Author's Note: Got nothin, sorry dudes.

Chapter 62

Crimson smoke wafted from Carol's shoulders as he and Cardin jogged the (admittedly) short distance across the town. That fixed one problem, but left probably several scampering ones to take care of. The better half of a Canis flew around the corner of a building ahead, hitting the ground and rolling to an ungainly stop. Carol slowed his pace to a walk, sharing a confused glare with Cardin. Despite the strange omen, or perhaps because of it, Carol readied his sword and went to walk around the corner, prepared for anything that might come his way.

To his shock but complete lack of surprise, a Canis was mid-leap towards him. Or, at least, he thought it was. Had he not been on guard to react immediately, he'd have realized that it was, in fact, the upper half of the Canis that was disintegrating into the dirt behind him. That, and the hand attached to the scruff on the back of it's neck leading to a goofily grinning Sky. As it was, his fist was already shooting out forwards towards the Canis, popping it's head like a massive grape and speeding through..."Ooga boog-ugh!"...right into Sky's face, sending the poor boy tumbling away. Carol immediately realized what he did, holding a hand to his mouth. Cardin clucked his tongue, patting Carol on the shoulder as he walked past.

"Nice." He commented, looking around at the scene of carnage, where Grimm were lain in various states of disrepair. "Good to see that you guys kept busy while we were fighting for our lives."

"You sure about that one?" Sky complained from his spot on the ground. "Obviously it didn't wear you out enough, feels like my jaw was almost dislocated!" Carol walked over, extending a single hand to his friend.

"Sorry..." He murmured, genuinely regretful. Sky's frown dissolved into a gentle smile of his own, before it took on a playful edge.

"Nice, I don't even have to plan something for revenge! The Boarbatusk already did it for me!" Carol looked down at his mid-section, seeing two rough U shapes embedded into his armor. Grumbling, he still helped Sky up, but he wasn't about to let him get off scot free.

"Guess I'll have to get your boyfriend to thank me later." Sky's eyes widened slightly, looking over his shoulder to see Cardin off a fair bit of distance, talking to Nicholas. Relieved, he looked back curiously. "He'll probably be happy that you've got some experience dislocating your jaw." A weird expression took over his face, part embarrassment, part desire to laugh. Russel filled in for the second half of that, however, holding a hand to his face while trying and failing to suppress it.

"S-shut up! And how did you know?!" Sky stammered, pointing accusatively at Russel.

"Dude-" Russel said, trying and finally succeeding to suppress his giggles, "-I'm your partner. We know when things like that happen." Russel said, cryptically. But, the sides of his mouth tinged upwards again, eyes flashing as he realized he had a rare opportunity to fire back. "That, and if I have to get woken up by you thinking you're sneaking back into the room all quiet like, I'm actually going to let Cardin know."

"Let me know what?" Cardin asked, Sky yelping and suddenly turning into a technical fruit, but still totally a vegetable. Tomatoes were weird creatures.

"Nothing!" Sky said, shifting his eyes from side to side. "Hey, how about that mission, yeah?"

"Yeah..." Cardin said, though one of his eyebrows was quirked at Sky's rather curious behavior. "Anyway, Sky actually has a point, for once. We've got the village clear of Grimm, so now we need to knuckle down and get searching."

"So, what, we're going to split up or something?" Carol asked. That didn't seem like a great idea, even in a village that had no threats in it. Besides, wasn't that what people said to not do, especially in horror movies.

"No, that's kind of a bad idea." Thank the gods, someone finally sees sense. "A couple of us will stand guard and keep a lookout just in case anything comes knocking. I'm thinking...Russel and Nicholas. Russel because he's quick and can get to us faster, and Nicholas because he knows what to look for. Well, more than we do."

"Sounds like a solid enough plan." Carol said, turning to look at the village at large. "So, we just a roaming pack of vagabonds lookin' for somethin' precious, then?"

"Nah, you aren't bandits. I hope?" Cardin joked. "You're in charge of the search squad." Carol's brain stalled.

"I'm what? Why?"

"Well, you did have a Grimm Night happen. I think you'd have the best idea about what somebody would value." Cardin pointed out, cringing afterward. "Shit, dude, I'm-"

"Don't worry about it." Carol dismissed. The last thing he needed was them getting soft in the middle of Grimm territory. "I actually wouldn't, though. The only thing that was valuable there was the metal, and I used it to make weapons for the town before it was overrun. Nothing else was really important enough that I'd feel like going back." And it was best to leave it that way, leave the past behind. Why were they staring at him like he said something really strange, though?

"That's..." Sky started, searching for the word to say. "...something. Anyway, temporary fearless leader, lead on!" Carol got the impression that they were feeling sympathetic towards him again, and deigned to distract them with work. It's what worked for him, anyway, so why would they be different.

"Alright. But we're not going to do this the ape-brained way. Either of you remember the name of the clients?" It was a trick question. He knew the name himself, but he was wondering how good their memory was. It was pretty easy, and given it was important information, Carol had kept it at least on the back burner. He didn't think Sky would have problems remembering, but he'd been surprised before. Cardin seemed to catch on to the fact that Carol was testing Sky, playing along with him.

"Er, it was a type of tree, I think?" Cardin said, scratching his jawline.

"Yeah, Redwood, I think." Sky said, before snapping his fingers. "No, it was an evergreen thing. Pine! That's it!"

"My disappointment is immeasurable." Carol remarked, earning an exclamation of indignation. "Don't ruin my day as well."

"Jeez, you could have just said it instead of being a dick about it."

"Wouldn't be me, otherwise. By the way, you were almost right. Their family name was 'Evergreen'." Sky's palm met his forehead.

"Aw, damnit. I knew it had something to do with it, I just didn't think that was it." Sky huffed. "Anyway, your point was...?"

"Small town like this might have a sign or something in front of the house. If not, we're in for a bit of a search." It couldn't be that bad, right?

It was, in fact, that bad. They'd gone through all but three of the buildings with nothing found that suggested it was their client's house. At best, they'd found belongings left behind scattered on the ground and the odd feeling of a lived in house having no souls left in it. One even had rotting food on the table, suggesting they were going to take their dinner or lunch before the Grimm attacked. At the worst, there were burgundy stains on the wood and claw marks to tell the story of what happened. The three of them were silent whenever they came across it, but Carol tried to let it not get to him. They had a job to do, after all.

The small group stood in front of the house that was sequestered in the rear nook of the town. It was a quaint little thing, fitting for the village's rustic charm, yet Carol felt some sort of apprehension towards entering it. Jeez, I know I joked about lingering resentment of the dead, but I hope it's not real. As they approached, he noticed some odd forms of damage on the house. The door was rent in twain, lying nearby, but the odd thing was is that the entrance to the basement appeared to be caved in. It was strange, it almost looked deliberately done by the people in the village, on account of the lack of scratch marks around the entrance. "Hopefully this one is it." Carol said, tearing his attention away from the odd sign.

"No more likely than the other two or so. Although, I'm really hoping it's not the one that the Boarbatusk crawled out of." Cardin said, looking back towards the pile of rubble that once was a house, or something.

"Gotta agree. These hands weren't made for moving lumber." Sky said. Carol smiled widely, multiple things to say coming to mind, and all he had to do was pick one...

"Coulda fooled me." He said, grinning maliciously towards Sky. Carol decided to let him off early this time, and because he was just kind of a dick, not a total one. Sky still wasn't comfortable with letting Cardin know, so Carol let him have the time he needed. Sky just gave him a look, one that had him and Cardin chuckling to themselves. "Alright, I got living room this time. You guys decide on who gets what bedroom." There was a reason other than preference that he called the living room first. He had walked into a room where a couple had met their unfortunate end. Unfortunately, they way he could tell was the fact that the Grimm who ate it was very...messy, and didn't exactly do a good job finishing his food. His stomach quivered, but he forced his nausea down and stepped into the house.

He had to stop as soon as he walked inside. The layout was very similar to his own house back in his own settlement, down to the fireplace nearby. As a reflex, he went to walk over to it, knocking into a table accidentally and fumbling to catch it. A small portrait went tumbling away, and he moved to catch it, but Sky beat him to it. It was for the best, he'd been unprepared to catch the small thing. "Off your game, dude?" Sky said, handing the portrait to Carol, who was once again beaten to the punch by Cardin.

"Must be." The self-satisfied smile that was on his team leader's face remained, but dimmed slightly as his brow knit. "Huh. That's weird."

"What is?"

"They didn't mention that they had a kid." Cardin mumbled. He shook his head. "Anyway, this is their place. Now we just have to search for whatever they want. Whatever it is..." Cardin handed the photo back to Carol, who looked it over himself. A brown haired woman stared back at him, with fair skin and sparkling teeth stretched into a smile. Next to her, in a chair sat a man with equally brown hair, though his was tinged with a bit of a lighter shade, indicating he worked outside more often than not. On that man's knee a widely smiling little girl sat, her hair in braided pigtails and a smile equally as bright as her mother's adorned her features, though her teeth had gaps that had yet to fill in. It was a happy photo, one that pulled at his heartstrings with it's saccharine simplicity. But it was more than that, it was familiar. He had a similar photo of his family and him at his house in Mantle.

A vile feeling wrenched his core, causing something to tug at the corners of his eyes. He sat the photo down, glass surface to the end table he'd nearly knocked over. Looking around, he expected to have to hide his moment of weakness from his friends, only to find them curiously absent. He had to wonder, for a moment, just how long he'd been looking at the photo. Sighing, he walked around the living room, trying to find something that the family would appreciate. There was nothing besides the photo, if he were being honest. No family blade, no jewelry...perhaps the wooden mug on the recliner near the fireplace? He picked it up and brought it over to the photo he'd sat face down. Hopefully the two upstairs would find something worthwhile. The sun was slowly creeping down towards sunset, and he didn't want to try to search the house by chemlight. And, he had this strange feeling he was being watched, one that he hoped would fade when the rest of the team arrived.

Eventually, the group had finally gathered in the house, deciding to set up in the client's house for the night. It wasn't like they were using it, and there were no caves or natural defenses nearby. That, and the coastal winds were carrying very far inland, making the night unnaturally cold. As such, they'd appropriated use of the fireplace to keep them warm. They weren't completely heartless, though; They'd set up their sleeping bags instead of using the couches and recliners nearby.

In the middle of their impromptu circle, they'd set the various trinkets they'd found about the house; Jewelry that Cardin had found, a well worn carving knife Carol had found tucked away, and even a small assortment of toys that Sky had picked. When they brought up what they'd found, Nicholas had added the photo that had been found before, and Russel the mug. After that was taken, they'd set up for bed, keeping the same watches as before, settling in for their rest. Carol closed his eyes, laying down on his bedroll and focusing on getting some rest before his watch.

The fire nearby crackled warmly, the warm light even despite the fact he had his eyes closed. Calm breathing from his companions nearby slowly relaxed his posture until he was growing comfortable, feeling himself slip away into the blissful release of sleep...

Until a barely audible scratching noise made itself known. He tried to ignore it, and it did fade. His facial features relaxed, and sleep was gently laying it's gossamer blanket over him once again. Certainly, he deserved a rest after a day full of marching and fighting Grimm. And, once more, that incessant scratching noise started again. "Would whoever's making that damn noise kindly stop it?" Carol hissed, lifting his bleary eyes from his interrupted sleep.

"What do you mean? You're the one doing it." Sky answered, from his own half-asleep daze.

"The hell I am! It's coming from..." He trailed off, looking down towards the floorboard. "Wait, you said you can hear it, too?"

"Yeah?" Sky asked, starting to prop himself up, single brow raised.

"Come over here." Carol said, a strange chill invading the calm warmth he'd just felt.

"Look, I appreciate that you're trying to be romantic, but I'm take-"

"Shut up and get over here!" His voice came out as a low growl, irritation seeping in. This was not the time for them to play games. Sky grumbled, worming his way out of his sleeping bag and going over to Carol. Russel and Cardin stirred, blinking as they were abruptly forced out of sleep.

"What's happening?" Cardin asked, expression starting to become cross.

"Carol needs a snuggle buddy or something like that." Sky grumbled out as he cleared the distance to Carol's sleeping bag. "Alright, what do you want?"

"Put your head to the floorboards and listen."

"The hell kind of request is that? And for the love of- Did you skip dinner again?" Sky admonished. "Your stomach sounds like a kitten mewling, dude." Carol's stomach had made no such noise.

"That wasn't me." Sky stared at him blankly, lips pursing. And then, his eyes opened up slightly. His head lowered to the floorboards, whereupon his eyes darted left and right as if he were trying to see what he was hearing. Either way, Carol saw his eyes focus on one point and shoot wide open. Immediately, Sky was on his feet and scrambling over to his poleaxe.

"Sky? What the hell are you doing?" Russel asked, now worried about his partner.

"Get up! Get up right now!" Carol had never heard such desperation in his normal happy go lucky partner's voice. It was so unnerving, that Carol was already up and on his feet, snagging Rex from where it was sitting on the couch. There was a set of hurried steps on the front porch, Nicholas being drawn inside by the sudden commotion.

"What's wrong?" The experienced Huntsman had his blade drawn, looking around for anything that might have spooked the team, but finding none.

"There's someone in the basement!" Sky shouted. The chill that Carol felt before suddenly became arctic, damn near freezing his blood within a moment. With that admission, Cardin and Russel were shooting out of their own bedrolls within a moment's notice.

"Leave your weapons, they're just going to get in the way." Nicholas commanded with an authoritative voice. "We need strong hands more than anything right now. Carol, give Russel your scroll so he can give us some light." Carol tossed his scroll to Russel, who clicked the light on and flooded half of the room with white light. There was a mad rush as all four boys moved in a manner not unlike a flood out of the door, going to the ruined basement entrance they'd seen earlier in the day.

There was no real concentrated effort. Sky, Carol, Cardin, and Nicholas feverishly dug with their hands at the rubble. Nails, timber, and stone cut into their hands as they desperately removed debris as quickly as they possibly could. For one Huntsman and three in training, it took absolutely no time at all. In a frenzy, they all piled down the steps, nearly tripping over each other if it weren't for the light being shined by Russel.

Carol had no time to remark on the state of the basement, only being able to smell something rank and awful in the dank underground air. He was too preoccupied to find the person who was trapped underneath the house. Who knew how long they'd been here since the incursion?

Suddenly, the reason the Grimm were sticking around made sense. It wasn't the lingering feelings of the dead, it was the very real ones of the living! Russel flashed the light around everywhere, eventually settling on something laying on a cot not too far away from the ceiling of the basement. Nicholas surged past them all, gently but swiftly retrieving the person.

"Are you alright, sweetie?" The person, who Carol could now see was incredibly small, possibly emaciated, lifted shaking arms around Nicholas's neck. "Shhh, shhh, I know, I know. You're safe now..." The older man looked over to Russel, jerking his chin to call the vacuan over. As Russel complied, Carol saw more and more details become clearer. A head full of hair split into twin braids, a dress that certainly used to be white...

"Well," Carol spoke, numbly trying to get a mental handle of the situation, "-looks like we found what the client wanted."

End Note: Dun dun!