Scarlet Queen (Malenia x RWBY)

Chapter 2

What's this? Another chapter? Craaaaaaazy.... Sorry for the delay on this, I had a lot of other ideas that I wanted to put out and so I did. This is gonna be more high up on my priority list since people seem to like it a lot. Anyways, onwards! It might be a bit shorter than last time but hey, it's something.

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Upon waking up, Malenia found herself calming her mind from her dreams. She had dreamed of her loss, of the things she had done, of the people she had killed. And as she sat up, she noticed a door in another part of the room and walked over to it. Entering she found a strange room with what looked like a toilet and some other strange things she didn't recognize. She walked over to this area that seemed to have a clear cover protecting it.

Moving the cover, she found two handles and something she hadn't seen before. A piece of metal ran out of the wall and ended in a flat surface. This surface was covered in holes. She turned one of the handles and water shot out of the metal. Malenia jumped at the sudden noise and she stared at the piece of metal. She undressed and quickly set to work bathing herself, finding the water was very hot, just the way she liked it.

After she finished, she took a towel and dried off. She attached her limbs and grabbed her sword and helmet, being careful not to forget anything. On her way out, she got looks of adoration, curiosity, fear, and something else she couldn't identify.

Malenia left the town and began walking along a dirt path, intent on finding another town or some sort of city. She walked for days, killing black furred beasts and any bandits who were unwise enough to attack. She traveled for days and during that time she recalled stories she had heard from long ago. Stories of The Unkindled and the trials they went through. This helped her overcome some of her challenges, both before and after her 'death'. She finally set up camp and recalled a tale of a tyrant named Gwyn, and how he ushered an age of terror in for the people. It was then she realized that Gwyn and the holders of the Elden Ring were not so different. Both abusing their power for personal gain. She shook off the thought and returned to her food. It was a bit of bread she had bought back in the town, and it was very well made compared to what the bread was like in The Lands In Between. She quickly finished her bread and stood up. Just as she was about to leave she heard a noise she hadn't heard since she arrived. It sounded almost like grunting, but she knew better. She quickly put on her helmet and turned to the sound. What she found confused her for a moment before she remembered. Three tall humanoid figures stood before her, wearing the attire of the bandits that had attacked the town a few days earlier. Malenia thought of the children in the town and mentally kicked herself. The three figures were rotting, and their organs were visible to the outside world. Malenia took care to keep them at a distance and quickly dealt with the threat. Once finished, she began running back towards the village. Once there she found she was already too late. She didn't see too many of the walking corpses but she did see some dead villagers. She quickly set to work on killing the beasts and attempting to save as many of the villagers as possible. She dodged one that lunged at her and quickly cut it in half. Another one tried sneak up on her but she just impaled it before dragging her blade out it's side. Once it fell over dead, she took a look around and saw the massive horde that was on its way to fight her. She smiled and made quick work of the shambling corpses.

Once done, she noticed a few of the villagers coming out from hiding. Some of them went to grieve over those who had died, but Malenia quickly pulled them back.

"Listen, I know you wish to mourn your loved ones, however, if we do not burn their bodies then they will not stay dead for very long" Malenia stated, she made sure her voice was loud enough for most, if not all to, hear.

"What do you mean missus huntress?" A small child asked.

"I mean that they will come back to life as the things that killed them. Gather the bodies in the center of town, I shall burn them" Malenia stated.

"It's quite alright ma'am, we can do this, you've saved us twice now. So it's the least we can do" the innkeeper said.

"No, it is my fault that the putrid corpses came and attacked. I should have been more careful and burned their bodies after using Scarlet Aeonia" Malenia said, a sad look on her face.

"And now, the blood of the Innocent stains my hands once again" she said, but this was more to herself.

"Well, at least you came back when you realized your mistake. That's more than what can be said for the huntsman that was staying here. He just up and left at the first sign of trouble" the innkeeper said.

"And this, huntsman, is supposed to protect the weak?" Malenia asked.

The innkeeper nodded sheepishly.

"Then that would mean he has gone rouge and abandoned his duties. I must hunt him down" Malenia stated calmly, scaring a few of the children at how casually she talks about taking another's life.

"If you need info I can send it to your scroll" the innkeeper said.

"What is your name innkeeper?" Malenia asked.

"Sebastian" he replied.

"I am Malenia, blade of Miquella" Malenia told him.

"Nice to meet you Malenia" 

"As it is to meet you Sebastian. About the information, I do not have one of these, "scrolls" you speak of, if you could just tell me what he looks like then I will deal with him" Malenia said.

"Okay, he has white hair and was wearing an all black suit, his weapon was some sort of rapier. Oh! But be careful, his semblance allows him to teleport short distances" Sebastian said.

"Very well, leave him to me" Malenia said.

"He went off in that direction" Sebastian said, pointing towards the forest.

Malenia set off and worked her way through the forest, killing anything that got in her path. She eventually came across the disintegrating remains of one of the wolf beasts. She took a moment and noted the stab mark on it's chest. She looked around and noticed some broken tree limbs going in a certain direction. She followed them and came across a man that fit the description. He was slowly limping away from another corpse. Malenia walked towards him, making sure not to make so much as a noise.

Once she was right behind him she stood stock still. He hadn't noticed her yet so he just kept on walking.

"You, what is your name" Malenia said.

The man jumped and quickly spun around, he raised his weapon but lowered it seeing that she did not have hers out.

"Why does that matter to you?" The man asked.

"I simply wished to know the name of the one who abandoned their duty to the people" Malenia said, disgust in her voice.

"Listen lady, I don't know who-" the man never finished his sentence, as Malenia had already impaled him.

"In your next life, don't shy away from your duty" Malenia said.

The man's corpse hung lino on her blade, and she flicked it off in disgust. She quickly lit a fire and tossed the corpse on it. Returning to the village, she found that the villagers had done as she asked. She lit the bodies on fire and simply turned away.

"Sebastian, may I purchase a room for the night?" She asked the innkeeper, who had been watching solemnly.

"Yeah, no problem, it's on the house tonight" Sebastian said.

Malenia walked into the inn and quickly found an empty room. She sat down at the desk in the room and set to work cleaning her prosthetics and weapon, unaware that she was being watched...