Architecture, as a topic, was one that Hazel had given a little thought to. As tall as he was, it was almost unavoidable to think of it. With every door frame he hit, ceiling he bumped against, or supporting beam that he had to duck under, he thought about the design of the building. This was true no matter where he was, but no more so than in his own home; with one of the tallest families in Remnant, one would think that their own home would be built to accommodate. Unfortunately, though, the house was built long before they had moved in, but still, Hazel had often thought that maybe they could extend the walls, add some skylights, do something, anything, to give some more headroom. But now, sitting on the floor of their attic, with the ceiling completely torn off, Hazel regretted all the misplaced anger he had at roofs. Indeed, right now, staring at the nevermore that glared down at them, Hazel wished that there was still a ceiling between them.
The young Rainart man looked up at the Nevermore as it screeched once more, and he slowly backed away, armed with his broadsword, between the beast and his sister. Although a student, Hazel had never fought a Grimm larger than himself. He saw the Nevermore reach back, getting ready to strike; and seeing no alternative, Hazel braced his sword for the impact. For a moment, everything seemed still.
Boom! A shot rang out from a rifle in the distance, followed by frantic female yelling. The Nevermore was hit by an explosion of dust, and it looked away, to the direction of both the projectile and the screaming. Hazel's heart skipped a beat, as he realized his mother was risking her life to save the Rainart children. While the beast was distracted, Hazel reached over and picked up Gretchen, the child still cowering in the corner of the room; and before the Grimm was able to turn back to the children, the pair had dashed out of the attic and were running through the house. As they ran, they heard a giant flap, as the bird-like creature, took off, distracted by something else. Hazel feared he knew what this newfound distraction was, as the two children cowered in the living room of their family home.
Then, as though she were summoned, the Rainart matriarch burst through one of the living room windows, yelling and gesturing at her two children to move through the door at the other side of the building, "hurry! It's not safe here!"
Hazel quickly picked up his sister, and ran through the home's front door, followed closely by their mother, who was still focusing on the window. Seconds later, the Nevermore flew through. Hazel was not an expert in architecture, but he knew that few homes were designed to sustain the full force impact of a several ton Grimm. The building collapsed on top of the beast, but from the vibrations of the rubble, they could tell it was still alive. The rubble would delay the Nevermore, nothing more.
"Come on! It's not safe yet, there are hundreds of Grimm here, and that rubble isn't going to stop that Nevermore for long!" Hazel's mother broke the silence. She started running off, gesturing at her children to follow.
As they ran through the town, they heard screams from the other townsfolk as they were massacred by the Grimm. Although Hazel's mother killed a couple of beowolves on their path, and she looked disappointed that she couldn't do anything more to help without endangering her own children. Just as they began to reach the town's limits, away from the bulk of the Grimm, they heard the signature screech of the Nevermore again. It had escaped its rubble cage and was now angrier than ever.
Hazel's mother gestured at the children to hurry while she hung back to assess the situation. The Nevermore began to scan the town and although she had tried hard to avoid its gaze, for a moment, their eyes met.
Although it is a well-established fact that the Grimm have no soul, Hazel could've sworn that he saw anger in the beast's eyes. The three of them turned to run into the forest surrounding the town, hoping the added undergrowth would slow any landlocked Grimm and the trees would hide them from the airborne monster.
As the Rainart family ran as fast as they could from the beast that followed them, Hazel risked a look behind, only to see the Nevermore quickly gaining on their position. As Hazel watched the monster, he failed to pay full attention to the path that he was taking, and he failed to notice an upturned root. With his next step, the young Rainart man tripped, twisting his ankle, and dropping his sister in the process.
He quickly got up, picking up Gretchen in process, but with the added injury, his speed was greatly hindered. He limped forward, engaging his semblance to partially ignore the pain; he had not yet developed it strong enough to dissipate the pain entirely. The Rainart mother slowed and turned to Hazel; them both coming to the realization at the same time.
"Run" she said to Hazel, tossing him a dust cartridge that would normally be used for her rifle.
As Hazel caught the cartridge, removing the dust within, he hesitated. Through early experimentation, he knew that his powers were amplified when dust was fused into his system, but the withdrawals were painful, even with his unique semblance. He worried what the dust infusions would eventually do to his body, but at this moment, seeing his sister on his back, he felt he had no other choice. He stabbed the dust into his arm, suddenly feeling a bust of energy, enough to fully ignore the feeling in his ankle. Then, looking back at his mother, for what he hoped wasn't the last time, he ran. His leg took significant damage from being run on in it's condition, but hospice was a future concern; for now, he ignored the potential ramifications and went as fast as he could.
The Rainart matriarch, meanwhile, shared her last look with her children. Turning to face the oncoming Nevermore. She drew her spear, getting ready for the inevitable impact; she had given her last cartridge to her son to enhance his power, allowing him to run to safety with Gretchen. As a former huntress, she was skilled in versatility, but she had never attempted to melee a Grimm as large as the one that faced her now. As the beast approached, she noticed a small tear in its armor on its neck, something it had likely sustained when the family home crashed down upon it.
With a newfound target, Hazel's mother took a few steps back, ready to leap into the identified weak spot. As the nevermore approached, she went for a running start, leaping into the beast's path. The nevermore screeched as it went for it's killing blow, and the female warrior felt the same urge to yell as she did the same.
Several hundred feet away, with his sister's head nestled in his shoulder, Hazel looks back to see his mother for the last time. He sees her spear go into the nevermore's neck and the beast crashed down on top of her. Seconds more past, as the giant Grimm lied on top of the children's mother; a few seconds too late, the nevermore dissipated into nothingness.
Hazel stopped, staring off to the site of the battle; hoping, praying, for any sign of life. As the seconds went by, his hope diminished. As he was about to turn away, he saw, over the horizon, the arrival of Mistral Kingdom airships; no doubt filled with hunters and huntresses. The ships arriving, just a little too late…
2020-03-05 - Never thought I'd ever back to this. Was a little discouraged when I realized that Hazel's sister had a canon name of Gretchen and calling her Chestnut didn't really work, but I felt an urge to continue writing after watching Season 7. This chapter was harder to write because I knew that Hazel's mother had to die, but I couldn't figure out how to get it done.