War Of The Grimm Forum Chapter 3: Questions and Answe..

"Years ago, before all this, I had an older brother named Noel. He was pretty much my parents, I don't even remember who my real parents were. We basically lived on the street, doing nothing more then fighting for survival. We moved between the cities and the Grimm-infested wilds. The latter was pretty dangerous, but it helped that Noel had some rudimentary Hunter training. He could handle one or two Beowolves at a time, but thanks to him we rarely ran into Grimm anyway. One day, though, we ended up biting off more then we could chew. We had been on our way to Vale City to meet up with an old friend of Noels when we accidentally disturbed on hell of a Grimm nest. We tried to outrun them but, being that we were humans and they were Grimm, the caught up to us pretty easily. Noel ended up hiding me in an old tree trunk and told me to stay put. I loved my brother and had the utmost faith in him, so at the time I knew he'd come out alright. I watched as he danced among the Beowolves, cutting them to ribbons despite their numbers. Of course, thats right around the time where everything went to hell" Eryn had largely stopped crying by this point, looking up at Ciar with a mixture of knowing curiosity and horror.

"I noticed one of the Beowolves trying to sneak up on Noel, who was too busy with the other Grimm. Me being the faithful little brother that I was, I grabbed a big old branch and leapt at the thing, shoving my makeshift weapon through its hide. The creature howled in pain and ended up throwing me against a tree; I was young but even I could tell when bones were broken. Noel ended up coming to my rescue. What he asked me to do next was something I'll regret for my entire natural life. He knew that me being there was too great a risk to both of them, so he told me to run. Although I didn't want to do it, I knew my brother was strong and he would return. Still, I made him promise to come find me once he was done. After that, I ran. Just like a coward" Eryn had started crying again by this point, though not at her own memory again but rather because of hearing Ciar's tale.

"I ran for Dust knows how long until I eventually reached Vale City. I was taken in by the authorities, who I told about everything that happened. I was monitored at a hospital for a little while before Noel's friend came to get me. Turns out, he was a professor at Signal Academy where I enrolled when I was old enough. They sent out a search party to find Noel, but they never found him or his body. To this day, I have no idea what happened to him. I still kinda hold out hope that someday I'll see him again somehow" Eryn looked up at Ciar, having largely cried herself out, and studied the man who still hugged her. Ciar knew she wouldn't find much in the way of emotion. He'd stopped crying over the deaths of friends and comrades a long time ago; he saw emotion as a detriment to his duty as a Hunter. He'd locked away pretty much every painful memory he had and those were nearly impossible to dig up from his mind. Someone actually being able to make him recall the most painful of all was a rather impressive feat. 

"You ok now?" Ciar asked, being met with a silent nod in response. He knew that she was lieing but given what had been shared he knew better then to push the subject.

"Alright. I'll let you finish rebuilding a weapon. No telling what we'll run into when we get to Summer's grave" Ciar watched the girl silently drift back over to her work table as he left to leave her to her business. He closed the door with a click but, instead of leaving, just stood there as he listened to quiet sobs beginning to emanate from the room he'd just left. The man slid down a wall beside the door, coming to rest on the ground. Ruby possibly being a villain or at least a non-ally, Blake also possibly gone nuts, ruby's adopted son White showing up, Norman trying to kill him. He even had the war with the Grimm, White Fang, and Black Fang to still worry about. Ciar simply began laughing hysterically and smiled a little to manically at everything that was going on,

"So many questions, so little answers"

(Hey, guys, sorry about such a long update gap. Between schoolwork, packing up for a move, and crappy internet, the upload schedule will probably be all out of whack for a bit. I am thankful that you guys have stuck with this and that you all find it enjoyable, its a really good thing to hear! I'll let you all know when the schedule will be back to normal, probably around June 5th or so.

P.S. I'm also working on a RWBY fanfiction on the side. I'll be putting up a link to them when they're uploaded. If you want to look over them and give them a pre-upload review (which I'd greatly appreciate) then just end me a message and I'll send you a copy)  

"The new weapon looks good. Remind you of anything?" Ciar joked, holding up his own weapon. Eryn simply rolled her eyes, but cracked a grin all the same. He also noticed a fragment on the very end of the weapon, what he presumed was the last piece of Summer's own weapon. Eryn looked at Ciar, realizing he'd noticed and a light blush of embarrassment flooded her cheeks.

"Summer would be proud, I know it" he said, trying to smooth over the situation. Eryn smiled at him and nodded, giving him a quick bear hug before heading towards the Bullhead landing pad. Ciar sent a message to Jaune telling him of their departure and that he'd radio in case something happened. Of course, that's also when Jaune decided to tell Ciar that Norman had escaped. Although he rolled his eyes, the noir-clothed man wasn't to worried. He'd invented the semblance lock himself and had included a tracking device for just such a situation; messaging this information to Jaune and that he'd keep an eye out, Ciar switched on the silent beacon from his scroll before moving to join Eryn.

The Bullhead kicked up a cloud of snow and debris as it touched down into what was once a square of Eryn's long-destroyed town. It seemed like it would have been a nice place to live once, with the skeletons of buildings still retaining some of the elegance and grandeur they once had. However, Ciar and Eryn's focal point was what was once a massive church; its roof still stood, yet was pock-marked with holes from weather damage and general decay. The two entered the ruins, Ciar finding the old building grand yet still somewhat eerie, reminding him of the ruins he'd seen in Forever Fall's forest. Many of the pews still sat where they had always been, although there was obvious signs of a fight despite all the snow and rubble; this matched up with Eryn's story about her village and its assault by the Grimm. Farther back, Ciar noticed that the entire rear of the church had been lost to flames, blackened wood on what remained the only sign that anything had stood there to begin with. Right where Ciar imagined a pastor's tabernacle would be stood what could only be described as a shrine. A solid blackened stone statue stood above a headstone marked with a rose symbol very similar to Ruby's own. Roses decorated the grave; these were suspiciously fresh, causing Ciar to reflexively ready his weapon. Eryn, however, did no such thing. She stumbled over to the grave as if in a trance, her eyes locked on the scene before her. Once she reached the foot of the grave, she collapsed to her knees; Ciar began to hear low, soft sobbing emanating from the girl. He walked over to her, placing a comforting hand on her back despite the gloves and winter equipment they both wore. The girl made no indication as to registering Ciar's presence but he wasn't overly surprised at that nor did he expect anything less. 

"You ok?" Ciar asked, although he knew deep down that it was a rather stupid thing to ask given the circumstances.

He felt a weird aura presence emanating from both Eryn and Summer's grave followed by an intense aura spike which caught him off-guard. He'd never really taken stock in the paranormal or anything resembling the afterlife but he'd be lying if he didn't believe that Summer had decided to drop by and comfort Eryn. 

Eryn's shout snapped Ciar out of his thoughts, causing him to turn towards Summer's daughter. Sure enough, it was her. Only...something was off. Terribly, terribly off. The shadows told Ciar that Norman was at an elevated position in the tree line behind Ruby, though it would take several seconds more to pin-point his exact location. But the aura coming from Ruby was immense, so immense that Ciar was finding it difficult to stand. This aura didn't belong to Ruby Rose. This belonged to something a whole hell of a lot worse.

"Eryn, stay away from her. Thats NOT Ruby" Ciar said, sticking a hand out to stop the girl from approaching the woman. Although she tossed Ciar a dumbfounded and irritated look, she had enough respect for him to listen. Ciar readied his gauntlets, switching one to rail-gun mode and levelling it at Ruby. Simultaneously, he used his shadows to subdue Norman and his musket. Was it a little unfair? Yes. Did Ciar feel bad? Not at the moment. 

"Ruby...or whoever you are. What do you want? I know you're not here for the grave" Ciar demanded. The red-cloaked woman stopped dead, dropping what Ciar realized was the lock he'd stuck on Norman. Ruby continued to stand there before she instantly disappeared in a shower of red and black petals. "I knew those black petals meant something" Ciar thought as he tensed, still holding Eryn at bay. 

Instantly, Ruby reappeared right in front of the man, actually taking him by surprise. She lifted her head and looked Ciar dead in the eyes; to his horror and dread, Ruby Rose had one full red eye and one silver. That meant only one thing, something Ciar had desperately hoped wasn't true.

"You know nothing" the girl whispered sweetly into his ear, quickly following it up with an aura push that tossed Ciar into one of the church's still standing walls. Ciar felt his vision swim and knew he had a concussion and most likely some broken bones. Ruby quickly teleported to his side and knelt beside him, leaning in close. 

"I have been set free. Soon, all shall be too. Starting with my adopted sister" Ruby whispered, giggling creepily at the last two words. The woman then stood up and withdrew Crescent Rose, only it wasn't as far as Ciar could tell. The weapon was no longer completely red; what looked like black and white vines crawled all over the weapon, the blade pulsed black and blood red. Ciar helplessly watched as Ruby began to approach Eryn, who seemed to be frozen in horror. He prayed to whatever god there was for help. However, Ciar knew there wasn't any. Not anymore.

As Eryn and Grimmdark Ruby fought, neither had any idea of what was coming. Ruby swung her scythe down at Eryn's head, a blow which the girl just barely managed to block. Thanks to Ruby's 'affliction', her abilities were increased massively much to the misfortune of Eryn and an unconscious Ciar. Back stepping, Ruby began moving in for another strike but was interrupted by a massive plume of snow and dirt between her and Eryn. Both looked on in confusion as the debris cleared to reveal a man, or at the very least what looked like one. He was clad head-to-toe in what looked like armour, only it wasn't. The armour looked much more like a skin of some sort or at least a good approximation of it. The man's helmet sported massive wings on either side, extending up and curving back towards his head at a slight angle. His 'eyes' consisted of nothing more than two upwardly angled horizontal slits, although no presence of actual human eyes could be discerned. His armour was not one colour but appeared to be several, varying between several different rainbow colours before finally settling on an unnerving red-black. His weapon sat at his side, the sheath appearing to have a gun built in but no discernible barrel while the hilt of a blade poked out of the end. The stranger titled his head towards Eryn, still standing in a mixture of shock, confusion, and fear at the new arrival.

"You are Eryn Raide?" the armoured stranger asked, his voice emerging from no obvious opening, his speech coming out as somewhat synthetic with a hint of static. The red head nodded without a word, although the figure made no acknowledgement. He pointed a metal finger at Ciar, his slumped form leaning against the church wall.

"Take him and get away. He will not live through this fight in his condition and neither will you. Withdraw immediately" the metal man commanded. Eryn quickly complied, rushing over to Ciar and throwing his arm over her shoulder before taking cover behind some nearby rocks, not content to simply miss the fight. Not that this bothered the stranger much.

"Sooo, who're you?~" Ruby asked in a voice not unlike Blake's during her appearance at Beacon. The man made no response at first, before a low laugh emitted from the helmet; this was made all the more unnerving thanks to the mask's featureless vistage and the man's synthetic voice. 

"Ego de terra miseriae, ubi etiam lux tenebris. Alium mors vocat eum qui exprobravit et dabo illi omnia. I, justum ejus gladio, persequere post pravitas, qui exanime orbati sint, et lumine. Recedere ab eo qui tantum iter salutis meae repetendam concidio" said the man, the strange language foreign to all those present but one. Ruby understood the man's words and immediately charged at him in response. The man gripped his sword and wrapped his finger around the trigger. The man stood motionless until the last second, when he pulled the trigger. The blade shot from his sheath into his hand, which he followed with a blinding slash to the charging Ruby turned Grimm. The slash hit cleanly yet did no evident damage to the enraged woman. Nonetheless, the strike caused her to release an inhuman roar and disappear, much to the stranger's displeasure. 

Without warning, the woman appeared in behind him, knocking him off balance with a quick strike to his back. Disappearing again, her next attack was launched at his face, this using the butt of the corrupted Crescent Rose; the impact tossed him back and shattered his helmet, exposing his face to the world. Standing up to face a giddy and laughing Ruby, even the human Grimm herself stopped moving when she saw his face. It was truly the face of Death. One orange eye stared back at the girl, the man's face a horrifying sight. Not much of his face was left, most of it a patchwork of deeply scarred skin and muscle, almost as if his face had been brutally ripped off. The man glared at a now still Ruby before turning to face Eryn, who immediately ducked behind a rock at the site. The man laughed again, even more gruesome due to his now exposed face.

"Lock 1: Caelum disengaged. Commencing combat" the man stated, his voice becoming robotic. Ruby responded in kind by dropping her weapon and howling, lowering herself to all fours and taking a position very reminiscent of a big cat getting ready to pounce. To complete the look, one huge red and black tail, matching the colour of the man's armour, emerged from her back; this was covered in, strangely enough, a thorny rose bush covered in red and black roses. With both combatants ready, the engaged each other. Eryn, still behind the rock, could only look on at the duel to the death in front of her.

"Eagle 1, requesting fire on my position" he said into his helmet's mike. Almost instantly, a massive boom resounded throughout the area, causing even Ruby to stop and listen. Big mistake. A rail gun round impacted right in front of her, tossing her back and slamming her against one of the old church's walls, demolishing it. The knight looked one with a sly grin on his mangled face before pressing a few buttons on his gauntlet and teleporting to the waiting Atlesian airship.

"Do you mind telling me what exactly happened down there?" a voice demanded as the knight reconfigured in the airship's transport bay. Judging by the tone, there was only one man that the voice could belong to. Sure enough, the knight found the unsurprisingly irritated face of General James Ironwood staring back at him. The man hadn't visibly aged much in the last few years, aside from the eye patch over his right eye; a loss courtesy of the opponent the knight had just retreated from. 

"Sir, I became distracted. Those two hunters were not supposed to be present. Coupled with the fact that the subject had sniper support and that the former went into a heightened state left me no other choice but to pull back" the knight said, hoping that would appease the general. As he watched Ironwood's face enter a state of deep thought, the knight noticed Ironwood's 'daughter' standing behind him. He knew of Penny and who she really was; both a bodyguard and daughter for James, though it was increasingly the latter more than the former. It annoyed the knight that Ironwood had abandoned the project that had created the child, for the applications of such a being were astounding. He'd seen the girl in combat, so he knew she was no push over. This knowledge only angered him more.

"One of the two down there, his name was Ciar Katz wasn't it?" the general inquired, snapping the knight out of his thoughts. 

"Yes sir, it is. He was apparently accompanying the Raide girl to the grave of her adoptive mother Summer Rose. That also explains why the subject was there as well" he answered.

"It is likely that we'll be seeing him in the future. I hope Ciar won't be a problem for you, Nero?" the general asked the knight, now identified as Nero.

The man tensed up, an aura of rage surrounding him.

"No sir. My brother won't be a problem"