on instinct, the Crow dodged to the side. As he did, steel met chitin and with a squelch and a spray of visceral fluids, the Scorpion's stinger fell to the floor. Tyrion screamed in pain as he held his maimed appendage, the severed end oozing blood and venom like a leaky faucet.
"YOU BITCH!" The Assassin crassly screamed.
He panted heavily, the pain clouding his mind. Cornered, maimed, tired and outnumbered, his fighting instinct was drowned out by his desire to live. With a grunt and a panic screamed, he scooped his stinger off the floor and ran away into the wild.
The group sighed in relief, the fight now finally over. Ruby panted heavily, holding up the blade of her scythe to her face shakily. Blood and venom seeped over her reflection as her hands trembled. She was used to her blade being clean after cleaving through the profane flesh of the Creatures of Grimm but this wasn't an inhuman abomination she had crippled.
She maimed someone, a real flesh and blood person.
Her grip failed, dropping her weapon, and she stared at her shaking hands as she fell on her rear.
"Oh... Oh god..."
She felt a shiver shake her body as tears welled in her eyes. She held herself, clenching her eyes shut with a soft sob.
Qrow held her close, gently petting her head.
"It's alright, lil' gem. It's over now."
The Red Reaper hiccuped and sobbed as she buried herself in her uncle's embrace.
The night sky was dark that day, the stars hiding sheepishly in the darkness of space and letting the half-moon gently light the heavens. The warmth of the campfire wasn't enough to warm Ruby, even though she was wrapped up in her cloak. The sight of Tyrian's dismembered stinger still haunted her mind. She has had time to rationalize it, that Tyrion was a murderous lunatic hellbent on kidnaping her and killing her uncle, but even if he was no better than a Grimm. Still, it was difficult to remove from her mind the sight of him clutching his severed appendage and not feel incredibly guilty. Ren and Nora sat beside her as Jaune tended to the fire and Pyrrha fetched some water bottles. Qrow sat by quietly, staring at the fire as it danced in the dark. He occasionally glanced at his family but looked away soon after.
That haunted look on her face... was painful to watch.
He groaned before taking a swig from his hip flask. Drunk him doesn't have a problem looking at people.
Even if he might look at the wrong places...
He swallowed his third swig before putting a cap to his drinking, for now. Pyrrha arrived with arms full of bottles and began distributing them. Qrow held his hand up to deny her offering but she just put it at his feet before sitting beside Jaune. Ruby rubbed her eyes before looking at her uncle.
"Who was that guy?"
Everyone lifted their heads before looking at Qrow, themselves wondering the same question. Qrow sighed, staring into the fire.
"Tyrion Callows. Scorpion Faunus, age 37, male." he enumerated as if reading from a rap sheet. "Wanted in all four kingdoms for charges of conspiracy to commit murder, aggravated assault with intent to kill, attempted first-degree murder, first-degree murder, assassination, torture..."
He sighed again.
"Guy's a cactus, is what I'm getting at."
"Why was he chasing Ruby?" Jaune asked, already imagining what horrible things Tyrion might have done to his friend.
Qrow's eyes grew glassy.
"I don't want to know," he said definitively.
He groaned before taking a swig of his flask.
"But," he said gruffly, the alcohol taking effect. "It has something to do with his boss."
Ruby blinked blankly.
"The Dark-Witch Queen."
Qrow glanced at her curiously.
"You met her or something?" he half-joked.
She shook her head.
"All I know is her title and what her eyes look like."
Qrow shivered violently, his expression struck with fear as the colours drained from his flesh. He took out his flask and drained most of the remaining content fast enough to choke. Ruby rushed to his side once she saw him cough harshly.
"Qrow?!"
"F-fuck!" he coughed out as he punched his chest. "Wrong pipe!"
Ruby sat next to Qrow, rubbing his back as he spat into the fire.
"I take it you met?"
The corvid nodded grimly.
"Yeah... You could say that." he shivered again. "Those eyes... They give you nightmares."
"What does she want?" Ruby asked. "Why would she want me?"
Qrow looked at her pointedly and tapped the corner of his eye.
"It's your eyes," he explained. "Something about your eyes interests her."
"How so?" She asked cautiously.
Qrow shrugged.
"Dunno. Maybe she wants to harness that power for herself. Maybe she fears it and wants to try and find a way to seal it."
He looked down sadly.
"I doubt it's the last one... We... We would know."
Ruby stared at her uncle as he hiccuped sadly, her own frown betraying her sadness.
"Did... Did you guys fight her?"
Qrow nodded.
"STRQ fought her once and it tore our team apart..." he refused to look Ruby in the eyes. "Me and Summer... We fought her a second time... She..."
He felt his throat clog up. He inhaled sharply, his lips trembling with emotions.
"She didn't make it..."
His throat clogged up again, his vision haunted by Summer's reassuring smile before she faced the overwhelming darkness alone. Qrow grabbed the front of his shirt, almost revealing the massive scar over his left flank that once threatened to expose his lungs to air. He froze once he felt his niece's warmth wrap him up. He stared down as Ruby held his waist softly. Her eyes were wet but she wasn't weeping anymore.
"It's ok, Qrow," she said reassuringly, her own voice hoarse with emotions. "It wasn't your fault."
He nodded quietly, shaking his nearly empty flask. He downed the rest before stuffing it in his pocket. He sighed, shaking his head as the burn filled his throat and warmed his stomach.
"How come you know about her?"
Ruby shook her head.
"I don't know much, just that she's the big bad. At least, from what I gathered from Anon."
Qrow's nose scrunched up. It may have been months since they last spoke, but he still wasn't a fan of Ruby's crush.
"That jackass..." he muttered low enough that he wasn't heard. "Did he tell you about the maidens?"
Everyone but Ruby perked up curiously. Ruby sneered resentfully, crossing her arms.
"No, Ozpin did."
Qrow blinked dumbly, wondering if he heard wrong.
"What?"
Ruby glared into the fire, fitting, considering the old man's ultimate fate.
"He tried to make me one."
Qrow shot to his feet, his eyes wide with shock and anger.
"WHAT?!" he yelled in disbelief.
JNPR flinched in surprise at Qrow's sudden outburst.
"This is some kind of bad joke!" he decried
Ruby glared at her mentor.
"After everything that happened before I fought Penny, what makes you think I'm joking?!"
Qrow flinched, that moment he had found her in the cafeteria when he had learned of her emotional meltdown burned into his memory. Her harrowed expression, of someone burdened with too much and just this side of a burnout. Just thinking about those despaired eyes when she heard of her withdrawal's rejection... It hurt. Qrow sat back down, looking at the ground.
"Sorry, I didn't mean..." he paused. "He just told me he had chosen someone. Just not who..."
He scratched his head, still confused at Oz's alleged behaviour.
"But why would he do that?" he asked to himself. "I've known him since I was a teenager, he wouldn't..."
"Well, I'll tell you who Ozpin was," Ruby said. "He was a scary, cold and cruel man who tried to pressure me into accepting his 'Offer', which led me to have a panic attack. When the Fall was happening I joined up with the soldiers sent to escort him to safety. How does he repay me? He tries to force me into becoming the maiden. He had lied to me, he told me I had a choice and that I could refuse to become the Maiden. I'm pretty sure I would have had to fight him if it weren't for the Atlas soldiers who were with me."
Qrow groaned.
"Damnit..."
Ruby rubbed her arms, thinking about all of the warnings Hope had given her about Ozpin.
"I should have listened to Anon..." she mumbled. "Every time he got angry at Ozpin, every time he's told us how terrible he was... I should have known better and told the Headmaster no from the start."
Qrow's expression crumpled into a complicated mess. There was no way he could call Ruby a liar, that girl was awful at bullshitting. But why would Ozpin hide something this big from him? He already knew the answer, Ruby was his precious family and there was no way he would have accepted her becoming the Fall Maiden.
If so, then why didn't he pick someone else? Why did it have to be Ruby?
That was an answer he'll get when they meet again, but that's for later. Right now, he had to ensure they reached Mistral safely.
Qrow opened his scroll and checked his maps.
"A bit off course but with a bit of forest driving, we can reach the road to Mistral and go there directly in a week's time."
Ren shook his head somberly.
"We... Have a detour to make, hence why we're off course."
Qrow glanced curiously at the Wushia.
"No offence, kid, but this part of the province is inhabited by old corpses and Grimms. Why the heck would you make a detour when there's nothing here?"
Pyrrha crossed her legs as Jaune left his seat to get more fuel for the fire.
"We need to get to Kuroyuri before we go to Mistral."
"Why for?" Qrow asked. "That place's an open graveyard."
"A Nuckelavee is roosting in there," Pyrrha explained. "Anon told us to go and destroy it."
Qrow tilted his head, his face turning into a grimace of disbelief.
"And you listened to him?!"
Ruby glared at her Uncle.
"We have. Got a problem with it?"
"YES!" he exclaimed. "A Nuckelavee is an incredibly dangerous Grimm that can wipe out entire towns! It takes an entire team of Veteran Huntsmen to take those things down and they NEVER go down easy."
He glared seriously at everyone present.
"None of you are ready to face it."
JNPR and Ruby glanced at one another, especially Ren. The Wuxia was one hundred percent in Qrow's camp, having witnessed the Pale Rider destroy his home and ravage the town's guards single-handedly. Ruby crossed her arms.
"More reasons to go and kill it." Ruby declared. "We may not be vets, but we can't just let that thing do as it pleases. It already destroyed so much, we can't let it destroy more."
Qrow held his face, groaning in annoyance and disappointment.
"You're kidding me... Are you seriously doing all of this because some dickhead told you to?!"
Ruby's eyelid twitched.
"First, Screw you!" Ruby told off. "You are in no place to talk."
Qrow jolted and leaned back, shocked that polite little wallflower Ruby would blow him off so aggressively.
"Second, Anon wouldn't send us in if he didn't believe in us. And third, this isn't just because he told us to. We're doing this for Ren."
Qrow looked to the man in question, who nodded grimly.
"Kuroyuri was my home," he explained. "My father died trying to protect us all from the Nuckelavee."
His stare intensified as he stared into the fire, the flames dancing like they did when his home was burned to the ground. He gripped his weapon nervously, holding the grip tightly.
"I have a duty to see that abomination erased..."
He paused, his grim expression turning sad. Ren held up one of his Stormflowers, the blade's shape having been inspired by his hero's sidearm.
"I... Have to pay my respects to the one I left behind."
Nora took hold of her boo's hand, making him smile as he looked into her eyes.
"It was my home too," Nora said. "I don't remember it as fondly as Ren does, but it was still the place I met him."
She grinned cheekily.
"So I got some pretty big attachments there too."
The Wuxia smiled at his love, glad to see she had his back no matter what. He held their joined hand up and kissed it softly, eliciting a soft squee from Pyrrha and Ruby and a smirk from a returning Jaune. The paladin sat by the fire with a small bundle of dry wood and threw them into the firepit one by one.
"And we're here because where Ren and Nora go, we go." Jaune declared. "Right, P?"
Pyrrha nodded resolutely.
"We're a team, It goes without saying!"
Nora shot the pair a thumbs up and a grateful grin, ones that were happily returned.
Qrow's eyes glazed over, a familiar empty feeling taking hold of his heart. He sighed, scratching the back of his head.
"I'm so gonna regret this... But fine." He acquiesced. "We'll take your detour and kill the son-of-a-bitch."
The group smiled, glad that Qrow had agreed. Just the fact that a Veteran Huntsman was fighting by their side, let alone a member of a Beacon Academy Team, boosted their confidence tremendously. They never doubted they would succeed but now, it was a practical certainty. The only one who didn't smile was Ruby. Pyrrha gave her friend a supportive hand on the shoulder, one that Ruby acknowledged with a smile.
"We'll get through this," she reassured her diminutive friend.
"I know." she looked into the void with a forlorn gaze. "Anon would have told us if we'd be in trouble."
The bloody stinger twitched in her mind, causing a cold shiver that made her clutch her cape tightly. Qrow groaned deeply.
"If he told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?" he asked in annoyance.
Ruby deadpanned at her uncle.
"Qrow, I can fly." she reminded him. "I'd do a flip while I'm at it."
Qrow facepalmed.
"It's an expression, Ruby. you're not meant to take your semblance into consideration."
She humphed.
"Qrow, I understand that you don't like Anon-"
"Correction, I really don't like that prick."
Ruby inhaled irritably.
"But he's my best friend. I know him, he hasn't led me or my team astray."
Qrow gave her a meaningful look.
"Yet."
A tick mark appeared on her forehead.
"You are not one to talk."
"That's for me to judge in the future. My point is, you're trusting this guy way too easily." He argued, "Even with me, it took a long time for me to trust Oz as much as I do."
"I trust him because he's given me many reasons to." She countered. "Anon may be..."
She paused awkwardly, thinking back to all of the times he had gotten himself in trouble for having a big mouth.
"A bit too honest..." she admitted. "But when it came to down to it, he only ever had the best intentions."
Qrow shook his head sadly.
"Having good intentions means jack when the results are anything but."
Ruby growled angrily.
"Well, at least he always treated us right! He never thought of us like pawns in a game of chess like Ozpin did!"
Qrow blinked before sighing.
"You know what? Let's just leave it at that. I'm not in the mood to argue over a guy neither of us truly knows."
Ruby glared furiously.
"What do you mean I don't know him?! We were neighbours for months and I've lived with him for thrice as long! I've even bathed with him!"
Qrow reflexively inhaled in aggravation through his nose but held down the urge to go visit Hope and shake him till his head fell off. He took out his scroll and sent a file over to Ruby. She held up her scroll and saw the file name.
Anon Hope Personal Data.
"Read it, then come back to me," Qrow said definitively.
He got up from his seat with an old man groan and a stretch.
"On that note, I'm gonna hit the sack." he turned around with a wave. "See you kids tomorrow."
Qrow turned into a bird with a puff of feathers and black mist, the sound of flapping wings alerting them of his departure for the trees. Ruby glanced up from her screen before looking back down. She stared long and hard at the file. She felt a mix of emotions, most of which were negative in nature. A part of her wanted to delete the file, as looking at it would be a violation of Hope's privacy. If he didn't tell her, then he must have his reasons to. It was his right and she had to respect it. However, She'd be lying if she said she wasn't deeply curious about the man she had grown to love. Who was the man Hope was before she met him? Where did he come from?
What's his birthday?
She violently shook her head before turning off her scroll.
'I'll ask him next time I see him!'
She rubbed her eyes, the fatigue of an extremely stressful day hitting her all at once. Nora changed seats to be next to her fellow fun-sized friend, a cheeky smile on her lips.
"W-what?" Ruby asked cautiously.
"You know, it's pretty cute how defensive you got about Anon." Nora teased.
"What, you think Qrow's right?"
"Nah, I'd trust Anon with my life," she admitted. "He tells me to smash, I'll smash no questions asked."
She brought Ruby close so she couldn't run, a mischievous look on her face.
"I just found it so cute when you got pissy and pouty when your uncle called him a prick."
Ruby pouted cutely as her cheeks reddened.
"W-well..."
Jaune snorted, bringing attention to him.
"That's what caught your attention?" He asked, wearing a similar smirk to Nora.
Despite how unfamiliar it was for the earnest girl, Pyrrha joined him, wearing a similar expression as her crush.
"Ruby, what did you mean by bathed with him?"
Ruby blinked dumbly until her entire face turned red. She began spluttering panickily, fruitlessly trying to make excuses.
"I-I misspoke! I didn't bathe with him, I bathed him! And well, y-you know, he didn't have his prosthetics back then, so he had trouble getting in and out of the bath s-so, you know, I huh... I... You know..."
Nora grinned widely, making Ren facepalm despite his smile.
"Nora, don't..."
"How big is he below the belt?" She asked bluntly.
Ruby blinked slowly before a memory of a little accident made her cover her face as steam shot out of her burning red ears.
"I DIDN'T SEE ANYTHING I SWEAR!"
A round of laughter from her friends made poor Ruby crumple on herself out of embarrassment. she was certain she was not going to hear the end of this for a long time.
Despite the lightened atmosphere, her mind kept returning to that scene of gore and blood as Hope's words echoed in her ears. She knew what being a Huntsman entailed, bloodshed and all. Her uncle had demystified that for her a long while ago. But to actually live it? It was surreal and chilling.
For the first time in her life, she had drawn blood. Worse, she had dismembered a living person. And sadly?
It won't be the last.
APOCRYPHA: END
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