Well, thankfully I didn't take so long this time around in writing the next chapter for you guys. Hopefully I didn't make any big mistakes in this chapter, but if anyone sees anything odd just give me a shout and I'll look into it. If I'm lucky I can maintain a weekly/biweekly update routine on this story. I'll let you guys know if anything comes up to hinder that at all.
Otherwise, enjoy the newest installment!
"Frost, what happened?!" Neo worriedly asked as Frost looked at his right hand, a small trail of smoke lifting from where he had made contact with the black substance. "One moment everything is quiet and then suddenly you're wincing in pain and we hear Grimm right after that weird…stuff just floats out the window!"
"I…" Frost started as he clenched his hand into a ball a few times to see if there was any lasting damage, his eyes wide in shock at the feeling that had just passed through his system. "I don't know. I was just checking that stuff like the two of you and then it feels like my arm and head are on fire for a moment before it passes like it never happened. What is that stuff?"
"I doubt any of us has time to figure that out right now," Emerald stated with a strained tone as she stood looking outside the open window, her eyes following the snow and substance as it flew away. "We've got company outside…and they're not your average Grimm. Honestly I don't know what the hell to call them."
Frost and Neo both moved over to look outside the window as Emerald stepped aside, her expression focused and unpleasant as Neo gasped and Frost's words stuck in his throat. The sight outside left them both confused and frightened as they lay witness to a new form of Grimm that none of them had read about before. The forms were nothing different as they all were shaped like Beowolves; however it was what they were formed off that was the true concern. While parts of them consisted of the usual black that Grimm were comprised of, parts of them were as white as snow, as though the landscape itself had arisen to take on the forms they now saw. With claws and teeth formed of icicles and the usual bone plating now also formed of ice it was like a winter nightmare come to life before their eyes.
"What. The. Fuck." Frost stated with a dumbstruck look after the initial shock had worn off. "I have read countless books on reported sightings and documentations about Grimm and nowhere, I mean absolutely nowhere, did I read about shit like this. Not even Geist's are capable of something like this since they can only manipulate one form and they usually go for something big anyways. These are literally Beowolves that are acclimated to the Atlas environment. That doesn't happen."
"Well news flash genius, it happened," Emerald stated as she retrieved her weapons from their holsters with a sharp click. "And they've known we're here the whole time. See how they're just looking at us? It's classic predator-prey mentality. If we run, they'll chase us. If we rush them, they'll pounce. Any ideas?"
The three of them looked around the large town square that the Grimm were packed into, each one of them looking for some way to gain an early advantage before removing the Grimm threat. After some time, Neo's eyes widened as she noticed a slightly taller building near the large pack of Grimm that had a sharp overhang that the beasts couldn't see around on to the rooftop.
"What about over there? It's hidden from view and we can use that to our advantage." Her gestured hand allowed the other two to see where she was referring to specifically.
"But we wouldn't be able to see them either, how does that help?" Frost asked incredulously.
"Because, they won't be under there forever once we give them some encouragement to head this way. One thing of bait always attracts a pack, remember? We used the same kind of trick back in Vale." Neo stated plainly as the other two caught onto her intentions.
"Okay, but whose going to be bait?" Emerald asked curiously as Frost also looked amongst their group with an unsure expression.
Neo smirked lightly as she retrieved her collapsed parasol from her belt and opened it fully. "I've got that covered, trust me."
Moments later, after the Grimm witnessed a brief flash of light from within the house that they sensed living beings, a lone figure hopped down from the open portal into the snow with a soft thud of impact. The human was small and not menacing in any way, however it was food for them all the same and thus the pack rushed forward in a mad attempt at claiming the prize. They were only recently formed, and thus hungered for any sort of food to sustain them in their hunt.
However upon reaching their prey it crumpled into the snow with a shattering sound, leaving the pack anxiously looking around for more food. One Grimm picked up the scent of humans before the rest, and swiveled its head towards the roof of one of the buildings in hopes of spotting new prey. Its vision caught sight of something gleaming in the sun for a brief instant before its head turned sharply and forced its line of sight into the ground with a sickening crack. The icicle-plating held, though now noticeably cracked as the intruder leapt away from it with a hiss of pain, clutching at one of its arm as two more now beside it looked on in worry briefly before turning to open fire on the pack.
Their meal had come to them this time…and they would not waste this opportunity.
Frost groaned in pain as he swung bursts of energy from each arm, his right arm burning as though stuffed into an open flame and left to cook. Neo and Emerald had also noticed this, but were otherwise too preoccupied with shooting up the Grimm as they lumbered up to them in groups of 2 or 3 at a time. There were nearly two dozen littering the village, and the three of them now worried if they had the firepower to do this on their own given how Frost did not seem as able to fight as he normally would. This could potentially turn into them having to flee and give the unfortunate news to the villagers on the run.
"Frost! Get back and just resort to stunning them for us! You can't fight them like this with your hand the way it is! You'll get hurt!" Neo exclaimed between shots as she released another bolt of Dust from her parasol before engaging the shield portion and deflecting a particularly nasty swipe from a Beowolf as it swung towards her head. Emerald quickly dispatched a single Beowolf that had left its midsection too vulnerable after a series of wild swings and bites via unloading a rapid barrage of bullets into it, thus killing it and rendering it to its normally smoky form. Moments later though, around when the smoke would fully dissipate, it floated over the roof of another larger building in the town before another beast leapt towards them in hot pursuit.
"If I get a little scratched up then that's part of the work risk! This village needs clearing, and it'll go a lot smoother if I help you rather than sit on the sidelines like a coward! I'm not going anywhere!" Frost yelled back in retort as a Beowolf leapt towards him with its maw open wide seeking flesh, only to meet a metal fist as its snout was shoved into the snow and dirt with a solid crunch. Before it could leap away to the safety of its pack, a jolt of electricity surged through it before it slumped to the ground defeated, its smoke joining that of the previously defeated beast moments later. "What the heck is up with these Grimm though?! First they get formed from the snow and ice, and now they don't even die like they should! What the hell are these things?!"
"Well maybe we can find that out once we've thinned them out some more," Emerald snapped back as she swung her weapons crosswise against a Grimm with devastating precision, leaving another body to smoke and disappear. "There's still too many to focus on anything else right now!"
The three of them continued fighting, occasionally killing a Grimm before moving away as more leapt upon their position. After a while of fighting, they started to notice something worrying the more things dragged on. No matter how many they defeated, it always felt like the Grimm numbers never truly diminished, as more seemed to appear out of nowhere after they defeated a few.
"Okay, I know I'm not the only one noticing this!" Frost yelled after back stepping away from a Grimm's jaws and delivering a sharp kick with his legs to its body, launching its form into the back of the pack where it too smoked away and floated above the building. "These things should be down to only a few by now and yet it seems like we're just back where we started! We need to get to that rooftop and see what's happening when that smoke goes up there!" Frost planted both hands onto the ground inside of the snow as his arms started to light up sharper than before and small bolts of electricity started to ripple on the visible surface of his gauntlets. "Both of you jump up…now!"
On command, Neo and Emerald both leapt from the ground towards anything they could prop themselves on top of such as tables, trees, or the like that were not in the direct path of Frost's attack. Moments later a crackling wave of electricity surged outwards from Frost's position and crept towards the most conductive surfaces they could find. As most of the ground was mostly covered in snow and most structures were formed out of wood, the only targets left were that of the Grimm as most of them began twitching and howling from the surge of electricity that passed through them. One beast however had been in mid leap as Frost had released the pent up energy, and neither Emerald or Neo had time to raise their weapons to defend him after leaping to safety themselves, forcing them to watch as the beast's jump propelled it closer and closer to Frost's form as he concentrated on channeling energy out of his body and into the Grimm so as to stun them.
"Frost! LOOK OUT!" Neo screamed over the howl of the Grimm as Frost looked up to see the beast's claw descending towards him. At the last possible moment he pushed away from the ground by propelling a burst of energy out of his heads to use the momentum to carry him backwards and away from the outstretched arm. While this succeeded in getting his head and torso out of harm's way, it did not completely remove him from it as the claw came down against his glowing arm that was partially exposed between the sleeve of his jacket and the metal of the gauntlet.
What happened next was entirely unexpected.
As the icicle claws of the odd Grimm came in contact with Frost's right arm, he once again felt a searing pain rush up it and through him, but did not miss what happened to the Grimm at the same time. The claw snapped and melted instantly as it came in contact with his skin, not leaving any indication of a scratch or tear and instead leaving what looked like a light burn. The lack of impact set the Grimm off-balance as its arm continued to move minus its claws and Frost used that moment to deliver a sharp pulse of energy out of his other hand into the Beowolf's open maw, exploding its body outwards in a shower of ice and smoke as it too perished and floated away.
Everything seemed to slow as the three of them all looked on in amazement, though Neo and Emerald were not in a position to see the grimace on Frost's face that came with the burning sensation that had rushed through his body. With it though, came a look of understanding and realization as he quickly discarded both his jacket and gauntlets to Neo and Emerald's shock and concern.
"Frost! What are you doing?!" Emerald yelled out over the snarls of Grimm that were now standing at a distance and snarling at the lone figure immediately in front of them. "You can't defend yourself without those things, so why are you just standing there like an idiot and taking them off?!"
"Because I just figured out a new way to fight these things that should make it easier for the two of you to investigate that building!" Frost yelled back without taking his eyes off of the Grimm in front of him while the hairs on his arms stood up briefly in the cold wind, his arms now noticeably glowing all the way from his hands to his shoulders.
"But how are you supposed to do that without a weapon?!" Neo snapped over the wind as she tried to talk sense into Frost from her own vantage point. "You can't fight them barehanded no matter how much of your Semblance you use! It'll burn you out too fast!"
"While that may be true," Frost returned as he stretched both arms for a moment and clenched and unclenched his fists, now free of the constricting metal and leather straps. "That's the entire point! Remember how we were talking about my not being bother by the cold even when wearing light stuff like my jacket or just a shirt? It was my Semblance the whole time acting subconsciously after it manifested. You saw the way that things claws practically melted and broke against my arm, and that wasn't the metal part of it. If I focus my energy as a source of heat rather than energy or adrenaline, I can melt them on contact!"
"Ever thought that maybe a fireball might work better?" Emerald retorted as she took shots at a Grimm trying to sneak up on the tree she was standing in, its mouth opening in a snarl as it backed up to the rest of its pack.
"I'm not Yang. I can't just burst into flame like her Semblance does. Heat is just another form of energy anyways, so it stands to reason that I can warm up my body just by focusing in the right way. I won't be able to do it for long without risking burns to myself, but it should be enough time to hold them back for the two of you to check out the roof." Frost adjusted his footing as the Grimm began to inch closer to him, their hesitation and curiosity now beginning to pass. "Now, go! Before I rethink this stupid idea!"
"You heard the man." Emerald stated coolly before leaping from the tree to the nearest house and started running and leaping in the direction of the taller building the smoke kept moving towards. Neo, after passing a brief and worried look in Frost's direction, leapt after her as the two went to investigate.
The sounds of fighting continued from below as Grimm took turns leaping at Frost's form only to scramble and try to move back just as fast as parts of their body melted or cracked at his touch as he dodged swings and planted his fists or elbows into the icy parts of the Grimm bodies. Neo winced as two leapt at him at once, only for Frost to turn his body to stand in the small middle gap between the claws before reaching out and planting a hand each into the Grimm's chests.
"He'll be fine. He knows what he's doing." Emerald stated calmly as they approached their target. "Though he's a hell of a lot more suicidal than I thought."
"It's not that he's suicidal," Neo stated from beside Emerald, her head turning to face the shorter girl with a curious look. "He's always gone out of his way to try and protect those in trouble, and I can't count how many times he used to get into fights with other kids in the neighborhood when they would pick on some of the younger orphans. It always ended up with him getting scratched up and hurt, but he never cared as long as the ones being targeted got away without getting hurt themselves. I'm worried he still sees things like that, and just counts this as another one of those times. These are Grimm though, and not ordinary people, so one wrong move could end so much worse than a playground fight that goes too far."
Emerald gave Neo a neutral look before turning and facing the Grimm fighting Frost briefly. It was clear that every now and then he would take a hit from one of the beasts and was forced to move back to make space and leave himself ground to work with, but he had said himself that he had a slightly larger Aura pool that helped whenever his Semblance started to run low and he had to start feeding on his Aura rather than bolstering it at times. Would it be enough to cover them, though? Emerald had no idea and she had her doubts as well, but she wasn't going to make Neo more worried by voicing them at this time. That would just make things worse. Besides, they were almost there, and would need to be completely focused for what they would face.
The two of them took one last leap as they landed atop the building where the smoke kept going, and what they saw left both startled and confused. Nothing lay atop the roof itself, however what floated above it was the real concern. For floating and twirling roughly three feet above the roof on the far side was a black diamond shaped crystal, speckled with snow and ice which also fluttered around it as though in orbit. The crystal itself even looked to be of the same material as the substance they had found amidst the pile of snow inside the house where the family had died.
And then it all made sense. Why they felt waves of cold any time a claw would pass near them, why the family was frozen but no signs of blood had indicated any fatal wounds, and why Frost was able to fight them by heating up his body via his Semblance. The Grimm weren't part ice…they WERE the ice. Normally they could only form from those puddles and droppings like they had seen come from the Dragon back in Vale, yet these needed no such thing to form. Before they had time to react further however, the crystal pulsed an ominous red before a large portion drifted away from it along with a large quantity of snow and ice and formed into that of an Alpha Beowolf between them and the crystalline structure.
"Well," Emerald snarked as she transformed her weapons into their blade form. "Looks like we've got one more between us and what's making those things. Ready to put a stop to these things?"
Neo looked over with a groan at Emerald's sassy grin as she engaged the Dust chamber inside her weapon and took aim at the Beowolf with a sideways glance. "Only if you can keep it distracted long enough to give me a clear shot at the crystal, sure."
And then the Alpha leapt at them, with a shake of the roof from the force of its propulsion, its jaws open wide and claws outstretched as the two girls stood their ground.