Chapter 4:One Step Too Far

There's dread in the air, a feeling that has never existed until this night. All the creatures, be them bugs, animals, or even Grimm, stay silent as the time passes for fear of what will happen if they make a noise. Only one being doesn't fear those consequences, and that's due to them being asleep. However your senses are starting to come back to you, starting with the twitching of your fingers. Feeling flows through the rest of your arm, and then the rest of your body. You slap your forehead, attempting to wake yourself up.

"Gah... I... blegh..."

You roll over onto your stomach and push yourself onto your knees. You lazily look around, trying to find your sword. It's not even a foot from where your hand was, so you swipe it up and sheathe it on your back. You get on your feet, rubbing your head and looking around. Soon enough you realize the giant cut through your armour, blood sullying the white where the destroyed armour is. You drag your hand across your chest, your fingers falling into the crevasse to touch your skin, then back to the armour. This motion reminds you of what happened and how you got this injury. Another thought quickly pushes itsway to the front of your mind.

"Ruby!" You shout to yourself.

You close your eyes and lock-on to your village, then leap to it. You're at your parents gravestones, but you don't mind them since you immediately run to Ruby's previous location.

"Ruby! Ruby, are you awake!" You shout as you turn the corner.

Your heart drops the moment you don't see Ruby there. You frantically scan the area, hoping that she'll be in eye-sight... but she's not. She's gone.

"Ruby! Ruby!" You scream, internally begging that she'll respond.

But she doesn't.

You fall to your knees as your failure washes over you. You couldn't beat whoever that woman was, and you couldn't keep Ruby safe. Now you have no idea where either of them are, or even if Ruby is still alive. You can't bear the thought of Ruby being dead because of you... but something makes you doubt that. The way that woman almost seemed to summon Ruby's aura during your fight. She needs it, maybe. She wouldn't have Ruby's aura if Ruby was dead. That's the only hope you can cling to at the moment.

You look back to her previous location, latching to some desperate hope that she'll be there. She isn't, of course, but your second glance reveals something you didn't notice before: the book. The book you "borrowed" from Glynda is lying on the ground around where Ruby was. You slowly get to your feet and walk over to the book. It's open to a page that... well you didn't read it, but there's one phrase you recognize. It's the same phrase Ruby used when you were standing at your parents' stones. When she first did it, you thought she was just making it up. Now, it seems, she opened up some sort of scenario that's put her in danger, and you're going to have to fix it like always.

You grab the book, your only lead, and think on your next move. The only person who would know how to counter, or even explain, whatever Ruby did is Glynda. Though that means admitting you sto-borrowed her book. But that's a small price to pay if you can find Ruby again. With a goal in mind, you close your eyes and focus on Beacon. You traverse through the forests, passing blurbs which you can only assume to be Grimm, until you can finally lock onto Beacon. Once you do, you leap to the airpad.

You let out a huff once you know you're home, but there's no point in waiting around. You open your eyes and start moving, but you give yourself pause when you see smoke, fire, and fellow students littering the ground, all unconscious. The first person you run to is Jaune, who's against a pillar. You sprint to him and slide into a kneel beside him. You place your hand on him and shake him to try and wake him up. Thankfully his eyes open and he starts moaning, his body waking up.

"(Y/N)?" He whispers.

"Jaune, what happened? Where is everyone?"

Before Jaune can answer you hear a large crash that shakes the very grounds of Beacon you look to that direction, but Jaune keeps his eyes on you.

"Something... came at us. Pyrrha... she..." Jaune cringes in pain, holding his side.

"Jaune, stay quiet. I'll deal with whatever's here. Get some rest," you reassure, patting his shoulder.

You leave Jaune and run to whatever made that noise.

Did the Grimm infiltrate Beacon? That's not possible! How did this happen?

You keep running to the sound, seeing all your friends and classmates lying all over Beacon, absolutely defeated. You want to make sure each person is okay, but you'd rather beat whatever did this first then help. One question running through your mind is where the professors are? Perhaps they're fighting whatever did this to Beacon? You hope so, or hope they're just helping other students.

You slide around the corner and see some people, all familiar and not in the good way. That hooded woman is staring down Ozpin, Glynda, and the rest of team RWBY, though Weiss, Blake, and Yang are evidently tired.

"Guys!" You shout, gathering everyone's attention as you rush to their side.

"(Y/N)... hm..." Ozpin looks back to the woman as she stares down everyone. "We'll speak once this one is defeated."

You slide beside Ozpin, unsheathing your sword and staring down the woman.

"You... you won't win this time!" You shout, gripping your hilt tightly.

Ozpin notes your words. You've fought this mysterious woman before. Where? When? Why? These things flow through Ozpin's mind.

To everyone's surprise, the woman darts away in a flash of dead rose pedals.

"Hey, get back here!"

You begin to run but Ozpin grabs your shoulder, keeping you at bay.

"She's gone, (Y/N). We'll deal with her another time."

You huff, relaxing at Ozpin's words. You nod as you sheathe your blade and turn towards everyone. Yang lifts herself off her knee, huffing.

"Where... were you? And where's Ruby?" She asks, approaching you.

Your eyes widen then fall to the floor.

"She's... I..."

"That's a question for later," Ozpin cuts in. "Right now we have to regroup, assure the students aren't hurt, and figure out who and what that was."

Everyone accepts Ozpin's words and gets to work.

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After gathering injured students and regaining control of Beacon, Ozpin requested everyone to get some sleep before the investigation begins. You wanted to get some sleep, wanted to relax and push this all out of your mind but you couldn't. The thought of who that woman is, where Ruby is, and what Glynda's book did all swirl in your mind, preventing any sleep to take place. Dylan notices this, as he can't fall asleep either for the simple fact that you're pacing around the room. You haven't even changed out of your bloodied, damaged outfit, so your footsteps are heavier than normal.

Dylan rolls onto his back and looks at you.

"Can you at least just lean against a wall instead of pacing?"

You stop and look to your friend.

"Sorry... I just... my mind's on fire, you know? I can't stop thinking."

Dylan huffs as he throws the blankets off himself and gets on his feet.

"I know thinking is difficult for you, bu-"

"Your joke aren't appreciated right now," you snap, beginning to pace again.

This alone strikes Dylan as urgent. You never talk to him like that. You enjoy bickering. Dylan decides to take a serious approach to this.

"Alright Slater, what's wrong? You weren't even here during the attack, so what has you worried?"

Your steps becoming heavier.

"I was lying in a field, bleeding," you bluntly answer. "I fought that woman before, which is why I was in the field. She has Ruby, Dylan," you say, stopping and staring at him, your lip quivering for just a moment, but long enough for Dylan to notice the strain on you. "And I have no idea where Ruby is, where this woman is, or even if Ruby's alive."

Dylan shakes his head, finally understanding the weight to the situation.

"I see. I'm sorry, Slater. It seems this is more personal for you."

"Yeah," you chuckle, though not in a happy way. "But I don't know what to... damn it," you slam your foot on the ground. "I can't take this waiting."

You swipe the book off your desk, which is where you left it once you returned to your room, and leap to Ozpin's office. Ozpin and Glynda are speaking, Ozpin sitting in his chair and Glynda standing at his side. The moment you appear they look to you. You approach the desk and slam the book down, opening the page that Ruby used.

"Glynda, I'm sorry, I took this book from you and I'll accept punishment later, but you have to tell me what this page does."

Glynda, who is full of conflicted emotions, can tell you're deadly serious about whatever it is you're getting at. She leans over the table and spin the book so she can read it.

"Why this page?" She calmly asks.

"I..." You rub the back of your neck. "Ruby said something that was written on that page which caused all this."

Ozpin smirks, knowing you had an idea of what happened.

"What do you mean?" He asks with intrigue. "Please, take a seat. Explain it all, from the beginning."

So you do. You tell them about Ruby's silly idea of dressing up, to you and her returning to your village, to what happened at the gravestones, to you being defeated and Ruby being taken. The entire time Ozpin and Glynda remain silent, no change in their emotions, and just listen to you. Your voice is filled with anger, regret, and self-hatred. But they don't interrupt you. They just let you tell your story.

"And then I saw her here, but she's gone and we have no leads. Now Ruby's gone because of me!" You slam your fists on Ozpin's desk, letting out a small hint of frustration.

"Thank you for telling us this, (Y/N). This explains everything," Ozpin speaks, his voice calm and comforting. "I'm glad you're okay. I was curious about that damage to your costume," he mentions, looking at the deep wound.

You shake your head.

"It's nothing, I'm fine. It won't happen next time I meet her."

"Well... that depends," Glynda says, finally speaking up. She puts the book down and walks around the desk, standing beside you. "(Y/N), what Ms. Rose used was a sort of... how do I explain this, she... woke a dead spirit and bonded it with herself. Unintentionally, no doubt, but it worked."

"But... Ruby pushed me out of the way. Was it not going for me?"

Glynda shakes her head.

"It was going for Ms. Rose the entire time. Seems she was just being protective."

"So... what does that mean? What happened to her?" You question, unintentionally getting loud.

"Well, this spirit linked with her, taking a similar form and bonding through her aura," Glynda begins.

You think back to when the woman seemed to siphon Ruby's aura from far away.

"Does... does it matter how close this thing is to her?" You ask.

Glynda raises her brow.

"Why?"

"When we were fighting, she started to get weaker and slower the longer we fought. She seemed to summon some of Ruby's aura, and she got all that strength and speed back."

Glynda feels a sense of pride that you figured that out. Then again, you're no fool when it comes to tactics and battle.

"Yes. They are linked now, and it seems you already found the weakness of the spell. But now, knowing that she used the spell there, we can track both Ms. Rose and the spirit down."

These words spark a light in you. One of hope.

"We can find her! How? Where is she?"

Glynda moves back to her position beside Ozpin, hand on her chin.

"To keep her maximum power, she would need Ms. Rose as close as possible, along with being close to her body. If Ms. Rose used this spell at your village, that means the spirit would have to be-"

"Glynda," Ozpin interrupts.

"Yes, Professor Ozpin."

"He's gone."

Glynda looks to where you were only to see feint shadows slipping through the air. Glynda grinds her teeth at your rash actions.

"He's going there alone! He didn't even hear how to defeat it, or who that spirit even is!"

"You think it's..."

"It has to be, given the location and colour. Professor, we have to get there."

Ozpin clicks his scroll.

"I've already arranged transportation."

Yes, I know, kinda short, but, I mean, all the chapters have been short, so... notice how many commas I have there? Meh, just having fun, like the fun with this story. Weird to think this will be the only Crimson Shadow I'll write until December, but it's what you guys voted for on Twitter, so its this rather than a chapter. Hey, if you don't like that, blame Twitter. I just followed along with what they asked.

Anyhow, next chapter will be the last. I hope you all enjoyed this one and are excited to see how it all ends. Until next time!

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