#shuasharp

“You fear to go into those mines. The dwarves delved too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-dûm... shadow and flame.”

An awesome piece of art by @sthefbooh - Team RWBY in a fantasy setting, going up against, appropriately, a Balrog Grimm!

Pity the Balrog’s still copyrighted by the Tolkien estate. I’d give just about anything to see one of those suckers as a creature of Grimm in the show.

We’ve seen Edelweiss Bloome (and her mama) on one occasion before, but never her old man. So, meet Brandle Azouf, her beloved father!

Thank you to @shuasharp for drawing this!

The first feeling I woke up to was strange. It felt like something was smearing me with something wet, possibly something dirty. I opened my eyes, slowly, to notice Zwei licking me for who knows how long. The puppy was quite excited if you ask me.

“I'm up, I'm up.” I muttered.

As I lifted myself up, Zwei already jumped off the bed. I started to wonder the time. Hopefully not in the middle of the night. I looked at my alarm clock and to be honest, I was amazed. 6:24 in the morning. Zwei woke me up earlier than the time I set. Usually, I wake up half past seven but I guess the dog was eager to start his first day as a pet.

I got out of bed and stretched. It felt like a normal day. The strangest feeling was that I wasn’t sad anymore. I felt peace and happiness. The same feeling I had with Yang except she’s not here with me anymore but this dog saved me from my sorrow.

I quickly did my morning routine and replaced my sleepwear with my black faded jeans and a grey Adidas shirt with green stripes on the shoulder. I fed Zwei with some  cereal since I didn’t have any dog food. I went outside, expecting another newspaper in front of the door. As I bent down to pick up the newspaper, Zwei suddenly bolted past me and ran out of the house.

“Hey-” I called before I realized what he was doing. “Oh…”

He sat on the grass and let out a large dump. I wasn’t able to see how big it was but that had to be cleaned up before someone makes a complaint about a huge shit. After having a shower, I ripped off a page off a notebook and wrote down a list of things to buy. After I finished writing, I looked down and checked.

Milk, cookies, dog food and a long ass list of things I can’t remember.

A few minutes later, I took my black blouson and gloves before tying my hair into a ponytail. I took Zwei with me so I won’t have a small dog become lonely. Plus, he’ll probably beg me to come with me. I opened the garage and took Yang’s motorbike, a Bumblebee 2000. She had always loved this motorbike and the paint job, oh boy. She would talk about it for decades. I opened the tail bag and took out a gold and matte black helmet before putting Zwei in it. After putting the helmet on, I revved the bike and drove out of the garage. The sound was golden and beautiful, reminding me of the ride with Yang at the sunset. As I drove through the streets, I noticed Zwei from the side mirror sticking his tongue out through the strong wind before barking. I chuckled underneath the helmet and headed for the shops.

After an hour of shopping, I made a stop at a gas station to refill my bike. As I refueled the bike, I heard loud hip hop blaring from the speakers. I lifted my head to notice a green Ford sedan heading to the gas station before stopping behind me. I ignored the noise and continued filling up the bike. Zwei peeked out of the bag and stared at the group behind me. The music stopped playing shortly. I decided to turn around and glance at them for a while.

I noticed a group of three men and a woman with green hair and dark skin. One of the men went into the shop while the other guy refilled the car. I didn’t notice the last one since I looked away quickly. I knew people like them would start something I don’t want to get involved.

I could hear them speak Russian with one of them mentioning something in Japanese. Still, I didn’t make a single contact until I heard footsteps coming my way. I turned towards the voice and saw a silver-haired man in a grey leather hoodie with a fully buttoned up shirt and grey jeans. He took a cigarette out of his mouth and blew a line of smoke.

“Nice ride.” The man said.

“Thanks.” I replied, without looking at him.

He stared at the bike and whistled. The guy slapped the front of the bike like a drum. “Bumblebee 2000, huh? She a 70?”

“69.”

From the sounds of it, he sounded astounded. “Beautiful. How much?”

I wasn’t listening when he said that so I turned to him.

“I'm sorry?” I asked.

“The bike. How much is it?” He said, a bit louder.

It sounded like he wanted to buy my bike. I felt a bit baffled with that question. “She's not for sale.”

He didn’t respond afterwards so he walked away, finishing off his smoke as his friends filled theirs. After I finished pumping, I got onto the bike, eager to leave this place. As I slipped my helmet on, the man came back again and petted Zwei who was peeking out of the bag this whole time.

“Aww, cute little doggy.” He said. “Love dogs, ya know.”

I didn’t mind him touching Zwei. However, I felt something was off with that guy.

“Должно быть, хорошая сука, которая подчиняется. (Must be a good bitch that obeys.)” He suddenly said in Russian.

I was shocked. How dare him? Zwei is just a dog and he has the nerve to say something unjust about him? I remained calm despite anger fueling in me.

“Он не сука. (He's no one's bitch.)”

The guy stared at me, surprised I speak the same language. He was about to lunge at me before a voice called.

“Привет! (Hey!)”

He turned around and the green haired woman approached him. She wore a different outfit, compared to that guy trying to be a ghetto, trash gangbanger for a music video.

“Поехали. Мы уходим. (Let's go. We’re leaving.)” The woman demanded, grabbing his arm and pulling him away.

“Позвольте мне просто разобраться с этой сукой. Кем она себя возомнила? (Let me just deal with this bitch. Who does she think she is?)” That silver haired guy said. I could ask the same to him.

“Я сказал, что мы уезжаем! (I said we’re leaving!)”

She shoved the guy away and back to the car. I noticed him scowl at me before walking back to the car. The woman came up to me with a smile.

“My apologies,” she said in English. “Have a good day, ma’am.”

I didn’t respond. She eventually went back to their car. I could hear some argument from the car before loud hip hop concealed it. It was time I left.

I was awoken by loud noises. I lifted myself up and looked around. All I heard was crickets from outside but the loud noise was stirring over it. I noticed something strange. Normally Zwei would be sleeping on the bed but for some reason, he was nowhere to be seen. However, I did hear him bark repeatedly from downstairs.

“What is it now?” I murmured.

I got out the bed and walked through the dark house. As I made my way downstairs, Zwei’s barks become more louder than what I heard.

“Zwei?” I called. “Stop hiding, Zwei.”

I made my way to the living room where it was completely dark and empty. I flicked on the lights, beaming the whole room. I eventually caught a glimpse of Zwei, hiding underneath the dinner table. He was still barking like crazy as if he saw another dog.

“There you are!” I said, approaching him. His barking became even faster and aggressive. “What’re you doing here? You almost gave me a-“

Suddenly, I was smashed in the back of my head. I fell over, onto the wooden floor as pieces of wood sprinkled behind me. I heard Zwei whimpering and glass smashing.

“Найдите ключи. (Find the keys.)” I heard someone ordered.

I tried crawling out of the living room and I saw three hooded men in black, rummaging through my kitchen. I noticed Zwei charge at one of them. My vision blurred as I heard growling and sounds of struggling.

Shortly, I heard a loud bang. I was tired and unable to get up. My vision was almost half closed and through that vision, I noticed one of them approach me. I turned and reached for the broken bat in front of me, only for the man to step on my foot. I cried, almost feeling like my hand was going to snap. He took the bat away and the next thing I knew, I was facing the ceiling. The man bent down and took his mask off. I watched in horror as I stared at the man from the gas station.

Take control of your own destiny. The One Who Parried Death is now out on @webtoon Read it now: https://www.webtoons.com/en/action/the-one-who-parried-death/list?title_no=5207 Animation by me Music by https://www.instagram.com/creativeworksbyjude