Another brilliant piece from a GUNNAS WRITING MASTERCLASS WRITER.
–PROLOGUE–
The woods were silent. Not even a bird, calling out to its chicks could be heard. There was a thick layer of snow on the ground, among with many fallen trees that couldn’t stand the weight on the snow. Each of the trees in the mountain range was without leaves in this time of year but instead were tainted a bright white from the endless amount of snow gently drifting down from the sky, which gave them the nickname ‘ghost trees’. The branches on the trees faced upwards, and in their bare state, created the illusion that they were angrily demanding something from the gods. These trees overpopulated the valley, making it very hard to see a few metres in front of you.
It truly was a desolate place, with barely any animals visiting this area. Stuck in a huge valley between two mountainous ridges, it was almost impossible to get down. Almost. A small women, dressed in a white hood and cloak, was dashing in between the god-forsaken trees, dodging the snow that fell from the tips of the trees. She was clearly looking for something, and the ears on top of her head kept straining and moving as she tried to hear something. Then she heard it.
Screaming. High pitched, ear shattering screaming that completely destroyed the serenity and silence of the night. She quickened her pace and felt the beginnings of a furious growl in her chest. The screaming continued, getting louder and louder as she got ever closer to the source. She leapt over fallen trees and tried not to slip as she crossed a frozen lake. The screaming was nearby, but it echoed throughout the winter wonderland she was currently in. She stopped moving as she heard something that made her blood stop.
“MUUUUUUUUUUM!” Came the long, drawn out, torturous scream. Her lips pulled back into a wicked snarl, she sprinted faster than she had ever moved before, getting ever closer to the screams. Crossing the lake, she saw a large log cabin amidst a dense area of trees. She was exhausted, and her head was throbbing painfully from the blow to her face from her daughter’s captors. But nothing would stop her, nothing will stop her from getting her daughter.
“MUUUUM, PLEASE!” The scream pierced the night, shattering all rational thoughts from her head. She dashed to the cabin and smashed the door down.
“RUBY! WHERE ARE YOU!” She screamed.
“MUM! HELP ME!” Ruby’s voice appeared to come from beneath her. Locating a staircase downwards, she jumped down. The staircase was massive, going down at least 20 metres. She turned a corner, and her body clenched up in anger. Her daughter was sobbing and screaming uncontrollably, in the middle of the room. She was strapped to a table, and four men surrounded her. They were huge, giants seemingly made only of muscle. They all appeared to hold a form of dust in their hands.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing to my baby!” She screamed loudly. All four men turned around.
“Well well well, looks like mother wolf has come to save her pup.” The man closest to her said as he laughed. “Too bad she’s too late.”
“What are you talking about!?” She exclaimed. The man simply laughed.
“The process is done! Unfortunately for you, this is the last time you’ll see your daughter.” Her eyes flashed with anger. She growled menacingly, and her ears and tail became fully erect. The man’s eyes widened, as panic briefly flashed through his eyes. But it was only for a second, as he lunged at her. She quickly sidestepped the man and brought her fist down on his temple with strength deceiving for her size. The man folded like a sack of potatoes, and the light in his eyes faded. She glared menacingly at the other men.
Without a second thought, she threw herself at the closest man, swinging her right fist at him. He ducked, but he didn’t see her knee as it slammed into his nose, destroying it. Blood was streaming down his face, and his nose was flattened. But he wasn’t done.
He reached out and grabbed her ankle. He pulled her to the floor and pulled out a sword. He thrust at her, but she quickly leapt out of the way and landed on her feet. She retreated a few paces, only to see the two other men pulling out swords, and approaching her menacingly.
She pulled out her own weapons, which were twin katanas. They were a brilliant white but seemed to almost glow red. She swung one, and embers flew off the edges of the sword. The men both lunged at her, one swinging high and the other swinging at her legs. She leapt into the air, blocking the sword aimed at her throat.
She half flipped in mid-air, and as she flew over the man’s head, she swung both swords into his chest. They pierced his lungs, and thanks to the fire dust embedded in the katanas burned him. His blood superheated and boiled as he shouted in agony, screaming for mercy.
She pulled her katanas out of the dying man’s chest and flipped out of the way of the other man’s sword. He swung again, this time clipping her cloak. The man stepped forward and aimed a blow at her midsection. She readied her katanas, preparing for the blow to come. But as he brought the sword down, the quickly spun and changed the trajectory of his strike.
She brought both her swords forward, desperate to defend herself. A loud clang reverberated throughout the small area they were in as their weapons bounced off each other. She stumbled backwards at the strength of his blow, and he kept pressing the advantage.
Seeing that she was off balance, he wound his arm back, preparing to deliver his strongest hit. She realised that his entire left side was unprotected, so she darted forward, keeping herself close to the ground. She dragged her katanas on the ground, allowing them to spark as she lifted them up, and thrust them into his side.
She jumped up, pulling out one if the katanas as he aimlessly flailed his sword around, desperately trying to kill her. Suspended in midair, she delivered a vertical strike to the man’s throat and watched him gargle as his throat filled up with blood.
“You’re not too bad, you know that?” The man with the broken nose called out. She glanced around and caught sight of him. He was standing next to Ruby, his sword against her throat. She felt her pulse quicken. Ruby was sweating profusely, and her eyes were wide with fear.
“Let her go!” She shouted desperately.
“Now now, where’s the fun in that!” He said as he laughed. “How about you put your weapon down, and we can discuss things like rational adults?” She looked at her feet and dropped the katanas.
“What do you want?” She asked quietly, venom lacing her voice.
“I simply want to leave here with my life.”
“Then give me my daughter, and I’ll leave you alone.”
“See, I don’t think it’s gonna work like that. My boss has put way too much time and money into this girl to simply let her walk away.”
“What have you done to her? What interested could you possibly have in a ten-year-old girl?” She growled.
“We have merely improved her.” He shrugged. “Now, you’re gonna leave, and never come back. In return, your precious daughter won’t be slaughtered.” Her whole body tensed, shaking in anger. She looked at Ruby. Ruby nodded at her. She bent over to pick up her katanas.
“What do you think you’re doing?” The man cried out.
“Leaving,” She said. But at that moment, a flurry of roses petals erupted from where Ruby stood. With Ruby out of the way, she sprinted forward and buried her weapons into the man’s eyes. He screamed, but it was quickly cut off as the blades penetrated his brain. She pulled her katanas out as he slumped to the ground.
“Mum!” Ruby cried, as she leapt into her mother’s embrace.
“There there,” She said back, as she wrapped her tail around Ruby. “Let’s get out of here Ruby.” They stood up, and Ruby clenched her mother’s hand. Snow was drifting down from the sky as they walked out.
“Mum, I’m too tired,” Ruby said quietly as if simply talking was too much for her. Ruby’s mother picked her up and cradled her. She quickly realised that Ruby was extremely hot to touch.
“Ruby, are you feeling ok? You’re burning up!” She exclaimed.
“They said this would happen…” Ruby said tiredly.
“Who said what dear?” She questioned.
“They said the dust would change me,” Ruby mumbled, trying to keep her eyelids open. Ruby’s mother’s eyes widened at this. She almost collapsed in shock.
“They said what!?”
“They said… that the dust would… change me…” Ruby muttered, before falling asleep.
“Did they really… No, they couldn’t have. It hasn’t been done for decades, centuries even. Surely she misheard, or imagined it.” She thought to herself, as she readjusted Ruby in her arms. She bolted away, needing to get home as fast as possible.
She emerged in a small clearing, with trees surrounding her on all sides but one. On the north side, was a humongous cliff. She peered over the edge, but she couldn’t see the bottom. She walked away, and her pocket started to vibrate. She sighed, and gently lay Ruby down in the clearing. She pulled her scroll out her pocket.
“Summer, do you read me?” Summer smiled.
“Good evening Tai. I found her.” Summer heard a loud sigh of relief.
“Oh thank gods,” Tai muttered. “Are you far away now?”
“Yeah, I’m about an hour away. Ruby fell asleep the moment I got her, and she hasn’t woken.”
“Poor girl…” Taiyang said sadly. “She’s been through so much.” Summer’s ears pricked up as she heard a twig snap in the distance.
“Look, Summer-”
“Tai, quiet!” Summer whispered harshly. The ears on the top of her head wriggled about, straining to hear any sign of movement.
“Summer, what’s wrong?” Taiyang asked, concern creeping into his voice. Then Summer saw them. Huge, black beasts that resembled bears emerged from the tree line. They had massive claws, and bone armouring over their body, which had strange markings on them. There were four of them, and they rushed out of the tree line and sprinted straight at Ruby. Summer realised that these monsters were Ursa. She threw the scroll the ground, drew her weapons and charged in.
“I JUST GOT HER BACK!” Summer screamed as she slashed the neck of the nearest Ursa. “DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!” The Ursa nearest to her stumbled forward and swiped at her. She flipped backwards, her back foot skidding on the edge of the cliff. Summer cursed as she leapt forward again.
“Summer!” Taiyang called through the scroll. Summer didn’t reply as she noticed a large pack of similar looking beasts emerge out of the tree line, however these ones resembled wolves, not bears. Ruby slowly stirred to life, and her eyes widened in horror as she saw the scene in front of her. Her mother stood in front of Ruby, and before her were three Ursa, and thirty or forty of the wolves, which were called Beowolves.
All of the Beowolves sprinted at Summer at once, but she cut through the first wave like it was nothing. Limbs were flying, and blood was painting the snow. Summer was hacking at everything in her path, leaving nothing but a trail of destruction.
One of the Ursa galloped at Summer and reared on it’s hind legs as Summer approached it. The Ursa howled, and soon enough the other two surrounded her. She leapt onto the chest of the Ursa in front of her and shoved a katana into its heart. Summer backflipped away, pulling the katana out as the Ursa fell backwards.
She landed on the head of a Beowolf as it sprinted the past, and planted her blades into its brain. It collapsed and skidded along the ground, and Summer was forced to roll off it.
She sprinted at one of the Ursa but realised as she got closer that she couldn’t the see the other one. She was about to leap onto the Ursa when the other one rammed into her, sending her flying. She dropped one of her katanas in midair, and couldn’t see where it landed. She landed heavily, further injuring her ribs. She struggled to breathe as she was winded. The rest of the Beowolves charged at her.
Out of nowhere, Ruby leapt into the fray with Summer’s other katana. She decapitated the leading Beowolf and sliced the arms off the Beowolf behind it. One of the Beowolves leapt at her, and Ruby was forced to dodge its flailing arms. One of the beasts came from behind her, and Ruby quickly pivoted, dodging it’s arms and puncturing its heart.
Summer was exhausted. She’d been fighting for almost an hour, and every time she killed, another two seemed to take its place. But she couldn’t leave Ruby. Ruby was fighting like never before, determined to get out of this frozen hell. But she too, was beginning to tire. A Beowolf stuck at her, and Ruby couldn’t raise her blade in time. The beast swatted the katana away and began swing at Ruby.
Ruby rolled underneath the arm of the beast and jumped onto it’s back. The Beowolf squirmed and tried to get its assailant off it’s back, but to no avail. Ruby then grasped the beast’s head between her hands. The beast howled in pain as Ruby’s hands got hotter and hotter. The screaming got louder and louder until Ruby’s hands were aflame.
But shockingly, it didn’t cause her any pain. Ruby jumped away as the beast erupted into flames, causing the Beowolves who were nearby to panic. Summer, meanwhile, was struggling to take down the two Ursa. She was exhausted, but her maternal instincts refused to let her stop.
Until she slipped. She face planted and rolled away just before an Ursa crushed her. Ruby looked over and saw Summer in trouble.
“Mum!” She shouted as she leapt over the Beowolves in between them. She activated her semblance and dashed to her mum in a flurry of rose petals. But to her horror, she realised her mum was being held down by one of the Ursa.
“MUM RUN!” Ruby screamed, her voice tearing at her throat. Summer looked up and smiled.
“I love you Ruby!” Summer said, unusually calm.
“MUUUUUUM!” She yelled hysterically, tears streaming down her face. She kept sprinting, but it was too little, too late. The other Ursa stomped down, shattering Summer’s skull, killing her instantly.
“NOOOOO!” Ruby fell to her knees, disregarding the fact that the was in serious danger. She screamed into the night, crying uncontrollably as the Grimm closed in. However, many long sharp icicles were raised from the ground and surrounded Ruby. She leapt up, and threw her arms and legs back, sending the icicles hurtling towards the Grimm that surrounded her. The icicles buried themselves into the vital organs of every single Grimm in the area. They howled out in pain, and slowly crumpled towards the ground.
Ruby slowly crawled to Summer, openly weeping as she did.
“Mum, please wake up,” She said softly. She poked her shoulder. It was obvious that her head had caved in, thanks to the tremendous power of the Ursa, which had somehow managed to break through her aura.
“Mum, please. Don’t leave now. MUM PLEASE!” Ruby shouted, not caring of anymore Grimm heard her.
“Ruby?” Her ears pricked up as she heard her name in the distance, but she didn’t care. She kept crying, almost to the point of hyperventilating. She crawled until she was next to her mum, and rolled up into a ball.
“Ruby? Ruby!” Taiyang called out. He’d obviously ran the whole way from their house. “Ruby what’s…” His voice trailed off as he saw Summer.
“No… No please…” He said weakly, trying to believe that she was alive. Taiyang stayed motionless for a few minutes, trying to comprehend the tragedy in front of him. He turned to Ruby. She had cried until there was nothing left, and now just rocked back and forth, while sucking her thumb. With glistening eyes, he picked up Ruby. They walked home in silence, praying that this was all just a horrible nightmare.
–END–