Chapter 7: Family Reunion and New Threats
It has been three weeks since the incident in Forever Fall, and Shaun could see some changes within the time in this academy. First, Cardin has been… quiet since then, he seemed controlled with himself and Shaun could see improvements in his character. From stopping his bullying activities and apologizing to the ones he has been harassing, including Velvet Scarlatina. Second, Jaune's combat skills have been improving, he could now spar with the other huntsman in training without losing faster, he even managed to make Cardin's aura in the red.
The half Nephilim and his friend Pyrrha were proud of him. Third…
"Hey Shaun!" a girl called out to him. Shaun stopped his mind from dozing off further and turned his head towards the source. He smirked after knowing that Ruby Rose was the one calling out to him.
"Hello, little red," he chuckled, Ruby's response was to pout at him.
"Hey! Stop calling me that! It's annoying you know. You've been calling me that name since last week," she said as she sat beside him on the bench.
"Eh, it's a good nickname, I mean do you rather be called 'Crater face'?" he chuckled. Ruby only sighed.
"So, what's up, Ruby?"
"Oh nothing, I was just walking aimlessly when I saw you here, thought just want to say hi that's all," she told him, Shaun nodded. Then they didn't say anything afterward, but Shaun has a feeling the girl sitting beside him has something to say.
"So, what's in your mind, little red?" he asked her suddenly, which made Ruby let out a short shriek.
"Oh, well… me and my team would be visiting Vale in the next two weeks, do you want to come with us?" she asked him.
"Oh that, well, Blake already informed me about that last night…"
"Wait! What? Last night?!" Ruby shouted at him, and the half Nephilim recoiled a bit from the sudden burst.
"Yeah,"
"Wait, when and where did she ask you?" Ruby asked him curious. Shaun responded with his right hand scratching his back head.
"Oh… so Blake didn't tell you, huh? Well long story short, Blake and I have been talking on the rooftop at night, it has been going for about a month, I think," he said. Ruby's eyes widened.
"Wow! So, are you guys a couple?" Shaun widened his eyes a bit from that question. Shaun didn't really know what romance is, living in the post-apocalyptic world and trying to survive didn't leave him much in the field of romance, but the idea of the name 'couple' didn't make him an idiot about the definition.
"Well…" then suddenly his scroll let out a notification and at the same time, Ruby's scroll also informed her of a notification. Shaun then looked at the screen, it was Ozpin and he informed him that he needed him in the office now. Shaun looked at the girl beside him.
"Message from Ozpin?" Shaun asked, to which the team leader nodded. They then sat up and went to the headmaster's office.
The Headmaster's Office
"Thank you all for being here, team RWBY and Mr. Hopkins," he said to them. The girl's team and the one-man team were in Ozpin's office, apparently, something is up.
"So, what's going on, professor?" Ruby asked him. Ozpin then pressed a button on his scroll and immediately a large hologram began to show itself to them. The hologram contained numerous headlines such as 'strange creatures with glowing green eyes', 'a black creature with wings and horns wielding weapons', and the last one that made Shaun's eyes widened was…
'That's…. that can't be…' he thought as the headlines showed the rough description of these monsters, 'is it a new type of Grimm?' the headline was written.
"Yes Ms. Rose, for the past weeks, huntsmen have been disappearing and rumors have been saying that these… mysterious creatures have been kidnapping them," The headmaster explained.
"I have never seen those types of Grimm in the textbooks," Weiss commented after seeing the rough description.
"Yeah, they even have these weapons on their backs and glowing green eyes? Is there a Grimm like that on Remnant?" Yang commented.
"Professor, what are those things?" Blake asked the headmaster. The headmaster frowned.
"We… don't know, of all my years being a huntsman, I have never seen something like these before," he said. Of course, Remnant's occupants wouldn't know what those creatures were, but for the half Nephilim, he knew them.
'Those are demons…' Shaun thought. Blake being the observant noticed Shaun's behavior, his shaky hands and widened eyes. But then, Shaun immediately composed himself.
"Where and when did they first appear?" Shaun asked the headmaster. The headmaster then tapped at his scroll and the hologram turned to a map.
"According to the reports we uncovered from one of the huntsmans who survived, it was located near this village," he pointed to the map on the hologram. The area that the headmaster pointed to was a forest area and there was also a mining area.
"What about the huntsman? Is he or she ok?" Ruby asked concerned.
"He is ok, for now, it was a miracle that a group of huntsmans managed to find the survivor, but unfortunately, he was in a critical condition when they found him. Right now, he is in a stable condition so don't worry," Ozpin said which made the leader let out a sigh.
"As for when we suspected that it was about a month ago. The reports said that a group of huntsmans, who were tasked to check out the area and deal with the threat went missing. So, another group of huntsmans was tasked to find the missing group, but then the group also went missing," he said sadly.
"And so on, it was evidently that the disappearance of groups upon groups of huntsmans needed to be dealt with since the amount of huntsman that has been missing is quite of margin," The group of teenagers widened their eyes.
"You wanted us to investigate it then?" Blake said to the headmaster and he nodded.
"Yes, and eliminate any Grimm that you can find, but you are prohibited to engage this mysterious creature, that's why Mr. Hopkins will be joining your team on this mission," Shaun looked at the headmaster and the said person looked at him. The half Nephilim blinked his eyes twice to signal that he needed to discuss something with him privately. The headmaster's reply was to blink once as he understands Shaun's message.
"Well, that is all team RWBY, now excuse me to interrupt, but Mr. Hopkins and I have some matters to discuss," he announced to the team. The said team was confused but shrugged it off.
"Well ok then professor, bye Professor Ozpin, bye Shaun," Ruby waved at the both.
"Bye Ozpin, bye Shauney, see you at lunch," Yang gave Shaun a playful jab which the half Nephilim avoid, he smirked at her and she smirked back. Weiss and Blake also said their goodbyes to the professor and the half Nephilim, but Blake gave Shaun a concerned and curious look. The look that the faunus gave at him stopped when the elevator closed and went down.
The office then only left with two individuals.
"So, Mr. Hopkins, I assume that you knew what those creatures are, yes?" Ozpin asked him. The half Nephilim narrowed his eyes at the winged-horned creature with green eyes displayed by the hologram.
"Yes, Ozpin, that… is a demon," he said. Ozpin's only reaction was to drink his coffee.
"I see, so these what you called demons back in your world?", Shaun nodded.
"How powerful are these… demons?" Shaun's reaction was to lower his head as his face was obscured by his hair.
"… more powerful than your average Grimm and to topple it off, they have sorcery, which what I assume that Remnant has never encountered before," he replied as he looked at Ozpin, the headmaster could tell that the young man in front of him was concerned even if he tried his best not to show it to him.
"But these demons can still be defeated, yes?"
"Yes, but you need to be careful around them, some of their weapons can break your aura with only a couple of swings, and not to mention every demon has its own unique magic, some could summon thousands of blades just by thrusting its weapon to the ground and some could use it to amplify their physical prowess," he explained. Ozpin widened his eyes. Shaun's explanation made the headmaster concerned.
"…But don't worry, I won't let them get near any of my friends, I'll take care of the demons don't you worry, Ozpin," he said giving the headmaster a reassuring smile which the said headmaster smiled back.
"Yes, I know you would, but don't be too confident, team RWBY will also help you in this mission," he said to him.
"Yeah, I know professor, but my question is… how are they here?" he asked himself as they looked at the green-eyed demon in the hologram.
In another part of Remnant
After a couple of weeks of traveling, Strife is finally almost close to the kingdom of Vale. Now, he was currently in a village, being the one horseman that was the relaxed one, he always likes to take a break. That's why he stopped by in this village… to take a break.
Even if he could just continue so that he can cut another week of travel.
'Man, this stuff is good,' he thought, he was currently in a tavern. In the weeks stuck in this universe, he had come to enjoy this beverage. He had never guessed that humans were capable of producing these drinks. He was currently drinking root beer, a drink that taste a little sour, but has this sweet aftertaste (AN: forgive me if I am wrong, I've never drunk alcohol before ).
"This is the fifth glass, Jones, you sure you're not drunk?" the bartender asked, as he put away another glass that he had just drank.
"Nah man, don't feel a thing," Yeah, he didn't, being a Nephilim, this kind of thing didn't have any effect on him at all. As he watched the bartender went to another section, the tv at the corner of the tavern was showing some news.
"We are now back today with another mysterious creature attack that had befallen another Huntsmen. Reports that the locals see a creature that doesn't resemble any Grimm, here is an interview with one of the locals," the scene then switches to a middle age man.
"It was scary! And-and it has green eyes and most importantly they can speak, it was terrifying, in my life I have never seen any Grimm like the ones I just saw," the scene then cuts back to the reporter.
"there you have folks, is it a Grimm? Or some unidentified creature? We will be back again in a short break," then the tv switched to a food commercial.
"Damn, you believe in this bull-crap, Jones?" he asked, unknown to him the man was already gone, leaving only his lien on the table. Strife after exiting the tavern quickly went to continue his travel. Meeting his nephew needed to wait, now he needs to take the demon problem.
And he knew already where the 'mysterious creature' is.
Beacon Dorms, RWBY Dorm Room
After Ozpin's requested them to gather in his office, they went to their dorm room where they prepared some clothes for the trip. Blake who was packing her things can't seem to stop thinking about why Shaun was feeling tensed when the headmaster showed them the image of the unidentified creature. Does Shaun know what that creature was? She asked a question to herself.
"Hey Blake, what's with the gloomy face?" Her partner asked her.
"Oh, it's nothing, Yang," She said to her. Yang on her part didn't buy it.
"Is it because of our resident edgy Huntsman?" The blonde brawler said with a teasing smile, both the other occupants heard the exchange.
"You mean, Shaun?" Weiss said. Ruby then interjects with a knowing look that matched her sister.
"Oooh, what's with you and Shaun, Blake?" little red asked. Blake pouted as she looked at her other teammates.
"Guys, enough. It was nothing important," She said annoyed, but Yang kept pushing.
"Nope, it is important, maybe is it because Shauney there knew something about those creatures," Yang said which made her widened her eyes.
"Kind of think of it, it was kind of strange, I mean why was Shaun the only one who talks in private with the headmaster? Why didn't he include us?" Weiss wondered. Blake was wondering the same thing, although she was more concerned with the look that her savior gave when he looked at the creatures.
"Back then, when Shaun saw the images, he was… tensed," Blake said to them.
"Why?" Ruby asked her and she shook her head.
"Perhaps we can ask him," Yang said the obvious.
"Yeah, that will be a great idea," The leader of the team replied to her sister. Then suddenly they heard a knock coming from their door. Ruby being the closest went to open it. She was startled when the half Nephilim was there, their subject of discussion was in front of their room.
"Woah, Shaun, you're back," Ruby said as she chuckled, Shaun only gave her a small smile.
"You're alright there Ruby? You looked kinda surprised to see me," he then scanned the room, specifically at the occupants. Yang was grinning, Weiss only widened her eyes, and Blake was nervous.
Odd…
"Well, it was nothing, Shauney. It just we were wondering, I mean Blake here was wondering why Ozpin wanted to speak to you privately," Yang answer his question, Shaun have prepared for this and he and Ozpin decided to tell them only what they need to know, telling them that literal demons from Hell are here in Remnant would be labeling him as crazy and he would make them afraid and horrify.
"Well, Ozpin wanted to make sure of things about this mission and sharing the reports of these creatures," he said, but Blake then let out a question.
"Shaun, do you know what those are? I mean, you seemed… tensed after seeing the headlines," Blake asked concerned. Shaun let out a sigh.
"Yeah, I know them," he simply said to them. Weiss who was curious about those creatures was the first to ask him.
"What are they?" Shaun practiced how best to explain the situation to them on the way to the room if some of the members of the team would ask him this question.
"… They are something ancient and dangerous than the Grimm. You should all probably know, these… things are something that I need, only me, to handle. So, advice to you all, if one of you saw these things, run, and if that is out of the option protect yourself. Do not confront these things alone and contact me if you see one," he said to them with a serious tone. Shaun can't tell them what they are exactly, but a simple explanation will be enough. In the future, he will tell them.
Yang the one who always joked around when someone told her that she needed to be careful around danger for the first time ever didn't joke about the edgy guy's warning, she didn't feel it was appropriate. Seeing him with his eyes narrowed into each one of them made her shut up and listen. Weiss who was still curious about the matter decided to not ask further about the mysterious creature, Blake, the one who asked, only responded with a nod and a worried look. To be honest, this was the first time she saw him like this, most of the time he was cool-headed and easy-going, but this? It's like whatever the creature was, he didn't want them to know and his tone suggested that he was worried that they know.
'What are you hiding, Shaun…' she thought concern plaster on her face. Ruby who was surprised and a little scared by this said something after what minutes of silence.
"S-sure Shaun, we will contact you when we ever encounter one," she said, her voice feeling strained. With this, Shaun's posture changed to a relaxed one and he let out a small smile.
"Great, by the way, just letting you guys know that we will be taking off soon, so be sure to pack all of the things you need for this mission," he said. He then left so that he could pack his own things. After that serious atmosphere, the girls began to release their tension.
"What… was that just now," Yang said, she felt… scared after that conversation. She felt her face full of sweat.
The girls felt that too. Weiss was gripping her chair, Blake was tightly gripping her clothes, and Ruby was clearly shaken.
"I don't know, but he clearly still keeping us something," Weiss told them voicing out her mind.
"Yeah, but I know… he will tell us eventually," Blake replied to her. Yang let out another teasing smile.
"Oh, what have we here, I guess talking with him every night on the rooftop has been making you smitten with him, right Blake?" She said already recovered from the tense atmosphere as she said about what the ex-terrorist had been doing with edgy huntsmen.
Blake swears that she could feel her face begin to feel hot and a book suddenly went soaring to her partner's face.
Beacon Helipad
Shaun, after packing his things which were his rucksack and a couple of shirts and pants, now was waiting for the girls. Their bullhead was ready and now only to do is to get inside and take off.
'Where are they?' he wondered as he adjusts the straps on his bag. As in on cue he heard footsteps on his left and saw the team, but something felt weird…
'Wait… why does Yang now have a red mark on her face?' he wondered and why did Blake look annoyed. Shaun was about to ask what happened when Blake out of nowhere pulled him over and went inside the bullhead. Once the two and the other three went inside, the pilot signal them to buckle up. The vehicle's engine began to come to life and the half Nephilim felt the aircraft being lifted from the ground.
"So… mind you telling me why you are all late? And what happened to your face, Yang?" Shaun asked the team. Yang, who was in front of him since the seating order of seats on the sides of the bullhead, answers his question.
"You know stuff happened, right Blake?" she said with the end venomous, Blake on the other hand just opened her novel and read ignoring her partner. Ruby and Weiss chuckle with Ruby struggling to contain her laughter.
Shaun's only reaction was to lift a brow. Whatever happened to them Shaun decided to put it aside, he then went to debrief their mission.
"Ok everyone, our mission is to investigate this area and eliminate any Grimm in our vicinity and more importantly be on the lookout if any of you encounter the mysterious creature, if you see one contact me immediately," he informed all of them while displaying the area on his scroll.
"Sure, Shauny, you can count on us," Yang replied.
"Yeah! Our first mission as a team RWBY now begins!" Ruby triumphed said. After that, the group went to do their own things, Ruby was counting her bullets, Weiss was polishing her nails, Yang was playing with her scroll, and the last two people were reading their respective books.
The half Nephilim have a good idea to try to read some novels. What he was reading right now is about a man who has the powers of a spider and he used his abilities for the greater good.
"With great power, comes great responsibility, huh, what a good advice…" Shaun muttered. Blake, who sat beside him, heard Shaun's muttering. She decided to ask him about what he was reading.
"What are you reading about, Shaun?" Blake whispered. Shaun for some reason felt a jolt when she spoke in his ear, but he quickly regained composure.
"Well… it is about a man with spider powers,"
"Is it good?"
"Well, it's good for me, I got it from the library, just read about a couple of pages," he said which the Faunus in disguise let out a 'hmm'. Unknown to them, the other three were watching the scene in discrete.
"Sheesh… 'I don't have feelings for Shaun,' right…" Yang said in a whisper, enough that Ruby and Weiss could hear her.
"Well, I asked Shaun if he and Blake are a couple," Ruby said as the two leaned into their leader to discuss it together.
"Well, what did he say?" Yang asked curious.
"He didn't have the time because Professor Ozpin called us," Ruby said as she watched them talk. Ruby for the most part was fine if Shaun and Blake were or will be a couple. She doesn't think of Shaun in that way. She thinks of him as an older brother of sorts which she enjoyed.
And most importantly they are scythe buddies!
"Well, I think if they are a couple, I will honestly feel ok with it, plus I think they looked cute together," Weiss squealed quietly, the two sisters just stared at her for a while as they just witnessed something truly rare from the heiress.
"Well, then it settled if they were or I will become a couple, team RWBY will let the ship sail," The other two girls nodded. As the other three girls were discussing with each other, the other occupants were happily chatting with themselves.
"So, you never knew what bunk beds were?" Blake said while trying not to stifle a laugh. The idea of something so simple as not knowing what 'bunk beds' was funny for her. Shaun should be annoyed by the reaction, but something with her laugh made him… smile for some reason.
"Yeah… you can say that moving from village to village didn't leave me any room for curiosity for 'bunk beds'," he replied with a small smile. For Blake, she enjoyed seeing his smile. It made her happy for some reason. For the past months being in Beacon here meeting her team, and friends, she felt a fresh air of relief, but none of that compare to meeting her savior the so-called 'Grim Reaper Huntsmen'.
She was about to continue when suddenly a small disturbance occurred which made the five students startled.
"What's going on?" Weiss asked the pilot.
"I-I don't know, we just hit something…" he said. Then another disturbance occurred and this time it was a big disturbance as the plane shook.
"What's happening?!" Yang asked all of them. Then, Shaun's death sense was flaring, as he quickly moved away from the spot where he was sitting, and doing so moved Blake slightly. From the spot, the half Nephilim sat there was a spear that Shaun could sense its demon energy.
'They are here…' Shaun thought, he then looked at the others and their faces turned to surprise and shock.
"It's that a spear!?" Weiss said to them. Shaun was about to answer when another spear came by from another part of the compartment, by luck the spear didn't skewer any of them.
"Guys! There are horned creatures around us!" the pilot announced. Shaun didn't skip a bit as he then put on his mask.
"Shaun!? What are you—", Blake said as she looked at the half Nephilim,
"You guys find a place to land! I deal with these creatures!" he said to them with a commanding tone. Ruby was about to interject the idea, but the door of the bullhead opened, and the half Nephilim leaped off from the vehicle. Once he was out of the bullhead, he transformed into his true form.
He began to fly to the sky as he looked around for any signs of their attacker. He suddenly dodged to his left as a spear flew by. Shaun looked at the source of where the attack was and widened his eyes. He didn't want to believe it after he have seen the image, but there in the woods there, it was the attacker.
'Demon…' he thought as he flew there at high speed. The first demon quickly zipped at it and cleaned its head off, the second one was about to summon a spear, but Shaun summoned his shadow ravens. The demon was disoriented, and the half Nephilim gave a quick slash at his middle section. The said demon falls with the two parts of its body falling from the sky. The third demon then roared at him as he prepared a spear with this one filled with green fire. Shaun then turned back into his human form, and while on the air he fired his gun at its hand. The demon was not quick enough as its hand that was holding the spear went off from its grasp.
Shaun waste no time as he used his shadow tendril to pull himself toward his enemy. The demon went down and on top of it was the half Nephilim. As much as he wants to kill it, Shaun needed to ask it a few questions.
"How are you here!? Did the council send you?" he asked it while his combined scythe was ready on its neck, ready to incapacitate the creature. The creature instead laughed at him.
"This world will be at the mercy of the demon queen, Son of Death," he said simply. Shaun decided to end its life right there. A sound of flesh being sliced clean was heard as the head of the demon rolled out from its body.
Once he was done, he then took his scroll and contact Blake. The half Nephilim began to worry when the screen was still in the process of calling and the worry was increased when his call has not been answered. His worry was gone when his call had finally been answered.
"Blake! Are you alright?" he asked her.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. The pilot managed to drop us in the forest," she assured him. Shaun let out a breath, relieved that his friends were ok.
"Good, I'll be there, just stay put," he said to her. On the other side, Blake let out a blush, she was surprised that he cared so much about her well-being.
"And what about the others?" he said from her scroll. Blake looked at her teammates, the good news is they were ok, but the bad news is they don't know where they are.
"Yeah, we are all good, we immediately leaped from the bullhead and into the forest. Weiss is now currently calculating where we are right now and Ruby is currently trying to formulate a plan," she said.
"Ok, remembered what I told you back, if you see those things, immediately call me," he said, he then ended the call there.
Shaun sighed, the good thing the demons he encountered were only three, but that's the thing…
'This doesn't make sense, how are they here? it is impossible for them to be here unless they got the same experience as I did when I got here too,' he thought. He decided the only way to get answers later as he needed to regroup with the others.
Shaun then with a thought summoned Despair, his father's undead horse. The horse immediately went to Shaun and snuggled its head on him.
"It is good to see you again my friend, sorry I didn't summon you again," he said as he stroked Despair's burning green mane. Shaun then mount his stead and the two went to the location where Shaun's friends were located.
With team RWBY
"Man, I am bored…" Yang said as she sprawled on the ground while looking at the sky. It has been ten minutes since they were still waiting for Shaun and he was still not there yet. The other three were doing their own thing, Weiss calculating where they were with Ruby joining in with Blake, however…
Yang smirked as she looked at her partner. The said partner was looking around her, searching for the grim reaper huntsmen. The brawler knew that the said huntsmen has been secretly been hanging out with her teammate, but it seems the said huntsmen was oblivious towards her partner. She also noted that her partner was in denial if she doesn't have any feelings for the huntsmen. The jealousy when a girl tried to ask him out and the constant physical contact with the other girls. Yeah, her partner was totally into the guy.
It is just a matter of time of when will they become a couple.
Yang was about to continue drifting in her thoughts when a growl was heard around her. The blonde brawler quickly got up from her position and prepare her ember celica. The double-wrist shotguns were on the ready. Her teammates were beside her aware of the dangers around them.
"You ready girls!" their leader said Weiss and Blake nodded.
"Hell, yeah Ruby," Yang replied to her sister. They were confident that they could beat the Grimm around them, but little did they know… the ones that they were facing were not Grimm, instead what came out of the shadows of the forest were the creatures their headmaster showed them.
The creatures were different from the others. There were four of them with only two that have different appearances. One has cheetah ears, the other has a tail, and the rest were the same appearance such like the image they saw in the article. The girls were tense, they remember what Shaun told them if they encounter one of them, but right now they are encountering a handful of these new creatures.
"Uh… Ruby, what should we do?" Weiss whispered to her partner. The leader was thinking of options, they could run, but it was risky since they don't know what these creatures were capable of, and second, if they spread out, who knows if they are still more out there. So, what they need to do right now is to hold their position and hope for the best.
"We will hold here until Shaun gets here," The leader said. They wait for the creatures to make a move, but they were startled by the sound of deep laughter from one of them.
"You think the four of you mortals can defeat us? You so-called 'Huntsmen and Huntresses'? We have killed them all," The creature said to all of them. The girls were momentarily stunned. These creatures could talk.
"D-did I just heard that…" Yang said momentarily sacred.
"Y-yeah, we heard…" her partner replied.
"Must be a shocked, huh? Hearing a creature like us could talk?" The one creature with a tail said.
"No matter, you will all be dead anyways and your bodies will be transformed into us, but before we do that…", the creature said to them. Then the horned one, who doesn't have any extra features spoke.
"Where is this so-called 'Shaun'?" it said. The four of them were surprised at the question. They knew who their friend was and it seems they are trying to find him.
"H-how do you know, Shaun?" Blake was the first to speak. The said creature narrowed its eyes towards the Faunus in disguise.
"Because our mother is delighted to find one of her family," it said. Now, this information was quite a shock to the team, what do they mean by family? And what relation was Shaun with them?
"Wh-what do you mean? What relation Shaun is to you all?" Ruby asked them albeit nervous as she tightened her grip on her scythe. The strange creature looked at the young child.
"He didn't tell you, huh? Well, no matter, since you mortals are going to die anyways might just tell you what he is,"
"Your… friend is simply said, is not human, well not entirely," the creature said. The girls were shocked to hear this.
"Wh-what do you mean?" Blake turned to ask.
"Even if I tell you this, you will not understand," The creature simply said. Then, he drew his mace that he filled with green fire.
"Now, it is time for you four to die," it said. The others then drew their weapons and attacked the girls. Team RWBY respectively avoids their attacks. Ruby uses her semblance to traverse the battlefield and she deliver a slash from her scythe to one of the horned creatures, but the creature easily blocked the attack with its weapon which was a large sword covered in green fire. Ruby immediately back-off from the creature. The creature then roared and leaped from its location. Using its wings, the creature fell to the ground and plunged his sword into the ground. The result was suddenly swords came out from the ground and quickly headed to Ruby. Ruby let out a surprised yell as she used her semblance to avoid the upcoming sea of swords.
'What is that?!', the leader thought as she looked at the attack. She watched in amazement as the swords began to disappear leaving only the destroyed ground where the swords came out.
"I am impressed, you could avoid that," the creature said. Once she was in the safe, she fired her sniper-scythe weapon toward the creature.
With Yang, he avoided a swipe from a green-fire sword. She then fired her shotgun bracelets, but the creature then blocked them only with its forearm. Yang was surprised as she saw that her fire dust bullets didn't even make it flinch, but it only left burn marks on it its skin.
"Not so tough, aren't you?" Yang smirked, but to her horror the burn marks quickly healed. The creature smirked displaying its sharp teeth.
"Your confidence will be your downfall mortal," it said as it rushed at the blonde brawler.
With Blake and Weiss, the two were facing the other two creatures. The pair of girls watched as these two creatures with their weapons summoned fire and then they throw their projectiles at the two girls.
"This is just strange! How are they doing that without the use of dust!?" Weiss said as she uses her glyphs to shield them from the projectiles.
"There's no time to ponder that, what we need to do is stick together and try to buy some time for Shaun gets here," Blake said as she shot dust bullets at the creatures.
'Now that I think about it, where is he?' she thought. The two of them continue to avoid the attacks from the creatures. Weiss uses her glyphs to shoot ice projectiles, the projectiles managed to render one of the two creatures. Blake used this opportunity to deliver a slash from her weapon. A splash of green blood came out after the Faunus delivered her attack. The creature let out a roar as it was hurt, the creature then broke out from its ice and throw green fireballs at her. Blake moved away from the fireball, she then shot out bullets toward the creature. The creature was shielded by its brother as the bullets were blocked by the green fire shield the creature just projected.
"Impressive, but futile," the one who got slashed as its wound quickly closed, much to the surprise of the two girls.
The four girls continue to defend themselves from the four strange creatures. When they attack and landed a hit, the wound they gave was instantly healed and more importantly, they could feel their aura reduced as the battle continues. Soon, they would be exhausted by the fight, but suddenly the four creatures regroup and the one with the tail pull out prepared his weapon. The weapon was coated by dark-green energy, the girls were confused at first, but they were beginning to feel exhaustion suddenly.
'What's happening…?' they said as exhaustion hit them.
"You four have been interesting opponents… but it is time we end this quickly," the one creature with a tail said. He then swiped the weapon in a horizontal slash. Dark-green energy hit the four of them as they screamed, and their aura shattered instantly. The four girls were on fours exhaustion hit them all after their auras were shattered. They could hear the sounds of the creature's footprints as they drew near them. This is their thought their end as the four close their eyes awaiting their inevitable end.
Suddenly, they heard multiple gunshots. They opened them, but the girl's bodies were still in exhaustion preventing them to move their bodies. They were shocked as they just witnessed one of the creatures suddenly collapse. Green blood oozes out from the head of the fallen creature.
"What is this? Who dare killed one of our brothers!" the one with the tail said, then multiple gunshots were heard and another one of its brothers died. Then another gunshot was heard as the bullet flew towards the creature with the tail, but the creature manages to block the attack with its sword.
"Show yourself!" it yelled at its surrounding, the girls were also looking around them. The creature's demand was answered as the person who was responsible came out from the trees. It was a man wearing a hood. On his hands were dual pistols that Ruby swore that she had never seen before. When they saw him, they thought it was their friend, but stop when they see the beard and clothing.
"Hello there! Servants of Lilith!" He said to them as he blew the smoke coming from the nozzle of his weapon. The said servants widened their eyes as the man in front of them mentioned their mother.
"Strife… you are here," the one with the tail said. The said man then took off his human form and was replaced with his Nephilim form. The girls were amazed and curious at the armored person who saved them.
"Yes, Strife here at your service," he bowed then with quick succession shot one of the two. The one with the tail was too shocked by the sudden attack, the demon never had the chance to shield itself from the flying bullets flying toward its limbs. The said demon went down because its four limbs were blown off.
Strife dashed at the fallen demon. He pointed his gun at its head as he was on top of it.
"Where's Lilith?"
The demon laughed and looked at the horseman.
"She is on the move now, finding the source who was responsible that creating the Grimm. Once she succeeded this world will be in her hands," it said as he laughed. The laughter was stopped when the sound of two guns fired bullets at the demon's head.
"Yeah, thanks for answering, jeez…" the gunslinger said. He then returned his guns to their holsters. The girls were baffled by the scene, they were struggling to fight the creatures, but the man? Or something else just killed them with ease. On their minds, they asked…
'What is he?'
With Shaun
'Damn it! hopefully, I am not too late,' Shaun thought as he and his stead traversed the forest. After he left with Despair on the trail, he encountered Grimm, but something off with them. Instead of the usual ones, they have this magic that he always encountered in every demon he fought. Once more, these Grimm were stronger, par with a demon. The good thing is that despite their improvements, they are still easy for the half Nephilim to kill.
Once he was done, he and Despair continue to ride towards the last location of his friends. The sound of his crow indicates that he has arrived at his location. He then got off from his stead and drew his twin scythes to prepare to face Grimm or demons. He looked at his surroundings, his eyes first darted to his friends, he saw that they were on the ground exhausted, but despite that they were alright.
His eyes widened at the bodies of the demons, dead. He then stopped looking around as his eyes landed on the familiar armor and purple scarf. The figure that was looking at the now-dead opponent he just killed, was alerted to a new arrival. He turned around and was about to shoot when his eyes widened just like the person in front of him not far. His bony masked, black jacket and tattered cloak, and finally the red scarf.
"Shaun?" he asked as he saw him. Shaun took off his mask and pull down his hood to reveal his face.
"U-uncle Strife?" he said. The said uncle nodded, Shaun with his teleportation rushed to his uncle. His uncle felt the arms of his nephew wrapped around himself. Strife patted his nephew's back, the half Nephilim ended his embrace as he gave his uncle space.
"Uncle strife how are you here?" he said by now his friends have already recovered a bit of their aura.
"It's a long story Shaun, a story that the only two us of should know," he replied as he mentioned the four people behind them looking at them confused. Shaun thought a bit.
'I think this is a good time to tell them the truth about what are they facing,' Shaun turned to his uncle to voice his thoughts.
"Uncle, I think we need to tell them the truth, what are they facing and what we are, besides they have already seen the creatures," he said firmly. Strife was about to object, but when he thought about it his nephew has a point.
"You right, ok then, let's tell them, but first let's help your friends first," he said. The half Nephilim and his uncle then helped the others up. Shaun who was helping up Blake, looked at her face. Her face clearly showed exhaustion and confusion.
"You're ok, Blake?" he said concerned.
"Y-yeah, just a little exhausted," Blake then looked at Shaun, her eyes showed narrowed at him.
"Shaun, what are they? They said about you are not human… What do they mean by that? And, why were they looking for you?" she said as he put her down beside a tree. The other girls were also being put beside the trees as they looked at him and his uncle. Their faces were etched with confusion and bewilderment.
"I will tell you," he turned towards the other three, "Guys there's something that I need to tell you," he said.
"No shit dude," Yang replied as she received a smack from the back by Weiss.
"Quiet, Yang. Shaun, please continue," Weiss said as Shaun widened his eyes and nodded.
"This might be a long tale, so sit and relax," he said as he sat down like his friends. The half Nephilim then began his story, what he is, where he came from, and what his friends just faced, all of it. His uncle also gave an explanation about what is a Nephilim, Demons and Angels, Hell and Heaven, The Charred Council, The four Horseman, and his world, Earth.
"… so, when the Charred Council found me, I need to escape my world because if I didn't, I would be killed. When I finally get to a portal, the portal suddenly shook and turned from blue to red. And somehow, I ended up here," he finished telling his tale to his friends. Shaun could the variety of emotions that his friend's faces made. Ruby's jaw was hanging, and her eyes were wide, Yang was silent, and her face was the same as her sister's, Weiss's face was shocked after hearing the explanation, and Blake was shocked and horrified at what his savior has been facing for his life. No one made a sound, but Blake finally voice her opinion.
"Shaun… that's unbelievable, if I haven't seen those… demons, I would never believe you," she said.
"Same here, Shauny, I mean from another world? That's a lot coming from you," she said.
"So, it is true then, I mean in the beginning when I saw you displaying your… powers, they don't rely in any aura, even your ammunition I saw didn't use any dust," Weiss said. Shaun was surprised about how observant she was, but mostly about why she hasn't asked him about this from the beginning.
"Shaun, so that's mean… you are stuck here?" Ruby said looking at him worried. Shaun nodded.
"Yeah you can say that," he replied to her. Then the half Nephilim turned towards his uncle.
"So, Uncle Strife, how are you here?"
"Right, so the short version is, your supposed grandmother, the demon queen, Lilith is here in Remnant trying to find you and try to conquer this world too while doing so," he said. Shaun and his friends were shocked to hear this information.
"Wait! So, a literal demon queen is going to rule Remnant!" Ruby asked the gunslinger.
"Yeah, I tracked her here you see, Shaun, but it seemed that she has left early," Strife sighed, then he smiled from his masked as he put his hand on his nephew's shoulder.
"But at least I have found you, my nephew," he said, which the half Nephilim smiled. The half Nephilim then turned towards his friends to them, important information needed to be told to the four of them.
"Guys, now you have known this secret, you have to promise me that this secret needs to stay hidden because if not, it will only cause panic and more people will be killed," he said, looking at them with seriousness.
"You can count on us, Shaun!" Ruby said. The other three nodded. The half Nephilim smiled at them as their relationship has become stronger than before. The Nephilim, Strife watched their interaction with a sense of amusement.
'Heh, you need to see your son now here brother, he has already made friends with three beautiful girls," he thought. He cast a knowing smirk as he looked at the raven-haired one staring at his nephew.
'Ooh, and it has seemed someone has smitten with my Nephew," he thought chuckling a bit which his nephew caught.
"What?"
"Nothing, Shaun," he said, which the half Nephilim shrugged. After the four girls have regained their strength and aura back, they call to inform the headmaster about the events that have transpired to them and another new addition will be joined them. Then, they continue their mission to investigate the area that they were assigned. Strife transformed into his human appearance to blend in with them.
When they got there… the half Nephilim could hear the shock and whimper coming from Ruby. Shaun has seen how many humans that have been slaughtered by the demons. The first time he saw it, he puked and was grossed out by the sight. Now, he only felt sadness. Many bodies from people were dead, with bite marks, and claw wounds, he even saw discarded limbs sprawling all over the place. The village was also destroyed, pieces of debris were all over the place and remnants of burn marks were seen from all over the buildings.
"W-we're too late…" Weiss said looking at the scene. Shaun read the reports back in Beacon, they were looking for any sights of Grimm or demons and they are where they would search was beside a village.
"It's seemed the demons have slaughtered them," Strife sighed, saddened by the event. Ruby put her hands on her mouth as she could feel tears rolling down from her eyes, thankfully Yang came in for her to offer a hug which the little red accept. Weiss and Blake were deeply shocked by the scene.
"I think we should head back and report what happened," Shaun said as he used his scroll to contact their transport back. Blake looked at her savior, she was amazed and concerned at him, he was the only one (excluding his uncle because she was referring to someone who is the same age as her team) who held strong at the scene in front of them.
'He looked like he has seen worst compared to this,' she thought as she watched him close his scroll.
"Alright guys, a transport will be here in 2-5 hours, I suggest we try to rest and… see if there are any survivors," he said looking at them. The half Nephilim knew that they were shaken by the sight, but… looking at Ruby's shaken form, he felt very sad. So, he approached the red riding hood and put a hand on her shoulder. Ruby was done embracing Yang when Shaun approached her.
"Deep breaths, Ruby, and try to think happy thoughts while doing so," he advised as she did what he told her to. Soon, the six people went to a nearby building. After checking for any survivors, they concluded that… sadly all the villagers have died. It was night time and the bullhead was still not yet seen from the skies.
Shaun was surveying from the second floor on the balcony, looking for any kind of danger around them. His uncle was also helping him, but he was on the first floor, protecting the girls with him. Speaking of his uncle, he was happy he could see him again, he was 15 when he last saw the gunslinger. He said that he has a mission that needed him to travel to another world. Since he was capable of killing demons, his uncle trusted him that he could take care of himself while he was gone.
Shaun sighed as he watched his green-eyed crow munching on a dead rat at the railing. Suddenly, he heard the door from behind him open.
"Can't sleep, Blake?" he said not looking at her from behind. Blake who has difficulty sleeping like others, let out a dry chuckle.
"You can say that again," she replied as she joined him on the balcony. Unconsciously, she scooted closer to him which made the half Nephilim tickle a bit. Shaun looked at the Faunus in disguise, she was scared even if she tried to hide it. He doesn't know why he did it, but he put his hand on her shoulder and pulls her closer to him. Blake blushed at what her savior did, but… it felt good to feel his warmth. The Faunus then with a breath put her head on his right arm.
"You… alright?" Shaun asked her.
"To be honest… I don't think that I'll be alright… after seeing those dead bodies," Shaun rubbed her back soothingly. He remembered that his mother would do this to him whenever he felt scared and insecure. Blake let out a satisfy sighed at his contact.
"The demons you called them… they were really from Hell, don't they?"
"Yeah, but it seems strange…"
"What do you mean?"
"They felt… different. I mean their essence felt more mortal than a demon, it's like a fusion between the two," he explained. Blake remembered the demon with the tail.
"Hey Shaun, do demons often have animal traits?" she asked.
"No, they don't, why do you ask?" he said looking at her.
"Because one of them had one," Shaun then thought for a moment.
'Can it be that Lilith made them from mortal bodies,' the thought of it made him clench his hand which was noticed by Blake.
"What's wrong, Shaun?" she said looking at him concerned.
"The one with the tail… it could have been a Faunus, Lilith the demon queen probably turned them into demons, making them her servants," he simply said which made Blake let out a gasp.
"Th-that is a problem,"
"Yeah," he simply said. Then they went into silence, but Shaun decided to ask her a question.
"Do you… still, trust me? I'm sorry I hid this secret from you and the others, I don't know if you guys would even believe me and I was afraid that you'll think of me as something not human," he said a frown was present on his face. Shaun was surprised when Blake embraced him in a hug, her head resting on his chest.
"I understand why you did it and I still trust you, Shaun. Besides, I'm also keeping secrets from the others," she said.
"One way or another you need to tell them, Blake," The Faunus hugged him tighter.
"Not this time… but maybe in the future. I'm still not ready," she replied. They stayed in this position for minutes, Shaun could feel something on his chest a warm feeling crept on him. He doesn't know what this is, but he liked it. Soon, the warmth ended as Blake let go of him.
"Well… thanks, for giving me comfort, Shaun," she said. Even if it was nighttime, Shaun could still see the red blush on her smiling face.
'She's… beautiful,' he thought. Unknown to him, on his cheeks there were two red tints.
"Well… I am going to sleep, goodnight, Shaun," she said as she walked back towards the door, from where she went in. Shaun looked at the door, he didn't know why, but his heart was beating so fast.
'What is happening to me…' he said as he placed his hand on his heart. Shaun sighed as he continued to look at his surroundings, unknown to him another person was watching the scene unfold. Strife was grinning like a madman from the trees. He went to have a quick piss in the woods before returning to the building.
He was stopped in his tracks when he looked at the lovely scene of two people on the balcony. There was his nephew giving comfort to the girl with raven-haired. He knew that his nephew was blind to these kinds of things despite knowing about the subject.
'Either he blind or just too stupid to even understand his feelings,' he mused as he watched them let go of each other. Not long after that, the bullhead then came to pick them up. The pilot who watched the new addition asked him who he was. Strife (disguised as Jones) told the pilot he was just a guy who finally found his nephew as he put an arm around the said nephew. Now the six people were now inside the bullhead flying in the night sky, enjoying the peaceful night as they returned to Beacon Academy. Some of them were asleep, well most of them since the only ones who were sleeping were the girls. Shaun and Strife were the ones who weren't asleep.
Now that they were with themselves, Shaun wanted to ask something about him.
"Uncle… what do we do? Lilith is out there, and we don't have any leads to where she is," he asked his uncle. His uncle Strife sighed.
"For now, we should wait, despite being the demon queen, she always made herself hidden from the world,"
"Are you sure it is ok? What if she attacks again?"
"Well… we will be there, for now, let's put this to the side," he said to him. He then smirked at his nephew.
"Let's talk about you, it seems you have quite made a name of yourself, heh? 'The Grim Reaper Huntsman', the huntsmen who slain a rare and ancient Grimm on his own," he said dramatically. Shaun chuckled.
"Well, I don't want them to be in trouble, uncle,"
"Yeah, I know you will, you are not the one who will leave innocent lives in peril," he then looked at his friends. The girl with blonde hair and the one with the red outfit were asleep with the latter leaning towards her sister, the white-haired one was asleep at the corner, and finally, the girl with the black bow was also asleep, but she unconsciously leaned towards his nephew. Strife grinned at the scene, but his grin turned into a smirk when he looked at the girl with the bow.
"You know, I'm curious about your relationship with the one with the bow, you his lover?" he asked. Shaun widened his eyes at the question. True, he never asked himself what relationship he was with Blake, he thought that she was a good friend, but… recently his heartfelt faster whenever he saw her and spent time with her.
"She is a good friend, but lately… my chest has been beating faster whenever I saw her, uncle," he said looking at him. Strife widened his eyes and let out a chuckle.
"Well Shaun… it means that you have some feelings towards her," Shaun widened his eyes, does he? He thought about the days he spent with her. Her cute laugh, her seemingly warm smile, and… her warm embrace…
"Hey, nephew, you ok? Or you just remember that hug you share with her?" he said smirking which in a rare display the half Nephilim blushed. The gunslinger laughed a little which made Shaun blush deeper.
"S-shut it, Uncle Strife," he said as he drew his hood to cover his face. Strife stopped laughing as he grinned at his nephew.
"Ok-ok, I'll stop. Love is a beautiful thing, my nephew, experience it while you can," he said smiling. Shaun looked at his uncle. This feeling of him towards the Faunus… is he in love?
'Is this what having feelings towards a person truly feels like' he thought as he looked at Blake sleeping soundly on his shoulder. He let out a smile at the way she sleeps.
"Maybe so, Uncle, but… I think this isn't the best time for me to confess since Lilith is still out there and well…" He heard his uncle let out a snort.
"Jeez, you sure do sound and act like your father sometimes," he chuckled. Shaun let out a small smile and shook his head. He sure missed his conversations with his uncle and now he was lucky to finally had this conversation with him after years he left.
His uncle was right, for now, they should wait until further news about any demon sightings and attacks. He has this bad feeling that something bad will happen in the future.
Something that he and his uncle can't defeat alone.
AN:
Hello everyone! Before I start, I just wanted to say sorry for the long wait for this chapter. The reason was because of college assignments and the story behind this chapter. As you can see, this chapter is entirely made by myself, and let me tell you… it is well hard to try to come up with an idea, but don't worry, this story will not be abandoned, but sorry if the next upload will take too long.
Anyways, I also wanted to thank you all for following this story. I am surprised that I just surpassed the 100 mark. It made me happy and that is why I wanted to thank you all for it!
Well, that's all, see you in the next chapter!