Things they are a changin'...

REAPER IN RED

Chapter 35

I waited until everyone was fast asleep before I slipped out of the house. It was the dead of night, and luckily it was a moonless one. The clouds blocked out most of the stars as well. Not that there were many. We may have been pretty far from the main town of Patch, but the light pollution from it still blocked out so many stars compared to the real wilderness.

It was only a few steps from the house to the forest. I chose to take those steps at human speed just in case someone was awake and looking outside. Can never be too safe, like mom always said. But, as soon as I reached the forest, I switched into a full sprint. It was great. Each step sent shadow wafting from my feet, spurring me to go faster. The wind rushed around me, buzzing in my ears. Trees bent and shook as I blew passed them, deeper and deeper into the forest and mile after mile further from human civilization.

Finally free from fear, I shifted into my Reaper form, darkening everything around me in the process. The dark night turned darker. I heard the moans of some zombies, just as my Reaper scythe was forming in my grasp. A single swing and multiple heads were lopped off in an instant.

Ah, it felt good to be this me again.

I stopped in an instant. The shockwave which I had carried behind me blew forward, throwing my hair every which-way which I found amusing, gleaming out a small smile.

It didn't take long for my appearance to draw in the attention of Grimm. It was like instinct to them. A Reaper anywhere nearby sent off fireworks brighter and louder than even a human's -sorry, person's- most devastating emotions. I liked to think it was because we tasted better. Mom had always said I was the sweetest.

Their growling was all I needed to hear to know I was being surrounded. I couldn't sense them the same way I could living creatures. Grimm weren't truly alive. It was more so the significant lack of anything, the black hole of emotion which I could pick up on. It was a strange feeling, but not an uncommon one. They were mainly beowolves. Maybe an ursa or two in the bunch.

Generally not worth the time it took to kill them. Especially in those numbers. I could feel the pressured grip of the scythe in my hands. I could feel the comforting weight of my cloak draped all around me, covering all but my face and extremities. I raised up off the ground, floating so that the very edges of my cloak gently rustled the tips of the longest grass stems.

A beowolf growled. An ursa roared.

I stood there, motionless and silent, waiting for them to make the first move. The high-pitched trill of the wind passing through the endless rows of tree trunks and hundreds, if not thousands of branches. It was an eery melody to mark the start of this fight with the monsters of Grimm.

They lunged.

I swung.

A head cleaved off, sliced through as if like butter, filling the air with the ashes and smoke that the soulless creatures seemed to be filled with. There was little need to rush. There was no one present to watch. Nobody to save from their jaws.

Nobody dying to reach.

Just the sensation of my scythe spinning purposefully through creature after creature until only I, a Grim Reaper, remained. And like nothing had happened, silence and sound returned to the forest. The soft echoes of chips, as well as the telltale growling of Chimera that stalked the forests for prey.

I let myself change back to my human guise, dusting off my pant legs and letting out a vocal sigh as I stretched out my back.

"Wooh boy, I needed that."

I turned as a soft growl was accompanied by the hiss of a young Chimera. A small fire was lit in the distance. Travelling to it, I saw a Chimera mother with its young. Half cat and half duck, it was an incredibly odd looking creature. The mother flapped its wings uselessly while blowing streams of fire over the lip of a small dug-in burrow where the chirrups and soft cries of its children were hiding.

I crouched down to not disturb the mother and smiled. "Hello beautiful," I whispered. It caught my gaze and hissed at me.

Unperturbed, I took a small step closer, an outstretched hand. Quickly it clamped its duck-like bill on my fingers. With its mouth distracted, I moved to it, petting it gently down its head and neck and into the soft feline fur.

"Shh," I comforted as best I could, relaxing the animal. It took some time, but finally it relaxed in my arms, snuggling up against me. I was far enough away from its children, so they were safe. And my ministrations were gentle, following down the pattern of its feathers and fur.

Looking up at the sky, covered mainly by trees, I let out a deep sigh. This sight had been my home for so long. It was like returning to your bed after months away. In a way, it was exactly like that.

Not to say that the beds at Beacon or at Tai's -dad's- weren't super comfortable. They were. So much more comfortable than sleeping on the ground. But after so many years, it was quite nice to just… lay out there, with a small Chimera in my arms, and just relax. No anxiety of hiding myself from my friends, no real excitement for what new things I would be learning. Nothing to fill my time and attention.

And then I remembered mom.

And then I remembered why I had gone to Beacon in the first place. Why I had met Mr. Torchwick and let him remember me. Why I spent so much time learning and playing and doing.

I sighed, helping the strange creature in my arms back to its nest and burrow. "I guess that's all the time we have together Mrs. Duck-cat. I hope I'll see you soon. Stay away from those huntsmen."

It gave me a small quack, then walked through the small flames which marked the entrance to its burrow. No doubt it would be wrapping its wings around its young, helping them drift off into an even more pleasant sleep.

I lifted myself up off the ground and started the trek home. I chose to walk back at a more human speed, than fly or run. It took some time, but I eventually saw the light of my dad's place. The front porch light illuminated the night and all other rooms were quiet and dark.

Wait.

Why was dad's light on?

I quickly changed into my Reaper form, silently floating up towards the roof. Close enough to lean over and peer into the room, but far enough away that my natural Reaper magic wouldn't affect the light too much.

Even so, I saw Blake and Weiss squint as if something noticeable had shifted. Why were they in my dad's room?

Was this going to be like Blake's books? Because I really hoped not.

"Hey, Mr. Xiao Long?" Weiss began, nervous about something. She was carrying a notebook by the looks of things. I didn't know Weiss also gets a diary! I knew we had more in common.

"How many times do I have to say, 'call me Tai'? What's up girls? Missing anything with the rooms?" Tai sat on the edge of his bed with a half-smile.

"Well, we, Blake and I," Weiss gestured between the two of them, "have some questions we'd like to ask you. Nothing too invasive, mind you. Just…"

"Just that we want to make sure we're both being the best partners we can to your daughters," Blake concluded. Weiss placed a hand on her arm in thanks.

"Hmm," Tai leaned forward, stroking his chin. "I'd always prefer you talk to them first. I don't want to be the overbearing parent and start revealing their pasts that they'd rather not share. I'm all for revealing to you girls some of their funnier moments, remind me to tell you about Yang and the ice cream cart tomorrow morning. That or Yang and the beehive. But some of the darker things. The more… sad stuff? I trust you girls, but there are some stories you need to hear directly from them."

"See, that's just it," Weiss said, picking up on something I did not notice. "We don't want to go digging into their worst moments. More so… get a better understanding of who they are, through their father."

Tai shrugged. "I can't say I see what you mean, but I'll answer questions and stop you if I think their inappropriate. Fire away."

Weiss turned to Blake, who nodded. She flipped open her diary and read through it. "Have you ever been to Atlas?"

"Me? Loads of times. I was a huntsman too, you know. I've been just about everywhere, save Menagerie. Though my p-pa…" Tai froze.

"Partner?" Blake egged.

Tai frowned and shook his head. "No… that doesn't sound right. Eh, my good friend took a few missions out that way. But you wished to know about Atlas?"

"Erm, yes." Blake continued their line of questioning.

Had Tai been to Atlas before? Now I was getting curious. He wouldn't mind if I peaked into his head a little, right? He was distracted, so it wouldn't be too hard, I don't think. What the hell, I'll give it a try.

"Do you know about the Wretched Witch of Atlas?" Blake said, her voice dulling as my attention became more focused on Taiyang Xiao Long.

"T-t… Th… Oh, one second, just feeling a lit-lit… little lightheaded." Tai leaned forward and grabbed his head. I closed my eyes, feeling around for his memories. "Mind passing me the water over on that dresser?"

Weiss must have said something because she rushed over to fetch it- there it is! Taiyang Xiao Long's mindscape was an intricate web which only a Reaper could possibly decipher. It was beyond beautiful. Dozens, if not hundreds of millions of memories, all interconnected, engaging every one of his senses. Bouncing off his aura. Strengthening every part of his body and spirit to make him who he is.

Yes, he had definitely spent time in Atlas before. I hadn't played with that memory too much. Just took out a person and swapped it for my mother. I didn't want to add someone else into too many memories. It'd confuse his poor little brain, and I'd never be able to keep track of it all. Besides, he was with his partner, what's-her-face. Tai was at her funeral, so I just swapped mom into her spot for a good chunk of them. Easy peasy.

"We had gone looking for the Wretched Witch maybe a few times before." His voice was like an echo through a cave. Both loud and quiet. Reverberating through everything. It was always an incredible feeling. At once, the memory he was thinking of took centre stage.

I fell into his memory. Not literally falling, more so the feeling of falling into a chair that was pushed in under you. Or, at least that's the best way I could describe it, without actually having any physical features in someone else's mind.

"Sum and I went on this amazing adventure. We left our two teammates behind. They had gone on their own adventure, and we wanted to try and take down the mythical creature. She had been wearing…"

Taiyang Xiao Long was younger. Still with the same satisfied and cheery smirk on his lips, but now bundled up with cold weather gear, followed closely behind by mom. She was wearing… no, I didn't like that outfit. Gave too much Reaper vibes. Tugging along at the memory, I swapped her black cloak, to a heavy cape. White instead of the blacks she preferred.

"…such beautiful bl- white cape. White was here colour, though she didn't seem to-"

Oh, oops. I should probably give her that cape a few more times. Wouldn't want to confuse him too much.

"-she wore that thing all the time. I think that's where Ruby gets her love for her own red hood from. We had climbed the mountain the Witch was supposed to be on, but no matter how much we looked, it was never there. Didn't see one peep."

"Has Ruby or Yang ever been to Atlas?" Weiss's voice was muffled, and I only barely heard her question through the fog of Taiyang Xiao Long's mind.

"N-no, I d-do… don't believe they have."

Hey, I was too in Atlas. Me and mom went a whole bunch, and I was there on my own. It was there that… No, it wouldn't do well to get lost in my own memories, while taking a peek at someone else's.

"My daughter Ruby had gone there a few times with her mother. But not Yang. Yang has stayed in Vale her entire life."

Blake spoke, but her words weren't being picked up between the layers of fog. I felt Taiyang Xiao Long shake his head.

"Summer and Ruby were very close. They were pretty much attached at the hip. Ruby was so very much like her. When she died… it tore all of us. Might have hit her the hardest."

That was enough there. Now it was just Taiyang Xiao Long's false memories of mom sprouting up. Nothing too in depth. Just her human form over and over again. She looked beautiful as a human, but it was nothing compared to her Reaper form. She was always so… ethereal then.

I slipped out, rubbing lightly at my unblinking eyes. I switched back into my human form, yawning slightly. There, I sorted out a few things, so now they should make a little more sense to him and to me. Refreshers were always good to have, especially after so long away.

As I switched back to my human form, pain hit me. My head felt like it was being squeezed by Yang and grinded on by razor blades. My vision went blurry and I nearly tumbled off the roof. My stomach felt queasy. I was going to vomit. I've never vomited before. Humans did this. I relieved my stomach of its contents over the side of the far house. "Ugh," I let out as I wiped at my mouth. "Don't try to look at someone when they aren't asleep or injured. Got it."

As I left the roof and slipped back into mine and Yang's room, I didn't notice the quiet and worried conversation my monochrome teammates were having out in the hall.

Thank you Dragonqueen1993 for letting me know about a mistake in the previous chapter! I said that Ruby and Yang were sharing room, when really, Ruby had taken over the guest bedroom. That fact had completely slipped my mind. So thanks a whole bunch. If you guys spot more mistakes like that, please let me know. It's always super helpful. The chapter has been updated to fix this issue.

GreenTheRyno - Hopefully this chapter helps clear some things! And maybe get you to ask some more questions. :P

Alucard45 - I always feel bad about harming the dog. Don't worry, everything will work out in the end. (With Bear at least) Mind magic is a fun one to play around with as well. There hasn't been too much explanation about that power yet, but this chapter should be a fairly good introduction to what Ruby does and doesn't know.

lasereye27 - More to come!

JackTheSpades - *whistles nonchalantly* ...Spoilers

Dragonqueen1993 - I'm so sad that Bear/Zwei doesn't like Ruby! Ruby is so lovable!

Guest - Sorry! But thank you so much for enjoying the wait!

Cun - The diary is in the most secure location imaginable. It would take a crack team of experts to discover it! (Or one really curious individual)

TM Calypso - Love the noose metaphor. Necks and Reapers are always a fun discussion.

The Tailor - Too true. Ruby is adorable and fairly skilled in lying, but a master she ain't.

Haske - Qrow is going to be a fun character to write.

Dragon Lord Draco - I have faith in Weiss and Blake that they will be oblivious to what's obviously in front of them... Maybe. Who knows what the future may bring?

On another note, starting today, if you prefer AO3 to FFN, I will be cross-posting Reaper, a new chapter every week, until it's all caught up here. So, given time, you can start enjoying this story on the other platform.