Embers of Autumn
Chapter Three
Ruby left Haven, Mistral entirely, for Atlas nearly two months ago, and the three of them continued searching for clues behind Beacon's fall. Jaune shakes his head, realizing that was ten month behind them now.
Mistral is a miserable place this time of year. According to locals it's miserable all year long, but in the lingering, heavy heat of Summer's death throws, it's the fucking pits. Haven is an example of the best place to be during the Summer, situated on a wide open expanse of flat and solid ground blanketed in short grass and sparse clusters of flimsy trees. The rare breeze rolls through the region freely, offering brief respite from the humidity. But Jaune, Ren, and Nora will spend hardly any time here. The academy offers up little help. They're kind enough to give them refuge for as long as they need, but that's the most of it. When the trio exhausts every idea, they strike out to surrounding towns, then further out into the wilds to the west where the remote villages lie.
And out here, now in the marshes where the trees group together and vines threaten to choke them, the air is still and wet and horrible. Nothing stays dry, not even their clothes, and the stink of rot and spores is everywhere. The first night they spend here, having to sleep just off the uneven trail they walk, they wake covered in reed leeches. Nora doesn't sleep soundly for days after that, not until they find a town that has repellant for sale. They don't have much Lien between them, but they would much rather be broke than crawling with vermin.
Their first big break comes from an older man who happened to have his fan boat docked as they carefully navigate a bayou. He has no teeth and his accent is so damn thick they have to ask him to talk slower, but they are eventually able to ask him the usual questions. Did you hear about Beacon, have you heard any rumors, do you recognize this symbol -and they show him a soggy piece of paper with a sketch of a black queen chess piece on it. The boatman claps his calloused and wrinkled hands together in front of him, gibbering on and gesturing an offer for them to board his boat. From what they can tell he's making a delivery and wants a couple extra hands to protect it. Not so much from Grimm, which they see a couple just beneath the surface of the murky water, more so from humans. The young hunters hadn't forgotten word of less than savory characters out this way.
Caissa, the boatman keeps saying, it's the only word they can pick out and remember throughout the one sided conversation. And once they reach the other side of the bayou, reach another little town full of tin houses propped on stilts, it's the first word out of their mouths to the locals. A faunus, his type indiscernible at a glance -they only know it by his pricked human ears- and with a diminished accent, tells them it's an abandoned town further south of them and that it's not a place they should want to go. "Nothin' there but bad dreams" he says. When they insist on "bein' pigheaded", he just points them back to the boat that brought them here, assuring them the aged operator would help. Though he isn't so glad to let them on his boat this time.
When he drops them off some hour or so later, not even bothering to cut the engine for the prop, he points into the trees, he tells them in his own way where to go before pulling away from the bank and hitting the gas.
Jaune feels Ruby's absence settling like a stone around his neck as the dull roar of the boat's prop fades into silence. Now all he hears are cicadas. He swallows, taking his spot at the front, though he's convinced it isn't where he belongs. Out of reflex he cautions Ren and Nora to keep their eyes peeled.
Sinkholes and deceptively deep patches of mud litter the path, the bog making an attempt to reclaim it from the time when it was regularly used. Looking up they see nothing but tangled branches, like fingers they lace together with sparse bits of sunlight working through the lattice work. Direct sunlight becomes more and more sparse and they push deeper into the marsh, but the sense of confinement is brief. The trees open up, the path leading over a sizable stretch of still water pocked with cypress knees. The light dances on the surface as frogs leap away from the earthen path when they come close. Nora giggles, but the sound dies when she sees a black snake chase after a toad with a splash.
The path winds through the swamp perhaps a hundred yards, and at its end the trees block the light again over an expanse of solid ground. The fractured remains of a sign peeks out of the moss and rot, the wood covered in little mushrooms and green sprouts. Upon closer inspection Ren confirms what the carvings on it say. They're going the right way.
Pushing through here is harder, the trail breaking up into stretches of thigh deep water covered in algae. It's not that these pitfalls weren't easy to spot, but they have to walk through the larger ones and there is no way of knowing what might be hiding under the rich swaths if green. Jaune makes a point to always go first, fording the water with his sword in front of him, sweeping it back and forth beneath the surface in order to -hopefully- scare away anything he couldn't see.
It's early evening when the canopy breaks again, the sky bright orange above them. A flock of herons snag their attention as they pass overhead, leading their eyes to the collection of buildings at the end of another winding path through the water.
This place reeks, and not in the way one expects a swamp to stink. There is something otherworldly about the odor here and it makes the hunters cringe, it's like sucking gas fumes and smoke. The next thing they notice is the color of the water; it's yellow and translucent in the same way as antifreeze. Jaune tests the surface with the tip of his sword, repulsed when some of the color clings to the steel in a thick syrup when he pulls it back. No wonder this place seems so empty. It's toxic.
All the houses are on stilts, but unlike the little stopover from before, the homes are entirely wood and in serious disrepair. The swamp has had years to take the place back and was doing so with little delay. Vines crawl up the stilts and across the gangplank walkways, curling through open windows and letting themselves right in through empty front doorways. Roofs are caved in from wet and rot, shedding light in on insides full of little more than moss and cobwebs. No one has set foot in this place in some time.
Jaune ducks his upper half through a doorway, having a glance inside. "Spread out, but don't stray too far."
"What are we looking for?" Nora pulls Magnhild into her hands, collapsing the hammer into its gun form.
"Well, we got here because of the symbol, see if you find it anywhere."
Nora nods and grabs Ren by the sleeve before taking off along another path of wooden planks.
Jaune pauses to fish through his backpack, finding his flashlight and hoping against hope that it would still work. It hadn't gotten wet, but it's a toss up as to whether or not he had changed the batteries recently. The button clicks under his thumb and light springs through the lens. The first two houses yield nothing, just ruin and mold and a spider too big for his liking. As he moves to the third he stops as as his foot pushes against a loose piece of wood, the sound of it dragging his gaze downward. Why he felt the need to give it closer attention, he doesn't know, but he crouches down, water squishing in his shoes as he does. It's caked in thick green moss that has started to flower, so he flips it over. Splotches of red lichens obscure the symbol there, but with a sideways cock of his head he can make it out. It's a bishop, like the one a chess board, stained a dull rust color when it had likely once been bright red. Two holes along the top of the piece of wood draw his eyes up, he spies the hooks it must have once hung from still mounted above the dilapidated doorway.
Jaune stands up and turns around, looking back at the houses he's already visited, finding similar plaques hanging over the entrances; a white knight and a black rook respectively. He takes a second look into the building with the knight plaque, and with the flashlight he can make out an anvil that somehow hasn't fallen through the rotted floor. And on the wall are iron tools meant to work a forge.
"Jaune!"
He snaps upright and doesn't think twice before breaking into a run at the sound of his name, Nora's high-pitched cry something he can never ignore. He shoves the flashlight back in the bag and pulls his shield onto his off hand, ready for a fight, but finds none when he sees Ren. His anxiety eases only a little when he accepts that they aren't in any immediate danger, but his mind holds onto traces of it at Ren's appearance. One palm rests over his mouth, his arm across his stomach to prop up the other. His eyes are closed and a little groan works through him. He looks like he's going to be sick.
"What's wrong?" he asks once he's close enough.
Nora pops out of the house, looking more than happy to do so, her face a little pale.
"What is it?" he repeats.
"There...th-there's a body. Or what's left of one."
Jaune's brow knits over his wide eyes, disbelief just shy of taking over. Some little part of his mind is in complete denial until he has a look for himself. By god there it is, a heap in the corner that could have easily been mistaken for something else as it was half wrapped in a stretch of moth eaten cloth. It had been intact once, he's sure, but there's evidence of predation, bones strew across the floor and the skeleton itself half collapsed on its side. But this wasn't recent. These remains had to be years old. He recoils quickly, feeling his stomach turn. Jaune breathes and swallows through the terrible feeling.
Once he's able he straightens, clearing his throat and spitting into the water. He looks back at the house, up above the doorway. He doesn't find a plaque, but there's evidence of a symbol painted above the door. A red pawn.
"It couldn't have been Grimm." Nora pants a little. "They wouldn't have left anything."
Jaune nods in agreement, still looking at the little painting. "C'mon, let's keep going. You okay, Ren?"
He nods, gagging behind his hand as he starts to walk with them.
Following bridges and gangplanks through the abandoned village they find more bodies, all of them in similar states of decay. Some of them in their beds, others in the middle of the floor, one is sprawled on the walkway, though most of it is gone, all that's left is a dark outline where the flesh had rotted away and left...stuff behind. Ren is this close to losing his lunch -what little he had to eat earlier. Nora is quiet, though Jaune knows she feels awful, like her skin is crawling. He can tell by the way she clutches her gun close to her chest, shoulders inched a little higher than usual.
Jaune keeps his attention a little higher, to the crossbeams of doorways in search of more insignias. Most of them are pawns in varying colors, red and black and white -or what used to be white. The deeper they move into the village the less of the other colors he sees. All the symbols steadily become black and are made up of the pieces of higher rank on the board. He feels his pulse quicken when his eyes settle on the black queen. It's painted above a doorway half a dozen houses down from them. From where he stands he can see through the entrance and the empty gaping hole that had once been the back wall of the house. This allows him to see the movement inside, a pair of silhouettes going back and forth. Out of reflex he reaches for Nora and grabs her wrist -she in turn grabs Ren- pulling hard as he ducks out of sight. One by one their heads inch out from around the rotted structure, lined up like a totem pole to watch.
"Be careful!"
"Well maybe if you'd hold still,"
"If you make me drop this, Mercury, so help me..."
"I've got you, I promise." Mercury holds Emerald by the ankles, her heels dinging into his shoulder as she maintains her balance and reaches up into the rafters of the house. "But you might want to expedite things, I don't know how much longer this floor is going to hold us both."
"I've almost got it." she bites back. "God I hate this place."
There's a dull crunch over his head and he cringes as wood slivers and dust fall in his face and hair. "Anything?"
"Yeah, now let me down easy."
Mercury kneels, spitting at the debris on his lips as she steps down, the floorboards groaning suspiciously. "Damn, I didn't think it would be that big."
"Me neither. Now lets get out of here."
"Yeah, wouldn't want to be late for Cinder to give you your bi-weekly ass-whipping."
"Shut up. Now hold still."
The three of them watch as Emerald and Mercury emerge from the house, Emerald close behind him and appearing to strap something to his back. Something that's wide and square enough to hide his torso and backside that's wrapped in leather and canvas. Jaune feels like he should recognize them, would swear he's seen them before, but the memory escapes him.
"Weren't they at Vytal?" Nora whispers. "They beat Coco and Yatsuhashi."
Jaune's brows jump. She's right. And he remembers almost too vividly how Yang Xiaolong had taken out the young man's knee, remembers how he cringed when he saw the event unfold on a monstrous screen.
"Nora, take Ren and see if you can work your way behind them."
"What are you going to do?"
"I want to know what they're up to."
"So you're just going to ask?" She looks at him, only a little dumbfounded.
"You got a better idea?"
She doesn't.
Mercury starts down the passage of bridges, making it half a dozen steps before he realizes Emerald isn't following. "Em? What's wrong,"
She has yet to even face the direction they intend to leave by, looking away from him. "You feel that?"
"...No. Now c'mon, let's just get Cinder her damn mirror and-,"
"Wait," she puts up one hand, hushing him. Then she lets out an unimpressed huff. "Oh. It's you."
Mercury backpedals, not even turning around but walking backwards and leaning so he can see around the crumbling house closest to him. The corner of his mouth kinks at the sight of a scraggly blond that appears not much older or younger than himself. "Oh hey, buddy, how's it going? Where's the rest of your team? ...Or did they bite it too?"
"What are you doing here?" Jaune asks, never mind the introductions or pleasantries.
"Just out for a walk -you know- running some errands, right Em?"
She says nothing, doesn't even acknowledge Mercury's words. She looks at Jaune, a strange mixture of wariness and sympathy in her eyes. Though her brows belie a sense of puzzlement. No way that static against her aura is coming from him.
"But if it's all the same to you, we've gotta get going." Mercury reaches back, snatching Emerald's wrist, the woman shaking her head when her body starts to move as if breaking free from a daze. Mercury stops short again, Emerald almost smacking into him. She chances to look over his shoulder, seeing a head of bright red hair before zeroing in on the barrel of a gun.
"Hah, nice to see one ginger made it out of Beacon in one piece," Mercury chuckles unevenly. He's the only one who laughs. His head jerks in the direction of a loud wooden groan, looking up and seeing another hunter perched on a more solid corner of the roof above him. He swallows.
"What's so important about the mirror?"
"Wish I had time to tell you, but we're on a schedule." Mercury tuck his chin, "Em, you want to give us an exit or something?"
She doesn't want to do it, feels her chest tighten at the suggestion, but nods all the same. If they were going to get out of this swamp with the mirror intact, they couldn't afford to take any chances. As quick as a thought she reaches back with her hand and pushes beneath her hair to touch the chess piece tattoo there. She shivers once, hard, feeling a creeping coldness under her skin just as she grabs Mercury by the shoulder and takes off in the only other direction they can. They turn a corner, half slipping as they try and avoid two of Magnhild's heavy rounds.
Emerald keeps Mercury in front of her, making sure the mirror is shielded between them as they run across bridges and jump the broken clusters of planks. She hears the other hunters pursuing them, one jumping from roof to roof -she can see the flicker of his shadow pass over them time and again- and the redhead she catches in the corner of her eye running parallel to them. The blond one is just behind them, arms and legs pumping in a full sprint to catch up. She tries to keep her focus on the solid ground at the far end of the row of houses, knowing if they can just get there they can slip away.
"Get the mirror!" Jaune cries out to his teammates. Never mind the reason, if they need it, he wants to make sure they don't keep it.
"Shit." Emerald hisses under her breath. She feels the cold shudder again and knows what's coming. They can make it.
The toxic water beneath one of the houses ahead starts to writhe, churning and bubbling from beneath the surface. As the running steps come closer, the motion pitches and intensifies. Something is clawing up from underneath. There's a bright purple flash from between the stilts before the structure explodes upward, rotted slivers and hunks of wood flying in every direction. A column of polluted water lurches into the air, a blur of black and white and crimson emerging from the peak. In a split second it lands as Emerald and Mercury just pass beneath it, surging forward to meet Jaune on the bridge.
He isn't ready. He simply isn't ready for the initial impact that his mind doesn't even process the source of. It comes just as his shield arm raises in mid-stride, and it hits him so hard his feet leave the ground and his body twists in the air before he smacks down flat on his back. Reflex demands he roll over and scramble to his feet, raising his shield again to brace for another jarring collision, the first of a quick succession of volleys. Jaune can't find the guts to retaliate at first, having trouble just focusing enough to comprehend what's happening. When he finally grips his senses he lifts his head and pushes back with all his body weight behind the shield before following through with a confident thrust of his sword. The attack is parried, his opponent making a full turn and swinging at his head with a shield of their own -one with greater reach than his as it clips his aura near his temple.
That was much too close, a little part of him panicking as his body tucks inward. His aura surges outward, a warm sensation of push passing over him. He feels the next impact but through the veil of his semblance, feels his opponent's weapon bounce off of him. Jaune processes the sound of collapsing wood and chances to raise his head. They had been thrown several yards back, having gone through a weak spot in the bridges and into the water.
It isn't just adrenaline making Jaune shake; his mind is chanting a litany of expletives, all of them asking some version of what the hell was that?!
He doesn't get far as he starts running again. His opponent isn't finished with him and the water stirring under the bridge is quickly gaining on his shadow. Jaune will see it when it emerges this time, once he can see beyond the rotted wooden shrapnel and liquid filth. At first he thinks it's a Grimm, making out bone plates and stark blackness framed in bloody red, but then he gasps at its resemblance to a human being. A human in Grimm armor is the best way his mind can process it. Jaune has to consciously force himself to move and react as the warrior bears down on him, spitting fire.
Almost there Emerald's mind chants. They're so close now, and the hunters have yet to make a move on them. A few more yards and they'll have free reign to get the fuck out of here. She's lost sight of the red-head but quickly deciphers where she's gone when she watches, her gut sinking, as a cluster of wood flies into the pathway only a few steps ahead, ripping the planks away from their moorings. Without a second thought, hand still a fist in Mercury's shirt, she takes the next corner, almost toppling off the walkway in doing so. Three long strides and they have to stop again, their path cut off by a volley of rounds and a cloud of pink smoke half concealing the gaping hole at their feet.
"Just go, I'll try to keep them busy." and Emerald jerks him around and gives a strong-armed shove to send him running back the other way. She draws her pistols before ducking quietly into a nearby house.
Nora jumps through the remnants of the smoke, brow knit and Magnhild gripped tightly. There's no sign of them, but she keeps searching, eyes scanning for any sign of movement or something out of place. Seven steps and she stops, hearing a hushed ripple in the water behind her. For a moment she couldn't believe them dumb enough to try and swim out of here, but she turns to have a look all the same. Some folks are just that kind of crazy. What she finds is a massive white body covered in slimy scales that leads to a huge, triangular head with bright red and slitted eyes. For a moment all she can do is stare as its mouth opens and closes, tongue flickering and fangs catching the meager light of the evening. Then she screams. "Taijitu!"
Nora's cry crackles through his senses, demanding Ren's attention like the jerk of a too-short leash. He skids to a stop, rotted shingles popping off the roof, and he looks back with a snap of his head to one shoulder. He can hear Nora's sprinting footsteps, can hear Magnhild barking rounds that break up into pink smoke, but he can't hear or see any trace of the Grimm. Something as big as a Taijitu should be sticking out like a sore thumb in this place. The steady thump-thump-thump of Mercury's boots still try to pull him away, the schism in his mind filling him with a sort of panic. The sensation flares when he's distracted again, a bright orange flash catching his eyes. Was that fire?
Ren swallows it all, forcing himself to be stable, and then jumps down. Nora sounds closest to him.
Mercury feels relief wash over him as his feet touch solid ground, tall grass whipping against his legs that he knows more by sound than sensation. A smirk works across his face as he chances a glance over his shoulder. "C'mon, Emerald! We can make it, let's go-holy SHIT!"
All he sees before the world spins around him is an incredible white and silver blur followed by the horrific sensation of something blunt and hooked pitching upward under his ribs. He's thrown up into the air, no telling how high, his limbs madly flailing in an attempt to right himself again.
Let me land on my feet, let me land on my feet, PLEASE let me land on my...
Mercury lands hard on his stomach, his face bouncing off the ground, but is still grateful. The mirror didn't break.
"We have to stop meeting like this."
"Oh, god damn it." he groans, hoarse, trying to get his lungs to work again. He props himself on one elbow, looking back and cringing. "God damn it," he repeats. "Don't you two ever quit?!"
A woman with bright copper skin stands over him, pushing one hand through a shock of jet black hair that is naturally upswept. In her other hand are the coils of a bullwhip. Mercury looks up into her face with contempt, unconsciously drawn to the splash of bright red paint across her eyes like the mask on a raccoon. For a brief second his eyes drop to the swish of a heavy, dark-pelted tail. "What's that you got there?"
"Nothing for you." He pushes to his knees, coughing once before standing up, raising his fists.
"That so? Well, you wouldn't object to me having a peek, would you?" she takes a half step back, body turned to the side, an exotic looking hardwood buckler out in front of her. For a split second she rises to balls of her feet and then lunges forward.
Emerald only moves when she has to, trying to maintain eye contact with the redhead. It's much harder than she anticipated as the girl runs screaming. She'll pull the illusion back when she sees the other hunter, the dark haired man in green, waiting for the tightened discomfort in her brain to pass before starting to think again. It would take some doing, but she could use her semblance on both of them at once...
It sounds like an oncoming train, a sound that immediately draws Emerald's attention away from the two hunters. Through a wall full of pock-marks she makes out a silver and white mass barreling her way and moves from where she crouches in a half-collapsed doorway. The house explodes just behind her, the only thing louder than the crashing of wood and shingles is the bellowing of a silver bison. Big argent eyes fall on Emerald, the animal snorting and digging with massive hooves before it lurches into another charge. She flees, putting a little distance between her and the bison, running headlong for the next building and kicking off its facade. She unloads a swarm of rounds down onto the creature as her body turns, knees tucking to her chest as she touches down and leans into a roll to disperse the impact.
The bullets ripple off of an aura, little sparks marking each ricochet. The bison slides to a stop, one hoof off kilter as the boards give under it. It quickly starts doubling back but doesn't drop its head, instead it takes three great strides before jumping off the bridge and tucking into a somersault. Its great shape morphs into something somewhat smaller, the silver hide giving way dark terra cotta and black and gray, and it unfurls into something more human that continues the hard advance. When Emerald starts shooting again, the hunter draws twin axes from the holster on their back -looking to be made of stone, not any known metal- and lets them spin in their massive hands to divert the rounds with a shower of sparks.
When Emerald tries to run again there's a flash of pale blue light, the hunter swinging one ax in a powerful upward stroke. Dust shimmers from the blade, chunks of ice seeming to erupt from the planks of the bridge and follow tight to Emerald's heels. The ice bites into one ankle, holding her in place like a steel trap.
The hunter dwells on Emerald for a moment, nostrils flaring as they turn away. She can wait. They spot the other young hunters, both with their weapons pointed at them.
"I'm here to help. I can smell the fire, show me where it burns."
For a moment Ren and Nora just stare, fixed on their silver eyes and the horns that sprout from their temples.
Jaune crawls out of a pile of wood slivers, having to pull his lower half out of a large hole in the floor of the house he just crashed through. Sharp edges scrape his belly, making him wince. He scrambles to get back on his feet. Blood and sweat smear his face and neck, his body heaves to keep air in his lungs though it tastes like charcoal from the flames, and his heart sputters within his chest like a terrified, caged bird. Jaune doesn't fully stand up as he registers the Grimm warrior jumping through the hole he had made in the wall, letting the figure soar right over him and land on the far side of the pile of debris. He leaps through the opening, out onto the bridges and his only thought is to put at least some distance between him and that thing. Jaune hears the whistle and the resounding shudder of the wooden planks as something strikes just behind him, turning at the sound and making himself stop and stand his ground.
The lance sticking at an angle into the bridge looks to be crafted from bone and streaked with red. It matches the Grimm warrior's armor, a likeness he's all too aware of as they retrieve the weapon and fix on him again. It's his first chance to get a good look at it, making out the snarling visage of a helmet concealing the warrior's face, a mane of wild crimson hair long enough to coil around the neck and shoulders, and toxic green eyes boring into him. A golden flicker catches his attention for half a second, long enough for his mind to decipher the stinger on the end of a tail made up of bleached and bare vertebra.
Oh my god, what have I gotten us into!?
Jaune shrinks against the onslaught of attacks, mind full of hot static and overwhelmed. He struggles to remember even the most basic rules of combat, the ones that should be more than second nature by now. His shield kicks back and bashes him in the chin, the blow dizzying. Then he's flat on his back with a hard smack when something solid catches the back of his legs and pulls. He sees the glimmer of the barbed tail in the firelight, swatting it away with his sword whenever it gets too close. More than once he feels it bounce off his shield, sparks flying in his face.
The Grimm warrior takes a step forward, one bone plated boot almost too close between his legs, the other coming down on his chest as the tail coils around the young hunter's blade to hold it in place. They put all their weight on him, trapping his shield to his chest and pushing the air out of him. It turns the spear over in its hand, the blade pointed downward. Jaune tries to push back with his semblance but it won't respond, so he braces himself. He knows what's coming and can't help but shut his eyes.
Magnhild barks and the air whistles with the falling of heavy shells before they combust against the Grimm knight's shield, pushing it back a couple of steps. Before Jaune realizes fully what's happening, his hoodie pulls up around his neck and his body starts sliding across the bridge. His panic is squashed under the sound of more guns, Stormflower adding its rapid succession of rounds to Magnhild's.
"Get up and fight, boy!"
Jaune is jerked to his feet, lifted entirely off the ground before settling upright. He only has a moment to process the massive body in front of him before they push him to face the other direction and advance. That same massive body is just beside him, on his shield side, and they move against the Grimm knight together.
Mercury's head snaps to the side and he stumbles back, pain crackling through his jaw and swelling into his face. It stings enough to make his eyes water, his hand drifting with hooked fingers towards his cheek, wincing when his knuckles make contact with a hot wet stickiness. Contempt tightens his sweaty brow as he watches the faunus stand up quickly from a crouch, having just landed from spinning through the air and lashing out with her heavy tail to strike his face. The throbbing in his head now joins the pulsing in his ribs and thighs, the faunus having waylaid him from every angle -she hasn't actually laid a hand on him, just a pair of incredibly powerful legs. He can't understand how her attacks seem to completely ignore his aura, and can't be sure if the mirror is still intact.
"I don't want to do this," she says, finally loosening her fingers around the bullwhip, letting its length rest on the ground. Her dark eyes flash a bright, vibrant green. "I will outlast you."
"Shove it." Mercury pushes off with his rear leg, bringing up his knee as the gap between them closes in an instant. He lets her push it aside with the rim of the wood buckler, absorbing the impact and letting it turn his hips just right. His other legs thrusts back and connects with something soft, he peeks over his shoulder to see her tumble backwards, bracing on her tail to keep from falling and flipping head over heels.
Once she's stable again she swings the whip from the side, aiming low, and cracks it just beside him. It snaps against his knee with a small burst of green light, and though Mercury doesn't shout in pain, a grunt of frustration rattles out of him when he falls on his face. She spares a moment to physically cringe at how the lower portion of his leg tucks inward, knowing damn good and well that it shouldn't bend that way. But that moment is brief and she snaps the whip just so to snatch his other ankle and drag him towards her.
"Now let's have a look at th-," she's bending down, reaching for the concealed mirror on his back when she stops, her head turning in a quick snap of motion at the sound of her name. The stretch of grassland they stand on is now bathed in red and gold and orange and hotter air wafts through the marsh, smothering. The polluted water has caught fire, the entire village beginning to go up in flames. Every thought of the young man scatters from her mind as she springs into a full sprint, jumping with both arms out into the water before the flames can reach the shore. She takes an especially deep breath, her eyes taking on an emerald glow before she is submerged.
Jaune had drawn blood. He had actually managed to cut the Grimm knight, the edge of his sword finding its way into the small space between the helmet and the armor to tear into its neck. That's when it starts spewing fire with an intensity that has even the large faunus pulling back. It couples spurts of flames with wild advances that threaten to push them all off the bridge and into the burning water. Rancid fumes billow up into the air, choking. Not even minutes pass before the first houses start collapsing, pulled down as they burn up so quickly.
The faunus works their way behind the Grimm knight, mindful of the growing creaks and pops of the wooden planks under their feet as they run. Pushing through a veil of flames they find it again, still assailing the other hunters. They take a breath, silver eyes shimmering a bright platinum as they hurl one of the axes with all the strength they can muster. It sings through the air and strikes into the bone plates on the Grimm knight's back, splitting them in two with a loud SNAP and pushing through to flesh. With a shriek and a hard twist of its body the knight turns on them, the tomahawk tearing away from the wound and clattering to the bridge. They make eye contact with it just before everything switches, a shimmer of silver light breaking apart the hellish crimson glow as the faunus and the Grimm change places, allowing them to retrieve their ax with no trouble.
Smoke coils through the vertical opening in the helmet and green eyes flash with a growling exhale. The air begins to ripple in a way that the hunters feel against their aura, like invisible, slimy hands. It's reaching all across the burning village, and when it grabs hold, the sounds are masked by roaring flames. Nails are torn out from their moorings, the hooks above doorways are ripped free in showers of embers, and even the smithy's anvil is gathered up from the mire it had fallen in. Panic rips through the young hunters as they feel it too, the pulling that has latched onto their weapons and armor and threatens to rip them loose. Everything metal on them is being swayed by this invisible energy.
The faunus quickly sheathes their axes, their face twisted up in frustration and fury. It can see the buildings collapsing, not from immolation but from no longer being held fast together. It's happening all around them, soon enough the only thing above the water will be the bridges. There is no other option but to pull back. Without a word the faunus turns around, both incredible arms reaching out to snatch two of the three young hunters about the waist and lift them up as they run, legs pumping hard against the pull on whatever metal they carry. Ren takes his cue from the faunus, quick to sheath Stormflower and follow.
Just as they felt it pull, they also feel when the energy pushes outward, an incredible shove that sends every metal object flying with enough force to rip through any obstacle it meets. It pulls on the hunters in the faunus' arms, throwing them off balance. They fall to one knee briefly, but just long enough for Nora to get her head dunked in the water, scaring the ever living daylights out of her. Thankfully she didn't catch fire. Jaune put up his shield just quickly enough to deflect a hail of rusty iron nails. He turns his head at the moving shape behind him, watching as Ren stumbles, rolling forward and getting back to his feet. Jaune then shouts his name, wriggling in the faunus' grip helplessly as the lone anvil flies by in a black blur and strikes Ren between the shoulders. He bounces off a pile of smoldering ruin before splashing into the water, out of sight.
"Don't worry, boy, help is coming." The faunus assures, unwilling to let him or Nora go. She's absolutely beside herself, tears rolling down her ash smeared cheeks as she screams for Ren.
The three of them finally reach the other side, flopping onto solid ground once its beneath their feet. Jaune hits his knees, sword and shield slipping free from him as his body heaves to capture his next breath. His lungs and throat burn from the ash and embers and fumes, his head is spinning. His ears are ringing, the dull pushing sound commingled with the shattered echoes of Nora screaming and the roar of flames behind him. He retches, but nothing comes up.
The faunus still stands, looking to manically pace the banks of the marsh, watching the water. Watching, watching...until a green shimmer peeks through the flames. They run towards it, stopping at the water's edge. The other faunus appears several yards out, the flames licking around her, unable to pass through a thin verdant light that surrounds her. She spits and curses at the filth all over her, hauling Ren in on her shoulder, handing him off to her much larger counterpart. They lay him flat on the ground and start pushing on his chest when they find his body much too still.
Nora drops Magnhild and makes quick but uneven strides towards Ren. The faunus with the long tail puts herself between them, shaking her head and looking unsure if there is anything she could say to ease this. She just holds Nora by the upper arms, firm but not too tight.
Chest compressions don't work, making the larger faunus scowl. They flip the young man over, his body unceremoniously flopping on its stomach, and cinch their tree-trunk arms around his middle. They pull up with a snap of motion, squeezing at the same time, forcing a burst of filthy water and bile to erupt from his mouth. He starts to choke. Draped over the faunus' arm they pat his back in a steady and firm rhythm, helping him get the rest of the water out on his own.
"That's it, boy, once more," one slap of their large palm against his shoulders followed by a gargling groan, "there you go."
"Ren!"
"It's all right, Tag." and they carefully put Ren to sitting up, not wanting him flat on the chance he'll retch again, and then gestures with their free hand. They stand up and step away as the redhead slides on her knees to Ren's side, arms around him in a second.
Now the faunus face each other. The smaller one, Tag, looks up into her cohort's face. "What about the marsh?"
"Let it burn, there's no saving it. Where's the human?"
"I had to let him go, you called for me."
The larger one nods. "And his partner?"
"..."
"Tag,"
"I had to release her, else she would've burned alive." Tag can't meet their eyes for a moment. They no longer glow with energy, but are black with reflections of gold from the flames. "You're angry with me."
"No. Just frustrated...it shouldn't have happened like this. The Grimm was here."
Tag's features stretch, wary. "I thought I had felt it." she nods slowly. "I hate to think humans have learned to call on such things."
"Let's hope it is a rare trait among them." a sigh expands their big chest. "And what of these hunters?"
Tag looks to the blond man laying on the ground. "They're so young, Billy."
"No younger than we were."
"But too young to be out here like this, just the three of them and with no mentor." she looks to the other two. "They need our help."
"That goes without saying." a little snort. "...If you believe we should,"
"I do."
"Very well then," they nod, "as my Maiden wishes."
Author's Note: So yeah, my hand slipped. I don't know how this chapter turned into a "let's talk about JNR" but, it did. Next chapter I'll try to elaborate more on what they found and the relevance of chess pieces and old mirrors. Questions and comments always welcome.