The warning alarm's shrill, frequent, beep filled the cabin. Greyson's focus on the now flashing radar intensified, and he swore. Four dots, two leaving each larger radar blip, hurdled toward Twilight Crusade's ship. He clutched the control stick and punched it forward, gluing his friends to the back of their seats as the ship vigorously accelerated.
"Why- What's going on?" Azure shrieked.
"Nothing. Just sit tight, and buckle up," Greyson ordered staunchly.
The clicks of his friends fastening their seatbelts offered Greyson little assurance as the military's missiles became visible in the passengers' side window. He wrenched the second control stick forward and the ship plunged downward. Greyson grinned in a split second of celebration as two missiles careened over his window.
The pride replaced itself with horror.
Glass shattered throughout the airship's cabin as a missile connected with the back of the ship, tearing off the hind wings. The warning alarm intensified to a blaring screech. The ship hurdled toward the ground in a smoking spiral. Alexandra screamed and put her arms around Kita, burying her face in her friend's shoulder. Kita clutched the seat and froze in fear, but held one arm across Alexandra's to provide limited comfort. Dustyn and Ezelia held each other tightly, shutting their eyes. Rusty, who often became motion-sick, became ill on the floor of the cabin. Even Pierce held an arm out to Ember's shoulder in worry.
Fighting the ship's momentum that threatened to throw him hundreds of feet to the rocky crags below, Greyson jumped on the control stick and put his entire weight into steering the airship into a nearby mountain thick with snow.
Just before impact, Raven's semblance overtook her body. As the crunch of snow and ship alike, and the cacophony of broken glass filled Twilight Crusade's ears, black surrounded them. Greyson could feel the airship jostle for several seconds, as if settling at the base of the hill.
When Greyson opened his eyes, the blackness receded. Greyson watched in awe as holographic wings retracted back into Raven's body. "Is... is everyone okay?" he asked.
"I'm... we're alive!" Alexandra exclaimed.
"My wrist isn't feeling so good, but I don't think it's broken..." Dustyn noted.
"I'll look at it when we're a little safer," Azure offered. "I don't think I'm injured."
"Oh, damn it..." Ember groaned. "I fell in Rusty's mess. Anyone have a spare coat?"
"Raven, you saved us!" Rusty cheered, ignoring Ember.
"I-I what?" Raven asked, looking dazed. "We landed?"
As the others filled Raven in on what had happened, Greyson worked his way out of a broken window, carefully avoiding the shards of broken glass. He looked around. Thick forests surrounded the ship save for one side, the face of the hill Twilight Crusade's airship landed on. Snow and ice had been torn up in a path to the bottom, fragments of the ship littering the way. Greyson knew the hunk of metal would never fly again.
They were trapped in the infamously unforgiving wilderness of Northern Mistral.
"Are we really stuck out here?" Alexandra lamented as she worked her way out the same window. "Damn it! It's freezing!"
Kita exited the other side of the ship. "This is an unfortunate time of year, yes. But I know much about these forests."
"We should move," Greyson suggested rigidly. "Mistral might still be after us, and judging by what just happened, they don't care about taking us alive."
The rest of Twilight Crusade worked themselves out of the crash, and began to salvage what was left of their belongings. Everyone's weapons, A couple tents, a few days' food, and enough coats for each back was all that survived.
Greyson heard an indistinct drone from behind the hill, and apprehension worked its way into his mind. The noise slowly became louder, until a massive airship appeared over the hill's crest. The ship whipped up a flurry of powder as it turned, revealing an open door, where two miniguns aimed in Twilight Crusade's direction.
"Run!" Greyson commanded.
The uproar of blazing guns shattered the near-peace of the forest. Greyson heard several bullets fly past his head with a screech, sending up puffs of snow as they lodged in the ground. Branches above splintered. The snow beneath Greyson''s feet threatened to pull him in with each step, adding to the adrenaline coursing through his body.
After running for what felt like years, until Greyson's lungs felt as if they were about to tear out of his chest, the frigid air fell silent. Greyson looked around. All of his friends were alive and uninjured, heads surrounded by the fog of their rapid breaths.
Before, the forest was alive with sounds of the hardier animals that remained in the area during the Winter. Now, the wilderness was eerily quiet. Many trees of the area had died and rotted away, but a thick canopy still coated the area in relative darkness.
"Lieutenant Gatlin, Northern Squad three reporting in. Targets' airship confirmed down, but targets fled. They have entered Akuno Forest. Course of action?"
A chuckle broke out from the other end of the airship captain's radio. "Let them flee for now. If they're in Akuno forest, our work's done."
"Yes sir."
Meanwhile, Greyson sat on the snowy ground, back propped up against a tree. Exhaustedly, he popped handfuls of fresh snow into his mouth.
"Hey, sweetie? I don't think it's best you eat that..." Azure cautiously advised, taking a seat next to him.
"I heard it's actually dehydrating, but that doesn't make sense. It's water," Greyson replied. He popped in another handful. He turned his head to the side away from Azure, where he thought he heard whispers. Pierce and Ember stood, scanning their surroundings. Greyson noticed a slight flick in Pierce's raccoon ears, and assumed Ember had made some note aside to him.
"Actually... that one's a myth," Azure admitted. "But it'll bring down your core body temperature. And there has to be germs in it. We should boil it before drinking any."
"How will we do that? Everything's frozen over, all the fuel's wet," Greyson muttered.
"There is a particular stone, which can be found underground. Striking it can create a spark," Kita responded from past Azure.
"Even without Crown Jewel, I can probably turn a spark to a flame," Alexandra offered.
Greyson heard another chorus of whispers, this time from Azure's side.
"Good. But does anyone else hear that?" Greyson inquired.
"Sounds like whispers?" Pierce replied, turning to face him. "I heard them too. Been trying to tell what the hell's making that noise, but I don't see anything."
"That's, uh... that's not good," Rusty said.
"It's not me creepin' you guys out this time, I swear!" Alexandra exclaimed.
Greyson stood, and pulled Nimbus from its sheath. "We should move," he directed. "We should travel until just before sundown. Hopefully we'll find somewhere less creepy."
Twilight Crusade marched on. Alexandra trained her dust-wielding by covering the group's prints with fresh snow. The deeper they travelled into the forest, the darker, more eerie it became. Greyson knew they were in the mountains, but everything seemed remarkably flat, each section of the woods repeating the last with an additional level of shade.
The whispers behind them grew louder.
"Hey. Look behind us," Pierce stiffly advised.
Out of a section of forest now choked in darkness, a terrifying creature of grimm sailed toward Twilight Crusade. Greyson only made out a pair of piercing red eyes at first, but soon saw the spectre in its entirety. It was vaguely humanlike, with an emaciated-looking head, armored by red-lined white plates at its neck. Its shoulders and chest were similarly armored. Below its waist, the being faded. It floated without legs, with nothing more than a thick haze of darkness floating behind.
The most horrifying part of the peculiar creature was its arms. Rather, the jagged, razor-sharp blades mounted on each. Both blades were nearly the width of the creature's shoulders, but nearly twice as long. Typical of grimm, they were white. The deep red marks seemed darker than the red of most grimm, and followed no distinct pattern. The marks looked to be splatters of dried blood.
"What in the hell is that?" Rusty cried.
Greyson grit his teeth, and fired a lightning bolt between the creature's eyes as it came within range. It vanished, and darkness overcame the group. The whispers intensified, until they felt as if they had infiltrated Greyson's own mind. Still, Greyson could discern no words.
A scream brought him back into reality. Azure's.
The creature had transformed, fully taking a human shape. It was covered in white armor, with a lance of deep red and a massive white shield. Its deep red eyes were accurate of a human face, but its mouth was much larger, with jagged teeth and crimson maw.
It thrusted its lance at Azure, who hopped backward out of fear and fired a beam of dust from her Moonbow. The creature it blocked easily, along with two slashes from Raven's sword. It parried a downward strike from Ezelia with its lance, and bashed her to the floor with its shield. The beast of human shape stomped toward her as she struggled to stand, and raised its lance. Dustyn rushed to her side, shaking arms feebly holding Boomstick defensively.
Alexandra shouted as she thrust her cutlass into an unarmored section of the beast's back, and slashed downward. The monster screeched in pain, momentarily fading into a black cloud before retaking another human shape. This time, a woman's. The face was unrecognizable, but between the armored "skin," black dress, and crown, Alexandra knew just what the beast had become. She breathed heavily in terror, and backed away slowly as the grimm woman shrieked in an uncanny, nearly human cry.
Before the grimm could advance, Ember lodged a dagger in its back. It shrieked again as she twisted. After several seconds, Ember felt the resistance of the grimm's body give way, as it once again faded into a mist. It settled on the ground, and spread itself thin before lashing upward with flamelike tendrils. Greyson winced as one passed by his leg, and he felt something he never thought he would in the forests of Yamakori: the pain of searing heat.
Two black forms arose from the darkness below. One took the shape of a muscular cat, about the height of a car and the length of two. It walked on six armored legs, with an armored spine trailing down its back to its two tails, whiplike with a spike-covered ball on the end of each. The second form was slightly larger, taking the form of a massive dog, plated in white with three viciously snapping heads.
The three-headed canine grimm howled, and the monstrosities charged forward.