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Going Down.
Cardin winced as the cockpit tore free from the rest of the fuselage. He felt his stomach do flips as the wreckage tumbled through the air. The intermittent glimpses of the ground showed that they still had far to fall. His ears were ringing. Velvet looked over her shoulder at him, her mouth open as she yelled a warning that Cardin's dazed state prevented him from hearing. Sound rushed back to him as an earsplitting shriek shook the craft harder than the buffeting air. His stomach flipped again as their descent was brought to a sudden halt. Yet again the sound of shrieking metal reached his ears as the Razorwing sank its talons into the airframe behind him. The cockpit tipped forward, the windshield now faced directly towards the ground. A few loose items around the cockpit slid and bounced down onto the windshield, clattering against it like heavy rain.
What was left of the ship bobbed up and down rhythmically as their enemy beat its wings and hoisted them higher. He looked at Velvet with abject horror as he came to the awful realisation of what the Razorwing was trying to do. It was going to take them to the limit of its altitude and then let them plummet to the ground.
Velvet began to unclip her harness. "Wait here, strap in, I got this." Cardin instructed.
Velvet nodded, her eyes expressing her unwavering trust in him. Cardin nodded back, unclipped his own harness and clambered from his seat. He looked down past Velvet and swallowed as he took a glance through the cockpit glass below him. The ground was getting further away every second he wasted. Cardin put his feet on the console screen below him and grabbed the headrest, pulling himself over the seat and up towards the now vertical steps. A fire extinguisher that had been torn free from its usual home rolled from the steps and bounced past Cardin's head making him duck in surprise. A metallic sound accompanied his ascent as his mace clanked against his hip armour. He dragged himself up the first step, then the second, then the third. Finally he reached the point at which the Striker had been torn in two.
The young huntsman pulled himself out onto the now horizontal crew compartment wall. The rushing air stung his eyes. To either side of him the talons of the avian Grimm gripped the stricken craft. He unhooked his weapon from his belt and took a deep breath, letting a portion of his aura flow into the weapon. With a terrific cry he ran forward and slammed his mace into the Razorwing's leg, depressing the stud on his weapons handle to let loose a blast from the dust crystal simultaneously. The creature squawked in surprise and relinquished its hold on reflex. What was left of the craft tilted sharply to one side as the Grimm struggled to hold onto its quarry with its other claw.
Cardin lost his footing and slid down the smooth surface of the crew compartment wall on his stomach. His legs scraped over the jagged edge and hung into the abyss, he managed to hook his forearms over the lip and pulled himself back up with a cry of effort. He looked up to see the Grimm giving him a sideways glance with one baleful red eye. He pumped aura into his legs and sprinted up the steep incline. Cardin leapt forwards the last few feet and swung his weapon into the Razorwing's other ankle. The explosive force of the blow dislodged the Grimm's talons and the cockpit section once again fell towards the ground. Cardin managed to get one hand around a jumble of loose cables that had been exposed by the slice in the fuselage. The barely healed wound in his shoulder ached in protest as he was dragged down with the ship. He needed to get inside, falling from this height with only aura for protection was certain death, inside the armoured hull he and Velvet might just stand a chance.
He began to pull himself inside, the bundle of cables started to snap, one wire at a time. "Oh come on!" Cardin roared in frustration to no one in particular. The last few cables tore loose and Cardin's arm flailed desperately mere inches from the hull. He grabbed something, realising after a few seconds that it was Velvet's outstretched arm. She held his hand in a vice like grip that seemed impossibly strong for her slender fingers. Velvet dragged him inside. "Thanks for that, but I had it all under control." He shouted over the roaring wind as he finally managed to get a secure grip on one of the steps.
"Sure you did." Velvet yelled over her shoulder, rolling her eyes as she let go of his hand.
Cardin stole one final glance up to see that the Razorwing was retreating. Either losing interest in its prey, or, more likely, assuming the fall would finish them. He and Velvet scrambled to get themselves back into their crash harnesses. A difficult task given that the craft had resumed tumbling unpredictably towards the ground meaning their orientation was constantly changing. They succeeded, both breathing sighs of relief as the final straps of their harnesses were secured.
Still, they were falling towards Remnant with no way of controlling or slowing their descent. Every few seconds Velvet would catch a glimpse of the red tree canopy rushing up to meet them, closer each time it came into view. Judging from their current trajectory, they would hit the very tip of a small hill.
Velvet took a slow, shuddering breath and closed her eyes.
Impact.
The roof of the cockpit smashed into the hill with overwhelming force, cracking the already weakened armour glass. The wreckage bounced once, then rolled. Trees groaned and snapped as the cockpit section crashed through the forest, leaving uprooted and crushed trunks in their wake. Several branches smashed through the cockpit glass, shattering it entirely.
Finally the wreckage hit an ancient, huge tree, its thick trunk withstanding the brunt force of the impact from the craft. The cockpit was on its side, leaving the two passengers dangling from their harnesses. The fuselage groaned and the wreckage righted itself as the last of its momentum dissipated. It now rested on its belly, the nose of the cockpit slightly elevated as it rested upon one of the colossal roots radiating out from the base of the equally massive tree. The back half of the cockpit roof had taken most of the impact. The hull had crumpled inwards, sealing the passageway to where the crew compartment used to be with debris. The only way out of the wreckage was through the now absent windshield.
Cardin checked himself over, relieved to find himself untouched despite the rough landing. He guessed his aura to be about half full following protecting him from the force of the crash, a quick glance at his scroll confirmed his assumption. "All things considered that went pretty well." Silence. "Velvet?" Nothing. "Bunny?" Something wasn't right.
Cardin snapped off his harness and stumbled forwards, nearly tripping twice as his dizziness kicked in. He reached the pilot's seat, Velvet's head hung limply, her Faunus ears drooped forwards like the wilted stems of a dying plant. Her brunette hair also partially concealed her face. Cardin took another step forward but stopped in his tracks.
A branch, probably as thick as his arm, had impaled Velvet through the stomach. Another smaller shard of wood stuck out of her thigh. Blood soaked her lower torso and legs.
"Velvet?" Cardin whimpered, he shook her shoulder lightly. Her head lolled weakly to one side. Cardin gently moved her hair out of the way and tentatively placed two of his fingers on her now exposed neck. She had a pulse, weak but persistent. He leaned close listening for breath, he felt the warmth of her shallow breathing on his cheek. "Oh thank dust!" Cardin exclaimed. Scanning the remains of the cabin for the first aid kit. He crouched down and began rummaging through the secure stowage boxes.
A distant howl caused him to look up in surprise. Cardin looked down and was relieved to find his weapon hadn't been dislodged from his belt. A moment later another howl answered, then another. Then another. The howls overlapping and becoming a cacophony, the sound grew closer.
Beowolves...
He couldn't let them get near Velvet. He gave up looking for the first aid kit and made his way over to the only exit.
Cardin climbed halfway out of the cockpit and took one final, mournful glance over his shoulder at his injured companion. "Don't you dare die!" He cried with as much scorn as he could muster before hauling himself out of the wreckage.
Yatsuhashi opened his eyes and hauled himself upright. His allies lay sprawled around him. Most were also clambering to their feet and checking their weapons. He glanced down, realising he still held onto Sky's wrist. He let go and the limp arm fell back to the decking. Yatsuhashi crouched over his younger peer, relieved to find he was only unconscious.
He glanced around the wreckage. The ramp had slammed shut upon impact, the fuselage surrounding it was bent and buckled. The passageway to the cockpit was also blocked, the girders supposed to support the hull had been bent and twisted, crisscrossing the normally open corridor and preventing escape from their steel coffin.
"We gotta get outta here!' A panicked voice cried. Yatsuhashi turned to see Dove frantically probing the hull for a way out. Finally he found a mechanical lever for triggering the explosive bolts around an emergency hatch. His hand reached towards the lever.
"No! Don't!" Coco yelled, a fraction too late.
The dull bang of the explosive bolts reach their ears and the Gargoyles circling above the wreckage. The six by four foot panel should have been propelled clear of the craft but some internal mechanism must have been damaged in the crash. The emergency hatch wouldn't fall free regardless as the now frenzied Gargoyles launched their bodies into the hatch. Flint and Gray rushed forwards to keep the hatch closed.
The edges and corners of the plate began to buckle and curve inwards as it was smashed against the surrounding frame. Yatsuhashi joined their efforts, putting his back to one side of the hatch and bracing his feet against the floor. A particularly heavy crash bounced the trio off of the hatch and they scrambled back into position. Fox rushed to their aid, adding his own strength to his allies. Coco was busy tearing out stowage boxes from under the crash seats, looking for additional ammo for Arma.
"Great job Dove!" Flint mocked with a strained voice as he pushed back against the hatch being battered by the horde.
"Yeah. You might as well have tattooed 'eat me' on your forehead!" Gray added.
"I'm sorry, I panicked." Dove explained.
"What was your plan? Open the hatch and invite them in, 'oh put the kettle on, the Gargoyles have come for a coffee'" Flint lamented.
"I said I was sorry!" Dove whined turning beet red.
"Come on guys, leave him alone. It was an accident." Rod said genially, stumbling over to help. He placed his Stetson back on his head and pulled Dove away from the hatch. "Go check on Sky for me ok?" Dove nodded to the rat faunus and started to roll his teammate's limp body into the recovery position.
Rod slung the strap of a cylindrical metal case over his shoulder and joined the others at the hatch and leaned on it with his back, keeping his hands free to reload his tomahawk revolvers. "He's still a fucking moron." Fox growled. Rod opened his mouth to speak when a shriek of metal cut him off. One corner of the hatch folded in and a Gargoyle's armblade came through the opening, flailing wildly in search of prey. It slashed Yatsuhashi's exposed arm, taking a significant chunk out of his aura. He grunted in mild annoyance and gripped the bonesword with his right hand and pulled. The bicep of his muscular arm tensed and rippled, the armblade ripped free of its owners torso with a screech of pain. Yatsuhashi dropped the twitching limb to the floor and nodded to his friends in a silent attempt at reassurance.
"Coco? You're in charge. What's the plan?" Rod asked.
Coco slammed the ammunition port of her weapon shut. "Get to the nearest cover. Kill anything in our way."
"Works for me!" Flint said cheerily, pulling back the bolt of his 40mm rifle and chambering a fresh round.
Panicked screeching reached their ears and the gathered students looked at each other in confusion. Flames licked at the edges of the hatch. The metal grew got to the touch causing those in contact with it to retreat. "Did we leak some fuel?" Gray asked nervously.
Fox sniffed, "can't smell any dust propellant." He stated matter of factly.
"I swear to dust, if you've murdered my friends, I will kill your dicks!" An enraged voice yelled from outside the steel coffin.
Rod gagged on the stench of burning flesh and cooking fat. "Nope, that's definitely Ember."
"Do Gargoyles even have dicks?" Gray mused.
"You can ask Port next time we have a Grimm studies lesson." Coco teased as she kicked the hatch clear of the wreckage.
A wall of sweltering heat hit them all at once. The red leaves of the forever fall forest were ablaze. Blackened wood groaned and cracked under the onslaught of the raging inferno. The students stumbled out into the smoke, Yatsuhashi hefting the still unconscious Sky over one shoulder and holding his peer's halberd in his free hand. It was near impossible to breath. Finally they caught sight of Russell waving to them frantically. "Come on! This way!" He yelled with a voice hoarse from smoke inhalation.
Ember appeared out of the smoke like a vengeful fire wielding warrior goddess. Hey eyes blazed orange like hot coals as her open palm produced streams of fire into the air, catching some of the circling Gargoyles. Smoking corpses, blackened husks, fell to the ground all around them. Russell reached her side, cycling his dagger's dust cylinders to yellow. Lightning leapt from his dagger's tips and struck yet more of their airborne assailants.
"Let's move! Iron eye formation!" Coco yelled. The huntsman and huntresses formed a circle, facing outward. The two conscious members of team CRDL being guided into formation by their older comrades. Yatsuhashi stood hunched in the centre, encumbered by the limp form of Sky draped over his shoulder.
The newly regrouped students made for the treeline, staying in formation and covering each other. Not a single Grimm made it within ten metres of the group. Finally they made it into the cover provided by the tree canopy. A few enemies followed them but were quickly despatched. Gargoyles were notoriously poor at fighting in enclosed spaces where they couldn't use their wings to outmanoeuvre their quarry. Most of the Grimm gave up pursuit immediately, those that didn't were dealt with mercilessly.
The last Gargoyle was slain and finally the panting students had a moment to recuperate. Russell limped over to Yatsuhashi, his leg still stiff from the Gargoyle bite he had suffered earlier. "Is he…" Russell tailed off, nodding to the pale and limp body of Sky who Yatsuhashi had sat up against a tree.
"No, just had another hypersensitive episode."
Russell let out a sigh of relief, crouching down to give his teammate a closer looking over. "Thanks Yatsu, I knew I could count on you."
"Yeah, but can we count on you and your team?" Fox growled, stalking over.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Russell snapped turning to Fox and getting in his face.
Fox shoved him roughly. "It means that between your Stimm-head friend slowing us down." He gestured to the still dozing Sky. "And that moron setting off the Gargoyle attack." He pointed to Dove who hung his head in shame. "I don't think we need any of you first years getting us killed." He shoved Russell again to accentuate his point.
Ember stepped between the two students and gave Fox a shove. "Back off, me and Russ just saved your asses back there."
Rod inched forward. "Look guys it's been a stressful day and I think you-"
"Shut up." both Fox and Ember said in unison before reverting to staring each other down.
"We didn't need saving. We would have been fine without your help." said Fox.
"Oh yeah? I'll help you into Beacon's infirmary if you carry on!" Ember shot back, taking a step towards him.
"You wanna go?" Fox growled in reply taking a step forward of his own. The two students were now within punching distance of one another. Ember's eyes flickered between red and orange like a dancing flame.
Yatsuhashi stepped between his two allies. "Stop this. Both of you. Together we are strong, divided we will die." He stared down each of them in turn. "I will carry Sky, we will get through this." He intoned calmly. The fire in Embers eyes died and she turned and stalked away, slashing a tree in half with her sword in pure rage and frustration. Rod followed his teammate, giving the others an apologetic yet knowing look as he went after her.
"Traitor." Fox muttered as he glared at Yatsuhashi before stalking in the opposite direction.
"Everyone take five." Coco ordered before turning to walk briskly after Fox.
"Fox. Babe? Slow down." Coco called after him. Fox stopped but didn't turn. Coco was soon at his side. The alluring and familiar scent of her caffeinated shampoo reached his nostrils. "You can't go tearing into people like that. Embers our friend."
Fox looked at the ground. "I know. I'll apologise to Ember later. She is our friend." He said through gritted teeth. Coco sighed in relief and draped an arm over her lover's shoulder. "But I won't be apologising to CRDL. Fuck them, they aren't my friends. They will never be my friends." He added icily.
"They're still fellow huntsman though babe." Coco pointed out as she removed the arm draped around his shoulder.
"Are you on their side too?" Fox hissed incredulously. "After everything they've done, a bribe and a few nice words is enough to make you forget it all?"
"That's not how it is and you know it." Coco answered, her tone turning stern. "Cardin didn't even tell Velvet he'd paid for Arma's repairs. If he was trying to worm his way into everyone's good books he'd have said something."
"I don't trust him." Fox said quietly, looking at Coco for the first time in the entire conversation.
"Neither do I. But I trust Velvet and I trust her judgement. You should too." Coco turned away and walked back to the group. Fox sighed and turned to follow.
Yatsuhashi hadn't said another word, he merely turned his attention back to Sky, watching over the unconscious first year. Russell walked over and leant with his back to the same tree trunk his teammate rested against. He stared down at the ground, with his hands in his pockets. "Look, Yatsu, I just wanted to say…"
"Say what?" The stoic swordsman asked with a cocked eyebrow.
Russell looked down at his feet and lightly kicked an imaginary stone. "...Thanks."
Yatsuhashi sighed and shook his head. "You don't have to thank me."
Russell took a step closer so the others couldn't hear him. "Yes I do. You've saved Sky twice today and you're putting your friendship with Fox on the line for someone who bullied your teammate up until a couple weeks ago."
"It does sound kind of stupid when you put it like that." Yatsuhashi teased. Russell smiled in response before moving to speak to Dove.
Rod had to jog to catch up to his teammate such was the speed of her furious march. "Hey, slow down." Ember stopped and turned. "Come on Ember, we can't go too far from the others, there could be Grimm around."
"I can take em." She answered.
"I know that but their screams of pain would draw more." Rod countered, Ember smiled at that. "Besides Russ needs you. He probably doesn't feel safe around Fox without you there to protect him."
Ember's expression darkened. "He shouldn't have to be on guard like that. Russ doesn't deserve the shit Fox gives him, maybe he did at one time but he isn't that guy anymore. He's different now."
"I know, but it's gonna take Fox a while to realise that. He'll come around eventually."
"He better do."
"He will, I know it." Rod soothed, he pulled Ember in for a momentary hug. A long, drawn out scream pierced the relative silence of the forest. A scream that came from the direction in which the others waited. The pair set off, sprinting towards the sound of distress.
They emerged into the space their group were resting in, finding all of their fellow students gathered in a circle. All except Fox who stood off to one side, leaning against a tree with an expression of disgust evident on his features. The scream had been replaced with a horrendous and frantic gurgling, like the sound of a drowning man desperate for air but finding only water.
Ember and Rod pushed through the gathered onlookers, horrified by the sight that greeted them. Sky was on the floor, bucking and twisting against the twins who each held one of his arms down. Flint and Gray seemed melancholic, like they were reliving some painful past memory. Russell pinned his teammates legs to the floor, a helpless expression on his face. Sky thrashed and writhed as if he was laying in scalding water. There were small, bloody scratches around his eyes (which had rolled back in his head, showing only the white of his eyes) and his ears. "What's going on? Is anyone going to help him?" Rod asked.
"We are helping him" Flint replied in a strained voice. Sky's seizure like state lent him incredible strength.
"He's had another episode of hypersensitivity. Tried to claw his own eyes out." Gray added.
"Fuck…" Ember breathed.
"When dad got like this we were told to hold him down to stop him harming himself but minimise physical contact."
"Why minimise contact?" Rod asked.
"Every one of his senses is amplified to an extremely painful degree, every light he sees is blinding. Every millimetre of contact I have with him, my body heat feels like it is searing into his flesh, the lightest touch becomes crushing. Oh and every noise is ear splitting, so save your questions for after he rides this out."
Rod shrugged and walked away rubbing the back of his head. Ember took a step forward and tapped Russell on the shoulder 'want me to take over?' She mouthed. Russell smiled sadly and shook his head.
Rod watched from a distance. He remembered the twins saying their father was a Stimms addict and that it had been difficult to cope with, but he never imagined anything even approximate to Sky's dire condition. Flint and Gray had been eleven when their father started using Stimms. How they had managed to restrain a fully fledged huntsman at that age, Rod had no idea. They had a far away look in their eyes, the memory of what they went through resurfacing after so long haunted them both, Rod could see it.
A few minutes passed. The gurgling gave way to quiet mewling and the thrashing subsided to the occasional twitch. Finally Sky fell still. Flint sighed in relief and let go, signalling the others to do the same. Sky sat up suddenly, taking a sharp intake of breath like a long submerged diver. He glanced around in total bemusement, the last thing he could remember was Yahtzee, no Yatsuhashi, saving him. He spat a lump of phlegm to clear his throat. "What happened?" He wheezed in a hoarse voice, his vocal cords still recovering from his earlier screaming.
"Stimms happened." Russell said angrily.
"And we crashed." Dove whined.
"Shit. I'm sorry." Sky said, shakily rising to his feet and steadying himself against a tree trunk. "Is everyone ok?" He asked as Yatsuhashi handed him back his halberd.
"The ship split in two. We don't know if Cardin and Velvet made it. Which is why we need to get moving." Coco explained.
"Shit. What about the professor?" Sky asked her as the group moved off towards the mountain, the taller (and closer) of the two peaks in the distance.
"Hnh, there isn't a Grimm in existence that could kill Peter Port."
Velvet awoke to anguished howls and the crunch of metal hitting flesh. Her blurry vision took a moment to focus. She was still in the cockpit. The nose of what was left of the Striker was slightly elevated meaning Velvets view through the now absent windscreen was solely the blood red leaves of forever falls tree canopy. A sudden pain in her abdomen made her glance down. The large branch had gone right through her and into the back of the chair, rooting her in place. A shard of wood was embedded in the flesh of her thigh. Not good... Velvet thought with vague detachment. A quick check of her scroll showed her aura pool to be at around a quarter full, the sickly yellow bar didn't inspire much hope in Velvet.
A loud dust explosion roared right outside the cockpit, shaking loose some leaves. The scarlet leaves floated gently down into the cockpit interior. Some landed in Velvet's hair and others became one with the growing red pool in Velvet's lap.
Another dust explosion shook the wreckage. "That all you got? Bring it assholes!" An enraged voice yelled. Cardin's voice. Cardin... He needs me, Velvet looked down and wrapped both hands around the branch. She pulled with all her might, her arms trembling with the effort. Velvet cried out in pain as she extracted the branch from her wound with agonising slowness. Finally it slid free and Velvet's limp, blood slick hands let it drop to the floor with a weighty thunk. She pulled herself out of the chair. Too weak to stand unsupported, she fell forwards onto the pilot's console, the wooden shard embedded in her thigh driven deeper by the impact. Tears welled in her eyes as she dragged herself back upright and climbed on top of the console and pulled herself up towards the windshield and the sounds of battle outside.
Velvet leaned out of the hole where the windshield used to reside. The first thing she saw was the cold stare of a Beowolf, right in her face. She jerked back in surprise before noticing that the Beowolf's head was resting slack jawed on the cockpit's nose. The body of the recently deceased Grimm was already beginning to disintegrate. Velvet steeled herself and took another peek outside. Dead Beowolves littered the ground, yet more living ones circled the crash site menacingly. Spotting her, one of the Grimm ran towards her, its eyes never straying from the injured student that was its target.
It scrabbled onto the nose and roared in triumph at the injured huntress in training. Velvet reached over her shoulder and pulled on the handle of her chainsword which thankfully still rested in the leather scabbard lying diagonally across her back. The motion brought forth another wave of agony as torn muscles and ruptured organs shifted inside her body. She aspirated blood onto the wreckage, fighting back the waves of nausea that threatened to overcome her dizzying head. She pulled desperately on her weapon's handle, her shaking, blood soaked hands unable to get a firm grip.
The Beowolf pounced forwards, its jaw stretching impossibly wide. A shadow fell over Velvet, but not the Grimm's shadow. Cardin came to her aid and slammed his mace into its jaw with an underarm swing that blew its head clean off, showering both students with blood.
The blast from his weapons dust crystal knocked Velvet from her perch and back down into the wreckage. She landed on her back, the leather scabbard of her chainsword slamming painfully into her spine. "Shit!" Cardin exclaimed, smacking his mace into a pair of enemies, knocking both of them back with one swing. "Velvet? You ok?" He yelled frantically.
"Yeah, I'm alright" she answered, rolling over onto her hands and knees. Another horrendous cough wracked her body, spattering yet more blood onto the cockpit interior.
"Just stay there, I've got this, try and find the first aid kit." He yelled, sweeping out a Grimm's legs from under it. He started to stamp on the fallen enemy, his armoured boot slamming into its face with unrestrained fury.
Velvet nodded weakly and crawled to the gunner's station, she knew from her piloting course that the first aid kit was stowed beneath the seat.
Sure enough the red plastic box, marked with a white cross, was there. Velvet pulled it free with a sigh of relief. She sat back against a wall and unlocked the clasp holding it closed. She un-stoppered a slim vial containing healing dust and sprinkled all of its contents onto the ragged hole in her stomach. Velvet breathed in sharply as the sting of the dust bit into her innards. She flared her aura, focussing it into the wound. Healing dust didn't really cure anything, it was more of a coagulant, its intended use was only to keep a subject alive long enough to find help. But bleeding out was her main concern right now, she felt her veins and capillaries seal shut, her internal bleeding stopped and her organs partially healed. She would still need surgery as soon as possible.
Now for the shard in her thigh. She retrieved a pair of pliers from the kit and used them to tear the shard out of her flesh. The jagged, hand sized piece of wood cut her savagely as she ripped it free. "Fuck!" Velvet bawled as the rekindled fire in her leg burnt out her nerves.
Cardin glanced down at her upon hearing the sound. "Vel-"
He never made it past that as an alpha Beowolf saw an opening and tackled him. The two grappling combatants bounced down the cockpit nose and out of sight. Cardin was sent sprawling and rolled to lessen the impact, his mace clattered onto the ground a few feet away. The Beowolf pressed its advantage as Cardin regained his footing. He rose up delivering a vicious uppercut into the alpha's jaw that knocked the Grimm off its feet. A pair of smaller Beowolves attacked, eager to defend their pack leader. Cardin smacked a right hook into the first one's nose and sidestepped the second. The alpha reengaged, slamming into Cardin with a furious charge that knocked him to the ground once again. The Grimm landed astride his torso, pinning him to the ground with its sheer mass. Its clawed paws pushing him into the dirt as it tried to rip Cardin's throat out with its teeth. Cardin grabbed its upper and lower jaws, keeping the Grimm at bay, his arms shook with the effort. A second Beowolf joined the attack gnawing at one of his greaves, he kicked out desperately with his free foot but to no avail. He jerked his head to the right avoiding his enemies teeth. He caught sight of more Beowolves creeping forward, waiting for their leader to secure the kill.
Back in the cockpit Velvet's leg wouldn't respond to any of her urgings to move it. So she dragged herself into the gunners seat just to her left instead.
She ripped a bundle of colour coded wires free from the underside of the console and bit holes into the rubber sheath of the red and blue cables. Velvet frantically stripped the cables and wrapped the two exposed wires around her the forefinger and index finger of her left hand. She activated her semblance and channelled electricity into the cockpits systems. The screen in front of her flickered for a moment then came to life. A quick glance at the diagnostics confirmed the auto-cannon had, miraculously, survived the crash. The image was blurred and multi-coloured lines of interference ran up and down the screen. She grabbed the targeting joystick, aimed, and pulled the trigger.
The autoloader clattered into life and a moment later the signature whuka - whuka - whuka sound of the Strikers gun roaring into life reached Velvet's ears. The alpha's head and shoulders disappeared in a puff of red mist. It's lower body collapsing back onto Cardin. The gun jerked left and right spreading out a wide cone of fire that whickered through the air mere inches in front of his eyes.
The percussive force of the shells shook yet more leaves free from the tree canopy. Back in the cockpit flakes of red rained down onto Velvet as she let loose tracers into any Grimm she saw. A few howls and barks from the Beowolves could be heard, retreating into the forest.
The autoloader emitted a series of dry clicks before falling silent. Velvet waited for the smoke to clear and pulverised tree bark to settle. She moved the empty gun left and right, scanning the area in front of the craft for signs of life, her eyes boring into the console screen with extreme attentiveness.
A new clearing had been cut into the forest, fifty metres wide and around eighty metres long. The forest floor was a scarlet slurry of blood and red leaves, speckled with shreds of brown bark. Finally a red coated figure sat up and glanced around the open space he'd suddenly found himself in. Cardin wiped his face clean and grinned holding a thumb up towards the guns camera. Velvet let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. She stopped her electrokinesis and unwrapped the wires from her hands. Channelling a little aura into her hand to heal the minor electrical burns her fingers had suffered.
Cardin retrieved his mace and returned to the wreckage. His head appeared over the lip of the cockpit windshield. He reached a hand down towards his Faunus companion. "Thanks bunny."
Velvet smiled up at him and took the proffered hand, allowing him to pull her out of the craft. "Thanks birdy." She returned his gratitude. She glanced around warily in case any Grimm had returned for another attack. Velvet surveyed their surroundings, a pair of mountains rose up out of the forest, they were in opposite directions from one another. The wreckage they stood upon rested about halfway in between the two peaks. She pointed to the shorter of the two distant mountains. "The professor said to meet at the objective."
"You sure it's that mountain?" Cardin asked.
"No but it's a fifty/fifty chance we pick the right one and we've faced worse odds than that today."
"Fair point." Cardin said as he slid down the side of the wreckage and then turned to help Velvet down.
In the distance more Beowolves howled and were answered by a chorus of roars that could only be ursas. Velvet turned to face Cardin, her faunus ears pricked up on high alert, her expression one of solemn resignation. "Sounds like they've regrouped. You need to go."
"Surely you mean we?" Cardin answered eyeing up the forest for signs of the enemy.
Velvet shook her head. "No Cardin, I mean you. I can't run with my leg like this." She said gesturing down to the ragged and still bleeding hole in her thigh. Her already depleted aura would take hours to repair the damage and she'd already used all the healing dust on the wound to her stomach.
"There has to be another way."
"I'll slow you down. Alone you might make it, better one of us lives than both of us die." Velvet turned away from Cardin, she couldn't bear to look into his eyes any longer. "Now go. I'll hold them off" she ordered without turning.
Something slammed into her from behind and it took her a couple of disoriented seconds to realise Cardin had picked her up. One forearm was hooked under her legs and the other held her around her waist. The same sort of way a groom carries a bride across the threshold of their house. He'd already started jogging in the direction of Velvet's chosen mountain. "What are you doing? You're going to get yourself killed!" She was touched, she really was... But she didn't want Cardin to die for her.
He looked down at her as best he could while running through the forest. It seemed to take a few seconds for him to figure out a way to express his feelings. "We go together, or we don't go down at all." There was a grim certainty to his voice. From that moment on Velvet knew Cardin wouldn't let any harm come to her while breath was still in his body. And deep down Velvet knew she'd do the same for him.
"Cardin I...you should have left me."
"Ha! You're one to talk, didn't you nearly die stopping Coco from killing me?" He panted.
"That was different..."
"You're right, I'm doing this for purely selfish reasons." He said with a sly grin.
"Like what?"
"There's so many things I need to say to you and you need to be alive to hear them."
"Then say them." Velvet replied, hoping against hope to hear those three words that she had waited so long for.
"Later, we have company." Cardin changed direction suddenly as an Ursa crashed through the trees. He clumsily ducked under the swing from its meaty paw and stumbled for a moment off balance. He resumed running in the direction of the mountain. Behind them the forest shook as a stampede of Ursas and Beowolves took up pursuit...
There you have it, I already have most of he next chapter done and I guarantee every single one of you is going to hate me for it. Anyways as always please leave a review.
Thanks Nemris for being super awesome and helpful, also check out Zygarde22 he has a couple Cardin x Velvet fics that deserve a read, they're really good and I think you all need to help him out with a review or recommend him to a friend.
Hope you all enjoyed this chapter, let me know your thoughts, back next Friday at the same time with more stuff for you lovely lot. :D
Stay awesome,
E