Gale Grigia lay slumped against the remains of Beacon Tower, and looked up at the darkening sky. The bellowing from the nightmare creatures called Grimm battered her ears, and her fingers groped involuntarily at her weapons belt. But just like last time, there was nothing to be felt but the pain in her knee, a jarring reminder of the predicament she was facing. Barely 20 metres away, the dull blue edge of her bow-sword lay twisted and half buried in the rubble, the string broken and arrows scattered on the ground. Just as it was when the Ursa had finally knocked her down.
A hand fell on her shoulder.
"Gale, we have to get moving, those creatures will be on top of us in a minute." said a boy, his eyes stark against his blackened face, which bore no traces of its usual olive tone. He began lifting her up off the concrete, flinching as his shoulder stabbed him again. Gale braced herself against the wall.
"I can't go far, that Ursa crushed my leg just before I killed it".
"Then we'll have to hide."
"Hide?"
"Below the training podium, they won't be able to follow us there."
She took Nero's arm, but her height made it awkward and put more pressure on his damaged shoulder. Progress was painful, and the crawl under the podium agony for both of them. What was left of Gale's grey ponytail blew in their eyes, and fresh blood dripped from the wound on Nero's face, splattering onto the pavement below.
But it wasn't all blood. There were tears too.
They came out into a small opening, and saw a green mass crumpled up on the opposite side of the cavern. Lina must have had the same idea as they had. Gale flung herself against one of the pillars, and sat down to examine her knee. It was bad. How bad, she couldn't tell, especially not in this dim light, and she doubted she would know until the night was over. Or longer.
The roars grew closer, and Gale felt a tear slipping down her own cheek as she laid there, still in disbelief at what had transpired over the last few hours. She could hardly blame Nero for crying too, though it wasn't something she ever expected to see. Difficult parents and a stint in Vacuo tended to encourage a serious, resilient nature, not empathy or shows of emotion. But what did backgrounds matter now, thought Gale. What did anything matter, if the whole of Remnant was falling apart?"
And… if your leader was missing out there, somewhere, in this unfolding nightmare?