RWBY: Silver Eyes on the Mountains

Into A Sea of Clouds

The darkness of night clung to the mountains like a woolly blanket, as if it wasn't going to let its residents escape its embrace. The village of Patch was quiet, no one save for the guards out on their nightly patrols. The light from inside the stone houses was all the light on such a night, as the moon was but a sliver in the sky. Higher on the hill, the wooden shutters to one of the rooms opened slowly. A pair of silver eyes looked out into the dark new world, and soon the slim figure of Ruby slipped out.

'Alright. Yang and Dad should be asleep. Now to go exploring. And I know just the stop tonight.' Ruby thought, a mischievous smile wide across her face, before making a break for it into the darkness.

As she sprinted off, a light in the dining room was still on. Contrary to what the silver eyed troublemaker thought, her father and older sister were indeed awake.

"Did you close everything up, Yang?" Tai asked as he tended to the fire.

"Of course I did, Dad. You worry too much." Yang replied, wiping down the kitchen counter.

"With how Ruby has been, it makes me worry. These moonless nights are the worst for Grimm. They can stalk about freely. And ever since you lost her that one day, she's been different." Tai explained, turning to look at his eldest.

Yang sighed as she moved to washing dishes. "I know. I'm honestly worried she's going to do something stupid and reckless at this rate." She admitted.

It was at that moment that Yang thought she saw something in the window. Heading over she peered out. Normally, she wouldn't see very much in the darkness of such a night. However, in just the faintest moonlight, she saw a flowing red cape move higher and higher into the peaks above…

"... Speak of the… DAMN IT, RUBY!" Yang screamed in a panic as she dropped the dishes into the sink.

"What's going on Yang!?" Tai asked as Yang rounded the corner and bolted out the door.

"RUBY! CLIMBING MOUNTAIN! NEED TO HURRY!" Yang screamed back as she gave chase.

"After her, Yang! I'll catch up after I lock up!" Tai yelled back as he hurried to lock everything down.

Later: Up the Mountain

Ruby came to a halt as she looked at her new surroundings. Taking one of the many winding trails, she got a breathtaking look at the near endless grassy slopes and wind worn peaks. The fact she had no idea where she was going didn't really cross her mind. She was free to go wherever she wanted.

As her eyes scanned the horizon, she noticed something higher up still. A tall spire of rock higher up. Yet this rock wasn't craggy or broken like the peaks around her. It looked hewn, carved, and actually worked by human hands. The idea of searching inside another ruin rushed into her head and made her giddy. She found Balam inside a ruin, so who knows what she could find in this one? Getting into a running stance, her aura flared.

In the blink of an eye, she disappeared. Faster and faster her legs took her as she raced up the winding roads, rapidly avoiding random roots and rocks that threatened to trip her. In mere moments, she arrived at the ruins. What she thought was, but a towering spire turned out to be some kind of castle. At least, she thought it was a castle, she hadn't ever actually seen one of those. Only what her mom told her in stories. Yet it had crumbling walls with the bases of towers remaining, it had thick sturdy walls, and a large wooden door.

'Alright. Now to see what goodies are inside this one.' Ruby thought excitedly.

While the great wooden doors weren't locked, it was no easy feat. She had to use a brief burst of her Semblance just to get them moving on their long disused hinges. Yet, when she got in there, the first thing she noticed was the cloud of dust she kicked up. Coughing horribly before it subsided, she finally got a good look at the place.

Bones. The first thing she saw was masses of human bones. Some were still in a vague outline of a skeleton; some were massed in great piles. The whole place looked as if some great massacre or battle had happened.

"Is this why Yang and Dad keep telling me to not run off?" Ruby asked herself quietly, her voice echoing like a ghostly whisper through the massive hall.

'Tread cautiously, child.' Balam's voice rang out in her head.

Ruby jumped a bit at the jaguar spirit's voice's sudden intrusion. "Balam, you scared me…" Ruby said, putting a hand on her beating heart.

'Apologies, child. This one merely felt it necessary to speak his mind. Something about this place feels… off.' Balam told her mentally.

"Do you know of this place?" Ruby asked him as she scanned around for something to light.

'I do not, but something feels… strange. This one senses the fading embers of negative human emotions here. Anger… fear… hatred… bloodlust. Something happened in this place that no mortal eyes as young as yours should ever know.' Balam explained.

"That would explain the bones. Hang on, I think I found a torch." Ruby said, pulling a torch off its mounting in the wall, and used some flint to light it.

Farther Down the Mountain

The stillness of the night was soon sharply drowned out by Yang's heavy panting. Forced to stop at a winding bend, she put her hands on her knees and began to pant heavily. When she finally was able to catch her breath a bit, she soon became very vocal about her sister's actions.

"Ruby… when I catch up to you… your little behind is in for it…!" Yang angrily huffed, trying to catch her breath.

As she raised her head, she noticed something off in the distance. It was faint light, mostly due to the distance, but it clearly shone through the near pitch-black darkness. It was at that moment Yang realized its potential source.

"Son of a bitch, Ruby…!" Yang groaned as she continued her trek up the mountain.

Back With Ruby and Balam

Ruby trod carefully through the bones as she looked around for something, anything to make this trip worth it. What she felt inside her, beyond her own trepidations, was the worry emanating from Balam. It wasn't that he was concerned that worried her, it was the fact he didn't know what was worrying him was what concerned her. However, all that lay around her was the detritus of years past. Smashed pottery, a random odd gold coin, torn tapestries. Nothing that could get her out of the lengthy punishment that her family was going to give her.

Yet, just when all hope seemed lost, Ruby saw a glint come from atop a table. Turning to face the shine that caught her eye, she was stunned by what she saw. On a piece of llama hide lay a massive scythe blade, crystal clear as glass. As if it was forged out of starlight. Yet, as she got closer and touched it, it wasn't anything like that. It felt like… aura?

"Balam? Have you ever seen anything like this?" Ruby asked, running her thin fingers along the crescent blade. 

'This one has heard of such a thing before but has only seen it in person once. By the Heavenly Empress and Emperor Consort, the wonders of mortal ingenuity…!' Balam uttered in amazement.

"It's like it's made of hardened Aura. But Aura dissipates when it's used…" Ruby said in confusion, looking at it as if trying to understand its very existence.

'It is made of hardened Aura, child! By the Heavenly High Plane, mortals are such fascinating creatures! To develop a technique to craft weapons made of eternally solidified Aura to make them lighter and stronger than any steel…!' Balam uttered in sheer awe.

"I need to get this thing home and put it on a stick or something! Let's see those guards push me around with this baby!" Ruby said with glee.

'... Child. This one senses something else. A presence nearby. Whatever thou does, do not panic…' Balam's voice cautiously told her.

"You said that when we got here and there was…" Ruby said, turning around as instructed, before what she saw cut her words off.

The form standing in front of her was that clearly of a Grimm. Far larger than any creature she had ever seen, it sported the head of a great cat, wreathed in shimmering black fur in a great plume behind it. Its black fur rippled, as if it was a fur coat layered atop of armor, giving it a very unsettling stance. Even now its stout, thick feline legs looked as if they strained under its weight, despite their powerful look. Paws bigger than her chest lay flat footed on the ground, as great melon sized eyes looked at her, the red orbs trying to decipher what she was.

"B-B-Balam… w-what is that…?" Ruby nervously whispered to the spirit as a cold sweat hit her body.

'That, child, 'tis a Panoplía Léon…' Balam told her in as calm a voice as he could, trying to keep her from panicking.

"What?" Ruby fearfully asked as the great demonic feline sniffed at her.

'You mortals would better know it as the Armor Leo. A type of lion Grimm.' Balam continued explaining, trying to keep Ruby calm.

"W-What do we do?" Ruby hastily asked, gulping as the sweat came down in buckets onto the aura blade.

'Child. Calm the catastrophe that is thy mammaries, then focus on drawing upon mine power…' Balam told her, trying to keep Ruby from a panic attack.

Ruby breathed heavily as she tried to focus through the fear of finding that power. The Leo stood there more in confusion, as it sensed multiple different things on her. It sensed fear, but it was extremely faint. This, however, only made Ruby worry more as she stared into the red orbs before her.

'Child, hurry! Calm thyself and draw upon mine power! It shall not remain docile for long!' Balam told her, trying to urge Ruby to relax.

Ruby breathed heavily as she dug deep, sensing the power that he spoke of. She felt Balam light up inside her, excited that she was getting it, egging her on. She reached for it, yet try and try as she might, she just couldn't reach it. As if it was just barely beyond what she could grasp. This sudden spike in power, however, made the Leo aware that she was a potential threat, and it began to raise one of its mighty paws.

"Oh crap!" Ruby yelled, just barely rolling out of the way of the paw with the aura blade gripped tightly in its hide wrappings.

'Run, child! Quickly!' Balam called out to her in concern.

"What do you think I'm doing!?" Ruby yelled, getting up as the monster turned to face her.

Taking off with speed surpassing the wind itself, Ruby bolted to try to escape the Armor Leo. Trying desperately to try to find her way out of the ruins. All the while, the Leo gave chase, its appetite wetted by the smell of human fear. Try as she might, no matter what turn Ruby took, she couldn't find the way she came.

Taking twists and turns, the red hooded girl tried to stay ahead of the feline monstrosity as she desperately tried to find her way out. Her mind went into a panic as Balam tried to keep her calm. Tried… but failed miserably. Finally, Ruby found herself cornered at a dead end as the Leo began closing in, causing Ruby to back up against the wall as she tried to calm down and figure out how to get herself out of this situation with Balam's power.

As Ruby panted in both fear and exertion, the Leo stalked closer and licked its chops. Sniffing at her, it leaned forward and licked her with its demonic tongue, as if sampling its meal before the first bite. But, before it could take said bite, it was at that point that both woman and monster heard a new set of panting coming from the doorway.

"BACK OFF, YOU OVERGROWN PUSSY!" Yang's voice called out as a brown and golden yellow blur shot out, landing a kick into the side of its face that temporarily threw it off balance.

"Yang!?" Ruby called out as the great feline behemoth shook its head a bit.

"Are you okay, Ruby!?" Yang asked, standing in front of her baby sister in a protective stance, fists at the ready.

"Yang, I'm so sorry for running off! You can be mad at me for the rest of my life!" Ruby cried out, beginning to cry due to the sheer amount of emotion running through her.

"Anger later, little sis! Run now!" Yang called out, grabbing Ruby's hand and trying to make a run for it.

The Leo turned its head to see the two sisters running through the hall and out the doorway. It snarled at that, determined not to let its meal get away. Rushing after to give chase, it smashed through the wall like a living battering ram before taking off in hot pursuit. The girls turned corners, using their lack of maneuverability against it as it had to struggle to turn and smashed into walls for its troubles.

"Yang, what do we do!?" Ruby yelled at her sister as the two ran.

"Either we run faster, or we stand and fight!" Yang told her baby sister.

Right as they were just about to reach the safety of the smaller paths, Ruby tripped on a piece of rubble, skidding face first into the ground. Yang turned to see what happened and saw Ruby directly in the Leo's path. However, just as she was about to move, the massive Grimm leapt into a pounce, as if determined to make sure that, this time, Ruby was its to eat. Ruby shut her eyes for what she knew was her death. Yet all she heard was a massive roar and scream from the Leo, followed by a horrible crunching sound.

The ground rumbled as the sound of a struggle was heard. Confused on why she wasn't a cat toy by now, Ruby slowly opened her eyes. In stunned disbelief, she saw the Leo on the ground, wrestling with a familiar tall, masculine form that had caught it in midair and pinned it to the ground.

"DAD!!" Ruby happily cried out.

"Stay back, girls! Daddy's got this!" Taiyang called out, giving Ruby and Yang a reassuring smile.

"Dad are you crazy! That thing is going to kill you!" Yang called out.

"I've beaten things much bigger than this, Yang! Let papa show you how he brought the pain in his day!" Taiyang called out as he wrestled the Leo down into a chokehold before getting up and punt kicking it into a wall.

Crashing into the wall with an impact that cracked the wall, the beast got up and shook itself. Glaring at the blonde man with hatred and hunger in its eyes, the Leo snarled viciously before crouching to prepare to leap at him. Letting out a roar, it leapt into a pounce.

"BRING IT ON, PUSSYCAT!" Taiyang roared back as he leapt into the air right back at his foe, tackling it back to the ground before throwing it away.

"Ruby, this way!" Yang called out, waving to her sister.

"But what about dad!?" Ruby called back as she slowly got back to her feet.

"He'll be fine! Let's get out of here!" Yang yelled.

Ruby looked back at her father as he squared up to the behemoth Grimm. Having pulled itself from the rubble, the beast's eyes were squarely on Taiyang, before it roared back at the man. As if accepting his challenge. Ruby felt torn, looking between her dad and her sister. Gripping the bound blade tightly, she then began to run towards her sister. With only the horrible sounds of violence behind her.