2

Vox glanced at the three people around him as they all walked through the dense brush of the Emerald Forest. They were strange individuals, all of them. Lian, being the first he had met, was the most normal out of the group and didn't really say anything after she had told him that she talked too much. Though, Vox had a feeling that was because of Nuwan, who would not stop talking at all. She was going on about fish, and how much she loved it, to her partner Grover, who seemed to be interested in every word she was saying. It was weird, the interaction. The two seemed completely incompatible with each other yet there they were, conversing like they had known each other for years. Maybe they had, and knew each other quite well. Vox had no clue, he was just the middle man in the group, not understanding anything of friendship or friendly company. Years in Tartarus made sure of that.

"So, I had pounced the racoon by then, and I was going to eat it, but my brother told me not to. He was all like 'No', and I was all like 'Yes', then he was all like 'No' again, and I was all like 'Yes' again, and then he was all like 'Alright but we have to cook it first', and I was like 'No', and then he got mad and punched me in the face and I got mad and killed the racoon and started eating it in front of him and then he got even madder and punched me againg and then we started making out—", Lian turned a wide eye to Nuwan, and so did Vox.

"WAIT WHAT!? You made out with your brother? That's disgusting!"

"I agree with Lian. That is not good." Vox grumbled. Nuwan smiled. "He's not my actual brother, silly! I just call him my brother 'cause he basically raised me! Or would that make him my dad? I should call him daddy from now on. Yeah... that's a great idea!"

"No, it isn't." Vox stated, prompting Lian to nod in agreement.

"I agree with Vox. That is NOT a good idea!"

Nuwan looked at Vox and Lian in confusion, then back at Grover. He smiled at her.

"She isn't from civilization. My friend here grew up in the Wilds, so all of our taboos aren't exactly taboo to her or anyone she knew. Sorry 'bout that, I should'a said somethin' but I didn't really think about it at that particular moment."

Vox nodded in understanding. It made sense that the outlandish female wasn't from anywhere that had established social norms, or else she would have realized that everything she had said was absolutely mental. Nuwan bounced around, seemingly unphased by her lack of knowledge and the fact that Grover had alluded to it.

"That makes a lot of sense. Still though, shouldn't you have at least told her something about... you know... what to call certain people? It can raise a lot of red flags if she goes around saying that she made out with her brother..." Lian trailed off, staring at Vox as he lifted up his hand.

"We need to be quiet." Vox pointed downward. The group following him set their eyes to the ground. There were tracks littering the dirt, round, three-clawed, and deep.

"These are Ursa paw prints. And judging by the look of them, a large horde just passed through this area recently. We need to tread lightly."

Nuwan shared a look with Grover, who gave her a quick nod before extending the claws in her gauntlets to full size, crouching down and furling her ears firmly against her head. Grover flicked his wrists and two silver revolvers slipped down his shirt sleeves and into his hands. Lian prepped her blades, twirling them and sending a bright, shimmering blue aura through their engravings. Vox summoned his blades, and followed Nuwan's example and crouched down low, walking on the balls of his feet to eliminate as much noise as possible from his footsteps.

The four had a clear-cut advantage over the Grimm, and they all knew it. Vox especially, since he had learned the ways of stealth within the bowels of Tartarus and had further honed his skill in sneak through the rigorous training he had gone through once he escaped that foul dimension. With this in mind, Vox vanished into the nearby brush and stalked his way around, careful to avoid anything that would cause him to be heard. He was the hunter, and the Grimm were now the hunted. Vox stopped at a particularly large tree and placed his hand on it, eyeing his surroundings for a moment before letting his eyes drift shut. The sounds of the world began to flood in, granting Vox a heightened sense of hearing, allowing the young Hellwalker to see with his ears. The birds in the sky, the three teens behind him, the swishing grass and leaves, the light pitter-patter of small rodent paws upon the dirt became known to him, and so did the weight of a hulking negativity of Grimm. Opening his eyes, Vox turned his head back to Lian and company, throwing up a hand a signaling them to follow him. They complied and quietly made their way over to him, where they all congregated and came to a rest.

"What were you just doing?" Lian questioned. Vox threw her a look.

"I was listening. Feeling. There are Grimm close to the ruins we need to go to. We need to quicken our pace." Vox stood up and began to quickly make his way in the direction of the ruins, being sure to glance behind him every few minutes, in case the other three members of the group could not keep up with him.

It turned out that Lian, Grover and Nuwan had no problem with keeping up with Vox as he weaved around trees and vaulted off of branches and stumps. Lian was using her twin weapons as rollerblades of sorts, skating through the dense brush of the Emerald forest with relative ease. Grover was incredibly fast and seemed to be keeping a light jog alongside Nuwan, who was using the claws on her gauntlets to swing through the tree line with stunning efficiency. The feline faunus swung herself around a branch and twisted through leaves and twigs until she vanished within the trees. Lian glanced at Grover, who shrugged and kept up his run.

"What did she do?"

"Well, she usually likes climbin' stuff to get a better view and whatnot, so, I reckon that's what she's doin' now." Lian nodded and continued to follow Vox, who had come to a stop once more, crouching down to touch the ground to feel out the surrounding area once again. He listened deeply to the world around him, trying to locate the source of the Grimm in the area. He made an assessment and turned back to Lian.

"We are on the right track. The highest concentration of Grimm is near the ruins we need to go to. If we continue our journey this way, we will eventually stumble upon them, and with them other groups of warriors." Vox stated as he jumped over a fat branch that had blocked the path he had set out to travel upon. Lian caught up to Vox on her feet blades, smiling at him. "I figured you'd catch up soon, especially with those blades of yours." He said, his eyes drifting for a quick moment to the female next to him. She was smiling as her blade cut into the dirt beneath the team of amateur huntsmen in training creating large yet thin lines of missing grass and other plant life in the ground.

Suddenly the trees cleared and the four, Nuwan included, as she jumped into the clearing, landing perfectly next to Grover, who gave her a smile and a quick tip of his gallon hat. There, on the other side of the clearing was the ruins, which conveniently enough seemed to be surrounded by fellow students of Beacon Academy, all of them conversing amongst themselves while a dead Grimm sat disintegrating next to them. Vox walked up to them and cleared his throat.

To Be Continued