[X] Ilia Gaiden: The Enemy is Fear

There was something about the calm which put Ilia on edge.

Perhaps she'd learnt better than to trust it. Peaceful days never lasted. She'd been just able to live out a peaceful life, until she left it behind while her 'Friends' laughed at a tragedy. She'd been able to join the White Fang and be able to hide from the authorities with them, until the White Fang turned violent and she was back to fighting to stay off the streets or away from a cell.

She remembered when Blake was a more peaceful person. Uncomfortable with the idea of escalating, but willing to concede that it was needed when outvoted on the issue. A moderate person. Then things went too far, an airship full of people were massacred, and the peaceful person was gone too. Blake had changed. Ilia hadn't known her well before now, but she knew enough to know that Blake would have been the last person to advocate killing before now.

Ilia was sure this was the right thing. She'd tried living peacefully. She'd tried de-escalating situations. It never worked. Taking things to the next level had always been the right move, and now Blake was doing just that. If it could even be said to be the next step up, considering that Blake wasn't suggesting a complete massacre just yet, let alone anything above that.

It still didn't change the fact that, whatever Blake had seen before she returned to Vale, it had to have been terrifying. You don't just kill an airship full of people without being changed, and the mere concept of so many people dying so fast, with someone Ilia knew being right there, with someone as well known in the White Fang as Adam Taurus being killed so easily...

Fear was such an easy thing to give into. It was comforting, almost, to let it rule you. To fear something and avoid it was so easy. But Ilia had always feared the status quo changing, and each time it did, the change had been the right choice.

So even if she was terrified, she couldn't let it control her. Not now, of all times.

Whatever Blake had been searching for had apparently been found. It hadn't been long at all, since then. Whatever it was Blake had for a plan, Ilia didn't know. The burnt girl had left for Vacuo as soon as she had gotten enough supplies to leave on a smuggling ship, and the White Fang was moving all of it's major players to Atlas for it's next move.

It was risky. The White Fang in Atlas had been all but wiped out not too long ago, and so an influx of Faunus travelling to the Kingdom was inherently suspicious. Most of them ended up finding villages near the city, or finding old White Fang bases which didn't look compromised. Monitored the news, and especially the Schnee and their new spokesperson, One.

Ilia still didn't have the full story. No matter ho much she wanted to know it, Blake had refused to give it, and the people she did give it to were all high ranking members of the White Fang who had kept the exact details under wraps. But Ilia did know to be wary of a few names.

Four was the main one, but there were several. Mostly numbers, and someone named Gabriella, but what was important was that name.

One.

Whatever Blake had seen had to relate to those names, and one of them was with the Schnee now. Which was of no surprise, considering what had prompted Atlas' crackdown on the White Fang ending in the massacre.

People wanted to monitor what the plan was, with One and the Schnee. Which meant going out to see their plans to cut off the head of the Grimm by taking out a mountain range heavily infested with them.

...Or something like that. Ilia still didn't know much about the exact nature of the mission. She would go along with it anyway, but for the most part, she was following someone else's lead and orders all the time.

And right now, orders were simple. She was loyal and specialised in stealth, so she was being sent in rather than someone more powerful. There was too many ancient Grimm and Schnee loyalists in the area to risk going loud. The White Fang couldn't afford to let the Schnee know they were making their move again.

They had to wait until the time was right. Whenever that was. Reports from the higher ups said that Blake might be on her way to Atlas with whatever she needed from Vacuo, so that might be soon. But for now, it was just scouting action.

First order of business was to determine what they were dealing with. Observe the army gathering in the area, monitor their actions, confirm their stated objective.

After that, Ilia would have to take a risk. She didn't know what intelligence the leaders were getting to confirm it, but apparently, they had confirmation on a priority target of some sort planning to return to Atlas as soon as the initial fight was done. So to ensure they took advantage of that, Ilia would be sneaking onto whatever airship they took, and return to Atlas with them. Get into position. Be ready to start sabotaging things once the White Fang went loud.

It wouldn't be easy, but it shouldn't be impossible. After all, apparently, the White Fang had allies.

Who they were exactly, Ilia didn't know. Not because of a lack of rank either, this time. Rather, it was the fact that she was going to be spending time in enemy territory, at risk of being found out by people who were apparently experts at breaking people for information, that meant that this information was withheld from Ilia. Didn't want to give the enemy any more information than what was needed now, was there?

All Ilia knew was that whoever this was, they had someone near the heart of the Schnee enemy ready to help guide her past enemy lines, to the ship she needed to take. Ilia didn't know who they were, but she had been told that the person she was looking for would be wearing a green scarf, and would be on the same airship as the guests the Schnee had invited to Atlas as part of their little competition.

"Oi." Called a voice from ahead of Ilia. "Keep your focus, girl."

The teenager looked up at Kettler, the muscular man holding the chainsaw, and nodded.

"Sorry." She replied, bowing her head. "It's just... There's so much to think about, right now."

The older man sighed. "Yeah, I get that. But there's Grimm in these parts. Tough ones, too. Keep yourself hidden unless it's an emergency."

Ilia nodded again, and took a moment to focus, before going transparent.

...Well, not transparent. More, she was mimicking the colours of the world around her. Her Semblance let her blend the colour in her skin to fit the outside world, effectively making her invisible as long as she wasn't moving around too fast, or around people too observant. With her clothes lined with Dust as they were, she was able to spread the effect to them as well.

It was hard for people to notice this, usually. Some were observant enough or had abilities enough to notice the split second periods of time where Ilia's shifting colours had to adapt to her moving, or notice something odd about their depth perception. But people and Grimm were too entirely different beasts, and the Grimm here would all be too distracted by Kettler, hopefully, to pay enough attention to notice her and attack her while someone else was actively fighting them.

She just had to make sure she kept her Semblance working this time, she thought with an annoyed sigh. It was bad enough that her Semblance was basically her chameleon-like skin except designed for hiding rather than emotional reflection, but it also took effort to keep it working whenever she was feeling some sort of strong emotion.

Kettler suddenly stopped, and Ilia backed up a bit, as he started revving up his chainsaw.

"Grimm." He noted. "A lot of them."

Ilia looked around, and in the distance, saw the swarm of Beowulf's approaching. There had to be at least two dozen there, but...

She stopped herself before she could speak up and ask, but it was curious.

Why a Beowulf pack? This close to where several ridiculously powerful Grimm were supposed to be lurking, and they were running into just commonplace Grimm? The sort of thing that wouldn't cause too much of a fuss if it was seen in a forest inside the Kingdoms?

There was something odd going on.

Kettler charged at the Grimm, chainsaw revving, and slammed the rotating blades into the alpha leading the pack. It's remains scattered back at the blow, and as the Beowulf next to it tried to attack in turn, Kettler lifted his left hand to grab it's open jaw, lifted the Beowulf off of it's paws, and slammed it into the ground, into another Beowulf.

It was a flurry of violence and scattered Grimm remains slowly fading away, and Ilia took a moment to watch.

...She was still so far from this, she mused. So much weaker than that. Which was to be expected, considering how many years of experience Kettler had on her, but the point remained. She was still so minor, in the grand scheme of things. She knew Blake, and she could hide herself well. If it wasn't for the latter point, she probably wouldn't have been here today, helping the White Fang deal with what was the biggest threat they had faced in its existence.

Kettler sliced through another Beowulf's head, before jumping up, slamming his knee into another as he did so. Both Grimm died, and the numbers around Kettler were beginning to thin. Two of the Beowulfs charged at him, and the third remained still, starting to vibrate.

Kettler threw his chainsaw in the air, as it continued revving, and reached across, grabbing the lower jaw of each Beowulf before ripping them off. The Grimm howled, and Kettler stepped back as they charged, allowing the chainsaw to come slamming down into them and crushing them with their weight.

Turning towards the shaking Beowulf, Kettler picked up his chainsaw, and approached slowly, cautiously, watching for the moment it would make it's move.

The sound of flesh being torn ripped out for a moment, and a long black leg shot forward out of the Beowulf's chest. Kettler flew back as the hoof at the end struck his face, before it settled down to the ground. A moment passed, as the Beowulf grew, like a balloon about to burst.

It's head was the next thing to go, as another hoofed leg shot out of it and slammed into the ground, and it took Ilia a moment to realise what she was seeing.

She had heard of it, but not much. This type of Grimm was mostly considered to be rare enough that it wasn't a threat. Never seen near the Kingdoms, not known for attacking villagers, but deadly all the same.

The last of the Beowulf exploded away, and the horse like head brayed upwards as it galloped towards Kettler.

A Trojan.

"Run!" Kettler shouted, as he closed in on the behemoth of a horse that was bearing down on him. He raised his chainsaw as it moved to trample him, and the Grimm impaled itself as it closed in. The weapon sputtered and stopped as it became stuck into the Trojan's flesh, and as Kettler pulled away at it, the Grimm continued onwards, slamming Kettler with it's hooves as it passed and dragging him across the ground for a second, until he finally let go of the chainsaw.

There was no point to fighting that thing. Not now. Kettler took a moment to run, gaining some ground on the Grimm and luring it away from Ilia. Once it charged at him again, its gallop let it catch up before long. Kettler continued running for a moment, until the Grimm was nearly upon him. Then, he turned, and leaped, striking upwards. The equine eye of the Grimm burst from the impact, and it screeched, and tried to bite at Kettler.

He was doing fine. It was a hard fight, but he was fine. Ilia was the one who didn't belong in this fight. She had a job to do, and couldn't risk the horse seeing her and injuring her. So, turning from the fight, Ilia ran towards the mountains.

On the horizon, she could see airships gathering around it. Behind her, she could hear the sound of combat, already growing muffled. Ahead of her, there was a detonation, but whatever the target was, it was out of her field of vision.

The battle there had already begun?

Well, now she had to hurry. Rushing forward even faster, Ilia knew that she would get there before the fighting ended. She just needed to make sure she found the person in the green scarf as soon as possible.

Ignoring the scream of pain matched by a bestial cry of suffering, Ilia set her destination in mind. She knew what she needed to do. Now she just needed to do it.

During the battle, things are likely to get chaotic. Especially at the point of time Ilia will arrive at. Does she attempt to use the chaos to get to the person she is looking for, or does she wait until the fighting dies down and observes from safety?

[X] Find them immediately.
[X] Observe from safety.