0ooooooooooooo0
Song: The Sound of Silence- Disturbed
The next morning
Maine
When I woke, I could tell Colt wasn't above me. I rose from bed, stretching and relishing the relaxed feel of waking from a bed after sleeping for days on the ground.
I shrugged on my coat and stepped out of the bedroom. Colt and his gear were nowhere to be seen, but a cold breakfast of bread, cheese, and an apple sat on the counter next to a canteen. I grabbed the meal and stepped outside, eating as I looked. Sure enough, footprints led away from the cabin, towards the woods. I grabbed my Brute Shot, and began down the path of footprints made by the teen.
Soon, I could see his tracks merge with the elk he was now tracking. I moved silently forward, then caught up with them. The elk was in the middle of eating, and Colt, wearing a black hooded cloak instead of his trench coat, was taking aim with a steel bow, a long, black-shafted arrow with a silver tip. He fired, the arrow striking the elk right in the front of his flank. The elk gave a cry, trying to take a step, but it fell to the ground, groaning in pain.
Colt advanced on the Elk, drawing his knife and slit its throat, letting the blood spill out, then pointing his gauntlet at the carcass. It seemed to melt and seep into his gauntlet, left open since he wasn't wearing his trench coat.
"That's really cool and all, but on animals, it looks weird." I stated as the last section disappeared.
Colt turned around with a grin on his face. "Morning, sleepyhead." He said jokingly.
"I gather that's lunch?" I questioned, and he nodded.
"We're collecting as much meat as possible in as little time as possible. Can you hunt?" He asked.
"If you give me a rifle. My weapon won't really leave anything behind."
From the Void materialized a .30-30 rifle made of silver metal and dark material for the stock and muzzle. He handed it to me, and I tested its weight before pumping the lever, a satisfying click-click meeting my ears.
"So, Maine. We move quickly and silently, and we move slowly up the mountain. There's a whole herd of caribou not far from here, I picked up their tracks yesterday." He told me.
"We find the herd, kill as many as possible, zap them into the Void, and get away before Grimm are attracted?" I asked.
"Exactly." He confirmed. "Ready?"
0ooooooooooooooo0
Ruby
We stood in a clearing with scorch-marks and bullets littering the ground, along with shrapnel sticking from trees and footprints mixed all around with Grimm and human footprints.
"Yep, Maine definitely did this." North said to himself.
"He wasn't alone." York stated, pointing at a black-shafted arrow sticking out of the ground where a large Grimm-angel impression lay. "Maine doesn't use arrows."
"Hey, Whitley found the trail again!" Hunter called from a spot near what looked like a small trail.
York pointed, leading his horse to the trail before mounting. "We're close, I can feel it."
I looked ahead, up the mountain that was steadily growing larger, and hoped we could bring the brute home. It was already afternoon, only a couple hours away from nightfall, and we had been using Whitley and pure luck to track Maine. I patted Cookie, then spurred her onward.
Almost an hour later, we saw a cabin, seemingly abandoned. York, Hunter and I dismounted. York went inside, looking for Maine. Hunter looked for tracks on the backside of the house, and I stood on the porch, looking at York through the open door.
"He's definitely staying here." York stated, crouched by a large duffel that currently contained Maine's armor. "But where is he now?"
"Probably somewhere down those tracks." I said, pointing to two sets of tracks leading up the mountain. "That same person seems to be with him."
"I agree." Hunter us, returning from the back, "let's head that way, it's almost dark
0oooooooooooo0
Colt
Maine and I had split up, deciding his .30-30 would give no point to my own silent bow-hunting. I had killed a rabbit with an arrow through the head, and heard a bark, definitely canine, not Beowolf. I stood from my kill, the carcass disappearing into the Void, and immediately, my hand pulled the Deagle from my holster. I heard Grimm roaring and a howl, the sounds of an attack, but none were coming in my direction.
Curious, I followed the sounds, replacing my Deagle with my custom made rifle, one that was made so it could be used as a bolt-action, which was most accurate, but if you left the bolt up and turned a switch, it could fire semi-automatically and, with another turn, fully automatic, though fully was less accurate than semi and that was less accurate than the bolt-action.
I slid the bolt up and turned the toggle switch, then released the current clip, sliding it into my belt, and took a drum from the pouch behind my Deagle, a drum that held 250 of the bullets, and slid it into the bay as I walked.
I neared the battle and it slowly came into view, occasionally blocked by trees. Surrounded by Grimm was a pack of large wolves, or what remained of the pack. Now, a single wolf was barely holding them off.
The myth that Grimm don't attack animals isn't true, at least, not here on the Mountain. Here, even the animals suffered. Hunger, pain, cold. They were no strangers to the mountain's inhabitants. I wouldn't let this last wolf fall. He deserved to live, unlike these abominations.
I growled, lifting my rifle to fire, and joined the fight, shooting a Beowolf about to attack the lone wolf. With a yelp, it tumbled to the side, and the wolf dived for its throat.
I continued firing, sending Grimm to their graves, as I cleared a path to this last wolf. He growled warily, and I ignored him, squeezing the trigger again and again. Grimm were swarming again, and I couldn't keep this up. The Void couldn't hold live creatures, or else I'd just zap the wolf into my gauntlet and run for it. I needed to get this creature somewhere safe, and by the looks of it, he wasn't in any condition to walk. In fact, it looked like he was about to be out for the count.
"Colt!" I heard Maine's voice shout, and the giant of a man thundered into the clearing, blasting his way in. I nodded to him as he blasted the head off a Beowolf, then turned and punched an Ursa straight in the jaw, knocking it to the ground before aiming point-blank into its throat and firing, blowing its head off.
I scowled. The massacre that had occurred here would be calling every Grimm within the next ten miles here. The two of us wouldn't be enough to hold them off, much less destroy them. We needed to get out, but we were surrounded.
"Colt, we need an exit!"
"We're taking the wolf." I told him, pointing at the canine, who had just collapsed from blood loss. "Don't get me started."
Maine sighed. "Maybe if you clear a path, I can carry him."
I shook my head. "There's too many of them. Maybe take to the trees?"
"I can't, not fast enough." Maine growled, handing the .30-30 to me as he pulled his weapon from his back.
"Then I guess we're screwed?" I started.
Maine growled. "Today's a good day to die."
"Screw that." I said, lifting my rifle. "I'm going down fighting,"
Maine laughed lowly, and as one, we opened fire of the Grimm. I saw him fire an RPG at a group of Grimm, and I turned and opened fire on another Grimm, a Beringel.
With a gesture of my hand, I brought out preset two, and prayed that maybe, just maybe, my arsenal would get us through this.
0ooooooooooo0
Ruby
Gunshots sounded throughout the mountainside echoing menacingly, and York sighed. "I think I found him, guys. Let's move." He said.
We drew our weapons, Hunter wielding a Winchester shotgun, double barreled and deadly wicked, and led the charge, Whitley sounding a baying charge as he rushed ahead.
I sped Cookie forward, Crescent Rose in scythe form, and followed York and Hunter for minutes, the sounds of gunfire, explosions, and roars growing louder and more threatening.
We charged into a clearing filled with Grimm and bodies of dogs, no wolves, bloody and on the ground. Two men, one I recognized as Maine, eyes wide at our appearance, and the other's unreadable, face hidden in the shadow of his hood. He wielded an M134 chain-gun with six rotating barrels, which tore into the approaching Grimm.
A huge Beringel moved forward, swiping at the man, who simply rolled out of the way, his gun disappearing in thin air, then drew a chain from somewhere on his person, fire somehow lighting it on fire as he threw it, the chain wrapping around the creature and trapping its arms. With a roar, the man pulled, and the Grimm seemed to dissipate as the chain passed through it.
"Maine, let's move!" York called, leading an extra horse, borrowed from the Ain Ranch, toward the two.
North urged his horse forward as I covered him, lowering a hand. "Hey, you, grab on!" He said to the hooded man, who nodded and ran towards North, gripping the offered arm and swinging up behind the Freelancer.
Maine picked a wolf up, placing him on his shoulders, and climbed onto the horse as we killed any Grimm that were in the way, then we turned and our group rushed to escape the Grimm. Ahead of me, the man flipped in the saddle, an AR-15 in hand and aimed for the Grimm pursuing us.
0oooooooooooooo0
Song: Trenches- Pop Evil
Colt
After turning in the saddle to face the Grimm, I opened fire on the Grimm as we descended the mountain, cutting the Grimm in their tracks.
"Colt, weapon switch!" I heard Maine call, and I turned and tossed the AR-15 and it was immediately replaced by the grenade launcher. I fired at the ground in front of the Grimm, blowing them back or into oblivion, if it hit them directly. I fired until it was out. "It's dry!" I yelled, then tossed it back to Maine, who in return tossed my rifle back to me, and continued to pick off the Grimm. We had just reached the base of the mountain after what seemed like an hour, at a full gallop on the back of the blonde man's horse. We travelled through the final trees, which thinned out to only grass, then rocks and sand. We had reached the Desert Wilds.
I pulled a detonator from a pouch, having planned for a quick escape from the mountains, and grinned wickedly as I pressed the killswitch.
The trees at the East base of the mountain all lit with blinking red lights, and an explosion of homemade Fire Dust explosives blew the Grimm sky-high.
The man guiding the horse I rode on cursed and looked back in amazement as I dropped the dead detonator into the sand. "Nice job, I heard your name was Colt?"
I grinned, then up ahead, a girl in a redish-black trench coat cried out, "Nevermore!"
I looked up to see the large Grimm, fully in adulthood and as long as a semi-truck, circling above us. I gauged it to be forty feet above us.
The group halted, and I slid off my horse. "I've got this." I told them, pulling my long silver chain off my body and letting it fall to the ground, one end loosely wrapped around my arm.
I extended the arm that held the base of the chain, the other holding a spot five feet from the other hand, spinning the section around, and concentrated, feeling the Nevermore and the space between us, then cast the chain, letting it fly and using my Semblance to give it a telekinetic boost and fire to spread out over the chain, which wrapped around the giant bird's leg. Fire ignited along the feathers as it screeched out in pain, letting a volley of feathers fall towards us, whizzing towards me.
I waved my left fingers, the digits going from pinkie to index and back again, and my armor began to seep over me, hardening into place in three seconds, and the feathers simply pinging off of it.
The flaming Nevermore fell to the Earth, kicking up plenty of dust and disintegrating. I pulled my chain back into the Void, the weapon liquefying about a foot before it entered the small recess in my gauntlet, it clinked along the ground, dragging a part of the Nevermore's leg with it before it disappeared, then my armor melted off, disappearing in the same fashion.
"That… was… AWESOME!" The trench coat wearing girl screamed. "How are you pulling all those weapons from nowhere, How'd you get that big chain all the way to his leg, who are you, are you coming home with us, can we keep him, York, huh, can we?" She rattled off.
"Ruby, calm down. That depends on whether he wants to come." A man in a duster told the little girl.
Everyone looked to me, expecting an answer. I cleared my throat. "I'll come with you, if that's where Maine is headed." I said, shifting the attention to the brute, who quickly flipped me off.
"Why did you guys come after me?" He asked nervously.
"South survived, no one's mad at you, Maine."
The blonde one spoke, "Well, South is a bit pissed, but I think she was brought down a couple levels in ego. We want you back, Maine."
Maine looked down. "I can't. I'm a monster."
The man in the duster, York, apparently, moved his horse beside Maine's. "Hey, don't say that. We've all killed people, whether we meant to or not. We stop the bad guys, and we protect the innocent. As long as you do that, you're always a Freelancer."
Maine looked at me. "You ready to go back into civilization?"
I shrugged. "I go where you go, partner."
Maine nodded. "We're ready."
Ruby pointed at the creature on Maine's saddle. "Is that a wolf?"
I nodded. "The rest of his pack was killed when I stepped in. I'm going to get him patched up."
"He looks cool." North commented. Indeed, when I looked at the giant wolf, with a grey head with black detail covering him like a gladiator helmet for wolves. His body was also grey on top, with a black stripe on the spine, and a white underbelly and legs.
"Hey, what's your name?" York asked, nodding to me.
I pulled off my mask and hood. "It's Colt Silver."
"Colt?" The blonde man asked. "I'm North. You ready to ride out?"
I nodded. "Where are we headed?"
York looked away, towards the horizon. "Back to San Rojeros, I guess. We need to get Hunter home?" He nodded towards the second girl.
"Hunter? Isn't that a girl's name?"
"Colt, you make fun of my name again, and I'll castrate you." She growled.
I had the sudden urge to cover my crotch protectively, but just smirked. "I wasn't making fun of it, Hunter. In fact, I think it adds to your 'Badass' status."
She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Whatever. Let's get moving."
North nodded to me. "Hop on." He said, patting his horse. I grabbed his arm again and swung up as he pulled, then with a 'ya!" he kicked the horse's side, and off our strange group went.
The girl with the trench coat, Ruby. Pulled level with us. "So, Colt. How old are you?"
I chuckled. "Almost sixteen, you?"
"Same. You a huntsmen-in-training? You must be with all those cool moves."
I shook my head. "Nah, I actually just taught myself out here in the Wilds. I've… lived here all my life. I've been surviving by myself for about three years now."
The teen in the jacket whistled. "That's quite the feat, Colt. Most don't survive out there without being a Hunter."
"Thanks, uhh…. What's your name?"
"Rowan Emberstorm. Seventeen." He told me. I nodded.
"Nice to meet you, Rowan." I told him, and he pulled down his own hood and cloth mask, a friendly grin over his features.
"Nice to meet you too." He told me.
"You seem way older when you have that hood on." Ruby told me.
I ran a hand through my long hair, reminding myself to get a haircut when I got into a town. "Is that a bad thing?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. But you do look really cool."
I smiled. "Thanks, Ruby."
After that most conversation came to a halt, the sound of the horse's hooves and the occasional coyote's howl. I looked to the broken moon, wondering what the master of Fate had in plan for me now.
