Ruby yawns as she rose from her sleeping mat, looking at a nearby clock she sees it's 6:30 AM. Waking up on time as always, she noticed that Yellow was sleeping beside her. Ruby carefully moves Yellow not to disturb her slumber, once that has been done. She gets up and begins packing her sleeping mat.

Looking around, she sees that she's the only one that's awake. That's good, with everyone sleeping she can focus on creating some makeshift ammo with grimmomancy, or perform a quick ritual to gain strength for the initiation today. After finishing packing her sleeping mat, Ruby walks toward the bathroom to change and refresh.

Ruby splashed water on her face to properly wake up after she changed into her travel clothes. She then stared at her lightborn face and then frowns. As long as she stays on the surface, she'll have to wear this mask, but this would soon be worth the effort…right?

She shook the thought out of her head. Of course, this was worth the effort, she has to prove her mother wrong, that the lightborn wouldn't relentlessly massacre her species out of fear, and that they can enjoy the light of the sun together. Besides she's seeing some progress, for example, the mutants aren't being violently repressed and enslaved…at least in the Kingdom of Peace. It's a start.

Ruby then went into her pack and took out her tanto knife. It's time.

"Oh gods of war, kami of bloodshed and honor, who have provided my kin strength in times of conflict. Forgive me for my meager offer, but I ask thee to lead me thy strength for the perilous battle ahead. I give thee my blood for strength, no matter how piecemeal it may be."

Ruby's right-hand curls to a praying posture, while her left hand holds the knife. She presses the knife to her neck before gracefully cutting the left side of her neck. She winces in pain as the red-black blood drips from her neck and tanto onto the sink, the blood emitting a small haze as she lets it drip for a few seconds before cleaning the knife and sink.

After cleaning up, Ruby covers the cut on her neck with her hand, letting her natural body quickly heal the minor cut. She enters the ballroom and sees the time is now 7:00 AM. Might be a little late to produce gravity dust rounds but oh well, the recoil from Crescent Rose should suffice in slowing down her decent.

Ruby takes out the ammo she needs from her sack. She needs to craft more, especially corrupted, but hopefully, she'll find a place where she can practice her mechanical expertise in peace. She flexes her prosthetic arm a bit, she might have to conduct maintenance soon. She places her sack in the locker and closes it. She then sees Yellow walking toward her.

"Uh, Yellow…where art thou weaponry?"

"Hello to you Red!"

Ruby stared at her before she shook Crescent Rose.

"Oh, you're wondering where my weapons are, well~ check this out!"

Yellow cocked her arms back, and her bracelets changed into gauntlets, with a single barrel on each.

"I named these babies Ember Celica, they're shotgun gauntlets and I shoot by punching things! Judging by the look on your face, I'm guessing you never thought the bracelets I wore were weapons."

Ruby only stared in silence before awkwardly nodding her head, she expected unusual impartial weapons, yes, but bracelet firearm gauntlets?! She'll have to keep a note on any more "stranger than strange" weapons that the flashborn use. Ruby then sees Jane walking past her while holding a piece of paper.

"This is ridiculous! There's no way I put my weapon in locker 636 yesterday! I wouldn't remember having to count that high, oh why does this have to happen to me?!"

He walks past the Snowflake and some weirdly dressed red-haired girl. Ruby gestures to Yellow about his problem, to which she pointed at her gauntlets and then acted confused.

"So he lost his weapon…How?"

Yellow simply shrugged her shoulders, Ruby then watched as he manages to find his weapon, and then proceeds to slide into the conversation between the Snowflake and the red hair. Ruby can't speak their language but she can tell that he's bungling his attempt at conversation.

However, her gaze upon the red hair girl, whose distinctive to Ruby on the sole fact that she's wearing armor, no matter how piecemeal it may be. She may be a valuable ally, given how there will be teams forming up during initiation. But given her limitation, she decides to drop the idea for now.

She watched as he gets close to the Snowflake, to which the red hair throws a spear at Jon, pinning him against a locker. She chuckles at his predicament.

"I'm sorry!"

Ruby then hears the voice of the Witch emit all across the room, it's time. She gets up from the bench and began walking towards the Initiation, but not before helping James up to his feet. He began talking about something which Ruby can't understand, but she nodded along to help him feel better.

The impressive visage of the emerald green forest impressed Ruby, for such a vast wilderness be so close to civilization. She's more surprised that it hasn't been settled and deforested by this point. She would have enjoyed the view if it weren't for the fact that it was a sunny day. At least the forest is thick enough for her to see properly.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Ruby's gaze went towards Ozpi, with the WItch holding a tablet displaying pictures for her.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of teams. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates...today."

A bit unorthodox but she can understand.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of the time at Beacon, so it will be in your best interests to pair with someone with whom you can work well."

Again, understandable. In the early days of the second era, her mother encouraged cooperation between the Duskborn and their mutant brethren. This, though different, serves the same purpose: building cooperation.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

"What?!"

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path…or you will die."

This doesn't make any sense, she saw the picture and yet it makes zero sense. Partnership based on eye contact of all things?! She wasn't notified of this!

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. We will regard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Ruby had a question. She discarded it because she can't speak, a fact that is making her more and more frustrated. She angrily sighed and took on a position, pulling her hood down to make sure she doesn't become blind mid-flight.

One by one the students are launched into the air, with Ruby being the second last one. She draws out Crescent Rose in preparation, before being catapulted into the air and towards the forest below.

"Oh gods, nevermore chick!"

Ruby braces for impact, but was surprised when her body just obliterated the poor darkborn. Focusing on her more immediate situation, Ruby fires Crescent Rose to use the recoil to slow her down. She then switched to scythe form and caught the branch of a tall tree. Ruby however underestimated her strength, as her scythe cleaved through the branch. She had to slam her scythe into another tree to prevent falling to her death.

Sighing, she took out her scythe from the tree and began climbing down, only jumping off when she was certain the fall wouldn't hurt her.

The forest's ambiance fills Ruby's ears as she began scanning the area after she landed. She removed her hood as the canopy provides enough shade for her eyes, her ears listening for any slight deviation from the casual bird chirping or the rustling of leaves from the wind.

Her mind wandered to who shall be her potential partner as she starts running through the forest.

Her first idea for a partner was Black. A mutant, she seems an expert on espionage and stealth and was able to somewhat talk to Ruby with gestures. Though Ruby has yet to see her weapon or her fighting style. A yes if she ever manages to find her.

The second one was Yellow. Active, strong, yet familiar. For some reason, Ruby feels at ease when she's around Yellow, and a small part of her wants to just hug her and never let go. Also, a good person to practice unarmed combat with, though her size might be an issue. Another great option for a partner if she ever finds her.

Finally, there was Jaune, she thinks she finally got his name right. He appears weak, untrained, clumsy, and easily manipulated. Most people would have dismissed him, but she grew up in the courts of Yggdrasil. Looking back, Jaune looks like the type to have the potential to be a great warrior, he just needs someone to properly train with. A great pick, but something she'll have to work towards and help build his character.

Ruby then sees someone ahead, a potential partner. She skids to a halt and then realizes who she just made eye contact with.

"Oh…"

The Snowflake simply stared at her, before turning on her heel and walking away.

"Well, that solves that issue for me. Anyway, now how to figure out where exactly is the relic located. The picture said north, and I do know how to navigate forests. My only issue…is that there are no rock walls to gauge my direction and distance."

As Ruby ponders how to navigate the forest. She felt someone tugging on her clothes. Looking down, she sees the Snowflake beside her.

"By no means does this suddenly make us friends, you're the best thing close around."

Ruby groans in acceptance, before walking alongside the Snowflake.

While walking together, Ruby decided to get a view of the Snowflake's weapon. She stops and grabs the Snowflake's attention, but she continues to walk on by.

"I will not let my mission be delayed because you're too busy focusing on the trees or whatever your primitive beliefs are. I swear if I get a bad grade-."

Ruby ran up in front of her, before drawing out her weapon, she then pointed towards the Snowflake while shaking Crescent Rose.

"You want to see…my weapon?"

Ruby nodded, no doubt asking about her weapon. She may be a Snowflake but if this school is a flashborn academy then she should at least have some sort of weapon. The snowflake draws out a rapier and presents it to Ruby. It's a rapier with a rotating cylinder container with vials, each vial contains a type of dust. Simple, elegant yet practical. As much as she doesn't want to admit it, it suits the Snowflake.

Ruby then noticed the vial with fire dust in it and pointed to it before shaking her finger. Before the Snowflake could react, Ruby gestures to the forest around her. Essentially telling her to not use it lest she sets the entire forest on fire.

Ruby then draws out Crescent Rose, she'll have to get a good look around the forest and determine their location, but she doesn't want the Snowflake to wander around and get herself killed. She looked at the Snowflake in the eyes and spoke, mustering her best lightborn language.

"Stay~..."

The Snowflake looked at Ruby horrified, before nodding. Ruby smirked and ran off into the woods, hopefully, she can find a tall tree and get back not before the Snowflake gets herself mauled.

She spoke…

That barbarian princess spoke…

A part of Weiss should be glad as it means she can properly give Red the earful that she deserves, treating the heiress of the SDC like garbage shouldn't go unpunished. Yet, when she told her to stay…

There was this primal feeling of horror that emerged from Weiss when she spoke with that unnatural accent. Given her background, she told her to stay so she can get the lay of the land, and find the temple holding the relics. But then why was she so shaken up about it?

Weiss only stop thinking about it when she felt something or someone watching her.

"Red? This isn't funny you know!"

She saw red eyes emerging from the bushes, all of them surrounding her. It was not before long a beowolf emerges from the bushes and then roared at her.

"Red!"

Weiss brought up Myrtenaster and blocked the swipe of the attacking beowolf, but it causes her to get pushed back, into a surrounding circle of beowolves.

As the beowolves surrounded her, Weiss goes through her training motions and practices in her head.

"Remember your training Weiss. Head up, shoulders back, right foot forward- not that forward! Slow your breathing…"

Myrtenaster landed on the fire vial, which Weiss has to quickly readjust to an ice vial. The barbarian may be a giant oaf, but she was right about using fire dust in a forest of all places.

"Wait for the perfect opportunity to strike, and…"

The Beowolf roars at her and starts to charge Weiss.

"Now!"

Weiss dashes forward towards her target, but halfway there she sees Red quickly running towards her target and manages to cleave the beowolf in two with her giant scythe. Weiss has to quickly change directions and screams, swinging her rapier in a random direction. Covering the path she swung at with ice and froze a poor tree.

"Why art thou standing around like an idiot?! Fight the pack lest they surround…"

The rest of the beowolf pack emerges from the forest, and it's being led by a large alpha beowolf. The pack immediately surrounds the pair. Weiss sees the situation as hopeless and prepares to create a wall of fire, Red however remains undeterred. She can see a small smirk on her mouth.

"Snowflake!"

Weiss turns to look at Red. Red points to her, and then the surrounding beowolves. She then pointed to herself, and at the alpha beowolf. Take out the surrounding beowolves while she goes and deals with the alpha…That's completely suicidal! Before Weiss could object, Red immediately runs toward the pack.

Groaning, she created several glyphs, before dashing towards the Grimm surrounding her. She switches to hard light dust to block a swipe, before retaliating with a thrust towards the main body. Weiss ducks below another swipe, before slashing the beowolf's head, killing it, and immediately switching to another target.

Weiss dances between the beowolves around her, slashing here, stabbing there. The beowolves are too slow and bulky to deal with Weiss's fighting style. Weiss uses a glyph imbued with gravity dust to launch the beowolves in the sky, before impaling them with icicles.

Weiss takes a moment to catch her breath, the fight nearly pushing her endurance to her limit. As the dead Grimm begins to slowly dissipate, she looks over to where Red is.

Red is tearing the beowolf pack like paper. Each swing from her scythe tears through a beowolf, with such speed and dexterity Weiss, is sure that she has some sort of speed or reflex semblance to keep track of her movement. Red occasionally fires from time to time, but mainly for execution-style kills or killing anymore arriving beowolves.

The alpha beowolf howls, before charging Red. She was caught off guard by this, hit hard, and flung back, losing her scythe. Weiss prepares to get back into the fray, but Red got back on her feet…and charges the now diminished pack bare-handed.

Weiss was sure that Red was sacrificing her life to ensure that she makes it out alive. She saw three beowolves surround and pounce towards Ruby, she was sure that would be the last of her.

The Red jumped at the last second, causing the Grimm to crash into each other.

Then she came down hard with her feet crushing a beowolf's skull.

She then picked up one of the remaining beowolves and proceeded to slam the Grimm on the other. Crushing both before she throws the beowolf at the alpha.

She then ran and picked up her scythe, before getting into a position and firing. Using the recoil to slash and dash the alpha, gradually weakening it by slashing the legs. Finally Ruby threw her scythe at the alpha, the blade being lodged in its body before she jumped onto the alpha's body.

She grabs onto the flailing alpha's skull, and letting out a warcry, she pries offs the alpha's skull. The Grimm let out a final howl before collapsing, any remaining beowolves running away in fear…In fear.

Weiss just stood dumbstruck by what she just saw. Red just defeated a large pack of beowolves and tore the skull of alpha by herself. And her face is completely neutral besides the exhaustion. Just what the hell is this girl?!

Red looks at Weiss and gave a confused expression. She picked up her scythe and walked towards Weiss, waving her hand in front of her.

"Hello~, Remnant to the Snowflake. I know thou have a noble's life but we must hurry to the temple lest we be late!"

Weiss stared incredulously at her before shaking herself out of her state, following her towards the temple.

A single man enters the under-repairing Junior's, he is carrying a single briefcase. The goons there all stop what they are doing and stared at him as he walks to Junior, who was cleaning the counter of glass. Not only does he look out of place, but he's also absolutely panicking and looks like he just wants to get done with it.

"...We're closed."

"I-I-I am here f-for an arrangement. You deal with information right?"

Junior only raised an eyebrow as his boys surround the man. The man begins to shake uncontrollably.

"I-I-I n-need Ro-Roman Torchwick location."

"I believe you have the wrong address, and like I said. We're closed."

The man, who Junior sees as a factory worker tenses up, takes a deep breath, and opens the briefcase. It's full of Lien, way more than a factory worker should make.

"I am on a time limit…and they would suspect betrayal if I take too long. Please…just write down his location. The payment they provided should be enough to cover the cost."

Junior just stared incredulously at the worker, who only stared back tensely. He sighs, before pulling out a piece of paper and writing down Roman's current location. Money is money after all, but it's been a strange week. First, blondy shows up and wrecks his entire bar. Then Nero and his gang got essentially eradicated from the face of Remnant, with Nero himself getting a cruel and unusual death. Now some group is forcing some poor sod to do their dirty work for them. He doesn't like this one bit.

He hands over the note to the worker, who looks relieved. Without saying goodbye he immediately sprints out of the club.

At least Junior can speed up the repairs with the cash he now has.

They're lost again.

Ruby was sure she got it right this time. She could faintly see a break in the treeline ahead, most definitely the location where the relics are stored. But now she's lost again, but this time she has the Snowflake to drag along to the relic said Snowflake snapped out of her dazzlement and quickly started berating her in her language after the fight.

Ruby sighed as she see the Snowflake emerges from the woods again, get frustrated, and walk in a different direction. That's the third time already. Honestly, Ruby shouldn't put up with this lightborn. She's royalty, of the Lusus lineage, and the second most powerful person in Yggdrasil. She shouldn't have to deal with this, especially from a Snowflake.

If the circumstances were different, then she or her mother would have ensured that this situation would have been rectified. But being a part of the most powerful family upon the surface grants similar protection on par as being a noble or child of Lusus. The Snowflake emerges once again, only to throw her arms up and scream in the air, seems like she's given up.

It was amusing to see her wander around, only to end up back here, but her only source of amusement was now gone. Ruby sighed and looked towards the sky as best she could, just trying to come up with any idea on what to do now.

Wait. The sky. This forest is filled with Darkborn, and forests like these are home to beowolves, ursai, borbatusks, and…

An idea appeared in Ruby's head. It's a dangerous idea and risks breaking her masquerade. But it would be their best chance to pass the initiation.

She grabs the Snowflake's attention, before gesturing for her to stay put. Ruby then quickly runs into the woods, mainly to build distance to maintain credibility. After a short sprint, and making sure that the Snowflake can't see her. Ruby takes a sigh of relief, before noticing something hiding in the bushes.

Reacting quickly, Ruby pulls out Crescent Rose, and fires into the unknown attacker. But instead of the death howl of a darkborn, she hears sparks and the sound of metal being damaged. Walking over the bush, she sees a now destroyed automaton that was hidden in the bushes. She wonders who would exactly place such a machine in a darkborn forest before discarding that thought. Ruby takes a deep breath and prepares to do a Dark Call.

"That dolt! Again she tells me to stay put after what happened before?! If it weren't for that stupid partner by eye contact I would have-!"

Weiss's tirade was interrupted when an inhumane, horrifying scream echoed through the forest. She became petrified, she was taught how to distinguish the howls and screeches of the more common Grimm, but she's never heard of a Grimm that can make that scream before.

Weiss then sees Red running back to where their starting position, a horrified look on her face.

"What did you do?!"

Another screech is heard from the forest. From the blue sky emerged a flying shadow, that is rapidly getting bigger and bigger by the second.

"Wait, I have an idea!"

Before Weiss could react, a giant nevermore landed in front of them and screeches into the air.

"W-we can't fight that thing! We have to run!"

When Weiss turned around and tried to run, she felt Red grabbing her wrist.

"What are you doing?! Are you trying to get me killed?!"

Red then proceeds to pick Weiss up, and hurl her towards the nevermore. She managed to grab onto its feathers before she saw a scythe slam into the nevermore's body. Red managed to get on the flailing nevermore before the giant Grimm took to the skies.

"Red! If we survive this, I'm going to strangle you with my bare hands!"

"Relax! The nevermore is pacified for now! As long you don't let go, you should be fine!"

"I can't understand what you're saying, you suicidal insane dolt!"

Weiss started to take deep breaths to calm herself down as the nevermore flew across the air. She never imagines her initiation going to end up as a complete disaster. Was all her hard work and sacrifices rendered moot because she was paired up with an insane barbarian instead of someone like Pyrrha?

No…No! She was Weiss Schnee, the woman who would redeem her family's name from her father. She had worked hard and acquired the scars to prove it, and she will fight tooth and nail to ensure the Schnee name will not be dragged through the mud to sate the greed of her father!

Right when Weiss mentally cheered herself up, she felt something grab her hand. She sees Red hanging on to the nevermore with one hand and pointing to the ground. She's pointing to a ruined, dilapidated temple…Wait that's where the relics are located! Weiss then felt Red's grip tighten before she throws Weiss off the nevermore.

Weiss let out a scream that was both filled with rage and fear as she falls to the ground. However her descent was unexpectedly interrupted when someone slammed into her mid-fall, and both she and the person crashed into a tall tree.

Weiss quickly got her bearings together, and she sees Jaune hanging upside down from a branch.

"Hey, Weiss…"

"Honestly, you're the best thing that happened to me this day."

A deep screech is heard from the forest, Weiss and Jaune sees Pyrrha being chased by a giant deathstalker.

"Pyrrha!"

An idea formed in Weiss's head, there's still a chance that she hasn't formed a partnership. And if that's the case, she can snatch Pyrrha and have a useful teammate who can communicate for once! Weiss quickly got up and formed a staircase out of sigils, she was quickly followed by Jaune, who managed to unstuck himself and seems keen on meeting Pyrrha.

Ruby watched as the Snowflake falls to the ground, before shifting her attention towards the nevermore. She can feel fear, confusion, and anger coming from the nevermore, in a way she can understand the reasoning why.

Darkborn in Luna Naturae is adapted to the presence of the Duskborn. They can see the light melded with the darkness within Ruby's race and thus are driven to attack. The darkborn on the surface, however, only has to face the lightborn. To their view, Ruby is either kin, an enigma, or a lightborn, possibly all three. This allows Ruby to exploit their confusion, just as she is doing right now.

Ruby forces the nevermore to turn towards the temple, before carefully drawing out the katana Crescent Rose. The hunting instinct of an adult nevermore would eventually override the fear and confusion it had and start hunting Ruby. Letting this one go would eventually result in it returning to kill Ruby or pick on any flashborn nearby. This will not do. Though the risk of death is high, she must not hesitate. Hesitation is defeat.

Right when the nevermore was near the temple, Ruby gripped tightly and plunged the blade into the eye of the nevermore. It screams and flails in the air in pain as Ruby pulls out Crescent Rose and stabs the remaining eye socket. The nevermore finally throws Ruby off its back, but it was too late. Blinded and enraged, the nevermore starts flinging feathers as it starts falling to the earth.

Ruby was taken by surprise, she was expecting to launch herself off the nevermore. It doesn't matter though, she shifts Crescent Rose into gun form and fired at the ground to slow her descent. Until she suddenly ran out of ammo. Ruby panicked and tried to desperately load in another round, however she was falling too fast and she realized she was falling directly on top of Jaune. He also just noticed Ruby falling right above him.

Ruby crashed on top of Jaune, and the pair lie on the ground in pain, the latter even more so given that he has bear the full amount of Ruby's weight. Another thud of a body hitting the ground is heard close by.

"Great! The gang's all here, now we can die together!"

Ruby was helped up by a man wearing green and white, with a strand of pink in his hair. She then realized that she accidentally crushed Jaune and moves to help him up. Thank the gods he's a flashborn, or else Ruby would have been covered in blood by now. She'll have to examine both herself and him for any injuries when they have the time, probably tomorrow.

When she lifted Jaune off the ground, a large animalistic screech is heard. She turns around to see…

"Thou brought an elder deathstalker to the temple?!"

She sighed in desperation, Ruby is pushing the limits of her body by fighting a beowolf pack, saving the accursed Snowflake, attracting and eliminating an adult nevermore, and falling from the sky twice. At a minimum, she'll need salves and a day trip to the hot springs to fully recover from this.

As the deathstalker screeches in the air, no doubt trying to illicit fear in the group, Ruby forms a plan. Judging by the size and plant growth, it is at minimum 300 to 500 years old and enraged. She looks at the flashborn around her and besides Yellow's gauntlets, sees a warhammer, dagger firearms, and swords.

Combined with the general weaknesses of an elder deathstalker, that being front-focused, exposed stinger, vulnerable behind and legs. Ruby now knows what to do. She grabs the attention of the flashborn by shifting Crescent Rose to scythe, pointing to Black, and gestures her plan. She pointed to Yellow and the orange hair girl and knocked on her knuckles. Then she pointed to Black and the green white man and pointed at her legs. Then she pointed at the red hair, before making a stinging gesture. Then pointed at the snowflake, pointed at her back. Finally, she pointed at herself, before pounding on her chest.

"Uh, does anyone knows what she's doing?"

Jaune asked while watching the deathstalker get closer to the group. Blake looks at Ruby trying to decipher her message before she understood the meaning.

"Oh! Red can't speak, and she's trying to tell us her plan! Yang and…"

"Nora! And this guy over here is Ren!"

"Right, you and Yang are focused on breaking its armor. Me and Ren will try to cripple it by attacking the legs. Pyrrha will focus on the stinger and Weiss will attack the behind while Red faces it head on."

"And me?"

"Jaune, you were flung by a deathstalker, collided with Weiss, crashed into a tree, and took a giant foreign princess to the face. Just rest before your aura breaks."

"Oh~."

Pyrrha moves to give Jaune a quick hug, before getting ready to fight the deathstalker.

The deathstalker makes a final screech before rushing towards the temple, Ruby responds with her war cry as she and the flashborn begin attacking the elder deathstalker.

Ruby dodged a swipe from the deathstalker, before retaliating with two scythe slashes. It does little damage to the deathstalker due to its armor, but that wasn't the point. With it focused on Ruby, it didn't notice the flashborn that were surrounding it, nor did it notice Yellow and the orange girl in the air.

The pair smashed their weapons on the deathstalker with such force that the darkborn was forced to the ground. Ruby noticed a small fracture on the armor of the deathstalker, as Black and the green white man took the opportunity and attacked the legs of the deathstalker. Light blue blades appear from behind and strike the deathstalker, while dust rounds hit the stinger.

Ruby's gaze hardens, the way the battle is going, her mother and the commander call this moment of a battle: "The foolhardy's folly". Due to the perceived notion of victory relaxing the would-be victors into attacking recklessly, weakening their defenses and often resulting in a victory for the defenders. She can see the small, self-satisfied grin on Yellow's face.

As she was about to strike, the deathstalker bursts from the ground. Flailing about and catching nearly everyone off guard. Black and the man back stepped away from the deathstalker, while the Snowflake formed some sort of shield around herself to protect against the deathstalker's tail, though she was knocked back.

The deathstalker moves to attack Yellow, but Ruby was swift, and she saves Yellow from the attack. Ruby in return fired at the deathstalker to gain its attention. The orange hair girl once again falls from the sky and slams her warhammer on the deathstalker, turning the small fracture into a crack.

The deathstalker retaliates by using its stinger and hits the girl mid-air, the life force shield being the only thing that prevented her from suffering from an excruciating and horrific death. Taking the opportunity to damage it, Ruby rushes ahead and goes for the crack in its armor.

As she was about to swing, the deathstalker unexpectedly grabbed her left arm.

It drags her arm back, stopping her attack, and clenches.

It clenches hard.

Hard.

Hard.

It's breaking her bones. Despite her durability, she can feel her bones starting to break under the pressure. Ruby felt her vision narrowing as she desperately swats at the deathstalker to break its grasp. She hears muffled shouting behind her. The pain, she feels something within her

Hard.

Harder.

Harder.

Snap.

A dreadful scream escapes Ruby's mouth as the pincers break her left forearm..and her sanity. Completely enraged, she used all her strength to lift Crescent Rose, before slamming the scythe onto the crack. Puncturing the armor of the deathstalker, resulting in the letting go of her scythe, but the deathstalker releases its grip on her. Shortly after, an enraged scream is heard, followed by a yellow fireball punching where Crescent Rose was located. The scythe was driven completely through the deathstalker, and the punch destroyed the surrounding armor, killing the deathstalker.

But that didn't stop Ruby, she immediately ran up and started hacking and slashing the dead deathstalker. Shouting every insult, every obscenity she knew at the dead darkborn.

How dare. How dare that filthy, mindless animal dare attack her! Her! The child of the Abyssal Queen! It dared lay its hands on her, dare to break her arm! Dare to spill her sacred royal blood on this undeserving earth, where the lightborn wouldn't even know! Of the value that she holds. And it dares have the audacity! The audacity! To die in front of her eyes, denying her of the pleasure that she would have enjoyed torturing the life out of its meaningless existence. Oh, how she would enjoy tearing each leg piece by piece, ripping its plates one by one, gouging out its eyes. Eye. For. Eye.

It was only when Yellow forced her to stop, and the pain in her left arm flaring up, did Ruby cease her carnage. Crescent Rose was soaked in liquid darkness. She felt that rich, succulent, divine feeling as she took deep breaths and slowly regain her mind.

The darkborn was barely dead, the body has barely begun to dissipate.

Yet there were no remains of the darkborn left. Well, remains that could be identifiable left.