Apocrypha: Against Despair
Earth rent and wind carried the pained and indignant howl of the Pale Rider.
Its long, gangly arms dug into the ground, tearing chunks of concrete and asphalt and throwing them at JNPR's Green and Pink pair. Whenever they got too close or somehow managed to mount the Nightmare, the Rider's steed would rage and trample in a deadly rodeo. So far, the lovers managed to do little more than annoy and further enrage the beast. Nora was too slow and Ren's Stormflowers were too weak. If it weren't for the fact it had been abused for who knows how long, Ren and Nora would have been wiped out a while ago. The realization came quickly to the pair; they knew they couldn't keep this stalemate going on forever.
Luckily, a solution would present itself soon enough.
A scratched-up Nora dusted her concrete-crumb-covered shoulder with a pained groan.
"Y'know, this is actually really bad, right?"
Ren glanced nervously at his girlfriend, nodding at her statement as he noticed her shifting her weight around her left leg.
"What about you?"
Nora smiled reassuringly, trying to hide the trembling in her leg.
"I'll be fine."
Ren knew she was lying, he'd been by her side for too long to fall for that fake smile. He knew she was in a lot of pain and that hurt his heart. He wanted to drop everything and run with her, far, far away from here and nurse her back to health. But that look in her eyes, that hatred of the monster that mentally scarred him, that destroyed his home... It made him want to punch himself for wanting to run.
She wasn't a coward, she wouldn't run, not until Ren has had his vengeance.
'So... I won't be either.'
He stared at his Stormflowers, cursing his past self for choosing such pitiful weapons.
"Damnit!" He mumbled. "Need more firepower!"
As if hearing his pleas, Fortune herself rubbed her chin with an eternal smug look on her face.
"'Kay."
With a snap of her finger and a flick of her wrist, his prayers were answered with a .30-06 hollow point bullet round ripping through the air and blowing a smoking chunk out of the Nuckelavee's shoulder. The beast howled in pain as it staggered backwards. Ren and Nora looked back to see their team's Gladiatrix prone on the ground with her Milo in its rifle form. She clicked her tongue as she held her head.
"Still a bit woozy..."
Jaune was kneeling next to her, already helping her back to her feet.
"You lost a lot of blood, please take it easy."
Pyrrha smiled benevolently.
"I'll try, but our teammates's safety is still number one."
Jaune smiled back.
"Fair enough."
Ren grabbed Nora's arm and the pair ran to their teammates as Pyrrha covered their retreat with a hail of gunfire. The Nuckelavee screamed as it tore a chuck of asphalt out of the ground to toss at the group. with its mangled shoulder, the beast could hardly aim well and shot wide. JNPR reunited just as the beast's aim turned true. Jaune tossed Ren and Nora behind Him as he held up both his and Pyrrha's shields to tank the blow. Concrete and earth crashed against the bulwark, the weight and mass of the projectile sending Jaune back a few meters as the concrete crumbled against his shields. Pyrrha hopped back on her feet swiftly, but her haste made her stumble from the vertigo. She and Ren Quickly helped him up before scattering once more as the Nuckelavee charged the Team. Nora ran alongside Jaune but the throbbing in her leg made her slow down, the pain becoming worse and worse until a shock of pain shot through her entire leg. She let out a short pained cry before stumbling and falling to the ground. She held her throbbing leg, feeling her fractured femur through the blackened bruise on her thigh. She squinted in pain before a massive shadow loomed over her. When she looked up, the monster that ravaged her hometown held its lanky arm up with a cruel glare.
She blinked once, and the monster's hand descended in an arc to bat her away.
She blinked twice, Ren appeared in front of her, holding his arms out defensively.
She blinked thrice, Ren was no longer in front of her.
Ren flew through the air, his body crashing through a building and landing on the door. The hinges aged burst and sent the Wuxia rolling into the old burnt-out street. He coughed harshly as he rose to his feet, his Aura having managed just barely to hold on. He gazed around his surroundings and a chill enveloped him. He looked back and his heart stopped.
This was his home.
He walked inside, dazed by the memories of the place that once was his world. The living room was the same, although caked in dust and the wood furniture was rotting. He walked into the kitchen, where his mother would slave away day and night to feed her husband and son. the furniture was a mess, the dining table was in ruins and covered in claw marks. His feet dragged and slowed as he marched behind the counter and his eyes began watering.
There she was.
Annabelle Lie-Enfield had travelled all the way from the only home she ever knew in Mantle to settle down in her future husband's hometown. She was always a very hardworking person, even on days she could better spend taking care of herself. It didn't matter if she was tired, hungover, sick or covered in her baby's filth. She would clean up and find something productive to do. She didn't smile often, being from a military family from Mantle tended to make you into a disciplined, borderline fun sponge.
But when she smiled... The whole world would stop to stare in awe at its joyful beauty.
And there she lay, forever unable to smile again, her thorax in pieces.
Ren felt his knees buckle but managed to stay upright, holding down a sob as his eyes flooded.
"Mother..." he choked out.
The fire that raged in his memories presented itself, carried on a cold breeze that led him away and outside. A part of him didn't want to leave, for he knew what lay outside. His knees forced themselves straight as they led him away, pain tearing his heart apart as he robotically walked to the exit of his once-home. A few steps led him into an open crossroad filled with old skeletons, an open-air charnel pit. Ren glanced down with empty, miserable eyes at the lone skeleton lying away from the rest.
Its legs were farther away, torn and tossed away like garbage. Its hands were separated from its forearms, which were separated at the elbow. the rest of the arms were torn from the shoulders. All that was left was a torso, a spine and a pelvis as the head was missing.
Ren knew exactly where it was. In the belly of the Pale Rider.
He fell to his knees, his mind regressing once more into that of that scared child who watched his father being butchered.
Powerless, weak, vulnerable...
He lost everything. His home, his friends, his family...
"I'm here, Ren."
He looked back across the street, an old overturned wooden pulpit sat like a carved cage of protection. His old self whimpered pathetically as he held his mouth to silence himself. As he hid, he felt a presence sneak next to him. He went to scream, only for a small hand to keep his mouth shut. A terrified smaller version of Nora was straddling him, her eyes wide and begging him to please control himself. Ren stopped struggling and waited for her to let him breathe again. She removed her hand from his mouth and got off of him, setting herself next to him. The pair sat in silence as they watched their whole world burn in an inferno of darkness and horror.
The two would sometimes glance at the other when the other wasn't looking, a small distraction from all the awful things happening outside of their hidey-hole. Neither knew the other all that well at the time. Ren knew Nora was a poorer girl whose father had an accident that nearly killed him and took his hands, leaving him in a coma. He also knew that her mother was nice but that the other women in the town had an awful impression of her. When Ren asked his mother about it, she cringed and told him she may explain when he's older. Nora, meanwhile, just knew Ren as the kid of that cop guy who was friends with her dad, back when he was awake. They played together, back then, but eventually grew apart as her family's financial situation deteriorated. He wasn't a bad kid but she knew that because of her mother, Ren's own didn't want him to associate with that woman's child. Nora didn't blame her, she was bullied enough as is for it, it made sense to try to not have Ren live through that.
But that's all pointless now. They both had nothing anymore.
A monster passed by their hiding place and Nora felt her heart jump out of her chest. The two children held their breaths as the monster passed. Ren and Nora huddled together, their fear only middlingly alleviated by the knowledge that neither of them was alone. Suddenly, The monster's head snapped towards them. Nora knew they were screwed and she instinctively jumped over Ren to protect him. To her surprise, the monster sniffed once or twice before leaving despite being right in front of them. She glared in confusion at the departing Grimm before noticing that she had become some kind of grey fuzzy apparition. She looked over to Ren and he too had all of his vibrant colours drained away. He was holding his breath, his hands on his mouth just like earlier. She clutched him close.
"That was close..." She had commented.
Ren nodded, still panicked and holding his breath, even though his tint was growing a pale blue.
"You're going to pass out!" She once whisper-screamed. "Take a breath or five!"
Ren hesitantly let go of his mouth only after checking if the coast was really clear. He gulped down air as his lungs were invaded by fresh oxygen. Once the adrenaline of their near-death moment passed, he began sobbing anew. Nora glanced at him sympathetically before doing what she thought she should do.
She held her fellow orphan in her arms and didn't let go.
"It'll be okay, Ren," she reassured.
Ren hesitated but eventually buried his face in the crook of her neck.
They spent hours like this, hiding like bugs under a rock, hoping and praying that they would not be found. Eventually, the fires died down and the screams stopped completely, leaving behind a gut-wrenching silence. The monsters had moved to the other side of the town, a chance to escape the two children took. They wandered the continent for weeks, surviving on scraps, the kindness of strangers and, to Ren's dismay, occasional thievery. Nora would do most of the work the much more docile and meek Ren was too mentally weak to do. The compounding mental toll of everything from the guilt of theft, the loss of his home and family and the feeling of worthlessness from making Nora do basically everything...
You didn't need to be a medium to guess that he would eventually break down.
One rainy early spring evening in a random park in the border town of Argus, Nora found Ren scrunched up in the plastic hideaway they called home for the week. She shivered as she took off her old blazer, wringing the rain out of it like a towel.
"Damned clouds!" she cursed. "Go away!"
She checked the paper bag she held and smiled brilliantly at its dryness. She hummed cheerily as she skipped to Ren as he lay on top of their shared sleeping bag. She pulled some bread out of the bag with a big grin.
"Ren, check this out!" She greeted excitedly. "Miss Terracotta got us some bread again! It's still warm, too!"
Ren didn't react, the shadows of their industrial plastic shelter hiding his face. she could already tell that Ren was upset, having lived with him for weeks made her learn his tells and to a degree, what he was thinking. She knelt next to him, putting the bag down on a small plastic structural piece that they used as a table. She sat next to him quietly, waiting for him to talk.
"Why are you bothering with me?" Ren finally said.
Nora looked outside as the rain grew heavier. She ended up shrugging.
"Dunno."
Ren sat up with a frown.
"What do you mean, you don't know?"
She shrugged again.
"I don't really have a reason not to," she explained.
"But you don't have a reason to either."
Nora rolled her eyes.
"And? What am I supposed to do, ditch the last person I have in my life?"
Ren flinched.
"It... Doesn't have to be me..." He said, shrinking on himself.
Nora frowned sadly.
"Ren, what's up?"
"Why do you bother?" he sighed.
Nora waited for him to elaborate.
"I mean... I never help you. I can barely hold myself from just bawling my eyes out while you get yourself into trouble for my sake." His face soured further. "You're the one who does the odd jobs while I hang around you like a gormless twit. You're the one who steals while I look on. You're the one who gets caught and has to weasel yourself out while I watch uselessly."
Nora gently held his shoulder and Ren's face finally became visible to her in the penumbra of their shelter. Ren's eyes were red and puffy from crying for hours, his expression harrowed and full of pain.
"I'm just deadweight," he self-flagellated. "I'm just holding you back..."
Nora, surprisingly, responded with a casual shrug.
"And? You're still my friend."
She opened the bakery bag and pulled out a steaming loaf, tearing it in half and presenting one to her companion.
"And that's more than enough for lonely old me," she said with a smile.
Ren hesitantly held his hand out, taking the half-loaf. He bit into the warm bread as his tears renewed. Unlike before, they were devoid of bitterness.
"Thank you..." he trembled out. "Thank you for putting up with me..."
She leaned her head against his as she consumed half of her portion in a single bite.
"I'll always have your back." she managed to say through the crumbs she was spitting. "That's what friends are for anyway, right?"
"I guess."
She ruffled his hair, earning a surprised groan.
"C'mon, chin up. Just because you're a scrawny, limp-wristed crybaby boy now doesn't mean that you can't be a butt-woopin' cool dude like your dad in the future!"
Ren strained out a chuckle.
"Sorry I'm so weak."
"No sweat," she dismissed. "You've had it easy all your life, it makes sense you're struggling."
She glanced at him.
"But you know what?"
"What?"
She grinned, already imagining his future, fully grown huntsman self.
"I got a funny feeling you'll be a real badass soon enough."
She smirked.
"Give or take half a decade."
Ren rolled his eyes.
"Whatever you say. Not like you're any better." He attempted to tease.
She scoffed loudly, resonating inside their plastic shelter.
"Pu-lease! I'll be like the ocean!" She declared. "I'll be the baddest bitch you'll ever know!"
Ren glared in confusion.
"First, Language. Second, what the heck does that even mean?"
She shrugged.
"Iunno, I just heard some fisherman dude say that once to a guy with an afro and a really cool mustache."
He chuckled.
"Do you make a habit of eavesdropping on people?"
"Only those I find funny, like that one time I heard about a whorehouse that doubled as an orphanage... or were they just neighbours? then that makes the adage of loving your neighbour really weird..."
That evening was spent listening to Nora's crazy stories, an entertaining respite from their gloomy days. Ren completely forgot about the rain and just sat there, listening intently to his one and only friend. A friend who would become his dearest soulmate.
A soulmate whose future self crashed through his memories like she did through what remained of his old house.
Nora tumbled through the ruined street, crashing into Zhang's bony corpse and his fellow ill-fated villagers. Her breast heaved spasmodically, her body remaining motionless otherwise, as she coughed and breathed with difficulty. Just by the sound of her breathing, it was clear that something was obstructing her lungs, like a collapsed ribcage.
Ren stopped thinking at that very moment of observation. His body moved on its own as he rushed to her side, skidding to a halt next to her. He groaned with shame as he tossed his people's bones from under his girlfriend, making sure that she was lying on even, flat ground for ease of breathing. He inspected her body and it didn't look good. Her Aura was in tatters and she was covered in bruises, a massive wound on her injured leg pissed blood all over the ruined asphalt. From a trained glance, it wasn't an artery that had burst but it sure as heck looked like it. Ren managed to hold down his panic and quickly tore her ruined jacket apart to make a tourniquet and bandage. Soon, he noticed that her back still wasn't laying flat and gently moved her to remove the obstruction. To his shock, he found something he had thought lost forever. His father's treasure, an heirloom dagger given from father to son for generations untold. The very same heirloom he had modelled his StormFlower's blades off of.
It was as if Fortune smiled at him again, a whimsical benevolence to her eternal smug smirk.
As he held up the dagger, he could hear his father's stoic but gentle voice talk in his ears.
"What are you doing, Ren?"
The Wuxia glanced around in confusion, seeing no one.
"Have I gone insane?" he questioned himself.
"FOCUS!"
Ren shot to attention reflexively.
"What are you doing, just standing there like a fool while the one you love is in danger?" the voice chastised. "Have I raised an idiot?"
Ren felt a presence appear before him, not an old memory but a phantasm of the man who was his hero standing with arms crossed.
"F-father?"
The phantom sighed.
"Your lover is dying as all you care about is what's in front of you?" Zhang groaned. "I'm disappointed, boy."
Ren wanted to retort, but whatever this apparition was, he was right. He heard Nora's haggard breath and moved to continue his rudimentary first aid. The phantom nodded in approval at his son's quick but precise work. once he was done stabilizing his love, he sighed out in nervous glee.
"Done."
A bony hand devoid of flesh stroked his scalp, a familiar warmth once forgotten now permeated his head. Ren turned around, facing the phantom with eyes full of sadness.
"It really is you..." he breathed out.
the form set before him was a harrowing sight to behold. A man, emaciated and skeletal with patches of missing flesh from having his body devoured by wild animals. His limbs had obviously been torn off but a mass of scar tissue joined his appendages to his torso once more. His head was a skull covered in fractures and bite marks, an obvious reminder of his ultimate demise. a tortured flame engulfed his skull, mimicking his once-flowing hair and beard.
Lie Zhang stood in front of his son, returned from beyond the grave as a tormented spirit.
Ren's departed father nodded.
"It has been so long, Ren..." There was a tainted joy to his tone. "You've grown so much..."
Ren kept staring at what was left of his father, still incredulous.
"How? How is this possible?" he questioned once more.
Zhang shrugged apologetically.
"I do not know. One moment I was in the Everafter with Ann and the next, I felt a cold wind run through my bones," he answered. "As soon as I did... I felt your presence."
He held his bony hands out and stared at them, himself quite bewildered by the situation.
"It was like a hole in the air had torn in front of me, leading me back here. I witnessed as you and your friends fought and when I saw the danger you faced, I knew I couldn't rest anymore."
He tilted his head, almost making him look like he was smiling despite his lack of lips.
"Not until I knew you were safe."
Ren felt tears rise, the corner of his vision growing blurry. But as he went to tackle his lost father in an embrace nearly a decade overdue, a roar reminded him that the darkness was still viciously clinging to life. Zhang held his scarred shoulders, the pain still resonating in his old bones.
"The beast still lives..." he half whimpered, half growled.
He looked to his son and felt Ren's fear and indecision. He wanted to run, his pillar of strength and courage lying on the floor at death's door. He was weary and scared, sick and tired of the nightmare he had thrust himself in. Ren held Nora's hand against his forehead, a weary sigh escaping his lips.
"What do I do?"
Zhang glared at his son, the fire that replaced his eyes burning with anger.
"Protect the one you love." He demanded, saying it like it was the most obvious answer.
The Wuxia stared up at his father and mentor. His hero knelt down, staring him eye to eye as he gripped his shoulders with the intensity of a raging storm.
"Ren, now is not the time for doubts and inaction. Your beloved is in danger and you're acting like you've already lost!"
Zhang held out his hand towards Nora.
"She yet breathes, but her life hangs by a thread!" He decried. "Doesn't her bruised visage bring you rage?!"
Ren stared down at his girlfriend, her ragged breathing ringing in his ears. His heart throbbed painfully but her found an emotion he never truly felt before.
Save once, during the Ruin of Vale and the Fall of Beacon.
Rage. Blood-boiling anger born from the sight of his friends and loved one in overwhelming peril. Zhang didn't need to hear Ren declare his wrath, his son's trembling fists and vexed expression were enough.
"I felt the same way when Ann joined me in the Everafter. But unlike me..."
The Wuxia's hero tenderly stroked his son's cheek, looking him in the eyes with a stare full of lost love.
"You can save her. You can do what I was too weak and isolated to do."
Ren wanted to ask what but he already knew the answer. Son smiled at Father, only for two people and a monster to crash in and ruin the moment. Ren rose to his feet, the doubts he had left gone with the wind as he clutched his father's dagger. Zhang held Ren's shoulders with one hand.
"I'll be there if you need me, but you know only you can do this."
Ren nodded, certain.
"Got it." he let out a heavy breath. "Let's do this."
The Nucklavee stumbled back into Ren's view, crashing through the last remains of Ren's childhood home and finally bringing the building down. Zhang felt his long-lost blood boil.
"I renovated that damned house, you bastard!"
The Pale Rider looked awful, its natural armour in tatters and both the Rider and the Nightmare's masks were minutes away from shattering. Its usually deafeningly loud cords were shot and shredded. From the dust, a battered but still-standing Jaune and Pyrrha rushed through, with the former seeing Ren and Nora first.
"Shit!" he exclaimed. "Nora's in trouble!"
Pyrrha nodded but before she could try and get the Nuckelavee's attention, Ren beat her to the punch. A rain of bullets pelted the monster's damaged hide. Its mind, utterly shot by rage and pain didn't even bother anymore. It ran screeching toward the general direction whatever the source of its pain was, any form of cruel intellect replaced with mindless, animalistic fury. Ren nimbly dodged the wide, sweeping strikes of the monster as he backed away and lured the monster away from Nora. Pyrrha glanced at Jaune, who nodded instinctually. Ren could not defeat the monster alone, damaged as it was, but with Pyrrha, It was entirely doable. The Red-headed gladiatrix ran towards her green teammate to aid him in his deadly endeavour. Jaune glanced at Ren, glaring in confusion as a weird afterimage followed his best friend.
It felt oddly familiar, like he had seen something similar in the past but couldn't quite put his finger on it.
In any case, he ran to his buddy's girl and checked up on her, cringing at the damage.
"This is almost as bad as Pyrrha..." he muttered.
Light poured from his hand but he felt his stomach turn and his head thump painfully. He whimpered at the drilling sensation in his frontal lobe.
"Oh, what is this?!" he complained as he held the side of his head.
A hunch made him take out his scroll and just as he expected, his power came at a cost. His naturally abundant Aura now made a lot more sense as he went from a pale, almost green-yellow to a deep yellow. He sighed before concentrating, if he wanted to have some Aura left, he wouldn't be able to fully heal Nora the same way he had done with Pyrrha. But it's better that she's stable but banged up than two steps from her grave.
Ren backflipped away from an overhead strike that crushed the pavement he once stood on, slashing at the limb with his heirloom dagger. The old dagger was in excellent condition despite the years of neglect but the passage of time still dulled its edge to near uselessness.
Keyword: Near.
The blade dug into the monster's dark flesh with difficulty but just like Zhang of his living days, it still did the best it could. A dark gash that spewed dark ichor and smoke appeared on the monster's arm, earning an annoyed growl. Zhang tilted his head, the shadows forming a wicked smirk on his bare skull.
"A painful flesh wound, one of many but not yet the last."
More 9mm bullets left Ren's machine pistol at 1200 rounds per minute. The beast buckled as another .30-06 round lodged itself in its body, this time on its mount's rear. The Nightmare neighed in pain as black blood spewed rapidly from its outer thigh. As the Rider turned to face its other foe, Akouo smacked it in the face and made it fall down in a pathetic display of exhaustion. It scrambles back up slowly, the Rider swinging its arms around in a tantrum as the Steed struggled back up. Pyrrha front-flipped over one of the swinging arms and rejoined with her teammate. As she landed on her knee, her head began to spin again.
"Oh gods..." she complained nauseously, grabbing her head.
Ren hooked his arm under her pit and quickly dragged her up to her feet.
"You can do more damage to it than I can, so try not to over-exert yourself," he said. "Keep shooting at it while I distract and chip at it."
"Can do." She agreed.
Ren ran back into the fight while Pyrrha took a rear support position. The Beast got back up and kept flailing ineffectually against the reinvigorated Ren. The only real danger the monster posed now was the debris from its attack fragmenting and trying to hit Ren. Luckily, his father stood fast by his son and warned him of the incoming shrapnel.
"Left, lift your leg."
Ren cartwheeled away to the left after ducking under a swipe, dodging a large stone that would have hit his ankle at a weird and painful angle. Ren glared at the beast, analyzing its damaged form. most of its exposed bones were cracked and broken, its mask was in tatters and halfway off its head. The arm that Pyrrha had shot earlier looked like it was holding on by threads of dark sinew and sheer contempt. The Nightmare was in no better shape, looking just as mangled by the abuse of the Alpha and JNPR's battle against it and its Rider. It roared, its rage still as vivid as before but it lacked the fires of life it once had. Zhang audibly grinned.
"The desperate, empty raging scream of a cornered and dying animal." he tilted his skull, the shadows imitating a contemptuous sneer. "If you and your friends reunite, its defeat is guaranteed."
Ren wiped the sweat off his brow.
"Easier said than done... It's going to be rough, even if Nora's here..."
Pyrrha glanced at her companion from the back line.
"Talking to yourself?" She asked.
Ren blanked for a second before rubbing his head awkwardly.
"Y-yeah, sorry. I'm just organizing my thoughts and it slipped."
Zhang hummed to himself.
"Seems she can't see me." he shrugged. "Well, no matter."
The Nuckelavee charged like a bull in a china shop in an attempt to trample the infuriating green gnat that's been peppering it with lead. Ren dodged to the side before springboarding onto the Nightmare, digging into its flesh with his Stormflower like a climbing axe. Stuck to the Rider's steed, The nightmare began buckling before rapidly and panickily kicking and neighing at the pain in its thigh. The Rider tried to dislodge the climbing Wuxia but its own steed's frantic movements kept making it miss. Ren stabbed into the belly of the beast with his father's dagger, earning a roar of agony from the Nightmare. Zhang laughed sadistically, the flames engulfing his skull glowing with vengeful malevolence.
"TAKE THAT!" He roared triumphantly.
Ren leaned in for a jump and threw himself into the air above the Rider, dagger and bayonet pointed down. Like a viper's fang, His blades dug themselves and found home inside the Rider's clavicles, barely missing anything vital. The Nuckelavee's Rider cried out in pain, its rage replaced by agony and torment as it desperately tried to remove the Wuxia from on top of it. Ren grunted and yelled as he experienced his first and most certainly last rodeo as the monster tried to buckle him off.
"P-PYRRHA!" He begged as his stomach churned. "L-LITTLE HELP, PLEASE!"
With a loud and distinctive *PING*, Milo's ammo bloc popped out to be replaced by one of her now very few remaining clips. Pyrrha took a deep breath and focused. Her newly acquired anemia would be hell on her concentration, so if she didn't want to miss her shot, she'd need to avoid unnecessary movements.
Ren acknowledged Pyrrha's weapon, himself used to the loud sound it made when reloading and continued his efforts to gouge out the monster's lungs with little success. Suddenly, the Grimm's mangled arm managed to clasp around Ren's waist. He let go of his dagger, removed his Stormflower's bayonet from the beast's torso and hooked it into the Nuckelavee's arm like a butcher's hook through a pig carcass. He ensured a solid link to the Nuckelavee's appendage and leaped off the beast and onto the ground. A creaky pop was heard as Ren pulled the rubbery, whip-like arm towards him and just as the Pale Rider went to tear its limb out of Ren's grasp and smack him as hard as it could,
A gunshot rang.
A spray of black accompanied a wail of suffering as the once deathly blunt whip-arm of the Nuckelavee flopped flaccidly on the ground like a caught fish. Ren shot Pyrrha a thumbs up, earning a grin and an OK hand sign from the Gladiatrix. The moment of triumph was interrupted by The Grimm they had just maimed as its remaining tendril arm wrapped around Ren and squeezed as hard as it could. It threw its arm up and slammed Ren into the ground in a blind rage. Ren grit his teeth despite the bone-rattling impact of his body against the floor.
A loud boom and a flash of pink freed him from the pain as his hated enemy was almost lost in a cloud of pink.
Nora stood apart, her Magnhildr mecha-shifting into its usual warhammer form, a scowl of fury on her bruised face.
"Get away from my man, you bitch." she demanded imperatively.
The monster growled and its rubbery arm shot toward her, which she dodged with a sloppy roll. Her battered frame shot up as best she could before running up to it and leaping into the air. The whip-like appendage tried to swipe at her but the final member of the JNPR quartet finally appeared with an exhausted yell. The Nuckelavee's head shot around just in time to see the yellow paladin cut its last weapon off. The severed natural weapon slopped to the ground as a sickening crack reverberated throughout the dead surroundings. The Nuckelavee fell to the ground as its steed's head was turned into a bony mush.
The monster groaned impotently, almost moaning in pain as it glared emptily at the reunited JNPR. It hacked and coughed, rage burning its lungs. Ren glared at the monster, heaving himself out of the crater his body had made into the old pavement. His best friend held out a hand, which the Wuxia took and brought himself up with Jaune's help. Ren walked to the beast responsible for the fall of his home, for destroying his life and taking away his family. Zhang hovered over the monster, glaring victoriously at the dagger still embedded in its shoulder. to his surprise, the monster managed to lift its torso to meet Ren eye-to-eye. Spite still animated it and one final scream of hatred left its lungs, blowing hot air in the Wuxia's face. Ren, unfazed by its defeated opponent, backhanded it to shut its mouth. He tore the dagger out of its shoulder and planted it in its black heart. The beast gurgled as Ren pulled out his Stormflower and held the edge of the blade against its throat. Ren brought his face to the monster's, a darkly triumphant glare on his face.
"You missed one." He spat.
With a roaring jab, the Nuckelavee's head was freed from its shoulder. For over a decade, it had haunted the world, ravaging civilization where it went. At last, its shadow no longer darkened the continent. Ren fell to the ground with a sigh, his body trembling with pain and soreness. Nora let her hammer go as she limped to her beloved, collapsing next to him. Ren's chest heaved up and down regularly, a soft smile on his face.
"Your man, huh?" he commented.
Nora smiled, a small blush on her face.
"Aye. Mine and mine alone."
Ren moved his aching arm over hers and interlocked their fingers together, himself blushing as a brilliant smile overtook his usually stoic face.
"Damned straight."
They lifted their tired and weary forms and sat up, hands still joined. Pyrrha and Jaune smiled as they saw them share a gentle kiss. Pyrrha couldn't help but squee in endearment which amused Jaune.
"Must be nice." he joked, the answer being so obvious.
"I know, right?" Pyrrha agreed.
The ghostly form of Lie Zhang appeared once more in Ren's sightline, his father's ghost floating down from above the now sublimating corpse of the nightmare that haunted Ren's sleep. To the son's surprise, he wasn't greeted by his Father's skull but his face, just like he remembered.
"My boy grew up into a fine man," he commented.
He held both his son and his girlfriend and a wide embrace, a smile on his face.
"You've done well." he praised. "I'm so sorry we couldn't see you grow, me and Ann."
Etherial tears fell down the old ghost's eyes, shining with regrets rebuffed.
"But I'm so proud to see the man you've become without us."
Ren felt his heart squeeze and tears flow from his eyes.
"Yeah..." Ren choked out. "I did it, dad, mom..."
Nora held his face, smiling gently. Ren joined their foreheads, warm tears devoid of bitterness dribbling down his face. The moment, sweet in its happen stance was broken up by cold, humourless clapping. JNPR turned around, their eyes set on the other side of the battlefield where their friend and her uncle still fought on despite their own wearyness. The Beast that had so easily conquered the Nuckelavee was facing them as he mocked their triumph with slow applause. Startled to attention, the Team gripped their weapons but a feeling of ominous dread surrounded them. Zhang gasped, alerting his still-living son of their predicament.
"What?!" Ren asked.
"Oh dear..."
Ren began scanning his surroundings and to his horror, the Alpha was not alone. surrounding them, hidden in the shadows as spectators to the Nuckelavee's glorious execution, stalked the Alpha's blue brood. The Beast held up a finger and with a quick bark, made a circling motion. Soon the Grimms separated from the shadows and encircled the tired and battered group. Jaune held his head, his newly acquired migraine was doing his head in.
"Oh gods..." he complained.
Nora felt her arms nearly give out as soon as she took hold of her hammer.
"Uhm... Anyone has any ideas?" the Valkyrie asked.
Her only answer was the feeling of her teammate's warm backs against hers as the circle of darkness closed in.
The Alpha glanced away from JNPR, not caring much for their fates. It did stop one moment to glance at the disintegrating Nuckelavee before snorting in contempt. Its nose brought him back to that oh-so-familiar smell of iron just as its ears heard a pained scream.
Ruby tumbled to the floor, a Beringel having punched her in the back when she had a lapse of attention. She breathed heavily, her fingers trembling as they clutched weakly around Crescent Rose's haft. She struggled to her knees, her head down as her body trembled in fatigue and pain. A pair of clawed, almost human-like feet were it not for its fused toes landed silently in front of her. She looked up and the Alpha stared back, a curious look in its eyes animating its blank and expressionless mask. She hadn't had the time to gasp as the Beast's hand suddenly appeared before her.
"RUBY!" Qrow cried out powerlessly before getting nearly blindsided by a Beowolf. "Damnit!"
Its clawed hand found purchase and a sudden choke followed the clattering of metal against the ruined asphalt. its wicked hands held the Reaper by the throat as the latter tried desperately to free herself from the monster's grasp. Ruby gasped pathetically as her restricted throat stopped her from getting any oxygen. The Beast squinted, bringing Ruby's face to its mask. Its scrutinizing gaze inspected the Red Reaper but after a moment, the Beast snorted in mild amusement as the Silver-Eyed Warrior tried to free herself from the Grimm's grasp. She kept punching its wrist, clawing at it with her nails fruitlessly. A chuckle left its dark throat.
"The way you struggle, it reminds me of my first meeting with him," it said. "How nostalgic."
Shock stunned JNPR and Qrow as the Beast spoke, but only Ruby felt immediate dread as the Grimm's tongue eloquently enunciated every syllable. She had seen the monstrosities of the God of Darkness speak once before. It had not ended well.
"Y-you-" She choked out. "Can speak too?!"
The seem on the Alpha's mask creaked as it peeled back slightly, revealing a disturbingly toothy smile.
"I have learned speech the same day I first nearly met my end," it explained. "And with speech, a lesson was learned."
The Beast held out its other hand, crooking its fingers in a way that emphasized its claws.
"There is power and wisdom that comes from suffering. Physical and mental."
It held a claw to her face, gently dragging it across her jaw. Her Aura sparked under the sharp natural weapon's point.
"I was reborn when my Prey opened my belly with his blade most keen. My pride as a great Alpha, shattered, like the old mask he had broken with a mere blunt piece of metal."
It then pointed to its blue kin.
"I have shared this revelation with others, but they are not the same. They are not like me, truly thinking. Simply an elevated state of cruel cunning." it sighed in disappointment. "No, they are not truly my kin. All it did, was rally them to me."
Its smile returned.
"Although I may be lonesome in my condition, at least only I will stand against my Prey. No competition for his undivided attention."
The Beast's smile grew as it became far too sinister. It held its claw up to Ruby's face.
"Here, let me show you my antithesis of despair to my Prey's hopes!"
It threw its claw back as it grew twice its original size.
"Let me enlighten you with the wisdom he engraved into me!"
It took a deep breath and suddenly froze. That scent once more hit its nostrils, reminding it of what truly mattered. The Beast retracted its claws and brought Ruby close, sniffing her like a curious dog. The trail led him to her hand, which it roughly brought up to its face. Ruby growled in pain at having her body manhandled, trying once more to break free. The Beast held her hand open and glared at the ring on her pinky.
"Iron." it enunciated. "The same iron as his!"
It went to tear the ring from her finger but as she saw it reach for it, her eyes burned with silver light.
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH IT!" She bellowed as silver flames erupted from her face.
The Beast's first instinct was to let go and cower, the silver light filling it with the same fear it had felt so long ago. It swallowed its own fear, its wide eyes dilating slightly as it took a deep breath.
"Where did you get this ring?" it demanded. "Who made them?"
Ruby glared furiously at her captor.
"I don't know, and I don't care." she spat. "These are mine, a gift from the man I love!"
She narrowed her glowing eyes.
"And I'll never let you take them from me, not even from my cold dead hands."
It tilted its head, an amused look in its own blue eyes.
"Love... Such an odd emotion... Like hope, I feel nothing but respect for it, despite my own urge to render it unto oblivion."
It hummed pleasantly.
"You fascinate me, like the Hero Hope before you."
Ruby blinked, her expression now full of confusion.
"You... You know Anon?"
The Alpha blinked, tilting its head and holding its chin with its free hand.
"Anon? Hope..." it hummed thoughtfully. "Hope, Anon. Anon Hope..."
It smiled as it repeated the name of its chosen nemesis.
"Yes... That name... It feels right. The name of the man who taught me wisdom and suffering's interconnection. My prey is Anon Hope, the Hero of Light."
Its smile turned sick and sadistic.
"A light I will extinguish."
It brought its face close to Ruby's, earning a fearful grimace as its twisted smile made her stomach churn with worry.
"And you, shall witness our confrontation. Where Hope and Despair will clash in the War to End All Wars!"
Its smile grew and grew as a new idea made its awful joy soar in its black heart.
"Yes! Yes! He is Hope! So I must be Despair! His Antithesis! His Opposite and Equal!"
A sinister, bone-chilling laugh emerged from its throat as a rapturous grimace twisted behind its mask.
"I AM DESPAIRIL! THE HARBINGER OF DESPAIR AND HERALD OF THE COMING TIME OF DARKNESS!"
It hovered over her, the silver light gone from her eyes as she cowered in its hand, trembling with fear.
"So my Witness... You must live!" The Dark Herald declared. "You must live to tell him of my coming..."
It let go of her, letting her fall to the floor at its feet. She looked up in terror at the intelligent monster calling itself Despairil as it walked off.
"As for your allies..." she could hear Despairil smirk cruelly. "It is up to them and you if they live or die."
Its forces gathered around her cornered and battered friends. Despairil turned its head towards her, the same sinister smile animating its hidden visage.
"Fare thee well, my Witness. Do not forget to tell my Prey of my coming."
The Beast disappeared into the night as its horde converged on the tired and beaten Huntsmen. As ordered, Ruby was the only one the monsters of the God of Darkness ignored as they marched towards her friends and uncle. JNPR huddled closer as the horde approached them from all sides and Qrow glanced around for an exit. He looked up at the skies and cursed his luck as Razorwings glided from building to building to get a better view of the imminent slaughter. Turning into a crow was a good way to expedite his end. He felt a cold sweat drip down his already drenched back.
"This... Is not good," he blithered anxiously.
Ruby glared at the monsters, hoping to find a way to prevent this long journey from ending prematurely. She needed an Ace, a card up her sleeve that would save her. Her brain, already on fire trying to find a solution, gave her a solution.
Her Silver-Eyed powers.
The snag in her design made itself immediately apparent when she realized that she had no idea how to activate it. She knew it had something to do with her emotions and her friends but how to flip the proverbial switch was a mystery she hadn't had the time to solve at the moment. she had previously tried but all that accomplished was straining her eyes and giving her migraines. She stared at her friends in distress, their tired, beaten forms as they kept on their toes to avoid getting blindsided. Her uncle did much of the same, trying desperately to find a way out. She held her head, trying desperately to remember the feeling of using her powers.
Hope's death came to mind.
The memory stabbed at her poor heart as she remembered his broken form devoid of life. The sight of her friends and uncle added to that pain as their corpses were added to her mind's image. Her heart sunk, her efforts to try and find a solution only making her sadder and more distressed.
She gripped her aching heart, a sob leaving her breast.
"No... It can't end like this..."
She kept sobbing pathetically as the darkness licked at her friends and uncle.
"Please..." She pleaded to no one. "Somebody... Anybody..."
She wanted to believe that someone or something would come and save them, a convenient Deus Ex Machina that would get her out of trouble. She so, so desperately wanted aid of any kind to come rescue them from this dire hour.
"Give me a sign..." Ruby cried.
Her mind drowned in silence and for a moment, the despair hesitated. Time slowed to a crawl as Miss Fortune smiled once again. She held her hand up, the tips of her major and thumb pressed against one another.
"Ask and Ye shall receive."
A reverberating snap caught the attention of all beings of Dark, stopping them in their tracks. All looked to Ruby as her eyes began shining. A moment of quiet was all it took for inspiration to strike like lightning. Those precious friends, that precious family. They're corpses, she refused to see made. she gripped upon that feeling, that desire to protect and preserve and refused to let go.
No, that dark future, she would deny.
The Silver-Eyed Warrior's orbs emanated that feared light and with a wish, began to drown out the ruins of Kuroyuri in metallic light. The smart, able-bodied Grimms immediately fled while the rest were either too slow or too injured to scarper. they were disintegrated to the last as their darkness was snuffed out in brightest light.
The light died down, bringing back the penumbra of the late afternoon. Ruby stumbled as she fell towards, her uncle ran to her. In his haste, his bad luck struck and a shard of asphalt caught his foot. With a loud thud and an exclamation of pain, Qrow faceplanted nose first into the floor, inadvertently catching his niece with his back. He grumbled bitterly as JNPR ran towards them.
"You guys ok?!" Pyrrha asked, taking Ruby off of Qrow.
The older man sat up, revealing a bloody nose.
"Better than dead," he commented as he wiped his nose with his forearm.
Nora sighed tiredly as she leaned on her hammer.
"Took the words right out of my mouth."
"Let's get out of here." Qrow almost begged. "The sooner I'm away from this damned place, the better."
With no objections made, Jaune helped Qrow to his feet, supporting him as they walked back towards the entrance of the village. They passed the gate and piled into Nora's van, minus the last two members of the town. Ren looked back, his nostalgia and melancholy replaced with a forlorn emptiness. He went to turn his head but a familiar glow caught his attention. He looked back and was met with a sight he hadn't seen in over a decade. Standing beneath the gate were the ghosts of a family long gone. Zhang and Ann smiled warmly at their son, their words carried on a soft, cold wind.
"Good luck, Ren." he heard Zhang say. "Live a good life, for our sake."
The Wuxia smiled.
"I will."
Ann glared.
"And give me grand-babies soon." She demanded.
Ren blushed, looking into the van, where Nora just splayed herself on the floor, already snoring. He smiled bashfully.
"I... I might... Once this is all over, I mean."
Ann nodded, accepting his answer for now. Zhang chuckled as he held his wive's back. The departed parents turned back towards their new home and as soon as Ren blinked, his parents were gone, replaced by a pair of sparrows flying towards the horizon. Ren smiled peacefully.
"See you when my time comes, Mom, Dad."
Ren climbed into the van and let himself fall on next to Nora, cuddling with her before passing out himself. Qrow and Jaune sat in front, the latter being the only one in good enough shape to drive despite his mental fatigue. Pyrrha held on to Ruby as the Red Reaper snorted peacefully on the Gladiatrix's lap. Pyrrha wasn't far behind her sister team's leader as she fell asleep soon after. Jaune looked forward as he turned the key in the ignition and left behind the empty ruins of Ren's past.
The fight was won, the journey goes on...
But right now, everyone needed a well-deserved rest.
"Gotta say, Qrow," a mustached man commented as he polished a glass. "You certainly know how to spin a yarn."
Qrow sat at the bar counter, cradling a double Old Fashioned as he usually does in this context. He took a long sip, exhaling pleasantly at the smooth burn going down his gullet. One of the waitresses, a pretty, young thing in a Quipao whose slit revealed her toned legs hung on his every word.
"What can I say," the man himself explained, the liquor made him drip with bravado. "They were lucky to have me and my niece."
"How did you get into the city?" the waitress asked, enraptured by the huntsman's story. "The guards aren't exactly keen on foreigners, especially if they have stuff that needs paperwork."
"Like a car, or van." The bartender added.
Qrow pulled out an empty wallet.
"What we always do in those situations."
"Makes sense." The waitress nodded.
The bartender glared at Qrow.
"Is that your wallet perchance?"
Qrow blanked out momentarily, looking into his completely empty wallet.
"Yes," he admitted reluctantly.
The bartender leaned forward, a dark look on his face but before any other word could be said, the front door opened with a jingle. The Waitress bolted to welcome the newcomer.
"Welcome, welcome!" She greeted chipperly. "What do you need to spice up your evening?"
The man leaned on his cane, a lit cigar hanging from his mouth.
"Actually, I'm looking for a certain drunkard Huntsman."
"Oh?"
The man entered the bar proper, taking a puff from his vice. The light from his cigar lit up his face in the shadows of the entrance.
"His name is Qrow Branwen." Anon Hope said. "Seen him around?"
APOCRYPHA: END!
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