The Beasts
The Wildlands is full of danger. Ignoring recent events, as stated before the Wildlands held aggressive animals, plants where being incapable of identification can cause poisoning. Grimm and bandits, and other things. However, even with such threats, one would surely think it could be handled with the right tools and people.
Reports have stated that there are more than just aggressive animals, but unknown creatures as well. All of this is of course considered mere superstition, and yet eyewitness say they have seen animals that aren't animals.
Some with extra limbs.
Mechanical abominations.
Creatures with jewelry on them.
Supposedly even aliens.
Whether these things are true or not, it's agreed that there is more to the Wildlands than meets the eye. Including the danger.
It was nowhere near the town at all. Simply scrounging around doing nothing in particular. Wandering, maybe eating if it felt like it, and attacking animals or Grimm if they got to close to it. Other than that, it just wandered without purpose. Like a regular animal if you will.
It was no animal at all.
If there had been people, they would instantly flee in terror. It made sense after all. Just as a man would run if they saw a bear, that's because they knew one wrong move and the bear would attack. Unless one had aura and training, then a normal person stood no chance against the bear. It was the same in this situation.
Because if a person saw this thing, they'd run just as fast while also fearing it. After all, one of the concepts humans feared the most is the unknown. People didn't know what this creature was. Which also meant they didn't know how dangerous it could be.
Then, gunfire could be heard. Louder than usual, and the roars of Grimm. The creature, the beast, turned in the direction of all the noise. The annoying noise that bugged it's ears. Normally it would ignore such things. But these sounds lasted longer than usual. After a few minutes, the sounds eventually stopped. Yet the beast's interest had been piqued.
While the creature held no true intelligence, or even sapience for that matter, it still had its own thoughts like regular animals. In this case, it then headed towards the source of the noise to see just what was up. What it would do after is anybody''s guess.
For the better or the worse.
"So, what is everyone's status?"
Watts had to adjust his tie, nervous from the apparent foul mood Salem was in, not that he could blame her. "Well, we've lost a heavy few helping hands among Bandit Princess' tribe of thugs. The ones that are alive will require surgery along with medical rest. As for the others..."
Salem glanced around the room, looking at the rest of her cabal.
Bandit Princess was sulking from her seat, her left eye now blind from her injuries and she was dragging her sharp nails through the table.
Cinder was in an equally foul mood, staring at her Grimm arm in resentment.
Now as for Hazel, he had bandages going up his arms to his neck on account of the new burn scars. His Semblance blocked the pain but even with Aura to accelerate the healing process Watts still had to apply ointment to allow for quicker and better recovery.
"Hazel's wounds were the worst of our losses but he will make a recovery. I had to spend the last hour picking out remains of the Dusts shards that had been embedded in his arms or they would have been detrimental to his health. While his Semblance blocked the pain his body suffered severe trauma to the point I would advise against sending him on any missions for the time being to make sure the electricity left no lasting wounds." Watts cleared his throat. "The good news is there does not appear be any breathing or eye problems left behind by the rather nasty shock."
Watts then rubbed the back of his head and forehead. While he had the least injuries, he still took a bunch of bricks to his face and landed on the back of his head. So while his aura helped and any bruising was gone by this point, Watts still felt some lingering discomfort.
A quick look around showed the members looking none too happy.
Hazel grunted but said nothing while Cinder still seethed.
"As for Bandit Princess, her worse injury is the loss of her left eye. It's been rendered completely blind." Watts continued, looking at the bandit who snarled. "Aside from that and some minor wounds she should be fully recovered in a day."
"I'll feel even better when I track down that bastard and gut him." Bandit Princess snarled.
"Leave some for me." Cinder said, actually agreeing with the bandit.
She had not suffered such painful and humiliating injuries since her defeat by Ruby at the top of Beacon Tower and worse this time, that bastard barely seemed to put in an effort.
"You two would be dead before you could even blink if you managed to find him." Catra spoke up.
Unlike the others, she was standing at the window with her arms crossed, staring out with a serious gaze.
"This coming from the kitty who arrived after everyone got their arses whooped." Bandit Princess snarled.
"It's a good thing we did or we'd likely be as injured as you are or even dead." Catra turned away from the window. "Considering that man was the actual Gunslinger himself: Roland Deschain."
Salem glanced at Catra. "You know him?"
"Not personally. But I know of him and his reputation for being the last of a secret order of elite warriors, more dangerous than most veteran Huntsmen to the point only the top heroes of the Justice Friends and top villains would have a chance against him." Catra said as she sat down. "You all walked away, injured yeah but there is one major difference between you and the others he has faced."
"Which is?" Cinder glared at the Satyra representative.
"You're alive. That's not something a lot of others who have gone up against him can say." Catra answered them bluntly. "The Gunslinger, from what I know of him is a member of an elite group like I just said, trained from a very young age to not just fight and hunt Grimm bit to kill those they deem evil. The kind of training is brutal to the point that I heard that the last test they have is one where they fight their mentor to the literal death. Either the student wins and kills the mentor or dies trying."
Scorpia shivered a bit. "Yeah, after seeing him in action I'd believe it. This guy, I can tell right off the bat that he's not one to take on unless you got a really big winning hand."
"Do you know anything about the power he wielded?" Salem questioned, remembering that light and compared to that of a Silver-Eyed Warrior. Seeing the pain it caused Cinder's new limb and how it either disintegrated nearby grimm or turned them to stone, just like the God of Light's blasted power.
"Only in legends I've read." Catra shrugged. Not knowing too much about it since fairy tales weren't exactly a source of reliable information. Now though, it probably was. "It is said that the god of their kingdom blesses those who are descendants from the royal family and are given a great power to wield against evil in times when it looks like the darkness has a chance of winning. The only price is that whoever accepts gives up their Semblance in return."
"They lose their Semblance?" Hazel questioned. A bit surprised because once a Semblance is unlocked, it can't be changed just like that. Let aside getting rid of it.
"Yep. A part of them is given up for something else, a piece of their own god." Catra nodded. Not really understanding it either but that was just what she remembered.
"And how do you know this so well?" Bandit Princess rolled her...eye.
"Because unlike you and probably the rest of your posse, I actually went to school...Or what counted as school where I grew up." Catra retorted. "And they kind of expect you to have a somewhat decent education in the Satyra so we're not completely seen as a bunch of thugs with more muscles than brains."
Bandit Princess growled but Salem cut in. "Enough. Catra, you mentioned this Roland to be the last of this order."
"Well, for now yeah. Rumor has it though he's got some students with him that he's training to be as good as him." Catra nodded. Having heard some guys back in Satyra mentioning the dude roaming with some people, but to be fair, it wasn't as if Catra made it her mission to know everything about the dude. So she couldn't be certain if the rumor is even true or not.
"So, if he is the last, temporarily or not that means his people were not unbeatable." Salem noted. "I suppose they had their enemies."
"Lots of them and yeah, their order was reduced greatly in over the last hundreds of years but we never knew who did it, only that it took a great deal of effort." Catra answered.
Salem had a sinking feeling about who could have been responsible. If these Gunslingers were like the Silver-Eyed Warriors, those that did must have set about wiping them out like she has done with those who have Silver Eyes. The only difference was that these….'Silver-Eye counterparts' were more organized and grouped up. Something Salem ensured couldn't happen with the Silver-Eyes of her world and wiped them out before any of them even got together to team-up. Otherwise, chances were Ozma would be having a powerful organization against her.
"Be lucky all he was here for was reconnaissance by the looks of it." Catra remarked. "That is both good and bad. Good for us that we're still alive and bad because this means that the Gunslinger and his buddies are taking you guys seriously, especially after that stunt in Denver."
"What do you mean?" Watts asked with a frown.
"Isn't it obvious? You went to Denver, took on not just their friends but also a few members of the Justice Friends, including the Viking God of Rock and the World's Mightiest Mortal. You may have tried to damage their reputation but you also left behind another kind of message for people like them and the Gunslinger." Catra crossed her arms.
"Which is?" Salem asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That you're not afraid to play with the big boys of this world...So now the big boys want to play with you." Catra answered stoically. "And they know where you live now."
That was true, something that everybody realized.
"So then…we moving out?" Bandit Princess then asked, as while she hated the bastard she didn't exactly feel keen sleeping somewhere where the dude can find her and put a bullet between her shoulders.
"Move out where?" Cinder growled. "Last I checked, this was the best spot we could find."
"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with her." Watts muttered before looking at Salem. "While I understand the urgency of leaving considering our location is now revealed, the fact is that the po-" Watts then remembered Catra, Scorpia, and Bandit Princess were still here. "-ahem. Machine isn't done yet."
Scorpia and Catra looked at one another.
They may not geniuses or scientist, but they weren't stupid. The large amount of Dust they kept trying to steal, deals to get certain technology of sorts. While they didn't know what it was these guys were doing with the Dust, they have long figured out they must be using it to power something that they wanted hidden.
They just weren't sure if it was a weapon of sorts.
As for Salem, she saw the complication she's in now. As Bandit Princess said, it might be best to leave this area. Back home, she was surrounded by countless Grimmm and on another continent. So even though Ozma knew where she was, getting there wouldn't be worth the effort. Here, not so much. Especially since unlike home, humanity here as a whole were united.
…well, mostly united.
Not to mention the warriors here were no joke.
Yet as Cinder and Watts mentioned, for the former where would they even travel from here. It was mere luck they even found this place. It was also an ideal location thanks to all the stuff it had. While Salem didn't mind leaving, she would at least like for a new location to travel to. Although the true problem is that as Watts mentioned, the portal isn't up.
That machine was complicated, and while it can be taken apart that would mean more time wasted in putting it back together. Or worse, not built at all as trying to make a machine that broke a hole into another world can't exactly be done in the middle of nowhere.
"Watts. How does go the progress?" Salem asked him.
"Going well for the most part." Watts replied to her. "The parts I have are enough alongside the energy source. The problem is utilizing the energy and of course getting the right data…which I lost." To that intruder no less. While it can be gained again, that'll take time. Time that can't be used while traveling in a forest with no internet connection.
"Hold on." Hazel then talked. "Won't the heroes be busy, what with the incident in Nowhere." That got everybody's attention, with Salem also remembering it now. The battle with Van Kleiss is ongoing, and chances are such powerful heroes won't be coming anytime soon. Still…
"Watts, how long until the machine is built and ready?"
"Not in the time you're asking."
In other words, leaving may just be their only option. As infuriating as it was, Salem supposed it was better than being caught and all progress on their portal is lost. Though before Salem could announce her intentions, suddenly a noise is heard outside. Everyone pausing for a bit.
Suddenly an explosion alongside bandits screaming as they ran and Grimm attacking. In an instant Salem connected to a Seer with the one in the room to see what was going on while the others moved to the window.
The Seer then showing…huh?
"What is that?" Salem said aloud as she saw it.
"Gruahhh!" Some kind of Grimm, mechanical, animal hybrid thing.
Not even a day has passed and more trouble has come. But that just means it's Catra's and Scorpia's turn to shine. Also, this threat you're about to see is canon and comes from the Ben 10 series. Which one it is, maybe you can find out later. And it not, you'll eventually figure it out when I reveal it.
In any case, Merry Christmas folks. Have a good day.