"The Catalyst" : A Yang Xiao Long AU! #RWBYWATTYS

Vol.2 / Chapter 9 : "The Demon Spider"

The trio of half siblings ran as quickly as they could, Ruby obviously moving twice as quick as the other two.

"Run! Don't stop running! It'll give up soon!" Rei shouted.

"No, really Einstein?  I was planning on running back that way." Yang jokingly replied.

"Run you idiot!"

---

Some time later, the trio tiredly sat down, surrounding a small flame they had lit.

"Well, glad that's over with." Yang stated after the silence began to unease her.

"Yeah! Great job running guys!" Ruby pointed two thumbs up, smiling brightly. She was making fun of them, as they were both exhausted but Ruby could continue to run forever.

"Shut up." Rei replied simply. A sudden move in the branches attracted his attention.

"No way." Rei breathed, launching from his seat. Before he could move, Yang had already been taken by a white string-like material.

"What!? Yang!?" Ruby exclaimed.

"It's the silk of the Black Gate Demon Spider that spews from its mouth. By circling the silk around its tongue, it can fire the silk in many different ways. One of them is a lasso." Rei stated.

"So is she.... Dead?" Ruby whimpered.

"I'd have to guess it's looking for a host." Rei replied.

"A host?"

"A host for its children to devour."

---

Rei and Ruby followed the small trail of destruction, probably created when the Demon Spider dragged Yang. Somewhere along the way, Yang had fallen unconscious due to being hit by a hard object. They could tell, as the shotgun barrels ceased after a large broken tree limb lied on the grubs in front of them.

Rei quickly assessed the situation, recalling all of his memory on the Demon Spider.

"Demon Spiders in general are rare, so the fact that we found the largest Demon Spider ever known is crazy. The Blake Gate Demon Spider is called Black Gate because it's home-web looks like a Black Gate. It's skin is hard to pierce, not even a rank 90 Huntsman would want to encounter a Black Gate Demon Spider as they are also venomous." Rei said to himself.

"So what was that about a host?" Ruby asked one more time.

"The Black Gate Demon Spider will poison Yang once they reach their home-web. The poison takes seven days to fully destroy the organs but still keep the freshness of the organs. But there's still something I don't get...." Rei trailed.

"Okay, and that is?"

"He one that took Yang was female. The male is supposed to get a suitable host."

"How do you know it's female?"

"Females have eight red eyes. Males have six." As soon as the words left Rei's mouth, a blood curdling roar was heard.

"Wha... What was that?"

"It's coming. The male. Ruby. Run back and bring Qrow and Popsin." Rei ordered.

"You're not coming with?"

"I'll only slow you down. I can buy you time. Go. Now." Rei said, turning his body to face the roar.

"But-"

"No buts! Hurry and go!" Rei said, pausing slightly. He looked at her, only tilting hid head at her.

"I'm just afraid that, even if I die, I won't be able to save you and Yang." He stated, tears already forming in his eyes. Ruby nodded, quickly turning around and preparing to leave. Before she could, the Male Demon Spider appeared and attempted to slash Rei in half with one of t's razor-sharp legs. Rei countered by placing both arms to his left, allowing the sharp leg to break his aura and sink itself into his flesh.

"Gah! Fuck, that hurts! Go, Ruby!" Rei shouted again.

"But you-"

"Run!" Rei quickly jumped back, releasing his arm from the bladed leg. He quickly jumped forward, then used his semblance for the first time: his right arm had what looked like a dark flame with red linings covering it, greatly increasing his physical strength. He landed a solid punch to the beast's head, sending the beast reeling back slightly.

"Go Rei!" Ruby cheered. She thought Rei had won, that they were safe and that they could find Yang.

She never realized the Demon Spider wasn't finished yet.

"Ruby. Run." Rei breathed, clearly exhausted from using all of his strength in that one attack.

"Wha-? But why?" Ruby asked again. She looked at his right arm, the arm that had made contact with the Demon Spider.

His knuckles were bleeding, and his arm was shaking from the pain he'd felt.

"Run, Rubes. Please." Rei said strongly. Ruby complied quickly, running as fast as she could.

"Now, it's just you and me pal." Rei said as the demon spider rose once more, roaring again and charging Rei.

"You're in my way!" Rei shouted, activating his semblance and charging once again.