Cold As Ice: RWBY

The Brink of Death

  Zayne watched as his friend and fellow teammate closed his eyes for the last time. "What the hell Ryan!" he yelled. He grabbed his friend's hand and found that it was cold and pale, no longer full of life as it was moments ago. "Is-is he dead?" asked Ruby. Zayne nodded his head. "Yeah, he's gone now..." he said sadly. Ruby shook her head and kneeled next to the body. "He...can't be gone," she whispered. Yuuto shook his head. "I can't feel his aura anymore," he said, his voice full of grief. Yang and Weiss started to regain consciousness. "Wh-what happened?" Weiss asked. She looked over at Zayne and saw him holding a body. "Wh-who is that?" she asked anxiously. Zayne looked at her with a fire in his eyes. "He died to save you two," he said. Weiss crawled over and saw it was none other than her childhood friend. "No..." she whispered. Yang stumbled over and leaned on Ezra for support. "No, this can't be happening," she sobbed. She fell next to his body and grabbed his hand. "I-it's cold," she whimpered. Zayne nodded his head. "Almost as if he was never here." They all stood in silence as they tried to decide what to do now. Zayne suddenly stood up. "We have to avenge him!" he announced. "We have to strike back at them!" Everyone stood in silence and tried not to stare at the body. 

Suddenly, a plane landed outside, stirring up smoke and dust. Atlesian Knights streamed out of the back of the plane and secured the perimeter. Winter walked out of the back with soldiers flanking her. "Check for survivors," she commanded. The soldiers ran into the warehouse and saw the group surrounding a body. "Get them onto the plane and secure the body," Winter said. She momentarily glanced at her sister and turned to walk back to the plane. Team RYZE and RWBY secured themselves into their seats and watched as the soldiers loaded the body onto a stretcher. "Take us back to Atlas!" commanded Winter. The pilot nodded and took off, flying into the night and disappearing behind the clouds.

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I opened my eyes to find myself in the white void again. The white slowly disappeared and was replaced with darkness. "What's happening?" I thought. I remembered being stabbed and bleeding out. "I died," I remembered. "Am I in the afterlife?" A sudden light shone in front of me and my mother appeared. "I've been waiting for you," she said, holding out her hand. I smiled and reached for her hand. I felt someone tug my shirt and I looked down to see a little girl behind me. I recognized her as Evelyn, my daughter from the future. "But...adventures," she protested. I knelt down next to her and shook my head. "Not anymore," I said, "I've done all I can." She grabbed my hand and refused to let go. "But... a mom needs a dad," she said. I was taken a little aback. "Are they alive?" I asked. She nodded and I looked back at my mother. "My mission isn't done yet," I said. My mother smiled sadly and nodded her head in understanding. "I'll see you again!" I promised. I took my daughter's hand and said, "Show me." She smiled and a white light enveloped my vision.

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The pain rushed back into my chest faster and harder than I expected. I gasped as life rushed back into me and coughed up some blood. "He's alive!" I heard someone yell. I felt an oxygen mask slip over my face and a hypodermic needle jab into my arm, the pain slowly ebbing away. "Just rest for now," a voice said. I closed my eyes and tried to relax as instructed. 

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I was back in the white void again, but this time it didn't fade to black. "Why am I back here?" I thought. "It's because we have unfinished business," a voice replied. I looked over and saw a copy of me. "Omega?" I asked. He shook his head. "No, I'm just a part of you. Well, the rational side at least." I nodded my head. "Like that even is possible," I muttered. He cleared his throat and sat down on the ground. "Let's start shall we?" he said. "What's your next move?" I thought about this for a second. "I think-" I started. "Nope, won't work," he replied. I glared at him. "Let me finish!" I said. He shook his head. "You were going to say, we wait for you to heal up then go after Adam." I sat in silence. "What I suggest we do instead, is heal up and NOT attack the White Fang. We can rebuild Beacon, bury the dead and bide our time," he explained. I thought about this. "But people will want vengeance," I replied. He nodded and snapped his fingers. "Use that as motivation for people to train up and get stronger, perfect their techniques." I stood up and looked around the white void. "Very well then," I decided. "That's that!" he said. The white got brighter and brighter until it was blinding.

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Some time later...

I woke up to be lying in a pool of blood, some of it already dried on my clothes. "What the hell?!" I yelled. I pried myself free of the blood and stood up. I was in a field, surrounded by dead Grimm and White Fang soldiers. I followed the trail of bodies into the woods and came upon a hill. Blood streaks ran down its grass, collecting in a pool at the bottom. I saw Ruby lying face down in the grass, so I ran over to her and turned her over. I saw some blood n ear the corner of her mouth and saw the life was gone from her eyes. "No..." I whispered. I looked behind her and saw team JNPR. Jaune, Nora, Ren and Pyrrah. All dead. "Who...the...hell...did...this!" I growled. I heard some distant laughter and saw a figure standing on the top of the hill. I put Ruby's body down and headed for the top of the hill. "I swear I will avenge you!" I reached the top and faced the shadow I knew all too familiar. "Father," I said. The figure laughed and laughed, making me angrier by the second. I grabbed him by the collar and ripped off the mask. "What...?" I said. The shadow wasn't my father, but...ME! I let go and backed up in shock. "Surprised?" he cackled. "I-impossible, you're dead!" I exclaimed. He shook his head and gestured behind him. "No, it's your friends that are dead!" I looked behind him and saw Blake and Weiss, beaten to a bloody mess, then shot in the chest. I saw Yang, oh god, Yang. She had been stabbed in the chest so many times. "What have you done?!" I whispered, my rage building by the second. "I did what you should have done long ago!" he said innocently. I turned to hit him but he grabbed my throat. "Uh,uh,uh!" he chided. "You'll join them very soon!" He threw me to the ground and fired the shotgun, emptying the bullets into my chest. "AHHHH!!!" I screamed. He laughed and knelt down next to my head. "Just remember," he whispered, "You couldn't save your friends. AGAIN!" He put the shotgun to my head. "Now hush," he said, "Its all over now." He pulled the trigger.      

My eyes shot open and I sat up, breathing hard. "What was that?" I wondered. I clutched my mid-section. "My chest hurts...." I mumbled. I saw I had a few wires running from my body to a nearby machine monitoring my health. The bed felt a little uneven so I looked over to see Yang was resting her head on the bed. I gently brushed a lock of hair from her face and saw Zayne, Ezra and Yuuto passed out on the nearby chairs. "I'm lucky to have friends like these," I thought. A sudden pain erupted in my chest. "Hgh," I grunted, trying not to cry out. I laid back down and tried to fall asleep. "You're a failure!" My father's words echoed in my mind. I tried not to think about it and closed my eyes, trying to catch some sleep before tomorrow, the maniac's laugh echoing in my head.

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I woke up the next morning just as the nurse finished giving me an injection of morphine. "All done," she said. I thanked her and looked over to see Yang brushing her hair in the mirror. "Hello, sunshine!" I said. She looked a little startled. "You're awake!" she exclaimed, putting down the brush and walked over. "How you feeling?" I shrugged. "I've been better. The constant pain sucks," I replied. She smiled and sighed a breath of relief. "What you going to do now?" I asked. She looked a little taken aback. "We're going to get you patched up, then strike back at the White Fang of course!" she replied. Worry grew in my mind. "This is what my logical self predicted would happen," I thought. I shook my head. "Please don't do that," I said. She looked surprised. "I thought you of all people would want revenge," she said. I shook my head. "Please don't do anything as rash as attacking the White Fang again," I said, "We should take this time to train up and rebuild Beacon, so next time we can be ready for them!" She looked at me quizzically. "Yeah....okay," she said. She got off the bed and left with a wave. I sat in my bed and looked at my hands. "I WILL protect my friends," I thought, "I swear it!"