Friday
5 hours after the fall...
Casualties: Unknown
We have received oncoming reports that a major incident has struck Beacon Academy as many refugees from the neighboring town have been flooding into others across the kingdom of Vale. As of now we have no new information to discuss with this matter however eyewitnesses say that there are many casualties involving students and civilians. We advise everyone to stay vigilant tonight as we do not know if this disaster will affect the rest of the kingdom. I repeat, please stay vigilant and be safe throughout these coming days as the future can be quite uncertain...
"Hey, stop slacking and get back to gathering the bodies, we're being paid to transport them back to their families safely" A distant male voice called out.
"Yeah yeah I'll get back to it, I just feel bad for all these kids and civvies. Y'know what I'm sayin?" said another.
"I do, but if we don't do the job we were tasked Miss Goodwitch will have our heads. I know that's over exaggerating it but I wouldn't put it past her" said the male voice again this time closer and coarse.
"Noted, it just don't feel right loading the bodies into shuttles with just a sheet wrappin on em. But at least I know they'll be given a proper burial" said the other, this time close as well with a hint of an accent to it. It was a young voice.
"Alright, the last place we got left is this crashed shuttle here. Whoever was in here either had it the worst" said the coarse male voice.
"Y'think there's anyone left alive in there?" asked the younger voice.
"You kidding? It's been 5 hours since everything went to shit, I'd be surprised if there really was anyone left" the coarse voice exclaimed.
"You got a point, I just had a bit of "wishful thinkin" right now" the young voice said replying to the coarse voices' exclamation.
"Well we aren't being paid to think, let's just get this job done and we can call it a day" the coarse voice finished.
"Right, I'm gonna start siftin through the wreckage to get the bodies wrapped up" the young voice called out.
Glass can be heard crunching as it got closer to the wreckage of the shuttle. Then the creaking of metal and the squeaking of rubber on the floor/roof of the shuttle.
"We got a lot of faunus on here, some are almost unrecognizable" the young voice called out.
"Tch, of course, toss their bodies out and wrap the rest. I'll get the faunus to the "other" pile" the coarse voice said.
"But you said we were gettin all the bodies back to their families. This don't sit right with my conscience" the young voice said with a defensive tone.
"Oh I know that, but who do you think could've been behind this entire shit show? I'm willing to bet those White Fang cooks were pulling the strings causing people to die" the coarse voice was now agitated.
"B-but-
"No butts, do as you're told and toss out the faunus. They don't deserve to be taken with us" the coarse voice barked cutting off their accomplice and spitting at the ground.
The thudding of multiple bodies can be heard as the broken glass on the ground cracked with the addition if movement.
"Hey, I found somethin interestin" the young voice called out.
"What is it?" the coarse voice asked.
"I found a young faunus girl on the ground. She's got a piece of metal below her chest, it looks like it missed her heart just about" the young voice called out.
"Anything you can find that can identify her?" the coarse voice asked again.
"Nothin much, her heads under a suitcase, I'm gonna move it. Other than that she doesn't look too banged up compared to the others" the young voice explained as the sound of shifting can be heard.
"Get the suitcase off of her and put the body with the students, I doubt she's part of the White Fang so it's alright" the coarse voice said.
"Got it boss, gonna move her n-
"What is it?" the coarse voice asked at the sudden pause from his accomplice.
"She's breathin, just enough to notice if you look closely! She's alive, we gotta get her to the infirmary and fast!" the young voice exclaimed loudly.
"Fine, you take her to the infirmary and I'll take the other faunus to the other pile" the coarse voice said already going away.
"And what pile would that be Mr. Crick? I do believe I said to wrap all the bodies to transport them to their families" a strict female voice said aloud.
Two gasps and light thuds of two bodies hitting the ground, one landing on a hard surface in the shuttle, and the other in the grass outside.
Two pairs of footsteps quickly made their way to where the female voice came from. By the sound of it she wasn't very pleased.
"Miss Goodwitch! How long have you been here?!" the young voice exclaimed surprised.
"Enough to see and hear what your superior planned to do to the deceased bodies of the faunus" Miss Goodwitch said in a quiet tone.
"Now now, let's not get too hasty here, Ricky and I were just joking about that. Weren't we Ricky" Mr. Crick said nonchalantly.
"I see, well if it was a joke, then why have I had reports of some families missing their deceased members to bury. This breaks our agreement Mr. Crick" Miss Goodwitch said, her tone turning cold.
"Miss Goodwitch, I tried to tell him, if he did this you would be furious. He was confident on not gettin caught and now here we are" Ricky explained to avoid getting any sort of punishment.
"Oh? So that's how it is, Mr. Ricky I thank you for your honesty and in this case you'll be paid more for your troubles" she said in a softer tone.
"Ricky you double-crossing no good-
"As for you Mr. Crick, half of your pay deducted and given to Mr. Ricky as that is where his extra pay will be coming from. I'm very certain you will understand as you broke our agreement" she said.
"Miss Goodwitch if it's fine with you, I don't need the extra pay. I'd rather not get chewed out more than I need to on the way off Beacon" Ricky explained.
"As I expected, you are an honest man Mr. Ricky, very well. Finish wrapping the students, civilians, and faunus so they can be loaded onto the shuttle is that understood?" Miss Goodwitch asked.
"Y-yes ma'am" Mr. Crick let out.
"Right away, but I have something else to say" Ricky said.
"What is it?" she asked.
"I found a young girl, she's alive and barely breathin. Please take her to the infirmary" Ricky said.
"Thank you for letting me know Mr. Ricky, I shall take her there at once. I expect you both to be done later today"
They both let out a "Yes ma'am!" and got to work wrapping the bodies of the deceased. Glinda used her semblance to carefully lift the girl within the shuttle out. From what she could tell the girl was impaled near one of her lungs but not enough to pose serious damage. Her clothing had multiple tears and splotches of dried blood. The cloak she wore was tattered, everything else was minorly damaged save for a broken nose. This girl was also a grey wolf faunus, the features were quite noticeable with the large tail and ears. She began to make her way to the "infirmary" and came across another body of a young man on the ground. They wore a dark red skin tight outfit with what looked like nunchucks to the left of them. Glinda let out a sigh as she continued.
"These poor students, so many aspirations and dreams snuffed out all at once. I hope they are in a better place now, I am glad they do not have to experience this new and ruthless world" she said under her breath as the infirmary was now in view.
2 days after the fall...
Casualties: High
It has been exactly 2 days since we heard about the attack on Beacon Academy, we have received reports that the deceased bodies of students and civilians have been in the process of being transported to their families. As of now there have been reports of rioters and conspiracy theorists accusing the White Fang for being behind the attack on Beacon. While activity from this group has been been popping up more and more recently, it does not help its situation in the slightest. But now back to the...
I could feel the warmth of bed sheets and the fluffiness of a pillow below my head. Even with this, a large pain was pulsing at the back of my head and a quick jab of pain below my chest every time I breathed in. I turned to my right and the pain grew even more, I turned to my left and it lessened substantially. My body ached all over but in this position it was easier to manage. I attempted to open my eyes but they were extremely heavy, I kept trying until I could see a small sliver of light. It took a bit to adjust to the light but when they were finally able to see I found myself in one of many rows of white makeshift beds in the large mess hall of Beacon. I opened my eyes more and I could see a few Atlesian androids tending to injured and carrying medical supplies. As my eyes opened fully I could see an IV drip next to my bed and the long tube connected to my left arm, and a flashing of red on a small monitor. One of the nearby Atlesian androids came over to where I was and moved me onto my back as I was laying on the IV's tube. It saw that I was awake and it walked walked away to another person at the end of the mess hall. It pointed to in my direction and the person it spoke to left the hall, a few seconds later a woman came in and was making her way towards me. As she stopped at the foot of my bed her face gave a faint smile as under her eyes were bags signifying fatigue.
"It is good to see you awake Miss Fenchurch, tell me how do you feel?" she asked me.
I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out, I tried again but only a small noise was all I could produce. The woman held up her hand to get me to stop, I complied as she handed me a small clipboard to write on. I took a second and wrote "My head hurts and my chest hurts when I breathe too deeply", I turned the clipboard to show her.
"Yes that is to be expected, tell me, what do you remember before you woke up here?" she asked me.
I racked my brain to try and remember why I was in a make-shift infirmary at Beacon. I couldn't remember anything, everything was blank and fuzzy. The more I tried the more my head began to hurt. I felt a hand rest on my right shoulder, I opened my eyes and I could see the woman shaking her head at me.
"You can stop now, I should've known, you have a major case of amnesia' she told me bluntly.
"A-amnesia...?" I said with great difficulty.
"Yes, I'm afraid the shuttle you were in crashed into one of the pillars in the courtyard at the front of the school. A large piece of debris ended up hitting your head and broke your Aura, from what I was told from the person that found you a piece of metal impaled you below your chest and a suitcase fell on your head" she explained in detail.
I tried to follow along as best I could but the pain at the back of my head was like a hammer constantly hitting it. I reeled as the pain became stronger.
"Are you alright Miss Fenchurch? Do you need an sort of painkillers?" Miss Goodwitch asked me while reaching for a small bottle on the bedside table.
"Y-yes please, m-my head is k-killing me" I replied weakly.
She handed me two small red and white pills and a paper cup filled with water. I took them both and drank the water. My mouth was extremely dry as I had most likely not drunk any water while unconscious.
"Now, onto other matters. You will be staying here for quite some time Miss Fenchurch, your body needs time to heal properly" She explained to me slowly.
"I-I understand, I don't like the pain" I replied.
"Understandable, take these pills to help you sleep. By the time you wake up your body should be in relatively better shape" She said handing me two completely white pills and another cup of water.
I took the pills and the water, the effects were almost instantaneous as I began to feel tired. My eyelids started becoming heavy and my breathing slowed down. I could see her walking away from my bed as I closed my eyes and embraced sleep.
"Tess..." a quiet and distant male voice spoke in the darkness.
"Tess..." a female voice spoke up from the darkness also sounding distant.
"Tess..." a third and final male voice called out from the darkness.
I couldn't make sense of it at all, there was nothing around me in this place to let me know where I was. A very faint thumping reverberated through my ears as if a distant noise was approaching my position in this dark place. The thumping grew more frequent as louder noises came from around me. A few more seconds passed as the thumping was now replaced with what sounded like faint screams of pain. There were three screams, two male, one female. The dark around me coalesced into shadow like figures of three people. One was limping, one was carrying another figure on its back.
"Mark get them both out of here! I'm going to stop as many Grimm as I can!" yelled out the limping shadow figure.
"I can't leave you behind Grey, we need you! You don't have to do-" the shadow carrying another yelled at the limping one.
The limping shadow figure faded away with a painful scream that echoed in the dark.
"Fuck! Lila hold on we're almost there, Tess snap out of it I need you here right now" yelled the now running shadow figure.
I followed close behind them, while they were making the motion of running their speed was that of walking. Not even a second later the figure that was being carried was being supported by the other while walking to a shuttle made of shadows. I saw them getting closer until they stopped and looked upward.
"Tess look out!" yelled the supported figure as she disappeared and reappeared next to me.
"LILA!" the other shadow figure called out with an outstretched hand.
She made a forceful pushing motion towards me but instead of moving me she was pushed backwards instead. I heard a loud series of cracks from the darkness above, the figure crumpled as if it were crushed by heavy objects. Body parts were crushed, legs bent the wrong way and a growing pool of shadow like blood around them. As if on instinct I knelt down to their level and saw the figure fade away with labored breathing echoing in its wake.
"Tess get on the shuttle now, we can't stay any longer! Let's go!" the male voice called out as the darkness gave sounds of something taking off the ground.
A loud screeching noise could be heard as alarms and terrified shrieks filled the dark. The final shadow figure was to my right with its arms wrapped around my body. It let out a loud scream of anger and fear as it was flung from me into the dark distance. As it hit the "ground" it faded away with the sickening sounds of bones breaking and a quick whimper of pain.
I was left standing there now fully alone. I felt something run down my cheek. Tears were silently flowing down my cheek for no reason. An overwhelming sense of dread and sadness gripped my heart as I let out an ear splitting screech. As the darkness began to envelope me completely.
My body was thrashing around violently in bed as I was letting out multiple screams. The heart monitor was going sporadic as I continued to thrash around. Two Atlesian androids quickly held me down as I opened my eyes to meet Miss Goodwitch's. She was just as shocked as I was with what had just happened. I stopped thrashing and looked around to see a few students sitting up from their beds to see me. My face began to feel hot as I had attracted too much attention to myself.
"Miss Fenchurch are you alright?! You just randomly began to thrash around just as I was planning on waking you" she said allowing a great degree of concern and surprise to show.
"I-I don't remember, it was there a second ago and now I don't remember why I started screaming. All I can say I remember is darkness" I responded now shaking and trying to furiously remember why I was screaming.
"Take your time, I shall wait for you relax before I continue" she said pulling up a chair to the right of my bed.
The back of my head was hurting again. The same feeling of a hammer hitting me over and over again. I realized trying to remember anything was futile and the pain I was receiving was a clear indicator for that. I looked down at the sheets of the makeshift bed I was on in shame, "I can't even remember what happened in my own dreams" was the thought that was continuously running through my head. I turned to face Miss Goodwitch and shook my head.
"I see, so you can't remember why you had screamed. It seems your case is much more severe than I had originally anticipated" she said in a low voice.
"Is it even possible for me to get my memories back? I don't want to be stuck without them" I said, my voice had calmed at this point.
"I'm not the one you should be asking, I'm no medical professional and these androids only know basic medical procedures" She said shaking her head.
"I see, one more question. How long have I been asleep?" I asked.
"You've been asleep for 3 days Miss Fenchurch. You've healed up quite nicely however, your Aura has taken care of your superficial wounds and bruises" She told me while marking something on her tablet clipboard thing.
"3 days? It felt like a few hours at most, what's been happening?" I asked looking around.
Most of the original "patients" were gone, with a few exceptions of still very wounded students. A good amount resting on the beds were teachers that looked exhausted.
"Well, we've managed to stem the amount of Grimm flowing into Vale. And we also have Hunters and Huntresses helping us do so" She explained while readjusting her glasses.
"Right, I'm glad to hear that. I hope it's safe to live down there again soon" I said looking out a window.
"There is one other matter I would like to discuss with you Miss Fenchurch, it is quite important" She said motioning her hand for an android to approach.
The android was carrying a rather large cloth in its arms, as it was at the foot of my bed it lightly set the cloth down. I could tell it weighed quite a lot as it sank gently into the cushion. I scooted backward to a sitting position so my lower back rested on my pillow. Dull pain made itself known but it didn't bother me, the bandages under the gown I wore didn't bother me as much anymore either. Miss Goodwitch grabbed the far end of the cloth and pulled it open towards me. As it opened fully I could see three weapons lying there. I recognized my own Izanagi, however I was blanking on the other two. Izanagi looked dented in certain places but well kept as if it had recently been given maintenance. The other two looked far worse for ware, the Scimitar weapons blade was massively bent with smaller gun parts almost falling out. The Nun-chucks were slightly better but still bad, the chain that held them together was on the brink of breaking while an entire half of one nun-chuck was gone.
"These are weapons we recovered no more than 2 days ago. Yours however was recovered when I found you, it has been in maintenance ever since" She told me while setting down her tablet.
"And these other weapons are..." I stopped myself.
"Yes, these two belonged to your other teammates, the Nun-chucks belonged to a Mister Mark Ramos, and the Scimitar a Miss Lila Marigold. We couldn't retrieve your leader Grey Redmond's weapon as it has fused with the ground in a rather large crater" She said while calmly handing me Izanagi.
I took my weapon back, the familiar weight it had gave me a semblance of security. I unloaded the magazine to find it was full of Dust. I couldn't check the other features since I was still bedridden.
"Good to see you're still familiar with your weapon, it seems your amnesia didn't affect any skills you've learned previously" Miss Goodwitch said covering the ruined weapons.
"It's surprising if I'm being honest" I said while laying Izanagi on top of my legs.
"Yes, it seems that practical skills and anything related to muscle memory is unaffected" She said while taking a thinking position.
"Um, one question" I said.
"What do you need Miss Fenchurch?" She said snapping out of her thoughts.
"Where are my clothes? I don't imagine I'm gonna be in a bed the entire time" I explained while motioning to the hospital gown I wore.
"Right, your clothing has been washed and repaired for a little while now. Do be careful however, you may still be weak to walk on your legs" She said while reaching under my bed to grab two crutches.
I took the crutches and swung my legs so they were off the bed. I attempted to stand up without them, it worked for about 2-3 seconds as I fell back onto the bed. I sighed and grabbed the crutches, this time I didn't fall back onto the bed.
"Good, now that you're situated your clothes are in a locker room not too far from here. No wait, it's on the fifth floor I believe, you'll need to take the elevator" Miss Goodwitch explained
"What's wrong with the one on this floor?" I asked.
"The one here is unfortunately unusable due to large amounts of debris, I should have mentioned that earlier" She said rubbing her eyes due to fatigue.
I decided not to keep my questions unanswered for now as to let her rest.
I left the mess hall, the hallways were eerie without any students walking within them. Debris littered the ground and coupled with the sound of only my crutches made me feel paranoid. I was used to the hustle and bustle that was ever present, and to hear nothing but silence made it seem like the entire school had been like this for years upon years. I found the elevator that would take me up to the locker room a few floors up, it looked stable enough to ride. I would've taken my chances with the stairs but with the crutches it was going to be a hassle. Especially since I had Izanagi back. I stepped into the elevator "At least it's stable" I thought to myself as I pressed the fifth floor button. It took a second but the elevator began to move upward, it shook slightly. If I were able to talk with anyone I wouldn't have noticed it, I didn't have that luxury at the moment. After a few more seconds and an abrupt stop, the elevator doors opened slowly.
I stepped out and looked around. The debris was definitely less prominent here than on the first floor but it was still strewn about. As I continued through the hallway I could see open classroom doors. Papers and important documents littered the floor. The air was significantly colder here too. It made sense with the elevation the school had in the first place. Up ahead I something very peculiar, unlike the other classroom doors that were just open, this one had its door completely off its hinges. It now lay directly across the door frame with splintered portions all over it. To the right of the frame was a broken silver nameplate with the letters "SEK" on it. "Geez, I wonder what happened here" I thought to myself as I passed the broken door while glancing inside. Above the board was a rather large sky blue flag with the outline of a black shark fin slicing through water.
A quick jab of pain arose from my head as I kept looking at it. The pain vanished as I turned away, and then I was met with a flash of a memory. I could almost make out a few figures in this memory. It was fuzzy but four individuals stuck out to me, one of them being me. I could recognize my own hair anywhere. The other three were to my right but kept the same fuzzy look albeit clearer. The recollection stopped there as I couldn't recall anything else. "Was this one of my classrooms?" I thought as I continued walking toward the locker room. I reached a set of double doors that were surprisingly closed unlike the rest of the hallway. I pushed them open and stepped inside. I was met with a sudden rush of cold air that threatened to raise the gown to a rather questionable height. I stopped it by leaning on the left crutch and using my right hand to hold the gown in place. I looked around the room and saw a rather large hole in the wall that gave a view of the other buildings at Beacon. I could see the faint red hue of the "Forever Fall" forest in the north. I leaned out slightly and saw the port of Vale, most docked boats were either in the process of sinking or outright destroyed.
I shuddered as the thought of Grimm coming back and finishing what was started here. I turned away from the hole and walked around the lockers. The ones that were locked had a visible red light coming off the keypad, all except for one in a corner not too far from the hole. I pulled open the locker and I could see my cloak and my clothes neatly placed inside. A nice lavender scent came from the locker as I bent down to pick up my clothes. Underneath were my boots, they had been polished and repaired to what they had looked like before.
"Alright, no time to waste" I said to myself aloud.
I laid my clothes down onto a bench inside the locker room and let the crutches lean on a pillar connected to the bench. I sat down and began to take off the hospital gown, it was definitely much harder than I thought it would be. With my injuries and bandages a dull pain arose when I attempted to lift my arms over my head or if I bent down too far. After an agonizingly slow process I got the gown off. A cold gust of air rushed in. "Yeesh, that was cold. Better finish changing before I freeze to death" I thought to myself letting out a small chuckle.
A few minutes later
"Two more things to go and I'm good. Now where are my cloak and boots?" I said aloud while reaching for my cloak first.
The whole process was a series of small pauses to let the pain settle before continuing. Luckily my cloak was extremely easy to put on. I wrapped it around myself and pinned it around my neck with an added strap of velcro to keep it secure. It blew silently in the wind coming from the hole. I grabbed my boots and put them on, unlike my clothes these were ice cold from not being worn for a while. I waited a few moments for my feet to warm up the boots, once I found the temperature suitable I grabbed the crutches and stood up. Izanagi was holstered on my back once more, and I motioned to exit the locker room.
Just as I was about to fully exit the locker room I heard an audible thud followed with a quiet "Oh shit". I turned around and went back to the locker I had gotten my clothes from. About two lockers to the right was a very badly dented and scratched locker.
"H-hey c-can you h-help me? I'm kinda stuck" a tired male voice came from the locker.
I stood there quietly for a few seconds. My face began to burn up rather quickly. I walked over to the locker.
"I'm only going to ask this once" I said barely keeping my cool as I spoke.
"W-what are you going to ask?" he said now with a slight bit of fear.
"Did you see anything?" I asked directly without any hesitation.
"What do you mean by "did I see anything"? I only just woke up after being trapped in this stupid locker" he responded hitting the dent as an act of anger.
"Not good enough, I won't repeat my question. Give me a better answer" I responded with more anger.
"Geez, I don't know what you mean by "seeing" anything, unless you're talking about-
He stopped talking. I could imagine the look on his face once he realized what my question was about.
"Oh god, no I promise you I saw jack shit. Like I said earlier I just woke up, I'm not that kinda guy" he responded extremely flustered.
I silently nodded my head from the sincerity of his answer. I looked at the locker itself again, the curved top was bent outwards, same with the bottom. The only thing stopping the whole thing from opening was the hinges. All around it was full of shallow scratch marks and dents on either side. Whatever caused them really wanted to get inside but failed.
"Hey, can you move at all?" I asked knocking on the locker to get the guys attention.
"Kinda, I've been in here for a few days, I don't got much energy to spare. It's kinda hard to stay conscious even now" he responded weakly.
I looked at the locker a bit longer. I stopped at the hinges and got an idea.
"Ok, can you move a bit to your right? Or are you too weak to do so" I asked as I leveled Izanagi at the first hinge.
"I think so, my right arm hurts if I put too much pressure on it. But I think I can make do, why do you ask?" he asked.
"Cover your ears, this is gonna be loud" I said as I pulled the trigger.
My ears drooped down as the sound of my shot filled the room and echoed outside. Aside from my hearing I had fallen down due to the recoil. My crutches fell to both my sides while Izanagi clanged onto the ground as well. The dull pain from before grew due to my fall, but I had succeeded in removing the first hinge.
"What the hell! You could've told me you were gonna do that!" the guy exclaimed with what I assumed was adrenaline.
"If I had told you first, you'd be freaking out a bit more than now. There's one more hinge left to go, so if you wanna get out it's up to you" I responded to counter his argument.
"Fine, just get it over with. I'm tired of being stuck in here" he responded.
I grabbed the crutch to my right and began to stand up slowly. I grabbed Izanagi with my left and leaned it on a nearby pillar. I got the left crutch and balanced myself once more. The recoil from Izanagi was too great for me in my current state. I needed to figure out how to stop myself from falling backwards. I thought about it for a moment and reached for my weapon again.
"Ok, one more hinge and you'll be free. You ready in there?" I asked.
"As ready as I can be" he responded while an audible shift in weight came from him.
I leveled Izanagi to the second hinge, once I did that I positioned my crutches behind me so they could take the brunt of the recoil. I held my breath to steady my aim as best as I could. I pulled the trigger and it shot for the second time. The crutches did end up taking the recoil when I was pushed back, so I didn't fall this time.
"Try and kick the door now, the hinges are gone so it'll pop off" I said holstering Izanagi on my back.
I waited a few seconds and began to hear light kicks from in the locker. It was coming off the frame, albeit slowly, so I decided to help the guy along. I went around the right side relative to him and wedged my crutch in the bottom portion that was bent outwards. I used my leverage to try and pop the door off, I pulled while he kicked, lo and behold it came off with a loud clang. I was next to the wall so I didn't fall.
"Finally, I can stretch my legs a- ow!" he said as I heard a thud hit the floor in front of me.
I took a look at the person on the floor. He was wearing a long black leather coat with the hood down. He had navy blue jeans that complimented the black color. He also had bandages covering a large portion of his head. That was all I could make out from his appearance.
"Um, a little help would be nice" he said still face down on the floor.
"Right, give me a sec, I'll give you one of my crutches. I can kinda walk normally with just one" I replied as I slowly knelt down to pull him up.
I grabbed him by the collar and pulled a bit, he was surprisingly light for his looks. He moved his left arm below him as I began to lift him to provide some assistance. I pushed my left crutch towards him and he placed it under his right arm slowly. I pulled a bit more so he could position himself and stand. He weakly moved his right leg and started to stand.
"Jeez, who knew being stuck in a locker would be such a pain" he said while turning to face me.
I got a better look at him, under his coat he had some form of casual clothing. It consisted of a somewhat misshaped black and blue shirt. I could already tell he had armor sewn into his clothing similarly to mine, however it seemed to be studded leather instead of slightly heavier pieces of metal strewn about in the fabric. His face was completely covered by the same bandages save for a singular eye that showed. He had boots that were perfect for any kind of terrain, and gauntlets of studded leather. One seemed to be different to the other because it had a weird mechanism on it, I decided not to dwell on it too much. As I looked at him I realized he was slightly taller than me.
I placed my left hand on my hip and spoke up.
"So mystery man, you got a name or do I gotta give you one?" I said somewhat sarcastically.
"My name is Mello, Mello Bran. Thanks for getting me outta there, thought I'd be stuck for longer" he responded with a sense of gratitude and relief mixed in his tone.
Mello stretched his left hand to shake mine.
"I'm Tess. Now if you don't mind me asking, why were you in the locker to begin with?" I asked motioning to the multiple scratches and dents on his temporary prison.
"Well, when everything was going to shit I came up here to get my friend who had been doing some extra work. As I reached our classroom something burst out of it and I had to run, I made it in here and you know the rest" he explained as best he could.
"What about your friend?" I asked.
"She was in there at the time, I would like to think she's somewhere safe. But I have a feeling that's not the case, that thing was like a grimm but faster and smarter" Mello said with a pained tone.
"Don't lose hope yet, I was unconscious for a few days myself. I'm sure she was taken back to her family during that time, we can ask Miss Goodwitch" I suggested while trying to guve Mello hope.
"What do you mean by "unconscious"? Did you only just wake up too?" he asked.
"Yeah, I was found and brought to the infirmary, or the mess hall, and treated. I slept for 3 days and here we are" I explained.
"So we have something in common atleast, but I'll stick with you till we get to Miss Goodwitch" he said already moving to the entrance.
"Right" I replied while starting to walk myself.
"Right, I almost forgot my weapon. Gimmie a second" he said while turning back and reaching for something in the locker.
He brought out an odd looking bow with a quiver chalk full of arrows. He unhooked the string that connected both ends of the bow and twisted the hand guard. It separated into two pieces and sharp blades came out to form small Kukri's.
"Good, it still works perfectly" he said to himself while sheathing the Kukri's.
We both stepped out of the locker room and made our way through the hallway. We made it to the door that was splintered on the floor with the three letter. Mello stopped and stared for a bit.
"Is this the classroom?" I asked.
"Yeah, before everything went down I dreaded coming here. The teacher was a hard ass, but he was good at what he did" he said taking half a step towards the classroom.
"Who was the teacher?" I asked while looking at the letters "SEK" on the plaque.
"His name is Sekolah, I bet he survived the entire thing. It would take half an army to slow him down" Mello half joked while turning away from the classroom.
"Sekolah..." I thought to myself as we started walking again. We reached the elevator that brought me up here in the first place and we stepped inside. The ride down was quiet, apart from the noise from the elevator, it rocked slightly more than when it was just me.
"So, why exactly do you have all those bandages all over your face?" I asked while looking at them.
"Oh these? I was forced to grow up in a desert alone, these keep all the moisture in so I don't dry up" Mello explained.
"Why were you forced to grow up alone? It looks like your parents didn't want to take care of you" I said.
"My parents were faunus that managed to flee from a group of bad people. Unfortunately we were all dragged into the desert by said people and they didn't make it" he explained with little to no emotion.
"I'm sorry for your loss" I replied.
"Don't worry about it, they'd want me to keep living, so I will. Other than that, I wear them to cover the scar on my eye and my ears" he said while unwinding the bandages.
He unwound all of them leaving a rather large roll around his hand. He had short brown hair and black eyes, the one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb were his ears. They were somewhat long and white and moved at the slightest sound in the elevator.
"Those ears are pretty long" I joked.
"I have a tail too, my coat covers it completely. So for the most part it looks like I've only got ears" he explained as the elevator stopped and opened to the debris ridden hallway.
Miss Goodwitch met up with us as we stepped out of the elevator. She looked as if she was about to collapse from fatigue.
"Miss Fenchurch, I was just about to meet up with you. Who is this?" she asked ad soon as she saw Mello.
"I'm Mello Bran, I was stuck in a locker and Tess here got me out of it. I was sure I would be in there for much longer, glad I wasn't" Mello explained to Miss Goodwitch
"Well I'm glad to hear that, come with me and we'll do a checkup on you. Then you can rest for a while" she told Mello while leading him back to the infirmary/messhall.
I followed close behind while looking out one of the windows nearby.
"I wonder what else is in store for me, I hope things keep going well" I thought to myself as I took a seat on a nearby table.
A few hours after Tess' awakening
Monday
Somewhere in the forest around Vale
The quiet hum of small airship engines fills the air as it touches down amidst the trees.
"So, what exactly are we doing here? Our lady won't be happy if she finds out about this" the male voice said.
There is no response, the footsteps of an individual begin walking away from the airship into the trees. An audible sigh can be heard as the engines wind down. The striking of a lighter and the lighting of a cigar.
"That girl is too much trouble for what it's worth. I don't know why our lady cares so much" the male voice said after taking a puff of his cigar.
A few minutes later
"Finally, you get whst you needed?" the male voice said extremely annoyed.
There was no response once more.
"Fine, be like that. But don't expect me to answer you anytime you got a question" the male voice said angrily.
The engines began winding up. A few seconds later the airship left as quiet as it arrived.
END OF CHAPTER 2