A Grimmful Adventure
Prologue II: The Twins
(Three months and night before Prologue I) A few miles south of Vale's barrier in a recently abandoned town, two teens, a boy and a girl were walking through the town looking for something. The night sky in a ruined town wasn't exactly welcoming to any stranger as the two walked through the deserted wreckage.
The girl was about an inch shorter than Blake's height with pale white skin, shoulder-length light red hair mostly kept tied back with the bangs braided and tied off with small yellow ribbons and sapphire blue eyes. She was sporting a dark grey tube top with a blood orange colored long sleeve crop jacket fitted with dark brown leather shoulder pads and leather stitching around the flaps which she kept the sleeves rolled up to her armpits. She also wore dark grey colored cargo pants with a brown leather belt and dark orange platform shoes with a slight quarter of an inch height added to the heel to make herself appear taller.
On her back was a silver metal mechanical long bow with a folding handle about a foot long in length and folding bladed limbs on the outside while the inner side of the bow was smooth so it wouldn't cut the drawstring. Right now she had it folded up into a one and a half foot long short sword fit inside a specially made black leather scabbard which she kept tied to her rear with the handle pointing out of her left side. Along that was a sheathed small combat dagger which she kept strapped to her right thigh.
Her dark orange quiver however was something very special. Despite it being custom made for her, while it carried her arrows it had a special feature. Inside the base of her quiver was a special container with three smaller containers inside it to house three types of dust. With that she can enhance her arrows with whatever type of dust she uses thanks to a specialized gold wrist guard on her right hand. On it were a single dial, a screen and a few buttons that was synced to her quiver.
The boy was about the same height as her except that his hair was a little darker and it was styled like a spiky Mohawk. The Mohawk was about two inches long with loose strands flopping around. The base of his Mohawk at the back is his head was about a foot long which he kept tied in a ponytail. The rest of the hair around the Mohawk he kept buzzed down if nothing but a little fuzzy.
He wore a dark yellow hoodie with light grey t-shirt with the logo for Signal on the front. He was also wearing dark/nearly black pair of green cargo pants. He also had on brown combat steel-toed boots. He also had a silver dog tag necklace with the name of an unknown man's name on it around his neck.
His weapon of choice however was a pair of silver colored steel gauntlets with reinforced knuckles for extra punching strength that reached up to his elbows. But that wasn't his only weapon, attacked to his forearms were a set of round straight shields about the same length as Pyrhha's but completely round, full metal with a razor sharp bladed edge about a quarter-of-an-inch thick. It didn't look like much but they were actually magnetized to each gauntlet by a device built into the out forearm and a magnetized disk built into both shields.
The place they were walking around used to be a small town that was filled with like until a group of Grimm attacked almost four months ago in the middle of the night. Not the place was nothing but broken houses of torn up streets. They noticed large claw marks dug into some houses and the streets with little signs of battle around them. This town used to be inhabited by farmer as there were signs of dirt dug up and turned into fresh soil as well as compost piles.
They walked around the tow for about an hour when the sister started to get aggravated. She turned towards her brother and gave him a harsh look. But he didn't mind it as he just wondered where whatever they were looking for was.
"This is a wild goose chase," the sister barked at her brother.
"She said it should be here," the brother defended, causing his sister to get annoyed.
"I don't know what you see in her anyway Lyle, she's a stupid liar," his sister said harshly. Her brother stopped and turned to face her.
"What's your problem with her sis, Cindy's really cool?" Lyle angrily asked.
"Cause she only sent us here so she can cheat on you with that guy from our class while you're not here," she bluntly utter while showing her dislike for his girlfriend by spitting after she mentioned cheating. She really hated his girlfriend because she knew what she was the moment he started dating her.
Lyle sighed in disappointment, not for his sister hating on his girlfriend but the fact that he knew what she was when he started dating her. He heard stories about her cheating ways with some other guys from his class. As much as he knew that it was true, he wanted it to be wrong.
"I guess I'm gonna be breaking up with her when we get back," Lyle said in dismay. He looked around some more and noticed broken pitchforks and pieces of splintered bone and torn clothing. "I heard this place was ravaged by six Ursa's. By the time anyone from Vale got here it was already too late."
"That's because none of the people living here knew how to fight," his sister said harshly. "The only protection they had were a few drunken soldiers instead of any real huntsman or huntress."
"Can't argue with you there Serena," said Lyle while looking at one of the houses. "I'd hate to think what these people went through before."
They were almost at the edge of town when Serena heard a low growl around them. She reached down with her left hand and grabbed the handle of her short sword. Lyle noticed what she was doing. He balled his hands into fists, bent his knees to lower his butt to the ground a little and bent his arms so that his fists pointed forward and his elbows pointing towards the ground.
Serena pulled her short sword and converted it to bow form. With her right hand, she reached over her shoulder and grabbed and arrow. She slowly began to pull one out when she heard a low growl again. She had the arrow halfway between her quiver and bow when she heard footsteps.
Suddenly a loud stomp shook the ground beneath their feet. They looked over into the darkness of one of the buildings that had its door ripped off its hinges. Inside the darkness they saw burning red eyes. Serena nocked the arrow and quickly pulled back on the drawstring while Lyle turned towards another building and found more red eyes.
"How many we got?" Serena asked Lyle.
"I see one more…..make that two more," said Lyle. Another pair of red eyes appeared on the room of another building. This time he could see the Beowolf glaring down at him. "Beowolves!"
"I hate Beowolves," Serena exclaimed with disdain.
"Then I'll go first," Lyle said, stepping forward.
He slowly turned his body counterclockwise with his right arm held up to protect his chest and his left raised backwards. Before the Beowolves could figure what was going on, Lyle threw his left arm forward, causing the bladed disk to fly off his forward towards the Beowolf on the rooftop. The blade of the shield sliced through its waist, causing its upper torso to fly off with the shield landing on the other side.
It didn't take long for Lyle's second Beowolf to come out of the shadows charging towards him. He threw his second shield over his head as the creature brought its clawed fingers down on top of him. Its claws scrapped off his shield with an ear bleeding sound which cause him to shutter. He pushed his shield into the creature's chest, causing it to stumble back. He finished it off by punching it in the gut and then using his bladed shield to decapitate it.
Serena shot her arrow as it impaled it right between the eyes. She drew and nocked another arrow, the battle has just begun as more Beowolves began to appear around them. Lyle withdrew back to his sister's side. He raised up his right arm, showing a blue gem with a gold ring around it. He balled his fist up and motioned his wrist inwards, causing the device to activate. The shield suddenly appeared barreling towards him until it stopped and connected back to the gauntlet.
Serena shot and killed an oncoming Beowolf just in time as Lyle twirled around her and blocked an oncoming slash attack. She saw this opportunity and quickly turned her bow back to sword mode and stabbed the Beowolf that Lyle blocked. But two more Beowolves came and tried to slash at then but the duo were quick to put them down.
The battle seemed easy for the experienced duo until more and more Beowolves started to show up. Serena turned her weapon back to bow mode. But instead of reaching for another arrow; she put her bow in her right hand and started messing with her wrist guard. A small light on the screen appeared while she messed with the buttons until a red icon and a gauge meter appear. She grabbed the dial and started spinning it until she noticed something that wasn't good news.
"I'm low on red dust!" Serena yelled in outrage, causing her brother to quickly look at her in shock.
"I thought you said that you bought more!" Lyle yelled.
"I did….that stupid guy gave me garbage!" Serena yelled back in rage.
A Beowolf jumped out of the shadows with its claws ready to get Serena. She couldn't react in time but Lyle used one shield to deflect the its attack and the other to bash it in the face. Serena pulled out her knife and finished off the Beowolf. She didn't want to admit her worry about failing to check her dust reserves but the fight wasn't over.
"So you don't have any left?" Lyle asked.
"No, I only had enough money to buy red dust and I'm out of yellow and blue," Serena replied, putting her bow back in her left hand and reaching for another arrow.
Serena closed her eyes for a second as Lyle defended against another attack. The second she opened them back up, her irises changed from blue to silver. She nocked another arrow and shot it, hitting a Beowolf that was hidden in shadows. Just as she did, a Beowolf snuck up behind her. That is, until it tried to attack she turned around with lightning fast speed and slashed at it with the bladed limb. Lyle stepped in and slashed at its legs; causing it to collapse before decapitating it like a guillotine.
Four more Beowolves came out of the shadows as Lyle and Serena were prepared. Serena shot one in the chest, ending its rain of terror while Lyle threw his right gauntlet shield and took out another. Serena nocked another arrow but just as she was turning, a Beowolf caught her by surprise and scratched her left arm. She managed to slice it with a limb blade from her bow before Lyle finished it off with his bladed shield.
Serena's eyes changed back to their normal color, but something was off. Suddenly her bow hit the dirt as she clutched her head with both hands. She was wincing in pain as something was happening. On the outside of her upper left arm were deep scratch marks from the Beowolf's claw. However what she was experiencing was an excruciatingly painful migraine.
Lyle could hear Serena's painful groans when he turned to see her holding her head trying to ignore the pain the best she could. He looked around to see more and more Beowolves still hidden as the one that was left from the attack retreated back to observe what was happening.
"Sis….sis?" Lyle asked in alarm. He turned and rushed to her side when she fell to her knees. He noticed the scratches in her arm as he wrapped his arms around her to keep her from falling over. "You shouldn't have used your powers, not like this!"
"I had..groan…to see them," She answered.
"How many did you see?" he asked, looking around at the groups of red eyes staring at them.
"A few dozen…groan…I think…nngghh...this sucks," she exclaimed.
They saw their moment and emerged from the shadows, revealing a few dozen of hungry Beowolves. Lyle stood up and called his other shield to his side. He was clearly outmatched but his still held his ground. His shield returned and connected to his gauntlet and took his stance. Knowing what would happen, he had to try to fight them off long enough for his sister to get back on her feet.
The beasts surrounded him and charged with fangs ready to taste the kill. Lyle raised his bladed shields up ready for the fight. He took in one last breath when they were just a few feet away. The ground shook under his feet as the end was almost here. He felt the cold chill in his spine telling him that the end was near.
Suddenly a mysterious figure garbed in black appeared in front of Lyle. Before Lyle could even breathe, with lightning fast speed the man pulled out a strange looking sword. Time seemed to have stopped as the man swung the shining silvery blade. As if cutting the air itself, the blade sliced through the entire first row of beasts with the shockwave finishing off the rest behind them. When the air settled, the beast's upper and lower torso's separated; falling to the man's feet to mark the end of the fight.
Lyle stood paralyzed from the shock as the man just stood there looking at the results of his actions. The sword in his hand turned into a cloud of black smoke that seemed to seep inside his hand. The eerie feeling in the air suddenly vanished with a new chill hitting the twins from the man's sudden appearance.
The man started to turn when Lyle boldly tried to attack the strange. He quickly dodged and tripped the kid in a single motion, causing Lyle to hit the ground. He quickly rolled onto his back as he saw the stranger towering over him. The man wore a black trench coat with a red sash tied around his waist with black cargo pants and black combat boots. His head was wrapped in what looked like black dyed bandages. The only thing Lyle could see of the man's face was his red eyes and a little pale white skin around them.
"You should learn to thank someone who saved you hide," The man lectured him.
"I didn't need help," Lyle replied as he was getting up.
"Okay," the man said without a care. Serena picked up her bow and stood up. The man noticed her walking up to them. "Looks like you're feeling better miss." She replied by scoffing at the man. He looked at her bleeding arm and saw the scratches from the Beowolf's claw. "Pretty nasty scratch you got, you should get that checked out before it gets infected."
"I don't need advice on taking care of my body," Serena rudely said to the man.
"Just trying to be helpful," the man replied calmly as he turned around and started walking away. He walked about a few feet before he stopped and turned his head to look back at them. "I wouldn't suggest on staying here either, more of them are sure to come." He looked forward and got back to leaving.
Lyle quickly noticed a small light brown satchel on the ground where the man stood when he saved them. Lyle jumped to his feet, grabbed the satchel and ran towards the man.
"Wait…you dropped this!" Lyle shouted to the man. He stopped and turned around to see Lyle holding the satchel out to hand it back to him. He placed a gentle hand against the front of the satchel and kindly nudged it towards him.
"You'll need that more than I do," the man said while glancing over at Lyle's sister.
Lyle undid the small buckle on the flap of the satchel and looked inside. Inside it was a small bottle of alcohol, a sterile curved needle in a sealed plastic wrapper, a roll of thick stitching thread, a small sealed bag of cotton balls, a sealed bag of gauze, a small bottle of antiseptic gel, a small bottle of a numbing spray, two rolls of bandages, a lighter, a pair of fold up scissors, a bag of clean disposable rags and a bottle of water. Not only that but the kicker was that it had a piece of cylinder shaped wood for the patient to bite down on.
Lyle looked through the contents wondering if it was really okay to use them. He was okay with stuff like this but he knew that his sister was terrible with these kinds of things. He looked at his sister for a moment thinking about what he was taught. It wasn't too serious but it was deep enough to require stitching. Plus you never know what's on their claws so he couldn't take the risk of it getting infected.
"Thank you," he politely said with a bow. He turned around and walked up to his sister. She looked at the man for a moment as he was about to look her in the eyes before she turned her head away. He pulled off his gauntlets and sat them on the ground meaning he was ready to start.
He grabbed the bottle of numbing spray and gave her arm a quick spray. She flinched a little from the cold spray but after a little her upper arm started to feel a little numb. Soon after he grabbed the rag and bottle of water and proceeded to wet most of the rag while saving a large corner for the alcohol. He cleaned up the blood and any dirt from the cuts without his sister getting upset because the spray worked on numbing it. Last after that, he dabbed a little alcohol on the corner he saved and finished cleaning up each cut.
After the cuts were cleaned he tossed the rag on the ground and grabbed the needle and thread. The stranger stayed close by and watched Lyle tend to his sister while staying out of his way unless he wanted some help. He threaded the needle and proceed to sew her up. It took only a few minutes but he finished while using the fold up scissors after tying the knots. He finished by applying some antiseptic gels and rolled half a roll of bandages around the now cleaned and stitched up wound.
The man stared at Lyle's work; admiring his attentiveness and calm manner.
"That's pretty good," the man complemented Lyle.
"Thanks" Serena muttered. She didn't sound too happy but Lyle let it be for her sake. If they could see it, the man was smiling under his bandages.
"Are you both okay?" the man asked.
"Yeah," Lyle answered.
"I'm fine," Serena answered, this time sounding a little more appreciative.
"So what are you gonna do now if I may ask?" the man curiously asked.
"We're going home," Serena answered the man, this time sounding more hasted as she grabbed her brother's hand and started pulling him.
Lyle quickly pulled away to grab his gauntlets. He managed to get them on as eight lines appeared on each shield. Similar to looking like pieces of pizza just sliced, each piece began to slide in a circle. The man stared in wonder when the shield started to move backwards until it laid perfectly over the outer forearm. Each piece slid into this one piece until it was just one piece. When it was down, the retracted shield looked like a single slice of pizza attached to his other forearm.
"Did you make that yourself?" the man asked.
"Yeah I did, I think I went a little overboard on the gauntlet length," Lyle said while staring down at his left gauntlet.
"You always go overboard little brother," Serena said with a mean chuckle.
"I'm only younger by a few minutes!" He snapped back at his sister. Suddenly they heard the man laughing quietly to himself. "What's so funny?"
"It's nothing, you just remind me of a brother and sister I met years ago, they were twins just like you," said the reminiscing man. "Always arguing about age difference if only by a matter of minutes. What was most intriguing is that they bickered over and over again but at the end of the day, they found a way to laugh about it." The man pulled out a silver pocket watch and stared at the time. "I'm sorry but I gotta go, sorry I can't stay any longer." He turned around and started to walk away but stopped about ten feet away. "Where are you two heading if I may ask?" Lyle didn't see the arm in answering but his sister quickly blew the man off.
"We don't tell men who hide their faces," Serena answered blunt and rudely. But the man didn't seem to mind, he was more intrigued by her constant attitude towards him.
"Fair enough," the man replied. "Keep that satchel in case you need it for the future, it never hurts to be careful after all." He began to walk away but stopped after a few steps and turned to face them. "You can call me Dex if you want a name." he turned back around and waved goodbye to them. "I'd also recommend checking out Beacon if you have some spare time. Who knows, you might like it. I'll tell military about this spot. And if you want, talk to the owner of the dust shop. The guy owes me a favor so he'll be happy to give you a nice discount if you mention my name and that I'm calling in my favor."
"What'd you do?" Serena asked with intrigue.
"A group of bandits snagged up a fresh shipment of dust that he was supposed to get so I helped him get them back," said Dex, sounding more mysterious about it. "You could say that the police had a field day trying to figure out why a dust truck with a group of bandits tied up inside and a note telling them that this truck needs to go to the dust shop."
"Thank you for the offer," an appreciative Lyle said.
Dex walked into the darkness of night, leaving Lyle and Serena to look at the bodies. Serena pulled her sleeves down to cover up the bandages. Lyle remained quiet for a moment, he thought about going to Beacon before but now it sounds like a great idea. If what he said was true, getting dust at a discounted price would cheer her up after this mess of a fight. She wouldn't admit it but he knew that she hates having to buy dust a full price since it gets expensive at the worst times.
Serena's bow transformed back into sword mode which she quickly placed in her scabbard. She pulled her quiver off and opened the bottom up, Inside it were three cylinder metal bottles each with a small metal ring in the center and a small plate that slides out of the way to refill. Four clear lines from one side to the other allowed her to measure how much dust she had when refilling it.
Inside the base of the quiver was a small collection of censors and machines made to measure the amount of dust each container had from inside the quiver. But the most amazing feature was that in the roof of the container was a small device meant to pull dust in from one of the bottles by using the censors and a set of small tubes fashioned like the flux capacitor from Back to the Future. The dust would then draw into the center where there was a small hole for the tip of an arrow to be placed inside from the other side. Everything about it was unique in a way that someone with a lot of skill made it for her.
Serena opened the red dust bottle and dumped the dust out. Normally dust would come in an assortment of colors, however this stuff was red but it turned grey. Serena stared at the ashy looking crap that feel out of the bottle and refused to say a word because of how made she was. She wanted to find this guy and put an arrow through his knee for ripping her off and almost getting her killed.
Lyle walked up to her and placed a compassionate hand on her shoulder. She looked at him, not really thrilled about everything but she knew what he was thinking. She didn't want to trust the stranger but they really didn't have much choice. She had to get more dust and a discount would help a lot.
"All right, let's go!" an agitated Serena said with a huff.
The bodies of the Beowolves started to break apart with pieces flying off into the sky. Whatever blood that leaked out turned black and did the same thing. Serena and Lyle took one last look around before coming to the conclusion that they never want to return here again. Serena already collected her arrows and was glad to be done with this place.
They left the area eagerly seeking to find a dust shop leaving behind the decaying bodies behind as a small scouting party of Faunus appeared wearing Grimm masks and clothes bearing the White Fang insignia on the front and back. Most of the squad aimed their rifles at the unsuspecting teens. Eager to pull the trigger, one man however raised his hand and ordered them to let them go. They lowered their rifles and waited for their commander's next order.
The man ordered his lackeys to camp out here and wait to see if the man in black would appear again. Little did they know, the man they were waiting for was watching them from the shadows.
Find out what happens next in Part I: Welcome to Beacon