Beyond the Edge
The sun worked its way above the horizon to carry forth the start of another day. Stars dimmed and dropped out of view as the sky took on lightening hues of gray. Once vibrant colors of a sunrise seemed subdued now, as though the atmosphere had been affected by the sorrow that hung over the shattered remains of Vale.
Day came as it always has, people across the kingdoms began to rise and get ready to go to work. It was no different for the Atlesian military or the huntsmen in training, today entailed another long day of pushing back the endless hordes of Grimm. Swarms of the retched black beasts were being slowly driven out of the city and back into the wilderness.
The teams that were still intact had been gathered together in Atlas and were moved out to areas of high Grimm concentration in the effort to retake Vale. CFVY, SSSN, and FANG were now camped in the trees on the northern edge of the city.
Gil woke up and rubbed the dirt from his eyes, running a hand over his chin he felt the thin beard that came with a lack of regular shaving. His eyes ached and the layer of dust that covered his face wasn't helping matters. He cast a bloodshot gaze at his teammate who was stirring the coals of their campfire attempting to coax a flame back to life to warm himself.
"Awake at first light right?" Gil greeted.
"I prefer to operate at night." Adler replied laying some kindling on the developing fire, in the orange glow Gil could see Adler was also sporting a layer of scruff, his trademark Mohawk and face paint both long gone.
"You look like I feel."
"Yeah and you look like hammered shit." Adler countered, their brief exchange was enough for Noir to crack open an eyelid and leave the realm of sleep. She sat up and searched around, her location and situation slowly coming back to her.
"Fuck I wanted this to be a dream."
"Good morning to you too." Gil said handing her his canteen of water.
"Shut up." She replied cracking a faint smile. Adler stood and walked over to the mountain that was their leader, kicking him lightly caused the pile to roll over start groaning. The beast of a man stood up and looked at his team, his beard was long and filthy and his hair was matted down with dirt and sweat. Feuer yawned and briefly flashed set of yellowed teeth, it had been over a month since any of them had seen a shower or had a chance to groom themselves.
While they were getting ready for another day of combat on limited food and even less sleep a uniformed Atlesian soldier came by carrying a stack of papers with orders for the students.
"Hey chief when are they going to pull us out of this shit?" Adler asked taking the note, the officer ignored him and continued down the line to the team SSSN's camp. Once Gil had finished reading the single piece of paper aloud everyone began to groan and mutter under their breath. Today was the big push and their job was to infiltrate the city and take the central business district. They were leading the charge back into Vale.
"Great, just great. Run us around these woods for what four weeks and then tell us to take the city too. What are they thinking?" Adler hollered to the group.
"Resources are thin, they're using what they have." Noir commented inspecting her weapon. Adler took a breath and began an impression of the major that lead them on this journey.
"Now remember boys, give me three days and three nights of hard fightin' and you will be relieved!" He shouted, receiving a halfhearted chuckle from Feuer. "Another thing to remember boys, flies spread disease. So keep yours closed!" The huntsmen packed their equipment and got ready to move, trekking their way down into the very edge of the city.
Crumbled streets and rubble where buildings once stood was the greeting they received upon entering the city that they knew so well. Team CFVY fanned right and began to work west heading towards the main avenue while team SSSN cut left and maneuvered down the few alleyways that were still accessible. That left FANG to wander down the deserted row of shops looking for monsters to eradicate, cautiously moving forward they all scanned for any movement. The silence was deafening.
Perhaps Adler had been right, for over a month the fighting had been relentless and the students desperately needed a break. While battling the Grimm was physically taxing, it was the periods spent on high alert trying to sense the beasts that might not be there that were exhausting. Everyone's nerves had been worn raw and the stress was beginning to show.
Coming down a crumbled sidewalk to an abandoned café the door shattered and a single Boarbatusk came barreling down the street, charging directly at Gil. The sniper shouldered his rifle and began emptying shells into the creature's head not bothering to move out of the beast's path. Striking the Grimm with the butt of his weapon flipped it onto its back and Feuer calmly drew his sword. Grasping the pommel he thrust the blade through the beast and into the ground beneath, eliciting a short squeal before turning to ash.
The commotion brought a pair of Ursas to investigate that were quick to attack Feuer and Noir. Gil jumped back behind into a garden behind a house. Adler was slammed with a stray slash and was knocked back into the garden with Gil, recovering from the shock the trooper jumped up next to the sniper and caught his breath.
"Damn it." Adler said holding his side.
"Where the fuck is CFVY? Where'd everybody go?" The normally polite Gil shouted over the roar of the fight.
"I have no idea!" Adler hollered back to the man pinned against the wall next to him.
"Suppress and move!" Gil yelled out and reloaded his rifle, Adler turned from the corner of the building and began to spray down the street, taking the pressure off Noir and Feuer. At the same time Gil rolled into the middle of the street and engaged the closest monster placing two rounds directly through the creature's red lifeless eyes. Reaching into his satchel Adler retrieved a small black bag, removing the cap he lobbed it directly in front of the other Ursa.
"Gammon out." He screamed causing Noir and Feuer to scramble back as fast as they could before the charge detonated and scattered pieces of Grimm across the street. By now the other two teams had arrived at the source of the noise and prepared for a larger opponent. The hunters in training agreed to stay together and began moving as a single unit through the rest of the shopping district.
"How far are we going?" Sun whined.
"Until they tell us to stop." Feuer replied.
"There's high ground up ahead, we'll go until we reach it." Yatsuhashi said softly.
"Ok genius. Answer me this, how come we are the only group that's either at the front leading and advance or like now exposed at the far edge of the line?" Neptune complained.
"To keep you on your toes." Coco sarcastically answered.
"What he's saying is we're never in the middle, and we're the third to fifth of nine teams. NDGO to BRNZ. Not to mention the three regiments of Atlesian soldiers that are here with us." Adler elaborated with an irritated edge to his tone.
Coming to a rise the team could see a fair distance down the street and at the far avenue stood a pack of Ursas. Gil stepped out into the center of the perforated street and slung his weapon.
"Let's not provoke them." Noir offered softly to Feuer, the students began to retreat away from the pack, but Gil remained on the top of the hill.
"Hey you! That's right, you stupid Grimm bastards! That's right! Say hello to FANG, and team fuckin' CFVY! You stupid evil pigs! Look at you! You are nothing! What were you thinking? Dragging our asses across the kingdoms, interrupting our lives… For what, you malevolent, servile scum! What the fuck are we doing here?"
A single Ursa stopped and looked up the boulevard at Gil.
"Back away and leave them be." Adler whispered sternly. Gil raised his weapon and fired blindly down the street causing the whole pack to stop in their tracks and come barreling after him. The three teams went scrambling down the street and split off into several decaying houses. The Grimm stampeded down the street without noticing they had passed the humans they were perusing. Everyone stayed put until night had fallen and the first uniformed soldiers entered the area.
This was done just to work in some references, please let me know what you think. I appreciate anything you have to say.