Swords of Intent (sequel to Rose of Titanium)

Chapter 20: Amongst The Shadows

POV: 3rd

As the others started to wake up, Noble Six was already up and about. He had seen that the storm had passed, so he used his semblance to spawn a scout warthog and hooked a trailer up he had found. "Onyx!" Ruby called out, causing him to look up from his task and to his little sister. "We found some food, we're making breakfast. You want some?"

The spartan shook his head. "Na, not hungry. You all have it, kinda busy right now.

"Alright" Ruby yawned and went back inside. Six continued to work on the vehicle until everyone came out, ready to leave.

"Can't we all just go back to bed?" Oscar mumbled, barely able to hold his head up.

Six stood and patted his hands together to get dirt off them. "Nope, now everyone get on or I'll dunk ya down the well" he joked.

"How are you so full of energy?" Weiss asked

Six took off his helmet and looked at the group. "Did ANY of you get any sleep last night?" Everyone gave him a nod. Six held his arms out. "Then how the hell are all of you tired? I stayed up all night trying to fix my damn helmet and I feel perfectly fine."

Qrow went to get in. "Let's just get out of he-" he stopped mid sentence as a tire on the trailer popped, causing him to clench his fists and growl in frustration.

Six patted his dads shoulder. "Don't worry, I got it." He said before walking to a nearby barn to get a spare tire. Qrow walked away from the warthog to plop down on the ground.

The spartan came back to hear Weiss voicing a thought to the group. "Last night, I couldn't help thinking... Why ARE we even going to Atlas?"

"To seal the relic away, since the vault at Haven's been compromised" Six answered as he knelt down and began to work on switching the tires.

"But why?" Yang asked as she, along with Weiss and Blake, walked over to him. "Ozpin hid the relics behind giant doors under enormous schools. But, how long will it take Salem to find the lamp in the middle of nowhere?"

Six stole a quick glance as he kept working. "Did you forget that the very creatures that she controls are naturally drawn to it?"

"They would find it eventually, sure. But either bury it or just throw it down the well. It would take years to find it, it might not even happen in our life time."

"They did just fine under the schools. They stayed put long enough to fade into a fairytale, sounds like a better plan than what you're suggesti-" Six saw the way the three looked at him, as if they were transfixed. "Are, you three okay?"

"I am... Really... Tired" Six heard, he peaked around the girls and saw Ruby on wobbly legs, about to fall down the well from how tired she was. Six sprung onto his feet and pushed the teens out of the way, he caught his sister in time but at the cost of the lamp tumbling down into the well. Ruby burried her face into her hands. "No no NO! I didn't mean too!"

Six looked down the well. After a few seconds he was about to look away when a pair of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness. He instinctively spawned a magnum and emptied the clip where whatever he saw was. The gunshots were enough to wake up the entire group. "Onyx! what are yo-"

"Everyone load up! Yang, get them to Argus!"

"But what abo-"

"NOW!!!"

Ruby gave a nod and said "okay" before going to join the others.

Noble Six jumped down the well as he spawned a shotgun. He was able to see the glow of the lamp around a corner. He went over to retrieve it while keeping his guard up. As soon as he saw it he knelt down to get it, only to hear whispers and moans that reminded him of the fictional horrors seen in zombie movies from his time in the UNSC. Six aimed and fired a shotgun blast point blank into the chest of a grimm that reminded him even more of zombies just from their look. Others tried to claw or grab him but the spartan dove backward while throwing a plasma grenade at the slow stalking horde. He was about to fire a spartan laser at then when the entire horde of grimm screeched. Six tried to withstand the ear splitting scream as he suddenly felt some of his strength seemingly wither away. "So that's what's been happening" he muttered before despawning the shotgun to go for dual energy swords. Six charged at the horde and began to go on a grimm killing spree, swinging just below every pair of red eyes he saw to cut off their heads.

The sound of gunfire drew his attention, followed by another wail from the zombie like grimm that almost forced the spartan to his knees. Six sprung back up and took off to investigate the sound. Six saw his sister, too drained to move as the grimm closed in on her. "RUBY!!!" He shouted, while a blinding light flashed from his eyes.

The grimm howled in pain from the light as he and Ruby suddenly found themselves renewed vigor. The two ran together back to the well. "How do we-ARGH!!!" Ruby screamed as she was picked up and thrown back up the well by her brother.

Six tossed the lamp up as well, right at Rubys feet. "Toss my helmet down and run!"

Ruby looked down as she leaned over the edge to see her brother. "But-"

"DO IT!!!" Six ordered. Ruby disappeared from his sight for a few seconds before her arms came into view and dropped the helmet down. Six caught the helmet and put it on, then pressed a button on the side. He watched as the grimm tossed their heads back to scream, only to hear nothing.

Six smirked at the grimm horde. "Now you're fucked" he said before he pressed another button. One of his songs started to play as he began to slaughter the zombie grimm once more. He threw explosives at posts holding the ceiling as he butchered the creatures of destruction, almost even laughed when he saw a few turn around and tried to frantically run away. When the last post blew the ceiling began to rumble, causing the settlement to bury the spartan alive and kill the grimm.

*walks into room wearing Crash Bandicoot costume* I'M bAaack! If you're wondering what song it is, look up. If you can't access it, look up You're Gonna Go Far Kid by The Offspring.