Author's Note:
IT'S ALIVE~!
Welcome back to the party boys and gals! Be sure to strap in, and get ready for a BIG return of someone special! You'll see who I'm talking about once you're done reading this chapter!
Enough chit-chat, enjoy!
Grimm Wars
Chapter Five: Hunter and Prey - II
Something had changed in Silver. The Overlord could feel it as it stared at its heir while she gave her hybrid Grimm, Pup, a lot of attention and affection. It wasn't sure what it was yet, but something about it was different now, and it was not entirely sure if I liked it or not.
Her appearance for one thing had altered, gone was any sign of her Grimm claws, quills, and horns. Her skin was somehow even more pale than ever before as well. She looked more like a normal Dustling now.
Plus, there was her attitude as well…
She was now more upbeat and full of more energy than ever before. More than it had seen in almost a full year. It was so vastly different from the 'normal' it had grown accustomed to that the Overlord was honestly shocked by all of it.
She was like a totally different individual.
As the Overlord continued to watch its heir give her hybrid attention, her gaze suddenly met its own.
And the Overlord, the King of the Grimm Horde, froze at the sight of the eyes that stared back at it.
Gone were any vestiges of those beautiful black eyes with red irises and single red slits. Now, replacing them, was a pair of bright silver orbs with white eyes. She looked… no… she was now a normal Dustling. A Silver-Eyed Dustling to be exact.
The Overlord was now feeling a mixture of emotions at the moment. Shock, repulsion, anger, and other emotions that were somewhere in the middle of everything else.
Was this really its heir? Was this Silver Rose still? Or… was this something else entirely?
"Are you worried about her?"
The Overlord was taken aback by the small question that came out of the pale-skinned girl's mouth. Her voice was now smaller, more quiet, and… kind compared to the Silver Rose it knew and loved.
And she was smiling too as she continued to pet Pup with one hand and look at the Master of the Grimm.
She then looked away and gazed out of an opening in the rock wall that gave a clear view of the outside world. Then she spoke again, and the Overlord finally took a few steps toward the child.
"Please don't worry about Silver. I guarantee you she is fine and is still present." she explained, "She just… let me have the controls of this body for a moment is all."
As the Overlord listened to the Dustling sprite speaking, multiple thoughts were racing through its mind. Who was this sprite that was not its heir? Was she telling the truth about Silver still being present in that body? And, most importantly, what was happening it's darling heir?
The sprite looked back at the Overlord with a kind smile and continued, "Please don't get upset, she'll return in a moment, I just wanted to say something to you myself…"
The sprite got out of bed and stood steadily to her feet on shaky legs. She was clearly very weak still, given how she had not eaten anything in the last few weeks. But she kept on smiling at the Overlord before she spoke again.
Words that seem to engrave themselves onto the Overlord's very core.
"Thank you very much… for not abandoning her… you acted like a true human father would."
The Overlord remained silent as the words sank into its mind. It honestly didn't even know how to react to the words it just heard.
"... Like… a… true… father?" it said in a low and soft growling voice.
She nodded, her smile beaming like the sun.
But then, before the Overlord could fully react, her legs gave out and she collapsed onto her knees, head hung low.
Somewhat surprised by that turn of events, Pup was the first to react. The loyal Grimm hybrid nuzzled and whimpered at his master, hoping to help in some way, despite not knowing what was happening to her.
Meanwhile the Overlord watched in silence as the sprite's pale skin on her arms grew darker, longer and the claws on her nails sharpened back into their original form. A pair of ivory horns grew atop of her forehead. Right before the king's eyes, its heir was back to the form it remembered her to be.
The Silver Rose it raised and loved.
She was breathing in deep breaths, her chest rising and falling slowly. But as her breathing stabilized, she planted a foot down beneath her and rose up from where she collapsed. Once she was back to her full height, her eyes reopened to reveal Silver's original black and silver eyes with the red slit in them.
'S-Silver?' the Overlord called out to her carefully.
She looked up at him and gave a small, sad smile, 'Sorry father, but… that's going my normal form now on. That 'Other me' is here to stay.' she responded.
The Overlord tilted its head slightly, 'How do you mean?' it asked.
'Well…' Silver tried to explain, 'I don't honestly understand how it works yet myself. I'm still sorting it out in my head. But what I can say is this; she is not a threat to me or you if that's what you are concerned about.'
The Overlord didn't fully believe that, but it was content with the answer for now. All that mattered at the moment was that Silver was back. And it was not going to lose her again. And now it can-.
'I'm sorry…'
The Overlord looked back to its heir once more, 'What? Silver, what are you talking about?' it questioned, confusion returning in force.
She sighed before walking over to the opening to her room that overlooked the red and black landscape outside, 'Do you remember when you tested me by leaving me in the far north for a while?' she asked.
'Yes. Why?'
The Overlord watched as Silver's head drifted downward as shame suddenly radiated off her body, 'I couldn't do it.' she said simply.
'Couldn't do what-?'
"I couldn't stand the thought of being alone…" Silver's vocal voice said, "It's been sitting there in the back of my mind for a while now. For when I was really alone, with no one around to speak to, I was scared."
The Overlord's eyes couldn't possibly get any bigger in shock as it continued to listen to Silver speak.
"I was scared of being alone. That is why…" she hiccupped a bit, "I am so sorry, but I don't think I can do it father. I don't think I could rule in your place when you're…"
She hugged herself with her large arms as she trembled in place, despite Pup nuzzling for attention, she only partially responded by hugging him.
All the while, the Overlord, master of the Grimm Horde, was at a complete loss for words. But not because it didn't know what to say.
No…
It knew full well what Silver was trying to say. For it too now knew what it meant to be alone. Truly alone. It experienced it back when it left Silver in the far north and had sent Flinch off to dispose of those survivors. When it was alone in the gulch, it finally understood what it meant to be alone.
It faced the same issue that Silver had faced in the far north. But in her case, from what the Overlord could tell, it was something to be ashamed of in her mind. But the king didn't believe that. The Overlord knew that it had to do something about its heir's doubt. Which made its next move all too realistic.
It approached its heir and placed its right armored gauntlet upon Silver's shoulder.
'Silver,' it said to her, 'I know what you are trying to say, but I have a solution to the dilemma you are facing.'
She looked at it with puffy eyes that had tears in the corners.
'Once this whole Civil War is over, I want you to travel the world. Explore new places and discover new things. I learned many things by traveling to new places when I first came into being.' it told her as it gazed out into the outside world, 'Through the world I gained knowledge. Which allowed me to rule for so many eons. And when the time is right, I want you to do the same as me. To make your own choices and come to your own conclusions.'
It could feel Silver beginning to calm herself. She had stopped shaking and the Overlord could feel her resolve growing again.
But then, her voice piped up in a confused tone, 'Wait… Civil War?' she asked.
Before the Overlord could explain to her about what had happened while she was at the now ruined great nest, a voice spoke up from behind.
"My Lord!" the Thrall said as it keeled before the Overlord, "I have a report from Overseer Flinch."
The king turned its gaze to the Thrall as did Silver, 'Speak.' it ordered.
The Thrall looked up at its master and spoke, "The bait… has reeled in a catch."
~o0o~
[Start Playing: Red Sun - RichaadEB and Jonathan Young]
Rojo fired off shots at the green haired girl as she jumped all around the large room. Jumping off tables and even of the walls themselves.
She was moving about so fast that Rojo couldn't get a clear shot or a good sight on her at all. To make matters worse, he was already low on shots for Red Redemption before this fight even started.
The girl lands on the floor in the center of the room while pulling out two pistol-like guns before they transform into a pair of sickles. She then, instead of taking a few pot shots at the marksman, charged at him, ready to slice and dice.
But Rojo Toro had learned a lesson after the Fall of Vale.
He learned that if he was going to survive out here, he needed to learn melee combat. And, while he only trained a few times with Yang during their travels, he was a fast learner.
Pulling out his hunters knife, he got into a stance just as the green haired girl moved and swung her weapons at him. He parried the first two strikes with his knife in his left hand. As he blocked as many strikes as he could, his right hand reached behind him and pulled out Lawmaker.
When the girl went for a wide swing, Rojo jumped back and drew Lawmaker out, pointing at her head at point-blank range.
He fired… but something was wrong.
There was a hole in her head, yeah, but she was still coming at him. It looked as if it just passed clean through her without hurting her at all.
Then it clicked with him.
She was not real… It was a decoy of some kind!
Thinking fast, he spun around to look behind him. Good call on his part, for there she was about to bring her sickle down on his head. He brought his knife up to block the attack and both bladed edges met in the middle with a sharp clang.
Rojo eyed the girl carefully.
She was good, no doubt about that, but that decoy trick had to have a weakness he could exploit. He can't waste too much time on the chick anyway. By the sound of the shotgun blasts in the room next door, Yang needed backup and fast.
But how could he get-?
"Don't get lost in thought cowboy~." the girl taunted him, before suddenly vanishing into thin air.
Rojo was taken aback by that sudden move. He quickly looked around, but she was nowhere to be seen at all.
It soon dawned on him what she was doing.
Illusions… that was her semblance. It had to be.
However, Rojo simply smiled. He knew how to fight this trick. It's going to be close and risky, but this was something he dealt with before back at Single Academy one time. But unlike at Single, if he screws up this time, he's a dead man. But she was in a confident mood. And overconfidence can be a major weakness in battle.
He had two sticks of Dust Dynamite left.
If he could endure just one hit…
Suddenly, before he could react in time, the girl suddenly appeared in front of him, barely an inch away from his nose.
"Boo~." was all she said before giving Rojo a roundhouse kick to the gut.
The wind was knocked out of him and the marksman was sent flying into the bar counter of the room. He tried to haul himself back up, but foot planted him back to the floor.
He glared up at the girl who had the biggest, most cocky grin on her face.
"Too bad, cowboy, that was kinda fun. But, Game Over."
Rojo lips turned upward, "Yeah. For you maybe…"
When the girl raised an eyebrow, Rojo held up his hand holding the knife with his index and middle finger pointing outward. And on those two fingers were two grenade pins… with no grenades attached to them.
The girl's eyes widened in realization, but it was too late.
"Oh, son of a bit-!"
*KABOOM~!*
There was a bright flash of white smoke and red fire as the two Dust grenades went off. Shaking the whole building.
~o0o~
Despite the building shaking from the explosion, Yang didn't seem to notice it as she kept her eyes on the woman clad in red.
The woman in question had to be at least 20 years of age given her appearance. Her long raven black hair was shoulder length and her amber colored eyes seemed to glow. But even Yang could see how cocky she was, nor did it take her very long to understand why she was so confident.
With a burst of speed, the woman was a reddish blur as she moved and swung her twin swords at the blonde. Yang parried the attack with her remaining shotgun gauntlet, but with only one remaining, it made attacking back very difficult. However, Yang Xiao Long was not about to back down from this fight, especially after the woman mentioned her sister.
As Yang parried a slash from a downward swing, she moved forward, her gauntlet sliding along the blade's length, and she twisted her wrist to grab the sword by the hilt. But just as she was about to grasp it, the unexpected happened.
The black blade seemingly disintegrated and turned to ash in her hand!
Caught completely by surprise and with her body still in motion, she watched as the ash seemingly came to life and reformed into a sword again before continuing its path downward as it originally intended.
Yang could feel the blade cut through a bit of her clothes and reach skin; her Aura flared up to block the damage. It was sharp, almost like it was made of glass. Thinking fast, the brawler jumped back out of reach.
Though, she quickly found that it was not a wise move on her part, as an arrow wizard passed her head, barely nicking her ear. It felt like the arrow was on fire with how much heat came off the projectile.
It was here that both sides paused for a moment.
Yang now fully knew she was massively outclassed by this chick as it currently stood. If Yang had both her gauntlets, then maybe it would be a bit more even. But with only one, it was impossible.
Yang's eyes were fiery red, but she had to keep her composure for now. She had to wait for Rojo to wrap things up from his fight before trying to tackle with this woman again.
But Yang had a feeling that she was not going to get that option, given how the woman held onto her bow, leveling another arrow at the blonde's body.
"Now then…" the woman said calmly, "feel like talking about your sister now? Seeing how you obviously know you're outmatched?"
Yang clicked her tongue in irritation. What was she supposed to do?
[Stop Paying: Red Sun - RichaadEB and Jonathan Young]
~o0o~
Flinch watched on as the building began to crumble from the explosion. At least both parties were putting on quite a show for the onlookers. The 'onlooker' being herself and the squad of Thralls accompanying her.
She was going to enjoy the show for a few more minutes before they got to work finally.
And she honestly didn't care who won the main fight at this point, she was just waiting to see who they were going to end up fighting against. And judging by the looks of it, Cinder Fall was going to be the one to kill the Deliverer.
Good news for the Master was to come, Flinch was sure of it.
Suddenly, the voice of Gore called out, "Overseer! Message from the airship crew! New contact approaching from the north! At high speed!"
Flinch snapped her head in the direction of the new arrival. At first, she saw nothing.
That was, until she spotted a flash of green, and an orange blur could be seen speeding toward the town of 'Watchroad' through the air itself.
The Grimm hybrid had no clue what it was, but it was about to make an entrance in the fight down below.
Flinch turned to her Thralls, "Ready your weapons and prepare to move in! We can't let this ruin our plan!"
The Thralls all got to work readying their weapons as Flinch turned back to the odd blur heading for the town.
What the hell was that?
~o0o~
"Don't feel like talking?" the woman asked Yang, who simply grit her teeth in anger.
After a moment of more silence on Yang's part, the woman glared at her with a frown, "Okay then." she said before letting loose the arrow.
And then, it all happened in a fraction of two seconds.
As the glass like arrow sored through the air at Yang, who got into a combat stance to try and block the attack, there was a flash of green light that blinded the brawler slightly. She had to cover eyes just enough to see, but it was enough.
There was a green energy beam firing in between Yang and the raven-haired woman, disintegrating the arrow into nothing. Yang followed the beam back to the origin point while the beam itself died down.
There floating in the air via rocket boots was a girl around Yang's age, with long, curly orange hair, bright green eyes, and freckles on her cheeks. Her clothes were a tan blouse with a pale green skirt and dark green ruffles on the edge of the skirt. Tying her long bangs back was a black bow and she also wore black gloves. To complete the look, she had on a large button in the center of her blouse collar that had an icon on the button.
The icon was a circular ring with a line over the tone of it. Like that of a game console icon.
Then, as the girl landed on the ground with a thud after deactivating her rocket boots, she seemingly smiled widely and said words that Yang did not expect to hear at all from the girl's mouth given the situation.
"Salutations!"
After a moment of silence, both Yang and the red dressed woman looked at each other and said the same thing in unison.
""What?""
Author's Notes:
DA-DA-DAAAAAAAAAAH! Penny Polendina is back, baby! And ready to kick ass and take some names!
You guys have no idea… how long I've wanted her to come back into this story. And if you think about it, it has been a LONG time since we last saw Penny in the Grimm Heir/Wars series. Like maybe a few years at least!
But anyway, this ends 'Hunter and Prey'. Be sure to tune in to the next chapter:
'Turning Tides'
Have fun and be safe. Peace!