A dangerous route through the rotten vale
I don't own any copyrighted material, except my own OC's: anyone else's OC's will be acknowledged in their introduction chapter
Stretch of road, 20 miles behind Ruby and company
Any traveler heading north along the coast had to be aware of the rains. The Crane Clan's lands were notorious for rain, and in it lay one of the secrets to its extreme fertility. While the Sotora lands had passable soil for farming, the further north you got it seemed to exponentially become more fertile. Those same storms made travel slow and difficult as wind accompanied them without fail. Though the past two days had remained clear, despite some gusts of wind, storm clouds began to form near the Sotora traveling group.
"Oh great. Look at those storm clouds." Yang said as Zwei ran between her legs happily
"Its just water Yang. You're not going to melt." Azura smiles at that as he walks ahead of her
"Its going to hit us. And we are going to have to find shelter till it passes and its going to slow us down even more. The more we get slowed down the farther that Ronin takes Ruby away from us!" Yang said frustrated
"You just don't want to get your hair wet." Azura teases
"Don't you start being a smart ass with me Azura Sotora." Yang sternly replies with that
"Yang you need to calm down. Believe me I don't like this as much as anyone, but we must keep going and try to be positive. They will probably stop for the rain, and if we keep going we can make up for lost time." Azura explained sternly, and Yang sighed and backed down after that
The two pressed on despite the threat of rain. Soon the wind began to fight and nip at them, gradually getting colder and harsher. Cold shivers went down the parties spines as their clothes quickly became inadequate. Ever darker clouds began to form and move in from the coast, following in the cold fell winds wake. Then followed the roar of thunder, distant at first, but gradually moving closer. This put doubt into the minds of the party at the original plans feasibility.
"I don't think your optimistic idea is going to be a good one Azura." Yang said as she looked at the ever-growing storm clouds
"Unfortunately, I am going to have to agree. We will have to find shelter for the night. On the plus side, they will have to find shelter as well." Azura sighed in frustration
"Zwei, help us find shelter boy." Yang ordered and the corgi began sniffing
Almost as soon as she said that, the corgi began to sniff his way off the road and into the woods. Thankfully there were few shrubs and other undergrowth, or the pair would have lost the dog. Noticing this they began to follow him. They began to worry however when he was taking them farther from the road than they had wished. Before they could catch up and grab the dog, he stopped in front of a large crack in the ground leading down a fair-sized tunnel and sat down happily. Looking at it was more than enough to fit two people, but it also had a steep downwards slope that would prevent its use as a shelter.
"Zwei, I said shelter, not a tunnel. There's a difference you silly dog." Yang said to the corgi, who sat there without a care
"To a dog a tunnel is shelter Yang. He did nothing wrong." Azura said, putting his hand on her shoulder
"He also didn't do anything helpful either." Yang answered back as she picked up the corgi
"Don't listen to her Zwei. You did fine." Azura said with a smile as he petted the happy pup
"Don't encourage him right now." Yang said with a sigh
As soon as she said that a loud crack and multiple waves of creaking sounds were heard behind them. They looked and a large old birch tree was splitting at 1/3rd of its immense height. The ever-increasing winds and structural weakness of the tree caused it to plummet towards them with frightening speed. In the spur of the moment, Azura activated his semblance, grabbed Zwei and Yang in his arms. Then with a blinding burst of speed dove out of the way of the falling tree into the crack in the ground.
Azura felt a moment of relief before his back slammed hard into the tunnels wall, knocking the wind out of him. Then the trio began sliding down the steep decline faster and faster. Azura's aura worked hard to prevent damage from the constant flesh tearing grinding and hard slams into tight corners. The samurai turned his body back and forth to meet these turns to prevent Yang and Zwei from getting hurt. This went on for what seemed like an eternity till Azura was forcibly knocked out cold by a sudden stop into a surface. Water splashed around them as Yang opened her eyes.
"That is the last time I ever have you help us find shelter Zwei." Yang said, causing the corgi to whine sadly
Yang looked up and over Azura to figure out her surroundings. Unfortunately, it was extremely dark, but she was able to pick up some details. It was incredibly dark, smelly, wet, and the air hung still and thick. This combination nearly made her throw up her lunch and had to fight to keep it down. It smelt of rotting flesh and death, but on a scale she never imagined. As she got her bearings, she felt Azura's chest and found he was breathing very lightly. She looked down and saw him out cold, barely breathing and badly injured. The ride down was too much for his aura to take.
"Azura! Wake up!" Yang yelled as she shook him, but it did her no good
She then rushed him over to a slap of rock nearby and laid him on there. Its only then did she notice his back was torn to hell. It was better than expected, but deep and long gashes ran down his backside. Both his shoulders had also taken a pounding, bruises galore and a fracture in his right shoulder. As quickly as she could she stitched and patched him up. She then noticed that Azura's pack was gone, likely destroyed on the way down. His belt and daisho miraculously survived, but the belt were practically threads in the back.
By the time she patched him up and set up camp it was night, and the storm raged. She could still hear the booms and torrent of water, indicating cracks in this underground realm to the surface. Azura remained unconscious, and her continued attempts to wake him proved fruitless. After this revelation she gave up on that and tucked him into her bedroll, and she stood watch throughout the night. Zwei stood with her, though his sense of smell was practically useless in this pungent, rotting mess. When day finally broke and the storm stopped it felt like an eternity, and Yang was exhausted, tired, and cold.
"Please wake Azura. Please." Yang said sadly as she hears hissing
Zwei jumped to new life and began growling and barking in the directions of the hissing. From her pack Yang lighted a torch to see what was up. From tunnels in gore and bone strewn walls came 4 quadruped lizards, black of scale and lean of body. Despite this they were easily the size of a man, maybe a bit larger. The most striking feature was their head and necks. Snakelike and somewhat boxy, two long fangs the size of combat knives stuck out menacingly. Along the top of their heads and down their necks to their shoulders was thick muscle and scales, extending beyond the like somewhat like a cobra frill.
"Well there not Grimm, but they don't loo friendly Zwei. Sick them!" Yang yelled as Zwei bolted towards the strange reptiles
With surprising speed and force, the corgi slammed into the left most one, knocking it off its feet and sent flying into the wall. The one on its flank broke off to help as the other two began to flank Yang. Zwei quickly tore into the one he knocked down, digging his teeth through its scales and into its cold-blooded flesh. Biting and tearing to try and do as much damage as possible. However, its partner revealed their special ability. It hocked out a yellow liquid ball that hit Zwei and knocked him out. When the corgi tried to move, he is muscles wouldn't respond.
"Zwei!" Yang yelled as the two lizards stalked around the corgi
In a fit of rage Yang barreled down on the injured lizard, slamming it's back hard into the gore encrusted wall. As it tried to get its bearings Yang fiercely punched its face in a vicious flurry of punches. When it finally tried to bite her, she side stepped the strike, grabbed it by its neck and threw it over her shoulder onto the ground. The sudden force of the blow snapped the creatures neck with a hideous crack. As if by instinct, the remaining three creatures ran away in all directions.
"And don't come back!" Yang roared in anger before rushing to Zwei's side, "Just rest Zwei. Odds are it will wear off. Just be patient."
Indeed, within half an hour Yang's prediction came true. The corgi was up and at him like his usual self. However, despite Azura's breathing improving, he still was unconscious. What's worse was the wounds he gotten were infected due to the environment. With what little she had she tried to fight it, but it was a losing fight. The day afterwards she packed everything up, carried Azura on her back, and began moving across the upper region of this underground realm. Extremely hideous stenches rose up from the pitch-black darkness of the lower regions, and Yang thought it best to avoid that.
Though the upper region had light, what sights it had to offer were not pleasant. It was mostly made up of large bony structures, and the area was littered with corpses of monsters. Mushrooms were also a very common sight growing from the rotting and disgusting mess of the place. Despite this it was open, and the wildlife consisted of large bugs of both flying and ground forms. These bugs stayed their distance, mostly due to Zwei scaring them off. Miraculously Azura began to stir.
"Azura?" Yang asked, light of breath with anticipation
"Yang… what happened?" Azura asked weakly, eyes still shut
"You saved us from a falling tree and a rocky tunnel ride, and now we are stuck in a underground graveyard. What's more your wounds are infected." Yang explained as she trudged on
"Yang… Leave me. I'm only going to slow you down." Azura answered weakly
"Don't you even joke about that right now Azu. Not now." Yang said very sternly
"I'm serious Yang. I'm useless to you and you need to get out of here now. This place reeks of death, and its bound to be crawling with Grimm…" Azura weakly said before passing out into a light sleep
Yang sighed before stopping. A large round spot in the terrain appeared and the ground began to rumble. If she didn't get out of the way she would have been flattened by a large bone encrusted black wheel. Said wheel unfolded as it stopped into a thick theropod like creature. Stout blunt head with a thick chin, short thick arms, thick barrel chest, powerful legs, and a long cylinder tail was covered in a tar like substance. From it bones of various sizes and origins stuck out and covered it like a form of armor. As Yang slowly tried to walk past, she noticed it was very passive.
"Nice to see not everything down here is trying to kill us. You do you big guy." Yang said to it, and the creature then rolled off ahead of her
As night fell Yang found a small cave to huddle everyone in for the night. Azura woke up and they eat what meager rations where left. They also had no fuel for a fire, so had to huddle together to stay warm. It didn't help Azura any as the infection continued to get worse, and the only way they could hope to make it better was get out of this kami forsaken place. The next day they began anew, this time with Azura being conscious, though his mood didn't help keep Yang keep company
"Azura you are not useless so stop it." Yang said as she carried him ever onwards
"If I can't protect you from these horrors then what good am I Yang? I'm a samurai. My sworn duty is to protect people. If I can't protect those I love like you and Ruby, then what good am I?" Azura asked
"You are the love of my life and a friend Azura. Nothing will ever change that." Yang said, and now Azura wanted to change the subject
"We should be looking for upward tunnels. They're our best shot." Azura said as he looked around
"Well if you find one tell me, because I don't see shit." Yang said with a frustrated sigh, exhaustion and hunger kicking in
"I see something up ahead. Something big." Azura said as the form of the large theropod came into view, but something was off
"Its not moving, and its lying down. And it doesn't look like its breathing. I saw that yesterday and it was in good health." Yang said in surprise as they got close
"Something must have killed it." Azura said bluntly
"What could be powerful enough to kill that mammoth thing?" Yang asked curiously
The answer to that question appeared from the other side of the carcass. Easily the size of a large rhino, it looked like a massive mangy hairless wolf, but several features were grotesquely off. Its head was massive, like a crocodile mixed with a wolf head, full of jagged and thick teeth. Its red scaled hide was covered in bony protrusions, and especially in its tail taking a shape like a foxes. To Azura it looked like a tetsubo club and a fox tail fused. Finally, its front paws had 2 rows of claws, 4 large thick ones on the bottom that were held vertically and above it 6 smaller and more curved ones pointing to the ground. Piercing blue eyes stared at them, eyeing them up.
"Nobody. Move. A muscle…" Azura said in awe and fear
"Fuck that!" Yang yelled as she and Zwei bolted as fast as their legs could carry them
As if programmed with a trigger finger impulse, the monster gave chase. For its large size it moved with surprising speed, agility and grace. It easily caught up with them and tried to slash them with its claws. Only a rolling dodge prevented Azura from being cut to ribbons. However, it soon chased them to a dead-end circular platform. Wall on one half, the dark abyss on the other. Yang set Azura down on a rock and stepped forward with Zwei.
"Yang what are you doing!?" Azura yelled in horror
"What I must do. Fight." Yang said bluntly and stoically as she cracked her neck and knuckles
"You don't know what that thing can do! It could kill you!" Azura yelled as he tried to get up
"I might not be a samurai, but I can still fight. If that thing wants to get to you Azura, then it's going through me. And I'm not going without a fight." Yang said with a smile, and got into a fighting stance
The canine monster let out a sickening howl like roar, forcing Yang and Zwei to cover their ears. It then charged with blinding speed, with Yang and Zwei barely able to dodge away. The two then flanked the creature, and before it could choose a target Zwei jumped on its back and bite into its neck. It roared in pain and tried to slash and bite the corgi off. This gave yang an opening and began to punch its side with a flurry of punches. Despite not having a weapon, years of hard physical work gave yang a powerful body.
"Aim for the head Yang!" Azura yelled
"Don't talk Azura! It might try attacking you instead!" Yang yelled back as she punched in hard in it back legs knee
The large monster roared in pain and turned around, slashing her. The blow sends her skidding across the ground and stopping close to the edge. Thankfully her aura took the blow. Yang got up and charged back into the fray as Zwei continued to bite its neck. Azura panted and gripped his Katana. He clumsily drew it but dropped it as his grip grew weak due to the infections. As he reached for it, he noticed a large crack in the wall, indicating it could be broken. This then gave him an idea as he picked up his katana.
"I hope this works. I don't have enough aura to take a hit from that thing." Azura thought to himself
He took a stance and watched the battle closely. After 30 seconds he then gripped his katana and threw it at the monster like a large throwing knife. The blade sailed through the air with a deadly grace before finally embedding itself into one of the monsters thick ribs. This caused the monster extreme pain and discomfort. Then Azura enacted the next part of his plan.
"Hey! Overgrown demon dog! How about a real meal!" Azura yelled, waving his arms in the air
"Azura stop!" Yang yelled back, but it was too late as the monster turned to face her boyfriend
The monster charged towards him suddenly, forcing Zwei off its back in the process. Azura stood tense in front of it as it barreled down towards him. Finally, at the last moment he jumped out of the way as the red canine slammed hard into the rock wall crack, smashing it apart and sending chunks of stone flying. The monster laid they're with its head having a large gash in it and stunned. In front of it was rock tunnel with an upward slope. Likely the only potential way out, but the monster blocked the way.
"Nice job Azu! Leave the rest to me!" Yang yelled as she charged the monster, and Zwei followed suit
The monster turned as it shook itself off, but it was too little too late as Zwei slammed into its front right leg. This caused the monster to focus on maintaining its balance as Yang punched its nose hard, causing it to roar in pain and flinch. Yang then ran and pulled Azura's sword out of its shoulder, then slashed the side of its neck. This got yang a return slice as it stomped her into the ground with all its weight and power. Her aura barely held up as the force of it knocked the wind of out of her as the carnivore loomed over her.
"Yang!" Azura yelled, then in a moment of desperation activated his semblance
The monster opened its mouth to bite down and end Yang when Azura full body tackled the monster off its feet with monstrous speed and force. However, the strain on his body proved too great and when he hit the ground he passed out, blood seeping from reopened wounds. The monster rose and turned its attention to Azura, raising a clawed paw to cut him down. Only Zwei jumping up and biting its injured neck again prevented the strike as it tried to shake the corgi off.
Yang slowly rose from the ground and grabbed the sword off the grown. Then by smashing her fists together she activated her semblance, hair glowing golden and flowing like water. The monster shook Zwei off and turned to the lightshow Yang was putting out. It then charged and hit her with its claws, jaws and tail. With Yang's semblance up, she let herself get hit, even taking cuts and slashes in the process. However, she then sidestepped a bite and punched it back, breaking the monsters jaw.
"This is for everything this kami forsaken place has done you demonic bastard!" Yang yelled as she uppercut the monster, sending it into the air and landing hard on its back
As the monster slowly and weakly rose to its feet, Yang gripped her lovers sword tightly. Then she charged forward, screaming at the top of her lunges. Then before the monster could fight back she slashed its neck with all the force it hit her with. These monstrous forces drove the masterwork blade through its neck like a hot knife through butter, ending the monsters life in an instant. Yang panted as her semblance deactivated, then moved over to Zwei and Azura.
"Azura. Azura do you hear me?" Yang asked
"Yes… Yang… I'm sorry for… Doubting you…" Azura said weakly before passing out
With what energy she had left she picked the two up and began carrying them up the tunnel. Though the slope wasn't as much as the tunnel they slide down, it was more than enough to give a weighed down and exhausted traveler like Yang a very hard time. Each step made her legs burn like a wildfire, each breath a jolting pain. Blood oozed out from the three of them as much as sweat. Finally, she saw the end of the tunnel, bright light burning through it like the sun. After what felt like an eternity she stepped out onto a grassy clearing.
Yang smiled as she saw the land she knew and loved. Then as she took her first step onto the grass, the action proved too much for her weakened and injured body. She collapsed onto the ground face first and passed out like her group. The bright light of the midday sun fading to black as she lost consciousness.
Well the longest chapter for this story so far, and with a cliffhanger to boot. However, I'm undecided on if you guys see what happens to them the next week or 2 weeks from now. Guess it adds a bit more tension on our intrepid hero's fate. Either way you will see what happens to them, not to worry. I hope you all have a lovely Sunday, and see you next time.