Three sets of boots crunched in the gravel of the ruined city. The voices, and footsteps, of the owners of those boots were the only sound among the empty, derelict buildings.
"How much she loves it IS the problem, Sleet!" A green-haired woman in reed-like clothes mock-grimaced over her shoulder. "I'm not even kidding here. If I didn't make her, she'd never touch the ground."
Sleet, a black-haired man in a blue-and-mustard, military-cut jacket, just grinned back roguishly. "Sounds like the perfect gift to me, Meadow. You're welcome."
Behind the two, sweeping rose locks from his eyes, the third member of their group snickered into his bare chest. "She actually was asleep on it the last time I came over. Our boys were playing pinball with her as the ball."
Meadow drew up short. "They were WHAT?!"
Sleet's smile disappeared. "Keep your voice down!" He hissed, scanning the surroundings.
She didn't give up, even if she did keep one eye open and speak in a lower tone. "My daughter is not your boys' plaything, Nether!"
The rose-haired man half-smiled, even as he gripped his shotgun. "Didn't think I'd hear that line from you for a couple more years." He twitched as the sound of a falling rock drifted in from a few streets over. "Besides, she plays just as rough with them. When she's, y'know, awake."
The echo of another stone froze all three in their tracks, conversation forgotten. Barely breathing, the three turned until they all faced outwards. Nether's shotgun was up, Sleet had a fully-extended baton in each hand, and Meadow held a cross-hilt dagger in a blade-out reverse grip.
They stayed that was for a full minute, ears straining for another sound. When none came, their tension faded, but didn't disappear.
Nether slung his shotgun over his shoulder. "Guess we're safe."
"NO, YOU'RE NOT!" A squeaky voice called out, its origin lost among the surrounding buildings husks. "WATCH YOUR FEET!"
The trio leapt away just as the asphalt below them crumbled away, a half-dozen Creeps boiling out of the hole.
With a snikt, curved blades popped out of Sleet's batons. He lopped off the head of the head Grimm with a cross slash, then danced away from the biting jaws of its buddy. "Guess the reports of the infestation were accurate."
Barking twice, Nether's shotgun dropped two more. "Yeah, looks like. These are babies though. Still gotta find the Alphas."
Meadow rammed her dagger up under the jaw of her opponent, then kicked its fading body away. "You just had to say that, didn't you? Give it two seconds."
"HERE COMES A BIG ONE!" Their unknown ally called out from her hiding place.
An Alpha Creep, twice the size of its smaller brethren, ripped the hole wider on its way out. Nether pointed his weapon at it and fired off a shell. The Grimm's head lolled to the side a little, but was otherwise unharmed. It turned back to them, snarling.
"FOLLOW ME!"
Meadow, Sleet, and Nether caught a flash of golden-blonde disappear across a walkway further down the boulevard. They bolted after it.
"Works for me."
"Me too."
The Alpha and remaining Omegas gave chase, claws scoring new marks in the broken road.
Meadow still gripped her dagger as she ran. "Where to now?" She called out to empty air.
"STRAIGHT AHEAD, BUT GET READY TO DUCK WHEN I TELL YOU!"
"Yes, ma'am." Sleet quipped, even as he bisected a Creep who'd loped in from a side alley.
They kept running, dodging the snapping jaws that multiplied every second. Nether was forced to fire blindly over his shoulder, unable to stop and aim. A few pained howls let them know he hit a few, but there were always more.
Ahead of them, on top of a dilapidated bridge, a tiny hand waved frantically from over the barrier. "Under here! Stay low!"
The three Huntsmen didn't need telling twice. They scurried underneath, as fast as they could at a crouch. They made it through without trouble.
The Grimm… didn't. When they were halfway under the bridge, a shockwave blasted the overpass down on top of them. The Alpha's body collapsed in on itself as the falling rocks crushed it, while the Omegas simply disappeared under slabs of concrete.
Covering themselves until the dust settled, the three stared at the mess that'd been caused by their chase.
Sleet found his voice first. "The hell happened?"
Short legs wrapped around his neck, planting him into the ground. Sitting on his back, a dark-skinned girl in dusty robes smiled down at him. "That was me. Sorry about jumping on you." She rubbed her right wrist. "Couldn't climb down. I hurt my hand punching the bridge."
Meadow exchanged a look with Nether, before crouching down to eye level with the blonde-haired girl. "You punched the bridge?"
The waif tucked her arm into her robes to keep it still. "Yeah, read it in a book. I've been practicing. Had to, anyway, ran out of poppers a while back."
"'Poppers'?"
"Yeah, little balls from cases with a big snowflake on 'em, lots of bang when they go off."
"Dust grenades." Sleet heaved himself off the ground, pausing to let the girl hop off him first, then brushed himself down. "You read how to bridgepunch in a book?"
Flashing a bright smile, the girl nodded. "Sure, I'll show you. Lemme take you to my house."
Meadow, Sleet, and Nether stared out at the sunset from a hole-where-a-wall-should-be in the 17th floor of a busted apartment building. The room they were standing in bore little in the way of furniture: just a bundle of blankets and wraps on a battered couch, and a few cans of food neatly stacked in the corner.
"Airy." Nether remarked.
Meadow slugged him in the arm. "Knock it off!" She whispered, before turning back to their host, who was returning from a side alcove. "You live here? Where's your family?"
The girl's big olive eyes dropped slightly, but she covered it with a shrug. "It's just me. Means I can stay up as long as I want." She held the book out to Sleet. "Here, look at my book!"
"Uh… thanks." He took the book, helplessly flipping a few pages.
Meadow looked again at the hole. "Are you safe here?"
Nodding, the dark-skinned child scampered over and pulled at a screen in the corner, stretching it until it almost covered the entire gap. "Yeah, the only Grimm here are those ones you fought, no fliers. They can't climb up here." Blinking rapidly, the girl hopped in place. "Hey, I just realised something. I don't know your names!"
Smiling at the sudden topic change, something she was quite familiar with from her own daughter, Meadow pointed at each of the three in turn. "He's Nether Shiko, that's Sleet Hori, and I'm Meadow Chloris." She held out a hand for the girl to shake. "Thank you for saving us. What's your name?"
"I'm Arslan Altan."
The next week, the three Huntsmen stood again in the 'house' of the little scavenger, trying and failing to hold back smiles as Arslan hiccup'd.
Meadow rubbed her back. "I told you not to drink it all so fast. It's too fizzy."
Arslan still clutched the bottle. "But it's so good! I haven't had any since I can't remember when."
Sleet sat down and offered the girl some chocolate. "How long have you been out here?"
She was already tearing into the foil wrapping. "A while. Missed a few birthdays… I think. I don't have one of those calendar thingies."
Nether, leaning against the wall, raised an eyebrow. "How old are you?"
"Eight… maybe." She replied, around a big bite.
Meadow and her partners looked at each other, all feeling a slight lump in their chests. She's that young? And she's out here by herself?
Nether found his voice first. "Hey, Arslan? Wouldn't you like to come back to Mistral with us?"
Arslan stiffened.
"We could find you a place to stay? People to look after you?"
The young girl sniffed once, then stood up, eyes hardening. "I don't need looking after. I can take care of myself. I saved you, remember!"
The topic of Arslan leaving was only brought up once more during their visits, then quickly abandoned. It proved to be the one thing that the girl wouldn't talk about. Anything and everything else was fair game, and she loved to talk. So long as they respected her independence, she was happy to see Meadow, Sleet, and Nether.
And the snacks they brought.
A few weeks on, a vicious storm wracked Anima, shutting the schools and businesses, and causing vast swaths of disruption across Mistral and the surrounding areas.
In the Chloris household, one innocent question from her hover-loving child kept Meadow Chloris from sleep.
"Is Arslie gonna be okay?"
Heart nonetheless warmed by her daughter's nicknaming of a girl she'd never met, Meadow fretted throughout the evening, until finally making a decision.
With Sleet and Nether watching over all three of the kids, Meadow raced through the cold and rain to the ruined city, and its population of one.
Reaching the apartment building, barely visible through the rain, she took the stairs three at a time, until she reached the 17th floor. "Arslan? Are you there?"
The response was immediate. "Meadow?" Arslan appeared from her 'house', wrapped tightly in a worn and threadbare blanket. "What are you doing here?"
Relieved that the girl was safe, she allowed herself a deep breath. "I… was worried. The storm's pretty bad outside. I didn't want you to be scared."
"I'm not scared." Thunder flashed through the hole-screen. "B-but if you want to stay tonight, you can. It's wet out."
Yes, it is. Meadow smiled and shed her waterproof cloak. "Yeah, it's wet. If you're okay with it, I'd like to stay tonight."
"Okay, but I get the couch. My house, my rules."
It was barely an hour before Arslan crawled into Meadow's arms, and stayed there until she fell asleep.
In the morning, with the storm passed, Meadow decided to try again to get Arslan to come back with her. Booting up her Scroll, she loaded up her favourite image. "Hey, Arslan, wanna see a picture of my daughter and her friends?"
The girl's olive eyes lit up when she saw it. "Hey, she's got the same hair you do."
Chuckling along with the girl, Meadow nodded, which set her green hair bobbing. "Yeah, she does. And you can see a resemblance between Sleet, Nether, and their boys, too." Arslan was still looking at the Scroll, so she nudged her shoulder. "I think the kids'd like you, if you wanted to meet them."
The girl's cheeks puffed up. "I told you I'm fine here."
Worth a shot. "Well, okay. How about this? In a few weeks, their school will be finished, and it'll be summer break. We can bring them here, instead. You can spend a whole day with them. How does that sound?"
"...I guess that's okay."
The day before summer break brought a very unwelcome surprise: A blanket summons for any available Huntsmen. Meadow, Sleet, and Nether crammed into overheated briefing rooms with dozens of other Huntsmen, to be presented with a sudden overabundance of work.
Nether grimaced at the job boards, mapped out zone by zone for surrounding areas. "Are you seeing this?"
Sleet followed the information with a finger, his expression darkening with every word. "'Massive increase in Nevermore and Gryphon Grimm activity around Mistral'."
"Fliers…" Meadow finished, heart in her chest.
Nether found the job he'd been searching for, and ripped it off the board. "Let's go get her."
Sleet was already calling for a transport with his Scroll. "And this time, we're not taking no for an answer."
Finishing the text to her sitter, to tell them that she was going to be late home, Meadow kept pace with her partners. "We're coming, Arslan."
A strangled cough sprayed red across the ground.
Dragging her shattered leg, Meadow doggedly kept going, even as the smoke drifted past from behind her. Have to find her. Have to bring her home. Repeating that mantra kept her mind from focusing on the pain, on the sensation of losing sensation in one body part after another.
The Grimm had found them at the limits of Arslan's city, swarming the transport en masse. They'd done their best to fight them off, but it had been no use. Her aura had held out just long enough for her to be thrown clear of the crashing ship.
Sleet and Nether hadn't been as lucky.
The Grimm were still there, crowing and circling overhead. She lacked the strength to lift her head, but felt each buffeting wind as they swooped lower and lower. Soon, the monsters would tire of the game, and finish what they started.
She had to find Arslan first. She could just about make out the building that the girl had made her home. Were she healthy, it'd be the work of moments to reach it, but in her dying state she could barely see it through the grey in her vision.
Stay inside, sweetie. Stay out of sight.
"Meadow?"
No! There she was, crouched in the shadows on the third floor, watching both Huntress and Grimm at the same time. Arslan's olive eyes were glistening with tears, her entire body trembling as she wavered between fight or flight.
The growing sound of the Grimm's shrieks made the decision for both women.
Lifting her dagger, Meadow wedged her Scroll into the empty Dust slot, then aimed the point over Arslan's shoulder. She hit the trigger, and the blade shot forward on a white wire. It embedded in the wall just past Arslan.
The younger girl stared at it wide-eyed, before turning back to watch pleadingly.
Don't be scared, Arslan. Meadow feathered the retract button, then let go of the handle, watching it shoot forward to join the tip by the little girl's side.
Scroll, and the precious memories it held, safely delivered, Meadow turned to face the oncoming swarm of Grimm. She found her voice long enough for one final order. "Stay hidden, Arslan. Don't come closer."
Grasping the rope-dagger to her beating chest, the girl could only watch.
Grunting with exertion, Meadow raised her arms, drawing the Grimm in. In each hand, she held a 'popper', as Arslan had so-adorably called them. My daughters have a playdate, and it's not gonna be stopped by the likes of you beasts. Come get me.
One month had passed since the sudden Grimm swarm, and the combined forces of Mistral's huntsmen had driven them off. In the capital city itself, a dark-skinned girl walked up to the front desk of a police station in Mistral, dagger on her hip, and a book tucked under her arm. In her free hand, she held a Scroll. It displayed a picture of three children: two boys, one with black hair and the other with pink, and a green-topped girl on a hoverboard.
"Excuse me," Arslan Altan began, voice devoid of emotion. "Can you please help me find Reese Chloris?"