Kaze no Hono
"Flames of the Wind"
Chapter 15
Creation and Abomination
Previously, Continued
A heavy silence blanketed the group as Naruto stood motionless with his sword drawn, its blade glinting with an unnatural sharpness in the fractured sunlight. His posture, though deceptively calm, radiated danger—an edge of lethal precision that unsettled the air itself.
Blake felt it immediately. An oppressive, smothering presence. It wasn't the same wild exuberance she had felt from strong fighters before.
It was quiet, suffused with something cold. Her stomach twisted as her ears twitched at the unnatural stillness in the forest. The birds had stopped chirping and the wind no longer whispered through the trees. It was as if the entire world held its breath in response to him.
She swallowed, resisting the urge to step back. The others didn't seem to notice it the way she did. Yang, Weiss, even Ruby—none of them reacted to the sensation that slithered under her skin like ice water. They only saw Naruto's outward composure, the rigid stance, the steady hand that held his blade aloft.
Blake saw what lay beneath and it terrified her. But then—Naruto moved. His grip on the hilt of his sword tightened, his stance shifting just slightly, but enough for Blake to recognize it. A preparation. A readied strike.
And his target? A child.
The girl had stepped from the underbrush without a sound, her small frame barely disturbing the leaves as she entered their view. Her orange hair caught the light in soft waves, an innocent contrast to the blank, soulless mask that obscured her face. No insignia. No markings. Just empty white.
The eerie sight sent a pulse of unease through Pyrrha. Her trained instincts told her that something was wrong, yet—
"Kiaya…" Ruby's voice broke the silence, hesitant, uncertain. She stepped forward cautiously, hands raised. "She's just a kid. Why are you-"
"Move," Naruto commanded, voice like iron. The way he said it sent a jolt of fear through Jaune. He had spent the entire walk trying to ignore his feelings. Trying to suppress the resentment burning inside him. And now watching him, issuing commands like an executioner, Jaune felt that resentment coil tighter like a blade twisting in his chest.
"Kiaya," Jaune started, his voice sharper than before, "What the hell are you doing?"
The opposing blond didn't look at him. Didn't even acknowledge him, making Jaune clench his fists at his sides. "She's not a threat," Weiss added, arms folded, though her stance betrayed her unease. "You're overreacting."
"Move," Naruto repeated, slower this time. A command, not a request.
The others felt it now—the shift in the air, the eerie stillness, the way the leaves refused to rustle as if the world itself was waiting.
"She's just a kid!" Ruby's voice rose, frustration bleeding into desperation. "You're scaring her!"
Whereas Naruto's gaze never left the girl. "You're in danger," he stated, certainty in his tone like a blade's edge. Blake stiffened as she registered what he declared. It was the way he conveyed it.
Not, she's dangerous, not, be careful. But you're already in danger. A creeping dread began to unfurl inside her.
"Kiaya," Yang said more firmly, stepping up beside Ruby. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but this isn't the way to handle-" Her speech was interrupted by a sudden movement. The girl had moved, not much, just a tilt of the head. But the moment it happened, the aura of the woods pivoted.
A single leaf drifted down from overhead, and in that exact second, Naruto disappeared instantly reappearing in front of Ruby in a blink of an eye. His katana stopped inches from Ruby's throat. The suddenness of it sent shockwaves through her system, her body locking up in pure, instinctive fear. Though it wasn't Ruby he was aiming for as the little girl had indeed moved.
One second she had been standing passively, the next—her teeth were buried in Ruby's shoulder. A piercing snap rang through the air as the bite connected, sharp enough to puncture through cloth and flesh alike. Ruby's eyes widened, pain flashing across her face as a strangled gasp tore from her lips. The searing pain in her shoulder pulsed like a wildfire beneath her skin, a sensation so intense it drowned out all other senses.
Her vision quickly swam, fading in and out unnaturally as her surroundings blurred into nothingness. From the enclosing darkness, she heard a voice.
Distant and faint, "Ruby!" Then another voice, deeper and commanding. "Get away from her!"
Present
The world snapped back into focus in fragments. The girl had moved, but it wasn't motion as they understood it. There was no shift in weight, no preparation of muscle. She simply was—one moment still, the next lunging, her too-wide mouth splitting further, unveiling jagged rows of needle-like teeth. She could barely make out the golden streak of her sister's hair as Yang launched forward, fury blazing in her now crimson-colored eyes.
Yang barely had time to register what had happened before her instincts took over. She lunged forward, aura blazing around her fists as she aimed a powerful strike at the masked girl. But before she could land the blow, Naruto moved. Faster than anyone could process, he was already between them, his blade flashing as it came down toward the girl in a merciless arc.
"Get her off my sister!" Yang roared. The girl's hollow black eyes locked onto Yang as if analyzing, calculating. But she didn't move to attack, instead, she released Ruby from her jaw, leaping back closer to the forest.
Naruto was already there.
His katana flashed, steel singing through the air with the intent to carve her in two, but her body contorted—snapped. Not like a person evading, but like a marionette whose strings had been violently yanked. Bones bent at unnatural angles, joints rotating where they shouldn't, her body weaving between his attacks like water slipping through fingers.
In a flash, Yang caught Ruby before she could collapse, cradling her sister in her arms. Her breathing was ragged and panicked, but her red eyes burned with fury. The moment Ruby's blood hit the ground, the air thickened. The weight of something unrecognized plowed against their chests like unnoticed fingers surrounding their throats.
"Ruby?! Hey! Stay with me!" Ruby tried to respond, but her throat felt like it was filled with smoke. The world around her flickered, images distorting as if she were looking through cracked glass. The force of the sudden withdrawal sent Ruby staggering backward. Her knees buckled. Her body felt distant and unresponsive, her limbs heavy as stone.
Something was wrong. The bite still burned, but deeper than that, something writhed underneath her skin, crawling, slithering through her veins like a living parasite.
Whereas the aberration was laughing as she weaved Naruto's attempted assaults. The sound crawled under their skin, a chorus of voices layered within, an echo of something not entirely of this world. His blade followed her with merciless efficiency, cutting through empty air, missing by slivers as her form flickered—one moment solid, the next a smear of shadow slipping between the cracks of reality itself.
Then she snapped forward, a single jerking motion, her mouth lunging for his throat. Naruto adjusted, his actions meticulous, honed from years of combat. He dropped low, twisting mid-air, katana reversing in his grip as he sliced upward with a clean strike that should have landed.
Despite this, it did not, as something intercepted it. Not her nor anything visible, but a force unseen had wrapped around his blade, grinding it to a halt mid-swing. His grip strained, muscles locking as the weight of something pressed down upon him.
Then the whisper came, but not from the girl or anything he could see, "He sees everything." Then Naruto was flying.
The unseen entity hurled him backward, fixing himself mid-air, his boots skid across the dirt path and his grip on his katana was secured as it dragged along the ground to slow his momentum. He dashed toward the girl again, his blade thrusting with an accuracy that sent sparks flying as it clashed against the unrecognized energy once again.
The girl landed on all fours, but it wasn't a human posture. It was twisted, limbs wrong, her head lolling too far to one side. She turned her face toward him, yet her head never moved an inch. Her mask had distorted, no longer resembling a disguise, and was now an object that moved with its own awareness, peeling away like porcelain melting into flesh, revealing glistening rows of eyes that were neither human nor animal. Each of them fixated on him, Naruto tightened his grip on his sword, unshaken and unwavering.
From her back, black tendrils unfurled—not of flesh, but something that didn't belong here. He didn't hesitate in backpedaling and pivoting instantly, using his left hand, his fingers weaved a set of gestures.
"Wait!" Weiss shouted as she noticed Naruto's hand gestures and stepped back in alarm.
"Stand back," he warned coldly, his voice sharper than they had ever heard. 'Wind Style: Storm Slicer!' A sudden gust of wind howled through the clearing, leaves whipping through the air as Naruto completed the sequence of seals.
Immediately, a concentrated burst of wind chakra surged around him, forming sharp, slicing currents that cut through the air like invisible blades carving everything in its path towards its target. The child moved impossibly fast and with unnatural agility, she twisted her body at an angle no human should have been capable of, avoiding the deadly arc of wind blades with inhuman precision.
Then—fire erupted from behind the girl, a blinding column of molten heat cutting through the sunlight like a blade of light. Cinder didn't hesitate, didn't question. She had seen enough to know this thing wasn't something they could afford to let escape.
Her firestorm coiled, forcing the girl to recoil, her body twitching erratically as if the fire's very presence burned something deeper than her flesh. She moved again, rejoining the fray with a lash of her arm, she launched with precision numerous shards of glass. Her shaded crimson-eyes gaze locked on the masked girl with the same lethal intent Naruto had displayed.
Said warrior moved the instant it faltered, a streak of silver and black, his katana aiming for the exposed flesh beneath the shifting remains of her mask. The aberration twisted—but was too sluggish. His blade met resistance, slicing through its tendrils. It wasn't skin nor bone, but something in between.
A splatter of black substance, thick and writhing, but not blood spilled onto the grassland floor. The shriek that followed shattered through the air like breaking glass, raw and ragged with something that didn't belong in this world.
The others gasped. The cold, unwavering intent in his movements sent a chill down their spines. He wasn't just fighting—he was aiming to kill. Naruto pivoted, katana reversing, edge angled for a finishing blow—
Yet despite her small frame, she still was swift. She eluded unnaturally, evading his attack with an eerie fluidity that sent a shudder through Blake. That inhuman movement, that soulless disguise—this wasn't simply a child. The masked girl ultimately responded, letting out a low unearthly growl and pouncing toward Naruto, her fingers elongating into razor-sharp white claws. Though he was ready. His blade shifted, twisting into a reverse grip as he sidestepped, and with deadly grace, he drove his sword toward her torso.
At the last second, she contorted but this time, she wasn't fast enough. Another round of Cinder's glass shards penetrated her upper back with a brutal force, forcing her ahead—right into Naruto's waiting grasp. His free hand caught her by the throat, lifting her off the ground effortlessly. She thrashed, her clawed hands swiping at his arm, but his grip was unrelenting.
"Who sent you?" Naruto's voice was low, deadly. She didn't answer. Instead, the mask on her face seemed to shift, twisting into something even more unsettling. The girl lifted her head and her mask split down the middle.
Then, something moved beneath it.
The porcelain cracked, peeling away in jagged, splintering shards—revealing many eyes and teeth. Another shriek tore through the clearing, then without warning, her entire body began convulsing violently. Before anyone could react, she exploded into a swirling mass of black mist that dissipated into nothingness.
Silence hung heavy in the aftermath.
The only sound was Ruby's ragged breathing, still weak in Yang's arms. Naruto lowered his blade, his expression unreadable through his sunglasses. Cinder exhaled sharply, crossing her arms before she spoke, "That was no ordinary girl."
Jaune swallowed hard, staring at Naruto with wide eyes. "What... What the hell even was that?" No one had an answer.
Yang was too focused on Ruby, her hands pressing desperately against the wound on her sister's shoulder. Blood seeped between her fingers, warm and slick, but something else—something wrong—writhed beneath the surface. Black tendrils pulsed from the bite mark, crawling under Ruby's skin as if alive. The sight turned Yang's stomach, her hands trembling despite her best efforts to keep steady.
Blake took a hesitant step forward, her golden eyes wide, pupils narrowing instinctively as she focused on the unnatural corruption. The dim light of the sun barely touched the writhing veins, but she could see them clearer than anyone. They pulsed with something sickly, something otherworldly, and as she watched, she felt her throat tighten with dread. "That... that doesn't look normal," she whispered, but her voice was hoarse as if the words themselves resisted being spoken.
Pyrrha knelt beside Ruby, silent but analytical, her emerald gaze narrowing as she carefully reached out. Her fingers hovered over Ruby's wrist, and for the first time, a shadow of confusion crossed her normally composed face, "I can't sense anything from her," she murmured.
Cinder, who had been watching the scene unfold with a calculating eye, turned sharply toward Pyrrha. "What do you mean?" Pyrrha pressed her fingers more firmly against Ruby's wrist, trying to feel past the cold sweat clinging to her skin, past the feverish tremors wracking her body.
Her frown deepened before she spoke, "Aura, life force, there's nothing. It's like she's... fading?" She revealed. There was an edge to her voice as if she already suspected the answer but refused to confess it.
The realization settled over them like a suffocating fog. Naruto moved before anyone else, his steps silent and deliberate as he closed the distance between himself, Weiss, and Blake.
Blake stiffened when he passed, her feline instincts screaming at her to retreat. Weiss gripped the handle of her rapier as though it were the only anchor keeping her from drowning in the dread curling at the edges of her mind. Even Cinder, who had stood so assuredly by his side before, kept a careful eye on him, her sharp gaze flickering with something unreadable.
His expression betrayed nothing as he strode toward Ruby and Yang, though it was the latter who reacted the strongest. She had seen what he could do and had watched him carve destruction into the land with an almost effortless precision. But seeing him now—advancing toward Ruby, toward her—sent something sharp and primal cutting through her chest. His presence wasn't just commanding; it was oppressive, an unseen weight pressing against her.
Then—he removed his sunglasses. A casual motion, unhurried, almost indifferent, however, the effect was anything whereas. The moment his eyes were revealed, Yang's breath caught in her throat.
Sky-blue.
Vivid, piercing, yet wholly unreadable. There was no warmth in them, no reassurance—only the cold, clinical assessment of a man who had seen far too much, who had weighed the world in his hands and found it lacking. It was the stare of someone who had stood in the presence of monsters and had become something far worse in return.
Her fingers twitched, ready to swing, to do something, anything—then he knelt beside Ruby. Naruto's expression remained impassive as his fingers hovered mere inches over Ruby's wound, his gaze locked onto the sickly black tendrils that pulsed beneath her skin. The corruption twisted like living ink, slithering through her veins, its movement unnatural, wrong.
Yang snapped her head up, instincts screaming. "Kiaya what the fuck are you doing?!" she demanded, her voice a mixture of panic and fury. Naruto met her gaze, and for a single terrible moment, Yang felt something coil tightly around her lungs.
His stare was void of warmth, void of hesitation. Cold as steel, she had never truly felt fear looking at another human before—not like this. Her bravado, her protective rage, all of it felt suddenly small under the weight of his presence.
"Saving her." Before she could protest, his hand moved with a precision too controlled, too experienced. A sudden, sharp pressure against Ruby's abdomen—an unseen force surging from his palm. It wasn't violent, but it struck through her system like a shockwave.
Ruby gasped, convulsing as an unnatural energy flooded through her body. For a fleeting second, the black tendrils hesitated, its writhing beneath her skin slowed, as if uncertain. Then—a scream.
Ruby's body arched violently, her back lifting off the stone floor as agony ripped through her. It wasn't just pain, it was deeper than that. There was something clawing at her very soul, something unseen unraveling her from within. The sound tore through the field, echoing against the ridged trees, sending a crude tide of unease through everyone present except Cinder.
Yang suddenly lunged forward, reacting instantly. "Stop!" Naruto didn't respond immediately, his focus unshaken, his grip tightening on Ruby as if anchoring her to reality. His expression remained unreadable, but something flickered in his gaze—something that chilled the others to their core. Because, for a brief moment, it wasn't just determination—it was intent.
The others noticed it unquestionably now—the unfiltered, unrestrained force of someone who had done this before, someone who had ended lives without hesitation. A dangerous and potent stillness lurking beneath his controlled exterior and it frightened them.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO HER?!" Yang roared, surging forward, reeling her weapons back—only to be stopped by a flash of glass. Cinder moved in an instant, her glass sword materializing in her grasp, its edge glinting as it pressed against Yang's throat in warning.
A silent threat.
"Stand. Back." Cinder asserted, her tone lethal. Yang bared her teeth, furious, but her rage was drowned by the sound of Ruby's whimpering gasps, her body trembling violently beneath Naruto's hands.
The others watched, horror-stricken.
Weiss had gone pale, her knuckles white around Myrtenaster. Pyrrha stood frozen, caught between protective instinct and uncertainty. Jaune's fists clenched at his sides, silently cursing his frailty for his inability to assist the situation, his entire body froze tight with tension.
Yang's eyes shone dangerously red as tears streamed down her face and her expression seethed with fury, her fists tightening until her knuckles went white, "Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. My. Way." She slowly gritted through her teeth. Her aura exploded from her being, causing a golden aura to emit like a yellow beacon.
Despite this, Cinder didn't move, her stance was unwavering and protective, "If you interfere, she dies." Yang's breath hitched, but before she could retaliate, Ruby's whimpers stole her attention. The younger girl's body trembled violently, beads of sweat rolling down her pale skin as she gasped for breath.
Whatever Naruto had done had momentarily stalled the corruption, but the pain had not faded. Her fingers clenched weakly against the ground, barely able to hold onto consciousness. Naruto's voice was grim as he finally spoke again. "It's inside her."
A wave of silence washed over them before Weiss was the first to break it, her voice tight, "Wha.. What do you mean inside? Like... as in her body?" The implication was stifling.
Naruto nodded, "That thing—it wasn't human. And whatever it did to her, it's still trying to take hold." He explained in a cold tone.
Yang swallowed, her voice barely above a whisper, her prior rage seemly forgotten, "…Then what was it?" Naruto exhaled slowly and when he finally spoke, his voice was like steel.
"Something that doesn't belong in this world." For once, no one disagreed. Then, from the glooms of the trees, a distant whisper resonated throughout the clearing. Tranquil, but unmistakably real.
"...I still see you." The party pivoted sharply, weapons raised, eyes scrutinizing the province. The voice—it was the masked girl's, yet she was nowhere to be seen. Cinder crossed her arms, her gaze flicking toward the trees. "Then we need to get out of here. Now." No one hesitated this time.
With Ruby barely conscious, Yang lifted her into her arms, holding her tightly as the group began their retreat to the academy. Their steps were swift, cutting through the dense forest with a newfound urgency, but as they moved, an unsettling feeling remained.
They weren't alone and it was shifting beneath them, the thought alone forced Naruto's grip on his katana to constrict.
"Damn it," Naruto uttered under his breath, confusing his dark-haired companion for a moment. Suddenly, blackened roots burst from the ground, twisting like spears and writhing like something alive. The air rippled the trees groaning as the world itself seemed to shudder in revulsion.
Then—the woodland exploded.
The others barely had time to react before the earth beneath them collapsed. Stone shattered beneath them, breaking apart like brittle glass. The world tilted violently as they fell, swallowed by the abyss below. Standing at the edge of the crumbling earth, the mysterious creature watched them disappear into the dark.
The last thing Jaune saw before the ground swallowed them whole— was Naruto.
His expression was terrifyingly calm.
Emerald Forest, Underneath
A sickening lurch yanked Blake downward, the sensation of freefall turning her stomach as the forest floor crumbled into a yawning abyss. There was no time to react, no time to grab onto anything solid—only the rush of air and the chaotic cacophony of bodies tumbling into darkness.
Then, impact.
Blake hit hard, her shoulder slamming into something jagged before rolling across uneven terrain. A sharp jolt of pain lanced through her arm, but she barely registered it over the sharp, panicked breaths of the others crashing down around her. Dirt and loose debris rained from above, the last remnants of the collapsing forest floor settling into the cavern that had swallowed them whole.
While the others groaned and stirred, lost in the suffocating darkness, Blake's feline eyes adjusted, drinking in the shadows. She pushed herself up with a shaky breath, ignoring the sharp throb in her side, and took in their surroundings.
They had landed in a cavern—vast and hollow, its walls jagged with ancient stone, damp with the weight of centuries. Stalactites hung like fangs from the ceiling, their edges slick with moisture. The ground was uneven and fractured, the remnants of their fall scattered in loose rock and splintered roots, and sunshine from above radiated into the crater. The air smelled old, thick with the scent of damp earth and something else…something metallic. Coppery.
Blood.
Blake's gaze snapped to the others. Ruby lay sprawled closest to her, her small frame barely moving, one hand pressed against her shoulder where the bite had torn into her. Even in the dim light, Blake could perfectly see the dark stain seeping through her fingers. Her breath came in short, pained gasps, her body curled inward as if trying to make herself small against the agony.
Yang was the first to make a sound—an audible groan as she pushed herself up from the rocky ground. "Ugh…what the hell just happened?"
Weiss coughed, sitting up a few feet away, her white uniform streaked with dirt and dust. "We…fell."
"No kidding," Jaune muttered, rubbing his head before his gaze darted around wildly. "Where—where are we? I can't see a damn thing!"
Blake hesitated before answering, scanning the cavern again, her unease growing with each passing second, "I think it's a cave," she expressed calmly. "Seems old and deep. Probably will be some tunnels leading off from here." Yang turned sharply toward her voice.
"Can you see anything?" Blake nodded before realizing they wouldn't catch the motion. "No." She expertly lied.
"Great," Weiss muttered, her usual sarcasm laced with real tension. "That makes another one of us." A quiet voice broke through their exchange.
"R-Ruby…" It was Pyrrha, who was knelt beside Ruby, her hands hovering over the younger girl's wound, face pale with worry. "She's bleeding badly. We need to do something." The prior urgency snapped the others into focus. Yang was by Ruby's side in an instant, hands hovering uselessly. "Weiss! Do something! Use your Glyphs or whatever—"
Weiss scowled, already moving. "I can't heal her, Yang. I don't have that kind of ability."
Jaune stepped forward, hesitating. "I—my semblance can heal, but I don't know if it'll be enough." Ruby let out a small, pained noise, and that was all it took for Jaune to act.
He placed a hand over the wound, focusing, his Aura flickering to life around him. The yellow energy seeped into Ruby's form, and for a moment, her breathing evened, her muscles unclenching. The bleeding slowed, but the bite marks remained deep and bare.
Naruto had been the last to fall, he stood apart from them, his form rigid with his sword still in hand. His back was to them, his head tilted slightly as if listening to something none of them could hear.
"Hey," Jaune called out. "You good over there?" Naruto didn't answer immediately. When he finally spoke, his voice was quieter than before but no less firm.
"We're not alone." A chill ran through Blake. She had already felt it—something watching them. Hidden eyes in the darkness, nestled between the jagged walls of the cave. Now that Naruto had said it aloud, the presence became more tangible.
Yang tensed before she asked, "What the hell does that mean?" Naruto turned, his expression was unreadable, "Something brought us here." He declared.
Weiss scoffed, clearly trying to steady her nerves. "Yes. Gravity."
"No." Naruto took a step forward, his grip on his katana tightening. "It wanted us to descend here." Silence settled over them, the weight of his words pressing against their chests like a physical force.
Blake swallowed. "We need to get out of here."
Jaune nodded quickly. "Agreed. But…where? You said there might be tunnels?"
Blake scanned the walls again, her enhanced sight catching the winding paths that led further into the depths of the cavern. None of them looked particularly inviting. Some twisted sharply downward, disappearing into unseen depths. Others were narrow, almost too small for them to squeeze through. And yet—one passage stood out.
Unlike the others, it was wide, almost intentional. Carved rather than naturally formed and led into a deeper darkness, one that even her vision couldn't pierce. However something about it sent a chill down her spine.
"Maybe. I think I found a way," she said finally, though the words tasted wrong on her tongue. The others hesitated, as if they, too, felt the unspoken warning in the air. But Ruby let out another small, pained breath, and that was enough to push them forward.
They had no choice.
They had to move, and they had to do it now. As they gathered themselves, preparing to venture deeper into the cavern, Blake felt it again—that unseen presence.
Watching. Waiting.
A chill crawled up her spine, an unnatural stillness pressing against her senses. Her hands clenched into fists, her ears twitching as she caught the faintest shift of movement above them. She turned slowly, her night vision piercing through the dimness where the others remained blind.
And there it was. A small figure stood at the distant height of the cave-in, just beyond the reach of the fractured sunlight peering through the broken earth. The grotesque creature no longer wore a guise on her face—now cracked, broken along the edges—revealed glimpses of what lurked beneath. Yet instead of skin, there was only darkness. An abyss that swirled with unnatural movement. Many sets of eyes gleamed from behind the fractured porcelain, some human, others distinctly not.
Blake's breath hitched as she realized the mask was no longer something separate from her; it had fused, jagged edges embedded into bloodless flesh as if she had been born with it. Or perhaps, as if she had become something else entirely.
The others shifted as they gazed upon the creature standing above their prior entrance, their discomfort manifesting in the subtle creak of armor, and the slow drawing of weapons. They could see her the same way Blake could and felt it—like a sudden wrongness hanging in the air like a silent threat.
The girl tilted her head, just slightly. The motion sent an immediate and involuntary shudder through the group, as it wasn't a human movement. It was too smooth, too controlled, yet eerily detached, as though she were merely mimicking something she had seen before.
Then, she smiled.
Jaune stepped back in terror, his breath coming in short gasps. "Wha...What the hell are you? Wha.. What do you want?!" The girl didn't answer.
She simply lifted one pale, clawed hand and pointed at Ruby.
Yang's body tensed like a coiled spring, stepping between them instinctively, her aura flaring to life. "Like hell you're getting anywhere near her." The girl's grin widened, splitting the mask further. There was a slow deliberate curve of her lips, stretching wider than it should have.
Her numerous eyes blinked out of sync, vanishing and reappearing in different places across her mask and the shifting void beneath it. The moment stretched, time slowing to a suffocating crawl as that grin lingered, twisting into something knowing, something hungry.
The cavern grew colder.
A gust of wind howled through the tunnels behind them, rattling the stones, but it wasn't the natural flow of air. It was coming from her, but a vibration of unseen exuberance rippled through the cavern, shifting the dust and ash at their feet. The ground beneath them trembled, subtle at first, then more violently, as if something beneath the earth was waking up.
"Move," Naruto's voice cut through the silence, sharp and commanding. His grip on his blade tightened, knuckles whitening, but he didn't strike—not yet.
Cinder imbued dust to her shards, igniting at her fingertips and casting luminance against shadows across the jagged walls. "She's not alone." She announced after a moment. Blake swallowed hard. Cinder was right, the twisting shapes in the corners of her vision—she had thought they were tricks of the light or distortions in the stone.
But now, they moved. Slithering, unfolding from cracks too small to hold them, merging with the darkness that pulsed behind the girl's fractured mask. The walls themselves seemed to shift as if something was bleeding through reality, warping the space around them.
The group hesitantly stepped through the oppressive darkness of the cavern, their footsteps echoing against the cold stone walls. The air was thick with dampness, carrying the scent of earth and something more—something they couldn't quite place. Yang adjusted her grip, shifting Ruby's unconscious form in her arms, her golden hair falling over her face as she sighed heavily.
"She's lighter than I remember," Yang murmured under her breath, though the words were mostly for herself. She had carried Ruby countless times when they were younger—when her little sister had fallen asleep during movie nights or when she'd scraped her knee and refused to admit she needed help. But now, there was an eerie stillness to Ruby, her breathing shallow, her skin unnervingly cool. The weight of her sister in her arms felt heavier than it should have.
Naruto led the way, his gaze sharp as he scanned ahead, his hand gripping the hilt of his blade. "Stay close," he instructed, his voice low but firm. "We don't know what's in here."
"Yeah, no kidding," Jaune muttered, rubbing his arms as if to shake off the unseen chill that had settled over them. "This place gives me the creeps."
"You and me both," Weiss added, her arms crossed tightly over her chest. The dim torchlight from Naruto's hand flickered against the rough walls, making the shadows seem to dance. Weiss felt her pulse quicken as an indistinct sound echoed from further down the passage. "What was that?"
Blake, silent until now, tensed. "Something's here," she whispered. Her feline ears twitched, picking up distant, uneven breathing beyond the rocky corridor. She glanced toward Naruto, who gave her a knowing nod.
Yang exhaled, adjusting Ruby again. "I hate this. All of this. I just want to get Ruby out of here and get some damn answers." Her voice wavered slightly. She couldn't stop the memories that flooded her mind—chasing Ruby through the woods when they were kids, laughing as they tumbled in the leaves, late nights spent whispering under the covers. Now, her sister was limp in her arms, and the fear of losing her tightened around her chest like a vice.
"We'll get out of here," Pyrrha said, though her voice lacked its usual confidence. Her eyes darted toward Naruto as if searching for reassurance in his unreadable expression.
Unbeknownst to the others, she could sense it—waves of aura, a presence unlike any she had encountered before. But she kept her silence, now wasn't the time to ask questions she wasn't ready to hear the answers to. As they moved forward, the rough cavern walls abruptly gave way to something artificial—a metallic surface, smooth and cold beneath their fingers.
Jaune stepped forward hesitantly, rapping his knuckles against the door that loomed before them. "A door? Here?"
"Doesn't belong," Blake stated, her brows furrowing. "This place is old—too old for something like this to just be sitting here." Naruto wasted no time. He stepped forward, placing a hand on the hilt of his blade.
"We're not waiting to find out why." With a swift motion, his blade sliced through the metal sparks flying as the door groaned before giving way. A long corridor stretched before them, sterile and unnervingly pristine in contrast to the cavern behind them. White tiles lined the floors, walls as smooth and polished as any hospital. But there was no life here—only silence.
And then, a scream, powerful enough to send an icy chill through them all. Jaune swallowed hard, his fingers curling into fists. "Tell me I didn't just hear that."
"You heard it," Yang said, shifting Ruby in her arms. She could feel her heartbeat against her own chest, and for a fleeting moment, she let herself pretend that Ruby was just sleeping. That this nightmare would be over soon.
"Keep moving," Naruto ordered, his voice even but laced with something sharp. "Whatever's waiting for us… we're not turning back now."
The further they walked into the corridor, the more doors lined the walls—dense, metallic, and locked. The occasional flickering light buzzed overhead, barely illuminating the long stretch of unknown ahead. Yang cast a glance into one of the narrow, reinforced windows on a passing door, her breath hitching at the vague outline of something inside. But before she could focus, Naruto spoke again, snapping them all back to attention.
"Stay alert. And don't trust what you see."
Yang adjusted Ruby again in her arms, shifting her weight carefully as she struggled to keep her little sister steady. The rhythmic sound of their footsteps was interrupted by distant, anguished screams echoing through the unseen rooms. The cries sent a shiver down Jaune's spine, making his breath clamp in his throat.
"What the hell is this place?" Weiss murmured, her voice barely above a whisper, as though speaking too loudly might summon something from the enigma. Blake shot her a look before turning her gaze toward the doors they had just passed. Each metal door bore a small, fogged-over window.
She tried to peer inside but could only make out dark, indistinct shapes behind the glass. The pounding on the other side of some of the doors made her heart hammer against her ribs.
"We shouldn't be here," Jaune muttered, swallowing hard. "This place—it feels wrong."
"We don't have a choice," Naruto responded, his voice firm. His sharp gaze never wavered from the corridor ahead. "Stay focused. Whatever's down here, we'll deal with it when we have to."
They pressed forward, despite the oppressive air thickening around them. The sterile white walls of the corridor were soon interrupted by a single cracked door, hanging open just slightly. A faint green light spilled from the gap, beckoning them. Naruto took the lead, stepping forward and pushing the door open further. The room inside was massive, an expansive laboratory bathed in dim, unnatural light from torches mounted on the walls.
The torches flickered, casting pale green hues across the cold floor. The air smelled of antiseptic and something else—something rotting. At one end of the room, a large elevator shaft extended downward, a blinking red light indicating it was operational. At the opposite end, something else caught their attention.
A woman.
She had a light brown complexion, with shoulder-length, straight brown hair and a beauty mark resting under her left eye. She was hooked up to what looked like a life support machine, her body thin and unmoving. Wires extended from her arms and head, leading to machines that beeped softly, the sound was rhythmic and unnerving.
Behind her, the group's breath collectively hitched at the sight of massive glass tubes lining the walls. Within them, suspended in some thick, viscous fluid, were grotesque fusions of Grimm and human forms. Their lifeless eyes remained shut, their bodies unmoving. Some tubes held purely Grimm creatures, others… remnants of what were once people.
Yang's grip on Ruby tightened.
"This… this is disgusting," Weiss choked out, pressing a hand to her mouth as her stomach twisted in revulsion. Jaune stumbled forward, his eyes going wide at the sight of dissected bodies strewn across nearby examination tables. He barely made it two steps before doubling over, emptying his stomach onto the cold floor. The nauseating stench filled his nostrils as he coughed, trying to regain composure.
"This isn't just experimentation," Cinder observed, her voice cold and detached. She studied the surroundings with sharp eyes. "It's… creation."
Blake turned to her, eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" Cinder stepped forward, gesturing toward the tubes. "Look at them. Their not just studying the Grimm. They're trying to make something new. A fusion or a hybrid." She explained in a grimace tone, her eyes shifting between containers.
Before anyone could respond, a sudden mechanical hiss sounded from deeper within the structure. The elevator's red light turned green, and the faint sound of movement echoed from the depths below.
Someone was coming.
End!
I think shorter chapters would be better in the long run. Idk maybe.
Until Next Time InsanityDies~