Chapter Text
The war has gone on for one hundred years. Men, women, and children have all been victims of this armed conflict. Technology has been developed with the intention to kill; to have even the slight edge over the opposing forces. The men fighting the war have learnt over the years that brutality is a more effective weapon than any mace could ever be. Kingdoms have resorted to hiring mercenaries. With humble beginnings, they hope this war could give them more in this life.
"Onward, onward! Trample them down!" The leader of the Black Ram Cavalry yelled, rallying up his troops. "Kill them! Crush them!"
The Black Ram Cavalry rushed into the enemy lines and made quick work of anyone stupid enough to cross their path.
Overlooking the battle, the King of Vale looks worryingly at his troops engaged in combat. His second-in-command exclaims, "The enemy's cavalry are so fierce, we are sustaining heavy losses. At this rate even our headquarters here may be in danger!"
"Is there no one in Remnant capable of stopping these devils?"
The raid captain of the mercenary band hired by Vale stands in the battlefield. The only one in the battlefield not riding a horse. Her golden hair waves against the wind. She immediately charges towards the cavalry.
The Black Ram Cavalry laughed at the girl's stupidity. "Nonsense! A lone soldier against the us?! So be it! We'll mow you down!" The leader prepared to strike her down, but was quickly struck across his torso. The strike was made with such strength that it left his upper body tumbling towards the ground. The rest of the Black Ram Cavalry barely had any time to process what just happened before the cloaked figure rushed towards them and effortlessly kept destroying them.
"D-don't break rank! She is just one woman! Surround her!" Even if she managed to kill eight of them, the Black Ram Cavalry was a legion of soldiers. Hundreds of them. As they were regrouping, from within the forest more soldiers appeared, rushing towards them and trapping them.
"I-its the... the Band of the Reaper!" The mercenary band led by the so-called Red Reaper, Ruby Rose.
The Band made quick work of the remaining men, leading the surviving soldiers to retreat. They had turned a losing battle into a resounding victory.
The soldiers, both of Vale and the Band of the Reaper cheered for their victory. Their leader, Ruby, took off her hood and looked towards the blonde woman and smiled.
The Band of the Reaper made its way to their headquarters and were greeted with compliments and fawning. "Captain! Captain Yang!" Before the blonde could react, she was swarmed by men:
"You were great! Going out there alone!!"
"That was so cool!! I am still shakin' just thinkin' about it!!"
"You are the star of this victory!!"
"That's just the leader of the Reaper's Raiders for you!"
Yang scratched the back of her head, "I am sorry about that, guys. I went in and charged out there by myself..." The men were quick to answer, "C'mon, what's that for?! We get to brag about our kickass commander to the other units! Let's drink up!"
Before Yang could respond, she was called by a gentle yet authoritative voice. "Captain Yang. We need to talk." The men quickly became quiet "That's... Weiss. Commander Weiss!" The blonde didn't seem very concerned.
"Could you come with me for a bit... Captain Xiao Long, lady?" Yang nodded and told the men, "You guys get started, I'll come back in a bit," then she followed Weiss deeper into the headquarters.
As soon as no one was in sight, Weiss reprimanded her, "Your job was to lead your unit alongside mine to provide flank support and containment for the main body's charge into the enemy! But you broke away from your men and then charged the enemy head-on alone?! What the hell were you thinking?!" Yang was hardly concerned about all of Weiss' complaints. She continued, "You might have gotten lucky and done well, but your selfish behavior could have exposed the entire Band to danger! You should try remembering your place!!"
Yang shrugged, "Sorry 'bout that. You know how good ol' Yang; I can get a bit too excited. Anyways, I'll be more careful from–"
"You always say that. They are just words. You keep doing the same thing. Nothing about you has changed in the past three years ever since you lost that duel with Ruby," Weiss pointed at Yang with clear anger in her voice, "You are satisfied as long as you just get to cross swords with someone! You don't care about your comrades one bit... you are just a mad dog!"
Yang angrily grabbed Weiss' arm, "What the hell did you just call me?" She tightened her grip and Weiss was starting to hurt but didn't show it.
Before the situation could escalate, Ruby walked in, smiling. "Hey, c'mon. Calm down, team." Her presence alone was enough to stop them from beating the shit out of each other. "Weiss, I gotta talk with Yang." In response, Weiss walked towards Ruby, "You are too soft on her," and proceeded to exit.
When Weiss was outside, she was greeted by Jaune, "Hey Weiss, how's it going?!" He realized too late she was mad, "I don't understand what Yang sees in that girl."
"I mean, she is VERY strong and she did manage to-"
"I know what she did!"
"Hmm... I see what's going on." Jaune quickly pulled Weiss aside and whispered, "Are you in one of your... days?" Weiss was visibly disgusted, "What?! No! Ugh, I just... I need to drink something."
She walked down the stairs and was intercepted by Cardin, "I know we don't always see eye-to-eye, but if you are ever interested in taking out that blonde bitch, I am more than willing to help." Weiss didn't react to his idea and simply walked past. "...Women."
Ruby sighed, "You two really don't get along. I thought it would get better after so many years..." Yang didn't seem to listen to her, thinking about what Weiss just told her, "...I do think about my comrades. I am not who I used to be." Ruby tries to cheer her up, "I know." Neither said anything for a few seconds until Ruby broke the silence, "Three years ago, the duel that decided you would join the Band of the Reaper... that fight was fun. That's how fights should be." Yang was silent. Ruby took Yang by the arm and chuckled, "Come on, let's go. The rest of the team is waiting for us!" Yang smiled a bit.
At the Royal Castle of Vale, the upper-class men attended a ceremony alongside the Band of the Reaper. The ones of noble birth despised them, and they especially despised the reason for this ceremony.
"This is ridiculous. A commoner attaining the title of knighthood..."
"What on earth is the king thinking?"
"But this last battle... the Band of the Reaper certainly did display much merit..."
"So what?! Without war, mercenaries would be nothing more than thieves!"
Ruby was kneeling in front of the King of Vale. "In the name of God and the Spirit, I bestow the status of Knight upon thee. Be valiant. Be faithful."
Cardin whispered to the man next to him, Sky, "You know what this means?" Not expecting him to answer, he continued, "We can say bye-bye to being wretched mercenaries and join the regular army." Weiss overheard the conversation and interrupted, "If you know that, then watch your tongue, Cardin. This is a formal ceremony. From now on, any insubordination from us could possibly cause trouble for Ruby. We can't go on being a backwoods army of rogues the way we have been." Cardin chuckled and said, "Yeah, yeah, I understand, commander. You are way more strict than my old lady," which earned him a glare from the white-haired woman.
Weiss retreated back to her own thoughts and suddenly realized that Yang was nowhere to be seen.
Outside the Castle, the blonde punched a tree. She purposely made her guantlets heavier by attaching weights. "One-ninety-eight!" Sweat ran across her face with each strike, "One-ninety-nine!" Her arms hurt like hell, "Two hundred!" And as soon as she did the final strike, she threw herself to the ground.
She made her way to a nearby tree to get some shade from the hot sun, untied the weights, and stared at the sky, reminiscing.
Ruby held a ring with a blood-red gem carved in the shape of an eye. "Weiss gave me this. It was some family... hare-loom? Hairloom? Eh, whatever it was called. She said it's called the Seasonal Ring."
"That's a boring name."
"Yeah... but I guess not everything have a cool name, like 'Ember Celica' or 'Crescent Rose', cuz that sounds COOL."
Yang chuckled. Ruby smiled and continued, "I researched a bit just to see what's up with this ring. It turns out that there are four rings, and there's legend that goes with 'em. Whoever has this little thing is destined to 'obtain the world' in exchange for their own flesh and blood... Whatever that means."
"Ooh, spooky. But shouldn't rings go in your finger?"
"Yes, yes, I am not dumb. I just don't feel like putting it on."
"That's why you got it hanging there like a necklace?"
"Mhm. It looks cooler like this too."
"I don't think I can argue with you on that since you are my boss..."
"Hehe."
The Band of the Reaper stood on a cliff leading to yet another battlefield. The battle had reached a stalemate. They had to take the Inner Citadel, yet something's not right. "The enemy has a remarkable soldier. Yang's unit is currently laying siege but this... man, if we can even call it that, is holding back all on its own." Cardin was quick to point out how ridiculous that was, "Just one? How pathetic."
One of the soldiers then spoke up, "It's Adam." This caught the attention of the rest of the army. "Adam? Ren, I hope you don't mean..." Jaune asked perplexed. Ren continued, "I caught wind of a strange rumor before the battle. That the faunus Adam had been added to the enemy forces." A girl in the ranks exclaimed, "Adam... uh, who's that?" Jaune was surprised she didn't know and patted her in the head, "You don't know? Aww, come on Nora, everyone knows! He is a legendary swordswoman. They say he's killed hundreds, even thousands on the battlefield... wait this isn't good at all," Ren interrupted, "That's not the only reason he's feared."
Nora looked excited, "Ooooh, story time!" Ren simply continued, "As a faunus, he has excellent hearing, and can see perfectly at night. Not only that, but every time a rumor goes around that he has died, he always shows up again in some other battle... And the unbelievable thing is, people have been telling war stories about that man for almost a hundred years!!" Jaune then added, "See why this is a very bad thing? If that's true, Yang will–" "It will be fine. Don't tell me you believe in that fairy tale." Cardin had a mocking tone, almost condescending. As she heard about all of this, Ruby looked a bit worried. She quickly gestured everyone to follow her. "We are going there too."
"Hey, let me go!"
"No way, captain!"
Yang tried to enter the Inner Citadel but her men pushed her away from trying by physically holding onto her and pulling her out.
"I can't let you do it! Just wait!"
"It's already been an hour, you ass! We sent almost fifty men in there and no one's come out!"
"Then we should ask for boss Ruby for rein—"
Yang grabbed the man's head, "You try that and I will kill you."
She turned towards the rest, "It is just one guy inside! A single enemy got so many of our comrades stuck like nails in a wall! You ever heard of anything that humiliating?!"
As she was finishing, a man appeared from within the inner citadel, without an arm and the back of his head pushed in as if it was hit with a hammer. The man, barely even living at this point, simply walked towards the rest of the soldiers and said, "...Adam... Taurus ..." and dropped dead.
Yang, even angrier than before, walked towards the entrance. "H-hold on captain!" Her men approached, but she yelled at them, "Do not get near me!" They stopped in their tracks and she continued to move forward. "Nobody come with me. I am killing her alone."
Inside, there was nothing but corpses. There were soldiers without limbs, some crushed to death, some with half their brain out. The brutality within was something Yang had never seen, at least in this scale. Men in full armor torn apart like they are dolls. It's like something incredibly strong blew right through 'em! Yang thought as she tried to avert her eyes from the corpses only to find even more. No matter where she looked, there was always death. She kept walking steadily, and the darkness grew.
There was a sound she recognized. The sound of flesh ripping apart. The next step she took, she saw it. Adam ripping a body with his bare hands. Yang screamed at the top of her lungs and rushed at her. The faunus swung his sword at her. It still had the remains of a soldier in them, and the speed and strength at which the sword was going left Yang with no other choice but to block. Her gauntlets were extremely durable and her physical strength was unparalleled, but even with all of that, she barely managed to resist the blow, the recoil sending her barreling back towards a column, cracking it.
"You parried that strike well, human." Adam finally spoke, with a tone so cold it made the cloaked woman tremble. What's this? This... doesn't feel like fear. It's something else. I keep telling my arms and legs to move, but they don't respond. Yang tried to rationalize with the immense dread she was feeling. Before she could keep going, though, Adam launched another attack, which she narrowly avoided. The faunus' attack hit the column behind and destroyed it. He didn't allow Yang to have a moment to catch her breath and swung his sword again, this time she blocked it by putting the back of her arm against a sword of one of the dead soldiers and trying to put as much of her upper body's strength into it, but the power of the attack was too much and sent her flying towards another column, breaking the sword as well.
Adam's voice sounded less cold than before, "Good. There hasn't been a single living thing in the past fifty years that has been able to stop my sword for this long." Yang simply tried to think of a way to land one blow. I can't get a hit in! This guy is too strong, way stronger than anyone I've ever fought with. Ruby was good, but this power is beyond human!
I only managed to block her strikes because the gauntlets were strong enough. This means that our weapons are both equal! I have to get a hit first, that is all! Yang changed position, now putting her strong arm behind. Adam simply shrugged, "You don't have the reach. We'll see how this goes for you" And she swung her blade. Yang reacted and punched straight into the blade, her eyes red. Her attack was engulfed in flames and the power of the hit was such that it completely destroyed Adam's blade and even managed to pierce right through him.
Yang didn't know what just happened but took this opportunity to run towards the exit. The light on the other side grew with each step, until it was suddenly blocked by Adam. "What a surprise. You are the first human to ever hurt me this badly." Adam said with a grin. Steam was coming out of his wound and from the rest of his body. His animalistic traits expanded, slowly transforming. Fur extended, his body became bigger, his head contorted into a bull, growing fangs and his eyes became brighter. He didn't look even a bit human anymore, he was a beast. "This is great! I forgot this feeling! Maybe this is why I have remained alive for three hundred years! Now, fight! Do not disappoint!" He sounded thrilled at finally being able to fight someone who could keep up with him.
What the fuck is that? Adam swung his claws at Yang, completely smashing the pillar beneath. The blonde is trying to process what is happening and could barely react at the strike, narrowly avoiding it. "Is that all? And here I thought that power would make this more exciting." Yang couldn't move anymore, she was too exhausted. "Well, I can't say you didn't fight well for a human." As Adam prepared to deal the finishing blow, he felt a volley of arrows across his back.
Ruby, Weiss, Jaune, and the rest of the soldiers had entered the Citadel and were armed with crossbows, ready to get rid of Adam once and for all. Even with superior numbers, they trembled at the presence of this hellish creature. "H-hey, what the hell is that?" "Is-is this a nightmare or some shit?" Weiss was terrified at the creature before them, but kept her composure, even as the men couldn't help but try to explain what the hell's that thing.
Ruby broke through their terror with an order, "Do NOT lose focus!" Her voice was as authoritative as always, even in the presence of that beast. "Second volley! FIRE!!" The soldiers obeyed and shot again, angering Adam. "I will not have this... No one may defile this battle!" He charged towards the soldiers, ramming them with his horns and using brutality against them, ripping their bodies with his bare teeth and separating their torsos from the rest of their body with extreme ease using his bare hands.
The screams echoed throughout the entire Citadel, and Ruby had to order, "Weiss, have everyone withdraw!" Weiss obeyed. She didn't question why Ruby was staying, because it was obvious. Yang was still there, now trapped in the rubble of a collapsed column.
Ruby took away the rubble and carried Yang in one arm, "Hey, can you stand?" Yang was angry at Ruby now and replied, "Dumbass, what the hell are you doing here?!", "You can complain all you want after we have escaped, but right now we gotta run." Yang limped as they made their way to the exit. Their path was cut short, as now Adam blocked their path, holding a corpse with one of this hands. The blonde, even on the verge of death, was annoyed, "Oh my fucking god, why don't you stay dead?!" Adam calmly replied, "Your heart is still beating. Fight! Fight until you are torn to pieces!"
"Can you move?" "Well, I am dead if I can't move." Yang and Ruby quickly moved out of the way as Adam charged at them. As they rolled away, Ruby managed to cut down one of Taurus' arms with a single strike of her scythe. "Yang! Come on, get up! Run for it!" Ruby was distracted and received a blow on her back which sent her flying towards the wall. The beast smiled, "What a day... Two humans that can wound me!"
Yang tries to run towards Ruby, seeing that Adam is grabbing Ruby by her head. "And how unfortunate that both will be lost." He started putting pressure into her head, "Starting with you." Ruby felt her head starting to hurt, and closed her eyes, expecting the worst... but all of a sudden she felt the pressure stop, her feet now in the ground. She looked down and saw her necklace had fallen. She couldn't keep herself up after that, and fainted from the pain.
Adam was shocked at the sight of the Seasonal Ring. "It cannot be! A girl like you with the ring?!" He regained his composure and blew a hole across the ceiling. "So, this is how it will be... Our battle is on hold, blonde." He stared at Yang, somber, "But I wonder if we will ever meet up again?"
"Call this a 'prophecy', girl. When she's at her height, everything will collapse, and when that happens, death will come." He jumped out of the Citadel through the broken ceiling. Yang thought about his words, confused. Death...? I am going to die...?
Before she could keep wondering about what that meant, she heard footsteps. "Ruby!" The soldiers, lead by Weiss, ran towards their leader. "Ruby! Wake up! Are you alright?" Some soldiers helped Yang stand up. Ren asked her, "Are you okay, cap?" She was bleeding from her head and her entire body felt like ass, "Y-yeah... I guess." "You are one strong woman. Come on, let's get you to somewhere safer."
As she was getting carried away, she caught a glance of Ruby, being hugged by Weiss. She quickly pulled herself away and limped towards her, but is stopped by the white haired girl. "This is your fault. This would have never happened if you didn't rush in like a fucking idiot!"
Yang didn't answer. Ren and Nora silently carried her away.