Chapter 16

Ilia's arms shook as Branwen hammered at her guard, rapdily giving ground through the thine forest as she frantically defended herself. He'd already gotten two good hits in, taking down chunks of her aura. Her uniform was soaked with sweat, breath coming out in sharp gasps as she desperately tried to buy everyone time to get the boat ready.

The lack of any features on her saber wasn't helping against his more complicated weapon. He'd already shot her once with the gun built into the hilt, and put a few rounds into Nava when he'd tried to get involved.

She couldn't use Lightning Lash either. It wouldn't have helped much but she'd be doing better with the options it would give her. But if she did he'd recognize it in an instant. She couldn't even speak since they'd shared a few words during and after their spar, which was becoming a larger problem as Perry started running his mouth.

"Cover sister Ilia from the boat!" His shout came as she ducked beneath a slash, frantically skipping back a few more paces. Somehow her left foot got caught up in some tree roots, making her wobble, leaving her off-balance when Branwen reversed his motion and lashed out with a kick aimed at her chest.

The bastard was strong, it knocked her back even farther, an explosive breath coming out in a hard cough. She didn't have time to recover, barely turning aside a thrust, throwing a quick punch at his nose to make him pause, and then scrambling into another retreat.

Her boots had barely hit the sand before Branwen was all over her once again. That damned sword moved more quickly than it had any right to. She barely deflected a slash, but the follow-up overhand cut was too much for her exhausted arms. They gave way and let the heavy blade collide with her shoulder, her aura sparking wildly as a pained yelp escaped her.

"Ilia! Down!"

Another kick from the huntsman had her going down anyway, so it worked out. Her back hit the sand just as all four of her companions opened fire. Branwen cursed, sword whirling in front of him, but he couldn't come close to blocking them all. Red sparks flared as rounds got through, hitting his aura, finally driving him back.

Grains of sand flew everywhere as she frantically crab-walked backwards, rising in a crouch the moment she felt water. Someone stopped shooting long enough to fire up the boat's engine, another pair of hands grabbing hers when she lunged for the side.

"He's retreating! Keep shooting!" Perry helped haul her in as Lectrie got them going in reverse, the old boat slowly pulling away from the beach. "Keep-down!"

The warning was several seconds too late for Ilia. Several rounds hit her back and drove her into Perry, another scream coming out as her aura finally gave up. Lectrie shouted something else as the engine's noise built up to a loud roar.

For a more seconds the gunfire continued... then the incoming slowed significantly as they finally got clear of the Human's limited night vision.

"Stop..." She gasped. "Stop shooting. He'll home in on us."

Nava and Liam both quickly eased off on the triggers, only one final shot snapping by somewhere overhead before Branwen gave up as well.

"We're clear." Perry groaned, collapsing onto a bench with a tired groan. "You all right Ilia?"

She wanted to tear his head off but all she could do was shift over, collapsing in the front of the boat. "Aura broken. And we're not clear... he'll be calling Vale."

Lectrie spoke up from her place in the back, "If they send out boats we'll be in trouble."

"Then we should speed up. Head south, lose them in the industrial sector." Perry said at once. "We'll head for the faunus neighborhoods east of them, hold up there until dawn."

"No you idiot." Ilia groaned, waving a tired hand to their right. "That's too obvious, they'll expect us to head right for them. Lectrie? Steer north-east towards. They won't expect us to head for the wealthy part of town. Can pull up at a coastal mansion, ditch the boat at the private docks. Then we call for rides."

The taller woman nodded and adjusted their course, opening up the throttle as soon as she'd gotten them pointed the right direction. No one spoke as they raced across the ocean, choppy waves making the old boat rattle and shake as they pushed the engine to its limits. Its noise grew to the point where they couldn't even hear each other speak, which clearly suited Perry just fine.

He glared right back at Ilia, then shifted around only to find Liam and Lectrie giving him equally furious glares. In the end he settled for turning his back on all of them in favor of staring out over the water.

Nava at least had the grace to look ashamed even through his mask, flinching when he felt Ilia eyes on him. The young man kept his eyes on his feet after that.

Their trip back to Vale seemed to both take forever and yet go by in a flash. A quick glance at her scroll told her that her aura was trying to recover, but was still in the red. Enough to stop a few civilian rounds but not much more than that.

Dammit. Branwen was a monster, it was liking fighting an even better Adam. And if we don't go to ground quickly we're going to have even more hunters all over us.

Lectrie started to slow them down as they neared Vale's coastline, only for Ilia to gesture for her to keep the up speed. Getting back into the city was far more important than being quiet at the moment. If they got caught while rowing, assuming they even had the strength to try that again, they'd be screwed out on the open water.

She got it after a moment and quickly got them back up to speed. Within a couple of minutes they'd shot past the anti-Grimm sonar buoys, then through the outer harbor markers.

"Lights!" Perry's shout was hard to hear, but his frantic gestures got their attention. "Patrol!"

Ilia quickly scanned the water, trying to ignore the glittering lights of Vale obscuring everything. It took her a moment before she spotted them; a steady blue light on a much larger boat off to the southeast.

"North!" It was her turn to shout, "Faster!"

While Lectrie adjusted course, she shouldered her way past Nava and Perry, ignoring the latter's furious gestures. Liam shifted over, letting her hop over his bench to stand in the back, eyes tracking the other vehicle.

For a moment it was properly silhouetted by the lights, and she recognized the outline of a long police cutter. The kind that usually just cruised up and down the river or went out to corral drunken boaters in summer. Thankfully it seemed to have missed them entirely, turning south, heading towards the poorer sections of the city.

A pair of gestures saw Lectrie slow their breakneck pace, then turn inland themselves.

"They turned south." She said as soon as the engine was quiet enough to let them speak without screaming. "Probably heading to block the harbor and industrial docks. I bet they're more boats waiting in the river for us."

Liam nodded, "Good call turning north boss."

Perry's fists clenched but somehow he kept his mouth shut.

Carefully driving around several anchored boats just off shore, they slowed further as they tried to find an open dock or at least a sandy bit of beach. Thankfully it didn't take them long to find the latter and within a few minutes Lectrie had driven them aground in the backyard of a small mansion.

Five tired terrorists tromped through the waves, moving past the building proper to get to the street. There Nava took point, glancing left and right before motioning them down to a rather fancy bus stop complete with a roof and half-walls. Once inside they all collapsed again, guzzling water and trying to recover.

"Uniforms and masks off, put them in your backpacks." Ilia tossed her bottle aside to start pulling at hers. "Liam, call headquarters. Tell Tukson we need rides."

He nodded, "How many?"

She mulled it over, glancing at the map helpfully posted on the nearby wall. "Uh... two. Perry and I will go straight south, they can pick us up near the mall. The three of you will go east towards the Winchester place. There's an all night grocer a couple of blocks. Act like you're just out buying drinks."

Everyone nodded and for once there wasn't any complaining. No doubt because everyone else was eager to get clear before she exploded on Perry, and Perry was just as eager to snap back at her.

The moment that Liam had finished his call, Tukson promising to get two drivers out to pick them up at once, their team split up. Perry fell in beside her as they walked south down silent streets.

"You could have gotten us all killed tonight." Ilia growled. "You know that right?'

Prery adjusted his glasses without looking at her. "And you've gone from cautious to cowardly."

She felt her voice lower further. "Oh? Please explain to me how the disobeying orders, jeopardizing an operation, and gunning down unarmed bystanders is the height of bravery."

"You once told me that there's two kinds of Humans. The kind who abuses us, and the kind that stands by and lets it happen." He snapped back. "They weren't innocent, no Human is."

"They-"

He spoke over her, "They profited from it! How much lien do you think they raked in getting those Humans liquored up?"

Ilia felt her freckles heat up. "And how did their kid profit from it, Perry? He didn't even look old enough to have graduated school yet."

"He..." For a brief second he looked unsure of himself. "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Collateral damage happens in war."

"And if Branwen had killed me? Nava? Liam?" She pressed him harder. "What would we be?"

"Martyrs."

Her lips pulled back as her eyes shifted to match her scales. "We didn't get into this fight to die, Perry."

"We didn't get into it to sit around chasing off petty thieves either." He spat. "If you had your way that's all we would do."

She was ready to reply when lights came up from behind them. The pair of them fell silent and tried to look casual, something she did far better than he. An expensive car slowly rolled past, an exhausted looking Human chugging coffee as he drove. He didn't so much as glance their way.

Ilia took deep breaths as they kept walking, forcing her skin and eyes to return to their natural shades. The last thing she needed was to be glowing, especially at night.

"I would have been fine with torching the bar." She said a few blocks later, once she'd gotten a hold of her temper. "If you could have given me proof that the owners were in agreement with the rioter's views of us, I might have even approved of you killing them. But their kid didn't deserve that, and you're not even trying to deny that you put us all at risk."

Perry's lips curled into an unpleasant sneer. "You wouldn't have."

"I've killed more people for the cause than you." The words were a furious hiss. "I've seen the worst of what Humanity can do to us. You're a fucking child Perry."

"I know what has to be done to win this war. I know what it will cost. I know we have to take risks to send the message to the Humans that we won't be bullied anymore!"

Her right foot hit the sidewalk harder than necessary as she pulled up to a stop, whirling on him. "This isn't Atlas! This isn't Mantle! This is Vale. This isn't the place for that kind of bloodthirsty idiocy!"

"Weak." He kept up the sneer.

"Idiot!" Came her retort. "We've been successful because we don't do stupid things like gun down children. You think the cops have seriously been after us? That Huntsman have? The pressure has gotten worse since the docks but now it's going to go through the roof!"

"Then we'll fight them!" A fist hit her shoulder, driving her back as he tried to loom. He shouldn't have bothered, he wasn't tall or built enough to make it work, and it just left her even angrier. "You're a huntress aren't you? For all the good you do when a Human ones shows up!"

She smacked his arm away and stepped forwards, getting right into his face. "Fight them? We'll die. In droves, and nothing will change for the Faunus. Things will only get worse. You want to fight, Perry? You want to die a martyr for the cause? Fine. Fine! I'll arrange a transfer to Atlas. Maybe you'll get lucky and run into Winter Schnee! I'm sure you'll love every second of her sword cutting into your belly!"

Perry's mouth was opening to retort when a bird shrieked directly overhead. Both of them flew apart, hands going reflexively to weapons, Ilia's heart hammering until she saw a blackbird perch itself on a nearby street light. It let let out another caw, then began cleaning its feathers as if it hadn't scared them half to death.

Once she was sure she wasn't going to pass out from a mixture of anger and stress, she forced her hands away from her weapons. Perry did the same, both of them turning back to glare at one another again.

Ilia spoke before he could. "I will get Adam and Sienna on a conference call when we're back. It's clear that one of us needs to leave."

He jerked his chin in a single nod, seemed to swallow his first response, then tried again. "F-fine. Passing the buck? Just like you. Fine."

She twitched, knowing he'd obliquely called her a coward again, then waved for him to start walking again.

It was a tense pair that got moving. Ilia ended up a good yard ahead, balancing on the edge of the sidewalk while Perry tromped through the grass rather than be anywhere near her. They made it most of a mile in furious silence until Ilia caught sight of movement ahead and held up a hand. For all that he apparently hated her now, Perry quickly froze, the pair of them lurking in the small patch of darkness between street lights.

A single figure was walking casually in their direction.

A man without a shirt... and a giant sword in one hand.

"How the hell...?" She hissed.

"What do we do?" Perry demanded just as quietly, moving back beside her, ready to support if needed. "Fight?"

"He kicked my ass at full aura, I'm still in the red." She licked her lips, thinking furiously. "He knows me as a huntress. We can use that. We ditch the bags over the fence, play it like we're on a date and have no idea what's-ah!"

Pain flared up from her side, a shaking hand grabbing onto the dagger that had just been driven into her side. "...wh-what?"

Perry's face was unreadable as he pushed her against the nearest fence. Ilia felt her legs going weak as she gaped at him, trying to wrap her ahead around what he'd just done. "What..."

"You're a coward." He hissed. "A cowardly, failure of a bitch. We could have... he'll deal with you, and I will do what has to be done to save our people."

Her right hand managed to make a fist, but her punch was so telegraphed that he easily dodged backwards. A single motion saw his backpack come off his shoulders to strike her in the chest, the blow too much for her unsteady legs.

Ilia fell, a breathy sound all she could manage as the impact seemed to let the knife dig deeper into her.

Perry didn't even look back as he turned, sprinting back the way they'd just come from.

That... bastard! That cowardly, conniving son of a...!

Branwen had caught a glimpse of the struggle. Footsteps made her look up as the Human sprinted right for her. That was fine. She could explain this, she could lie. She could... her eyes fell onto the pack that Perry had thrown at her.

It had opened, his uniform and pack spilled out on the ground in front of her.

When she looked up again, Branwen was standing over her.

"...figures." The Human rasped. "I almost liked you."

For once... she couldn't think of anything to say.

He stared at her for several seconds, then at the dagger in her side. "That'll have gotten arteries. Know I cracked your aura. You'll bleed out soon without help."

She swallowed, using all of her willpower not to change color.

"...not going to kill you." Branwen shook his head. "But I'm not going to save a dying terrorist either."

Then he turned and started sprinting, racing after Perry without looking back either.

Leaving her alone, a knife's hilt with its snarling wolf iconography protruding from her side.

Feel free to join my discord; VEHqnnVqcg

Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."

Thanks, Kat