Thank you for 700 and counting!
REAPER IN RED
Interlude 9: Blake ch.4
Marigold held fiercely to the woman in his arms. She gripped his wrists with as much strength as she could muster, but both could see the truth which would come to pass. With every passing instant, her grip weakened. Her breathing grew hollow and her eyes a pale shine of the exuberance they once bestowed.
"One more step, my dear. Just one more." A mantra, repeated for what could have been hours, but was likely just minutes. Marigold tried to lead her to the Awakening Tree. He could see its crown just over the hill.
"It's too far, Marigold." The young woman no longer looked so. Her skin was deathly pale and her voice cracked with age. "Lay me to rest here."
"No," Marigold's determination held firm. He could see the Tree. It was right there. So close. "One more step, just one more."
But it was too late. He had felt her final breath on his shoulder. It was done. Over. He could feel a chill running up his spine. Her flesh grew colder against the warmth of his own. And then he felt nothing at all.
Blake sniffled, dabbing at her eyes with a tissue as she read the final words to her book's chapter. The Tales of Marigold the Riverwanderer was turning out to be an incredible book. With the introduction of the Awakening Tree, some adventure mcguffin for Marigold to reach to cure his travelling companion, she had thought she knew where this book was heading. The young woman would be saved, they would discover their real love for one another and they'd life happily. At least until the next adventure. Instead, Marigold had failed.
He had failed, his companion had died in his arms, and he had also lost sensation. Blake turned the page, earmarking it. She yawned as she placed the book on the floor underneath her bed, settling in for the night. It was late. Later than she had wished to go to bed, but she had to finish the chapter.
And sleep was still hard to come by. With one last check to make sure that Ruby was asleep and not comforting anyone else, she turned in and let dreams of magic, death and love fill her thoughts.
The next morning brought forth a new adventure. Ruby had been chosen to go on a mission along with Jaune, Velvet and Russel Thrush, lead by the headmaster himself. It was quite an honour, and Ruby had seemed excited to go on it.
Of course that meant that Blake had some time away from her team leader to talk with Yang and Weiss. A talk with them about that very team leader.
A talk which seemed to bring up more questions than answers. Yang… something was wrong with Yang. Blake and Weiss had asked her some questions about her mother and some of Ruby's history, and she froze. As if she was an overworked computer. And then she rebooted, leaving the entire conversation purged from her mind.
It was deeply troubling.
She and Weiss agreed to not bring it up again, in case it caused any damage. But that didn't mean they were just going to leave it as is.
While Ruby spent the night in the infirmary and Yang spent some time at the gym to relieve some stress from worrying for an injured sister, that left the dorm room to the two of them.
"Okay," Weiss began as she brought out a new notebook and flipped to the first page. "What do we know of Ruby and Yang's family?"
"Taiyang Xiao Long is the father, Summer Rose their mother." Blake replied dutifully. She frowned. "Why do they have different last names?"
Weiss nodded slowly, "yes, it is strange for children to have different last names. I would have expected them both to be Ruby and Yang Xiao Long or Yang and Ruby Rose." She added a question mark next to their names. "There was also an uncle Qrow, though I don't know if he's related to Summer or Tai."
"I believe that's all we know, at least for now. We can ask Mr. Xiao Long some questions when we visit his home."
"Agreed. Now, for Ruby's history… I don't like this, Blake. It seems… highly personal. I wouldn't like it if you dug into my home and family life. And I know for a fact that you wouldn't like it if we tried." Weiss's eyes flicked up to Blake's uncovered ears.
Blake shrugged sheepishly. "I know. Maybe… Maybe we can hold off on this. At least until we get their okay or we talk to their father. I want to know more about them and help them with whatever is going on, but…"
"It's personal," Weiss repeated, to Blake's timid agreement.
"How about what Yang has told us about Ruby? Things we already know?"
"Like what?" Weiss was clearly intrigued by this new direction.
"Ruby's strong. And quick. We both know that. We've fought her and lost on more than one occasion. But… okay, how Yang sees it, is that Ruby's a prodigy. She's weird-"
Weiss rolled her eyes at the obvious remark.
"-but she knows what she's doing when fighting. Especially against Grimm and others. You see her fight. There's like no wasted movement. Her and Pyrrha share that, yet Ruby's younger. Yang swears that Ruby's going to end up fighting R-" Blake sucked back the word, eyes flicking to Weiss's.
Weiss bit her lip. "Reapers."
Weiss could only whisper it, true fear shaking her voice. "Ruby's going to fight them."
"Ya."
"According to Yang."
"According to Yang. Her uncle apparently fights them too. That's probably where she got the advanced training."
They were silent for a moment, letting whatever thoughts they had rummage their way through their brains.
"Can we come back to this later? I don't think I'm up for thinking more about Ruby going up against those things."
Blake nodded and the two separated. It was a first session and they both knew there would be many more.
Marigold's adventures were nearing their end. There was only another hundred or so pages left to go in the book, and it seemed like he had met his final travelling companion, an old crone. She was friendly and soft-spoken, often reminding him of the young woman, but with the same upbeat and excitable personality as the young girl. Marigold was starting to see some wear and tear in his own body, much like the crone, in her advanced age. It was obvious that the female companions generally followed the life cycle -child, young woman, old crone- but Blake couldn't figure out what steps Marigold was taking. It only got stranger as he took a bite of the roasted chicken that the crone had made for him over an open fire, and Marigold choked on it, spitting out ash in its place.
The crone was a fun character, though lackluster compared to the drama, excitement and climactic moments that had come with the young woman. But, for all her concerns, Marigold was still a fascinating protagonist as he continued his adventure still following the flow of the river. There were minor side quests here and there that kept the story from feeling stable, but the book was definitely reaching its conclusion. With a few chapters left to go, Blake put down her book and went to her next class.
"Wait!" Ruby's shout, along with her jumping out of her seat brought Blake back to present.
Professor Goodwitch was standing at the front of her classroom, impatiently waiting for the next match to begin.
"Can I fight my team?" Blake could only look in shock at her team leader's question. It wasn't that she hadn't fought them all before. But it was only a short while ago that she was sleeping in the infirmary. The professor seemed to share Blake's opinions.
"-I will allow you to fight your teammates if you so desire. Maybe then you will win by something other than ring-out."
"Oh! Erm…"
Professor Goodwitch rolled her eyes and huffed. Blake smirked at the strict deputy headmistress's all to human reaction. "Yes, Miss Rose?"
"Can i… can I also fight team JNPR?"
That was… a lot of people in Blake's opinion. The only person that had fought an entire team before was Pyrrha. Ruby was asking to face on nearly two full teams, one of them containing the aforementioned fighter.
"Miss Rose, I will not have you take on more than you are able to handle so soon after what you had already been through. I admire your courage to push yourself, but know when you are pushing yourself too mu-"
The professor's final words were cut off by the headmaster. "I will allow it," Ozpin said from the back of the classroom. Blake's head was on a swivel, not having noticed Ozpin's presence, yet not wanting to miss Professor Goodwitch's reaction.
"But headmaster-"
"I am curious to see what a scythe prodigy like Miss Rose here can do when not trapped in a small cave."
Finally acquiescing, the professor gave Ruby some last minute instructions and wished her luck. While not usually one to pick favourites, this was a time where Blake fully understood the need for luck. There were seven of them against just her. It was beyond overkill.
But at the same time, Blake felt the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
The seven of them got in position across from Ruby as she gave a quick flourish of her scythe.
Professor Goodwitch explained all the rules to them, and they confirmed their preparedness. Then, it began. There were so many attackers against a single defender. Luckily, they were friendly with each other. Ruby and Jaune spoke often enough that they were used to group study sessions and group practices. With Pyrrha and Yang on the field, it was pretty easy to slot themselves into generally supporting roles.
Ruby started off strong, attacking at Pyrrha and dodging around both Nora and Yang. Blake used her semblance to get a drop on Ruby, to no avail. Ruby threw herself around the arena, blocking attacks from them all, dodging and ducking under anything she pleased. It was awe inspiring to see someone with such fluid control over their movements and could go toe to toe with Pyrrha.
"Hey!" Jaune whisper shouted, grabbing Blake's attention, along with the others.
"We aren't going to be able to take her on like this," Jaune said between harsh breaths. He was already feeling tired from the continual onslaught they had laid on Ruby. Yet, Ruby stood there, barely panting.
"Then what do you recommend, oh wise team leader?" Yang snarked.
Weiss rolled her eyes, glancing at Ruby fending off another blow from Pyrrha who was keeping her at bay while they conversed.
"We're attacking one after another to not get in each other's way. There's too many of us. Encircle her, then attack in teams of two. Me and Ren, Yang and Pyrrha, Blake and Nora, and Weiss backing us all up, in that order."
There were nods all around. For a heat-of-battle strategy it wasn't the worst she'd heard. They circled Ruby, giving her a slight moment of reprieve. Yang nudged Pyrrha to explain the strategy.
Blake quirked her head. Ruby's eyes were closed. She was listening to their footsteps, Blake guessed. For once, she wished she was fighting a faunus, so that their ears could clue her in to her hypothesis.
Then there was chaos. Swipes and bashes, gunshots and explosions. If Blake hadn't been privy to Jaune's plan, it looked like there was no real rhyme nor reason as each group got into a faster and faster rhythm.
"No!" Ruby cried out as Pyrrha flicked her scythe out of bounds.
They all stopped, unsure what to do. Was Ruby helpless? Was the fight over?
"Nobody said stop," Professor Goodwitched said with a bored wave of her hand.
"I my baby sis confident she can beat us all now?" Yang taunted.
Blake and Weiss caught Ruby before she could escape, hammering their team leader with an expertly performed 'monochrome' attack. Wrists, elbows, knees, kidneys, ears. Any open joint or sensitive target was aimed for. Yet Ruby still dodged through them all.
Nora joined in with her explosive rounds.
Ruby's semblance went into overtime as petals seemed to swirl around her whenever she moved. The dark shadow-like substance quickly morphed into the classic ruby red rose petals which fluttered in the winds created by Ruby's movements.
Ruby was panicking. They sped up almost as one as they noticed the change in Ruby's once fluid movements.
It was getting harder to see as more petals filled their vision. Jaune stepped in for an attack.
"Enough!" Ruby's cry was accompanied by Jaune flying backward.
A buzzer rang out,
"Jaune Arc is out by aura loss."
"Holy…" Yang breathed out, still staring at the guy.
It was like the battle had turned on them in an instant. The chaotic swarm of petals dancing in the air exploded in a field of disorderly, yet fluid waves as Ruby positioned her body to get the most out of the proceeding wind spikes.
"Yang Xiao Long is out by ring-out." Blake hadn't even seen the hit.
But there was no time to pause. Every minute decreased their numbers and chance for success.
Ruby laughed and Nora tried to taunt her back. A wave of flower petals hit Pyrrha, forcing her further back than intended.
"Pyrrha Nikos is out by ring-out." There were gasps from those watching.
Weiss went in for an attack, using her semblance masterfully. The blow was so close to striking, yet Blake eyes widened as she saw where Ruby had landed.
A buzzer sounded.
The fight was over.
"Ruby Rose is out by ring-out."
Blake dropped her sword arm, letting in a rush of air. That had been a lot harder than she'd expected. If the ring was slightly bigger, they would have all lost against Ruby for sure.
"Miss Xiao Long, Mister Arc, Miss Nikos. You all performed exceptionally well in the face of a fighter with a unique and totally indiscriminate fighting style. Mister Arc, you did well leading when you realized that Miss Rose's fighting technique was well above your own." The professor's words were light and cheerful. Impressed by them all.
"Miss Schnee, you found the perfect opening to finally send Miss Rose out of bounds when it was clear an aura loss victory would have been too time consuming. Even with the reduction that came from that fall."
On a swivel, Blake's head spun to look at the screen monitoring their auras. Ruby had lost some aura. She had so often dodged blows that it had become standard to not bother checking the screen. Most fights ended in ring-out, rather than aura loss. Surprisingly, Jaune was one of the first combatants to have been defeated by Ruby by aura loss.
Ruby's aura was at 51%. That was the lowest Blake had ever seen it gone.
Yang caught Ruby as she fell. The girl was beyond tired by the looks of things, and rightfully so. Even the headmaster, whom Blake had almost forgotten had been watching, made sure to let Goodwitch know not to punish her for taking a nap.
Class continued on. Yang brought Ruby back to the dorms to let her sleep, which she did for the rest of the day and up until the next morning.
Professor Oobleck's class was terrifying. Blake shuddered, almost letting out a whimper as he explained in depth the Battle of Araguba, where two armies were slaughtered by Reapers. It brought up too many painful dreams and one absolutely horrific memory. It still amazed her that she was alive.
Later on, the four of them were back in their dorms. Blake read, Yang played videogames and Ruby and Weiss worked on whatever work Weiss was looking at. Not that Blake paid too much mind. They were however, discussing the Witch of Atlas, which was a grim folktale which still persisted in Atlas.
"Yes, but nobody actually things the Witch of Atlas is like… an actual witch," Weiss explained to Ruby. "Of it was, huntsmen would have found it and killed it. And that's if you even believe it. According to the 'legends' -more like children's bedtime stories- hide so the Witch doesn't find you and eat you. Hide because the Witch of Atlas can steal the memories of others to lure… them... into." Weiss's words slowed down as her eyebrows raised.
"Blake, I need to talk to you. Like, right now." Without a moment to put her book down, Weiss yanked Blake out and into the hallway.
"Blake!" She whisper-screamed into her face.
"What?"
"The Witch of Atlas can steal memories!"
"What about it?"
"Yang!"
Now it was Blake's turn to raise her eyebrows and gasp in shock. Weiss nodded as the realization lit up on Blake's face.
"Exactly. Yang had those memory spikes. Or glitches. Whatever you'd like to call them. But, there was definitely something wrong with her memory."
"Wait, are you telling me you believe in the Wretched Witch of Atlas?"
Weiss scoffed at that. "No, it's a folk tale. But, folklore must come from somewhere. What if there is a creature that can change a person's memories, or eliminate them entirely? That's not out of the realm of possibilities. Necromancers bring dead bodies back to semi-life and Syrens can literally sing you to death."
Blake had no words. It was a possibility. "We'd need confirmation that Yang had been to Atlas, better yet, somewhere near those mountains."
"Exactly. And we'll be going to the Xiao Long home for the break. That's the perfect time to talk to their father. He's a huntsman; or ex-huntsman as it were. He may know more about whatever could be playing with Yang's memories."
An eerie feeling lit up in Blake's gut. "Do you think something similar could have effected Ruby?"
"It's a possibility. But we won't know until the vacation."
Blake nodded, a new sense of vigor and grit filled her. "Until the vacation."
Thank you all so much for helping me reach this insane milestone! Like, as of writing this, Reaper has 714 follows, 535 faves and over 135,000 viewers. Those numbers are beyond wild to me and I am forever grateful to have such a great group of readers with me on this crazy journey. I've said it once and I'll say it a million times: you all are amazing.
Also, if you include the interludes (which I often don't) Reaper in Red has reached 50 chapters! Perfect timing for this milestone!
lasereye27 - Thank you. Once more, you don't know how amazing it is to hear words like that. t's not pretentious or anything, but definitely the kick in the butt that I sometimes (see: often) need to get out of my own head. ^_^
Cun - Family dinner is important too! But I'm so happy you love seeing these chapters. I love Ruby too. Hence why so many stories of mine feature her!
Dragonqueen1993 - What a crazy, imaginative story! I wonder who could have written it? /s
firewyrm2 - That's good to hear. :)
TM Calypso - Lol, that would be so awkward if Blake had the wrong conclusion in the end. Well... it would be good to add a little comedy into this... *shrugs* I guess you will need to wait until next chapter!
Shadow Walker - Hi! I post chapters every other Monday! So, 2 chapters a month usually. Except when I hit milestones; so every 100 followers. Then there's a bonus chapter that Thursday. Just like today! So, the next chapter should come out on the 25th of April.
Sm0keyPanda - Thank you! It's been nice to reread the story in order to write it. Brings back up a bunch of things I might have otherwise forgotten about.
Dragon Lord Draco - lol. Unfortunately she already knew about what senses would be lost when she stopped Reaping. But, it would have been hilarious if the book was like: "And that is how you claim a territory, Marigold." XD
Guest - Always a possibility.
Alucard45 - So, the book does three main things for me. 1. It reminds you guys what the steps are when Reapers stop Reaping. 2. It informs Blake what the steps are. 3. It lets you know that not all information about Reapers is wrong/misinformed, it's just hidden from direct view. There are definitely other smaller things, but these are the main three without spoiling too much. As for the number of chapters in this Blake interlude section, there will be only 1 chapter more after this one. So, 5 chapters in all. All that's left to cover actually, is the time on Patch.
Thank you all once more for the follows, faves, reviews and reads! I'm so happy you all are enjoying it. The next chapter is slightly early or slightly delayed, that's because it's exam season and I need to actually study. But I'm still banking on a usual timeframe, so see you then!