Salutations Guardians and Huntsmen!

So, I decided to put my other story on hold to focus on this one, as I can't drag myself to write Old Wolf's Sword for now anyway. Writer's block can be a menace.

Regardless though, I'm happy to bring you the next chapter of Guardians of the Hunt, where we return to Scarlet and her charge to see what became of the duo.

I'll leave you to it with that. Hope you enjoy, and remember to keep you weapons polished and your wits about you.

Chapter 4

Stranded

The Remnants

Scarlet was right, the crash had not been fun.

They never had been, and this was certainly no exception, something the Guardian duly noted as the smell of smoke and metal reached her nose, getting past her helmet. The sensation alone was enough to get her to stir awake, a heavy groan leaving her lips as she slowly came to.

Forcing her eyes open as fast as she could manage without feeling like she was killing herself, Scarlet looked around the best she could. It obviously wasn't a pretty sight, the once gorgeous reds and blacks of her ship being reduced to a pile of smoldering, twisted metal. Nothing was recognizable, not even the console that was supposed to be in front of her.

Of course, the only thing in front of her now was the heavy metal laying on top of her. It wasn't crushing her, thankfully, though she still couldn't move with it there.

Continuing to sweep her gaze along, the Hunter noticed that they had either crashed in a clearing of trees, or had subsequently made a new one when they arrived. It didn't matter in the end really. That, and it was hard to tell with the smoke in her face.

Scarlet coughed a few times before she reached up and slid her helmet off of her face, letting the smoke billow down her form as it finally escaped. The Guardian questioned how it had gotten there in the first place before she realized that there was a long, thick crack down the center of her visor.

Without her Light to repair the damage, it wasn't getting fixed either, meaning she was without her helmet.

On the bright side, this planet seemed to have oxygen, so she would be fine as long as she wasn't shot at.

Setting her helmet beside her, the Hunter focused on the piece of metal positioned on top of her. It wasn't that large, but she could tell just from the look of it that it was going to be heavy as all hell.

Sighing simply at the thought, Scarlet laid on her back as flat as possible before raising her arms and pushing up. It was tough, but the space-age metal budged after a few moments, just enough for her to fit her feet under the metal. Once she could she pushed with her legs as well.

Her legs had always been stronger, which proved itself again as the metal moved much faster, just enough to get it to tip over in the opposite direction, leaving the Guardian uncovered at last.

Scarlet let her limbs fall back to the ground and let out another groan of exhaustion before she even thought about getting up. While she hadn't broken anything, the impact still hurt like hell. She only remembered bits and pieces of it, certainly not the impact, and to say it was a new experience was an understatement.

Eventually though, the Hunter did move to get up, slowly getting on to her hands and knees before pushing herself up onto shaky feet. Feeling around, the Guardian was happy to note that her weapons were still on her, though her sniper had to be picked back up a few meters away. The mag-locks on her back still held the weapon in place, and she was able to secure her broken helmet to her belt, so she didn't have to worry about that, but with supplies and weapons still secure, she only had two more things to worry about.

One, the Ghosts. She had put them into pouches on her belt before the descent, and after some frantic searching, found the two of them still where she had put them. They had suffered a bit of damage though, their optics now cracked down the center. Scarlet cringed at the sight, but put them away regardless. She would have to find a way to fix them later.

On to the second problem though; she had to find Emily.

The girl had still been out cold when they crashed, so she wasn't likely to dig herself out anytime soon. That, and she had suffered a few injuries that, while healed by her Ghost, may have been fragile.

So, with that in mind, the Guardian got to looking. The mangled remains of her Fatal Vision sure didn't make it easy though.

She tried to map out the wreckage using where she had ended up, but that ultimately failed when just how mangled the ship was became apparent. She found pieces of the engine far from where they should have been, and there were hydraulics she remembered from the cargo bay doors laying near where the console should have been.

She did find several cases of ammo though, as well as a few boxes of rations that managed to survive. She pulled those to the edge of the forest, telling herself to take stock later as she continued to look for her yellow themed teammate.

Thankfully, that yellow eventually helped Scarlet find her, her weapons still somehow strapped to her form. Unfortunately though, she was bleeding.

The Guardian cursed repeatedly as she spotted the red staining Emily's robes. The girl was trapped under what must have been a support beam, though it was quickly thrown to the side as Scarlet rushed to see if the Warlock was still alive.

Thankfully, the Hunter crouched next to the girl to check for a pulse and found one. It wasn't steady though, which meant the bleeding was causing trouble. Looking down to find the source, Scarlet quickly spotted the large shard of metal plunged into Emily's side. She reached to pull it out before quickly deciding against it. It was probably holding back more blood.

Gritting her teeth, Scarlet lopped her arms under the Warlock's and dragged her out of the wreckage and towards the supplies she had salvaged. She then went back into the wreckage to search for more, or at least a medkit.

It wasn't standard Guardian practice to carry one, but Salazar had convinced her to get a few just in case they picked up a civilian, and the Hunter couldn't have been more happy to find one still intact after a few minutes of searching. She made sure to check it for a needle and thread, which it had along with rubbing alcohol and a few bandages, before returning to her 'camp'.

Setting everything down, the Hunter then got to work on disrobing Emily. To her silent relief, the Warlock hadn't chosen to go commando for their mission like she claimed she usually did, so she was wearing her street clothes under her armor. A simple yellow t-shirt with black slacks, though she was barefoot. Her shoulder length blonde hair was a mess though, something she disregarded as she set the bloody robe and weapons to the side.

Scarlet did force one of her emerald green eyes open to look for signs of a concussion, which she was thankful she didn't find, before turning her attention to the large red stain that was the side of her shirt. The metal shard was still stuck there, though the amount of visible, dried blood must have meant that they were out for a while before waking up.

Opening the medical kit again, Scarlet readied the needle and thread before dabbing the rubbing alcohol on to a few cotton balls so she could apply it. She then turned Emily on to her side before straddling her, to make sure she stayed in place for the next part, which she sighed just thinking about.

"Even if you're out, this is going to hurt like a bitch." The scarlet spector mumbled before gripping the metal in her free hand and slowly pulling it out. Emily squirmed a bit, but was ultimately fine with the Hunter' steady hand guiding the metal.

Sadly though, that wasn't the painful part she was talking about.

Having the cut facing up prevented the blood from leaking out too fast, though there was still a trickle as she readied herself. Bringing up the cotton balls, the Hunter gently dabbed them against the Warlock's wound and was almost immediately thrown off as Emily screamed out in pain and thrashed about.

She was still unconscious, but the screams managed to echo through the forest around them as the alcohol burned her flesh. Scarlet couldn't just tell her to suck it up either, so she was forced to wait for her to calm down before applying it again.

It took an excruciating five minutes, but the screams eventually died out as Scarlet finished cleaning the wound, which she was glad she did. They probably wouldn't fare too well if they caught a disease from some planet they didn't even know the name of.

Next, the Hunter got to stitching Emily up. There wasn't nearly as much thrashing or screaming, thankfully. The most she let out were whimpers as she slowly made the stitch. Luckly, the thread was plasteel, so it wasn't going to break anytime soon, and once she got it done, she went about bandaging her abdomen to make sure it wasn't disturbed.

If there was one good thing her years as a city guard did for her, it was learning proper medical routines like this. She was just glad she remembered them after all this time.

After a few more minutes, the scarlet spector finally climbed off of the Warlock, setting her down to lie on her back as she inspected the bandages she had applied. She managed to wrap her abdomen with gauze enough to keep everything secure, and there was no new blood seeping out from the wound, so she was ultimately satisfied as she pulled the girl's shirt back down.

Looking around at the supplies she had managed to collect, Scarlet knew she wasn't going to be carrying any of the shit she had pulled from the wreckage, nor was she going to carry Emily's bloody robes and bulky guns. She didn't even know if there was anywhere to carry all of their stuff to begin with.

Thus, she decided her best course of action was to just wait for Emily to wake up. The sun was high in the sky, and they had enough rations to last for awhile, so it was just a matter of waiting it out. Once the Warlock was up though, they would have to get moving. Scarlet didn't know what inhabited the planet, but she didn't want to find out while they were sitting ducks.

She didn't remember seeing any clear structures as they crashed, but she barely remembered anything from then anyway, so she couldn't be sure. If anything, they would be lucky if nothing came to search the wreckage within the next 24 hours, though ships would make that troublesome, especially if the Hive or Cabal were here like she suspected.

Shaking those thoughts off, Scarlet unholstered one of her handcannons and sat at the base of a tree next to the yellow eagle Guardian. It was going to be a while before they could move safely, and she sure as hell wasn't standing for all of it.

(Unknown Forest - Late Evening)

A small frown formed on Scarlet's face as she checked Emily's pulse again. It had been a few hours and the sky was getting dark now, meaning that she would have to build a fire soon. Though, she was more concerned with the fact that the yellow eagle had yet to even stir.

Her breathing was steady, as was her heartbeat, though she didn't seem to be responding to any outside stimulus. Not that the Hunter had tried a lot, she had been noisy but that wasn't for the sake of waking the girl up.

Sleep would be good for the Warlock, but she would need it eventually as well. She felt fine for now, but other cravings like hunger and thirst had come up, so sleep would come soon. Thankfully, their rations had made eating and drinking possible. Sleep would be another problem for later though.

For now, Scarlet needed to get a fire going, which wasn't too hard. It only took a few minutes and her knife against the flint she carried on her belt before she had a decently sized fire. It would sadly reveal their location to anything looking, but she was confident she could take them out in the dark of the forest around them.

That's if anything came at all. She hadn't heard the calls of the Hive or Fallen like she was used to, and the Cabal would have been there by now, with their transport ships. The Vex would have gotten there instantly too, same with the Taken if they were even still a thing. The fact that no signs of the usual enemies of Humanity had shown themselves was both a good and a bad sign.

It meant that they could have been alone, but that was a double edged sword. No one to kill them, but no one to steal a ship from, or the tech to build one.

They weren't alone though, she had felt… something watching them. She hadn't seen anything, but the feeling nagged at the back of her mind.

Sighing, the Hunter looked to the darkening sky as the stars started to appear. The sky looked totally different from Earth's, both clear of light pollution and full of new constellations. The sight of the stars both unnerved her and… comforted her, in a strange sort of way.

Ever since Midnight and Salazar had disappeared, some two months ago, she had taken to looking to the stars for comfort. Midnight's armor and Ghost were decorated with the stuff in an almost mystical way, so it tended to bring back memories.

Laying next to Emily to look up better, Scarlet smiled at the first memory that came to mind.

She had been a bitch when they first formed Fireteam Wild, the Vanguard had practically forced them all together, but Sal and Midnight hit it off instantly. One's eccentric attitude shouldn't have worked so well with the other's stoic and reserved one, but it just… did. Until Crota was beaten, they were the only reason the team worked at all. She had always been the one to drag them down otherwise.

Shaking her head, the Hunter banished the thought. She had talked to them both about that in one of her rare apologetic moods, and they had both claimed it was no problem, that Sal hadn't even noticed.

Fireteam Wild would never be the same without them. It took them three years to become some of the most infamous Guardians in the Tower, to build a name for themselves, but no one would be able to fill those shoes. Emily tried, but the scarlet spector just didn't feel like she would be able to catch up.

Sighing and turning her head to face the Warlock, Scarlet looked over her unconscious form again. Her chest was rising and falling at a steady pace, no change there, but the Guardian couldn't help but worry.

She had made a promise to keep the girl safe, mostly from herself, but the Hunter had already almost failed. Hell, they both almost got killed. If Salazar's daughter, adopted or not, died on some unknown rock… well, that'd be about the worst way she could fail…

Closing her eyes, Scarlet let out a breath. This certainly wasn't the time to get worked up about stuff like that. Emily would wake up, and when she did, they would-

The Hunter's eyes snapped open when she heard a branch snap, and her instincts screamed at her to move. She tended to listen to her instincts, and so she rolled to the side just as a curved blade slammed into the ground where her head would have been.

Jumping up and raising her Fang, Scarlet fired at the assailant before they could jump into the trees for cover, and she heard two shots ping off metal before she was forced to move again as a scythe slashed at her, almost cleaving her in half.

The attacker didn't move to attack her again after that, so she was able to get a look at him as his weapon seemed to morph into a large greatsword, one that he held with just one hand. The man was wearing a grey long coat with padded shoulders and an open black collar, making a silvery cross necklace available to see sitting on his chest. He had a pair of black slacks as well, paired with black dress shoes. There was also a deep maroon cape across his back, the bottom torn from either battle or travel. From his weapon, she guessed the former. On top of all that, he had messy yet slicked back black hair, a chin full of stubble, and light red eyes that peered at her with disdain.

"You know," The man started, his voice gravely and his ridiculous sword held by his side, "starting a fire isn't the best way to keep yourself and the girl you kidnapped hidden."

Kidnapped!? Is that what he thought!? It was nice to see that there was Humanity on this planet, it was a real relief actually, but for him to assume the Hunter had kidnapped Emily?

"I didn't kidnap her, asshole." The Guardian started, glancing at the Warlock quickly. "We crashed, I've just been taking care of her until we can move."

"Yeah?" He didn't sound like he believed her. "I bet all that screaming earlier was you helping her too, huh?"

"Stitching a wound hurts like a bitch." The Hunter narrowed her eyes as she spoke before she shook her head, switching her hand cannon to her left hand as she placed her right on her sword's hilt. She kept her second fang holstered.

"Look, I don't even know where we are. If you can just point us in the direction of the nearest town or city, I can get her the medical attention she needs. We're kind of stranded here and I frankly don't know where we are, so the help would be appreciated."

"And let you just take her? I don't think that's happening."

Scarlet growled, but didn't make any moves to attack. The dude was standing practically right over Em, and she didn't want to risk the girl getting hurt.

"Growly one, aren't ya?" The man quipped, getting a glare from the Guardian.

"If you insist that I don't take her, then what's your plan here, huh? Just here to be the knight in shining armor?" The question made the dude chuckle. He then stopped with a grin.

"Sorry, that just sounds like something my niece would say." He shook his head before a serious expression came back to his face. "But I guess you could call it that. You're going to disappear and I'm bringing this girl into town. Now, we can either do this the easy way or the hard way."

"I'm guessing the easy way involves me just walking away?" Scarlet questioned, getting a lazy thumbs up in return.

"Right in one. You're smarter than you look."

Scarlet glared at the man harder for the comment, and she drew her sword, holding it at the ready.

"I choose the hard way then." The dude frowned at that. "I made a promise to her dad after all."

There was a moment of tense silence before the man sighed, his body going a little more slack than before. He then cracked his neck, his sword held lazily by his side.

"Why can't you people ever choose the easy way out?"

Before the scarlet spector could question what he meant by that, he was already moving.

The Guardian blocked his sword as it came overhead before she jumped to the side as it came at her again at speeds she almost couldn't keep up with. She fought Salazar on a regular basis though, so she was able to track and deflect his next strike as she ducked under the man's guard, slashing at his ribcage.

Where there should have been blood though, a silvery aura of some sort sparkled to life, causing her sword to just scrap against him. Scarlet's moment of surprise gave the man enough of a chance to strike down at her as he jumped back. His sword just barely scraped against the arm of her armor, causing sparks to fly up and light up the night as the fire slowly died.

The darkness would make the fight difficult, but not impossible.

Wanting to waste no time, the man jumped back at her, forcing the Hunter to block a numerous amount of strikes before she could get any breathing room. When she finally did get a chance, she ducked under his sword again and into his guard, though she didn't let him back off this time, not wanting him to have the advantage of his sword's reach come back.

If there was one advantage of her small stature and her shorter blade, it was that she could be annoying when she wanted to be. That much was told to her by Sal, and it was evident here too.

The man couldn't escape her as she continuously tore at his chest, her sword a blur as that silvery aura kept it back. Though, it began to flicker after a moment, all while the man tried his best to back off and get some space, even slashing at her at times. In the name of being annoying though, she danced around the much larger blade, sinking in and out of his guard like a pest.

Just as Scarlet thought she was about to bust through the man's barrier though, she heard the sound of gears quickly turning before there was suddenly a loud bang and she was thrown away, her side erupting in pain.

She crashed into a nearby tree, rolling to the ground before doing her best to jump up, her sword dropped and her hand on her side as she avoided another slash from the man. She then raised her handcannon and fired, her Fang barking as its bullets tore through the air. The dude didn't try to dodge them as he came in for another strike, crying out in pain as the bullets dug into his shoulder.

As he gripped his bleeding shoulder, Scarlet took the chance to gain some distance, glancing at Emily again before she checked her hand, finding it covered in blood. From the pattern of holes in her armor, the guy must have shot her with a shotgun of some sort, but there was none on him. Just where did the bullets come from?

"What the hell are your bullets made of!?" The man dragged her attention to him and Scarlet saw that his shoulder had already stopped bleeding and her rounds had fallen to the ground around him. He must have pulled them out, and his bloody fingers supported that.

"Something that can get past that damn barrier of yours." The Hunter actually let out a short laugh, reloading her Fang as the man watched the gun wearily. She then glanced to her sword, which he was standing over, and drew her second Fang, feeling their perks activate and her side slowly start to mend itself.

The Direwolf's Fangs were useful when surrounded and with it's pack, growing sharper, but there were times when that wolf would be a lone one. In turn, the wolf could be cold and cautious, and her weapons changed to reflect that, allowing for light regen of her tissue as well as faster reload and a unique stacking mulligan perk Salazar had somehow created.

If there was anything she was glad about right then, it was that their weapons still worked without the Light. That would probably come in handy here.

The man across from her let out a short growl of frustration this time, though it sounded more like annoyance. He then raised his weapon again and went on the attack.

Scarlet's Fangs barked like angry dogs as she shot at her assailant, each shot that missed returning to her magazine as the man weaved his way to her quickly. His sword then clashed with her knife as she tossed her cannon into the air, drawing the blade before shooting again.

The man didn't expect the acrobatics, but was able to avoid the shot anyway, scraping it along the edge of his blade. The rifle round buried itself into the base of a tree as blades clashed and sparked, the Hunter putting her decades of knife work to the test as she juggled blades and guns, her face set in stone cold focus.

The man was no different, and Scarlet quickly found out that the gun she was shot with was in the sword itself. Annoying, but manageable as she twisted around the scattered pellets. She had fought enough in the Crucible to learn to combat shotguns, so she was able to push the man back.

Eventually though, Scarlet slipped up and her side flared up in pain again as she didn't get a knife down quickly enough to clash with the sword. The blade dug into her side briefly, getting stuck in her armor before she tore herself free, jumping to the side and throwing a knife into the man's face.

He simply batted it to the side and shot at her again, Scarlet twisting around it before kicking her sword back into her hand, holstering one of her fangs to do so. The man was back on top of her in an instant as the Guardian's blood started to leak from her side, staining her armor even redder as she bit back the pain.

Their blades sparked against each other again and again, and bullets flew through the air, all of them missing their intended targets. Eventually, the man's gun clicked empty. It was barely audible, but they both heard it and they knew it.

Scarlet immediately took the chance to bash into the guy, twisting past his retaliation and getting into his guard once again. The man seemed to tense up, preparing himself for her sword as he brought his own up to strike at her, but she had different plans as she raised her Fang to his stomach.

Before the round could be fired though, he seemed to disappear with what sounded like the flapping of wings. She didn't have time to figure out what had happened before the sound of mechanics whirling reached her ears and her instincts told her to move again.

She threw herself to the side, barely avoiding the man's next strike as a scythe blade came down at her. The tip of the blade made a light cut on her cheek before burying itself into the ground. It didn't stay there long though, coming up with her as she was forced to abandon attacking for survival.

The man she was facing was obviously better with a scythe than he was a sword, that much was clear to the scarlet spector as she twisted jumped out of the way as the man carved through the air like death himself. Scarlet hadn't had much experience facing a scythe wielder, as there was only really one in the Sol System, and he was more focused on Salazar than anything.

Flipping back as the scythe came for her head, the Hunter holstered her Fang and her sword and drew her sniper rifle from her back. Raising it mid-air, the Guardian fired a round that the man was able to block with the blade of his scythe. It still managed to push him off of his feet though, sending him to the ground as the scarlet spector flew back from the recoil.

She managed to get her feet under her before she could collide with a tree, but she yelped out in surprise as a root caught on to her ankle, tripping her to the ground as the man was getting back up. Rifle in hand, she shot back up, but not before the scythe wielder managed to get to her.

Screaming out in pain, the blade of the scythe dug into her other side, sinking into her armor and drawing even more blood. The man reared his blade back, ready to strike again, before he let out his own roar of pain as another sniper round tore through the air, digging into and straight through his shoulder before digging into a tree behind him.

Scarlet tried to use the chance to get distance again, but both her sides flared up in pain as she tried to move, making her go weak as she fell to the ground. Gritting her teeth, she aimed her rifle and fired again, the man deflecting the bullet this time and traveling past it, knocking her barrel to the side and her gun out of her weakening hands. She tried to unholster one of her Fangs to retaliate, but his scythe was at her neck in an instant, stopping her.

The two of them let out loud, heavy breaths, though Scarlet's were far more labored. Still, she glared at the man as he looked her up and down. He seemed surprised as he spotted blood dripping down the sides of her armor, but he didn't move his blade either way. What, was he surprised he had hurt her? Seemed un-fucking-likely.

"Just let me take the girl." He breathed out after a moment. "Your Aura will heal you once it returns, but it won't get the chance if I have to kill you."

"Eat shit." The Hunter coughed briefly, just now realizing how much everything hurt. "I don't know what the fuck Aura is, but you aren't taking Emily either way, dickbag."

The man sighed and shook his head. If he was smart, he would know that, if he just left her there, she was going to kill him the second his back was turned. He didn't seem too happy though, like he didn't want to kill anybody. She would probably die either way though, which was a sickening realization, so she wasn't likely to just let this guy do what he wanted. She'd be moving the second he moved his weapon, whether it was to end her or not.

"Look, just be reasonable here." The man sighed wearily. "I don't want to kill you. If you really didn't kidnap her, then she'll tell the same story, right? Let's just get her, and you, some help. I can call in a Bullhead and we'll be in Vale in a matter of hours."

Scarlet just growled in response. Did the dude seriously think she was just going to believe him? She was bloody and bruised, and he had a scythe to her neck. She didn't know what Vale was, or what a Bullhead was, and they were probably things that this planet had made, but she wasn't just going to take this guy's word for anything. The fact that she wasn't already dead was his mistake really.

"The second you move that scythe, there will be six bullets in your chest, let me make that clear." The Hunter growled out with a wince. "I'd rather die than break my promise to keep that girl safe."

"..." The man was silent for a moment, like her words hit a little too close to home. Before he could respond though, a very distinct sound rang through the air.

*Chi-Chi*

The man's head shot up before he jumped out of the way, and just in time too as a sudden buzz rang out through the empty forest. It sounded like a minigun, and it probably was as Scarlet watched bullets tear through the air, streaking towards her attacker as he jumped back, trying to get out of the way. For good reason too, as the bullets tore through the air and carved through the bases of the trees it passed, tearing them apart so thoroughly that the trees proceeded to fall with mighty crashes and booms.

The buzzing stopped as soon as it had started though, and Scarlet heard footsteps slamming against the ground as her name was called out.

"Scarlet!" Emily panicked as she threw her rifle to the ground next to the Hunter, crouching down next to her form. She saw the blood, and she didn't seem to know what to do. "W-what's going on, what's happening!?"

"Calm down and get ahold of yourself." Scarlet gritted her teeth as she raised herself up to sit, grabbing the barrel of her sniper and dragging it back to her. "You had to overclock your rifle for that, didn't you?"

"I-I'll have to replace the pin, yeah." Emily nodded before pulling out her sidearm and looking between her and the man who had attacked her, who now looked like he was lost for words. "Who is this guy, what's going on?"

"Take a look around and figure it out for yourself." The Hunter said as she pulled a magazine off of her belt and slid it into her rifle, cocking back the pin. The Warlock took the chance to look around, her eyes going from the ship to her robes, the supplies, and finally to her wounds and the man across from them.

"Did he shoot us down and attempt to raid the ship?"

Scarlet rolled her eyes before she shook her head.

"No, we crashed. I took care of your side before this guy showed up and attacked me, thinking I had kidnapped you or something."

"And just where are we?"

"That I do not know." Scarlet grumbled before raising her rifle to aim at the man. "He's only got melee options, so keep him at a range. He's got a barrier of some kind too, but our bullets can break past it. Just be careful, he's strong."

Emily nodded and stood up, though the guy waved his hands before they could move.

"Woah, woah, let's calm down for a second!"

"Says the guy who just tried to kill my step-mom!" Emily shouted, to which Scarlet gave her a weird look. Emily shrugged at her. "What, I've already accepted you."

"Well, how would I have known that!?" The man cried out in exasperation before sighing. "Look, I thought you crashed and was getting taken!"

"I told you I wasn't kidnapping her!"

"I realize that now!"

"None of that matters!" Emily shouted, interrupting the two. She then growled for a second, her gaze switching from the man to Scarlet and back before she spoke up again.

"S-Scarlet's bleeding out, so either you need to leave us alone so I help her, or you need to get help if you're so much of a good guy."

The man gave her a weird look before moving his gaze over to Scarlet. His eyes seemed to widen as he realized she was indeed bleeding out, a small pool of red now staining the ground around the Hunter and steadily growing. Said Guardian only seemed to realize it then too, as she set down her rifle and weakly clutched her Fang.

She wasn't alone though, so the healing perk didn't activate like it would have if she was.

"Why hasn't her Aura started healing her yet?" The man asked with a mortified expression. Scarlet would have said something if she wasn't distracted by the sight of blood. Losing so much was a newish situation for a Guardian.

"I don't know what an Aura is, b-but it doesn't matter." The Warlock aimed her handgun at the man. "Please, just leave. I need to help her"

"You realize there's no way to close these cuts fast enough to make up for the blood loss, right?" Scarlet's words came out with a bit of a slur, and Emily's hands started to shake slightly.

"S-shut up. I know I can help somehow, I just… I just need him to go so that I don't have to watch my back."

"Em, just go-"

"Shut up!"

"Hey, just everyone calm down!" The man called out, his hands raised. His weapon was on his back now, seemingly compacted. "Let's all just calm down. My name's Qrow, I'm a Huntsman. I can help you out. If she really doesn't have an Aura, I can unlock it for her, it'll help her heal."

"And why should I let you anywhere near her, especially after you tried to kill her." The yellow eagle growled out, the grip on her gun tightening.

"You can call it a man trying to make up for his mistake." Qrow replied, making a gesture akin to shrugging with his raised hands. "Look, I won't hurt her… anymore anyway. I promise you that."

Before Emily could call bullshit on that, Scarlet started coughing roughly from the side. The Warlock turned her head in time to see the Hunter pull her hand away from her mouth, finding it covered in blood.

"Well, that's not good."

"Scarlet!" The Warlock seemed to forget everything as she fell to her knees beside the scarlet spector. Her hands hovered over the Hunter though, completely at a loss as for what to do.

"Em, I'll be fine, I'll be fine." The Hunter muttered before coughing again, her eyes half-lidded. "Hey Em, where are we?" She then suddenly asked, blinking slowly. Her handcannon had slipped out of her grip and next to her rifle by now. "Where is everyone?"

"I...I-" Emily didn't know how to respond, though her attention was turned to the side as Qrow cautiously stepped up to them. Her handgun came up. "Don't-"

"Just let me help her… please." The Warlock wavered for a moment before she slowly and very reluctantly nodded and lowered her gun.

"Just don't hurt her…"

Qrow nodded back before crouching down next to them. He then very carefully reached out and rested his hand on the Hunter's forehead, causing Emily to tense up. Scarlet had no reaction though as she simply and wearily looked at the Huntsman. Closing his eyes, Qrow then started whatever he was doing.

"For it is in chance that we gain advantage. Through this, we become a paragon of luck and misfortune to descend below all others. Infinite in curses and unbound by fate, I release your soul, and by my power, protect thee."

As he spoke, Emily could feel the air seemingly shimmer with power around them, and as he finished, a power seemed to erupt from Scarlet. The Warlock could see her body tense up for a second as a thin veil of light red energy shimmered over her skin and armor, and then she went slack, her breathing light as she fell unconscious.

As she watched though, she could see the cut on the Hunter's cheek close itself without even leaving a scar. The yellow eagle stared in disbelief for a moment before letting out a tired sigh and slumping her shoulders, her gun dropping to the ground. It was as if she had forgotten what had happened in the last few minutes.

Emily didn't understand why Scarlet hadn't been healing already, nor did she understand why she couldn't talk to or find her Ghost, but Scarlet would probably know. She didn't want to talk to some random guy about it, and the Hunter would probably get angry at her if she did. Besides she… she really didn't want to be in charge. She would have to be for now, but she wasn't good at it.

What she did know was that they probably weren't on Earth anymore. The… Aura, thing, was good enough evidence for that.

"She's stable, so she should be fine in a few hours." Qrow's gravelly voice caught her attention again as he sat next to her. There was silence for another few moments before he spoke up again. "Look, I… I'm sorry about-"

"Don't try to apologize." Emily shook her head, looking away slightly. "I… I just don't know what's going on right now. I don't think she does either."

"... Can I ask what happened?" Qrow then asked, curious and trying to bring the subject away from the fighting. "If you're fine with that I mean."

That was a difficult question to answer, and not one the eagle really could answer. She glanced at Scarlet's unconscious form for a moment, knowing that she would not only have a better idea of what was happening, but also knowing she could create a better story.

It was one of the few things she was envious of Hunters for, that and their cloaks.

Still, she could follow in her dad's footsteps and half-truth it.

"... We got stuck in a bad spot and had to run." Emily eventually started, twirling her fingers in her hair. "We tried to make it home, but our ship was damaged. We ended up crashing. I guess I was out for most of it though."

"Why's that?" Qrow tilted his head at that. Emily shrugged.

"When we were fired at, the ship rocked and I just… got knocked out." She then said, shrugging. "Again, I don't really know what happened. I think Scarlet does though. We made it this far after all."

Qrow slowly nodded, as if he was thinking about something. He then looked out to the wreckage of the ship. Scarlet was probably pissed about it, but they were fine, and that was a miracle in and of itself. Well, not fine, the pain in her side told her that much, but they had survived.

"I'd better get a Bullhead here to take us to Vale." The man then started, pulling a small, flat device from his back pocket. "The Grimm might attack us if we're here for much longer."

Emily didn't know about anything he had just named, but she nodded in agreement anyway. They couldn't stay in the dark forest forever.

Qrow opened the device, making a flat blue hologram appear that he proceeded to tap a few times before holding it up to his ear. After a few moments, he seemed to start talking with someone. Was that a phone he was using? Emily knew the Last City used those at least.

He talked for a few moments before gaining an annoyed look and hanging up. He then looked to Scarlet and sighed, tapping a few more times before bringing the phone to his ear again. After a few moments, he started talking.

"Hey, Rubes, I hate to ask you this, but I'm about to send you some coordinates. Could you run to the airfield and give them to Jasmine? She owes me a favor I'm cashing in."

There was some talking on the other side of the line Emily couldn't quite pick up before Qrow smiled lightly. "Yeah, I'm coming home kiddo, just need a ride and the stuck-ups at HQ are all busy with VIPs from the other kingdoms. Something about Beacon students coming in." He listened for another moment before he laughed, and Emily turned her attention to Scarlet.

The Hunter had stopped bleeding from the look of it, but her armor was still covered in drying blood. The Warlock had never seen so much of the stuff before, mainly due to their usual healing factor or the fact that their armor usually repaired over the injury. To see it all out in the open, on a woman she thought was nearly invincible, was… an eerie feeling.

Turning her gaze away with a strained look, Emily looked at the wreckage again. Scarlet had dragged some things out of the twisted metal, but it was just some ammo and food, which she felt weird craving again after so long. None of it was something she couldn't get elsewhere here, probably.

"And, uh, can you make sure the guest room is cleaned up, Rubes?" The Warlock turned back to listen to Qrow's conversation for a moment. "There's some people I'm bringing with me. You could say I owe them something."

There was some talking at the other end of the line before Qrow smiled again. "Love you too, kiddo." He then replied before hanging up the call. He then sighed and looked over to her. "I've got a ride coming. Shouldn't be more than an hour or so I'd say."

Emily nodded and carefully picked her handgun off of the ground, holstering it at her side. She didn't really need it after all, though she would no doubt in the future, so she didn't want it to be forgotten. Looking around, she realized Scarlet's guns as well as her own assault rifle were scattered around too.

Qrow noticed too and went to pick up Scarlet's sniper, though Emily quickly snatched it up, pulling it away. The man simply blinked before nodding in understanding, standing up and brushing off his pants.

"I'll go see what stuff of yours we can bring with us." He then started, gesturing towards their stack of ammo and the ship. "And what I can salvage… I'm sorry again, about all of this."

Emily just waved him off and went about gathering their guns. Qrow sighed and went about doing what he said.

Letting out her own sigh, the Warlock holstered Scarlet's loose handcannon on her leg. She gave no fuss, being unconscious and all, though Emily thought it best if she didn't prop her up to put the sniper back on her back. Instead, she set it with her stuff before grabbing her auto rifle.

Looking over it, it was fairly obvious she had outdone herself. Both the firing pin and the lining of the barrel were either broken and smoothed out, meaning she'd have to replace both. Not only that, but the shell around the base of the barrel had melted and cracked. She would have to practically replace the whole thing, which wasn't ideal.

Resolving herself to do it later, she set the gun down and grabbed her bloody robes. They would have to be cleaned, sewn, and otherwise patched up, which would be annoying but necessary. Fighting in her street clothes would not be ideal.

Emily sighed at that and set the robes on her weapons, looking back to Scarlet. Hopefully they'd be able to find some way of sorting out the mess they were in now and get back to the Tower. The Vanguard was probably tearing the surface of Mercury up looking for them by now.

The Warlock let a smile slip on to her face at that. The thought of Ikora tearing into some Vex after dealing with her Hidden for so long was a nice thought.

(Patch - Later)

With Scarlet held in her arms and their weapons, plus her robes, slung over her back in a bag, Emily followed Qrow as he led her along a forestry dirt trail. They had landed not too long ago, using some kind of transport ship similar to the city's. Sadly, they couldn't take everything they managed to drag out from the wreckage, being forced to leave most of the ammo behind, but they still managed to get enough for Qrow to carry in his arms, something he struggled with.

The Warlock suspected he wanted some of the ammo as well, seeing as he apparently had his own ranged option, though Scarlet would most likely be dismissive of the idea. In fact, to her, Qrow would probably seem like public enemy number one. Taking her to the guy's house would most likely evoke a… reaction out of her.

Either way, their path soon opened up into a clearing that sported a rather nice looking cabin. The sight surprised her as much as the actual city of Patch did, seeing as she had only ever seen the Last City. Hell, it was called that for a reason. Here though, that didn't seem to be the same case.

She hadn't gotten any time to explore the place, but Patch seemed to be a fully developed town, and it probably had the supplies she needed to repair their stuff. At least, they might have what she needed to fake it. This planet, while advanced, hadn't reached the Golden Age like they had. She'd have to do more research, but things didn't match up all the way from what she could tell.

Emily turned her attention away from that though as Qrow knocked on the door with his foot. After a moment, the door swung open to reveal a girl.

The girl was wearing a pitch black corset tied down tightly with a set of red strings, emphasizing the young girl's curves and moderate bust. The corset was over an equally pitch black skirt dress, and the colors matched so perfectly that you could barely tell the corset and the dress apart. The skirt went down to her mid-thighs and ended with a set of red frills. The sleeves of the dress matched that but ended at her wrists. Next, around the girl's waist was a dark grey belt with a silver ammo pouch, a row of silver cased sniper rounds and a flaming rose emblem. The girl also had a set of black, transparent leggings that went from the inside of her dress to inside her pitch black boots, boots of which had red laces and soles. Finally, there was the long red cape and matching hood. The cape ended at the same place the skirt did, halfway down her thighs, and was secured to the dress with two small, silver crosses.

Along with all that, the girl had shining silver eyes that reminded Emily of her dad's and short black hair that ended in deep red tips.

The girl looked at her and the form of Scarlet in her arms curiously before turning to Qrow, as if asking what was going on. He simply gestured his head towards the eagle before speaking.

"Can you show her to the guest room?" He asked before sighing. "I have a few calls to make. I'll make something to eat after though, promise."

The girl simply nodded before stepping clear of the door, letting everyone in. She then started down one of the halls past a cozy looking living room, Qrow going the opposite direction after setting down the boxes of ammo he was carrying. Emily followed her until they made it to a room at the end of the hall, which the girl opened for her.

The Warlock stepped in with a nod to the girl, immediately carrying Scarlet to the lone bed. When Emily was sure she wouldn't roll off, she sighed and turned to the girl at the door.

"Thank… you?"

Or she would have, if the girl wasn't already gone.

Emily sighed at that, but didn't fuss. At the very least, they had a place to stay for now. The Warlock could finally put in the effort to figure out what was going on. She was sure Scarlet would be as happy about that as she would be.

… That was, if the Hunter didn't immediately tear apart the cabin they found themselves in now.

Yeah, figuring out what she was going to say when she woke up would have to be the first priority.