Author's Note: Honestly, don't have much to say here. Have a good read?

Chapter 60

The rain, it turned out, didn't totally evaporate during the night. Who'd have thought? It was testament to Carol's rising ill luck that it was so. Regardless of his musings for what the state of his luck was, it did mean that the humidity was agonizingly high. The shade provided by the trees helped somewhat, but even just moving through the underbrush had the sweat poring down in rivulets. But no, it couldn't just be that- There had to be Grimm on the way there, as well.

"Damn bastards. Why can't you just melt in the heat like the rest of us?" Carol griped as he pulled Rex from the head of a Beowulf, slumped on the ground and missing both arms and a leg. A short sword was great in man to man combat, less so in Grimm combat. It lacked the length that the others had to easily reach the vital parts of the Grimm, so that meant he had to get up close and personal with every Grimm he'd encountered. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing; He still had lingering anxiety when it came to fighting the Grimm, especially different types, but with every limb and head crushed, it was slowly fading into obscurity, seemingly distant now. There was something about a Beowulf trying to crawl after you without legs that just made it seem harmless. The thing started to fade away like smoke in the breeze. Carol spat on it for good measure.

"Look, just because you're jealous that they don't feel the heat doesn't mean you can be a dick to them."

"Sky, they're literally trying to eat us."

"Doesn't change my point." Carol shrugged, taking a canteen from his hip and taking a generous sip from it. Despite the fact that the packaged food from Beacon was gods-awful, the canteens were the opposite. Then again, it was hard to mess up water, especially if you purified it. Which, they were generous enough to provide purification tablets, so as long as they didn't pick up water that was too gunky, they'd be able to travel for quite a bit. "Though they are being a pain in the ass, so I'll forgive you this time." He didn't respond, drinking more of his water.

"It's good practice, though." Cardin said, jerking his mace's head from where it was stuck, ironically in another Beowulf's head. "For one reason or another, it's probably good. After all, we're just going to be relic hunting when we get to the village."

"Yeah, but we only have so many rations for so many days." Carol rebutted, replacing the canteen on his hip, and having his sword join it in it's sheath. "Besides, if every day is going to be this gods-forsaken hot, I'd rather not spend more time than I need to."

"Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees..."

"What was that, Russel? Didn't hear you."

"Nothing." Russel walked past Carol, who was giving him quite an impressive stink-eye. "Weren't you just saying we should keep moving?" Carol sighed, falling into step. It was too hot to argue, which was a shame, because Carol loved to gripe.

"Yeah. Hopefully not into another group of Grimm. Any more fighting, I think I'll be in your weight class." He drug a hand across his brow, ineffectually wiping sweat off that would just return in moments. "Though I guess the stress relief is nice." And speaking of stress relief, Carol took out a cigarette and his lighter and lit it, relaxing with the release of nicotine.

"Now you're just making it weird." Sky said from his place in the marching order. "You just got done slaying Grimm, not laying them." Carol's response was a simple puff of smoke, deigning to pretend like he didn't hear it. Instead, he focused on following Russel's pathfinding...though with his current track record of running into the Grimm, he wasn't sure if he had the confidence in his teammate that he had before. But it wasn't like they were on any sort of timeframe, so what was the harm in culling the hordes a bit? Besides, you know, the blisters and such that were to occur in the heat of battle and accompanying exhaustion.

And thus it was back to how it was before; A quiet procession of fighters moving through the brush, sweating their asses off. It could be worse, though. He could have his arms exposed like Russel, who had branches and burrs pockmarked along his arm from swiping it through the brush. Even though he could use his aura, it was a better idea to conserve it, meaning that the poor Vacuan was having many red lines appear on his arms, accompanied by little snibbits of cursing. Despite knowing better, Carol couldn't help a snicker from escaping. A quick glare was sent over Russel's shoulder, which meant he was distracted from the low hanging branch in front of his face. It smacked into Russel, who stumbled slightly under it, rubbing the very clear mark left there. A single laugh that was more like a bark rumbled out of his throat, one that was echoed by the line behind Carol.

"Something funny?" Russel asked, eyebrow twitching. "You know, you could take the lead from me at any time. It's not like we're heading at our fastest pace anyway." He paused for a second, a thought occuring to him. "You've got your sword, it's probably better at bushwhacking then my daggers." That was true enough, and Carol had to wonder if Cardin was kicking himself for not thinking of it. Speaking of Cardin...

"But that'd be against our glorious leader's marching order! I can't do that to him!"

"Part of being a good leader is accepting valid criticism and changing to suit the situation. And Russel does have a good point." Cardin said, Carol's expression deadpanning. "That, and I feel bad for laughing- I mean, you laughing at him, so consider it a light punishment."

"Pff. Yeah, right, you just want to look good for Nicholas." Carol snarked, taking the place of Russel in front. "Now, young Russel, witness the comfort and durability afforded by armor." He raised his sword to chop the offending branch in front of him.

"What are you, a condom commercial?" Sky said, snickering to himself. Carol's deadpan returned with a vengeance, and he shot of jet of air out of his nose. The limb was felled quickly after, and he performed a flourish to get some woodchips that were hanging on to the blade.

"Must be, because you never listen to me. Runs in the family, I presume." Carol said, walking forward. "And yes, that was a birth control joke."

"I got that much." Sky grumbled, but the rest of the team was laughing. It wasn't often that people got Sky unawares, so it was a thing to be treasured when one managed it. The king of jokes, at least out of the four of them, muttered something to himself, but bounced back. "You know, you can borrow some of my family if you want. I've got plenty to spare." There was a hushed 'Sky!' from Cardin, and he felt eyes on his back, waiting for him to explode.

"If you try to set me up with one of your sisters, that's on you." He could take a joke, damnit. It was a sore spot, sure, but that didn't mean he didn't have a sense of humor. If anything, it was more than insulting that they'd think he'd have such a thin skin."Though, considering they're related to you, I'm not sure I'd want to." And just like that, the spell was broken.

"Why, you afraid of a woman with a little fire? Oh, wait, that's right, you prefer your women cold." He could hear the smile in Sky's voice.

"One could say, cold as snow." Russel added, equally merrily.

"Damn, didn't know you looked up old Atlesian translations." Carol grumbled, chopping another low hanging branch. "You're really dedicated to getting under my skin, huh?"

"It's one of our favorite past-times: Pissing off the sullen Mantler." Well, at least they used the proper location this time.

"Yeah, yeah. Just tell me where I have to go." Hopefully it wouldn't take much longer. It'd be hard to search in the night for whatever they were looking for. That, and Grimm tended to blend in with the inky blackness of night. Another branch fell before Rex, trampled underfoot by the group as Carol broke past what he now realized was a treeline. His boot impacted against well-trodden dirt, though it hadn't seen recent use. "Huh. Looks like we found the path into the town."

"Maybe." Nicholas remarked, consulting with Sky to look at his scroll. "Well...yeah, it seems to check out. Felt like we reached this pretty early, though. Guess the map isn't that accurate, which isn't really a surprise." Did they not hear him before talking about how the cartographers were an endangered species? Oh, right, that was him monologueing.

"Well, at least I don't have to bushwhack." It didn't last too long, but cleaning sap off of Rex surely wouldn't be fun. Couldn't have him sticking in the sheath, after all. "Lead role is all yours, Russ."

"Nah, you're up front for now." Cardin said, shutting down his chance of not being the first one in danger. "Besides, it's not like there's going to be much Grimm at the town. From what we were told, it was pretty much empty of people." It was sort of relaxing, he guessed.

"We?" Carol asked.

"Oh, right. Me and Nicholas." That was kind of obvious, now that he thought about it.

"Just how much did they tell you?"

"To be honest?" Nicholas answered for the two of them. "Not much. I'm probably going to have to have a frank discussion with them once we get back, but that's nothing for you kids to worry about. I'd spend the time trying to figure out what the client could possibly want." Not a bad idea. In between keeping an eye out for Grimm, he'd have to spare some time to think on it. But for now, there laid the path ahead.

The path crested not too far ahead, where the afternoon sun was bleeding in at the upcoming treeline. It hadn't been too long, only an hour or so of walking, but hopefully they'd be coming up to the village pretty soon. "If I might ask, Nicholas, just what do villages usually look like when they've been attacked by a Grimm horde?" It wasn't like he'd seen what the village looked like whenever he left it. In fact, he actively avoided attempts to view it. It was from a time long ago, and it was probably best to leave it behind. Nicholas hummed.

"Well, there's no people around to start with. Usually a few houses have been burned or otherwise wrecked, and sometimes wildlife will be milling about to see if they can't find any leftover food." Yeah, that made sense. Nature reclaiming what man made, or so it went. "Honestly, it's just disconcerting. You're surrounded by what a lot of people used to call home, and seeing a lot of empty houses where life probably just was...it's not exactly pleasant." All the more reason for Carol not to have a sort of homecoming, then. "Like your team leader said before, the Grimm should have cleared out by now." If Nicholas reinforced it, then who was Carol to doubt? Still, though, his 'bullshit' sense was tickling the back of his head, so despite the reassurances, he still felt like bad news was on the way.

But maybe that was just him being negative again. It truly was a bad habit, but the universe had yet to prove him wrong. How was one supposed to break their habit if it kept on being proven right every day? Regardless, the edge overlooking the town was approaching, as was the time to view where they'd be spending another day, most likely. Carol led the team to the lip, looking out into the shallow valley where the town lay.

It was a quaint looking town, nestled next to a slowly flowing river where Carol could see deer drinking from. There were only about fifteen or so buildings, with a eight foot tall high wall or something surrounding most of the property, with a side clearly damaged from the Grimm. In the center of it all, there appeared to be a fountain, still working and spraying water into the air. It was testament to the quality of engineering that it was still functional, despite not having anyone to perform routine maintenance on it. But the architectural quality of the village wasn't what was on the forefront of Carol's mind.

"I thought you said there wouldn't be any Grimm hanging around?" Carol asked, frowning deeply at the Beowulves milling about the town. Turning to look at his guide, Nicholas was just as taken aback as he was.

"Well, usually there aren't. This is...very odd."

"I'll say." If it wasn't for the sheer presence the man had that gave off the impression that this was incredibly odd, he'd probably dig into him a bit more. "So, what, is this lingering resentment of the dead or some shit that they're attracted to?"

"Didn't know you were spiritually inclined, dude." Russel remarked, pulling the daggers from his hips.

"I'm not. You tell me what explains those...things being here." He followed Russel's example, drawing Rex from his hip. "Doesn't matter too much, I suppose. We're gonna have to kill 'em all, anyway. Right, Cardin?"

"Yeah. Can't leave 'em here if we spend the night. Something tells me they don't want to snuggle up next to us and keep us warm when we sleep." Cardin paused, looking to Nicholas. "That is a good idea, right, sir?"

"Not usually. Slaying Grimm tends to just draw more Grimm, after all." Nicholas said, making CRML slowly lower their weapons, until he continued. "But I'll give an exception in this case. This place reminds me of my own home in Ansel."

"Hey, whatever excuse you have to give to let us kick some ass. We'll even let you help, too." Carol boasted, smiling grimly as Nicholas chuckled. Or, might he say, Grimmly? His smile turned slighty goofy at his own internal joke, teeth bared proudly.

"Oh, great. Now he's thinking of some terrible joke." Sky bemoaned.

"How'd you know?"

"You always smile like that before giving us a truly shitty joke, dude." His smile vaporized, mouth pressing into a firm line.

"Just because you don't have a good sense of humor doesn't mean you have to poke fun at me."

"Alright, settle down. These Grimm won't kill themselves." Cardin said, settling the rambling. "We can all make fun of Carol's terrible sense of humor later, after we've slain the Grimm." Carol mumbled to himself angrily, snorting hot air out of his nose. The only thing better than fighting was fighting while he was wound up.

End Note: Get to have a change of pace next chapter, with some right proper combat. Besides that, C&C as per usual.